Here's how the Broncos' 2021 schedule shows where they stand -- but offers them a huge opportunity

The NFL decided the Broncos aren’t ready for prime time — at least not beyond the bare minimum of a single Thursday Night Football game against Cleveland in Week 7.

And given a 23-41 record for the team in the last four seasons, you can’t blame the league for feeling that way.

But the NFL also gave the Broncos and head coach Vic Fangio a massive gift: a chance for the fast start that has eluded them in each of the past two seasons. In Weeks 1-3, the Broncos play the New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets — three teams that were a combined 9-39 last year.

Two of them have rookie quarterbacks: No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence and No. 2 pick Zach Wilson.

It gets tougher in October. Four of the five Broncos’ opponents that month were in the playoffs last year, including three from the rugged AFC North. October also features the Broncos’ first AFC West game of the season: a home clash with the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 17.

Five of their last seven games are against AFC West foes, including the final three of the season.

But with their benign three-game opening stretch, a three-game burst against NFC East foes at midseason and a two-game December homestand against Detroit and Cincinnati, the Broncos have multiple chances to build momentum that their other recent schedules often lacked.

A look at the slate:

WEEK 1: Sunday, Sept. 12
at N.Y. Giants – MetLife Stadium
2:25 p.m. MDT – TV: Fox

WEEK 2: Sunday, Sept. 19
at Jacksonville – TIAA Bank Field
11 a.m. MDT – TV: CBS

WEEK 3: Sunday, Sept. 26
vs. N.Y. Jets – Empower Field at Mile High
2:05 p.m. MDT – TV: CBS

WEEK 4: Sunday, Oct. 3
vs. Baltimore – Empower Field at Mile High
2:25 p.m. MDT – TV: CBS

WEEK 5: Sunday, Oct. 10
at Pittsburgh – Heinz Field
11 a.m. MDT – TV: Fox

WEEK 6: Sunday, Oct. 17
vs. Las Vegas – Empower Field at Mile High
2:25 p.m. MDT – TV: CBS

WEEK 7: Thursday, Oct. 21
at Cleveland – FirstEnergy Stadium
6:20 p.m. MDT – TV: Fox/NFL Network/Amazon Prime

WEEK 8: Sunday, Oct. 31
vs. Washington – Empower Field at Mile High
2:25 p.m. MDT – TV: Fox

WEEK 9: Sunday, Nov. 7
at Dallas – AT&T Stadium
11 a.m. MST – TV: Fox

WEEK 10: Sunday, Nov. 14
vs. Philadelphia – Empower Field at Mile High
2:25 p.m. MST – TV: CBS

WEEK 11: Sunday, Nov. 21
BYE

WEEK 12: Sunday, Nov. 28
vs. L.A. Chargers – Empower Field at Mile High
2:05 p.m. MST – TV: CBS

WEEK 13: Sunday, Dec. 5
at Kansas City – Arrowhead Stadium
11 a.m. MST – TV: CBS

WEEK 14: Sunday, Dec. 12
vs. Detroit – Empower Field at Mile High
2:05 p.m. MST – TV: Fox

WEEK 15: Sunday, Dec. 19
vs. Cincinnati – Empower Field at Mile High
2:05 p.m. MST – TV: CBS

WEEK 16: Sunday, Dec. 26
at Las Vegas – Allegiant Stadium
2:25 p.m. MST – TV: CBS

WEEK 17: Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022
at L.A. Chargers – SoFi Stadium
2:05 p.m. MST – TV: CBS

WEEK 18: Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022
vs. Kansas City – Empower Field at Mile High
2:25 p.m. MST – TV: CBS

Games in Weeks 5, 6, 8-10 and 12-17 are eligible for flexible scheduling to Sunday Night Football. The Week 18 game is subject to flexible scheduling to Sunday Night Football or to one of two broadcast windows on Saturday, Jan. 8.

NOTES:

• The Broncos haven’t won a Week 1 road game in 12 years — since a 12-7 win over Cincinnati on Sept. 13, 2009 best remembered for the game-winning, Kyle Orton-to-Brandon Stokley tip-drill pass in the game’s final minute. Denver is 9-13 all-time when it opens the season on the road, including a respectable 5-5 mark in Week 1 road games over the last 30 seasons. However, it’s also worth noting that the Broncos missed the playoffs 11 out of 13 times after they lost a Week 1 road game.
• Denver closes the regular season on the road for the eighth consecutive season. The Broncos are 4-3 in those games, having lost three of their last four season finales after winning in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
• If it’s December, it must be a Broncos trip to Kansas City. Denver heads to KC in the 12th month for the third consecutive year, fourth time in the last six seasons and fifth in the last nine campaigns and seventh in the last 13. Denver is 3-19 all-time in Kansas City in December.
• Another interesting trend: the Broncos playing at Jacksonville early in the season. The Week 2 game against the Jaguars will mark the Broncos’ sixth trip to the First Coast of Florida, with four of them taking place in the first four weeks of the season. Denver is 1-2 in those early-season games in muggy Jacksonville and 2-3 overall at TIAA Bank Stadium.
• Beware, Chargers in Week 12: The Broncos are aces after the bye. Last year’s win at New England after a COVID-19-caused bye moved the Broncos to 23-9 in post-bye games, including 8-4 in road games and 15-5 at home. Denver is 3-0 all-time against the Chargers after bye weeks and 9-4 overall against AFC West foes after the bye.
• The old conventions about which networks broadcast Sunday afternoon games have been largely tossed out the window. Prior to recent years, Broncos afternoon games had since 1998 typically aired on CBS, with Fox showing the games when NFC opponents played in Denver. But the last several campaigns have seen more flexibility in this convention, and this year the Broncos are scheduled for five Sunday-afternoon games on Fox — including a Week 5 game against AFC North foe Pittsburgh.