Stick here for live updates and analysis as Denver hosts the Titans at Empower Field at Mile High.
Live updates
Pre-game updates
Scouting report (10:45 a.m.): Check out how the Broncos match up with the Titans in Luca Evans’ scouting report.
Game predictions
Parker Gabriel, Broncos beat writer: Broncos 28, Titans 13
A year ago, it made little sense to think Bo Nix would march into a hostile environment at Seattle and win his debut against a renowned defensive mind. The same applies to the Titans and No. 1 draft pick Cam Ward. Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is going to dial up all his favorite pressures and a bunch Ward’s never seen before just for good measure. Empower Field will be loud. Nix and company won’t have to be perfect, but they should have plenty of opportunities to make plays. Avoid turnovers, and this should be a nice, smooth start to the year.
Luca Evans, Broncos beat writer: Broncos 24, Titans 10
Poor Cam Ward. Look, the kid’s obviously fearless. He sat back behind his line at Miami, tossed bombs like they were Nerf footballs, and was a Heisman Trophy finalist because of it. The Titans have upgraded their offensive line since taking Ward No. 1 overall, and have a fleet of skill players that are pretty good, even if Calvin Ridley and Treylon Burks aren’t top-four NFL receivers. Counterpoint: Denver’s defense has been frothing for months now to get to the regular season, and Ward now faces the best pass-rushing unit in the league.
Troy Renck, columnist: Broncos 27, Titans 10
Cam Ward is going to learn quickly that the AFC is not the ACC. He has never seen a defense in his life like the one he will face on Sunday. The Broncos will overwhelm him with pressure and sticky coverage. Quarterbacks picked No. 1 overall in the common draft era are 4-14-1 when starting the season opener, per The Associated Press. Make it 4-15-1 as the defense delivers three takeaways and tight end Evan Engram becomes a new favorite target for Bo Nix.
Sean Keeler, columnist: Broncos 25, Titans 17
The only thing worse than being a rookie QB in a road playoff game? Being a rookie QB on the road in Week 1. Over the last six years, rookie NFL starting quarterbacks are 0-10-1 in season-openers. Like Bo Nix a year ago, Cam Ward’s baptism by fire starts now. And there’s no hotter seat in the league for a newbie than to be stuck 5,280 feet above sea level with Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper and Zach Allen breathing down your neck.
Broncos-Titans NFL Week 1: Must-reads
Titans think Broncos’ Bo Nix will ‘take off running’ if first read isn’t there. Sean Payton disagrees.
Maybe it was a shot. Maybe it was a tip of the cap. Only Jeffrey Simmons knows.
On Tuesday, in the Titans’ locker room, Tennessee’s three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle was asked about playing a quarterback in Bo Nix who doesn’t take many sacks. The reason Nix doesn’t take many sacks, Simmons noted, is because of his ability to take off and run.
He made that point. And then he made it again. And a few more times, too.
Indeed, Nix took off running 92 times in 2024, the fifth-most rushing attempts of any NFL quarterback (according to StatMuse). His wheels surprised opposing franchises — and even his own — in his debut season. He also, however, had the 26th-fastest average time to throw of 32 quarterbacks with at least 300 drop-backs last season, Luca Evans reports. Read the full story.
Renck: Sean Payton brought up Super Bowl. Now it’s on best Broncos roster since 2016 to back it up
He is blunt. Like Frank.
Sean Payton became “Chairman of the Bored” when he took over a Broncos franchise battered, beaten and embarrassed. Under Nathaniel Hackett’s 15-game watch of fans counting down the play clock, a player cursing out his quarterback, and teammates shoving one another on the sidelines and punching opponents, the sheer disconnect was comedic and horrifying.
Three seasons later, something just as frightening exists. What began on a smoldering day in July with construction cranes and temporary stands can end in one place, and only one place, for this season to truly be a success.
The Super Bowl. No. 60. A 10-year reunion at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Read Troy Renck’s column.
Why Broncos’ now-handsomely paid defense welcomes pressure of expectation: “We have to take advantage”
When Bonitto signed a four-year, $106 million extension Thursday, it served as an exclamation point on an offseason spent doubling down on and adding to the 2024 group that exploded onto the scene as one of the NFL’s best.
Now they’re a known quantity. They’re marked men, circled by every offense on their schedule as a group that needs to be taken seriously — and a measuring stick by which opponents will measure themselves. Read Parker Gabriel’s story.
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