The Denver Broncos will host the Detroit Lions in Week 16 of the 2019 season. Here’s a look back at the series history.
The Denver Broncos will finish up their series against the NFC North this Sunday by hosting the Detroit Lions. Hopefully, for the Broncos, the result of this game is more favorable than the other three they have had against the NFC North this season, which were all losses.
Like the Broncos, the Lions have had a rough season and sit at 3-10-1 on the year. Despite another down season for head coach Matt Patricia, the organization has already announced that he will return in 2020.
This game will have no implications on the playoffs as both teams are preparing for the offseason, but finding some momentum and things that work going into next season is important.
The Broncos and Lions have played just 12 times in their histories and this will be just the sixth ever meeting in the Mile High City. The Broncos have won three of the previous five games played there, but the Lions pummeled the Broncos by 35 points the last time they came to Denver in October 2011.
Key notes from Broncos-Lions series
The Lions have scored 260 points in the 12 games they have played against the Broncos. The Broncos have scored 259.
John Elway and Barry Sanders, arguably the best players for each team in their respective franchise histories, played against each other just one time. That came on Thanksgiving day in 1990, a 40-27 Lions win. Sanders rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown while Elway threw for 243 yards and an interception.
The Broncos won the most recent meeting between the teams back in September 2015. That game took place on Sunday Night Football and featured a beautiful 45-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning to Demaryius Thomas in a 24-12 win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opHGrxVbRe4
The Broncos lead the all-time series 7-5. Kickoff for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. MT and the game will be televised on CBS (view the TV map here). Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon will call the action.
The Denver Broncos will face the Houston Texans in Week 14. Here’s a look back at the series history between the two teams.
The Denver Broncos (4-8) will meet the Houston Texans (8-4) in Week 14. It will be just the eighth time the teams have played in the regular season.
The Texans entered the league as an expansion team in 2002. As a result, it’s a team that the Broncos have only faced a handful of times. In fact, out of the 31 other teams in the league, the only team the Broncos have seen less is the Carolina Panthers.
The Broncos hold a slight 4-3 edge in the all-time series. Another interesting note between these two teams is that the Texans have never taken two in a row from the Broncos. However, with a win over the Broncos last November, the Texans will have a chance to change that on Sunday.
Last meeting: November 4, 2018: Texans 19, Broncos 17
There are a few memorable things from this game, but most of them surround three people — Brandon McManus, Demaryius Thomas and Vance Joseph.
This was the first game for Thomas after the Broncos traded him just prior to the league’s trade deadline. His first game came against his former team. He caught three passes for 61 yards on the day.
For McManus, he was made the scapegoat for the loss as he missed two field goals, including a 51-yard attempt as time expired. That kick would have won the game.
His first miss was blamed more on Joseph than on him. With 18 seconds left in the first half and facing a 4th-and-9 from the Houston 44-yard line, Joseph decided to send McManus out for a 62-yard field goal. He missed. That then gave the Texans great field position to work with and after two quick completions by Deshaun Watson, Ka’imi Fairbairn booted a 46-yard field goal to end the first half.
Instead of going into the half down three, the Broncos went in down six and that proved to be the difference in the game. It seemed that Joseph’s coaching seat became boiling hot following this loss.
It was a game that revolved around the kicking game. In addition to that series prior to halftime, Fairbairn made a 37-yard kick with less than a minute to play to put the Texans up by two points just prior to the miss by McManus.
Kickoff for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. MT and the contest will air on CBS. Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon will call the action.
A dead rivalry since 2011, Texas used to play Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night. Here is the series history between these two bitter rivals.
One of the best rivalries in all of college football, the annual Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M was played every single year from 1915-2011. The rivalry had started before then, being played 22 times beginning in 1894.
Being played on Thanksgiving for the first time in 1901, it became an annual tradition beginning in 1996. Playing on the holiday for a total of 63 times, it was one of, if not the only, college football game played that night.
When Texas A&M left for the SEC in 2012, the matchup that had been played 118 times went dormant. There have been rumors of the two schools playing each other in a bowl game, but until then, it remains a dead rivalry.
Here is the series history of the historic Thanksgiving Day rivalry between the Longhorns and Aggies:
All-time series record: Texas leads 76-37-5
Largest wins: Texas 48-0 in 1898, Texas A&M 42-10 in 1985
Latest Texas win: Nov. 24, 2011
The final matchup between the two schools took place in College Station where the 25th ranked Longhorns faced now NFL quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Neither team lit up the stat sheet, with Texas having 237 yards and Texas A&M having 328. Both teams each had 10 penalties, totaling 187 yards.
The Aggies were in total control of the game in the middle of the second quarter, up 13-0. Their defense had forced the seventh straight Texas punt, but returner Dustin Harris muffed the punt and the Longhorns recovered. One play later, wide receiver Jaxon Shipley threw a double pass 41-yard touchdown to Blaine Irby.
After a couple A&M field goals to end the half, Tannehill threw a pick-six to Carrington Byndom to cut the Longhorn deficit to two. Later in the quarter, Quandre Diggs took a punt down to the Aggie nine-yard line to set up the field goal that gave Texas their first lead. The Longhorns extended that lead to 24-16 on their next drive via a Cody Johnson rushing touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, A&M scored 10 points in their final two drives, taking the 25-24 lead. With 1:48 left in the game, quarterback Case McCoy lead Texas on a drive to put them in field goal range that included a 25 yard run from McCoy. They set up kicker Justin Tucker to have a chance to end the rivalry with a game-winning field goal.
Tucker hit the field goal to give the Longhorns their 76th win in series history. Texas ended the rivalry the only way they knew how, with a win.
Latest Texas A&M win: Nov. 25, 2010
Thanksgiving night 2010 ended up being the final Lone Star Showdown that took place in Austin. The Aggies were ranked No. 17 at the time and had a chance to make an appearance in the Big 12 championship with a win. Even though they beat Texas by seven, they still came up a little short of winning the Big 12 South.
The story of the game was Texas A&M’s running back Cyrus Gray. On 27 rushes, he ran for 223 yards, averaging 8.3 yards per carry. A good chunk of his yards came on his two touchdowns, where he had an 84-yard score in the second quarter and a 43-yard touchdown that ended up being the game-winning score for Texas A&M.
For Texas, quarterback Garrett Gilbert was under-center, where he went 20-37 with 219 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. His one touchdown came late in the first quarter, as he found Marquise Goodwin for a 31-yard touchdown. Running back Cody Johnson had 107 yards on 14 carries, leading the Longhorns in rushing.
Down seven late in the fourth quarter, Texas had the opportunity to tie the game up in the red zone. On 3rd and 5, Gilbert threw his second interception of the night, sealing the A&M win.
Since the game ended in 2011, both teams have played different teams on Thanksgiving weekend. Texas has played TCU and Texas Tech on both Thanksgiving night and the day after the holiday. Add Kansas into the mix and the Longhorns have not had a consistent opponent. For Texas A&M, they have developed a small rivalry with LSU while also playing Missouri.
While it may be a long ways off, these two schools will find a way to renew the rivalry, hopefully on Thanksgiving night.
UT and TTU meet for the 69th time in their history on Friday. The road team has won four years in a row and Texas can snap that this year.
With the road team winning the last four games, Texas and Texas Tech meet for the 69th time on Friday. Playing every year since 1960, the Longhorns and Red Raiders go all the way back to the Southwest Conference. While neither team has anything to play for as far as bowl eligibility, Texas needs a win to avoid their sixth 6-6 or worse regular-season record this decade.
Here is the series history between the Longhorns and Red Raiders:
All-time series record: Texas leads 51-17-0
Largest wins: Texas 58-7 in 1999, Texas Tech 33-9 in 1994
Latest Texas win: Nov. 10, 2018
Last season’s game against Texas Tech was an offensive slugfest that saw 38 of its 75 points scored in the fourth quarter. Both teams had over 450 total yards, including huge days for both Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger and Texas Tech quarterback Jett Duffy.
The Red Raiders were able to both throw and run the ball, having 595 total yards on offense. Duffy was the main guy for Texas Tech, throwing for 444 yards, while also leading the team in rushing with 80. Completing 78.7% of his passes and throwing four touchdowns, Duffy found seven different receivers. Antoine Wesley caught two of Duffy’s touchdowns and also racked in 171 receiving yards.
For the Longhorns, Ehlinger had one of his best days of the year, going 22-34 with 312 yards and four touchdowns. Three different receivers had over 50 yards for Texas, as Lil’ Jordan Humphrey led the way with 159 and Devin Duvernay and Jerrod Heard followed with 66 and 54 receiving yards respectively.
The play of the game came with 0:21 left in the game, tied at 34. Ehlinger threw a ball down the right sideline toward Humphrey, who reached over his defender, snagged the ball away from him, and went into the endzone to win the game for the Longhorns.
Texas won 41-34, making them 7-3 on the year. It was the fourth year in a row the road team had won in the series and Texas’ fifth straight win in Lubbock.
Latest Texas Tech win: Nov. 24, 2017
Playing on the Friday after Thanksgiving in 2017, both teams really struggled to throw the ball, with Texas completing 57% of their throws and Texas Tech completing 44%. To make matters worse, both teams threw two interceptions, turning the ball over a total of six times.
Late in the fourth quarter leading 23-20, Texas had a 3rd and 2 from their own 42-yard line. With 2:18 left in the game, a first down would have sealed the game for the Longhorns as Texas Tech only had one timeout left. Ehlinger scrambled to his right, threw across the middle and it was intercepted by cornerback Justus Parker. He took the ball all the way to the Texas 15 yard line, setting the Red Raiders up with a chance to win it.
Two plays later, Texas Tech quarterback Nic Shimonek found Cameron Batson for the go-ahead touchdown. On the final possession for the Longhorns, Ehlinger threw another interception with 0:55 left in the game, giving the Red Raiders the 27-23 win in Austin.
Struggling all day offensively, Texas fell to 6-6 on the season, giving them their fourth straight season with at least six losses. For Texas Tech, they also went to 6-6 and gained bowl eligibility for just the fourth time in seven years.
Texas will play Texas Tech on Friday at 11:00 a.m. CST on Fox.
The Denver Broncos will travel to western New York on Sunday to face the Buffalo Bills in Week 12.
Having to rebound after a devastating loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Denver Broncos now take a road trip to a place they haven’t been able to win in for over 12 years.
Though the Broncos and Buffalo Bills both play in the AFC, the teams have met just seven times since the turn of the century. Buffalo has won four of those contests, including three of the last four.
The Broncos have played 25 games in Buffalo with the Bills holding a 14-11 edge in those games. The last time the Broncos won in Buffalo was back in September 2007. In that game, Jason Elam booted three field goals, including the game-winner on the last play of the game to give Denver a 15-14 victory.
That was actually the Broncos’ third straight win in Buffalo but the Bills have taken the last two, including a 26-16 win in the most recent game between the two teams back in September 2017.
Buffalo holds the lead in the all-time series as well at 21-16-1.
Longtime fans will remember classic encounters between these teams involving John Elway and Jim Kelly, both members of the famed 1983 draft class.
The only thing similar between the starting quarterbacks for each team now is that they share the same last name. Josh Allen is the quarterback for the Bills while Brandon Allen will be making his third career start for the Broncos.
Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. MT and the game will be televised on CBS. Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon will have the call.
Texas’ third most-played opponent, Baylor comes into Austin with only one loss. The Longhorns can make it five wins in a row on Saturday.
Texas and Baylor have been playing against each other for a long time, with the first game dating back to 1901. Only Texas A&M and Oklahoma have played the Longhorns more. The Bears are also the team Texas has beaten the most in their history. Dominating the series for years, the momentum swung towards Baylor in the first half of the decade. Now on a four-game winning streak and back in favor of Texas, they can add another win against an old rival on Saturday.
Here is the series record between the Longhorns and Bears:
All-time series record: Texas leads 78-26-4
Largest wins: Texas 77-0 in 1913, Baylor 50-7 in 1989
Latest Texas win: Oct. 13, 2018
Last season’s victory against Baylor was one that was led by then backup and now SMU quarterback Shane Buechele. Sam Ehlinger left the game injured in the first quarter and Buechele played well in this place.
Buechele was 20-34 with 184 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. His touchdown was a 44-yard deep throw to Collin Johnson who beat one on one coverage down the right sideline to give the Longhorns a 13-10 lead.
Where the Longhorns really succeeded though was on the ground. Keaontay Ingram had a season-high 110 yards on just 19 carries. Tre Watson contributed 41 yards and Texas rushed for 170 total yards. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had the only rushing touchdown for the Longhorns, scoring on a wildcat formation touchdown.
Holding Baylor go 100 rushing yards, the Bears’ 88 rushing yards were third-fewest Texas allowed in the regular season. Quarterback Charlie Brewer led the Baylor in rushing with 22 yards. As for passing the ball, Brewer struggled, only completing 51% of his throws. His 240 yards, a touchdown, and an interception were apart of an offensive struggle for the Bears.
Texas won 23-17, making it four wins in a row against Baylor. It is the longest winning streak the Longhorns have had in the series since winning 12 straight from 1998 to 2009.
Latest Baylor win: Oct. 4, 2014
Ranked No. 7 at the time, Baylor was riding a 4-0 start with an average margin of victory of 41 going into the 2014 matchup against Texas. Under first-year Head Coach Charlie Strong, Texas was 2-2 and still trying to find themselves.
Both quarterbacks had an awful day, completing a combined 41% of their throws. Baylor’s Bryce Petty was 7-22 with 111 yards. Two of those seven completions were second-half touchdowns to Antwan Goodley and Corey Coleman. Texas’ Tyrone Swoopes was a little better going 16-34 with 144 yards, but he had two interceptions.
Both teams excelled running the ball, especially the Bears. Baylor’s Shock Linwood averaged 5.3 yards per carry, with 148 yards on 28 carries. Other running back Johnny Jefferson had 72 yards on 11 carries. Texas had Jonathan Gray and Malcolm Brown go for 134 yards on 24 carries, while Gray scored the Longhorns’ only points of the game.
In a low scoring affair, both offenses struggled to find points. The only scoring play of the first half was a first-quarter blocked field goal by Baylor and Terrell Burt returned it 62 yards to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.
Baylor beat the Longhorns 28-7, making it their second win in Austin since 2010. Before those two wins, it had been since 1991 that the Bears beat Texas on the road. Baylor ended the season 11-1 and just missed out on the inaugural College Football Playoffs, while Texas stumbled to a 6-7 season.
Texas will play Baylor on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST on FS1.
The Denver Broncos have had a lot of success against their Week 11 opponent, the Minnesota Vikings.
The Denver Broncos (3-6) return from their bye week to face the Minnesota Vikings (7-3) in Week 11. These teams don’t see each other often, facing off just 14 times in their histories.
The Broncos have been on the right side of the last three meetings between the teams. All three of those games have been decided by three points.
October 4, 2015: Broncos 23, Vikings 20
The Broncos shook off a poor performance from Peyton Manning to win this one. Brandon McManus broke a 20-20 tie with a 39-yard field goal with less than two minutes left to play that ended up being the game-winner. Ronnie Hillman had a 72-yard touchdown run.
December 4, 2011: Broncos 35, Vikings 32
This game was the first really big game in the career of Demaryius Thomas. As a second-year wide receiver, he had his first 100-yard game on this day, catching four passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns from Tim Tebow.
Matt Prater kicked a 23-yard field goal on the last play of the game to break a tie and clinch the win.
December 30, 2007: Broncos 22, Vikings 19
This was the season finale between two teams that finished outside of the playoffs. The Broncos held a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Vikings mounted a furious rally to send the game into overtime.
In the extra session, Jason Elam booted a 30-yard field goal to win it.
The last time the Vikings beat the Broncos came back in October 2003. The Broncos had the combination of Steve Beuerlein and Danny Kanell at quarterback in that one and the Vikings were able to get a 28-20 win.
The all-time series between the two teams is tied at seven wins apiece.
Perhaps the biggest game between the Broncos and Vikings is the one that never happened. The two teams were on a collision course in 1998 heading to Super Bowl XXXIII. However, the Vikings, who were an absolute juggernaut on offense that season, were upset by the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game.
To this day, many football fans still wonder what would have happened if the Broncos and Vikings squared off in the Super Bowl.
Only meeting 16 times, Texas has dominated Iowa State. With ISU only winning twice, the stakes have been raised the past two years.
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Texas plays a crucial road game against Iowa State and must win if they want to stay alive in the Big 12 championship picture. These two teams have a short history as they have only met a total of 16 times. The Longhorns dominated the begging of the series, winning seven straight. Even after an Iowa State win in 2010, Texas continued to win, beating the Cyclones seven out of the last eight.
Here is the series record between the Longhorns and Cyclones:
All-time series record: Texas leads 14-2-0
Largest wins: Texas 56-3 in 2007, Iowa State 24-0 in 2015
Latest Texas win: Nov. 17, 2018
Last season’s matchup with Iowa State was a ranked matchup as No. 13 Texas played host to the 18th ranked Cyclones. This was a strange game for the Longhorns, as both Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele got snaps.
Ehlinger was only able to play in the first half as he picked up a shoulder injury. Before he was forced to leave the game, he was able to get the Longhorns off to a strong start, scoring 17 points on five drives. He went 12-15 with 137 yards and a touchdown. He was also effective on the ground, having 32 yards and a touchdown.
Without Ehlinger, the Longhorns struggled, punting on four out of their six second-half drives. The other two ended with a Daniel Young fumble and a Shane Buechele 27 yards touchdown to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey. On the other hand, the Texas defense was outstanding, stopping an Iowa State offense that was averaging 427.2 yards over their five-game winning streak, to 210 yards. David Montgomery only ran for 33 yards as the Cyclones struggled running the ball.
The 24-10 win ended up being huge for the Longhorns as it was the reason they made it into the Big 12 championship game. Had Iowa State won the game, the Cyclones’ win against Kansas State the next week would have propelled them into the title game. Instead, Texas went on to beat Kansas and played in its first Big 12 championship game since 2009.
Latest Iowa State win: Oct. 31, 2015
2015 was a miserable year for the Longhorns and the matchup against Iowa State was no different. Going into the game, the Cyclones were 2-5, on a three-game losing streak, and allowing nearly 34 points a game on that streak.
Naturally, a Texas offense being led by Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard at quarterback put up a goose egg. Swoopes and Heard threw for 85 yards on 12-22 passing. The running game was not much better, as they averaged 3.7 yards per carry. Swoopes led the team in that category, rushing for 58 yards on 10 carries.
Iowa State’s offense pounded the ball on the ground, as they had 54 rushing attempts. They got 238 yards on those 54 attempts and added on two touchdowns. Running back Mike Warren had a career-high 32 carries with 157 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Joel Lanning was a mediocre 19-37 with 188 yards and a touchdown.
After defeating the Cyclones four years in a row, Texas shut out on the road, 24-0. It was their second time being shut out in two years after going a decade without it. Texas ended the season at 5-7, the first of back to back Charlie Strong 5-7 seasons.
Texas will play Iowa State on Saturday at 2:30 PM CST on FS1.
