Comment on Broncos’ offensive task Sunday vs. Baltimore: Control tempo, by run or by pass

Braelynn Looney has been preparing for this moment ever since she made a little boy cry. “In fourth grade, I joined an all-boys flag football team, and I was the only girl,” she said with a laugh and a competitive gleam in her eye. “I did great. My motto every time was, ‘I want to make boys cry.’ And then I did!” Tears flowed when she sacked the quarterback. “That was like the highlight of her life,” recalled her dad, Garrett Looney.

The Broncos are officially contenders again because of X’s and O’s — and PB&Js? According to a recent article in The Athletic, the Broncos consumed 700 Uncrustables per week last season. Multiple players told me the number is likely greater this year. “I definitely believe that,” cornerback Riley Moss said. Like me, just as many players found the number stunning.

MINNEAPOLIS — In order to be the Anti-Ant, Christian Braun knows he can’t flinch at Ant’s antics. This is a matchup that requires embracing, even relishing, the opponent’s fondness for talking trash. It’s a matchup that demands a willingness to guard on an island, where defensive errors are more exposed. It’s a matchup that rewards intensity and audacity. Braun has nowhere near the name recognition or star power of Anthony Edwards.

Class 5A 1. Mountain Vista (9-0) at Castle View, 6:30 p.m. Friday. Next week: TBD 2. Cherry Creek (8-1) vs. Grandview, 7 p.m. Friday. Next week: TBD 3. Valor Christian (9-1) won at Rock Canyon, 59-7: Watch out, the Eagles are playoff-ready. Valor topped 50 points for the second week in a row, as junior running back Chase Hanosh ran for 170 yards and four touchdowns on just 11 carries, and junior QB Dawson Olk completed 10 of 14 passes for 109 yards and a score.

Sean Payton couldn’t contain his admiration for Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton. In preparation for Denver’s road game against the Ravens on Sunday, the Broncos coach was amazed by Baltimore’s third-year safety and the problems he presents to offenses. Payton said Hamilton, a 2022 first-round pick from Notre Dame, can be a threat at any spot on the field. A tremendous tackler with a good football IQ, Hamilton is especially dangerous when Baltimore sends him after the quarterback.

In the time Sean Payton spends each week with the entire Broncos team in meetings, he typically outlines a specific version of the game to come. This week’s recipe. These things happen, we win. They don’t, we don’t. Like many arrows in Payton’s quiver, this one comes from Bill Parcells. “What’s the way to win that game?” Payton mused last week.