[Music] happy Friday it is a football Friday guess it's not the first football Friday because College was underway but it's the first NFL football Friday welcome to Mile High Sports today I'm Sean drotar Nate Lundy with me we are ready to go for the first weekend of the NFL season the Denver Broncos will get underway in Seattle on Sunday more about that as we go along but of course a very big game tomorrow when you're talking about the college standpoint the Colorado buffalos one and0 after a narrower than they would have liked win over North Dakota State now they get the big one the Rivalry game against Nebraska the Buffalo is an underdog and probably should be but this this game for the Buffs Nate when I look at the schedule breaking out for Colorado if they're going to get to a bull unless they're really going to surprise somebody they have to take this game uh they have to and uh they're not going to so uh they just need to to be okay with that and and move on I'm sorry this team is gonna struggle because they can't stop the run I I keep I sound like a damn broken record but I'm tired of talking about it at this point they can't stop the run this is not about Travis Hunter this is not about shador Sanders this is not this is about the fact that they can't stop the run and if you can't stop the run you're going to be in trouble I don't especially when they get to Big 12 play um and so I I think they're host um I think the only way that they can get in this is if they just if this turns into a track meet in Lincoln um and it's just everybody's scoring um I I have I have a lot of faith in shidore I have a lot of faith in Travis especially on the offensive side of the ball but I don't believe that their defense is good enough um to to win period I think that's the concern I mean defense is a big part of this as Nate pointed out 157 rushing yards allowed against North Dakota State not exactly Nebraska it comes to the ground game and I understand that Nebraska with their new quarterback Dylan Rola it's a different scenario Rola one of the top prospects in all of high school football starts as a freshman for the Buffalo had an impressive performance in their opening win against UTP and for the buffalos coach Prime Dion Sanders he noticed um you you you attack weak weaknesses uh I don't know if you attacked inexperience if that's a weakness so be it but the kid made some darn good throws some pretty good plays um they did some consistent things that we knew they would do within their offense a phenomenal game I mean it started out you know back and forth a little bit but they went ahead and did what they needed to do but I I love what he showed um in his first college game ever I love what he showed it's kind of been a funny week coming out of of Boulder and Lincoln in which you don't normally see this with Colorado Nebraska a little bit but it's just been a kind of a Love Fest with Deion Sanders praising Matt Rule and the Corn Huskers vice versa rule talking about how he loves what but Deion Sanders is doing up in Colorado talks about how dangerous they are these teams don't want to give any bulletin material board to the other and maybe that's because look even though the buffalos uh skitted to a 4 and eight finish it's not as if the Corn Huskers are that much better they went five- seven last year one of those losses to the Buffalo uh they're not exactly a juggernaut even though they still have the reputation and it seems like both of these Pro programs are making sure they don't flex a little too much before Saturday yeah I think they're trying to make sure they don't do the flex I think you're right about that I think they're trying to avoid the bulletin board material both of these teams are trying to bounce back and get to the point of college football relevance again Nebraska thinks they've done it with the quarterback that they've found um and that they have the ability to to get back on track that frankly they haven't had since in my opinion since Tom Osborne but um they have struggled a little bit here's the other thing that I think we need to keep in mind um and and maybe I'm you know maybe I'm looking at this a little bit backwards maybe I'm not um and so you know feel free in the comments uh in the chat anything like that to to disagree um I I think Colorado fans see this as a rivalry I don't think the Husker fans care um I really don't I think that for Nebraska the Rivalry that that was Colorado is not quite the same I think the Buffs still feel it but I think that part of that comes from in my opinion the fact that if you go back to you know a a couple of decades ago um that rivalry existed big time in Boulder right you with me so far okay so it existed very big in Boulder okay but if you think about Nebraska um you know a they switched conferences a while ago so they have had time to be able to you know start I think it takes a long time but to start to be a big 10 school and start to have some of those kinds of games uh mean more to them but I think we need to also remember that back in the day when um the the the the big 12 was what it was and you get back to the the I mean heck we can go back to swack days big eight um Nebraska had the Rivalry with Colorado but Nebraska also had a rivalry with Oklahoma Nebraska had like they had more than one rival yes um Colorado didn't Colorado's Tada was the Huskers right yes and that's it that's 100% true and I bring this up as I bring this up as an Oregon State grad because I have told you guys before if youve if you followed me for long enough you you understand that I hate the University of Oregan with every last cell and molecule in my body it really does I despise that University as an Oregon State grad but guess what Oregon got to the point where they were good and so yeah it was a rivalry but with the civil war game but Oregon got to the point where they had a rivalry going with the Huskies they had the point where they got a rivalry going with USC because they were good and a lot of times those matchups for example with USC would help decide Sean who was going to the Rose Bowl yeah right or who was going to the pack the Pack 10pack 12 championship game Colorado didn't have that and so the disdain is focused just like mine is on one school right Nebraska doesn't have that and so I think that's why I mean I think one I think rule is a is a smart Coach and he's not going to do any bulletin board material but I also think like mentally this game doesn't carry the same weight for Nebraska as it does for Colorado with one exception and that is Nebraska looking for Revenge yes Nebraska has actually lost the last three games in this in this series including last year and uh you're right because look Nebraska leads the all-time series with Colorado 49 21 and two so I mean thees back very very one-sided but but it goes back to as you pointed out a couple of decades ago where in the 90s especially things really did heat up in the years when they were in the the big eight and and before they they broke apart because in uh six different times the Colorado Nebraska in the 90s met as top 10 teams in the country and so that that is how rivalries get born and and still carry on and the truth is when uh SE smash Nebraska 62 to 36 in in 2001 Nebraska has actually never finished in the top 10 since so I is there a rivalry there yes is it Colorado's most important rivalry yes is it Nebraska's no it's not and it used to be Nebraska Oklahoma now of course that's you know blown to bits but uh you're exactly right I think for Nebraska's case Nebraska looks at Colorado as a team they probably should beat uh they'd like to beat but they don't they don't you know Nash their teeth if they lose and uh I know I'm going to get a little bit of flack for this this is similar to the Rocky Mountain showdown in which the buffalo's lead that alltime series 68 22 and two it's one-sided but there was a chunk of time in the late 90s and early 2000s in which that was a really good rivalry where it went back and forth but it's really been one-sided and that's why Colorado state looks like Colorado is their main rival and Colorado really doesn't actually look a Colorado state that way they look at Nebraska so this is just kind of how it works in in college football but the the Rivalry itself I don't think is important for Nebraska and the way it is in Colorado but even take it all aside for both of these programs it's an immensely important game uh when the Nebraska moved to the the Big 10 it was the right move for them certainly the money makes it clear but it's been a rough rough go for Nebraska ever since moving there and given the the N nil World they have continued to start to fall behind a little bit at times because the reputation doesn't proceed them the way it used to so this is this is now oddly two programs that have each won national titles that are have have really dug deep with their coach and tried to create relevance taking shortcuts back and for both of them it's worked and that and that's why I think this game is fascinating because there are some really topend talents available yeah there are and and I think it is going to be a fascinating game don't get me wrong I think it's going to be a good game um I do think Nebraska is going to win and I think they're going to cover um but I I'm just saying if you if you if if Colorado wants to try to build up a particular rivalry um it's going to take a long time well now you're in a new conference you're going to have to it's something's going to Happ it's going to take a long time are you going to suddenly have a rivalry with Utah maybe can you find one with uh I mean I don't know Texas Tech is it gonna happen with The Jayhawks is it like I don't know but in my opinion it's not going to be Nebraska they're not in your conference anymore right and so Buffs fans I understand the disdain I mean look Oregon's not in in with Oregon State anymore I'm still going to hate them for the rest of my life oh yeah um I so I understand from a Buff's perspective I just think you have to recognize that it's not the same it's just not the same and it's not going to be what it was two decades ago and hopefully Dion and Company get the team to the point where there actually is someone that becomes a rival but in order for that to happen something that you referenced when you were talking about the rankings of the teams back in the the mid99s the late ' 90s you know early 90s Etc one of the things that you need to be able to do because I believe in professional sports for example rivalries are born from one of two things it's either somebody in your division right somebody that you play all the time okay um or and most importantly it's born in the postseason that is where rivalries come from the the Rivalry that the ABS had with the Red Wings came from the postseason the Rivalry that I believe right now the ABS feel against the Minnesota Wild is born in the postseason um you know so I think that you know the it's going to happen when there are championship and I'm using the air quotes because we're talking about bowl games and things like that but when there are Championship level things on the line that is when you start to have a rivalry and that's not Nebraska anymore no it isn't but it's still obviously an important game for the Buffs because in his second season as coach Deion Sanders really needs to get this team to a bowl game they don't have to be phenomenal they need to win six but to win six when you look at their schedule they do need this one Nebraska's six and a half Point favorite on the Saturday night Prime Time game uh first three games for the buffalo's on the season Prime Time National broadcast the interest is still there and this is for the for Colorado to continue to build ignore Nebraska because of the arguments you're making ignorance Nebraska you just need to start stacking double use if you get six wins this year and get to a bowl then a lot of the criticism starts to fade away because you're going two years away from a one- win team and two a bowl no matter how much the the Sanders haters are out there you have to look at that and say hey that's pretty respectable so so that's got to be the goal and they have to put this away the rushing defense has to be better quite frankly the defensive backfield has to be better they've got to find a way to pressure Rola and on the offensive side the buffalo have to get ground game going and they cannot give up on it I understand the best weapons they have are shadur Sanders Travis Hunter and Jimmy horn Jr I get it but if they can't run the defense for the Buffs will eventually be worn out and that's going to lead the favors for Nebraska at home late in this game yep absolutely so uh I know we're going to switch gears and talk about the brings me to this remind when you're trying to make that you're keeping track of everything that is going with the teams and with your favorite sports and everything here in Colorado one of the smartest things you can do is make sure that you have the Mile High Sports and the Colorado preps mobile apps the reason for that is because then you're carrying everything around right here okay so for example you want to be able to keep up with what's happening with the nuggets as we get closer and closer to the start of their training camp in the preseason and the rest of it it's the pickax and roll podcast right here on the YouTube channel as well as buried right there in the Mile High Sports app as we get ready to find out when because I believe it's when not if Gabe landeskog is coming back that is quite simply your abs podcast that you can keep up with everything going on with aif add to that Rams coverage CU coverage and all of it and you can carry it around in your pocket and if you are the parent of a high school athlete like I am a great way to be able to keep track of that is with the Colorado preps mobile app and in there you will find the scoreboard so tonight with all of these great high school games that are going on you want to keep track of the scores you want to know what's going on not just for your son or daughter's team but to be able to keep track of what's happening around the state and around the top ranked teams the scoreboard is right there everything inside the app for you including the Colorado preps weekly podcast that Kevin Schaefer does so doesn't matter whether we're talking about the preps or the pros we have a mobile app for you that you can download absolutely free you can search my High Sports in in your app store you can also search Colorado preps and hey do me a favor download them both do that today and you'll be covered as we get through this High School sports fall season as well as the start of the NFL NBA and NHL well we have an opportunity to look at Colorado Prep sports and whoever better to join us except Dan and you had a chance to hear Dan already a great story up at M High sports.com in Colorado preps with the big football games tonight Dan obviously it is exciting you know foot balls upon us for high school and uh they didn't wait on the scheduling there's some monster games on the Slate for to for tonight I know and it it feels a little unfair for you guys to bring me in right after you're talking about CU Nebraska but I'm going to go ahead and power through for you because we have an awesome slate of games tonight uh if we want to start at 5A the defending Champions Are Back In Action they're one and0 after a big win against Thunder Ridge uh last week but they're going to get tested tonight they have uh they have a a road game game at Legend and Legend is one of those big playmaking teams coming into this year a lot of a lot of people think that Legend is a semi-final team Andy Lowry lost a ton of seniors from last year's team especially uh running back Josh Schneider who was just so good in that state championship game this is going to be the test for Coline to see if they're if they have a chance to repeat or if they're going to have some work to do as as we make the push into October and November yeah a little baseball Yogi Bear ref it gets late early out here I mean that's that's the reality for some of these games these are big ones if you're going to want to win the whole thing uh going down to fora you have a couple as well and an interesting one Montrose ranked third overall taking on Palisade Palisade a 3A team stepping up in weight class uh they're kind of playing everybody oh yeah and those Western Slope teams they love to play against each other and Palisade started off their season last week with uh uh it was really a a crazy uh win over uh defending two-way Champion Delta it was a lot of late scores a lot of um Ju Just overall some uh some funky results that came out of that one for Palisade to go one and0 uh they they've had it down a year or two in the past I talked to montro coach Brett Mertens after their win at gy West last week and he's excited to play this because uh Joe Runo the the coach up at palate he runs that triple option offense and it's a good chance for montros to really get disciplined defensively make sure that they're you know they're lining up with their assignments that they're doing the things they need to do to stop that kind of running attack and then on the flip side Montrose has been successful for the last seven years because they do the easy thing and they just run run run the football sounds a little bit like what you were talking about maybe if if the Buffs can run the football the way that montros does it would be an easy win over the husk yeah it would be and they they can't but we'll see how close that gets and and for another interesting one of course uh Rampart ranked eth has had a really interesting start they blew out Falcon 39 to Zer then they had to win a one point game 1514 over Lewis Palmer they're off to that two and0 start they've got two under their belt the Ponderosa Mustangs you talked about last week uh you know I'll wear it my my Ponderosa Mustangs I'm P grad uh looked to be pretty confident against Palmer Ridge coming into it still ranked ninth which is pretty respectable given the fact that they got obliterated 427 they were absolutely flattened they have to get better a senior Marcus price had one of those nights to forget a couple of interceptions bat on the ground get you know get substituted out those things kind of happen that's the nature of high school football but they're really going to have to get a lot better in this game and it doesn't get easier in the springs no and and the interesting thing about Rampart is rampart's pretty much battle tested now with the way that they won that game against Louis Palmer a lot of teams are high on Lewis Palmer coming into this season the Rams needed a blocked punt late and uh they scored they got the two-point conversion and they got the the one-point Edge the funny part about it I was listening to that game on the radio I was driving around to uh all my other games uh that I was checking out last week when I turn when I got out of my car and turned off the radio uh Lewis Palmer was winning the game and Rampart had just given the ball back and it was it didn't look good for the Rams and they were able to pull that one out Ponder Ro is an interesting case because this is a team that really feels like it can compete for a and jiren head coach jiren Cohen is really confident in that last week didn't go the way that they wanted but when you look at what Palmer Ridge did to dhy last night they also won the game they I want to say it was 42 to nothing off the top of my head I'll have to go check the what bger scoreboard for that one here in a minute but um we're gonna find out what Ponder Roa is made of tonight because if they can bounce back if they can get a good win over what is a good rampar team who likes to run the ball uh then maybe you can fix some of those mistakes that you saw last week and they can put themselves Back In Contention yeah it can look like a blip as long as the opponent continues to roll and and you get a lot better so we'll see let's go down another class uh big one the the top seat at Holy Family taking on Roosevelt in class 3A we're talking about uh a big- Time matchup this is a playoff level matchup but we get it already this week yeah these are the last two 3A state champions holy family of course took it last year and uh Roosevelt took it the year before these are two teams that depending on who you talk to these are either going to be semi-final teams or Championship level teams and they both come into the game one one and0 they both had really good wins last week and you know if it when I talk to ailo I try and get a gauge of of how he's feeling and it just sounds like he's got a little bit of Bounce in his step when you when he talks about the holy family tigers so you can read his thoughts in our piece up at Mile High Sports but um I I think this is going to be one of one of the best games at least in these this early three- week stretch right if you divide the season up into really three um three periods like John Fox used to do it in four quarters for the Broncos but this is going to be one of those games that people are going to point back to later in the year and say this is what we really evaluate this team on yeah you talk about the story of my High Sports trying to dive in a little bit more since we have a lot of you know locals here at my life Sports some comments from I I contributed to the piece as well and ELO's in that piece that you put together where bringing in some of the local spots there and you talk about uh the whatburger scoreboard I think a lot of people who still maybe haven't been able to figure out or download the Colorado preps app by the way driven by a Ford terrific partner there for this and what Burger on the scoreboard H this is really it this this if you want all the scores for high school football as they happen uh it is not an exaggeration to say the Colorado preps app is your only real option because nobody covers it like Colorado preps does you know I make it a morning habit after every round of football games to check our scoreboard versus Max Preps and I'm not trying to dog Max Preps in any way shape or form but we we do a a fantastic job of hustling and tracking down those scores uh I was up until you know 10:30 11 o'clock last night trying to make sure I I could get them all in and I'll be doing the same thing tonight um Big Ups to waterburger their partnership has been really really valuable in that and I know I sound bias when I say this Sean but I deal with the scoreboard in more ver in in more ways than a lot of people the easiest way for me to look at it is right there on the Colorado prep out yeah it absolutely is so you can keep in touch with all of that as the season goes along uh in this in this early going because there been anything that's really stood out to you as something of a surprise is there's somebody we should be paying attention to that maybe wasn't in the early preseason rankings you know uh one team it's actually you got to go down in classification and it's Forge Christian down in 1A uh I was actually talking to Mike OD DWI who's the lineman head coach they were out in Colorado Springs Christian school last week and I swung by and watched a little bit of that game and beforehand I was talking to Mike and he said and he just looked at me and said Forge looks good and they look big and they went I think from unranked to the top five after their win a week ago so that's a team that I've got my eye on as odd as it sounds Lyman is another one Mike likes to tell me every year that his team does not look good we can't do it again we can't repeat and then uh the Saturday after Thanksgiving I'm always asking him so what happened between week one and now that you were able to repeat as state champion so um I want to see what lyman's all about Ray's got a really good team at 1A but Forge Christian is one that people should be paying attention to the latest Mile High Sports magazine you can see that uh you can see those behind me and the ones over my head and you can see one right there with Bo Nicks on the cover over Dan's uh great story in there Dan contributed quite a few one of those about in our football issue about some of those High School sports and where the uh maybe the the most regular champion in Colorado ends up residing and it's might not be where you think when you're talking about some of these smaller schools but now now in these first couple weeks for people who are accustom thinking about the pros right or college football down in high school football there's a lot more variability from week to week if you were try to explain that to someone who's maybe getting in to Prep sports wants to get into Prep football and it's really hard to find who The powerhouses are who to follow just the sure the sport is vastly different from week to week because of the ages the experiences when you were to say summarize High School football today in Colorado to someone who really hadn't watched it you know how would you kind of give it a comparison um you know you're you're always going to have your traditional Powers you know you're if I would I would compare it more to like the college landscape and say that your Cherry Creek is probably like your Alabama um you know your Coline might be your Georgia you know team that's on the rise and is is always kind of right there but the way that I would describe it is actually some of the best games and some of the best overall viewing experiences come away from the metro area I think some of the most enjoyable games I've watched have been in places like um like buav Vista like the salt L hun Lamar you know the southeast corner so uh you have so much diversity in the sport and what I always say about High School athletics that for me is the reason why I love sticking to it over you know trying to navigate my way more into the rer College landscape is that there are so many great stories that you find everywhere football and and really all sports and the one thing I'll the one Shameless plug I'll throw out is uh for people who want to read about it on Colorado preps.com we were able to catch up with Austin Barry a kid from Fossil Ridge who went out and shot 59 on the golf course this week and we chased him down and we believe I'm not gonna I'm not going to uh definitively say it is but we believe it is the first 59 by a high school golf for in State history and we were able to track that story down so Props to uh John Yun friend of mine at Holy Family who helped me out and but that's the kind of stuff that we love doing a Colorado PRS 59 that's like a half decent front nine for me let alone the entire round yeah they're really and that's just one of the things that I think is so exciting about it when you go to Colorado preps.com you can really kind of sense that as well because we talk about in college how only a small percentage of Collegiate players are going to go to the pros only a small percentage of high school players really even play in college especially at at what we used to call D1 now FBS so a lot of these guys This is Love of the Game stuff this is learning how to be a a good teammate learning how to be a better young person learning all of those sort of skills that will bring them into the parts of their lives that don't have anything to do with sports and yet at the same time there's a lot of intensity there's a lot of fun and there's really a lot of love and I think when you talk about high school football especially on these great Friday nights I think that the Love of the Game as corny as that sounds really does kind of shine through and you you see it with the kids um with the kids faces one game I was watching last night and we can shout out Doug otell on this uh his North Glenn norsman were taking on um Prairie View last night it was an overtime game Prairie viw wins it at the end it's an early season game uh you know they're either one1 or 0 and two whatever it is but when that ball Falls uh in overtime or it was intercepted by Prairie View uh in overtime that sideline erupted with the kind of passion that you see when you know if CU you were to win the Big 12 like it was that level of Celebration you just get that so much on a a weekly basis you get the chance to really put kids up and um and talk about the great things that they do and that's just that's one part of this job that I've really fallen in love with and I just can't imagine myself doing anything different he is Dan Mormon the editor and chief of Colorado preps.com make sure you check out everything he's putting together over there also the the topics on my life Sports a great story about the big high school matchups that we went over a little bit in this segment and download that free Colorado preps app get all that in your pocket the live scoreboard and everything else High School sports now is a perfect time to jump on into the world of Prep sports because it is on the rise in Colorado has been that way for a while and now it really seems to be breaking through so Dan is the man to follow and Colorado preps.com is the place to be appreciated I know today is probably your busiest day of the week so thanks for carving out some time for us you bet we'll talk to you next week all right thanks so much Dan man joining us from Colorado preps.com like I said download that free Colorado preps app driven by Ford and get all the latest on tonight's games all those big top 10 matchups you'll get them right there on the app I want to remind you by the way if you're self-employed and you're having trouble getting a home load that happens it's hard right when you don't have another company besides your own to kind of lean against the bank well you need to reach out to SEO mortgage they've helped thousands of self-employed people refinance their mortgage or buy a house with just their bank statement loan no tax returns needed understands all the challenges of being self-employed find at mysp special mortgage.com or call 303792 222 that's 303792 222 has been serving Colorado successfully for more than 23 years so please call them today or visit them at mypal mortgage.com if you're self-employed this is where you need to go nmls number 12716 Nate we turn our attention to the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks the Broncos will go to Seattle on Sunday for their opening game of the season they're obviously underdogs you've talked about how tough it is to play there you've talked about the challenges of being a rookie playing there he'll be the first quarterback to start week one for the Broncos since John Elway in 83 and Elway lined up at one play under guard so I don't expect that from Knicks but is there a path for the Broncos to pull off an upset um sure I I mean you want to get creative sure there's a way I mean a positive guy on a Friday I well I'm sorry they're just it's it's weird man I mean look I can find a way for anybody I mean I can find a way for New England to beat the Bengals on Sunday too if I really want to dig deep into it I mean hell the NFL's playing in Brazil tonight for crying out loud weird stuff can happen all right um do I think that they can pull off an upset yes um I think for that to happen um this defense needs to be unbelievably opportunistic they need to find something they weren't thinking they were going to find first and foremost all right so they need to get a takeaway they need something to bounce their um their way they need they need to win a turnover battle um and I'm not quite sure that there are enough Playmakers involved on this offense or excuse me on this defense to be able to do that with that in mind um they can there are a couple of folks in there that can be opportunistic that can pull off a strip sack of Gino Smith or something like that um but I want I'm not positive that that can actually be the case without something really truly odd happening um in the game uh do I think it can be close yes I think that's why the spread is what it is so could they pull off an upset Sean of course they could but um I'm I'm the path to that I think is very difficult on the road well let me give you a couple reasons why that's possible and Troy rank from the Denver post will join us in just a little bit to talk about it as well but last year you you mentioned it earlier in the week Seattle was terrible against the Run 31st in the league and rushing defense against the Broncos obviously want to be a run first team there's excitement about B nickon there should be at the same time that's really what we're looking at here when we're talking about this game you want to run with Williams and mcclaflin and esime and Seattle has done their best to shore up their defense and it looks like they've added some talent but at the same time you don't jump from 31st in the league to top 10 in one year no not at all you don't um and and and you not without doing some pretty substantial things in free agency without doing some pretty substantial things uh within the draft so yeah you can make some jumps um but I don't think you're going to see an exponential type leap I think that's very difficult to do in the NFL unless uh like I said unless you just absolutely knock it out of the park with a uh draft pick which for example I think the Broncos did when they drafted Pat certan um it so it's not impossible um but it is very difficult to do if you don't have enough free agents um and enough dollars to be able to spend to be able to make that kind of an impact with some huge names um to be able to help you um so you're right it is very difficult to make that kind of a jump I do think they're going to be uh a little better than people think I know we've talked about that a little bit um so I do think they're going to be better than people think but I don't think that they suddenly have you know become World beaters well yeah and I get that but there are a couple other things that you Seattle you look from last year first in rushing defense 30th in Total Defense 30th and third down percentage allowed so the Broncos hopefully if they can keep things look you want to keep the trains running on time in this game right and and the running game is going to be a major part of this the Broncos when you're talking about the passing game is it's a lot of question marks and it's not just Nicks courland Sutton I think is as reliable as a Target but when you look at Sutton's uh history especially in the last couple years he is not let's say DK meaf he's not a gamebreaking receiver anymore the 10 touchdowns last year notwithstanding uh when you look around the rest of the receiving Corp we've talked about it earlier this week interesting promising although you know I think what you seen from Josh Reynolds is probably what you get from Josh Reynolds at this point in this career he he's a reliable number two kind of number three receiver for the Broncos it'll be two but they're gonna need somebody to step whether it's V whether it's Mims whether it's Troy Franklin who's really had a slow start to his career somebody on the outside's gonna have to step up because as you pointed out yesterday don't expect any help from the tight ends no uh I don't think you're going to have any and in fact I was kind of disappointed when I was checking out the uh uh some of the NFL news uh over the course of uh today prior to us doing the show uh frankly I was kind of disappointed to see that the Steelers have signed Pat frier moov to an extension because he was actually one of the tight ends that I had my eye on that was going to be a free agent after this season uh that if the Broncos didn't manage to find somebody I was like you know I'd take Fri Mo here um but obviously that's not going to happen he just signed a four-year a new four-year contract with the Steelers so he's not going uh he's not going anywhere um so it is one of those things that I go well okay so it's not quite uh you know an easy plug-and playay when we get to next year it's certainly not on the roster right now so you're right um there are some glaring holes with this team things that we've talked about um but there are some ways to be able to do it like you talk about where Seattle sits in terms of um you know their their offensive ability last year and some of the struggles that they had last year um with their Rush defense or with third down with allowing third down conversions can you get yourself into third and makeable um third and attainable can you get can you avoid things like third and eight third and seven third and N um and be more like third and three third and four um then I think you're going up against a defense that you know look we we don't have the noly Zone in Denver anymore but they also don't have uh the the legion of boom so I I mean both of these teams do not have the defenses that they had you know eight years ago and so therefore you can exploit them but remember Seattle can exploit the Broncos defense as well I know Pete Carrol is not there anymore I know it's a much more defensive-minded coach um than what was there before but um that can also mean them trying to put bow Knicks into the third and long type of situations instead of the third and short and so if you can be opportunistic if you can take advantage of some third and short or you can convert on some of those third Downs if you can try to wear down that Seattle defense a little bit make them tired give them too many minutes out on the field longer possessions drain them um as much as you can yeah you've got an opportunity to do it the other thing you have to be able to do um and I know that this is something we talked about on the show yesterday um you have got to put Gino Smith on his butt you just have to um Seattle did a pretty good job last year um Gino Smith was sacked 31 times um that's pretty low um in in the grand scheme of things within the NFL um an average of you know basically less than two a game um Can the Broncos actually get to him and get let's say three sacks um which I think they can um if that can happen again you're putting them into poorly manageable situations in second down and in third down and forcing their hand uh to a certain extent I know that DK metf is out there um but if you look at some of the advanced analytics for example Tyler Lockett started to fall off a bit last year um they're going to be looking for him to bounce back or they're going to be in trouble because they're not going to have um the same kind of number two receiver that they've had for a while yeah and and when I talk about the the you know there's a flip side do this when we talk about the idea that Seattle and where they ranked it they were 30th in in defensive yards allowed per game the Broncos are 29th and and it's it's not where you can look at the season and say it was just that disastrous loss to the Miami Dolphins because it it really wasn't um yards per play the Broncos were 30th points per game allowed they were 27th rushing per game they were only one spot better than the Seahawks they were 30th the Seahawks were 31st the Broncos do look like they've shored up their defensive line I like the defensive line I like the potential run defense Improvement for the Broncos but the passing part of it is still concerning the Broncos were in the bottom 10 in the league near the top end of that but 22nd in passing yards against you Riley Moss is going to come into this game and probably start upite of Pat San he hasn't had a lot of NFL experience you don't know what you're going to get there and again you have Lockett and you have meaf and then you have uh their younger receiver in Smith and jiga who's going to be a factor as well so can the Broncos handle all this with their Corners are their safeties good enough as well dealt with injuries Brandon Jones really didn't play in the preseason at all because he ended up getting hurt so I I I have a lot of question marks it's not that they couldn't do it it's that we really didn't get a chance to see it and the defensive backfield as great as Pat ceran is as great as Justin Simmons was they let Simmons go he's in Atlanta it's hard to look at the Broncos defensive backfield and say it's clearly better than last year years in fact I think it's impossible it is not better than last year's can it grow into it a lot of that depends on Moss yeah a lot of it does depend on Moss and and that's a decent role of the dice right I mean we really don't know what to expect so I just you put all this together and I've said before I don't believe they're going to win this game um I know there are people that are optimistic not the least of which is our own Cody work um I understand that there are a lot of people that are optimistic I don't see a rookie quarterback going into Lumen field and winning his first game ever in the NFL if he does hold holy crap yall stay away from the tracks because the hype train is going to run you over um that's going to happen the if he wins this game on Sunday get ready yeah obviously it's it's a tough place to win and when you look back at at players who have won there in the past it's it's bad you know you shown the stats it is it there's no there's no pattern to it you don't look at it say oh it's a superstar guy that's why they did well that's not really how it works so it is going to be very very tough but uh the Broncos have to try to find a way to to pull this off if if they if they're going to try to even not even get the playoffs Nate but match the eight wins they had last year certainly get over the Vegas over under a five and a half now that's a big jump when you're talking about five and a half and trying to jump to eight that's an awful lot but we'll see how uh they can do it but again when you look at the wins on the schedule nine Road games when you look at the ones that they'll be favored in what they're favored in at this point two games two games two games that's not great and this isn't one of them obviously you're gonna have to find a place to steal it somewhere and maybe the option uh for the Broncos to exploit it is ball control get the get keep the ball on the ground clock clock clock keep this scoring relatively low you don't want to get in unlike the Buffalo and the Huskers buff would love to get in a track meat they got chance will if they get a track meat they're in trouble they're gonna have to keep this low scoring those scores you know the UND 41 and a half I I would go as far to say the Broncos probably can't win it if they get if those points go over correct I I I it's got to stay low it's got to stay close it's got to be one of those things with five 6 minutes 8 minutes 12 minutes left to go in the game that they are still in the conversation or still within a score um I know the talent is a lot higher but I think the Broncos would be happy if they were in the position that Baltimore was in last night um up against the Chiefs and trying to make sure that it was close enough to make things interesting down the stretch um and that is what Denver is going to be trying to do against a team that was you know five and three at home last year um has a very good uh home crowd um and again we talk about how intriguing this game is and how important opening game is for the Broncos because of a new quarterback and all of those kinds of things let's also remember that Seattle's got a brand new head coach y it's not Pete Carol on sideline anymore and that's a big that's a big deal that could play to Denver's Advantage obviously it could but it also could be something maybe these guys are happy to have like a new coach and a new Vibe and I mean that is something that Seattle can also play off of yeah we we've seen recently in fact twice with the Raiders as a matter of fact when Rick Rick bace took over the Raiders all of a sudden got in a roll when Antonio Pierce took over the Raiders got in a roll again you have seen it and obviously there can be new excitement and remember uh it's tough Jake plumber talked about some of this to ESPN remember his first start um four interceptions plumber till ISP I threw the wrong hot routes you learn about 10 seconds some days in the NFL you're going to do it right and people are gonna heat Praise on you and other days you're not going to be able to do blank yes and that's the reality of it but there I think there is a window for the Broncos to pull off uh this upset Nate and we'll have a chance to talk about that with Troy rank of the never Post in just a moment yep we'll get chance to be able to uh Yap with him um I want to get uh can I can I get a little plug in here I want to get everybody's in this Buffs mode right now so I want to get a plug in yeah I know look at this guy with his shirt you know I mean oh yeah there you go uh me I just got you know picture of a beer because that's about all I need we're both on brand but let me uh let me remind you about our friends at number 38 this is our official home with Mile High Sports for all of our watch parties when it comes to the Buffs this season home or away we are there we are watching the game with you and with all of our fellow Buffs fans that are going to be rooting for them against the Huskers so you got kickoff tomorrow at 5:30 I want you to come join us at number 38 in Rhino because it is our spot to be able to watch we got a live pregame podcast that we do we're also live post game with our postcast with our friends at locked on as well you get out there and you get a chance to join us if you have not been there before then you are missing out the best patio that you're going to find in Rhino great food great drinks and this watch part party brought to you by our friends at High Noon which means they've got the $38 High Noon buckets they've also got plenty of other local Spirits local beers on tap if you're like me and you enjoy the local craft beers they they've got them there for you and the beauty is like every time you go in you're going to find something different because they've got these great relationships with the Distributors to make sure they're bringing in some of the best beers in town folks like Call to Arms uh and Colorado Native and all of that so want you to come down join us at number 38 game starts at 5:30 I'm going to tell you based on what happened last Thursday with the game against the Bison uh get there a little early okay aim for like 4:30 uh make sure you get there early you're going to be able to kick back with your friends have a spot to be able to watch the game the TVs are there the big screen is out on the patio and of course we'll be there at Mile High Sports which means haa free stuff that's right we got giveaways for you as well so come down join us number 38 their website is nmbr 38 the digits 38 nmbr 38.com and you're going to see on there just click on the Buffs you're going to see uh everything they've got going the specials you can do and we want you to come down and join us because this is going to be a big game we had a great crowd for the Bison I'm expecting that to be a three-fold minimum for tomorrow for this game against the Huskers so come join us at number 38 in Rhino we'll see you there what a big football weekend of course you got the buff and the Huskers going and then on Sunday the Broncos will kick it off against the Seahawks we'll talk more about that with our Denver Broncos Insider Denver Post writer Troy rank in a moment delighted on a football Friday to be joined by our next guest the Mile High Sports Broncos Insider of course you know him from The Denver Post and the Broncos podcast with Troy rank it is Troy rank thanks for joining us Troy absolutely thanks for having me on uh this obviously is a big big opener for the Broncos it feels that they've been sort of stuck in the wilderness for years now most of a decade and it feels that as if this team has a direction a perfect preseason we know that doesn't mean all that much doesn't happen very often either what were your initial takeaways from what we saw in the preseason and how you think it will affect Sunday's game well I was most impressed with the fact that b Knicks showed Poise maturity accuracy and he was on spot on time and Shawn pton bent the offense to his strength Sean I mean that is a big part of this last year there wasn't a lot of elasticity between Shawn pyton and Russell Wilson Russell Wilson's strength obviously was playing Off Script Shawn pton wants a quarterback that can run the Playbook and get the ball out on time and that's what we saw we saw a lot more of what I saw from B Knicks on Saturday I was seeing on Sundays and so that's encouraging defensively they should be better against the run with the addition of John Franklin Meers Malcolm roach will get some of those double teams away from excuse me DJ Jones and Zack Allen uh but I'll be honest I have real concerns about their secondary Brandon Jones the safety didn't play in preseason didn't practice much and Riley Moss they're going to be breaking in a brand new Corner opposite of Pat ceran so could get a little greasy uh defensively on that back end but uh I encouraged that they have a plan they have a Direction they have their coach they have their quarterback and the owner GM everyone finally seems to be on the same page which we cannot say about much of the last four or five years around here so it feels like they're in the right direction and I like the Broncos was desis some people this year I just really don't like them in this game this Sunday and it is a situation right now where the AFC is almost historically stacked especially at the quarterback position and that makes things difficult but let's go back to that defense because I think with all the hype around Knicks it's getting overshadowed because some of those concerns that you just explained are very very real one of the things the Broncos are also trying to do is continue to bring pressure on the quarterback in waves there are multiple players they expect to be able to step up Baron Browning Jonathan Cooper who led the team last year in sacks Nick Bonito who was only a half sack behind Cooper despite playing uh in many many fewer snaps so now you add Jonah Ellis to the mix and of course Franklin Myers is in there and Zach Allen has had sacks as well but it feels at the same time as if the Broncos are expecting all of these guys simultaneously to pop and historically that's just not the way it works yeah I mean when you start saying we're going to be good because six seven eight guys are going to have career years I mean again that's one of those hope is not a strategy that's not real Troy like I I covered the Rockies for 15 years and they're like if cargo and tulo play 162 games together we're gon to be great I'm like that's true but they don't and they they won't I mean it's just the reality of the situation and you know six seven guys on defense to have careers is not realistic now could they have a breakout guy as an edge rusher with Joon Ellis or a baron brownie absolutely one guy could break out and Cooper's a nice player I just he's not built to be your sack leader if that makes sense he's more of a guy who protect the edge and be there and run support and get his sacks but they need that guy on Third and eight you know like man that guy's got a chance to get to the quarterback you know the max Crosby's what they had with Von Miller when Bradley chub was healthy can that be a Jonah Ellis can that be brown they haven't had a 10 sack guy Sean since 2018 when that's when chub and Bon Miller did it so to sit here and say they're all going to break through that's not going to happen because of either Effectiveness or whatever the other thing is if you want to be aggressive and get to the quarterback you got to be better against the Run that's one thing they've chenged themselves to be more aggressive attacking better tackling at the point of attack because if you're not good against the run and even during their five-game win streak last year people don't realize they were still giving up 125 130 yards on the ground when you're not good against the Run teams are typically in third and two third and three you're not getting sacks because those are are bubble screens those are quick Slants where you get sacks in the NFL is in third and eight third and nine those third and Longs that a quarterback has to hang in there and wait for the route to develop that's when you get sacks that's when you get picks so again a lot of it for me is tied to in terms of their defense is tied to their Improvement against the run if they don't improve against the run and they were basically last or dead last most of the Season then they're not going to get a bunch of sacks it just doesn't work that way one of the other the things that makes sure that that the defense is is holding the offense to those longer Downs is discipline we saw last night in the season opener an awful lot of penalties not entirely surprising in the opening game but in Baltimore's case they can probably look back at some of their penalties and say without it they might have beaten the champion Chiefs last night for the Broncos under Payton they appear to be more disciplined this year is that something you're seeing as well on both the offensive defensive side of the ball I mean they're coached that way like a lot of times when you see a team do stupid stuff consistently like either you're coaching it or you're allowing it Sean Peyton's doing neither I mean he emphasizes he stops practice there's consequences for guys who make repeated mistakes I mean he's holding them accountable sometimes you just have players that aren't very good and they they get into the moment and the pressure gets to them but for the most part this is a well coached team and I think you know it's one of their better coaching staffs they've had around here since Super Bowl 50 but how does that translate on game day because the the secret and the threading of the needle for Shawn Payton is the fact aggressive team a physical team so it's like basically want to play to the whistle and maybe sometimes a little beyond that but do it with discipline and so how do you do that it's just like be incredibly aggressive but know where that stop sign is and sometimes that's hard for guys in the Heat of the Moment so we'll see how it manifests itself I'm I'm more curious to how it manifest itself defensively because they have really taken on this attack mindset we're going to get after everything and be aggressive I love that but with that sometimes comes late hits and comes after whistle penties and sometimes that's the price to do in business I I like Malik Jackson the year they won the Super Bowl he'd get a personal foul it felt like every game here to leave but they were so good they could overcome it that's the problem with a team like the Broncos if they start to get penalized a lot they're not good enough to overcome it especially offensively when you're talking about holds and false starts the one thing they have to eliminate are false starts and the pre- snap penalties holding is going to happen in this league that nobody's ever going to be perfect in that regard and sometimes it just depends on the re you know the officiating crew but the pre-nap penalties with a rookie quarterback they need to keep those at minimum because B niick starting drives first and 15 second and 15 not good for him not good for their offense you let let's go to that line because Garrett BS will be starting his 100th career game with the Broncos I think when you give that number out to Broncos fans that feels like something pretty uh substantial given the fact that ever since he got here it's kind of felt like how long till the Broncos can upgrade the position and the holds happen as as you expect you know the league deemphasized it a couple years ago during the pandemic and never really brought it all back that really helped Bulls but the procedural stuff Mike mcglinchy had issues with that all last season Powers did as well now you have a new center in the offensive line as well and the job is to protect B Knicks and get the running game going do you think this line is up to it based on what you've seen thus far should we expect a leap forward or maybe with the loss of Lloyd cushenberry that maybe it's going to stay about the same or maybe even regress I think they're going to be really good running the football again it may not be until week four five six that we start seeing that I don't necessarily think it's gonna happen right away it could Seattle was terrible against the run last year but even with cushenberry gone his best trait was his communication for me uh so they're going to miss some of that but is wattenberg stronger May is he a better physical blocker perhaps I mean that wasn't Lloyd's strength it was more last year than the previous Seasons but they're built to run the ball and the metrics will tell you Sean they should have been better running the ball that it just javante Williams frankly was just gassed once he got to the middle of the season after his rehab when he came back too soon not his fault but he came back too soon the last 10 games he averaged 3.2 yards a carry and if you look at the metrics they'll tell you that a lot of that was on him so I think he'll be better he's lighter he's got some of that burst back we saw as a rookie I do believe they'll be good running the football with uh javante Williams J mlin and odri ese passing the football I don't know if they're gonna be how they're gonna be a lot better but I will say this the sack number is GNA go way down and Russell got sacked like a hundred times the last two years 52 I believe last year if memory serves and internally Sean they will tell you that of those 52 more than half were on Russell Wilson like they specifically blame him now every sack has a story but a lot of those stories started and ended with him as the subject for Shawn Payton so I would expect that sack number to go way down so you know can B Knicks be around 30 sacks I think that's realistic based on the way they're going to run the offense and get the ball out will it all lead to points now that's a different story now again that's kind of my issue with the Broncos offense I like some of the things I'm seeing but who are The Playmakers going to be in the Red Zone the only known playmaker is courland Sutton based on last year Devon's three touchdowns last year Marvin Ms disappeared was a ghost the last half of the Season Josh Reynolds is a two or a three Greg doul he just hasn't played in essentially a year so is one or two of those guys going to pop in the Red Zone maybe but I would expect the offensive line is going to be better than people anticipate the sack number is going to go way down just be the nature of the way they're going to run the passing game yeah there only a few quarterbacks in the League last year that had an average time to throw of three seconds or more Russell Wilson was second longest in the league the only guy worse now his teammate Justin Fields out in Pittsburgh so we'll see how that works for them soon enough but Nicks is going to get that ball out faster when you look at this particular game in this situation bonix has the most starts of any college quarterback so you expect him to not be as rattled as most rookies but he is a rookie he's the first rookie quarterback to start week one for the Broncos since John Elway in 83 realistically what are you thinking bonick will do on this game on Sunday I think two things can be true he can play pretty well and and create hope and they can still lose and I think you can be able to separate that I would caution I wrote this in my column in the Denver Post that you know it's about stats and Trust they trust Bo Knicks they really do now again some of that is a leap of faith because he's a rookie they trust him but the stats will tell you Sean this is like one of the worst places for him to open his career career rookie quarterbacks since this Stadium opened Lumen field it's three names ago but Lumen field in 2002 rookie quarterbacks are four and 14 there they don't play well and that list includes Jared gof DeShaun Watson Carson Wentz um and again the guy that won most recently a couple years ago Brock pie and that's an example his resume in college very similar to Bo Knicks basically a four-year starter take care of the football and when opportunities present itself make a play and he didn't turn the ball over now again no one's going to confuse the Broncos for the 49ers though again he's got K he's got mcaffrey I mean just go down the list of got Debo uh Brandon iuk I don't all four of those guys are better than anybody on the Broncos offense in terms of their skill players so it's not Apples to Apples here the other issue is NFL firstr quarterbacks starting F week one are now they're they're 07 and one in their last eight Sam darnold's the last to win an opener in 2018 against the Lions so there's just a lot of numbers working against Nicks to win the game but could he go 15 for 25 183 one touchdown no turnovers I could see that uh and he has played in these environments he played it at both in the SEC Auburn Alabama pick any three or four games every year in the SEC and certainly at udub at Oregon but he went 0 and three against the Huskies you know what I mean like he played great in a couple of those games and you still lose so I think he can play well create optimism and going into that next week which will feel like a must-win if Russell Wilson's able to do Willis Reed and Limp out of the the locker room and start I mean because it looks like it's up to debate whether he's gonna play this week and what he play next week I hope he does because that gives that game so much more juice if it's Russell Wilson for Bo Nicks but I I expect Bo to be efficient and take care of the ball I just don't know if they're going to have enough against a Seattle team with those weapons they have on the outside we're talking to Troy rank The Denver Post that hosted the Broncos podcast with Troy Rank and and last one for you here let's say the Broncos lose a close game out there in Seattle what are we talking about Monday that's positive I like we're talking about Bo Knicks being efficient and the stage not looking too big the moment not looking too big again like Justin Herbert did his rookie year he went six and nine but there were several games you're like man this guy gets it he's going to be a good quarterback I'm not saying he's going to be we're not putting him in theall of Fame remember John Elway went one for eight for like he completed one pass in his his debut and they lost excuse me they beat Pittsburgh but he got benched so I just ask people to have perspective and context of where he's playing bonick but I think we'll be talking about Bon Nicks the moment wasn't too big for him Sean I think we'll be talking about seeing encouraging signs from the Run game and I also think that we're going to be seeing man we have some concerns about this secondary going again into week two of who are The Playmakers going to be opposite Pat or tan he is Troy rank make sure you give him a follow on social media catch everything he puts together at The Denver Post and make sure you subscribe and download the Broncos podcast with Troy rank for more Troy always great to talk to you about this we'll check back with you Monday after the game you got it Sean thanks for having me on all right thanks so much Troy rank everybody from The Denver Post I want to remind you of course that if you're looking for the perfect place to work play exercise and socialize look no further than the Denver Athletic Club right in the heart of downtown Denver as a DAC member you'll enjoy top-notch amenities like a full fitness center you expected that of course but did you expect a licensed Child Care Center licensed uh spa massage Pilates golf simulator even more it's all at the DAC but what truly sets it apart is its Vibrant Community member owned Club is all about well as you'd expect the members which in this case could be you offering yearr round social events co-working dining and fun for the entire family the Denver Athletic Club is truly a club for your whole life so find more about it and join the DAC today visit Denver Athletic Club CC for all the details the Broncos find themselves in a position on Sunday in which they are The Underdogs not surprising when you've had the kind of years the Broncos have had and when you look at the line the the Broncos now a Sixpoint Underdog to the Seahawks that started at a fivepoint underdog and as the week's gone along uh more of things have come on to Seattle and now it's up that to six the over under at 41 a half points the Broncos on the money line to win outright plus 220 uh this isn't a game that's that's one of those really one-sided lines but the truth of the matter is for the NFL games which are generally pretty close in ones score games it's significant yeah anything that you can see that's over four and a half starts to feel significant um from a sports betting standpoint so uh because you're getting away even from that you know two and a half three points three and a half points that you deal with from a home field advantage type of thing so um I think the fact that it's up at six is actually some somewhat significant we obviously over the course of the Season we will see some double digit spreads you start to see that as you get into the season we certainly saw it last year uh with uh you know the Panthers and you know some of the teams that were just really struggling and for the Broncos for that matter um so yeah I think we will see some some spreads jump up you don't see that necessarily as much uh within week one um I've told you that I think Seattle will win um I will probably stay away from the spread I think that's a somewhat accurate number I could see this being a touchdown game um so if you're going to try to do anything with the spread or with the total in my opinion I would bounce them around a little bit um you know I might take Denver's number up uh in terms of what they're getting for points instead of six maybe bring it up to 10 and a half something like that try to keep it within uh single digits um and then the total I think is is pretty fascinating I actually have not looked at what the forcast is in Seattle this weekend I have no idea whether it's going to be typical rain whether it's actually going to be sunny I have no idea what it's going to be but I try to play into some of those things but again it's a home crowd it's loud it's a defensive-minded coach um I think that uh you know Vance Joseph has his work cut out for him from a defensive standpoint as well because I think the Broncos want to try to give B Knicks a little bit of a break uh and the offensive break as well so we'll see um what the you know overall uh uh game winds up playing but in this particular case as is the case for for me for a lot Sean when it comes to betting I'm not um I I'm not one that does a lot of spreads or totals in the NFL and especially in the the odd makers are good man yeah and especially in that first week right we're still peeling out process by the way the their game time supposed to be 70 and partly cloudy but you look at the spreads that's a that's a damn day in Cancun for Seattle right and uh when the spreads you look at that Sixpoint spread only two games have larger spreads the Buffalo are six and a half Point favorite Buffalo Bills over the Cardinals and the Bengals have the biggest uh spread seven and a half Point favorites at home over the Patriots so this is it's pretty big the oddsmakers don't feel good about the Broncos in this one no not at all but um they feel like you yeah yeah they do uh and and I think there's a reason for that so um but let me get into uh some of the bets that I do like and I'm leaning into player props and things like that let me start off with this one for you I actually found this at plus odds and I'm I'm going against the grain um on this one folks I say Bo Knicks is not gonna throw an interception on Sunday and I'm G to take those plus odds at plus 114 um at Caesars there's a couple of reasons for that one I think he's a smart player two I think Shawn pyton will keep him out of trouble and the third one and the most important one for me is Seattle only had 11 interceptions last season total that's it in 17 games of the regular season they only forced 11 interceptions this is a team that has a a decent defense not not great um you know they have their moments but they are not ball Hawks they're not guys that take the ball away and so even with the change at coach into a more defensive minded I think B Nick is going to be smart enough to throw the ball away send it into the third row of the stands if he has to and avoid the interception and you can give that one to me at plus odds now there are several prognosticators out there that completely disagree with me on that one um but I'm going to stick with it I'll take the plus odds and I think he manages to keep things clean but now I want to go from Seattle's defense to Denver's defense I really like this bet y'all and I like it because of the odds I'm getting right now at a plus 165 and that is for Jonathan Cooper to put Gino Smith on his butt at least once now the reason you see that 0.25 is because what we're saying is Cooper can have a half a sack and still get a Payday here so if he shares the sack of Gino Smith with somebody Gino was sacked 31 times last year which is not the same for example as what we saw out of uh you know Tommy DeVito and Daniel Jones and you know those guys that were that were sacked me the Giants the Giants as a team were sacked 85 times last year okay so almost three times what Seattle was but I do think that Vance Joseph will try to be opportunistic and if you take Jonathan Cooper who led the team last year in sacks with eight and a half and put him up against Seattle I believe that Cooper can get to him so I like this one at a plus 165 I think that's a decent payday uh for us to be able to see if you go and look at some of the other odds for example TJ watt um to have a full sack so he's over point he's at like minus 120 um you get into some of the bigger names you're going to see a lot bigger numbers than that so the fact that we can get Jonathan Cooper where he is to just have a half a sack and get it at plus odds um I like that one um I like that one quite a bit is there anything before I go to some of the other games on Sunday Sean is there anything else that you've already been looking at from a betting standpoint on Sunday uh I mean I really do like that Cooper one obviously you're talking about a guy that that is uh in in a spot where he's been getting the leading team in sacks and you just need to have sack so that's pretty exciting uh the Knicks no interception I think is good too I think he's gonna play this one pretty close to the vest so in in particular with the Broncos I really have been looking at at the uh I've been looking at the over under and I actually think this game is going to go under I think you have a new off a new coach in Seattle that is uh defensively minded I think you have a Broncos offense that is obviously going to get get a feel for it so I like the under that 41 and a half even though for NFL scorers purposes that's actually pretty low yeah but I don't think it's gonna be a high-scoring game and I don't think Seattle wants it to become one yeah I think it is a pretty low number I think that's one of the reasons why I stay away from it when you get down to about 40 um or lower you're you're it's touchy that gets uh that gets a little bit ugly for me all right let me go to the other part of uh the Sunday slate and to uh a game that I really like this particular player prop I want to talk about James Conor of the Arizona Cardinals um they are on the road they're taking on Buffalo they are the dogs as Sean mentioned Buffalo favored by six and a half but this prop to me is way off James Connor for rushing plus receiving yards so we're combining the two together um this number shop it around a little bit this is um at 64 and a half at bet Rivers as you see on the screen at 65 a half at DraftKings 65 a half at B MGM um and it's actually at 70 and a half over at FanDuel so you can shop this one around but to see this out of James Connor if you look at Buffalo last season gave up about 39.2 yards per game through the air to the running back position so let's say that James Connor can do half of that on Sunday that's 20 which means I only need him to find 45 yards on the ground and I think that he can do that and the offensive coordinator came out and not just talked about him being an important part of the offense but this week he referred to James Connor as the Bellow for this team those are magic words especially if you'll have James Connor in your fantasy league so 64 a half to me feels way too low I like this frankly at 65 66 6 I think he's going to get to 70 combined between the two so whatever book you like to use if you can find this in the 60s take it and take the over I like in that game there also if you go over to bmgm they do a they do a competitive one you take the top two backs James Cook the back for Buffalo and James Connor of course for the Cardinals uh cook a heavy favorite to have more rushing yards at minus 5 but the bills have notably not pointed out lcow they actually do have Davis backing up as more of a power back there may be more of a back of committee than than people think in Buffalo and of course the lead rusher is probably going to be Josh Allen uh Conor is a plus 125 to have more rushing yards then cook so in the battle of the jameses I like Connor in that one too for plus money I don't think it's that bad the only concern I would have with that one Sean is just the the idea that we do know that James Conor will do a lot of it through the air that's the only thing that would have me concerned about going specific GP could go upside down fast if bills get off to a fast start it absolutely could so there's a few bets for you uh as we're talking some sports betting here for the NFL on Sunday but oh oh yeah we're going to Brazil we're going to Brazil uh so I've got this one for you putting it up on the screen so that you can keep track of it this is my Brazilian bucks for tonight this is my same game parlay and so you'll see the first two legs are alt lines folks that means I'm staying away from the standard line and I'm actually stretching it out and I built this one at draft King so I am taking Green Bay to plus seven and a half they just need to keep this one within a touchdown there's a lot of people that believe Jordan love and Company are actually going to win this game so I feel pretty confident with the idea of Green Bay keeping it within a touchdown the same way that Baltimore was able to last night against the Chiefs then we're going to take the total down to 40 and a half and then I'm going to play the over on that one so I'm pulling it down by a full six points here um I do think we're going to see some scoring um I actually like the over on the standard line but when I do SGP folks I always bring these numbers if I like the under I bring it up if I like the over I bring it down and I buy myself some cushion just in case we get a little bit of some Oddities taking place and then let's take the stud AJ Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles I need him to have 50 or more receiving yards put all three of those legs together that you see there on the screen and that is our same game parlay I know it's not a sexy payout at plus 104 but the thing that I will throw out there for you to keep in mind there are some of the books that are offering you boosts on same game parlays for tonight for tomorrow for Sunday for Monday Night Football as well so you could take something simple like this it's only a plus 104 Sean and you can actually get it up into say plus 135 145 155 if you decide you want to use one of those boosts yeah that's that's a nice one too and I like in this game uh it's it's a minus number so I don't like going to touchdown scores when it's a minus number so I'm okay of actually going a little bit throw out a little bit there go to the first touchdown score and then I'm going to go with saquan Barkley over a b MGM plus 450 I think the Eagles are invested in getting getting Barkley to to work I think that's part of what they want to see I think they'd like to ease things up on Jaylen Herz I think when they get close everyone's going to expect a a tush push something like that with hurt scoring I think they'd like to see Barkley get it so I I like the eagles in this game although I think it's gonna be a great great game it wouldn't shock me if the Packers out and out one so I love your they part of the parlay but I like barley to score the first touchdown yep if you want to get into another couple of legs that you can play with by the way in the um same game parlay for tonight um couple other things that I like I frankly think both of these teams are going to score 20 points that's why I like the 40 and a half um and so you can parlay that type of thing together where um you know you you take the game totally fine that's if you want to do that but you can also break it up and you can do things like hey I you know take both teams over 19 and a half points um I just think we're going to see some scoring um in Brazil I think we're going to see some fireworks and a little Carnival uh this evening so um that's what I've got in terms of tonight for for football but oh not so fast my friend let's talk some baseball with you I've got some Friday night bets for you as well uh I I gave this to you yesterday you fools I hope you listen to me he's hot as hell take Kyle schwarber again over on his one and a half total bases so two or more total bases for him and yesterday it was plus 110 today it's plus 145 it's even higher and he's taking on some random dude for the Miami Marlins okay so just yeah it's Edward Cabrera it's not a random dude but it's a guy that he's got a great history against so I will absolutely take it when it comes to schwarb give me the over again for him on his total bags at plus 145 you can find that one at DraftKings uh the Rockies are such substantial underdogs on the road against Milwaukee this evening that there's a different way that you can play it and I've got two of them up here on the board for you first and foremost instead of taking Milwaukee on the money line take Frankie montos to have the W to get the win uh to register the win and you get that at plus odds so it's a little bit of a different way to play it yes it's a little bit of a risk just in case the Rockies do put some runs up early or they manage to tie it and then lose it because of the bullpen something like that but when it comes to some of these teams having dominant performances and the potential of getting some runs early and it's Ryan felner that'll be on the bump for the Rockies Sometimes the best way to do it is to grab the opposing pitcher and say they are going to register the win that's plus 118 at Caesars but my favorite way to be able to do it this evening is that same game parlay that you see on the screen so give me Milwaukee on the money line give me Milwaukee to score at least four runs and give me Willie adamus to have a hit that's all I need adamus for a hit Milwaukee on the money line Milwaukee to score at least four and that's going to take us up to plus 114 at DraftKings and finally my last baseball bet that I like for this evening uh I'll take mookie bets but specifically for a single at plus 105 for him to have a single three for 10 lifetime um uh against the opposing pitcher tonight whose name I'm forgetting right now for Cleveland um but three for 10 Lifetime and all three hits are singles so again if you try to take him for a hit Sean you're going to wind up being at like minus 230 yeah but if you specifically say he's going to have a one bagger nice little shot to you know left field plus 105 I like that one over at draft Kings continue to pick on the Rockies folks I know it's baseball season uh Brad on the fade five podcast Brad has given up on baseball he's not paying any attention oh football started I cashed some serious tickets yesterday on baseball so that is why I continue to do it and so because of that I'll throw you two quick ones that we don't have a Graphic on The Bump by the way for the than mat Guardians um two quick ones I want to throw out there for you um Bryce Harper at bmgm and jerx and profile far at bmgm are both plus 550 to have a home run I already told you that Philadelphia is on the road but they're taking on Cabrera um and that should be a nice one for them then we're talking about um uh jerx and profar at home all right profar is going up against um a a kid that has made I think four starts I'm trying to find his name so that I don't I I don't mess it up um he's he's made four starts he has pitched 19 and a third Innings okay 19 and a third that's it that's all he's done um it's uh uh uh black is his last name Mason black 19 and a third in 19 and a third Innings he's giving up five home runs yikes how do you say the majors that way five that's bad jxon profar he might go yard more than once but if you're going to give me plus 550 for that guy to hit a home run at home against a pitcher that barely has any experience in the majors this season and loves to give up the long ball thank you very much I'll give you one more with the Rockies obviously that I think it's the easy one easy easy just two two leg same game parlay over GM even money but it feels like almost stealing uh the Brewers on the money line to beat the Rockies as the Rockies are you know bad Frankie monos with over six and a half strikeouts if if name Frankie monos rings the bell that's because the last time he was in K's field with the Reds he won hit the Rockies and the Rockies in their last two games have struck out 16 times not over the two games in each game these guys are wind turbines okay they can power creu field on their own with the way they're swinging and missing so the idea of FR by Frankie Montas tonight getting the strikeouts and the Brewers just winning for plus money yeah sign me up um last one for you for uh as we go into Sunday some of my favorite anytime touchdowns Dalton concade for the Buffalo Bills uh Arizona gave up eight touchdowns last year to the tight end position um take your pick in Indie and Houston and I might even parlay both of these guys together Jonathan Taylor on the Colts side Joe Mixon on Houston's side Mixon by the way plus 115 for an anytime touchdown Jonathan Taylor is even money love me some Travis etn for a touchdown as well at plus 110 and then yeah you want to go a little bit long odds I say Caleb Williams calls his own number for the bears plus 255 for him to score bears are one of the teams really to keep an eye on they will be fascinating and if you're looking into getting into the sports betting world you know we get it obviously for the last four years you've heard all the ads and you've seen them you know some of them are probably in your head it feels like the the guy from breaking bad's mad at me every time he he talks on it's just stuck in my head now so you know it's been inundated for with all these advertisements and I understand that but over at myly sports we've made it a lot easier for you because not everybody wants to get into sports betting in the same way there's lots of different ways to do it whether it's bonus bets Second Chance bets deposit matches we've collected all of them put them all in one place on Mile High Sports and on the app so you can get into sports betting in the way you'd like to it's easy to do just go to my life Sports click on Colorado sports betting and then you can look over everything from all of the books all of their matches all of their bets all of the ways that you want to hop in and by the way it's not that you can't have multiple Nate's talked about how many apps he has I have multiples as well because you want to shop so take advantage of all of those opportunities to maximize what you are doing when you step into the sports betting world we make it easy don't worry about having to click around go to my life sports.com click on Colorado sports betting and all of it will be laid out for you in the easiest possible way to take a look at it's just that easy think of it as the bonus that we can give you from Mile High Sports Nate we go to the Broncos and the Seahawks and obviously this is uh a much much anticipated game most of the attention on bonck making his NFL debut he will be the first rookie quarterback to start game one since John Elway in 1983 so obviously this isn't something the Broncos do very often and when you look at their history with rookie quarterbacks uh it's not impressive because Brian greasy has the most starts of a Denver Bronco drafted quarterback remember John Elway of course acquired in a trade from the Colts Payton Manning acquired in a trade from the Colts so Andrew Luck retired before the Broncos could grab him presumably but B Knicks now finds himself in a spot where the Broncos traditionally haven't done well with their rookie quarterbacks a greasy started 50 games but beyond that Jay Cutler the only quarterback drafted Higher One Spot higher than Nicks 11th overall pick 37 and then it's Trevor Simian with 24 and the amazing part is the only rookie quarterback that has ever ever drafted been drafted by the Broncos and won a playoff game ever Tim TBO yep that's it so bow Knicks in some ways stepping in in a franchise in which you have Elway and Manning Shadows still looming large when it comes to drafted Denver Broncos the bar is exceedingly low no it's low he's I think it's great I think it's exactly what you want I don't want a bunch of pressure on his shoulders can you imagine if if let's let's change up the calendar here folks what if this draft pick had happened you know four months or you know two months after pton Manning had retired now you're completely changing the pressure and the feel and the Broncos fans and their patience and all of that that pressure was so large on Brock oswe he bailed yes well and you shouldn't have been the guy so so think about the difference like I know that it has sucked these last you know seven years I know it's been awful and and I 100% agree that it's been awful but at the same time is it that bad that there maybe has been a gap so that there isn't quite so much pressure on him that seeing flashes of solid play is actually good enough yeah I think it is I think I mean not that I wanted to go through the last seven years of crap hell I couldn't give away my season tickets but I think it's actually incredibly beneficial that he doesn't have that much pressure on him the Broncos are the third youngest team in the NFL good so I mean that there's obviously the rebuild is on whether the Broncos want to tell you that or not so I think expectations for the game on Sunday probably need to be lowered a bit I think Nicks is going to play a clean game I think he's smart I don't think he'll be rattled person when we say rattled right you're talking about that more of an emotional type of thing a guy looks panicked I don't think Nick is that guy but will he look confused by the looks that he gets Mike McDonald by the way a first year head coach but look what he did with the Ravens last year as the defensive coordinator they gave up the fewest points in the league with a variety of blitzes from all sorts of directions and I expect to see that in this case you will see a lot of heat coming towards the Broncos quarterback in a lot of different ways that will be well disguised and for Knicks that's going to be difficult so uh the Broncos in this game I don't think you're going to score many points but Nate I I don't know if it's just misplaced optimism maybe it is or the fact that I don't oh good God don't tell me you're to do what I think I think the Broncos sneak away with a really close win and like I said I like the under 20 to 19 something like that a defensive play comes up uh who knows Pat San now the second highest quarterback paid in League Jaylen Ramsey got his bag today he will hop over that as as I'm sure his agent you know G is happening people I I think they can surprise people I don't I just don't I don't think Seattle's all that good that's part of it I get it we're talking about the crowd but the crowd doesn't play they play the Seattle Seahawks and I think they have a chance I think sea pton is a clever guy with a lot of experience McDonald's in his first game pton in the top 20 in regular season wins of all time I think they find a way to steal this all right well you keep I'm swiming gas I'm I'm swimming up stream by the way this this happens every year with the Bron by the way we sit there and we try to be real for a while during training camp and during preseason and all of that making the playoffs well no we tried it we try to be real there for a little while and then we wind up with these two weeks off and all of the sudden everybody starts drinking the happy juice and buy an into this crap so you're taking them you're you're taking the Broncos to win I think I think they will steal this one it'll be close nuts I think they can steal this one I think you're absolutely nuts give me Seattle 247 247 well that would still be a reasonable game for the Broncos if it's only down I told you I think they're going to make things close I've been I've been consistent about that ever since we were broadcasting live from training camp I have said they're going to be close is it the offense or actually is it the defense it's the defense that's where I am too I'm more I understand the off and by the way I have said I believe the front seven is actually going to be better than people think they are I do too I'm worried about the dudes behind him as good as Pat certan ISS it is really easy for Gino Smith to just not not look his way yep it has been and Riley Moss is likely to be the guy getting his start over there and and you would expect him to get picked on you don't know what the Broncos safey Health has been a concern obviously Dave had to move on from Kaden Stern from Health PJ lock dealt with health issues obviously Brandon Jones is dealt with some health issues there uh that that's the safety position really scares me and I think you have a good slot Corner in Jan McMillan but then again with McMillan let's let's be fair I've talked about this before when you're good it shows I think McMillan can play in the n but now after a year whereever got to see him are they going to find the gaps and so there's a concern there I just look at it and I don't think that Gino Smith is going to be the guy to pick them apart but I am concerned about Kenneth Walker I am concerned about the dump offs I want to see the Broncos be better against the rush but but I'm with you I actually look at the defense of the Denver Broncos being more of a concern than the offense to me simply because I understand that the offense has a ceiling they're not going to be a top 10 offense no matter what happens this year they're not they might not be in the top half despite the fact they had and I know get you're talking about the Kool-Aid I get it the Broncos had their sixth ever perfect preseason three of those have come since 2017 those all ended you know the other ones ended in losing campaigns um the Broncos averaged 33 points per game in the preseason that's the most in the NFL but the preseason doesn't directly translate so I I get it this is just a gut feel there's not a lot of logic behind it I just think that in the end Shawn pton is going to get the best of Mike McDonald that's really what it boils down to me is I have two teams that I think are underwhelming for the most part and so in that case I look at the coaching differences and I think that's where I look at this this game I think this is Shawn Payton's opportunity it's his team now right I mean most of the players on this roster the vast majority are guys that he's brought in so it's his team it's his quarterback it's guys that that are are playing the way he wants them to play look the way they want to look they're they're all pulling on the same end of the Rope there's this uh you know us against the world mentality that I think is healthy this is the opportunity to show it I think Shawn pyton gets over on McDonald in this one but it will be close all right you wanna you want to do that I go I'm okay okay I think you're nuts not a lot of faith there but we will goo Smith passed for at least 250 yards in seven games last year he's also got games from last year of 290 334 369 326 and 328 he's got receivers and by the way 328 he did in week two against Detroit on the road right we on a football Friday I'm just saying like you don't want to poo poo Gino Smith you don't want to poo poo the new coach you don't I'm just I'm just I don't know I don't know well it's a football Friday I don't know it's probably time for us to hit the weekend before Nate talks me out of it because if it's goes much longer he probably will so we'll find out we'll catch all of you by the way uh number 38 down uh see you there tomor go check that out tomorrow Buffs and the Huskers great football weekend thanks to Troy rank for joining us thanks for to Dan for joining us with all of the great High School football happening top 10 matchups all over the state it really is football season delighted to get a chance to break it down with you Danny Bailey's the man that makes it all work appreciate everything that Danny does to make this show what it is he's Nate Lundy I'm sha drotar enjoy the football have a safe weekend because we want you back here on Monday this is Mile High Sports