
Why Denver Broncos Fans Should BELIEVE Super Bowl Hype in 2026
About this episode
The Denver Broncos have an ascending offense, an elite defense, and a fantastic coaching staff. They've given fans every reason to believe the Super Bowl hype entering the 2026 season.
Sayre Bedinger takes a look at reasons he's confident in the Broncos' offense, defense, and their standing in the AFC West this season.
Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and provides boots-on-the-ground coverage of the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Together, both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos.
📸 - Ron Chenoy — Imagn Images
WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?
For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today --
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-broncos/
Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, & More
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nfl/
📲 Cody Roark Twitter / (https://twitter.com/codyroarknfl)
📲 Cody Roark Instagram / (https://instagram.com/codyroarknfl)
📲 Sayre Bedinger Twitter / (https://twitter.com/sayrebedinger)
Everydayer Club
If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get access to ad-free audio version of Locked On Broncos, All-22 Film Breakdown, and access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans.
📲 https://lockedonbroncos.supercast.com/
TEXT LINE: Support the show and interact with us on Denver Broncos rumors, News, Game Previews, Q&A's, and more.
📲 TEXT: (720) 580-5759
📢 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
PrizePicks
Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup!
KALSHI
For a limited time,Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10.
Gametime
Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.
FanDuel
College football Saturdays are already packed with reasons to get excited, and this season, FanDuel is giving fans even more ways to get in on every matchup. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Get every episode summarized
Each time Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
Transcript ready
483 searchable segments. Every word is indexed and playable.
Full transcript
Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos — Why Denver Broncos Fans Should BELIEVE Super Bowl Hype in 2026. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. I have never been more confident in the Denver Broncos than I am entering the 2026 season. You are Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos Podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The 2026 NFL season is finally upon us and for Broncos country, confidence should honestly be through the roof. My name is Sarah Bedinger. Welcome to a brand new episode of Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by CalShi for a limited time. Download the CalShi app and use code Lockdown to get $10 when you trade $10. We are going to talk about why I am confident in the Broncos standing in the AFC West. We are going to talk about some individual reasons and some group reasons why I am confident in the defense.
But we are going to start off why I am confident in this Broncos offense. How could you be confident in this offense? They were so inconsistent last year. Way too many three in outs, way too many question marks up and down the roster in terms of young players, unlike boxing giants or anything that they cannot be recognized as another setting. Could you challenge other go because of the past? Henry Legacy wow1% is?? What is this game going to lead into our fewer places? This is what I am concerned with. Jennifer sí måste Ronaldo hoe2% is a brand new offence play color in Davis, being one of potentially the top 10 units in the offense this year. And it's those explosive plays. We saw a concerted effort from Davis, we have throughout the preseason to push the ball down field. Now that's been a major critique for quarterback, Bohnix has in it. So while he doesn't throw the ball down the field very well, while he never throws the ball down the field.
Well, we know that's not true because he led the league last year and touchdown passes of 20 plus yards. However, I think the argument that there is to be made is that Bohnix, is, you know, he's had to adjust in terms of the running game, not being existent for him, right? I mean, obviously the Broncos have not been very good or consistent in terms of running the ball, especially last season after JK Dobbins went down with the injury. So to compensate for that, you really have to have a quick passing game that can help you adjust and get some drives going or get you some chunk yardage. It's not in my opinion that Bohnix is bad at throwing the ball down field. I don't think that's the case. I think we've seen plenty of evidence to the contrary, but I do think he has to be more consistent with ball placement to all levels of the field, right? And when it comes to pushing the ball down field more often, it's not just about those explosive plays. It's about those bigger chunk plays being able to hit from 10 to 20 yards,
just as well as you can hit 40, 50 yards down the field because Bohnix will test defenses deep. He is not afraid to throw down the field. The question is, can the Broncos find more of a consistency when it comes to those 10 to 20 yard plays? That's a big reason why Jalen Waddle was brought into this team. And he's another reason why I'm so confident in this offense, taking that next step because Jalen Waddle's explosiveness, it really creates offense for everybody else when he's on the field, even in just two clips that we saw against the Green Bay Packers in the preseason, we saw on one clip just the threat that Waddle is to all levels of the field. He created separation with relative ease on the opportunity that he got from Bohnix, the one target that he had in that game. Another one of the plays that he was on the field for, he drew the attention of multiple Packers defenders, freeing up space for his teammates. And I think that's what he's going to do all year. The threat that he is in terms of his vertical speed,
it forces defenses to circle him before every play and say, Hey, we got to know where, where number 17 is before every single play. We've got to make sure that we have him highlighted. We got to make sure that we put our top corner on him or our fastest corner on him. What does that do? That gives courtly Sutton great opportunities. It gives Pat Bryant great opportunities. It keeps those boxes from being overloaded for JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey and Jonah Coleman. And we'll see how the Broncos involved their running backs. But honestly, the running backs are another reason why I'm so confident in this offense, taking the next step because those three guys all have such unique skill sets and what they bring to the table. Obviously, JK Dobbins kind of feels like your quote unquote bell cow back. Now that doesn't mean he's going to be carrying the ball 20, 25 times a game. But he has that style about him, right? Where he's capable of grinding out those tough yards. He's capable of breaking off the 10 plus yard runs with consistency. He's capable of finishing off drives for you. He's capable of starting drives for you.
The difference between JK and RJ Harvey and Jonah Coleman, other than the fact that Jonah's a rookie, RJ is that receiving pass catching weapon out of the back field. We saw that highlighted as well against the green Bay Packers in the preseason. RJ is such a weapon and a dynamic one when it comes to his abilities in the passing game. He has a sort of feel for running routes out of the back field that makes him almost an additional wide receiver on this team because he has such a great idea of creating separation, timing. He's got late hands like we saw on that wheel route that he ran against green Bay. And he does a really good job of settling down against zone coverage to create and give himself opportunities to make plays after the catch. The biggest play in that Buffalo Bill's playoff game after J. Juan Macmillan's interception was a play that RJ Harvey made to break some tackles and get out in the open field and create space for himself to use the burst to
use the speed that he has to get up field and give the Broncos good field position to be able to get in position for that game winning field goal. So it really does have a feel of, okay, you know, it's almost like a pallet and you're choosing which color a paint you want to use for a specific game. And you can use Jonah Coleman in a variety of ways. But I think he'll be a little bit more limited at the start of things. But we know because he was held out of most of the preseason, they are going to utilize him right away. So that running back stable is a big reason why. And I'm honestly, this is the last point. And I know we haven't talked even about the offensive line. I think the offensive line is kind of a given. But the last point I want to make in terms of why I'm so confident in this offense, taking the next step this year is player progression, internal player progression. I mean, you've obviously got young guys like Pat Bryant. We already mentioned RJ Harvey. You've obviously got Troy Franklin, even Marvin Mims entering year four. But how about this veteran guys on this offense?
I think can still make big time leaps in their overall game, starting with Evan Ingram, where last year it was not a good, you know, fit, I would say for the Broncos in Evan Ingram, they just couldn't figure out how to properly utilize him every single week. He ends up playing less than even 50% of the snaps last season, which really was disheartening to say the least. But this year, it feels like the optimism is renewed. It feels like Evan was putting in the effort to become a better blocker to play more in line, which it seems the Broncos are going to do. I think those internal player development situations on an individual basis can help this unit be so much better. Evan Ingram does so much for you when it comes to making difficult contested catches. He can stretch the field. He can win after the catch. And I think all these tight ends bring a little more something than meets the eye. They just need to get them involved. I mean, when they get involved, they've been, they've been pretty solid. I mean, not at worst. But the Broncos is don't get those guys involved.
So I think we're going to see that. I think we're going to see development big time from guys like Pat Bryant, even Troy Franklin, who he hasn't been as loud this off season as Pat Bryant. But I don't think that means that he hasn't had a good camp or hasn't had a good preseason. I think the team has challenged him quite a bit over the last couple of seasons to really take those next steps in his game. And what do we know the Broncos love the most about about Troy Franklin, his abilities after the catch. So if you marry one of my earlier points with Troy Franklin's progression, the earlier point being more, more attacking down the field, not just throwing it deep, not just, hey, 40, 50 yard plays, I'm talking 10 to 20 yard plays. If Troy can be getting the ball 10 to 15 to 20 yards and then make some plays after the catch, he can create those big time explosives. I want to see the Broncos getting him more involved in that way. But internal player progression, obviously, I feel like Bo Nix, being one of those players who, if he can take those that leap in year three,
that's going to be huge for this team. But it's a lot of ifs, right, Broncos country. I mean, that's, but the confidence is there because you expect it. We've seen the gradual ascension from this unit, even though there's been some, I mean, quite frankly, there's been some growing pains along the way. You lead the league and drops over a two year period. That's tough. But they've shown us the glimpses. They've shown us the in big moments that they can do these things. And so what I'm banking on is that we're going to see more and more of that on a consistent basis and this unit taking the next step will absolutely be one of the key reasons why this team wins it all in 2026. And why I haven't ever been more confident in a Broncos team that I am in this version of the Broncos. And we got to talk about the defense as well. Obviously, the defense has been the main stay for this unit. But there's one thing that I think they're going to do differently in 2026. That's going to make them absolutely unbeatable in this upcoming season.
I'll tell you about it coming up on today's episode of the show. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Gusto, running a small business means wearing a lot of hats and payroll, HR and benefits can quickly become some of the most time consuming tasks on the list. Gusto helps simplify those responsibilities with one platform designed to make managing a team easier. Gusto is an online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all in one remote friendly and incredibly easy to use. So you can pay, you can hire on board and support your team from anywhere, from automatic payroll, tax filing and simple direct deposits to health benefits, 401ks and built in onboarding tools. Gusto brings the day to day HR tasks together in one place. There are also certified HR experts available to help with those tougher HR situations. Once a small business starts growing and hiring people, there's suddenly a lot more to manage behind the scenes, right?
It's not just paying people, it's onboarding direct deposit, taxes, benefits and all the HR details that come with having a team. Gusto puts those things together in one place, which can make that growth a whole lot easier to manage. Try Gusto today at gusto.com slash locked on NFL and get three months free. When you run your first payroll, that's three months of free payroll at gusto.com slash locked on NFL one more time, gusto.com slash locked on NFL. Today's show is also brought to you by price picks. Football is finally back and that means Sundays are about to get a whole lot more interesting. Every week brings new matchups, breakout players, big performances and plenty of story lines to follow. And if you like getting even more engaged with the players and stats you're watching, there's a new way to make game day more exciting. Price picks is bringing out its best offer yet for kick off new users who sign up can get $150 in lineups if they win their first $5 line up. And price picks is now a vision wide with price picks.
You're building daily fantasy lineups by choosing two to six players and selecting more or less on their projected stats like passing yards, rushing yards or fantasy score for week ones, opener. Sam Donald needs just one yard against the New England Patriots to cash in his pick. It doesn't get easier than that. And all throughout the course of the season, I've got my eye on, we talked about in Pat Bryant, a breakout player who could have a really big season for the Broncos. If the opportunities there, I want to see how Pat's numbers stack up week to week. And that's why I like using price picks to follow their player projection. Download the app today and use code locked on NFL to get $150 instantly in lineups. If you win your first $5 line up price picks run your game. The Denver Broncos defense has obviously been a mainstay for this team over the past couple of seasons. And even though they've been one of the top three top five units in the NFL for a two year span, I think they are going to get even better in 2026. We're going to talk about our confidence level in this
Denver Broncos defense for 2026. Starting with, I think the most important category that this team needs to change. We know this team set franchise records back to back years in SACS. What have we talked about all off season though with the Broncos? They need more takeaways. And when they get takeaways, it just increases the margin for error so much more. I think what we saw this past season is evidence of that, right? When you're not creating as many takeaways, you get in a lot of tight games. Whereas I feel like the Broncos played better than being in 11, 13, whatever it was, one score games last year. I think there were 11 and two in one score games, which to play in a one score game in the NFL on a week to week basis is not that uncommon. And frankly, not all of those games that we were talking about, one score games were really nail biters for the Broncos. Think back to their, their, I can't remember which game it was against the Raiders. If it was the first or the second game, but they dominated that game. And the Raiders kind of scored a handful of points
late in that game to make it a one score game on paper. When in reality, it doesn't fit in that category. The Raiders had no chance of winning that particular game. So the Broncos still found themselves in situations like they faced against the New York Jets in London, where it's like 10 to 9 or you know, those types of games, they found themselves in those ugly win situations a little bit too often. I think the defense can help out a lot with that. And then yes, they did a great job of getting off the field. They're one of the best situationally. Third down defense, red zone defense. We know the Broncos have been very, very good when it comes to those two categories under Vance Joseph. However, here's what I will say. I think there's some merit to the idea of this team figuring out how to more quickly get off the field, whether it's by takeaway or a few more three and outs. I felt like offenses did an okay job against Denver last year of at least moving the ball into opposing territory. But then they would get stuck, right? That's where the Broncos
red zone defense really came in handy because when teams did move the ball against this defense, they were able to get just three instead of getting seven. That's where the Broncos really set themselves up to win those one score games because instead of giving up seven points, you're giving three and how many instances did we see that throughout the season where they buckle down in the red zone and really tighten things up. And that's what I think has helped them to win those one score games. But getting more takeaways is going to give you the opportunity to extend those leads out, right? To be able to win games by two scores or more. And that's where I think there's a lot of tension right now in the media world and in the football world with the Denver Broncos is people are saying, Hey, this team, they won so many one score games last year. It must have been a fluke. Well, the Broncos can prove that it wasn't a fluke by creating more takeaways, continue to win the turnover battle, limit those penalties and prove to everybody that, Hey, we can actually go out there and we can win games by 10 or more points pretty consistently. And I think honestly,
I think the Broncos can do that. I think that's going to be one of the areas this defense is going to increase everybody's confidence level on a week to week basis is we're just going to see a barrage of turnovers from the very beginning. I also think that this secondary has yet to reach heights that we've we've yet seen, right? And this kind of goes hand in hand with the takeaways argument. And another reason why I'm so confident in this defense, I don't think we've seen the best of telenoa who found go yet. I don't think we've seen the best of Riley Moss yet. And I think we're still going to get better and better out of players who are already top tier like Patrick's or 10, the second on the outside, as well as Jake Juan Macmillan, Brandon Jones. I don't know that necessarily we've seen the best of those guys quote unquote, but I do think that when we have seen those guys at their best, obviously, Pat Sartans defense of player of the year. So he's in a category like all his own right now, right? But those other guys have played so well in Denver that I think that it's fair to say they're there may be in a little bit of a
different confidence category than who Fonga and Moss, who kind of missed on a handful of plays last year. Now, don't get me wrong. Both guys, great players, both guys, I feel very confident in their individual performance. But who Fonga, the dropped in receptions last season, we know that he's been working on the jugs machine all throughout the 2026 off season. He's ready to go out there and I think make way more plays than we had seen even a year ago when he was one of the all pro selections. Riley Moss, I feel is going to take the biggest leap of any Broncos defender this year. And maybe that's just maybe that's me just kind of manifesting it and saying, Hey, I really want Riley Moss to take that step. But I believe that he will because I believe that he has some of the best ball skills on this team. I just think we've seen him sort of with 220 plus targets coming your direction over a two year span. That's a lot of work. That's a lot of reps and that's a lot of pressure to be put on. But once Riley starts picking off a pass or two early in the season, I think teams are going
to start to realize, Hey, we can't just pick on Moss every single play we got to throw at Sir Tan. And that works in the Broncos favor. So I really believe we're going to see big time seasons out of Moss and who Fonga, specifically, this season in terms of kind of, I don't know if you want to say catching up to everybody else in that secondary, but anybody who watches the Broncos understands what I mean by that when I say Sir Tan established Macmillan established Brandon Jones went healthy established. I think who Fonga and Moss catching up to those guys in terms of that ball production. It's just going to be one of those things that, okay, you feel at advantage or in a big advantage when teams are throwing the ball against Denver. And of course, I think the biggest reason for confidence is continuity and that, especially, especially when it comes to communication, I know we saw the breakdown and the preseason, but I do believe that will serve the Broncos well over time. And once again, is that just kind of manifesting or kind of speaking something into existence, maybe in a
way, but like I've said earlier, this offseason on this podcast, what about somebody like Justin Sirnatt, who he's kind of been a starter for this team over the last two years, but has never really been a full-time guy. Like last year, it was Dre Greenlock's job. And before that, it was somebody else's. Sirnatt's always been a backup who was a replacement starter. This year, he is the starter. And we've seen what he can do to produce when he's a replacement starter. What can he do with a full-time role? We know he's a great past russure from that linebacker position. I think he's slept on. I think obviously you have other players like Inoma, Uazarek, even Malcolm Roach, who have yet to truly take that, you know, they've yet to show us their best in Adenver Broncos uniform. And look, you can say all you want. All those guys are established veterans. We know what they are at this point. We've seen Zach Allen continue to take steps forward in his career. We've continued to see somebody like DJ Jones take steps forward in his career as well. So I think those other guys are part of that. And the breakout possibilities of Jonah Ellis
and Q Robinson off the edge. I mean, man, when I tell you I'm confident in those two guys coming off the edge, especially knowing that Jonathan Cooper is about to miss some time, I feel like Jonah Ellis and Q Robinson are going to take over that position group. And they're going to prove to be viable long-term starters opposite Nick Bonito. And they're going to be competing for playing time themselves. And I don't think the Broncos are going to want to keep either guy off the field because they're so athletic. They're so strong. They've got great length and they've got great football IQ. So there's many reasons to be confident in this Broncos defense in 2026. The number one thing though, I think is shifting that narrative with the takeaway department, right? They had 25 takeaways in 2024. And we saw a lot more two score plus victories. And they had fewer takeaways in 2025. Obviously, they were in a lot of tight games. I don't think everything is not, you know, correlation is causation. But in this case, I think takeaways does contribute pretty substantially when you're talking about one score game. So maybe the Broncos can lead the NFL and take
away this year. Let's keep manifesting some bold predictions here as we get ready to start this season. I also want to talk about the Broncos and they're standing in the AFC West. Of course, it's easy to nitpick on a division rival before the start of a season. But I truly do believe the Broncos are head and shoulders above everybody else in the AFC West. I'm going to tell you why coming up on today's episode of the show. Today's show is brought to you by Home Chef with schedules getting busier and everyone getting back into their normal routines, figuring out what's for dinner can become a daily headache. Home Chef, though, makes cooking simple with fresh food delivered right to the door, easy recipes to follow and meals that actually taste great. Weekly deliveries help eliminate the meal planning, grocery runs, complicated prep, and even a lot of the cleanup. And with more than 30 meal options every week, there are choices for different tastes, dietary needs, including 30 minute meals and oven ready options. And you know what? The biggest difference for me, it's not having to figure
out dinner from scratch, right? It's having the ingredients and the recipe ready to go, which means less time thinking about what to buy and more time actually enjoying the meal and actually enjoying even the process of cooking, which has become a lot of fun. You find out a lot of different flavor combinations that you never knew that you would like. And for a limited time, Home Chef is offering my listeners 50% off and free shipping for your first box plus free dessert for life. Go to homechef.com slash locked on NFL. That's homechef.com slash locked on NFL for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Home Chef.com slash locked on NFL must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Today's show is also brought to you by Kalshi before the season even kicks off. Everyone's making predictions. Who wins the division? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy at seasons end on Kalshi America's number one prediction market platform? You can trade those predictions in a live
market where the Broncos win the AFC championship this season. Well, they're currently trading at an 11% probability, meaning that a $100 trade would pay out $940 and 70 cents if they take home the AFC title on Kalshi. You're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position, trade the draft, pick the game and more on Kalshi. Download the Kalshi app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10 KALSHI Kalshi trade on anything. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions, prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information. See Kalshi.com slash regulatory. The Denver Broncos took over the AFC West in 2025 and they ain't going nowhere
in 2026 Broncos country. I appreciate every single one of you so much for tuning in rocking with us every single day here at Lockdown Broncos. Make sure if you haven't done so already, we really appreciate if you hit subscribe where every list in the podcast, turn on notifications so you don't miss a single episode of the show. And as the regular season draws near, get ready for the every day or club. It's $5 flat rate for all that's included within that. You get obviously an ad free episode of the show. Cody's getting ready to do all 22 film breakdowns after every single game. You get one on one texting with Cody and myself throughout the course of the season. The access to the discord. We appreciate you considering doing that as well. And let's talk about confidence in the AFC West for 2026, right? Because obviously the Broncos had been in the seller dweller category of the AFC West for quite some time. And then Sean Payton comes to the mile high city and he slowly starts to bring this team out. We saw them get to the wild card in 2024. We saw them win the division
and host the AFC championship game in 2025. So where can they go from here? Obviously you want to back to back. You want to start off by saying, Hey, we're the back to back AFC West champs. I don't think any other team in the AFC West is as good on paper as the Broncos. Now, division titles are not one on paper. Every team gets different, you know, injury luck each year, right? You never know which players are going to go down at what point and how much time they're going to miss and how much that affects your ultimately your playoff run. So that part is out of our control. But when it comes to looking at each of these teams on paper, the Broncos are the best. They're the best team in the AFC West. There might be the best team in the NFL. It just feels like there's a tension when you say that kind of a thing because for so many years, we've been hoping that the Broncos could be one of the best teams in the NFL, right? We've been hoping through the Teddy Bridge waters and the Drew Lox and the Russell Wilson's like, man, this has got to finally be the the
quarterback who's going to be the straw that stirs the drink, right? Or it's got to be this year. It's got to be this, this is too good of a defense. This is too good of a team. I mean, too good of a, you know, whatever, filling the blank for yourself there, ultimately what it's been is a lot of false hope, right? False hope from the Russell Wilson trade, false hope from believing that the end of Drew Lox rookie season was going to be who he was for an entire career, right? False hope and believing that Vic Fangio was going to be the one to turn this around or that the Broncos could acquire Aaron Rogers or what have you? But at the start of every season, optimism is obviously the primary feeling, right? It's not that not that everybody's, you know, lacking realism to a degree, but you believe because of the culture that Pat Bolin instilled in this franchise that the Broncos can compete for a Super Bowl every single year. That's the expectation for this fan base. That's the expectation every year is that that they're going to do whatever it takes to get into Super Bowl contention. So therefore, at the beginning of each year, you're
truly believing like, okay, maybe they could be really good this year. If all things go their way, right? This year is a little bit different because it's not just saying that because we're hoping that it's saying that because the Broncos are that team. The Broncos are a team that can win the Super Bowl. They're a team that has Super Bowl level coaching. They have Super Bowl level talent on the roster. They have Super Bowl level depth. And yes, we saw last year, it's tough to sustain an injury to your starting quarterback. But we also saw that the Broncos can sustain a lot of injuries and still play elite level football. How many people consider that when they're talking about all those one score wins and how unlikely it is that the Broncos do that again this year. They aren't, they're not considering the fact that this team was missing. They're starting left guard for a large portion of the season. They're not considering the fact that Pat's are 10 missed time, that Brandon Jones missed time, that Alex Singleton missed a little bit of time, that Dre Greenlaw missed most of the year. They're not considering the fact that the Broncos had to shuffle a lot of pieces throughout the season on the offensive line with a couple of dings here and there or the
wide receiver position being consistently injured. So there's a lot that went into last season being tight for this team. But I think now you're starting this year fully healthy, fully stocked and you've added the missing piece in Jalen Waddle. I just don't see any other team in the AFC West that really compares. I mean, the Los Angeles chargers are probably Denver's biggest threat. And frankly, the Broncos with Bonix have not been able to beat a Justin Herbert lead chargers team. They beat a trade Lance lead chargers team at the end of last season. But they just have not been able to figure it out when Bonix and Justin Herbert are going head to head. They haven't been able to get past that hump. So that's something the Broncos have to figure out this year. But when it comes to their overall projection for the division, there's no doubt in my mind that the Broncos have a better team. The chargers already dealing with offensive line health issues. They've got a first year defensive coordinator, which doesn't have to necessarily be a bad thing for them. But I think they, I think they're optimistic for all the right reasons, right? They got an
offensive coordinator. They believe can unlock Justin Herbert. They feel like Mike McDaniel can help unlock their running game and keep their balance and their offense. But I think the questions remain about that offensive line and the depth of the overall roster. Kansas City has the superstar, you know, the legends, the living legends, if you will, Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reed, Travis Kelsey, Chris Jones, they have all those guys who have played in all those big games, but has their time window passed them by. They have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL this year. They revamped and renovated that whole unit for the most part. Is that going to work out? And when it comes to the offensive line, the tackle positions protecting Patrick Mahomes, do they have what it takes to be able to sustain for an entire season? Does Mahomes have what it takes to withstand shaky offensive tackle play? To have question marks at tackle is a really big deal for them. And so we'll see, we'll see what happens with those guys, but you can't count them out. I just think the Broncos have that
much better of a roster right now. And then the Raiders, they're clearly in the beginning stages of a rebuild with a brand new head coach, a new quarterback on the way at some points. And obviously a roster that has a lot of work yet to be done. And still when the Broncos take on each of these three teams for six games this season, those games are going to be tough. They're going to be some of their toughest games of the year. But I have no doubt that this roster is better, that the Broncos have the coaching advantage in most of these games. And certainly we've seen even head to head like Sean Payton and his staff can go toe to toe with Andy Reed and his staff. It's not like there's a huge disadvantage there just because Reed has all those rings in recent years. The Broncos have a Super Bowl caliber coaching staff. They have a Super Bowl caliber roster. And I believe they're going to run away with the AFC West this year. Broncos country make sure you let us know if you're listening on YouTube or watching on YouTube lesson in the comments, your predictions and why tell us why you're confident in this team can't wait Broncos country. Make sure you stay tuned. We're going to have a brand new episode of the show for a tomorrow. But until then we'll catch
you on the next episode of the show. Hey NFL fans. I'm Brian Peacock and that is Matt Williamson hosts of the NFL six pack part of the Lockdown podcast network. Your team every day NFL six pack brings you the latest NFL news and analysis and breaks down all of the weekly action. A six pack of takes daily on the playoff pushed in the 2025 season or if your team's in draft mode, yeah, we'll hit that too. All right, here every day on the Lockdown podcast network, the NFL six pack subscribe on YouTube or everywhere you get your podcasts.
More episodes
More from Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos

WILDCARD: Denver Broncos’ Jaylen Waddle Set to EXPLODE in Chiefs Matchup on Mond...
Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos' Bo Nix Ready To Be UNCAGED vs. Chiefs on Monday Night Football
Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos

Return of the Kings in Denver Broncos Season Opener vs. Chiefs
Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos

AFC: Denver Broncos Ready to BATTLE AFC Sleepers as NEW Threats Emerge in 2026
Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos