Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - OPPORTUNITY: Denver Broncos BIGGEST SHOT to Make Noise in AFC

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos have their chance to kick open the door of the AFC. Will they take advantage of it? We'll break it 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? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network.

Starting point is 00:00:29 We know it's your team every day. Thanks to all the everydayers out there in Broncos Country. Thanks so much for making us your first listen. however you choose to do so. And if you're not yet and never dare become one. I'm Cody Rourke. Broncos reporter from Mile High Sports. joined as always by Sarah Bedinger,

Starting point is 00:00:42 site expert over there, predominantly orange.com. We got a lot to break down on today's show. Broncos country, the AFC is wide open for the taking. Can the Broncos take advantage of this opportunity that's ahead of them? We'll go through and tell you why the Broncos can make noise inside of the AFC. We'll take a look at how things stack up going into week six all around the entire conference. Plus, we'll take a look at how the Broncos can go on a run for the

Starting point is 00:01:04 AFC West and maybe get a lead inside of the division over the course of the next five games. And then how will the Broncos plan to manage these next two months without Ben Powers who lands on injured reserve? You get all that on today's episode of the show. Sarah, what a wild week five around the NFL. We're excited because obviously the Broncos won. But I think if you looked at anybody's rooting guide as to who to root for, who to root against, for the Broncos perspective, everything went perfectly this weekend. Yeah, it was the holy grail.

Starting point is 00:01:34 of weekends, right? Because the Broncos won. And not only did they win, but like you get a huge win on the road against the reigning Super Bowl champions. And then everybody else in the AFC West, they lose, right? That's the best thing. The Chargers going down to the commanders. The Raiders getting blown out by the Colts. The Chiefs, the Chiefs, can we say that? I mean, shoot, the Chiefs. Last year, Cody, I mean, they were one of the best teams in history in one score games this year, 0 and 3 in one score games. So I think Broncos country loves to see it. And yes, it's the holy grail of football weekends, absolutely. But sort of an illuminating weekend as far as what you mentioned, like the Broncos really having a shot in the AFC right now because this was the first time

Starting point is 00:02:18 since week nine of the 2017 season in which all of the chiefs, the bills, and the Ravens lost in the same week. And that was back when Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, they were still in college, Pat Mahomes. He wasn't even the starting quarterback of the chiefs at the same. that time. So we're talking about something that really hasn't happened in this current era that we're in in the NFL. I mean, there's no better time to take advantage of the current state of the AFC than right now. Sarah, I'm going to give a take here. My take on week five, I feel like the

Starting point is 00:02:48 AFC is wide open right now, at least this early on in the season. There's no true team out there that I feel like is just a clear cut mile ahead of everybody else where it's like, all right, they're going to be the favorite to win the entire conference. I mean, it's, it's wide open. And we saw that obviously the Patriots, beating the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night football. I mean, everything right now is competitive inside the AFC, which is fun to see that, okay, there's not like a huge gap between one and seven. So let's take a little bit of a look here at the AFC standing so far going into week number six. The Colts are at top at four and one, the number one seed if the playoffs were to begin today,

Starting point is 00:03:25 they'd be the top seed there and just makes you go back to look at that Broncos loss in week two. And you're just like, my goodness, if that leverage call never happened, the Broncos would be in a really, really good spot right now. But we can't cry over spilled milk, the Buffalo Bills. They dropped the four and one. They were the lone undefeated team in the AFC going into Sunday night football. And then that obviously got snapped. The Steelers at three and one. I'm not necessarily buying into the Steelers right now, Sarah.

Starting point is 00:03:50 And we'll obviously share our thoughts on this. The Chargers drop in a game here, two straight. Obviously, the Giants, they lost now to the commander. So they lost, unfortunately, two games. The downside is that they're just non-conference games. It doesn't impact their conference standing so far. So that kind of stinks when you look at it by default. The Jaguars, four and one right behind the chargers at that fifth spot.

Starting point is 00:04:11 The Broncos at that sixth spot if the playoffs were to begin a day at three and two. And then the Patriots at three and two with the chiefs on the outside looking in. This is a wild turn event. Sarah, do you feel like in the beginning of the season, if we said week one, hey, this is going to be what the AFC landscape looks like six weeks into the season. Would you buy it or would you sell? I'd be selling this big time, Cody, because we're talking about the, not the Tennessee Titans, but we're talking about the Titans of the AFC being kind of down

Starting point is 00:04:38 bat right now in many ways. I mean, I know that Buffalo, obviously, they're still up, but they just lost to the team that's supposed to be kind of the up and coming team in that division. And Drake May kind of made his arrival game on Sunday night football. So the bills are now going to be looking over their shoulder. The Baltimore Ravens, I mean, at one and four. That was that to me, I would have said. before the season, I had to bet money if I was a betting man, that the Baltimore Ravens wouldn't

Starting point is 00:05:04 lose more than two or three games all year. And here we are in early October, and they've already lost four. That's crazy. And then, yeah, Kansas City, you kind of just figure they're inevitable, right? And at this point, they've been anything but inevitable. They don't, they don't seem to have their, their sort of killer instinct or that mentality at the end of games where it's like, man, Pat Mahomes is going to come through here. And obviously, you know, the team, are not afraid of these guys anymore. That's the thing that to me, Cody, when you talk about statements in the AFC,

Starting point is 00:05:35 I feel like it's no longer Big Brothers Division or Big Brothers Conference, excuse me. I think it's little brother grew six inches over the summer. You know, we're talking about the Colts, the Jaguars, the Broncos, all these other teams are getting back into the mix because the talent has been there for these teams. They've been kind of sneaking around. The Jaguars almost went to Kansas City a couple years ago and got to play.

Starting point is 00:05:59 off win. Now these teams are kind of creeping back up. Little brother might be, I don't know, a little stronger than Big Brother at this point. Well, I think it's an interesting development, and I agree with you. I think the primary thing is that teams are looking at Kansas City. I think there's respect, but there's no fear anymore with them, right? And I think so much of that, they lost their powers. It's almost like that Super Bowl loss to the Eagles really kind of drain them of their power. You know, now they're just, they're losing close games. Like how the tables have turned. And you know what? I'm here. for it because Kansas City what the run that they've had I think everyone has to have respect for the run

Starting point is 00:06:35 that they have had has been dominant not only in the AFC but in the AFC West it's about time that people say okay no longer like we can't tolerate this anymore we're not going to take it and I'm glad to see that you have all these other teams punching and throwing jabs here this is going to be a fun season and look I think to your point on the Baltimore Ravens man I'm with you they're the biggest disappointment right now Lamar Jackson has been great obviously see when he's been in, but now he's injured. They are dealing with injuries left and right. But man, even before the injuries,

Starting point is 00:07:04 that Ravens defense has been absolutely terrible. They are giving up big plays, and they gave some momentum to a pretty lifeless Houston Texans team this past weekend as well. So very, very interesting to see how this is going to play out over the course of the next six weeks. I think this is going to be a crucial six weeks struck around the entire NFL. But not only that, I think the AFC in general. And the Broncos right now, they have a great opportunity to kick in the door. and say, hey, we're here.

Starting point is 00:07:31 We're going to put our feet up on your table and we're going to eat all your food. We're not going anywhere. The Broncos have a chance to make a statement. And when we talk about that, not only in the AFC, Sarah, but the AFC West is where the Broncos over the course of the next five weeks, if they can play the brand of football that we've seen them play in the last two weeks, they have a chance to really get a lead inside the AFC West. We'll take a look at the Broncos next five games and stack it up against the rest of the

Starting point is 00:07:54 AFC West here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. This episode of Lockdown Broncos 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 even more excitement to football like we need, right? You just pick more or less on player projections like Josh Allen's passing yards or Sequin Barclay rushing for a touchdown, you know, when they're not playing the Broncos and you're in the game. And I love how quick prize picks is you can make your lineup in under a minute and my favorite part about it is you can

Starting point is 00:08:32 just add the stacks right so if you want to ride a player you can select their pass yards rushing yards and their touchdowns all in one lineup so download the prize picks app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup that's code locked on NFL for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup prize picks it's good to be right after a rough start to the season. The AFC West is back to being wide open everybody. The Los Angeles Chargers, they've lost a couple of games in a row. The Chiefs, well, they're two and three. And the Raiders, I don't think anybody really cares what they're doing right now. They stink so far this season. The Broncos have an opportunity, like Cody said, kick down the door and go kick your feet up

Starting point is 00:09:16 on the couch. And we'll see if they can do that here. We're going to break down some of the remaining games here in the next handful of weeks for each AFC West team. But first want to say thank you to every single one of you that makes lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day every single day. Make sure you subscribe so you get us at the top of your podcast feed in your algorithm on YouTube, all of that good stuff so you don't miss a single episode of the show. Cody, the AFC West is within reach after week five. I mean, two weeks ago, it was really interesting because the Broncos had just lost to the Chargers, right? And that was the Chargers' third straight win of the season, third straight win against an AFC West team. The Chiefs,

Starting point is 00:09:55 They managed to get back to two and two after starting, you know, a little bit rough, right? This is crazy how quickly things can shift in the NFL in just a two-week span. Yeah. And look, I think everybody was a little worried after the Chiefs had dominated the Baltimore Ravens, but I think now we can look back at it with context and say, you know what? That Chief's defense, I mean, obviously flustered, you know, Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry. That was the goal. But the Ravens' defense couldn't stop anybody.

Starting point is 00:10:24 It couldn't stop a nosebleed. So how much do we look at that and say, okay, the chiefs are back? I mean, watching Monday night football, I wasn't convinced. I think Jacksonville is a promising young team. I'm sitting there looking at Kansas City. I'm like, all right, Kansas City, you know, they're throwing some jabs and whatnot, but they couldn't find a way to close it out. It goes back to what we talked about, about nobody being scared of Kansas City anymore,

Starting point is 00:10:43 which is nice. You don't want that to come back to bite you, though, here. But I think right now, inside this division, the Chargers right now, they're at top of the division at three and two. They have the tiebreaker and that head-to-head matchup over. the Broncos plus you mentioned a 3-0 divisional record Denver second in the division right now the chiefs are under any them which would have been crazy to think like the chiefs are going to be third in the aves west right now at this juncture and then there's the raiders at the very bottom there

Starting point is 00:11:07 just up and down gino smith whatever we'll dive into all that here but the broncos right now sir have a really good opportunity if they can take the momentum from this win against the philadelphia eagles i talked about it in yesterday's bonus show that confidence is born from demonstrated ability. The Broncos demonstrated the ability to beat the good teams, but now can you become a good team by taking care of business once again against a team that you should, and that is the winless New York Jets here this week. So let's take a look here at the Broncos next five games. Obviously, this weekend, you have the winless New York Jets. This could be a little bit of a trap game here for Denver. Hopefully they can avoid that. You come back home next week and you take on the New York

Starting point is 00:11:43 Giants, and they're going to be a little bit rested because they're playing on Thursday night football here this week against the Eagles. So we'll see how that matchup goes there. you have the Cowboys who can put up points as we have seen so far throughout the early part of the season. Then you have the Houston Texans on the road and then a Thursday night football matchup against the Raiders. Denver has a good chance here, Sarah, if they can win, let's say they win these next five games. I mean, all of a sudden you're sitting at, you know, a very, very impressive record here at 8 and 2. I mean, that right there would be huge. Sarah, when it was the last time the Broncas have ever been in this position?

Starting point is 00:12:16 And of course, we don't like looking too far ahead. but I'm saying if Denver can do the things that Sean Payton wants them to do, that if you can win the games you're supposed to and compete and play that standard baseline of football, we know that this team can. The next five games for the Broncos, they should be favored on almost every single one of them. They should. I mean, absolutely,

Starting point is 00:12:35 especially after last year where they weren't really favored in any games, hardly right? I mean, the perception of this team has changed. And I think that win against the Eagles, the perception within the organization changes a little bit because now you've gotten past that mental hurdle that we can't beat the best teams in the league. It's like the message that Sean Payton sent to the team after the win. Who do you fear now?

Starting point is 00:12:56 Who out there in the league do you actually fear at this point? I mean, I think it's safe to say the Broncos, they, Cody, they went into hostile environments last year and they played with no fear against Kansas City. They almost won that game. But then when you lose that game in that way, then you play against Baltimore, you get blown out. You go into Buffalo. Everybody expects you to get blown out.

Starting point is 00:13:16 You get blown out. So now that switch has been flipped, and you can be this team that becomes, okay, a force in the AFC and in the AFC West. And this is your opportunity to seize some control last year. We saw the Broncos kind of playing a little bit of catch up even for a wild card spot late in the season, right? That was due to the fact that you started slow. You maybe lost a couple of games that you shouldn't have lost, just like the start of this year. So now you're making up ground. Now you're not just saying, hey, we have a great opportunity to take control.

Starting point is 00:13:49 You also have to think about it in terms of we have to make up the loss against the Colts. We have to make up the loss against the Chargers because those are two games that we had in the bag. We had fourth quarter leads. Broncos barely trailed this year at all in the fourth quarter. So this is their opportunity to go and, yeah, exactly, exactly, right? So this is their chance now to go in and do something special as a team. now that you've cleared that mental hurdle of, we can't beat the elite teams in this league.

Starting point is 00:14:17 We're not one of the best. Well, now you've proven that you can beat anybody because you've beaten the Eagles. And so now it's time to go beat the teams that you should. And this is that stretch where you can really make it happen. Yeah. And it's all culminating to like, you know, not to look too far ahead,

Starting point is 00:14:31 but eventually this is going to lead to that matchup against Kansas City before the Broncos initially going their by week. Kansas City will be coming off of theirs. But we'll dive in out here in a little bit. But let's take a look here at the Charter's next five games. some of the storylines that are, you know, they're dealing with right now. I mean, O'Brien Hampton just lands on Iyer. They already lost Naji Harris for the year.

Starting point is 00:14:50 Joe Alt, Lance and I are they're going to be without him for quite some time here. They just lost two straight games. Their next five games here are very interesting. The Miami Dolphins, who seemingly, Darren Waller's done creating mixtapes, and he's out there catching touchdown passes now. You got them, you got a matchup against the Indianapolis Colts right now, who look red hot behind Daniel Jones, though they lost their kicker, Spencer Schrader for the year.

Starting point is 00:15:11 He tore his ACL. then they got a match up with the Titans, which I imagine is probably going to be favorable for L.A. in that regard, then a matchup against the Vikings, and then the Steelers. So, I mean, defensively, they're going to be facing a couple of tough teams here. But the Broncos have a chance here. If the Chargers start to fall off their pedestal a little bit and the Broncos start rattling off these victories and L.A. starts losing. Denver's got a chance to take at least maybe a two or three game lead inside the AFC West, which would be nice there.

Starting point is 00:15:39 I mean, your thoughts here on the Chargers before we get into the Chief schedule. coming up because it's not easy for Kansas City either. The Chargers have become known for choking. That's just, that's what they do. I mean, I hate to say it. I know the Broncos haven't been good for the majority of the last decade, right? But the Chargers are what they are and they haven't proven anything otherwise. And so, yeah, they have a history of being, you know, bad when it matters the most.

Starting point is 00:16:02 They have a history of guys getting hurt. And that has not changed this year. And Justin Herbert is getting hit a lot. And people are already starting to complain about him getting hurt a lot. His performance has taken a huge drop off since that game against Denver, which honestly was kind of a humbling experience for him. If he doesn't have that crazy touchdown throw to Keenan Allen, he didn't have a great game that day, Cody.

Starting point is 00:16:24 The Broncos were kind of in control until that moment. So I don't know, he hasn't played well the last two or three weeks. And that Chargers team is looking a lot like the Chargers teams that we've kind of come to know over the last handful of years. Yeah. Well, and then now let's take a look here at Kansas City. I mean, obviously losing on Monday night football. They got a short week. They got to turn around.

Starting point is 00:16:44 They got to face the Detroit Lions. We're playing a little red hot football right now after they started off 0 and 1 on the season. You got that. They always have tough matchups somehow against the Raiders in those divisional matchups. Then they got to play Jaden Daniels and the Washington commanders. I don't think the commanders are as strong as they were last year.

Starting point is 00:17:01 But obviously for them, they were able to go on the road in L.A., beat the Chargers this past week. I think that'll be a tough matchup for the Chiefs. That should be a good game. And then they got to go play the Buffalo Bill, Sare before they go into their buy week. And then after their by week, they play the Denver Broncos. So really, the next five games here for the Chiefs, they're not going to be cakewalks either.

Starting point is 00:17:19 They have a chance to kind of plummet down the rankings a little bit further here. They do. I think this is another situation where you just, you feel like the lack of drafting well for this team is going to catch up to them. I'll be interested to see what the wrinkle that Rishi Rice adds when he comes back, right? Because obviously that's kind of one thing that their offense is missing is that player that they can go to every single down. And he is that guy for them.

Starting point is 00:17:44 We saw early last season, how dynamic he is and how borderline unstoppable he was for a couple of games. So you really want to, I don't know, kind of gauge where that team is at when he comes back because he adds such a different element to their offense. But it also doesn't look like the Chief's defense, which has been their calling card the last couple of years, is playing at anywhere near the same level that we've gotten used to seeing them in their championship caliber seasons. And so that may be the bigger concern, even over offensive skill talent.

Starting point is 00:18:15 Yeah, well, and I'm with you there. And sometimes they usually, even if they've had slow starts as we've seen, Steve Spagnolo somehow gets those guys right, probably at that middle juncture of the season. And then they usually play pretty good football from the middle to the end, going into the postseason. So hopefully that trend gets bucked here. As we go forward here, let's take a look at the Raiders next five games. Very interesting.

Starting point is 00:18:36 With them being at one and four, they got a matchup against the Titans, which, you know, And we know Jeffrey Simmons, that defensive line, they can get after Gino Smith. Gino Smith has been terrible folks. And we have people trying to hype him up in the offseason, miss me with all that. Then they got a matchup with the chiefs, a bye week. Then they get off the by week and they play the Jaguars. And then a Thursday night football matchup against our Denver Broncos. So interesting spot for them at one and four, but not necessarily a schedule where you're like, oh, they're doomed, they're cooked.

Starting point is 00:19:05 They also might be on a little bit of an upset watch on a couple of teams here. Yeah, they could be. I think that's all they're going to be, though, is an upset watch type of team, right? I think everything kind of has to go right for the Raiders right now because they just don't have the personnel defensively. Gino Smith already has nine interceptions this season, and that team is just not good. And when there are a couple of injuries, I know Brock Bowers is hurt. And I know that because he's on my fantasy team of, I should never draft AFC West guys. What am I thinking? But the Brock Bowers being hurt is a huge deal for that team because he was the floor

Starting point is 00:19:42 razor for the entire offense. And if he's not out there, everything else is bad. And all you got defensively is Max Crosby. And he can't play all 11 spots. So I think, yeah, they're an upset watch team because they all get paid to play. But the Raiders kind of look exactly like you and I expected going into the season. And we'll see how things transpire here in the division. In Broncos country, let us know your thoughts, your level of optimism as the Broncos have a chance to make a run here, not only in the AFC, but the AFC West.

Starting point is 00:20:11 But how will they do that without one of the key members of their offensive line? Ben Powers, he's going to be out at least two months. What is the Broncos? We'll break it all down here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Mazda. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more IIHS top safety pick plus awards. than anyone else.

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Starting point is 00:21:01 impossible becomes irrelevant. Mazda move and be moved. How will the Denver Broncos manage the next two months without one of their best interior offensive linemen? That's a challenge of Sean Payton and this coaching staff are going to have to figure out here. Once again, Broncos Country, thank you so much for tuning in making us your first listen. However you choose to do so if you're brand new viewer or listener to the show, do us a favor. Hit the subscribe to that follow button so you never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team every single day all year long. Sarah, we obviously knew coming out of the Broncos win against the Eagles that Ben Powers did not make the trip over to London.

Starting point is 00:21:34 He was going to undergo testing. Testing came back and he suffered, I think, a tear in his biceps and he underwent surgery. So now he's going to be on IR. He's out for at least two months with an anticipated return for the month of December. And this is tough right now, Sarah, just because, you know, I think Powers was a guy who struggled a lot in the preseason. I feel like he's gotten better, significantly better. From the time the preseason ended, he's been one of the better parts of the offensive line so far through five weeks here for Denver. now you remove him out of the equation after the Broncos offense and the run game just started to get going.

Starting point is 00:22:08 And Powers is a big reason behind that. J.K. Dobbins touchdown run. He was following Powers right behind him on a pole play. So now you remove a guy out of that lineup. Now someone else has to step in. What's your level of concern here after the Broncos have just started to get rhythm with now Powers being removed from the equation? Well, Powers is obviously a good player. But my concern level is pretty low, Cody, because I feel like obviously Zach Stry,

Starting point is 00:22:32 Reef has been a good job of getting these guys ready. Like you said, the Broncos offense is kind of picking up some steam lately, at least in terms of the running game. We've seen a couple of really great efforts from them the last two weeks. And I think what powers brought to the table more so than anything else is that veteran experience. And there's obviously going to be situations like we saw against Philadelphia where teams are running the stunts and all those sorts of things to try to confuse your interior offensive linement to try to mess with whatever communication errors you might have. But this is why you

Starting point is 00:23:05 re-sign a guy like Matt Pairt. This is why you invest in players like Alex Palteski and you draft interior linemen with versatility. This is this is maybe where the Broncos will miss Nick Gargulo the most, Cody, honestly, because obviously he was playing really well in the preseason. But when he went down, I think then we saw quite a bit more reps for Pert there at the left guard spot. Now it's a matter of figuring out, okay, what's our best five without Ben Power? Is it Palcheschi, who's been the, you know, eligible offensive linemen out there when the Broncos go jumbo? Or is it Perth at left guard? And you keep Palchowski in that role because we know Perth played that eligible offensive lineman last season.

Starting point is 00:23:45 He can do those things. So that's where I think right now, we saw Palchowski play well when he was asked to last year. We saw Perth play well when he was asked to last year. Those two guys have played good football for this team. So I feel good about them being able to step in, even with it being kind of, of a first time situation at left guard. Yeah, and I'm curious what the lineup is going to be this week here for Denver there, just because I don't think we're going to find out throughout the week in practice.

Starting point is 00:24:10 And obviously, there's a big time difference between, you know, us in the U.S. and where the Broncos are at overseas, you know, so some of the updates we might get might come late in the evening overall. But I would say the one thing that I'm looking at here is this is why I think the Bronco is invested in having good depth on the offensive line. I think there are plenty of guys. You mentioned Paucheski, but the Broncos, you mentioned Paucheski. but the Broncos have kind of leaned into guys playing on specific sides,

Starting point is 00:24:35 whereas I think Sean Payton has said that Palco is more of a right side guy, which as we've seen him play that eligible tackle, they primarily line him up on the right side. I don't think I've seen him line up as the eligible guy to the left. Matt Parrott, as you mentioned, played a lot in the preseason on that left side here. I think it'll be paired, but also I understand like you lose one offensive linemen. Maybe you don't want to mess with the whole entire system. But I also think, too, he's got experience.

Starting point is 00:25:03 And this depends on the conversation that you and I have had about his up and downs. I actually thought he played pretty well against the Philadelphia Eagles. But what if you moved Luke Wattenberg from center over to left guard, where he has guard experience? He's played plenty of guard throughout his NFL career. And you put out his foresight at center. Like, is that too much of a change here for the offensive line? Or is it easier to just put in a new guy like Matt Parr at that left guard spot and say, hey, we're just going to roll with that.

Starting point is 00:25:28 I'm curious for your thoughts on that. I think it's a good idea. I don't think it's too much change because, like you said, those guys have both played those spots before. And so it kind of just be a brush up on playing guard, Wattenberg, you know, and Forsyth, that's what he plays, his center. So that's where you come back to that point of what is our best five right now because the Broncos do have depth.

Starting point is 00:25:51 They do have options. They do have the ability that I can't wait to find out, Cody, because we don't necessarily know what this team's plan was outside of Garzulo in terms of that developmental spot at the guard position specifically because I think Garjulo was meant to be the top guard that this team had behind what and behind, excuse me, Powers and Quinn Miners. I feel like that was the plan. And that was plan A and everything else is kind of just like,

Starting point is 00:26:18 hey, we're going to fit together this puzzle however we need to to make it work as opposed to and like a, oh, we definitely like paired at guard. We definitely like Palschew or Wattenberg there if we need to. I think it's going to be fascinating to see from the pro scouting department side of things. Even Calvin Throckborton, let's throw his name out there too because he's on the practice squad. He's started games in the NFL before. So he's got to be considered an option as well here. That's where this is why you invest in these guys.

Starting point is 00:26:47 This is why you invest in their development. It's going to be fascinating to see Cody. I can't wait to find out because this is going to really ultimately depend on. whether or not this team can continue to make this push that we're talking about. If there's constant pressure up the middle, if there's constant penalties from whoever replaces powers, that's the one thing that I am concerned about is, are we going to be having penalties? Are we going to be having miscommunication? Is Bowles going to be having to do too much to help the guy that's standing next to him when he's playing well at left tackle?

Starting point is 00:27:17 Those would be my primary concerns, but I think in terms of ability, I would say Pert is the guy that I would, you know, slot in there right away and see how he does. Well, I think you'd get the flexibility with Throckmore, because you could keep him on the practice squad. You get three standard elevations to the game day roster. I imagine we're probably, even if he's not, let's say the Broncos still have yet as a time we're sitting down talking about this.

Starting point is 00:27:40 They haven't made a corresponding move. Like obviously they land and powers on IR, which means that they have a spot open on the 53. Do they wait for a potential return of Malcolm Roach and activate his 21 day window or maybe bring him back if he's ready to go. That's going to be a big key to follow this week. I don't even know if Malcolm made the trip over to London. I imagine he probably did just because he's a veteran player.

Starting point is 00:28:00 The Broncos love him. I mean, Drake Greenlosh traveling with the team. So I imagine that Malcolm Roach will. So we'll monitor that. Also, I think it's a great example as to why, like, when you run into situations like this, you're not desperate, like you're not in a position. That's why you just focus on bringing in guys and keeping them on your roster all summer long and maybe even carry over from last season because some teams,

Starting point is 00:28:20 because some teams, when they get injured on the offensive line, we see them make a rush at like, okay, we got to bring this guy in off the street. Like, look at the Bengals. We got to bring in this street free agent like Dalton Reisner. And it's not helped. Like those guys are free agents for a reason. So I think that Denver with the developmental system that they have, I think it's just a great example of them trying to stay ahead of the curve. If some of these issues and injuries do pop up and hopefully the Broncos O line can stay healthy throughout the remainder of the year, I mean, Powers was very durable.

Starting point is 00:28:45 It's played in every single game, played every snap in every game so far in his 10 year. finish the game with torn biceps, which tough dude, man, tough, tough, dude. That's a tough injury to try to play through. But he'll return probably mid-December. And hopefully the Broncos are in a position where they can get him back. And they're in a position where they can make a run inside of the playoffs. We don't know what the future holds just yet for this team, Broncos country. But if Denver can take care of business, everything is exciting.

Starting point is 00:29:11 The narratives around this team is exciting. Can they take advantage? Well, they got to make sure they do that against the New York Jets here when they play them in London here in week six. But with that said, Broncos country, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show. Tomorrow's episode, Sarah and I, we're going to sit down. We're going to take a little bit of an early preview of this Jets matchup. Who are the players that the Broncos have to watch out for on offense and on defense? Some of the key storylines for both teams coming to this matchup, you'll get that more on tomorrow's episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:29:37 We'll see you then.

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