Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and thank you for joining us here on broncos
(00:02):
Country tonight. I am film Alani filling in for Benjamin
alright here in the studio with two of my close
friends here, Nick Ferguson. What's going on? Nick, how are
you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's going on? Oh?
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
It's an exciting time here in broncos Cot playoffs Okay?
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And also mister Hoff here, what is Steve?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What does it do? Field? Bee?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Man?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I feel glad you're here. How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm happy to be here too. This is an exciting time.
I mean, we're talking about playoff game playoffs, playoffs for
the first time since twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, it's good. Yes, it's a long time.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
It's a minute, been a minute. I'm so happy for
the guys though. I mean they've been putting his work
in ever since the offseason this his last season ended.
They were thinking about this point and wanting to get here,
and they're here.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
And after the game they all knew, Hey, the media Vegas,
they all had them at five wins, five and a half.
They knew that coming into the year, and they started
carry that all the way through that. After they clinched
the playoffs, they were still talking about it.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, and yeah, you got to about Nicks.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
He made a little comment at the end of one
of his interviews just saying, yeah, yeah, everybody thought.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
We was just gonna win five. We almost doubled.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
That, so uh yeah, right, I said, for me, this
is kind of the first step in getting the organization
back to what the standard was like. When I came in,
Steve and the guys who went back to back they
had already set the standard. And for me, in order
to set the standard, you first have to get to
(01:44):
the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Right.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
That's the first leg of it, getting to.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
The playoffs, because you can't say, well, you're a playoff team.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
If you never get there, you could always talk about it, you.
Speaker 5 (01:53):
Can hope, you can wish, But now you've accomplished that.
And I know that there is different ways that individuals
here locally and nationally look at the game on Sunday
because they.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Look at it and say, well, you don't really.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Beat the real chiefs, Right they did.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
No, they didn't because they said they starts.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
But the whole idea is that you play who.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Is put in front of you, and and they dominated
the guys who were there exactly.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
And again here's here's to the Chiefs credit that they
played meaningful football in the month of December to get
to the point where they didn't really have to.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
So my question for you guys is how.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
Long do you think it will take the Denver Broncos
to get to that point after this tastes of the playoffs,
to a point where they are now sitting their starters
in the final week of the season.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
No, that's that's a good question, and we'll we'll see
really how how far we go this year, you know,
and then I think we'll be able to judge that.
But I think that this team has proven that they
can't play with some of the best team teams.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
In the league.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
They they've done that, you know, all throughout this year.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
They didn't have a great game against Baltimore, that's the
one team, and I guess the first game with the
Chargers wasn't great. But other than those games, I thought,
I thought we played well.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Against some some really good football teams.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
So I think that's the first part is showing that hey,
we do have the players. We do have some players.
Do we need more players, Yes, we definitely need some
more players. But then everybody knows. Hey, once once we
get off for me, underneath that the big amount that
we were paying out will.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Be for us. Yeah, yeah, we'll be able to have
a few more players.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
To me, it's all about like building blocks, Nick, Like
when I think about the growth of what Sean Payton's
trying to do here, Like last year they knocked off
the Chiefs and that ended that streak. So this year,
going into that game, nobody's talking about some streak that
was like check that box. Then this year they've done
so much, you know, winning season, make the playoffs, found
(04:05):
a franchise quarterback. That's those are some legitimate building blocks.
And the big one is the quarterback too. Well, yeah,
I mean that that is big. I'll talk more about
Bonix in just a little bit, but so those are
big building blocks. Next year, now it's okay, let's fill
in some of the depth here on this roster. Let's
(04:26):
add a tight end. Let's make the roster even that
much better. And then I think next year the goal's
got to be, Okay, let's try.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
And win the division.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
That's that's like the next step. And then hey, maybe
you're in position where you've got a first round by
maybe you're ready to make a playoff run where the
expectations are, Yeah, we made the playoffs, we were supposed
to do that. Now we want to make a run here.
That's sort of like the next steps to me.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
So I look at it like this, and I love
what you're saying about the steps. So I look at
it as Lincoln Logs versus the game of Jenga, right,
And the reason why I say Lincoln Logs because Lincoln
Logs you are actually building something, you're constructing it.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
If you ever played Jenga.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
You constructed and you pull one of those pigs out right, right.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
So the idea is that, no.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
We got to keep building because you don't want to
be like the Houston Texans. You know, like last year
he strout a great year's second year is like, oh
sophomore swamp, what happened?
Speaker 4 (05:24):
See that's the game with Jenga. See sign me up
in Lincoln Logs.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yes, right, keep building, Yeah, because with Boll, like I
think that everybody's sort of assumption is that he's just
going to keep getting better and better, and he's like
on this a Leaniar path. That's not necessarily the case
always with some of these quarterbacks where you know, you
got to take jumps here and keep getting better. And
it's not just a natural progression where he's definitely going
(05:51):
to be better next year. All the defenses around the
league have an entire year of tape on him. They're
going to start trying to figure out things that make
his life more difficult. He's gonna have to continue to
adjust his game get better and better and better, because
it's not just assuming that it's not done deal that
he's gonna be better next year just because he has
(06:11):
all this experience, He's got to take jumps.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Still.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
From listening to Oo talk and listening to the coach
of Stark, I think Bow understands that, yeah, he knows that, hey,
this this is just the start. He's got a lot
more work to put in. But still in this moment,
they got to take advantage of it because you just.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Never know if you're going to be back in this
position again.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
You still everybody gotta laid on the line just like, uh,
you know, just like they're the Chiefs, Like the Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Is gonna do.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, the Chief's gonna take each one of these games.
Here is now that the playoffs have started, the Brons
gotta do the same thing. They can't go into it
saying oh man, yeah, I know. You can't say that,
going like, hey man, we're doing everything we can to
win this football game, and we want to go as
deep as we can't. We want to go to the
super Bowl. But you don't want to talk about that
right now. You just want to talk about the Chiefs
(07:01):
right now. One to oher each week. That's got to
be the mindset.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
It's a one game playoffs, it's to a die.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
It's the one reason why when you look at the
game of football, I think that it is the best
professional sport that's out there because all these other leagues
they got like five game, seven games, series, no, no, no
one game, and any team can have are That's right.
So you you can take a team that is flying
under the radar that no one is thinking about, like
(07:31):
the Broncos go to Buffalo and shot them and become
a huge surprise because once again, did the Buffalo Bills
overlook the Denver Broncos thinking okay, well you just barely
got into the playoffs. We're not really looking at you,
We're looking at head, We're looking at Kansas City. Because
when you think about Josh Allen and the biggest threat
(07:52):
to his legacy, it's been Patrick Mahomes. He can't get
that acclaim that he feels as though he deserved and
he's earned until he's beat. The can't see diseased. I mean,
Rick Flair said the best. To be the best, you
got to beat the ball you do. That's where you know,
(08:13):
Josh Allen find themselves.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, I mean, the biggest threat to the Chiefs has
to be the Bills, right like, just on paper, it
was the Bengals, it was, but he took care of that.
They took care of.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You fully of Broncos ran.
Speaker 5 (08:31):
Now on the.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Bengals, they're not even in the playoffs in the Broncos country.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
You know, it's interesting, Steve, I'm curious what you think
about this because I think back to like, like that
Jacksonville team that beat you guys. The Broncos could kind
of be in that mold. They could be like Jacksonville
that year. That's a positive as a positive, FI, I'm
trying to flip it.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, but we want them to be we want them
to go further than Jacksonville. Okay, okay, but yeah, yeah, no,
I agree because it feels like the Broncs. They're playing
with house money this week. There's no expectations. Just go
out there, leave it on all on the line. There's
a sort of a sense of freedom when you're not
supposed to win, your big underdog. Just go out there
(09:22):
and play and see what happens.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
It is.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
You know, you can take a lot more chances, you know,
when you're calling plays because hey, nobody's nobody's giving us
a chance to win this game. From me from listen
to people talk if Buffalo's gonna do this, they're gonna
do it.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
We're gonna see if I'm Sean Payton, right.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
And it's funny you say that, Phil, because coach Payton's
been coaching his league for a long time. So there's
a book out on coach Payton. What do he likes
to do in the red zone? What do you like
to do in certain personnel groupings, what he likes to
do inside? You know, I guess coming out at the halftime,
what he needs to do is change his philosophy, be
(10:02):
a little more aggressive. All the tendencies that he had
at the beginning of the season, what he had with
the Drew Brees break all of those tendency because at
this point, yeah, people are watching film on you. They
gather film all along and we've seen over the duration
of the season, we've seen some subtle changes from Week
(10:24):
one against Seattle to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
And for me, I'm like Sean Payton, man put the
eagle to the side, right, you know, don't don't err
on the.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Side of caution, don't try to play conservative.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
You have nothing to lose.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
And all the pressure is on Buffalo, so be aggressive.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
To be aggressive.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Yeah, and like see if, like you were saying, you know,
anything can happen, say, the Broncos come out, get his
quick score, then the pressure starts to mount on Buffalo,
and then you're in a good spot if you're the Broncos.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, no, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
And both Nick's being a young quarterback, you know, being
in his first playoff game in the NFL. Hey, hopefully
he doesn't have prey, but I'm sure he probably has
some because I.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Remember, boy, I was we went to.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
The Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Whooa, I was nervous. Really, Oh yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
What'd you think? Yeah, like Sean this week said young
and dangerous, you know, a young team. They don't know
what they don't know.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
You know.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
It's sort of like that teenager they think they know everything.
There's nothing you know they can't do anybody else.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Gotta be careful about that because think about when we
were young, before you first started driving, right before you
had your first date. He was really nervous, and at
some point you still thought even though people were giving
me suggestions, you thought you knew everything, and somehow you
made a mistake. And then now you're looking back, Man,
I should have listened. So the whole idea of young
(11:53):
and hungry. I like the premise of it. It sounds
great because you can go out there and you think you.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Can play loose because you have no pressure on you.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
But at the same time, you don't have that end
game experience that Buffalo has. And if the game gets
tight at that particular point, that's where the rubber meets
to roll. And you said, well, does the pensulum swinging
more towards the Broncos or the or the Bills. I
think it might swing towards the Bill. Because Josh Allen
knows was at State you're hosting at home. Once again,
(12:25):
I'm not saying that Josh Allen and the Bills are
looking past the Broncos. But just a small part of
me thinking that they're thinking about the Chiefs. That's in
their mindset.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's where we all Yeah yeah, I mean as possible.
I mean, Steve, what was it like when you guys
were getting in the playoffs and you were like the
favorite favorite? Did you feel pressure in those early rounds
or was it like whatever?
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Well, once we we had the team, man, we had
the confidence.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
It didn't matter who we play.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
It was just like, we're gonna get It's just amount
of time were about to run these boys off the field.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
And we just.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
We we we had because we knew we had the players,
knew we had the coaches, We had confidence in each other,
so it really didn't even matter.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Even when you hadn't done it yet.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Oh yeah, Well we showed it throughout the season though,
and you know that, uh, that second year that Mike
was here, I think we went thirteen and three. And
then after that that's when that's when we got serious.
And you know, we got some more players in and dude,
you can look on our roster and you're like, man,
we got this guy, we got DARRII and Gordon, we
(13:31):
got great Crocket, we got John Mobley, we got Neil Smith.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You know, we got Bill ROMANOZ got.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
All these guys that were great players in their own right,
and now we're all on one team and we all
get along so well.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
We just had the confidence.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
And I'm sure a lot of other teams probably feel
that way as well. But I think that was our edge,
is that, you know, we knew we had a good,
good team, We knew we had great coaches, and and.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
We played for each other. Here's my question, Steve, and
not to.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
I guess dwell on the past, but I think it's
a very important question because this is where I feel
that Broncos find himselfs right now. Obviously, every disappointing losing
to Jacksonville in ninety six, how did you guys mentally
bounce back? Because going into that game, I think all
the odds makers had you guys as being the favorite.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah, how did you guys miss it?
Speaker 4 (14:28):
We bounce back from that?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Well, we were ticked off and disappointed in ourselves because
we know we could have played better, and we had
a long time to stow over it that whole offseason,
and then we got back into training camp. We went
into camp with just a good positive attitude, though you
know we weren't, you know, like, oh man, we lost
and this and that a my name. They got us,
(14:50):
and now we're gonna get. We're gonna get We're gonna
take it all to somebody else and everything we played,
we gonna take it out over them.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
But how did they get, you, Steve? Because like if
the Broncos are sort of that Axonville Moles for this year,
I mean, I know they're a different team, but they're
they're on the road looking to knock off a team
that's a big favorite. Yeah, Like when that game was
close late, you're feeling some pressure, right I was.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I was actually on the sideline a little bit because
I had a deep fib ruse and I couldn't I
couldn't hardly walk.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And they just made some plays.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
They made some plays, some really good plays. Mark Brunell
made some plays with his legs.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
What's what's the other receiver, the number eighty? I think McCardell. Yeah, yeah, man,
those guys.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
They had a good team and it wasn't like we
got beat by a bad team, but we were just
we were supposed to win that game. Yeah, and you
know we'll always regret how we played on that day
and that that happens sometimes, you know, and guess what,
the Broncos we can do that same thing. We could
(16:01):
go in there and play well, play smart, and out
play those guys.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, because I assume that, you know, like Nick is saying,
Buffalo is probably feeling like what you are talking about.
Where look around the locker room here we got all
these guys. Oh yeah, you know, we've been in some
big games, some big moments. You got to you know,
this is Josh's year, you know, like they got to
be thinking that, you know, like we beat the Chiefs
in the regular season, this is our time. You know,
(16:28):
it's possible that they've got that confidence. The Broncos have
to go into Buffalo and feel like, Okay, there's got
to be a way that we can start chipping away
at this, start letting the dow creep in, and before
you know it, Hey, the Bronco's got a victory.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, That's what I was.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
And also like always look at it, you know the
way that Mr Miike telling us that, hey, man, don't
even talk about the win, don't even talk about what
we're going to do sixty minutes later from when the
game starts.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
You talk about that first play.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
And you go out there and you give it everything
you got that first play, then get back up and
do it again and again and again and again, and
at the end of and then those four quarter guess
what the team that does that the best is gonna
gonna look up and be like, wow, can you believe.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
What we did one It does sound like it is
a cliche, but it's true. And it takes so much
pressure on for you to think about.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Man, I gotta go.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Out here and play every play, sixty fifty fifty.
Speaker 6 (17:29):
Sixty, seventy plays.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
And I gotta be on point everything. Oh no, no, wow,
just think one thing. Think of that first play.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
You can give it, y'all.
Speaker 6 (17:39):
You're gonna know exactly what you gotta do that first
play and do it.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
But see, that's the most difficult.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
Part of this game, whether it's a regular season game
or preseason game. But more importantly, once you get to
this point in season and you know it's it's really
winn to go home, can you mentally have that certain
level of toughness and okus man for sixty minutes and
I and I can tell you it sounds great like
(18:05):
some some motivational speaker will tell you about having that
focus and listen to them when you're in that game.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
But especially now with social media, all the stuff in
these guys hands, when they've heard who's talking about them,
who's saying they're gonna win, who's saying.
Speaker 6 (18:21):
They're gonna lose. Man, I can't imagine all that pressure.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
But here's the everything too. I mean, there's gonna be negativity.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
Out there, but you have to worry about not the negativity,
the positivity people patting you on the back, Oh that
that boys or whatever, Because sometimes it's great to build
you up from a confidence standpoint, but sometimes.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
It makes you too hYP too over confident. Over confidence.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, like you got this for me?
Speaker 4 (18:46):
It's Michael Jordan used to do it the best.
Speaker 6 (18:48):
He used to just make up stuffs off.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
It, make over feel saying this to me, so you
know what I'm gonna be read.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
That's the mentality you have to take.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Because for the Broncos, like they've never been in this spot,
you know where they're playing a playoff game. You know
how much of a how much does everything get up?
Just a little bit more going from the regular season.
Now it's just everything's a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Oh it is one hundred and they may not realize
that until the game actually starts, you know, you know,
it feels like a regular game, and then all of
a sudden that pressure can start, can start to build
unless you're focused on just one play.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
All right, boy, I might get into more of this,
more of the hype around this game, and how can
the Broncos defense get after Josh Allen. We'll do that
a little bit after the break on Broncos Country tonight.
I'm film Oni filling in for Benjamin alright here in
studio with mister Hoff, Steve Atwater and also Nick Ferguson. Hey, Steve,
(19:58):
I was going to ask you this. You know, the
Broncos and Bills have only played one other time in
the playoffs. You remember that game, No, the championship game.
You were covered an on side kick and then of
the game you remember that.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Did I recover it? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (20:14):
You did.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Man. I used to be so nervous on those on
side kicks. Man, I'm like, dude, you didn't want to die.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
You want to be a.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Lot of pressure. Yeah, well you recovered it as a
kicking team, So like you got it?
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Okay, yeah, I thought you're talking about on the hands team.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
No, like, don't kid me.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Else, especially like a late bounce. Oh man, that is
a lot of pressure. But no, you recovered it, Broncos.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
You guys are down ten to nothing in that game.
Late in the fourth, Gary Kobe I came in. That
was Coop's last game ever.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Phil, you got to tell when you're going back on archives, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Remember that.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
I know.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
I just thought that that was like, oh, you're always
thinking about that, man, No, it's uh.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
That was remember it. But man, so many games I
played over the years. Man, it's it's.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
So many big games. Yeah, with this game period that you.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
Only you only think about it if the ball came
to you and you didn't recover it, like.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
A bad play and it bounced off your show. Yes
one time, Yes, okay, I got it. I don't know
what game, the regular season game.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
It wasn't like a playoff game.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
You have yes, this is my rookie year.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
Okay, well then yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, this was.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
The AFC Championship game. You guys were playing in Buffalo.
I think you guys turned the ball over five times
in that game and missed three field goals, ended up
losing ten to seven.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, yeah, so yeah, that's the only time the Broncos
and Bells ever played in the playoffs. So wow, yeah
this is just the second time. Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
You'll always think like, oh, John Elway, Jim Kelly, both
amazing teams, you know, like during the same stretch, never
played in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
No, that was the record season. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Yeah, that's where you guys got trapped in the snow.
Yeah yeah, okay, yeah, Jason Ealum ran out there and
kicked out.
Speaker 5 (22:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Oh man, I just saw something the highlights of that
that was looking like.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
A human archive over here. Yeah, just a game.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
You know what's.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
Interesting about that, Because I saw that footage, I sent
it to coach Shnahan and he said that he obviously
he remembers the game. And I said, well, you know what,
here's something interesting about your team. You're here with the
Denver Broncos and playing against the Buffalo Bills. I said
twice on the game, win the kick Jason Ealum kicked
to beat the Buffalo Bills. I meanbviously, when the team
(23:00):
got caught in the snow, I was a part of
the Denver team, and we practiced running on the field
in game scenario where Chase Neil runs in last.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Second and kicks a field goal.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
We never thought we would ever ever run that play
until we had to run it in Buffalo, and the
execution was impeccable. Jake Plumber moved the team down the field.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
They got.
Speaker 5 (23:21):
We only had about eight seconds to pull this off.
The crowd in Buffalo they thought they had won the game.
They were already cheering or whatever.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
We moved the ball.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Down the field, Jake ran off the field.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
We got.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
We were able to get the proper linemen on the field,
which is a scenario because you got people running off
and running off, and we didn't have like a false start.
We didn't have too many men on the field, and
with one second in the game, automatic ELM. So here's
what I'm thinking, guys, follow me here. Based on that principal,
(23:56):
and that principal alone, how.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Great the.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Opportunity will LUTs it's will money, LUTs money.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
That opportunity and he kicked the field goal.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
How the Bills.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It feels like the Bills are always in the situation
of heartbreakers. You know, all the Super Bowls early nineties.
They're like that lovable loser.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
Bill.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
Yeah, you know what, I played in Buffalo, but I
in Buffalo fans.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Every fan base is different.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Let me let me say that, but I never really
got that whole Let me jump off of a stationary
car or building onto a t table.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
You never did it for.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
No, for social media?
Speaker 5 (24:56):
No, okay, that's just like asking me if if I
was in a scary movie, would I get caught?
Speaker 4 (25:05):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
There.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
No. Is Buffalo a hard place to play? Just so west?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yes, yes, weather fans.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
If there's snow, I remember Tyrone Braxton getting hit in
the back with a snowball.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
So they're like throwing snowballs on the field during the
Get what that was back then? I don't know if
they're doing that now, but yeah, it was probably It
was a very difficult place to play. You couldn't hear anything, Yeah,
couldn't hear anything.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
And the other interesting thing about that stadium now is
that both teams exit through the same tunnel. You know,
I always thought that was weird. You know, like they
and they come out of the field, their locker rooms
are like just right across from each other. Both use
the same tunnel.
Speaker 5 (25:53):
See, that wasn't a great idea earlier on this season
when the Jets played the Bills because one of the
form Jets players but former recurrent Bills players, used to
play for the Jets and apparently he must have had
beef with his former defensive line coach. So as both
teams are coming in, yeah, in exchange. So it's very
(26:15):
spirited atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah, yeah, it's and it's like, you know, you're out there,
you're sort of in the middle of nowhere, and they
love their team, and yeah, it is a tough place
to play. It's a tough place to play.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
Well it's not.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
It is a tough place to play, but it's not
as tough as playing in Kansas City.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
Well, yeah, it's just something about how that stadium is
built into the ground that traps all the noise in
the sound inside. And for me, I can't really prove
his guys, but I think they may be piping extra sound.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Yeah, yeah, I can't hear anything just right.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Talking, what do you say? It's like it's pointed at
the opposing sideline too. You're like, yeah, You're like, why
is there so much louder over here then over then
it's by design.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
This is how they designed the stadium, just like when
you see games where like if you and my planing
against the Dolphins.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Right there, Yeah, yeah, exactly all that stuff from first. Yes,
about these coaches, they really you know, they like the
opposing locker room has like really small towels. You're like,
we got to do that, you know, like that just
everything is a little harder on the road.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
Well how about this, you know, not just small, smaller towels,
smaller cramped, lot of.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
No hot water. That's wrong in Kansas City.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
Yeah, what what's gonna happen? See, we're gonna go plank complain.
Speaker 7 (27:41):
To Yeah, sorry, coach, man, get on my face, man, coach, Yes, yeah,
bring your own towel, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Yeah, you just got to kind of just always be
ahead of the game a little bit.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
But then they've got probably got the big plush towels
up in the locker room. Now probably they flame it.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
Someone told me there's a team that the business locker
room is all painted pink.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Oh really, No, I haven't done that. I haven't seen that.
But you know what I have seen is the locker
room is designed in a way where the offense and
defense have their own areas and the whole team can't
get together before the game. You know, are like in
the locker room is designed in a way that the
whole team can't come together.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
Room well, I wall well, but the whole idea is
that if you walk into a locker room and everything
is decked down and pink, they're trying to soften you.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Ever played the.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Mental games exactly, Yes.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
That's exactly what's trying to happen.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
You walk in because who expects to walk into a
locker room and everything's pink.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
It changes your whole mentality.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Yes, Yeah, that's what they're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Height pil Malani here filling in for Benjamin all Right,
hanging out with Nick Ferguson and Steve Atwater. Let's talk
about it, Josh Allen a little bit, guys here. The
Broncos sixty three sacks this year. They brought pressure from
all different areas, breakout seasons for Nick, Benito, Zach Allen,
Jonathan Cooper. But they're gonna have their hands full with
(29:17):
big Josh Allen.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Yeah, Josh Allen, He's been a beast from day one. Six, No, no,
and fast yep, and courageous. I mean, it's one of
them guys when they're they're running up and they're running
the ball, and you think that he's gonna slide.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Oh no, no, no, he's not slide. No, he goes yards.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
He does it in the regular season.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
He's doing it in the playoffs. Man.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah, that's you know, he's a he's a good quarterback.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Man.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
What's the key? What's the key? How do you? First
of all, you got to keep him in the pocket, right.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Please get one in the pocket? Yeah, good luck. Keep
him in the pocket.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
Foot ball to gap, so he can't even run either.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
So you're talking about running a bear front where you
get down across. So the only place that Joss could
possibly run maybe if at all, is maybe outside somebody
around it is yeah, if you can get there.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
So what's it?
Speaker 1 (30:19):
What's the key though, because like those pass rushers, they
like to get upfield.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
You know, yeah, yeah, you know, No, that's not gonna happen.
We're not going to run six consistently. You can't do it. Obviously,
you want to keep him in the pocket. But obviously
he's going to run the ball because that's a big
part of his game. How many yards Russian does you
have again?
Speaker 4 (30:41):
This year?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Oh man? Let me see here, I.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Know they had thirty rushing touchdowns. No, he's got thirty two.
Thirty two rushing me see, well.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
That puts them.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
That puts the Bills at ninth as far as rushing offense,
and the Broncos are sixteenth.
Speaker 6 (30:57):
Now the Broncos at twelve rush.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Touchdowns, the Bills thirty two.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
They're the first team in NFL history to have at
least thirty passing touchdowns and at least thirty rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
That's balance.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, man, that's crazy that team ever.
Speaker 5 (31:14):
But I can tell you what when they get inside
the red zone and it hurt me at from a
fantasy on a couple of years ago. You don't you
don't want any of the Bills running backs.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
You know why?
Speaker 4 (31:22):
It's going to the big running back that plays quarterback.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Yes, he's running the ball. You can't stop that.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Make me get too the running back. I take the
running back over him.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
See if you wouldn't want to hit a quarterback like him.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
No, I'd have to, but I wouldn't want to, especially
where my bones feel now.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
That just looks like a big old boy who Josh
had one hundred and two carries for five hundred and
thirty one yards, one man, twelve touchdowns just himself.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Yeahs down, he can jump over the line this rim dude.
Speaker 5 (31:59):
What's the right there that tells you what side the bill's.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Bread is buttered on? Right?
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Obviously, you got to stop other guys on the offense.
But if you are able to disrupt Josh Allen's rhythm, yeah, now,
now now you have an opportunity. So for me defensively,
here's what I'm saying. If they're gonna run r p
o's and design quarterback runs, we're gonna smack him every
single time.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Now, we're playing within the confinements of the rules.
Speaker 5 (32:30):
Don't get me wrong. We're not doing Greg Williams here.
I'm just saying, we're playing within the confinements of the rules.
We're putting body on body because we talk. No, I'm
talking about the defense on Josh Allen.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
That's what I'm saying. I'm talking about.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
The defensive linman hidden.
Speaker 5 (32:47):
No, everybody, if he's if he's near you, yes, serving
him up now, serving twenty five.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
That's what you want to do.
Speaker 5 (32:56):
Because here's because we know the hits on a quarterback
are cumulative. You want to make sure he feels you
so he knows. Next time he goes to the huddle
and Joe Brady, the offensive coordinator for the Bills, call
Design Design quarterback run, he's telling him, we're switching to play.
Speaker 4 (33:11):
That's what I'm saying, can can. He's taking out of it.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
He's taking out of Steve you.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Wanted to take.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
I hope hopefully checks out. I hope we don't check
to your run.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
It doesn't make it.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
You know what if the Bills check to a run,
as long as it's not Josh Allen running the ball.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Begin you're fine.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Be good.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Check checked me.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
All the Broncos defenders is lined up on once.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
But is it kind of like strength versus strength? A
little like the past rash of the Broncos and how
he likes to operate with those broken plays take off
us his legs.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
I think one of the keys to fill you guys
been earlier is because he's such a big body guy.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
When we have him in our gd, we have to
hold on.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
We've had several we could have had probably eight to
ten more sacks this year, but quarterbacks have gotten out
of our grass when we've had them. Got to bring them,
got to hold on this guys, big, strong and fast,
so a lit'tle be a big key as well ball.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
We're just gonna start here breaking down this big wild
card matchup between the Broncos and Bells. We're gonna take
a quick break, but stick around. We'll be back on
Broncos Country tonight
Hello, and thank you for joining us here on broncos
(00:02):
Country tonight. I am film Alani filling in for Benjamin
alright here in the studio with two of my close
friends here, Nick Ferguson. What's going on? Nick, how are
you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's going on? Oh?
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
It's an exciting time here in broncos Cot playoffs Okay?
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And also mister Hoff here, what is Steve?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What does it do? Field? Bee?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Man?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I feel glad you're here. How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm happy to be here too. This is an exciting time.
I mean, we're talking about playoff game playoffs, playoffs for
the first time since twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, it's good. Yes, it's a long time.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
It's a minute, been a minute. I'm so happy for
the guys though. I mean they've been putting his work
in ever since the offseason this his last season ended.
They were thinking about this point and wanting to get here,
and they're here.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
And after the game they all knew, Hey, the media Vegas,
they all had them at five wins, five and a half.
They knew that coming into the year, and they started
carry that all the way through that. After they clinched
the playoffs, they were still talking about it.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, and yeah, you got to about Nicks.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
He made a little comment at the end of one
of his interviews just saying, yeah, yeah, everybody thought.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
We was just gonna win five. We almost doubled.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
That, so uh yeah, right, I said, for me, this
is kind of the first step in getting the organization
back to what the standard was like. When I came in,
Steve and the guys who went back to back they
had already set the standard. And for me, in order
to set the standard, you first have to get to
(01:44):
the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Right.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
That's the first leg of it, getting to.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
The playoffs, because you can't say, well, you're a playoff team.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
If you never get there, you could always talk about it, you.
Speaker 5 (01:53):
Can hope, you can wish, But now you've accomplished that.
And I know that there is different ways that individuals
here locally and nationally look at the game on Sunday
because they.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Look at it and say, well, you don't really.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Beat the real chiefs, Right they did.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
No, they didn't because they said they starts.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
But the whole idea is that you play who.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Is put in front of you, and and they dominated
the guys who were there exactly.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
And again here's here's to the Chiefs credit that they
played meaningful football in the month of December to get
to the point where they didn't really have to.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
So my question for you guys is how.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
Long do you think it will take the Denver Broncos
to get to that point after this tastes of the playoffs,
to a point where they are now sitting their starters
in the final week of the season.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
No, that's that's a good question, and we'll we'll see
really how how far we go this year, you know,
and then I think we'll be able to judge that.
But I think that this team has proven that they
can't play with some of the best team teams.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
In the league.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
They they've done that, you know, all throughout this year.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
They didn't have a great game against Baltimore, that's the
one team, and I guess the first game with the
Chargers wasn't great. But other than those games, I thought,
I thought we played well.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Against some some really good football teams.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
So I think that's the first part is showing that hey,
we do have the players. We do have some players.
Do we need more players, Yes, we definitely need some
more players. But then everybody knows. Hey, once once we
get off for me, underneath that the big amount that
we were paying out will.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Be for us. Yeah, yeah, we'll be able to have
a few more players.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
To me, it's all about like building blocks, Nick, Like
when I think about the growth of what Sean Payton's
trying to do here, Like last year they knocked off
the Chiefs and that ended that streak. So this year,
going into that game, nobody's talking about some streak that
was like check that box. Then this year they've done
so much, you know, winning season, make the playoffs, found
(04:05):
a franchise quarterback. That's those are some legitimate building blocks.
And the big one is the quarterback too. Well, yeah,
I mean that that is big. I'll talk more about
Bonix in just a little bit, but so those are
big building blocks. Next year, now it's okay, let's fill
in some of the depth here on this roster. Let's
(04:26):
add a tight end. Let's make the roster even that
much better. And then I think next year the goal's
got to be, Okay, let's try.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
And win the division.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
That's that's like the next step. And then hey, maybe
you're in position where you've got a first round by
maybe you're ready to make a playoff run where the
expectations are, Yeah, we made the playoffs, we were supposed
to do that. Now we want to make a run here.
That's sort of like the next steps to me.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
So I look at it like this, and I love
what you're saying about the steps. So I look at
it as Lincoln Logs versus the game of Jenga, right,
And the reason why I say Lincoln Logs because Lincoln
Logs you are actually building something, you're constructing it.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
If you ever played Jenga.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
You constructed and you pull one of those pigs out right, right.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
So the idea is that, no.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
We got to keep building because you don't want to
be like the Houston Texans. You know, like last year
he strout a great year's second year is like, oh
sophomore swamp, what happened?
Speaker 4 (05:24):
See that's the game with Jenga. See sign me up
in Lincoln Logs.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yes, right, keep building, Yeah, because with Boll, like I
think that everybody's sort of assumption is that he's just
going to keep getting better and better, and he's like
on this a Leaniar path. That's not necessarily the case
always with some of these quarterbacks where you know, you
got to take jumps here and keep getting better. And
it's not just a natural progression where he's definitely going
(05:51):
to be better next year. All the defenses around the
league have an entire year of tape on him. They're
going to start trying to figure out things that make
his life more difficult. He's gonna have to continue to
adjust his game get better and better and better, because
it's not just assuming that it's not done deal that
he's gonna be better next year just because he has
(06:11):
all this experience, He's got to take jumps.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Still.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
From listening to Oo talk and listening to the coach
of Stark, I think Bow understands that, yeah, he knows that, hey,
this this is just the start. He's got a lot
more work to put in. But still in this moment,
they got to take advantage of it because you just.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Never know if you're going to be back in this
position again.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
You still everybody gotta laid on the line just like, uh,
you know, just like they're the Chiefs, Like the Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Is gonna do.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, the Chief's gonna take each one of these games.
Here is now that the playoffs have started, the Brons
gotta do the same thing. They can't go into it
saying oh man, yeah, I know. You can't say that,
going like, hey man, we're doing everything we can to
win this football game, and we want to go as
deep as we can't. We want to go to the
super Bowl. But you don't want to talk about that
right now. You just want to talk about the Chiefs
(07:01):
right now. One to oher each week. That's got to
be the mindset.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
It's a one game playoffs, it's to a die.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
It's the one reason why when you look at the
game of football, I think that it is the best
professional sport that's out there because all these other leagues
they got like five game, seven games, series, no, no, no
one game, and any team can have are That's right.
So you you can take a team that is flying
under the radar that no one is thinking about, like
(07:31):
the Broncos go to Buffalo and shot them and become
a huge surprise because once again, did the Buffalo Bills
overlook the Denver Broncos thinking okay, well you just barely
got into the playoffs. We're not really looking at you,
We're looking at head, We're looking at Kansas City. Because
when you think about Josh Allen and the biggest threat
(07:52):
to his legacy, it's been Patrick Mahomes. He can't get
that acclaim that he feels as though he deserved and
he's earned until he's beat. The can't see diseased. I mean,
Rick Flair said the best. To be the best, you
got to beat the ball you do. That's where you know,
(08:13):
Josh Allen find themselves.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, I mean, the biggest threat to the Chiefs has
to be the Bills, right like, just on paper, it
was the Bengals, it was, but he took care of that.
They took care of.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
You fully of Broncos ran.
Speaker 5 (08:31):
Now on the.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Bengals, they're not even in the playoffs in the Broncos country.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
You know, it's interesting, Steve, I'm curious what you think
about this because I think back to like, like that
Jacksonville team that beat you guys. The Broncos could kind
of be in that mold. They could be like Jacksonville
that year. That's a positive as a positive, FI, I'm
trying to flip it.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, but we want them to be we want them
to go further than Jacksonville. Okay, okay, but yeah, yeah, no,
I agree because it feels like the Broncs. They're playing
with house money this week. There's no expectations. Just go
out there, leave it on all on the line. There's
a sort of a sense of freedom when you're not
supposed to win, your big underdog. Just go out there
(09:22):
and play and see what happens.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
It is.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
You know, you can take a lot more chances, you know,
when you're calling plays because hey, nobody's nobody's giving us
a chance to win this game. From me from listen
to people talk if Buffalo's gonna do this, they're gonna
do it.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
We're gonna see if I'm Sean Payton, right.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
And it's funny you say that, Phil, because coach Payton's
been coaching his league for a long time. So there's
a book out on coach Payton. What do he likes
to do in the red zone? What do you like
to do in certain personnel groupings, what he likes to
do inside? You know, I guess coming out at the halftime,
what he needs to do is change his philosophy, be
(10:02):
a little more aggressive. All the tendencies that he had
at the beginning of the season, what he had with
the Drew Brees break all of those tendency because at
this point, yeah, people are watching film on you. They
gather film all along and we've seen over the duration
of the season, we've seen some subtle changes from Week
(10:24):
one against Seattle to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
And for me, I'm like Sean Payton, man put the
eagle to the side, right, you know, don't don't err
on the.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Side of caution, don't try to play conservative.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
You have nothing to lose.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
And all the pressure is on Buffalo, so be aggressive.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
To be aggressive.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Yeah, and like see if, like you were saying, you know,
anything can happen, say, the Broncos come out, get his
quick score, then the pressure starts to mount on Buffalo,
and then you're in a good spot if you're the Broncos.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, no, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
And both Nick's being a young quarterback, you know, being
in his first playoff game in the NFL. Hey, hopefully
he doesn't have prey, but I'm sure he probably has
some because I.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Remember, boy, I was we went to.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
The Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Whooa, I was nervous. Really, Oh yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
What'd you think? Yeah, like Sean this week said young
and dangerous, you know, a young team. They don't know
what they don't know.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
You know.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
It's sort of like that teenager they think they know everything.
There's nothing you know they can't do anybody else.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Gotta be careful about that because think about when we
were young, before you first started driving, right before you
had your first date. He was really nervous, and at
some point you still thought even though people were giving
me suggestions, you thought you knew everything, and somehow you
made a mistake. And then now you're looking back, Man,
I should have listened. So the whole idea of young
(11:53):
and hungry. I like the premise of it. It sounds
great because you can go out there and you think you.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Can play loose because you have no pressure on you.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
But at the same time, you don't have that end
game experience that Buffalo has. And if the game gets
tight at that particular point, that's where the rubber meets
to roll. And you said, well, does the pensulum swinging
more towards the Broncos or the or the Bills. I
think it might swing towards the Bill. Because Josh Allen
knows was at State you're hosting at home. Once again,
(12:25):
I'm not saying that Josh Allen and the Bills are
looking past the Broncos. But just a small part of
me thinking that they're thinking about the Chiefs. That's in
their mindset.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's where we all Yeah yeah, I mean as possible.
I mean, Steve, what was it like when you guys
were getting in the playoffs and you were like the
favorite favorite? Did you feel pressure in those early rounds
or was it like whatever?
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Well, once we we had the team, man, we had
the confidence.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
It didn't matter who we play.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
It was just like, we're gonna get It's just amount
of time were about to run these boys off the field.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
And we just.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
We we we had because we knew we had the players,
knew we had the coaches, We had confidence in each other,
so it really didn't even matter.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Even when you hadn't done it yet.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Oh yeah, Well we showed it throughout the season though,
and you know that, uh, that second year that Mike
was here, I think we went thirteen and three. And
then after that that's when that's when we got serious.
And you know, we got some more players in and dude,
you can look on our roster and you're like, man,
we got this guy, we got DARRII and Gordon, we
(13:31):
got great Crocket, we got John Mobley, we got Neil Smith.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You know, we got Bill ROMANOZ got.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
All these guys that were great players in their own right,
and now we're all on one team and we all
get along so well.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
We just had the confidence.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
And I'm sure a lot of other teams probably feel
that way as well. But I think that was our edge,
is that, you know, we knew we had a good,
good team, We knew we had great coaches, and and.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
We played for each other. Here's my question, Steve, and
not to.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
I guess dwell on the past, but I think it's
a very important question because this is where I feel
that Broncos find himselfs right now. Obviously, every disappointing losing
to Jacksonville in ninety six, how did you guys mentally
bounce back? Because going into that game, I think all
the odds makers had you guys as being the favorite.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah, how did you guys miss it?
Speaker 4 (14:28):
We bounce back from that?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Well, we were ticked off and disappointed in ourselves because
we know we could have played better, and we had
a long time to stow over it that whole offseason,
and then we got back into training camp. We went
into camp with just a good positive attitude, though you
know we weren't, you know, like, oh man, we lost
and this and that a my name. They got us,
(14:50):
and now we're gonna get. We're gonna get We're gonna
take it all to somebody else and everything we played,
we gonna take it out over them.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
But how did they get, you, Steve? Because like if
the Broncos are sort of that Axonville Moles for this year,
I mean, I know they're a different team, but they're
they're on the road looking to knock off a team
that's a big favorite. Yeah, Like when that game was
close late, you're feeling some pressure, right I was.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I was actually on the sideline a little bit because
I had a deep fib ruse and I couldn't I
couldn't hardly walk.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And they just made some plays.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
They made some plays, some really good plays. Mark Brunell
made some plays with his legs.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
What's what's the other receiver, the number eighty? I think McCardell. Yeah, yeah, man,
those guys.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
They had a good team and it wasn't like we
got beat by a bad team, but we were just
we were supposed to win that game. Yeah, and you
know we'll always regret how we played on that day
and that that happens sometimes, you know, and guess what,
the Broncos we can do that same thing. We could
(16:01):
go in there and play well, play smart, and out
play those guys.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, because I assume that, you know, like Nick is saying,
Buffalo is probably feeling like what you are talking about.
Where look around the locker room here we got all
these guys. Oh yeah, you know, we've been in some
big games, some big moments. You got to you know,
this is Josh's year, you know, like they got to
be thinking that, you know, like we beat the Chiefs
in the regular season, this is our time. You know,
(16:28):
it's possible that they've got that confidence. The Broncos have
to go into Buffalo and feel like, Okay, there's got
to be a way that we can start chipping away
at this, start letting the dow creep in, and before
you know it, Hey, the Bronco's got a victory.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, That's what I was.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
And also like always look at it, you know the
way that Mr Miike telling us that, hey, man, don't
even talk about the win, don't even talk about what
we're going to do sixty minutes later from when the
game starts.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
You talk about that first play.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
And you go out there and you give it everything
you got that first play, then get back up and
do it again and again and again and again, and
at the end of and then those four quarter guess
what the team that does that the best is gonna
gonna look up and be like, wow, can you believe.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
What we did one It does sound like it is
a cliche, but it's true. And it takes so much
pressure on for you to think about.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Man, I gotta go.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Out here and play every play, sixty fifty fifty.
Speaker 6 (17:29):
Sixty, seventy plays.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
And I gotta be on point everything. Oh no, no, wow,
just think one thing. Think of that first play.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
You can give it, y'all.
Speaker 6 (17:39):
You're gonna know exactly what you gotta do that first
play and do it.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
But see, that's the most difficult.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
Part of this game, whether it's a regular season game
or preseason game. But more importantly, once you get to
this point in season and you know it's it's really
winn to go home, can you mentally have that certain
level of toughness and okus man for sixty minutes and
I and I can tell you it sounds great like
(18:05):
some some motivational speaker will tell you about having that
focus and listen to them when you're in that game.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
But especially now with social media, all the stuff in
these guys hands, when they've heard who's talking about them,
who's saying they're gonna win, who's saying.
Speaker 6 (18:21):
They're gonna lose. Man, I can't imagine all that pressure.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
But here's the everything too. I mean, there's gonna be negativity.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
Out there, but you have to worry about not the negativity,
the positivity people patting you on the back, Oh that
that boys or whatever, Because sometimes it's great to build
you up from a confidence standpoint, but sometimes.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
It makes you too hYP too over confident. Over confidence.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, like you got this for me?
Speaker 4 (18:46):
It's Michael Jordan used to do it the best.
Speaker 6 (18:48):
He used to just make up stuffs off.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
It, make over feel saying this to me, so you
know what I'm gonna be read.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
That's the mentality you have to take.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Because for the Broncos, like they've never been in this spot,
you know where they're playing a playoff game. You know
how much of a how much does everything get up?
Just a little bit more going from the regular season.
Now it's just everything's a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Oh it is one hundred and they may not realize
that until the game actually starts, you know, you know,
it feels like a regular game, and then all of
a sudden that pressure can start, can start to build
unless you're focused on just one play.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
All right, boy, I might get into more of this,
more of the hype around this game, and how can
the Broncos defense get after Josh Allen. We'll do that
a little bit after the break on Broncos Country tonight.
I'm film Oni filling in for Benjamin alright here in
studio with mister Hoff, Steve Atwater and also Nick Ferguson. Hey, Steve,
(19:58):
I was going to ask you this. You know, the
Broncos and Bills have only played one other time in
the playoffs. You remember that game, No, the championship game.
You were covered an on side kick and then of
the game you remember that.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Did I recover it? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (20:14):
You did.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Man. I used to be so nervous on those on
side kicks. Man, I'm like, dude, you didn't want to die.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
You want to be a.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Lot of pressure. Yeah, well you recovered it as a
kicking team, So like you got it?
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Okay, yeah, I thought you're talking about on the hands team.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
No, like, don't kid me.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Else, especially like a late bounce. Oh man, that is
a lot of pressure. But no, you recovered it, Broncos.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
You guys are down ten to nothing in that game.
Late in the fourth, Gary Kobe I came in. That
was Coop's last game ever.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Phil, you got to tell when you're going back on archives, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Remember that.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
I know.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
I just thought that that was like, oh, you're always
thinking about that, man, No, it's uh.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
That was remember it. But man, so many games I
played over the years. Man, it's it's.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
So many big games. Yeah, with this game period that you.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
Only you only think about it if the ball came
to you and you didn't recover it, like.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
A bad play and it bounced off your show. Yes
one time, Yes, okay, I got it. I don't know
what game, the regular season game.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
It wasn't like a playoff game.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
You have yes, this is my rookie year.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
Okay, well then yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, this was.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
The AFC Championship game. You guys were playing in Buffalo.
I think you guys turned the ball over five times
in that game and missed three field goals, ended up
losing ten to seven.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, yeah, so yeah, that's the only time the Broncos
and Bells ever played in the playoffs. So wow, yeah
this is just the second time. Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
You'll always think like, oh, John Elway, Jim Kelly, both
amazing teams, you know, like during the same stretch, never
played in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
No, that was the record season. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Yeah, that's where you guys got trapped in the snow.
Yeah yeah, okay, yeah, Jason Ealum ran out there and
kicked out.
Speaker 5 (22:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Oh man, I just saw something the highlights of that
that was looking like.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
A human archive over here. Yeah, just a game.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
You know what's.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
Interesting about that, Because I saw that footage, I sent
it to coach Shnahan and he said that he obviously
he remembers the game. And I said, well, you know what,
here's something interesting about your team. You're here with the
Denver Broncos and playing against the Buffalo Bills. I said
twice on the game, win the kick Jason Ealum kicked
to beat the Buffalo Bills. I meanbviously, when the team
(23:00):
got caught in the snow, I was a part of
the Denver team, and we practiced running on the field
in game scenario where Chase Neil runs in last.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Second and kicks a field goal.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
We never thought we would ever ever run that play
until we had to run it in Buffalo, and the
execution was impeccable. Jake Plumber moved the team down the field.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
They got.
Speaker 5 (23:21):
We only had about eight seconds to pull this off.
The crowd in Buffalo they thought they had won the game.
They were already cheering or whatever.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
We moved the ball.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Down the field, Jake ran off the field.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
We got.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
We were able to get the proper linemen on the field,
which is a scenario because you got people running off
and running off, and we didn't have like a false start.
We didn't have too many men on the field, and
with one second in the game, automatic ELM. So here's
what I'm thinking, guys, follow me here. Based on that principal,
(23:56):
and that principal alone, how.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Great the.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Opportunity will LUTs it's will money, LUTs money.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
That opportunity and he kicked the field goal.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
How the Bills.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It feels like the Bills are always in the situation
of heartbreakers. You know, all the Super Bowls early nineties.
They're like that lovable loser.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
Bill.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
Yeah, you know what, I played in Buffalo, but I
in Buffalo fans.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Every fan base is different.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Let me let me say that, but I never really
got that whole Let me jump off of a stationary
car or building onto a t table.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
You never did it for.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
No, for social media?
Speaker 5 (24:56):
No, okay, that's just like asking me if if I
was in a scary movie, would I get caught?
Speaker 4 (25:05):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
There.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
No. Is Buffalo a hard place to play? Just so west?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yes, yes, weather fans.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
If there's snow, I remember Tyrone Braxton getting hit in
the back with a snowball.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
So they're like throwing snowballs on the field during the
Get what that was back then? I don't know if
they're doing that now, but yeah, it was probably It
was a very difficult place to play. You couldn't hear anything, Yeah,
couldn't hear anything.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
And the other interesting thing about that stadium now is
that both teams exit through the same tunnel. You know,
I always thought that was weird. You know, like they
and they come out of the field, their locker rooms
are like just right across from each other. Both use
the same tunnel.
Speaker 5 (25:53):
See, that wasn't a great idea earlier on this season
when the Jets played the Bills because one of the
form Jets players but former recurrent Bills players, used to
play for the Jets and apparently he must have had
beef with his former defensive line coach. So as both
teams are coming in, yeah, in exchange. So it's very
(26:15):
spirited atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah, yeah, it's and it's like, you know, you're out there,
you're sort of in the middle of nowhere, and they
love their team, and yeah, it is a tough place
to play. It's a tough place to play.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
Well it's not.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
It is a tough place to play, but it's not
as tough as playing in Kansas City.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:32):
Well, yeah, it's just something about how that stadium is
built into the ground that traps all the noise in
the sound inside. And for me, I can't really prove
his guys, but I think they may be piping extra sound.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Yeah, yeah, I can't hear anything just right.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Talking, what do you say? It's like it's pointed at
the opposing sideline too. You're like, yeah, You're like, why
is there so much louder over here then over then
it's by design.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
This is how they designed the stadium, just like when
you see games where like if you and my planing
against the Dolphins.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Right there, Yeah, yeah, exactly all that stuff from first. Yes,
about these coaches, they really you know, they like the
opposing locker room has like really small towels. You're like,
we got to do that, you know, like that just
everything is a little harder on the road.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
Well how about this, you know, not just small, smaller towels,
smaller cramped, lot of.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
No hot water. That's wrong in Kansas City.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
Yeah, what what's gonna happen? See, we're gonna go plank complain.
Speaker 7 (27:41):
To Yeah, sorry, coach, man, get on my face, man, coach, Yes, yeah,
bring your own towel, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Yeah, you just got to kind of just always be
ahead of the game a little bit.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
But then they've got probably got the big plush towels
up in the locker room. Now probably they flame it.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
Someone told me there's a team that the business locker
room is all painted pink.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Oh really, No, I haven't done that. I haven't seen that.
But you know what I have seen is the locker
room is designed in a way where the offense and
defense have their own areas and the whole team can't
get together before the game. You know, are like in
the locker room is designed in a way that the
whole team can't come together.
Speaker 5 (28:25):
Room well, I wall well, but the whole idea is
that if you walk into a locker room and everything
is decked down and pink, they're trying to soften you.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Ever played the.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Mental games exactly, Yes.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
That's exactly what's trying to happen.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
You walk in because who expects to walk into a
locker room and everything's pink.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
It changes your whole mentality.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Yes, Yeah, that's what they're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Height pil Malani here filling in for Benjamin all Right,
hanging out with Nick Ferguson and Steve Atwater. Let's talk
about it, Josh Allen a little bit, guys here. The
Broncos sixty three sacks this year. They brought pressure from
all different areas, breakout seasons for Nick, Benito, Zach Allen,
Jonathan Cooper. But they're gonna have their hands full with
(29:17):
big Josh Allen.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Yeah, Josh Allen, He's been a beast from day one. Six, No, no,
and fast yep, and courageous. I mean, it's one of
them guys when they're they're running up and they're running
the ball, and you think that he's gonna slide.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Oh no, no, no, he's not slide. No, he goes yards.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
He does it in the regular season.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
He's doing it in the playoffs. Man.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah, that's you know, he's a he's a good quarterback.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Man.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
What's the key? What's the key? How do you? First
of all, you got to keep him in the pocket, right.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Please get one in the pocket? Yeah, good luck. Keep
him in the pocket.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
Foot ball to gap, so he can't even run either.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
So you're talking about running a bear front where you
get down across. So the only place that Joss could
possibly run maybe if at all, is maybe outside somebody
around it is yeah, if you can get there.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
So what's it?
Speaker 1 (30:19):
What's the key though, because like those pass rushers, they
like to get upfield.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
You know, yeah, yeah, you know, No, that's not gonna happen.
We're not going to run six consistently. You can't do it. Obviously,
you want to keep him in the pocket. But obviously
he's going to run the ball because that's a big
part of his game. How many yards Russian does you
have again?
Speaker 4 (30:41):
This year?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Oh man? Let me see here, I.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Know they had thirty rushing touchdowns. No, he's got thirty two.
Thirty two rushing me see, well.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
That puts them.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
That puts the Bills at ninth as far as rushing offense,
and the Broncos are sixteenth.
Speaker 6 (30:57):
Now the Broncos at twelve rush.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Touchdowns, the Bills thirty two.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
They're the first team in NFL history to have at
least thirty passing touchdowns and at least thirty rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
That's balance.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, man, that's crazy that team ever.
Speaker 5 (31:14):
But I can tell you what when they get inside
the red zone and it hurt me at from a
fantasy on a couple of years ago. You don't you
don't want any of the Bills running backs.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
You know why?
Speaker 4 (31:22):
It's going to the big running back that plays quarterback.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Yes, he's running the ball. You can't stop that.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Make me get too the running back. I take the
running back over him.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
See if you wouldn't want to hit a quarterback like him.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
No, I'd have to, but I wouldn't want to, especially
where my bones feel now.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
That just looks like a big old boy who Josh
had one hundred and two carries for five hundred and
thirty one yards, one man, twelve touchdowns just himself.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Yeahs down, he can jump over the line this rim dude.
Speaker 5 (31:59):
What's the right there that tells you what side the bill's.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Bread is buttered on? Right?
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Obviously, you got to stop other guys on the offense.
But if you are able to disrupt Josh Allen's rhythm, yeah, now,
now now you have an opportunity. So for me defensively,
here's what I'm saying. If they're gonna run r p
o's and design quarterback runs, we're gonna smack him every
single time.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Now, we're playing within the confinements of the rules.
Speaker 5 (32:30):
Don't get me wrong. We're not doing Greg Williams here.
I'm just saying, we're playing within the confinements of the rules.
We're putting body on body because we talk. No, I'm
talking about the defense on Josh Allen.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
That's what I'm saying. I'm talking about.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
The defensive linman hidden.
Speaker 5 (32:47):
No, everybody, if he's if he's near you, yes, serving
him up now, serving twenty five.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
That's what you want to do.
Speaker 5 (32:56):
Because here's because we know the hits on a quarterback
are cumulative. You want to make sure he feels you
so he knows. Next time he goes to the huddle
and Joe Brady, the offensive coordinator for the Bills, call
Design Design quarterback run, he's telling him, we're switching to play.
Speaker 4 (33:11):
That's what I'm saying, can can. He's taking out of it.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
He's taking out of Steve you.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Wanted to take.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
I hope hopefully checks out. I hope we don't check
to your run.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
It doesn't make it.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
You know what if the Bills check to a run,
as long as it's not Josh Allen running the ball.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Begin you're fine.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Be good.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Check checked me.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
All the Broncos defenders is lined up on once.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
But is it kind of like strength versus strength? A
little like the past rash of the Broncos and how
he likes to operate with those broken plays take off
us his legs.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
I think one of the keys to fill you guys
been earlier is because he's such a big body guy.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
When we have him in our gd, we have to
hold on.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
We've had several we could have had probably eight to
ten more sacks this year, but quarterbacks have gotten out
of our grass when we've had them. Got to bring them,
got to hold on this guys, big, strong and fast,
so a lit'tle be a big key as well ball.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
We're just gonna start here breaking down this big wild
card matchup between the Broncos and Bells. We're gonna take
a quick break, but stick around. We'll be back on
Broncos Country tonight
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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