The Drive

Hour 1

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Phil debate what the goals for the Broncos should be in 2025. Is it Super Bowl or bust for the Broncos going forward? Would just winning a playoff game constitute a successful season for the Broncos? Is it too much to ask the Broncos to win the AFC west and host a playoff game, next season? Today’s “Three Count” includes reaction to the College Football Playoff championship and takeaways the first ever 12-team playoff, the Bears hiring Ben Johnson to be the next head coach and pair with their young quarterback in Caleb Williams, and the Buffs coming at number 25 in the final AP poll this season. What grade do the guys give the Colorado Buffs season? Zach asks if the shine is coming off the “new kid” for the Colorado Avalanche. Is Mackenzie Blackwood coming back down to earth or just in a little slump? Does it concern the guys that Blackwood has never played in a playoff game and the Avs have championship aspirations?

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Phil recap the Divisional round of the playoffs over the weekend. Is Jayden Daniels on his way to being the first rookie quarterback to take his team to the Super Bowl? Does the NFL need to fix the perception that Patrick Mahomes gets calls that other QB’s do not get? Should the Broncos be interested in trading for a veteran tight end in Mark Andrews? What would Andrews add to this Broncos offense? How much should the Broncos be willing to trade for Andrews? Zach and Phil react to clips from Joel Klatt on how to make some adjustments to the College Football Playoff and the regular season. Have the Nuggets solved their bench problems in having Aaron Gordon coming off the bench? How has Deandre Jordan came out of no where to be a productive center off the bench? Will Aaron Gordon continue to come off the bench as the season continues?

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Phil question what would qualify as success for the Broncos in the 2025 season. Will the Broncos be able to repeat their playoff appearance that they had this season? How can the Broncos show they are ready to compete with the top of the AFC? Veteran NFL reporter, James Palmer joins the show to discuss the expectations for the Broncos in 2025, opportunities for the Broncos add a tight end in either the draft or free agency, and the perception issue the NFL has when it comes to the refs giving the Chiefs extra calls. Zach finishes James Palmer’s time on the show with a rant on how everyone overestimated Lamar Jackson and counted the Bills out. Is Lamar Jackson closer to Peyton Manning’s career than most want to admit? DenverSports.com’s Will Petersen joins the show to mediate the debate between Zach and Phil on Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. We wrap up the show with Will Petersen’s idea of the Broncos trading for Mark Andrews.

Happy MLK day everyone! Kyle Resse and Chad Andrus are in studio for Zach and Phil here to breakdown a big weekend in football and Colorado sports! Kyle and Chad take over for Marcello Romano and Kevin Kissner, but not before a little crosstalk. Who is the MVP on the NFL this year? Quick reactions to the weekends games as we get set for the Drive! The NFL playoffs continued to roll on this weekend. Which teams are championship weekend bound and what teams look like real Superbowl contenders? The College Football playoffs are about to wrap up. How was this years playoffs? Was there issues with this new format or did it provide more positives than negatives? The Avalanche were taking on the Minnesota Wild. Have the Avs turned things around? Our DenverSport’s writer Will Petersen joins the show later to break the game down! The Broncos season wrapped up a few weeks ago, what were the final thoughts from Chad and Kyle?

Happy MLK day everyone! Kyle Ress e and Chad Andrus are in studio for Zach and Phil here to breakdown a big weekend in football and Colorado sports! The guys continue their conversation on the Denver Broncos. Was this season an overall success or was how it ended how we should measure the season? How much credit should Sean Payton get for making this roster a playoff team? What are the biggest holes the Broncos need to fill moving into the next season? Kyle and Chad come off the rope for the three count today! The Mikko Rantanen situation has reached a stand still. What do the Colorado Avalanche need to do to resign him at the end of the year? Who dropped the ball more this weekend Mark Andrews or the Detroit Lions? The Nuggets are winners of 6 of their last season games. What has contributed the most to their surge? The guys check in on the Russell Westbrook experiment, has he over- delivered for the price tag the Nuggets got him at? Have the Nuggets reestablished themselves among the west’s best and how much is Westbrook contributing to that!

Happy MLK day everyone! Kyle Ress e and Chad Andrus are in studio for Zach and Phil here to breakdown a big weekend in football and Colorado sports! The guys take a dive into the divisional round matchups this NFL weekend. Which game stuck out more to them? Was the game between Buffalo and Baltimore the real decider for the Super bowl or is everyone discounting what the Chiefs are doing? Will Petersen joins us live from Ball Arena after the Avalanche fall to the Wild. What went wrong during the game? Do the Avalanche need big Val back on the ice to be official cup contenders? What will the Avs do with Mikko as the season rolls along? Do we need to take another look at Gabe Landeskog as the Mikko contract continue to loom over everyone? We do a small game of fill in the blank. How would you describe the new college football playoff format change? The Denver Broncos 2025-26 season will be a success if? Deion Sanders will end up the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys if? The guys answer all of those questions!

Happy MLK day everyone! Kyle Ress e and Chad Andrus are in studio for Zach and Phil here to breakdown a big weekend in football and Colorado sports! How much is Broncos country rooting against the Kansas City this week? Will a threepeat send Travis Kelce and Andy Reid off into the sunset? If the Chiefs lose those big pieces could the AFC West be wide open for the Broncos to win the division? The Denver Nuggets are rounding back into form, but is there still a big problem on the defensive end. For all of the amazing things Nikola Jokic does, defense is not one of them, or is it? Chad argues that Nikola actually does the most important part of defense better than anyone else in the league. Is there other ways to measure defensive impact besides blocks and steals? We react to some of the texts to round out the show before the college football playoff finals!

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with The Drive cross talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys discuss their plans over the weekend with the freezing weather coming in. Zach and Phil react to the news of the Broncos letting go of their special teams coordinator of the past two seasons. Is Kotwica the fall guys for a couple gaffs throughout the season but a mostly competent operation? Will Sean Payton bring in a former coach he used to work with in New Orleans? Should Broncos defensive coordinator, Vance Joseph, be nervous about losing his job next? Did Vance Jospeh’s defense let the Broncos down in the last month of the season and in the playoffs? Phil shares why he thinks Sean Payton’s offense has let the Broncos down far more than the Broncos defense.

Hour 2

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Phil finish off their NFL Divisional round preview with the Bills and Ravens game this Sunday. The guys have been arguing over Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson and we finally have a wager on the line for the guys. Zach and Phil react to the firing of Broncos special teams coordinator, Ben Kotwica. Is Kotwica the “fall guy” for a few bad moments of the special team this season? Will Sean Payton bring in a special team coordinator that he used to work with in New Orleans? 9News Broncos insider, Mike Klis joins the show to discuss the firing of the Broncos special teams coordinator and who a potential replacement could be, how much the Broncos will be spending in free agency, and how far off the Broncos are from the top teams in the AFC. Will the Broncos be able to build a better team around Bo Nix? What led to Audric Estime being inactive for the Broncos playoff game? Will Estime and Jaleel be part of the Broncos plan in 2025 and into the future?

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Phil breakdown the Broncos running back room. The guys speculate why Audric Estime did not get as many opportunities as many thought he would get. What are the cornerstones of building an NFL contender and do the Broncos have them? We hear from Sean Payton and his thoughts on the end of the season. Did Payton take a shot at Russell Wilson when describing the end of last season? The Drive rekindles our trivia rivalry with the morning show as we compete in questions given to us from Mike Evans and John Simmer. Will The Drive be able to beat the morning show’s 4-0 performance this week in trivia? We wrap up the show with some controversy on one of the trivia questions and predictions for the NFL’s Divisional round.

Hour 1

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Phil debate if Bo Nix is the biggest star in Colorado sports. Has Nix already surpassed the pair of MVPs that currently play sports in Colorado? What more does Nix need to prove to be atop the biggest stars in Colorado? Is it fair to have Nix in this conversation after just one season? We all give our Mount Rushmore’s for the biggest Colorado sports stars. Today’s “Three Count” features a continued conversation about the biggest star in Colorado sports and how it changes if we opened it up to biggest Colorado star in America, the heavyweight fight between the Avalanche and Oilers tonight on ESPN, and who should be the cover of College Football 2026. We finish up the hour with new reports about Coach Prime potentially leaving Boulder for the Dallas Cowboys. DenverSports.com’s Jake Shapiro joins the show to share his insight into the situation. Is Prime feuding with the university about NIL and collective money?

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Phil react to the latest when it comes to Coach Prime and the Dallas Cowboys. Is Deion Sanders looking for money for himself, his coaching staff, and players? Zach asks how important it is for the Nuggets to capitalize on this season and win a second championship. Is the Nuggets window closing quicker than we think with teams like Oklahoma City and Houston on the rise? Do the Nuggets need to reach the NBA Finals this season to consider it a success? While the Broncos overachieved what was expected from them and many of the players did as well, but which Broncos disappointed Zach and Phil? Can the Broncos running backs be disappointing if their expectations were not very high? Did Sean Payton, the offensive play-caller, not get the running backs and Marvin Mims involved enough?

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Phil take a deep dive into the latest with the Coach Prime and Dallas Cowboys. Is there a potential disconnect between Deion Sanders and the University of Colorado? Why hasn’t Coach Prime signed an extension yet? We hear from ESPN’s Cowboys reporter, Ed Werder, and his thoughts on the Cowboys head coaching opening. What would be the difference maker in the Cowboys choosing Deion Sanders or former offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore? How do the guys handicap the current likelihood of Coach Prime coaching in Dallas in 2025? DenverSports.com’s Will Petersen joins the show to debate if Bo Nix is the biggest star in Colorado sports now that he is the Broncos franchise quarterback. Who makes up the Mount Rushmore of Colorado sports stars? We wrap up the show with a preview for tonight’s highly anticipated game between the Avalanche and Oilers.

Hour 1

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Phil take a deep dive into the Broncos offseason as we got season ending press conferences from Sean Payton, Greg Penner and George Paton. We hear from Sean Payton and his thoughts on how Bo Nix played this season and some of the surprisingly great things Nix did this season. Will Bo Nix win an MVP award during his time in Denver? How big of a challenge will Nix have going forward with the 4 best quarterbacks in the NFL, all being in the AFC? We hear from Broncos GM, George Paton and his thoughts on Bo Nix and his “it factor”. Did Sean Payton take a shot at the previous Broncos regime when he mentioned how great the current strength and conditioning is? Today’s “Three Count” includes the slight decline in NFL viewership and the possible reasons behind it, the Avalanche winning an OT thriller vs the New York Rangers, and the Buffalo Bills being home underdogs in the playoffs for the first time ever since joining the NFL in 1970. Should the Broncos go after a “bell-cow” running back during the offseason? We hear from Sean Payton and his thoughts on the position and their timeline as free agency approaches.

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Phil examine the stacked quarterbacks in the AFC and how Bo Nix compares to some of the best in the NFL. Is Nix up for the task of competing with Mahomes, Lamar, Allen and Burrow? We hear from Broncos GM, George Paton and his thoughts on how the Broncos can take the next step of being on the same level as the AFC’s best. We hear from Greg Penner with an update on the new Broncos training facility and a potential new stadium. Is there a chance the Broncos will be able to build a new stadium in downtown Denver? Zach and Phil react to the latest in the Coach Prime to the Dallas Cowboys story. What do the oddsmakers say about the chances of Prime being the Cowboys head coach in 2025? The Nuggets welcomed back Aaron Gordon to the rotation in a blowout win over the Mavericks. With Russell Westbrook playing so well, which Nugget should be coming off the bench, that was starting during Gordon’s missed time, now that Gordon is back?

Hour 4