Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BREAKING: Denver Broncos LB Alex Singleton SIDELINED After Cancer Diagnosis/Surgery

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos will face the Kansas City Chiefs this week in a big time, AFC West Showdown, but they'll be doing so without team captain and starting linebacker Alex Singleton. We'll break down what this means for the team and more here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Happy Tuesday, Broncos country. Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast,

Starting point is 00:00:32 part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network in the world. Thank you so much to all the everydayers out there in Broncos Country. If helping make that happen and for tuning in and making us your first listen, however you choose to do so. I'm Cody Rourke. Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. You can check out my daily written work at Milehysports.com as I cover the team daily in person in Dove Valley Plus here on the podcast. We've got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the show here.

Starting point is 00:01:00 Broncos Country. It is Chiefs Week. You know the stakes are high inside of the AFC West, especially with the Broncos sitting atop right now with an 8 and 2 record, they'll be doing so without Alex Singleton, as he revealed that he was diagnosed recently with testicular cancer, and he had surgery. How will the Broncos plan to approach his absence?

Starting point is 00:01:17 We'll go through that. You'll hear from Singleton himself and more. Plus, we caught up with Broncos head coach Sean Payton on a Monday conference call, and he says after the mini-by week, the team will be ready to go. So we're going to monitor all that. Plus, the AFC race after week 10 around the NFL, it is getting interesting. how can the Broncos keep their momentum and what does the outlook look like for some of the teams that are tied with them record-wise and also right behind them trying to climb into the playoff race. You'll get all that on today's episode of the show brought to you by our friends over there at Fand duel.

Starting point is 00:01:46 And right now new customers can bet just $300 and you'll get $300 in bonus bets that you can use all throughout the entire app when your first bet wins there. Broncos country, obviously some not so good news here for the Broncos as they prepare for the Kansas City Chiefs this week. they will be without Alex Singleton, who's obviously a team captain, starting linebacker there for the defense. He revealed the tough news on Monday that he was diagnosed last week with testicular cancer, and he had surgery on Friday following the Broncos 10-7 victory on Thursday night football against the Raiders to have it removed. And one of the things I think we have to talk about here,

Starting point is 00:02:22 just the good news side of this, is that luckily the CT scan that he had before surgery revealed that the cancer had not spread. So that is a good news. is going to be okay and that's the most important thing here. But I also think it's one of those scary situations there. And how this all came about was last week he was selected to do a random drug test by the NFL. He did it. Some levels in his urine had a higher protein in them.

Starting point is 00:02:49 So the Broncos and everybody got ahead of it, the Broncos, the medical staff, there was this collaborative effort that got him an appointment with a urologist. And then it revealed that he did have testicular cancer. So the Broncos helped get that coordinated. They scheduled surgery. It happened on Friday. He played in Thursday night's game against the Raiders. And then the next day he had surgery.

Starting point is 00:03:10 But he revealed here on Monday that he does have this diagnosis. It will force him to miss several weeks. We're just thankful that Alex is going to be okay and that they caught it early enough. And it's one of those concerning things. Certainly, I think when you talk about men's health, especially in the world of football, it's important to get checked out. And that's one thing that Alex advocated for when we jumped on a conference call with him. on Monday here. But let's hear from Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton, who kind of goes through

Starting point is 00:03:35 everything that happened. You get to hear it from him himself on his process where he's at. We caught up with him on Monday. It's been a whirlwind, I would say. I don't necessarily even know if I fully have coped with everything that's gone on. You know, I found out Monday afternoon what it fully was and that I was going to have surgery this Friday or this past Friday. And so, So, yeah, it was nice, you know, between the doctors and then the team and the medical staff, I was able to kind of, they took on all the pressure and my wife. They kind of took on all the pressure of planning, all the doctor's appointments and surgery planning and all that. So I was able to, which is what I wanted to do, was just focus on football for the week for the Thursday game and just kind of not let it change my life yet. if that makes sense, you know, because it was, it's, you know, still so shocking.

Starting point is 00:04:33 And so, yeah, they, they were all so good about that. And so, yeah, it's been a whirlwind today, obviously is. And, yeah, the surgery went really well. So I'm just, you know, obviously happy that, you know, I'm able to, you know, do this with you guys today. And that's the most important thing. Alex is one of the best guys you'll get to know inside the locker room. Very, very open, always willing to talk with the media, always offers great insight and perspective there.

Starting point is 00:04:59 and obviously he's a great teammate. He's well loved inside that locker room there. Scary news when you hear something like that. I just once again want to echo the sentiments that it's a great thing that he's going to be okay. They caught it early enough. And obviously the Broncos will miss him for the next handful of weeks here. He will miss some time, including Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. So how will the Broncos approach his absence here of the course of the next handful of weeks? Well, now it means probably Drake Greenlaw and Justin Sternat are going to get the starting reps here at linebacker for the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:05:28 will they have to make some sort of move here? Could they place Singleton on injured reserve? Is there any kind of designation that kind of puts them on an exemplist as he's going through a very, very unique situation right here? I imagine for Denver defensively, we are going to see Sternat and Greenlock get to start. But who are the depth options going to be behind them? Obviously, Corrine A. Reid left Thursday's game against the Raiders with a hamstring injury. He simply did not return.

Starting point is 00:05:53 They do have Jordan Turner that is on the practice squad. Could the Broncos be looking at the linebacker free agency or the waiver wire or other teams practice squads at this juncture to maybe bring somebody in in the event of an insurance policy to add more depth to that position? You don't want to change the schematics of your defense, but it is going to give us our first look, I think, at a lineup that Broncos country has certainly has been looking forward to maybe seeing throughout the season with Sternat and obviously Greenlaw. I imagine Justin will get the green dot or Dre Greenlaw. Both of those guys can simply call the defense, get guys lined up. But obviously, Denver will be without Alex Singleton this week. How does that change maybe the Broncos defensive rotation, especially with special teams? Last week, Justin Sternat against the Raiders, didn't play much defensively against the Raiders offense,

Starting point is 00:06:38 played a lot of special teams there. So now you're going to get this influx of maybe personnel changes on the special team side of the ball because you don't want Sternat and Greenlaught playing special teams. Those are your two starters. You want to make sure that you have adequate guys there, maybe Lavelle Bailey getting elevated and called up at this point to play some special teams, but also to help out the Broncos in a depth-like situation, especially with Karenne Reed's injury. But we'll be a big test this week, obviously against the Chiefs when you talk about stopping the run there,

Starting point is 00:07:06 Isaiah Pacheco, as we know, not sure of his official status just yet going into this week, but the anticipation was when he was injured before the Chiefs by, was that he was going to be back after the by week, which sets things up for a matchup against Denver. They obviously have Kareem Hunt, who's used out of the backfield as a pass. catcher. He's a hard guy to run, you know, in between the tackles. And Pacheco, you know, how he runs outside, inside, can be used out of the backfield. They have some good weapons there in Kansas City. So the Broncos defense is going to have to come up with a big week here against Patrick Mahomes. We know it's hard to bring down. He's hard to sack. So Denver, I'm curious

Starting point is 00:07:39 to see how they adjust here going forward, but they will be doing so without Alex Singleton. Broncos country. Make sure you let us know here today what you would like to see the Broncos do defensively in Singleton's absence, especially. if he's going to miss the next handful of weeks. What do the Broncos do? What's the best contingency plan for them from a depth perspective? Make sure you drop it in here today's episode, Locked on Broncos. But coming up next, Broncos country, we're going to hear from head coach Sean Payton,

Starting point is 00:08:04 who had a chance to evaluate the tape from Thursday night, got a chance to escape a little bit. He met with the media on Monday in a conference call, and he says that the team will be ready to go against Kansas City. We'll hear from him and we'll break it all down here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by our friends over there at Rippling. If you're a business owner, here's the truth. SAS promise to make work a lot easier.

Starting point is 00:08:27 But now the average company is buried by hundreds of apps that slow down your teams and simply don't work together. That's not SAS. That's sad. Software as a disservice. And that's why you need Rippling. Rippling is the unified platform for global HR, payroll, IT, and finance all in one place. They've helped millions of businesses replace a mess of disconnected tools with one system that's designed. to give leaders clarity, speed, and control.

Starting point is 00:08:52 It's seriously so simple to use, and it gives companies one source of truth for their people, their data, and everything that they touch. And whether you want to run your entire HR, IT, and finance operations is one, or just fill the gaps in your software stack. Rippling can do it all. And right now you can get six months free when you go to rippling.

Starting point is 00:09:09 NFL. Learn more at RIPPL. NG dot com slash locked on NFL. That's rippling.com slash locked on NFL for six months. Free. Terms and conditions apply. Today's show is also brought to you by friends over there at Fandul. America's number one sports book and the NBA season is back and there's no better place to get in on the action than Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.

Starting point is 00:09:32 Whether it's Nicola Yokic, triple doubles or who's going to score the first basket and the method in which it's scored. If you miss the start of the game or if you want to ride the hot hand, Fandul, they have the live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks, plus you can even combine your bets into a same game parlay for a shot. at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team's making that late push. Plus the Broncos, the NFL season is still on swing here. And at week 11, the Broncos are three and a half point home underdogs to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Right now, Fandul, they are giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins.

Starting point is 00:10:08 So head to Fandu.com to sign up and play your game with Fanduel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. The mini buy week could have done the Broncos some well as they prepare for. for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in one of the biggest matchups of the year. Heck, one of the biggest games of the Broncos in the last 10 to 15 years. You name it. The stakes are high here. Even though the Kansas City is sitting at 5 and 4 and the Broncos are at 8 and 2, the AFC West is still up for grabs between the Chiefs, the Chargers, and the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:10:38 And he went on Sunday for the Broncos could push the Chief's hopes and dreams down a little bit further as it elevates them as they go into their by week. And they have a second half schedule that they could take advantage of. as well to maybe cement their status as reclaiming the West from the Chiefs. Once again, thank you to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen. However you choose to do so, make sure you check out our Broncos squad show later on today, live here on the Locked on Broncos podcast.

Starting point is 00:11:04 Nick Ferguson, Anil O'Neill O'Piro, and myself will be breaking down a little bit of an extended preview at this weekend's game against the Kansas City Chiefs Plus, Sarah Bedinger will rejoin us on Sunday after the game for the squad show, and he'll be back next week. So check out the Broncos, Squacho, if you've missed it, we got two episodes up from last week already. So check it out and make sure you tune in. 12 o'clock mountain time.

Starting point is 00:11:24 We got you covered here. Let's get into, obviously, Sean Payton. We got a chance to hear from him for the first time since Thursday night's victory against the Kansas City Chiefs. And while Sean said on Thursday, a win is important. It's a big win, even though the Broncos looked rough, it's big from the standpoint that you won an AFC West Divisional game. He's always highlighted how big these matchups are.

Starting point is 00:11:45 But on top of that, your conference record, it continues to improve. which was a huge area, a huge mark of improvement compared to what the Broncos had last year. They have a very good conference record, which will help them in tiebreaker scenarios against some other teams. And they're going to face some other teams, too, down the stretch that they'll need to take care of business of in order to maintain their spot inside the top four when you talk about seating purposes and maybe hosting a playoff game if Denver could take care of business and ultimately win the AFC West this year and maintain one of the best records in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:12:14 We caught up with Sean Payton on Monday for a conference call. And he had a lot to say about the mini-by week. Obviously, we know how big this week's game is against the Chiefs. I think one thing we have to highlight here is that Bo Nix and Patrick Mahomes are going to duel for the second time ever this week. We saw what Bo was able to do last year at Arrowhead where he marched them in, let a game-winning drive that should have been, ultimately a blocked field goal, cost the Broncos a victory. And that would have just changed the entire narrative a little bit on Bo Nicks and the Broncos. but they overcame that. They responded to the following week there.

Starting point is 00:12:50 And obviously the Broncos dismantled the chiefs in the final week of the regular season in a game where Kansas City rested their starter. So now you're going to get Mahomes versus Knicks part two and the stakes have never been higher. Here's what Broncos head coach Sean Payton had to say about the matchup against Kansas City coming off of a little bit of a mini buy and where the team is at.

Starting point is 00:13:09 Yeah, look, I think the schedule comes out. You play them when you play them. I felt when the schedule came out, the challenge would be the Monday night, Cincinnati, short week, Eastern Time Zone Philly game, and obviously Philly being a real good opponent. You know, to get through that stretch, I was just having this conversation earlier. It's amazing how quickly it feels like this stretch of six, seven weeks have gone by, and you're just in, you get in a routine.

Starting point is 00:13:39 So having this mini weekend, especially with Kansas City coming off a by, look, it'll be an important game, obviously. It's a divisional game, and we'll be ready to go. That's the hope. You want this team to come out looking prepared. And look, I said this as well. Last week after Thursday night, you heard it from guys in the locker room like Mike McGlinchie. And one of the things they highlighted was, you know, we've been playing a lot of football.

Starting point is 00:14:03 We've been traveling quite a bit over the course of the last five or six weeks. And that has really been the truth, really since Denver had that game against Cincinnati on Monday night football. Then they had the East Coast time zone game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Then they had to go to London. Then they had to come back against the Giants, which that was an exhausting effort. There was a lot of calories burnt in that game. Then they played the Dallas Cowboys. There's been a lot of football for this Broncos team over the course of the last 39, 40 days.

Starting point is 00:14:27 And here they are sitting at an 8 and 2 record. And I think before the season, we all looked at that stretch of the schedule and said, wow, this is going to be tough. I said it myself here on the show just probably week two or week three of the regular season. I said this stretch that's coming up is the toughest stretch here for the Broncos this season. And now you're kind of concluding that final toughest stretch part with a matchup at home against Kansas City. Who's coming off of a buy weekend? Look, there's going to be a lot of conversation all week long.

Starting point is 00:14:53 I'm sure we're going to hear it from our counterparts over there at Lockedon Chiefs about Andy Reid and the record of the Chiefs coming off of a buy where they're at. They should be getting guys back healthy. The Broncos have a really good opportunity right now sitting atop of the AFC West to push the Chiefs down a little bit further. A win by Denver would not only propel them to nine and two, but it would push the Chiefs of five and five. So you get a nice little bit of a cushion between obviously you and them. Yes, you have to worry about the Chargers.

Starting point is 00:15:20 We'll talk about that a little bit later on as the show progresses. But this is the biggest game of the season. And I can't overstate it enough here. How will the Broncos show up? What are we going to see from them? I think everything right now, all lies, look, we're excited about the defense and maybe how they match up against Patrick Mahomes and can they get after him? Can they bring him down?

Starting point is 00:15:41 That's something we all want to see, especially with this defense. a pass rush that's on a historic pace right now, 46 sacks through 10 games. Can they get to 50? Can they get after Mahomes quite a bit and continue their trend of dominance? That's going to be one of the biggest things. But I think what we're looking at very early on this week is how will Boe Nix and the offense respond? We still have no idea just yet what the injury status is of J.K. Dobbins after he suffered

Starting point is 00:16:05 that foot injury on Thursday. The hope is that this mini-bye week helps guys reset a little bit. I know Bo took some time. I know players took some time. Sean took some time and obviously Sean evaluated the film, but these guys are allowed to take a day or two to kind of just take a step back because when you're so ingrained in the process of preparation and you get too close to it, sometimes it can skew your views a little bit. So catching up with Peyton was good. He said that we as coaches have to do a lot better and in all these different areas. And I agree with him on that.

Starting point is 00:16:34 But you want to come out and get off to a hot start and you want to maintain that against the Chiefs. The Broncos have yet offensively to get off to a hot start really outside of the Dallas Cowboys game in the Cincinnati. Natty Bengals game so far this season. You do that against this Chief's team. You will change so many different narratives about where this team is heading and what they can become. And obviously with Bo Nicks going through the slump, if you missed yesterday's conversation, I sat down and I told a very hard and objective truth about how the Broncos and how the

Starting point is 00:17:03 fan base needs to treat this Bo Nix slump. He's not a finished product. He's still developing. Yes, he's going through a slump right now. He's making mistakes. But he can fix it. These are issues that are fix it. and he can still develop.

Starting point is 00:17:14 So if you miss that, go check out yesterday's episode of the show. But as it pertains to Bo Nix, one thing that Sean Payton was asked on Monday in our conference call with him was about the internal clock here of Bo Nix, right? He's very good at avoiding taking sacks. But at times when you speed up that clock a little bit, and that sometimes can be self-sufficient. Sometimes we've seen this year where Bo is running himself out of pressure that simply isn't there. Sean Payton gave a great answer into the insight on Bo, how he is from a processing standpoint,

Starting point is 00:17:42 and also why he's glad that Bo doesn't take sacks. Well, I think it's a plus and a minus. I've said that before. I think one of his great strengths is not taking sacks. And so the clock in his head relative to that sense of urgency. So I think there is a fine line of, number one, the depth of route. You know, is this a longer developing play, a seven-step drop, a five-step drop, a three-step drop, and what should be the appropriate, appropriate time.

Starting point is 00:18:12 But I think that's a much easier problem to correct than the latter, which is taking the sacks. And historically speaking, it's proven to be much more difficult to fix. And I think one thing that Sean mentioned in there that is important is that when you're looking at the Broncos offense as a whole, and he mentioned the depth and the depth of the routes, the depth of the dropbacks, three step, five step, seven step drops. Three step drops are typically a quick pass, right? Five step drops are kind of

Starting point is 00:18:43 intermediate to deep. Seven step drop is usually you're trying to have a longer, deeper developing route tree formed downfield there. I think one of the things disconnects we're seeing with the Broncos offense is there are a lot of longer developing routes. And when you're trying to sink your pass protection with your drop back, that's why as a quarterback, it's so important. Hey, if this is a deeper developing play, you need to hit that five of that seven step drop and hit, right. It can't be a three-step hitch on a longer developing play because then that impacts protection. Obviously, the pass rush can influence that. And when you're not married with the depth of the routes there, you certainly see some issues. Some of this is also, I think at times, we've seen this issue from Bow, but also we've seen this from personnel this year.

Starting point is 00:19:24 You're working with Troy Franklin, who's getting a large volume of the targets, Cortland Sutton seeing double team bracket coverage quite a bit. Marvin Mims has been out the last two weeks. Pat Bryan is still kind of getting ingrained inside the offense and doing a lot of the dirty work stuff and has made a couple of big catch over the course of the last handful of weeks, and you're trying to figure out how your tight-end production can increase itself. All of these things, and on top of that, penalties, drops by receivers, all of this stuff impacts the offense. So maybe we will see a simplified approach this week here from Sean and company to help out Bow Nix, let him breathe a little bit.

Starting point is 00:19:58 I'm curious to see how the Broncos decide to approach this game against Kansas City. As we know, Steve Spagnolo would love to send those linebackers in those double A gap blitzes from time to times, especially on third down. So this is a week. The Broncos can't afford offensively to go backwards. Special teams, as we know, is going to be very important for them as well here. But you know what is important? Taking care of business.

Starting point is 00:20:18 A win this week against the Chiefs will change the narrative of the Broncos going forward here. And they have a chance to jump up a little bit further inside the AFC right now, tied for the best record in the NFL. We'll take a look at the state of the AFC here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's show is brought to you by friends over there at Peloton. Look, folks, it's time to break through the busy time of the year with a brand new Peloton cross-training, Tread Plus that's powered by Peloton IQ. It's Peloton's most elevated technology and equipment yet that gives you real-time guidance and it gives you endless ways to move.

Starting point is 00:20:51 Whether you want to work out by yourself or if you want to work out with your favorite instructor, like my personal favorite, Alex Toussaint. He always gets me fired up to tackle the day. And the thing I like about Peloton, it helps me achieve more in less than. times. They have features that help you plan, stay motivated, track your progress. And Peloton IQ also provides personalized workout plans and recommendations. That's something that I use right now during the busiest time of the year covering the NFL. They plan my workouts for me based on my mood, my vibe, and also my favorite instructors. So make sure you check it out and use it because it also helps you correct your form in real

Starting point is 00:21:26 time and it maximizes your reps. It counts your reps so that you can do it smarter, safer, and more efficient. Let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton, cross-training, treadplus at one peloton.com. The AFC is becoming the wild, wild west, and the standings, I would say, after week 10, are very surprising. And the Broncos have a chance to build on the opportunity that's in front of them with a game against Kansas City, a bye week. And then a second half schedule that certainly favors them and will put them in a position to host a playoff game. If they can take care of business and the AFCs,

Starting point is 00:22:02 all across the board is competitive. It's open. And there are some teams that are fighting for premier positioning here early on as we approach the second half of the season. Once again, all the everydayers out there in Broncos country, thank you so much for tuning in making us a party your day. However, you choose to do so. If you're not yet in Every Dare, become one. We also have some exciting things here for all you every dayers coming out in December here in the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network in the world. All thanks to all of you.

Starting point is 00:22:29 Let's take a look at the state of the AFC after week number 10, approaching week 11 here, folks. The Indianapolis Colts, the Denver Broncos, and the New England Patriots are tied right now for the best record in the NFL at 8 and 2. All teams won over the weekend, respectively. The Colts are number one right now in the seating just because they do have that head-to-head here against the Broncos in that earlier matchup that they had there in week two. And I think every time we see the standings or we see another week go by

Starting point is 00:22:58 and the Colts continue to roll there with Jonathan Taylor. I think we look back on that Colts game and we two and say, man, the Broncos, if they would have not committed a leverage penalty, they would be 9 and 1 at this point. They'd be at top of the AFC right now. But you know what? They're tied for first as we look at it right now. And the New England Patriots certainly a step below them.

Starting point is 00:23:16 The Broncos 5 and 2 conference record has them above the Patriots right now. We have a 4 and 2 conference record. But then you got the Pittsburgh Steelers who by default of being the leaders in their division inside the AFC North. They're sitting there at the four seat right now. at 5 and 4 coming off of a loss, unfortunately, to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night football. So Broncos country was hoping the Steelers are going to come up with a win there

Starting point is 00:23:36 to knock the Chargers down yet another game. So as it stands today, the Chargers are one game back here of the Denver Broncos. And that makes this week's game very important because the Broncos, a win puts them at 9 and 2. And you have to hope that the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are the 7th seed right now at 5 and 4, they host the Chargers this week. You have to hope that the Jaguars can take care of business and drop.

Starting point is 00:23:58 the Chargers another game to put them at seven and four, which give the Broncos a little bit of a two-game cushion. This is going to be a very interesting race that I anticipate is probably going to play out all the way up until that final week 18 regular season matchup between the Broncos and the Chargers. I feel like there's going to be a lot at stake for the division at that point, not looking too far ahead, but Denver has to take care of business right now, right? You talk about the Chiefs game this week, a biweek, it gives you a chance to regroup, reset, get healthy, and then you have a Sunday night football game against the commanders you got a match up against the raiders and then from that point forward the broncos they're in control of their destiny and it's going to be exciting and they're going to face some of these teams along the way they're obviously going to face the chiefs again they're going to face the chargers once again they're going to face the jacksonville jaguars luckily they've already

Starting point is 00:24:44 beaten obviously the houston texans who got a win over the weekend one more matchup against the raiders Denver's got a chance to really up their conference record here which is going to be so crucial for a tiebreaker positioning toward the end of the season and they won't find themselves in those situations and saying, hey, win this game and hope that this team loses and you're going to jump in. But right now, let's take a look at some of the biggest games this week of the Indianapolis Colts are going to be in a buy at the top spot there after they beat the Atlanta Falcons in Germany over the week behind Jonathan Taylor's big time performance over 200 yards rushing on the ground. They're going to reload a little bit there. They've looked very good. They're on a buy week this week.

Starting point is 00:25:22 So there's not going to be any kind of result that's going to impact the standing of their placement necessarily. but we know the biggest game of the week is the Broncos hosting the Kansas City Chiefs who are coming off the buy. Can the Broncos use that mini by to their advantage a little bit to maybe negate the buy week that Kansas City had? Who knows? But you have to take care of business here. The Broncos, they've been playing football a lot longer than Kansas City has at this juncture.

Starting point is 00:25:44 And I always feel like the buy week can be bittersweet, right? Because you go into the buy week, yes, you get a chance to get rested. You get a chance to kind of reset a little bit. But I always find that there's momentum when you've been playing, right? You're in the routine already. When you have a biweek, it throws your entire routine off. There's no team activities at that point. There's just treatment and maybe some recollection and reflecting us to like what happened

Starting point is 00:26:05 in the first half part of the schedule. So it's big. This is a big game for Denver. The Los Angeles charges I mentioned are going to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. And we are hoping that Trevor Lawrence and company, look, they suffered a bad, bad loss against the Houston Texans. They allowed the Texans to score 26 points in the fourth quarter and their comeback victory that they had against Trevor Lawrence and then led by Davis Mills, by the way, in that game.

Starting point is 00:26:30 You need the Chargers to have a letdown over there in Florida. Typically, we've seen them do that. You know, over the last couple of years, they almost had a letdown against the Miami Dolphins early on in the season. Unfortunately, Miami laid a little bit of a bigger egg. Can the Jaguars come through for the Broncos this week? Because even if Denver were to hypothetically lose to Kansas City, but the Chargers lose, you still maintain your lead and your advantage inside the AFC West. So that would be like the best case scenario if in fact the Broncos did lose, but we're all aiming for a win here.

Starting point is 00:26:57 That's what Broncos country is rooting for as well. And then you take a look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills at this point. Bill's coming off of a disappointing loss against the Miami Dolphins. And Josh Allen looked rough in that game. There weren't a lot of conversations about whether or not Josh Allen's a franchise guy. Should they cut Josh Allen and go find another quarterback? There's no conversations about that over there in Buffalo. But that's a big game here.

Starting point is 00:27:22 As you look at the playoff race where the Buffalo Bills are standing at right now is the 6 seed. They're 6 in 3. A loss would put them at 6 in 4. And that certainly helps the rest of the AFC and certainly helps the Broncos current standing as to where they're at. So that's a big game. And unfortunately, the New England Patriots, they draw the assignment of the New York Jets.

Starting point is 00:27:39 And that's unfortunate for the Jets, very fortunate for the Patriots who continued to roll under Mike Rable. And obviously Drake may have in a really good year from his standpoint of where he's at. this would be the perfect week for the New York Jets who are obviously coming off of a victory against the Cleveland Browns over the weekend. The Jets can they find a way to upset the New England Patriots here this week? Those divisional games are always tough. That's what we're hoping for.

Starting point is 00:28:03 That's what Broncos country should be rooting for this week as well to make the New England Patriots essentially eight and three if the Jets somehow come up with a victory. The AFC is very interesting. As you look, Kansas City is the eight seed right now. They're at five and four. They're trying to claw their way back in. They will play the Colts in the second half of their schedule. They play the Broncos twice. This is Denver's chance right here.

Starting point is 00:28:25 This game, this window, capitalize and take advantage because after the he's played the Colts, the schedule gets very, very easy for Kansas City. I think if we look at their schedule here after they play the Colts, it's the Dallas Cowboys, the Houston Texans, the Chargers at the Tennessee Titans against the Broncos on Christmas on obviously a Thursday night football game there. And then the Las Vegas Raiders to close out the year. So these next two games for the Chiefs will be their toughest remaining on the schedule. And you have to hope that obviously they go on to maybe get upset in one of those other games.

Starting point is 00:28:57 And that the Broncos can beat them. Hopefully the Colts can beat the Chiefs at this point and kind of bury their AFC West dreams here going forward. But with that said, Broncos country, that I'll wrap up today's episode of the show. Thank you so much for locking with us here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network in the world. And that is all thanks to all of you every day is out there with you listen to Lockdown Broncos, Lockdown NFL, your other favorite lockdown podcasts, you have made us the biggest podcast network in the world.

Starting point is 00:29:23 We're so grateful for you. Make sure if you're not yet and every day, you hit the subscribe or that follow button, so you never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team every single day all year long. We'll have the Lockdown Broncos squad show for you this afternoon, 12 o'clock p.m. Mountain Time. Make sure you tune in live to catch myself, Anilo Piro and Nick Ferguson. As we preview this game on Sunday against the Chiefs from every angle and look at some of the biggest storylines on how the Broncos can beat the Chiefs.

Starting point is 00:29:49 You get all that and more on the Broncos Squat Show. Plus, we have you covered tomorrow with more coverage coming out of the Valley. Stay tuned, stay locked in. Broncos Country. We'll see you then.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BREAKING: Denver Broncos LB Alex Singleton SIDELINED After Cancer Diagnosis/Surgery

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.