Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos First Half Schedule INTENTIONALLY Loaded by NFL?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos' first half schedule is unbelievably tough, and it begs the question as to whether or not the NFL intentionally front-loaded the schedule. You are Locked-on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Happy Monday, Broncos country. Cody Rourke, Sarah Beninger here. And on today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends over there at Fandu. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 to get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. head ofandu.com to get started as we debate the Broncos first half of the schedule. There are some tough challenges in there for the team specifically,

Starting point is 00:00:43 but the Broncos offense and the Broncos defense will have some matchups that will test them. Who has the toughest start between those two units? We'll discuss that. Plus Davis Webb getting thrown into the fire a little bit early with the Broncos first half schedule, and it could be a great indicator to what type of play caller he'll be in today's NFL. We're going to kick things off by debating whether or not the NFL intentionally front-loaded the Broncos schedule. Now, all context considered here, Denver, we knew coming into this upcoming season would

Starting point is 00:01:13 have a first-place schedule. We're not debating that. It's just the order in which some games are being played that has a lot of people right now on social media discussing whether or not the NFL, Roger Goodell, if they still have a grudge against Sean Payton. Sarah, I'm curious for your thoughts here because I think you can look at the order in which some of these games are being played. And you can maybe say, I wish they were spread out a little bit.

Starting point is 00:01:35 It's tough for Denver to open things up here, my friend. Yeah, it really is. I mean, the first six games of the season, I don't think anybody in the NFL has a tougher stretch of games than what the Broncos do. And we're obviously talking about them playing the Chiefs. They play the Jaguars. They play the Rams. They play the 49ers.

Starting point is 00:01:51 They play the Chargers. And then they play the Seattle Seahawks all by, get this, October 15th. Like, by October 15th, you have to play all six of those teams. It does seem like a punishment. You know, if you're seeing it through that lens or if you're looking at the NFL schedule from the vantage point like Colin Cowherd was of saying, all right, I'm looking at the schedule. Who's Roger Goodell punishing with this one? If you're looking through it, you know, that lens, you could easily see why the Broncos, and I know he said, I'm not a conspiracy theorist,

Starting point is 00:02:20 but man, Colin's got a lot of fun takes, doesn't he? He certainly doesn't give any shortage of things for everybody to discuss when he puts something out there. But I think, Cody, to me, I disagree with I don't think that the NFL is punishing the Broncos by any means. If the NFL wanted to punish the Broncos, they would put these six games at the end of the season. And they would say, hey, like, we're going to make sure you have to run through the worst possible gauntlet to get to the playoffs that you can even imagine. You want to play in the postseason again. You want to win the AFC West again. We're going to backload your Chiefs games again.

Starting point is 00:02:56 We're going to backload your Chargers games again. you're going to play all the NFC West teams, which is the best division in football, you're going to play those teams late. That would be a punishment to me to face these teams early, especially getting those NFC games pretty much out of the way by week seven. I mean, shoot, like, that's a favorable thing for the Broncos because, yes, you want to win as many games as possible early on. You want to build yourself a cushion and whatnot.

Starting point is 00:03:23 And not that NFC games are inconsequential, but having those games early on isn't going to, to sink your ship if you lose an NFC game or two. It factors into your overall record, which does matter, but your AFC opponents, your AFC West opponents, those are the biggest factors when it comes to, hey, are you going to win your division? Well, what's your head to head record against division opponents? What's your AFC record?

Starting point is 00:03:46 That's what matters the most. And so I think that if anything, I would argue, the NFL did the Broncos a huge favor by putting those six games in particular at the top. that may not be the most favorable, but certainly, Cody, I think it's better for them to play them right away. Well, on paper,

Starting point is 00:04:06 it's very, very tough, right? But we don't know what any of these teams that Denver's going to play, what they're going to look like this year. You know, on paper,

Starting point is 00:04:12 we can look at like additions. We can look at departures. And same exact thing for the Broncos. Those teams are looking at Denver. Who did they gain? Who did they lose? What's the circumstance of the context going into this week? Is there a team coming off of a buy?

Starting point is 00:04:24 How well rested are they? Here's the thing. Denver, in eight of their first nine weeks, they're going to be facing playoff teams. Sarah, this would be the perfect opportunity for this Broncos team and I think also for the fan base as well because I've seen the fan base.

Starting point is 00:04:39 They're fighting with everybody about, oh, you know, Devin didn't really play anybody last year. This is the, hey, play and win these games and you're going to prove that you're one of the NFL's best teams that you are a Super Bowl contender. If you can win against eight of these different playoff teams early on in the season, in Kansas City, you get to face them twice.

Starting point is 00:04:57 And obviously, KC didn't make the playoffs last year. But we all think that KC, they're still with Patrick Mahomes. We don't know where he's going to be at. But we know as long as he's around, they're going to be a team that you can't necessarily count out. I think that would be naive to overlook that right there. The Chargers are going to be tough. 49ers are going to be tough.

Starting point is 00:05:17 I'll be very curious to see if George Kittle will be playing in week four when Denver has to play if he's back from his Achilles. By then, we'll monitor all that here. The Rams, that's going to be a tough. one we'll highlight that match up a little bit later. But this is not, in my opinion, the NFL is saying, you know what? It's Sean Payton. We're going to go after them, right?

Starting point is 00:05:34 I think there are other reasons you could say, like maybe the NFL's got a conspiracy against Peyton. This is not one of them. This is very much the Broncos, they're in the prime time spotlight three times to start off in their first six games, Sarah. To me, honestly, that's like the NFL wants to see. How real is Denver? Denver's good again.

Starting point is 00:05:50 That's good for the NFL. To me, that's what this is more about than it is anything else, considering what Denver was able to do last year, how they're able to find ways to win games late. To me, that's the NFL saying, we want to feature this team in the spotlight. Yes, they got to play some tough teams, but man, this is going to prove whether or not Denver is legit. And I think that is where the ultimate test in the first half of the season comes. And Colin Cowherd said that he felt like, you know, the NFL doesn't like friendly fire. They don't like when you're speaking negatively about, you know, quarterbacks.

Starting point is 00:06:21 Like he brought up the Russell Wilson thing again. and I'm just trying to sit here and figure out, like, what is he talking about? What did what did Sean Payton say or do recently that made him think that the NFL is trying to punish him in some sort of way? Because, yes, I mean, Sean is not for everybody. And he's said some things in the past, but like, can you, do you know what he's referring to? I don't even know what he's talking about. Was it because Sean said the tush push isn't a problem? Like, we're like, we're not, we're not voting or a movie.

Starting point is 00:06:49 He's like, that's just the NFL not like wanting it around anymore. Like I think that was the only thing he said, but that's not, in my opinion, that's nothing inflammatory that's going to have the league office going out there and saying, oh, Sean Payton said this. You know what? We're going to give them the toughest schedule to start off the NFL season. I don't think that's the case. And look, Sean also just got welcome back into the competition committee himself.

Starting point is 00:07:10 So I like that. Like he's got a little bit more of a vocal role now. I know Mike Vrable was also added to that mix as well, both of those guys is past off season. So to me, this is a big nothing burger. I do think it is good to talk about here because right now, if you look on social media, this is being debated heavily. But I don't think that there is any intent from the NFL to make Denver schedule as hard as it is. We knew, as we said earlier, we knew coming into it,

Starting point is 00:07:36 they were going to play a first place schedule because they finished first place in the AFC West. They were the number one seed in the NFL. By virtue, you're going to be playing teams that finished in the same placement the next season. So I'm excited for it. I think we are going to see whether or not this Broncos team where they're really at, especially bringing everybody back. Is this the team that can do it? I think that question is going to be answered probably about by week eight.

Starting point is 00:08:00 Well, and you get to play Patrick Mahomes in his first game back potentially, right? If he plays week one, which we're assuming at this point that he's going to play, you get to play him week one, which I think that we've discussed on a number of occasions, how beneficial that is for the Broncos in that regard of, hey, that's his first game back from a major. your knee injury and you have the number one pass rush in the NFL getting after him, not to mention like that Chiefs defense going to be breaking in a lot of young players. Steve Spagnolo's got to kind of implement his scheme and hope those guys get going by midseason. So I think there's a lot more favorable to this schedule.

Starting point is 00:08:35 I like having the Jaguars early, Cody, because that gives the Broncos a little shot at revenge right away this season. I don't mind the fact that they're playing the NFC West. I think that that's good for the Broncos. It's great for them to be able to put some actual, you know, tangible, hey, this is the vision of where we want to be. We want to be playing against the Rams or the 49ers or the Seahawks when it comes to February. You get to go out there and step foot on the field and take them on most of them in primetime situations other than the 49ers, I think. And that's probably going to be a late afternoon game, right?

Starting point is 00:09:09 So you look at the way that this is structured, a week 10 by, very favorable for the Denver Broncos, only playing one team coming off. thereby, which is the New York Jets, very favorable for the Denver Broncos in terms of travel compared to other teams, especially the Chargers. Man, the Broncos are in pretty darn good shape. So, like, I don't know. I'm probably on an island here, Cody, because I feel like so many people are saying, did you see the Broncos schedule? Like, have you seen how tough the Broncos schedule is? And I'm thinking to myself, that's every team in the NFL. Like, show me an NFL team that isn't playing a tough schedule.

Starting point is 00:09:45 You could talk about, let's talk about like Pittsburgh, for example. Pittsburgh is playing a schedule that includes two teams, four games on their schedule that didn't make the playoffs last year. That would be the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals. Four games on your schedule with Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson. And you're telling me that's a tough schedule. So just because a team didn't make the playoffs last year, like I'm glad the Broncos are playing the Steelers this year by comparison to having to play Burrow or having to play Lamar. Marr Jackson. So, and I mean, you know, we'll see if I eat my words later this season, but I'd just rather

Starting point is 00:10:20 have that on the schedule now. So to me, like, I think the Broncos schedule is really good. And I'm not saying, oh, it's easy or that no schedule in the NFL is easy. It's the NFL. Even the teams that were bad last year could end up playing, you know, spoiler in some of these situations. You just never know, remember last year, the Broncos got the number one seed in the NFC or than the AFC because the New England Patriots lost to the Las Vegas Raiders in week one.

Starting point is 00:10:48 They had the worst record in the NFL. Patriots lost to them. That was the head-to-head matchup that ultimately mattered for the number one seed. So who freaking cares? Like, let's go out there and play ball. Remember last year, Cody, the Broncos weren't going to beat the Eagles. There was a road game against Philly. Sharpie, that one is a loss.

Starting point is 00:11:06 You're not going to win in Philly. Who cares about scheduled difficulty right now? They play the games. Yes, 100%. Well said. And Davis Webb, first time play caller is going to have his hands full against some really good defenses early on. But Sean Payton is his lifeboat. And the key is scoring more points this upcoming season. Today's episode, the show, was brought to you by our friends over there at Indeed, if you're dealing with workplace chaos, you got deadlines that are stacking up. Your inbox is overflowing. And the one position that you have to feel is still sitting open.

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Starting point is 00:12:22 Cody and I are united when it comes to the biggest and toughest test for Davis Webb on the Broncos schedule in those first six weeks. We're going to tell you exactly who we're talking about upcoming here on today's show. But Broncos Country, we appreciate you so much for tuning in, rocking with us every single day. Thanks for being in every day. If we're your first listen of the day, we appreciate you so much. And if you want an ad-free version of the show, check out the everydayer club at lockdown broncos.com. Cody, let's talk about Davis Webb's toughest test.

Starting point is 00:12:52 I'm going to spoil it. It's just it's the Seattle Seahawks, right? I mean, obviously week six, the Broncos playing Seattle in Denver, Mike McDonald and company coming to town. I want to point out too, though, that the Seahawks did lose quite a bit off that defense this year. They're still going to be tough. They're still going to have teeth.

Starting point is 00:13:09 They're still going to be difficult to play on a short week, especially, but they did lose Kobe Bryant in the secondary. Rik Wulin is now with the Philadelphia Eagles, I believe. Boy A. Maffa is now with the Cincinnati Bengals. So there's been some losses on that side of the ball. I still think Mike McDonald's defense, man, they absolutely shredded the Patriots in the Super Bowl. It was actually quite nice to watch, you know, from our seats.

Starting point is 00:13:36 But I think that's going to be for Davis Webb, as a first year play caller. That's got to be the toughest test in the first six weeks gauntlet that the Broncos are going to run. Yeah, I think you and I agree on that. In Broncos country, make sure you chime in as well. We talked about early on here in this episode, the tough stretch it is the first nine weeks of Denver season.

Starting point is 00:13:55 For Davis Webb, first time play caller, what is the toughest test for him specifically? And I always look at it, okay, it's the defense that you have to go gets. What is the toughest defense? And you know what? I think right now on paper, everyone will say Seattle, but it also could be another team who revamps their defense.

Starting point is 00:14:12 I also think the Los Angeles Rams could be a tough test here early on. And here's the thing, like the biggest key for Davis in this situation, Sarah, obviously the Broncos offense was Sean handing over the reins. The Broncos offense has to be more efficient on third down. They have to be more efficient in the red zone. They have to score more points than they did. Like we all know this. The whole entire world, everyone listening knows that.

Starting point is 00:14:33 But you have to actually have an emphasis on doing that. And Sean Payton believes handing over the reins to Davis is going to lead to more balance. But here's where I think for Davis, this tough test is actually going to benefit him because during this stretch, who knows these coaches better than Sean Payton? Sean understands how these coaches call games. They obviously go through that. Davis is a very smart coach. When he goes through the scouting process and when they watch film, he puts together the scouting reports for the offensive side in terms of, hey, who do we have to go against? What's our biggest test?

Starting point is 00:15:03 how do you maximize or mitigate the damage that maybe this player can do to us or this defense can do to us? They go through all of that. But in the heat of the action, when you actually have to call the plays and you have to see what happened on the last play to get an idea, what can I do on this play? That's where Sean Payton being there, I think is like the biggest answer. It's like the key to the test, right? He's got the answer key to the test because he doesn't have to figure it out on his own. He's going to have Sean there. I think that's going to help the Broncos navigate through this tough part of the schedule of that.

Starting point is 00:15:33 coming season. So for me, agree with the Seahawks. But man, I also think that Rams team too, Sunday night football, that defense there, they were a good pass rushing unit as well. I believe they were second in the NFL behind Denver in Sacks last season. So it is going to be tough early on, but it's also an opportunity for Davis Webb to skyrocket his potential prospects for becoming a head coach after this upcoming season somewhere else. Yeah, because think about it. I mean, I know that it's kind of like saying a quarterback is going up against another quarterback, right? We know that the quarterbacks don't actually face off against each other. It's a duel, right? So in the duel of offensive play calling, I mean, man, talk about the start

Starting point is 00:16:13 to this season, right? Andy Reid, obviously in week one, he's a legend in that regard. And then Liam Cohen was a coach of the year candidate last year for Jacksonville. That offense absolutely took off under his watch. And then you have Sean McVeigh, you have Kyle Shanahan, you have Mike McDaniel. And so, man, you're going up in some offensive coordinator duel. some play caller duels, you are going up against like, I mean, that's the lineup that you would put together if you were to say, hey, assemble me the top five offensive coordinators in the league. Those five guys are going to come up in a lot of conversations, right? So Davis Webb has the added pressure of not just do you have to go up against some tough defenses early on. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:16:54 Because I believe these were some of the top 10, top 12 defenses, all of them in that group right there. So not only are you going up against them, but man, you got to impress your, your peer. You got to impress your buddies. You got to out duel some of the best play callers in the game, some of the best at scheming offense in the NFL proven. Those guys have done it at the highest of levels, even with backup players. Like to Kyle Shanahan's credit,

Starting point is 00:17:18 he's top 10 offense last year without his starting quarterback, with so many injuries, wide receiver drama. So you've got to show up in a big way. And last season, Cody, no NFL team won more games, scoring 21 points or less than the Denver. Broncos.

Starting point is 00:17:34 So Davis Webb's got a lot of pressure on him to not just put up a bunch of yards, but to put up a bunch of points. And I think that is especially going to be amplified in this early stretch. Well, let me ask you this too, because doesn't that also put a little bit more pressure on Vance Joseph against those same offenses that, you know, the offensive play calling geniuses that they're going to have to go up against. Like for Vance, I mean, Vance has some familiarity having coached in the NFC West, you know, so he's going to be going against obviously Sean McVeigh.

Starting point is 00:18:02 Again, my question here is for Vance, you have a lot of pressure to stop those offenses, right? Early on, Patrick Malmes, there was going to be that nature. Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars. I mean, the Broncos had a pretty good game plan until Parker, Washington all of a sudden exploded onto the scene later on the year and became the surprise NFL name down the stretch. And then you go in and you have Sean McVeigh, the Rams, Matthew Stafford, you have Pookin the Koo at Devante Adams. I mean, those are tough tests, I think, for a defense. according. So let me maybe rephrase this question now. Who has the more pressure on them early on?

Starting point is 00:18:36 Is it Davis Webb or is it Vance Joseph? I think it's got to be Vance, right? Because honestly, like, you expect the offense to take a little bit more time to get going. I think that's kind of been, we talk about that every year around training camp time. Like, man, the offense, it's going to take a little bit more for them to get going. Defense is ahead. Defense is ahead of things. Yeah, it's going to like practices. Did the defense win today? Did the offense win? today. Can't wait to talk about that stuff. But look, I think it is going to be Vance because you need to set up the offense for success. And for the defense for the Broncos, it is not just about, all right, you know, go out there and shut teams out. We want to see more turnovers for this defense

Starting point is 00:19:17 this year. Like you to tuck 68 sacks last season and only two strip sacks, I think it was, or two or three. I mean, that's got to change. It's got to get better. You've got to create more turnovers, more takeaways. I'm not saying the defense is at fault for the offense's struggles last year, but look at some of the teams that were basically unstoppable late last season. Their common theme was that they were creating a lot more turnovers than they were committing on offense. The Broncos offense did a pretty decent job taking care of the ball. The defense didn't do a great job of taking the ball away. If we can just be, hey, we're being candid here. I mean, the defense was awesome. There's

Starting point is 00:19:54 nothing to take away from that. And they carried this team for, a lot of that, you know, long winning streak that they had. But you can't help but think, man, we talk about all these one score games. I think it was, what, 11-1-score wins last year for the Broncos? How many of those games would have been just absolute blowout wins for the Broncos if they could have forced another turnover or two? So that's going to where I'm at. And I think Vance has the pressure on him to be able to make that stuff happen early in the season.

Starting point is 00:20:22 Well, thankfully, the Broncos did force five turnovers in the divisional round of the playoffs against the Buffalo Bill. you and I even said in the buildup to that. This would be the perfect time to get that turnover train rolling, and Denver ultimately got it done here. But Broncos country coming up next, Sarah and I are going to debate whether or not the Broncos offense or the Broncos defense has the toughest start

Starting point is 00:20:41 because the list of opponents that we've already named off, the players, the personnel, it's tough on both sides, but we'll debate it on today's episode of the show. Today's episode is brought to you by friends over there at Fandu. The NBA playoffs are here, and every possession matters. If you're looking to get even closer to the action, Well, Fandu, they have a great offer to get you started because right now new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins.

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Starting point is 00:21:39 but which unit is going to have the most pressure on them to perform early on based on who they're facing off against? We're going to debate that here on today's episode show. Broncos country, thanks for tuning in making us your first listen every day here in the lockdown podcast network, the number one sports podcast network in the country. Thanks to all of you here, Sarah. this was tough, man, looking at it because I feel like there are some games that we're looking at here. We already know that Denver's first nine games, eight of the first nine are against playoff teams.

Starting point is 00:22:07 They're tough. We've talked about some of the superlatives coming into this season. But which game is going to be the toughest challenge or the offense, which game is going to be the toughest challenge for the defense as we're looking at the first nine games of the regular season right now, at least on paper. Where do you stand right now? because I think you can make a case for almost every week, there being a matchup that makes the most sense.

Starting point is 00:22:31 I think let's start with the defense. I think the toughest individual matchup within this gauntlet has got to be the defense going up against the Los Angeles Rams, right? I mean, the Rams have the reigning MVP at quarterback, Matthew Stafford. Nothing really changed with their offensive personnel. I mean, Kieran Williams, Puka, Nakuwa, Devante Adams. They've got 1,800 tight ends over there nowadays, you know, and they're going to run all the 12 and 13 personnel.

Starting point is 00:22:58 We know Sean McVeigh knows how to call it up. And so that is a well-oiled machine. I mean, that's just the reality of the situation. Like the Rams are probably going to win 12, 13 games this year, right? So you've got to hope to be one of the four or five teams that upends them in prime time. And that's going to be tough to do. And I think that the Broncos are their defenses up to the task, right? Because what did we see with this team last year?

Starting point is 00:23:24 the Broncos. It felt like every single week they played up or down to their competition. And especially I would say defensively, right? Defensively, when they had to tighten up, I think about the Houston game. I think about just like you mentioned, the divisional round against Buffalo when they needed to create turnovers. Like there's certain teams that you just know, they're going to get theirs. Like they're going to, they're going to have some measure of success. We're rarely going to see like the 2015 season where the defense just annihilated Aaron Rogers in prime time, embarrassed him, made him look foolish out there, made him look silly out there. You're not necessarily going to get that every time you have a great defense going

Starting point is 00:24:04 up against a star quarterback. The quarterback is going to get theirs. So you've got to figure out a way to create takeaways. I think that's going to be, that was the formula for any time. Remember last year, Cody, the Rams played the Panthers in a couple of really oddly tight games. What was the common team in those two games? Defense. Andrews created turnovers, yeah, on defense. They did. So it's just you got to have the ball last. You got to create turnovers.

Starting point is 00:24:27 But I think the Rams are the toughest. Out of all of them, I think the Rams are the clearest Super Bowl contender in the Broncos top six games. And that includes the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Yeah. No, I agree with you too, because then you got to get into the questions, who's guarding Pooka Nacua? Who's guarding Devante Adams?

Starting point is 00:24:46 Those guys are both healthy. If Pooka's not going around biting people, you got to ask yourself like, hey, that's dangerous offensive group. And it works so well, just everything that they do. Stafford, still playing. You mentioned the MVP level he played at this past season, unbelievable year for him. And they're trying to win a Super Bowl.

Starting point is 00:25:02 And he's the guy that's going to make them, I'd say serious contenders to do that. But going to guys like Devante, the puka, across the field, vertically, across the middle, short to intermediate. Then you mentioned Kyron Williams, who's got this ability to be a smash-mouth runner. And then you factor in all the tight ends that you mentioned that they have.

Starting point is 00:25:19 Terrence Ferguson, and former teammate of Bo Nix. Like I think personnel-wise, this will be the toughest matchup that Denver has to draw, at least defensively early on here in the season. I think you can make an argument for the Seattle Seahawks, right? Jackson Smith and Jigba, who just got paid a boatload of money.

Starting point is 00:25:34 Obviously, they have a really good group of receivers. Rashid is obviously still there. Yes, they lost Kenneth Walker, but they go out there and they've kind of revamped a little bit in terms of their running back room. They believe that they're going to just be able to run it right back. They've got Barner, they got former Bronco, Eric Sober at the title.

Starting point is 00:25:50 in position. Those guys are Super Bowl champions. They didn't lose too much necessarily, but their offense still should be operationally the same with a couple of changes here and there. Charbonate coming off of maybe the ACL, that injury there. That's going to make things very interesting. Is there another game you can make an argument for here for Denver? I mean, I always look at two. I think the chargers are always going to be one of those teams. I think the Chiefs, but to me it's the chargers, the one team I'm looking at now because of Mike McDaniel, obviously Omerian Hampton going into year two trying to get more comfortable in that offensive scheme. The additions that they certainly made this offseason could have made them

Starting point is 00:26:26 better on paper. And then Justin Herbert, who's always kind of had these crazy plays, you know, he's had against Denver. Denver's going to have to counteract that obviously this upcoming season. So I do think that if I had to go in an order, it would be Rams Seahawks Chargers in terms of the teams that I think will challenge Denver's defense the most here early on. And that's no shade to anybody else because I think Denver's going to face some pretty good offenses there in the Chiefs, the Jaguars, as we mentioned. But I was flipping here to the Broncos offense. What defense are they going to face that you feel like is going to be the toughest?

Starting point is 00:26:56 I think everyone right now is going to say Thursday night football, week six, Seattle, Seahawks. That's my pick. Is that where you're at? Yeah, 100%. I think that it's got to be Seattle. I mean, Mike McDonald is just elite at what he does. That's part of the reason why he got the Seattle gig in the first place is because of what he was doing

Starting point is 00:27:14 with Baltimore, right? So you definitely have to circle that one. on a short week too. I mean, and maybe that could work in Denver's favor a little bit, right? It's to say,

Starting point is 00:27:23 hey, you're catching these guys on a short week, less time to prepare, not a ton out there from Davis Webb calling place. So you might just be catching them at maybe the exact right time.

Starting point is 00:27:33 We'll see. I don't know that there's any other, like we talked, you and I were talking before we recorded the show today about the Rams defense as well. Obviously, they're very good. They added Trent McDuffie this season,

Starting point is 00:27:43 this off season to kind of give that last missing piece of that defense. It felt like corner was their only true weakness. And the Chargers are, I know they have a new defensive coordinator this year. Jesse Minter's gone. That's a huge loss. I don't know why nobody's talking about. That's a massive loss.

Starting point is 00:28:02 But, but there's always a but, right? The Chargers are veteran laden on that side of the ball. They're very experienced. They brought pretty much everybody back. They add Akeem Mesidor in the draft. I think they brought in Dalvin Tomlinson, I think, to

Starting point is 00:28:17 the defensive line, Cody. So they've got some dogs on that side of the ball and they're good. Like that's a good team. If you're talking about just like, man, that's an experienced group of guys that knows what they're doing out there. That's going to be able to help a first year NFL defensive coordinator. So I think the Chargers and the Seahawks and you get them, hey, just you get a two for one.

Starting point is 00:28:39 You get them back to back. You get to play them week five and week six and four days time. I think those are the two toughest ones right there. Well, the nice thing, too, about that Seattle. game in week six. The Seahawks will be coming off of a matchup against the 49ers on a short week. So we know those games are always physical. They're explosive. And even Denver, too, some of the superlatives, we're going to go through some game previews, you know, a little bit early on here in the off season, just some of the storylines. Denver's going to face Dre Greenlaw. And hopefully he's healthy.

Starting point is 00:29:07 That's my biggest wish. I always enjoyed covering Dre. I wish things were to work down in Denver. But anytime Seattle and San Francisco face off, that's always going to be tough there. to your point to it, especially with L.A. Derwin James still being in the mix, Diane Henley-Henli at lineback. I mean, those two guys, Tuli, Tulli, Palo, he's a stud. And then, of course, Khalil Mack is back for yet another year. Like, they are really kind of doubling down. And here's the thing, too, Denver's defensive line, I mean, Denver's offensive line last year struggled against the Chargers D-line.

Starting point is 00:29:35 I felt like at times the Chargers D-line kind of manhandle the Broncos O line in a few instances. Now, is that a product of Jesse Minter's scheme? Will that maintain itself going to this upcoming year? That's a question mark, we don't know. But I think that is a safe argument. And you know what else is also going to be tough, too, to end the year, Sera, at least in the first half of the season for Denver, is a road game against Ejero ever on that Panthers defense.

Starting point is 00:29:59 That's been pretty dang good as well. So Denver's going to have, their offense going to have some tough starts, some tough matchups here early on. And I think more importantly, there's probably going to be more pressure for the Broncos' offense to get off to a hotter start than what we have seen from them in the last handful of years. Would you agree or disagree? I would agree completely. I mean, they've got to get off to, because that's what Sean Peyton has historically struggle with is those September starts. And I know there was a joke that he made last year about one of the

Starting point is 00:30:27 last games of the month kind of being an honorary October game. And, you know, so there's, there's merit to that over the course of history. It's just a matter of now, okay, every individual matchup, you have to be at your best. You don't want to be looking back at the end of the season. thinking yourself, man, I wish we had beaten the Jaguars in week two. Man, I wish we had gotten that extra, you know, field goal against the Kansas City Chiefs in week one. Or, man, I wish we'd gotten one against the Chargers early and didn't have to wait until week 18 to finish the deal or whatever it might be.

Starting point is 00:31:00 So that's why, yes, you have time to overcome whatever happens in the early goings of the season, but there is a ton of pressure to go out there and start fast. And if the Broncos can be four and two, Cody, after this stretch of six games, I mean, they're going to be in really, really good shape. Yeah, they'll be in the driver's seat. They'll control their own destiny. The world will start taking them more seriously as two Super Bowl contenders if they can do that. Broncos, can't you listen to your thoughts on Denver's first half stretch of the season.

Starting point is 00:31:27 And make sure you share with us what you think Davis was biggest test will be and who the offense and defense's biggest test will be early on in the season. But coming up a little bit later on here today, we've got a bonus episode, lockdown Broncos for you or Sarah and I sit down. And we debate whether or not the Broncos should look into bringing Von, Miller and or Cameron Jordan in the mix, even after the NFL draft and free agency. Make sure you tune to that here, Lockdown Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos First Half Schedule INTENTIONALLY Loaded by NFL?

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