Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos, Bo Nix Poised To TAKE CONTROL Of AFC West

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

The Denver Broncos and Bo Nix are poised to take control of the AFC West in 2025. How are the Broncos positioned compared to the Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, and Kansas City Chiefs? Is this Broncos team in the perfect spot to dethrone Patrick Mahomes, and why are the Chargers Denver's toughest threat in the division? Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Denver Broncos and Bow Nicks are ready to make claim in 2025 for the AFC West Crown and we'll tell you how they can do it here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening in Broncos country? Welcome into another episode, Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown podcast network where you know it's your team every day. Thank you so much to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country.

Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen. However you choose to do so. If you're not yet in every day or become on, hit the subscriber, that follow button, wherever you get your podcast. So you never miss out on all your Broncos news, content coverage,

analysis, and more every single day all year long. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. We can check out my written work daily over there at Milehighsports.com. And I'm Sarah Bedinger, site expert at predominantly orange.com

where you can find my written work every day as well. And here's what you're going to get on today's episode of show. Brockos country. It's great to be back to Broncos. we're taking a look at the AFC West outlook here and why the Broncos and Bonix are ready to make claim for the AFC West in 2025. We'll talk about how the Broncos and why they are still ahead of the Las Vegas Raiders in the climb inside the West. And we'll also tell you how the Broncos can get past the Chargers and Justin Herbert here in 2025 after being swept by them last season. And we'll tell you everything that the Broncos need to do to knock off the Kansas City Chiefs to reclaim the AFC West throne, which they haven't held since 2015.

You're going to get all that on today's episode of the show. And Sarah, let's start off by talking about probably one of the more heated rivalries in NFL history, and that is the Denver Broncos against the Las Vegas Raiders. And I see a lot of conversation. I feel like this is one of those dynamics you're going to see between the two fan bases. The Raiders over the last handful of years have had the Broncos number, except last year it was when Bo Nix came in and turned the tie. The Broncos swept the Raiders after losing, what was it, eight straight games against Vegas at that point?

the last time the Broncos had beaten them before last year was when they were still called the Oakland Raiders. So at that point, like, yeah, Denver was kind of in the basement a little bit. But I think the Broncos have garnered traction. Last year, they obviously jumped ahead of the Raiders in a big way, swept them. And I still think even with their additions of Pete Carroll and Gino Smith, I'm a firm believer that the Broncos are still ahead of the Raiders. And that move isn't going to mean much.

Yeah, I think so too. I think the Raiders did get better offensively this offseason. There's no question about it. you bring in Gino Smith. Obviously, your team is going to take on a completely different philosophy with Pete Carroll now being the head coach. And so you do feel like the Raiders upgraded pretty significantly in that area this offseason. But the longevity of it, I guess that doesn't necessarily matter for this season in particular.

But Cody, I think really where this Raiders team is going to struggle is defensively. Now, again, this time of year is everybody's in the best shape of their life. every team and every fan base is as optimistic as you're going to see throughout the course of the offseason. So right now, Raiders fans are probably feeling like, man, they've got a good chance to see the best in the guys that they've added. But they lost so much defensively. And I don't think they really got any better. Actually, I think they got quite a bit worse, especially in the secondary, where they replaced Nate Hobbs with Eric Stokes. And I mean, he was a bust in Green Bay. You lose Trayvon Merrig and replace him with a Jeremy Chin. Like, I,

I don't know. I don't understand the philosophy in what they were doing defensively. I get the kind of money ball aspect of it, but just feels like the Raiders kind of failed with all the salary cap space that they had. They didn't do a good job in free agency defensively, in my opinion. And I think that's what's going to really burn them over the course of the long haul this season. Well, and look, they locked up Max Crosby to a long-term extension. They made him at one point the highest paid outside, you know, past rusher there, you know, in the NFL. And look, he has been the boogeyman for the Broncos. he's always had success, whether, you know, even in the games, like even the first game last year with the Broncos, one on a run, you know,

Mac Crosby was talking smack to Bow Nix and then Bow and the Broncos going this big run. They win big in week five there. But, you know, the competitive nature. I do think that their main idea. And obviously, you know, I've listened to Lockdown Raiders a few times to just catch up on, you know, what your boy Q or our boy Q has been saying about the Raiders as we were getting ready to do this show. And, you know, really the vibe so far for the Raiders off season, granted, you know, like I said, there's no. pads. But Gino Smith has been picked off quite a bit by the Raiders defense and a lot of their new additions. But here's the storyline I find to be a little interesting here as to what we'll

define, I think this narrative and this matchup. I think the Raiders will actually be a little more stout defensively based on that money ball approach. Like I said, I think them adding Germain Pratt was an upgraded inside linebacker. Obviously, Pratt intercepted Bow Nix last year. But not going based on that, I think they improved there. But Pete Carroll is looking to bring in a certain archetype of guys to that defense. They've got a dog already on that first level there with Max Crosby. Tyree Wilson is also an impressive young player that's developing at this point. And I know at the interior tackle position defensively, they were hoping to get some guys

back healthy. But linebacker, the secondary, I agree. You know, the questionable moves at this point. You know, Jeremy Chin at one point was a player. I think everybody was excited about. I know we initially wanted the Broncos to draft him several years ago, but fizzles out a little bit in Carolina. and then isn't that big name that we saw have that potential developmental path.

So for me, the narrative about Denver versus the Raiders in 2025, I think it starts with Bo Nix versus Gino Smith quarterback play. And I have seen people say that Gino Smith, they got Gino Smith ranked ahead of Bo Nix and QB rankings. I don't buy into that. I thought Bow Nix had an incredibly better season than Gino Smith last year. But that narrative is just a little interesting to me that's like Gino above Bo, like the Broncos have the fourth best quarterback in the ASU.

I'm like, Gino, you're based on Gino? Come on, man. Yeah, I'm not a, I like Gino Smith, Cody, but I'm not one of those types of people that's like trying to overrate him. I think that a lot of times when a guy is able to bounce back in his career somewhere or another, I mean, we see it, I mean, pretty consistently these days that certain guys are getting overrated based on, you know, one season or whatever it may be. I think Gino, his bounce back year with the Seahawks back in 2022 after they,

or 2023, what was it, 2022 when they traded Russell Wilson to Denver. It feels like a lifetime ago at this point. But when he had that big year, that year, I think everybody's kind of basing their opinions on him based on that. And now, I mean, he's entering his, you know, mid-30s. And he's getting to that point to where now it's a change of scenery. You're no longer in a situation where you've got D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett

and Jackson Smith and Jigba and Noah Fants and all these other players, like the running backs that they have Kenneth, Walker, Zach Charbonnet, like Seattle had some really good players and their skill positions that were bailing out really good throws by Gino Smith, but you're not always going to have that. And I know Jacoby Myers is surehanded and Brock Bowers, one of the best skill players in the league, they've got pieces there. Like I said, they're going to be better offensively. They've raised the floor, but I don't buy the idea that Gino is, I don't think he's better now,

nor long term than Bo Nix. And I think that that's a reasonable take. Like, Gino has proven more since 2022 than Bo Nix. Bo's only got one year in the NFL. But when you talk about rankings and we talk about projecting, you have to do a little projecting, right? You have to sort of say what you think is going to happen, not just based on, well,

Gino's been doing this for three years now. I think that he's kind of, I don't think he's necessarily on a decline, Cody, but I think going into a new situation with, less talent at receiver than he's had before. I think it could be a tough situation for him to step into. One, it seems like as well, the idea here with them drafting Ashton Gentie in round one,

a guy the Broncos wanted. The idea that I see here is that they want to have a smothering defense and they want to be able to run the ball. And they want someone like Gino to be able to manage the game, which Gino could be a game manager. How good is he going to be with all the pieces around him? I don't know. I mean, you mentioned Brock Bowers,

Jacobi Myers. I know they drafted several wide receivers. as well to try to boost that room here. But to me, the idea is they're going to be a run dominant team. They're going to try, like Pete Carroll looks like he's going to be trying to replicate what happened a little bit. You want to have a really good defense, which he had plenty, you know, with the Legion of Boom back in the day.

And, you know, he thinks that maybe Ashton Genty could be the next, you know, that Marshaun Lynch factor where he's just a dominant runner. Genti, we're excited to see what that challenge are going to be like here for the Broncos because they don't have to go out there and stop it. But you have the eraser and Patrick Sartan, who obviously was probably the only corner last year who limited anything that Brock Bowers was able to do when covering him. So that's a great piece right there. And obviously with the additions the Broncos made in the draft at secondary,

you know, bringing in a Talano Hufanga alongside Brandon Jones. I think that the Broncos have a better overall roster right now, not to overlook the Raiders. I'm never going to be one of those guys that overlooks a team here. But I think that the Broncos are on a better upward trajectory right now, especially after the Raiders decided to extend Gino Smith in Vegas before having him even play a down, knowing that they might have questions at quarterback long term. So that to me is going to be an interesting dynamic to watch here.

Broncos Country will know your thoughts on the state of the Las Vegas Raiders, their offseason, how it stacks up to the Denver Broncos, or whether or not you believe that the Broncos are still ahead of the Raiders going into 2025. But we're not done yet. Broncos country. Still a lot of conversation here on the AFC West to be had. And we're going to tell you how the Broncos can get past Justin Herbert and the Los

Angeles charters in 2025 here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Monarch Money. Do you ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping and entertainment, we've all been there, and it's easy to lose track, right? And that's where Monarch Money comes in. It's your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances. And Monarch Money isn't just a budgeting app, right?

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half off your first. year. The Denver Broncos came up short from trying to jump the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024, but we think that they can finally do it here in 2025. We're going to give you some reasons why on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. But Broncos Country, thanks so much for tuning in today, making us your first listen of the day every single day. Cody, the Broncos had an 11-point lead the last time they played the Chargers and it went into the third quarter. It was one of the most devastating losses of the season kind of felt like it was maybe going to cost the Broncos their shot at the playoffs at getting back into the postseason for the first time since Super Bowl 50.

Typically, even as bad as the Broncos have been, they've been splitting with the Los Angeles chargers year after year. They've kind of had Justin Herbert's number up until this past year, which is ironic because this was the best defense the Broncos have had in a really long time. And arguably, this was the worst group of receivers, Justin Herbert. has had since he's been with the Chargers. So I'm interested to know your thoughts on this. Do you feel like the Broncos can jump the Chargers here finally? They were only one game off last year, right?

So they've got a, they're really close and they had a second half lead against them last year. I'm interested in know your thoughts. Do you think the Broncos can jump this team in 2025? I think they can. But, you know, the issue here and what we saw from them last year against the Chargers, they got off to a slow start in that first game, right? Obviously, the first offensive series for the Chargers against Denver's D. defense, Pastor Tan goes down with a concussion.

So he's pulled out of the game at that point. And then they had J.K. Dobbins. They had an effective run game that really got them a 20 nothing lead at halftime against Denver. The Broncos obviously, they buckled down in the second half. They had that comeback. They almost pulled it out, right?

But like in the fast and fierce, it was like, dude, I almost had you. He's like, you almost had me. You have your own car. The idea of that is like, all right, Denver's got to find a way to avoid getting put in that slump early on. Right. And there was a turnover early on there, Bo Nix pass went off once again,

the hands of a wide receiver tipped and it was intercepted on their first drive there and it's like, ah, all right, no momentum there. That second game, that Thursday night football game, we saw the Broncos come out and they just got off to such a hot start there early on, right? But then you have that little flubber at the end of the first half that led to the free kick,

field goal. And then I kind of, you know, we talk about momentum. I know Sean Payton downplayed and said that didn't really impact our momentum in any way, shape, or form. I think for the overall perception, the fill of the game. I think we felt like it did. You had that 11-point lead in the second half, and you just couldn't find a way to get a

stop. Llan McConkey really carved up the Broncos there. There were a couple of big busted plays because of coverage. And that was part of that dynamic that we talked about as to why the Broncos went out this offseason. They addressed and they added Drake Greenlaw, inside linebacker. They added Talanoa Hu Fonga at the safety position. They believe that those guys can be the neutralizers against what other teams are going to do for them. And obviously, they added Jada Baron in the NFL draft to be able to counter that. You know, you need to be able to do that. Mike Williams is back with the Chargers.

Obviously, I think, you know, he's not the same guy he used to be, but he's still a guy you can't overlook here. Obviously, you talk about Ladd-McConkie in the slot. You know, they're trying to get better at the tight end position as well, but then the idea is they've added Najee Harris. They have Omari and Hanton. And knowing how Harbaugh runs his teams, it seems like this is going to be a run-heavy offense with Najee Harris, with Omari and Hampton, kind of that smash.

and dash combo. That's what they're hoping it can be. And then they believe that they have, you know, those guys didn't create separation there and make plays downfield and pass and game off of play action. They're going to be a challenge. In my opinion, we're going to talk about Kansas City here in a second. But in my opinion, I feel like the toughest team right now in the AFC West for the Broncos perspective, I feel like will be the Chargers. Yeah, it just feels like they have high floors in pretty much every area of their team right now.

Even with some of the, I think they, I don't know that they necessarily upgraded a ton on defense, you know, Joey Bosa, I don't think that's like, it's almost like you can't miss what you never had, right? The guy barely ever played for them and was obviously an impact player went on the field, but how much are you really losing there? And then you look at their secondary this year. Obviously, they bring in Dante Jackson into the cornerback mix. And so I don't know, I look at that defense, Cody. And to me, I'm kind of like, okay, they were really good last year. Did they get better? And the loss of Puna Ford is actually quite a big one. I mean, literally on the interior, he's just a guy who takes up a ton of space, helped their run defense

a lot last year. Losing him will hurt. But offensively, you feel like they got quite a bit better with the additions of Omerian Hampton, Najee Harris at running back, Mackay Beckton, I think one of the most underrated pickups in the AFC West this year to go next to Joe Alt on the right side of that line. So Super Bowl champion. Super Bowl champion. That's right.

Absolutely. And he kind of resurrected his career under Jeff Stoutland, the O line coach there. with the Philadelphia Eagles, really, really good development for him at Guard. And to have him next to Joe Alt, it's kind of a scary proposition. Thankfully, the Broncos are deep on the D-line. And then I also really like the Trey Harris pick for them, Cody. I mean, he had 1,000 yards last season on the lowest number of targets for any receiver at the college level that eclips the 1,000 yards.

He had the lowest number of targets to get there. So maximizing his touches is what that equals to and amounts to. So I hate to say that I like what the Chargers. did this offseason. I think Jim Harbaugh brought in guys who fit what he does well, and they've just raised the bar overall. Now, the biggest win I think the Broncos have had is getting Evan Ingram instead of the Chargers getting him. Because imagine if the tables were turned there, that would be disastrous. It's good to know the Chargers didn't get that guy and that the Broncos are going to be able to neutralize, I think, what Ladd-McConkie brings to the table

with their upgrades in the secondary. Yeah, and I think the idea here too is can the Broncos maybe unleash a little bit of that. I don't know. I want to say, I don't want to say animosity because I don't think that's where J.K. Dobbins is at, but can J.K. Dobbins be, you know, an effective weapon against his old team? I think that's going to be a dynamic to watch. Whereas I think the idea here is Denver's going to be able to run the football, you know, and offensively, we've talked about that being a key for them to take the next step there. Take the pressure off of Bowness, because Bo we know can play. Bo can ball, but Bo can be even better if you have the threat of a

consistent run game there. That's where I think the Broncos, if they can establish that, especially against a team like the Chargers, the way they had, because it was going in the first half, I believe they had like 12 carries, 13 carries for 89 yards in the first half of that Thursday night football game. And then I think they only had 20 yards on the second half, if I'm not mistaken. That's not good enough, especially when you have a lead. You want to be able to play ball control defense and still be able to run the ball effectively on offense because you do that. You take away opportunities from the offense. There are the opposing offense to be on the field while you also just run the clock down.

Broncos time and game management last year in that aspect, that can be better this year. I agree with you. I think that this is going to be probably the matchup in the AFC West that will define the division. I think because, look, everyone talks about the Chargers versus Kansas City. I understand the appeal there because Herbert versus Mahomes. I think that this is going to be the one that's going to, everyone's going to have their eyes on.

And I imagine when we look at this upcoming season, we're going to go back around and say, okay, hey, these games came at crucial junctures. Can the Broncos, especially early on in the season, can they get a win against the charters? That will, I think, set the tone here because we talked about the amount of AFC games that the Broncos have to play in the first half of the schedule. Take care of your conference play. And better yet, take care of your division. You do that early on.

You take pressure off yourself down the season. And I don't know if you want to have that pressure there. I think that a hardball led team is going to be the most dangerous aspect here for the Broncos goals to win here in the AFC West. And I think they've made some moves that have kind of strengthened them a little bit. We'll see if the Broncos can rise up to the occasion here against this Chargers team. Yeah, the Broncos last year against the Chargers, it felt like they really struggled on third downs, specifically on both sides of the ball. The Broncos converting offensively and then getting off the field defensively against the Chargers was one of the most difficult tasks, I think, whole season. I don't remember Cody, a quarterback being on more of a heater than Justin Herbert

on third downs against the Broncos. It felt like the guy was just able to play Yolo ball out there when the Broncos were playing against both games against the Dodgers last season. And so that to me is that area that where we talk about, okay, you can talk about paper moves all you want, adding Engram, losing this guy, adding this guy, you can talk about that all you want, ultimately have the Broncos done enough to improve their third down chances against the charges. I think they absolutely have with the additions of Drey Greenlaw, Talao Fonga, Jadae, Barron. Those are guys that can neutralize some of those weapons. The Chargers had too many, what did Sean Payton call it, free runners on third down last season? And just guys running

wide open. I don't think that's going to happen this coming season at least as often, right? I mean, we can't guarantee anything in June, but certainly that's, the area that I think the Broncos need to improve the most against LA. Broncos country, we want to hear from you. What do you think the Broncos need to do to best position themselves to beat the charges here this upcoming season to lay claim to the AFC West? Make sure you listen to here on today's episode of the show. But coming up next, we're going to talk about how the Broncos can finally knock off.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs here on today's episode, locked on Broncos. It's been 84 years. That's how it feels for the Broncos in terms of winning the AFC West. the Kansas City Chiefs have dominated the division ever since. And now the Broncos, they're offseason. They're poised to make a move here to reclaim their stake with the AFC West crowned in 2025. But they're going to have to get through the Raiders. They're going to get through Justin Herbert and the Chargers.

And more importantly, they're going to have to knock off Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. We'll tell you how they can do that here on today's episode of the show. Real quick, I want to say thanks once again to everyone in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen, however you choose to do so. Sarah, look, we talked about it just a few weeks ago. Our good friends are that the Locked on NFL scouting podcast with the draft dudes. They put out a list of all of the teams that they felt like improved their roster the most. And I know we've vehemently disagreed with them having Kansas City above Denver.

I'm still on the board of that by saying what did the Chiefs do exactly in this offseason that made them improve their roster the most, considering they lost a couple of their key players like Joe Tunney, Justin Reed, and you have questions. You have a young offensive tackle now. Can that wide receiver room stay healthy or out of trouble is another question there. To me, the Broncos are best positioned right now to knock off Kansas City more so than they ever have been in the last, I'd say, eight or nine years. Yeah, it really felt like, oddly enough, that loss on Thursday night football back in Sean

Peyton's first year with the team, it felt like that was sort of a turning point for the Broncos against the Chiefs. Even though they lost that game, they really proved like, okay, even with arguably the worst defense that we've had, that was coming off the heels of that Miami game, if memory serves me right, Cody. And then they went in and they played really great against Patrick Mahomes. I felt like that was a turning point for this team. And I, you know that Sean Payton has that extra chip on his shoulder going up against

Kansas City because I think he wants to prove that, okay, with 90 million in dead cap, we can come into your house and and beat you and just straight up the Broncos. I mean, all but the final kick, they did. They straight up beat the Chiefs. They played better than the Chiefs that day for all but one play. And I think that, you know what Kansas City fans get into our mentions all the time when we bring that up, that Bo Nix should have won his first time going to Kansas City. And to me, I don't think it has anything to do with moves necessarily on paper, Cody.

I just feel like the Broncos have proven. like, man, they're, they're just more talented than this Kansas City roster, just straight up. I think that that's, I don't think there's any question about that. The only issue is, is that Kansas City is just inevitable. They, they, everything that they do, they force teams into this sort of weird Bermuda triangle where everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And it happens every single game that they play. I don't, I don't understand it.

Teams make mistakes at the worst time. Just ask the Raiders on, what was that, Thanksgiving last year. I mean, that's just kind of how it feels for the chiefs. Like whatever happens in the offseason happens, it's just a matter of can you get out of your own way when you're playing this team? Yeah, and that's the thing is, you know, Kansas City will capitalize on that. I think their experience factor that they have that are obviously with Mahomes, obviously with Andy Reid, Chris Jones.

I mean, this is a team that's got some solidified pillars there that, you know, know how to play in the big games. And granted, Kansas City, they're going to have a big chip on their shoulder here this year. Because look, despite all the nerves, like last year, It was like last year, everybody, I would say, was rooting for the downfall of the Chiefs, which certainly we were. We were saying, hey, fall off the mountain level. If we had to choose anyone to win in the Super Bowl, we were rooting for the Eagles to win just because of that. Because it's like, hey, can you force the Eagles to blow, you know, can the Eagles force the Chiefs to blow some things up here a little bit?

Now, obviously, that's the dynamic. When you have the highest paid quarterback in the NFL like Patrick Mahomes, then obviously Josh Allen came in and had something to say about that afterwards. but when you make those moves and you have some young pieces around you, Travis Kelsey's getting older, you know, you're really trying to figure out how can the cheese capture this feeling? How can they hold on to that? How can they sustain that? It's hard, but man,

that experience factor is something that has made a tremendous difference for them. They're coming into the season after that Super Bowl loss, which was embarrassing and demoralizing for them. They're going to be a little bit chippy this upcoming season. And I think all signs kind of point to, could this be Travis Kelsey's last run? here in the NFL. There's been a lot of talk about that because he decided to run it back

while mulling retirement initially after the Super Bowl loss. This feels like they're going to try to go for this, hey, one more ride, you know, that the same mantra that we saw back in the day with the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan. So that's where I think that they can be dangerous here. But I think if the Broncos can knock off the Kansas City Chiefs,

Denver has to be better overall this season in one category, Sarah, and that is taking care of business in one score games. that was the demoralizing factor for them last year. You talked about in yesterday's episode show how the Broncos, what, were they one and six in one score games last season? But then all the other games, you know, nine out of the 10 wins that they had, they won by double digits,

you know, or by nine or nine or more points at that juncture. So for me, it's not a question of can the Broncos do it? It's can they find a way to be sustainable? That is the idea here. And I think so much of that is when we look at this Broncos team against Kansas City going into Arrowhead,

what was the storyline defensively. Really for the Chiefs, it was Patrick Mahomes making some plays on third down. Nick Benito had a couple of wrap-ups, what should have been sacks, and some of Patrick Mahomes got out of it. One time he threw it while he was going down to the ground and he was able to get rid of it.

That's that type of magic that Kansas City capitalizes on, but Denver threw everything in the kitchen sink at this Chief's team last season. They should have won. They should have won on that game. But we saw Bo Nick step up, a game-winning drive to put the team in a position to win, special teams blundered cost them that.

That would have changed the entire narrative about Bo Nix and the Broncos, had he gone into Arrowhead and had the Broncos held on and won that game, there would be a lot more hype and there would be a lot more media attention, I think, around Bo Nix. But I think if the Broncos are going to knock off the Chiefs and win the AFC West, Denver has to do it by being better and switching those outcomes in one score games. Instead of going one and six, go six and one at that juncture. You have to do it.

I know it's cliche to say it, but that's what they have to do. They have to be more efficient, more sustainable to be able. to outlast a team like Kansas City who has that experience factor. And it's not just going head to head against the chiefs, is it? Right. It's making sure that you win those other games. Like go ahead and beat all the teams that everybody says, oh, you beat bad teams, who really cares what you did?

That's what the chiefs do every single year. They beat the teams that are put in their way. They just win. They find a way to win the games. It doesn't matter when you're representing the AFC in the Super Bowl that you beat the Raiders who stunk, who fired their coach a couple of weeks. later and you beat the Raiders barely because they botched a snap on a game winning drive by Aden O'Connell.

Like that's the team that represented the AFC in the Super Bowl is the same team that almost lost on a game winning drive against Aiden O'Connell, Cody. And so I think that that stuff doesn't matter. Like who really cares? Who really cares who you beat on the way there? You have to win the games that are put in front of you. And the Broncos absolutely have to be better in one score games. It's not just the Broncos have to be better against teams.

with winning records. Miss me with that kind of argument about, can you beat good teams? That really proves if you're good or not. The Broncos won 10 games last year with $90 million in dead cap. And they proved that they were much better than everybody thought they were. Better coached, better talent, better player development. They stayed healthy.

They won a lot of games that most other teams were favored in. So to me, it's about winning those other games outside of just playing against Kansas City. Yes, you have to at least split with Kansas. City, I think, in order to win the division. But man, you've got to win those other games. You've got to take care of business outside of Kansas City and those matchups that you have against them because otherwise, we know Kansas City is going to cause other teams to stumble.

Kansas City's going to probably win 12, 13 games again. So you've got to find a way to win one more. Can you do that if you're Denver? Can you at least improve maybe by two or three games, those one score losses that you have last year? That's going to be critical to this team taking over the A.A. F. West again.

And I don't know, Cody, I think they've got the defense to do it. The question is, will the offense be able to step up and do their part? I think that's going to be the most exciting dynamic of this entire upcoming season to follow. Can the offense stay healthy? I think the Broncos have loaded up on the offensive side of the ball. I think pieces defensively to where they are best position right now to reclaim stake to the AFC West thrown that they've been searching for since Peyton Manning was the quarterback back in 2015. Broncos Country, let's know your thoughts on today's episode of the show,

your thoughts on where the Broncos are positioned when compared to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Los Angeles Chargers, and the reigning and defending AFC West champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. How can the Broncos do that? Share your thoughts with us here on today's episode show. Thanks to all the everydayers out there. Broncos country, we appreciate you so much. For all you every dayers out there, here's what you're going to get on tomorrow's episode of the show. We're going to go into the growing offensive identity of Bo Nix and the Broncos and what going into year two in the system means for him with Sean Payton.

and all the pieces around him, we'll break that down that much more. On tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos.