The Broncos are FOR REAL | Could this be their Year? 🏆

The Broncos are FOR REAL | Could this be their Year? 🏆

Oh, those Denver Broncos sitting there at nine and two. They literally get to sit there this week. They are They’re on a buy, sitting at the top of the AFC. This is a team that continues to win games late. And the offense isn’t great. Quarters one, two, three, but every time they’ve had the ball with a chance to take the lead late, they’ve done it and they’ve won these games. Are the Denver Broncos a Super Bowl contender? Absolutely. The Denver Broncos are a Super Bowl contender and it’s because of what you said at the Let me stop that. That’s a stupid ass question for me to ask. Clearly, they’re a Super Bowl. The Denver Broncos. Let’s start it over. No. Well, here’s the issue. What? Here’s the issue. People have questions about Bo Knicks, right? And that’s why people So, you don’t think that was a stupid question? I don’t think it was a stupid question, dude. They got one of the most dominant record setting defensive fronts in football. And if you take a look at the Super Bowls over the course of the last few years, just like we were talking about rushing four earlier and how teams can change the dynamic of a football game if you can win with four guys, the Broncos can win with four guys and they’ve got great guys on the back end. And oh yeah, Shawn Peyton, he’s been to the top of the mountain before. And that point you made about five comeback wins in the fourth quarter, it means something to me, damn it, because I watch the Chicago Bears every single week and they find a way to win and I think they’re a good team. I would say this Broncos team is a step above defensively. OB, maybe a couple steps above, but Bo Nicks, if he’s not perfect during the game, but he comes back in the fourth quarter and finds a way to get the ball down the field and put his team in position to win, that’s all it takes, man. That’s all it takes. But are they equipped to say it’s January and you’re playing a team like Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills and you know that they can put up, maybe not against the Denver defense, but they can score 30. Do you have faith that this Denver offense is going to win? Yeah. I mean, I don’t see them having a a shootout with any of these teams being able to go and have a 42 to 40 win. But I do wholeheartedly believe that they can hold any offense to under 20 points if if that right mentality takes the field with those guys from the Denver Broncos. That’s why they’re a special group. That’s why the Philadelphia Phil Philadelphia Eagles were crowned Super Bowl champions last year because of a dominant front. And that’s what the Broncos have. And you can’t convince me of anything else. Because as an offensive lineman, I’ll tell you the people that can ruin your picnic plans really quick are those guys that are at the line of scrimmage and the Broncos have that. Yeah. I’m just thinking to these these classic AFC playoff games of the last five plus years and it’s it’s the Chiefs, it’s the Bills, it’s the Ravens, it’s it’s been a few years, but the Bengals, it just seems like it’s like the team that has the ball last is going to win. Could these playoffs be different because of the position the Broncos are in and potentially teams will have to go through Denver all the way to the Super Bowl? I feel like it’s going to be one of these black and blue threequarters of football um type games where it may be ugly. It may be 10 to 13, but then in the final seven, eight minutes of these games, we could see some quick scoring because that’s where thinking goes out the window, reacting happens. And Bo Knicks has shown me that he can do it. I know he he hasn’t been putting together complete games of football. People have been saying a lot of stuff about him. I mean, it’s kind of reminiscent of that Eagles team, right, where um there’s questions about the offense. The defense is fantastic. Very similar. Um the coaches are proven winners at this point. It just comes down to we’re experiencing this Bo Nick experiment. We will be seeing it for the first time in real time this season in meaningful football. So, that’s really all that’s left to happen. We have to watch this Broncos team go and do it. I know the defense will show up. I’ve seen them against the Kansas City Chiefs, frustrating that group. They can do it to anybody. Let’s go back pre Patatrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow era to 2015. I was a young buck in 2015 in the league playing for the Bears. I was doing all right. Uh this Denver Broncos team. Yeah, they did a little bit better than you. Yeah, they had Pton Manning at quarterback, but it was it was a shell of of Pton Manning. I mean, you he had his mind, but he didn’t have much of an arm. And they won with defense. They won the Super Bowl with that defense. How how does this defense and this Broncos team compare to that one 10 years ago? Well, they’re going to be playing a smart, low-risk brand of football offensively, not turning the football over, and then they’re just going to strangle the hell out of offenses uh with their defense. And I think that’s where the similarity is. I mean, obviously, you’re talking about polar opposites with a 42-year-old Peyton Manning and a 26-y old Bo Knicks, but the defense is still the identity. That’s the MO for these football teams that we’re talking about, and I think the Broncos have that. What kind of a step can that defense take when Patrick Certan comes back into the fold? Well, they can start to get a little bit more aggressive up front, you know, if they want to. I talked about winning with four, but if they want to add more numbers, they can do that because PS2 is going to have that alleyway of the sideline shut down behind them. They can get creative on the back end. And I fully anticipate that happening with Vance Joseph’s defense. Okay. But when you look at this division, I mean, there’s there’s a potential ability to get comfortable if you’re Denver. I know they’re fighting for the number one seed, but you have a three and a half game cushion on the Chiefs. The Chargers are the team closest to you and and they feel like they’re taking a step back with theirs issues after that wearing out from the the Jaguars this week. So, how does this team continue to challenge itself even if they may clinch this division title with a few weeks to go? Well, when the Denver Broncos walked into the AFC West Kingdom, it was littered and, you know, the walls were covered with red and yellow. It’s the Kansas City Chiefs division. It has been that way for nine years. And and how do you take over power and and overthrow uh you know, the dictator? You kill everybody. You leave no survivors. And you said they’re going to take their foot off the pedal. I would argue that Shawn Peyton understands this. I didn’t say they would. I think that Shawn Peyton is like, “Guys, we’re not out of here until every flag is off the wall, until everybody has been removed from this kingdom.” Because that’s what the AFC West has been. It’s been Patrick’s reign for a very long time. And if they want to do this thing, they got to do it the right way and they have to exterminate everybody. What’s the Shawn Payeyton angle of this Super Bowlinning head coach? He’s been a quarterback whisperer. How big of a factor can he be going down the stretch knowing that he is has the brain that he does and the offensive prowess and all that, but also the history of being there and doing that. I just think the confidence that a guy like Shawn Payeyton can give a young quarterback like Bo Nicks is priceless. And I’ve had coaches in the past that haven’t really instilled confidence in me. And then I’ve had coaches that make you feel like you’re 8 feet tall. And I feel like with Shawn Peyton, his number one trait and skill set is to be able to make his quarterback feel eight feet tall. And it’s funny because Drew Brees was the quarterback in New Orleans. He’s definitely not 8 feet tall, and neither is Bo Knicks. But when the rubber meets the road and these games start to matter, it’s going to come down to which quarterback is confident, which quarterback has a great game plan, and which defense gets after the opposing quarterback. I trust Shawn Peyton. I trust that defense. We’re gonna find out about Bo Knicks. It’s easy to just say the offense could be their downfall, but if you just pick one specific thing that you might be worried about down the stretch that could keep them from getting out of the AFC and going to the Super Bowl, what would that be? Turnovers. Turning the football over. Bo Nicks getting a little bit too aggressive. Feeling the things that we’re talking about. Uh, it’s a it’s a balance at the quarterback position between being aggressive and being a little bit stupid. And I’m not saying Bick is stupid, but there were things I did as an offensive lineman that I calculated as aggressive but necessary and they didn’t work out. As a quarterback, you’re under a different microscope if you make those aggressive mistakes. So, just play the game that the Broncos have played. Little trench warfare style. Keep it low scoring. You don’t have to go reinvent the wheel at quarterback and let your team win the football game. That’s Kyle Long on the Denver Broncos Super Bowl contenders.

Kyle Long joins CBS Sports HQ to discuss if the Denver Broncos are actually good enough to win the Super Bowl.

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