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Broncos 2024 schedule predictions: Will Russell Wilson’s return serve as kickoff to Sean Payton’s second season in Denver?

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Broncos 2024 schedule predictions: Will Russell Wilson’s return serve as kickoff to Sean Payton’s second season in Denver?


Which quarterback is going to start for the Broncos come Week 1? This week, a different question: Which quarterback will Sean Payton’s team be facing in Week 1?

Could it be Russell Wilson? Patrick Mahomes? Justin Herbert or Aaron Rodgers?

They’re all on the docket for Denver this fall and we should find out soon in what order Denver will face them.

The past couple of years, the NFL has announced its full slate the second Thursday of May (this year, that’s May 9). But as of Monday afternoon, the league hasn’t actually announced its plans.

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Still, it’s coming. Probably soon. And that means the moment has again arrived for a time-honored Denver Post tradition: Predicting the Broncos’ schedule.

There’s not many clues so far. We know Denver’s not playing an international game. They’re unlikely to play Thanksgiving Day since it would have to be the primetime slot — Detroit and Dallas host the other two games that day and the Broncos don’t play either.

A new NFL wrinkle this winter: A pair of Christmas Day games despite the holiday falling on a Wednesday. If Denver gets one of those, it will be playing the Saturday before.

Without further ado, here are the dueling scheduling predictions from Broncos beat reporters Parker Gabriel and Ryan McFadden. To the winner: Eternal glory.

McFadden’s projection

Week 1: Indianapolis Colts

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Week 2: at Baltimore Ravens

Week 3: at New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers newly signed quarterback Russell Wilson speaks with reporters in Pittsburgh, Friday, March 15, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Wilson signed a one-year deal with the Steelers on Friday after being cut by the Denver Broncos. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

Week 4: Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday Night Football)

Out of all the games on Denver’s schedule, its matchup against Pittsburgh is one of the few that warrants the spotlight. Less than a year after getting let go from the Broncos, Russell Wilson comes back to the Mile High City with the opportunity to get revenge on head coach Sean Payton, who benched him near the end of the 2023 campaign.

Week 5: at Los Angeles Chargers

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Week 6: Bye

Week 7: Carolina Panthers

This might be the least intriguing matchup on Denver’s schedule. Still, this will be an opportunity for the Broncos to build some momentum coming out of the bye week.

Week 8: at New Orleans Saints

Payton will return to New Orleans, where he won a Super Bowl and built one of the league’s most prolific offenses, for the first time as Denver’s head coach. Given the state of both organizations, it’s hard to see this matchup getting a prime time slot. But this will still be a big moment for Payton and the Saints’ fanbase.

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Week 9: Las Vegas Raiders

Week 10: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 11: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 12: Cleveland Browns

Week 13: at Cincinnati Bengals (Thursday Night Football)

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Nix vs. Joe Burrow. Pat Surtain II vs. Ja’Marr Chase. If Nix is indeed the quarterback Payton envisioned him to be, this game warrants a prime time slot.

Week 14: Atlanta Falcons

Week 15: L.A. Chargers

Week 16: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 17: at Las Vegas Raiders

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Week 18: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

The only implications this game might have will be the Chiefs trying to secure the first seed in the AFC playoff race — and the Broncos’ draft slot, of course.

Gabriel’s projection

Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers (Monday Night Football)

The Broncos aren’t likely to be a big primetime draw this fall given the mild expectations, but Russell Wilson’s return will do the trick. Note to the NFL schedule-makers: This one should be early in the season or it could end up being Justin Fields vs. the Broncos.

Week 2: at L.A. Chargers

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Week 3: Indianapolis Colts

Week 4: at New Orleans

Maybe you’ve heard: Payton used to coach the Saints. His return to the Bayou will be quite a spectacle, especially if he’s waltzing in with a rookie quarterback as his starter and, essentially, the key to his second act in the NFL.

Week 5: Kansas City Chiefs

Week 6: at Cincinnati Bengals

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New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) warms up before playing against the Buffalo Bills in an NFL football game, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. Longtime New York Jets fans are all too familiar with the pain that comes from having a promising season derailed as soon as it started by a quarterback injury. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) warms up before playing against the Buffalo Bills in an NFL football game, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. Longtime New York Jets fans are all too familiar with the pain that comes from having a promising season derailed as soon as it started by a quarterback injury. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Week 7: at New York Jets

The Broncos have four games in the Eastern time zone this fall. If Denver gets two of them in back-to-back weeks, look for the franchise to make arrangements to set up shop somewhere out there — a week at the Greenbriar in West Virginia, anyone? — rather than trek back to Denver in between.

Week 8: Bye

Week 9: Atlanta Falcons

Week 10: at Las Vegas Raiders

Week 11: Carolina Panthers (Thursday Night Football)

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Week 12: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 13: at Kansas City Chiefs

The Broncos ended the losing streak against Patrick Mahomes and Co. last fall in Denver. Notching a win at Arrowhead in December would be another matter entirely.

Week 14: Cleveland Browns

Week 15: at Baltimore Ravens

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Week 16: Las Vegas Raiders

This is the week that would be a Saturday game if the Broncos were going to get put on the Wednesday, Christmas Day extravaganza. Let’s not.

Week 17: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Probably manifesting too hard here by avoiding Christmas Day and slotting the trip to Florida for late December, but hey, this is my projection. I’m not asking for that much.

Week 18: L.A. Chargers

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Last year the Broncos bookended the season with the Raiders. This year we project a different divisional opponent. Soon enough, we’ll know what the actual scheduling overlords have in store.

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.



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Denver, CO

Fire destroys home under construction in northwest Denver

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Fire destroys home under construction in northwest Denver


DENVER (KDVR) — An early morning fire on Friday left a home completely ablaze in the Highlands neighborhood, just a week after another house under construction went up in flames in the same area.

The Denver Fire Department shared photos of the incident, as crews were called to 3643 Mariposa, where images show a fully consumed home under construction.

“I think they [firefighters] kicked in the neighbor’s door just to make sure nobody was at home,” neighbors Lucy and Kyle said. “Some of the other houses, their windows got blown out from the heat!”

Just 11 days earlier, on June 8, a home under construction caught fire in the same neighborhood near West 33rd and Navajo. Nobody was hurt in either fire.

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And just about two years earlier, in July, another fire in the same area ignited around West 36th and Osage. All of the properties are/were under development by the same group.

“I wasn’t present for any of the fires,” Ryan Yoffe, a member of the developer group, said.

Yoffe does say he thinks he knows how the last two fires had been set, saying it’s the City of Denver that needs to do better with surveillance.

“It’s likely related to the amount of homelessness in the area, looking for properties under construction to live in or burn down,” Yoffe said. “The City and the Police Department need to do a better job patrolling to limit the number of homeless people camping in the neighborhood.”

Denver Fire Department officials say the most recent incidents are under investigation, but that nobody was hurt in either.

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Denver, CO

Rockies ride Kyle Freeland’s gem, Braxton Fulford’s double to 4-3 win over Pirates

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Rockies ride Kyle Freeland’s gem, Braxton Fulford’s double to 4-3 win over Pirates


The night belonged to Kyle Freeland, who joined the 1,000 K Club. The moment belonged to Braxton Fulford. The ninth inning — and a big sigh of relief — belonged to closer Antonio Senzatela.

Fulford hit a two-run, two-out, pinch-hit double in the eighth inning off Mason Montgomery to lead the Rockies to a 4-3 win over the Pirates at Coors Field in front of a Friday night crowd of 33,596.

Fulford drove in Tyler Freeman and Cole Carrigg, who scratched out back-to-back two-out singles off Montgomery.

“I had been warming up in the cage for that at-bat for a couple of innings, so I felt pretty prepared,” Fulford said. “I got an advantage count (3-1) and I knew he was going to come with the heater and I was all over it.”

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Fulford caught Montgomery for three seasons at Texas Tech, so he knew the left-hander’s tendencies.

“It’s kind of unfortunate for pitchers that you catch, because you kind of get to see their stuff,” Fulford said. “You kind of understand more of who they are. So I do feel like I had the advantage there.”

In the ninth, the Pirates loaded the bases against Senzatela with no outs on a single by Marcell Ozuna and an error on a groundball by shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. But Senzatela struck out pinch-hitter Tyler Callihan and induced Jared Triolo to ground to Tovar, who started the game-ending double play.

“It was kind of a crazy ending to the game — bases loaded and no outs,” Freeland said. ” ‘Senza’ got a big punchout in that situation, picks up Tovar. Then Tovar gets another opportunity to turn a double play, and he gets it done.”

Before all of the late-game drama, Freeland pitched his best game of the season: 7 1/3 innings, two runs allowed on four hits, no walks, and eight strikeouts. It marked the fourth time in his career that he pitched 7 1/3 or more innings.

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“Tonight, I thought he was absolutely exceptional,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “I thought his body language was impressive. He attacked the strike zone — relentlessly. His heater had good ‘vert’ tonight. The breaker was good. It seemed like he was in control all night.”

“Gritty” is the word often used to describe Freeland. Dominant was a more apt description on Friday night. History-making works, too. Freeland’s eight Ks gave him 1,001 for his career, joining right-hander German Marquez (1,069) as the only two pitchers in franchise history to eclipse 1,000. Freeland struck out Marcell Ozuna in the seventh for No. 1,000, and then promptly fanned Brandon Lowe for 1,001.

The hard-core Rockies fans behind the dugout gave Freeland a standing ovation.

“I’m very grateful for the fans always supporting me, and for making it this long in my career to reach some of these milestones, especially with one ballclub,”  said Freeland, who struck out eight and walked none for the second time in his career. “I definitely hear those fans when I pop out of the dugout after every inning.”

The 33-year-old Denver native blanked the Pirates for the first seven innings, giving up just two hits. Pittsburgh finally got to Freeland in the eighth, putting up back-to-back doubles by Esmerlyn Valdez and Triolo to cut Colorado’s lead to 2-1. Up to that point, it looked as if Freeland had the juice to throw a complete game, especially since he threw just 81 pitches.

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Denver, CO

Man arrested on suspicion of murder in Denver shooting near South Park Hill, Hale

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Man arrested on suspicion of murder in Denver shooting near South Park Hill, Hale


Denver police arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of first-degree murder in a fatal shooting near East Colfax Avenue and North Dahlia Street.

Joseph York was arrested Thursday after detectives identified him as a suspect through interviews and surveillance video, the Denver Police Department said in a news release Friday.

Detectives believe York was arguing with the victim, 25-year-old Elijah Barr, before the shooting in the early hours of June 7, the Denver Police Department said in a news release Friday. The intersection is between the city’s South Park Hill and Hale neighborhoods.



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