Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Suffer Titanic Collapse, Capsize vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos failed to capitalize on one of the biggest games of the season for them. They hit the iceberg in the second half. A total collapse for the Broncos. Where do things go wrong and are their playoff hopes in jeopardy? We'll break that down and much more here 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. What's happening in Braco's country?

Starting point is 00:00:33 Welcome to another episode, Lockdown Broncos. Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Thanks to all the everydayers and first listeners out there for tuning in and making us part of your day every single day. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Stuart is always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert, predominantly orange.com. And the biggest game of the season, the Broncos, they hit the iceberg in the second

Starting point is 00:00:57 half and they collapse and now everything is at stake with two games remaining against two opponents that will give them some challenges. here. We'll break all that down in the Broncos post game report here. They lose to the chargers in dramatic fashion late. We'll wrap up our biggest gripe that we have coming out of this loss here in Thursday night football. We'll also take a look at how the Broncos playoff hopes took a little bit of a massive shot and why some things are in jeopardy. There are still possibilities in play here. But ultimately, how did it come to this? How did the Broncos hit that iceberg? Well, we're going to break all that down on today's episode of show brought to you

Starting point is 00:01:34 by our friends over there at Hillsdale College. Go right now to Hillsdale.edu slash locked on to enroll. There's no cost and it's easy to get started. Sarah, I'm going to be quite frank out there. I'm going to put it out there. This was the most devastating loss. The Broncos have had this season. They had the moment, the opportunity.

Starting point is 00:01:50 When you clinch a postseason birth for the first time in nine years, all signs in the first half seemed to point that Denver was heading in that direction. They came out on fire and then they collapsed in the second half. there, you know, that iceberg was poking out and they didn't see it. And certainly that iceberg was Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers. Yeah, I mean, Cody, this is this episode is the epitome of the meme with the guy who's crying behind the mask with the smiley face on it. You know, you all know what I'm talking about out there.

Starting point is 00:02:19 You've seen that floating around the internet the last few years. That's, that's what we're doing right now with you, Broncos Country, because obviously we're trying to get down to some answers about this, but also it's kind of a vent-sush after a loss like that. I mean, when you're up 21 to 10, you give up a stupid play at the end of the first half. That's, all right, you know, the Broncos situation there. You have probably some time to score after Chris Abrams drain gets an interception. Like, can we stop the count at that point in the game, Cody? Chris Abrams drain gets an interception. It's 21 to 10 or whatever. Things are feeling great. And then you obviously give up the punt with the interference on the fair catch. The chargers get a

Starting point is 00:02:58 field goal out of that. And then coming out of the half, you even got those three points. points back, but you weren't able to sustain that lead. An 11-point lead in the second half of a game with playoff implications, this is a game in which the Denver Broncos defense should have been able to do its thing. Justin Herbert, bum ankle out there wearing a brace that they highlighted a hundred different times on the Amazon broadcasts. You should have been able to figure out a way to go out and make that happen. But man, the chargers were able to just, you know, dink and dunk down the field,

Starting point is 00:03:31 the number of times convert on third down way too many times it was just sickening to kind of watch the slow bleeding just like you mentioned they hit the iceberg i mean man i think everybody on that ship back in 1912 was still in denial after they hit the iceberg like well it doesn't matter who cares the ship can't sink you're down 20 the chargers you had them down 24 to 13 and you couldn't close it out and you must have thought man this ship can't sink well here we are with two games left Now you're in basically a must-win situation. Sean Payton said earlier this week on Monday in our conference call. He said that, you know, for us, penalties have been very problematic,

Starting point is 00:04:08 and that's something that can cost you late. And certainly that is something I think definitely proved to be costly here for the Broncos. I mean, when you look at it, I believe what is the seven penalties for 61 total yards here. And look, I think we can talk about the missed PI call. You know, I think it was evident there. But also at the same time, Bo Nick should have thrown that in stride. And we're not talking about a PI call. we're talking about a wide open touchdown.

Starting point is 00:04:30 He sailed it, put too much air on the ball. Bo didn't play great in the second half. The offense didn't play great in the second half. After they got off to a good start, Sarah, like you had 84 yards on the ground in the first half. The run game was going. You're getting Javante Williams going. Audrake Estimate. Blake Watson's getting in the mix.

Starting point is 00:04:47 And then you can't run the ball well in the second half. Denver just got a little too cute on some plays. And that's, I think, where we're going to get into our gripes a little bit later on. but you get outscored really through, you know, the third quarter and midway through the fourth quarter, you get outscored 21 to 3. To me, that's on coaching. Look, I understand it's a short week. I understand Thursday night football.

Starting point is 00:05:11 It's tough, but the Chargers had to deal with the same exact thing. And Denver, who's not normally known for getting off to a hot start, got off to a hot start, and they're known for kind of finishing strong late. They didn't finish strong late here. This was not the Broncos team that we've seen so far this year. And unfortunately, sir, I think the one thing we can look at here, third down, another issue here for the Broncos defensively. Certainly an issue for them on the offensive side of the ball, especially in the second half. But the Chargers finished this game, 6 of 11 on third down.

Starting point is 00:05:40 Justin Herbert, 12 of 15 on play action passes for 15 15 years. Denver seemingly couldn't respond or didn't figure out what the answer was to respond to. Hey, how do we stop Justin Herbert on play action? Certainly, pressure wasn't getting home. you knew going into this game, Justin Herbert, whether it's against man coverage or zone coverage, against the Blitz, he knows where to go. He's pretty good with that. And Denver simply just had no answer all game long. Penalties led to more points for the charges there in the second half.

Starting point is 00:06:10 It's just, man, this is the type of game. The biggest opportunity you've had to get to the postseason win and you're in. The moment was too big. The lights were a little too bright. And this is the type of game. This is the type of performance that you look at all these national. media pundits who have these certain feelings about the Broncos, they look at it and say, okay, hey, Denver faced a good team and they couldn't beat them.

Starting point is 00:06:32 And certainly that's the case. I think you look at it now. I think Denver's got a one and six record against teams with winning records. At this point, it's not a good look here. And now you've got two tough games coming up. I don't care if Cincinnati Bengals record is terrible. Their offense is far more explosive and elite than what the Broncos just ran into. I find it frustrating the narrative about beating win teams.

Starting point is 00:06:53 of course the Broncos have played, you know, the Chiefs and the Chargers twice amongst those teams. I mean, more than half the NFL is 500 or worse. So you're pretty much playing a losing team every week. That's one of the dumbest things people say. But I get it. I mean, the Broncos need to come through with a win in a situation like this. Or, you know, you need to finish that game against Kansas City, obviously. And those are, that's valid.

Starting point is 00:07:15 I mean, at this point, you have, you're going to have to beat somebody with a winning record, most likely to get into the playoffs if you can't beat Cincinnati now at this point. So it's just so frustrating to watch this team kind of bleed this out when you had a 20, you had 21 points scored in your first three possessions. Like you cannot ask for a better start to a game than that. And then you get an interception before the end of the first half. This loss to me, Cody, is 100% on the defense, which, you know, pete it down their legs against the Cleveland Browns.

Starting point is 00:07:46 And then against the Indianapolis Colts, they should have been down 21 to 7 or 20 to 7 at one point in that game when they let Jonathan Taylor run from 40 yards down. Obviously, they came through with the big plays, the pick sixes and things like that. And we can't deny that they've come through in big moments. But man, coming out of the by week for this defense to look like it has the last two games. And then previous to that against Cleveland, they're mostly healthy. I mean, it's Riley Moss isn't out there. Chris Abrams drained not doing that bad of a job in my opinion.

Starting point is 00:08:16 He's done pretty good. He's done pretty good. So who's going to step up and make a play for that defense? right? I mean, it's just, it doesn't make sense to me. I know we don't like to necessarily put sweeping blame on, you know, one side of the other in a loss like this. I mean, everybody's got dirty hands in a loss like this, but I'm putting this one on the defense. Your offense went out there, got you an 11 point lead, not once, but twice. And you couldn't hold on to it. You couldn't make the big play when you needed to. It's pathetic. It's horrible. And I don't know who's,

Starting point is 00:08:49 who's going to have to change something about it. They're going to have to take it personal and it out on the Cincinnati Bengals. Yeah, I mean, it's been very uncharacteristic what we've seen here with what we've seen from the defense all year and the guys that they had. Look, certainly it's like, yeah, Riley Moss. Riley Moss is a great addition to have there. But like you mentioned, Chris Abrams Drain was making plays. Chris Abrams drain has been playing good in his absence here in the last couple of games here.

Starting point is 00:09:12 Pat Sertan, I mean, teams aren't even trying to go his way at this point. So what they're doing is they're attacking the underneath stuff. They're attacking, you know, when DeVamber gets a little aggressive, and then are hitting, you know, some shots over the top to the second level. To me, it's just, it's frustrating to watch because Denver, I mean, the thing that I can't get out of my head about this game just sitting there watching it is that, man, you had the opportunity, right? You talk so much about we want to get back to the postseason. We want to be a team that, you know, people are scared of facing the playoffs. And you can't come up with a win in the biggest moment in a game you had control over through the first half there.

Starting point is 00:09:45 It truly was a tell of two halves. This was by far the most disappointing loss of the season. to hear for the Broncos because of the stakes and now the road gets tougher. How did the Broncos playoff hopes take a massive shot? We'll dive deeper to that here on today's lockdown Broncos postgame report. Today's lockdown Broncos post game report is brought to our friends over there at prize picks and prize picks is the best place to get real money sports action with over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings.

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Starting point is 00:11:52 live on TNT, True TV, TBS, and Max. The Denver Broncos playoff chances took a little bit of a shot against the Los Angeles Chargers in a game that wasn't necessarily must win for the Broncos, but obviously you want to control your destiny and win that 10th game as quickly as possible. So what are they got to do now? Well, obviously they've got to win,

Starting point is 00:12:11 but what else has to happen and who is lurking behind? Cody and I are going to talk about that on today's postgame show Locked on Broncos. Thanks so much everyone out there for subscribing. If you haven't already done so, hit subscribe. And thanks for making us your first listen of the day every single day here at Locked on Broncos. Even rocking with us in a loss here, Cody, obviously it's tough for everybody to, you know, to listen, to watch, to kind of digest games like this. So we really do appreciate all the listeners out there.

Starting point is 00:12:40 But let's talk about the implications of this game in terms of the playoffs. Where do the Broncos stand right now? Obviously, this game gave the, the Chargers a massive boost. I think they're up to a 91, 97% chance, something like that. And so they're pretty much going to get in at this point. The Broncos now, they have got to find a way to win a 10th game and they've got two games left to do it. So you're playing the Bengals with Joe Burrow and you're playing the Chiefs with potentially Patrick Mahomes. We'll see what happens. But the Broncos, you know, they could also find other ways to get into the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:13:13 They could get some help this weekend if the right things happen. Yeah, but it's hard, right? And I feel like you don't want to make the playoffs because other teams screwed up, right? You want to make the playoffs because you control the right. And this was the perfect game for Denver to do so. But through your point, here's how the Broncos can make the playoffs after Sunday. They have to hope that the Miami Dolphins lose to the San Francisco 49ers, that the Cincinnati Bengals lose to the Cleveland Browns who are going to be starting

Starting point is 00:13:40 Dorian Thompson Robinson at quarterback this week. And you have to hope that Will Levis, or not Will Levis, he's bad. But Mason Rudolph and that horrible Tennessee Titans team can beat the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis. If the Bengals, the Colts, and the dolphins all lose or tie this weekend, the Broncos will be in the playoffs. It just stinks. You don't want that to happen. I mean, yeah, it'll be nice if Denver gets into the postseason, but you want to do it because you won, right? So now let's actually focus on the concept and the element here of winning.

Starting point is 00:14:10 I mean, Sarah, we all know the Broncos next game coming up here is next Saturday, prime time, 2.30 p.m. Mountain Time kickoff against Joe Burrow in the Cincinnati Bengals. That's going to be a tough, tough matchup. And with how this defense is playing, Sarah, in the course of the last three weeks, we've given up plays on crossing patterns and, you know, some explosive plays downfield, the Bengals actually kind of scare me quite a bit just because they've got Jamar Chase.

Starting point is 00:14:36 They've got T. Higgins. Joe Burroughs playing at an MVP level this year, but the Bengals defense has been terrible. But then you look at the Chargers defense the last four weeks. They've also been kind of terrible as well. And they're also banged up. They got guys who are out with injuries, but they turned it up and they sent pressure after Bo Nix.

Starting point is 00:14:53 And Bo didn't respond in the second half. The Broncos offense, even from the play calling standpoint, was not good enough in the second half against the Chargers. Bo Nix wasn't good enough either. And that's something that he's going to have to improve on because they're taking away the deep stuff, defenses are, and they want Bo to throw short, which, you know, hey, you're going to take what the defense gives you. You've got to find times and take your shots, but you've got to be smart with the football.

Starting point is 00:15:14 It just Denver's offense didn't formulate that plan And you can't get in a shootout with Joe Burrow and the Bengals Because that's that's not one you're going to win Denver couldn't get in a shootout with the chargers on Thursday night football The Bengals game coming up really worries me, sir Because we're talking about a real scenario here where Denver, if they lose these next two games, right? I have to talk about that as a possibility

Starting point is 00:15:34 If they lose these next two games and the dolphins went out Or the Colts went out, the Broncos are going to miss the playoffs, right? And how frustrating would it be to be like, hey, your first opportunity to get back to the postseason, you've had two years where we've had a winning record in the last nine years where you have nine wins and missed the postseason. That, to me, would be the worst case scenario. And I think it would change how I feel about this season in general. I think Denver's exceeded expectations.

Starting point is 00:15:59 But being a chance to make the playoffs and collapsing like that, that would be a dagger to the heart, I think, of everybody in Brockos country. I would leave the worst taste possible in your mouth all off season. It would be, I mean, it would just be unfathomable at this point, Cody. I mean, hopefully we don't get to that point. We obviously, we need to see Cincinnati lose another game, the dolphins, the Colts. Like, those teams are going to be in the thick. Nobody said it was going to be easy, right?

Starting point is 00:16:27 And like you mentioned earlier, I mean, one in six against teams above 500, if the Broncos, you know, two of those games happen at the beginning of the season, you had the game against Kansas City. People will look back at that. People will look back at the landmark of you were up 21 to 10. 24 to 13 against the LA Chargers, like the opportunities have been there for this team, which is why I think it would make everybody in Broncos country just collectively sick if this team didn't find a way. The funny thing is that we're listening to the broadcasters during the game,

Starting point is 00:16:58 and I'm listening to pundits during the week on the NFL talk shows and things like that. They're talking about the Broncos being in the playoffs like a foregone conclusion, right? they're like, oh, yeah, Broncos at 75% chance, even if they lose. They're in the playoffs, blah, blah, blah. And we're sitting here like, okay, oh, my gosh, if the dolphins and the Colts and the Bengals, what if all those teams win out? Like they would have 10 or, you know, but what would happen then? And the Broncos lose out.

Starting point is 00:17:24 I mean, it is one of the scenarios. And it just feels like it's trending that way because I know the Broncos have stunk since Super Bowl 50. But this team, Cody, I mean, shoot, if they don't beat teams over 500, bangles ain't over 500. So maybe they've got a better chance in that game than it seems. Yeah. And look, I also think, too, no one just being in the locker, being around these players,

Starting point is 00:17:45 as frustrating as this game was, like for me, even on Twitter, I was even choked. I don't normally get flustered or, like, irritated over games. But this one was irritating because it's like, wow, we actually get a chance there to cover a playoff team, you know, a winning season in Denver is great. But, hey, the postseason is what matters here. Just knowing and being around these players, I know they're a resilient bunch. And yes, I understand it was a short week. It was filled with like, hey, we're just trying to get as right as possible.

Starting point is 00:18:11 Now you have some extra time to heal up a little bit, but you also have extra time to make some adjustments because the Bengals are going to have to play on Sunday. Then they're going to play on Saturday. You get some extra rest there. I'm curious to see how this team responds. I know Sean Payton is going to challenge them. But also I think that Sean Payton and this coaching staff got to be challenged a little bit too. And I know it's something we'll talk about here once we get to our gripes. And obviously, Broncos country, feel free to chime in with your biggest gripes of.

Starting point is 00:18:36 of this loss here. But man, Sarah, when you look at the remaining schedule here, obviously, for Denver, the Bengals, the Chiefs, at this point, the Chiefs obviously are playing the Texans this weekend. They're going to play the Steelers on Christmas, and then they're going to have to finish things up in Denver. There might be a scenario where, hey, Kansas City is playing Denver to secure the number one seed. That right there is going to make the stakes for this game even higher. So, I mean, it is dicey, but this is also playoff time. And these next two games here for the Broncos are playoff like games. And Denver had one on Thursday night, and unfortunately it was a little too big for them. But you look at like the Miami Dolphins,

Starting point is 00:19:12 you look at their schedule. Okay, they play the 49ers this week. Then they played the Cleveland Browns. Then they're at the New York Jets. So there's three games there. And you got to hope that they lose one of these games. But then you also take a look at some of the other teams here as well. You look at the Colts, Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, Jacksonville, Jaguars. They should win these three games outright at this point. I mean, they, they, they absolutely should. So you have to worry about that situationally. And then you're also going to get to the point we're going to get here to the Cincinnati Bengals schedule. They play the Browns this week, the Broncos, and then at the Pittsburgh Steelers, really at this point, I don't think that

Starting point is 00:19:47 the Bengals are really much in the mix here. It's the Colts and the dolphins. I think you're the most worried about here. But the Bengals are going to have something to say about that too. They are. And look, if all three of those teams win this coming weekend, which it sounds like they very well pressure do that it's it is going to create pressure but look that's that's exactly the situation that you kind of need if you're this dendro broncos team like again nobody said it was going to be easy nobody likes the fact that we all got to go wait now until December 28th for this team to play another hey win and you're in the playoffs sort of situation here because that is the that is the situation you control your destiny that's the that's the place you want to be in you don't want to be in the

Starting point is 00:20:30 position of of the Bengals and the Colts and the dolphins right now. You want to be in Denver's situation. And so I think that's what they're going to have to be preaching in the locker room and to the team this rest of this week. And next week, Cody, is this is the situation you want. Like these young players, you go out there. You make plays. You win a game. You're in the playoffs. And you can do that against Joe Burrow, who's been to a Super Bowl. And you could do that against former Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. The Broncos, they've been a good team for most of this year. They've got to find a way to be a good team for at least one more game here

Starting point is 00:21:06 before we get to the playoffs. Just getting a note here too, post game. Ryan McFadden says that wide receiver Troy Franklin has a walking boot on his left foot following this game. So not ideal here for a Broncos offense that could use anybody and everybody right now at this point. I thought Troy had a pretty solid game, had a nice catch across, middle of the field there.

Starting point is 00:21:27 Just once again, it's not going to be easy, sir. It's going to be adversity filled. It already is here with this loss. Two games, tough tests, tough teams. We'll see what this Broncos team is made of here. But, you know, one thing we've got to do, obviously after a loss, you know, we head out game balls for wins. We're going to head out gripes for losses here.

Starting point is 00:21:45 And we have some here that we're going to go over after the Broncos collapse on Thursday night football here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos post game report is brought to you our friends over there at Hillsdale, College, history, economics, the great works of literature, the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. Did you study these things in school? Probably not. Or even if you did, maybe it's time for a refresher. Time and technology, they have changed a lot of things, but they have not changed basic fundamental truths about the world and our place in it. And that's where Hillsdale College comes in handy.

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Starting point is 00:23:05 outcome here for the Broncos on Thursday night football. When we always talk about wins or victory Mondays, we like to hand out game balls. But for losses, we're going to hand out some gripes here. And certainly Broncos country, as we talk about this, make sure you share your biggest gripe from this game from the Broncos. loss on Thursday to the Chargers. Sarah, let's kick things off with you, my friend here.

Starting point is 00:23:28 There's a lot we can nitpick and kind of pick apart here in terms of what contributed to the Broncos loss. But ultimately, there's so many different things. Where are you leaning right here if you're going to handle a gripe here from Thursday's game? Well, I think one of the biggest gripes you've got to have after a game like this is penalties, whether it was penalties that were called, penalties that were not called. And of course, there's valid penalties that are called in every single game. the Broncos getting called for off sides, getting called for unnecessary roughness.

Starting point is 00:23:57 But it was an unnecessary roughness that extended a Chargers touchdown drive. It was an unnecessary roughness that gave the chargers a, or a fair catch interference that gave the Chargers a gimmy, you know, 57-yard field goal at the end of the first half. It was, you know, one penalty here, one penalty there, one mistake here, one mistake there. And obviously the missed call on the Marvin Mims play, which yes, I mean, if Bo Nex throws the ball out in front, probably a touchdown pass. at the same time, if the play is properly officiated, you probably get a touchdown drive there as well. How many times does a ball get underthrown in the NFL on purpose and a wide receiver coming back to

Starting point is 00:24:34 the ball, making a play on the ball with a defender that's not looking back at the ball, impeding the receiver, pulling his arm down? How many times does that get called? And it's not just on bad throws. It's on intentionally underthrown balls. I think that's a huge gripe that I have in this game, Cody. And then you have a play like Jonathan Cooper getting caught. for a horse collar tackle when Justin Herbert's got a handful of face masks the other way.

Starting point is 00:24:58 Yeah. It should at least been offsetting. Should have at least been offsetting. And that's what I'm saying. It's like I hate it when officiating plays a big enough role in the game that we've got to complain about. I know fans are always like, oh, well, you can't blame the officiating. The Broncos could have done this and the Broncos could have done that. At the same time, the officiating does play a huge role.

Starting point is 00:25:19 If a hundred yards is seven points, how much of a difference? is every penalty yard that the Broncos gave up or every third down that was a converted first down because of a penalty. That's my biggest gripe in this game. And yes, the Broncos need to clean it up. But man, you can't help but feel like they got a little bit hose at times in this game as well. Yeah. And look, I wouldn't even say it's just this game. I feel like the NFL product today, Sarah, we watch any game, whether it's Thursday night football, Monday night football,

Starting point is 00:25:46 or even just a regular Sunday morning or afternoon game. It seems like this product is littered with flags. this season. I don't know the exact number. We'll have to look it up or someone can drop it in the comments. How many flags have been thrown in the NFL this season? What's the pace for it? Because I feel like it's been quite a bit. If I'm not mistaken, it wasn't even last Thursday night. I think it was the 49ers and the Rams. I think it had like 20-something combined penalties between both teams. So it's just like it is impacting a little bit of the game. And certainly there's valid gripes there. And yeah, maybe even Denver got away with an eligible man downfield on

Starting point is 00:26:21 the touchdown. But you know, it is the. NFL, this thing does happen. And unfortunately, it's, you know, I think the one thing I'll say is, like, you have to be disciplined. And Denver certainly was not disciplined on Thursday when they needed to. But you also don't want to put it in the hands of officials no matter what. So that's definitely frustrating. I agree with you. Penalties have been a huge gripe here. My gripe, though, Sarah, I'm going to go with coaching in this game. I feel like in the second half, Sean Payton certainly got out coached, Vance, Joseph. I felt really outside of the first series, the Broncos defense was not good tonight.

Starting point is 00:26:54 It was gashed left and right. We talked about the 6th of 11 on third down, but really just a failure to adjust right, because what was it? What was the common thing that we saw? Okay, hey, Denver's playing against the run. They're setting things up in terms of play action. But where is Justin Herbert going?

Starting point is 00:27:10 Justin Herbert's hitting the crossing route, whether that's at 5 yards, whether that's at 10 yards. And then when Debra tries to tighten up on the crossing route, well, then they're hitting a little bit on the second level deep overshot. And it's just like, okay, how many times can you get hit with this before you adjust? And I understand like you have to be methodical in the way that you blitz and how you blitz and how you cover certain guys.

Starting point is 00:27:31 Denver blitzed when they were man coverage at times. Denver blitzed when they were in zone coverage. And it just seemed like once again, between the safeties and the linebackers, there were, there tend to be some miscommunication or guys not knowing who to pick up at that point. You don't think Joe Burrow and the Bengals are going to look at that and they're going to be salivating on, hey, we're going to throw T. Higgins and Jamar Chase crossing routes all day. Those are two guys, elite level players. And look, the thing I'll say about the Chargers that also scares me a little bit,

Starting point is 00:28:00 Sarah, they're really good with Ladd McConkey. Just wait until they get Justin Herbert a legitimate outside threat. To me, that's where the Chargers is going to become a little scary. They're going to be a tough team here for the Broncos. And now Denver, who swept them last year, they now got swept by the Chargers this year. They don't have the tiebreaker now. this is going to be a tough, tough road here for Denver. It's going to be a tough division, obviously, I think, between the Chargers,

Starting point is 00:28:23 Broncos, and obviously the Chiefs. It's going to make for exciting football, but it makes your room for error, I feel like minimal. And from a coaching standpoint, you can't get too cute and too, you know, fancy. And I felt like at times Sean Payton did that in this game, and it cost them some opportunities. And obviously on the defense, I don't think Vance did a great enough job calling it tonight. No, and it started from the beginning of the game.

Starting point is 00:28:47 game when the Broncos had just an absolute master class on the first drive. And then they, right before that, the Chargers went three and out, right? So things were looking great right away. But then the Broncos go down. You get a touchdown drive. And then the defense, just a complete sieve on the next drive, allowing the Chargers to march right down the field. So what does the offense do?

Starting point is 00:29:06 Well, they go back. They get you seven more points. So you've got a 14 to 7 lead. And what does the defense do? Let the Chargers right back down the field. Thankfully, they held them to a field goal there. So the offense, response, a touchdown drive, the defense, what do they do? I mean, they finally get a stop in the first half.

Starting point is 00:29:22 And then the coaching debacle that you mentioned, Cody, kind of ensued where Sean Peyton, you don't run out the clock, you know, when your first play, first down play fails in the one minute drill. So you throw the ball, Giovante Williams falls down, drops the pass. Then you come out in the second half and you kind of abandon Audric Estimate, which was working. I don't get it. I don't understand it.

Starting point is 00:29:44 why they went away from that. And I don't like the decision with four minutes left to punt the ball at the 50 yard line. I think this is a playoff type situation. You got to trust, okay, even though the defense hasn't played great, trust that they can hold them to three if you don't get the fourth downplay. So there's just a lot there that I disagree with that I would have done differently. And so, yes, we can, we're not blaming officiating either. I think it's a gripe, but it's not, we're not blaming the loss on officiating.

Starting point is 00:30:14 Like the Broncos had an 11-point lead in a game that was a lot of, you know, implications. So it's it's on the Broncos to fix this going forward. You know, and the thing that just frustrates me is like when you look at it, like Denver's first two offensive drives, what was it? One was a 10 play, 70-yard drive that took like 5-56 off the clock. Second was like a 12-play, 70-yard drive that took over five minutes off the clock. And it's like, that is the winning brand of football. It's have the run game going, which was the case in the first half,

Starting point is 00:30:43 score points, take time off the clock and keep the opposing quarterback off the field. Denver did that in the first half. And then all of a sudden, it was just like, hey, you know what? Come on down. You get a first down. You get a first down. Herbert was connecting with multiple receivers, even fullbacks for first downs in this game. So just a lack of adjustments here.

Starting point is 00:31:03 And I understand you didn't get a lot of time to practice or prepare. Neither did the charges, though. But they found a way to make plays happen even when they were down and out. You know, like I said, they were down 11 points in this game. They mustered the storm, and unfortunately the Broncos, you know, they had their blinders on. There was fog out there on the sea. Then they hit the iceberg, and now they've got to hope that they just don't sink here in these final two games. A win gets you in.

Starting point is 00:31:25 Of course, you can get some outside help here. You don't want that. You want to get in by your own will and your own destiny here. Can the Broncos do that? We're going to be left with a lot of questions leading up until next Saturday's matchup against the Bengals. We'll have you covered every step of the way with Broncos country. Enjoy your week. And unfortunately, not a victory podcast for us.

Starting point is 00:31:43 year. We'll get back to the basics on Monday. We'll preview the game. Plus, it's Christmas week. You'll get a crossover episode with Sarah and Jake Liskow of the Lockdown Bengals podcast as they preview this matchup. And of course, kickoff on Saturday, 2.30 p.m. Mountain time next week. But we're going to have you covered all week long here, Lockdown Broncos to give the latest updates on Riley Moss and hopefully Troy Franklin will be okay before next week's game. You get all the updates here on the show. We appreciate you. Thanks to all the everyday first listeners out there in Broncos country. Enjoy your weekend. And the Broncos get the playoffs, that's the question.

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