The NFL announced the matchups for its first Thanksgiving Eve game and all three Thanksgiving games ahead of Thursday night’s schedule reveal, so the only thing left to announce for the three-day holiday spread of games was the Black Friday matchup.
That game will feature the Broncos visiting the Steelers in a game that will start at 3 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.
It will be the first time that either franchise has played a Black Friday game. The NFL first held a game on the day after Thanksgiving in 2023 and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the league is considering ways to add a second game.
That is what they’ve done with the Thanksgiving Eve game. It will involve the Packers visiting the Rams on Wednesday night in a game broadcast by Netflix.
Thanksgiving’s schedule will start in Detroit as usual. The Lions will host the Bears at 1 p.m. ET on CBS and the Eagles will visit the Cowboys on Fox at 4:30 p.m. ET. Thursday’s action will conclude with the Chiefs in Buffalo to face the Bills at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.
Von Miller said in March that he would love to return to the Broncos if he did not re-sign with the Commanders and that prospect came up with the Broncos’ current pass-rushing ace.
Miller was a 2011 first-round pick for the Broncos and he won a Super Bowl while making four All-Pro teams before being traded to the Rams in 2021. He remains a free agent and Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto said that the notion of a second stint with the Broncos is something that would be met with smiles in Denver.
“It would be pretty crazy, for sure,” Bonitto said, via Zac Stevens of DNVR. “Obviously, everybody would love that. Not only the fans but the players. He’s a guy that’s loved here in Denver so much. My personal favorite player ever to watch. Just being able to share a room with him would be amazing.”
Miller had nine sacks for the Commanders last season, but it’s unclear if the musings of the two players are matched by concrete interest from the Broncos in a reunion.
The Broncos are moving on from a pair of players in a series of Tuesday roster moves.
Via multiple reporters, Denver is waiving running back Deuce Vaughn and cornerback Will Wright.
The Broncos had added receiver Michael Woods and cornerback Paul Manning after both players participated in rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.
Vaughn had joined the club last September on the team’s practice squad. He did not appear in a regular-season game and signed a futures deal with the team in January.
A Cowboys sixth-round pick in 2023, Vaughn has appeared in 14 career games, recording 110 yards rushing and 10 catches for 58 yards.
The Chiefs ended their 2025 home slate with a visit from the Broncos. The Chiefs will start 2026 the same way.
After announcing on Tuesday morning that the Broncos and Chiefs will cap the first week of the season with a Monday night game, the league has now supplied the location: The game will be played in Kansas City.
The Christmas night 20-13 win by the Broncos ended a 10-year losing streak at Arrowhead Stadium. Denver won that game with the Chiefs not having quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks earlier. His availability will now hover over the prime-time division matchup to start the year.
By all indications, Mahomes will be ready to go. And Mahomes is wired to do everything he can, and then some, to get back. The fact that the season opens with the defending AFC West champs coming to town will serve only to make him more determined to be ready to play, and to play well.
The announcement locks in three of the four prime-time games for Week 1. On Sunday night, the Cowboys will visit the Giants. On Thursday night, the 49ers will face the Rams in Australia. The only game left to be determined is the Wednesday night opener in Seattle, where the Seahawks will host an opponent to be announced.
The first Monday Night Football game of the season will feature a matchup of the last two AFC West champions.
The NFL announced on Tuesday that the Broncos and Chiefs will meet to cap off the Week 1 schedule. The location of the game is still being finalized, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, and is expected to be announced ahead of or along with the announcement of the rest of the schedule on Thursday.
Denver broke the Chiefs’ long run of division titles last season and the game will likely feature the return to action of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix after he broke his ankle in the divisional round of the playoffs. It could also see Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes play his first game since tearing his ACL last December, but we’ll have to be much closer to the game to know if that will be the case.
The Chiefs are also the fifth of the Seahawks’ potential Week 1 opponents — the 49ers, Rams, Giants and Cowboys are the others — to have their opening game revealed, which leaves the Cardinals, Chargers, Bears and Patriots as the remaining options for the first game of the 2026 NFL season.
