Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - OUTLAST: Denver Broncos SURVIVE Overtime Showdown vs. Washington Commanders

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos outlast the Washington commanders in overtime, but we got to see Evan Ingram and other key players emerge. 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 happening at Broncos country? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network,

Starting point is 00:00:32 now the number one sports podcast network in the country. All thanks to all you every dayers out there on Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in, making us your first listen, however you choose to do so. The Devere Broncos, they moved to 10 and 2 on the season after surviving an overtime thriller against the Washington commanders. I'm Cody Rourke, credential Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Join, as always, by Sarah Bedinger, site expert over there, predominantly orange.com, where you can check out his daily written work and his coverage. And we've got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the.

Starting point is 00:01:02 show here as Denver improves to 10 and 2 on the season. We'll go through how the Broncos escaped, D.C. with a win in overtime against the commanders. We'll go through Nick Benito's big time play that he made to help seal the game, despite the Broncos defense going through some ups and downs. Plus, we'll go through some of the encouraging signs here that we saw from the Broncos offensively, including the emergence of Evan Ingram, but also highlight some of the inconsistencies in the Broncos run game.

Starting point is 00:01:27 And on top of that, we'll talk about the Broncos defense struggling after being the strength of the team for the first. 11 weeks of the season, a rough performance in week 13. Is it a one game anomaly, or could it be a trend that is concerning in the eyes of Broncos country? You'll get all that here on today's episode, the show brought to you by friends over there at the Game Time app. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Sir, check your pulse, my friend. Sunday 9 football.

Starting point is 00:01:55 It was a very interesting game, a little bit of a roller coaster here for the Denver Broncos as they hold on for an overtime victory. 27, 26. I suppose it was good for the NFL that they didn't flex this game out of prime time because I think Mike Tariko was probably going to be horse on Monday, Cody. I think he's maybe going to be hoarse throughout the rest of the week because the dude was screaming at the end of the game. I mean, it was very exciting, really good back and forth game. Kind of reminded me of last year's game against Cleveland, right, where not necessarily the greatest matchup on paper, but the two teams came through under the lights and delivered big time performances. And so for the Denver Broncos, you're number one.

Starting point is 00:02:36 Obviously, right? This is the, you know, this low hanging fruit here. You're, of course, most excited about the fact that you came away from this game with a win. You are 10 and 2 after a weekend in which there was a ton of upsets around the league, including some of the best teams in the league falling. You also had the Chargers winning in, you know, I think they played the Raiders, right? I didn't watch a ton of that game live, but, man, the Chargers winning forces you to keep pace with everything, right? You don't want to drop a game in the beginning of December, end of November to a division rival.

Starting point is 00:03:13 You kept pace with what the Chargers did. You kept your lead over the Kansas City Chiefs at four games after they lose on Thanksgiving. This was a big, big win ultimately in terms of the overall big picture. Now, there's details within the win that need to be discussed. Let's talk about the plays that were made, Cody, starting with Nick Benito shutting down a two-point conversion that ultimately was the game-winning play for the Broncos. Yeah, and look, this was the Broncos defensive performance in this game. It was rough.

Starting point is 00:03:42 It was frustrating at times because we saw the complete inverse of who they've been through the first 11 weeks. They're the number one red zone defense. They're the number one third down defense. And in both of those categories on Sunday night, they struggled mightily to Marcus Mariotta, who kind of looked like that old school Oregon Ducks, Heisman winner. that I used to watch all the time as a Ducks fan. But, I mean, look, I said at an issue on Twitter, I still feel like part of that game was ugly, but it was also gritty, right?

Starting point is 00:04:10 This was a gritty win here for the Broncos. And I also realize as well, if we go back to that Super Bowl 50 season, there were games like this where, you know, maybe the defense wasn't playing the greatest, right? Or there was a couple of letdowns and the offense, you know, was able to generate some momentum. Overall, I just felt like Denver is still finding a way. here to win when it matters. Like when it's a one score game or if you need it late in the game,

Starting point is 00:04:35 they're going to do it because Sarah, I mean, really overtime, this was where I felt like the commanders going into it, at least had the momentum here against this Denver team. And then Bo Nix and the offense answered the call, touchdown drive that they lead on their very opening series there of overtime. And then as you mentioned, and Nick Benito coming up big with that deflection on essentially a two-point

Starting point is 00:04:55 conversion that would have won it for the commanders. And he had the running back wide open. And so if Benito doesn't jump up and get his hands up, this post game podcast is a little bit more gloomy than I would say we probably had hope for. Yeah, no doubt. And speaking of the Super Bowl 50 team, Cody, Wade Phillips posted on his Twitter ex account that he's like, why are you kicking off in a 10 minute overtime, right? I think a lot of us were asking the same question. I understand you want to understand like, okay, what's the other team going to do with their opportunity, right? we have a chance to match it or, you know, top it one way or the other.

Starting point is 00:05:28 But man, you gave the Broncos the opportunity and they took advantage of that. They put the pressure on. And scoring seven points, that's what you want to do if you get the ball first in overtime. And it was just crazy to me as we're talking about the defense being the inverse of what it was before the buy. I mean, Cody, it could not have been more the inverse. I mean, what have we come to know from this defense early in the season? They were so tough on third downs and impossible to score on in the red zone. And what are the commanders do in this game?

Starting point is 00:06:01 Well, they converted eight third downs and they converted three fourth downs and they converted three red zone opportunities into touchdowns. That was with Marcus Mario, Marriota, as you mentioned, playing the quarterback position, not Jaden Daniels. And I don't honestly, I don't know if this game would have gone any differently if it would have been Jaden Daniels playing at his best because, look, Marcus Mariotta, let's give the guy some respect for the way that he played. Like you mentioned, it was like the old Oregon days out there.

Starting point is 00:06:28 He was feeling that just himself under the lights in this game, took everything the Broncos had, literally in this game, every ounce of what they had for 86 plays, because you got to count the two-point conversion play there. Man, 86 plays for this defense to be out on the field. They needed every ounce of effort that they had. And the Broncos ultimately, I mean, you get the win, you make a clutch play, you move forward,

Starting point is 00:06:53 How do you win the next one? That's the big picture right now. That was a little bit of a trend of what we saw from the defense down the stretch last year. And I think later on in this show, we'll talk about that because I think Broncos fans are seeing like what happened on Sunday night in terms of the number of plays. Obviously, the 400 plus yards given up and they're saying, hey, is this going to be what we saw last year in the months of December going into the playoffs? I don't think it will be. We'll talk about that later. Can we talk a minute here about Bo Nicks?

Starting point is 00:07:19 I feel like at times the Broncos needed him to make a play. he certainly did. Over time, I think he answered the call in a big time way, especially, and we'll talk about Evan Ingram a little bit more, but for them to just be in a situation where you need to keep moving the chains, third down, it seemed like Bo Nix came up big on third down, the touchdown to Cortland Sutton, where his knee was an inch off the ground from being down right there. I mean, an incredible throw to where he zipped it with just enough velocity to get it to court, but then just other plays. Even on fourth down, you need plays to Adam Troutman to keep the chains going.

Starting point is 00:07:52 Like Bo Nix, I felt like delivered in this game. And the hard part about it, and I think what people are going to focus on is, okay, well, Bo through the ball 45 plus times. Well, that's because the Broncos didn't run the ball, which is also something we're going to talk about, I think coming up here in a show. But what did you think of Bo on that final drive there in overtime? I felt like he did enough to give the Broncos a victory here. Certainly his touchdown leading drive that was capped off by RJ Harvey,

Starting point is 00:08:16 put them up 2720 initially was, in fact, enough. for Denver to go to 10 and 2 here. Bo Nix has the clutch gene. He really does. And there's no question about it at this point. I mean, say what you want about the overall body of work this season, things that he's done in quarters one through three,

Starting point is 00:08:33 stepping up in the fourth quarter, kind of maybe having what people have called a little bit of the T-Boe to his game, which I don't think it's anywhere near that, obviously. But, man, when it comes to the criticism of Bo Nix, there's nobody out there, even his harshest critic. can say anything about the way that this guy plays when the pressure is on and at its greatest, right? When you need a drive, when you need points on the board, when you need a response,

Starting point is 00:09:01 when you're down by a certain amount of points, you need to get into field goal range. Before the end of the first half, you come through with a big touchdown drive. You know, in overtime, you start off with a touchdown drive. You put the pressure on the other team. As much as the offense struggled, you know, put up 27 points in this game. You scored on four of your first five possessions. Jeremy Croshaw only saw the field for punts twice in this game. And yes, I realized Bo had the interception to Bobby Wagner,

Starting point is 00:09:27 didn't see him out there or can't possibly have seen him out there when he made that throw. But the performance overall was indicative of his continued progress week after week, especially right before that Kansas City game felt like so many people were like, all right, I'm cashing out my Bowknick stock, whatever I had, whatever it's worth at this point, I'm getting it off my hands. I'm selling it. I've taken it to Plato's closet. I'm done with this.

Starting point is 00:09:53 You know what I'm saying? And so for him to bounce back the way that he did against Kansas City and now making plays against the commanders, you've got to tip your cap to Bo Nix. I mean, he played really well in this game. And he's arguably the biggest reason why this team is where it's at. I mean, the defense needs to get stops. It's a team game, but your quarterback is coming through in clutch moments week after week. And he's continuing to grow.

Starting point is 00:10:17 And the offense certainly has some areas that they can improve on. But there's also some surprise developments that we saw on Sunday's game, including Evan Ingram shaking off a little bit of a rough start between he and Bo Necks already on this game. He comes up big when the Broncos need them. So we'll talk about that and the concerns here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode, the show was brought to you by friends over there at the Game Time app. And the World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. 1994 was when I was born, folks, just to age you right there.

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Starting point is 00:13:00 let the team in catches, led the team in receiving Broncos country. Was this the arrival of the Joker? Was this what the Broncos were cooking up during the by week? That's what we're going to discuss coming up on today's. episode Locked on Broncos, a victory Monday episode of the show. And we appreciate every single one of you out there. That makes us your first lesson of the day every single day right here. Locked on Broncos, part of the Locked on podcast network, the number one sports podcast network out there.

Starting point is 00:13:27 Cody, let's talk about Evan Ingram's performance in this game. Obviously, the most notable play was the overtime catch and run where he absolutely. And we've got to point this out too because I feel like Bo, Bo, Nick's, we'll watch this back on the tape and everything. I think Bo checked to this play. I feel like they recognized man coverage, and I feel like he recognizes that they had an isolation route opportunity with Evan Ingram on the linebacker, Bobby Wagner. He runs a great route, makes the play, gets up field, sets up the ultimately game-winning

Starting point is 00:14:00 touchdown here. But it was a good game overall, nine total targets leading the team. This was the, what we assumed, would be the week one for Evan Ingram. But here we are, I guess there's no better time than the present for him to be unleashed. No, I agree. And look, you wanted to see that kind of take off a little bit earlier. I was looking at some of my preseason predictions of how many yards,

Starting point is 00:14:24 catches and touchdowns I had, Evan Ingraham having. It's nowhere close to that. And look, I think we've even highlighted this in our Broncos squad show. Fans have missed that. Make sure you go back and you check it out here on Lockdown Broncos. But his usage is also at an all-time low for his career. I think what 33 or 37% of the offensive snap so far he's played this year, which is drastic. But the thing I like about Evan, the thing I like about Bo is like there are times where I think they're also not on the same page.

Starting point is 00:14:51 They're still trying to get their chemistry to where it needs to be. And maybe it takes the full season for them to fully get it. But there are just times and clutch moments where it's like Bo goes to number one. I mean, you brought in Evan Ingram here for Sean Payton to isolate in one-on-one situations against inside linebackers. And that's exactly what happened in this game in the biggest moment of overtime that the Broncos offense certainly had there. He shook Bobby Wagner for a 41-yard game. But, man, he turned on the Jets. He had some wheels that I don't think we've seen from him so far this season.

Starting point is 00:15:20 When he got vertical up there, I thought he was going to break it for a touchdown there. But early on, the connection was not going. I think their first two targets, they were 0 for two so far. One was a drop by Evan. One was a low throw for Bow that simply Evan just couldn't make. That was a tough place to put Evan in that position there. But then you saw them go back to it. I like the fact that they don't give up on trying to go right back to him

Starting point is 00:15:43 because that's exactly what Beau and Sean ultimately did here. To me, the emergence of Evan Ingram in this game is a hopeful sign of what we're going to see going forward. But on the reverse side of that, the concern, I think, about the run game or the imbalance here once again is something rearing its head here. Because even going in a half time, Sean Payton said, we've got to get the run game going. They didn't try much in the second half. here's here's kind of my like theory on this cody as we've been thinking about it we talked about it on our squad show which everybody should go watch and listen to those those are always so much fun to do but uh here's kind of what i've come up with right when it comes to the running game i don't

Starting point is 00:16:23 think that the broncos have the snaps offensively to play with to get it right like and what i mean by that is that there's too much pressure there's not a a quick, oh, the team's out to a 14 and nothing lead, which they could have easily been in this game against the commanders. They couldn't finish two drives to start the game. You go up six to nothing instead of 14 and nothing, right? I don't think there's enough snaps for them to play with to sort of find their way in the running game. They're not getting ahead early enough by enough points to be able to put the pedal to the metal and just commit to the ground game and say, you know what, screw it. we're going to run and that's just the way that it is they've tried to make fetch happen a little bit with the running game like the red zone appearance at against kansas city before the buy right

Starting point is 00:17:16 they get the i think it was a turnover that got or the punt return that got them inside the 10 they just ran two plays right away and you're like okay they're committed to the run here they're obviously like they're not going to throw it but that's not what we're looking for right we're not looking for force feeding the run. We're looking for a consistently good running game because at times this season, we've seen it. Yeah, and I think the balance in terms

Starting point is 00:17:41 of how it's being straight out. Look, we've been wondering what life without J.K. Dobbins is going to look like, and I didn't expect, and I think it's unrealistic to say, okay, hey, even though the Denver's going to the bye week, they're going to have the answer coming out. And look, I think, you know, the easy button and certainly I think this was on my mind, I thought

Starting point is 00:17:57 about tweeting it out as maybe the Broncos' decision not to add a running back during the by week could have come back and haunt them, you know, in this game against Washington. I think it's a little too early for that. Though I will make the argument, maybe Denver would benefit from having a bigger body back on the roster just because when you look at the overall run distribution between your two actual backs, and this isn't counting the plays where Tyler Badee is in the game and he's not getting, he's not getting carries.

Starting point is 00:18:23 Like that's the thing. Tyler Badee is in the game. It is a passing play or it is a, you know, I mean, essentially it is a screen either two Badee or it's a passing play to somebody else. To me, 19 rushing attempts between RJ Harvey and Jaliel McLaughlin combined is not going to be the formula. I mean, Sarah, we heard from Sean earlier in this week where he said, hey, we want to get Jalil involved more where he can get us in rhythm in the run game. That didn't seem to be in emphasis because early on it was R.J. Harvey and Tyler Badegh, getting the on-field reps first before we saw Jil ever stepped foot. And for RJ, look, for him, two touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:18:55 I thought his first carry the game really got the Broncos off to a start. To my point, I was thinking, hey, the Broncos are investing in the run game here with Rolf. RJ and then it was a completely different story. They kind of went away and there were times I felt like the blocking on the offensive line and the run game specifically. I didn't feel like it was as clean as what we've seen in some other games here for Denver this year. Agreed.

Starting point is 00:19:14 I think just once again, the problem that Sean Payton has brought up a number of times is those negative plays, right? Those negative plays that set you back that don't allow you to commit to the run necessarily. You've got to then turn to your quick passing game and hope for some quick yards after the catch because you don't necessarily trust the running game. after a first down play that goes for zero or negative yards, you're not going back to the running game and saying,

Starting point is 00:19:39 oh, yeah, that's the ticket right there. Let's go there again because then you're going to be accused of, well, they're just doing the predictable run, run pass, right? So when you have a negative play on first down in the running game, then you're turning to the quick passing game. And you're looking to say, hey, can Marvin Mims go get us some yak? Can Troy Franklin get us some yak or whatever, you know, you get what I'm saying.

Starting point is 00:20:01 And when it gets to that point, then you're in like a third and seven situation, third and six situation. That's not a running down. I mean, so that's where I think the Broncos are getting behind the eight ball here a bit is that first down running ability. If you can break off a big chunk on first down, you set yourself up to have those options available. The whole menu is available. But when you don't have success on first down, I think not only can you not realistically expect to run in second and 10, third and seven, third and eight. But I also think it discourages your play caller, Sean Payton in this instance,

Starting point is 00:20:40 from wanting to call those first down running plays throughout the course of a game. So I don't know if it's running back personnel or if it's blocking or if it's what. But I mean, we've had both ends of the spectrum argued all season long. Sean Peyton doesn't trust Bo Nix. Sean Payton's throwing the ball 45 times. He doesn't want to run the ball. Which is it? What world are we living in here, Cody?

Starting point is 00:21:01 I don't know. It's just one of those things that's, it's frustrating because you want the running game to succeed. We've had those takeover drives at times this season. We've seen the home run plays. It's just not happening consistently for the Broncos. It has to find a way to start getting there consistently, though, or else it will sink them if they get to the postseason.

Starting point is 00:21:21 Look, I think they're going to make the playoffs. Right now they're in a prime position. They want to win the AFC West. They've got to find a way to do it because, look, you got some tough games coming up. And we always look at these AFC West rivalry games. The Raiders are coming up next. obviously always tough on paper, right? And the Raiders have always kind of played Denver tough.

Starting point is 00:21:35 They did more recently here, holding the top of see a 10-7 victory against the Raiders here on Thursday night football a couple of weeks ago. And then you've got the Jaguars who were seemingly a little bit on fire right now. And then you've got the Green Bay Packers who are kind of up and down, but they're coming off of a big time way. Like the games are very big here coming up for Denver, and you have to hope that they can find that rhythm sooner rather than later here.

Starting point is 00:21:57 But one of the trends we saw on Sunday night football that was concerning was the Broncos' defense. defensive performance. Was this game an anomaly, or is it the start of a trend that we saw last year late down the stretch for Denver? We'll break it all down here on today's episode of the show. Today's Lockdown podcast is brought to my friends over there at prize picks, and the holiday season is one of the best time for sports, bowl games, big basketball matchups, playoff pushes, it's all happening at once. And while we're all making choices every single day, one of the most fun places to make the right call is prize picks. Prize picks is the easiest way to get in on daily

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Starting point is 00:23:06 after you play your first $5 lineup prize picks. It's good to be right. Coming out of the by week, the Denver Broncos defense is one of the best units in the NFL through 11 weeks. But in Sunday night football, they suffered a little bit of a setback on the night where they got Pat or Tan back into the mix alongside Alex Singleton. Is this a one game anomaly or is this the restart of a concerning trend that we saw happen late down the stretch for the Broncos defense?

Starting point is 00:23:32 last year. We'll share our thoughts here on today's episode. I want to say thanks to all the everydayers out there on Broncos country. Thanks once again for tuning in making us your first listening here. Sarah, I wanted to ask you this question. I'll have you answer it because I do think it is valid. Look, the biweek, it came at a great time here for Denver. And it gave them the opportunity of Pat's or tan back to the mix. And granted, Pat, not 100% yet.

Starting point is 00:23:53 Pat's first game back since week eight, there was a little bit of rust associated with it. But I just felt like the Broncos' defensive game plan, I didn't feel like it was a good game plan based on what we saw how they played it, you know, in various coverages of man coverage there where just nobody got home, you know, especially when you're getting the ball against quickly like Marcus Mariotta did. And there were times where they were in zone where Marioita had too much time to throw and was carving them up a little bit. And then they couldn't tackle.

Starting point is 00:24:20 We saw this defense here for Denver last year drop off down the stretch. And that impacted them in those final five games. It also impacted them in the playoffs against Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills. and the one thing I saw a lot of tweets that had a lot of mentions where Broncos fans were saying this is what happened last year do you think that this game against the commanders was a little bit of an anomaly performance

Starting point is 00:24:41 for them where they gave up over 400 yards on the ground struggled on third down struggled on the red zone or do you think that this could be the rekindling of so to speak of that concerning trend we saw last year I do think it was an anomaly Cody and I'm going to be manifesting that all throughout the week just because the personnel is better. Obviously, you're getting guys healthy. There was some rust to be knocked off. I think a lot of times, like you get to a bye week in the NFL. And of course, you know, you want to come out of the by week looking like absolute just gangbusters out there looking like, man, we had two weeks to prepare. But so did the commanders, by the way. The commanders are coming off thereby as well. So I felt like the Broncos were knocking off some rust. And, you know, that's maybe to be expected to a degree. You're the road team playing a

Starting point is 00:25:30 against a team that has nothing to lose, playing against a team that, frankly, they had some momentum, getting Terry McLaren back and having their full complement of weapons on the offensive side of the ball. And then you start to build ahead of steam. Like the commander's offense just had a lot of momentum in this game. But the Broncos, I felt the biggest problem to me

Starting point is 00:25:48 was the abandonment of their identity, right? What's made this defense so great all year is the attacking mentality of Vance Joseph? Now, that, that I could see, that rearing its ugly head because down the stretch last season, when Riley Moss was out and the Broncos were struggling, they seemed to abandon that identity, right? They seemed to not be as aggressive, not blitzing as often,

Starting point is 00:26:13 playing more conservatively. That, to me, was the biggest issue in this game. It wasn't aggressive enough for me, and the pass rush, you know, not disciplined in their lanes, right? I mean, we saw how many times Marcus Mariotta broke contain because the Broncos didn't have anybody in their lane, off the edge, just a little, you know, over-eager, but still not aggressive enough. And in this game, too, defensively, Denver had, I think, 12 plus plays of big plays given up.

Starting point is 00:26:42 I'm talking 10-plus yard plays. We talk about those being explosives, 10 to 12 plus of that happening in this game. And some of them coming on third down. I mean, Sarah, there was a third and 12. There was a third and I think 13. And then obviously late in the game, there was a third and 25 that led to, like, a fourth and one that ultimately the commanders converted here. And it's just like, what's, what's going on with this Broncos defense coming into this game?

Starting point is 00:27:07 They were the number one third down D. They were the number one red zone D. They gave up eight third down conversions in this game, several fourth down conversions, but more importantly, the red zone, when the commanders got down there, they were three for three, Sarah. And if it isn't for Nick Benito coming up with a deflection on a play where the wide, the running back or wide receiver coming open underneath to the flat, would have had a walk off game.

Starting point is 00:27:29 winning two-point conversion if it weren't for Nick Benito coming up big. To me, it's like, all right, like what happened in this game specifically? It just didn't look like the same type of game plan that we saw from the Broncos. And once again, maybe, maybe coming into it, maybe the Broncos were preparing for something different. Maybe they had something in mind. But then again, maybe the commanders, once again, same amount of time to prepare was sitting there thinking to themselves, how are the Broncos going to try to attack us?

Starting point is 00:27:54 How can we counter that? I just thought that the Broncos got the commander's best effort. Look, that's a team that has nothing essentially to play for except to just try to win and poke holes in other team seasons at this point, considering where they're at. To me, I just thought that Denver got the best of the commanders, which I think defensively, they've been better since Dan Quinn has been calling the place for them defensively. But still, just the defensive performance, I think we expected more because of how they've been playing. So maybe that's why the frustration of the magnifying glass is a little bit larger on them. Yeah, and maybe this has nothing to do with anything, but obviously Cliff Kingsbury was, you know, Vance Joseph's boss in Arizona for a few years and knows that defense well.

Starting point is 00:28:38 So perhaps that was an advantage in his favor in terms of the chess match here. I don't know. But ultimately, yeah, this was not the Denver Broncos defense, like mistackles. I know you talked about that on our squad show. We talked about breakdowns and coverage. I mean, even without penalties being called on this Denver Broncos. for Broncos secondary, which we still had a couple of those, right? A couple of bad ones at that.

Starting point is 00:29:02 I mean, it was just too many big plays. I think the broadcast crew pointed out after halftime, Cody, the commanders in the running game had four plays of 10 plus yards. As of the first half of this game, that was already more than the Broncos had given up in any other game this season. So it wasn't just through the air. It was also on the ground, giving up way too much on first and second down, which we talked about for the Broncos offense, how critical that is.

Starting point is 00:29:29 It opens up the entire playbook. And frankly, Marcus Mariotta was dialed in. Like he was locked in, making tough throws, making tight window throws. It wasn't like the commanders were out there just, you know, taking advantage of a bunch of Broncos mistakes. Like they were making plays. And so it's an opportunity now for the Broncos to get back to the drawing board and make sure they do avoid that same breakdown that happened last year.

Starting point is 00:29:54 Yeah, they're going to have to do that. You got an AFC West matchup coming up against the Las Vegas Raiders who have been officially eliminated from the playoffs. So they're not playing for anything except to play spoils to other teams. And they're going to try to do that to the Broncos. They still are going to play the Ken City Chiefs another game this season in Vegas. They also still have another matchup. I mean, obviously we saw them lose to the chargers over the weekend.

Starting point is 00:30:16 The Broncos have to take advantage of what's ahead of them right now. They're at 10 and 2. You have more of an opportunity to continue to take strides forward, to gain more of a lead on Kansas City. I think Casey's four games behind Denver, L.A's two games behind, but you know that that can change in a turn of an, in a blink of an eye, turn of a page,

Starting point is 00:30:34 whatever you want to say to do it, and Denver's going to have to find a way to overcome some of the issues that they certainly have here. But there have been some surprises along the way here in Broncos country tomorrow's episode of show, Sarah and I, we're going to talk about the emergence here of Pat Bryant and how his role is becoming something of value here to this Broncos' offense,

Starting point is 00:30:52 a role that they had for Jerry, duty. Now, Pat Bryant, the rookie, he's thriving and it will break him down. Plus, you're going to hear from Sean Payton in his Monday morning conference call with us. You're going to get all down. Tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos. We'll see you then.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - OUTLAST: Denver Broncos SURVIVE Overtime Showdown vs. Washington Commanders

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