Latest / AFR Saints / Raiders vs. Saints Preview: Vegas’ 2-0 Start, Klint Kubiak & Key Matchups

Transcript

Raiders vs. Saints Preview: Vegas’ 2-0 Start, Klint Kubiak & Key Matchups · AFR Saints

• 0:00
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• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this offense is very explosive, very well coached, a
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: lot of playmakers, many of whom I'm very familiar with,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: and we're going to have our work cut out for
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: us on Sunday.
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: That is Raiders head coach Clint Kubiak.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: We spent a year in New Orleans a couple seasons
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: ago before going off to Seattle as an OC, winning
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: a Super Bowl, now running the show in Las Vegas,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: which is where we had Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Good enough to spend a couple minutes with us here. Adam,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: we appreciate it, man.
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: How are you?
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: I am good.
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: Just getting ready to go to the second-best city in
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: the NFL.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I was going to say, we go to the second-best
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: city in the NFL to talk to Adam Hill. We've
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: talked before. Vegas, one of my favorite places in the world.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: A close second in the NFL behind New Orleans. Hey, man,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: let me ask you the most obvious question in the world.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: The Raiders are 2-0. How?
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: Oh, that's the obvious question? I don't know. I think
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: the answer is they played the chargers and the dolphins.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think that's the simple answer. Obviously they're
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: doing the little things right. They're doing enough on offensive
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: Kirk cousins. The defense is getting pressure on quarterbacks and
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: the special teams is the story I'm working on right
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: now is the number one unit in the league based
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: on EPA. So they're doing all the little things that
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: they haven't done in the past. And when they do
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: make mistakes, They're overcoming them. Like this past week, they
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: had one of the worst penalties I've ever seen. Five men,
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: or excuse me, 12 men on the field on a
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: fourth and one. And they overcame it. They forced a
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: fumble in the next play. In the past, they would
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: have lost on that.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Let's go down the Kirk Cousins road. Obviously, they made
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: the decision not to start Fernando Mendoza and lean on
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the veteran. We got to see Cousins in Atlanta.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: What.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: How has this gone through two games with Kirk Cousins
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: leading the show?
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: The Falcons are still paying him. You think they want
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: him back?
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, do you want to be a weekly contributor
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: on the show?
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: I'd love to.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: I don't need to talk Raiders, but I'd like to
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: just talk to you, especially if you're going to take
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: shots at the Falcons and praise New Orleans.
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: I mean, what a disaster it is there.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: They are awesome.
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: Look, Kirk Cousins knows what he's doing. He knows how
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: to operate an offense. He's been with Clint Kubiak for
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: four years before in Minnesota. He just knows what he's doing.
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: He understands it. And I think you saw that in
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: training camp. Every single day, Fernando Mendoza makes these big
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: throws and then mixed with kind of not understanding exactly
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: what to do on a certain play. He's a rookie.
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: Kirk Cousins has been doing this for 15 years. And
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: he's been in this offense for four. He just knows
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: how to operate it. I think he was the right
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: choice to just kind of operate things right now. and
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: then bring along Fernando Mendoza and drop him in when
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: he's fully prepared and fully ready and not kind of
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: have to swim upstream like he would be right now.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: How is Ashton Genting doing in year two?
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: Well, he had one unbelievable game followed by kind of
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: a mess on Sunday. So I guess inconsistent. They couldn't
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: find any running lanes on Sunday, and that was a
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: stacked box that they just couldn't run against. And then
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: Ashton Genting dropped three passes, which were... Pretty atrocious. And
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: he talked about that after the game. But the first game,
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: he was unbelievable. 100 yards and two touchdowns. I think
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: only the third running back that's ever had that 100
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: yards on the ground, two receiving touchdowns in a game
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: more than one time. So he flashes with some big games.
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: I think the offensive line still is a bit of
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: a struggle on the run. But right now, they're last
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: in the league in yards per carry, which is where
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: you're supposed to be when you have a top 10
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  Speaker 4: running back.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Our Adam Hills with us, Las Vegas Review-Journal. Let's talk
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: about pass catchers. Brock Bowers, I saw he's supposed to
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: play this weekend, if I'm not mistaken. What else is
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: there in the receiving game?
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: Well, you got any other questions?
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Is it fair to say that that's maybe the biggest
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: weakness on the team right now?
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's very fair to say, but you know,
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: They find a way, right? Michael Mayer, before Brock Bowers
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: was the top tight end in college football, Michael Mayer
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: was at Notre Dame. I actually saw him have an
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: unbelievable game against LSU out here in Vegas. I think
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: he got like 12 passes for like 200 yards, and
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: it was crazy. He's a really good player, and he
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: was able to be okay when Brock was out, but
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: he's not that explosive, dynamic playmaker that Brock is. Trey
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: Tucker has up and down games. He was phenomenal last week,
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: but not exist in week one. Jalen Naylor is a
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: Vegas kid. They brought him back in. He was behind,
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: you know, Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson in Minnesota. He
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: hasn't been special. Malik Benson, they think, can be really good.
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: I think he played at every single college before he
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: got here. He's been much better than they thought, but
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: hasn't really done it in the season. In training camp,
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: he was great. But they just don't have the game changer.
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: Brock Bowers is the only game changer, and He'll be
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: back this week, it looks like, and that should change
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: the offense. But the bottom line is they found a
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: way to get it done. Kirk Cousins is throwing touchdown
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: passes all over the place to whoever.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Let's flip it over to the other side of the ball.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Maybe we're burying the lead. I think you have to
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: start with Kirk Cousins. I look at Max Crosby, and
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: I look at that pass rush, and the Saints are
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: obviously going to be without their first-round draft pick at
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: left tackle. and Kelvin Banks. So that's going to be
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: a Seam Richards over there. Here's a Vegas pun for you.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Handicap that matchup for me there with the Raiders' pass
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: rush against the Saints' offensive line.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think good luck at this point. That's
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: been really good. They have about a 50% pressure rate
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: right now, which, again, the Dolphins and Chargers were awful
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: up front. But you still have to get the job done,
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: and the Raiders have done that. Max Crosby is a
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: big part of it. They're running Quidipe. Malcolm Coots looked
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: as good as he has in a long time last week.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: They've got a lot of guys. But I think it's
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: the scheme, really, that's getting this done. Rob Leonard, a
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: first-time defensive coordinator, he worked with a ton of coordinators,
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: but we just didn't know exactly what his defense was
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: going to look like. And I don't think offenses have
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: known what the defense is going to look like. He's
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: never called plays before. And I think it looks like
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: the one that he's taken the most from is Brian
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: Flores because it looks a little bit like a Brian
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: Flores defense right now. even though they're not putting their
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: full blitz package out just yet, they're pressuring every single play.
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  Speaker 4: And it's been impressive to watch. It's something I think
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: you said the receivers are the weak spot. I think
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: internally in the organization, they thought receivers and defensive line
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: outside of Crosby were going to be a problem, but
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: it hasn't been. They've been really good, and I think
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: that's a big part of why they're 2-0.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Adam Hill's with us a couple more minutes, Las Vegas Review-Journal.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: I want to give him a follow. He's at Adam Hill, LVRJ,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Las Vegas Review-Journal. People here got to know Clint Kubiak
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: just for a year, but he was generally well-liked and
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: really smart. He just kind of dealt a bad hand
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: on a bad team. 2-0 is an obvious thing, but
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: how have the early returns been there of Kubiak overall?
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: Well, I don't know how you guys found that sound
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: bite you played at the beginning. It might have been
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: the most dynamic thing he says.
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: It's tough.
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: Kudos to whoever's doing the sound and trying to pull
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: a quote. It's rough, man. But the players love them.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: When you talk to him off microphone, off camera, he's
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: just a really genuinely good guy. I think he's funny
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: even though he doesn't show it. There's something about him.
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: And he obviously is a football guy. He's been raised
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: in the game. His dad was a head coach, obviously.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: but he's been preparing for this job his whole life,
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: and I think he's really embraced it. They show the
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: locker room videos, the speeches, and I'm like, who's that guy?
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: That's not the guy that I talk to three times
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: a week. He's a different personality. I think he's won
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: over the locker room. He's never going to win a
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: press conference, but that's okay. I don't think that matters
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: at all.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Neither did Bill Belichick ever, and he won six Super Bowls.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: If the Raiders win in the Dome on Sunday, what's
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: the key to that?
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: Good question. I haven't even envisioned them winning.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: Interesting.
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: Why? In my mind, they're like two and one. I'm
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: a massive Tyler Shook guy from the combine. I thought
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: it was one of the most impressive throwing performances I've
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: ever seen. And I just think the team has come
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: around really well. Kellen Moore is a guy I've always admired, too. Yeah,
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: I think it's going to be a really tall order
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: for them. I think it's a big step up in competition.
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: The Chargers are supposed to be good. They were terrible.
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: They're awful. They might be, and this is, you guys
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: have betting down there now too, right?
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: 18 to one, you can get the charters of the
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: last winless team.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: I take it. Yeah, I'll take it. Have you seen
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: their schedule?
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: We did it yesterday. Yes, the next seven are heinous.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: I don't know how they avoid 0 and 9. I mean,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: unless if it's just something like the, The Panthers giving
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: up 59 week one and then giving up three the
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: next just because it's the NFL.
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: They might beat the Broncos at home. They own the Broncos.
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: But that's the only one I can really even see. Wild.
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: I mean, 18-1, I like it. The Dolphins are awful, too.
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: But it's funny. We're talking about the two teams that
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: the Raiders have beaten. Maybe they're the last two teams
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: to get a win.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Let's get down to the really important stuff. So next
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: time I'm in Vegas, where do I have to go eat?
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: So I tell people this all the time. It's places
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: off the strip for sure. Everybody talks about them. So
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: my favorite spot is a spot called Carson Kitchen. It's downtown.
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: It's run by chefs. They change their menu all the time.
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: But it's always phenomenal. It's great. It's a great spot
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: to just go hang out. Good beer list. It's a
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: good spot. There's a new Italian place in the scariest
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: strip mall you've ever seen. But it's insanely good. You
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: get the tasting menu there.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: What's it called?
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: It's called Monzu.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: Spell it.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: M-O-N-Z-U.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: M-O-N-Z-U, Monzu.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm not afraid to go off strip.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: Look, last time I was in Vegas, I went to
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: see No Doubt at the Sphere about two months ago
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: or so.
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: Great show.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: It was awesome. And we went to Original Capo's. Okay.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: And we went to, oh, help me, there's a steakhouse.
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: Is it a steakhouse? Was it Herbs and Rye?
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: No, we went, it was, uh, golden steer. No, no, no, no.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: It was on, uh, it was downtown. Um, it's all gone.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: It was like the mob place.
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: Uh, Oh, it was like triple George or Danny Amos
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: or berries. I'm going to find it.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: And I'm going to text you like, look, look, I
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: love SW steak.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: I think that's a great spot. There's obviously a lot
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: of tourists.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: There's two touristy, but, but this, but.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: I'm a state guy. I'm with you on all that.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: But like, but the beef was so good. Like I
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: can get, I can get past all the things and
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: how ridiculously overpriced the whiskey is. And I, I can
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: get past that if, if the beef is good and
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: SW is the, the steak at SW Steak was awesome.
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Herbs and Rye, Herbs and Rye is an off-the-strip steakhouse
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: that is also phenomenal. It's open until 3 a.m. also.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: So that's a great spot.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: Have you been to Original Capo's?
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: I have. I enjoyed it.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: I didn't like how rude they were, but that's part
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: of the shtick.
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean?
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: But, The speakeasy vibe was great. Love the red, the
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: red leather and the food was good.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Give the password.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Like I can get, I can get past all the
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: gimmicky crap if the food is good.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: Um, and it was good. It was good.
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: All right. Carson kitchen, Monzu and herbs and rye.
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: There you go.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I literally sent my parents to Vegas to go watch
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: the backstreet boys two weeks ago. So I'm probably like, well,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: my mom had never been. So, and I was like,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: I was like, mom, you're almost 70. You're going to
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: go to Las Vegas. And so I bought them plane tickets,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: a hotel tickets to the show, everything. Cause they would
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: never do it themselves. And so I just was like, here,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: you were leaving, get on the plane and go. I
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: think they had a great time, but they're not much,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: they're not as going to be like as foodie as
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: I am like looking for the spots.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: So, all right, I got it.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Carson kitchen, Monzu herbs and rye. Next time I'm in Vegas,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna find you too. I'm gonna buy you dinner
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: one night when we're there.
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: Perfect. Where am I going, by the way, this weekend?
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: What do you want to eat? It doesn't matter.
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: It's probably going to need to be open late. I
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: think that's a big one for me.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: The first thing that came to mind, because I'm thinking
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: of something not touristy, like off the beaten path, would
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: be Giacomo's.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: Have you been?
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: I have not.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: Go to Giacomo's. That's a good spot.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: Try it. Perfect. Giacomo's with a J.
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: All right. We'll start now.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: I'll send you some other ones as well, but there's
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: so many can't-miss spots in New Orleans, but that's just
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: the first thing that.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: Popped into my mind.
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: The food's amazing.
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: All right, Adam. It's a pleasure, man. We'll catch up
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: down the line.
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: Sounds good. Talk to you guys.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: See you, bud.