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Mac & Bone Show - Moose Johnston Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Moose, do we got you now? Is this better?
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Much better, much better. It's not like the bowl of
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Rice Krispies there for a while.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We don't want that.
• 0:07
  Speaker 3: We don't want that. Well, thanks for adjusting. Some people
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: would just leave, but you came back, so thank you
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: for that. We appreciate that.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: I think the number one story I think I want
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to ask you about is Bryce Young. I mean, when
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: you watch the Panthers and you watch him play, clearly this,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: so far through five games, he has taken it up
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: to a different level. What are the things you notice
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: that are the most different from Bryce?
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: He's got a really good supporting cast around him. The
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: offensive line has improved since his early part of his
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: career in Carolina. But the thing that impresses me most
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: about Bryce is just how rough the start was and
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: how he never lost faith in himself and hung and
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: clung to his faith in God to get him through
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: that tough stretch.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: And now.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Coming through the back side, we were able to see
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: what Dave Canales did with Baker Mayfield down in Tampa Bay.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: So he has that ability to tap into a quarterback,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: especially one who may have started their career a little
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: bit bumpy and get him back on track. So, you know,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: my first opportunity to see the Panthers and Bryce Young
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: was against the Lions on national TV and was really,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: really impressed. with how they played there and uh yeah
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: i'm excited i'm excited to see him this week and
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: we got you guys in a couple weeks down the
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: road as well so that'll be fun just to see
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the growth over.
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: The next month or so how sustainable do you think
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: this start is for bryce is this is this now
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: in this offense at this stage of his career is
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: this now who bryce young truly is.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: I think that that's an answer that we're going to
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: see as we move forward. I think the most exciting
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: thing for Carolina fans is the consistency he's had through
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: the first five weeks. And now you put the tape
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: up and the defensive coordinators are going to get to
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: look at that and figure out a way to shut
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: it down. But I have all the confidence in the
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: world with the offensive coaches in Carolina to be able
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: to evolve as well. and start to game plan off
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: of things we used the first month of the season,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: throw a little bit of a wrinkle on that, get
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: defenses thinking one thing, and then we're coming at them
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: from a different direction. Now we get into that part
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: of the season where you've got to start to grow, evolve,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: and adjust because you've got a lot of tape on film,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: and these defensive coordinators are very good at being able
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: to shut down what's been successful the first four weeks,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: five weeks of the season.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: It's going to be fun to watch Brad Edzik, new OC,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: who's flying right now, How does he do in that
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: chess match? We're talking with Daryl Moose Johnson from Fox.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: He's on the call for Panthers and Bucks coming up
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: on Sunday. So, Moose, I realize I'm getting ready to
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: ask a question to a guy that was a fullback
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: who blocked for Emmitt Smith. So my guess is you
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: wanted to run, no offense to Troy Aikman, but I'm
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: guessing you wanted to run the ball dang near every play.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Something that's really weird statistically about the Panthers is that
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: they are the worst running team yardage-wise in the first half.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: 26 yards. But in the second half, they average 82 yards.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: And the attempts are dramatically different in the first half.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: It's way more pass-heavy. And then they really lean on
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: the run in the second half, where they average 82
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: yards a game and are second in the league in
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: second-half run production.
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: Do you think that's something?
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Because I'll find myself like, man, Bryce is playing well,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: but where's the balance? in the first half and then
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: you'll get it a heavy dose of the run in
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the second half is that sustainable do you think that's
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: something that the panthers have to balance it out more
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: or or do you think it's just a team that
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: is choosing the past to open up the run.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say it's probably based on, you know,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: what they feel about the opponents. That would be a
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: game plan that we would have had against the Philadelphia
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Eagles back when Reggie White was there, Jerome Brown. And,
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: you know, hey, we're not going to run the football
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: into that front, you know, for the first 30 minutes
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: of the game. Let's get back. Let's get some quick
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: drop back. Let's establish some rhythm. And you see that
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: from Carolina's offense. Let's get that defensive line tired from pushing.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: And I always talk to Tony Siragusa about that. And
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: he said, you know, when you're– pass blocking and you're
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: giving ground as opposed to pass rushing and pushing forward
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: and trying to get to the quarterback, you expend so
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: much more energy. That's why you have the defensive line
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: rotation and the offensive line stays solid with the center.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: You're trying to tire that defensive line out and then
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: take advantage of them in the second half, and that
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: would be a game plan we would have used against
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: those Eagles teams. So I think it could be a
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: little bit more for Carolina where you're seeing it consistently
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: over the first five weeks of the season that this
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: is part of how they want to play the game
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: right now, and that would be fun to watch moving
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: forward in the season. How did that start to adjust
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: and change, or was it really based on opponent? As
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: you look at the defenses, what's the commonalities with that
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: defensive front and that linebacker level?
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: Moose, I know that Baker's been out here for a
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: while now, but even before that, they were not what
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: we thought. What's your assessment of what's gone wrong here
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: with Tampa in 2026? Yeah, good question.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: We had them week one against Cincinnati, and I did
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: not expect to see the turnovers, number one. from Tampa
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Bay but also caused Cincinnati. So maybe Cincinnati's defense was
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: a little bit further down the road than we thought
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: they were going to be in week one. But, yeah,
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing for me with Tampa Bay
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: is the adjustment. I'm guessing the adjustment with that offensive line.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, they hadn't played together since 2024, so that
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: starting five was never together last season in 2025. Has
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: it really taken that long for them to get back
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: in sync? I know that Zach Robinson has brought in
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: a new offense, and there's probably going to be a
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: lot of different things when you talk about the run
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: game and targets and hand placement and all the different
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: details on the offensive line. I was really surprised to
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: see the offensive line struggle to regain that chemistry. Now,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: over the last two weeks, they're getting back to that
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: team that we saw. I think that game in Dallas
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: on Thursday night was huge for them. And the night
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: they had, they were over 240 yards rushing against Dallas.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Bucky Irving played really, really well. So I think that
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: they're starting to hit their stride, and that's not going
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: to do anything but help Baker Mayfield if he's back
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: in the lineup. because now that run game tied into
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: the play action. I still think they're trying to figure
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: out exactly what to do on the outside without Mike Evans,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: and that's a work in progress right now. And I
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: think if you watch, Jalen Daniels was more comfortable with
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: some of the younger guys that he probably came through
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: the training camp reps with when we talk about a
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Ted Hurst and a Ted Johnson as opposed to an
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Emeka Obuka. and a Chris Godwin. So I think they're
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: still trying to figure out what they're doing at wide receiver,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: and they're down a little bit at tight end, trying
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: to sort that one out too. So it'll be interesting
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: to see how long it takes Baker Mayfield to get
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: back in the flow when he comes back into the lineup.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, Moose, the Panther defense started off, I mean, when
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: you allow the other team to score Luke Keekly's jersey
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: number in points.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: I love Luke, but we don't need that. We don't
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: need that.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: But since then, and I know that there are many
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: listeners to this show that are tired of me reciting
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: this stat and updating it every week. but they are
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: third in EPA defensively, like average points added per play
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: in total on defense since then. You're watching the tape
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: of this defense. What do you see? What have they
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: been doing well lately in your mind? I know they're
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: missing those two starting corners, so I'm not going to
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: act like there aren't going to be some rough moments,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: but what do you think about this defense right now?
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we've had a couple of teams that have been
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: hit by that cornerback bug as well. And it's amazing,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: you know, what it does, um, You know, we had
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Detroit earlier this year, and probably one of the reasons
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: you guys had the game you had against Detroit was
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: just the throwers in the secondary with the corner and
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: actually the safety position as well. So, you know, Bryce
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: and Tedderow had a field day that afternoon, that evening.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: You know, I just– I see some really good fundamental stuff.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: You see a lot of guys at the point of
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: the tackle. You've got a lot of guys coming into
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: frame when you're watching the film. So, you know, all
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: those details that the coaches drive down and a lot
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: of people– You know, don't pay a lot of attention
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: to them, but just, you know, defensive teams that hustle
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: to the football and bring more bodies. Because the ability
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: for people to break tackles today, you know, it's very impressive.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: I think we're still in that big hit era as
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: opposed to, you know, form tackling. You know, we still
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: want to get that big hit as opposed to getting
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: the guy, the ball carrier to the ground. But you
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: see a lot of really, really good fundamentals today. from
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: that Carolina defense. We just kind of talked a little
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: bit about that offensive line at Tampa Bay. This is
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: going to be a fun one to watch for me.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: You've got some really good battles going on down in
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: the trenches. I've loved the last three seasons of football
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: with the resurgence in the run game, the commitment to
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: the offensive line. We've seen so many teams start to
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: get away from that 65-35 pass-run split down into more
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: 55-45 passes. 60-40. So it's a lot better for me
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: as an old fullback, you know, watching those battles down
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: inside and really who controls the line of scrimmage has
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: the best opportunity to win the game.
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: Moose, did you see the story this week of why
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: your two former teammates, Aikman and Irvin, went viral together
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: this week?
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: No, I haven't.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: I haven't.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: Troy Aikman on the Dale Brisby podcast shared a story
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: about his bachelor days when he came home and he
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: found two female fans that were just swimming in his backyard.
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: And he called the cops to remove the females from
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: the backyard. And Irvin got all worked up that he
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: would call the cops. He said that's the last thing
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: he would do if there were two females in his.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Backyard. Yeah, that makes sense. On both levels.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: I love it.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Though.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: It goes to show that y'all in the locker room,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: not everybody's the same. You guys don't have to all
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: be the same to be a great team.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: No.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: I think that that's one of the things that– When
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: you have a team that does something unique, that is
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: one of the key things about it. And we all
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: came from different backgrounds. I tell people all the time,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: when I watched Michael Irvin play at the University of Miami,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: he drove me crazy because I thought he was so
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: arrogant and so self-centered and everything was about him and
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: he wasn't a team guy. And then I get down
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: to Dallas and I get to meet him. And he
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: was my favorite teammate. I mean, there was nobody that
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: was a better teammate than Michael Irvin. And you wouldn't
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: you wouldn't think that from afar. So that was that
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: was a huge lesson for me that, you know, you
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: judge people and you form an opinion and then you
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: get to meet them. You better be prepared to adjust
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: that opinion and embrace who they really are in person.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: And that was a huge lesson for me.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: Michael, that's cool.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: It was the hardest worker. He was the heart and
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: soul of our team.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: That's cool. Do you see him?
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Do you ever, you watch the Canes games and see
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: him on the sidelines going berserk? I'm sure that doesn't
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: shock you.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: He does look pretty good.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: No doubt about it. When he was down on all
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: fours bone in the overtime period, that was a new one, man.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: All right, Mooseway, we had a blast talking to you.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: We look forward to hearing your commentary of Panthers Bucks
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: on Fox. Thank you so much for coming on.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you got it. We got you guys in a
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: couple of weeks. Hopefully we can get together again.