BIG NEWS: Khalil Mack OUT At Least 4 Games | Chargers and Broncos Set To CLASH in AFC West BATTLE

BIG NEWS: Khalil Mack OUT At Least 4 Games | Chargers and Broncos Set To CLASH in AFC West BATTLE

Broncos, Chargers, and AFC West divisional showdown this Sunday. Well, the stakes are high with two teams looking to retake the top spot of the AFC West. We’ll break it all down here on today’s Crossover Thursday. [Music] You are locked on NFL Crossover, part of the Locked Onet. Your team every day. Nothing better than an old-fashioned wild wild west. That is the AFC West. Two teams, the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers face off here in week three for a divisional matchup that could have stakes for potentially reclaiming the division away from Kansas City. Welcome into another crossover Thursday here on the Locked on Podcast Network where we know it is your team every day. Hey, I’m Cody Ora Costa, locked on Broncos, joined by David Drogamire of Locked On Chargers and we’re here to break down everything you need to know going into this week’s AFC West divisional matchup. We’ll go through the biggest stories this week as both teams are battling some injuries with some key players. Plus, we’ll also go through which matchups we’re most looking forward to seeing and what each team needs to do in order to come out on top with a victory early on here in the 2025 NFL season. And you’ll get all here on today’s crossover Thursday, which is brought to you by our friends over there at Price Picks. Download the Price Picks app today and use code lockdown NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. David, let’s waste no time here. Short week for the Los Angeles Chargers coming off of a win against the Las Vegas Raiders here on Monday Night Football. Now they got to face the Denver Broncos. Three straight AFC West games to kick off the year for your Chargers. What’s the biggest story with the Chargers this week coming into this matchup? No rest for the weary there, Cody. The the Chargers another uh third straight AFC West opponent to start the start the season after the first two. So far so good. 2 and 0 to start the division. Couldn’t have asked to start any better. But unfortunately with that win uh against the Raiders on Monday night, it did come with a cost. A very heavy one. The future first ballot hall of famer Khil Mack dislocated his elbow and he was placed on IR. The good news is it should only be a short IR trip. Hopefully it’s the four games and he’s back uh on the field. At least that is what coach Harbaugh has said and hopefully that’s what happens because he is a massive part of this defense. Cody, well I mean when I saw the injury happen I was like wow that’s brutal. I I think everyone seeing the injury replay and seeing him, you know, really struggling to hold on to his arm without being in pain. I think we all thought that could have been a season ender for him. So, tough as nails there for Khil Mack. Obviously, uh they’re going to miss his presence for at least four games here with short-term IR. My question is obviously uh you know with with Tuli Tui Palotu. What does the backup rotation look like for this pass rush here without Khil Mack there? Obviously, I know Tui Palotu is obviously a standout name right there, but who else will the Chargers defense be relying on this week? Yeah, they have a veteran that’s also in that edge room by the name of Bud Dri who has been around this league for quite a while. I think we’re we’re talking about almost as long as Kilo Mack there with 10 years in the league. And for him, you know, he put together a solid season last year providing, I think, five sacks as a rotational third edge rusher. So, he’s factored to get a lot more snaps. And also, they’ve had an undrafted free agent by the name of Caleb Murphy, who has made the squad, who had a great preseason, was getting all kinds of pressure. He’s actually been starting over their fourth round pick, Kyle Canard, who has been a healthy scratch the first two games of the season. So, you’re probably going to see a lot of Bud Dupri. They also did work out a couple of guys, including Clean Ferrell, um, today to try to provide some kind of injection. Like, no one is going to be able to replace Khalil Mack. I mean, he has a presence that only he can provide. And so, it’s going to have to be a team group effort, but you’re going to see Bud Dupri, you’re going to see Caleb Murphy along in that rotation with Tuli, Tui Palotu. Well, yeah. And I and one thing I’d say is the way that I’ve watched the film on the Chargers defense here so far through two weeks. They’re perfectly comfortable with playing zone defense. I think they have their safeties that they break on the ball relatively well. I mean, we saw that against Gino Smith on Monday Night Football. So, that’ll be something here to watch out for Bon Knicks and the Broncos. Uh, the the obviously the biggest story here for this Broncos team, they’re coming off of a heartbreaking loss last Sunday on the road against the Indianapolis Colts where the defense unfortunately after looking like one of the best units in week one. Week two, they looked like one of the worst. They surrendered over 473 yards of offense to Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts who exploited them across the middle of the field and isolated some matchups against their linebackers. But nothing more heartbreaking than losing on a last second field goal after the offense and Bo Knicks put up 28 points on the road. That should be enough for you to win games. So the defense suffered a massive letdown. And this week they’ve been talking about how that’s not the standard that they’ve set for themselves. They know what type of defense they can be. Certainly we’ve all seen it, but they didn’t feel like they lived up to it last week against the Colts. And that’s going to be a big test this week because Justin Herbert and this Chargers team, they’re on fire right now. So uh that’s where uh you know both questions, you know, kind of come at a headon here. between these two teams. So, yeah, for me, I guess the question I have is Jonathan Taylor had a just massive game against the Broncos defense. Do you think that is more of a product of Jonathan Taylor just being one of the best offensive football players in the league or if it’s something with the the the defense of the Broncos that they have to get corrected? I say it’s a combination of both. Jonathan Taylor is a terrific player, right? But the Broncos have been exploited a little bit at the inside linebacker position because Denver, they played a lot of man blitz. You know, they 52.6% of Daniel Jones drop backs that he had on Sunday, the Broncos set man blitz where they’re playing man coverage. They’re sending either one or two additional guys to try to get after him and it didn’t get home because he’s getting the ball out of his hands quickly. And if anyone could get the ball out of their hands quickly, this is what worries me this week, it’s Justin Herbert. That’s exactly what he did last year when they faced the Broncos on Thursday Night Football. they adjusted in the second half to what Denver was doing and it didn’t lead to success for them. Obviously, we we remember that. I mean, the Chargers swept Denver last year. So, that is definitely part of the story here this week. And, uh, injuries right now kind of piling up right here. Alex Singleton is good to go. He’ll likely start here once again this week. But, Justin Stern, who started next to Singleton for the first two games of the season with Dre Green Law being out, he uh was a non-participant in Wednesday’s practice. So, we’re going to keep an eye on him throughout the week. We were hoping that maybe Dre Green Line was going to make his debut here, but it’s not looking like that’s going to be the case this Sunday. It would have been a great game though to have him ready. It’s not looking like it though. Man, that’s got to be so frustrating for the Bronco fans out there who, you know, was very excited about this guy bringing in who a guy who has kind of a physical nature and a presence about him that you want to have in the middle of a defense that was already one of the league’s best. But, you know, for another storyline for the Chargers, I I think that’s just a caveat or a piggyback off of the initial one is, okay, now that Kamak is out, can the Chargers find a way to manufacture some pass rush without him? Because Bo Nick Hicks didn’t get sacked a single time last week. You know, he he was pretty comfortable. He was able to kind of maneuver and, you know, he had a much better bounceback game than week one. In week two, he was getting in the end zone and making some good quality throws. So, the Chargers are going to have to figure out how much do I deploy Derwin James as that kind of Swiss Army knife chess piece, a guy who can really get after the quarterback um as a kind of slot corner/safety, a guy that they love to have close to the line of scrimmage. I think you’re going to have to look out for that. And also, it’s going to have to be schematically because, you know, you just don’t have the the allars in that edge group to depend on them to be getting pressure on their own. They’re going to have to play some games and they’re going to have to manufacture some pressure against this Denver offensive line that sports some pretty good players. Yeah, and I know we’ll break it down in terms of matchups and things like that later on as the show goes about, but this is a great game for the Broncos to try to come out and establish the run here against the Chargers. They got it going last week with JK Dobbins, former Chargers running back. So, uh maybe a little chip on JK’s shoulder after the team decided to bring in Naji Harris and draft Omar and Hampton and not look at bringing him back. So, I’m sure that this is going to be a big game for JK coming into it initially, but you know, that’s going to factor into I think some of the key matchups that we’re going to talk about here as well. And can the Broncos find a way to neutralize the threat that is Lad McConi? That is one of the major questions we have as we look at key matchups and more here on today’s crossover Thursday. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more IHS Top Safety Pick Plus awards than anyone else. From footwork to breath work, athletes sweat all the details. Mazda brings this same intention to how we craft every model. 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If you’re not yet an everyday dare, become one. Subscriber, follow wherever you get your podcast or on YouTube here. David, let’s get into some key matchups here as well. Kind of teased it a little bit. We were talking about Lad Mcconi. Now, I I don’t know if you saw the AFC West crossover preview that we had ultimately with all four hosts inside the division, but I went on the record and this might have caused some controversy from Broncos fans, but I was saying I was not happy with what the Chargers did around Justin Herbert last year. I didn’t think they had much besides Vlad Maki, and certainly that was the case. Watching them through two weeks of play, it’s clear that there are more playmakers around Justin Herbert right now than there were last year, which is kind of scary because we thought about it this way. They added Naji Harris. They added Omar and Hampton. We thought, okay, with Harbust, how he loves to run the football, this is going to be a running team. We haven’t seen them run the football much. What has happened? What who has evolved as these playmakers besides Lad McConi here for Justin Herbert early on in the season? Yeah, I think it’s twofold. But I I think first and foremost, it’s the play calling with the offensive coordinator. Uh with Greg Roman, he visited Justin Herbert in the offseason and basically said, “Hey, this is your offense. You have the green light to run whenever you need to run. Go for it.” Like, you’re comfortable now. You know what you need to do. Obviously, Justin Herbert, like, you know, Bo Nicks, has had to cycle through different offensive coordinators. There’s been a lot of inconsistency in that room. So, it’s been hard to be able to find that rhythm, get to be able to get to that next level, that 2.0. no class of being able to operate the offense. Now, Justin Herbert is there. And also, Justin Herbert couldn’t run last year. He couldn’t run at all. He had the planer fascia injury going into the season, then had two high ankle sprains on both ankles throughout the season. So, you had to slim down the playbook to protect your quarterback to keep him on the football field. That’s not the problem anymore. So, now Justin Herbert’s healthy. He has the weapons. And believe it or not, it’s not Keenan Allen. It’s not Lad Mcconi. that’s leading this Chargers team in receiving. It’s Quinton Johnston, the guy that everybody rode off. He has eight catches for 150 yards and three touchdowns in his first two games, Cody, which is he’s the first Charger to do that since a guy named Antonio Gates in 2014. So, that’s obviously going to be the big matchup, the Chargers, wide receivers against the best set of corners they are going to probably play against this season. I imagine that Denver will probably deploy some dime personnel here in this game because as you mentioned, you’ve got Lad McConi in the slot. You’ve got Keenan Allen who can move all over. You have Quinton Johnston who yes, he’s got that he looks like he’s got that confidence. He’s taken that leap after all the criticism of the drops and everything like that. Uh and then you also have Trey Harris as well who they drafted. That’s another name that I’ve noticed here that’s just been another addition. Tyler Conklin at tight end here. I mean, this is going to be I think the Broncos secondary against this wide receiving core definitely going to be a defining factor, but I wanted to talk to you about the run game here because we haven’t seen the run game take off necessarily with Naji Harris with obviously Omary and Hampton. What’s been the story here? Because I imagine we’re going to look at those two guys against the Broncos inside linebackers this week. Alex Singleton, whoever may start next to him, if it’s Sternard, or if Green Law somehow is suddenly ready to go in this game, or it’s a Lavel Bailey, an undrafted guy who’s a secondyear player, and this defensive line that contains Nick Bonito, Zack Allen, John Franklin Meyers, and DJ Jones. It’s going to be a fun one right here. If the Broncos can control the trenches, this really will come down to the secondary versus the pass catchers. Absolutely, it will be. But as far as the running running game is concerned, it’s really been Omarian Hampton that’s been the starter at least to start the season because Naji Harris had that eye injury on the 4th of July where he had that super superficial eye injury. Missed a lot of training camp. Really only got to ramp things up towards the very end. And so by that time, you know, couldn’t really put him in line to be the guy who gets the lion share of the carries because he had to make sure that he had his wind about him, that he was in football shape and he was ready to go out there and perform at a high level. I think what we saw in the Raiders game is, you know, Omaran Hampton making a couple of mistakes. You know, he made a mistake in the in the first game where he didn’t go out of bounds and coach Harbaugh took some blame for that, but that’s just a veteran coach doing that. We all know that you got to stay in bounds there. You got to keep the clock running. you can’t give Patrick Mahomes any time at all because that guy has proven that he can score in 13 seconds. So that’s something you’re going to learn. And then in the second game he fumbled. And so when with that I think in this game Cody you’re going to see a higher dosage of Naji Harris. A guy that is very very sure-handed. He only has six fumbles in his NFL career spanning across four seasons. He’s very very reliable. I think they need to establish the run a little bit more. They’ve been great with play action, but if they really want to be able to take advantage of a weakness with the the Denver Broncos defense, it has to be with running the football and attacking those linebackers. That matchup is going to be one of those that decides this football game. As far as the Broncos and one of the other matchups, what is something that you think that you know is going to have an impact on this game? Well, I think Nick Bonito against Joe Alt, right? I think that’s going to be a premier popcorn ready. We have to look at any match up here that we feel like, hey, this is the one that everyone needs to watch. I think it’s Nick Bonito against Joe Al. And obviously, I think Alt has done a tremendous job filling in for Rashawn Slater after they had the injury to him. That was obviously a little bit of soul sucking there for the Chargers in terms of they just extended him and then he has the injury. That’s tough. But Alt, I think, is just a technician. You know, when you watch him on tape and then you look at Nick Bonito right now coming into this matchup, he leads the NFL in pressures, which is scary considering just even the rate hit the first game against Tennessee, he had nine total pressures on Cam Ward. He had five of those pressures in under 2.5 seconds. And then he added, I think four more pressures this past week under 2.5 against Daniel Jones. So you see that Bonito himself has more pressures than I think five or six different NFL teams right now through two weeks of play. That matchup right here is going to be a test because Bonito, he has the the quick first step, but he’s got this freakish bend to him and he’s got this next level speed and gear. So for Alt, who’s a true technician, I’m curious to see how this matchup goes between these two guys. Oh, it’s definitely going to be appointment television for sure. You’re going to have to get your popcorn ready for Joe Alt. It has been straight up dominance through two games. We’re talking 79 pass blocking snaps, one pressure allowed in two games. He is a freak of nature. 6’8, extremely long arms, and for a guy that tall, he has an uncanning ability to be the low man. He’s just so technically sound. So, he’s a guy that’s going to be a big big test to go up against. They Max Crosby intentionally stayed away from Jo because Joalt just is a brick wall. That guy is unbelievable. I mean, he was the fifth overall pick for a reason, Cody. It’s because the guy is the real deal. For him to have to switch to right tackle and then switch back to left tackle here with very little notice and go out there and perform at the level that he has is truly incredible. I think another matchup that is going to be interesting for me to watch is Bo Knicks and his rushing ability against these Chargers corners because the Chargers corners did a great job of open field tackling and with Bo Nicks, he is a threat on the ground. He is a guy that will absolutely run for a first down, extend the drives. You have to try to try to contain that as much as possible. So, I’m going to be looking at Tarheep still. I’m going to be looking at Dante Jackson. I’m going to be looking at these guys that have to keep contained and keep their eyes on Bo Knicks because he’s absolutely a threat with his legs. Yeah, I mean he certainly can be. Last week he had an 18 yard scramble against the Colts catching him in the right situation. But we haven’t seen, you know, Bo, I think, playing more within the pocket this year than we saw last year as a rookie. You know, last year he suffered three transverse process fractures in his back against the the Raiders. Played the rest of the season with it. So, they reduced his rushing ability or the design runs there. I don’t know if Sean’s going to have any design runs in the bag here for Bo, but definitely something worth monitoring here. I, you know, kind of tying it into the run game here. JK Dobbins obviously got things going for the Broncos last week in the run game. Obviously, the offensive line for Denver getting comfortable and and obviously getting more comfortable with the new outside zone scheme that they’ve implemented. So, now they’re doing a little bit of both. They they have gap scheme stuff that they can do, inside zone that they’ll run, outside zone concepts that they’ve now added in the offseason here. But my question is obviously not having Khil Mack, that’s certainly a factor. And I know Perryman is definitely out as well. He’s on IR, but what about Diane Henley, right? I I watch film and I I I look at number zero and he’s one guy I’m like, “All right, this is going to be a matchup. JK versus maybe his former teammate here. How are we going to see this one play out?” Don Henley is is a a linebacker that was built in a lab. I mean, he can literally do it all. I mean, we have seen it through the first two weeks, especially against the Raiders, where he came down with an illness. He had a temperature over 100, and he was really, really hurting going into this game. But he’s a captain of this defense, uh, a captain of this football team, and he sucked it up. He went out there and he played his heart out for his team. Had an incredible game. He had 10 tackles, he had a sack, had an interception, had a couple of passes defensed. He was all over the field. He’s one of those rare linebackers that is not just a guy that excels in run support. He can actually go out there and cover these running backs, cover these tight ends, and him paired with Derwin James have really formulated a very effective tandem against tight ends. They do a great job neutralizing them, and they held Brock Bowers to under 40 yards receiving. Brock Bowers is unquestionably one of the best tight ends in the National Football League. He can do it all. So, if the Chargers can do that and limit that guy, then they can go out there and they can put the clamps on pretty much any tight end in the league. And obviously, they have a pretty good one that they’re going to have to go up against with Evan Ingram in this game against the Broncos. Well, one thing we are going to keep our eyes on here on today’s Crossover Thursday episode is what each team needs to do in order to win. And for the Broncos and for the Chargers, a win for either of these teams makes it one step for them to get a little bit higher up on maintaining a division lead over the currently winless Kansas City Chiefs. We can all celebrate that here on today’s Crossover Thursday. We’ll break down what each team must do to win here on today’s show. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. Five energy shots deliver tasty caffeine and 17 bold flavors. Each 2 oz shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12 ounce cup of coffee, plus B vitamins and nutrients with zero sugar and zero crashes. What I love most is how portable they are. Big taste, tiny shot, and you can take it anywhere and get that boost when you need it. I always reach for my favorite flavor, Transfusion, because it’s refreshing and gives me that quick lift before I hit the golf course. I also can’t wait to try out the new options that five-hour energy is bringing out for the holiday season, like pumpkin spice and gingerbread snap. 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We’re going to get into what each team needs to do in order to come out on top in Sunday’s AFC West Divisional Showdown with a victory here. David, let’s start off with you. If you’re looking at this Los Angeles Chargers team who’s off to a 2 and 0 start, really good vibes from them overall. Short week though, which is always a challenge. Some injuries being banged up just a tiny bit. What is it that the Charters must do in order to beat the Broncos to go to three and 0, not only in the division, but also just at the start of the season? That momentum right there could be very, very valuable down the stretch when it matters when you talk about tiebreers. Absolutely. This is a huge game. I’ve always said that these division games count as two. And if the Chargers want to improve to three and 0, the first thing they have to do is win the turnover battle. The Chargers have either won or tied the turnover battle so far through two games. And forcing an interception from a guy who has three interceptions on the season in Bo Knicks through two games is something that the Chargers must absolutely do. They did a good job of that against Gino Smith, picking him off three times, making things very, very difficult. keeping that blanket coverage and not letting the quarterback go out there and throw it deep and have to be very disciplined to take what the defense gives you. And that’s very difficult to do for four quarters. So, if the Chargers can turn the ball over and get Bicks to be able to give them another opportunity to score, they might need it against one of the better defenses in the league. Okay. And so, I think on the flip side there too for Denver offensively, you look, the Chargers, they play a lot of zone. Their safeties do a good job of disguising it. They like their athleticism at their linebacker position. You know, I the Broncos have faced a lot of zone so far through the first two weeks of the season. Now, it’ll be the third week. Now, certain looks they’ll get man here, but one thing I I’ve noticed is locate where Gil where Gilman is. Where is he? Where is he hiding? Because this is a guy who breaks on the football quickly. If you sail a pass, he’s going to be in the right spot there. This is one thing that I’m keen for this game because the Broncos offensively, they have concepts with Troy Franklin, with Courtland Sutton and when they’re facing zone defenses, they have guys running clear out routes to help try to free somebody up. Aloh is a guy that I think that you always have to kind of pay attention to where he’s at because he could force you to turn the football over here. So, for me, for Bo Knicks, it’s playing clean football. Last week, he did just that. He over 73% completion percentage, attacked the ball downfield, and had really good ball placement. His only interception of the week last week came on a tip pass by a defender because he had to alter his arm trajectory. The ball sailed on a pass intended for Sutton and ended up being picked by Binham of the Indianapolis Colts. So, it’s avoiding those turnovers. But Bo and the offense last week, they were in charge on the road and unfortunately they just they couldn’t sustain late there. They had a couple of key penalties that backed them up and then they had a missed field goal. So, don’t turn the football over in in opportune, you know, situations. Week one, you had the two turnovers there, but your defense was able to be as good as it was. That helped negate a negative performance by the offense. And then week two, Broncos’s offense had a great performance there. And then the defense had a disasterly performance. So, can you marry those two together? I think that’s going to be a big key here. I want to ask you as well, if you’re Justin Herbert and this Chargers team trying to figure out how to keep this momentum going, what is the key here against this Denver defense? I think what they have to do in this game that they haven’t done through the first two games very effectively is run the football and they need to be a little bit more committed to it. I think to start the game against the Raiders, they threw it like eight or nine straight times. And it took them a while and to be able to get into that rhythm of being able to run the ball. And hey, I get it. It’s hard to be able to take the ball out of Justin Herbert’s hands, especially the way he’s been playing to start the season. Five touchdowns, zero interceptions, is third in the league in passing yards. He has absolutely been one of the best players in the National Football League to start the season. So, I get it. But you have to have balance. And if you want to be able to utilize one of those biggest weapons that Greg Roman has shown a propensity to use in the play action to do that at its most effective, you have to be able to rip off some more effective runs. So, I’m looking at the offensive line who all of them have a run blocking grade according to PFF of 60 or under. And that’s something that has to improve. They have to get better. Open up these holes for Amayan Hampton and Naji Harris so they can take advantage of some of those vulnerabilities in the middle of that defense of the Broncos. They got to run the football if they want to win this football game. They also have to win on third down, Cody. It’s something that is massive for both of these teams, but Chargers defense been pretty good at it. You know, they’ve ranked 20th in the NFL for allowing opponents to convert at 43.8, which is great. But on offense, they were only four of 11 against the Raiders, and that’s just not good enough. You have to be able to stay on the field and convert your third downs. You have to be able to do that if you want to win this game. For the Broncos, I guess, what would you say is one of the things that you guys have to do to beat this very good Chargers football team? It it goes down to what hurt them last week. It’s first down efficiency. The Broncos last week on first down allowed an average of 9.8 yards per play. And that kind of creates a death by a thousand paper cuts and and they couldn’t figure out where to stop the bleeding. And I think that’s going to be a big key against this Chargers team because I mean even last year when Denver faced LA the the money down was third down. Justin Herbert was so effective on third down against Denver. Whereas this year I think the Broncos biggest issue so far is allowing big plays on first down. That was a trend that happened really after they lost Riley Moss to an injury, you know, after they played the the Raiders. I think it was week 12 of last year. They started giving up big plays after big plays and a lot of that came on first down. So that’s kind of been an issue dating back to last season. First down efficiency is going to be key here. But it’s also going to be have to be balance here from Vance Joseph, right? Because if you’re deploying a man blitz scheme where you’re playing, you’re locking up and you’re saying, “Hey, we’re going to cover these guys manto man. We’re going to send one or two extra defenders and we’re hoping our pressure is going to get there.” You put your defense in a tough spot. Now granted, the Broncos believe they have the guys that can cover in man coverage effectively, and certainly I agree with that. They do. But if you are getting these different route concepts that are running your corners downfield constantly, and then all of a sudden now you have to bite up a little bit, your defense is tired, your secondary is tired, and that’s where it’s like you have to find balance if you’re Vance Joseph because I’ve seen how the Chargers have played this year against zone coverage. They’re very patient. They have different clear out routes and they end up finding Lad Makanki on a crosser all the way across the field there because they have a route that causes the corner to to run off on the opposite side of the field and they bring Lad all the way across. That’s going to be something they’re going to have to counteract in this game. So, can you balance your man and your zone looks here effectively? Can you disguise your coverage? You going to deploy some more dime looks this week, especially with all the the playmakers that this team has. It’s about finding that flexibility. And uh if the Broncos have a new inside linebacker this week, if Stern or Greenlock can’t play, it could be second-year linebacker Lavel Bailey who doesn’t have a lot of NFL experience right now. So, this is definitely if you’re the Charters, they’re probably keying the linebacker position this week, saying, “Hey, this is where we’re going to attack. Not so much the safeties and the corners yet, but if you attack those middle linebackers, then it changes how those safeties and corners play.” That’s going to be a huge key for this Broncos defense this week against this Carter le offense by Justin Herbert. And you brought up Lad Mani, which I’m I’m glad that you did, but I think a guy who has really been one of the biggest agitators that has returned is Keenan Allen. And and I think the reason for that is it is really a pick your poison situation with Keenan and Lad because they are both route technicians. They both are able to get open very very quickly and they have very strong hands and good established chemistry with Justin Herbert. And when you put them both on the same side, it is a nightmare for defenses to have to defend and is something that absolutely could affect the outcome of this game. How effectively the Broncos are able to cover Keenan Allen and Lab Makoni on third down in particular is something that’s going to be very very important. But also my last thing here, and we’ll I’ll wrap up with this. The Chargers have to be more efficient in the red zone. One for three, scoring touchdowns is not good enough against a defense like the Broncos. When you get in the red zone, you have to turn that into touchdowns because you don’t know how many opportunities you’re going to get. When you get to that gold zone, that red zone, you got to make it count. And that’s one of the biggest strengths of the Broncos. Even though they gave up 473 last week in terms of yards, they held up when the the Colts got into the red zone there and they limited their production there. Forced them to settle for field goals, the chunk plays ended up getting them later on. But yeah, the red zone defense for Denver so far is pretty stout this season. This going to be a big game. I mean, like once I like like we said at the beginning of the show for the the fight for the top of the AFC West, it’s very crucial right now because the Broncos and Chargers are in a position they haven’t been over Kansas City. Granted, it’s early on in the year, but with them winless and we’re all praying for Russell Wilson this week that to lead the Giants to another vic to a victory against the Chiefs to make them to go 0 and three on the year. Oh, yeah. But you have a chance to separate yourself a little bit from the Chiefs. You put them in a tough position that they honestly haven’t been in since Patrick Mahomes has taken over as the quarterback there of that franchise. 2:25 p.m. Mountain time kickoff is obviously going to be a fun one here between two AFC West rivals. Thank you so much to all the listeners of Locked on Chargers, locked on Broncos for making us part of your day here on Crossover Thursday. We’ll have you covered tomorrow for our final game previews here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Broncos vs. Chargers: AFC West Showdown Looms Large

Los Angeles Chargers face crucial test against the Denver Broncos in high-stakes divisional clash. Injury concerns plague both squads, with Khalil Mack’s absence reshaping the Chargers’ defensive strategy. Justin Herbert’s improved mobility adds new dimension to LA’s offense, while Bo Nix aims to master Broncos’ passing game. Key matchups include Nick Bonito vs. Joe Alt on the line and Keenan Allen challenging Denver’s secondary. Will LA’s red zone efficiency improve? Can Denver’s defense contain Herbert’s dual-threat capabilities? Tune in for expert analysis on this pivotal AFC West battle and its potential impact on the division race.

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