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Speaker 1: What's a Broncos Country.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Broncos podcast network and YouTube for

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Speaker 2: the latest episode of Broncos Now. As always were, your

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Speaker 2: host is Sidney Jones and coming up on today's episode,

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Speaker 2: the Broncos are back on the road tomorrow as they

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Speaker 2: had to Detroit to face the Lions on a Saturday night.

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Speaker 2: We'll hear today from head coach on Pan, all three

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Speaker 2: coordinators and a cornerback passer ten plus Broncos lead writer

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Speaker 2: Eric Delaladren's a show for a game preview.

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Speaker 1: All that more coming on the number. Broncos hit the

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Speaker 1: road tomorrow as.

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Speaker 2: They had to Detroit for a Saturday night matchup of

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Speaker 2: versus Lions. We heard today from head coach on Pan

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Speaker 2: as he talked about the Lions offense and what his

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Speaker 2: impressions are of that unit.

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Speaker 3: Good offense has that balance and these guys obviously smit

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Speaker 3: to running the ball well and the ability then off

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Speaker 3: play action or drop back. So it's not just one thing.

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Speaker 4: You know, in other.

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Speaker 3: Words, somehow or another, you have to affect the quarterback

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Speaker 3: number one because there are enough weapons when you look

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Speaker 3: at the runner, the runners, the tight end, the receiver,

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Speaker 3: and then number two you know your early down efficiency

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Speaker 3: get into those third downs that are more favorable I think.

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Speaker 3: So it's not one thing, and it's not like an

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Speaker 3: easy thing.

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Speaker 5: But.

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Speaker 3: You have to have some mixed looks. These guys do

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Speaker 3: a great job of packaging plays at the line of

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Speaker 3: scrimmage and they'll have a menu of three or four

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Speaker 3: different plays. The runner shift and then you'll see golf

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Speaker 3: reset and kind of signal what play he wants based

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Speaker 3: on the information he's seeing defensively. So it's a little

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Speaker 3: cat and mouse game.

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Speaker 2: Plus defensive cornador Vans Joseph spoke about the Lions run

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Speaker 2: game and what this defense needs to do to stop it.

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Speaker 5: It's a run first offense. It's an offense that has

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Speaker 5: an experienced quarterback. You know, if the playoff pass is working,

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Speaker 5: it's tough to stop them. And they have two good

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Speaker 5: backs in Montgomery and Gibbs. They both can hit home

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Speaker 5: runs and a run game and have a good tight

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Speaker 5: end and good receiver. So a's NFL football and know

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Speaker 5: every week it's the same as quarterbacks, receivers is.

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Speaker 4: Run game is past game.

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Speaker 5: So for us, it's it's about us doing things right

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Speaker 5: and and uh, you know, tackling and covers, playing great

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Speaker 5: leverage and taking the ball away.

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Speaker 2: That's how our fulm wing to win, and both head

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Speaker 2: coach Sean Payn and Advanced Joseph talked about how the

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Speaker 2: defense has been so effective on a third down situations

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Speaker 2: and what the key to that has been.

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Speaker 3: I would say it starts with the ability to beat

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Speaker 3: the clock up. You know, it's a quarterback. When we

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Speaker 3: all used to play football in the streets, you know,

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Speaker 3: we'd have three Mississippi or four Mississippi rusher, I'm not sure,

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Speaker 3: but if you can get it to two and a

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Speaker 3: half Mississippi. In other words, you know, he's having to

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Speaker 3: get rid of the ball quicker. Obviously that that helps

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Speaker 3: the back end. So between the coverage on the back

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Speaker 3: end and then the ability to beat the clock up

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Speaker 3: for the.

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Speaker 5: Quarterbacks, just doing it right, you know, and you know,

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Speaker 5: being exact and our responsibilities and the pass rush is

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Speaker 5: pretty good with a mixture of pressure. It's it's a

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Speaker 5: combination of things, but it's really just doing things right

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Speaker 5: and having got we can really cover, you know, that's

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Speaker 5: the key on third Nolls.

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Speaker 2: Quarterback Pastor Tana also spoke to the media today and

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Speaker 2: talked about where he feels like the defense is at

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Speaker 2: right now, We're not.

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Speaker 6: Even close to our best. I believe there's still a

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Speaker 6: lot to improve on, a lot to work on as defense,

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Speaker 6: and we all know that, we all know there's a

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Speaker 6: little bit left in the tank. And you know, when

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Speaker 6: we got that mentality in that mindset, a lot of

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Speaker 6: great things could happen going forward.

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Speaker 1: He also went on to talk about the areas that

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Speaker 1: they can improve on, just.

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Speaker 6: On finishing all four quarters, being a dominant defense to

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Speaker 6: the whistle blows, you know what I mean. So I'm

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Speaker 6: just having that same tenacity from the start to the finish.

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Speaker 6: I think that's what's key. And I feel like communication

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Speaker 6: could be a little better, but you know, sometimes you know,

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Speaker 6: you could end up in the right spot and communication

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Speaker 6: go out the window. But I just think communication and

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Speaker 6: just finishing.

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Speaker 2: Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi talked today about how the Lions

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Speaker 2: have taken on head coach Dan Campbell's mentality as a team.

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Speaker 7: I know Dan very well and we were His office

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Speaker 7: is right next to mine in New Orleans for five years,

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Speaker 7: so you can just see, you know, what you see

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Speaker 7: from him in the press conferences and you know that

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Speaker 7: toughness and grit and sense of humor. I mean, that's

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Speaker 7: that's who he is all the time, and so you

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Speaker 7: can see that this team has really taken his personality

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Speaker 7: on the toughness, the grit.

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Speaker 2: Now it's time to take a look at this week's

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Speaker 2: final injury report. Outside linebacker Nick Bonito and Titan Greg

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Speaker 2: Dolcis both did not participate in practice today and have

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Speaker 2: been ruled out of Saturday's game. Plus outside linebacker Jonathan Cooper,

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Speaker 2: safety PJ Lock, and Titan Chris Manhertz were all limited.

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Speaker 2: PJ Lock received a questionable status for Saturday's game, and

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Speaker 2: guard Quinn Miners and running backs to maj p Ryan

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Speaker 2: were both full participants. Now joining me here in the

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Speaker 2: Broncos podcast studio for a game preview is Broncos lead

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Speaker 2: writer Eric Talali.

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Speaker 1: Eric, thanks for joining me today. We got a big

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Speaker 1: one this Saturday.

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Speaker 7: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: It exciting, prime time exciting. I've never been to Detroit either.

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Speaker 2: I'm excited to see Ford Field.

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Speaker 4: That's uh. If two stadiums left on my list, this

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Speaker 4: is one of them, this is one of them. So

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Speaker 4: that's big.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that's really big. What's the other one?

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Speaker 4: Atlanta?

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Speaker 1: Atlanta? Not going there? For a while six more back

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Speaker 1: in we were there in twenty twenty.

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Speaker 4: We'll see what happens, all.

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Speaker 2: Right, Well, I'm glad you're checking one of the two off, Eric.

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Speaker 2: You know, we just to finish looking at the injury report.

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Speaker 2: Nick Bonito and Greg Dulcich, they've both been ruled out.

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Speaker 2: PJ Lock he has listened as questionable heading into the matchup,

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Speaker 2: So you know, who do you expect to step up

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Speaker 2: for Bonito?

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Speaker 1: And then for PJ Lock? You know what will mean

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Speaker 1: if he's not able to go.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, starting with Bonito, obviously you saw Jonathan Cooper and

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Speaker 4: Baron Browning, the two starters at that position play well.

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Speaker 4: Drew Sanders has seen increased time at outside linebacker here

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Speaker 4: in recent weeks. Obviously he got some snaps there against

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Speaker 4: the Chargers, and then I think after that, we'll just

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Speaker 4: kind of have to see what happens. The Broncos waived

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Speaker 4: Ronnie Perkins on Thursday, and you know, we'll see kind

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Speaker 4: of what they do at outside linebacker. Obviously there's ways

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Speaker 4: around that, depending on how you want to bring pressure,

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Speaker 4: what you want your front to look like, that sort

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Speaker 4: of thing. But obviously Nick Benito will be missed but

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Speaker 4: I think Jonathan Cooper and Baron Brownie have played well,

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Speaker 4: been really critical to this team's success, and I would

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Speaker 4: expect that to continue.

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Speaker 3: P J.

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Speaker 4: Locke, hopefully he's able to go. I think, particularly from

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Speaker 4: a run defense standpoint, he's been great in terms of

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Speaker 4: his ability to fly up to the ball. I think

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Speaker 4: about a couple of times against Cleveland where he was

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Speaker 4: near the line of scrimmage making plays on either rushing

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Speaker 4: attempts or short passes. So if he's able to go,

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Speaker 4: that would be a huge boost for this Denver defense.

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Speaker 4: If not, you know, maybe you're looking at Dlarryn Turner.

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Speaker 7: Yell.

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Speaker 4: I don't think we've seen Jael Skinner get any game time,

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Speaker 4: but obviously he could be an option as well. But

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Speaker 4: you know, we'll have to see. Obviously that's one to

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Speaker 4: watch here as we get closer to Saturday night.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, Eric, you mentioned the run defense.

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Speaker 2: I know defensive coordinator Vans shows if he spoke earlier

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Speaker 2: in the show about needing to stop the run. How

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Speaker 2: do you think that unimal fair going up against his

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Speaker 2: Lion's run game that's been really effective.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, they're really good. Yeah, you know, both Jamiir Gibbs

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Speaker 4: and David Montgomery are near the top of the league

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Speaker 4: in terms of all purpose yards. They run the ball

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Speaker 4: effectively and it kind of sets up their whole offense

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Speaker 4: in terms of play action throwing it down the field.

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Speaker 4: To Samuelaporta, you know, that's what they do best. They

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Speaker 4: want to control the time of possession. They want to

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Speaker 4: you know, stack the carries and make it so it's

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Speaker 4: hard to get off the field, get those thirds and shorts.

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Speaker 4: In a lot of ways, it's it's similar to what

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Speaker 4: Denver wants to do offensively, right, and they're really good

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Speaker 4: at it. And you look at some of these top

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Speaker 4: rushing teams and the Lions are right up there with anybody,

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Speaker 4: and it makes everything go. Like I mentioned, I think

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Speaker 4: the key will be if you can stop them from

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Speaker 4: a you know, from running the ball effectively, from getting

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Speaker 4: in these second and short, third and shorts, then you

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Speaker 4: have the opportunity, I think, to bring some pressure on

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Speaker 4: third and long, keep them out of clear play action

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Speaker 4: scenarios and just and force them to drop back and

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Speaker 4: throw the ball. That's when maybe you can bring some blitzes.

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Speaker 4: Get to Jared off He struggled a little bit against

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Speaker 4: the blitz this year. Particularly in recent weeks, so you've

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Speaker 4: got to start there in terms of getting them in

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Speaker 4: pure passing situations. But you're right, said if in dvance.

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Speaker 4: Joseph has said this, Justin Simmons has said this. If

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Speaker 4: you cannot stop the run against this team, it's going

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Speaker 4: to be a long day because it sets up every

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Speaker 4: single thing they do. They're getting. You know, a couple

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Speaker 4: of their offensive alignment are listed as questionable, but they

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Speaker 4: were full participants on Thursday, so it looks like they

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Speaker 4: could go. So they're getting a little healthier upfront, which

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Speaker 4: will not make it any easier on this Denver defense.

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Speaker 4: But you know, we've seen an improvement, right it's still

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Speaker 4: not perfect. About one hundred and twenty yards rushing allowed

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Speaker 4: per game since Week seven for the Broncos and Detroit averages.

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Speaker 4: I believe one hundred and thirty around one hundred and

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Speaker 4: thirty five hundred and forty per game, so they're a

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Speaker 4: good rushing team. But earlier in the season it was

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Speaker 4: it was up near one seventy one to eighty and

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Speaker 4: certainly we saw teams go over two hundred rushing yards

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Speaker 4: against the Broncos. So it's gotten a lot better. There's

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Speaker 4: still I think working on it in One of the

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Speaker 4: things that Vance Josse I've mentioned was was tackling when

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Speaker 4: you have a chance. I don't think this is a

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Speaker 4: game where you can let a guy if you have

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Speaker 4: an opportunity to tackle him on the edge. You can't

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Speaker 4: miss that tackle and let him get you know, five

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Speaker 4: six seven more yards for sure, or worse, breaking to

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Speaker 4: the second level and break it for a big one.

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Speaker 4: You've got the first guy there has got to be

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Speaker 4: able to make that tackle, and then people have to

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Speaker 4: swarm to the ball. Maybe a couple of tackles for

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Speaker 4: loss that puts the Lions behind the chains. Certainly they're

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Speaker 4: not impossible to stop, but if they're running the ball, well,

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Speaker 4: it becomes a lot more difficult to get them off

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Speaker 4: the field for sure.

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Speaker 1: Ericapatsartan said something today that kind of stuck out to me.

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Speaker 2: He was asked about kind of the evolution of this

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Speaker 2: defense and where they're at right now, and he said

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Speaker 2: they're not even close to being at their best, which,

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Speaker 2: you know, given how much success they've had recently outside

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Speaker 2: of kind of the run defense, like you just mentioned,

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Speaker 2: what's the next step for them?

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Speaker 4: You think, Yeah, I mean, that's that's kind of unreal

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Speaker 4: to think about it. If that's actually yeah, if that's true,

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Speaker 4: that they can be a lot better, that's spectacular because

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Speaker 4: they're already allowing fewer than sixteen points a game since

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Speaker 4: Week said them. They forced all these turnovers, right, third

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Speaker 4: down defense best in the league. So they're playing really

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Speaker 4: good football. So let's let's not discount that. I do

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Speaker 4: think this is the time of year where you've got

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Speaker 4: to continue to play at that level and play well

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Speaker 4: against you know, high level offenses. If there's some things

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Speaker 4: to clean up. You know, against Houston, we saw the

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Speaker 4: big plays hurt them a little bit. The run defense, certainly,

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Speaker 4: I think could be a little bit better. And then

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Speaker 4: Pat talked about being good at all times and you know,

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Speaker 4: not allowing teams to get back in games or not

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Speaker 4: allowing teams late in the game to have success. And

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Speaker 4: I think actually they've been better at that this year

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Speaker 4: than they have in a lot of other years. Even

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Speaker 4: when this defense was really good. I think you saw

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Speaker 4: a tendency, you know, when the Broncos would would get

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Speaker 4: a big touchdown on offense and finally, you know, get

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Speaker 4: a leader or high it up or whatever, the defense

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Speaker 4: would immediately allow a score. And we saw that a

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Speaker 4: couple of times last year, right, I think you know

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Speaker 4: Tennessee game that happened where the Broncos get a big

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Speaker 4: score and immediately Titans go down the field. We saw

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Speaker 4: it in Baltimore where they play great all game but

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Speaker 4: then the last drive of the game not able to

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Speaker 4: get a stop. So I think they've actually been better there,

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Speaker 4: but continuing to just have that success across all four

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Speaker 4: quarters and particularly I think starting fast, ending strong, and

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Speaker 4: you know, the Broncos offensively have done well in kind

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Speaker 4: of that middle eight where they've scored right before the half.

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Speaker 4: But yeah, you know, there's not a ton for this defense.

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Speaker 4: I think to improve on break but if there's a

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Speaker 4: few minor things, it's the big plays, it's the consistency,

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Speaker 4: and maybe in the run game definitely.

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Speaker 2: You know, Eric, there's been a lot of talk this

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Speaker 2: week just about Lion's head coach Dan Campbell and how

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Speaker 2: the team really reflects who he is, what his mentality is,

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Speaker 2: his grittiness. So looking at his defense specifically, you know,

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Speaker 2: how do you think Russell Wilson company will fair going

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Speaker 2: up against them?

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Speaker 4: Yeah? They're tough, right, and I think the whole team

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Speaker 4: continues to fight and they're not going to give in.

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Speaker 4: We've seen a couple of times recently where they've been

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Speaker 4: behind by quite a bit and have continued to fight

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Speaker 4: and stay in the game. So, you know, even if

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Speaker 4: you jump ahead early, I don't think this is a

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Speaker 4: game where you can just assume they're gonna lay down

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Speaker 4: and it's going to be over. You know, defensively, there

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Speaker 4: might be a little bit of an opportunity for the

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Speaker 4: Broncos to take advantage. This defense has struggled in recent weeks.

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Speaker 4: Since Week ten, they're near the bottom of the league

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Speaker 4: and scoring, defense, yardage, sacks, takeaways forced, So you know,

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Speaker 4: it's possible that le Broncos could find some success. Detroit's

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Speaker 4: dealt with a few injuries that have been impactful on

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Speaker 4: the defensive side of the ball. But you know, a

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Speaker 4: couple of things. One, it's key, I think for the

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Speaker 4: Broncos to start fast offensively, certainly on the road in

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Speaker 4: a hostile environment. If you can avoid falling behind, I

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Speaker 4: think you've got a really good chance to be in

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Speaker 4: this game right till the end and find a way

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Speaker 4: to pull the upset on the road. I think back

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Speaker 4: to Houston and le Broncos second through fourth quarter were

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Speaker 4: probably the better team, but they just they dug themselves

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Speaker 4: too big of a hole in the first quarter and

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Speaker 4: down play well and they couldn't come back from it,

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Speaker 4: And so that can't happen in Detroit. Detroit has been

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Speaker 4: a slower starting team here, particularly in recent weeks. Against Chicago,

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Speaker 4: they were able to initially come back and then ended

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Speaker 4: up losing the football game. But when they played Chicago

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Speaker 4: in Detroit that was a big issue. They ultimately won

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Speaker 4: the football game, but gave Chicago a big lead. Green

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Speaker 4: Bay the same thing when they played over Thanksgiving. So

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Speaker 4: if this Denver offense, which has been good on first

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Speaker 4: drives of the game, if they're able to score, even

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Speaker 4: if it's a field goal, but you know, obviously a

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Speaker 4: touchdown is great, I think that puts you in a

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Speaker 4: good position to succeed. And then that also, you know,

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Speaker 4: we just talked about the Broncos defense, but if the

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Speaker 4: Lions are behind, it's harder for them to stick with

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Speaker 4: that running attack, especially if you stop it early, and

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Speaker 4: so if they have to start throwing the ball dropping

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Speaker 4: back to pass, that plays into I think what the

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Speaker 4: Broncos do well defensively, but it's got to start on offense,

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Speaker 4: starting fast, scoring points and getting ahead of this team

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Speaker 4: on the road.

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Speaker 1: Eric, you mentioned earlier, we're back in primetime.

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Speaker 2: You know, with the Lion sitting at nine to four,

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Speaker 2: what do you think a win would just mean over

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Speaker 2: this team?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, well, one, it helps your playoff chances drastically,

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Speaker 4: and probably need to go three and one down the

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Speaker 4: final four games. Every one of these playoff predictors kind

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Speaker 4: of shows that. But if you get this one one,

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Speaker 4: you buy yourself a little wiggle room down the stretch here.

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Speaker 4: You keep your division hopes alive. You know, Sean Payton

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Speaker 4: said this week, Hey, we're one game back in the division.

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Speaker 4: We're focused on that, and if you can win this game,

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Speaker 4: suddenly those hopes I don't know if they're likely, but

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Speaker 4: certainly they become realistic. And if the Chiefs falter in

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Speaker 4: a division game down the stretch here, the Broncos would

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Speaker 4: be in really good position there. So it helps your

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Speaker 4: playoff odds, It helps the division race, even if you

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Speaker 4: end up in the wildcard race, certainly this changes A

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Speaker 4: win like this would potentially change your seating. It gives

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Speaker 4: you some wiggle room all those things, but I also

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Speaker 4: think it sends a message to a lot of people

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Speaker 4: or what this Broncos team is capable of. And I know,

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Speaker 4: I know people are taking the Broncos seriously now as

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Speaker 4: a playoff team potentially, but you still don't hear a

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Speaker 4: lot about them as contenders, you know, to win the

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Speaker 4: AFC or to go to the AFC Championship or something

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Speaker 4: along those lines. And I think if you go to

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Speaker 4: Detroit and beat a nine win Lions team, NFC North

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Speaker 4: leading team at home seven wins in your last eight

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Speaker 4: games have beaten teams like the Bills, like the Chiefs,

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Speaker 4: like the Browns, I think people start looking at this

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Speaker 4: team differently, especially because it's in prime time and listen,

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Speaker 4: it doesn't really matter how people look at you. It's

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Speaker 4: still the same team either way. But this team is

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Speaker 4: playing really good football and I think that recognition would

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Speaker 4: be well deserved if they're able to get this win

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Speaker 4: and you'd get a victory against a really good football team.

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Speaker 1: Well, really looking forward to it. Eric, appreciate you joining

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Speaker 1: the show today.

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Speaker 4: You got it said, Well.

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Speaker 2: That's going to do it for today's up episode of

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Speaker 2: Broncos and now Broncos Country, Thanks so much for tuning in.

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Speaker 2: Hope to see you all in Detroit this Saturday, but

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Speaker 2: if not, I'll meet you right back here on the

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Speaker 2: Broncos Podcast Network in YouTube.

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Speaker 1: On Monday following the game. I'll see you all then