Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Why Denver Broncos Fans Should BELIEVE Super Bowl Hype in 2026

Starting point is 00:00:00 I have never been more confident in the Denver Broncos than I am entering the 2026 season. You are locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. The 2026 NFL season is finally upon us. And for Broncos country, confidence should honestly be through the roof. My name is Sarah Bedinger. Welcome to a brand new episode of Locked on Broncos. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Cal She for a limited time.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Download the Cali app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. We're going to talk about why I'm confident in the Broncos standing in the AFC West. We're going to talk about some individual reasons and some group reasons why I'm confident in the defense. But we're going to start off why I'm confident in this Broncos offense, which how could you be confident in this offense? They were so inconsistent last year. Way too many three and outs, way too many question marks up. down the roster in terms of young players, Bo Nix's progression, at least from the outside looking in, right? When you look at this Broncos team, you got a brand new offensive play caller in Davis

Starting point is 00:01:13 Webb, Sean Payton giving him those duties and kind of just shifting to a CEO approach as the head coach of this team. But Davis Webb, we saw in the preseason one of the main reasons why I'm so confident in this Broncos offense, not just generally speaking, but why I'm confident in taking them that big leap into being one of potentially the top 10 units in the offense this year. And it's those explosive plays. We saw a concerted effort from Davis Webb throughout the preseason to push the ball down field. Now, that's been a major critique for quarterback Bow Nix, hasn't it?

Starting point is 00:01:48 Well, he doesn't throw the ball down the field very well. Well, he never throws the ball down the field. Well, we know that's not true because he led the league last year and touchdown passes of 20 plus yards. However, I think the argument that there is to be. made is that Bo Nix is, you know, he's had to adjust in terms of the running game not being existent for him, right? I mean, obviously the Broncos have not been very good or consistent in terms of running the ball, especially last season after J.K. Dobbins went down with the injury.

Starting point is 00:02:18 So to compensate for that, you really have to have a quick passing game that can help you adjust and get some drives going or gets you some chunk yardage. It's not, in my opinion, that Bo Nix is bad at throwing the ball down field. I don't think that's the case. I think we've seen plenty of evidence to the contrary, but I do think he has to be more consistent with ball placement to all levels of the field, right? And when it comes to pushing the ball downfield more often, it's not just about those explosive plays.

Starting point is 00:02:49 It's about those bigger chunk plays being able to hit from 10 to 20 yards, just as well as you can hit 40, 50 yards down the field because Bo Nix will test defenses, deep. He is not afraid to throw down the field. The question is, can the Broncos find more of a consistency when it comes to those 10 to 20 yard plays? That's a big reason why Jalen Waddle was brought into this team. And he's another reason why I'm so confident in this offense taking that next step because Jalen Wattel's explosiveness, it really creates offense for everybody else when he's on the field. Even in just two clips that we saw against the Green Bay Packers in the pre-season, season. We saw in one clip just the threat that Waddle is to all levels of the field. He created separation

Starting point is 00:03:36 with relative ease on the opportunity that he got from Bo Nix, the one target that he had in that game. Another one of the plays that he was on the field for, he drew the attention of multiple Packers, defenders, freeing up space for his teammates. And I think that's what he's going to do all year. The threat that he is in terms of his vertical speed, it forces defenses to circle him before every play. and say, hey, we got to know where number 17 is before every single play. We've got to make sure that we have him highlighted. We've got to make sure that we put our top corner on him or our fastest corner on him. What does that do?

Starting point is 00:04:11 That gives Cortland Sutton great opportunities. It gives Pat Bryant great opportunities. It keeps those boxes from being overloaded for J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey and Jonah Coleman. And we'll see how the Broncos involved, their running backs. But honestly, the running backs are another reason why I'm so confident in this offense, taking the next step because those three guys all have such unique skill sets and what they bring to the table. Obviously, J.K. Dobbins kind of feels like your quote-unquote bell cow back. Now,

Starting point is 00:04:41 that doesn't mean he's going to be carrying the ball 20, 25 times a game, but he has that style about him, right, where he's capable of grinding out those tough yards. He's capable of breaking off the 10-plus yard runs with consistency. He's capable of finishing off drives for you. He's capable of starting drives for you. The difference between JK and RJ Harvey and Jonah Coleman, other than the fact that Jonah's a rookie, RJ is that receiving pass-catching weapon out of the backfield. We saw that highlighted as well against the Green Bay Packers in the preseason. RJ is such a weapon and a dynamic one when it comes to his abilities in the passing game. He has a sort of feel for running routes out of the backfield that makes him almost an additional wide receiver on this team.

Starting point is 00:05:29 because he has such a great idea of creating separation, timing. He's got late hands like we saw on that wheel route that he ran against Green Bay. And he does a really good job of settling down against zone coverage to create and give himself opportunities to make plays after the catch. The biggest play in that Buffalo Bill's playoff game after J. Kwan Macmillan's interception was the play that R.J. Harvey made to break some tackles and get out in the open field and create space for himself to use the burst to use the speed that he has to get up field and give the Broncos good field position to be

Starting point is 00:06:05 able to get in position for that game-winning field goal. So it really does have a feel of, okay, you know, it's almost like a palette and you're choosing which color of paint you want to use for a specific game. And you can use Jonah Coleman in a variety of ways. But I think he'll be a little bit more limited at the start of things. But we know because he was held out of most of the preseason, they are going to utilize him right away. So that running back stable is a big reason why. And I'm honestly, this is the last point. And I know we haven't talked even about the offensive line.

Starting point is 00:06:37 I think the offensive line is kind of a given. But the last point I want to make in terms of why I'm so confident in this offense taking the next step this year is player progression, internal player progression. I mean, you've obviously got young guys like Pat Bryant. And we already mentioned R.J. Harvey. You've obviously got Troy Franklin, even Marvin Mims entering year four. But how about this? Veteran guys on this offense, I think, can still make big time leaps in their overall game,

Starting point is 00:07:05 starting with Evan Ingram, where last year it was not a good, you know, fit, I would say, for the Broncos and Evan Ingram. They just couldn't figure out how to properly utilize him every single week. He ends up playing less than even 50% of the snaps last season, which really was disheartening to say the least. But this year, it feels like the option. optimism is renewed. It feels like Evan was putting in the effort to become a better blocker to play more in line, which it seems the Broncos are going to do. I think those internal player development situations on an individual basis can help this unit be so much better.

Starting point is 00:07:40 Evan Ingram does so much for you when it comes to making difficult contested catches. He can stretch the field. He can win after the catch. And I think all these tight ends bring a little more something than meets the eye. They just need to get them involved. I mean, when they get involved, they've been pretty solid. I mean, at worst. But the Broncos just don't get those guys involved.

Starting point is 00:08:02 So I think we're going to see that. I think we're going to see development big time from guys like Pat Bryant, even Troy Franklin, who he hasn't been as loud this offseason as Pat Bryant, but I don't think that means that he hasn't had a good camp or hasn't had a good preseason. I think the team has challenged him quite a bit over the last couple of seasons to really take those next steps in his. game and what do we know the Broncos love the most about about Troy Franklin, his abilities after the catch. So if you marry one of my earlier points with Troy Franklin's progression,

Starting point is 00:08:33 the earlier point being more, more attacking down the field, not just throwing it deep, not just, hey, 40, 50 yard plays. I'm talking 10 to 20 yard plays. If Troy can be getting the ball 10 to 15 to 20 yards and then make some plays after the catch, he can create those big time explosives. I want to see the Broncos getting him more involved in that way. But internal player progression, obviously, I feel like Bo Nix being one of those players who, if he can take that leap in year three, that's going to be huge for this team. But it's a lot of ifs, right? Broncos country. I mean, that's, but the confidence is there because you expect it. We've seen the gradual ascension from this unit, even though there's been some, I mean, quite frankly, there's been some

Starting point is 00:09:20 growing pains along the way. You lead the league in drops over a two-year period. That's tough. But they've shown us the glimpses. They've shown us the in big moments that they can do these things. And so what I'm banking on is that we're going to see more and more of that on a consistent basis. And this unit taking the next step will absolutely be one of the key reasons why this team wins it all in 2026 and why I haven't ever been more confident in a Broncos team than I am in this version of the Broncos. And we've got to talk about the defense as well. Obviously, the defense has been the mainstay for this unit.

Starting point is 00:09:56 But there's one thing that I think they're going to do differently in 2026. That's going to make them absolutely unbeatable in this upcoming season. I'll tell you about it coming up on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Gusto. Running a small business means wearing a lot of hats. And payroll, HR, and benefits can quickly become some of the most time-consuming tasks on the list. Gusto helps simplify those responsibilities with one platform designed to make managing a team easier. Gusto is an online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses.

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Starting point is 00:12:47 instantly in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. Prize picks run your game. The Denver Broncos defense has obviously been a mainstay for this team over the past couple of seasons. And even though they've been one of the top three, top five units in the NFL for a two year span, I think they are going to get even better in 2026. We're going to talk about our confidence level in this Denver Broncos defense for 26, starting with, I think, the most important category that the,

Starting point is 00:13:20 this team needs to change. We know this team set franchise records back-to-back years in sacks. What have we talked about all offseason, though, with the Broncos? They need more takeaways. And when they get takeaways, it just increases the margin for error so much more. I think what we saw this past season is evidence of that, right? When you're not creating as many takeaways, you get in a lot of tight games. Whereas I feel like the Broncos played better than being in 11, 13, whatever it was, one score games last year. I think they were 11 and two in one score games, which to play in a one score game in the NFL on a week-to-week basis is not that uncommon.

Starting point is 00:13:59 And frankly, not all of those games that we're talking about, one-score games were really nail biters for the Broncos. Think back to their, I can't remember which game it was against the Raiders, if it was the first or the second game. But they dominated that game. And the Raiders kind of scored a handful of points late in that game to make it a one-score game. on paper when in reality it doesn't fit in that category.

Starting point is 00:14:23 The Raiders had no chance of winning that particular game. So the Broncos still found themselves in situations like they faced against the New York Jets in London where it's like 10 to 9 or, you know, those types of games. They found themselves in those ugly win situations a little bit too often. I think the defense can help out a lot with that. And then, yes, they did a great job of getting off the field. They're one of the best situationally. Third down defense, red zone.

Starting point is 00:14:49 defense. We know the Broncos have been very, very good when it comes to those two categories under Vance Joseph. However, here's what I will say. I think there's some merit to the idea of this team figuring out how to more quickly get off the field, whether it's by takeaway or a few more three and outs. I felt like offenses did an okay job against Denver last year of at least moving the ball into opposing territory, but then they would get stuck, right? That's the That's where the Broncos red zone defense really came in handy because when teams did move the ball against this defense, they were able to get just three instead of getting seven. That's where the Broncos really set themselves up to win those one score games because instead of giving up seven points, you're giving three. And how many instances did we see that throughout the season where they buckle down in the red zone and really tighten things up?

Starting point is 00:15:43 And that's what I think has helped them to win those one score games. but getting more takeaways is going to give you the opportunity to extend those leads out, right? To be able to win games by two scores or more. And that's where I think there's a lot of tension right now in the media world and in the football world with the Denver Broncos is people are saying, hey, this team, they won so many one score games last year. It must have been a fluke. Well, the Broncos can prove that it wasn't a fluke by creating more takeaways, continue to win the turnover battle, limit those penalties, and prove to everybody that, hey, we can actually go out there and we can win games by 10 or more points pretty consistently.

Starting point is 00:16:23 And I think, honestly, I think the Broncos can do that. I think that's going to be one of the areas this defense is going to increase everybody's confidence level on a week-to-week basis, is we're just going to see a barrage of turnovers from the very beginning. I also think that this secondary has yet to reach heights that we've yet seen, right? And this kind of goes hand in hand with the takeaways argument. And another reason why I'm so confident in this defense, I don't think we've seen the best of Telenoa Hufanga yet. I don't think we've seen the best of Riley Moss yet.

Starting point is 00:16:55 And I think we're still going to get better and better out of players who are already top tier like Patrick Sertan, the second on the outside, as well as J-Quan, Macmillan, Brandon Jones. I don't know that necessarily we've seen the best of those guys, quote, unquote, but I do think that when we have seen those guys at their best, And obviously, Pat Sartan is a defensive player of the year. So he's in a category like all his own right now, right? But those other guys have played so well in Denver that I think that it's fair to say

Starting point is 00:17:23 there may be in a little bit of a different confidence category than Hufanga and Moss, who kind of missed on a handful of plays last year. Now, don't get me wrong, both guys, great players, both guys, I feel very confident in their individual performance. But Hufanga, the dropped interceptions last season, we know that he's, He's been working on the jugs machine all throughout the 2026 off season. He's ready to go out there and I think make way more plays than we had seen even a year ago when he was one of the all pro selections.

Starting point is 00:17:55 Riley Moss, I feel, is going to take the biggest leap of any Broncos defender this year. And maybe that's just, maybe that's me just kind of manifesting it and saying, hey, I really want Riley Moss to take that step. But I believe that he will because I believe that he has some of the best ball skills on this team. I just think we've seen him sort of with 220 plus targets coming your direction over a two-year span. That's a lot of work. That's a lot of reps. And that's a lot of pressure to be put on.

Starting point is 00:18:24 But once Riley starts picking off a pass or two early in this season, I think teams are going to start to realize, hey, we can't just pick on Moss every single play we got to throw at Certan. And that works in the Broncos favor. So I really believe we're going to see big time seasons out of Moss and who, Fonga specifically this season in terms of kind of, I don't know if you want to say catching up to everybody else in that secondary, but anybody who watches the Broncos understands what I mean by that when I say, Sartan established. Macmillan, established. Brandon Jones, when healthy, established.

Starting point is 00:18:58 I think who Fonga and Moss catching up to those guys in terms of that ball production. It's just going to be one of those things that, okay, you feel at advantage or at a big advantage when teams are throwing the ball against Denver. And of course, I think the biggest reason for confidence is continuity and that especially when it comes to communication. I know we saw the breakdown in the preseason, but I do believe that will serve the Broncos well over time. And once again, is that just kind of manifesting or kind of speaking something into existence? Maybe in a way. But like I've said earlier, this offseason on this podcast, what about somebody like Justin Sernat, who he's kind of been a starter for this team over the last two years,

Starting point is 00:19:42 but has never really been a full-time guy. Like last year, it was Drey Greenlaw's job. And before that, it was somebody else's. Sirnad's always been a backup who was a replacement starter. This year, he is the starter. And we've seen what he can do to produce when he's a replacement starter. What can he do with a full-time role? We know he's a great pass rusher from that linebacker position. I think he's slept on.

Starting point is 00:20:04 I think obviously you have other players like Inoma Uwazerike, even Malcolm Roach, who have yet to truly take that, you know, they've, they've yet to show us their best in a Denver Broncos uniform. And look, you can say all you want. All those guys are established veterans. We know what they are at this point. We've seen Zach Allen continue to take steps forward in his career. We've continued to see somebody like DJ Jones take steps forward in his career as well. So I think those other guys are part of that and the breakout possibilities of Jonah Ellis and Q Robinson off the edge. I mean, man, when I tell you, I'm confident in those two guys, guys coming off the edge, especially knowing that Jonathan Cooper is about to miss some time.

Starting point is 00:20:43 I feel like Jonah Ellis and Q. Robinson are going to take over that position group, and they're going to prove to be viable long-term starters opposite Nick Bonito. And they're going to be competing for playing time themselves. And I don't think the Broncos are going to want to keep either guy off the field because they're so athletic, they're so strong, they've got great length, and they've got great football IQ. So there's many reasons to be confident in this Broncos defense in 2026. The number one thing, though, I think is shifting that narrative with the takeaway department, right?

Starting point is 00:21:12 They had 25 takeaways in 2024, and we saw a lot more two score plus victories. And they had fewer takeaways in 2025. Obviously, they were in a lot of tight games. I don't think everything is not, you know, correlation is causation. But in this case, I think takeaways does contribute pretty substantially when you're talking about one score games. So maybe the Broncos can lead the NFL in takeaways this year. Let's keep manifesting some bold predictions here as we get ready to start this season. I also want to talk about the Broncos and they're standing in the AFC West.

Starting point is 00:21:44 Of course, it's easy to nitpick on a division rival before the start of a season, but I truly do believe the Broncos are head and shoulders above everybody else in the AFC West. I'm going to tell you why coming up on today's episode of the show. Today's show is brought to you by Home Chef with schedules getting busier and everyone getting back into their normal routines, figuring out what's for dinner can become a daily headache. Home chef, though, makes cooking simple with fresh food delivered right to the door, easy recipes to follow, and meals that actually taste great. Weekly deliveries

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Starting point is 00:23:04 slash locked on NFL. That's homechef.com slash locked on NFL for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.com slash locked on NFL must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Today's show is also brought to you by Kalshi. Before the season even kicks off, everyone's making predictions. Who wins the division? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy at season's end on Kalshi, America's number one prediction market platform, you can trade those predictions in a live market. Will the Broncos win the AFC championship this season? Well, they're currently trading at an 11% probability, meaning that a $100 trade would pay out $940.70 if they take home the AFC title. On Kalsi, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house.

Starting point is 00:23:56 And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. Trade the draft pick the game and more on cali download the calci app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10 k a l shi calci trade on anything 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors cali products are not available in all jurisdictions prices values and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information see calci dot com slash regulatory. The Denver Broncos took over the AFC West in 2025 and they ain't going nowhere in

Starting point is 00:24:42 26. Broncos country, I appreciate every single one of you so much for tuning in, rocking with us every single day here at Lockdown Broncos. Make sure if you haven't done so already, we really appreciate if you hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, turn on notifications so you don't miss a single episode of the show. And as the regular season draws near,

Starting point is 00:25:00 get ready for the everydayer club. It's $5 flat rate for all that's included. Within that, you get obviously an ad-free episode of the show. Cody's getting ready to do all 22 film breakdowns after every single game. You get one-on-one texting with Cody and myself throughout the course of the season. You access to the Discord. We appreciate you considering doing that as well. And let's talk about confidence in the AFC West for 2026, right?

Starting point is 00:25:25 Because obviously the Broncos had been in the seller-dweller category of the AFC West for quite some time. and then Sean Payton comes to the Mile High City, and he slowly starts to bring this team out. We saw them get to the wild card in 2024. We saw them win the division and host the AFC championship game in 2025. So where can they go from here? Obviously, you want to back to back. You want to start off by saying, hey, we're the back-to-back

Starting point is 00:25:53 AFC West champs. I don't think any other team in the AFC West is as good on paper as the Broncos. Now, division titles are not one on paper. Every team gets different, you know, injury luck each year, right? You never know which players are going to go down at what point and how much time they're going to miss and how much that affects your, ultimately your playoff run. So that part is out of our control.

Starting point is 00:26:18 But when it comes to looking at each of these teams on paper, the Broncos are the best. They're the best team in the AFC West. They might be the best team in the NFL. It just feels like there's a tension when you say that kind of a thing because for so many years, we've been hoping that the Broncos could be one of the best teams in the NFL, right? We've been hoping through the Teddy Bridgewaters and the Drew Lox and the Russell Wilson's like, man, this has got to finally be the quarterback who's going to be the straw that stirs the drink, right?

Starting point is 00:26:47 Or it's got to be this year. It's got to be this. This is too good of a defense. This is too good of a team. I mean, too good of a, you know, whatever. Fill in the blank for yourself there. Ultimately, what it's been is a lot of false hope. right, false hope from the Russell Wilson trade, false hope from believing that the end of

Starting point is 00:27:04 Drew Locke's rookie season was going to be who he was for an entire career, right? False hope and believing that Vic Fangio was going to be the one to turn this around or that the Broncos could acquire Aaron Rogers or what have you. But at the start of every season, optimism is obviously the primary feeling, right? It's not that everybody's, you know, lacking realism to a degree, but you believe because of the culture that Pat Bolan instilled in this franchise, that the Broncos can compete for a Super Bowl every single year. That's the expectation for this fan base. That's the expectation every year is that they're going to do whatever it takes to get into Super Bowl contention. So therefore,

Starting point is 00:27:44 at the beginning of each year, you're truly believing like, okay, maybe they could be really good this year. If all things go their way, right? This year is a little bit different because it's not just saying that because we're hoping that. It's saying that because the Broncos, are that team. The Broncos are a team that can win the Super Bowl. They're a team that has Super Bowl level coaching. They have Super Bowl level talent on the roster. They have Super Bowl level depth. And yes, we saw last year, it's tough to sustain an injury to your starting quarterback, but we also saw that the Broncos can sustain a lot of injuries and still play elite level football. How many people consider that when they're talking about all those one score wins and how unlikely

Starting point is 00:28:24 it is that the Broncos do that again this year? They're not considering the fact that this team was missing their starting left guard for a large portion of the season. They're not considering the fact that Pat Sertan missed time, that Brandon Jones missed time, that Alex Singleton missed a little bit of time, that Dre Greenlaw missed most of the year. They're not considering the fact that the Broncos had to shuffle a lot of pieces throughout the season on the offensive line with a couple of dings here and there or the wide receiver position being consistently injured. So there's a lot that went into last season being tight for this team that I think now,

Starting point is 00:28:57 you're starting this year fully healthy, fully stocked, and you've added the missing piece in Jalen Waddle. I just don't see any other team in the AFC West that really compares. I mean, the Los Angeles Chargers are probably Denver's biggest threat, and frankly, the Broncos with Bo Nix have not been able to beat a Justin Herbert-led Chargers team.

Starting point is 00:29:17 They beat a Trey Lance-led Chargers team at the end of last season, but they just have not been able to figure it out when Bo Nix and Justin Herbert are going head-to-head. they haven't been able to get past that hump. So that's something the Broncos have to figure out this year. But when it comes to their overall projection for the division, there's no doubt in my mind that the Broncos have a better team. The Chargers are already dealing with offensive line health issues.

Starting point is 00:29:41 They've got a first year defensive coordinator, which doesn't have to necessarily be a bad thing for them. But I think they're optimistic for all the right reasons, right? They got an offensive coordinator they believe can unlock Justin Herbert. They feel like Mike McDaniel can help unlock their running game and keep their balance and their offense. But I think the questions remain about that offensive line and the depth of the overall roster.

Starting point is 00:30:04 Kansas City has the superstar, you know, the legends, the living legends, if you will. Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reed, Travis Kelsey, Chris Jones. They have all those guys who have played in all those big games, but has their time window pass them by. They have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL this year. They revamped and renovated that whole unit for the most. part. Is that going to work out? And when it comes to the offensive line, the tackle positions protecting Patrick Mahomes, do they have what it takes to be able to sustain for an entire season?

Starting point is 00:30:37 Does Mahomes have what it takes to withstand shaky offensive tackle play? To have question marks at tackle is a really big deal for them. And so we'll see. We'll see what happens with those guys, but you can't count them out. I just think the Broncos have that much better of a roster right now. And then the Raiders, they're clearly in the beginning stages of a rebuild. but the brand new head coach, a new quarterback on the way at some point, and obviously a roster that has a lot of work yet to be done. And still, when the Broncos take on each of these three teams for six games this season, those games are going to be tough.

Starting point is 00:31:10 They're going to be some of their toughest games of the year. But I have no doubt that this roster is better, that the Broncos have the coaching advantage in most of these games. And certainly we've seen even head to head, like Sean Payton and his staff can go toe to toe with Andy Reed and his staff. It's not like there's a huge disadvantage there just because Reed has all those rings in recent years. The Broncos have a Super Bowl caliber coaching staff. They have a Super Bowl caliber roster.

Starting point is 00:31:36 And I believe they're going to run away with the AFC West this year. Broncos Country. Make sure you let us know if you're listening on YouTube or watching on YouTube. Let us know in the comments your predictions and why. Tell us why you're confident in this team. Can't wait, Broncos Country. Make sure you stay tuned. We're going to have a brand new episode of the show for you tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:31:52 But until then, we'll catch you on the next episode of the show. show.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Why Denver Broncos Fans Should BELIEVE Super Bowl Hype in 2026

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