Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: What Denver’s 10–2 Run Really Means for the AFC

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

The Denver Broncos sit at 10-2 through 12 games of the season. After their thrilling overtime win against the Washington Commanders, where do the Broncos stand amongst the competition in the AFC? Denver will face the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, followed by three games against playoff caliber opponents in the Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. Join Aniello Piro, Sayre Bedinger and Nick Ferguson as they break down the latest news and notes surrounding the Denver Broncos on today's Locked On Broncos Squad Show! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Aura Frames For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout. FanDuel If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. 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 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 Adelopiro, and the Denver Broncos have already solidified themselves as one of the best teams in the AFC, but where will they end up as the rest of the regular season plays out? I'm Sarah Bedinger. The Denver Broncos might not be passing every national media members I test right now, but I think they're the most battle tested team in the NFL. I'm Nick Ferguson, and are we looking at the best team in AFC? I don't know. We'll break it all down on a Tuesday. of your locked on Broncos squad show. Let's get into 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 Broncos squad show starts now. It is your locked on Broncos squad show right here on your locked on a baronco's YouTube channel as well as the audio feed. Thank you. you guys so much for tuning in with us here today on the number one podcast network in the world. Really, really appreciate all of you guys out there. If you are watching on YouTube, do us a favor of Broncos Country. Hit that like button, smash that subscribe button really helps us out here as we continue to build up the squad show with the home stretch of the regular season now upon us. And guys, today's episode of the Lockdown Bronco Squad Show is brought to you by our friends over at Fanduil.

If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, just visit Fanduil.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. All right. Cody is, I normally would say on assignment, but he's doing, he's got to take care of some life stuff. So it'll be us three here today. Neil Lepiro, Sarah Bedinger and Nick Ferguson. Cody will be back for our post-game reaction show coming up on Sunday evening. But fellas, good show on Sunday night. You know, I think obviously emotions were high. vibes were high. I think that all kind of carried over into yesterday as well.

Like I know at the radio station that I'm a part of, they were all humming and, you know, excited and whatnot. Nick, I'm sure the same for you. And we saw the reaction for Broncos country online as well. So before we kind of dive into what's next for this Denver Broncos team, hard fought, overtime victory, get the job done. Sarah, anything you want to add potentially or maybe something you've learned or thought about since that win since we last spoke. I just think, you know, what I kind of teased at the beginning. I feel like the more and more you look back on this season, even now we're still in the midst of it, still have five games left. I feel like the Broncos are one of the most, if not the most battle tested team in the NFL, right? And what's different about this year compared to last year to me, remember we talked in the post game.

Last year, the Broncos, they were underdogs in the majority of their games, right? Nobody thought they were going to do much. Nobody really expected them to make it to the playoffs. They were expected to be, frankly, the worst team in the NFL by a lot of people. And they outkick the coverage, right? They absolutely exceeded expectations. This year, does it not feel to you guys like the Broncos are getting everybody's best shot, right? The expectations, the things that Sean Payton's been saying, I'm not saying that, you know,

on a week to week basis, every NFL team obviously plays hard, right? But it's just a different feel versus what we saw from the commanders, you know, on Sunday night, versus what we've seen from the commanders throughout the course of this season. It felt like their best possible effort. not that the Broncos play down to them. So I think the Broncos are building up a resolve that, you know, is going to help them come playoff time. Yeah, I would agree with that as well.

And Nick, I want to go to you here because that was one of your main talking points after the game on Sunday is a Dan Quinn led football team, you know, showing up and showing out. I understand they didn't get the win against the Broncos. But, you know, he's one of the chief motivators in the NFL. It appears from afar. And so, you know, I think the game was obviously a lot closer than most of Broncos country had anticipated, but also that's kind of been the script for this Denver Broncos team of

winning close games, right? You've got Cincinnati and you've got Dallas as a kind of two blowout games for the Broncos this season. But Washington put up a really good fight and Denver was able to pull out the victory. Yeah, Denver was able to pull out the victory. And I know over the course of the season, what I've heard oftentimes, especially locally, is that the Broncos continue to play down to their opponent. And how about the opponent, Now I'm playing up to the Denver Broncos. It's like, okay, well, let's give the team a little credit, right? Because when you start to reel off six, seven, eight, nine games in a row,

no matter how you do it, obviously you become somewhat of an instant threat. And every team is looking at you in that particular way because when someone is at the precipice or at the top of their craft, the best thing you want to do is knock them off the mountain. And that's where the Broncos find themselves. So they're going to get every team's best shot every single game. But the question comes down to can they match that particular energy and looking at the game against the commanders? To me, once again, Dan Quinn, hell of a coach,

is one of the reasons that the Broncos' ownership actually sought him out to be their head coach. So that's the type of attitude that you, in a culture you want to bring. And it was a heart for a game. And this game, to my estimation, is going to prepare or should prepare the Broncos moving forward, especially from a defensive standpoint, because you're going to face a multitude of mobile quarterbacks. And although Marcus Mariotta isn't going to the Hall of Fame, that dude still can play football at a high level. And he put some pressure on the Broncos defense.

Yeah, it was a great game for Marcus Mariotta. And I think a better game than I personally expected. I mean, he's one of him and Jimmy Garoppolo, or the two guys. guys that come to mind is like the best backup quarterbacks you could potentially have at the NFL right now. So again, a tip of the cap to Washington for putting up a fight. And I think I heard this on ESPN, I want to say. It was some national show or maybe it was sports talk radio that I was listening to yesterday. And this person, I forget who it was on the television said that they were talking to someone, you know, within the Broncos organization.

And, you know, I talked about it in the last episode of this show as well, that I want to see the Broncos win by margin. I think Nick and Sarah definitely you guys lead into. that as well. But this reporter that was talking about it on TV who heard from the Broncos members said, just win, baby, right? Like, that's kind of the sentiment in the Broncos organization. Like, I haven't heard that directly, but again, picking up on that from the national conversation, that it seems like internally within the building, the Broncos are a okay with just winning games. Like, we want to see them win by margin, but Sarah, as long as they're winning, it seems like the Broncos are in happy spirits as they should be. Absolutely. And fitting for that phrase to come out

this week of all weeks, right? As you're getting set to play the Raiders in their house. So yeah, I think, I think that's exactly my takeaway as well. It's like, I will never be upset about winning games, right? I mean, it's stressful in the moment. And you don't want to be stressed in the moment. But like I said, you look back on it. It's like these are core memories that we're creating together, you know, with the Denver

Broncos. And that's how that 2015 season was, wasn't it? All those close games that we can go back. and look at and like we can talk about the cj anderson walk off run against the patriots and before that you know ronie hulman making plays in that game we can go back throughout that season brock osweiler in chicago right stepping up big like those are moments in games that are stressful that aren't necessarily pretty on paper or while they're happening that you look back on and you're like man they had the resolve in that game that ultimately led to what it led to getting the number one seed home field advantage

throughout the course of the playoffs. And then once you get to the dance, man, nobody cares how you got there. You can get hot for a stretch of games. You can beat anybody in the playoffs. Everything is isolated. It's one game at a time. And I know the regular season is similar,

but getting to that number one seed, it doesn't matter the path to 10 wins at this point. The fact that Broncos have them is what matters. Yeah, no, I'm with you 100% on that. And we'll kind of dive into where the Broncos stack up in the AFC of the NFL as a whole. ESPN put out their weekly power rankings. And I think Broncos fans will be pretty delighted to see where the Denver Broncos end up here.

But before we do that, I want to kind of circle back to the Dan Quinn comment because something else that I've been thinking about with just the NFL this season is the teams that have a majority of the teams, right? Like the Broncos are on the come up. You've got Jacksonville, right? You've got some of these other squads that are making some noise, the bears who are currently the one seat in the NFC. I think the head coach has never been more important in the NFL that is. right now. And, you know, I think there's mixed reviews. Like, Sean Payton's obviously winning these games, but again, going back to the margin in Bo Nicks and the offense, right? I think Sean has been great.

But, Nick, I'm curious to get your opinion on do you think the NFL head coach maybe matters now more than ever when it comes to success or failure of a football team? It's not just the head coach anymore, guys. I'm going to talk about, you know, something that's a little different. Let's talk about a guy who doesn't really get talked about a lot. and this has to do with the NFL uplifting this one particular position over everyone else, and that's the quarterback. And what I'm referring to is a quarterback coach. That guy is with the quarterback every single day.

The officer coordinator schemes things, and he puts the plan together, and he wants to go out there and execute it, and he's calling the plays. But it's that quarterback coach who's able to either get that quarterback to take his game to the next level or get him to calm his nerves because he's a little sporadic at times. That's the guy that never gets talked about at all. And I think that that's the guy that is so vital to success of a quarterback, veteran or more importantly, a young quarterback. And Sarah, you were talking about something.

I want to make sure that I hit on this because, yeah, the Broncos fans are a little antsy. And the team has kind of the cardiac kids or whatever you want to call them. And you just kind of like grasping on the edge of your, your seat, putting your hands into the sofa where you leave a handprint. And fans want to see the Broncos score more points. They want to see the Broncos dominate for four quarters. They want to see the Broncos finally have a commanding lead.

And I know it's all about, hey, just win as long as you won the game. But I think what's creeping into the back of the minds of Broncos fans, they're saying, okay, well, whether the Broncos get the number one seed or they just have to battle with Buffalo or whomever to just kind of push this thing along. The thing is they want to know with confidence that this team can really score points. Right now, they're nervous as hell because they're saying, okay, well, we're winning games, but what happens if we're pushed to the brink? Well, we face another team like a New England Patriots that plays physical ball.

They have great coaching. They're well coached. And more importantly, they run the ball at a high frequency. what happens then? I think that's what the fans are really nervous about. Yeah, Sarah, go ahead. You could respond to that. Yeah, I think that's very fair.

And I think that that's exactly what we all want Bo Nix to have a four touchdown game. We want him to, you know, how Josh Allen a couple weeks ago had a six touchdown game. I'd love to see that from Bo Nix. Absolutely. Do you think that would be enough to calm this fan base down to have one game? Or you're going up against the Raiders, that's another. opportunity for the fan base to put an asterisk next to it, right? It's to say, oh, well, it was just the Raiders defense, right? Even though the Raiders held the Broncos to 10 points a

handful of weeks ago in that ugly game, right? This is an, you go out there, you throw four touchdowns against the Raiders and what happens. Well, it was the Raiders. Can you do it against, you know, so it's, I just feel like, you know, Cody and I talked about it on yesterday's locked on Broncos show. It's like all the time the goalposts are moving, right? It's this whole idea of, well, he, now he, now he did it against this team. So, or you score 77 points in five quarters, you know, between the Giants game and the Cowboys game. And, you know, that, I think that's in there.

I really do. I scored 27 against the commanders, right? So again, yes, I want to see that, you know, what the Patriots did on Monday night, I think is what everybody's waiting for the Broncos to do, right? You're going up against a bad team, put them away and do your thing. And that's what we need to see. And that's what needs to happen against the Raiders. Yeah.

And we'll touch on it when we kind of get into our Raiders. Preview at the end of the show, but I kind of, even if it is against the Raiders, like, I just want to see this Broncos offense kind of explode a little bit, right? Like, I'm still waiting for that avalanche of points to come. And they should be able to do that in the dome, right? In Las Vegas, which essentially has no home field advantage for any team, let alone when the Denver Broncos come to town, that thing is going to be packed out in orange. I was surprised real quick before we hit a break, how much orange there appeared to appear to be in the stands for that game against Washington. I mean, you know, Washington isn't exactly Vegas or Kansas City or L.A. That's a pretty heft, hefty, hefty. travel for Broncos country to make and they showed up and showed out, Nick. Yeah, they did. That's the one thing that happens before, but now with the team doing as well as they are, we're going to see those numbers start to explore more rapidly. And the idea is to invade Levi Stadium next year in 2026, where it's just kind of like a sea of orange, so much so is blinding out the opponent on the opposite sideline.

So as long as this team keep making steps forward, and winning ball games, you're going to see that fan base continues to expand. Yeah, well, and the Broncos have some pretty good memories out there at Levi Stadium from just about 10 years ago. So we'll see how this season plays out, man. I'm going to say it 100 times probably until the playoffs start. I just can't wait because I could see it going like both ways. I could see the Broncos buttoned up going on a run and making that NFL Super Bowl. Or I could see, you know, maybe they have a bad offensive game and the defense is a bit leaky against a Josh Allen led Buffalo

Bill's team potentially. I think all options are up in the air right now for this Denver Broncos team. But the fact of the matter is they are 10 and 2. They're on a nine game winning streak and they're getting these wins by any means necessary. All right. Let's hit a break. When we come back, a couple of housekeeping notes here. The Broncos making a late season signing to their practice squad, a veteran wide receiver joining the Denver Broncos. And also we talked about it and we dove into it a little bit on the squad show from Sunday, but I want to have a more in-depth conversation about the running back room, R.J. Harvey, J.L. McLaughlin, who's going to assert themselves as running back one? We'll break that down next when we come back right here on your Locked-on Bronco squad show.

All right, you guys, real quick, let me tell you about the fine folks over at Fandu, because NFL Sundays move fast. I mean, I can't believe it's December the second. We're doing our first show of December, which is crazy to me already. And one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with Fanduil so exciting. You're not just watching the game. You're reacting to it in real time. With Fandu, you can place bets as the action unfolds,

every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is best when your game starts to shift. A receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a turnover. Fandu lets you jump in, lets you jump into those moments, guys. Live spreads and money lines. Just instantly, player props update as the guys heat up.

You can bet the next touchdown score, drive result, totals, and more. It keeps you locked in to every single snap, every drive, every possibility. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, just visit fanduel. And place your live NFL bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast, and so can you. I'm an active fan duel user. It is my personal favorite sports book to get some money down on. I know it'll be yours too.

So be sure to check out our friends over at FanDuel. and let him know that Lockdown Broncos sent you. All right, welcome on back into your Locked on Broncos squad show, and Ilo Piero, Sarah Bedinger, Nick Ferguson. Hope everyone is doing well out there in Broncos country after a thrilling overtime victory over the Washington commanders. I think we're still all kind of feeling good about this Broncos team after that wins some residual victory Monday into a victory Tuesday type of vibe.

But a couple of housekeeping notes that I want to touch on with you guys here. This news came out this morning. I believe it was Tom Pelliser. the first to report this. The Denver Broncos are bringing in Elijah Moore to their practice squad. And Elijah Moore has bounced around the league a little bit, started with the Jets, had a stint with the Browns, and then a very, very brief stint with the Buffalo Bills earlier this season, played in nine games for Buffalo, had 112 receiving yards on 17 targets,

no touchdowns. But, you know, we talk about this Broncos offense. And, you know, Evan Ingram showed up to the party last week. And Pat Bryant's coming along. Cortland Sutton with a big touchdown pass. And so I think it's interesting to see the Broncos go out there and add a guy in Elijah Moore, who's a veteran in the league at this point with his tenure. I would imagine if he signed to the practice squad,

not that there's a guarantee, but likely an expectation that he'll be elevated sooner rather than later. Nick, what do you make of this move for the Broncos bringing in Elijah Moore? See, this is a very interesting move for me because I thought if there was going to be a move for the Broncos or by the Broncos, it would be in the running back room. Now, bringing Elijah Moore makes you question, well, is someone within the building not happy with the production they're receiving from the receiving group?

And if Elijah Moore is elevated to the active roster, who are you going to sit down? Who's that guy? I mean, you just brought back with Jordan Humphrey, right, because he had spent some time here, two years with the Denver Broncos, and then you bring him back because the idea was like, well, you need more physical blocking on the perimeter.

And I believe he played in the Washington Commanders game. So with Elijah Moore being in the building, whose job as far as being active on game day is in jeopardy? I would have to think, Sarah, it's going to be a little Jordan Humphrey. I would think you kind of go a one-for-one swap at the receiver position now. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of where I'm thinking as well. And it was no coincidence, I don't think, you know,

just the way that things happened in the NFL. It was exactly one year ago to the job. day that we're recording this, that Elijah Moore had eight catches for 111 yards against the Denver Broncos on Monday night football, right? And that was the debacle game. And oddly enough, that game was kind of similar to the commanders game and just how weird it was, the defensive breakdowns, all the free runners out there, just similar weird stuff going on. But I agree with Nick. I felt like if there was a move to be made, it was probably more so at the running back position. However, that Traylon Burke's touchdown might have been living rent-free in George Payton's mind a little bit because remember the Broncos were the first team to get him for a visit when he was kind of shopping himself around after getting cut by the Titans.

You didn't make that move or you didn't make a compelling enough pitch to get him to sign in Denver, whatever the circumstances were for that. And then he goes and makes a play against you and almost contributes to a win against your team. So maybe they're looking at somebody like Elijah Moore and saying, hey, this guy's 25. He was the 34th overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. He's got talent. For whatever reason, no wide receiver not named Stefan Diggs can get chemistry with Josh Allen in Buffalo. It's the weirdest thing.

They signed Josh Palmer, didn't work. They signed Elijah Moore. Doesn't work. They draft Keon Coleman. That's not working out. So there's nobody that's been able to get chemistry with him. So I'm not looking at that situation either in saying, hey, it didn't work out in Buffalo. No way it's going to work out in Denver.

I feel like offensively, this may be a hot take. I feel like offensively, he's taking Marvin Mims' spot eventually. I don't think the Broncos feel like they can trust Marvin Mims right now. And I don't know what it is. I just, I want that to happen. But I feel like for three years now, we've been trying to make Fetch happen with Marvin Mims in the offense and the Broncos cannot figure it out. So maybe they're going after somebody who's got a little bit more of a refined skill set

and that speed element to add into this. offense. Yeah, Marvin Mims is two years younger than Elijah Moore, both of them second round picks respectfully. And the stats this year for Marvin Mims, I mean, he's got 24 receptions off 342 receiving yards. And I think I wasn't even thinking that to be completely honest with you, Sarah, but now that you bring it up, it's actually not a bad thought because when I think of Marvin Mims right now, I think of him more as a return guy first and then honestly kind of gadget hybrid running back receiver second. Like you see that bootleg play that they like to run with him, the end round play. That's a pretty good thought, Sarah. What do you think, Nick? Well, the first thing I'm

going to say, well, that's not Marvin Mims' fault that he's not being utilized the correct way. And you're right. We think of Marvin Mims as a special team's gadget type of player because that's how Sean Payton is deploying him in the offense. I'll tell you this. If what said is saying is true and eventually happens at some point and the Blanco's part ways with Marvin Mims, we're going to see him go to another team, maybe the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams, or dare I say, the, I guess New England Patriots, and then we're going to say, why did the Broncos let him go? And once again, this is not an indictment on Marvin Mims because what did we see last

season? Remember, we saw this kind of layoff and no utilization of Marvin Mams. And then all of a sudden, the Broncos is playing on Sunday night football against Joe Burrow in the Cincinnati Bengals, and he has two explosive touchdowns, right? And we're going like, where was this all season long? And I say, well, that's easy, ladies and gentlemen. If you take your Y receiver and you're running vertically instead of horizontally to the field of play, you'll get more production.

That's the problem with Marvin Mims. I think maybe someone inside the building, I don't know this for sure, this is just me speculated. They only see him. that particular mode, and this is why they don't deploy him in more of a Tyreek Hill type of way where he's running vertically down the field. No, that's a really good point. And I think, again, they're winning games. So it's not like we've got to be, you know, negative about all this kind of stuff. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. It could be critical. We could be critical. There you go. Not

negative, but critical. Yeah. And I think what's interesting to me is like when you just think of like the makeup of a Super Bowl offense, right? Like, and I'm just using them as an example. Like, I'm looking at the Rams. And I'm like, they've got. Devante Adams and they've got Puka Nakua, right? Devante Adams has been a dog, Pookas that shifty over the middle type of receiver. Devontees that throw it up and make it happen. The Eagles, who I'm not very high on. You've got A.J. Brown and I'm forgetting his name now. Vante Smith. Yeah, Devante Smith as well. You know, you bring up Tyree Kill in years past with Miami as well as Kansas City, right? And we haven't like seen, like, Cortland Sutton is like

de facto wide receiver one. I was getting ready to send this tweet out as well during the game. It didn't come to fruition. I actually think Troy Franklin is there wide receiver one right now. Like I know he only had the two catches in the game against Washington, but like that seems to be Bose guy. And we know that he has that connection with him going back to Oregon. So I think there's there's there's room for growth and a lot to be desired with this Broncos wide receiver room. And so that's why I'm not overly surprised that they take a shot on Elijah Moore. You know, Sarah, you mentioned it as well. Maybe some some buyers remorse or some remorse or some remorse to not bring in in Trayvon Burks as well. I want to throw out another name. Are you surprised they go with

Elijah Moore over a guy like an Adam Thielen, a proven wide receiver, Wes Welker type of guy that is looking to go out there and contend for a championship what has since been announced to be his final NFL season. I'm not surprised by it. I actually like this type of move a little bit better because I feel like there's some potential for upside beyond this year. Right. And of course, I mean, I love the power of and just as much as the next guy, right?

I mean, the power of and is like, why not both, right? Why not, you know, this guy and this guy if you feel like both can help you. But I like if I have to choose one, it's the longer term play. And somebody like Elijah Moore, who was just a second round pick, the same draft class that the, you know, Zach Wilson, Broncos had him last year. So they're kind of recollecting all these New York Jets draft picks from 2021 class. But I like the longer term play. And I think that this to Nick's point about the horizontal versus the vertical,

I think we saw in that game against Cleveland last year that, That's an area where Elijah Moore can excel. That was a lot of what Kevin Stefansky asked him to do because there was some tension about that early on as well. Why are we not seeing the New York Jets Elijah Moore in Cleveland what they traded for? They traded quite a bit to get him, right? So I think it was a lot of being asked to do horizontal stuff, the gadget player stuff. And maybe he's evolved in that way a little bit more. I don't know.

I'm just speculating once again, but I think that there's something to that potentially. You know what? I'm not a poker player, but I am. I've seen poker games and everyone tries to kind of shield their hand away from everyone else. So no one knows what kind of cards. I think Sean Payton is playing poker with his face cards up. And what I mean by that, because the Broncos had an opportunity, not once but twice, to go out and get a veteran running back with J.K. Dobbins being out for a while. What did they do?

I mean, they brought in two wide receivers essentially. So even though Coach Payton has told us that he needs to do a better job as far as scheming, as far as the run game is concerned, what he's showing us his face cards and saying, you know what? Damn, that run game, we're going to fall down the field. Because think about it. I mean, Bo Nix had 45. I know we went into overtime, but he had 45 passing attempts.

I mean, this is the second time this season that Bow has had over 40 passing attempts. So we're seeing the run game and we're constantly talking about what the run game's not getting on track, but you bring in two wide receivers. So you're telling us what you essentially want to do. And that's throw the ball. And I'm thinking like, I don't know if that's going to work heading into the playoffs where you push all your chips to the table on just passing the ball and you don't have balance. Yeah, I think you're going to need that running game, especially in the playoffs, right? Cold weather, especially if they do get the one seat. I mean, it's going to snow this or tomorrow I'm seeing here in the Mile High City. Like, it is winter football. Like, that's

where we're at right now with this Denver Broncos team. And you would think that the ultimate and compliment to a young quarterback is a running game. And to use another gambling term, you know, if you're playing blackjack, right, Sean Payton's got Delta 10 and he's got a dealer bus card and he's doubling down face up, you know, by going back into the well with another wide receiver here. So we'll see how it shakes out. But again, the news today, Elijah Moore signed to the Broncos practice squad. Let's touch on the running back dynamic here for a moment before we hit a break.

Look, I think, you know, we've seen a little bit more J. I think by default just due to the injury of J.K. Dobbins. but R.J. Harvey, I think, is going to be the quote-unquote lead back for the Denver Broncos, right? He probably won't get the amount of touches that a lead back typically would get. He's got 74 carries for 279 yards and four touchdowns this season. It's an average of 3.8 yards per carry. I think R.J. Harvey's RB1 is just mere formality as opposed to like game plan moving forward, Sarah. Yeah, 100%. I agree with that.

And I think that what the Broncos need desperately is like a 14th. and nothing lead against the Raiders on Sunday, right? Why do I say that? Because that gives you an opportunity to potentially play with a few more plays offensively, right? To maybe commit to it a little bit more. That's kind of what I feel like has been this tension in not committing to the running game.

You're playing so many tight games or you're playing from behind in a number of these games. And you don't really have the luxury of messing around with plays. When if a first down running, you know, you get the ball back or you get the ball to start a drive. You try to run it on first down and it goes for one, two yards or a negative play. You're not necessarily going to commit to that and come back on the next play and say, hey, let's run this thing. Or if you can't get into a third and two or less, you're not necessarily saying, hey, let's open up the playbook run and pass on this, you know, third and seven or whatever it is. So I think there's a snowball effect that's happening here that's leading to this lack of

commitment to the running game. It's those negative plays or those short runs on first down or early downs. That's really giving Sean Peyton pause to say, I'm going to commit to this. I'm going to commit to running the ball 30 times in this game. That's what we're going to do. I don't know. That's kind of what I'm, maybe I'm just being overly positive and optimistic about it. That's kind of what I'm seeing right now as the biggest reason why they're not just sticking to it and committing to it for an entire game. Well, say, you know, shoot or shoot. That's what it said that they do. and, you know, guys who are surgeons, they want to cut all the time. And a guy who's a former quarterback, guess what he wants to do?

He wants to pass the ball. The reason that Sean Payton wants to do that because in Sean Payton's history as a head coach, there hasn't been a quarterback that he has developed. He's inherited quarterbacks from James Winston to Teddy Bridgewater and obviously the great Drew Breeze. So, I mean, when you look at Bow Nix, Bo Nix is a project for him. This puts him on the map to say, you know what? What happened with Drew Breeze in New Orleans, it wasn't just an anomaly. It wasn't just Drew.

It was me. I was a part of that. So in order to make that happen, you got to throw the ball and you got to throw it at a high level. You know why? Because the number of attempts, completions, yards, all of that supposed to go up. So this whole idea and the concept of why the Broncos are not running the ball, it's a problem with the running backs. last year. It was Jvante Williams. Now, what's the issue now? I mean, you're talking about RJ Harvey. He had 13 carries for 35 yards. And let's remember how the game started off.

They handed the ball off to him and I think he got like eight yards on that carry. After that, where did the running game go? Oh, I'm sorry. It was RJ Harvey's fault, right? That's what everyone wants to tell me. But I'm like, that is bull crap. That's cow chips. Right? But the idea is that you need a play caller who is going to be committed to the run game no matter what. We've seen other teams. Think about what you saw versus Chicago Bears versus the Philadelphia Eagles. Not one, but two 100-yard rushes on that big big big big geo defense. Don't tell me it's not possible.

Yeah, I think I just kind of accepted it with the Denver Broncos team right now. Like as long as Sean Payton is calling plays, like, yeah, and I'm sure the RJ Harvey stuff to start the game was scripted. And then it's like once the script is over, Sean's going to go with his gut. And what does his gut tell him? Let both throw the ball. And it's working out so far. Again, nine straight wins, done it through on the year.

It is what it is. But I think, and I think we're all in agreement here, the running game could be a big compliment for this Broncos team. And it's also just huge in game management, like latent games. Like I understand you can run the squib route or the slant route and complete the pass and keep the clock rolling. That's an added risk than just turning around and handing the ball off just to, you know, keep the clock going and force teams to take time out. So it is what it is. That's where we're at with the Denver Broncos in their running game along with them, adding Elijah Moore to their practice squad. Okay, when we come back, ESPN has dropped their latest power rankings for the NFL.

I think Broncos country will be delighted with where they ended up. We'll kind of go over that and do a state of the AFC. And again, are the Denver Broncos the best team of the AFC? Should they be considered the best team in the AFC? We'll break that down when we come back right here on your locked on Broncos squad show. Back in just a moment, folks. All right, you guys. tell you about our friends over at aura frames i'm not even kidding you i think i might order this as a gift

for my mother this holiday season so listen up to this the holidays are officially here which means gift hunting season is on and if you want something meaningful personal and guaranteed to get a reaction aura frames is the gift that delivers every single time it's not just something you wrap it's a way to share memories because aura isn't your average picture frame you can pre-upload the frame or you can preload the frame with photos before gifting it so when they plug it in the memories are already there. No apps to figure out, no setup headaches, just instant smiles, guys, grandparents, regular parents, newlyweds, anyone who loves photos is going to love an aura picture frame, guys. Endless uploads of pictures and 30 second videos throughout the aura app. And you can add a personalized message right inside the frame so the gift feels thoughtful from the moment that it's open. Packaging comes gift ready. No price tag, no wrapping needed. It's a huge win. It's a holiday gift that actually gets used, not forgotten about in a drawer. guys and for a limited time save on the perfect gift by visiting oraframes.com to get $35 off orra's best selling carver mat frames named number one by wirecutter by using promo code

locked on at checkout. That's auraframes.com, a ura frames.com, promo code locked on. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast. So order yours now to get it in time for the holidays. Support the show as well by mentioning us at checkout terms and conditions. apply, but use that code locked on to get $35 off an aura picture frame at oraframs.com. My mom, you know, she loves the pictures. You've got a ton of these photo albums from when I was a kid.

This actually might be an incredible gift to get for a family number. Your wife, your girlfriend, your grandma, your mom. I think it's an awesome, awesome deal that they're running at ORA. So be sure to check them out, guys, and let him know that locked on Broncos sent you. Okay, welcome on back into your locked on Bronco Squad Show AP, Sarah Beninger, Nick Ferguson, Rocket, and rolling with you here on this Tuesday, December the 2nd. If you're watching on YouTube, do us a favor, hit that like button, smash that subscribe button really helps us out here on the channel.

Before I get into the power rankings, I want to, have you guys looked at these power rankings at all? Do you know where the Broncos are or can we guess? No, I haven't seen them, but if I had to take a guess, I would say maybe there are two. Okay. Have you seen them, Nick or Sarah? No, I haven't seen them. ESPN power rankings, you said, right?

I have not seen it. So Nick says two. Where do you think the Broncos are, sir? Well, I would guess two as well. That's where I put them on my power rankings. I just stopped reading everybody else's power rankings, started making my own. You know what I'm saying?

I know ball. I know what I'm talking about. I would guess two. Yeah, no, I'm with you as well. I try to make my own. And I don't know that I necessarily agree with them all the time. ESPN has the Broncos at three. So the Broncos are the third power rated team.

The Los Angeles Rams are coming at number two, which I think I think the Rams are the best. team in the NFL, and I know they just lost to the Carolina Panthers, who are a scrappy team on the road. You know, it is what it is. Teams are going to drop games. I think the Rams of the team to beat, like I just said. But Nick, you're going to feel validated. The big, bad New England Patriots after their big time win over the New York football Giants on Monday Night Football, coming in at number one on the ESPN power ranking. And look, I mean, I think you kind of have to put them there if you're looking at just the record alone. First team 211 wins.

now coming up on the buy, so we'll see if the Broncos can get the job done against the Raiders. But essentially what they're telling you is what we've been telling you guys as well. It's the Patriots and the Broncos, the battle for the one seed. Do you agree with the ranking of putting the Patriots above the Broncos? Absolutely. All you had to do is watch the game against the Giants. And this is the same Giants team that the Broncos played, you know, weeks ago and had that fantastic fourth quarter kind of rally. And I don't know which one of you guys said in the text thread that,

Well, this is not the same. Oh, that was Cody. That was Cody. It's not the same guy to sea. Well, look, that's, they're in the same uniform. I mean, Brian Dable is no longer the head coach, but it's the same team. And they made some changes to their roster. Obviously, the defensive coordinator didn't kind of coach the game and call the game against the Patriots.

But it's the same giant team. And you just look at how things look different for Drake May, who happens to be in the second year, like Bo. And remember, people were trying to write him all. after his first year because, like, no, he wasn't a quarterback. They drafted out of North Carolina. They made a mistake. But you bring in Josh McDaniels and say whatever you want to say about Josh McDaniels as a head coach as an officer coordinator.

He's got this kid playing great football. And, oh, by the way, Trivion Henderson as they're running back, man, they're really feeding him and creating, once again, balance. When you look at probably the more balanced teams in the end. NFL. And I know, you know, you were talking about the Rams being a great team. Yes, they are. But when you look at all 32 NFL teams and you say, well, do they have balance across the board? I'm going to say the Patriots are the most balanced team in the NFL right now. Yeah, I don't really have anything to nitpick with you there. I do have some thoughts,

but I want to dish it to say. The one thing I will say real quick, Mike Rabel, why did Tennessee ever fire him in the first place? I still don't understand that. But he's an incredible football coach there. My goodness. He really is. I think that whole thing was, if I was Mike Vrable, I would want to get out of there. I mean, didn't they trade A.J. Brown behind his back or the GM that got fired, traded A.J. Brown behind his back or something dumb that happened there. There's a big story about that. But yeah, that's, I suppose, another show for another day. I guess if power rankings are based on beating the Raiders ugly or not, I think the Broncos would be above the Patriots because the Patriots lost to the Raiders this year, which is a bizarre.

deal. But I think that, you know, when you look at this Patriots team, I put them on number one in my power in because I wasn't joking about that. I actually do write them every single, every other week. I rotate with another guy. But I put the Patriots at number one even preemptively after the Broncos beat the commanders because I feel like the Broncos have to take that spot from them, right? The Patriots are maybe playing an easier schedule at this point. We have yet to see Drake May really under a pressure situation like we've seen Bo Nix come through eight times this year. But that's neither here nor there at this point. They are as a team kind of dominating some of their opponents, most of their opponents.

And that's the reality of the situation. And they're playing well in all three phases, right? That defense is way playing above what their personnel is. I know they have some studs, Christian Gonzalez, Milton Williams, but they don't have anybody off the edge that that Garrett Bowles and Mike McGlinchie are going to be worried about. They just scheme things up well. They're well coached, like Nick said, Marcus Jones, elite return specialists.

But the Broncos have one of those as well. And that Patriots offensive line, the war on attrition is going to hit them at some point. You lose Will Campbell for the season. That was already a work in progress. They had cut the first round center before the start of the year. It's all going to come to a head here in the month of December, right? The Patriots don't have a tough schedule.

The Broncos do. But I think what we're going to see is the cream rise to the, top. And so I want to see the Broncos take that top spot. I have had the Rams in that spot for most of the year, Anilo, but this loss against the Panthers this week was very illuminating to an issue that we've all been kind of waiting to see with this Rams team, which is their secondary and a patchwork cornerback group. They have guys on the back end at the safety position that can make plays, but their corners were expected going into the year to be a liability. Emmanuel Forbes has been playing above board.

They've gotten some good stuff out of Kobe Durant, but those corners, they got dusted by the Panthers, receivers, and Bryce Young in a big way. That issue could be a big one going forward for them as well. Yeah, no, 100%. And look,

I think power rankings can always be a little bit fickle, right, just because you have to go with record and this and that. I have a question that I'll follow up with you guys after this. But to go back to what both of you guys said about New England, like they have played nobody except for Buffalo.

And what was that, like week five or week six of the year? I mean, they lose to the Raiders to open up the year. Then they beat Miami, who wasn't beat Miami to start the year, even though they've kind of flipped a switch year as of late. And then they lose to Pittsburgh, who's an absolute mess right now as well. And they're on a 10-game win streak, wins against the Panthers. And again, the Panthers have gotten better as the win or as the season has got along,

that Buffalo win. And then it's really just been a slog. Like, it's like, you know, Alabama or LSU, you know, when you play all these mid-teams in the SEC, but to open up a year in college football, right? They beat the Saints, the Titans, the Browns, the Falcons. Okay, you beat Tampa on the road, but Tampa isn't as been as good as they were to start the year. You beat the Jets.

You beat the Joe Burrell as Bengals. I think if Joe Burrow plays in that game, I mean, that was a 2620 win for New England. They almost lost that game. They almost lost that game. They couldn't close. The Bengals, Joe Flacco made one too many mistakes. The Patriots almost lost that game. They were, I mean, if you want to talk about escaping with wins, they escaped against the Bengals, no doubt.

Yeah, no. And so that's interesting. And they beat the Giants last night, right, who are a team that's building for the future. They do have two tough games in a row after they're by. They've got the Buffalo Bills coming up, not this coming Sunday, but the following Sunday. And then at the Baltimore Ravens.

And you would imagine that's a game that they're going to need, that being the Ravens just with how their season's gone before ending against the Jets in Miami here once again. So I'm not trying to tear down New England per se, but it's a shame they don't play each other in the regular season, the Broncos and the Patriots. But I agree with you, Sarah. I don't think we've seen this team be completely battle tested for the most part this season.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying too. I think that like last year, the big gripe with the Broncos, right, was playing against inferior opponents. Oh, yeah, you beat up on these great teams, but you play the good teams or you're playing in tight one score games and you can't finish. We haven't really seen a ton of that from the Patriots, obviously, this year. That's why I say de facto, they're number one. Their first to 11 wins.

you're taking care of business, you're well coached, you're balanced in all three phases right now. What's going to happen when you face a little adversity? That's what I'm waiting to see with this Patriots team. Yeah, no. But the Patriots fans are going to say, well, hey, we've experienced adversity, maybe not as much as the Denver Broncos, but we had to have closed out games. And, you know, Joe Flacco, he bid the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know, and a very exciting game. So let's not sleep on the fact of what Joe Flacco was able to do with the Cincinnati Bing.

So there's two sides of this corn when we look at it. And the part that really sucks for us football fans is that we're not going to get a chance to see the Broncos face off with the Patriots until both of these teams get deep into the playoffs. And they're fighting to see who's going to represent the AFC in the championship game. So that's the only fallback to this. But for the Denver Broncos, it's don't concern yourself with what anyone else is doing outside of your organization. The only thing you need to do is play the teams. on your schedule and go out and show that you're improving every single week and everything will handle itself.

But if they get back and this back and forth as far as well, who's number one, who's number two? I mean, to me, it's going to be a lot confusing and they're going to spend a lot of the times and their will spinning on certain things. That really doesn't matter to them. But we're going to have this conversation between us every single week based on who's winning, who's losing, and who's projected number one seed in the end. AFC.

Yeah, I'm with you. And here's the question I'll ask that I think kind of sums up this conversation about the Patriots, the AFC, the Broncos standing. Would you rather travel to New England for a playoff game or host Buffalo? I would rather host Buffalo. Yeah, play at home. The Broncos playing at home. Absolutely.

I think you could go both ways. I just think New England's beatable. I think I'd also probably say host Buffalo just because of that home field advantage, right? Like if that game's in Buffalo, I think it's a much different conversation. as we saw last year with that play out with Josh Allen and company. I think a lot of people respect what the Patriots have done, but I also don't think that they're, I'm not trying to say they're not as good as their record says they are,

but people are waiting for the bottom to fall out with them a little bit, if that makes sense. Will it? I don't know. You know, it's been a weird year in the NFL. A lot of parody this season. We'll see how it shakes out. But a good conversation there. Let us know your thoughts in the YouTube comment section

about where the Broncos stack up in the AFC. All right, let's hit our final break. When we come back, we'll put a bow on the show. Let's take a look and preview a little bit, this upcoming matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. What do we want to see? What do the Broncos need to do to get the win? And away we go from there. All that more when we come back right here on your Locked-on Broncos squad show.

Back in just a moment, folks. Okay, well, come on back into the program. Enilo Pira, Sarah Bedinger, and Nick Ferguson. Just a fun thing that I want to throw out there. Like, it is crazy to think about. Like, I know we're not a basketball show. but the Nuggets just lost their fourth straight game at home. Like that's four more losses at home the Nuggets have this season,

like the last two weeks and the Broncos have at home all year. Like, and I know it's two completely different sports and frequency and whatnot. But like when you think about just how dominant this Denver Broncos team has been, going back to the question I asked before the break, Buffalo at home versus New England on the road, it's easy to kind of think why, if Broncos country would feel real confident in the Broncos ability to beat any given team, any given Sunday, if they do get that one seat and have the road.

home playoff games. So just an interesting thought there as well. Okay, Raiders Week. And Nick, let me get this as well. Are the Raiders the most heated rival overall? Do you think for the Broncos, I think in recent memory it's the Chiefs just because of what they've done, but at least from my perspective, it's like there's always some extra juice when it's Raiders Week, despite how bad the Raiders are this year. The Fisher, I guess, rival would be Kansas City. That's not how the Kansas City faithful, how they view it. But there is some heavy disdain for, for the Raiders that go back a little before my time, and it has a lot to do with Al Davis and Mike Shanahan.

And obviously, Mike never told us the story, but when you come into the Broncos organization, someone tells you the story about how Al Davis fired Mike and he's still owed him money. So that was only something extra to stick in our crawl when we played against that team. And they are the Raiders, and you want to beat them every single time.

and especially after what we saw on Thursday night football, where the Raiders kind of handily controlled the Broncos offense for the majority of that game. And we didn't really see a lot of offensive production as though I predicted because going into the game, I mean, I went so far outside my box. It was ridiculous where I predicted a 45 to 10 victory for the Denver Broncos, but I was sorely disappointed. Now, you get an opportunity to face the same.

opponent. And now you get a chance to actually rack up style points. I know this is not college football, but this is a point where the Broncos need style points, especially going into the back half of their schedule, where they're going to have to face Kansas City again on Christmas. And they're going to have to face the charges as well and the Green Bay Packers, not to mention the Jacksonville Jaguar. So you need as many style points as possible. And I'll just call it. This game should be a confidence booster for the Denver Broncos. Well, and the other way that I'm looking at this game as well is, and look, I know nothing's guaranteed in the NFL, but this should be the last guaranteed win on the Broncos schedule, right?

Like the Raiders are a team in disarray. It hasn't worked out with Pete Carroll. Gino Smith has not been very good for them this season. And I mean, you've got Vegas obviously coming up this week, but then you end the year with Green Bay, Jacksonville, Kansas City, and the Chargers, all four of those games. Look, I think the Broncos could potentially win all four, but those are you would think in theory going to be much more difficult games to win than what you're seeing coming up this weekend against Las Vegas. Also, as a quick side note, I understand why they moved to Vegas, but it feels like there's a little juice lacking with them now playing in Vegas as opposed to playing in Oakland, but that's beyond the point. But Sarah, I completely agree with Nick.

I think this is a game where you want to see the Broncos go out and flex a little bit. Yeah, let's manifest that 45 to 10. I mean, that's what I want to see. Yeah, that's what we all want to see, right? I love that idea because what would happen in a 45 to 10 win is not just beating the Raiders, but embarrassing the Raiders. And I always am here for that. Incidentally, it seems like the team that right now the Broncos can't quite get to is the Chargers, which is very weird to me because even when the Broncos were bad, it seemed like they split every year with the Chargers. So that's maybe the odd one right now. They seem to be able to get to everybody else in the division. But you want to embarrass the Raiders. You

want Gino Smith to end this game on the bench with, I think Aiden O'Connell is coming back, you know, shortly or he's been practicing. So I wonder if there's a possibility that they would actually turn to him. I mean, Pete Carroll's found every other scapegoat that he can. He fired Tom McMahon after the last Broncos game. He fired Chip Kelly. I think the next step in that ladder is to bench your quarterback, right? So Gino's been a turnover machine this year. He's been taking way too many sacks. He's not the player that the football, you know, analytics crew has really said is one of the top 15, top 12 quarterbacks in the NFL. I'm not seeing that out there.

You've proven that you can do an effective enough job at shutting down Brock Bowers. You've got options this time around as well, right? Pat's Fertan is back. Jada Baron has carved out that role. And so I think that there's a chance here that the Broncos do step on the gas a little bit. And I think that they can get out to that early 14-0 lead in a game like this and really use this as a training ground to give RJ Harvey. Let's go get RJ Harvey the AFC offensive rookie of the week this week.

And let's not have it be a. Well, he had three touchdowns, but he had like 50 yards, right? Let's let this be the 180, 200 yards from scrimmage, two touchdowns, which would get him to 10 on the season, 10 total TDs. Let's get RJ Harvey that rookie of the week this week. Yeah, I think that could be in play and kind of talking about style points you would think in theory that all of this is on the table. Now could play out like Thursday night

against the Raiders like a month and a half ago where it's a 10 to 7 close victory. And then we're having the same conversation about margin of victory and what's wrong with the offense and they keep winning. But there's questions. Let's hope that's not the case.

In regards to kind of projecting stuff, I like the RJ Harvey conversation there, Sarah. Bo Nicks is only thrown for over 300 yards in two games this season. He did it against the Cincinnati Bengals and he just did it over the weekend against the Washington commanders. This is a game where I want to see Sean Payton cut Bo Nick's loose.

Let's see Bo rack up the yards. And on top of that, going back to the conversation we had a little bit earlier, Nick, let's see a receiver. It could be Troy Franklin, could be Cortland Sutton, maybe it's even Pat Bryant. Let's see a wide receiver go for over 100 yards this weekend. Yeah, I would definitely love to see that. And it's interesting that you bring up Cortland Sutton because I seem as though

Colin Sutton has taken a back seat to Troy Franklin. And for other teams as you move forward defensively, you want to make sure that they're focusing on Cortland Sutton. You want him to be wide receiver one because it frees up everything for everyone else. When he's not really involved in the offense and he's only getting maybe eight, which is six targets a game, he becomes an afterthought. And if I'm playing against him, I'm not even really watching his side because we know exactly where the ball is going. Find number 11. Where is he lined up?

because that relationship that Bo has with Tro Franklin, trust me, it is a given thing. And consider this. Remember last season where everyone was really down on Troy, he was running great routes, he was dropping footballs, and everyone was like, well, why the Broncos have him on the roster?

What a difference a second year will make. And if you and my due, as I like to think that Troy Franklin is, you know, Bo Nix is due, I'm trying to get my boy some touches. And when you do that, man, it takes away from everyone else. And oh, by the way, maybe I'm being a little biased because I have, you know, Cortland Sutton on my fantasy team.

But that's besides the ball. Yeah, no, I hear you. I bet you Cortland Sutton's happy he signed that contract extension too. Yeah. Just going into this offseason with some uncertainty if that was the case, right? At least Cortland's Sutton, even though he hasn't been maybe as integral to the offense as we thought he might be. And he's had a decent year, right? But, like, that's always a question about, like, contracts.

And, you know, Cortland's a guy that's had to go back and forth with the contracts a couple of times with this Denver Broncos organization. But no, I'm excited for it, fellas. I think that this is going to be, this is a prove it type of game. You know, not in the sense of like prove that you could win, but like prove that the offense can do what they're supposed to do. And also, you know, let's talk about the defense. We've talked a lot about the offense in this episode naturally because that's the big

question. But, you know, we talked about it on Sunday night, right? The defense looked a bit rusty against Washington against a backup quarterback in Marriota, who can still make things happen, of course. But like, this is also a game where I think the defense can get right, sir. Yeah, it is because the running defense was what really struggled and opened everything up for the commanders. And obviously, Marcus was playing out of his mind, making throws that were insane. You know, I don't think the commanders honestly could have played any better against the

Broncos with Jaden Daniels out there. I don't. I think Marcus played that that good of a game, but it all started with the running game and dictating the line of scrimmage early on, which is kind of what the Raiders did in that last matchup between them and the Broncos, right? They came out. they were like, we're not afraid of your defensive front. We're going to run right at you, even if it is three yards at a time. And that just kind of wore them down. And that's what really ultimately made that such an ugly game is the Broncos let them have too many elongated drives and also starting drives in opponent field position where you're having to kind

of play this keepaway game, you know, third down defense, red zone defense, all those sorts of situational. And the Raiders missed a field goal in that game. I think that's easily forgotten about it because that could have potentially made that outcome even worse than it was. So I think stopping the run. Obviously, we want to focus on Brock Bowers and his impact on the game. He's, he is what he is. One of the best playmakers in the game, but that running game, I think that that's going to be a huge focus for the Raiders, especially after seeing what they were able to do, the commanders against that Broncos defense on Sunday night. So that's where

you got to really focus in if you're the Broncos is tighten up that run defense. Don't be letting Brandon Jones and Tallano, Huffanga, unless they're making it behind the line of scrimmage. Don't be letting them make what combined 22 tackles or whatever it was like they did against Washington yeah I think you hit the nail on the head and of course we shall see how this game plays out coming up on Sunday afternoon all right any closing thoughts before we get out of here Nick yeah the Broncos uh open up club dub and pull out the velvet rope in Vegas okay okay sir yeah I absolutely once again I'm gonna piggyback on this manifesting the 45 to 10 This is your opportunity to go blow these guys out.

Let's go blow them out. You know what I'm saying? I mean, Marvin Mims talked about. I saw an interview that he did with CBS out there in Denver. Bo Nicks talked about it after the game. There's more in the tank. These guys understand all the things that we're talking about being critical.

I guarantee you it's even louder in the locker room. Like you celebrate the win. But anytime you do anything well, you're always thinking about, hey, what can I do better? How can I possibly be better? This Broncos team, I think they're going to be motivated.

to go make a point in this game. So I like that 45 to 10. Let's see it happen. Yeah, I think I could speak for Cody Rourke here. I think all of us are in agreement that Broncos will win this game. I think we'd all be very, very, very surprised if the Denver Broncos win street

comes to an end against Las Vegas Raiders. Do not think that will be the case. And I echo everything that Sarah and Nick said. I think this should be a blowout win. I think it should be style points. I think Bo Nick should be good. I think the defense should clamp down. And hopefully we see a 100-yard receiving game

from a Troy Franklin or a Cortland Sutton type of guy as well. So we shall see how it plays out on this Sunday. But guys, really appreciate you guys, you guys, appreciate you guys tapping in with us here on your lockdown Bronco Squad Show. If you're watching on YouTube on your way out the door, hit that like button, smash that subscribe button really, really helps us out here on the channel. But good conversation, as always with the fellows. Cody will be back on Sunday afternoon slash evening.

But for Sarah Bedinger, Nick Ferguson, Aminilo Piro. Good stuff today, fellows. We'll talk to you guys soon.