Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Sink Colts Playoff Hopes Behind Nik Bonitto, Marvin Mims Big Days

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos have secured their first winning season since 2016 and are one step closer to the playoffs after they rallied against the Indianapolis Colts. How did Nick Benito and Marvin Mims change the outcome of this game for the second game in a row? We'll break that down much more on today's brand new episode, Locked on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, hey, hey, what's happening in Brockos Country? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown, Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:39 Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network where you know it is your team every day. Thank you so much to everyone in Broncos country, all the everydayers, all the first listeners out there who've been rocking with us since the inception. We got you covered every single day all year long when it comes to your favorite team, the Denver Broncos, who are now securing their first winning season since 2016. A lot to be excited about here. I'm Cody Roarck, Broncos reporter from Mile High. sports. Join as always by Sarah Beninger, site expert, predominantly orange.com. Also, writer over there at NFL spin zone here. And look, Broncos country, there's a lot.

Starting point is 00:01:11 We've got to break down on today's post game. It's another victory Monday here. The Broncos improved to nine and five. We'll hand out our game balls after this big time victory. And it wasn't a pretty game here for the Broncos. They found a way to overcome. But the offensive struggles were a concern in Sunday's game against a defense that wasn't necessarily the greatest in the Indianapolis. Colson will obviously kick things off by Denver, jumping up to the six seed improving. We mentioned nine and five here. But how do the Broncos score 24 unanswered points after a turning point where their backs were

Starting point is 00:01:41 against the wall? That's where we're going to break down on today's episode of the show, which is brought to my friends over there at Fandu. You can start this season with a big return on Fandu. A new customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets. If you win your first $5 bet, visit Fandu.com to get started. Sarah, kick us off here. It was ugly for three quarters here for the three quarters here for the

Starting point is 00:02:02 the Denver Broncos against the Colts. And it seemed like that their backs were against the wall. They were on the ropes there. And it looked like Jonathan Taylor was about to deliver the final blow to the Broncos tiebreaker against them essentially here in this game. But the ball bounced the Broncos way. It was like a scene out of dodge ball, Cody, you know, at the end of the movie where they're like, wait a second. After White Goodman, you know, hits Peter Lefleur with the ball, they're like, wait a second. Upon further review, his foot was on the line type of thing.

Starting point is 00:02:30 as Jonathan Taylor scores a touchdown to put the Colts up 20 to 7 or would have been 20 to 7. And we're all sitting there and we're all like, man, the season is over. The Broncos are cooked. This is terrible. This feels awful. You didn't show up in the biggest moment. And then everybody on Twitter is like, wait just a second. He might have dropped the ball at the goal line.

Starting point is 00:02:50 And it might have gone through the end zone for a touchback. This might be Broncos football. Sure enough, that was the turning point in the game, Cody, 24 unanswered points. after that particular juncture in the game, which, I mean, you saw Sean Payton in the post-game press conference on Sunday. He basically had to bite his tongue when asked, like, what do you teach your players on that kind of stuff? And he was like, you don't, he was like, basically you don't want that to be one of my players, essentially, is kind of the vibe that I was getting from him, Cody, a ridiculous play to virtually save the Denver Broncos season. And as we know, the playoff implications from this game with a loss, I mean, it basically brought the Broncos from a 90-something percent chance of making the postseason to about a coin flips chance.

Starting point is 00:03:37 The stadium, I'm a loss for worse. The stadium was dead quiet. They were booing the Broncos after they went down. Because, yeah, you mentioned like, Jonathan Taylor rattled off this one run where he goes untouched. Like, nobody touched him. And then for the replay to kind of bounce up in the crowd's like, uh-oh, like for Denver to respond from that manner right there and obviously score 24 on answer. or points is a huge story. But really, Sarah, that was the turning point of this game. But the bigger turning point that we talk about in terms of player performance,

Starting point is 00:04:05 like Denver's offense still couldn't get going. They were still struggling. But you know who it was? For two games in a row, the Broncos have had two Oklahoma Sooner's players step up and really revitalized, changed the course of the game. And that's exactly what happened. And it all started with Marvin Mims, who had a couple of nice returns on the night. But really the biggest one came on a 60-yarder where he out maneuvered the entire Colts special teams unit. And then after that, the Broncos, they found away. Like, I think it was 15 yards out.

Starting point is 00:04:33 And so Nate Atkins catches a touchdown pass here from Bo Nix. And that gives the Broncos their first lead of the game. It gave them a 17 to 13 lead at that point because they were down 13 to 10. And it just seemed like any time the Broncos are trying to do something offensively, some negative play would happen, a turnover, which we'll certainly get into here on today's show. Obviously, talked about Bo Nicks and the Broncos' offensive struggles. But then all of a sudden, the Broncos defense is back out there on the field after their first two series where they seemingly couldn't stop Anthony Richardson and the Colts offense,

Starting point is 00:05:02 they found a way to get some big plays. And probably the biggest play of the game here, really outside of Marvin's return was Nick Benito. Two games in a row getting a pick six here. We all saw the March on Lynch type celebration in the end zone. But that play right there really busted it open here for the Broncos. They took a 24 to 13 lead at that point. I mean, these guys, the Sooners, they came up with big plays when the Broncos needed the most. all of a sudden the electricity in the atmosphere at Empowerfield a mile high, it had changed.

Starting point is 00:05:33 Sarah, I think you said something in our preview show leading up to is that you believe that there was going to be some mile high magic. Mile high magic was on display in Sunday's game. Like I said, it wasn't pretty at all. It was ugly. But Denver, I think after three quarters, man, they turned it on and it was pretty after that. Yeah, I can't remember what the exact prediction was now, Cody. I can't remember if it was like four turnovers or something like that.

Starting point is 00:05:56 but the Colts ended up having five turnovers in this game, which is, is wild. And the mile high magic was in full effect. I mean, you want to talk about the play from Jonathan Taylor, followed by the, what's being determined as a fumble recovered for a touchdown, even though it was like a, you know, a pass to A.D. Mitchell, who tried to pass it back to Anthony Richardson. It's very weird scoring by the NFL because there was nothing fumble about it whatsoever, but a brilliant play nonetheless, Pat Sertan getting into the mix.

Starting point is 00:06:25 obviously Cody PJ Locke delivering a big time game changing hit and DJ Jones kind of Johnny on the spot there as well. A lot of the the turnovers in this game, it felt like there was a graphic that the CBS crew pulled up at one point that said Colts, three turnovers, points off turnovers, three. Broncos, turnovers, three. Points off turnovers, three. I mean, it was like that that was how tough sledding it was all game long in this particular matchup because these two teams, Cody, They're fighting for essentially their playoff lives. And really, you got that vibe from the very start of this game. Like, it was an absolute dog fight. It was sloppy. It didn't look good from the Broncos perspective at all times.

Starting point is 00:07:10 But look, sometimes you just need that little bit of mile high magic, right? And the Denver Broncos, they got it at the perfect time to get that ninth win. Now, their first winning season since 2016. It's been a while since the Broncos have been in this position. They're one way from 10. And look, the schedule here for Denver now gets a little bit tougher. You got a Thursday night football match up against the Chargers who are coming off of a loss now. Because the Broncos won in the Chargers lost on Sunday, it puts the Broncos right now at that sixth seat.

Starting point is 00:07:35 So, hey, Thursday's games got some massive implications here for the Broncos, but they may be without a couple of key players, Sarah. Obviously, a couple Broncos went down in this game. DJ Jones left the game with a finger injury, did not return. Quinn Miners left the game with a shoulder injury in the third quarter. Luckily, he returned in the fourth quarter. That's a great sign there. And then you obviously lost, you know, for the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:07:55 goes Pat Sertan took a nasty shot in the lower leg. I felt like that was kind of a cheat play there by Josh Downs of the Colts there after Pat had that pick, you know, going a little too low there. And then Pat kind of re-agravated his ankle and, you know, was helped off the field with trainers arm around each one. He was able to walk into the locker room on his own. I will say this post-game in the locker room. We didn't get a chance to talk with Pat.

Starting point is 00:08:17 I mean, he walked by, acknowledged each other there. But he was, he looked like he was walking okay, which is a good sign. Who knows? And obviously his dad put a tweet out there saying, hey, he's got a certain type of blood in him. He's going to be good to go. But this is something to monitor because you're playing on Thursday night football. The Broncos a little banged up after this game and potentially something to monitor.

Starting point is 00:08:37 Could they be without PS2 and Riley Moss against the Chargers? That would not be an ideal situation here for a short week turnaround. But Broncos country, we want to hear from you, your thoughts, your emotions on a roller coaster type game at Empire Field at mile high. The Broncos score 24 and answer points to beat the Colts, 31 to 3. 13, 9 and 5, in a position now to make the postseason for the first time since the Super Bowl 50 season, a special win here for the Broncos. It wasn't pretty, but it was gritty. But what about the Broncos' offensive struggles in this game? The offense wasn't pretty all game long.

Starting point is 00:09:12 We'll highlight what happened with Bo Nix and what could have been his worst game as a pro will highlight that. Much more here on today's brand new episode, Locked on Broncos. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. How do you stay cozy during the winter months? For some, wrapping up in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate or watching a movie with families, the best way to spend the month of December. Therapy is also a great way to bring yourself some comfort that never goes away, even when the season changes.

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Starting point is 00:11:30 The Denver Broncos put 31 points on the board in a victory in week 15 against the Indianapolis Colts. Bo Nix had three touchdown passes, but why was this maybe the worst offensive performance that we've seen in quite some time? Well, Cody and I are going to break down some of the major concerns offensively coming out of this game, this win for the Denver Broncos and what they need to do to get back on the right course. But Broncos Country, thanks so much for rocking with us here. Victory Monday as we celebrate the Denver Broncos being 9 and 5, getting one step closer to hopefully reaching the playoffs. And thanks so much for making lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day every single day

Starting point is 00:12:09 as we approach hopefully some postseason episodes of the show. If you haven't already done so, hit subscribe so you don't miss a single one. Cody, this is a weird thing because if the Broncos would have scored 31 points at pretty much any other time over the last eight years, we'd probably be like, man, what a performance by the offense. Obviously, you get two defensive touchdowns against the Cleveland Browns. Now you get another defensive touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts, but still, I mean, even 24 points being put up by this offense, it felt like there was so much meat left on the bone.

Starting point is 00:12:44 It felt like they were just trying to sprint up a 90 degree incline. I mean, it was rough going for the offense in this game against Indy. Rough is putting it nicely here. I mean, Sarah, to be honestly, the Broncos offense, it was terrible in Sunday's game here against the Colts. And look, a large story of this game was the offense's inability to move the ball and also turnovers. I mean, the Broncos, they go down early in this game because Anthony Richardson finds a way to connect on third down on a couple of of plays and then he runs for a 23-yard touchdown untouched and now Denver's down. They're in a position, trailing 7, nothing at that point.

Starting point is 00:13:22 And then Bo Nix in the offense, they go down and they throw an interception. And I mean, it was in a good interception. Bo had three bad picks in today's game. And to be honest with you, Sarah, I think that obviously Bo has got a large portion of the blame for terms of the offense's production on Sunday here because he's the one who threw the three interceptions here. But the issue that I have here with Denver's offense, and it is the most glaring concern that we have had all season long, the Broncos have no run game. I mean, Sarah, how many times did we watch this game on Sunday where, okay, Denver's passing on first down.

Starting point is 00:13:56 Okay, it's second and 10 or it's second and seven, second and six. They go to run the ball. They can't even get a yard. Or if it's third and one or second and one, they're going backwards here. I mean, I sat up there in the press box there with my binoculars. I'm sitting there as the Broncos have the ball on the offensive side, and I'm one. watching Bo Nix hand the football off to Javante Williams or Jalil McLaughlin. And then I'm watching a swarm of Colts defenders just get there.

Starting point is 00:14:20 Like there's no hole opening up or they're not hitting it quick enough or it's closing. And all of a sudden, like this was a game we talked about. The Broncos facing the 31st ranked run defense in the NFL and all of a sudden they can't even get a yard. The Broncos in this game, Sarah, which is crazy to think about, right, 31 points. They finished the game with 193 net yards of total offense in this game, okay? Bo Nix had 130 yards passing in this game. He had 23 yards rushing in the game. He was the Broncos leading rusher, Sarah, from Sunday.

Starting point is 00:14:50 So when Bo's got 23 yards, he's the leading rusher, and you have 193 net yards of offense, and Boe was responsible for 153 of them. That's a huge problem here. And look, it's not all on Bo Nicks. I think he made up for it with three touchdown passes, so it kind of evens out, zero, zero, three interceptions. They were bad ones, three touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:15:08 I thought he came up with some big place to Troutman, obviously Nate Adkins. and then a nice touchdown connection on double move to Cortland Sutton. He made up for it, but my goodness, if the Broncos can't run the football, Sarah, these next three games, they're going to be hard for them to overcome. Well, you're not going to get five turnovers every game necessarily. I know I said that last season, and then they ended up on a streak of like three or four games with at least four or five.

Starting point is 00:15:32 I mean, you're not going to have that every game. And also, too, I mean, you got to give a shout out to Marvin Mims, as we will continue to do, spoiler alert later in the show. I mean, setting you up with great field position. That was really the story of this game, was the Broncos kind of being gifted. And Sean Peyton acknowledged it after the game is like, we spent the majority of the second half or fourth quarter on their end of the field.

Starting point is 00:15:54 And that's just the truth of the matter. So yes, you were gifted some short fields. No, the analytics bros are not going to like this performance from Bo Nix. And I think that I even tweeted this out during the game, Cody. I mean, I felt like it was one of his worst games since, you know, the week two against Pittsburgh, week one against Seattle, just kind of had that feel of sloppiness in the pocket, you know, not setting his feet at times, getting a little trigger happy with his throws and just not looking comfortable.

Starting point is 00:16:23 I think after that first interception, it just felt like you were kind of holding your breath every time he dropped back. And apparently for good reason, because he ended up with three interceptions, but I think we would be remiss not to acknowledge the regression in this game from Denver receivers in terms of dropping passes. Cortland Sutton, a couple of drops. Troy Franklin, a drop, at least one drop. And depending on how you score the one in the end zone, that was a pretty good throw.

Starting point is 00:16:47 You know, he had a drop. Devon Valle, drop. So, Javonte Williams, drop. I think you look at this game in terms of the flow of the offense and everything filtering from that running game, not being there. And the greatest indicator to me was a key third and one where Boe threw an interception. and you had an opportunity. It's third and one.

Starting point is 00:17:09 I think they were even past midfield at that point. You can't even run the ball. I mean, I get that like the running game's not successful, but, you know, Adrick Estimate should be able to go fall forward for, you know, for a yard or Giovante Williams. I mean, at the very least, he could get you a yard, right? Michael Burton, Bow next, the quarterback sneak. You don't have enough confidence in your running game at this point to even get a yard

Starting point is 00:17:34 past midfield on third and one. Like that is the state of where things are at. I can't believe there was ever a debate or discussion about this subject in the Broncos running game being good or even average. It's not good in any particular way, shape, or form. No, it's not. I mean, you look at it. Like I said, Bownecks, eight rushing attempts for 23 yards.

Starting point is 00:17:55 I think one of those, his longest run was 16 yards. And it was like on a scamper where he slid. That was early on in the game. This wasn't like, you know, collective. So that's 16 yard, I think, in that first series, if I'm not mistaken here. Julea McLaughlin, seven carries for 21 yards, 3.0 yards per carry average. Giovante Williams, 6 carries 15 yards, 2.5 yard per carry average.

Starting point is 00:18:16 And all of a sudden, it's like, we're having the same discussions here about Denver's offense. And it's like, Bo Nix, I understand he was pressing quite a bit. Look, this was not a great game from Bo Nix, not a good game at all. I think it's fair to say that, yes, sir, this was one of his worst games of his rookie career I think this is the first game that we've seen. Bo maybe regress a little bit since he kind of really got things going after that week two game against the Steelers. I mean, this was it.

Starting point is 00:18:44 But this can't be the story here for the Broncos in these final three games, especially if they're a team that's going to make it into the postseason. It's inexcusable for Bo Necks to lead your team in rushing on eight attempts for 23 yards. Inexcusable, that's not winning football. That's going to get you bounced out in blowout fashion in the postseason. And that's something the Broncos are going to have to overcome. So while we're obviously celebrating a victory Monday here, there are things here that we are concerned about here with the Broncos offense.

Starting point is 00:19:09 And this is something as Sean Payton said as well. He said, we want to go back and watch that film. We like that we know the outcome of the game. But we're not going to like the game film. He said, we're not going to like what we see there. And now you don't have a lot of time to really kind of turn things around because now you have to face the Los Angeles Chargers who are going to be hungry coming off of a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home.

Starting point is 00:19:28 So now you get that game on Thursday night football. And there's so many questions about who's going to be healthy enough to play. What's it going to look like here? Thankfully, the Broncos found a way to win this game because it would have been dire straits if they would have lost here. And the offense would have been a big reason why they lost. The defense I felt like, too, Sarah, you mentioned it. They would get the ball back for the offense. And then the offense would just punt it a couple of plays later.

Starting point is 00:19:50 That to me was very frustrating from how we've seen this offense operate. This definitely was not the performance we'd like to see from them. They're going to need a bounce back here on Thursday night football if they're going to want to win, especially in these final three games here, you want to secure a player. off birth. It starts here with that. The offense has to get better here. But one thing we are going to do, Broncos country, we're going to end the show on a positive note here. We're going to handle our game balls to a couple of players as well. We also want you to send in your Broncos game ball recipients here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Bracos country, today's episode, the show

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Starting point is 00:21:17 That's fandu.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandu an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. The fourth quarter of today's lockdown Broncos post game report is here. And you know what it means after a victory Monday. we're going to hand out our game balls to a couple of Broncos who are very deserving. And Sarah, I think when we look at it here, do we hand out a game ball to someone on the offensive side of the ball in terms of offensive performance? I just feel like there wasn't one that necessarily stood out.

Starting point is 00:21:47 Maybe we could do one to the tight ends. Nate Adkins, Adam Troutman, both guys on the receiving end of catching a touchdown. It wasn't national tight ends day the way it was against the Atlanta Falcons. But both those guys came up big for the Broncos. Broncos. Corlin caught a nice touchdown from Bowenix on a nice little double move. I felt like he ran a terrific route there. But I don't feel like the offense had anybody stand out enough that warrants like, hey, you get a game ball. Instead, I think there's one guy who plays on the offensive side of the ball, but it really impacted the special team side in this game. I think we have to give a game ball here to Marvin Mims. That's probably the easy consensus one.

Starting point is 00:22:23 The other one's going to be a home run one as well in terms of the eyes of Broncos country. Absolutely. Marvin Mims definitely gets a game ball. just a couple of game-changing returns in this particular matchup to set the Broncos offense up. I mean, when your offense is struggling, what's the best remedy? Obviously, your defense forcing turnovers, but then also, hey, if you're all pro return specialists can go out there and set you up with a short field, that's exactly what you need.

Starting point is 00:22:47 And that's exactly what Marvin Mims delivered. I mean, a couple of those puns, Cody, there was one punt in particular before he took a couple of them back where you could see that he was like really not sure if the coverage was getting down there and he like kind of waved his arm and you know he called a fair catch ultimately but he had a bunch of space and you could tell that he was ticked off after after making that decision like he was like he looked back at the official and was like I know I called it right so he goes out there the next couple of opportunities that he gets and he takes it down to the other side I mean he puts the Broncos in great position to be able to get some points on the board

Starting point is 00:23:23 and that's exactly what they did I mean you want to talk about game altering like that that was what you mentioned. The Nate Adkins touchdown that we touched on earlier, that was set up by Marvin Mims and the return game. And obviously, you've got to give credit to the blockers. I saw number 41, Drew Sanders out there getting out ahead on some blocks as well. Great to see him back in the game. But man, I think Marvin Mims ultimately is one of the top players deserving of a game ball from this game. Just a game changing returnability and tremendous job from him. Well, there's also another guy on the defensive side of the ball that has game changing return ability and that is Nick Bonito two weeks in a row two games in a row he comes up with a pick six now obviously look I I hate the rule I know we talked about earlier I hate the rule that they call a fumble because anyone who uses their eyes and this is the problem I have with the you know at the end of the year when people vote people who probably didn't watch this game they're going to say oh fumble recovery touchdown watch the game like obviously a fumble recovery for touchdowns great but no what Nick Benito did was special because hey he understood hey there was a slow player said this doesn't seem right and

Starting point is 00:24:29 And he keyed Anthony Richardson, who was bowing out, like getting a little bit depth back. And he's like, nah, I was going to try to jump. But he jumps the throwback to Richardson and takes it to the house there. We love the celebration there. He gets a game ball for that right there. But so it's like you look at what Nick Benito has done, Sir. He has firmly put himself, I think, in the driver's seat here of NFL defensive player of the year. Right now he's got 11.5 sacks on the year.

Starting point is 00:24:53 Granted, he's one sack still behind, Trey Hendrickson, who's got 12 and a half on the season. But what Nick has done in terms of. being able to get in the backfield, playing against the run, what he's obviously doing against quarterbacks, but his element in terms of dropping back into coverage and being a legitimate threat to anybody out there in the flat, that right there is a special trait that he has. And obviously, I think that's a big, big play for him.

Starting point is 00:25:15 And it revitalized. It gave, like I said in my post game report at Mile High Sports, I said Marvin Mims, Nick Benito, they resuscitated the Denver Broncos in Sunday's week 15 game here against the Indianapolis Colts. and I think that really stands out there. If we can maybe hand out, I'd think an under the radar one, an underrated one.

Starting point is 00:25:33 I'm going to give the rookie cornerback, Chris Abrams, Drain one as well. I know you had him on yours as well. I loved what I saw from him on a day where Riley Moss did not play. I thought that Chris Abrams Drain did a really good job in coverage. I also thought he did a really good job in run support and playing through the hands of the receiver. I liked what I saw from the rookie out of Mizzou. Absolutely. The cornerback position in general, Cody.

Starting point is 00:25:54 I know that Levi Wallace was inactive for this. game. We saw Damari Mathis out there a little bit. J-Quan Macmillan, obviously making some plays out there. We mentioned earlier the Pat Certan interception, felt like just a better group effort. What we wanted to see after the Cleveland Browns game was that unit taking things personally, right? And so the secondary came out and, you know, obviously they played an exceptional game. I don't know. You may have the numbers offhand, Cody, of, you know, what, what Anthony Richardson ended this game with in terms of overall completion rate with the interceptions factored in and things like that.

Starting point is 00:26:30 I got out of year. Let's hear it. Let's hear what it was there. So he finished 17 of 38 passing for 172 yards and two interceptions and a passer rating of 36.3. He was a little bit of a force on the ground, though. I was talking to Broncos players after game. They said, man, they're like, he's hard to bring down. He's a big body dude.

Starting point is 00:26:48 But Denver adjusted well in this game. When you see Jonathan Franklin Myers hang. off of a guy and him not even moving. Like he wasn't even being dragged to the ground. There was a point in the game. And there was another, you know, John Franklin Myers did get home for a sack in this game.

Starting point is 00:27:04 Cody, it was so funny. Like he jumped on top of Anthony Richardson. He's like, I'm not letting this guy get away from this one because there, at one point, I mean, he's literally hanging off of him.

Starting point is 00:27:13 And the guy wasn't moving. I think it was Malcolm Roach had a dead to rights safety in this game. And it was hanging off of him. Jonah Ellis, in his face, bat at the ball down as Anthony Richardson somehow got rid of the, I mean, the guy is a physical specimen, if nothing else. So he avoided a safety by, you know, catching his own pass and dragging Malcolm Roach in the back of the end zone. They're pretty impressive stuff. But the secondary

Starting point is 00:27:41 is the story from this game. An interception from Brandon Jones was obviously tied turning as well. How many of these guys didn't force a turnover in this game or have a big play on the ball, Cody? I mean, Brandon Jones, you get an interception. Pat Sertan, you get an interception. PJ Locke, you force the fumble. All these guys that were out there doing Riley Moss proud. And from what I saw in the pregame, it looks like the dudes getting ready to come back relatively soon. So you might be hopefully at full strength here in the near future.

Starting point is 00:28:09 Yeah, hopefully Riley can make his return potentially on Thursday. Unfortunately for the Broncos, they're not going to have a lot of days to prepare where obviously get practice in. They'll come in on Monday. They'll watch film. They'll get a lift. They'll go through the recovery aspect. Tuesday they'll have a practice where essentially they're not going to be able to do much physically.

Starting point is 00:28:26 They're not going to have pads on. It's probably going to be a walkthrough. Wednesday is a walkthrough and then Thursday night football against the Los Angeles Charters. But yeah, I think that Marvin Mims, the defense, those guys that you mentioned that forced turnovers get a game ball. Dondray Tillman got a sack in this game. Obviously, very happy for him stepping up there at edge rusher. Nick Benito, I mean, just the defense, they got the Broncos in a hole early on,

Starting point is 00:28:48 but they clawed their way out of it. and obviously special teams help play. So defense special teams, they made big plays when it mattered the most here. And then obviously the Broncos offense overcame some of those negative plays. And Bo Nicks shook off those three interceptions. He threw three touchdowns there. And obviously you want to see some improvement here from the offense going in against the Chargers. And it all starts with maybe being able to run the football, which, hey, against that Chargers defense,

Starting point is 00:29:11 that's going to be a tough task here. And they're going to play a lot of zone coverage as well. So how can the Broncos and Bo Nicks respond? We'll hear from Broncos head coach Sean Payton on Monday morning on a conference. call. We'll get you all your news, analysis, and more. Plus, you can look forward to a crossover Thursday this week on Thursday night football plus the post game report, a short week here for the Broncos and a jam-packed week for all you every dayers out there in Broncos country. Share us your game balls from Sunday's win here on the lockdown Broncos podcast. Broncos country, we'll see you tomorrow

Starting point is 00:29:39 for a brand new episode of the show.

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