Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Survive Cleveland Browns In Monday Night THRILLER

Starting point is 00:00:00 Are you not entertained? The Denver Broncos survived a thriller on Monday night. Football and the defense put them in a rough spot, but we'll tell you how the defense came up big when it mattered most. 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. Hey, hey, hey, what's up, 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 day thanks once again all the everydayers and first listeners out there in broncos country we appreciate you so much for rocking with the show every single day all year long i'm cody rourke brockos reporter for mile high sports joined as always by sarah bedinger site expert prom the orange dot com and the bronch survive a little bit of a thriller on monday night football you might want to check your heart rate monitor to make sure your heart's still beating because that was a little bit of a back and forth you had all

Starting point is 00:01:04 the drama and ultimately Jaquah McMillan and the Broncos defense coming up with a big time moment like a glad eater moment. Putting thumbs down, are you not entertained? We'll break it all down here on today's episode. Lockdown Broncos will wrap up. The Broncos going to the by week with an 8 and 5 record after

Starting point is 00:01:20 Monday night's win. What does the state of the entire AFC look like after the fact some will look at this week? Obviously Bo Nix and the Broncos offense making some big splash plays in this game needing to put up points they did just that. But the Broncos defense really on a night where they gave up a lot of yards.

Starting point is 00:01:36 We'll kick things off with how the Broncos defense helped them win the game on Monday night football here on today's episode brought to my friends over there at Fandu. Make every moment more new customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 and bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. Visit fanduil.com to get started. Sarah, I tell you what, we're getting here late, back past bid night here Monday night football. A Broncos hang on in a thriller where it's like, hey, anything that you could expect to happen

Starting point is 00:02:03 from a drama standpoint, it certainly did. It definitely did, Cody. I mean, you see people on Twitter or X saying this is maybe the most entertaining Monday night game of the year, one of the most entertaining games of the year, period, if you're an NFL fan, just watching for, you know, the fireworks, right? And we got all of the fireworks in this game, whether it was offensive fireworks, whether it was the pick six, which ended up being the savior for the Denver Broncos once again, Cody, we saw it against the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this season where Pat Surtan intercepted Gardner,

Starting point is 00:02:38 Minchu took it back for six, completely changed the complexion of that game. And frankly, maybe even the season for the Denver Broncos, if they would have gone down by 10 points at that point. And now against the Cleveland Browns, the Browns driving down the field, the Broncos desperately needed to just hold them. And Nick Winito comes up with a pick six in the first half there, which kind of, I mean, it was already going back and forth at that point, Cody, but that kind of stuff. started this like, okay, we're trading, this is like a boxing match. And we're not talking

Starting point is 00:03:08 Jake Paul and Mike Tyson here. We're talking about actual boxing, like real stuff. Like, these guys are trading punches. And it was such a fun game. And yet I'm looking at my Apple watch during the game. I'm checking my heart rates up in the 120s. I'm like, what the heck is going on right now? You said it best. So, man, it was back and forth with the defense, man. They were terrible in so many aspects and amazing in others. Yeah, I mean, this was a game where it's like defensively. I put a tweet out there. You may want to burn this game tape, right?

Starting point is 00:03:38 Because the Bronco was defense when you look at the numbers and you look at just how this game felt. They gave up over 553 yards of offense to Cleveland Browns. That's ridiculously bad. Like not this is one, this is a type of performance like what happened? What went wrong? Well, it was Jerry Judy, former Bronco went off against his former team and Denver simply had no answer. And look, we'll obviously get into that a little bit later on. We got a lot to talk about this week as the Broncos are in the buy week.

Starting point is 00:04:04 But I mean, Sarah, you're right. You know, the def, like the Broncos, they're not going to get the ball to start the second half, right? And James Winston, the Brown's offense are seemingly doing whatever they want in this game. They were six of 10 in the first half on third down. It's like, all right, hey, pressure coming up from Zach Allen. And all of a sudden, James Winston forces an errand throw. Nick Benito picks it, runs it back for the pick six. Tide turn right there.

Starting point is 00:04:26 And then the Brown somehow found a way to score right after that. with just barely like a minute, 20 left in the half. And it's like, oh, no, the Brown score, they get the ball back in the half time. Denver, they came out their first three, I'd say first three drives. They were able to force, you know, the 0 for three on third down for the Browns in the second half. But sometimes it didn't really matter because James Winston simply had time to throw and connect with Jerry Judy, who went off for 200 plus yards against his former team. And interestingly enough here, Sarah, Pat Sartan only guarded him on a few, like in terms of coverages.

Starting point is 00:04:58 I think there's only three targets. He gave two catches on three targets for a total of 30 yards according to next gen stats. Whereas when he was against Levi Wallace, we don't even want to talk about those numbers there on the show. We'll watch. I highlight a little bit later in the week. But Denver giving up over 500 yards of offense, but coming up big and really no bigger moment. Look, Denver, they kick a field goal late in the fourth quarter. They go up at this point.

Starting point is 00:05:21 And it's like, hey, now you got to get a stop defense. And then you see rookie quarterback Chris Abrams drain getting thrown in the game. Levi Wallace benched for. the rookie who got his first NFL regular season action. And all of a sudden, it's like, all right, third and 14, James Winston throws an out route for 14 yards to pick it up. And it's like, dang, Bronco is in trouble here. And then knock, knock, who's there?

Starting point is 00:05:43 Jaquan McMillan pick six. That gave the Broncos a 41 to 32 advantage at that point. I mean, unbelievable tide turning events. That one was, it was entertaining. The stadium was electrifying. This game was a thriller. But it was also enough to have people pull their hair out. from the defensive standpoint too.

Starting point is 00:06:01 Seriously. And that moment with Jekwon Macmillan getting that interception for a touchdown, Cody, it was so reminiscent of that Monday night game between the Broncos and the Chargers back in 2012. It was like it was almost the exact same type of moment there with the ball went to the same side of the field. It was, I mean, it was just, I had the flashbacks. I had the deja vu in that moment.

Starting point is 00:06:24 And remember that game against the Chargers. I know it was earlier in the season, but it was, one of those games that, hey, the Broncos, they were about to go to, I think, two and four or two and five at that point in time. And it was just an ugly situation. Like the team was underachieving. They needed a big play like that to kind of boost them forward that season. And Chris Harris Jr. delivered it. J-Quam Macmillan now doing the same thing for this Denver Broncos team as we get to the by week. Like the difference right now, I know it's only one game, but the difference between seven and six and eight and five, especially because you should be nine and four is so astronomical. And so the defense, they gave up all those yards.

Starting point is 00:07:05 They gave up that, I mean, the best game of James Winston's career, basically, the best game of Jerry Judy's career to come through with those two pick sixes. And then Cody Barton with the third interception late in the game, that man, he almost had six on that one. That was, it's exactly what this team need. It's, this is the way you make the playoffs. These are the games the Broncos did not win last season. And we talked about it, too.

Starting point is 00:07:29 And I put a tweet out there in the fourth quarter, really after Denver is trailing. I said, hey, this is the test. Like the Broncos want to say that they're here. They have to pass this test. And certainly they did just that. The Broncos now eight and five on the season here. And obviously a lot that we'll have to break down here across the way. You know, this is our initial reaction.

Starting point is 00:07:48 We'll go back and we'll watch the all 22. We'll give a clear takeaways to other things. But I think our initial vibe we can say after just watching this game, the live reaction. Denver was missing Riley Moss in big time fashion. Monday night football and where do they go from here after that? I'll see some interesting decisions to be made. We'll talk about a little bit later on here in the show here. Got to give a shout out, Nick Benito, obviously, one sack.

Starting point is 00:08:10 Obviously on the game now, he's got 11 on the year. He had a pick six. He becomes the first Bronco since Von Miller. Really, the only two players of franchise history to have 10 plus sacks and a pick six in the same exact season. Nick Benito playing like a defensive player of the year. That might have to be an episode we're going to do this week here on lockdown Broncos, but despite giving up 500-something yards, Denver's defense was on the field for 84 plays, not ideal.

Starting point is 00:08:34 They overcome that adversity and they make it entertaining, and the Broncos find a way to hang on in an absolute thriller on Monday night. Football, Broncos Country, want to know your thoughts here on the Broncos defensive side of the ball and what we saw from them. Throughout the entire game and how they're able to buckle down, they came up big when it mattered most, and that's the true measure here of a team I think that can respond when they face adversity. and obviously that locker room is a big believer in that. We talked to players after the game, Nick Benito, Jonathan Cooper, Pat Sir Tanj, Jaquam, McMillan, we talked to all these guys in the locker room. The vibe in there, Sarah, is like, hey, we're not proud of our performance tonight.

Starting point is 00:09:10 We're proud of the way we battled and we made plays when we needed to. That was the vibe. That was the message here. And now you get the by week, you get some time to rest and recoup and big moments here, down the stretch of the season here. Broncos country, the defense, they had their moments. They came up big. but as the Broncos offense that also made some big time plays in Monday 9 football, some tide-changing plays as well with plenty of room to grow.

Starting point is 00:09:32 We'll highlight Bo Nix and the Broncos offensive performance here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos postgame report is brought to our friends over there at Prize Picks. And as you all know, at Prize Picks, they are daily fantasy sports done the right way with over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings. Prize Picks has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. You just pick more or less on two players for a shot to win up to 100 times your cash. So run your game all season long on prize picks. And prize picks is the only real money, daily fantasy platform with an injury insurance policy so that your lineup stay and play even if one of your players gets injured.

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Starting point is 00:10:58 So the fireworks, they were all over the place on Monday night football. A lot to be excited about from this game. And the Broncos victory, of course, as they moved to 8 and 5 going into the biweek with a pretty firm hold on that seventh seed in the AFC playoff race, which you know, Cody and I will be breaking down all week long as well as into next week here on lockdown Broncos. And hey, if you haven't already done so hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts or watch the show on YouTube. Thanks so much to all you every day or is out there that make us your first listen of the day. Every single day. We appreciate you so, so much.

Starting point is 00:11:32 And Cody, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts from this game because, look, I was getting text from one of my friends, Ryan, who was at the game and just the atmosphere in Denver electric when the Broncos are good. When the Broncos are good. I mean, there's nothing like it. You can feel it coming through the TV screen. You can just, when Nick Nito had the interception, you could feel the energy coming through. When Marvin Mims catches a 93-yard touchdown, you can feel the energy coming through.

Starting point is 00:12:04 Let's talk about that offensive performance, Bo Nix coming through with some clutch plays on third down. Yeah, look, the Broncos' offense, you know, first drive, I think it was a three-in-out. They weren't able to get much going. They get the ball back and then all of a sudden, Bo leads them on a drive down the field. Some nice plays extending with his legs.

Starting point is 00:12:20 I think he made some good decisions with his arm there. And then Giovante Williams punched in from one yard out. And it's like, all right, hey, Denver, they're up seven nothing. Okay, it's good. They took six minutes off the clock. From that point forward, it seemed like time slowed down because it was a pass heavy attack from not only the Broncos, but from the brown side of things. And that slowed down, I think, the level of play.

Starting point is 00:12:40 But, you know, once again, Sarah, I can't help but go back and say, hey, like, Bo Nix, once again, a product of a good run game. Like, the Broncos run game was so good, Sarah, that they really couldn't get anything going. Like, to be honest with you, I was hoping some of the people that were saying that stuff were watching. I didn't see a lot of tweets from them during the game here. So, so to speak, the Broncos were closer.

Starting point is 00:12:59 Now it's 30 straight games that they have not had a 100-yard rush for the last Bronco to do that was Latavius Murray back when Jerry Rosberg was the interim head coach. That game happened against the charges, I think, in that season finale or the second game to last. season against that one. That's how long it's been here, though, 29 straight games. And the thing is, the Broncos, because of the lacquer run game early on, they were forced to air it out quite a bit. And then I felt like at times where the run game was going on here, especially in the second half, then they started to air it out a little bit too much, right?

Starting point is 00:13:31 You had the run game going with obviously Jalil McLaughlin. He was 16 yards shy of 100 yards here. And then you open up, you have a chance after you score, you kick a field goal. I did not like the decision there from Sean Payton. I understand the aggressiveness, but to come out on your first play and try to huck it downfield, it's intercepted by Denzel Ward. And all of a sudden, how you give the Cleveland Browns another possession, they go down and they obviously make the Broncos pay for it. I like the aggressiveness at times with this offense,

Starting point is 00:13:59 but it's just got to be calculated. I didn't like it in that moment. The Broncos had the lead. They should have been able to run some time off of the clock and maybe it would have made things a little less stressful there at the end. But can we talk about the play of the game from the offense, though? Bow Nix, third and 10, backed up, and he delivers a 93-yard strike to Marvin Mims. I mean, that was a fantastic throw, a fantastic play.

Starting point is 00:14:21 And finally, we see Marvin not just used it in the backfield, but we see him excel in that deep threat role that we've been waiting to see for so long, had a chance to catch up with him after the game in the locker, man. Proud of the work that he's kind of put in behind the scenes. But that moment right there, sir, man, that was big. But we couldn't enjoy it because the next. drive Cleveland answer with the 73-yard strike of their own. It was a crazy game.

Starting point is 00:14:43 This was kind of like the cherry on top, though. It's like, hey, without that, who Devere probably doesn't win this game. That was a big moment from Bo Nix and the offense. It really was, and it was so cool to see that. I mean, especially because it kind of felt like the Browns were, were dictating a little bit defensively at that point. Like you said, the Broncos were third and 10 backed up into their own, you know, way deep into their own side of the field.

Starting point is 00:15:07 and then obviously Bo was getting kind of criticized by Troy Aikman on the TV broadcast. I know you were at the game, Cody, so I don't know if you had. I didn't hear it. So he was getting criticized literally as that ball was snapped, as, you know, Troy Akeman was saying, like, Bo's just doing a little too much unnecessary moving around outside of the pocket when the pocket is there for him. And as he was finishing that sentence, Bo stepped up into the pocket and absolutely ripped that ball into a very, very tight window deep.

Starting point is 00:15:37 downfield to Marvin Mims for 93-yard touchdown. And so it goes in the NFL. And that's when people ask, like, where's Bo Nix growing the most? You know, I was talking to Peter Bukowski after the game over a lockdown NFL and that. It's like, where's Bo growing the most? In my opinion, Cody, it's with these types of plays. Like, okay, you missed on a couple of throws earlier. Your timing hasn't been there completely with Troy Franklin.

Starting point is 00:16:02 So are you going to be hesitant to throw that pass to Marvin Mims? Are you going to take a little air off? You're going to put a little too much, too much behind it. No, it was a perfect, perfect throw. And that's where Bo is great. He's just so confident. You third and 10, third and 11 deep in your own side of the field. Like you run the ball most of the time and get ready to punt, right?

Starting point is 00:16:21 But Sean Payton has the ultimate confidence in Bo Nix and it paid off in a big way on that play. And you love to see it too because it's like, all right, hey, Bo is, Bo's not afraid to take shots and take chances. And I think one thing we always see with some rookie quarterbacks from out of the league. maybe not necessarily this year, but I think over the course of the last however, a handful of years, you see quarterbacks play with hesitancy, right? It's like, ah, do I make that throw? Like, Bo is not afraid.

Starting point is 00:16:46 Like early on, I think maybe in the first couple of weeks of the season, we saw him hesitate with some of those decisions, right? And now it's like, hey, he knows what he can do. He knows what he can get away with. And he knows how to time it perfectly. And look, you know, hats off to the Cleveland Browns defensively. I thought their coverage, they played a pretty good cover two shell, a good portion of the game, you know, they were physical.

Starting point is 00:17:07 They were physical with the line of scrimmage, and I think the receivers battled well against that. But for Marvin in that play, I even asked him, I said, at a time standstill, and he said it felt like forever, just watching that ball coming in the air, but he said he was laser focused. He caught it up in the press box when you're watching it live. At one point, it was like, wait, like, is that going to be intercepted?

Starting point is 00:17:26 And then all of a sudden, it's just perfectly a place. You see Marvin out running everybody. It's like, wow, all right, big play right there. I love the willingness of this team. And you can obviously tell the Sean, Peyton has a lot of confidence in these guys. There was one point. They debated on whether or not they're going to go for it on fourth and one. It's like, hey, just take the points there, Sean, get the lead 35 to whatever it

Starting point is 00:17:45 was at that point or 34 to 32 at that point. Get the kick the points, take the lead. And I know your defense hasn't been able to stop anybody, but just the confidence factor that we're seeing. And look, Bo, you know, he had one pass that was batted up into the air. I thought it was a well-placed football. It's low. Unfortunately, the cornerback Danzel Ward made a great play, tipped it up.

Starting point is 00:18:04 up into the air, it didn't hit the ground, and it just bounced up to a defender's arm. That second interception out was a bad play by Bow. And look, obviously, we can talk about the criticism side of it. Overall, without a strong run game, really until the second half. That's when things started getting going. Like Bo Nix, once again, it was a big part of the Broncos offensive production in terms of them getting going. I'm looking at it here. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine different receivers, eight different receivers,

Starting point is 00:18:31 you know, nine different players targeted in this game here. But once again, the Broncos have two receivers over 100 yards. Marvin Mims, 3 for 105, Cortland Sutton, 6 for 102. The streak continues here. Bowdox is making progress. And this was a great response by the Broncos. I think facing the adversity that they did, can they survive in a shootout? That was a question I think you and I have had.

Starting point is 00:18:54 I think a lot of people in Broncos country have had for a while. The offense has the capability putting up points and putting up yards, and they showed it here in this game. And they've been so much better on third down, especially throwing the ball, Cody. Bow Nix 7 for 11 for 156 yards on third downs in this game. And obviously a large chunk of those yards came on the play to Marvin Mims, including the lone touchdown that Bo Nix had on the day passing the ball.

Starting point is 00:19:18 But just in general, you see the connection between Bo Nix and Cortland Sutton on third down. There was at one point Joe Buck and Troyickman were talking about, Cortland Sutton has had three catches to move the chains on third and six or longer. It's just the key. he's been huge absolutely and it's great to see this offense heating up at exactly the right time guy stepping up at exactly the right time we got to say it though cody the the time you mentioned time standing still for Marvin mims right i think for everybody time is going to slow down it's going to be like it's going to be a slow motion video in real time when troy franklin and bo necks

Starting point is 00:19:56 finally connect on one of these deep plays like when it finally ends up happening we're going to see it like the ball is hitting his hands, like a dramatic CW TV show or something. We're going to see the pass hit his hands like four times. There's going to be replays. It's going to be just euphoric. It's going to be cathartic whenever that does happen because those guys are so dang close, but they can't think it happened just yet. Yeah, look, and I like the fact that he's trying to get his, you know,

Starting point is 00:20:23 his teammate involved. And look, there's other ways I think that Troy impacts the game. We've highlighted here on the show in terms of his speed and how defenses are trying to play against him. he had two catches for 28 yards. I love that little bubble screen that they threw to him, and he just took it and ran inside there and got down to, you know, inside first and goal, and then Michael Burton did the rest, punched it in there.

Starting point is 00:20:42 But really, I think, man, the Broncos run game, Sarah has to find a way to get going more. And obviously, thank you for Joliel McLaughlin. He got things going. Adrick Estimate had a, you know, a couple of nice runs there inside. Keep the run game going. That has to be a big proponent. Obviously, I think we'll have a larger conversation about Javante Williams in the run offense this week here.

Starting point is 00:21:00 on the show now that the Broncos are in the by week. Until then, Broncos country, enjoy the win. Let's celebrate that. Celebrate Bo Nix and Marvin Mims, 93-yard touchdown. I shared the Philip Rivers meme where he talks to the Finner. He goes, 90-yard touchdown. Short-lived because James Winston and then threw a touchdown on the very next player. So it was not able to live that in its glory a little bit, though.

Starting point is 00:21:22 But Broncos country, we want to know your thoughts as well. It's about time for us to get into handing out our game balls against the Cleveland Brown. who comes away with one. We want to hear yours here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Brackos Country, today's post-game report has brought you of our friends over there at Fandu.

Starting point is 00:21:39 And as you all know, at Fandu is America's number one sportsbook. And they want you to get ready to tackle the NFL this season. Week 13 just wrapped up. And obviously Monday night football, the Broncos were five and a half point home favorites. Initially, they win this game, obviously 41 to 32. So that means that they covered the spread.

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Starting point is 00:22:57 maintaining that seven spot inside the AFC wild car. hard race here and we're going to hand out our game balls on today's show. Brockos Country, thank you once again for making us your first listen, becoming an every day or if you're not an everydayer, make sure you become one because every single day, even throughout the by week, you're going to get a brand new episode of lockdown Broncos. We'll break down what's going on with the team. The team may be off, but we're not off. We've got a lot to break down, recollecting our thoughts on the entire first half of the season.

Starting point is 00:23:24 But now it's time for our special part, a victory Tuesday episode of the show, the Broncos victorious here. that means we're going to hand out our game balls. Sarah, my friend, offensive side of the ball, who you're handing a game ball out to here for Monday night football. I'm going to give a game ball to Garrett Bowles, Cody, because we don't talk a lot about Bowls on this show. You know, we don't talk a lot about the O-Lyman in general

Starting point is 00:23:46 unless something crazy happens. Either they have like a crazy grade or they have a crazy block or something goes wrong. Garrett Bulls, the last handful of weeks. Matter of fact, this whole season has played pretty darn well going up against Miles Garrett and Max Crosby in consecutive weeks is no small task. And Bowles has kept them both at bay. I know that Miles Crosby lines up on that left side of the offensive formation most of the time that he's out there on the field.

Starting point is 00:24:15 He was pretty quiet in this game. I know he kind of forced the pressure that caused that interception or helped cause the interception early in the game. But other than that, man, you expect Miles Garrett to be out there hitting your quarterback from behind consistently. blowing up plays consistently. I wasn't really the case in this game. The Broncos had a great protection plan. Bulls did his job. I think he deserves a game ball this week.

Starting point is 00:24:38 Yeah, no, look, I think the Broncos' offensive line, for the most part, did a really good job. And look, they got some things going. I know Bulls did get called for that one hold off of a nice run. And once again, I know I looked in the Slack chat. And I was like, man, the Broncos, they get a good run. And all of a sudden, there's a penalty. And, of course, you know, it's on Garrett.

Starting point is 00:24:54 But Garrett, no, you're 110 percent spotted. Like, there are going to be plays where you make mistakes. She could call for a penalty yet, you know. But I think the overall body of work for Garrett has been spectacular this season. He's been very solid here. And it makes the Broncos decisions this off season think of very interesting. You know, what are they going to do? Are they going to bring Garrett back?

Starting point is 00:25:12 He wants to play. He wants to stay in Denver. He's building something with Bo Nix. And all of a sudden, it seems like the Broncos have found their guy at Bo. And it's like, Garrett's like, I want to stay. I want to be part of this. And so we'll see what the team's decision is. I like that.

Starting point is 00:25:25 I'm going to give an offensive game ball here to Marvin Mims, obviously coming up with the biggest play for the offense on the day, 93 yards to be able to focus and hauling that deep ball touchdown. That's been big. The Broncos has been waiting for that type of big explosive play. Now for Bo Nix, his rookie season has got a 93-yard touchdown. Pretty nice to see right there. So Marvin Mim is going to get a game ball on my end here for the Broncos. Now, if we have to switch to the defensive side of the ball, Sarah, where are you going here?

Starting point is 00:25:50 Because look, it's hard. Like when you surrender over 500-something yards off, it's like, do you give somebody a game ball after that type of performance? I think context matters. This was a very uncharacteristic game here by Denver's defense. I was shocked at how much they got gashed and chunked here. This definitely is not representative of what the Broncos defense is. So you're going to give a game ball on anybody? You know what?

Starting point is 00:26:15 I think we got to give one to Nick Benito, right? I mean, he had his 11th sack of the season. He had the pick six in this game, which obviously was a game changer for the Denver Broncos. And he just continues to prove himself, as you mentioned earlier, Cody, and we'll talk later in the week about as maybe a defensive player of the year candidate here for the Denver Broncos. I mean, it's one of those years to kind of where that award is very much up in the air. So it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Starting point is 00:26:40 But Bonito has been, I mean, just awesome this season for the Denver Broncos. And remember Broncos country that he was acquired. The pick that the Broncos used to draft Nick Bonito was acquired in the trade back in 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams, George Payton's first year on the job as general manager had to make the difficult decision to move on from Von Miller, a franchise legend and managed to get a second round pick and then some, I believe a second and a third as well, Cody, in that trade. The second round pick in 2022 used on Nick Benito. So how interesting is it that Benito is now playing at a defensive player of the year?

Starting point is 00:27:19 We're having the conversation that he's playing at that level. That pick was acquired from the Von Miller trade. It's just kind of a fun little wrap around history repeating itself in a way. It's pretty nice when you can kind of connect the ties that bind a little bit. And obviously, that could be historic here. I mean, it's trending towards that way here for the Broncos. They've got a superstar pass rusher in the making here in Nick Benito that they really believe in. And man, did he play like it in this game?

Starting point is 00:27:45 I thought he, Jonathan Cooper, Jonah Ellis, all three of these guys registered sack. They got after the quarterback. Zach Allen didn't get a sack. But man, he had four quarterback hits on James Winston. and he forced James to really throw that pick six there to Nick Benito. So obviously he gets a little bit of a shout out. You know, for me here, Sarah, I agree. I think Nick Benito gets one.

Starting point is 00:28:05 I'm going to give one to rookie cornerback Chris Abrams Drain, who stepped in for his first career NFL game in a regular season where everything mattered. And it came in probably one of the biggest moments here where you can put a rookie cornerback in, right? Levi Wallace had a really rough game, probably one of the worst games we've ever seen from a cornerback in Broncos history in terms of Denver allowing Jerry Judy to go for a career highlight. No other receiver has ever gone for as much as Jerry Judy did against them in franchise history. So that's kind of where we're at with that one here.

Starting point is 00:28:36 But Chris Abrams, Drame, Broncos have a lead there, game on the line, final two minutes. And all of a sudden, now you have to go out there and you've got to cover Jerry Judy. You got to cover some of the speed, you know, grant that they have there on the outside. Could areas Tony? And he came up big. Look, I know he got called for a PI there late in the game. It's like to be able to be getting that moment there as a rookie, go up and play press coverage and get your hands on a receiver

Starting point is 00:29:00 who's been trying to wiggle his way out and create separation. A huge moment there and it wasn't too big for him. So I'm going to give him one by that. And also, look, he played a hell of a game in my opinion. I thought on special teams as a jammer for the Broncos filling in there. And now I think some questions kind of arise here. Like I'm going to go with obviously Chris Abram's drain, but Sarah, it's interesting enough as we're recording the show.

Starting point is 00:29:21 It is past midnight. The game just ended a few hours ago. this is obviously going to publish here shortly. It's going to premiere on YouTube in the morning for Broncos country to enjoy their cup of coffee. But at this point, we know the Broncos have a decision to make on Josh Reynolds today, right, on Tuesday. Do they release Levi Wallace at this point? Try to bring him back on the waivers on the practice squad and promote Josh Reynolds to the 53-man roster? This is a very interesting decision because I think we're all sitting here like, how is Denver going to do it?

Starting point is 00:29:53 this game might have been the decision maker for them regarding that. Yeah, I just don't know how you could trust Levi Wallace to go out there, Cody. And like you mentioned, you and I were talking before we started recording, like, you know, maybe you have an opportunity to bring Levi Wallace back on the practice squad. He's already been paid most of his salary for this year, I assume. So at that point, I'd say, why not, you know, and this year has been all about, let's get the young guys involved. Chris Abrams drain comes out there.

Starting point is 00:30:22 He looked ready to go. I mean, I know that he gave up that one catch, but it was even a bit of a questionable catch as well over it. It required Elijah Moore to make kind of a ridiculous toe drag swag. And I'm not even sure he dragged the toes. The Broncos just only had one time out to play with, didn't throw the red flag. So, you know, it's neither here nor there.

Starting point is 00:30:41 But the youth movement, Cody, has been on all year for this Denver Broncos team. It's exciting. It is. It's very exciting. So why not just dive head first into that deep end? Like let Chris Abrams drain go out there. His first game with extensive snaps would be against the Colts. You also have DeMari Mathis.

Starting point is 00:30:58 You also have the idea that, like Riley Moss, we hope we hope we will be back. And Riley, we really hope you will be back for that game because, my gosh, I don't know if we can survive another one of these. But look, it's definitely up there. It's there for the Broncos. And you know my thoughts. If they shut down Josh Reynolds, I think they'll regret it come time for the playoff run. Agreed.

Starting point is 00:31:20 And they're going to have to find a way to get the run game going if they are going to make a playoff push and even when they, if they maintain their spot and they make it in the playoffs. You have to find a way to run in the postseason. That's going to be a big key here. Look, Broncos country, Denver's going to their by week at 8 and 5. They're in a good position right now and they can control their destiny. The rest of the way here. And look, we're going to have a lot for you here to recap the first half of the season. Our biggest surprises, biggest disappointments, some things you can expect here. And also, we're going to take you in some post game stuff following the Broncos Brown's game as well.

Starting point is 00:31:49 You get to hear from rookie quarterback Chris Abrams drain. You get to hear from PJ Locke, Cortland Sutton, Jonathan Cooper. We'll recap that and more about tomorrow's episode for all you every dayers. We're going to analyze whether or not Nick Benito has a strong case for defensive player of the year. We tell you, he's got a pretty good case. We'll make the case why on tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos.

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