Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: Back on Track—Can Denver Deliver a Statement vs. Rams?
Episode Date: September 22, 2026The Broncos are back on track after a big win, but now all eyes are on their upcoming showdown with the Rams. On this episode of Broncos Squad Show, Aniello Piro, Cody Roark, Sayre Bedinger and Nick F...erguson break down what went right against Jacksonville, spotlight a few warning signs fans shouldn’t ignore, and dive into the key storylines heading into the next game. Can Denver keep the momentum going and deliver a true statement win? From standout plays to areas for improvement, we’ve got you covered with everything Broncos fans need to know before L.A. comes to town. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon. Butcher Box If you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give ButcherBox a try. Go to https://ButcherBox.com/LOCKEDONNFL to get $20 off your first box, plus your choice of free ribeye, new york strip, or filet mignon in every box for a year — with free shipping always. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. PrizePicks Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup! KALSHI Today's episode is brought to you by Kalshi. For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next. Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuel Get three hundred fifty dollars in Bonus Bets — GUARANTEED — when you bet five dollars every day for seven days. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
I'm Mnilo Piro and the Denver Broncos are back on track,
but they've got themselves a tall task with the Rams coming to town this week.
PS2 versus Devante Adams is must-see TV. Cody Rourke, Mile High Sports.
Sayre bedinger, predominantly orange. Hey, bring on the Rams.
Is this still a Super Bowl preview though, Broncos country?
Hey, is Nick Ferguson. I love DB and Y receivers matchups.
And you're going to get a lot of it this Sunday.
It's got to be a good one.
Let's break it down on today.
is locked on Broncos Squat show.
From the South stands, it's the Broncos squad.
Everything dead for Broncos every week.
Covering all the big hits and game changing plays from the Mile High City.
The way only the Lockdown Podcast Network can.
Gear up and squad up.
The Broncos Squad Show starts now.
It is your locked on Broncos Squad show.
Welcome on into a Tuesday edition of the big show.
Hope everyone enjoyed their victory.
Monday and also paid attention to the Monday night football game.
I know Jackson Dart played for about 30 seconds,
but still some things to learn about the Broncos next opponent in the Los Angeles Rams.
We've got the whole squad, though, here today.
Anilo Piro, Cody Roark, Sarah Bredinger, and Nick Ferguson, do his favor.
Hit that like button, smash that subscribe button.
But if you are watching on YouTube as well, what's up to our YouTube chat?
And for all of our audio listeners, we appreciate you guys as well.
fellas. What's up? How we living? It's Tuesday, man. Another opportunity to be great. That's where we're at. I love it. I'm with you. I'm with you real quick. Today's nobody else want to be great. Nobody else wants to be great today. I'm certainly only one. I'm always great, bro. Like, I'm just, you know, every day's a good day. That's right. I'm like Jalen Waddle. No bad days. No bad days. No. That's what he said.
be accidents.
Real quick,
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But yeah,
every day is a good day.
Vicki's in the chat.
Good morning.
It's technically the afternoon
but good morning
is always a good
to have in the chat.
I always,
it could be 4 o'clock
and I'll say good morning.
I think it's just like
programmed in my head,
you know,
I don't know why,
but it's like I see,
hey, good morning.
You know, it's weird.
I find it weird
to just say good afternoon.
Yeah.
That might just be a weird thing, but I don't know.
It's just me.
It's either, you know, like, good morning or like after the morning time,
it's usually just like, oh, what's up, you know?
I feel like once I get to like noon, it's just like how we live in.
My favorite thing, this stereotype, right?
Someone goes, how's it going?
You know.
And that's like the most common one that we do.
Another day.
Hanging in there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I saw something that said one time, you know somebody is really going through it when you
ask them how it's going and they say it's going, you know?
That's when you know you're really going through.
something.
Oh, dude.
I love it.
I love it.
All right.
So we're going to have some fun on the show today.
We'll spend a majority of the show giving some thoughts and opinions here on the upcoming
matchup for the Denver Broncos on Sunday night football against the Los Angeles
Rams and kind of using the win against the Jaguars to kind of spin forward some of those
thoughts, right?
Because I don't think there's really much to take away in a positive sense from the game
against the Chiefs, but, you know, with the way that we kind of titled the show here
today like the Broncos find themselves back on track and obviously that's because of what they did
in their four quarters against the Jacksonville Jaguars. So we kind of went wax poetic on
Jaylon Waddle. We'll continue to do that today. Um, you know, Bo Nix was really good in the fourth
quarter. They did a good job. You know, they're one and oh in those one score games and of course
and come from behind fashion. So one thing I did want to hone in on and Sarah mentioned it at the end
of our Sunday show, but we didn't really get the opportunity to expand on it too much was the
production of rookie running back Jonah Coleman.
And I think that's one of the more interesting dynamics as we look forward to this
matchup against the Rams, but also kind of looking back to what he did against the Jacksonville
Jaguars of Jonah getting his opportunity and taking advantage of it.
Obviously scoring a touchdown, but I think arguably the best play for Jonah Coleman in that game
was the mindset not to run out of bounce, get the first down and kind of just slide down inbounce
to play that clock game a little bit.
So we didn't get to talk a lot about Jonah on the instant.
reaction squad show. So I figure kind of opened it up there with Jonah's game, what we saw against
Jacksonville and what this maybe means for the Broncos moving forward at that position,
fellas. Wow, he's a smart player. Sean Payton says you don't fill a rookie with him. And I think
going into that, like Quinn Miners after the game said something really good. It's like, hey,
in the fourth quarter, when we got the ball back, we talked about it, hey, we need to control
the time of possession here. We need to not commit penalties. We need to convert third downs. We just
need to milk the clock. And we know how much timeouts they have. We need to take advantage of that.
And so for Jonah in his head, I mean, the player where he,
gets to the outside and then slides, it's the same exact play as his 12-yard run that he had
inside there. This time, the defense overcommitted, Travis Hunter over-committed to the inside,
and then Jonah just bounced it out, kind of how Kenneth Walker did against the Broncos in week
one, just really smart heads-up play sliding. And more importantly, you know, a guy like
Jonah saying, hey, it's not about me, it's about the team. We knew the situation. We wanted to
bleed the clock dry and we want to get to victory formation. Smart, smart, smart player. And I think
he's earned more touches going forward.
And if they don't give him touches going forward,
I'm going to lose my mind.
I think it's kind of funny.
Like the Jonah Coleman's performance in the fourth quarter caused
a running back controversy that we didn't know we necessarily needed.
Right.
I mean,
it's nice to have a bunch of,
you know,
heavy hitters in the lineup.
But at some point,
you do have to commit to somebody as your top ball carrier.
And why not Jonah Coleman?
Right.
I mean,
that's not to say we don't want to see J.K.
Dobbins anymore.
it's not to say we don't want to see RJ Harvey anymore,
but I think you do have to kind of,
there has to be somebody who's the,
you know,
the gravitational pull of a running back room.
They have to be the person that you say,
hey,
when we want to go to our basic stuff
or when we need a chunk play to start a drive
or when we need to get something going late in the game,
who are we going to lean on?
It's no coincidence to me that when the Broncos are literally forced
to ride somebody,
they're forced to say,
hey, we can't rotate guys.
We can't pull one guy in and pull one guy out and we can't try all these different things.
Like when they're forced to go with somebody, just one somebody,
and they have to go with Jonah Coleman.
I don't think it's any coincidence that he goes out there and he balls out.
Now, we've seen a lot of feedback from this as Cody and I have been discussing it.
A lot of people on Twitter and stuff saying, well, he had 10 carries for 39 yards.
That's not much.
And it's like, why don't you just tell us all that you didn't watch the game,
that you didn't see the impact that Jonah Coleman actually had on a game
because he was out there breaking tackles,
showing vision,
cashing in in the red zone,
pass protecting,
catching passes out of the backfield,
showing his contact balance,
showing how smart he is as a player.
I don't think there's anything that could convince me right now
that when they line up for the first play of the game against the Rams,
that number 20 shouldn't be standing right behind Bo Nix
and that he shouldn't be handing it off to,
number 20 on the first play.
I'm going to say this from a defensive perspective because the one thing that weighs down
a defense is an effective run game.
And when you are running the ball down a defensive group's throat and let me just say
they got eight, nine men in the box and you still can power through that, there's nothing
more demoralizing than having to sit there and knowing that you can't stop it.
And if anyone is late to the party on Jonah Coleman,
I would have them go back and watch some of his film from his days at Arizona
and watch his film from Washington when he played with the Huskies.
This is nothing new that we're seeing.
This is why the team opted to select him
because they were not 100% sure that J.K. Dobbins,
who, oh, by the way, made a pinky promise to the media that he wouldn't get injured.
So if he doesn't play Sunday night football,
I want my martinelli's first and foremost.
But besides that, for me, the idea is not just to have one running back.
I know back in the 80s and the 90s, it was just one bill, Kyle, running back.
Now you need a platoon of running backs.
And why you need that?
Because the ideas, can you grind down the offense?
It's great in a two-minute offense.
But what happens when you have to get into your four-minute offense?
that's when you need to lean heavily on your running backs.
And I can speak from experience because playing for Mike Shanahan,
I mean, we had a platoon of running backs.
It didn't make a difference.
Who are you putting the backfield?
Someone was getting over 1,000 yards, right?
Because the outside stretch zone game, the inside zone game.
All of those things were part of the system.
And the Broncos now, they can definitely have that.
But even though Jonah Coleman, 39 yards, 10 carries,
you can see what the kid is made of.
And the fact that he decided, hey, listen,
and I know they talked to him on the sideline,
this understand game situation, situational football.
Hey, you get the yards you need, fall on the ground.
You can tell a young player that,
but when you get a young player and he's thinking like,
hey, man, this is my moment.
The guy in front of me got injured.
He wants to get those extra yards.
So it was good for me to see that Jonah Coleman could take coaching
and he did a great job.
and I'm looking forward to seeing him get the touches even more.
I'll put it this way.
I'm picking up Jonah Coleman for my fantasy football team.
Right.
I think Jonah Coleman's going to have a larger role.
How much of the budget do you allocate in after a week like that?
Because I don't know, is he going to be the guy going forward?
That's like we can't answer that question.
I've already, I've had that question come in multiple times.
What's the Broncos backfield share going to look like?
Because I want to put him on my fantasy team too.
But I'm like, wait, wait, wait.
I'm one of the closest people to the team
in terms of just following every single day
and I don't know what to tell people
who are asking me that question.
How are you approaching that,
Anilo?
Because I want to do the same exact thing.
Are you blowing the budget on one guy here
or are we going conservative?
You're trying to outsmart everyone.
I don't think you can outsmart anyone here at this point either
when it comes to Jonah and I know Cody hates fantasy football
so he's loving this conversation.
But no, here's what I would say.
I think he's worthy of just a stash spot.
right like i mean i usually always i'm huge on drafting rookies in the last three or four picks for me in the
fantasy just depending on who's going to hit and whatnot um so i'm i forget what's the chiefs running
backs fans don't want to hear that no no no the backup emette johnson yeah like i drafted him i actually
have the i i think i have rookie running backs from the chiefs raiders chargers and now the broncos
if i get jonah comyn now that i think about it um again the chargers that's their cheeks man
well that's what i'm saying and i also drafted like kenyon sedique towards the end of
my draft not to make this a fantasy football show but i put some stock into it man i think our not rj
i think jona just like you saw the patience as a runner like the ability to make a one-two cut and
kind of shimmy around behind his offensive line like he's got all the upside and i'll put it this way
like i did a national hit for my friends over at vesen uh before the monday night football
game on um against the chees monday yeah against the cheese excuse me and the guy who i was on with
it's like a massive Jonah Coleman fan,
Jonah Coleman fan, excuse me.
And he was like, well, how do you think this is going to play out with him and this and that?
I'm like, look, I think he'll get more touches as the season goes along,
especially if there's an injury to J.K. Dobbins,
lo and behold, that happens against Jacksonville.
And we see more of Jonah Coleman.
So what does that mean for him moving forward?
I'm not sure.
But he looked good enough in that game, like you said, Cody,
that he probably warrants some more action in these games.
The biggest question here, though, as we have seen historically,
and I'm hoping this is where Sean Payton comes in and bucks the trend.
now is kind of this observer CEO type of guy.
I know Nick's laughing, but there is some truth to this.
Like, think about it.
We've seen players have success one week.
And it's like, you know, hey, they figured out this is what you do.
Then the next week they don't even use them.
So that's got to change.
Like Jonah Coleman's vision, the downhill running, that's important.
Like against this Rams team this upcoming week, I don't think the Broncos can afford to
consistently try to stretch it outside because those plays take longer to develop.
The Rams are very stout.
on their outside edge.
Iron Young is an absolute dog.
They have really good linebackers.
They have DPs that come up and tackle.
So for me, it's downhill.
I don't care if it's Aaron Donnell right there.
He's going to be lined up against Quinn Miners.
Quinn was marling dudes this past week.
That's going to be fun.
Hold on, Cody.
The Broncos got a pound the rock inside with these guys.
Plain and simple.
Cody,
you all right now.
Listen, I watch Quinn Miners dump a guy from Jacksonville on the ground.
Nick Jones away.
He went WWE finish.
him, right? But once again, we're talking about Aaron freaking Donald. Even when he came back,
even though he hadn't been in the game for three years, I mean, guess what the Giants did right
away? They double teen him, right? Every single time they're not going to leave Quinn Miners.
And I wouldn't suggest it to test that, well, we're going to test Aaron Donald out. We're going to
leave, we're going to leave Quinn Miners one-on-one. The reason I wouldn't do that is not because
I don't believe in Quinn Miner's ability. I truly believe in his ability. I truly believe in his
But what I've seen, even last night for a guy who has been out of game for about three years, his hand placement, his upper body strength to be able to get off a guy that's trying to grab him, to me, I don't want to do that.
So I would disagree with you on that.
The other point is I'm not running between the two A gaps.
The way that you do it, you run on the outside.
Why, even if you have fast-flowing linebackers, you got guys coming from the secondary.
You know what you're doing?
You are making them run parallel to the line of scrimmage.
And that means when you get outside, there's less defenders outside.
There are more defenders inside that imaginary box.
So you want to run where there's less guys.
And the reason I'm saying this is because if you go back and you look at Monday night football,
you look at Blake Coram, you look at Kyra Williams.
What was Sean McVeigh doing?
Yeah, he's going to run the inside zone.
but guess what he was running those guys out freaking sigh and guess what the problem that the broncos have
had since training camp i remember sitting there at practice i think cody you might have been sitting there
with me and i was like this is a problem and then vance joseph came out the next day and he talked about
especially after the packers game the broncos bigger issues on perimeter runs for their defense and
why do you think people keep testing the edges there's less people outside i get it but you can't
Can't just concede.
Aaron Donald's inside.
We can't run.
Test the guy.
I like it.
But here's the thing.
And I think people in the chat are also bringing this out.
If you have to work a combo block, right?
I need Luke Wattenberg to step up a little bit more, right?
Let's say Aaron Donald is in a two eye on Quinn Minors on the inside shade of minor shoulder.
And you know you have to get a double chip.
Luke needs to bring it.
He needs to bring his weight, man.
Because right now, I would say on the offensive line, he's kind of the weak link.
Not saying he's weak, but I'm saying he's the one area that I know deep.
defenses are looking like, we need to attack.
We need to attack the center.
Can I say something really quick?
Yeah.
When I was watching the game on Sunday, like I told you, I was sitting on a couple of former
some of my former teammates, right?
And two of them are former offensive linemen.
The one thing they were talking about is the offensive line not getting a lot of push
in that first half.
And it's interesting you talk about Wittenberg, because if you go back to the Kansas City game,
when J.K. Dobbins was giving somewhat a run play to the left.
Ben Powers was pressed in the backfield by Chris Jones.
Guess who was supposed to be on the double team, right?
The center.
And what we're seeing is that they're flashing their hands.
They're not making contact.
They're so, how could I come off the duo and get to the second level
that they're not even helping the person that they're doubling with?
So they don't do that.
They're going to have problems.
If you're committed to the duo, you need two hands, two feet,
take attack that outside shoulder,
and then climb to that second level to cut off that linebacker.
If you don't do that, the Rams from the interior standpoint
and the second level play of the linebackers could be problematic.
Yeah, and I would say this, someone pointed out in the chat,
and this is the question I had to Sean Peyton in training camp.
The amount of time missed, like Luke missed two and a half, three weeks
of the physically padded practices in training camp.
And I understand he's a veteran, he's got the mental side,
but I think we've seen that transition to get it to the physical side.
I think it's been delayed.
I think he's still a couple of weeks behind from the physicality standpoint.
And that's something I don't think the Broncos can sit and wait to get better.
I know he's trying and he even acknowledges it.
Here's the thing I saw about Wattenberg.
He acknowledged he told our good friend Mike Clistia, you know, last week saying, you know,
I've got to do a better job of getting both of snaps consistently without him having to, you know,
body adjust and do this and that.
But he's got to get there and he's got to get there quick.
The learning curve is over.
It's go time.
This is the meat and bones.
This is the tough part of the schedule.
The Broncos has got to go, go, go.
Shake and bake.
Let's hit a break.
When we come back,
let's continue to talk about this matchup on Sunday night football
between the Broncos and the Rams.
What did we learn about the Rams from their dismantling of the New York Giants
last night on Monday night football?
And what does that mean for the Broncos in this game?
That's next.
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guys, and let them know that Lockdown Broncos sent you. All right, well, come on back into
your Lockdown Broncos squad show AP Cody, Sarah, and Nick, talking a little Broncos football as they
get ready to take on the Los Angeles Rams. And if you're watching on YouTube, we appreciate you
guys. Make sure to hit that like button, smash that subscribe button helps us out here on the channel.
And we love all of our audio listeners as well. Okay, I'm going to steal something that Sarah sent to
us in the chat so I can make myself sound a little bit smarter. That I think sets up this
matchup between the Broncos and the Chiefs. And it's a pretty interesting note. So credit to
Sarah. The Broncos have won nine consecutive regular season games against NFC opponents,
which is the longest active streak by any NFL team against either conference.
The second longest streak is by the Rams who have won eight consecutive games against the
AFC.
That comes from at real stat mans on Twitter.
So I believe, Sarah, how you put it is what the unstoppable force meets the immovable object here
this weekend on Sunday.
Yeah, how about that?
I think that's kind of cool, like to think of, I mean, remember, we all remember.
and now there's a big stink being made of it of that Seahawks game.
The first game of Bo Nix's career where, I mean, they just,
the Mike McDonald defense will humble pretty much any quarterback that goes against it these days.
It appears, but that was definitely a humbling start to Bo Nix's career.
That's the only NFC game that Bo has lost in the NFL,
which is kind of crazy to think about.
They dominated the NFC South, I believe, in 2024.
And then it was the NFC.
East last year, yeah, plus the Packers.
So they've kind of just run through the NFC.
And the Rams are doing likewise.
And so that really does create some intrigue here because this game has been
billed as, you know, leading up to the season before the season when the schedule came out.
It's like, well, this could be a Super Bowl preview.
These are two teams that play the other conference, apparently exceptionally well.
So it's also the one of the Super Bowl.
Yeah.
It's also the Cronky Pennerable, right?
They got some familial ties between the Broncos ownership group and the Rams
ownership group, which also will be there.
The Avalanche.
Who will be there?
He will be there.
Yeah, what are you talking about, bro?
Yeah, he won't be there.
You want to make another chick-fil-a bet?
No, I'm just saying.
I mean, I think I'm three at O on those with that.
That guy doesn't care too much about anything.
That's not true, bro.
I mean, last year, that's not true.
Yeah.
That's not true.
He just doesn't care about.
He's got a baseball team already.
He doesn't care.
He wants to pat his pockets a little bit more.
No, man.
Yeah, he doesn't actively care about the day to day of, you know, a baseball team.
He doesn't even care about the day to day of his freaking basketball team.
You know what he cares about?
He cares about winning.
So if you can shove it in the face of someone that's in your family,
either married, right, or just your brother or sister.
You want to do that.
I mean, because I know I want to do it shoving in my brother's face.
I don't know about you.
Yes, a win is a win.
I'm with you, Nick.
I'm with you.
Now, to be fair, I don't think he cares as much about the Nuggets and the
avalanches as he does the Rams Arsenal and now maybe the Angels.
That's the difference.
That's the difference.
I think the Rams and Arsenal are kind of in their own league.
Denver deserves better.
The Mets are cool.
The Walthon-Penner family ownership group should buy the Nuggets,
and I guarantee you it would probably be a lot better.
That's probably never going to happen.
Can't wait until they buy them Rockies.
Oh, that's now that's going to be huge, man.
I'm all in on that.
I know there's some conflicting reports about that.
I'm inclined to believe Woody Page myself, but we shall see.
But yeah, no, this is going to be a fun matchup, man.
And here's what I will say about the Rams here real quick, fellas,
is I'm kind of treating the Rams like I treated the Broncos, obviously, in hindsight.
Week one for the Rams means pretty much nothing to me, right?
Like I think, I know Sean McVeigh came out and said, you know,
after the game last night, like a stupid coach's decision to try to fly there 24 hours in advance.
and play the game in Australia.
I'm sure part of that's true.
But I also think in a way, like, the Rams were kind of okay,
and I know it was a divisional game against San Francisco,
but just knowing the absurdity of going to Australia,
like, are you almost okay with punting on that game to a certain extent?
Right.
Because I think the Rams were like a completely different team last night against the Giants.
I know Jackson Dart was her.
Point being, I'm treating the Rams the same way I'm treating the Broncos.
Week one is a wash to me, fellas.
No.
Jet lag or not, I don't care, man.
It's the NFL. No excuses about it. You got off the plane. You went and played. You did all the research. Tom McVe is a great coach. I don't, I mean, I think that's just an excuse in terms of how they just came out flat to start the season. And none of those guys that we saw in week one played in the NFL preseason for the Rams. That's also another reason why. So the 49er smacked them in the mouth. Look, I thought they played much better on Monday night football. They looked like a team that I'm sitting there and I'm watching. I'm like, my goodness. All right, what's going on with this team? They look like they're finding the rhythm. And it was a
combination of the run game. But Matthew Stafford's getting the ball out of his hands quickly.
And even though Matthew Stafford, what, between here and he and Aaron Rogers, who's the
oldest quarterback right now in the NFL? It's got to be Rogers. Okay. So Rogers are there.
Stafford's not too far behind him. And Stafford doesn't even look anywhere as limited, I would say,
as Rogers has so far. He's still. I believe there's four years between them. Yeah, but Stafford's
38. Yeah. And Stafford is slinging the dang rocket 38. You know how many guys that are probably
38 that we've seen the NFL? Like, it's hard. Like even Tom,
Brady. Tom Brady still slung it past 37, but it's very, very difficult to, I think,
achieve what Matthew Stafford has done. And he's got a great supporting cast around. He's got a
good offensive system. And I think that they have something that they believe in. Like, it's not
all on the pressures of Matthew Stafford for them to win games. And I think that's the formula that
the Broncos at the play. And they just came out. What concerns me more about this upcoming game
in terms from a Denver perspective is, okay, you know PS2 is going to more than likely draw the
coverage assignment of Devante Adams. I like that matchup. That's must see TV. We talk about
that tomorrow's show. But to me, the biggest worry is if you can't get to Matthew Stafford,
right? If the Broncos pass rush can't get there because they go heavy personnel. And I've got
the data to prove it up. I'm going to pull up the stats right now from true media against the
Giants specifically. The Rams came out in 13 personnel on 32 snaps. They had 60 offensive
snaps this game. 32 of them were in 13 personnel. 28 were in 11. The week before against the 49ers,
21 snaps out of 13 personnel,
32 plays out of 11 personnel and 57 snaps,
and only four snaps and 12 personnel in that loss.
They're going to go heavy here to kind of counteract the Broncos rush,
which is exactly what they did on Monday night football
against that Giants pass rush trio that's very, very good.
You know why?
That's a great scenario.
And I would hope that the Broncos eventually get to that point as well.
With all the tight ends they have on their roster,
because it allows you to run the ball.
And it also allows you to attack the team.
down the field and the vertical pass again.
And when you look at the tight ends for the Rams,
these are not just sure run-of-the-meal tight ends.
I mean, they can run routes.
They are really crafty.
And I give Sean McVeigh a lot of credit
with what he's doing with his offense.
And this is why it's been kind of lackluster for me
watching the Denver Broncos offense
and Davis-Web call plays because during OTAs,
we saw a lot of creativity,
a lot of movement that we didn't see under Sean Payton.
and we didn't see it in the second game.
We Dornshaw didn't see it in the first game,
but you know from Sean McVeigh,
he's going to give you a lot of movement,
especially with his tight ends.
And when those guys latch on,
they drive guys off the ball.
And what it opens up is those tight end delays screens,
where you try to chip and release,
and they do a great job of just kind of holding the guy,
1,000, 2,000,
shoving him and then release it.
So the second level players and the third level players,
players, man. They're going to have to keep their eyes on the luggage this week.
Yeah, I'm with you. I think the point of, sorry, sorry, Neal.
No, you're good. I think the point that you made earlier about this, you know, kind of week
one throwing that away, what both the Broncos and the Rams were able to discover in week one is,
number one, we, we ain't all that, you know, we ain't, we're not going to run the table.
We're not going undefeated. We've got flaws. We've got weaknesses. And it gives you a huge
list of what not to do going forward.
forward two teams very similar situations right i mean playing against division rivals in week one pretty
much could not have played worse got absolutely dominated and flat out embarrassed to the point that like
you said sean macbay is apologizing to the media essentially being like you know what i made i i
screwed up my bad guys he's taking ownership and accountability of such a bad mistake and then they
come out in week two and they look completely refocused and i'm not saying the broncos dominated to the degree
although, you know, who wouldn't want to play the Giants with their backup quarterback, right?
I mean, this team picked fifth in the draft last year.
So all I'm saying is that these two teams got refocused in week one.
They were proven, you know, we're not unstoppable.
We're not without flaws.
We have flaws.
We can't just go out there and expect that our talent gap is going to be the thing that
helps us win every single game.
We have to execute at a high level and make that talent look like it's that much.
bigger of a gap between these teams that we're playing. So I think going into this game,
it's going to be all about the chess match, right? It's all about the chess match and how you
match up as everyone's talking about in the chat. Like, well, who's going to cover? What if
Puka plays? Is that going to draw the coverage of PS2? Both receivers are healthy. If you're
going to heavy personnel, who's going to be on the D line? Who's going to be active for this game?
Are you going to get more from guys like Savion Jones, Jordan Jackson? I have an interesting
theory about the matchups in this game that I talk about on tomorrow's episode of the show
that I think it would be fun to bring up at some point. But that's kind of what I feel. These two
teams got refocused in week one. And now you can see, hey, this, this ain't going to work.
Just show up and hope our talent is enough to skate by. No, that's not going to happen. There's
teams that are, we've got targets on our back. And so the refocus of these two teams, I think
is going to make for a really fun matchup on Sunday night. Yeah, I think the matchups are going to be
ultimately very important. Why don't we hit that? We'll use that as our T's coming into the next segment.
As some of those matchups that might favor the Broncos, that might favor the Rams, how will the Broncos approach this game with the Los Angeles Rams coming to town?
All that more. We come back right here on your Lockdown Broncos Squacho.
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All right, well, come on back into the show.
For those of you not watching on YouTube,
we've got Cody Rockin, what looks to be a VR headset.
What's up with this?
I've seen the future.
On the NFL thing here,
I'm looking at the defensive front that the Rams are going to bring out right now.
And I'm lined up on her center.
I may go shotgun a little bit just to get things going,
but I think I got to get on our center and pound the dang rock inside the A and the B gaps.
I don't care if Aaron Donald's right there.
Got to exploit the weakness.
Well, let's look at it.
way here real quick, fellas. An update on Puka Nakua. This comes from Nate Atkins, who covers the
Rams for the athletic. Not too much of a crazy update. Wow. Yeah, exactly. What can't he do?
He says Pooka Nakua status is to be determined for next Sunday in Denver per Shaw McVeigh.
The Rams have a short week and a road trip this time around, obviously, comparing to what they
had to deal with last week. So not sure if Pooka's going to play or not.
Yeah, I would think he would play too, but no Miles Garrett either, right?
And so, like, I know Aaron Donald's still going to be there, but no Miles Garrett,
the potential of no Puka and Akua at home.
Like those are three, at least two of those three, which we know for sure.
Home game, no Garrett.
And then the wild card factor potentially no Puka or a limited version of Puka.
That bodes well for Denver in this one, too.
Yeah, short week, too, Cody.
It's an adjustment.
And they have to come to the Mile High City, you know, or I think in the fourth quarter,
the Broncos did a really good job because the Jaguars were sucking air in the fourth quarter.
And they were hands on the knees.
It was loud.
Trevor Lawrence couldn't hear the guy in the headset.
And so they had to burn a couple of timeouts.
I just thought for Denver, if they could come out here and push the pace here early on,
and let's say they can get a score and advantage going to the fourth quarter,
that plays really well into their hands.
Well, this is definitely a game that the Broncos can win and should win.
but there are a lot of underlining factors that we have to take a look at.
I mean, think about the drive killers we saw on Sunday against Jacksonville.
Every time the Broncos seemed to take two steps forward, they took 20 steps backwards.
It says, what is it with these penalties?
And you would think that over the two years, things would change because the Broncos were tops in the league last season when it came to penalties,
also when it came to drops.
And they still have those issues they have to work.
work through. So when you're at home and the crowd is as loud as, you know,
Garibault said it was and we were there so we know how loud it was, you have to be able
to lean on that. You can't take and suck the air out of the room because guess what,
there's a holding call. There is a delay a game. We can't do that at home and think that
you're going to beat some of the more quality teams because here's what the Rams are probably
thinking. Like you guys said, it's a short week. So this week,
they're not going to be in pads, right?
So you're just going to be going through the particulars of walkthroughs
and trying to make sure that everyone is healthy, getting the treatment.
What we know the Rams can do is that they can lean on their run game.
And that's been a problem for the Denver Broncos.
Even Michelle Tutin found, you know, creases earlier in the game against Jacksonville.
So if you get Blake Quorum and you get Colin Williams,
you get both of those guys going, that's going to be a problem.
So they're thinking we're going to shorten the game.
We're going to try to find a way to keep bonnakes and Jalen Wado on the sideline, and that's going to be their go-to.
So the Broncos this week, hopefully they're going over run fits to make sure that every guy understands where they need to be.
But more importantly, where's your help and where's your teammate?
I think we're going to see a lot more involvement from extra defensive backs against the Rams.
It's just a hunch.
I don't know anything, obviously.
Over the first two games, we've only seen six snaps.
on defense for Ja de Baron defensively.
And that is not cool for a guy who was a first round pick last year.
But I think against the Rams,
you have an opportunity to bring him out there and to see what he can do.
Because you're going to be facing,
I know he maybe has had mixed results against tight ends in the past.
We've also seen him have some really good results, right?
I mean, he had interception against the Cowboys last year,
kind of playing against Ferguson.
He had a pick six called back against Travis Kelsey when they played against
the chiefs in Denver last year.
So I think there's been enough success with Jadae playing in that role,
kind of manning up against tight ends.
You'd have to be pretty certain, though,
that those DBs can come out there and stop the run.
So I think we're going to see a lot more blitzing from the defensive backs in this game
against the Rams.
I think we're going to see Jekwon Macmillan attacking from the slot.
I think we're going to see Barron out there more defensively.
I think we're going to see Hufanga and Jones coming up into the box a lot more
and really forcing quicker throws from Stafford.
like I told Cody and we'll have it on tomorrow's episode of the show.
Devante Adams averaging 17 yards per target right now, 16.9 yards per target.
They're trying to push the ball deep.
And so you need those dbs out there to be able to attack and to stop the run.
And so I think that's going to be the interesting thing to see is who's going to be out there
because who's going to cover Ferguson?
It's not going to be Singleton.
I mean, so we'll see what happens.
I get a little anxious about, you know, and they're going to have to do it sometimes.
right? Like obviously the Broncos are a primary zone team. They run a lot more man than some other teams in the league. But it's when they get caught up in zone coverage. That's where Matthew Stafford tends to thrive. Trevor Lawrence last week had a couple of nice strikes when Denver was in Denver was in Denver. And Denver was a nice strikes when Denver was a number was in covering. Like they know how to attack deep. And that's the. I mean, Parker Washington for a 32 yard game down to the one yard line. Like and it seemed like no one was in covering. Like they know how to attack deep. And that's the.
the downside of like when you try to be super aggressive with your rush and it's block.
Well, it's, hey, that guy's got so much time to attack a certain spot.
So I drew up a little diagram here.
I do worry about some of those routes because what Devante Adams ended up catching some
big plays on, the deep dig, a deep post pattern there, catching it against a soft cover two zone
that the Giants were playing specifically.
That's what worries me a little bit here about this game.
So how do you balance the aggressiveness with, okay, now we need to drop guys back into coverage
and hope that our pressure gets home that our guys can communicate well when it's zoned
because too many crossing patterns, different layers.
And if you're trying to worry about Devante Adams taking you deep away,
that's where Pooka Nakua comes in in the short intermediate.
And that's what we saw against the 49ers when they did have some success offensively.
That is what worried me because I think the Giants came out.
They tried to replicate a little bit of what the San Francisco 49ers did,
where you would have a lot of the corners playing that underneath and sinking back
because staffer would throw those corner routes all the times or those deep outs
or the deep, you know, the digs, that's where I, that's, that's my biggest concern this week coming
into it from a coaching perspective.
Devante Adams against the Giants last night, albeit the Giants secondary is young and inexperienced.
I mean, nearly 200 receiving yards last night for Devante Adams, 10 targets, eight receptions,
a couple of touchdowns, an average of just under 25 yards per reception.
I mean, Devante Adams, like, my goodness, like that.
He looked like Devante of old, man.
I think he got the Taco Bell store out of his house.
I think he's good, man.
Wow.
Well, you know, Joe and Troy mentioned it on the broadcast that I believe, like, since he's drafted,
he's like the first or second most targeted player, like in the red zone, like,
especially when it comes to scoring touchdowns.
I forget the exact stat they threw up, like the guy's a ball hound.
And so that's going to be interesting, especially, and we'll get into this on the other
side to kind of wind down the show.
I'll ask you guys, like, what's one thing we all need to see from the Broncos?
you know, if they're going to win this game against the Rams.
And obviously that factors into a lot of this discussion.
But, you know, I want to shout out Daryan here in the chat,
who also brings up an interesting point about the Broncos, you know,
can't start slow again.
And good luck.
Newsflash, I was going to say, I'm expecting to start slow again.
But like, this is a team that could bury you, right?
And I have a lot of respect for the Broncos defense.
And obviously, I think they're a great unit.
But if Pook is healthy and if Devonte is doing his thing,
and if Kyra Williams is running the ball,
I love Blake Corm as a backup and obviously Stafford off on MVP's.
And like, you know, to rely on your defense to limit the Rams to 13 points like they did the Jags,
like that's that's a tall task to ask for here, fellas.
So I do think we need to see this Broncos offense.
Maybe not be like, you know, lightning in a bottle out of the gate, but you can't just kick
field goal after field go after field.
You're going to have to probably score at least 14 points or somewhere around them in the
first half.
You're going to keep up an track meet type game, fellas.
Well, I'll tell you this about if, about Devonte Adam.
if I am Sean McVeigh.
What you want to do, you know that he's probably going to get the matchup with PS2.
And looking at that cover two route, that circle post that he ran on the safety,
that was even though the Rams had several guys out in the past pattern,
guess what?
That was a one-person route.
They attacked the safety, right?
So when you think about the Bronco safety and the act of, you know,
coming down trying to be aggressive against the run,
that now exposes you and those deep shots,
down the field and what Devante Adams is, even though he's not, he doesn't have the same speed
that he had early in his career, who has? But the one thing he has, and it hasn't gone away,
is his craftiness to get off the press. He is one of the better guys in the NFL at being able to get
off to jam and then get into his routes. And if I'm Sean McVeigh, what I'm going to do is I'm
going to get him off the ball. I'm going to put him in motion because the way that you attack
corners like Champ Bailey or PS2 who have great feet at the line of scrimmage,
you make them chase, you put them in chase mode, whether that's deep overs or those
are shallow routes.
Because if you put him in those types of situation, now he's on the back hip.
His only helping the coverage are maybe the Loho linebackers are sitting at five to six
yards.
And as I've seen over the past two years, the Broncos linebackers don't do a great job
of holding down the middle of that five to eight yards.
range to make that guy who's coming on the shallow cross bubble around him.
So that would be a way to attack the Broncos and coverage.
But I'm looking forward to the matchup between these two guys.
I also think, too, I'm just looking at some of the play cards from Sunday's game for
Denver against Jackson when they came out in 13 personnel.
And I'm looking at it consistently, I think so much of it as I'm looking at it,
they're going to, I mean, you have to go base personnel here, right?
There's no nickel.
There's no 5 dBs on the field on this.
There's no 6 dBs.
it is straight up, your two outside linebackers, three down linemen, two linebackers,
and four defensive backs.
I'm very curious to, does that change this week because of some of the personnel that I
think that this team has in L.A., specifically with the tight ends.
Yeah, no, I am with you.
Look, I mean, this is, I think it was you, Cody, who said it's going to be a chess match.
It's, excuse me.
Gosh, I can't talk today.
That's exactly what it's going to be, though, and I'm fascinated.
I think Sean McVeigh is obviously one of the better coaches in the NFL.
I think Sean Payton, you know, his pedigree speaks for itself.
And ultimately, we'll see what happens when these two Super Bowl contenders collide here Sunday night football.
I'm pumped up to be there for that one.
You know, McVeigh, Peyton, Beau, Stafford, PS2, Devante.
I mean, it's going to be a real fun one.
When we come back, though, let's talk about one thing we have to see from the Broncos,
if they're going to pull off, ready for this?
An upset victory at home against Los Angeles Rams is the Rams.
themselves as the betting favorite on the road for this matchup.
All that more when we come back right here on your lockdown Broncos squad show.
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All right, final segment here on your lockdown Broncos squad show.
Appreciate you guys for rocking with us here on this Tuesday.
Anilo Piro, Cody Works here,
Beninger Nick Ferguson.
If you're watching on YouTube,
you guys are the best,
especially those that engage in the chat
for all of our audio listeners.
We appreciate you guys as well.
I know it's not a giant show,
but this just came across my timeline.
Jackson Dart further testing today reveals
that the injury he suffered last night is worse
than they initially thought.
And it looks like they're preparing
for potential season-ending injury.
MCL.
So as a football fan, that sucks.
Yeah, it sucks.
But, you know, it's every,
You know, I always think, you know, people are like, oh, you know, he's walking.
You can walk on a torn ACL.
Trust me.
I tore ACL MCLCL, LCL meniscus, and I still walked off the field.
Damn, Cody, I didn't even know they had that many Ls, man.
There's so many Ls, man.
It's the only time in life I ever held an L in my life was when I ruptured to me.
Outside of that, it's only Ws around here.
And the three Chick-fil-A bets we've made.
Oh, wow.
Those are losses.
Those are only learns, brother.
Yeah.
Cost you something.
Shots fired.
Also, you like a product man that just wrecks your gut, man.
You're the one who suggested Chick-fil-A.
Let's go.
But I always do the grilled nuggets.
If I do a chicken sandwich,
I'm sweating, brother.
You want to buy me?
You say that as I see you eat like three chicken sandwiches in the Broncos press box.
Absolutely.
I'll say they were much better this week.
They were much better.
They were very good this week.
They were very good.
Do you have the corn?
No, I had the grits, though.
The grits were good.
Oh, the grits in the corn or fire.
Anyways, we're making people hungry here.
Yeah, yeah.
It is, you know, almost it is lunchtime, I guess, technically here.
So, okay, let's go around the horn here.
I'll start with Sarah.
We'll go to Nick, go to Cody, and then I'll end with myself.
Sare, if the Broncos are going to beat the Rams on Sunday,
what's one thing you have to see?
I want to see the offense start well, like you guys said.
I want to see this offense sustained drives.
I want to see them execute.
I want to see fewer penalties.
I think that's the biggest thing to me.
is like procedurally speaking, can you just have a clean operation?
Because the Broncos only went three and out one time against the Jaguars.
It was their first possession of the game.
And what did they have on that possession?
A penalty.
So they've found a way with, I believe it was six straight drives with eight plus plays or a touchdown.
So the only drive or the only drive that didn't have eight or more plays was a five play touchdown drive.
So they found ways to move the ball is what I'm trying to say.
if you can not have go figure drive killing penalties and if you can have a clean operation if you can find some flow i mean shoot this offense can start humming so i'm confident in what we saw in the second half even some of those drives that you know were halted at the goal line i'm confident that we're going to see this team execute better and i'm confident that we're going to see them string together a decent game offensively all around i like it nick i want to see the
office of line be physical consistently. Like take what we saw from Quinn Miners and get that across
the board. And the only way you do that is this whole idea of starting fast. Put the onus
and the responsibility on the offensive line. Hey, guess what? Are the first 10 plays of the game,
they have Aaron Donald rerunning the ball, right? And we're going to get positive yards every
single time we run the ball. So we need you, Jesse's up front, to do your
your jobs. I don't want the running back running into your back. I want creases. I want seams
in their defense because the guy who's going to tackle out running back, oh, he's got to be on
the third level, right? Not the second level, the third level. If the Broncos are able to do that
and establish that type of fast flow physicality, then they win this game because once again,
we all know this. It's elementary. If you run the ball well, you dominate the clock, you keep the other
quarterback and the offense that is as talented as Sean McVeigh and Matthew Stafford are on the
sideline and you keep your defense fresh so when they go out there guess what the Rams have to do
they can't have a balance attack right they can't go well we're going to run the ball 20 times and
throw it 30 times no now they need to throw it and the Broncos you know coming into the season the
idea was that oh man we're going to have more sex this year than we had last year it doesn't look like
that so far. So you need your offense to help your defense by running a freaking game,
running the freaking ball, but being physical when you do it. Yeah, I like that. I like that a lot.
Cody, your thoughts on what the Broncos need in this game. And look, I think the run game is
going to be key for Denver offensively. I think the defensive trenches will be fine. But my
biggest worry, I would say here, is like, how come we have not seen? And maybe they're not
at that part of where they want to be. Because I do remember in the offseason, Davis Webb specifically
mentioned the Los Angeles Rams and you know really for them it kind of took kind of took them
to about week seven to really kind of figure out who they are I hope it doesn't take the week
seven for Denver to figure out who they are I mean it could because it's a process it takes time
you need more reps I get that but in no universe should you ever not pull Quinn Miners not
pull Garrett Bowles to the next level right I'm watching the Rams on Monday night and I'm watching
them pull their offensive tackle I'm watching them pull their dart up you know they did pull a couple
of times. Jonah Coleman's rushing touchdown that he had. They pulled him from left guard all the way up
to the right side into the gap where I thought Denver's offensive line. It was Troy Franklin,
Adam Troutman, Mike McGlenshey. It was three guys against three there. And they did a good job
sealing and down blocking. And then Powers leads up where he gets either Travis Hunter or number
four of the safety. I like that. Why not more of that going forward? Because I think what happens
when you get a heavier front defensively and everyone's just trying to step down to one side and they're
trying, you know, you want to get a reach block. You really have to make sure you get that angle.
Because if you don't, then you have penetration coming in from the outside. You have it coming
from the backside. And there's nowhere for the running back to go there. To me, pull, pull, pull.
And also, shout out to Derry. Troy Franklin, Troy Franklin has blocked his tail off in the first two weeks.
Going back, even back to training camp, going back to the preseason. He blocked his tail off on the
touchdown that Jonah Coleman certainly had. And he had a heck of a catch. More involvement for Troy
Franklin, I think, going forward.
But to me, it all starts and ends in the trenches for this team.
The Bronco is going to win.
They got to win the trenches on Sunday on the offensive side of the ball.
And they got to do it on the defensive side of the ball as well.
We got mouth of feed, boys.
Like, what are we talking?
We've been talking about, hey, more Sutton.
We need more Waddle.
We need more Franklin.
We need more Evan.
Like, hey, like, what if the solution is the opposite?
What if the solution is to just freaking throw the rock against the Rams and
see if they can stop this arsenal of weapons that you have because you have all these guys who can make plays.
What if Mims is back in this game as well?
I mean, it throws another wrinkle into this.
So yes, we want to see this team bully ball and run it.
I need that in my life.
I want to see that.
Absolutely.
But what if the solution to beating this Rams team as we've been talking about it is to throw the ball to all these guys?
Yes, as Daryon says, you obviously need balance.
but maybe the desire for a running game, a consistent running game,
has kind of caused us to think like,
hey, it has to come at the expense of utilizing all these weapons that you have.
Well, no, no, no, let's slow down a little bit on that one.
You've got a lot of mouths to feed in the passing game,
including these tight ends that we've seen are better options.
Nate Adkins and Evan Ingram, much better options than thought.
So, yes, establish the run, but don't be afraid to uncork it against this ram secondary.
Yeah, but Sarah, you can open up and create space in the passing game if you don't present the threat of running the ball.
That's why when you put a quarterback under center, the defense really isn't sure exactly what you're going to do.
You can run it or you can throw it.
That's 50%.
When you put your quarterback in a shotgun, 80% of the time, the defense is thinking, okay, well, that's more of a passing formation.
Okay, what kind of run plays can you run out of this formation?
maybe the pistol, maybe delayed hand-up, maybe a screenplay.
All of those things still play in the hands of the defense because they can see it coming.
When a quarterback is on the center, it's somewhat of a little veil.
It's a little disguise.
It takes a guy maybe one, two beats to kind of figure it out what the office is actually doing,
and it gives a tight end time to get down the field.
So for me, if you go straight passing, something that the Broncos have done over the past couple of years,
because remember last season, there were two quarterbacks
that led the league in passing attempts.
One was DeG Prescott.
The other guy was Bo Nix.
But the difference is in Dallas with Javonte Williams,
they still ran the ball a lot.
The Broncos don't.
And that was a problem.
Like you said, well, Anello said,
well, I'm thinking about picking up Jonah Coleman on my fantasy team.
But there is a little uncertainty because he doesn't know
how many carries he's going to get.
Why?
Because Sean has a tendency.
to rotate backs and he goes back to what he knows best,
drop back passing.
You can't really do that in today's game and be successful.
Like you said, Darren said, hey, listen, you need balance
and it's just the threat of running the ball.
Just the threat.
All I need you to average 1.5 because if you are getting 1.5,
guess what the linebackers have to do?
They have no choice.
They have to step up and step up.
It's that boarded area between those hash.
is right there you can strike.
I'm watching the film what the Carolina Panthers did to them last year.
I'm taking a couple of pages out of that and seeing, okay, what did they do well?
Where did they have success, both in the playoffs and in the regular season?
I mean, the crazy thing, and I've learned this, too, is the Broncos don't, they're not just going to look at,
hey, we've got two weeks of film on the rims.
This is all we're going to study.
No, they're going back to last year.
They're going back to two years ago with certain situations.
I'm very curious to see what their approach is going to be this week.
and some interesting questions.
I mean, obviously, you know,
someone just put it out in the chat,
I believe it was Darien,
Darian said,
who are you cutting for Faboni?
Forbony and Prentice only have one more practice squad elevation.
I imagine Prentice will be up.
Maybe they make a move this week
because they are going to have to bring Friboni,
at least after this week,
to the active roster.
And at that point,
might have to release an offensive lineman like Matt Pert,
might have to release maybe Little Jordan Humphrey again,
sign those guys back to the practice squad.
Yeah, Ty.
I mean, interesting.
decisions because I agree like I am very nervous like Chris Abrams drain a lot I got a little nervous
watching him return puns because here's a thing I think we've seen this nobody can replace what
Marvin Mims does in the return game no nobody can't muff the ball man you can't if you're the
backup punt returner at you at least have to be an expert level at catching the punt like that
he's got the best hands on the team that's why godly man I just can't I can't not if somebody
out there returning a punt in an NFL game and they can't catch it.
Like, easy for me to say, once again, recording a podcast from my basement.
But my goodness, like if I'm in the NFL and somebody, some coach is telling me, hey, go return
a punt, I better be able to catch the freaking punt out of the air.
That nothing drives me crazier than NFL players muffing punts.
It's like free throws.
Yeah, it's like a free throw.
You go out of free throw.
Wait, Kurt.
It's harder.
It's not quite like a free throw.
I would say the.
is like a free throw for basketball.
Everyone's like, ah, you should be able to shoot it.
I'll tell you this, and Daryon points it out.
At training camp, Chris Abrams, Drain was never once with the returners.
They, I mean, I think, yeah.
So, I mean, here's the thing.
Do you elevate a practice squad got to do it?
I don't even know if I'm comfortable with that.
At this point, I'm saying, you know what, let the dang ball bounce.
I don't care if it goes out at the one.
Just you don't want to have the mistake.
You don't want to have the mistake where you muff it and the other team gets it early on.
But it's tough.
I'll say this as a former punt returner.
Nothing made you a little more anxious.
Every time you're back there, then it's like, I'm looking up tracking the ball.
I pray to God, my jammers are blocking the guy.
And then all of a sudden, you know, you're looking and you're like, you peek down for a second like this.
You're like, I don't see.
That's a different color jersey.
Oh, shoot, I got to get this.
All right, fair catch, boom.
Or you just get blasted.
And then you're looking back on film.
It's like, man, this is why you don't put people who don't even care at jammer because it's just a lollygagging exercise for some of them.
I've been blown up before, man.
It's not fun.
You know what you do to guys when you're running down as a gunner and punt team?
Because like Cody said, you got to track the ball off the punter's leg.
And you got to hope that there's no sun, there are no bright light that get into your eyes
because you're trying to find and locate the ball.
So most of my career, I played Gunner.
So I'll wait until I get real close to him and I was scream.
You know what I used to do?
I used to yell at, I used to yell,
go Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter,
just so they would think it was from them
and they'd back up and then bang, it would bounce
and then roll to the, you know,
it's like, you had the perfect opportunity
to return it. And we yelled Peter and everybody's like,
oh, okay, we're getting away from it.
Yes, yes.
Classic. Well, look, it's going to be an epic
matchup, hopefully coming up here on Sunday night football
between the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams.
Cody and Sarah will have you cover with some additional content
throughout the course of the week leading up to that matchup.
We'll keep an eye on the injury stuff.
We'll keep an eye on Pooka and Kua.
J.K. Dobbins, R.J. Harvey, Marvin Mims.
So we'll see what happens on that front.
But we appreciate you guys for tuning in.
It was a fun one.
Let's see if the Broncos can make a statement on Sunday night football.
It'll be a late night show on Sunday night.
Hope you guys are going to stay up for that.
We'll have some fun with it.
And away we go.
For Cody Rourke, Sarah Bedinger, and Nick Ferguson.
I'm Manny Lo Piro.
Thank you guys for tuning in.
Talk to guys later.
Peace.
