12-26-25 KOA Sports Hour 3

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dave is off today. Dave's not here, so are you
ready for that grant? But we'll of course check in
with him next week as we get ready for the
Broncos and Chargers. But would helped to react to last
night's game and sort of gets prepared for all that
we had. Out to the KWA Commas Spirit Health Hotline,
I'm bringing a friend of the program, Parker Gabriel with

(00:20):
the Denver Post. Parker, Good afternoon, Happy holidays, sir. How
are you.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm doing well.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Ryan, Happy holidays to you too. How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:28):
I'm doing great, man, I'm doing great. You know, kind
of late night, I think for everybody. But we're we're here,
and we're obviously still breaking down the season, which has
been a very good one. Was the locker room last night,
That's kind of what I wanted to start, is you know,
it felt like when I was in the locker room
this last week, or I guess a couple of days ago,
now that it was kind of a focused, like intention

(00:49):
about things. They were not happy with how they played
against Jacksonville. They were looking for a bounce back performance.
Did you get the sense that they had a relief
of how they played against the Chiefs, or you get
the sense that they were like, no, we're still very
much dialed into what's going on.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Yeah, I think both, but it definitely was not. I
know there was. I know, it's, you know, a close
game against a bad team that's injured beyond belief and
playing thirsteon quarterback and all that, and you know you
had to ward off, you had a score to take
the leader a minute forty five left and then ward
off a drive down at least to the fringe of

(01:25):
scoring territory. But there was none of that. Really, none
of that seemed to face the guys last night in
the locker room, and it was a happy team, like
they know, they know at this point in the season.
I mean, Sean Payton said it after the game, it
doesn't have to be aesthetically pleasing. Of course, you might
like it to be every once in a while, but
it doesn't have to be. They won their one win

(01:46):
away from a division championship and a one seat regardless
of what happens tomorrow. They could have the division wrapped
up tomorrow and then play for the one seed against
the Chargers next weekend. Either way, like this is a
group that understands that at this point everything they want
in front of him, and you know, it doesn't really
matter how close it was or how how difficult things

(02:07):
looked for a lot of last night, like they came
out with a win and this time that's what matters.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
One hundred percent. What's your take on the esthetically pleasing conversation?
I mean, I agree with with coach Peyton on that
and the especially Thursday night football can be all over
the map, but in general, there's been quite a few
games this season that haven't been quote unquote aesthetically pleasing.
Is that a cause for concern at all for the
Broncos as they had in the postseason?

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, a little bit. I mean, I think two things
can be true at the same time. One is just
you know Sean Payton very clearly. I think we've learned
this about him by now. It's a game plan league,
it's a matchup league, it's a week by week league.
But Sean Payton, more than I think your average to
a greater degree than your average NFL coach, has a
pretty set idea of how he wants to navigate each game.

(02:55):
So just because it didn't look pretty last night doesn't
mean that they can't play in a different way or
play in a more efficient way, even against a really
good Chargers defense next weekend or against you know whoever
they get in the first playoff game that they playing. Now,
all that being said, like that's all well and good,

(03:15):
but you want to see complete performances somewhere along the way,
and you know, I mean, we've seen some good ones.
Green Bay was a good one, a really good performance
against a really good team. But we've also seen, you know,
some play that leaves something to be desired, like you're
picking its when you're thirteen and three. But definitely, I
mean there's stuff that needs to be cleaned up, and

(03:36):
there's stuff that probably needs to be executed at a
higher level if you're going to make like a real
deep playoff run.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
And I don't even know if we're going to see
that against the Chargers. Like I feel like every time
I asked what do I know about this team, it's that, well,
they find a way to be clutched in the fourth
quarter even when things haven't gone their way for most
of the game, and that becomes their identity. Like we
are constant searching for what's the identity, what's the identity
well as I inity is they don't play perfect games

(04:04):
and they still win. And that's where you wonder if
that can still pay off in the postseason. And at
this point, I mean, do we really doubt that they
can't still find ways to win in the postseason if
they don't play perfect games.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Not at all. It's just obviously the margin Fererra. You know,
you can't you can't mount two fourteen play drives into
the red zone and kickfield goals against the Chargers or
against the playoff team and expect that that's not going
to come back. And by you, I mean it almost
did obviously last night. So there's things that you just
have to do better. And I don't even I haven't
even necessarily Ryan like got the sense over the course

(04:37):
of this year that at the team that you know,
the old plays down to the level of their competition,
charge like that doesn't. It doesn't always feel that way,
even though they've played close games with some bad teams,
but they have played well against good teams for the
most part. Obviously, Jacksonville ran away from them. That happened
a week after they put away a really talented Green

(04:58):
Bay team. So there, I think we've seen what we
need to see to believe that they can win in
the postseason. It's just their style of play this year
has sort of been, you know, you're gonna have to
ride the roller coaster for a while before before the
playoff comes.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
Undred percent. Parker Gabriel joining us here. What's your take
on the Jacksonville lost? Was that the hey, they finally
played a team that that was just bad matchup, was
that they had been feeling a little bit too good
about themselves for too long and they needed to wake
up call. What was your takeaway from that loss?

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's a little bit of everything.
Like I just think Jacksonville probably deserves a lot of credit.
They're playing really, really good and frankly, like you know,
the broadcast had won eleven in a row, which is
more than having won five in a row, obviously, but
I think in the in the weeks leading up to
that game, Jacksonville probably had been more impressive overall. Obviously,

(05:55):
the Green Bay win was a really good one for Denver,
but you know, Trentvor Lawrence just playing it a really
really high level. They've got balanced, they can run the football,
they've got good weapons, sort of like, you know, a
balanced set of weapons and then that defense, you know,
maybe doesn't get a ton of credit, but that's a
really athletic secondary and a front line that when you

(06:16):
watch them, player're like, oh, yeah, all of these guys
are high draft picks. You know, you got one hundred
million dollars contract up there, So they're that's a team
that can go, and they're balanced and they're deep and
all of that. So I don't know, I mean, they're
they're really good. They're still in the mix for the
one seed. Obviously, they earned a tiebreaker if the Broncos
lose and things get crazy Week eighteen. Obviously, you know,

(06:38):
Jacksonvill's put themselves in good positions. So good team. I'd
be very I mean, sign me up. I'd take another.
I'd take another matchup between those two teams in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, I would too. In fact, with the AFC in general,
maybe the Buffalo Bills are probably the one team I
think almost everybody should be afraid of. Is that more
or less how you feel? Or are there other teams
that really impress you?

Speaker 4 (07:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (07:01):
And isn't that funny? Like at the end of the day,
like it all comes back to Josh Allen in some way,
and it would it would too, you'd be saying the
same thing about Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow or Patrick
Mahomes as he was healthy. Like, it doesn't really matter
what those teams look like. And obviously Buffalo has been
playing great for a couple of months now, but like,
it doesn't matter what it looks like. You there's just

(07:23):
something daunting about playing those guys in the playoffs, the
guys that can leave their team, And we haven't seen
it so much in the playoffs, but that's the kind
of ball that justin Herbert's playing right now. I think
he's got to prove he can do that in the postseason.
But you could put him in that group of right now,
who's a quarterback you don't want to see across from you.
I mean, he fits that mold too. So it's Josh

(07:45):
Allen in a bunch of upstarts, right. I mean, Pittsburgh's
an upstart in the sense that like they revamped and
they've put together a good year. But Denver, Jacksonville, New England,
all of these teams weren't in the mix in any way,
shape or form last year and now they're the ones
that are going to be trying to make a run
at Josh Allen in Buffalo.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
Last couple here for you, Parker. I always appreciate the time,
my friend. So you got this game against the Chargers,
and I guess I want to go to the quarterback
for a moment here with with bo Nicks and what
do you feel like he needs to show in that
game or even in the postseason to change some narratives.
And maybe there's nothing he can do at this point,

(08:26):
but what do you feel like there is for the
next level, the next tier for bow Knicks to show
where people start to say, Okay, I get it.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, well, I mean obviously if he plays the way
he played against Green Bay in some of these games,
that that would go a long way towards sort of
changing you know, some of the things that gets said
about him. Frankly, at this point, you know there's always
going to be there's only a few guys in the
NFL where the conversation doesn't come up. I mean, it
comes up with Jalen Hurts and and I don't even

(08:55):
think necessarily unfairly so and the guy just has you know,
he's wanted to super Bowl. He's played in all kinds
of big games, He's won all kinds of big games,
and it just keeps happening. So the conversation is always
going to be there to some degree. I don't think
you can answer all of the all of the doubters
without just proving flatley for years that you're one of

(09:15):
a handful of the best on the planet. So that's
a long way off if it ever gets there. For
bow Knicks. If it doesn't, it doesn't mean he can't
have a terrific career. I just think for him, what
what has got him this far this season? What has
got the Broncos this far this season is enough, make
plays in winning time, be efficient for the most part,

(09:36):
take care of the football, find a way to move
the chains on third down, use your legs. And when
he does those things, it's not always pretty, but somehow,
some way, they've ended up on the right side of
the column. And that's that's at this point. I mean, like,
what more can you ask for? I don't think. I
don't think asking bo Nicks to be something he hasn't

(09:56):
been this season is the way this team gets through
the playoffs. He's going to have to play well, obviously,
but for him it's just about sticking to his strengths,
mitigating the weaknesses, and managing what comes in between. And
that's a lot of quarterbacks in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
And it's perfectly said last one. If there's one concern
for you, maybe even a couple, how would you rank
the say, depth at running back versus some of the
leaky yardage or maybe even some tough moments for the
defense in the red zone. Like I get asked often,
what are the things in the postseason that could bite

(10:33):
the Broncos the most? And those are the ones I
usually start with, Is there something else I'm missing?

Speaker 3 (10:38):
Yeah? I think that's right. You know, the lack of
takeaways has just been kind of curious this year, and
that's one of those things where if you don't take
the ball away in the playoffs, you're just you're going
to have a hard time so that they don't need
they don't need a ton I heard someone say this
about the playoffs in baseball. You don't have to hit
a ton of homers in the playoffs in baseball, but
you got to hit big homers. And that's that's kind

(11:00):
of the takeaways thing in the playoffs. In the NFL,
you don't have to create three a game, but you're
going to need one or two in a timely moment
somewhere along the way if you're going to be the
team that makes the run. So I think you're spot on.
There's just no way around the fact that the running
game efficiency has dried up quite a bit since JK.
Dobbins got hurt. They went from four point nine and

(11:21):
carried a three point eight to carry one hundred and
thirty five yards a game to ninety yards a game
like it just it's different. Doesn't mean they can't win,
but it's different. It probably have to be a little
bit more bon Nix. I'm interested to see if in
an all for all the Marvels game in Week eighteen
or in the postseason, if they dialed bo Nicks runner
up a little bit, and then yeah, I mean that,

(11:43):
you know, run game, leaky, yardage, takeaways. Those three things
are where this team struggles at this point. And if
you get two of the three going in the right direction,
you're looking pretty good.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
I completely agree very quickly on JK. Dobbins. What did
you make of Sean Payton about a month ago a
little less than a month ago, intimating that maybe the
timeline is a little more favorable for Dobbins.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
That was funny he did that, and a question I
asked him about Drew Sanders of all people, so clearly
he clearly wanted to mention it. I don't know. I mean,
you know, when it happened, we were here in Super Bowl.
Dobbins has told people he thinks he's going to be
back to the playoffs. I mean, we saw him in
the locker room. He was around this past week. I
don't know how often he's been around or not. That

(12:29):
was the first time I'd seen him since he got hurt.
So he's around. You know, he's working behind the scenes
trying to get back. I don't I just honestly don't
know what the odds are early in the playoffs. But
he's been pushing for that, and and you know, Sean
Payton's dangling it out there. So it'd be awfully interesting
even if he was back on the practice field, let's say,

(12:50):
going into a division round or something. Whether that, whether
he could actually play, would then be another conversation. But
I had something to worth worth watching over the next
couple of weeks.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Doubt Parker really appreciate the time, man, I know it's
along a couple of days for you. Happy holidays, my friend,
and really appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah, all right.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
Sounds good. Parker Gabriel does a wonderful job, wonderful rider
and uh yeah, I've had the opportunity to host a
show with him as well. So really good stuff. Makes
you give him a follow on Twitter, Parker J. Gabriel,
So that that would be an interesting development, right, whatever
you think about the run game now, and I think
we're starting to see RJ. Harvey really blossom here for

(13:32):
the team. I mean the amount of broken tackles he
had last night a couple of weeks now, he's rounding
into form as a guy that's going to be a
legitimate weapon for this team from now to into the future.
And I'm not saying that you can ride this entire
thing or put all of your hopes and dreams about
the running game on RJ. Harvey. I think we can

(13:52):
put a lot on him, and it seems to be
he is by far the best option they have there
in the backfield. But boy, to have a guy that
can get through the short yardage like JK. Dobbins, the
level of consistency that he brings, if you can somehow
get him into the postseason at some point, maybe not

(14:13):
all the way to the super Bowl, but if you can,
if he can be there for say the AFC Championship game,
or maybe maybe if you get to buy I don't know.
That was interesting though, Parker bringing that up specifically, that
the Broncos media didn't ask about JK. Dobbins. That was
Sean wanting to get that out there, and I don't
know why, but he wanted us to think about it.

(14:34):
And I can't stop thinking about it because it's another
dimension to this offense that they've been missing for quite
some time. And it was such a fluky moment too,
right it was during the Raiders game. It was hip
drop tackle. He might still be playing right now if
it weren't for that and the one two punch of
Dobbins and Harvey oh Man.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
That is.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
A lot of the questions about the Broncos offense that
would be surrounding this team right now. I'm sure there
would still be some questions about bo Nicks, maybe some
of the receiving depth and quote unquote inconsistencies with that.
But if you can lean on a run game like
they had or could have now now that you've seen RJ.

(15:19):
Harvey build confidence over the last month, if you can
build on a run game with Dobbinson Harvey in the postseason,
and the defense can kind of solve a couple of
their issues with the leaky yardage slash some of this
red zone stuff that's been creeping up of the last
couple of weeks, this team could go to Hotel with anybody,

(15:40):
quite literally anybody. The Bills are the one team, though
for me it could be for different For you guys
hit me up five six six nights, there are Ka
kamas bergal text line, is there anybody else in the
AFC that would concern you? The Chargers could be in
that conversation and an interesting little not here because and

(16:01):
I think the Broncos are gonna win next week, but
if they don't win that game, they could fall all
the way to the sixth seed, likely because again they
own the tiebreaker with the Texans, assuming the Texans get in,
so they could fall to the sixth seed and at
that point maybe heading to LA to play the Chargers
again in the wild card round. How weird does that?

(16:25):
So that reality exists? If they can't beat the Chargers
next week, they play the Chargers again, but in LA now,
and some people would say, well, that doesn't worry me
too much because the Broncos played them tough. They're in
LA earlier in the year. The Broncos at this point,
I think they are a better team than they were
earlier in the year. So maybe you like your chances

(16:46):
for the Broncos to go on the road and in
LA is not the most daunting home field as we
know so far, is not a daunting place for opposing
teams to play. In fact, there tends to be a
lot of Broncos fans at those games, so that would
be one way we'd sell it. But that exists as
a possibility if the Broncos can't win this game again.

(17:07):
On the other side of it, if you win, if
you win this game, and you have the one seed,
and you have the division, and you get a chance
to rest up, and maybe you get a couple of
guys back. Now, you're obviously not gonna be a Wattenberg back,
You're not gonna get Brandon Jones back, but maybe Dobbins.
Wouldn't that be a shot in the arm heading into

(17:28):
the playoffs. To find out that JK. Dobbins is actually
ready to go be phenomenal. We can dream when we
come back. Voice of the Broncos Dave Logan and quarterback
bon Nicks. We'll get to that next. There are a
couple of really interesting moments in that game before we
hear from bow Knicks, who joined Dave after the game.

(17:49):
You had the off sides penalty, and we found out
after the fact that, well, first of all, here's what
it sounded like.

Speaker 4 (17:57):
Miners moved. I don't know that Kansas City jumped off sides.
Miners feels like the Chiefs were in the neutral zone. Now,
this is going to depend on the snap. R. J.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
Harvey was the Wildcat quarterback five goal, They're open their
first penalty of the game, and they get Chris Jones
in the neutral zone, and you know what, that is
exactly the right call.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
That was the first penalty that was near the end
of the fourth quarter. And then the only other penalty
they got was a delay of game on offense on
their final drive. The only penalties the entire game for
the Kansas City Chiefs played a flawless game. Hey, you
have a thirstring quarterback. And then that makes it all
the sense of the world. Play a flawless game for

(18:45):
the Kansasity Chiefs, no mistakes. Some might argue that that
sounds impossible, but it happened quite literally. Here's Chris Jones
after the game.

Speaker 5 (18:55):
I know, I know, I know, yeah, I could have
said points. I felt like the guard moved, but yeah,
I critical situation.

Speaker 4 (19:07):
I gotta be better.

Speaker 5 (19:09):
I'm gonna beat myself up about that one.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
So close.

Speaker 5 (19:13):
I know it, man, I know it, I know it.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
We're right there.

Speaker 1 (19:17):
It's been that season for Chris Jones and the Chiefs.
Sean Payton said after the game that the intention was
to take the delay of game, that they I mean,
there's a hope there, and then Quinn Minors afterwards said
that there's a little bit of a baited thing, and
of course you have nothing to lose there. If for

(19:38):
some reason you get even a sense that a defensive
lineman like Chris Jones or anybody kind of gets into
the neutral zone, you just go because it's gonna be
five yards either way. So either delay a game or
maybe you have an opportunity to gamble a bit there
and you get the off sides. And obviously it was
a huge play le Broncos ended up punching in a touchdown.
Probably was the difference in the game, because the Chiefs

(20:00):
offense moved right down the field into field goal range.
They could have tied it up there sent the game
to overtime. You're grateful that it didn't go to overtime
for the Broncos, who, again, as Dave pointed out earlier
in the game or earlier in the show today, the
defense only saw forty two total snaps from the Chiefs offense.
That's very valuable in their rest to get ready for
this Chargers game coming up. But what a big moment.

(20:23):
There's a lot of big moments in that game, but
the Broncos answered the bell at every single one. They
found a way to make the right play and get
the dub Dave Logan with Voice the Broncos Dave Logan
with bow Knicks. After the game, we had.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
Down the locker room talk with the starting quarterback of
the Broncos Boon Knicks Boats. Dave Logan, Congratulations, you finished
the game twenty six to thirty eight for one eight two,
a touchdown and an interception. But that last drive, talk
a little bit about that. You guys are tied at thirteen,
and you put together an excellent drive to get that

(20:55):
touchdown in the last couple of minutes.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, we did.

Speaker 6 (20:58):
We completed some Keith downs and that went over the
middle of the LJ short of the biggest one.

Speaker 1 (21:06):
You know, that was a tough third down.

Speaker 6 (21:08):
And long, but we did a good job of hitting
a great protection, hit it over the middle, and then
we finished it with a good RJ touchdown.

Speaker 4 (21:17):
You look like, well, you didn't look like you ran
the ball effectively tonight. You you pull that thing down
and use your.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
Legs a lot.

Speaker 4 (21:25):
Was that just play by play sort of the feel
of the game or did you know going in you
might do that.

Speaker 6 (21:32):
Well, this team has historically, you know, to move the football.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
The year you got to pull it down and.

Speaker 6 (21:37):
Run some and I think it was just you know,
play by play. It was rhythm of the game, the
flow of it. And uh there was a you know,
the touchdown was a design run and that one got in,
but most of them were just scrambled drills.

Speaker 4 (21:51):
Last thing you've You're gonna have a weekend now to
kind of sit back and see what others do. But
now it's back to work in the season. Basically, at
least the regular season comes down to one game, one
home game for you guys to decide kind of what
path you'll take.

Speaker 6 (22:08):
Yeah, no doubt, it's one last one.

Speaker 1 (22:10):
We gotta take care of business.

Speaker 6 (22:12):
But you know it's going to be against a really
good football team, so we gotta handle business as best
we can.

Speaker 1 (22:18):
And you know it all comes down to this. Yep,
appreciate it both.

Speaker 4 (22:22):
Thank you you bet bo Nicks in the locker room.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
You can find all of the postgame interviews that one
with bow Nicks, along with the others Jonah Ellis and
I say, Malcolm Roach. They're all on demand at Kwacolorado
dot com five six six nights zeros or kwekommaspird health
text line. Not going to have a lot of offensive
pedalties if they don't have the ball. The Chiefs really
now never had the ball. Well maybe a little bit

(22:49):
of something to that, but all we're about defensive penalties.
There's plenty of other opportunities, and I could point to
several moments in the game where a call could have
gone either way the Broncos and maybe we I mean,
I want to say it in grounds about the officials,
especially after the game, I just thought it was curious
under the circumstances. And this is something that tends to
follow the Chiefs is they do get the benefit of calls,

(23:11):
and here you have this game at Kansas City, Bill
Vinovich with his history with Sean Payton, and suddenly the
Chiefs played a flyless game. I don't know. I'm not
sure about that. Ryan as a life as a long
time Broncos fan's fun and exciting just to have the
Broncos playing for something this time of year, after not
making the playoffs since twenty fifteen, after making the wild

(23:32):
Card last year, the Broncos have far exceeded expectations this year.
For all the criticism about the Broncos nationally, I think
it's really cool that they're having such a good season
and playing for something this Christmas. Robin brush Well said
Rob a couple more texts here. I wouldn't sleep by
the forty nine ers coming out of the NFC. I
wouldn't either, Like I said, the three NFC West teams
would be the most concerning teams. We were talking earlier,

(23:55):
obviously doing our preview week seventeen. We're both very high
on CAPA. I think they're completely legit. But for me,
there's we talked about Coach of the Year candidates Kyle
Shanahan with what he's been able to manage with the
amount of injuries that they've dealt with, and I'm not
the first to say that is truly remarkable, and in

(24:16):
that division to get to eleven wins in that division
with the injuries they're dealing with is amazing. Nothing shorter
from and they are in the mix for the one seed. Now,
so you miss your quarterback for half the season and
you get to eleven wins, Come on, now, that's coaching excellence.

(24:37):
Can't convince me otherwise, no text, I will say Forsyth,
if I have his name right, was just was very
good at center? Was that just one game thing? Or
do you think we'll see a measurable drop off? You know,
I've liked Alex Forsyth, and I do think they could
be better in the run with Alex Forsyth. Some of

(24:58):
the past pro stuff is what we're gonna be continuing
to monitor. But that's some really nice moments in the run.
With Jalil mcglofson last night, his big run, I want
to say it was a fifteen yard run was a
lot because of the seal block that Alex Forsyth had there.
So hopefully you see an improvement there. I don't know
if it's much. I mean, again, you go from a

(25:21):
center who they just gave a massive contract to versus
your backup center, that should be a bit of a
drop off. So Luke Wattenberg is the guy they believe
in is going to be the center for this team
for the next several years. You should believe there's a
drop off, but I don't know if it's as a
significant one as maybe they like to believe or otherwise.

(25:43):
I think the one thing with Luke Wandberg is just
the experience, the time on task he's been with this
starting group. They've had a very good year, multiple Pro
Bowlers and eventually All Pros along that offensive line. It's
been a good offensive line. You don't really want to
with the chemistry of it. So I like lou Wattenburg
Luke Wattenburg because of the fit he has with the

(26:05):
offensive line. But I've always liked Alex Forsyth as an
option there for the Broncos if things didn't work out,
but they are he's their guy. They don't have to
go into a free agency and looking for a center
or the draft. I think that was ultimately an excellent
call Max Crosby. I don't know if you saw this, Grant,
I'll bring you in on this, but Max Crosby was

(26:26):
told that he has a knee injury. I love how
this works at this time of here. Hey, you got
a knee injury and we want you to sit for
the remaining two games. He reportedly left the team facility
due to a disagreement about it. Now, he had been asked,
I don't know if you saw the sound earlier this week,
but he was asked about, Hey, you know, you guys

(26:46):
are kind of out of it. You know you worry
about the draft pick, right, And then he was like,
I don't worry about any of that. I worry about
being the best defensive end in the world. That's right,
That's right. It's a weird deal, right because a player
like that, who's as talented as he is, and even
though he's been on bad teams for a while, he
plays as though he's playing for the super Bowl every year.
You appreciate Max Crosby's work ethic, but there's been a

(27:12):
lot of wonder if the Raiders might move on only
in part because you're kind of wasting the prime of
his career at this point and you're not a couple
players away from being a contender. Maybe they get the
right quarterback potentially, but yeah, Max Crosby. Do you think
we've seen the last of Max Crosby as a Raider?

Speaker 7 (27:33):
You know, through all the turmoil that he's gone through
and has time there, and none of it really is
own doing. I think maybe yes, he's stuck through everything
with them, all the different coaching changes, them not hiring
the coaches that he wanted them to hire, and for
them for a competitor like him to be told, hey,
you're shutting it down the rest of the year so

(27:53):
we can have a better draft pick and a better
chance at losing these last two games.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
He may walk, he may be done.

Speaker 7 (28:00):
Like I wouldn't blame him at all, and they maybe
he wants to be a Bronco.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
I've always been a big fan of him as a player.
I mean, my goodness, hey.

Speaker 7 (28:08):
Star of the MAC best football conference in college football.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
So the Giants are actually favored in this game by
one and a half. We went through a pick him earlier.
Raiders Giants. The basically the loser of this is going
to have the number one overall pick.

Speaker 7 (28:21):
Could he like in that game? I like the Giants
to win, to win, Yeah, I do too. Raiders get
the number one pick, that's.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
Kind of wild. I guess that would mean f dandle
Mondz is probably going to be a Raider, the most
Unraider Raider ever.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
I know.

Speaker 7 (28:37):
He's way too nice of a guy, way too nice,
well spoken, cares about his family.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Just seems like the most Yeah, just most genuine as
shucks nerdy, nerdy. He can play football, but he can play.
Although there are some I don't know what this thing
we'll get into the pre draft process, there are some
out there that wonder about his quote unquote upside if
you will, and I think somebody gets over. Bonix is

(29:03):
a good example of that.

Speaker 3 (29:04):
Right.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
People said the same thing about bo saying, I don't
know if he's topped out or if he is just
like Diet Jared Goff, that's what they keep calling Fernando Mendoza. Hey,
Jared Goff is turning the heck of a career.

Speaker 7 (29:16):
Yeah, other than the other day, Yeah, I mean, he's
you know, led a team to a Super Bowl yep,
one that went to the NFC Championship with a franchise
that hadn't been there. I mean, I would take Jared
Goff as my starting quarterback for a lot of franchises,
not the Broncos. Now that we have bo Nicks. My
two cents on the whole draft process. Tools are way overrated.

(29:37):
The mental capacity for an NFL quarterback is the most
valuable tool in my mind, and that's why you're so
happy you have a guy like bow Knicks who has
the athletic ability plus the mental capacity to learn everything
and not make the same mistakes twice.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
Well said my friend. All right, that doesn't for me
here on a Friday. Thank you guys as always for
the wonderful comments, the interactions on the text line, Twitter, etc.
Appreciate all of you. Happy holidays to everybody. Enjoy your weekend.
We'll be back on Monday at three o'clock. Grant, I
appreciate you, wonderful job as always. BacT Next