Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - AFC Squad: Denver Broncos Not Contenders Yet

Starting point is 00:00:00 Ravens, Chargers, Bengals, Broncos, what's the confidence level around the AFC and who are the biggest winners and losers in the conference at the NFL trade deadline? It's time for the AFC squad. You are talking ball with the AFC squad. From the Chiefs to the Bills, the Ravens to the Texans and everyone else around the AFC, it's the local experts of the locked on podcast network bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming weekend for hard-hitting AFC football with our harder hitting takes. Buckle up. It's the AFC Squad and we have a seat for you.

Starting point is 00:00:37 No hurt feelings allowed. Squad up. You're part of the AFC Squad. What's happening, everyone. Welcome into AFC Squad here for another weekly edition on the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Grab your favorite beverage. Get your favorite food and snack and sit down as we break down the wild landscape around

Starting point is 00:00:55 the AFC here today. I'm Cody Roark. host of Lockdown Broncos. And we got a star-studied cast here today. Chris Carter, Locked on Steelers, rejoined in the show, David Drogan Meyer of Locked-on Chargers, making his first appearance. Mike DeBate, Lockdown Patriots, Kevin Ostriker,

Starting point is 00:01:12 locked on Ravens. Week 10 of the NFL season is here. And I tell you what, it's been a wild ride so far. There's a lot to obviously go through here. This show is brought to you by our friends over there at prize picks. Go to PricePix.com slash Lockdown NFL and use code all overcase Lockdown NFL to win $50 instantly when you play. play five dollars.

Starting point is 00:01:31 The NFC show, they were talking a little smack. I ain't going to lie. They were saying that you look at where the NFC is at with all the top heavy teams. They said that the AFC's middle class is essentially poor. So I'm curious for your thoughts on that. They were taking shots. I feel like this year the AFC is chaotic. Chris Carter, I'm going to throw it to you first here.

Starting point is 00:01:49 Your initial thoughts on the state of the conference 10 weeks into things. I think one thing that's coming through is that there are certain divisions in the in the AFC that aren't delivering and mainly I'm talking about the AFC North. I feel like I'm going to do some election work and do us to do some battleground states and point to the edge of north. This division over here is underperforming

Starting point is 00:02:11 right now in this state. No, it's just, but I mean, you look at both the Browns and the Bengals were expected to be much better teams than they are right now. The Bengals could still come back. I'm sounding like John King. I'm getting sick of myself. But the Browns at 2 and 7, I thought they'd be bad.

Starting point is 00:02:27 I didn't think they'd be this bad to start. The Bengals at four and five, they're coming back after a rough start. But the Steelers and Ravens, they're right where I thought they were. That's the thing that you look at is that you got more bottom feeders in the AFC. Look at the AFC East, three and six jets, two and six dolphins, two and seven Patriots. Then you go to the AFC South, Titans two and six, Jaguars, two and seven, Raiders two and seven in the AFC West. You have, compare that to, you have three two-win teams in the NFC, one three-win team in the NFC. So, like, I think that's where the NFC right now can talk all.

Starting point is 00:02:58 out of smack because they they got those teams. But I think as we get to the second half of the season, we'll get to see some things like there's a big matchup this weekend that I'll be covering Steelers, commanders, six and two versus seven and two. And we'll see where some of these teams lay out as more of these matches, matchups come across. Well, and let's throw it now obviously to David here, locked on Chargers. Look, the Charter's been a team that's kind of, they haven't been talked about as much,

Starting point is 00:03:21 even though they're five and three, right? Obviously, they had the early season by Justin Herbert had the injury. They're playing really good football. and Herbert's ball in, and right now you have three teams in the AFC West that are in the playoff picture as it currently stands. Your thoughts here on obviously the Chargers and where they're at right now. Well, it's nice to have a legitimate head coach for the first time in 25 years. I'll tell you that. They've had three first time head coaches back to back to back, trying to figure out how to coach at the NFL level. And finally, we have a growing up in the

Starting point is 00:03:49 room. Jim Harbaugh has entered the chat and for the first time in a very, very long time since Marty Schottenheimer, they have an identity. They know a brand of football that they want to play. They're playing excellent defense. They have the number one scoring defense in the entire NFL, giving up less than 13 points per game. So when you have an excellent defense and you have a elite quarterback, who is not turning the ball over,

Starting point is 00:04:14 who is really doing a great job of pushing the ball down the field with, you know, probably a group of wide receivers that, you know, probably one of the worst in the league. I think we can sit here and say they're greatly overperforming and a lot of that has to do with the offensive scheme with Jim Harbaugh

Starting point is 00:04:33 and with Justin Herbert being otherworldly and really taking the talent and elevating them as much as they possibly can. The 33rd team seems to continue to disrespect Justin Herbert. I don't personally understand the hate. I think Herbert with what he's able to do in the passing

Starting point is 00:04:49 game right now with not as many big time contributors. It's crazy to think that this is a team that no longer has Mike Williams, Keenan Allen, but you know, they got Quentin Johnston, that you glad McConkey's emerging a little bit, but it's not like, it's not star power right now in LA, which is very interesting,

Starting point is 00:05:04 but they're still finding ways to grind it out. Harbaugh's got to run the ball mentality. They're making plays right there. Mike DeBate, locked on Patriots. I mean, we were excited about Drake May and everything. And then it's like, all right, then now you, the Patriots have a little bit of a clunker and the end of it on the road against the Tennessee Titans,

Starting point is 00:05:20 which honestly, Tennessee is a bottom dwelling team right now. They're, jokes, I think, in the AFC. But Drake May at the buzzer, you know, giving them a chance there. And unfortunately, you lose an overtime. Well, I think Dave talking about one of the worst wide receiver cores in the AFC and maybe in the NFL, thought I was being engaged there for a moment.

Starting point is 00:05:38 I'm probably going to upset a lot of my listeners when I say that. But, you know, it's rough times for the Patriots wide receivers. But the one bright spot that continues to come back, Cody, is the play of Drake May. And you saw 11.82 seconds. It took for Drake to scramble. utilize the field, use his legs, go off script. It wasn't the prettiest of passes. It was a little bit of luck at the end, if everybody's being honest.

Starting point is 00:06:03 But see, this is what an NFL quarterback does. You turn water into wine. You turn something from nothing. And that's exactly what he did. So if he continues to do that and endear himself to this fan base, especially, but really, I think, incorporate that type of excitement into the New England Patriots offensive style, they've got stuff to build on, but it's still a long ways away.

Starting point is 00:06:27 That team needs a lot of help on the offensive line. They need help when it comes to this wide receivers group. And the running game needs to get going. This is what the Patriots fans were sold on prior to the season. Alex Van Pelt's going to come out. He's going to use this outside zone to be able to incorporate a play action, really kind of kickstart play action, use it to navigate the middle of the field, and then take shots deep down the field, have not seen enough.

Starting point is 00:06:53 of that yet and the Patriots defense is faltered because they are missing several key members of that defense that came up big for them last year. It's been like the perfect storm for New England really to kind of fall apart this year. And yeah, you're looking at a very good microcosm of their season in that first overtime drive for the Tennessee Titans, grind them out, keep them on their heels, have an old foe like Nick Fult come in, kick a 25-yard field goal. And then in desperation, you can't get the job done. That seems to be the M.O. this year for the New England patients.

Starting point is 00:07:27 Well, look, the Huffrey agency to hopefully get Drake May some weapons and may the odds forever be in their favor here. Kevin Ostracker, locked on Ravens. Look, Kevin, can we forget about the game that just happened this past Sunday? No, no, no. The Baltimore Ravens putting on a clinic against the Denver Broncos. And look, Kevin, I'll say this, and I've caught flack on this on social media. I don't understand.

Starting point is 00:07:48 I don't think it's a hot take or a wild take. like Denver do the first, I'd say right until the final two minutes of the first half. I mean, they were there competing trading barbs there with Lamar Jackson and them. It was fun to see, but then all of a sudden it's like Bo Nick steps off the field at 1710. The next time he steps foot on the field, it's 3110 because they score right before half. They get the ball right after halftime and they score again. When the Ravens offense, Kev, is playing to the level in which they can. I don't see any team beating them.

Starting point is 00:08:19 To be honest with you, they, They ran it back against Kansas City. I think that they would, I think that they would destroy Kansas City in this situation. You know, Kansas City is undefeated. I know Chiefs fans are going to hear us like, ooh, why are you talking about that? The Baltimore Ravens, it's so hard because it's picked your poison, right? You sell out to stop the run against Derek Henry. Lamar's become such an elite passer.

Starting point is 00:08:37 He's got speedy options like Zay Flowers. It is truly a master class watching what Lamar was able to do. And he made a strongest case once again for MV3. And unfortunately, the Broncos are not there yet. Yeah, I mean, there's only one team that can beat the Ravens at the offense is playing like that and it's themselves. The Ravens can beat the Ravens with some of the mistakes that they have made over the course of the season obviously contributed to their loss against the Raiders and they're

Starting point is 00:09:00 lost against the Browns just a couple of weeks ago. But I mean, I can't say enough about Lamar and how he's grown over the course of his career, particularly this season. We were sitting here last year and we were wondering, okay, well, when's the next time we're going to see Lamar play like this? When's the next time? And he's just shattered everything. Even back in 2019, that offense was historic.

Starting point is 00:09:19 They broke all these rushing records and all these offensive records. And we were sitting there saying, are we ever going to see a Ravens offense like this again? Are we ever going to see? And here we are in 2024. And Derek Henry is on pace for what, 2000 plus rushing yards. He already has 1,000 yards plus in week 10 right now.

Starting point is 00:09:35 We just finished week nine. So the offense is incredible. The defense obviously has some work to do, particularly with the past rush and the secondary. I mean, it's apparent. They're better than their rankings project, though. I'll say that. They're better than that.

Starting point is 00:09:48 but it's clear that the past rush is weak right now. They have not, especially, I mean, I think you saw it Cody on Sunday, where Bowdo Nix did have some time to throw in a lot of situations on Sunday. So to me, I think that the Ravens are in a good position. I know we're going to get into the trade deadline a little bit later and talk about some of those teams, including what the Ravens did and didn't do. But to me, I think that when you go to this Ravens team, I mean, they are still a top contender and a lot of that has to do with Lamar.

Starting point is 00:10:17 I think it means it will have some pretty good football come the month of January and February from the AFC, the NFC standpoint. We'll see the NFC. I think you're having more teams that aren't in it right now to still have a chance to get in it. The AFC, a couple teams, Cincinnati being one of them will highlight that as well. But the NFL trade deadline came and gone. The AFC seemed to be a little bit more active than everybody else who are the biggest winners and losers.

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Starting point is 00:13:14 Download the app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50. instantly after you play your first $5 lineup prize picks run your game. The NFL trade deadline has come and gone, and we've seen who are some teams that are winners and losers in it all? Are there teams that should have made some moves? Certainly you can make your case here on the AFC Squad Show, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you so much, everyone for making our shows, respectively,

Starting point is 00:13:41 in the show that you watch every day, your first listen. We appreciate you. Trade deadline. Look, obviously, Tuesday was a big day on that front. everyone is monitoring. Okay, who's going where? What teams are going to make the big splashes? I don't necessarily think that any team in the AFC made like drastic splashes. I think if we're going to pick maybe in totality, I think we can include the last couple of weeks.

Starting point is 00:14:03 I want to include the Buffalo Bills in this conversation. I want to include the Kansas City Chiefs in this. But I want to throw it to Chris Carter here to start off because his team made two moves during the NFL trade deadline. They acquired Mike Williams from the New York Jets. and they acquired Preston Smith to pass rusher from the Green Bay Packers because you need some depth there at that position to help with that. And obviously, that's a strength that there is to get stronger. But now you get a wide receiver to pair alongside George Pickens and Russell Wilson. I mean, Chris, how big is this move here for the Steelers?

Starting point is 00:14:36 They're solid depth pieces, but they're not like complete needle movers and none of themselves. These are guys that are going to be parts of a bigger sum than just the moves themselves. And I think that that's where the Steelers are hoping to get a bigger change. For example, Mike Williams is a six-foot-four tall receiver. David, you know him well. He's not going to be the game breaker. He's not going to win you games by himself. But what he can do is he can be that guy across from George Pickens. Now, they can both line up on the outside and you have to honor both of them as deep threats. Whereas before, they and Jefferson, more of a strong slot guy than a go up and get a deep guy. Calvin Austin, more of a speedster that if he got behind you, he could be a problem.

Starting point is 00:15:13 But both Williams and Pickens are guys that you have to respect. their ability to go up and get the football in traffic. And with Russell Wilson, I think that's part of what the Steelers want to do. You look at yards per attempt right now when it comes to play action passing and overall passing right now. And Russell Wilson is among the top of the NFL, very small sample size, yes. But when you look at what the Steelers are trying to do, they're trying to run the ball and hit you deep, run the ball and hit you deep to keep your linebackers going back and forth. Oh, where are they going to go? Where are they going to go? Where the safeties? Do we have to stop Nigey Harris or do we got to stop George Pickens? That's where

Starting point is 00:15:44 the Steelers want to find their offensive balance. So Mike Williams helps towards that equation, that's what he brings. Again, he's not going to come out and have a thousand yards season and eight games. That's not happened. But what is going to happen is I think they're going to put him on the field with George Pickens, move Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin around based off of matchups they like they think they like and also throw in their double tight end sets. And they'll play that way. On the defensive side, Preston Smith, not a guy who's going to start or even get, I think, the third most amount of snaps as far as the edge rusher. But he gives them a fourth guy. And Mike Tom was actually kind of sneakily alluded to this in his Tuesday

Starting point is 00:16:17 a press conference like hours before they traded for Presto Smith, less than, less than two hours actually before they traded. But he was talking about, hey, when Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig were hurt at the same time, which they were, and Marcus Golden had retired during training camp for the Steelers. They were down to really just T.J. Watt at the edge rush a position. And it limited for some time that the amount of blitz packages they could call. And now that Alex Highsmith back, they got him, but they still don't have Herbig. And so they still only have their two starters. And so they're trying to be conservative and conserve their guys so they can have, have energy at the end. Now, Mike Tomlin said, Nick Herbig, looking like he might be able to play this week.

Starting point is 00:16:52 Now you trade for Preston Smith. Now you have four dues that you can trust that are NFL caliber players, not practice squad guys who can bring heat off the edge. And I think also Preston Smith, a bigger body guy, right? He's going to help stuff the run. He's a bigger body guy. Nick Herbick, a smaller, quicker guy. So now you have your options behind Highsmith and a lot, who I think are still the best edge rushing duo in football. You have behind them those two guys that you can flip around. that gives you more chess pieces to play with. And that's what Mike Tomlin loves to do on defense is play chess, move guys around, keep you guessing.

Starting point is 00:17:25 And we saw this last week, and I wrote about this in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, for the first time in like four years, they flopped T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith's sides for more than just a play in the game. And Alex Heism said, hey, we're experimenting with that because we see wherever T. Whenever T.J's line up on his side, we're seeing a tight end or running back in an extra line and go to stop him. Now we're forcing you to figure out where is he going to be a. just your offense, and it led to some miscommunications, which got that big sack,

Starting point is 00:17:50 strict fumble when he got single coverage or a single blocker against the Giants. So I think Presto Smith contributes to that equation, just like Mike Williams, contributes to that equation. Neither one will be the game breakers for the Steelers, but they'll be part of a bigger piece of the puzzle. Another team here that made a move is obviously the Baltimore Ravens. And look, I think the overall theme here is that the teams that made moves are teams that you necessarily, you're going to put in the contender category, right? Because they're trying to do whatever they can to make an extra push.

Starting point is 00:18:17 get as strong as they can. I know Broncos fans are not very happy. They didn't make any moves at the trade deadline, but it's like Denver's not a contender yet. They're not in that conversation. Sure, they're in contention to go to the playoffs, but they're not a contender. They're not one player away. So you don't do that right now, especially when you have all your draft picks, finally, you've got more salary caps base coming up. Kevin Ostriker of Lockdown Ravens, they went and they traded for cornerback, Tradavius, who at one point was always one of my guys that always highlighted when he was with the Buffalo bills, like, man, he's one of the best corners in football. Then he suffered a couple of major injuries. It's kind of set them back a little bit. Coming over from the LA Rams,

Starting point is 00:18:51 quick, quick thoughts on this. What does it boost for the Ravens defense that obviously, you know, they give up a lot of explosives in the passing department there. Yeah, I think it's depth is what it is. He's not going to be a guy that comes in and takes away snaps from Marlon Humphrey or Brandon Stevens or even Nate Wiggins at this point. But I think it's either your fourth cornerback or your third safety. I think that's what it could be. I honestly think that they might try him at safety. I think that might be the plan here. The Ravens have Powell Hamilton, who is one of the best, if not the best safeties in the league. And then you also have Marcus Williams, who there was a big drama situation last week with him.

Starting point is 00:19:25 He was healthy, but didn't play. And we don't know why. John Harbaugh called that an internal situation. I know we talked about this last week. When you hear those words, internal situation, that's never good. You never want that to happen. But so if you move Trey White to safety, I think that less than some of the burden. And it's better than what they have otherwise.

Starting point is 00:19:44 Eddie Jackson has been terrible for them this season. And the other guys have been pretty young and inexperienced. So at the end of the day, the Ravens' top need was pass rusher, and they did not go out and address that. There were rumors that maybe they could have brought back at Clayus Campbell or Judeaibian Clowny, maybe Azizosur-O-Larie, who obviously ended up staying with the Giants. But they upgraded their depth, wide receiver three with Deonté Johnson last week, and then corner four slash safety three with Trey White. Those aren't needle-moving moves.

Starting point is 00:20:13 And I think that's kind of where the disappointment with Ravens fans lies right now, where I think if you'd ask people, it would be some level of, oh, well, your need was right in front of, you didn't take it. And on top of that, Baltimore entered the day with 11 draft picks. They ended the day with 10,

Starting point is 00:20:28 but they also got a seventh round back for Trey White. So you're saying, all right, well, if you're contending and you think this is the year, right? Your offense has no problems. It's historic and that's a unit that will carry you. Do you want to go out there and see if there's a guy that can help you? Now, of course, it takes two teams, right? You can't just, the Ravens can say,

Starting point is 00:20:45 hey, give me this guy, give me that guy. is going to take them from you. But it seemed like the market for pass rushers maybe was a little bit higher than the Ravens wanted to play with, especially because with Lamar Jackson on a big deal and other guys you have to pay coming up like Kyle Hamilton, Tyler, Tyler, you have to make some tough financial decisions. And hitting on draft picks is ever so more important. We'll go a little rapid fire here, David and Mike DeBate.

Starting point is 00:21:09 Looking at some other teams, obviously the teams that you guys covered didn't make any moves either. But I think looking at the broad spectrum of the AFC and I'm including the, the Chiefs and the Bills in this because they made moves, not at the deadline, but within the window. The Bills adding Amari Cooper, that was a big move for them. In the first week, he was there. He caught a touchdown pass didn't play last week. I think he's going to have a tremendous impact for Josh Allen and the bills.

Starting point is 00:21:31 Definitely one to watch. But right now, we're going to talk about the Andre Hopkins going to the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. Obviously coming off of an impressive performance, eight catches, 88 yards, two touchdowns here. But then you look at the Steelers, the moves we talked about here, the Ravens. The Bengals, acquiring Khalil Herbert. that was more of a move based on assessing you to the injury to Zach Moss. In your opinion, from the AFC standpoint, who won the NFL trade deadline of all the teams that we've discussed so far? Let's go wrap for a start with David, Mike, and then we'll obviously talk about some of the bigger games here in week 10.

Starting point is 00:22:01 How do we sit here and we talk about the trade deadline and the chiefs acquiring another weapon? Why is that, why is that the case? Why are we sitting here about an 8 and 0 team? Adding a wide receiver that's going to make them even better than they already are now. It just makes me sick to my stomach having to see the chiefs twice a year and now sitting here on top of the world looking for a three Pete Adding a true difference maker wide receiver after dealing with all the injuries. I just think that there's a little bit of envy out there because the chiefs and their general manager Like they just go out and add like if there's an issue they need to correct they go and they make it happen There is no if ands or buts they go make the moves and they do it every single year and that's why they can

Starting point is 00:22:46 continuously put themselves in positions to win a lot of damn games. And so that's why everyone else in the AFC and the AFC West in particular are like, oh no, here we go again. Thankfully they get March on Lattimore. Thank God. Mike, what are your thoughts? Who, who won the, the AFC trade deadline? Yeah, I mean, I have to go with the defending champions as well.

Starting point is 00:23:08 And look, I'll put the Homer cap on. I like their addition of Joshua O'Shea into this defense. This is a guy that has sideline to sideline speed, the ability to get after the quarterback. When he has a talented group around him and a pass rusher that's capable of taking on double teams, he can get free and he can get after the quarterback. I really am anxious to see what he can do in a Steve Spagnolo defense with George Carloftus, with Chris Jones. These are the types of players that set the table for someone like a Joshua Ushay to be able to get after the quarterback. We saw it in 2022, 11 and a half sacks. That was a career high for Joshua. He definitely is motivated to make

Starting point is 00:23:43 an impact on this team. And I think if he gets the opportunity, he can be a sneaky good acquisition for the defending champs in that regard. And then how can you go wrong, like David said, with picking up a guy like D'Andre Hopkins? But very impressed by what the Buffalo Bills did and picking up Amari Cooper. That's a big weapon for Josh Allen. And I'm a fan of the little moves. Chris, you talked earlier about Preston Smith. I love this move for the Steelers. This is a big body, 65, 265. And he fits perfectly into a defense that's predicated on pressure. Sometimes it's the little non-needle-moving moves that help get you over the top. I like that for the Steelers.

Starting point is 00:24:21 And Kevin, I actually do like the addition of Tredavius White to this defense in Baltimore. Again, I've heard Bill Belichick say numerous times about Tredavius White in his days with the Buffalo Bills. Don't let that guy find your weakness. He will exploit it. And even if he's not going to be the needle mover on the field, that leadership, that experience accounts for a lot for a team like the Ravens that's looking to break through and beat teams like the Buffalo Bills, like the Kansas City Chiefs. So a lot of good sneaky moves here for

Starting point is 00:24:50 the AFC right now. I'm excited by what these teams have done. Well, this weekend's games, Week 10 provides an opportunity to set the landscape for the AFC as the playoff picture becomes a little bit more clear for the Cincinnati Bengals. Is Thursday night's game against obviously the Baltimore Ravens? This is a chance for them to change their trajectory. We'll look at some of the biggest games around the AFC and Week 10 here on today's. squad show part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day today's squad show is brought to you our friends over there at fandu and as you all know it fandu is america's number one sports book and this nfl season they want to give you a big return inside of the app because right now new customers

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Starting point is 00:26:38 We're going to highlight a couple of the bigger matchups and we'll end the show with some bold predictions. Let's start with Thursday night football, big time game. Battle for the North there. Obviously, anytime those games go on in the AFC North, it is a slug fest there. The Cincinnati Bengals who haven't gotten off to the start that they hope for it, even though that Joe Burrough is playing out of his mind, they have an opportunity right here against the AFC divisional opponent

Starting point is 00:27:03 to maybe change a little bit of their luck here, but they're running up against Derek Henry and that Baltimore Ravens' offense, which look, the Bengals defense this year hasn't been their strong suit. They've been a big reason why they've lost games, hasn't been Joe Burrow. So this is a tough matchup. Big implications here. Kevin, how do you see this one going?

Starting point is 00:27:21 Yeah, I mean, that Cincinnati defense is so unimpressive to me. And I thought that they could have done something at the deadline. Maybe it brought another defensive lineman or just someone to help out. But we saw these two teams play just a couple weeks ago. And that was a 41 to 38 overtime thriller in Cincinnati. It was all offense, almost 80 points combined between those two teams. I mean, I'm expecting something along those lines again. I think that Baltimore's defense has the higher upside than Cincinnati does.

Starting point is 00:27:51 Now, obviously, Joe Burroughs playing great football right now. The battle between Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow gave us fireworks the first time, I think he's going to give us fireworks again. But at the time of this recording, it's not looking like T. Higgins is going to be able to suit up in this one. And obviously, the Bengals took it to the Raiders last week without a guy like T. Higgins. But for this Ravens defense, I trust their defense a little more than I trust that. Las Vegas defense, considering everything that's going on over there right now.

Starting point is 00:28:17 So I think that if Cincinnati loses this game, their playoff hopes are all but dashed. I mean, I know that Joe Burrell is talking about winning seven of nine or whatever he said, but you end this game with six losses. And I don't think nine and eight gets the end of the playoffs in this AFC, despite how middling, I guess, has been this year. It's going to be tough road for them regardless. And let's shift to another game here, a big game. Obviously, the Denver Broncos on the road.

Starting point is 00:28:43 at the Kansas City Chief. I'm going to set it up for David from an AFC West perspective here. Look, the Broncos, the biggest issue for them offensively has been consistency. But I think overall what we've seen from Bo Nix has been impressive. Kevin, we had so many Ravens fans coming into our channel after the game saying, hey, Bo Nicks, you guys have a pretty solid young player there in Bo Nix. Keep rocking with him, get him some weapons. There was that.

Starting point is 00:29:07 Denver's defense have a letdown game against the most electrifying offense right now in football. They had a hard time because they saw. sold out to try to stop Derek Henry. Lamar carved him up with the arm. Lamar didn't have to use his legs to run. He used his legs to extend outside the pocket and carve them up even further. But the Ken City Chiefs, I feel like it's an evergreen topic here on the show every week. And Chief's Kingdom's probably not going to be happy with this. But it's like, all right, they're undefeated, which is impressive, which is a testament to Andy Reid and a good team trying to find a way to win games. They're pulling it out. But I still feel like the Chiefs look more beatable now than they have

Starting point is 00:29:41 in years. But teams aren't doing it at the end. They're not capitalizing. You have a coin toss and Baker Mayfield's looking up like wow, okay, we're not even going to touch the ball. The chiefs are going to go down there and score. David, in your opinion, your quick thoughts here on the Broncos at the Chiefs. And they have been. They've been playing great defense even

Starting point is 00:29:57 last year. They were one of the top defenses in the NFL when their offense was nowhere near as religious as it has been in the past. And even this year, I think that's kind of carried over a little bit. They've dealt with some injuries on offense, but they've still figured out a way to win these games.

Starting point is 00:30:15 And that's what's so frustrating is they have so much experience winning that you have to be almost flawless for 60 whole minutes. Like it does it's not going to be 57's not 58, it's not 59. It's 60 entire minutes of football that's going to be required to beat the Chiefs because they know how to win so well. They are comfortable in those spots. They don't get flustered. they don't get worried they don't get uh you know they don't get flustered at all in those situations so for the broncos to win this game they're going to have to come up with some some big plays some big explosions maybe some special teams uh you know you know contributions from that front you know a big

Starting point is 00:30:57 return a big kick return something to swing the momentum because your margin for error against the chiefs is slim to none uh so in this football game i'm Like the Broncos defense, I just don't know if they have enough firepower on offense to be able to beat the chiefs and be able to play flawless enough football to keep it close enough to give themselves a chance. Yeah, fair points there. Let's go to another game here. Chris Carter, your Steelers coming off of a by week, well rested, getting some guys back potentially. Taking on the Red Hot Washington commanders and obviously Jaden Daniels. Well, I think one thing the Steelers have to do is they have to go out and assert.

Starting point is 00:31:39 their dominance in the trenches, which is what they're supposed to be strong at this year. The commanders are, what, the fourth best rushing team in the NFL, fourth best offense in the NFL. It's that balance that's made things easier for Jaden Daniels. The Steelers, I feel like their run game struggled against the Giants. Now, granted, there's things that they, you can point to like, hey, maybe there was this thing wrong here, this thing wrong there. They missed some cues.

Starting point is 00:32:01 And generally, Steelers have been a very good run defense this year. But they need to get back on it. And if you're looking at this game, I'm looking at the key being, can the Steelers, get after the commander's run game. Can they bottle that up, make that limited, and force Jaden Daniels to be predictable? The Steelers, as Kevin know, are used to playing running quarterbacks. You know, they're very good against Lamar Jackson. So they need to be able to show that against a young quarterback here in this situation. And if they do that, I think the defense gives themselves a chance. But on the flip side, the offense has to be efficient. The Steelers should have a win.

Starting point is 00:32:32 I don't think this is going to be an easy game. I think this is going to be a game that goes down to the wire. I think the commanders have some tricks up their sleeve. But at the same time, I do think, even though the Steelers aren't favored on Fandu, I do think that they will come out with a victory as things stand right now. It's going to make the AFC North battle between them and Baltimore a little more tricky, especially down the stretch here as the season goes on. Mike DeBate, your Patriots aren't playing in a big game this week.

Starting point is 00:32:54 But I want to get your thoughts here on one that I think is going to have massive implications on the AFC. Obviously, the Houston Texans coming off of a disappointing loss to AFC East rival New York Jets. Come on, Houston. What's up with that? That was unbelievably ridiculous to see that kind of have a let down there. CJ Stroud's not having a great year. It's been crazy to watch.

Starting point is 00:33:13 But they're going to host the red hot Detroit Lions. How do you see this one going? Is this favorable for the NFC or do you think Houston's in a position here where they can maybe sneak one and upset the Lions? Well, you know, you always have that puncher's chance. And even though it's been a tough year for C.J. Stroud, I mean, this Houston team has talent on both sides of the ball. They handed it to the Patriots a couple of weeks ago. So I'm not going to sit there and say they have no shot. But Detroit's playing at a high level. They're coming in at seven and one. They're feeling every bit of that record right now. And they want to be able to flex their muscle and show that they are indeed an elite team in the NFC. Most people believe they already are. This is an opportunity for them to really take it to an AFC contender in the Houston Texans right now.

Starting point is 00:33:55 Things could start deteriorating fast with the loss of Stefan Diggs, a lot going on in Houston right now that could factor into this game. This is a big one. If Houston wants to prove they're going to be a contender and still could remain that way through the season, And this is a game where they have to perform well. I would say I must win, but maybe not at that level, but they need to go out there and perform well. If they go out there and really get it handed to them by the Detroit Lions, could be a long season coming up for the Houston Texans.

Starting point is 00:34:25 It's a big game for them. Yeah, I mean, the Detroit Lions, they're standing on everybody's heads right now. They're running up the score on the Tennessee Titans one week. Like, they are in complete control right now in that NFC conference. And obviously check out the NFC squad show as well for the insubes. insight from all the hosts there on that side. They broke down a lot of stuff.

Starting point is 00:34:42 They even took some shots at Lockdown Packers host, Peter Bukowski, who said that the NFC North was a two-team race. It really is the one-team race. Jared Goff and those guys on the North, make sure you check that out here. The AFC is obviously wild. We'll be back next week for a week 11, AFC squad show here on the Lockdown podcast network where you know it's your team every day.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - AFC Squad: Denver Broncos Not Contenders Yet

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