The National Football League realigned its divisional and conference structure in 2002 with the introduction of the Houston Texans as an expansion franchise, and with that adopted a scheduling format that determines the majority of each team’s opponents.

The formula for each team's 16-game schedule includes: home and away games against its three division opponents (6 games), the four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games), the four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (4 games) and two games against conference opponents based on the prior year's standings (2 games).

Denver’s 2013 schedule includes games against the other three teams in the AFC West, all four teams in the AFC South, all four teams in the NFC East, a home game versus the AFC North champion — Baltimore — and a road game at the AFC East champion — New England.

The 2013 campaign features five 2012 playoff teams — Houston, New England, Baltimore, Indianapolis and Washington.

The actual schedule should be released by the NFL in April.

Tentatively, for the 2014 season, the AFC West will match up against the AFC East (New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets) and NFC West (Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals) as part of the NFL's scheduling rotation.