Analyst Puts Broncos in ‘Elite’ Status by Predicting their 2025 Win Total

Varying predictions have surfaced following the release of the Denver Broncos’ full schedule. While most speculations put the Broncos as a playoff team, analysts have different take on the number of regular season victories they’ll have in 2025.

ESPN’s Mike Clay projected the Broncos to win ten games this year, matching their total from last season when they broke their playoff drought. Conversely, Denver Sports 104.3’s Cecil Lammey puts the three-time Super Bowl champions on a higher pedestal.

Lammey shared with fellow Broncos analyst Cecil Dover last May 16, “Brother, I have this team at 13 wins, and I am uncomfortable with that. Because 13 is the demarcation for an elite level team. Thirteen is the line for ‘you can hang with Buffalo (Bills),’ ‘you can hang with Baltimore (Ravens).'”

There is no exact science to identifying the number of wins an NFL team will have in every season. Trades and injuries can alter the course, especially if experts regard a team as a strong contender. Likewise, it’s difficult to predict how the matches will unfold.

That’s why no one saw the Broncos win ten games last season, especially when bookmakers, as specified in an April 2024 article by ESPN Sports Betting, predicted Denver to win only 5.5 games, ranking them third worst behind the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers.

Despite feeling pensive about his forecast, Lammey continued, “When I got to 13 games at the end of the schedule prediction show, I was like ‘Huh, 12 would make me feel a lot better because 12 means you’re very good but you’re not yet of the elite. You win 13, you are elite. So, I guess, I’m saying the Broncos are elite this year.”

Broncos Have More Elite-Level Games in 2025

After clinching their first playoff appearance since winning Super Bowl 50, the Broncos’ primetime games doubled this season from two to four. As 9News’ Mike Klis wrote last May 15, NFL vice president of broadcasting Onnie Bose said about the increase, “They were a playoff team last year. They’re in a competitive division, there’s great matchups, and it shows the evolution in that process.”

Denver’s first primetime game in 2025 will be a Week 4 Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Six weeks later, the Broncos will face division rivals Las Vegas Raiders in Thursday Night Football.

After their Week 12 bye, the Broncos return to action in Sunday Night Football versus the Washington Commanders. Finally, a Week 17 Christmas Day showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium could decide the AFC West division winner.

Factoring in these primetime games, Lammey elaborated on his 13-win prediction, “You look at this schedule. If they play the way they can play. I’m not even talking about them going nuts, 12-5, 13-4, a real possibility for this team.”

As he claimed, Lammey was one of the few analysts who predicted the Broncos to reach the 9–10-win mark last season.

Dover Predicts Denver Doing Well at Home

Lammey’s co-host sees the Broncos doing well this year, but with some slight adjustments. Dover shared, “Looking at the home games, looking at the away games, looking at primetime games and then everything that comes with it. I went through it my first go-around and I’m at 11-6 with one home loss.”

While Dover didn’t specify that one loss, Clay projected some tough home games against quality opposition. He gave the Broncos a 54-percent win probability in Week 4 against Cincinnati and a 52-percent winning chance in Week 15 versus the Green Bay Packers. Likewise, based on the 45-percent win probability, Clay sees the Broncos dropping their Week 11 home game against the Chiefs.

Lammey and Dover may have consulted the Broncos’ strength of schedule, which somehow yielded consistent results. A May 15 article by Yahoo! Sports Frank Schwab shows the Broncos ranking 15^th with their opponents having a combined .505 winning percentage in 2024. Likewise, Warren Sharp has the Broncos at 14^th based on the projected wins from Vegas oddsmakers.