3 Key Takeaways from Broncos' 2025 Schedule Release

The Denver Broncos' 2025 regular-season schedule was unveiled on Wednesday night. We've known who the opponents would be, but not the order in which the Broncos would face them.

What are the biggest takeaways from the Broncos' schedule? Let's dive in.

Denver Bypasses Post-London Bye for Week 12 Rest

Historically speaking, teams that have played an International Game tend to be awarded a bye the following week. This is done in order to compensate teams who may be dealing with travel fatigue and jet lag with additional time to recuperate and prepare for the rest of the NFL season.

The first team to elect not to have a bye week following an international game was the 2016 Indianapolis Colts following a Week 4 London game versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. Indy elected to bypass a bye there to have it later in the season. The NFL started allowing teams to opt out of a post-International Game bye that year, and it appears Sean Payton's Broncos have done the same this season.

Instead of having a Week 7 bye following Denver’s Week 6 matchup versus the New York Jets in London, the Broncos' bye will fall on Week 12, giving them a breather later in the season before the final six-game stretch.

Will electing to kick the bye week down the schedule hurt the Broncos? They do have back-to-back home games versus the New York Giants (with a preseason win total over/under of just 5.5 games, tied for the worst in the NFL), followed by the Dallas Cowboys (a 7.5 win total over/under, tied for the eighth-worst). Denver will have to take care of business in order to reap the later awards of a later season bye week and not put themselves behind the eight-ball in the conference and division.

Staying Afloat Early in Season

The Broncos have a number of tough games on their schedule. Some are featured later in the season, with Denver playing at the Washington Commanders in Week 13 and playing at Arrowhead on Christmas in Week 17.

However, while the playoff picture is clearer the further the season progresses, every win or loss counts the same in the standings at the end of the day. With this in mind, the Broncos' first six weeks of the season could easily make or break where they fall in the pecking order of the league this season.

Given the Broncos were saved from potentially missing the playoffs by a self-inflicted gaffe by the Colts last season, after Jonathan Taylor made the boneheaded mistake of letting go of the football before crossing the goal-line, Indy will undoubtedly be looking for revenge and a tiebreaker in Week 2.

There have also been rumors of the Colts opting for a different opponent in Germany this season instead of Denver, even though Payton publicly stated a preference to play there over London. The Colts wanted Denver at Lucas Oil Stadium to retain home-field advantage 

After that, the Broncos play on the road vs. the only divisional foe that swept them last season, the Los Angeles Chargers. The Broncos play a physical brand of football, but Jim Harbaugh and his Chargers beat them handily in both matchups last season.

This game could easily be one that changes the direction of the entire season, looking back at the end of the campaign. With the Chargers entering Year 2 under Harbaugh and Justin Herbert, another year in the system, Denver needs to right the wrongs of its two losses last season.

Denver then has a double-revenge game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals in Denver on Monday night. Denver's throttling of the Kansas City Chiefs (backups) in Week 18 last season kept the Bengals out of the playoffs in favor of the Broncos. Denver had previously lost a heartbreaker in Week 17 in Cincinnati in overtime.

Given how talented Joe Burrow is, it's likely a rarity that the Bengals don’t nab one of the top seven seeds in the NFL most seasons, and the Broncos will need to step on them early in order to get the one-game advantage and tiebreaker for a team likely occupying the same postseason real estate this season in terms of playoff seeding and record.

Finally, and perhaps the most difficult game of the season (sorry Chiefs fans), the Broncos head to Philadelphia on a short week coming off a Monday night game to play the reigning Super Bowl Champion Eagles. There are few teams that, on paper, outclass the Broncos along the lines of scrimmage.

The Eagles are one of those teams. Most will expect a loss in this game, and if Denver takes care of business in the first quarter of the season, it can survive a loss, but dropping games early could make this matchup dubious.

On the other hand, if the Broncos can go into Philly in an early afternoon game and walk out with a win? That could springboard the Broncos to new heights the rest of the season.

NFL Refuses to Give Denver Any Advantage Over Chiefs

A first glance at the schedule, and one sees that Denver has a Thursday night matchup at home versus the Las Vegas Raiders before hosting the Kansas City Chiefs at home for what is undoubtedly a “must-win” game, should the Broncos' desires in 2025 include a divisional championship.

Playing the Raiders at home on Thursday night, who are still considered the worst team in the AFC West despite bringing adults to the table this offseason, and then having an additional few days for rest and preparation should give Denver an advantage versus Kansas City. Right?

Wrong. Because, of course, while Denver gets a mini-bye before Week 11, the Chiefs get to kick their feet up, have their routine mani-pedis, and sip piña coladas as the league awarded them their full bye in Week 10 leading up to the Broncos' must-win tilt if they want to win the division for the first time in a decade.

It is what it is, as the kids say. But this is remarkably unfortunate for the Broncos because, simply put, teams that have Andy Reid as their head coach are historically tough to beat following a bye week. Over Reid’s career, when he coached the Eagles and the Chiefs, his teams have an eye-popping regular season record of 22-4 following a bye week. The stats get worse when the opponent played the week prior, with Reid’s teams going 21-2.  

In order to be the best, you've got to beat the best, but it would be nice for Denver to have every advantage they can get in order to topple the Chiefs in the division and conference. Alas, the schedule-makers gave the nod to Kansas City with a bye week, as well as penciled Denver to play them on Christmas Day at Arrowhead in Week 17.

Remember, Denver's last two games on December 25 have been arguably two of its most embarrassing of the last decade, with a 33-10 blowout in Arrowhead in 2016 that included a jump-pass touchdown from 350-pound nose tackle Dontari Poe and the infamous last game of former head coach Nathaniel Hackett as the Broncos were wiped off the field by the Los Angeles Rams, 51-14.

If the Broncos are to stand atop the AFC West and knock off the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back Chiefs (that’s nine times in a row for those counting at home), they will have earned it, with Kansas City having an advantageous schedule for each matchup.