First six weeks will determine Denver Broncos 2026 season
TL;DR
The Denver Broncos face a challenging start to the 2026 season with five playoff teams in their first six games, including a matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. Their performance during this stretch could significantly impact their season outcome.
Key points
- Denver Broncos face five playoff teams in first six games
- First game is against Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football
- Performance in early games could determine playoff chances
- Week 1, 9/14: Broncos at Chiefs (MNF)
- Week 2, 9/20: Jaguars at Broncos
- Week 3, 9/27: Rams at Broncos (SNF)
- Week 4, 10/4: Broncos at 49ers
- Week 5, 10/11: Broncos at Chargers
- Week 6, 10/15: Seahawks at Broncos (TNF) The most winnable games here — if you can call them that — would be the Jacksonville Jaguars at home and the two AFC West division games. Denver matches up well against the Chiefs, but the Los Angeles Chargers match up well against Denver. And those are the more winnable games in my mind. The NFC West was the strongest division in football last year and you have to figure they’ll continue to be playoff-caliber teams in 2026. I like that the Los Angeles Rams are in Denver, but I feel like they would match up well against Vance Joseph’s style of defense. The San Francisco 49ers are always tough, but they could have half their team on injured reserve by Week 4. Thursday Night Football is always a crapshoot and Bo Nix and the Broncos haven’t played well on TNF. And that was against the Chargers and Raiders, not the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. I’m having to play devil’s advocate here because my fan brain says they win any game. Worst case scenario is easily 1-5 or 2-4, because all of these teams are good and Denver could end up losing several one-score type games. They could also easily end up 5-1 or 4-2 based on that same logic. That’s probably why this stretch of games is scary. It just feels like their entire season could be determined by how they come out of this stretch of six games to start the season. Do you agree? I think Mahonz will disagree with me based off his FEED post here.
Q&A
What teams will the Denver Broncos play in the first six weeks of the 2026 season?
The Broncos will face the Chiefs, Jaguars, Rams, 49ers, Chargers, and Seahawks in their first six games.
How could the Broncos' first six games affect their 2026 season?
The outcome of these games could determine the Broncos' playoff chances, with potential records ranging from 1-5 to 5-1.
What is the significance of the Broncos' matchups against playoff teams?
Playing against multiple playoff teams early in the season increases pressure and could set the tone for the Broncos' overall performance.
