Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos IMPLODE vs. LAC Behind Bo Nix’s Growing Pains

Starting point is 00:00:00 Bo Nix's sophomore slump looks like it's here, but can the Broncos find a way to shake it off before it impacts the season even further? We'll break it all down 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. Denver Broncos dropped to one and two after a disappointing loss on the road to the Los Angeles Charters. The hot start that Sean Payton wanted has evaporated, but can the Broncos find a way to rebound quickly? That is the theme this week. Welcome into a brand new episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Thanks to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen. However you choose to do so, win, lose, draw. You know, we'll always have you covered here for postgame recaps and more to fill you in on everything that's going on with your favorite team. I'm Cody Roark. Broncos reporter from Mile High Sports. Join, as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert over there, predominantly orange.com.

Starting point is 00:01:02 And we have a disappointing, unfortunately, not a victory Monday, a disappointing Monday, post-game podcast show for all of you here today. We're going to go through Bo Nix's struggles on the road here against the Los Angeles Chargers and why it appears like a sophomore slump is a real thing right now. But how the offense imploded in this game against L.A. late in the fourth quarter will go through the Broncos defense doing enough in the red zone for a large majority of the day, but not finding ways to sustain in the crunch time moments. and what are some of the Broncos big picture issues right now that are plaguing them to start the 2025 NFL season? You'll get all that on today's episode of the show brought to you by our friends over there at Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week's moving the game forward. Mazda move and be moved.

Starting point is 00:01:52 You know what needs to move and be moved, Sarah? These disappointing losses that we've seen two weeks in a row, the Broncos lose on a heartbreaking field goal to end the game. And when you look at it, at the end of the day, you look in the mirror. The Broncos have nobody to blame but themselves for this start at one and two. When they had this game against the chargers, I mean, they had an opportunity to go on the road and make a big time statement when they couldn't do it. The margin for error in the NFL is razor thin. We know this. But ultimately, you asked your quarterback to go out there and make some big plays to win this game and just couldn't do it.

Starting point is 00:02:25 Right. I mean, obviously late in the game, the drive that the Broncos had that got them into range to potentially, potentially pushed the lead to 11 points over the chargers. It was, you know, it was the offensive pass interference. What do you do about that? Obviously, that's not your quarterback's fault, but ultimately forces you to kick a field goal. I think they could have gone up by 11 points, Cody, at that point.

Starting point is 00:02:45 If they would have gotten a touchdown, they get first and goal. Great fourth down conversion by Bo Nix and Cortland Sutton on the drive. And ultimately, if they convert that into a touchdown, I think we're having a really different conversation about the game. We still maybe bring up at some point during the week, hey, member Bo, missed the throws to Marvin Mims in that game. That could have been two touchdowns. Ultimately, you get an opportunity.

Starting point is 00:03:07 You don't take advantage. You kick a field goal instead. The chargers, they go back the other way. They score. It's just missed opportunity after missed opportunity. Bad penalty after bad penalty. And the margin is inches, as we saw in this game. I mean, three throws from Bo Nix in particular,

Starting point is 00:03:23 you had missed to Marvin Mims, a flea flicker. Great design, great execution by everybody, except the throw, obviously. Then a red zone throw to Marvin. should have been a touchdown wasn't on target. Cortland Sutton, third and long late in this game, Cody. Obviously, he's got separation. He's got, he's wide open down the left sideline and he didn't hit the throw. It's just, it's really frustrating because ultimately, you know, what can you do?

Starting point is 00:03:46 There's nothing that you can do other than sit here and talk about what we're talking about, which is, is Bo in a sophomore slump as a second year quarterback in this league. We're the expectations too high. Does Sean Payton talk too much mess? there's so much going on here that's so frustrating for Broncos country. Yeah, and rightfully so. And I understand fans are frustrated with Bow as well. I just want to remind folks, this is Bo's second year in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:04:10 It's way too early to pull the plug. We've already seen that on Twitter. I'm not going to waste my breath through talking about that too much on here. I think it's silly here. But yes, Bo has not played well so far to start the season. I think the Colts game, I thought he played well minus the interception, but this was a game where you needed more from your quarterback. And I think the situation, what really amplified

Starting point is 00:04:29 that is, Sarah, the Broncos defense, they give up a touchdown drive there to Keenan Allen. They tie the game at 20. And now you have an opportunity here within the final two and a half minutes of this game to essentially go out there and lead a drive to potentially kick a game winning Philgo or for Bo to lead a game winning drive there that hopefully would have ended any Broncos touchdown. And on that specific drive that you mentioned comes that third down throw to Corlin Sutton. It's third and 10. And he just floats it high and it's too far in front.

Starting point is 00:04:57 Like that has been a little bit of an issue here for Bo. But here's the thing, Sarah. And I do think this is right now a sophomore slump, right? And I said it at the beginning of the show. The slump is here. But how can the Broncos get rid of it or make it go away so it doesn't linger for the rest of the season? There are a lot of dirty hands on the operation of this offense here. Look, Bo has his share of the blame.

Starting point is 00:05:20 Bo has not played great. We can all objectively sit here and say that. But I also think we can also say Sean Payton. doesn't seem like has done a great enough job here of putting the pieces around Bo or play calling situations at times. I know we're nitpicking on play calling, but it seems like the play calling situation at times has not been something. This does not look like the Bo Nix we saw as a rookie.

Starting point is 00:05:42 You look at him, it looks like he's lost his confidence. I mean, he almost has no energy when the camera pans to him after a negative play. Something is going on with Bo from a confidence standpoint. So how can Sean and the staff get him there? I think that's a huge question here. And I don't think I'm wrong on that. But then again, that's my opinion. How do you feel about it?

Starting point is 00:06:01 Yeah, I think it's really one of those things where you're almost nervous when he's dropping back right now because you just don't feel like there's any sort of flow to the offense. And I don't know that's all Bo Nix's fault. But at the same time, what we're asking him to basically be an elite golfer out there is what it kind of feels like. It's like you're rearing back with your driver and you're like, okay, I don't know where this ball is going to go. We're expecting it to go down the fair. but you've got to be pinpoint accurate with every single shot. It's like every shot has to be perfect or it's not going to be a good outing on the day, right?

Starting point is 00:06:34 That's kind of what it feels like. It's like Bow is playing golf out there. And I think even Sean said something about him being a golfer last year. Maybe we'll have to look up that quote at some point, Cody. But I just do feel like right now it's way too much of, hey, it has to be pinpoint down the field. It has to be this. There's no like, there's nothing happening where guys are creating yards after the catch, except in the quick passing game, which is just swings to the outside.

Starting point is 00:06:59 There's no quick passing game. There's no short intermediate bread and butter. It's really frustrating to watch because you feel like, yes, Bo has to hit these plays. And that is the offense that the Broncos run. But at the same time, there's nothing that is going on right now to build his confidence either, right? It feels like it's all just they're scraping and clawing for every single yard. It feels like Bo Nick said after the game, they're going backwards every time they have it.

Starting point is 00:07:25 And that's what's most frustrating right now is that it's not executing easy stuff. It's that, man, there's no easy stuff. And the deep stuff down the field is it's been there. But man, in this game in particular, you just miss those opportunities and you can't do that in the NFL. And that's where I think everybody's tension right now is coming from. Yeah, and look, it's the bread and butter stuff. It's the quick hitters. You know, one thing Beau is going to have to learn to do.

Starting point is 00:07:51 And take a page out of what we saw from Justin Herbert. There's times where Justin knows he's going to get hit. He stands there and he still delivers, knowing that he's going to get hit. And I don't know if that's just Bo trying to use his legs and be athletic and try to get away. But it's just that has not been a prevalent part of his game so far, especially in Sunday's matchup against the Chargers. It just seemed like there was his hesitancy to kind of stand and deliver. And granted, at times there was pressure coming from behind him and he would sense that. But there's inconsistencies across the board.

Starting point is 00:08:20 You know, from Bo, I think from a mechanical standpoint, we see the issue where he's not constantly setting his feet. That's kind of been an issue this year that we've seen. There's times where he kind of floats off of his foot a little bit. The run game has just been so hit and miss. You know, J.K. Dobbins gets you started in the second half, but then you really kind of go away from the run. You know, when you have the lead there, R.J. Harvey's been non-existent in the run game here. That's a factor into the equation here. So for me, I just look at there's dirty hands, as we say, on the operation everywhere, not just on Bo,

Starting point is 00:08:50 but yes, Bo as the QB is going to take a lot of the blame, and he's got to be better. Plain and simple. We're saying it here on the show. We get called Homer sometimes because we defend Bo. I think we can defend Bo, but still say he needs to play better. I think it's silly to be calling for his job or we should already start at the mock draft machines. That's stupid.

Starting point is 00:09:07 Knock that off. That's not that you want the carousel to keep going around. All right, do it. Hit that simulation, see what it does for you here. You have to stick with development, which means you got to go through the growing pains here. And right now, it looks like Bo Nix is going through growing. pains and this is something that the Broncos simply can't have linger around much longer, especially if they hope to kind of get back on track because now the schedule for this team

Starting point is 00:09:28 gets a lot tougher here going forward. The Broncos, they had every chance to win this game on Sunday. The defense was a big reason why, but they couldn't sustain late. What's the concerning trend here with the Broncos defense? We'll share our thoughts and more on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode Lockdown Broncos is brought to you our friends over there at prize picks. The Daily Fantasy app we're making the right call can actually pay off. we make decisions every single day, but on prize picks.

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Starting point is 00:10:28 It's good to be right. Once again, the bend don't break mentality for the Denver Broncos defense did not work out in a close loss for the team. Obviously, we talked about how the offense didn't pull their way, but the defense, they also kind of failed to come through at the most clutched possible time for the Denver Broncos. We're going to break it down. What went wrong for the defense in this game against the Los Angeles Chargers? on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. But Broncos Country, look, your boys, Cody and Sarah, you know that we got you.

Starting point is 00:10:56 Win or lose, especially in the losses. Hey, we know that it's tough to swallow. And we want to be here enjoying this season together during the highs, but also being here for each other during the lows, right, Cody? So we appreciate all you everyday listeners out there that make us part of your day every single day. Let's talk about this tough pill to swallow because the Broncos, They got to Justin Herbert five times in this game. Cody, Nick Benito put on a bit of a clinic against Joe Alt in this game,

Starting point is 00:11:25 which I wish we were talking a little bit more about that. The game changing game reckoning. Great play by John Franklin Myers getting a sack on Justin Herbert as well. Ultimately, we don't get to talk about that stuff because Justin made some crazy plays in this game when he needed to the most and propelled his team to victory, which the Broncos obviously couldn't do. Yeah, right now he's got Sean. Peyton's number. I mean, the Chargers right now are kind of the new bully on the playground here.

Starting point is 00:11:51 Yes, we've talked about Kansas City. And I think the Chargers here, they have a brand and they have a team around them that, you know, is led very, very strongly with Harbaugh and how he does things. But, I mean, you talk about a guy with poise. Justin Herbert had that. I mean, we talked about what Bow needs to start doing as a QB, he's being able to sit in those pockets that you know you're going to have to take a shot. But if you can fire and get your guy the ball, I understand, you don't want to necessarily get hit all the time. But Justin Herbert, at times just hung tough in the pocket while getting hit hard by guys like Nick Benito, Jonathan Cooper, Zach Allen, JFM, DJ Jones, you name it.

Starting point is 00:12:25 Justin Herbert was getting hit by those guys here. Five sacks, which is crazy because you and I in our pregame show, I said the Broncos will win if they get three plus sacks on Herbert. This should have come true. But unfortunately, here we are talking about another disappointing walkoff loss here where the Broncos defense gives up a field goal late. And there was a chance here late in this game where they tackled a Marion Hancock. for a three-yard loss.

Starting point is 00:12:49 And then all of a sudden, I think it's third and 12. And then on the very next play, you give up a 12 to 13-yard catch to Ladd McConkey. And then you almost give up a touchdown run to Hampton that gets shoestring tackled luckily to kind of save it here. This defense, I would say this, they're so aggressive. And through the first half, through the first three quarters, I was saying, you know what, can't be mad at the defense because they were getting stops. They were forcing field goals. You know, they were doing a really good job at times getting Herbert.

Starting point is 00:13:17 that offense off the field. But then it's like once you get into these late game situations, the Broncos have a lead in the fourth quarter. We've seen this story a million times. They implode. They can't sustain. And I would say one play that was kind of the negative that really kind of fueled this for the chargers.

Starting point is 00:13:32 There was a catch by Keenan Allen and Talanoa who Fonga kind of suplexed Allen on that play. Not only was it a 10-yard catch, not for a first down, but it was plus 15 added onto that. And then Herbert made an incredible throw to Allen, despite escaping pressure from Zach Allen. for a touchdown to tie it up.

Starting point is 00:13:48 I mean, this was a big, gutsy performance by Herbert and the Chargers. And ultimately, it was a gut punch once again for this Broncos defense that got picked on with some of the issues they struggled with last week against the Colts late in those inopportune times that just frustrating, you know, because ideally you feel like the defense did enough to win this game. But once again, giving up too many plays late was problematic for them. Yeah, I really felt like there was too many lapses in the coverage late, especially we saw O'Marion Hampton running free down the sideline.

Starting point is 00:14:19 Once again, a running back coming out of the backfield multiple times in this game. Cody, I don't understand how that happens. I don't understand why that happens. I know one time it was a double A-gap blitz from the linebackers. And so obviously that was a busted coverage by somebody in the defensive backfield whose responsibility has got to be, hey, if the running back leaks out, you've got to go get him. Nobody's out there. And it's just these big field, field flipping plays, excuse me,

Starting point is 00:14:45 the field flipping plays for this defense ultimately that leads to this bend don't break. The Broncos defense has to figure out a way to keep defenses on the other side of the 50, right? When you're an offense as struggling like this, you have to find a way to keep those defenses from getting past midfield consistently. I mean, yeah, field goals. I didn't realize, Cody, in the Colts game, the Colts didn't score a single touchdown in the second half of that game. That was a stat that was put up during the TV broadcast against the Chargers.

Starting point is 00:15:17 Broncos defense has not allowed a touchdown in so many quarters. I was like, wait a second. They allowed 470 plus yards to the Colts and they didn't give up a touchdown in the second half. Like that didn't even occur to me, but it's just the dominance offensively, the other way in that game was so pronounced in terms of getting past midfield, getting into scoring range, big plays flipping the field. You don't always have to score touchdowns if you're dominating. field position. If you are consistently converting on third downs, if you are controlling time of

Starting point is 00:15:47 possession, if you're constantly having running backs leaking out of the backfield for huge gains down the sideline, that stuff is frustrating for this defense. And obviously, they played well enough. I thought for the majority of this game to win, I think the offense failed to capitalize a chance to put the game away and put the defense up by 11. Hey, go pin your ears back and go get the ball. But they didn't do that for them. And obviously, they needed to make one more play than they did and they couldn't do it. Complementary football does not exist with this Broncos team yet, right? And look, here's the point I want to drive home is this Broncos team has the pieces to be a good team, right? But Sarah, what do we, what do we say? Good teams find ways to win these types of games.

Starting point is 00:16:27 The Broncos haven't done it. They're not necessarily the good team that I think that they can be just yet. They've got to find a way to overcome these hurdles. The close game narrative is obviously still very prevalent at this time. The can't beat teams with the winning record narrative is obviously very prevalent right now. But here's some other numbers defensively that are staggering. When you look at the tail of the tape and the comparison, the Charters had 29 first downs in this game set or compared to the Broncos only having nine offensively on their end. That is a massive disadvantage. Third down continues to be a problem in this Broncos charter's matchup where last year, Justin Herbert carved up the Broncos on third down.

Starting point is 00:17:03 Same exact thing happened in this matchup here, eight of 17 on a third down conversion rate there. That's not good here for the Broncos defense, but I think what's a little more staggering to me, 80 offensive plays here for Justin Herbert and the Chargers, the defense being on the field way too much here once again. That's a product. That's a byproduct of some of these drives extending a little too long, but primarily it's because the offense is not doing anything with the positions that they get. And a lot of that, I think, is compacted by the first quarter performance that we saw by Denver offensively, but Denver's defense did their job. I mean, Marvin Mims had two really great returns in this game and nothing came of it.

Starting point is 00:17:39 To me, that is frustrating. When you go back and you watch this tape, we're going to look at this saying it's the coulda, the woulda, and the shoulda. That's not something you want to be all season long here. So this is a nasty taste in the mouth of the Broncos. They've got to find a way to do it. But we're sitting here talking about all the things that went wrong

Starting point is 00:17:56 or we're not talking about the master class that was the Broncos getting five sacks here on Justin Herbert. Yeah, a lot of really good stuff from the pass rush in this game. obviously Nick Benito like we talked about kind of had his way with Joe Alt. That'll be a really exciting thing to kind of break down on tape as well. But ultimately, you really want to see that stuff results and wins. You can get to Justin Herbert five times. That's a guy that gets rid of the ball quickly.

Starting point is 00:18:19 That's a guy that reads the field and sees the field extremely well. He runs extremely well. So if you can get five sacks on a guy like that, man, you're expecting those to be game altering, game changing plays. But yeah, when you're going, what, two of 13 on third downs the other direction, you kind of wipe that stuff off. the board. And so, and penalties, like you mentioned, Cody. I mean, penalties just crushed to the Broncos in this game defensively. Any momentum that they could have possibly had,

Starting point is 00:18:44 man, it was, it was just thwarted in that way. But the pass rush for this team, I think is going to be the reason why they do get back on track. Obviously, you need that to really come through against a quarterback like Jake Browning, who I think has thrown five picks in his, you know, first two games taking over for Joe Burrow. And obviously the pass rush affecting a quarterback like that. So you have to take advantage going forward of the situations and circumstances you're given. And everybody involved has to kind of rally at this point, Cody, and not let this sort of snowball downhill in the worst possible way. That's the number one thing.

Starting point is 00:19:18 I'm glad you said that you cannot let this snowball into something negative, right? You can't let Jake Browning, who looks rough since filling in for Joe Burrow. Tough task to do, granted. He's struggling. You can't let him come in on Monday night football and light you up and you can't lose this game at home. The Broncos. this is a must win for them because then they got to go on the road and they got to take on the Philadelphia eels who look like just a juggernaut.

Starting point is 00:19:40 Even though that they struggle, they have their own struggles there, that room for error, they seem to be in that position the chiefs have been in for a handful of years where they can make those mistakes and still find ways to win games. That's going to be a tough road test there. And then you got to go to London. And you got to play the Dallas Cowboys who you never know what you're going to get from those guys. And then you're going to get the New York Giants. We don't know exactly what that's going to look like. We're doing the post game show, and we're hoping here tonight, maybe Russell Wilson lights up the Chiefs and sends them to 0 and 3. That'll be the only saving grace here for us in week three.

Starting point is 00:20:11 But with that said, frustrating result here for the Broncos, Broncos country. We get the frustration here early in the season, but the Broncos, they're running out of room to make mistakes here going forward. But what about some of the bigger picture issues that we've seen from this team early on that must get addressed? Well, the Broncos already find themselves in a bad position divisionally, while the Chargers find themselves ahead of every. everybody else. How problematic is this for the Broncos postseason ambitions? We'll break it down and more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos post game report is brought you by friends over there at Mazda. This is brought to you by Mazda's moving the game forward for those who believe it's not just about playing the game. It's about redefining it. And there are

Starting point is 00:20:50 moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, move culture, and keep moving the game forward. This week's moment that moved the game forward is Nick Benito with this two-sac performance against the Los Angeles Charters. Benito was a bright spot showcasing his first snap, his bend, and beating a really good offensive tackle and Joe Alt off the edge to sacking Justin Herbert and helping the Broncos defense at times in Sunday's game despite the Broncos loss. When you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there's more to every highlight, there's more to a Mazda vehicle, Mazda move and be moved. Today's show is also brought to you by friends over there at Fanduil America's number one sports book. the Broncos were two and a half point road underdogs in Sunday's matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers here.

Starting point is 00:21:38 They end up losing on a field goal in this game here. Now the Broncos, they have to bounce back ahead of Monday night football next week. And right now, Fanduil for the NFL season, they're making it fun because they're 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 so you can use all across the app. So when Monday night football comes around next week, you can look at any time touchdown scores. You can look at same game parlays and more. If you want to get on the NFL action in week four, you can do a parlay with all the money line picks from the morning games.

Starting point is 00:22:10 That's something that I do. So are you ready to play? Download the Fandu app now by visiting Fanduil.com to get started. That's Fanduil.com to place your first $5 bet. As we jump into the fourth quarter action on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos, we're going to look at some of the early big picture issues that the Broncos must correct here as the season continues to, where on we're on to week four. It's early on in the season, but some of the issues we've seen from this Broncos team, they're concerning and they cannot linger if they hope to become

Starting point is 00:22:37 the team that they believe and that we ultimately believe that they can become. They can be a good team, but they've got to find a way to get out of their own way. Sarah, what would you say is the number one thing here early on through the first three weeks of the season that has problematic written on it when we talk about things you want to avoid becoming long-term issues for this team? I think that the biggest issue for this Denver Broncos, Coach's team right now, Cody, is that they don't know how to win games. They've found a million different ways to lose them. They don't know how to win them.

Starting point is 00:23:05 And I think that dates back to last season. I know that you want so badly to feel like Sean Payton says that, you know, last year, it's like you're closing the book on, closing the one chapter moving on to another. It's like a completely different book or a completely different game. I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think this is a team that has to learn how to win these tight games because last season they were what, two and six or one and six in one score games. This year, they're already one and two in one score games.

Starting point is 00:23:31 And so it's just not good enough. You've got to find a way to be better. And I know it's a long season. Don't want to be overreactionary. But two games that were very winnable for you, you found a way to lose those games as opposed to finding a way to win them. And I think that's a huge concern for a team that has the expectation of improving upon what they did last year, which is winning 10 games and making it to the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:23:55 Yeah. And look, that narrative is going to be very loud. There's a lot of detractors and there are a lot of critics of the Broncos right now that they're sitting there and they're saying, hey, look, look, we're right. And if you're this team, you know, I understand you want to tune out the outside noise, but at some point you have to put your foot down and say, we have to figure out how to buck this trend here. If I'm going to speak maybe metaphorically here, this is, this has definitely been a frustrating start to the season. Saren, look, we even have people, I'll say this. I've even gotten mentions. People are saying it's the media's fault.

Starting point is 00:24:25 It's us in the media. It's us to do these shows. It's also our fault. for how things are going because we created hype around this team. Let me tell you about how it really works. We see the moves that this team made. We talk about the deficiencies and where the team was certainly at last year, what they needed to do to improve to take the next step,

Starting point is 00:24:41 how you could help Bo Nix. We've talked about all these things, right? And those things have to like transpire. They have to play out on the field. And it hasn't happened here with this team. So we always tell, you know, we tell fans what we see, but then it's our fault somehow. So I don't understand that one.

Starting point is 00:24:55 I'm not going to agree with that. I will say, and I think anyone can see that this Broncos team has a lot of potential. Yes, there's been so much hype surrounding them. Maybe they have been listening to it a little too much. Maybe not, though. But they have to find a way to start playing up to the potential in which we know that this team can be. They have the veteran guys. They have some of the young playmakers that are ascending there that can help out in this facet.

Starting point is 00:25:18 But we haven't seen it just yet. And this cannot be something you just let linger. You can't let, as what Bo Nix said last week, you can't let one loss turn into two with a Broncos let one loss turn into two. Now you can't let two losses turn into three here because the schedule is going to get a lot tougher here for this Broncos team. I've said it before. Before the buy week, I always felt like this first half schedule before the buy is the toughest

Starting point is 00:25:40 stretch of the Broncos schedule this season. So there's not a lot of time to feel sorry for himself, flush the pity potty. You've got to get back to work here. Sean Payton says Monday is always important here. But to me, my biggest concern, Sarah, is the offensive operation here. It doesn't look like anything meshes. or make sense. It looks like everything that they do is to try to be fancier,

Starting point is 00:26:01 cute. You talked about a little bit about these longer developing passing concepts. Well, when you're allowing pressure, it's forcing things to break down a little bit. It's forcing bone nicks to not trust his feet. And we're seeing those mechanical issues kind of carry forward here. The offense, they have an identity, Sarah, and it's offensive. It's very offensive to what we deem production-worthy football.

Starting point is 00:26:24 This has to improve the offense. can't keep doing what it has been doing so far for the last handful of games. It simply cannot sustain or else this is going to be a long and miserable season. Right. And this is the same type of conversation we were having exactly at this point last year, right? Obviously, at this point last year, it was the Bucks game, I think it was. And the offense kind of took that step forward in that particular matchup. But at the same time, through the first three weeks, we were having the same talks.

Starting point is 00:26:50 Like this doesn't look like it's going to be able to come together. It's very disjointed. Bo Nix at this point last year still hadn't even thrown a touchdown pass. It just looked like everything was very, very hard. And we've also talked about Sean Payton's struggles in the month of September. Like at what point does maybe there's a reason for that, right? I mean, I know things can heat up as things get going along, but like if something is consistent for multiple years of sample size,

Starting point is 00:27:19 and we're talking about, you know, more than a decade back into New Orleans, the time of September being a struggle for Sean Payton, maybe the issue is that, hey, you're trying to maybe do a little bit too much, you know, or you're trying to do too much all at once instead of, hey, let's run some simple stuff. Let's run some basic stuff. Let's execute well. Let's do little things well. There's a saying in leadership, Cody, that says, you know, you can either do a lot of things and not do them well, or you can do a few things and do them extremely well. I think that when you look at the Broncos right now, they're trying to do a lot of things. and they're not doing a lot of things or really anything well.

Starting point is 00:27:55 If they would focus on doing a few things extremely well, we've seen, man, when they focus in and they start doing the bread and butter stuff, they can really run the ball. They can't. They've been able to do that. They can really execute certain things, but man,

Starting point is 00:28:09 you're just trying to do too much right now, and it's leading to penalties. It's leading to weird stuff, like offensive off sides. Like, I mean, that kind of stuff procedurally should never happen. And so you have to ask yourself,

Starting point is 00:28:22 why is stuff that should never happen happening? R is what we're doing too hard for these guys. And so I don't know. I mean, you tell me, Cody, because I've never played it in an NFL offense. I have no idea.

Starting point is 00:28:33 I don't know what's going on out there. But it's just frustrating because you want to see this team hit the ground running. And unfortunately, they've done anything but. Yeah, we know Sean's offense is very complicated. Players have not been shy about talking about that. But this doesn't look anything like some of the flashes of what we saw last year.

Starting point is 00:28:51 And once again, I want to go back to it, Bo doesn't look confident right now in terms of how he's playing. And you can kind of sense that from that. Like last week against Colts, I thought Bo had pretty good confidence. I thought Bo played relatively well, but then he regressed here. Like we're not seeing that consistency factor step in. And it doesn't seem like there's confidence in Bo and some of the stuff that is happening from a personnel and all the guys coming in and out.

Starting point is 00:29:13 Like you're not establishing rhythm. You're trying to be too cute and too fancy. I think that's a valid critique here on Sean Payton's offense. And I think there are valid questions. here. Now, I'm not going to sit here and say, okay, hey, Sean should give up play calling. But at some point, we have to, if the trend continues, we have to ask ourselves, is he just too laser focused on it to where it's causing him to lose sight on the other things that are going on around the team or within the operation?

Starting point is 00:29:38 I think that's a valid question to ask here when we talk about big picture stuff. But maybe one final thing here, too, Sarah, the defense, once again, we love the hyperaggressive nature of it. But it's starting to remind me a little bit like, a rubber band, right? What happens if you just keep pulling a rubber band and stretching it for a while? Eventually, what's it going to do? It's going to snap. I mean, it is. It's just good. And it's going to smack you right in the face, too. That's what I hate about rubber bands, Cody, is they smack you right in the face no matter what. You snap one, it snaps you right in the face. This happened last year. And we can say, okay, hey, Riley Moss went down and, you know, this happened

Starting point is 00:30:13 because of that. The Broncos defense last year in that big stretch where they were allowing over 400 plus yards of offense, almost every game, that rubber band snapped at that point. there. And once again, you see the early trend. 80 plays in this game of the defense being on field. That's going to lead to that happening sooner rather than later. So you have to find a way to buck this trend and move forward here. If you were this Broncos team, a lot of questions right now, not the hot start that Sean Payton wanted. The sophomore slump feels like it's here. Can the Broncos find a way to shake that off before it impacts the rest of the season? That's the mystery here. Broncos country, we know you've been asking a lot of questions about Drey Greenlaw tomorrow. You're going to get a bonus episode

Starting point is 00:30:49 where you learn everything about the timeline of Drey Greenlaw from the injury that initially happened in April, what's happened with the team, and why is there some confusion from what we are reporting in the media to what we are seeing with Drey Greenlaw and all the events that transpired. You're going to get the Drey Greenlaw reveal on tomorrow's episode, Locked on Broncos.

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