Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - GRIT: Denver Broncos BATTLE TESTED Identity Huge for NFL Playoffs
Episode Date: January 6, 2026The Denver Broncos have been battle tested all season long and that is huge for their identity heading into the NFL Playoffs. That's one of three areas of confidence the Broncos should have going into... the postseason. Cody Roark and Sayre Bedinger discuss that, why Bo Nix's playmaking ability is a huge advantage for them in the postseason, and why the pass rush of Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper and the Broncos defense is entering the playoffs with much needed momentum. Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans.Click here to join -- https://lockedonbroncos.supercast.com/ Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at http://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDON BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON. DripDropRight now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to http://dripdrop.com and use promo code lockedonnfl. Ultimate QBUltimate QB is totally free to play, has no ads, and works 100% offline — perfect for when you want to sneak in a quick game or two on the go. Just head over to http://ULTIMATE-QB.COM. FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. So before tip-off, check the FanDuel app and see what’s dropping during NBA Happy Hour — every Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern. A little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy. PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. ZocdocStop putting off your doctor’s appointments and get the care you need.Go to http://Zocdoc.com/lockedonnfl to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
The Denver Broncos are playoff bound, and there are three things that you should be confident about as they head into the postseason.
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?
Welcome into another episode, Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast.
Part of the Locked on podcast network, the number one sports podcast network in the country.
As the Broncos are playoff bound here, we know,
they have the number one seed.
They have home field advantage.
And this weekend, we'll be able to see who they'll eventually play
as the wild card round kicks off here.
But we're going to talk about three reasons why the Broncos and you should be confident
going into the postseason.
We'll highlight why the Broncos, them being battle tested this season is a testament
to how far they can go this season if they want to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl.
Plus, Bo Nixon, his playmaking ability is something that can't be ignored.
As we've seen him time and time again this season,
put the Broncos in some big time moments.
And on top of that, we'll talk about the Broncos defense and the lethal pass rush,
needing to be a key element for them as they go into the postseason.
If that can ramp up, the Broncos might be able to repeat history 10 years after Super Bowl 50.
You'll get all that here on today's episode of the show.
I'm Cody Rourke, credential Broncos reporter from all high sports.
Do it as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert over there, predominantly orange.com.
Thanks to all the everydayers out there in Broncos country.
Thanks for doing again, making us your first listen.
Sarah, look, I think as we look at, you know, weeks one through 18 in the microscope,
there's plenty of good, there's plenty of bad, there's a lot of room for growth for this team,
and there's areas we've seen them take massive strides forward with.
You know, I think some people were concerned about, you know,
what we've seen from the Broncos in week 18 going into the playoffs here,
but I feel like we should talk about three things that give us confidence as Denver gets ready for the playoffs.
We'll talk about concerns obviously in tomorrow show here.
But I think the number of thing that stands out about this Broncos team,
is the resilience, the grit that this team has.
They have been battle tested this season,
and almost every time they have answered the call.
Yeah, I don't think there's a more battle tested team in the entire NFL
when it comes to what the Broncos have been able to do this season.
Like you said, they haven't literally been able to win every single battle.
But I think in terms of, you know, this past season,
I think we would all agree,
other than that Jaguars game,
it feels like the Broncos could have legitimately won every game that they played.
And I know the Jaguars kind of took it to them a little bit,
but I know the Broncos haven't necessarily been playing their best football here down the stretch.
But what I will say, Cody, is that I feel like when you look back at all the different chapters of
this season, as I was saying on our squad show after the game on Sunday night, I really feel like
you can't ignore the chapters of this story that have been written for this team.
When you talk about come from behind wins on the road, when you talk about signature wins at
home, you talk about beating teams that are among the elite when it comes to defense in the NFL,
the Eagles on the road. You beat Houston on the road. You absolutely dominated in the second half of that Green Bay Packers game. So I think a lot of folks want to kind of downplay, diminish what the Broncos have done this season, looking at some of the games they've played against backup quarterbacks or what have you. But when you look at the whole of this season, the Broncos have played against the best of the best. They've played against some of the worst teams. They've caught some teams on down weeks. But I think at the end of the day, what you look at with this team is like you said, that resilience, the situation.
ability. I think all of these games, backups, starters, whoever you want to say,
I think the situational football and the positions that the Broncos have been in this season
where they've had to come back, where they've had to hold on to a lead, where they've had to
get down the field to get into field goal range to win. All those situations benefit you
tremendously in the playoffs. The situational awareness of this team has been fantastic. I would say
for a large portion of the season. And look, I think you see a lot of people trying to move the
goalposts about this Broncos team. Well, there's strength to schedule. Nobody really cares about
that at the end of the day, right? You play who you play, right? Because I think the narrative would be
very different. Like, for example, let's say the Broncos lost some of these games on their schedule
and they're like, well, they lost to this team and this team wasn't very good. It's like,
all right, well, you know, they're going to, it's a lose, lose. They beat a team that they should beat.
They get criticized for it. They lose to a team that they should be. They get criticized for it.
So what's the point of playing this game if that's how we're going to look at things, right?
I like the fact that Denver's been able to answer the call, right?
And the fact of the matter is, I go back, you mentioned chapters.
I really start to think about after Denver started off to season one and two, right?
They're one and two.
Then they had a chance to obviously, they faced probably one of the more tougher stretches of the schedule.
You had a Monday night football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Granted, no Joe Burrow in that game, but they still had all their key defensive players.
And obviously, the Bengals defense wasn't great.
But here's my point.
They still had Jamar Chase.
They still had T. Higgins.
They still had these playmakers that can't present the challenge to you,
no matter who's throwing the ball to you.
Denver had that game.
Then it's a short week because you play that Monday night.
Now you go to Philadelphia on the road.
You find yourself down in that game.
You come back.
You storm back against a very good defense, a very good Philly team,
and you win that game.
Then you got to go to London.
I just think that that stretch of that schedule coming out of London,
and then all of a sudden now you play the New York Giants.
You score 33 points in the fourth quarter to come back.
then you play the Dallas Cowboys, then you play obviously, you know, the Raiders, then it goes to the Chiefs, then you have your biweek.
That was the toughest stretch of the schedule, and the Broncos went undefeated in that stretch.
Winning 11 straight games is not a fluke.
That's a hard thing to do in the NFL.
It doesn't matter who the heck you play.
That's why I think Denver's going to be resilient.
That's why I think Denver's going to be ready for the postseason.
Now, granted, look, I think the level of competition is going to be a little bit tougher going to postseason.
You're probably going to face some teams you've already faced.
some of the tougher teams, like maybe the Chargers, maybe you face the Jaguars Gint,
maybe you face the Houston Texans again, right? Those are all possibilities, but Denver's
done that already. Denver has been able to answer the call against those teams, and I'm excited
to see how they move going forward here. I wanted to ask you this question too, Sarah,
when we talk about this team in situational awareness, situational football, it does seem like
in big games, big moments, it does seem like this Broncos team this year has been able to
play up to those standards in moments that they need to.
I think the biggest question that Broncos fans have, and I'm curious for your thoughts
on this, can we see it be a full, like a full court effort a little bit in the postseason?
Is there, like, would you be shocked if Denver came out in the division run and suddenly just
played, you know, I would say complimentary football in all three phases and rolled to a win?
I don't think I would be shocked, but I think it would be like, man, it's about time, right?
And it would be the perfect time for the Broncos to pull that out.
because we have seen it on occasion this season.
I think that's the big thing why a lot of folks in the national media
don't necessarily respect the Broncos as a number one seat.
I think that's why a lot of fans in Broncos country are sitting here saying,
like, hey, I'm not feeling necessarily the best about this team going into the postseason.
Although you don't take for granted the 14 wins,
I think everybody expects this team to look like they did against Dallas.
Everybody expects this team to look like they did in the second half against Green Bay
or in the fourth quarter against the Eagles, right?
That's the type of, that's when we dream about what this team could be.
When we think about the offense playing with tempo,
the defense creating turnovers, getting big time stops,
preventing the other team from scoring touchdowns,
keeping them out of the end zone.
Like that's the type of stuff that I think everybody's come to expect from this team
because we've seen it.
Once you see it, you're like, hey, now I know that you can do it.
So do it consistently.
The tough thing is that the NFL is a lot.
harder than that. It's a lot harder than just saying, hey, let's go be consistent and be dominant every
single week. But we have seen it many times, I would say. I don't think it's even just like
isolated incidents. I think, I thought the Kansas City game in Denver is one of the best games this
team played all year. And it was a three point win, right? So that's just how hard the NFL is. It's
difficult to pull away from teams. Most games in the NFL are going to come down to one possession or
maybe two possessions. It's going to be down to the wire.
the majority of the time.
So when you do get those opportunities to sort of put your foot down and put,
you know,
the pedal to the metal or,
you know,
put your foot on the throat or whatever you want to,
whatever analogy you want to use there,
whatever metaphor you want to use,
the Broncos just haven't been able to do that consistently this year compared to last
year.
But I think they have a better situation right now than they did a year ago.
Because remember,
that blowout win against Kansas City,
it ended up being a bit of fools gold going into that Buffalo game.
I feel like the disrespect for what the Broncos have been able to do situationally in tight games,
winning close, winning tough.
I feel like that's going to be fuel for them going into the postseason and the divisional round.
And they have a chance to get guys back healthy.
Look, you get this week off.
You're going to next week, maybe Dre Greenlaw returns.
You know, you get Garrett Bulls and Alex Forsyth a little bit more up to speed in terms of the injuries
they suffered at Sundays win against the Chargers.
I think once again, just being around this team all year, Sarah,
this is a resilient group of guys.
And I think in the postseason,
we are going to see their best version of themselves.
And hopefully they can overcome some of the issues
that they have had throughout the regular season.
But right now it's really, it's win or go home.
And I think the Broncos, because of that,
I think they're going to thrive in that type of situation here.
But Broncos country coming up next.
We're going to highlight why Bo Nixon, his playmaking ability,
is something that should be talked about as the Broncos,
get ready for the playoffs.
We'll break it all down.
You're on today's episode of the show.
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Although the Denver Broncos offense hasn't exactly been
consistent this season, the playmaking ability of bow knicks is
going to be one of this team's biggest reasons to be confident for a
deep playoff run and potentially a Super Bowl run here,
Broncos country as we get set for the divisional round,
as we get set to kick back and just kind of wait,
watch everybody else battle it out to play against the Denver Broncos in the
divisional round.
We're going to be chatting about this team's reasons to be confident.
We'll also maybe on an upcoming episode,
maybe give you some reasons why maybe not so confident here going into the
playoffs.
Some things maybe to correct.
But every single step of the way,
you know your boys, Cody and Sarah,
we got you.
And all you every day is out there.
We appreciate you.
so much. If you haven't already done so, we want to encourage you to become an everyday
all-access club member. And there's so many different benefits to that. Cody obviously is
cranking out all 22 film clips. We'll have bonus episodes of the show. We'll have plenty of
other additional content, locker room clips that you get from the players exclusively there.
So sign up for that today. Check out the link in the show notes to do exactly that.
Cody, I think that this might be a bit of a controversial take. It might not be a unanimous take,
right. The Denver Broncos, the reasons to be confident going into this playoff run,
or potential Super Bowl run here, Super Bowl 60, Meet me in Santa Clara. I feel like Bo Nix's
playmaking ability is one of the biggest reasons why we can have confidence in the Broncos
making a playoff run. Has the offense been consistent this year? Not exactly. Do they have the best
balance of any offense in the NFL? Not exactly, but Bo Nix has made plays when it matters
the most. He's been one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the NFL this entire season.
I mean, so far on his two-year career, he's got 24 wins, which ties Russell Wilson for the most
wins by a quarterback in their first two seasons in NFL history. And on top of that, eight fourth
quarter comebacks in his career. I mean, Sarah, I mean, what we've seen from the Broncos,
when they're down in situations, right? Remember back when we were young, everyone would talk about
it all the time when Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were on the field. They're like, oh, yeah, they got, you know,
they have this many fourth quarter career winning, you know, game winning drives.
It used to be hyped.
And now all of a sudden, you know, it's like, oh, the Broncos are coming back.
Now all of a sudden, comebacks are a bad thing when you talk to the national media.
That's why I can't stand it here.
But five fourth quarter comebacks for Bo Nix and the Broncos this season,
seven game winning drives for them here in 2025.
His playmaking ability is a big reason for that.
And like when Bo is on, Sarah, he is on.
And I think the Green Bay Packers game was a great display of them.
that where he just seemingly had this confidence and rhythm where he was just on fire,
dropping back knowing exactly where to go, bang, bang, bang,
just seeing the defense relatively well.
And the fact that the Broncos haven't gotten a lot of man coverage this year when they're
facing opposing defenses for them to be able to overcome guys dropping six or seven guys back
into zones against three or four man route concepts.
I mean, they're at a number of disadvantage with that.
But knowing where to go, that is huge.
And I think Bow Nix's ball placement as well, especially against some of these soft zones.
We see it where you've got to.
corner who's playing underneath the safety over the top,
Bo still finds a way to throw it into a window where it needs to be.
I think I agree with you.
And I don't know if you had a chance to catch the John Elway documentary.
Yeah, right, the Netflix one.
Fantastic, by the way.
You see the resilience, the competitive nature that John has.
And I'm not saying that Bo Nix is John Elway, folks.
I'm saying the competitive nature.
I see it with Bo.
I'm there around Bo every single week in the locker room and at practice.
He has this chip on his shoulder.
This is a guy who's ultra competitive.
He wants to go up tempo.
He wants to be great.
I think one of the things that stands out to me is, you know, you've heard John Elway go on, you know, like
club Shayshay talking to Shannon Sharp talking about the Broncos team this year versus
the Broncos team in 2015.
He even gave a nod saying, I think offensively, they're better than what we had in 2015.
They have more athleticism.
They have more explosiveness, which I do think is the key.
And Bo Nix is a really big reason why, Sarah.
Like the Broncos, as much as people want to talk trash on Bo Nix,
you have all these Twitter avatar mouth breathers that are like 12 or 13 years old
that don't actually know football that are trying to do whatever they can to take shots at Bo Nix.
Bo Nix is a winner.
He's a playmaker.
I think you look at his body of work.
If you've actually watched the tape, you'll see that as the case.
Yeah, I think you could really drop the mic right there, Cody.
I mean, you said it perfectly.
And it's exactly the reason why I am confident in the Broncos offense going into the postseason,
despite the fact that they didn't necessarily pass the eye test against Kansas City.
They went extremely vanilla and conservative against the chargers.
They weren't converting in the red zone.
I feel like there's still every reason to be confident that they can turn it on.
Because what have we said so many times throughout the year?
What have we heard others say?
Well, if the Broncos play like that against the Cowboys,
they're going to get run out of their own stadium.
Well, if the Broncos play like that on the road against the Eagles,
they're going to get blown out by the defending Super Bowl champ.
So if the Broncos play like that against the Green Bay Packers,
the Packers are going to come in and absolutely dominate them
and prove everybody right that the Broncos are home underdogs.
I just feel like that's the conversation that we've had all year.
And If Man is reserved for one player and one player alone.
And he plays for the Los Angeles Chargers.
So we don't have If Man right now in Broncos country.
We have a guy who is the It Man.
He has the It factor.
He makes things happen late in games.
So I'd rather have It Man than If Man.
because right now, Bo Nix is the one who took charge late in games against,
you know, Philadelphia, against Houston, against Green Bay in the second half.
Bo Nix is the one who was, I mean, out there offensively, Cody,
other than Jolil McLaughlin, Bo Nix is the only guy making anything happen.
It felt like he was at times playing without an offensive line.
And so I understand that there's skepticism and there is a healthy level of skepticism,
I think, going into the playoffs, the running game, not necessarily.
firing on all cylinders.
Your quarterback just got sacked four times in a game with primarily backups.
But when it comes down to, again, those chapters of this season,
Bo Nix's playmaking ability is one of the biggest reasons why the Denver Broncos are a number
one seat in the AFC.
It's one of the primary reasons why this team won 14 games is your quarterback's ability
to go and win you a game when you absolutely have to have it.
Two-minute drills at the end of half, whether it's the first half or the end of the game,
I don't know that there's a better quarterback in the NFL right now than Bo Nix at getting your team in scoring position.
He just situationally, I wish we could see it more consistently, right?
We talk about the tempo, all that stuff.
But it just, this is one of the biggest reasons why I feel like you can have confidence
is knowing that your quarterback is going to be able to help win you games in clutch moments,
especially in the playoffs.
You've got to have somebody with ice in his veins.
And Bo Nix has that.
Broncos Country.
What is your level of confidence in Bo Nix is the team?
team prepares for the NFL playoffs.
This is a position they haven't been in in quite some time,
being able to have a first round by home field advantage
where they get to open up with a home playoff game.
And if they win, they get a host at home AFC championship game.
What is your level of confidence here in Bow Nix and his playmaking ability?
Make sure you let's know here on today's episode of the show.
But coming up next, we're also going to tell you why the past rush that Denver has
is a reason for us to be confident going into the postseason
as Denver looks to get out to the quarterback and force more takeaway.
you'll get all that and more.
Here on today's Lockdown Broncos.
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Another reason of confidence is that Denver Broncos prepare for a Super Bowl run here in the NFL
playoffs has to be the lethal pass rush and it unlocking potentially at the right time going
into the postseason.
We'll break it all down here on today's episode of the show.
Just want to say thank you once again to the everydayers out there in Broncos country.
Thanks for tuning in making us your first list.
We appreciate you so much.
We have you covered literally every single day all year long.
You're never going to get a break.
There's never going to be an off season.
We're so excited about what's to come here.
here in the next couple of weeks is the Broncos have a divisional playoff game,
hopefully an AFC championship game, hopefully a Super Bowl appearance and a Super Bowl win.
And then a whole bunch of fun offseason stuff in the meantime behind all of that.
So thanks for locking in with us here, Lockdown Broncos.
Sarah, you know, another reason of confidence for this Denver team going into the postseason.
It felt like defensively they closed out the regular season on a high note against
Trey Lance and the Chargers generating two takeaways, scoring off of one of them.
But I also think the pass rush that we have seen that obviously led the NFL
NFL this year, Sarah, 68 sacks by Denver, one short of being very nice at this point.
Denver has been able to get after the QB, right?
Nick Benito obviously had a really good game here, but going into the playoffs,
I felt like this is what we needed to see.
And the fact that the Broncos have a chance to get John Franklin.
Myers healthy for the divisional round, the lethal pass rush element, I think is going to be
something to really watch for here for the Broncos as they get ready for the divisional
round.
If you can't rush the quarterback, you can't win.
the playoffs. I mean, there's just no question about it, which is doom and gloom, I guess,
for the San Francisco 49ers, who I think had like 18 sacks in the regular season or something
crazy like that. So Broncos country, you should be very thankful for 68 sacks and the difference
that that makes all throughout the course of a season. And going into the playoffs, you wanted to
end the regular season, I think on a high note, obviously, after that game against the chiefs where
kind of came into question, hey, what was up with the pass rush against a third string quarterback?
and then Sean Payton's talking about cage rush and introducing a lot of people to that concept
and why necessarily it doesn't matter how many sacks you get when you're doing a cage rush.
But when you're going up against a young quarterback like Trey Lance or Chris Ola Doken or
a veteran quarterback like Josh Allen or C.J. Stroud or whoever it may be in the playoffs,
you want to have that ability to affect the quarterback's timing.
You want to have the ability to affect throws at the line of scrimmage.
You want to have the ability to get this team off schedule, whoever it is that you're
to play, right? And so for the past rush, that's especially important for the Denver Broncos,
because we know that Vance Joseph wants to be aggressive. He loves to disguise coverages with, you know,
bringing those two linebackers up into the A gaps and saying, hey, you don't know who's going to
come if anyone's going to come. You don't know if I'm going to bring a defensive back.
It's so critical for the Broncos to be able to get home against opposing quarterbacks because
it forces the issue for the other team in terms of their strategic planning and the way that
they manage games within the game.
So that's going to be a huge element playing at home, defenses, I mean,
offenses that come to the Mile High City, Cody, you can speak to this.
We've seen teams frequently have to take timeouts because they call multiple plays.
They get up to the line of scrimmage.
They can't hear what adjustments are being called.
And so they have to call a timeout to get into the right looks because the Broncos pass rush
is such a threat every single down.
This is the thing that's going to help this team create extra possessions.
in the postseason, it's going to be the thing that helps this team close out games in the postseason.
It's going to be the thing that helps create turnovers in the postseason, all of the above for the Denver
Broncos, the pass rush, maybe the biggest reason, Cody, out of all three that we've discussed,
to be confident in this team going into the playoffs.
We've seen how dominant it can be.
And my question is, is can they find a way to flip the switch and turn it up just a little bit, right?
Turn that notch up a little bit higher.
I mean, it is so much about Vance's defense is about balanced and, you know,
calculated risks being aggressive and also understanding when to be conservative.
And I think we see that approach here from Denver because you mentioned it, that formula.
I mean, Sarah, I look at this past rush and obviously we look at the productivity that this unit has not only just an outside linebacker, but defensive end, defensive tackle, linebackers, defensive backs getting involved in the blitzing game to be able to get after the quarterback.
I mean, it is at that level that I would say that you need in the postseason.
Like what do we see in 2015?
We saw the Broncos defense, Von Miller, DeMarcus, where are those guys?
They didn't look, they didn't blitz a lot of safeties.
They just blitzed the outside linebackers.
They had a defensive line that could obviously get to the quarterback as well.
We saw that pass rush take over in the postseason in 2015.
Can it do the same exact thing here in 20, 25?
I think that they can do that.
And I hope that they find a way to do it because it does speed up the clock of QBs.
And look, you can't just sit back now anymore against guys.
The quarterbacks, he mentioned the herberts, the Josh Allen's,
the C.J. Strouds, the Aaron Rogers, whoever else Drake made, you can't just sit back and let them just
scan the field and find the open guys. You have to be able to pressure those guys and make it just a little more
difficult for them to reduce the explosive play factor. And that, I think, is where you find that balance.
And I think maybe some fans have some questions about, you know, is this head coaching search for other teams going to impact the Broncos game planning?
Because Vance Joseph is getting requests for interviews to my understanding, I don't know if he's accepted them yet or if the team is granted.
him permission, but I think that they might wait.
I don't know what Vance is going to do, but certainly I think it is something to pay attention
to here.
But I know just talking to guys in the defensive locker room after the game, Sarah from Sunday,
they're excited.
They believe that they're about to play their best brand of football on that side of the
ball here.
Hopefully the offense can continue to match that and be able to do that in their own regard.
But I think that the pass rush, the lethal combination, the guys that they have in the
secondary, I think that this is a good formula for Denver to have here going forward.
But I think right now you can look at it outside of Houston.
I think Denver's got one of the better defenses right now in the NFL postseason,
and they need to play like it.
Yeah, if they play like they have when they're at their peak,
I mean, there's nobody that can beat this team in Denver.
I don't think that's the case, Cody.
I mean, when this defense has been on top of its game this season,
I think we've seen any quarterback that they face is you're going to have a tough time winning.
And I don't think they were at their best against Jacksonville.
I don't think they were at their best in every single game.
But when they are, I mean, shoot, you're not going to be able to get much of an inch against this defense.
They just, they fly around.
They're instinctive.
Vance Joseph, when he's in his bag, he's calling great coverage, you know, all these different things.
It's just too much for opposing teams to handle, especially if the Broncos can make you one dimensional and force the ball into a quarterback's hands where you can't run the ball.
If the Broncos are able to get third and long, second and long situations, you really feel like that's going to be the biggest advantage.
in the postseason that you can possibly have, especially hosting these games, right?
If the Broncos are going on the road, the pass rush would be equally as effective when it comes
to, hey, getting after quarterbacks and making sure that you don't have home field advantage.
So I think either way, you could flip this and say the Broncos, their pass rush is going to be the
biggest advantage out of maybe any team in the NFL.
The Houston Texans, like you said, have the only other argument there.
So I really feel like this team, Cody, is, is, I mean, a true Super Bowl contender for anybody that's wondering, like, our actual thoughts on this.
And, and, you know, we talk about this team every single day.
And I think it kind of goes by the wayside a lot of times because you and I, you know, we do, we're in the weeds every single day.
I wonder if anybody's ever really thinking, like, do they actually believe this team can win a Super Bowl?
I think absolutely is the answer.
Absolutely.
We believe that they can win a Super Bowl this year.
year, which is crazy to think about all things considered.
And that's exciting.
Like, I know that a lot of times we have to point out, hey, this is what's going on
this game that might be cause for concern.
And we'll do an episode of causes for concern.
But I absolutely believe this Broncos team is a true Super Bowl contender.
They can win it all.
And I think that I think they're going to, Cody, this is the time right now to put
our flag in the ground.
I think the Broncos are going to win it all.
I agree.
I think that they can.
and I think that they are poised to be able to do so,
especially if they just play their brand of football, right?
And look, I think some people, it's tough because people, at times I feel like want us to
wear orange colored glasses can't do that.
Like that's just not our job.
Like, we're excited when the team's doing good.
I feel like we've done a pretty good job of being objective about this team.
When we talk about the offense, what's good, what needs to improve the defense, what's
good, what's need to improve.
Like, I feel like we've been pretty objective down the middle with that.
I just sometimes we can't please everybody.
I've learned that in life, Sarah.
unfortunately there's going to be someone that doesn't really listen to what we're saying.
They don't understand where we're coming from.
And that's certainly fine.
But you know what?
I do agree with you.
We believe that this team is a Super Bowl contender.
We believe that they can.
I believe that they will as well.
I'm in the same boat as you, my friend.
I get to see these guys every day.
I'm around this team.
I know how locked in they are.
And I think we're going to see their best effort here come the NFL postseason.
And if they can, watch out the rest of the NFL.
It's not going to be fun for you going forward here.
But with that said, Broncos Country, we highlighted our top three things of
confidence that we have for this Broncos team going into the postseason.
Tomorrow's episode of the show for all you every dayers, we're going to highlight three of
the concerns that we have for Denver going in the postseason, things that they must shore up
before they open up in the division around regardless of who they play.
You'll get all that and more on tomorrow's episode, other show.
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