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          NFL Nation

          Broncos have a date with plenty of history

          • Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior WriterOct 27, 2014, 05:30 PM ET
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              Jeff Legwold is a senior writer who covers the Denver Broncos and the NFL at ESPN. Jeff has covered the Broncos for more than 20 years, joining ESPN in 2013. He also assists with NFL draft coverage, including his annual top 100 prospects. Jeff has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors since 1999. He has attended every scouting combine since 1987.
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          ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- It's not an issue, a point of controversy or even bulletin board material even if there had been an actual bulletin board in the locker room at any point over the past decade.

          But it is a riddle of sorts, an unanswered question, the Denver Broncos say they feel like they're asking almost annually.

          That if the NFL schedule is indeed based on predictable rotations, with pre-ordained slots, that offer a different collection of non-divisional opponents each season to go with a team that finished in the same place in their division as you finished in yours, how, then, do the Broncos keep facing the New England Patriots in Gillette Stadium.

          "That's what I'm asking y'all," said Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. with a laugh. "Y'all supposed to tell me that."

          Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has pointed it out, just before each of the previous two trips "it's always random they say, but it's been strange how that works out."

          Sunday's game in Gillette Stadium will mark the third consecutive season the Broncos have played a regular-season game in the Patriots' home park, following a Nov. 24 game last season to go with a Oct. 7 game in 2012. Add in regular-season trips to the grounds just off Route 1 in 2006 (Sept. 24) and in 2008 (Oct. 20), and that brings the grand total to five regular-season trips in the past nine years.

          Toss in a playoff game -- a 45-10 Patriots' win to close out the 2011 season that was Tim Tebow's last game as a starting quarterback for Denver -- and the Broncos are well acquainted with area hotels. Perhaps it stings a little more for the Broncos given the Broncos are 1-3 in those previous regular-season meetings, including last season's 34-31 overtime loss when the Broncos led 24-0 at halftime.

          Asked Monday if he's every inquired about the scheduling quirk, Broncos head coach John Fox said: "I actually did ask that question and I was reassured that it'll flip in the future. So, when exactly that is, I'm not sure."

          The schedule template for the 2015 season does include a home game for the Broncos to play the AFC East team that finishes the regular season in the same slot in that division as the Broncos finish in the AFC West this year.