Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I appreciate your concern.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I really do.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I love this game and I love it to the
death of me.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
That's it too, trying to come back to play after
yet another concussion. He's also sitting here. He was asked
the question, and he says he's refusing to play the Guardian.
You wear the Guardian cap. Well, you wear a Guardian cap. Nope,
what personal choice are you?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Will this change your style of play, your decision to
scramble or run or things like that.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's got to be smart, that's it.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
It's got to be smart.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
My entire time.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Playing football, I've been a competitor, and that, you know,
is or was sort of my edge when I would
run from high school even in college, I would do
the same thing. But it's a professional you know, setting
is the professional level, the best of the best.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
You know, you just can't be doing that.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So definitely gotta.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
You gotta stay more available for for that, for the team,
for the organization, for our guys.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I mean, I don't understand that. I get that there's
not exactly a litany of evidence that the Guardian cap
prevents concussions. It certainly prevents skull injuries, but I don't
know about concussions themselves. There's not a lot of data
out there suggesting that it necessarily does anywhere, So I
sort I sort of get that a guess, But the
(01:32):
way that he flippantly answers that it's personal choice, Like,
I'm like, you don't want to get into that. I
think you don't want to, you know. I mean, you're
sitting here telling people you're coming back to this game again. Well,
we've all witnessed the concussions that you've had, specifically the
last one. I don't. I mean, it just feels like
a guy to me, and the way that he answers
these things, it feels like it's not tethered to reality
(01:55):
in some way. Am I am I off here?
Speaker 5 (01:57):
Yeah? I think you are. And the reason I say
that is.
Speaker 6 (02:02):
In the game of football, it's it's a Warriors code
and ideas that if you're going to be carried off
the field, you're gonna be carried off on your shield.
That's the way the game was played, that's the game
where the game was played when I play, and that
was my personal mentality.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
But he did get carried off on his shield.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
Once again, it is his and his opinion alone.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
Even though there are family members who may have their
opinions on whether he should play, individuals in the media
who have their opinions, but at the end of the day,
it is his decision.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
And let's just say for.
Speaker 6 (02:49):
Legal situations and you know how this works out, the
league can say they can use the audio in court
later on, where they can say, well, here is video
evidence where he was saying himself that he's okay with
the position that he is putting himself in.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
We tried to warn him.
Speaker 6 (03:10):
We gave him the best medical healthcare and opinions from surgeons,
neurologists we can give him, but.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
He made that decision.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, and ultimately, yucks like me with a microphone don't
don't make those decisions for anybody. But we are here
to talk about him, and that's why we have the
microphones to begin with. That I don't know. I just
look at this and I'm like, man, it feels to
me like this is one of those situations where I hope,
I sincerely hope that I'm the dope that doesn't know
what he's talking about here, because from where I'm sitting,
(03:43):
it looks like it's the other way around. It looks
like a guy who is going out there and putting
himself in harm's way again after he was advised to
retire after the last concussion.
Speaker 5 (03:55):
You're not being a dope.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
You're looking at it from that thirty thous was in
foot right.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I call good because hopefully it comes across as I care,
because that's that's what I mean. Here's like, I care,
but I don't want to. I'm not even a big
to a fan, and I don't want to see him
being a scrabbled mess. You know, twenty years from now.
Speaker 6 (04:11):
Man, It's it's hard to tell a player not to
get back out there and play.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I can't even imagine.
Speaker 6 (04:20):
You can present the information and document documentation, but that
player wants to play.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
But I know how much it burned me when I
knew I couldn't play anymore and I was a nobody,
no nothing, you know, Like I can't even imagine what
it's like to make it to be one of the best,
make it to the upper echelon of the game, the
place you guys got to and and and and sit
there and then be told you can't do this, Like
I can't even imagine what that feels. Like, I can
conceptualize it. I can't imagine it is. It is crushing.
(04:45):
I know are like, bro, you're not big enough, Like like, I.
Speaker 5 (04:49):
Know what that felt like.
Speaker 6 (04:50):
Okay, so let me put our listeners in this frame
of mind. And I know Grant's behind the glass, so
let me. What I'm gonna say is to resonate with
him too as well. It's like coming home from a
long day work. You walk in, your wife is by
the door, all of her stuff is packed, and she
(05:12):
says she's leaving you.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Right, that's what it feels like.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
You've been doing something all your life and you wanted
to get to this point since you played Pop Warner
high school football. And then now all of a sudden
someone is telling you that you can't right because of
a health reasons. And every player gets to this point
by hook a crook is going to happen to you.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
Yeah you too all you too expensive.
Speaker 6 (05:39):
Whatever it is, and the game is gonna wagh by
bye to you. And I know Tua doesn't want the
lasting memory of him to be like him being carried
off the field.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
He doesn't want that, and I can again, I can
understand that, but how do you how do you reason
with that.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
How do you say, I'm telling you, man, you can't that.
Speaker 6 (05:59):
There's no you get reason because you can give someone
all the information you want to, all of it, lay
it out on. If this happens to you again, this
is the result. You could be paralyzed. You could be
foeming at the mouth, and what's gonna happen is okay,
all right, I'll take it now.
Speaker 5 (06:19):
It does. It seems irrational when you think.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
If I doesn't seem irrational, it is irrational.
Speaker 6 (06:24):
But when you are that player, it is logical to you.
It makes sense to anyone else.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Right. You have the hubris of immortality, you know what
I mean? Like you, you can't conceptualize that it is
actually going to happen to even though they're telling you
that it is. I remember being twenty are in my
twenty you know, I think it in futures either, yeah right,
I remember being on my twenties, you know. I remember
the dumb stuff that you know, well you need to
do this, you should do these, These are things you
should do to set yourself up. And I don't get
to that whatever, you know, I remember the hubriss of youth.
(06:52):
I still have it sometimes. Yeah, it's just say. It's
frustrating to me because I'm like, I hope if he
does go back I got there and play. I'm just
sitting there praying he doesn't get her. Like that's what's
what it is. I'm gonna be holding my breath EVERPLA,
that's all you can do.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
Because there were moments when I played for the Denver
Broncos one time when I hurt my knee the first
time and I knew I shouldn't.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
Have gone back in there. I knew it then, and
guess what, I went back in.
Speaker 6 (07:21):
We're playing against Pittsburgh, but it was a Sunday night game.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
Hayin's Ward hit me.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
In the side of my head right, and obviously, yep,
does Nick you have a concussion? Apps freaking lutely because
my left foot wouldn't find the ground. I knew something
was wrong and when I had to tell me, but
guess what, they were not keeping me off the field.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
Now.
Speaker 6 (07:43):
I did go back out there, but it wasn't a
good decision, right because it was like, oh, I.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
See him, I'm running downfield.
Speaker 6 (07:52):
Next thing I know, grass in my face, face plant, right.
So it's hard to tell a player that is so
committed to this game. No, you can't do that, even
though it makes the most logical sense in the world.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
We can't see that, Yeah, because that's not how we're built.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And I can understand. I can understand that decision because
I would have given anything. In fact, one of the
Texters right here seven to nine. Hey, guys, I'm sixty
five years old, and if I had a chance to
play football at any level.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
Again, I would yes. And I dare you to.
Speaker 6 (08:27):
Toss that question out to anyone as you go around
on the street.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You ask me right now, you can get me right
now me I would give. I would sell my soul
for the opportunity.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
Yeah, I know some people who have.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I'm just saying, like, it just so funny because I can.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I can.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
I can disconnect myself from that and sit here and say, toy,
you absolutely should not do that. And at the same time,
I'm like, dude, if we do it, we do it.
And for whatever reason that doesn't like I understand that
this is a complete This creates a completely a dichotomy
here that does not make any sense. And at the
same time I'm sitting there like, but it makes perfect sense.
Like somebody's got to talk some sense to this guy
and say you can't go out here and put yourself
(09:04):
in a situation.
Speaker 7 (09:05):
Where you know, you think about your family, your future
for him, even though man, it sounds so bizarre and
it sounds so outreality.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
Right, you're telling this person you should not do this.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Are you gonna be nervous for it? Like just out
of curiosity? Is there gonna be Are you gonna be granted?
Speaker 5 (09:23):
Are you gonna be whats gonna be? Yeah, it was
just like when Damar Hamlin came back. I was a
little nervous.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
It's weird because I really wasn't in his case because
I feel like that there was such attention paid to
that and it was such a fluke situation. Then I
wasn't as nervous. I'm like, good for him, he's back
out there, that kind of thing. But in this situation
I am. I am sitting there like, bro, this is
a documented history. You get can cost. Okay, you're a
boot that gets can cost.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Think about DeMar Hamlin, right, think about what we all saw.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Dude died on the field, and I still didn't have
the same hesitance that I have for Tua.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Right, he died on the field. He came back. I'm
sure people told him, na, man, this is not worth it,
and the doctors probably said, well, it was a rare occurrence.
Just the timing was just impeccable. But this would probably
never happen. But now your mortality is in question.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
See. I think that's the reason he had to come
back though, And maybe that doesn't make sense too. Maybe
this is another one of those things that doesn't make
logical sense.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
I think.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
For like, if it had been me in the wild,
like I would have to come back. I would have to,
like death, can't. I'm not letting you cheat me here.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I'm not, you know, I would have to face that down.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
So now you're trying to prove to yourself.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, I said, okay, I'll tell you a story. I
had to drive back through the alley we got ambushed
on when I was in a rack. I had to
I had to go back through there.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
And okay, now, what was the trauma like for you?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Kind of I was hyper vigilant as we were going
down that bleep, but you know, it's what I had
to do. I had to face that like it was.
There was no way I was leaving country without doing that.
Patrol route one more time. There was no way you
could not talk me out of this.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
So now you understand that, right, And that's now you understand. Yep.
Speaker 6 (11:09):
It's not as easy as one, two three as some
people think.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, it's text lies pointed out right here said, and
I've been with your years in the military. Based on
the things you said, you've been in combat, and you
went back for seconds.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
I did go back.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yes, I did multiple tours like yeah, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
It's very difficult me out of it.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Yeah, because some people say, well, you're letting your matra
bravado get the best of you. Maybe there's a little
to it, but at the end of the day, you
have to live with yourself.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I couldn't look myself in the mirror if I didn't
go back and see ye, And that's the thing. So
I get to I'm don't around this, Tholf. So now
I understand.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
You know, I understand it.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
I don't do it, bro.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
I mean, you could tell him not to do it,
but it's hard. Just like wearing the Guardian camp. The
idea is that it is supposed to protect you, but
even that.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
With we don't have empirical data that prevents concussions.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
We just don't.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
It's skull fractures, things like that. There's no date on
the Guardian caperven and can cutcussions exactly.
Speaker 6 (12:03):
So because there's no supporting data, guys don't want to
do it. Now there are more players who on all
levels who are wearing them in practice to kind of
reduce the context.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
So once you get to the.
Speaker 6 (12:15):
Game, if you don't want to wear them, you don't know.
Like ja Bill Peppers is one of the safeties.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
I've seen wear it. I haven't seen too many people wear.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
It, but he was one of you. But he's one
of them.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
He's one of them, right, But in this situation with Tuoa, man,
it is it's hard.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
I remember the first time.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
I got hurt when I broke my radius bone playing
against the cults, and I'm obviously I'm a grown ass
man at that point, but my mother's words was, We're
just you know what, No, that's it, Nick, And I'm thinking, like,
wait a minute, I'm your kid, but I'm a grown
ass man. You can't tell me what to do. If
(12:54):
I'm gonna go back out there and play, I'm gonna
go back out there and play and Tua said it himself,
because you're like, look, you.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Can slip in the bathroom, you can trip down some stairs, right,
anything like that can happen, And all of those things
are true. So the idea is that if I am
going to.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Go out going out on my own time.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
I'm going out on my own terms.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
And I cannot because I've been in this situation that
Tour finds himself in. I can't say to him, don't
do it, because hell, I did it.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
The same, you know, like I respect that he has
to do it. And it still makes me hold my
breath and say, man, I wish somebody talk him out
of it, because like there and it's I know, we
got a head break here a second, because there's an inevitability.
I've seen it. I've seen it on my side of
the fence. I've seen it on your side the fence.
We talk about guys, you know, getting hurt and that
kind of stuff. I've seen on my side of the
(13:45):
fence with the armies, like guys going back for tours
and at some point you're just asking for it, And
I worry. I have the wisdom now of having been
through enough life that I could look at that and
say you're asking for it, you know, and he as
a man for making that decision, and it is your decision,
and I in no way belonging that decision making matrix.
(14:08):
But I look at that and my heart breaks because
I'm like, man, you're asking for it.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Maybe for him once again, he's willing to pay the toll.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
For what he is doing. And people may not like it.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I may not like it, but I understand it, and
that's probably understand And that's probably I think where we
leave it at the end of the day, like we
but we hate it, but we understand it, understand it.
Someone nine says, and my bleep jumped out of perfectly
good airplanes too.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Yes, fair enough, I am not doing.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
It fair enough, fair enough. The anal one says, I
wish I could play football again too, the one.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Remember yesterday I said I was gonna make you guys
something so my favorite TV food, so my favorite TV show.
They go to the Cinemon Festival of Cinnamon Pie. He
got me the rest of the recipe for pie. Yeah,
he got me the recipe from the cinnamon pie thing.
I'm gonna make that for you guys. That's gonna happen
at some point early next week. We gott hit a break.
Ryan Michael will come back. Bro Have you ever tried
carrot cake? Welcome back to it, Broncos Country Tonight, Benjamin
(15:11):
ol Briden, Nick Ferguson.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Grant Smith here with you.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Thanks to Steve Atwar for joining us in the first hours. Always,
if you miss any part of Broncos Country Tonight, you
can get a Broncos Country Tonight comslag podcast or re
Reach podcast, Apple, it Tunes, Spotify, totally free and awesome
my Heart Radio app. Or you can also get to
take It for Granted App podcast. Ecuse me? They need
to take it for granted app, but you get When
is the new episode dropping tomorrow? Ken Solomon? Yeah, Rocky
(15:36):
for the Nuggets for thirty three years.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
I am.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
I am looking forward to this, looking forward to all
the stories that he can tell from behind the fur.
He's got some good ones he does. Let's go right
in to Kay commasp the hotline though, and bring on
our guy, Ryan Michael. At you, Ryan Michael on the
Twitter machine, Ryan, how you doing this evening?
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I'm pretty excited, Ben after our win on Thursday night,
So excited about this upcoming in terms of a stretch
of two games, it can't be too much more excited
than a very winnable game coming on Sunday, So looking
forward to talking about it.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Can I do say that, of course if we lose
that how devastated and disappointed will we all be if
we lose to the Carolina Panthers. Now that we've hyped
that up, but we're gonna, We're gonna, We're just sm
move past that for now and just pretend that it's
continue to say that it's a very winnable game before
I get into it. Did you I don't know if
I've asked you this before? And now? Have you ever
watched the TV show Psyche?
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Oh? Yeah, of course, It's been a good probably fifteen
years since I've seen an episode.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
But yeah, okay, well it is a cinematic masterpiece that
it is great to show of all time. Whatever. Yeah,
I loosely based my life on the character of Sean. I.
I was trying to tell the guys I was gonna
make them some food. I remember how the discussion came
up last night that they didn't, you know, believe I
cook or whatever, And I do enjoy cooking so I'm
gonna make them from the Cinnamon Festival episode, the cinnamon
(16:51):
pie from that episode. So that's that's gonna be something
that's on the docket for next week. And one of
the listeners actually got me the recipe.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
I have no idea what episode you're referencing, but it
sounds good.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
It's a Twin Peaks spoof Dual Spires. But all right, anyway,
let's get right into it here a little bit. I
talked about this Broncos defense during training camp to precincts.
I said, they're going to sneak up all people that
go to surprise people. It's going to be a very
good defense. I may have undersold. According to your chart
on Twitter, am I correct in saying that this year's
defense might be the best pass defense over the last decade,
(17:27):
even better than the No Fly Zone.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Statistically speaking, yes, And when I dig into the numbers,
and I'll get to that in a minute, it's actually
even more impressive than the wrong numbers. So what I
did in my chart is I charted all of our
pass defenses over the last ten years, so including this year,
dating back to our Super Bowl championship year in twenty fifteen,
and I ranked them by adjusted net yards per attempt
(17:51):
on defense, so that's factoring in completion percentage, yards for
passing a tech touchdown, passes, interceptions, and sacks. It's a
pretty good un puppetting metric. And so far our adjusted
net yards for a Kent mark this season is four
point two, So if you look to the chart, our
lowest mark over the previous ten years was four point four.
(18:12):
By the twenty sixteen squad was actually slightly better than
the four point seven that we put up our Super
Bowl Championship winning year. We've been dominant in the statistic
forring number of years, second and twenty fifteen, number one
in the NFL in twenty sixteen, third of the NFL
in twenty twenty two. We dropped all the way down
to twenty eighth last year, and now we're back up
(18:33):
to second place this year. And I also threw in
just for fun, where we rank as far as quarterback
hits and pass defensive exp which is expected points added
per Pro Football Reference. We're number one in the league
in both two of those categories. So you know, depending
on the statistic of measure you're choosing, you're certainly an
argument to be made. This is the best we've seen
over the last decade.
Speaker 6 (18:53):
So, Ryan, why do you think the Broncos are playing
better this year defensively opposed to how they played defensively
last year. Last year, to be fair, they did have
their moments where they play well.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
As a group, they.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
Did, and I think it's a combination of scheme, personnel,
and just having another year under the belt for Van
Stosi to really implement and run this defense the way
he likes to. You know, obviously it's going to be
impossible to run away from the comparisons to the twenty
fifteen squad. We don't quite have the personnel that we
fielded in twenty fifteen, and for that reason that I
(19:31):
can make the argument that I'm even more impressed with
what we're able to do. Obviously, pats Otan's the best
corner in the league. I've been saying that since the summer,
and even with him out on Thursday night, granted it
was against a very beat up New Orleans team, but
we didn't miss a beat. So this defense has been
so dominant that if you break down the quarterbacks that
we face, and they share with you some numbers that
(19:53):
to me make what we've been able to do all
the more impressive in the season opener Gina Smith is
the NFL's leading We held them one hundred and seventy
one yards. He's been averaging three hundred and two point
three passing yards per game in all of the other games.
What kind of difference is that if you take that
pace and you spread it over seventeen games, it's the
difference between twenty nine hundred and seven passing yards a year,
(20:16):
which would be nineteen seventies numbers, or in terms of
what he's averaging outside of the games against Denver, fivey
one hundred and forty yards. Baker Mayfield leads the NFL
with eighteen touchdown passes. We held him to one. He's
turned seventeen and the other six games. That's almost three
touchdown passes per game. And even more impressive, the Buccaneers
collectively as the team we held them to seven, They've
(20:36):
scored two hundred and two points in the other six teams.
That's thirty three point seven points per game we held
them to seven. You know, the numbers in the rankings
speak for themselves, but when you dig into the context
of who we've been facing and just how well we've
been playing. I'd make the argument there even better than
the Ron numbers.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Well, that certainly is oppressed. They're talking to Ryan Michael
at v Ryan Michael on Twitter. How much of the
credit goes to Vance Joseph for turning the thing around?
And I want to tack on Jim Leonard as well,
because that addition seems to have really helped with the secondary.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Unquestionably, and for me, it's one thing if you have
an established culture of excellence and something that we tind
to take for granted. Nick, I'm sure you can relate
to that because of how dominant the defenses were the
years that you've played there. But I don't think people
fully appreciate just how much the team struggled last year
because we did have the bright spots, but at the
end of the day, we finished twenty seventh in points
(21:29):
per game, surrendered one of the lowest marks and franchise history.
We're third in the league right now. If this was
happening on the other side of the ball, it would
be the story of the NFL this year. For whatever reason,
we don't give defense the same amount of love that
we give offense, but clearly it has just as great
of an impact in terms of wins and losses because
we're sitting at four and three after going through some
(21:50):
fairly tough games with some pretty big upset wings. So
it's tough not to be jazzed about it.
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Ryan, I'm glad that you said that, because you're absolutely right,
and this where where we live to talk about the quarterback.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
Seldom do they give.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
The defense their props because the last time I check,
the saying is very true, defense wins championship. So with
that being said, looking at this lay of games that
the Broncos have coming up, they got the Panthers on Sunday,
they have Baltimore, they have Kansas City. Is this Broncos
team or can this team actually be a playoff contender?
Speaker 4 (22:30):
It's certainly possible. So again, you know, Ben, we don't
want to take for granted the game against Carolina. It's
the NFL. Any given Sunday, anything can happen. But let's
say we do beat the Panthers, we advance to five
and three. That's when we get into the meat and
potatoes of the schedule. It's going to be very very
difficult upcoming. But if you look at the schedule as
a whole, there are a number of winnable games. Atlanta
(22:50):
has a winning record, but they're twenty second in points
per games surrendered, only fifteenth in scoring. That's a winnable game.
The Raiders is a winnable game, the Browns and the Colts.
You know, if we want all of those games, that
would get us to nine. If we pull another upset,
maybe take one from Kansas City, that would be ten.
So looking at the schedule as it is, and this
is provided that we take care of business against Carolina,
(23:12):
I would say that seven to eight wins would be conservative,
and that's of course exceeding the expectations. Right with five
and a half, we're going to move past that, and
I would say, on the optimistic side, it's possible you
could get nine and ten and possibly squeak into the postseason.
What we would do there certainly remains to be seen.
And I agree with what Ben's expressed in terms of
the upcoming schedule. Even if we don't win our games
(23:35):
against Kansas City and Baltimore, I'm going to be paying
very close attention to how we can be because if
we get blown out, that's going to be a sign
of things to come. But if we're competitive, I think
we can carry that momentum even to defeat to pick
up some late regular season wins.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Well, in order to even be competitive or get those wins,
we're going to need to see quite a bit out
of bo Nicks. We're seven games into his NFL career.
What do you make of the rookie quarterback so far?
Speaker 4 (24:00):
You know, statistically, then it's obviously a disappointment relative to
my preseason projections. There's no running away for that. But
when you're looking at a seven game sample size, it's
important to know that any number of games that are
really bad can exkew the efficiency. So you look to
the extreme low safetyguards per attempt. He only average three
point three versus Seattle, a future two point four against
(24:22):
the Jets, you know, completed forty eight percent of his
passes against the Jets. Those are the kind of things
then that statistically will kill your season efficiency marks. So
the overall row numbers are not pretty. On the foot
side of the coin, there are the hinds. Right, we expected, though,
to be a quarterback who was difficult to sack. I
don't know if we expected his sack percentage to be
(24:42):
this good at three point eighty six percent, he's fourth
in the league, but he's number one in the NFL
once quarterbacks who have thrown two hundred or more passes.
He threw four pins in his first two games, sure,
but then one interception over the next five. So right
now we're having a guy who with his legs, I
think we all three of us can agree he's exceeding
expectations there. And maybe you're the only person who had
(25:05):
the hope to see and as good of a dual
threat as he's been, But in my view, he's exceeding
expectations on the grounds. He's virtually impossible to sack, which
is also certainly a credit to the offensive line, and
over the last five weeks he's been almost impossible to intercept.
He's caught some breaks, so you look at just the
one interception over the five that could have been a
few thrown in there. But overall, there's a clean, a
(25:27):
clean play of football that we've seen over the last
five games. And if that's a sign of things to come,
I think Broncos country has something to be excited about.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
What do you make of what we saw last Thursday?
Speaker 6 (25:38):
And what I mean by that to put it in context,
we saw some things that both Nicks in office was
running that we have been seeing this year or we
didn't even see last year, but Russell Wilson. But it
made the offense a little more creative and it also
open up the field for both to make play. So
once again, I mean, what did you see or what
(26:00):
do you think led to that kind of creativity that
we haven't seen around here?
Speaker 4 (26:05):
And while well, he's he's explosive, a different style of
runner than Tim Tebow, But imagine if Tim Tebow had
the pass accuracy to complete some difficult passes. Brow is
a lot more explosive than I think people gave him
credit for. In his second to last year of college football,
he led all of the NCAA in terms of the
(26:26):
quarterback position of Russian touchdowns. To believe he had fourteen.
So we shouldn't be as shocked as we are to
see that he leaves the league in rushing touchdown. So far,
he leads the league, rather lead the Broncos in rushing touchdowns.
For three He's averaged five point four yards per carry
that's number one on the team. His success percentage running
is fifty five point three percent that's the best on
the team, So certainly it's going to open up paints
(26:48):
for the passing game. It's really the passing game where
we need to see him develop. So as great as
it is to see that he's avoiding shacks and avoiding picks,
at some point he's going to have to put the
team on his shoulders, the defensive dominant as what we've
had at Swardson. The luxury of not having to do that.
Think of what Mark Sanche has got to work with
in his first two years in the league. And I
(27:08):
certainly hope that Bow ends up a better quarterback than
Mark Sanchez. But what's going to happen when he has
to throw a thirty five to forty times a game
and actually carry the team remains to be seen. Because
it wasn't pretty at the beginning of the year when
he was throwing.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
One designed quarterback keep running left side, it's.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
A block from Polls Nick is free instead of twenty
five to twenty. He stumbles, he's inside of ten, He's
hit from behind and knocked to the turf inside the five.
That was a designed run and a run of thirty
three yards for Bow.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Knicks always love Dave Logan on the Call, their Bodix
on the Scramble, talking with Ryan Michael at the Ryan
Michael on Twitter contributed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Assuming the Broncos do beat Carolinas, we kind of expect
do they have a realistic shot at competing for a
playoff spot?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
I think it's possible. Obviously, it's going to depend completely
upon how the other teams in the AFC play, and
the AFC is obviously a tough conference to be a
part of. So I think as Bronco's fans, we should
temper our expectations because at four and three were already
exceeding them. If we're fortunate enough to win that fifth
game next week, we would continue to be exceeding that.
And you know, the Panthers defense is dead last in
(28:16):
the NFL. They're giving up thirty four point seven points
per game, and they're just atrocious through the air and
on the ground. The average passer rating against that Panthers
defense is one hundred and eleven point eight. They're also
dead last in the league and rushing yards in rushing
touchdown surrendered to giving up one sixty two point one
yards in thirteen rushing touchdowns, so whether Bose beating them
(28:37):
with his arms or his legs, this might be an
opportunity if we put some points on the board early
in the game for him to cast his limits and
kind of see what he can do in a little
bit more of a comfortable atmosphere. Playoffs, it's possible. The
old cliche taking it one week at a time, I
think needs to be our mentality.
Speaker 5 (28:54):
What do you think about what we saw last Thursday?
Speaker 6 (28:57):
Because I like to go back to that because Williams
and he's been really criticized early on the early part
of the season because most people didn't think that he
was bouncing back the way they want him to. And
you go back to that Jets game and Ben and
I sat there and once that Jets game and it
looked like Tayler the day was going to be the guy,
(29:18):
but he was moved out. Javonte is getting more carries.
Do you think that this part of the game for
the Broncos and how they ran against the Saints, do
you think that is sustainable?
Speaker 4 (29:30):
You know, we put up two hundred and twenty five
rushing yards against the Saints, so you certainly can't expect
that every week. Your quarterback is not going to run
for seventy five yards himself every week. But Savante had
a heck of a game eighty eight yards on the ground,
two touchdowns that he caught all three of the passes
that were sure on his way. So you know, those
are lofty expectations, neck But I think as Jervonte continues
(29:50):
to return to one hundred percent house and get his
feet wet, and as we can balance what we're doing
between the rushing and the passing game, which bo is
evolving as a passer going to open up to run,
So we just have to continue to play complimentary football.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Were Ryan, We're almost at the midway point in the
season here, What's been your biggest surprise, What's been your
biggest disappointment thus far?
Speaker 4 (30:13):
That's a tough one. I mean, I would say the
biggest disappointment for me would be the lows they bone
they hit early in the year. I didn't expect seeing that.
And you know, for all of the positives that I'm mentioning,
they're not necessarily the positives that I was expecting, certainly
production on the ground, So it's kind of a mixed bag.
When I take a look at where he is seven
games into his NFL career. You know, as far as
(30:35):
the disappointment, I would say that I wish that we
got more production in terms of yards after the catch
and yards after contact from some of our receivers. I
understand our offenses and structure to be that kind of animal,
but at the same time, I don't see our receivers
making a kind of plays after the ball is in
their hands. So I think there's a room to improve
in that regard. And part of that's on the quarterback too.
(30:56):
I mean, if you're a see it and throw it
kind of guy, not really facilitating yards after the cash opportunity.
So it's really just a matter of you know, working
out there's kings and flushing out the offense to be
more of a balanced animal as the season goes on.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Ryan, we we appreciate the time has always got to
hit a break here, man, But looking forward to what
you're cooking up for us after this hopeful Panthers victory.
Victory over the Panthers, I should say, Ryan Michael, let
you Ryan Michael on Twitter contributor. It's the Pro Football
Hall of Fame always deep diving into the data.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
For us when we come back.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
The NBA season has tipped off. We can't get our
hands dirty. I wonder if coach is celebrating Tonight Rocous Country,
Tonight k Wait
I appreciate your concern.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I really do.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I love this game and I love it to the
death of me.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
That's it too, trying to come back to play after
yet another concussion. He's also sitting here. He was asked
the question, and he says he's refusing to play the Guardian.
You wear the Guardian cap. Well, you wear a Guardian cap. Nope,
what personal choice are you?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Will this change your style of play, your decision to
scramble or run or things like that.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's got to be smart, that's it.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
It's got to be smart.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
My entire time.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Playing football, I've been a competitor, and that, you know,
is or was sort of my edge when I would
run from high school even in college, I would do
the same thing. But it's a professional you know, setting
is the professional level, the best of the best.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
You know, you just can't be doing that.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So definitely gotta.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
You gotta stay more available for for that, for the team,
for the organization, for our guys.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I mean, I don't understand that. I get that there's
not exactly a litany of evidence that the Guardian cap
prevents concussions. It certainly prevents skull injuries, but I don't
know about concussions themselves. There's not a lot of data
out there suggesting that it necessarily does anywhere, So I
sort I sort of get that a guess, But the
(01:32):
way that he flippantly answers that it's personal choice, Like,
I'm like, you don't want to get into that. I
think you don't want to, you know. I mean, you're
sitting here telling people you're coming back to this game again. Well,
we've all witnessed the concussions that you've had, specifically the
last one. I don't. I mean, it just feels like
a guy to me, and the way that he answers
these things, it feels like it's not tethered to reality
(01:55):
in some way. Am I am I off here?
Speaker 5 (01:57):
Yeah? I think you are. And the reason I say
that is.
Speaker 6 (02:02):
In the game of football, it's it's a Warriors code
and ideas that if you're going to be carried off
the field, you're gonna be carried off on your shield.
That's the way the game was played, that's the game
where the game was played when I play, and that
was my personal mentality.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
But he did get carried off on his shield.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
Once again, it is his and his opinion alone.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
Even though there are family members who may have their
opinions on whether he should play, individuals in the media
who have their opinions, but at the end of the day,
it is his decision.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
And let's just say for.
Speaker 6 (02:49):
Legal situations and you know how this works out, the
league can say they can use the audio in court
later on, where they can say, well, here is video
evidence where he was saying himself that he's okay with
the position that he is putting himself in.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
We tried to warn him.
Speaker 6 (03:10):
We gave him the best medical healthcare and opinions from surgeons,
neurologists we can give him, but.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
He made that decision.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, and ultimately, yucks like me with a microphone don't
don't make those decisions for anybody. But we are here
to talk about him, and that's why we have the
microphones to begin with. That I don't know. I just
look at this and I'm like, man, it feels to
me like this is one of those situations where I hope,
I sincerely hope that I'm the dope that doesn't know
what he's talking about here, because from where I'm sitting,
(03:43):
it looks like it's the other way around. It looks
like a guy who is going out there and putting
himself in harm's way again after he was advised to
retire after the last concussion.
Speaker 5 (03:55):
You're not being a dope.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
You're looking at it from that thirty thous was in
foot right.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I call good because hopefully it comes across as I care,
because that's that's what I mean. Here's like, I care,
but I don't want to. I'm not even a big
to a fan, and I don't want to see him
being a scrabbled mess. You know, twenty years from now.
Speaker 6 (04:11):
Man, It's it's hard to tell a player not to
get back out there and play.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I can't even imagine.
Speaker 6 (04:20):
You can present the information and document documentation, but that
player wants to play.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
But I know how much it burned me when I
knew I couldn't play anymore and I was a nobody,
no nothing, you know, Like I can't even imagine what
it's like to make it to be one of the best,
make it to the upper echelon of the game, the
place you guys got to and and and and sit
there and then be told you can't do this, Like
I can't even imagine what that feels. Like, I can
conceptualize it. I can't imagine it is. It is crushing.
(04:45):
I know are like, bro, you're not big enough, Like like, I.
Speaker 5 (04:49):
Know what that felt like.
Speaker 6 (04:50):
Okay, so let me put our listeners in this frame
of mind. And I know Grant's behind the glass, so
let me. What I'm gonna say is to resonate with
him too as well. It's like coming home from a
long day work. You walk in, your wife is by
the door, all of her stuff is packed, and she
(05:12):
says she's leaving you.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Right, that's what it feels like.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
You've been doing something all your life and you wanted
to get to this point since you played Pop Warner
high school football. And then now all of a sudden
someone is telling you that you can't right because of
a health reasons. And every player gets to this point
by hook a crook is going to happen to you.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
Yeah you too all you too expensive.
Speaker 6 (05:39):
Whatever it is, and the game is gonna wagh by
bye to you. And I know Tua doesn't want the
lasting memory of him to be like him being carried
off the field.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
He doesn't want that, and I can again, I can
understand that, but how do you how do you reason
with that.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
How do you say, I'm telling you, man, you can't that.
Speaker 6 (05:59):
There's no you get reason because you can give someone
all the information you want to, all of it, lay
it out on. If this happens to you again, this
is the result. You could be paralyzed. You could be
foeming at the mouth, and what's gonna happen is okay,
all right, I'll take it now.
Speaker 5 (06:19):
It does. It seems irrational when you think.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
If I doesn't seem irrational, it is irrational.
Speaker 6 (06:24):
But when you are that player, it is logical to you.
It makes sense to anyone else.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Right. You have the hubris of immortality, you know what
I mean? Like you, you can't conceptualize that it is
actually going to happen to even though they're telling you
that it is. I remember being twenty are in my
twenty you know, I think it in futures either, yeah right,
I remember being on my twenties, you know. I remember
the dumb stuff that you know, well you need to
do this, you should do these, These are things you
should do to set yourself up. And I don't get
to that whatever, you know, I remember the hubriss of youth.
(06:52):
I still have it sometimes. Yeah, it's just say. It's
frustrating to me because I'm like, I hope if he
does go back I got there and play. I'm just
sitting there praying he doesn't get her. Like that's what's
what it is. I'm gonna be holding my breath EVERPLA,
that's all you can do.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
Because there were moments when I played for the Denver
Broncos one time when I hurt my knee the first
time and I knew I shouldn't.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
Have gone back in there. I knew it then, and
guess what, I went back in.
Speaker 6 (07:21):
We're playing against Pittsburgh, but it was a Sunday night game.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
Hayin's Ward hit me.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
In the side of my head right, and obviously, yep,
does Nick you have a concussion? Apps freaking lutely because
my left foot wouldn't find the ground. I knew something
was wrong and when I had to tell me, but
guess what, they were not keeping me off the field.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
Now.
Speaker 6 (07:43):
I did go back out there, but it wasn't a
good decision, right because it was like, oh, I.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
See him, I'm running downfield.
Speaker 6 (07:52):
Next thing I know, grass in my face, face plant, right.
So it's hard to tell a player that is so
committed to this game. No, you can't do that, even
though it makes the most logical sense in the world.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
We can't see that, Yeah, because that's not how we're built.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And I can understand. I can understand that decision because
I would have given anything. In fact, one of the
Texters right here seven to nine. Hey, guys, I'm sixty
five years old, and if I had a chance to
play football at any level.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
Again, I would yes. And I dare you to.
Speaker 6 (08:27):
Toss that question out to anyone as you go around
on the street.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You ask me right now, you can get me right
now me I would give. I would sell my soul
for the opportunity.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
Yeah, I know some people who have.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I'm just saying, like, it just so funny because I can.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I can.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
I can disconnect myself from that and sit here and say, toy,
you absolutely should not do that. And at the same time,
I'm like, dude, if we do it, we do it.
And for whatever reason that doesn't like I understand that
this is a complete This creates a completely a dichotomy
here that does not make any sense. And at the
same time I'm sitting there like, but it makes perfect sense.
Like somebody's got to talk some sense to this guy
and say you can't go out here and put yourself
(09:04):
in a situation.
Speaker 7 (09:05):
Where you know, you think about your family, your future
for him, even though man, it sounds so bizarre and
it sounds so outreality.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
Right, you're telling this person you should not do this.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Are you gonna be nervous for it? Like just out
of curiosity? Is there gonna be Are you gonna be granted?
Speaker 5 (09:23):
Are you gonna be whats gonna be? Yeah, it was
just like when Damar Hamlin came back. I was a
little nervous.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
It's weird because I really wasn't in his case because
I feel like that there was such attention paid to
that and it was such a fluke situation. Then I
wasn't as nervous. I'm like, good for him, he's back
out there, that kind of thing. But in this situation
I am. I am sitting there like, bro, this is
a documented history. You get can cost. Okay, you're a
boot that gets can cost.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Think about DeMar Hamlin, right, think about what we all saw.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Dude died on the field, and I still didn't have
the same hesitance that I have for Tua.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Right, he died on the field. He came back. I'm
sure people told him, na, man, this is not worth it,
and the doctors probably said, well, it was a rare occurrence.
Just the timing was just impeccable. But this would probably
never happen. But now your mortality is in question.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
See. I think that's the reason he had to come
back though, And maybe that doesn't make sense too. Maybe
this is another one of those things that doesn't make
logical sense.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
I think.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
For like, if it had been me in the wild,
like I would have to come back. I would have to,
like death, can't. I'm not letting you cheat me here.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I'm not, you know, I would have to face that down.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
So now you're trying to prove to yourself.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, I said, okay, I'll tell you a story. I
had to drive back through the alley we got ambushed
on when I was in a rack. I had to
I had to go back through there.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
And okay, now, what was the trauma like for you?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Kind of I was hyper vigilant as we were going
down that bleep, but you know, it's what I had
to do. I had to face that like it was.
There was no way I was leaving country without doing that.
Patrol route one more time. There was no way you
could not talk me out of this.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
So now you understand that, right, And that's now you understand. Yep.
Speaker 6 (11:09):
It's not as easy as one, two three as some
people think.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, it's text lies pointed out right here said, and
I've been with your years in the military. Based on
the things you said, you've been in combat, and you
went back for seconds.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
I did go back.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yes, I did multiple tours like yeah, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
It's very difficult me out of it.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Yeah, because some people say, well, you're letting your matra
bravado get the best of you. Maybe there's a little
to it, but at the end of the day, you
have to live with yourself.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I couldn't look myself in the mirror if I didn't
go back and see ye, And that's the thing. So
I get to I'm don't around this, Tholf. So now
I understand.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
You know, I understand it.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
I don't do it, bro.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
I mean, you could tell him not to do it,
but it's hard. Just like wearing the Guardian camp. The
idea is that it is supposed to protect you, but
even that.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
With we don't have empirical data that prevents concussions.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
We just don't.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
It's skull fractures, things like that. There's no date on
the Guardian caperven and can cutcussions exactly.
Speaker 6 (12:03):
So because there's no supporting data, guys don't want to
do it. Now there are more players who on all
levels who are wearing them in practice to kind of
reduce the context.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
So once you get to the.
Speaker 6 (12:15):
Game, if you don't want to wear them, you don't know.
Like ja Bill Peppers is one of the safeties.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
I've seen wear it. I haven't seen too many people wear.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
It, but he was one of you. But he's one
of them.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
He's one of them, right, But in this situation with Tuoa, man,
it is it's hard.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
I remember the first time.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
I got hurt when I broke my radius bone playing
against the cults, and I'm obviously I'm a grown ass
man at that point, but my mother's words was, We're
just you know what, No, that's it, Nick, And I'm thinking, like,
wait a minute, I'm your kid, but I'm a grown
ass man. You can't tell me what to do. If
(12:54):
I'm gonna go back out there and play, I'm gonna
go back out there and play and Tua said it himself,
because you're like, look, you.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Can slip in the bathroom, you can trip down some stairs, right,
anything like that can happen, And all of those things
are true. So the idea is that if I am
going to.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Go out going out on my own time.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
I'm going out on my own terms.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
And I cannot because I've been in this situation that
Tour finds himself in. I can't say to him, don't
do it, because hell, I did it.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
The same, you know, like I respect that he has
to do it. And it still makes me hold my
breath and say, man, I wish somebody talk him out
of it, because like there and it's I know, we
got a head break here a second, because there's an inevitability.
I've seen it. I've seen it on my side of
the fence. I've seen it on your side the fence.
We talk about guys, you know, getting hurt and that
kind of stuff. I've seen on my side of the
(13:45):
fence with the armies, like guys going back for tours
and at some point you're just asking for it, And
I worry. I have the wisdom now of having been
through enough life that I could look at that and
say you're asking for it, you know, and he as
a man for making that decision, and it is your decision,
and I in no way belonging that decision making matrix.
(14:08):
But I look at that and my heart breaks because
I'm like, man, you're asking for it.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Maybe for him once again, he's willing to pay the toll.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
For what he is doing. And people may not like it.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I may not like it, but I understand it, and
that's probably understand And that's probably I think where we
leave it at the end of the day, like we
but we hate it, but we understand it, understand it.
Someone nine says, and my bleep jumped out of perfectly
good airplanes too.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Yes, fair enough, I am not doing.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
It fair enough, fair enough. The anal one says, I
wish I could play football again too, the one.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Remember yesterday I said I was gonna make you guys
something so my favorite TV food, so my favorite TV show.
They go to the Cinemon Festival of Cinnamon Pie. He
got me the rest of the recipe for pie. Yeah,
he got me the recipe from the cinnamon pie thing.
I'm gonna make that for you guys. That's gonna happen
at some point early next week. We gott hit a break.
Ryan Michael will come back. Bro Have you ever tried
carrot cake? Welcome back to it, Broncos Country Tonight, Benjamin
(15:11):
ol Briden, Nick Ferguson.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Grant Smith here with you.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Thanks to Steve Atwar for joining us in the first hours. Always,
if you miss any part of Broncos Country Tonight, you
can get a Broncos Country Tonight comslag podcast or re
Reach podcast, Apple, it Tunes, Spotify, totally free and awesome
my Heart Radio app. Or you can also get to
take It for Granted App podcast. Ecuse me? They need
to take it for granted app, but you get When
is the new episode dropping tomorrow? Ken Solomon? Yeah, Rocky
(15:36):
for the Nuggets for thirty three years.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
I am.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
I am looking forward to this, looking forward to all
the stories that he can tell from behind the fur.
He's got some good ones he does. Let's go right
in to Kay commasp the hotline though, and bring on
our guy, Ryan Michael. At you, Ryan Michael on the
Twitter machine, Ryan, how you doing this evening?
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I'm pretty excited, Ben after our win on Thursday night,
So excited about this upcoming in terms of a stretch
of two games, it can't be too much more excited
than a very winnable game coming on Sunday, So looking
forward to talking about it.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Can I do say that, of course if we lose
that how devastated and disappointed will we all be if
we lose to the Carolina Panthers. Now that we've hyped
that up, but we're gonna, We're gonna, We're just sm
move past that for now and just pretend that it's
continue to say that it's a very winnable game before
I get into it. Did you I don't know if
I've asked you this before? And now? Have you ever
watched the TV show Psyche?
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Oh? Yeah, of course, It's been a good probably fifteen
years since I've seen an episode.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
But yeah, okay, well it is a cinematic masterpiece that
it is great to show of all time. Whatever. Yeah,
I loosely based my life on the character of Sean. I.
I was trying to tell the guys I was gonna
make them some food. I remember how the discussion came
up last night that they didn't, you know, believe I
cook or whatever, And I do enjoy cooking so I'm
gonna make them from the Cinnamon Festival episode, the cinnamon
(16:51):
pie from that episode. So that's that's gonna be something
that's on the docket for next week. And one of
the listeners actually got me the recipe.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
I have no idea what episode you're referencing, but it
sounds good.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
It's a Twin Peaks spoof Dual Spires. But all right, anyway,
let's get right into it here a little bit. I
talked about this Broncos defense during training camp to precincts.
I said, they're going to sneak up all people that
go to surprise people. It's going to be a very
good defense. I may have undersold. According to your chart
on Twitter, am I correct in saying that this year's
defense might be the best pass defense over the last decade,
(17:27):
even better than the No Fly Zone.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Statistically speaking, yes, And when I dig into the numbers,
and I'll get to that in a minute, it's actually
even more impressive than the wrong numbers. So what I
did in my chart is I charted all of our
pass defenses over the last ten years, so including this year,
dating back to our Super Bowl championship year in twenty fifteen,
and I ranked them by adjusted net yards per attempt
(17:51):
on defense, so that's factoring in completion percentage, yards for
passing a tech touchdown, passes, interceptions, and sacks. It's a
pretty good un puppetting metric. And so far our adjusted
net yards for a Kent mark this season is four
point two, So if you look to the chart, our
lowest mark over the previous ten years was four point four.
(18:12):
By the twenty sixteen squad was actually slightly better than
the four point seven that we put up our Super
Bowl Championship winning year. We've been dominant in the statistic
forring number of years, second and twenty fifteen, number one
in the NFL in twenty sixteen, third of the NFL
in twenty twenty two. We dropped all the way down
to twenty eighth last year, and now we're back up
(18:33):
to second place this year. And I also threw in
just for fun, where we rank as far as quarterback
hits and pass defensive exp which is expected points added
per Pro Football Reference. We're number one in the league
in both two of those categories. So you know, depending
on the statistic of measure you're choosing, you're certainly an
argument to be made. This is the best we've seen
over the last decade.
Speaker 6 (18:53):
So, Ryan, why do you think the Broncos are playing
better this year defensively opposed to how they played defensively
last year. Last year, to be fair, they did have
their moments where they play well.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
As a group, they.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
Did, and I think it's a combination of scheme, personnel,
and just having another year under the belt for Van
Stosi to really implement and run this defense the way
he likes to. You know, obviously it's going to be
impossible to run away from the comparisons to the twenty
fifteen squad. We don't quite have the personnel that we
fielded in twenty fifteen, and for that reason that I
(19:31):
can make the argument that I'm even more impressed with
what we're able to do. Obviously, pats Otan's the best
corner in the league. I've been saying that since the summer,
and even with him out on Thursday night, granted it
was against a very beat up New Orleans team, but
we didn't miss a beat. So this defense has been
so dominant that if you break down the quarterbacks that
we face, and they share with you some numbers that
(19:53):
to me make what we've been able to do all
the more impressive in the season opener Gina Smith is
the NFL's leading We held them one hundred and seventy
one yards. He's been averaging three hundred and two point
three passing yards per game in all of the other games.
What kind of difference is that if you take that
pace and you spread it over seventeen games, it's the
difference between twenty nine hundred and seven passing yards a year,
(20:16):
which would be nineteen seventies numbers, or in terms of
what he's averaging outside of the games against Denver, fivey
one hundred and forty yards. Baker Mayfield leads the NFL
with eighteen touchdown passes. We held him to one. He's
turned seventeen and the other six games. That's almost three
touchdown passes per game. And even more impressive, the Buccaneers
collectively as the team we held them to seven, They've
(20:36):
scored two hundred and two points in the other six teams.
That's thirty three point seven points per game we held
them to seven. You know, the numbers in the rankings
speak for themselves, but when you dig into the context
of who we've been facing and just how well we've
been playing. I'd make the argument there even better than
the Ron numbers.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Well, that certainly is oppressed. They're talking to Ryan Michael
at v Ryan Michael on Twitter. How much of the
credit goes to Vance Joseph for turning the thing around?
And I want to tack on Jim Leonard as well,
because that addition seems to have really helped with the secondary.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Unquestionably, and for me, it's one thing if you have
an established culture of excellence and something that we tind
to take for granted. Nick, I'm sure you can relate
to that because of how dominant the defenses were the
years that you've played there. But I don't think people
fully appreciate just how much the team struggled last year
because we did have the bright spots, but at the
end of the day, we finished twenty seventh in points
(21:29):
per game, surrendered one of the lowest marks and franchise history.
We're third in the league right now. If this was
happening on the other side of the ball, it would
be the story of the NFL this year. For whatever reason,
we don't give defense the same amount of love that
we give offense, but clearly it has just as great
of an impact in terms of wins and losses because
we're sitting at four and three after going through some
(21:50):
fairly tough games with some pretty big upset wings. So
it's tough not to be jazzed about it.
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Ryan, I'm glad that you said that, because you're absolutely right,
and this where where we live to talk about the quarterback.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
Seldom do they give.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
The defense their props because the last time I check,
the saying is very true, defense wins championship. So with
that being said, looking at this lay of games that
the Broncos have coming up, they got the Panthers on Sunday,
they have Baltimore, they have Kansas City. Is this Broncos
team or can this team actually be a playoff contender?
Speaker 4 (22:30):
It's certainly possible. So again, you know, Ben, we don't
want to take for granted the game against Carolina. It's
the NFL. Any given Sunday, anything can happen. But let's
say we do beat the Panthers, we advance to five
and three. That's when we get into the meat and
potatoes of the schedule. It's going to be very very
difficult upcoming. But if you look at the schedule as
a whole, there are a number of winnable games. Atlanta
(22:50):
has a winning record, but they're twenty second in points
per games surrendered, only fifteenth in scoring. That's a winnable game.
The Raiders is a winnable game, the Browns and the Colts.
You know, if we want all of those games, that
would get us to nine. If we pull another upset,
maybe take one from Kansas City, that would be ten.
So looking at the schedule as it is, and this
is provided that we take care of business against Carolina,
(23:12):
I would say that seven to eight wins would be conservative,
and that's of course exceeding the expectations. Right with five
and a half, we're going to move past that, and
I would say, on the optimistic side, it's possible you
could get nine and ten and possibly squeak into the postseason.
What we would do there certainly remains to be seen.
And I agree with what Ben's expressed in terms of
the upcoming schedule. Even if we don't win our games
(23:35):
against Kansas City and Baltimore, I'm going to be paying
very close attention to how we can be because if
we get blown out, that's going to be a sign
of things to come. But if we're competitive, I think
we can carry that momentum even to defeat to pick
up some late regular season wins.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Well, in order to even be competitive or get those wins,
we're going to need to see quite a bit out
of bo Nicks. We're seven games into his NFL career.
What do you make of the rookie quarterback so far?
Speaker 4 (24:00):
You know, statistically, then it's obviously a disappointment relative to
my preseason projections. There's no running away for that. But
when you're looking at a seven game sample size, it's
important to know that any number of games that are
really bad can exkew the efficiency. So you look to
the extreme low safetyguards per attempt. He only average three
point three versus Seattle, a future two point four against
(24:22):
the Jets, you know, completed forty eight percent of his
passes against the Jets. Those are the kind of things
then that statistically will kill your season efficiency marks. So
the overall row numbers are not pretty. On the foot
side of the coin, there are the hinds. Right, we expected, though,
to be a quarterback who was difficult to sack. I
don't know if we expected his sack percentage to be
(24:42):
this good at three point eighty six percent, he's fourth
in the league, but he's number one in the NFL
once quarterbacks who have thrown two hundred or more passes.
He threw four pins in his first two games, sure,
but then one interception over the next five. So right
now we're having a guy who with his legs, I
think we all three of us can agree he's exceeding
expectations there. And maybe you're the only person who had
(25:05):
the hope to see and as good of a dual
threat as he's been, But in my view, he's exceeding
expectations on the grounds. He's virtually impossible to sack, which
is also certainly a credit to the offensive line, and
over the last five weeks he's been almost impossible to intercept.
He's caught some breaks, so you look at just the
one interception over the five that could have been a
few thrown in there. But overall, there's a clean, a
(25:27):
clean play of football that we've seen over the last
five games. And if that's a sign of things to come,
I think Broncos country has something to be excited about.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
What do you make of what we saw last Thursday?
Speaker 6 (25:38):
And what I mean by that to put it in context,
we saw some things that both Nicks in office was
running that we have been seeing this year or we
didn't even see last year, but Russell Wilson. But it
made the offense a little more creative and it also
open up the field for both to make play. So
once again, I mean, what did you see or what
(26:00):
do you think led to that kind of creativity that
we haven't seen around here?
Speaker 4 (26:05):
And while well, he's he's explosive, a different style of
runner than Tim Tebow, But imagine if Tim Tebow had
the pass accuracy to complete some difficult passes. Brow is
a lot more explosive than I think people gave him
credit for. In his second to last year of college football,
he led all of the NCAA in terms of the
(26:26):
quarterback position of Russian touchdowns. To believe he had fourteen.
So we shouldn't be as shocked as we are to
see that he leaves the league in rushing touchdown. So far,
he leads the league, rather lead the Broncos in rushing touchdowns.
For three He's averaged five point four yards per carry
that's number one on the team. His success percentage running
is fifty five point three percent that's the best on
the team, So certainly it's going to open up paints
(26:48):
for the passing game. It's really the passing game where
we need to see him develop. So as great as
it is to see that he's avoiding shacks and avoiding picks,
at some point he's going to have to put the
team on his shoulders, the defensive dominant as what we've
had at Swardson. The luxury of not having to do that.
Think of what Mark Sanche has got to work with
in his first two years in the league. And I
(27:08):
certainly hope that Bow ends up a better quarterback than
Mark Sanchez. But what's going to happen when he has
to throw a thirty five to forty times a game
and actually carry the team remains to be seen. Because
it wasn't pretty at the beginning of the year when
he was throwing.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
One designed quarterback keep running left side, it's.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
A block from Polls Nick is free instead of twenty
five to twenty. He stumbles, he's inside of ten, He's
hit from behind and knocked to the turf inside the five.
That was a designed run and a run of thirty
three yards for Bow.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Knicks always love Dave Logan on the Call, their Bodix
on the Scramble, talking with Ryan Michael at the Ryan
Michael on Twitter contributed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Assuming the Broncos do beat Carolinas, we kind of expect
do they have a realistic shot at competing for a
playoff spot?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
I think it's possible. Obviously, it's going to depend completely
upon how the other teams in the AFC play, and
the AFC is obviously a tough conference to be a
part of. So I think as Bronco's fans, we should
temper our expectations because at four and three were already
exceeding them. If we're fortunate enough to win that fifth
game next week, we would continue to be exceeding that.
And you know, the Panthers defense is dead last in
(28:16):
the NFL. They're giving up thirty four point seven points
per game, and they're just atrocious through the air and
on the ground. The average passer rating against that Panthers
defense is one hundred and eleven point eight. They're also
dead last in the league and rushing yards in rushing
touchdown surrendered to giving up one sixty two point one
yards in thirteen rushing touchdowns, so whether Bose beating them
(28:37):
with his arms or his legs, this might be an
opportunity if we put some points on the board early
in the game for him to cast his limits and
kind of see what he can do in a little
bit more of a comfortable atmosphere. Playoffs, it's possible. The
old cliche taking it one week at a time, I
think needs to be our mentality.
Speaker 5 (28:54):
What do you think about what we saw last Thursday?
Speaker 6 (28:57):
Because I like to go back to that because Williams
and he's been really criticized early on the early part
of the season because most people didn't think that he
was bouncing back the way they want him to. And
you go back to that Jets game and Ben and
I sat there and once that Jets game and it
looked like Tayler the day was going to be the guy,
(29:18):
but he was moved out. Javonte is getting more carries.
Do you think that this part of the game for
the Broncos and how they ran against the Saints, do
you think that is sustainable?
Speaker 4 (29:30):
You know, we put up two hundred and twenty five
rushing yards against the Saints, so you certainly can't expect
that every week. Your quarterback is not going to run
for seventy five yards himself every week. But Savante had
a heck of a game eighty eight yards on the ground,
two touchdowns that he caught all three of the passes
that were sure on his way. So you know, those
are lofty expectations, neck But I think as Jervonte continues
(29:50):
to return to one hundred percent house and get his
feet wet, and as we can balance what we're doing
between the rushing and the passing game, which bo is
evolving as a passer going to open up to run,
So we just have to continue to play complimentary football.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Were Ryan, We're almost at the midway point in the
season here, What's been your biggest surprise, What's been your
biggest disappointment thus far?
Speaker 4 (30:13):
That's a tough one. I mean, I would say the
biggest disappointment for me would be the lows they bone
they hit early in the year. I didn't expect seeing that.
And you know, for all of the positives that I'm mentioning,
they're not necessarily the positives that I was expecting, certainly
production on the ground, So it's kind of a mixed bag.
When I take a look at where he is seven
games into his NFL career. You know, as far as
(30:35):
the disappointment, I would say that I wish that we
got more production in terms of yards after the catch
and yards after contact from some of our receivers. I
understand our offenses and structure to be that kind of animal,
but at the same time, I don't see our receivers
making a kind of plays after the ball is in
their hands. So I think there's a room to improve
in that regard. And part of that's on the quarterback too.
(30:56):
I mean, if you're a see it and throw it
kind of guy, not really facilitating yards after the cash opportunity.
So it's really just a matter of you know, working
out there's kings and flushing out the offense to be
more of a balanced animal as the season goes on.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Ryan, we we appreciate the time has always got to
hit a break here, man, But looking forward to what
you're cooking up for us after this hopeful Panthers victory.
Victory over the Panthers, I should say, Ryan Michael, let
you Ryan Michael on Twitter contributor. It's the Pro Football
Hall of Fame always deep diving into the data.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
For us when we come back.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
The NBA season has tipped off. We can't get our
hands dirty. I wonder if coach is celebrating Tonight Rocous Country,
Tonight k Wait
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