The Denver Broncos are heading into the 2013 NFL season with Super Bowl thoughts on their mind as they move into the final week of the preseason and standing in their way are the Arizona Cardinals, who are trying to rebound from one of their worst season in recent memory.
The two teams will play at Mile High Stadium and this comes after the Broncos have won two of their first three preseason games, including last Saturday against the Rams 27-26 and that came after a 40-10 loss against the Seattle Seahawks. The team opened the preseason with a 10-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers and while it was just the preseason, it was a nice tune-up for the team and now Manning is ready to try and win MVP again after doing so well last season and losing to Adrian Peterson.
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The Broncos have a tough opening schedule, but the team also had a tough schedule last season and ended up winning 13 games in a row to finish the year. The team opens with the Baltimore Ravens at home after a scheduling issue with the Orioles and then they will travel to play brother Eli in New York against the Giants in Week 2 before coming onto Monday night football at home against the Oakland Raiders. The team will have some NFC East fun with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys next and then will have an easy game against the Jaguars.
The team will travel to Indy to give Peyton a homecoming before playing the Redskins and then they will have their bye. The second half could be tough, with a road game against the Chargers and home against the Chiefs before heading to New England to play the Patriots. The team will then play against the Chiefs before playing the Titans and then they will finish with the Chargers and road games against the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders to finish off the season.
The team is expected to be just as good despite losing Von Miller to a suspension and adding Wes Welker to the offense will only make things more explosive with Erick Decker and Demaryius Thomas on the outside and Montee Ball is expected to be a big part of the offense as well. The Arizona Cardinals went just 5-11 last season and had awful play at quarterback, which is why they went out and got Carson Palmer from the Raiders and now Larry Fitzgerald has someone legit to throw to him again.
The team is coming off a preseason loss to the Chargers and then they will play the rams to open the season after playing the Broncos on Thursday. The Lions will be next and then the team will travel for games against the Saints and the Buccaneers before coming home against the Panthers. A tough matchup is next on the road against the 49ers and then they will play the Seahawks at home. Arizona will be improved but it will be nearly impossible for them to challenge the Seahawks and 49ers in the division this season.
Check here for the live stream for the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals game.