The 2025 Denver Broncos shocked the world by going 14-3 and taking the division crown away from the Kansas City Chiefs. Sean Payton's team ended years of Chiefs supremacy and swept the season series, though their Week 17 win came with the Chiefs already out of playoff contention and playing more backups.
Now, the AFC West rivals might be in for a tough awakening in 2026. As division champions, the Broncos will face an absolutely brutal schedule early in the season, and they may not be able to keep their foot on the gas.
Even if Bo Nix is back on the field for Week 1 after suffering a season-ending injury in the playoffs, the Broncos' defense will have to do plenty of heavy lifting to get through the first six weeks of the season with a winning record.
The Chiefs can only rejoice at the Broncos' brutal schedule
Payton's team will kick off the season with a road game against the Chiefs. Arrowhead Stadium can get pretty hostile, and they'd better have their silent count on point when they visit Andy Reid's team for Monday Night Football.
Denver then hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams before hitting the road to play the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Chargers. To cap it off, they head back home for a short-week date with the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
Things get much smoother after that, with dates with the Arizona Cardinals, Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, Las Vegas Raiders (twice), Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets before another tough three-game stretch vs. the Buffalo Bills (home), New England Patriots (away), and Los Angeles Chargers (home) to close out the season.
The Broncos wanted to be the top dog in the AFC West, so they can't complain now that they're finally dealing with what the Chiefs had to live with for years. Of course, that's music to the Chiefs' ears, as they'll have a much more forgiving schedule as a third-place team.
The Chiefs will take every advantage they can get as they look to get back to the playoffs after a surprisingly disappointing year. They will go back to being the hunters instead of the hunted, and with a revamped defense along with Patrick Mahomes returning to full strength, it should be just a matter of time before Reid's squad restores balance in the highly competitive AFC West, especially if this schedule is too much to handle for the Broncos.
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