Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos EARLY DOWN ISSUES Leading to Struggles on Offense

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos early struggles on first and second down impacted Bow Nixon the offense on third down. Sean Payton has his quarterbacks back. We'll talk about that and more here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. The Denver Broncos are doing some soul searching after Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles charters where the offense struggled to get anything going.

Starting point is 00:00:33 But Sean Payton has his quarterbacks back. We'll welcome into a brand new episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, you know it's your team every day. Thank you so much to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in, making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so here on today's show, we're going to go through Sean Payton, having Bo Nix's back, essentially, especially on some of the deep ball passes that Bo had missed in Sunday's game. Plus, we've gone back and we've watched y' all 22, and we've gained a lot of perspective

Starting point is 00:01:02 that the Broncos offense has some issues on first. and second down, not just third down, that they're going to have to clean up if they want to improve going forward here. Plus, we'll go through RJ Harvey and his weird lack of involvement here inside of the Broncos' offense, even though they try to manufacture some touches. What is the story here with the Broncos rookie running back? And then we'll also highlight why Jonah Ellis needs to be talked about more after having an impactful three-week start to his season. You get all that here on today's episode show brought to you by our friends over there at Fandul. Right now, new customers can bet $5.

Starting point is 00:01:33 And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 and bonus bets to use across the app. Sarah, you know, you had our Monday conference call with Sean Payton the aftermath where we've had a chance to go back and watch the L-22. Sean certainly has at this point. And one of the first things he was asked about was the deep balls that Bo had missed in Sunday's game here. Really kind of had Bose back essentially when talking about the importance of this, saying that where this was at in terms of his concern level was very minimal based on what we had seen on Sunday. Yeah, and I think that's fair because, you know, when you're looking back at a game like this, Cody, obviously you're doing a little detective work. You're trying to figure out, okay, why did it happen the way that it happened? Why were they in these situations in the first place?

Starting point is 00:02:16 And you posted on your Twitter account that the Broncos, their third down situations, it was miserable. And Sean Payton said after the game, I was kind of shocked to hear him say this. But the average for third downs in this game, when the Broncos were two of 13, mind you, the average third down distance was third and 11 plus. is what Sean Payton said after the game. And that's simply like you talk about a game in which you're looking at the difference between the Chargers having 80 plays offensively and the Broncos having 48. You can trace it directly back to that. It's a lack of success on first and second down that obviously goes back to a number of different

Starting point is 00:02:52 things. It's penalties. It's game flow. It's execution. It's all sorts of these things coming together in this sort of tornado of terrible things for the Denver Broncos to have to deal with. And obviously, that's the source of the struggles for this team right now. Is nine first downs in this game is a direct result of having third and unmanageable

Starting point is 00:03:12 pretty much every time you're in that scenario. And the Broncos forcing two takeaways essentially was the reason they stayed in this game. That's what Sean Payton told us in a conference call that we had with him. But to that third down point that you mentioned, 13, third down attempts total. 10 of those 13s, Sarah, were third and long situations. I did a film breakdown over there at Mile High Sports. If anyone wants to go check it out there. but you see how the Chargers played defensively.

Starting point is 00:03:36 They were predominantly over 50% in their dying personnel, six defensive backs. And in those third down situations, number zero, Diane Henley, they had him spying Boe nix the entire time. So even if Bo wanted to tuck it and run, they had a guy specifically spying Bo for that while taking away everything

Starting point is 00:03:52 in the passing game. That is a good defense there in L.A. And the Broncos didn't make it easier for them. They made the Chargers life easier because, oh, hey, third and 12, we're going to play the sticks. we're going to take away the deep stuff and we're just going to rally and tackle. There's dirty hands on this operation.

Starting point is 00:04:08 So yes, while we continue to say, yes, Bo Nix didn't have a great game and he struggled, it's not solely on Bo as well. You saw some inconsistencies as well on pass protection on first down, second down, third down. The run game was non-existent in that first half. And really outside of JK Dobbins big time run, he had to come out of the second half, Broncos really didn't run the ball well at all in this game.

Starting point is 00:04:28 And there was a lack of running, which we'll talk to a little bit later about the involvement of RJ Harvey Harvey. and others here at this standpoint. But Bo, you know, Sean has his backs. Here's what Sean had to say on the deep ball misses from Bow from Sunday's game. Look, I don't, I mean, I look at there's two, there's the two deep throws, the flea flicker, and then the third down play. And I mean, I think you've got to be careful.

Starting point is 00:04:52 You're not overcoaching a deep ball that's going off the fingertips. Now, we've seen a couple in the last two weeks, and yet someone asked me about it yesterday. And I think that the more concerning problem would be is if we're leaving those balls inside where they're susceptible for an interception. So he's climbing the pocket. He's doing a great job. Both of those are third and long situations where there's, you know, obviously a different type of pass rush. But that's not what's concerning to me this morning after the loss yesterday would be, you know, the deep ball misses.

Starting point is 00:05:32 That wouldn't be what's on my mind. And you know what? It's interesting, isn't it? Because Bo Nix got a bad rap out of college for being a checkdown merchant. And here we are. And everybody's criticizing him for overthrowing the ball deep down field. I mean, it's a tough league, Cody. And you and I talked about this after the game,

Starting point is 00:05:49 the margin for error for this Broncos team right now. When you're playing against two teams that are undefeated and well-coached and healthy for the most part, I mean, it's a very razor-thin margin for error. And obviously, you got to hit the throws. Bo Nix should be expected to make those throws. He's a first round starting quarterback for a team with playoff aspirations. And more than that, obviously, with what Sean Payton has said this offseason. So there's a reason why the expectations are what they are. But I kind of agree with Sean. I mean, right? When you're talking about missing on deep throws, wouldn't you rather miss long than, well, like he said, inside where a

Starting point is 00:06:26 defensive back could come over and make a play on the ball or missing short where it's like, man, a defensive back undercut the ball and things like that. I mean, you want to put the ball on target perfectly. You want to drop it in the breadbasket downfield. But at the same time, I think, yeah, he's kind of spot on there and you can't overcoach these things. You have to go out there and hit those plays. But that's what it is right now, Cody.

Starting point is 00:06:48 It's not a matter of, man, he doesn't have the arm strength to get it down there. Or, man, he's noodle armed or whatever the case may be that people thought about him a year ago. it's really a matter of just timing, hitting, and executing, and that requires perfection on those types of plays. And there's instances where Bow's fundamentals and mechanics certainly aren't where they need to be. There's times where he's throwing off platform or he's running up in the pocket and he's throwing and launching himself forward when trying to throw a pass.

Starting point is 00:07:16 There's instances of that, but there's also instances that I broke down in my film review where Boe is setting his feet. He anticipates there's going to be someone that's going to hit him. He hangs firm and he still delivers some throw. Granted, you didn't have success in this game in particular against the Chargers, but there are inconsistencies all around Bo, which we always talk about. Sean says, you know, we want to paint a great picture around the quarterback. Here's what Sean had to say about that picture around Bo.

Starting point is 00:07:41 He felt like it was way too inconsistent. I think it was too inconsistent. There were too many minus plays. And so yesterday was a day that I would say the job degree difficulty factor, It was a hard day to play quarterback when your average third down is third and 11. So if we're not more efficient on first and second down, the best in our league are going to struggle with the numbers that we gave him on third down. So the thing that stood out was not only the penalties that set you back offensively, but the minus plays. And that has to be corrected for us to be a quality offense.

Starting point is 00:08:31 It's tough because you look at this, Cody and the Broncos, they averaged 5.5 yards per play. And when you see that kind of a number compared to the Chargers at 4.7 yards per play, you're kind of sitting there a little confused. Like, well, they're averaging 5.5 yards per play. Well, a lot of that was, honestly, Bo Nix is doing. You go back and you watch the film and you see that he's out there making plays on the ground as a runner, or like the close play that he almost converted a third, one of those third and longs.

Starting point is 00:08:59 He almost converted that with a great scramble. The fourth down plays. Obviously, he had the touchdown to Cortland Sutton and then had another really great throw to Cortland to push the Broncos into scoring range. So the only reason the offense had the success that it did outside of the one drive, like you mentioned, where they rode J.K. Dobbins down the field

Starting point is 00:09:16 was because of Bowdox. But yes, in a game like this, where your defense is on the field for 80 plays, your efficiency on early downs, especially in the first quarter where offense was non-existent. It's just too hard for a quarterback to overcome. Any quarterback, like he mentioned. I mean, we've seen Patrick Mahomes struggle a lot this season because the chiefs are struggling

Starting point is 00:09:36 with similar stuff. They can't get things going on first down, constantly in third and long situations, guys being covered downfield, first option being taken away. You're relying on yards after the catch and you're not getting it because teams can rally and tackle an obvious situation. So it's tough to play quarterback in the NFL. But yes, we do expect more out of both. especially when the pressure is on to win these tight one score games.

Starting point is 00:09:59 100%. And that's the thing said. I feel like we can criticize Bo fairly. Like we're getting both sides of the spectrum where if we don't criticize Bo, we're homers. If we criticize Bo, we're being too tough on him. Whereas I feel like we're playing it in the middle saying,

Starting point is 00:10:12 yes, Bo fundamentally footwork, mechanics, confidence, these things. He didn't play good on Sunday. But we can also acknowledge that there's things going on with this, this,

Starting point is 00:10:20 this and that are impacting him as well. And it's just like there's no middle ground these days. I think in anything in life or football, whatever you have, there really is no middle ground. But I think it's important to have these nuanced discussions. And when you go back and you watch the tape, I always still think the saying is true. It's never as good as you think it is. And it's also never as bad as you think it is as well. That's the game.

Starting point is 00:10:41 There's a lot to correct here. And there's a lot of pressure on Sean. There's a lot of pressure here on Bonnick. So how will they respond this week on Monday night football? That's going to be the big test. We can't wait to see on Monday next week here. But Broncos country coming up next. What is the story with our job?

Starting point is 00:10:55 J Harvey, the Broncos second round rookie, who there was a lot of expectations on as well, but he's hardly been utilized. What's up with that? We'll break it down here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode, Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by friends over there at five-hour energy and caffeine just got a flavor upgrade because five-hour energy shots delivered tasty caffeine in 17 bold flavors. Each two-ounce shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12-ounce cup of coffee plus B vitamins

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Starting point is 00:12:12 But want to quickly say, we appreciate every single one of you for making lockdown Broncos, your first listen of the day every single day. It's a long season, Broncos country. So don't forget to rock with us every single day because we'll have you covered with an episode of the show. Hit subscribe if you haven't done so already. We really appreciate you for doing that. Let's talk RJ Harvey on today's episode because obviously the Broncos second round pick, a highly anticipated player, a lot of explosive ability, big playability. We saw that manifest in week one with his huge run against the Tennessee Titans and kind of

Starting point is 00:12:42 figured, man, that could be the start of something special for RJ Harvey, even if he's not getting a ton of carries or touches every single week. At least he'll be able to make the most of what he does get. But unfortunately, against the Los Angeles Chargers here in week three, Cody, just two carries for two yards, right, for RJ Harvey in this one. And a couple of plays that I think there was some meat left on the bone there. Let's talk about that first with RJ because I think that's kind of the source of the struggle right now. Statistically speaking is his best run was wiped off the board. And a catch and run opportunity was eliminated by a couple of his teammates. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:13:21 And look, this is the sour point about going back and watching the All 22. Two carries for RJ Harvey. That's simply not enough, Sarah. You know, the coaching staff has to find a way to get him more looks and more touches. Certainly we could say the same exact thing here for J.K. Dobbins. I understand right now Sean Payton is rotating three different running backs. But Tyler Badee, being active, only had two offensive snaps in this game. And on one of them, he missed a key blitz pickup by the Chargers defense that forced Bo Nix.

Starting point is 00:13:49 I mean, the Broncos are trying to run the dagger. concept that we've seen Cortland and Bo hit on. Instead, he's got pressure that forces him to roll right, which is completely away from where he has to be. He has to throw the ball out of bounds there. Those are some of the things that we're talking about, some inconsistencies. When you talk about mass subbing in these personnel groupings, that was a little problematic in this game.

Starting point is 00:14:07 But I would also say, too, for RJ, to those opportunities he mentioned, there was one play. It was a third and eight play here for the Broncos offensively. This was actually a well-designed scheme up play to get R.J. Harvey the ball, right? They kind of motion him out a little bit. It's an empty formation. He chips one of the rushers, and then he runs an in-breaking route where when the next fires a beautiful laser to him, he catches it.

Starting point is 00:14:30 Trent Sherfield and Adam Troutman are on the right side. They have to block the corner. Both guys kind of just let the guy run through and he tackles RJ for about a three-yard gain versus RJ being able to get it, catch it, get up the sideline where if those guys blocked that one corner, RJ is going to get probably 10, 15 plus yards on that play, move the chains there. And all of a sudden it might have changed the dynamic. of maybe what you did offensively there.

Starting point is 00:14:53 But you're talking about those missed opportunities. That's one that stands out to me in a big way here. And it's frustrating because RJ can help this team. Two rushing attempts is not going to get it done. But man, when you are manufacturing some of these touches for him, you have to find a way to execute. You talk about the miss block by Sherfield and Troutman on a penalty where Adam Troutman gets called for off sides offensively.

Starting point is 00:15:17 Harvey catches it in the flat and gets upfield for a first down. That gets called back. So to me, it's just, it's frustrating. It's all these negative plays compounding and taken away potentially really big positive plays and poor execution being a big part of it as well. And ultimately, it leads to a lot of the concerns and frustrations about Bo Nix because when you're wiping those big plays off the entirely, when you're wiping them out, you're really effectively ending drives.

Starting point is 00:15:43 You're creating different narratives because of the way the offense performed after those penalties, right? When you had done everything. seemingly right or you had drawn up the right plays, one player or two players not doing their job on a specific play kind of starts this snowball effect where, okay, now you've got a third and long situation. Now you're putting more on your quarterback. Or now you're asking Cortland Sutton to go make a much more difficult degree of play, right, as a receiver or whatever the case may be. You're asking, okay, you get a wide receiver screen to Troy Franklin. It's way too long for him to try to get

Starting point is 00:16:18 to the sticks. So it's all these sorts of things, like you said, kind of compounding together to create this narrative now about RJ Harvey, where I feel like in the first three weeks of the season, even with minimal involvement and minimal snaps for the offense, he has had plays drawn up to where he's been able to make a significant impact. We saw against the Colts, that kind of little arrow route that he had near the red zone that got the Broncos into scoring range into the tight red zone, really well designed play, well executed. We're kind of starting to see that role, that vision for RJ Harvey come into fruition. But you also want to continue to ride J.K. Dobbins, right?

Starting point is 00:16:56 Because J.K., he's running the ball well. For the most part, I mean, 11 carries 80 plus yards on the ground. I thought for sure, Cody, we manifested the 100-yard running game for J.K. And this one. But once again, it goes back to the fact Broncos 48 plays offensively compared to 80 for the Los Angeles chargers. I mean, when you have so many penalties on the offensive side of the ball, you just really can't get everybody involved the way that you want,

Starting point is 00:17:20 especially when you're wiping off big plays like RJ Harvey had. To quote my favorite band, Metallica, so close no matter how far. That's exactly where the Broncos were at in this game. I feel like it's just been an uphill trek for them that just seemingly they run into rugged terrain. You know, they don't have like the proper equipped shoes to be able to climb. They just keep making these mistakes that compound here. Some interesting data to as well that pertains to maybe how the Charters defense played, especially when the Broncos found themselves in these situations here,

Starting point is 00:17:47 on third and long and how they played. I mean, they really tried to take away the explosives, the downfield stuff. They wanted Bo Nix to throw it short and rally and tackle because if it's third and 12 or third in 19, Sarah, why wouldn't you at that point say, you know what? We're going to protect deep, protect the sticks. We're going to rally and tackle. The Chargers, according to true media, they played in their dime personnel, 50% of their defensive snaps.

Starting point is 00:18:08 So that means six defensive backs on 50% of their onfield snaps with 37.5% of their onfield snaps being in the nickel right there. And that usually kind of came in some goal line situations there. But coverage-wise, the Chargers ran cover 3, 52.1% of the time and quarters coverage, 29.2% of the time, which means that they have two corners, two safeties playing deep to take away those explosives. That's very revealing numbers. And when you factor in the Bronco struggles in those early downs, it made it so easy for the Chargers just to sit back on third down and say, hey, throw it at us. We're ready for it. We're going to break on the football.

Starting point is 00:18:44 And obviously, when you go back and you look at a couple of those. misses that Bo had, you certainly want those ones back because those were explosives against that particular defensive look where you have guys that beat it, that beat the coverage essentially there. So you want to get back to that here this upcoming week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Once again, the 24-hour rule, you sit on the pity potty and then you flush it and you move on. That's what the Broncos have to do, but they have to do so in mind of making sure that, you know,

Starting point is 00:19:11 they use a bidet to kind of clean out this offensive thing that they're dealing with right now. But with that said, Broncos country coming up next, we're going to talk about a little bit of a highlight from Sunday's game. And early on here in the season, Jonah Ellis is playing such an impactful role through three games coming up with clutch plays. We need to highlight him a little bit more here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode is brought you by friends over there at Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. And week four of the NFL season is upon us here. Broncos country, Denver, they are seven and a half point home favorites against the banged up Bengals.

Starting point is 00:19:45 led by Jake Browning after they got blown out by the Vikings this past week. And Fandu is making sure that you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer because right now new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use all across the app, whether you want to do it on a Monday night football same game parlay, anytime touchdown scores, or if you want to pick the games on the money line outright, you can do so inside of the Fandu app today. So are you ready to play?

Starting point is 00:20:11 Download the Fandual app now by visiting Fandual.com. to get started. That's Fanduil.com to place your first $5 bet. As we jump on the fourth quarter action on today's episode of the show, Jonah Ellis is going to be at the forefront of our discussion and impact players so far through three weeks of the NFL season. While the Broncos pass rush has been very good, very dominant, they got pass rush impact in waves. And Jonah Ellis is leading that charge behind Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper will break him down. I want to say thanks to all the everydayers in Broncos country once again for tuning in making us your first.

Starting point is 00:20:45 And we appreciate you whether the Broncos win, lose, draw, whatever may be, make us your go-to every single day for all your Broncos news content coverage analysis and more. Sarah, I tell you what, like we talked about Nick Benito's performance in the post-game report against Joe Alton the Chargers and how dominant it was, how exciting it was, and how really if they would have won, we would have been highlighting that a lot in the post-game yesterday. But I do feel like Jonah Ellis is a player, we should definitely talk about a little bit more here because, man, you talk about a consistent player, not only has Benito been great.

Starting point is 00:21:17 Jonathan Cooper has been really good in his pressure and obviously what he's been able to do, but man, Jonah Ellis is taking a huge leap forward here in a second NFL season. And I think that the Broncos need to get him more involved in the defense, Cody. I was watching Sunday night football with the Chiefs and the Giants. And I didn't realize that the Giants were able to get all three of their big time rushers on the field at the same time. They had Abdul Carter out there sort of just kind of playing a little off the ball, playing a bit as a quarterback spy, rushing in the A-gap, doing a lot of different things while you had the more experienced guys, Brian Burns and Kvon Thibbado off the edge, why can't the Broncos

Starting point is 00:21:54 do something like that with Jonah Ellis and their other two rushers? I mean, you want to get the best 11 guys out there. And we've talked plenty about the off-ball linebackers struggling for the Denver Broncos this year. I realize that somebody has to be out there with the green dot, relaying the calls, you know, organizing traffic, things like that. And I also realize that the Giants may not be the benchmark of, you know, success right now for teams. But I did like the idea, even though, you know, it's it's three edge guys on the field at the same time. Jonah Ellis, he can be that quarterback spy. He can come up the middle. He can bring pressure off the edge. He can kind of show like he's going to bring pressure. And then, hey, if a running back just so happens to run out of the

Starting point is 00:22:38 backfield off to the side where he might be able to catch a pass. Hey, Jonah, you've probably proven better than any of our other linebackers so far this year that you can actually stick with those guys athletically. So I think that would be something that the Broncos could do to get this guy more snaps because right now he's just a rotational edge and special teams player. I'd love to see a bit more of a creative usage from him and maybe they can use the Giants as some inspiration. I was going to say too, I was going to ask you in your ideal situation, if the Broncos were

Starting point is 00:23:07 to deploy this defensively. I feel like I would, I would want Jonah to rush the passer in this situation versus playing a spy. Though I think he can play that spy role well, I want him rushing the passer. But between Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper, who would you kind of deploy as that spy? I mean, Nick Benito has done that before. I mean, that was his role at Oklahoma when he was in college. Jonathan Cooper is also athletic enough to do it as well.

Starting point is 00:23:30 I mean, would you rather go with one of those two guys as your spy and deploy Jonah as a rusher? Because I think from a rushing standpoint, I came away and impressed. with him working against Trey Pipkins at times. And not only is Jonah having a huge impact on defense, but we talk about special teams as well, the force fumble that he had that gave the Broncos even more life in this game on Sunday that when you go back

Starting point is 00:23:50 and you look at the totality of this game, it's like, wow, how did Denver lose that game? Jonah Ellis, man, he created so many opportunities on both sides of the ball that are defensively and on special teams. Yeah, and I think to your question, I think you can get creative with that kind of stuff. like having one of Cooper, Benito, or Ellis be that sort of quarterback spy and not necessarily every single time, right? Because there might be times when you rush everybody and you

Starting point is 00:24:15 have Barron on the field as well who can be that sort of spy. You know what I'm saying? It could be a variety of options there. But I think the relentless style of play that we see from Cooper, Bonito, and Ellis, like that can be used to Denver's advantage where they can have those guys all in the, I would love to see them on the field all at the same time a little bit more often. I know that's not always going to be possible. I know that you might telegraph some certain things. And again, you might still be just as susceptible. But really, what are the Broncos had to lose at this point?

Starting point is 00:24:46 With the way that Singleton has been playing with the way that their linebackers have been in coverage, I mean, it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to try, given Jonah Ellis has been one of the biggest bright spots on this entire team so far. Yeah, it's been exciting to see him. My wife, she's like, I really like this Jonah Ellis guy. And I was like, well, I think he's a Jersey. guy. And I would say too, Sarah, I mean, do you think it's safe to say that Jonah Ellis could be a Broncos jersey guy here for fans? Yeah, absolutely. I feel like. Why not? Well, so there's that. So, I mean, Jonah's obviously a guy we want to talk about here. I also think we should talk about Jada Baron a little bit. I mean, he's playing a lot in the dime. I feel like Jadae in the last couple of weeks in that role. I think he's played well covering some of the tight ends, covering some of the tighter dynamics that, you know, they've kind of ran into. I've been impressed with his play here. But, you know, you still have the hot topic right now in Broncos country.

Starting point is 00:25:35 that people are over Riley Moss here. And I still think, like, yes, he's got to be able to finish plays at the end here. But I think a lot of people are kind of getting caught up in the hyperbole of, oh, there's a catch. Riley Moss is nearby all. That's Riley's responsibility through next gen stats, according to those things. Luca Evans put this out there, which is great, great perspective here. As we know, playing opposite of PS2, you're going to get a lot of targets. Riley Moss is the second most targeted cornerback in the NFL, and that's because of PS2 here.

Starting point is 00:26:04 but teams are 13 of 27 passing, which is a 48.1% completion percentage when targeting him. It's only given up 170 yards and then 80 passerating when throwing against there. But you talk about that data, 48% there. He's only given up one touchdown on the year. Sir, I know that people are freaking out about Riley Moss here. I think that that's full on panic there. I still don't think Riley Moss is playing bad football here. I think he's just got to be able to finish on some of those play.

Starting point is 00:26:34 and you talk about the degree of separation on that Keenan Allen touchdown. I mean, there wasn't much separation from Keenan there. Like if Riley is getting burnt where there's four or five yards of separation or eight yards of separation, those big explosives, then say, okay, yes, there's a conversation. But Riley's in position. He's tough. He's just got to find a way to start finishing some of these plays at the end of it. Yeah, I mean, 0.6 yards of separation on that.

Starting point is 00:26:58 Keenan Allen touchdown. One of the most unlikely, I mean, when you talk about just a freak play among freak plays. I still don't understand on that play how Justin Herbert wasn't strip sacked by Zach Allen, much less than Nick Benito almost got his arm as he was following through. And then he makes a throw moving to his left against a corner that has 0.6 yards of separation in his coverage. And so, yeah, I mean, we don't need to play defense for Riley Moss in this. I mean, he's he's responsible now for the only interception the Broncos have in the first three games of the season. I mean, he got his hand on the ball there. And yes, he's being tested.

Starting point is 00:27:33 quite often. So of course, he's going to come under the microscope, but it would be similar for anybody else out there. Now, do you want to see him making more plays on the ball? I think he's trying. I think that got him into trouble on the one play that he got called for a penalty against the chargers. He's trying to make a play on the ball. And he's trying to go out there and make quarterbacks pay for constantly throwing his direction. I think as the season goes along, we are going to see that pay off, that aggressiveness on his part, the ability to make plays, the tight coverage that he does have, you're getting tested a lot. And so you've got to go finish those plays, like you said.

Starting point is 00:28:07 But I'm definitely not, I'm not out on Riley Moss by any means. I think Broncos fans would be sorely mistaken if he were to go down with another injury. Or if I don't think the team perceives him the way that the fans do by and large right now. I can tell you this by talking to some people in the building. The Broncos aren't down on Riley Moss at all. They're very high on him. And it's just a matter of being able to finish some of those plays there. He has good coverage there.

Starting point is 00:28:32 He's a good communicator there defensively. He's in position quite a bit. It's just find a way to finish those plays. And that's going to be the emphasis here. And what did Sean Peyton even say in the offseason? You know, playing opposite to Pat, we expect that corner's probably going to get a lot of targets there. I don't know how Jaudey Baron would do in that situation, you know, being there. You know, people are going to say, oh, you're going to throw the rookie in the fire there.

Starting point is 00:28:52 I wouldn't do that. I mean, I think Jaude's role right now is pretty clearly established. I like what he and Jayquan are doing inside the slot. I don't think that the Broncos have an issue right now. And this is something that we ran into last year in hindsight. Remember Riley goes down with the knee injury. Everyone's like, oh my gosh, we need Riley Moss so bad. And that's just when things are going wrong and it's just the snowball of negativity, right?

Starting point is 00:29:14 When things are going wrong and there's a play given up here or there, it's the absolute worst case scenario. And I just think that that's the 24 hour reaction rule here. But when you go back and you watch the film, he's in position. There's not separation really happening by wide receivers against him. And that's a promising thing there. I mean, that's not much you can ask, but got to find a way to finish those plays on the back end there here. But that's, I think, all we need to really say about that here. But Broncos country, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:29:41 The Broncos focus now shifts to the Cincinnati Bengals, Jake Browning, T. Higgins, Jamar Chase, Yosevas. They got weapons galore here, but can Jake Browning deliver? The Broncos, they don't watch. The Broncos, they are hoping that they can prevent that from happening. So all the week long, we're going to have you covered on the practice report that's going on with this team, some of the bigger storylines here as Denver prepares for a Monday night football matchup next week against the Bengals. Broncos Country, we appreciate you so much. We'll see you next time for another episode, Lockdown Broncos.

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