The Ringer’s Lindsay Jones previews Broncos’ Monday-night matchup vs. Seahawks

On this episode of "The Snap," Sydney Jones is joined by The Ringer senior editor Lindsay Jones to discuss her expectations for Russell Wilson’s return to Seattle, what she will be looking for from the defense and what this week’s matchup to watch is. Plus, Lindsay Jones details how much important a win would be for the Broncos. Want more of "The Snap"? Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you find your podcasts. Make sure to leave a rating and review.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, this is Bradley Chub. Are you listening to this now? Hey,
Scot the Sudden, Hey listen, Tim Patrick. Are you listening
to The Snap with Sidney Dones on Broncos Podcast Network. Yere,
hello everyone, Welcome back to the Broncos Podcast Network in
YouTube for this week's edition of The Snap. I'm your host,
Sidney Jones, and the weight is finally over. A week

(00:20):
one of the season is finally here. Broncos hit the
road tomorrow too, head to Seattle to take on the
Seahawks on Monday Night football. So joining me here on
the Snap to get us up to speed on the
matchup is The Bringers senior editor and Pro Football Writers
President Lindsay Jones. Lindsay, thank you so much for joining
me today. Sure, thanks so much for having me of course.

(00:43):
How are you doing getting ready for the season. Yeah,
I'm so excited that it's like finally a week one.
You know, the season was really long and we're here.
I'm excited real games in our speculation. I know what
a way to kick off this season last night with
the Bill's Rams game, I mean, pretty dominant performance by
Shell and in the Bills there. Yeah, absolutely, I mean
I think broadcast fans maybe got a little glimpse of

(01:05):
the juggernaut that the Bills might be when when you
guys went out to Buffalo a few weeks ago, and
that was just the preseason, but um, yeah, they looked
pretty good, pretty good, fun lady did it was a
fun game to watch. Well, Lindsay, last time we had
you on the podcast, you were still with the Athletics.
So tell me a little bit about your new role
with The Ringer. Sure. Yeah, So now I've moved over
from writing to editing. Um, I'll still be writing from

(01:27):
time to time, and I'm gonna still be doing podcasts.
I'll be on at least once a week on The
ring your podcast network, but I've moved into more of
an editor role. So instead of writing several times a week,
I'll be helping leader NFL coverage and shape all the
stories that we're going to be working on and helping
mentor and develop younger writers. So um. And it also

(01:48):
means I get to stay home a little bit more.
And you know, you guys know, I've got a I've
got a six year old, So the more time I
can spend at home with my family, the better. So um, Yeah,
it's been really fun though so far, it's been about
two months. And excited to to cover the NFL from
a different angle. Now, yeah, we're all excited about Lena's
game predictions. Excited. Well, did you see her Super Bowl?
Did you see her Super Bowl pick? Oh? I did not,

(02:09):
did you guys? Well yes, so we posted you can
find it. It's on my Twitter by Lindsay H. Jones.
But she she wasn't completely set, but she picked either
the Broncos or the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl.
So she's a a f C West. Well, I hope
she's right for the Broncos. We'll say she's excited though. Well,
we'll definitely be watching Monday night football together. Oh great, Well, Lindsay,

(02:31):
let's dive into that Broncos Seahawks matchup. You know, obviously
the main storyline this week is Russell Wilson returning back
to Seattle. What do you think this Monday night game
is really going to mean to him? You know, how
emotional do you think it will be for him as
he steps onto women field? Yeah, I mean, as much
as he wants to kind of downplay, you know, and
I know he went last spring, he said it's going

(02:52):
to be just another game. And I think he knows
it's not going to be just another game. Um. And look,
I remember, you know, I was here covering the Broncos
when Peyton Manning made his return to Indy and that
wasn't even in his first season. It was his second
year with the Broncos that he went back to Indy,
and like, he was kind of a mess. I mean,
it was a really really hard day to go back.

(03:13):
And you know, it's kind of a similar situation where
you know, Peyton didn't get to say goodbye right to
the Colts fan base, and Russell Wilson never really got
to say goodbye. And this is a little bit more acrimonious,
I think than when Peyton left Indie. You know, the
Colts cut him. He didn't really have a say in it. Clearly,
Russell Wilson had to say in his decision, in this

(03:33):
decision to leave Seattle, he had to wait his no
trade class and there was a lot of um, just
a lot of drama, right. I mean, it was kind
of a messy divorce, as I think a lot of
divorces probably are. And it's it's going to be really
emotional to him. I mean, Seattle meant a lot to him.
He meant a lot to Seattle. I think it's going
to be really complicated for the fans there. Um. I
hope he gets a nice reception, but I think he

(03:56):
should probably be prepared that there might be people who are,
you know, maybe maybe feeling a little hurt that he
wanted out and did ultimately end up leaving. But it's
not going to be a normal game, no matter how
much he wants to maybe prepare himself that it's going
to be normal. It's going to be extremely emotional. And
I would imagine that something that he and Peyton have
talked about. I mean, he and Peyton Manning have gotten
pretty close to spent a lot of time together, and um,

(04:17):
you know, we know how detail oriented Russell Wilson is,
so I imagine this is something that he has tried
to prepare himself for and you know, he has a
great resource and in this type of exact situation and
Peyton Manning here locally, right, Yeah, it's definitely in an
emotional game. I think for both sides. Lindsay, what are
kind of your expectations maybe for us all you know
on the field as this will be his first time,

(04:39):
the first time we really see our starters in a
live action game, and the first time they're in this
new offensive system. Yeah, and none of us know exactly
what this offense is going to be like, right because
we didn't get to see the starters play at all
in the preseason, and you know, we got glimpses of
it in training camp, and you know, all of us
who are out there from the media perspective watching, you're
trying to figure out, okay, like how much are they
under center and what does this run just running know

(05:00):
the outside zone exactly going to look like. But we
still don't really know exactly like we know that yet
that they're going to do this, you know, outside zone
run scheme. We know that they're going to try to
incorporate elements of the things that Russell likes to do
and the things that he does best. I imagine there's
gonna be a lot of downfield passing, um, but I
think there's gonna be some new elements too, and maybe,
you know, I think one of the reasons that he

(05:21):
ultimately ended up wanting out of Seattle's because there were
a lot of guardrails on that offense and they're they
were pretty conservative from time to time, and he wanted
to have more freedom in control. So I'm really interested
to see exactly what that looks like. And obviously there
have been a lot of uh, you know, kind of
doubters about what kind of player he is now at
age thirty four coming off of And look, the Seahawks
offense was still good last year. Like he missed the

(05:43):
first stretch of time really of his career with that
finger injury, and he wasn't you know, he had that
stretch when he came back. Maybe he came back a
little too early. Um, but they were still what like
top ten, top seven in d v o A last year.
I mean, they were still a good offense. He's still
a really efficient quarterback, um, and I think he is
going to be jacked up to the firm well and
proved to Seattle that he was not a declining player. Yeah,

(06:06):
like you mentioned, we've seen bits and pieces of this offense,
you know, through training camp, through the preseason and practice.
I feel like we've been able to see that the
chemistry is there from Russell in his receivers. But lindsay,
when you look at this offense, you think maybe it
might take a little bit of time for them to
gel or do you think they're going to like hit
the ground running. Yeah, I mean I think I think

(06:26):
that's a fair expectation when you're putting in so many
different things, new quarterback, new play color, new offensive scheme,
new um, you know, offensive line coach, new blocking scheme upfront,
that that zone running scheme. You know, you know, we're
very familiar with it here in Denver if you've been
watching the Broncos for a long time, I mean it
really it didn't necessarily originate here, but it grew its

(06:48):
legs here right with Mike Shanning and and all of
those years that Alex Gibbs, and so we're kind of
familiar with it as from fans are watching it from
the outside. But it's a lot to learn, and it's
a big difference, uh and and sometimes it takes a
file to get that kind of installed and everybody on
the same page. So, you know, as much as I
think they wanted to look pretty the first the first night,
that might not necessarily be the case. Um, But you know,

(07:11):
they have been doing everything they're supposed to do right
all of the off season workouts and the you know,
the workouts in San Diego at Russell Wilson's kind of
compound there, and um, you know, I think very positive
signs out of training camp, but right now, we just
we just don't know until we actually get to see it.
Right well, you know, there's there's been so much talk
about the offense, about Russell, all of the news seemed

(07:33):
to circulate around that this off season. Through a training camp,
there hasn't really been a lot of talk about this
Broncos defense. But I mean, just looking at the group,
I think they're going to be a pretty pretty dominant
defense this season. You know, I love the new editions
of d J. Jones and Randy Gregory. Lizzy, what will
you be looking for from that group on Monday Night? Yeah, well,
I want to see if they can force turnovers. I

(07:54):
mean that's going to be a huge thing for this group.
And then also how consistent is the pass rush going
to be? Can they consistently get pressure on Geno Smith
and really make those tackles in the interior of that
defensive our offensive line in Seattle? Um, you know, hell,
because you know, this is kind of a new situation
for Geno Smith. I mean he has been the starter
in Spurts. It's been but it's been a while since

(08:15):
he was like the starter of a team. And you know,
I think, you know, you could probably talk about why
he won that job over Drew Luck. That's maybe over
another discussion for another time. But you know, he's played
well in Spurts throughout his career. He also has made
you know, had some poor decision making, especially late in games.
So I want to see if the Broncos can maybe

(08:35):
force the Seahawks offense that's also in transition as much
as the Broncos offenses, if they can force that unit
into some mistakes and if they can force turnover. So
I'm excited to see what this new kind of this
overhauled defensive line is going to look like, especially the interior.
You know, DJ Jones has been awesome in training camp,
so I'm excited to watch some of those guys. Um,

(08:56):
the Jones brothers, we should get them on. Can we
get the four of us on together? And oh my,
she just we should Jones is yeah, we'll get like
at all Jones, I love it or something. So excited.
I'm excited to see that crew. But really the secondary, Um,
I think is going to be the strength of the
Broncos defense. And if if they're going to end up
being like a kind of a top five type defense,

(09:17):
which I know that's their sort of aspirations, that back
end is going to have to pour form. Well. I mean,
they're gonna have need to get a lot of turnovers.
They're going to have to you know, Patrick Sartan is
going to have to become that shutdown corner that I
think all of us here are expecting him to be um.
And then maybe it's not so much just this week,
but I I really want to see Justin Simmons have
kind of his like awakening on a national scale. And

(09:41):
you know, I think those of us who have gotten
to know him and gotten to watch him on a
week to week basis over the last five years, we
know what kind of player he is and what sort
of impact he has. But the fact that the Broncos
haven't been on the national stage is often he hasn't
quite gotten that that sort of national recognition where he's
in frequent discussions for All Pro and those type you know,
those type of things, and if he can have you know,

(10:02):
if he can kind of play the way that he's
been playing, but do it on Monday Night football and
then do it on Thursday Night football in a couple
of weeks. Um, I think it'll just be huge for
this team and for him reputationally. You mentioned past Certan
a little bit earlier. I'm really excited to see him
in d K Mattcalf on Monday Night. I feel like
that's going to be the matchup to watch, right, Yeah,
I mean if we're talking like a one on one

(10:24):
type of deal, like yeah, I mean, I think that's
gonna be really fun. I mean, you know, DK Batcalf
is really fast. We've all seen videos, right, Yeah, what
kind of just like physical freak he's going to be.
And you know, and certain is just like a very smart, cerebral,
physical corner where you know, there's not a lot of
guys who probably can match up with a guy like

(10:45):
DK metcaff snap in and snap out. And I want
to see Sir Can. I want to see Sir Can
do it me too, lindsay, how important do you think
a win in Week one is for this Broncos team?
You know, as we mentioned, there's so much excitement, so
much anticipation, anticipation to see what they can do this year. Yeah,
I mean, I think it's you know, it's such just
a really kind of a tone setter type of a week.

(11:06):
And given all of the other stuff, just the emotions
that go into this and kind of looking at Seattle
and seeing like this is a team that's probably more
in a rebuild mode. They really need to win this game,
I think, to get themselves onto the path that they
want to be on, because every single week playing in
this division is going to matter, whether it's a division
game or not. And um, like the Charge in the

(11:29):
Raiders get to play each other this week, so somebody
will end up in the division with a loss. Um,
but this division is going to be so so competitive
that you can't afford to lose a game like this
one that you really probably should be winning. Right. We're
kind of going off with that, Lindsay, let's go a
little bit farther into the season. As you know, the
Broncos they're on a six year playoff droughout. So do
you think this might be the year that they break

(11:51):
that you mentioned? Yeah, I mean, we'll see. I mean,
I we had to do our season predictions and I
picked Broncos as a wild card team. Um, I also
had the Chiefs and the Chargers in the playoffs, So
I think it's going to be a really deep and
competitive vision. The one thing I'm curious about is like,
will this division kind of cannibalize itself and just beat
up on each other so much that come December three
teams can't get in. But when we're looking on paper,

(12:13):
the quarterbacks, the rosters, top to bottom, all of those
sorts of things. Um, the a f C. West is
is really really deep and really strong, and you know,
so much of it is going to be up to
Russell Wilson, right. I mean, I think the reason that
the Broncos have not been in the playoffs for all
of these years has been just because they haven't had
the type of quarterback play to match up in this division.
With Patrick Mahomes and then it was Philip Rivers and

(12:34):
then right into Justin Herbert and then you know, Derek
car is the guy that we probably don't talk about enough,
but he's been a really good quarterback. Even if he's
not quite at that tier of the other guys, the
m VP candidate level. Um, he's been really good. So
you know, Russell Wilson needs to UM, just get that.
Get the Broncos there, and you know there have been
so that's really it, right, And those are the things

(12:55):
we've been talking about that we don't know exactly how
it's gonna work. But I think, um, at least they're
no question there about like who the quarterback is going
to be, what sort of leadership there's going to be
at that position now? So um, you know, I do
think so you know, just looking at this team on paper,
there's not like a glaring weakness, like a huge vulnerability.
It's really just questions of like what is it actually

(13:16):
going to look like? And how's it all how quickly
is it all going to come together? Yeah? All right,
we'll last one for you, lindsay you got a game
prediction for Monday night. Yeah, I mean, I think the
Broncos are gonna win. I don't anticipate one of those
like super high scoring shootouts. I mean, I think it
might be kind of a weird, ugly game. Two offenses
and transition and stuff, um and you know, a lot
of emotions. But I do think the Broncos win. But

(13:36):
I think maybe the secret secrets could cover I think
it's what about a seven point line, So let's say,
like en, I like it, Mine's fourteen, right, I like Well, Lindsay,
I seriously can't think you enough for taking the time
today and I appreciate your insight and your thoughts on
the team always. Thank you. We'll see you soon. Well
that's all the time we have for this week's episode

(13:59):
of The Snap Thing. So much for tuning in, and
thank you again to Lindsay Jones for joining me. Make
sure to meet me right back here on the Broncos
podcast network and YouTube for another fun episode next week.
I'll see you all then,