Maybe next year I’ll finally learn my lesson. What’s that? Yeah, you’re right, probably not.
In what has become a personal rite of summer, the Broncos’ schedule comes out every year and I spend a lot of time putting a W or an L next to all 16 games.
That’s spend, as in W-A-S-T-E.
Cases in point: I put an L next to the Pittsburgh game, and another L beside the Kansas City game. And while I was on a roll, I put a W beside the Jacksonville game and another after the Green Bay game.
I’m telling you, sports fans, you can’t get expert analysis like this just anywhere.
My track record of predicting NFL games may suggest that I follow Priest Holmes into retirement, but I’m not going there. Not now. Not when I’m about to get hot. Not when the rest of the Broncos’ season has just come into focus in my mind.
At least I think I’ve got the next six weeks figured out. See, it’s not just about the Broncos. It’s about the teams they’re playing. As in, they aren’t very good.
Each of their six opponents is readily beatable. How do I know? Because I originally put an L next to three of the games: at Chicago, at San Diego and at Houston. That must mean the Broncos will win all three games.
I’ve got a hunch they could lose Sunday vs. the Bears, but what do I know? The Bears are last year’s news. The Broncos, meanwhile, may have turned a corner during their Monday night win over Tennessee.
We can’t be sure, of course. If this Broncos season has taught us anything, it’s that we can’t be sure. We can’t trust this team, can’t go all in on this team. We can’t assume the Broncos will beat a lousy team at Invesco Field any more than we can assume they’ll lose to a good team on the road.
It’s one big guessing game is what it is. But when I look at the rest of the Broncos’ schedule, my guess is they’ve got as good a shot at the playoffs as any other team in the AFC West.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s daily Broncos commentaries on The Jimmy Page at 7 a.m. and noon, and read his columns on Sundays and the day after Broncos games at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.