The Denver Broncos are on their first-ever 10-day trip to the East Coast, which includes two early games and a week at a luxury resort in the Allegheny Mountains.
One interesting feature of the resort is a huge underground bunker that was designed to be an emergency shelter for U.S. Congress during the Cold War.
With this unique setting, the Broncos adopted a “bunker mentality” and started their trip with a solid 26-7 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, bouncing back from an 0-2 start.
“It gets us rolling in a big way being on the road this next week,” said safety Brandon Jones, who made a 37-yard interception return and a 34-yard fumble return on Sunday.
“We executed in all three phases and I can’t say that we’re surprised; we put in the work and know what we’re capable of when we’re all on the same page. So, it was really just a great team win.”
Instead of returning to Denver, the Broncos went to The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a place where coach Sean Payton had taken the New Orleans Saints for training camp from 2014 to 2016.
They are following their regular weekly schedule as they prepare to face the New York Jets next weekend.
“Yeah, we’re exactly like we’re back in Denver relative to our times,” Payton said. “We just don’t deal with the time change now.”
While at the resort, they might enjoy some of the 35 retail shops, 20 restaurants and lounges, and five championship golf courses. The bunker, built seven stories underground in 1962 for Congress in case of a nuclear attack, is now a popular attraction with daily tours.
This is only the seventh time since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger that the Broncos have played two consecutive games in the Eastern Time Zone with early kickoffs.
