Latest / AFR Saints / Saints vs. Falcons Preview: Atlanta’s Blueprint to Upset New Orleans on Monday Night

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Saints vs. Falcons Preview: Atlanta’s Blueprint to Upset New Orleans on Monday Night · AFR Saints

0:00
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0:26
Speaker 1: appreciate when Mark Zinno joins us, 92.9 The Game there
0:29
Speaker 1: in Atlanta.
0:29
Speaker 2: Yo, dude, how are you? What's going on, brother?
0:31
Speaker 1: How you been? I'm good. Hey, I mean, I was
0:36
Speaker 1: as surprised as anybody, I think, to see the Falcons'
0:38
Speaker 1: offense explode last Thursday with Pennix in there. What happened?
0:42
Speaker 1: Why did it work so well?
0:44
Speaker 2: Well, because Cooper Rush is an embarrassment to quarterbacking in
0:48
Speaker 2: the NFL. So let's just leave it at that and
0:50
Speaker 2: start there. I mean... We don't have to overthink this.
0:53
Speaker 2: Anything was a drastic improvement. But in all seriousness, I mean,
0:56
Speaker 2: this was a spot here for Pennix where, look, he
1:00
Speaker 2: worked towards this. There was so much consternation here in
1:03
Speaker 2: Atlanta about him getting back when he was supposed to
1:08
Speaker 2: be back and why he didn't come back sooner. And, oh,
1:11
Speaker 2: he wasn't able to play on Sunday, but they announced
1:13
Speaker 2: him on Monday that he could play on Thursday. I mean,
1:15
Speaker 2: this was always sort of the timeline for Pennix Pennix
1:19
Speaker 2: to return. And in reality, it made a ton of sense, right?
1:21
Speaker 2: He got two and a half weeks to prep for
1:23
Speaker 2: a game and he gets 11 days off to prep
1:25
Speaker 2: for another game. So, you know, that was what was
1:28
Speaker 2: best for him. But I just think overall his, his
1:33
Speaker 2: ability just to execute the passing game, at any semblance
1:37
Speaker 2: of a reasonable level, was exactly what the offense needed
1:41
Speaker 2: and exactly why the offense was so much better. I mean,
1:46
Speaker 2: it didn't require a whole lot of rocket science for
1:48
Speaker 2: us to figure out exactly why Penix was better. He's
1:52
Speaker 2: worked with these guys before. They know him well, and
1:55
Speaker 2: it all just seemed to fit. Plus, you know, Packers'
1:57
Speaker 2: defense is kind of not that good at this point
1:59
Speaker 2: in time, so that also helped. Am I....
2:06
Speaker 1: Wrong for thinking that maybe, like, I guess, you know,
2:10
Speaker 1: I was surprised that it went so well with Penix,
2:12
Speaker 1: thinking maybe Penix isn't that great. Am I missing it? Like,
2:14
Speaker 1: is Penix actually someone that's developing to a really good
2:18
Speaker 1: young NFL quarterback?
2:20
Speaker 2: Got a high ceiling. Okay. Talents there. I mean, you know,
2:24
Speaker 2: he wasn't overdrafted as the eighth overall pick. In reality,
2:27
Speaker 2: he was just drafted by a bunch of not really
2:29
Speaker 2: smart people in the Falcons trying to outthink the room
2:32
Speaker 2: when they had just signed Kirk Cousins to $ 180 million deal.
2:36
Speaker 2: Like that was, you know, and the context around him
2:39
Speaker 2: is part of the problem why he's viewed the way
2:41
Speaker 2: he is. Not only that, he's also, you know, only
2:44
Speaker 2: played 13 games in three seasons in his NFL career
2:46
Speaker 2: so far. So he's been hurt beyond that. It's one
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Speaker 2: of these things where he has everything that they need
2:53
Speaker 2: from a talent perspective. What he didn't have the last
2:56
Speaker 2: two years is any semblance of a reasonable offensive game plan,
3:00
Speaker 2: but you could, it's kind of being proven left and
3:03
Speaker 2: right here. Not only because Zach Robinson is taking the
3:06
Speaker 2: Buccaneers into the toilet, but also because Kirk cousins is
3:09
Speaker 2: playing really well. And Michael Penix looks like he's ready
3:12
Speaker 2: to play well. So like everybody away from Zach Robinson now,
3:15
Speaker 2: all of a sudden has a much better offensive system
3:17
Speaker 2: to deal with. And they're starting to show that they
3:20
Speaker 2: can play in it. So it's, I think all those
3:22
Speaker 2: things are there. I keep telling Falcons fans this. There's
3:26
Speaker 2: two goals this year, and they're simultaneous, but they're not
3:28
Speaker 2: the same thing, right? Week-to-week league here, Matt. You understand this.
3:32
Speaker 2: Win this week, go 1-0. Try to do it as
3:34
Speaker 2: many times as you can. Hopefully make the playoffs. But
3:36
Speaker 2: the overarching goal of the season is to find out
3:39
Speaker 2: if Michael Penix can be a franchise-level quarterback, because the
3:42
Speaker 2: Falcons have not picked up a skipper option yet. He
3:44
Speaker 2: is not in line for a major extension, and they're
3:47
Speaker 2: not going to give it to him with all the
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Speaker 2: quarterbacks coming up in this draft that might be accessible
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Speaker 2: to them if they decide they need another quarterback. So,
3:56
Speaker 2: you know, look, if they make the playoffs, great, right? Like,
3:58
Speaker 2: I think that's kind of the cherry on top. But
4:01
Speaker 2: it is in the best long-term interest of this organization
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Speaker 2: for Michael Penix to work out as their quarterback, even
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Speaker 2: if they miss the the playoffs this year. I mean,
4:09
Speaker 2: wouldn't any organization rather use their first round draft pick
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Speaker 2: on another player other than a quarterback? Because needing a
4:16
Speaker 2: quarterback in the NFL is the worst thing you could need. Right?
4:20
Speaker 2: Like nothing is stabilized, nothing is settled as you guys
4:22
Speaker 2: knew in the post-Jubilee era. So once you have Tyler
4:25
Speaker 2: Shook in there, it's like, okay, now we can start
4:27
Speaker 2: drafting actual other players because we have the quarterback that
4:31
Speaker 2: we need. I'm not sure if you guys feel that way,
4:32
Speaker 2: but I'm just using it as an example. You get
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Speaker 2: the point. So, you know, I think for the most part,
4:37
Speaker 2: Penix is going to set himself up this year to
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Speaker 2: be the guy that will be their long-term quarterback. What
4:41
Speaker 2: that looks like from a contract standpoint, nobody knows. Okay.
4:44
Speaker 1: Mark Zinno's with us at Mark Zinno, a 92, nine
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Speaker 1: there in Atlanta is, so we know that Atlanta has
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Speaker 1: invested a ton of draft capital on the offensive side
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Speaker 1: with Robinson and London and pits and all those guys.
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Speaker 1: Is there any shortcoming on that offense? Where's the weakness?
5:03
Speaker 2: It's a really good question. I mean, The short answer
5:06
Speaker 2: is no, right? Like, you know, and I'll save the
5:10
Speaker 2: best for last because nobody's paying attention to this, but
5:12
Speaker 2: clearly the running back, if he's not the best running
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Speaker 2: back in the league, he's the second best running back
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Speaker 2: in the league, so that's taken care of. Drake London
5:18
Speaker 2: right now is a top 10 wide receiver. Objective. Like,
5:21
Speaker 2: you know, projection or productivity might not be what everybody
5:25
Speaker 2: thinks it should be, but from a skills standpoint, like
5:27
Speaker 2: he clearly is, and he proves it every time he
5:28
Speaker 2: goes out there like he did on Thursday night. In theory,
5:31
Speaker 2: to have the tight end situation fixed, you know, despite
5:35
Speaker 2: fantasy owners still hating Kyle Pitts on the day he
5:37
Speaker 2: was drafted, you know, like he is a guy that
5:42
Speaker 2: can play the position and play it long term for them.
5:44
Speaker 2: So that leaves the offensive line. And what is shocking and,
5:49
Speaker 2: you know, if you start to look at the analytics
5:51
Speaker 2: for the Falcons through three games this year, right? Pass
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Speaker 2: rush win rate, you know, is top 10. Offensive line
5:59
Speaker 2: win rate is top 10. Running game is top 10. Like,
6:02
Speaker 2: you know, they, or pass block win rate, I should say,
6:05
Speaker 2: is what I meant to say earlier. But like, you know,
6:07
Speaker 2: this offensive line grades out really well. And that's what
6:09
Speaker 2: Cooper Rush understood for two staking games. The EPA is bad,
6:13
Speaker 2: but the offensive line has played really well. So, no,
6:17
Speaker 2: there's not really a conceivable weakness here. to this point.
6:21
Speaker 2: And now that they're finally getting some decent coaching from
6:23
Speaker 2: Stefanski and Tommy Reese, like things start to feel and
6:28
Speaker 2: look a little better. You know, I think this offense is,
6:32
Speaker 2: So I keep trying to mitigate expectations for Falcons fans
6:36
Speaker 2: because I think this offense could be really good. I
6:37
Speaker 2: don't know if it'll explode again like it did last week.
6:39
Speaker 2: They're going into a really tough environment on the road,
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Speaker 2: and Michael Penix has never faced the Saints in two years.
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Speaker 2: He was hurt for all four games or didn't start
6:46
Speaker 2: for all four games, I should say. So this is
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Speaker 2: his first go-around being under center in that dome and
6:52
Speaker 2: in that environment what it looks like. And so I
6:54
Speaker 2: don't know that their offense will be great this week.
6:56
Speaker 2: But from week to week, yeah, there's not much of
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Speaker 2: a flaw right now. It's just a matter of execution
7:00
Speaker 2: and how well can they do it.
7:02
Speaker 1: The it's easy when you look, I want to flip
7:05
Speaker 1: it to the defense. When you look at the Falcons,
7:07
Speaker 1: it's easy to train your eye to the 34 to
7:10
Speaker 1: three loss to Carolina, but there are also five turnovers
7:15
Speaker 1: in that game. This has always been the book on Atlanta, right?
7:18
Speaker 1: They've invested a ton offensively. Could the defense actually get better?
7:21
Speaker 1: How good is the defense?
7:24
Speaker 2: With a bunch of no name guys that you wouldn't
7:26
Speaker 2: not only not know on the street, but wouldn't know
7:28
Speaker 2: if they told you their name. Right. It's actually pretty good.
7:32
Speaker 2: Like Jeff Albrecht will be interviewed in head coaching cycles
7:36
Speaker 2: this offseason. He's that good. And Matt, I'll say right now,
7:40
Speaker 2: when I said it to Atlanta a hundred times, I
7:41
Speaker 2: was dead wrong on Jeff Albrecht. I mean, dead wrong.
7:44
Speaker 2: I thought it was myopic. I thought it was insular.
7:45
Speaker 2: I thought the Falcons just went with a name that
7:47
Speaker 2: they already knew and weren't really going to try to
7:49
Speaker 2: change the dynamic of the organization. He's done everything you
7:52
Speaker 2: could have asked for and more as a defensive coordinator.
7:54
Speaker 2: I mean, think about this. The guy lost 25 sacks
7:56
Speaker 2: in a year ago to a guy who tore his ACL,
7:59
Speaker 2: another dummy who doesn't know not how to physically abuse women, right?
8:03
Speaker 2: You know, he lost 25 sacks, and yet they're still
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Speaker 2: top 10 in pressure rate this year with a bunch
8:11
Speaker 2: of Nova, with Zedarius Smith, guys you've never heard of.
8:15
Speaker 2: His scheme works, and it's really good. And even though
8:19
Speaker 2: Cade Nellis is now wearing your uniform instead of the Falcons,
8:21
Speaker 2: guess what? not the awful linebacker situation is figured out.
8:25
Speaker 2: Like he's done just amazing things with this defense. Yes.
8:29
Speaker 2: They could require a lot more talent.
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Speaker 1: Sure.
8:31
Speaker 2: They need some more depth at corner. They definitely need
8:34
Speaker 2: more edge rushers per se, than just a scheme that's
8:37
Speaker 2: going to get home. But, I think, you know, over
8:41
Speaker 2: the course of the season, when James Pierce Jr. does
8:44
Speaker 2: come back and, you know, they start to play at
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Speaker 2: 100% and they make some more, you know, defensive additions
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Speaker 2: here and there, then it could be a top half
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Speaker 2: of the league kind of defense. I don't think it'll
8:53
Speaker 2: be great. I don't think it's going to be top 10.
8:55
Speaker 2: But getting in the top half, I don't think it'll
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Speaker 2: be impossible.
8:58
Speaker 1: A couple more for you, Zinno. At Mark Zinno, give
9:00
Speaker 1: him a follow, Z-I-N-N-O. I asked one for the local
9:04
Speaker 1: crowd here. Harold Perkins dropped in around six but made
9:07
Speaker 1: the team and he's playing What's his role been there
9:10
Speaker 1: in Atlanta?
9:13
Speaker 2: Look, Kevin Spansky slowly brings these guys along. He's not
9:18
Speaker 2: shy to give them opportunities, but they're just slowly working
9:21
Speaker 2: him in and giving him a little bit more of
9:24
Speaker 2: a role as he goes on and on and on because...
9:26
Speaker 2: As a six-round pick, you know, it's like they don't
9:28
Speaker 2: try to overload him with too much. They ask him
9:29
Speaker 2: to do a little bit and master that and then
9:31
Speaker 2: give him a little bit more, so he masters that
9:33
Speaker 2: and then give him a little bit more. But he's
9:34
Speaker 2: been a net positive. You know, he really has. And
9:37
Speaker 2: I think when you start to look at this roster,
9:40
Speaker 2: as we get deeper into season, a lot of these
9:41
Speaker 2: names that a lot of people didn't know, you'll probably
9:44
Speaker 2: start to know.
9:44
Speaker 1: I think.
9:44
Speaker 2: Again, and I don't want to overstate how good the
9:47
Speaker 2: Falcons are. I mean, they could still be a very
9:49
Speaker 2: 9-8 type team, 8-9, 7-10 type team. I think that's
9:53
Speaker 2: totally possible. But... The early returns are mostly positive, all
9:58
Speaker 2: things considered, as long as it's not Cooper Rush. and
10:00
Speaker 2: Tua Tagovailoa. They are.
10:03
Speaker 1: Certainly in the mix in a bad division. I mean,
10:05
Speaker 1: everybody's tied right now, except for Tampa. Okay, special teams.
10:11
Speaker 1: If it comes down to it on Monday, how do
10:13
Speaker 1: the Falcons look through three weeks?
10:17
Speaker 2: Average. I made some mistakes. I mean, listen, I don't
10:20
Speaker 2: know how much you want to trust Nick Folk at
10:21
Speaker 2: this stage of his career. He missed two field goals
10:24
Speaker 2: in the opening game. Not that it would have only
10:27
Speaker 2: been window dressing, but that's not the point when you're
10:28
Speaker 2: a kicker. Your only purpose in life is to put
10:30
Speaker 2: the ball to the upright. So if you don't do that,
10:32
Speaker 2: in my world, you suck. And yes, they have to
10:35
Speaker 2: be perfect. They're not allowed to miss, period. Instead of
10:38
Speaker 2: an emergency quarterback on the roster, Matt, they should have
10:40
Speaker 2: an emergency kicker. Because I would be like, as soon
10:43
Speaker 2: as you miss a kick, you're out. Take your stuff off,
10:44
Speaker 2: leave it on the sideline, go to the locker room
10:46
Speaker 2: or walk home, whatever. Just get me another kicker in here.
10:48
Speaker 2: Somebody who can make kicks. That's what they should do.
10:50
Speaker 1: The Sean Payton School of Coaching right there.
10:52
Speaker 2: 100%. If they're Bill Parcells School of Coaching, they're Bill Belichick.
10:55
Speaker 2: Just don't miss and you'll have a job. That's it.
10:58
Speaker 2: You're not allowed to miss, period. So, yeah, I think
11:01
Speaker 2: it's going to be mixed return on special teams. I
11:03
Speaker 2: don't think you'll see anything special. But, you know, the
11:05
Speaker 2: main point of special teams at this point is just
11:07
Speaker 2: don't hurt the team. And that's really all you're asking for.
11:10
Speaker 2: By the way, speaking of hurt the team, I don't
11:12
Speaker 2: know how much time we have left, but I have
11:13
Speaker 2: to get this out since it's your audience. I'm pissed
11:17
Speaker 2: at your team. They owe me some money from last week.
11:21
Speaker 1: Hey, me too. Cause not only did I bet them
11:26
Speaker 1: on the three and a half, I also in game
11:28
Speaker 1: them plus money when they got down. So I'm pissed too.
11:32
Speaker 1: Trust me.
11:33
Speaker 2: I listen, you know, I laid the three last week
11:36
Speaker 2: with an oil and saints because I think the Raiders
11:38
Speaker 2: are fraudulent. Yeah. Um, You know, the Chargers kind of
11:42
Speaker 2: had been gifting wins to start the season, obviously. We
11:45
Speaker 2: know Miami stinks. And the Saints go into the fourth
11:48
Speaker 2: quarter with a five-point lead and then do something that
11:50
Speaker 2: has only happened two other times since the NFL merger.
11:54
Speaker 2: Two other times. You want to know where they were?
11:56
Speaker 2: It was a team that had the ball four times
11:59
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter and turned it over four straight times.
12:03
Speaker 2: It's only happened two other times since the NFL merger.
12:05
Speaker 2: Believe it or not, one of those teams was actually
12:08
Speaker 2: the greatest show on turf, Rams. In 1999, the game
12:12
Speaker 2: was technically in 2000, but it was a meaningless game
12:14
Speaker 2: in week 17. They turned the ball over five times
12:17
Speaker 2: in five possessions in the fourth quarter. So go figure
12:20
Speaker 2: that out. The other time was I think 1978, the
12:22
Speaker 2: Philadelphia Eagles did it or whatever it was, but like,
12:24
Speaker 2: you gotta be kidding me. And even at that, they
12:26
Speaker 2: still had a chance to go tie the game for
12:28
Speaker 2: two minutes left after all those mistakes. We should have
12:30
Speaker 2: never lost that game. They did the rest of the
12:32
Speaker 2: NFC South favor by dumping that game to the Raiders.
12:35
Speaker 2: And I'm still unhappy about it.
12:37
Speaker 1: Uh, you're preaching to the choir for different reasons. I mean,
12:39
Speaker 1: it affected, it affected your, it affected your bank account.
12:43
Speaker 1: I mean, mine too, but it obviously affected, I mean, they,
12:47
Speaker 1: for all the heavy lifting that did Zeno winning the
12:49
Speaker 1: game in Baltimore, they gave it back last week against,
12:52
Speaker 1: against the Raiders.
12:53
Speaker 2: Okay.
12:53
Speaker 1: Monday night football blueprint for Atlanta. How does it look?
12:58
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, this game has been on the calendar
13:02
Speaker 2: circled by, you guys since it came out and it's
13:06
Speaker 2: been tried to be ignored by us in Atlanta because
13:10
Speaker 2: we know what's going to happen. Like I'm not much
13:13
Speaker 2: for non numbers when it comes to looking at a
13:16
Speaker 2: game per se, but crying out loud, man, like I don't,
13:19
Speaker 2: the momentum in that building is going to be off
13:21
Speaker 2: the charts. And I don't know, it's like anything that
13:23
Speaker 2: they've ever seen. Again, none of these players were involved
13:26
Speaker 2: in that game. Obviously none of these coaches were happy.
13:28
Speaker 2: Some of these players weren't even alive when Katrina happened
13:31
Speaker 2: for crying out loud. Yeah. But I think the Falcons
13:35
Speaker 2: clearly are going to give a heavy dose to Bajon Robinson. Like,
13:39
Speaker 2: they are going to tell you, we don't care if
13:41
Speaker 2: you know we're going to run it. Gary, you stop us.
13:44
Speaker 2: Invest every resource you can into stopping us. Because as
13:46
Speaker 2: soon as you do, Stepanski will start play-actioning everything until
13:50
Speaker 2: your head spins. And I think that's really what you're
13:53
Speaker 2: going to see. I mean, the blueprint for Thursday night
13:56
Speaker 2: in Green Bay, I don't think it's going to look
13:58
Speaker 2: much different. It'll be heavy Dijon. We'll get short passes
14:01
Speaker 2: out of the backfield. They'll try to stretch the field,
14:03
Speaker 2: although it's not really their passing game with Drake Lundt.
14:08
Speaker 2: They're in, they're slant routes, they're out routes. You know,
14:12
Speaker 2: you depend on a lot of yak if you're in
14:14
Speaker 2: a Kevin Stefanski offense to break long runs. It's not
14:16
Speaker 2: because they want 35 air yards when he throws the ball.
14:20
Speaker 2: That's not kind of what they do. It'll be interesting
14:22
Speaker 2: to see if they can get Kyle Pitts involved. Here
14:25
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, we've kind of realized that when Drake London
14:26
Speaker 2: is on the field, Kyle Pitts sort of becomes this
14:28
Speaker 2: thing called a ghost. He only had two targets last game.
14:32
Speaker 2: He only had one catch for five yards. He was
14:34
Speaker 2: just not involved because everybody else was so good. So
14:37
Speaker 2: it'll be interesting to see how and if they try
14:38
Speaker 2: to deploy him this week. But I would tell you, look,
14:43
Speaker 2: game script is simple. The Falcons have to get a
14:45
Speaker 2: lead and keep the Saints chasing. And that's really what
14:48
Speaker 2: it boils down to. If the Falcons trail and end
14:52
Speaker 2: up trailing by more than one score, i.e. more than
14:54
Speaker 2: seven points, problem. I still don't think this team is
14:57
Speaker 2: built to come from behind. It's the fancy offenses typically
15:00
Speaker 2: aren't built to come from behind. They have a lead.
15:02
Speaker 2: They're built to run, eat the clock, grind you down,
15:05
Speaker 2: and win a game that way. It's kind of hard
15:07
Speaker 2: when you're down by 14 to run the ball as
15:09
Speaker 2: much as they want to do and really score up
15:11
Speaker 2: quickly and score points. So that's kind of the game
15:14
Speaker 2: plan here. Get a lead, play with a lead, and
15:16
Speaker 2: keep the Saints chasing. And for the record, by the way,
15:18
Speaker 2: I think you guys got a great coach there. I
15:20
Speaker 2: think you found somebody that got handed a raw deal
15:23
Speaker 2: with Derek Carr and everything else, but I think he's
15:25
Speaker 2: settling in nicely. I think the Saints team is going
15:27
Speaker 2: to be good for a couple of years to come.
15:29
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore and Tyler Shuck, a lot of people are
15:31
Speaker 1: high on them. Big opportunity on Monday Night Football with
15:33
Speaker 1: the Falcons coming in. He is Mark Zinno, at Mark Zinno.
15:36
Speaker 1: Give him a follow.
15:37
Speaker 2: Thanks, man. You got it, man. Take care, brother.
15:39
Speaker 1: We'll see you.