The Broncos’ 2026 schedule has plenty of softer spots, but the real conversation starts when you look at the games that could force Denver to be at its sharpest from the opening month all the way into December.
After a 14-win season that included an 11-game streak, Denver has earned the benefit of the doubt. Still, one-score games were a big part of that run, and the schedule doesn’t exactly hand the Broncos a clean path. Here are the five toughest matchups on the slate.
No. 5 lands in Week 5, when Denver visits the Los Angeles Chargers. Sean Payton-led teams have not handled Jim Harbaugh-coached teams well, and the Broncos are 0-2 in Los Angeles during the Harbaugh era.
Overall, they’re 1-3 in two seasons. Denver may be the better team and have the better roster, but the Chargers have shown they’re not going anywhere.
The Broncos did clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed last year by beating Los Angeles, though Justin Herbert did not play in that game.
Week 6 brings Seattle to Denver, and that matchup checks in at No. 4.
The Broncos host the defending Super Bowl champions, and one clear edge for Denver is the pass rush against a Seahawks offensive line that is merely solid. Sam Darnold also isn’t the kind of passer Denver will fear at this stage of the season.
But Seattle’s defense is deep, its defensive line is deep, and Mike Macdonald has built a unit that is incredibly well-coached. The roster construction also allowed the Seahawks to remain elite even after losing notable talent in the offseason.
At No. 3 is the Week 1 trip to Kansas City. Denver heads to Arrowhead with a chance to keep pushing the idea that it can hang with the Chiefs on their own turf.
The Broncos are nearly on a two-game winning streak there, but a blocked field goal in the 2024 matchup swung that game back to Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes is expected to play, and even with roster issues on both sides, the Chiefs are still the Chiefs.
It’s a divisional game, which always raises the difficulty, and even last year’s visit to Arrowhead against Kansas City’s third-string quarterback was tight. Denver will need to be locked in from the jump.
Buffalo comes in at No. 2, and the Week 16 home game should feel like a heavyweight rematch of the AFC Divisional Round. Denver won that playoff meeting, but the Bills still controlled the line of scrimmage on the ground, and if Josh Allen had cleaned up the turnovers, the Broncos probably would have been in real trouble. Buffalo has been a double-digit-win machine every year since 2019, and it remains one of the league’s most complete teams.
The toughest game on the schedule is Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams. Yes, it’s in Denver, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
The Rams are coming off a 12-5 season and led the NFL in scoring offense, and then they went into the offseason and added Myles Garrett, Jaylen Watson, and Trent McDuffie. Aaron Donald also came out of retirement.
That’s a brutal combination for any opponent, especially one trying to establish the run. The Broncos will have to deal with a loaded offense and a defensive front that suddenly looks overwhelming.
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