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Speaker 1: What's Up, 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, I'm your

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

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Speaker 2: the twenty twenty four Denver Broncos schedule has been released.

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Speaker 2: We'll break it down week by week coming out. The

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Speaker 2: wait is finally over. That Denver Broncos twenty twenty four

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Speaker 2: schedule is out, so let's.

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Speaker 1: Take a look.

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Speaker 2: The Broncos will open up their season on the road

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Speaker 2: in Seattle to face the Seahawks at Lumenfield. Week two

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Speaker 2: will be their home opener versus Pittsburgh Steelers. In week three,

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Speaker 2: they head down to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers.

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Speaker 2: Week four, they're back on the East Coast again to

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Speaker 2: face the New York Jets. Their first AFC West showdown

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Speaker 2: comes in a week of five as they host the

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Speaker 2: Las Vegas Raiders. Broncos also hosts the Los Angeles Chargers

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Speaker 2: in week six. Broncos' first primetime matchup comes in week

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Speaker 2: seven as they head down to New Orleans to face

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Speaker 2: the Saints. In week eight, they return home to face

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Speaker 2: the Carolina Panthers, then the Broncos are back on the

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Speaker 2: road and week at nine as they face the Baltimore Ravens.

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Speaker 2: The broncos first Divisional road game comes in Week ten

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Speaker 2: at Kansas City. Week eleven, the Broncos are back at

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Speaker 2: in power Field at Mile High as they host the

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Speaker 2: Atlanta Falcons. Then in Week twelve, the Broncos had to

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Speaker 2: a Las Vegas to take on the Raiders, and in

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Speaker 2: week thirteen, the Broncos are back in a prime time

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Speaker 2: at in power Field at Mile High as they host

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Speaker 2: the Cleveland Browns. The Broncos by week falls on Week

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Speaker 2: fourteen this year, and then they're back at home for

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Speaker 2: Week fifteen as they host the Indianapolis Colts. Broncos then

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Speaker 2: hit the road for a two game road stretches. They

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Speaker 2: had to Los Angeles to face the Chargers, and then

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Speaker 2: in week seventeen, they fly out to Cincinnati to face

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Speaker 2: the Bengals, and then finally the Broncos and the regular

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Speaker 2: season back at in power Field at Mile High as

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Speaker 2: they host the Kansas City Chiefs. Now joining me here

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Speaker 2: inside the Broncos podcast studio is Broncos lead writer Eric Delala. Eric,

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Speaker 2: we just took a look at the twenty twenty four schedule.

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Speaker 2: It's an exciting time of year.

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Speaker 1: I know it's your favorite.

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Speaker 2: Time of year.

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Speaker 1: I love this time Christmas.

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Speaker 2: It is.

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Speaker 1: Initial thoughts think it's good.

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Speaker 3: I think, you know, it's interesting the way it sets up,

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Speaker 3: and that you start with three of four on the road,

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Speaker 3: then three or four at home, and then another stretch

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Speaker 3: of three and three or four on the road. It's

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Speaker 3: just kind of a little bit unusual in that way. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: a really late bye week, the latest by week since

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Speaker 3: two thousand and one for the Broncos all the way

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Speaker 3: in week fourteen. So that's gonna be a long stretch

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Speaker 3: there for the team, certainly for us to start the

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Speaker 3: season there.

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Speaker 2: I always look where the bye week is to start.

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Speaker 3: Exactly the first thing I look at, and it's just

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Speaker 3: it's a little bit late this year. And then just

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Speaker 3: you know, it also of course stands out opening on

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Speaker 3: the road against Seattle, A lot of speculation, would it

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Speaker 3: be the Jets, would it be the Steelers, would it

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Speaker 3: be the Chargers, And it kind of ends up being

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Speaker 3: a team that I don't think a lot of people predicted.

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Speaker 3: And now, for the second time in three years, the

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Speaker 3: Broncos will head to Seattle to open the season. I

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Speaker 3: do think there's a lot of, you know, good things

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Speaker 3: here in terms of how this team can maybe get

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Speaker 3: going a little bit early in the year and how

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Speaker 3: it sets up a little bit nicely in that regard.

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Speaker 3: But obviously a lot of division opponents late in the

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Speaker 3: year and the year at home against Kansas City and

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Speaker 3: then that primetime game against Cleveland also stands out, in

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Speaker 3: addition to the road primetime game in New Orleans as

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Speaker 3: Sean Payton makes his return.

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Speaker 1: There.

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Speaker 3: So some little nuggets throughout, but I think what stands

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Speaker 3: out is just kind of that uniqueness of three or

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Speaker 3: four on the road, three or four at home, three

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Speaker 3: of four on the road going to be maybe road

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Speaker 3: warriors a little bit at times for this Broncos team.

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Speaker 3: It'll be interesting to see how they respond.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that is interesting. I didn't notice that, Eric, when

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Speaker 2: I looked at it. You mentioned some of the prime

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Speaker 2: game primetime games there. There's two of them, Thursday night

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Speaker 2: football in New Orleans for Week seven and then a

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Speaker 2: week thirteen, a Monday night football matchup at home fors

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Speaker 2: the Browns. No Sunday night football game this year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think this is a team that Sean

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Speaker 3: Payton has set up before you play well, you play

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Speaker 3: in primetime, and the Broncos, you know, they've got to

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Speaker 3: prove themselves. I think this year obviously, externally the expectations

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Speaker 3: aren't super high. But you go out and prove that

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Speaker 3: you're a good football team early in the year, maybe

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Speaker 3: you get flexed into a game or two later on. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: the flex rules are a lot different now, flex Thursday night,

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Speaker 3: can flex Monday night, Sunday night. So I don't know,

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Speaker 3: maybe you play well enough and you look at a

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Speaker 3: Week ten game at Kansas City, or you look at

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Speaker 3: a you know, a game late in the year against

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Speaker 3: the Chargers or Cincinnati. I mean, you play well, maybe

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Speaker 3: you end up in one of those standalone windows.

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Speaker 1: You got to go at there and prove it.

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Speaker 3: Though, And I do think I liked that the New

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Speaker 3: Orleans game is in primetime.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a one.

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Speaker 3: We'll see what Sean Payton says about going back to

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Speaker 3: New Orleans. Yeah, I would imagine, like most coaches kind

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Speaker 3: of downplay what that means, even though we know how

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Speaker 3: much New Orleans.

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Speaker 1: Means to him.

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Speaker 3: But it's a it's a big game for a lot

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Speaker 3: of people going back a lot of people on the

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Speaker 3: Broncos staff, A lot of people on the Broncos roster

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Speaker 3: have ties to the Saints. Yeah, you look at people

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Speaker 3: on the Saint Still a lot of guys there that

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Speaker 3: Sean Payton drafted a quarterback there, and Derek Carr that

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Speaker 3: the Broncos know well from his time with the Raiders.

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Speaker 3: So that's kind of a helling matchup even outside of

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Speaker 3: the Sean Payton angle. But it'll be a fun one

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Speaker 3: to have in primetime. And said, I think that's youre

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Speaker 3: going to be your first time.

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Speaker 1: Down as well.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it will.

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Speaker 1: It gets loud in there. I've only been there once.

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Speaker 3: That was when Will Parks return the two point convert

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Speaker 3: the blocked extra points for a two point conversion.

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Speaker 1: It was loud then.

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Speaker 3: I'd imagine it's going to be pretty wild there in

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Speaker 3: October and Sean Payton makes his return.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I have that one circled on my schedule here, Eric,

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Speaker 2: that's gonna be my favorite one of the season. I

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Speaker 2: think I haven't been to New Orleans and I haven't

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Speaker 2: been to Cincinnati. I haven't been to pay Corps Stadium either,

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Speaker 2: So those are the two I'm ross. A couple of

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Speaker 2: long yeap crossing off my list.

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Speaker 1: What about you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, in terms of road trips, I think you look

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Speaker 3: early in the year at that Jets game.

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Speaker 1: That stands out to me. I think that that'll just

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Speaker 1: be a fun one.

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Speaker 3: Obviously the Broncos a tough game against the Jets last year.

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Speaker 1: You hope that Aaron Rodgers is healthy.

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Speaker 3: And available for that game, and then kind of all

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Speaker 3: the external stuff that goes with that matchup. Former head

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Speaker 3: coach Nathaniel Hackett still there as offensive coordinator. That just

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Speaker 3: stands out to me as one that could be intriguing.

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Speaker 3: A couple other ones that catch my eye. I think

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Speaker 3: at Seattle is just really intriguing because we don't know

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Speaker 3: very much about what this football team is going to

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Speaker 3: look like. You know, from a Seattle standpoint in terms

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Speaker 3: of I've got a new head coach and Mike McDonald

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Speaker 3: after moving on from Pete Carroll and then from the

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Speaker 3: Broncos perspective, we don't have any idea right now as

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Speaker 3: we sit here about who's going to play quarterback. So

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Speaker 3: is this going to be Jared Stidham, you know, holding

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Speaker 3: onto the starting quarterback job.

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Speaker 1: Is this going to be Zach Wilson?

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Speaker 3: Kind of a resurgence to the type of player people

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Speaker 3: thought he could be coming out of BUYU Or is

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Speaker 3: this going to be Bo Nicks in his very first opportunity,

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Speaker 3: starting on the road in a hostile environment and obviously

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Speaker 3: played at Oregon so so used to playing in Washington

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Speaker 3: and those those tough Pac twelve matchups. Whoever's out there,

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Speaker 3: I think it's going to be really exciting just to

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Speaker 3: see what does this team look like? Like we said,

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Speaker 3: I think not a lot of people know what to

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Speaker 3: think about the Broncos going into twenty twenty four externally

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Speaker 3: just because sure, you know, got rid of Justin Simmons,

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Speaker 3: Russell Wilson's released lost guys like Josie Jewel and Lloyd

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Speaker 3: Kusham Mary to free agency and then brought in some

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Speaker 3: really good guys John Franklin Myers, you know, added in

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Speaker 3: free agency free agency to the defensive line, brought in

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Speaker 3: Josh Reynolds. I mean, there's been some moves here too,

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Speaker 3: but we just don't know what it's all going to

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Speaker 3: look like. And I think externally around the country people

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Speaker 3: are the same way, and that like, what is this

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Speaker 3: team going to be when Week one arrives? And so

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Speaker 3: for me, I can't wait to see what this team

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Speaker 3: looks like on September eighth. And so you know on

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Speaker 3: our website, we've got kind of this list of the

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Speaker 3: most compelling games. For me said, week one is right

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Speaker 3: at the top just because of some of the unknowns

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Speaker 3: that this team has going into the year.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah, Eric, you touched on this a little bit,

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Speaker 2: but to go more in depth, when you look at

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Speaker 2: the schedule, what are some of the tough stretches that

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Speaker 2: you see?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think three things stand out to me. One

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Speaker 3: is just again the bye week is so late that

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Speaker 3: Week one through thirteen is going to be a tough

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Speaker 3: stretch just because it's gonna be a grind. So you're

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Speaker 3: gonna get the week nine, Week ten, week eleven, it's

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Speaker 3: gonna feel like a little bit of a grind, I

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Speaker 3: think because of playing so many consecutive games. So that

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Speaker 3: would be an area where again as a coaching staff,

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Speaker 3: as a player led team, you've got to find ways

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Speaker 3: to just stay in it hopefully ride some momentum at

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Speaker 3: that point. That stands out to me. I think the

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Speaker 3: other thing that stands out is just how many early

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Speaker 3: starts the Broncos have. I mean one pm at Tampa Bay,

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Speaker 3: one pm at New York, one pm at Baltimore, twelve

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Speaker 3: pm at Kansas City, one pm at Las Vegas. A

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Speaker 3: little different, I think on Pacific time compared to when

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Speaker 3: you're going the other way. But that's something the Broncos

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Speaker 3: are gonna have to figure out because last year, and

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Speaker 3: Sean Payton mentioned this at the end of the season,

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Speaker 3: there were some issues when there were some kind of

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Speaker 3: early kicks Houston. Obviously, the Broncos got off to a

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Speaker 3: slow start, and so it'll be interesting to see how

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Speaker 3: do the Broncos look to combat that as we head

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Speaker 3: toward the season. Do you go out a little bit

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Speaker 3: early for certain games? Do you practice at different times?

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Speaker 3: Do you I don't know what the answer is, but

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Speaker 3: that'll be something to watch and I think just something

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Speaker 3: that makes the schedule a little bit difficult. And then

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Speaker 3: lastly said, I think a specific stretch will be Week

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Speaker 3: nine and ten at Baltimore at Kansas City obviously the

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Speaker 3: two AFC finalists last year, you know, assuming that, and

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Speaker 3: again we'll see what happens. But whoever the quarterback is

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Speaker 3: at that point, you'll have had some time to mesh

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Speaker 3: with the offense. Hopefully some of these young guys are

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Speaker 3: able to come in and get comfortable. So it's nice

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Speaker 3: that you don't play those teams, for example, Week one

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Speaker 3: and two. But that being said, that's going to be

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Speaker 3: a defining stretch. What is that seven games into the year.

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Speaker 3: I mean, if you're hovering around or excuse me, eight

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Speaker 3: games into the year, even if you're hovering around five hundred,

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Speaker 3: a little bit above five hundred, those two games are

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Speaker 3: going to be critical in terms of staying in the

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Speaker 3: playoff chase, being in the hunt, that sort of thing,

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Speaker 3: and a chance to prove yourself against some really elite competition.

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Speaker 3: So that stretch Week nine, Week ten, buckle up. Those

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Speaker 3: are gonna be tough games.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they certainly will. Eric lastly, here, what do you

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Speaker 2: how do you think about the strength of the schedule.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I believe six games against playoff teams

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Speaker 3: from last year, that Baltimore Kansas City stretch, I believe

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Speaker 3: is the only time with back to back games against

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Speaker 3: playoff opponents. So it sets up okay, I think from

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Speaker 3: that perspective, again, you're gonna play some good defenses early

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Speaker 3: in the year in Seattle, Pittsburgh, Tampa, and New York

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Speaker 3: I mean those are all good defenses, so a challenge

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Speaker 3: from that perspective, but all maybe some offenses that are

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Speaker 3: maybe finding their way a little bit, or you know,

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Speaker 3: what is Seattle going to look like on our new

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Speaker 3: coaching staff, depending on we haven't mentioned Russell Wilson and

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Speaker 3: the home opener potentially coming back to Denver, could be

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Speaker 3: justin fields either way that you know they're gonna maybe

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Speaker 3: be figuring things out. In week two, it's Hample a

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Speaker 3: little bit more consistent offensively. But then the Jets Aaron

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Speaker 3: Rodgers coming back, what does he look like as he returns?

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Speaker 3: So maybe a chance that you're getting some teams that

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Speaker 3: are figuring things out. Is there a way for the

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Speaker 3: Broncos to start a little bit fast? Obviously a tough

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Speaker 3: start last year. You got to find a way to

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Speaker 3: start a little bit faster, I like having the first

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Speaker 3: two division games at home. Got to get off this

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Speaker 3: skid to Las Vegas here, Yeah, I mean the Chiefs

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Speaker 3: one is gone and hopefully you find a way to

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Speaker 3: keep some momentum going against them, but you got to

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Speaker 3: get rid of this. You can't be competitive in the

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Speaker 3: division if you're losing to Las Vegas every single time.

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Speaker 3: So I do like the fact that you've got some

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Speaker 3: division games there early in the year at home, get

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Speaker 3: a chance to maybe build some positive momentum, be emotional

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Speaker 3: in New Orleans. But I think a game that the Broncos,

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Speaker 3: you know, I think compare favorably a young guy and

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Speaker 3: Bryce young that's going to look to take a step

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Speaker 3: forward in Carolina. We talked about Baltimore, Kansas City. You've

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Speaker 3: got to stretch there, Atlanta, at Vegas, Cleveland where maybe

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Speaker 3: you can find a way to have some success with

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Speaker 3: some home games, same way a young quarterback in Indianapolis.

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Speaker 3: I think it sets up okay for the Broncos. There's

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Speaker 3: not like that one stretch where hey, for three or

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Speaker 3: four weeks, this just looks brude where there's no three

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Speaker 3: game road trip. There's you know, the big thing, of

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Speaker 3: course is you only have back to back home games

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Speaker 3: once and the bias so late. But other than that,

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Speaker 3: you know, there's no stretch where I just say, oh man,

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Speaker 3: how are they going to get through that? And so

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Speaker 3: that's that's a good thing for the Broncos, I think,

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Speaker 3: And so we'll just kind of have to see how

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Speaker 3: it plays out.

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Speaker 2: I know a lot of unknowns like you said going

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Speaker 2: into this one, but all exciting nonetheless, Yeah.

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Speaker 3: And we get we get Jim Harbugh Sean Payton's potentially

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Speaker 3: an Oregon matchup between Boenix and Justin Herbert if he's

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Speaker 3: if both playing by then, So yeah, a lot of

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Speaker 3: good storylines. But yeah, as always, see if they can

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Speaker 3: earn another primetime game here later this seasons.

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Speaker 2: Eric, appreciate your time. Well that's going to do it

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Speaker 2: for today's episode of Broncos Now Broncos Country. Thanks so

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Speaker 2: much for tuning in. I'll meet you right back here

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Speaker 2: on the Broncos Podcast Network in YouTube next week for

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Speaker 2: another episode, and we'll see you all then