Game Preview, Week 13: Denver Broncos at Washington

November 29, 2025

by Steve Thomas

Welcome back from the bye week, everyone!  Cheer up – at least Washington didn’t get blown out last Sunday – that’s progress, right?  Of course, the same probably won’t be said next week, since the team gets to face off against one of the NFL’s best teams, the Denver Broncos, who are currently locked in a battle for the #1 seed in the AFC playoff race.  I doubt that they’ll let the likes of lowly Washington mess that up, but that’s why we play the game, as they say.  Can Washington makes this competitive?  Of course they can, although they probably won’t.  At this point, most fans are rooting for high draft order, but the truth is that no NFL player thinks that way.  I therefore expect Washington to at least give a full effort and try to make a game of it.  Can it happen?  We’ll see.  Our game preview is below.

Game time & location:           Sunday, November 30, 2025, 8:20 p.m. ET, Northwest Stadium, Raljon, Maryland; Gates                                                       open 5:20 p.m. ET; Red Zone parking lots open 3:20 p.m.; all other parking lots 4:20 p.m.

Television:                                NBC

Television announcers:          Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth

TV broadcast map:                  Click here

DC-area radio:                          BIG-100 (WBIG FM)

Washington radio network:    Click here

Broncos radio network:          Click here

Satellite radio:                           SiriusXM: 225 (Wash. broad.) / 88 (nat’l broad.; internet: 831

 

Washington roster:                 Click here

Washington depth chart:       Click here

Broncos roster:                       Click here

Broncos depth chart:             Click here

 

All-time head-to-head record vs Broncos: 7 – 8 (last 5: 3 – 2)

Last meeting:  W, September 17, 2023, 35 – 33

Broncos record: 9 –2 (1st place) / away: 3 – 2 / NFC: 3 – 0

Washington record: 3 – 8 (3rd place) / home: 2 – 3 / AFC: 2 – 1

Early odds: Broncos, -5.5

3 KEYS TO THE GAME

Defend the short to mid-level passing game

Denver is a high-volume passing team, and with star running back J.K. Dobbins on injured reserve, I think the Broncos offense will be dictated by quarterback Bo Nix’s success in the short to mid-level passing game.  They were already a high-volume passing team, with 388 attempts, which was tied for fourth-most in the NFL prior to week 12.  I suspect that they’ll rely even more on this aspect of their offense against Washington.  Mind you, it doesn’t seem likely that Washington’s linebackers and secondary will be able to play tight, mistake-free coverage given what we’ve seen so far this year, but that’s what they’ll have to do in order to win.  Good luck.

Play ball control offense

Even more important for Washington will be their ability to play ball-control offense and keep the Broncos’ offense off the field.  Once again, this probably isn’t likely against the Broncos defense, which is ranked fourth in points surrendered and is the best running defense in the NFL as measured by average yards per carry.  Nevertheless, if Washington is going to have a chance at getting a win in this game, they’ll need to control the ball and the clock.  Good luck, Washington.

Limit mistakes

Ordinarily, “limiting mistakes” wouldn’t be much a key to an NFL game, but Washington has been so bad over the past month and a half that they need to get back to basics.  Don’t make coverage mistakes, don’t drop balls, don’t trip heading into the end zone, don’t miss blocks, and don’t get silly penalties.  In other words, get back to the basics.  This is mandatory against a team as good as the Broncos.  Once again, I don’t think this is very likely.

3 KEY MATCHUPS

Terry McLaurin vs Patrick Surtain

This matchup may just be more of what I want to see happen rather than what will actually happen, given McLaurin’s injury state and the fact that he’s coming back after several weeks on the sidelines, but on paper, this sounds like a classic matchup of elite, #1 receiver versus elite, #1 corner.  Even at his best, McLaurin has sometimes have trouble against the NFL’s best corners, and considering how his year has gone, I’m not confident that he’s going to burst out with a huge game against Surtain.  If McLaurin plays and this matchup happens, it’s almost certainly going to be the highest-profile battle in the game.  Expect the television announcers to focus in on it.

Josh Conerly vs. Nic Bonitto

Bonitto is leading the Broncos in sacks, with 9.5 so far this season.  He’ll be facing off primarily with Conerly, the slowly improving rookie.  Conerly played poorly early in the season, but he’s slowly improved.  This matchup will be a good test for him to show the football world how far he’s come and what the team can expect from him in the future.  Protecting the quarterback – whether Mariota or Daniels – also happens to be of critical importance to the game.  Obviously.  Keep and eye out on how well Bonitto is penetrating Washington’s pocket, because if he is getting to the quarterback regularly, it’s probably going to be Conerly’s fault.

Mike Sainristil and Jonathan Jones vs Courtland Sutton

Ordinarily, this task would have fallen to some combination of Marshon Lattimore and Trey Amos, but with both of them out for the season on injured reserve, this task falls to Sainristil and Jones.  Yikes.  Sutton is Denver’s more dangerous receiver, with 45 receptions for 649 yards, 14.4 yards per reception, and 4 touchdowns.  Sainristil and Jones will be primarily tasked with keeping Sutton in check and preventing him from making the type of game-changing big plays that we’ve repeatedly seen from opposing teams this season.

OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (active roster only)

LP – limited practice                          FP – full practice                    DNP – did not practice

NIR – not injury related                      Q – questionable                     O – out

D – doubtful                                        NL – not listed

Washington	Broncos
TE Z. Ertz, NIR (rest); Wed: DNP; Thurs: NL’ Fri: NL	TE N. Adkins, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O
LB V. Miller, NIR (rest); Wed: DNP; Thurs: NL; Fri NL	OLB J. Elliss, hamstring; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q
LS T. Ott, illness; Wed: DNP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; game: Q	CB P. Surtain II, pectoral; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
RB C. Rodriguez, illness; Wed: DNP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP	WR P. Bryant, shoulder; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
T L. Tunsil, NIR (rest); Wed: DNP; Thurs: NL; Fri: NL	OLB J. Cooper, thumb; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
WR N. Brown, groin/knee; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: DNP; game: O	ILB A. Singleton, illness; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
WR T. Burks, finger; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP
QB J. Daniels, left elbow; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game O
WR J. Lane, hip; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP
LB F. Luvu, shoulder; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP
WR T. McLaurin, quad; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: DNP
S W. Harris, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
DE D. Jackson, knee; Wed: FP; Thurs: LP; Fri: DNP; game: O
LB A. Kaho, concussion; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
TE B. Sinnott, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
WR C. Moore, shoulder; Wed: NL; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
DT J. Kinlaw, NIR (rest); Wed: NL; Thurs: NL; Fri: DNP

Steve’s Prediction

Sorry, folks, but this one’s another blowout.  Broncos win 35 – 17.

Elevated

LS Zach Triner

DE T.J. Maguranyanga