Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - RETURN: Denver Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins 21-Day Window Opens, Could Play vs. Patriots

Starting point is 00:00:00 Denver Broncos running back, J.K. Dobbins, 21-day window has officially opened, but that doesn't mean that he's going to play in Sunday's game against the New England Patriots. You are locked-on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked-On Podcast Network, your team every day. It is the return potentially of J.K. Dobbins that has Broncos country excited ahead of the AFC championship game, but will he actually play this week? Welcome into another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos, podcast part of the locked on podcast network, the number one sports podcast network in the country.

Starting point is 00:00:40 And that's all things. All you every day is out there in Broncos country. Thanks for tuning in making us your first listen. However, you choose to do so. And Sarah and I, we're going to break down today's show. We're going to talk about J.K. Dobbins. His 21 day practice window has opened, which opens up the possibility for his return. But could that come here on Sunday against the Lungle?

Starting point is 00:00:59 We'll dive deep into that. Plus, we'll highlight how important it is that Broncos playmakers step up this week in the absence of Bo Nix, but more so stepping up for Jared Stidham and this offense as they look to try to get to Super Bowl 60. Then we'll talk about how the Broncos defense must prevent the downfield shots at Drake, Maine, the New England Patriots love to capitalize on. This is a big game. We're going to have it covered every step of the way here. I'm Cody Roar, Credential Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Join, as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert over there at predominantly Orange.

Starting point is 00:01:29 Sarah, my friend, look, this is a fun anticipation. and I think in the buildup for the AFC championship game, I think we're all sitting here looking at some of the national media talking heads continue to say that Denver doesn't have a chance. I think the Broncos like being in that position. I think that they thrive in that here. But even though that there is going to be no Bo Nix who underwent successful surgery on Tuesday of his ankle, the thing that we have to look at here is the return of somebody else who was important to the offense.

Starting point is 00:01:55 J.K. Dobbins set to practice here today for the first time since having surgery on his foot. before Bo Nix came through in so many clutch situations over the course of the entire 2025 season. I think everybody would agree J.K. Dobbins was probably the offensive MVP for the Denver Broncos, right? And so the opportunity, the potential, even the fraction of a chance to get him back for the biggest game of the season so far. I understand why everybody in Broncos country is giddy about this news, Cody. And look, J.K. Dobbins isn't doing anything to throw a wet blanket over this. because he posted on his Instagram picture of him running out of the tunnel with the soon emoji, right? So he's fueling the fire.

Starting point is 00:02:38 The Broncos obviously activating his 21-day practice window. It will be very interesting to see how they approach this. I mean, let's say the optimistic aspect of this, right? Let's say JK suits up for the AFC championship game. I don't think even Broncos' country's most optimistic fans, including myself, should, expect him to go out there and carry the ball 20 times or anything like that. So even if he does play in this game, Cody, I think you're going to see spots. And so that's what I'm expecting anyway. But I also believe that the Broncos wouldn't be activating his window now if they didn't think there

Starting point is 00:03:16 was at least a chance, right? Because you told us last week that JK was out there on the side field at the end of the week is the first time we've seen him. You told us also that he's been out there at the games while he's been recovering. And that's not always the case for players who are injured to be out there like on the, on the, you know, sideline and things like that. So very, very interesting development here that could ultimately give the Broncos not just a boost on the field, but think about the morale. Think about the intangible boost that this could give the locker room to have this guy. That's why I posted on my Twitter page. I know some of our listeners are like, why does this guy keep talking about the mighty ducks? Uh, the, the, the, the, Dean Portman.

Starting point is 00:03:58 in return after one of the periods against the varsity team. That's what it reminds me of, right? It's like it just gives you such an intangible jolt to have somebody, one of your, you know, key leaders on the team to come back in this way. Yeah, and he was, he was getting off to such a great start too. I mean, he was having the most productive year by a Broncos running back, really since Philip Lindsay had that back in 2018. He was on pace to surpass maybe 1,300 yards rushing on the ground,

Starting point is 00:04:23 which we were like, when the Broncos had a last time they had a thousand yard rush? Oh, yeah, it was Philip Lindsay. He was the last to be able to do that. And that was very, very long ago. That was just two and a half years removed, Sarah, of Denver's Super Bowl 50 win, which when you think about how long it has been from then to now, it is crazy to see that serve as the type of production here.

Starting point is 00:04:44 But here's where I want to kind of, you know, embrace some realism for Broncos country as it pertains to J.K. Dobbins, because, you know, with that, if he returns, yes, it's big. But here are the questions that we have about that. For J.K., he hasn't ran. the football in between tackles. He hasn't had contact. He hasn't been stepped on, so to speak, which happens all the time when you're playing the position. He hasn't had that since he had the injury in week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders. And man, he suffered the injury. He even picked up

Starting point is 00:05:12 a key first down after the fact, played through it. And I know he was frustrated things went, but for JK, this is kind of a tough spot for him because it's almost a gamble, right? If he tries to come back and play on Sunday, he's trying to do it, not only boost the morale of the offense, but on top of that, say, hey, coach, I was so valuable this year, which I don't think anyone's going to say he wasn't valuable, but also he's trying to get another contract extension here with the team or maybe audition for another team. I know he wants to stay in the Mile High City,

Starting point is 00:05:41 but I think the biggest things we have to see is how does he handle coming back in a sense? Is it going to be similar to what we saw with Ben Powers, where Ben Powers 21-day window opened, but they held him out just so we can get more contact with him, right? Does that change in the playoffs? because next week isn't guaranteed, or two weeks from now. The Super Bowl isn't guaranteed until unless you beat the New England Patriots on Sunday. So where does this all come down to?

Starting point is 00:06:06 I think so much of it has to be how does J.K. feel? How does the coaching staff feel? And what does that mean for the running back rotation, which has already kind of had some up and down questions, as is coming into obviously this game, but even throughout the entire season, if JK can be a full participant, let's say hypothetically today, tomorrow, and Friday, I think there would be a chance that he could play. But I'm just trying to get Broncos country prepared, even if he's a full participant,

Starting point is 00:06:33 let's say on Thursday and Friday, he could still be ruled out because the Broncos, maybe they believe, maybe they have hope in which they do. They believe that they'll beat the Patriots and have to go to the Super Bowl. But that would be the best, I think, overall timeline for a guy like JK. So it is a tough timeline right now here. It really is. And that's the difficult part of it is like you don't want everybody to be let down. right? If you're the Broncos, you're activating his window, but at the same time,

Starting point is 00:06:59 it's, it's not only realism in terms of, all right, he like just suffered this injury in November. Like it wasn't that long ago that he went on IR. And I think most folks were probably saying like he's not going to be able to come back at all this season. And then Sean Payton kind gave the glimmer of hope like, well, I don't know. We'll see, you know, late in the year, right? So I guess if they've had this circled as the target date all along, then maybe they're just trying to make it happen. Maybe they're trying to manifest it, right? But either way, I feel like you're going to need more out of Jalil McLaughlin and R.J.

Starting point is 00:07:34 Harvey in this game because you're not going to be able to just completely lean on J.K. Dobbins. And what we saw in the divisional round in the running game, especially, like Jaliel McLaughlin's fumble Cody that was recovered by the Broncos, thankfully, I mean, we didn't really get a chance to talk. much about that, but that was a potential game changing play that thankfully never happened, right? So I wonder if that's the reason why Sean Payton put so much pressure on Bo Nix in that game. I mean, in a shootout, obviously you're going to throw the ball a little bit more,

Starting point is 00:08:07 but just the trust went out the window at that point, I think, for the running game. After Jalil fumbled that ball, it just felt like it was like, all right, like we're not screwing around with this. Bo gives us the best chance to win. We're putting the ball in his hands. So that's where I'm saying, hey, you got to rely on these other guys, maybe a little bit more, reset the board for those two backs as well, even if JK does play in this game. Yeah, I'm very curious to see how they approach this week too, because I think we can all sit here, Sarah, and look at the New England Patriots defense, the players that they have, obviously Milton Williams on the defensive line. He's a disruptor. He is a very good player. They have athletic linebackers there.

Starting point is 00:08:46 It's going to be the Ellis Brothers Bowl here as Christian Ellis, obviously, he's going to be facing off. against this offense here. And Jonah defenses are going to be facing off against Drake May and company. But the idea here is that, okay, if the New England Patriots are coming to Denver and they're saying, you know what we're going to do, we're going to shut down the run. We want Jared Stittem to throw the ball. That's probably going to be their approach here because they like the players that they have in their secondary.

Starting point is 00:09:07 They got athletic guys. We'll see where I think Carlton Davis is throughout the week. I know he was in the NFL's concussion protocol, but you still got Christian Gonzalez, who is a very, very good player. And you have some really good safeties as well that have a combination of play in the backfield climb over the top in quarters coverage and make plays if you try to take some deep shots. But they also come up and play well against the run. It is a Mike Vrable style of defense here that we're going to see from the Newgo Patriots. So this is, I think while people

Starting point is 00:09:33 on paper like, ah, Denver doesn't match up well, we'll see what the Broncos and Sean Payton have up their sleeves here for them going forward here. But Broncos country coming up next, Sarah and I are going to dive deep and the wide. The Broncos playmakers on offense, Cortland Sutton, Marvin Mims, you name it. They need the best effort from these guys in Sunday's game in the AFC championship will tell you how they can step up and why they need to here this week on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's Lockdown Broncos is brought to my friends over there at drip drop and kicking off the new year feeling good is always the goal right.

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Starting point is 00:11:53 It's time for the playmakers to step up for their quarterback in a big way. The AFC championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, it might not be determined by just Jared Stidham being in there for Bo Nix at quarterback, but how has playmakers come through for him. We're going to tell you all about that on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. And Broncos Country, I want to say thank you to every single one of you that makes us your first listen of the day every single day right here on the locked on podcast network the number one sports podcast network out there and if you haven't already done so cody want to cody and i want to

Starting point is 00:12:28 invite you to join the every day or all access club we're going to get a ton of bonus content and it's worth the price of admission if only for the ad free episodes of the show we know a lot of you listeners would love that but you also get all 22 breakdowns locked on uh merch discount code and so much else so check the link in the show notes for more on that. And Cody, I want to talk about the playmakers really needing to step up for the Broncos in this game because I feel like Jarrett Stidham is going to be able to put the ball in spots. I feel like you and I have discussed, man, the offense with Sean Payton calling plays, he's the master chess player out there. He's going to be able to set up this quarterback for success. The question is, are the receivers going to step up?

Starting point is 00:13:14 because Cortland Sutton in the divisional round struggled with dropped passes. Troy Franklin went down with the hamstring injury. We really haven't seen much out of Evan Ingram. I guess it's only one playoff game, but over the course of the season, it's been sporadic from him. I am fascinated to find out if we're going to be talking. Lil Jordan Humphrey dropped a touchdown pass in the divisional round as well.

Starting point is 00:13:36 These guys need to step up. I think the ball is going to get there, but are they going to catch it? That's my big question. Yeah, I mean, drops have been an issue for the broad. Bronco's offense all season long by the receivers. I mean, and that's putting it kindly, but that has been the reality in terms when you look at Bo Nix, the statistics of the amount of yards or touchdowns missed because receivers drop

Starting point is 00:13:56 the ball. And we're not talking about passes that are unkatchable. Certainly there's plenty of that, but that's not constituting as a drop. Drops are passes that are deemed catchable by obviously the statisticians around the NFL that are observing that. And you just need these guys to come up in big situations, right? Like last week with Cortland, there were a couple of plays. He gets his hand on the ball, but he just can't manage it going into the ground, right?

Starting point is 00:14:19 You got to have those, hey, we got to lock in. We've got to find a way to get our arm secured. Even if we hit the ground hard, we got to find a way to hold on. I know it's easier said than done, but this is what is going to be needed if Denver is going to get to the Super Bowl, right? If they're going to beat New England who coming into this matchup, they are looking at Denver's offensive. They are saying no bow nicks, no run game. Well, this should be easy for us. Like that is the theme coming out of New England.

Starting point is 00:14:42 And you hear that vibe, especially with some of the reporters that are talking about how New England is viewing this game, certainly how the national media is viewing in this game. But for Denver, you were right. Like Cortland Sutton, I felt like in that legacy defining drive by Bonix, Cortland stepped up. He had three straight plays where he caught a pass and some big ones to find the soft spot against zone coverage. Marvin Mims coming up with the obviously big touchdown catch coming up clutch in that regard. Little Jordan Humphrey redeeming himself a little bit later right before half time catching that touchdown. but Denver can't be just down to these three guys. We are sitting here today and we'll find out, obviously,

Starting point is 00:15:17 as the Broncos go to practice, what is the status of Pat Bryant, who's now in the NFL concussion protocol? Will he be able to play? Because just a few weeks ago, he also had a concussion and had to go through protocol. So I don't know what the rules are from the NFL standpoint. I'm very curious to see if Pat Bryant will be available because guess what?

Starting point is 00:15:34 He and Jared Stidham in the preseason training camp, they had a very good connection. And if you don't believe me, folks, go watch the preseason game against San Francisco, go watch the preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. It was the Pat Bryant first quarter, so to speak, in that game there. And then Troy Franklin got involved, the other key piece. And I mean, for a hamstring, Sarah, it feels unlikely that Troy's going to be able to go this week

Starting point is 00:15:57 because he's so tall, fast, fast twitch. Hamstrings are tricky with these types of players. So you're going to be down those two guys, more than likely in this game. Let's operate under that assumption. So what do you have? It's Marvin, low Jordan. Cortland, here's where I think the wild card's going to be, Sarah, and I know you're going to be excited to hear this. Elijah Moore, who was activated last week, probably going to get activated this week here. But here's where the connection with Stidham comes in. When Denver has their scout team offense running things, guess who's throwing and catching to each other? It's Jared Stidham and Elijah Stidham and Elijah Stidham and Elijah Stidham and Elijah Stidham and Elijah Moore, I've been in the facility. I've been a scout team player of the week. And guess who's his scout team quarterback? Jared Stidham. That might be a little bit of a secret weapon that the Broncos can use this week. Could end up being one of the biggest moves the team made all season.

Starting point is 00:16:44 You know, in terms of adding him to the practice squad late in the year, taking a shot on his talent and believing that ultimately that could end up paying dividends at some point down the road. I mean, how fortuitous was the move to sign Sam Moussifer, the backup center, who has needed to come in and play. And now you might be looking at the same scenario with somebody like Elijah Moore. And I think it's important to remember, we've said this multiple times. but for those listening who don't remember, he had eight catches for 110 yards against the Denver Broncos

Starting point is 00:17:14 in that game against the Cleveland Browns last season. And yes, I realize some of those catches did come against Levi Wallace, but not every single one of them. And Elijah has had multiple 100-yard games in the NFL. He has a lot of experience. He can do a lot of really good things for you. So it's going to be huge to have him out there. And I think the Broncos do need to activate him, Cody,

Starting point is 00:17:36 because ultimately if your top three guys are Marvin Mims, Lil Jordan Humphrey and Cortland Sutton, you at least need somebody out there for some variance, right? In terms of, okay, you got two big guys and one fast guy. That's not going to be enough variance out there. If you go into two wide receiver sets or if one guy gets hurt, so you've got to have Elijah more up for this game. And I think Evan Ingram, I mean, you and I could basically make a,

Starting point is 00:18:02 we should have thought of a name for a weekly Evan Ingraham, you know, just call out. Just say, hey, what's our Evan Ingram segment going to be called all season? Because we've been calling for more Evan Ingram almost every single week. And I'm not frustrated about it. I am a little bit, I guess. But I want to see what this offense can do if they actively work at getting him involved. He had one catch, I think, for seven yards in the divisional round against Buffalo.

Starting point is 00:18:31 And I'm the type of person, I can't say I have like some elite photographic. memory, but I remember stuff. I remember pivot points in games. I remember plays from games, and I don't even remember Evan catching a single pass against the bills. So I was surprised that he even had one. But when we talk about the playmakers needing to step up, it's Cortland coming through for the QB as the wide receiver won on this

Starting point is 00:18:55 team. It's getting Marvin involved again and making sure that he's a focal point in the game plan, but also Evan Ingram being a focal point, I think a minimum, five targets for Evan this week. It has to happen if the Broncos are going to do some damage offensively. These need to be the top three guys here, right? And maybe even for Marvin Mims, this is saying, hey, we're taking Marvin off of kick return because what,

Starting point is 00:19:17 remember what we saw last week in the very first play, got hit helmet to helmet, I had to go in the blue medical tent there. You cannot simply risk Marvin right now. And I think there's a legit argument. We saw Marvin saw, you know, take an increase and obviously snaps. I think Marvin might have the chance to be the best overall big play

Starting point is 00:19:34 wide receiver that Denver has right now in terms of clutchness, reliable, sure fire hands. That's what we see from Marvin. We've seen it all year, but the sample size for me hasn't been used as much. This is where maybe you have to use Marvin more. You have to reduce his role on special teams. Keep him as a punt returner, but take him off a kick return. Give that to Jalil McLaughlin, Tyler Badegh, or obviously, Jal and R.J. Harvey.

Starting point is 00:19:59 But even then, I would even say, I wouldn't even put R.J. Harvey out there at this point. Protect your guy. saw it probably Badey there. And with Evan Ingram, I am, I agree with you completely. There has not been an emphasis to even feature him or to try to get him the football. I mean, I would say that the tight end position this year, Sarah, for Denver has been non-existent. They're premier blockers and decoys at this point. And if you don't have a run game and you have decoys at tight end that aren't getting featured, that reduces your offense.

Starting point is 00:20:29 I mean, it makes it very one dimensional. So that, that has to change. I'm with you. The top three, Cortland, Marvin, needs to be wide receiver two or wide receiver one emphasis, and then Evan Ingram, find a way to get him involved. We saw him and Jared Stidham obviously thrive a little bit, and that underneath play action connection in the preseason. The Broncos need to find a way to do that here once again.

Starting point is 00:20:48 Broncos country, let us know your thoughts here on the Broncos' offensive game plan and the approach this week in which playmakers do you want to see step up in Sunday's AFC championship game. But coming up next, Sarah and I, we're going to emphasize how important it is that the Broncos defense figures out how to prevent the big plays from happening downfield this week against the New England Patriots, you're going to get that here on today's episode of the show. Today's lockdown Broncos is brought to you by our friends over there at Fandu, and Fandu is officially in playoff mode.

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Starting point is 00:22:56 you heard about Indeed on this podcast, terms and conditions, apply hiring. Do it the right way with Indeed. The Denver Broncos defense, the secondary has to come up big here once again against Drake May and the New England Patriots who have a combination of players like Kisham Booty and Stefan Diggs, guys that like to attack downfield, but they can't allow the big play to be something that snake bites them in the AFC championship game. We'll highlight what that will look like and what they must avoid here in today's episode of the show. I want to say thank you once again to the every dares out there in

Starting point is 00:23:25 Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen. Even when the season ends, Well, we're expecting to go all the way through the Super Bowl. We're expecting a Super Bowl victory. Us here at Lockdown Broncos, we're expecting a Super Bowl parade. But even after the parade ends, you know you're going to get Lockdown Broncos coverage every single day, everything that you need to know. So make sure you stay in every day or every single day all year long. We appreciate you so much there. Sarah, you know, one thing I was going through and watching the Buffalo Bills game on the All-22 going back there, the one thing that Josh Allen and the bills tried to do.

Starting point is 00:23:54 And they certainly did at times. They tested them downfield, right? Some downfield throws testing pass. or Tanner, Riley Moss, but also some deep middle window shots against Talenoa Hufanga, PJ Locke. We saw PJ's great interception that he had thrown there, but there were a couple of times where it seemed like Joe Brady and the bills were trying to target wherever Talanoa Hufanga was in a sense, knowing that Denver was in a specific zone and they had a

Starting point is 00:24:17 window right there. Drake May in the New England Patriots, they're one of the teams offensively that loves to throw downfield the most. This is going to be a huge test for the Broncos this week. massive, massive test. And we saw them pass that test against Josh Allen with flying colors. Obviously, Josh did not have a lot of success throwing the football down field. Oh, for nine.

Starting point is 00:24:38 Oh, for nine, right? And that doesn't mean that he didn't always put the ball on the right spot, right? Because the play at the Brandon Cooks that J-Quain Macmillan turned into an interception, I mean, that's a phenomenal throw. It's just a defensive back making a better play. And there were a couple of instances of that throughout the course of the game. But when we talk about Drake May throwing the ball, deep. We're not just talking about, oh, yeah, he's been pretty good this season. He's in like

Starting point is 00:25:02 rare air all time status, Cody, when it comes to pushing the ball downfield, being accurate with his throws. And then I was looking up the Patriots top five players in terms of targets. Every single one of them has a catch percentage of 67.4% or higher. So this is not only a team that pushes the ball downfield frequently. This is a group of receivers that it might not have. I mean, obviously Stefan Diggs, everybody recognizes his name, but we're talking about Kisham Booty, Demario Douglas, Mac Hollins. Obviously, everybody knows Hunter Henry, but it's not like the Cincinnati Bengals, right? You know, where you have two elite wide receivers.

Starting point is 00:25:42 This is a group that these guys just make plays for their QB. He puts the ball on a spot. They make plays. So we can expect they're going to attack downfield. They're going to attack Riley Moss. The safeties have to be on top of their game. Riley's got to be on top of. of his game. Pat Sartan is going to probably get tested even in this one. So it's going to be one of those

Starting point is 00:26:02 games, Cody, where, okay, you pitch the shutout against Josh Allen. Can you do it again? Can you do it against the league's best deep ball passer this season? And I think the Broncos will be up to the task, Cody. I feel like this is where the defense understands. We're going to have to step up in order to win this game. We're going to have to be at our best where the Patriots are at their best. I feel like they're going to rise to the occasion here. I do too. And I think maybe one thing to even watch this week is with all the crying from Bill's mafia and all the boo-hoo and in the tears that we've seen all along that have suddenly

Starting point is 00:26:36 created, I'd say, river flow and some of the driest rivers in the entire world, you're going to be looking to make sure that this is a game where the New England Patriots they're not chucking it downfield and saying, hey, we're hoping to draw a PI. You know that's probably going to be something that they try to do. Riley Moss has done a great job since, I mean, I can't even. remember the last time he actually got called for past interference. I can't remember which game specifically it was, but it's been a while, right? Keep that trend going, you know, do a good job of staying in front of guys. Like, Riley's going to play man to man. Pat's going to be playing man to man.

Starting point is 00:27:07 They are going to get tested, but you just got to make sure in situations you can't be in a debatable, was that PI, was that not PI territory here. I know it's easier said and done. You can almost say that every week. It's kind of a cliche, but in this game, it is do or die. you don't want this game to come down to, wow, like, you know, you didn't commit that PI right there. Even if it's ticky-tacky or 50-50, you don't want that to be something that decides the game or it's a talking point here ultimately. So it just goes back to fundamentals technique. I imagine they're still going to try to attack certain things inside the slot. And I think J-Quan McMillan is continuing to showcase why he deserves a contract extension.

Starting point is 00:27:47 You know they're going to try to attack him as well. And that's not like, hey, this is a weak link. it's Drake May is the type of quarterback. When you watch him on tape this year, you have to give flowers to. I know there's a feud between Bo Nix fans and Drake May fans on Twitter, but I've come to learn. I've come to accept Twitter is not real life. The very good young quarterback, he's not afraid to attack anybody.

Starting point is 00:28:08 I don't even think he's going to be afraid to attack Pat Sir Tan, but here's where I'm at. Is he going to be brave enough to try to attack PS2? When you have a guy like Stefan Diggs, so I imagine PS2 is going to follow, I imagine that's going to be an emphasis that may. Maybe they try to get him going. I welcome the challenge. I know Pat certainly welcomes it. And we'll see if Drake May is going to test the reigning, defending NFL defensive player of the year.

Starting point is 00:28:30 But the big shots downfield, Denver has to continue to stay on top of those 100%. And I think it plays into the Broncos' defense's favor as well. You know, obviously the Patriots, if they hit those downfield plays, we'll say after the game, man, you have to eat some crow because you said it plays into the Denver defense's favor. but here's why I say that, because you have the best pass rushing team in the NFL. So if a quarterback is consistently taking deeper drops, that plays into your pass rush's favor. The Broncos pass rush rarely has the opportunity to just go out there and tee off, Cody. I mean, teams are trying to get rid of the ball quickly against this defensive front.

Starting point is 00:29:08 The Broncos get tons of pressure anyway. They get lots of quarterback hits anyway. But if they're going up against an offense, that's consistently trying to take deeper drops and push the ball downfield, it plays into the advantage of a great pass rushing team. We've seen it before, and I think we'll see it again. And I believe that this Broncos defense understands what's at stake. Obviously, they know the Super Bowl is at stake. But when you put the pressure on the defense, remember back in the 2013 season,

Starting point is 00:29:35 where the defense had a lot of stinkers throughout the course of the year, and they welcome the AFC, the Patriots to the AFC championship game in Denver that season, even with all the injuries they had on that side of the ball, even with Von Miller out for the season. Man, that defense put the clamps on in that AFC championship team, and they rose to the occasion. It was pot roast season. It was all these guys, all the rag tag group out there,

Starting point is 00:29:59 Sean Phillips, all of them. And the Broncos now have a pretty fully healthy defense going into this game. And I believe that they know, like, we cannot. We have no margin for air. We need to make sure the offense, if the Patriots get a field goal, like that's a failure on our part. And I'm not trying to put the defense in a position of like, hey, let's put unfair expectations on them. I think they're going to go in with that mentality.

Starting point is 00:30:24 At least if I was part of that defense, that would be my mentality, right? It's to say, I don't want these guys to score a point. I don't want them to get past midfield. I don't want Drake May to ever want to come to Denver again. I want him to be afraid of us. I want him to be afraid of dropping back to pass. I think they're going to take that mentality. And I'm not saying that Drake is.

Starting point is 00:30:45 I'm not saying that at all for any. Patriots fan that, you know, stumbles upon. But what I am saying is I think that's going to be the mentality and the mindset of this Denver defense. You couldn't have said it better. You couldn't have said it better. I don't even know what I'm trying to say. You couldn't have said it any better right there.

Starting point is 00:31:02 My friend, that's what I was trying to say. That's going to be a nice little blur. People can be like, Cody's all tongue tied here today. I'm excited. Like, it's playoff week. The schedule is a little bit different. Look, we're going to hear from Sean Payton twice. We get him today at the podium.

Starting point is 00:31:14 We get him tomorrow on a Zoom call. there's so much. Obviously is going to go into this matchup. There's going to be a lot of hype, a lot of discussion points, but we feel like Denver's defense preventing the downfield shots are going to be big, and it could play into the hands of the pass rush, which in two playoff games back to back, Drake May has been sacked five times by the Chargers.

Starting point is 00:31:31 He was sacked five times by the Houston Texans. There were four fumbles forced by the Texans defense against the Patriots offense and one interception. The Broncos, they had five takeaways in the last game. They had to find a way to carry that trend over this week, especially at Denver. They can do that. I think they can go on

Starting point is 00:31:48 and they can win the AFC championship, punch their ticket to the Super Bowl where anything is possible. With us, at Broncos, country that to wrap up today's episode of the show. Just a reminder, you come in every day or all-access member.

Starting point is 00:31:59 Check it out, lockdownbroncos. That supercast.com. We're on the show notes below. If you join as the all-access tier, you're going to get access to all 22. We have a film breakdown that is up of PJ Locke's interception,

Starting point is 00:32:09 obviously Jayquan Macmillan's interception against the bills, but you also have an upload of Jared Stidham in the pre-stim. season. What is he going to do? What did he do well in Sean Payton system? You'll get that and so much more on top of everything else that we talked about, an ad-free version of the show. We appreciate you so much. And then tomorrow's episode, Broncos Country, you're going to get a crossover Thursday with locked on Patriots and Locked on Broncos. Stay locked in. We're going to be here every step of the way. We'll see you tomorrow.

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