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Speaker 1: It is a Football Friday Week two edition, a beat

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Speaker 1: La edition. Welcome Bird Gang. On today's show, Zach Ershman

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Speaker 1: joins me. After a road game last week, the Cardinals

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Speaker 1: are home this week. In fact, they're home for the

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Speaker 1: next three weeks. The Rams are the opponent this week,

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Speaker 1: another team that lost its opener and a team dealing

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Speaker 1: with its share of injuries. We get into all that,

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Speaker 1: plus we head into enemy territory. We speak with Jordan Rodrigg.

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Speaker 1: She covers the Rams for the Athletic at Cardinals Cover two,

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Speaker 1: episode seven ninety four, and it starts now.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Cardinals Cover two po.

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Speaker 3: To Baker, What Heart?

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Speaker 1: What rent? This guy's unbelievable.

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Speaker 2: Cardinals Cover two is presented by Hyundai, proud partner of

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Speaker 2: the Arizona Cardinals, and by Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Visit Azycardinals

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Speaker 2: dot Com slash podcast.

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Speaker 1: He's at the ten half of five.

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Speaker 3: He's it again, so more Wow.

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Speaker 2: Here's Craig Grieler.

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Speaker 1: So do we feel any better about Week one after

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Speaker 1: watching the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football? I don't know,

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Speaker 1: how do you?

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Speaker 3: Okay, let's go through my thought process here. The Cardinals

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Speaker 3: went into that game against the Buffalo Bills, recognizing and

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Speaker 3: understanding the fact that they are a Super Bowl contender.

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Speaker 3: Against the Dolphins, they showed exactly why that was to

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Speaker 3: be the case. In Week one, the Cardinals were a

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Speaker 3: handful of plays away from coming away with the win.

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Speaker 3: So do I feel better. I don't feel any worse

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Speaker 3: per se, But I do know that the Cardinals had

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Speaker 3: a chance to win that game. And that's what's gonna

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Speaker 3: sting no matter what. And when you go down to

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Speaker 3: Week fourteen, week fifteen, and you're starting to evaluate your

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Speaker 3: record and you're looking towards the playoffs, hopefully that game

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Speaker 3: in Week one is probably gonna be one of the

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Speaker 3: ones that really stands out and hurts you.

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Speaker 1: There's no such thing as a good loss, at least

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Speaker 1: I don't believe that there's such a thing as a

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Speaker 1: good loss. Week one, Cardinals lose on the road in

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Speaker 1: Buffalo thirty four to twenty eight. Last night, the Bills

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Speaker 1: go into Miami and beat up the Dolphins thirty one

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Speaker 1: to ten. They led twenty four to ten at halftime,

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Speaker 1: and then the Bills were the only team that scored

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Speaker 1: in the second half. But I think through two games,

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Speaker 1: we're seeing why people believe that perhaps the Buffalo Bills

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Speaker 1: not just a playoff team, but a Super Bowl contending

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Speaker 1: team and with a quarterback that might be up their

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Speaker 1: second best, third best in the league overall. Forget the NFCAFC.

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Speaker 1: But Josh Allen is very, very good and we've been

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Speaker 1: we've seen that evidence now in the past two.

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Speaker 3: Weeks, and it's it's encouraging to see just how good

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Speaker 3: Josh Allen is against the defense like the Dolphins, because

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Speaker 3: people have their comments and critiques and opinions around the

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Speaker 3: Arizona Cardinals defense and how Josh Allen was able to

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Speaker 3: you run around the pocket scramble fracturey. So we're also

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Speaker 3: able to see that against the Miami Dolphins, another team

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Speaker 3: that is a playoff caliber team. So when it gets

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Speaker 3: back to your original question, do you feel better about

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Speaker 3: the defeat against the Buffalo Bills. I don't know, but

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Speaker 3: you do see that the Cardinals are really not as

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Speaker 3: far off as probably the national pundits biliad that they

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Speaker 3: are at the moment.

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Speaker 1: And that's probably the best way to look back at

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Speaker 1: Week one. Of course, it doesn't matter unless you do something.

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Speaker 1: This week. The Cardinals host the Rams at State Farm

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Speaker 1: Stadium in the first of three straight at home. By

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Speaker 1: the way, that game kicks off on Sunday one oh

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Speaker 1: five pm. That means pregame coverage begins at eight point

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Speaker 1: thirty on the Arizona Cardinals Radio Network. A little bit

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Speaker 1: later on, we'll be joined by Jordan rod Rigg. She

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Speaker 1: covers the Rams for the Athletic. A very good conversation

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Speaker 1: with Jordan about the Rams, and maybe with the Rams

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Speaker 1: are thinking about the Cardinals as well. But we started

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Speaker 1: this show talking about quarterback play and people's eyes were

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Speaker 1: raised a little bit and maybe people I won't say,

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Speaker 1: but hey, anytime your quarterback shows up on the injury report,

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Speaker 1: there's reason for concern. Head coach Jonathan Gannon alleviated all

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Speaker 1: those concerns on Friday, quote, all good when asked about

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Speaker 1: Kyler and the potential and any concern whatsoever. There is

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Speaker 1: no concern. Yes, Kyler Murray on the injury report practice fully,

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Speaker 1: But I think this is something that you're going to

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Speaker 1: see maybe a little bit more often this season, and

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Speaker 1: not just for the Cardinals but the rest of the NFL,

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Speaker 1: because the league takes the injury report very seriously. You

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Speaker 1: don't want to have what happened to the San Francisco

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Speaker 1: forty nine ers on Monday Night Football with Christian McCaffrey.

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Speaker 1: These things you have to be transparent, and I think

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Speaker 1: the Cardinals are doing a good job and being transparent.

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Speaker 1: Kyleer Murray dealt what they knee injury last season and

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Speaker 1: something that he might have to continue to deal with

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Speaker 1: this season. And then go back to how many years

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Speaker 1: Tom Brady showed up on the injury report every single

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Speaker 1: week because of a shoulder issue. Did he have a

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Speaker 1: shoulder issue. I'm sure it wasn't a underd percent, but

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Speaker 1: it wasn't affecting him on game day.

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Speaker 3: If it's anything worth noting, you have to put it

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Speaker 3: out there for your opponents and for the league to recognize.

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Speaker 3: Player safety is the number one thing that the NFL

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Speaker 3: is focused on. You see that with the Guardian caps

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Speaker 3: that they wear during practice. Everything that they do throughout

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Speaker 3: the week is to ensure safety throughout the week. And

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Speaker 3: then when you come into the game, you want to

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Speaker 3: ensure that you have the proper techniques that allows you

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Speaker 3: to alleviate any sort of injury potential just based off

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Speaker 3: the techniques you learn during practice. Once you play on Sundays,

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Speaker 3: So it's great to see that. Jonathanan And said that

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Speaker 3: Kyler Murray's gonna be good to go. Nothing not a

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Speaker 3: cause of concern, but anytime you have your quarterback on there,

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Speaker 3: you have to be cautious about it, and even if

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Speaker 3: it is something as minor as soreness, he has to

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Speaker 3: be placed on there because so many things change based

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Speaker 3: off of what you have. The injury report, betting odds

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Speaker 3: are going to begin to change. That's something of note

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Speaker 3: fantasy football. These are all things that are extra to

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Speaker 3: what's happening inside the facility here in Tempe that the

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Speaker 3: Arizona Cardinals don't. Necessarily they don't. They're not focused on

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Speaker 3: the betting odds or who you have in your fantasy

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Speaker 3: football starting lineup, although I would love if Marvin did

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Speaker 3: great for my fantasy football starting lineup. No, but obviously

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Speaker 3: there's a lot of different things in a lot of

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Speaker 3: protocols that you have to follow, and placing your quarterback,

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Speaker 3: even if he is a full participant and he's healthy,

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Speaker 3: you still have to place him on there if he

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Speaker 3: needs to be remotely close to it.

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Speaker 1: Something we will follow all the way up until inactives

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Speaker 1: are announced. Ninety minutes before kickoff. And that is the

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Speaker 1: status of cornerback Max Melton. He is working through concussion protocol.

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Speaker 1: He was on the practice field late this week, but

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Speaker 1: again wearing that non contact jersey and just being very limited.

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Speaker 1: Now you look and say, all right, if you do

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Speaker 1: not have a Max Meltain for whatever reason. Now looking

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Speaker 1: at last week, Max was only on the field for

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Speaker 1: eleven defensive steps, so you have to account for those

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Speaker 1: eleven snaps. Perhaps Key Troull Clark only on the field

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Speaker 1: for four defensive snaps to see see some more time

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Speaker 1: at cornerback Darren Hall. Do we see him at cornerback

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Speaker 1: even though he's been playing a little bit more safety,

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Speaker 1: or you just run a third safety out there, and

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Speaker 1: maybe you see Rabbit make his NFL debut as a

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Speaker 1: defensive player, because he was out there for special teams

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Speaker 1: in Buffalo but did not get a single defensive snap,

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Speaker 1: which I asked JG about on Friday. I said, I

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Speaker 1: asked JG.

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Speaker 3: You know, Rabbit was one of the players that you

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Speaker 3: and I talked about plenty of times throughout this covered

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Speaker 3: two podcasts during the preseason, just with how much he

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Speaker 3: popped off the tape and how good he looked in

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Speaker 3: the game against the Indianapolis Colts, and then the preseason

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Speaker 3: opener against the New Orleans Saints. You start to see

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Speaker 3: why this Rabbit guy was super highly touted coming out

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Speaker 3: of Texas Tech. And then you go from being the

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Speaker 3: guy in preseason on the defensive side of the ball

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Speaker 3: getting all the recognition to now you're behind Buda Baker

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Speaker 3: and Jalen Thompson and you're not going to be sniff

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Speaker 3: in the field right now. And when I ask JG,

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Speaker 3: how do you what do you say to a rookie

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Speaker 3: that had a taste of what it could be, he said, Oh,

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Speaker 3: Rabbit's going to be out there at some point, but

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Speaker 3: it's a matter of learning as you're going and responding

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Speaker 3: how you attack practice. So there is a chance that

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Speaker 3: Rabbit does make his defensive debut this week, and I

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Speaker 3: would not be surprised if we see forty two floating

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Speaker 3: out there in the secondary. But you do have Starling

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Speaker 3: Thomas that you could likely expect to see more snaps

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Speaker 3: if Max Melon is not out there. Garrett Williams how

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Speaker 3: much more. He had a quiet debut. His name wasn't

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Speaker 3: really mentioned much throughout the television broadcast. But that's not

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Speaker 3: a bad thing either, is when you have a cornerback

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Speaker 3: that is in the nickel and they're locking everybody up,

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Speaker 3: that's a good sign to have. So regardless if it's

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Speaker 3: Starling Thomas, Garrett Williams, Key Trewel, or you start to

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Speaker 3: bring in that third safety like a rabbit, there's opportunities

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Speaker 3: there to compensate potentially losing a Max Melon if needed.

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Speaker 1: On the topic of debuts, Kelvin Beacham will make his

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Speaker 1: first start this season at right tackle on Sunday. He's

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Speaker 1: got fifty two starts over his career at right tackle,

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Speaker 1: started at right tackle for three straights when he first

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Speaker 1: arrived here with the Cardinals. But now, in speaking or

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Speaker 1: hearing him speak this week, you get a full work,

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Speaker 1: full week's worth of work at right tackle as opposed

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Speaker 1: to just maybe a couple of reps because you don't know.

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Speaker 1: But now he'll go in knowing that at least for

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Speaker 1: the next four weeks, maybe more. We don't know any

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Speaker 1: more about Jonah Williams and that ee injury, but Kelvin

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Speaker 1: Beacham is your right tackle for the foreseeable future.

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Speaker 3: You post on the az Cardinals Insider's Twitter account a

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Speaker 3: couple of clips from Kelvin Beecham's media availability outside of

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Speaker 3: his locker, and he was saying it's good for his mind.

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Speaker 3: It's relaxing knowing that he doesn't have to focus on

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Speaker 3: potentially being available for both the right side of the

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Speaker 3: line and the left side of the line. While they

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Speaker 3: are a lot of the same techniques, the small nuances

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Speaker 3: of which way your feet are planted, those are differences

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Speaker 3: that are taxing on the mind as you're preparing for potentially,

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Speaker 3: at any given moment, having to jump out onto the

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Speaker 3: field and get there. And I understand that the debut

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Speaker 3: the game against the Bills, Kelvin beachum, you know, he's

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Speaker 3: a quality veteran out there. And Johnathan again and said

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Speaker 3: that I'm sure that there are some plays that he

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Speaker 3: would like back, and I'm sure beach would be the

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Speaker 3: first one to tell you. But he also recognizes through

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Speaker 3: his entire career in the NFL, you have to learn

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Speaker 3: how to, you know, sweep it under the rug a

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Speaker 3: little bit and move forward. And he's the type of

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Speaker 3: player that sees, how do he phrase a gray faceless

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Speaker 3: minds or something like that. He just referred to everybody

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Speaker 3: by their number. It's not Jared versus and Brandon fiskets

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Speaker 3: nine and whatever bradon fist number is. And it's that's

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Speaker 3: the sort of mentality that a veteran has out there

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Speaker 3: and they're not rattled by the moment. And I think

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Speaker 3: Beach is gonna jump in there and he's going to

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Speaker 3: do a quality job.

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Speaker 1: When Beach watches film, he's not watching names. He's watching numbers.

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Speaker 1: And that's how he studies. And again, I remember the

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Speaker 1: first time asking about an opponent. I remember what game

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Speaker 1: it was, but this was silver years ago, and he

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Speaker 1: starts rattling off numbers and I was like what, And

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Speaker 1: you go back and well, those are the jersey numbers

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Speaker 1: of whatever defensive lineman or whatever edge rusher or linebacker

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Speaker 1: or maybe someone in the secondary. But that's how he

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Speaker 1: studies because whether or not who for a player like

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Speaker 1: Kelvin Beach and or for any player, sometimes it doesn't

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Speaker 1: matter who you are as far as what the last

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Speaker 1: name on the back of your jersey is. It's what

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Speaker 1: is that number is? How many times am I going

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Speaker 1: to see that number in front of me? Or how

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Speaker 1: many times do I have to know where that number

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Speaker 1: is on a particular play. That's what beach does when

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Speaker 1: he looks at film.

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Speaker 3: It's fascinating because I just posted the story on Thursday

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Speaker 3: on Azycardinals dot com about how the Cardinals are preparing

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Speaker 3: for a Rams or a RAMS team without Aaron Donald,

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Speaker 3: and I we somebody asked him, ask Kelvin Beachum during

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Speaker 3: his media availability, how it's different. And once again, just

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Speaker 3: like they're a good defensive line, they have this player,

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Speaker 3: this player, that player, that player, this number, that number

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Speaker 3: and just rattles off and starts rattling off the linebackers too.

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Speaker 3: You potentially can expect to see in blitz packages and

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Speaker 3: what to expect out there. So while the Cardinals are

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Speaker 3: preparing and knowingly are facing against a team that does

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Speaker 3: not have Aaron Donald out there, the only difference is

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Speaker 3: Kelvin Beacham doesn't see ninety nine. He doesn't see Aaron

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Speaker 3: Donald out there. He just doesn't see ninety nine.

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Speaker 1: Kyler Murray very glad not to see ninety nine on

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Speaker 1: the football field. And I think a lot of quarterbacks,

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Speaker 1: a lot of players on an offensive side of the

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Speaker 1: ball glad that ninety nine is not on the field

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Speaker 1: this season.

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Speaker 3: Can you imagine, I mean this guy, and I looked

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Speaker 3: up his stats when he in his twenty career regular

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Speaker 3: season games sixteen sacks, thirty four QB hits. I mean,

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Speaker 3: he had no problems getting to the backfield, and he

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Speaker 3: made a name for himself to be a first ballot

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Speaker 3: Hall of Famer. He will have a bronze bust out

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Speaker 3: out there in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Speaker 3: He made a name for himself as being a thorn

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Speaker 3: on a QB side. And fortunately for Kyler Murray, that's

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Speaker 3: gonna be his first time not lining up against Aaron

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Speaker 3: Donald out there, and there's a level of comfort.

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Speaker 4: Don't get it.

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Speaker 3: Don't get anybody in this facility wrong. They have given

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Speaker 3: the Rams defensive line tons of credit. Drew Petsing even

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Speaker 3: said that that's probably their strongest unit on their team.

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Speaker 3: But you don't and we'll talk to Jordan about it

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Speaker 3: a little bit. You don't replace a guy like Aaron Donald.

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Speaker 3: You just have to try to figure out ways to

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Speaker 3: continue to compliment what you already built out there.

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Speaker 1: First time since Week fourteen of the twenty thirteen season,

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Speaker 1: the Cardinals will face a Rams team not anchored by

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Speaker 1: Aaron Donald.

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Speaker 3: Which also just shows how he was able to stay

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Speaker 3: so healthy. That's incredible, especially with we talk about the

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Speaker 3: injury reports and the violence that football brings in that

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Speaker 3: it has there Aaron Donald. I don't know what his

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Speaker 3: offseason regiment was, but outside when he was practicing doing

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Speaker 3: the hand motion with the knives, I remember seeing that

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Speaker 3: video just to show how precise and how perfect you

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Speaker 3: need to be with your hand placement as you're trying

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Speaker 3: to pass, rush and run, block all these different type

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Speaker 3: of things, how you're able to get into the backfield.

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Speaker 3: He's one of the best to ever have done it,

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Speaker 3: and the Cardinals are definitely glad that they will not

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Speaker 3: have to see ninety nine out there this weekend.

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Speaker 1: No question, a future Hall of Famer, first ballot Hall

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Speaker 1: of Famer in Canton, Ohio. All right, let's discuss this

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Speaker 1: matchup Rams and Cardinals coming up on Sunday again. One

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Speaker 1: oh five is the kickoff we mentioned it had a

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Speaker 1: chance this week to catch up with Jordan Rodrigg. She

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Speaker 1: covers the Rams for The Athletic So, Jordan, let's start

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Speaker 1: with the obvious, or what I think is the obvious,

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Speaker 1: and I won't hold you to this, but who's starting

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Speaker 1: for the Rams? On the offensive line on Sunday.

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Speaker 4: That's a great question, Craig, great question. I will tell

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Speaker 4: you there's a lot of guys who just got signed

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Speaker 4: to the Rams roster this week who are wearing fifty four,

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Speaker 4: fifty nine, you know, all the all the biggest jerseys

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Speaker 4: they had left for these offensive linemen. Because they've been

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Speaker 4: rolling through the position so much, they have no actual

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Speaker 4: offensive line left. So my best prediction here, and this

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Speaker 4: is pending, whether they will actually get starting right tackle

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Speaker 4: Rob Havenstein, he's been limited with the ankle flash foot injury,

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Speaker 4: whether they'll actually get him back this week. If he gets,

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Speaker 4: if he goes at right tackle, then I think you'll

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Speaker 4: see Warren McLendon flip over to the left tackle position.

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Speaker 4: You'll see Jonah Jackson, who is their only starting offensive

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Speaker 4: lineman who's practicing in full this week. At left guard.

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Speaker 4: You're gonna see rookie sixth round pick Bow Limmer out

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Speaker 4: of Arkansas Hoggs at center. He is the third center

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Speaker 4: that Matthew Stafford will have played with so far this year,

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Speaker 4: and yes it is only week two. And at right guard,

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Speaker 4: they hope Kevin Dotson, who's really been the stalwart for them.

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Speaker 4: Your training camp and the preseason. They hope he's going

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Speaker 4: to be able to go, but he is not practicing

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Speaker 4: with a foot injury, and if he can't go, then

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Speaker 4: it'll be Logan Brust, the reserve, former third round pick.

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Speaker 4: Sorry for the background noise on that side. Is a

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Speaker 4: Los Angeles helicopter going overheads, I'm sure you can you

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Speaker 4: can hear. No, They're not pooping down to the facility

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Speaker 4: to pick up yet another offensive lineman. I think it's

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Speaker 4: just a news chopper this time. But you'll see Logan

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Speaker 4: Brust back up Kevin Dotson if he can't go at

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Speaker 4: right guard.

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Speaker 1: How much of a concern is this? And I know

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Speaker 1: for us here with the Cardinals and the success that

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Speaker 1: the Rams have had, regardless of what the Cardinals have

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Speaker 1: as head coach, just the fact that Sean McVay is

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Speaker 1: on the other side of that field, plus Matthew Stafford,

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Speaker 1: is this a big concern or is it plug and

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Speaker 1: play in? Stafford will be Matthew Stafford like he always is.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think the concern might be if you start

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Speaker 4: to see Matthew Stafford and maybe Cooper Cup start to

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Speaker 4: play hero ball. I mean, that's really great for fantasy

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Speaker 4: football people, if Cooper Cup is the is you know,

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Speaker 4: gets the huge target share. He had twenty one targets

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Speaker 4: last week against the Lions and a narrow loss over time,

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Speaker 4: but the rams are actually one in six when Cooper

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Speaker 4: Cup is targeted fifteen or more time, So it's not

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Speaker 4: actually a sustainable formula for winning the football game. So

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Speaker 4: I think what Sean McVay is trying to do, especially

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Speaker 4: with some of these veteran receivers in DeMarcus Robinson and

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Speaker 4: Tyler Johnson, is really try to add more dimension to

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Speaker 4: this passing game, and they want to lean on some

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Speaker 4: of the fundamentals that they used have used successfully against

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Speaker 4: Arizona on the ground. Kyron Williams is healthy, now can

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Speaker 4: he run behind this line? I don't know. You know,

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Speaker 4: Bot Limmer looks like a really solid player for them already,

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Speaker 4: but it really hasn't been enough of a sample size.

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Speaker 4: And if Kyrien Williams can get going, you know, that's

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Speaker 4: going to settle Matthew Stafford in some of the play

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Speaker 4: action in the bootleg stuff that Sean mcsay loves to do.

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Speaker 4: There's just so many ifs and they're all injury related.

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Speaker 4: But one thing is for sure there is a lot

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Speaker 4: of confidence in general because of the way this matchup

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Speaker 4: has gone previously that Matthew Stafford. I mean, he's seen

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Speaker 4: a lot of He's seen a lot of football. He's

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Speaker 4: experienced a lot of situations between him and Sean McVay

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Speaker 4: not having to readjust their game playing mid game, but

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Speaker 4: actually getting a full week to try to do it

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Speaker 4: with the personnel that they do have. I do think

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Speaker 4: that brings at least a little bit of.

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Speaker 3: Confidence expanding a little bit in the run game. Kien

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Speaker 3: Williams kind of became a household name because of what

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Speaker 3: he was able to do against the Arizona Cardinals last

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Speaker 3: year in the game in Los Angeles, and then was

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Speaker 3: injured and then came back against the Cardinals and put

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Speaker 3: up the type of numbers they did. I know, we

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Speaker 3: were just talking a little bit about the offensive line,

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Speaker 3: but how have you seen Kien Williams evolve as a

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Speaker 3: runner kind of going into this next year where people

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Speaker 3: know who he is.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I still think he's a

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Speaker 4: bit underrated. I hear, you know, the kind of oh

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Speaker 4: he was a one hit wonder. I kind of hear

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Speaker 4: some of the chatter, especially nationally about what he did

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Speaker 4: last year and what I think the most important thing

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Speaker 4: to know about Kieren Williams is a if he can

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Speaker 4: stay healthy, which is the goal this year. You know,

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Speaker 4: that's the number one goal for him. He's the second

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Speaker 4: most prospective rusher in football last year despite missing the

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Speaker 4: four games. But if you know, the thing with Tyron

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Speaker 4: that he really to this specifically is the dimension and

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Speaker 4: the multiplicity with which he can run the ball. They

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Speaker 4: can run the mid zone. They love the mid zone.

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Speaker 4: They went to duo and counter a gap running and

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Speaker 4: man blocking last year, but they still hit that mid zone,

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Speaker 4: especially out of the pistol formation halfway through the year

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Speaker 4: and then kind of evened out their numbers by the

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Speaker 4: end of the year. Well, you can do all of

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Speaker 4: that with Kiroen. You can align him anywhere, you can

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Speaker 4: use him, you know, in past protection, and you can

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Speaker 4: also run all of those different types of concepts that

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Speaker 4: I just mentioned. His favorite as duo, I mean, whose

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Speaker 4: isn't Frankly, it works every time. But you know, you

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Speaker 4: can run any type of run concept and any type

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Speaker 4: of pre snap alignment. Because he is that smart of

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Speaker 4: a player, he understands where he needs to be the

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Speaker 4: space he needs to find. It's not like he's a

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Speaker 4: home run hitter, but he understands how these apps move

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Speaker 4: and how they work, how to motions Mary into these

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Speaker 4: gaps that they build and create at the snap, and

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Speaker 4: he understands how to set linebackers up and that's what

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Speaker 4: makes him so successful out of any align that they run.

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Speaker 1: I can assure your Jordan that no Arizona Cardinals fan

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Speaker 1: believes that Kien Williams is underrated. Oh yeah, I.

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Speaker 4: Was gonna say. The timing, The timing of the Cardinals

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Speaker 4: last year was really unfortunate when it came to tyron

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Speaker 4: A having that game that he was hurt and then

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Speaker 4: coming back at the time. I mean, man, they really

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Speaker 4: they drew the short straw and the timing on that one.

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Speaker 4: That was the circumstance right there.

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Speaker 3: Greig, remember the first half of that first game he

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Speaker 3: only had like four yards and then went off for

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Speaker 3: one hundred and fifty in the second half.

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Speaker 1: It was It's been quite impressive to see him run

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Speaker 1: against this Cardinals defense. One more on the Rams on

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Speaker 1: the offense and without Puka Nakua now for at least

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Speaker 1: four weeks and obviously Game number one coming up on Sunday.

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Speaker 1: But again you brought up Cooper Cup already and how

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Speaker 1: many targets and maybe targeting him too much isn't the

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Speaker 1: benefit for the Rams success. But who steps up to

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Speaker 1: be that other guy that maybe takes some a little

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Speaker 1: bit of attention away from Cooper Cup.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, they really really like Tyler Johnson. He's a veteran,

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Speaker 4: but he's actually the number two, specifically behind Pooka, which

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Speaker 4: some of the receivers we you know, they laugh about

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Speaker 4: it with me. It seems wild to say because Puka

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Speaker 4: is so young and yet this like seven year veteran

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Speaker 4: is behind him on the depth chart, you know, but

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Speaker 4: Tyler has really done everything that Puka has done. It's

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Speaker 4: just he's been taking the twos ress and not the

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Speaker 4: ones ress. And so this is this is a player

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Speaker 4: who he's got a lot of savvy, he's got a

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Speaker 4: lot of confidence. He makes plays after the catch, he

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Speaker 4: understands and is really enthusiastic about contributing to the run game.

435
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,480
Speaker 4: And then also, you know, DeMarcus Robinson is really in

436
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,760
Speaker 4: that true ex if you go back to twenty seventeen,

437
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:50,879
Speaker 4: you saw how this offense was deployed. It was Cooper

438
00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,440
Speaker 4: cup Robert Woods, Brandon Cooks, Well, they're kind of doing

439
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,240
Speaker 4: the same thing. It was Cooper Cup, Hooka Nakua now

440
00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,280
Speaker 4: Tyler Johnson and DeMarcus Robinson in that Cook's role sort

441
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,680
Speaker 4: of that true ex it's not necessarily the deep speed

442
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:05,760
Speaker 4: threat that Brandon Cooks was a too too at well

443
00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:09,720
Speaker 4: situationally is now for this team. But DeMarcus gets open

444
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,439
Speaker 4: and particularly in what the Rams really like about him,

445
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,240
Speaker 4: what Stafford loves about him is that he works really

446
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,679
Speaker 4: well out of structure. Stafford, if you look at the film,

447
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,680
Speaker 4: like he is always looking, especially when he's under pressure,

448
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,400
Speaker 4: which he was a lot last week. He's always looking

449
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:28,080
Speaker 4: for DeMarcus, and DeMarcus is always looking for him because

450
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 4: in his time, you know, his eight nine year veteran,

451
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,120
Speaker 4: in his time with Pat Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, both

452
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,160
Speaker 4: quarterbacks who move and create out of structure, he really

453
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,440
Speaker 4: learned how to feel for the quarterback even when he's

454
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,520
Speaker 4: running in the opposite direction. So I think that's a

455
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,359
Speaker 4: connection that really is on notice this week, something that

456
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,000
Speaker 4: definitely bears watching because I know the Rams still want

457
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 4: to run their offense with these players who have been

458
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,879
Speaker 4: in the backup roles or even in sort of the

459
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,000
Speaker 4: altered roles from what we used to see in twenty

460
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,200
Speaker 4: seventeen and twenty eighteen. They think they might be able.

461
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,920
Speaker 3: To do that clipping over to the defensive side of

462
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,880
Speaker 3: the ball. Aaron Donald, There's no doubt about it. He's

463
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 3: going to have a bust in can Ohio. One of

464
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 3: the best at the position, and players in the facility

465
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:11,439
Speaker 3: like Kyler Murray said that he is the best of

466
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,399
Speaker 3: all time in his eyes. How do you replace a

467
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:16,520
Speaker 3: guy like Aaron Donald in that room, because it's not

468
00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,800
Speaker 3: easy to replace a future first ballot Hall of Famer

469
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:20,679
Speaker 3: I can imagine.

470
00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:23,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, well, you don't replace him, first of all.

471
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,960
Speaker 4: And what was really interesting about how they handled the

472
00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,600
Speaker 4: Aaron Donald retirement this year was that they actually didn't

473
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 4: try to replace him. They sort of were very open

474
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,280
Speaker 4: about They were like, well, we can't, we can't do that,

475
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,080
Speaker 4: so just forget it. Let's try something different. So they

476
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 4: kind of went in a new direction where they went

477
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:45,520
Speaker 4: heavy at the position in the draft. So Jared versus

478
00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,800
Speaker 4: Right and Fisk are the two guys out of Florida

479
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:49,880
Speaker 4: State their first round pick and then second round pick

480
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,720
Speaker 4: whom they traded up for and they really thought, Okay,

481
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 4: if these guys already have this much chemistry, which really

482
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,200
Speaker 4: screamed off the tape from when they were at Florida State,

483
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,159
Speaker 4: then maybe the aggregate and the skipping a year of

484
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,560
Speaker 4: chemistry building will at least help us not replace the

485
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 4: production of Aaron Donalds, but at least get cohesion and

486
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 4: chemistry on this very very young defensive front without sort

487
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,440
Speaker 4: of taking the growing pains of a year of building

488
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,720
Speaker 4: your inside and outside rushing attack between players who were

489
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,000
Speaker 4: strangers to each other. So that was really their method there,

490
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 4: and it is a really really young front. I particularly

491
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,960
Speaker 4: worry about this group against the run. They just were

492
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:34,400
Speaker 4: manhandholed by the Detroit Lions in overtime. They were gassed.

493
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,159
Speaker 4: They're young, they had not yet experienced as a group

494
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 4: that type of run the ball down your throat mentality.

495
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,280
Speaker 4: When I was asking Chris Shula, the new defensive coordinator,

496
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,919
Speaker 4: this week, about some of the things the Cardinals were

497
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,280
Speaker 4: able to do, he cited something that we've seen from

498
00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,520
Speaker 4: the Cardinals since about midway last season, especially when Kyler

499
00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:55,040
Speaker 4: came back, was they can run the ball from a

500
00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:57,040
Speaker 4: lot of different attack points out of a lot of

501
00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,640
Speaker 4: different personnels, particularly heavier personnels, where they can just load

502
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,119
Speaker 4: up and play keep away from the other offense basically

503
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,480
Speaker 4: by staying on the field and gassing out the defense.

504
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,159
Speaker 4: So I think that that's a point of emphasis this

505
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 4: week for this defensive line that frankly was played well

506
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:13,080
Speaker 4: all game until the very end when it was just

507
00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:14,240
Speaker 4: clear they were just gassed.

508
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,240
Speaker 3: You mentioned Braiden Fisk and Jared Verus, the two teammates

509
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,520
Speaker 3: down there in Tallahassee now out there in Hollywood with

510
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 3: the rams and what ways have you seen their tape

511
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,679
Speaker 3: start to flash or their chemistry start to flash in

512
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:28,360
Speaker 3: the NFL.

513
00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:31,679
Speaker 4: Yeah, you can see they always know where the other is.

514
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:36,320
Speaker 4: You can rotate them. You can rotate Braydon, particularly in

515
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:39,119
Speaker 4: a couple of different interior alignments, which they really like

516
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,199
Speaker 4: to do because they mix their fronts a lot, and

517
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,359
Speaker 4: so you can see that they always know where the

518
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,240
Speaker 4: other is. They always kind of can feel or play

519
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,320
Speaker 4: off of each other. You saw some of the pressure

520
00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 4: packages Jared Versus particularly efficient. You know, some growing pains

521
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 4: that I would like to see him bite less on

522
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,080
Speaker 4: a hard play action. He did a couple times in

523
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,720
Speaker 4: overtime where he went for the quarterback and not actually

524
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 4: where the ball was going, and so you see some

525
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:03,440
Speaker 4: of those rookie mistakes and you see some of those

526
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 4: growing pains, But at the same time, you also you

527
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 4: can tell there's an awareness that they know where the

528
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,399
Speaker 4: other is, and that really builds a lot because Kobe

529
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,800
Speaker 4: Turner the nose tackle slash, he's going to play the

530
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 4: three tech whenever Bobby Brown is in at nose tackle.

531
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,879
Speaker 4: You can really see that now the other side of

532
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,119
Speaker 4: that line. It's like, basically, instead of taking four separate

533
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 4: or three separate or five separate individual pieces and trying

534
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 4: to figure out how they all work together, it's almost

535
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,600
Speaker 4: like you're taking two sections now. Instead of all the

536
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,560
Speaker 4: different people, it's now two groups of people and figuring

537
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,200
Speaker 4: out how those guys all rotate and work together, which

538
00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 4: is a lot more efficient than starting from every individual

539
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:43,720
Speaker 4: has to learn every other individual.

540
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,680
Speaker 1: As always, Jordan, excellent stuff, Looking forward to the matchup

541
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,920
Speaker 1: on Sunday, Looking forward to seeing you as well. Safe

542
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,200
Speaker 1: travels out here back to Arizona.

543
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 4: Craig. Like I told you at the beginning, it's great

544
00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:57,640
Speaker 4: to hear your voice, and it's going to be even

545
00:26:57,680 --> 00:26:59,880
Speaker 4: better to see you in person. I really appreciated this, guys.

546
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,680
Speaker 1: Thank you good insight there from Jordan and piggybacking off

547
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,960
Speaker 1: that last part, Zach. Can the Cardinals run and run

548
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 1: the ball well against the Rams? Last week? That Rams

549
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 1: defense allowed one hundred and sixty three yards on the ground,

550
00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:21,160
Speaker 1: sixty of which we're on that final drive inot This

551
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,320
Speaker 1: is something that at least, as Jordan mentioned, is a

552
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,240
Speaker 1: concern of hers going into this matchup. And you look

553
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,040
Speaker 1: at what the Cardinals have been able to do under

554
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,639
Speaker 1: Jonathan Gannon Andrew Petsing, and that has run the ball

555
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,199
Speaker 1: very well last season, top five rushing attack. You've got

556
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,080
Speaker 1: James Connor. Do we see a little bit more of

557
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,600
Speaker 1: Trey Benson this week? Amaro de Mercado certainly can carry

558
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 1: the rock as well, But can you take advantage of

559
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 1: a defensive line while Stout may be still a little

560
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,879
Speaker 1: inexperience at least as of week two, and maybe again

561
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 1: suck that secondary the safeties closer to the line of

562
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,560
Speaker 1: scrimmage and then benefit a Marvin Junior, a Michael Wilson

563
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:03,679
Speaker 1: as far as the outside wide receivers and get that

564
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:05,160
Speaker 1: downfield passing game going.

565
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 3: While I one hundred percent understand that sentiment. That's honestly,

566
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,040
Speaker 3: I understand a lot of the conversation is surrounding Kyler

567
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 3: having to try to get Marvin Harrison Junior more involved

568
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:17,800
Speaker 3: in the offense and stuff like that. I'm most concerned

569
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,359
Speaker 3: about the running game going into this, not because of

570
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 3: any concern surrounding James Connor in per se, or Trey

571
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,199
Speaker 3: Benson or whoever you have out there, but because the

572
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,880
Speaker 3: Cardinals did not have success last year running the football

573
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,440
Speaker 3: against the Los Angeles Rams, and that was the one

574
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:35,720
Speaker 3: team in the NFCUS that they really struggled to run

575
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,800
Speaker 3: rush the ball against in the last game. And once again,

576
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,400
Speaker 3: this is with Aaron Donald anchoring that defensive line, that

577
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 3: defense up front, James Connor was the leading rusher with

578
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,720
Speaker 3: twenty seven yards in that Week twelve matchup. I believe

579
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,640
Speaker 3: at State Farm Stadium, that's not you can't you can't

580
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,600
Speaker 3: have that. It's only twenty seven yards from your leading rusher.

581
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 3: And you saw glimpses and they're especially in that first

582
00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,200
Speaker 3: half from James Connor. Of Okay, this is why a

583
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,520
Speaker 3: thousand yard season is the floor you start. You saw

584
00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,880
Speaker 3: glimpses of that last week in Buffalo. But you need

585
00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 3: to be able to try to attack that young, inexperienced

586
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 3: defensive line in whatever ways that you can. And that's

587
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:16,440
Speaker 3: where you hope that your offensive line with Calvin Beachum,

588
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,960
Speaker 3: with Paris Johnson on the left side, are able to

589
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,000
Speaker 3: start opening up some gaps because you need your you

590
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,320
Speaker 3: need your running game to go. And as Drew Petsing

591
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,200
Speaker 3: told us, uh, the offense as the team goes, as

592
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 3: the offensive line goes, and when the offensive line is going,

593
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 3: that means James Connor has holes that he's able to

594
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 3: rush in between. So that while I understand the tape

595
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 3: against the Detroit Lions from week one, it's it's a good, uh,

596
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:45,120
Speaker 3: it's a good foundation for the Cardinals to look at

597
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,360
Speaker 3: as they're preparing for this week to matchup against the Rams.

598
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 3: Still though, that's my probably my biggest area of concern

599
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:52,200
Speaker 3: going into this one.

600
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,240
Speaker 1: Trying to figure out one who the Rams will have

601
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 1: on their offensive line as far as being able to

602
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,680
Speaker 1: stop the run from the Cardinals perspective, going back to

603
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,400
Speaker 1: the Cardinals getting that ground game going and maybe keeping

604
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup on the sideline a little

605
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,000
Speaker 1: bit more. I know a lot of eyes are gonna

606
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,320
Speaker 1: be on Calvin Beacham, but pay attention to Paris Johnson

607
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: Junior as well. On the left side played very well

608
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:15,880
Speaker 1: Week one. He's going to see a lot of the

609
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,479
Speaker 1: rookie out of Florida State Jared Vers, who lined up

610
00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,160
Speaker 1: on the right side all forty three of his snaps

611
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: and played very well. Six pressures, one sack, and Paris

612
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 1: played well only one pressure allowed on thirty eight pass

613
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 1: blocking snaps, So that might be a sneaky line of

614
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: scrimmage matchup to pay attention to. When you talk about

615
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:40,120
Speaker 1: the Cardinals offensive line keeping, whether it's Verse or Byron

616
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:42,560
Speaker 1: Young who had a sack last week. Some of those

617
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 1: again first and second year defensive players and edge rushers

618
00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:47,880
Speaker 1: away from Kyler Murray.

619
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,719
Speaker 3: I think that there's a benefit in having Paris Johnson

620
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 3: Junior being the one that could line up against him

621
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:57,200
Speaker 3: because of how close in age they are. Your defensive

622
00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,719
Speaker 3: linemen that are coming in, and we see this with

623
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 3: a guy like Darius Robinson in the limited time that

624
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 3: we were able to see during training camp and in

625
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,080
Speaker 3: the preseason a little bit, he was very established, don't

626
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,760
Speaker 3: get us wrong, but he was also still in experience

627
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,680
Speaker 3: because he hasn't learned everything that a six year veteran

628
00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:16,880
Speaker 3: defensive lineman has learned. He still has the pass rush

629
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 3: techniques that you learned in college, and Paris Johnson Junior

630
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,960
Speaker 3: is still only going into his second year. He still

631
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,560
Speaker 3: has familiarity with a lot of the schemes that these

632
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 3: guys are coming out or learned while in college, and

633
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,960
Speaker 3: that brings some benefit here. It's not like Byron Young

634
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,200
Speaker 3: and Jared versus. While they will be lining up against

635
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:38,200
Speaker 3: Kelvin Beacham, who is an experienced pro, He's a decade

636
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,000
Speaker 3: long veteran in the league. On the left side of

637
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 3: the line, Paris Johnson Junior could start to understand more

638
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 3: of what a younger defensive edge rusher is looking for

639
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 3: because he recently faced off against plenty of them during

640
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:51,360
Speaker 3: his time at Ohio State.

641
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 1: The other matchup is something we did not touch on

642
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 1: with Jordan. We did talk about Cooper Cup and the

643
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,240
Speaker 1: twenty one targets. I found it interesting in her statut,

644
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,840
Speaker 1: if Cup or in games in which Cup is targeted

645
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 1: fifteen or more times, the rams are one and six,

646
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,840
Speaker 1: meaning you become one dimensional and teams know where the

647
00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 1: ball is going. But it's what Cup does before the snap,

648
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: the pre snap motion, the eye candy as Buddha Baker

649
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 1: referred to it earlier this week. But the stat that

650
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,520
Speaker 1: I think, at least when I first heard it, blew

651
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:26,640
Speaker 1: me away and might have been the stat of the week.

652
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:32,240
Speaker 1: But Cooper Cup ran more than four hundred yards before

653
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:37,560
Speaker 1: the ball was snapped. Four that's four card football field's

654
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 1: worth of running before the ball is even snapped. That's

655
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,280
Speaker 1: how much pre snap motion he is involved with. And

656
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:46,120
Speaker 1: just the entire rams offense.

657
00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,400
Speaker 3: Overall, that has to be exhausting as a defensive back

658
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 3: when your eyes are just tracing where is he going,

659
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 3: and there's that unpredictability of when he's going to stop

660
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:58,120
Speaker 3: in motion, so that Matthew Stafford could could shout out

661
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,760
Speaker 3: hike and try to chuck it down field or run

662
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:04,720
Speaker 3: player whatever whatever it could be. The McVeigh Shanahan trees,

663
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:06,840
Speaker 3: as we've talked about, are some of the most impressive

664
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,239
Speaker 3: when it comes to offensive minds throughout the NFL. And

665
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,800
Speaker 3: they're still so young, and they're still in the NFC West,

666
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,280
Speaker 3: which is a bummer for the Arizona Cardinals, And we

667
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,920
Speaker 3: know the type of success that Sean McVay has had

668
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:23,560
Speaker 3: against the Arizona Cardinals, but with the motion specifically, it's

669
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:27,240
Speaker 3: what makes them such an unpredictable offense. However, going back

670
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,560
Speaker 3: to the stat of targeting Cooper Cup as many times

671
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 3: as they have, when you know that you're not going

672
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:36,880
Speaker 3: to be facing off against Pooka Nakua, you recognize that

673
00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,080
Speaker 3: he is probably going to be the target, and it

674
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,160
Speaker 3: allows you to focus. Tell Sean Murphy Bunting, Hey, this

675
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 3: is yours, this is your assignment right now, lock in

676
00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,560
Speaker 3: on it. Spend your entire week focusing on exactly this.

677
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,280
Speaker 3: We will work on everything else surrounding it so that

678
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:53,480
Speaker 3: Tyler Johnson does not get as much involved too to

679
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 3: out well whoever it might be. But you know, if

680
00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 3: that's the stat, then I hope they target Cooper Cup

681
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,040
Speaker 3: all throughout the game, let him get his and then

682
00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,560
Speaker 3: the offense does theirs for the Arizona Cardinals and comes

683
00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 3: away with the win.

684
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, something to pay attention to on Sunday. Anything else

685
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:11,120
Speaker 1: on your end as far as paying attention to this game.

686
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,680
Speaker 3: I mean, it's really just the as we talked about

687
00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:17,120
Speaker 3: with Jordan a little bit, that the running game on

688
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 3: the Rams side the running game is where it's going

689
00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,000
Speaker 3: to start. And Kien Williams, while she said that, he

690
00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 3: kind of feels he's still a little bit under the

691
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,520
Speaker 3: radar in assense, not true to us, like to us

692
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 3: in the valley here. It's kind of tough to believe

693
00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,960
Speaker 3: that considering we were able to you go into you

694
00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:35,440
Speaker 3: go into that game against the Rams in Los Angeles,

695
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,000
Speaker 3: you don't really know much about Kian Williams. The running

696
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 3: game or the run blocking or the run stopping is

697
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,759
Speaker 3: looking really good on the defensive side of the ball

698
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:45,640
Speaker 3: in the first half, and you're going into halftime feeling

699
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:48,000
Speaker 3: varying courage and then bam, one hundred and forty yards

700
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,239
Speaker 3: in the second half from Kyon Williams out there in

701
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 3: Los Angeles. And then you see he's hurt and he's

702
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,520
Speaker 3: coming back against the Arizona Cardinals in that Week twelve matchup,

703
00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:57,840
Speaker 3: and he starts saying yourself, Wow, well he's been sidelined

704
00:34:57,840 --> 00:34:59,680
Speaker 3: for a little bit of time. He's definitely gonna have

705
00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:01,920
Speaker 3: some run. And then Kyron Williams did exactly what he

706
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,319
Speaker 3: did in that first game against the Cardinals in Week

707
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:06,520
Speaker 3: six and at Los Angeles, So you're kind of scratching

708
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:08,960
Speaker 3: your head saying how does this guy keep doing it?

709
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 3: That's something that Nick Rowis is definitely going to be

710
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,440
Speaker 3: hyper focused on throughout the week as they're preparing for

711
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,440
Speaker 3: this one, because that's where that's where it hurt them

712
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:19,440
Speaker 3: last year against the Rams.

713
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,360
Speaker 1: Better than eight yards of carry in those two games

714
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,920
Speaker 1: for Kyron Williams. The other aspect, one it's the home

715
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:27,920
Speaker 1: opener and two it's a division game. I know you've

716
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,280
Speaker 1: got a story coming out on Easycardinals dot com about

717
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,080
Speaker 1: division games, and we know the Cardinals last season did

718
00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 1: not win a single division game. You do have to

719
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 1: win these games. It is the easiest way in order

720
00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: to get to the postseason. Yes, you can go winless

721
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 1: in the division and still come up with eleven wins

722
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:51,759
Speaker 1: on the schedule, but how realistic is that? You have

723
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:53,600
Speaker 1: to be able to win the division and also win

724
00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 1: games because that's part of the tiebreaker system as well.

725
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 1: Cardinals have not done well within the division. They have

726
00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:02,840
Speaker 1: not done well against the Rams overall going back several coaches,

727
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:06,160
Speaker 1: but the fact that home opener and it's a division game,

728
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,520
Speaker 1: there's kind of a mixed feeling on that as far

729
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:11,880
Speaker 1: as whether they are that big of a deal or

730
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,239
Speaker 1: not when you talk to obviously JG. Some of the

731
00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,399
Speaker 1: players certainly have different in opinions as well.

732
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, you don't want to give the Rams any bulletin

733
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,400
Speaker 3: board material, per se. And I'm not sure if you

734
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:25,879
Speaker 3: are or you aren't. Maybe the Rams feel the same

735
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,440
Speaker 3: exact thing. And you could talk about rivalries and obviously

736
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,160
Speaker 3: you hate to say it's sitting in this seat here,

737
00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:33,720
Speaker 3: but the Rams have had their way, especially with Sean McVay,

738
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,200
Speaker 3: which that rhymed and I really appreciated that sentence for me,

739
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:42,600
Speaker 3: but especially in the past decade, the Rams have won

740
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,080
Speaker 3: each game that they played in Arizona over the last

741
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:48,640
Speaker 3: ten years, and that's not an easy pill to swallow.

742
00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:52,680
Speaker 3: But this is I feel no better time to end

743
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:55,120
Speaker 3: that streak than this year. Both teams own one. As

744
00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:56,840
Speaker 3: we said at the start of the at start of

745
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,040
Speaker 3: the show here, both teams own and one. Both teams

746
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 3: a couple plays away from winning that first game of

747
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:03,960
Speaker 3: the regular season, and with it being a division game,

748
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 3: this is a one way ticket to getting into the playoffs.

749
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,759
Speaker 3: Is success in your division. And while I asked JG,

750
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:11,640
Speaker 3: what did you learn about the NFC WES in his

751
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 3: first year, and he point blank said that there were

752
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,600
Speaker 3: three other teams that were better than us. It's fair

753
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,440
Speaker 3: because that's exactly what happened in twenty twenty three, not

754
00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:21,080
Speaker 3: to say that that's what's going to happen in twenty

755
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,920
Speaker 3: twenty four. The NFC West, while it still appears to

756
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:27,520
Speaker 3: be the forty nine ers as the top dogs right now,

757
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,279
Speaker 3: in their Monday night football performance against the New York Jets,

758
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 3: kind of indicates that that's still the same. It is

759
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:36,440
Speaker 3: still open. There's still an open opportunity for the Cardinals

760
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:38,480
Speaker 3: to make the playoffs. But it does start in Week

761
00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,759
Speaker 3: two when you have the opportunity to be at home

762
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:44,880
Speaker 3: to unveil so many amazing different things, whether it's the

763
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:48,880
Speaker 3: Casidas or you know, all these different new offerings surrounding

764
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:51,279
Speaker 3: around the stadium, or just the new offerings you have

765
00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:53,600
Speaker 3: on the field. With new players like a Justin Jones

766
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:56,600
Speaker 3: and at Ball Nichols and Marvin Harrison Junior making his

767
00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:59,840
Speaker 3: home debut, it's going to be very exciting. And I

768
00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:01,319
Speaker 3: think if there was a year to do it, this

769
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:01,759
Speaker 3: is the year.

770
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,560
Speaker 1: One of those new things you experienced last night as

771
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,920
Speaker 1: we speak here on Friday edition of Cardinals cover too,

772
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:09,600
Speaker 1: and that is the Morgan Athletic Club.

773
00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:14,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, incredible. It's a luxury supper club type seating underneath

774
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:17,960
Speaker 3: the stadium. You have access. There's a bunch of bars

775
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:22,320
Speaker 3: and live music and restaurants like food curated and designed

776
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,919
Speaker 3: with the Global Ambassador and Sam Fox, who's a world

777
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:29,680
Speaker 3: renowned food innovator and hotel extraordinaire, I guess you could say.

778
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,400
Speaker 3: And it was awesome to see a handful members of

779
00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:34,920
Speaker 3: the Bird of the Bird Gang in attendance at that

780
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:38,360
Speaker 3: soft opening. But it all comes down on Sunday against

781
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:41,320
Speaker 3: the Los Angeles Rams. And there's there's one spot in

782
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:43,239
Speaker 3: the Morgan Athletic Club which I love, and it's a

783
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:47,480
Speaker 3: bar that has glass windows that face the visitors tunnel,

784
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,840
Speaker 3: so you will be just a glass sheet away front being.

785
00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:52,040
Speaker 1: That banging on the window.

786
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,000
Speaker 3: That's how you start to get I don't recommend that,

787
00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:56,400
Speaker 3: but I don't necessarily recommend doing things that are not

788
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,960
Speaker 3: allowed by the rule. However, you got you get the

789
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,439
Speaker 3: opportunity unique get close to the action, to get close

790
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 3: to the action, and there's not many venues to at

791
00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:07,319
Speaker 3: the NFL that give you that sort of opportunity and

792
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,439
Speaker 3: access to get that close to the visitors. And while

793
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:14,920
Speaker 3: you want to have that, you know that Arizona Valley hospitality,

794
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:17,600
Speaker 3: you still want to also, you know, let them know

795
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,439
Speaker 3: that this isn't the Rams House, this is the Cardinals House.

796
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,000
Speaker 3: And it all comes together on Sunday with a lot

797
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:24,920
Speaker 3: of new and exciting new offerings.

798
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, make sure State Farm Stadium is a hostile environment

799
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:31,239
Speaker 1: for the Los Angeles ramsachs story not only on the

800
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,320
Speaker 1: game itself, but the Morgan Athletic Club up on Azycardinals

801
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,440
Speaker 1: dot Com and bird Gang if you do want to

802
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:39,040
Speaker 1: be at State Farm Stadium not only this week but

803
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,319
Speaker 1: the next couple of weeks again three straight at home.

804
00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:46,200
Speaker 1: It is Azycardinals dot Com Forward Slash Tickets. Azycardinals dot

805
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,520
Speaker 1: Com Forward Slash Tickets kickoff on Sunday one oh five.

806
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:52,439
Speaker 1: Pregame coverage on the Arizona Cardinals Radio Network is at

807
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:56,399
Speaker 1: eight thirty a m. Certainly a lot different than last

808
00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,000
Speaker 1: week when it was five thirty am. So can we

809
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:01,200
Speaker 1: at least agree zact you'll be up by eight thirty

810
00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:02,160
Speaker 1: am on Sunday?

811
00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:05,319
Speaker 3: Yeah, Okay, I mean there, I have to be at

812
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,720
Speaker 3: the stadium for that one. So yeah, we'll we'll be awake.

813
00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,920
Speaker 3: I did for the for the loyal Cover two listeners.

814
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:14,160
Speaker 3: Craig did text me right at five point thirty in

815
00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:16,399
Speaker 3: the morning for last week.

816
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:18,279
Speaker 1: So and the response back took.

817
00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:19,840
Speaker 3: How long was that six fifteen?

818
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,560
Speaker 1: Yes, which is still in my opinion, you completely missed

819
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:24,600
Speaker 1: early bird.

820
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,719
Speaker 3: I am the early bird. Let's not forget it.

821
00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:32,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, not last week. You weren't hope to see everyone

822
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,680
Speaker 1: out there on Sunday. Look, it is the home opener,

823
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,799
Speaker 1: three straight at home. Let's hope the Cardinals can even

824
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,560
Speaker 1: that record at one and one. And on that note,

825
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 1: we will put a lid on this edition of Cardinals

826
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,680
Speaker 1: Cover two, presented by Yundai, probably partner of the Arizona Cardinals.

827
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,520
Speaker 1: As always, special thanks to our executive producer Jim al Mohundro,

828
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 1: our associate producer Cody Fincher for Zach Ershman. I'm Greig

829
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:53,360
Speaker 1: real Lou. We'll talk to you next time here on

830
00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:54,479
Speaker 1: Cardinals Cover two.