2012 Denver Broncos Schedule

The NFL released the official 2012 schedule on Tuesday Night. We knew who the Broncos were facing and where the games were being played, but now we know the dates and times of the matchups. Here is the Broncos 2012 schedule (All times EST)

Week 1 Sunday September 9th: Pittsburgh at Denver (8:20pm) NBC

Week 2 Monday September 17th: Denver at Atlanta (8:30pm) ESPN

Week 3 Sunday September 23rd: Houston at Denver (4:15pm) CBS

Week 4 Sunday September 30th: Oakland at Denver (4:05pm) CBS

Week 5 Sunday October 7th: Denver at New England (4:15pm) CBS

Week 6 Monday October 15th: Denver at San Diego (8:30pm) ESPN

Week 7 BYE WEEK

Week 8 Sunday October 28th: New Orleans at Denver (8:20pm) NBC

Week 9 Sunday November 4th: Denver at Cincinnati (1:00pm) CBS

Week 10 Sunday November 11th: Denver at Carolina (1:00pm) CBS

Week 11 Sunday November 18th: San Diego at Denver (4:15pm) CBS

Week 12 Sunday November 25th: Denver at Kansas City (1:00pm) CBS

Week 13 Sunday December 2nd: Tampa Bay at Denver (4:05pm) FOX

Week 14 Thursday December 6th: Denver at Oakland (8:20pm) NFL NET

Week 15 Sunday December 16th: Denver at Baltimore (1:00pm) CBS

Week 16 Sunday December 23rd: Cleveland at Denver (4:05pm) CBS

Week 17 Sunday December 30th: Kansas City at Denver (4:15pm) CBS

Schedule Analysis:

-No surprise that the Broncos open at home on NBC's Sunday Night Football against Pittsburgh. This game was rumored a few weeks ago at the Owners meetings, so it is not a shock that Peyton Manning's debut as a Bronco comes in primetime.

-The Broncos have a total a five primetime games this year. They have two on Sunday Night (Pitt and New Orleans at home), two on Monday Night Football (at Atlanta and at San Diego), and one on Thursday Night Football (at Oakland.)

-CBS gets what they want and they get Denver at New England in Week 5. I am a little surprised that this game is so early in the year. I figured that they would wait until to November to schedule this game.

-Three times Denver has back to back road games on the schedule. Weeks 5 and 6 are very tough as the Broncos head to NE and SD. Weeks 9 and 10 feature Denver heading to Cincy and Carolina. Weeks 14 and 15 have Denver heading to Oakland and Baltimore.

-The one good thing about Denver's game at Baltimore is that it is after the Broncos travel to Oakland for a Thursday Night game, so the Broncos will have nine days to get ready for the Ravens.

-The Broncos have two sets of weeks with back to back home games. Weeks 3 and 4 have the Broncos hosting Houston and Oakland, and Weeks 16 and 17 have Denver hosting Cleveland and Kansas City.

-Speaking of the Chiefs, the Broncos host KC for the third time in the last four years in Week 17.

-Denver also travels to San Diego again for another primetime game. This will mark the 6th time in seven seasons that the Broncos head to SD for a primetime matchup.

-The first six games of the season are very tough (Pitt, at Atl, Houston, Oakland, at NE, at SD), but after their bye week, the Broncos hit the sweet spot of their schedule. There are plenty of winnable games after Week 7. Those games include: at Cincy, at Carolina, SD, Tampa Bay, at Oakland, Cleveland and KC). If the Broncos are 4-2 after their first six games, then watch out because they could get on a run.

-An interesting game to look at is the Sunday Night game at home vs. New Orleans. That will be the first game that Joe Vitt comes back as the interim Head Coach for the Saints, and it will also compete head to head with Game 4 of the World Series. Last year, Peyton Manning looked very disgusted as the Saints ran up the score on the hapless Colts 62-7. Manning doesn't forget things like that, and he wouldn't mind burying the Saints on SNF- this time as a Bronco in Denver.

-Everyone always looks at the December portion of the schedule. Denver's December slate looks very manageable: Tampa Bay, at Oakland, at Baltimore, Cleveland, and Kansas City.

-Overall, the Broncos schedule is very tough, but we know that going in. They don't have three straight road games, so that is a good thing. Primetime games don't bother me, and you knew they were going to get a lot of those this year. Plus, I really think their December schedule could set them up for a run into the playoffs. If Manning is healthy, and they can get off to a good start in the first six weeks, then they should be able to have a successful season.

-Now the schedule is set, and the only negative is that we have to wait five months before this whole thing kicks off again.