Latest / AFR Saints / Saints Beat Giants 34-27: Did New Orleans Show Signs of Improvement?

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Saints Beat Giants 34-27: Did New Orleans Show Signs of Improvement? · AFR Saints

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  Speaker 2: Wild NFL games, they're always coming in different shapes and sizes.
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  Speaker 2: Proud of our guys to find a way to win
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  Speaker 2: this game. That's ultimately your number one objective going on
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  Speaker 2: the road. Obviously, we'll extend this road trip here shortly tonight,
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  Speaker 2: but proud of our guys to find a way to win.
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  Speaker 1: Did you watch the locker room video of Ellen handing
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  Speaker 1: out the game balls?
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  Speaker 2: Ellen Moore.
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  Speaker 1: Did you watch it? No, I didn't watch it. How
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  Speaker 1: many were there? He likes his game balls. Handed out
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  Speaker 1: a few. I might be reading too much into this,
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  Speaker 1: but if you have an inkling to go, you need
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  Speaker 1: to watch it. It's not sufficient just to listen to
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  Speaker 1: the audio of Kellen handing out the game balls. You
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  Speaker 1: need to watch it to see how uncomfortable, and that's
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  Speaker 1: just my read on it, maybe you have a different read,
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  Speaker 1: how uncomfortable the postgame locker room felt. And I think
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  Speaker 1: it was indicative of how many of us are feeling
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  Speaker 1: coming out of that game. It's strange because I always
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  Speaker 1: say a win is a win in the NFL, and
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  Speaker 1: you make no apologies for how you get them. In
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  Speaker 1: the COVID year, the Miami Dolphins beat the New Orleans
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  Speaker 1: Saints with Ian Book as the starting quarterback on Monday
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  Speaker 1: Night Football. It counts the same. You're paying that player
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  Speaker 1: just like they're paying their players, and sometimes you get
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  Speaker 1: lucky and breaks happen. The Panthers got to play the
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  Speaker 1: Eagles this past weekend without Jalen Hurts. I mean, it's
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  Speaker 1: still the NFL, still pro players, and you see backups
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  Speaker 1: come into games all the time and win, and it's
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  Speaker 1: just the Saints almost got bitten by it with Jason
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  Speaker 1: McCarthy in the fourth quarter. So you make no apologies
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  Speaker 1: for how it comes, but this did not feel good.
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  Speaker 1: It was like watching three very different games. There was
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  Speaker 1: the slow start again. Stop traffic. getting down 10-0. The
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  Speaker 1: incredible efficiency of scoring 34 unanswered, which, when does that
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  Speaker 1: ever happen in the NFL? Only to then take your
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  Speaker 1: foot off the gas and have to sweat out a
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  Speaker 1: pass into the end zone with 12 seconds left to
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  Speaker 1: potentially tie or win the game, should they have scored
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  Speaker 1: and gone for two. It I mean, you nearly blew
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  Speaker 1: a 24. Let me say this slowly. You nearly blew
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  Speaker 1: a 24-point fourth quarter lead. As much as I've bemoaned
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  Speaker 1: blowing the double-digit second-half lead against the Raiders at home,
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  Speaker 1: this would have been in a different stratosphere. A few things.
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  Speaker 1: Another slow start. I don't know how this keeps happening.
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  Speaker 1: Your game plan sucks. This coaching staff cannot game plan.
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  Speaker 1: You spend all week putting together your opening sequence for
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  Speaker 1: what you think is the best way to attack this team,
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  Speaker 1: and you suck. You're awful at this. What is it now?
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  Speaker 1: In 21 of 23 games under Ellen, they have trailed
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  Speaker 1: in the first quarter. 21 of 23 under Ellen. Ellen Moore. Like,
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  Speaker 1: look at, literally, literally, from the opening kick. You kicked
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  Speaker 1: the ball out of bounds. You gave them the, you
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  Speaker 1: gave Jameis Winston the, Jameis Winston. You gave Jameis Winston
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  Speaker 1: the ball at the 40-yard line to start the game.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we're promoting bad starts, and you give them
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  Speaker 1: the ball at the 40. Now, credit to the defense,
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  Speaker 1: you forced the three in out and got a punt,
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  Speaker 1: and Barry and Brown had a nice return. But then
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  Speaker 1: you go three and out. And on the third down
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  Speaker 1: play is when they throw, if you're watching the game,
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  Speaker 1: they throw to Olave, it goes off his hands. And
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  Speaker 1: Drew Brees, not me, the greatest player in the history
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  Speaker 1: of the New Orleans Saints organization says, that's a play
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  Speaker 1: Chris Olave must make. His words, not mine. You got
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  Speaker 1: a problem with it? Go talk to the GOAT. Now
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to compliment Olave because he made a great
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  Speaker 1: play later in the game when you had to have it.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to get to that in a second. So
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  Speaker 1: you kick it out of bounds. You go three and out.
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  Speaker 1: They put together a 12-play, 93-yard drive that eats 644
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  Speaker 1: off the clock, scored a 17-yard touchdown to go up
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  Speaker 1: 7-0 in your trailer. You get the ball back. Asim
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  Speaker 1: Richards has back-to-back holding calls. You punt. You trade three
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  Speaker 1: and outs. You get a few sacks, Young and Werner
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  Speaker 1: on back-to-back plays. You still can't do anything. The next
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  Speaker 1: drive is when Tyler Shuck misses a wide-open Devon Vele
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  Speaker 1: on the left side. You did convert a third and
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  Speaker 1: seven to Lance, a third and eight is when Shuck
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  Speaker 1: ran for nine yards. But on that drive is when
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  Speaker 1: Alvin Kamara hurt his back, Bryce Lance had a drop,
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  Speaker 1: and you missed a 55-yard field goal. You're late in
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  Speaker 1: the second quarter. You haven't scored in everything in all
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  Speaker 1: three phases. You've had things go wrong in all three phases.
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  Speaker 1: And then the next drive, defensively, is when Vernon Broughton
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  Speaker 1: gets the roughing penalty on the sack. I mean, and
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  Speaker 1: they kick a field goal. It was just atrocious. You're
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  Speaker 1: down 10-0. You've done nothing right in any of the
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  Speaker 1: three phases. It is awful.
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  Speaker 2: Awful.
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  Speaker 1: And then you're facing a third and six. Chris Olavig
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  Speaker 1: shakes free, makes a contested catch to move the chains.
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  Speaker 1: Huge moment. I think that is the seminal moment in
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  Speaker 1: the game. With all notwithstanding, but at that point, nothing
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  Speaker 1: is going well for you. And if you don't convert there,
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  Speaker 1: you're giving them the ball back before half. Instead, you're
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  Speaker 1: able to put together a drive, you make the 58-yard
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  Speaker 1: field goal, and then they fumble the ensuing kickoff. And
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  Speaker 1: you score before half. Hat tip to Gutsy call to
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  Speaker 1: go for the touchdown right there. To go for the
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  Speaker 1: touchdown at the end of the half instead of kick
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  Speaker 1: the field goal. And you made the play, and Bryce
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  Speaker 1: Lance catches the touchdown. So you're tied at half, getting
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  Speaker 1: the ball to start the third quarter. And despite the
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  Speaker 1: fact that coming out of halftime, literally the first play.
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  Speaker 1: You remember what happened on the first play of the
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  Speaker 1: third quarter? Saints fight back. They tie it. You're coming
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  Speaker 1: out of the locker room. First play of the third quarter.
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  Speaker 1: Remember what happened? Illegal formation. You're coming out of the
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  Speaker 1: halftime locker room. How the hell do you not line
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  Speaker 1: up correctly? It's the NFL. How do you not line
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  Speaker 1: up correctly 100% of the time anyway? It's maddening. It's
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  Speaker 1: maddening watching this team, how bad they are at everything.
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  Speaker 1: They're bad at everything. They're bad at everything. Anyway, that
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  Speaker 1: was the drive where Kamara had his catch and run
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  Speaker 1: for a touchdown. Hat tip to Alvin. That's one of
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  Speaker 1: the great things of this game. On that play, he
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  Speaker 1: became the sixth player in NFL history to go for 5,000 yards,
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  Speaker 1: rushing and receiving some rare fight air, including Hall of
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  Speaker 1: Famers like Marshall Falk. I love that for AK. He
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  Speaker 1: got one of the game balls after. That was really good.
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  Speaker 1: So you had a lead. And then you just kept going.
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  Speaker 1: You forced a punt. Shuck scored on the next play.
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  Speaker 1: The next drive, excuse me. He kicked a 51-yard field goal.
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  Speaker 1: You would punt, but then Olave comes up with the
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  Speaker 1: next touchdown to make it 34-10. There's 11 minutes to
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  Speaker 1: go in the game. They pull Jameis. In comes J.J. McCarthy.
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  Speaker 1: He throws an interception to Emerson. You're thinking it's over.
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  Speaker 1: And then Ellen goes and empties the bench here. To
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  Speaker 1: say he emptied the bench is a little disingenuous. You
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  Speaker 1: have a 53-man roster. You can't empty the bench. You
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  Speaker 1: don't have a whole wave of second-teamers. They put Spencer Rattler.
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  Speaker 1: And here was Ellen talking about emptying the bench or
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  Speaker 1: pulling the starters.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously, looking back on it, obviously, you know, they got
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  Speaker 2: things going and they were able to score a lot
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  Speaker 2: and we had to get back into that thing. You know,
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  Speaker 2: it's just a couple of guys that, you know, are
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  Speaker 2: kind of managing some stuff and, you know, kind of
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  Speaker 2: the guys that are sore and try to get a
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  Speaker 2: few guys out. And, you know, obviously it didn't work.
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  Speaker 2: Ellen Moore. Yeah. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Officer, there's.
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  Speaker 2: A guy.
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  Speaker 1: I can't even listen to him talk anymore. He annoys me.
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  Speaker 1: I'm at the point with him where I cannot even
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  Speaker 1: listen to him talk without being annoyed. Look, I don't
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  Speaker 1: hate the decision to get Tyler Shuck and his broken
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  Speaker 1: hand out of the game. Tyler Shuck coming out of
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  Speaker 1: the game isn't the reason C.J. Donaldson fumbled. At some point, though,
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  Speaker 1: you've got to be able to convert a first down
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  Speaker 1: or tackle somebody, and you did nothing. This is how
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  Speaker 1: the sequence went the rest of the game. If I might.
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  Speaker 1: After Donaldson's fumble. They score, make it 34-18. So you
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  Speaker 1: go fumble, punt, punt, punt, punt. That was one extra punt. Sorry,
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  Speaker 1: it was a fumble and three punts. You had fumble, punt, punt, punt.
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  Speaker 1: Get a first down, man. Run the ball. End the game.
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  Speaker 1: Couldn't do it. Get a stop. Couldn't do it. So
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  Speaker 1: what did you do? You let J.J. McCarthy, who entered
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  Speaker 1: the game with 11-31 to go in the fourth quarter,
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  Speaker 1: down 34-10. You let J.J. McCarthy go 11-21 for 243
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  Speaker 1: a touchdown and a pick. I mean, you're 25th in
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  Speaker 1: pass defense in the NFL. You suck. I mean, I've
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  Speaker 1: been telling you Sugarwater McKinstry ain't a number one. And
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  Speaker 1: they replaced him with Martin Emerson. Afterwards, Ellen said that
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  Speaker 1: it was a migraine.
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  Speaker 2: Ellen Moore.
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  Speaker 1: I get it. My head hurts watching Sugarwater play cornerback too.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, let me just move on. Austin Richards can't
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  Speaker 1: play left tackle in the NFL. I don't know. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know that you have a solution. He had back-to-back
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  Speaker 1: holding penalties in the first quarter. You either replace him
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  Speaker 1: or you give him help. They might have inadvertently stumbled
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  Speaker 1: upon the answer because you heard Drew Brees talk about
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  Speaker 1: it in the broadcast. They went to basically 12 personnel,
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  Speaker 1: one running back, two tight ends in the second half
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  Speaker 1: with Delp and Jawan Johnson. Having the extra tight end
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  Speaker 1: maybe is what gave him some help, allowed you to
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  Speaker 1: protect Shuck, and got the running game going a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: And then Cesar Ruiz was injured. They replaced him with
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Wright. He ended up running 38 times for $ 1. 75.
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  Speaker 1: Best running day of the season by a mile. Now,
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  Speaker 1: the Giants are 29th in the NFL in rush defense.
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  Speaker 1: For context, the Saints are 30th. So you're playing one
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  Speaker 1: of the worst rush defenses in the NFL, but putting
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Wright in there, adding another tight end, you were
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  Speaker 1: able to go heavy, and it worked. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: that that was their intention, but in having to give
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  Speaker 1: out some Richards help, I think it probably helped you
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  Speaker 1: discover your rush offense a little bit. You got to
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  Speaker 1: learn to finish, man. Fumble, punt, punt, punt offensively at
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  Speaker 1: the end. After Olave's touchdown, you allowed them to score
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  Speaker 1: 17 consecutive points. 17-0 in the fourth quarter after Olave's touchdown.
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  Speaker 1: Just inexcusable, man. It was uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable. But
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  Speaker 1: it was significant. Because this division is so bad. You
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  Speaker 1: are one game behind Carolina in the win column. It's...
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  Speaker 1: Almost unfathomable. But at 2-4, the Panthers, who have already
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  Speaker 1: had their bye, are at 3-2. Now, they're two games
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  Speaker 1: ahead of you in the loss column, but they're one
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  Speaker 1: game ahead of you in the win column. So you're
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  Speaker 1: a game and a half behind Carolina. I mean, it's
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  Speaker 1: right there. It's right there. Beat Pittsburgh, and you go
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  Speaker 1: into your bye at 3-4 with an opportunity to get healthy.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe get Jordan Tyson and Kelvin Banks closer to return.
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  Speaker 1: Caden Ellis after the bye. And after your bye, you
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  Speaker 1: play Cleveland. It's right there. As bad as you are
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  Speaker 1: at everything, it's right there. So it was a significant win.
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  Speaker 1: Because if you had lost that one and fallen to 1-5,
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  Speaker 1: four games under. 500, And knowing that you still have
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  Speaker 1: to go to the Bears, to the Bengals, you have
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  Speaker 1: to play the Panthers twice, three road division games ahead.
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  Speaker 1: I just, I don't see the path, mathematically, to get
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  Speaker 1: where you need to go. Now, slip up and go
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: win a game in Paris, go into your bye, get healthy,
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  Speaker 1: come home and beat the Browns. And you're 4-4. You're 500.
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  Speaker 1: You're right there, pacing for what you need. So, It
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  Speaker 1: was uncomfortable, but the final result was significant for New Orleans.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe they can go find themselves in Paris. I don't know.