Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - KEEP STACKING: Broncos CB Duo CRUCIAL to Beating Cowboys

Starting point is 00:00:00 Will it be the Giovante Williams revenge game? We're about to find out as the Dallas Cowboys come to Denver for a week eight showdown. We're talking all about it on today's crossover Thursday edition. Locked on Broncos, locked on Cowboys. You are locked on NFL crossover. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Little mid-season showdown between the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys here in week eight.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Very excited to break down all of the key. matchups, the biggest storylines, keys to victory, all that fun stuff that we love talking about every single week out of Giovante Williams Revenge Angle, got some great matchups between wide receivers and corners on both sides. And of course, we'll give you our keys for each team coming away with a win here this week. My name is Sarah Bedinger. Welcome in everybody. I'm the co-host at Lockdown Broncos here with Marcus Mosier, co-hosts of Locked on Cowboys. And today's crossover Thursday episode is brought to you by our friends at Prize Picks. Download the Price Picks app today. and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.

Starting point is 00:01:14 Marcus, very excited to break down this matchup. It's been a blast watching both of these teams this season, although I'm sure Cowboys fans have a lot of, you know, maybe disdain from the beginning of the year. You and I were talking off camera. Cowboys fans kind of slowly coming back around. When you have offensive performances like we saw against the commanders last week, obviously they're going to start coming around in droves.

Starting point is 00:01:36 Give me the biggest storyline from your perspective here this week as the Cowboys head to the Mile High City. I think this is really a turning point game for both Dallas and Denver going into Week 8. For the Cowboys, it's easy, right? If you win this game, you're above 500 for the first time all year. And while this is not, probably not a Super Bowl contender, I always have to qualify that. Probably not a Super Bowl contender. If you're four, three, and one after eight games, they've got a biweek coming up. They play the Raiders and the Cardinals coming up.

Starting point is 00:02:10 Maybe you actually set yourself up to making a postseason run and pushing the Eagles in the NFC East. And for Denver, it's the same thing. You go to six and two. Now you're talking about not only winning the AFC West, you're talking about maybe being the one seat or the two seat and having the playoffs run through mile high. So this is a big game for both teams. And I'm really excited to watch it. I think this is going to be a good measuring stick game for both squads.

Starting point is 00:02:39 Absolutely. I think that's really what's exciting about it is this opportunity for the Broncos to come in in week eight and really prove, hey, that fourth quarter comeback against the Giants, we can actually maybe put something like that together on a more consistent basis. And it's been a while since the Broncos were in a position to be even talking about maybe having some time to, you know, rest in the playoffs or hosting playoff games. I know that's something that Sean Payton talked about being a goal for this team is to get to the point where after last year's blowout loss in the playoffs to Buffalo, he's like, we've got to find a way to start hosting these games.

Starting point is 00:03:13 Well, the only way to do that is to win your division. And right now the Broncos do have a one game lead over both the Chargers and the Chiefs heading into week eight. I'd say from that Denver perspective, the big storyline is, can you get that offense going on a consistent basis? Can you prove to be, it's interesting. the perception from the national narrative seems to be a bit more positive about the Broncos than even sort of the local narrative or the fan narrative right now where a lot of people

Starting point is 00:03:39 are still hesitant to sort of buy in fully to the idea that Denver is a contender in the AFC. They've shown they've got an elite defense. They've shown, hey, we could put up 33 points in a quarter, but can they put that together consistently going up against a Dallas team like this? I think almost everybody's anticipating maybe a bit of a shootout. Well, I mean, it should be. This should be the get right game for Denver. But I want to ask you a question from somebody who was rooting for the Broncos last week for obvious reasons, right? It felt like watching this team for at least the first half and really the first three quarters of this game,

Starting point is 00:04:14 everything on offense felt so hard. And like Sean Payton had to try to scheme up ways to get playmakers, the football, and get Marvin Mims in space and get Evan Ingram in space. And I know I was tweeting out during the game like, hey, Denver's got to go out and get a number one receiver because life is just too hard in the NFL having to scheme offense like this every single week. Is that the feeling at least locally for Denver right now? Yeah, 100% you nailed it there. I think that's been a recurring issue week after week and everybody's trying to kind of diagnose what is the tension there? Is it Sean Payton and the way that he's calling plays? Is it the play design?

Starting point is 00:04:51 Is it the fact that he's changing personnel groupings too much? Is that even possible? You know, is it the lack of a wide receiver one? Is Cortland Sutton truly a wide receiver one? You know, there's all these things come up on a week to week as you're trying to kind of figure out what's the underlying issue every week. And I think that for what we see at times, this offense starts clicking. It's, it's working and things are happening. And Bo Nix is making plays. But then there's these long stretches where like you said, it seems like they're, it's just nothing comes easily. We talked about Evan Ingram in the offseason, potentially being that easy button. for this team offensively, and it just hasn't 100% materialized yet.

Starting point is 00:05:31 But then you see quarters like the fourth quarter against the Giants, and you kind of think, man, maybe that could be something that this team, not necessarily scoring 33 points a quarter, but, you know, putting together at least competent offense on a consistent basis. It feels like it's within reach for this team. And for Dallas, it's the defense. The defense looked better last week against Washington. It was the first time all year. They actually played some man coverage.

Starting point is 00:05:56 in all the previous five or six games. They were running like zero percent man coverage. They finally changed things up a little bit, and they had a lot of success against Washington, even before Jaden Daniels went down. Now, we'll see about the status of Trayvon Diggs, who got injured on Friday, or excuse me, last Thursday at home with a concussion.

Starting point is 00:06:17 I'm not sure if he's going to play in this game or not. That still remains to be seen. But can this Cowboys defense be not awful? And that's really the standard that we have for Dallas. Like, can you get two stops a half? And if the answer is yes, the Cowboys are going to be in a lot of games because this offense is so good. But because it's been so bad, I think there's a lot of Cowboy fans that think what

Starting point is 00:06:40 they saw against Washington last week was really a mirage. And it's not going to stay. So against the Denver offense that's been struggling and been up and down, we know Sean Payton's history against Dallas. It's not been pleasant for Cowboy fans. he's had some of these huge offensive outings before. I think Cowboy fans just want to see some gradual improvement for the defense to get them excited about what could be a playoff run here over the next two or three months.

Starting point is 00:07:07 What's that number one thing that you would say is kind of the must do or the must change? Like if one thing happens this week for that defense or if one thing improves even just a little bit, it has to be this. What would that be? Just being aggressive. Like one of the things that Dallas has had an issue with, Matt Iber Fluse is they play a lot of these soft zones. And it's a typical bend but don't break defense.

Starting point is 00:07:31 Well, that doesn't really work when you're the worst red zone team in the NFL on defense, right? You're allowing these long drives and teams are getting into the end zone. When you have a high powered offense like Dallas has, you might as well be aggressive because if give up a big score, who cares? Your offense is back on the field. I think that's what we saw different last week. We saw more blitzes. We saw more pressure.

Starting point is 00:07:53 We saw more man. coverage to speed up the game a little bit. I think Cowboy fans know that this defense is going to give up a lot of points, but at least try to be aggressive getting takeaways and getting some tip passes or creating some pressure because that's what happened last week. They got a few early stops. The game got out of the control quickly for Dallas. They ended up having, I think it was a 21 point lead early in the third quarter,

Starting point is 00:08:17 and Washington was never able to come back. That's what the Cowboy fans want to see moving forward. Well, you mentioned man coverage. We know the Denver Broncos play a ton of man coverage, and they've got guys that they trust out there. But this week, those guys are going to be put to the test. We're going to talk about those Dallas Cowboys, stud wide receiver, C.D. Lamb and George Pickens going up against Pat Sertan and Riley Moss

Starting point is 00:08:39 in one of the matchups that will dictate the outcome of this game coming up on today's crossover Thursday edition, Locked on Broncos, Locked on Cowboys. This crossover Thursday is brought to you by prize picks. Every day, we make decisions. but on prize picks, being right can actually get you paid. Don't miss the excitement of this football season with prize picks, where it's good to be right. Playing prize picks is such a fun, simple way to add more excitement to football.

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Starting point is 00:11:03 tap, ticket, go. Download the game time app today. Denver Broncos cornerbacks going up against the star-studded receivers of the Dallas Cowboys is going to be one of the premier matchups in this game. Also, Devante Williams getting a chance to get some revenge against his old team. We're breaking down some of the biggest matchups to watch here. Broncos versus Cowboys in week eight. But before we go any further, just want to quickly say thank you to all of you that make Lockdown Broncos and Lockdown Cowboys, your first listen of the day. Every single day, we really appreciate every single one of you. If you haven't done so already, hit subscribe or every listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube. Marcus, I want to throw it to you.

Starting point is 00:11:43 I know that I'm sure you've got some ideas as well here. I know what I'm excited about for this game, but I want to hear some matchups that you feel are going to maybe dictate the outcome of this game as the Cowboys come to Denver in week eight. All right, let's save the wide receivers versus the corners. We'll get to that one in a second. I'm, as a cowboy fan, I am terrified of the Broncos edge rushers against the Cowboys tackle. So Tyler Gite and Terrence Steel, the Cowboys left and right tackle going up against

Starting point is 00:12:11 Nick Benito and Jada the Cooper. It's a tough matchup. Now, what Dallas is probably going to try to do in this game is run the ball a bunch so those guys can't just tee off on deck Prescott. But I will say DAC has done a really good job of mitigating some of the speed rushers that the Cowboys have played early in the year. The game against Micah Parsons was fantastic, making sure that the ball gets out of his hands quickly so those guys can't make an impact. But if you get into these, you know, third and tens, third and 12s where Denver knows the ball is going to be coming out and they can just get up the field, I think Nick Benito is, man, one of the top seven or eight pass rushers in the league right now. He is just so explosive.

Starting point is 00:12:54 He's so dynamic. You cannot let him Cooper and Zach Allen dominate this game. So keep an eye on that Broncos pass rush against the Cowboys offensive line. Absolutely. That's one of the ways that Broncos country feels like they can kind of neutralize just about any opponent on a given week, right? Is those guys getting pressure? And then if they are having success early in games,

Starting point is 00:13:15 then Vance Joseph can really dip into his bag of tricks and start to disguise coverage and start to disguise boots packages. he'll bring defensive backs. He'll do a lot of different things to try and get those edge guys in one-on-one matchups, which is really exciting. And unfortunately, we didn't see that a ton against the New York Giants. Andrew Thomas had a good game against Nick Benito and whoever was lining up on that side of the field. But for the most part, yeah, these guys have had a ton of success.

Starting point is 00:13:40 And we know Dak Prescott has been one of the toughest ones to sack in the league. Cody and I talked about it earlier this week. He's only been sacked eight times this year. That's tied with Bow Nix for the second few of sacks taken. It's not because they haven't been pressured. Like he's been getting a lot of pressure. This is where we like to say in Lothan Cowboys that a lot of times sacks are a quarterback stat, right?

Starting point is 00:14:00 If you've got a quarterback that's really good at avoiding sacks, that's where you can limit some of these big plays. But I fully expect Denver to get a lot of pressure on deck in this one. That's their hope every single week, right? And that leads really perfectly into this other matchup that we want to talk about is that if you're getting pressure on the quarterback, it makes life easier for your defensive backs, right but you know wide receivers going up against riley moss and pat sur tan it's been a mixed bag of results on the whole riley moss and pat ser tan are not giving up a lot of completions into their coverage

Starting point is 00:14:32 however there have been some big plays some penalties as well what's your take on this because cody and i talked earlier this week about the fact that this is a great opportunity for pat sartan and riley moss to really kind of flex their muscles as a top corner duo in the nfl going up against CD Lamb and George Pickens, though, it's not an easy task for any cornerback deal, even if you are the best in the league. So my guess is that Denver's going to put Sartan on George Pickens and then probably try to use, whether it's Riley Moss or a combination of guys to bracket or try to take away CD land that way. Is that kind of your assumption here? That could that be, I mean, I think it's open ended at this point because we've seen them kind of do different things. We've seen Pat Sertan shadow certain guys,

Starting point is 00:15:20 and we've seen them kind of do exactly what you just said. But I don't know. I guess our vibe was kind of more thinking that Pat was going to shadow CD Lam in this game. But I think the idea that you just presented is a very interesting option as well. The reason why it's hard to do that. And I think ideally you would like to have your all pro corner against the Cowboys All Pro receiver. But Dallas uses CD Lamb in so many different ways,

Starting point is 00:15:45 whether it's in the backfield, out wide. in the slot behind a tight end sometimes so he can get a free release and go in either direction. It's really hard to do that. And yeah, you might be able to limit CD Lambs production a little bit that way. But I don't know if Denver wants to let George Pickens roam on the outside against Riley Moss one-on-one. Because again, please tell me if I'm wrong, but Riley Moss over his career has struggled with some of these bigger receivers. and I think if you're just running go balls and you're running fades to pickings, I think that's probably an advantage that Dallas would love to have.

Starting point is 00:16:22 So I'm fascinated. I think the best strategy here of your Denver is you just want to mix things up. Don't let Dak Prescott know exactly what's going to be coming on every snap and where Sartan is and where Riley Moss is. I think if you can try to confuse them and move these guys around, that's probably how they'll have their most success. But also, Brian Schottnheimer has done a really good job of, figuring out ways to get these guys involved, whether it's playing them in the slot,

Starting point is 00:16:46 whether it's playing both guys in the outside and letting someone like Jake Ferguson eat against, you know, maybe some lesser linebackers. Cabos will have some answers, but we'll see what Denver tries to do to stop them. Yeah, that would be a really interesting wrinkle. I like that idea and we'll be fascinated to see what Vance Joseph ends up doing because ultimately that, I do believe that's going to be one of the biggest matchups that dictates the outcome of this game is how those DBs defend against the playmakers of the Dallas Cowboys, which of course leads into this revenge angle for Javante Williams. He's been fantastic for the Cowboys this season. I mean,

Starting point is 00:17:22 second most rushing yards in the NFL. His yards after contact is back to the place where it was when he was a rookie in Denver. Broncos country, I think, looks at this move as sort of a win-win for everybody, right? Javante wasn't doing well in Denver for two straight years. It was injured for a third before that. Now he goes to a new city, gets a fresh start. He's playing well, but the Broncos also have J.K. Dobbins on the other side who's been running really well for them. And so you kind of just feel like, okay, this is one of those matchups right here where if Dallas has the running game going early in this game, that's something that you want to shut down if you're Malcolm Roach, Zach Allen, DJ Jones, and that Denver defensive front, you want to

Starting point is 00:18:01 get at your guy, your old buddy, Javante early in this game to make sure that Dallas doesn't have a balance attack right away. And look, we don't need to kill every team that lets a free agent walk who goes on and has success elsewhere because sometimes there's just a better offensive fit or a better culture or sometimes these guys need to move in order to feel a little bit of pressure. I think like across the NFL, like Baker Mayfield has talked about how he never would have the success that he's having now in Tampa Bay if he stayed in Cleveland because he needed that wake up call.

Starting point is 00:18:34 I don't think that's necessarily the case for Javante, but you are seeing him in an offense that maybe is better suited for him play really well. he's also healthier than he's been over the last couple years. I think Denver wanted something different. Cowboys wanted something different as well. That's why they moved on from Rico Dato. And I think all parties are happy. Is this a revenge game?

Starting point is 00:18:55 I don't know. Giovante doesn't really talk about it like that. I don't think he's really that type of guy, but I expect him to put up some pretty decent numbers because that's what he's done all year long. Absolutely. He may not say it, but I bet there's a little lingering chip on the shoulder there.

Starting point is 00:19:08 He's a quiet, humble guy. And it'll be exciting. to see him back in the Mile High City. But what are the keys to victory in this game? What has to happen if either of these teams is going to come away with a victory in week eight? We're going to tell you exactly what it is coming up on today's crossover Thursday edition. Locked on Broncos, Locked on Cowboys. Crossover Thursday is presented by Mazda.

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Starting point is 00:20:17 Mazda move and be moved. Marcus mentioned it earlier. It really feels like this game between the Broncos and Cowboys is a turning point game for both teams. The Broncos enter this week, 5 and 2. The Cowboys at 3, 3 and 1 looking to get back above 500 and keeping pace with the Eagles out there in the NFC East. So what's going to go down or how is it going to go down if either of these teams is going to get a win? Marcus, I want to hear from you. What are your thoughts here?

Starting point is 00:20:45 What are the Cowboys absolutely need to do if they're going to go into Denver and get a win this week? They can't let Bow Nix just dink and dunk the ball down the field. And we know that's what Sean Payton wants to do. He wants to throw 55 screens in a game, get the ball to his playmakers and let them try to make plays after the catch. The Cowboys can't do that, right? They've got to force the issue. Make Bo Nicks hold onto the ball and challenge these receiver or these cornerbacks down the field. and hey, if he hits a big play to Troy Franklin or, you know, Marvin Mims, so be it.

Starting point is 00:21:17 It's going to happen. But you can't let Denver control the clock, have these seven, eight minute drives that lead to points because the Cowboys, they're going to want to get the ball back and score as well, right? So I would like to see them be aggressive. We know that Sean Payton is going to be aggressive. He's going to call up a good game. He's going to be aggressive on that side of the ball as well. make Sean Payton play, you know, play left-hatam, make him do some things he doesn't want to do. And I think the Cowboys could potentially have some success on that side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:21:48 Yeah, I agree. I think that's what that was the formula for the New York Giants, right? Was, hey, we'll let you guys do sort of the dink and dunk if you want to try it and we're going to rally and tackle. We're going to make it difficult for your run game to get going. They had it figured out for the majority of that game. And then all of a sudden, you know, poof, their lead disappears. I know all of Cowboys fans were excited to see that as well. But yeah, I think on the other side of that, the Broncos also want to be aggressive.

Starting point is 00:22:14 I think they have to be in order to win because that sort of playing not to lose mentality comes across in the way those first three quarters went down against the Giants, right? It felt like, okay, you're being overly conservative, you're not pushing the ball downfield all that much, predictability on offense. this is a week I think the Broncos have to try and be aggressive. And I think they can be, right? You mentioned it. Dallas's defense has struggled this year. The offense really hasn't shown a lot of that on tape in terms of pushing the ball deep downfield.

Starting point is 00:22:48 But last season, that was one of their best areas that they had. That was one of the best things that Bow Nix did was completing those big chunk plays downfield and flipping field position. That's something that we want to see the Broncos do this week. And I feel it's going to be essential to them winning the game. Of course, you can come back to all the classics, right? You want to win the turnover battle. You want to run the ball well, especially at home, all those sorts of things.

Starting point is 00:23:12 But for the Broncos offense, I think showing that sign of, hey, we can push the ball down field and we can be aggressive and hunt for first downs, hunt for touchdowns, hunt for 20 plus explosives. That's something that I think they've got to do in order to win this game against a team that, hey, they can strike back at any point. And for the Cowboys, you've got to start this game off fast. and all of their other games that they've played in Denver over the years, it seems like they are always getting down 10-0, 14-0. And it's just too hard when you're playing in that altitude to try to come back from those deficits. We saw Dallas last week for the first time all year.

Starting point is 00:23:49 They took the ball in the opening drive, except for week one against Philadelphia. They went right down the field, scored a touchdown, and that set the tone, right? You've got to start this game out fast. You don't need to have a big lead, but you cannot get behind and let those Broncos past rushers tee off. Again, I expect Brian Schottenheimer to be aggressive in this game.

Starting point is 00:24:11 I look for Dak Prescott to take his chances down the field. They don't feel like there's any cornerback room in the NFL that can stop CD Lamb and George Pickens. So don't, don't be shocked if Dak Prescott and those guys are challenging Denver secondary right away. I think those guys have to expect it. And I think they have to respond quickly to that. I don't think they should be caught off guard by that for sure. Another interesting wrinkle here, Marcus, I want to get your thoughts on quickly before we close out today's show. I feel like a win this week.

Starting point is 00:24:41 And maybe just winning this week isn't necessarily the thing that's going to tip the scales. But the trade deadline is looming, right? And I think I'll win this week for either team. And again, you mentioned, hey, this could be a turning point for both teams or this could be something that swings the pendulum, you know, very firmly in one direction. I wonder if a win for either of these two teams here in week eight will determine how aggressive they are at the NFL trade deadline. Oh, I fully expected. If Dallas wins this game, I think they pull off a big trade over the next week.

Starting point is 00:25:12 Maybe they try to steal a really talented pass rusher from your division in the AFC West. I'm sure Bronco fans wouldn't be upset about that. But no, you're right. If Dallas were to win this game, I would expect them to be highly aggressive before their Monday night game against the Cardinals. They have a buy after that. If they lose this game, maybe you hold back on some of those trade talks because maybe it's not going to be the year. If you start your three, four, and one after eight weeks. So I don't think you're wrong at all.

Starting point is 00:25:41 Yeah, that'll be interesting to see. And like you mentioned, I mean, that perception of the Broncos wide receiver room, if maybe that continues in this game, maybe you do see George Payton take an uncharacteristic big swing at somebody out there. I know a lot of Broncos country would love to see Chris Olive trade his New Orleans Saints uniform. for a Denver Broncos uniform, but we'll have plenty of talk about the trade deadline upcoming on our respective shows, Lockdown Broncos and Lockdown Cowboys. Broncos fans, Cowboys fans, we appreciate you all so much for tuning in to the crossover episode today and make sure you don't miss a single episode, Lockdown Broncos, Lockdown Cowboys.

Starting point is 00:26:16 You know we got you covered all season long. We appreciate you all so much. We'll catch you on the next one.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - KEEP STACKING: Broncos CB Duo CRUCIAL to Beating Cowboys

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