The Broncos are finding out that winning cuts into the holidays.

Coming off a 14-3 season in which they advanced to the AFC Championship Game, the Broncos have become a hot item for television. That was reinforced when the NFL regular season schedule was finalized Thursday.

The Broncos’ schedule includes playing on Black Friday at Pittsburgh on Nov. 27 in a game to be shown on Amazon Prime. They will travel East the day before on Thanksgiving.

Denver will play Buffalo on Christmas Day in a game to be televised by Netflix, but at least that one is at home. The game will be a rematch of last January’s divisional playoff at Empower Field, won 33-30 by the Broncos in overtime in thrilling fashion.

The NFL had announced Tuesday that the Broncos will open the season at Kansas City on Monday Night Football on Sept. 14 on ESPN. They also will be on Sunday Night Football at home against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 on NBC and on Thursday Night Football at home against defending champion Seattle in Week 6 on Amazon Prime.

The home opener will be against Jacksonville on Sept. 20. The Broncos can seek revenge for a 34-20 home loss to the Jaguars last December, which broke an 11-game winning streak.

The first part of the schedule could be challenging with the Broncos also playing at San Francisco in Week 4 and at the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 5. The start of December could be much less taxing with games in Week 13 at home against Miami, in Week 14 at the New York Jets and in Week 15 at Las Vegas.

The Broncos will play eight home games and nine on the road. Their preseason foes also were announced Thursday with Denver playing at Atlanta at 5 p.m. MDT on Aug. 14 and then having home games against Green Bay on a date to be announced between Aug. 20 and 23 and against Minnesota between Aug. 27 and 30.

Here’s a game-by-game look at the regular-season schedule with all times listed being Mountain:

Week 1: Monday, Sept. 14., at Kansas City Chiefs, 6:15 p.m., ESPN

Two quarterbacks injured late last season could meet up. Barring the unforeseen, Denver’s Bo Nix will be back after suffering a broken right ankle in that epic playoff win over the Bills. Will Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes return after suffering a torn ACL on Dec. 14?

Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 20, vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 2:05 p.m., CBS

Colorado’s 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter is in line to play his first NFL game in Colorado after missing last season’s Jaguars win with a knee injury. Will he play both wide receiver and cornerback? Will celebrities be on the sideline like when he played for the Buffaloes?

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 27, vs. Los Angeles Rams, 6:20 p.m., NBC

This had the makings of a Super Bowl matchup until the Broncos last January lost in the AFC title game 10-7 at home to New England without Nix and the Rams fell 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game at Seattle. If the teams meet in the Super Bowl this season, it will be on the Rams’ home field of SoFi Stadium on Feb. 14.

Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 4, at San Francisco 49ers, 2:25 p.m., CBS

Will it be the Dre Greenlaw revenge game? The linebacker left the 49ers after six seasons to sign with Denver in March 2025, but it didn’t work out and he was released after one season. Greenlaw immediately re-signed with the 49ers and perhaps has circled this game on his calendar.

Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 11, at Los Angeles Chargers, 2:05 p.m., CBS

After winning three straight over Broncos coach Sean Payton in his return to the NFL, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh was on the short end of a 19-3 score in the 2025 regular-season finale at Denver. But the Chargers rested starters in that game. Harbaugh will try again to topple a rival coach.

Week 6: Thursday, Oct. 15, vs. Seattle Seahawks, 6:15 p.m., Amazon Prime

Two years ago, Nix made his NFL regular-season debut, and it was a rough one in a 26-20 loss at Seattle in Week 1. Now he is in line to face the Seahawks again. With Seattle the defending champion, there will be a lot more eyes on this game than the one in 2024.

Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 25, at Arizona Cardinals, 2:05 p.m., CBS

Many thought Arizona might hire Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joseph as head coach after last season, but the Cardinals ended up passing over their former defensive coordinator. Joseph can show them what they missed by having defenders go all out on the quarterback.

Week 8: Sunday, Nov. 1, vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 2:25 p.m., CBS

From 2015-22, the Broncos lost eight straight home games to the Chiefs, part of an ugly overall 16-game losing streak. Those days came to an end after Payton arrived in 2023. The Broncos have won three straight home games over the Chiefs and no doubt Mahomes and company aren’t happy about it.

Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 8, at Carolina Panthers, 11 a.m., CBS

In 2024, an agitated Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn approached Payton after a 28-14 loss at Denver and claimed he tried to run up the score, an accusation the coach denied. Well, now is Horn’s chance to get some revenge for a Panthers team that is a lot better than two years ago.

Week 10: Bye week

The bye week falls just past the midpoint of the season and is earlier than the ones the Broncos have had lately. In 2024, their bye was in Week 14 and last year it was in Week 12.

Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 22, vs. Las Vegas Raiders, 2:25 p.m., CBS

It’s back to Colorado for Raiders first-year coach Klint Kubiak. He is the son of former Broncos quarterback and coach Gary Kubiak, is a former Denver assistant and played at Colorado State. Gary told his son after taking the job, “You know how hard this is for your dad after being a Bronco all these years and a Bronco for life.”

Week 12: Friday, Nov. 27, at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m., Amazon Prime

The last time the Broncos played a regular-season game on Friday was a 27-24 win at Seattle on Dec. 20, 1985, to close the regular season at 11-5. But two days later they were eliminated from the playoff race. The Broncos are 5-4 all-time on Friday, including a 13-10 win at the Boston Patriots on Sept. 9, 1960, in the first game in franchise history.

Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 6, vs. Miami Dolphins, 2:05 p.m., Fox

Things sure have changed since the last meeting of the teams, when the Broncos lost 70-20 in Week 3 of 2023, dropping Payton’s Denver record to 0-3. The Broncos have become a Super Bowl contender and the rebuilding Dolphins could be the NFL’s worst team. Against this backdrop, Broncos receiver Jaylen Waddle faces his former team.

Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 13, at New York Jets, 11 a.m., CBS

Playing the Jets has become nearly an annual occurrence for the Broncos. They will face them for the seventh straight season and for the ninth time in 10 years. At least the monotony was broken up some when the teams played last season in London, a 13-11 Denver win.

Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 20, at Las Vegas Raiders, 2:25 p.m., CBS

The Broncos have a long way to go to catch the Raiders in their all-time series, but they’re making some strides. Entering the season, the Raiders have a 72-57-2 edge but Denver has won four straight. The last time the Broncos won that many in a row in the series was a seven-game run from 2011-15.

Week 16: Friday, Dec. 25, vs. Buffalo Bills, 2:30 p.m., Netflix

Was it a catch or an interception? The talk will be ramped up 11 months after the controversial postseason play in which Buffalo’s Brandin Cooks looked to have a pivotal long reception in overtime before Denver’s Ja’Quan McMillian snatched it away. Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard returns after two years as a Denver assistant.

Week 17: Saturday, Jan. 2 or Sunday, Jan. 3, at New England Patriots

When Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto was asked Wednesday about the chance to get revenge this season against the Patriots, he said, “Most definitely. Yeah. I’m excited.” Nix is in line to meet up with New England’s Drake Maye in a battle of two top quarterbacks from the 2024 draft.

Week 18: Saturday, Jan. 9 or Sunday, Jan. 10, vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Perhaps the Broncos will get to close the regular season at home in a game in which the opponent doesn’t rest starters. In 2024, it was the Chiefs sitting just about everybody who mattered. And in 2025, the Chargers did the same. Then again, perhaps the Broncos will have a second straight AFC No. 1 seed wrapped up, and they will sit starters.