Denver, CO
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.
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
Week 2: at Baltimore Ravens
Week 3: at New York Jets
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
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.
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)
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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.
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The Rockies threw a boffo welcome-back for Ryan Feltner on Saturday night, and the right-hander was the biggest party animal of all.
Coming back from an elbow injury and making his first big-league start since April 23, the right-hander celebrated by pitching six crisp, efficient innings in Colorado’s 8-3 win over the Giants at Coors Field. Feltner allowed no runs, just four hits, struck out two, and walked none. He needed just 63 pitches, throwing 41 for strikes.
“I felt great and felt like all of my pitches were working,” said Feltner, who became the first Rockies starter to pitch six scoreless innings with no walks since lefty Kyle Freeland on Sept. 5 of last season vs. San Diego.
“I was really happy about the efficiency part of the game,” Feltner added. “It’s always important to go deep into a game here (at Coors).”
Manager Warren Schaeffer said there was never any thought about pushing Feltner past six innings after Feltner made just two minor league rehab starts.
“There was no reason to push him into the seventh; he did his job,” Schaeffer said. “His fastball command was exceptional, his slider was good and he got double-play balls early when he needed to. I just thought he controlled his game very well.
“He controlled his emotions, he was in attack mode, and like we talked about before the game, when he does that, he’s pretty dang good.”
The Rockies, who beat San Francisco 8-6 on Friday night on a walk-off homer by Ezequiel Tovar, clinched their first series win since sweeping the Mets from April 24-29 in New York.
Feltner got plenty of support.
The Rockies have had a nasty habit this season of scoring early only to see the offense go into hibernation. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. The Rockies kept piling on and taking away any chance for late-game drama in LoDo.
“When a guy goes out there and grinds away, like Feltner did, you want to reward them with run,” said center fielder Jake McCarthy, who had a big night from the leadoff spot, going 3 for 4 with a walk and driving in four runs.
McCarthy’s 427-foot two-run homer in the fourth off Giants right-hander Adrian Houser gave Colorado a 4-0 lead. McCarthy added an RBI single in the fifth and another in Colorado’s three-run seventh. He also recorded his club-leading 10th stolen base and reached base four times for the eighth time in his career.
“I haven’t been patient the last week, I had a lot of pretty bad at-bats” he said. “But I think it’s just about getting good pitches to hit. … Getting into good counts, seeing pitches and taking pitcher’s pitches you can make it easier on yourself. I think I did a good job of that tonight.”
Also in the seventh, Kyle Karros came off the bench to whistle a leadoff homer to right off Ryan Borucki. It was Karros’ third homer of the season, fourth of his young career, and the first pinch-hit home run of his career. It was also his first home run against a team other than the Dodgers — his father, Eric’s, former team.
“That was becoming a thing, so it’s nice to put that narrative to rest,” Karros joked. “I think I saw somewhere where it said, ‘Are the Dodgers just feeling Karros meatballs?’ That’s certainly not the case.”
The Rockies provided an early comfort zone for Feltner by scoring two runs in the first inning. McCarthy and Hunter Goodman drew walks off Houser, Willi Castro delivered an RBI single, and Sterling Thompson took one for the team, getting plunked by Houser with the bases loaded.
Castro hit 2 for 5, recording a multi-hit game for the fifth time in his last six starts.
San Francisco spoiled a rare Rockies shutout with a two-run homer in the eighth by Drew Gilbert off reliever Blas Castano.
The Rockies (22-37) will play for their third series sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon at Coors. Should the Rockies win, they will move out of the National League West cellar and the Giants (22-36) would fall into last place.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Giants LHP Robbie Ray (3-6, 4.60 ERA) at Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (0-0, 5.85), 1:10 p.m.
Monday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-6, 8.08) at Angels RHP Jose Soriano (6-4, 2.65), 7:38 p.m.
Tuesday: Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (4-4, 4.01) at Angels RHP Grayson Rodriguez (2-1, 7.53), 7:38 p.m.
Wednesday: Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-7, 7.22) at Angels RHP Walbert Urena (2-4, 2.44), 7:38 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.
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