Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Racing To Get Healthy For Thursday Night Football, Can Clinch Playoff Spot With Win

Starting point is 00:00:00 Denver Broncos are trying to get as healthy as possible for Thursday night football. They held a walkthrough on Tuesday that was open to the media. But did we see Riley Moss and other players who are on the injury report present? We'll break that down. How much more on today's brand new episode of Lockdown Broncos? You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's all, Broncos country?

Starting point is 00:00:31 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 single day we appreciate you so much all the everydayers and all the first listeners out there in broncos country who tune in to make us part of your day however you choose to do so thank you so much we got you covered every single day all year long i'm cody roic brocco's reporter for mile high sports you can check on my written work over there at mile high sports dot com you can check out film breakdowns over on their youtube page where i do them over there and joined as always by sar bedinger's i expert predominantly orange.com also right over there at the NFL spin zone.

Starting point is 00:01:08 And here's what we got in store for you here today on this show. Broncos country will wrap things up by talking about how the Broncos can clinch a playoff spot here this week. And there's a chance after Sunday they can even move into the fifth seed based on if things go a certain way for them. And on top of that, we'll take a look at the state of the AFC as we approach week 16 of the National Football League. We'll kick things off on today's show by highlighting some of the latest injury updates as

Starting point is 00:01:32 well the Broncos held their only walk-through practice of the week. Open to the media were certain players available and spotted there. We'll break all that down here today on the show, which is brought to you our friends over there at prize picks. Go to price picks.com slash lockdown NFL and use code all overcase, locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. Sarah, my friend, this is the biggest question of the week. How healthy will the Broncos be going into Thursday night football?

Starting point is 00:01:57 Obviously, the Chargers, the Broncos, both teams a little bit banged up here, but this is going to set the stage for a win and you're in type of situation here in Denver's hoping to go into everything fully healthy. Yeah, you can't ask for a better scenario at this point in the season, win and you make the playoffs. I mean, it's as simple as that. It's not the only way the Broncos can get into the playoffs this weekend, Cody, but obviously it's the easiest path. I mean, and by easiest, I mean, it's the one that's in your control. You don't have to worry about, well, will this team lose to this team? will this team come through?

Starting point is 00:02:32 No, just go take care of business on Thursday night and get it done. You can wake up on Friday morning and be in the playoffs. But of course, injuries at this point in the season, they affect everybody. I know it was impressive to see last week the Broncos injury report only had two guys on it until late in the week when I think another player popped up on for non-injury-related reasons, but only two guys on the injury report. One of them was Brandon Jones who played the other one, Riley Moss, who didn't play. But now we're dealing with the possibility of, man, what's going on with Pat Sertan and the ankle?

Starting point is 00:03:05 What's going on with Riley Moss and the knee again this week against the Chargers? And, you know, who's going to step up in the absence of some of these players if the Broncos do end up needing to supplement? Because they've been mostly healthy all year long. But guys have also stepped up when need beat. Case in point, Chris Abrams drain this past weekend played a great game. But obviously, we'd rather see number 21 and number two out there. Yeah, and look, I think that there's a chance that that could happen here for the Broncos on Thursday Night Football. Now, like I mentioned earlier, Denver held their only open practice to the media on Tuesday.

Starting point is 00:03:38 It was a walk-through practice there. So all we got to view, Sarah, was team stretch. There was no individual period. We just, we watched team stretch and then we had to go there. But I will say this, in terms of Wednesday's practice, I mean, Tuesday's practice here, the Broncos had everybody accounted for. We saw Jolillo McLaughlin, who's on the injury report with a quad injury. We saw Pat Sertan the second who was out in with a minor ankle sprain. We saw Riley Moss in Team Stretch once again, which I think for us, we can't read too much into that right now because he was in Team Stretch all of last week.

Starting point is 00:04:10 So that kind of leaves things up into question. If I had to guess, based on what I observed, I think Pat Sertan plays this week. I think that he's recovering really well. He's probably got that Wolverine blood in him. Obviously, his dad says he's got that Nolia blood in him. So he's grinding. He, you know, he looked good in terms of that. saw DJ Jones during practice as well, saw John Franklin Meyer,

Starting point is 00:04:30 saw Malcolm Roach, saw Quinn Minor. So everybody that really was on the initial Monday injury report, because it was an estimation there, everybody was seen at practice and they did some sort of involvement as well. But, you know, the tricky thing about Thursday night game, Sarah, is that your injury report on Tuesday, Wednesday will be the final one that you have to release to give your game statuses. It could go either way here, but the Broncos, I think,

Starting point is 00:04:56 are trending towards DJ Jones being able to play. Pat Sertan, like these guys were not on the side field. The only two players that we saw on the side field prior to practice would be Tyler Biday and Delary and Turner Yale, who's obviously done for the year because his 21-day window had expired. So the Broncos right now in a good position. And I will say this is just my observation, right? I felt like Riley Moss was moving well during the team stretch things, you know, in terms of

Starting point is 00:05:21 his footwork, looked well. Is that enough for him to be able to play on Thursday night? there's that that's up in the air that's going to be questionable i think riley will truly be questionable unless he continues to be a dnp and just continue to just be on the uh the practice side of hey we're just going to stretch but we're not going to do much so that's the question but i want to ask you this based on what you saw because i know you've had a chance to go back and watch the l 22 like i have do you feel like even if riley does not play this game and pat plays do you feel confident once again and damari mathis and the base and obviously uh chris abram's drain

Starting point is 00:05:52 when the bronco is going to the nickel i do I feel really confident. I feel like it's an opportunity, right? I mean, this is not a preseason game where you're getting a chance to evaluate guys and the consequence of the game is, well, there is no consequence. This is a game with playoff stakes, but you almost kind of welcome that opportunity for young guys, right? Because what happens if, you know, Riley Moss does play in this game down the line,

Starting point is 00:06:16 you know, Chris Abrams dream might need to play in the playoffs as well. So, I mean, you might as well have him out there playing in a game that has playoff implications. And so obviously we all want to see Riley Moss back out there. He's having a breakout year for the Denver Broncos and is a huge asset to that secondary, not just in coverage, but man, the guy is tough. He is physical. He was playing really good against the Raiders. I think that's kind of gotten overshadowed. I know that was only his most recent game, but he was playing really good in the first half of that game leading up to the knee injury that he suffered. And so you just feel like, man, you want to see all those guys out there. But at the same time, you

Starting point is 00:06:53 also like the idea of a player like Chris Abrams Drain getting big game, you know, opportunities and getting an opportunity to go up and say, hey, go make a play. Justin Herbert, he's going to try to test you because they don't want to throw up Pat Sertan. Teams don't want to do it. It's only happened 43 times in 13 games this season. Teams don't want to throw at Pat Sertan. They want to throw at Chris Abrams Drain. Go make them pay, you know. And so that's what I think is a great opportunity for any guy that's filling in as an injury replacement. The good news is, that he proved in this most recent game that he's capable of doing it, unlike what we saw against Cleveland.

Starting point is 00:07:29 Man, I loved what I saw from the rookie cornerback. I mean, you talk about that deep ball that he broke up with Alec Pierce. He didn't panic on the double move. He got into position and got his hands to play through the hands of Alec Pierce. And unfortunately, he saw Alec Pierce suffered an injury there. We hope he's going to be okay. But then I just go back to that fourth and six play that he had a pass breakup on in terms that the Broncos are playing a little bit of palms coverage,

Starting point is 00:07:51 which means that, you know, you got a weak side. safety blitz. P.J. Locke was, you know, they showed a too high look with Brandon Jones, PJ. PJ, PJ, off of the off, I mean, the defensive right side, offensive left. Brandon Jones climbed over to replace him in coverage. Jaquam Macmillan dropped back to kind of play that other safety role where Brandon Jones was. And Jonathan Cooper played that middle hook while Chris Abrams Drain is playing outside. He did a really good job of passing the vertical route off to Jayquan and then breaking at a good angle to drive on the out route there at the sticks.

Starting point is 00:08:21 Fantastic play. I mean, you can tell when you watch. the tape with Abrams Drain. He's a high IQ football player. And look, I think if he were to get put into the game here on Thursday Night Football, I think he would play well. And I think that there might be an argument to be made that, hey, why not try to find a role for him now that he's getting his feet wet and he's playing well, he's playing well. He's playing smart. He's impacting the special teams game quite a bit. I liked what I saw from the rookie here. I think Quinn Miners are going to be all right. Obviously, you know, if there was something that were to pull him out of the game or prohibit him from playing, more than likely, we'd probably see Alex Pout. Chesky getting the start at right guard. They're running back. I think it's a little interesting too because Jillo McLaughlin's got the quad injury. And after the game, you know, I saw him, he was walking gingerly.

Starting point is 00:09:03 But him being back at practice being on the field and doing stuff on Tuesday, I think is a great sign for him. But if that's the case, we already had this discussion about what do you do at running back? Do you, you know, activate and elevate Blake Watson from the practice squad? And Denver's been in that situation before, but they hadn't actually played him. and they just went with two running backstance situation. So to me, I'm very, very curious with how Denver approaches this week here. But I know one thing is certain, Sarah, like for Sean Payton, his belief is,

Starting point is 00:09:32 and in terms of this, he gave this answer when Pastor 10 came back in the game on Sunday. He said if the medical staff believes that they're good enough to play, they're going to play. We're not just going to sit you out and hold you out and try to hope. I think there are certain players that would maybe apply to. But primarily Sean Payton is like, if you're healthy enough to play, you're going to play. because, hey, Denver hasn't secured anything just yet. You know, winning season's great. The playoff spot you want to clinch, that's what happens when you get, you know,

Starting point is 00:09:55 your next win. And Denver's hoping to do that here on Thursday night football. What does the rest of the AFC look like? And how does the playoff picture kind of shape out a little bit going into week 16 of the NFL season? We're going to take a look at what's happening in the AFC here on today's brand new episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos podcast is brought to you by our friends over there at Fandu. And as you all know at Fandu, they are America's number one.

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Starting point is 00:11:16 of the NFL. Today's show is also brought to you by friends over there at the college football playoffs on TNT. And it is that time of the year. It's the most exciting time of the year because college football playoffs, they are back. And the stakes have never been higher with the brand new expanded 12 team format. It's guaranteed to be bigger and better than ever. And it opens up so many opportunities for the postseason and the college football side of things,

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Starting point is 00:12:06 in a showdown at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It's going to be Quinn Ewers or there's going to be Archmanning at quarterback. Don't miss a moment of the action. Watch the college football playoff presented by Allstate live on TNT, True TV, TBS and Max. The Denver Broncos could be the fifth AFC team to officially punch their ticket to the playoff dance, but also there's a chance that their

Starting point is 00:12:27 victory head to head against the Indianapolis Colts could end up being completely pointless. Cody and I, we're going to break down the state of the AFC and the craziness that is the playoff picture as of right now in today's NFL entering week 16. But thank you so much, Broncos country, for making us your first listen of the day every single day.

Starting point is 00:12:47 If you haven't already done so and hit subscribe on the show, we want to grow the audience here at lockdown Broncos and grow the community of first and everyday listeners. Cody, let's talk about the state of the AFC here because obviously the Broncos have a chance on Thursday night football when you're in. They would be the fifth team in the AFC to officially punch their ticket to the playoffs. Like I said, the chiefs, the bills, the Steelers, the Texans, they've already all done it. this is exciting place to be in if you're the Denver Broncos here entering week 16 yeah it is and there there's opportunity all around you and it's nice to be at a point now since you and I've been covering this team I mean sir we've been covering this team for a long long time and it's been really since the super bowl 50 season where we've had a chance to

Starting point is 00:13:33 kind of sit down and say hey if the Broncos win this game they're in the playoffs they can clinch it's been that long and look I think it'll be a fun experience for the everydayers and first listeners too because we get a experience that kind of journey with them here as a team that everybody had written off in the off season as a team that's not going to be very good. All of a sudden is one game away from a playoff spot. That's a pretty special place to be here. But you look at the rest of the AFC, it is the Wild West essentially when you look at it,

Starting point is 00:14:00 right? Obviously, Kansas City 13 and 1 right now, they're at the top of the AFC standings after week 15 going here in the week 16. We all know Patrick Mahomes is banged up. The Buffalo Bills, they, you know, they're 11 and 3 right now. You know, they rolled on Sunday against the Detroit lines and what was a game that was a fun, electrifying shootout. But there are two games back in Kansas City. And right now with Patrick Mahomes injury, I mean, the Ken City Chiefs have to play the Texans.

Starting point is 00:14:24 And then they have to play on Christmas Day against the Pittsburgh Steelers. So there is a real possibility here that Buffalo and Kansas City could be vying for that one and two seed respectively between those guys right there. Pittsburgh, if they continue to win and Buffalo loses, there's a chance that they can obviously move up in the standing. So it's very, very interesting. Pittsburgh right now, number three. They've got a big matchup here this week, Sarah, in week 16. It's going to be them versus Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, which if you look at it right now, if the Broncos win, we'll dive in these situations.

Starting point is 00:14:55 They'll improve to 10 and 5. The Ravens, if they lose to the Steelers, would drop to 9 and 6. So without getting into what we're going to talk about in segment 3, that's something to watch for. You know, and Sarah, the Houston Texans can thank the Devor Broncos for helping them clinch a playoff spot. I mean, they're going to face some tough games here down on these final. three games for them. But unfortunately, they're not going to really move anywhere because they've won their division. So, you know, they're going to stay probably at that four seat.

Starting point is 00:15:18 And I think the five seat here for the Broncos is something you want to continue to eye here. That, you know, anyone who's the fourth, you know, the fifth seed right now is eyeing that. So I look at the AFC right now, very, very tough. But it's the team still on the outside, Sarah. They aren't officially out of it, Jesse, even though the Denver won and Miami lost. They beat the Colts. The Bengals still hanging around there, though. They are.

Starting point is 00:15:40 The Bengals are, and the Broncos obviously, now that we have a chance to talk about it, officially, the Broncos will travel to face the Bengals on Saturday, December 28th at 3.30 p.m. Central time. Excuse me for not bringing up Mountain Time right away. 2.30 p.m. Mountain time for all of you, Colorado-based listeners of the show, but we here on Central Time. Cody, that's an interesting matchup if the Broncos lose to the Chargers on Thursday, but we know we're manifesting a win against the Chargers. we're manifesting the Broncos already being in the postseason at that point. The Bengals, though, they do continue to lurk and they play at home at noon against the Cleveland Browns this weekend and Dorian Thompson Robinson. So, I mean, you look at games that are kind of gimmies across the league right now and nothing is given in the NFL. Of course, everybody gets paid to play. But I would reckon that the Bengals are going to be able to beat the Dorian Thompson-Robinson led Cleveland Browns,

Starting point is 00:16:37 which means that they are going to hang in the picture for another week. which makes it even more important for the Denver Broncos to just go take care of business on Thursday night. I know, I mean, that's easier said than done. Just go take care of business. Easy for me to say sitting here, you know, just go to Los Angeles and beat the Chargers. I know the Chargers are also fighting for a playoff spot and they've also been, they've already beaten you this year, you know, but just go take care of business. Easy for me to say.

Starting point is 00:17:00 But look, this is one of those types of situations where the Broncos just have not been in these types of situations, not since really 2016 when they kind of, you know, peed that season down their leg. They were in really good shape late in the year. And unfortunately, just a collapse prevented them from at least just returning to the playoffs after Super Bowl 50. It was a late season collapse, a couple of really bad, you know, just just rough games. And I think for the Broncos sake, Cody, it's almost, we almost should be grateful. They've, they've won two games in a row where Bo Nix has thrown to combine five interceptions. the offense has not looked sharp

Starting point is 00:17:37 and they've won by double digit points in both of those games. Well, close. I know the Cleveland game has nine points. Well, you know, it's also hard to not go back and do revisionist history. If that field goal attempt for the Broncos against the Chiefs doesn't get blocked Denver's in the playoffs already. And we're sitting here singing a different tune. Instead, it's like, all right, hey, look, you got the Chargers.

Starting point is 00:17:57 Tough team is always when you do it. I don't care who you are. Whenever you play a divisional opponent, the bar gets set a little bit higher for both teams, even if they're coming off of games on Sunday and they're playing on Thursday night football. They're always tough matchups as is. And we knew just from that first matchup. I think Denver's a different team right now than they were

Starting point is 00:18:14 when they faced that Chargers team all the way back there in week six. But it's still going to be a challenge. The Chargers, obviously they've been banged up a little bit. They lost J.K. Dobbins to an injury. Not sure if he'll be back this week for them. But things have kind of changed with the flow of them. And then defensively, they've also been giving up a lot of yards on the ground, which you and I are going to sit here and say,

Starting point is 00:18:34 well, if the Broncos can get the run game going this week, then all of a sudden, you know, things change. But I find it interesting. I think in two of the last four games, the Chargers have given up 200 yards rushing to an opponent. That's not ideal, right? And for the Broncos, you've got to find a way to take advantage. I know the secondary for L.A. is a little bit banged up right now.

Starting point is 00:18:52 So find a way to take advantage and get some things going here. But for me, I'm a little more still worried about the Cincinnati game, even though they're three and six right now. Denver has to take care of business here on Thursday. Plain and simple. Control your destiny. And then I wonder if the stakes, if Denver wins on Thursday night, I wonder if the stakes for that Bengals game changes a little bit.

Starting point is 00:19:14 I think at that point, Denver will be playing to try to get the highest seed possible, but that's impacted by obviously the Ravens and the Steelers matchup this weekend. Yeah, it'll be one of those games that we're really hoping for just, I think when you look across the AFC, there's so much shuffling that could still happen, right? I mean, it's, it's very possible that as you look at the standings right now, that, I mean, Pittsburgh at 10 and 4, I mean, they lose to Baltimore on Sunday. Things start to get really, really interesting, don't they? I mean, with that division in particular, you'd have two teams at 10 and 5 going into the final two weeks of the season. So what, what things look like right now are very

Starting point is 00:19:53 much subject to change. And hopefully for the Broncos sake, the better, although the Broncos are capped at the fifth seed because obviously the chiefs have officially won the AFC West yet again this year. I can't remember how many straight seasons it is now, Cody, but it's not, I know, unfortunately. I'm concerned. Yeah, we can't let that get to double digits next year, people. Come on, let's figure it out. But, you know, when you look at the AFC right now, it just feels,

Starting point is 00:20:19 it still feels so wide open, even though, you know, Kansas City is, you know, 13 and 1. The Houston Texans locked into that number four seed in all likelihood. it's starting to really heat up. And the Broncos have a chance to be one of the best teams in the AFC in very near future here. Yeah. And it's nuts to think about once again, just the divisions. Like even if you're in the worst division, you have a, you know, let's say the Texans, they can lose out and whatnot.

Starting point is 00:20:48 They'll finish nine and eight if they lose out the remaining games of their schedule. They're still in at the four seed because of their record because they've already clinched their division. I hate that. I absolutely hate that. have one, two, three, three teams right now as we're sitting here, all nine and five, and you're still within one game of Pittsburgh. You're still in a couple of games of obviously the Buffalo Bills.

Starting point is 00:21:10 To me, I think this is where things get a little dicey, but this is, I think, what separates if you're a playoff team versus a pretender, can Denver find a way to do just that? Well, even if the Broncos don't win on Thursday, there's still a chance they could clinch the playoffs after Sunday. What does that scenario look like? We'll break it down as more here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown, Brockos podcast is brought to you by our friends over there at Price Picks.

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Starting point is 00:23:43 What does that look like? That's something that Sarah and I are going to break down here on today's episode of the show. Sarah, I feel like I'd be remissed if we don't talk about once again. Some of the possibilities here, right? there's a couple hypotheticals, and it's kind of fun to envision because it puts the Broncos, I think, at a good position to rise up a little bit, right? If the Broncos win on Thursday night football, not only do they clinch a playoff spot, and at that point, they'll more unlikely hold the tie break over the charges based on conference record

Starting point is 00:24:10 with a certain amount of games remaining there. But Denver also has a chance to potentially move up to the fifth seed this weekend. And that would be made possible by a Broncos win if the Ravens lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and if the Miami Dolphins lose this week as well. If that's the case, if that happens, the Broncos after Sunday could very well be sitting in position as that fifth seed, which would set up at the playoffs where to end. And then they would set up a potential matchup there with the Houston Texans who have been kind of a mid up and down team so far this season. They have good defense.

Starting point is 00:24:44 They have good defensive players. But man, how crazy would it be to kind of come full circle in a situation where Denver last year had a chance to go to the playoffs if they could have beat the Houston, Texas last year, and now all of a sudden, Sean Payton bringing his quarterback, potentially to Houston and round one, if that's the way it ends up playing out, man, that would be a fun, exciting thing to watch. It really would. And honestly, like, getting the fifth seed, that would be, I don't, I don't want to disrespect or diminish what the Houston Texans have been able to do this year.

Starting point is 00:25:12 I mean, they have the same record as the Denver Broncos right now. We're really excited about what the Broncos are doing, but it does feel like a little bit like they've underachieved, and you can't help but wonder if you, you're the fifth seed Denver Broncos. Is that almost the ideal first round matchup? Because do you, if you're the Buffalo Bills, who's the last team that you want to face? Well, you certainly don't want the Baltimore Ravens falling down to the seventh seed. And the Los Angeles Chargers, you know, they're going to play tough late this season.

Starting point is 00:25:40 They can run the ball and play defense. If you're the Pittsburgh Steelers, you don't want to be matched up against the Baltimore Ravens again in the postseason right away. I mean, if the, if the Ravens end up at the sixth seed. So Cody, to me, like, this is the ideal type of matchup. The Broncos, I don't think the Broncos want a first round matchup in Buffalo or going to Pittsburgh right away. You could play Pittsburgh later on, maybe, if that ends up happening, go get Russell Wilson

Starting point is 00:26:06 and those guys. But, man, if you're the fifth seed, you don't have to necessarily go to Baltimore. You don't have to go to Buffalo. You don't have to go to Pittsburgh. You get to go to Houston and play a team that has a young quarterback. And that has, frankly, struggled a little bit this year. So that's, that is something that's worth this team fighting for. Now, I kind of teased earlier a really weird scenario in which the Broncos win against the Colts may not end up mattering.

Starting point is 00:26:33 Like this is kind of a, it's kind of an out there scenario. All right. The Broncos and the Colts and the Dolphins all finished with the exact same record. Because the Colts beat the Dolphins and the Broncos beat the Colts and the Broncos didn't play the Dolphins, it would cause a scenario in which a three-way tie would be determined based on conference record and not head-to-head matchups. And so I thought that was maybe one of the dumbest things I had heard all day on Tuesday, Cody, when somebody brought that up to me because I saw the playoffs scenarios and it was like, well, if the Broncos don't win on Sunday, dolphins lose, Bengals lose, and Colts lose, and the Broncos are still in. That seems pretty straightforward.

Starting point is 00:27:16 And then I got to thinking, like, why does it matter what happens to the Colts game? because the Colts can't finish with a better record than Denver at this point, even if the Broncos lose out and they win out. But that particular scenario would lead to the Broncos having a worse conference record than both the Dolphins and Colts, in which case it would be a tiebreaker between the Colts and Dolphins, which would give the Colts the last playoff spot. I mean, it's got to be one of the most bizarre. You talk about your frustration with the teams that just get in based on winning divisions.

Starting point is 00:27:50 I mean, that right there would be the ultimate because the number one Trump card in playoff seating has always been head to head win. Like if you beat a team, you are in above that team. That's the ultimate Trump card. Apparently in this particular instance, that wouldn't matter. Did this change because they added an additional wild card spot a couple years ago? Is that maybe the line of thinking there? Maybe. I mean, that's tough.

Starting point is 00:28:15 I love that they've added it. Ironically, you know what they should do. The NFL should just get bold. At an eight spot, right? One seat versus eight seed. No first round buys for anybody. First seed versus eight seats, second seed versus seven seed, third seed versus six seed, and then fourth versus fifth.

Starting point is 00:28:30 You know how fun that would be. And you know what? The NFL, guess what? Listen to me. It would make you so much money. Forget the first round buys. You're making these guys playing an additional regular season game anyways. Take away that.

Starting point is 00:28:42 Give them two buys in the course of the regular season. And then everyone in the playoffs, everybody plays. I like that idea a little bit more. and I think it would make things very interesting because if you look at it, it would be interesting because Kansas City, if that were the model today, Kansas City would host the Indianapolis Colts,

Starting point is 00:28:58 Buffalo would then host the Los Angeles Charters, the Pittsburgh Steelers would host the Denver Broncos and then Houston would host Baltimore at that point. Why not? Make it fun. Make it exciting. You got the college football playoffs expanding to a 12-team format, add an additional wildcard spot

Starting point is 00:29:13 if you're going to add an additional regular season game, which is apparently something that could be coming in the next couple of years here for the NFL. something the NFLPA will have to agree on, but why not change it a little bit? You're going to add an additional regular season game, make the stakes fun for the end, and change it to where it's not just based on division anymore, it's based on record. I think that's got to be probably the most important factor here. They should throw that wrinkle in there.

Starting point is 00:29:36 I'm advocating for it. 100%. They should, and absolutely it should be based on record. I mean, that's, that's still, it's so weird to me that a seven win team. It's even that seven and 10 could get into the playoffs. and a team that's 10 and 7 could get left out the same year, just because the 7 and 10 team won their division. I mean, we've seen teams recently get in with losing records to the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:30:01 It's crazy. So I don't like the way that they do it right now. And Cody, I think that it's absolutely a situation to where, man, if you win a certain amount of games, you are guaranteed to get into the playoffs. Like maybe that's like a tiebreaker or something. Is it, hey, you won your division, but you're 7 and 10 or 8 and 9.

Starting point is 00:30:19 And if there's a 10 win team out there, they get precedence over your team. They should. And how many times have we seen that happen, though? I think it's been a couple times there's a late where a team that had a losing record, but won their division because there's the worst division in all football is there. I think the worst division all football this year is certainly the AFC South. And of course, the Texans have a winning record right now. No one's trying to dispute that.

Starting point is 00:30:41 But when you look at that division, it's been rough. You can make an argument, I think, for the, you know, outside of the Eagles and the commanders, the NFC East is pretty bad with the Cowboys and the Giants. The AFC East, really outside of Buffalo has been pretty terrible this year. So why not change things up a little bit? I think it would certainly make things interesting here as well. And look, Broncos country, if you're an NFL fan that's somehow tuning into the show, we appreciate you for rocking with this here.

Starting point is 00:31:05 Make sure you chime in on your thoughts. If the NFL is going to add an additional 18th regular season game, do you think that the Bronco, not the Broncos, do you think that the NFL should expand the playoff format, which at this point the Broncos would already be in. I know we're kind of advocating for that because Denver would be in. Denver's got a chance to do it anyways. If they win, they'll take care of business.

Starting point is 00:31:24 But curious for your thoughts on it. I think that's a valid question we should put up there here to everyone in Broncos country. But with that said, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show, Broncos Country, Denver hoping to get as healthy as possible for Thursday night football, them and the charters, both teams are banged up a little bit. But one thing is clear. Broncos win. They are into preview to bring you the biggest preview of the matchup.

Starting point is 00:31:46 Sarah Bedinger is going to sit down with the locked on chargers guys to preview the matchup. And on top of that, you can get an NFL squad episode as well. There won't be one next week because of the holiday season. So if you could gift your favorite team a gift for Christmas, what would it be? We'll break that down and much more here. Fun episodes this week here, Lockdown Broncos playoffs at stake. Let's get after it.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Racing To Get Healthy For Thursday Night Football, Can Clinch Playoff Spot With Win

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