The Denver Broncos will appear in five prime-time games – including a Super Bowl 50 rematch with the Carolina Panthers in the NFL’s Kickoff Game – as part of the 2016 regular-season schedule. The Broncos will also play Christmas night against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football.
The full schedule was released by the National Football League on Thursday.
| 1 | Thu | Sep 8 | Carolina Panthers | 6:30 pm | NBC |
| 2 | Sun | Sep 18 | Indianapolis Colts | 2:25 pm | CBS |
| 3 | Sun | Sep 25 | at Cincinnati Bengals | 11:00 am | CBS |
| 4 | Sun | Oct 2 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2:05 pm | CBS |
| 5 | Sun | Oct 9 | Atlanta Falcons | 2:05 pm | FOX |
| 6 | Thu | Oct 13 | at San Diego Chargers | 6:25 pm | CBS |
| 7 | Mon | Oct 24 | Houston Texans | 6:30 pm | ESPN |
| 8 | Sun | Oct 30 | San Diego Chargers | 2:05 pm | CBS |
| 9 | Sun | Nov 6 | at Oakland Raiders | 6:30 pm | NBC |
| 10 | Sun | Nov 13 | at New Orleans Saints | 11:00 am | CBS |
| 11 | Sun | Nov 20 | BYE WEEK | ||
| 12 | Sun | Nov 27 | Kansas City Chiefs | 2:25 pm | CBS |
| 13 | Sun | Dec 4 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | 11:00 am | CBS |
| 14 | Sun | Dec 11 | at Tennessee Titans | 11:00 am | CBS |
| 15 | Sun | Dec 18 | New England Patriots | 2:25 pm | CBS |
| 16 | Sun | Dec 25 | at Kansas City Chiefs | 6:30 pm | NBC |
| 17 | Sun | Jan 1 | Oakland Raiders | 2:25 pm | CBS |
Head coach Gary Kubiak knows the team he defeated in Super Bowl 50 will pose a major challenge in Week 1.
“I think it’s great,” Kubiak said in a release from the team. “It’s a big challenge for our team. It gets our attention really quick. We know that we’re going to have to have a really good offseason. We’ve got some changes going on with our football team, but our standard will be the same. We’ll look forward to it.”
About the Christmas game, Kubiak expects some possible pushback on the home front.
“I don’t know how much my wife will think of that, but that’s part of it,” he said laughing. “I’ve done that many times before. It will be a tough place to play. We always have great games there.”
Denver did get one big break from the schedule-makers. Kubiak’s bunch will get a Week 11 bye, giving them some much-needed rest and healing time as the season turns towards its final month-and-a-half. Kubiak sees the positives in the schedule overall.
“We’ve got a couple of breaks in there. That’s one of the things that I look at. We’ve got a couple of Thursday games with the opener. We’ve got another one late. Our bye week is kind of late, too. It gives you a chance as a coach to get players a little bit of a break, your coaches a little bit of a break. We’ll start to work around those things. I know one thing: you play one a week. That is the most important thing—being the best you can be.”