Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alongside my guy Nick Ferguson.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Thanks to the Hall of Famer Steve Atwater joining us
in the last hour. If you missed any of that,
can find it on the free and redesigned iHeartRadio app.
You know, set KOA as a preset, just like you
do in your car. iHeartRadio app users are loving the
new industry first features, so set KOA as a preset
today on our iHeartRadio App. From one Hall of Famer
(00:23):
to a Hall of Fame writer, we go out to
the KOA Common Spirit Health hotline and bring on our guy,
Ryan Michael, Ryan, how are you tonight?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Man?
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Doing well? Grant? Nick, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Guys? We're doing great.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We're going great, even though we lost yesterday to the
Jacksonville Jaguars. You can't win them all, but we were
certainly trying to. I know you've been busy lately. Ryan,
you were interviewed for Bingles dot com Who Day a
few days ago. I read a little bit of the
article reminiscing about the past, the greats and Bengals history
that are often overlooked like Kenny Anderson, Corey Dillon and
(00:56):
Geno Atkins. Now you're here with us, and then you
picked a fight with Richard Sherman last night after the
Broncos game.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You're keeping busy, huh.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I guess so, you know it's been it's been. It's
been a good week. I had the pleasure of connecting
with Cincinnati Bengals senior writer Jeff Hopson a series titled
The Conversation, So him and I just talked a bit
to your point about Kenny Anderson as a senior finalist
for the Pro Football Hall of Same Isaac Curtis, Corey, Dylan,
(01:28):
Willie Anderson, Chad Johnson and others. You know, from a
historical perspective, there's a lot that fans may not be
aware of, especially as if preteains to era adjustment. So
he got into a lot of the same kind of
things talked about on BCT over the years. I'll give
you a Kenny Anderson nugget. At the time of his
retirement in nineteen eighty six, he was the highest rate
(01:49):
of passer in the history of the AFC at eighty
one point nine. That's a spot that Patrick Mahomes doesn't
even hold anymore. He's actually the second highest rate of
passer in the history three of the AFC, and so, yeah,
it was a fun time getting to talk with Jeff
and fans can check it out at Bengals dot com
for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah, that's a great read.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And as Bengals fans, that's all we can do really
right now as the reminiscent in the past, because this
year is not really going as we planned it.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
You know what, Ryan, I.
Speaker 5 (02:16):
Want to talk about Trevor Lawrence because Trever has definitely
changed his game and he was really criticized and ostracized,
and some would even call him somewhat of a buzz
But after four touchdowns throwing for three and rushing for one,
what do you say announces some of those critics? And
(02:37):
I know you've been a person that defended you know,
Trevor Lawrence. No, what do you say to those punnits?
And why do you fit him?
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Personally?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Well, Richard Sherman's one of them, and for what it's worth,
I have a lot of respect for Richard. I like
him quite a bit. We simply disagree on Trevor Lawrence.
And so in September he said, quote, Trevor Lawrence just
has not shown me any thing that warrants him being
paid fifty five million a year. At times he's the
reason that this Jags game is losing end quote, and
(03:08):
there's some truth to that. Certainly, Trevor Lawrence certainly controlder
some of the blame during some of his poor outings.
But you know, look, last night I pushed.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Back on that.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
I shared some of the advanced numbers, and I coined
the nickname and the hashtag all twenty two Trevor, because
Lawrence is somebody who has always looked much better on
the coaches film than he does in the box score.
So in twenty twenty two, he finished the season with
a higher DVOA that Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts, who
were both playing at an MVP level that year. Twenty
(03:40):
twenty three, he led the AFC and adjusted EPA pri play.
Last year, he was top ten in both adjusted EPA
per play and total TVR prior to that Houston game
we should have never even suited up for. And so
I've been as critical of Trevor Lawrence as anybody this year.
The first eleven games of the season have been unquestionably rough,
but over the last four he has reverted back to
(04:03):
his old elite cell fourteen total touchdowns to zero turnovers
over the last four games, and so I'm always going
to call it the way that I see it. And
some of the Jags fans who have been following my
work have said, you know, you can stay on that side.
They didn't like how critical I was with Lawrence during
that eleven game stretch. It actually, as an analyst, that
concept is foreign to me. Strong play is going to
(04:25):
be praised and poor play is going to be criticized.
Trevor Lawrence is playing elite football right now, so he
deserves a little bit of love for it.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, ten touchdowns in the last two games. I mean,
he's playing pretty damn well. I think that narrative is
going to change nationally around Trevor Lawrence if he stays
at this pace. Talking with Ryan Michael at the Ryan
Michael on X and let's go to the other side
of the ball or the other team, the other quarterback
Bo Nicks. He was building a ton of momentum after
a big win over the Packers and against the Jaguars
(04:54):
looked a little different. Where do you stand on bow
at this point in the season. Do you think he's
progressing still?
Speaker 4 (05:00):
You know, I would say his trajectory this year is
somewhat similar to Trevor Lawrence is ironically where the first
two thirds of the season maybe a step back statistically
from what we saw last year. And he's cooking now.
He's heating up a little bit cool down against Jacksonville
a good defense yesterday. But you can look at some
(05:21):
of the numbers. The volume numbers are great third, and
pass completion sixth, in passing yards eighth and touchdown passes.
You love to see that. But you look at some
of the efficiency marks, he's twenty first in completion percentage,
twenty seventh, in yards per attempt sixteenth, and adjusted NIT
yards per attempt sixteenth, and past success percentage fifteenth in
total pr So you're seeing top ten in terms of
(05:43):
the volume, and you're seeing a round league average, sometimes
a little bit below the league average as far as
the efficiency. Sack percentage is where he's going. And right
now he leaves the NFL being sacked in only two
point nine to nine percent of his dropbacks. You know,
I would say given the context of playing such that's
always my measure. I always say totality of on field
(06:03):
performance in relation to context of playing situation. The Broncos
are not the twenty twenty Kansas City Chiefs. They're not
the nineteen ninety nine Saint Louis Rams. We've done the
best that we can do with the salary cap situation
being what it is, and I would say that bo
Nix is trending upward here in the final stretch of
the regular season. And you know, it was a rough
(06:25):
outing yesterday, but not a horrific one, and hopefully they
can channel that loss. It's a little bit of motivation
to clean it up and finish the regular season strong
because it's all about what you do in January.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
Well, it definitely is all about what you do in January.
But there's still some things that the Broncos have to
get over from Sunday thirty four points that this team surrender.
That's the most points all season long, and the offense
was only able to muster twenty points. And I know
this is going to be the conversation, so I'm going
to ask you, should we be concerned about the Broncos off.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
That's a good point. There's no question that the Broncos
are a defense d football team. We rank thirteen from
the NFL, points per game scored fifth in the NFL,
and points per games surrendered. And so when you look
at a game like yesterday, I'll say this in defense
of the defense, is that there's been a number of
games over the last two years where the offense has
(07:24):
been mediocre at best. But if you're holding your opponient
for less than fourteen points, it doesn't take much to
win football games. In a perfect world, we'd like to
think that when the defense gives up a lot of
points that the offense is compensating there and vice versa.
And so yesterday the defense didn't have a typical in
for Broncos advance Joseph counting, and so am I concerned? No,
(07:47):
I wouldn't say I'm concerned because we know that we
have a defensive driven football team. But the offense again,
give Sean Paydon his due eleventh in the NFL and
yards per play ninth and first downs Anthony XP eleventh
in yards per terry, which is a big bump up
from what we were seeing over the previous two years,
seventh in Russian touchdown. So the elite offense, no, But
(08:10):
when it's firing on all cylinders, the Denver Broncos are
as good as anybody in the NFL. And so I'm
content with where the team is right now. You'd like
to se even trend upward and finish the season strong.
But I don't think that we need to overreact to
yesterday loss.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Oh but you know that's what we'd love to do.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
In Broncos Country, Ryan has overreact to everything's Everything's horrible
now after we won eleven in a row and then
lost one to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who look like a
formidable playoff team themselves, I want to go big picture
with you. Only two games left in the regular season.
Who's getting your vote for MVP this year? I know
(08:47):
you've said previously, my guy Joe Burr is the best
quarterback in the NFL. Obviously he's not going to be
the MVP this year. But who do you like as
the MVP in the NFL?
Speaker 4 (08:59):
I can explain that contradiction. Joe Burrow is the best
player in the National Football League. But the easy and
obvious choice to me for twenty twenty five league MVP
is Matthew Safford. I've been saying that really since the
beginning of the season. He's number one and by a
lot of measures, volume efficiency and advanced number one in
(09:19):
passing yards four one and seventy nine touchdown passes forty
touchdown pass percentage seven point seven percent, interception percentage one percent,
past success percentage fifty four point eight percent, pass a
rating one hundred and twelve point one adjusted net yards
per intept eight point six one, and Thursday Night Football,
(09:40):
joined Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, is the only three
players in NFL history to produce three seasons of forty
or more touchdown passes. That's pretty elite company. Joe Burrow
is a different situation. Again to my point of the
measure being totality of performance in relation to context of
playing situation. If we dial it down to the Bengals
five game winning streak last year, you're looking at a
(10:03):
quarterback who's nine and two and his last eleven starts
on a team that went one to eight without him.
And so, for all of the talented quarterback play there
is in this league, I don't know if there's anybody
in the world who can do what Joe Burrow's done
in Cincinnati yesterday. The highest pass rating on the road
in Bengals franchise history for a quarterback with thirty or
(10:25):
more attempts put up a one forty six point five,
so we're seeing it even now. Those are the two
best quarterbacks in the National Football League. You look at
total body of work for league MVP award the choice
of Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
So no love for Drake may from you this year,
you know, but.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
He's had one hell of a season.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
He really had.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Well, you're one hell of a guest, Don Broncos Country tonight, Ryan,
we appreciate your time as always. Happy holidays, Man, appreciate
you guys having merry Christmas. Thanks man, Ryan Michael at
the Ryan Michael on x Riada's great article at Bengals
dot com and he always has great stats on his
X or Twitter or whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Nick.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Anything that stood out from Ryan's comments there about maybe
the Broncos, the Jags or the NFL is a bigger picture, Well.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Let's start with the Jags.
Speaker 5 (11:12):
And the reason I say want to start there because
there you can make some comparisons to what Trevor Lawrence
was going through to what people were saying about bow
Knicks earlier in the season.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
And look at bow.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
Knicks performance yesterday and look at Trevor Lawrence and said,
well this is where Bow can actually get to. And
the reason I'm saying that, Grant, because you'll remember last
week when we were on I was talking about the
whole backyard football thing, right, And I know Jojo tried
to tell me on Sunday and during the Broncos pregame,
(11:46):
he tried to relate what I was saying about Bow.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
To Tim Tebow, and I was like, that's a.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Difference between backyard football and playground football, right, and Tim
Tebow was in playground right.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Background is entirely different.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
And watching both quarterbacks compete yesterday, for me being a defender,
that would make it hard for me to be able
to do what I do because it's one thing for
a quarterback Grant to stand in the pocket if he's
in the pistol or is he in the shotgun? Right,
he's six to seven yards in the pocket.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
He's not moving anywhere.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
That's those old traditional statue Q quarterbacks. But when you
get a guy like a Trevor Lawrence or a Bow
Knicks that can move and extend the pocket, it makes
things that much more difficult.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Because the Broncos ended.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Up with five sacks yesterday, they had like fourteen qb hits,
yeah right, and you're thinking any other quarterback that's gonna
put them down, that's gonna discourage him.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
But Trevor Lawrence kept playing through that.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
And this is where I see Bow has the potential
to play through that. And sometimes you have to be
able to master your craft and play outside of the
play call that comes in from the sidelin. We saw
that in the game against the Green Bay Packers. That
could have happened yesterday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
There were some ara throws, there were some balls.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
That were too high, too low, or maybe some guys
dropped the ball, and that affected the level production of
what Bow's overall numbers would have been. But I think
you can look to Trevor Lawren's career and see where
people have been negative about him, but also to see
how he's turned around and Bow can.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Do the same thing.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Well, we certainly hope. So here in Broncos Country when
we come back, we're going to get Nick's thoughts on
the defense. Have they been the same since the bye week? Well,
also hear from another Nick, Nick Bonito, his thoughts on
that very topic. You're listening to Broncos Country tonight, on KOA.
It is that time of year to thank a veteran,
active military member or first responder with twenty five hundred
(13:51):
dollars through February First. Submit your nomination name and they're
deserving reason for twenty five hundred dollars at Koacolorado dot
com contests. It's a Heroes thank You presented by Common Spirit,
Health and fix It twenty four to seven. Love that
always love the Heroes thank You. It's usually around Christmas,
but they're extending it this year.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I think it's a good idea to do it a
little later in the year.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
You know, after you spend all that money during the
holiday season, you're like, okay, now the twenty five hundred
bucks is really going to come in handy.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
Yeah, it is true because it's usually we're around the
holiday time that most people kind of get themselves a
little in debt, get a little heavy around the pocket,
if you will, because you're trying to deliver not just
for yourself, grant for other people, right, and it could
be a little costly. So being able to do it
(14:43):
right after Christmas or you know, right into the new year,
I think that bowls well and helps out a lot
of people. The only thing that with me, man, I
wish that it was more that can be done because
I don't know about you. But and and I can
say this as a professional, a former professional athlete.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
When people look at.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
Us, obviously they look at what we did for a living,
and people talk about, oh, how much money you made,
and I'm like, oh, I don't last whatever, right, it's good,
why last?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
But it doesn't last forever.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
But there are other individuals, man, that I feel the
need that validation similar to what we give professional athletes.
And yes, I'm talking about our first responders. I'm talking
about our teachers, our educators, our administrators, and also those
individuals who serve in our military, the men and women
who really put it on the line for us. I
(15:42):
wish that some somehow, some way I hit the lotto.
I'm talking about not that million dollar lot, Oh no, No,
I'm talking about like I think it's one in Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
That's like one point six billion dollars. Right.
Speaker 5 (15:59):
If I to hit a lick like that, I'm gonna
I personally would started giving some of that out to
individuals or society.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So yeah, the real heroes of our Yes, yes, yes,
anything away from you and your your former athletes or
the athletes playing now, but the real heroes of our
society that need to need a helping hand.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
And that's what we're here to do with the heroes.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Thank you, absolutely absolutely, and I'm proud to be a
part of the whole process.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Man. So hopefully we get in.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
These stories, we can give some of this money out
and put a smile on a couple of faces. Man.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, deliver some some New Year's cheer, not holiday cheers.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Well, speaking of.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
Holiday cheer, uh, Broncos fans will be looking to have
some holiday cheer. And I'm not talking about putting that
extra stuff in your egg nog either.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
That's what I'll be doing.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Tell what you say to do.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
But yeah, on Christmas, the Broncos fans will be looking
to cleanse.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Can I say that? Cleanse that from the loss on Sunday? Yeah? Right, yeah,
I like that. I like that. Hopefully we can.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Because someone who was not very happy with their performance yesterday,
Nick Bonito. Did you hear his postgame comments about his performance? No?
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I did hear them. Oh, here they are for you.
I played ass today.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
It's mad for show.
Speaker 6 (17:18):
I don't think I played in my standard, I feel
like I could have been a lot better. I didn't
come ready to play today, and it kind of reflected on.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
The rest of the defense.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Didn't come ready to play today. You were down there
on the sidelines holding the parabolic mic. Yeah, I was
worried you were going to hit somebody during the game,
you know, just out of reflex, you know, the jaguar
coming up the sidelines. You just give a little shoulder check,
you know, help out your former team. But what did
you see from the defensive side of the ball for
the Broncos and specifically Nick Benito, Well.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
There wasn't a level of pressures we've seen all season long,
and we got to start getting used to that, because
I know everyone's gotten used to the defense being the
most dominated union on the field, and they are the
most dominated, dominating unit for the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
So we all look at it this way.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
If the Broncos are not shutting the door on any
opposing offense and you're not getting great field position by
from Marvin Mems, it's going to make the games that
much more difficult for the Broncos to pull out.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Because even though we're late.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
In the season, the offense is still trying to figure
things out. They're still trying to figure out the run game,
and I think we'll probably getting too that a little later.
But as far as Nick Benito and John the Cooper,
those guys gave a lot of effort, and you got
to think, when you have been as successful as they
have been thus far the season, you're going to get
a double team. There's someone's going to be chipping you,
(18:44):
whether it's a tight end or running back and hitting
you in your rears before they run out into the
pass formation. But here's the other thing that takes away
any pass rush the Broncos anyone else is is how
quickly that quarterback gets the ball out of their hands.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
And Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Did a great job of getting the ball out of
his hands similar to what Marcus Mariota did a.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Couple of weeks ago, Mario Ta, I'm sorry, Mario Ta.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Similar to what Jordan Love did in the first half
of that matchup with the Denver Broncos getting the ball
out of their hands. So when that happens, that means
you're gonna get either quick routes kind of right in
front of the linebackers.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Or out to the flats.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
So if you a guy rushing the interior of the pocket,
I mean, you got to get your hand up because
you're not gonna be able to get to the depth
of the quarterback anymore. They're not going to allow you
to do that. They know because they've watched film, They've
watched you.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
And here's the thing that's interesting to hear Nick Benito be.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
As candid and honest as he was to say that,
hey man, I.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Was asked today, right, because.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
So far this season and listening to players post game
interviews have been hilarious in the NFL. Because cam Ward
earlier in the season, that's the way that he smoke
about himself, right, And he came to the podium and
he said the same thing Nick Bindo said about himself.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
So players know. But once again, it's what you what
you do about it.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
And this is gonna be something that the Broncos are
gonna face from here on. Oups teams getting the ball
out of the hands with time and rhythm.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Yeah, And the one person who I thought played amazing
yesterday was John Franklin Myers. Like he's got seven and
a half sacks now in limited time as a D tackle, like,
are they gonna pay this guy or what you think
he's gone after this year?
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Listen to answer your question, yes, if you if they
don't find a way to sign him to an extension, yes,
why not?
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I mean, if you balling out like this, you have.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
Seven sacks, get paid, you gonna get someone's gonna get paid.
Someone's gonna give you the money. He's gonna get paid, right,
either you gonna pay me or someone else is gonna
pay me. That that's just the way this thing works.
But here is looking at the business of football, Grant,
you can't keep everyone because here is a fundamental problem
that the Broncos are going to run into that every
(21:06):
single team runs into. San Francisco is dealing with it
right now. With your quarterback on a rookie deal. You
can extend everyone, you can get them all the money.
But he's going to come a point where bow Knicks
is going to have to be extended. And I don't
think the Bronco is going to wait until the fifth
year to do it.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yeah, and he's probably gonna be making what forty five
to fifty million dollars a year.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
I mean, if he keeps playing like this and.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
When that happens. Guess what, got a goal? Gotta go,
someone's got to go.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Going back to the defensive side of the ball, I
thought this was a really interesting comment from Nick Benito
talking about how he doesn't think the Broncos defense has
been playing up to their ability since the bye week.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
Obviously concerning defensively, for like these last couple of weeks,
we haven't been playing to our standard. So I can
only speak on this white concerning for you, I just
feel like we're not playing our type of ball, that's all.
Speaker 7 (21:57):
Did you notice a moment when that happened or is
just the way the games have felt and flowed your way?
Speaker 6 (22:03):
No, just we haven't been playing our top of ball
since the Buie week. I feel like and we just
got to be better.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Call me crazy if I am.
Speaker 7 (22:10):
I mean it's it's not realistic to believe that the
Broncos would never lose out of our game for the
rest of our lives.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
Right, No, I mean I feel like we could have
won the rest We're on the all our games the
rest of the way out, but we just got to
be better.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
After this interesting question there, but I thought those were
some great candid comments from Nick Benito, like, obviously it
was a downtrodden locker room yesterday after their first loss,
and three months we have to remember that here in
Broncos Country, we haven't lost in three months.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
But you're gonna lose a game eventually.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
You don't ever want to lose a game like you
and I and Steve were talking about in the first hour.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
But I'll pose that question to you.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Do you think there was a point in time can
you pinpoint a game or a moment where it looked
like the Broncos defense has maybe lost a step or
is it just something that teams doing game planning against
them differently? You know, you mentioned the quarterbacks getting the
ball out of their hands a little bit faster. What
else are you seeing that teams are doing to exploit
this Broncos defense.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
Well, they're attacking the defense as far as the coverage
that they're running. And it's not I'll say this, it's
not the scheme, right, It is not the scheme.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
It's the execution.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Within the scheme that becomes the problem. And that's what
you worry about as a coach. All the loving guys
being on the same page doing the same thing.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
And Nick Benito is right.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
I mean, when we think about where this team came
from to even start that winning streak as a whole,
and even a home winning streak, you're gonna have.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Some bumps and bruises.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
We've seen teams move the ball down the field on
this team, but they have been able to slam the
door on teams. And it's the effectiveness. How well can
you communicate? Because that's the first thing that I'm looking
at being a safety, right, being a guy that sees
everything like you got that thirty thousand foot view.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Are the guys.
Speaker 5 (24:03):
Communicating especially you know when you think about man in zone,
but more importantly when it comes to zone coverage, because
when it comes to zone, everyone is responsible for a
certain area on the field. Can you hit your spot,
collect information and then play with vision on a quarterback
and play from there you'll see man eighty twenty road.
(24:24):
Not everyone can do it, and it's not because the
players are ill equipped to get it done. It is
the fact that you lose focus, right when when you
get tired everything that you learn or even we can
look in front of us right now and you think
you're seeing two people. You know why, because you're tired,
right and you're fatigued. And there's a saying that this
(24:47):
Lombardi has and I've always remembered it. Fatigue makes cowards
of us all And I don't care who you are,
the great Steve Atward, it happens to all of us
at some point in your career, either you physically tire
or you're meant to be tire, either one or in
the worst case scenario growth. Right now, I'm looking at
(25:08):
you like I told you before, two DB's and the
end zone with their hands up, the going like what
happened because someone was not focused? So there is there
has been a little drop off. And when you look
at the game on Sunday, what was the biggest drop
off that we had not seen in a while. The
last time we saw this what I'm about to describe,
(25:29):
it was against the Miami Dolphins when they put up
seventy on the Denver.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Broncos and it was tackling.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
Yeah, you can survive one person Grant making a mistake,
you can't survive. I don't care who you are, top defense,
middle of the road defense, or bottom defense. When when
one or more people making a mistake, you can't survive it.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Yeah, what happened.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
We heard that call earlier from day when we had
Steve here in studio, Like he just kept going down
the line of names of miss tackles on the same play,
and it felt like that was happening all day. And
I don't understand, you know, explain it to me as
someone who didn't play the game at a high level
like you did. I mean, what is that contagious? Like
is that something that you know you see happen early online?
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Well, you said it was. Is it contagious like it's
a disease or something, right, But.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Like it felt like everyone was just like making one
mistake after another. Usually this year with the Broncos defense,
you see him make like one mistake or one guy
messes up on a play and then you know, Huff
comes up from the secondary and lays the wood on someone.
But it just seemed like everyone was missing tackles yesterday.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
I just I just don't get it.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
You say that the first thing I thought about calling
tell a Dot like, hey, what what are your Simpson man?
I'm suffering for this mixed mistackle disease? Right, No, it's
not one of those things that it's contagious in that way.
It becomes an issue when guys are not understanding when
(27:04):
there's an outside play, a toss, sweep or a screenplay,
how to properly fit up. And I know this defensive
coaching staff, and I know that they're coaching it up properly.
But once again, when you get in the game, can
you actually execute it? And all it takes is once
like I told you, one person makes a mistake. Now
someone has to overcome that person mistake. And now they
(27:27):
make a mistake, and now it's like.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
A downward spiral.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
It's like Domino's right, they start to fall, and then
now that's imprinted on you mentionally.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
I know Steve was trying to say, well, no, you.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Know, well that's a Hall of Fame mindset.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Well yeah, but I'm just saying it happens to us all.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
It may not happen to you know, most of us
as frequently, but it does happen. So things play in
your mind, and can you take that play, erase it
and move on to the next play. And sometimes when
certain things start to happen, and they're happening to you
very frequently, it's hard to get outside of your own way.
And now you need someone to pull you aside and
(28:06):
actually snatch you up by your collar. And I'm literally
in the studio, I'm reenacting you snatched that person up
by the car and say, man, get it right. I
had I Wilson to do in that game I was
telling you about with the six of you host penalties,
guess what he had to grab me and say, hey, man,
stop out of.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
It, maybe with a couple more expletives.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Well, I'm giving you the piece of version.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Speaking of mistakes, you know, on the other side of
the ball, we saw that interception from bow Knicks as
they were trying to mount that comeback in the fourth quarter.
Here's what he had to say afterwards on that throat
to Pat Bryant.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Yeah, it spot down, should have gone probably the field.
Just want to I kind of.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
In that situation, you got to, you know, force it,
and you should have forced it somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Not there.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Did it feel like it was just a moment where
bo Nix was seen to make a play, like, hey,
we got to make something happen here and it was
just a mistake.
Speaker 5 (29:05):
Well, yeah, I think, man, and mistakes happened, and I
agree with him. You know, maybe there were there was
a better opportunity going to the field. But he was
trying to give Pat Brian an opportunity to make it play.
But you can see that neither you know, bow Knicks
or Pat Brian were on the same page. Like for
me in that situation, I'm thinking, this is just me.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
I'm finding fourteen. Yep, right wherever fourteen.
Speaker 5 (29:29):
Is, I'm finding him because fourteen over the past two
weeks right calling sudden, I mean heading into this game,
I gotta count this game. But heading into this game,
twenty six targets, twenty six targets, so and he's he's
got to you know, paid dividends when you go to
him and in those particular situations. So if I'm in
(29:51):
a tight situation, I want everyone in the stadium.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I don't care if the defense knows.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
I am finding fourteen and I'm giving fourteen a freaking.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Ball, mister reliable, and I need him to make a
pay for me. Yeah, I need you usually playful.
Speaker 5 (30:05):
Yes, So in that case, maybe both saw something that
we didn't see, And I'll say maybe he saw he
liked the matchup. This quarterbacks do have the rightness to say, look,
I know who's in the progression, but I like this
matchup and you have to be able to live and
die with that, and I think that's what.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
He was saying.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah, and hopefully you know Pat Bryan's okay, we got
about thirty seconds before we hit.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
The brake here.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
What goes through your mind as a player when you
see one of.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Your guys down on the field like that and there's
concern from everyone in the stadium.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
You know what, I got a story story about this,
and I'll give it all to you in a nice
little bow after the break.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
That's a radio tas.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
That's a pro right there, Nick Ferguson joining myself Grant
Smith on Broncos.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Country to Night.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
You'll get that story in an NFL six pack when
we come back.
Alongside my guy Nick Ferguson.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Thanks to the Hall of Famer Steve Atwater joining us
in the last hour. If you missed any of that,
can find it on the free and redesigned iHeartRadio app.
You know, set KOA as a preset, just like you
do in your car. iHeartRadio app users are loving the
new industry first features, so set KOA as a preset
today on our iHeartRadio App. From one Hall of Famer
(00:23):
to a Hall of Fame writer, we go out to
the KOA Common Spirit Health hotline and bring on our guy,
Ryan Michael, Ryan, how are you tonight?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Man?
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Doing well? Grant? Nick, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Guys? We're doing great.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We're going great, even though we lost yesterday to the
Jacksonville Jaguars. You can't win them all, but we were
certainly trying to. I know you've been busy lately. Ryan,
you were interviewed for Bingles dot com Who Day a
few days ago. I read a little bit of the
article reminiscing about the past, the greats and Bengals history
that are often overlooked like Kenny Anderson, Corey Dillon and
(00:56):
Geno Atkins. Now you're here with us, and then you
picked a fight with Richard Sherman last night after the
Broncos game.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You're keeping busy, huh.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I guess so, you know it's been it's been. It's
been a good week. I had the pleasure of connecting
with Cincinnati Bengals senior writer Jeff Hopson a series titled
The Conversation, So him and I just talked a bit
to your point about Kenny Anderson as a senior finalist
for the Pro Football Hall of Same Isaac Curtis, Corey, Dylan,
(01:28):
Willie Anderson, Chad Johnson and others. You know, from a
historical perspective, there's a lot that fans may not be
aware of, especially as if preteains to era adjustment. So
he got into a lot of the same kind of
things talked about on BCT over the years. I'll give
you a Kenny Anderson nugget. At the time of his
retirement in nineteen eighty six, he was the highest rate
(01:49):
of passer in the history of the AFC at eighty
one point nine. That's a spot that Patrick Mahomes doesn't
even hold anymore. He's actually the second highest rate of
passer in the history three of the AFC, and so, yeah,
it was a fun time getting to talk with Jeff
and fans can check it out at Bengals dot com
for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah, that's a great read.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And as Bengals fans, that's all we can do really
right now as the reminiscent in the past, because this
year is not really going as we planned it.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
You know what, Ryan, I.
Speaker 5 (02:16):
Want to talk about Trevor Lawrence because Trever has definitely
changed his game and he was really criticized and ostracized,
and some would even call him somewhat of a buzz
But after four touchdowns throwing for three and rushing for one,
what do you say announces some of those critics? And
(02:37):
I know you've been a person that defended you know,
Trevor Lawrence. No, what do you say to those punnits?
And why do you fit him?
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Personally?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Well, Richard Sherman's one of them, and for what it's worth,
I have a lot of respect for Richard. I like
him quite a bit. We simply disagree on Trevor Lawrence.
And so in September he said, quote, Trevor Lawrence just
has not shown me any thing that warrants him being
paid fifty five million a year. At times he's the
reason that this Jags game is losing end quote, and
(03:08):
there's some truth to that. Certainly, Trevor Lawrence certainly controlder
some of the blame during some of his poor outings.
But you know, look, last night I pushed.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Back on that.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
I shared some of the advanced numbers, and I coined
the nickname and the hashtag all twenty two Trevor, because
Lawrence is somebody who has always looked much better on
the coaches film than he does in the box score.
So in twenty twenty two, he finished the season with
a higher DVOA that Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts, who
were both playing at an MVP level that year. Twenty
(03:40):
twenty three, he led the AFC and adjusted EPA pri play.
Last year, he was top ten in both adjusted EPA
per play and total TVR prior to that Houston game
we should have never even suited up for. And so
I've been as critical of Trevor Lawrence as anybody this year.
The first eleven games of the season have been unquestionably rough,
but over the last four he has reverted back to
(04:03):
his old elite cell fourteen total touchdowns to zero turnovers
over the last four games, and so I'm always going
to call it the way that I see it. And
some of the Jags fans who have been following my
work have said, you know, you can stay on that side.
They didn't like how critical I was with Lawrence during
that eleven game stretch. It actually, as an analyst, that
concept is foreign to me. Strong play is going to
(04:25):
be praised and poor play is going to be criticized.
Trevor Lawrence is playing elite football right now, so he
deserves a little bit of love for it.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, ten touchdowns in the last two games. I mean,
he's playing pretty damn well. I think that narrative is
going to change nationally around Trevor Lawrence if he stays
at this pace. Talking with Ryan Michael at the Ryan
Michael on X and let's go to the other side
of the ball or the other team, the other quarterback
Bo Nicks. He was building a ton of momentum after
a big win over the Packers and against the Jaguars
(04:54):
looked a little different. Where do you stand on bow
at this point in the season. Do you think he's
progressing still?
Speaker 4 (05:00):
You know, I would say his trajectory this year is
somewhat similar to Trevor Lawrence is ironically where the first
two thirds of the season maybe a step back statistically
from what we saw last year. And he's cooking now.
He's heating up a little bit cool down against Jacksonville
a good defense yesterday. But you can look at some
(05:21):
of the numbers. The volume numbers are great third, and
pass completion sixth, in passing yards eighth and touchdown passes.
You love to see that. But you look at some
of the efficiency marks, he's twenty first in completion percentage,
twenty seventh, in yards per attempt sixteenth, and adjusted NIT
yards per attempt sixteenth, and past success percentage fifteenth in
total pr So you're seeing top ten in terms of
(05:43):
the volume, and you're seeing a round league average, sometimes
a little bit below the league average as far as
the efficiency. Sack percentage is where he's going. And right
now he leaves the NFL being sacked in only two
point nine to nine percent of his dropbacks. You know,
I would say given the context of playing such that's
always my measure. I always say totality of on field
(06:03):
performance in relation to context of playing situation. The Broncos
are not the twenty twenty Kansas City Chiefs. They're not
the nineteen ninety nine Saint Louis Rams. We've done the
best that we can do with the salary cap situation
being what it is, and I would say that bo
Nix is trending upward here in the final stretch of
the regular season. And you know, it was a rough
(06:25):
outing yesterday, but not a horrific one, and hopefully they
can channel that loss. It's a little bit of motivation
to clean it up and finish the regular season strong
because it's all about what you do in January.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
Well, it definitely is all about what you do in January.
But there's still some things that the Broncos have to
get over from Sunday thirty four points that this team surrender.
That's the most points all season long, and the offense
was only able to muster twenty points. And I know
this is going to be the conversation, so I'm going
to ask you, should we be concerned about the Broncos off.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
That's a good point. There's no question that the Broncos
are a defense d football team. We rank thirteen from
the NFL, points per game scored fifth in the NFL,
and points per games surrendered. And so when you look
at a game like yesterday, I'll say this in defense
of the defense, is that there's been a number of
games over the last two years where the offense has
(07:24):
been mediocre at best. But if you're holding your opponient
for less than fourteen points, it doesn't take much to
win football games. In a perfect world, we'd like to
think that when the defense gives up a lot of
points that the offense is compensating there and vice versa.
And so yesterday the defense didn't have a typical in
for Broncos advance Joseph counting, and so am I concerned? No,
(07:47):
I wouldn't say I'm concerned because we know that we
have a defensive driven football team. But the offense again,
give Sean Paydon his due eleventh in the NFL and
yards per play ninth and first downs Anthony XP eleventh
in yards per terry, which is a big bump up
from what we were seeing over the previous two years,
seventh in Russian touchdown. So the elite offense, no, But
(08:10):
when it's firing on all cylinders, the Denver Broncos are
as good as anybody in the NFL. And so I'm
content with where the team is right now. You'd like
to se even trend upward and finish the season strong.
But I don't think that we need to overreact to
yesterday loss.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Oh but you know that's what we'd love to do.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
In Broncos Country, Ryan has overreact to everything's Everything's horrible
now after we won eleven in a row and then
lost one to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who look like a
formidable playoff team themselves, I want to go big picture
with you. Only two games left in the regular season.
Who's getting your vote for MVP this year? I know
(08:47):
you've said previously, my guy Joe Burr is the best
quarterback in the NFL. Obviously he's not going to be
the MVP this year. But who do you like as
the MVP in the NFL?
Speaker 4 (08:59):
I can explain that contradiction. Joe Burrow is the best
player in the National Football League. But the easy and
obvious choice to me for twenty twenty five league MVP
is Matthew Safford. I've been saying that really since the
beginning of the season. He's number one and by a
lot of measures, volume efficiency and advanced number one in
(09:19):
passing yards four one and seventy nine touchdown passes forty
touchdown pass percentage seven point seven percent, interception percentage one percent,
past success percentage fifty four point eight percent, pass a
rating one hundred and twelve point one adjusted net yards
per intept eight point six one, and Thursday Night Football,
(09:40):
joined Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, is the only three
players in NFL history to produce three seasons of forty
or more touchdown passes. That's pretty elite company. Joe Burrow
is a different situation. Again to my point of the
measure being totality of performance in relation to context of
playing situation. If we dial it down to the Bengals
five game winning streak last year, you're looking at a
(10:03):
quarterback who's nine and two and his last eleven starts
on a team that went one to eight without him.
And so, for all of the talented quarterback play there
is in this league, I don't know if there's anybody
in the world who can do what Joe Burrow's done
in Cincinnati yesterday. The highest pass rating on the road
in Bengals franchise history for a quarterback with thirty or
(10:25):
more attempts put up a one forty six point five,
so we're seeing it even now. Those are the two
best quarterbacks in the National Football League. You look at
total body of work for league MVP award the choice
of Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
So no love for Drake may from you this year,
you know, but.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
He's had one hell of a season.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
He really had.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Well, you're one hell of a guest, Don Broncos Country tonight, Ryan,
we appreciate your time as always. Happy holidays, Man, appreciate
you guys having merry Christmas. Thanks man, Ryan Michael at
the Ryan Michael on x Riada's great article at Bengals
dot com and he always has great stats on his
X or Twitter or whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Nick.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Anything that stood out from Ryan's comments there about maybe
the Broncos, the Jags or the NFL is a bigger picture, Well.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Let's start with the Jags.
Speaker 5 (11:12):
And the reason I say want to start there because
there you can make some comparisons to what Trevor Lawrence
was going through to what people were saying about bow
Knicks earlier in the season.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
And look at bow.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
Knicks performance yesterday and look at Trevor Lawrence and said,
well this is where Bow can actually get to. And
the reason I'm saying that, Grant, because you'll remember last
week when we were on I was talking about the
whole backyard football thing, right, And I know Jojo tried
to tell me on Sunday and during the Broncos pregame,
(11:46):
he tried to relate what I was saying about Bow.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
To Tim Tebow, and I was like, that's a.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Difference between backyard football and playground football, right, and Tim
Tebow was in playground right.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Background is entirely different.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
And watching both quarterbacks compete yesterday, for me being a defender,
that would make it hard for me to be able
to do what I do because it's one thing for
a quarterback Grant to stand in the pocket if he's
in the pistol or is he in the shotgun? Right,
he's six to seven yards in the pocket.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
He's not moving anywhere.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
That's those old traditional statue Q quarterbacks. But when you
get a guy like a Trevor Lawrence or a Bow
Knicks that can move and extend the pocket, it makes
things that much more difficult.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Because the Broncos ended.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Up with five sacks yesterday, they had like fourteen qb hits,
yeah right, and you're thinking any other quarterback that's gonna
put them down, that's gonna discourage him.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
But Trevor Lawrence kept playing through that.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
And this is where I see Bow has the potential
to play through that. And sometimes you have to be
able to master your craft and play outside of the
play call that comes in from the sidelin. We saw
that in the game against the Green Bay Packers. That
could have happened yesterday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
There were some ara throws, there were some balls.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
That were too high, too low, or maybe some guys
dropped the ball, and that affected the level production of
what Bow's overall numbers would have been. But I think
you can look to Trevor Lawren's career and see where
people have been negative about him, but also to see
how he's turned around and Bow can.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Do the same thing.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Well, we certainly hope. So here in Broncos Country when
we come back, we're going to get Nick's thoughts on
the defense. Have they been the same since the bye week? Well,
also hear from another Nick, Nick Bonito, his thoughts on
that very topic. You're listening to Broncos Country tonight, on KOA.
It is that time of year to thank a veteran,
active military member or first responder with twenty five hundred
(13:51):
dollars through February First. Submit your nomination name and they're
deserving reason for twenty five hundred dollars at Koacolorado dot
com contests. It's a Heroes thank You presented by Common Spirit,
Health and fix It twenty four to seven. Love that
always love the Heroes thank You. It's usually around Christmas,
but they're extending it this year.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I think it's a good idea to do it a
little later in the year.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
You know, after you spend all that money during the
holiday season, you're like, okay, now the twenty five hundred
bucks is really going to come in handy.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
Yeah, it is true because it's usually we're around the
holiday time that most people kind of get themselves a
little in debt, get a little heavy around the pocket,
if you will, because you're trying to deliver not just
for yourself, grant for other people, right, and it could
be a little costly. So being able to do it
(14:43):
right after Christmas or you know, right into the new year,
I think that bowls well and helps out a lot
of people. The only thing that with me, man, I
wish that it was more that can be done because
I don't know about you. But and and I can
say this as a professional, a former professional athlete.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
When people look at.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
Us, obviously they look at what we did for a living,
and people talk about, oh, how much money you made,
and I'm like, oh, I don't last whatever, right, it's good,
why last?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
But it doesn't last forever.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
But there are other individuals, man, that I feel the
need that validation similar to what we give professional athletes.
And yes, I'm talking about our first responders. I'm talking
about our teachers, our educators, our administrators, and also those
individuals who serve in our military, the men and women
who really put it on the line for us. I
(15:42):
wish that some somehow, some way I hit the lotto.
I'm talking about not that million dollar lot, Oh no, No,
I'm talking about like I think it's one in Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
That's like one point six billion dollars. Right.
Speaker 5 (15:59):
If I to hit a lick like that, I'm gonna
I personally would started giving some of that out to
individuals or society.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So yeah, the real heroes of our Yes, yes, yes,
anything away from you and your your former athletes or
the athletes playing now, but the real heroes of our
society that need to need a helping hand.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
And that's what we're here to do with the heroes.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Thank you, absolutely absolutely, and I'm proud to be a
part of the whole process.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Man. So hopefully we get in.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
These stories, we can give some of this money out
and put a smile on a couple of faces. Man.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, deliver some some New Year's cheer, not holiday cheers.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Well, speaking of.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
Holiday cheer, uh, Broncos fans will be looking to have
some holiday cheer. And I'm not talking about putting that
extra stuff in your egg nog either.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
That's what I'll be doing.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Tell what you say to do.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
But yeah, on Christmas, the Broncos fans will be looking
to cleanse.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Can I say that? Cleanse that from the loss on Sunday? Yeah? Right, yeah,
I like that. I like that. Hopefully we can.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Because someone who was not very happy with their performance yesterday,
Nick Bonito. Did you hear his postgame comments about his performance? No?
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I did hear them. Oh, here they are for you.
I played ass today.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
It's mad for show.
Speaker 6 (17:18):
I don't think I played in my standard, I feel
like I could have been a lot better. I didn't
come ready to play today, and it kind of reflected on.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
The rest of the defense.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Didn't come ready to play today. You were down there
on the sidelines holding the parabolic mic. Yeah, I was
worried you were going to hit somebody during the game,
you know, just out of reflex, you know, the jaguar
coming up the sidelines. You just give a little shoulder check,
you know, help out your former team. But what did
you see from the defensive side of the ball for
the Broncos and specifically Nick Benito, Well.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
There wasn't a level of pressures we've seen all season long,
and we got to start getting used to that, because
I know everyone's gotten used to the defense being the
most dominated union on the field, and they are the
most dominated, dominating unit for the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
So we all look at it this way.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
If the Broncos are not shutting the door on any
opposing offense and you're not getting great field position by
from Marvin Mems, it's going to make the games that
much more difficult for the Broncos to pull out.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Because even though we're late.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
In the season, the offense is still trying to figure
things out. They're still trying to figure out the run game,
and I think we'll probably getting too that a little later.
But as far as Nick Benito and John the Cooper,
those guys gave a lot of effort, and you got
to think, when you have been as successful as they
have been thus far the season, you're going to get
a double team. There's someone's going to be chipping you,
(18:44):
whether it's a tight end or running back and hitting
you in your rears before they run out into the
pass formation. But here's the other thing that takes away
any pass rush the Broncos anyone else is is how
quickly that quarterback gets the ball out of their hands.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
And Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Did a great job of getting the ball out of
his hands similar to what Marcus Mariota did a.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Couple of weeks ago, Mario Ta, I'm sorry, Mario Ta.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Similar to what Jordan Love did in the first half
of that matchup with the Denver Broncos getting the ball
out of their hands. So when that happens, that means
you're gonna get either quick routes kind of right in
front of the linebackers.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Or out to the flats.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
So if you a guy rushing the interior of the pocket,
I mean, you got to get your hand up because
you're not gonna be able to get to the depth
of the quarterback anymore. They're not going to allow you
to do that. They know because they've watched film, They've
watched you.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
And here's the thing that's interesting to hear Nick Benito be.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
As candid and honest as he was to say that,
hey man, I.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Was asked today, right, because.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
So far this season and listening to players post game
interviews have been hilarious in the NFL. Because cam Ward
earlier in the season, that's the way that he smoke
about himself, right, And he came to the podium and
he said the same thing Nick Bindo said about himself.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
So players know. But once again, it's what you what
you do about it.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
And this is gonna be something that the Broncos are
gonna face from here on. Oups teams getting the ball
out of the hands with time and rhythm.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Yeah, And the one person who I thought played amazing
yesterday was John Franklin Myers. Like he's got seven and
a half sacks now in limited time as a D tackle, like,
are they gonna pay this guy or what you think
he's gone after this year?
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Listen to answer your question, yes, if you if they
don't find a way to sign him to an extension, yes,
why not?
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I mean, if you balling out like this, you have.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
Seven sacks, get paid, you gonna get someone's gonna get paid.
Someone's gonna give you the money. He's gonna get paid, right,
either you gonna pay me or someone else is gonna
pay me. That that's just the way this thing works.
But here is looking at the business of football, Grant,
you can't keep everyone because here is a fundamental problem
that the Broncos are going to run into that every
(21:06):
single team runs into. San Francisco is dealing with it
right now. With your quarterback on a rookie deal. You
can extend everyone, you can get them all the money.
But he's going to come a point where bow Knicks
is going to have to be extended. And I don't
think the Bronco is going to wait until the fifth
year to do it.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yeah, and he's probably gonna be making what forty five
to fifty million dollars a year.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
I mean, if he keeps playing like this and.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
When that happens. Guess what, got a goal? Gotta go,
someone's got to go.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Going back to the defensive side of the ball, I
thought this was a really interesting comment from Nick Benito
talking about how he doesn't think the Broncos defense has
been playing up to their ability since the bye week.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
Obviously concerning defensively, for like these last couple of weeks,
we haven't been playing to our standard. So I can
only speak on this white concerning for you, I just
feel like we're not playing our type of ball, that's all.
Speaker 7 (21:57):
Did you notice a moment when that happened or is
just the way the games have felt and flowed your way?
Speaker 6 (22:03):
No, just we haven't been playing our top of ball
since the Buie week. I feel like and we just
got to be better.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Call me crazy if I am.
Speaker 7 (22:10):
I mean it's it's not realistic to believe that the
Broncos would never lose out of our game for the
rest of our lives.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
Right, No, I mean I feel like we could have
won the rest We're on the all our games the
rest of the way out, but we just got to
be better.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
After this interesting question there, but I thought those were
some great candid comments from Nick Benito, like, obviously it
was a downtrodden locker room yesterday after their first loss,
and three months we have to remember that here in
Broncos Country, we haven't lost in three months.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
But you're gonna lose a game eventually.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
You don't ever want to lose a game like you
and I and Steve were talking about in the first hour.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
But I'll pose that question to you.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Do you think there was a point in time can
you pinpoint a game or a moment where it looked
like the Broncos defense has maybe lost a step or
is it just something that teams doing game planning against
them differently? You know, you mentioned the quarterbacks getting the
ball out of their hands a little bit faster. What
else are you seeing that teams are doing to exploit
this Broncos defense.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
Well, they're attacking the defense as far as the coverage
that they're running. And it's not I'll say this, it's
not the scheme, right, It is not the scheme.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
It's the execution.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Within the scheme that becomes the problem. And that's what
you worry about as a coach. All the loving guys
being on the same page doing the same thing.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
And Nick Benito is right.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
I mean, when we think about where this team came
from to even start that winning streak as a whole,
and even a home winning streak, you're gonna have.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Some bumps and bruises.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
We've seen teams move the ball down the field on
this team, but they have been able to slam the
door on teams. And it's the effectiveness. How well can
you communicate? Because that's the first thing that I'm looking
at being a safety, right, being a guy that sees
everything like you got that thirty thousand foot view.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Are the guys.
Speaker 5 (24:03):
Communicating especially you know when you think about man in zone,
but more importantly when it comes to zone coverage, because
when it comes to zone, everyone is responsible for a
certain area on the field. Can you hit your spot,
collect information and then play with vision on a quarterback
and play from there you'll see man eighty twenty road.
(24:24):
Not everyone can do it, and it's not because the
players are ill equipped to get it done. It is
the fact that you lose focus, right when when you
get tired everything that you learn or even we can
look in front of us right now and you think
you're seeing two people. You know why, because you're tired,
right and you're fatigued. And there's a saying that this
(24:47):
Lombardi has and I've always remembered it. Fatigue makes cowards
of us all And I don't care who you are,
the great Steve Atward, it happens to all of us
at some point in your career, either you physically tire
or you're meant to be tire, either one or in
the worst case scenario growth. Right now, I'm looking at
(25:08):
you like I told you before, two DB's and the
end zone with their hands up, the going like what
happened because someone was not focused? So there is there
has been a little drop off. And when you look
at the game on Sunday, what was the biggest drop
off that we had not seen in a while. The
last time we saw this what I'm about to describe,
(25:29):
it was against the Miami Dolphins when they put up
seventy on the Denver.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Broncos and it was tackling.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
Yeah, you can survive one person Grant making a mistake,
you can't survive. I don't care who you are, top defense,
middle of the road defense, or bottom defense. When when
one or more people making a mistake, you can't survive it.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Yeah, what happened.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
We heard that call earlier from day when we had
Steve here in studio, Like he just kept going down
the line of names of miss tackles on the same play,
and it felt like that was happening all day. And
I don't understand, you know, explain it to me as
someone who didn't play the game at a high level
like you did. I mean, what is that contagious? Like
is that something that you know you see happen early online?
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Well, you said it was. Is it contagious like it's
a disease or something, right, But.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Like it felt like everyone was just like making one
mistake after another. Usually this year with the Broncos defense,
you see him make like one mistake or one guy
messes up on a play and then you know, Huff
comes up from the secondary and lays the wood on someone.
But it just seemed like everyone was missing tackles yesterday.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
I just I just don't get it.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
You say that the first thing I thought about calling
tell a Dot like, hey, what what are your Simpson man?
I'm suffering for this mixed mistackle disease? Right, No, it's
not one of those things that it's contagious in that way.
It becomes an issue when guys are not understanding when
(27:04):
there's an outside play, a toss, sweep or a screenplay,
how to properly fit up. And I know this defensive
coaching staff, and I know that they're coaching it up properly.
But once again, when you get in the game, can
you actually execute it? And all it takes is once
like I told you, one person makes a mistake. Now
someone has to overcome that person mistake. And now they
(27:27):
make a mistake, and now it's like.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
A downward spiral.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
It's like Domino's right, they start to fall, and then
now that's imprinted on you mentionally.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
I know Steve was trying to say, well, no, you.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Know, well that's a Hall of Fame mindset.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Well yeah, but I'm just saying it happens to us all.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
It may not happen to you know, most of us
as frequently, but it does happen. So things play in
your mind, and can you take that play, erase it
and move on to the next play. And sometimes when
certain things start to happen, and they're happening to you
very frequently, it's hard to get outside of your own way.
And now you need someone to pull you aside and
(28:06):
actually snatch you up by your collar. And I'm literally
in the studio, I'm reenacting you snatched that person up
by the car and say, man, get it right. I
had I Wilson to do in that game I was
telling you about with the six of you host penalties,
guess what he had to grab me and say, hey, man,
stop out of.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
It, maybe with a couple more expletives.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Well, I'm giving you the piece of version.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Speaking of mistakes, you know, on the other side of
the ball, we saw that interception from bow Knicks as
they were trying to mount that comeback in the fourth quarter.
Here's what he had to say afterwards on that throat
to Pat Bryant.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Yeah, it spot down, should have gone probably the field.
Just want to I kind of.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
In that situation, you got to, you know, force it,
and you should have forced it somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Not there.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Did it feel like it was just a moment where
bo Nix was seen to make a play, like, hey,
we got to make something happen here and it was
just a mistake.
Speaker 5 (29:05):
Well, yeah, I think, man, and mistakes happened, and I
agree with him. You know, maybe there were there was
a better opportunity going to the field. But he was
trying to give Pat Brian an opportunity to make it play.
But you can see that neither you know, bow Knicks
or Pat Brian were on the same page. Like for
me in that situation, I'm thinking, this is just me.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
I'm finding fourteen. Yep, right wherever fourteen.
Speaker 5 (29:29):
Is, I'm finding him because fourteen over the past two
weeks right calling sudden, I mean heading into this game,
I gotta count this game. But heading into this game,
twenty six targets, twenty six targets, so and he's he's
got to you know, paid dividends when you go to
him and in those particular situations. So if I'm in
(29:51):
a tight situation, I want everyone in the stadium.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I don't care if the defense knows.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
I am finding fourteen and I'm giving fourteen a freaking.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Ball, mister reliable, and I need him to make a
pay for me. Yeah, I need you usually playful.
Speaker 5 (30:05):
Yes, So in that case, maybe both saw something that
we didn't see, And I'll say maybe he saw he
liked the matchup. This quarterbacks do have the rightness to say, look,
I know who's in the progression, but I like this
matchup and you have to be able to live and
die with that, and I think that's what.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
He was saying.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah, and hopefully you know Pat Bryan's okay, we got
about thirty seconds before we hit.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
The brake here.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
What goes through your mind as a player when you
see one of.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Your guys down on the field like that and there's
concern from everyone in the stadium.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
You know what, I got a story story about this,
and I'll give it all to you in a nice
little bow after the break.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
That's a radio tas.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
That's a pro right there, Nick Ferguson joining myself Grant
Smith on Broncos.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Country to Night.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
You'll get that story in an NFL six pack when
we come back.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.