Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - CHALLENGE: Denver Broncos' Sean Payton NOT PLEASED With Offensive Execution Issues

Episode Date: October 13, 2026

Sean Payton isn’t satisfied despite the Denver Broncos win on Sunday as the Broncos’ offense now faces a tough test against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.Bo Nix’s confidence ta...kes a back seat to breakdowns across the operation, including Luke Wattenberg’s errant snaps, inconsistent pass protection, dropped passes, penalties, inconsistent run blocking, and inconsistent execution when the offense runs RPOs.Cody Roark and Sayre Bedinger examine Seattle’s aggressive Mike Macdonald defense, which ranks first in takeaways, second in pass defense, and third in third-down defense, while sitting 27th in the red zone. Can Denver protect Bo Nix, establish J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey, and attack Seattle’s light boxes? The Broncos’ defense must also pressure Sam Darnold and continue forcing turnovers, which could decide Thursday's matchup.Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and provides boots-on-the-ground coverage of the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is one of Broncos Country's longest-tenured voices, writing for Predominantly Orange. Together, they bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos every single day, year round.📸 - Ron Chenoy — Imagn ImagesWANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today --Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-broncos/Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nfl/📲 Cody Roark Twitter / (https://twitter.com/codyroarknfl)📲 Cody Roark Instagram / (https://instagram.com/codyroarknfl)📲  Sayre Bedinger Twitter / (https://twitter.com/sayrebedinger)Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get access to ad-free audio version of Locked On Broncos,  All-22 Film Breakdown, and access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. 📲 https://lockedonbroncos.supercast.com/📢 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Gameday Men's HealthBook 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,corpOdooGreat organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.Butcher BoxIf 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.AppleYou 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=USPrizePicksVisit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup!KALSHIToday'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.GametimeToday'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.FanDuelGet 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.COMFANDUEL 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Coming out of Sunday's game against the Chargers, Broncos head coach Sean Payton was not pleased, and they faced a tough test against Seattle. You are locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Happy Tuesday, Broncos country. Cody Rourke, Sarah Bedinger here. And on today's episode of the show, we're going to go through Sean Payton revealing he's not pleased with the entire operation of Denver's offense. And there are a lot of things they got to get right before they face a very tough Seattle seat. The Seahawks defense.
Starting point is 00:00:36 And part of that test is overcoming a unit that knows how to take the football away. So for a gun-shy offense, that is going to be something we keep our eyes on here. And then we'll wrap things up by talking about why the Broncos must continue the trend of taking the football away. And the Seattle Seahawks are prone to giving it up. We're going to get into all that here on today's episode, the show, brought to you by Kauci for limited time. Download Kauci.
Starting point is 00:00:56 Use code lockdown to get $25 when you trade $25. When you trade, what's next. Sarah, let's talk about this, right? We caught up with Sean Payton on his Monday morning. press conference. Even though Denver won, he was a little bit feisty. And obviously, short week, short turnaround to prepare from going from the Chargers game. Now you have to focus on the defending world champion Seattle Seahawks that are still lighting it up. I mean, can put up points left and right, have a very aggressive defense. And right now,
Starting point is 00:01:22 all the problems facing this Broncos offense, when you put it in on a microscope against a team like Seattle, things can get a little frustrating. But John Payton specifically said, there are issues with the entire offensive operation. And he wasn't interested. in the opinions of a lot of people. Yeah, Cody. I mean, I love it when Sean gets in these moods because you know it's all business and the Broncos need to be all business right now. It's all fun in games when you're winning and things are going great.
Starting point is 00:01:48 But when you know that there's a difference, right? I mean, we've been talking about this and we're not complaining about a win. You can be pleased with the results of a game and not be satisfied with the product on the field, right? I think that's kind of where we're all, that tension that we're all living in right, including the Broncos, which Sean Peyton is. talking about. He's diving into the film after that game against the Chargers, a game in which the chargers are missing, you know, 21 out of their 22 starters besides Justin Herbert out there, it seems
Starting point is 00:02:15 like. And you still can't really get anything going offensively. You're still kind of got your backs up against the wall, having to mount a fourth quarter comeback. So there's a lot about this offensive operation right now that I think like people take it as an excuse being made for Boe Nix when we say things like this, but it's really not. Like there are a lot of dirty hands for the offensive operation, whether it's interior blocking being an issue, whether it's drought passes, whether it's penalties, which there's no timely penalties, but it feels like the Broncos penalties are coming at the worst possible times. They're not running the ball efficiently. It's just there's a lot going on there and there's more that meets the eye.
Starting point is 00:02:55 Sean Payton was asked a question in his Monday press conference about confidence and Bo Nick's level of confidence. And Sean quickly redirected. Here's what he had to say because once again, I think he was in a feisty mood. And look, if the media is getting it, you know the players are getting that same mood. The coaches on the coaching staff are getting the same exact thing. There's a lot of urgency right now inside of that building. Yeah, we're not giving levels of confidence grades right now on a Monday morning before a Thursday game. You can go ahead and opinionate.
Starting point is 00:03:24 But shoot, I think confidence comes from, and I'm watching the film offensively, and there's a ton of things we're not doing well right now. So that has to improve. Yeah, it really does. I mean, Cody, you and I were kind of watching just one of the plays from the game against the Chargers before we started recording today. And it was a play in which, you know, second and long, Bo Nix drops back, looking for a first down on even second and long.
Starting point is 00:03:52 But it's the play starts off with a terrible snap from Luke Wattenberg, which, I mean, you know, take a drink if you've heard me say that before. If you've heard us say that before, Luke Wattenberg's errant snaps are an issue for. this offense. And when the operation starts off like that, it just feels like it's doomed to fail. And so you have the errant snap. You have Bo Nix getting beat by the rookie, or not, excuse me, not Bo Nix, but Garrett Bulls getting beat by the rookie Akeem Messador. And then Bo Nix kind of stepping up right into his secondary pressure. And then he fumbles the football and you give it back to the chargers. And it's just a comedy of errors right now that starts off with one thing.
Starting point is 00:04:30 But not only those two things occurring, the bad snap and Bo Nix stepping up into pressure, But then you have nobody open downfield because the chargers are playing like just perfect coverage on the other end. So it really is a frustrating operation right now. It's uphill sledding for this Broncos team. And you don't need to talk about necessarily confidence. You need to talk about execution because what does Sean always say? Confidence comes from demonstrated ability. Well, the Broncos have not demonstrated the ability to execute consistently enough.
Starting point is 00:04:58 And that's the thing I'd say. Like when you watch the TV copy of the game, I feel like that's where it's like, all right, you have the emotional first initial reaction. Then you go and you watch the film and it either confirms that or it adds some question marks like, okay, well, here's exactly what happened on this play. That's way different than what I felt in the moment. And on that play that you mentioned where Bogot sacked, you know, on a second and long play where they're trying to dial up a shot downfield.
Starting point is 00:05:22 They got three deep routes that are challenging five to 10 yards downfield against six defensive guys that are dropping back in coverage, taking away the deep stuff. well, the corner goes with Troy Franklin on the corner route, and then the nickel stays with Jalen Waddle on the inbreaker. The corner on the outside to the right side stays with Cortland Sutton, and then that safety kind of plays that inside of Cortland Sutton and nothing's open. The only thing that I would have done on that play is have Bo Nix throw out to RJ Harvey Harvey because you had Nate Atkins as a lead blocker.
Starting point is 00:05:51 Look, it was second at 20. You're not going to get 20 on that play, but can you get to like third and 10 at that point? Can you get 10 yards out of that play? a lot of blame going around this week on Bo Nix. But my goodness, I like what Sean said, when you go back and you watch the actual All-22 and if you know what you're looking at, you see like, man, the Broncos just can't execute consistently enough. There's breakdowns on the offensive line.
Starting point is 00:06:13 There's breakdowns at quarterback. There's breakdowns in the routes being ran from time to time. There's breakdowns in past protection chips from the running backs from time to time. And then there's the instances where the Chargers defense hats off to them. They play damn good coverage. They had a good rush plan. And on key passing situations, I don't even think anybody's talked about this. Sarah, what do we see number zero for the charters do?
Starting point is 00:06:34 Diane Henley, he played spy on Bo Nix and every key passing down situation in case Bo was going to use his legs. So, like for me, the offense has multifaceted issues. And I like that Sean kind of said, like, look, we can talk about confidence. You guys can have your opinions on confidence when it comes to Bo Nix, but we're not executing right now on offense across the board, right? That's got a change. and short week, you got to be able to flush it quickly and move on here and hope the A on Thursday night.
Starting point is 00:07:02 Hope you can catch the Seattle Seahawks slipping. Yeah, 100%. And you don't want to be out there playing not to lose either, right? It's all the professional athletes, every sports team that's struggling, what do they always say? You got to have a short memory, right? You got to have a short memory and you got to make sure that you're not going out there playing scared because that will contribute to the lack of confidence, right? is if you're playing not to lose, if you're playing without that killer instinct, I feel like that's just what's been missing from this Broncos team. And it starts at the line of scrimmage.
Starting point is 00:07:31 And it starts with really the mentality to open a game. Even the first play of the game against the Chargers, Cody, it was from the shotgun. And Bo Necks faked it like he was going to throw it out to his right. And then he turns around and he hands the ball off to J.K. Dobbins for a minimal gain, if anything. And to me, what does that indicate? You're just trying to be cutesy with it. I mean, that's where I'm getting frustrated is like, we're trying to be cutesy. We're trying to outsmart.
Starting point is 00:07:59 We're trying to, you know, okay, we'll scheme things up. And I get that that's part of it. The chess match is definitely part of it. But when it comes to we want to get better at the little things. We want to button up all these little things that are going wrong. Why not just say first play of the game? We're going under center. And you, Garrett and Ben and Luke and Quinn and Mike,
Starting point is 00:08:22 You guys go smash the guy in front of you. J.K. Dobbins is going to come full speed behind and just run it up the gut. Just run it up the gut and try to do. That's the easiest playing in football, isn't it, Cody? I mean, just hand it off and go up one of those first two gaps off the center guard. That's the easiest play that you can possibly run. And so why not try to do that well from the first play of the game? But instead, you get cutesy with it and the chargers are ready for it.
Starting point is 00:08:49 The chargers are anticipating it. and they're just bullying at the line of scrimmage. And that mentality contributes to this lack of confidence that we're seeing throughout the course of game. Yeah. And I think the run-pass option element of this offense, it's just not consistent enough, right? And that very first play that you're talking about was an RPO where, you know, you're trying to see, okay, based on this, do I throw the bubble to Jalen or do I hand it off?
Starting point is 00:09:12 Like, okay, the bubble's not there. Now I'm going to hand it off. They did a lot of RPO stuff, especially when they bring Marvin Mims in motion, right? And they run him on kind of that bubble from the left side to the right. You'll fake the inside handoff there to RJ or whoever's in and then they'll either throw it. I think there was a time where both should have maybe gave it to RJ on one of those plays. But then again, you learn a lot when you go back and you watch the film. The offense in general just not playing good all across the board, every level.
Starting point is 00:09:36 Every person is responsible for that here on Devere's offense, not solely just the quarterback, but he's a big part of it as well here. Now the Broncos have to now prepare for their next tough test. And that is a Mike McDonald, stingy defense to help them win a Super Bowl last season. Today's episode of show is brought to you by Kaushi, a new football season, always brings some big questions, who makes the playoffs, who wins their division and who takes home the title. And on Kaushi, America's number one prediction market platform, they let you trade those predictions in a live market all NFL season long. And on Thursday night football, the Debra Broncos right now, they have a 41% probability,
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Starting point is 00:10:47 markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kowshi.com slash regulatory. Today's show is also brought to your bar friends over there at the Game Time app and the NFL is full of games that you want to go see this year. Thursday night football is the next one and sometimes the best memories come from the games that you almost missed. Game time, they make it easy to find tickets to NFL matchups that you want to see with prices that include fees so you know your total cost up front. And if you got the itch last minute, game time is the best place to get in on the action. And you could browse games. You can see a panoramic view of your seat before you buy. and you can get tickets in just a couple of taps.
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Starting point is 00:11:47 purchase terms apply again create an account and use code locked on for $20 off the broncos and Seahawks will both be wearing their throwback uniforms on Thursday night for what might be the most glorious uniform matchup of the season but broncos country we don't want to throwback when it comes to what Bo Nix looked like the first time he faced off against Mike McDonald's defense which happened to be his first ever NFL game Cody that was a I was a rough outing for Bo Nix obviously you know welcome to the NFL moment for him even though though a little bit of fireworks there late with his legs made that a little bit closer of a game than I think most people thought it would be given how most of the game went down. But enough about the past right now,
Starting point is 00:12:28 we know that Bo Nix in the present is struggling mightily. And there's no remedy quite like a matchup against Mike McDonald defense on a short week, right? I mean, talk about a get right. No, I'm just joking. All kidding aside, you know, like it's not a get right situation for anybody. But this is the NFL, right? I mean, we talked about it before the season started when the schedule came out. Like, you want to see this team get the trial by fire.
Starting point is 00:12:52 You want to see them, you know, have to go through the most difficult gauntlet that they possibly could to prove, like, are you truly a championship caliber team? Finishing off this first six game stretch, six and two, and finishing it off by beating a Mike McDonald defense, Cody. That would be a tremendous, tremendous litmus test for this Broncos team. Yeah, a win against the Seahawks team. would move the needle. And look, right now the Broncos are three and two. We're not complaining about it. And you and I, I think we talked about this on the squad show a little bit.
Starting point is 00:13:24 Like the fact that the Broncos and the offense haven't even come close to playing to what the potential is that they could, that we know that they certainly can, but they haven't been able to execute consistently enough. That's what's kind of scary about this team. It's not that Denver lacks talent. Denver has talent specifically at the skill player positions. I think Bo Nix is still talented, regardless of everybody being down on him right now, Bo Nix wouldn't be in the position he's in as a quarterback here in year three if he wasn't talented.
Starting point is 00:13:51 He wouldn't have been selected there by Denver specifically. And so I think Sean Payton is going to challenge him and challenge the offense this week against a very stingy and aggressive defense. I mean, you talk about led by guys like Byron Murphy the second. They got hogs on that defensive line specifically on the interior. I think he's what, 306 pounds, Leonard Williams, who we know very well, Jaron Reed, DeMarcus, Lawrence. And then they got really good linebackers there in Ernest, Jones and Uchena Uwosu, who used to play for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Starting point is 00:14:20 And then you go through and they have the secondary that they do with Nick Mn Mory, Julian Love, Josh Job and Devin Witherspoon, like they have talent across the board. And then even their backup guys that are in the rotation, like Dante Fowler Jr. It's behind a Chenna Uwosu that can come in. Like this is a Seahawks defense that I feel like their approach this week, Sarah. I think they're going to just try to play their brand against Denver's offense, right? Until Denver does otherwise, until Denver comes out and can punch them and smack them in the mouth and say, wait, wait, wait, we got to adjust here.
Starting point is 00:14:49 I think the Seahawks, the game plan, the approach for them is just going to come out and just to play their base defense. They'll dial up their base pressure looks and they're going to try to stunt on the interior. But really, the thing that's the most concerning to me in this game is them trying to attack the interior, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, with guys like Byron Murphy the second and obviously Leonard Williams. That's where I think they're going to try to send those pressure looks. And of course, they're going to send some guys on the outside.
Starting point is 00:15:14 they're going to blitz some of their defensive backs. But that's where things can get problematic here for the Sproko's offense is how this defense tries to attack them. Yeah, they use a couple of those defensive backs as sort of versatile weapons, right? Nick E. Moore is one of those guys who's kind of like Derwin James like or Kyle Hamilton like in the way that he kind of, his potential at least, his ceiling, right? And Devin Witherspoon, obviously one of the guys they picked with the best pick they got from the Denver Broncos in that Russell Wilson trade. he's become a weapon as well out of the slot who can do a lot of different things for them as well.
Starting point is 00:15:48 So they can get pressure with four. They can get pressure by sending additional guys. They can get pressure with disguises. They can get pressure a number of different ways. And so for Bo Nix, a quarterback who's currently struggling under pressure, this is the protection plan has to be on point from the very beginning, Cody. Communication has to be on point. Those guys cannot afford to have any communication errors early in this game.
Starting point is 00:16:12 And once again, we need the Broncos to come out ready to toe up and knock somebody back instead of catching these defensive linemen, right? Because that's been the mentality is like, we'll catch them, you know. And I know they're not saying they want to be, they don't want to be physical or things like that. But that's just, that's the impression that we're getting the perception is reality right now. That is how the Broncos, every single game, I felt like this season, Cody, the opposing defensive line feels like it can just come in and have their way against this. Broncos O line. I mean, whether they're right or not, they've been right a lot of the times. And that specifically has to do with the running game first and foremost. So we know that the Seahawks defense is good. We know that they're talented. We know that Mike McDonald can play the
Starting point is 00:16:56 chess match as well as anybody. That's how they win the Super Bowl in what, his second season at the helm of that team. So that defense is top tier. They'll give up some points though. I mean, they've been that they've been stingy on third down, third best third down defense in the NFL, but they're 27th in the red zone. So if you have a good protection plan, if you can run the football, if you can get into the red area, you might be able to find a way
Starting point is 00:17:22 to kind of break down this defense a little bit. And that's what worries me, right? There's a lot of ifs involved with this approach against this defense too. Let me ask you a question. Obviously, I think Broncos country, feel free to chime along as you're listening and tuning into today's show.
Starting point is 00:17:35 But out of every defense so far that Denver has played, is this the defensive unit that concerns you the most? this the defense that you feel like is going to be the toughest for Denver? 100%, Cody. I mean, they're number one in the league and takeaways right now. That's this is not only a defense that can get after the quarterback. This is not only a defense that is stingy against the run, which they are. I mean, they're eighth best in terms of yards per carry allowed.
Starting point is 00:18:00 They have the most interceptions in the NFL right now. They have the most total takeaways. They have the third fewest first downs. I mean, second best pass defense. They're number one in yards per drive. like this is one of those defenses that is as talented as they are well coached and yeah you lose some guys in free agency you know after hey the super bowl happens you're going to lose a couple of guys right Kobe Bryant I think left for the bears and he's out for the year reek woolen is with the Philadelphia Eagles but it's kind of just next man up for the Seahawks defense and it doesn't look like they've really lost anybody maybe it feels like that we'll talk to locked on Seahawks later this week but the way that they play The way that they make up for their offense having eight takeaways, which we'll talk about coming up, their offense has eight giveaways in the last three games.
Starting point is 00:18:49 How do you stay in games like that? Well, you have a defense that creates takeaways. So that's how that's been their formula, right? It's like they have a margin for error that is unlike most other teams in the league. It's almost kind of like it's offset a little bit of the negative play of the offense, right? And of course, like there was a stretch of games early on here where Sam Darnold was out, Drew Locke stepped in and drew actually, he actually played. pretty dang well when he had to play in.
Starting point is 00:19:13 And obviously the Seahawks had that loss against the commanders, which was weird, which always goes to highlight. Like, what can the Broncos take from that in this specific game? But you are right, it's going to be about running the football. It's about getting a clean operation here, not letting the Seahawks just tee off on you. The pressure of the protection plan is going to be very important this week. And I think you got to get involved in the short intermediate passing game a lot more. You got to get those quick hitting stuff versus some of the longer developing stuff
Starting point is 00:19:36 that allow you to read the field because the Broncos are going against light boxes. and a Seahawks, they're going to be comfortable coming to this game, playing in a light box with four or five players and then dropping everybody back because they think that they're four guys on the line can get home. And that right there is going to be a challenge here for the Broncos. And we'll see if they'll be ready to step up and answer that here this week. But coming up next, Sarah and I are going to talk about what the Broncos defense needs to keep taking away because there's going to be opportunities on Thursday against Sam Darnold and the Seahawks offense. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at O'Doo. And running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a. bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for
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Starting point is 00:22:04 The Broncos defense needs to find a way to keep taking the football away to give the offense, more opportunities. And if the offense can click because of that, the Broncos have a really great opportunity to beat the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night football in a very tough non-conference matchup. Thank you so much, Broncos country, for tuning again, making us your first listening here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Also, the number one sports podcast network in the country. And if you want an ad-free version of the show, well, guess what? You can get that over there by joining the everydayer club lockdownbroncos.com. We got all 22 film breakdown of Bo Nix and the Broncos offense from Sunday's game against the Chargers, it is up.
Starting point is 00:22:40 So make sure if you want that extra content, go subscribe, you coming every day or lockdownbroncos.com. Sarah, let's talk about it. The biggest key this week here for the Broncos defense, and surely we'll have a more in-depth keys to victory speech later on in the buildup to this game here, obviously on Thursday, but Denver's defense is doing a really good job of taking it away. They did that really well early on against the Chargers with Talanoa Hufanga,
Starting point is 00:23:05 stripping the tight end, and the Broncos were covering a fumble. You have obviously the stop on fourth down, which isn't necessarily a takeaway, but it's a turnover on downs. Zach Allen with the shoestring strip sack that happened against Justin Herbert, and then Brandon Jones coming up with an interception against the Seattle Seahawks team and this offense that we know can be very explosive, not only in the run game, but also in the passing game as well with Jackson Smith and Jakeba, the tight ends that they certainly have and the other wide receivers, including Rashid Shaheed. This is an offense that presents a lot of challenges to Denver's defense,
Starting point is 00:23:37 but if Denver can find a way to keep forcing takeaways, it plays into their hands relatively well because the Seahawks have turned the ball over quite a bit over the last three weeks. They have eight takeaways for opposing defenses in the last three weeks against the Seahawks offense. And obviously, you know, that is an issue of theirs dating back to last season, right? I mean, you look at this team and you kind of wonder,
Starting point is 00:23:58 okay, so how did the Seahawks win the Super Bowl last year? And you think of their offense and you think of, well, Jackson Smith and Jigba, offensive player of the year. He was one of the best in the league. What you don't really realize about Seattle is that they had 28 giveaways last season. That was second worst in the entire NFL. And you would think that a team that is second worst in the NFL and giveaways would struggle defensively because your defense is constantly on the field.
Starting point is 00:24:25 But that defense, again, has done a great job of taking the ball away itself. So what's the remedy for eight giveaways offensively over the last three games? That'd be seven takeaways over the last three games. Actually, they've had all seven. of those in the last two games, including three against the 49ers, Cody, which Broncos saw firsthand how difficult it is to take the ball away from that 49ers offense. So I think what you have here is obviously a team that has, like I said before,
Starting point is 00:24:52 a pretty large margin for error. They can do a lot of different things. They can try a lot of different things. They can make mistakes. You know, what's the old magic school bus quote from Ms. Frizzle, make mistakes, get messy. You know, that's what the Seahawks offense really is. It's like you can go out there and do whatever you want, basically,
Starting point is 00:25:10 because your defense is going to have your back. And so that is their version of complimentary football. And then when they do get the ball back, they obviously take advantage. They score a lot of points. They're top 10 both in points scored and points allowed this season. So, yes, it is for the Broncos a matter of being, you know, it's mission critical to force takeaways in this game. Like even though the Seahawks have been able to overcome that,
Starting point is 00:25:32 you absolutely have no choice, but to keep doing that and setting your offense up. and giving them that same margin for error. Which was nice about Sunday's game for Denver against the Chargers. They were able to sack Dustin Herbert five times, but they were also able to generate the takeaways, right? You and I have been asking like, hey, last year for Denver, the sacks came in bunches,
Starting point is 00:25:51 but the turnovers and the takeaways did not. Like, this is the opportunity where I feel like you can get a strip sack or two here on San Darnum. You can pressure and sack him or you force him to maybe speed it up a little bit. The Broncos defense might be able to jump out there and make a play. Like I think in this game specifically, you need to get at least two interceptions. You need to try to pick off Sam Darnold twice in this game.
Starting point is 00:26:11 Easier said than done with all the weapons and how they can attack you, especially with 12 and 13 personnel, heavier tight-end sets. Former Bronco Eric Sobert, obviously part of that, a barner at the tied-in position. They got sized and they got physicality. But the key is going to be getting after Sam Darnold, forcing him speeding up his clock a little bit, maybe turning back the time to the point where he said,
Starting point is 00:26:32 I'm seeing ghosts out there. Like flip the script this week against Sam Darnold. Donald and the Seahawks. Like right now on paper, everyone's looking at this matchup. It's like, man, how does Denver match up against the Seahawks team? But as we've seen Thursday night football short week, the NFL always finds a way to surprise us. The bigger question is not knowing what the true injury report's going to look like here for the Broncos. No pads or tan. That's one thing we do know. But where's Taleno who Fonga? Where's Riley Moss in this whole equation here for Denver defensively? And also on the Seahawks when they're dealing with injuries as well. I know
Starting point is 00:27:03 they're banged up a little bit of tailback. So we'll see how things go here on Thursday, but man, it's going to be a tough game. This is a mission critical game. And luckily, it's non-conference. But man, imagine how big it would be if Denver could get this win. That would be so big. It would be monumental in just the perception of this team. And I know people are saying a lot of things about the Broncos right now,
Starting point is 00:27:23 but look, they're beating some good teams this season. They beat the Rams. They beat the Rams. They beat a Chargers team with its backs against the wall. You can say all you want about the Chargers being 0 and 5 and battered and broken and beaten down. but that's an NFL team with, you know, what a lot of people have said is a top 10 quarterback in the NFL and their backs against the wall. They're playing at home. They're desperate. And the Broncos had to fend that off. So I don't, I don't discredit that win whatsoever, Cody.
Starting point is 00:27:49 And I think if you can beat a Seahawks team now, that's, you know, they're also, they're coming off a loss against the 49ers. If you can beat them and send them to three and three, one of these two teams that only lost three games last season all combined. Both these teams were 14 and three last year. One of these teams is, already going to have its third loss here in the middle of October, but you want to go into this little mini buy at 4 and 2. If you're the Denver Broncos, how do you do it? You got to win at the line of scrimmage, right? That's how you win these Thursday night games. As you win at the line of scrimmage, you dictate this game in terms of your pass rush. You dictate this game in terms of nullifying pass rush. You know, the Seahawks, who's their running backs right now?
Starting point is 00:28:28 Emmanuel Wilson, the former Broncos minicamp invite player. I'm not diminishing what he can do either. But look, you've got to go take advantage and be the aggressor. Be the one to put your foot to the gas pedal. We've said that all year. We want to see it. And at some point you figure we're going to, at least I hope we're going to, hopefully it's this game against the Seattle Seahawks. No better time than week six when the Denver Broncos where the throwbacks against Seattle
Starting point is 00:28:52 and the energy at Empower Field is going to be electric. That always plays an advantage. Denver does truly have an altitude advantage in that instance. The stadium shakes. It makes it hard to hear. That's what's going to help play in. of the Broncos in this game. And hopefully,
Starting point is 00:29:05 hopefully, knock on wood, the offense can find a way to get off to a hot start. Maybe this is the week, right? Until it happens, we're going to say that every single week here, Broncos Country, but that'll wrap up today's episode of the show.
Starting point is 00:29:17 Tomorrow's episode, Sarah and I are going to take a little bit more of a deep dive at the tail of the tape, how the Broncos' offense statistically measures up against the Seahawks defense, which players will determine certain things in that specific matchup, then we'll flip it around and go with the Broncos defense
Starting point is 00:29:30 against that Seahawks offense and all the weapons that they have and why special teams might be the most important this week here for Denver, including Marvin Mims, finding his groove back in the return game. You'll get all that on tomorrow's episode, lockdown Broncos, hit that subscribe and follow button so you never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team.

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