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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman & Lindahl 11-8-24 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwald is our Broncos insider Altitude Sports Radio ninety
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  Speaker 1: two five Pro Football, the.
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  Speaker 2: Insider I've covered the league a little while.
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  Speaker 3: Chef Legwall, he's the balloon popper.
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  Speaker 4: He doesn't blow it up.
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  Speaker 3: Brought to you by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
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  Speaker 3: i BBW Local sixty eight.
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  Speaker 1: Start with the job and with a career. It's Leggye
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  Speaker 1: on Altitude Sports Radio.
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  Speaker 2: Five.
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  Speaker 4: You know, we started inside just for some of the walkthrough,
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  Speaker 4: and then we wanted to get outside on the grass.
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  Speaker 4: And you know, the shoes are going to be important
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  Speaker 4: in this game when we're looking at, uh, the type
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  Speaker 4: of surface we're going to be playing on. So it's
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  Speaker 4: good work, good practice. Outside. Guys did a good job
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  Speaker 4: getting the field ready and uh any questions.
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  Speaker 1: We have questions for Jeff Legwald. He joins us right
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  Speaker 1: now here on a Friday afternoon ahead of Broncos and
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  Speaker 1: chief coming up here on Sunday at eleven a. M.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Leggy, let's start with this. The Broncos, as
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  Speaker 1: you point out on ESPN today, third in the NFL
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  Speaker 1: and percentage of opponents dropbacks that result in a hit, sack,
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  Speaker 1: or duress four quarterbacks at thirty seven percent right now,
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  Speaker 1: how do you consistently do that against Patrick Mahomes when
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  Speaker 1: he typically eats blitzes for both breakfast and brunch.
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  Speaker 2: That's the issue is, you know, how do you turn
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  Speaker 2: how do you turn your four man pressures to look
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  Speaker 2: like five man's in terms of what they're getting done,
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  Speaker 2: because if you do blitz them, it's almost pedestrian for
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  Speaker 2: him unless you you know, like blitzing Manning back in
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  Speaker 2: the day, unless you show them something you haven't shown
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  Speaker 2: for an awfully long time, really hard to get the
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  Speaker 2: free rusher all the way to him. So that's the issue.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, last week was their least their lowest
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  Speaker 2: five man pressure rate of the season. They only had
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  Speaker 2: six five or more in the whole game, and part
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  Speaker 2: of that is because it was Lamar back there, and
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  Speaker 2: you know, running at him is not always a good cask.
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  Speaker 2: But they've they've got to get some kind of of
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  Speaker 2: movement up front. They've at least got to get Mahomes
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  Speaker 2: off his comfortable spot right there in the middle. And
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  Speaker 2: how they do that I think will be to mix
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  Speaker 2: and match and occasionally save a player or two when
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  Speaker 2: they do want to come after him.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, so I know I'm not just imagining this because
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  Speaker 3: I pulled it up Jeff. The Broncos have been really
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  Speaker 3: competitive against Patrick Mahomes save October twenty fifth, of the
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  Speaker 3: Chiefs won forty three to sixteen. That was that home game.
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  Speaker 4: I remember it now.
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  Speaker 3: I remember it was the snow and I want to
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  Speaker 3: say the Broncos kept throwing interceptions that would have been
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  Speaker 3: a Drew Lock affair there. Vic Fangio's maybe second year.
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  Speaker 3: But anyway, like these are one score games for the
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  Speaker 3: most part the last five or six meetings. What if
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  Speaker 3: the Broncos figured out that keeps them competitive in these
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  Speaker 3: games last year nineteen to eight and twenty four to nine.
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  Speaker 3: With the two scores going back to twenty twenty three,
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  Speaker 3: it was twenty seven to twenty four and thirty four
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  Speaker 3: to twenty eight. So what if they unlocked to at
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  Speaker 3: least stay competitive with these guys.
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  Speaker 2: I think any that they play him enough that some
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  Speaker 2: of the pre snap motions and things don't don't get
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  Speaker 2: their you know, their eyes in a bad spot, as
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  Speaker 2: they do with teams that don't face them quite as much.
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  Speaker 2: I think ultimately they know what the play is going
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  Speaker 2: to look like when all of the motion and the
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  Speaker 2: movement is over and I think that does help them,
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  Speaker 2: and you know they're you know, they've they've been really
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  Speaker 2: good about limiting you know, the favorite things Mahomes likes
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  Speaker 2: to do, at least in some respects. Again, they've only
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  Speaker 2: won one of those games, so the ultimate success hasn't
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  Speaker 2: been there. I mean, Mahomes the Chiefs are twelve and
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  Speaker 2: one against the Broncos and Mahomes starts, so you know,
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  Speaker 2: they've been successful keeping it close for the most part lately.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, last year's win was the only one
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  Speaker 2: since since the Super Bowl year. But they've done it defensively,
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  Speaker 2: They've they've been able to hang in with all the movement,
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  Speaker 2: the motion, the change of formations, all the personnel groupings.
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  Speaker 2: Andy Reid uses, they've done better job with that than
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  Speaker 2: some other teams have.
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  Speaker 1: Deaf Lakewell brought to you by the International Brotherhood of
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Electrical Workers ibe W Local sixty eight start with a
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  Speaker 1: job and with a career, Leggie, we have seen Sean
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  Speaker 1: Payton be willing to show some serious trust in his
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  Speaker 1: rookies and his on offense, particularly VLA and Troy Franklin.
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  Speaker 1: Is this the week that audric estimate perhaps gets unlocked
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  Speaker 1: for the Broncos.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think, you know, they have promised he will
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  Speaker 2: get more work, and I think they've you know, he
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  Speaker 2: has practiced, uh sort of in the rotation, but we
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  Speaker 2: you know that doesn't always mean everything, but uh, you
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  Speaker 2: know it certainly time. You know, I he has put
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  Speaker 2: the ball in the ground, and that's the ultimate crime,
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  Speaker 2: uh for in a lot of ways, for running back.
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  Speaker 2: But I just feel like he's he's being punished longer
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  Speaker 2: than some other players have been for mistakes. So I'm
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  Speaker 2: not quite sure why that is or if it's just
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  Speaker 2: my imagination, but he has put the ball on the
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  Speaker 2: ground twice this year in the regular season, once in
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  Speaker 2: the preseason, and then that's been you know, unlimited carries.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that's been the issue. Is they they
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  Speaker 2: want him to play, and he's got a six yard
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  Speaker 2: per carry abyes that that that's that sticks out. You know,
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  Speaker 2: I think it's pretty telling that he and Tyler Badet
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  Speaker 2: have the best yards per carry at six and seven respectively,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, they haven't been able to or haven't
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  Speaker 2: been willing uh to play either one of them. But
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  Speaker 2: he's been injured, of course, But you know, estimated. I
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  Speaker 2: think he's been I think he's been in time out
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  Speaker 2: long enough as a personal opinion, and that they you know,
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  Speaker 2: especially last week, I think he showed some real decisiveness
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  Speaker 2: on some of those inside runs. And that's that's what
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  Speaker 2: they really need because that's that's the strength of their
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  Speaker 2: run blockings in the middle three and and they need
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  Speaker 2: the backs to be decisive in there.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's six yards of carry right now. Javonte has
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  Speaker 1: not been good in short yardage situations that the fourth
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  Speaker 1: and one jumped off the screen last week of a
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  Speaker 1: play where it's like Javante, dude, you you've got to
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  Speaker 1: be able to pick that up right now? He just
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  Speaker 1: he doesn't look like the player that he that he was.
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  Speaker 1: He's had bursts so far this season, leggy, but we
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  Speaker 1: have not seen it consistently, and it's just like, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: at what point do the Broncos want to try something
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  Speaker 1: else in terms of a back that is picking up
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  Speaker 1: some tough yardage.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think even Javante has been better when
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  Speaker 2: they keep him, you know, between the hash marks as
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  Speaker 2: it were. I mean, and I think when they try
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  Speaker 2: and push things to the perimeter, that's that's not his strength.
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  Speaker 2: And uh, they've they've really been a team overall on offense,
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  Speaker 2: including you know, the running game with Javante and Julia mcglontlin.
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  Speaker 2: Is if things don't go well early, they don't seem
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  Speaker 2: to snap out of it, you know, very often. And uh,
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  Speaker 2: I think their commitment to the run has waivered because
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  Speaker 2: of it. You know. Now last week, you know, the
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  Speaker 2: Ravens offense, that that that puts them in all kinds
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  Speaker 2: of I think it forced them to do all kinds
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  Speaker 2: of things they maybe shouldn't have tried or you know,
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  Speaker 2: could have thought, you know, trying Mike Burton on some
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  Speaker 2: of the short yarded stuff going forward on fourth down
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  Speaker 2: five times, you know, especially early in the game, and
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  Speaker 2: you know they had the interception on his on a
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  Speaker 2: tip ball on his first pass attempt. And it just
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  Speaker 2: seems like, you know, if they have a couple early
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  Speaker 2: runs with Javonte or somebody else and they go for
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  Speaker 2: one or two, they just sort of leave that stuff
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  Speaker 2: in the dust. And I think that's been one of
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  Speaker 2: the hallmarks of the offense this year, is they don't
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  Speaker 2: really come back to stuff to see if if maybe
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  Speaker 2: they've got it figured out all right.
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  Speaker 3: We get this question a lot, Jeff, So if you
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  Speaker 3: could just kind of put it out there for everybody,
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  Speaker 3: because you mentioned Beday and we keep getting asked, what's
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  Speaker 3: the update on him? What's the update on some of
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  Speaker 3: the injured reserve guys. Obviously we know that Drew Sanders
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  Speaker 3: is out there and trying to work through some stuff
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  Speaker 3: because he was he had his window opened up, But
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  Speaker 3: what is the chain of information? And I think I
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  Speaker 3: know the answer, but what is the chain of information
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  Speaker 3: on these guys on IR? Do you have any updates
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  Speaker 3: on guys like Bidet?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean we see him on the field when
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  Speaker 2: we're out there. I mean, but they's been working with
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  Speaker 2: the training staff and they're picking it. You know, they're
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  Speaker 2: picking up the pace, so you know on the timeline
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  Speaker 2: when you start cranking up the conditioning, work like it,
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  Speaker 2: it's like he is. That usually means you're coming back
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  Speaker 2: to practice pretty soon. And you know Drew Sanders, they've
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  Speaker 2: they've opened the windows. So now you know, they got
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  Speaker 2: two weeks now after this week to either put him
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  Speaker 2: on the roster, on the fifty three or leave him
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  Speaker 2: on injured reserve the rest of the year. But I
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  Speaker 2: you know, he certainly looks like he's headed toward the roster,
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  Speaker 2: and I think the browning shows that they think he's
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  Speaker 2: headed toward the roster too. You know, Josh Reynolds has
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  Speaker 2: been on the field. We've seen him a few times,
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  Speaker 2: but you know that he had the shooting incident and
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  Speaker 2: the injury before that was a fracture to his hand,
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  Speaker 2: and he's a receiver, so that may take a bit longer.
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  Speaker 2: But the other two guys have been working. I think
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  Speaker 2: they're headed back, and you know, it looks like Wattenberg's
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  Speaker 2: pretty close to playing two. He had a pretty good
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  Speaker 2: week of practice as well.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwall to ESPN Broncos Chiefs on Sunday. Part of
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  Speaker 1: this matchup that kind of intrigues me, obviously, Legging We've
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  Speaker 1: already touched on it is is this Broncos defense against
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  Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes, this Broncos secondary against that Chiefs passing game.
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  Speaker 1: The Broncos they don't really get beat deep. They have
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  Speaker 1: the lowest explosive passing rate against this season in the NFL.
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  Speaker 1: That's even with the word that Lamar Jackson did to
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  Speaker 1: them last week. But that's not what Kansas City does.
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  Speaker 1: Like the air yards are way down. I mean, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: they're just death by a thousand paper cuts right now.
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  Speaker 1: You you talk a lot about that rectangle that that
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  Speaker 1: that that the Bronco offense plays in, the Chiefs offense
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  Speaker 1: kind of does too. Who has the advantage in this
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  Speaker 1: matchup of this excellent Denver pass defense against Mahomes Well,
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  Speaker 1: I think.
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  Speaker 2: I think we're gonna see DeAndre Hopkins changes the shape
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  Speaker 2: of the geometry of the Chiefs offense. Uh here, I
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  Speaker 2: mean look at already you know what he's done for
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  Speaker 2: that for that offense. I mean he's uh the targets,
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  Speaker 2: two touchdowns last week. I mean he's had twelve targets
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  Speaker 2: and two games. You've been there a week and a
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  Speaker 2: half and he's had twelve targets and he's got two touchdowns.
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  Speaker 2: Uh So, I think their numbers will change as he's
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  Speaker 2: in the offense more. And I think that is I
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  Speaker 2: think we will see patzertan on Hopkins quite a bit,
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  Speaker 2: if not, you know, the follow the whole game type thing,
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  Speaker 2: just to put the Chiefs back in that rectangle where
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  Speaker 2: you can you can have some of your coverage take
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  Speaker 2: over and maybe I mean you look at Kelfy's targets.
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  Speaker 2: Since Hopkins got there, he's had his two He's had
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  Speaker 2: his two highest games of the season in terms of
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  Speaker 2: how often Patrick Mahomes sent the ball his way since
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  Speaker 2: Hopkins arrived. So it's changed the whole dynamic of the
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  Speaker 2: of the offense. I think that's ultimately what the Broncos
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  Speaker 2: have to deal with first. But he's Mahomes. You know
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  Speaker 2: he can, he's accurate, he finds your weakness, and even
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  Speaker 2: in a crowded space, like you know, the short area around,
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  Speaker 2: they get it done. I mean, they're just you know,
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  Speaker 2: they're the alpha right now. And you know, we're like
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  Speaker 2: last year, everyone is telling us that the Chiefs just
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  Speaker 2: don't look the same, and all they do.
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  Speaker 1: Is just they didn't look the same. And they still
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  Speaker 1: on the damn Super Bowl.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. They have the ultimate chess piece. I'll
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  Speaker 2: tell you that. You know, I've sifted through a lot
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  Speaker 2: of things this week about my Homes, just trying to always,
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  Speaker 2: you know, look at what he does, and I've charted
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  Speaker 2: a few of their games and all those things. But
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  Speaker 2: the stat that blows my mind is they've had so
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  Speaker 2: many occasions this year where they've been third and seven
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  Speaker 2: or more and he's completing sixty nine percent of those
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  Speaker 2: passes and they have thirteen first downs in those situations,
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  Speaker 2: and that's just ridiculous numbers for those kinds of situations.
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  Speaker 2: Most quarterbacks are at like a forty eight completion rate
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  Speaker 2: in those situations. And it just shows you the difference
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  Speaker 2: between them and so many other teams because of him
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  Speaker 2: and because of how they do things and in big moments.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, we've seen over and over in its six
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  Speaker 2: they've won six one score games this year because when
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  Speaker 2: they need a touchdown, really need a touchdown, they just
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  Speaker 2: go get one.
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  Speaker 3: All right, I'm gonna change this up a little bit.
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  Speaker 3: Broncos are sitting five wins. I keep hoping Cincinnati's gonna
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  Speaker 3: wake up and their defense just doesn't. But how many
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  Speaker 3: wins do you think it's going to take to get
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  Speaker 3: to the playoffs? In the AFCRE we're looking at ten, Like,
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  Speaker 3: do the Broncos need either this game or the Falcons
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  Speaker 3: game in order to get probably around that ten mark.
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  Speaker 3: What's the magic number do you think the cutoff for
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  Speaker 3: that seventh seed?
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I mean it's right now that there
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  Speaker 2: just aren't that many teams, you know, above water but
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  Speaker 2: you keep watching Burrow play and you keep thinking that
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  Speaker 2: the Bengals are gonna get their way back in there
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  Speaker 2: at some point. But I personally think for the Broncos,
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  Speaker 2: no matter what happens Sunday, that's the Falcons game is
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  Speaker 2: a big deal to me because that, uh, you know,
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  Speaker 2: they've got to finish above five hundred at home, I say,
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  Speaker 2: and they've got to find a way to be at
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  Speaker 2: least five hundred in the division. I think those are
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  Speaker 2: my magic numbers for them to really be in the conversation,
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  Speaker 2: And I think the Falcons game here is a is
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  Speaker 2: a pretty significant, you know, sort of benchmark of where
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  Speaker 2: they're at because right now their victories are against teams
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  Speaker 2: that are collectively right now thirteen and thirty two, So
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  Speaker 2: they have not you know, beating anybody good. Now, you know,
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  Speaker 2: they don't measure the quality of your win for your
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  Speaker 2: playoff spot. I get it, but at some point they
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  Speaker 2: have to show that they can slug it out with
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  Speaker 2: somebody with a winning record and come away with a win.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no committee. You got to impress with your
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  Speaker 1: strength to schedule in the NFL. Jeff Legwald, everybody of ESPN,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: ESPN dot com that's where you read Leggy's stuff. You
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: will be talking to them on Monday after Broncos and
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  Speaker 1: Chiefs will be freshly back from Kansas City. Leggy, good
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  Speaker 1: work as always.
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  Speaker 2: Man, Thank you, Thanks Pollas we'll see it.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Lakewell. Brought to you by the International Brotherhood of
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Electrical Workers IBW Local sixty eight. Start with a job
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: and with a career.