Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: How Denver Broncos Can SOLIDIFY DEEP PLAYOFF Run

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

The Denver Broncos are coming out of their bye week at 9-2 and face a tough second half schedule. Which Broncos players have the most pressure on them in the second half stretch, which players will have the biggest impact in helping Denver secure the AFC West and a deep playoff run, and are the Broncos the best team in the AFC? Join Aniello Piro, Cody Roark, Sayre Bedinger, and former Broncos safety Nick Ferguson for the Broncos Squad Show.  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! 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 believe it or not, the Kansas City Chiefs may have actually done the Denver Broncos of favor while they were on their buy. I'm Cody Roark. I think the Denver Broncos might be the best team inside the AFC. I'm Nick Ferguson, and I don't think the Broncos are the best team in AFC. I'm Sarah Bedinger, and I want you to put the word out there that we back up. Love it. We'll break it all down on today's Lockdown Broncos squad. show let's get after it fellas 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 bronco squad show starts now it is your locked on bronco squad

show right here on your locked on broncos youtube channel as well as the audio feed hope everyone is there, Anilo Piro, Cody Rourke, Nick Ferguson and Sarah Bettinger, back at it once again. fellas, the buy week was nice, but I'm happy to be back in the saddle with you guys today. And of course, 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 more from our friends over at Fanduil in just a little bit. I got to start with Sarah here, though.

Fan of the Wire. We back up. That's the notion from Sarah today. I love it. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, the bi-week blues are over. We back up, baby. It got a, got a, you know what?

I got so many pop culture references, right? But it's like the guy who's crying, right? And he's, Von Miller is on deck and he doesn't want to do what he knows he has to do. You know what I'm talking about. I can't actually say about that. Wesley. Biller's next. Yeah, exactly.

So, but look, Broncos are back, right? I mean, this is fun. And it was nice to, you know, get the movie theater popcorn this past weekend. I assume, Anilo, that you had your, you know, your Chinese takeout and all that jazz. We had fun watching Scott Hansen. But look, we're back now. It's time to get back at it. Yeah, no, I'm excited for the Broncos to be back.

And it's interesting, right? Because in theory, like a buy sounds like it'll go kind of quick. But in the moment, like I'm sitting here. I'm like, yeah, we didn't do a show on Sunday. Like, actually a really nice opportunity to recharge for ourselves. But I could also imagine that trickles down to the players and the coaching staff. So a lot to get into on today's program. Let's do a little state of the Broncos before we dive into some specifics coming out of the bye week.

This was a huge debate at the radio station that I work at over the week or over last week about like, who do Broncos fans root for? Do you root for the Chiefs to beat the Colts? Or do you root for the Colts to beat the Chiefs with obviously the bad blood between the Broncos and the Chiefs? But also with the Chiefs winning, as they did on Sunday, Cody. It actually helps out the Denver Broncos a little bit, clearing a path for the one seed now with just Denver, in New England. Yeah, look, I don't care if it helped the Broncos in any way, shape, or form. Even if Kansas City would have lost, it would have helped the Broncos. Because here's the deal.

And this is my philosophy. You know, shout out to Mile High Prof because he has the commandments of being a Broncos fan. And the number one thing, it says, thou shalt not root for a division rival, Kansas City, never root for them. You have a chance. Like, you know, they're on life support, right? They still have a little bit of a pulse. I was hoping the Colts are going to go in there and say, pull the plug, put a little bit of dirt on the grave, and, you know, bear them a little bit further. Disappointing to see the Colts did not help anybody out this weekend. Yeah, and I think it's well said, and I was talking about it with some guys as well. And I think the team, like the Colts have a tough schedule down the stretch.

They've got to play the Jaguars and the Texans twice. So I think naturally they were going to kind of cannibalize themselves for the one seed. The team that Denver truly has to worry about for the one seat is the New England Patriots. And I wish that Joe Burrow would have played on Sunday because if the Patriots lose that The Broncos are in the driver's seat. The Patriots have not had their buy yet either. So they have 10 wins to the Broncos nine. The Patriots will have their buy in week 14.

But that is the true threat. I still think Indianapolis is a bit of a paper tiger dick. The Patriots, different story. They have a bit of a cakewalk schedule. But at the end of the day, the fact that we're able to have this conversation, and I know you says you don't think the Broncos are the best team in the AFC. But the fact that the AFC one seat is within grasp of the Denver Broncos is kind of shocking, at least for me where I thought the Broncos would be before the season started.

Yeah, it's in grass, but it's not solidified just yet. And I know about mile high profit and his commandments. And Cody and I have had this conversation. I put up a video at Nick Ferguson underscore 25 on Twitter asking fans this very question. And for me, I know the idea is you don't root for Kansas City, but you kind of root for the outcome. And considering the fact that the Colts have a one game lead on the Broncos because they got the head to head, even though they have a tough schedule ahead, anything can happen towards the end of the season as we've seen it before. So for me, I was rooting for the outcome for the Chiefs to defeat the Colts because the Broncos desperately needed that.

And don't forget, the Broncos still have to face the Can City Chiefs on Christmas. So the idea, even if they had lost to the coats, they're not going to be really out of it because now they can play the spoilers in this particular, I guess, NFL playoff run. And no matter what happens, if anyone in Broncos country thinks that the Kansas City Chiefs are officially dead, you can forget about it. That's one of those movies where you got to John Wick them and you got to double tap them because it's like a zombie movie. You kind of shoot them once and they're still alive, right? That's where we find ourselves, but I was rooting for the Kansas City outcome, not the Kansas City Chiefs themselves. That is a great way to put it, Nick. And I'm not going to lie, that's probably the best thing that I've heard on that, because I was team you want the Chiefs to win for everything that you just kind of alluded to.

I think the Broncos should prioritize the one seat and I'm seeing all this stuff on social media about, you know, oh, the Chiefs, I don't want to face the Chiefs. I'm sympathetic to that and I understand it. But I also think like worrying about the Chiefs when you're in the driver's seat for the division and have been playing much better. football than the Chiefs have is a bit of a soft mentality. Like that's not a championship mentality. Like I'm not saying let's forget about the Chiefs. Yeah, you hear that. Cody, do you hear that? That's all I'm saying.

But no, I'm a big believer. When they go low, I go lower. Yeah, I respect it. And I agree with Nick. Like, I will not believe the Chiefs are over and done with, Sarah, until the body is cold. And they really can't afford to lose another game this season. Last I checked, they have about a 50%, a little over 50%

chance to make the playoffs. And I'm not trying to turn this into a chief show, but it is like the massive talking point on social media right now. But point is, Sarah, Broncos do what they're supposed to do. Won't have to worry about it. Yeah, exactly. You control your destiny in a way. You know, obviously you do need some help right now. The New England Patriots, like you mentioned, haven't had their buy yet. I could kind of see a little, since we're talking about the AFC a little bit here, I could see the Patriots getting upset. So let it be known. If if it does happen on Monday night football. The Giants have been playing some really good teams, really tough. And James. James is out there doing his thing. So I wouldn't be surprised. Yeah, he really is.

Wide receiver one out there with Malik neighbors injured right now. So, but yeah, I think with the Broncos, it's take care of your own business, right? You obviously got to go play the games that you got in front of you. Don't worry about what these other teams are doing. We haven't been necessarily worried about what the chiefs have been doing kind of all year, right? I mean, now that the playoffs are getting closer. The stakes are getting higher. You don't want Kansas City there, but it's looking like the higher the seed in the AFC, it's not necessarily even going to matter because you're probably going to play the Bills, the Chiefs, the Ravens, like those are the wildcard teams, or at least in the AFC North, who knows how much more the Steelers can kind of pee it down their legs a little bit here.

But you get what I'm saying. I mean, it's going to be one of those teams in that spot anyway. So getting that first round by, you just got to do your own thing and control your own destiny. as much as you possibly can. Well, I think there's two points that I take away with that. I think you're spot on, Sarah. But I think the two advantages naturally with the one seed is simply the fact that there's no buy for the second seat anymore. So it's two games to get to the Super Bowl as opposed to three, which is pretty elementary

basic math. That's a huge advantage for the Broncos if they were to get that. But even more so, the ability to have the playoffs run through Denver. I mean, Cody, Nick, you guys are at the games with me as well. We're sitting in that press box with the glass. like we don't have open air access to the field. And I'm like my water bottle like literally shakes on the desk when Broncos country gets after it. You can hear the incomplete, very loudly through the glass.

I can only imagine what that's like for an opposing team. So yes, the ability to have to win two games versus three, Nick, I think is huge. But also you played for Broncos country in front of Broncos country. That's a real deal home field advantage. Yeah, it is. And especially more so now looking at how the defense. has played thus far, kind of keeping this offense in a lot of games. So if you bring any opponent, you name any team and NFC around the league,

coming in to empower field with that type of enthusiasm, it's going to be really difficult. It takes me back to the 05-06 season when we're playing the New England Patriots and Tom Brady was the quarterback. And the Patriots had somewhat the momentum in that game. And then after the Champ Bailey interception, the momentum swung our way. By who?

Well, by yours truly. We definitely got to get the Broncos to kind of up that stadium panel they have in the power field. But yet I digress. But it's about momentum. The game is about momentum. Can you seize it? Can you take it? Can you withstand the other team surge?

And any team coming in there is going to be very difficult and it's going to be very loud. Yeah, no, I think it's well said. And Cody, I know you're a gamer as I. am I. It's kind of like that stadium pulse, right, in the NCAA football game, like, when it's all maxed out and like your route trees are all fuzzy and messed up and whatnot. Like, that is truly the type of home field advantage that Denver can bring to the table. And I think it's just imperative for them to try to get that one seat. To me, it's one seat over everything right now, Cody.

Yeah. Well, even then, like Denver can still, even if they're not the one seat, they can still host a playoff game. I mean, that's something that's going to play into their favors. I actually kind of want to flip the script a little bit and bring this up. I mean, I understand the importance of a bye week. Nick, I'm curious for your thoughts on this because I personally feel like if you're playing, right, and you're in the stretch of that second half,

I always feel like that first round buy can be a little bit of a curse, right? Because everybody else is still playing. You're not. I always feel like that somehow that, you know, that can bite you in the butt. They bit the Bronco was in the butt back in 2012 against the Baltimore Ravens. Denver had the first round by. They got upset at home with a mile high miracle that had happened there. and you've seen it historically over the course of the last handful of seasons with teams that did have the one seed kind of getting bounced out a little bit in that first round whenever they did come back out and play after the wild card.

So for me, I don't know. How do you guys feel about this? Do you believe in that? Are you buying? Are you selling? Nick, let's start with you since obviously, you know, your former player. I want that buy, man, because guess what? I mean, you get a chance to rest up.

You get a chance to have another week where you can prepare for a day. that next week's opponent. No players getting injured. And I understand, and it's a real thing as far as, once again, going back to momentum. You don't want your momentum slow by a buy, but guess what? The way things are set up now, you want to make sure that you get to that next level, that you survive in advance. And even if that means you survive in advance by not doing a damn thing at all.

To me, I want that. And I want the Broncos and I want Broncos country to want and desire that number one C. I know, man, the defense is playing well. Bo Nix is now coming alive, especially in the second half, and you want to be able to face some of the best teams in the league. You still can do that. But guess what? We don't have to play that first wildcard weekend to prove it.

That's a good point. It's a good point. And I see our guy, Turtle, you know, says seems to have done well for Casey. I'm for the buy in respect to what Kansas City's been able to do with that home field advantage. And I agree, just going back to the points that I made about the homefield crowd with Denver but also, Cody, to kind of answer your question about the risk versus the reward of the buy, I'm at the point where I kind of just trust Sean Payton and trust this team to stay locked in and stay focused. Like they haven't really given me a reason to, you know, suggest otherwise that they're going to lose focus.

It's not going to be like the Cowboys with Romo and, you know, Terrell Owens going to Cancun on their buy week, which ultimately costs them against the New York Giants. Unfortunately, I know that all too well. Like I think this Broncos team will be locked in and focused and ready to go if they were to get that by. Yeah, I think certainly, I mean, this team, I think the mentality is different than any Broncos team that I've seen in the last handful of years. Even there's differences in them in the Super Bowl 50 team. Like obviously they had a different DNA there, but I think today's game is a lot more difficult to play because of how rules limit certain teams. And what we're seeing now with the NFL on field product, I think that this team does have a good mentality.

I think they attack the by week with the right mentality. Now they're ready to get back to work. And I thought Will Lutz said it great earlier this week where he said, we're not looking in the rear view. at like what we did. We're looking ahead. But also you don't want to say we're looking too far ahead. We're looking ahead, which happens to be week number 13 against the Washington commanders. It all starts this week. And it's going to be very important for, you know, I think this team in prime time to come out and make a statement. Yeah, no, I agree with you. And it's going to be interesting. Why don't we hit our first break? And when we can kind of come back, we can kind of circle in and hone in on this awesome Sunday night football game between the Broncos and the Washington commanders.

I mean, it's go time. You know, happy Thanksgiving to everything. everybody out there. This will be the first time we talked to you until the holiday comes and goes. But awesome slate of Thanksgiving games. But once we get back from that little holiday break, right? I mean, it is absolute go time for this Denver Broncos team. So why don't we hit a break? We'll come back and do just that right here on your locked on Broncos squat show. All right, you guys, real quick, let me tell you about the fine folks over at Fanduel because the NBA is back and there's no better place to get in on the action than with Fandual, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start. of the game or want to ride the hot hand.

Fanduel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. Right now, guys, Fanduel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with Fandual, the official sports betting

partner of the NBA. Again, guys, Fanduil is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So be sure to check out our friends over at Fan Duel and let him know that Lockedon Broncos sent you. All right, welcome on back into your Locked on Broncos squad show. Hope everyone is doing well out there in Broncos country, Nilo Piro, Cody,

Wark, Nick Ferguson, and Sarah Bettinger. Thank you guys for making us your first listen to the day and listening every day on the number one sports podcast network in the world. That is the locked on podcast network. Happy to play a part of it here with the fellas on the lockdown Broncos squad show. But okay, so let's kind of combine some thoughts here. Let's take a look at Washington as a whole, but also, you know, kind of the unofficial start

to the second half of the season, if you may, right, with the buy week now over and done with. I'll start with you, Cody. What do you want to see with the Broncos coming out of the buy, but in particular locking in on the second half of this season. Sarah and Nick, you guys can brainstorm your thoughts as well, but I'll start with Cody and see what he's got to say. You got a little whiteboard for us. Yeah, I would say run the ball.

That's going to be one of the bigger keys here, especially in the second half of the season, just because, like, you know, we know the Broncos offense, Bo Nicks, they're going to air it out a little bit. We understand that. And I think that Sean Payton has really doubled down on saying, hey, I really like our wide receiver room.

You got a veteran guy in Cortland Sutton. You got these young guys like Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant and Marvin Mims, who are still developing. And despite all those things, Sean is pleased with where they're at. Certainly, yes, they could have added maybe a big name

to the mix of the trade deadline. But Sean doubling down on this says, hey, we're willing to go through the growing pains of letting these young guys get this valuable on-field experience. That's big. That's going to be part of this offense here. But running the football, and I think especially in the months of January,

where it's cold, especially if you're hosting a playoff game, the ability to run the football and bring that physicality to the forefront, combined with how good your defense is and how physical they are, that is going to be the key here. I would love to see the Broncos start off,

beginning on Sunday night football, with an investment in running the football a little bit more. We talked about it here on this squad show the last couple of weeks. The run-pass balance has been a little out of balance, so to speak. The run game is going to be the key for the Broncos making a deep run here, I think, in the playoffs, but also the second half stretch of the season. Yeah, I agree with that as well.

Nick, what say you? I like that idea because it's open things. up for this guy. I need more Sutton, right? Give me more sudden because over the past couple of weeks, we've seen the connection kind of grow between Bo Nixon and his college teammates Troy Franklin.

And it just seems as though we see a lot of sudden congratulating Troy Franklin. I want to see Troy Franklin congratulating number 14. 14 can score points to as well. I mean, he saved the Broncos bacon last week when he beat two-man coverage to free

himself up for that for that great third down reception we need to see more damn sudden not more mutton but more sudden i like it i like i agree with you i think cody makes great point nick makes a great point as well sarah how about you i've got this right here you i'm exposing my handwriting guys this is terrible stuff stop the drops okay stop the drops uh this is one of the areas the Broncos struggled with the most in the first 11 games of the season, dropped passes. I mean, my goodness, if we all had a dollar for every dropped pass over the last two years, I think, you know what? We'd have a lot more dollars, I would say that. But look, the Broncos receivers have to capitalize on the opportunities that they're being given. Far too many times we're talking about,

man, that was a perfect pass by Bo Nix. Guy drops it and then the drive stalls out for some other reason. or you have a big play that's negated by a missed opportunity, right? You have a perfectly placed ball downfield where only a receiver can get it. NFL receivers got to make these plays. There's so many debates over, was that a catchable pass? Was that too tough to catch? No, no. These guys are playing in the NFL, okay?

Right? I mean, they've got to make these plays. I'm not saying 100% catch rate, but I'm saying catch the ones that make your quarterback look good, right? Like make Bo Nicks look good here in the final seven games of the season. or final six weeks of the season here. I just, that's such a frustrating thing to me.

I was talking to my kids about it just the other day, right? I'm talking about mistakes that are avoidable, mistakes that, hey, you can control the outcome before they happen, right? So if it's an avoidable mistake, then don't make it, right? So dropped passes to me,

yeah, they happen sometimes in the NFL, but they just happened far too much for this Denver Broncos team. I want to just take a moment and say that none of those answers were scripted. like you guys all came up with your own answers because I think it feeds in perfectly to what I want to say. Cody talks about the running game. Nick talks about the Cortland Sutton dynamic and Sare with the lack of drops or, you know, wanting more catchable balls and whatnot.

I don't have a whiteboard, but I'm saying let's bow, right? I want to see consistency from Bo Nicks for four quarters. And I understand that's not completely up to him. A lot of that is the play calling with Sean Payton. But the reason I go with that is because I think it incorporates all three dynamics that you guys talk about. think they got to try to pound the rock. Curious to see if they're going to do that without J.K. Dobbins.

Where has Cortland Sutton been? Got out to a hot start to the season, has kind of tailed off a little bit. Doesn't mean he won't show up over these last handful of games. And Sarah, I agree with you. These wide receivers just have to do their job. You know, Bow Nix is still a young quarterback in this league. And the best thing you can do for your young quarterback is catch the ball and help him build that confidence.

And so to kind of bring it all home for me is I want to see complete four quarters of offense with Bo Nix as the field general that we know he could be. I think if the Broncos offense, as we've talked about in previous shows, can match, I shouldn't say match because the defense is otherworldly right now, but up the ante rather and play more consistent for four quarters going back to that conversation about the one seed, Cody. That is the recipe for this team to go out there and contend for a championship. Yeah.

And look, I think we're seeing right now in openness in the NFL. You look at the AFC, you look at the NFC. there's not this clear cut like these teams are miles ahead of everybody else it really is week to week wide open it's as wide open as it has ever been the chance the opportunity this team has in front of them right now is in a great spot and ultimately they're going to control their own destiny here that's why you know when we talk to Sean on Monday he says we got to improve the turnover margin we got to be able to get more takeaways here without turning the football over we got to be able to cut back on the amount of penalties that are impacting the flow of our operations he said those are the two things that they look back during the bio, we can say these are the two things that could derail us from getting that top seating, from winning the division, from hosting a playoff game, finding a way to overcome those things. Denver's got a Super Bowl caliber defense, and they're going to get better because exactly they're getting Pats or Tan back more than likely this week.

Alex Singleton, as we already know, is coming back. We'll see about Jonah Ellis. But this is a unit that you know, hey, if the offense can put up points and they can control the clock, you know you've got a defense is going to get the stops. That's just about being able to get all these things to, tie in together. When you look at the penalties for Denver on the offensive side, 43 this year, you look at the defense 38, special teams 12, 93 something penalties in the NFL plus 800 plus yards of penalty yards impacting your game. Imagine if they took that stuff out of the

equation here, maybe how different. Maybe they might blow a team out a little bit more. Maybe something isn't as close in the game. I'm very curious to see if they can flip that narrative here in the second half. Yeah, and it starts with Washington. So why don't we go ahead and kind of take a look at that game a little bit in a micro. There's obviously the Von Miller dynamic. We'll get to that as well. But, you know, this has been a disappointing season for the Washington commanders. And we know that Jane and Daniels been banged up, but, you know, even when he was out there earlier to start the season.

And real quick, Cody, is it Marriota or is Daniels going to play? It's Mario. Okay, okay. I thought I thought I read that. Not this week, no, Marcus. Marcus, I like, I grew up watching Marcus Marioata, man, in person and Eugene. That was when this week. Him and James used to battle that out.

I remember when James was at FSU, right? And then they were the one-two pick back in the day. Wow. I feel old. You are. I remember when that all happened. Actually, I think I'm the youngest person in this group right now. But yes, Cody, thank you very much.

You were middle school and that happened there. I guarantee it. Maybe high school. But yeah, point being blast from the past there. But, you know, it's not Jaden Daniels, right? And even if Jaden Daniels was out there, Nick, this Washington team has been a bit funky this year, not as good as they were last year.

And to be fair, I do think they caught lightning in a bottle last season. I think they just caught some teams by surprise. We know that Dan Quinn is that a rah-rah type of coach made a big impact in year one, their new ownership group. But this is a game that the Denver Broncos off the by should be able to handle despite it being on the road in prime time, Nick. Absolutely. And I'm glad you brought up the whole Von Miller aspect of it,

which I think he may downplay it, but it's going to be an emotional game for him. But I also say that sometimes emotional games can bring out the best in any player, So I'm eager to see how he performs and how they use him. But yeah, obviously, this is a game that the Broncos should win. Even with Jay Daniels, a healthy Jayden Daniels, I still would give the Broncos the knot based on what their defense has been able to do. And when you look at Washington's defense, it's been a mess.

The acquisition of Lattimore hasn't really played out because, one, he wasn't a great corner as they thought. And two, the injuries. And that's what's happening to this commander's team. A lot of injuries. Just think about the fact of having Austin Echler, how that would have changed the narrative in this conversation, knowing as though he's quite familiar with the Denver Broncos. But right now, due to inefficiencies, due to injuries, right now,

everything leads towards the Broncos. And when you think about the commanders, they're thinking, you know what? No one's really given us a chance. Could we go out there and muster some emotion to beat the Broncos? even make it somewhat of a game, that would be really interesting, but I still got the Broncos winning. Yeah, I'm with you as well. Real quick, Cody, I know you talked about Alex Singleton. Is Pat Sertan on track to play in this game? Not confirmed, but I'm guessing the estimation is he's going to be ready to rock and roll.

Right. And, you know, we talk about as Nick alludes to the up and down nature of this Washington offense there, you know, scary Terry hasn't been not very scary this year, for lack of better phrase. I mean, this offense for Washington has been pretty pedestrian, so it's, assuming, like even if Pat Surtain is not back, this is a pretty favorable match of I would imagine for Denver's defense. Yeah, most definitely. It feels like it's one of those teams that you just, you got to keep everything in front of you, right? Because Marietta is not thrown for 300, 350 yards in a game. I mean, some of their best games offensively when he's played this year, which has been the majority of their season at this point.

I mean, it's really been creating opportunities off of their defensive takeaways, right? and that just hasn't happened very often. So with Mario-Ota, I think you kind of know what you're going to get on a weekly basis. He can still run. He can still make plays with his legs. He likes to get the ball out quickly. Let Debo Samuel make those plays. Let somebody else make the plays and you just go ahead and be that point guard out there.

I think the Broncos have done well against that type of quarterback, especially because that's really the name of the game for this defense, right? I mean, if you want to neutralize the Broncos pass rush by getting rid of the ball quickly, they can play that Ben don't break style of defense better than anybody in the league, getting off the field on third downs, rallying and tackling, getting off the field, even if you do get past the 50. But this is one of those games where I feel like, I know the field position is different now with the kickoff rule, et cetera,

but it's one of those games where you kind of say, if I'm part of that defense, I'm saying the 50 is the end zone, right? We don't want them crossing the 50 because the only way Washington is going to compete in this game, in my opinion, is if they're pushing the ball past the 50, bearing you deep in your own side of the field, playing that field position game, keeping it tight, making you make mistakes. That's the one way you can see it really happening. But this doesn't feel like a team that's going to come in and just start airing it out

or they don't have necessarily that back that's going to crush you. So I feel like the Broncos, they have to just, you know, it's what we talked about before the by week, right? It's don't be looking past anybody. Don't be already crowning yourself the number one seed. None of that stuff. Just keep your identity what it's been all season. and long. I thought you were going to go with the,

remember the Titans line that, you know, I think Broncos country love you did. They love that. Coach Boone impression. When you were talking about like, treat the 50 is the end zone. I don't want them to gain another yard. You know, it's interesting to it. I want to throw out kind of a good general

football take for you guys as well. And it was something that kind of sparked my thought when Sarah was talking there. You saw it happen in the Cowboys game. You saw it happen in the Cardinals Jags game. And I think it happened in the Giants Lions game as well. Teams opting to go for it out and fourth down in the red zone as opposed to kicking the field goal because of the nature of the new kickoff rule, right? Like if you kick it out of bounce or whatever, the team gets the ball at the 30 to 35. Like we've seen some

strategical differences in the NFL this season because of the way the kickoff rule has been altered. And you know, you talk about it from the Broncos perspective, but also a Washington perspective, Cody, a team that is essentially playing for nothing right now except to play spoiler. You know, if they're in, look, the Broncos defense has been great in the red zone. We know that. But you might see some of these scenarios where it's a, you know, a three point game or a tie game. And instead of kicking the field, go to tie it or go up, you might see a team like Washington or on the inverse for Denver actually go for it on that fourth and one, fourth and two scenario because of how the new kickoff will affects the game. Yeah.

And I think Will Lutz has been a guy who's done a tremendous job this year with, I think, end of half placement. There's been times, I think the Cowboys game specifically, sorry, AP. Or he's kicked it. And it's landed at the like the half yard marker, the one yard and has bounced into the end zone where that moves it out to the 20 instead of the 35. There's times where Will Lutz is baiting guys to try to fill it to where they maybe field it at the one yard line, but it's near the sideline and their momentum carries them out of bounds. Like he's played around with that a little bit. That's a dynamic. The Broncos at end of half, maybe even like in fourth quarter situations have broken out and it has worked.

It has been a stellar approach there. I think that's very much an aspect that has made the end of the end of. NFL a little bit more thrilling this season is that you are seeing guys return big returns this year. The Tennessee return or D.K., he's so good at being able to return things in the game. I just think that having that, and Nick, I'm curious for your thoughts on this because, I mean, you're a former player. You play special teams. You ran down on kickoff coverage. That was one of my favorite things to do. Keeping that in the game, I think, is so dang important. And we're seeing some guys step up here for Denver.

Devin Key being one of those guys in a kick coverage department. Yeah, this is where your special teams unit, They really have to be special. And this goes back to, are you teaching the proper technique and are the guys actually buying into it? And for me, I'm a throwback player. I like the old rules being able to run down the field

with more space and maneuver. But the idea is that this new kickoff rule was supposed to be implemented to help guys from a safety standpoint from what I've heard, well, it hasn't really done exactly what it was designed to do. But we've seen some guys take some kicksbacks, and I think that's what the league absolutely wanted. But when you talk about Will Lutz, when you're talking about, you know, kickoff, well, the old rules or even with the rules now, it's about ball placement. And I have to tell you,

there are not a lot of kickers who can actually move the ball around and put it into a corner and put that returner in the tough spot. Will Lutz has done that a lot this season. And I'm sure he loves his time in a mile high city more than he loved being below sea level in New Orleans. Yeah, and also congratulations to Will Lutz, the recipient of a new contract extension. I think that's well-deserved. Look, I mean, the kicking game is so vital. And look, Will Muts, that was the wrong way to say it, Will Lutz, he's got some stones, for lack of a better phrase, a quality kicker for sure.

And I think it's a well-deserved extension for him. Obviously, Sean brought him, as Nick alluded to, from New Orleans. and he's provided some stability at that position after the departure of Brandon McManus, you know, and whatnot. So I think, you know, you don't really want to get too wrapped up with the kicking extensions and whatnot. I know they kick the tires on a couple other extensions over the by week for a couple of different players, nothing done as of right now. But Cody, I mean, you're in the building as much as anybody here. He's been a really solid kicker for Denver.

Yeah, he's been money. And look, I think the number one thing the Broncos have wanted it. I mean, really, Brandon McManus was one of the more accurate guys that the team had had. And when they moved on from him, it was, hey, like, how do you replicate maybe some sense of security in the kicking game? And I know Will Lutz's career start in Denver didn't get off to the best foot. He missed an extra point. He missed a field goal in this first game that ultimately impacted the outcome of the Broncos against the Raiders a couple of years ago. And Sean Payton's first season with the team, you know, you had the miss against Buffalo,

but then there was the 12 men on the field that gave him another chance to win that game on Monday night football. Aside from that, I'd say since then, will have. turned a corner. Look, you know, he had a miss in the playoffs against the Buffalo Bills, you know, this past season. But this year, he has been money for the most part. Yes, he's had a couple of misses, but man, he's been clutch when you've needed it to walkoff wheel, three walkoffs this season. And AFC special teams player the week award for him, five of five against the Kansas Chiefs. To me, I just think that he's what the Broncos need right now. It's not just like, hey, we're kicking field goals and extra points. You want to do a lot

of that. But for what Nick had said there about the ball placement that, set up a really good coverage dynamic for your team to be able to stop really good returners. And the Broncos have faced quite a bit. Turpin's a great one in Dallas. Obviously, Kansas City's got a great returner. It's not, it's not being afraid. It's like, hey, we're not afraid to kick it to these guys.

We know our placement can be in there. Can we have the integrity to stay in our lanes to maintain that coverage, I think is big. So I think Will's been very, very good here for Denver. So that means that it wasn't, you know, mispronounce and calling him Will nuts instead of real nuts. Put it on a t-shirt, Locked on. Put it on a t-shirt. Make you guys some money.

We'll see. We'll see. Good little slip there for me ends up actually working out all right. So, yeah, I mean, Will Lutz is, you know, he's got the stones. He's got the nuts. And he will be with the Denver Broncos here for the foreseeable future. Got to love it. All right.

Let's hit a quick break. When we come back, we'll continue along with the conversation. Broncos with the most pressure on them to perform in the home stretch of the season. Cody, Nick and Sarah, myself will break that down next. here on your lockdown Bronco squash. Today's show was brought to you by friends over there at Peloton. Look, folks, it's time to break through the busy time of the year with a brand new Peloton Cross Training, Tread Plus that's powered by Peloton IQ.

It's Peloton's most elevated technology and equipment yet that gives you real-time guidance and it gives you endless ways to move 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. Well, come on back in to your locked-on Bronco squad show.

Oh, I see you join the hacking, Cody. You know, feeling some pressure from the outside world here. I couldn't, you know, let you guys rocking hats and I'm not wearing nothing. So there we go. I love it. So for everyone that's listening on the audio feed, if you want to check out Cody's hat swap, you can do that on the YouTube channel. Also, if you're watching on YouTube, appreciate y'all. Hit that like button, smash that subscribe button.

really helps us out here on the program. But okay, back from the bye, good little conversation to get us started here. Let's try to get a little critical here. I play a little devil's advocate. We know the Broncos defense has been stellar. We know the Broncos offense has been good enough, right? I think there's something that you want, there's some more that you want to see with this offense.

Sarah, I'll start with you, which Bronco or Broncos, if you want to give multiple or under the most pressure this home stretch of the season. Sean Peyton. Sean Payton is the number one under most pressure because you can't over promise and under deliver, right? What he talked about this off season, this being the seventh team that he's coached that he felt could win in Super Bowl. And now you're winning these one score games. And I understand that, you know, it could be a bit of an unreasonable expectation, right? But for Sean Payton, last year's story was the inability to finish for that team, right?

The war on attrition wore that defense down. They couldn't handle playing the Bengals, the Chargers. late in the season needed that game at the end of the year against the Chiefs backups to even get into the playoffs and then absolutely just kind of rolled over against the Buffalo Bills, right? The year before that, I remember being at my mom and dads on Christmas Eve or whatever day that I remember Christmas Day or Christmas Eve and Bailey Zappy and the Patriots took our playoff chances away, right?

It's this month of December, these late weeks in the season that seem to be eating away at Sean Payton. We've had some great fun in the in-between, haven't we? I mean, after a little bit of a rocky start in each September to start off his Broncos coaching career, it's been, man, October, November, we're rocking the jerseys, we're rocking the starter jackets, we're putting on the Broncos hats, we're out there flaunting our fandom. People don't even know me when my team is good. That's what I tell everybody these days because it's been 10 years.

But in the month of December, you have to over-deliver in terms of being Sean Payton and coaching this team to not just back to the playoffs, but to the number one seed hosting playoff games in Denver, doing what you said you would do, and executing to get that vision that you've been talking so, so much about. So to me, Sean Peyton, nobody else is under more pressure.

I like it. I think that makes a lot of sense. Nick, what about you? Woo! I'm going. Ooh. Yeah, we're on the same wavelength, Nick. I love it.

Yeah, the reason I'm going with Sean. Paden because this offense, even though in the third and fourth quarter, they play well, but we haven't seen four solid quarters of football. And then we think about sometimes the personnel, right, the constant changing of the personnel. And I know you want to toss different personnel groups out there, but let that guy, that receiver, that tight end, that running back, getting into a flow of the game before you quickly swap them out for someone else, allowing the job. defense to actually adjust, especially when you're playing at home with the altitude as your

ally. That makes absolutely no sense to me as well. And I know since you guys are at the game just as much as I am, anytime we see a trick play or screenplay or throw behind the line of scrimmage, it's like this deep gas by everyone in the power field. Can we stop that? Can we just stop that? And if this team is to get where they need to. Sean needs to be a lot cleaner with those things. And my last point is the play call, right? There are two clocks on the field. Why does it take so long to get the play in?

Now, when Bo gets the call, he's looking, he's got like 10 to 15 seconds remaining. He can't go through his pre-snap diagnosis because guess what, there's a timeout or delay game. So once again, I'm going to say the player or players, however you want to say it. Sean Peyton is the guy. Let's see.

I agree with that. And sometimes those screen plays, it's eerily reminiscent of what's been happening up in Boulder this year with the Buffaloes where it's just they run these screen plays. And it's like, what is going on, dude? And I know that Pat Schumer's not calling the plays up there, nor is this a CU show. But parallel with that. And I agree with you on that front as well, Nick. Cody, Mr. Hatman, where you going? I mean, I was going to go with Sean Payton as well.

But I couldn't continue the trend. If we were two for two and it's like, all right. I mean, you guys are made great points. You could do it. Do it. I'm going to go with the player this time. Oh, come on. What else am I going to say that you guys haven't already said about Sean that I think is spot on and accurate?

I thought you guys did a fantastic job. And to Sarah's point about December, you wanted to be a December to remember, not a December that's going to make you dread the potential cost of January, so to speak. Like this, Denver's got three home games. They've got three away games here in these final six games. Take care of business. Devers been good on the road. Debra's been really, really good at home. But now you have to go out there and you have to prove it.

And you're going to face, I think, look, obviously the commanders this week, turn around on the road to go face the Raiders. You got two tough home games back to back after that with the Jaguars and the defense that they got Devin Lloyd playing as good as he is. And then you got the Green Bay Packers. They got Micah Parsons and that defense that are playing really well right now and all the weapons they have on the offensive side. So for me, December has to be a big month.

You know, we still have one last November game, and that's obviously on Sunday against the commanders. But for me, if I'm going to go with the player, I'm going to go with Evan Ingram here as one of those guys, I feel like has the most pressure on him. And it's not necessarily like this, you know, he needs to do this. You know, I think so much of the pressure on Evan Ingram has been related to the issue that the Broncos from a personnel standpoint is what Nick was talking about.

He's playing a career low in overall snaps by a drastic percentage. here. I mean, I think what, it's, I think it's 33, 37% of the team's offensive snaps this season. His overall volume isn't high enough. Like, in terms of one year, he was in the conversation as Sarah and I have talked about on the show, he almost had the most receptions in a single season by a tight end. And then obviously Travis Kelsey happened there. But for me, it's like Evan's usage hasn't been great. And yes, Evan at times, he's had some drops. I just think that there is this pressure on Evan Ingram specifically, and this isn't necessarily on him, partially him, but also ties into your guys this.

pick with Sean Peyton, find a way to use the guy that you brought in as the Joker to get these matchups in this second half. And if you can do that, this Broncos team, the offense is going to be drastically better. We've seen Evan step up and be clutch at some key times. The Broncos need to find a way to give him the keys to unlock that for the rest of the season. Yeah, I think that's a great choice. And I think, you know, Evan Inger has been fine. Like, I don't think he's been great. I don't think he's been terrible. You know, but he hasn't been that quote unquote Joker, you know, that dynamic offensive player that we were all kind of sold on in the off season. So I agree with that. I agree with both of you guys with Sean Payton as

well. Can I give you guys a spicy controversial one if I may? Go ahead. Because why does pressure always have to equate to people that have underperformed or that you're looking more from? I'm going to Vance Joseph. And the reason I'm going with Vance Joseph is because right around this time last year, and Vance has done a great job with this defense so far. But right around this time last tier is where you saw the defense start to taper off just a little bit. You know, this is a guy that's going to be a hot name once again this off season for head coaching vacancies across the NFL. And honestly, the primary reason why I'm going with Vance Joseph is I'm still skeptical about the offense. And that's why everything that Sarah said,

everything that Nick said, I completely agree with it. I need to see it before I start going pomp in circumstance about this offense and Bo Nix as I gave you in my last little whiteboard. I think there's a lot of pressure on Vance Joseph to keep. this defense playing at the level of which they are. Because if they're able to do that, the Denver Broncos can absolutely go out there and contend for a championship. So I think there's just pressure on Vance Joseph to keep on keeping on.

And solidify himself as one of the hot names in the next coaching cycle. You know, this is a guy that you would imagine would want to have another crack at being an NFL head coach. If his defense continues to play up to par, he'll get that opportunity. That all ties into Sean Payton, though, right? It does. The pressure of the offense.

So the key, you talk about maybe, like a, what is it, a triangle. It all comes back to Sean in the standpoint because he's in command of the offense. You guys made some great points. I like that. Look, everything goes back to Sean. Yeah, it really does. At the end of the day, everything does go back to Sean. Like, I think Vance has done a great job. I think Evan Ingram's, you know, lack of a presence at times in the offense is because of Sean, not necessarily because of Evan all the time. Sure, he can run some routes better, do some things better.

But it comes down to the play calling for sure. So we'll see how that shakes out. Anyone watch on YouTube. Let us know in the comments section on the audio feed as well. Let us know your thoughts on that conversation. Okay. Why don't we hit our final break? When we come back, we'll wrap it up and put a bow on the show, as Cody knows, I like to say. And we'll give some final thoughts on this Denver Broncos team, players that have the biggest impact.

Are the Broncos the best team in the AFC? We know that Nick Ferguson doesn't think that. I'm not sure I really think that yet. We'll kind of break it down with Cody and Sarah as well. When we come back right here on your lockdown Broncos. squad show. All right, well, come on back into the program. Anilo Piro Cody, Cair Bedinger, Nick Ferguson. Hope everyone is doing well out there.

And a happy early Thanksgiving to you and yours out there. It's one of my personal favorite holidays, food, football, food, homas. The slate for Thanksgiving this week is absolutely incredibly. You've got the lines going up against the Packers, Cowboys going up against the Chiefs. So Broncos fans are going to want to pay attention to that game. And Joe Burrow expected to return to take on the Baltimore Ravens. And then you got the Black Friday game as well. well with the Eagles and the Bears. That's going to be a banger. So a lot of good football coming up

on Thursday and Friday. And then, of course, you can end your week with Sunday night football as the Denver Broncos get ready to take on the Washington commander. So we'll keep an eye on that as well. But yes, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours out there. Hope everyone is excited for the holiday as am I. Okay, let's get back into it here. I'll throw this one out to Sair. We talked about, you know, pressure and whatnot, you know, under the most pressure to performing the second half of the season. go the other way here. Which player do you think will have the biggest impact down the stretch for the Denver Broncos, Sarah? I've got Dre Greenlaw as the guy who I think is going to have the biggest impact down the stretch. And I think that part of that is maybe just a little bit unfair,

right? Because he wasn't there for the majority of the first half. So obviously it's going to be notable to have him back. But to me, when you're adding a player who I think we all listen to of Vance Joseph's interview with Peter Schrager, and you hear Vance Joseph talk about Drey Greenlaw. Drake Greenlaw believes that he can be, if he's not already, the best linebacker in the NFL. And I think we've seen that from him when he was with the 49ers. And in a limited sample with the Broncos,

his first game, he comes back, he plays, what, 20 snaps and has six tackles or something like that. And then he's a tackling machine when he comes back after the suspension, once again, I don't think we've even scratched the surface. of what Drey Greenlaw is going to do to be that impact player in the middle of this defense. We haven't seen him out there really with Alex Singleton. We haven't seen any packages with him out there with Justin Sternad really too much other than the one game, right? So there's not a lot out there with him in this defense.

And he brings not just a wrinkle. He brings a truly elite player at the middle of your defense who can totally change the course of a game by whatever he does. doesn't coverage. He can blitz. He can knock the ball loose. He hit your quarterback. I mean, he can do everything, right? So I just think that what we've seen from Dre Greenlaw at this point is barely even scratching the surface of what he's going to do to help this team make a push here in the later stage of November and into December. 100 p. I mean, I think we haven't seen the full form of Drey Greenlaw as well. So I think that's a spot on point. Nick, what about you? Well, while I like the second level players and Greenlaw, because of his first.

physicality, I got to go with someone who can make an instant impact on quarterbacks, and that's Nick Benito, right? He's on the line of scrimmage. We've seen him all season long be really disruptive. And when you have Nick Benito playing at a high level, that benefits everyone. John Franklin Myers eat. Zach Allen eats. DJ Jones eats.

And this other counterpart, the other book in, John the Cooper eats as well. But it all starts with Nick Benito. If he can turn that corner, get that edge, force that quarterback to step up, a step out, then that means more pressures, tips and overthrows, got to get those. And it's not just about the sacks, but those pressures actually help as well. And with PS2 eventually coming back, that's going to help those guys in the back end. So my guy is Nick Benito. I like that.

I like that a lot. Cody, what about you? I mean, when Sarah was talking about Drey Greenlaw, I was thinking of the movie, the program where they're in the slideshow and he's saying, what's your job? And he's like, you know, I can't say the word here, but basically hit the quarterback. And then the other one's like,

hit the quarterback so hard, his girlfriend. I love it. Like, that's what I was thinking about. I'm not thinking of Drey. Greenlaw. Great thing there. Obviously,

I call him the office linebacker, you know, like Terry Tate there. I pitched an ideal. We'll see if the Broncos run with it here. Maybe for the schedule release. We'll see about that. But my player that I got,

I'm going to go with Marvin Mims here for the second half stretch of the schedule. I think we saw when Marvin was out with a concussion for two games. Just how missed he was, maybe on the offensive side of the ball, but definitely on special teams. His first special teams rep back from the concussion. He has a 70-yard punt return. And he has another big time return in that game against Kansas City.

And you're thinking to yourself, yeah, the Broncos, they missed this guy. And so many times this year, I can even think of the Chargers game being another one of those examples. The Colts game, he had a big return that gave the Broncos offense great field position. And I remember the offense couldn't convert. they couldn't take advantage of that opportunity. I think that is going to switch here in the second half. I think Marvin's going to continue to make big plays, but I think the offense is going to find a way to capitalize on those plays here.

But I want to see more Marvin Mims on offense. I think you can make an argument. Marvin offensively could be the most clutched player besides Bo Nicks on this offense. And what I mean by that is any time you've needed a big play, let's go to the second half of last year's schedule here. Who is the guy making those big plays keeping the Broncos alive? It was Marvin Mims. You've got, obviously, Kevin Harlan on the call.

He's got Mims. Got him. Bang. You love to hear that. You see him making these big time plays. And then this year, the comeback against New York Giants, right? Denver's got no timeouts left. You throw the dagger route.

It's intended for Cortland Sutton, but who catches it? Marvin Mims, just being in the right place at the right time because he's running the vertical route. He's sitting there. Ball falls on his hands, right-hand side, literally on the drive before that. Boe throws a deep right to throw kind of back-shoulder adjustment. to it right there. Marvin is the clutch player here for the Broncos. And I think he will be the key to really unlocking the offense a little bit more in the second half the season. I think Marvin's

going to have the biggest impact. Yeah, I think he's been their best offensive player not named J.K. Dobbins this season, right? I mean, Marvin Mims, when he's out there on offense, just really seems to unlock another layer for this Denver Broncos offense. I love that pick. And I think he'll be absolutely critical. For mine, I'm going to agree with Nick Ferguson. I'm going to go with Nick Benito as well. And would you believe? me if I told you that Nick Benito only has one and a half sacks over the last month, because that's where we're at. And I know that sacks just doesn't tell the whole story. You know, Jonathan Cooper's been balling and whatnot. But Nick Benito, when he's in that zone,

which he has been. But when he's getting those sacks, I mean, it takes his defense from like a B plus to an A to like an A plus through the roof, right? And so I'm looking for Nick Benito to get back after the quarterback and keep impacting the opposing teams offenses. He had a sack in the game against the Jets. No sacks against the Giants. No sacks against the Cowboys, same with the Texans, a sack and a half against the Raiders, and then no sacks against the Kansas City Chiefs. I understand that stat doesn't tell the full story, but I want to see Nick Benito getting back to playing at that defensive player of the year level in which we saw him in the early turn of this season. Right now, Nick Benito has nine and a half sacks on the year.

That's good for sixth in the NFL behind only Micah Parsons, Will Anderson, Deniel Hunter, Brian Burns, and Miles Garrett. Side note, this dude, Miles Garrett is a freak. He's going to win it. I mean, that's D.P.O.I. I can't even begin to understand how this guy plays the position. My goodness. But I'll throw a bonus one out there as well. Pat Sertan. And I think him coming back from the injury,

I think will really benefit the Denver Broncos defense, which we know is already stout, take some pressure off of Riley Moss a little bit too. And I just think when you lose a reigning defending defensive player of the year, any opportunity to get him back is going to be a good one. So I'll go with Benito and Pat Sertan, two guys that are buddies in that locker room as well. Not a bad pick.

Though I would say, I'd maybe say it probably puts a little more pressure on Riley Yeah, I guess it does. I guess it does. But at least Riley knows he has the other guy on the other side of the field. Yeah, absolutely. I do think to, and look, Sean acknowledges, like, Riley's going to work on his technique. Coach is going to work on the technique stuff to avoid kind of that grabiness at the end of a play. But even Sean said it on Monday with us is that, you know, there are a handful of those calls against Riley we don't agree with.

And they believe we're bad calls. And I think that there's a valid argument to be made. but it is the low-hanging fruit. It is the, I feel like Riley Moss is the easy punching bag for Broncos country right now. And he's a really good corner. Like if you look at his numbers, the completion percentage against the yards, like things like that. Riley's on the top guys in the game.

I thought you go people that like numbers nerds. I thought you don't like that stuff. Analytics. I'm not talking about actual, like, real meaningful stats. I'm talking about like the, what was the stat that they just brought up this past week? Like the noise, like there's some sort of noise-based. analytic that's like, oh, well, even if this team lost. Like, for example, they basically said the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos because

of advanced analytics in the game. It's like, stop it. Like, it drives me nuts. There's a reason lockers were invented back in high school. So I'm saying, just like, my goodness, you want to give me fired up. Talk about nerd numbers. Yeah. If you ever want, you know, some humor throughout the day, just go to Cody's Twitter feed at Cody

Work NFL and watch him rant about analytical. I got to stop. I got to stop. No, I love it. Twitter. No, keep it going. I think I get myself in trouble. Like, I'm a little snarky sometimes. just because I think things like that just drive me nuts. It's just like, all right, why am I entertaining this? You know what they said?

A wise man what said, you know, from a, don't argue a fool is because from a distance, you can't tell who is who. I've got to start taking the advice. Fair, fair. No, I've just given you a little crap there. But no, good stuff as well. To kind of round out the show here, let's ask the big question. Are the Denver Broncos the best team and the AFC?

Are there a team to be in the AFC? And if you say yes, explain why. If you say no, give me another team. you think in state their case as well. Sarah, we'll start with you. Yeah, they are. They're the most complete team in the AFC right now. There's no question about it.

They've got the best offensive and defensive line combination. And we know that when it comes to the playoffs, you have to be able to win in the trenches. Cody and I talked about this. When Sean Payton was first hired, the first thing that he did in free agency is go out and spend a bunch of money on the offensive line. If you can win in the trenches in the NFL,

you raise the floor of your entire team. And it gives you opportunities. to stay in games. The Broncos, they have the best offensive line, in my opinion, in the NFL. I think they have the best defensive line in the NFL. Those two things alone make them one of the best teams in the AFC. But let's add a few things on top of that. Let's build this sandwich.

They've got the best coaching in the AFC. There's no question in my mind. They've got obviously an ability to win every type of game. You've got the most clutch kicker in the league right now. And I think you have a lot of, a lot of times this gets overlooked. you've got the healthiest roster, arguably, in the entire, I don't know that as a fact off the top of my head. But when you're coming out of the buy, you're going to have virtually your entire starting

lineup that you opened up the season with out there and then some, your depth on top of it all. Other than J.K. Dobbins, Ben Powers, who will be coming back soon, we know. It's, I mean, it's all there for this Broncos team to make a run. I don't think they have the best quarterback necessarily in the AFC right now, although nobody he's really been more clutch than Bo Nicks. I just think it's a lot of, like, we don't like necessarily how they're winning these games in the in between. And I get it, they have stuff to clean up.

There's no question. But the fact that they've won eight straight games, and we haven't even seen them maybe play their best game yet, they're definitely the best team in the AFC, in my opinion. Okay. I'm going to go to Nick because I believe he disagrees with that take about the Broncos. We'll see his reasoning as well. Mr. Ferguson, what say you? I am going to go with the pets. and the reason I'm going with

Yeah, I know. You've got to take this Navy off now. Well, the reason I'm going with the Pats Right now, the Pats have a nine-game winning street. The Broncos have an eight-game winning street. The Broncos has six games remaining. Of the six, they have two teams that are below 500. They play them back-to-back.

That's the Raiders and the commanders. When you look at the Pats, the Pats have five games remaining. Of those five games, they have three teams on their schedule that are below 500. And oh, by the way, when you look at Drake May, who's playing fantastic, he leads the league right now in past regards, 21 touchdowns to six interceptions.

Bo has 18 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and also when you look at the statistical categories, total offense, pads are higher than the Broncos. Third down, pats are higher than the Broncos. Passing offense, pads are higher than the Broncos. So for me, right now, it's, the Pats. The Pats are the team that the Broncos are definitely chasing. And with Drake May playing well,

and their run game is now starting to get on track and they're healthy at the same time. So those are my reasons why I'm going to say the Pats are a better team right now because they're better team on all three phases. The Broncos are better team defensively. I think those are very valid points 100% as another side note real quick. Why the heck did Tennessee ever fire Mike Rable? I mean, that dude is one of the best head coaches in the NFL. And I know that the Broncos and the Patriots don't like each other from the fan-based perspective. But what he's done flipping the switch from Gerard Mayo to Mike Rable.

And Gerard Mayo, obviously a great player at his own time. Nothing short of spectacular what New England has been able to do this season. Cody, you're up, my friend. Well, I would simply say this. I still think despite New England's success, I think the Broncos are the best team right now in the AFC. I think they have probably the most Super Bowl ready team in comparison to some other teams. Now, that's all to say that the offense hasn't even played their best yet, right? And I think a lot of this, my answer is hinging upon if this Broncos' offense

can click and start to play like we know that they can or that we think that they can, absolutely. I also think that the Broncos have had a little bit of a tougher schedule in terms of opponents, to travel, the wear and tear in comparison to a team like New England. I think that New England's had some very impressive wins this year. I think a couple weeks ago on the road at Tampa Bay. I felt like that was probably their most impressive win of the season early on. It was their win against the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo. And everyone's like, uh-oh. But now I'm starting to sour a little bit on Buffalo in terms of where they're at. Josh Allen's a terrific player. But this doesn't look like that same Buffalo Bills team that we have

certainly seen. Like I think against really good teams, they've turned it on. We saw them beat Kansas City, obviously. But for me, I still not sold on that. And of course, they're going to finish with a little bit of an easier schedule here than Denver. I mean, they get a play, I think, what? The Jets one more time, the Dolphins one more time. Patriots have the Giants, Bills, Baltimore, Jets, Dolphins. So two tough games, Buffalo and Baltimore, but you got three. I don't even think the Baltimore game's going to be tough, though.

I think that Baltimore's defense, it's rough. It's rough. Look, Lamar's back. It's great to see him. And obviously, the Ravens are riding a little bit of a high since they had a really tough start. Lamar was on, you know, was not playing for a handful of years. do with an injury, but now they're playing, they're clicking.

Like, they can get some confidence. But even then, I still look at that as I think that Mike Vrable is going to have that defense doing a really good, he's going to have them prepared. Like, I'm not necessarily worried about those games. I think that Denver's got a tougher schedule by virtue and higher stakes, I think, than the New England Patriots do. I think that's fair. And I'm not necessarily buying, I think the Patriots are good team.

I agree with Nick. I think that their schedule has been a bit soft. I think their win against Tampa and the Buffalo Bills was great. But they lost to Vegas. week one, which can actually play into the Broncos favor because that's the third tiebreaker for the one C and the AFC if it does come down to that, which is common opponent. So the fact of the Broncos have beat the Raiders the one time or a couple of times, one time.

They'll play them one more. They'll play them next week. Yeah. So that's something to read into as well. But I do think the Patriots, you know, you got to play who's on your schedule. And to their credit, they've done that. I'm going to shoot the middle here. I'm saying it depends.

Because, no, I know, but let me give you my reasoning. And this is more so speaking. to if the Broncos can get the one seat. If the Bronco, like, I would take the Broncos at home in the playoffs over every single NFL or AFC team right now. Buffalo, Kansas City, Baltimore, New England, Indianapolis, Houston. I like the Broncos chances at home. If they do have to travel, though, for the playoffs, that's where I get a little skittish.

And I know that we're talking about this kind of in the moment. So I'll agree with Sarah. I do think right now, if I had to pick a team and this is not me being biased, it'd probably be the Denver Broncos because I love what they're selling on defense. I have those questions about the offense for sure. But if the defense keeps playing like they have been, I think they're a tough team to beat in general. I do worry a little bit about the Buffaloes, the Baltimore,

the Kansas cities of the world just because of the pedigree they have at the quarterback position. And you guys know as well as I do, the quarterback, you know, can will your team to victory, can win your games, can also lose your games. Right. And that's where I'm still, I think the jury's still out with Bo Nix, with respect to championship caliber play. I think Bo Nix is a solid quarterback. He's proven that this season, proved it last year as well. But when it comes to, you know, these championship expectations,

I just put so much stock into that one seat and having that home field advantage. So that's kind of where I'm at with the Broncos. Well, it seems as though you, as eloquently as you put that, you're kind of in agreement with me. It's not a slight or Bo Nix. It's just being real. Now, all of this can change if the Broncos continue to win. But as of today, Tuesday, your question was, who's the better team?

And right now, that's the Patriots. Yeah, no, I mean, record says that as well. They've got their buy coming up too. So we'll see how that shakes out. I think the Broncos have had to deal with more on their schedule, though. So that's where I think you can make a really strong case for both of them for the sake of the show, for Broncos country. I'll say the Broncos right now. But that's where I'm so interested to see how this season plays out because I think you could legitimately make a case for like five or six teams in the AFC to come out of that day.

out of that conference as champions. So it's going to be awesome, man. I'm looking forward to it. And a good show with you, fellas, as always. Broncos country, do us a favor on your way out the door on YouTube, hit that like button, smash that subscribe button. Really appreciate you guys as always. We'll be back at it again.

It'll be a late night show, Sunday night football, between the Broncos and the commanders coming up there in less than a week. So we'll be ready for that. So make sure to stay tuned with us there. And outside of that, fellas, to Cody, Sarah, Nick. Hope you guys all have a happy Thanksgiving for all. the listeners and the fans out there as well. Hope you guys also have a happy Thanksgiving.

I will be eating turkey and sleeping and watching football. So looking forward to that. But for the fellas, appreciate all of you guys. Let's see what the rest of the season holds for the Denver Broncos. And we'll talk to you guys on Sunday night. Have a good one, folks.