Latest / The Appetizer Hour with Brett Kane / 9-25-26-Football Friday

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9-25-26-Football Friday · The Appetizer Hour with Brett Kane

0:00
Speaker 1: Good morning. We have a lot to discuss when it
0:05
Speaker 1: comes to this weekend, Sunday night football. What should happen?
0:11
Speaker 1: What happens if things don't go your way? What happens
0:15
Speaker 1: if they do? And I'll get there in a second.
0:20
Speaker 1: I do want to talk about just how weird the
0:25
Speaker 1: start to this NFL season has been. And you got
0:28
Speaker 1: a game last night that features the Atlanta Falcons. Green
0:33
Speaker 1: Bay Packers are at home. Green Bay had a lot
0:36
Speaker 1: of juice in the offseason about what that team could be,
0:43
Speaker 1: where they could capitalize. Is this finally the year that
0:48
Speaker 1: Jordan Love can go and do something of substance, we'll
0:53
Speaker 1: call it. They get the news that Josh Jacobs is
0:58
Speaker 1: not going to be there for him. That he is
1:01
Speaker 1: going to be on that dreaded exempt list in the
1:09
Speaker 1: same place that Jonathan Cooper would be. And so, they
1:16
Speaker 1: have a little bit of a hit at running back,
1:18
Speaker 1: but you still got Jordan Love and you still have
1:21
Speaker 1: Tucker Crafty signed to a big contract. You have a
1:24
Speaker 1: defense that you think you believe in, all of that.
1:28
Speaker 1: They lose week one to the Vikings, who were already
1:33
Speaker 1: working with an iffy quarterback situation, who that quarterback got
1:38
Speaker 1: a concussion and their backup came in. You had a
1:40
Speaker 1: big lead. You lose. The second week, you should have
1:47
Speaker 1: lost to the New York Jets, but found a way
1:50
Speaker 1: to force that game to go to OT and win.
1:52
Speaker 1: And so you go into this Atlanta game and you're like, okay,
1:55
Speaker 1: Atlanta hasn't run a play through two weeks. In the
2:00
Speaker 1: red zone yet. Not a play. And because Atlanta's been
2:10
Speaker 1: so bad, you think even with Michael Panics coming back,
2:12
Speaker 1: his first game after this knee injury, it's still going
2:14
Speaker 1: to take a minute. There's going to be a struggle.
2:17
Speaker 1: The fact that you got worked at home against that
2:22
Speaker 1: team is a gigantic problem. To the point to where
2:26
Speaker 1: your coach is coming out And saying, right now, I
2:31
Speaker 1: don't know what we're doing well offensively. Yeah, the answer
2:36
Speaker 1: is nothing. Because I can tell you this, I think
2:38
Speaker 1: that LeFleur's a good coach. I think he's a smart guy.
2:42
Speaker 1: But I also believe that he gets really stubborn. And
2:47
Speaker 1: we've seen this example from multiple teams this year, the
2:51
Speaker 1: Broncos being one of them. When you have a game
2:54
Speaker 1: in which The game is close, but it doesn't feel
3:00
Speaker 1: that way. Like, I think that coaches need to be
3:03
Speaker 1: reminded of that sometimes. And here's what I'm talking about.
3:08
Speaker 1: The game's closer than you think it is, but because
3:16
Speaker 1: you aren't having success on offense, you feel like you're
3:19
Speaker 1: down big. Do you know what the run to pass
3:24
Speaker 1: ratio for the Green Bay Packers was yesterday? By the way,
3:27
Speaker 1: for a team that has a lot of trouble pass protecting,
3:33
Speaker 1: it was nine carries to 53 throws on the game.
3:40
Speaker 1: Nine carries to 53 throws. It was only eight carries
3:49
Speaker 1: with running backs. And that might have totaled 17 yards,
3:54
Speaker 1: but the pass game wasn't any better. And I am
3:58
Speaker 1: blown away by watching whatever this Green Bay Packers team is.
4:05
Speaker 1: The Atlanta Falcons are terrible, and they made them look amazing.
4:09
Speaker 1: There's one thing that's good about that Falcons team, and
4:11
Speaker 1: it's Bijan Robinson. Really, both their running backs. Bijan and
4:16
Speaker 1: Brian Robinson. But you look in the pass game, Think
4:21
Speaker 1: about this for a second. Michael Penix had 18 completions yesterday.
4:28
Speaker 1: Nine of them were to Drake London. It's the only
4:31
Speaker 1: guy he really trusted. Drake London had nine catches for
4:36
Speaker 1: 194 yards. The Packers defense knew who they were throwing
4:40
Speaker 1: the ball to. It didn't matter. The Packers defense knew
4:42
Speaker 1: they were going to run the football. It didn't matter.
4:47
Speaker 1: Between the Packers and the Chargers, And you name a
4:53
Speaker 1: couple of more teams where it's like, what is this
4:56
Speaker 1: that I'm watching with them? That has just come completely
5:02
Speaker 1: out of nowhere. The Bucks being one of those teams.
5:07
Speaker 1: I think you can throw the Texans in there. It's
5:11
Speaker 1: just been a really weird start. But especially for both
5:18
Speaker 1: Green Bay and the LA Chargers, two teams with talent
5:24
Speaker 1: on their rosters, two teams with high hopes going into
5:27
Speaker 1: this year, and two teams with quarterbacks that people generally trust.
5:34
Speaker 1: Although there's always been questions about both of them of
5:37
Speaker 1: why haven't they, what's the marquee win of their careers?
5:41
Speaker 1: Like you don't really have much you can point to.
5:46
Speaker 1: And at least from a Broncos perspective, you're not there.
5:51
Speaker 1: Had you lost last weekend, even to a good Jacksonville team,
5:55
Speaker 1: it would have been different than starts like this. Losses to,
5:59
Speaker 1: you know, Chargers lose to the Raiders and they lose
6:02
Speaker 1: to the Cardinals. The Packers lose to the Falcons and
6:05
Speaker 1: almost lose to the Jets. But from a record perspective,
6:10
Speaker 1: you just need to keep pace with how difficult your
6:13
Speaker 1: schedule is. And The Broncos have done that through two weeks.
6:18
Speaker 1: It has bought them, I think, some grace that if
6:20
Speaker 1: you were to lose in this game, that you could
6:26
Speaker 1: still make up for it the following week against San Francisco.
6:29
Speaker 1: I have no problems with the Broncos trading punches here early.
6:36
Speaker 1: But part of me is like, when you get the
6:39
Speaker 1: games at home, you got to take advantage of the
6:42
Speaker 1: games at home, even if they're against really good opponents.
6:45
Speaker 1: The game next week in San Francisco is going to
6:47
Speaker 1: be really, really difficult. As this game will be. As
6:50
Speaker 1: will the week after that and the week after that.
6:52
Speaker 1: It's just the way that the schedule starts the first six.
6:57
Speaker 1: But you just have to be able to keep your
7:01
Speaker 1: head above water. Because there's a bunch of teams in
7:05
Speaker 1: the NFL that are not doing that. Your season is
7:08
Speaker 1: not over with a slow start. But your season can
7:13
Speaker 1: be over in a hurry. if you have a complete
7:16
Speaker 1: snowball in the first few weeks. I've seen Cincinnati. You know,
7:21
Speaker 1: the Bengals were, they made the Super Bowl a few
7:29
Speaker 1: years back. I believe that was 2021. Wasn't that Rams
7:32
Speaker 1: and Bengals? Made the Super Bowl. And you thought to yourself, man,
7:37
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, that team, they're going to be there every
7:39
Speaker 1: other year. It's going to be them and the Chiefs
7:41
Speaker 1: and the AFC. And they've had a lot of struggles
7:45
Speaker 1: in getting back. One, because their defense has been bad. Two,
7:48
Speaker 1: because Joe Burrow's been hurt a lot. But the third
7:50
Speaker 1: thing is, even when they've had healthy Joe Burrow to
7:53
Speaker 1: start a year, they start slow. And that's different this year.
7:57
Speaker 1: But it was almost like some tried and true 100%
8:01
Speaker 1: bet you could make. The Bengals would put themselves in
8:04
Speaker 1: an early hole to start the season. And it was
8:08
Speaker 1: a matter of could they dig their way out? But
8:10
Speaker 1: when you do that and then the grind of the
8:12
Speaker 1: season takes over and then here comes the injuries and
8:15
Speaker 1: here comes the everything else, it's too hard. And there
8:21
Speaker 1: is a huge part of me that's like, how has
8:26
Speaker 1: Matt LaFleur had this team this woefully unprepared? There is
8:31
Speaker 1: no world that should exist that the Falcons beat the
8:34
Speaker 1: Packers 35-14 at home last night. for a team that
8:39
Speaker 1: did not run a single play in the red zone.
8:44
Speaker 1: That should not be possible. So, as we look ahead
8:53
Speaker 1: to this weekend for the Broncos, I think one thing
8:56
Speaker 1: that is important in this discussion is you're dealing with
9:01
Speaker 1: a football team that you're going to have a hell
9:11
Speaker 1: of a time trying to win this game if you
9:14
Speaker 1: don't do the little things right. And I would say
9:16
Speaker 1: a fear from the first couple of weeks of the
9:19
Speaker 1: season for the Broncos is the little things, whether it's
9:25
Speaker 1: the win over Jacksonville or the loss against the Chiefs,
9:29
Speaker 1: the little things have been killers for two straight weeks. Penalties,
9:35
Speaker 1: especially pre-snap, that take a third and two to a
9:40
Speaker 1: third and seven can't happen. Multiple delay of game penalties
9:44
Speaker 1: cannot happen. You have to finish in the red zone.
9:51
Speaker 1: You have to convert on third down. All those different details,
9:55
Speaker 1: if they aren't executed properly, will get you beat this weekend.
9:58
Speaker 1: And that's why I'm really excited. about this if you
10:03
Speaker 1: look at what's ahead for the Broncos and what makes
10:09
Speaker 1: this a really good litmus test moving forward like yes
10:12
Speaker 1: it's a good opponent but more than that it's a
10:15
Speaker 1: game in which you have to be on You have
10:19
Speaker 1: to dot every I, cross every T. Because anything that
10:25
Speaker 1: you do against that team, they will make you pay.
10:27
Speaker 1: And that's vice versa. Like, I guarantee the Rams are
10:30
Speaker 1: going to say the same thing. Especially on the defensive
10:35
Speaker 1: side of the football for them. I'm sorry, offensive side
10:38
Speaker 1: of the football. This is a game where I think
10:42
Speaker 1: both teams are heading into this. One is thinking, in
10:45
Speaker 1: the Rams, if we put up 20... four points in
10:49
Speaker 1: this game, we probably have a win. So we can't
10:52
Speaker 1: make mistakes on offense. That's got to be where we're clean.
10:58
Speaker 1: And the Broncos are probably thinking to themselves, if we
11:02
Speaker 1: hold the Rams to under 20 points, we'll win this game. Now,
11:08
Speaker 1: we've been saying it forever. You want there to be
11:12
Speaker 1: a game for the Broncos in which You step up
11:19
Speaker 1: in and the offense carries the day for the team.
11:24
Speaker 1: It just really hasn't happened. I went through it yesterday.
11:28
Speaker 1: The amount of times that the Broncos have won with
11:32
Speaker 1: Bo Nix at quarterback when the defense has given up
11:36
Speaker 1: 20 points or more. And it's been six out of
11:42
Speaker 1: 16 games. Now, in those 16 games, the defense, like
11:48
Speaker 1: in the Bills game, still produced five turnovers, which gave
11:51
Speaker 1: you ample opportunity on offense in good field position. In
11:57
Speaker 1: a game that they played against the Cowboys, the Cowboys
12:01
Speaker 1: were at 17 points until two minutes left, but they
12:04
Speaker 1: were down 27, so you basically just gifted them a
12:06
Speaker 1: late touchdown. In the case of some other games in
12:10
Speaker 1: which you've given up 20, The defense has stepped up
12:13
Speaker 1: and made big plays, like when you won 41-32 against Cleveland. Yeah,
12:18
Speaker 1: you gave up 500 yards passing against Jameis Winston, but
12:21
Speaker 1: you had two pick sixes, which helped you get to
12:24
Speaker 1: 41 points. Can the offense, in a game that you're
12:28
Speaker 1: going to have to play cleanly and successfully to keep
12:33
Speaker 1: pace with that Rams offense, they are going to score?
12:38
Speaker 1: Can they do their part? And that's the big question.
12:45
Speaker 1: As long, like if, I just think it's going to
12:49
Speaker 1: be a huge game for morale reasons. If you lose,
12:54
Speaker 1: I don't think the sky is going to be falling.
12:57
Speaker 1: I don't see really any scenario in which I walk
12:58
Speaker 1: in here on Monday and I'm like, can you believe
13:02
Speaker 1: what happened with the, I don't, I don't think that
13:05
Speaker 1: there's going to be anything like that. If they lose,
13:08
Speaker 1: it'll be like, yeah, well, the Rams are good. Like
13:10
Speaker 1: I've said it going into this game. I think the
13:12
Speaker 1: Rams are the best team in the league. If you
13:15
Speaker 1: lose to them, there's no shame in it as long
13:18
Speaker 1: as you don't embarrass yourself. And I don't think that's
13:20
Speaker 1: going to happen. But I do believe that you could
13:29
Speaker 1: come out of that game with a gigantic, gigantic morale boost.
13:33
Speaker 1: If you go out there and win and the offense
13:35
Speaker 1: plays well and they do their part from start to
13:37
Speaker 1: finish of that game, I think it would go a
13:39
Speaker 1: long way for making sure that this team gets the
13:46
Speaker 1: confidence that's necessary for them to go next level to
13:50
Speaker 1: be a true Super Bowl contender. So 303-504-0925 as we
13:55
Speaker 1: broadcast from the Backus and Shanker Studios, serious lawyers for
13:58
Speaker 1: the seriously injured back after this. JB Long is going
14:02
Speaker 1: to join us at 8.20, get a breakdown of the Rams.
14:12
Speaker 1: It's Bud Light Football Friday. Bud Light, the official beer
14:14
Speaker 1: sponsor of the Denver Broncos. Remember to enjoy responsibly. So again,
14:18
Speaker 1: to me, it's just, it was bizarre watching Thursday Night
14:22
Speaker 1: Football last night and seeing the Packers just, I mean,
14:26
Speaker 1: completely pee themselves against a bad opponent. The big thing
14:33
Speaker 1: when you play against really good teams is making sure
14:40
Speaker 1: that you play virtually mistake-free. Good teams will capitalize on that.
14:48
Speaker 1: We saw that happen in week one against the Chiefs. Now,
14:53
Speaker 1: I'll tell you this. The encouraging thing is it looks
14:56
Speaker 1: like you're going to get at least two of your
14:57
Speaker 1: running backs in the backfield playing in this game as both. J.K.
15:02
Speaker 1: Dobbins and R.J. Harvey were back at practice yesterday. Jonah
15:05
Speaker 1: Coleman still missed. I guess his status is going to
15:07
Speaker 1: be up in the air. But you have two guys
15:10
Speaker 1: that you trust. My biggest fear was you're going to
15:12
Speaker 1: head into that game with, you know, Tyler Bidet being
15:19
Speaker 1: the one dude that you, I mean, him and Cody
15:26
Speaker 1: Schrader in the backfield. That could easily turn into a
15:29
Speaker 1: game in which you're too reliant in the past because
15:31
Speaker 1: you don't have faith in your running backs. That shouldn't
15:33
Speaker 1: be the case now. Davis Webb saw a formula last
15:36
Speaker 1: week against the Jags in which if you have a
15:39
Speaker 1: balanced attack, and remember, when we say balanced in the
15:43
Speaker 1: run-pass area, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's 50-50. It's
15:52
Speaker 1: just got to be enough, enough to make the defense
15:55
Speaker 1: commit and believe that you are going to run the
15:57
Speaker 1: football and you might run the football on any given down.
16:02
Speaker 1: And that's what you had last week. You know, in
16:05
Speaker 1: a totally bizarre other direction, the Falcons, I mean, they
16:13
Speaker 1: ran the ball 41 times last night to only 25
16:17
Speaker 1: passes because they could. But there is, I think, a huge,
16:25
Speaker 1: huge factor to this heading into this Rams game about
16:29
Speaker 1: how do you want to take care of your business?
16:32
Speaker 1: And we saw a breakout game from Jalen Waddell. I
16:36
Speaker 1: know the Rams are going to be fully aware of
16:38
Speaker 1: that and they're going to do their best to make
16:39
Speaker 1: sure that that guy, out of anybody on that offense,
16:43
Speaker 1: does not have a big game. He's the one dude
16:47
Speaker 1: that can actually stretch the field, can make a play,
16:50
Speaker 1: make a guy miss and turn a you know, 15-yard
16:53
Speaker 1: game into a 50-yard touchdown. And I don't know how
16:56
Speaker 1: many guys in this roster on this offense have that ability.
17:01
Speaker 1: So he is going to be the focal point. So
17:03
Speaker 1: to me, it's, is this going to be a game
17:05
Speaker 1: in which Cortland Sutton finally gets some touches and some looks?
17:08
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny. I was doing some digging over
17:10
Speaker 1: the last couple of years with Cortland Sutton and what
17:14
Speaker 1: his numbers look like earlier in the year because it's
17:16
Speaker 1: felt to me like we've talked about Cortland Sutton being
17:24
Speaker 1: a guy with slow starts, and I've said, man, where
17:27
Speaker 1: is he the first couple of weeks? So I went
17:29
Speaker 1: back and looked under Bo Nix. In 2024, Bo Nix's
17:34
Speaker 1: rookie year, he had five catches for 64 yards in
17:38
Speaker 1: the first two weeks. In 2025, he had seven catches
17:43
Speaker 1: for 67 yards in the first two weeks. And this year,
17:47
Speaker 1: he's got five catches for 36 yards in the first
17:50
Speaker 1: two weeks. it's been a slow start almost every year
17:55
Speaker 1: for him under, or with Bo Nix at quarterback. The
17:59
Speaker 1: good news is week fours and beyond is really where
18:03
Speaker 1: his production starts picking up last year. That was a
18:06
Speaker 1: six catch 118 yard game with a touchdown. And I
18:10
Speaker 1: think after getting your feet under you for a couple
18:13
Speaker 1: of weeks, they'll finally figure out, um, You know, what's
18:18
Speaker 1: the rhythm of the offense and what do you trust
18:21
Speaker 1: to go out and do and what's the right way
18:25
Speaker 1: to attack? It just feels like it takes a minute.
18:31
Speaker 1: And so I think that this could be a game
18:32
Speaker 1: in which Cortland Sutton has a good one. What they
18:35
Speaker 1: need to get on Sunday night is, I think, a
18:40
Speaker 1: big game from Nick Benito and a big game from
18:43
Speaker 1: Zach Allen. and especially Zach Allen, who was a monster
18:49
Speaker 1: against Jacksonville. If you want to look at maybe the
18:52
Speaker 1: reason why Jacksonville's offense, and specifically their passing game, struggled
18:56
Speaker 1: so much, it's because Zach Allen was an absolute demon
19:00
Speaker 1: from start to finish. I've talked about this before. It's
19:05
Speaker 1: part of the reason why you're going to be playing
19:07
Speaker 1: against the guy that I've mentioned over and over again
19:09
Speaker 1: in this category. The most impressive defensive player that I
19:15
Speaker 1: think I've seen in my life watching football is Aaron Donald. Now,
19:21
Speaker 1: I don't know if he's the same version of Aaron
19:24
Speaker 1: Donald from three, four years ago, but he's still good.
19:27
Speaker 1: The reason I bring that up is there is nowhere
19:30
Speaker 1: for a quarterback to go if the pocket collapses from within.
19:37
Speaker 1: You can get an edge rusher that beats his guy
19:40
Speaker 1: around the outside, but the whole point of a pocket...
19:44
Speaker 1: is that if that happens, you step up with room
19:49
Speaker 1: so that they miss around you. You know when you
19:52
Speaker 1: can't do that? When Zach Allen is three yards deep
19:55
Speaker 1: in your backfield. There's nowhere to go. And it's why
20:06
Speaker 1: I think Aaron Donald's career is one of the most
20:10
Speaker 1: impressive careers that I've ever seen is that he's working
20:13
Speaker 1: as an interior defensive lineman. He is doing so with
20:20
Speaker 1: a double team on virtually every play. And it doesn't
20:24
Speaker 1: matter because Aaron Donald continues to make play after play,
20:30
Speaker 1: after play. And more than that, he doesn't just make plays.
20:35
Speaker 1: He had a 20 and a half, half, uh, 20
20:39
Speaker 1: and a half sack season. Despite being double teamed that
20:43
Speaker 1: many times. He had double digit sacks for five consecutive
20:48
Speaker 1: years as an interior defensive lineman. If you can do that, well,
20:54
Speaker 1: nobody can do that except for him. But if you
20:56
Speaker 1: can get just pressure in a collapsing pocket, I don't
21:00
Speaker 1: care who the quarterback is. He's going to struggle. and
21:02
Speaker 1: Zach Allen made Trevor Lawrence struggle last week, and if
21:05
Speaker 1: he does that against this Rams offensive line, Stafford's not
21:09
Speaker 1: going to have a good day. Stafford is, you know,
21:16
Speaker 1: as far as most talented just throwers of a football,
21:21
Speaker 1: I think he's up there with literally anybody in NFL history.
21:24
Speaker 1: His arm is just a God-given blessed gift. It's like
21:31
Speaker 1: watching Nolan Ryan. It's just like, you know what? That
21:35
Speaker 1: was given to you by God and you were put
21:37
Speaker 1: on this earth to throw a baseball. Stafford was put
21:40
Speaker 1: on this earth to throw a football. But any quarterback
21:46
Speaker 1: under pressure is going to have problems. So 303-504-0925. We'll
21:56
Speaker 1: get back to this in a bit. Do want to
21:58
Speaker 1: talk about ESPN in their rankings yesterday. It is a
22:05
Speaker 1: healthy reminder to get this. It's been an off season
22:08
Speaker 1: of sort of a, I don't want to say like
22:13
Speaker 1: a woe is me off season, but a little bit
22:15
Speaker 1: of that. When you look at the way that the
22:23
Speaker 1: season finished, the way the season finished for the Nuggets
22:30
Speaker 1: last year, You have an offseason in which you lose guys.
22:37
Speaker 1: You don't have really cap space to do anything. You're
22:39
Speaker 1: trying to find something financially to be able to add
22:44
Speaker 1: to the roster without being in the second apron and
22:47
Speaker 1: all these different discussions that we've had. All the think
22:49
Speaker 1: pieces about, are they ruining Jokic's career or legacy or whatever?
22:56
Speaker 1: Bottom line is, when ESPN comes out and ranks their
22:58
Speaker 1: top 100 players in the NBA... Nicole Jokic is still
23:03
Speaker 1: number one on that list. And I think that is,
23:07
Speaker 1: it's right, but, but it's a lot thinner now than
23:16
Speaker 1: it's ever been. Jokic is now 31 years old. Um,
23:23
Speaker 1: And here's what they say. The margin between Jokic, Wimbinyama,
23:27
Speaker 1: and Shea Gilgis-Alexander was razor thin for the top spot
23:30
Speaker 1: in ESPN's NBA rank. All three players deserve the number
23:33
Speaker 1: one slot, but it's Jokic in the first position for
23:35
Speaker 1: the third consecutive year. The reason to me is simple.
23:42
Speaker 1: He averaged 28, 13, and 11. 28, 13, and 11.
23:52
Speaker 1: It's his second consecutive year averaging those numbers. The year previous,
23:58
Speaker 1: it was 30, 13, and 10. There is something to
24:03
Speaker 1: Jokic's game, though, that they mentioned that if he wants
24:07
Speaker 1: to continue to be the number one player in the league,
24:11
Speaker 1: what needs to happen? And they said, well, Jokic is
24:15
Speaker 1: three points shooting return to form. It is a good question.
24:18
Speaker 1: You know, Jokic... has had years where he's shot 40%,
24:24
Speaker 1: and he's had years where he's shot 34. If there's
24:29
Speaker 1: one fluctuation in his game, it's that his three-point shooting
24:32
Speaker 1: can be very inconsistent up and down. Now, when he
24:37
Speaker 1: makes those shots, there's literally no way to defend him.
24:45
Speaker 1: When he's knocking down threes, you have to make commitments
24:48
Speaker 1: to go and challenge him on the outside. Then he
24:51
Speaker 1: can beat you somewhere else, or it's clearing out the
24:53
Speaker 1: lane for somebody cutting towards the rim. It just opens
24:57
Speaker 1: up a ton of different things. But whenever you have
25:00
Speaker 1: a guy like Jokic, you're going to be in the playoffs.
25:03
Speaker 1: When you're in the playoffs, you're going to have a
25:05
Speaker 1: shot to win playoff series, which then result in possible championships.
25:10
Speaker 1: But we can see where this thing has declined since 2023.
25:14
Speaker 1: The Nuggets are in a place that I don't think
25:17
Speaker 1: the Avs are quite at yet. which is you won
25:21
Speaker 1: the title, and in subsequent years, you have exited the
25:27
Speaker 1: playoffs earlier than you had hoped. But the difference with
25:34
Speaker 1: the Avs is they still have, for the most part,
25:42
Speaker 1: their team from that championship core intact. Now the Nuggets have,
25:46
Speaker 1: if you want to get really basic, the core of
25:49
Speaker 1: the team is yes, that. It's Jokic and Murray and
25:53
Speaker 1: Gordon and Christian Brown. Literally everything else is different. Not
25:57
Speaker 1: a single thing resides from that. Not even the coach.
26:02
Speaker 1: All of that has changed. And now you're in a
26:06
Speaker 1: spot where you're pressed so far against this cap that
26:16
Speaker 1: the decision this year, I think very obviously, is we're
26:19
Speaker 1: going to give this one more shot, and if this
26:21
Speaker 1: doesn't work, we're probably going to have to blow things up.
26:24
Speaker 1: And I think the only next step that you can
26:25
Speaker 1: really move to here is what it feels like to
26:29
Speaker 1: me anyway. This feels like one last shot for Jokic
26:34
Speaker 1: and Murray, that duo, to be together. If you look back,
26:41
Speaker 1: At other teams that have had a similar situation like this,
26:45
Speaker 1: you know, the Golden State Warriors were different because they
26:47
Speaker 1: won multiple titles, and it's a lot easier to hang
26:49
Speaker 1: on to that when you keep racking up rings. I
26:55
Speaker 1: think a more accurate sort of comparison would be taking
27:00
Speaker 1: the Nuggets and looking at what happened with the Bucs. Now,
27:04
Speaker 1: I don't think they'll ever get to a place where
27:05
Speaker 1: they're trading Joker like the Bucs traded Giannis. But they
27:09
Speaker 1: won the championship. They tried to keep it together. It
27:12
Speaker 1: didn't work. And within a few years, everybody from that
27:15
Speaker 1: roster is gone. Everyone. And they tried to salvage it
27:20
Speaker 1: with Dame Lillard trades and this and that, and nothing worked.
27:26
Speaker 1: Problem is they had a superstar that was wholly impatient
27:31
Speaker 1: by the end of it, and they had to make
27:32
Speaker 1: a move. I don't think Jokic is ever going to
27:36
Speaker 1: be that guy. I don't think he wants to, but
27:43
Speaker 1: this feels like one last hurrah. And the trouble that
27:52
Speaker 1: I have with this is that here's the argument. Can
27:58
Speaker 1: this team win a title? Yeah, they can if they
28:02
Speaker 1: stay healthy. But crossing your fingers and toes and teeth
28:06
Speaker 1: and tongues is In the hope that everybody stays healthy
28:10
Speaker 1: is a very dangerous bet considering what we've witnessed over
28:14
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. And the biggest problem is
28:16
Speaker 1: the guy that you love, your X factor, the dude
28:19
Speaker 1: that I think matters, that wholly matters in winning a
28:25
Speaker 1: championship in Aaron Gordon, just hasn't been able to stay healthy.
28:32
Speaker 1: And so you're relying on something you haven't seen for
28:34
Speaker 1: a few years being like, well, I hope that's different
28:37
Speaker 1: this year when evidence is probably going to point to you. Yeah,
28:40
Speaker 1: it's likely going to be the same. I hope not. Again,
28:44
Speaker 1: it's not some character flaw that Aaron Gordon has, but
28:50
Speaker 1: it is a reality that you have to deal with.
28:52
Speaker 1: And so this feels like one final shot before you
28:56
Speaker 1: totally do a reset. And Maybe that's part of the
29:03
Speaker 1: reason why Joker hasn't signed his long-term extension yet, is
29:06
Speaker 1: that first of all, he can make more money, but
29:08
Speaker 1: second of all, it's like, well, maybe this creates a
29:14
Speaker 1: sense of urgency of, again, I don't think he would
29:18
Speaker 1: ever leave, but you can just hold that out there
29:22
Speaker 1: and be like, I could, I could if I don't
29:26
Speaker 1: think you guys are doing things right. texture says mark
29:31
Speaker 1: my words CB will be comeback player of the year
29:34
Speaker 1: I don't know what the rules are on comeback player
29:36
Speaker 1: of the year, but I know what you're saying, and
29:37
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I think that Christian Brown caught
29:40
Speaker 1: a lot of heat last year because he tried to
29:42
Speaker 1: play through an injury, and it just looked awful. I
29:48
Speaker 1: remember in the playoffs, he tried to dunk. This is
29:53
Speaker 1: maybe the best dunker on the team, and that's with
29:57
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon on the roster right now. Prime AG would
30:00
Speaker 1: have him, but if I said I need one guy
30:02
Speaker 1: to go up and slam it, I don't know if
30:05
Speaker 1: there's anybody better than Christian Brown. He went up, lifted
30:08
Speaker 1: for a dunk during the playoffs last year, and barely
30:10
Speaker 1: got above the rim. Looked like me trying to dunk.
30:13
Speaker 1: And I knew something was wrong. He had no lateral movement. Like,
30:16
Speaker 1: the ankle was bothering him to the point where I said,
30:19
Speaker 1: you got to get him out of the game. Like,
30:21
Speaker 1: this isn't helping anybody. But I think with him being healthy, yes.
30:29
Speaker 1: He's going to make a lot of people eat crow,
30:30
Speaker 1: I think, for what they have said about him. You know,
30:34
Speaker 1: $ 25 million per year contract, and everybody's like, that's one
30:38
Speaker 1: of the worst contracts in the NBA. When he's healthy,
30:41
Speaker 1: I don't think it is. I think it's fine when
30:44
Speaker 1: he's healthy. Big fast break guy, good defender, grinder, does
30:51
Speaker 1: a lot of the dirty work, but he needs to
30:54
Speaker 1: be healthy to do it. So 303-504-0925. Shop Mazda Text Line.
31:01
Speaker 1: One price, one person, one hour. It is a Bud
31:02
Speaker 1: Light Football Friday. Back after this. It's a Bud Light
31:05
Speaker 1: Football Friday. Bud Light, the official beer sponsor of the
31:10
Speaker 1: Denver Broncos. Remember to enjoy responsibly. So we have a
31:13
Speaker 1: lot going on over the weekend. Tomorrow. Another Avs preseason game.
31:20
Speaker 1: They take on the Mammoth. That'll be at 3 o'clock
31:21
Speaker 1: here on 92.5. Oregon and USC on AM 950 at 530.
31:27
Speaker 1: And then Sunday on 92.5, 11 o'clock, Chargers-Bills. Will be
31:33
Speaker 1: an interesting game to see if the Chargers can just
31:35
Speaker 1: stay in it or are they going to drop to 0-3?
31:39
Speaker 1: Also at 11 on AM 950 is Seahawks and Commanders.
31:42
Speaker 1: And then at 2.30 on 950 is Ravens and Cowboys.
31:47
Speaker 1: From Brazil. So, huge week in the NFL and college football.
31:52
Speaker 1: We'll get to Brady and his bets in a bit.
31:54
Speaker 1: But some big games starting with 10 o'clock tomorrow. It's
31:58
Speaker 1: going to be Texas and Tennessee. Two 3-0 football teams.
32:06
Speaker 1: Texas four and a half point favorites in this game.
32:09
Speaker 1: Should be a big one to see if Texas is
32:11
Speaker 1: for real or not. And I still have questions, by
32:14
Speaker 1: the way. And I might be, again, I'm not some
32:17
Speaker 1: grinder of tape. I'm not some NFL scout. But it
32:23
Speaker 1: feels like Arch Manning, over the last couple of years,
32:30
Speaker 1: this year and especially last year, he has played well.
32:37
Speaker 1: He is seen in a lot of people's eyes as
32:39
Speaker 1: somebody who is, you know, some bona fide number one
32:42
Speaker 1: overall draft pick. I'm not quite there with it yet.
32:49
Speaker 1: I think it's got to be a little bit more
32:51
Speaker 1: consistent against a better competition. And he's had big games,
32:55
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong. The game that they had against
33:03
Speaker 1: Ohio State a couple of weeks ago looked like it
33:05
Speaker 1: was going to end very poorly until a very furious
33:08
Speaker 1: comeback in the fourth quarter changed everything. I think this
33:12
Speaker 1: is another opportunity for arch to go out and prove
33:15
Speaker 1: that not only is he one of, uh, he's the
33:18
Speaker 1: quarterback of the best team in the country, but that
33:21
Speaker 1: he is that number one overall pick that everybody kind
33:25
Speaker 1: of seems or looks him out to be. So that's
33:29
Speaker 1: a huge game that you have between those two teams.
33:33
Speaker 1: There's also a bunch of sneaky, good matchups that are
33:35
Speaker 1: going to happen on, on Saturday. Um, Just to name
33:39
Speaker 1: a couple, I think Iowa and Michigan could be really interesting.
33:43
Speaker 1: Michigan is going to be one of the more confounding
33:45
Speaker 1: teams in this league. So think about this for a second. Michigan,
33:51
Speaker 1: who is currently 3-0, despite what we all witnessed the
33:54
Speaker 1: first week of the season against Western Michigan. They're 3-0.
33:59
Speaker 1: They play Iowa this week. They're favored. Iowa could win
34:03
Speaker 1: this game. But... Michigan has a prime opportunity here to
34:11
Speaker 1: go 4-0. They do have a tough schedule as they
34:14
Speaker 1: play Penn State, Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State, all left
34:22
Speaker 1: on their schedule. But I wonder if Michigan finds themselves
34:27
Speaker 1: in a place where they are hovering around or borderline
34:31
Speaker 1: in the top 12 by the end of the year.
34:37
Speaker 1: How much is week one held against them? How much
34:40
Speaker 1: is that traded by the committee as a loss? And
34:44
Speaker 1: I've told you, I think this is probably, it's a
34:50
Speaker 1: better option than the previous ones were as far as
34:55
Speaker 1: the committee getting together and making decisions on who are
34:58
Speaker 1: the teams that are in and who are the teams
35:00
Speaker 1: that are out. I still think it's a pretty silly
35:03
Speaker 1: way of going about your business. You know, it's funny
35:06
Speaker 1: to me. The game against Western Michigan is representative of
35:12
Speaker 1: the things that I can't stand in college football. And
35:16
Speaker 1: everybody was on board with this one, which was, what
35:18
Speaker 1: do you mean there's an extra second on the clock
35:22
Speaker 1: or on a clock that we couldn't see but you're
35:24
Speaker 1: telling us exists? Because you want to be able to
35:28
Speaker 1: see it and visualize it for yourself. And now college
35:32
Speaker 1: football has said, hey, surprise, surprise, there's no more magic
35:35
Speaker 1: clocks that we have in the back. Because they realize
35:38
Speaker 1: that's ridiculous. That you have to have some transparency with
35:42
Speaker 1: your consumer. I think the same thing about the college
35:46
Speaker 1: football playoff committee. What do they value and what do
35:51
Speaker 1: they not value? They hold some losses early in the
35:53
Speaker 1: season against some teams and for other teams they don't.
35:56
Speaker 1: They hold not making the conference championship against some teams
36:00
Speaker 1: and with others they don't. And I just don't like
36:02
Speaker 1: that there's biases in this. That's why I've always said,
36:07
Speaker 1: if you want to be considered a team that's going
36:08
Speaker 1: to be the final 12, one of the final 12
36:11
Speaker 1: standing in college football, with 137 teams all competing for
36:15
Speaker 1: the same trophy, you want to be one of the
36:17
Speaker 1: final 12, you have to at least make your conference
36:20
Speaker 1: championship game. That's how I've always felt that way. Like,
36:26
Speaker 1: here's what's funny. There are some teams who will make
36:29
Speaker 1: their conference championship, lose that game, they will use the
36:33
Speaker 1: loss in their conference championship against them, and it will
36:37
Speaker 1: benefit a team that did not make the conference championship
36:39
Speaker 1: and did not play that weekend. That makes no sense.
36:46
Speaker 1: But I wonder with Michigan, you would almost think you
36:48
Speaker 1: would have to. They would have to hold that against them.
36:52
Speaker 1: But the reason I question it is, well, there's biases
36:55
Speaker 1: in college football. And how much of the discussion is, Yeah,
36:59
Speaker 1: I know. We should probably hold that against them and
37:01
Speaker 1: they shouldn't be in the playoff, but it would make
37:04
Speaker 1: for really good television. So part of me is just
37:10
Speaker 1: hoping that Michigan goes out and they lose to Iowa
37:12
Speaker 1: and lose to Penn State and lose to Indiana and
37:15
Speaker 1: lose to Ohio State and all these different teams just
37:17
Speaker 1: to not have that discussion at all. Don't even tempt
37:20
Speaker 1: them with bringing in a television argument to this. Don't
37:26
Speaker 1: do it. But that's one of those sneaky games where
37:30
Speaker 1: I think that's fun. I've told you guys, here's two.
37:33
Speaker 1: This is going to be your homework for the weekend.
37:35
Speaker 1: You don't have to watch the whole game, but you
37:36
Speaker 1: have to be able to catch at least a few
37:38
Speaker 1: minutes of each of these games. I want you to
37:40
Speaker 1: watch Utah versus Iowa State. It's going to be on
37:43
Speaker 1: Fox at 1.30. You have to watch Utah's two-quarterback system.
37:48
Speaker 1: It's amazing. What they do, the formations, having both quarterbacks
37:54
Speaker 1: on the field at once, you don't know who's going
37:55
Speaker 1: to throw the football and who's not. between Ficklin and Dampier.
38:02
Speaker 1: Watch them at 1.30 on Fox. That's your homework. Here's
38:05
Speaker 1: your other homework. Later in the day, if you don't
38:10
Speaker 1: got the SEC network, buy it for this weekend. I'm
38:14
Speaker 1: telling you, this is your homework. You have to do it. 5.45, Missouri,
38:19
Speaker 1: number 19, is going to play number 24, Mississippi State.
38:23
Speaker 1: Watch Kamario Taylor, quarterback for Mississippi State. He's one of
38:27
Speaker 1: the best players in the country. He very well could
38:29
Speaker 1: win a Heisman. It's like watching Michael Vick. Right-handed Michael Vick.
38:35
Speaker 1: That's what you're watching. So that's your two bits of homework.
38:38
Speaker 1: And with that, Nelly, can we sing, please? Everybody in
38:44
Speaker 1: your cars, let's go! Come on, Jesse, sing it. Brett's here.
38:53
Speaker 1: Brett's here in his bed. Let's get it. Bretty. Bretty. Bretty.
39:08
Speaker 1: Bretty and his bits. Very good. Very good falsetto, Jesse.
39:16
Speaker 1: Jesse filling in for Nelly today. All right, so here's
39:18
Speaker 1: how it works. I'm three and three on the year.
39:20
Speaker 1: I missed on Ole Miss and LSU. I thought that
39:23
Speaker 1: Lane Kiffin would stomp. Turns out he got stomped. That
39:28
Speaker 1: was the miss. But I did tell you, I thought...
39:30
Speaker 1: that Minnesota was going to cover the four and a
39:31
Speaker 1: half points last week against the Bears, and they did.
39:35
Speaker 1: Not just an underdog, but a win. And I give
39:38
Speaker 1: you a lock in an underdog every week. Here's my lock,
39:40
Speaker 1: and it will be in that Mississippi State game. They're
39:43
Speaker 1: at home against Missouri. Missouri is coming off of a
39:46
Speaker 1: 10-point win over Troy and a 17-point win over Kansas.
39:51
Speaker 1: I don't like the margin of victory in those games.
39:54
Speaker 1: Mississippi State coming off a tough win against South Carolina
39:57
Speaker 1: last week. They're favored by six. I think at home,
40:00
Speaker 1: Kamario Taylor rolls against Missouri, and they win by at
40:05
Speaker 1: least a touchdown, so that's going to be your lock
40:07
Speaker 1: of the week. The underdog will go to the NFL.
40:12
Speaker 1: one dog that I think is really interesting, that I
40:15
Speaker 1: really like, and it's this. The Bucks are 0-2. They're
40:21
Speaker 1: playing against the Vikings team that I chose to cover
40:23
Speaker 1: the Bears last week. I just can't envision... the Bucs
40:28
Speaker 1: losing a third consecutive game to start the year and
40:31
Speaker 1: the second consecutive game at home. They're a one and
40:33
Speaker 1: a half point dog. They're at home. I think the Bucs,
40:37
Speaker 1: if they're ever going to get a win, it's going
40:38
Speaker 1: to be this week. Plus the Vikings are 2-0 in
40:41
Speaker 1: winning games in very weird circumstances the last two weeks.
40:45
Speaker 1: Last week, it was the rain game in Chicago and
40:48
Speaker 1: Caleb Williams goes down with an injury. The week before that,
40:50
Speaker 1: it was against the Packers and the meltdown by the
40:53
Speaker 1: Packers late in the game. I just think this sets
40:56
Speaker 1: up for one, the Vikings to come down to earth
40:58
Speaker 1: a little bit and for two, the Bucks to raise
41:01
Speaker 1: up to their standard again. So give me the Bucks
41:03
Speaker 1: to win at home against the Vikings. Tim, watch the
41:06
Speaker 1: show live on Twitch, twitch.tv, search Altitude SR in the
41:09
Speaker 1: search bar. The Altitude TV simulcast can also watch on YouTube.
41:14
Speaker 1: Subscribe to the channel and don't miss anything from Denver's
41:16
Speaker 1: number one sports station, Altitude Sports Radio 92.5. Moshe Lombardi
41:21
Speaker 1: and Kane starts next.