Latest / Best of the NFL Podcast Network / Breaking Down the Big Week 9 Games

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Breaking Down the Big Week 9 Games · Best of the NFL Podcast Network

0:00
Speaker 1: And now Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
0:07
Speaker 2: All right, here we go, week nine, nearly in the books,
0:10
Speaker 2: and it's time for another episode of Move the Sticks.
0:13
Speaker 2: What's up everybody? Red Lewis back here with Bucky Brooks
0:17
Speaker 2: as our guy. Daniel Jeremiah on the road with the
0:20
Speaker 2: LA Chargers getting set for Monday Night football with the
0:23
Speaker 2: Chargers in the Jets from Metlive Stadium. Bucky, I'll tell you, man,
0:29
Speaker 2: you know I'm sitting here getting ready for Game Day Live.
0:30
Speaker 2: You know what You've been a part of here, Game
0:32
Speaker 2: Day Live six and a half hours essentially of red
0:35
Speaker 2: zone coverage all day long on National Network. And I'm like,
0:40
Speaker 2: in this window, this is week nine, in this window
0:45
Speaker 2: of early games seven, I'm gonna see four new starting quarterbacks.
0:51
Speaker 3: And week nine, it's crazy.
0:54
Speaker 2: The forty sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth different starting quarterback
1:00
Speaker 2: this year. If you think QB two doesn't matter, think again,
1:04
Speaker 2: my good Sometimes QB three matters.
1:06
Speaker 3: And look, we'll we'll eventually get through this. But here's
1:09
Speaker 3: the thing that drives me crazy about the National Football
1:11
Speaker 3: League when it comes to the quarterbacks. So much of
1:13
Speaker 3: the quarterbacks we talk about in the draft, we talk
1:15
Speaker 3: about developing them, we talk about getting them ready to
1:18
Speaker 3: play in those things, but then we continue to hear
1:20
Speaker 3: time after time, Oh, the starting quarterback got all the reps.
1:24
Speaker 3: The backup quarterback didn't get any reps. And so RTT
1:27
Speaker 3: You're sitting here talking about we're up to forty nine
1:30
Speaker 3: quarterbacks that are playing. Yeah, but we're not getting the
1:32
Speaker 3: backup quarterbacks reps. When the odds tell us that the
1:36
Speaker 3: backup quarterback is going to play, it doesn't make sense.
1:40
Speaker 3: And I think about Josh Dobbs, who, wow, doesn't know
1:43
Speaker 3: the name of his teammates, doesn't know the play concepts,
1:46
Speaker 3: He hasn't taken a snap from the center, and he
1:49
Speaker 3: has a throw to any of the wide receivers. But
1:51
Speaker 3: yet after a quarter he is in the game. Is incredible.
1:56
Speaker 3: It is crazy to me. At some point, I just
1:58
Speaker 3: want NFL coaches maybe go to their local high school
2:01
Speaker 3: coach and say, and you know, what do you do
2:03
Speaker 3: when you have to get the backup ready?
2:04
Speaker 1: Because boy, you got to get the backup some some reps.
2:07
Speaker 1: Just can we borrow your squad? Can you guys just
2:10
Speaker 1: come over here and we'll get Josh on another field?
2:13
Speaker 1: With your defense and we'll just let him see things,
2:15
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, because yeah, it's it truly
2:19
Speaker 1: is crazy. We're gonna get to that Vikings Falcons game,
2:20
Speaker 1: which was awesome. It was actually a really great game,
2:23
Speaker 1: and you know, it's kind of you know, the other
2:25
Speaker 1: interesting art is in the early window, it was the
2:28
Speaker 1: games that you weren't expecting to be great that ended
2:30
Speaker 1: up being phenomenal and dramatic. And it was the game
2:33
Speaker 1: that you expected to be maybe the closest and hardest
2:35
Speaker 1: fought and hotly contested, and the Seahawks and the Ravens
2:38
Speaker 1: it was like dud but such as the NFL greatest
2:43
Speaker 1: reality show on television. So let's dive right into your
2:45
Speaker 1: Bucky with the first one, and that's the Bucks in Texans.
2:50
Speaker 2: So you know that I am a c. J. Stroud
2:53
Speaker 2: believer and and we have you were on this train too.
2:56
Speaker 2: We I think we all, I mean, like anybody who
2:58
Speaker 2: thinks that anybody who plays C. J. Strouds like their
3:00
Speaker 2: number two quarterback, did not think that he was going
3:03
Speaker 2: to be a terrible quarterback in the NFL. Okay, right,
3:06
Speaker 2: he ends up being the number two pick. Texans did
3:08
Speaker 2: a great job when you bring all that, but this
3:11
Speaker 2: was this was something different. This was a different level
3:15
Speaker 2: of CJ.
3:16
Speaker 3: Strodd.
3:16
Speaker 2: Now we've showed just some of the beautiful throws we've
3:18
Speaker 2: showed John Monday. We showed you on Tuesday during our
3:20
Speaker 2: video show too. He's always a popular pick in the
3:22
Speaker 2: fantasy draft we do. But the four hundred and seventy yards,
3:28
Speaker 2: the vast majority of which came in the second and
3:31
Speaker 2: the third and fourth quarters, right, three hundred and seventy
3:35
Speaker 2: of the four hundred and seventy yards coming the second half.
3:38
Speaker 2: The five touchdowns in this game, four of them coming
3:42
Speaker 2: to second half, and with the game on the line, like,
3:46
Speaker 2: there were so many terrific throws in this one, I
3:48
Speaker 2: just I want to highlight one or two real quick.
3:51
Speaker 2: We go back to the throw he hit Tank Dell,
3:54
Speaker 2: not the not the game winner, but the one before it.
3:56
Speaker 2: And they've got a little kind of like a little
3:58
Speaker 2: stutter and go happening here with Tank Dell. But the
4:01
Speaker 2: dB is Carlton Davis is like ten yards off. So
4:06
Speaker 2: you know, generally when you run that stutter go, sometimes
4:08
Speaker 2: you want to eat up a little bit of that
4:09
Speaker 2: cushion first, right, so you can generate some more separation.
4:13
Speaker 2: So Tank Dell has this little stutter and it's like CJ.
4:18
Speaker 2: Stroud has already visualized it and he let he is
4:22
Speaker 2: already throwing the football and Carlton Davis is still five
4:27
Speaker 2: yards in front of Tank Dell. It's just like the trust,
4:33
Speaker 2: the expectation, the anticipation, and then the pinpoint accuracy to
4:36
Speaker 2: drop it in the bucket at the end. Man, that
4:38
Speaker 2: was that was incredible. The last two throws, the deep
4:41
Speaker 2: corner route. Smoked it in between a sinking corner and
4:44
Speaker 2: a closing safety when everybody in the world knew that
4:46
Speaker 2: he had to throw a deep and he still manages
4:48
Speaker 2: to do it. And then the game when he played,
4:49
Speaker 2: he says, is drawn up essentially in the dirt by
4:51
Speaker 2: Bobby Slowick. Right, it's a double post, and you know,
4:54
Speaker 2: Tank Dell just widens and then bang and CJ. Shroud
4:58
Speaker 2: is an absolute star and Tank Dell is gonna be
5:01
Speaker 2: an absolute star in this league. And those two together, man, fuck,
5:04
Speaker 2: it's something special right now.
5:06
Speaker 3: You know, Red like going all the way back to
5:08
Speaker 3: the draft process, I'm so mad at myself, right So,
5:11
Speaker 3: I'm mad at myself because I've always been a firm
5:14
Speaker 3: believerer in CJ. Stroud, right, Yeah, like having been around
5:18
Speaker 3: him in high school, having been around him and Brice
5:21
Speaker 3: Young together on the same team, watching both of them
5:24
Speaker 3: and watching CJ. Stroud just kind of grow and right
5:27
Speaker 3: in front of my eyes, like I'm mad at myself
5:29
Speaker 3: because doing the run up to the draft, there's so
5:32
Speaker 3: much noise and commotion that like it can you can
5:34
Speaker 3: easily be swayed with your opinion just a little bit, right,
5:37
Speaker 3: not not that going from one to two whatever early
5:40
Speaker 3: had him won and finished, he finishes two. You seeing
5:43
Speaker 3: him every week in the Big ten, like all the
5:45
Speaker 3: stuff to do with a Big ten, and I you,
5:47
Speaker 3: you know, you got to feel for who he is.
5:50
Speaker 3: And so now I'm watching him and you're like, well, man,
5:56
Speaker 3: this is what he does. You saw it? Yeah, like
5:58
Speaker 3: this like this is what he does. He we talked
6:00
Speaker 3: about the most natural thrower in the draft, like he
6:03
Speaker 3: had a level to his game that look. We celebrated
6:06
Speaker 3: and we talked like we talk about all the time.
6:09
Speaker 3: And the knock on in was, oh, he's not athletic enough.
6:11
Speaker 3: He doesn't move around, he doesn't did this. But for
6:14
Speaker 3: the last thirty years in the National Football League, we
6:17
Speaker 3: talk about pocket passes, guys that can deal from the pocket.
6:20
Speaker 3: No one dealt better from the pocket than CJ. Stroud,
6:23
Speaker 3: And yet we act like we're surprised that he's throwing
6:25
Speaker 3: for four hundred and seventy yards. Right, he wrecked five
6:28
Speaker 3: tunnies and just carving people up. And the scary thing
6:32
Speaker 3: about it, he doesn't even have the support and cast
6:36
Speaker 3: that he could have. Like it's only getting better. So
6:39
Speaker 3: if I'm a Houston Texas fan, like I'm sitting here like,
6:42
Speaker 3: holy smokes, because we always talked about franchise quarterbacks able
6:46
Speaker 3: to do the most with the least. If he's doing
6:49
Speaker 3: that as a rookie, what is he going to do
6:51
Speaker 3: when he figures the game out and they give him
6:54
Speaker 3: a couple other pieces?
6:56
Speaker 2: This dude is remarkable, Yeah, because you know, Nico Collin
7:00
Speaker 2: has been a nice piece and they had chemistry early,
7:03
Speaker 2: Tank was kind of hurt and then he's now come back,
7:06
Speaker 2: and then Tank Dell is I mean, just get ready
7:10
Speaker 2: because he's gonna be one of those dudes that we're
7:12
Speaker 2: talking about for sure. And then look, I I just
7:15
Speaker 2: you know, I go back to again some of the narratives.
7:19
Speaker 2: You know, the reports come out about the meeting he
7:21
Speaker 2: had with Bobby Slow right, and everybody's.
7:24
Speaker 4: Like, oh my, yes, is gonna be bad or maybe
7:28
Speaker 4: it's just two competitive dudes, you know, who love football
7:33
Speaker 4: and believe in their abilities and and so yeah, they're
7:37
Speaker 4: gonna maybe take things personally every now and then.
7:39
Speaker 2: But you know what, the fact that I'm hearing now
7:41
Speaker 2: in week nine of his rookie season that CJ's talking
7:44
Speaker 2: about Bobby so confident in what CJ can do, They's
7:46
Speaker 2: just gonna draw something up when they absolutely had to
7:49
Speaker 2: have it right in the biggest situation of the game,
7:52
Speaker 2: draw something up and say hey, let's just go go
7:54
Speaker 2: run this, and they get and they execute it. I
7:57
Speaker 2: mean that that just don't believe everything that comes out
8:01
Speaker 2: that's salacious in the draft process. That's a big lesson
8:03
Speaker 2: for us.
8:04
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, that is. That is the lesson when
8:06
Speaker 3: people talked about the S two test and all the
8:08
Speaker 3: other stuff, his personality and all that, when you talk
8:11
Speaker 3: to the people that really mattered the most what his
8:14
Speaker 3: coaches said at the Ohio State they celebrated, they raved
8:16
Speaker 3: about him, what he was able to do in those
8:19
Speaker 3: big games. I mean, we talk about and we've seen
8:21
Speaker 3: Georgia give people problems. He carved them up like yeah,
8:25
Speaker 3: thanksgiving a turkey. We we saw it over and over again.
8:29
Speaker 3: And you know, it's funny because Demiko Ryans has always
8:33
Speaker 3: talked about like him being the guy. But I think
8:35
Speaker 3: when you hear his teammates early in the year, Brevon
8:37
Speaker 3: Jordan and some of the other teammates talk about, look,
8:39
Speaker 3: we got the guy. And players will always tell you
8:41
Speaker 3: when they feel like they have a magic a magical
8:45
Speaker 3: player at that position. He he has that, and the
8:48
Speaker 3: fact that what are they foreigned for? They're closed the
8:51
Speaker 3: five hundred. Who would have thought the Houston Texans would
8:55
Speaker 3: be a five hundred team based on what they're doing?
8:59
Speaker 2: I mean incredible and yeah, it's crazy, it's and again
9:04
Speaker 2: coming back to a first year head coach. We're gonna
9:06
Speaker 2: move on after this, but coming back to a first
9:07
Speaker 2: year head coach, understanding with some of the most important
9:10
Speaker 2: pieces of that first year are going to be one
9:14
Speaker 2: a symbol of staff. You believe in trust and they
9:17
Speaker 2: believe and and you know again, Bobby Slowick first time
9:20
Speaker 2: now they got to know each other in San Francisco.
9:22
Speaker 2: That obviously pays off. But he's got he's got good
9:24
Speaker 2: coaches around him, and Demico obviously is a terrific defensive mind,
9:28
Speaker 2: and they're playing really well. Obviously they're gonna want some
9:30
Speaker 2: of these drives back that allowed Baker Mayfield Company to
9:32
Speaker 2: get back into this game. But they've played pretty well
9:35
Speaker 2: for the most part of this season, and I think
9:37
Speaker 2: this is a bright future now with the Houston Texas.
9:40
Speaker 2: All right, let's move on, boy. Was was the marquee
9:43
Speaker 2: game of the afternoon Slaton and you know, arguably of
9:45
Speaker 2: the day nfcas clashed Eagles and Cowboys, and man Cowboys
9:51
Speaker 2: lose another tough one, right, another close one, twenty eight
9:53
Speaker 2: to twenty three. Eagles get it done, stopping the Cowboys
9:57
Speaker 2: in dramatic fashion when they got all all the way
10:01
Speaker 2: down inside the ten yard line and then couldn't quite
10:04
Speaker 2: convert to take the dubs.
10:05
Speaker 3: So would you see in this one? Look, Look, if
10:08
Speaker 3: you're a fan of both teams, you really should be
10:11
Speaker 3: excited about both teams because it's one of those rare
10:14
Speaker 3: games where both teams played really well but one team
10:16
Speaker 3: came up short. If out of the Philadelphia Eagles, I'm
10:19
Speaker 3: excited because this is a team to sit in at
10:21
Speaker 3: eight and one, they haven't even come close to playing
10:23
Speaker 3: their best football. This is a team that's kind of
10:26
Speaker 3: been sputtering and kind of finding a way to win
10:28
Speaker 3: games and sitting at the top of the league with
10:30
Speaker 3: the best record. And I would say that if Nick
10:33
Speaker 3: Sirianni had to give them a grade out of ten,
10:35
Speaker 3: he probably give them a seven, seven and a half.
10:38
Speaker 3: They even stretch it to eight. They haven't put together
10:42
Speaker 3: the epic performance where they're being great on offense and
10:45
Speaker 3: great on defense on the same day. This was a
10:47
Speaker 3: game that kind of went back and forth. Offensively, they
10:50
Speaker 3: found a way to kind of score enough points, but
10:52
Speaker 3: Jalen Hurst is certainly hampered by the injury. Couldn't get
10:56
Speaker 3: it all the way going with the running game, but
10:57
Speaker 3: made enough plays to kind of put themselves in the position.
11:00
Speaker 3: But then the defense showed up, you know, made some plays,
11:03
Speaker 3: had some splash plays, guys knocked it around, turned it over,
11:06
Speaker 3: came up big when they needed to. The Eagles just
11:09
Speaker 3: know how to win and coming out of the by
11:12
Speaker 3: I think if I am a team that's in the NFC,
11:15
Speaker 3: what I'm fearful of is the Eagles beginning to play
11:18
Speaker 3: the best football down the stretch. This is a team
11:21
Speaker 3: that certainly hasn't peaked too soon. Their basin football is
11:24
Speaker 3: ahead of them. And with the Cowboys, look they still
11:27
Speaker 3: and I think what we're seeing from them. Dak Prescott
11:30
Speaker 3: played great, He had three undred and seventy four yards.
11:32
Speaker 3: Ceedee Lamb showed up and was the dominant number one receiver.
11:35
Speaker 3: We saw all the things in the passing game. The
11:37
Speaker 3: missing ingredient, though, is the running game. And I'm not
11:40
Speaker 3: saying they're talking about it for a couple of weeks now. Yeah,
11:42
Speaker 3: I'm not saying Ezekiel Elliot would have been able to
11:44
Speaker 3: do it. But they don't have the running game that
11:47
Speaker 3: allows them to control the game. They can never take
11:50
Speaker 3: control of the game because they can't take the air
11:53
Speaker 3: out of the game when they need to run it
11:55
Speaker 3: and salted away in those things, and that could be
11:58
Speaker 3: the Achilles heal because I don't know how they can
12:00
Speaker 3: add to it. Didn't take pick up anybody in the
12:02
Speaker 3: trade deadline. There's no one out there in the streets
12:04
Speaker 3: that can add to it. Tony polar is fine, but
12:06
Speaker 3: I don't think Tony Pobly can be the workhorse back
12:09
Speaker 3: to kind of be the runner that they need to
12:12
Speaker 3: play the style that they need to kind of win
12:14
Speaker 3: at the highest.
12:15
Speaker 2: Levels, right And you know, I think it's all Tony
12:21
Speaker 2: Pollard is certainly you know, worthy of being a piece
12:23
Speaker 2: of that discussion, right is is it? Is it because
12:26
Speaker 2: he's better as that you know, explosive piece right where
12:29
Speaker 2: you can find him the ball, you know, outside of
12:32
Speaker 2: the scope of being the workhorse or you know, is
12:35
Speaker 2: the offensive line not playing you know, up to its
12:37
Speaker 2: standard in Dallas, which we've talked about the last couple
12:40
Speaker 2: of years really, So I think you know that's the
12:42
Speaker 2: That's another part of it too. You know, Mike McCarthy
12:45
Speaker 2: collin plays this year, you know, how much does that
12:47
Speaker 2: factor in as well? So he could be more than
12:51
Speaker 2: just a polor deal. But that is obviously the one
12:53
Speaker 2: that kind of stands out because there isn't the presence
12:55
Speaker 2: of another you know, bell cow type of running back
12:58
Speaker 2: in that role that we've seen Azek Elliott occupy for
13:01
Speaker 2: the last few years there in Dallas. So I look
13:04
Speaker 2: at that on the encouraging side. It wasn't just Ceedee Lamb.
13:07
Speaker 2: Jake Ferguson almost caught one hundred yards you know from
13:10
Speaker 2: the tight end spots seven catches in a touchdown on
13:12
Speaker 2: ten targets. Jalen Tolbert is starting to come on too,
13:14
Speaker 2: as another complimentary piece in the past game. The Cowboys
13:17
Speaker 2: are going to be around. They're going to be around
13:19
Speaker 2: in this discussion. They're not going to fade away. And
13:22
Speaker 2: so the Eagles are obviously right where they want to
13:24
Speaker 2: be right now, but not losing faith in what the Cowboys,
13:27
Speaker 2: you know, can ultimately do this season. All right, let's
13:30
Speaker 2: move on Chiefs and Dolphins from Frankfurt, Germany. You know
13:35
Speaker 2: you had to wake up early to watch it, but
13:37
Speaker 2: early on you're like, huh, right, well, Chiefs. The Chiefs
13:43
Speaker 2: obviously came to play, and you know it was the
13:46
Speaker 2: Dolphins who would spend essentially the whole week in Frankfurt.
13:49
Speaker 2: Chiefs just came in hot right on Friday, and they
13:52
Speaker 2: were ready, and they came out ready to play, you know,
13:54
Speaker 2: early on, both offensively and defensively. And defensively here is
13:59
Speaker 2: where I want I want to hick because I think
14:01
Speaker 2: Steve Spagnolo deserves a ton of credit. The way that
14:04
Speaker 2: he was able to keep the big plays to a
14:05
Speaker 2: minimum on this high flying, explosive offense with Miami, I
14:10
Speaker 2: thought was incredible and you know, you get that, you
14:14
Speaker 2: get some of those big time plays. I mean that fumble,
14:17
Speaker 2: that tripping Duffy force Man, that is textbook stuff right there.
14:21
Speaker 2: Form tackle going down, strips the ball out, Mike Edwards
14:23
Speaker 2: picks it up, pitches it back to Brian Cook, and
14:25
Speaker 2: you're often running for defensive touchdown. You're twenty one nothing
14:28
Speaker 2: going into the half. No, Like, I don't know that
14:30
Speaker 2: any lead is safe with the way that Miami plays offense,
14:33
Speaker 2: but the way defensively that they were playing, it was
14:35
Speaker 2: gonna they were gonna make Miami work for it, and
14:37
Speaker 2: they did, and I think that might be the blueprint there,
14:40
Speaker 2: kind of like it was for defenses playing the Chiefs
14:43
Speaker 2: the last few years. Make them work for it, make
14:45
Speaker 2: them be patient. And I still think that this Chiefs
14:49
Speaker 2: offense has some issues to work out, right because they
14:52
Speaker 2: are not what they have been. But defensively, the teams
14:56
Speaker 2: winning with defense right now in Kansas City.
14:58
Speaker 3: That's the thing that's kind of been the thing that
15:00
Speaker 3: no one has talked about for the entire season. This
15:02
Speaker 3: is a defensive led team and we are not used
15:05
Speaker 3: to seeing the kans City Chiefs play this way. We're
15:08
Speaker 3: not used to seeing their defense kind of make it happen,
15:11
Speaker 3: and the fact that last year they were able to
15:13
Speaker 3: win a Super Bowl with so many young players playing well.
15:16
Speaker 3: Now those guys have experience and they develop a lovel
15:19
Speaker 3: of expertise when it comes to playing on defense. George
15:21
Speaker 3: Carloftis and Bran Cook, Joshua Williams, all the young guys
15:25
Speaker 3: that they have playing, they are really really confident, and
15:28
Speaker 3: we're seeing their confidence Barret. I think the other thing
15:31
Speaker 3: that stands out is Andy Reid is beginning to get
15:34
Speaker 3: more comfortable with the fact that, man, my defense is
15:37
Speaker 3: pretty good. We don't have to take any unnecessary risk
15:39
Speaker 3: offensively to win this game. We're seeing Pat Mahomes play
15:43
Speaker 3: more like a game manager than the ultimate playmaker. But
15:46
Speaker 3: it's working. If the Chiefs figure out how to generate
15:51
Speaker 3: more points on offense. I don't know how you beat
15:54
Speaker 3: them because right now their defense is playing so well.
15:57
Speaker 3: Chris Jones being able to control and dominate at the
15:59
Speaker 3: point of a time we talked about the defensive backfield,
16:02
Speaker 3: the young secondary, Trup mcduffrey and all those guys. I
16:05
Speaker 3: don't know how you beat them because they took an explosive,
16:08
Speaker 3: high eye time offense in the Dolphins and Newted. It
16:12
Speaker 3: completely took it out of the mix. No big plays
16:14
Speaker 3: you gon Nickel and Diamond did it playing some Manda
16:17
Speaker 3: man is something not dis solves on it. A lot
16:19
Speaker 3: of times we see if they can play this kind
16:22
Speaker 3: of defense, I really don't know who can knock them off.
16:26
Speaker 3: I mean, they're just a really good team all around,
16:28
Speaker 3: and the complimentary ball that they're playing makes them darn
16:32
Speaker 3: they're unbeautiful.
16:33
Speaker 2: Well, and let's also while ratt it, give some credit
16:36
Speaker 2: to Vic Fangio, because not many guys in this league
16:41
Speaker 2: that can say they went up against the Chiefs, you know,
16:43
Speaker 2: in their heyday, and they held Travis Kelce to three
16:47
Speaker 2: catches for fourteen yards. Yeah, and that's the other thing,
16:52
Speaker 2: like if you can if you figured that part of
16:54
Speaker 2: it out, the Chiefs aren't prepared to beat you in
16:57
Speaker 2: another way right now, that's what if. And then look,
17:01
Speaker 2: you take away the defensive score and who knows what
17:03
Speaker 2: happens this is, this game's going in overtime, or you know,
17:06
Speaker 2: something else happens down the stretch. But if you can
17:09
Speaker 2: limit Travis Kelsey to three touches in fourteen yards, you're
17:14
Speaker 2: gonna have a chance to win that ball game against
17:15
Speaker 2: the Chiefs every single time, because right now, Sky Moore,
17:19
Speaker 2: Mbs Kadariostony and Rashi Rice Justin Watson can be good players,
17:25
Speaker 2: but they're not enough to carry the mail offensively. And
17:27
Speaker 2: that's just that's what it feels like to me at
17:29
Speaker 2: this point.
17:31
Speaker 3: No, they're they're not good enough to get there yet. Yeah,
17:35
Speaker 3: oh they're on the court. And you're right about Big
17:37
Speaker 3: Fangio being able to figure it out. Because the main
17:39
Speaker 3: thing that the problem where people struggle when it comes
17:42
Speaker 3: to defending the Chiefs is what do you do at
17:44
Speaker 3: eighty seven? Because he's such a freelancer when it comes
17:47
Speaker 3: to his rouse and those things is hard when you
17:49
Speaker 3: play it's all. They always be aware of them. Are
17:51
Speaker 3: you willing to put man coverage on them? And the
17:54
Speaker 3: kind of deal with all the different problems he can
17:55
Speaker 3: give you with alignments and those things. But the Miami,
17:59
Speaker 3: the offense had a great playing for keeping him and
18:01
Speaker 3: check them. Because they able to keep him and check,
18:03
Speaker 3: they get Pat Mahomes and check. One of the areas
18:06
Speaker 3: where the Kansaity Chiefs have to work on is to
18:07
Speaker 3: counter to some of those things is the running game
18:09
Speaker 3: they weren't able to run the ball well enough, or
18:12
Speaker 3: they weren't disciplined enough to do it. This team has
18:15
Speaker 3: the cinue to evolve and grow if they're going to
18:17
Speaker 3: be the Super Bowl team right that we expect them
18:20
Speaker 3: to be. But the good thing is while they're trying
18:22
Speaker 3: to figure it out on offense, defensively they're air tight
18:25
Speaker 3: and that gives them a chance to continue to stack
18:26
Speaker 3: these wins.
18:27
Speaker 2: And I am not one of those people that thinks
18:30
Speaker 2: that Andy Reid cannot figure it out, because I think
18:34
Speaker 2: for the most part, we would imagine that Big Red
18:37
Speaker 2: and fifteen are going to find a way to make
18:38
Speaker 2: it work offensively. All right, let's move on to the
18:41
Speaker 2: Bengals and Bills Sunday night er. They're obviously an emotional
18:45
Speaker 2: scene in Cincinnati, Damor Hamlin based on what happened back
18:48
Speaker 2: in January last year. He was inactive for the game,
18:50
Speaker 2: but certainly active on all the activities leading up to
18:53
Speaker 2: the game. You know, thanking all the first responders, was
18:56
Speaker 2: out to dinner with them as scholarships now in their
18:59
Speaker 2: name for the good Foot for people in Cincinnati moving forward,
19:03
Speaker 2: Really cool stuff all that happening in Cincinnati, and what
19:07
Speaker 2: a difference many year makes and so great to see
19:09
Speaker 2: him a part of that franchise obviously, But for the
19:12
Speaker 2: Bills in the Bengals here, it's quite clear that Joe
19:15
Speaker 2: Shist's back in a big way. I mean, he was
19:19
Speaker 2: incredible in this game. The fifty I mean the rushing
19:22
Speaker 2: yards in this game from Joe Burrow. I think again,
19:25
Speaker 2: you continue to point to he had that one scramble
19:28
Speaker 2: for first down where you can see it on his face.
19:30
Speaker 2: He's like, I didn't even think about my calf on
19:33
Speaker 2: that one and we got a first down. You know
19:35
Speaker 2: what I mean, It's like that's dangerous. Obviously he's pinpoint accurate, Bucky,
19:39
Speaker 2: But what did you What was your major takeaway from
19:41
Speaker 2: this one?
19:42
Speaker 3: The Bengals have kind of found their way back. They
19:44
Speaker 3: found their way back to being in the conversation. Is
19:46
Speaker 3: one of the top teams. Like they've climbed up into
19:48
Speaker 3: the mix where they can be in the conversation where
19:50
Speaker 3: they may not overtake the Kans City Chiefs as the
19:52
Speaker 3: number one seed, but they're positioning themselves to be right
19:55
Speaker 3: in the conversation with them in Baltimore. Ravens to win
19:58
Speaker 3: to the vision. The scary thing about the since Snetti
20:00
Speaker 3: Bengals is when this quarterback gets hot, When this quarterback
20:02
Speaker 3: is fully confident, they believe and they know that they
20:05
Speaker 3: can beat anybody. And this win over the Buffalo Bills
20:10
Speaker 3: was just another remount of Hey, guys, no matter what
20:11
Speaker 3: you think about us, we're always going to be here.
20:14
Speaker 3: When he talked, I would say, like with all the Bravados, saying, hey,
20:18
Speaker 3: the window is as long as my career is. We're
20:21
Speaker 3: seeing that. When Joe Sisty is on his game, Yeah,
20:26
Speaker 3: you can't do it because he not only is a
20:28
Speaker 3: great pass first point guard, meaning that he'll get it
20:30
Speaker 3: to anybody and everybody, he has that extra factor of
20:33
Speaker 3: the athleticism to pick up first downs. And the great
20:36
Speaker 3: thing about what we call these athletic quarterbacks it's not
20:38
Speaker 3: necessarily that they're running all the time, but man, when
20:41
Speaker 3: you can pick up two or three extra first downs
20:43
Speaker 3: on scrambles and improvisational runs in those things, it changes
20:49
Speaker 3: the equation in terms of how the defense has defending.
20:52
Speaker 3: This Bengals team is really really good Offensively, they're beginning
20:55
Speaker 3: to get together and let's tip he had to loot
20:58
Speaker 3: and a room up. Yeah, here we go. Kind of
21:02
Speaker 3: a way to get that defense up and going. This
21:03
Speaker 3: team is good, This team is on the is on
21:05
Speaker 3: the rise on the client real quick.
21:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, a couple of turnovers forced and the Bills, you know, again,
21:10
Speaker 2: like I just feel like it's sometimes hard to put
21:12
Speaker 2: your finger on it. With Buffalo, it's just you know,
21:16
Speaker 2: Josh Allen maybe said it best. It's like just just
21:18
Speaker 2: no rhythm, you know, just could not find a rhythman.
21:21
Speaker 2: In order to win games, you have to first not
21:24
Speaker 2: lose them, and and right now they they do have
21:27
Speaker 2: some critical mistakes that end up costing them, but you
21:31
Speaker 2: never count them out because Josh Allen can obviously do
21:33
Speaker 2: it all and he's proven you know, many times. But
21:35
Speaker 2: but it definitely is frustrating when you know your your
21:39
Speaker 2: team as talented as the Bills and you can only
21:41
Speaker 2: put up eighteen points in a big spot like that.
21:45
Speaker 2: And by the way, as we look here and talking
21:47
Speaker 2: about the Bengals, guess who's sitting in the seventh seed
21:49
Speaker 2: in the AFC right now if the playoffs are a
21:51
Speaker 2: start today, Yeah, the Cincinnati Bengals, and every team in
21:57
Speaker 2: the AFC North is also in the playoff structure. It
22:01
Speaker 2: goes seven Bengals six Browns, five Steelers. Everybody up there
22:06
Speaker 2: looking at the Chiefs at one with the Ravens leading
22:08
Speaker 2: the division at seven to two, And we'll get more
22:11
Speaker 2: on that game coming up here in just a little bit.
22:14
Speaker 2: We're also going to talk about a team and we'll
22:17
Speaker 2: move into the NFC Conference where there is currently a
22:20
Speaker 2: team sitting in seventh place that is now onto their
22:23
Speaker 2: third quarterback. The Minnesota Vikings are in the playoff structure
22:27
Speaker 2: right now behind the play of Josh Dobbs. We'll get
22:31
Speaker 2: into it next here. I'll move the sticks, all right,
22:38
Speaker 2: Welcome back, everybody, move the sticks. Rolling on Red Lewis,
22:40
Speaker 2: Bucky Brooks as DJ is off in transit to MetLife
22:45
Speaker 2: Stadium as he's going to get set for the call
22:47
Speaker 2: of the Chargers in Jets on Monday night. So we're
22:52
Speaker 2: going to take a look now at another one of
22:53
Speaker 2: the dramatic games from the early window of your Week
22:57
Speaker 2: nine Sunday, which was the Minnesota Vikings finding a way
23:01
Speaker 2: to get it done against the Atlanta Falcons. Oh, by
23:05
Speaker 2: the way, I hate to start this with negativity, but
23:08
Speaker 2: Kevin O'Connell just announced that Cam Akers is out with
23:10
Speaker 2: him Achilles. Oh, the rest now second one for Kim
23:16
Speaker 2: Nakers is to hate that for him. So Alexander Madison
23:21
Speaker 2: throws Stephen More into the spotlight. Now, But you know what,
23:24
Speaker 2: that's the theme of this game and maybe of this
23:26
Speaker 2: year for the Vikings. Who's going to step up? Started
23:30
Speaker 2: with Justin Jefferson going down right, and guess who starts
23:34
Speaker 2: shining is the rookie Jordan Addison who did again in
23:37
Speaker 2: this game. Jordan Addison, you know, continues to play well.
23:41
Speaker 2: Five catches fifty two yards, had a big one down
23:43
Speaker 2: the stretch in this game where he was able to
23:44
Speaker 2: have this phenomenal body control to stay in bounce on
23:47
Speaker 2: the sideline. And then you have obviously Kirk Cousins goes
23:50
Speaker 2: down last week, Jaren Hall steps into play. Jaren Hall
23:54
Speaker 2: starts this game, becomes the ninth rookie quarterback to start
23:57
Speaker 2: a game this year, which I think is like the
23:59
Speaker 2: most we've had in some time. So the ninth rookie quarterback,
24:03
Speaker 2: Jared All he lasts about a quarter and that he
24:06
Speaker 2: goes down with a concussion. So who do they bring in?
24:09
Speaker 2: Bucky you started last week for the Cardinals. Well, and
24:16
Speaker 2: we talked about it at the top. It's the thing
24:20
Speaker 2: that I am really curious about, and I hope somebody
24:22
Speaker 2: gets to ask Kevin O'Connell about this. But what were
24:25
Speaker 2: the I wonder what that one sided conversation was like
24:28
Speaker 2: in Josh Dobbs's ear in that earpiece, because there's no
24:33
Speaker 2: way that he is that comfortable four days into the
24:38
Speaker 2: playbook to run thirty pass plays. He threw it thirty
24:42
Speaker 2: times in this game. Yeah, So like, is Kevin O'Connell
24:46
Speaker 2: in there, like, Hey, this is the play but this
24:50
Speaker 2: is what I need you to focus on. This is
24:52
Speaker 2: essentially the concept. This is what we're trying to get.
24:55
Speaker 2: This is what we're trying to work on. So like,
24:56
Speaker 2: tell everybody the place. Everybody else knows what's going on,
24:59
Speaker 2: and then this is what you need to worry about.
25:00
Speaker 2: Like do you think some of that is going on
25:02
Speaker 2: in his helmet or are you trying to stay out
25:04
Speaker 2: of his own to not cloud what's already a brain
25:07
Speaker 2: that's probably going crazy.
25:09
Speaker 3: You know. I think what they what they did, and
25:12
Speaker 3: obviously Kevin O'Connell talked about this a little bit afterwards.
25:15
Speaker 3: They went up tempo so they can get them to
25:17
Speaker 3: the line of scrimmage, and it allowed Kevin O'Connell to
25:20
Speaker 3: kind of walk him through the concepts. A look right
25:23
Speaker 3: to left, you drop, here's what you should be thinking,
25:26
Speaker 3: all those other things. Look, it's a great thing, the
25:29
Speaker 3: benefit that Kevin O'Connell had and working with Sean McVay.
25:32
Speaker 3: He watched how Sean McVay utilized the headset and the
25:35
Speaker 3: mechanics to help Jerry Goff that first season when they
25:39
Speaker 3: were all together with the Rams. He took a page
25:41
Speaker 3: out of that playbook. It worked. And because Josh Doles
25:44
Speaker 3: we know it man. Everyone talks about like how smarty
25:46
Speaker 3: he is and all those things. He has proven the
25:50
Speaker 3: value in a good backup, a smart backup who's a
25:54
Speaker 3: quick study to go from where you're in Cleveland, the Arizona, Arizona,
25:57
Speaker 3: the Minnesota and he's done this time again. Last year
25:59
Speaker 3: he did it from Cleveland to Tennessee and started in
26:01
Speaker 3: the game in less than a week. He knows how
26:03
Speaker 3: to do it. But for them to be able to
26:05
Speaker 3: use the helmet communication device to lean on his experience
26:11
Speaker 3: as a guy who's been around the league seven eight
26:13
Speaker 3: years to put him in a position to do it,
26:16
Speaker 3: it's great. And the Minister of Vikers are going to
26:17
Speaker 3: have a chance to kind of backdoor into the playoffs,
26:19
Speaker 3: because if he stays healthy, he is going to give
26:22
Speaker 3: them a chance not only with his athleticism, but with
26:25
Speaker 3: his smarts, his awareness and that experience. He's going to
26:28
Speaker 3: give them a chance to win games and be in
26:29
Speaker 3: the mix.
26:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's it's incredible, it really is. And
26:34
Speaker 2: I think, you know, Josh Dobbson is essentially the modern
26:37
Speaker 2: day Josh Johnson. Yeah, you know, who could come in
26:40
Speaker 2: on a whim, you know, and either be your backup
26:43
Speaker 2: or or get in and try to figure it out.
26:46
Speaker 2: You know, if he has to go and go in
26:47
Speaker 2: and play and look the guy started you know what
26:50
Speaker 2: was it the Meames for the Cardinals. Yeah, and now
26:52
Speaker 2: comes in and he's ready to rock and roll for
26:54
Speaker 2: the Vikings on essentially four days of prep. Again, it's
26:58
Speaker 2: it's pretty it's pretty dangle. And you know, I think
27:01
Speaker 2: he Josh dobbs talked about it as like you're prepared
27:04
Speaker 2: to go, you know, take a test in Spanish and
27:08
Speaker 2: then you show up and it's in French.
27:12
Speaker 3: He's a Spanish for like the hardest level of Spanish
27:17
Speaker 3: and then taking an ap French course. My good. I
27:20
Speaker 3: mean even his jokes are highly academic.
27:24
Speaker 2: Right right, right right.
27:26
Speaker 3: That's it just speaks to how tough it is to
27:31
Speaker 3: kind of jump in this situation. Five days in, he's
27:33
Speaker 3: ready to play, and give him credit for being a
27:35
Speaker 3: professional being able to do it. And he talked about
27:37
Speaker 3: what he learned from Mike Thiland that no one cares
27:40
Speaker 3: about your circumstances. They care how you pray. Love that part,
27:43
Speaker 3: and he was able to do it. He's grizzled, he's hard.
27:46
Speaker 3: I do know this. Josh Dobbs will play another seven
27:50
Speaker 3: or eight years in the league based on just what
27:52
Speaker 3: he's been able to do this year between the calendar
27:55
Speaker 3: year from what he did at Tennessee to what he
27:57
Speaker 3: did at Arizona to Minnesota. He will be the first
28:00
Speaker 3: backup on call. Congratulations, you are going to make thirty
28:04
Speaker 3: million dollarsands a backup quarterback just hanging around the league.
28:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, if he wants to, I mean like, if he
28:09
Speaker 2: doesn't want to go, you know, build a rocket, then yeah,
28:12
Speaker 2: you can go continue to build up a team's roster quarterback.
28:16
Speaker 2: It's it's incredible and my hat is off to him. Man,
28:20
Speaker 2: the amount of mental exhaustion that he has had to
28:23
Speaker 2: work through this year again, going from the Browns to
28:25
Speaker 2: the Cardinals, now the Cardinals of the Vikings back up
28:28
Speaker 2: to starter on so many different times. I think is
28:31
Speaker 2: just to be commended. And remember like this guy who
28:33
Speaker 2: bounced around, you know, as like a third string quarterback
28:37
Speaker 2: for the first like five years of his career, you know,
28:40
Speaker 2: with the Steelers and the Jaguars and the Browns and
28:43
Speaker 2: back to the Steelers, into the Browns into the time.
28:45
Speaker 2: I mean, it's again, it's incredible. So hats off to him.
28:49
Speaker 2: And the Vikings are now the seventh seed in the
28:51
Speaker 2: NFC playoff picture incredible and maybe Justin Jefferson is on
28:55
Speaker 2: his way back now, so we'll see on that one.
28:59
Speaker 2: All right, Let's move to the Manderson Patriots. This is
29:01
Speaker 2: a game, Bucky that the Patriots were down big early,
29:08
Speaker 2: scored I think fourteen unanswered to take the lead and
29:12
Speaker 2: then still end up losing to the Commanders. How'd you
29:15
Speaker 2: end up seeing this one?
29:16
Speaker 3: Okay? So look, and I know that the last two
29:19
Speaker 3: years I should be better prepared when it comes to
29:22
Speaker 3: looking at the Patriots fall short. But it's so odd
29:26
Speaker 3: over the last twenty years, seeing how the Patriots are
29:28
Speaker 3: losing these games. And I know people have tried to
29:30
Speaker 3: make the debate between Tom Brady Bill Belichick, who's responssible
29:33
Speaker 3: to think, But for me, when I looked at the Patriots,
29:35
Speaker 3: the Patriots won a lot of games because they just
29:37
Speaker 3: didn't lose, and the fact that they are now losing
29:40
Speaker 3: these games because it always felt like in a close
29:42
Speaker 3: gan to the Patriots find a way to win. They
29:44
Speaker 3: haven't been able to find a way to win. Some
29:46
Speaker 3: of that is personnel driven. Some of that is the
29:47
Speaker 3: quarterback that they have is not quite as magical as
29:49
Speaker 3: the one that they had previously or whatever. But look,
29:54
Speaker 3: I can't get it. They're not a very talented team,
29:57
Speaker 3: but they do just enough to hang around, but they
30:00
Speaker 3: can't get it done. And I'd look at as mind boggling.
30:05
Speaker 3: We're going to talk about when he finished his career,
30:07
Speaker 3: Bill Belichick will be celebrated as the greatest coach of
30:09
Speaker 3: all time when it comes to the National Football League
30:11
Speaker 3: with the wins and all the other stuff. But watching
30:15
Speaker 3: him or so much into this team and this team
30:18
Speaker 3: give him little in return when it comes to the victories.
30:22
Speaker 3: It's really interesting to watch this team kind of just
30:24
Speaker 3: fall apart.
30:25
Speaker 2: Well, here's the other piece of it. I don't know
30:28
Speaker 2: if you saw the news conference today, but he's answering
30:32
Speaker 2: questions about whether he feels like he's coaching for his
30:36
Speaker 2: job this week. Yeah, you've got Boston media personalities trying
30:42
Speaker 2: to read the lips of Jonathan and Bob Kraft up
30:47
Speaker 2: in the box, like what are they talking about?
30:49
Speaker 3: What are they saying?
30:50
Speaker 2: Is it related to Belichick?
30:51
Speaker 3: Oh? I hear I say.
30:52
Speaker 2: It looks like he says, you know, we're just not
30:54
Speaker 2: good enough, which is true. I mean that part of
30:58
Speaker 2: it is true. They are not good enough to compete
31:00
Speaker 2: in the EFC East right now and to be a
31:02
Speaker 2: playoff contender and to hold themselves to that extraordinarily high
31:07
Speaker 2: standard that they themselves set, you know, the better part
31:10
Speaker 2: of the last two decades. So it does like the
31:16
Speaker 2: benefit of the doubt thing. I think is really interesting
31:19
Speaker 2: with Belichick in New England because like, how much, how
31:22
Speaker 2: much creat what have you done for me lately?
31:25
Speaker 3: League?
31:25
Speaker 2: We all know that, and what they've done lately has
31:27
Speaker 2: not been great, But they also had twenty years of
31:30
Speaker 2: the best football this league has ever seen. It's so
31:34
Speaker 2: with you know, like balancing the benefit of the doubt
31:36
Speaker 2: thing with Belichick is it is tough.
31:38
Speaker 3: It is such a such a weird thing. And I've
31:40
Speaker 3: made this comparison. I've written about it. It reminds me
31:43
Speaker 3: of Greg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. Yeah, okay,
31:46
Speaker 3: so when Greg Popovich and the Spurs they went and
31:48
Speaker 3: added three Hall of Famers Manu, Tony Parker, Tim Duck
31:53
Speaker 3: and man, they're winning. They went five titles. Everything is great.
31:55
Speaker 3: He celebrated his best coach. Whatever. Those guys exit stage right, Man,
32:00
Speaker 3: they fall apart, they're down at the bottom. You just
32:02
Speaker 3: don't know. But he gets to benefit the doubt. He
32:04
Speaker 3: gets to grace to do it lor and behow win
32:07
Speaker 3: be comes and now the Spurs are back and now
32:09
Speaker 3: he's the greatest back. So so the thing will be
32:12
Speaker 3: for Robert Kraft. Can he pull himself out of the
32:15
Speaker 3: emotional part that he's in where he's looking at his
32:17
Speaker 3: franchise like, man, we're down at the bottom of the standings.
32:20
Speaker 3: We're not getting these wins. We had twenty years success.
32:23
Speaker 3: So I'm so sport of always kind of being the team.
32:26
Speaker 3: But does he believe in Bill Belichick, the coach who
32:29
Speaker 3: also brought you those six titles? Because if you believe
32:32
Speaker 3: in them. Did you exhibit enough patience to let him
32:36
Speaker 3: work through it? Because all the great franchises that have
32:38
Speaker 3: five to six titles San Francisco forty nine is to
32:41
Speaker 3: endure their fair share of slumps. The Pittsburgh Steelers have
32:44
Speaker 3: had some ups and downs. When it comes to it,
32:48
Speaker 3: this craft have the whereverthal to stay patient with Bill Belichick.
32:52
Speaker 3: And the other thing was this, Okay, if you dump him,
32:55
Speaker 3: who then right right?
32:58
Speaker 2: You're right because the dr know on staff is it
33:01
Speaker 2: you want to complete break from everything. I don't know.
33:04
Speaker 2: I don't know if I'm there yet on on trying
33:07
Speaker 2: to think of Belichick replacements. I just tell you, I
33:09
Speaker 2: just I feel like there's still some left there that
33:13
Speaker 2: will try to figure this thing out. And maybe all
33:15
Speaker 2: he needs all apparently all he needs is one beyond.
33:17
Speaker 3: So I guess he has to figure out he has
33:22
Speaker 3: to figure out a way to get one.
33:25
Speaker 2: They keep going down this path. Caleb Williams will be
33:27
Speaker 2: available for them, you know what I mean. I mean
33:30
Speaker 2: they've got two wins right now. You spend some time
33:32
Speaker 2: in Boston, do you think that Caleb Williams would be
33:33
Speaker 2: a great fit in Beantown? Do you think the Boston
33:36
Speaker 2: fans will love well.
33:38
Speaker 3: Winning.
33:39
Speaker 2: Winning is a good fit in Boston, and I feel like,
33:45
Speaker 2: above all else, they figure out a way to embrace
33:48
Speaker 2: uh Caleb because he is a winner outside of the
33:51
Speaker 2: last few weeks at USC although I don't know that
33:54
Speaker 2: that's all his fault, but that is a podcast for
33:55
Speaker 2: another day. Let's move to the Ravens and the Seahawks
34:01
Speaker 2: briefly here because this was just an absolute dud. Credit
34:07
Speaker 2: to the Ravens defense. They are playing like the early
34:12
Speaker 2: two thousands Ravens defense, Like that's what they're that's the
34:14
Speaker 2: way they're playing right now. I think they allow some
34:17
Speaker 2: of the fewest yards per play. Jenevian Clowney has given
34:20
Speaker 2: him a real nice boost. Kyle van Noy has been
34:22
Speaker 2: a terrific pickup. Credit Eric Tacosta for what he's done
34:26
Speaker 2: kickups in season the last couple of years, justin Houston,
34:30
Speaker 2: you know, a year ago, gave him a nice boost.
34:33
Speaker 2: You know, he found a way to find some guys
34:36
Speaker 2: when all the running backs were down. They found a
34:38
Speaker 2: way to stay afloat. And that's kind of been the
34:40
Speaker 2: case again this year, and low and behold, they found
34:42
Speaker 2: another one. East Carolina's Keaton Mitchell, undrafted free agent who
34:49
Speaker 2: by the way, I was looking at this because I
34:51
Speaker 2: was like, we're we're the one. We didn't talk about
34:52
Speaker 2: this guy at all last year in the draft process,
34:55
Speaker 2: and look, comes from East Carolina. You know, a teammate,
34:58
Speaker 2: you know, is a group of five team doesn't you
35:00
Speaker 2: know win in the national stage very often. But this
35:04
Speaker 2: is a guy who had two hundred carries last year
35:06
Speaker 2: for the Pirates, an average seven yards of pop. So
35:11
Speaker 2: like again, you know, this kind of relates back to
35:14
Speaker 2: the conversation we're having about Stroud, like at some point,
35:18
Speaker 2: like if you see it, believe it right. Yeah, you
35:21
Speaker 2: understand level of competition and you understand measurables. But with
35:25
Speaker 2: running backs especially, doesn't production matter?
35:30
Speaker 3: It does? It does matter. And it's funny we're talking
35:32
Speaker 3: about East Carolina easy you as they would say where
35:36
Speaker 3: I'm from, because a lot of my high school classmates
35:39
Speaker 3: made it down to East Carolina. Ge Vegas as they
35:41
Speaker 3: would talk about Greenville. It's a nice, nice, fun school
35:44
Speaker 3: to get some academics and a lot of partying in.
35:47
Speaker 3: But they've played good football there. And so for Gidon Metscher,
35:50
Speaker 3: you talked about seven seven yards of pop and we
35:53
Speaker 3: are at a time where we always talk about you
35:54
Speaker 3: can find a running back at any level of the
35:56
Speaker 3: draft and those things. And it's another example of just
35:59
Speaker 3: being able to find guys wherever, and if you put
36:01
Speaker 3: him in the right systems around a boy, the right players,
36:03
Speaker 3: these running backs can get off nine carries one hundred
36:07
Speaker 3: and thirty eight yards. Like nine carries, he is able
36:10
Speaker 3: to kind of get it done and look with minimal effort.
36:14
Speaker 3: You love that, And I think what you really love
36:16
Speaker 3: if you're the Baltimore Ravens and I'm gonna toss this
36:18
Speaker 3: back to you. Yeah, what Mike McDonald has done with
36:21
Speaker 3: this defense, I know. Look, he stepped into big shoes
36:27
Speaker 3: when he was a college coach in Michigan. He went
36:29
Speaker 3: from the Ravens, took over for Don Brown, and that
36:32
Speaker 3: defense in Michigan, tidied it up real quick, cleaned it up,
36:34
Speaker 3: got them going, spends I think a year there, then
36:37
Speaker 3: right back to the Baltimore Ravens as a pro decordinating
36:40
Speaker 3: game couldn't be more different. But what I love about
36:43
Speaker 3: him is is kind of Bill Belichickian. He takes the
36:47
Speaker 3: scheme and adapts it to the individual talents of the players,
36:51
Speaker 3: and so a guy like cal Van Noa, he'll move
36:53
Speaker 3: him in a your stand up EDG Drusher come over
36:55
Speaker 3: to three technique stand up Jesavian Clowney. You're a dominant
36:58
Speaker 3: player on the run game, but you're really good at
37:00
Speaker 3: all stuts and loops will put you there like being
37:03
Speaker 3: able to take here's my personnel. Let me figure out
37:06
Speaker 3: how to put all of these individual parts in the
37:09
Speaker 3: best position to make plays. And that's going to make
37:13
Speaker 3: our defense better. You talked about this team playing like
37:15
Speaker 3: the early two thousands. They're doing it, but they're doing
37:17
Speaker 3: it in such a different fast and then we saw
37:20
Speaker 3: that that epic team get it done.
37:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think we're also still in a way,
37:26
Speaker 2: you know, assessing the adaptation of this offense under Todd Mulkin, Like, well,
37:33
Speaker 2: were they going to run it, you know, a bunch
37:35
Speaker 2: like they had in the last you know, five years,
37:37
Speaker 2: or we're gonna start throwing it a little bit more. Well,
37:40
Speaker 2: we've seen games kind of like you're talking about defensively
37:42
Speaker 2: where they have thrown it around a bunch and Lamar
37:45
Speaker 2: throws for four touchdowns and finds Mark Andrews for two.
37:48
Speaker 2: It's a flowers for one, and then the last couple
37:51
Speaker 2: of weeks Gus Edwards has a hat trick, Keaton Mitchell
37:54
Speaker 2: is going off and so I think again that they
37:57
Speaker 2: have the ability now to morph their offense into you know,
38:03
Speaker 2: things and ways in which they find to be the
38:05
Speaker 2: most beneficial for potential success against any given opponent, which
38:09
Speaker 2: again is super dangerous. And there the Ravens are seven
38:12
Speaker 2: to two, number two seed in the AFC at this moment. Okay,
38:17
Speaker 2: as for the Seahawks, I don't know if this is
38:19
Speaker 2: to blip on the radar, but Gino didn't play particularly well.
38:22
Speaker 2: They couldn't run the football. Again, I think most of
38:24
Speaker 2: the credit just has to go to the Ravens.
38:26
Speaker 3: Here.
38:26
Speaker 2: You're going from Seattle to Baltimore in the early window.
38:28
Speaker 2: You can make all those excuses. I know the Seahawks won't,
38:31
Speaker 2: but they're still a good football team and they're obviously
38:35
Speaker 2: still you know, a playoff contender there, so I would
38:37
Speaker 2: imagine they're better days ahead in Seattle. Let's go to
38:40
Speaker 2: the Raiders Giants.
38:42
Speaker 3: Game raidor yeah yeah about that?
38:49
Speaker 2: Oh and oh man, that Antonio Pierce man that that
38:56
Speaker 2: scene and like that locker room afterwards and the speechy
39:00
Speaker 2: and you're watching the bonte Adams is right next to him.
39:04
Speaker 2: Right next to him as his addressing the team after
39:06
Speaker 2: the game. Man, this fell like exactly what the doctor
39:10
Speaker 2: ordered for Vegas.
39:12
Speaker 3: Okay, so let me say this. Look, Ap is a
39:14
Speaker 3: friend of mine, having done a bunch of different things,
39:17
Speaker 3: like we have mutual friends. He was a high school
39:19
Speaker 3: coach at Long Beach Poly when I was coaching at
39:21
Speaker 3: Notre Dame Truma. We never played each other, but very
39:24
Speaker 3: familiar with him and all his people, like have worked
39:26
Speaker 3: camps with them and whatever. Great dude, remember scouting him
39:29
Speaker 3: when he was at University of Arizona before he made
39:31
Speaker 3: his way and became look, a really solid NFL player.
39:35
Speaker 3: You talk to people at the Giants organization when he
39:38
Speaker 3: was there, they always talked about him being an alpha leader,
39:40
Speaker 3: like just a no nonsense, take charge say what needs
39:44
Speaker 3: to be said, bring the energy, bring the toughness, bring
39:47
Speaker 3: the grip. What you saw over the course of the
39:49
Speaker 3: week is a snapshot of who he is and being
39:52
Speaker 3: a guy that grew up in Compton, he embodies what
39:55
Speaker 3: the Raiders are about, like anyone who has been around
39:58
Speaker 3: the Raiders organization, like having played there for like a year,
40:01
Speaker 3: and some change. It is all that old mystique, all
40:04
Speaker 3: about the outcast, the misfits, the Mavericks always have a
40:08
Speaker 3: home there, and so for him to embrace that and
40:11
Speaker 3: to I would say, be completely opposite of what Josh
40:15
Speaker 3: mcgannels is. And I have a ton of respect for
40:17
Speaker 3: Josh mcganns and all those guys to come out of
40:18
Speaker 3: the Patriot Way and that system, but it can be
40:21
Speaker 3: a little negative tone when it comes to how they
40:24
Speaker 3: lead the team and what they harp on and those things.
40:26
Speaker 3: And what I saw from AP leading up to the
40:29
Speaker 3: game and after the game, I saw a guy who
40:31
Speaker 3: is a pros pro in terms of he understands the
40:35
Speaker 3: pro game in terms of the people. So he gave
40:38
Speaker 3: them what we call victory Monday. So when you win
40:40
Speaker 3: in the National Football League, some coaches say, hey, we'll
40:43
Speaker 3: see your own Wednesday mini. They give it Monday off
40:46
Speaker 3: and Tuesday off. Comeback, We'll practice Wednesday through Saturday and
40:49
Speaker 3: get it done. That little bone, that little nugget. What
40:52
Speaker 3: it does is the players are like, okay, man, this
40:55
Speaker 3: guy understands the struggle. He understands it. And what I
40:58
Speaker 3: loved about AP is like exs no, It's about the players.
41:02
Speaker 3: Early in the game, Josh Jacobs got the ball. They
41:05
Speaker 3: tried to make an effort to get the ball to
41:07
Speaker 3: Devonte Adams. You saw a man, Look, yeah, my players
41:11
Speaker 3: are better than your players. I'm gonna get it to
41:13
Speaker 3: my best players and get it out the way. And
41:15
Speaker 3: it worked. And we'll talk about this because we saw
41:18
Speaker 3: the guy at the East West Rine game. I couldn't
41:20
Speaker 3: understand that. A couple of weeks ago they had an
41:23
Speaker 3: opportunity to start a and O'Connell. They started Brian Hoyer.
41:26
Speaker 3: Look backfrid didn't go well. Ain't O'Connell with his experience
41:30
Speaker 3: what he did at Purdue all of us to look
41:32
Speaker 3: to do. This is second behind Drew Brees in terms
41:35
Speaker 3: of fourteen three hundred yard games at Purdue. Like I mean,
41:39
Speaker 3: like sometimes in the record book, those things matter. He
41:41
Speaker 3: came in. He was much better than his first start,
41:44
Speaker 3: like it started. And even then I don't think he
41:45
Speaker 3: was at bad. He just took a bunch of sacks.
41:47
Speaker 3: Yell the ball. Yeah, he was better. They operated well.
41:50
Speaker 3: There was an energy about the Raiders that we hadn't
41:53
Speaker 3: seen in a long time, and so it was fun
41:57
Speaker 3: to watch from the outside and ap did a great job.
42:00
Speaker 3: The trick would be, can you keep it going it
42:02
Speaker 3: wrong and you keep it rolling after the emotion subside?
42:06
Speaker 3: Can you find the tactical advantages to allow this team
42:09
Speaker 3: to win? But after one week, man, it certainly feels
42:12
Speaker 3: a lot different than the field when Josh mcgains was
42:14
Speaker 3: in charge, no doubt.
42:16
Speaker 2: And good for those players, man, you know, needing something,
42:19
Speaker 2: needed some positivity and they got it in a big way,
42:23
Speaker 2: you know, in the game and then.
42:24
Speaker 3: After the game to enjoy it like that.
42:26
Speaker 2: You should celebrate wins in the NFL because they are
42:28
Speaker 2: dang hard to come by, and that was kind of
42:30
Speaker 2: cool to see. All right, some honorable mentions here before
42:33
Speaker 2: we get out of here. Browns defense. That tip my friend, Yes,
42:39
Speaker 2: you played a rookie quarterback Clayton soon Mackey's first career start,
42:42
Speaker 2: but you made him look like a rookie in a
42:44
Speaker 2: big way. Anything from Rams Packers. Offense hard to come
42:48
Speaker 2: by there for sure.
42:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, Offense hard to come by. I mean obviously with
42:51
Speaker 3: the Rams, if they don't have the QB one, they
42:53
Speaker 3: have a tough time kind of moving the ball. And
42:55
Speaker 3: you just see the lack of depth that this team
42:57
Speaker 3: has when they don't have all their pieces. They just
42:59
Speaker 3: can't it done. And so it showed up and it
43:03
Speaker 3: is one of the things that they have to kind
43:05
Speaker 3: of figure out for the backers love Jordan Love Mason plays.
43:08
Speaker 3: Is they still not playing well enough to get back.
43:11
Speaker 3: But the hope is you still got some games left.
43:14
Speaker 3: Maybe you can kind of figure out a way to
43:16
Speaker 3: win some games and put yourself kind of in the tournament,
43:18
Speaker 3: kind of backdoor in. We'll see. Defensively, they got enough
43:21
Speaker 3: talent to get it done. The main thing they got
43:23
Speaker 3: to win. They can build upon it, but they still
43:25
Speaker 3: need to play much better. They got to get more
43:26
Speaker 3: contribution from the running game to help the young quarterback
43:29
Speaker 3: out Bears.
43:31
Speaker 2: And Saints in New Orleans. Look, I think that this
43:35
Speaker 2: last little stretch of really good play from the Saints
43:38
Speaker 2: and wins, it's Taysom Hill. It's a recognition that Taysom
43:42
Speaker 2: Hill is your best matchup player all over the place
43:46
Speaker 2: because he can play anywhere, run it, catch it, throw
43:48
Speaker 2: it whatever. Has done it all in the last couple
43:51
Speaker 2: of weeks. And so I think if you look back
43:53
Speaker 2: on this season, it's the Saints going to the postseason,
43:55
Speaker 2: It's it's Pete Carmichael in the Saints offensive staff, remembering
43:59
Speaker 2: how dat Juris Taysom Mill can be. So I thought
44:02
Speaker 2: that was a big piece of this one. Call a
44:03
Speaker 2: touchdown in this one. They win twenty four to seventeen,
44:06
Speaker 2: despite Tyson Bajor playing pretty well in the first half
44:09
Speaker 2: giving it away a little bit in the second. Colton
44:11
Speaker 2: Panthers Buck, how about Kenny Moore?
44:14
Speaker 3: Two pick sixes? Unbelievable? Man, talking about two pick sixes?
44:18
Speaker 3: And you just talked about a guy who's a veteran player,
44:20
Speaker 3: super smart player, comes in and make some plays. He
44:23
Speaker 3: does that, and I look on a day and where
44:26
Speaker 3: CJS Droud goes bananas, like Bryce Young has a three
44:31
Speaker 3: interception effort and he admitted that he needs to play better.
44:34
Speaker 3: The thing that I'll say about the Panthers, because everyone
44:37
Speaker 3: in Charlotte's going to be down. They're going to wonder, like, man,
44:40
Speaker 3: do we have the right one or whatever. They have
44:42
Speaker 3: to figure out a way to take Bryce Young and
44:44
Speaker 3: put him in the best situation when it comes to
44:47
Speaker 3: his game and those things. We haven't quite seen that.
44:50
Speaker 3: And it's so odd because there's so many quarterback whispers
44:52
Speaker 3: and Google's in that building around they just haven't figured
44:56
Speaker 3: out a way to get it done. And also, I
44:58
Speaker 3: would say the Panthers have been hurt by the expectations.
45:01
Speaker 3: I'll admit I thought this was a team that might
45:03
Speaker 3: be able to make a playoff run. They're not good
45:06
Speaker 3: enough to do that, and so those expectations have kind
45:09
Speaker 3: of changed the way that we look at the young quarterback.
45:11
Speaker 3: Young quarterbacks are gonna struggle. He has to play better,
45:13
Speaker 3: but maybe we put too much on him in this
45:16
Speaker 3: environment to be able to get this team to the
45:18
Speaker 3: winner circle.
45:19
Speaker 2: Fair point. So the Colts keeping themselves a live, massive win.
45:23
Speaker 2: They're on the road in Carolina as they move forward.
45:26
Speaker 2: All right, that's going to do it for us here
45:28
Speaker 2: on this Monday recapp edition of Move the Sticks. Four
45:31
Speaker 2: more episodes coming your way this week, including our video
45:34
Speaker 2: show tomorrow. Not sure if DJ's gonna be with us,
45:37
Speaker 2: but Bucky and I will hold it down if need be,
45:39
Speaker 2: and we will ridicule DJ for all of his terrible
45:42
Speaker 2: rookie draft picks. As I'm closing in on the top spot.
45:47
Speaker 2: It's always better to do with DJ's not a round.
45:49
Speaker 2: But thanks for being here with us another episode of
45:51
Speaker 2: Move the Sticks. We will catch it later this week,