About an hour before Sunday’s kickoff, when the parking lots of Empower Field at Mile High would normally be packed and buzzing with tailgating fans, a few boys threw a football and the sound of a missed catch echoed off the pavement.
Inside the stadium, it was more of the same eeriness as fans were allowed at a Broncos game for the first time this year under COVID-19 restrictions. The 5,700 on hand to witness the loss to the Buccaneers, however, experienced a decidedly subdued atmosphere as Denver fell to 0-3 in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.