Broncos Preview (10/3)

Broncos last Monday against the Chiefs. Of course, the Broncos and chief squared off by today night, so the Broncos are on a short week, coming to MetLife and just kicking things off here. Finally the Jets getting an opponent

on the Yeah, exactly. But I was gonna say, oh my god, I mean, I know we're talking about Jets Broncos here, but let's talk a minute here about Patrick Mahomes because I was crazy just watching him on Monday night going about his business, and that was the first real test of adversity he had, and unfortunately for the Broncos that came out with an unbelievable talent. And I think we knew that when he came out of Texas Tech. Uh, we also got to pump the brakes a little bit.

Even though he is so exciting to watch, is that he's five starts into his NFL career. But uh, he can do some things that very few people, probably ever in the history of this league can do in terms of he has crazy arm strength and he can throw from all sorts of different angles, and his mobility against the Broncos and their elite pass rush obviously led by uh Von Miller, it was something else. It was a

game changer. He was there a lot of times. I thought Mahomes was dead to rights and then he gets of the edge and not only is he looking to tuck the ball under, he's looking to load the ball down the field. And that was his impressed. I don't know how many touchdown passes he had early in the season. I think it was some kind of crazy and he had one against the Broncos. But as far as the

coming out party Monday night football, that's pretty good. Okay, real quick, here is what do you think about his nickname showtime that I thought, I don't know if it was a Monday Night football nickname. But does it seem forced to you know, I don't think it's like I didn't say that. I said it doesn't seem forced. I thought Booker mccarland said it on Monday Night Football. I didn't know anybody else. Twitter took it and ran, oh yeah, no, listen,

I'm not caught up in the nicknames. I would just call him a stud right now because he's playing like an NFL MVP. But there's a lot of season to go and he didn't play last year. It. Yeah, he's a wild talent. How can you not watch the guy? But like, wow, yeah it was. It was definitely very exciting to watch. And I want to pluck out with

what you said about von Miller and the Broncos pass rush. Obviously, von Miller is one of the elite pass rushers in the league, and we actually talked to Eric Alala of course about von Miller and what makes him unique. But you mentioned mahomes mobility. How helpful is it gonna be Sunday for Sam Donald the book on him coming out of college that he makes plays off script and I'm not saying he's gonna throw with his left hand like

Mahomes did. But how beneficial will it be and has it been through the first three weeks four weeks now? Excuse me for Donald to be able to extend the play with his life, it's always beneficial. But not a lot of guys in the NFL are gonna be out run von Miller. I think the Jets have to have balance. I mean, I know it's not sexy because winning the National Football League is all about throwing the ball. I

get it, But the Jets have to be balanced. You can't fall behind double digits like they have in two of the past three games and then get the balance you want. And against the Broncos, if you're down double digits, that means they're sending the NFL's top pass rusher against your rookie quarterback every play. So it's not just gonna take It's not just on the tackles Calvin Beacham and Brandon shall on every play to take care of von Miller and Bradley chob and Shane Ray and company. You're

gonna need help from the tightens. That means personnel packages. You're gonna have to be multiple in your personal Jeremy Bates will continue to do that. You're gonna use two and three tight iss at times. You're gonna need your backs helping out with chipping and Blahpa is one of the greatest backs in the national football he in terms of blocking, Isaac Rowhill is going to have to do that as well. It's gonna take a village, uh to

contain these guys. Um. But I do expect the Jets to have a much better performance execution wise against Denver. Whether that leads to a win or loss, we don't know, but they are going to play better than they did in Jacksonville. I totally agree with that. And you mentioned multiple Titan sets. Well, that's something we've seen throughout the first couple of weeks from Jeremy bas In the offense. Maybe Neil Sterling will come back from his concussion injury.

We will see. But as it was too bad last week against Jacksonville, and if we think about that, every we's talking about Donald and lack of throws down the field. What the Jets did attacked on the field. You didn't get the completions on the third and one to Paul and then fourth and one to the noon wall or

the Robby Anderson throw in the fourth quarter. But the one we forget about two a little bit, and I think you reminded me of here early this week was Donald hit Chris Herndon down the field where the Jets would have been first intent in from inside to fifteen. But that came back catch first of all, the casual it was. It was bobbled about or in the air

about three times before Herndon brought it down. But I thought you were gonna say it would have been nice if Neil Sterling were active for last game, because Sterling was drafted by the Jags, and it would have been a nice, nice version of I thought you were gonna say something else, But regardless is now the Jets moved forward now to the Denver Broncos, the first game of a three game homestand and to learn a little bit more about the Broncos as we sat down with Eric

Delalla of Devon Broncos dot com and here's the interview. Alright, time to bring in Eric Delalla of Denver Broncos dot com. Eric, thanks so much for joining us again a friend of the pod, coming back into eighteen. Nice to be back and back to back years. Well luckily for us, the Jets of Broncos play back to back years. Last time it was an ugly game for the Jets in Denver.

But this time you're coming east to Mattlive Stadium this Sunday, and this is a very different Jets team, a very different Broncos team than last December call for when these two teams met up. So, just off the bat, here is from your perspective, what would you say the biggest differences about this Broncos team compared to when these two teams met up. Yeah, that that game last year is one of the few bright spots for the Broncos in a five and eleven season. And I think if you

look at what's changed, the Broncos just have some more talent. Uh. Keith Keenam came over from Minnesota to be the quarterback. Hasn't yet had this season he'd like, but I think he's definitely an upgrade there. And then this draft is teen draft class. You've got Bradley Chokes fifth overall. You've got Courtland Sutton, a wide receiver at s m U. In the second round, You've got Royce Freeman, who has

tied for the rookie league in rushing touchdowns. You've got Josie Rule, who's playing some a lot of snaps at linebacker. He's got Philip Lindsay, the undrafted guy from Colorado who's scored a couple of touchdowns, and it's kind of taken

over this Denver community. So I think if there's one big change, it's that this team has more talent to work with now, and they kind of were infused with young talent after the draft, and those guys played a big role on Monday Night against the Chiefs and keeping the Broncos in that game. Was that by design the overhaul and then offensive backfield that the Broncos are featuring those two rookies and Philip Lindsay and Royce Freeman. Yeah, you know, I think the bronc has moved on from C. J.

Anderson after last year. He had a thousand yard rushing year, but the Broncos decided to part ways with him. He brought Royce Freeman in from Oregon, who had a ton of carries in college but was really productive. You had Philip Lindsay, who I think they see as a Darren's Browles type change of pace guy that can really break open a game. He's had some long runs. I think overall the strategy though, is in the past few years, it seems like they were drafting on potential on talent.

This year, they really took guys who were proven in college team captains. They wanted guys that could come in and be mature and contribute right away. So I think you see that kind of playing out in the backfield where Freeman and Lindsay have been really good through these first four weeks. Um DeVante Booker obviously kind of coming in as a third down back to catch balls out in the backfield. But I think that that strategy applies

throughout the entire draft classes. Hey, John always said they need guys that can contribute now in order to take this team from five and eleven into a team that can compete for a playoff spot. When you look at the stats, someone that, honestly, I was surprised when I was looking at Bronco stats. Is Damarius Thomas only has like a hundred some yards through four weeks. So is he just how would you describe his role in the offense.

Do you think that he's getting a little more coverage because Damarus Thomas is one of the better receivers in this league and has you just not popped off yet? Eight point four yards of reception right now? Yeah? I think he. He struggled in Week two against Oakland, had a couple of drops in key situations, but then came back really strong, UH in Week three in Baltimore and then played pretty well last night. You know, two plays kind of stand out to me in terms of those

those yards not being where you'd expect. One week three in Baltimore, Keenum found DT for forty yards down the middle of the field that would have moved the Broncos to the Ravens eleven yard line. That probably changes the whole complexion of that game. That was called back because of one of many holding penalties that week. UM the second one last night as the Broncos are trying to drive for a game winning touchdown, is Da Marius is wide open down the right sideline and Keenum isn't able

to hit him. If he catches either one of those passes or both of those pastes, the way we view him the season probably changes drastically. I think Keenum uses him right now is more of a security blanket. He went to Da Marius on a key fourth down UH last night in Chiefs territory right before halftime, kind of spun around found Da Marius who extended across the line. It was really heads up play. Um. So I view him as kind of like that the security blanket right now.

While Emmanuel Sanders to me, is more of the big play threat. You know, he's coming across the field from the slot or or outside and kind of making those catch and run plays. Um a little bit of a faster guy. So, and then you've got Courtland Sutton, the rookie, who is kind of the deep ball threat, jump ball in the end zone. But I think the Marius still fills that role of if there's a key third down, if you need to pick it up, or if you just need some key yards. I think he's He's Keenum

is looking too, Marius Thomas. Um. It just might not be for the chunk yardage place that we've seen in the past. Eric. How's that offensive line holding up? They rushed the well pretty well against in Kansas City chiefs Um. Keenum hasn't been down too many times. But if I'm looking at this matchup from a Jets perspective, I think they got to make hay with the defensive line here. Yeah, the offensive line. So far, I think he's been improved from last year, and that's not tough to do because

they gave up a ton of sacks. I think fifty two if I'm remembering correctly. Hasn't been that sort of an issue this year. Keenum has been pressured. Part of it is that he knows when to get rid of the ball, which has helped them. And I think also you've had Jared Veldier come over from Arizona. He's been an upgrade at right tackle. Unfortunately, he went out on Monday night with a knee injury. Uh, didn't break anything. We'll see based on Mr I soon what what's going

on with him. But Billy Turner came in played pretty well in relief there. And then on the other side of line at left tackle, you've got Garbold, who was the first round pick in overall. UH. He's he's had an up and down season. There was a drive on Monday night where Bowls I think he let up a sack and on the very next day had a very next play had a holding penalty and all of a sudden the Broncos had to punt it back to the Chiefs. Um he did kind of rebound from there didn't give

up any more sacks, which was nice to see. The Broncos made a switch where offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave went up of the box and their offensive line tackles. Coach Chris Strausser went down to the field to kind of work with bulls. They made that ahead of a Monday night game. It'll be interesting to see if they kind of keep that the rest of the season and if that if they thought that worked well. But yeah, I agree with you. The offensive line is where things start.

The running game has been really strong. You've been, i think, very good at creating a push. You've got Connor McGovern, Matt Parrots, ron Leary. McGovern's a really strong guy there at right Guarden. It's kind of been clearing the way that they can keep doing that. I think the run game will be successful, but it's all about can they

stand up. Did that pass rush give Keenum a little bit more time keep him comfortable, because that's really been the difference between those interceptions, those touchdown throws, kind of the on point passes versus the ones that get away from before we dive into von Miller and the edge

rushers and the challenges those guys present. Just watching the game, and I haven't broken down any film, but just watching the game to get ahead and the studies here with the Broncos, I was repressed with the speed and that lotticism and the temple that Broncos defense played with. Yes, they gave up a ten point lead in the fourth quarter, but I point to largely the magician who is Patrick Mahomes and Dreens and I will talk about this later. Listen,

that guy could be a star in this league. With that being said, this defense still looks solid to meet, Eric, What do you think? Yeah, I mean you talk about my homes areas, he's throwing in left handed, he's converting second and thirties. It was just, you know, even as someone who works for the Broncos, you just kind of kind of shake your head and say, man, that guy he beat us um. But in terms of the defense,

I think you're right that they're still solid. And this might seem weird in the wake of a loss, but I think that was their best defensive performance we've had so far in that they covered Travis Kelsey really well in the first half and he did end up with seven receptions for almost eighty yards. In the second half, but one of those was a big chunk play and it didn't hurt the Broncos as much as it could have.

I think the Chiefs were held to a field goal there. Um. But to me, that was one example of the Broncos have just been decimated by tight ends over the last couple of years, but they really haven't been able to cover cover that position. And in the first half, as the Broncos built a halftime lead, Travis Kelsey didn't have

a catch um. So that was impressive to me. Obviously a group effort there among the safety's Justin Simmons, Darian Stewart, Brandon Marshall, Davis, Josie Jewel, all those guys kind of

getting involved. Um. And then the other thing that was impressive to me is after a Week three loss at Baltimore, Chris Harris Jr. Who's the broncos number one cornerback, came out and said, we had to disguise our coverage is more offenses are coming out there and then you know exactly what we're doing and they're just they're driving it down our throats and so he said that we need

to change something up. Head coach fans Joseph agreed with that, and what really impressed me was that wasn't just talk. You could tell this week against Kansas City that they were disguising more than they had in previous weeks. There are times where it looked like receiver was uncovered almost and then at the last second of safety would drop down, or a corner would switch it up and corner would

prepared to blitz and a safety would rotate back. And they were really not giving Patrick Mahomes a look at what they were gonna do until two or three seconds left on the play clock. And I think you saw it. Mahomes only throw one touchdown and he had those really great drives in the fourth quarter, but prior to that, he really struggled. You know, he only had that one touchdown past the Chiefs only put together thirteen points through

uh what fifty three minutes of the game. Um, And I think that comes down to Joe Wood, the defensive coordinator, advanced Joseph finding a way to mess with that defensive game plan and get their best players in a position where they could succeed. I know e A wants to dive into von Miller, but just one more thing on the secondary here is you talked about Chris Harris Jr. And the guys behind him like Bradley Roby and the ageless Adam Pacman Jones. Is how different is the secondary

without a key to Leave? And how do you think that they've been performing minus to Leave, who's now a part of the l A Rams. Yeah, I think you're always gonna miss a player like to Leave just because he could do uh so much for you. Obviously, you know he's in the top five all time for pick six is and he kind of brought a swagger to the to the back end of the defense. But I think last night could have been a turning point um in terms of how this secondary is operating. Uh, they

didn't look great the first three weeks. Lots of communication breakdowns, They were playing too soft off the wide receivers, and you know, Vance Joseph said, Hey, we're a press man team. We're gonna rush the passer and we're gonna press those receivers at the line of scrimmage and not let them get off the ball because if we can give on a couple of seconds, it's going to be too late for that opposing quarterback. It seemed like they got back to that last night. They didn't give up any big

place uh to Tyreek Hill on Monday Night Football. They held Travis Kelsey and check. And I think those guys beneath Chris Harris Jr. That you mentioned, Bradley Roby, Adam Jones, Uh, they're really the ones that need to kind of take that step, you know. I think Bradley Robi has played pretty well in his first year as a starting cornerback. Really, um, Joe Woods that many times Roby just needs to be consistent.

He sometimes looks too much to make that big play Um that he could afford to try to gamble and make when he was just a nickel corner um. And then Adam Jones back on the field this week after missing a Week three game against Baltimore, and I think they really missed him in a thirty five years old

you mentioned. But he's still playing decent football and he's a guy that they need to rely on because behind him, he's got Tremaine Brock who they signed in the off season, but he's been hurt, hasn't contributed as much as you might have thought if you're a Broncos fan. And then Isaac Adam a third ground pick from Boston College. Looks like he's got the talent to eventually do this, but as a rookie, he's just he's struggled a bit and it's going to take some more time for him, I think,

to to get ready for that. So one thing that Chris Harris Jr. Mentioned Was he's just got to figure out who the third corner is because it's changed almost every week, and so that's hard for him from a communication standpoint to make sure that the secondary is doing

what it needs to do. But I really think that that Monday night football matchup with the Chiefs, the flashes that they showed in terms of shutting down some of those plays, making quick tackles at the line of scrimmage and then disguising the defense showed that this defense might have turned a corner. Eric von Miller, is he buttered and ivery's got four sacks. I know you didn't have any sacks recently against the Chiefs, but he was all

over the place. And how is his new partner in crime, Bradley Chubb from NC State, the Broncos first round pick. How's he fitting in? Yeah, I think Vaughan is the same Vaughn as ever, and what always impresses me most about him is, you know, he comes off after a game like Monday Nights and he didn't have any sacks, but he was he was all over the place, pressured Mahomes on that that left handed throw that I mentioned before.

You know, he he had my Homes by the by the shoelaces and that's almost a huge sack that probably wins Denver the game. UM, but that's not good enough for him. He wants to make those strip sacks. He wants to uh to force my Homes to throw a big interception. UM, and he hasn't been able to make those plays the last couple of weeks. He had three sacks in Week one against Seattle and that was and to force fumbles. That was as good as I've seen

him since Super Bowl fifty. Just truly a performance where he took over the game. UM had another one against Oakland, but he's he's been held without a sack the last couple of weeks, and so it'll be interesting to see if against Sam Donald he can kind of get back to impacting what the quarterback does. But he's just I mean, he's just so dangerous and you've got to reckon with him on every play and something that's helped him and

certainly showed through his sack numbers. The first couple of weeks was like you mentioned Bradley Chubb Um who picked up his first full sack against Baltimore, and week three he's been really good in the red zone, especially helping to stop the run, helping to contain thing Um. He's shown flashes. He's a different guy than Von. You know, Vaughan is that speed guy that can bend at what seems like impossible angles and get by tackles, whereas Chubb seems like more of a power guy. He's more like

a Khalil Mack esque type player. Um. You know, if if there's one play that you can just say, hey, Bradley Chubb's got a lot of potential when played really well, but can always get better, it's if you look at that Mahomes play where you threw with his left hand. If Bradley Chubb is able to kind of set that edge there, Mahomes isn't able to get away to the sideline and then Von probably brings it down. So I'm

sure the coaches are looking at that this morning. Um definitely room for improvement, but Bradley Chubb has really helped Von get back to the player that the Broncos need him to be. And then they've also got Shane Ray and Shaquille Barrett. You know, Shane Ray, a farmer first round pick, hasn't lived up to expectations recently because of a hurt wrist, but he's still got big play potential. Shaquille Barrett, an undrafted free agent, has played well for

the Broncos. So I mean that's probably still the strength of this defense, is that edge rushing unit. Final question for me here, Eric, is that in regards to Von Miller, and you might have talked about it a little bit within your answer there, but when you look at him and I'm watching the Broncos game and over the course of his career, it's very striking to me that he's not like the Khalil mac type. He's not he's not

a huge monster. But what if you could boil it down to one thing and kind of like in a in a nutshell, what makes von Miller so unique and so special and how is he able to get after the quarterback weekend and week out? Yeah, you just you can't touch him. Uh. And I think that's what's so

hard for offensive tackles. It's just when it seems like Von is getting close and you, uh, you have an opportunity to get your hands on him, he bends at someone possible angle and his by you and then next thing you know, he's taken the ball away from your quarterback. And you know, Von has been talking a lot about this new roughing the pastor emphasis by the referees, and he said, you know, I try not to lay on the quarterback because I'm trying to take the ball away

from him. That's how he avoids that. UM. I had the chance to go down with him to Branson, Missouri this summer to his pass rush summit that he hosts UH and you know, Bruce Smith was there, UM and Warren Sapp was there, and they all shared these secrets

and it was kind of interesting to watch. You know, Bond's already got all these these tools in his game and seeing him pick up more moves from these legends, it was fun to see because he knew it was just gonna make him more dangerous because I think when he gets in the zone, like he wasn't Super Bowl fifty or like he was in Week one, and he's coming off the edge and moving at those impossible angles.

You just gotta kind of throw up your hands if you're an offensive coordinator, because it's really almost impossible to stop him. That is Eric Dlala of Denver Broncos dot Com. Eric, thank you so much again for joining us. Have a safe flight over and we'll see a Sundays Eric, of course, yet hoping for a good one. Great having Eric back on the pod two years in a row. I think

that he's a fig surely a friend of them. I don't know if you should have said that to Jets fans because last year the Jets went out to Day But you're saying he's a bad luck charm. I don't know. I think he's a good man, and I think he's very informative and we can call him a friend, but I don't know if we want to tell people many

times and he was last year. But but to be fair, last year the Jets went out to Denver, Josh McCown broke his head in that game, So another bad bad mojo here, and I want bringing it up in my head they were shut out. Yeah, yeah, man, maybe I should just keep my mouth shutting. Well, that'd be tough to do on the pod. But now the Broncos come east, and like we didn't mention it with him, here's the here's the point, and this will factor in. I think

the Jets gotta jump on the steam early. I'm not saying they gotta get a fourteen seventeen point uh first quarter lead, but they gotta get something positive happening to get the crowd involved because right now, Jets fans are anxious, they're they're nervous, they're upset. Their team is on a

three game losing streak. But you have an opportunity to get back in the mix because you got a three game homestand and Denver just played an emotional battle where they had a ten point fourth quarter lead, couldn't hold onto it against a freakish performance from Mahomes and company. And now they have a short week and they're coming here and they're gonna play the early game and sometimes game for specific mountain times. They're mountain times am game. So this is not an easy one to prepare for

for the Broncos. And you factor in that typically when you're going from the West coast to the East Coast, you travel a day before you typically travel because if it's a Sunday game, like for example, Jets Jags, the Jets and the team fly down on Saturday for a Sunday game. But correct me if I'm wrong. Last year when you went to Denver, you traveled on a Friday to get acclimated to the time, and it's a longer trip and the air we obviously New York doesn't have

the altitude factor. But if the Broncos then fly on Friday, that really only lives Tuesday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for preparing for the Jets. And I don't know how much practice time they'll really get in because it is a short weekend. They just played Monday, don't don't get their typical Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I think it impacts the coaches a lot, and you're gonna have your the rest and Tuesday they'll get to

work and things like that. But what to me from that interview from Eric is that running with some rookie running backs there in Denver and they feel that case Keenum Despite the numbers, the numbers aren't gaudie. Three touchdowns, six interceptions so far this season, he's a veteran and kind of stabilizes things back there. They're in better shape at the quarterback position than the last time we saw this,

no doubt. And last thing here on the Broncos for you want to get to anything else, is that their last eleven road games, they are one and ten, the one win coming against the Indianapolis Colts, who did not have Andrew luck at the time. Take it for what it's worth. Every year is a new year, Every game is a new game. Just putting out some numbers there

for you, But it it's gonna be. I think that you're right when you said that this Jet seems is gonna come out laser focused and that jumping on the Broncos early, who have a short week, who had a tough loss Monday, and I think that will be imperative for the Jets. But they gotta They've got an opportunity here, three games at home opportunity, but you gotta handle and done for first. And you know, on paper, I would call this an even matchup. You're playing at home. You

gotta tune two. Broncos team them and in uh day definitely have some quality players, but the jetice and quality players too, and they just did not play up to their standards, especially defensively. I think you're gonna have bumps on bumps in the road offensively throughout the year. That's gonna happen. You got a rookie quarterback. I was encouraged by Donald saying after the game that I'm seeing the

field better, I'm seeing defense is better. And he did take some of those shots and they're bound to hit at some point. But I really think green is the Jets are gonna have to have success moving to football on the ground and watch two nine. I think bilaal Paul could have a big game. All right. There. There's a little sneak preview of e as Fearless predictions on Pregame Central, which will be eleven am with Anthony Becked

on Sunday, and uh any any closing remarks here? You want to throw out a little college football something or you know, I don't know if you're watching a TV show or whatever whatever you to do. I have not seen that that was the first Monday night game. Obviously we had a good pleasure, good fortunate working Monday night Jets lines. But I typically don't watch Monday night games. I will say, Monday Football. That was an entertaining ball game.

It kept me up all night and part of the reason was obviously the Bronchos or the Jets upcoming opponent. But um, yeah, so as far as TV is concerned, I'll watch that a little bit. I'm not Benja ninety shows. Uh. Some days I wake up I don't even know what day it is. Uh college football this weekend? Uh, you gotta look at Texas and Oklahoma the Red what do they call it the Red River Shootout or something like that, and look for Texas to bring it upset. How about that?

And Oklahoma? Okay, I thought you said Texas, No, No, no, Texas Oklahoma. So I would ask you, since we're speaking about college football, are you right after your your Syracuse orange winds out to Clemson had an opportunity to win a double digit lead in the second half, but unfortunately the Clemson tires escaped. Yeah, I'm okay, you better hold it was. It was a It would have been a game that really I think Syracuse should have won, especially

given that Trevor Lawrence got knocked out. Obviously I hope he's okay, But when seemingly the third string quarterback a week removed from kickoff. Yeah, is playing the game and leads the Tigers to have come back. Yeah, it should have been a game that's Jyracuse won. Syracuse is gonna win a lot of games this year because they're better defensively than they have been in the past. They have a very good college quarterback and Eric done. And oh, by the way, here's some advice for you and all.

I think I know what you're gonna you better keep Denal baby. Yeah, I know, I really hope. Still everything you can to keep this guy. He's a winner. I'm totally on board with you. But but that's all we have here on the Official Jets Podcast Again Jets Broncos one pm from MetLife Stadium and stay tuned for next week. You never know what's gonna happen.