The 2025 Denver Broncos schedule has officially been released, allowing us to finally look ahead to the games we're most excited for.
Which games on the schedule should be the most exciting, carry the most drama, or are most important to win? Let's look.
6. Broncos vs. Giants (Week 7)
Last year, Russell Wilson's calf injury robbed us of the revenge game between Wilson and the Denver Broncos. With him likely to be the New York Giants' starting quarterback for at least the first half of the 2025 campaign, either the Broncos or Wilson will get to savor an especially sweet victory over their spurned partner.
Wilson was on track to stroll into the Hall of Fame uncontested before arriving in Denver, and his tumultuous tenure in the Mile High City has left him as a journeyman and the butt of jokes across the national NFL landscape. The opportunity to deliver a defeat to that franchise and the head coach he lost a power struggle to, should have Wilson firing on all cylinders.
Meanwhile, Wilson's poor play and Denver's massive investment in him led to the franchise also being a laughing stock and suffering some of its darkest seasons in the already glum post-Manning era.
With this also likely being the last matchup we'll ever see between the two sides, this game is winner-takes-all for bragging rights.
5. Broncos at Raiders (Week 14)
Arguably no team underwent a more dramatic change this offseason than the Las Vegas Raiders, which makes both of the Broncos' matchups with them some of the most anticipated contests on the schedule.
Pete Carroll will bring a sense of legitimacy that the Raiders have seldom had in the 21st century, and Geno Smith is the best starting quarterback they've had since Rich Gannon took them to a Super Bowl. Plus, they have one of this draft's most exciting rookies, with running back Ashton Jeanty.
The latter matchup with Vegas is especially intriguing because it comes at a critical point in the Broncos' schedule. Four of the six remaining games after the team's Week 12 bye are against 2024 playoff teams, with this road intra-division matchup against the much-improved Raiders being one of the two exceptions. It will be critical for Denver to take care of business against Vegas' lesser roster, to leave themselves some margin for error against those four contenders.
4. Broncos at Commanders on Sunday Night Football (Week 13)
Last year's two best rookie quarterbacks were Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix, but it was Daniels who ultimately took home the Offensive Rookie of the Year hardware. This victory came just a year after Daniels defeated Nix in the 2023 Heisman Trophy race, seemingly cementing him as the class's top quarterback. With the two never playing each other, Nix has never had a chance to best Daniels head-to-head, but he'll finally get that opportunity in Week 13, in front of a primetime audience.
There's also the intrigue of seeing the Denver Broncos and Sean Payton square off with Dan Quinn's squad, after Quinn was tied to the head coaching vacancies in Denver during both the 2022 and 2023 offseasons.
Finally, with the Commanders coming off an excellent 2024 season where they advanced to the NFC Conference Championship, they'll pose a tremendous challenge to the Broncos as the team tries to clinch a playoff spot over the final weeks of the season.
3. Broncos vs. Bengals on Monday Night Football (Week 4)
2024's Broncos-Bengals matchup was one of the best games of the season, and this year's bout between the two clubs should be another great one.
The Cincinnati Bengals won the first duel with Bo Nix, as Tee Higgins turned in a career performance, but Denver should pose a tougher challenge this season. With major in potential stars Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, and Jahdae Barron, the Broncos' defense is better equipped to slow down the Bengals' dizzying offensive arsenal, and the upgrades to Sean Payton's attack make the offense more capable of hanging in a shootout too.
Finally, with the Baltimore Ravens heavily favored in the AFC North (-135), the Bengals figure to be one of the main contenders for the AFC's three wildcard spots. Last year, the Broncos' loss to the Bengals put their playoff trip in jeopardy, with Cincinnati controlling the tiebreaker. A Week 4 victory this time around would put Denver in the driver's seat.
2. Broncos vs. Chargers (Week 18)
In the regular season finale, the Denver Broncos will host the Los Angeles Chargers in a game that will almost certainly have playoff implications.
The Broncos and Chargers were wildcard teams a season ago and both squads upgraded their rosters this offseason. With the Kansas City Chiefs seemingly falling back to the pack some, there's a healthy chance this game gets flexed into primetime as a winner-takes-all battle for the divisional crown.
Even if the Chiefs continue their reign of terror in the division, the Broncos and Chargers will both likely be battling for wildcard positioning. This game could determine whose season ends early, or who gets doomed to a road battle against the conference's No. 2 seed.
Also, with Jim Harbaugh winning both matchups against Sean Payton last year, this season's meetings between the two clubs will give Payton an opportunity to even the AFC West chapter of two's rivalry.
1. Broncos at Chiefs on Christmas Day (Week 17)
Was there ever any doubt?
Primetime, on Christmas Day, against the reigning conference champions and hated division rivals, potentially with the AFC West title on the line.
If the Denver Broncos can live up to expectations, and the Kansas City Chiefs don't find another monkey's paw to inflate their record, this game should have the potential to swing the winner of the AFC West one way or the other. That's especially true considering that Denver will get to play the other favorite to win the division, the Los Angeles Chargers, a week later.
As was the case for the No. 2 entry on this list, even if this game somehow doesn't have implications to determine the division's winner, it will likely play a heavy hand in determining the AFC's wildcard teams.
Beyond the weight this game explicitly carries, there's the added importance of defeating the Chiefs in Kansas City, after the Broncos were robbed of their Arrowhead upset in 2024.