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  • Renck: With his salary, CU’s Deion Sanders doesn’t have luxury of rebuilding. This mess is his to fix

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    BOULDER — Leave it to Deion Sanders to refer to a Brazilian butt lift when trying to explain how his team got its (bleep) kicked last weekend.

    He was citing society’s obsession with instant gratification — pizza with a phone call, dinner dashed to our doorstep. You know, how nobody has patience anymore.

    It is fair after watching what unfolded Saturday night if that patience is starting to wear thin with Coach Prime.

    He was the most celebrated hire in school history. He made CU relevant, attracting TV networks to the games, NFL Hall of Famers to the sidelines.

    Three years into this experiment, the reality no longer matches the hype. The Buffs are a laughingstock again.

    And let’s be honest, in the current college landscape, coaches making $10.8 million per year don’t get the luxury of rebuilding seasons or failing to qualify for a bowl — even a bad one. CU requires victories in its final three games at West Virginia, against Arizona State and on the road versus Kansas State to be eligible for the postseason.

    Good luck.

    Arizona mauled the Buffs, 52-17, on a chilly night before 48,223 fans at Folsom Field. The first smattering of boos cascaded down after CU’s second offensive play. Half of those in attendance never wandered back to their seats after halftime.

    It is getting harder to see the whippings as an aberration. When a team gets outscored 81-7 in the first half in back-to-back weeks, it seems like what is happening on the field is a symptom of larger dysfunction. The Buffs have one conference win. Only Oklahoma State, which canned legendary coach Mike Gundy in September, is worse.

    Coach Prime handpicked this coaching staff and this overhauled roster. And the Buffs have done nothing well over the past two games. They fall behind, they miss tackles, they turn the ball over, and they lack discipline, which spawns visible anger and on-field arguments.

    “Don’t attack the players, come at me. Don’t attack the coordinators, come at me,” Sanders said, opening his news conference with a directive and announcing no players would be made available to talk.

    OK? So what went wrong?

    “I have no idea,” Sanders said, before hinting he was holding back his thoughts. “If I knew where the disconnect was, I would tell you.”

    At halftime, CU trailed by 31 and had more penalties (nine) than points (seven).

    A loss like this, it goes looking for people to blame, and it does not go wanting. The only hard part is where to start. A sequence in the second quarter captured problems that go far beyond the personnel to the leadership of the program.

    Quarterback Kaidon Salter, who was mercifully benched, delivered a 75-yard scoring strike to Sincere Brown when CU still had hope. The touchdown, and assumed point after, would have cut the deficit to 24-14. But a scan of the field showed as much yellow as black and gold.
    Omarion Miller was ruled an ineligible receiver downfield, suggesting he lined up wrong since, well, he is a receiver. How does that happen?

    Worse, the Buffs were pushed back another 15 yards for offensive lineman Yahya Attia “brandishing a weapon” while taunting an Arizona player. Finger guns? Really?

    Arizona wide receiver Tre Spivey runs for a touchdown after catching a pass as Colorado defensive end Arden Walker pursues in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

    The offense was terrible, collecting 117 yards in the first half while receiving a Bronx cheer when it made its initial first down.

    Coordinator Pat Shurmur has been something less than competent for years, so we really should not start the finger-pointing there.

    What about Salter? He has been a disappointment since the season opener and stayed true to form. As did backup Ryan Staub, whose first two passes were interceptions.

    Those who stuck around in the second half witnessed five-star prospect Julian Lewis connect on a 59-yard strike to Miller for the first touchdown of his career. But, even that created questions — namely, is he going to play the final three games and burn his redshirt season? If so, why?

    “Common sense,” Sanders said. “I don’t know his thought process or his parents’. I just can control what we can control. I am for the kids. If (a redshirt) is what he wants, that is what he will get.”

    Defensive boss Robert Livingston must be held accountable for his unit’s shortcomings. He lacks beef up front, a trademark of all of the teams under Coach Prime, leaving CU susceptible to any team that likes to run the ball. But the poor tackling, the lack of physicality, the bad angles, the blown assignments, remain jarring.

    All of the improvement Livingston fostered last season seemed like a long time ago when Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita stepped up into a pressure-free pocket and found Javin Whatley streaking wide open for a touchdown with 21 seconds left in the half. The referee on the goal line shrugged and slowly raised his arms in the air, unsure if he was inbounds. It is always best to assume the worst against this defense.

    No, this loss wasn’t the fault of Shurmur, Livingston, Salter, Staub, or any forgettable defender. It is on the man who hired them, recruited them and coaches them.

    Sanders talks about practice more than Allen Iverson. He promised things would change after getting walloped 53-7 by Utah. He was right. The Buffs got worse.

    Sanders brought in the latest gold jacket to campus this week with Ray Lewis questioning the players — “If you guys don’t believe in each other, how do you win?” — and pleading for them to improve communication and take their preparation seriously.

    Lewis was not wrong. But eventually, the message is just background noise in a lost season.

    Colorado safety John Slaughter, left, upends Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita after a short gain in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
    Colorado safety John Slaughter, left, upends Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita after a short gain in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

    The sobering truth is that these are not the good old days — like 2024, when Coach Prime could stack the roster with skill players, notably his son Shedeur and Heisman Trophy-winner Travis Hunter, and deliver a winning record.

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    Troy Renck

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  • Renck & File: Dre Greenlaw’s body let him down. Then he let down Broncos. Time to change that Sunday

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    You thought we forgot about Dre?

    Everything Dre Greenlaw brings to a team, we have not yet seen. His leadership, controlled violence and sticky coverage. That was the hype. Eight months later, it is time to examine Greenlaw’s reality in Denver.

    Hmm. Absent or incomplete? Which one fits best?

    First, his body let him down, a quadriceps injury costing him the first six games. Then he let his team down, yelling at official Brad Allen after the walk-off win over the Giants, resulting in a one-game suspension.

    This must change Sunday at Houston. A Broncos upset could hinge on his performance.

    Greenlaw has made an impact behind the scenes, setting an example with his work ethic and daily intensity. But it has not translated to the field, where his season consists of six tackles on 21 snaps against the Giants. Greenlaw showed accountability on Thursday, admitting he should not have put the Broncos in position to play without him because of his outburst. This was an important step.

    Now, the Broncos need the best of Greenlaw moving forward. They are a contender. Whether or not they can win the AFC West or host a playoff matchup hinges on games like Sunday. The Texans are scrambling for a wild-card berth. The Broncos can move 3.5 games ahead of them with a win. After demolishing the hapless Raiders, the Broncos would then host the Chiefs on Nov. 16 in the franchise’s biggest game since Super Bowl 50.

    This will not happen without Greenlaw returning to his 2023 form, without the former star filling the vacuum left by Pat Surtain II’s absence. There is evidence that Greenlaw’s ability remains; that he can instill fear for roughly 45 snaps on Sunday.

    But he cannot talk about it. He has to be about it.

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    Troy Renck

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  • Keeler: CSU Rams never showed up for Border War, shamed 28-0 by Wyoming

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    LARAMIE, Wyo. — Reality check? CSU was already checked out.

    Wyoming came to play Saturday night. The Rams came to pout. Or maybe plan, to a man, for life after Fort Collins.

    If the 117th edition of the Border War was a boxing match, they’d have called it after three rounds. If it were a Broadway show, they’d have closed it at intermission.

    If it was a harbinger, it’s going to be an awfully long, awfully cold final four weeks in Fort Fun.

    Wyoming 28, CSU 0. And that scoreline probably flatters the Rams, who looked flat from the jump.

    It was the Cowboys’ largest margin of victory in a battle for the Bronze Boot since 2010 — a 44-0 Pokes victory. That was also the last time CSU got blanked in the series. It was three hours of negative superlatives, each stacking on top of the other like poisoned LEGO blocks.

    You can fake a lot of these things in this world. You can’t fake football when the administration fires the coach and sets fire to the rest of the season. You can’t fake giving a hoot in a rivalry game when you don’t.

    That’s not a knock. It’s just human nature. Jay Norvell was given his walking papers last Sunday. CSU’s franchise QB, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, walked out right after him.

    The pair dug a lot of the holes this program finds itself in right now, granted. But there isn’t enough talent — or brotherhood, or camaraderie or trust — left among the remaining pieces to climb out.

    The lines between the NFL and the upper levels of the college game are getting blurrier by the day. But when everybody’s a free agent, that whole “checking out” thing becomes endemic.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Kurtenbach: The Warriors’ impressive win over the Nuggets is a foreshadowing

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    Thursday morning, the NBA’s worst came to light. There’s no spinning that a player of note and an acting NBA head coach landing federal indictments in a betting probe is bad news.

    It is, in fact, the kind of crisis that can send an entire league into a tailspin.

    So maybe it was fitting —a karmic counterbalance — that mere hours later, the absolute best of the NBA was right there for the world to see, front and center at Chase Center.

    That Warriors-Nuggets game is why we still tune in. That contest is why we still love this game.

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    Dieter Kurtenbach

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  • Keeler: Ali Farokhmanesh is losing his voice, but not his love for CSU Rams

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    FORT COLLINS — The voice bobbed and weaved like a cornered boxer. Sentences that started as butter finished with the scrape of burnt toast.

    Ali Farokhmanesh looked great Saturday at Moby Arena, wearing a calm smile and a white CSU polo. Dude sounded like holy heck.

    “I mean, (I’m) yelling more than I was, talking more, just constantly talking,” the new Rams men’s basketball coach told me after his squad scrimmaged for the public Saturday, the warm-up act for a Homecoming football tussle against Hawaii.

    “So I think that’s the biggest adjustment. That’s the biggest thing I had to figure out is how to get my voice to stay. Because the first event we did in downtown (Fort Collins), it was gone. I started like shaking up and down. I sounded like I was going through puberty again, like …”

    “That Brady Bunch song?”

    “Pretty much,” he laughed. “If you can find something for my throat to fix that, let me know.

    “I always joke with our guys, though, I’m saying our body language matters and how you respond to refs, how you talk to them. Well, then, I shouldn’t lose my voice because I shouldn’t be (yelling). We’ll see how it goes on November 3.”

    As Peter Brady once sang, when it’s time to change, then it’s time to change. Farokhmanesh, 37, is re-arranging who he is and what he’s gonna be.

    No Nique Clifford? No Niko Medved? No problemo. For now, anyway.

    If CSU football feels a bit like a marriage that has lost its spark, Rams hoops is still ensconced in nuptial bliss. You’d be hard-pressed to find a heart in Fort Fun that doesn’t love Farokhmanesh. And Ali’s family.

    Although a first-time head coach, Farokhmanesh is working overtime these days to stay out of his wife Mallory’s doghouse. The other night, she caught him falling asleep while watching practice film. All parties agreed he could pick it back up at 5:30 in the morning.

    “I feel like I try to have a balance, right?” Farokhmanesh said. “Which you never really do, but you’re always fighting for. So, she does a good job of managing that with me, too. I think she helps me a lot with that.”

    Colorado State’s Jevin Muniz drives to the basket during an intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at Moby Arena. (Nathan Wright/Loveland Reporter-Herald)

    On the court, with a half-dozen new faces, the Rams’ lineup is a work in progress. Rotations are in flux. Medved’s fingerprints are still there, but with tweaks and tucks — some spread, some motion, constant movement.

    Farokhmanesh was the boy genius with the whiteboard on the sidelines, feeding the Niko machine. On Saturday, that board was in the hands of assistant coach Cole Gentry. Besides work-life balance and trying to do too much all at once, the next biggest challenge for first-time coaches is delegating authority. Giving up the stuff they used to obsess over.

    “I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job (with that),” Farokhmanesh said. “I’m not doing the subs right now. I’m not doing the baseline out of bounds (plays) now. Those are all things I did before. I’ve given up the board. But I’m still going to have a say in all of it. So, it’s giving it up, but it’s also like, you’re still involved. I don’t know. It’s just different.”

    The Ali Era’s “soft” opening is a tricky one: The Rams play an exhibition at Creighton on Oct. 25 in advance of the Nov. 3 home lid-lifter against Incarnate Word.

    Farokhmanesh and Jays coach Greg McDermott are both Northern Iowa Panthers, which is fun. Creighton just beat Iowa State in an exhibition by 13 this past Friday, which is … yeah, not so fun.

    “And after what they did in Iowa State, I’m a little more nervous,” the Rams coach said. “If we want to be an NCAA Tournament team, you’ve got to play teams like that. Does that help us to just go scrimmage a D2 (school)? Does it? We’ll get something out of it. But I want to challenge our (guys), and I want to put them on a stage. Because if we want to play at the highest levels, we’re going to have to beat people on those stages and compete with them.”

    Farokhmanesh, long one of Medved’s best teachers and recruiters, is already taking names on the recruiting trail. Reported 2026 commit Pops Dunson, a 6-foot point guard out of Douglasville, Ga., is the highest-ranked prep signee for the Rams this century, according to the 247Sports.com database.

    “If you’ve got time, he’s in here working with you,” said CSU forward Rashaan Mbemba, who leads the Rams roster in returning minutes with 615 (19.2 per game) and returning points (7.0 per game). “And I think that’s something you’ve got to really appreciate. I mean, he has four kids, he has a wife. Being a head coach, a husband, a dad. Now he’s also like, kind of, for a lot of guys, he’s the first person to talk to. As a team and as a community, we really appreciate that.”

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Grading The Week: Ex-Broncos RBs Audric Estime, Javonte Williams would love to have J.K. Dobbins’ problems right now

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    Where there’s a Williams, there’s a whoa.

    As in former Broncos running back Javonte Williams, the Dallas Cowboy who somehow managed to have a rougher week than his successor, J.K. Dobbins, did in London.

    For the first time since Week 1, the Javonte Train finally went off the rails. Despite what the fantasy experts on the Grading The Week team saw as a (makes finger quotes in the air) “favorable” matchup at Carolina last Sunday, the ex-Bronco was held to a season-low 29 rushing yards on 13 carries and 5 receiving yards on five grabs.

    Context: Despite a banged-up, messed-up offensive line in front of him across the pond, Dobbins still managed more rushing yards (40) and more total yards (also 40) on far fewer touches (14).

    Life of an ex-Broncos RB — D

    And yet Williams’ statistical stumble was cupcakes and rainbows compared to the week of his former teammate — and backfield mate — Audric Estime.

    Estime, the Broncos’ fifth-round pick out of Notre Dame in the 2024 NFL draft, was waived by Denver this past August after falling behind Tyler Badie and Jaleel McLaughlin on the depth chart. The Philadelphia Eagles signed Estime a few days later and stuck him on their practice squad.

    On Tuesday, our man Audric became unstuck. The Eagles released him.

    The ex-Irish runner remained inactive for all six games with the Birds, including the Broncos’ 21-17 win at Philly back on Oct. 5.

    Burning through two franchises over your first 18 months in the league makes for something of an auspicious NFL start for Estime, no question. But there’s one thing on the dude’s side: Time. He just turned 22 this past Sept. 6. If Estime can land on his feet, with head, heart and hands all pointing the same direction, he’s got time to re-write his narrative.

    Wedgewood’s start for Avs — A

    When the kids at the GTW offices can’t trust our eyes, we trust the math. After its first five games a year ago, the Avalanche had given up 28 goals (5.6 GAA) and had lost four times. After five games this fall to open the 2025-26 season, the burgundy and blue had surrendered just nine goals (1.8 GAA) while winning four of those five contests. Avs faithful may not know what a good power play looks like, but they know what it’s like to have a grown-up — Scott Wedgewood — keeping watch between the pipes.

    Meanwhile, our old pal Alexandar Georgiev — the man in net here to start last season — just cleared waivers in Buffalo and was spotted in recent days practicing with the AHL’s Rochester Americans.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Renck & File: Giants’ Jaxson Dart is having fun. He won’t be smiling vs. Broncos on Sunday

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    Time for the anvil to drop on Arm&Hammer.

    Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo have injected enthusiasm into the veins of a long-suffering fanbase, hope into a long-suffering franchise. They have a cool aforementioned nickname.

    Skattebo has been a revelation. Cast as a situational player in the draft, he boasts 338 yards rushing and five touchdowns. He is Brian Bosworth meets Mike Alstott, inspiring teammates with his rock’em, sock’em robot running style. He leads with his chin in every conversation and carry.

    But Dart needs to cool his jets. If, for no other reason, based on what just happened to the Jets.

    Some cayenne pepper got sprinkled on Sunday’s game with trash talk, sanitized as it was. Reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week Jonathon Cooper made it clear he is not impressed with Dart, saying, “He’s feeling himself a lil’ bit. He’s out there running around. He’s got the chain on. He’s dancing. I feel like everybody needs something, you know.”

    It was a warning. Dart found it amusing.

    “I think a lot of guys wear chains and dance when they score touchdowns,” Dart told the New York Post. “I appreciate him following my dance touchdowns.”

    Covering players like Dart is a blast. But quarterbacks lacking humility get clobbered by reality.

    Drew Lock ring any bells?

    He was the singing QB with the nifty backpack celebration until he wasn’t. He has been cast as a career backup since 2021. Dart is more athletic than Lock, but his total disregard for his body and overconfidence have helped him lead the league in blue tent visits the past three weeks.

    This Broncos defense is frothing, eager to put on a show to impress the Super Bowl 50 champions, who will be honored at halftime.

    Dart is great for the Giants, even if his yards per play are worse than Russell Wilson’s. He loves attention. He just picked the wrong week to engage in verbal jousting. The Broncos have not allowed a touchdown at home, while posting nine sacks.

    Good luck “Hanging with Mr. Cooper” on Sunday, Dart.

    It is the team, not QB: Time to stop pointing the finger at first-round quarterbacks who fail when history shows coaching and organizational dysfunction is largely to blame. Baker Mayfield is 5-1, and an MVP candidate. Daniel Jones is 5-1 and an MVP candidate. Sam Darnold is 4-2 for Seattle. Here are the records of the teams that drafted them: Cleveland is 1-5, the Giants are 2-3-1 and the Jets are winless.

    Wrong tone: The Chiefs welcome back receiver Rashee Rice this week. Can folks stop acting like he is returning from knee surgery? He was suspended for six games for his involvement in a six-car crash that resulted in multiple injuries and led Rice to plead guilty to two felony charges. His absence had nothing to do with his health.

    Latin for winning: Talked to Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas. And teammates about Jonas Valanciunas. It is clear he has bought into his role as Nikola Jokic’s backup on a team with championship expectations, following the “Age Quod Agis” message posted on the practice wall. Translated, it means: “Do what you do.” Valanciunas gets it.

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    Troy Renck

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  • Renck: With Broncos’ offense out of sync, time for Sean Payton to let Bo Nix go more uptempo

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    Denver is well known for LoDo and RiNo.

    GoBo better join that list if the Broncos are serious about becoming a Super Bowl contender.

    The Broncos delivered a second-half performance against the Jets that was embarrassing. So, you let me have it.

    Preparing to board my flight from London Heathrow to DIA, the criticisms veiled as questions included, “Who calls a pass on the 1-yard line and risks a safety? Was that a fullback draw on third-and-10? Why doesn’t Evan Engram play more?” And my personal favorite from a man with a heavy British accent, “If I wanted to watch a game with no scoring,” you guessed it, he could have saved his money for a fútbol game.

    The fans are mad. They are angry. They are right.

    We will find out more about the Broncos, so much more with a normal practice schedule and no travel, when they host the New York Giants. We will find out an answer to the question hanging over this season: Will coach Sean Payton do more to help Bo Nix?

    Will he employ doses of uptempo?

    Until Payton provides that answer, the question on whether or not the Broncos are a legitimate AFC threat will remain an unequivocal no.

    Teams that play deep into January don’t rank in the middle of the pack or worse in every meaningful offensive category.

    The reason this is the case? Nix and Payton are not in rhythm.

    This season has been an exercise in frustration.

    For every eye-opening quarter, there has been a dizzying array of punts. Nix admitted Wednesday that it was “a relief” when Engram converted a first down on the cgame-winning drive last Sunday.

    Is that the new reality for Nix and this offense? It better not be or the Broncos will waste one of the greatest defenses in franchise history.

    What unfurled against the Jets was so odorous that it suggests that the Nix and Payton have contrasting visions of how to achieve success.

    Nix needs to go fast. At least for the foreseeable future.

    He was 11-for-15 for 96 yards in uptempo against the Jets, according to Next Gen stats. He excels at the quick hitters, not surprisingly since he mastered it over his final two years at Oregon. The Jets and the Giants are the not the same defensively, but they have this in common: they bring the heat.

    Nix is already getting rid of the ball quickly. Why not add wrinkles with sprinkles of tempo? The quarterback sure sounds like he would be all for it.

    “It gets the defense off balance. We play well from the quick game. It’s tough on defenses,” said Nix, who is completing 64.6 % of his passes with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. “You are more attacking them, instead of letting them attacking you.”

    Will Payton consistently hit the throttle? Unlikely. He has pumped the brakes anytime the issue has been raised over the past two seasons. His reasoning is sound, that going too fast too much will compromise his own defense.

    Let’s be clear, I am not suggesting there is a disconnect between the coach and the quarterback. But there appears to be a difference in preference.

    Nix believes uptempo “can limit what the defenses will do, and they may not be in the right set.”

    Payton sees its value, but likes it more as a situational weapon.

    “I think a lot of it is dependent on what personnel we’re in, what do we want to get to. I think it’s always part of our plan. It’s just a matter of where we’re at field position-wise and what we’re trying to accomplish,” Payton said. “I can’t recall that we went away (from it last week). There are times when— like the touchdown was kind of an up-tempo play. We’ll use it each week where we see fit.”

    He’s the boss. But it is obvious the Broncos need more of it and fewer personnel groups.

    As it stands, Denver’s passing attack is akin to an NBA team that relies on layups and 3-pointers. There is no intermediate game, though Engram could change that if, you know, he ever becomes a focal point of the offense.

    Given the reliance on the short passes to set up deep strikes, it makes sense to press the pedal. Nix admits that he picks his spots when going over the game plan with offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and Payton, a concession to their experience.

    But the six-game sample size is something. Nix has raised his voice before during games, and would be well-served to speak up now with a third of the season over. This could shift him into high gear.

    The offensive issues are more than a Nix problem. But wouldn’t the speed game help solve some of them?

    “Yeah, I think he likes that we’ll probably get a really simple or base defense, or coverage from lining up fast and putting tempo on ’em. For example, like, with the Giants, those guys up front – they’re real. It also has a little bit to do with like, wearing guys down,” receiver Troy Franklin said. “Just getting them to move fast, they’re bigger guys. So it’ll help us in the long run and stuff, for sure.”

    This week will begin answering questions. No matter how you break down the numbers, the Broncos’ offense has been average at best, disappointing at worst. Payton is fond of saying that all teams begin the season a race to find their identity.

    It is clear that the coach can speed up that process for his quarterback by going uptempo.

    It is time for BoGo.

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    Troy Renck

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  • Renck vs. Keeler: Bigger concern for Broncos’ offense, the play-caller or the players?

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    Troy Renck: The exit brought an insult. As Broncos fans left the overground train at White Heart Lane, an NFL usher offered, without prompting, this assessment. “You all need a new chant. Go Broncos! is lazy work.” Hate to think of what he thought of the offense. The Broncos were a mess against the Jets. They collected 246 yards on 57 plays, a total that would have spelled doom if not for a Denver defense delivering of the most dominating performances in franchise history. The Broncos have yet to take the step forward that was expected. So is it because of the play-caller or the players?

    Sean Keeler: It takes a village to build that much ugliness. But I’ll give the edge to Sunshine Sean here. Let me ask you this, my friend. Was it Adam Prentice’s fault that his coach calls a fullback draw on third-and-10 with 1:56 left in the third quarter while trailing by one in a foreign country? Was it Jaleel McLaughlin’s fault that he had a screen dialed up for him on third-and-4 in the third quarter while Denver was nursing a 1-point lead? And should we mention that this was McLaughlin’s first action of the young season? The same five words kept banging in my head Sunday afternoon, and I hope they’re banging in Payton’s: What are we doing here?

    Renck: The Broncos’ lack talent at skill players. In four of the first six games, the opponents have boasted better receivers, tight ends and running backs. Enough with the experiments, coach. This problem traces back to Payton. It’s time for the best players to get the lion’s share of reps. That means more cJ.K. Dobbins and Evan Engram and less everyone else. The Broncos lack consistency offensively because they lack consistency with the personnel. At one point in the second quarter, Payton used Dobbins on first down, R.J. Harvey on second and Jaleel McLaughlin in three downs. Uncle. Time to taper off the line changes that would make Jared Bednar blush. The Broncos need to establish an identity. But, It is hard to know who you are when you don’t know who is in the game.

    Keeler: Payton’s worst enemy? Sean Payton. Sean Payton, Offensive Genius. Sean Payton, Riverboat Gambler. Sean Payton, Super Bowl Champ. The shadow of a mad scientist is always creeping over his shoulder, tapping on it, reminded him to be clever. To experiment. Reminding him of the pressure, the expectation, to prove that he’s the smartest guy in the room. The problem with being the NFL’s Baron Frankenstein is that the creature that rises from the slab is inevitably a patchwork job — but it’s rarely a monster.

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    Troy Renck, Sean Keeler

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  • Keeler: CU Buffs coach Deion Sanders hasn’t hesitated to play freshmen. So why is he hesitating to play 5-star QB Julian Lewis?

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    BOULDER — There will be another Ju Ju.

    Lots of them, actually. If we’ve learned anything about CU recruiting in the Deion Sanders Era, it’s that if Coach Prime wants someone — like, really, really, really wants them — he gets them.

    Left tackle Jordan Seaton? Got him.

    Cornerback Cormani McClain? Got him. (Best not look at the young man’s Florida Gators numbers right now if you’re a Buffs fan. Seriously. Don’t.)

    Quarterback Julian Lewis? Got him, too.

    Keeping him? Well …

    At 2-4, 0-3 in Big 12 play, CU football is staring at a crisis/inflection point right now. No. 22 Iowa State (5-1) rolls into town for a Saturday matinee, and a trip to Utah (4-1), which is back to running the ball at will again, looms after that.

    Meanwhile, Coach Prime’s health concerns are mounting. And the Buffs have played three QBs in six games because, as the old adage goes, they don’t really have one. Not one who can sling it consistently at a Big 12 level, at any rate.

    After Kaidon Salter just tossed three interceptions at TCU, Ju Ju is the people’s choice again.

    Build for the future!

    The season’s already lost!

    What’s the difference between 4-8 and 2-10?

    If we don’t play Ju Ju this fall, we’ll lose him to the transfer portal! And that would be a tragedy!

    Would it, though?

    I mean, in terms of Lewis’ value in the open market, you’re absolutely right. Big Ten and SEC football programs, even bad ones, have more money right now than they know what to do with. The Buffs, as with many of their Big 12 peers, have to pick and choose their bidding wars.

    Although CU also, at the moment, has 24 offers out to quarterbacks in the Class of ’26, according to the 247Sports database. They’ve got five out to signal-callers in the Class of ’27, and four in the Class of ’28.

    Recruiting, at its core, is about salesmanship. Nobody sells — themselves, their school, a product, the future — the way Coach Prime sells. Charmers are charmers for life.

    Ask yourself this, too: If Lewis is that hot, why hasn’t he beaten out the two guys who’ve been driving you crazy?

    You’ve watched Salter for five games. You’ve watched backup Ryan Staub for two.

    As Coach Prime points out, he sees what you saw.

    Yet when asked about Ju Ju’s progress on Tuesday, Sanders said this, and bluntly:

    “He’s coming around the mountain when he comes.”

    Will he be driving six white horses?

    We kid, we kid. But the hesitation, given precedent, is more than curious, isn’t it?

    After all, Coach Prime has made a point of playing freshmen who earned his trust early. Seaton. Micah Welch. Omarion Miller. Dre’Lon Miller.

    Lewis, though?

    Not so much. Not yet, anyway.

    “I mean, he’s young, and you can’t throw everything at him,” Sanders explained after playing Lewis for two rocky series vs. Delaware last month. “So you don’t want to do that. You don’t want him to feel like he failed.

    “So you’ve got to proceed with — some guys want you to just throw him in there, and I’m too protective. I mean, I love the kid and I want the kid to be successful, so we’re very protective on what we do with him and what we can do with him and really how we call things with him. We want him to be in a situation to excel.”

    Again, he sees what you see. He sees a young man who only turned 18 two-and-a-half weeks ago. And it doesn’t take much reading between the lines to see a QB who isn’t quite ready yet.

    Although …

    “I’ve never sat on the bench and said, ‘Whoa, I learned a lot today.’”

    That quote also came from Sanders, when he was a guest on the Kelce Brothers’ “New Heights” podcast a fortnight ago. He’d said that while explaining why son Shedeur didn’t want to be drafted by Baltimore and become All-Pro QB Lamar Jackson’s understudy

    “Who learns sitting on the bench?” Coach Prime continued. “Who does that?”

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  • Keeler: Avalanche roster hasn’t been this old since 2007. Will time, and Stanley Cup, finally be on GM Chris MacFarland’s side?

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    The Condor hung up his wings for good Monday. If Eric Johnson turning 37 makes you feel old, imagine how it makes him feel.

    “You snap your fingers and your career is over, and it’s so short in the big picture of your life,” Johnson, who patrolled the Avalanche’s blue line from 2011-2023 and then again for a smidge earlier this year, mused at Family Sports Center. “And it’s so short in the big picture of your life, that I just figured that, ‘Why not come to the rink every day like it’s the best day ever?’ I hope that rubbed off on people over time.”

    RELATED: Meet the 2025-26 Colorado Avalanche: A breakdown of the complete team roster

    Sure did. But seeing the affable EJ call time on a stellar run was also a reminder, and not a sunny one, that the Avs’ current core is creeping closer to the end of the movie than the beginning.

    Brent Burns isn’t the only greybeard in the building. Colorado, per EliteProspects.com, opens the 2025-26 season on late Tuesday in Los Angeles with the fourth-oldest roster in the NHL at an average age of 29.17 years. It’s the third-oldest in the Western Conference behind Winnipeg (30.17 years) and the Kings, their first-night sparring partner (29.74).

    The Avs’ roster as of Monday morning featured nine players 30 or older. It’s the first time a Colorado roster sported an average age over 29, according to the Elite Prospects database, since 2006-07. Joe Sakic was 38 then. That group totaled 95 points but missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the franchise relocated from Quebec City.

    Coach Jared Bednar is juggling a few katanas while the Sword of Damocles dangles over his head this season. But load management is among the trickiest, given the annual grind of the Western Conference and the usual stratospheric stakes.

    Push the guys in order to snatch home ice? Or ease things up with the marathon of 7-8 months in mind? When your captain’s still testing a new knee on the fly, there’s no easy answer.

    “I think Bedsy and the staff … are going to be smart, particularly with (Gabe) Landeskog, right?” Avs general manager Chris MacFarland replied Monday when I asked about the load. “We’re going to glean information on how (Gabe) does in back-to-backs, or three (games in four days), or four (in six days) and his practice schedule …  He’s a really important player. So I think we’ll just we’ll glean that information … and we’ll read and react off that.”

    For years, C-Mac’s Avs were young, to paraphrase noted philosopher Bob Seger, and they were strong, running against the wind. Only those winds blow even harder now, and they’re not so young anymore. Big Val Nichushkin turns 31 in March. Landeskog turns 33 in November. Brock Nelson turns 34 next month. Among the defense, Josh Manson turns 34 on Tuesday. Devon Toews turns 32 in February. Burns turns 41 in March.

    Time is no longer on Bednar’s side. At one point Monday, MacFarland even sounded reflective, if slightly defensive, about the expiration date on what should’ve been an NHL dynasty.

    “COVID hurt us,” MacFarland said. “There’s no ifs or buts about it. And then the uncertainty of Gabe’s situation and the unfortunate stuff with Val. But that stuff’s in the past.

    “I think our guys, what Bedsy and our players have done is, that they have a chance. I think the organization’s job is to try and give them as good a chance as possible, and their play dictates that. I think over the last seven, eight years, their play (has) consistently dictated that. Hopefully, it will continue to do so this year as well.”

    To his credit, MacFarland has been as dedicated to tweaking and shuffling the fringes of his roster as former Nuggets GM Calvin Booth was to sitting on his hands. Better to try and fail than to shrug, as Booth did, while Father Time coldly ripped the pages from Nikola Jokic’s desk calendar.

    But Avs 1.1 (2023) and 1.2 (2024) never got as close as version 1.0 (2022 Stanley Cup champs) did in terms of bottling that combo of strong health, strong depth, strong special teams, strong goaltending, strong intangibles and strong matchups.

    Although 1.3 (2025), on paper, flew awfully close. Wise puckheads looked at Stars-Avs last spring and declared that the winner was easily bound for, at worst, a Western Conference final — and that we were getting a main event far, far too early. They were right, in hindsight. Not that it should make anyone in burgundy and blue feel any better.

    A long Cup run is a marathon, a two-month, uphill march of sweat, blood, guts, focus and willpower. It’s a battle of attrition and desperation; a story that inevitably demands a dozen hands and five or six heroes.

    Lord Stanley is one of the hardest trophies in sports to win and even harder to keep. And yet the fact that the Florida Panthers have made it look even easier than the Lightning did does not reflect as kindly on MacFarland and Bednar, who have been good at their jobs at the same time some peers have been great.

    It’s not unfair to assume the pair’s window might have already come and gone. If you’re curious, the last 14 teams with an average age of 29 or more from 2020-21 through 2024-25 averaged 95.2 points during the regular season. Eight of the 14 “old” squads reached the playoffs. And four of those eight got bounced out of the bracket in the first round.

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  • Renck: In signature win for Sean Payton, Broncos prove they’re afraid of nobody with remarkable comeback vs. Eagles

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    PHILADELPHIA — The quarterback fought frustration. The tight end remained in witness protection. The cornerback got cooked.

    The penalties, each more ridiculous than the last, mounted. The Broncos were on the verge of getting skunked.

    Then something remarkable happened. They finished.

    They met the moment. At last.

    Trailing by 14 points against the defending champion Eagles, who had not lost a home game in 13 months, the Broncos rallied for a 21-17 victory, surviving a heart-in-a-blender Hail Mary pass.

    Broncos Analysis: In dominating trenches vs. Philly, Sean Payton’s team finally has road map to loftier goals

    This game threatened to become a blowout. Instead, it became the blueprint. You saw it. Run the ball. Convert third downs. Use the middle of the field. Turn Nik Bonitto loose (not sure if he showers after games or just licks his paws).

    As the football sat lonely in the corner of the end zone with time expired, safety Talanoa Hufanga taunted Philadelphia fans, raising his arms in the air for dramatic effect. The swagger and confidence were no longer just a locker room thing, but in the light for everyone to see.

    The Broncos are back in every January conversation.

    They are 3-2 and should be favored in their next seven games. In a remarkable final 15 minutes, they transformed the lingering narrative that they were frauds into a story inspiring fear.

    These players, who were the equivalent of a clenched fist after walk-off losses to the Colts and Chargers, punched back.

    Enough was enough.

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  • Keeler: Nathan MacKinnon says Game 7 loss to Dallas ‘like getting over a breakup.’ Now Avalanche star is healed, out for revenge

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    The ghost in the stall meant one thing: Nathan MacKinnon isn’t done haunting the NHL yet.

    As the Avalanche locker room opened for media a few Fridays ago during training camp, the big names crisscrossed, de-taped and unwound. Captain Gabe Landeskog held court at one end. Newbie Brent Burns grinned toothlessly at the other.

    “Every day, you see (MacKinnon) do 10-12 things that are like, ‘Holy (expletive),’” Burns, a veteran defenseman who came over from Carolina, cackled. “And usually I’m at the wrong end of it. So it’s not good.”

    Practice had just ended. MacKinnon’s skates were inside his locker. The rest of him was gone. Grinding.

    “Working out,” an Avs staffer told me.

    Twenty minutes became 25.

    “He’s riding the bike now,” another staffer said. “Will be a bit of time.”

    Twenty-five minutes became 30.

    Then 35. Then 40. Then 45.

    My phone buzzed.

    “He’s on the way,” a voice said.

    Think this man is easing up at age 30? Think he’s satisfied with one Stanley Cup?

    You must be joking.

    “I enjoy the day-to-day grind of it,” the Avs’ iconic center explained. “I enjoy working out. I enjoy skating with guys back home —  just relaxing and working hard and trying to get better. So that kind of keeps me in the moment. ”

    The rocket never rests. MacKinnon stands 6-foot in socks. But if carrying the Avs on his back, if dragging them kicking and screaming, gets Colorado another Stanley Cup in 2026, he’s good with that, too. Hop on.

    “Just trying to get my mind and body ready for a long season,” MacKinnon continued. “Each day I come here, I’m just trying to get a little better. Just try to win every day I have. And hopefully that takes me and the team to a good spot.”

    He’s in a better place than last May. That’s when old friend Mikko Rantanen, in what we hope doesn’t become a recurring theme, tore into MacKinnon’s chest and ripped his heart out. Rantanen, a stalwart of the Avs’ 2022 Cup champs, scored a hat trick to lead his new team, the Dallas Stars, to a maddening, series-clinching Game 7 win over his old one.

    “It’s like getting over a breakup,” MacKinnon said of last season’s ignominious end. “It just takes a long time. Time heals everything.”

    Including the Avs. Last spring’s wounds are this fall’s scars. Last October’s concerns are this year’s colonnades.

    Landeskog, the Captain, is back from the jump. So is big Valeri Nichushkin.

    Brock Nelson signed a 3-year extension to nip that nagging “2C” question in the bud. New winger Victor Olofsson can hit a flea from 50 yards out. Burns brings 6-foot-5 beef to the blue line, to say nothing of the best dang beard in pro hockey.

    “I think when you all lose together, you’re in a painful experience together, I think you can come out of it stronger,” MacKinnon said of the Avs’ first-round elimination by a depleted Stars roster. “No one (in this locker room) was blaming each other; it was all on each other. I think it was a tough loss. We lost to a really good team. But I think we’ll be better because of it.”

    Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) takes the puck down ice against Dallas Stars center Mikael Granlund (64) and Esa Lindell (23) in the first period of game four of the first round of the NHL playoffs at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

    One Cup? For Nate, it’s not enough. It was never enough.

    Mighty MacK’s good pal Sidney Crosby went seven years between championships. Colorado’s Burgundy Bolide turned 30 on Sept. 1. Father Time is the only dude MacKinnon can’t beat to the goal line.

    “This is our fourth year (since 2022), so you just never know when it’s going to come,” the Avs center mused. “It’s just … sometimes, you win a couple in a row. Sometimes, it took (the Penguins) seven. And (then) they won two in a row. Hopefully, that happens for us one day. But I like where we’re at.”

    Enter Burns. Enter Olofsson. Enter new assistant coach Dave Hakstol to help put some pep back into Colorado’s special teams. The Avs’ power play buzzsaw of the ’22 postseason was positively toothless in ’25 against the Stars.

    “It’s not a ton of turnover, like last season (when) we had like nine new guys,” MacKinnon said. “Most of those guys are back. So I think it’s going to be a positive year — positive that we have so many returning guys.”

    The negative? Landy turns 33 in November. Val turns 31 in March. Nelson’s 34th birthday falls on Oct. 15. Burns is lurching toward 41.

    There’s a lot of mileage in that locker room. And an awful lot of tread worn off an awful lot of tires.

    “I won’t look at Nate any differently if he wins one (Cup) or if he wins three,” Eddie Olczyk, the Warner Bros. Discovery and TNT analyst, told me by phone. “He’s won. He’s separated himself from many, many great players who have played this game.

    “In terms of game-breakers and difference-makers, (the Avs) have two of the very best at different positions in (MacKinnon) and (defenseman) Cale Makar. But you need to stay healthy.”

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  • Renck: No Michael Malone. No MPJ. No excuses for Nuggets, Nikola Jokic to not win another title

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    MPJ with a mic is OMG. Michael Malone remains an angry emoji.

    And without these two, the Nuggets are no longer bitter and a whole lot better.

    This is not a reset. It is a cleansing of negative vibes, paranoia and a bench that was thinner than Flat Stanley.

    When last season ended, there was a feeling the Nuggets were going to run it back, throwing their arms in the air and asking coach David Adelman to sprinkle pixie dust on an aging roster increasingly defined by injuries and a lack of versatility.

    Four months later, that’s all changed.

    The Nuggets hired two general managers, Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer, who made a trade that immediately restored title expectations. Those have only grown stronger with the unfortunate season-ending injury to Houston’s Fred VanVleet, the possibility of mental and physical fatigue in OKC, and the inclusion of six Nuggets on ESPN’s NBA Rank Top 100 released this week.

    This is the deepest team Jokic has ever played with, and it’s the best chance he will have to win another title in Denver.

    Sure, Jokic, who was No. 1 on the aforementioned list, has four more years left of his prime. But he will never have another prime opportunity like this.

    He has Jonas Valanciunas, ESPN’s No. 87, as his backup. Are you kidding me? Valanciunas will deliver double-doubles. The previous backups for Jokic were lucky to deliver double-figure minutes. Jokic, yes, Jokic, will be fresh for the playoffs.

    Everything has fallen into place this offseason as the Nuggets prepare to hold their media day on Monday, starting with the subtractions.

    Multiple things can be true when discussing Michael Porter Jr. and Malone.

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  • Keeler: CSU Rams coach Jay Norvell is becoming his own worst enemy in FoCo

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    FORT COLLINS — CSU ranks 99th nationally in passing (197.3 yards per game) and No. 1 in throwing stuff against the wall.

    Are the Rams a power run team? An Air Raid team? Pro style? Spread? Multiple? All of the above? None of the above?

    Jay Norvell, the head coach, needs to re-assign Jay Norvell, the offensive coordinator, before it’s too late. Close games are turning chaotic at Canvas Stadium — only not in a good way. The Rams are tied for 127th out of 136 FBS programs in penalties per game (8.7) and 121st in penalty yards (76.3).

    You wait too long to yank a cold hand (Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi) at quarterback against UTSA. You put in a hot hand (Jackson Brousseau), who slings you back into a tie game, 17-17, with 29 seconds left … only to take that tying point off the board and take said “hot hand” out of the contest.

    Then you ask your third-string QB, a runner by trade (Tahj Bullock) who hasn’t completed a throw all year, to come off the bench cold, sprint right and pass you to a victory?

    “That was one where I felt like that was our best chance to win, right there and right now,” Norvell explained Monday after watching film of CSU’s 17-16 home loss to the Roadrunners. “And so, I don’t regret it. I don’t. We needed to execute it better.”

    I don’t know, man.

    To be clear: CSU football is in a far, far better place than at this time four years ago. Daz Ball was a disaster from the jump.

    It was also, in hindsight, a hysterically low bar to clear. And instead of consolidating the fan base in Year 4, Norvell has become Fort Fun’s Rorschach test.

    True, his Rams are a two-point conversion away from being 2-1. A Bullock completion from rolling into a winnable home matchup against Washington State (2-2), coming off two Houdini escapes.

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  • Keeler: Can Broncos QB Bo Nix be fixed? Yep! But Sean Payton needs to do these 4 things first

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    Can we really call Bo Nix’s feet “happy” when they make Broncos Country so miserable?

    If I’m Sean Payton, the first thing I’m doing with Nix is sitting the quarterback down in my office. The second thing is popping open my laptop. The third is showing Nix a clip of the last 45 seconds from the first half of Broncos-Chargers this past Sunday.

    The fourth is congratulating the kid for finding Courtland Sutton over the top for a sumptuous 52-yard score on fourth-and-2. The fifth is asking Nix to lean in closer to the laptop. To take a long, careful look at his tootsies on that perfect rainbow to Sutton.

    They’re set.

    Like a mighty oak. Right foot planted. Rock back. Smooth release. Easy money.

    Nix has 21 NFL starts under his belt. He still tippy-taps in the pocket like a skittish rookie.

    We love Bo because he can go “off-script,” which is football shorthand for improvising when stuff hits the fan. The ability to turn nothing into something.

    The problem: Nix’s feet are so fast, they’re sometimes two steps ahead of his brain.

    He’s a talented young man locked in an almost constant internal struggle. His upper half is running the play while his lower half is plotting an escape route.

    When the two are in tandem, you get Sutton walking, untouched, into the end zone. But those joys are rare these days. Bo’s mechanics won’t allow it.

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  • Renck: Blaming refs for Broncos’ loss to Colts is just plain dumb. This one’s on Denver

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    INDIANAPOLIS — Time to run mental lapses.

    And extra gassers at the end of practice.

    Here in Naptown, a poster with Colts players adorns the J.W. Marriott, paying tribute to late team owner Jim Irsay. It reads: For the Boss. For the City. For the Shoe.

    For the love of God, this ending was stupid. A series of cognitive disconnects, each more costly than the last, resulted in a 29-28 walk-off loss for the Broncos.

    This wasn’t just a Denver loss; this was the ultimate brain freeze. Like guzzling a 32-ounce Slurpee through a straw in a single drink.

    Unwisely conceived: Darren Rizzi, why ask Dondrea Tillman to try to block a 60-yard field goal from a kicker who has never made a 50-yarder? Poorly executed: If you are going to speed, even if by one mile per hour over, don’t get caught — and stained by failure.

    The Broncos were dealt their first loss of the season in their first road game of the season in a way that, as far as the internet can tell, was a first.

    In four weeks, if your friends ask you how the Broncos’ special season became ordinary, the story starts here. When they ask you at the office Christmas party why they have to win out against Kansas City and the Chargers to make the playoffs, remind them of the Colts.

    The Broncos put themselves in a dangerous position with upcoming cage matches against the Chargers, Bengals and Eagles by squandering a game the Colts were begging for them to win. Or at least coach Shane Steichen was as he performed his best Nathaniel Hackett Clueless in Seattle impersonation.

    When writing the Broncos’ history since Super Bowl 50, what unfolded before our wide eyes demands an entry. Let’s start at the end and work backward.

    Leading 28-26, the Broncos took possession at their 35-yard line with 8:29 remaining. On an afternoon when the offense finally awoke from its summer hibernation, this represented a chance for a statement drive in a benchmark game. Siphon the clock. Kick a short field goal, and let the beleaguered defense leave with its dignity with a clinching sack of Daniel Jones.

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  • Kurtenbach: Brandon Staley’s time with the 49ers was unremarkable. His Saints defense is anything but

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    The NFL is a small world — a high school reunion with shoulder pads.

    Guys are shuffled around the deck of 32 teams year in, year out. And all too often, they end up staring across the field at someone they used to game plan with.

    That’s what’s happening this Sunday in New Orleans. Kyle Shanahan and his San Francisco 49ers will be in town, and on the other sideline, waiting for them, will be Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.

    And Staley, who was an assistant with vague assignments for the Niners last season (he was certainly not the team’s shadow defensive coordinator), has a defense that’s an absolute nightmare for Shanahan’s wide-zone run game.

    Yes, this game will be anything but Big Easy for San Francisco.

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  • Renck & File: CSU’s Jay Norvell approaches stretch that will determine his future

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    When Jay Norvell talked about creating Canvas Chaos, this isn’t what he had in mind.

    The Rams are 1-1, but it feels worse after their escape against Northern Colorado. There are no Secret Santa gifts needed for Norvell at the office Christmas party after an all-time shocking reversal of a touchdown catch by the Bears.

    And whether it was or wasn’t a reception is not even the biggest issue surrounding the program. Norvell has a quarterback controversy. He called it a competition during the bye week practice. But that is never the case, especially when the three-year starter is losing his grip on the position.

    Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi sure looks like he peaked that chilly night in Boulder two years ago. He can’t help himself, falling into bad habits of throwing off balance, firing sidearm and into traffic. This is not the return Norvell expected on his investment. Not in BFN’s third season.

    Jackson Brousseau is getting first-team reps as Norvell mulls his choice. This decision should determine whether Norvell receives a contract extension. That’s because the Rams enter a seven-game stretch that will provide clarity on whether he should keep the job.

    CSU hosts five home games, including Sept. 20 against the University of Texas San Antonio on FS1. Washington State follows. These are not Cam Ward’s Cougars. The optics of this game remain important since CSU will be joining Wazzu in the revamped Pac 12 next season. Are the Rams competitive? Do they look the part?

    And Norvell knows after the latest white-knuckle scare that he better beat Wyoming. Nobody cares that the game is on the road. Waking up on Nov. 9 with a 6-3 record provides hope that Norvell made the right choice. The temperature is not dropping on this topic until Fowler-Nicolosi plays better or Norvell moves on from him.

    CSU’s athletic program is on a heater. The men’s basketball program, after a terrific March Madness run, was invited to the Maui Invitational in 2026 and recently signed guard Gregory “Pops” Dunson, the highest-ranked recruit since rankings became available in 2000. The volleyball team remains a force, and the women’s soccer team has entered the national polls at No. 25 for the first time in school history.

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  • Renck: Time to worry about Broncos’ Bo Nix? Check back after this week vs. Colts

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    Bo Nix has more in common with Reggie Jackson than Lamar.

    Maybe the explanation for his slow starts is that simple. Nix is the Broncos’ Mr. October. His play changes with the leaves and pumpkin spice lattes.

    It was this time a year ago that Nix looked like a baby giraffe on roller skates. And it only got worse in Week 4 when he couldn’t grip the football in the rain against the Jets.

    And here we are in September again, and Nix isn’t exactly inspiring confidence. It was one week. And specifically Week 1. But man, the offense was ugly, forgettable and boring, wasn’t it? Sean Payton seems fine with Nix, blames himself for the play-calling and shields his quarterback from criticism to such a degree that it is weird.

    We have not reached the “everyone freak out stage.” Not yet. But with games on the horizon against the Chargers and Bengals, it will be time to worry if Nix plays poorly this week.

    This is suddenly a scary matchup against the Colts after they demolished the Dolphins. They looked like a playoff team last Sunday. The Broncos did not.

    No quarterback performed worse in a Week 1 win than Nix.

    “I know I can be a lot better,” he admitted after Wednesday’s practice.

    What happened against the Titans reminded me of Texas’ Arch Manning at Ohio State. We weren’t sure what it was going to look like, but we know it wasn’t supposed to look like that. Nix threw off balance. He threw into double coverage. He threw sidearm.

    He finished with two interceptions and lost his first fumble in 19 NFL games. Sometimes disappointment is traced to expectations. And that definitely applies to Nix after he led the Broncos to their first playoff berth since 2015.

    My concern is one that surfaced over the summer. He never caught fire in June, failed to wow in training camp, save for a few scrimmage series against the 49ers and Cardinals, and remained uneven in two preseason games. His play has been a mirror of the offense. There are glimpses of improvement that are quickly overshadowed by long bouts of ineffectiveness.

    The Broncos can win Sunday because their defense is so (bleeping) good. But they cannot stand more carelessness.

    Nix needs to stop chasing perfection and focus on precision.

    There’s nothing wrong with a couple of first downs and teeing up Vance Joseph’s charges with a long punt. Nix knows who he can be. He has to understand who he is on game day. If he’s not feeling it, put the ball in your pocket.

    You can’t lose to the Colts because you can’t control an impulse. Nix, a coach’s son through and through, recognizes this. But will he do it?

    Well……

    “In the future, maybe not be so aggressive,” Nix said. “But at the same time, it’s what makes quarterbacks good. It’s a fine line.”

    It really isn’t. It is a flashing neon sign in the construction zone at Dove Valley, screaming, “Proceed with caution.” This is not about taking the wag out of the puppy’s tail. We want Nix to play with passion and enthusiasm, but he must be more strategic.

    Some of you don’t see it. You see Nix as the face of the franchise, the future, the reason for hope. And it makes sense. I was right there with you after last season. But give me space to remind you that Nix never went on a heater this summer. He has earned our faith that everything will soon be all right. The time is now to minimize the wrong.

    “It’s not about the stats and perfection, for me it’s a standard I have for myself. With our defense, we can definitely make sure at times to give them great field position and we will get the ball back and go right back to work,” Nix said. “Overall, we want to play complementary football, but we definitely have high standards for our offense.”

    Nix must prove he can do it this month.

    In September games, he has completed 60.7% of his passes with two touchdowns and six interceptions in 178 attempts. In all other games, including the postseason, he boasts a 66 completion percentage with 28 touchdowns and eight picks.

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