Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Coaching Decisions Costly In Loss vs. Bengals

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos couldn't capitalize on the opportunity against the Cincinnati Bengals in Sunday's thrilling matchup. And now their postseason hopes must take another break for at least a another week here. What's the state of the Broncos after this devastating overtime loss? We'll break that down. And much more here on today's brand new 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.

Starting point is 00:00:33 What's happening in Broncos country? come into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, where you know it is your team every day, whether the Broncos win, lose, or even tie a game. You're going to get post-game coverage.

Starting point is 00:00:47 You're going to get daily coverage every single day all year long. I want to say some special thank you so much of the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen of the day. I'm Cody Rourke. Broncos reporter here from Mile High Sports. Join, as always by Sarah Beninger's site, expert, promly orange.com

Starting point is 00:01:03 and a very frustrating loss here for the Broncos on Saturday where once again they had every opportunity in front of them to control their destiny. But Joe Burrow and the Bengals, they had other plans. We'll talk about and wrap things up with how the Broncos defensive struggles plagued them against the Bengals and the high-powered offense and why next week's game against the Chiefs becomes a little bit of a must win. Also highlight on the Broncos offense missing out on several big opportunities, especially late in the fourth quarter and also midway through overtime. But we're really going to open things up by talking about why we felt like the Broncos lost this game here on Saturday.

Starting point is 00:01:37 Coaching issues and some questionable decisions seem to be something that impacted the Broncos in this game. Obviously, the players are on the field here, Sarah, for this. But several coaching decisions definitely, I think, made me scratch my head. My fiance, who doesn't watch a lot of football, even said, hey, how come the Broncos defense can't stop everybody? And she said, the play calling for the Broncos offense is rough. This was such a frustrating game because Denver had so many opportunities to win this one. So many opportunities. And I think their biggest opportunity of the most contested opportunity,

Starting point is 00:02:10 Cody, is going to be that end of game situation in which Bo Nix threw it up to Marvin Mims, who made an incredible play. You're down by one point with the extra point pending. And then obviously during the review, Cody, I think that there was a chance there. The Broncos offense would have stayed on the field to go for two. And then the review, I think gave Sean Payton maybe a little bit too much. time to kind of overthink or maybe somebody put the bug in his ear like, hey, you could tie

Starting point is 00:02:36 this game and win. So if we play keep away from the bangles, there's two opportunities to make the playoffs here instead of just the one play. So I mean, from that vantage point, you get it, but at the same time, this is football. You have to understand like the Bengals. They didn't punt until overtime. You hadn't stopped them to that point defensively. So why would you try in overtime? You have the opportunity to go two yards instead of get a stop against the Bengals or go basically the length of the field for a touchdown or a response field goal. Like that's the scenario right there where the odds should tell you. Like you probably have a better chance of converting a two-yard play than you do going to overtime and a stopping the

Starting point is 00:03:19 bangles and or B going the distance and, you know, scoring a touchdown or a field goal yourself depending on the situation there. So it's easy to second guess like in hindsight, you know, going back to that stuff, I think everybody in the moment, even Bo Nix holding up the two fingers on the screen, like, let's go freaking win this game, man. If you play not to lose in the NFL, how often have we seen that happen? Especially when you're the road team going in. I mean, Cody, I think Broncos country has every right to be ticked off that they didn't go for that two point conversion there. Yeah, look, and I felt like coaching at times became a little conservative. And look, there's one drive specific. I think it was with over three minutes left.

Starting point is 00:03:57 There's right after Pat Sertan forced to fumble against T.E. Higgins there, the Broncos got the ball back, and they had an opportunity to try to milk the clock a little bit, right? Because the run game, Jalill McLaughlin had the run game going here for Denver offensively, Sarah. And then they kind of went away from that. They had like a two-yard run. And then they attempted a screen pass to Javante Williams that was behind the sticks there. There was also an ineligible man downfield. So now you go backwards. And then on third and 15, Bo Nicks unfortunately makes a bad decision. one of his only bad decisions of the evening, honestly,

Starting point is 00:04:29 and throws an interception. From that point forward, it really felt like the game was going to be over at that point because all the Bengals have to do now, like it's under a minute, it's under two minutes in the game left. You have a chance to just kick a field goal and then force the Broncos to do whatever.

Starting point is 00:04:44 Instead, Cincinnati scores. And that's where it kind of, the magical moment happened there. Like for Bo Nix, like this is where I came away impressed. Like obviously, we'll address the offense here in a little bit. But I felt like Bo making plays with, his legs on that final drive seven play 70 yards to tie it up and obviously you throw to marvin mims incredible play by him but more incredible play by Marvin mims going up above two defenders and

Starting point is 00:05:06 catching that pass there certainly yeah you would have maybe love to see them go for two i would have gone for two in that situation because why put it in joe burrow's hands in overtime where he's got two elite level wide receivers which will obviously highlight some of the issues that never had defensively you know but then never comes out in overtime defensively they get after joe burrow i love the approach. As you mentioned, they forced the first punt of the game for Cincinnati. But then was what Denver did with that opportunity right afterwards. I mean, Sarah, they just found a way to just get off the field really quickly. And it's like, all right, hey, like, you get the ball back. I think there was, what, five minutes, something, you know, left in that standpoint. So the Bengals get the

Starting point is 00:05:45 ball back. And all of a sudden, they set up a potential game winning field goal because the defense was getting gashed with some big play specifically on third down. We'll highlight some of those issues more in depth here in a little bit. But it's like, all right, the universe. at that point is telling you, hey, do you have every opportunity now to go win this game? The Broncos, they have a three play, two-yard drive that takes 23 seconds off the clock. You do a run on first down. You do a screen on second down that loses yards. And then Bo Nix misses, you know, a throw there.

Starting point is 00:06:13 I think it was to Troy Franklin or was to Adam Trotman on a crossing pen. It was one of those two plays because never had two of those series there. But Bo missed a couple of throws in overtime. But to me, Boe's not the reason they lost this game. I just felt like the conservative approach was there from Sean Payton in this game. And it even goes back to the, you know, after the first offensive series of the game stare. Like what happened? We saw the run game working.

Starting point is 00:06:34 We said that, you know, Denver kicks a field goal there since the night stays on the field. But then Devere gets a little too pass happy. And then right before half, it was a disaster for the offense. They went away from what was working. And then they went back to it in the second half. And then at times are like, all right, hey, let's go away from it here again. To me, that's been the most frustrating part about it. That's why I'm putting this loss solely on coaching.

Starting point is 00:06:53 Yes, players have to go out there and make plays. They have to execute. They miss some opportunities on offense and on defense. But coach is also going to put these guys in a position to make plays that are going to put them in a position to have manageable third down situations, manageable second down situations. That wasn't the case here late. No, and I think you hate to bring this guy up because obviously, as long as we don't ever say his name, it's probably not a bad thing. But Riley Dixon picked the worst possible time to have the worst possible time. to have the worst possible game.

Starting point is 00:07:24 I mean, in a game like this in which at least pinning the Bengals deep would have given your defense a longer field to work with. I mean, I feel like, I don't know, average starting field position in this game, Cody, felt like the Bengals were starting around the 40 almost every single drive. And if they weren't, man, they were getting to the 40 like that with off coverage from the Denver Broncos. So you're right. I mean, coaching, it's all over the map in this game, whether you want to talk about

Starting point is 00:07:50 Sean Payton being conservative, whether you want to talk about the plan opposite Pat Sartan in this game, which, man, T. Higgins feasted. We'll talk more about that later. But the Broncos special teams as well, you give the Bengals an opportunity on a high, short kickoff and they return it and gain seven yards of field position. What does Sean Payton call those, those hidden yardage on special teams? I felt like Riley Dixon, the special teams, man, they let the Broncos down in this game as well. and Tremont Smith, lucky probably that he didn't get called for a second week in a row for a boneheaded interference on a fair catch.

Starting point is 00:08:28 Like, you're right, Cody, coaching lapses in this game or players not being, not correcting properly based on what has happened and transpired in recent weeks. I mean, it's frustrating to watch because you feel like the Broncos, they made a lot of plays in this game, but they just didn't make quite enough. And ultimately, what I felt comfortable about with, you know, a good portion. of this game, you know, even with some of Bo Nix's mistakes. Like, Bo answered the call against Joe Burrow. Who was fun to see Bo kind of battle up against Joe. Like the Bengals would score. Then, okay, here comes Bo Nix to, you know, to Cortland Sutton, tie the game up at 10.

Starting point is 00:09:01 Okay, the Bengals score again. Now it's 1710. Here's Bo Nix to Marvin Mims, a beautiful throw that ties the game up there at 17. And then obviously the drive at the end of the game there with eight seconds left. I love the mox that we saw from Bo. But, man, just I feel like at times. It seems like this coaching staff is a little too scared to put some of these young guys in some of these big moments. But this is what you play the game for.

Starting point is 00:09:26 Like you got nine wins. You have a chance. You win. You get to the postseason for the first time in nine years. And it seemed like, ah, I don't know. Like Sean Payton sent in his post game press or something along the lines of we knew that, you know, we could just play for the tie and get in. I don't like that approach. I like to play for the win.

Starting point is 00:09:42 I understand like trying to do it for the tie, but you're not going to get a tie by running 23 seconds off the clock after they miss a game winning field. in OT. So I just felt like there's so many opportunities that we can look at. And this has been the story of this team and several of these losses this year. There have been opportunities that have just gotten away from them that pile up, that result in losses. And unfortunately, this was the case on Saturday. The Broncos is going to have to wait another week to make a potential bid for the postseason. We'll highlight the Broncos offense and some of the missed opportunities that we were alluding to here in the first part of the show here on today's brand new episode, Lockdown Broncos. Broncos country. Today's lockdown.

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Starting point is 00:11:23 That's rocketmoney.com slash locked on. RocketMoney.com slash locked on. The Denver Broncos offense missed a couple of opportunities and some big moments here in the loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, but are they asking a little bit too much out of that unit? Cody and I are going to discuss the Denver Broncos offensive performance against the Cincinnati Bengals, as the Broncos now have one week remaining in their season, potentially Broncos country. We hope, obviously, as the team throws on the throwbacks this coming weekend against the Chiefs, that they can finish off the season with a W and get to the playoffs. But you know, already, your boys, Cody and Sayre, we got you every single day right here. Locked on Broncos. Subscribe if you haven't done so already, wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:12:07 Let's talk about the offensive performance, though, Cody, for the Denver Broncos. And obviously, you know, this was a game in which you just mentioned it in the previous segment. I mean, the Broncos, down 10 to 3, Bo Nix made some plays and Joliel McLaughlin as well, who I was ready to give a game ball to in case the Broncos did win here. We'll talk more about him. But you're down 10, 3, Bo Nix and the offense, they come right down the field. You're down 17 to 10, Bo Nix with the play like you mentioned to Marvin Mims. And then you're down late 24 to 17, dead to rights, fish in a barrel, under a minute and a half remaining with just one time out.

Starting point is 00:12:42 And obviously the odds very much stacked against, even getting three points in that scenario, much less seven. and the Broncos, they scored. And so, I mean, the offense did do a lot in this game running the ball, committing to the run. We saw at one point in the second half, they were 20 runs to 16 passes, the announcing crew said. But Cody, the missed opportunities once again, I mean, my gosh,

Starting point is 00:13:05 can we just, can we buy Troy Franklin? What do we got to pay for Troy Franklin to connect on this, on this deep shot? Because my gosh, the guy, it's miserable for me watching it, have to struggle with this. but that was maybe arguably the biggest missed opportunity for the Broncos offense in this entire game. Yeah, and that's one that, you know, I think it's like, you know, we have been, I think, objective when it comes to Bo Nix, I feel like Bo Nix has been unfairly criticized, a large portion of the season.

Starting point is 00:13:33 But when it comes to, like, valid criticisms, like, we've been willing to throw them out there. And it's like, for some reason, when it comes to Troy Franklin and Sarah, this even goes back to training camp when I, you know, we've seen this. And it's like, all right, you look back at it now. It's like, ah, okay, Bo Nix has missed Troy Franklin a couple of times. And there's been a couple of times this season where Troy Franklin has dropped or has missed an opportunity that Bo has thrown his way. This one I felt like was more on Bo, just kind of put it out a little further in front of him. Troy had the inside stab release against the corner. The corner committed.

Starting point is 00:14:05 And then he was able to work his way up vertically and get to the outside of just a couple of inches away from Troy's hands there. I mean, that's frustrating to see. And then obviously, I think there was the one play as well. was third down, third and six there. Bo missed, you know, I think it was Adam Troutman, who was wide open there, kind of overshot a little bit. But with that, it's like, all right, like I feel like for a guy like Bo Nix, when we talk about the criticisms of him where I feel like a lot of them can be a little unfair,

Starting point is 00:14:32 when you look at some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, right, Joe Burrow being a great example of that, Joe Burrow is not being crushed for a few of the, you know, misthroes he had to T. Higgins or even Jamar Chase, like on in Saturday's game. He's not going to be criticized about that, right? But for a rookie quarterback, it seems like Nix's easy punching bag material for that. I thought the interception that Bo threw, it was terrible. It was a bad decision. I thought his decision making before the end of the first half, I thought it was terrible.

Starting point is 00:15:00 Get rid of the football. He took two sacks. You can't have that happen. But we also saw him respond, Sarah. I think that's the thing I want to see. We saw the competitiveness here from Bo to be able to shake off bad decisions, bad play, and lead a potential game winning. But it was ultimately a game-tying drive.

Starting point is 00:15:15 at the end of the game there. You love the moxie. You love the poise. He battled back against Joe Burrell. But he gets criticized when like you're even seeing it on the replay when they're showing how the Bengals defense is playing the Broncos offense and the receivers. They're dropping six, seven guys back into coverage playing zone against three man route concepts and people are getting mad that Bow's not throwing into double or triple coverage.

Starting point is 00:15:37 To me, that's a little frustrating. Like, oh, well, he's taking the dink and dunk. Well, it's 51-yard touchdown. He had a Marvin Mims traveled through the air, 67 air yards, according to. NFL next-gen stats, which is the longest by any quarterback in the NFL this year. So miss me with the EPA, miss me with the ADOT BS that consistently gets spued out. Bo is making plenty of plays. And sure, he needs help around him and he can obviously make better decisions, but also coaching

Starting point is 00:16:00 can help him out as well. And that's where the run game comes in handy, Sarah. Like you mentioned, Jolome McLaughlin really got things going. He had like a nine-yard run, 11-yard run, 13-yard run. He was the Energizer Bunny that opened things up for Bo Nix to find Cortland Sutton for that touchdown. for him to find Marvin Mims for that touchdown to tie it up at 17. Bo can obviously play better.

Starting point is 00:16:21 There's no mistake about that, but he's not the reason they lost this game. Once again, the offense, too many missed opportunities. And it's a little frustrating to watch happen here. It is, Cody. I mean, just a little example here of what you're talking about from Respect My Coes on Twitter. It says Bo Nix, the last two weeks in win-in-in scenarios, 74.6 completion rate, 482 passing yards,

Starting point is 00:16:46 five passing touchdowns, one interception, Broncos defense the last two weeks in winning in scenarios, 348 passing yards allowed per game, 116 rushing yards per game allowed, and two turnovers forced. So it's kind of interesting the narratives here when you talk about the reasons why the Broncos lost. Everybody wants to pin everything on the quarterback's shoulders.

Starting point is 00:17:10 I get that. and there will come a time. Look, people are saying like Bo Nix, he's got to go out there and make plays. The guy went out there and made plays. He's got 30 touchdowns this season. He's got 30 touchdowns. I don't think anybody in their wildest dreams could have imagined

Starting point is 00:17:26 that he would have 30 total TDs in his rookie season. Now, do you have to make the plays in overtime? Yes, but this is where I'm saying. We're putting so much pressure on the rookie quarterback and this offense. Now, these last handful of weeks, let's talk about it. You score 24 against the Bengals.

Starting point is 00:17:46 You score 27 against the Chargers. You score how many against the Indianapolis Colts and how many against the Cleveland Browns? The defense is the reason why, if the Broncos collapse and missed the playoffs, it's not going to be because Bo Nix didn't make enough plays out there. It's going to be because this defense decided to wet the bed at the worst possible time.

Starting point is 00:18:06 And yes, they've been forcing turnovers. They've been great this season. rushing the passer. I'm not trying to diminish all of what they've done, but these last four games, it's on the defense, for the most part, the vast majority. And I don't think that's a cop out of being critical or being positive about Bo Nix.

Starting point is 00:18:27 Either way, like we analyze what we see. Did he take bad sacks? Yes. Did he make a bad decision on the interception to Pratt? Absolutely. Did those things cost them an opportunity at the game? No. What cost them to offer?

Starting point is 00:18:39 opportunity at the game is the fact that you did not go make plays defensively, not a single punt until overtime. I mean, it's just insane that we're having this discourse. We've got to blame, got to blame this guy, got to blame the quarterback because, well, he's the one with the ball in his hands every play. I just think it's ridiculous. We can criticize him all we want. And that doesn't change the fact that the dude made enough plays to help his team potentially win the game. 100%. No, look, I think there's valid criticisms to be had of a rookie quarterback. And there's areas that he can continue to improve. Certainly that's the case.

Starting point is 00:19:11 But it's like in moments where the offense, they're going out and they're making plays. They're tying the game up. The defense isn't getting a stop. And now the Bengals are extending their lead. And then Bo has to lead a game tying drive at the end there. I understand like all year long. Like there's been times where the defense has bailed out Bonnix in the offense, right?

Starting point is 00:19:26 It's been give and take. It's been on both sides. But this is the most crucial stretch of the season, Sarah, where a win puts you in the playoffs. We've been preaching that. Now we've got to do a whole other week of shows where it's like, hey, the Broncos win and they're in the biggest game of the year since 2015. We've got to do another week of that.

Starting point is 00:19:44 I was hoping to be done with it because the moment was there. It's been right in front of the Broncos and they're reaching for it. They're reaching for it. And it's like, got to be quicker than that. Like, you've got to find a way to bounce back here. And obviously, the offense will have to play better. I think the run game is going to be a big proponent of that going forward. We'll obviously analyze the all 22.

Starting point is 00:20:03 And we'll come back as well on Monday with some more information and obviously some other takes that hopefully can paint a picture on how Denver can get into the postseason here. But the defense, as you mentioned, sir, they struggled mightily against the Cincinnati Bengals. We'll highlight where things went wrong and why Broncos fans shouldn't be entirely down on Riley Moss after a rough game by the second year cornerback. You'll get that and much more here on today's brand new episode, Lockdown Broncos. The Broncos defense struggled. There's no other way of putting it against the Cincinnati Bengals against a Joe Burrell led team. that is the most explosive offense in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:20:44 When the Broncos offense made plays, the defense simply could not. And that did the Broncos in Saturday's overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Where do things go wrong? And what's the formula going forward to get that here on today's episode of the show real quick? Thanks, once again, all the everydayers first listeners out there in Broncos country. We appreciate you whether the Broncos win or they lose. We always love doing these shows. We love interacting and getting Broncos country involved in the conversation.

Starting point is 00:21:08 Thank you so much for making us part of your day. Sarah, let's talk about the defense. To put it bluntly, like when you look at the numbers, like we knew coming into it, we said it all week long. This is going to be the most explosive offense. The Broncos will face all season long. That was certainly the case. I mean, when you look at Jamar Chase, who's having an incredible year, leads the NFL

Starting point is 00:21:27 in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, you look at what he's been able to do. Oh, and they have an elite level number one wide receiver as their number two guy in T. Higgins. It's like, okay, this is going to be a huge challenge. And they've got Joe Burrow, who right now, Sarah, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, they're all playing like MVP's. Joe Burroughs got a legit MVP case as well if the Bengals had a better record. But he certainly is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:21:52 That was on display here. And the Broncos defense, they surrender 499 yards. They're 499 yards in this game where they were on the field for 84 defensive plays. And more importantly, they did this in a game where the defense registered seven total sacks and they still lost. That to me is so frustrating. Unbelievable. An inability to get off the field on third and long really crippled the Denver Broncos in this game, whether it was the big scramble from Joe Burrow.

Starting point is 00:22:22 Honestly, probably one of the biggest and most pivotal plays in the entire game. We want to talk about just shifting momentum around. That was really the Broncos opportunity. I felt Cody to kind of seize control of the game and kind of start dictating on their own because Cincinnati all throughout the first half, they were dictating time of possession. They were kind of matriculating down the field. It wasn't like they were throwing bombs up to Jamar Chase and T. Higgins every single

Starting point is 00:22:48 play. They were taking advantage of off coverage and setting themselves up with second and four, third and three, third and two, all these sorts of situations. And they were aggressive early on. Like, they could have easily been up 21 to 3 at halftime, if we're being honest. Like, they didn't convert two fourth downs early on.

Starting point is 00:23:07 The Broncos defense stepped up in a big. way there. But even with that in mind, like, you force those stops on fourth down and then later in the game, you have that total lapse on fourth and two where Chase Brown was completely uncovered all the way off to the side of the field, like the far wide side. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that what we were seeing there when he ran out of the backfield and split out wide and nobody followed him. And it wasn't until after he had caught a pass that J-Quan Macmillan looked at another defender. I can't remember who it was and was like, you know, they were saying something out there on the field and it's like just miscommunications at the worst possible time. Penalties once again, negating

Starting point is 00:23:47 big place. A sack was taken off the board as well in this game. So I mean, look, Cody, defensively, it just hasn't been good enough for the last four games straight up. And it's been a month of poor play from the defense. So I guess for anybody out there that's saying this team doesn't deserve to make the playoffs, if anything, you've got to say it's because, it's being. because of the defense right now that this team would miss the playoffs at this point because they have not stepped up for four straight games. And it all goes back to that Cleveland Browns game where they surrendered 500-something yards. I mean, we're talking about in the span of four games where you're allowing, I can't remember what the total number was against the charges in terms of yards.

Starting point is 00:24:26 I think they allowed over 400 yards to the chargers. But 499 here to the Bengals, which I mean to expect it's the most explosive offense. But you don't want that type of output there. and then over 500-something yards against the Browns. Like in the last three of the last four games, the Broncos defense has just been gashed. And third down has been very problematic. The Bengals, they were efficient.

Starting point is 00:24:47 53% on third down, seven of 13. And just once again, you mentioned that play at the end of the third quarter. Like Denver just gets a sack on Joe Burrow, makes it what, third and 13. Then he picks up 19. And then all of a sudden,

Starting point is 00:24:59 that just, you know, once again, momentum, a real thing here in the sport of football. All those things, it's just frustrating. But it's like, all right, now, you know, early on, the story was, hey, let's prevent the explosives, right, from T. Higgins, Jemar Chase. And then Mike Giske, of all people, is tearing up the Broncos defense. I mean, Sarah, when it's all said and done, the numbers don't paint a great picture here. The Broncos, T. Higgins had 11 catches for a buck 31,

Starting point is 00:25:25 three touchdowns in this game. Unbelievable game by him. Jemar Chase, nine catches for 102 yards in this game. And most of his big production didn't even come against Pat Sartan. I think Pat Seren, I saw what is it, next-gen stats? It was like under 37 yards or 37 yards in total. And in terms of the coverage snaps, Mike Guseki, 10 catches, 86 yards in this game. Then Yosovas three catches 59ers. I mean, there were just lapses and breakdowns. And once again, it was not just like, you know, there were a couple plays where guys make great plays.

Starting point is 00:25:56 T. Higgins had one touchdown where he jumped over and he's just taller and he's lengthier than Riley Moss. Riley had great coverage there. And T. Higgins makes a tremendous play. this was a rough game here for Riley Moss and look I think he had a handful of catches that he allowed that were I thought he was in great position and some guys made some good plays

Starting point is 00:26:13 but then there were a couple plays where unfortunately he was on the benefactor of the game winner to T. Higgins there was a rough game from Riley in his return I'm not necessarily down on Riley you understand if you're trying to take away Jamar Chase the guy opposite of Pastor Tan and that guy happens to be T. Higgins he's going to see the larger volume. That's exactly

Starting point is 00:26:32 what played out in this game and unfortunately DeVer just didn't have have an answer for it, which is like, hey, get T. Higgins out of the AFC as soon as possible. Go sign with an NFC team in the off season or Denver, make a run for T. Higgins. I mean, never could have used a player like him in this game. Just too many breakdowns on the defensive side of the ball, miscommunications, once again, being the issues. And it was a great performance here from Zach Allen, unfortunately. I thought Pastor Tan played pretty well in this game as well.

Starting point is 00:26:57 Yeah, there was a number of key standouts. Zach Allen, my goodness. I mean, what, four sacks in the game? It's incredible. Finish with three and a half. I know they changed it. So three and a half, but man, he was impactful. Yeah, he was great.

Starting point is 00:27:10 Dondrey Tillman, I believe his third game with a sack as well, Cody. So got to highlight some of the good stuff that did happen individually in this game. But, man, yeah, wouldn't it be nice for the Broncos to have a guy like T. Higgins that they could turn to in situations like where people are asking. Like, did Bow Nicks do enough to make the plays, right? I mean, it would be nice to have a T. Higgins. And just so happens that Joe Burrow has a T. Higgins and then Jamar Chiam. who's going to win the NFL Triple Crown, and then Mike Asseki, who's played well for them all year.

Starting point is 00:27:40 Sovis, who's played well for them all year as well, and Chase Brown making plays both as a runner and a passer. Not much of that from the Denver Broncos weaponry outside of Marvin Mims. And then late, Cody, how about Cortland Sutton coming through with some big time catches on that final drive? That was nice to see, but a little, I don't know, where was that kind of for the most majority of the game? It's kind of where I was thinking, like,

Starting point is 00:28:03 where are we not turning to him on these key situations going to Cortland Sutton. But defensively is where the Broncos are going to have to. I don't know if the Chiefs are going to play their starters for a quarter. I don't know if they're going to play them for a drive. I don't know if they're going to play them at all. But if the Denver Broncos defense gets cooked by Carson Wentz or even Patrick Mahomes out there, I think then we can finally say, like, yeah, this team doesn't deserve to make the playoffs. And we're going to have to wait a week for that discussion.

Starting point is 00:28:32 Yeah, no, I think that's a fair point. And look, now I think it's a great time to get into that conversation. Obviously, this is the postgame report. The Colts and the dolphins have not yet played. We know Anthony Richardson is not going to play in a game for the Colts. We know Tuatungo Viloa is not going to play for that game against the Browns. So if, like, let's break down the scenarios here. There's so many.

Starting point is 00:28:49 It's going to make my head explode. If the Colts and the dolphins lose, essentially they are eliminated, right? And so the Broncos biggest worry at that point would be the Cincinnati Bengals, right? So if Denver were to somehow lose to the Colt, I mean, to the Chiefs next week, and the Bengals beat the Steelers, the Bengals would jump in and be in in the postseason. Now, here's where things get a little complicated, Sarah. If the dolphins win and if the Colts win on Sunday and next week, the Bengals, they win against the Steelers and the Broncos lose. Denver is out of the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:29:23 So it is very, very simple here, as we put it for the third week in a row. If the Broncos win, they're in the postseason. And look, I think you make a valid point. If they can't beat Carson Winston, because what has been widely reported is that the chiefs are not expected to play their starter. So that means no Travis Kelsey, no Patrick Mahomes, probably no Hollywood Brown or DeAndre Hopkins, probably no George Carloftus or Chris Jones.

Starting point is 00:29:49 Other guys are going to have to step up and play. But if Denver can't beat the Chiefs next week in that situation, then maybe they're just not ready yet. And that's okay, right? They're a young team. They're overachieved, nine wins. you want to get to the postseason though because you've been that close and that is going to be a theme if Denver misses out it's going to be a theme I think that haunts the entire off season but it's going to allow us to focus on how can the Broncos get over that nine win hump how can they get to 10 wins next season hopefully that's not the conversation we're having and that Denver can go out and they can beat the chiefs they can get in which would unfortunately set up a match up with the Buffalo bills which who knows right now on paper doesn't look good but you know what getting through the post season would be a huge success and a huge overachievement by a Broncos team that most people had at five or less wins on this season.

Starting point is 00:30:36 So with that said, there is some silver lining with it. We've highlighted the opportunities the Broncos missed and how the Broncos offense did show some things with Bo Nix, areas he can improve, but ultimately the defense and their struggles and some questionable coaching decisions impacting the outcome of this game. Broncos country, we want to hear from you, your thoughts on this frustrating loss here by the Broncos against the Bengals in week 17. But with that said, why have you covered on Monday for a brand new episode of the show? How do the Broncos respond from this type of loss? What are some of the superlives we got to look at going into next week? As the final week of the regular season is here, you'll get that much more on Monday's episode, Locked on Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Coaching Decisions Costly In Loss vs. Bengals

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