Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Bo Nix Receives Endorsement From Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes

Starting point is 00:00:00 Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Holmes had some high praise for Broncos rookie quarterback Bonnix. He even went to the lengths of telling Sean Payton, you got one. How big is this for changing the narrative surrounding Denver's rookie quarterback? We'll break that down and much more 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, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network where you know it's your team every day. I'm Cody Roark Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports.

Starting point is 00:00:42 You can check out my written work over there, milehigh sports.com. Join, as always by Sarah Pettinger, site expert, predominantly orange.com and also the NFL spins on where you can check out his written work as well. We've got a lot to break down here on today's episode show. We're going to wrap things up by talking about our Broncos players to watch in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons. We'll also highlight Josh Reynolds. could he make his return here this week after returning to practice as Sunday,

Starting point is 00:01:07 a sign for him to go. We'll highlight that. But more importantly, we'll kick things off on today's show by highlighting Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had a lot of praise. We saw the postgame interaction between he and Bo Nix. But what he told Sean Payton is what stood out more significantly. We'll highlight that much more here on today's show, which is brought to you by friends over there at Fandduil Sportsbook and start the season with big return on Fandul. New customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win their first $5 bet, visit fanduil.com to get started.

Starting point is 00:01:37 Sarah, my friend, hey, look, it's almost time for a game time. The Broncos really embracing full health coming into the Atlanta Falcons matchup here on Sunday, 205 p.m. Mountain time kickoff and really trying to get that taste out of their mouth from Sunday's heartbreaking loss to the Kansas Chiefs. Not that's, like, if we're going to try to draw silver linings from anything, look, I think you and I and certainly a lot of people in Broncos country have highlighted Bono. Knicks and have said, hey, like Bo's growing. Bo is shown us enough, at least in our opinions that you and I have shared that, hey,

Starting point is 00:02:08 he is the Broncos guy going forward. One other guy came out and gave Bo some really high praise. And I think coming from him, it can change the narratives that maybe a lot of people have, unless you're a fantasy analyst or if you're the 33rd team. But Patrick Mahomes, a lot of praise there for Bo Nix, to Sean Payton specifically. Yeah, really cool to kind of see the interaction between Mahomes and Bo Nix at midfield to kind to try to listen in to see like, hey, what's he going to say? And of course, he said something to the effect of like, hey, we're going to have a lot of these going forward. And that obviously

Starting point is 00:02:39 indicates that, you know, Patrick Mahomes believes that Bo Neck's going to be around for a long time. I mean, Patrick Mahomes' entry to the NFL, Cody, was kind of the beginning of this ugly quarterback carous for the Denver Broncos. I mean, it was pretty close in overlap. Patrick was drafted in 2017. The Broncos, obviously, post-manning started in 2016. But Patrick has kind of seen the Broncos carousel. And so for him to put the stamp of approval on is pretty substantial because I can't recall him saying this to any other Broncos coach in the past or to any other Broncos player, right? I mean, he goes up to Sean Payton and says, you got one. Like, that's all that needs to be said, is when you see a guy like that, put your team on the ropes. Like Patrick Mahomes had nothing to do

Starting point is 00:03:22 but sit and watch Bo Nix orchestrate that game winning drive or what should have been a game winning drive there at the end. Travis Kelsey had no choice but to sit there. and watch Bo Nix take his team down the field and make that gutsy throw on third and six to Cortland Sutton. And I think that's the kind of play that like if you're just sitting there on the sideline as the Kansas City Chiefs players, like when you see Bo Nix make that throw, you can't help but do anything, but just be like, wow, I mean, he got us like that. He got us. That's it. I mean, you saw the reaction from all the players on the field and off the field. Like everybody thought that that was the dagger. And I'm sure that that got the attention.

Starting point is 00:03:57 Remember Travis Kelsey calling the Broncos the Raiders a couple years ago? it's been a while since we've had these guys attention. Yeah, well, and look, I think Denver's got a team now. And look, you want to check out what Patrick Mahomes, you know, had to say here, well, we don't get it from Patrick, but here's for the full context of what Sarah was describing, here's what Sean Payton detailed to us in Wednesday's press conference following practice. There are these steps. There'll be some more adversity, but, you know, there is a poise with him.

Starting point is 00:04:23 I think his teammates in the huddle talk about it. The third down play was significant because, right at that moment, then we controlled everything, the clock, the game. And I think it was funny, after the game, you know, you're going across the field, and I see Andy and a few of the other guys, and I see Patrick and known him, and he just turned to me, he said, you got one. And I think he told Bo, hey, we're going to have a lot of good games. And that's something coming from him.

Starting point is 00:04:59 And so we continue to look at the things that he does well and try to feature those things as he progresses into some of the things that he's going to need to do. But, yeah, we're really encouraged. And, Sarah, that's the thing that stands out to me, too, is, you know, you got all these outlets. Like, for example, there's going to be a little bit of a rant. You got outlets like the 33rd teams, this Dan guy that continues to put out these power rankings. Look, we shouldn't take too much stock into it. But I think it's just, once again, people,

Starting point is 00:05:30 see it and it spreads like wildfire right and so it's like oh you know what's going on it creates a lot of outrage dan doesn't know what the hell he's watching when it comes to football it's very clear concern the quarterbacks he has above bow nicks in this situation there are a lot of people in the media industry look here's the thing people like these national analysts for example i guarantee you these guys don't have the time of day to watch 32 other teams and 32 other quarterbacks they simply do not have the time to do that and anybody that tries to tell you they can. They're lying. Nobody has that time to be able to do that. But it's just once again, you see these guys, you see these fantasy people who literally just, you know, they don't watch games. They just look at fantasy

Starting point is 00:06:08 stats and things like that. You throw out false narrative surrounding Bo Nix. I mean, it's frustrating because it's like you're ignoring clear, visible, tangible growth that you do see on the tape. If, if, capitalize, I F, if you actually watch Bo Nix as of late from week one to now, he's an entirely different quarterback. So that's the stuff that really kind of fires me. up a little bit. But, you know, I think the thing that does matter, you get a guy like Patrick Mahomes, who, as you mentioned, he's, he shook a lot of Broncos quarterback's hand since he's coming to the league. Hopefully this one's going to be the one that sticks for a while. But he says, you know, you got one and Bo there. And certainly, I think even Travis Kelsey and, and obviously

Starting point is 00:06:45 his podcast, he does New Heights with his brother, Jason, run 33 minute mark. I'm going to give it to you there. Go start listening there. They talk about the Broncos. I mean, they gave Travis Kelsey and them, they gave the Broncos defense so many props said, wow, those guys, those guys play us better than anybody. And then even like for Travis to say like for Bo Nix, the kid, he, he was effing slinging it. That's what he was saying essentially there. And that's just a new level of respect.

Starting point is 00:07:10 I think even though it's coming from a divisional rival, when people like that say those things or give the Broncos or a guy like Bo, that type of praise, I think that matters more than these little fake cosplaying analysts that you see having a little fantasy land jobs. Yeah. Well, to kind of pull up that Travis Kelsey quote, like you mentioned, you can go listen to the whole interview that they did obviously in the New Heights podcast, but he's like, Bo Nix, holy, you know what. He said that guy was effing it out there yesterday playing some good effin football, man. Like, when you get respect from a guy like Travis Kelsey, again, I know that

Starting point is 00:07:42 Travis has been labeled fake gronk in his career by Von Miller and like his disrespect for the Broncos had reached a point to where remember the, I referenced it before, but the postgame interview where he's like, he called us the Raiders. I mean, there's no greater sign that like Travis doesn't care about the Broncos or like, we're just a, you know, just a funny little footnote on his epic, you know what, like that's what the Broncos have been to Travis Kelsey for the majority of his

Starting point is 00:08:09 career, just a little footnote. And for him to come out and say what he did about Bo Nix, it's not hyperbole or anything like that. Like he, I think he means it. And I love hearing that kind of stuff because I know the Broncos relationship between the Chiefs is kind of like a, you know,

Starting point is 00:08:24 a Westman tooth and Ron Burgundy for the Anchorman fans out there. and it's just a respect, a healthy respect, despite our disdain for each other. We have a respect for each other at the end of the day. At least you hope so. But I agree with you, Cody, to see the disrespect after what Bo Nix has already been through in terms of the pre-draft evaluation, in terms of draft night, everybody laughing at the Broncos, everybody laughing at Sean Peyton for taking Bo 12th overall and, you know, just criticizing the pick all offseason.

Starting point is 00:08:53 We had to hear about having the worst quarterback room in the league, having the worst roster in the league. Like Sean Payton is so overrated as a head coach, all these different things. The fact that people can't humble themselves and eat some crow on their pre-draft analysis is ridiculous. I mean, you mentioned that Dan Pizzuda from the 33rd behavior. It's just, it is loser behavior. That's all it is.

Starting point is 00:09:15 I was sent a video from my good buddy Mark from NBC sports fantasy experts. They're talking about like, Bo Nix finally dropped the Taysom Hill Act. And I'm like, what are you even talking about? Like the guy won NFL offensive rookie of the month, not because he was, you know, running for 150 yards game. Like this isn't the Tim Tebow story all over again. Bo has been consistently climbing in the rankings of QBR, quarterback rating, quarterback efficiency, accuracy, touchdowns versus interceptions. Like, it's just, it's, that's why it's so frustrating. I mean, you don't need to pay attention to the NFL train, as Sean Payton calls it.

Starting point is 00:09:52 But it's frustrating when all of these people who have such. big platforms are perpetuating absolute nonsense. And I'm glad to be able to use my platform to call it out, Cody. I know you are as well, a number of others. It's like, we don't need to go to bat for Bo Nix. He doesn't care. He, I guarantee you he doesn't care. To me, it's just ridiculous that these people are getting paid to do what they're doing.

Starting point is 00:10:17 And what they're saying is complete nonsense. Well, you know, the thing is too is that's why I always say local is better. You're not going to get local any better than locked on Broncos. here. Obviously, we have to cover every step of the way here. And that's thing. I think a lot of people are trying to shift away from the national platforms because the national platforms, you do get a lot of people to spew nonsense. These people that they don't have the time to watch all 32 teams the way that they claim that they do. Nobody does. It's ridiculous.

Starting point is 00:10:42 So yeah, I mean, just with that said, Broncos country, always eager for your thoughts here. I think Bo Nick shutting down a lot of those narratives pre-draft about him. And his business, you have to learn to admit when you're wrong about certain things. But, you know, people have too much pride. But I wouldn't take much stock in there. going forward if that's the case here. But one thing we're going to take stock into, Josh Reynolds was back at practice for the first time this week on Wednesday,

Starting point is 00:11:03 setting up a potential return to the lineup on Sunday. And if he does, what does it mean for Bonnix and the Broncos offense? We'll highlight that much more here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over there at Mint Mobile. And with big wireless providers, what you see is never what you get.

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Starting point is 00:12:37 against the visiting Atlanta Falcons at two and a half point home favorites. When Justin Simmons returns to the Broncos, can Denver's defense get after Kirk Cousins? Well, you can get in on the action over there at Fandual Sportsbook with any time. Touchdown props. You can do player props, everything like that. that inside of the app. And right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. The Fandu Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the

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Starting point is 00:13:33 Josh Reynolds back on the practice field and listed as a full participant in practice, which is very exciting. That among more injury updates and players to watch against the Atlanta Falcons coming up on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. But Broncos Country, we have to say thank you to every single one of you that makes Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day. every single day. We truly do appreciate every single one of you. Cody and I, we read all the comments on YouTube. We absolutely love interacting with you guys on Twitter. Some of your comments, though,

Starting point is 00:14:02 I mean, let's be real. If you're commenting on YouTube, we can still out a little bit sometimes, but we love you anyway, and we appreciate you for subscribing to the show. But Cody, let's talk about Josh Reynolds here because I think that this is a guy that we expected coming in to kind of raise the floor of this wide receiver room for the Denver Broncos this season. We started to catch a glimpse of that right before he went down with the hand injury, which there's a lot going on with Josh Reynolds these days. I mean, let's get the update from you because I know he's had surgery on his hand. There's a lot going. I mean, maybe some people aren't fully aware of all the details of what went down with the incident.

Starting point is 00:14:38 So give us the heads up on not only him being back at practice, but what led to him being out for such a long time. Yeah, so I mean, obviously it was great to see him finally back at practice, you know, on Wednesday out there with the team doing stretch. he was a full participant. He's been full all week. So that's a good sign for his return status. His 21-day window has essentially open. And we'll see if that obviously comes to fruition this week, Denver would have to create space on the 53-man roster in order for that to happen. So we'll see, you know, what takes place there.

Starting point is 00:15:06 But obviously, you know, on the touchdown pass that he caught from Bow Nix against the Las Vegas Raiders. You know how he, you know, he hauled it in, but then he kind of got shoved up against the wall a little bit. He hurt his hand on that play there, ended up having surgery. And then, you know, it was going to go on short-term injured reserve. of well, the Broncos had that Thursday night matchup against the Northern Saints. Obviously, he and his friends, they went out overnight to shotgun willies, obviously here in Denver and Gwendale. And then was unfortunate, like, he was followed. Like, he and his friends were followed.

Starting point is 00:15:34 And he was the victim. And his friends were the victims of a shooting, unfortunately. Luckily, thankfully, he only suffered minor injuries. But, I mean, that's a traumatic event to have to go through there. So Denver's been providing him with as much support as possible that he's needed behind the scenes of that, whether that's counseling services. So I think for him, he's been eager to get back out there on the football field. I think that's a great outlet for him to kind of be able to still go through and I think

Starting point is 00:16:01 overcome what he went through. But also it's an outlet to say like, hey, I've got this frustration or anger, whatever may be, I just need to get out there and play football again. And I think Josh is heading in the right direction. Does that mean he's back this Sunday undetermined right now? All signs are kind of pointing to that. But Sarah, I even think I'm going to throw it to you for even a bigger question here. If Josh Reynolds returns to the lineup here for the Broncos on Sunday,

Starting point is 00:16:22 obviously we talk about a 53-man roster spot needing to be made available in order for that to happen. There could be a release of somebody. Don't think it's going to be a receiver. But what's going to happen? How does this impact the Broncos wide receiver rotation? And we've already seen, right? Cortland's son's been the number one guy. But as of the last handful of weeks, we've seen more Josh, not Josh Jones.

Starting point is 00:16:41 We've seen more Devon Bailey. We've seen more Troy Franklin. And obviously, little Jordan Humphrey's been involved in the mix. and he's had his fair share ups and downs, but what do you do, like, in this situation? How do you bring Josh Reynolds back into the mix without maybe sacrificing the continued development you've had of Devon Bailey, Troy Franklin?

Starting point is 00:16:58 Who gets pushed out of the rotation, in your opinion, in this situation? I think to me it's an easy one. It's little Jordan Humphrey's going to lose reps in the passing game, and I think that's what should happen, obviously. I know he had a good couple of plays against the Kansas City Chiefs. Don't mean to discount any good that he's done this season. Obviously, as a blocker, he's very trustworthy in that way.

Starting point is 00:17:19 But I think that's where Josh Reynolds will immediately kind of come in and replace. And I have to apologize, Cody. I don't mean to laugh when you're talking about something so serious. But you bring up shotgun willies. I've driven by that place a number of times. And the tagline, it lives rent free in my head on their sign for any of those that know what I'm talking about. You know. But yeah, that's, I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:17:39 Some very interesting events have happened there anyways. John Morant, you know, the whole situation there. It's, yeah, I would not recommend going there, folks. It's just not, yeah, not a great place to be. We know what they say. My coach, my coach always told me nothing good ever happens after 12 p.m. And I think that, that range true. But thankfully, thankfully, Josh is okay.

Starting point is 00:18:00 Yeah. No, I don't disagree. I do think, I do think if you're looking at anyone, maybe like getting a reduction, maybe not pushed out entirely, but it's like maybe more snaps go to Josh Rums. Or maybe you ramp him up, right? Maybe you wrap Josh Reynolds up a little bit. Little Jordan Humphrey still gets some. but not the primary reps, right, that we've seen early on.

Starting point is 00:18:18 It's tough. It's a tough decision here for Sean Payton. Yeah, it is. And I think that that's kind of a good thing at this point in time to be as confident as the Broncos are in guys like Devon Valet. You obviously want to see Troy Franklin continuing to get those reps out there and targets, not only reps, but targets. And it does sound to me, Cody, based on what we're hearing from Sean Payton, like there is going to be a more concerted effort to get Marvin Mims involved in the offense. because Sean said on Wednesday exactly what you and I have been kind of saying. Like Marvin Mims, when he's returning punts, he's playing on rookie mode.

Starting point is 00:18:53 And then when you get to the offensive side of things, it feels like he's trying to play on All Madden, right? Because I don't know, there's just something that's not clicking there. But when he gets the ball in his hands as a punt returner, he's so dynamic, so explosive, so decisive, he's got great vision, all these sorts of things. And Sean Payton's asking himself and his offensive staff, the same questions. like, what are we missing here with this guy? And it is to the point of the light bulb.

Starting point is 00:19:18 Like you find a thousand ways not to make a light bulb on the way to figuring it out. Like you've got to find a way to make it work with Marvin Mims because of his talent. So I don't think he's going to diminish any. I don't want to see Troy Franklin diminish any. And I think that it just gives you options going forward to have a guy like Josh Reynolds out there. Again, we thought this might be a bit of an embarrassment of riches going into the year for the Broncos. but it's been much more of a work in progress than anything else. I still believe, though, at these final seven games,

Starting point is 00:19:48 you have a chance to really figure something out here of not only who's going to step up this season to help you make the playoffs, who are going to keep beyond 2024. Well, I'll have to tell you off air how I think the Broncos can use Marvin in a big way. And I guarantee we are going to see it this year. I'll have to tell you off here. I can't share it here on the show, unfortunately. It's going to create some intrigue from the listeners of Lockdown Broncos. But if you ever see me in public, come up to me.

Starting point is 00:20:11 I'll tell you exactly what I mean by that. So we'll obviously highlight that. But obviously, we'll get into some of our players to watch here as the Broncos take on the Atlanta Falcons here on Sunday, 205 p.m. Mountain Time kickoff at Empower Field at Mile High and matchup. I think the Broncos favorably well in on paper as you come into it. Now they've got to shake the heartbreak off of the Kansas City loss and come out and take it to the Atlanta Falcons and Kirk Cousins. Who are the players that Sir Beninger, myself have our eyes on? Broncos Country, you may have your eyes on them as well.

Starting point is 00:20:39 We'll highlight that much more here on today's episode. Locked on Broncos. Today's show is brought to our friends over there at Hillsdale. College in Time is our most precious commodity. So don't waste this growing through the same mind-numbing content for hours and hours and hours and hours. So how can you spend it more wisely to improve yourself? I think education is a great way to do that. But how do you get education? What about free education? Well, Hillsdale College comes in because they give you classes and courses that you can take absolutely free. Whether that's history, economics, the great works, the literature, the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. If you started these things in school, it's probably been a while

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Starting point is 00:21:46 So check it out. Go right now to Hillsdale.edu slash locked on to enroll. There's no cost and it's easy, easy to get started. That's Hillsdale.edu slash locked on to register Hillsdale. Dot edu slash locked on. Who are some players that we have our eyes on in Sunday's matchup against the Atlanta Falcons? The Broncos is going to come out on top with a victory to improve to six and five. with two games remaining before the by week after Sunday's game.

Starting point is 00:22:14 Well, there's some players that are going to have to step up and have a big impact on this game. We'll highlight that. Sarah, I want to kick things off here with you, my friend, in terms of maybe players you have your eye on. Who's going to be a difference maker for you in this match? Because when you factor into, I thought you and Aaron Freeman did a great job on the crossover, kind of highlighting, look, Justin Simmons return, obviously a player to watch. But looking at players, you know, the Denver's going to have to counteract from the Falcons defense,

Starting point is 00:22:37 from the Falcons offense. I mean, Kirk Cousins, you got Drake London. Kyle Pitts, Tyler Auxier, you also have Bijon Robinson. So two really capable backs right now. And even Darnell Mooney, a speed aspect at the wide receiver position. Like the Falcons have a lot of weapons offensively. And so Denver's defense certainly will be tested in that. But I look at it from the standpoint.

Starting point is 00:22:56 Denver also has the advantage. I think that they can get after Kirk Cousins quite a bit. So I'm excited to see that. Who do you have your eye on here in Sunday's game? Well, early on in this game, we need to see Riley Moss stepping up making plays because we know Pat Sertan most likely going to do his thing out there as he has all season long, one of the most consistent players, regardless of position in the NFL. So Riley Moss, he's got to go out and make plays to help

Starting point is 00:23:19 get this team off the field. We believe the pass rush going to get home. We believe that they're going to be able to pressure Kirk Cousins, but is Riley Moss going to be able to put himself in position to make plays on the ball that gets thrown in his direction? He needs to be able to do that to get the Broncos extra possessions early on, or at least keep the Falcons time on the field limited, Cody, because you look at this. This is an interesting stat here. The Falcons defensively, they are 31st in the NFL in time on the field. They are 31st in plays per drive.

Starting point is 00:23:51 What does that mean? That means that your offense is able to sustain drives against this Atlanta Falcons defense. So if your defense can get out the field quickly, it's very big, which is why my offensive guy to watch is Audric Estimate, because I think the Broncos, you go up against the team that's 31st in time of possession allowed this season. You want to be able to control this game, control the clock. Audric Estime is going to be the guy to do that for you. He led the team in carries last week, led the team in rushing yards last week.

Starting point is 00:24:19 I think it's only, his role is only going to grow from here. So I got my eyes on Riley Moss, help the defense get off the field early and quickly. And then Audric Estimate, keep your offense on the field throughout the game. I like that because I think the run game complements my offensive player to watch. Look, cliche enough, I'm going to go with Bow next year. And they had a really great game last week against Kansas City. Can you do it again here this week against the Atlanta Falcons? You mentioned the Falcons defensive rankings.

Starting point is 00:24:45 They don't have a lot of success in terms of getting after the quarterback in terms of numbers of sacks this year. Bow has been very good at avoiding sacks. Can you find ways to capitalize some big plays? Which look, hey, the number one guy you're going to have to worry about if you're Bo Nix, in my opinion, is Jesse Bates and Justin Simmons. Look, AJ Terrell is obviously a very talented corner. Like that's secondary. They're good. They can match up.

Starting point is 00:25:05 So this is where I think if you're going to exercise, like if the Falcons defense, once again, hey, we're going to try to take away Cortland Sutton. This is where guys like, if Josh Reynolds comes back to the mix, Devon Bailey, Troy Franklin, little Jordan Humphrey, even the tight end position, Lucas Crowl, these guys are going to have to step up in the passing game if that is the Falcons defensive attention here. But I like the idea of sustaining drives like this could be one of those games there where the Broncos have really good run-pass balance. And look, I think we're going to see more of Adrick Estimate. certainly I'm not opposed to it. I'm excited to see that.

Starting point is 00:25:36 This is the game. I think you can try to do that and try to really say, let's get back to our route to because remember, even in that second half of the Broncos game in week five against the Raiders, Denver controlled the time of possession. And Bo Nix and the offense did a tremendous job with that milk in the clock. And even in the game on Sunday against the Chiefs, they were able to milk the clock in the late fourth quarter effectively well to set up the

Starting point is 00:25:57 game winning field. And unfortunately, you know, the outcome of that is what it is. So, Bo is my guide to watch here. We've talked a lot about him this week. We've mentioned him inside of the rookie of the year conversation. You come out here. I think that there's something. If he has like over 200-something passing yards and let's say another multiple

Starting point is 00:26:13 touchdown performance game, I think he becomes the second rookie ever besides Peyton Manning in 1998 to be able to do that. If I'm not mistaken. I saw that put out there in terms of the Broncos press release. So hey, something to watch for in Sunday's game. Defensively, I'm going with Nick Benito. Man, has he been on a tear this season's there? I look at, okay, hey, Patrick Mahomes, he's not as fast as Lamar Jackson, right?

Starting point is 00:26:36 But he was mobile enough to make some plays and escape Nick Benito on a couple of plays or to be able to throw it away even though Nick Benito had him wrapped up. Her cousins is not like that. This is where it's like, hey, the Broncos pass rush has an opportunity led by Benito and everybody else there. But I'm going with Benito here to get one step closer to double digit sacks on the season. That's where I'm going here. He's my defensive player to watch.

Starting point is 00:26:59 I think he's going to absolutely just wreck this game, Cody. I do. He's on a heater, kind of like when you see in baseball, guys, they just get hot at the plate and they can't be stopped for a certain amount of time. I mean, Nick Benito is on a similar heater right now, and it's been extended for a long time. Like, he probably should have a sack in, what, eight straight games or seven straight games, something like that at this point because, I mean, they didn't count the one against the Ravens that ended up being a, you know, a rushing attempt, eight yards behind the line of scrimmage for

Starting point is 00:27:28 Lamar Jackson. So I think that Nick Benito is on an absolute heater. This could be a week in which he gets a multi-sack game. And I think that he's going to be motivated after watching the film against Kansas City to pop that ball out because Kirk Cousins has shown a willingness to kind of be a little loose with the football in the pocket there. His elbows are too, Kirk's so then that adds another real wrinkle to this game, Cody, because I feel like there's a chance we could see a Michael Pennix package. I don't know. I haven't. heard anything by any means, but kind of just feel like there might be a chance that you see him out there on the field a little bit at some point, especially if you do hit Kurt Cousins early and often.

Starting point is 00:28:08 I mean, there's a chance you knock him out of the game. So you don't want to see that because we don't wish ill on any players, obviously. But man, certainly Cousins is one of those guys that he's willing to throw the ball into tight spaces. He's willing to put the ball in harm's way. He's definitely a little loose with the football in the pocket. As a matter of fact, as I'm looking at his numbers so far, the season, Cody, in terms of fumbles, in terms of getting hit in the pocket, I mean, Kirk Cousins has 10 fumbles right now. So we're talking about a guy that has 10 fumbles and eight interceptions so far this season. I mean, there's a, there's a strong likelihood that the Broncos are going to be able to pop

Starting point is 00:28:43 that ball free a time or two. Question is, what are they going to do with it? Well, we're going to find out on Sunday. Obviously, Broncos country, Denver's going to host the Falcons at 2.05 p.m. Mountain time kickoff. Hope to catch a few fans before the game as I go into the stadium. If you're out there and you see me, come to say hi here. We'll have you covered every step of the way.

Starting point is 00:28:59 Even after the game, post-game coverage, locked on Broncos. You can expect all that here on your favorite Broncos podcast. Thank you so much for rocking with us all week along here, Broncos country. If there's any breaking news that happens before Sunday's game, you'll obviously get an episode here on the show. That's always a guarantee you can get here from Sarah and myself.

Starting point is 00:29:18 But with that said, we'll see you Sunday following the game. Can the Broncos improve to 6 and 5? And then go into next week for another AFC West Divisional. matchup on the road. The Broncos in control their destiny. A lot at stake here going forward for this Broncos team. We'll catch you next time.

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