This is SPECIAL...

This was special and it doesn't really need to be really broken down as to why it was special but it could be a sign of other things about this defense kind of coming together, playing more fluid, playing more confidently. And I think that one, I do want to talk about this performance and how special it was for the Broncos, how special it was for the game, how special it means or just in the end for signs of things to come, a bit of a past-present-future type of thing. It was the performance, the player, all that of the game, best player on the field. Tauno Hufanga obviously is going to be the center of attention on this video and it's not just gonna be heaping praise. There's gonna be context obviously given but he's a player and a free agent that the Broncos picked up that people underestimated because you know, Dre Greenlaw at the time was a bigger name obviously, he got let go, he went back to the Niners. But Hufanga is a game-changer, has been a game-changer. He even earned second team All-Pro last year and now we're dealing with a guy who could very well win the Super Bowl for us. Now, I obviously, maybe in the sense of like making big plays in the playoffs, I mean these lights were bright. Sunday Night Football playing against the Super Bowl favorites Rams and had the game of his career. That is not, that should not be like just said like, oh cool, good for him. It was a flash in the pan. Absolutely not. This is the sign of a great player who might still have, who's still elevating, who's still possible of putting together performances that we would never would have expected. So without further ado, make sure to subscribe first of all and second, let's just kind of jump right into this because I'm really excited about this. So the, you know, everyone knows there was the pick six. That was, that was probably, it would be higher on my list of like moments in a Broncos game that was just like, just some of my all-time favorites because right after Stafford went down the field and then, you know, immediately like Riley Moss got cooked and they took the lead again after like just a few minutes after the pick six happened. So, but then, you know, the Broncos ended up winning the game. So this is still a pretty awesome moment and it just, you know, that, that stadium was rocking and that just the confidence in this team and the defense to make big plays in those, in those moments at the end of the fourth quarter, at the end of the game. It's just, you know, you can't say enough about it. I was so happy for him and it's not just like the picks. I mean, you know, he made a huge sack on a third down. You know, when you, when you get posted on this Twitter account, the football performances Twitter account, you know, you had a good game. Five tackles, one tackle for loss, two picks, one of them being a pick six, a sack, a quarterback hit, and three passes defended. He could have had a third interception because he dropped one that went right into his chest and everyone was joking, oh, if only Telano Huifango could catch and then he catches two picks. You know, both of them kind of went right to him. But hey, he caught the ball. He didn't drop the easy ones. He actually had a lot of dropped interceptions last year, which is why everyone was like, oh, here we go again. A safety who can only, you know, defend passes and not catch them. But, you know, things turned around and obviously it's just, just what, what a performance, man. I mean, you know, so in terms of the performance he had, so he is the only NFL player to have multiple picks, a 50-yard plus pick six, and a sack in any single quarter of any single game since sacks were first officially tracked for defenders in 1982. Over 40 years, he's the only player to do that in a single quarter. Mr. Clutch, just like Bo Nix. I mean, it's, uh, he, he, he, I don't know if like his, his film session in particular was like special, but it just, it felt like he was in his zone. He just was making every play he needed to. It was funny. He was making jokes afterwards, like people don't give Stafford enough credit for how fast he runs, and there were some frustrating moments where it felt like Stafford was outrunning our defenders, including Hufanga at one point for a first down, and we were like, are we slow or is he fast? And, you know, you know, Hufanga was like, oh, he's, he's surprisingly fast for a guy who's almost 40. But, you know, it's also Stafford just seeing the gaps, seeing where the, you know, the field is opening up so he can make that run before sliding and, you know, having that field awareness. So Hufanga gave props, uh, he respected him, which might be leading as to why he made so many plays is when you respect a player, you try to anticipate what great players will do, being able to dissect what you're doing and trying to outsmart that. If you just assume a guy is going to make a stupid play because it's worked in the past before, you're, you have to adapt to each quarterback, into each game. You can't just be like, oh, pull out the same bag of tricks for each quarterback. It has to be different. And Hufanga, particularly trained for this game and for this moment, and I just, you know, so happy for him because it was just, it was special. There was, uh, there's no other way to say it. I mean, he, it's just, yeah, man, I mean, we could be talking, you know, defensive player of the year type of conversations if this is what we're gonna be seeing from him the whole year. Scotty Payne from Mile High Report said Hufanga cannot catch interceptions. He dropped like 10 last season and had two near picks early in this game. We pleaded please catch the football and the football gods listened and granted Hufanga the ability to catch. He would go on to have a game-changing pick six of Stafford and the later pick Stafford again in the end zone on the final play of the game, sealing the victory for the Broncos. What a big-time effort by the Broncos team leader. The Broncos did not force many turnovers last season and they wanted to change that this season. We saw a game-changing interception last week against the Jaguars, with that being Riley Moss, and then the Broncos obviously had two big ones versus the Rams. If Hufanga can start coming down with these interceptions, he will put himself in defensive player of the year conversation, and that's the thing is like there are moments where it's like he drops these things and you start to feel like, man, like if he had all these, like all, like at least half of these would be interceptions, the statue would be insane for him. Lou Scatsgalia from Predominantly Orange said that Hufanga could do a bit of everything on this in the safety position and we saw that last year with the Broncos. He actually earned second-team All-Pro honors, perhaps flying under the radar a little bit as he was so good the entire year, but didn't seem to get quite as much attention as he deserved. Now, two interceptions, perhaps this can be where Hufanga, for lack of better term, can see the ball go on the hoop regarding just that recognition. The Broncos did struggle with, you know, not being able to force enough turnovers last year, so being able to get two picks off a future Hall of Famer in Stafford is outstanding, and sorry regarding the ball on the hoop allegory, that means like, okay, he knows he can catch these picks in these big moments. Does that mean that there will be a confidence boost for Hufanga later down the road where it's like, okay, I know I can do this. I did it in, you know, probably one of the biggest games I've been in, so like that'll just lead to him just, I don't know, like all of a sudden his hands can catch. I was joking earlier in the game that like, oh, Hufanga needs to like hit the jugs machine, like just catching a ball for several hours or whatever, but then it's like he just made like some kind of mental change, and you just, you gotta respect it. I mean, listen, you know, Stafford, he throws a dart. He throws a really fast ball, if you will, for football, and you know, it's sometimes hard to catch as a defender because you're not positioned usually in a way to catch it in stride, so catching it with your body when it's coming really, really fast can be a bit hard, so credit for, you know, Hufanga making that change, absolutely. Zach Allen, you know, is not, you know, he's also a guy who's pretty underrated when it comes to defensive tackles in the league. He should be easily top 10. I think he was in the top 100 list for the players this past year, but he said regarding Hufanga that Hufanga is the biggest steal in free agency in recent memory. I think the fact that we got him, he's incredible. Heartbeat of the defense. What he did tonight was awesome and so happy for him. He's been doing it for so long, and we're really just fortunate to have him, and that's, you know, again, I just, I love how much praise he's getting, and how intelligent of a player he is, and you know, just in a game that everyone saw. Everyone was watching, you know, Sunday Night Football. I think we're still waiting for the numbers to come in regarding just like how watched this game was. My guess is it was pretty high. That game was just, you know, nail-biting. I mean, obviously it wasn't the the most entertaining first half, but when it came to the second half, especially that fourth quarter, lights out. But man, it was just, you gotta, you know, listen, we gave Bo the possibly the Clutches Quarterback Award last video, and now we got to give, you know, tip the cap to Hufanga and what he did because, you know, nerves can get to you. You know, you can maybe lose players, lose assignments on like the last play of the game. I mean, granted, it looked like a relatively easy ball to catch. I mean, he's still kind of throwing it up into the end zone because it's the last play of the game, and they have no timeouts, no time either. But just being in the right place at the right time, knowing where the quarterback's gonna go with the ball, if you can do that with Stafford, there's gonna be a lot of other players that you're gonna be able to do that with as well. So I'm just saying, be prepared. We might be looking at a guy who is in Defensive Player of the Year conversations. Now, I really would like to know who the last safety was to win Defensive Player of the Year, probably not very recently. But at the same time, I just, it's so exciting to have, you know, players of this caliber come to this team, want to be on this team, because of Bo, because of Sean, because of the ownership, because of the fan base. We have all the elements, and if we can put together complete games, we would go undefeated. But that's just not how this team operates for some reason. I actually just watched a mic'd up, you know, where players were joking. It's like, man, if only we could play this way in the first half. So it's funny, like, the players are obviously aware of it. I mean, they asked the coaches about it after the game, and they're like, I don't know, man. I mean, that's what they said about Bo. Like, that's the six million dollar question regarding, you know, Bo, like, why it's just like a night-and-day difference between the first and second half. And I've seen other, you know, pundits describe the Broncos. It's like, what is the difference? Like, I mean, granted, the defense was still doing what they could to hold the Rams back in the first half, because of the lack of offensive production, will affect how many points the defense usually gives up, because of just field position, possible turnovers, stuff like that. So it's just a matter of, can the defense overcome that? Can they steady the ship while the offense figures it out? Hopefully, it's not going to be like that too much longer. And I'm hoping that the Broncos will be able to—you see them do more complete games against lesser opponents, but when it's, like, against hard opponents, they definitely start slow. So we need—it's going to be big games where we need to start fast. We will find out quickly, because we're facing the 49ers now. And so that'll be an interesting test again, where can they start quicker against a team that's 3-0? So it's going to be interesting. I can't wait to see what the Broncos do against another really well-coached team with some great players. Obviously, they're dealing with their own injury problems, but that does not mean you should underestimate them by any means. I mean, that team that we're facing this week just blew—like, they blew out the Rams. Now, you could say it's because of Australia, but I think that they just out-coached them as well. So let's hopefully learn from that and not underestimate them. But what do you guys think about this performance from Mufonga? Do you think he's going to be in Defensive Player of the Year conversations later in the year? Is this too soon to be saying stuff like that? Or just what's your takeaway from the defensive performance overall, honestly, from Sunday Night Football? Shout out in the comments down below, and until next video, I'll see you then.