Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Defense DEALT INJURY BLOW Ahead of Titans Matchup

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos defenses banged up ahead of their season opener just days away from the Tennessee Titans. We'll discuss that more 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. With kickoff just a couple of days away, the Denver Broncos received some not so good news regarding their defensive depth as injuries have continued to hit them. We'll break it all down here on today's brand new episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos. podcast part of the locked on podcast network we know it's your team every day a special shout out to all the everydayers out there in broncos country thanks for tuning in and making us your

Starting point is 00:00:43 first listen however you choose to do so if you're not yet never dare become one today here i'm cody roark broncos reporter for mile high sports joined as always by sarbettinger site expert over there predominantly orange dot com and just a few days away from kickoff the broncos defense dealing with the injury bug a little bit including a major hit to their depth on the defensive line We'll talk about that. Who could be up next. Plus, we'll go through and talk about why Cortland Sutton and Quinn Miners are two players that we have our eyes on here in Sunday's matchup against Tennessee as we focus on our players to watch. And if the Broncos are going to win this game against Tennessee, they got to establish that ground dominance on both sides of the ball.

Starting point is 00:01:20 We'll break it all down on today's episode of the show. Sarah, not so good news. Obviously, we've been on Dre Greenlaw watch all week long. Observed practice this week for Wednesday and Thursday. We did not see him on the field. he was on the side field. We've got practice here today in Dove Valley. I'll be there.

Starting point is 00:01:36 We'll see if he maybe upgrades a little bit, moves from the side field to team stretch individual. If that's the case, then that would be a limited participation at the least, which could be good news there. But unlikely that we see Malcolm Roach here for Friday's practice after he suffered an injury yesterday. Yeah, the grade two calf strain for Malcolm Roach,

Starting point is 00:01:55 obviously an important part of the defensive line. Somebody that George Payton earlier in the offseason said was maybe their biggest or best or most important signing that they made last off season, which says a lot because they got a couple of really good players. Malcolm Roach had become a key piece of this defensive line, Cody, but it sounds like he could miss at least a month, four to six, maybe four to eight weeks. We'll see if he lands on short term I are. I know the Broncos kept seven defensive linemen on their 53 man roster, and this is a big reason why we're seeing now the war on attrition. it starts before even week one. You and I talked about that weird, I don't know, I guess, mojo in the week leading up to that Titans game,

Starting point is 00:02:35 remember back in 2020 or 2021, whatever it was, when Von Miller got her and then Cortland Sutton had the shoulder injury and all these sorts of weird things. Like, it's just a weird deal here that the Broncos are dealing with this. But at the same time, you've got guys like Inoma Uwazerike, who he got shouted out by some of his teammates on the defensive line for how well he plays in that middle of the defense, where We know that Malcolm Roach is very effective. So Ouzerike might be counted on to step up in a much bigger role than expected here this week. And I think it's something we're going to have to continue to monitor here because I do think the Broncos have to mold between short-term IR for Malcolm Roach.

Starting point is 00:03:11 The thing with calves, you have to be very careful with it. It's always tricky because usually what happens when you have a calf injury. I mean, usually it kind of boils up and leads to a potential for an Achilles, as we've seen historically with NBA players like Kevin Durant being an example of that, Jamal Murray, other guys along the lines. I know Kobe Bryant when he tore his Achilles, he had a lot of calf tightness leading up to that. We saw it with Aaron Rogers initially as well, just a couple of years ago here. So you have to be smart in your approach because grade two is essentially a mild tear.

Starting point is 00:03:42 And orthopedic surgeons usually kind of go along the lines of saying it's like a four to six week recovery that could have some intensive rehabilitation to it. You have to be careful with it because it isn't a soft tissue part of your muscle fibers there that connects everything in your. lower leg. And what do we know about defensive linemen, defensive tackles like Malcolm Roach? They excel when they can plant that back foot, anchor down, and allow their linebackers to fill the other gaps because

Starting point is 00:04:07 they're hard to move back. Malcolm Roach is a hard guy to move back. And so you need him to have that power behind that foot. So I'm very curious to see what the Broncos official approach will be with this injury. But obviously, a massive blow here to their defensive depth. You mentioned, you know, Wazareke. Part of me is wondering, is this going to be an opportunity for the Broncos to elevate from the practice squad at least from a game day elevation standpoint, Jordan Miller, who's a nose tackle who had a tremendous offseason and training camp.

Starting point is 00:04:33 My question is, do the Broncos view Uwazerrique as a guy that they feel like can step into Roach's role behind DJ Jones and play at the same exact level? That's the question right now. Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see the roster gymnastics and maybe, you know, we talked in the offseason about how Sean Payton felt like Zach Allen was playing too many snaps. Does this now kind of shift the way that they have to do things to keep other

Starting point is 00:04:56 guys on the field because Malcolm is one of those guys that they're planning on rotating in consistently and giving other guys a breather. I know they don't all necessarily play the same position, but when you've got so many defensive linemen that can rotate in, obviously you can trust different combinations of guys out there. So yes, role specific, be fascinating to see if it's Uwazareke or Jordan Miller or what the case ends up being. But we know that DJ Jones, even though he just got a deal worth 13 million per season this off season, he does not even play 50% of the snaps. So he's not out there on a full-time basis. He does come off the field consistently, and it's to keep him fresh. And it's because he's effective on those early down.

Starting point is 00:05:36 So the Broncos need to make sure that they're keeping him at his best, whatever they need to do, whether that's bringing up another body off the practice squad or putting that pressure onto Wazareke of saying, hey, we need you to step up in this way. You showed it throughout the offseason. It was good enough to keep you on the 53-man roster. Now we need you to perform up to that level immediately. It is a little concerned in considering the Broncos early stretch of the schedule, right? Four to six weeks, let's say it's the ladder there for Malcolm Roach in terms of his absence potentially.

Starting point is 00:06:07 I mean, that's past the Philadelphia game at that point. And so to me, that's a little challenging. You know, you're facing some teams that love to run the football and what was an area last year, you know, your depth, you wanted, it was a strong suit. And it was a strong suit here this off season. But one of your major depth pieces takes a major, major hit here. And I'm also curious, too, to see what they did. decide to do. If Drake Greenlaw doesn't play here on Sunday, I imagine it would be Alex

Starting point is 00:06:29 Singleton, Justin Sternad, who probably get to start here for the Broncos, which makes the decision around Karené Reed, very interesting. Do they elevate LaVelle Bailey and play him over Reed? Or is Karen A. Reed going to play, you know, some snaps here as an undrafted rookie right away. Typically, we see a lot of these guys as game day inactives early on, even if they make the 53-man roster, but because of the position the Broncos ran with the injury to Drey Greenlaw, the idea that Alex Singleton could also be in a pitch count. I'm a little concerned, I will say here going into Sunday just because of this injury factor. Yeah, I think this is a big reason why the Broncos kept Garrett Wallow,

Starting point is 00:07:06 who has played some NFL action on the practice squad, right? Obviously, you got to keep LaVelle Bailey. Obviously, you kept Jordan Turner, who won a try out job earlier this offseason. But, yeah, you brought in Garrett Wallow in training camp, right? And you believe that this guy can contribute because he has in the past. And so I think that's a. another player to watch for a game day elevation here. And that linebacker position, as you and I have discussed,

Starting point is 00:07:30 it's one of those where we feel like the team kept three guys on the practice squad to do exactly this, to shuffle up and down, knowing that even if Drey was going to play in week one, which we still don't know for sure, but even if he was, it was going to be on a pitch count. So you need those extra bodies because Drey's not going to go out there and play special teams.

Starting point is 00:07:49 So you need these guys to be active. And I think that we could see two inside line. Well, I don't know if it'll be too, though, Cody, because obviously you got the fullback position as well here. It'll be interesting to see which one gets picked. If it's Lavelle Bailey, Garrett Wallow or Jordan Turner, I would guess. I mean, Lavelle seems like the low-hanging fruit, but I think this is kind of why they kept Garrett Wallow in the first place. Yeah, I feel like, if anything, it would be Wallow and Lavell to get elevated here for this game specifically, considering the little bit of a hole the Broncos are in.

Starting point is 00:08:21 And, you know, Broncos country wherever you at knock on wood, hopefully everyone can get healthy. Broncos can avoid an injury bug and hopefully it's just a little hiccup ahead of week one here. But definitely something to monitor going forward here is the Broncos prepare for their week one season opener against the Tennessee Titans and rookie quarterback Cam Ward here. But Broncos country, we still got a lot to break down here on today's episode show. We're going to get through our players to watch. We're going to tell you why Cortland Sutton and Quinn Miners are going to be two important pieces on the offensive side of the ball that we have our eye on specifically against the Tennessee Titans. You'll get all that here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by friends over the.

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Starting point is 00:10:15 And just like there's more to every player, there's more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda, move and be moved. Week one against the Tennessee Titans is a great opportunity for guys who got paychecks recently to prove their worth, prove what they got paid for out there to make some plays for the Broncos, help them get off to a fast start. As Cody previously mentioned, we're going to be talking about guys like Cortland Sutton, Quinn Miners, and plenty of others in our players to watch week one against the Tennessee Titans. And hey, let us know your players to watch. We appreciate all of you, Broncos, country, for making Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day every single day.

Starting point is 00:10:50 If you haven't already done so, take a couple seconds, hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcast and on YouTube. And Cody, let's talk about our players to watch. I'm excited to break this down a little bit because for much of the off season, we're spending a lot of time talking about the roster deep cuts. We're talking about guys who could end up making the case for the 53 men roster. Players to watch in the preseason is just significantly different than players to watch in the regular season because now we're actually going to be talking about the guys

Starting point is 00:11:19 that we maybe didn't spend a lot of time talking about in the months of July and August. So let's start with you. Let's start with your three players to watch here in week one against Tennessee. Yeah, first off, I'm going to highlight it by talking about Patrick Sertan the second. No reasoning needed. Pat Sertan versus Calvin Ridley, you want your best corner to follow the best receiver there for that team.

Starting point is 00:11:39 This is going to be a big matchup here for the Broncos. And obviously, Tennessee has some other receiving options as well. I mean, does Vance Joseph feel comfortable keeping guys on one side? or is this going to be maybe we want to travel and place him on assignment. We know that the Titans talked about maybe moving Calvin Ridley around. I think Pat Sartan should follow in this instance if that is the case, which means outside, inside, how does it change the game plan for Vance Joseph defensively? This is going to be fun, especially with the reigning NFL defensive player of the year.

Starting point is 00:12:07 And then I've got Troy Franklin as another player that I have my eye on here. Obviously, because of the fact we've seen him have such an impressive training camp and preseason. But now we get an extended look at his role here with. Bo Nix and Sean Peyton and the offense. I think he's going to be heavily featured here early on in this game. Look for Troy to make a big play for the Broncos early. But then let's get to the kind of the highlight guy right here. I'm going to go with Quinn Miner, Sarah.

Starting point is 00:12:31 And the reason I go with Quinn is the highlight guy here is because he's facing off against Jeffrey Simmons. And look, Jeffrey Simmons had some very interesting comments early on the week, kind of taking a shot at Bo Nix by saying he's a first read quarterback. If his first read's not there, he's going to take off. And you know who I think he's going to have a problem with that? Quinn Miners. And look, Jeffrey Simmons is a fantastic player. But this matchup right here, Quinn, I think, is going to look, come out and try to

Starting point is 00:12:55 establish some dominance here early on. Can the Broncos take it to Jeffrey Simmons and prove that Bo Nix isn't that? Sean Payton said he disagreed with Simmons statement. And I think Quinn Miners and offensive line are going to have something to say about that as well. Those are my three key players. How do you feel about that? And obviously, I'll get into yours here in a second. I love that. I think that those three players are going to be instrumental in this game. Obviously, I think the highlight of Quinn, Miners is a huge matchup and one that could end up dictating overall,

Starting point is 00:13:22 just the pace of this game that could dictate kind of who's winning at the line of scrimmage. You know, you want to be the team that really initiates in terms of winning and really dominating up front. Quinn Miners against Jeffrey Simmons. That's must see TV. I'm excited to see some of the all 22 breakdowns of that after the game and everything because those two guys are at the top of their game. But my top three guys to watch in this game, Cody,

Starting point is 00:13:47 we'll start off with number one here, Cortland Sutton. I think that Sutton getting that contract extension in the offseason puts more pressure on him than really we've seen in recent years. I know that he had contract situations in the past, but this is a deal now where he's basically been made a Bronco for life, essentially, right? With the four-year deal, 92 million. The Broncos rejecting trade offers over the past couple of years for Sutton.

Starting point is 00:14:12 Like, he's got to be that guy that we saw against the Saints in the preseason, and where you just feel like anytime you throw him the ball, man, he's coming down with it. So really excited to see what Cortland Sutton can do. And then keeping in theme with guys who got the bag, all three of my players to watch are players who have been paid recently. So Nick Benito and Zach Allen, of course, I think Nick Benito and Zach Allen, Cody,

Starting point is 00:14:35 those two guys right there can make life miserable for Cam Ward in this game against the Tennessee Titans. And that's what we want to see. We always talk about that in our game previews is make the opposing quarterback miserable. Thankfully, the Broncos proved us right most of last year, right? They led the NFL in sacks. Can you get off to a blazing hot start against a team that's breaking in a new starter at left tackle, breaking in a rookie quarterback who, I mean, if you want to talk about Bo Nix being on his first read, what is Cam Ward going to have to be in a hostile environment like this,

Starting point is 00:15:07 where he's going up against the pass rush that just led the NFL in sacks, right? I mean, if that first read is not there, you better believe guys like Riley Moss, J. Quentin Mac, Millen, they're going to be breaking on the ball. So it's going to be up to Zach Allen, Nick Benito, and the other players on that defensive front to really make sure that Cam Ward is making quick decisions with the football. And I'm curious as well to see, too. I like your picks because I like the idea of the big,

Starting point is 00:15:31 bad guys going out there and obviously having big games here to help solidify that. But, you know, I think for me, the two guys that you mentioned that excite me the most there is going to be Benito and Allen here, just because we're going to see them on the same side. And I think if you're Cam Ward, You're the tie insure. You're trying to figure out, how are we going to run the football here with Pollard?

Starting point is 00:15:50 Where are we going to run to? Okay, well, are we going to run to the two guys who just got paid mega money here by the Broncos? I mean, you can't avoid them. They're going to have to obviously try to do that if you're Tennessee. But I like the Broncos chances. I like those two guys on the same side, being able to disrupt and cause havoc. Zach Allen, we know, can get in the backfield with ease with TFLs against the run game. His pressure on the interiors very quick to obviously get there.

Starting point is 00:16:13 Then you got Benito, who's just been an absolute force. We talk about pressure. We talk about edge contain. I'm super excited to see these two guys get after the rookie QB here on Sunday. It's going to be a big challenge here for Denver, too, because look, I think everybody's talking about it. And I think you guys did a great job of highlighting this in the crossover. You can't overlook that the fact that the Titans picked number one overall last year. They are a different team.

Starting point is 00:16:35 They've made some tangible upgrades around Cam Ward here. I'm also very curious to see maybe how Zach does going against former Bronco, Lloyd Cushenberry, from time to time. I know that obviously it would mean that he would have to rotate in. He's not going to line up on Lloyd Cushingberry. That's where DJ Jones is going to be. But if the Bronco stunt with some of the packages that they did last year, there's going to be times where Zach Allen might be cross and face of Lloyd Cushingberry.

Starting point is 00:17:00 I kind of can't wait to see if that's a part of the game plan here for Denver. I can't wait as well. I mean, with Vance Joseph, the way that he was kind of in his bag last year calling different blitz packages and really exotic looks throwing out. I mean, what's he going to throw at a rookie quarterback. This is where you kind of just say, let's go empty the clip out there and see what he can do with it because ultimately you're not going to trust that he's going to respond correctly.

Starting point is 00:17:23 You're going to trust that your defensive backs are going to be able to be aggressive because of the way that you're sending different players on the blitz. That's where Justin Sternad was most effective. So I guess in that way, you know, with Justin being potential that he's going to play a lot in this game, right, Cody? Maybe he's kind of an honorary player to watch here because he was sent on blitzes more than pretty much any lineback around the team last year. And that was with not even starting on a full-time basis throughout the course of a season. So if he's playing in this game, man, he has a chance to really make his mark attacking the line of scrimmage and being ultra aggressive.

Starting point is 00:17:58 I feel like he could be kind of that honorary guy because I think Vance is going to be absolutely sending the house at Cam Ward in this game, forcing him to make either you're going to your first read and you're going to make a mistake or you're going to get off your first read right away and you're not going to have time to make the right decision after that. I feel like I'd prefer the Broncos and Joseph to Blitz, Sternod and Green Laam more so than they, I think they would Alex Singleton. I think Alex is probably better playing off in space versus Blitzen because I don't think we've seen Singleton really get home too much.

Starting point is 00:18:30 One sent on a blitz in terms of pressures or sacks. Sternad, I mean, we talk about like every game last year, there was one or, you know, if he's not getting a sack on a blitz. every game he's having a key TFL, a key stop on third down or second down that's like, oh, wow, it's behind the backfield. Great, great job by Sternard, great call by Vanj Joseph to send him. We've seen him get that stick. And he's got a lot more confidence to him this year.

Starting point is 00:18:53 I've had a chance to talk to him this week. He's excited here for week one. And, you know, he believes it's a great opportunity for the team to go out there and carry over a lot of the momentum what they feel like they've built together here in training camp. And they want to unleash it here against the Titans. I'm with you there. I think we're going to keep our eye here on Stern. I think things are trending.

Starting point is 00:19:10 I'm going to head out to practice here in just a little bit. We'll see if Green Lans back out there. But I think it's safe to say if he doesn't participate today, he's not playing on Sunday. So Broncos country prepare for Starnad, Alex Singleton, and a handful of other linebackers to get their opportunities to get on the field here on Sunday against Cam Ward and the Titans here. But Broncos country, if Denver's going to come away with a victory against the Titans,

Starting point is 00:19:30 not only do they need to dominate the trenches and stop the ground game of Tennessee. The Broncos ground game offensively has to be a major focus. We'll highlight that. and our keys to victory here on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of the show is brought to you about friends over there at DoorDash, and it's almost the weekend. So it's time to look back and crown this week's MVP on who delivered, powered by DoorDash, just like you can win every Saturday with DoorDash streaks,

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Starting point is 00:20:58 to everyone in Broncos country, all the every dares for tuning in making us your first listen. Sarah, let's get into our keys to victory here. I want to start off with yours first and foremost here. If Denver is going to come away with a victory at home on Sunday, aFC conference matchup against the Titans. What do they have to do? Well, I want to see number one. I want to see the defensive backs be aggressive with Cam Ward's first read. So wherever he's going,

Starting point is 00:21:21 I want to see these guys absolutely attacking the football, take some chances. I know you don't necessarily want to give up big play after big play, but at the same time, go out there and try to make plays on the ball because it is going to be loud. They are going to try to get him some first read stuff to get him in a rhythm. So as a Broncos defense, you've got to be kind of like a batter that's going and facing a pitcher who's known for throwing first pitch strikes, right? You want to attack when the pitcher is attacking the zone.

Starting point is 00:21:48 You want to go ahead, take your hacks right away. So that's why I want to see this Broncos defensive backfield do. And I think their aggressiveness can really help out, Cody. Number two, key to victory here is early down dominance defensively. Of course, you want to dominate on the run so you can create or against the run so that you can create long down and distance. on second and third down. That's crucial in the NFL today. And then number three is this idea that first down efficiency on offense,

Starting point is 00:22:14 the opposite. So what you want the Titans to do on their side of the ball, you want to do the opposite. You want to get ahead of the sticks, create second and short, third and short situations for yourself to elongate and extend drives here and really keep the pressure on that defense. Because ultimately,

Starting point is 00:22:31 the Titans are not a deep team. They have talent, but they're not a deep team. You've got to rotate guys in and out. Ultimately, if you're extending drives, you're exposing a lack of depth on the other side. That's where the Broncos really need to be effective is on first down and make sure that they're staying ahead of the sticks, second and short, third and short all throughout this game. Well, to touch on your first key to victory about the aggressive reads on Cam Ward's, obviously his first read there. The thing I think we saw on the Thursday opener against the Cowboys and the Eagles was when teams went man coverage, both the Cowboys and the Eagles.

Starting point is 00:23:02 And Grant, we could talk about those defenses some other day, or you can check out those locked on podcast. wherever you get your podcast to recap that. We saw Dak Prescott and Jalen Hertz take advantage by using their legs. Cam Ward is a big quarterback. He can avoid contact. He can run through it. So you have to wrap him up, but he can also extend plays with his legs. And when you talk about some of the receivers that this Titans team has and Calvin Ridley,

Starting point is 00:23:24 and you talk about even Tyler Lockett, scramble drill, like the versatility, these guys can run all over the field. That right there is what you have to prepare for, especially if your coverage is good at first. and then Cam is able to get outside the pocket and make play. So the Broncos are going to have to obviously account for this week in this game. I felt like that's a very interesting point to kind of go with your first key to victory here. And I'm also in agreement with you as well.

Starting point is 00:23:48 I mean, you want to dominate early. You want to have Cam Ward facing a long field where it's like second and 15 or let's say it's third and 12. We already know it in Powerfield a mile high. The stadium, it shakes. The crowd rocks. That makes it very difficult here to hear if you're an opposing court, whether you're a veteran, whether you're a rookie. but also in that same light there,

Starting point is 00:24:06 let's say you have them backed up on third and long. It's so loud. Maybe they don't hear the play call, or maybe they're not paying attention to the clock, delay of game penalty. Okay, now you back it up even further. This plays into the advantage here of the Denver Broncos. I like your keys to victory.

Starting point is 00:24:18 I think they're very important here for Sunday's game against the Titans. Sarah, I'm going to go to my keys to victory here. I think first and foremost, where we're going to start off with, with this Broncos team. I always like to go through. This is what my coach always told me. We lived by this philosophy.

Starting point is 00:24:31 I carry it over as a coach. When you're plus three, the turnover differential, you are going to have a strong 90% chance of winning most of the time. If you are plus three there, which means you're creating takeaways, you're not turning the football over. You have a great chance of winning the game, right? Sounds cliche, but it is so important here. And I'd be curious to find out if there's a stat out there that says when the Broncos

Starting point is 00:24:53 force or when they turn over margin, 3-0, or even like positive 2, what is their record here? I think if you look at most teams around the NFL, a positive turnover margin, I think is a huge huge, huge benefit to where you're at. And you talk about this defense. Yes, of course, we have questions about Drake Greenlaw and his health going into this game. But you have guys that are more than capable of getting after the quarterback, strip sacking the QB, jumping routes, forcing interceptions, forcing fumbles. This is where I want to see this aggressive Broncos defense coming to play. My second key to victory as we transition here is going to be set the tone on the ground, right? Ground control here.

Starting point is 00:25:27 The Broncos, they ran for over 100 yards in each of their preseason games. They dominated on the ground defensively, controlled the time of possession. here. This is the formula and will we see this new Broncos run game, finally unlock itself a little bit against the tough test of Tavondry Sweat, Sebastian Joseph Day, Jeffrey Simmons. It's going to be a tough test, but maybe RJ Harvey switching from number 37 to number 12 might unlock something here for the Broncos offense. But yes, you want to have collectively between J.K. Dobbins, R.J. Harvey. We'll see if it's Tyler Badeghil McLaughlin. You want to have collectively 120 yards on the ground here. That's a good formula because then it means your extended drives.

Starting point is 00:26:04 it alive and it amplifies your chances of winning this game. My third key to victory here, I think when you look at it, field position dominance is going to be crucial here. And I'm not even just talking about the kickoff game. I'm talking about the punt game or even in the return game. This is almost every phase of special teams that you can imagine here. You know, the Broncos are obviously, I think we saw a little bit on Thursday night. Some teams experimenting with trying those low kicks on kickoff to get it in the landing zone

Starting point is 00:26:30 to force a return and maybe the two or three yard line. and then your coverage team converges. I'll see what Darren Rizzy is going to do this week, but this is going to be a big game for Jeremy Croshaw. Hopefully the Broncos aren't punting much, but if he punts, can he pin the Titans deep into their own field territory? That's going to be a major key here. And I also think as well, when the Broncos have an opportunity to get a big return,

Starting point is 00:26:51 can Marvin Mims flip the field position for the Broncos offense? Can the kick return game with these new roles? Can they force it to where Marvin can maybe bring the team out to the 40-yard line, maybe past the 50-yard line? field position advantage is going to be so crucial to setting the tone for the start of this season. 100%. And especially when you think about last year's team, right? I mean, last year's Broncos needed that good field position start in order to really have the success that we saw offensively because as you and I have mentioned a lot, like they were among the league leaders in

Starting point is 00:27:22 three and outs offensively last year. So having a defense that did force turnovers and get you the ball back quickly and especially teams that could set you up with good field position, that really all contributed significantly to the Broncos getting extra possessions, extra opportunities to really go out there and become a top 10 scoring offense. So if they can this year be a more efficient offensive operation, as you mentioned with the running game and having over 120 yards on the ground, if they can do that in combination with dominating field position, man, Cody, this could be a special, special year where the Broncos rank in the top five,

Starting point is 00:27:59 both offensively and defensively. But again, we don't want to get into the regular season, counting our chickens before they hatch. We want to see this team hit the ground running. I was just kind of daydreaming a little bit as you were talking about this plus three turnover differential, daydreaming about a potential one and oh start for the Broncos. How much different is that going to feel for this fan base compared to what we've experienced the last two seasons where last year was the disappointment of going into Seattle, Bo Nix's debut, kind of getting embarrassed a little bit in certain ways. and having a rough go offensively. And then the year before that, you start off with the failed onside kick. You lose to the Raiders in the season opener, right?

Starting point is 00:28:39 I mean, everything just left a bad taste in everybody's mouth and kind of forced everybody to reset. Okay, should I even be optimistic about this team? Should I be excited about how different would a 1-0 start, especially potentially a dominant victory in week one? How different would that have Broncos country feeling going into week two? I'm excited about the possibility. When was the last time the Broncos' country feeling?

Starting point is 00:29:01 Broncos won their season open. Was it was it 2021 with with Teddy Bridgewater? Teddy. Yep. Teddy Bridgetwater. Wow. It's been a while there, Broncos country since that's happened. Because then I think after that, the next time that they won a season open, I think it was 2018 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Starting point is 00:29:16 It was Philip Lindsay's debut at the Mile High City with Case Keenum at the quarterback position. So can the Broncos start off hot at home against an AFC conference opponent? That is our hope. One last thing here, Sarah. And Broncos country, feel free to chime in too as you're tuning into this episode. What is your biggest worry about this game? What is one thing that has you kind of like red flagged as things could go wrong if this happens? Yeah, I mean, that's the, what is that?

Starting point is 00:29:41 I mean, there's so many different things, right? It could be injury related. It could be shoot. If the offense struggles, Cody, if the offense is not humming, if the running game is not there, if the offensive line is getting whipped, that would really concern me. That would have me feeling that would have me feeling like I've been bamboozled all off season, right? I mean, short of injury, let's just say it has nothing to do with injuries. I think if none of the new additions come through this week, I mean, we're talking Evan

Starting point is 00:30:09 Ingram, we're talking, obviously, Dre Greenlaw is up for question. Talano, Hufanga, big investment, RJ Harvey, Jada Barron. Like, what happens if none of those guys make a big enough impact on the game to justify the investments to Broncos? I mean, that's not what we want to see, but it would certainly send this fan base into a bit of a frenzy. I definitely think there would be some weak one over reactions if that was the case if they did it off to a slow start. I know that's the thing. Sean says we want to get off to a fast start. The team has to have that sense of urgency. And also maybe another factor to watch as well. Like if the run game doesn't get going here in week one or if it doesn't get going throughout the season, is it safe to say that maybe it is the

Starting point is 00:30:47 offensive line that maybe there are questions about. You know, we saw Giovante Williams look like his old self for the Cowboys a little bit. And of course, Cowboys lost that game. But Javante didn't look like that at all. Javante had more touchdowns, I think, and Thursday night's opener than he did really with the Broncos in a handful of stretches there. So just some things to look at here early on here, Broncos Country. Let's know what your biggest concern would be going into kickoff here with this Broncos team against Tennessee on Sunday. You'll get post-game coverage here on the lockdown Broncos podcast.

Starting point is 00:31:16 Sarah Bettinger, myself, after the game. We got you covered, hopefully the Broncos off to a one and no start. We'll see you then, Broncos Country.

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