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Jeff Legwold joins Moser, Lombardi and Kane 1-15-26 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's head on out to the Ramos Law hotline, where
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: we are joined by ESPN's Jeff Legwald. He's brought to
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: you by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBW Local
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: sixty eight. Start with a job and end with a career.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Let you what's up, man, I'm good.
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  Speaker 2: How are you guys?
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: We're doing great. I saw you yesterday out as the
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  Speaker 1: coordinators were holding court at the podium, beautiful day at
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Broncos Park. We learned that there might be a little
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: bit more Julie McLaughlin coming up in this game. Do
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  Speaker 1: you expect a true commitment to the run game or
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  Speaker 1: more of the same from Sean Payton and his offensive coordinators.
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  Speaker 2: I would never advise anyone to bank it that there
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  Speaker 2: will be a commitment to the run game, but it
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  Speaker 2: definitely is when I talk to folks around the league,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, this Bill's defense has struggled, and I
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  Speaker 2: mean mightily defending the run, especially outside the tackles. And
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  Speaker 2: you know, that's kind of the Leo McLoughlin territory, you know,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: in terms of how they rotate the backs and what
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  Speaker 2: plays they tag for them. But you know the reason
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  Speaker 2: that the Broncos aren't playing, you know, Jacksonville this week
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  Speaker 2: is because they didn't stick to the run basically, and
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  Speaker 2: despite all of the evidence they had in the game
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  Speaker 2: that they could run at any time they wanted for
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  Speaker 2: as many yards as they wanted. I think that is
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  Speaker 2: really the only trap offensively for the Broncos in this
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  Speaker 2: game is to not do what they should do to
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  Speaker 2: or you know, whatever's working to win the game. Because
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  Speaker 2: if you let the Bills get in that hole, gonna
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: disguise coverage and gonna get in and out of the zone,
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  Speaker 2: man looks and all of those things. If you let
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  Speaker 2: them do that, you're playing right into the only thing
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  Speaker 2: they do well, because they do not defend the run
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  Speaker 2: well at all.
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  Speaker 3: I wonder how many markers in high Sean Payton is
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  Speaker 3: going to use for the words run the ball on
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  Speaker 3: his play sheet this week, because is obviously going to
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  Speaker 3: be something they want to push back. I need to
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  Speaker 3: ask you this question from again who's covered the league
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  Speaker 3: for a long time. I've heard this and I want
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  Speaker 3: you to determine whether this is fact or fiction. Sean
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  Speaker 3: Payton held the Broncos offense back the last couple of
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  Speaker 3: weeks because he's saving some stuff in the playoffs factor
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  Speaker 3: fiction fiction.
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  Speaker 2: I always think it's fiction. Even Sean says it's fiction. So, uh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I think I probably would have said it
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  Speaker 2: if I was the head coach of the Broncos, I
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  Speaker 2: would have said, yeah, I held all kinds of stuff back,
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  Speaker 2: But they didn't, especially in the red zone. You know,
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  Speaker 2: touchdowns are too hard to come by in this league,
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  Speaker 2: and to that would be to me supreme overthinking to
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  Speaker 2: do the whole I'm gonna hold back thing. They haven't
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  Speaker 2: played well enough on offense consistently to hold back anything
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  Speaker 2: this year. So but nobody I've talked to with the
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: team said they held anything back, even though that's a
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  Speaker 2: popular Now. Did they run everything, you know, they hadn't
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  Speaker 2: the game plan, No, but they didn't purposely, you know,
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  Speaker 2: other than trick plays, they didn't purposely keep anything off
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  Speaker 2: the table in those games.
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  Speaker 4: Trying to figure out what Sean Payton's doing this week?
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  Speaker 4: Is he double crossing? Is he triple crossing? You see,
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  Speaker 4: because when he laid out his three myths of playoff
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  Speaker 4: football the other day.
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  Speaker 2: He said that.
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  Speaker 4: There were eight, but but the top three. It seemed
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  Speaker 4: to me like the top three, at least two of
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  Speaker 4: them were against the Broncos in home field and you know,
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  Speaker 4: all different and I'm like, okay, so is that like
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  Speaker 4: a reverse psychology? So if I was Buffalo trying to
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  Speaker 4: figure out what he's saying, I just brought it all
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  Speaker 4: off because I can't figure out what he's saying, because
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  Speaker 4: it seemed like he's saying his own team shouldn't have
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  Speaker 4: these advantages.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think you're just judged by the
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  Speaker 2: body of work, moj. I mean, he spent eight months
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  Speaker 2: saying they had to be the number one seed and
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  Speaker 2: have home playoff games. You know how he stood on
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  Speaker 2: the sideline in Buffalo last year and said to himself,
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  Speaker 2: got to figure out how to have these games at home?
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  Speaker 2: And all right, yeah, then now you know, on Tuesday
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  Speaker 2: of the game game week, you're gonna you're gonna say
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  Speaker 2: that home field doesn't matter. So I think the math
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  Speaker 2: says otherwise, and he knows it. I think he's basically
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  Speaker 2: trying to keep a young team with a lot of
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  Speaker 2: players who haven't you know, they have no players mos
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  Speaker 2: who've played a home playoff game for the Broncos in
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  Speaker 2: a Bronco uniform. So I think he's basically trying to
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  Speaker 2: keep everybody on track from getting too comfy with the idea, Oh,
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  Speaker 2: we're at home, we'll just walk to the super Bowl.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah I get that. Yeah, you bet, Leggy.
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  Speaker 1: We were looking over the game log for the Bills.
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  Speaker 1: Four times in the regular season, James Cook was held
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  Speaker 1: underneath one hundred total receiving and rushing yards, and all
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  Speaker 1: four of those games the Bills lost. Now, the one
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  Speaker 1: anomaly is, well, last weekend against Jacksonville. Is it crazy
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  Speaker 1: to think that a team that has Josh Allen at quarterback,
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  Speaker 1: is it crazy to boil it down to stop James
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  Speaker 1: Cook and you win the football game?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean that's a big part of it, for sure.
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  Speaker 2: But I think what Cook has done this year, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the NFL's leading rusher, You're you're gonna have to stop
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  Speaker 2: him at some point because he did lead the league.
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  Speaker 2: But a lot of the room he has to lead
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  Speaker 2: the league in rushing is because of the guy at quarterbacks.
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  Speaker 2: So I think they go together. I think they're paired,
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  Speaker 2: you know. I think the way they construct their run game,
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  Speaker 2: you know, those are the two components, major components of it.
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  Speaker 2: I you know again personally, uh and look, I you know,
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  Speaker 2: I realized I didn't. I missed medical school and everything.
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  Speaker 2: But uh, Cook didn't look exactly healthy to me in
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  Speaker 2: the in the Jacksonville game. I I probably charted eight
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  Speaker 2: Bills games in the last couple of weeks just to
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  Speaker 2: see what they've been up to. Uh. And he looked
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  Speaker 2: vastly different in in those other games than he did
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  Speaker 2: in the in the wild card games. So, uh, he's
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  Speaker 2: obviously not missing practice or he'd be on the injury
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  Speaker 2: report in some fashion. But he did not look the
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  Speaker 2: same to me. Now that doesn't mean he doesn't show
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  Speaker 2: up here Saturday. It looks spectacular. I'm just saying I
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  Speaker 2: think that was some of the reason that the yardage
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  Speaker 2: total was down. But they go together and and you
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  Speaker 2: saw it's. Uh, you know, Alan is in that group
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  Speaker 2: of quarterbacks. If you give him enough chances to beat you,
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  Speaker 2: he's gonna beat you. He's gonna figure out a way
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  Speaker 2: to beat you, whether it's running, throwing to doing a
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  Speaker 2: handstand while throwing underhanded. You know, over four guys, he's
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  Speaker 2: just gonna do whatever whatever it takes. And I think
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  Speaker 2: the big thing beyond the run game is what they
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  Speaker 2: call the second act for Allen. You get him pinned,
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  Speaker 2: he escapes and then he makes a play that that
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  Speaker 2: gets a first down or a touchdown. Those are the
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  Speaker 2: plays that are really concerned about that that second the
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  Speaker 2: second chance plays. They want to limit those big time.
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  Speaker 3: What does the return of Drake Greenlaw do for this defense?
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  Speaker 2: I think early downs it helps vic He's a physical
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  Speaker 2: presence in there. Sternott justin Sternott's played, probably had his
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  Speaker 2: best year as a pro. They would not have They
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  Speaker 2: would have been in big trouble if he wouldn't have
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  Speaker 2: been able to fill in the last couple of years,
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  Speaker 2: you know, for when Singleton or Greenlaw's been hurt. So
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  Speaker 2: I don't want to minimize what ster nots done. But
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: green Laws just a bigger, more physical presence in the
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  Speaker 2: early down run game, and I think I think that's
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  Speaker 2: where he can help because the only really, the only
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  Speaker 2: thing you can ding this defense for this year is
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  Speaker 2: occasionally they give up explosive plays because they're so aggressive.
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  Speaker 2: But they've given up some explosive plays in the run game.
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  Speaker 2: You know, when when they have lost, and it hasn't
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  Speaker 2: been many times, you can usually find an explosive run
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  Speaker 2: play in They're somewhere that put the defense in a
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  Speaker 2: bad spot, and he helps with that.
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  Speaker 4: Jeff. One thing the Bills defense does pretty decently is
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  Speaker 4: defend the pass, and they do pretty They do a
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  Speaker 4: pretty good job, you know, overall. With that, I guess
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  Speaker 4: let's say let's say the Broncos can't get their running
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  Speaker 4: game going the way that we want them to or
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  Speaker 4: the way that they even want to, Well, then what.
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  Speaker 2: Then it probably looks a lot like the last two games.
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  Speaker 2: They play a lot of deep safeties, They disguise a
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  Speaker 2: lot they wrote, they jockey the safeties around. Bo Nicks
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  Speaker 2: is probably not going to have a really clear clear
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  Speaker 2: idea pre snap what he's gonna get after the snap.
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  Speaker 2: And that's why the Broncos running the ball so important.
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  Speaker 2: They got to get one of those safeties to come
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  Speaker 2: down toward the line of scrimmage and then things open
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  Speaker 2: up in the passing game. If they let Buffalo McDermott
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  Speaker 2: play the safeties wherever he wants, that's playing right into
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  Speaker 2: their hands. Because it is the only thing they do
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  Speaker 2: well on defense this year consistently is give you some
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  Speaker 2: fits in coverage because they're like the Broncos, they don't
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  Speaker 2: really show you what they're up to before the snap.
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  Speaker 2: So as a quarterback, you gotta really sift through it,
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  Speaker 2: make good choices and don't get impatient, because that's what
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  Speaker 2: they want you to do.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Leggie, the most important difference between last year's wild card
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  Speaker 1: game in this year's divisional game is what.
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  Speaker 2: The Broncos are better and more talented. Yeah, I mean
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  Speaker 2: they're more talented. And this defense is a This is
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  Speaker 2: one of the best I've seen covering this team and
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  Speaker 2: how they play schematically, the whole package and this time
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  Speaker 2: of year though, and it's very basic, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: it's like one of the undefeated metrics, the og of metrics.
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  Speaker 2: Look at the injury report and you tell me how
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  Speaker 2: big a factor that could be. And I think sometimes
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  Speaker 2: it's not always the two best teams in the super Bowl,
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: it's the best healthy teams in the super Bowl. And
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  Speaker 2: the Broncos at least are going into this game with
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  Speaker 2: the best of what they have, you know, to do it.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, they had every player on the roster practice yesterday.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: I think at this time of year, I'm not sure
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  Speaker 2: many teams could say that. Marvin Mims h the great
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: riddle of uh huh, why do our archaeologists are gonna
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: uncover the Broncos facility thousands of years from now and
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: wonder why Marvin Ms didn't touch the ball.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: Or why would I not be surprised if he's a
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  Speaker 3: part of this game plan more than we think.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Well, I I feel like we say that a lot
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: of weak you know what's going to happen? Yeah, No,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: I like. I like how you call in your shot though,
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: that's a that's a good thing. I think only good
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: things happen when the guy touches the ball. So I
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: think the Broncos hope you're right, because then they'll be
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: playing next week too.
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  Speaker 1: That is Jeff Legwaald of ESPN. He's brought to you
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: every week by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ib
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: e W Locals sixty eight. Start with a job and
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: end with the career. LEGGI we appreciate your time. Man,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: give me a give me a score prediction on your
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: way out what happens.
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  Speaker 2: I don't do score predictions.
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  Speaker 1: Come on, Brett, you can help me out here.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: No, I'm not. I'm treating you as if you're in
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  Speaker 2: the Brett seat. I will not do a score predition,
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  Speaker 2: no doubt. But this is a radio thing now.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, there you go, hey, Jeff, Jeff, could you agree
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  Speaker 4: with this? Then perhaps the least likely scenario is the
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  Speaker 4: Broncos blowing out Buffalo, but it's probably going to be
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  Speaker 4: a tight game. Or maybe the Bills, you know, there's
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: no Patrick Mahomes to stop them anymore. Maybe they just
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  Speaker 4: got that mentality of a rabid dog. I don't know,
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  Speaker 4: is that fair enough to say?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, you know that that's kind of the
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: vibe nationally, is that Josh Allen is on a mission
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: now because there's there's no Lamar and there's no Patrick
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  Speaker 2: Mahomes in the in the field. But talent wise, top
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: to bottom, Broncos are a better team if they simply
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: play like that. I don't think it's I don't think
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: people go home sad. Let's just say that awesome