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Tag: Peyton Manning

  • Renck: Broncos need to run Jaleel McLaughlin to stop critics from running their mouths

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    Three weeks. That is all it took for the country to turn on the Broncos again. They are corn to a garden. The worst seed ever.

    Failing to score more than 20 points in three straight games to end the season was all America’s armchair quarterbacks and well-paid analysts needed.

    The offensive impotence is catnip for critics.

    So, it is no wonder that the AFC’s top dog is an underdog. Fine.

    There is a way to win every game, as Sean Payton reminds us weekly, and the path Saturday involves mud flaps, not a cockpit.

    The Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse has hidden its secret long enough.

    Want to beat the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round? Run Jaleel McLaughlin. Trust him. Treat him like a weapon, not a diversion.

    The idea that the outcome of the Broncos’ biggest game in a decade hinges on a running back who has been inactive for nine weeks is ridiculous. You are probably laughing at this premise. Cackling at the idea that Payton will actually lean on the ground attack.

    But Payton has made a career of pushing the right buttons and finding answers. And this one is staring at him from inside the fieldhouse walls, where McLaughlin can often be found after practice getting in extra reps to stay sharp.

    All Payton needs to do is follow the script written by Gary Kubiak, the last Broncos coach to win a playoff game.

    As Denver clumsily reached the end of the 2015 season, creating doubts about reaching the Super Bowl, Kubiak spent part of his day checking video from Peyton Manning’s workouts with receiver Jordan “Sunshine” Taylor inside the fieldhouse as he recovered from a plantar fasciitis injury.

    Kubiak refused to close the door on Manning returning. And Manning was tired of waiting. At one point, he flipped off the cameras, knowing Kubiak would see it. Kubiak finally took the suggestion, turning to Manning in the second half of the season finale, a move that triggered a Super Bowl 50 victory.

    McLaughlin does not possess the gravitas to give his coach the middle finger. And he is not the key to a championship run. But he is the key to winning this game.

    You see, backs have run through the Bills like Taco Bell after a night on Pearl Street. Only the 2006 Indianapolis Colts allowed more than 5 yards per rush and won the Super Bowl, per CBS Sports. The Bills have yielded 5.2 in 18 games. It is their fatal flaw.

    McLaughlin can expose it. His entire football journey has built up to this moment. He never had a backup plan. He slept in a car for a time growing up. He refused to give up on his dream. His resilience helped him make the roster three years ago as an undrafted free agent.

    This is different. He can go from a feel-good story to the headliner.

    Look, this might backfire. But he is the best option to exploit the Bills, even if injured defensive lineman Ed Oliver returns. The trade deadline long ago passed, and Denver declined to deal for Breece Hall.

    Then J.K. Dobbins got hurt, and R.J. Harvey has not filled his cleats. Forget attacking downhill, Harvey has been going downhill. He has averaged 3.36 yards per carry over the past three games on 36 carries, and if you subtract his 38-yard touchdown against the Jaguars, it shrinks to 2.37.

    Compare that to McLaughlin, who has 118 yards on 18 carries during the same stretch. That is 63 percent of his season total, and 6.56 a pop.

    “He outworks just about everybody in the building,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It’s not a shock to anybody that, when his opportunity came, he did a great job with it.”

    So, lean on McLaughlin and call more designed runs for Bo Nix (102 rushing yards since Dec. 21).

    Who says no? Payton?

    Not so sure. Not this time. He appears to have learned his lesson from abandoning the run last year at Buffalo, from turtling against the Chiefs and Chargers.

    It was encouraging to hear Payton’s tone publicly last Friday when asked if he held stuff back over the final two weeks. He made no excuses. Used zero qualifiers. Made it clear that the Broncos have to execute better and become more explosive.

    If Payton is not stubborn, the Broncos will win because of the run game in general and McLaughlin specifically.

    Don’t believe it?

    The Jaguars are watching this weekend because they simply did not run the ball enough. They were gashing the Bills on the ground, and inexplicably finished with 30 passes and 23 carries. They posted 154 yards rushing, and Liam “Keep Your Head Up” Coen decided to keep putting the ball in the air.

    If Payton is similarly hard-headed with Nix, the Broncos will follow the Jaguars to the emergency exit.

    My insistence on running is rooted in winning.

    The best way to neutralize Josh Allen is to play keep away. If the Broncos produce long drives and impose their will upfront, it will create urgency from the Bills.

    We all know Josh Allen is not going to play like Woody Allen. It is safe to assume the Broncos are going to struggle at times as Allen bullies his way for yards or finds his tight ends and running backs for easy completions. How Denver’s defense performs in the red zone will be critical.

    But the offense has to do its part.

    It won’t be easy. It never is with this group. The Broncos have only reached the red zone five times in the last three games, scoring two touchdowns, and only once in a goal-to-go situation.

    That won’t cut it on Saturday.

    Let McLaughlin provide the body shots. And Harvey or Nix, the haymaker (the Bills have allowed eight touchdown runs of 30-plus yards, most in a season in NFL history).

    McLaughlin was already known for rolling up his sleeves and breaking a sweat before the sun wakes. But he added night duty to stay sharp, to be ready, when he lost his role on game day as the fourth running back in the three-man rotation of Dobbins, Harvey and Tyler Badie.

    “It was a real challenge just because I am so competitive,” McLaughlin said. “But I just had to trust and believe in what coach Payton was telling me.”

    Everyone is running their mouths again. All the Broncos need to do is run the ball with McLaughlin to shut them up.

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    Troy Renck

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  • Broncos win AFC West for first time since 2015

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    A decade-long drought is over.

    The Broncos are AFC West champions again.

    The long wait ended Saturday evening in the midst of a long weekend for the Broncos, who beat Kansas City on Christmas night and then watched with joy as Houston knocked off the Los Angeles Chargers two days later.

    That result cemented the Broncos’ status as division champions by knocking the Chargers to 11-5, two games behind with just a Week 18 tilt between the teams at Empower Field remaining.

    Head coach Sean Payton has said since the beginning of the season that the team’s three goals, in order, are to win the division, earn the best seed possible and then play for a Super Bowl title.

    Now the first of those goals is achieved. Next weekend Denver will play for the second.

    The game against the Chargers loses some juice because, had Los Angeles won Saturday, it would have been a division championship game. Still, the stakes are plenty high for Payton’s team. A win secures the No. 1 seed in the AFC, a bye through the Wild Card round and the assurance that the playoffs will run through Denver as long as the Broncos are playing.

    Regardless of what happens in Week 18 — the NFL sets the playing slate after Week 17 action finishes, meaning the Broncos and Chargers could play Saturday or Sunday — Denver is assured of a top-3 seed in the conference and a home playoff game.

    The difference between the top spot and any other, though, should be plenty to keep Payton’s team motivated as it returns to the practice field this week.

    “We have to play the final game and we have to take care of it,” quarterback Bo Nix said Thursday night after beating the Chiefs but before the division was secured. “They’re going to be a good football team. Some other team could help us along the way, but at the end of the day, it is going to come down to us vs. them. We’re excited to have them at home. It is going to be a really good environment and atmosphere. It’s honestly a playoff atmosphere. It is going to be tough.”

    Now the Chargers have only seeding to play for, but Jim Harbaugh’s team has been a thorn in Payton’s side. Harbaugh to date is 3-0 against Denver since returning to the NFL before the 2024 season.

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    Parker Gabriel

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  • Will Arnett and Andra Day On Midlife Reckonings and Movies Without Villains

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    Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Laura Dern and Andra Day at a special Q&A panel at Angelika Film Center in advance of the film’s theatrical release. Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images for Searchlight Pictures

    A flailing relationship is no joke—unless you’re Alex Novak (Will Arnett), who stumbles into personal salvation by cracking wise in front of a live audience. Multi-hyphenate Bradley Cooper’s latest film c?, now playing in theaters nationwide, traces this journey, which begins with Alex’s spur-of-the-moment impulse to get up in front of a crowd and emotionally unload. “It’s the first time that he talks about what he’s going through,” Arnett told Observer. “It’s kind of the first time he admits it to himself.”

    What triggers the confessional is a still-fresh separation from longtime wife Tess (Laura Dern), after 20 years of marriage (and 5 years as a couple before that). A quarter-century together will change anyone—moving to the suburbs, having kids, sacrificing professional goals for familial stability. The real question is how to acknowledge that change in each other without falling apart.

    Arnett, who co-wrote the script with his writing partner Mark Chappell and Cooper, came up with the idea for the film after hearing the origin story behind British comedian John Bishop, who unexpectedly started his career in comedy—and saved his marriage—by turning his estrangement from his wife into comic fodder that became a catalyst for personal change.

    “It’s a midlife catharsis, not a crisis,” explained Cooper at a press screening before Is This Thing On?, which premiered as the Closing Night Film of the New York Film Festival. “This movie’s not about a guy who’s unhappy in his profession. It’s that he’s not really comfortable with who he is.”

    Arnett echoed the sentiment during his talk with Observer. “We don’t see Alex at work, for instance,” he said. “We don’t see any of that stuff. What was important to us was really getting down to him trying to find his voice. And by that I don’t mean his comedic voice, but his voice as a person—to see him start to connect the dots and be able to actually speak.”

    A man wearing a white shirt stands on stage holding a microphone, illuminated by green and red stage lights as he performs a stand-up comedy routine.A man wearing a white shirt stands on stage holding a microphone, illuminated by green and red stage lights as he performs a stand-up comedy routine.
    Will Arnett in Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    Is This Thing On? is both a thematic continuation and a pivot for Cooper, whose trajectory as a writer-director-actor-producer includes his splashy Lady Gaga vehicle A Star Is Born and the ambitious Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro. Both of those were big-budget productions that, at heart, were relationship dramas writ large. Is This Thing On? compresses that canvas and trades studio spectacle for low-budget intimacy.

    Intrigued by the story’s possibilities, Cooper—who has known Arnett for almost 30 years and even was his roommate in L.A. as their careers were getting off the ground—offered to join Arnett and Chappell to explore the script’s characters further with a rewrite. He then added himself to the cast (in a small role as a Falstaffian goofball buddy nicknamed Balls) and brought together a terrific ensemble, .including Academy Award winner Dern; Andra Day as Balls’s frustrated wife; Arnett’s Smartless podcast cohost Sean Hayes as his newlywed friend (coupled with Scott Icenogle); plus Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds as Alex’s parents. Amy Sedaris and Peyton Manning pop up in smaller roles, and stand-up legend Dave Attell even makes an appearance.

    Cooper and his collaborators pulled together the film very quickly and shot almost entirely on location in New York last spring over 33 tight days, getting it edited in time to premiere at the NYFF in the fall. “New York is a treasure chest and very, very little was shot on a stage,” said Cooper, a native Philadelphian who relished being back in the downtown neighborhood where he spent time as a grad student in places like the Comedy Cellar and Bar Six (both of which play key roles in the film). Alex’s apartment is on 12th between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, right on the same street where Cooper got his MFA at the New School.

    “It was a small budget,” said Cooper, who often served as his own camera operator. “That shot of him crossing Sixth Avenue? I’m on a seatbelt on a dolly handheld with nothing shut off from the street. That’s all actual traffic. And there’s just the cop there. We’re like, ‘Is it okay?’ ‘Yeah, you got ten minutes.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, okay!’”

    But that run-and-gun indie vibe was inspirational for the cast. “It’s like Christmas on steroids!” said Dern at the NYFF press screening, and then invoked her longtime professional relationship with David Lynch. “Inland Empire was the only other experience I had where my director was right there with the camera. Bradley, as an actor and as our family, knows us so well and feels the instincts with us in character. The most fun of your life is to be in it and feel an instinct as an actor that you catch up to after the take is done, and you go, ‘Oh man, maybe I should try this…’”

    Arnett was even further in uncharted territory, handling a dramatic role while surrounded by Oscar-caliber talent. “For me, that was a lot of the work,” he said. “To just be present in those moments and be open and vulnerable. These kinds of roles never came my way,” said the actor best known for indelible turns like being Job in Arrested Development or the voice of Lego Batman. “But, also, I did it to myself. I’ve heard people say that I got typecast. Well, I didn’t have to do all the things I did. I had fun doing them—but certainly to do something like this is much closer to what I’d always wanted to do.”

    Day, an Oscar-nominated actress better known as a Grammy Award-winning singer, plays a small but larger-than-life role in the film as Christine, an unhappy wife simmering with marital discontent. She has a seminal scene with Arnett when Christine hilariously confronts Alex about the rage she feels toward him. “She tells him straight up, ‘I despise you because I hate myself. You remind me of me’,” she told Observer, laughing. “Let’s see what you’re going to do now with that truth!”

    But that interaction speaks to a greater truth: the film has no villains, only people who are adrift and unable to communicate with each other. “She’s not a victim,” said Day about her character. “She’s not blaming everyone else. She’s like, ‘What am I passionate about? What do I love? Well, shit, maybe I’m pissed at myself!’ You know what I mean? I love that the movie talks about this theme of grace. We have to transform as people in order to actually have a pulse and be alive. We need to have grace to allow other people to transform.”

    Dern echoed those same feelings at the NYFF press screening. “The film finds the unbelievable complexity of relationships. I hadn’t seen a script or a film allowing us to know that we don’t know how we got here. Because most of us don’t, in moments of despair, in one’s self and in relationship.”

    And for Arnett, as the lead in this marital reckoning, Is This Thing On? was truly transformative. “It was a difficult task for me,” he said. “I did have to recalibrate and remember why I started doing this in the first place. Making a movie like this was how I always envisioned my life going when I was a young man. For me, it was kind of like a rebirth in a way, as opposed to a new thing. It was just reconnecting to something I always wanted to do.”

    Will Arnett and Andra Day On Midlife Reckonings and Movies Without Villains

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    Stephen Garrett

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  • Keeler: Broncos QB Bo Nix needs to run more. Broncos Country needs to doubt him less.

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    HOUSTON — I don’t believe in Santa Claus. But, by golly, I believe in Bo Chapman Nix.

    The Easter Bunny? Fuzzy-wuzzy fraud. The Tooth Fairy? Fake chews. But if a game is within 19 points at the start of the fourth quarter, just watch the Bo-ller Coaster go to work. Just watch him find a way.

    “I think a really good issue to have is when you’re finding these ugly wins, because I don’t think it’ll always be like that,” the Broncos’ tow-headed quarterback said Sunday after rallying Denver to an 18-15 victory at Houston — a game he trailed 15-7 at the start of the fourth quarter.

    “For right now, the ugly wins are how we’re doing it, so that’s just what we’re gonna continue to find ways to do. Now, obviously, we’ve got to improve in many different areas. But the ugly wins, they’re important. They’re important down the stretch. And if you can find them and you can win these one-possession games, it helps you in the future … you gotta learn how to win those.”

    Broncos analysis: Zach Allen, Denver defensive front dominate Houston, help cover loss of star CB Pat Surtain II

    The Broncos are 5-2 in one-score games. They were 1-6 a year ago. Among Broncos quarterbacks, only John Elway and Peyton Manning have accounted for more fourth-quarter/overtime comebacks than Nix has in orange and blue. Seven rescues in 26 NFL starts. Tim Tebow, by the way, managed six.

    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

    But fool me seven times?

    You either got it. Or you don’t.

    Bo’s got it.

    “Nothing fazes him,” Broncos fullback Adam Prentice told me in the locker room after Denver’s sixth straight victory and second walk-off win in three weeks. “You think about the Giants game, we’re down a bunch (19-0 after three quarters), and (from him) it’s, ‘Hey, next play, let’s score and go to the next one.’ Which helps us in the huddle, and it keeps everybody even keel and just lets you focus on the job.

    “It’s kind of the unspoken word. Like, we know we can do it, and we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna answer the call when we need to.”

    Bo Nix (10) of the Denver Broncos throws deep against the Houston Texans during the second quarter at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    The stats were uglier than the scoreboard — 17 completions on 36 throws, 170 passing yards, two scores and an interception.

    Context: The Texans rolled in with the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL for a reason. The 49ers managed 175 passing yards here last week. The Titans collected 93. Tampa Bay managed 191.

    In Week 8, Nix scored 44 points against Dallas, the best offense in the NFL. In Week 9, he walked off the NFL’s best defense, a desperate bunch trying to avoid five losses, in its backyard.

    Nix went into the fourth quarter having completed nine passes in 21 attempts for just 97 yards. Over the next 15 minutes, he made good on 9 of 16 attempts for 76 yards and a score, along with three rushes for 36 yards. His 25-yard scramble to daylight set up Wil Lutz’s game-winning kick.

    “Describe Bo today in a word,” I asked Prentice.

    He tilted his head for a second.

    “Competitor,” Prentice replied.

    “Why?” I wondered.

    “Because, regardless of the situation, he’s going to come out and make plays and compete,” the Broncos fullback continued. “Like I was saying with the Giants game, it doesn’t matter what situation we’re in, he’s going to go out there and sling it or run it or hand it to the backs, do whatever he’s got to do. And we’re going to go make a play. It just doesn’t matter. We’re going to go out there and execute.”

    Eventually. Yes, beating Houston backup QB Davis Mills on the road has a different aftertaste than beating C.J. Stroud, who left early with a concussion.

    Yes, Nix needs to run more. Selectively. Wisely. On at least two fourth-quarter throws, No. 10 elected to stay in the pocket, step up and force the ball downfield instead of tucking and running. Both throws were fired long.

    “Listen, don’t talk about that,” Broncos coach Sean Payton countered when I asked about Nix chucking when he should be tucking. “In other words, his eyes are within the progression.

    “You don’t tell that player too much when it comes to something like that, you know what I mean? Like, ‘Do you inhale or exhale when you’re backswinging (in golf)?’ I don’t want anyone asking me that question, all right?

    “But I think there are certainly designed runs you saw. Again, we gotta keep working with his clock, because it gets quick. There’s someone open, and there’s some throws he’s gonna want to correct. But that’s a good problem to have.”

    Head coach Sean Payton locks into the action during the third quarter of the Broncos' 18-15 win over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
    Head coach Sean Payton locks into the action during the third quarter of the Broncos’ 18-15 win over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    Meanwhile, if you’re going to accuse the Broncos of head-hunting because of Payton’s history, put the tin foil hat away. Kris Abrams-Draine’s hit on Stroud was legal, if a tad late. Watch it again: The Broncos cornerback was making a point, at full speed, to strike well below Stroud’s head. The concussion was from the QB’s noggin hitting the turf on a late slide, not from Abrams-Draine attempting to decapitate the guy. Game of inches, kids. Game of inches.

    “Winning’s fun,” Prentice said. “It’s contagious. When you want to keep doing it, it’s contagious. You just want to keep getting after it and keep getting those wins and stacking them. But yeah, it’s a lot of fun.”

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Screening at NYFF: Bradley Cooper’s ‘Is This Thing On?’

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    Will Arnett. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    Bradley Cooper’s third feature after Maestro and A Star is Born—the divorce-and-stand-up dramedy Is This Thing On?—departs from the musical focus of his previous efforts but, like them, comes achingly close to being great. The actor-director is three-for-three when it comes to films about art and artistry that just come up short, while displaying enough thoughtful flourishes to convince you he’ll create a masterpiece down the line. Sadly, today is not that day, but the result remains perfectly entertaining.

    The story, penned by Cooper, Mark Chappell, and the movie’s lead actor will arnett, begins with dour finance man Alex Novak (Arnett) and his anxious homemaker wife Tess (Laura Dern) mutually deciding to separate. It’s a spontaneous moment seemingly informed by lengthy consideration off-screen, and while this framing provides little context as to their reasons, the movie opens up space for both characters to re-litigate their relationship in some unique and enticing ways. The couple’s ten-year-old boys readily accept the amicable separation, even if it means splitting their time between Tess in their suburban home and Alex in his new bachelor pad in Manhattan. However, in order to cope with the unexpected grief of the situation, Alex finds himself—at first by happenstance and then by intent—at various open mic nights at New York’s Comedy Cellar, letting his troubles pour out of him in the form of some decidedly average stand-up. It’s an experiment he keeps close to his chest, like a dirty secret, the gradual reveal of which makes for some fun situational comedy.

    Cooper and cinematographer Matthew Libatique’s camera remains tethered to Alex’s uncomfortable close-ups for most of his sets as he finds ways to turn his impending divorce into fodder for his act and learns the ropes from more seasoned comics in scenes filled with snappy wit. All the while, he and Tess remain in each other’s orbit and gradually navigate the awkward complications of remaining close despite going their separate ways. At first, Is This Thing On? plays like the tale of an artist discovering his hidden talent, but while Alex’s routine gestures at catharsis, it seldom helps him address his avoidant personality—or the lingering tensions that prevent him and Tess from figuring out their new dynamic. After all, men will literally [insert hobby here] instead of going to therapy.

    A man and a woman sit facing each other in a dimly lit wooden room, appearing to argue or have an intense conversation on a bed.A man and a woman sit facing each other in a dimly lit wooden room, appearing to argue or have an intense conversation on a bed.
    Will Arnett and Laura Dern. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

    The supporting characters around the couple weave in and out of focus, between Alex’s loving parents (Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds) and a litany of married pals, including Cooper himself as a floundering actor named Balls. Unfortunately, these B-plots tend to feel more intrusive than informative, especially when Cooper keeps the camera running—often on himself—for extended periods that reveal little about the characters and move the story even less. Still, they’re idiosyncratic enough to be amusing, even if Cooper could afford to leave some of his riffing on the cutting room floor.

    However, when Will and Tess are the movie’s focus, there’s no end to its audiovisual delights. Cooper moves between scenes with furious momentum; one uproarious transition in particular makes literal the idea of bringing domestic woes to the stage, while James Newberry’s jazzy score creates numerous anxious crescendos at every turn. His commitment to capturing drama in real time yields engaging and side-splitting dialogue scenes, where the camera—although it oscillates noticeably between its leads without cutting away—affords his actors the chance to dig deep into the uncertainties underlying their confident, personable façades. These are polite masks they wear before one another, even during pleasant interactions, if it means never letting slip that they might blame themselves for their breakup. But as Alex explores stand-up and Tess tries to get back to her former career as a volleyball coach (with the help of an acquaintance played naturalistically by former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning), the duo also explores a complicated friends-with-benefits dynamic, while the question of whether they’ll ever admit their faults to themselves—let alone each other—continues to loom.

    IS THIS THING ON? ★★★ (3/4 stars)
    Directed by: Bradley Cooper
    Written by: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Mark Chappell
    Starring: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds
    Running time: 120 mins.

    The thorny evolution of the couple’s relationship speaks to an artistic desire to solve some kind of riddle that has no easy answer. Cooper and Arnett have both been through divorces themselves, and the movie captures vignettes of reality in energetic spurts, especially in isolated moments where the lead characters grow more worried, frustrated, or aggrieved, sometimes all at once. As a performance piece, Is This Thing On? is unimpeachable, and results in surprising despondency from Arnett and remarkable work from Dern, whose silent reactions and introspections speak louder than words. However, the adrenaline of the movie’s drama tends to wane the longer it goes on without a real objective in mind. It’s a film that ultimately has too many open questions without the dramatic rigor to justify them, even when its plot wraps up neatly (albeit too quickly and conveniently).

    In a broader sense, one has to wonder if Cooper has taken criticisms of his preceding work to heart. “No one wants an Oscar as badly as Bradley Cooper,” wrote Alex Abad-Santos for Vox, in a piece that also refers to him as a “try-hard.” It’s just one of several such sentiments that tend to accompany his writer-director-actor-producer (and occasionally singer) ventures, although this time, he’s mostly removed himself from the equation on screen and diverted his focus away from music altogether. This is unfortunately at odds with the kind of visual verve he usually brings to his movies. I also wrote in 2023 that he should just direct a musical already, a sentiment that holds true here as well, given how purposefully he moves his camera around each performer, creating enrapturing rhythms even when the movie’s other pieces don’t necessarily fit.

    I tend to disagree with assessments like Abad-Santos’s, given how much of Cooper’s output is laced with emotional sincerity, whether or not his end goal is some intimate emotional purging or simply winning a trophy. Then again, in the intensely rendered but chaotic A Star Is Born, the more cogent but reserved Maestro, and now the more focused but less ambitious Is This Thing On?—all tales of artists finding themselves by opening up their veins and showing audiences what pours out—is there really a difference between the desire for catharsis and major accolades? Cooper’s latest is clearly the output of someone who has been through personal anguish, and like Alex Novak, he attempts to use his pain as the basis for not just something healing but something hilarious, albeit something deeply imperfect, too.

    Screening at NYFF: Bradley Cooper’s ‘Is This Thing On?’

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    Siddhant Adlakha

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  • Glen Powell Recalls Filming ‘Chad Powers’ With Real NFL Alums “Sprinting At Me With Everything They Got”

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    Glen Powell got the full pro experience as he played the titular college football star in Hulu‘s Chad Powers.

    Speaking to Deadline on the red carpet of Thursday’s premiere, the Golden Globe nominee recalled the “really special” experience of working with real former NFL players on the comedy series he co-created with Michael Waldron.

    “When I was actually on the field, it felt very immersive,” he explained at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. “Because they also had former NFL players playing with us, putting on pads. Guys that are 350, 6’7, sprinting at me with everything they got.”

    Powell continued, “But it felt very much like Chad Powers in the fact that Russ Holliday is getting a second chance to be on that field, these guys got to put on pads and be back on that field with me. And you could see their eyes light up, and their hearts were full. It was really special.”

    The actor noted that executive producers Eli and Peyton Manning connected him to Patrick Mahomes’ coach Nic Shimonek and Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Pat O’Hara.

    In Chad Powers, the first two episodes premiering Sept. 30 on Hulu, Powell plays hotshot quarterback Russ Holliday, who disguises himself as the titular football player to join a new team after tanking his own college career.

    Featuring a pilot co-written by Powell and Waldron, Chad Powers is based on the sketch produced by NFL Films and Omaha Productions that aired on ESPN+ as part of the Eli’s Places series.

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    Glenn Garner

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  • Keeler: Broncos won’t just be playing in Super Bowls. Thanks to Burnham Yard, we’ll be hosting them

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    Second stadium down, one Yard to go.

    Before you blow your top over the lid at Burnham Yard, the prospective home of the Denver Broncos starting in 2031, did you know that, since 1990, the average temperature of a playoff home game in the Mile High City was 40 degrees?

    And that of the Broncos’ last 15 postseason games in Denver, eight of them — per Pro-Football-Reference.com — were played in temperatures 37 degrees or warmer? The last five Empower Field playoff temps: 43, 46, 40, 41, 63.

    Snow down, Broncomaniacs.

    Denver won’t just be playing in Super Bowls over the next decade.

    We’ll be hosting them.

    “The Broncos have been, since Day 1 of the franchise, an important fabric and part of the community in Denver,” Broncos CEO Greg Penner told The Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel in an exclusive interview. “Finding a site of that size that we could weave into the downtown area and all that just was incredibly unique, combined with the historic nature of the site. …

    “We have the bones of the old railyard and a couple of buildings and a unique site that we think enables us to create something unique and special, both with the stadium and the mixed-use development around it.”

    The Walton-Penner Group just raised the roof without raising taxes. Despite overtures from Lone Tree and Aurora, they’re keeping the Broncos in Denver. Where they belong.

    In other words, Penner and his wife Carrie Walton-Penner read the room the way Peyton Manning read defenses at the line of scrimmage.

    “We’re really thrilled that they came with that partnership mentality and not, like we’ve seen in other cities, ‘You give us a bunch of money or we’ll leave,’” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told The Post. “I think the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group is deeply committed to Denver and deeply committed to the community.”

    No overt public money.

    No political campaign.

    No drama.

    No games.

    Well, except the big stuff. The biggest. For decades, the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the College Football Playoff, the World Cup or WrestleMania had a reason to fly over the Front Range and wave to us while they were taking their respective parties elsewhere.

    Not anymore. You want a venue with 60,000-plus seats that can host Taylor Swift in March or April? Check. You want a venue where football fans can still feel the elements on an autumn gameday? Got that, too. Open that bad boy up and let the Colorado sunshine in.

    We don’t need the cool kids on the coasts to tell us Denver is the best darn sports city in America. But building a multi-purpose stadium at Burnham Yard gives the Front Range many more chances to prove it — and on the largest stages imaginable.

    New Orleans officials recently estimated that Super Bowl LIX was worth more than $1.25 billion in economic impact to the Crescent City. San Antonio boasted an economic bump of $440 million from hosting the Men’s Basketball Final Four this past April.

    You wouldn’t want a piece of that?

    The Penners do. And thank goodness.

    “The goal is to create something that is active on gameday,” Penner stressed to The Post, “but also (for) the rest of the year.”

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    Sean Keeler

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  • PHOTOS: Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am tournament of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines

    PHOTOS: Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am tournament of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines

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    Professional golfers and celebrities take part in the Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am tournament of BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado on Aug. 21, 2024. Among the celebrities were Peyton Manning, Gabe Landeskog, John Elway and Country singer Luke Bryan. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

    Originally Published:

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    Helen H. Richardson

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  • Renck: Russell Wilson went from “Let’s Ride” to “Last Ride” with Broncos, revealing dangers of desperation

    Renck: Russell Wilson went from “Let’s Ride” to “Last Ride” with Broncos, revealing dangers of desperation

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    From “Let’s Ride” to “Last Ride” in two years.

    Broncos coach Sean Payton filed for divorce from quarterback Russell Wilson on Monday. The only thing to figure out now is who gets custody of Thunder.

    I was enjoying my return to The Denver Post, stomach full of lunch and face sore from laughs. Then the phone pinged. Any time there is an alert in early March about an NFL team, it means you’re not going to be home for dinner.

    Wilson arrived in Denver in March 2022 determined to make history. This is not what he had in mind. The Broncos will take on an $85 million salary cap hit, divided over two seasons. No team has absorbed this much money for a mistake. As in, ever.

    When the Broncos acquired Wilson, he was viewed as a savior — a former Super Bowl champion capable of returning Denver to relevance. Somehow, inexplicably, he made it worse. He won 11 games for roughly $124 million, a return-on-investment cringe not seen since the Rockies shipped off pitcher Mike Hampton in 2002.

    It was not all Wilson’s fault, though his decision to reinvent himself as a pocket passer in 2022 under clown show coach Nathaniel Hackett and consistent failings in the red zone this past season left his fingerprints at the scene.

    No one quite knows how the Broncos became a quarterback nadir, replacing the Cleveland Browns. Peyton Manning retired, walking into a life of commercials and coaching youth football, and there became a sobering new reality. The Broncos did not know how to find a replacement. John Elway had as much to do with it as anybody when he whiffed on Paxton Lynch, leading to long-armed reaches into the island of misfit toys that included Joe Flacco and Case Keenum. When general manager George Paton took over in 2021, he inherited the mess at the league’s most important position. Watching the Broncos spiral out of playoff contention in the final month, he surveyed the AFC landscape and determined a franchise quarterback was a must.

    Tired of shopping for a couch on Craigslist, Paton wandered into IKEA and wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He traded four draft picks (two first-rounders, two second-rounders) and three starters (quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive end Shelby Harris) to Seattle in exchange for Wilson.

    The trade now serves as a cautionary tale of desperation. The Broncos gave up everything and ceded all power to Wilson in the relationship. Getting a revised contract was always part of the deal to waive his no-trade clause, though he will never play a down on his five-year, $242.5 million extension.

    Wilson was given the green light to bring his entourage into the building and function as a pseudo-coach.

    It was an epic failure. With Hackett complicit, Wilson sacrificed a season trying to prove he could run an offense that was designed for Aaron Rodgers, the Broncos’ original 2022 target before he received a new contract from the Green Bay Packers.

    At one point in 2022, nobody was neutral in Broncos Country about Wilson. They disliked him. Or hated him.

    When the Broncos hired Payton 13 months ago, he made it clear he was not married to the quarterback. He would give it a season. It only took 15 games and he went to Jarrett. Stidham, that is. He became the 13th starter since Super Bowl 50 and was as underwhelming as those before him.

    It is important to remember Payton was not brought here to fix Wilson. He was brought here to fix the Broncos. That could not happen, he decided, with Wilson. The Broncos offense stank in the red zone and specifically in goal-to-goal situations. While Payton was rather ordinary on game day in his return after a one-year hiatus, he laid the blame on Wilson.

    Russ went off script. He failed to call plays quickly enough. He forgot to send players in motion.

    Payton, however, did the impossible and made Wilson a sympathetic figure when he benched him as it leaked out that the Broncos asked Wilson to adjust his contract during the bye week last October. Wilson’s $37 million in base salary in 2025 would have become guaranteed if he had remained on the roster past March 17. Denver wanted to move the date back. Wilson balked and explained in December that it was then that a benching was first broached. I don’t blame the Broncos for asking for relief, nor do I blame Wilson for refusing. The relationship was fraying at the seams.

    When the season ended, Wilson held a morsel of hope that things could work out as the team publicly kept the door slightly ajar.

    Wilson reached out to me last week, saying he “forever wished it was going (to happen) in Denver. I really wanted to win there.” His first year was a lost season for several reasons, including injuries — hamstring, shoulder, concussion. But he believed he played well last season, posting 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He was “grateful for long-lasting relationships,” but acknowledged it was time to move on from a “sad and disappointing” ending.

    No one will ever question Wilson’s work ethic or passion. He was better, but not in the eyes of the one person who mattered.

    Payton wants to run his offense — steeped in timing, execution and the ball coming out from the pocket. Scribbling outside the lines — Wilson’s strength — is not sustainable for the coach.

    Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, center, stands between Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson (3), left, and Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham (4), right, as the team comes out of the visiting tunnel before the game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Jan. 7, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders took on Denver Broncos during week 18 of NFL season. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

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    Troy Renck

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  • NFL’s 2024 Pro Bowl Games viewing guide: Schedule, event list, how to watch

    NFL’s 2024 Pro Bowl Games viewing guide: Schedule, event list, how to watch

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    Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers is still over a week away, but there is some gridiron entertainment of sorts for football fans to enjoy in the meantime.

    The NFL‘s 2024 Pro Bowl Games kick off in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday and will resume Sunday with a second day of events—including a flag football contest. This marks the second year of the league’s revamped All-Star format. Gone is the traditional tackle football game, and in its place are several random events, which this year range from dodgeball to tug-of-war.

    Here’s everything to know heading into the Pro Bowl Games.

    AFC head coach Peyton Manning meets with NFC head coach Eli Manning after the NFC defeated the AFC during an NFL Pro Bowl football game at Allegiant Stadium on February 5, 2023, in Las Vegas,…


    Michael Owens/Getty Images/Getty Images

    Pro Bowl Games Schedule, List of Events

    The 2024 Pro Bowl Games will culminate in a 7-on-7 flag football matchup, but there are plenty of other skills events in Orlando this week. Here’s a full list of them, split up between two days, as described by the NFL.

    Thursday, February 1

    • Precision Passing: “Three quarterbacks from each conference will accumulate points by hitting as many targets as possible in one minute. The conference with the highest cumulative score earns three points. There are 10 targets that are either static or attached to robotic dummies and drones, ranging from one to five points.”
    • Best Catch: “Pre-taped in landmarks around Orlando, best catch will feature one player from each conference, showing off their creativity, inventiveness and talent. Fans will vote online to determine their favorite catch and the player with the most votes will earn three points for his conference.”
    • Closest to the Pin: “This golf accuracy competition will feature six players from each conference who will drive the golf ball as close to the hole as possible. The winners will earn three points for their conference.”
    • High Stakes: “Starting off with a football in hand, each player will attempt to catch punts from a JUGS machine. Each player that succeeds in catching the football without dropping others will advance to the next round and attempt to catch an additional football. The player who catches the most footballs wins.”
    • Dodgeball: “A multi-round tournament of classic dodgeball featuring four teams of five players. In the first match, the AFC offense will face the NFC defense, and in the second game, the NFC offense squares off with the AFC defense. The winners will earn three points for their conference.”
    • Kick Tac Toe: “Each team’s kicker will compete in a giant Tic-Tac-Toe competition. The first kicker to complete a connecting line of three squares or hit five squares total will earn three points for his conference.​”

    Sunday, February 4

    • Madden Head-to-Head: “Two players will defend the NFC’s title against the AFC in Madden NFL 24 using the official 2024 Pro Bowl Games rosters. New this year, the winning team will earn their conference three points.”
    • Gridiron Gauntlet: “A full-field relay race between six players from each conference in a challenging obstacle course. They will break through walls and crawl under doors, among other obstacles, to get to the final sled push across the field to the finish. The winning conference will earn three points.”
    • Tug-of-War: “New this year, tug-of-war is a five-on-five demonstration of teamwork, strength and strategy. Positioned above a foam pit, players will pull on the rope, attempting to move the opposing team across the marker. The competition will be the best of three, and the winners earn three points.”
    • Move the Chains: “This offensive and defensive linemen strength and speed competition takes strategy and teamwork. Each team of five players must work together to move 3,000 pounds of weights off a massive wall and be the first team to pull the 2,000-pound wall across the finish line. The winners will earn three points for their conference.”

    Read more sports news from Newsweek

    Pro Bowl Games TV Channel, How to Watch

    The Pro Bowl Skills Show is scheduled to air from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday live from the Nicholson Fieldhouse at the University of Central Florida. The skills competition will air on ESPN. As opposed to Sunday’s portion of the games, for which tickets are still available, Thursday’s event is not open for the public to attend, the league said.

    Festivities will resume on Sunday afternoon with the flag football game, plus the four additional events intertwined within the telecast.

    This portion of the Pro Bowl Games is slated for 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET on Sunday at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. It will air on ESPN, ABC, Disney XD, ESPN+ and NFL+, while a Spanish broadcast for both days will be available on ESPN Deportes.

    2024 NFL Pro Bowl Games Rosters

    The Pro Bowl Games rosters originally revealed earlier this month have since been tweaked to account for a variety of factors. The 49ers led the way with nine Pro Bowlers (eight starters), and the Chiefs had five selections. All 14, though, had to be replaced in the Pro Bowl since San Fran and K.C. have to take care of Super Bowl business.

    In all, 27 players named to the games—as voted on by players, coaches and fans—weren’t originally selected for the event. Injuries and personal reasons were listed as factors for the non-Super Bowl participants who cannot attend.

    Finalized rosters, as listed on the NFL website, can be found here.

    Peyton, Eli Manning Are Pro Bowl Coaches (Again)

    The Manning brothers are back to coach their former conferences again in the 2024 games.

    Peyton Manning helmed the AFC last year in the first edition of the games, while Eli Manning was in control of the NFC. Eli earned a Gatorade bath after leading the NFC to a 35-33 win over the AFC and his older brother last year.

    In this year’s rematch, both Mannings will have some high-profile assistant coaches helping them out. Wes Welker, the former All-Pro wide receiver and current Miami Dolphins coach at that position, will serve as offensive coordinator for the AFC, while fellow former Pro Bowl wideout Keenan McCardell will fill that role for the NFC. Hall of Famers Ray Lewis (AFC) and DeMarcus Ware (NFC) are the defensive coordinators for the game.

    Do NFL Players Get Paid for the Pro Bowl?

    The Pro Bowl Games may now feature a different format than the traditional football game, but there are several thousands of reasons for the players in Orlando to take the event at least somewhat seriously. The players for whichever conference accumulates the most points across the many skill competitions, plus flag football, will take home $88,000 each (up from $84,000 last year) according to the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

    Players of the losing conference will earn $44,000 (up from $42,000).