Broncos-Lions game in Week 15 moved to Saturday prime-time slot
Nov 30, 2023, 1:12 PM | Updated: Dec 1, 2023, 10:13 am
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos picked up another prime-time game.
Thursday, the NFL announced that the Broncos’ Week 15 game against the Detroit Lions will take place on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8:15 p.m. EST — 6:15 p.m. MST.
This will give the Broncos at least five prime-time games this season. The team played a Thursday night game in Kansas City on Oct. 12, then had consecutive prime-time games on Monday Night Football in Buffalo on Nov. 13 and six days later at home against Minnesota.
Denver also has a Sunday night game against the New England Patriots on Christmas Eve.
Broncos-Lions was one of five games on the Week 15 calendar that had the potential for a shift to Saturday, Dec. 16. The other two games selected for that day were Vikings-Bengals and Steelers-Colts. They will take place at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. MST, respectively.
NFL Network will carry all three games. However, KMGH-Ch. 7 will air Broncos-Lions in the Denver market. The NFL always has a local over-the-air station air games that take place on cable or streaming outlets to maximize local viewership.
This will be the Broncos’ first Saturday game since Jan. 8, 2022. That contest concluded the 2021 season — as well as Vic Fangio’s three-year hitch as head coach. Denver lost 28-24 to Kansas City in a game moved from the Sunday to the Saturday because the Chiefs were battling for playoff seeding.
Denver has lost six-straight Saturday games, including divisional-round losses to New England and Baltimore in January 2012 and January 2013, respectively.
The Broncos are 19-27-1 all-time on Saturday. That includes a 5-5 record in postseason games and a 14-22-1 ledger in the regular season. The team’s last Saturday win came in the 2005 divisional round over New England, a 27-13 win that featured Champ Bailey’s near coast-to-coast interception return.
That game marked the Broncos’ ninth-straight Saturday win — a run that included four Saturday wins during the 2005 regular season and postseason.
