Latest / NFL Game Previews / NFL REPORT: Deep Divisional Round Dive & Head Coaching Vacancies
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: EVO.
- 0:05Speaker 2: Samuel Front of San Francisco forty nine is in.
- 0:08Speaker 3: This is the NFL.
- 0:09Speaker 2: Report, EVO.
- 0:12Speaker 4: Looks real relaxed you just sitting there. We entered the
- 0:15Speaker 4: divisional round. James Palmer, Steve White with you on the
- 0:19Speaker 4: NFL Report. A slammed show Today. All pro quarterback from
- 0:23Speaker 4: the Chiefs Trent McDuffie.
- 0:24Speaker 2: Joins the show.
- 0:25Speaker 4: Former Falcons general manager and former Patriots scout Thomas de
- 0:29Speaker 4: Mitchroff also joins the show. Baldy's Favorite films breaking down
- 0:33Speaker 4: everything you need to know Steven the postseason, as well
- 0:36Speaker 4: as Judy Batista telling us everything we need to know
- 0:38Speaker 4: about Bill Belichick to the Falcons. This is weird, though, Steve.
- 0:42Speaker 4: This isn't where I normally see you.
- 0:43Speaker 3: What's going on here?
- 0:45Speaker 1: No?
- 0:45Speaker 5: I mean I'm in my hotel room over in Honolulu, JP.
- 0:48Speaker 5: You know there's no NFL team. Oh here, I'm as
- 0:52Speaker 5: you see right here, the Polynesian Bowl. It's be broadcast
- 0:55Speaker 5: Friday evening on NFL Network. It is the greatest collection
- 0:59Speaker 5: of high school football stars All Star Game. Dylan Rayola,
- 1:03Speaker 5: the number one quarterback in the country, the son of
- 1:05Speaker 5: Dominic Raiola, who decommitted from Georgia right to go to
- 1:11Speaker 5: Nebraska where his father played.
- 1:13Speaker 3: He's gonna be the big highlight of the game.
- 1:14Speaker 5: But some of the best players in high school football
- 1:18Speaker 5: who are going to matriculate to the NFL. We've seen
- 1:20Speaker 5: guys like Talano, Hufanga, Hohoka Nakua, so many guys who've
- 1:23Speaker 5: played in this game. For Jean Robinson go to the
- 1:25Speaker 5: NFL from fired up, I'll be on the call with
- 1:28Speaker 5: Cadoa Lahea. But JB, let's get to this wildcard weekend
- 1:33Speaker 5: because the one thing you see with the remaining teams
- 1:35Speaker 5: is kind of you have a healthy quarterback, you played
- 1:37Speaker 5: most of the season, You had a good shot to
- 1:40Speaker 5: get to this point.
- 1:42Speaker 3: What quarterback matchup?
- 1:44Speaker 5: Because they're so good this weekend really intrigued you the most.
- 1:49Speaker 4: Steve, there is one quarterback matchup that we all should
- 1:52Speaker 4: be focused on. It is the new Tom Brady versus
- 1:55Speaker 4: Peyton Manning. It is Josh Allen versus Patrick Mahomes. So
- 2:00Speaker 4: the first time in the postseason on the road for Mahomes,
- 2:04Speaker 4: I've covered this game. I think I've covered almost every
- 2:06Speaker 4: single matchup that they've had outside.
- 2:08Speaker 2: Of the one.
- 2:08Speaker 4: God the Mahomes played up there in Orchard Park. It
- 2:12Speaker 4: was during COVID, no fans there, so he is getting
- 2:15Speaker 4: his first experience playing on the road in Buffalo in
- 2:18Speaker 4: this game. Now, what I find fascinating about this is
- 2:21Speaker 4: they are both just dynamite quarterbacks, but what they're doing
- 2:25Speaker 4: right now with both teams are I feel like it's
- 2:28Speaker 4: the word resiliency Steve, And that's not usually what you
- 2:30Speaker 4: would think of when you think of the Bills and
- 2:33Speaker 4: the Chiefs over the last couple of years, but that's
- 2:35Speaker 4: where they're both at right now. With the Bills have
- 2:37Speaker 4: overcome and how they've gotten to the spot they're at
- 2:40Speaker 4: as red hot as they are, with Josh Allen putting
- 2:43Speaker 4: this team on his back at times and really going
- 2:46Speaker 4: out there and carrying the Bills and willing them to wins.
- 2:49Speaker 4: Patrick Mahomes, on the other hand, has been utilizing his.
- 2:53Speaker 2: Defense, his run game.
- 2:55Speaker 4: When I talked to coaches in Kansas City, they say
- 2:58Speaker 4: his adaptability this year is the number one trait that
- 3:01Speaker 4: has stood out to them in the eyes of Patrick
- 3:04Speaker 4: Mahomes and what he's done differently. He has learned a
- 3:07Speaker 4: lot to where it's okay Steve to take the check down,
- 3:10Speaker 4: to flip the field to hunt the football in the
- 3:13Speaker 4: postseason and protect it a different mentality. But we talked
- 3:17Speaker 4: about it on a previous show, Steve. Could this be
- 3:19Speaker 4: the formula for the Chiefs. That's why I find this fascinating.
- 3:22Speaker 4: They're not playing like we've seen them both play in
- 3:24Speaker 4: the past.
- 3:25Speaker 3: And that's okay, and JP the one thing that's I've
- 3:28Speaker 3: talked about enough.
- 3:28Speaker 5: We talk about it so much with Josh Allen and
- 3:31Speaker 5: Lamar Jackson, but Patrick Mahomes running the ball to move
- 3:34Speaker 5: the sticks seems to be a constant trait in the
- 3:37Speaker 5: postseason with this team. I love that matchup and we're
- 3:41Speaker 5: gonna have Judy Batista. She'll be at the game in
- 3:43Speaker 5: Baltimore this weekend between the Texans and Ravens. Talk about
- 3:46Speaker 5: that dynamic matchup with c. J. Straud and Lamar Jackson.
- 3:48Speaker 5: Later with JP. How could I not go with my
- 3:51Speaker 5: guy Rock Hurry against Jordan Love a big Saturday Saturday
- 3:58Speaker 5: evening game.
- 3:58Speaker 3: Okay, I see the face, But here's why.
- 4:01Speaker 5: Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers is playing better
- 4:05Speaker 5: than any quarterback in the NFL right now. In the
- 4:10Speaker 5: past five games, Jordan Love twelve touchdowns, zero interceptions.
- 4:16Speaker 3: He's taking care of the ball.
- 4:18Speaker 5: He's making plays as you're seeing right here against Dallas
- 4:21Speaker 5: when he carved up throwing the ball, there's twenty one
- 4:23Speaker 5: times in all kinds of different ways from the pocket
- 4:27Speaker 5: rolling out. Now he has not played the defense like
- 4:29Speaker 5: the rested Niners are going to be throwing in his face.
- 4:33Speaker 5: But if Green Bay can run the balls, there's somewhat
- 4:35Speaker 5: of a degree like they've been running it. This could
- 4:38Speaker 5: set up things very interesting. Now, now I gotta go
- 4:40Speaker 5: to my guy Brock. Perty Look after that four interception
- 4:43Speaker 5: game against Baltimore, he has played much more like the
- 4:46Speaker 5: Brock party that we know that is controlled, that is
- 4:50Speaker 5: from the pocket, and that is operating on time. He's
- 4:52Speaker 5: not operating on time in this highlight right here against Washington.
- 4:56Speaker 5: This is also a part of his game nobody talks about.
- 4:59Speaker 5: We had deep Deebo. Samuel introduced us and when we
- 5:02Speaker 5: interviewed him last week, he talked about how much Hurry
- 5:06Speaker 5: has got that killer in him. Right, He's got the
- 5:08Speaker 5: thing that pushed things over the top and how they
- 5:10Speaker 5: pushed the ball down field.
- 5:12Speaker 1: JP.
- 5:12Speaker 3: This isn't just a dink and donk quarterback. This is
- 5:15Speaker 3: somebody who can win games all right. JP.
- 5:19Speaker 5: Coming up next the Detroit Lions, I mean a team
- 5:21Speaker 5: we've been on since the very beginning.
- 5:23Speaker 3: They're playing a sleeper team, excuse me, a sleeper team.
- 5:26Speaker 5: And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked really good and destroying
- 5:29Speaker 5: the Eagles in the wildcard round. What is something they
- 5:33Speaker 5: could do or what is something the Lions can do
- 5:37Speaker 5: for Detroit to get to the conference championship game.
- 5:41Speaker 4: I'll let you handle Detroit because I want to go
- 5:43Speaker 4: down to Florida. I want to go to Tampa Bay,
- 5:47Speaker 4: where maybe there's not enough credit.
- 5:48Speaker 2: Steve, we talked about the tones of the Detroit Lions.
- 5:51Speaker 4: I think we could say also, this Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 5:53Speaker 4: team is extremely tough and extremely resist You look at
- 5:57Speaker 4: everything that they've been through with their quarterback and battle
- 6:00Speaker 4: as we call it, with Baker Mayfield winning it this
- 6:02Speaker 4: past offseason. We have to remember their offensive quarter Dave Canalis,
- 6:05Speaker 4: who was on this show last week. He's been to
- 6:08Speaker 4: the postseason regularly when he was in Seattle. This team
- 6:10Speaker 4: with the Buccaneers, we're in the postseason over the last
- 6:13Speaker 4: several years with Tom Brady as their quarterback.
- 6:15Speaker 2: They have been there.
- 6:16Speaker 4: And you mentioned what they did against the Philadelphia Eagles,
- 6:19Speaker 4: one of the best offensive lines in football. They manhandled
- 6:22Speaker 4: them at the line of scrimmage. Line played brilliantly. This
- 6:25Speaker 4: is another very good offensive line, one of the best
- 6:28Speaker 4: in football that the Detroit Lions have.
- 6:30Speaker 2: And if this team can get physical upfront and.
- 6:33Speaker 4: They can cause some issues in the timing and the
- 6:36Speaker 4: way that Jared Golf operates this offense, this could be
- 6:39Speaker 4: a sneaky interesting matchup and a sneaky potential upset.
- 6:42Speaker 2: Possibly Steve or it really good Buccaneers.
- 6:46Speaker 3: It really couldn't.
- 6:47Speaker 5: And we're gonna have Brian Baldinger on later to talk
- 6:49Speaker 5: about this game because this is something he really wants
- 6:51Speaker 5: to sink his teeth and two after watching film. But
- 6:54Speaker 5: I'm gonna go back to this and I talked about
- 6:55Speaker 5: this or Detroit when they played the Rams in a
- 6:58Speaker 5: wildcat round, and I think it showed up. And that
- 7:02Speaker 5: is the center of their defense. Chauncey Gardner Johnson, who's
- 7:05Speaker 5: been a little Twitter beef with Baker Mayfield this week
- 7:09Speaker 5: in kind of that interior slot corner position, Herbie Joseph
- 7:13Speaker 5: at safety, some of the things that they do, and
- 7:16Speaker 5: Brian Branch, my gosh, how good has this rookie bent
- 7:19Speaker 5: Oh yeah, where does Tampa and Baker like to drive
- 7:21Speaker 5: the ball? We saw it last week. It is kind
- 7:23Speaker 5: of the middle of the field. A lot of the
- 7:24Speaker 5: crossing routes set up some of the over the top
- 7:27Speaker 5: stuff to Mike Evans, which they really couldn't get going.
- 7:30Speaker 5: And I think this is going to be something that
- 7:33Speaker 5: Detroit is gonna have to use. I know their offense
- 7:36Speaker 5: is gonna have some tough sledding against this defense. We're
- 7:39Speaker 5: watching Aiden Hutchinson here on the highlight put pressure. They're
- 7:42Speaker 5: gonna have to generate some of that pressure to flush
- 7:45Speaker 5: Baker Mayfield to maybe get the ball out of his
- 7:47Speaker 5: hands a little quicker. And again that's are some of
- 7:49Speaker 5: those guys in that secondary, particularly at the safeties. Brian
- 7:54Speaker 5: Branch caused some problems in that passing game for Tampa Bay.
- 7:58Speaker 3: JP.
- 8:00Speaker 5: This is gonna be a fun game, and I'm with you.
- 8:02Speaker 5: I think the Buccaneers not be underestimated. Really, JP. We
- 8:06Speaker 5: know there's some great coaches coming down in this round here,
- 8:10Speaker 5: this divisional round. Is there any that has any greater
- 8:13Speaker 5: pressure than the other coming into this level?
- 8:17Speaker 4: I would say, Steve, it's kind of the two guys
- 8:19Speaker 4: that had the number one seed in the bye. I
- 8:21Speaker 4: look at Harball and what John Harball is up against
- 8:24Speaker 4: in Baltimore, because the last time they were in this
- 8:26Speaker 4: situation was twenty nineteen and Lamar won the NB good
- 8:29Speaker 4: they had to buy and then they went and they
- 8:31Speaker 4: lost to the Titans in the Divisional round and their
- 8:34Speaker 4: postseason was over. I think this is for John Harbaugh
- 8:37Speaker 4: and for Lamar Jackson as well, to get over a
- 8:40Speaker 4: parobial hump because a lot of people have them as
- 8:43Speaker 4: a super Bowl.
- 8:43Speaker 3: Favorite, and I'm one hundred scent way you with the
- 8:45Speaker 3: number one team.
- 8:46Speaker 5: Kyle Shanahan, no one's going to doubt how great of
- 8:48Speaker 5: a coach he is, but he's gonna go down as
- 8:50Speaker 5: a great regular season coach or a great postseason coach.
- 8:53Speaker 5: And this is where to me, the NFC is a
- 8:57Speaker 5: very clear path for the forty nine ers.
- 8:58Speaker 1: Guys.
- 8:59Speaker 5: It's gonna be tough for the but this is gonna
- 9:01Speaker 5: be a game they need to win and keep on rolling.
- 9:05Speaker 5: So this weekend, I think the forty nine ers, who
- 9:07Speaker 5: are well rested, we know they were nicked up when
- 9:09Speaker 5: the end of the season. They need to finish strong.
- 9:12Speaker 5: This again, they're playing a red hot Packers team. It's
- 9:15Speaker 5: gonna be a heck of a challenge. They have it
- 9:17Speaker 5: at Levi's Well, JP, you know what coming up next?
- 9:21Speaker 5: We just talked about slot corners, right, I talked about
- 9:23Speaker 5: Brian Branch. We've got the first team all post slot corner.
- 9:27Speaker 5: That's the Chiefs trying to be joining us. Oh, JP,
- 9:30Speaker 5: this is gonna be good. Don't be anywhere.
- 9:33Speaker 6: Love back after the break for the nflbum.
- 9:44Speaker 1: They just like the Bahamas.
- 9:45Speaker 7: Huh Hey, great job, probaty guys.
- 9:52Speaker 3: Make sure you have your cell phones.
- 9:54Speaker 7: We'll let you know. You know when we're playing. Make
- 9:58Speaker 7: sure you take care of yourself. If you're nicked up,
- 10:01Speaker 7: let's get taken care of. We get ourselves back in
- 10:03Speaker 7: there and get ready to go. Oh how beautiful is
- 10:06Speaker 7: this man? How about those gotta love it? Gotta love it?
- 10:11Speaker 1: Hey, for real, take care of your body this weekend.
- 10:13Speaker 2: Make sure you're ready to go next week.
- 10:14Speaker 1: We ain't done so chase something.
- 10:18Speaker 4: Welcome back into the NFL report, James Palmer, Steve Whites
- 10:21Speaker 4: with you and we have.
- 10:22Speaker 2: All pro Steve Yeah. Back of the Kansas City Chiefs.
- 10:26Speaker 2: Trent McDuffie, Trent I gotta ask you to start off
- 10:29Speaker 2: with this right here.
- 10:30Speaker 4: What do you feel like the slot corner spot actually
- 10:34Speaker 4: getting this recognition in the all pro situation because on
- 10:38Speaker 4: this show we talked about slot corners being one of
- 10:40Speaker 4: the most valuable positions in all football.
- 10:42Speaker 8: Yeah, kind of like you said, I feel like this
- 10:45Speaker 8: slot cornerback position though, is definitely one that I feel
- 10:48Speaker 8: like it's starting to get more recognition because, I mean,
- 10:51Speaker 8: you look at it. We do so much. I mean,
- 10:52Speaker 8: we got a blitz. They want us to play the
- 10:54Speaker 8: line game, we gotta go cover the wide receivers, tight ends.
- 10:57Speaker 8: I mean, they expect a lot out of us. So
- 10:59Speaker 8: just that recognition, I always say, is a big blessing
- 11:02Speaker 8: and I think just goes to show just how much
- 11:04Speaker 8: I've been able to help out this team and this defense.
- 11:07Speaker 3: Well, Frank, congrats on that and this week.
- 11:09Speaker 5: I mean, your role, as we saw the first time
- 11:11Speaker 5: you played them, is highly valuable because we know how
- 11:14Speaker 5: they like to work the middle of the field with
- 11:16Speaker 5: their tight ends to kind of slip cook out there
- 11:19Speaker 5: and coverage, but to also keep an eye on Josh
- 11:22Speaker 5: Allen in the run game, and you guys bottle them up.
- 11:25Speaker 3: The first time you played.
- 11:26Speaker 5: I mean how much I'll put it this way, what
- 11:29Speaker 5: is it like preparing knowing that he can slip out
- 11:32Speaker 5: in the run game. You always have to have eyes
- 11:34Speaker 5: on him while also protecting your duties in the passing game.
- 11:38Speaker 8: Right yeah. I mean whenever you play a quarterback that
- 11:40Speaker 8: can throw it, run it. I mean, Josh Allens are
- 11:43Speaker 8: those guys that can just do it all. It always
- 11:45Speaker 8: adds just a little more dynamic challenge for the defense because,
- 11:48Speaker 8: like you said, we can't just as a defender. I
- 11:50Speaker 8: can't just play my man and not worry about what
- 11:52Speaker 8: the quarterback is going to do. And he's also just
- 11:54Speaker 8: extending plays, which on the back game he was to
- 11:56Speaker 8: talk about this plaster and just out working theis and
- 12:01Speaker 8: I mean, he's one of those guys that can just
- 12:03Speaker 8: pose a problem on all downs, all field distances, and
- 12:06Speaker 8: one of those guys that at all times you got
- 12:08Speaker 8: nowhere he's at. So I feel like he does a
- 12:10Speaker 8: really good job at gating the ballots and receivers and
- 12:13Speaker 8: like you said, using his tight ends really well. And
- 12:16Speaker 8: they've been fishing, especially after playing us, they've gone a
- 12:18Speaker 8: little run so we know the advantages and disadvantages that
- 12:22Speaker 8: they're going to bring to the game and for preparing
- 12:24Speaker 8: for those.
- 12:26Speaker 4: Truent With that said, you guys are so versatile specifically
- 12:29Speaker 4: in the secondary too, that you can move guys playing
- 12:31Speaker 4: different spots and you can give so many different looks.
- 12:34Speaker 2: With what you're saying about what Josh does in the
- 12:36Speaker 2: run game.
- 12:37Speaker 4: I don't give anything away, but like you have the
- 12:39Speaker 4: ability to have somebody spy in probably and then that
- 12:42Speaker 4: person can change spots. What is the advantage when you
- 12:45Speaker 4: have to go against a guy that is dynamic in
- 12:47Speaker 4: multiple ways like Josh Allen is, But you guys have
- 12:49Speaker 4: the ability to have so many guys play different spots
- 12:52Speaker 4: that you can kind of try to confuse him at
- 12:53Speaker 4: the same time.
- 12:54Speaker 8: Yeah, I think that's huge what you said. I feel
- 12:57Speaker 8: like we have a group of players on this team
- 12:59Speaker 8: that can really do it all. I mean, you got
- 13:01Speaker 8: guys like me LJ. Shamar Connor who all played three
- 13:05Speaker 8: different positions. Jay Reed comes down at dime at safety,
- 13:08Speaker 8: you got Willy Gaye playing multiple positions like this defense
- 13:11Speaker 8: is very unique in a way that everybody can do
- 13:13Speaker 8: a little bit of everything. And when you play a
- 13:15Speaker 8: quarterback like this, being able to throw off his timing
- 13:18Speaker 8: with the receivers being able to confuse and pre snap
- 13:21Speaker 8: is huge because when you just give him one look,
- 13:24Speaker 8: a lot of these quarterbacks they know where the ball
- 13:25Speaker 8: wants to go. And a guy like Josh Allen, I mean,
- 13:28Speaker 8: if you just sit everybody out wide and play man,
- 13:29Speaker 8: I mean, he's ready to take off at any point.
- 13:31Speaker 8: So Spag's definitely does a great job at giving different disguises,
- 13:35Speaker 8: different looks and making a lot of the same defenses
- 13:38Speaker 8: look the same but do different things out of them.
- 13:41Speaker 3: So definitely, just the.
- 13:42Speaker 8: Movement wise in the back end on the front end,
- 13:44Speaker 8: and just making sure he doesn't know just exactly where
- 13:47Speaker 8: to go and give him just such an easy play
- 13:49Speaker 8: each and every down is going to be huge.
- 13:51Speaker 5: I'm kind of glad you ran on that roster for
- 13:53Speaker 5: your teammates, and you mentioned LJ luxurious need. We've talked
- 13:57Speaker 5: on the show all season long how there might not
- 13:59Speaker 5: be an out tight corner who's had a better season
- 14:02Speaker 5: than him. I mean, what has been so effective and
- 14:05Speaker 5: impactful for him? Why can't he lock up a Stefan
- 14:08Speaker 5: Diggs or another team's best receiver? What has worked so
- 14:11Speaker 5: well as where he's really really climbed the ladder this season.
- 14:15Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 14:16Speaker 8: I mean I think that dude is probably top two,
- 14:19Speaker 8: if two, best cornerbacks in the league.
- 14:22Speaker 3: I mean when you look at.
- 14:23Speaker 8: Somebody who every week literally goes out there guards the
- 14:26Speaker 8: number one receiver, all plays, all downs, doesn't complain, doesn't
- 14:31Speaker 8: be like oh I need help over the top, is
- 14:32Speaker 8: just a dog out there. And I feel like it
- 14:36Speaker 8: all goes back to what he does off the field.
- 14:37Speaker 8: I mean, he comes in each and every day practice
- 14:40Speaker 8: is hard, watches film constantly asking questions. I mean we
- 14:43Speaker 8: talk all the time about what receivers are going to do,
- 14:45Speaker 8: splits and stuff like that. So just the knowledge of
- 14:48Speaker 8: the game that he has, and also just the confidence.
- 14:50Speaker 8: I mean, when you're a guy like that who's to
- 14:52Speaker 8: go out on the island and cover the best receivers
- 14:54Speaker 8: day in and day out, the confidences got to be
- 14:57Speaker 8: at a high. And he's one of those guys that
- 14:59Speaker 8: is able to have that compon confidence and also just
- 15:01Speaker 8: making sure he does his job well and he's able
- 15:04Speaker 8: to use his help and understands the defense. And I
- 15:07Speaker 8: know for us on the back end, we love when
- 15:08Speaker 8: we can just look out No. Lj's out there and
- 15:10Speaker 8: be like, Okay, that's going to count a lot of guy.
- 15:12Speaker 8: Let's focus on these guys over here.
- 15:14Speaker 2: Yeah, I tryed, I got to bring this up.
- 15:17Speaker 4: We gotta look, we're looking forward in the division round,
- 15:19Speaker 4: but I gotta look back real quick.
- 15:20Speaker 2: When you guys were in the film room.
- 15:22Speaker 4: And you watch him jam Tyreek Hill with the line
- 15:24Speaker 4: of scrimmage on that one play. What was the reaction
- 15:28Speaker 4: in the film room when everybody got a chance to
- 15:30Speaker 4: see that play together.
- 15:32Speaker 8: I mean, you already know, guys were who in the
- 15:34Speaker 8: holler and the energy was high. And I gotta say,
- 15:36Speaker 8: this is the first time. You know, this isn't the
- 15:38Speaker 8: first time we seen LJ do this. I mean you
- 15:40Speaker 8: go back game in and game out. I think he
- 15:42Speaker 8: literally has done this every single game against these big
- 15:45Speaker 8: time receivers. So I think it just goes back to
- 15:48Speaker 8: the skills that he has and just the ability to,
- 15:50Speaker 8: like I said, play the dB position so well locked
- 15:54Speaker 8: in and it just technique wise, is just one of
- 15:56Speaker 8: the best out there. I think right now.
- 15:59Speaker 5: Even had to get praised because he was just like, yeah,
- 16:01Speaker 5: he jam My, you know what all the way to Cancun.
- 16:04Speaker 1: Hey.
- 16:05Speaker 5: But you know, defensively, we're talking so much about your defense.
- 16:09Speaker 5: What about the change and identity of this team, because
- 16:12Speaker 5: we've always known the Chiefs to be this great offensive team,
- 16:15Speaker 5: but now we're like, this is a lock down defense.
- 16:19Speaker 3: What about that identity change?
- 16:20Speaker 5: And how much you guys kind of walk around like, yeah,
- 16:22Speaker 5: you know we're him so to speak.
- 16:24Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it just goes back to our off
- 16:27Speaker 8: season and Coach Back's coming in and being like, we
- 16:30Speaker 8: know we won the super Bowl, but uh o, we're
- 16:32Speaker 8: playing the Super Bowl and how many points we gave up?
- 16:35Speaker 8: Everybody was like that wasn't our best showing. So all
- 16:38Speaker 8: off season training camp, I mean throughout this whole year,
- 16:40Speaker 8: Coach Back has been honest about being consistent, about being
- 16:43Speaker 8: relentless about trusting each other, and I felt like just
- 16:46Speaker 8: the communication, just the overall chemistry out there on the field,
- 16:50Speaker 8: it's just huge. I mean, guys trust each other, Guys
- 16:52Speaker 8: know who we're going to be. That noncommunication that we
- 16:56Speaker 8: can just look out and know what each other are doing.
- 16:58Speaker 8: I feel like has been so huge for us this year.
- 17:00Speaker 8: And I keep saying, where a defense that knows what
- 17:03Speaker 8: our offense can do. I mean, we got Patrick ma
- 17:05Speaker 8: Hohomes on the other.
- 17:05Speaker 3: Side, travel.
- 17:06Speaker 8: I mean, our offense is explosive, and so being able
- 17:09Speaker 8: to go out there, get down on third down, stop
- 17:11Speaker 8: them all fourth downs, give the offense the ball on
- 17:14Speaker 8: good field positions. I mean, everything we can do to
- 17:16Speaker 8: help this offense go put once on the board has
- 17:19Speaker 8: been a big thing for us. And I'm just happy
- 17:21Speaker 8: that everybody around here continues to just keep working. You know,
- 17:24Speaker 8: there's never a game where we're like, oh, we can
- 17:26Speaker 8: be relaxed. You know, we going each and every week
- 17:28Speaker 8: knowing that it's going to be a game, and everybody
- 17:30Speaker 8: around here trust each other and goes out and does
- 17:32Speaker 8: their job very well.
- 17:34Speaker 4: Trent, I'm curious to take us back to training camp
- 17:38Speaker 4: when you're seeing Rashi Rice for the very first time
- 17:41Speaker 4: and you're going against him in camp where Andy runs
- 17:44Speaker 4: just such a grueling camp up there, and say Joe like,
- 17:46Speaker 4: did you see what's happening now back in camp going?
- 17:50Speaker 4: He has the ability, if he developed something with Patrick,
- 17:52Speaker 4: to be something. What did you see from Rashid in
- 17:54Speaker 4: the very beginning?
- 17:55Speaker 8: Yeah, no doubt. I mean you look back at training camp.
- 17:58Speaker 8: I know we battled for sure multiple times our in
- 18:01Speaker 8: training camp, and he definitely got a few passes that
- 18:03Speaker 8: I was like, whoa. You know, those aren't easy catches
- 18:06Speaker 8: to make, and he was doing it right out the gate.
- 18:09Speaker 8: And he's one of those dudes that, like I said,
- 18:11Speaker 8: this team has a lot of guys that's going out
- 18:13Speaker 8: here and just working. You know, they ain't got to
- 18:15Speaker 8: say much, they ain't got to come up with excuses.
- 18:17Speaker 8: They just put their head down and work. And he's
- 18:19Speaker 8: one of those guys. And I'm really proud to see
- 18:21Speaker 8: just the progress cities he's made because rookie year, I mean,
- 18:25Speaker 8: I know last year it can be tough, especially Andy
- 18:27Speaker 8: Reed's offense. You got to learn a lot of things,
- 18:29Speaker 8: play different positions, and man, he comes in weekend, week
- 18:32Speaker 8: out and it's consistent and I feel like that's my
- 18:34Speaker 8: favorite thing about this dude. It's just his consistency on
- 18:37Speaker 8: the field has been huge and I was making big
- 18:40Speaker 8: plays for us, which you've gotta love.
- 18:42Speaker 3: Well till we got we got to wrap up.
- 18:44Speaker 5: I'd love to have this conversation all day, but look,
- 18:46Speaker 5: we know you're going from one ice box last week
- 18:48Speaker 5: in Kansas City to another in Buffalo. Want to wish
- 18:51Speaker 5: you the best of luck and thank you so much
- 18:52Speaker 5: for joining us. Here on the NFL Report.
- 18:55Speaker 8: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.
- 18:57Speaker 5: All right, thanks so much for coming up next team
- 19:00Speaker 5: in the Hottest Quarterback for Houston sections against the Ravens'
- 19:03Speaker 5: playoff history not so great.
- 19:06Speaker 3: Ludy Batista joined hims next on the NFL Report.
- 19:14Speaker 5: You're listening to the NFL Report podcast, but you can
- 19:17Speaker 5: watch me, Steve Weich and my co host James Palmer
- 19:20Speaker 5: on The NFL Report at seven fifteen Eastern time on
- 19:23Speaker 5: Mondays and Thursdays on the NFL App and free streaming
- 19:27Speaker 5: platforms on the NFL Channel on Roku, twov Peacock, Pluto TV,
- 19:32Speaker 5: and other.
- 19:32Speaker 3: Free streaming apps.
- 19:35Speaker 5: We are back at the NFL Report and James one
- 19:37Speaker 5: of our favorite people, NFL media insider Judy Bautista.
- 19:41Speaker 3: And Judy, let's get right to it.
- 19:43Speaker 5: Bill Belichick is going into his second interview with the
- 19:47Speaker 5: Atlanta Falcons. We've heard for weeks that this was a
- 19:50Speaker 5: likely union. It seems like it's getting likelier, doesn't it.
- 19:54Speaker 9: It does certainly. The fact that he's having a second
- 19:56Speaker 9: interview and that there are going to be more members
- 19:59Speaker 9: of of the Falcons brain trust in the room for
- 20:02Speaker 9: this second go around suggests, you know, everything is pointing
- 20:06Speaker 9: towards this. I wish we could be flies on the
- 20:09Speaker 9: wall for an interview. What is an interview a job interview?
- 20:12Speaker 9: With Bill Belichick, I feel like he.
- 20:15Speaker 10: Is probably interviewing them as much as they are interviewing him.
- 20:19Speaker 10: But I think, you know, getting more of the members
- 20:22Speaker 10: of the senior management in the room is important because
- 20:25Speaker 10: so much of this with Belichick is going to be
- 20:27Speaker 10: about fit and structure and who's going to be responsible.
- 20:31Speaker 2: For what, and what is his role going to be,
- 20:34Speaker 2: how big is his role?
- 20:35Speaker 9: And so I think having you know, Rich McKay in
- 20:38Speaker 9: there and others in the room with Arthur and Bill
- 20:43Speaker 9: is really important to make sure everybody's comfortable with how
- 20:46Speaker 9: it's going to be, because clearly at the Patriots it
- 20:49Speaker 9: ran its course with Bill having as much power as
- 20:53Speaker 9: he did.
- 20:55Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm upset that I won't give the proper credit
- 20:58Speaker 4: to who tweeted this, but it was a great tweet
- 20:59Speaker 4: out to the first interview that somebody put out, Like
- 21:02Speaker 4: a scenario in the interview with Bill Belichick would have
- 21:05Speaker 4: been Arthur Blank asking him was there a time where
- 21:07Speaker 4: you overcame an unsurmountable sense.
- 21:10Speaker 2: Of adversity before in the past, Bill, can.
- 21:13Speaker 4: You Bill can say yes, I can remember a certain
- 21:17Speaker 4: time where I was with what's happening in Atlanta right now, Judy,
- 21:22Speaker 4: I'm curious if your thought is we waited to hear
- 21:25Speaker 4: what was happening with Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys.
- 21:29Speaker 4: Does Bill being potentially unavailable maybe push Jerry Jones in
- 21:35Speaker 4: the decision that he made to keep Mike McCarthy.
- 21:38Speaker 9: You know, I hope we somehow we someday get the
- 21:41Speaker 9: timeline of events because our great friend and colleague Jane Slater,
- 21:45Speaker 9: I think, reported earlier today on The Insiders that it
- 21:48Speaker 9: sounded to her like Jerry had not even looked around
- 21:52Speaker 9: in these last few days, that it was all about
- 21:54Speaker 9: Mike McCarthy, and considering that, you know that he hadn't
- 21:58Speaker 9: put a line in the water to see who might
- 22:00Speaker 9: be interested in the job.
- 22:02Speaker 2: I'll just tell you this.
- 22:03Speaker 9: I mean, I was in Foxborough yesterday for girod Mayo's introduction,
- 22:07Speaker 9: and the conversation there was, you know, how soon is
- 22:11Speaker 9: Bill going to Dallas? I mean, that was just everybody's
- 22:14Speaker 9: default assumption that you know that Dallas would be open,
- 22:18Speaker 9: and that that would be where Bill was going to
- 22:20Speaker 9: go because Jerry and Bill have have had a good
- 22:23Speaker 9: relationship over the year, so you sort of put those
- 22:25Speaker 9: things together, and maybe maybe it was never going to
- 22:28Speaker 9: be put together. I hope we will someday get the
- 22:30Speaker 9: answer to that timeline. But but I agree with you, Steve,
- 22:35Speaker 9: what you said earlier. We've been hearing for weeks that
- 22:39Speaker 9: Arthur Blank would make a run at Bill Belichick. It
- 22:41Speaker 9: was just a question to me of would Bill want Atlanta?
- 22:46Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, look, I'll tell you this, Arthur Blank
- 22:48Speaker 5: doesn't do postgame interviews in locker rooms, so that might
- 22:52Speaker 5: be the thing that waits to scale down. Do you
- 22:56Speaker 5: talked about you were you were at the press conference
- 22:58Speaker 5: for Droid Mayo in New England, and this, look, this
- 23:02Speaker 5: is somebody he somebody came up under Belichick.
- 23:05Speaker 3: They're not straying far from the family.
- 23:07Speaker 1: What was that like?
- 23:08Speaker 5: Because he is also walking into one of the most
- 23:12Speaker 5: difficult scenarios in terms of living up to that standard
- 23:15Speaker 5: of the greatest who's ever done it.
- 23:17Speaker 9: I thought he did a really good job of walking
- 23:19Speaker 9: the line between being very respectful of Belichick. He was
- 23:23Speaker 9: there as a player for him, and he coached under him,
- 23:26Speaker 9: and also making it clear he was going to do
- 23:29Speaker 9: things his way. He is his own man. I mean,
- 23:31Speaker 9: he talked about the things he learned from Bill about,
- 23:33Speaker 9: you know, the attention to detail and being game specific,
- 23:37Speaker 9: and you know, you have to teach players, right, You're
- 23:40Speaker 9: basically you have to develop players.
- 23:42Speaker 2: You're a teacher.
- 23:43Speaker 9: But he also said things like I don't want to
- 23:46Speaker 9: be in an echo chamber and I plan to knock
- 23:48Speaker 9: down silos, which is clearly a reference to you know,
- 23:52Speaker 9: when Bill had a tremendous amount of power there, had
- 23:55Speaker 9: accrued a tremendous amount of power there and all information
- 24:00Speaker 9: went to Bill and came from Though, right, So Jared
- 24:04Speaker 9: Mayo seems to want to have a more collaborative atmosphere there.
- 24:08Speaker 9: He said multiple times, you know, he's a rookie head coach.
- 24:11Speaker 9: He hasn't even been a coach that long. He's not
- 24:14Speaker 9: that far removed from his playing case. So he kept saying,
- 24:17Speaker 9: I'm going to lead. You know, there's a lot of
- 24:18Speaker 9: people who are experts and things that I'm going to
- 24:21Speaker 9: lean on them for their help. So certainly, look, you
- 24:25Speaker 9: could just see by the personality, right, I mean, he
- 24:27Speaker 9: said he's going to smile more like he's a much
- 24:30Speaker 9: bubblier personality. But I think even on the day to
- 24:33Speaker 9: day operations side, it's going to be a much more
- 24:36Speaker 9: collaborative place, and I think they need that. He's going
- 24:39Speaker 9: to need the support again, you know, he's a rookie
- 24:42Speaker 9: head coach and they got a lot to fix in
- 24:44Speaker 9: New England. He's going to need a lot of support.
- 24:47Speaker 4: I'm fascinated to see what Drod Mayo wants to keep
- 24:50Speaker 4: in place and what he wants to do entirely different.
- 24:53Speaker 4: Those decisions are going to be just picked apart by
- 24:56Speaker 4: everybody in New England with each one that he makes,
- 24:59Speaker 4: which is a very fascinating situation for him to be in.
- 25:03Speaker 4: Another one that we're keeping an eye on this head
- 25:06Speaker 4: coach is go ahead.
- 25:08Speaker 3: Yeah, if I could just add this.
- 25:10Speaker 9: Yesterday they did not offer a whole lot of details
- 25:12Speaker 9: about what the structure of the organization was going to
- 25:14Speaker 9: be and who the offensive coordinators can be. So there
- 25:16Speaker 9: are still a lot of big decisions to come about
- 25:21Speaker 9: how they are going to function now that Mayo is there.
- 25:24Speaker 2: Yeah, it's gonna we're gonna look at every single angle.
- 25:26Speaker 4: How about Mike Rabel, Judy, We were hearing nothing about
- 25:31Speaker 4: one of the best head coaches that's available. Maybe in
- 25:33Speaker 4: some people's eyes, the best head coach is potentially available
- 25:36Speaker 4: if you look at what he's accomplished and his age
- 25:38Speaker 4: and what he's done. We weren't hearing anything. Now we're
- 25:40Speaker 4: finally hearing that Mike Rabel is taking an interview with
- 25:43Speaker 4: the Chargers. We know that prior head coaching experience is
- 25:47Speaker 4: high on their list. They've been clear about that. What's
- 25:50Speaker 4: your thought on Mike Rabel and his future in this
- 25:53Speaker 4: head coaching cycle, because it is very interesting where he
- 25:56Speaker 4: could potentially land or maybe not land.
- 26:00Speaker 9: It's been curiously quiet, and I sort of wonder if
- 26:05Speaker 9: now that the Dallas situation is settled, if now Domino's
- 26:09Speaker 9: will start to fall. I you know, I sort of
- 26:12Speaker 9: wonder if everybody was waiting to see what was going
- 26:15Speaker 9: to happen in Dallas and what Jerry was going to do.
- 26:17Speaker 9: And so now that that's out of the way, to
- 26:20Speaker 9: other people make moves because you word, Rabel's name linked
- 26:23Speaker 9: to a potential opening in Dallas too, So now that
- 26:26Speaker 9: that's off the table, you know, does does Rabel start
- 26:29Speaker 9: taking interviews? But I agree with you, it's it's been
- 26:32Speaker 9: strangely quiet around Rabel. I assume that there will be
- 26:36Speaker 9: interest in him. There's there's still a lot of openings
- 26:39Speaker 9: and a lot to go through. And of course, because
- 26:41Speaker 9: the timeline is extended, because the league wants to slow
- 26:43Speaker 9: things down, you know, teams don't have to move quite
- 26:46Speaker 9: so fast. But you know, I would expect that Rabel
- 26:49Speaker 9: is going to be in the mix for some of
- 26:51Speaker 9: these jobs. I'd be surprised if he's not.
- 26:53Speaker 3: Judy.
- 26:53Speaker 5: This weekend, you are going to be at that awesome
- 26:56Speaker 5: Texant and Ravens game. Let's hear a quarterback Lamar jack
- 27:00Speaker 5: had to say about the team's slow starts and shortcomings
- 27:03Speaker 5: in the postseason.
- 27:04Speaker 2: Your four previous playoff game defense didn't score more than
- 27:07Speaker 2: twenty points. How much more confident do you feel that.
- 27:10Speaker 4: This year's offense has the ability to put up a
- 27:12Speaker 4: point you need to win in the playoffs.
- 27:14Speaker 7: Very confident, very very confident, extremely confident, Judy.
- 27:21Speaker 5: You heard Lamar Jackson's response, but the look on his
- 27:24Speaker 5: face was like, oh, we got something for him, We
- 27:27Speaker 5: got it.
- 27:27Speaker 3: But do they I mean, why should he feel so.
- 27:30Speaker 9: Confident because this is a different offense and he's a
- 27:33Speaker 9: different quarterback than he has been with Todd Monkins offense.
- 27:37Speaker 9: They do start slow. I mean, look, they're only one
- 27:39Speaker 9: in three in the playoffs with Lamars the starting quarterback,
- 27:41Speaker 9: and incredibly, in those four games, they haven't scored a
- 27:44Speaker 9: point in the first quarter. So obviously they got to
- 27:47Speaker 9: get up to a faster start. But I sort of
- 27:49Speaker 9: set those aside because this offense is different. He is
- 27:53Speaker 9: different this year. I was at the game against the
- 27:56Speaker 9: Miami Dolphins. He played that game almost exclusively from the pocket.
- 28:00Speaker 9: They were happy to leave him in the pocket. They
- 28:02Speaker 9: didn't want him to get out and run, so he
- 28:05Speaker 9: just tore them up from the pocket, which is not
- 28:07Speaker 9: something in years past that Lamar has been doing. Right,
- 28:10Speaker 9: he would go out and run. He is so comfortable now,
- 28:13Speaker 9: he's so comfortable in the pocket, He's so precise. It's
- 28:16Speaker 9: a different offense, so I think there will be different results,
- 28:19Speaker 9: and he should be extremely confident. He played so well
- 28:23Speaker 9: this year, especially down the stretch. He's going to be
- 28:25Speaker 9: the league MVP. He should have a great deal of
- 28:27Speaker 9: confidence in this offense.
- 28:30Speaker 4: Judy, if I could run like Lamar Jackson, I would
- 28:33Speaker 4: not opt to just sit in the pocket and play quarterback.
- 28:36Speaker 4: Like I would be running everywhere just because you're more
- 28:38Speaker 4: elusive and faster than everybody else in the field. But
- 28:40Speaker 4: he has that ability to beat you in a variety
- 28:44Speaker 4: of ways.
- 28:46Speaker 9: I think it just must be so cool to be
- 28:48Speaker 9: Lamar Jackson and to have his skills, like he's just awesome.
- 28:52Speaker 2: I love to watch him.
- 28:53Speaker 9: I'm so thrilled to be covering this game because I
- 28:55Speaker 9: love to watch him play.
- 28:56Speaker 2: I'm jealous.
- 28:57Speaker 5: Yeah, well, you're gonna get the ce CJ shroud as
- 29:00Speaker 5: defense that no one's talking enough about.
- 29:02Speaker 3: That defense is playing well, Judy.
- 29:04Speaker 5: We got to get gone, but we appreciate you joining
- 29:07Speaker 5: us as always. Have fun this weekend in Baltimore and
- 29:10Speaker 5: coming up next the pack and running back Aaron Jones
- 29:15Speaker 5: in that running game it's called the Attention to Ryan Baldinger,
- 29:18Speaker 5: he's playing by Green Bay.
- 29:20Speaker 3: One of his favorite films to watch on the NFL.
- 29:32Speaker 4: Welcome back into the NFL Report, James Palmer, Steve Whitch
- 29:35Speaker 4: with you? And there was some piece of my soul,
- 29:37Speaker 4: Steve that was missing last week when we didn't have
- 29:40Speaker 4: Baldy and Baldi's favorite films, my favorite segment every week,
- 29:43Speaker 4: we didn't have it, and there was a big part,
- 29:45Speaker 4: Baldi that was just missing in the show, that just
- 29:48Speaker 4: was not replicated or replaced by anything.
- 29:50Speaker 1: Let's make up for it. Just gotta get that break
- 29:52Speaker 1: up for it this week.
- 29:53Speaker 2: Let's do it get all right, Yeah, let's have a
- 29:55Speaker 2: double dose. Let's do it Baldi.
- 29:57Speaker 4: And listen, there was we watched everybody watch that game
- 30:00Speaker 4: him down in Dallas, and everybody's eyes are focused on
- 30:04Speaker 4: Jordan Love and what he's doing and what he's doing
- 30:06Speaker 4: at the quarterback position. But the run game that the
- 30:09Speaker 4: Packers have going right now for the last several weeks
- 30:12Speaker 4: is something that you've seen and you've watched closely in
- 30:15Speaker 4: the film room that I hear you just.
- 30:16Speaker 1: Left, well, you know showtime Jones Aaron Jones is one
- 30:20Speaker 1: of my favorite players in this league. I remember covering
- 30:23Speaker 1: the kid when he was at El Paso. You know,
- 30:25Speaker 1: the nine, one five. He always puts those numbers up.
- 30:27Speaker 1: He's proud of his area code. But you know he
- 30:30Speaker 1: missed a chunk of the season and his legs are
- 30:33Speaker 1: fresh right now. And a couple of things is one,
- 30:37Speaker 1: this guy doesn't miss a hole, all right, so his
- 30:40Speaker 1: vision is unbelievable. And then the way that they run
- 30:43Speaker 1: the ball. I mean, they're diverse. They use their tight ends,
- 30:46Speaker 1: they use a lot of motions to get him singled
- 30:50Speaker 1: up and to get him into space in a variety
- 30:53Speaker 1: of ways. They can always throw it to him. He's
- 30:55Speaker 1: an excellent receiver out of the backfield. But you know,
- 30:58Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if it's down the goal line like
- 31:00Speaker 1: it was last week against Dallas where he scored from
- 31:02Speaker 1: the one, he scored from the three, he scored from
- 31:05Speaker 1: the nine, you know. And then short yardage like you
- 31:09Speaker 1: name it, and when you watch it, it's it's wine backs,
- 31:12Speaker 1: it's tossed, it's it's inside slant, it's outside zone. It's
- 31:17Speaker 1: really every kind of run. And then what my floor
- 31:20Speaker 1: is doing and what Aeron is doing is all right,
- 31:22Speaker 1: which ones will working like that's a wind back play,
- 31:24Speaker 1: all right? And you know it's And then if you
- 31:28Speaker 1: look up front, the guys are not allowing penetration, uh
- 31:31Speaker 1: the rotating some offensive linemen up there, but they're they're
- 31:34Speaker 1: in sync right now between the line and what Aaron
- 31:37Speaker 1: Jones is doing. And over the last month he's been
- 31:40Speaker 1: the most productive running back in the NFL.
- 31:43Speaker 5: Yeah, Baldy that that run game has set up the
- 31:45Speaker 5: run action, which is why Jordan Love might be playing
- 31:48Speaker 5: better than any quarterback right now when it just comes
- 31:50Speaker 5: to efficiency, the plays downfield, the aggression. Speaking of aggression, Baldi,
- 31:56Speaker 5: you just came out of the film room and with
- 31:59Speaker 5: the Tampa Bay defense try to do against the Lions
- 32:02Speaker 5: when they met earlier this year was pretty much medieval,
- 32:06Speaker 5: except they came out on the back end of the win.
- 32:10Speaker 1: Well, it's interesting, Steve, because we all watched what Tampa
- 32:12Speaker 1: did the Philadelphia Monday night and it was a blitz creak.
- 32:15Speaker 1: I mean, they blitzed Jalen Hurts Eavy which way you can,
- 32:18Speaker 1: and it was effective. But I was thinking, Okay, let's
- 32:21Speaker 1: go back and watch rewatch week six. Let's see what
- 32:23Speaker 1: the they blitzed the very first play of the game, Steve.
- 32:26Speaker 1: They came after Jared Goff on third downs. They had
- 32:30Speaker 1: great success. I mean it was a ten to three
- 32:32Speaker 1: game at halftime now, and the blitzing was a big
- 32:36Speaker 1: part of getting off the field on third downs. They
- 32:38Speaker 1: blitzed the run, Steve. It wasn't just a pass, but
- 32:40Speaker 1: they blitzed the run. They blitzed him on third and one,
- 32:43Speaker 1: and you know, I don't know where Todd Bowles comes
- 32:46Speaker 1: with all these combinations, but when they come like there's
- 32:50Speaker 1: no hesitancy, they hit that thing, you know, like a
- 32:53Speaker 1: bat out of hell, and they're good at it. And
- 32:56Speaker 1: so I'm sure Detroit spending a good chunk of time
- 33:00Speaker 1: in preparation for this game on the Blitz and their
- 33:03Speaker 1: Blitz pickups and their packages and how they're going to
- 33:06Speaker 1: try and keep these guys from affecting Jared Goff in
- 33:09Speaker 1: the past game.
- 33:10Speaker 4: Well, let's go to another team that blitz is just
- 33:12Speaker 4: maybe in a more creative fun way than anybody else
- 33:14Speaker 4: in football, and that's Steve Spagnola's group with the Kansas
- 33:17Speaker 4: City Chiefs. We just had Trent mcduffee on the show,
- 33:19Speaker 4: and Trent was talking to us about his responsibilities in
- 33:23Speaker 4: the slot, not only worrying about two really good tight ends,
- 33:27Speaker 4: worrying about a really good slot receiver of the pass game,
- 33:29Speaker 4: how his eyes have to be focused on Josh Allen
- 33:31Speaker 4: and in the run game and Josh specifically running the
- 33:34Speaker 4: football as well in the middle of the field. What
- 33:36Speaker 4: does this defense need to do with the Kansas City
- 33:39Speaker 4: Chiefs to limit what Josh Allen has been able to
- 33:41Speaker 4: do over the last several weeks, which is essentially be
- 33:44Speaker 4: their run game.
- 33:45Speaker 1: Well, so it's interesting because when you go back and
- 33:48Speaker 1: you rewatch week fourteen's game, they had a real package
- 33:52Speaker 1: designed to contain Josh Allen, and so it was a
- 33:55Speaker 1: variety of ways. I mean, you know, if you put
- 33:58Speaker 1: Chris Jones one on one with any in this business
- 34:01Speaker 1: right now, he's gonna win. But in certain rushes, he
- 34:04Speaker 1: wasn't trying to win. He was just trying to push
- 34:06Speaker 1: the pocket and keep Josh Allen on that postion stamp
- 34:09Speaker 1: behind his center MIT's morse. So they did some of that.
- 34:13Speaker 1: They did a lot of three man rush, and then
- 34:15Speaker 1: they spied Josh Allen with Willy Gay in that game,
- 34:18Speaker 1: and so Josh Allen would, you know, see the three
- 34:21Speaker 1: man rush, feel it, exit, go, try to break it.
- 34:25Speaker 1: And then here comes Willy Gay and he pressured him
- 34:28Speaker 1: so much one time that he threw an interception or
- 34:30Speaker 1: as a result of it. Now he had eight runs
- 34:32Speaker 1: in that game, thirty two yards. Did have the one
- 34:35Speaker 1: touchdown run which was kind of like a massive rugby
- 34:38Speaker 1: play where they just pushed him across the goal line.
- 34:40Speaker 1: But I thought they did a good job of keeping
- 34:43Speaker 1: Josh Allen from breaking the pocket and doing what he
- 34:46Speaker 1: did against Pittsburgh last week when he went fifteen to
- 34:49Speaker 1: two yards to pay dirt. And so I'm sure Buffalo
- 34:52Speaker 1: is anticipating something like this to happen again and how
- 34:56Speaker 1: they're going to counter that if there is the three
- 34:59Speaker 1: men rush and the or some other combination that Spaggage
- 35:02Speaker 1: comes up with. They they've always liked this though. You know,
- 35:05Speaker 1: you had Trent McDuffie on Lugarious need Watson their corners.
- 35:10Speaker 1: They blitzed their corners more than any other team in
- 35:12Speaker 1: the league. And one of the reasons why they do
- 35:14Speaker 1: is it gets speed to the quarterback faster than somebody
- 35:18Speaker 1: that's actually pass rushing, and so he gets quick, quick color,
- 35:22Speaker 1: quick athletes onto Josh Allen, forcing him into making a
- 35:26Speaker 1: decision stay throw, try to shake him off. They've had
- 35:30Speaker 1: success in the playoffs against Josh Allen with some of
- 35:33Speaker 1: those corner blitzes that you're talking to Trent McDuffie about.
- 35:36Speaker 5: Hey, jab, you could tell Baldy was just coaching down
- 35:38Speaker 5: at the Hula Bowl because he's using major football for
- 35:41Speaker 5: naclar get quick color on that quarterback.
- 35:44Speaker 3: And I freaking love it.
- 35:45Speaker 1: Baldy.
- 35:45Speaker 3: Hey Baldy.
- 35:46Speaker 5: A team that doesn't blitz a ton that we've seen lately,
- 35:49Speaker 5: but is probably more effective than any team in the
- 35:52Speaker 5: NFL is the Ravens, right. I mean they get the
- 35:55Speaker 5: rush with their guys up front and their zone defense
- 35:59Speaker 5: in the back.
- 36:00Speaker 3: Now they're playing the Texans and the Red Hot Sea drowd.
- 36:03Speaker 5: How do you see the combination of what the Ravens
- 36:05Speaker 5: do impacting of how well the Texans are functioning well?
- 36:09Speaker 1: I mean they play a matchup zone Steve. Now, other
- 36:12Speaker 1: teams play it. I don't know anybody plays it better
- 36:15Speaker 1: than Baltimore right now. Kyle Hamilton is a huge part
- 36:17Speaker 1: of it because of his length and all the different
- 36:20Speaker 1: places they put them. In the addition of Genevian Clowney,
- 36:23Speaker 1: Kyle van Noy, you go with mattabk They've got ways
- 36:27Speaker 1: that they overload and get after you, but they zone
- 36:30Speaker 1: up behind it. And if you look at Brock Purty
- 36:32Speaker 1: in this game, if you look at Jared Goff mid season,
- 36:35Speaker 1: if you look at Geno Smith, all these quarterbacks they
- 36:38Speaker 1: came in playing pretty good football, all left struggling, to
- 36:41Speaker 1: a tongue of Belowa struggled against his defense because part
- 36:45Speaker 1: of it is you don't know where the matchup is
- 36:48Speaker 1: coming from, depending on the route combinations. So the quarterback
- 36:52Speaker 1: doesn't get a good pre snap read of where guys
- 36:54Speaker 1: are going to be. They don't discover where they're going
- 36:57Speaker 1: until the ball is snapped, and sometimes that's a little
- 37:00Speaker 1: bit too late, and it makes that quarterback hold the
- 37:02Speaker 1: ball like you see right there, a brock party in
- 37:05Speaker 1: that blowout win that Baltimore had.
- 37:07Speaker 5: All Right, Baldy, we gotta let you go. Aloha, my brother,
- 37:11Speaker 5: you just finished a hula bull. I'm here at the
- 37:12Speaker 5: Polynesian Bowl.
- 37:13Speaker 2: I feel really like that here.
- 37:15Speaker 3: Yeah, Kap, but that's all right. Everybody says hello to you, Baldi.
- 37:19Speaker 3: All right, man, appreciate you coming back.
- 37:21Speaker 5: Next, Yeah, Bill Belichick taking a second interview with the Falcons. Oh,
- 37:26Speaker 5: we're gonna be joined by somebody who works for that
- 37:28Speaker 5: organization and for Bill Belichick, Jim Thumas de Mitchew.
- 37:33Speaker 3: Next on the NFL.
- 37:40Speaker 4: Hey, it's James Palmer, and you're listening to the NFL
- 37:42Speaker 4: Report podcast along with myself and Steve Weisch.
- 37:45Speaker 2: But remember, if you want to see our beautiful.
- 37:47Speaker 4: Faces, this is a show at seven fifteen Monday and Thursday,
- 37:52Speaker 4: that's seven fifteen pm Eastern, And we are on the
- 37:56Speaker 4: NFL app as well as fast streaming platforms.
- 37:59Speaker 2: That's two B, that's OK, that's Pluto, that's Peacock.
- 38:01Speaker 4: All of those platforms as well as the NFL dot
- 38:05Speaker 4: Com slash NFL channel.
- 38:07Speaker 2: Find us all of those spots all.
- 38:10Speaker 5: Right back at the NFL Report and James, I've been
- 38:13Speaker 5: looking forward to this. We are bringing in former Falcons
- 38:16Speaker 5: general manager Thomas de mitchrov TD. How you doing, man?
- 38:20Speaker 11: I can't wait to talk to you guys. It is
- 38:23Speaker 11: cold and hot down here in Atlanta, for sure. Is
- 38:26Speaker 11: a lot going on.
- 38:27Speaker 3: Well on that note, because we were going to slow
- 38:30Speaker 3: play into that. But on that note, let's get right
- 38:32Speaker 3: to it.
- 38:33Speaker 5: You talk about it hot being in Atlanta, TD, and
- 38:35Speaker 5: that's because Bill Belichick, who you used to work for
- 38:39Speaker 5: with the Patriots, is having his second interview with the
- 38:43Speaker 5: Atlanta Falcons, where you served as general manager. Just knowing
- 38:47Speaker 5: that building, what do you think these tea leaves are
- 38:51Speaker 5: telling us about what could possibly happen or what's likely
- 38:54Speaker 5: to happen.
- 38:55Speaker 11: Of course, I have not been in conversation with anything
- 38:57Speaker 11: about anyone about this. You know, this is me stepping back.
- 39:02Speaker 11: Knowing both gentlemen very well, right, you have Arthur Blank,
- 39:05Speaker 11: one of the best owners in the league. As you know,
- 39:08Speaker 11: he's going to do all he can to make and
- 39:10Speaker 11: help that organization be the best that it can possibly
- 39:13Speaker 11: be at so many levels as you know that. And
- 39:16Speaker 11: then you have Bill Belichick, who I maintain and as
- 39:19Speaker 11: does your buddy Scott Pioell and all of us who
- 39:21Speaker 11: have been around him. He is the very best in
- 39:24Speaker 11: modern times. And just like Micha Lombardi said, he is
- 39:28Speaker 11: probably third only behind Vince Lombardi and Paul Brown. Like,
- 39:34Speaker 11: what he can do for an organization is on my
- 39:38Speaker 11: mind unparalleled. And so wherever he ends up going and
- 39:42Speaker 11: whatever he ends up doing, you and I both know
- 39:45Speaker 11: he brings the organization that he does go to closer
- 39:48Speaker 11: to a super Bowl in the next three to four
- 39:50Speaker 11: years than anyone out there in my mind, and that's
- 39:52Speaker 11: not taking away from anyone out there that we know.
- 39:55Speaker 11: This is an amazing in my mind group of coaches.
- 39:58Speaker 11: With Dan Quinn out there, you know how I feel
- 40:00Speaker 11: about him, With Mike Gravel out there, with Harbaugh, there's
- 40:03Speaker 11: a lot of great opportunities.
- 40:05Speaker 2: It's going to be really interesting.
- 40:07Speaker 4: Gedie I'm curious with Bill Belichick and you knowing him
- 40:10Speaker 4: so well, and there's seven openings right now, does.
- 40:13Speaker 2: He fit in all seven? Though?
- 40:15Speaker 4: I feel like when you look at him and what
- 40:17Speaker 4: he's accomplished and what he's done, is there a certain
- 40:20Speaker 4: group of teams that probably fit him better than saying
- 40:23Speaker 4: maybe just because he's at the top of your list,
- 40:25Speaker 4: he would fit all seven of these.
- 40:27Speaker 11: Look, my feeling on this is anyone who has the
- 40:30Speaker 11: stature that Bill Belichick has, and of course there are
- 40:33Speaker 11: very few, but any of those really experienced coaches that
- 40:36Speaker 11: have a really strong stance on everything and they should
- 40:40Speaker 11: right they deserve it. They deserve it through an incredible
- 40:44Speaker 11: amount of time in this league in an understanding of football.
- 40:47Speaker 11: The only thing I would say is those organizations that
- 40:50Speaker 11: have that first time general manager or first or second
- 40:53Speaker 11: year general manager, it becomes a little more complicated.
- 40:57Speaker 1: Tom.
- 40:58Speaker 5: I want you to kind of take us through the process,
- 41:00Speaker 5: not specifically speaking to anyone, but using your experiences. Right
- 41:04Speaker 5: when I worked for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, I covered
- 41:07Speaker 5: the team when you were hired as general manager, and
- 41:09Speaker 5: it's a two parter, but just your.
- 41:11Speaker 3: Experiences going through the.
- 41:13Speaker 5: Interview process to get this job that so many people
- 41:16Speaker 5: are doing right now interviewing for jobs. And then the
- 41:19Speaker 5: second part is when you were part of the coaching
- 41:21Speaker 5: search in Atlanta when you ended up hiring Dan Quinn.
- 41:25Speaker 1: So where do you want me to lead on that? Then?
- 41:27Speaker 3: Sorry, so let's start.
- 41:29Speaker 5: Let's let's start with you going through the process with
- 41:31Speaker 5: so many of these GM candidates are going through right now, Like, Okay,
- 41:36Speaker 5: how do I interview for this position? What do I
- 41:38Speaker 5: tell teams? How I want to build this team? Because
- 41:41Speaker 5: you came in not knowing who your head coach was
- 41:43Speaker 5: going to be.
- 41:44Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean, look, I mean when I first started
- 41:46Speaker 11: way back in two thousand and eight, when we run
- 41:49Speaker 11: on Mike Smith through that whole process, and then moving
- 41:52Speaker 11: on to Dan Quinn obviously in two thousand and six fifteen,
- 41:55Speaker 11: excuse me, very different search situations, right, I mean, Arthur
- 42:00Speaker 11: Blank was really good to allow me as a general manager,
- 42:04Speaker 11: a first time general manager, to go through myriad lists
- 42:09Speaker 11: as far as what we needed at that point. That is,
- 42:13Speaker 11: so there are so many layers to it, Steve, But
- 42:15Speaker 11: to me, it's contingent on on where your organization is
- 42:19Speaker 11: at that time.
- 42:20Speaker 1: Right.
- 42:20Speaker 11: Our interview process from Mike Smith back in early two
- 42:24Speaker 11: thousand and eight was very different than it was with
- 42:27Speaker 11: Dan Quinn in twenty fifteen because of where we were
- 42:30Speaker 11: roster wise, where we were with a quarterback, what we
- 42:34Speaker 11: needed to do. Mike Smith, as you know, great head coach,
- 42:36Speaker 11: three time Coach of the Year, and there were changes
- 42:40Speaker 11: that need to be made.
- 42:40Speaker 1: Right.
- 42:41Speaker 11: You look at that as a GM and as an
- 42:43Speaker 11: owner of course, and you say, Okay, here are all
- 42:45Speaker 11: the great things about the former head coach that was
- 42:48Speaker 11: here and now, and here are the things that were challenges.
- 42:52Speaker 11: We want to make sure that the next head coach
- 42:54Speaker 11: that comes in doesn't bring to the table some of
- 42:57Speaker 11: the same challenges or that person and a new head
- 43:00Speaker 11: coach potentially to come in, we know that that coach
- 43:05Speaker 11: is not going to be running the same line of
- 43:08Speaker 11: trying to deal with some of the stuff that maybe
- 43:10Speaker 11: slow played the coach that came in or was there before.
- 43:13Speaker 11: I guess what I'm saying is very very different and
- 43:16Speaker 11: a lot of layers and a lot of a lot
- 43:19Speaker 11: of conversations about leadership, about about abilities of the coaches. Right,
- 43:24Speaker 11: we would go through myriad conversations again to use that
- 43:27Speaker 11: word about how you know what what is the best
- 43:30Speaker 11: way to approach that coach. You're talking about ability to coach,
- 43:34Speaker 11: talking about ability in the in the meeting room, you're
- 43:36Speaker 11: talking about ability to develop players there. Again, those are
- 43:42Speaker 11: things that we really have to drill down on as
- 43:44Speaker 11: general managers and former general managers, and.
- 43:47Speaker 4: For everybody listening, that's kind of what's happening in Washington,
- 43:50Speaker 4: right Thomas. They get Adam Peters and now they're kind
- 43:53Speaker 4: of going into their head coaching kind of search after
- 43:55Speaker 4: they've established it. So so to piggyback off of what
- 43:58Speaker 4: you just said, I'm fast by. We're so entrenched in
- 44:02Speaker 4: where coaches come from their coaching tree, as we always say,
- 44:06Speaker 4: what tree did they come from? Did that ever play
- 44:09Speaker 4: a factor or does it play a factor when you're
- 44:11Speaker 4: looking at a coach knowing where he came from, in
- 44:15Speaker 4: which tree he came.
- 44:16Speaker 11: From, Yeah, there's no question about that, James. I mean
- 44:19Speaker 11: you're looking about how they were raised there honestly, their
- 44:22Speaker 11: approaches to building a team, their approaches and their former
- 44:27Speaker 11: whoever they came up through, their former head coach, their
- 44:30Speaker 11: mentors so to speak, how they quite honestly, and a
- 44:33Speaker 11: lot of gms do this. How was this this guy
- 44:37Speaker 11: that we're going to be interviewing now, how was he
- 44:39Speaker 11: raised as far as personnel goes, right, Make no mistake
- 44:42Speaker 11: about it, James, every one of these gms that have
- 44:45Speaker 11: personnel background want to make sure that they are pairing
- 44:48Speaker 11: with a with a coach that AA understands personnel, understands
- 44:53Speaker 11: the ability to evaluate understands. Again, there are so many
- 44:56Speaker 11: levels to evaluating. That is a big, big deal. No,
- 45:00Speaker 11: and I go back into my first time with you know,
- 45:03Speaker 11: someone like Mike Smith. I wanted to make sure that
- 45:06Speaker 11: Mike knew about evaluation, believed in evaluation, believed in the
- 45:11Speaker 11: scouting system, and understood that the scout scout and the
- 45:15Speaker 11: coach's coach and then within that that we are able
- 45:18Speaker 11: to come together as GM and head coach and be
- 45:20Speaker 11: able to discuss at so many levels the nuances of
- 45:24Speaker 11: the system. That is vital. You're most of these general
- 45:27Speaker 11: managers out there, most not all, of course, you guys
- 45:30Speaker 11: know this. Howie Roseman and Mickey Loomis two of the
- 45:33Speaker 11: best out there. Those guys came from a different you know,
- 45:36Speaker 11: a different road, just like Brandon Bean did, right, But yeah, yeah,
- 45:41Speaker 11: and there's some really good ones out there that don't
- 45:43Speaker 11: have personnel background. Everyone in this spot wants to make
- 45:47Speaker 11: sure they have a workable relationship with their head coach.
- 45:50Speaker 11: No one wants to come in this where they're batting
- 45:53Speaker 11: their head against the wall every day that they're trying
- 45:55Speaker 11: to help build the team. James, So again, very very
- 45:59Speaker 11: very very important to make sure you know how these
- 46:02Speaker 11: guys are raised in some last quot last point, Some
- 46:05Speaker 11: that were raised in certain paradigms that don't have a
- 46:08Speaker 11: real respect for the personnel staff. That that can be
- 46:13Speaker 11: very treacherous and it can be a it can be
- 46:17Speaker 11: a short lived relationship, of course.
- 46:19Speaker 5: Thomas, I'm so glad you said that because I remember
- 46:21Speaker 5: the union with you and Mike Smith, and you stressed
- 46:23Speaker 5: the importance of the separate but collaborative dynamics that you
- 46:27Speaker 5: were just talking about. Lastly, we have about a minute here, Thomas.
- 46:31Speaker 5: You got to find a quarterback. You were fortunate to
- 46:34Speaker 5: come into a situation your first time, you had a
- 46:36Speaker 5: number three overall pick.
- 46:37Speaker 3: And you got Matt Ryan.
- 46:40Speaker 5: How vital is it, you know, when you look at
- 46:42Speaker 5: some of these circumstances to know who is going to
- 46:45Speaker 5: be the proper guy to fit into your locker room
- 46:47Speaker 5: and real quick with the caveat. Remember, Thomas, everyone was
- 46:50Speaker 5: telling you to draft defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey instead of
- 46:54Speaker 5: Matt Ryan.
- 46:55Speaker 3: At that time.
- 46:57Speaker 11: There was a lot of that, as you know in town,
- 46:59Speaker 11: and we won't mentioned some of the names, but yeah, oh, look,
- 47:02Speaker 11: I mean anyone, even a head coach or GM that
- 47:05Speaker 11: potentially could be coming into a team. One of the
- 47:08Speaker 11: main things we're looking at. Of course, we're looking at
- 47:10Speaker 11: who the ownership is. Making no mistake about that as well. Gentlemen,
- 47:14Speaker 11: if you don't know the owner, at least have a
- 47:16Speaker 11: grasp of what the owner is and their approach. That's
- 47:19Speaker 11: a big deal. Now, when you're a first timer, you're open.
- 47:23Speaker 11: We always used to joke about this. You're open to say, lo,
- 47:25Speaker 11: I'll work anywhere. I could do anything with anyone, just
- 47:27Speaker 11: give me the opportunity. And as you get experience, you're
- 47:30Speaker 11: a lot more particular about that.
- 47:31Speaker 2: That's one thing. Of course.
- 47:32Speaker 11: The quarterback is massively important, not only that the quarterback
- 47:36Speaker 11: might be there, but that the quarterback is within reach,
- 47:39Speaker 11: that there's a potential to get a free agent, or
- 47:43Speaker 11: equally important that you are in a draft spot, that
- 47:45Speaker 11: you know that you might get one of these top
- 47:47Speaker 11: five this year. If you're twenty two coming in or
- 47:50Speaker 11: eighteen and you're going to have to move up and
- 47:52Speaker 11: sell the farm to get up there, that's a little
- 47:55Speaker 11: bit different when you're talking about making sure that you
- 47:57Speaker 11: get the right quarterback to build around.
- 48:00Speaker 4: All right, So I got to squeeze this one in
- 48:01Speaker 4: Thomas because this is what I'm fascinating about. Look at
- 48:04Speaker 4: the Bears, right, they have what some people believe is
- 48:06Speaker 4: their quarterback, but they also have the number one overall pick.
- 48:10Speaker 2: How would you kind of looking.
- 48:12Speaker 4: At that from an outsider's perspective, kind of look at
- 48:15Speaker 4: that spot that Ryan Poles is in right now? And
- 48:17Speaker 4: is that a very difficult spot? Would it be a
- 48:19Speaker 4: fun spot from a GM perspective?
- 48:21Speaker 1: What? What?
- 48:22Speaker 2: What is he dealing with right now?
- 48:24Speaker 11: It's a lot of sleepless nights, I'm sure. I mean,
- 48:26Speaker 11: there's a there's an element of excitement about it, right
- 48:28Speaker 11: to know that you are in such control and have
- 48:31Speaker 11: the opportunity to continue to build. Yes, it's a it's
- 48:34Speaker 11: a I think it's a great spot to be in.
- 48:36Speaker 11: You know, remember that that pick was not on Ryan Poles, right,
- 48:41Speaker 11: We know that not not that it's whether it worked
- 48:44Speaker 11: or not. But as again general managers, normally you want
- 48:47Speaker 11: to stay with the quarterback that you that you picked
- 48:49Speaker 11: and you brought in. Of course, Ryan Pace, I have
- 48:52Speaker 11: a great deal of respect. You know, he was the
- 48:54Speaker 11: one who actually drafted him, so you know, who knows
- 48:56Speaker 11: where where he ends his quarter his former quarterback ends up.
- 49:00Speaker 11: But great spot to be in if you're Ryan Poles,
- 49:02Speaker 11: I believe.
- 49:04Speaker 3: TD absolutely great stuff. I mean this.
- 49:06Speaker 5: You know, we try to enlighten and you just really
- 49:09Speaker 5: really open the bandwidth of some minds here with some
- 49:12Speaker 5: of these topics. Brother, we appreciate you taking the time
- 49:15Speaker 5: for us. Hopefully we'll get you back on here again.
- 49:18Speaker 5: Love to be back anytime.
- 49:19Speaker 2: Jents, don't forget.
- 49:21Speaker 4: Every Monday every Thursday, seven fifteen East on the NFL channel,
- 49:25Speaker 4: also on two b Roku Peacock The NFL Report also
- 49:30Speaker 4: a podcast also on the NFL's YouTube account as well.
- 49:34Speaker 2: We're going to be back.
- 49:35Speaker 4: On Monday and Thursday of next week recapping Steve everything
- 49:40Speaker 4: that went down in the divisional round.
- 49:42Speaker 2: I'll be doing it from Buffalo. How about that?
- 49:45Speaker 3: That's sweet. I'll be watching from Honolulu
- 49:50Speaker 1: To Jay