Former Colts, Broncos WR Brandon Stokley On Indy vs Denver!

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The Indianapolis Colts have a huge matchup with the Denver Broncos coming up on Sunday.

Lose, and the Colts playoff hopes are all but gone. Win, and they stay afloat in the playoff race, though they still will need a few things to go their way to get in. It’s an equally important matchup for Denver, as they look to keep ahead of Indianapolis in the hunt for a spot in the postseason.

The Colts have won two out of their last three and are fresh off a bye week. The Broncos are coming off a bye week as well; the last time the Broncos took the field, they beat the Cleveland Browns in a game that saw their defense, which had been playing like one of the top units in the league, let Jameis Winston throw for nearly 500 yards and 4 touchdowns (though in classic Winston fashion, he threw 3 interceptions).

Will the Broncos defense regain their form against an inconsistent Colts offense? Or will Anthony Richardson and company go into Denver and get the upset?

During Tuesday’s edition of The Ride With JMV, former Colts and Broncos wide receiver Brandon Stokley joined the show. Brandon first gave his thoughts on how Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix has looked so far.

“Obviously when they drafted Bo 12th overall, there was a lot of optimism and hope surrounding that pick, and the guy has just lived up to it, he really has. It hasn’t been perfect, but he has progressed, he’s gotten better and better, he’s a competitor, and he’s got a great coach. Sean Payton has done a really, really great job with him…the talent around him at the skill positions isn’t great, and he’s still been able to go out there and be successful. He’s not there yet obviously, but Broncos fans are just optimistic that he’ll continue to progress and get better and better, and it looks like the moment’s just not too big for him, the success that he has doesn’t go to his head, so he’s got the right mindset-mentality, it’s just can he continue to do it and take it from year one to year two, but he’s gotten better and better it seems like every week, it seems like the game is slowing down, looks like he’s feeling more comfortable with the offense, so yeah there’s a lot optimism that he’ll continue to progress and get better, and he’ll be the next quarterback around here for the next decade.”

Turning his attention to the Colts offense, Brandon gave some insight into what he thinks the Colts and Anthony Richardson need to do against a tough Broncos defense.

“I watched Anthony Richardson yesterday, went back and watched that Patriots game, and you see some of the things that I think they need to continue to do, and how if they want to be successful against the Broncos, what they need to do, and that’s the RPO stuff, the run game stuff with him and Jonathan Taylor, and just try and shorten the game a little bit. Frustrate the Broncos defense, maybe wear them out a little bit, because he is a big quarterback that can run. Then you’ve got the running back Jonathan Taylor, who obviously is a great running back…but I think get back to that, just continue to run the football, and use him as a weapon in the run game, and you saw them do that on that last drive [against the Patriots], and him convert a couple big fourth downs, and make that two-point conversion. I think that probably should be their gameplan against Denver and try and get that run game going and wear them out a little bit.”

Listen to JMV’s full conversation with Brandon Stokley down below, where they discuss