Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm your host Grant Smith filling in for Benjamin Allbright.
We put the Wet Blanket on KOA Sports Today alongside
my guy Nick Ferguson Big Show tonight, Rick lewis for
is what.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Funk segment? Coming up at six point thirty.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
We're going to do our NFL six pack at seven
oh five because bre mastis our favorite. Let's Talk Broncos
host and host of Believe in the Broncos joining us
at seven thirty, and then Bust Prime Time coming up
at eight five, six, six nine zero. The Common Spirit
health text line if you want to chime in, Nick,
how are you my friend?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Man? I'm good man.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Uh, it's a blessed day. I'm happy to be alive.
And I guess for the first time, I want to
say we're getting winter type of weather here in Democratic
Colorado because I mean, listen, I love being high at
fifty two to eighty. Well, you know what, then we
phrase that begad too high. Well nope, as I was saying,
(00:56):
and I was like, you know what, somewhere a great
maybe recording is meaning that our elevation right being fifty
to eighty close to the sun, I'm loving these seventy
degrees type of weather. But I'm used to this time
of year man fall weather man, and tonight we're getting it.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
You heard Keenan Allen and the Keenan Allen, Keenan Dixon
and the news Update talking about how we've had like
two hundred and some odd days without snow in the
metro area and it's like the longest streak ever. But
we're getting some snow in the mountains today and throughout
the next couple of days.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And I know, I know you love it because you
love the ski.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Already got three days in already, yep.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
What did you get these three days in?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I went on Tuesday most recently, what was this week Tuesday? Yep,
when it was seventy five degrees in Denver they actually
had some fresh snow, which funny story. My neck is
actually a little bit sore. I go get my skis
on for the first time of the day. Click into
my boots, Click into my skis.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Someone runs right into you.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
No oh. I start to go push off with my poles.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Both my feet pop out of my skis and I
land straight on my back and head. So wear a
helmet out there, even if it's not when you're going
down the mountain.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
You know what, see by you bringing that up, Grant,
it only drives home the point more for me.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Why don't ski?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, it's still worth it's well.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
You know what was worth it is me hearing your stories.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
How about that?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Still only one run opened where I was at a basin,
So I hit that one about six or seven times
and then made my way back to Denver before I
had come into work.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
I still think that's amazing that you can do all
of that. Mean you're like a ups worker. You know
what can Brown do for you?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
We'll see what Rick Lewis can do for us. Coming
up at six point thirty with is What the Funk segment.
I'm sure he's feeling good after Rick was a little
more pessimistic than I'm used to after that last win
over the Raiders on Thursday night football tend to. But
I'm sure he's had much higher spirits after the win
over the Kansas City Chiefs twenty two.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Nineteen last week.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
And Man, I am feeling thankful this Thursday, and I
know you're feeling pretty thankful for a couple of Bronco
players in particular, Nick.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Next next week we definitely have a Thanksgiving, but I
thought with the Bronco has been on by a week
and it being Thursday, let's do a little thankful Thursday.
And for me, the first guy that I want to
toss out there is Marvin Mims. And Marvin Mammes has
been underestimated. But let's hear what it sounds like when
(03:37):
Mems make his return.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Mems underneath it at the nine Marvin heads to the
west sideline breaks contained.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Here we go, twenty five thirty penalty.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Flight throne, forty midfield.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
One defeat down the sideline, caught inside the twenty five
two flags on the play, Chris Rowland Wallace save the touchdown.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And neither of those flags on the Broncos. So the
seventy yard return stands and Marvin Mems making his impact
felt after coming back after missing a couple of games
with the concussion.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, you know what I always felt, Grant.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
You know, Marvin Mems was an adequate piece, an extension,
if if you will, to the Broncos offense and the.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Games that he missed.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
You saw it because you look at field position from
a special team standpoint, and some football novice.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
They really don't understand it.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
As a guy that cut my teeth all special teams,
I understand how valuable that is, especially playing with or
playing for a guy like Mike Westalf. You know, he
loved big plays like this, and when you go back
and watch that play, for me, it was a thing
of beauty because Marvin set this play up right. He
set it up from the word go, and he completed
(04:59):
that play by getting or setting the Kansas City Chiefs defenders,
the guys on.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Punt cover seam.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
He set them up because he started to go lateral
and they thought, like, yo, we're about have to make
this tackle. But they didn't realize he was setting them
up to go lateral so he can go vertical. And
I have to say, Jail Skinner, there was something I
think that Okay, he was supposed to do. He was
supposed to bring.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
The return back to Marvin members but he.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Kind of stayed in the back and I was wondering, Okay, well,
I play special teams, that's not what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
But let me see how this plays out.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Luckily, he was where he was because he called a
Kansas City stragler trying to make a play.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
And what he did was this is what you coach.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
What he did was he turned his back and let
the Kansas City defender run into him instead of him
hitting the defender because had he hit the defender on
his shoulder and if defender fell flat, they would have
thrown the flag off. So it was great smart head
to play by him. But hall of a returned by
Marvin Mahms, and I say, man, it's a blessing to
(06:11):
have this guy when the Broncos roster.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah, and like you said, Jael Skinner smart play. I mean,
he still definitely let him up, but it was because
he was standing firm and the other guy was running
full speed one of the chiefs, and sometimes you can
use the person to own momentum against them.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
You know what they say, Man, is better to be
lucky than good.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
So in that case, he was in the right space
at the right time, and he paid dividends for the Broncos.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
What other Broncos players you feel thankful for during this
bye week?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Before thanksgetting well.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I'm gonna stick with the special teams with the vibe
and I'm gonna go.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
With Frank Crumb.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Now, Broncos fans may not be aware who Frank Crumb is.
But on this particular play when the Broncos needed and
that's the thing the guy to have it types of
plays and Frank is a big talk and he kind
of slid through on pat block and got his big
(07:06):
pall up there and just blocked the ball. Right Now,
like at the beginning of the season, we didn't really
see the Broncos performing on all three phases. Now those
things are now coming to fruition. And for a guy
like Frank, who most Broncos fans don't really know him
because he's not a household name, this is where you
buy more time on special teams making plays to show
(07:30):
coaches you're ready for to be bumped up.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
You want to go like special teams.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
You know, you want to be bumped up to the
varsity team where they're looking at you as a potential
starter or a major contributor or a rotational guy, especially
based on what you did. But great job by him
getting Scinny working the edge, getting his hands up there
and blocking the kick.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
And Ryan Edwards, who does so much for.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Our Broncos broadcast on the Broncos Radio Network, I don't
believe I can't believe and save the Frank Crumb block.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
High what.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
See man's doing like a million things at once. I
can't blue.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Okay, okay, okay, see see because you said.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
That, Grant, because you said that, I'm gonna let him
off the hook with this one. But I just want
Broncos fans and I just want to take an opportunity
to on the State Food Thursday and to highlight these
some guys.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
But there's still one more.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
God, you got one more?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
I got one more? How about t Neck?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Oh? J Mac gonna be j Mack? How muny time.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
I don't know if we have time enough to in
the segment to run all the highlights of him.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Because he was so good.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Impacting the ball, rushing the passer and also with the interception.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Man, I was like, he is he is a ballhawk.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Like some people just have it, like Marvin Mems has
that knack in the return game. J Mack has that
knack to just find the ball whenever he's out there.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
On the field.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
You know what, doing my career, I had I had
a knack for doing certain things.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I would find the ball.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
But now thinking about it, I wish I found ball
like j mc did as far as sacks and interceptions,
but I usually found ball carriers by trying to dislodge
them from the ball.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
If I could go back.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
And switch that mentality, I would have a similar mentality
to JAYMK, where I'm trying to get the ball because
the more times you pull that ball away from an opponent,
that means more dollars in your pocket.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Well, and I think even bigger than the interception was
the second sack of his on the day of Patrick
Mahomes towards the end of the game.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
What's on the way Mahomes deep.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Drop is gonna be hicked.
Speaker 6 (09:30):
Head sack back to pick a fifteen yard line. Jay
klawon McMillan second sack of the game and the biggest
so far in this contest, fourth and twenty one.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Now that's in the fourth quarter, game tied nineteen nineteen.
Broncos may not get the ball back if he doesn't
make that sack.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
You know what's really interesting about that sack is vance Joseph.
I mean, when you think about where the game is
at that particular point and knowing as how aggressive this
defense has been all year, but in that moment, to
have a brass pair like that, but a brass pair
(10:16):
like that to say, you know what, let's.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Go get him.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
And I'm glad they did, because usually teams shy away
from that. They normally don't go after quarterbacks in that
particular situation. And we know that Muhons being a league quarterback,
when you give him enough time, he's gonna find the
open wide receiver. But Joseph said, damn Gumman, We're.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Going to go get him, and man vance.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Joseph just seems to have the perfect game plan against
Patrick Mahomes. Like why is the rest of the league
not copying what the Broncos do? Is it just because
they don't have the personnel that this defense for the
Broncos has.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
What's the reason, Well, that's a huge part of it, right.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
You can only run certain things based on your personnel.
Just like when we think about those Tony Dungee Tapa
Bay Buccaneers teams when they ran cover two right, and
it's like, well, cover two is a very simple coverage.
But if you have played it enough and you know
it inside and out, and every single player, all the
eleven guys, they're joint at the hip and they've tied
(11:19):
on the string, you can run that coverage, but you
need the right personnel. And because of the success of
Tony Dungee and John Gruton when he took over every
team in college football, and the pros were trying to
emulate what the Buccaneers did.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
But guess what.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
There was no Warrant Sap, there was no Dexter Jackson,
there was no run Nay Barber, there was no John Lynch.
So you were trying to do the same thing. You
don't have the personnel. And here's the other thing. Vance
Josephin and Broncos defense. They now have the personnel. And
how many times have we heard the narrative, well, you
can't play man against Patrick Mahomes, he's gonna kill. You
(11:58):
can't play zone against him. And Van said, like, like hell,
who said? We can't all do whatever you want to do.
And a lot of that has to do with the pressure,
because it goes back to the first game they played.
The Broncos played Kansas City and Arrowhead and that's when
they lost on the black field goal.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Right.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
The defense kept them in that game and they were
relentless on Patrick Mahomes. And all you had to do
is look at game one week one when I think
it was. Was it in Brazil where the Chargers played Okay,
in that game, even the Chargers were able to get
pressure right, So the formula to getting to Patrick Mahomes
(12:38):
pressure Tampa Bay.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Let me go back Tampa Bay.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Remember when they just kind of ran rough shot over
the Chiefs. It was the pressure that made it difficult.
So if you sit back and you allow him to dictate,
or he could pat the ball, he can overhand it,
he gets squatted like he's playing badminton or something like that,
he's going to do that to you. But when you
forced him to move around and be accurate on every
(13:01):
single throw, it's becoming difficult, even for a guy who's
a former MVP.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah, I agree, man, And I think that's what makes
us Broncos defense so special is that they don't react.
You know a lot of times on defense, you're reacting
to the offense. Does they dictate what the offense is
going to do by applying that pressure, And I think
that's something special. That's rare air and a defensive era,
and like we're in now where you know, it really
feels like the NFL is driven by offense, but the
(13:29):
defense of the Denver, Broncos is dictating how these offensives play.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
You know what, Graham, Glad you said that because when
we look around the NFL and we look at some
of these teams who were considered to be Super Bowl contenders,
and we watched them from Kansas City to Philadelphia to Buffalo,
we watched.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Them from even Seattle to Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
All of these teams at some point they started to
stumble once they face against a team that had a
great defensive scheme and great defensive personality. And what we're
seeing this year because we're not seeing a large amount
of blowouts and high scores we saw on them.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
You know, we sprinkled in here and there, but defense
came to play.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
It's a cliche saying, but it's true and we're seeing
it play out now.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Defense wins championships.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And I mean you even go back in Broncos history.
You know the year Peyton Manning set all the records,
they go up against the Seattle vaunted defense.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
What happened get beat down in the Super Bowl and
then when they win it in twenty fifteen led by.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
The Broncos defense, Like it's crazy, but I'm gonna go
for my other because I am thankful for Marvin Mems
in his return. I think I think him flipping the
field on special teams is just so valuable. Even when
he doesn't get those seventy yard returns, he's getting fifteen
twenty yards on every punt return and that's so huge.
That's one or two less first downs you got to
(14:55):
get on an offensive drive. But another guy that I
was thankful for in this last game and really since
he's been here in Denver, one of the main stays,
Courtland Sutton.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
Bo cimebs the pocket throws a ball that is part
out over the forty yard line and that'll be a
first down.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Courtland's Sutton.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
How about your fourteen twenty yards on a third and fifteen.
Nicks stayed in the pocket, then climbed it, threw a
ball on the run that court went down to cradle,
but it's a first down for the Broncos at the
two minute warning.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Greg, Well, you watching my social media because I'm thinking
you were watching my social team first about that.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
But here's the weird part about it. If you had
not seen it, Yes, I post it at what at
Nick Ferguson undscored twenty five. Go check that.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
I break down this very same play, because here's the
thing about it. When you look at what the Chiefs
were in, they were in two man two hon safeties.
They're playing you know, five guys underneath, and they're in there.
If I'm not mistaken, they're in their nickel package, right,
And there's a point where Bo is ready to throw
the ball. But guess what, no one is open. Yeah,
(16:01):
not a single Bronco receiver is open. And this is
a critical third down situation. And I know Bo has
been criticized over the past couple of weeks. Well he's
not seeing the field, he's bailing too quickly.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Guess what he does on this play. He freaking bows
to his right side.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Right, everyone in the national media was complaining about.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
But if he does not bail, right, there's two things
that happened on this play that no one's really talking about.
If Bo does not bail to his right like he
often does, and corner sudden doesn't work to uncover, the
Broncos lose that game on Sunday. And I'm just astonished
that that is not or wasn't one of those lead
plays that everyone was talking about. And this is what
(16:45):
makes fourteen Corla sudden a hell of a wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
If he was lazy on that route.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Mind you, again, every single receiver was covered, even him.
He saw Bo scramble and he said, you know what
I have to uncom and he uncovered directly towards the
Chiefs saide line catch. The Broncos moved the ball, and
if I'm not mistaken, maybe two plays later the ball
goes to Troy Franklin.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Broncos set up to win that game.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yep. Yeah, and it wouldn't have happened.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Without that third and fifteen conversion. The court happened and
the heads up play and it's so funny like Bo
Nicks talked about it right after the game with Dave
Logan and you can hear that whole interview at Kaclorado
dot com on the KOA Sports page. But he said, like,
you know, you just developed this relationship with your receivers
when you work with them long enough that you know, like, hey,
this guy's gonna be here when I need him. And
(17:34):
it seems like Court is always there when we need
him most, even though we're not targeting him as much
as I would like. Throughout the throughout the game. Yeah,
as our wide receiver one. You know, he's always there
when you need to play made and that's something to
be said for him.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Even I'll go back further than that, even when Russell
Wilson was here as a quarterback. I mean in that
time with russ in that year, Colon had ten touchdowns yep,
inside the ridzone and it had been a while since
he had done it, or Broncos receiver done it. But
it was not the fact that he did it, it
(18:08):
was how he did it. When you think about the
Buffalo catch in Buffalo, incredible, keeping his feet in bounds, ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, man, absolutely the other player I'm thankful for Garrett Bowles.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
We're gonna hear from him.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
After we talked to Rick Lewis next on Broncos Country Tonight. Rick,
what the funk did you think about that win by
the Broncos beating the.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Chiefs on the last second field goal on Sunday, Man, that.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Was sweets, man.
Speaker 7 (18:35):
It validated this football team, and I think we all
felt pretty good beating the Chiefs. Man, it's been so long.
Sean Payton chased the game. Sean Payton came along and
the Broncos suddenly are beating the Chiefs, and really, when
you look at it, they would they before and one
I think Peyton would be four and one against the
(18:56):
Chiefs since he started with the Broncos if not for
that block field goal, and even despite that, he's three
to two. But what the funk? I got something for
you right here?
Speaker 3 (19:07):
What the funk?
Speaker 7 (19:07):
So Chris Jones of the Chiefs, the great defensive player, said,
bo knew exactly what they were going to run on defense,
especially on that third and fifteen clutch throw late in
the fourth quarter. And then Jaqwan McMillan, who had two
sacks and a pick, said he knew when the Chiefs
were going to snap the ball based on Mahomes' hand gestures.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
So, Nick, what the funk?
Speaker 7 (19:34):
Why would McMillan reveal that when we still have a
game to play with the Chiefs next month.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
I don't understand why you would tell anybody that. You
tell me.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Well, the idea is that that shows wealth of confidence
that Yakwan McMillan has on his ability and also the
Broncos ability.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
So the idea is that hey, listen, we can give
you the answers to the.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Test isn't necessarily mean you're going to pass them because
we're going to bring the same defense. And this is
where great film study comes in, Rick, because there was
a time when I was in San Francisco. We were
watching film and preparing for a guy like Keenan Allen,
and every time before the ball was to be thrown
to Killan Allen, he did one thing, and I don't
(20:16):
know if he was aware of it, he would always
adjust his gloves. So I picked up on it and
I passed that along to Richard Sherman and the other guys.
Anytime you see him adjust his gloves, that means the
ball is getting ready to come to him. So I
don't think Ji Kwan did anything wrong and he gave
away trade secrets.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
But this is the name of the game.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
You look at your opponent, you try to pick him
on subtleties, and you try.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
To use them against him.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
So I'll ask you what that being said after watching
this defense for so many weeks, and I know there.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Was a lot of question marks, but to watch.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
This defense against that offense, what did that say to
you about this defense?
Speaker 7 (20:57):
Well, I thought this defense is this has been elite
in the entire season, and so I wouldn't say I
was surprised. Actually, the surprise to me was how well
they played without Patrick Tan. When you look at the
last three games, Nick and Grant, the defense has only
allowed one touchdown pass the last three games without PS two.
(21:21):
I don't think any of us would have predicted that.
It just shows you just how deep they are in
the secondary. And guys like sea A. Barron, who was
a first round draft pick who hadn't been playing a
whole lot, suddenly getting some playing time and this kid's
playing well. This guy's balling, playing nickel dime, shutting down
tight end, playing on the boundary even recently. So I
(21:45):
think it shows you just how good this defense is.
And you made a great point, Nick McMillan revealing that
he knew what they were going to do based on
Mahomes hand gestures, kind of saying, hey, you know what
you do, whatever you're gonna do, we're still gonna beat
your ass, We're still gonna win the football game. And
I think that's the confidence that this defense has, and
(22:07):
they should be this confident. I just didn't really understand
that though. I think I would have waited until after
the second game after the Christmas Day game. Yeah, after
the Christmas Day game. But the Chiefs are doing something, guys,
because in the game against Buffalo, Maxwell Hairston picked off
a pass of Mahomes. After the game, he said the
same thing. He said, he studied exaber Worthy in his
(22:30):
tendencies and he said he tips off his routes. And
I was thinking the same thing, Well, why would you
tell him you might play these guys again in the postseason.
But to your point, Nick, I guess that just means
you don't care.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
You guys, do what you're gonna do. We're gonna do it.
We're gonna do and we're still gonna beat you. Yeah,
that's exactly what you do. And this is why. This
is why you watch film.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
This is where you separate being an amateur from a professor.
Remember when you know, a couple of years ago, we
looked at Johnny Manziel who didn't watch film. Kyler Murray.
They had to put it in his contract to watch film.
And I'm like, you, a professional football player, you should
watch film. But this is what you're saying, this is
the evolution of the game. Before you join us. I
(23:13):
told Grant, what's happening right now, we're seeing defense really
step it up because the personnel and the way that
these guys are playing and watching film. And the Broncos
have a guy who, I mean just kind of stepped
into his own did come in the league the right
way that he wanted to. But he's playing like a
top NTE player and that's justin Sheernard.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
How would you kind of great his performance thus far?
Speaker 7 (23:37):
Yeah, I've been really impressed with him. I was impressed
with him last year. I think he's exceeded expectations. His
contracts up at the end of the year. I think
you signed this guy, you want to bring him back.
I think he's a starting caliber linebacker in the NFL.
Now will he want to come back here and be
a backup? That's the question. But I think this guy
(24:01):
has earned it and he's going to make some money
because he's proven he can play in the league. He's
been a really good special teams player, but given the
opportunity to play and start, I think he's shown what
he can do. Very very impressed with his defense. That's
another point too, Singleton being out their leading tackler, their captain,
(24:24):
inspiration of that defense.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
They didn't miss.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
Him It's amazing how deep and how good this defense is.
So you have to feel really good coming down the
stretch that this defense is going to keep you in
every game. And we saw bow Knicks, I think, played
his best game of the season so far. He was competent, confident, efficient.
(24:47):
We saw him stepping up into the pocket, not bailing
out the back of it, and he was finding open guys.
He was going through his progressions. That's another thing we
see him do too much this season. And so if
bo Nicks gets this thing figured out going down the stretch, man,
it's going to be a heck of a fun end
of the season then then into the postseason.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Man, how times have changed since me and you both
started on the broadcast.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Right, no, man, no grant. We paid our dues, man.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Oh, we certainly did.
Speaker 5 (25:17):
Man.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I thought also something really cool during the game. You
saw ps two A and Alex ing with him, both
with a headset on listening to the calls and staying
engaged with their teammates throughout. I think that just shows
how big of a bond there is in this team
and how close they really are, especially on that defensive
side of the ball. And some bonds you created a
long time ago in your life at NAU Northern Arizona University.
(25:39):
You got a chance to go back there and speak
a couple of days ago, I believe.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Tell me about what that was like.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
One kind of a full circle moment for you, after
all you've accomplished in radio, to go back to where
it all started.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (25:51):
Man, I took a quick flight back to Arizona and
had a speaking engagement at NAU Northern Arizona University of Flagstaff,
and that's where it all started from me, and that's
where I kind of stumbled into a radio career, and I.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Wanted to go back and to kind of give back,
you know.
Speaker 7 (26:09):
And I spoke to a big It was a sports
media class, and I didn't know what to expect. I
didn't know if the kids would look at me like,
who's this dude. They were into it and they asked
a ton of great questions. I have lunch with the
top three students in the program, and it just felt
so good to be able to go back and contribute
(26:32):
something to these young people that are coming up in
the business, and I want to do more of it.
In fact, I met this she was a junior that
was at the top of the class. She was the
best student in that class. She's already worked bowl games,
final fours. This girl's really, really special. I'm going to
take her under my wing. She also happens to be
(26:55):
a Native American. She's apache grew up on the reservation
and if anybody knows what these reservations are like, brutal.
I'm talking no running water, no electricity. In a lot
of cases that these people grow up, these kids grow up.
And so I'm taking her under my wing and I'm
gonna mentor her. They have a mentor ship program there
(27:17):
where they will fly her into Denver to hang out
with me for a couple of days.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
I'll bring her into the radio station. I want to
introduce her to our crew.
Speaker 7 (27:26):
And and on top of that, guy, she's a huge
Broncos fan.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
No, that's even that's icing on the cake, right.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
She knew all about me. She was telling me about
my band.
Speaker 7 (27:37):
And then she said her and her dad every Sunday
they watched the Broncos. They turned the sound down and
they listened to me and Dave on Sirius exam. So
she was and by the way, she mentioned you too, Nick.
I don't know Yeah, somehow your name came up. I
didn't bring it up. Seriously, I didn't bring you up.
(27:57):
She brought you up. It was how much she loves you.
Such a big Nick Ferguson fan, So I get the impressions.
She probably also listens on the iHeart app to the
various shows.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
But you got a fan in Arizona. Nick.
Speaker 5 (28:12):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Man, that's that's a great thing about you know, being
full former football player, being player period, but also doing
what we do. Man, we have an opportunity to impact
so many lives and we never really look at it
in that way. Man.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
So that's awesome. Man, That's that's Broncos love right there.
And it was special. Yeah, it was really really special.
Speaker 7 (28:31):
I got a little emotional when I pulled into campus
just it just felt like, man, it's like going back
to the beginning, full circle and you know, just didn't
quite know what to expect.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Man.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
It it could not have been better. Well, so I
definitely want to do it again. And it speaks to
the person you are.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I mean, you've been such a great mentor to me
and so many other in this in the in this industry,
and uh, why not add one more to your your
resume here.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
I mean, Rick, you are the man.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
We appreciate you every week for the what Funk segment
and love listening to you on the calls every week.
Speaker 7 (29:03):
Man, man, I'm having a blast. Thanks for having me on.
Love you guys, and we will Well what are we
going to talk again next week?
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Next week?
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Next week? Yeah, I'm on Monday.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Okay, looks like perfect on Monday, Yes, sir, you guys
have a great weekend.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
You two same.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Rick lewis talking about Justin Strenaud and the impact he's
had on this Broncos defense, especially with the absence of
Alex Singleton, became the green dot guy against the Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Nick, I know you've been super impressed with his play.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Yeah, definitely super impressed, especially when he came out of
wake Forest drapped.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
It in the fifth round, and when you watch the game.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
On Sunday, you can see him now feeling more confident, confident.
There was there were a couple of plays where he
was actually moving, you know, or gesturing to Drake Greenlaw
to get into certain positions and he made a play
which I thought was a very pivotal play. And I
really talked about Patrick mahomes is trying to set up
a screenplay. You get Brandon Jones coming off the left side,
(30:02):
and Strenard did a great job of reading the uncovered lineman,
getting right out front and hitting the Kareem Hunt so
much to the point where Kareem Hunt kind of laid
on the ground for a while. And I was wondering,
you know, because he went out for a couple of
plays and I'm wondering, was that the typical play? But
when you think about what Strenad has done, let's just
(30:22):
look at twenty twenty four numbers, seventy three tackles, forty
eight solo, He had three sacks and three past defense.
And this is kind of stepping in for Alex Singleton
when he was out, and that was Cody Barton who
was the opposite linebacker. But when you look at what
he has been doing thus far this season now coming
(30:44):
into the Canstiye game, twenty two tackles, twelve solos, three
and a half sacks, an interception, and Week seven against
the Giants tennisis two pass defense and on Sunday against
the Chiefs, he led the team to tackles. So that's
the guy who's looking for the bag and I'll say this,
and Rod Smith is not gonna like it and other
people Advance were to leave and go to another team,
(31:07):
knowing though Stronat is on inspiring deal.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
He's gonna be the starting linebacker for wherever Advance goes.
I'm just saying, but this just speaks to the depth
that we have built with this Broncos ross credit to
George Peyton. We got the NFL six pack when we
come back on Broncos Country to Night.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Okay Away
I'm your host Grant Smith filling in for Benjamin Allbright.
We put the Wet Blanket on KOA Sports Today alongside
my guy Nick Ferguson Big Show tonight, Rick lewis for
is what.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Funk segment? Coming up at six point thirty.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
We're going to do our NFL six pack at seven
oh five because bre mastis our favorite. Let's Talk Broncos
host and host of Believe in the Broncos joining us
at seven thirty, and then Bust Prime Time coming up
at eight five, six, six nine zero. The Common Spirit
health text line if you want to chime in, Nick,
how are you my friend?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Man? I'm good man.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Uh, it's a blessed day. I'm happy to be alive.
And I guess for the first time, I want to
say we're getting winter type of weather here in Democratic
Colorado because I mean, listen, I love being high at
fifty two to eighty. Well, you know what, then we
phrase that begad too high. Well nope, as I was saying,
(00:56):
and I was like, you know what, somewhere a great
maybe recording is meaning that our elevation right being fifty
to eighty close to the sun, I'm loving these seventy
degrees type of weather. But I'm used to this time
of year man fall weather man, and tonight we're getting it.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
You heard Keenan Allen and the Keenan Allen, Keenan Dixon
and the news Update talking about how we've had like
two hundred and some odd days without snow in the
metro area and it's like the longest streak ever. But
we're getting some snow in the mountains today and throughout
the next couple of days.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And I know, I know you love it because you
love the ski.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Already got three days in already, yep.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
What did you get these three days in?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I went on Tuesday most recently, what was this week Tuesday? Yep,
when it was seventy five degrees in Denver they actually
had some fresh snow, which funny story. My neck is
actually a little bit sore. I go get my skis
on for the first time of the day. Click into
my boots, Click into my skis.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Someone runs right into you.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
No oh. I start to go push off with my poles.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Both my feet pop out of my skis and I
land straight on my back and head. So wear a
helmet out there, even if it's not when you're going
down the mountain.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
You know what, see by you bringing that up, Grant,
it only drives home the point more for me.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Why don't ski?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, it's still worth it's well.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
You know what was worth it is me hearing your stories.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
How about that?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Still only one run opened where I was at a basin,
So I hit that one about six or seven times
and then made my way back to Denver before I
had come into work.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
I still think that's amazing that you can do all
of that. Mean you're like a ups worker. You know
what can Brown do for you?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
We'll see what Rick Lewis can do for us. Coming
up at six point thirty with is What the Funk segment.
I'm sure he's feeling good after Rick was a little
more pessimistic than I'm used to after that last win
over the Raiders on Thursday night football tend to. But
I'm sure he's had much higher spirits after the win
over the Kansas City Chiefs twenty two.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Nineteen last week.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
And Man, I am feeling thankful this Thursday, and I
know you're feeling pretty thankful for a couple of Bronco
players in particular, Nick.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Next next week we definitely have a Thanksgiving, but I
thought with the Bronco has been on by a week
and it being Thursday, let's do a little thankful Thursday.
And for me, the first guy that I want to
toss out there is Marvin Mims. And Marvin Mammes has
been underestimated. But let's hear what it sounds like when
(03:37):
Mems make his return.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Mems underneath it at the nine Marvin heads to the
west sideline breaks contained.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Here we go, twenty five thirty penalty.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Flight throne, forty midfield.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
One defeat down the sideline, caught inside the twenty five
two flags on the play, Chris Rowland Wallace save the touchdown.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And neither of those flags on the Broncos. So the
seventy yard return stands and Marvin Mems making his impact
felt after coming back after missing a couple of games
with the concussion.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, you know what I always felt, Grant.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
You know, Marvin Mems was an adequate piece, an extension,
if if you will, to the Broncos offense and the.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Games that he missed.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
You saw it because you look at field position from
a special team standpoint, and some football novice.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
They really don't understand it.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
As a guy that cut my teeth all special teams,
I understand how valuable that is, especially playing with or
playing for a guy like Mike Westalf. You know, he
loved big plays like this, and when you go back
and watch that play, for me, it was a thing
of beauty because Marvin set this play up right. He
set it up from the word go, and he completed
(04:59):
that play by getting or setting the Kansas City Chiefs defenders,
the guys on.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Punt cover seam.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
He set them up because he started to go lateral
and they thought, like, yo, we're about have to make
this tackle. But they didn't realize he was setting them
up to go lateral so he can go vertical. And
I have to say, Jail Skinner, there was something I
think that Okay, he was supposed to do. He was
supposed to bring.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
The return back to Marvin members but he.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Kind of stayed in the back and I was wondering, Okay, well,
I play special teams, that's not what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
But let me see how this plays out.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Luckily, he was where he was because he called a
Kansas City stragler trying to make a play.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
And what he did was this is what you coach.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
What he did was he turned his back and let
the Kansas City defender run into him instead of him
hitting the defender because had he hit the defender on
his shoulder and if defender fell flat, they would have
thrown the flag off. So it was great smart head
to play by him. But hall of a returned by
Marvin Mahms, and I say, man, it's a blessing to
(06:11):
have this guy when the Broncos roster.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah, and like you said, Jael Skinner smart play. I mean,
he still definitely let him up, but it was because
he was standing firm and the other guy was running
full speed one of the chiefs, and sometimes you can
use the person to own momentum against them.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
You know what they say, Man, is better to be
lucky than good.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
So in that case, he was in the right space
at the right time, and he paid dividends for the Broncos.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
What other Broncos players you feel thankful for during this
bye week?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Before thanksgetting well.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I'm gonna stick with the special teams with the vibe
and I'm gonna go.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
With Frank Crumb.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Now, Broncos fans may not be aware who Frank Crumb is.
But on this particular play when the Broncos needed and
that's the thing the guy to have it types of
plays and Frank is a big talk and he kind
of slid through on pat block and got his big
(07:06):
pall up there and just blocked the ball. Right Now,
like at the beginning of the season, we didn't really
see the Broncos performing on all three phases. Now those
things are now coming to fruition. And for a guy
like Frank, who most Broncos fans don't really know him
because he's not a household name, this is where you
buy more time on special teams making plays to show
(07:30):
coaches you're ready for to be bumped up.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
You want to go like special teams.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
You know, you want to be bumped up to the
varsity team where they're looking at you as a potential
starter or a major contributor or a rotational guy, especially
based on what you did. But great job by him
getting Scinny working the edge, getting his hands up there
and blocking the kick.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
And Ryan Edwards, who does so much for.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Our Broncos broadcast on the Broncos Radio Network, I don't
believe I can't believe and save the Frank Crumb block.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
High what.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
See man's doing like a million things at once. I
can't blue.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Okay, okay, okay, see see because you said.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
That, Grant, because you said that, I'm gonna let him
off the hook with this one. But I just want
Broncos fans and I just want to take an opportunity
to on the State Food Thursday and to highlight these
some guys.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
But there's still one more.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
God, you got one more?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
I got one more? How about t Neck?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Oh? J Mac gonna be j Mack? How muny time.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
I don't know if we have time enough to in
the segment to run all the highlights of him.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Because he was so good.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Impacting the ball, rushing the passer and also with the interception.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Man, I was like, he is he is a ballhawk.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Like some people just have it, like Marvin Mems has
that knack in the return game. J Mack has that
knack to just find the ball whenever he's out there.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
On the field.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
You know what, doing my career, I had I had
a knack for doing certain things.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I would find the ball.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
But now thinking about it, I wish I found ball
like j mc did as far as sacks and interceptions,
but I usually found ball carriers by trying to dislodge
them from the ball.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
If I could go back.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
And switch that mentality, I would have a similar mentality
to JAYMK, where I'm trying to get the ball because
the more times you pull that ball away from an opponent,
that means more dollars in your pocket.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Well, and I think even bigger than the interception was
the second sack of his on the day of Patrick
Mahomes towards the end of the game.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
What's on the way Mahomes deep.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Drop is gonna be hicked.
Speaker 6 (09:30):
Head sack back to pick a fifteen yard line. Jay
klawon McMillan second sack of the game and the biggest
so far in this contest, fourth and twenty one.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Now that's in the fourth quarter, game tied nineteen nineteen.
Broncos may not get the ball back if he doesn't
make that sack.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
You know what's really interesting about that sack is vance Joseph.
I mean, when you think about where the game is
at that particular point and knowing as how aggressive this
defense has been all year, but in that moment, to
have a brass pair like that, but a brass pair
(10:16):
like that to say, you know what, let's.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Go get him.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
And I'm glad they did, because usually teams shy away
from that. They normally don't go after quarterbacks in that
particular situation. And we know that Muhons being a league quarterback,
when you give him enough time, he's gonna find the
open wide receiver. But Joseph said, damn Gumman, We're.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Going to go get him, and man vance.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Joseph just seems to have the perfect game plan against
Patrick Mahomes. Like why is the rest of the league
not copying what the Broncos do? Is it just because
they don't have the personnel that this defense for the
Broncos has.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
What's the reason, Well, that's a huge part of it, right.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
You can only run certain things based on your personnel.
Just like when we think about those Tony Dungee Tapa
Bay Buccaneers teams when they ran cover two right, and
it's like, well, cover two is a very simple coverage.
But if you have played it enough and you know
it inside and out, and every single player, all the
eleven guys, they're joint at the hip and they've tied
(11:19):
on the string, you can run that coverage, but you
need the right personnel. And because of the success of
Tony Dungee and John Gruton when he took over every
team in college football, and the pros were trying to
emulate what the Buccaneers did.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
But guess what.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
There was no Warrant Sap, there was no Dexter Jackson,
there was no run Nay Barber, there was no John Lynch.
So you were trying to do the same thing. You
don't have the personnel. And here's the other thing. Vance
Josephin and Broncos defense. They now have the personnel. And
how many times have we heard the narrative, well, you
can't play man against Patrick Mahomes, he's gonna kill. You
(11:58):
can't play zone against him. And Van said, like, like hell,
who said? We can't all do whatever you want to do.
And a lot of that has to do with the pressure,
because it goes back to the first game they played.
The Broncos played Kansas City and Arrowhead and that's when
they lost on the black field goal.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Right.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
The defense kept them in that game and they were
relentless on Patrick Mahomes. And all you had to do
is look at game one week one when I think
it was. Was it in Brazil where the Chargers played Okay,
in that game, even the Chargers were able to get
pressure right, So the formula to getting to Patrick Mahomes
(12:38):
pressure Tampa Bay.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Let me go back Tampa Bay.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Remember when they just kind of ran rough shot over
the Chiefs. It was the pressure that made it difficult.
So if you sit back and you allow him to dictate,
or he could pat the ball, he can overhand it,
he gets squatted like he's playing badminton or something like that,
he's going to do that to you. But when you
forced him to move around and be accurate on every
(13:01):
single throw, it's becoming difficult, even for a guy who's
a former MVP.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah, I agree, man, And I think that's what makes
us Broncos defense so special is that they don't react.
You know a lot of times on defense, you're reacting
to the offense. Does they dictate what the offense is
going to do by applying that pressure, And I think
that's something special. That's rare air and a defensive era,
and like we're in now where you know, it really
feels like the NFL is driven by offense, but the
(13:29):
defense of the Denver, Broncos is dictating how these offensives play.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
You know what, Graham, Glad you said that because when
we look around the NFL and we look at some
of these teams who were considered to be Super Bowl contenders,
and we watched them from Kansas City to Philadelphia to Buffalo,
we watched.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Them from even Seattle to Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
All of these teams at some point they started to
stumble once they face against a team that had a
great defensive scheme and great defensive personality. And what we're
seeing this year because we're not seeing a large amount
of blowouts and high scores we saw on them.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
You know, we sprinkled in here and there, but defense
came to play.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
It's a cliche saying, but it's true and we're seeing
it play out now.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Defense wins championships.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And I mean you even go back in Broncos history.
You know the year Peyton Manning set all the records,
they go up against the Seattle vaunted defense.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
What happened get beat down in the Super Bowl and
then when they win it in twenty fifteen led by.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
The Broncos defense, Like it's crazy, but I'm gonna go
for my other because I am thankful for Marvin Mems
in his return. I think I think him flipping the
field on special teams is just so valuable. Even when
he doesn't get those seventy yard returns, he's getting fifteen
twenty yards on every punt return and that's so huge.
That's one or two less first downs you got to
(14:55):
get on an offensive drive. But another guy that I
was thankful for in this last game and really since
he's been here in Denver, one of the main stays,
Courtland Sutton.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
Bo cimebs the pocket throws a ball that is part
out over the forty yard line and that'll be a
first down.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Courtland's Sutton.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
How about your fourteen twenty yards on a third and fifteen.
Nicks stayed in the pocket, then climbed it, threw a
ball on the run that court went down to cradle,
but it's a first down for the Broncos at the
two minute warning.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Greg, Well, you watching my social media because I'm thinking
you were watching my social team first about that.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
But here's the weird part about it. If you had
not seen it, Yes, I post it at what at
Nick Ferguson undscored twenty five. Go check that.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
I break down this very same play, because here's the
thing about it. When you look at what the Chiefs
were in, they were in two man two hon safeties.
They're playing you know, five guys underneath, and they're in there.
If I'm not mistaken, they're in their nickel package, right,
And there's a point where Bo is ready to throw
the ball. But guess what, no one is open. Yeah,
(16:01):
not a single Bronco receiver is open. And this is
a critical third down situation. And I know Bo has
been criticized over the past couple of weeks. Well he's
not seeing the field, he's bailing too quickly.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Guess what he does on this play. He freaking bows
to his right side.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Right, everyone in the national media was complaining about.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
But if he does not bail, right, there's two things
that happened on this play that no one's really talking about.
If Bo does not bail to his right like he
often does, and corner sudden doesn't work to uncover, the
Broncos lose that game on Sunday. And I'm just astonished
that that is not or wasn't one of those lead
plays that everyone was talking about. And this is what
(16:45):
makes fourteen Corla sudden a hell of a wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
If he was lazy on that route.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Mind you, again, every single receiver was covered, even him.
He saw Bo scramble and he said, you know what
I have to uncom and he uncovered directly towards the
Chiefs saide line catch. The Broncos moved the ball, and
if I'm not mistaken, maybe two plays later the ball
goes to Troy Franklin.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Broncos set up to win that game.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yep. Yeah, and it wouldn't have happened.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Without that third and fifteen conversion. The court happened and
the heads up play and it's so funny like Bo
Nicks talked about it right after the game with Dave
Logan and you can hear that whole interview at Kaclorado
dot com on the KOA Sports page. But he said, like,
you know, you just developed this relationship with your receivers
when you work with them long enough that you know, like, hey,
this guy's gonna be here when I need him. And
(17:34):
it seems like Court is always there when we need
him most, even though we're not targeting him as much
as I would like. Throughout the throughout the game. Yeah,
as our wide receiver one. You know, he's always there
when you need to play made and that's something to
be said for him.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Even I'll go back further than that, even when Russell
Wilson was here as a quarterback. I mean in that
time with russ in that year, Colon had ten touchdowns yep,
inside the ridzone and it had been a while since
he had done it, or Broncos receiver done it. But
it was not the fact that he did it, it
(18:08):
was how he did it. When you think about the
Buffalo catch in Buffalo, incredible, keeping his feet in bounds, ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, man, absolutely the other player I'm thankful for Garrett Bowles.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
We're gonna hear from him.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
After we talked to Rick Lewis next on Broncos Country Tonight. Rick,
what the funk did you think about that win by
the Broncos beating the.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Chiefs on the last second field goal on Sunday, Man, that.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Was sweets, man.
Speaker 7 (18:35):
It validated this football team, and I think we all
felt pretty good beating the Chiefs. Man, it's been so long.
Sean Payton chased the game. Sean Payton came along and
the Broncos suddenly are beating the Chiefs, and really, when
you look at it, they would they before and one
I think Peyton would be four and one against the
(18:56):
Chiefs since he started with the Broncos if not for
that block field goal, and even despite that, he's three
to two. But what the funk? I got something for
you right here?
Speaker 3 (19:07):
What the funk?
Speaker 7 (19:07):
So Chris Jones of the Chiefs, the great defensive player, said,
bo knew exactly what they were going to run on defense,
especially on that third and fifteen clutch throw late in
the fourth quarter. And then Jaqwan McMillan, who had two
sacks and a pick, said he knew when the Chiefs
were going to snap the ball based on Mahomes' hand gestures.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
So, Nick, what the funk?
Speaker 7 (19:34):
Why would McMillan reveal that when we still have a
game to play with the Chiefs next month.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
I don't understand why you would tell anybody that. You
tell me.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Well, the idea is that that shows wealth of confidence
that Yakwan McMillan has on his ability and also the
Broncos ability.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
So the idea is that hey, listen, we can give
you the answers to the.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Test isn't necessarily mean you're going to pass them because
we're going to bring the same defense. And this is
where great film study comes in, Rick, because there was
a time when I was in San Francisco. We were
watching film and preparing for a guy like Keenan Allen,
and every time before the ball was to be thrown
to Killan Allen, he did one thing, and I don't
(20:16):
know if he was aware of it, he would always
adjust his gloves. So I picked up on it and
I passed that along to Richard Sherman and the other guys.
Anytime you see him adjust his gloves, that means the
ball is getting ready to come to him. So I
don't think Ji Kwan did anything wrong and he gave
away trade secrets.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
But this is the name of the game.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
You look at your opponent, you try to pick him
on subtleties, and you try.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
To use them against him.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
So I'll ask you what that being said after watching
this defense for so many weeks, and I know there.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Was a lot of question marks, but to watch.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
This defense against that offense, what did that say to
you about this defense?
Speaker 7 (20:57):
Well, I thought this defense is this has been elite
in the entire season, and so I wouldn't say I
was surprised. Actually, the surprise to me was how well
they played without Patrick Tan. When you look at the
last three games, Nick and Grant, the defense has only
allowed one touchdown pass the last three games without PS two.
(21:21):
I don't think any of us would have predicted that.
It just shows you just how deep they are in
the secondary. And guys like sea A. Barron, who was
a first round draft pick who hadn't been playing a
whole lot, suddenly getting some playing time and this kid's
playing well. This guy's balling, playing nickel dime, shutting down
tight end, playing on the boundary even recently. So I
(21:45):
think it shows you just how good this defense is.
And you made a great point, Nick McMillan revealing that
he knew what they were going to do based on
Mahomes hand gestures, kind of saying, hey, you know what
you do, whatever you're gonna do, we're still gonna beat
your ass, We're still gonna win the football game. And
I think that's the confidence that this defense has, and
(22:07):
they should be this confident. I just didn't really understand
that though. I think I would have waited until after
the second game after the Christmas Day game. Yeah, after
the Christmas Day game. But the Chiefs are doing something, guys,
because in the game against Buffalo, Maxwell Hairston picked off
a pass of Mahomes. After the game, he said the
same thing. He said, he studied exaber Worthy in his
(22:30):
tendencies and he said he tips off his routes. And
I was thinking the same thing, Well, why would you
tell him you might play these guys again in the postseason.
But to your point, Nick, I guess that just means
you don't care.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
You guys, do what you're gonna do. We're gonna do it.
We're gonna do and we're still gonna beat you. Yeah,
that's exactly what you do. And this is why. This
is why you watch film.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
This is where you separate being an amateur from a professor.
Remember when you know, a couple of years ago, we
looked at Johnny Manziel who didn't watch film. Kyler Murray.
They had to put it in his contract to watch film.
And I'm like, you, a professional football player, you should
watch film. But this is what you're saying, this is
the evolution of the game. Before you join us. I
(23:13):
told Grant, what's happening right now, we're seeing defense really
step it up because the personnel and the way that
these guys are playing and watching film. And the Broncos
have a guy who, I mean just kind of stepped
into his own did come in the league the right
way that he wanted to. But he's playing like a
top NTE player and that's justin Sheernard.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
How would you kind of great his performance thus far?
Speaker 7 (23:37):
Yeah, I've been really impressed with him. I was impressed
with him last year. I think he's exceeded expectations. His
contracts up at the end of the year. I think
you signed this guy, you want to bring him back.
I think he's a starting caliber linebacker in the NFL.
Now will he want to come back here and be
a backup? That's the question. But I think this guy
(24:01):
has earned it and he's going to make some money
because he's proven he can play in the league. He's
been a really good special teams player, but given the
opportunity to play and start, I think he's shown what
he can do. Very very impressed with his defense. That's
another point too, Singleton being out their leading tackler, their captain,
(24:24):
inspiration of that defense.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
They didn't miss.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
Him It's amazing how deep and how good this defense is.
So you have to feel really good coming down the
stretch that this defense is going to keep you in
every game. And we saw bow Knicks, I think, played
his best game of the season so far. He was competent, confident, efficient.
(24:47):
We saw him stepping up into the pocket, not bailing
out the back of it, and he was finding open guys.
He was going through his progressions. That's another thing we
see him do too much this season. And so if
bo Nicks gets this thing figured out going down the stretch, man,
it's going to be a heck of a fun end
of the season then then into the postseason.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Man, how times have changed since me and you both
started on the broadcast.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Right, no, man, no grant. We paid our dues, man.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Oh, we certainly did.
Speaker 5 (25:17):
Man.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I thought also something really cool during the game. You
saw ps two A and Alex ing with him, both
with a headset on listening to the calls and staying
engaged with their teammates throughout. I think that just shows
how big of a bond there is in this team
and how close they really are, especially on that defensive
side of the ball. And some bonds you created a
long time ago in your life at NAU Northern Arizona University.
(25:39):
You got a chance to go back there and speak
a couple of days ago, I believe.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Tell me about what that was like.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
One kind of a full circle moment for you, after
all you've accomplished in radio, to go back to where
it all started.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (25:51):
Man, I took a quick flight back to Arizona and
had a speaking engagement at NAU Northern Arizona University of Flagstaff,
and that's where it all started from me, and that's
where I kind of stumbled into a radio career, and I.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Wanted to go back and to kind of give back,
you know.
Speaker 7 (26:09):
And I spoke to a big It was a sports
media class, and I didn't know what to expect. I
didn't know if the kids would look at me like,
who's this dude. They were into it and they asked
a ton of great questions. I have lunch with the
top three students in the program, and it just felt
so good to be able to go back and contribute
(26:32):
something to these young people that are coming up in
the business, and I want to do more of it.
In fact, I met this she was a junior that
was at the top of the class. She was the
best student in that class. She's already worked bowl games,
final fours. This girl's really, really special. I'm going to
take her under my wing. She also happens to be
(26:55):
a Native American. She's apache grew up on the reservation
and if anybody knows what these reservations are like, brutal.
I'm talking no running water, no electricity. In a lot
of cases that these people grow up, these kids grow up.
And so I'm taking her under my wing and I'm
gonna mentor her. They have a mentor ship program there
(27:17):
where they will fly her into Denver to hang out
with me for a couple of days.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
I'll bring her into the radio station. I want to
introduce her to our crew.
Speaker 7 (27:26):
And and on top of that, guy, she's a huge
Broncos fan.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
No, that's even that's icing on the cake, right.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
She knew all about me. She was telling me about
my band.
Speaker 7 (27:37):
And then she said her and her dad every Sunday
they watched the Broncos. They turned the sound down and
they listened to me and Dave on Sirius exam. So
she was and by the way, she mentioned you too, Nick.
I don't know Yeah, somehow your name came up. I
didn't bring it up. Seriously, I didn't bring you up.
(27:57):
She brought you up. It was how much she loves you.
Such a big Nick Ferguson fan, So I get the impressions.
She probably also listens on the iHeart app to the
various shows.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
But you got a fan in Arizona. Nick.
Speaker 5 (28:12):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Man, that's that's a great thing about you know, being
full former football player, being player period, but also doing
what we do. Man, we have an opportunity to impact
so many lives and we never really look at it
in that way. Man.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
So that's awesome. Man, That's that's Broncos love right there.
And it was special. Yeah, it was really really special.
Speaker 7 (28:31):
I got a little emotional when I pulled into campus
just it just felt like, man, it's like going back
to the beginning, full circle and you know, just didn't
quite know what to expect.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Man.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
It it could not have been better. Well, so I
definitely want to do it again. And it speaks to
the person you are.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I mean, you've been such a great mentor to me
and so many other in this in the in this industry,
and uh, why not add one more to your your
resume here.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
I mean, Rick, you are the man.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
We appreciate you every week for the what Funk segment
and love listening to you on the calls every week.
Speaker 7 (29:03):
Man, man, I'm having a blast. Thanks for having me on.
Love you guys, and we will Well what are we
going to talk again next week?
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Next week?
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Next week? Yeah, I'm on Monday.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Okay, looks like perfect on Monday, Yes, sir, you guys
have a great weekend.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
You two same.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Rick lewis talking about Justin Strenaud and the impact he's
had on this Broncos defense, especially with the absence of
Alex Singleton, became the green dot guy against the Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Nick, I know you've been super impressed with his play.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Yeah, definitely super impressed, especially when he came out of
wake Forest drapped.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
It in the fifth round, and when you watch the game.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
On Sunday, you can see him now feeling more confident, confident.
There was there were a couple of plays where he
was actually moving, you know, or gesturing to Drake Greenlaw
to get into certain positions and he made a play
which I thought was a very pivotal play. And I
really talked about Patrick mahomes is trying to set up
a screenplay. You get Brandon Jones coming off the left side,
(30:02):
and Strenard did a great job of reading the uncovered lineman,
getting right out front and hitting the Kareem Hunt so
much to the point where Kareem Hunt kind of laid
on the ground for a while. And I was wondering,
you know, because he went out for a couple of
plays and I'm wondering, was that the typical play? But
when you think about what Strenad has done, let's just
(30:22):
look at twenty twenty four numbers, seventy three tackles, forty
eight solo, He had three sacks and three past defense.
And this is kind of stepping in for Alex Singleton
when he was out, and that was Cody Barton who
was the opposite linebacker. But when you look at what
he has been doing thus far this season now coming
(30:44):
into the Canstiye game, twenty two tackles, twelve solos, three
and a half sacks, an interception, and Week seven against
the Giants tennisis two pass defense and on Sunday against
the Chiefs, he led the team to tackles. So that's
the guy who's looking for the bag and I'll say this,
and Rod Smith is not gonna like it and other
people Advance were to leave and go to another team,
(31:07):
knowing though Stronat is on inspiring deal.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
He's gonna be the starting linebacker for wherever Advance goes.
I'm just saying, but this just speaks to the depth
that we have built with this Broncos ross credit to
George Peyton. We got the NFL six pack when we
come back on Broncos Country to Night.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Okay Away
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