ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos' 2026 schedule was released Thursday along with the rest of the NFL slate.
With nine road games this season, including four in the Eastern time zone, coach Sean Payton's recovery strategies for the players will be put to the test. Payton has used a variety of sleep studies and other information to chart how to best navigate the practice and meeting schedules after those multi-time zone road trips. The Broncos do get their bye, in Week 10, after a trip to Carolina in Week 9.
The Broncos have five standalone games, including a "Monday Night Football" matchup with the Chiefs in Week 1 and games on Black Friday and Christmas Day. And with 10 games against teams that made the playoffs last season, including both Super Bowl participants and the NFC runner-up Rams, it is a far more rugged slate than what the Broncos faced last season en route to a 14-3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed.
The first six weeks alone feature games against teams that finished a combined 68-34 last season, including the Super Bowl champion Seahawks in Week 6 in Empower Field at Mile High on "Thursday Night Football."
Here's what's in store for the Broncos:
Broncos 2026 regular-season schedule
Week 1: Sept. 14 at Kansas City Chiefs (MNF)
Week 2: Sept. 20 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 3: Sept. 27 vs. Los Angeles Rams (SNF)
Week 4: Oct. 4 at San Francisco 49ers
Week 5: Oct. 11 at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 6: Oct. 15 vs. Seattle Seahawks (TNF)
Week 7: Oct. 25 at Arizona Cardinals
Week 8: Nov. 1 vs. Chiefs
Week 9: Nov. 8 at Carolina Panthers
Week 10: Bye
Week 11: Nov. 22 vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Week 12: Nov. 27 at Pittsburgh Steelers (Black Friday)
Week 13: Dec. 6 vs. Miami Dolphins
Week 14: Dec. 13 at New York Jets
Week 15: Dec. 20 at Raiders
Week 16: Dec. 25 vs. Buffalo Bills (Christmas)
Week 17: Jan. 2 or 3 at New England Patriots
Week 18: Jan. 9 or 10 vs. Chargers
Strength of schedule: The Broncos have the 18th-easiest schedule in the league (opponents had a .512 winning percentage in 2025).
DraftKings over/under win total: 9.5
ESPN analyst Mike Clay's projected win total: 10.9
Biggest takeaway
The Broncos will have to do the bulk of their work in the AFC West early. Last season, the Broncos had three of their six division games over the last five weeks of the season, including the Chiefs and the Chargers in the final two games. This time around, the Broncos will have played four of their division games before Thanksgiving and have only two division games over the final seven weeks of the season.
Circle this date
Oct. 15. The Broncos not only face the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, but they do it on a short week sandwiched between road trips to face the Chargers (Week 5) and the Cardinals (Week 7). The Broncos are 22-5 all-time against the Seahawks in Denver.
Bold prediction
With largely the same defensive cast as last season, the Broncos will set a new franchise sacks record for a third consecutive season. With the prospect of chasing elite quarterbacks such as Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen and Justin Herbert, Denver will need every one of those sacks to fulfill their 2026 goals. The Broncos led the league in sacks last season with 68 -- just four short of the NFL single-season record -- and also topped the league in 2024 with 63 sacks.
Will Bo Nix's ankle surgeries impact his ability to have his first-ever fast start?
It's easy to forget considering the Broncos made the AFC Championship Game, but they started last season 1-2, with Nix throwing three interceptions in the first two games. It was his second slow start in two NFL seasons, as he threw four picks without a touchdown in the opening two games of 2024, games Denver lost.
So September hasn't been kind to him in his young career. Along with that legacy, Nix suffered a fractured right ankle in the divisional playoff win over the Bills this past January and has had two surgeries since, including one in April, to repair it. Payton has said Nix will be "full-go'' by training camp and could take part in the mandatory minicamp in the third week of June on a limited basis.
But with a trip to Arrowhead Stadium to face the Chiefs to open the season, Nix won't be eased into the 2026 slate. Kansas City has routinely been a trouble spot for the Broncos -- last season was Denver's first win there since 2015. Things don't get any easier the following two weeks, as the Broncos face the defending AFC South champion Jaguars in Week 2 and the Rams, who lost to the NFC title game last season, in Week 3.
Nix threw for a season-high 352 passing yards against Jacksonville last season, but the Rams' defense was among the league's top 10 in sacks and interception rate in 2025. The Broncos will also face top-10 scoring defenses in Weeks 5 and 6 in the Chargers (No. 9) and the Seahawks (No. 1), so Nix will have his work cut out for him out of the gate.
