09-26-25 Hour 3 of Broncos Country Tonight with Zach Segars

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, Broncos Country, and welcome back to some more Broncos
Country tonight. Yet again, it's Zach Seegers filling in for
Ben Albright and Nick Ferguson tonight, coming to you after
a great Colorado Rockies game. You know, even though the
team and the season hasn't really gone the way I

(00:21):
think we all hope, it does feel, at least to
me a little lighter now that history and being the
worst baseball team literally ever isn't hanging over them. Beyond
the Rockies, We've got a great week of Colorado sports
this week. Colorado Buffalo's hosting number twenty five BYU. That

(00:44):
game only a touchdown line on that one. Buffs are
touchdown underdogs, but you know, in the realm of college football,
that's a fairly close line. I think the Bus have
a chance to pull off the upset. Laid that out
yesterday and on KOA Colorado dot Com today, so make
sure you go over there and give that one a read.
In the last segment, talked about what we need to

(01:06):
see from the Denver Broncos so they can right this ship,
get the season back on track at two and two,
and get a win over those also desperate Cincinnati Bengals
here though, I want to take a look at I've
been kind of anti Broncos doom. You know, the first
three weeks have not gone as you want it to go.

(01:28):
But I also think the doom in Broncos country has
been a little over the top. And I think if
you look at the AFC playoff picture right now, it's
a lot easier to see that the Broncos aren't in
the most dire of straits. You know, it's urgent they
need to start stacking wins, certainly, but the AFC has

(01:52):
kind of lurched out of the gates so far this
season and is going to provide the Broncos some wiggle
room to work with. In the AFC East, only the
Buffalo Bills have a winning record at three and zero.
In the AFC North, right Yeah, in AFC North only
the Bengals and Steelers have a better record than the

(02:15):
Denver Broncos right now. And I think if you've watched
the Bengals or the Steelers, like the Steelers should be
one and two, they're not. Because Drake May turn the
ball over five times, I should say the Patriots offense.
May was only responsible for three of them, but you know,
they were thoroughly outplayed. Outside of those very very loud
turnovers in that game, they look like a very flat team.
In fact, despite being two and one, they've been outscored

(02:38):
this season seventy seven to seventy two. Same with the
Cincinnati Bengals, who, despite sitting at two and one, have
a negative thirty three point differential, have been outscored ninety
one to fifty eight this season. The Ravens, of course,
are at one and two and are I think a
real threat for the Lambar already this season. Still but

(03:01):
one and two. They have a road game against the
Colts this week. Yes, it's frustrating the Broncos that struggled
to get to a slow start, but a lot of
the other good teams in the AFC have two. You know,
the Bills are three and zero, but Dolphins look like
a total joke. Oh and three Patriots, some people thought
they might be a frisky wild card team. It really
doesn't look like that. As they said at one and

(03:23):
two after the AFC North, Let's look at the AFC South,
where you've got two winless teams, the Titans and the Texans,
And I'm not so sure the Texans are going to
turn things around, like that defense is great, but I'm
really starting to run out of optimism for the offense
and CJ. Stroud And like, I really thought CJ. Shroud

(03:43):
was impressive as a rookie, but I think it's, you know,
becoming a little David Carr esque where the offensive line
in the situation is so bad around him and has
been so bad around him for so long he's starting
to see ghosts.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
And the you know. But again, the Broncos already have
a game lead on them. As rough as the.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Bronco season has started out, too, it's one of their
top contenders for a wildcard spot.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Broncos got a lead on them.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Then you've got the Jags and the Colts, who are
having surprisingly strong seasons. Except I think the Jags look
pretty vulnerable. I don't know how high I would be
on them. The Colts look legit good. I can't really.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Argue with that.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
But I also don't think anyone would be surprised if
we're sitting here in December talking about, Man, what a
funny September story. The Colts were. I mean, they looked
like the best team in the NFL. And then they
really kind of cooled off down the stretch. But that
was one of the crazy early storylines of the season,
you know, like the Saints last year. I feel like
everyone is given up on the twenty twenty five Colts

(04:47):
twenty twenty four Saints comparisons, because well, the Colts have
done it for three games now and the Saints only
did it for two. But I don't know, I feel
like it could still just be a mirage. Not to
say the first three haven't been great. They have been,
but is Daniel Jones going to look like an MVP
for eighteen weeks? I still have my questions, admittedly. And then,

(05:11):
of course you get to the Broncos own Division, where
the Raiders a lot of people thought they might be
a feisty wild card team. They sit with a losing
record at one and two and the worst point differential
of any team in the division. Chargers, of course, are
at three to zero. That they're in the driver's seat
of everything, but Chiefs at one and two makes life
a lot better for the Broncos. As it stands. Right now,

(05:35):
the Broncos are tied for the seventh seed, and that's
with these first three weeks going about as disappointingly as
you could imagine them going, and again also a fairly
hard stretch on the Broncos schedule. Didn't expect that to
be the case, but the Colts look like a legit
good team, at least so far through September. Now, the

(05:57):
Broncos get to deal with the Giants and the Jets
and the Raiders and the zero to three Texans, and
I think it's a great window to dig themselves out
of the hole they've put themselves in, or even more so,
just kind of maintain pace, stay as that sixth seed,
seven seed team, because that's where they're at right now.

(06:19):
All Ready, speaking of the Texans' struggles, we had an
interesting headline flair up with Houston today. Diana Rassini on
the Dan Levitard Show made some allusion to.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Something going on with CJ.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Stroud that isn't public yet, but she made it sound
like we'll find out about it pretty soon.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Here.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
I think they are still trying to figure themselves out
on offense. They have a new play caller, they have
a different looking offensive line. I still think they're they're
working some kinks out, so he's still good. I'm not
on this. I'm not in the camp of he's routing

(07:03):
his opportunity here to get some mega extension. I still
think CJ. Stroud can play as you think. There's still
a lot of work to be done and there's some
there's some things going on behind the scenes that that
that I think we're going to find out about soon.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Now, that comment, that quote really caught my eye or
my ear, I should say, because Rassini was so clear
in that clip in her defensive CJ. Stroud and that
I'm still a Stroud believer. I think he's still a
great quarterback. You know, they're working on integrating some some
this new offense, some new pieces, new coaching, and you know,

(07:37):
there's some stuff we'll find out about here soon that's
been going on behind the scenes that to me doesn't
seem like it's Stroud related. It makes me think, you know,
has there been something weird with Demico Ryans Maybe his
relationship with CJ.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
Stroud.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
You know, I think about obviously Brian Flores and Tua
had a weird relationship in Miami. Is it could it
be something than like that that's getting in Stroud's head.
Maybe he's not driving with the offensive coordinator Nick Haylee.
Maybe that relationship's frayed, but I got that kind of
you know, it's not something and this is all speculation,

(08:16):
but based on what she said, I don't think it's CJ.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Stroud related. Whatever odd happenings are behind the scene.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
It seems more like coaching or you know, integrating this
new scheme. Maybe some players obviously CJ. Gardner Johnson was
a big locker room headache and they've ousted him. You know,
maybe they felt it was so necessary to oust him
because these problems were spreading throughout the locker room. Maybe
the offense was having their own share of division. Ultimately, though,

(08:52):
you know, no matter what it is, these Texans are
in a lot of trouble this year, especially because you know,
I thought, I think everyone expected them to have some flaws,
certainly on the offensive line and with their run game.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
But I don't think.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
People expected the Colts to present this level of threat
for the division crown, where hey, you might have to
be eleven and six to win the division instead of
nine to eight or what would typically get it done
in the AFC South and the Texans, I mean, you've
got a bit of a get right game here against
the Titans, though I think you also would have called

(09:29):
the Jags a get right game last week, and they
lost that one and looked pretty ugly for much of
the game. But after the Titans, the Texans are going
to get the Ravens in Baltimore, the Seahawks in Seattle,
the forty nine Ers at home, who you know, on
October twenty six, a month from now, are probably going

(09:50):
to be a good bit healthier, and they're undefeated as
it currently stands. They'll get the Broncos, and then it
gets you know, they get an easy stretch again with
the Jagson and Titans back to back, then right back
to the meat of the schedule with Bills, Colts, Chiefs,
Cardinals all back to back.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
Then you get a brief reprieve with the Raiders.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
Right back to a slog with Chargers Colts to close
out the season in the last two weeks. And that
Chargers team, not only do they look great, they look
like they've really had Houston's number. You know that that
playoff game last year was hideous, So I wonder the
Texans they're really running out of time here. It's looking
like they're going to be a wild Card team, and

(10:29):
then you are competing with a wider swathed teams than
thefcar not just getting to pick a beat up on
Anthony Richardson and the Jaguars and the Titans. And I
think it's showcasing some real flaws. And I wonder, going
back to the Rassini comment, how ugly is whatever is
going on behind the scenes, How ugly is that scandal

(10:50):
whatever it may be, or maybe it's a total nothing burger.
And could it put Demko Ryans on the hot seat.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
I don't think it would.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
He's a great head coach, but that ownership has had
a pretty short leash in the past. And if you know,
maybe there's not a good relationship with CJ. Stroud, I
could see them choosing Stroud over Ryans. You know, Demiico
fired his offensive coordinator last year. That's oftentimes the first
head to roll, and the Nick Haley replacement so far

(11:22):
isn't working out at all. The offense might be worse
if anything. Texans aside, I'm excited to enjoy a Sunday,
a free Sunday of NFL football. I'm gonna be on
air with Benjamin Albright from nine to eleven AM.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Giving you all your.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
Fantasy insights betting insights, just like we would any other Sunday,
So make sure you stop in for that will have
you covered there. But after that, I'm going home and
I'm watching the games. I'm not having to worry about
tracking the Broncos or working the Broncos game, or writing
an article after the fact, and can just enjoy a
pretty great slate of Sunday football. For starters, We've got

(12:03):
Viking Steelers. I think that's a pretty darn important game.
Viking's trying to stay afloat without JJ McCarthy. Steelers are
two and one, but they look like a very poor team.
They are kind of the bizarre o Broncos, where yeah
they're two and one, but they are a whisker away
from being zero to three. Rogers has kind of been

(12:23):
up and down so far. First NFL game ever in Dublin.
I think that's another exciting detail of this one. Eagles
at Bucks should be a great game of unbeatens and
even you know, the two quality or the quality of
the two teams aside, both these teams have played nothing
but exciting games. I mean, the Cowboys look pretty flawed.

(12:45):
The Eagles played a pretty darn entertaining game against them,
and the same thing with the Bucks. They're three and o,
but they've gone down to the wire in all three
of their games so far this season. Baker Mayfield keeps
having some late game magic. I think we could see
this as an early preview of the NFC Championship game.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
The Bucks, to me, are right there.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
Among the NFC's top contenders, and I think they could, absolutely,
you know what it's all said and donebe battling with
the Eagles for a spot to this or a trip
to the Super Bowl. It being in Tampa Bay, I
think makes that one even spicier. Excited to see how
that one pans out. Colts Rams will be an interesting
one to watch for Broncos country, because now you're battling

(13:28):
with the Colts maybe for a wildcard spot. You know,
if they win the division, it's a little less pressing,
but they if it does end up being a wildcard race,
they've got the tiebreaker and a nice head start on
the Broncos. Now, how legit do they look on the
road against the La Rams, who another team that looks
to be one of the top contenders in the NFC.

(13:49):
Is this a moment where the Colts go, no, we're legit,
we can maybe even contend in the AFC. Maybe we're
the Cinderella story of the season, or you know, do
they get just flattened by the Rams and everyone realizes, oh,
the Colts were a bit of a mirage, and then
I think, you know, you've got the revenge angle. On
Sunday Night football, Micah Parson's going back to Dallas against

(14:11):
the Cowboys. But the game of the week to me
a bit of a cornered animal game. Here one and
two Ravens going too arrowhead to play the one and
two Kansas City Chiefs. I think both teams are going
to be pressing pretty hard in this one. Chiefs don't
want to fall to one in three. Their schedule remains

(14:31):
pretty hard up ahead. I would put them in a
real hole and the division, and all of a sudden,
with the Chargers playing the Giants this week, it's like, man,
we're three and a half games back of the division
and it's only four weeks into the season.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's a lot of pressure.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
And then the Ravens they're one and two because they
choked away a game they absolutely should have won against
the Bills. And they choked away a game they probably
should have won against the Lions, two other top tier contenders,
and this keep happening. This keeps happening to the Ravens whenever.
It feels like every time they run up against one
of these other top five, top ten teams in the league.

(15:08):
It's a great game that goes down to the wire
and the Ravens make the bad mistake or two or
three to lose.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
Them the game.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
And you know, the psychological element of sports, I think
it'd be hard for that to not be in the
back of their heads here. So that's something I'm curious
to see. You know, who's ready in that one? Do
we see the Ravens pulled up? Do we see the
Chiefs fold up? You know, whichever team wins that, you're chilling.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
You're two and two.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
You know, if it's the Chiefs, maybe you're still playing
catchup in the division, but you're looking pretty for a
wild card spy ear the stress is minimal. But whoever
loses that game, you're one in three. You're all of
a sudden on the outside of the playoff picture looking
in and both these teams, you know, they've got hard

(16:00):
schedules the rest of the way. It's not a bunch
of cupcakes. So you put yourself in that one in
three hole, you might not get back out of it.
And then you're talking about a wasted season with an
MVP caliber quarterback. And that's about as painful as it
gets for an NFL front office. Coming up next, we're
gonna shift our focus back to the Denver Broncos and

(16:23):
there must win matchup this week with the Cincinnati Bengals.
What do we need to see from the Broncos to
ensure they win that game that's coming up right after
this break right here on KOA A fifty am ninety
four to one FM, Hello Broncos Country, and welcome back

(16:46):
to another late night, late week edition of Broncos Country
tonight last edition of Broncos Country tonight before the prime
time Week four game between the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals,
a must.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
Win game in my opinion.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
You know this team has dug out of deeper holes before,
at least come close. I guess I should say with
twenty twenty three, they start off one in five, they
really make a playoff push, and Darnier made it. But
you don't want to put yourself in that one in
three maybe one in four hole with the Eagles right
around the corner, even with the schedule getting easier, I

(17:26):
think you gotta win here, get back on the right track.
And that transitions me into an article. I right. I
actually wrote a pair of articles, the first of which
is already up on the KOA website. The other one
should be out shortly, looking at what we need to
see from the Colorado Buffalos and Denver Broncos respectively.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
Last night I kind of did the in depth.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
Buffs BYU preview Why I think there's some reasons for
optimism with that Colorado BYU matchup, But let's look at
this Broncos Bengals matchup, high stakes game, and what we
need to see from the Denver Broncos for them to
kind of fat at out even out their record. Let's say,

(18:11):
dig themselves out of this one and two hole, get
back to two and two. And I don't think the
Bengals should be overlooked, you know, I think the Broncos
deserve to be heavy favorites in this game, but this
is a must win game for the Bengals too, And
Joe Burrow's not technically out for the year. He's out
for the next you know, several months. But if they're
still in the playoff picture, they want to get Joe

(18:31):
Burrow back, they still want to make a push, you know,
playoff push, the super Bowl push. Now, I think that's
fairly far fetched. But to keep that dream alive, they've
got to win these games. You know, they lose to
the Broncos, Broncos fans will feel good because they've successfully
dug out of their hole. Bengals fans will be depressed
because they have blown their two to zero lead that

(18:53):
they started the season with with Joe Burrow from two
and oh to two and two, and the rest of
the AFC is getting right gaining on them, And with
the Bengals tough schedule coming up, you figure they would
kind of fall by the wayside. There's going to be
no lack of motivation on the Cincinnati sideline trying to
win this game, trying to save their season and keep

(19:14):
it alive. You know, however, how far fetched that might feel.
So what do we need to see from the Denver
Broncos for them to get this win and get back
on the right track this season? Number one, I think
you want to see the offense show some signs of
life against the Cincinnati Bengals defense Carson Wentz for crying

(19:36):
out loud and the Minnesota Vikings just put up forty
eight points against this defense. And now granted some of
those were defensive scores, some of them were set up
by short fields because of turnovers. But with Jake Browning,
with this offensive line and the Denver Broncos defense on
the other side, you would certainly hope that this offense

(19:58):
will be set up similarly. Even if it's not, you know,
multiple defensive touchdowns, you'd expect them to get some short fields,
you know, maybe even get a defensive score. And I
think for Broncos fan base that really hasn't seen a
good offensive performance outside the Colts game, and that couldn't
even be enjoyed because of how miserable it was. I

(20:19):
feel like every person in Broncos country just but trauma
blocked it out and then you know, unpack it in
therapy five ten years from now. That was a painful game.
No one wanted to savor how good the offense looked
in that game. The run game was clicking, you know,
over one hundred and fifty yards bo Nicks top six
in the NFL and drop back success rate and drop
back EPA. That's all he needs to do, you know,

(20:43):
which I say all despite how how good the statistical
performance is because he wasn't doing crazy high level quarterbacking
in that game, but the offense was running so well
that you know, he was able to just kind of
do what was asked of him.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
And it was hyper productive. Same thing with the run game.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
Can the Broncos rEFInd that form now that they're not
going against arguably the best defense in the league with
the Los Angeles Chargers, you know, a Titans game, you know,
maybe there's some rust from the offseason. That game was
really ugly, that's one thing, and it seemed like maybe
they righted the ship against the Colts. Again, it was
a strong offensive showing that seemed to go out the

(21:22):
window this past week against the Chargers. And you certainly
want more of the offense. But if the offense is
a unit that's going to struggle against the elite defenses
and you know, perform pretty well against the middling to
bad defenses, and you know, the Colts are ranked top
ten in a lot of different metrics right now, But
if they can just be a good defense that takes

(21:44):
advantage of the or a good offense that takes advantage
of the good defenses really runs up the score on
the bad defenses. That would I think fuel so much
confidence in Broncos country that this team's still on the
right track. And you know, there are a couple of
heartbreakers away from being four to zero. And this Bengals
defense is very exploitable. The Broncos should be able to

(22:05):
go at them through the air and on the ground.
You know, they're eighteenth over all the Bengals defense that
is eighteenth in EPA per play allowed and twenty first
in success rate allowed. You know, down to down, the
teams are moving the ball pretty consistently on them, and
you know you're seeing a fair number of explosives too.
That's kind of what those two metrics are telling you there.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
Now.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
It's also showing you that this is a better Bengals
defense than what we saw last year. You know, the
Bengals were twenty fifth or worse in just about every
meaningful defensive stat last year. And that doesn't change the
incredible talent problems they have, Like they just they don't

(22:48):
have a lot of talent on this defense. Outside of
Trey Hendrickson and then I guess Shamar Stewart, Cam Taylor
Britt They've got some interesting cornerbacks like get but this
is a pretty talent poor defense. And you know, even
if the simplified defensive structures allowing them to play a
little faster and that's resulting in some better defensive performance,

(23:09):
they are still probably to this point, the worst defense
is the Broncos have faced this season. And I think
you know, in turn, you want to see the best
offensive performance of the season from the Broncos. As a
little bonus point, I'll tie on here. I think you
really want to see the run game get roll in
the offense is kind of gone. As the run game

(23:29):
has gone, you know, struggled largely against the Titans. You
had some success in the second half, much like the
rest of the offense had and in the Colts game,
best game of the year for the run game, best
game of the year for the offense. So far, it
was totally mi A against the Chargers. Offense was mostly

(23:49):
MIA against the Chargers. So I think getting that run
game rolling, finding a consistent identity in the ground game
that they can build around, I think is really important,
and this is a great week to do it, because
as weak as this Bengals defense is, or as middling
as it is, it is straight up weak against the run.

(24:12):
In terms of EPA allowed per rush, they're twenty fourth,
it's just one spot ahead of the Miami Dolphins. Now,
in rushing success rate allowed, they are fifteenth, which isn't
good but it's certainly serviceable. But that just in a way,
I think that shows that this run defense plays into

(24:32):
the Broncos hands to an extent. The Broncos have struggled
with the down to down run game consistency, but they
have more explosive rushes than almost anyone in the league.
This Bengals defense, right, they're not allowing a very high
success rate. It's hard to run on them down to down.
Not hard, but at least it's not easy. They're middle

(24:54):
of the pack in terms of how successful rushing attacks
are down to down, but they are terrible overall in
terms of production. That means you have to be having
some really loud spikes, you know, on that plot to
get to that level of production. And despite the down
to down, the decent performance of the run defense, and

(25:18):
again with Harvey with the way Dobbins has been playing
with some of the stuff Sean Payton can dial up,
either with bo Nicks running or you know, maybe we
see Marvin Mimms get more involved with some jet sweepsend
around some of that gadget stuff that's been lacking so
far this year. You should be able to pop some
explosives on this Bengals run defense and that'll just make

(25:40):
life so much easier for bo Nix, build some confidence
for the offensive line in the backs, then hopefully get
this offense back on the right track. You know, I
think you saw against the talented Golds defense again, this
is a good offense. They can, or at least they
have the potential to be a good offense. And that's
why it's so frustrating what we've seen in weeks one,
in Week three and why the top thing I'm keying

(26:02):
in on this week is can they return to what
we were expecting they would be this offseason, what they
were down the stretch last year. I mean, that Broncos
offense that went up to Cincinnati and narrowly lost a
shootout on primetime feels a lot different than this year's offense.
Even though on paper, this year's team should be more

(26:24):
talented on the defensive side of the ball. I think
the key of the game. Can you slow down Jamar
Chase and T Higgins at all? You're not going to
stop both of them. You know, even last year when
Jamar Chase was relatively quiet, we saw T Higgins go
off on Riley Moss. You know, you're not going to

(26:44):
stop both of those guys. It's the best wide receiver
tandem in the league. The Bengals burnt all that money
to maintain that incredible offensive nucleus for a reason. You know,
it's unprecedented how much their cap they're devoting to the
receiver position. They're willing to live that unprecedented life because

(27:04):
man Jamar Chase and T Higgins on the same roster
is hard to come by throughout the history of the NFL.
I mean, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, you know, and
Kwon Bolden, Larry Fitzgerald. There are a few and far
between one two wide receiver punches that compare to what
the Bengals have, and I think that can give the

(27:26):
Broncos some trouble. So much of their defense is predicated
on the idea Sirtan can wipe out your number one
and we can devote you know, the rest of our
weapons or our defensive resources to stopping your other weapons.
And the mass a little more complicated here because most
teams don't have a number two that presents problems like

(27:47):
t Higgins can, And most teams don't have a number
one like Jamar Chase that can actually give Patrick Sirtanna
a run for his money. You know, a lot of receivers,
I mean hasn't been the case the last two weeks,
but Sirtan typically eras is the team's number one option.
You look at the stat lines he holds these guys to,
including Jamar Chase last year, and it's remarkable. But with

(28:12):
Sir Tain looking hobbled these past two weeks, and with
that costing the defense, what version of this Bronco secondary
are then are we going to get?

Speaker 2 (28:23):
You know, is.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
It going to be t Higgins dunking on Riley Moss
likely saw last year or is Riley Moss healthier this year?
And I mean, so far, I think early returns suggest that.
But this is going to be by far his greatest
test of the year. How does he hold up against
that test? And then Sir Tan is he healthy enough
to be trusted to alter the math and the matchups

(28:46):
for this defense or is he going to need a
little more support And if so, how does that change
everything for how this Broncos defense wants to attack this
Bengals offense, And really the secondary is going to be
the determined in factor because this Bengals rushing attack arguably

(29:07):
the worst in the league through three weeks, and their
offensive line Orlando Brown has been terrible. He's allowing some
of the quickest times to pressure in the league, meaning
he's not holding up for an extended period at all,
and he's also allowing one of the highest pressure rates.
So not only is there a is it a Boomer

(29:31):
bust nature where man when he gets beat, he's getting
beat quick and the quarterbacks in trouble in a hurry,
but it's also happening very frequently, and that's going to
be going up against a Broncos pass rush that is
insane to start the season. All four of the Broncos
edge rushers so far this season, that being Nick Benito,

(29:54):
Jonathan Cooper, Jonah Ellis, Dendrea Tillman. All four rank in
the top thirty five among the top thirty five edge rushers,
I should say in past rush win rate so far
this season, no other NFL team has more than two.
And those cases of two are like Nick Bosa and

(30:15):
Bryce Huff or Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson Junior. It
is these elite tandems. They get a lot more shine
than the Broncos. And the Broncos by the numbers up
there with any of them if you just want to
look at the top two, if you expand that to
really the whole room, the Broncos are in a league

(30:36):
of their own right now with the heat they're bringing
off the edge. And I'm gonna sound like Billy Mays here,
but wait, there's more. The Broncos pass rush productivity score,
which is a lesser known metric, but it pretty much
boils down what is your pass rush impact on a
per snat basis, it's gonna look at all your your sacks,

(30:59):
your pressures, your quarterback hits, gives the you know, weights
those numbers sas being the most valuable quarterback hits, next
most valuable quarterback hurries after that, and then boil it
down to one number based on your per snap impact,
and you got pass rush productivity score. The Denver Broncos

(31:21):
have once again. They're the only team with four edge
rushers in that top thirty five. No other team has
more than two. But beyond that, they have three. In
the top ten, Nick Benito is first, and first by
a wide margin. The gap between him and second is
the same as the gap between second and eighth place.

(31:41):
Jonathan Cooper comes in at sixth, and then Jonah ellis
at tenth. I mean, this pass rush is disgusting, and
this Bengals offensive line is also disgusting, but not in
the positive way. And I think this Broncos defense could
feast this week. We saw what the Vikings did last week.

(32:02):
Just put Jake Browning in hell for four quarters. That
can absolutely happen again, because not only is the pass
russ Is going to be teeing off on him, He's
going to have very limited support from the run game.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
The only glimmer of.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
Hope for this Bengals offense right now is the incredible
arsenal of pass catching weapons they have. You know, and
I highlighted the receivers, but Giseki and Noah Fant that's
an athletic tandem of tight ends.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
We've seen these.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
Broncos linebackers struggle against athletic tight ends Chase Brown, great
pass catching back. We've seen these Broncos linebackers struggle there.
So I think, what can the Broncos defense or coverage
I should say do here, because if the coverage holds up,
and you're gonna lose some reps to Chase and Higgins

(32:51):
and then the rest of this bunch. But if they
can generally hold up, the defense should feast and the
offense has a favorable matchup, and the Broncos should get
out of this primetime game with a pretty convincing win.
The last key, and I think this one might be
the most important. We need to see the Broncos just
play a clean football game. They're one in two right now,

(33:16):
very close to being three and zero, but they've also
undeniably played three pretty ugly football games, pretty sloppy football games,
full of self inflicted errors, digging themselves in a hole,
keeping their opponents in the game, trying to give their
way the game away to their opponents, like that bang

(33:38):
or sorry, that Titans win. The Titans just gave away
that game a little harder than the Broncos. But the
Broncos were begging for the Titans to steal that game.
I just want to see the Broncos go up at
home against the team they are clearly superior to. Should
have better coaching, should have better rostered talent, should have

(34:00):
the better quarterback, and I want to see them just
roll a convincing clean w Whole lots of other great
NFL action going on this week, whole lot more to
talk about with the Denver Broncos, Bo Nix and everything
else going on that's coming up next after the break
right here on KOA