Thursday afternoon the Denver Broncos announced their preseason schedule and the opponents on the docket will be very familiar to the team and fans alike.
All four teams set to play the Broncos in the 2015 preseason were on the 2014 regular or preseason schedule. The Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers will again be preseason foes with the Arizona Cardinals added to the list.
The Broncos will open the preseason when they head to the NFC Champion Seahawks’ home. The Broncos beat the Seahawks in last year’s preseason opener but lost the rematch in week three of the regular season 20-26, after a ferocious late-game comeback. Despite the Broncos falling short of a Super Bowl rematch, the Seahawks remain a new bitter rival to Broncos Country. This second consecutive preseason opener will have an added spark to it.
Next up, the team will head to Houston to take on Gary Kubiak’s former team. The Broncos hosted the Texans last season at Dove Valley leading up to their preseason game and throughout the week tensions grew hot. D.J. Swearinger and others scuffled with the Broncos players on several occasions. Denver lost the preseason game on a last second touchdown pass. Peyton Manning also received a fine for jawing with Swearinger after the safety caused Wes Welker to leave the game with a concussion.
Week three of the 2015 preseason will bring the San Francisco 49ers to town. After a tumultuous offseason the 49ers will look very different from the team the Broncos saw twice last year. Denver laid a 34-0 beat down on the Niners in week three of the 2014 preseason before dominating them at Mile High 11 weeks later to the tune of 42-17. They remain a talented group but the changes in personnel and the coaching staff will bring a new feel to this game.
In the preseason finale the Broncos will host the Arizona Cardinals. The Broncos only saw the Cardinals in week five of the regular season last year and the game was only briefly close. The Broncos eventually won 41-20 after the Cardinals were forced to play with their third-string rookie quarterback Logan Thomas due to Drew Stanton being knocked out of the game.
For the second straight year the Broncos have scheduled a tough preseason and it should benefit the team in the long run. All four teams will be tough, physical tests and should allow Gary Kubiak and his new staff to try out their new schemes and prepare for another run at the playoffs.
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