Latest / Mac & Bone Podcast / Mac & Bone Hour 2: Know Your Enemy - Bears
Transcript
- 0:19Speaker 1: It's a really good team. Obviously made the playoffs last year.
- 0:22Speaker 1: Coach Canales has done a heck of a job there. Uh,
- 0:25Speaker 1: Dan Morgan, their GM is, is really built up that
- 0:28Speaker 1: roster from, uh, where they were a few years ago. Um, quality, uh,
- 0:33Speaker 1: opponent defensively, just looking at their numbers, um, the way
- 0:36Speaker 1: they ended the back half of last season, they were
- 0:38Speaker 1: one of the top 10 defenses in football and they,
- 0:41Speaker 1: they did nothing but got better through free agency in
- 0:44Speaker 1: the draft. So, uh, we'll have our hands full there.
- 0:47Speaker 1: They've got, uh, really star power all across the field.
- 0:50Speaker 1: It seems like on that side of the ball, uh,
- 0:52Speaker 1: starting with Derek Brown, the corners are really good players.
- 0:55Speaker 1: Safeties are really good players. I mean, I can go
- 0:57Speaker 1: on and on and on, but, uh, you know, it'll
- 0:59Speaker 1: be a, significant challenge right out of the gate.
- 1:04Speaker 2: There you go that is ben johnson uh giving some
- 1:08Speaker 2: uh praise to the carolina panther defense you know behind
- 1:11Speaker 2: the scenes he's talking about how much he's gonna tear
- 1:13Speaker 2: our defense up this is a dude that publicly bone
- 1:17Speaker 2: has said this uh during this preseason our goal is
- 1:21Speaker 2: to win every game and score the most points in
- 1:24Speaker 2: the history of the nfl And he said yesterday when asked,
- 1:29Speaker 2: does your offense have to, you know, if your defense,
- 1:32Speaker 2: you know, struggles, does your offense, you feel like offensively
- 1:34Speaker 2: you got to carry more of the load. He said
- 1:37Speaker 2: the job of the offense is score a touchdown every
- 1:39Speaker 2: time we have the football. This dude yaps. He talks
- 1:43Speaker 2: such a big game and he's brilliant. He really is.
- 1:47Speaker 2: But man, I would love our defense to show up
- 1:50Speaker 2: and show out on Sunday, man, against them. Absolutely.
- 1:55Speaker 3: It's going to be a tough matchup just because of
- 1:58Speaker 3: how good Ben Johnson is as a coordinator. But we
- 2:03Speaker 3: do get the Bears in week one, and there is
- 2:05Speaker 3: going to be an adjustment, I believe, at the wide
- 2:08Speaker 3: receiver spot. No more DJ Moore. They're going to put
- 2:11Speaker 3: a lot on the young guys, Odunze and Luther Burden.
- 2:14Speaker 3: That doesn't really put... Not that they don't have bright futures,
- 2:18Speaker 3: but it doesn't really put the fear of God in me.
- 2:20Speaker 3: The scariest part back about their offense versus the Panthers' defense,
- 2:25Speaker 3: now it looks better now because they've upgraded the linebacker spot,
- 2:29Speaker 3: but Colston Loveland, to me, is the guy that I
- 2:32Speaker 3: have the most fear of with that offense.
- 2:33Speaker 2: He was their leading receiver last year in yards. He's
- 2:35Speaker 2: a monster.
- 2:36Speaker 3: I think he's going to be a multi-time Pro Bowler,
- 2:39Speaker 3: probably starting this season, honestly.
- 2:41Speaker 2: And the Panthers. Well, Pro Bowler name, they don't actually
- 2:44Speaker 2: really have it anymore. But yeah, they will be still naming,
- 2:46Speaker 2: you know, which is what they probably should have done
- 2:48Speaker 2: years ago. But yeah, he was their leading receiver last year.
- 2:51Speaker 2: And I don't know if anybody's heard this before. The
- 2:54Speaker 2: Panthers struggled against tight ends last year. Eighth most yards
- 2:57Speaker 2: allowed to the tight end position. All right, real quick,
- 3:00Speaker 2: let's do this. I want to jump into our first
- 3:03Speaker 2: edition of Know Your Enemy. This is a Chicago Bears
- 3:08Speaker 2: edition for week one. I will start with the Roma
- 3:11Speaker 2: Dunze news situation. He's got an injury, lower body injury.
- 3:17Speaker 2: They haven't really talked much about it. I don't know
- 3:19Speaker 2: if you've heard, Bone. The injury report comes out today.
- 3:21Speaker 2: So they have not had to disclose any information on
- 3:24Speaker 2: it yet. But he was called day-to-day by Ben Johnson yesterday.
- 3:27Speaker 2: So he said he's hopeful that he can play, but
- 3:31Speaker 2: he's been called day-to-day. Their running backs both have had
- 3:34Speaker 2: injury situations, especially Menungai, who's been out a month. Sounds
- 3:38Speaker 2: like they're both going to be good to go. But again,
- 3:39Speaker 2: I will point you, Bone, Dave Canales-style, to the injury
- 3:43Speaker 2: report on Wednesday afternoon.
- 3:44Speaker 4: All right.
- 3:45Speaker 2: I will send everybody there. Let's talk about it. He's
- 3:48Speaker 2: going to send us a Thursday. Let's talk about it, baby.
- 3:51Speaker 2: Let's talk about this enemy coming in and man, are
- 3:55Speaker 2: they an annoying enemy the way they have yapped at
- 3:58Speaker 2: us post Bryce Young trade. I would love to beat them.
- 4:02Speaker 2: And they're so high on the hog right now. I
- 4:05Speaker 2: don't know if that is that the saying I'm looking for.
- 4:07Speaker 2: Or are they on their high horse? What am I
- 4:08Speaker 2: looking for? I think they're... I think you can.
- 4:11Speaker 5: Be both high on the horse and high on the hog.
- 4:14Speaker 3: Jenny, let's not have you interject here on this one.
- 4:17Speaker 3: I believe Mac has a guy that's messed up analogies before.
- 4:21Speaker 3: Which one am I looking for? They're feeling good. I
- 4:23Speaker 3: think you're... I think you're... Are they high on the
- 4:26Speaker 3: hog or on their high horse? High horse is like
- 4:28Speaker 3: when you're overconfident, right? You're on your high horse. So
- 4:30Speaker 3: maybe that's what I was looking for. High on the hog,
- 4:31Speaker 3: I think, means like you're feeling good.
- 4:33Speaker 4: I don't know.
- 4:34Speaker 2: Is high on the hog like you're rich? Or you
- 4:37Speaker 2: eat a lot. I don't know. My God, here I
- 4:39Speaker 2: am disrupting a week one know your enemy.
- 4:42Speaker 5: High on the hog was Willie after he ate that brisket.
- 4:44Speaker 6: Okay.
- 4:44Speaker 2: Hey, guys. All right. Anyway, let me refocus here. I'm
- 4:48Speaker 2: sure the texters will explain to me what.
- 4:51Speaker 3: My- High on the hog is when you live a
- 4:53Speaker 3: luxurious lifestyle.
- 4:54Speaker 4: Yeah, you're rich.
- 4:54Speaker 2: You're rich.
- 4:54Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 4:55Speaker 2: So I think I want to say they're on their
- 4:56Speaker 2: high horse coming off an 11-win season. They have Caleb
- 5:00Speaker 2: Williams and all these guys they got from the Panther trade,
- 5:03Speaker 2: and I'd love to knock them off their high horse.
- 5:06Speaker 2: There's no secret, Bone. They are an offensive-first football team.
- 5:09Speaker 2: There is no secret about that whatsoever. Let's start with
- 5:15Speaker 2: that side of the ball, Bone. Last year, they were
- 5:19Speaker 2: ninth in the NFL in total offense. They were fourth
- 5:25Speaker 2: in the NFL in scoring offense last year. Let's see here.
- 5:32Speaker 2: I think I screwed that up. I think I'm high
- 5:34Speaker 2: on the hog over here. I'm high on something. Fourth
- 5:36Speaker 2: in yards per game, ninth in points per game last year.
- 5:40Speaker 2: And for all the talk, Bone, about Caleb Williams and
- 5:43Speaker 2: the passing game, and you mentioned Loveland, who I'm sure
- 5:46Speaker 2: we're going to talk about here in a second, I
- 5:48Speaker 2: feel like they are a run-first football team. I feel
- 5:52Speaker 2: like the first thing you want to do is deal
- 5:55Speaker 2: with the two-headed monster of Swift and Menungai. Those guys
- 5:58Speaker 2: combined last year, Bone, for over 1,800 yards and 14
- 6:02Speaker 2: touchdowns last year. The bears were second in runs per
- 6:05Speaker 2: game and third in rushing last year. So to me,
- 6:10Speaker 2: people talk about Caleb Williams and you could throw his
- 6:12Speaker 2: scrambles into bone, you know, to, to add to the
- 6:15Speaker 2: run game. But I think the number one thing is,
- 6:19Speaker 2: can you slow that run game down, man?
- 6:21Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 6:22Speaker 3: Here are the two things to keep in mind when
- 6:24Speaker 3: it comes to the Bears outside of just the name
- 6:27Speaker 3: players like Loveland and Williams back. It is all about,
- 6:30Speaker 3: I say all about, their 2025 was largely about what
- 6:36Speaker 3: they did in the turnover game. They were plus 22
- 6:39Speaker 3: in the league in turnovers. They created 33. They gave
- 6:43Speaker 3: up 11. They were the best on both ends of that.
- 6:45Speaker 3: They turned it over the fewest, and they turned teams
- 6:48Speaker 3: over the most. So the turnover battle here would be huge.
- 6:52Speaker 3: Can you get them to force a few, maybe even one?
- 6:56Speaker 3: That turnover battle would be so huge. And so, Mac,
- 6:59Speaker 3: we'll third downs. The Bears were seventh in the league
- 7:03Speaker 3: last year in converting third downs, but they were 30th.
- 7:06Speaker 3: in stopping third downs. So I think so many times
- 7:09Speaker 3: these NFL games are so close. It's turnovers.
- 7:12Speaker 2: It's third downs. Those are the battles that I'm going
- 7:15Speaker 2: to watch the most. I'm with you on that. Are
- 7:17Speaker 2: you downplaying my running game? No, no, not at all.
- 7:20Speaker 2: Because you know how you succeed on third down? You
- 7:23Speaker 2: get into third and short. Yes, yes, sir. And their
- 7:25Speaker 2: running game. I'm just saying for all the hype of
- 7:28Speaker 2: the passing attack and Caleb Williams are a run first team.
- 7:31Speaker 2: And I think that's a huge battle. And I feel
- 7:34Speaker 2: better about it with, I would feel better with Skorton there,
- 7:37Speaker 2: but Pat Jones is no slouch setting the edge and
- 7:39Speaker 2: neither is Phillips. Your point about the turnovers is one
- 7:42Speaker 2: we definitely have to make, Bo, because we've, and we've
- 7:46Speaker 2: talked about it for weeks here. They were number one
- 7:49Speaker 2: in turnover margin last year. They were third in giveaways,
- 7:52Speaker 2: so they didn't turn it over much. And they were
- 7:55Speaker 2: third in takeaways. And they are so dependent, to your point,
- 8:00Speaker 2: on forcing turnovers on defense. Because their defense gives up yards,
- 8:03Speaker 2: they give up points. So the only way their defense
- 8:06Speaker 2: last year contributed in a positive fashion, Bone, is they
- 8:09Speaker 2: would go take the football away. Last year, when they
- 8:13Speaker 2: produced one or fewer turnovers, they were 3-7. They were
- 8:20Speaker 2: 9-0 when they produced two or more turnovers. So if
- 8:23Speaker 2: I'm looking at this from a Panther perspective, protect the
- 8:26Speaker 2: damn football and give yourself a chance. They, to your point, Bone,
- 8:31Speaker 2: relied on that last year. As good as their offense was,
- 8:34Speaker 2: they relied on getting the ball and getting short fields
- 8:37Speaker 2: and stuff like that.
- 8:38Speaker 3: Now the only problem is, Bone... They didn't make a
- 8:39Speaker 3: lot of mistakes on their end and they forced a
- 8:41Speaker 3: ton on defense.
- 8:41Speaker 2: The only problem is, we have been turnover machines in
- 8:45Speaker 2: Week 1. Bryce Young, I said yesterday, has six interceptions, Bone,
- 8:51Speaker 2: in the three season opening games he's played in, two
- 8:54Speaker 2: in each game. So that's got to stop, man, or
- 8:57Speaker 2: else we're taking an L, dude. I didn't print this
- 9:00Speaker 2: out for myself. I actually handed it to you, Matt.
- 9:01Speaker 2: Do you have what I gave you there? What's his name?
- 9:04Speaker 3: Graham Benfield? Is that the tweet stat there? He's a
- 9:07Speaker 3: fantasy guru. Very notable stat.
- 9:10Speaker 2: Barfield. Graham Barfield. Who did I say? Benfield. Okay. Close.
- 9:15Speaker 2: I was very close. I got you the name Graham there.
- 9:17Speaker 3: Very interesting stat, though, on the Panthers' defense from last year,
- 9:22Speaker 3: what their strength is, and what Caleb Williams' weakness is.
- 9:25Speaker 2: Yeah, they're talking about disguise coverages, right? Like, Avero ran
- 9:28Speaker 2: the most disguise coverages. He's very much into that. That
- 9:36Speaker 2: was 46% of the time, and Caleb Williams is sixth
- 9:39Speaker 2: worst among quarterbacks versus disguise coverages. So is it a
- 9:42Speaker 2: good matchup in that respect?
- 9:44Speaker 4: Woo!
- 9:45Speaker 2: I like that little tidbit, Bone. And I think you
- 9:47Speaker 2: should get Graham's last name right next time for providing
- 9:50Speaker 2: such good information. When you look at Caleb Williams, right? Like,
- 9:54Speaker 2: as we do, Know Your Enemy, Chicago Bears edition. When
- 9:58Speaker 2: you um look at caleb williams bone um obviously the
- 10:04Speaker 2: playmaking in terms of it's third and six no one's
- 10:08Speaker 2: open i'm gonna take off and get it on my
- 10:10Speaker 2: own you may have to spy them which takes someone
- 10:12Speaker 2: out of coverage. That's something you might have to worry
- 10:15Speaker 2: about doing. You also look at where he does damage.
- 10:19Speaker 2: This is not good for our matchup. Caleb Williams had
- 10:23Speaker 2: a quarterback rating of right around 110 last year when
- 10:27Speaker 2: throwing over the middle of the field. What were we
- 10:30Speaker 2: terrible at defending last year in the past game? The
- 10:33Speaker 2: middle of the damn field. And a lot of it is,
- 10:35Speaker 2: to your point, Bone, earlier about it's to those tight ends.
- 10:38Speaker 2: Loveland and Comet combined for over almost 80 catches and
- 10:43Speaker 2: over 1,000 yards, eight total touchdowns. And we were terrible
- 10:47Speaker 2: last year against tight ends. We're going to find out
- 10:49Speaker 2: right away, Bone, how much of a difference Devin Lloyd–
- 10:54Speaker 2: And also Okereke make in terms of covering tight ends
- 10:58Speaker 2: and covering the middle of that field in our zones, man.
- 11:00Speaker 3: Well, yeah, this is big that Okereke is in there
- 11:03Speaker 3: for this game specifically as well to get him in
- 11:04Speaker 3: there early because Loveland is a matchup nightmare, which we
- 11:09Speaker 3: had a guy that was a no commodity like that
- 11:13Speaker 3: for the Panthers. But how can the Panthers offense back
- 11:16Speaker 3: take advantage of the Bears defense? Because I do believe...
- 11:21Speaker 3: They are vulnerable. 24 sacks last year during the regular season.
- 11:26Speaker 3: They didn't have a great pass rush. It was a
- 11:28Speaker 3: turnover-based defense. And how about this stat for maybe a
- 11:34Speaker 3: potential day for the Panthers for TMAC if they want
- 11:37Speaker 3: to use them this way? The Bears were one of
- 11:39Speaker 3: the worst teams in defending the slot wideouts last year.
- 11:45Speaker 3: They were not good against slot wideouts. They gave up
- 11:49Speaker 3: 9.1 yards per pass attempt and 13 touchdowns just to
- 11:54Speaker 3: slot wideouts last year.
- 11:55Speaker 2: And they might be starting a rookie in the slot
- 11:58Speaker 2: this year. That slot position is not sealed up this year.
- 12:03Speaker 2: If you're going to use T-Mac in the slot, this
- 12:04Speaker 2: is a great matchup for that. They got two secondary injuries.
- 12:07Speaker 2: Kobe Bryant's out and Kyler Gordon's out. Two starting secondary
- 12:11Speaker 2: players are out. And they lost Bayard. See, the thing
- 12:16Speaker 2: about their defense is, I love the way you segued
- 12:18Speaker 2: us to the defense, Bone. It's like, talking about the Bears'
- 12:21Speaker 2: offense is getting a little scary, so let's just move
- 12:23Speaker 2: this thing right on over to the fun part of
- 12:26Speaker 2: the Bears. which is that stinky defense is coming in here.
- 12:29Speaker 2: But like we talk about the turnovers and the intercept,
- 12:31Speaker 2: there were second league and interception percentage. Their top two
- 12:34Speaker 2: interception guys left from last year. Bayard is one of them.
- 12:38Speaker 2: And I forget who the other one was, but did
- 12:40Speaker 2: they combine for 12 interceptions between the two of them?
- 12:42Speaker 2: They're gone. So I think that's something that's notable. Listen,
- 12:46Speaker 2: other than forcing turnovers bone, they stunk at everything defensively
- 12:50Speaker 2: last year. I mean, their offense was amazing defensively. ben
- 12:53Speaker 2: johnson's the boy wonder on offense um the dude that
- 12:57Speaker 2: said no i'm too good for you david tepper but
- 13:00Speaker 2: on defense man they were gettable 29th in yards per
- 13:03Speaker 2: game allowed 23rd and points per game allowed uh they
- 13:07Speaker 2: were 26th in rush yards per game allowed they were
- 13:10Speaker 2: 29th in yards per carry they're giving up 4.9 yards
- 13:13Speaker 2: of carry last year 25th and pass yards per game
- 13:17Speaker 2: 26th in yards per attempt. Listen, I know it's a
- 13:21Speaker 2: different defense. They did bring in different guys, Bone. You
- 13:25Speaker 2: brought up their pass rush. Other than Montez Sweat, I
- 13:31Speaker 2: forgot his name. Other than Montez Sweat, who will probably
- 13:36Speaker 2: be making Monroe Freeling sweat a little bit this weekend,
- 13:38Speaker 2: but other than Montez, who had 10 sacks, Bone, they
- 13:41Speaker 2: don't have a player back on the roster that had
- 13:43Speaker 2: more than four and a half sacks last year because
- 13:45Speaker 2: they traded that kid to I forget the kid's name.
- 13:49Speaker 2: Devin something? He had six sacks. Garvin Dexter?
- 13:53Speaker 4: Oh.
- 13:53Speaker 2: Defensive lineman? Oh, my bad. I had him as Devin.
- 13:56Speaker 2: Are you talking about the one that went to Atlanta? Yeah.
- 13:59Speaker 3: Garvin Dexter. Garvin Dexter? Garvin Dexter. I call him Devin, though.
- 14:03Speaker 3: His best friends call him Devin. That's the first time
- 14:06Speaker 3: we got a name wrong in the last four minutes.
- 14:08Speaker 2: Can you tell that once you get over 50, Bone,
- 14:11Speaker 2: the names really don't matter anymore? I'm 42 and I'm
- 14:14Speaker 2: giving up now. Once you get over 50, like I
- 14:16Speaker 2: used to always wonder, why is my dad mess up
- 14:19Speaker 2: all these sports names? It's because once you reach 50,
- 14:23Speaker 2: you have sports name overload in your head. You can't
- 14:26Speaker 2: remember the names. But anyway, the kid who you just
- 14:29Speaker 2: named had six sacks last year, interior pass rusher. sounded
- 14:33Speaker 2: like bone they just didn't want to pay him money
- 14:36Speaker 2: eventually he got traded to the falcons he's a heck
- 14:39Speaker 2: of a player so my point is bone they don't
- 14:41Speaker 2: have anybody that had five sacks last year on this
- 14:44Speaker 2: roster except montez sweat that's good for our offensive line
- 14:48Speaker 2: man it really is i have.
- 14:49Speaker 3: A number here i don't know if you've seen differently
- 14:51Speaker 3: but i wanted to ask you what the panthers offense
- 14:54Speaker 3: can do with this number they ran their nickel coverage
- 14:57Speaker 3: max 74 of the time last year They are a primary.
- 15:02Speaker 3: Their base and dimes, per what I'm reading here, did
- 15:05Speaker 3: well last year. But their nickel coverage, which ends up
- 15:07Speaker 3: being their primary defense, did not do well. How do
- 15:10Speaker 3: you envision the Panthers offense and what we have attacking
- 15:15Speaker 3: the nickel defense of the Bears?
- 15:18Speaker 2: I mean, shoot, you can spread them out, run the football,
- 15:20Speaker 2: get them six in the box and run the ball. Um, I, I,
- 15:24Speaker 2: I think they are very, I mean, look at their
- 15:26Speaker 2: numbers last year. I think they're very gettable in the secondary.
- 15:29Speaker 2: I know Jalen Johnson's healthy this year and last year
- 15:31Speaker 2: to start the season, he wasn't, but I just look
- 15:35Speaker 2: at all those numbers bone. I think we should be able,
- 15:38Speaker 2: I know people are down on the Panthers offense, the
- 15:41Speaker 2: way they played in the preseason. I know the pay,
- 15:43Speaker 2: I know fans are, people are down right on the
- 15:48Speaker 2: way they play offensively and openers. They've scored 10 points
- 15:50Speaker 2: in the last three openers each game. but this just
- 15:53Speaker 2: feels like a matchup. Like T-Mac and Coker can't eat, man.
- 15:57Speaker 2: Like you put Bone, we talk about the weakness of
- 16:00Speaker 2: their nickel spot. You put T-Mac in the slot. You
- 16:03Speaker 2: put Coker in the slot. Yeah. I mean, shouldn't they
- 16:06Speaker 2: be able to eat? It all comes down to the
- 16:10Speaker 2: pass protection.
- 16:11Speaker 3: The Bears struggled mightily in matching up, Mac, last year against,
- 16:15Speaker 3: like we said, the slot wideouts.
- 16:18Speaker 2: Put those big dogs in the slot. Let them go
- 16:21Speaker 2: to town.
- 16:21Speaker 3: And the Panthers have a matchup nightmare in their own
- 16:24Speaker 3: right in Darren Waller.
- 16:25Speaker 2: Can they get him.
- 16:26Speaker 3: Matched up on some guys there in the slot and
- 16:28Speaker 3: take advantage of a Bears area of weakness? I'd like
- 16:32Speaker 3: to see Darren Waller on some of these guys in
- 16:34Speaker 3: the slot. You could put them all in there.
- 16:35Speaker 2: I think that's a spot that the Panthers can attack.
- 16:38Speaker 2: I think this defense they can attack if they can protect, right?
- 16:41Speaker 2: Can they run? I think it's the offensive line-based stuff, right,
- 16:44Speaker 2: that we're questioning. Because I think Bryce... can have success.
- 16:49Speaker 2: I think the receivers we're talking about can have success,
- 16:52Speaker 2: but it's a matter of do you protect? And it's
- 16:54Speaker 2: a good thing that the Bears come in here, Bone,
- 16:56Speaker 2: with one guy that we can game plan for. Like
- 16:58Speaker 2: that Houston practice where they just left Monroe Freeling on
- 17:02Speaker 2: an island. against a hunter and said, go ahead and
- 17:07Speaker 2: have yourself a learning experience like that. That won't happen.
- 17:11Speaker 2: They can go over there and they can slide the
- 17:14Speaker 2: protections so that they're giving freely help. And they can
- 17:17Speaker 2: basically say somebody else beat us from a pass rush perspective. Right.
- 17:22Speaker 2: No doubt. Because that is Montez Sweat's side. He he
- 17:25Speaker 2: played last year the heavy majority of his snaps over
- 17:28Speaker 2: the right tackle. But I feel like they they're not
- 17:31Speaker 2: one of these teams, Bone, like Houston comes at you
- 17:34Speaker 2: with two of them.
- 17:35Speaker 4: Right.
- 17:35Speaker 2: And then you throw Clowney in off the bench. They
- 17:37Speaker 2: are really one dimensional in the pass rush game. So
- 17:40Speaker 2: I think that helps.
- 17:41Speaker 3: And I know that you you've said this probably multiple times.
- 17:44Speaker 3: I want to reiterate Romo Doomsday is hopeful to play
- 17:46Speaker 3: on Sunday. So, I mean, I'm guessing that he will.
- 17:50Speaker 3: Sounds like he probably will.
- 17:51Speaker 2: But that's an.
- 17:52Speaker 3: Area where, Mac, if he's not 100%, I don't consider
- 17:55Speaker 3: right now the Bears' wideouts a strength of their team.
- 17:58Speaker 3: It is going to be largely Odunze and Burden, the
- 18:01Speaker 3: guys going forward. If Odunze is not fully healthy, that's
- 18:05Speaker 3: huge for the Bears.
- 18:06Speaker 2: Huge and a negative, I mean. I'm more worried about
- 18:09Speaker 2: the tight ends in the run game. Yep, I would
- 18:10Speaker 2: be too. I'm more worried about can we stop their
- 18:12Speaker 2: run game, which was one of the best in the NFL,
- 18:15Speaker 2: and then against the tight ends. Because I think Horn
- 18:17Speaker 2: and Mike Jack have that young duo on lock. I
- 18:20Speaker 2: know people like Adunze's talent and people like Luther Burton
- 18:25Speaker 2: as well, but we got one of the best corner
- 18:28Speaker 2: tandems in the league. I feel good about those matchups.
- 18:31Speaker 2: I really do.
- 18:32Speaker 3: When we come back, Matt, a guy we will not ask,
- 18:35Speaker 3: did you play football? It's Preston Buckner. We know he
- 18:37Speaker 3: plays football. He played at Clemson, so we'll talk about...
- 18:40Speaker 3: Is he a gotcha guy? We'll talk about the state
- 18:42Speaker 3: of Clemson. I'll let Mac ask him that. State of
- 18:45Speaker 3: Clemson and also what we're talking about here, Bears-Panthers week one.
- 18:51Speaker 3: What are we looking for in this game? And Buck's
- 18:53Speaker 3: got a new podcast we have to promote. Sports Radio
- 18:55Speaker 3: 92.7 WFNZ.
- 19:11Speaker 2: Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ. Mack and Bone with you. Shout
- 19:17Speaker 2: out to the negative Panther. I'm doing air quotes here. Fans.
- 19:20Speaker 2: Bone on the text line. You know who you are.
- 19:22Speaker 2: It's not the majority, but you know who you are.
- 19:24Speaker 2: Your segment is at 8 o'clock. Richie and Complainer and Chief.
- 19:30Speaker 2: When we try to figure out, Bone, how we got
- 19:33Speaker 2: from the high of last season, getting back in the playoffs,
- 19:37Speaker 2: winning a division, playing a thriller where Bryce and Stafford
- 19:41Speaker 2: went toe-to-toe in a duel with the bank completely jumping,
- 19:47Speaker 2: feeling like the old days, how we got from that
- 19:49Speaker 2: point to some of y'all's attitude. We will discuss that
- 19:54Speaker 2: coming up at 8 o'clock on the show. And I
- 19:56Speaker 2: always want to mention, especially this time of year. Once
- 19:58Speaker 2: you got there, you play football.
- 19:59Speaker 4: Exactly. Dabo.
- 20:00Speaker 2: Tell him, Dabo. Tell him. I always want to mention
- 20:02Speaker 2: this time of year, especially. I realize people are in
- 20:05Speaker 2: and out. You actually got lives that don't revolve around
- 20:07Speaker 2: your boys, Mac and Bone. And I can forgive that
- 20:10Speaker 2: if you go listen to the podcast. So the hours
- 20:13Speaker 2: you miss, you know, don't miss these Panther conversations. It's
- 20:16Speaker 2: game week. It's go time. Don't miss another Dabo's getting
- 20:19Speaker 2: criticized conversation, Bone. Or a what's going on with the
- 20:24Speaker 2: LSU versus the SEC. Don't miss any of that stuff.
- 20:27Speaker 2: Listen to what you missed. Is LSU still in the
- 20:29Speaker 2: SEC as of this morning? Right now they are. Check
- 20:31Speaker 2: with us later. But anyway, Apple, Spotify, WFNZ.com, wherever you
- 20:36Speaker 2: get your podcast. Our next guest has a podcast, but
- 20:40Speaker 2: we've got to give him a little bit of love here.
- 20:42Speaker 2: Feels better when Buck's involved around here, doesn't it? The
- 20:44Speaker 2: man is the host of the Buck Naked Truth Podcast.
- 20:47Speaker 2: What a name that is. Brenton Buckner, former Panther and
- 20:51Speaker 2: Clemson great, joins us on the Mac and Bone Show. Buck,
- 20:54Speaker 2: how you feeling, man?
- 20:56Speaker 4: I'm doing good. Thank y'all for having me.
- 20:58Speaker 3: All right, Buck. Congrats on the podcast, Buck. What's it entail, Buck?
- 21:02Speaker 3: A lot of sports, life. What's the Buck naked truth about?
- 21:06Speaker 4: We're right there where entertainment and sports collide. So we
- 21:10Speaker 4: talk about sports, we talk about entertainment, life in general,
- 21:13Speaker 4: and just go inside and outside of what's going on.
- 21:17Speaker 4: Me and No Limit Larry partnered together with it and
- 21:21Speaker 4: just trying to bring the funny side of sports and
- 21:23Speaker 4: entertainment out.
- 21:23Speaker 2: Buck, we used to work. You know this. You were
- 21:25Speaker 2: over there with us. We worked in the same building
- 21:27Speaker 2: for a while with No Limit Larry. And I always
- 21:30Speaker 2: thought he was the only dude in the building louder
- 21:33Speaker 2: than me, Buck. I mean, this dude. You think I scream, No.
- 21:36Speaker 3: Limit Larry, you scream louder than me. The elevator rides
- 21:40Speaker 3: with both of them, I lost hearing for all of 2013, honestly.
- 21:45Speaker 2: He was kind of like, I always thought he was
- 21:47Speaker 2: kind of like the black version of me, Buck. You
- 21:48Speaker 2: know what I mean? I kind of thought that.
- 21:51Speaker 4: Y'all both need a governor on y'all voice. Governor. Oh, God.
- 21:56Speaker 2: All right. Put that restricted plate on my mouth. All right.
- 22:00Speaker 2: Let's talk. Let's start you off with the Panthers, Buck.
- 22:06Speaker 2: I was going to go Clemson, but let's ease into
- 22:07Speaker 2: it for you.
- 22:08Speaker 6: All right.
- 22:08Speaker 2: Let's ease into that stuff. Let's start with the Panthers.
- 22:12Speaker 2: What do you think of this matchup with the Bears?
- 22:15Speaker 2: What are a couple of things you think we need
- 22:17Speaker 2: to watch that will determine who wins this game?
- 22:22Speaker 4: I think you need to be able to watch, can
- 22:25Speaker 4: the Panthers get after the quarterback? We know Williams is
- 22:28Speaker 4: a very talented guy and probably one of the best
- 22:33Speaker 4: off-palette throwers in the league where he can create with
- 22:39Speaker 4: his feet, but can the Carolina Panthers hunt him? Can
- 22:43Speaker 4: they not let him scramble around and make these miraculous
- 22:46Speaker 4: throws that keep Chicago in the game or swing momentum?
- 22:51Speaker 4: toward Chicago. And then, can Carolina run the ball? Can
- 22:55Speaker 4: this offensive line get together after a preseason where many
- 23:01Speaker 4: of them was hurt or didn't play? Can they come
- 23:03Speaker 4: together and can they control the line of scrimmage and
- 23:06Speaker 4: run the ball and make Bryce comfortable in the pocket?
- 23:09Speaker 4: Because I don't think Carolina right now is built to
- 23:13Speaker 4: just sit back in the pocket and say, we got
- 23:14Speaker 4: to throw the ball all over the yard. Even though
- 23:17Speaker 4: I think they got some young, good wide receivers like
- 23:19Speaker 4: I think T-Mac is an ascending player. I think Bryce
- 23:23Speaker 4: Young works better when he has a running game. You
- 23:26Speaker 4: can play action pass. You can keep him off balance.
- 23:30Speaker 3: How big, especially in this matchup, and he's not been
- 23:34Speaker 3: here for long, but the Panthers on Bobby Okereke, how
- 23:37Speaker 3: big will that be in this matchup because of how
- 23:39Speaker 3: much the Bears like to utilize that tight end spot?
- 23:43Speaker 4: Oh, it's going to be a big– it's going to
- 23:45Speaker 4: be a big– Plus, if he can come out there
- 23:48Speaker 4: and he can play, has he got caught up? Is
- 23:51Speaker 4: him and Devin Lillard on the same page? And, you know,
- 23:54Speaker 4: when you add a player, but you add them late,
- 23:56Speaker 4: you worry about the chemistry right now. Do you worry about,
- 23:58Speaker 4: do they got their language down? Do they got that
- 24:01Speaker 4: little look? Do they understand one another? Like you saw
- 24:03Speaker 4: Thomas and Akikli do, or Dan Morgan and Will Witherspoon,
- 24:07Speaker 4: guys who have played together. you know, is it going
- 24:10Speaker 4: to take one or two more weeks for them to jail?
- 24:13Speaker 4: But anytime you've got a tight end that can stretch
- 24:15Speaker 4: the middle of the field, you want to have a
- 24:17Speaker 4: linebacker in there that can disrupt that. And we know
- 24:20Speaker 4: he can, but has he caught up with the system yet?
- 24:25Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a legit question. I'll say this, though, Buck,
- 24:29Speaker 2: you saw it last year. Devin Lloyd and a recently
- 24:33Speaker 2: arriving Okereke is such an upgrade, though, over last year, right?
- 24:37Speaker 2: What we had there in the middle.
- 24:39Speaker 4: Yes, with Devin Lloyd, you've gotten so much bigger and
- 24:42Speaker 4: so much athletic. I was in Jacksonville when we drafted
- 24:46Speaker 4: Devin Lloyd, so I know what Devin Lloyd is capable of,
- 24:49Speaker 4: and he's grown tremendously as a player, as a leader.
- 24:53Speaker 4: His skills now are starting to come about because when
- 24:56Speaker 4: he left Utah, he was a position as a player
- 25:00Speaker 4: because he did so many things at Utah. When we
- 25:02Speaker 4: got him to Jacksonville, we were just like, hey, you're
- 25:04Speaker 4: a middle linebacker, let's concentrate here. And you've seen all
- 25:08Speaker 4: the work and the effort and the growth he has
- 25:10Speaker 4: as a player. And that spot right now has become
- 25:13Speaker 4: a strength, I think, for the Carolina Panthers. And not
- 25:16Speaker 4: to take enough from them guys last year, they did
- 25:18Speaker 4: the best they could do, but their best just wasn't
- 25:20Speaker 4: good enough to get the Panthers. where they wanted to go.
- 25:23Speaker 4: But I think right now, with those two guys in
- 25:25Speaker 4: the middle of your defense, you feel comfortable with entering
- 25:28Speaker 4: the season.
- 25:29Speaker 3: But when you were watching practice in person and watching
- 25:32Speaker 3: the games, did any other young defensive players stand out
- 25:36Speaker 3: to you outside of, we know the obvious star players,
- 25:39Speaker 3: but did any young players, you think, man, I really
- 25:41Speaker 3: like what blank player can be going forward?
- 25:45Speaker 4: Well, I'm sitting there and I'm watching the guy, because
- 25:47Speaker 4: I like pass rush. I was watching Prince Lee, and
- 25:50Speaker 4: I was saying, this guy's going to develop into a player.
- 25:53Speaker 4: There's a little bit of maturity that has to go
- 25:56Speaker 4: on in that position when you start to understand what
- 25:59Speaker 4: you're going to see as a pass rusher and have
- 26:01Speaker 4: a pass rush plan in mind to attack those different blockers.
- 26:05Speaker 4: And I just saw something in him that he could
- 26:07Speaker 4: be one of those spark-type players where he might not
- 26:09Speaker 4: be an every-down, outside linebacker right now, But I think
- 26:14Speaker 4: he has the size to grow that. But he could
- 26:15Speaker 4: be one of those guys that come off the bench,
- 26:17Speaker 4: and you're looking at a five- to six-sack guy that's
- 26:20Speaker 4: coming off the bench, and that's good because he's probably
- 26:22Speaker 4: going to be your third outside linebacker because he's not
- 26:25Speaker 4: going to play on rundown. And then I told you
- 26:27Speaker 4: all before, I like the Hunter kid coming out of
- 26:30Speaker 4: Texas Tech. You know, for me, it's kind of funny
- 26:34Speaker 4: because most defensive linemen play better when they're playing on
- 26:36Speaker 4: the edges, when they can play on the– on the
- 26:40Speaker 4: shoulder of a guard or a tackle. He does his
- 26:42Speaker 4: best work when he's head up a center because he
- 26:44Speaker 4: uses his quickness. He's very disruptive. He's an old-school throwback guy,
- 26:49Speaker 4: no tape on the ankles, no tape on the wrist,
- 26:51Speaker 4: and he just plays hard. But those are the two
- 26:54Speaker 4: young guys that really stuck out to me.
- 26:56Speaker 2: Buck, you have been asked by a Panther fan on
- 26:59Speaker 2: the text line if you could make an Aaron Donald-like
- 27:02Speaker 2: comeback to the Panthers. But a Clemson fan also has
- 27:06Speaker 2: asked if you have any more eligibility because it seems
- 27:09Speaker 2: like everybody does. So, Buck, a Clemson or Panther comeback
- 27:13Speaker 2: in the works?
- 27:14Speaker 4: Man, the only thing I can be good at is
- 27:17Speaker 4: tell you what waffle station is the best station to
- 27:21Speaker 4: go to right now. You know, my football day is over.
- 27:25Speaker 4: But I... Man, I wish I was in a spot
- 27:28Speaker 4: like an Aaron Donald where I was that good enough,
- 27:31Speaker 4: first of all, that they would hold a spot for
- 27:33Speaker 4: me if I wanted to come back or I was
- 27:35Speaker 4: young enough to come back and play because I think
- 27:37Speaker 4: When you get to Aaron Donald age, I think a
- 27:40Speaker 4: year or two off does the body good. You know
- 27:42Speaker 4: what I mean? You can come back refreshed for a
- 27:44Speaker 4: year and go ball, but I'm sorry, I can't help
- 27:46Speaker 4: you right now.
- 27:48Speaker 3: Buck, if you still got something in the system, though,
- 27:51Speaker 3: you can Oklahoma drill Mack all you want to.
- 27:52Speaker 2: I'll bring him over to you. I couldn't even handle– Buck,
- 27:55Speaker 2: did you see that? I couldn't even handle Fitty in
- 27:57Speaker 2: that drill. Fitty ran me over. Buck, was I happy
- 28:00Speaker 2: with that?
- 28:01Speaker 4: I saw it. I saw it, Mack. You got to
- 28:03Speaker 4: sink your heels, Mack. You got to drive through, Mack.
- 28:05Speaker 4: I was disappointed. But, hey– I'm not going to tell
- 28:08Speaker 4: you enough of 50. He knew what he was supposed
- 28:11Speaker 4: to do.
- 28:11Speaker 2: Finney's a little bowling ball type back. You know those types, Buck.
- 28:17Speaker 3: Finney's like our Tom Rathbun Buck back in the day.
- 28:23Speaker 2: Oh my God, Tolbert. Finney is our Mike Tolbert, man.
- 28:27Speaker 2: In personality and in frame. He dances as well. We're
- 28:33Speaker 2: talking with Brenton Buckner here. So, you know, we got
- 28:36Speaker 2: to talk Clemson buck for better or worse, man. How
- 28:40Speaker 2: much did that kill you to see that happen on Saturday?
- 28:43Speaker 2: And when you watch it, and then when you hear
- 28:46Speaker 2: all the media commentary that man, this game's passed Dabo by,
- 28:50Speaker 2: he hasn't adjusted enough to, to the, the, the modern game.
- 28:54Speaker 2: Do you kind of feel that stuff too, or no?
- 28:57Speaker 4: Well, you know, after sitting back watching it, you know,
- 29:00Speaker 4: I'm looking at it. LSU probably wins that game 10
- 29:03Speaker 4: times out of 10. LSU is a great team. What
- 29:05Speaker 4: Lane Kiffin has put together down there, you know, the
- 29:08Speaker 4: coaching staff, the energy, everything that's going on is good.
- 29:13Speaker 4: I kind of look at it from a point of view,
- 29:16Speaker 4: you know, because I've been a coach. A lot of
- 29:18Speaker 4: the things that Clemson suffered from, those weren't coaches' problems.
- 29:24Speaker 4: it was a lot of player-led problems out there. You know,
- 29:27Speaker 4: because no coach goes into a game not practicing what
- 29:31Speaker 4: the other team do. You know, you try to perfect it.
- 29:34Speaker 4: You try to give your team all the answers. The
- 29:37Speaker 4: players flunk that test for most of them. Getting off
- 29:41Speaker 4: blocks is an attitude. Being physical at the line of scrimmage.
- 29:45Speaker 4: I can't coach you to be physical. I can give
- 29:47Speaker 4: you the tools to help you become more physical than
- 29:50Speaker 4: what you are, but going out there and competing against
- 29:53Speaker 4: that other guy in front of you, that's all about
- 29:55Speaker 4: the players. Dropping coverage, not pass protecting, missing Missing blocks.
- 30:00Speaker 4: That's on players. Now, I was disgusted because I am
- 30:03Speaker 4: a Clemson alum, and I want to see my team
- 30:07Speaker 4: do well. Now, do I think, deep in my heart,
- 30:11Speaker 4: do I think we were going to win that game? No.
- 30:14Speaker 4: If I had to bet, I would have bet on LSU.
- 30:16Speaker 4: But I did not expect it to be the way
- 30:18Speaker 4: it was. I think that was the most disappointing part.
- 30:21Speaker 4: And you can see that on the sideline, on the coaches' faces.
- 30:26Speaker 4: Because they was like, I know we practiced this. You know,
- 30:29Speaker 4: that's the worst thing as a coach. I know we practiced.
- 30:32Speaker 4: I knew we knew this was coming. You got to
- 30:34Speaker 4: go out there as a player and you got to
- 30:37Speaker 4: work the game plan and you got to put it
- 30:39Speaker 4: all together. I think it was more player let down
- 30:42Speaker 4: than coach.
- 30:44Speaker 3: But Colin came in yesterday, a guy you know well,
- 30:46Speaker 3: and said to us off the air about the Dabo,
- 30:50Speaker 3: you know, the fire Dabo people. Is that a be
- 30:54Speaker 3: careful what you wish for scenario, though, from the Clemson
- 30:57Speaker 3: side of let's not also forget what Clemson was in
- 31:01Speaker 3: the Tommy Bowden years trying to find themselves and what
- 31:03Speaker 3: Dabo has done to get this program where it was?
- 31:06Speaker 4: Yes, I think it is. I think you have to
- 31:09Speaker 4: be very careful what you ask for. And, you know,
- 31:13Speaker 4: I'm not just going to say rest on the laurels
- 31:15Speaker 4: of what he's done in the past, but let's give
- 31:17Speaker 4: the man credit. Now, Clemson has always wanted to be
- 31:20Speaker 4: a national contender on the mouth of everybody. When you
- 31:24Speaker 4: talk about college football, they wanted to be mentioned with
- 31:26Speaker 4: the blue bloods. And Dabo built that. He built it
- 31:30Speaker 4: to where it is now. I've said this before. He's
- 31:33Speaker 4: a victim of his success. Because Clemson's fans got spoiled.
- 31:39Speaker 4: You know, I think nine ACC titles, two national championships,
- 31:43Speaker 4: two other appearances, and they got used to it. We're
- 31:47Speaker 4: going to be there. We're going to be there. Well,
- 31:48Speaker 4: guess what now? It's been a shift. You're not there.
- 31:52Speaker 4: But it took him time to build it. Now you
- 31:55Speaker 4: might have given him time to rebuild it because he's
- 31:57Speaker 4: got to look at himself in the mirror, too, and say, hey,
- 31:59Speaker 4: there's some things I got to do better. But right now,
- 32:02Speaker 4: we're just not getting the recruits that we normally get.
- 32:05Speaker 4: You know, if you go back and look at our team, Clemson,
- 32:07Speaker 4: when they were winning national titles, they dominated recruiting in
- 32:10Speaker 4: the state of North Carolina with the Dexter Lawrences of
- 32:13Speaker 4: the world. They're not doing that no more. You throw
- 32:16Speaker 4: money in it and people who can pay more than you,
- 32:19Speaker 4: you know, it's a different recruiting world. And, you know,
- 32:24Speaker 4: and I think Clemson has to be very judicious in
- 32:26Speaker 4: how they do things now because we don't have the
- 32:31Speaker 4: big pot of money like a lot of teams, like
- 32:33Speaker 4: the Texas teams or the LSUs. So you've got to
- 32:36Speaker 4: be very careful how you use it, but you've got
- 32:38Speaker 4: to use it the right way. The one thing that
- 32:40Speaker 4: I can say that was disappointing to me is I
- 32:43Speaker 4: don't think you can go into a season in today's
- 32:47Speaker 4: NCAA season and not have a seasoned quarterback. I'm like, yeah,
- 32:53Speaker 4: you might like a guy who signed with you, but
- 32:56Speaker 4: he's been there three years. and nobody's come and get him.
- 32:59Speaker 4: He hasn't made a push to start. You've got to
- 33:02Speaker 4: bring in somebody that can compete with him. So when
- 33:04Speaker 4: you go into LSU, you've got to load a gun,
- 33:08Speaker 4: and you know exactly what you've got.
- 33:10Speaker 2: Go spend money in the portal at that position, like
- 33:12Speaker 2: so many big-time programs do. But Dabo has never done
- 33:15Speaker 2: that at that position. You know, he hasn't. I also
- 33:18Speaker 2: think a lot of their alums, Bone, a lot of
- 33:19Speaker 2: their former players with the big bucks, guys that used
- 33:22Speaker 2: to play defensive line for them, they need to come
- 33:25Speaker 2: with that NIL money for Clemson, too. Don't you? By
- 33:31Speaker 2: the way, Buck, I saw a bunch, I don't know
- 33:33Speaker 2: if you follow, I'm sure you probably do, a lot
- 33:36Speaker 2: of the former Clemson guys, a lot of the former
- 33:38Speaker 2: Clemson guys were not happy on Twitter.
- 33:41Speaker 4: Yes, I saw it.
- 33:43Speaker 2: It seemed like they used to get, I mean, I
- 33:46Speaker 2: guess it's a results-based business, but they're not shy about
- 33:49Speaker 2: calling out Dabo anymore.
- 33:52Speaker 4: I think it's more so they were just shocked that
- 33:56Speaker 4: their team would get beat like that. You know what
- 33:59Speaker 4: I mean? 51 straight points. They let it go. You
- 34:04Speaker 4: don't have no rushing yards at halftime. You got a
- 34:09Speaker 4: field goal. You just look and they're up the whole game.
- 34:13Speaker 4: And so I think a lot of the frustration is
- 34:16Speaker 4: coming out. Who's going to wear the hat for the frustration?
- 34:19Speaker 4: The head coach. And I think, once again, Dabo is
- 34:23Speaker 4: a victim of things. Like, he was stern against college
- 34:27Speaker 4: football becoming what it is now. But now it's here.
- 34:30Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 34:31Speaker 4: And I know, you know, he went into the portal
- 34:33Speaker 4: this year. He got some guys. But I think you
- 34:36Speaker 4: got to be all the way in there or all
- 34:38Speaker 4: the way out of there. You know what I mean? Yeah.
- 34:41Speaker 4: You can't walk the line with it. You got to
- 34:43Speaker 4: jump in there like you just did. the quarterback position.
- 34:46Speaker 4: If I'm going to spend money, I'm going to get
- 34:48Speaker 4: that trigger, man.
- 34:48Speaker 2: That's the most important one. Although at NC State, I'm wondering,
- 34:52Speaker 2: did they spend so much money on the quarterback bone?
- 34:54Speaker 2: They didn't have money for everybody else. But anyway, I digress.
- 34:57Speaker 6: I'm sorry.
- 34:57Speaker 2: Go ahead, Matt. I was going to say, the podcast
- 35:00Speaker 2: is the Buck Naked Truth Podcast. Where do you get that?
- 35:03Speaker 2: Just wherever you get podcasts, Buck? Where do you get
- 35:05Speaker 2: that at?
- 35:06Speaker 4: You can get IG. You can go IG. You can
- 35:10Speaker 4: go YouTube. And we're coming to Apple soon. So I
- 35:13Speaker 4: know we just started with... We're on our sixth show,
- 35:16Speaker 4: and we're just telling our butt naked truth.
- 35:19Speaker 2: I love it.
- 35:19Speaker 4: I love it.
- 35:20Speaker 2: Keep doing your thing, Buck. Thanks for hanging with us, man.
- 35:22Speaker 2: We appreciate it.
- 35:23Speaker 4: All right. One time for the one time. All right, Buck.
- 35:26Speaker 2: One time for the one time. All right, Buck.
- 35:28Speaker 4: All right.
- 35:28Speaker 2: I don't know what that means. I like the way
- 35:32Speaker 2: you acted cool there, though. You were hip to it.
- 35:34Speaker 2: I mean, I just kind of naturally said it back.
- 35:36Speaker 2: My old behind was like, what do I say to this?
- 35:39Speaker 2: Buck thinks I'm cool. What do I say?
- 35:40Speaker 3: All right, Mac, when we come back, we're going to
- 35:42Speaker 3: talk more Dabo. Dabo getting worked up in yesterday's presser.
- 35:47Speaker 3: Was his reaction fair or foul in the segment we've
- 35:50Speaker 3: named Yabba Dabba Don't. Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ.
- 36:08Speaker 2: Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ. Mack and Bone with you.
- 36:14Speaker 4: Oh, man.
- 36:15Speaker 2: There is so much going on right now. It's another
- 36:18Speaker 2: early season dabble watch in the national media. And more
- 36:22Speaker 2: happy fronts. We've got the Panthers playing football at the
- 36:25Speaker 2: bank on Sunday. KB and I will have countdown to
- 36:28Speaker 2: kickoff for three hours, 10 until 1. Getting you ready
- 36:31Speaker 2: for this game. First time we've been in there for
- 36:33Speaker 2: a game that matters. Sorry to that preseason. Sorry to everybody, Bone,
- 36:37Speaker 2: that played in that preseason game. Or watched. I'm definitely
- 36:42Speaker 2: sorry for all of us that watched. But anyway, first time,
- 36:45Speaker 2: meaningful game. Since January, man. And that was, damn, that
- 36:48Speaker 2: was so close to an epic night. We'll talk more
- 36:51Speaker 2: Panthers coming up top of the hour at 8 o'clock
- 36:53Speaker 2: when we ask, what is the appropriate level of Panther
- 36:56Speaker 2: fan optimism? Considering everything, the season we had, the offseason acquisitions,
- 37:01Speaker 2: but the injuries and the offensive line situation and the preseason.
- 37:05Speaker 2: What's the appropriate level? We'll get into that. But we've
- 37:09Speaker 2: got to... We've got to get into this Dabo thing.
- 37:14Speaker 2: We did it in the first hour of the show.
- 37:16Speaker 2: I know we've got different people listening right now. Dabo
- 37:19Speaker 2: did it again, where one of his pressers and his
- 37:21Speaker 2: reaction to a tough question has gone viral. And I
- 37:26Speaker 2: want to know, and it seemed like in the first hour, Bone,
- 37:28Speaker 2: people were all over the place on this. Some people
- 37:31Speaker 2: thought it was a legitimate question, and Dabo is showing
- 37:34Speaker 2: some real sensitivity right now with things going badly. And
- 37:38Speaker 2: there were others that didn't like the question. So I
- 37:41Speaker 2: want you to listen to this. This is Chapel Fowler
- 37:42Speaker 2: from the state newspaper, covers Clemson day in and day out,
- 37:47Speaker 2: asking Dabo about the result on Saturday. And do you
- 37:50Speaker 2: feel like maybe that's an indication that your roster construction
- 37:54Speaker 2: wasn't done correctly in the offseason? Listen to this back
- 37:58Speaker 2: and forth.
- 37:59Speaker 6: Do you regret anything.
- 38:00Speaker 2: About your offseason roster.
- 38:01Speaker 6: Construction right now? Chapel, you come with all these questions.
- 38:06Speaker 6: I'll tell you, you're the gotcha guy. No, I don't.
- 38:10Speaker 6: I don't, man. I regret being 0-1-1 right now. I
- 38:12Speaker 6: regret that.
- 38:14Speaker 7: But, no, we're– can you ask me that at the
- 38:19Speaker 7: end of the season? You know, the season isn't over.
- 38:22Speaker 7: I mean, we've got one game.
- 38:22Speaker 6: We've got 11 more. What if we go 11-1? You
- 38:26Speaker 6: promise me you'll ask me that then?
- 38:28Speaker 4: Okay, good.
- 38:28Speaker 6: I'll answer it. All right.
- 38:29Speaker 4: But.
- 38:30Speaker 6: I'm not answering questions like that, you know, Chapel.
- 38:33Speaker 7: I know that's your role and that's in this environment,
- 38:35Speaker 7: you know, to be the guy that wants to create
- 38:39Speaker 7: all the controversy and ask the controversial questions.
- 38:42Speaker 6: If that's who you are, that's fine. I get it.
- 38:45Speaker 6: But I'll answer that. We played one game. One game.
- 38:50Speaker 6: All right? Did you play football?
- 38:53Speaker 4: No.
- 38:53Speaker 6: Okay. Well, they give you 12 games. And at the
- 38:56Speaker 6: end of the year, you count them up. All right?
- 39:00Speaker 7: And, you know, that's when those type of questions are
- 39:04Speaker 7: fair to me. You know, not after one game. Two,
- 39:09Speaker 7: maybe the best team in the country. Maybe the best
- 39:12Speaker 7: team in the country.
- 39:13Speaker 6: All right? Other people have good teams and coaches and
- 39:18Speaker 6: things like that, too. So I give them credit. We
- 39:21Speaker 6: got 11 more games to go battle. And we'll count
- 39:24Speaker 6: them up. Then you can ask me whatever question you want.
- 39:29Speaker 2: All right, so there you go. What do you think, Bone?
- 39:32Speaker 2: Fair or foul reaction from Dabo?
- 39:36Speaker 3: I thought it was foul. First of all, Chappell was
- 39:39Speaker 3: one of the best at what he does. He's an
- 39:41Speaker 3: emerging star.
- 39:42Speaker 2: He's a pro, man.
- 39:42Speaker 3: He's not a gotcha guy. He's one of the best
- 39:44Speaker 3: already at what he does. So for him to go
- 39:47Speaker 3: after Chappell like that feels like... It was an old
- 39:51Speaker 3: Saban trick, Matt, to go after a media member, but
- 39:55Speaker 3: really you're talking through that media member for other people
- 39:59Speaker 3: or the team. It felt like he was utilizing Chappell
- 40:02Speaker 3: for a bigger picture of what's being said about him
- 40:05Speaker 3: by everybody. But Chappell, because the answer there in that
- 40:08Speaker 3: tone doesn't really match what the question was, does it?
- 40:11Speaker 3: The question was not that big of a deal. You
- 40:14Speaker 3: give up 51 points and you get destroyed like that
- 40:18Speaker 3: when you're Dabo Sweeney. a prominent premier coach in this game,
- 40:21Speaker 3: and your program was on top, you give up 51
- 40:25Speaker 3: straight points, what kind of questions do you want to happen?
- 40:28Speaker 2: You want softball questions? What do you want to ask?
- 40:31Speaker 3: That's a very fair question when your team gets destroyed
- 40:33Speaker 3: like that. That was not fair to Chapel Fowler. That
- 40:35Speaker 3: was a very fair question.
- 40:36Speaker 2: It's fascinating to me the differences on the text line,
- 40:40Speaker 2: the way fans see this, right? Because some people side
- 40:43Speaker 2: with Dabo and say nothing wrong with the answer. This
- 40:46Speaker 2: texter says the answer was fine until the football question.
- 40:49Speaker 2: It got really condescending there. Like Chapel Fowler's not capable
- 40:53Speaker 2: of looking at a schedule bone unless he played football
- 40:55Speaker 2: as a kid. And figuring out there's 12 games.
- 40:57Speaker 4: Yes.
- 40:58Speaker 2: Like another texter says, sounds like a legit answer to me.
- 41:01Speaker 2: It has been only one game. It's actually been more
- 41:04Speaker 2: than one game. They've lost eight straight to the SEC.
- 41:07Speaker 2: Their program has clearly declined from where Dabo had it.
- 41:11Speaker 2: I think this is, like, if he says it's been
- 41:14Speaker 2: only one game, if Chappell Fowler really wanted to be,
- 41:16Speaker 2: you know, a gotcha guy and really wanted to be
- 41:19Speaker 2: a tough guy, he could have said, actually, coach, it's
- 41:22Speaker 2: been more than one game. This has been going on
- 41:24Speaker 2: for a few seasons now, where there is an elite
- 41:27Speaker 2: where you used to be, and you're so off the
- 41:29Speaker 2: pace of the elite now. It's a downfall that's been
- 41:32Speaker 2: in the crockpot simmering for a while. So, yeah, it's
- 41:35Speaker 2: more than just one game. Yeah, I didn't like the
- 41:38Speaker 2: condescending stuff. I also didn't like him trying to act
- 41:41Speaker 2: like Fowler's a gotcha guy because I don't view him
- 41:43Speaker 2: like that at all. I view him as a pretty professional,
- 41:47Speaker 2: fair journalist. I think it was a hard question. Dabo
- 41:51Speaker 2: and people down there in Clemson are used to some
- 41:53Speaker 2: candy-ass media down there. They're used to some people that
- 41:56Speaker 2: show up in jerseys to the pressers. They're used to
- 41:59Speaker 2: people that cheer. the coach, and the pressers. And the
- 42:04Speaker 2: fact that Chappell Fowler actually wants to be a legit
- 42:06Speaker 2: journalist and ask a tough question rubs Dabo the wrong way.
- 42:09Speaker 2: Dabo's so sensitive when things are going bad. If I'm
- 42:12Speaker 2: a Clemson fan, some of you right now, like Bradley says,
- 42:15Speaker 2: you're media, so you're biased. I'll tell you like I
- 42:20Speaker 2: see it. Why do you suck? Boy, that's a really
- 42:22Speaker 2: tough question. Answer it. I don't have any loyalty to
- 42:26Speaker 2: the media. I just, you know, I don't. I will
- 42:28Speaker 2: criticize media people just as fast. I'm calling it the
- 42:30Speaker 2: way I see it. I think Dabo Salini is a
- 42:32Speaker 2: sensitive dude that realizes I ain't got it anymore. I
- 42:35Speaker 2: don't want my fastball. And I think he's frustrated, and
- 42:38Speaker 2: I think he's out of answers. I think the answer is,
- 42:41Speaker 2: you know, embrace the portal even more. Like Buck said,
- 42:43Speaker 2: go all in. Use your phrase. But I just think
- 42:47Speaker 2: you don't have to act like that. And I think
- 42:48Speaker 2: when you act like that, I think your players see
- 42:50Speaker 2: you act like that, and I think your players think, oh,
- 42:53Speaker 2: my God, coach is losing it. Coach seems a little
- 42:58Speaker 2: undone and sensitive. I don't think it puts on a
- 43:00Speaker 2: strong front for your players.
- 43:01Speaker 3: What he hid behind for so long, I say hide,
- 43:04Speaker 3: I shouldn't say that, but what he.
- 43:06Speaker 2: Used for so long was the resume. And you know what?
- 43:09Speaker 2: He does have a great resume. There's no doubt whether
- 43:11Speaker 2: you like that or not. He'll break that back out.
- 43:13Speaker 2: next week don't worry.
- 43:14Speaker 3: He would read off the resume so many times as
- 43:17Speaker 3: like the defense mechanism well guess what i've heard more
- 43:19Speaker 3: national people pointed out lately that dabbo does bring out
- 43:23Speaker 3: the resume so now we all see through that he's
- 43:27Speaker 3: done it too many times he's gone to that well
- 43:29Speaker 3: too many times he can't do that and then when
- 43:31Speaker 3: you start bickering with reporters that's not a good sign
- 43:35Speaker 3: for where you are and where your program is because
- 43:38Speaker 3: the past isn't working So now he's talking about the future.
- 43:41Speaker 2: It was the past. Now it's the future, right? Pivot.
- 43:44Speaker 2: He's pivoted. Do you think he's done with the resume?
- 43:46Speaker 2: Because I have a feeling the next time they lose
- 43:48Speaker 2: a game, he could still go back to resume. Maybe
- 43:51Speaker 2: you're right. Here's the problem, though.
- 43:52Speaker 5: The resume is getting outdated.
- 43:54Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that, yeah.
- 43:55Speaker 5: Like, you're referencing stuff that's almost five years ago.
- 43:58Speaker 2: I mean, you had the CFP appearance.
- 44:00Speaker 5: From a few years ago, but they lost, what, three
- 44:03Speaker 5: games that year?
- 44:03Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 44:04Speaker 5: And three losses in a year was not standard is
- 44:07Speaker 5: the best or best is the standard. Whatever their mantra was,
- 44:11Speaker 5: whenever they were competing for championships. So that's the thing
- 44:16Speaker 5: is two years ago, the resume was still very relevant.
- 44:20Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 44:20Speaker 2: Cause they were just starting to decline. That's a good point.
- 44:24Speaker 4: This, this is.
- 44:25Speaker 5: This is now the third or fourth straight year where
- 44:27Speaker 5: there's a definite drop-off from where they were.
- 44:29Speaker 2: That's a good point. Buckeye Dave says, Resumes outdated like
- 44:32Speaker 2: Cowboys Fitty. There you go, baby. Cowboys Fitty is old news, baby.
- 44:36Speaker 2: Panther Fitty is in now.
- 44:38Speaker 3: There's also a defense mechanism, Mac, for some of our
- 44:40Speaker 3: Clemson fans, and Fitty sees it, and they're doing it
- 44:43Speaker 3: all summer, where their immediate thing is they go after
- 44:46Speaker 3: me and the Gamecocks. Like, look, man, like, yeah, you've
- 44:50Speaker 3: owned the rivalry for a long time, but your goals
- 44:53Speaker 3: should not be to only beat South Carolina every year.
- 44:57Speaker 2: Like, what happened to your program?
- 44:58Speaker 3: If that's where you're at now, where you're only deflecting
- 45:01Speaker 3: to South Carolina, then you've completely lost the plot of
- 45:04Speaker 3: what your program is supposed to be, right? They come
- 45:07Speaker 3: at me like, all right, what about your own program?
- 45:09Speaker 3: I don't understand why, like, why are y'all defending him?
- 45:12Speaker 3: Shouldn't you be pissed? Shouldn't you be pissed at.
- 45:14Speaker 2: What happened to this program and where he used to
- 45:16Speaker 2: have it and where it is now? and his stubbornness
- 45:19Speaker 2: and his slowness to adjust to the times while other
- 45:21Speaker 2: coaches have adjusted to the times and thrived. I mean,
- 45:24Speaker 2: you got beat by a coach that is so modern,
- 45:27Speaker 2: like completely embraces the portal and goes 40 plus player.
- 45:31Speaker 2: I know it's a new spot, but it's the complete
- 45:33Speaker 2: different approach to what Dabo tries to do there. And
- 45:36Speaker 2: it scored 51 straight points against you. Here's the other
- 45:40Speaker 2: thing too, Mac.
- 45:41Speaker 5: If you compare other programs that have quote unquote regressed
- 45:45Speaker 5: from where they were, What has Kirby Smart's regression been?
- 45:48Speaker 5: Still winning SEC championships, making the playoffs. Bama, what was
- 45:52Speaker 5: their regression under Saban? They were still competing for SEC championships,
- 45:56Speaker 5: getting to the playoffs. It's a little bit different now.
- 46:00Speaker 2: I would argue DeBoer could have a problem on his hands,
- 46:02Speaker 2: depending on how the season goes. But your peers that
- 46:05Speaker 2: have taken a step back in their age. But it
- 46:07Speaker 2: hasn't been that bad.
- 46:08Speaker 4: Exactly.
- 46:08Speaker 2: It hasn't been that bad. I just want to say this, Bone.
- 46:13Speaker 2: Does anybody else think when he says, gotcha guy, Does
- 46:16Speaker 2: anybody else think that he should be doing finger guns?
- 46:19Speaker 2: Sounds like something Jim Carrey would say. It's a gotcha guy.
- 46:21Speaker 2: I feel like finger guns is the appropriate thing to
- 46:24Speaker 2: be doing with your hands. You're the gotcha guy.
- 46:26Speaker 3: Mag, we have a celebrity text here. It says, that
- 46:29Speaker 3: resume's outdated. Sincerely, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.
- 46:34Speaker 2: Oh, people are all, how'd the Cowboys get, well, you
- 46:36Speaker 2: know when you get mentioned like the Cowboys, Gooch says
- 46:38Speaker 2: he sounds like a Cowboys fan. This guy says, sounds
- 46:42Speaker 2: like the 2009, oh, Yankees. Oh, okay.
- 46:44Speaker 3: Anyway, how much of the 2026 season Panther fan negativity
- 46:49Speaker 3: is warranted? How much is over the top? Well, what's
- 46:52Speaker 3: the proper level of optimism? Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ.