The Denver Broncos had their 2023 schedule released last week and it is, in the words of coach Sean Payton, unremarkable.
“I would say, if this makes sense, it felt like it was very unremarkable,” Payton said last Saturday. “When I looked at it all, it was — I don’t want to use word calm, but I don’t know that anything stood out. I look at three things right away when the schedule comes out. Where is the bye [week] at, and we’re mid-season so that’s fine. [I look at] travel logistics. … we’re on the rotation of the nine [regular season] home games versus the eight. That’s good.”
The Broncos will have a mid-season bye in Week 9 and they currently have four prime-time games (more could be added during the season). There’s no trip to London this year and nothing that stands out in a glaring way on the schedule.
“I didn’t look at anything and just say, ‘Wow!’” Payton said. “We’ve got four games that we are scheduled to play on prime time. That’s great. For me looking at, what is it [2:05 p.m.] or 2:25 p.m. getting used to that being the baseline, you know, it’s different because my whole career it’s always been 12 noon or 1 p.m. I hadn’t coached out west. So when those times start changing, that’s usually a good thing.”
Denver will play on Monday Night Football, Thursday Night Football and Sunday Night Football this fall, and they will have a game on Christmas Eve. It might look like an unremarkable lineup to Payton, but it will put the Broncos back in the spotlight even after they went 5-12 in 2022. You can view the team’s full schedule here.
