Yesterday, Football Outsiders published an interesting piece by Brian Stonelake making the case that NFL teams in the Western United States struggle when they have to play on the road in the early slot on Sunday afternoons. He argues that due to the slow adjustment of the circadian rhythm, teams that play at a time where their bodies feel like it’s the morning perform worse against teams that do not.
Since Stonelake’s study implicates the Broncos, and I’m familiar enough with their history, I thought I would break down their performance in early Sunday games to see how they have fared. This is of particular current interest since the Broncos are going to have four early Sunday games in 2016 (Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Tennessee, and New Orleans).