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00:00There was optimism at Mile High, even following the disaster of Nathaniel Hackett, who was
00:09fired before the end of his very first year because the defense was still very good.
00:14In the year before Hackett, it was under Vic Fangio, the defense was elite, second best
00:19scoring defense in all of the National Football League.
00:23And then last year, it was thought Sean Payton, the offensive mastermind, he would work out
00:28the relationship with Russ, they would be on the same page, a lot of talent defensively
00:33and offensively for the Broncos, they might be able to contend right away.
00:39And that was the expectation, eight and a half, the win total for Denver entering last
00:43season.
00:44And there's not this grace period with all that has been invested in this Broncos team
00:49to turn over the franchise.
00:50First Russ, big swing and a miss, maybe the worst trade in the history of the NFL as we
00:55will look back at it.
00:57And if things don't work out for Sean Payton, the draft assets, capital that was given up
01:02to Sean Payton, and the $10 million contract per year reported for Sean Payton as well.
01:08That could be a disaster in Denver, and five and a half is that win total, so maybe it
01:13doesn't work out this year.
01:15But then what's your expectation for 2025?
01:19There's not a lot of wiggle room left for this Broncos organization, at least in my
01:24estimation.
01:25And Rustin put up gaudy stats last year.
01:27He wasn't thrown for 275 or 300 continuously, but he wasn't really bad.
01:33He was very efficient with the football.
01:35Now it's Bo Nix, the rookie quarterback, of course, coming over from Oregon.
01:39A plethora of experience at Auburn first, and then in Eugene, the most starts we have
01:44ever seen from an FBS quarterback in college football history.
01:50He's a rookie, but he's got experience.
01:52There's some talent on the offensive side.
01:55The defense took a big step back last year, gave up more than 24 points per game, bottom
01:5910 in terms of scoring defense in the NFL.
02:03If it's even over the win total, I'm not sure it's more than six or seven, which makes 2025
02:10a very warm seat at Mile High, in my estimation.
02:14And also, when you're betting win totals, Ben, you have to have the proper perspective.
02:18When you're betting a win total for the Kansas City Chiefs, at no point in the season is
02:21it going to be like, you know what, might not make the playoffs, might make the playoffs.
02:25Let's be sellers at the deadline and just tank this season.
02:28When you're betting a win total that's that low, oh, they can actually get that.
02:31But in the final six to seven games of the season, when you need two wins, and Sean Payton
02:35goes, well, if we pick up these two wins, I'm not going to have a top 10 draft pick.
02:40You know what?
02:41We're going to go into evaluation mode.
02:42We'll play good football, but at the end of the games, we're going to make sure we don't
02:45win.
02:46Remember the Philadelphia Eagles in that final game of the season against the Washington
02:48Commanders who basically said, you know what, we're pulling the plug in the fourth quarter
02:52to make sure we lose.
02:53Got them Devonta Smith, which really helped them out.
02:55There's no business winning games late in December as momentum when you're going to
02:58cost yourself a future draft pick, which might be the quarterback that you need over the
03:02next decade.
03:03That's something to be wary of.