11-13-25 Hour 2 of Broncos Country Tonight with Grant Smith and Alex Gold

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A farm foundation. You know, this is definitely a brik
that we got to lay down on our foundation and
live by and continue to you know, to get this
w that we need to get so badly. You know,
everyone fears us in the AFC West right now. I
truly believe that what the up and coming team with
the team to be, and we just got to continue
to do what we're supposed to do to get this win.
And I know Broncos Country is going to be lectrifying
and mile high and give us that.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Jude, welcome back to it Broncos Country tonight. I'm your
host Grant Smith filling in for Benjamin Albright alongside Nick Ferguson,
Zach Seekers behind the Glass producing. That was Garrett Bowles
earlier this week on KOA Sports talking about how they
are the team to beat in the AFC West. If
you want to find that full interview, you can find
it on the free and redesigned iHeartRadio app where you

(00:42):
can now set KOA as a pre set just like
you do in your car. I got a couple of
presets on my iHeartRadio app. Of course my own podcast
Taking It for Granted, where Nick Ferguson has been a
guest before KBCO one of our sister stations. Listen to
that world class rock and of course KOA so you
can hear all the Broncos and Rockies.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
And buss games.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Let's head out, head on out to the KOA Common
Spirit Health Hotline and bring on Alex Gold to get
a preview of the Chiefs. He's a host of Cody
and Gold and that betting show on the Fan ninety
six five.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
Alex, how are you man, young guys?

Speaker 3 (01:20):
We're doing good man.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
So did you hear that clip from Garrett Bowles? Do
you think that everyone in the AFC West is now
scared of the Broncos.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
I don't know about scared, but they're the team to
be if there's no question. I mean, even heading into
the season, I thought the Broncos were, you know, the
second best team. I believed in them more than the Chargers.
And now obviously the Broncos are sitting atop the AFC West.
I mean, this is a must win game for Kansas
City if they want to have hopes of winning this
AFC West for a tenth straight year.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
There's no doubt.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
So they're they're kind of the team that everybody is
looking up to right now. But I think in Kansas
City there is definitely still a thought that, you know,
one if Kansas City were to win this game, then
the Chiefs still are are you kind of controlling their
own destiny if you will. But also people in Kansas
City are still skeptical about the Broncos, and Sunday's kind

(02:07):
of viewed as a, you know, a validation game. And
obviously there won't be much to say if you're a
Chiefs fan if you lose on Sunday. But there's definitely
a lot of people that are skeptical watching the Broncos offense,
in particular here in Kansas City and saying, all right,
are they really are they really that good? And it
kind of reminds me of how the Chiefs were viewed
a year ago. Now, obviously one team had Bo Nicks

(02:29):
and one team had Patrick Mahomes, But the Chiefs won
all those close games, you know, a year ago, and
people were questioning them. And we'll see if Sunday changes
how people view them.

Speaker 5 (02:39):
Well, if we look at this Kansas City team over
the years, they have found different ways to win games.

Speaker 6 (02:45):
We know they have a talented why receive a corps.

Speaker 5 (02:48):
But looking at that wide receive a corp stacked up
against one of the top defenses in the league. How
are you guys preparing in Kansas City and what does
that look like? And what's the word as far as
how do you think Kansas City is going to do
against his defense?

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Right?

Speaker 4 (03:04):
You guys know the injury obviously situation there in Denver,
we're with that secondary. I think Kansas City is going
to still try a lot of stuff near the line
of scrimmage, though, you know, I'll be surprised if they're
able to attack down the field, although early in the season,
you know, with Taekwon Thornton, that was an area they
had a lot of success. Now the Chiefs are coming
off a bye week, and so as you know, Nick,
you do the self scout and there'll be some wrinkles

(03:26):
that that probably haven't been shown so far this season,
you know, some elements that maybe they didn't you know,
some tendencies that they want to break, some tendencies that
they saw from Denver as well. But I think Xavier
Worthy is a player to watch in this game near
the line of scrimmage. Jets sweeps in the rounds. Also,
some you know stuff near the line of scrimmage that
they will try to get the ball in his hand.
It's been a little quiet here the last couple of weeks,

(03:47):
but he did pop up on the injury report today
limited in practice with an ankle injury. He's got that
dislocated shoulder already, so that's something keeping one over the
next couple of days. But there's no doubt, you know,
from a hacking the Broncos standpoint, it all starts. Can
they protect Patrick Mahomes against that great defensive front that
the Broncos have. And it looks like there's a chance

(04:08):
the Chiefs will have their best left tackle back in
Josh Simmons, who was away for one of the more
bizarre personal slash family issues that we've seen here in
Kansas in a while. He hasn't played in four or
five weeks, but he's been a full participant. They're going
to have to have one of their better offensive line
performances for them to be able to really execute the
game plan that they want on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, both teams dealing with some significant injuries, both teams
looking like they're going to be without their starting running
back with jk Dobbins and Pacheco for the Chiefs. How
do you see the running attack working out for the
Chiefs against the Broncos this weekend.

Speaker 4 (04:43):
It's a big loss for Kansas City. He's been their
best runner, you know, in short yardage. Kareem Hunt though,
has been most effective for them. And so you're going
to see a lot of Kareem Hunt, I think in
this game. Not Chiefs fans and everybody in Kansas City
have thought that, all right, if the check goes out,
and even when he's been healthy, they'd like to see
more of the seventh round rookie Rishard Smith, the former
wide receiver in college then went to SMU and was

(05:05):
a running back, and you know, there's still one question
whether or not they fully trust him. Now it's post
by week, and you know, Andy Reid has a track record.
Sometimes you know, you start to get to the second
half of the season and they're willing to use a
rookie a little bit more, kind of like they did
Xavier Worthy a year ago, but that was more predicated
on injury. Well, here you go, there's an injury to
Isaiah Picecko, and I'm with you, I don't expect him

(05:25):
to play on Sunday, so you know, there's a chance
that we see Bershard Smith, who no doubt has the
most burst of any running back in the backfield for
Kansas City. The question is whether or not they fully
trust him to give him the carries or will they
once again, you know, activate Clyde Edwards de Layer from
the practice squad and give him a couple of carries.
And it's definitely not what anybody in Kansas City wants

(05:46):
to see.

Speaker 5 (05:46):
Though going into this game, Alex, when when everyone looks
at Kansas City, obviously this looks like a different team
with them especially being five and four, losing to the
Bills and the Chargers and sort of being in someone
of desperation. But if you had to kind of sum
it up for Broncos fans or even individuals nationally who
are looking at this team.

Speaker 6 (06:07):
As maybe they they are now finally meeting.

Speaker 5 (06:10):
Their match, what would you warn all of those individuals
to be on the lookout for as pertaining to this
KANCC team.

Speaker 4 (06:19):
Or there's no doubt I think the gap has closed.
I mean it's hard to argue that, you know, the
gap that they had over everybody in the AFC is
absolutely closed. On this division. It clearly has closed as well.
But it's going to sound so obvious, but Nick, the
simple answer is Patrick Mahomes, right, like you still have
I think the best quarterback in the National Football League

(06:39):
coming off of by backs are against.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
The wall a little bit.

Speaker 4 (06:42):
Typically we talked about this more on the postseason, but
usually these are the type of games where he is
at his best. Usually these are the type of games
where him and Travis Kelcey are on the same page.
And I know Travis is a year older, but these
are still the type of moments where usually he puts
together some of his best game. So I don't think
I even have to war necessarily Broncos fans. I think

(07:03):
they're smart enough football fans to know the talent of
these two guys. But I would say, you know, despite
what other issues you might have seen in some of
these games earlier, and they are in uncharted territory, having
four losses already, Patch Mahomes, Travis Kelcey, Andy Reid and
these kind of spots have been extremely dangerous, and you
know that the Chiefs have been able to, you know,
kind of dominate this series for the last decade. And

(07:26):
this is I keep using the word validation. On the
Broncos side, I think Chief fans will We'll start to
panic if, in fact, this is not one of those
backs against the wall performances where the Chiefs figure it
out and find a way to win, because in the
history of this current dynasty, this is a game the
Chiefs win and we'll see if they can do that again.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, we know all too well about the Chiefs dominance
here in Broncos Country over the past decade. Talking with
Alex Gold, host of Cody and Gold and that betting
show on the Fan ninety six to five, you think
the winner of this game determines the winner of the
AFC West.

Speaker 4 (07:58):
Well, I certainly think it's an elimination for Kansas City, right,
I mean, if the Chiefs lose this game, to me
the division, while mathematically it's not done, I think it's
absolutely done. You're still about a Broncos team that will
be a nine win team. The Chiefs would be sitting
at five and five with the Colts on deck. Yeah,
they have a return game with the Broncos still, but
I think it's an elimination game. I think if the

(08:19):
Broncos win this division, I would pick them to win.
I think the Chargers will keep an eye on what
they do. I get this, they got the Jags on Sunday,
But I think the Broncos guys just you know, if
not the best team in the division. You know, we'll
see what happens this weekend. I think they're at the
minimum the second best team. I think they are better
than the Chargers, and Sunday we'll see if they are
for sure better than Kansas City or not. But so

(08:39):
I think it's more about eliminating Kansas City from the
picture than it is definitively you know, probably declaring the
Broncos as champs. But if I had to put money on,
you know who the division champ is if the Broncos win,
it would be on them.

Speaker 5 (08:53):
For so many years, we've seen the connection between Patrick
Mahomes and Travis Travis Kelso. Last season statistically wasn't his
best year, but right now he has the most yars
on the team right now has a tight end.

Speaker 6 (09:10):
I mean, what can you say.

Speaker 5 (09:11):
About that relationship and what continues to expand it and
make it so great.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
Yeah, they're extreme, mean, they're the're best friends. They're extremely close.
That rapport that they have had for years. The trust factor,
I would say, is the biggest thing. You know, it's
usually going to be. He's the he's the guy in
route tree that has the most freedom. You know, he's
able to kind of at times do his own thing.
And Mahomes and him are on the same page so
often that you sometimes wonder how on earth that that

(09:38):
throw and that that connection exists. How they knew, you know,
Travis Kelsey was going to go a certain way. However,
I would say the difference this year and you know,
you go back to last year where it was a
disappointing year for Travis, this year number one, you know,
he has lost some weight, He looks fresher, he looks
a little quicker. It does feel like this is one
last hurrah for Travis Kelce before he hangs it up.

(09:59):
I was truly leave this in his final year. So
you have that motivation. And look, last year were so
banged up in the wide receiver room. Remember Hollywood Brown
was hurt in preseason, barely played last year. Xavier Worthy
was a rookie. Rashi Rice, you know in Week four
a year ago toward that one of his timons and
his knee and so they were down weapons and they
were asking the offense to run through Travis. At this

(10:20):
point in time in his career, that's not where they
need that to be. And so this year they got
now rights back in suspension. He's their most dynamic offensive
weapon right now. They have Xavier Worthy in year two,
Hollywood Brown has been able to stay healthy. Taikwon Thorn,
who's not seeing the field as much now, although we'll
see if he plays more Sunday, is provided a deep threat.
So they're not asking Kelsey to beat that guy. I

(10:42):
think that is also why he's had more success this year.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Talking with Alex Gold on Broncos Country Tonight, host of
Cody and Gold on the Fan ninety six five, we're
our very own Nick Ferguson will be a guest tomorrow.
Last question for me, Alex, the long term question here,
thanks bags returns as a defensive coordinator next year or
will he be hired away? So I'm on the short
list of Giants candidates for their head coaching vacancy and

(11:08):
does he even want to be a head coach again?

Speaker 4 (11:11):
So we've asked him that question on our show for
probably the last couple of seasons, and you know, He's
been honest that, like you know, you always want that opportunity.
We although it didn't go well many many years ago
in Saint Louis, there's a lot of reasons for that.
I think you can grow as a coach, certainly over
the years. He's the best defensive coordinator in football. I
think it's very clear. You know, I know there's no
coordinators that are in the Hall of Fame, but if

(11:32):
there ever was going to be one, based on the
titles he's won in multiple spots and what he's done
with some of the elite quarterbacks, shutting down some of
the elite quarterbacks to mepags, has a strong case for that.
I think. Unfortunately for him, guys, I would be surprised
if he was a head coach again, not just so
much because of how it went down in Saint Louis,
but given his age. It's it's the unfortunate reality. I

(11:53):
think of how teams approach things. I mean, he's not
fifty years old, you know, and I think teams are
hesitant to go in high I or someone in their
mid sixties. And as a second time head coach as well,
he's gonna get interviews and he should absolutely. I mean
the Giants or any other place should take a strong
look because I think he's an incredible leader and he's
the best defensive cordator in football. I just think for him,

(12:15):
the age thing is a big hurdle.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
Alex appreciates the time as always, man, And of course
we're just worried about keeping our own DC here in Denver,
but wouldn't mind seeing Spags getting hired away from Kansas City.
And enjoyed the game on Sunday, And thanks as always
for the time on BCT.

Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, thanks guys, Nick, we'll talk to you tomorrow. Man.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Thanks, you're gonna be talking with him tomorrow. What time
has that hit on his show?

Speaker 6 (12:38):
That's about I think maybe? Ay, like you should know this,
it's about ten, I think.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
So I don't call you.

Speaker 6 (12:48):
I guess I should, But yes, he's gonna call me.

Speaker 5 (12:53):
I think you know we are our behind him something
like that. So it's gonna be nine to thirty our time,
you know, ten thirty times. So Alex is always a
great guy to talk about talk to as it pertains
this particular game in the EASTERWO teams, So it is
going to be an interesting game. And I'm surprised that

(13:14):
this game and Seiers and.

Speaker 6 (13:17):
I we talked about it yesterday. This game wasn't flexed.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Well, it is the National two twenty five for twenty
five Eastern came.

Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah, but you got Telly Romo.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
And Jim Nants on the call, so I mean it is.
It's basically a primetime game. Well, and we saw how
bad tho five games were last week, so hopefully this
one plays out a little better.

Speaker 5 (13:39):
Now. I'm thinking that this should have been flexing to
like like Monday Night or Sunday Night.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, I can't remember what the Monday Night game is
this week, but I'm pretty sure it's garbage. I forget
who it is looking up for me real quick. But
Alex is the best. He's been a long time BCT
contributor covering the Chiefs out there, and I you know,
we talked about Marvin Mems earlier in the show, and
I think I think he's the X factor for this game.
I think not only receiving, but flipping the field position

(14:06):
on special teams. We've really missed that the last couple
of weeks with him out.

Speaker 6 (14:09):
Yeah, really quickly.

Speaker 5 (14:10):
The Money Night game is Dallas in Vegas, which which
I was gonna be watching that game. But yes, the
Broncos have missed Marvin Memms a lot, and I feel
as though that was a player before his injury. No
one was really talking about Marvin Mems and what he
was doing from a special team's standpoint and being able

(14:32):
to set the Broncos up with decent field position, whether
it was kickoffs or punt that was sorely missed because
you got to think, this is the way I think from.

Speaker 6 (14:41):
A special teams form a special team's.

Speaker 5 (14:43):
Player standpoint, if the let's say, from a punt standpoint,
Marvin Mamms flipping the field, that's a couple of first
downs and that puts you closer to Will Lutz field
goal range. So that's instant points that that we're taking
off the board with Marvin not being in the lineup.

Speaker 2 (15:03):
Now.

Speaker 5 (15:04):
I will say this, Grant, I will say this, and
I have to say this. I haven't really been satisfied
with some of the ways that Marvin Mims has been
utilized in the offense.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
Did we forget that he's a downfield threat? Like, what
is going on?

Speaker 5 (15:19):
Why aren't we throwing you said, we, I don't know,
we forgot, But you can tell like when Marvin was
playing and he would get those screen passes or those
Jets sweets, that orbit sweeps behind the line of scrimmage,
and you would hear the crowd.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
They'll let you know, they will let you know, and
we may be hearing that on Sunday at the Powerfield
at Mile High. I think Broncos fans will be amped
up for this game.

Speaker 3 (15:44):
We'll continue breaking it down.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
Next on Broncos Country to Night on KOA eight fifty
AM ninety four one FM.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
Earlier today got.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
Nick ferguson My Guy in Studio with me, Zach Seekers
behind the glass. Thanks to Alex Gold for joining us
in the last segment. Rick Lewis Bronco's color analyst. Earlier
and Zach, we got a little breaking news from Chris
Thomas and during the break regarding Quinn Minors. You got
the details on that.

Speaker 7 (16:13):
Yes, unfortunately, I'll just read his quote here what Quinn
Miners had to tell Chris thomasin just a little bit
here whereas he told Chris Thomason quote, it's been just
a bit of an illness. This is in regard to
him missing the second half of the Raiders game this
past week and what's been what he's been dealing with, quote,
just a little bit of an illness. It's something I've

(16:34):
been battling here and there throughout the entire season. Still
don't necessarily have answers, but working through it every single
day and we'll see what happens. He elaborated that it
hasn't been diagnosed yet, though he is hoping to find
out soon.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
Quote, nothing yet.

Speaker 7 (16:50):
I'm still working through it, so I got some more
testing and stuff. Elaborating about how he feels, he said,
quote it's random. Some days I feel great, some days
I don't. Just seems troubling to me, like this is
one of the most talented players on the Broncos rosters.

Speaker 3 (17:07):
Stop. But you know, a.

Speaker 7 (17:08):
Young foundational piece of this this franchise is build going forward.
You know, you'd hope he's a starting guard for the
next decade if everything goes to planning. So this is
definitely troubling, especially considering it sounds like he's been trying
to get answers and is currently without him.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, that's the worst when you how are sick and
you can't figure out No one can figure out what's
wrong with you. So hopefully Quinn miners get some answers
and hopefully he's one of those random days where he
feels good on Sunday against the Chiefs. The Broncos have
had enough issues on that offensive line.

Speaker 5 (17:40):
Yeah, they definitely have, but also too, I mean, I
give Chris credit for this one too as well.

Speaker 6 (17:47):
And his quote from.

Speaker 5 (17:48):
Quinn Miners where Quinn Miners were kind of supporting some
glasses some I work and he said that he had
his to get his eyes check. So he's the I
guess experiment with the glasses and soft contacts. It makes
you wonder with all of this, and most people really
don't really give a lot of credence to it because

(18:09):
you see professional athletes or even celebrities and things though
they are oblivious to suffering any types of setback, you know,
from a physical standpoint.

Speaker 6 (18:20):
But we all human, we all go through.

Speaker 5 (18:22):
Things, and whatever the issues are with Quinn Minors, I
hope that he finds out exactly what it is. And
because proper diagnosis leads to proper resolution and you can
kind of figure out and you can go from there.
So this is going to be interesting because we already

(18:43):
we saw what happened with Alex Singleton, so I'm just
hoping that wishing the best for Quinn minors.

Speaker 7 (18:51):
No, I mean, I think this is concerning for sure.
I hope they just get some resolution. Honestly, more for
Quinn than anything else.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
This is just scary.

Speaker 7 (18:58):
It kind of reminds me of what we saw the
Celtics deal with during the playoffs Zingis, where it was
just I mean that was scarier because I think there
was fear that maybe he was HIV or something very
very threatening, but where there would just be games where
he just like couldn't go or it could only go
a couple of minutes, and it was I think to
this day it's unexplained what he was dealing with. And

(19:20):
I hope Quinn gets this, I don't know, just some
clarity in his.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
Life sooner than Christops as well.

Speaker 5 (19:26):
Well, you know, remember last year we saw that when
the Yama had something that he was dealing with as
far as I don't know if.

Speaker 3 (19:34):
His blood clots.

Speaker 5 (19:34):
I think it was blood clots and those are serious things.
It takes me back, and I'm sure you know Stidys
appreciate this. Remember when we were told when Russell had
I think like a thigh injury he was doing like
kind of like.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
High knees on the plane and everyone.

Speaker 6 (19:51):
Made fun of that.

Speaker 5 (19:52):
But it's just like you when you're traveling long distances
and you have somewhat of an injury, you have to
be aware of blood cloths. And the same was said
when I had my two knee surgeries. That was the
biggest thing. You have to be concerned with blood clots
and I would have to wear the sleeve on my
leg to make a suppression. Yes, yes, so a lot

(20:14):
of these things. Man, we think that they're minor and
they're like little miscup things, but man, they can balloon
to something much larger. But in this case, I'm hoping
nothing and I'm wishing and praying for positive thoughts for
Quinn minors that they figure out what's going on and
he can continue being the one hell of a player
that he is.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
Yeah, definitely, And I mean we've seen the issue with
blood clots with Coach Prime at CU and you know,
losing a couple of toes because of it.

Speaker 3 (20:39):
And speaking of CU, we saw.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
Rick George step down as ad earlier today. We'll get
a Bree Basis's thoughts coming up on that at the
top of the hour. Off the field issues for Quinn minors,
dealing with that mystery illness on the field issues for
Bo Nicks, at least according to a lot of people
in the national media, a lot of audio coming out
this week from Cody Kessler, Matt Flynn, who is the

(21:05):
other guy, someone else with another quarterback, another format, Chase Dan,
Chase Daniels, Yeah, and always talking about him bailing to
the right and bailing on plays too quickly. But we
were talking a little bit about that during the breaking Nick,
why don't you let the listener in on your thoughts
on maybe why Bo is bailing to the right a little.

Speaker 3 (21:25):
More often than some people would like to see.

Speaker 6 (21:27):
Well, some may not agree with this, but when I
look at Bo.

Speaker 5 (21:31):
And why he might be bailing, it's just like, I
feel as though there's a lot of conflict going on
in his head right now as far as what his
body wants to do naturally based on what he sees,
and maybe what the coaches want him to do, as
far as going through his primary and secondary reads as
far as his progressions are concerned.

Speaker 6 (21:52):
But I like to say, okay, well.

Speaker 5 (21:54):
Maybe there's something, some element about what's going on that
he does not trust and quarterbacks for a mobile I mean,
you got to take the bitter of the suite. One
reason why they're mobile is because they're always looking to
extend the play. They always feel as though they can
extend the play, they could buy more time.

Speaker 6 (22:12):
And that's why when I hear individuals say, well, he's
holding on to the ball. He's holding on the ball.
What the hell do you think he's holding on to
the ball. He feels as though he can make a play.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
What's his legs?

Speaker 5 (22:22):
And I told you this and young seekers man, I
like this. It looks vaguely familiar. This is the same
thing that Russell Wilson kind of went through.

Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah, and we heard Sean Payton just a rail on
him without sometimes mentioning his name, sometimes not mentioning his name,
about taking away too many sacks, right, And.

Speaker 5 (22:39):
I think that is the thing that's on Bo's mind
because it's been preached to him not to take sacks.
And when you look at where the Broncos rank by
Pro Football Focus, they rank high up there as far
as not giving up sacks. And the reason that's not
happening because guess what, the one thing that Bo is
being criticized for is actually keeping that number down, which

(23:03):
is escaping out.

Speaker 6 (23:04):
Of the pocket. Now we don't see baw escaping to run.
We're seeing him escape to extend the play. But the
issue with him extending the play is.

Speaker 5 (23:14):
He needs to reset his feet because he's gotten used
to throwing off of one leg and not stepping into
the throw because the kids got a monster on he does.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
I can't believe people said he didn't have a big
arm coming out of college.

Speaker 3 (23:29):
Like that, dude can throw the deep ball.

Speaker 5 (23:31):
And the crazy thing about it, he's throwing it and
he doesn't have a solid base. Imagine what it looks
like once he resets his feet, squares his shoulders and
he gets that hip torch to push the ball and
drive the ball down the field. And also I'll add
this too, I think when I see bow bailing, it's
almost that maybe. And I give you three things, and

(23:54):
you can tell me that you think it's all three
or you think it's which one you think it is?
Maybe little insecurity as far as protection, the route running, consistency,
or the play that's called which one? If if you
had to say boom ding ding ding ding, I'm gonna.

Speaker 6 (24:11):
Put my finger on this one. Which one?

Speaker 3 (24:12):
Would it be see.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
I think maybe the play calling, just from an outside perspective.
I'm not in the room with him. I don't know
what the play calls are, but it seems like he's
taken on so much as a young quarterback and he's
got too many things going through his head. When we
see bo at his best, it's in those fourth quarters.
You and Ben have talked about it numerous times, when
he's just got to make a play and he makes

(24:34):
the play, I think he's thinking too much.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
That's what I think the issue is.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
And I think a lot of that has to do
with how complicated Sehn Payton's.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
Offense can be.

Speaker 5 (24:42):
I would concur Okay, I'm not in the building, but
I'm just basing this solely on what i'm seeing, because
once again, the one thing that the team has been
praised all was the fact of the fourth quarter, what
it looks like in the fourth quarter, how rapid the
processing is in the fourth quarter, and how efficient the

(25:05):
offense has been in the fourth quarter. And he said, Okay, WHOA,
what's the common denominator? And it's just like, well, I'm
glad you asked. The calls are coming in fast. He
has to process. The team is behind the gun and
they need to score and keep the drive moving. So
it puts pressure on everyone to refine their responsibilities and

(25:26):
know exactly what you need to do and execute right away.
And I'm like, I'm sorry, doesn't that sound like up
tempo right.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
Quarter?

Speaker 5 (25:38):
And I'm like, yes, especially that's what should happen to
Kansas City on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (25:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (25:44):
Right, you gotta run them boys, because spag Nolan's gonna
do a great job of moving Chris Jones around. They're
gonna find the matchup. It's gonna be it's gonna be like, well,
what was it to the water boy. They're gonna find
their matchup and they're gonna identify it and they're gonna
milk it and they're gonna squeeze it. So the idea
is that, well, we don't want spagnolah to dictate to

(26:07):
the Broncos offense, who has been struggling in the first
three quarters what they're what they're gonna do offensively.

Speaker 6 (26:13):
No, you run them. You make those guys.

Speaker 3 (26:16):
Tire sideline, the sideline.

Speaker 5 (26:19):
Vertical paths, short media pass, quick pass, force those guys
to tackle out of space. But you want to tire
them out. But the only way you do it, man
is man, you gotta run tempo. I don't know about you,
but if you've ever been in a situation where you've
been pressed physically and your body is tired both physically

(26:40):
and mentally, you can't think yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:43):
That makes it almost impossible to think yeah, because.

Speaker 5 (26:46):
I started to think about those guys who climb up
into the mountains or whatever mount kill them a jow room,
all these places I will never go yes, and the
air gets thinned and you can't breathe and your brain can.

Speaker 6 (26:59):
Function and comput you. It's the same philosophy.

Speaker 3 (27:02):
Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
Man.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
You know bo Nicks, I think he does a great
job of blocking out the noise, which is something that
is hard hard to do, especially this day and age
and uh social media and all the all the talking
heads that we have in the in the sports world
industry and sports talk radio. I thought he had a
great answer earlier this week about how he deals with
the distractions and all the hate and everything that comes

(27:26):
with being a franchise quarterback in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
For me, it's it's quite simple, really.

Speaker 8 (27:30):
I I delete all my social media.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
I don't even have it.

Speaker 8 (27:34):
So unless somebody says it's in my face, I don't
really hear it. And nobody's ever bold enough to say
it to your face, So really, I don't I don't
get on social media.

Speaker 3 (27:45):
There was a time to.

Speaker 8 (27:46):
Where it was early on in my career at Auburn,
we were undefeated.

Speaker 3 (27:49):
We went to Florida and we lost.

Speaker 8 (27:51):
And that's that's when I really actually got to know
the bad side of this sport. And it's unfortunate for sure,
but at the same time, it's what comes with the territory.

Speaker 6 (28:03):
And you know, it's.

Speaker 8 (28:05):
Uh, it's also a gift because it allows other people
to see how you respond to adversity. And there's a
lot of younger kids out there.

Speaker 6 (28:13):
There's a lot of people who want to be in
our shoes.

Speaker 8 (28:16):
They want to grow up and be, you know, just
like us, and you know, hopefully they're better, but you know,
it's good for them to see that not everything's pretty,
not everything's happy, go lucky you Definitely it doesn't.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
It definitely doesn't go like you planned.

Speaker 8 (28:31):
If it was like I planned, we you know, I
would have won every national championship in college. We would
have won the Super Bowl last year and we'd be
undefeated right now, but unfortunately the other team is trying
to do the same thing.

Speaker 3 (28:42):
So, h you know, life's not about being fair.

Speaker 8 (28:45):
You're going to go through ups and downs, You're going
to be faced with adversity, and honestly, a lot of people.

Speaker 3 (28:52):
Aren't gonna like you.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
I absolutely love that answer from Bow. It feels like
he's really coming of age this year. And you know
a lot of times Nick, when I fill in on
the show, we like to relate sports to all of
life and how we can get life lessons. And what
a great answer from Bo about teaching the younger generation
that life isn't fair. It is full of adversity and
it's about how you respond to it.

Speaker 5 (29:13):
I love what he said, but about the fact of
they won't say it to your face. It's very true
because on social media everyone lives behind their two hundred
and eighty characters and they can say whatever they want
and sell all these Wolf tickets. But yeah, I think
for me, Bowl has been, in my opinion, unfairly judged.

(29:34):
And I know it's tough when you play in this
sport and everyone has an opinion about how you're playing.
And Bow will be the first one to tell you
that there are certain things about his game that he
needs to improve on, but throwing all the weight of
the struggles and inefficiencies of this offense on his shoulders.

(29:56):
For me, this is me being a former player. I
don't think it's cool. Yeah, it doesn't.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
It's obviously not all his fault, no, But I think
it's he's handling everything the exact way you want your
franchise quarterback to handle it. And I think that's the
biggest part. And I think it's easy to forget. At least,
it feels like most of Broncos country has forgotten where
we were a couple of years ago with this team,
Like when we were struggling to get to five six

(30:22):
wins on the.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
Year, we're eight and two, People like, what are we
talking about? Yeah, the win was ugly, but we won.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
We're eight and two, We're in first place in the
AFC West, We're tied for the lead in the AFC overall, Like,
what are we talking about? I guess maybe it's me
coming from Ohio and being a sports fan all my life,
where we were just hoping to make the playoffs once
every couple of years. But this feels like I'm gonna
ruffle some feathers with this, but it feels like a
spoiled fan base because.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
We're like, look where we are. We've got a second
year quarterback, We've got a arguably questionable Hall of Fame
resume as a head coach.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
We've got the best defensive coordinator, if not top three,
I would say, because the guy we're facing this weekend
is obviously a very good DC as well.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
But I mean, what are we talking about here?

Speaker 6 (31:08):
We're eight and two.

Speaker 5 (31:09):
But this is what you run into because you're being
victimized by your own success.

Speaker 6 (31:18):
That's what you're seeing.

Speaker 5 (31:19):
And I was telling our program director David Teffor this
this last week. That's what you're seeing that the expectations
in the bar has been set so high for so
many years and there's been this lull in between of
how successful the team hasn't been, and the fan base
is second time of it, and to see a team

(31:41):
at eight and two but still going like, man, I
know this, there's more juice we can squeeze.

Speaker 6 (31:47):
That's the thing.

Speaker 5 (31:47):
And there in lies the pressure, and the pressure is
one of those things. Man, either you're going to crumble
under the weight or you're going to take the game
to a next level and that that's kind of where
this team is right now because you're eight and two. Yes,
so that should that be celebrated, absolutely, but understand what

(32:08):
comes along with that. Now you're taking a bar that
was moved down really low, now you're raising it mount
evers height, and fans expect for you to get there.

Speaker 3 (32:20):
Where the air is then and it's hard to bree.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Someone if never crumbles under the pressure. Brie makes us
joining us next on Broncos Country Night on KOA eight
fifty A ninety four to one FM.