Colin Cowherd Believes NFL Quietly Punished Denver Broncos

Dec 25, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton takes the field prior to a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images© Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images&period;

Colin Cowherd Believes NFL Quietly Punished Denver Broncos

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated May 15, 2026 1:08 PM ET

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Colin Cowherd has always considered himself a big fan of Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton. But after seeing the Broncos' 2026 schedule, he believes that the league doesn't like Payton nearly as much as he does.

On Friday's edition of The Herd, Cowherd examined several NFL team schedules and took special notice of the Broncos. He believes that the league specifically punished Payton for years of being one of the more outspoken people in the league and believes the NFL is "punishing" the Broncos by giving them a season that is brutally frontloaded with playoff foes.

"I'm not a conspiracy guy, but I believe this. I think Sean Payton has a mixed relationship with the league office…NFL does not like friendly fire. Zip it. Look at Denver's schedule, they're punishing them," Cowherd said.

"I'm not a conspiracy guy, but I believe this. I think Sean Payton has a mixed relationship with the league office…NFL does not like friendly fire. Zip it. Look at Denver's schedule, they're punishing them" – Colin Cowherd pic.twitter.com/m9GSIzRKb2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 15, 2026

Prime Time Punishment?

The first six weeks of the Broncos' season is an absolute gauntlet:

They open against the Kansas City Chiefs on the road, on Monday Night football
In Week 2 they have their home game against the AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars
In Week 3 they host the NFC Championship runner-up Los Angeles Rams
In Week 4 they go on the road to take on the San Francisco 49ers, followed by another road road trip to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 5 - both of whom made the playoffs last season
In Week 6, on a short week, they play the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football

That's a schedule that a lesser team could rather easily go 1-5 or even 0-6 against.

Meanwhile, their schedule immediately goes from brutal to easy in the eight weeks that follow: at the Arizona Cardinals, vs the Kansas City Chiefs, at the Carolina Panthers, vs the Las Vegas Raiders, at the Pittsburgh Steelers, vs the Miami Dolphins, at the New York Jets, at the Raiders.

Even a little bit of tweaking could have allowed the Broncos to get some relatively easy games earlier in the schedule. With the way things are constituted now, a rough start could have their fighting for their playoff lives by the time the games get easier.

The kicker to all of it is that while starting QB Bo Nix is expected to make a full recovery from the season-ending injury he suffered during the playoffs, there's no guarantee he'll be able to compete at the same level early in the season.

Whether or not it was a "conspiracy to punish the Broncos" like Cowherd wants to believe or not, the Broncos are basically being thrown into the deep end of the pool to start the season.

Do you think Cowherd is onto something here?

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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