Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Emergence Of Bo Nix Is Biggest Surprise Of The Season

Episode Date: December 6, 2024

The Denver Broncos first half of the season has come and gone and the emergence of rookie QB Bo Nix has been the biggest surprise development of the year. How quickly Nix and the Broncos offense have ...gotten going has Broncos Country excited for the future. Which Broncos players have surprised the most in the first 13 weeks, which players have disappointed? Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Omaha SteaksFrom legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, save 50% off site-wide for a limited time at OmahaSteaks.com. Plus, our listeners get an extra $30 off with Promo Code NFL. IceShakerCreated by and used by the Gronkowski brothers, IceShakers has sold over 1 million bottles.  They have changed the game with workout bottles, and this is the gift you’ve been looking for… go to IceShaker.com and use the code LOCKEDONNFL at checkout to save 25% on your order. Skylight FrameGet $20 off a Skylight Frame when you go to SkylightFrame.com/NFL. Mint MobileTo get this new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to Mintmobile.com/lockedonnfl.  Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at MINT MOBILE dot com slash lockedonnfl.Disclaimer: $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details. Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started. PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The first half of the Denver Broncos season is over, and the emergence of Bownex as the team's franchise quarterback is the biggest surprise of the first half. We'll tell you why and highlight our own particular ones 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. Hey, hey, hey, what's happening in Braco's country? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network where you know it is your team every day. Thank you so much to everyone at Broncos country, all the everydayers,
Starting point is 00:00:41 all the first listeners for making the show exactly what it is. We appreciate you so much. The bye week blues are here, but you know what? It's almost over. We're almost getting ready to approach another game week here on lockdown Broncos. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. You can check out my written work,
Starting point is 00:00:55 Milehysports.com. You can check out Sarah Bedinger. He's the site expert of their predominantly orange.com and also a writer over there at NFL SpinZone. You can check out all his work over there. Here's what we can break down here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. We'll wrap things up by talking about the best moments from the first half of the season here for this Broncos team. We'll highlight some of the biggest disappointments in terms of developments and even players in the second portion of today's show.
Starting point is 00:01:20 But we're going to kick things off by highlighting the biggest surprise for the Broncos in the first half of the season. A lot to break down here on today's episode show. It's brought to our friends over there at Fandu. And you can start the season with a big return on Fandu. A new customers can place a $5 bet. get started with $150 in bonus bets. If you win your first $5 bet, visit fanduil.com to get started. Sir, I mean, look, 13 weeks of just nonstop football play.
Starting point is 00:01:47 I think sometimes like the duration of a season, if it gets longer and you have your buy week, it seems more favorable, especially if you're healthy as is. And the Broncos happen to, I don't want to say luck into it, but go into week 13, you know, afterwards, going to the buy week, relatively healthy and they're in a playoff conversation. I mean, this right here, the timeline couldn't work out better. It's really exciting, Cody, for the team to be in the position that it's in. Obviously, makes our jobs a lot more fun every single week when we get to talk about the Broncos.
Starting point is 00:02:18 I was talking with my wife on the phone earlier today. I was like, in this profession, I've not covered the Broncos as a playoff team. And so how cool would that be for us to be able to do that together this year? and for the listeners to be along for that ride as we're kind of doing it for the first time, right? Obviously, the Broncos got, we got used to them making the playoffs and being Super Bowl contenders in our upbringing,
Starting point is 00:02:40 but as, you know, doing this professionally, it's kind of crazy to think about. But the biggest story from this year has obviously been, the reason why this team is in contention, why it is a potential playoff team, is that emergence of Bo Nix, right? And I think that we talk about it in the lead up to the season.
Starting point is 00:02:58 You obviously have hopes and things like, that and you want to be able to see the quarterback draft pick work out and you don't want to have to be on the quarterback carousel anymore. But like Bo Nix has set this team up. It's so much different than years prior where you felt like, okay, the defense is keeping the team in position to win enough games and your quarterback just has to make enough plays. It really feels like the defense is playing well, obviously, but Bo Nix is really a big reason why the Broncos are winning these games. Yeah, I think when we look at it from like Broncos country, you know, standpoint of their like in terms of developments of this first half of the season, the defense has been playing
Starting point is 00:03:36 really well. And obviously, as we're putting the show together, we're debating like, all right, what has been the biggest surprise? Has it been the Broncos defensive dominance or is it, hey, the Broncos, they have their franchise quarterback. All signs seem to point to that. It's hard to kind of go away at the hot hand here. And it really is like Bo Necks is the talking point right now in Broncos country. I mean, Michael Parsons, let's talk about the Broncos defense, which is cool and all. But, you know, the highlight and the focus is, hey, like, Sean Payton's got his guy a quarterback. So I'd say, like, do the first 13 weeks, that has been the biggest surprise development so far of this season. Considering, like, weeks one and weeks
Starting point is 00:04:10 two, it was, it was rough for Bo. We were like, all right, hey, not a great start, but, you know, you need some more help around him, especially when we talked about the offense. And, you know, we talked about Bo's trying to figure out how to get comfortable in the system. He's trying to figure out what he can and can't do. And I think that that learning curve, it kind of flipped quickly, right? Because look, after that Pittsburgh Steelers game in week two, we're like, oh, man, Denver's, they're 0 and 2. Now they're about to be on this tough stretch where now they got to go play Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay Buccaneers who were a playoff team a year ago, fully healthy. They have one of the most explosive offenses at that point, building up to week three,
Starting point is 00:04:44 and then you've got to go play the New York Jets in week four. Like, okay, everyone's talking about the Jets, this and that. But Boe coming out in that week three game against Tampa Bay, I'd say it was probably the most impressive thing, right? Because they came out slinging the football, which wasn't something that they had success with in the first couple of weeks. And just see Bo grow and mature from that point all the way to now. Sir, we've said it a multitude of times in the last handful of weeks. Bo Nix looks like an entirely different quarterback right now than he did early on in the year. And I would almost hazard a guess to say, like if the Broncos had this type of bow in week one and week two,
Starting point is 00:05:16 I think they beat Pittsburgh. I think they beat Seattle. And all of a sudden now everything on this season might be a little bit different. But you know what? He was a rookie. He figured out he's growing quickly. So for me, I think that's definitely the storyline here for this team. I mean, how do you feel about that?
Starting point is 00:05:33 And then obviously we can get to some players who are like the biggest surprise players in our eyes here in the first half of the season. Well, yeah, I feel like that's been so huge. And incidentally, Cody, how interesting is it that that may come into play here in terms of, well, the Bonix that we see now could have beat Pittsburgh early in the season. Maybe he'll get a chance to beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs. maybe we'll get an opportunity to see a little bit of a rematch there and actually Russell Wilson versus the Denver Broncos this year with the stakes as high as they could possibly be. I mean, that would be, can you imagine the storylines, Cody, if that was the first playoff game that you and I covered together? I mean, let's just dream for a little bit Broncos.
Starting point is 00:06:11 Yeah. It'd be exciting. But I think in terms of the biggest surprise player, you have to look at just this roster as a whole being a surprise. Of course, no, the worst ranked roster in the NFL according to pro football focus and pretty much every other site that does these metrics, 33rd team, ESPN, they're all ranking the Broncos roster as being terrible. So who's a surprise among the surprises, right? I picked Devon Velae as my guy just because 26-year-old rookie, not even the most diehard NFL draft fans knew or cared about this guy going into the process, right, Cody?
Starting point is 00:06:49 Because when you're making mock draft predictions, if you find out that a guy's 26 years old. He's probably coming off your board, you know, as the armchair general manager. Like, oh, that guy's too old to really carve out much of a career for himself in the NFL. I don't know. I feel like this guy has proven himself as maybe the number two option in the offense at this point at receiver. And maybe not even there's a maybe qualifier there, right? It's he's been a playmaker, especially the last month plus. Devon Valet to me, Cody, is the biggest surprise player on this team. Strong hands. Great catch radius. Very instinctive.
Starting point is 00:07:24 And I think he's only going to continue to get better as the season goes along. Well, and this even goes back to some excitement during Trennan camp, right? He had the one-handed catch that went a little viral on social media. And it was like, oh, wow, like DeVon Bailey. It's like we started seeing Devon Valey really stacked days. And it was to the point where the Broncos saw enough out of that say, hey, you know what? We can move on from Tim Patrick.
Starting point is 00:07:44 And I know that's been a pain point. And it was great to see him catch two touchdowns on Thursday night football. So dang happy for Tim Patrick. That guy deserves it. And he deserves to be in that situation where he could potentially. eventually win a Super Bowl this year. Very, very happy for Tim. But yeah, I agree.
Starting point is 00:07:57 I think Devon Bailey's been such a surprise emergence. And obviously a little bit early, it was after the week one game, he did suffer that rib injury, which was a little unfortunate. He missed some time. But, I mean, he has truly become the number two receiver here inside of this offense. And now these young guys are finding the rhythm. They're finding what their role is going to be. And look, I think Devon Bailey is going to be a guy that not only is going to be a short
Starting point is 00:08:19 to intermediate guy, but I think he can emerge as a downfield threat, not necessarily with speed, but I'm talking about possessive. session 50-50 looks, I think that's going to come. That's going to be a part of his game we're going to see here very soon. I'm going to go with the defensive player here in terms of my biggest surprise player in the first half of the season. It's going to be Brandon Jones. And look, Sarah, you and I think we're on the same level of thinking throughout training camp
Starting point is 00:08:40 because, you know, I was there and we're like, hey, Brandon Jones is not practicing. Like he suffered that hamstring injury and all of a sudden he just hasn't been able to do anything and he's just out there. And Vance Joseph made comments literally right before the last preseason game that it's concerning he hasn't gotten any reps. And then we're thinking, wow, the Broncos, they moved on from Justin Simmons. They signed this guy. You know, we don't know what he's going to bring just yet.
Starting point is 00:09:02 And then regular season comes around. It's like, all right, hey, dude didn't play any preseason games, didn't participate much in training camp, but man, he has brought it. He has been a fun player. I think he's been a very crucial piece on the back end of the secondary for the Broncos. And obviously, they missed him a little bit in the second half there against the Cleveland Browns on Monday night football.
Starting point is 00:09:20 Not only see a guy that can cover well in zone and he can cover well in man-to-man coverage. I mean, heck, he even jammed David Najoku off the line on a second touchdown. Like, great coverage, better throw. And it's unfortunate, you know, you've got to live with that sometimes. But he has also proven he can play man coverage. Brandon Jones has been a fun player to watch. He is my surprise player for the Broncos in the first half of the season.
Starting point is 00:09:43 Yeah, I love that pick too, especially because the stakes were very high for him, right, coming into the season with Justin Simmons being released, everybody being skeptical, the injuries in the off season, preventing him from really even seeing the field until the first week of the season, which was tough for us as fans being like, man, the safety position is probably our biggest area of concern
Starting point is 00:10:05 with Justin being gone. And you brought in this guy who wasn't even a full-time starter at Miami, made some plays, did some good things, but wasn't even a full-time starter there and just a part-time guy and somebody that, you know, a risk, a risk that you took.
Starting point is 00:10:20 And there was a lot of talk about, did you overpay him in free agency to bring him in? I love that pick as a surprise player for this defense because I don't think the Broncos have one of the top five defenses in the NFL this season without Brandon Jones's production. Certainly made a game-changing interception against the Raiders on the road a couple of weeks ago, something that affected the impact and flow of that game. So he's been a game changer for Denver's defense.
Starting point is 00:10:46 And I think you could say that about a number of guys, right? I think you could say like Cody Barton's been a surprise. for a lot of people. Riley Moss has been a surprise. And so there's a lot of guys on this defense that they've really stepped up. And even let's say Nick Benito, Cody, how many people expected him to be in the spot that he's in? I mean, just a big time development season from this Denver Broncos defense.
Starting point is 00:11:09 So hats off to the coaching staff and for getting these guys prepared. And Broncos countries are watching, listening along here today. We want to hear from you who your biggest surprise players were in the first half the season and the biggest surprise development of the first half of Denver. seasons they get her up for four games, a playoff push on the way here for the Broncos. One thing we're going to highlight as well, we talk about surprises, but now we've got to analyze disappointments. The Broncos run game has been frustrating to watch.
Starting point is 00:11:32 We'll highlight why that is one of the biggest disappointment parts of the first half of the season here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Broncos Country, today's episode, the show is brought to you by our friends over there at Omaha Steaks, and the holiday season is here. Omaha Steaks might be a great gift that you can give to the loved ones in your life. And nothing delivers comfort and joy quite like. the unrivaled quality and taste of Omaha Steaks. It's guaranteed perfection in every single bite. And right now, you can save on unforgettable gifts with 50% off sitewide at Omaha Steaks.com.
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Starting point is 00:13:49 Get $20 off your purchase now at skylightframe.com slash NFL. Broncos country, we kept it positive before talking about some of the biggest surprises in a good way this season. But what about players that have been disappointments for the Denver Broncos in 2024? Well, Cody and I, we're going to have to kind of break the bad news here on today's episode of lockdown Broncos. But don't worry, we've got some more positivity coming. way also in this episode. But Broncos Country, thanks so much for rocking with us this year on lockdown Broncos. And every single day for all you, every dayers out there.
Starting point is 00:14:23 If you haven't already done so, hit subscribe right now, wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as over there on YouTube, as we continue to discuss Broncos disappointments here in the by week, Cody, it's a great time to reflect. It's a great time to kind of look back at the season that has been. Obviously, the Broncos largely haven't been disappointing at all. And of course, we know that that's because a lot of times you make personnel changes in the season. You have sort of things that just the ebbs and flows of everything. We figure things out.
Starting point is 00:14:54 The coaching staff starts to realize, hey, we can't be rocking with this guy anymore. We have to make a change at this spot. That happened for the Broncos last year, too. Remember after that Miami game, all those personnel changes that led to just a ton of success for the team defensively, specifically. But I want to throw this to you. as far as disappointments go, let's talk about just the team as a whole, right? The biggest disappointing storyline for this Denver Broncos team.
Starting point is 00:15:21 I think it's unfortunately maybe something that even dates back to last season as well. Yeah, and look, I think Broncos country is probably going to be synonymous with us in terms of our agreement on this. It's the run game on the offensive side of the ball. The rushing attack has not been good. And look, I think that's just the pain point. Like you mentioned it even last season, And we brought it up in the post-game show after Monday night football. The last Broncos running back to run for 100 yards was Latavius Murray when Jerry Rossberg was the interim head coach.
Starting point is 00:15:50 The Broncos have gone 30 straight games there without having a 100-yard rusher. Now, I'd say as a team, they've hit over 100 yards rushing collectively spread out amongst a couple of guys. You know, whether it be Boe Nix, Jaliel McLaughlin, Javante Williams, in totality, combining those numbers are Tyler Biday and Boe Nix and everything. Like there hasn't been one steady producer on the offensive side of the ball in the run game. And I think that has probably been a little bit of the frustrating part because it means that there's a lack of consistency. And we maybe expect some changes to happen here after the by week. But you and I have done so many shows this season.
Starting point is 00:16:26 And Broncos country, the everydayers and first listeners, they can attest to this. We have said if the run game gets going, this offense is going to get to another level. So far, we have not seen the run game get going in totality with one guy. Now, in some games where the run game has been present, I think probably the New Orleans game is the best example of the run game overall this year. Some of it's by Bo Nix, you know, escaping pressure and then using his legs, some is by design. Some of it's with, you know, running backs breaking off a couple of runs there.
Starting point is 00:16:54 But it's like from that point forward, it opens everything up. And it also helps your defense because now you're grinding time off the clock. And now if you're converting drives into points, a problem that Broncos have had, you know, in previous years, not so much this year, which has been nice to see. considering their point total of jazzably. That to me has been disappointed because Denver here, they're at eight and five. Hard to imagine that they wouldn't have 10 wins right now if the run game wasn't better in a few of those games early on in the season.
Starting point is 00:17:21 Yeah, I mean, shoot, they should have at least nine wins since they with the field goals. And one of the games where they did run the ball quite well, but to your point, Cody, the red zone offense, which after the first two weeks of the season was dead last in the NFL. I know that's a small sample, but after two weeks, you were dead last in. the NFL in red zone percentage. The Broncos are 11th in the NFL offensively in red zone offense with a rookie quarterback and with a running game that has struggled more than most on third and short situations, second and short situations. I mean, I know that's been brought up by those who are statistically inclined. Like when you look at situational running, the Broncos have not been great
Starting point is 00:18:02 in that regard. And so I would have completely agree with you. I know we've had some fun discussions about this throughout the season in terms of, hey, the Broncos run games really helping out their young quarterback. I don't know about that. Maybe when he's running the ball well, it's helping out the quarterback because he's doing the running himself. So kind of interesting that narrative, but I do hope as we get to the end of the season,
Starting point is 00:18:25 starting with the Indianapolis game, like Broncos got to run the ball better. And we got a good start from Joliel McLaughlin on Monday night against Cleveland Browns. As far as disappointing players, Cody, I'm going to stick with that same theme. I think Javante Williams, to me, has been one of the more disappointing players on this team.
Starting point is 00:18:44 Here's a stat that I don't even like to say. 23 of the last 29 games that he's played, which is the last two seasons, 2023 and 2024, 23 of those 29 games, Javante has averaged less than four yards per carry on average. Now, there's different context with each of those games, right? Obviously, there might be some games in which
Starting point is 00:19:06 Hey, he was averaging four and a half yards of carry and then, you know, they had to wind down the clock at the end of the game. It brought his average down here. I think the eye test will tell us that that stat, unfortunately, just makes a lot of sense, right? Javante's getting hit at or behind the line of scrimmage far too often, especially for a guy whose game is predicated on breaking tackles, creating yardage after contact and making plays in space. And even if you want to go down that rabbit trail, he's not making guys miss in space. he's not breaking tackles when he gets one-on-one opportunities. He's been dropping passes.
Starting point is 00:19:40 He's had a couple of really untimely fumbles. I hate to be this guy because I know Giovante is a good. I'm sure he's a great guy. He's working hard. He doesn't want this to happen. Nobody's more frustrated than him, but 23 of the last 29 games he has averaged less than four yards of carry. That's definitely disappointing from your former second round pick.
Starting point is 00:19:59 Yeah. And look, it's tough because you look at like he lost weight in the off season. He looked more athletic. Like he looked kind of bouncy like he did at UNC early on like in training camp. And it's like, all right, hey, like Javante, this is going to be a turnaround year for him. And just like simple things like the Broncos on a third and one, Sarah. I know we saw the clip on social media. We watched the game from Monday night football.
Starting point is 00:20:20 Devere had a third and one and they did a handoff right up the middle and it didn't go anywhere. You lost two yards. And it's like, Denver can't even pick up one yard in the run game and crucial third down situations. And that to me is a little frustrating. And it's like you need to be able to run the ball and do that. because then it's like we've seen Denver become a little more pass happy on third down because even third and short like there was a third of one that the Broncos had in the fourth quarter and Bo Nicks through like a I think a 16 17 yard out route to Cortland Sutton it's like oh wow it's like third and one it's like but that just goes to show they don't have confidence in their ability to run effectively I agree I think offensively Javante's performance this season has definitely been frustrating and you know kind of just goes in with the run game I don't know what the problem is I don't know why They can't find a way to run the ball consistently. And unfortunately for Giovante, it's just like said, what is it,
Starting point is 00:21:10 3.6, 3.5 yards per carry averaging, you know, this season right now. It's not ideal. And it's a little problematic for Denver's offense. We'll see if they make some changes to the run game here coming out of the buy. I agree with you there. The player, I'd say that was part of the most disappointing to me, in my opinion, not even on the roster anymore. It's Greg Dulcich.
Starting point is 00:21:29 And, you know, going into last season, we were so excited to say, like, all right, hey, John Payton has talked about Greg Dulcich being your Joker. And then this year it was more like, all right, hey, the biggest key for Greg Dulcich, can he stay healthy in training camp? Okay, he's done that. And he stacked some really good performances during camp. But even like when he was on the field in the regular season, it didn't have the same luxury that we've seen from Dulcich in the past.
Starting point is 00:21:51 You know, he's not able to block effectively to help set things up in the run game. And also, he was more of a decoy in a sense in terms of just running routes for the offensive side of the ball. he never really emerged as the guy that you want. And I think for the Broncos to say, like, it's just not working and for them to cut ties. Now he's with the New York Giants, and I hope he has a great career there, or I hope he has a great career wherever he ends up after the season. It's just frustrating to see because it's like, hey, this is a guy who had all the potential traits. Mark is like, hey, this guy could be a very potent player here for the Broncos offense.
Starting point is 00:22:24 And it's never formulated. I would say that's probably been the biggest disappointment from a player standpoint in the first half of the season. In the Broncos country, we want to hear from you, what was your most disappointing development of the first half of Denver season? And also, who are the players that maybe were the most disappointing in your eyes? Make sure you let us know, however you're listening or watching, Lockdown Broncos. But what they are going to get to is well, to wrap up our recap of the first half of the season, what were some of the best moments from weeks one through weeks 13. We'll share what Broncos country told us, plus we'll share our picks here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.
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Starting point is 00:25:28 As we get to the fourth quarter action on today's episode, lockdown Broncos will highlight some of our favorite moments from the first half of the Bronco seasons dating back to week one all the way to week number 13. Real quick, I want to say thank you once again, everyone in in Brockos Country for tuning in, making us your first listen of the day every single day. Sarah, let's get into it here.
Starting point is 00:25:47 I think, you know, let's kick things off with ours, and then we'll get to what Broncos Country kind of sent in is their favorite moment of the season for you. When you look at week one through week 13 looking back on the season, what was your favorite moment so far of the year? I think that just the whipping the Broncos put on the Raiders, Cody, early this season to end their streak, which I think dated back to like 2019 or something ridiculous like that. It's been way too long since the Broncos beat the Raiders. They've never beaten the Las Vegas Raiders until this season. And obviously we got the clean sweep, but how satisfying was it to, I mean, you whip the Raiders in Denver.
Starting point is 00:26:24 Bo Nix had a huge game that week. You were wearing the throwback uniforms. Like that's one of those banner moments this season. Pat Sertan had a pick six. Like I look back at that game quite fondly, Cody, in terms of just the great moments from this season. There was so much within that game as well. That was exciting for Broncos country just to see like Riley Moss got an interception
Starting point is 00:26:45 in that game as well. It was just, it's great to beat a division rival. You had Max Crosby, you know, talking some smack as per usual. and then Bo Nicks kind of going out and responding by having a big game there. It was just great. So to me, that's been one of the biggest highlights of the season is the streak ender, Sean Payton, ending streaks once again beating the Raiders. The next streak, Kenny, hopefully, and is the Broncos playoff drought.
Starting point is 00:27:10 That is what Broncos country is hoping for here in the second half of the season. I like that. That was a big moment of the season, considering where Denver was at after the O&2 start, and then they go off, they rattle off three straight wins. It was very defining, I think, for that point. of the season there for the Broncos. And I want to kind of go to now, like, I think for me, my favorite moment in terms of just like, hey, this was a fun experience, especially being in the press box, was Bo Nix's
Starting point is 00:27:34 four touchdown performance against the Atlanta Falcons. I think going into that game, we're like, you know, it's Kirk Cousins. They got Drake London, B, John Robinson, and like, we're going to find out what this Broncos team is really made of. We didn't expect Bo Nix was going to light it up the way that he did in that game, 85% completion percentage earned him, AFC, AFC, player of the week. And I think that was a huge moment there. Also, can I add this too for November? How is it that Bo Nix won offensive, not offensive rookie, but he won rookie of the week for
Starting point is 00:28:04 three straight weeks in November, but doesn't win rookie of the month. The Brock Bowers gets it. I don't understand that. That's a little weird if we're being honest here. So, I mean, I want to throw that out there as kind of a talking point. We talked about it on K-O.A with Dave Logan and Ryan Edwards the other day. And I was like, I didn't think of it from that standpoint. But you know what? It is what it is. His four touchdown performance was a was a key highlight, I think, of the first half of the season. And it created a lot of content in Broncos country where people were going and digging through the receipts of the offseason takes that people had about Boonex and the Broncos. That was a good one right there. If we can sit here and maybe highlight Broncos country's
Starting point is 00:28:42 favorite moment here of the season, it's a recent one, right? What do you think they voted on? We sound out a couple things, right? It was, you know, obviously, I think the Raiders game and week seeing Bo have a three touchdown game in that that game right there. Some people even said like him competing with Patrick Mahomes in the Kansas City Chiefs was a, you know, a moment that they were like pleased with. Even though Denver didn't win, they're like the best moment was realizing that they have a quarterback that can compete with the Chiefs. Or, you know, what do you think it was?
Starting point is 00:29:11 Dude, that's a great pick. That right there, I had people texting me during that game, Cody, being like, hey, the Broncos got a quarterback. And I'm like, don't freaking text me. They just lost a. the Chiefs, you know, get out of here, you know. No, I'm joking. I didn't do that. I didn't say that. I wanted to say it. But what about that 93-yard touchdown against the Cleveland Browns?
Starting point is 00:29:31 I mean, might legitimately be the best throw that we've seen this season from any quarterback. I mean, that may be a hot take, Cody, because there's a lot of throws. I watch a lot of throws, though. I've seen a lot of the passes that have been thrown this year. I haven't seen many that were, you know, 45, 50 yards down the field, backed up in your own end zone third and 11 perfect ball placement i know people like shelby harris out there want to say well denzil ward should have caught the ball and picked it off absolutely not uh no he shouldn't he was late getting there because it was a perfect throw perfect placement perfect timing so to me cody that may be the moment as we poll broncos country and kind of figure out that's a moment
Starting point is 00:30:12 right there that with the playoffs on the line with your season on the line with you need to make a play you got to have a your quarterback and one of your young receivers, they went out and made it play. 73% of Broncos country voter that is their top moment of the first half of the season, which is nice because it literally just comes not even a week after everything had happened there. So, hey, it's still fresh on the minds of Broncos country. I think all the different angles, like it was,
Starting point is 00:30:37 you could tell it was probably the moment of the first half of the season because you even had the Broncos social team go out and say, hey, like, fans, send us your angles of this play that you were recording inside the stadium. So you're seeing all the different edits. So you're seeing, you know, the edit there from the Broncos that did like the sights and sounds of game day, which shows a really good angle right behind Bow Nix and thrown it. And then you have the Titanic music placed over the top of that. You know, it's the unfortunate thing I say about all that is that it was such short lived because the Browns responded right afterwards with Jerry Judy. So it's like, ah, they were kind of trying to play, you know, the Grinch a little bit in that situation.
Starting point is 00:31:12 But nothing could take away the 93-yard touchdown. I'm just disappointed as well that the Browns kind of. put the momentum of that away because I posted a great video of Philip Rivers back in the day where he gets hit while throwing and he throws like a 90 something yard touchdown. And then the defenders in his face and he goes, 90 yard touchdown. 90 yard touchdown. I was like, that was the perfect video to post on social media. And it didn't get as much traction because dang, the Browns answer right back.
Starting point is 00:31:42 So thank you so much, James Winston. We appreciate you. But you know what? We say that now. James just threw another pick six. So anyways, I'll move on to the topic here. Broncos country, what was your favorite moment of the season in terms of the first half so far of Denver? Make sure you respond with that.
Starting point is 00:31:57 We're always eager for your thoughts as well. Send those in. And more importantly, if you're an every day and first listener, here's what you can expect. There is no game for the Broncos on Sunday, but we have an episode for you on Monday. Sarah and I were going to answer a couple of mailbag questions. We're going to take a look at the entire state of the AFC. We also are from Broncos head coach Sean Payton Monday morning. So I'll have some stuff for you even on Tuesday going to next week's game week.
Starting point is 00:32:20 Broncos Colts Week. It is a must win for them. A lot to look forward to here for all you everydayers in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen for your cycle listen. Check out lockdown NFL. We'll see you on Monday for another episode. Locked on Broncos.

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