Latest / NFL Now / Panthers Place Interview On Hold, Giants - Eagles Matchup, & Trevor Sikkema Joins The Show

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Panthers Place Interview On Hold, Giants - Eagles Matchup, & Trevor Sikkema Joins The Show · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
0:08
Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. Of course, we all remember the
0:19
Speaker 1: Bills in Chief's Divisional Round Classic a year ago, but
0:22
Speaker 1: every game in this round last year came down to
0:25
Speaker 1: the final play. Hello, I'm om Maurice. Welcome into the
0:28
Speaker 1: NFL Network newsroom, and this is NFL Now. If we
0:32
Speaker 1: get half as good a Divisional Round weekend as we
0:34
Speaker 1: got less last year, we are in for a treat
0:36
Speaker 1: and we are breaking down all four of your Divisional
0:38
Speaker 1: Round matchups still ahead on NFL Now. But first we're
0:41
Speaker 1: getting to the coaching carousel news that is new right
0:44
Speaker 1: now into NFL Network, and for much more on that,
0:47
Speaker 1: we welcome in our insiders, Ian Rappaport and Tom Pella
0:49
Speaker 1: Sero and Ian, we'll start with you. Sean Payton, Carolina
0:53
Speaker 1: Panthers supposed to meet up this week, but seems like
0:56
Speaker 1: there's a hold on that. How do you explain what
0:57
Speaker 1: happened there? Yeah, that was supposed to be this morning
1:01
Speaker 1: in New York City with owner Dave Tepper and the
1:03
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers contingent, but there was a tragedy that intervened.
1:08
Speaker 1: Anton Walks, a Charlotte FC soccer player was in a
1:11
Speaker 1: tragic boat accident over the course of the past couple
1:15
Speaker 1: of days, and owner Dave Tepper flew from New York
1:17
Speaker 1: to Charlotte to tend to that, to be with his players,
1:20
Speaker 1: to support them, to support the organization that he also owns.
1:23
Speaker 1: With the Carolina Panthers, they had two defensive coordinator interviews yesterday,
1:27
Speaker 1: they had Sean Payne today. All of that is put
1:29
Speaker 1: on hold. We will see when it is rescheduled. My
1:32
Speaker 1: understanding is at some point early this week with Sean Payton.
1:36
Speaker 1: That is the assumption, but it has not been firmly
1:39
Speaker 1: and finally confirmed. Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers also had Ken
1:42
Speaker 1: Dorsey on the slate for tomorrow, the Bill's offensive coordinator
1:46
Speaker 1: and one of the one of several fast rising offensive
1:50
Speaker 1: young coach that the Panthers have wanted to talk to.
1:52
Speaker 1: That was supposed to be Saturday. No word yet on
1:55
Speaker 1: if that is happening. If it's not happening, then it'll
1:59
Speaker 1: be difficult to reschedule, just based on the NFL rules.
2:01
Speaker 1: So we will see when or if they were able
2:04
Speaker 1: to do that interview. And of course, Ken Dorsey started
2:06
Speaker 1: his coaching career in Carolina. As for dan Quinn, Tom,
2:10
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, he's been a hot name
2:12
Speaker 1: in this coaching search, no different this year. What's the
2:15
Speaker 1: latest on Quinn's schedule? That's right, Omar. Dan Quinn is
2:20
Speaker 1: going to interview with two teams later today, the Indianapolis
2:24
Speaker 1: Colts that one will be via zoom and the Denver Broncos,
2:27
Speaker 1: who are on their way to Texas to meet with
2:30
Speaker 1: Quinn in person. You said it, dan Quinn has been
2:33
Speaker 1: a hot name each of the past couple of years.
2:35
Speaker 1: Of course, the former Atlanta Falcons head coach took them
2:38
Speaker 1: to a Super Bowl, took them to another playoffs now
2:41
Speaker 1: in the past couple of years, has been in Dallas
2:43
Speaker 1: and really set a culture on the defensive side of
2:46
Speaker 1: the ball there. Quinn, along with Sean Payton and Jim
2:49
Speaker 1: Harbaugh were really the names at the top of the
2:51
Speaker 1: Broncos list as they began this search process. And unlike
2:55
Speaker 1: Peyton who continues to interview, getting dan Quinn would not
2:59
Speaker 1: cost a first round pick. And more of course, Quinn
3:02
Speaker 1: getting ready for the forty ninety nine defensive coordinator ian
3:05
Speaker 1: also a hot named Damiko Ryan's what can you tell
3:08
Speaker 1: us about how his coaching interview schedules shaping up. You know,
3:12
Speaker 1: Damiko Ryan's had several requests for requests or maybe it's
3:16
Speaker 1: so I don't know stuf to keep track of these
3:17
Speaker 1: things at the time of the year. But he is
3:19
Speaker 1: interviewing with the Houston Texans that's gonna be today. Obviously
3:22
Speaker 1: a lot of familiarity, their former second around picked from
3:25
Speaker 1: the Texans, and somebody who really has been head coach
3:27
Speaker 1: of the Texans ever since he was a player. Talked
3:29
Speaker 1: to anyone who watched him at Alabama, watched him in Houston.
3:32
Speaker 1: This is a guy who's been a future head coach
3:34
Speaker 1: UH for a very long time. And of course he
3:37
Speaker 1: has impressed as a coordinator this year, just like he
3:39
Speaker 1: did last year, one of the top defenses in the NFL.
3:41
Speaker 1: So of course he is interviewing with the Houston Texans
3:44
Speaker 1: that is today. Also spend time with the Denver Broncos yesterday.
3:48
Speaker 1: That was an in person interview, and of course Jamiko
3:50
Speaker 1: Ryan's was impressive, as he always is, and I would
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Speaker 1: expect that to continue going forward. So Quinn Ryan's a
3:57
Speaker 1: couple of guys who have these interviews while focusing on
4:00
Speaker 1: games this weekend the Giants have a couple of coordinators,
4:02
Speaker 1: Tom also in that same boat. What more can you
4:04
Speaker 1: tell us about them? Well, Mar, let's start with Giants
4:08
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who has three requests in for interviews,
4:13
Speaker 1: and all of those interviews currently are scheduled to take
4:16
Speaker 1: place on Sunday. Those are going to be with the Colts,
4:19
Speaker 1: the Texans, and the Panthers those Ian mentioned earlier. The
4:23
Speaker 1: Panthers currently are working through their schedule to determine when
4:27
Speaker 1: interviews are going to resume. Weink Martin Dale, the Giants
4:30
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, also scheduled for an interview on Sunday with
4:34
Speaker 1: the Colts. And people look at this, of course, and
4:36
Speaker 1: why are all these interviews happening now? Why does Mike
4:39
Speaker 1: caf have to do three in one day. Well, the
4:41
Speaker 1: rules are, if you played in a wild card game,
4:45
Speaker 1: then you have through the end of the divisional playoff
4:47
Speaker 1: games this weekend to complete a first interview. If you
4:50
Speaker 1: do not do that, and if the Giants in this
4:53
Speaker 1: case were to win, you would not be permitted to
4:55
Speaker 1: do a first interview until the team is eliminated. So
4:58
Speaker 1: a time crunch here, and you have to pack a
5:01
Speaker 1: lot in good explanation on that schedule. Ian Tom, thank
5:04
Speaker 1: you both very much. We appreciate the insight to this
5:07
Speaker 1: coaching search. Patrick Mahomes showing off those legs showing off
5:11
Speaker 1: here in this NFL tweet Mahomes Lawrence. They are ready
5:16
Speaker 1: to kick off Divisional round weekend in the NFL, that
5:20
Speaker 1: one at Arrowheads Stadium. We can't wait for much more
5:23
Speaker 1: on this matchup from Arrowhead Stadium. We welcome in our
5:26
Speaker 1: James Palmer and I think Chiefs fans. James heard the
5:30
Speaker 1: comment by Trevor Lawrence said he can't imagine it being
5:33
Speaker 1: any louder on Saturday than it was there in Jacksonville
5:37
Speaker 1: on Saturday. So we know they're gonna have that Jaguars
5:40
Speaker 1: offense trying to, you know, be as distracted as possible.
5:43
Speaker 1: But what about that Chief's defensive front. What do they
5:45
Speaker 1: have in store for that Jags offense? Well, you're right, Omar, right,
5:50
Speaker 1: when the crowded Arrowhead behind me gets going, it definitely
5:52
Speaker 1: helps his defensive front get off the football quickly. And
5:56
Speaker 1: it's interesting because at the beginning of the season, defensive
5:58
Speaker 1: line coach Joe Collins said we need star pass rusher
6:01
Speaker 1: Chris Jones perhaps had the best year of his career.
6:04
Speaker 1: If we're gonna accomplish what we do want to accomplish
6:07
Speaker 1: this season, and right now obviously the number one seed
6:09
Speaker 1: and playing in the Divisional round, well Jones has done that.
6:11
Speaker 1: He tied a career high in fifteen and a half sacks,
6:14
Speaker 1: tied a career high and quarterback hits with twenty nine.
6:17
Speaker 1: And he's leading this defensive front that's gonna try to
6:19
Speaker 1: get after Trevor Lawrence and sacked him five times in
6:22
Speaker 1: that game back in week ten, and Doug Peterson said,
6:25
Speaker 1: this is the best interior pass rusher we are going
6:28
Speaker 1: to face this season. There's really nothing he can't do.
6:31
Speaker 1: But there's something he hasn't done in thirteen postseason games.
6:36
Speaker 1: Chris Jones does not have a sack. And he said
6:39
Speaker 1: to us yesterday, I gotta get one against the Jaguars
6:42
Speaker 1: on Saturday to get you guys off my back. And
6:45
Speaker 1: then there's his running mate in terms of Frank Clark.
6:47
Speaker 1: He didn't play in that game back in Week ten
6:50
Speaker 1: because of his suspension and he has been battling a
6:52
Speaker 1: groin injury and to my understanding, he is feeling very
6:56
Speaker 1: very good, very confident about how he feels physically. He
6:59
Speaker 1: is good to go for this game on Saturday. Omar.
7:02
Speaker 1: He is a guy that makes big plays in big moments,
7:05
Speaker 1: and you know you need them in the postseason. Fourteen
7:08
Speaker 1: postseason games, eleven sacks for Frank Clark. Both of these guys,
7:12
Speaker 1: they believe they need to rely on them if they're
7:14
Speaker 1: going to get back to the super Bowl. That's a
7:16
Speaker 1: shocking stat for as dominant as stone Cole Jones has
7:20
Speaker 1: been about his career, and even in some of those
7:22
Speaker 1: playoff games, he's been a dominant force, just hasn't come
7:24
Speaker 1: up with a sack. Of of course, James. The storyline
7:27
Speaker 1: for the Chiefs throughout this season was how they replaced
7:29
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill. Patrick Mahomes just goes out and wins m
7:33
Speaker 1: v P. Likely, but this is their first time playing
7:35
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Now with this retooled supporting cast, what
7:39
Speaker 1: makes them so dangerous heading into this one? H Well,
7:43
Speaker 1: it's interesting go Mark. At the beginning of the season,
7:45
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes said, I told you guys, I wasn't worried
7:47
Speaker 1: because Andy Reid gets the best out of everyone who
7:50
Speaker 1: is on the roster. And he said, if a guy
7:51
Speaker 1: can win eleven games as a head coach and not
7:53
Speaker 1: throw a touchdown past to a wide receiver, which Reid
7:56
Speaker 1: has done in the past. I'm not going to worry.
7:58
Speaker 1: But now you look at all those new pieces that
8:00
Speaker 1: came around Patrick Mahomes. When I talked to left tackle
8:03
Speaker 1: Orlando Brown Jr. He said, now Pat is going through
8:06
Speaker 1: all of his progressions because multiple guys are getting open
8:09
Speaker 1: because they understand the scheme so much better now than
8:12
Speaker 1: they did at the beginning of the year. And Mahomes
8:15
Speaker 1: mentioned it. With the new pieces of Canarius Tony and
8:17
Speaker 1: Juju Smith, Schuster and MVS and all of these guys,
8:20
Speaker 1: he said, now we're coming at you from a variety
8:22
Speaker 1: of spots and real quick. Omar I talked to Jerick
8:25
Speaker 1: McKinnon at his locker yesterday and he said, when we
8:27
Speaker 1: go through practice, there's just so many answers on the
8:30
Speaker 1: field and how we run this offense. And he said,
8:32
Speaker 1: teams they have to double Travis Kelsey or they're stupid.
8:35
Speaker 1: And then you have all these other different spots you
8:37
Speaker 1: can go with the football, and if we're all covered,
8:39
Speaker 1: he said, Pat can still run with the football. It's
8:42
Speaker 1: just a really fun offense to play and one that,
8:44
Speaker 1: as he mentioned, has so many answers that they find
8:47
Speaker 1: no matter what a defense does. Fourth time in history,
8:55
Speaker 1: a couple of quarterbacks will be coming into a playoff
8:57
Speaker 1: game coming from their previous playoff game with more than
9:00
Speaker 1: three yards passing and three touchdowns passing, just like Dak
9:04
Speaker 1: Press got in Brock pretty hard. The last one was
9:07
Speaker 1: that classic last season, with Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes
9:10
Speaker 1: hoping to get a classic there at levit Stadium this weekend.
9:13
Speaker 1: Here's Michael Parsons talking about relishing their role as the underdog.
9:19
Speaker 1: I know, when you're getting ready going to a fight,
9:21
Speaker 1: you need prepares if he's gonna go twelve rounds and
9:23
Speaker 1: it's gonna go twelve rounds. You know. I watched I'll
9:26
Speaker 1: Leave the Greatest video almost every week and he talks
9:29
Speaker 1: about it and how he was ready and heard this
9:33
Speaker 1: guy was just too big, he was too strong, and
9:35
Speaker 1: I'll heave was gonna get knocked out. And that's what
9:37
Speaker 1: everybody's saying. We hear everybody. No way, the Cowboy's gonna win,
9:41
Speaker 1: No way. Honestly, I think you should feed until you
9:44
Speaker 1: should love that stuff, like when no one believes in you,
9:47
Speaker 1: that's the best feeling. Like now, when everyone believes you
9:50
Speaker 1: in that kool aids up and everyone's smiling and they're
9:52
Speaker 1: like they can't lose, they're too good. You don't want
9:55
Speaker 1: that feeling because then it's like what if I don't
9:57
Speaker 1: want when you were already at the bottom, you can
9:59
Speaker 1: only go up, you know. So I really liked to
10:01
Speaker 1: be an underdog and that feeling. It's a great story
10:03
Speaker 1: always to tell. Micah Parsons invoking Mohammed Ali as the underdog.
10:10
Speaker 1: We can't wait for this one on Sunday afternoon, Jane Slater,
10:13
Speaker 1: We'll be there. We're welcome by Mark Ross as well
10:15
Speaker 1: and Jane. When you talk about Michael Parsons, we heard
10:17
Speaker 1: a lot of what he had to say about being
10:19
Speaker 1: the underdog, But what else did the Cowboys defense say
10:22
Speaker 1: about facing that loaded forty niner offense. Well, obviously it's
10:27
Speaker 1: been a discussion point all week, particularly when you consider
10:30
Speaker 1: just how effective Kyle Shanahan's offense has been this year,
10:34
Speaker 1: and we know that he leans heavily on the run game.
10:37
Speaker 1: Look there eleven and one since acquiring Christian McCaffrey, and
10:41
Speaker 1: we know that he's gonna be a big part of
10:42
Speaker 1: the game plan. In fact, I was looking at some
10:44
Speaker 1: of his numbers and they are so impressive. Uh, They're
10:46
Speaker 1: out rushing their opponents by nine hundred and eight yards
10:49
Speaker 1: during that eleven game win streak. And then when he
10:51
Speaker 1: went back and look at that Seattle game, they had
10:53
Speaker 1: a hundred nineteen yards on fifteen attempts for two touchdowns.
10:56
Speaker 1: And that was just McCaffrey stat line. McCaffrey is not
10:59
Speaker 1: the only guy you have to worry about on the offense, though.
11:02
Speaker 1: You know this, Omar, I know you cover this team
11:04
Speaker 1: quite a bit. They've got guys like George Kittle, You've
11:07
Speaker 1: got Brandon Ayuk, You've got Deebo Samuel. I asked Mike
11:11
Speaker 1: McCarthy about that, and he said, this might be the
11:14
Speaker 1: best one to punch they faced this season. And we've
11:16
Speaker 1: talked so much about this Cowboys run defense and how
11:19
Speaker 1: it's been an issue for them this year. Obviously, that
11:22
Speaker 1: wasn't a big test for them against the Tampa Bay Bucks.
11:24
Speaker 1: And I don't know if there's one game this season
11:26
Speaker 1: that's giving you a lot of confidence and their ability
11:29
Speaker 1: to slow down the run. But in talking to Mike Parsons,
11:32
Speaker 1: he said, obviously you've got to focus on Christian McCaffrey.
11:34
Speaker 1: But the other guy is one thousand percent Deebo Samuel.
11:37
Speaker 1: Just the way that he breaks tackles, his yards after catch,
11:40
Speaker 1: you've got to bring him down and I'll be curious
11:42
Speaker 1: to see what the Cowboys do on the back end
11:44
Speaker 1: with him, how they're lining up certain guys. Perhaps it
11:47
Speaker 1: helps that Dan Quinn does know Kyle Shanahan a little
11:49
Speaker 1: bit and maybe he's got a couple of favorable matchups
11:52
Speaker 1: of his sleeve. Well in the back end there for
11:55
Speaker 1: the for them, they have to really force brock Purdy
11:58
Speaker 1: into making tight window throws. Your last week against Seattle,
12:03
Speaker 1: with wide open throws that's five or more yards of separation,
12:06
Speaker 1: he was nine for ten or hundred seventy nine yards,
12:09
Speaker 1: three touchdowns, no interceptions, But against tight window throws he
12:13
Speaker 1: was only nine of twenty. So it's going to be incumbent.
12:16
Speaker 1: Not just on that front, Michael Carson's a wreck havoc,
12:19
Speaker 1: but for that back end to have that tight coverage
12:22
Speaker 1: and not get confused. We see with the forty Niners
12:25
Speaker 1: offense where you just see guys just running wide open
12:27
Speaker 1: and defenses don't know what's going on. So it has
12:29
Speaker 1: to be that discipline for the Cowboys on the back
12:32
Speaker 1: end to stay tight with those guys and create Brock
12:37
Speaker 1: Purty to make tight window throws. That's the sign of
12:40
Speaker 1: a great quarterback when they can consistently make plays, not
12:44
Speaker 1: splash plays, not a play here and there, but consistently
12:47
Speaker 1: do that. They'll have to force brought Purty into making
12:50
Speaker 1: consistently tight window throws during the season four the six
12:55
Speaker 1: of his his games for them are against defenses that
12:58
Speaker 1: were eighteenth or lower. This is by far the best
13:00
Speaker 1: defense he'll face. Let's see if brock Party can continue
13:03
Speaker 1: the magic Omar. You mentioned all the weapons the Forts have.
13:07
Speaker 1: They're so multi skill that makes things a lot easier
13:10
Speaker 1: for an already creative Kyle Shanahan Schematically. The way he
13:13
Speaker 1: lines them up should be a fascinating matchup to watch.
13:16
Speaker 1: We're gonna continue talking about this one. Jane will have
13:18
Speaker 1: much more from you a little bit later. Mark, hang
13:20
Speaker 1: right there. Obviously, Brock pretty has been one of the
13:23
Speaker 1: great storylines of the second half of the entire season.
13:25
Speaker 1: When you watch him anecdotally, you're like, Wow, this kid
13:28
Speaker 1: is playing well, But look at him statistically and it's
13:31
Speaker 1: all backed up first, since he's been the starter this
13:34
Speaker 1: season amongst the very top in all of two the
13:38
Speaker 1: big numbers. Here's Brock pretty talking about being involved now
13:41
Speaker 1: in this great traditional rivalry and so to be a
13:45
Speaker 1: part of it and very thankful. It's pretty cool. It's like, man,
13:48
Speaker 1: you've seen all those highlights and stuff from the nineties
13:50
Speaker 1: and stuff, and and now you fast forward to two
13:53
Speaker 1: thousand three and here we are, you know, same same
13:55
Speaker 1: two teams going at it, um fighting for the same thing,
13:59
Speaker 1: which is pretty cool. And um, I just look at
14:01
Speaker 1: it like, you know, we just want to win. We
14:04
Speaker 1: wanna do our part, and all the other stuff will
14:06
Speaker 1: fall into place. It's not like, man, this is gonna
14:09
Speaker 1: be some kind of you know, Netflix documentary or anything
14:12
Speaker 1: like that. I'm not trying to make it bigger like
14:14
Speaker 1: than that, but very thankful to be a part of it,
14:17
Speaker 1: the rivalry and everything, and having to come back obviously
14:20
Speaker 1: to two thousand and twenty three, so it's gonna be
14:22
Speaker 1: a good one. Pretty helping the forty Niners win eleven
14:25
Speaker 1: straight at this point, longest since nineties seven, when our
14:28
Speaker 1: very own Steve Mariucci was the head coach of the
14:31
Speaker 1: forty Niners Jim Trotter will also be in attendance there
14:34
Speaker 1: at Levi Stadium covering this one. And when you look
14:36
Speaker 1: at this loaded forty Niners offense, we keep talking about it, Jim,
14:39
Speaker 1: but who are some of the unsung heroes of this
14:41
Speaker 1: particular offense. Yeah, you know, Omar. We just started, Jane
14:44
Speaker 1: talking about all the skill position players. But I want
14:46
Speaker 1: to give a little up to the big uglies up front,
14:49
Speaker 1: the offensive line. You do not do what the forty
14:52
Speaker 1: Niners have done if you do not have capable players
14:54
Speaker 1: up front protecting. And there were a lot of questions
14:56
Speaker 1: about this offensive line coming into the season. Look Pro
14:59
Speaker 1: Bowl guard Lake and Thomlinson left in free agency, center
15:03
Speaker 1: Alex Mack retired. They had three new starters on the
15:06
Speaker 1: interior of that line, and each of them had question marks.
15:10
Speaker 1: Let's start with left guard Aaron Banks. You know he
15:13
Speaker 1: had only five snaps as a rookie last year. Then
15:16
Speaker 1: you look at center Jake Brindo, he had not started
15:18
Speaker 1: a regular season game since twenty six team. And you
15:20
Speaker 1: go to right guard Spencer Buford, He's a rookie, no
15:24
Speaker 1: snaps in the NFL. So when you look at those
15:26
Speaker 1: three on the interior and how they have played in
15:28
Speaker 1: terms of complimenting the tackles who we know about in
15:31
Speaker 1: Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey. All this unit has done
15:35
Speaker 1: this year is finished fifth in total yards eight and
15:37
Speaker 1: rushing and thirteenth in passing. So these guys deserve a
15:40
Speaker 1: lot of credit up front. Let's not forget about them. Yeah,
15:43
Speaker 1: Trent Williams continues to be one of the baddest men
15:46
Speaker 1: in football. The only success people having against him Kylie
15:49
Speaker 1: us check his own fullback who had some friendly fire
15:51
Speaker 1: in that game against the Seahawks, and they had fun
15:53
Speaker 1: with that in the locker room this week. Mark. As
15:55
Speaker 1: far as the wide receivers, back to the skill positions,
15:57
Speaker 1: what do you want to see from CD Lamb in
15:59
Speaker 1: this one? Yeah, Jim, you got the big uglies. I'm
16:02
Speaker 1: gonna go with the pretty boys there and that's the
16:03
Speaker 1: receivers And as C Lamb, these are the type of
16:06
Speaker 1: games where wide receivers can just take over and make
16:10
Speaker 1: their mark. Are O seven Super Bowl run with the Giants.
16:13
Speaker 1: Plaxco Burrs in the NFC Championship game completely took over
16:16
Speaker 1: that game. The two thousand eleven run Victor Cruz in
16:19
Speaker 1: the NFC Championship game in San Francisco completely took over
16:22
Speaker 1: that game, couldn't couldn't be stopped. This is when Ceedee
16:25
Speaker 1: Lamb has to step up against that nasty forty Niners
16:28
Speaker 1: defense and that man coverage and make huge plays and
16:32
Speaker 1: take over the game for Dak Prescott. Yes, Dak has
16:35
Speaker 1: to be efficient and effective, but this is the type
16:37
Speaker 1: of game where if c d gets going and takes
16:40
Speaker 1: it over and the forty Niners have no answer, he
16:42
Speaker 1: can really make his mark and that will help the
16:44
Speaker 1: Cowboys get that debut because I've seen it happen in
16:47
Speaker 1: the past with receivers dominating games from victors. Omar. Yeah,
16:51
Speaker 1: certainly this is a potential for a reignition of the
16:54
Speaker 1: rivalry given that the forty ns ended the Cowboys season
16:56
Speaker 1: last year in the wild card around. So certainly Dallas
16:59
Speaker 1: looking forward to this game in more ways than one.
17:02
Speaker 1: Jim Mark, thank you both very much. Yeah, he get rich.
17:09
Speaker 1: The cast of thousands it feels good to Football. Super
17:12
Speaker 1: Bowl Experience presented by Lowe's at the Phoenix Convention Center
17:16
Speaker 1: comes to Phoenix starting February four. Experienced the NFL's football
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Speaker 1: theme Park with interactive games, the Vince Lombardi Trophy and more.
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Speaker 1: Tickets starting at twenty bucks no hidden fees. Admission for
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Speaker 1: kids under twelve is free. Get tickets at super Bowl
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Speaker 1: dot com slash Experienced tickets today. Perhaps the Giants or
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Speaker 1: Eagles will be at the super Bowl in Arizona. The
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Speaker 1: Giants get there, it will be thanks to their defense.
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Speaker 1: Dexter Lawrence has been on fire lately with more on
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Speaker 1: their defense. Here is our Brian Baldinger with his latest
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Speaker 1: Baldy breakdown. I think there's gonna be an epic chess
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Speaker 1: match Saturday night in Philadelphia between the defense coordinator of
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Speaker 1: the Giants, Wink Martindale and the offense coordinative Philadelphia Eagles,
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Speaker 1: Shane Stikeen. And all you have to do is go
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Speaker 1: to previous matchups this year to see what I'm talking about.
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Speaker 1: Right here, Waint Martindale here has eight potential blitzers up
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Speaker 1: to hit Jalen Hurts right here. All they want to
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Speaker 1: do is get him off the edge. You get two
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Speaker 1: outside pressures right here. Moving Jalen Hurts forced him to
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Speaker 1: get the ball out of his hand. Quick completion, but
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Speaker 1: for only three yards. Now, this was a fourth and
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Speaker 1: seven play, seven potential rushers coming at Jalen Hurts and
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Speaker 1: an empty set at the bottom is Davante Smith. He
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Speaker 1: runs his spray fade on fourth and seven. Jalen Hurts
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Speaker 1: dropped it right in front of the free safety Julia Love,
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Speaker 1: and he dances into the end zone for the Eagles
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Speaker 1: go up fourteen nothing. But on the play, Jalen Hurts
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Speaker 1: had to stay in here and take really a Malachi
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Speaker 1: crunch from text to Lawrence up the middle and Cavon
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Speaker 1: Tibott on the outside. He takes the hit and he
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Speaker 1: delivers a perfect throat. Can Jalen Hurts do that on
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Speaker 1: Saturday night? Coming off that injury? Now he'll do different
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Speaker 1: things like Thibodeau and Ojilari come inside, quick pressure inside
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Speaker 1: right here, trapping Jalen Hurts not able to get away
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Speaker 1: from two great athletes and good pass rushers, and he
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Speaker 1: takes the sack. However, you get this right here, subtle
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Speaker 1: thing like Jalen Smith right here acting like he's gonna
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Speaker 1: blitz all right, Keith me and what it tell us?
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Speaker 1: He keeps the back in Miles Sanders. Then he's gonna
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Speaker 1: drop into coverage and helped take away some of the crosses.
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Speaker 1: Miles Sanders is now not a safety valty, he's a
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Speaker 1: personal protector, and the result was Jalen Hurts takes the sack.
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Speaker 1: Now watch this play right here, here's Jalen Smith, all right,
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Speaker 1: he's gonna attack the line of scrimmage like he's blitzing,
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Speaker 1: but then he's gonna drop and get underneath the cross
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Speaker 1: her number eleven a J. Brown. Meanwhile, right here, Jalen
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Speaker 1: Hurt sure could use the safety valet, but that's Mile
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Speaker 1: Sanders and he's protecting. Wink Martindale won that down. This
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Speaker 1: is gonna be back and forth all night long between
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Speaker 1: these two coordinators. It promises to be a really good show.
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Speaker 1: We can't wait for that one, Baldy. That is the nightcap.
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Speaker 1: Tomorrow night things pick off with the Jaguars and Chiefs
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Speaker 1: at four thirty Eastern on NBC. Then on Sunday, the
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Speaker 1: Bengals and Bills meet as Josh Allen and Joe Burrow
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Speaker 1: will play a full game for the first time in
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Speaker 1: their careers, followed by the traditional rivalry in the Cowboys
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Speaker 1: and the Forts That one at s x thirty eastern
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Speaker 1: on Fox. For a deeper dive into this weekend's divisional
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Speaker 1: playoff round. Let's welcome in Trevor Sekama, PFF, NFL analyst, podcaster,
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Speaker 1: reporter and all around great guy. Trevor. Always great to
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Speaker 1: have you here on NFL Now. And when you talk
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Speaker 1: about the NFC powers Eagles, right there, forty nine is
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Speaker 1: the eleven game winning streak, justifiably dominant. With the Brock
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Speaker 1: Purty storyline, Cowboys as loaded as anybody, But I think
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Speaker 1: we've kind of forgotten how good the Eagles were throughout
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Speaker 1: the year, and especially with Jalen Hurts if he's healthy. Now,
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Speaker 1: what's the sort of optimism you have in a matchup
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Speaker 1: against the Giants ahead of tomorrow night? If the Eagles
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Speaker 1: are relatively fully healthy, this is simply one of the
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Speaker 1: best offenses in the NFL. They were top five in
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Speaker 1: ep A per pass throughout the regular season, and they
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Speaker 1: were top five in ep A per rush. So this
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Speaker 1: is all around passing and rushing, one of the best
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Speaker 1: offenses in the NFL. Something I'm really looking forward to
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Speaker 1: in this matchup, though, goes with Ball this point. What
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Speaker 1: he just said, the chess match between the Eagles offense
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Speaker 1: and the Giants d defense. Specifically, what wink Martindale is
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Speaker 1: gonna do. He stuck a Dory Jackson their corner on
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Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson last week, and that is a tall task
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Speaker 1: for anybody, and he handled it so incredibly well. So
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Speaker 1: I wonder if they're gonna put it Dory Jackson one
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Speaker 1: on one with Davonte Smith once again and then give
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Speaker 1: some extra eyes to a j. Brown maybe clear him
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Speaker 1: that way. So that is the chess match that I
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Speaker 1: agree with Baldi. I'm looking forward to a ton. But
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Speaker 1: if the Eagles have their best strength fully healthy, They're
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Speaker 1: they're tough out no matter what. Yeah, their defense getting
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Speaker 1: healthy as well, So the Eagles back to being fully loaded.
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Speaker 1: Speaking of fully loaded, that forty niner offense, we've been
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Speaker 1: talking about it all year, and then they added Christian
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Speaker 1: McCaffrey and then Brock pretty comes in and plays as
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Speaker 1: well as anybody has ever to start a career, especially
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Speaker 1: a rookie. And speaking of chess matches, you have Dan Quinn,
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Speaker 1: defensive coordinator for the Cowboys, going against his old offensive
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Speaker 1: coordinator when they're with the Falcons, Kyle Shanahan. How do
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Speaker 1: you see this one shaking out? I love dan Quinn.
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Speaker 1: I'm so glad he's getting plenty of love now in
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Speaker 1: the head coaching Carosel, because I think he deserves a shot.
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Speaker 1: He is one of the best defensive minds in the NFL,
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Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Now stylistically, very curious to see
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Speaker 1: what happens in this game because Dallas Cowboys play the
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Speaker 1: fifth most amount of press coverage with their secondary of
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Speaker 1: any team in the NFL now against San Francisco. For Niners,
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Speaker 1: not a lot of teams play press. They don't want
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Speaker 1: to play press up against those playmakers that they have.
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Speaker 1: And yet is that what we're going to see? I'm
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Speaker 1: not sure. It kind of depends what's gonna happen with
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Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys pass rush. Is it effective enough for
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Speaker 1: them to be able to press stay close in coverage.
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Speaker 1: But when you guys have Christian McCaffrey, people, Samuel George Kittle, Brandon,
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Speaker 1: I you it's so hard to ask a secondary to
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Speaker 1: continually press against those kinds of playmakers. So it's a
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Speaker 1: little bit of strength versus strength, And I'm wondering who's
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Speaker 1: gonna bend first. Is Kyle Shanahan gonna adjust what he
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Speaker 1: does or is Dan Queen gonna adjust what he does,
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Speaker 1: So that's something I'm looking forward to with this one
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Speaker 1: for sure. Well, this is the type of game where
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Speaker 1: legends are made. And if Michael Parson can go off
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Speaker 1: and have one of these, you know, three performances and
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Speaker 1: this type of environment, certainly he'll be on his way
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Speaker 1: to Canton with all the hype that the Cowboys getting. Meanwhile,
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Speaker 1: the game on Sunday afternoon preceding that one, the Bengals
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Speaker 1: and the Bills. Weapons all over the field, explosive offenses galore.
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Speaker 1: What are you most looking forward to about this matchup?
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Speaker 1: This game is gonna be fun, And I'm looking straight
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Speaker 1: at Kayer Ellen. The Bills CB two, a guy that
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Speaker 1: they've drafted very highly, thought of very highly because last week, Man,
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Speaker 1: he played a hell of the game eighty eight point
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Speaker 1: nine coverage grade, was targeted four times, only allowed one
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Speaker 1: catch for two passing yards. Now, the reason why I
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Speaker 1: think that he was so coveted when the Bills ended
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Speaker 1: up drafting him was because of his height. He's close
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Speaker 1: to a guy like te Higgins, something that the Bills
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Speaker 1: didn't have before. Now they have this matchup of this taller,
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Speaker 1: longer athletic corner would go up against a guy like
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Speaker 1: Tee Higgins. Meanwhile, he could leave Trebus White on a
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Speaker 1: player like Jamaar Chase on the other side. So I
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Speaker 1: think stylistically, measurable wise, this is a really great matchup
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Speaker 1: that I'm looking forward to. It could be the X factor.
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Speaker 1: But my bold prediction for the week end on the
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Speaker 1: other side of things, it's with Jamaar Chase. I think
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Speaker 1: he has the most receiving yards that he has had
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Speaker 1: so far this year. The number is one thirty two,
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Speaker 1: and I think Mark Chase is going to play well
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Speaker 1: enough to exceed at a thirty two passing or receiving
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Speaker 1: yards this weekend. That's my Bowl prediction. Yeah. Why, I
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Speaker 1: think both offenses are gonna play well and it's gonna
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Speaker 1: come up to whatever defense could come up with that
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Speaker 1: one play, that one turnover that truly makes the difference
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Speaker 1: in the game. We can't wait for it. Trevor's Sekama.
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Speaker 1: Thank you so much as always for joining us here.
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Speaker 1: For much more on Trevor's work, go to PF dot
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