Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: What Will It Take for the Broncos to Beat the 49ers?

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

Get ready for another episode of the BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW! This week, we dive deep into what the Denver Broncos need to do to take down the San Francisco 49ers in one of the season’s most anticipated matchups. From key player performances and coaching strategies, to matchups to watch and bold predictions, we break down every angle of this must-see game. Will the Broncos’ offense rise to the challenge? Can the defense keep the 49ers in check? Join Aniello Piro, Cody Roark, Sayre Bedinger and Nick Ferguson as we analyze the latest news, injury updates, and everything you need to know before game day. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! HomeChef For a limited time, Home Chef is offering my listeners FIFTY PERCENT OFF and free shipping for your first box PLUS free dessert for life! Go to http://HomeChef.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Gusto Try Gusto today at http://gusto.com/LOCKEDONNFL, and get three months free when you run your first payroll. Gameday Men's Health Book your complimentary test and consult at https://join.gamedaymenshealth.com/reasons_to_choose_gameday-1201?utm_source=lockedon&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NFL&utm_network=lockedon&utm_adgroup=corp&ghl_tag=national,corp Butcher Box If you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give ButcherBox a try. Go to https://ButcherBox.com/LOCKEDONNFL to get $20 off your first box, plus your choice of free ribeye, new york strip, or filet mignon in every box for a year — with free shipping always. Apple You can earn up to 3% unlimited Daily Cash back on every purchase you make with Apple Card using Apple Pay. Apply in the Wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA. Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at apple-card-dot-com. https://learn.applecard.apple/unlimited-daily-cash?cid=apy-318-2000008800000-400000000000039&itscg=2030032&itsct=srvs-crd-P3004756-C3004897&mttnagencyid=c1a&mttnsiteid=133087&mttnpid=LockedOn%20%28Audio%29&mttnsubad=srvs-crd-P3004756-C3004897&mttnsubplmnt=&mttncc=US Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. PrizePicks Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup! KALSHI Today's episode is brought to you by Kalshi. For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next. Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuel Get three hundred fifty dollars in Bonus Bets — GUARANTEED — when you bet five dollars every day for seven days. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Abadillo Piro, and it's on to the next with a big test in the San Francisco 49ers for the Broncos coming up this Sunday. I'm Cody Rourke, and my dog, Ollie, is tired of the slow starts. I'm Sarah Bredinger. Hey, let's make some more good memories at Levi Stadium, everybody. I'm Nick Ferguson, and I'm Batman. I love it. All right, let's dive into it on today's lockdown Broncos, guacho. From the South Stans, 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 Lockdown Podcast Network can. Gear up and squad up. The Broncos squad show starts now. All right. It is your Lockdown Broncos squad show right here on your Lockdown Broncos YouTube channel and audio feed. We got the whole crew here today at Ilo Piro, Cody Wark,

Cair Bedinger, and Bruce Wayne hanging out with you guys talking a little Denver Broncos. That's Bruce Wayne. Hey, no one's ever seen that. Oh, yeah, my bad. It was rain in the same room at the same time. Come on, man. Stop dry, snitching. I'm rob.

I love it. I love it. Dick Ferguson, happens to fun with us here on the show today. And we're going to spit it forward and it's starting to take a look here at the Broncos' upcoming match against the San Francisco 40-nighters. What did we learn from the win against the Rams

that we want to try to apply to this game here moving forward against San Francisco. Some keys to victory, a bit of a preview here. As the Broncos look to win their third. consecutive game, but it certainly will be a mighty tough one nonetheless. But guys, today's episode of your locked-out of Bronco squad show is brought to you by our friends over at Calci for a limited time, download Calci and use code locked on to get $25 when you trade $25. Calci trade what's next.

Okay, before we kind of really dive in on San Francisco, fellas, I mean, is there anything else any bread of crumbs we left on the table? I think we've kind of said it all as it pertains to this winter. against the Rams like it was gutsy you know comeback is just kind of in their DNA resiliency all that kind of stuff I mean a win is a win obviously you'd like it to be a little bit more straightforward but uh you know here we are this is just kind of what the broncos are at this point fellas yeah that was a great comment in the chat by uh durf knows divad said bruce low wayne for uh our man for us legit here's the thing man i think in terms of breadcrums everyone on uh social media

he was freaking out because they saw Jaylon Waddle walking in a walking boot after the game, right? As he was going, he's good. He's fine. Shout out to Mike, his cousin for saying, hey, stop worrying about it. It's all good. Jalen's good to go. So obviously, don't be surprised if he pops up on the injury report this week, but he should be ready to rock and roll for this weekend. It's going to be important.

The Broncos need him. I mean, obviously the first headline we have here on the show notes is how can Denver start fast? I mean, you got to at least have all hands on deck, right? That seems to be a huge deal is having Jalen Waddle in the plans and having plays drawn up for him right away to get things going, right? He is that catalyst for everything, whether he's getting the ball or whether he's not. I feel like he's the key to starting fast in games. And I mean, obviously you want to see a balance.

You want to see the run game open up, but getting Jailen Waddle the ball also not a bad idea, fellas. No. You know what guys, Sean Payton said it after the game when he was asked a question about Bo Nixon, you know, kind of what's going on with Bo. And as he went through his dissertation, he kind of tossed a little nugget out there. And I think it's true when he stayed in this, me paraphrasing that, hey, you know, it starts with us to coaches before it even gets to Bo. So he finally kind of slowly admitted that, hey, listen, they need to do a better job of getting Boe somewhat involved in the offense. the reason for me, when I think about why the Broncos have a slow start, is once again, there are a lot of things that take them off schedule, right? They want to throw the ball,

and they want to throw the ball more than they want to run the ball, because when you are committed to running the ball, you do just that. We saw that the Rams were committed to run the ball. I can tell you this, on Sunday, that Kyle Shanahan, he's going to be committed to run the ball. He's not going to differentiate from it, even if you stop it, he's going to continue to do it. Why? He learned that from his father, just like Sean McVeigh learned that from his father, you have to have a steady commitment to the run game. And so what that means, that means you have to put Boe under center. Now, here's something I don't know because I can't prove, but I've just been paying attention over the past three years to Bo Nix as a quarterback

in this system. We see Boe predominantly in the shotgun, and every once in a while, they'll give us a little taste of Bo being on the center. I like to think that maybe, Bo is not even comfortable being on the center like a lot of college quarterbacks because the footwork, the footwork and timing to be on the center is entirely different than being in the shotgun. And in the shotgun, you can see it before the ball is even snapped. So I'm thinking maybe that is some of the reason, but no one has openly admitted that maybe Bo is not comfortable playing on the center. Well, I think part of it too, you go back to his college days at Oregon. I mean, primarily just a lot of a lot of shotgun. Even at Auburn,

he was there. I mean, college game now is so much shotgun. And Nick, you are right about under center stuff because, right, not only do you have to get your hand placement where it needs to be, but you're also like the width of your feet when you're under center has to be balanced because if you're too close and you go to step back, you might trip over your own feet at that point, right? And now you have to learn how do you marry up between the mesh point of getting the ball from under center? And let's say you have a running back and speaking, let's say a counterstep where he opens up one way, comes back the other. It's making sure that your arm point, right? If you're handing him the ball, hits him perfectly in the stomach. And if you're

timing, your footwork isn't where it needs to be, well, then that's when you get James Winner running into Camp Scadapoo this. Or you get, you know, a mesh point exchange where the running back quarterback aren't on the same page. The brush ain't there and then the ball's on the ground. Like, I think ball is much more comfortable out of that in the shotgun and in the pistol specifically. But I do think he's getting, I feel like this year, we've seen Denver under center a lot more now, how often they run it versus how often. and they're doing the drop back and play action stuff like that. It's there.

But they got to run the football a lot more. But here's the thing that got Oregon going. I mean, not Oregon. Here's the thing that got boat going at Oregon. You must call it Oregon. But what Dan Liding and his coaching staff did is they got the quick passing game going. They got it going underneath early slants, drags, you know, quick curls, you know, things like that. And I understand it's different at the NFL because now a lot of defenses, I'd say specifically,

the Broncos have run into tons of coverage. two and cover three teams so far here early on. They're not getting too much man coverage. They are getting it in certain situations and Denver has beaten it, which has been great to see. But the Rams played a lot of cover three specifically this path. So they are getting that underneath zone coverage, which makes those short routes harder to hit because you have a flat defender.

You've got a hook to curl linebacker, another hooked to curl linebacker. And then you got a nickel playing curl to flat. Like the windows aren't there for the quick passing game to thrive exponentially. So that's why you have to have the run game going because then that opens it up a little bit because those guys have to cheat and they can't show as much. Yeah, I'm with you guys. And I think that's kind of the big theme, right, is as incredible of a win as it was against the Rams, right? I think we just want to see this team play a complete football game, right? I don't think we've seen that through their first three games of the season.

And to be fair, I don't think we really saw that a ton last year as well. Like obviously the Dallas game, I'm forgetting off the top of my head. I'm sure there was certainly a few more where it's definitely. Denver was good from start to finish, right? But it's like this flipping of the switch, which is fine. You love that quality and you love that characteristic. But how does Denver maybe take some pressure off of themselves by starting out a little bit quicker? And I think it feeds into a couple of things, obviously the rushing attack along with the passing game. So I mean, for Cody, I'll kick you back to you here for just a second. Like is it as simple as,

you know, getting J.K. Dobbins going and J.K. Daven hasn't really looked like the J.K. Dobbins we saw last year. Obviously, we know what RJ Harvey's been dealing with. Jonah Coleman finds himself on IR. Is it play-palling? Like, is it a multitude of things? Because it just feels like if the Broncos can get going early in these games, they can work towards unlocking the best version of themselves, which I still don't think we've really seen so far this year.

No, we haven't seen it. Look, I'd say the issue is all of them, all of the above. And it's a combination of everything in terms of that. Because I didn't like what we saw this past week specifically on Sunday, where first down, JK's running it, second down, RJ comes in, third down, but a day comes in. Like you, there hasn't been this realm of having a running back since Sean Payton has come aboard, right, where one running back who has the hot hand continues, you know, getting those

touches. Like I would say, Broncos running backs haven't really had a chance to get a hot hand going. JK had that one stretch, I think in the third quarter where he had three straight carries for 11 yards. You know, I was like, all right, now you're starting to get there. I feel like with JK, it seems like there's this. ramp up process for him, right? Because I agree. I don't think we've seen the explosiveness to the point or the consistency of what we saw from him last season. And the frequency in which he's on the

field is not as much as what we saw last year. And I understand you want to keep guys fresh. And we keep talking to them about, well, how do you feed three running backs? Like, we just fed three running backs. We did what you guys wanted us to do. But it's not the way we wanted you to do it, right? So that's the challenge right here. And I think until the Broncos really start coming out and having success running the football early on. Defenses are going to play saying, hey, we're going to shut down the run and we want you to throw the football. That's how they've been played for the last two years.

And that's how they're going to continue to do just that. Well, you know, one thing real quick here, or go ahead. I'm sorry, sir. No, I was just going to say it's no coincidence that the Broncos best, you know, offense and most consistent offense came in a quarter in which they had to use only one running back. I know that. Right.

I mean, Jonah Coleman is not available right now. but that was the case in that fourth quarter of the Jaguars game where we saw the balance, where we saw everything flowing, where we saw the offensive line getting physical. We saw rhythm. We saw just, I think that's part of it, right, is when you're constantly changing personnel, you're shifting guys in and out, your rhythm is affected. And you're trying to, once again, like the Broncos are drawing up all these plays to hit three point shots at the end of a shot clock.

And it's like, hey, let's just go start off the game with like 15 layups. Why can't we do that? I mean, that's what they need to do, right? So it's draw up the place to get some layups. And we've seen them execute the layups, which that's the maddening part of this, isn't it? It's not an ability issue. It's an execution issue early in games. We've seen the ability to make these plays.

We've seen the ability to even utilize in the chess match of the NFL. As I was watching back the game, the little swing pass to RJ Harvey out to the left side of the formation early in the game that went for like 18, 19 yards. that they then exploited later in the game as I was watching Tim Jenkins' breakdown. He did a great job of showing how the Broncos used that play early to set up a play later where they hit Pat Bryant on second and 20 on the same exact play design to the opposite side of the field. We know this team can execute simple stuff. We know that they can play the chess match.

But why can't they execute early on in games? That to me is that's the question. What does Sean Payton say? The $6 million question. that's what I can't figure out because it's clearly not an ability problem. Like Darien says, go ahead. I was going to say like Darien says in the chat, like I agree with him specifically. I've been genuinely concerned, I'd say, about the consistency of Mike McGlensier, right,

tackle so far this year. It seems like he's been up. Finally. I was just going. I was just going back to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the first offensive series for the Broncos, right? And what was it? It was a near interception by Bo. I'm watching, I think it's Wind Guard or something like that.

He's just rushing up field and McGlinchy can't even keep up with him to the point where he turns and whips and he hits Bow right in the upper thigh as Bow's going to throw. And it's like, Bo can't stay in the pocket because guess what, there's not a consistently clean pocket, at least early on in the games, right? I think at times throughout the second half, there have been moments here and there. I thought even on that play that Cedar was just talking about where Bo threw it to Pat Bryant, I mean, it was a great cover three. beater here by the Broncos because Cortland's route draws the nickel who matches him and then

brings him over the top. And then the opposite side corner, he's playing off because it's cover three. And so he's not matching and running with him because he's communicating in and Pat's open because then they bring RJ underneath. And then the dime linebacker, which was a safety, sheets up on RJ and there's that spot. It's open. And then you got Jalen running off the outside corner. But like for me on that play, McGlinchie is getting pushed into Bo. Like Boe has to step sideways to throw that football. And to me, it's either Mike McGlinchie struggling with consistency, Ben Power struggling, or Luke Wattenberg. I have been so impressed with Quinn Miners, Garibals, those two guys are the bright spots. But like when we have this conversation about

the Broncos had the best offensive line in the NFL, I don't see it. I think they have two of the best players out in the offensive line in the NFL, but I think they are far away from being the best a lot. Cody, I'm glad you brought that up because I've been saying that for a while. And I've received a lot of pushback talking about the PF pro football focus numbers, right? And sometimes the players even thinking that I'm hating on them. I'm like, no, man, I just, I just see what I see. I can't unsee it. I would like to unsee it. But I'm not hating on any individual player. But that's been the case. The interception that Beau grew, obviously you say you don't want him to make that throw. But what happened on that particular play? The pressure came over

Ben Powers, right? You go back last week, right? I put up a video of where Boat threw the ball down the field to Jalen Wado. The ball wasn't intended for him. It was intended for Cawley-Lutton running the dig route. You go back to the Kansas City game. What was happening to J.K. Dobbins and Bo Nix in that particular game. Chris Jones was able to penetrate over who, Ben Powers, pushing him back in the lap of the runner back and the quarterback. So when I listen to all the hate about, well, Bo can't do this, Bo can't do that, he still have some stuff he's got to clean up. But by God, man, you got to change things up front.

And so when we talk about the Broncos calling a particular play, they get behind schedule because there's penetration. I'll tell you what, I'm going to put this video up later on. On the controversial play where it was like, well, did Josh Wallace commit? an act of DPI or was it OPI? That's up to everyone's question. I'll break it down later. I feel a little different.

But go back and watch the freaking play. Byron Young penetrated on the edge. Flush Bo out and I want you to watch Mike McGlitchie just stand there. He stood there. He had the best ticket in the stadium. He stood there and watched Bo scramble. And I'm like, wait a minute. It's bad enough you just got beat.

At least go about your quarterback and try to freaking help them out. So it's not always the call. Sometimes it's execution. But God, can we get rid of those empty formations on third down, please? Can we get rid of them? There was also a reason at times they lined Aaron Donald up on Ben Power's side. Like obviously he got some one-on-ones against Quinn. And Quinn, Quinn did allow a single pressure.

Like, hats off to Quinn. So good, he got a piss text the next day saying, hey, we don't know. We got to taste that guy. You got to come here. We got to make sure there's nothing thermonuclear in your piss there against Aaron Donald. But they did put him on, they put him on Ben Powers in a two eye and at times in a two. And they shot him inside between Powers and Luke Wattenberg from time to time. And I'll say I did feel like Wattenberg had a better game, this game than I think what we've seen early on.

I felt like especially on some of the stunts they had, but the consistency factor of three of the guys on this offensive line group right now, it is a little frustrating and it is a little bit of a problem. And ultimately, Bo Nix gets blamed for. We've been begging them to draft offensive linemen, right? And McGlenshy finds himself at 31, right? So this is going to become, and look, it's still early in the year. We'll see if they get better as the season goes along. But it's definitely a point of concern and a point of emphasis moving forward that maybe

wasn't as big of an issue last season as it has been through the first three games. So we'll see what happens with the offensive line. We'll see what happens with the run game and Bo Nicks along. the way. Let's hit our first break, though. When we come back, let's kind of answer, let's use this conversation to spin it forward to the Niners. Do the Broncos have to get off to a hot start if they want to beat San Francisco on the road? All that and more when we come back right here on your Locked on Broncos Squat Show. Today's episode of your Locked on Broncos squad show is brought to you by our friends over at ORA cybersecurity. Most people don't realize how much of their personal information is

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Shout out to our YouTube chat. You guys are the absolute best showing up and showing out each and every episode. We do for everyone that listens after the fact you guys are also the best. we appreciate you guys and for all of our audio listeners that are listening to us on the go on the go. We appreciate you guys as well as we're talking all things, Denver Broncos, spinning it forward here to their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. So to kind of pay off the tease here, do the Broncos need to start fast if they want to beat San Francisco? I think San Francisco has obviously been one of the more, I don't want to say surprising teams because they're really good,

but like 3 and O, the way they dismantled the Rams, at least to me, was a little bit surprising. And like they're they're a force right now. I'll be short and sweet with this. I want to say yes, but I think the answer is no, because I've seen the Broncos come from behind to beat Jacksonville and the Rams, despite not starting quickly. So I would love for the Broncos to start fast, but I don't know if it's necessarily essential for this team to do that if they want to win this game.

Sarah, talk to me. Your thoughts. Yeah, I mean, I was going to say the same exact thing. Like on paper, you want to say yes because, well, you got to start fast to beat anybody, right? And you wouldn't draw it up and say, well, in order to beat the Rams, you got to start off 16 to nothing deficit, right? Or to beat the Jaguars, you got to be down 13 to 3 in the third quarter. Obviously, the ideal is to begin building a lead early in the game. But no, the Broncos don't need to start fast.

How many teams have they now beaten without starting fast, right? And that they've been able to come back against some of the best offenses in the NFL. They've been able to overcome, you know, nearly blowing. They've done it all. So there's there's no one way that this team has to play in order to win games. And I think that's the beauty and the ugly of the Denver Broncos right now, is that they don't have this sort of way about them that say, well, if this doesn't go well in a game, they can't win.

Well, the beautiful thing is, is that as ugly as that may look on the field, they can absolutely come back and win. They can give up big plays and still find ways to come back and win 10 points, 9 points, 16 points, 13 points. It doesn't matter. They've found ways. You don't want to be in those situations for the long haul. But, I mean, in order to win a single game, nothing necessarily needs to happen according to what we've seen over a now two-year sample. Here's the thing.

When we talk about the Broncos starting fast, the reason why the Broncos over the past three years, I'm going to to say has been able to kind of methodically get by into the fourth quarter has been because of their defense, right? So when you talk about, well, the Broncos got to start fast, well, we're talking about their offense. We got to talk about their defense because that's been the key to the team winning, right? That's why they have been winning, right? And they've been winning and spiting their offense. And they've given a lot of time for their offense to get their stuff together, not exactly what I wanted to say. I wanted to say something else, but I'm going to keep it clean.

But the defense does just that. And they put so much pressure on themselves. Like, last, over the past two seasons, the Broncos have led the league in sacks. When it came to turnovers, not so much. So now when you look at how that stat is now flipped, not as many sacks, but now they're getting turnovers. I'll take it. Yes, I'll take it because it's giving excellent field position to the office.

like if Tala Noha Funga doesn't get that interception. And Sean Payton said it himself after the game. That was the play of the game. That tilted the game in the Broncos favor. If he doesn't get that interception, the Rams moved down and either score or they kick the field goal, put the pressure on them. So as we talk about the Broncos starting fast,

I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the office to do it because they didn't do it with Sean Payton. and they're not doing it with Davis Webb. So if we want to pray for something, you hope that the defense starts fast against the 49ers. Well, you hope that they start faster. But I also think you have to have the offense, at least start out competent, right?

Like you can't just have three straight, three and outs. You know, you can't. This is a San Francisco team that puts stress on every, every single level of the field, right? Behind the line of scrimmage at the second level. And obviously, at the third level on the back end, they do a really good job of doing that because they love 11 personnel and they love 21 personnel, two running backs and one tight end.

And they really make that work because of Kyle Ushack, who's this hybrid running back tight in. You know this as well. You coached in San Francisco around all these guys, Ferg. And, you know, obviously being around Kyle, what they like to do. And then you factor in Christian McCaffrey. Mike Evans is going to be day to day. Like they have an arsenal of weapons here offensively for Brock Purdy, right?

And I would say they probably, they have a better supporting cast, you know, around him, which is great. And he's continuing to grow as they. player. But for me, I always look at San Francisco here. It's like, all right, well, Denver's got to focus on what can we do to come out fast offensively, right? I think the turn fast, like, if you want to get off to a fast start, okay, great. But that's not the problem. The problem is can you sustain a good start? I think that's got to be the focus instead of fast because sometimes you could be fast and then you're done, right? You can go out fast and then fizzle out. What do they say? It's better to burn out than fade away.

I mean, sometimes that's where things are at. But the Broncos offense has to come out here. And they have to have an opening drive where they sustain, let's say an eight to nine play drive that takes five to six minutes off the clock that ends in a touchdown. To me, that's ideal there versus them coming out there second play of the game, 65-yard touchdown. Hey, hot start, that's nice. But you want to be able to wear it in a defense down here.

I think the Broncos have to get to a point where they play complimentary. And I was saying in the second half against the Rams, that is exactly what they did. It was a combination of complimentary football between the defense getting a stop, the offense getting the ball back, because the offense, because the defense got a stop, special team flip-filled position,

and then the offense got some rhythm and got down there. That's complimentary football. They didn't play that in the first half one bit. I get a little anxious against a team like San Francisco because so far through three weeks, I know Anilo always calls them the fraudy-niners, but that's a team that can put up points like it's nothing. And they can create a,

A really good problem for Denver. So how they come out this week, I think, is going to be imperative, not only on offense, but on defense as well. Here's what I will say about the idea of this team starting fast and why maybe you could say it's essential for this particular game. Of the four opponents, the Broncos have played so far, I think the 49ers are the least equipped to come back from a big early deficit. I think that you look at the chiefs, you look at the Jaguars,

you look at the Rams, all those teams would be, in my opinion, better equipped to come back if you pad a lead early in the game. Let's say you get out to a 14-0-0 lead or you get out to a 21-0 lead. Those teams all, in my opinion, have quarterbacks that can bring a team back into a game. Brock Purdy, I don't want to disrespect. I think he's in the MVP conversation right now. So no disrespect to Brock Purdy, but to me, he's not that type of quarterback that I would say, hey, my team's down 14-0-20-1-0. Brock Purdy's going to go be the guy to raise all the boats in the harbor because he's the tide that controls that, right?

He's not that type of player. He's a playmaker, but when the 49ers have a lead, he's a big-time playmaker. And I think that he can obviously pad a lead. He can be that type of quarterback to on the script, 49ers, up 7-0. They get a turnover. They're still on the script, 14-0. All of a sudden, the 49ers are playing with this giant lead. and that is where Purdy is at his best.

When he's playing and protecting a lead, man, that guy's awesome. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. I think he had two incompletions against Miami and like three total touchdowns. So we know when he's able to be on schedule and play with a lead and when defenses cannot get in his face and pin their ears back because it's a third and long situation, we know that Brock Purdy is going to absolutely throw darts against you. He can do that. But when he has to play from behind, which I realize,

40-9 is playing with the lead a lot of the time. When Purdy has to play from behind, I'm not putting him on any sort of, you know, fan duel, hey, I don't know, whatever the game time, whatever it is. I'm not picking Brock Purdy for any of that stuff. Okay? I'm not saying, hey, Brock Purdy, he's going to have a third quarter touchdown. The Broncos are up 21-0.

I'm going to go put a little cash on Brock Purdy right now. That's not, again, not trying to disrespect the guy, not trying to say he's only a system QB, but this team, the 49ers, they're built to play with a lead. They're not built to play from behind. I'm going to push back on that just a little. And the reason why I'm going to push back on it

because knowing, you know, Kyle's pedigree, his mindset, what he's looking at. And also when you think about the quarterbacks that they've had over the years, like Kirk Cousins, like when I think about Brock Purdy, he is a better version of, of Kurt Cousins. And I know the

Sanahan's love Kurt Cousins, right? That's why Clint Kubiak has Kirk Cousin as his quarterback with the Raiders, because it's all about not flash, it's about efficiency, right? Even though we saw Matthew Stafford last week, if Matthew Stafford just ran

the ball a couple of times, he keeps the Broncos defense on his heels. But even though Brock Purdy is not a Lamar Jackson, he has the ability to pull the ball down and scramble to get those extra yards. And we all know when that quarterback starts to scramble, it's going to draw defenders. And then he has the ability to find guys down the field. So while Brock Purdy may not be a Josh Allen, the one thing

he does well, and I know Kyle trusts about him is to be efficient, play within the offense. And they trust him to know that he's going to do exactly what they want him to do. Find George Kittle. Find Debo Samuel. When in doubt, turn around, hand the ball off to CMC and let him work. So So that's what the Broncos are going to have to face. It's going to be a little challenging for them because watching the defense, a lot of those rush lanes were not as clean as they needed to. And like I said, if Matthew Stafford rushed a couple of times, he changed the trajectory of that game.

Yeah, look, it's going to be a fascinating match. Go ahead, sir. I add one thing. Brock Purdy, I just looked it up for his career. When the final margin of a game is zero to seven points, He has 27 touchdown, 16 interceptions, a quarterback rating of 96.1, or a passer rating of 96.1, excuse me, and a win-loss record of 7-9. When the margin of victory is 15, or excuse me, when the final margin of a game, so this is just the outcome of the game, zero to seven points or 15 plus points.

When it's 15 plus points, meaning the 49ers never get blown out in this case, he is 22 and 2, with a passer rating of 121.7. So it drops by nearly 30 points his passer rating when it's a tight game. So that's to my point of like playing with a lead, man, Brock Purdy's awesome. But playing in tight games, playing in close games, when the defense can go get after you, that's where he has to go off script. And when you're playing on script in the Shanahan offense, we know, hey, these guys, these quarterbacks are pretty awesome.

But I mean, when they're not when they're not able to play on script, when they are having to fight back into a game, when there's adversity in a game, that's where you can really get the better hand against these teams. And the obvious case in point, the dramatic case in point is that 28 to 3 lead against the New England Patriots. I know we talked earlier about, man, commitment to running the ball.

Kyle Shanahan's going to do it. Will he? Will he do it? I mean, I don't know. I don't know if he'll do it. So I think. McVeigh and them didn't do it. this past week. McVeigh and that no, 55 pass attempts against the Broncos defense because you feel

like you have the upper hand in certain ways. And so that's where I'm saying. If you can, if you can get off to a fast start in this game, that might be the, the very thing that sinks the 49ers ship. Well, the 49ers find themselves at 3 and 0, but they did have a handful of injuries that occurred in their win over the Arizona Cardinal, or excuse me, would they just be, not the Cardinals. The Arizona Cardinals. Hard news. Did they? Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I was thinking as Seattle the week before, week two. My apologies. But what players, there might be some key playmakers that are potentially out or at least limited when they take on the Denver Broncos coming up here next week. We'll kind of break that down and continue along with some of our keys to victory here for the Broncos against San Francisco. All that more. We come back right here on your lockdown Broncos, Squacho.

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I bet and Trinick Ferguson talking a little Broncos 49ers. And look, San Francisco, I feel like, has some of the worst injury luck across the NFL on a pretty consistent basis. And before I kind of rip off some of these names that are dealing with things, we'll see if they play or not against the Broncos, two players in particular that are not on this list, maybe even three that are absolutely critical to San Francisco. Chris McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Fred Warner, right? Those three guys, I think, are obviously, like, some of the names that are dealing with some stuff

were also massive, but those three in particular, it feels like kind of helped make the San Francisco 49ers be as good as they are. But we saw Mike Evans leave the game. This comes from Ian Rappaport. He's considered day to day after sustaining a rib injury. He'll play. After their went over the Cardinal. Yeah, so we'll see what happens there.

Old pal Drake Greenlaw, we'll see what happens. haven't had an update there, but it is a quad injury for him. Trent Williams with a neck injury sustained on Sunday as well. So those are three pretty important players. I think, yeah, I would agree. As long as something's too crazy, I think you expect to see those guys play. But just worth noting that San Francisco did deal with a handful of injuries to some key players last week against AZ. Yeah, no boasts in this game.

Obviously, he pulled his calf. And, I mean, they're at a point now. They can't put certain guys on IR because they're running out of injured reserve spots, which is crazy. Now, I don't know what it is, man. I know there's that electrical substation everyone keeps talking about, and certainly that is a very funny account on Twitter to follow. There are some things out there,

or they just have a very terrible strength and conditioning staff. I don't know, I don't know what the right answer is here, but they're always one of the most banged up teams almost every season in the NFL to the point. I think everybody wonders, man, if this team ever stayed healthy, right? And that's the question.

If they stay healthy, they're going to be a contender in the NFC. Certainly they have the explosive firepower to be able to do it. Regardless, because of those guys that you just mentioned, Kittles coming off of a two touchdown game, Christian McCaffrey's in the best shape of his life right now, playing phenomenal there. And then if Mike Evans plays, you know, he's always a big play guy. You always got to worry about you likely see PS2 against him. And then you see Debo probably at time to time against Riley Moss. And you're going to see Jayquan against Debo from time to time because it almost seems like Debo goes back to San Francisco and looks like Debo of old

versus the slow, I don't want to say fat guy, but the slow. lower guy that he was in Washington. He just wasn't the same guy in Washington. And I don't know if the environment is just more conducive to his skill set, but they have weapons and they got speedy guys. They got speedy returners. They've got a good defense. Fred Warner, the guy that you mentioned there, man, enjoy it while you can guys. You get to watch a modern day Hall of Fame linebacker play there in Fred. That dude, I would I would sell my kidney. I would sell something I can't even say right now, my right one, to be able to have a player like Fred Warren. on this defense, man.

That dude is a freaking nature. I'd sell it. I'd sell my spleen, man. Like, that he's going to be everywhere. He's the one guy I'd say right now defensively that worries me more than anybody else. I'll tell you what. I was in San Francisco when Fred, DJ Jones, and Mike McClitchie came in all this rookies. And to watch Fred blossom into the player he is, it's, I'm going to attribute a lot of that to him.

but also give D'Amika Ryans and Johnny Holland, who is still there with him as his linebacker coach, give them a lot of credit because it goes back to understanding how an offense is trying to attack you. And the first thing you need to know is understand your defense, right? And when you understand your defense, you understand where the weak spots are. And Fred, I mean, his ability to anticipate his ability to get downhill.

He uses his hands well. and now that he has his running mate back and Drake Greenlaw, it just seemed like it's just kind of giving him an extra burst of energy. So this is a darn good of defense. When you look at the stats, and if you wanted to compare where the 49ers were defensively to where the Broncos statistically, obviously the nod goes to the 49ers.

So this is why I'm really intrigued by this game. But here's what Vance Joseph has the luxury of, even though we look at the schedule within itself, when we say, well, the Broncos have a tough slate of games, the first six or seven games. The way the schedule works out, he's facing the same offense like four times. He got the Rams.

Different variations of it, too. Right. Different variations of it, but the same offense. So right after the Rams, you get the 49ers. Then you get the Chargers, right? Then you get the Seahawks. And then later on, you have the Arizona Cardinals. So you're getting the same.

offense in almost back-to-back week. So the players from the Broncos should be dialed in. That doesn't mean that, hey, listen, that they're going to execute where they're being coach, because I can tell you right now, the one thing about Mike Shanahan's offense, it is going to test the perimeter of the defense by design. And we saw even in the Rams game, heck, even going back to the Green Bay Packers game in preseason, the Broncos were having issues on the perimeter. Now, the way they're going to attack you, they're going to attack you with CMC.

They're going to attack you with Debo. But the biggest guy they're going to attack you with is Kyle's juice checking because they're going to move Kyle around. And they're going to move him in one direction and bring him back across the formation. We used to call that crossfire. And if the defensive secondary guys or second level guys being the linebackers, if they get caught up in the wash and they don't use good eye discipline, he's going to get right out of the back doing. And I know Purdy, he's going to find him. Well, I know Cody said earlier as well that, you know, Debo Samuel was slow last year with the commanders.

If he was slow last year with the commanders, he played one game where he was extremely fast and extremely dynamic. And it happened to be against Riley Moss and the Denver Broncos. So Debo is somebody who I hope Riley has, you know, a little bit of, I hope he has it out for him a little bit in terms of a revenge game because he got absolutely cooked against Debo. change. Yeah, so go snatch his chain this week. And Riley's needs a bounce back game anyway. But I think, yeah, Debo is one of those players who, look, the 49ers will do anything, too.

They'll utilize the versatility of their guys to throw you off not just before the snap and not even just while the play is developing. But after a pass has been completed, I mean, that 80 plus yard hook and ladder touchdown last week, they'll do all sorts of crazy stuff with those playmakers. So the Broncos cannot be missing tackles in this game. They can't be out of place in their zones this week. They have to be the aggressor. And that maybe goes back to the point of starting fast defensively like Nick was talking about earlier. The idea of Christian McCaffrey working the middle of the field against his linebacking core is like the definition of nightmare fuel.

I mean, Texas routes, up and outs. I mean like in Debo Samuel, too, who's kind of revived his. career a little bit with San Francisco. Sometimes the player is just good in a specific system. But, man, like Christian McCaffrey going up against the Broncos, Shanahan going up against the Broncos, knowing that there's some personal kind of connection there, obviously, as well. And frankly, as we've kind of talked about, like Riley Moss can be up and down,

but we know that linebacker room is the weak link of this Broncos defense. I mean, this just profiles, you would think. Not Sternat. Not a massive day for Christian. Yeah, not Sternad. Sternad probably did the best out of any linebacker that we saw against 13 personnel up the seam going out on those switch routes on the post wheels like i trust her nad more than anybody else right now at that spot i'm with you which is concerning mcalfrey is the best player they're going

to face like from that standpoint so far this season right like devontay adams on the outside like a guy that's going to work the middle of the field and just the running back position in general like i think kairn williams is a good player but i don't think he's prime mccaffrey when he's dialed up and ready to go nobody is east man that guy's a unicorn yeah yeah Yeah, he's a unicorn. And that's why it's like, this is a great challenge here for the Broncos early on. And, you know, it's kind of nice that you can get these NFC West games out the way a little bit early. Like I said, if you come out of this week and you are three and one, I would genuinely say,

hey, like, they're ahead of where I had them at this point. Like, we, I think ideally we said if 500 or above 500 is good, but if they're three and one after this weekend, going to that matchup against the Chargers, then I'm thinking to myself, like, they're better ahead than where I thought that they were, even if there's these things that they're struggling with that they still need to fix and address. That to me is like how you win games, I think is very, very important. So this is going to be, I'd say, a tough test. Last week, was the toughest test to date?

This week is going to be the toughest test to date now at this point. Yeah, no doubt, man. And going on the road, too, right? Like, that's another thing is, like, playing at home against the Rams, like, obviously a very, very good team. But, you know, now having to go on the road. I don't think San Francisco is like that hostile of an environment, but just like the aspect of travel that kind of comes with it

and making sure that you're ready to go. And just, you know, that's the thing is San Francisco has a couple of these game breakers, right? I think Debo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey are those two guys just because of their speed and their ability to move east west, like could potentially give Denver some fits. Like I feel good about Denver's ability to, you know, play north-south defensively, right? You've got Pat Sartan.

I think Riley Moss is going to bounce back, but it's that shiftiness of this San Francisco offense that maybe makes me pause. a little bit about, hey, like, this isn't, none of these games have been easy, but like this one in particular is going to be a tough matchup, whichever way you slice it. So let's go ahead, though, and hit our final break. When we come back, we'll continue along with the conversation about this matchup,

but let's kind of dive into the psyche of the coaches here. Sean Payton against Kyle Shanahan, what does that mean for this matchup here on Sunday? We'll talk about it when we come back right here on your lockdown Bronco squad show. Today's episode of your lockdown Bronco squad show is brought to you by our friends, over at Cal She. A new football season brings some big questions. Who makes the playoffs? Who wins their division?

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We appreciate everyone watching on YouTube audio feeds. You guys are the absolute best. If you're on YouTube, hit that like button and smash that subscribe button. It really helps us out here on the channel. And let's kind of dive into the psyche of these coaches here in this matchup, gentlemen. Obviously, we know who Sean is. So start with Kyle, right? I think Kyle is obviously, a lot of hearts and minds of Broncos country, kind of like the one that got away, right, just knowing that he could have been the heir apparent here potentially his head coach, his dad, obviously, and there's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that ultimately led to Kyle not being the Denver Broncos head coach. But like also because

of that, right, and like obviously John Lynch out there in San Francisco as well, like it feels like these matches against the Broncos whenever they come up for Kyle feel pretty personal fellows yeah i mean you can say all as well that ends well right i mean the broncos ultimately have figured out a solution to where now they're super bowl contenders but all as well that ends well doesn't mean that you made the right decisions along the way right and you have the obvious human error element to add into all this and joe ellis made major errors when he was in charge of the team and the biggest error he made was and with all due respect to vance joseph who was a a true head coach candidate at the time,

but over Kyle Shanahan, who was the no-brainer top. I mean, he was at the time what Ben Johnson was last year. That was exactly who you had the chance to hire. And that's exactly what the Broncos needed. They just won Super Bowl 50. Best defense in the NFL,

still a really great defense in 2016 that only missed the playoffs because your third string QB from the year before had to take the reins and he still won nine games and barely missed out. So you go hire Kyle Shanahan, you say, hey, let's go pick a quarterback in the draft. By the way, that was the Patrick Mahomes draft. I another timeline, guys, in another lifetime, who knows what the Denver Broncos look like with Kyle Shanahan as their head coach because it was it was all there. I mean, this not just for the vibes.

He had just taken the, we just, we referenced it earlier. That was the 28 to 3 Super Bowl year. I mean, that Atlanta Falcons offense was incredible. and they were great for, you know, 17 games, the playoffs, and then three and a half quarters of the playoffs, right? But Kyle wasn't meant to be in Denver. Why? Because Joe Ellis ruined it.

He ruined everything. He did. And I don't know how much John Elway played a part in that. I don't know how much Gary Kubiak played a part in that. I choose to blame Joe Ellis because those other guys have positive, you know, it made a positive impact on the franchise. I hate it. I hate even bringing it up.

I can't believe you. And, you know, why would you do this to me? Well, for all my comic book lovers out there, I'll say that in Earth 3230, the Broncos being led by Kyle Shanahan, they've won four Super Bowls already, right? Unfortunately, we're on this particular earth right now. So we don't get a chance to see it. And Sarah's right. And I've always thought this, you know, Joe Ellis wanting to do his own thing, kind of.

of, he was the reason the house of cards actually fell down. And as being a player, as I look back at it now, I could see it happening based on certain things that were taking place because Mike Sannahan was like, or he became like a son to Mr. B. Like Mr. B's real son was John Elway, right? But his de facto son became Mike Shanahan based on their cohesion. And, hey, listen, when Mike came here from the Raiders, he gave, he was given carte blanche to do what he need by Mr. B because Mr. B trusted in him. And Mike did just that. And it's hard to do anything in life when you have somewhat, as they say, a fox in the hen house.

And that disrupted everything. And Kyle was right in the situation to actually be the next head coach. there's more things that I know that I'm not at liberty to say but I will say that that's kind of that was like the biggest flood that's ever happened and I remember after I finished my coaching career with the 49ers I was here during the media and it was the first time Mike had been allowed think about what I just said yeah allowed back at the facility and it was hordes of media people now remember this is a joint practice between the 49ers and the Broncos, but everyone was around him, right? And he did a great job of not throwing anyone in the organization under the bus, but this is why this game is going to mean a lot. And now the Broncos have enjoyed two games at home where they have used their crowd to actually help them. And the fan base, I give them much props because you guys have helped out tremendously. now you go to San Francisco. Well, guess what?

They don't know all these details, but they do know Kyle Shanahan is Mike Shanahan's son and Kyle wants to beat the former team he grew up rooting for. Yeah, I mean, look, I think it's personal, right? Like, how could it not be? And, like, you talk about, like, the fact that Mike Shanahan was, like, prevented from coming back to the organization in any capacity for some time there.

I mean, like, I think that one of the one of the, of the chief motivating factors, at least from what I've gathered on the situation, as to why Kyle did not get the job was the fear that Mike Shanahan would just essentially become a pseudo executive, right? Like, okay, like Kyle's the coach, but, you know, Mike's going to come in here and play puppet master a little bit. And the reality situation is, like, towards the end, like obviously after the two Super Bowls, we're talking early 2000s pre McDaniels when you were there, Nick, Mike had accrued a ton of power and influence in that building. And obviously the House of Cards came down and, you know, he didn't.

want to open up that can of worms again per se, fair or unfair. The Broncos obviously now, in hindsight, find themselves in a much better position with Sean Peyton compared to where they were in between Shanahan and hiring Peyton. So we'll see. But yeah, I mean, you would, you would just expect it's human nature for Kyle just, you know, I don't know, slight it is the wrong word. Like, whatever it might be like, even if the Broncos didn't do him dirty, right? Like, even if none of this stuff even existed and he was simply just Mike's son and growing up watching that team, like you're going to want to go out there and kind of flex, you know, to the strongest of your ability against this Broncos team.

And that's where I think Denver is going to have to be ready, which again, going back to Debo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey, like it's going to be so critical to see how Denver tries to slow those two guys down. But Sean Payton has the biggest ego of anyone in the NFL. And I don't think Sean needs an extra motivating factor. I think Sean just gets pissed at anything or use anything as, you know, fuel to kind of get his team ready to go. So I think from just like a pure coaching perspective, fellows,

is like the clash of these two guys are going to be interesting. And Sarah, I'm curious to see, you know, what button Sean tries to push to get his team off to a quick start or just play a more complete game over the course of four quarters. Yeah, I mean, maybe it's playing for them some of the games where they did start fast and say like get that into your mindset. You know, I think back to obviously like you've mentioned the Dallas game from last year, that was a game where they definitely did start fast.

I think the Cincinnati game last year, although they were going against a backup QB. That's another example. I think you go back to 2024. You think about their even a loss on the road against the Chargers. So they started really well, especially on the ground. They dominated the New Orleans Saints in a game where they started fast. So maybe it's going back to some of those games and cutting up the first drives of some of their best, you know,

openers of whenever. I mean, their best opening drives. I don't know what it is, but we know Sean Payton loves to go and cycle through history. and go through his rolodex of moments that he can remember off the top of his head and cut together videos for the players to see and get that sort of picture in their mind of, hey, this is what it looks like to start fast. This is what, and maybe showing the examples because then you can see, remember last year against Dallas?

Oh, we started fast and then we got them right. That was the best offense of the NFL at the time. The two wide receivers who nobody was going to be able to stop those guys. not only did we start fast offensively, but then we dominated the freaking game and had Joe Milton throwing passes at the end of it all. That's what we want to see against the 49ers. We want to see Mack Jones throwing passes at the end of this game because it's gotten so out of hand, right? And so you have to put that mindset into the teams. Like, not that they're not doing that.

I don't know exactly what they're doing. If they're just trying to, well, let's go back to the drawing board sort of a thing. Or if it really is just a matter of execution. Is it just a matter of converting one third down and then all of a sudden, oh my gosh, this drive is going to be successful because we converted the first third down instead of going three and out. Now we're going to march right on down the field. And just the butterfly effect that I've mentioned before, you just never know what's going to happen. You convert one third down on the first drive at the game and then all of a sudden you're in the end zone and you're up seven nothing as opposed to punting the ball. So I'm not saying every single time that happens, but it could just.

be a matter of, hey, one converted third down changes the complexion of an entire drive to start the game. And that's how the Broncos get started fast. You know what Sean is going to tell his team this week? He's going to tell his team, hey, listen, even though we haven't started fast, you found ways to win. Right? And at the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters. But here's the difference, you know, this week. He's really going to talk to his defense. He's going to do the same thing to his defense this week that he did before the Patriots game because he knows that is the strength of his team. And if they are to stand a chance, he needs them to do exactly what they've done the past couple of games,

but also doing in concert with what they did last year. So he needs a combination of turnovers and he needs a combination of sacks. That's the only way to derail this offense because when a quarterback or any offense, for that matter, is playing with one hand tie behind their backs and the offense is off schedule and you are now chasing points. Now you play to the defense. The defense knows that you can't play complimentary football anymore. Why?

You can't run the ball. You can't run the plays you want to run. So now, like when you think about Matthew Stafford, I don't know why the Rams got out of their run game because they were having success. You see Matthew Stafford had 55 passing attempts. That was more of a Sean Payton type of offense than a Sean McVeigh type of offense. And the only way you get Kyle to do something similar

where you're forcing Brock Purdy to push the ball down the field, now you got to take away CMC. You got to take away kiddle. You got to take away all these guys. And that's going to be a tough task. But that's what Sean is telling his defense. We have to start fast. You have to start fast to give us an opportunity.

You guys do that. We're going to be in the game. But I'm going to tell you what the Broncos is going to have to be aware of. Because in coaching and playing for the 49ers, their mentality is bring juice. You want to beat electric. And when you talk about their two linebackers who we talked about earlier, pay attention to this in the game because it's winning the turnover ballot is going to be key for either team. Watch Fred Warner.

He's become a surgeon. at punching the ball out. We saw J.K. Dobbins put the ball on the turf against the Ram. Fortunately, Johnny on the spot was Pat Bryant. That's what's going to happen in this game. Being able to start fast, but not turning the ball over. Big keys to this game if the Broncos want to win. I'm with you.

Look, I'll remind Broncos country what I said after the Rams game on our post-game show. I would love them to start fast offensively, right? And I agree with you 110% Nick about this defense, right? Like if Denver's going to win this game, they're going to have to show up and show out early and keep that going for all four quarters. But if Denver does find themselves behind the eight ball, like let's say it's 10 zip or, you know, 133 or 143 or something like that,

just wait until the eight minute mark of the third quarter. That's typically when they tend to flip the switch. Love them or hand. It was so funny to be sitting in that press box for the rang game. I was so unfazed by the first half. I was like, like once we get to the eight minute mark, we'll see what this team is really made up

and if they've got it. Obviously a big difference playing at home versus on the road. But I think we're all, I speak for all of you guys when I say, we want to see this team start fast offensively. But if they don't, there's a chance they might be able to figure it out

as the game goes along. So we'll see. But before we get out of here, Sarah, any closing thoughts from you, my friend. I'm excited for this game. I'm excited for another challenge for this. team and to see and what will Sean Payton do? I know they're the visiting team. So if they win the coin toss, does he take the ball right away? I mean, that's something that he's done in games where they

have started fast, kind of making that, you know, Zig while everyone else is zagging sort of decision once in a while to take the ball when you when you win the coin toss and say, hey, we want the ball first. We want to go set the tone. He has done that before when the Broncos are in need of a fast start. So maybe we see something like that happened against the 49ers. Well, I'm going to say, the Broncos win the coin toss, I'm going to say defer, right? Because the reason I'm going to say that, because you have the hope in the second quarter that you've already moved the ball down the field and you've scored. And now you can book in it by starting the half again with the possession and then you can score again. So that's how you steal momentum. So that would be my

suggestion for Sean. If you win the coin toss defer and try to put more points on it because points are going to be a premium in this game. I think this game is going to be just like the game we just saw with the Rams. This is not going to be a baseball score. It's not going to be a low score and a fair. I mean, both teams show that they can put a point, but with the Broncos side of it, a lot of that leans heavily on their defense.

I'm with you 100%. Look, we find ourselves just in the thick of it, right? We talked about it all offseason. These first six games are absolutely brutal. There's no real opportunity for them to come up for air. you've got to kind of keep treading and staying alive and keep moving right until you get to the softer portion of your schedule. But to be honest, we just saw the Seattle Seahawks lose to the Washington commanders over the weekend. So never a dull moment in the NFL.

Maybe no such thing is a soft portion of the schedule. But we do know they're going through the gauntlet here right now with San Francisco up next. All right, that is going to do it for us on today's lockdown Broncos squad show. Really, really appreciate everyone for listening and tuning in for our live YouTube chat. You guys are the best. We'll talk to you guys later this week for our all. audio listeners and our YouTube listeners after the fact. Hope you guys enjoyed this one.

And Cody and Sarah will have you covered with plenty of more Broncos conversation leading up to kickoff against San Francisco. For Nick Ferguson, Sarah Beninger, Cody Rorgan, and I'm Anilo Piro. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. And we'll talk to guys later. Peace out, y'all. Bye.