The Drive

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Will react to Mike Klis's comments on Bo Nix's offseason procedures on his ankle. Are the guys buying that Bo Nix's first surgery went so well that they moved up a surgery planned a year from now, to this offseason? Why has Bo Nix's recovery timeline changed so many times? We compete in our weekly trivia match against the morning show. Will we be able to beat their 3-1 performance from this morning? How concerned are the guys with Cale Makar after he was seen struggling with a hip and shoulder injury during Game 5 of the series? Will he be available to play to start the Western Conference Final? How big of an impact on the series would it be if Makar is not the best version of himself? 

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Will dive into the Broncos' schedule after it was released yesterday. Are the Broncos being disrespected for having only 5 nationally televised games this year, when 13 other teams have more? We go through and rank the top 5 most important games on the schedule for the Broncos. Will weeks 16 and 17 be for home-field advantage in the playoffs as the Broncos take on the Bills and Patriots? Is week 1 at Kansas City too early to be the most important game of the season? Today's "Three Count" features the NHL levying a huge fine and taking away a draft pick from the Golden Knights after they refused to do media after winning their second round series, and Mitch Marner potentially passing up Nathan MacKinnon for the goal of the postseason in the NHL. Our 9News Broncos insider, Mike Klis joins the show to discuss his biggest takeaways from the Broncos schedule, if the NFL is purposely making the Broncos schedule tough in the first 6 games, and much more. 

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Will cross-talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys discuss the Broncos' schedule and whether the NFL is conspiring against the Broncos by giving them an incredibly tough schedule to start the season. Zach and Will debate where the Avalanche's 3-0 comeback on Wednesday ranks among the best comeback wins in Denver sports history. We break down John Elway's "The Drive", the Broncos coming back from 24-0 with Peyton Manning, and the Nuggets coming back from 3-1 in multiple series. How much does, when these comebacks occurred in the season or postseason, factor into their greatness? How concerned are the guys with Cale Makar after he was seen struggling with a hip and shoulder injury during Game 5 of the series? Will he be available to play to start the Western Conference Final? 

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Will continue to break down the Broncos 2026 schedule with the leaked schedules that are being released today. We go week by week and pick the winners between the Broncos and their opponents. How difficult will the first 6 weeks be for the Broncos? Who will be the starting quarterback for the Raiders when they travel to Denver? Are the Dolphins and Cardinals "must-win" games for the Broncos? What will the Broncos final record be? Will the Broncos be able to repeat their success from last year and win the division again? How many games should the Broncos have in primetime on national television? We break down the Avalanche's historic comeback in last night's game to close out the Wild in 5 games. What were the biggest moments for Zach and Will? We wrap up the show reacting to the NHL's Western Conference Final schedule for the Avalanche, and John Davis and Chad Andrus join the show to share their thoughts on the Avs huge win last night. 

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Will go week by week of the Broncos' leaked schedule and break down the matchups. How difficult will the first 6 weeks be for the Broncos? How do the guys feel about a week 10 bye? How many "must-win" games are on the Broncos' schedule? Will the Broncos be able to take advantage of a light middle of the schedule? We dive into the Avalanche as they punched their ticket to the Western Conference Final last night with a 4-3 overtime win over the Wild. The guys give Marty Necas his credit for how impressive he has been in the postseason. Have the Avs officially won the Mikko Rantanen trade? We give each game on the Broncos' schedule a 1-10 rating for how difficult the game is. Are the Bills, Rams, or the Seahawks the most difficult game of the year? 

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Will finish their conversation on the Broncos' schedule in 2026. Are the Broncos in for regression after going 14-3 last year? We pivot back to the Avalanche as they came from behind to close out the Wild in Game 5 last night. After the Avs showed off their depth in last night's win, the guys debate if this is the deepest Avs team we have seen in the Nathan MacKinnon era. The guys give Chris MacFarland his credit for the in-season trades he made, which are showing up huge in the playoffs. We hear from Jared Bednar on what his message was to the locker room to come back after a shaky first period. Today's "Three Count" includes the Rockies also coming back from down 3 to win yesterday behind Mickey Moniak's impressive performance, James Harden and the Cavs coming back from down 9 to win in Detroit, and Zach's parenting conundrum with his son cussing at the age of 7. Who should we be rooting for in the Ducks and Golden Knights series to be the opponent for the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final? 

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Will cross-talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys discuss the unbelievable comeback from the Avalanche in last night's series-clinching Game 5. How were the guys feeling in the first two periods vs how they were feeling during the last 4 minutes and overtime? Zach and Will continue to break down the Avalanche's thrilling win in overtime last night to move on to the Western Conference Final. How special was Nathan MacKinnon's game-tying goal with under two minutes left? Will finally admits that the Avalanche won the Mikko Rantanen trade with how well Marty Necas has performed in the playoffs. We react to a few Broncos games sprinkled throughout their schedule being leaked online. What do the guys make of the tough start to the schedule? Is the NFL spreading itself out too much with all the games on Wednesdays and Fridays? 

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and James take a deep dive into the Avalanche and Wild as they get set for Game 5 in Ball Arena. Will the Avs close out a series with a win at home for the first time in 18 years? Zach shares the disappointing recent history for the Avalanche in Game 5's at home. DenverSports.com's Will Petersen joins the show live from Ball Arena to discuss the guy's confidence level in the Avalanche tonight, who will be the goaltender for the Avs tonight, and much more. We have an update on who will be in net for the Avs tonight and if Lehkonen and Malinski will be available for the game. We hear from Jared Bednar on what the Avs need to focus on to finish the series tonight. We wrap up the show withe the guys sharing their predictions for the game and their keys to victory for the Avs. 

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and James preview the Avalanche and Wild Game 5 tonight in Ball Arena. Zach shares the disappointing recent history for the Avalanche in Game 5's at home. Does this show the Avs lack a killer instinct? We react to Colorado's first game of the season being on national television against Georgia Tech. Are the guys surprised CU has a standalone nationally televised game after losing so much attention after a 3-9 season last year? Why have we only found out about one of the Broncos' games this season? Who would the guys choose to be the Broncos' second opponent of the season after playing the Chiefs in Kansas City in week 1? Zach shares the pattern of Sean Payton's team starting slow the past three seasons since he took over in Denver. Zach also shares the NFL history and why it is so important for the Broncos to win a Super Bowl in the next two seasons. Will Sean Payton sign a contract extension with the Broncos after this season?

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and James take a deep dive into the Broncos and what we know about their schedule so far. We take a quick detour in the conversation to discuss the Nuggets not conducting a full search for the coaching and front office openings last year, and how poor their practice facility is. We return to discussing the Broncos and the pattern of the team's slow starts the past three seasons under Sean Payton. Zach shares the NFL history of how important it is for Sean Payton to win a Super Bowl in the next two seasons. Today's "Three Count" features the Vikings being interested in Broncos assistant general manager Reed Burckhardt for their general manager vacancy, the Rockies getting a close-up look at Paul Skeens after he struck out 10 batters in yesterday's game, and Dylan Harper going off in the Western Conference Semifinals for the Spurs as a rookie. Does Sean Payton have a new "pet cat" in Caleb Lohner after he popped out at Broncos rookie minicamp last week?