11-07-24 Hour 1 of Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to it, Broncos Country Tonight, Benjamin Albright, Grant Smith

(00:04):
Man the Myth the Mustache. Nick Ferguson's sticking around. Grant
Smith we got you for the whole show. Nick, here,
you're locked in here now I kert I got you.
It's like the scene from Watchman. I'm not locked in
here with you, locked in here with me.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yes, five six six zeros a tech side. You guys
will get involved in the conversation.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
The nine seven ER's starting off strong with asking if
they drug test anyone at the station.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
I'm not sure what that's in relation to, but good
to know what.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
No, No, they don't.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
It's fantastic they can have to do one when you
first get on here. And that's about it. What do
you think I was doing all day? Playing call of duty?
Right at a little weather. It's supposed to be weather
tomorrow as well.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
By the way, for those interested, the Veterans Day Parade
is gonna be canceled on Saturday due to the weather.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
That wont everybody stays safe.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
I got the nuification today, so I will not be
m seeing that this year. That'll be next year, apparently,
will they not be schedule that I don't know yet.
There's not any firm plans to reschedule it at this point,
so right now that is not going to occur on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
So just a heads up for everybody on that one.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
Broncos.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
The Chiefs.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Coming off that big loss to Baltimore, by the way,
playing a night I guess the Cincinnati Bengals, but we
get the Chiefs up next, and everybody seems to have that.
I bump into They're like, yeah, I mean, can't say
it probably beat this, But there's sort of an upbeat optimism.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Going around the Denver market.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
As I sort of, you know, talk to people, this
is It's fascinating to me because I would think in
years past it's been just a pessimistic.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Orful the Chiefs. We're about to get boat raised.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
That's not really the attitude, even coming off the big
loss to Baltimore. And maybe I'm just in my own bubble,
but the people that I've been talking to are fairly
optimistic about this game.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
Ben.

Speaker 5 (01:53):
I can understand why, because even though the Chiefs are
the remaining undefeated team in the NFO, it's not like
they have been blowing out their opponents a lot of
the games have been so closed where there are a
lot of analysts who have looked at Patrick Mahomes and said, well,
he's not the.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Same person, right, And I get it.

Speaker 5 (02:15):
I understand because they are not scoring as many points
as they once did. And when you look at a
street because everyone always talks about a win streak, the
other streak that I don't think we talk about.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
That much was Patrick.

Speaker 5 (02:27):
Mahomes coming into the Broncos game like his streak of interceptions,
like last week against Tampa Bay.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
He broke that streak by not turn the ball over.

Speaker 5 (02:35):
And I think that's why so many individuals are so
optimistic because he has turned the ball over before and
he was healthy when he did that. Now he's got
somewhat of a twinge.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
With the ankle. Can he really step into his throes?

Speaker 5 (02:51):
And also known as though the field is going to
be a little soggy because there's a college game that's
going to be played on the field before Sundy's matchup.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Wonder what the legal medical difference is between a tweak
and a twinge.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Maybe the rate of pain. I think that's what it is.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
I think that they've got a decent shot. Kansas City
is a good team. The key to that is going
to be get out to a league on Kansas City
and then don't give it up. You know, you can't
hang around and do sort of what Tampa did in
that game, which you hang around and play for overtime
with them, like you just can't.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
They are a team that they know how to win.
They've known how to win for years.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
That team has confidence in themselves that they're going to
go into overtime or in any situation and get it done.
They're the best team in the league on third down,
the best team in the league in the fourth quarter.
They're one of those teams that you've got to get
out to a lead and play a full four quarters against.
You can't get caught slipping, can't loaf. I can't be
picking daisies out there right field during during one plate appearance.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
You know what I'm talking about, Grant Smith.

Speaker 5 (03:52):
You talk about picking daisies. I look at it as
chase a butterfly.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, you know, you know everybody knows what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
It the kids that was terrible to you stuck out
right field because that's what they were doing all game.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well, here's the thing with the Broncos.

Speaker 5 (04:05):
There's no such thing as a perfect game, So don't
try to play a perfect game because you put yourself
in tough situations. What you go out and do is
you go out and play with the idea that something
is going to go wrong. It's inevitable when you play
the Chiefs, and when you are playing the Chiefs, especially
at arrow Hit, you're not just competing against the fans.

(04:28):
You're not just competing against the Chiefs. You are competing
against the Zebras. And the Zebras I'm referring to, are
the officials.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Hold on, do we have our conspiracy X files theme
music on standby?

Speaker 5 (04:39):
Well, that's not a conspiracy. That's that's real. That's that's
the real thing.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
They have not had the most calls go for the
in fact, the one of the least. They don't want
to use the least calls.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Now, if you want to say situational calls, we can
get into that, but they're one of the teams that
has the least calls.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Go there.

Speaker 5 (04:53):
Well, well, you refer to it any way you want
to to make you feel better about it.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
But here's what I know.

Speaker 5 (05:00):
In the fourth quarter, the Chiefs don't have a lot
of flags thrown on them.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
Now call it ten four a hat theory.

Speaker 5 (05:09):
I'm just saying something looks early suspicious about this situation that.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Makes Nick the loan gun all three of them. He's
all three of the loan gunmen in this situation. As
you can tell, I watched the Xbox way too much.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
I mean, there are going to be things that go wrong.
You have to accept that. Coming into it.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
You have to accept that you're probably not going to
get the breaks because it is Pat Mahomes, it is
the Chiefs, you know, it is all that. So you
almost have to play that sort of perfect game. And
how do you how do you go into that? I'm
sure over the course of your career you played undefeated teams.
How did you go into that? Like, Hey, how are
we going to knock them off? How are we going
to get that first l in their column?

Speaker 5 (05:45):
Well, the first thing you have to do is say, well,
you're going to be the team that gives them the
first L. If you go in there thinking about the
news clippings and how great everyone's told them they are
and how you should fear them, guess what you've already
lost right before you even stepped into the stadium. So
you have to say, well, you know what, it's not
just that the fact that we have to play them. Hell,

(06:08):
they have to play us too, so we have to
make sure every single possession that they feel you, especially
from a defensive standpoint.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
You give them a speech from remember the Titans.

Speaker 5 (06:18):
No, I don't give them, No, I don't I don't
give them that. I just tell them, look, man, we
know what this game is about. If you want to
get to where you need to get to, this is
the measuring stick and you have to get over Kansas
City consistently. You just get like like you can't just
beat them once, like last year the Broncos beat them twice.

(06:42):
Should have beat them twice. But this is the measurestick.
So you have to go out there and let them know. Hey, listen,
we're a young team right now with a young quarterback,
but we are nipping at your heels right and we
know you and Baltimore Buffalo the measures stick. We want
to let you know that we're a couple of players
away and we can play in the same sandbox as you.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Seventy two says's kind of hard for a referee to
throw a flag at.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
The Chiefs when the referees are being paid by the Chiefs.
I don't know if you guys have seen those new
referee uniforms that they've got their red and white with
a yellow kind of trim to them.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
For now, I don't know why they're changing color schemes, but.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
Yeah, they look like McDonald's uniforms.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
That's exactly what they Yes, yeah, but I mean, you
have to play your get You can't worry about that.
You can't worry about the referee. Just play your games.
Don't get the referees reason to pull a flag.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Don't don't give them. Don't give them a reason to
pull it.

Speaker 5 (07:29):
Well, once again, you can't be in a game where
you say, well, if somebody doesn't go right, you blame
it on the refs.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Take it out of their hands.

Speaker 5 (07:37):
That you already know they're going to either make calls
in your favor or they're.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Not gonna make calls. So go in the game.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Knowing that already you in a hostile environment.

Speaker 5 (07:47):
And the Chiefs say, hey, no like for the NFL,
it bows well for them when the Chiefs are undefeated,
because the conversation continues is to build every single game,
you build it up. So the ideas you can go
in and you can make a little history, little franchise
history by knocking them off, just like the Nuggets knocked
off OKC. And okay, see they were undefeated. So the

(08:10):
Broncos should take that mentality. Why not us?

Speaker 3 (08:14):
Why can't we be that team you know last week?

Speaker 5 (08:18):
Okay, if we want to say it was a nomin
leagues or you or whatever, fluke, but you know you
have quality, coaching, quality playing go out and play great defense.
Now you just need some contributions from your offense where
no one's jumping off sides, there's not a holding in
a critical situation on an exposed to play or a touchdown,
and you can have an opportunity to win. Because the

(08:39):
Bucks went in to kcok took them to wire to
wire and they were without two of their top wilde
receivers were So you're telling me that the Broncos don't
stand a chance get out of here.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
I don't know about those says yes, I mean, I'm
like I said, everybody seems to be fairly optimistic.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
I wanted to touch on that Nuggets thing.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
It's what's going to transition to So I'm glad you brought
it up, coming in there and knock it off an
undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder team. It's that was playing pretty well.
That the Nuggets played lights out last night despite not
having Aaron Gordon Peyton Watson stepped into the lineup ten points,
three blocks that were that were pretty huge. They didn't
really get much from the bench Strawthor nine points, six assists,

(09:17):
five boards, but you get two points out of Tyson,
three points out of Nausey and that was it. They
didn't have Jamal Murray played and Russell Westbrook out there starting,
and Russell thirty two minutes dropped the twenty nine bomb
on him with six and six.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
This Nuggets team, I'm not sure.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
And I hate to say that because Russ Westbrook's been
playing a long time and I don't want to disrespect
Jamal Murray here. I'm not sure they're not a better
team when the lineup consists of heavy Westbrook and nicolea Jokic.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
Right now, well, I'm going to say put.

Speaker 5 (09:45):
Some guard where rails on what you're saying, hit the
brakes real, Yeah, the emergency break the green.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Machine to break fluid, and it's not.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
It's not working.

Speaker 5 (09:55):
But yes, of course, this is what you won if
you coach Malone. You want for all the young guys
and Russell Westbrook to maximize his time to develop that chemistry,
get guys comfortable with making outside shots, Russ get comfortable
with shooting three pointers, as he did in the game
last night. Because once you get back Aaron Gordon, you

(10:16):
get back Jumal Murray. It definitely changes things as far
as what you can do to manipulate your lineup if
you are coach Malone. So you never want anyone to
get injured. But this is the best time for the
Nuggets younger players to get extended minutes where their confidence
starts to build.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
What did you think of them not going deep into
the bench.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
I mean, no, you got ten minutes, Tyson got eighteen,
strawtherer got twenty seven. So it's really a six man
rotation basically all night, with some sprinkling minutes.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
From Tyson and Naji.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
What did you think about them not really going into
the bench, No, Sarach, you know they didn't need to
put DeAndre Jordan out there. I guess I would have
liked to see maybe a little tre Alexander Spencer Jones
in a game like that, but I guess it was
more important to win close and they didn't really have
the opportunity.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
Well, for me, I would have loved to see coach
Blong take advantage of the situation to go deep into
his bench. But I understand why because putting this type
of pressure on the guys who are playing and play
at extended minutes, now you've really see what you have, right.
You check guys conditioning level, you check their I guess

(11:24):
consistency in the chemistry level. So and you also throw
in production, right, So yeah, I mean, like think about it.
Strather hit a three point in the fourth quarter, and
he's viewed as being that type of guy, and this
is where the Nuggets need as far as perimeter shooting.
It was great for him to see the ball go
through the cup. Jamal was great, MPJ had his moments,

(11:47):
Nikola Jokic, I.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
Mean sixteen assists, yes, and Christian Brown.

Speaker 5 (11:54):
So now you're putting stress on your players, and sometimes
you don't really know what thresholds that you can push through,
ben unless you put through pressure.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, they certainly rose to the occasion last night and
getting that win. Shi Gilgas Alexander twenty eight points, six assists,
twenty nine points for Jalen Williams, the hand thirteen off
the bench for a wigins from them as.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
Well, but they just weren't able to put it away
at the end.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Some of that seemed like Shi in the fourth quarter
just just didn't seem like himself.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
I don't know how much they gave you watch just
didn't seem like himself.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
But you know, the Nuggets really kind of took over
there at about three minutes left, give or take in
the fourth quarter and just never look back.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
No, they didn't. And see you talk about Sga for
a second.

Speaker 5 (12:43):
That dude can get to any spot on the floor
no matter who's guarding him. He knows how to play
through contact. And maybe I'm thinking exhaustion was somewhat of
a problem because the Nuggets were down by sixteen, and
with great defensive effort and three point shooting, they were

(13:04):
able to climb their way back in. And that put
a lot of pressure on Sga because it seemed like
he went into his James hardenbag because it seemed like
it was a lot of ISO plays. But on the
last play to steal the game, great defense by Russ,
he got passed Russell Ludo at the end, but Peyton
Watson came over, he got his hand in the way
and onto the shot.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Chai had made himself last three games three of ten
from the field for the last three games combined for him,
and normally he's a volume three point shooter from then.
He did have a bad game a couple of games
ago against the Spurs, whre with two of ten from downtown.
Just really had been the same shooter from three points
since then. Maybe he'll rediscover that shot. We're fine that
he didn't do it obviously against the Nuggets, but I just.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
I don't know. I look at this lineup, but it
felt more fluid.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
I mean, I don't know if Jamal's been been dealing
with injuries and all that kind of stuff, maybe that's
been holding back, but this felt more fluid.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
Watching Westbrook run the show, well, the reason it did
been because desper Race.

Speaker 5 (14:00):
She can do a lot to create a lot of
energy and somewhat of a spark, and this was something
when Rustbrook was acquired, I was like, yeah, I was
so much a fan of putting Russ in that starting lineup,
having you run, having Russ run the point I understand
that you needed some veteran offensive production on the second unit,

(14:23):
but you're seeing what the Nuggets offense could extend to
if Russ is playing the point and he's playing it
in a way where he's not turning the ball over
because understanding who Russ is, Ru's gonna give you a
lot of energy. He's gonna give you a lot of energy,
and sometimes that energy sometimes gets him in trouble because

(14:48):
Elevii shots or turning the ball over. Right now, as
of last night, it's working well. And I would love
to see what it looks like if Russ is in
a lineup as the starting point guard for the Nuggets.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, I again, I look at this and just look
more fluid. I want to see a little bit more
of it over the next couple of games.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
I'd like to see it and see if that is
indeed able to because right now, that's sort of what
the Nuggets are trying to do. Find out what works
for them, what wins for them. And you know, if
Russ is running things really well, does that make Jamal
Murray a trade candidate? Does that suddenly put you in
a situation where maybe you've got some fluidity and flexibility
to fill in some.

Speaker 5 (15:24):
Of the other spots by mom, come over, here s
your fast Yeah, come on over, Zugust magnet because I
want to see if I can shake you back into reality.
Hell no, Ben, just because Westbrook is playing well, you
don't have that process. You don't know, that's no. The
idea is looking at how the west is built with

(15:46):
so many competitive teams. You want as many guys as
you can, and this just builds up.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
The production arsenal.

Speaker 5 (15:55):
If you're coach Malone knowing as though you could switch
Tomal and you can switch Russell East, one of them
can give you points.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
So no, all right, Wow, you know I tried tried
to sneak that one in. I tried to. I try to,
you know, Morguson says Tray Jamal Murray. I tried to
Ryan Edwards and it didn't work.

Speaker 3 (16:11):
I mean sneak that one in.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
I mean Jamal Murray Tree. No, not a disjuncture.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
No, When they get Aaron Gordon back, it's gonna be
fascinating to see again how they readjust the lineup. But
it looked it looked pretty good with it when you know,
even with Murray and Gordon. Now looked pretty good. Maybe
that's a one game thing. Maybe that's something that you know,
time will tell uh as far.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
As that kind of stuff goes.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
With the Broncos adjusting some of this stuff, they maybe
adjusting the offensive line.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Look, Wattenberg is is reactivated his practice. Wow, do you
go back to Wattenburg or do you stick.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
With forsythe Because I'm gonna be honest that lines look
pretty good with Forsyth in there.

Speaker 5 (16:45):
Now, you stick with foresight until you force into the
situation where you have to change. And because that quarterback
center exchange is so important, because the center now is
considered to be.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
The offense line quarterback.

Speaker 5 (17:02):
Being able to set pressures help bow Wile in certain
situations help both guards out. So you don't make changes
just for the sake of making changes. If something is wrong,
then you do that. But right now, I don't see
and you tell me, have you seen any issues or
vulnerabilities and Foresight being in the center.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
I think he's looked better. I think the point of
attack there has held up better.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
I think he has better functional strength in Wattenburg, I
think you keep him in there.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, there you go, problem solved.

Speaker 1 (17:29):
But I'm just saying you know, I mean, yeah, you get, well,
he pipped a little bit if you're look Wattenburg, But
do you is that I mean, you know, thinking about that,
Whatburg was the starter to start the season.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
I mean, do you just bring him.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
Back and say, okay, you're the backup now you're just
waiting to reserve and you're the backup guard slash center
because that's what he's sort of beanned the last couple
of years.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
Yes, yes, and yes again.

Speaker 5 (17:49):
I know the ideas that a starter doesn't lose his
job to injury, but you need a little cohesiveness alone
that offensive line. And like you said, I mean you
got a guy in Wattenberg who could play at multitude
of different positions. Let him sit, let him hang tight.
If something doesn't go right on Sunday, then they pull
the trigger, put him in and see what happens.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
Yeah, I mean, at least you have that body there,
and Wanburg is capable of backing up all three positions,
both guards and the center.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
I mean, that really is what he does.

Speaker 1 (18:18):
I just you know, look at this thing that seems
to be something that's that's coming up.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
A decision has to be made there.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
But I think his teams look better with Forsyth, and
I think bo Knicks's look better with Forsyth in there.
I think the run game has looked better with Forsyth
in there. I think it just looks better with him
in there.

Speaker 5 (18:33):
You know, sometimes the best decision to.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
Make is no decision at all.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
Sometimes the best decisions to bring Peyton Manning back in
the middle of the game.

Speaker 3 (18:42):
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
Broncos Country to Night rolls out. After this.

Speaker 3 (18:46):
We got Kansas City.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
Coming up here, and the Broncos broke the streak.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
Last year, we were coming off of a rather large
loss to Baltimore, and as I was telling Nick in
the last segment, everybody I talked to this week seems
to have some sense of optimism about this despite coming
off a blowout loss and going up against undefeated Kansas City.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah. Maybe for a couple of reasons. This team seems
to be resilient. We've seen it already this season. They're young,
hungry football team. I think the defense certainly was embarrassed
last week in Baltimore, and I believe the defense is
way better than what we saw last week. So I

(19:26):
would expect the defense to bounce back and give a
really good effort this week. The problem is Kansas City
seems to be peaking. You know, this is kind of
how they do it. By mid season, things are coming
together for them. We look at that game Monday night
against Tampa. Kelsey had the best game of the year,

(19:47):
maybe one of the best games of his career, and
the addition of Hopkins looks like just what they needed.
That gives Kelsey more room to work. You can let
Worthy take the top off and d hop and Kelsey
work the middle part of the field. Kareem Hunt is

(20:09):
a banger. It's amazing. They got this guy off the
couch basically, and he's playing at a really high level.
But that being said, Ben, this could be a trap game,
and maybe that's why Broncos Country is feeling optimistic about it.
It's a game on a short week and they play
the Bills next week, one of their rivals, not that

(20:31):
we're not one of their rivals, but I think they
probably look at the Bills a little differently than the
Denver Broncos at this point. And Mahomes has that ankle injury,
which seems to be a nagging injury for him, hopefully
enough to slow him down. Take the mobility out of
his game. Even better, maybe take some of the zip
off of its pathes. Their secondaries beat up. Bow's getting

(20:54):
better every week, so there's some reasons to be optimistic.
I do feel like the Bronco those will keep the
game close. I think they'll cover, and who knows, if
it's close in the fourth quarter, anything can happen.

Speaker 2 (21:07):
Last year's game in Arrowhead was fairly close. The score.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
Final score was nineteen to eight, but you're talking about
a team that mostly held Harrison Butcker to a field
goals all game. In fact, it was sixteen to eight
with about two minutes to go for Butcker hit another
fifty two yard field goal put it out of rage.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
But you know, you look at this last year, Harrison.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
Bucker had four field goals and Pat Maholmes threw the
ball pretty well, mostly to Travis Kelcey and Rashie Rice.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Well Rice in there anymore. Pacheco's hurt.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
You talked about Kareem Hunt right there, But a lot
of the conditions that existed for this game Arrowhead last
year don't really exist this year. Russell Wilson through two
interceptions of that game, only ninety five yards passing obviously
we got bo Nicks.

Speaker 2 (21:46):
Now he's looking much improved throughout the month of October
and into November.

Speaker 4 (21:51):
Yeah, no doubt about that. I feel like this team
is better than the team they had last year in Bovix,
as you mentioned, getting better and that I think pretty
much every week. And you heard Spagnola, the defensive coordinator
from the Chiefs trolling flowers at bon Nicks. Man. He
said a lot of nice things about bon Nicks. Trent McDuffie,

(22:15):
their Pro Bowl cornerback, same thing. He said, he's a
good player, he's a good quarterback. So bon Nicks I
think is impressing people around the league, maybe even more
than he's impressing Broncos fans, because, as you know, doing
a nightly show, Broncos fans are kind of hot and
cold on him, and you know, it's kind of how

(22:37):
it is when you have a rookie quarterback. But I
feel like he is starting to figure it out. And
I do feel like Sean Payton is gaining more and
more confidence in him as he gains confidence, and you're
maybe going to see him open up the playbook a
little bit and see if they can get something done
here against the Chiefs. They have to be able to
run the ball. That's been so inconsistent pretty much all

(23:00):
season long, and I think it's time for Audric estimate
the rookie oft of Notre Dame. I mean, this is
a guy that said very few carries. Obviously he's put
the ball on the ground twice, we can't have that.
But when he does get a chance to carry the ball,
he breaks up, They chunks the yards. Seems like every
time he carries the ball seven yards right, ten yards.

(23:21):
So I would like to see a whole lot more
of him and maybe a little bit less of Javonte
in this game.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
Yeah, I think I'd like to see a little bit
of a pivot in terms of their roles, you know,
maybe estimate the early down guy, and Williams move into
more that p ryme role from last year where he's
in there later catching the ball out of backfield, that
kind of stuff. I'm with you there, Older Castame averaging
what six point three yards per attempt right now, that's
a that's the best runner on the teams, as Javante

(23:51):
is averaging what three point eight? Nick's five to one
in McLoughlin three nine, So not really staggeringly good numbers
from any of the running thus far.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
Why not give an estimated a shot.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
I do believe I'm with you on that that the
run game needs to be more consistent. That's just got
got to be in order to build everything else they
want to build off of it.

Speaker 2 (24:10):
And it's been hit or miss.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
The Broncos have beaten up on the teams they should
have on the ground game, but against the other the.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
Teams, the quality teams, it just hasn't.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
Quite been there. And I'm not sure if that's a
game plan issue. I'm not sure if that's you know,
just facing really good opposing defenses what that is.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
But that running game, You're right, it has not been consistent.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
Yeah, when you watch the game in real time from
the booth, you can see that there are holes there
and a lot of times the running back doesn't hit
the hole or he makes the wrong cut. I think
it could be a vision problem for maybe both of
the backs McLoughlin and Givonte. And I love what you
said about let's let estimate take a shot at first

(24:51):
and second down. Back brings Javonte in on third down.
He can keep the defense honest because they know we
can run the ball at times, he can all so
catch the ball out of the backfield. I do think
they missed shamaj ap Ryan, who you mentioned, and he's
been a good asset for the Kansas City Chiefs. He
was the guy that was the third down back that

(25:12):
was catching balls out of the backfield. McLaughlin maybe could
be that guy. I'm not sure, but so far it's
been Javonte, and I just feel like it's time for
a change. Tyler today. I don't know when he's coming
off the IR he showed a lot of promise. I
was real excited about that kid, and we may see
him again here before the season's over. But I think

(25:34):
we're going to see more estimate. Sean Payton hinted at
that this week, and that's good with me.

Speaker 1 (25:39):
I'm here for talking with Rick Lewis, color analyst to
the Denver Broncos. Rick a couple more questions here real quick.
Why are we throwing the ball to Little Jordan Humphrey
so much? With all due respect to Little Jordan Humphrey,
Little Jordan's probably a bottom end of the roster practice
quad type receiver anywhere else, and yet he winds up
with the third most targets for the Denver Broncos at
thirty two targets through nine games, and has not had

(26:01):
the production necessary to warrant those targets.

Speaker 4 (26:06):
Yeah, and it's been really frustrating. Two games in a row,
we've opened the game with a little Jordan Humphrey mistake,
and that's really hurts this team. You can't get off
to a fast start when that happens. When you look
at the snap count, you're right, little Jordan Humphrey is
wide receiver too in this offense most almost every team

(26:28):
in the NFL. I think he would probably be a
practice squad player. You know, he's a veteran player. He
does some things well, big body, wide receiver, he's a
willing blocker. But you know what, I've been scratching my
head about that the last couple of weeks too. I
would love to see them, you know, try to get
the ball to a playmaker. You know, Troy Franklin been

(26:50):
kind of hit and miss as well. Veley seems to
be a reliable receiver, but I don't think he's a
playmaking receiver, so I keep going back to Franklin. I
think we can all assume now that MEM's just not
going to be a big part of this offense.

Speaker 3 (27:06):
As he's been.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
Yeah, he said in the dog Outs that.

Speaker 4 (27:09):
Peers apparently, same thing with Greg Dolsich. Looks like he's
not going to get out of the doghouse. That's another
guy though, that can make plays for you. We saw
that his rookie year. He's got big tom talent. I
don't know what the problem is with him. He did
have some drops. He's not a good blocker, but you
know he was supposed to be that joker guy that

(27:30):
Sean Payton loves so much. Why don't you get him
a shot again. Let him dress up, you know, call
some plays for him. See what happens. You do have
some guys there that had the athletic ability to be playmakers,
but they're not really getting a chance to do it.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
Rick, You've got a benefit coming up for Alzheimer's here,
Roles so lemus tell us little bit about that.

Speaker 4 (27:51):
Yeah, Ben, thanks man. My band's going to be playing
a benefit for the Alzheimer's Association. It's going to be
November twenty, so that is two weeks from tomorrow. It'll
be at the Buffalo Rose Golden which is a really
cool historic venue and all the profits are going to
go to Alzheimer's. It's gonna be a great night. You

(28:13):
can get tickets at Buffaloosgolden dot com. You can buy
a table, you know, maybe your company would like to
buy a table or something. Like I said, a great
cause which is near and dear to my heart. And
I'm sure a lot of people listening have had to
deal with that horrible disease with somebody in their family
at some point as well. So two weeks from tomorrow night,

(28:36):
Buffalo Rose Golden Rick Lewis Project, come on out. We'll
have some fun and we'll raise some money.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
We're looking forward to a Rick always appreciates your time.
And that'll conclude our what the Funk segment with Rick Lewis.

Speaker 4 (28:48):
I love it? I love it? Man. Can you trademark
that or copyright that or something?

Speaker 2 (28:53):
We'll see. If we can't get that done, we'll get
our crack intern team on it. Right now, this.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
Could be our future band.

Speaker 5 (29:00):
This is it.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
It was the hatching of genius right now, this is it.

Speaker 4 (29:03):
I love it. I'm gonna talk to you next week.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
I'm about to take care Grand Smith out to a
fantastic Thursday evenings. The Bengals strike first against the Ravens,
going up seven nothing.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
What a weird touchdown drive that was. But I did
not actually see it. I just had the chance to
get the game.

Speaker 4 (29:20):
Well.

Speaker 6 (29:20):
I missed it too, because there was a fourth down
play where Joe Burrow was scrambling for his life and
then he threw it over the head I believe Chase
Brown and the end zone, and that was the fourth
down play, and then there was a flag throw and
then I looked back two minutes later and they had
a touchdown. So I'm not exactly sure what happened, but hey,
a lead's a lead.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
Lead is a lead.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
In that first quarter's got about two minutes left in
it with the Ravens driving.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
We'll keep an eye on that throughout the show. I
do believe that Rick is right.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
We've got to have the youth movement continue to push
forward here. We've got to get guys like audricst to
may more chances with the football.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
The run game is been in consistent in the the.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
Usage of Javante feels like it could be slightly different.
You could you could sort of phase him into that
samaj roll from last year and go from there. And
that's not to say that you want to completely turn
down Javonte Williams. You just want to put him in
a role that better fits his skill set, and I
think estimate on early downs better fits his skill set.
Julio McLoughlin largely been a bit of a disappointment this

(30:23):
year is he's not been able to really kind of
get it going. I think inconsistent usage, things like that
he's got fifty three carries two hundred eight yards out
of touchdown and that one touchdown he did shake somebody
out of their boots and head to the corner.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
That was Tampa.

Speaker 6 (30:35):
But don't you feel like it's just I don't know,
just from my perspective, that seems like it's too obvious
what's going to happen when Julio comes into the game.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
Well yeah, I mean, you're not going to leave him
back there to pass. But this is like when Phil
Lindsay was back there running. You knew what was going
to happen. It was either, you.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
Know, if Lindsay either going to be out in a
route or they're gonna be running the ball. And they
don't want him out in route too much because there's
that means you're empty backfield. You got nobody back there
to you know, the garter content, so I you know, yeah,
it does sort of tip your head a little bit
when you put him out there.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
But we've seen Sean Payton put backs out there that
aren't really wired for pass protection.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Darren Sproles was a guy that had play success, you know,
for Sean Payton there in New Orleans, the Reggie Bush.
Although they used him a little bit better. They put
him out the slot at receivers. Sometimes in the ways
they use them something, We've seen backs that aren't really
geared for, you know, being specifically in there to either
pass protect or do things succeed in that offense before.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
See, that's where I'd like to see Jalil used more.

Speaker 6 (31:35):
And I don't know if they just don't trust his
hands enough or what to put him out in that
slot position. Run a little you know, slot receiver screen
or some wheel routes out of the slot route, or
even a five yard out you know, like when he
gets his hands on the ball in open space, he's dangerous,
So why not put him in as many possible opportunities
to be out in space.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
I'm here with it, or you can even use him
as dummy guy, you know, line him up out why
as a receiver, or show a screen out there and
then go to the other side, you know, on of
the play. I think there's there's plenty of opportunity or
things that you can do to sort of, you know,
sort of gear toward that.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
I guess we'll see.

Speaker 1 (32:12):
We do have Alice Gold coming up here in the
next segment, give us a little preview of the Kansas
City Chiefs as the Broncos headed into Arrowhead on Sunday.
Of course, Grant Smith and I'll be picking games a
little bit later on in the show tomorrow be on
with KO Sports in the afternoon as we've got to
see you men's basketball tomorrow night covered start at six thirty,

(32:34):
tip at seven right between the right here on KO.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
We need that we need Mark to record some drops
just just for those kinds of things, just for that,
like a hypeboard that we can use break we come back,
Alan's Gold will join us right here on KOA