The Denver Broncos are heading back to primetime in Week 16. After deliberation, the NFL decided to flex the Broncos into Thursday Night Football toward the end of the season.
Denver Broncos Week 16 matchup vs. Los Angeles Chargers flexed to Thursday Night Football
The Denver Broncos will be back in the primetime spotlight again this season when they travel to take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16, but it won’t be on Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football.
Denver will come off of their Week 15 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts and head straight into preparation for Thursday Night Football. In Weeks 13-17, NFL teams are eligible to be flexed into Thursday Night Football, and the rest of the world will see an AFC West showdown that could have potential playoff implications for Denver.
The NFL cannot flex teams into Thursday Night Football if it ends up being a team’s second road game on Thursday Night, but it appears the Broncos agreed or pushed for this move, considering they already played the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night in Week 7.
Right now, the Broncos are 6-5 with two AFC matchups coming up against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday and the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football next week, and then they’ll head into their bye week. They’ll face the Colts coming out of the bye week and then face the Chargers on Thursday Night Football.
After that, the Broncos will have a road matchup against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals before closing out the season against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Right now, the Broncos’ conference record is their obstacle in the ongoing playoff race, sitting at 2-4 in AFC conference play.
If Denver can take care of business in these next two games, they’ll go into their bye week at 8-5 with a 4-4 conference record before they face the Colts, who are one of the few teams behind them in the race for a wildcard spot.
The one benefit of the Denver Broncos playing the Chargers on Thursday Night Football is that they’ll get some extra rest ahead of their road matchup against the Bengals.