Speaker 1: Rick, how's it going, man? Hey, man, it's it's good man.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me on. You know what, I am
Speaker 1: the funk master of iheard Denver, but I don't think
Speaker 1: I've ever heard that Bootsy Collins Halloween saw. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a new one for me.
Speaker 2: The monster mash. Yeah, the Booty Collins version Bootsy of course,
Speaker 2: who I tailor my own style after So you know
Speaker 2: you kind of kind of can get to go with that, Rick,
Speaker 2: we got a fun game coming up Baltimore Ravens and
Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson to miss two days of practice with the
Speaker 2: team is calling me in back issues, although we know
Speaker 2: it's it's actually a growing issue. If Lamar is hobbled
Speaker 2: in or unable to go, what does that do for
Speaker 2: your optimism that Denver can go to the East Coast.
Speaker 1: And take another one. Yeah, it's starting to feel like
Speaker 1: Denver could be catching a break here. And I'm glad
Speaker 1: you pointed out the growing core injury, which is what
Speaker 1: was reported by insiders on Wednesday early in the day
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden it became a back
Speaker 1: and knee injury. So I'm glad you puted that up.
Speaker 1: I was gonna ask you as our NFL Insider what
Speaker 1: you're hearing, so thanks for clarifying that for me. I
Speaker 1: think this could turn out to be a trap game
Speaker 1: for the Ravens because of a short week playing the
Speaker 1: Bengals next Thursday. And if Lamar Jackson is seriously has
Speaker 1: a grond core injury, you know, that could be really
Speaker 1: debilitating for a running quarterback. And even if he plays hurt,
Speaker 1: I think it gives us a much better chance of winning.
Speaker 1: And and Vance Joseph said today that he's gonna play,
Speaker 1: and I would I would guess he probably is. But
Speaker 1: if he's gonna play hurt, this is looking like the
Speaker 1: game that the Broncos could could steal from the Ravens.
Speaker 1: So nobody is expecting them to win. You know, there
Speaker 1: almost double digit uh dogs in this game. Vegas doesn't
Speaker 1: like the Broncos in this game. But the more I
Speaker 1: look at it, Ben, this looks like a game they
Speaker 1: can win with bo Nick performing the way he's been
Speaker 1: playing the last couple of weeks, if he can play
Speaker 1: up to that level again on Sunday, in the Broncos
Speaker 1: defense plays like they've been playing all year. I think
Speaker 1: if the Broncos can score maybe twenty four to twenty
Speaker 1: seven points somewhere in there. They win this football game.
Speaker 1: So I'm feeling much much better about it.
Speaker 2: The betting public at large feeling better as well. The
Speaker 2: Broncos line out to was plus ten and a half
Speaker 2: as of yesterday, is already back to plus eighty two
Speaker 2: and a half point swing the other directions, So the
Speaker 2: betting public feeling good about the Denver Broncos chances on
Speaker 2: the road against the Baltimore Ravens. The you know, catching
Speaker 2: teams at the right time, And I've talked about this.
Speaker 2: I don't want to take anything away from what Denver
Speaker 2: has done, but you caught a New Orleans Saints team
Speaker 2: that's without their quarterback and five or six of their
Speaker 2: best players. You caught the Carolina Panthers, that's six of
Speaker 2: their players. Of course they weren't very talented to start with.
Speaker 2: You beat the Tampa Bay Bucks, who are missing six
Speaker 2: defensive starters when you play them. Now you're getting a
Speaker 2: Ravens team that has one defensive lineman healthy and possible
Speaker 2: quarterback issues. Look, I'm not one to question the football gods,
Speaker 2: but it looks like we're catching all these teams at
Speaker 2: the right time.
Speaker 1: Well, I think about time we catch a little break
Speaker 1: from the football gods. Man, it's been a tough stretch,
Speaker 1: you know, and all the injuries the Broncos typically have
Speaker 1: dealt with over the last several years, and all the problems.
Speaker 1: We don't have to go into that, but it just
Speaker 1: kind of feels different this year. It feels like this
Speaker 1: is breaking their way almost from week to week, at
Speaker 1: least lately here last five or six games, it just
Speaker 1: feels like thinger going to Broncos direction. And like I said,
Speaker 1: if Lamar Jackson is hurt, if he's out, I think
Speaker 1: the Broncos have an excellent chance to win the game.
Speaker 1: But even him play and hurt gives them a legit
Speaker 1: it shot to win this game. They've got all kinds
Speaker 1: of other issues, injuries on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 1: their secondary, their D line, their rookie right tackle has
Speaker 1: really struggled in pass pro. So that's another thing to watch.
Speaker 1: That's another matchup to watch on Sunday. Guys like Jonathan
Speaker 1: Cooper and Nick Bonito gets their a right tackle. I
Speaker 1: feeling pretty darn good about this game, and I never
Speaker 1: thought I would say that just a couple of days ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it certainly looked like it was going to be something.
Speaker 2: You know, it certainly looked like it was going to
Speaker 2: be something of a blowout, or at least was expected
Speaker 2: to be something of a Baltimore blow out. Talking with
Speaker 2: Rick Lewis here Colorados for the Nenver Broncos, Rick, I,
Speaker 2: you knows, as we start to get into the season,
Speaker 2: Vegas doubted the Broncos. They had him a five and
Speaker 2: a half win total for the season. That looks like
Speaker 2: it's a mortal lock at this point to probably hit
Speaker 2: the over. Bo Nicks was laughed at us. They said,
Speaker 2: the sixth quarterback taking is this guy? You've ready for
Speaker 2: the league?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 2: He's offensive rookie the month this past month a defense
Speaker 2: that the people slept on and pointed out, you know,
Speaker 2: a training campaign. This defense is going to sneak up
Speaker 2: on people. They're not sneaking up on anybody anymore. The
Speaker 2: one of the top defenses in the league are the
Speaker 2: Denver Broncos back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like they are. You know, I said
Speaker 1: this several weeks ago. I do feel like they turned
Speaker 1: the corner. You know. Sean Payton certainly case the culture
Speaker 1: and I do feel like they have turned the corner. Finally,
Speaker 1: and it's starting to look like bo Nicks could be
Speaker 1: their franchise quarterback. I still want to see more, but
Speaker 1: when you look at the way he's played in the
Speaker 1: last month. You just mentioned he was the NFL's Rookie
Speaker 1: Player of the Month. He's come a long ways. That
Speaker 1: Seattle game and the Steeler game, by the way, and
Speaker 1: he just seems to be getting more comfortable, better and better.
Speaker 1: It turns out Sean Payton's a pretty damn good coach.
Speaker 1: It turns out Sean Payton maybe the quarter back whisperer
Speaker 1: that we thought he was. It's going to be a
Speaker 1: really fun game to call in to watch Sunday. And
Speaker 1: I love the fact that the Broncos are underdogs. I
Speaker 1: love the fact that nobody expects them to win. You know,
Speaker 1: keep that chip on your shoulder man in Vegas. Vegas
Speaker 1: hasn't bought in yet. If they beat the Ravens Sunday,
Speaker 1: Vegas is going to buy in.
Speaker 2: And that'll set up an interesting matchup at Kansas City.
Speaker 2: And then with the Falcons coming here, tough three games
Speaker 2: stretch any which way you slice it, the Broncos will
Speaker 2: take any breaks that they can get. As we look
Speaker 2: at this Ravens matchup. You know, even without you know,
Speaker 2: even if lebar Is is hobbled, you still have Derrick Henry,
Speaker 2: who's quite adept at running the football even at thirty
Speaker 2: plus years old. Now they've they've started to discover the
Speaker 2: past game with both tight ends. They've had Zay Flowers
Speaker 2: and even Bateman going off lately. That offense looks like
Speaker 2: it's rounding into form. Who are the Broncos who they're
Speaker 2: going to have to step up in this game if
Speaker 2: they're going to.
Speaker 1: Get to win, well, you know, they're going to really
Speaker 1: have to be a disciplined in their gas responsibility because
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry can kill you. Lamar Jackson can kill you.
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry on pace for another two thousand yard season.
Speaker 1: So everybody, the entire eleven guys on defense, you know,
Speaker 1: your interior linemen who've been playing at a really high level,
Speaker 1: your inside linebackers, your pass rush, everybody's really confident in
Speaker 1: the back end of this Broncos defense. These guys are legit.
Speaker 1: We've been say that all year long. These guys are
Speaker 1: legit on defense. They're gonna keep them in every game.
Speaker 1: I think they'll keep them in this game. Even if
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson plays on Sunday, they'll keep this game close
Speaker 1: enough where if they don't turn the ball over on
Speaker 1: offense and they can create a turnover at two, they
Speaker 1: got a good shot of winning this game. I'm just
Speaker 1: feeling better and better about it. Man. I don't want
Speaker 1: to get you know, too optimistic or too far up
Speaker 1: there on that limb, But as each day goes by,
Speaker 1: I'm feeling better a better about this game.
Speaker 2: You guys heard it here first, Rick Lewis, and take
Speaker 2: the Broncos lay twenty points. They're gonna absolutely blow out
Speaker 2: the Ravens in this one. That's Rick Lewis guarantee. By
Speaker 2: the way, you could take it up with your Colonados
Speaker 2: records there. Rick is Halloween, so I'd be remissif I
Speaker 2: to ask you what scares you about this game?
Speaker 1: Blarrick Henry. You know, like I said, if Jackson plays,
Speaker 1: he's going to be playing hurt. Derrick Henry is a nightmare.
Speaker 1: And even at his age, with all the miles on
Speaker 1: this guy, it's hard to believe that he's still playing
Speaker 1: at this level. I mean, they're going to have to
Speaker 1: tackle well, they can't be missing tackles in this game,
Speaker 1: you know, and they have to be disciplined and if
Speaker 1: you can slow him down. I'm looking at this as
Speaker 1: a game where I think bow Knicks will be counted
Speaker 1: on to win this game for the Broncos. On offense,
Speaker 1: the Ravens do have a stout run defense. They're horrible
Speaker 1: their past defense, their back end has been terrible, and
Speaker 1: they give up a lot of points. They give up
Speaker 1: twenty six points a game. So that's why I'm thinking
Speaker 1: if Broncos can score twenty four to twenty seven and
Speaker 1: they just slow down Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson, that
Speaker 1: will be enough to win the game. I think Derek
Speaker 1: Henry is going to be the guy. You can't let
Speaker 1: him be the game rerecord all these guys, man, they
Speaker 1: better show up. They better be ready to tackle this
Speaker 1: big dude and just slow him down. Man, if you
Speaker 1: can just keep him under one hundred yards, I think
Speaker 1: you got a pretty good shot. You know.
Speaker 2: That would be a monumental task, but I think the
Speaker 2: Broncos are up to the challenge. Rick, looking forward to
Speaker 2: the call with you and Dave Logan on Sunday right
Speaker 2: here on KOE. I appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 1: Oh good man. And you know what, if anybody has
Speaker 1: someplace we could go on our off day Saturday in Baltimore,
Speaker 1: let me know. You know, I don't I'm not familiar
Speaker 1: with the city. I don't know what you're doing Baltimore
Speaker 1: for fun on an off day. We're looking at maybe
Speaker 1: one of those Russian banyas, you know, those those Russian spas.
Speaker 1: Maybe bring the whole crew.
Speaker 2: I've heard Josh Reynolds may have some suggestions for places
Speaker 2: you can go after hours. You may not want to
Speaker 2: take those, but we'll see, Rick, I'll see if I
Speaker 2: can get those two. You appreciate your time as always.
Speaker 1: Man. All right, man, thanks man, you have a good night.
Speaker 1: Take care. Rick Lewis