Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - INJURED: Denver Broncos BANGED UP heading into Kansas City Chiefs Showdown

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos are banged up this week as they're preparing for a tough AFCS showdown against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. We'll break it all down here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Broncos, country? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in the world. And that's all thanks to all you, every day is out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in, making us your first listen.

Starting point is 00:00:39 However, you choose to do so. I'm Cody Rourke, Broncos reporter from Mile High Sports, where you can check out my daily written coverage of the team over there at Milehighsports.com. I cover the team in person, daily in Dub Valley. We'll be back out at Broncos practice here this afternoon for the first time since Thursday night football as the Broncos sit at 8 in tune. We got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the show. The Broncos, they are banged up coming into this week. We'll give you updates on J.K. Dobbins. The Broncos linebacker position, as we know, has been dealt a massive hit.

Starting point is 00:01:10 They've lost two linebackers this week. Who's going to step up plus an update on Marvin Mims? You'll get that. And on top of that, we'll go through and talk about what the Broncos defense, as good as they are. They face a tough test this week because the Kansas City Chief's offense is one of the top 10 offensive units in almost every major statistical category coming into this game. We'll look at everything you need to know with an early scouting report on Mahomes

Starting point is 00:01:32 and that Chiefs offense. And then we'll talk about how the Broncos offense this week can exercise their demons offensively against Steve Spagnolo and this Blitz happy Chiefs defense, especially on third down. We'll go through all that on today's episode, the show brought to you by our friends over there at FanDuel. And right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 to use in bonus bets all throughout the entire app here. So let's get things started here. Broncos country, the team will be back on the practice field here this afternoon for

Starting point is 00:02:02 the first time since they beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night football. And I think one thing we're all going to be keeping our eyes out, you know, open for here at practice today. Who's on the practice field? Who's not? Who's on the side field? All of that will give us a little bit of clarity here. As we know the Broncos, at least coming into this game, they are banged up against Kansas

Starting point is 00:02:22 City. And let's start off with the linebacker position. We obviously know the news early on in the week. Alex Singleton revealed he's going to miss the next several weeks as he goes through his recovery process after having surgery to remove testicular cancer from his body. That's obviously something where he's going to be off the field. And that automatically means that Drey Greenlaw, Justin Sternad, those two guys are going to be your starting linebackers here this week.

Starting point is 00:02:44 And I know that's a lineup. That's a duo that Brockos country certainly has wanted to see, which means for Dre Greenlaw, we might see that snap count essentially just disappear here. He's looked good so far in the last handful of games that he's played. And he's getting more ingrained, more comfortable. He's flying around. We know Justin Sternat has been such a bright spot here. Honestly, this season for Denver defensively.

Starting point is 00:03:05 Didn't play a lot of snaps against the Raiders last week, but he's going to have an opportunity to really kind of take the mantle here as the starter next to Dre Greenland. We'll see how the Broncos defense performs there. But the Broncos depth behind those guys, it's a little shaky right now. Karen A Reid, who obviously made the team as an undrafted rookie free agent. He is headed to injured reserve. He'll miss the next four games after he suffered a hamstring injury

Starting point is 00:03:28 in Thursday's win against the Las Vegas. Raiders that deals a massive blow to the depth here of Denver's linebacker room right you take singleton off the depth chart now you take corinia reed off the depth chart and right now Denver only has two linebackers on this roster on the active roster at this time and that's expected to change because obviously the team they waived michael bandy off of the 53 man roster the hope is that they're going to bring it back onto the practice squad they released offensive tackle marquess cox from the practice squad as well and they signed an offensive lineman to the 53 but for Denver here, they got a couple of practice squad options that they're either going to have to

Starting point is 00:04:04 promote the 53-man roster or they're going to have to use a game day elevation for two linebackers, one of them being Jordan Turner, another one of them being Lavelle Bailey, who, honestly, I'd say his second year in the NFL has been a little crazy to me just from the perspective. He was getting a lot of first team reps during training camp. I thought he looked good in training camp. I thought he looked good in the preseason. But he hasn't been the primary go-to guy here when there has been in.

Starting point is 00:04:30 injuries at this position. So I imagine Denver's going to rely on both Turner and Lavelle Bailey for special teams play and also some linebacker depth here, which means unless Denver signs a free agent linebacker this week, Sternad and Greenland are going to have a heavy case load against this Kansas City Chiefs offense that has obviously two terrific backs there in Cream Hunt and Isaiah Pacheco, who is expected to return off of the injury that he has. So big, big test here for Denver at a position where the depth was a little bit thin early on. Obviously, Drew Sanders for the last two weeks. I'll give an update here to Broncos country.

Starting point is 00:05:04 He has been on the side field. So does that mean that maybe he ramps things up this week? If we see him on the practice field, then that means that the team would activate his 21-day window. So all things considered, Denver has some flexibility, though they do have some questions about the overall depth, the quality of it. Are guys ready to step up if there were an injury to another player disposition?

Starting point is 00:05:25 I think that's a huge question. Jonah Ellis is the next guy we're going to talk about here at outside. linebacker. Now, obviously, on Tuesday, he did not land on injured reserve. So that's obviously a good sign, but he left the Raiders game with a hamstring injury on Thursday. He did not return. But Denver's depth

Starting point is 00:05:42 here is in a little bit of a better spot. Now, Jonah's been battling with some injuries this year. Obviously, a shoulder injury, a rib injury. He had cracked ribs initially after the Philadelphia Eagles game that caused him to miss two games here for Denver. And then he made his return. He's been such an impact player in the past rush rotation behind

Starting point is 00:05:58 Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper, alongside Donrea Tillman, who's been making plays. He's leading the team in interceptions right now. But Jonah Ellis, we're going to monitor where he's at this week, if he's on the practice field or if he's on the side field or if he's a non-participant at all. If he's unable to go, Q Robinson, the Broncos rookie draft pick from this year, will obviously get the reps in his place as he has so far this season. So that's our update here on the outside linebacker position.

Starting point is 00:06:25 Let's go to wide receiver. Marvin Mims, the expectation from people that I've talked to is that Marvin Mim, is fully cleared out of concussion protocol. He should be a full participant here in Wednesday's practice, and he should be back in action against Kansas City this week. That's obviously going to be big for Denver and their offense. But the biggest concern of the week that I would say we have to monitor all week long. We really know nothing about right now.

Starting point is 00:06:48 J.K. Dobbins, who obviously got hip drop tackled in Thursday's game against the Raiders, and one of the things that he dealt with is the day after pain to the point where, okay, the Broncos, they monitored it after the game, right? We talked to him. He said he felt good. He had a little bit of a limp there. He was able to finish the game, though, on that final drive, six carries 25 yards and a couple of first downs to help seal the victory for Denver on Thursday night.

Starting point is 00:07:10 JK's a tough guy. But he was getting a second opinion as reported on Friday by NFL networks Tom Pelliserro. So we are waiting to find out what the update is. The fact that he did not land on injured reserve on Tuesday or Monday, I think that's a great sign here, Broncos country. But it also could factor. And this could be maybe a week where we don't see. CJK. It could be a week-to-week injury because think about it from this standpoint.

Starting point is 00:07:33 The Broncos, if they place a player on IR right now, they have to miss four mandatory games this week. They have a buy, which doesn't count. I wish it would count a little bit towards one of those allotted four weeks of being on IR. Then they have the commanders game, the Raiders, and then another game after that. So that would mean that he would miss the next four games. I think that this could be maybe, hopefully he could play this week. But worst case scenario, I imagine it is going to be a week-to-week thing. So we'll just have to wait and see once we step out on the practice field here this afternoon. What is up there with JK, where he's at.

Starting point is 00:08:08 The concern here is if JK misses this game or is in danger of missing this game, that's a massive blow to the Broncos offense. He's the third leading rusher right now in the NFL. Certainly with this rushing offense, he's been the accelerator, the energizer bunny that has gotten the run game going. And his presence, not only I think out of the backfield, you know, in terms of past protection, he does a great job in between, the tackles does a great job. His vision, he does a great job. The Broncos have serious question

Starting point is 00:08:34 marks behind him because they run RJ Harvey on outside runs, not necessarily inside runs. Tyler Biday hasn't really seen a carry. You're going to have to ask those guys to step up. And if J.K. is unable to go, we will see Jule McLaughlin, Tyler Badee. We will see R.J. Harvey. And I think that's the approach that Denver has to have here. And you're going to have to help out Bo Nicks this week, too, because if you don't have a run game, you make life almost impossible for a quarterback to go out there and have success or the offense to have success. The run game is key and you have to find a way to get that going this week against Casey. We'll talk about that later on here in the show.

Starting point is 00:09:08 But that is the injury outlook here as the Broncos are banged up going into this week's preparation against Kansas City. Hopefully some of these guys can make progress. We'll have the updated throughout the week here, locked on Broncos plus our crossover Thursday episode tomorrow. You get a little bit of an update. If we have one readily available and also Friday, the final injury report, Outlook, you'll get all that here on lockdown Broncos.

Starting point is 00:09:28 But coming up next, Broncos country, we're going to go through a little bit of an early scouting report preview here against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense. Coming off the by, the Chiefs, they're a top 10 offense in almost every major category. How does the Broncos defense stack up? We'll discuss that more here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. This show was sponsored by Better Help. As the days get shorter and the nights come earlier, it can start to feel a little bit heavier, especially when life is already packed with work, family, and everything else that's going on this season. it's so important to reach out and to check in with friends, family, or even yourself.

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Starting point is 00:12:23 Patrick Mahomes and his high power chiefs offense that is statistically one of the best units right now, top 10 unit, almost every major category coming into this matchup here approaching week number 11. Once again, thank you to all the every dares out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen. Thanks for making the lockdown podcast network, the number one sports podcast in the world. We are so excited about what we have achieved and we still have so much more to come here. So all you every day are stay tuned. We got some special stuff coming out for you.

Starting point is 00:12:53 as well. Thank you so much. Broncos country and all the everydayers out there. Let's continue our conversation here. Let's take a look at a little bit of an early scouting report preview here at the Kansas City Chiefs offense. Now we all know Kansas City this year has kind of been up and down, sitting at five and four. There's been moments where obviously they've been in a slump, they've been losing games,

Starting point is 00:13:11 and then there's moments where they look like the Kansas City Chiefs of old. And a couple of weeks ago when they played, not necessarily the Buffalo Bills, the game before that against the Washington commanders, the chiefs did a really good job of of controlling the time of possession in that matchup. I think they had three drives of 10 plus plays for 80 plus yards. It took six or seven minutes off the clock. They were able to control the tempo here. And certainly that's helped them become one of the top units right now in the NFL

Starting point is 00:13:37 from a statistical output here. And they're getting a lot of help back this week here for Patrick Mahomes. Isaiah Pacheco went down with an injury a few weeks ago, but he is expected to be back this week. According to all the reports coming out of Kansas City, we'll get our first official injury report from KC. following today's practice, but you get Isaiah Pacheco back in the mix, and we know how hard he runs.

Starting point is 00:13:58 He runs like he's running away from something. Like he stole something, like a toddler, for example, that grabs something that they're not supposed to run. He runs angry. He is the definition of it. Like he's mad at the turf. And then they have Kareem Hunt, who is a very good multipurpose back,

Starting point is 00:14:13 who's obviously tough to tackle in between the tackles, can be an impact guy out of the backfield for them as well. Plus, they have a wide receiver room, folks, that has talent. Patrick Mahomes has weapons this year. Rishi Rice, Juju Smith-Schuster, as we all know who he is. Xavier Worley, who's got legitimate speed. Marquise, Hollywood, Brown, who we know he's got speed.

Starting point is 00:14:34 He's had really big games against the Broncos when he was a member of the Baltimore Ravens. They even have Taekwan Thornton, who's in the mix. And of course, Travis Kelsey, Taylor Swift's husband, or soon-to-be husband, whatever you want to call it there. They have a lot of weapons and they have a lot of guys that can, I'd say, present some challenges here for Denver defensively, especially without Patrick Certan, in a second out there on the field. That's where I think this is going to be a tough week, just from an on-paper matchup standpoint. But how do the Broncos defense respond?

Starting point is 00:15:01 Like, they have been carrying the water for this team for a majority of the season. I think Riley Moss has done a terrific job this year, J-Quam McMillan. Shot A. Barron's been getting a little bit more reps the last couple of weeks. And then Chris Abrams-drain playing on the outside has done pretty well at keeping everything in front of him. The biggest key this week is trying to get after Patrick Mahomes. Nick Benito, obviously, last week was able to pressure, Mahomes quite a bit. There were a few times where he wrapped up Mahomes, especially on third down, but Mahomes is able to throw the ball away, somehow escape the graphs of Nick Benito and get the ball out,

Starting point is 00:15:32 or he alluded it and was able to pick up some extra yards and fight forward versus being sacked for a loss. This is, I think, going to be the Broncos best against the Chief's best this week. Denver's defense against the Chief's offense. And that Chief's defense is pretty solid, but it's not what we have seen from years past. We'll talk about them here in a little bit. When you look at Mahomes in this Chief's offense, they're averaging right now, 70 offensive yards per game. That's seventh right now in the national football league. They're averaging 26.1 points per game. That's ninth. And they are getting complimentary football, not only from their offense, but also their defense. They have a really good special teams unit

Starting point is 00:16:05 that is creating opportunities for them in the return game near midfield. That's an aspect that the Broncos is going to have to obviously keep an eye on this week here, especially when you talk about their kick coverage. You've got some guys who are down due to injuries that impacts your special teams lineup, your personnel. And now you need the other guys, they're going to be stepping up and filling in at those spots to be able to play big. So we'll see how things go here. And one thing that Kansas City does well, that Denver's going to have to try to kind of buck the trend a little bit.

Starting point is 00:16:33 Kansas City doesn't turn the football over a lot. So far through 10 games this season, they only have five giveaways. That's good for second right now in the NFL. So they do a really good job of protecting the football. They haven't fumbled. So all those five takeaways have been Patrick Mahomes throwing interceptions at this point. So Denver is going to have to find a way to ramp up the pass rush pressure.

Starting point is 00:16:53 here on Mahomes, stop the run here with Isaiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt, and then try to get off the field on third down. They're one of the best third down defenses right now in the NFL. It's the ninth ranked third down offense against the number one third down defense in the NFL with the Broncos and what they've been able to do on that side of the ball. 29% conversion rate on third down that Denver's defense is allowing. That's astronomical and that's part of the pressure that's being ramped up. The Broncos do a good job of disguising certain looks. Like if you look at that fourth and seven sack that Tallinn, Noah Hufanga had this past week against the Raiders.

Starting point is 00:17:25 They brought Hufanga off the edge. They brought both inside linebackers. It was Justin Sternad and Alex Singleton at that point. They dropped Jonah Ellis, who was outside linebacker. They dropped him back. They dropped Jonathan Cooper, who was lined up as a defensive end. They dropped him back into that passing window so Gino Smith couldn't hit the crosser to Tyler Lockett.

Starting point is 00:17:43 And Hufanga came free to be able to get home on the sack. So you're going to have to blend your blitz looks, your coverage looks this week. Mahomes is one of those guys, on third down that they'll try to run everybody off, try to get you in man coverage, and Mahomes will use his legs. How many times have we seen him on third down, whether it's third and 15, somehow pick up 20? He's good at scrambling, and the Broncos are obviously going to have to be, you know,

Starting point is 00:18:07 accounting for his ability on the ground there when everything kind of breaks down in the passing game there. So coverage is going to have to be on point. Your rush edge, you know, discipline is going to have to be on point. Contains are going to have to be locked down here for Denver. That's going to be key. Now, this is going to be interesting. if things get into the red zone because Kansas City coming into this game,

Starting point is 00:18:27 they're the third rank red zone offense right now in the NFL, but they're facing the number one red zone defense in the league. And the fact that the Broncos have been able to maintain that for the last two weeks without PS2 is big. I don't know who PS2 would have followed specifically in this game because of what you would mention in terms of the personnel that Kansas City has. As we mentioned, that wide receiver room, Rishi Rice, Juju Smith-Schuster, Hollywood Brown.

Starting point is 00:18:51 I mean, you go through and you even. look at Xavier worthy, Tyquan Thornton, they got five wide receivers that are studs. And then Travis Kelsey, who can be that short yardage guy. He and Mahomes love to play that backyard football style of things. So it's hard to account. You know, if you got a zone defense, he recognizes and sits and you try to adjust. He's going to move the other way there, and he's going to find space to pick up a first down. So Denver's going to have to be on the P's and Q's this week.

Starting point is 00:19:14 Mahomes has been sacked. The eighth least right now in the NFL has been sacked 17 times this season. The Broncos have faced against the top offense before. Dallas had a top offense. They were able to get after Dak Prescott a little bit here. This is going to be a week where they have to get after Mahomes. They have to bring him down and you have to be good on your early downs here to push them back against the biggest threats that we have highlighted here from a personnel and playmaking standpoint. I know Kansas City's offensive line is massively upgraded at the tackle position.

Starting point is 00:19:41 They like who they have there. We'll get a little bit more of an in-depth preview of them. And obviously some of the key matchups in tomorrow's crossover Thursday episode with Ryan Tracy of Locked-on Chiefs. But Denver's defense, this is this week, folks, the best for Denver, which is their D against the best of Kansas City, which is their offense right now. And this is the biggest game of the year because the stakes have never been higher. Yes, Kansas City is a few games back in Denver right now. A win for Denver will put them at 9 and 2, would drop Kansas City to 5 and 5. And now you have a little bit more cushion over Kansas City.

Starting point is 00:20:14 If Denver loses this game to KZ, they're still heavily in the divisional mix, Kansas City is. you have pressure because the Chargers are right behind you. The Chargers schedule, the Chief Schedule in the second half stretch for them, they're all opponents that they should be. It's very favorable to them. So that's why there's pressure on Denver right now coming into this week. You've got to maintain that momentum and that energy here. And part of that is by getting the Broncos offense on track.

Starting point is 00:20:40 They need to find a way bringing somebody to exercise those demons. We'll talk about the Broncos offense and how they stack up against Kansas City's defense here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's show is brought to you, our friends, over there at Supply House. And when the opening whistle blows on a new repair, get your crew moving forward with Supply House. Order today and see parts on your doorstep tomorrow with over 280,000 plumbing, HVAC, and electrical items from the most trusted brands in the business. Their real-time inventory and honestly, lead times, keeps you from punting projects. While their industry-leading customer service always has your blind side covered like Garrett Bowles.

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Starting point is 00:23:11 Obviously, riding off of a seven-game win streak. Denver has a chance to make that eight straight games in a row. We'll see how things come to the table here. obviously in Sunday's matchup between two premier teams right now in the NFL. You've got obviously a guy in Patrick Mahomes at the quarterback position who's been lighting it up for years. He's won the championships. His pedigree speaks for itself. You got a young guy in Bo Nix who even Patrick Mahomes last year told Sean, you got your guy.

Starting point is 00:23:36 This is going to be the second ever duel that we've seen between Bo Nix and Mahomes. Now granted, Bo Nix isn't playing directly against Patrick Mahomes. Bow Nix has to go against Steve Spagnolo and what we know to be a very stingy defense. So let's take a look first and foremost of some of the key threats that the Broncos had to pay attention to here this week against Kansas City. I'd say from a pass rush perspective, interior-wise, you always have to worry about Chris Jones. He's good against the run. He's good at being able to create pressure and even draw double teams, which allows for maybe a blitzing Nick Bolton to come free on a stunt that Steve Spagnolo is going to design up. Opposite, a defensive end, of course, you've got George Karloftus, who always plays with such a high motor that you certainly have to worry about.

Starting point is 00:24:16 You got Drew Tranquil, who's another guy that has seemingly had some big games against the Broncos over the course of the last handful of years. But I think the most dangerous guys that you're going to have to pay attention to this week, Trent McDuffie, who more than likely is going to be the guy to follow Cortland Sutton around wherever he goes, right? They're going to play, and I already know it. They're going to play press outside coverage with McDuffie against Cortland Sutton with the safety lined up over the top and inside. That's been the key from every defense that Denver has played so far this season. there are going to be times where he's going to get those one-on-ones. You've got to find a way to take advantage of it. And we saw that Bo Nix did that last year at Arrowhead,

Starting point is 00:24:52 finding Cortland Sutton for a touchdown against McDuffie and obviously against McDuffie on what should have set up a game-winning field goal before the block, a key third-down pickup by Cortland Sutton to put the Broncos into field-go range late in that game. They're going to do whatever they can to take Cortland out of the game plan, Steve Spagnolo is, and that's by flustering Bo Nix, sending pressure after him. And I think even on the early downs, too,

Starting point is 00:25:13 I think second and third down are going to be crucial because sometimes they'll walk up the linebackers inside the A gap. They'll put them in a double mug look. They'll drop one guy, send the other. And Nick Bolton is the guy that has seemingly been sent quite a bit by Steve Spagnolo against a guy like Bo Nix. And I remember in that matchup against Arrowhead. Bo, unfortunately, had nowhere to go. Took a couple of sacks last year because of pressure that came free through the A gap or off the outside. They're going to send corner blitzes, nickel blitzes.

Starting point is 00:25:41 They'll send the nickel and the corner. and then allocate a safety to climb over the top and then drop a linebacker all the way over so that they can maybe make up for that. So keep an eye on that. This is a defense that loves to disguise their coverage looks quite a bit, but they love to send pressure. They love to send disguised blitz looks after opposing quarterbacks. And that has worked so far the season because really the Chiefs, right now, they have the NFL's seventh ranked passing defense limiting quarterbacks right now to an average of 187.2 yards per game.

Starting point is 00:26:10 So they do a really good job with that pressure scheme that I talked about of sending pressure, plug in the run, and then getting you into passing situations where that defense loves to just play the sticks, keep everything in front of them. They're very good at that. That's one of the most disciplined dynamics of a Steve Spagnolo defense that the Broncos have to overcome. I think this is the week that the quick passing game has to be prevalent here for this Broncos passing attack here.

Starting point is 00:26:34 And I think at times you're going to have to get things going. Like if the run game gets going, you know what you can go to. You can go with the quick play action stuff. But you know what Kansas City? with guys like George Carl Office and Drew Tranquil and Nick Bolton, those guys are going to be waiting for. They've been watching film here on this Broncos team. They're going to wait for that naked bootleg where Bo is going to just spin

Starting point is 00:26:53 and roll to either the left or the right. They're going to have someone come free from the side where he's rolling out to, having somebody in his face because they know that they're going to bring an underneath route there. That's where the Broncos have to figure out how to counteract what Steve Spagnolo is going to do. And I want you to pay attention to that this week as you're obviously watching the game, whether it's in person at the stadium or whether you're watching from the comfort of your own home, that's how the Chiefs like to play them.

Starting point is 00:27:17 But if the Broncos offense can find a way to get inside the Red Zone, which would be big for them against Kansas City, Kansas City is a bottom 10 defense right now in the Red Zone. They're 23rd, to be exact, while the Broncos have a top 10 Red Zone offense right now in the NFL. Though on Thursday night, it wasn't the greatest. They got in the Red Zone several times and could not come away with key points or touchdowns. That's the ultimate goal. Phil goals, look, it's great to put up points. against Kansas City, field goals are not going to beat Kansas City.

Starting point is 00:27:44 You have to come away with touchdowns this week. And that's where I think, Bo, all the questions that he's faced so far this week, he's had a chance to step back, as has the rest of the offense. We talked about the injury situation here, running back with J.K. Dobbins, but this is the perfect week with Marvin Mims coming back. If you have to go without J.K. Dobbins, you have options there. You can have Marvin in the backfield. You can run more with Jaliel McLaughlin.

Starting point is 00:28:07 You can maybe give Tyler Biday some carries, but also you have R.J. Harvey. This is a week that the Broncos, even if JK's out, you can't just say, okay, hey, JK's out, we're not going to run the football because if you come into this game, if you're Sean Payton and your mindset is we're just going to throw, throw, throw, throw, throw, you might as well waive the white flag because you're making it easy for Kansas City's defense. The run-pass balance, it has to be there. We'll see if they can do that here this week. But as I mentioned, this is a big test here.

Starting point is 00:28:33 But think about this two Broncos country against Kansas City. The narrative this week is that Bo Nix is on a two-game. slump where he's really struggled. And now you've got to face Andy Reid and this chief's team that's coming off of a buy where Andy Reid apparently is 22 and 4 as a head coach coming out of the buy week over the course of his career. Those are pretty good numbers. 110%.

Starting point is 00:28:54 Denver got a little bit of a mini buy look. They played Thursday. They had Friday, Saturday, Sunday off. They came back on Monday for team meetings, film, treatment, recovery, everything like that. That's, I don't know how big of a difference that'll make for the Broncos, but taking a few days to get away could certainly help them refresh and reset because after this, then Denver truly gets to have a buy week where they can completely just take a step back, evaluate what they need to do.

Starting point is 00:29:21 And obviously, everyone's going to have their assignments from the coaching staff. But I think it's going to be important for the Broncos this week to really come out on fire. And that's going to be hard look, because the trend and what we have seen so far with this offense in particular, they have not gotten off to a hot start. Really, I'd say since the Cincinnati Bengals game, the Dallas Cowboys game certainly is, one of those. I would even say the Indianapolis Colts game. Denver got off to a little bit of a hot start against them, but then they fizzled out, right? In that Colts game, they were to maintain that against Cincinnati and they're able to maintain that obviously against the Dallas Cowboys.

Starting point is 00:29:53 So this is the week where, if anything, the narratives and everybody on paper, the matchups on paper suggest that Denver is at a disadvantage. The Broncos, they have their backs against the wall. And there's nothing more dangerous, I feel like at times. When there's a team with their backs against the wall, everyone's writing them off. People are saying they're the worst eight and two team ever, but guess what? Eight wins is eight wins while other teams are begging for a win out there in the NFL. So be careful what you wish for because the Broncos, they might just bite. They might just throw that big time punch and connect here this week against Patrick Mahomes and it can see Chiefs. And a win, that would be huge. The narrative would shift drastically here for this football

Starting point is 00:30:32 team. Heck, Denver, we've been waiting for them to be at a point where they're eight and two. Gosh, How long has it been since Denver has been eight and two or has had this many wins compared to losses? It's been a while. At this juncture, usually the Broncos are a couple of games below 500. So enjoy it, Broncos country and understand that the NFL is a week-to-week league, as we've seen so far in week 11 all across the NFL, Packers' Eagles game, 10-7 ended there. They're not having the conversations that social media and Denver's having at this juncture. The Broncos have a great opportunity to punch the giant.

Starting point is 00:31:03 The bully on the playground, Denver's got a chance to punch him in the mouth. and do it at home in front of the raucous crowd at Empowerfield at Mile High. But with that said, Broncos country, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show. I'm going to head out to practice here in just a little bit this afternoon. We'll have you covered Mile High Sports.com for the written coverage. And plus, you'll get some insight and updates in tomorrow's crossover Thursday with Locked-on Chiefs. I sit down with Ryan Tracy and we preview the biggest storylines, the key matchups, and what the Broncos need to do in order to win this game.

Starting point is 00:31:32 We don't care what Kansas City's got to do. We know that the Broncos just have to find a way to win. We'll go through all that and more on tomorrow's episode. Lockdown Broncos, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in the world. Thank you so much, Broncos Country. We'll see you tomorrow for another episode of the show.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - INJURED: Denver Broncos BANGED UP heading into Kansas City Chiefs Showdown

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