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Three most likely picks for Broncos' 2016 season-opening opponent

Has it sunk in yet for you that Sunday night featured the last real NFL game until September?

You can have your preseason, the methadone of football. We like the real deal. Which is why we already are thinking about next season’s opener.

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It has become tradition for the defending champions to host the Thursday night Week 1 opener in their building, and we have no reason to think that the Denver Broncos — fresh off their Super Bowl 50 title — won’t be afforded that privilege.

Because we already know their home opponents, it’s easy to start thinking who they might face in that game. We have some pretty obvious possibilities.

First, the process of elimination. The Broncos face four teams — the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons — with absolutely zero shot of earning that opening slot. The Kansas City Chiefs are a good team that gave the Broncos fits at times this season, and they in theory have a whisper of a chance, but we think there are three more clear-cut choices.

They are:

Carolina Panthers — Remember them? We could have a Super Bowl 50 reprise in the opener, and it would allow Cam Newton another chance to face a Broncos defense that largely should remain intact and that befuddled him and his Panthers teammates on Sunday. There’s no mystery with this one, straight heat down the middle, and it would be a perfectly good choice. We have gone a few years between non-conference opponents facing each other in the opener, though, which makes us think this might not be the favorite.

New England Patriots — And you remember them. Yes, no matter whether Peyton Manning returns to play football in 2016, it almost certainly won’t be Manning vs. Tom Brady for (roughly) the 78th time. But there still is a healthy rivalry between these teams, and this would net some boffo ratings between what could be the two early favorites in the AFC, depending on who the Broncos’ QB is. Brady was mauled in the AFC championship, and Denver has not been the kindest place for him to play.

Indianapolis Colts — We can envision a Manning tribute here. It’s pretty easy, with his former team and some of his former teammates in the house. Archie and Olivia will be in a luxury box, and maybe Cooper shows up too. Plus, it’s a pretty good game on paper, and we all know the Colts are excellent on paper. The Colts beat the Broncos the past two times, last season in Indianapolis and two years ago in the playoffs in Denver. This would be a great stage for Andrew Luck to reintroduce himself to America. If Manning is done for good, this one is almost too obvious.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!