Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders is the first of four crucial matchups that define an important part of the season for the Denver Broncos. Head coach Sean Payton acknowledged the importance of how the team plays in the month of October.
Denver Broncos bracing for crucial October stretch of the season
The Denver Broncos will have three of their next four games at home, with two of them serving as crucial AFC West Divisional matchups. Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders will be the first, next Sunday they’ll host the Los Angeles Chargers before facing a short turnaround to travel to New Orleans to play the Saints on Thursday Night Football. Their fourth and final game of October will be a home matchup against the Carolina Panthers.
Currently sitting at 2-2, October’s stretch of games will help set the tone for the rest of the season, especially with November’s schedule looking to be the most difficult stretch of the schedule.
“October is important in our league,” Payton said. “In other words, these first four weeks were a race to improve and we’re beginning, but October is an important month. Then obviously, look you can go through it. We’re home, it’s a division opponent. I know it’s the Raiders. It’s a special weekend for a lot of former players too, and that matters.”
Divisional games are always tough, and Denver is looking to snap their eight-game skid against the Raiders on Sunday. The Chargers will be a challenge, and the short turnaround for a Thursday road game against Payton’s former Saints team is a tough task before having another home game against the Panthers. If Denver finds a way to go 3-1 or even 2-2 during this stretch, that will put them at 5-3 or .500 at 4-4, which is the best-case scenario before they face the Ravens, Chiefs, Falcons, Raiders, and Browns before their Week 14 bye week.
Quite frankly, getting the offense going sooner rather than later will be the best bet for Denver having a winning record in the first half of their schedule, and that hopefully begins on Sunday against the Raiders.