Tirico: ‘I almost feel better’ about Broncos after Chiefs game
Nov 29, 2016, 10:05 PM | Updated: Mar 12, 2023, 7:57 pm
The math does not look good for the Denver Broncos.
With a loss Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs, not only does Denver drop to third in the AFC West — with chances of a sixth straight division title slipping away — but also they wouldn’t be a participant in the playoffs if they started today.
But despite all of that, NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico told Sports Radio 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough on Tuesday that he felt better about the Broncos coming out of Sunday’s game than going in.
“I know the math doesn’t work well for Denver right now, but I’m going to be honest with you, I almost feel better about the Broncos coming out than I did going in,” Tirico said.
Tirico, who served as the play-by-play announcer on Sunday Night Football for the Chiefs-Broncos game, pointed specifically toward the play of Trevor Siemian as the reason for his change of mind.
“I thought you walked out of there and go, ‘You know what? We have a quarterback who can win. He’s not going to, necessarily, keep us from making a run here down the stretch,’” Tirico said.
“Now, he’s still a rookie. He’s still going to have a bad game or two, or a bad moment or two, but I thought once they figured out how to protect him a little bit — and Stephenson came in at right tackle for Sambrailo — I thought he did a very good job.”
Siemian had arguably one of his best games of the season Sunday (and subsequently his career) despite only going 5-of-11 for 59 yards with three sacks in the first half. After Donald Stephenson replaced Ty Sambrailo at right tackle late in the second quarter, Siemian went 19-of-31 for 350 yards and three touchdowns.
Tirico also said that despite the poor outlook right now in the standings, Denver could feasibly run the table and secure a record good enough to earn a playoff spot.
“Obviously with the tie-breakers at the moment, Miami’s ahead of Denver at 7-4, but that can still play out. Miami has not played that well, even though they’ve won six in a row there are warts there,” Tirico said.
“I’m not panicked, but I would clearly say that the margin for error is gone now.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
