The Drive

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Phil cross talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys discuss Payton Watson after yet another impressive game, the comparable players to Watson in NBA history, and how the Nuggets can still incorporate him when fully healthy. Zach and Phil debate if Buffalo could come into Denver too confident after their blowout win over the Broncos in last year's playoffs. What kind of challenge are Bo Nix and this Broncos offense in for with the Bills defense? Will a young RJ Harvey and Bo Nix be able to correctly identify confusing pass rushes? How will the Broncos counter the Bills' massive advantage of size in the trenches? 

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Phil continue their conversation with veteran NFL report James Palmer live in studio. How much of an advantage does Sean Payton and the Broncos have over Sean McDermott at coaching? How will the Broncos handle their bye and will the extra rest cause some rust for the team? James explains why the Broncos are "underdogs" even though they are playing at home, had a week off, and are the healthier team. Who will Josh Allen turn to with many of his offensive weapons injured? Will the Broncos be able to take advantage of the Bills' poor rush defense? We hear from Sean Payton and his comments on the importance for the Broncos to have a fast start, postseason experience not mattering, and a fun interaction with the Denver media. We wrap up the show with DenverSports.com's Will Petersen joining the show to debate all the possibilities the Broncos divisional round game can go from low scoring and shootout to close game and blowout. 

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Phil debate if the Broncos have the advantage or disadvantage by coming off a bye vs a team that just played last Sunday. Will the Broncos offense look rusty on Saturday, particularly early in the game? How much will home field advantage favor the Broncos? How big of an advantage do the Broncos have at head coach over Sean McDermott and the Bills? We try to guess the viewership numbers from the NFL wildcard weekend. We react to Colorado's Jordan Seaton entering the transfer portal just days before the portal closes. Why did Seaton wait till now to leave the Buffs? Will we see Juju Lewis follow Seaton into the portal? Veteran NFL reporter James Palmer joins the show live in studio to discuss the head coaching vacancies in the NFL after Mike Tomlin stepped down from the Steelers after 19 seasons. 

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Phil take a deep dive into the Broncos and Bills divisional round matchup this upcoming weekend. What do the deep numbers say about the Bills run game on offense and holding the ball for long possessions? Will the Broncos offense be able to matchup the Bills' time of possession with sustained drives? Phil voices his concerns with the Broncos being able to finish drives with touchdowns and not field goals. We hear from Sean Payton and his thoughts on McDermott and the Bills. Today's "Three Count" includes a debate if Sean Payton will pull out any trick plays during Saturday's game, Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Clark going at it over their predictions for the Broncos and Bills game, and Mike Tomlin stepping down as the Steelers head coach after 19 seasons. We react to the Avalanche losing their first home game in almost three months. Will MacKinnon add another MVP to his resume?

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Phil cross talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys discuss a variety of topics from Michael Jordan to personal stories from their past of getting fired from jobs. Zach and Phil debate if the Broncos have the advantage or disadvantage by coming off a bye vs a team that just played last Sunday. Will the Broncos offense look rusty on Saturday, particularly early in the game? How big of an advantage do the Broncos have at head coach over Sean McDermott and the Bills? We hear from McDermott and his praise for the Broncos. We react to Colorado's Jordan Seaton entering the transfer portal just days before the portal closes. Why did Seaton wait till now to leave the Buffs? Will we see Juju Lewis follow Seaton into the portal? 

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Phil discuss the dynamics around Zach as he is a Bills and Broncos fan. Will the Broncos be able to take advantage of the Bills struggling run defense and how much of that will include Bo Nix running the ball? Will this season be considered a disappointment if the Broncos aren't able to win on Saturday with all the factors pointing in their favor?  We recap the wild wildcard weekend in the NFL the past few days. What was the guy's favorite game of the weekend? Why have Justin Herbert and the Chargers struggles so much in the playoffs? Zach shares the stats on all the close games and lead changes we saw in the first round of the playoffs. We wrap up the show reacting to Drew Sanders potentially returning for the playoffs and how the Broncos need to take advantage of the position they're in and beat the Bills. 

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Phil dive into the Broncos divisional round matchup with the Buffalo Bills next Saturday. How much will last year's playoffs benefit the Broncos this year? Do the guys agree with Tony Dungey and his complaints about teams having to play on short rest during the playoffs? Zach describes his torn fandom between the Broncos and Bills and how he wishes this was not the matchup. We react to the NFL's All-Pro teams being announced which featured 6 Broncos between the first and second teams. Was Nik Bonitto snubbed from this honor? We look into the Broncos defense and debate what they will have to do for the Broncos to beat the Bills and go on a Super Bowl run. Will the Broncos defense be able to create more turnovers than we saw during the regular season?

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Phil take a deep dive into the wild wildcard round we saw in the NFL playoffs this weekend. Will Josh Allen be the best quarterback the Broncos defense has faced this season? How was the Rams and Panthers game so much closer than everyone assumed it would be? How impressive was Caleb Williams leading an all-time comeback in his playoff debut? Did we overestimate the Chargers after they looked terrible against the Patriots? Phil explains why he would be open to AJ Brown becoming a Bronco in the future. Today's "Three Count" features if Drew Sanders can be a contributor after being activated for return from injury, the Avalanche steamrolling the Blue Jackets 4-0 over the weekend to extend their home hot streak, and Dante apologizing to Zach after defending Dan Lanning and Oregon vs Indiana. We react to the Nuggets pulling off another win without Jokic with Watson, Hardway Jr. and Nnaji all balling out. 

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Phil cross talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys discuss Zach's torn fandom between the Broncos and Bills as they get set to face off against each other in the divisional round next Saturday. Zach and Phil react to the wild wildcard round of the NFL playoffs we saw this weekend, with all the close games and lead changes. We react to the NFL's All-Pro teams being announced which featured 6 Broncos between the first and second teams. Was Nik Bonitto snubbed from this honor? Zach shares the stats behind Bolles and Meinerz being named to this honor. We look into the Broncos defense and debate what they will have to do for the Broncos to beat the Bills and go on a Super Bowl run. 

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Richie play a game called "JK or Neh" where the guy's debate if they would bring back JK Dobbins for a fully healthy playoff run in exchange of a current Bronco on the team. How important would it be for the Broncos to have a reliable down in and down out running back during the playoffs? Would the guys prefer Dobbins or Courtland Sutton for a deep playoff run? We preview tonight's Peach Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinal between Indiana and Oregon. Will Indiana be able to beat Oregon for the second time this season and reach the championship? Zach shares the stats from the first meeting and what you need to know ahead of the matchup. We wrap up the show with Dante and Zach having a heated debate on Dan Lanning and Curt Cignetti.