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Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Broncos podcast network

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Speaker 1: and YouTube for the latest episode of Broncos Now. As always,

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Speaker 1: I'm your host is Sidney Jones, and coming up on

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Speaker 1: today's episode, the Broncos hit the.

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Speaker 2: Road tomorrow to head to Houston.

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Speaker 1: We'll hear from head coach Sean Payan, plus Broncos lead

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Speaker 1: writer Eric Delaladruan's a show for a game preview, all

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Speaker 1: that more coming out the number Broncos hit the road

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Speaker 1: to head down to Houston tomorrow as they're said to

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Speaker 1: face the Texans on a Sunday. Head coach Sean Payn

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Speaker 1: spoke for the final time ahead of this matchup today

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Speaker 1: and talked about the meaning of this game.

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Speaker 3: Look, both teams are six and five, both teams are

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Speaker 3: in the AFC. But you know, you got to prepare

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Speaker 3: to play a game. You got to prepare to play

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Speaker 3: your best game. And you know, the further we play

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Speaker 3: and the longer we get into the end of the season,

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Speaker 3: each each week will present scenarios. But you know, it's

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Speaker 3: a good team. It's a team that has played well

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Speaker 3: this year and they're playing with confidence.

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Speaker 1: Head coach Sean Payton said earlier this year that the

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Speaker 1: best teams are player led teams, and you spoke on

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Speaker 1: that today day and how he sees that in this

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Speaker 1: locker room.

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Speaker 3: When when you get going, it's their team. You know,

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Speaker 3: we're all a part of it. But this season and

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Speaker 3: you know, the players begin to hold each other accountable,

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Speaker 3: they begin to play for each other. It's one of

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Speaker 3: the great traits that you see is when they don't

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Speaker 3: want to let each other down in their play. And

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Speaker 3: I think that's a really good trait for any team

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Speaker 3: to have.

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Speaker 1: Plus, you talked about what the keys will be for

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Speaker 1: this offense in Houston on a sundaytly down.

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Speaker 3: Efficiency is important. I think this is a team that

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Speaker 3: you know, it's a penetrating one gap defense. They play hard,

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Speaker 3: they play fast to the ball. You can see it

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Speaker 3: on tape. You can see demikos Uh. You can just

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Speaker 3: feel the energy that they play with. And that's a

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Speaker 3: result of their coaching and the talent that they have.

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Speaker 3: Sheldon Rankins, shoot, he was the first round pick ours

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Speaker 3: New Orleans and they have a number of good players.

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Speaker 3: So I think being being good on early important. I mean,

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Speaker 3: there's a handful of keys, but it is a team

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Speaker 3: that if they get you behind the chains in long

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Speaker 3: yarded situations becomes more and more problematic.

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Speaker 1: Now it's time to take a look at this week's

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Speaker 1: a final injury report. Cornerback to Marie Mathis did not

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Speaker 1: participate in today's practice and he is listed as questionable

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Speaker 1: for Sunday's game. An outside linebacker Baron Browning, wide receiver

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Speaker 1: Jerry Judy, kicker, Will Lutz, Titan Chris Manhertz, wide receiver

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Speaker 1: Marvin Mims Junior, and defensive.

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Speaker 2: Tackle Mike Purcell. We're all full participants.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 1: Joining me here inside the Broncos podcast studio for a

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Speaker 1: game preview is Broncos lead writer Eric Delala.

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Speaker 2: Eric, thanks for joining me today.

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Speaker 5: You got it.

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Speaker 2: Are usual on this Friday, another big one.

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Speaker 1: This is a big one, Eric, big AFC game here

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Speaker 1: in the start of a three game road stretch too,

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Speaker 1: so a lot coming up.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a critical moment in this season, a defining

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Speaker 4: stretch you could say of the Broncos twenty twenty three season.

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Speaker 4: But important to take it one at a time and

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Speaker 4: focus on a big game against a dangerous, a talented,

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Speaker 4: and a confident Houston Texans team.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Eric, lookan at the defense first, you know they

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Speaker 1: lead the league in takeaways.

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Speaker 2: They're allowing the third fewest points per game.

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Speaker 1: Right now, We've talked a lot about Houston's quarterbacks. C

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Speaker 1: J Stroud this week, you know, what do you expect

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Speaker 1: for this defense? How do you expect them tofaare going

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Speaker 1: up against him on Sunday.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, he's good. I mean he's a rookie, but he

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Speaker 4: doesn't play like a rookie. And I think there's two things.

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Speaker 4: One his ability to extend plays and then get the

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Speaker 4: ball down the field. Tanked Dell obviously kind of the

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Speaker 4: major target there. I believe they have the second most

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Speaker 4: receiving yards between a rookie quarterback and rookie receiver in

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Speaker 4: NFL history, And so they're playing at a very high level.

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Speaker 4: So that's one element is it's going to be one

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Speaker 4: of those games where you face kind of a Mahomes

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Speaker 4: esque Josh Allen esque player in terms of wanting to

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Speaker 4: extend plays and look to throw vance. Joseph said this

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Speaker 4: week he will scramble, but he's not really looking to scramble.

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Speaker 4: He's looking to extend plays and throw the ball down

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Speaker 4: the field and keeps his eyes down there. So that's

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Speaker 4: one thing this defense is going to have to deal

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Speaker 4: with And then I think the other thing that's very

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Speaker 4: impressive about C. J. Strouds he shakes mistakes off well

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Speaker 4: and he plays well in the biggest moments. You know,

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Speaker 4: you look back to a game against Cincinnati, he throws

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Speaker 4: a pick six, comes back and leads a game winning drive.

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Speaker 4: You think about, you know, this pass game against the Jaguars.

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Speaker 4: The Texans didn't ultimately win, but they're down ten points

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Speaker 4: late in the fourth quarter. Leads a touchdown drive, they

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Speaker 4: get the ball back in. He gives them at least

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Speaker 4: a chance to win that football game, and you know,

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Speaker 4: one or two throws away from probably getting another win

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Speaker 4: and putting them into first place in the AFC South.

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Speaker 4: So he's a guy that even if you're up ten points,

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Speaker 4: fourteen points late in this game, I don't think you

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Speaker 4: can You can't let your guard down. You can't rest

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Speaker 4: because he's he's still coming after you. Now, what I

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Speaker 4: will say is I think the Broncos defense matches up

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Speaker 4: well in terms of what the Texans do well.

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Speaker 5: They throw the ball a lot.

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Speaker 4: They're looking to throw the football, you know, not everything's

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Speaker 4: deep down the field. They do have these intermediate completions

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Speaker 4: they'll get the ball to Singletary out of the backfield

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Speaker 4: and let him kind of take things on. But you

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Speaker 4: know they're looking to throw the football. And when I

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Speaker 4: look at this Broncos defense, I see that pass defense

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Speaker 4: as one of the strengths with Justin Simmons, Patzer, Tan

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Speaker 4: Faban Moros playing really well, ja Quan McMillan is playing

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Speaker 4: really well, and then you know it also gives guys

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Speaker 4: a chance to rush the paths or whether it's Baron Browning,

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Speaker 4: Nick Bonito, Jonathan Cooper. So I think that that matches

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Speaker 4: up well. And obviously where the Broncos have struggled a

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Speaker 4: little bit is in the run game. In the Houston

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Speaker 4: Texans are not, at least right now one of the

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Speaker 4: top run teams in the NFL. Doesn't mean they can't

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Speaker 4: prioritize that, and certainly the Vikings found some success on

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Speaker 4: the ground when they didn't come in as a top

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Speaker 4: rushing team. But this is a team that I think

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Speaker 4: prioritizes throwing the football, and it seems to me like

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Speaker 4: this could be strength on strength and really give the

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Speaker 4: best part of the Broncos defense a chance to face

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Speaker 4: off against the best of the Texans offense.

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Speaker 5: It'll be a good one when CJ. Stroud and them

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Speaker 5: are on the field.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. Eric, you mentioned Tank Dell. It seems like

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Speaker 1: him and CJ. Stroud, they've had a special connection this year,

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Speaker 1: have a special chemistry.

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Speaker 2: But he was.

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Speaker 1: Listened to as questionable heading into Sunday's game. And Houston's

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Speaker 1: going to be without tight end Don Schultz too, so

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Speaker 1: CJ might be without two of his best pass catchers.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's possible. I think Noah Brown is also questionable,

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Speaker 4: a good player as well. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see,

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Speaker 4: you know. Obviously, Demiico Ryan said earlier this week he

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Speaker 4: expects Tanked Hell to play, but it'll be something to monitor. Obviously,

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Speaker 4: without him, it will change some things for that offense.

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Speaker 4: Their offensive line is a little bit beat up, so

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Speaker 4: certainly they face some injuries here recently. But they also

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Speaker 4: ruled out a bunch of guys a few weeks ago

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Speaker 4: when they went to Cincinnati and they still won that

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Speaker 4: football game.

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Speaker 5: So CJ.

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Speaker 4: Stroud right now is elevating everybody around him. I don't

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Speaker 4: think it really matters who's out there. He's gonna he's

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Speaker 4: gonna find weapons, he's gonna make plays. But you know,

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Speaker 4: Tank Dell's good football player. We're talking to Jerry Judy today.

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Speaker 4: He said he watched him before he came to the

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Speaker 4: league and it's not surprised that he's had this early success.

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Speaker 5: He's a good football player, certainly in the red zone.

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Speaker 4: I believe he has the most touchdowns among rookie receivers,

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Speaker 4: so he's he's playing well.

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Speaker 5: He's a threat. Be interesting to see ms. Yeah, it'll

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Speaker 5: be interesting to.

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Speaker 4: See how to the deal with with his speed versus

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Speaker 4: covering some of these other guys. It's going to take

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Speaker 4: a good plan from Vance Joseph. But we've seen this

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Speaker 4: defense do it over the last few weeks, right, and

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Speaker 4: so should be a good matchup.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, on the other side of the ball for the Texans, Eric,

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Speaker 1: what do you know about Tomiko's Ryan Miko Ryan's defenses.

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Speaker 2: I know Russ historically has played well against them.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, only played three times against Amko. Obviously

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Speaker 4: against the Niners last year is a little bit of

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Speaker 4: a struggle, but the Broncos did have that big game

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Speaker 4: winning drive in Seattle in twenty twenty one when he

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Speaker 4: faced off against Tomko twice. The Seahawks won both of

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Speaker 4: those games, Russ I believe had five total touchdowns, just

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Speaker 4: one turnover, a completion percentage of over seventy five percent

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Speaker 4: in a high passer rating I believe over one hundred,

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Speaker 4: So he did find some success there. I believe the

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Speaker 4: Seahawks scored in the upper twenties both times, so found

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Speaker 4: some success against that defense. Now it's not going to

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Speaker 4: be easy, and I think what the Broncos do well

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Speaker 4: is run the football and kind of dominate time of possession,

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Speaker 4: try to out physical you. The Texans are good against

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Speaker 4: the run, and so the Broncos will have to be

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Speaker 4: committed to that. If there's an opportunity in terms of

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Speaker 4: where to find some yardage, where to make some plays,

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Speaker 4: it might be down the field. Texans passing defense is

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Speaker 4: not ranked quite as high. They are healthier this week,

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Speaker 4: it seems than they have been in quite a long time.

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Speaker 4: But they commit the second most pass interference penalties, and

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Speaker 4: so it may be a chance for Russ to look

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Speaker 4: down the field, maybe find Courtland Sutton, Jerry Judy, Marvin

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Speaker 4: Mims one of those guys and make a big chunk play.

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Speaker 4: But I don't think you want to get too far

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Speaker 4: away from your identity and you know, we'll have to see. Obviously,

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Speaker 4: I think one of the great things about a Sean

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Speaker 4: Payton offense is it can change week to week. But yeah,

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Speaker 4: I would still think the Broncos would emphasize running the football,

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Speaker 4: play action, that sort of thing, and not just coming

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Speaker 4: out and throw it fifty times.

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Speaker 5: But I guess we'll see.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see.

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Speaker 1: Cortland has scored a touchdown in every single one of

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Speaker 1: the team's road games this year. Are so yeah, hopefully

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Speaker 1: you'll find the end zone again on a Sunday. I

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Speaker 1: know there's been a lot of talk this week just

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Speaker 1: about continuing red zone efficiency. I know they were good

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Speaker 1: in that category last week against the Browns, So how

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Speaker 1: do you hope to see them continue that on Sunday?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I think running the football helped last week,

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Speaker 4: being able to avoid penalties for the most part. Obviously

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Speaker 4: still wasn't perfect, but that was better. And then it's

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Speaker 4: just individual effort, individual plays. You know, we saw Adam

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Speaker 4: Troutman make a nice play, Russ make a nice play

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Speaker 4: with his legs, and so when you're able to do

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Speaker 4: those sorts of things, you know, smat JP Ryan pushing

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Speaker 4: forward for extra YARDI of getting in the end zone.

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Speaker 4: When you're able to do those things, it helps you

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Speaker 4: find success down there, and definitely, I think what the

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Speaker 4: Broncos are looking for is to not have that be

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Speaker 4: a one off performance. And Sean Paytne was asked earlier

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Speaker 4: this week about the team's red zone success and he

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Speaker 4: basically he's kind of said, hold on, we haven't had

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Speaker 4: red zone success. We had it last year this week

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Speaker 4: generally we have not had as much of it, and

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Speaker 4: so can the Broncos become more consistent down there, That'll

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Speaker 4: be key, I think, especially on the road.

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Speaker 5: Right it's one thing at home.

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Speaker 4: To kind of kick a couple of field goals and

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Speaker 4: be able to hang around and have the crowd help

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Speaker 4: spur you to a win. On the road, you've got

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Speaker 4: to be efficient down there and score points when you can,

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Speaker 4: especially if this game becomes some sort of a shootout

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Speaker 4: or a higher scoring game because of what CJ. Stroud

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Speaker 4: and their offense can do, it could be a game where, hey,

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Speaker 4: if you score touchdowns down there and they score field goals,

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Speaker 4: that could be the difference. So that'll be an area

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Speaker 4: every week to watch, And I do think the encouraging

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Speaker 4: thing is this offense is still a work in progress, right,

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Speaker 4: And we talked about that a lot last year in

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Speaker 4: terms of was it ever gonna get better? This year

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Speaker 4: it's been much better, but I think it's still not

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Speaker 4: a finished product, right, And so we're eleven games into this,

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Speaker 4: and I think you're going to continue to see Sean Payton,

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Speaker 4: Russell Wilson, this offense grow, and hopefully red zone efficiency

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Speaker 4: is a part of that, see all it goes.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, awesome for you here, Eric.

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Speaker 1: You know, I know we've talked about this a few

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Speaker 1: times over the past few weeks, but heading into this game,

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Speaker 1: you know, what would a win in Houston mean just

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Speaker 1: for the playoff picture because we're getting down to the

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Speaker 1: last couple of weeks.

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Speaker 4: Here, Yeah, final stretch, obviously, final third of the season.

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Speaker 5: It's big. We've said that the last few weeks.

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Speaker 4: And the exciting thing about when you win football games

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Speaker 4: is it makes the next game that much bigger. Stat today,

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Speaker 4: if the Broncos win, their playoff odds jump up into

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Speaker 4: you know, sixty something percent, and obviously with a loss

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Speaker 4: they fall down.

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Speaker 5: You know, some people have said, ill.

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Speaker 4: This is like a playoff game because of the AFC

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Speaker 4: playoff picture. Yeah, I don't know if I'd go quite

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Speaker 4: that far. There's certainly a path for the Broncos still

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Speaker 4: even if you lose this football game. I think the

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Speaker 4: bigger sense for me is how do you get, you know,

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Speaker 4: something out of this road trip. The Broncos historically have

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Speaker 4: struggled a little bit during these three game road trips.

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Speaker 4: Every team has trouble with them. They're they're just difficult.

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Speaker 4: And I think going out there and getting a win

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Speaker 4: one from a playoff perspective, it's really big. But I

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Speaker 4: think it just starts the road trip off on the

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Speaker 4: right foot, you know, puts you in really good position.

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Speaker 4: And so a loss I don't think disqualifies you or

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Speaker 4: makes it impossible to make the playoffs. Certainly, a win

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Speaker 4: here over a team that's in the position as you

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Speaker 4: is probably going to be fighting for the same tiebreaker

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Speaker 4: you are, it would be a massive step forward. And

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Speaker 4: so I view it more as an opportunity rather than

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Speaker 4: kind of like, oh no, this is what could happen

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Speaker 4: if you lose. I view it more as here's what

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Speaker 4: we could gain from getting a win this week.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, exciting stuff, looking forward to it.

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Speaker 5: It'll be a fun one, it will be I haven't.

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Speaker 1: Been to Houston yet either, so yeah, first first trip

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Speaker 1: there for me, exciting.

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Speaker 2: It is exciting. Eric, appreciate you joining the show.

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Speaker 5: You got it said.

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Speaker 1: That's going to do it for today's episode of Broncos

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Speaker 1: Now Broncos Country.

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Speaker 2: Thanks so much for tuning in.

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Speaker 1: Let meet you right back here on the Broncos podcast

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Speaker 1: network and YouTube on Monday for game recap