Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - CROSSOVER: Denver Broncos Can CEMENT AFC WEST Control vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs face off in the biggest game of the week across the National Football League with big time. AFC West implications. We'll break it all down here on crossover Thursday, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. You are locked on NFL crossover. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. The Wild Wild, Wild, AFC West heats up on Sunday here in week 11 as the Denver Broncos host, the Kansas City Chiefs. Welcome to crossover Thursday here in the Locker,

Starting point is 00:00:36 Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in the world. And that's all thanks to all of you every dayers out there in Broncos country and Chiefs Kingdom. Thanks for making us your first listen, however you choose to do so. I'm Cody Roark, host of Lockdown Broncos. And as always, these crossover shows, the Locked-on Chief side of things, you're going to get Ryan Tracy and Chris Clark, both hosts over there at Locked on Chiefs. As we preview, well, I think we all agree, is maybe the biggest matchup right now in the

Starting point is 00:01:02 NFL this week. This should have been primetime game over there. Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders, but that's a conversation for another day. We'll go through obviously the biggest storylines for each team, the banged up Broncos, the Chiefs coming off of the by week, and we'll also go through some of the key matchups that will define the outcome of Sunday's game and what each team needs to do in order to come away with a victory. You'll get that all on today's crossover Thursday.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Brought to you by friends over there at prize picks. Download the prize picks at today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 bet. Gentlemen, obviously great to see you. It's our first time so far the season of meeting up with one another. Unfortunately for the Broncos, the Chiefs are coming off of the buy week. What is the biggest storyline here with the Kansas City Chiefs this week coming off of a buy after having a chance to kind of reset a little bit, sitting at five and four? The biggest story is seven plus one and whether he'll be available or not. Josh Simmons has had a really, really strange season. Maybe the weirdest season that I've seen,

Starting point is 00:02:02 ever since covering this team was going on like 15 years at this point, was lights out. Didn't even know if he would start the season, right? Because of a significant injury he had in college, first round draft pick. You want to take it easy. You want to protect the property, right? He gets off to such a good start that it's really just never looking back.

Starting point is 00:02:20 And then all of a sudden is not available at one point and missed weeks and weeks. He actually came back in the day as they went to the by week. And so he's been in the building working on film, working on stamina, et cetera, et cetera. The question is, after getting out to practice today, is he ready to jump right back into the mix? That's question number one. Chris, how do you think that maybe plays out a little bit here, considering, obviously, the Broncos pass rush, Nick Benito, Jonathan Cooper. What has the Chiefs solution banned with his absence there on the offensive line? Well, I think when you look at this, it's been a situation where the Chiefs have just plugged and played with Jaylon Moore.

Starting point is 00:02:56 And he's played well enough that I think you feel good about him being a guy that can step in and start. But this is not a lineup. This is not a defensive line that you want to have your backup left tackle in. And this is a lineup where you want to have everybody available that you possibly can on the offensive line and starts with Josh Simmons. But let's not forget, I mean, Juan Taylor went out and was injured last in the Buffalo Bills game. Kings Luce Wilmottia got injured as well. Trey Smith's been dealing with the back issue. I would hope that all of them are ready to go and ready to play.

Starting point is 00:03:29 But it's got to be a next man-up mentality. this is the defensive line that you absolutely do not want to be seen right now if you have those questions along the offensive line. It seems like for both of these teams banged up all across the board. I know for the Broncos coming into this week, Denver's dealing with a wide variety of injuries where, you know, if you're a Chiefs fan, you're trying to figure out what's going to happen this week. There's going to be no Patrick Sertan the second more than likely in this game here. Unlikely that we see J.K. Dobbins, though we still have two days of practice remaining to see if he comes back, but he suffered a foot injury and Thursday night's win last week against the Raiders,

Starting point is 00:04:03 got hip drop tackled, and we didn't see him during Wednesday's practice. And there was kind of this pointed illusion that R.J. Harvey, the rookie running back that they drafted in the second round, is going to get a little bit more run here. That's something that I think we're going to probably have to keep our eyes on here, where Denver is probably going to be without PS2. And also, J.K. Dobbins, who's the fifth leading Russia right now in the NFL has been such an accelerator, an energizer bunny, I'd say, for Denver's offense. It certainly appears from this side.

Starting point is 00:04:30 From the outside looking in, I am not here to slight pass or tan in any way, but given the state of both sides of the ball in Denver, it feels like Dobbins could be the bigger loss for this game against the Chiefs team that has to come in and put up points and you've got to try to keep up. Do you read it that way or am I missing something? I mean, I think it's a fair point. Denver's been managing these last two games without him. I think it's different.

Starting point is 00:04:55 When Pat's on the field, you're essentially saying, hey, we're playing pretty much 10 v. 10. We know that wherever Pat is, he's going to erase that side of the field. He's going to erase that player from the equation. And then now it's kind of open a little bit because now you've got second year cornerback, Chris Abrams, Drain stepping in opposite of Riley Moss. You've got a rookie in Jada Baron who's getting some reps on the outside, playing a lot in the dime alongside J-Quain McMillan,

Starting point is 00:05:18 who's playing primarily the nickel. And right now I look at this Chiefs offense that I feel like, you know, we were having the conversation in the offseason about last year they didn't have a lot of weapons. This year, it seems like they have tons of weapons. You got Hollywood Brown. You got Juju Smith-Schuster. You just got Rishi Rice back. And obviously, Sean Peyton pinpointed that they've been very good since he's returned into the mix. That's one thing he highlighted to us throughout the week here at practice. We also have Taekwan Thornton as well, who's also, you know, a guy who can make plays for you. I just think that right now, I think the Chief's offensive weapons. And of course,

Starting point is 00:05:50 you have Travis Kelsey. He ain't who he used to be, but he's still the threat. at any point on third down in the red zone, or if you need a big time play, he's going to find a way to pick it up. He and Mahomes have that backyard football connection. So this is a big challenge. My question to kind of counter is a little bit. I know Isaiah Pacheco going into the by week was banged up, didn't play against the Buffalo Bills. He was a D&P during Wednesday's practice this week. Do you anticipate that Pacheco will be back into the mix for the Chiefs here on Sunday?

Starting point is 00:06:18 Well, you did mention, you didn't mention Xavier Worthy, who I think is also another guy that's Speed deep. It is going to really affect this offense. But I don't expect Pacheco back. It doesn't look like he's going to be ready to go. And at this point, it's going to be probably Kreme Hunt, and you're going to see Breschard Smith. My question becomes, who's their third running back?

Starting point is 00:06:39 And do they actually put them on the field? Because Clyde Edwards O'Lear was that guy against the Buffalo Bills. If they go that direction again, I will not understand it. I think it should be Elijah Mitchell, but we'll see which direction they go. I would not expect Pacheco. I think it is a loss for this Chief's team. But the thing I would carry you on, and while I completely agree with you, Travis Kelsey isn't what he once was,

Starting point is 00:06:59 you put all the pieces around him that he has around him. He doesn't have to be what he once was. He can be 70, 85, 85% of what he once was and still be okay because he's got other guys taking coverages elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Broncos have Mercedes-Lewis back into the mix of it, all this tight end in obviously NFL history. And I'm playing in the regular season. Is that confirmed 40 years old?

Starting point is 00:07:24 41. Is he on the active roster? Is he on the practice squad? Practice squad, but they've elevated him the last two weeks. I'm sure they'll probably elevate him here this week, though. They did just add little Jordan Humphrey back into the mix here, stealing him away from the New York Giants, which, you know, you go from playing from, you know, avoiding Russell.

Starting point is 00:07:41 So now they're going to start James Winston this week. Back to Denver, where you know the playbook, you know Sean Payton. So just another added option there, you know, for Denver. I just think this is a big. big game here. Look for the Broncos. It's not necessarily, they're not coming off of a buy. You get a mini buy after you play on Thursday night football, but it's not enough to really kind of reset. Players kind of took after Thursday, got away for a couple of days, came back on Monday because the offense has been struggling. That's one of the biggest storylines here with this Broncos team

Starting point is 00:08:08 that I said is going to be a problem if that offense shows up on Sunday against Kansas City because I see Kansas City, even with Denver's defense being as good as they are, they're going to get stops. They're going to get after Mahomes here and there. but you can't be on the field the entire game against Kansas City here because I'll go back to a few weeks when they played the Washington commanders. I thought that the Chief's offense did a terrific job of controlling the time of possession where they had multiple eight, 10 yard, I mean, 10 play drives. One was like a 102 yard drive that they had because of penalties. You took seven or eight minutes off the clock and you scored every time. It's hard to beat.

Starting point is 00:08:44 And the defense for Denver simply can't be on the field as much as they have been as of late. That's why they're going to need the offense to complement them a little bit better. I certainly agree with you. And it takes a group. This is, this is AFC West competition, right? Not one side of the ball is going to get it done. And I just hope we don't come down to another last second ball game. I'm a little tired of them. I think the Broncos are probably enjoying it, right? The fortunes have flipped from 25 to 24. Yeah. That's been crazy too, just seeing the difference. Last year, Casey was winning all these one-score games, finding ways to win. This year, Denver's finding ways to win. Kansas City seems to be on the other side of it. It's like this weird balancing. act here. And I think this is a big game for Denver because you have a chance to go to

Starting point is 00:09:24 nine and two, which you haven't been in a long time, but you also have a chance to do that against Kansas City. And you push them down a little bit in the AFC. It would make things very, very interesting for the division because I do think that Kansas City is in a position. They could go on a run here over the next handful of weeks. Look, they got two tough matchups, Denver, the Indianapolis Colts. And then I feel like, yes, you got one more matchup with the chargers. I feel like after that, though, the schedule is wide open for Kansas City to kind of be right where they want to be essentially down the stretch for the postseason. So that's something that concerns me.

Starting point is 00:09:55 And look, this is a big game for both sides here. And one thing we're going to do here on today's crossover episode, we're going to go through some of the key matchups we think will define the outcome of Sunday's game. You get all that here on today's. Locked on Broncos, Locked on Chiefs, crossover Thursday. Today's crossover Thursday is brought to you by our friends over there at Supply House. And when the opening whistle blows on a new repair, get your crew moving forward with

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Starting point is 00:12:17 Gentlemen, let's get into some of the key matchups here that are going to define the outcome of this game. I'm going to start off with you guys. What's a matchup from the Kansas City perspective that both of you guys kind of have your eye on here as it pertains to matching up with the Broncos here in the Mile High City? Okay. I'm looking at this and I'm looking at just Rishi Rice against anybody that he's going to be going up against. I don't know if it's going to be Riley Moss or who they're going to have. But I will say the thing that I've noticed when watching the Broncos is Riley Moss, when he's been thrown at it, has been a guy. that's gotten a lot of penalties, that could cause some issues for the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:12:51 I'm just going to be curious to see what Rishie Rice is able to do against this Broncos defense because it is a very good defense, but like you said, without Pat Certain, it changes a little bit. And with all the different weapons that Kansas City has and them coming off a buy, I have to feel like they're going to have a great game playing for this Denver defense. Well, I am tempted to cheat and take a position group, but I will boil it down because it comes down to protecting the quarterback for both of these teams. And so facing a group of pass rushers that the Broncos have is a tall tail. It is difficult, especially with Juan Taylor coming off of an injury and a second injury

Starting point is 00:13:30 that it's been nagging on him since the offseason. Then the whole drama with Joshua Simmons, you have Jalen Moore, but it can only play on one side of the ball and we don't know if either the other tackles are ready to go, yet you have to face Benito and Cooper. And that's a problem. But that's not the biggest one in my appointment. As I look at this game, Kings and Suamante has been the left guard for about half a minute, and he's really, really progressed, and I'm very happy for him.

Starting point is 00:13:54 I just don't know that he's ready for Zach on. I think that's going to be the matchup because it's so much closer to the quarterback's first step, that's the one that I'm concerned about in the pass rush, because I think everything else that the Broncos need to do can rotate off of that particular one-on-one. Yeah, no, and I think my matchup kind of plays into that because I am going with Denver's pass rush against Mahomes. Look, I think Denver's going to have to find a way to be of better on third down. Right now defensively, they're in a great spot.

Starting point is 00:14:19 They're the number one third down defense Indian available. Anytime you play Patrick Mahomes, as we even saw last year, there were times in that first matchup at Arrowhead where, I mean, it was a thrilling game for all of us there. Mahomes escaped a couple of Nick Benito, Sacks, was able to throw the ball away or obviously evade and find Somaget P. Ryan last year on a pickup, or we know on third down, let's say it's third and 15.

Starting point is 00:14:41 We know that Kansas City has the guys to run the defensive backs off, and then Mahomes will use his legs. try to pick it up. We've seen that. That's, that's historic Pat Mahomes. The rush lanes and the integrity this week are going to be so big here for the Broncos defense. I'm going with obviously Nick Benito, Jonathan Cooper. Ryan, I'm glad you brought up Zach Allen because this defensive line, I mean, they have been on a historic pace so far this season. Right now, they're on pace to break the record set by obviously the 1984 Chicago Bears, which was 72 sacks in the season. Coming into this game, they're at 46 sacks.

Starting point is 00:15:11 They're coming off of a six-sack game against Gino Smith and that Las Vegas Raiders team. Mahomes is hard to bring down, but I think Denver will be able to get home a few times. So you mentioned those guys on the outside. You mentioned Zach Allen. When Zach is getting double teamed, now you get a one-on-one with John Franklin Myers, who's having a terrific year. To the point, the Broncos may not be able to pay him, and he may go to free agency next year and get a big-time deal somewhere else

Starting point is 00:15:34 because of what he's been able to do. Hopefully not Kansas City. Yes, that's the one thing we're going to say there. But I would say that the trenches, I really think for this game are going to define it. The Broncos offensive line has been pretty good so far with dealing with the loss of Ben Powers at left guard. Alex Paucheske's filled in relatively nicely. Bow Nix is a hard quarterback to sack. But the one thing I always go to, Nick Bolton, Steve Spagnolo, third down, that A-Gap blitz.

Starting point is 00:16:01 Or sometimes they'll blitz the nickel and the corner, depending if it's the short side of the field. I worry about those disguise looks this week here for Denver from a protection standpoint. It's going to be you bring up some great points. So you start looking at the Chief's defensive line against the. different Broncos. What is Chris Jones going to be doing this week after not looking great the past couple of weeks that he's been playing? And there's been questions about his effort and questions about how well he's been playing in the season in general. You're paying him a ton of money and he hasn't been producing. This is a game where he needs to step up and he needs to produce.

Starting point is 00:16:35 And you know, you're looking at the chief's defensive line and outside of Chris Jones, they don't really have anything else. And then you get into practice today and you see, George Karloftus practiced, but it was on the injury report with an injury we didn't even know about. Now, it's a thumb. I would imagine that he'll be playing. I don't think that there's any question that he'll play this game, but you still don't want to see them having injuries going into this one. Yeah. No, that's a big one as well. And I'm curious as well how the chiefs and Steve Spagnullough were going to game plan against Cortland Sutton. I mean, last year was Trent McDuffie. Trent's obviously their top cornerback. They follows everybody. But what we've been

Starting point is 00:17:14 seeing opposing defenses do so far this season, they're bracketing Cortland. They're playing press coverage on the outside. They're jamming him and allowing that corner to play underneath while they have a safety climbing up inside and over the top there. So defenses have really tried to take away Cortland Sutton as Bo Nix's go-to guy. And that's led to Troy Franklin being the guy who's received the most targets so far offensively this season. Denver will get Marvin Mims back in this game. But from a defensive perspective on Kansas City side against Denver's offense, that's one matchup that I think if if Cortland Sutton can come out and make some big catches against McDuffie,

Starting point is 00:17:47 which he did last season, it could change the momentum of this game here for Denver offensively, and it could get them in the groove that they've certainly been missing. I will caution you, because one of the disguises might be to think like that, because I don't think Steve Spagnola is going to really try to set Trent McDuffie up for success that way again. I think he's a little bit more comfortable, shall we say, with the matchup of McDuffie on Franklin,

Starting point is 00:18:08 who, as you said, has been getting those targets, and I think it's the A, B scenario, right? this season, Jen Lanson and the rookie Noel Williams have provided that physical kind of contact, play through the route. The thing that Steve Spagnol is looking for, I think you might see a change of personnel on Cortland in order to try and not create that same matchup that did work out so well for Denver last time. I think it all depends on the way the rookie plays to tell you the truth. We might see a rotation, but it is definitely going to be job number one to take away, Coreyland. Chris, what do you think from an offensive perspective for Kansas City against Denver's defense sets, obviously not. Rishi Rice related at this point.

Starting point is 00:18:45 I don't think Denver is like if Pat was playing, I think that they would travel Pat, probably with Rishie Rice. I don't know if that's going to be the case. I think that they're going to just keep the corners on whatever side that they're at and they're going to keep them there and not move them around because I don't feel like you can get away with that without Pat against this chief's team with all the personnel that they certainly have. I would agree with that.

Starting point is 00:19:07 I think that when you look at this and you look at how it's going, Hollywood Brown hasn't played a very big role in this offense. I wonder if that is going to be something that they're going to try to focus on, try to get him more involved so they can get, you know, be a little bit more effective. They kind of weren't very effective against the Buffalo Bills and that really made that game a struggle to score points. You cannot do that in this game against the Denver Broncos. You have to put points on the board. And regardless of how much the Denver Broncos offense has struggled, I still feel like going into this game, you're going to get a Super Bowl-type atmosphere. maybe not a Super Bowl-type atmosphere,

Starting point is 00:19:45 but a playoff-type atmosphere from this team, from the Broncos and from the Chiefs, and you're going to be looking at this as like, this is one of the biggest games of the year for both teams, because it really is. If Denver wins this game, I'm not going to say they put away Kansas City from having a chance at the division,

Starting point is 00:19:59 but it's really close. And if Kansas City wins, they hold all the cards. As you said earlier, I mean, their schedules a little bit easier. They play the Broncos again. They play the Chargers again.

Starting point is 00:20:09 They could conceivably get to a point where they're tied with the Broncos, if they've got two wins against them, they'll be ahead of the Broncos. And so you look at how this is playing out. It's in Kansas City's hands, but it's a question of can they take advantage of it? Yeah. So you're telling me this is the biggest game of the year so far for both teams? I think we'll all take that there.

Starting point is 00:20:28 Funny interesting note, you brought up Hollywood Brown. What is his injury? The Hollywood Brown injury. I saw it on the injury report there. They're like Marquise Brown injury. Hollywood Brown. I was like, all right. I don't know if that's like Roosevelt.

Starting point is 00:20:39 Air follicle, we're pretty sure at this point. Something like that. But this should be an exciting matchup. Obviously, you know, there's going to be a handful of matchups that will determine the outcome of this game. And we're going to go through what each team needs to do on Sunday in order to come away with the victory. You're going to get all that here on today's Lockdown Broncos, Locked on Chiefs, Crossover Thursday. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. And as the days get shorter and the nights come earlier, it can start to fill a little heavier,

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Starting point is 00:22:02 why didn't I do this sooner? Check it out today at betterhelp.com slash locked on. The stage is set for Sunday's AFC West matchup here between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. We've talked about the biggest storylines. We've talked about the key matchups. But what is it that each team must do on Sunday? If they're going to leave this game, if the Broncos are going to go to 9 and 2,

Starting point is 00:22:24 or if the Chiefs are going to approve to 6 and 4, what is it that they have to do? Cody, work of Lockdown Broncos joined alongside Ryan Tracy and Chris Clark of Locked on Chiefs here. Gentlemen, I'm going to start off with you. If the Kansas City Chiefs are going to kind of get out of this slump and improve to 6 and 4, so to speak. What is it that they have to do? Chris, we'll start with you on defense. And then, Ryan, if you could give us the keys here on offense, what is it that Kansas City has to do in order to come away with the victory on Sunday? I'd say there's two things, maybe three, that they need to do. Pressure Bonex is probably number one. Create a turnover would be another. And then it's

Starting point is 00:23:02 just shut down the running game. If you're not going to be going against J.K. Dobbins, which it sounds like you're probably not going to. Take that away. from them. Make it to where they have to be one dimensional and they have to try to pass because your past defense has been the strength of this defense this season. And I think that's the position that they would want to be in. On the offensive side,

Starting point is 00:23:22 it's pretty straightforward. I hate to be the throwback guy, but I'm the throwback guy. Run the ball. Control the time of possession. Run at them, especially attack the middle of the defense without singleton there. Try to get the pass rushers to have to slow down by attacking them physically in the run game.

Starting point is 00:23:38 It's job number one. Then you come comeback and really this is on Andy Reid more than it is the team, but you have to lash your foot to the accelerator and keep it on the floor the entire time. Four comebacks in the fourth quarter for Bo Nicks this season. You can't let it be within 10 points by the time that that fourth period starts. So you have to build that lead. You have to take that lead and you've got to keep mashing that accelerator. And the last thing is protect the ball. You don't give it away. You can't blame anybody but yourself. And I think that this is a team that is now ready after the buy. When I feel like for the first time in three or four seasons, they really needed it.

Starting point is 00:24:14 I think they're ready to buckle down and protect themselves a little bit better. Yeah, no, I think those are great keys too and certainly some challenges that will, I think, present some obstacles here for the Broncos, offensively, defensively, that they're going to have to overcome and not let the Chiefs get hot with. I think for the Broncos, Ryan, I'm going to use something that you said here. The Broncos this week, they have to find a way to run the football. Look, statistically, they're a top five rushing offense right now in the NFL, but the run-pass balance has been so inconsistent.

Starting point is 00:24:42 I mean, for the last two weeks, for example, the Broncos, they ran the ball six times total in the first half against the Texans, six times total against the Raiders while they had Bow-Nicks throwing 15 plus times. And look, when you're not completing passes and you're going through a little bit of a slump that Bo Nix certainly has been in the last couple of games, you can get into that same situation here against the Steve Spagnolo defense because he's going to send pressure in the middle. He's going to send it off the edge.

Starting point is 00:25:06 He's going to send it from the corner position. He's going to blitz the safety from time to the time. He's going to try to get the Broncos into some long field situations. Penalties have killed this Broncos offense this season. They've backed them up. They've got 83 penalties on the year as a team. 42 of them are on the offense. And I talked to a few Broncos players this week.

Starting point is 00:25:25 And I asked him, what's been going on with the struggles offensively? And he said, honestly, we're putting ourselves behind the sticks far too often. Well, that makes it easier for the defense. If it's third and 15, all of a sudden, your defense, Hey, we're going to just sit at the sticks. We're going to play back. We want you to throw it short. We're going to rally and tackle and then get off the field.

Starting point is 00:25:43 The Broncos had eight three and outs last week against the Raiders on their first 12 drives. That's not good. You can't make that mistake against Kansas City. You take that pressure off of Boehnix by running the football. Yes, probably no J.K. Dobbins in this game, but R.J. Harvey, Jule McLaughlin, Tyler Biday, find a way to use the run game because it is one of the bigger strengths of this team than Sean Payton gives it credit for. Sometimes he goes away from the run. defensively. You can have to get after Patrick Mahomes a little bit, specifically, get off the field

Starting point is 00:26:09 on third down, get stops in the red zone. You're going to get one of the best red zone offenses in the NFL right now with Kansas City against the number one red zone defense in NFL. This is pay-per-view TV. This is appointment watching here this week. And if the Broncos can find a way to get after Mahomes a few times and the offense can find a way to put up points, I think Denver can control the pace here at Empower Field at mile high. But this is going to be a game I think is going to go down to the wire. Jents, how do you think this is going to go? You got any bold predictions for Sunday's game?

Starting point is 00:26:40 I don't have a bold prediction, but I will say this. If you are going to go with get them out, get off the field on third down, you better make sure it's not going to be a fourth and short. Andy Reed and the chiefs have been going forward on fourth down so much more this year than they have in past years. And this is a game where they cannot afford to not be aggressive. So you have to make it, you know, a situation where it's fourth and four or more if they're not past the 40 yard line or the Denver 40 yard line.

Starting point is 00:27:07 So to me, I think that's the big thing. I think the one big big, big bold prediction I will make is that the chiefs are going to go for a fourth down, maybe two on their own side of the 50, just because that's who they've become this season. Okay. I mean, yeah, Denver's going to have to be on their peas and cues. I mean, the Raiders took that same approach on Thursday night football, went for it several times on fourth down.

Starting point is 00:27:30 And luckily, Talo, who Fonka, got a sack on Gino-Smith on one of those fourth and seven looks there. The way the Vance Joseph has been disguising his coverages and his blitz looks have been great. It's hard for defenses to really scheme against. You can't diagnose it pre-snap, but you can hope that you can adjust on the fly. So I'm excited. This is going to be one I think where everyone's going to let everything loose here.

Starting point is 00:27:50 Ryan, any closing thoughts on the chief side of things? Yeah, I will tell you this. One of the most intriguing matchups for me, I think could be the thing that turns the tide on this. And it's not about Rishi Rice. I understand that he is the premier and you've got to take him away. But I think this team looked at roster, and I think Barron's in Denver, partially to try to understand what Xavier Worthy is going to do. I think Xavier still has the advantage.

Starting point is 00:28:13 I think they get it to him, and he has a very big day against the Denver defense. Well, we'll see. Obviously, you don't want that to happen. If you're a Broncos fan, you don't want anyone getting deep downfield. You know, there's a propensity for teams to take some shots downfield. They're going to take some chances, especially with PS2 not being in the mix. But it's also an opportunity for your playmakers to go out there and obviously get some picks. look, Kansas City's done a great job this year of not turning the football over in terms of fumbles.

Starting point is 00:28:37 Mahomes has thrown a few picks, but they're one of the teams who are top ranked right now in the NFL and not turning the football over. Denver has to find a way to change that because they haven't forced a lot of takeaways essentially. Dandre Tillman outside linebacker leads to the team in interception so far this season. So you would think that, you know, with the guys you have in the secondary, those guys would have picks. Those have not come yet here outside of Brandon Jones getting an interception. Talo, Oufong has come close. but I think one of the bigger keys this week is Denver doing that. I think Dre Greenlaw, who's been healthy now and he's ready to rock and roll,

Starting point is 00:29:08 I think he's going to have a big game. He might have a sack here on Mahomes, could even have an interception in this game. That would be my bold prediction here. But gentlemen, we're all excited for Sunday's game. It is the biggest game of the week that should have been flexed to some prime time action so everybody in the world could see it here. But stay tuned to Lockdown Chiefs, Lockdown Broncos every step of the way here as we continue to break it down. Plus, you get postgame coverage.

Starting point is 00:29:32 more following those games. Thanks for rocking with us here on crossover Thursday and making the lockdown podcast network now the number one sports podcast network in the world. We appreciate you so much gentlemen. Good luck and we'll see you all on Sunday.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - CROSSOVER: Denver Broncos Can CEMENT AFC WEST Control vs. Kansas City Chiefs

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