Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - FRUSTRATION: Denver Broncos Offense SINKS HOPES in Road Loss vs. 49ers

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos slow start on the offensive side of the ball didn't feel a comeback this week. It sucked them. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's up Broncos country? Cody Rourke. Sarah Beniger here for another episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:00:24 We're going to talk about the Broncos disappointing loss here in week four and why Denver's offense, it sunk them in this game against the San Francisco 49ers where things went wrong. plus the Broncos defense did their part through the first two and a half quarters of this game. But injuries and big plays ended up plaguing them in the second half against San Francisco. And then we'll go through the brutal injuries that decimated the Broncos in this game here specifically. And where they go from here as they dropped to a two and two on the season. All that on today's episode show brought to you by Fandu. Make this your most rewarding season ever with Fandu Rewards Club every week.

Starting point is 00:00:56 Check the Fandu app to see what's waiting for you. Sarah, let's get into this time. To put it bluntly here, the Broncos offense, the slow starts, which have been a problem, season long. It sunk them in this game against the San Francisco 49ers because really going into the second half, this game was anybody's for the taking and a couple of mistakes here and there ultimately swung the margins in favor of San Francisco. But you can pinpoint one major issue in this game. And I'll say right now the biggest issue is this offense. It really is. I mean, penalties, dropped passes, no downfield passing game to speak of, no running game really to speak of until,

Starting point is 00:01:30 hey, let's commit to the run when we really need to keep time. on the clock, guys. Let's do it. We'll catch them off guard. Maybe that's exactly what happened, Cody, as the Broncos put together, their lone touchdown drive of the game. But I'm sick of this offense, man. I am. I mean, it's dating back to last season. And yes, we have to give credit where it's due. This team is as clutch as any team in the NFL. There's no doubt about that. There's no doubt about their clutch factor. There's no doubt about it that when their backs are against the wall, man, they can put up points. They could score 30 in the second half against the Rams. They can score 20 in the second half against the Jaguars.

Starting point is 00:02:05 They can beat good teams. We've seen it. That's the source of the frustration right now, man. That is why we're ticked off watching this team struggle to move the ball at all against a team like the 49ers. The only offense is swinging it out to RJ Harvey and hoping that he can make plays after the catch. And thank goodness, RJ Harvey got off the plane and got off the bus to come play in this game because nobody else. flipping did for this Broncos offense. It's getting pathetic. It's getting dejecting.

Starting point is 00:02:36 And you watch this game and you feel like you're watching a team that just lacks completely, they let confidence. They don't necessarily look like they know what they're doing. They're off. They just don't have tempo. They're committing penalties. They can't do basic things right. They're not targeting Waddle in these games.

Starting point is 00:02:54 I mean, I know we had a touchdown in this game, but I have so many frustrations, Cody, right now. And you know me after a loss. I'm unhinged. So I want to hear from you. What are you frustrated about most after watching this offense stink it up again? Well, once again, it's the slow starts here.

Starting point is 00:03:09 But it's also the same things that are leading to those slow starts becoming a little bit of an epidemic here for this team. And the number one thing that I'll say is you look at Denver's first seven drives of offense in this game specifically. They punted on five of their first seven drives, right? You get a field goal. Okay. Denver took a lead here in this game three nothing at one juncture. But the struggle, the frustration is they're punting the football way. They're committing penalties on almost every drive. I think it was the first four drives of Denver's offense where they went through in this game.

Starting point is 00:03:40 They had no problem at times moving the ball, but then a penalty would take place and would set them back. They would have a couple. I think there were two consecutive drives in the second quarter. They had a third and short. Then they had a penalty and it backed them up. And look, Denver, I think, did better a little bit on third down in certain situations. But once again, there's no flow. There's no rhythm to this offense, Sarah.

Starting point is 00:04:00 And I think it starts as well, not only with play calling here with Davis Webb, it also starts with the run game. The Bronco is seemingly shaking up the running back rotation, which I think will probably be a big story for us this week as the team now shifts their focus on the chargers. But to me, I look at it and I take a look at how Denver got going in this game, the flow of it. No run game whatsoever. J.K. Dobbins was the leading rusher with 11 carries for 40 yards. But it wasn't really until the second half where you started to see J.K. get rolling a little bit. I mean, I think there was a stretch in the first quarter. we didn't even see him on the field. It was RJ Harvey, Tyler Bidde.

Starting point is 00:04:32 The Broncos have no identity, Sarah, right now. And it's making it hard. Like, they can't make these small mistakes because these small mistakes for them, they snowball into these really big negative plays that set them back, set them behind schedule. And then all of a sudden, you have to find urgency late in the game once again. The Broncos, it's starting to catch up with them. And I know we've gone on.

Starting point is 00:04:53 We talked about it last week against the Rams. We know that this team has the ability to pull it out of thin air, right? and they almost did. The comeback was almost, we're on comeback watch once again. And then you have something like Will Lutz not being able to make a field goal. And that kind of ends your bid right there. The reason the Broncos lost this game, so plain and simple, it's because of the offense and because they couldn't get going until late.

Starting point is 00:05:14 And that right there is a problem. You can't be a fourth quarter team in today's NFL and not show up for the first three. It's becoming a problem. And I would say Sean Payton, I caught his post-game press conference briefly. and he took this patient approach, but he was very cognizant of the fact that he's frustrated and that, yes, something has to change here with the offense, and it may be sooner rather than later

Starting point is 00:05:36 where he has to yank the reins back here from Davis Webb. Which is a tough call to have to make, right? Because obviously when we went into this season, we were thinking ourselves, okay, what scenario would that require, right? What would it have to look like on the field in order for Sean to take it back? And you and I both agreed it would have to be like on the extreme end. of the extremes in terms of like it's going to have to be so bad that he has literally no choice. It's mission critical that he takes play calling back.

Starting point is 00:06:05 And while I do believe that Davis Webb has drawn up some good play, you can't, you can't force Jalen Waddle to catch one of Bownix's only really good downfield throws in this game, right? I mean, you can't force guys to not commit penalties out there. Like, that's the tough part about it is like, okay, it kind of feels like remember in that 2015 season, when Brock Osweiler was playing pretty darn well for the Broncos late in the season.

Starting point is 00:06:30 And then all of a sudden, a couple of turnovers happened to that offense that weren't even his fault. And they're like, get him out of there. It's time for Peyton Manning to come back in the game. Well, Brock, it was sitting there like, wait a second. I didn't just fumble the ball. Like that was the running back. That wasn't me. And so that type of thing, it's just like, it's almost like, okay, hey, we tried this.

Starting point is 00:06:51 Now we've got to figure out a way to get this offense on track because it's mission critical. So honestly, Cody, nothing would surprise me. I don't think it's going to happen, but I think Sean is feeling that itch and that urge because I'm feeling it, sitting there watching this offense struggle. I think everybody's feeling it right now. And look, it's tough. Like if this was a team, Sarah,

Starting point is 00:07:09 that didn't have the expectations that they do, then I think we would say, okay, yes, you could live with ganking it back. But like for me, I'm looking at it with the team that has expectations as high as this Broncos team. And for Sean Payton to be where he's at, I can't help but think Sean's, not going to have the patience. And rightfully so, like, would you, if you were in Sean's position

Starting point is 00:07:29 to say, you know what, I'm going to be a little more patient here with Davis. And he said, when asked about play calling in Davis, he said it was a fair question, which, you know, everyone knows the Sean Payton fair question things. Like, it's a tough question and he has to answer it. And he will. But he said, it's too early for any of those types of decisions or maybe those conversations. But I guarantee you, Sean will not sit here as the Broncos, get ready to go into week five and say, you know what? We're just going to hope it gets better this week. The Broncos can practice. They can talk about it all they want, but there has to be tangible connection between not only what you're calling, but the execution of it. And it seems

Starting point is 00:08:02 far too often with this team. The simple things that we watch other bad offenses do well, Denver can't even do consistently. I'm talking running the football. It seems like they allow defenses to kind of put them in positions to dictate what the Broncos offense should do. And it shouldn't be that case. And I felt like the pressure and the protection for Denver, I didn't feel like it was as bad as what we saw last week against the Rams. I felt like the 49ers pass rush didn't really do much in this game, but they dropped a lot of guys back into coverage. So I'm curious to go back and watch the tape and see what was it specifically that led

Starting point is 00:08:33 to some of the breakdowns that we saw. But the inability to run the game inconsistencies in play calling and one or two play, sir, and we'll talk about it. The margin was Marvin Mim's wrist being down and not his forearm on a fumble. That's what really changed the tide of the game here for the Broncos in favor for the San San Francisco 49ers. frustrating, disappointing. The Broncos now dropped the two and two, and now they face another pressure. You don't want to go into Los Angeles against the winless chargers and give them life here.

Starting point is 00:09:00 We'll talk about what the Broncos can do obviously this week here. But coming up next, we're going to talk about the Broncos defense doing their job until things fell apart for them late here on today's episode of the show. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over there at Butcher Box. And one thing I always try to do every week with every meal is make sure that I get enough protein. And Butcher Box, that's why I love them because it makes quality, protein the easiest option when it's time to cook. Butcher Box delivers 100% grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught seafood, and more. All source the standards they can actually tell you about. They've already done the research and made the tough sourcing decisions. So all you have to do

Starting point is 00:09:36 is decide what's for dinner, whether it's boneless ribby steak every Tuesday night, my wife and I do that or in the morning. You want to make some bacon? Who doesn't love bacon? Butcherbox has everything you could be looking for to reach your protein goals. If you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give Butcherbox a try. Go to butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL to get $20 off your first box plus chicken breast in every box for life or fillet or New York strips for a year with free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL.

Starting point is 00:10:09 Again, that's butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL. Be sure to use our link so that they know that we sent you. Today's episode of the show was brought to you by friends over there at FanduFold. folks and welcome to the most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fandul. How rewarding are we talking? More rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring. More rewarding than an 18 point comeback, maybe even more rewarding than an offensive lineman catching a touchdown in a game. This season, Fandu is making that excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new Fandul Rewards Club featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and so much more. And every week,

Starting point is 00:10:42 you can check the Fandu app to see what's waiting inside for you. There's nothing like a game-winning play that comes down to the final seconds. That feeling is what makes football so much fun. And Fandu is adding another layer of excitement with rewards and surprises throughout the season, where you can get on the action on every NFL game, every week, all season long. And you can check out the awards club to see what they have for you inside of the app. So make this your most rewarding season ever with Fandu. Visit Fandu.com to get started.

Starting point is 00:11:09 A pretty darn good effort by the Denver Broncos defense was wasted on Levi Stadium, or at Levi Stadium, I should say, on the. San Francisco 49ers. Cody, nobody has played the 49ers offense. I've watched all their games this year. I think the Rams in week one. That was a blowout for the 49ers that we obviously saw against the dolphins. They blew them out.

Starting point is 00:11:29 Arizona, the 49ers had no problem moving the ball. Against the Broncos, they had problems moving the ball. And it was a pretty darn good performance. Like I said, by that defense in the first half, just couldn't overcome. As we've said, all fingers point back to the offense in this game. They could not overcome how poor.

Starting point is 00:11:47 the offense was, and especially after playing such a big, such a really just grinding out with injuries and all these things happening, getting off the field so many times, blocking a field goal, Zach Allen, I mean, man, for it to come down to it's 1417 and you need a big stop and they can't get one. It makes it feel like they let the team down. But really, the defense, Cody, they played good in this game. Yeah, they did. Look, I can't be mad at the defense. I'm there certainly there are some big plays that they gave up that certainly you want to go back and say, all right, you know, could they have done it? Like there was a big catch right before halftime that Mike Evans had,

Starting point is 00:12:21 but kind of negated because Zach Allen comes up and blocks the field goal right before half time. Really in the second half, the difference there was field position early on. Right? We talked about it. Marvin Mims fumble that he had there that was, you know, wrist was down, but not the forearm. And it leads to the, you know, takeaway there by the 49ers defense. It gave Brock Purdy in their offense, great field position.

Starting point is 00:12:43 We knew coming into this game, they're one of the most explosive offenses. Denver did a really good job. on putting a cap on some of those really big plays that we've seen them capitalize on through the first three weeks of the season. They had a couple of big plays in this game. And really the backbreaker came in the fourth quarter with 2.15 left. The Broncos, you know, trying to get a stop, obviously trying to play the clock into their favor as well, right trailing.

Starting point is 00:13:03 It was a one-score game at that point. Vance Joseph gets aggressive with the Blitz, which I don't think is a bad call. Powell Shannon had the right counter, tight end screen to George Kittle for a 58-yard touchdown. That was the backbreaker ultimately in this game here for the Broncos. but I'm not pinning this loss on the defense. It's also very hard, Sarah, I think, to overcome losing a guy like Pat Sartan who left the game with a non-contact ankle injury in the second half. But we don't have an update on him yet.

Starting point is 00:13:27 We're just knocking on wood and we're hoping that it's not serious and that if he has to miss time, it's not for the season. Riley Moss leaves in the third quarter with the rib injury. We'll talk about injuries in a little bit, but Denver down their top two corners in this game, Sarah. Then all of a sudden, you know, now you got Jide Barron and Chris Abram's I thought those guys actually played well. I thought Jide Barron came in and played well.

Starting point is 00:13:45 but here's the thing. When you're on the field, as long as you are defensively, it catches up to you here. And obviously, I think the end of game time of possession is not going to indicate this, but for how often the Broncos' offense was going on and off the field, it's crazy. Once again, you go through here, punt, field goal, punt, punt, punt, field goal, touchdown, miss field goal here. The Broncos offense, I'm looking at this time of possession for the most part, 51 seconds,

Starting point is 00:14:12 the longest possession that Denver had offensively, seven minutes, 48, seconds on their second possession that led to a field goal. And then they had one minute and 45 second possession that ultimately led to a punt, five minute possession that resulted in a punt. So once again, when you have that three straight drives with minus 15 yards and penalties, minus five, minus nine, that's not playing complimentary football. That's not helping the defense out. The offense going off the field quickly and then the defense giving up one or two plays late. Like that's what was the difference in this game. I think if anyone's blaming the defense for this loss, they're sorely mistaken.

Starting point is 00:14:45 No, absolutely. It's not on the defense. And like I said, I thought they played great. I think they gave the Broncos a chance to win the type of game that this Broncos team is really built to win. If you can limit the 49ers to field goal attempts like they did in the first half of this game and even into the third quarter bit, I mean, obviously that's what you want. You want to be able to start piling on a little bit of a lead here. The problem is, is you can't score a touchdown. You can't get into the end zone yourself. You can't move the ball down the field. And even when you do, then you're settling for three points instead of getting into the end zone. So it was once again, like you said, just not complimentary football.

Starting point is 00:15:24 And that's been one of the biggest talking points all year is the Broncos not being able to play complimentary football. And I'm also wondering, too, Cody, why didn't with Marvin Mims getting back for this game, why didn't they have two guys out on the gunners on punk coverage? I know that Marvin was kind of getting, he had guys in his face on pretty much every return that he had. he had fair catches. He wasn't really a factor in the return game. And that was disappointing. But I felt like they did more to give Colby Katz's opportunities by putting two guys on the gunners, as opposed to what they did with Marvin, just leaving those guys one on one on the outside. Yeah, it's a great question. I'll have to go back and watch because I agree. That was one of my takeers on,

Starting point is 00:16:03 man, Marvin hasn't really had a chance to make anything happen. And so on his one return where he is trying to make a move and he ultimately fumbles it, it's like, all right, what happened there specifically? I think it depends on what, formation, the 49ers come out and whether or not they allocate a second guy as a jammer against the gunner. But I'll have to go back and see that was just disappointing, right? We talked about the hidden yards being something that are so important last week. Colby Katzis in the return game, the hidden yards aspect of special teams swung the game and the favor of it towards Denver. And this one special teams is really kind of non-existent outside of Jeremy Krosha, which I did a prediction, five fun predictions a Saturday show

Starting point is 00:16:38 yesterday, Sarah. And I said one of them is Jeremy Krochah is going to pin one punt at the one-yard line. And unfortunately, a penalty robbed me of that prediction here, which, you know, maybe if it didn't end up there, like, who knows what could have happened because it lands at the one. I think the 49ers ended up going down the field on that drive and scoring. But just too many missed opportunities. And once again, I will say, like in this game at times, the Broncos still struggled with some mistackles. Debo Samuel had some big plays where he was running through guys. He was running through specific tackles. 49ers in this game specifically ran for over 140 yards.

Starting point is 00:17:09 Denver couldn't stop the run. They had two players go for 40 plus yards. That was McCaffrey, and that was obviously Debo with a couple. And Debo touched the ball three times, had 44 yards. And then Brock Purdy had a couple of scrambles as well. I mean, ultimately, Sarah, this was also one of those games where we talked about pressure being paramount. I know a lot of people are asking questions, where's Nick Benito? I think right now until Jonah Ellis on the other side proves that you know, you have to respect what he can do and his impact,

Starting point is 00:17:36 Bonito is going to see extra attention. I felt like he played well against the run in this game. But the Broncos didn't get as much pressure, I think, you would hope for specifically in this game here. I'm looking at it right now. Only four quarterback hits and three of them came from Zach Allen. One came from DJ Jones, but nobody else registered in that department.

Starting point is 00:17:52 That was a little disappointing. Yeah, it was. I mean, like you said, the mistackles, you can't have that against a team like the 49ers. And when you have guys like Debo Samuel, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, all of those guys excel at breaking tackles, at creating in space.

Starting point is 00:18:10 And we saw that, you know, unfortunately, in this game. I felt like the Broncos did a decent job of containing Christian McCaffrey, but unfortunately, just a couple of backbreaking plays. And the ball not bouncing your way. Debo fumbled on a kickoff return as well. And just don't have the ball bounce your way on a play like that. It's just, look, folks wanted to give the Broncos a bunch of flack for the way that things went down against the Rams and act like, man, the Broncos had stuff handed to them. Look, stuff happens going the opposite way all the time. So that's just, it's not to say that one

Starting point is 00:18:42 call was right and one call is wrong. Like the fumble to Marvin Mims, like you said, was a turning point in this game. And I mean, you got the announcers on there debating with the referee who's sitting at his house watching the game. They're like, was that the wrist or was that the forearm? And it's like, holy cow, like he's down. Come on. Let's not be stupid about this.

Starting point is 00:19:01 This is stupid that we're talking about this. So it's just unfortunate that these judgment calls get made like that. But again, don't get yourself in a position. Just like we said with the Rams thing and the pass interference. Don't get yourself in a position where one singular play ruins the game for you, right? Go score on those opportunities the defense gave you throughout the course of a game. Go score when you have chances with the football. Go make plays.

Starting point is 00:19:25 Go be the one to be the breaking the tackles. Like that's just the frustrating thing is the missed opportunities and the fact that this team, when they get down bad, Cody, they just feel like they're so down bad. They feel like they like, yes, they can climb out of a hole. But man, when they're playing dejected, It just feels like nothing is going to. Yeah. And look, I think part of that dejection was, you know, what happened due to, you know, injuries.

Starting point is 00:19:48 Three key players for the Broncos leave this game with an injury. No major updates on them yet. But a massive concern what that outlook looks like ahead of the Chargers week. We'll get into that here on today's episode. Lockdown Bracos. Broncos country, today's post game show was brought to you by our friends over there at Temple. October, November. They get chaotic fast between Halloween, football, Thanksgiving prep,

Starting point is 00:20:10 and everything else filling up on the calendar, cooking dinner can easily become the first thing to go. I'm actually moving to. I'm getting into a new house. So that's going to be crazy for me. Tempo has been a go-to for those busy days when you still want a real meal without spending your evening in the kitchen. Tempo, they deliver fresh, chef-cured and dietitian-approved meals right to your door.

Starting point is 00:20:28 Each meal is perfectly portioned for lunch or dinner and ready in just two minutes. So you can get real food without the sad desk lunch or drive-through regret. With more than 20 recipes every week in nutrient-rich ingredients, Tempo, they also give you a variety while helping you stay consistent with your healthy habits between work, football, and everything else that's going on right now in my counter. There are definitely days when cooking just is happening, and I don't want to do it. Having a tempo meal that's ready in two minutes means that I can still have an actual meal without adding another task to my day while also reaching my protein and nutrient goals. Tempo comes in clutch for a limited time. Tempo is offering my listener 60% off your first box.

Starting point is 00:21:05 Go to Tempommills.com slash locked on 60. That's Tempomills.com slash locked on 60 for 6. 60% off your first box. Tempomills.com slash locked on 60 rules and restrictions apply. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you thought about trying therapy with our long-term partner, Better Help, insurance options may now be available nationwide with an average copay for eligible members of just $23 per session.

Starting point is 00:21:30 World Mental Health Day is on October 10th, but your mental health doesn't exactly follow a calendar. Stress doesn't wait for a certain day. Burnout doesn't have an RSVP. And sometimes your brain decides to Spira 1140. 7 p.m. Mental health is part of regular life. And therapy doesn't have to be reserved for the biggest moments in your life. It can also be a place to work through the smaller things that take up more mental space than you realize, whether it be a stressful situation at work, a relationship dynamic that you can't

Starting point is 00:21:56 quite put your finger on, or simply that feeling that something feels a little off. That is okay. I've used better help therapy before in the past. I got matched with a licensed clinician and we vibe well. But if you don't vibe well with your therapist, you can change therapists at any time at no additional charge. And if you've been waiting to start therapy, BetterHelp works with more than 125 health plan networks and eligible members, have an average co-pay of there's $23 per session with insurance. Don't have insurance or don't live in the United States.

Starting point is 00:22:24 You can still get 10% off your first month. Visit betterhelp.com slash lockdown to explore your payment options. That's better. H-E-L-P.com slash locked on. There's nothing worse than a loss in any NFL game, but there's nothing more debilitating than losing key players to injuries and not knowing how long they may or may not be out. We'll get into that.

Starting point is 00:22:43 The injuries to Pat Sertan, Riley Moss, and Pat Bryant here on today's episode. Real quick, I want to say thank you so much all the everydayers out there in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day, also the number one sports podcast network in the country. Sir, look, I felt like this just seemingly added up, not only for Denver, but I even think for San Francisco injuries have impacted the Broncos in a negative way in this game here in week four. And it all started with Pat Sertan leaving right before halftime, suffering a non-contact ankle injury. And then Riley Moss leaving in the third quarter with a rib injury.

Starting point is 00:23:16 And then Pat Bryant getting rolled up on. And the replay of that looked brutal, being carted off the field. Those are three massive impact players here for this Broncos team. Two of them on the defense, one of them on the offense. Losing any of these guys is a big blow. And my hope, Sarah, and we don't have anything official at the time that we're sitting down recording this. My hope is that these guys don't have to miss long. I really hope so, Cody.

Starting point is 00:23:39 And now it's not the time for jokes, so I'm not going to make any jokes. But the 49ers, they're like cursed or something. You know what I'm saying? It feels like the injuries just follow this team and whoever they're playing against, apparently, like the Broncos coming out of this game, losing Pat Sertan to a non-contact,

Starting point is 00:23:53 Pat Bryant getting rolled up on the way that he did. On one of the only good offensive plays of the day. So go figure, I mean, the Broncos finally get something. Bo Nix, by the way, on that play, we need to see more of that from, Nix where he's getting outside of the pocket and stepping up and weaving out to his right and making plays on the run. Like that's one of the things that's been missing for this team.

Starting point is 00:24:15 But unfortunately, of course, on the back end of it, you lose one of your better young offensive players right now. I'm one of the only guys who's producing offense for your team. And then, yeah, to lose both Riley and Pat makes you obviously really thankful for guys like Chris Abrams Drain and Jaudey Barron, who like you said earlier, Cody, I felt like they played pretty well in relief of those guys. and you do feel rather confident that those guys can step up. It's certainly not a situation like they had against the Cleveland Browns back in 2024

Starting point is 00:24:43 when I can't even remember who that was out there playing corner at this point. I've blocked it from my memory. I'm sure you'll remember the name. Levi Wallace, unfortunately. Levi, yeah, shoot, Levi. I hope you're doing okay, man. That was tough. At least Jerry Judy is no longer, you know,

Starting point is 00:24:58 ripping people for 200 plus on a weekly basis. But, you know, unfortunately, Cody, like when you get no updates during a game, that's tough. But also, like, it sounded to me watching the game, watching the broadcast, like, Sean Peyton was like, we'll see what I haven't heard officially on Pat coming out a half time. So, like, that kind of, in a way, gives you a little bit of optimism. I don't know what's going to come out after we record this and in the coming days.

Starting point is 00:25:23 But it kind of gives you optimism as you see things from a glass half full standpoint of like, well, if he was still wondering if he was coming back into the game, maybe there's a, or maybe he was just lying. I have no idea. you hope that it's short term for all three of these guys. Yeah, and look, I would say like maybe the good news, and once again, we never want to speculate on injuries, but I would say like the good news,

Starting point is 00:25:43 considering it was a non-contact for Sartan, is the fact that he was actually putting weight on both feet while walking, right, even on the leg where apparently the injury happened. You know, I think sometimes when you see a non-contact ankle injury, and they're calling an ankle, not calf, you know, sometimes I think the first thing people thought about was Achilles. But I don't think you'd be able to walk on an Achilles. So knock on wood, hopefully we find out, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:05 know, hopefully it's good news, not bad news. And even if the Broncos have to miss these guys for a few games, that's better than missing them for the rest of the season. But it also gives the Broncos a little bit of a glimpse into what life looks like without Riley Moss potentially as well on the outside. I know he's a polarizing figure here in Broncos country. He wants to debate to debate him and his status. I thought Jide came up and tackled really well in this game specifically.

Starting point is 00:26:27 I like that he brings this physicalness to it that maybe we weren't seeing early on in this game. I think it's a confidence builder for him. Chris Abrams, Drane. We know it was good in coverage. but without PS2, without Riley, that's tough for a defense to overcome, especially as you get ready to face some really tough receivers. I mean, the Broncos up next, it's the Chargers,

Starting point is 00:26:43 short turnaround against the Seattle Seahawks and Jackson, Smith, and Jigba, who's lighting the world on fire right now. So not to look too far ahead. If they have prolonged absences between PS2 and Riley, that's going to be a major concern. But I'm really concerned about Pat Bryant and him missing a lot of time. I feel like outside of everybody, right, yes, you brought in Jalen Waddle to be the guy that's going to be the chain moving.

Starting point is 00:27:05 he's dealt with some drops this year, which have been a little problematic. He caught his first touchdown, obviously late in this game. But I feel like Pat Bryant is the secret sauce to this wide receiver room to this offense. I think he's a key playmaker. And if he's going to miss a prolonged amount of time, that's going to be a big blow. But now it means little Jordan Humphrey will have to step up alongside Troy Franklin. Yeah, they'll have to resign little Jordan Humphrey to the team and bring him back. Right.

Starting point is 00:27:28 So I think that with obviously Pat Bryant and I know Bo Nix isn't the team doctor or the team trainer or things like that, Cody. but I did see in his post-game press conference. He said that he was hoping to have Pat back sooner rather than later. I guess I don't necessarily know what players will or won't say about guys being injured and what they know and things like that. But definitely, once again, just trying to keep an optimistic viewpoint at this point because, like you said, Pat has been sort of that secret sauce and he's become one of Bo's favorite targets.

Starting point is 00:27:57 And I was even saying during the game in one of our group chats, that, man, I feel like they should start giving Pat some of Cortland Sutton's, you know, snaps because Cortland was, I don't even know what that was in the first half of this game where he's just legitimately running into the defensive backs and like, I don't know if hoping there was going to be

Starting point is 00:28:16 penalties called or what the heck he was doing. He's falling down. It was just a weird first half and it's been a weird first four games from Sutton. So I don't like it. I don't like any of it. I don't like injuries. I don't like the way this team is playing. I don't like the way Bo Nix is playing.

Starting point is 00:28:32 I know that a lot of folks wonder like, will we ever be critical of Bo Nix. Absolutely. Like, Bo has to play better. He has to be, he has to be able to throw the ball down the field accurately when he's given opportunities. He has to make, you know, make plays on the move. He's got to make plays with his legs. He's got to find guys other than R.J. Harvey.

Starting point is 00:28:49 And the receiver's got to catch the dang ball. You know what I'm saying? So I just, it's all so frustrating, man. These are the types of post games that you wish, like, if you lose to the 49ers, you wish it was like, man, they played, they played a flipping good game out there. And like,

Starting point is 00:29:04 they gave it everything they had and it just didn't bounce their way. Well, here we are. And it's like, man, they just played bad. And they still had a chance to win. Like, they were still right there. And it just doesn't, I don't know. I don't even know what to say at this point because we keep talking about the same stuff with this offense, win or lose. It's the definition of insanity, my friend.

Starting point is 00:29:24 And look, here's the thing, too. It's like, you know, for Bo and this offense specifically, you know, Bo has to be better. I would say Bo is like at the, you know, kind of towards the bottom of the concerns with the offense. I think in general, the whole offense, including Bo is a concern right now. But I'd say he's the least of their problems, right? Like, when you have someone who's running a great route, then the ball's not great from Beau, right? Or protection doesn't hold up.

Starting point is 00:29:45 Or Bo delivers a strike and someone drops out. Like, there's never, it hasn't been like so far this season where the offense has just had this moment where everything, like three different layers come together in perfection. It's always like one thing that's just pulling away from something being successful with this unit. And then certainly play calling, certainly factors into that. And look, this is a very interesting point. The Broncos last year, after three games, Sarah, they were one and two, right?

Starting point is 00:30:10 Then they went off to one 11 straight. Now they're two and two. And they can't let one loss against the 49ers teeter into a loss next week against the winless Los Angeles Chargers who look like a steaming pile of dog do on the front porch right now. The Broncos can't give those guys confidence because then it could send them into a little bit of a spiral. Denver's at 500 right now. Look, we know the gauntlet is tough, but you can't let this loss turn into another one. And that'll be a big focus here for the Broncos this week.

Starting point is 00:30:35 Sarah and I will have you covered tomorrow. We're going to talk about the Broncos run game. Is it time to switch up the running back rotation for good and split up the carries in different ways? That'll be the main topic of tomorrow's episode, Locked on Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - FRUSTRATION: Denver Broncos Offense SINKS HOPES in Road Loss vs. 49ers

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.