The Sean Payton Broncos are turning into the prime time Broncos.
The NFL on Thursday finalized its Week 15 slate and slotted Denver’s road game at Detroit for a 6:15 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Dec. 16.
The game between Payton’s surging 6-5 team and his protege Dan Campbell’s NFC North-leading Lions is the nightcap on an NFL Network triple-header of standalone games.
Given Denver enters this weekend tied for the NFL’s longest active winning streak with the 10-1 Philadelphia Eagles, perhaps it’s no surprise the television networks are making sure to get the Broncos in high-profile positions.
“You want to play meaningful football in December and that’s what we’re doing,” linebacker Alex Singleton said. “When you look at it, we’ve won the month of October and the month of November and now it’s time to go win December.”
The Saturday night game will be the Broncos’ fourth prime-time game of the season and it makes for the second back-to-back prime-time run of the season. They’ll follow the trip to Detroit with a 6:15 p.m. home game against the New England Patriots on Christmas Eve. That game is also on NFL Network.
Denver’s trip to Detroit will conclude a three-game road trip that starts Sunday afternoon against the Houston Texans and continues next weekend at the Los Angeles Chargers. Funny enough, all three December road games are in climate-controlled stadiums.
“It’s one game at a time, but we’re all happy it’s December and we get three indoor games,” Singleton said. “It’s not too bad.”
Lutz named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month: Broncos kicker Wil Lutz was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November, becoming the first Denver kicker to do so since Brandon McManus in 2015.
In November, Lutz made all 11 of his field goal attempts, while accounting for 36 points. He was 4 for 4 on attempts from at least 40 yards and 1 for 1 from past the 50.
“It’s really cool. It’s a unit award for sure,” Lutz said, mentioning holder Riley Dixon, long snapper Mitch Fraboni and the offensive line. “Also got to give some credit to the 12th man (penalty) in Buffalo for one of those.
“I’m sure Sean (Payton) will tell you he’d rather be kicking extra points, but all of that aside it’s great. Hard work pays off and the three of us, me, Mitch and Riley have been working really hard to help this team and I think we’ve been able to do that.”
Lutz, who was traded from New Orleans before the start of the season, has played a key role in Denver’s five-game win streak. In Week 10 against the Buffalo Bills, he converted the game-winning 36-yard field goal attempt as time expired. A week later, Lutz kicked five field goals to help beat the Minnesota Vikings.
Through 11 games, Lutz is ninth in the league in field goal percentage (92.3%) and tied for third in field goals made (24).
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
