Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - CRUCIAL: Denver Broncos Must Use Evan Engram MORE

Starting point is 00:00:00 In the second half of the season, the Denver Broncos must find a way to use tight-in. Evan Ingram more efficiently. We'll break it all down here on today's episode, Locked-on Broncos. You are Locked-on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Happy Friday Broncos country and welcome in with another episode, Lockedon Broncos, Your Daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in the country.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Thank you so much to all the everydayers out there. Thanks for making us your first list. Broncos country, we appreciate you as always. I'm Cody Rourke, credential Broncos media member for Mile High Sports, where you can check out my written work daily over there, milehigh sports.com. Joined, as always, by Sarah Bedinger, longtime site expert there, predominantly orange.com,

Starting point is 00:00:50 where you can check out his daily written Broncos coverage as well. We got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the shows. The Broncos are going to enjoy this weekend by just sitting back and watching everybody else play, and then they'll be back next week. But we'll go through why the Broncos must use Evan Ingram more efficiently in the second half stretch of the season, especially if the Broncos want to make a deep playoff run and push for a Super Bowl. Plus, we'll tell you why Sean Payton's run-pass balance has to improve here in the second half if Denver is going to find a way to sustain offensively.

Starting point is 00:01:22 Plus, we'll also go through and maybe say, hey, the Broncos, they'll win the AFC West if they take care of these things as a team. We'll go through all that and more. Tell you who to root for in Sunday's games on today's episode. the show brought to you by our friends over there at the game time out download the game time app create an account use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase sir my friend happy Friday brother great to see you here we're in the by week right so a lot of this is just okay what are the broncos do well in the first half what didn't they do well we've done a lot of reflection rookie report cards what are some things that the broncos have to do a little bit better in the

Starting point is 00:01:58 second half i know the other day you and i were talking and you were going to bring up evan ingram and how he's been utilized so far. I agree. I think that could be one area the Broncos can drastically improve if they want to go a little bit further. Yeah, definitely. Evan Ingram needs more targets,

Starting point is 00:02:14 more receptions, more work in the red zone, more everything. And I think we will get that because we saw close to the by week, a bit of an uptick in work for Evan Ingram. I think he ultimately right now is third on the team and targets behind Troy Franklin and Cortland Sutton, which is probably about where we expected him,

Starting point is 00:02:33 to be, not necessarily behind Franklin and Sutton, but third on the team in targets, depending whoever was ahead of him. It seemed right at the beginning of the year that he'd be one of the top three on the team in overall looks on a weekly basis. But when you look at those targets and when you look at the opportunities that he's getting, 50 total targets through 11 games, 32 receptions, 8.1 yards per catch, just 260 yards, and then the one touchdown, which came against the Philadelphia Eagles, it's clear that the Broncos can do more to get him opportunities in space to create after the catch. They can do more to get him opportunities at the catch point downfield, whether it's drive starter, whether it's from midfield, doesn't matter where. It just feels

Starting point is 00:03:19 like they can get Evan more involved and utilize the full arsenal of his skill set. We see those kind of what I call manufactured touches, right, where they want to swing the ball out to him quickly. You got a little tight end screen. whatever you want to call it. And we see plenty of those types of plays for Evan to get him going a little bit or to just get him involved, but not enough stuff to where, all right, he's going to be our primary read on this play,

Starting point is 00:03:45 at least from my vantage point, Cody, that's where I feel like we could see more Evan Ingram is just all around getting him those looks in every phase of the passing game. Yeah, he's appeared in 10 games this year too, right? I know there was one week he missed with an injury because of his back,

Starting point is 00:04:00 but also he's playing a career low. right now in terms of overall snaps there, 44% of the team's offensive snaps this year, and so much of this is because of Sean Payton's heavy personnel rotations, right? We're talking 12 and 13 personnel where there's a situation that the Broncos want to run the ball. They're

Starting point is 00:04:16 bringing in Adam Troutman, Nate Atkins, or as of late Adam Troutman, Mercedes, Lewis, just to go with some of those heavier looks because of the injury there to Nate Adkins. So that obviously factors into it a little bit. You know, you and I've talked a lot about obviously the attention to Cortland Sutton is seeing from opposing defenses, and how teams are also trying to take away him,

Starting point is 00:04:34 and they're also trying to allocate coverage resources towards Troy Franklin. In my opinion, Sarah, and I think that when Evan is in, you don't want it to be in a situation where it's like, all right, hey, we know they're going to pass here. I mean,

Starting point is 00:04:45 ideally, Evan can block. Evan can take angles and obviously still different shoulders of defenders. But I don't feel like his usage is where it's necessarily thriving right now, right? And certainly there's moments where Evan has been called upon, where he's had a couple of drops this year.

Starting point is 00:05:01 I think we can be very honest about that. But the usage hasn't been the way that I think you and I have envisioned or anybody in Broncos country so far. And I think that's a little frustrating too. I think Evans got some frustration with that. But Denver's 9 and 2 right now, Sarah. So, I mean, he's not going to be unhappy with that. I think that he could play even more.

Starting point is 00:05:19 I think that the Broncos should find a way to get him on the field as much as they can. Essentially, he's another receiver in this regard. But part of me is also wondering how much of Evan's role thrives based on the fact that when Nate Adkins is healthy, Nate can stay in a block. He can be that motion kickout guy off the edge. And now you can isolate Evan in a one-on-one matchup.

Starting point is 00:05:39 I mean, how many times you've seen a few instances this year, the Broncos match him up against the linebacker on fourth down? He goes out and he gets it. Like to me, I want to see more of this from Sean Payton and Evan Ingram. It's not all on Evan, but man, find a way to get him on the field more. Yeah, to your point right there. I mean, he's played 300 snaps this season, which is 44% of the.

Starting point is 00:06:00 offensive snaps. And he played 362 snaps in 10 games or nine games, excuse me, last year with the Jacksonville Jaguar. So it was playing at a 72% clip with them. I just, when you sign a player at the tight end position whose calling card is catching passes. I mean, you and I talked to this offseason. He nearly set the NFL tight end single season record with receptions in a season, right? So this is a guy who can catch a high volume of passes. He can handle a high percentage of the target share. If you've signed somebody who's not a fit for your offense, you've got to really go back to the drawing board and say, okay, so what advanced Joseph just say to Peter Schrager, right? He said, players first, scheme second. That's the approach that Sean Payton has to take when it

Starting point is 00:06:49 comes to Evan Ingram. Players first, scheme second, right? We know you want to get all the personnel groupings out there. We know that you want to do all the disguising that way. But when you sign somebody like Evan Engram, man, that it has to be a bread and butter type of option for your passing game. So that's where I think my frustration comes from here is, you know, you had Evan say that he was recruited by Peyton and part of that recruitment process was, you know, hey, the pitches, we want you to play this joker position, you know, affect the middle of the field,

Starting point is 00:07:20 be that elite past catching weapon at the tight end position. and to see it be such a frustrating, you know, slow moving sort of involvement in the offense, it's not all on Evan. It's 44% of the snaps, right? So 50 targets in 10 games, that's not necessarily a bad percentage of the share, but I think that it could be obviously a lot greater in the overall outlook where they're not getting him a ton of looks. They're not getting him a ton of looks where he can create in space.

Starting point is 00:07:50 They're not getting him a ton of looks where, hey, we're running rub routes and we're trying to get Evan some, we're trying to create a lane for him to be able to run after the catch. Like, you just don't see a ton of that stuff. So that's what I want to see more of here after the buy. Well, I want to see more middle of the field stuff too, right?

Starting point is 00:08:07 I feel like a lot of the routes that we've seen, the Broncos try to get Evan Ingram open on are those quick speedouts or where you're bending it, right? And there's been a couple of, a couple of times where defenses have kind of telegraphed that they've keyed in on it. I mean, what was it? I think it was the New York Jets game where we saw him isolated again. James and Sherwood one-on-one, fourth and four, shakes him, gets out in space,

Starting point is 00:08:28 picks up the first down. Then he's had a couple of catches across the middle of the field where he's just running a deep over. And it's like, why can't we see more of that? Why can't we just have Evan Ingram just run a quick, you know, curl inside at six to seven yards, have him catch it. There you go. Okay, now you got second and manageable here.

Starting point is 00:08:45 Like the quick hitting game is there. We saw the Broncos actually do that against the Dallas Cowboys before Boe through that interception on that RPO there to Pat Bryant. I remember the first play was, hey, quick drop back. I'm going to quick fire. Evan's going to sit, catch, boom, six, seven yards right then and there. Then the Broncos ran the ball and they got a first down. So for me, the formula is there.

Starting point is 00:09:04 I think the biggest key is how do you do it without necessarily changing Peyton's approach, which we know he's not going to do that. He likes having a lot of different personnel. And of course, there's a rhyme and a reason to it. It can be effective. But if it's taken away more opportunities for some of your best playmakers to make plays, maybe there's a compromise to be had here from Sean Payton. Of course, Broncos Country, we are curious for your thoughts here on today's episode of show.

Starting point is 00:09:27 Let us know what you would like to see the Broncos and Sean Payton do a little bit more of with Evan Ingram here in the second half stretch. I think the Broncos can find a way to use him and he can explode. He could be a big reason why they go on a deep playoff run or why they have success when they get into the playoffs to potentially get back to the Super Bowl. How crazy would that be here? But with this, at Broncos Country coming up next, Sarah and I, we're going to sit and discuss how Sean Payton, the run past balance, has to be better in the second half stretch of the season of the Broncos hope to sustain and find their offensive identity. You'll get that here on today's episode of the show. Today's show is brought to you by friends over there at prize picks.

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Starting point is 00:10:46 after you play your first $5 lineup that's code locked on NFL for $50 in lineups after you play your first five. dollar lineup. Price picks. It's good to be right. Today's show is also brought the of our friends over there at Duer. I love the pair of Duer jeans that I have. I also have a long sleeve button up shirt. I have their performance denim, slim, straight jeans, and they are the most comfortable pair of jeans that I own. They look like a pair of jeans, but they're stretchy and athletic wear like athletic wear. You get the best of both worlds in there. They're anti-bacterial, meaning that your jeans stay fresher for longer and you can wear them more and wash them less. They're made with cool max technology that regulates your body temperature and wicks moisture. Deer jeans, they feel stretchy without looking stretchy, and that's a game changer. Doer combines classic jeans wear style with the kind of comfort and performance that you get from athletic wear. As I mentioned, you get the best of both worlds all in one package. And Doer, they are pioneers of blending technical innovation with everyday clothing. They invented the original performance denim.

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Starting point is 00:12:18 But is it over for Julian McLaughlin? No, I don't think so. And we're going to talk about that coming up on today's episode of Lockdown Broncos. I want to say thank you to every single one of you out there. That makes Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day every single day. And you know what? The Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. We appreciate every single one of you.

Starting point is 00:12:38 If you haven't done so already, hit subscribe wherever listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube. Let's talk about this run past balance, Cody, because I know there's been funny moments where like Sean Peyton has had run the ball on the back of his play sheet and you know he's been talking about how yeah we want to commit to the run more but we just didn't have enough plays or you know you get into the flow of a game and you're you're talking about okay end of half situation you're loading up on past plays there so that's why it looks like there's not as much of a balance i mean i feel like we've heard kind of every not excuse in the book but i feel like we've kind of heard every reason why the run past balance hasn't necessarily been what it should be it's more so, and correct me if I'm wrong on this,

Starting point is 00:13:22 but it's more so to me the third and one situation where you try a trick play to Cortland Sutton, right? Or it's the, you know, you get down into the tight red zone, you try the trick play to RJ Harvey, or you get down to the tight red zone, you throw three straight passes with Bo Nix. It's those sorts of situations where I think you really lose that balance in the running game that you so desperately need.

Starting point is 00:13:47 Yeah, look, and I think the numbers kind of, to tell the story here, Sarah, for the Broncos. When you look at Bow Nix and how many passing attempts he has so far through the first 11 games of the season, it's 387 throwing attempts for the Broncos offense compared to how many rushing attempts total as a team, 291, and that's not factoring in Jared Stidham, kneel downs or anybody else. Like, that is a low volume in comparison. Like, you're leaning on your passing game a lot more than your run game.

Starting point is 00:14:14 And your run game is actually more efficient. It is one of the top ranked rushing offenses right now in terms of yards per game collectively as a team. But Sarah, just imagine the balance was a little bit more equitable, I'd say, in the first half. Now, if the passing game is working, great, you know, continue to pour it on. But as we've seen, teams have been saying, hey, they're not really running the ball. They're throwing it. So they're playing coverage. They're protecting the sticks.

Starting point is 00:14:37 And that is leading to, you know, obviously at times we saw it against the Raiders. Led to what? Seven or eight straight three announced for the Broncos offense on 12 of their total offensive drives. Like, that is rough production right there. And in order to take that pressure off your quarterback a little bit, Sean Payton has said it so many times. The best ally for a young QB is a good run game and a strong defense. The Broncos have a very strong defense, a very good defense.

Starting point is 00:15:00 As a matter of fact, the best in the league. They have a good run offense, but we don't know what that's going to look like right now going forward without J.K. Dobbins, who was obviously well on pace to surpass maybe 1,400, 1,500 yards on the ground this season. He was at 700, which surpassed the amount of yards of Andy Broncos running back has had in what the last four or five seasons here in the mile high city the broncos haven't had a a rusher even come close to that i think last year it was javanti had like 500 yards

Starting point is 00:15:25 on the ground so for me the proof is in the pudding and we've seen it in the last handful of weeks against the chiefs against the texans and also against the raiders the broncos had 15 plus passing attempts in the first half how many rushing attempts did they have in the first half in each of those games six sarah going into half time six total carries and you I'm taking away in the Chiefs game, two Bonix scrambles where he was trying to pick up yards when things broke down. That is not going to help you in the second half of the season where the key this late in the season is wearing teams down, grinding them down, converting first downs and then opening things up. The Broncos run game has to get a little bit more love here in the second half, in my opinion. Yeah, do they have the personnel to do that?

Starting point is 00:16:08 I think that's the question, right? I mean, we know that their only option right now as a time that we're recording this is R.J. Harvey, J.L. McLaughlin and Tyler Breday, those are the guys that they have. There's no J.K. Dobbins. He's not going to rescue this team. He was a maybe the singular source of consistency that we had in the first 11 games offensively for this team, which makes his absence the rest of the way. You want to know the numbers? Yeah, let's hear the numbers.

Starting point is 00:16:37 J.K. Dobbins rushing yards, 772. How many first downs did J.K. have on the ground? 37, 398 yards before contact, right? R.J. Harvey, 244 yards rushing. So there's almost a 500-yard difference between these guys. RJ's had 61 attempts, only nine first downs, 118 yards before contact. And then you got Bo Nix, the third leading rush rate, 213 yards. So, I mean, yeah, Denver's got some good numbers. But, man, That is pretty imbalanced when you talk about the production of where it's coming from. And I think it just proves that you're putting a lot of faith in your young backs, which I think is okay, right? I mean, you use a second round pick on RJ Harvey, and it's just that the stakes are high, right? Everybody wants the rookies to be what they were drafted to be until you actually have to use them, right?

Starting point is 00:17:30 I mean, the New England Patriots are kind of in a, or were in kind of a similar situation, weren't they? They spun their wheels with Ramandre Stevenson. He was fumbling all over the place. They spun their wheels with Antonio Gibson. He's fumbling all over the place. Everybody's sitting here wondering, why are they not using Travian Henderson?

Starting point is 00:17:48 They spent a second round pick on this guy, right? Then we see him get out there and he struggles in his first start. Didn't he? I mean, that was the, I know he's because he's on my fantasy team. I watched it. I watched it all unfold.

Starting point is 00:18:00 But then he starts coming out and he starts building a little confidence. He just had a three touchdown game. So I know RJ Harvey's already won AFC offensive rookie of the week one time because he had a three touchdown game. But we haven't seen the, all right, give this guy the ball 20 times and watch him just dominate. That's something we haven't seen yet.

Starting point is 00:18:23 So it's fair for people to be skeptical of it. But that's what you drafted him to do in the second round. You believed in his running abilities. You saw the potential as a pass catcher. now we have to let him do his thing. And that's where I think this, it could be a make or break sort of thing in the post-by portion of this season. I want to ask you a question here, okay, since the Broncos have this second half stretch remaining. And look, right now the running backs on the roster, on the active roster, it is RJ who Sean says is going to see more extensive looks with JK being done for the year.

Starting point is 00:18:56 You have Jil, which we saw. I thought Jil did a really good job of getting north-south. I think for RJ, I'd like to see a little more north-south from him. him, but I think late in the game, he did a very good job of that against Kansas City. And he had Tyler Badegh, who's just kind of, like, you know, he's not touching the football in terms of the carry department. He may catch a pass out of the backfield, maybe a screen player, or it's pass pro there. Do you think the Broncos add another back to the mix here?

Starting point is 00:19:19 You know, obviously the Houston Texans just released Damien Pierce. Do you sign a guy like that to your practice squad and have some big body flexibility here? I think you've got to give yourself the option, right? That's the thing to me is that if there's any one position in football, that I know that it's, maybe this is simplifying a little bit too much, right? Other than kickers, right, okay, let's put that qualifier out there. I think if there's one position in football that you can say, hey, a guy could come into your building and you could tell him, here's a couple of plays that we want you to be part of as a runner. Just strictly as a runner will give you a package of plays on passing down so it's not telegraphing. the running back position's got to be it, right?

Starting point is 00:20:03 I mean, you don't have to necessarily know all the ins and outs of the offense to be effective. If they call your number and say, hey, you're running to this gap, go out and read the blocks and do your thing. I think the running back position is the one position in football that you could say, hey, we're picking up a guy in week 12, week 13, and we're asking him to come out basically ice cold in our offense and produce. That's got to be it. So to me, I would be absolutely, you know, putting in a waiver claim for Damien Pierce. I'd be picking up the phone and calling up Latavius Murray saying, hey, do you want to come out of retirement? Wouldn't be the first time Sean Payton asked somebody to come out of retirement, right?

Starting point is 00:20:42 Because he did that Philip Rivers one time. So I think that there's definitely a, let's see what could happen here with somebody on our field in our huddle, in our offense that could work. We'll see if that does happen here. Broncos country, of course, you know, the pro scouting department. but they're always going to be keeping their eyes open on who becomes available, ways to upgrade the roster. They viewed the practice squad as an extension of the 53. So there could be some shuffling.

Starting point is 00:21:07 We'll see if that does happen here. But Broncos country coming up next. We're going to play a little game. Sarah and I are going to give our thoughts on if the Broncos are going to win the AFC West, they've got to do these things in the second half. Plus, we'll tell you who to root for here in week 12 of the NFL action. On today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's show is brought to you by friends over there at game time.

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Starting point is 00:22:31 and they've got a firm grip on being able to win this division. What must they do in order to secure that in the second half stretch? Sarah and I are going to give our picks on that. Plus, we're going to tell you who you should root for here in Week 12's games now that the Broncos are not playing this Sunday. All that here on today's show. I want to say thanks to all the every dayers out there in Broncos country once again. Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen here. Sarah, let's start off with you.

Starting point is 00:22:54 The Broncos will win the AFC West by dominating the United States. the second half of the schedule if it's a great question isn't it cody because there's a lot of things that broncos country would want to see improved at this point we had so many debates didn't we leading up to that game against kansas city where it felt like things all came together i think if we see more of the bow nicks that we saw against the chiefs then this broncos team can do anything they can win the super bowl and i i mean that genuinely i know that we hope for it every single year. But when Bo plays like that, you're

Starting point is 00:23:27 not turning the ball over. You're making smart, accurate decisions with the football. You're being selfless. You're scrambling when you need to. I just feel like the sky's the limit for this team. I really do. And I think that what we've seen in the first half of this season,

Starting point is 00:23:44 the dropped passes, the opportunities that have been missed by the, if the Broncos can capitalize on those as well, it just feels like, the best of what we've seen from this offense is not the ceiling of what this offense can be. I would be thrilled at any point in the post-by-seven game stretch that we have if we see the best of what this offense brings to the tail because that's a level of complementary football that is going to be beautiful for Broncos Country to watch. Well, look, and I think another thing that you want to add to that is the defense is playing at such a high level right now. You want the defense to continue to do that.

Starting point is 00:24:22 I don't see there being any drop. off from the defense. I think that they learned their lesson from last year. That's why they went on. They added depth to some of the more valuable positions that they have on the field. And they got some game changers to those positions as well in Talanoa, Hufanga, Drake Greenlaw, now playing a little bit more unleashed at this point there. He still continues to pick things up. And I also think where Denver is at in the secondary, they're in a good spot. I think they're in an enviable spot compared to where some other teams maybe wishing that they had the depth that Denver does in the secondary.

Starting point is 00:24:54 So for me, the defense must just continue to play how they are. And you and I've been saying, like in the first half, the trend was, man, if the offense can just score more points, if they could just be more consistent in putting up points, like it would be so easy for this defense to just pin their ears back and just continue to unleash versus being in these tough, gutsy, late, nail-biting games in the fourth quarter. And that goes to why I think you said early on in the week,

Starting point is 00:25:16 where the Broncos red zone offense has to be much better here in the second half, half. If Denver, Sarah, I'm just saying, if they could come away with 10 more points on what they've been averaging at this juncture here and put up points early on, the way that they can play and game plan the rest of a matchup in the first half going into the second half, we'll be entirely different versus, hey, we're playing with our backs against the wall. We need to make a play here. And certainly, you'd love to see your defense be able to score. But if the offense can just play a level better, Sarah, than what they have been, Denver's got the pieces to do it. And look, if Marvin Mim stays healthy, we know how valuable and how dangerous he is on the special team side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:25:55 He is game changing. You give Will Lutz automatic field position range. Like, you know, if you somehow can't score a touchdown, you get near midfield with a nice little punt return. You know that Will Lutz is going to bang it through. So I just think that that's going to be key here. The Broncos, if they do these things, not only will they win the AFC West, I think they can win the AFC. I always dread that first round by, though. I'm not a big believer in the first round buys.

Starting point is 00:26:18 I always feel like that. everybody else is playing and you're you know you got some time off it's great for recovery but i just that's kind of like the curse in my in my opinion yeah but i last year i think those two teams that had it they made it to the super bowl so maybe they can give you a little hope going forward here i know i don't like it either i like to keep that momentum going for sure more 2012 baltimore did the thing man that shoot you had to bring it up you just had to do it didn't you um i think another thing too cody is that the the turnover's forced it's kind of weird right now around the NFL, like the Bears lead the entire NFL with 22 turnovers forced at this point

Starting point is 00:26:55 in the season. The Broncos have nine. And one of them is a special team's force fumble from Jonah Ellis. So, you know, realistically speaking, the defense has forced eight turnovers this season. And that's something that, I mean, has to change. I don't know how you make it change, right? I mean, Vince Joseph has said, like, the turnovers will come in bunches, right? And just imagine because the offense right now is scoring 23.4 points a game, which is only 17th best in the NFL. That's still a decent amount of scoring. I mean, you scored 20. Better than the 16 we used to see.

Starting point is 00:27:29 Better than that 16, the dreaded 16. So you're trusting that you can win most games with the way the offense has played. I mean, in terms of that point average, just imagine, though, how much better this offense could be scoring-wise if the defense is forcing turnovers. Now, I'm not saying it's on the defense that the offense. isn't scoring as much. But if those turnover numbers start to creep up, then this offense is going to absolutely take off after the buy. I think another thing, too, is just that complimentary sense of football.

Starting point is 00:28:03 You know, we talked about getting Evan Moore involved. We got these questions about the run game. What's it going to look like with RJ and Jalil going forward? I think we are going to see a better offensive performance here on the second half. I think that they're going to be locked in. I think that the stretch of games that they played in the first half certainly impacted some things from a preparation standpoint. I think that we're going to see the best version of the Broncos offense here in the second

Starting point is 00:28:25 afternoon. That does come to fruition. Watch out the rest of the end of the world. That's going to be dangerous. But let's get into week 12 here. The Denver Broncos do not play. And you always see it on social media. Everyone's debating who they should root for here.

Starting point is 00:28:38 I think we're going to, we've got to tell Broncos country straight up. You never root for the chiefs. No matter what. The Broncos are in a really good position right now. You do not root for the chiefs. The Colts, they'll drop a game or two. down the road in the second half part of the schedule. I'm not worried about that here.

Starting point is 00:28:52 So for me, we have some games over the weekend. Joe Burrow could be playing against the New England Patriots. Patriots obviously red hot. Can Joe Burrow get some revenge after the Patriots beat the Bengals last year in week one? That to me is going to be interesting to see. We know the defense hasn't been great. And Drake May and then those guys have been playing phenomenal. That Patriots defense has been aggressive.

Starting point is 00:29:14 But there's the return of Joe Burrow potentially change the dynamic. So you should be. rooting for Cincinnati Broncos country. You should also be rooting for the Indianapolis Colts over the Chiefs. How do you feel about that, Sarah? Where do you stand on this? Because I think it is a highly debated topic this week.

Starting point is 00:29:30 Yeah, it is. I know. I get it. I mean, Broncos country is looking at that number one seed and saying, well, the Colts are a direct threat. And if they have the same record as the Broncos, you know, they have the head to head. So I get that aspect of it.

Starting point is 00:29:41 But let's, I think when I'm playing like a process of elimination type game, you want to take the low hanging fruit first, right? You want to get rid of that. You want to eliminate all the variables that you possibly can to get it down to the fewest. So the chiefs right now have a 51% chance of making it to the postseason as of the time that we're recording this. Another loss would give them absolutely no margin for error. Travis Kelsey went on his own podcast and basically said, like, we basically got to run the table. Right. So another loss for Kansas City pushes them further and further into obscurity.

Starting point is 00:30:18 I almost would rather that and take my chances, like you mentioned, with Indianapolis over the remainder of the season. Just let's get the chiefs out of the way now. I wish the Chargers were playing somebody this week so we could get them out of the way, too. Let's get the chiefs out of the way. Let's get the division in hand. You want to host a playoff game. The number one seed is icing on the cake.

Starting point is 00:30:38 Hosting a playoff game is the meat and potatoes of this whole operation. That's the number one focus. Chiefs need to lose this week. Hey, man, I couldn't have said it better, my friend. Sarah, bringing the heat as always. Broncos country, we appreciate you so much. Thanks for rocking with us this week here on lockdown Broncos. That'll wrap up the bye week. The next time you see Sarah and myself, it'll be on Monday's episode of shows.

Starting point is 00:30:59 We talk about Vance Joseph and why the Broncos ownership needs to do whatever they can to keep him in the mile high city. Plus, we got some great notes and tidbits from him on the Broncos process defensively with some of the players in an interview with Peter Schrager. We'll go through all that on Monday's episode, Lockdown Broncos. We'll see you next time. Enjoy your weekend of Broncos free football.

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