Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: Denver Broncos Face BIGGEST Test vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

The Denver Broncos will face their biggest test of the NFL season when they take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Sean Payton's Broncos are in the midst of a seven-game win streak, but there have been some obvious holes in Denver's game plan. Bo Nix and the Broncos offense will need to bounce back in order to beat Kansas City, while Vance Joseph's defense will need to continue to play at an elite level. Join Aniello Piro, Cody Roark and Nick Ferguson on the Locked On Broncos Squad show as the fellas preview the Broncos matchup with the Chiefs. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Betterhelp This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at https://BetterHelp.com/lockedon. Rippling Get Rippling FREE for 6 months. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details: https://app.rippling.com/legal/promoterms Supply House Join the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHNFL5 for 5% off your first order. Peloton Let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com. PrizePicks Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel Right now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app. 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.

I'm Anilo Piro and the Denver Broncos have their biggest test of the season coming up on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm Cody Rourke. Bow Nix has a chance to change the narrative this week if the Broncos offense can get off to a hot start against the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm Nick Ferguson and will the Broncos have to lean on McGiver to come through again and that means their defense. Lots to break on. Lots of breakdown today on your locked on Broncos squad show. And of course, thank you for. for making us your first listen to the day on the Locked-on Podcast Network, which is now the number one sports podcast network in the universe. We'll break it all down here on today's Bronco squad show. From the South stands, it's the Broncos squad, everything Denver Broncos every week,

covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Mile High City, the way only the Locked-on podcast network can. Gear up and squad up. The Broncos Squad show starts now. Ah, yes, gear up and squad up. It is your locked on Broncos squad show. Anilo, Piro, Cody, Rourke, Nick Ferguson, Sare. Bettinger's still on assignment, but we'll be back with us sooner rather than later.

So a lot to get into today. And guys, real quick, today's episode is brought to you by our friends over at Fanduil. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Plenty to unpack on the program here today. the next time you'll hear from us three together will be after the Denver Broncos take on the Kansas City Chiefs and what is the matchup of the season for the Denver Broncos. We'll break that down throughout the course of the program today. A couple of housekeeping things I want to get out here real quick.

One, some general reaction to what we saw against Houston. But first and foremost, and we'll touch on this later on in the segment or later on the show, rather, thoughts and prayers and well wishes to Alex Singleton and his family with the scary news that came out yesterday, him being diagnosed with testicular cancer. Seems like everything's good to go there for the most part. We'll touch on that later, but definitely wanted to mention that off the rip. But Cody, why don't we start with you, my man? You're feeling a little bit better about the Broncos going up against Kansas City after last week? Or where you at? Well, look, I mean, they played a lot of games in the last handful of six or seven weeks

and don't even get me started. Like the new generation doing the whole six-seven stuff, please stop. Please stop. That's not what we're aiming for here. The brain rot that we go through in society today drives me nuts. But no, like, they played a lot of football. They had a mini-by-week. I talked to a few players that they decided to take the weekend to kind of get away,

you know, go, you know, a couple hours out of town just to escape, see some scenery. And I think that'll be good for them. But they're back at the building. They're back obviously on Monday team meeting, ready to rock and roll. It's a big week here. What I would say is the biggest game of the season. Yeah, it's going to be huge. And Nick, I mean, you know, we were all, you know, we went on that little tangent there,

however you want to describe it at the end of the show last week about, you know, being critical, being objective, right? And there really wasn't a lot to celebrate. with this Broncos on offense coming off that win against Houston. Are you still kind of feeling the same going into this matchup against Kansas City? Yeah, I am. And I don't want to say it was a tangent. It was just the fact of us speaking truth of power of what we were actually seeing from this Broncos offense.

Look, let's not mince our words as far as what's actually happened as far as the season. We haven't really seen kind of an offensive explosion against a quality team in a long time for the Denver Broncos. You can look at the Dallas Cowboys game and say, well, look at what the Broncos did against the Dallas Cowboys defense. But that was a defense that was kind of low at the bottom of all the statistical categories in the NFL. So for me, this is the Broncos final exam, if you will, or better yet, you know what? Final exam comes later. This is the Broncos midterm, right? You want to make sure that you are performing well and you're doing it against a team that you haven't really.

beaten in a while. And I know some people probably bark at me. Well, Nick, they did beat them at the beginning of the year 38 to nothing. Yeah, they did. But let's be totally transparent about situation. It was against Carson Wentz and a bunch of backups. So if you really want to show that you've turned a corner and you've taken this 10-day kind of buy, if you want to call it, and really revamp your offense, you have to really show it on Sunday. Yeah, I think it's well said. and I love your analogy of midterm, right? Because I remember, like, when I was in school, you know, in high school, like the midterm and the final sometimes would make up like 75% of your class.

You wouldn't matter as much with the homework and all the other stuff as well. And so I do think, Cody, that this is moving forward in this game against Kansas City. I mean, yeah, look, everything kind of boils up to now, right? It's a week-to-week league. I feel like this was a weird week in the NFL as we saw over the weekend. Not only do we see Denver win 10-7 on Thursday night, Josh Allen and the Buffalo bills laid a massive egg against the Miami Dolphins. They had some interesting conversations that weren't being had over there that we were seeing a little bit here in Denver.

And then last night, that Monday night football matchup between the Packers and the Eagles, 10-7. Cody's Wi-Fi job for you, Nick? An offensive slug fest. Sorry, my Wi-Fi was in and out there at the end. I thought I froze. I think you froze, whatever it is. But Nick, I'll let you respond to that. Well, Cody is absolutely right.

It's been kind of weird in an NFL. I mean, a Buffalo team that you thought a most kind of predicted that would kind of run away with things. They just had to get over the hill, which was Kansas City. I mean, they've lost three games in season. Who would have thought that they would have went into Miami and lost the way that they did? So that team is having an issue. So if you are a Denver Broncos fan, once again, we laid out our issues with them on Thursday night. I mean, you are in the best spot that you could ever been in the past four.

or five years. You just need to go out and show that you can beat Kansas City. And listen, guys, full transparency at the beginning of the season, as we were breaking down things, I said the Broncos were going to beat Kansas City twice this season. Hopefully, they make me right. But that is what this organization and the team is going to need to kind of move their game to his second level. Yeah, and there's obviously a lot of talk about Andy Reid coming off the by, right?

I believe his record is 22 and 4 lifetime for his career. I personally read into that. I'm not going to just discount that. I mean, the Broncos on offense have enough problems. Don't out me like that. I do like to play the numbers. But, you know, just point being, like, and I've had this belief throughout the course of the season.

Like, you know, we've seen Buffalo look good. We've seen some other teams in the AFC look good. But like, I'm still waiting for Kansas City to be knocked off. And I understand that maybe this is the most vulnerable they have looked in the last, you know, really just the entire Andy Reid Mahomes era. But I will believe it when I see it. So because of that, you know, I factor in the buy statistics as well. And at the end of the day, man, the Broncos offense just does not make me believe right now that they're in the right place to go out and beat Kansas City even at home, Cody.

Yeah, I mean, they've got to come out and get off to a hot start and look. I think we're going to preview the offensive side here in just a little bit. I think there's so many different things kind of piling up right now when you look at where this offense is at. I mean, Denver's banged up right now. Offensively, defensively. We don't know the status yet of J.K. Dobbins who suffered a foot injury. There's been some speculation online, nothing of confirmation at this point. defensively, Jonah Ellis left the game with the hamstring injury.

Correnia Reed leaves the game with the hamstring injury last week. You know, Alex Singleton, obviously, as we know, we'll miss this game. We'll miss several weeks here. And so the Broncos are thin at linebacker depth right now. Outside linebacker took a shot with Jonah Ellis, not, you know, being there, maybe he'll be back on the field this week. Could we see potentially Drew Sanders, his window activated at some point? He's been on the side field for the last couple of weeks.

So coming into this week, I mean, this is the banged up Broncos. And with all the questions about the offense, the strength, struggles and everything that has gone on with this unit, it just seems like the perfect week to kind of just say, hey, you know what, we're going to come out. We're going to respond really well. That's the hope at least. Will they do that? I mean, we're going to have to wait and see. Yeah, I hope so, right? Because if we can get that Broncos offense that played like they did against the Dallas Cowboys, I mean, the Broncos are going to have an excellent chance to win this game, right? But it's just been so, you know, black or white or flip or flop, whatever terminology

you want to use with this Broncos offense, there just hasn't really been a level of consistency throughout the course of the season. And Cody, you mentioned it. We're going to dive into the offense and the defense in particular as the show goes along. But I want to take a step back as well. I think the entire NFL, anyone not who's a Kansas City fan or plays in that organization, I think everybody is rooting for the Denver Broncos to win this game on Sunday. Because as things currently stand, the Broncos at 8 and 2 and firm command of the

AFC West, the charges are a game behind them at 7 and 3. And then you've got the Chiefs at 5 and 4, as we alluded to. This is maybe the most vulnerable they have loved. looked in this Mahomes Reed era. So Nick, I mean, you played obviously for the Broncos, but you played around the league as well. I mean, a win for the Broncos here goes a long way in making the path a lot tougher for Kansas City to get back to where they once were.

Yeah, it does because when you look at Kansas City so far this season, they've already dropped two games to AFC opponents. Dropping the third one will put them in a very difficult situation. You've lost to the bills. They've lost to the Chargers. If you lose to the Broncos, it makes sure your, your. path as far as seating is concerned, very tough. But you said something about Andy Reid and his record coming off a buy and how this

doesn't look like the typical Kansas City Chief team, as we've seen in the past. You're absolutely right. But here's what I know. I mean, animals when backed into a corner become really dangerous, especially animals like possum. And when you look at the Kansas City Chiefs, we saw it last season. This could be another season where Kansas City's playing Possible. And with that team playing possible and knowing how important this game is for them,

you can expect a couple of wrinkles that the Broncos were not planned for and did not see because when you look at this Chief's team, the one thing that they don't do well is run the ball. Why? They don't run the ball well. But Kareem Hunt has done a great job catching the ball out of the backfield. And that has proven to be somewhat problem for the Denver Broncos this season covering running backs out of the backfield. Now, you mentioned Alex Singleton. He was one of those guys that would have issues,

but you have Drake Greenlaw and Justice Strunar, two linebackers who I believe are better at that skill set and covering running backs out of the backfield. So if the Broncos can eliminate that and force Patrick Mahomes to play quarterback, they stand a chance. Yeah, and it's 22 and 4. That is the record for Andy Reid

and his head coaching career off of the buy. Only one of those losses came in. He was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. I believe three of those come in as he's been head coach of the Chiefs. So that's a 9 and 3 record for Andy Reid coming off the buy. And I agree with you, man. I think that's the one thing you're really confident in this game with the Broncos is their defense. And obviously you laid it out perfectly, Nick, knowing where the Kansas City Chiefs are with their rushing attack. And look, Pat Surtan's not going to be out there for the Broncos. But with what we've,

everything that we've wanted to see or haven't seen from the Broncos offense this year or even on this win streak, we've seen in the defense. And there's that old saying, you guys are both defensive guys, right? Defense wins championships. So even if the Broncos offense doesn't have their best day, Cody, I'm curious to see if the defense can hold strong enough against Mahomes, against Reed Kelsey and company to put the Broncos in a position to win this game. Because if they do, like let's say it's a 17-13 Broncos win. Obviously, you'd like the Broncos to win a little bit more by margin and score more points, but you've got to feel really confident in the defense if the game does play out that way.

Yeah, I mean, if Denver were to win this game, 1713, I don't think there's going to be anybody in the world complaining about that, right? 13 points against the Chiefs. Look, Kansas City is still dangerous, right? I think we can all acknowledge that. Patrick Mahomes may not be the guy that we saw three or four years ago. He's got really good pieces around him. Look, they got an offensive line that certainly has some works in progress, but they like their offensive tackle situation. That's been an improved area for them. You mentioned Kareem Hunt earlier. Isaiah Pacheco is more than likely, I think, anticipated to be back for this game after he had an injury. And then you have Xavier Worthy. You have Hollywood Brown. You have Ju-Jew-Smith Schuster. Yeah, Rishi Rice and, of course, Travis Kelsey. This is the Chief's offense. It has plenty of weapons right now. And them coming off the by is going to be very interesting to see how they approach it.

But I wanted to kind of throw this to Nick as well. Nick, you've been part of teams. You've been part of many bi-weeks over the course of your NFL career. What actually takes place during a buy week? Well, the first part is trying to get away like the Broncos have done, you know, this far. But once you get over that part, It is coming back to the team. And that first day is just kind of going through all the mistakes that were made in the previous game.

But then now you get out there on the field and you walk through everything that you've gone through throughout the season. Some miscues to make sure that, hey, everyone's on the same page because, you know, teams when they watch film, they look at what you do well, but they want to find out what you don't do well and try to take advantage of that. And then after that, you get into the nuts and bolts of your next opponent. and you try to turn the page on the previous game. And hopefully you're coming off a win like the Broncos are coming off a win. But as it pertains to the defense, it's business as usual. The offense, they need to change something up.

They need somewhat of an offensive facelift, if you will. Now, the question is, and we talked about it after the Raiders game, will that, in fact, happen from the person who's calling the plays? Because that is the person that actually applies the oil that greases the engines for the offense, But if you're telling me that Sean Payton coming off this mini buy will do this, I'll say okay. But the chances are not going to happen. Well, I think that this mini buy and the buy, like the regular buy, I think you're coming at a great time for this Denver Broncos team.

And Cody, you know, you and I were in that locker room after the game on Thursday, you know, J.K. Dobbins, Adam Troutman, Mike McGlinchy, you know, a couple other players, you know, harping on, one, we've got to be better. But two, they believe the offense is closer to coming around than maybe. the outside perspective is as well. And that's going to need to happen. And I agree with you, Nick, like if there was ever, you have to trust Sean Payton. You have to trust this Broncos coaching staff on offense to get it figured out with this extra rest going into this game against Kansas City. And look, their schedule has been a gauntlet, Cody, you know, with all the games they've

played in London on the road at home. I mean, the last month, month and a half of the Broncos has been insanity. So the fact that they've managed to rip off this seven game win streak in spite of that is fantastic. So let's see if they can use this many by week to their advantage and come out and give a good punch against Kansas City, Cody. Yeah, I mean, look, it's a great opportunity here. The fact that, like, the difference between this Broncos team and this Chiefs team is what we saw them struggle with last year. Last year in one-score games, the Chiefs were very good.

This year, they haven't been. Last year, Denver struggling in these one-score games where they would lose. This year, they found ways to win these games. So you just got to keep it close, and obviously, I think, trying to just get back the basics here. I mean, we caught up with Sean Payton on Monday on the conference call. And one of the things he told us was it's just about, I would say I'm not necessarily escaping, but putting together, it's like, all right,

what can we do as coaches to simplify things? Not necessarily like, hey, we, you know, this is too advanced for us. But if we're doing too much, like they were talking about Bo Nix, his ability to avoid sacks, but also when there's pressure, that internal clock is speeding up, he says we also have to factor in. You know, Bo has certain dropbacks, like three step, five steps, seven step drops, but also our routes have to marry with those. So, for example, if you're running a five step drop, which is kind of deeper to intermediate, developing stuff.

If your receiver runs it too shallow, that throws the timing off. Now, on your deeper developing ones, if he runs, you know, too far off, like, for example, the Broncos have many plays offensively where they use one guy to run off a corner and a safety and they bring a guy back underneath. When that guy's jogging or is not going full speed, then all of a sudden it's easy for the defense to pick up. So he says it's these little nuances, these little attention to detail areas. Certainly penalties have been an issue.

I highlighted this statistic yesterday. the Broncos are the most penalized team in the NFL right now. 83 penalties through 10 weeks. 42 of those have been on the offensive side of the ball. So they have to clean that up. And Sean says, we can clean that up. There's obviously some calls they don't agree with, but he says, we have to clean up.

We've been hearing this for a while. So we'll actually see if that is the case. But it's easier than you're saying, we're going to clean it up. You have to do those little things. And that's refining technique and going through those little things. We'll see if that actually does happen, though. Well, you can't shoot yourself on the foot.

And penalties is just, just can't have that many penalties in a game against Kansas City Chiefs. Look, they've been able to win in spite of it. But if they want to be the Chiefs on Sunday, they have to play a clean football game from beginning to end. So good thought there. All right, let's hit our break. When we come back, we'll continue along with the conversation.

Let's dive into the offense. What needs to change? Is it play calling? Is it confidence with Bo Nix? Will J.K. Dobbins be out there for the Denver Broncos. We'll break all that down next right here on your locked-on Broncos squad show. Back in just a moment, folks. All right, you guys, real quick.

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All right. So a good kind of opening sweep there to set the table. We all know the Broncos need to be better on offense. We hope the defense holds court. And obviously the biggest matchup of the year coming up this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs. But let's dive into that offense in particular because if the defense holds, the Broncos probably have a pretty good darn chance to win this game. If the offense picks up the slack, the Broncos also have a pretty good chance to win this game,

if that is the case. But Cody, will they? Will they figure it out? Will Bo Nix look more comfortable? Will Sean Payton simplify the play calling? Talk to me about this Broncos offense. It really depends on the approach that the offense has this week in practice. One thing that Sean has said consistently is they've tried to simulate Wednesday's practices

to feel more like Sunday. And in my head, Nick, I'm also thinking, I'm like, how can you do that when you're so limited by the CBA, when you're limited by contact and all these hours of what you are allowed and are not allowed to do? How do you simulate that in practice? I think is always an interesting thing. Obviously, in the media, we don't get to see that because we can't observe the full practice in its entirety. We're willing to get individual and team stretch.

But for Bo Nicks, look, as much of the conversation, you know, people have had about Bo so far since Thursday night, we can all acknowledge Bo has to be better. But I think the objective take here is that while Bo can be better, Sean can be better. The personnel around Bo can certainly be better. People forget this is a team game. And yes, there is the most pressure on the quarterback. But when the other pieces around him aren't necessarily doing their job as well, it's hard for him to do. his job. And there's elements, as we said, we're not saying that. Bo is blameless in this,

but Bo's got to step up. He's got a chance to change the narrative this week. And I teased it to open up the show here today. But if you can beat this Kansas City Chiefs team, which look, the Steve Spagnolo defense is very, very hard to go against. Now, while they have some of their own struggles this year, they have guys with motors, you know, and talk about obviously Jones on the interior, you talk about George Carl Loftus on the outside. You talk about their linebacker core that they have. They're very good at flying around. And one thing I know that Steve Spagnolo loves to do, especially on third down, those double A gap blitzes from those inside linebackers. So Denver's just going to have to be on their P's and Q's this week. I think the biggest

key this week, Nick, and I'm curious for your thoughts on this, there has to be a better run-pass balance versus it just being a pass-heavy offense because the last two weeks, Bo Nix has thrown the ball 15 plus times in the first half, whereas Denver has ran the ball six times in each of the last two games in the first half alone. If that run-pass balance is out of whack in this game, it's going to be hard for the Broncos to overcome that against Casey. Well, it's interesting that you bring that up, Cody, because when you look at who leads the NFL and passing attempts, it is won Bo Nix. And that tells you that Sean Payton is putting a heavy emphasis on throwing the ball more than

he's actually running the ball. And there's something else that the Broncos, well, there's a couple of things that the Broncos need to do to make sure that they even stay in the game with Kansas City offensively. And one is creating space. What I mean by that is opening up your offense. Make these reeds easier for Bo Nix because what I've seen from Spagnola, he's done it against the Broncos, he's done it against other teams. But when the Broncos run a lot of condensed formations, which they do,

you can see pressure coming off the edge. They will bring the nickel back in the corner off the edge. And what we haven't seen is kind of an evolution to the Sean Payton offense. where the receiver's seamers, though, they know the scheme and they understand the scheme where they're making site adjustments. And what I mean by that is you see a nickel and you can tell when a guy's coming from the secondary, we try to hide it, but we're not great active. When you see that and you have a deep route, cut your route off, run an out route, run a stop route, turn around. These are the same things we see from Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes. And that's because they played for a long time.

And these are plays from these two guys that are not called into offense. It's just like, okay, well, it was almost like Wes Walker playing with Tom Brady. Run where the defender isn't. Just run, sit down, flash your numbers. And this is what the Broncos is going to have to tend to from a defense standpoint. But offensively, you want to see more spacing. And here's the other thing that helps you out, man. We want to see both play from under center, right?

Because when your quarterback is under center, defensively, we have no idea what it's going to be. It's like a 50-50 pass, 50-50 run. When you sit him in a shotgun, this is where Bo has seen a lot of his issues, especially with his footwork, because guess what? In a shotgun, he's already in his drop. He's already in his five-step, seven-step drop. So now it's like, okay, well, Cody, you talked about timing and rhythm with the wide receivers. There was a play in the Thursday night game against the Raiders where Boe was criticized for throwing a checkdown. Why? They ran a dagger concept. Pat Brom. Ryan ran the clear out and you had Troy Franklin coming from left to right running the dagger

out at 15 yards. Guess what? He took two damn long running the route. And then, then he rounded it off. Bo hits his back foot. He's ready to let it fly. And now he has to hold on to it. The pressure's in his face and check down. This is why this offense is having issues and is not just Bo Nix. Yeah, I think it's easy to just play in the quarterback, right? Because it is the most important position, right? It's like it seems like you can only go as far as your quarterback at times, but I do think that there's blame to be passed around. But Cody, you talked about the need to kind of have a more focus on the splits between pass and run. I agree with you. I mean, that's something that we've been talking about, you and I off the air, on the air throughout the

course of the season, right? But if J.K. Dobbins is not able to go. And as of this, we're recording and we're live right now, it's still up in the air right now. But seems like he's dealing with an injury to the foot and whatnot, had that tweet that he put out on Friday. as well. So let's just assume for conversation, say that J.K. Dobbins is not playing in this game. I don't know if I trust Sean Payton, you know, even be more run-pass split than he has been in the past just because you don't have your number one guy and your number two option is R.J. Harvey, who's been good in spurt, but Jalil McLaughlin has been banished to the shadow realm. We see Tyler Badegh and, you know, kind of these little spruce plays every now and again.

So if J.K. Dobbins is not out there for the Broncos on Sunday, Cody, I think you'll see even more passes than runs. then you might as well wave the white flag and say, hey, we plan on losing this game here because you have to run in today's NFL. And look, we're going to obviously keep you up to date as to what's going on with J.K. Dobbins. We'll be out of practice on Wednesday afternoon. And we'll see who's there, who's not, who's on the side field. But we're monitoring J.K. here.

It wouldn't surprise me if he's DMP on Wednesday or a limited participant. But we're going to keep monitoring that foot injury there. Now, here's a thing. Let's say, let's operate under the hypothetical that J.K. is not able to go. this week. What is Sean Peyton's plan? Because here's the thing that frustrates me with him drafting RJ Harvey. I love the pick so much.

But Sean has not used RJ as this all around back. You know, yes, we've seen him have value as a pass catcher. I love what he's bringing to the table as a receiver. But when it comes to running the football, the only time RJ Harvey's getting touches, it's going on outside runs. We're talking stretch plays or

toss plays or pitches. And that's it. Like that's like when RJ's in, it's an outside run. And it doesn't get going because that's really what defense knows. Hey, number 12 is in the game. He's either catching it or it's going to the outside and they're playing off that. Number two, Tyler Badee, when number 28 is in the game, he's not getting the ball handed off to him. So you know what the defense knows?

Ah, they're throwing it here. To me, that is one of the more glaring tendencies that I think have put this Broncos offense in a tough position from the play calling standpoint. You have to find a way to run the ball and it can't just be JK. That's why you drafted RJ. You have a guy like JK, who we know is going to be the primary guy, but now you can use RJ as well. Nick, I have yet to see this duo. Have it to where, let's say, JK has 20 carries, RJ has 15. That's the way that this should go.

And if you get that run game going in that manner with these two guys on a series to series basis, everything else, your play action stuff that you want to do, everything opens up here and you're not as one dimensional. To me, if JK's unable to go this week, I am concerned about how Denver's going to approach attack in Kansas City. Well, you know what, Cody, man. You sound like me when I was about 10 years old and I wrote Santa a list of all these things I wanted and I didn't get any of those things.

Because you're giving us a CVS list type of receipt of all these things that you want the Broncos to do. And all those things are correct. The thing that we don't know is will Sean Payton actually do this? And if JK can't go, here's the evolution to the office. We've seen it take place in the Houston game with Troy Franklin. Troy Franklin was now elevated to the role that Marvin Mims had. Remember last year in Arrowhead when the Broncos played Kansas City?

Marvin Mims lined up in the backfield. And that was the Broncos way of trying to get more speed and athleticism at that position. But when you do that, you kind of give your hand. You show your hand, if you will, like you were just describing with a lot of the other guys that you bring in like Badee and say, okay, well, this is a passing down because Troy Franklin, albeit as fast as he is, just like Marvin Mims, he's not a real big guy. And the Broncos can't stand to have any more injuries. So the way that you offset if J.K. Dobbins can't play is incorporating a group that we

haven't really seen at a high level. And believe it or not, it's the tight ends. This is where Evan Ingram actually comes in. And this is where Sean Payton builds a game plan with four or five plays just to feature a guy like Evan Ingram. And oh, by the way, you spread Evan Ingram out just like Kansas City does with a guy like Travis Kelsey because that way you can identify manor zone. But here's the biggest thing.

And you know this, Cody. It sets up a light box so now you can run. That's the key, man. And you talk about lining up Evan Ingram outside. Like that's what I thought the expectation was. for Evan Ingram when the Demer Broncos kind of brought him in, that Joker dynamic role that Sean Payton liked to throw out them. Okay, we'll line them up on the line. We'll line them up outside. We'll get creative and whatnot. And Cody, to just bring it back to your point, I love your notion

about tipping the hand a little bit with Sean Peyton. Tip your hand all you want when Drew breezes your quarterback. Tip your hand all you want when you have prime Peyton Manning. And it's funny, right, because the Broncos have won seven straight games. So it's hard to kind of bury them on this. But like, Bo Nix is not playing with nearly enough confidence that you can tip your hand in that scenario and expect to have good results against a quality team like you are facing this week in Kansas City. So I agree with Nick completely. This should be an Evan Ingram game. I mean, we haven't really had one of those this season, missed him on a touchdown pass in the game against the Raiders on Thursday night. And so we'll have to see, you know, how the Broncos

try to adjust to that. But Cody, I'm more so curious because I want to see if Sean Payne can actually commit to a run if J.K. Dobbins is not playing. Yeah, well, look, this is Mahomes versus Bo Nix for the second time ever. And I loved what Bo was able to do in that first matchup. The Broncos should have won that game last year. But, you know, yeah, that special teams mishap, it leads to a block kick. You leave Arrowhead as losers. And then, you know, luckily the Broncos responded the next week against the Atlanta Falcons.

I just think that there has to be a concerted effort here this week. Going into it saying, okay, if JK's unable to go, no matter what, we're going to line up and we're going to pound the rock here with RJ Harvey. RJ's a guy. We talk about him being a former quarterback. RJ's got good vision, right? Yes, you want to use that on the outside at times. But RJ, I think, can also be patient at hitting the pocket inside. That's what the Broncos need to do.

Maybe this week, instead of it being more outside zone related in terms of the blocking scheme, why don't you go to a little bit more gap and just line it up, hey, we're trying to get to the A gap. Let's do it. The offensive line, I think, can create those holes, especially with Quinn Miners, who at one point of the game on Thursday night, Quinn Miners came out with an illness, was able to come back in on that final drive that Denver had and J.K. Dobbins, on that drive, despite his foot injury,

had six carries for 25 yards to help close things out. There is a formula to be had here. So we'll see if the Broncos could take advantage of it. Yeah, that's going to be interesting to see if they can. And the one thing about it, man, this team is full of talent, but we just haven't seen the talent actually utilized the way that it should. And I have to say this, man. I looked around a lot of the league and a lot of games on Sunday,

and just watch other offenses execute. And I would just kind of jealous and envious of what they were doing because I'm like, these are the same things that the Broncos can actually do. It's almost like an updated offense, if you will. And if Sean Payton can, you know, put, I guess, his ego aside and say, you know what, it's about the players being able to execute on the field, not just how smart I am, but just kind of pulling back. And that's not to say that the players are incapable of running the gamut of this offense.

But as a smart offensive coordinator, you have to recognize where your strengths are and your weaknesses are because, I mean, look at this. Look at where we are. I mean, we're almost at week 11. And we can't continue to have this confidence over and over. But the Broncos offense could be is going to take more time to develop. No, uh-uh. I'm tired of the excuses. I'm tired of the justifications, man.

The scale back, get these players out there, get them some positive plays, and let's blow the doors off Kansas City. Yeah, it's time, you know, and to go back to the analogy you made earlier, here's your midterm. That final exam is coming up sooner rather than later. So there's really no more time for the Broncos to try to figure it out. We got to see them start on go and get after it in this game against the Kansas City Chief. So well said from Nick, well said from Cody. All right, let's hit a break when we come back.

Talk about the offense. Let's talk about what we think we know, which is this Denver Broncos defense that is playing at a pretty high level. We'll break that down next right here on your locked on Broncos squad show. And real quick, a word from our friends over at Peloton featuring our friend, Cody Work. Today's show is brought to you by our 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 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 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 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, tread plus at one peloton.com. Good job, Cody. Works really hard on that read. I love my Peloton, man. I tell you what, that's my thing. I take it with me everywhere. Not my bike, but I can take the workouts on my phone. You know, you do your workout, set up to TV.

Kind of stay in shame, man. You think I'm about to go running in this winter weather here in Denver? Come on, man. I feel you. I feel you. So be sure to check out our friends over at Peloton. Let them know that locked on Bronco. Sancho, this is your locked on Broncos squad show.

Anilo Piro, Cody Rourke, Nick Ferguson, Sarah Bedinger, on assignment. We'll be back with us sooner rather than later. Do as a favor. Hit that like button, smash that subscribe button as well. That way you guys never, ever miss anything coming out on the channel. Also really helps us out. Defense. Okay. Let's start with Alex Singleton real quick with the news that came out of yesterday. He was diagnosed and underwent successful surgery to have testicular cancer removed from his body.

I don't even know what to make of that, fellas. Nick, I'll kind of start with you. And it seems like this is something that came up in one of those routine drug tests that players have to do throughout the course of the season. I'm sure you could speak to that a little bit. I'm sure it's a little ironic because everything that I've heard is like, you know, when that time comes around, the players sometimes roll their eyes or, you know, we've seen like Blue Mountain State make fun of it in TV episodes. And Pat McAfee has his own thoughts about, you know, drug testing in the middle of the season and whatnot. But in this case, Nick, it may have saved Alex Singleton's life. Yeah, it has. And you're absolutely right. There's no player that I know of that loves taking those tests. And as a guy

that has taken a lot of those tests over my time as a player. And they're so-called random. them. And I'm like, well, how could I be randomly test in three months, like four times? But yet, I digress. But the moral to the story is that guys, we need to go out there and we need to be more certain of SARS. Our health care is concerned. And I know usually there's standards as far as waiting to a certain age to get certain tests. I'm going to tell you, don't wait. Right. I know some individuals who have waited and they've waited entirely too long. But it's best to kind of to get this this drug test and typically i'll tell you this too when you go to a doctor and you ask for a blood test they only give you certain or the typical blood panels but do your research

find out some more about your family history and get all your blood work done now your insurance company may not cover in its totality but trust me as far as peace of mind you want to make sure and I'm so neurotic with it, man. I get two PSA tests every six months. Every six months I'm going in to make sure I know my PSA numbers. And for those guys who don't want to do it, there's a new way to do it. The old way is just that. It's all you have to do go in, they draw your blood,

and they can give you your numbers in a day or two. So the one thing I learned from this Alex Singleton situation, man, is be more proactive instead of reactive about, your help. Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to lie. When I heard the news, I was like, I got to go to the doctor. Like that was like the first thought, right? I mean, we've seen some media members just locally here in the Denver market that have undergone some, you know, cancer battles and whatnot. I mean, a good colleague and a mentor of mine, Les Shapiro, unfortunately, we lost him to lung cancer a handful of years ago. And I still think of him to this day. Like producing his show was like one of the first things that I did in this business.

And so, you know, it's not unmannedly to go get checked, ladies and gentlemen. Gentlemen in this fact. So I think it's well said from you, Nick. But also, Cody, you know, you and I have a little bit of a relationship with Alex. You know, I've worked with him on the past and some projects, you know, that don't involve football. I know you've worked on some projects with him as well. Just a great guy first and foremost. I just can't.

I couldn't imagine what mentally was going through his head with this blood test. and then the result of the blood test and then playing in the game on Thursday night football. I mean, what a warrior. Yeah, look, it's also a tip of the cap to the Broncos organization because one thing Alex told us yesterday was he got the initial result that there was an elevated protein in his urine sample. And he said, you know, I don't take anything, you know,

that I'm not supposed to be taking. So they scheduled an appointment. The Broncos did with a urologist. And they obviously, they got that. The pre-C.T., the pre-surgery CT revealed that it had not spread, which was obviously the best news. for Alex in this situation here. But the Broncos took care of scheduling the surgery,

having everything going, and his focus all last week, despite this was, I want to play football on Thursday. So he played on Thursday and then went and he had the surgery on Friday. Then obviously we all found out yesterday as he revealed the news to the world. I mean, this is something that's very common between the ages, you know, men of the ages of 15 to 35. This is something that is very prevalent. You know, one guy every day, if you look at the testicular cancer society, you know,

awareness, one guy every day passes away due to testicular cancer. So, you know, if you feel off, make sure you just get checked, get treated. I think that's always one important thing. But he is a warrior. He's a tough guy. He's going to miss the next several weeks. And look, I think that right now his life is far more important than the game of football. While the Broncos will miss his presence, his leadership on the field, life is more important. His wife, they just had a newborn baby over the summer, their child. That's more important right now than anything else that has anything to do with football. The Broncos, they'll manage without him. And I think that's where we're going to see a lot more Justin Sturn out and Drake Greenlaw this week.

We mentioned the injuries earlier at the other lineback here, spots there with Karen A Reed. We could see Lavel Bailey, maybe Jordan Turner elevated at this point, just to bring guys in and just have as much depth as possible. Drew Menners have been on the side field for the last two weeks. We'll see if he's ready to rock and roll if the Broncos actively his window at some point after he had that foot injury early on in training camp. So just a, you know, a scary situation for Singleton. but, you know, Singleton's focus is where it needs to be, and that's on his life, and obviously getting healthy and recovering. Luckily, after this week, the Broncos have a buy,

so maybe we'll see him for that Raiders game here in a few weeks, but glad he's going to be okay. Yeah, you know, obviously thoughts, prayers, well wishes, all that kind of stuff to Alex Singleton and his family and wanted to address that on the show today just because, you know, we have fun talking ball, but like this is real life type of stuff that came out this week. So the fact that he can even return this season is absolutely unbelievable, by the way. I mean, like speaks to Alex Singleton, his character and everything he's going through.

But let's bring it back to football. I want to throw a big picture out to both of you guys, and either one of you can take it. You know, a couple of weeks ago, the Buffalo Bills take care of business against the Kansas City Chiefs. Good win for them. They've beat them in the regular season, haven't beat them in the playoffs. We just saw what happened to the Buffalo Bills specifically with their defense against the Miami Dolphins, right? So if I'm going apples to apples here, just basic knowledge, the Broncos defense is much better than the Bill's defense on a typical weekend and weekout basis.

And they did a pretty decent job of slowing down Patrick Mahomes in that game. So minus Alex Singleton, minus Pat Sertan. Cody, I'll toss it to you first. This Broncos defense is still in a really good position to make life miserable for Patrick Mahomes in this offense. Yeah, they are. Look, we mentioned the offensive weapons that Kansas City certainly has early on the show. I still think that Denver's depth defensively, that's been paying off for them.

Even when guys are banged up, we talked about Jonah Ellis being hurt and banged up a little bit. the depth has shown up here for Denver. Look, you got Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper. These guys are getting after the quarterback. One thing I watched from that Buffalo Bills, Kansas City game was Patrick Mahomes getting hit a lot, getting sacked by the Buffalo B's defense. Denver's got to continue that trend here of getting after QBs. I mean, last week against Gino Smith, there was six sacks on him, five in that first half.

They did a terrific job in that regard of doing that. But that's the way you slow down here, this Chief's offense. You back them up into long field positions. And even then, it's still, Patrick Mahomes, third and long. That's the situation that always scares me when you go up against Kansas City because you'll lock up in coverage. Everybody will runoff downfield and then Mahomes will use his legs and somehow it's third and 17.

He picks up 18, 19. That can't happen obviously this week. And I think Nick Benito last year on the road at Kansas City did a really good job of getting after him. There were a couple times he had Mahomes wrapped up. Mahomes able to throw the ball away despite being in the grasps of Benito there. and he escaped one of those sacks that he had there. So third down is going to be one of the bigger keys this week here for Denver

defensively when it comes to Patrick Mahomes. And that means that on their early downs, first and second down, they've got to be better. They've got to be really good. That's going to be the money down so far this week. Well, it's interesting that you bring up Nick Benito and the last time that Nick Benito in his defense faced Patrick Mahomes and a full Kansas City Chiefs offense for sacks on the day.

but Nick Benito had Patrick Mahomes in his clutches, not once but twice, but even three times, and he couldn't really get him down. And this is what you're going to have to prepare for because with Patrick Mahomes, it's not the first route. It's not the second one. It's the third one because he does a great job of moving in the pocket. When it comes to improvisation from a quarterback position, there's not a quarterback in today's game better than Patrick Mahomes. throwing overhand or underhand, he's going to find a way to get it to a Y receiver. Even if he has to drop, kick it to a Y receiver, he's going to find a way. This is where, you know, the Broncos defenders have to be great with their eyes.

When the team comes out and they line up in their formation, it's got to be communication, identification of certain guys. And I'm not even talking about Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey is not a major threat because he can't run as though he could years ago. So he is just kind of an intermediate type of recession receiver. But those other guys, man, they got some track guys out there. And if you are a guy like Raleigh Moss, you have to figure, once again, they're going to come after you. They're trying to get those big explosive plays.

And they want to put Ralee Moss in a situation, even if he's in great coverage, maybe there's a P.A. down the field and you put the ball at the spot at the file to make things easier for Kansas City. So this is going to be a challenge for a defensive unit that has performed well this season. It's going to be all hands on deck. The communication has to be important because we know the crowd is going to be loud. And if you've ever attended a Denver Broncos game and I can tell you this as a player, I mean, I've stood five feet away from Champ Bailey and he could not hear me when that crowd was all geared up. So communication is going to be important for these guys to master on Sunday.

Yeah, I think it's massive, right? Because Patrick Mahomes can pull the rabbit out of the hat at any given time, it seems like right now. And even it seems like when you've got him sacked or you've got them put away, he can figure out a way to improv on the fly and make a pass or make a run, that dual threat nature that Mahomes brings to the table as well. But I think I agree with you completely, Nick. And the one thing that you've got to feel good about with this Broncos defense is where

they're at in the sack department. I mean, 46 sacks. 46 sacks, it is November the 11th. Like, it is crazy the motor at which this Broncos defensive line is able to play with. You know what they had last year? Tell me. 63. Precisely. So, you know, this Broncos defense, obviously up in the ante in the sack department and continue to play at an exceptional level when rushing the passer. But, you know, Brady wasn't immune to it. Manning wasn't immune to it. There's not a single quarterback in NFL history that is immune to a defense. that can get a pass rush home without having to blitz every single time. And the Broncos are one of those defenses that are able to do that.

So I think that's a major key to victory is just disrupting Patrick Mahomes as much as you could. Now, not that we're talking offense necessarily. That's where it's going to be on the offense to keep the pressure on Mahomes. Because if you play a game like you did against the Raiders, Mahomes is eventually going to figure it out. He's going to score a touchdown. He's going to put you in field goal range. So the Broncos offense needs to try to get some separation into scoreboard in this game.

But the Broncos defense, Cody, has to set the tone. Heck, it would be nice if the defense even scored this week as well. Look, turnovers has been something that you've wanted this Broncos team to force more of. They haven't had as many takeaways in a sense of interceptions, recovered fumbles this year that, you know, maybe you would have liked, but you need to, I mean, they're getting off the field. They're getting fourth down stops. I mean, that all kind of counts the same in terms of turnover on downs here. But that's why I think in this game, you're going to need a little bit more of this is going to be those games where when you dial up that pressure,

Maybe your defensive lineman, if Mahomes is trying to fire a shot across the middle as quick as he can, your D-Lyman gets their hands up, tips the ball under the air, tip drill, you know what we say, us DBs, tips lead to picks. We love it. We'll take it. And the Broncos are going to have to find a way I feel like this week to score on defense if they can. And your chances of winning, if you score on defense, your chances of winning, they increase significantly on top of that. So that is going to be a key here.

It's hard. You know, we'll save maybe some of that stuff for some bold predictions. but I think more importantly, getting off the field on third down, Denver is still the best third down defense right now in the NFL. They're the best red zone defense right now in the league. Do a really good job of tightening up in those situations here. And I'd say compressing things. Look, this is going to be a week where you don't have paths or 10. Once again, more than likely, talk to some people.

I mean, initially when the injury happened and I say, hey, we hope we can be back against Kansas City. Then he had the second opinion. I don't think we're going to see him potentially till the commander's game or the Raiders game after the commander's game there. the Broncos open up coming out of the buy two back-to-back road games. But you need guys like Chris Abrams, Drain, Jada Baron, obviously, Riley Moss, these guys need to continue to continue to play through the heart and soul of what you've got from that defense right now with Talanoa who Fongahee. As I deemed it today, I call him the fire starter here for the Broncos defense.

Yeah, it's an all-hands-on-deck approach for sure to slow down Patrick Holmes in this Kansas city offense. I don't want to steal Cody's thunder because we do have some bold predictions. So why don't we hit our final break? we'll come back and do just that. We'll lock in our official thoughts and predictions. As the Denver Broncos, get ready to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. All that more when we come back right here on your Locked on Broncos Squat show.

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So head to Fandual.com to sign up and play your game with Fandual, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Again, Fandual is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first Fandual. $5 bet win. So check out our friends over at Fanduil and let them know that Lockedon Broncos sent you. All right, welcome on back back into your Lockedon Broncos squad show. And Ilo Piro, Cody, Rick Ferguson, appreciate all of y'all. Hit that like button, smash that subscribe button really helps us out. Speaking of Fan Duel and speaking of betting, I think this is a good way to kind of feed into our bold predictions. The Broncos are a home underdog in this game. They are last eye checked, the Kansas City Chiefs were three, three and a half

point road favorites coming into Denver. So the expectation from the sports books is the Kansas City Chiefs will win this game or at least our favor to. I don't think they're completely off right now. I mean, this Broncos' offense can't get out of its own way. You know, the Broncos are going to have to score more than 10 points to win this game against Kansas City. So I'll audition to you real quick, Cody. Give me a bold prediction. Give me a take on this game.

And if you want to react to the line against the spread as well. Yeah, look, I mean, at the end of the day, you know, I don't care about Vegas. I mean, Vegas, yeah, whatever. Vegas rules the world. I don't care. But I think it's a good indicator, though. I mean, the Broncos were underdogs against Houston, Texas as well, Denver one. I mean, so I mean, we can factor in point differential, this and that.

You know, it is what it is. I mean, that's what makes the world go around in today's world, unfortunately. But the thing that matters to me the most, and I think the thing that matters to the players is what happens between the lines, you know. And that's in the trenches. That's the physicality of the game. That's the communication on the back end. I'm going to give a bold prediction here for the Broncos on defense. I think that they're going to sack Patrick Mahomes.

I'm going to give us a bold one here. Sack him three plus times in Sunday's game and pick him off twice. I think they're going to force two takeaways there and also get after him three times defensively. I think we're going to see the defense continue to ramp up the success that they've had. That is bold. That is very bold, Cody. I like that. Fortune favors the bold.

Yeah, you're right. You're right. Nick, what do you think? Well, I'm going to go a little on the opposite direction. And if you want to bold predictions, usually I don't give them. we're going to talk about two explosive plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Xavier Worthy is going to be on the opposite end of one of those, and that's going to be explosive touchdown.

But when you think about this game, it's going to be a defensive type of game because when you look at scoring defense, the Broncos are ranked number three. Guess who's ranked number four, the Kansas City Chiefs, right? So this is not going to be a blowout game by, any team. And if it is, I would have to lean more on the side of Kansas City than the Denver Broncos. And that's because the offense, unless something changes on Sunday and we actually see it consistently, the Broncos have not been able to convert first downs. And if you don't

convert first downs against this Kansas City Chiefs team, no matter how many struggles they've had thus far this season, they're going to find ways to move the ball down the field. And I don't care how great of a defense you are. And we talked about the number of sacks that the Broncos have right now. Hell, you could be the 2006 Baltimore Ravens. If you're on the field and you're losing time of possession, opposing quarterbacks, especially like Patrick Mahomes, they're going to find open wide receivers. No, I think it's well said. And I guess I'll try to be the, the Debbie Downer of the bunch here and Broncos country, feel free to come out me. Rockco's country is going to fill up a pillowcase full of soap bars and get you, my man. I'm just being objective.

I don't think the Broncos are winning this game. Like if the Broncos offense plays anywhere, like take the Dallas game out of it. Let's use the other, you know, six games in this win streak. Like Cincinnati. Cincinnati, right. Okay. And that to me is kind of a throwaway just because no Joe Burrow or whatever, right? But I just haven't seen enough from this Broncos offense to make me think that they can,

even though they're at home, come out and beat Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes. I hope I'm wrong. I want the Broncos to win. Let me go out there and state that as well. I'm not a Kansas City fan. I'm not betting Kansas City. None of that kind of stuff. I had to make a wager.

I'd probably take the Broncos with a three and a half points. at home because I like that number. But I just, and this is pure instinct and just kind of feel, which is where I go sometimes with these games. Like I am shocked the Broncos are still on the seven-game win street. I think they're lucky to have won some of the games they've won. I mean, you don't score in like three quarters against the Jets, a miraculous comeback against the Giants.

Okay, you take care of business against Dallas. If C.J. Stroud plays, do they win that game against Houston? The Raiders are broken. So I'm just trying to say that like this is the first real kind of gut check game that Denver Broncos had in a long time. And look, I'm not cementing and stamping my flag and saying the Broncos are losing this game. I could see the Broncos winning. I could. I want them to win. But from my perspective, I just haven't seen. I'm not believing what my eyes are showing me with this offense, if that makes sense. Like I need to see more from this Broncos offense to pick them

in a game against Kansas City. Also factor in the game or the notion of Andy Reed and this chief's offense and this team as a whole coming off the buy. I think Kansas City's had extra time to prepare. as has Denver to a certain extent, but you know, Reed, they're kind of playing for their season. As you alluded to, Nick, a team with their back against the wall. I'm expecting the Chiefs to give it their best punch on Sunday. I think the Broncos defense can hold up. I'm still worried about the offense. Is that fair?

Is that at least fair for Broncos country? Let me know. Yeah. I would say that's fair. Look, here's the thing with the offense. The offense can't keep playing the way that they have or, you know, that's the number of thing. They play the way that they have. Yeah, it's going to be hard to beat a team like Kansas City.

It's going to be hard to beat some of the teams you're going to face in the second half of your schedule. The offense has to play better. But also, I think we're also forgetting special teams. Hopefully, hopefully on Sunday, there are no more shin drops with the punter where it's bouncing off of his ankle bone and going 20 yards, line drive, where it's like, oh my gosh, what happened here? The defense has been carrying the water. It's time for the offense to pick up the boats, as David Goggins would say, say, hey, we're going to carry the boats, son. The offense needs to figure out how to do that this week.

Yeah. And I guess like what it comes down to. to be with the offense is like if Marvin, like, we're not sure. Marvin's going to play. Okay, he is going to play. So that's huge for them as well. But again, like, can we see Evan Ingram unleashed? If J.K. Dobbins does not play that really concerned.

Doesn't make you feel good. No, I mean, he's just been so dynamic and so vital to the success, you know, the little bit of success that Broncos have had on offense the last handful of weeks as well. And so I just, I worry about no J.K. Dobbins, Sean Payton going past heavy, Bo, Bo Nicks still being a little flustered. And it also just feels like the Broncos are due for a loss. going based off what I was talking about with the wind streak. So I want to be wrong, Nick, but I just, I know what Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City's

offense can do, and I'm not sure if the Broncos offense can match that. Listen, I can understand why you feeling that way and for those Broncos fans who refuse to look at things for what they are. I get their side too because they want this team to be successful because they've experienced, you know, years and years of the team not being successful. So they're willing to cheer for almost. anything and then see no evil, hear no evil the whole nine when it comes to this team. But we have to be realistic about what it is that we were seeing because we're not seeing

this offense move the ball at a consistent rate. And that is problematic. And even if it doesn't show up with this Kansas City Chiefs team, it can show up with remaining games down the stretch. And if the Broncos want to host a home playoff game, they want to advance in the playoffs. they're going to need to show that they can do on a consistent basis what they haven't done on season long, and that's score point.

And it's got to be this type of philosophy, guys. They have to for once this season, I guess a quality team, tell the defense, man, you guys sit down. We got it, right? We got it. Sean has to say, well, thank you, Lance Joseph, for getting us to this point,

but I'll take it from here. sort of like Dan Campbell taking over the play calling and with the Detroit Lions, the offense now has to take control. This is your opportunity to showcase yourself against a team and an organization that you have historically lost against for the past, you know, eight to nine years. It's been a long time. It's been a long time. Yeah, I mean, this is why it is.

And again, they'll play again on Christmas, right? So that's probably going to be the biggest game of the year when we get there. But I think that this game will just tell the tale. of what this Broncos team could be this season because you know, you have the opportunity to extend the streak to eight, really bury Kansas City in the division and the AFC West as a whole if you can win this game versus if Kansas City wins this game, they have new life, new optimism, all that kind of stuff as well.

And you know what? I would not mind the, you know, the heated exchange from Bo Nix and Sean Payton on the sideline this weekend. I want to see Bo go out there and assert himself. Fired up. Yeah, get fired up, get locked in because sometimes it looks like a little bit of the deer in the headlights there the last few weeks with Bo Nix. We need to see that passion come back from him this weekend against Kansas City.

But all right, before we get out of here, Cody, I'll go to you, then Nick. Any closing thoughts you want to get off your chest? Let's go through. Let's do a three-man prediction here. Nilo, you start all going and we'll close out with Nick. Well, I already gave you mine. I think the Broncos are losing this game.

Okay, we'll give us the context in which you think how they're going to lose. Yeah, I just, again, I think it comes down to the Broncos. Is it close? Yeah, I think it'll be close. I think this Broncos defense is good enough. I do think the line, again, I like to just use that for thought provoking the thought a little bit. I think the line's about right. I think this is a field goal game. Now, how poetic would it be if the Broncos won this game on a walkoff field goal would have a game in Kansas City played out last

year. So I got the Broncos losing this game. I think it'll be close like a 20 to 17 type of game. I hope I'm wrong. I hope Bo Nix and the offense lights it up. It's more about my lack of faith in the Broncos offense than it is my faith in Kansas City as a whole. So I'll go 2017 Denver loses. All right. Well, I'm going to go Denver's going to go to eight straight games with a victory. They're going to find a way to out here against Kansas City. And I think we were going to see a better performance from the offense. Okay. Okay.

I like it. What you had, Nick? Any score predictions for us, Cody? You know, score predictions run around from it. I always feel like the score predictions are always the jinx in a sense. I think this one, okay, if I got to give a score prediction, I'm going to go with 1713. Denver wins. Low scoring.

Okay. Okay. That was interesting because I actually wrote down here on my piece of paper here, 17, 14 Denver Broncos. But I'm really willing to stretch that just a little to push it out to 2120 and the Broncos edge it out. Three touchdowns? 2120.

Because once again, once again, the touchdowns can come by the defense themselves or the defense getting a Nick Benito sack force fumble, putting the Broncos an ideal field position as though they've done all year long. Hence why I call them freaking McGiver and setting the offense up. So, okay. Okay. Any Broncos victory. I like it.

We've all got relatively low scoring, though, which I think feeds into this Broncos defense, Kansas City, the Broncos inconsistencies on offense. Like I said, I know I'm the only one that picked the Broncos to lose. I want to be wrong. So I want to throw that out there for Broncos country. Let's see the Broncos go out there win that game. Prove me wrong. Light the world on fire offensively, and away we go.

But we shall see how the game. plays out. But it's an exciting one. Biggest game of the year. Broncos get ready to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. For Cody Rourke, for Nick Ferguson, I'm Anilo Piro. Really appreciate you all tapping in with us. Hit that like button, smash that subscribe button on your way out the door. And we'll talk to you guys on Sunday, hopefully after Denver Broncos victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Talk to you guys then.