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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Friday, January eighteenth edition of Between the Horns, Everybody.

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Speaker 1: Miles Simmons here to take you through the practice week

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Speaker 1: as the LA Rams get ready to head to New

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Speaker 1: Orleans to take on the Saints for the NFC Championship Game.

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Speaker 1: And we'll begin with the running backs again, but at

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Speaker 1: least this time we're not talking about injuries. So Todd

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Speaker 1: Gurley back in the lineup. Last week, he and C. J.

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Speaker 1: Anderson combined to put up a staggering two hundred and

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Speaker 1: thirty eight of the rams two hundred and seventy three

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Speaker 1: rushing yards against the Dallas Cowboys in that thirty to

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Speaker 1: twenty two victory. So a big part of the conversation

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Speaker 1: surrounding the Rams offense this week has been that partnership

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Speaker 1: between the two backs and how they were able to

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Speaker 1: work so well together. And that's not always the case

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Speaker 1: for a starring player like Gurley when a new guy

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Speaker 1: comes in. But quarterback at keep to leave, who has

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Speaker 1: gotten to know Gurley pretty well this season set up

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Speaker 1: why it has worked for both players. We predicated on

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Speaker 1: we not me, you know, so it's not me man,

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Speaker 1: so so I understand it. He liked it. I mean

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Speaker 1: he actually liked it, you know, so he's happy with it.

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Speaker 1: He fresh. Gruley and Anderson also addressed why their partnership

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Speaker 1: works so well in their respective press conferences this week.

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Speaker 1: It's football, man, can't do it all by yourself. Every

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Speaker 1: this one one man team, and it's good to have them.

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Speaker 1: You know. I got hurt for a reason, and it

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Speaker 1: seems like that was one of the missing pieces we

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Speaker 1: was missing, and he came into this thing and he's

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Speaker 1: still doing this thing. So I don't know, man, It's

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Speaker 1: just how I was brought up. And I don't care

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Speaker 1: how we win. We can win these next the next

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Speaker 1: game to zero. But yeah, it doesn't matter who's who's

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Speaker 1: making play as long as we win. And honestly, I

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Speaker 1: could I could care less. I think we we we

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Speaker 1: respect each other's games, you know, we respect each other

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Speaker 1: as players. Um, what I've done in this league and

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Speaker 1: when he's done in this league and when he accomplished

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Speaker 1: and whatever. And you know, I asked questions, he asked questions,

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Speaker 1: and I think that would helpless. I think also just

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Speaker 1: knowing him a little bit, you know in our times

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Speaker 1: of you know, playing in the league and playing running back.

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Speaker 1: Now him a little bit. Having a relationship helps, but

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Speaker 1: I think seeing how he works and seeing how it works,

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Speaker 1: I think they puts us together and it's been going

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Speaker 1: well so far. I don't think anybody is surprised by

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Speaker 1: Girlie's production anytime he's on the field. I mean, he's

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Speaker 1: considered one of the best backs in the league for

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Speaker 1: a reason. But with Anderson, it's still pretty remarkable that

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Speaker 1: he's averaged one hundred and forty yards rushing in his

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Speaker 1: three games since joining Los Angeles, and it's not like

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Speaker 1: all of that has come in one game. I mean,

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Speaker 1: his lowest total as a RAM was last week, and

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Speaker 1: even that was one hundred and twenty three yards rushing.

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Speaker 1: So on Thursday, a reporter asked Anderson about being cut

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Speaker 1: three times in twenty eighteen before finding his solid role

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Speaker 1: with LA. That's just think circumstances in time, and you know,

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Speaker 1: Denver was cap space. Carolina put, you know, put their

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Speaker 1: faith in Christian McCaffrey, who had a hell of a

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Speaker 1: year arguably might be the offensive player of the year

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Speaker 1: this year, and then Oakland get to alignment hurt and

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Speaker 1: they got to protect their franchise quarterback for their future.

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Speaker 1: So it's just the circumstance and in the time, and

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Speaker 1: it was just my turn that year. I think that

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Speaker 1: was the difference obviously with all those three teams. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, all gms, all head coaches said the same thing.

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Speaker 1: Didn't want to let me go, But that's kind of

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Speaker 1: how it worked. The Saints will definitely present a challenge

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Speaker 1: against the run though, is they finished fourth in the

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Speaker 1: league in rushing yards allowed and second, giving up an

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Speaker 1: average of only three point six yards per carry. But

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Speaker 1: I mean, we know what the Cowboys were last week,

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Speaker 1: number five coming in against the run, and we saw

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Speaker 1: what the Rams did there. So here's what Todd Gurley

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Speaker 1: had to say about the Saints run defense. They got

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Speaker 1: great players, Klin, you know, PJ Sean, Cam Jordan. So

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Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, you know, we

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Speaker 1: have a game plan and it's just gonna come down

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Speaker 1: to who's the most physical and who don't turn the

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Speaker 1: ball over and over and put the most points on

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Speaker 1: the board. So they're just going to be one of

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Speaker 1: those games. Shifting gears a little bit. Last week, Jared

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Speaker 1: Goff said he knows that quarterbacks are often judged by

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Speaker 1: what they're able to do in the postseason, since that

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Speaker 1: is a big part of what cements their legacy. So

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Speaker 1: to that end, Golf was able to get his first

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Speaker 1: playoff victory last week against Dallas. Now that these one

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Speaker 1: and one in the postseason, Here's what Golf said about

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Speaker 1: what he learned on what it takes to win in

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Speaker 1: postseason football. It's they're always big games, they're always good teams,

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Speaker 1: and there's always big moments that you know require you know,

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Speaker 1: poison and being you know there for your teammates and

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Speaker 1: making the play when it matters. And I felt like

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Speaker 1: on offense, defense especial teams, we just kept doing that

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Speaker 1: over and over, making those plays when it mattered, the

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Speaker 1: fourth down stop of the defense, you know, various open

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Speaker 1: field tackles they made, you know, some of the runs

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Speaker 1: that we had on offense, some of the third down

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Speaker 1: conversions we had. We were good on third down, And

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Speaker 1: I think all that stuff is so important to sustaining

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Speaker 1: drives and winning games, especially in the playoffs, when you

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Speaker 1: know the other team is likely to capitalize on whatever

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Speaker 1: mistakes you will make. I think we all know that

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Speaker 1: Golf had some struggles after the bye week. Those were

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Speaker 1: well documented, but they also appear to be behind him.

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Speaker 1: At this point. So but with all the extra media

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Speaker 1: attention this week for the LA Rams. Over the last

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Speaker 1: couple of days, both golf and head coach Sean McVay

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Speaker 1: addressed how the twenty four year old signal caller was

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Speaker 1: able to get back on track late in the season.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's every once in a while you have

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Speaker 1: a bad game or two, and I think that was

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Speaker 1: a situation there. And how many games we play since then?

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Speaker 1: Probably four, I believe Arizona San Francisco, well, I guess

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Speaker 1: the Eagles, Arizona San Francisco and then Dallas. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: I feel good in those last four since those and

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Speaker 1: you know, there was various reasons why we weren't doing

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Speaker 1: well offensively and why I wasn't my sharpest, and I

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Speaker 1: feel like we fixed those four weeks ago and I

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Speaker 1: feel pretty good now. I think we talked about it

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Speaker 1: a little bit, lindsay it really Sometimes it can be

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Speaker 1: just the fact of a ball bouncing one way or

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Speaker 1: the other. You know, the quarterback is under such a

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Speaker 1: microscope with every single thing, and sometimes if you have

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Speaker 1: a game where you know a play that you're aggressive,

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Speaker 1: you try to fit it into a window. Two of

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Speaker 1: those times where it gets tipped up and they end

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Speaker 1: up getting picks on those plays where sometimes they go

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Speaker 1: incomplete or you fitted in there for a completion. That's

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Speaker 1: the difference in somebody being evaluated as in a slump

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Speaker 1: out of a slump. So I think it's such a

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Speaker 1: fine line. But what he's done a good job of

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Speaker 1: is the consistent decision making down in and down out.

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Speaker 1: I think the ability to distribute the ball and get

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Speaker 1: a variety of playmakers involved whatever phase of our passing

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Speaker 1: game that we're operating in. I thought he did do

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Speaker 1: some really good things in the Philly game, and then

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Speaker 1: we talked about really going back to the Chicago game.

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Speaker 1: You know that that really was you know, that was

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Speaker 1: a collaborative effort and it had started with me there.

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Speaker 1: So I think everybody wants to make a big deal

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Speaker 1: of the way that he was playing, but I think

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Speaker 1: in large part it's because he was playing at such

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Speaker 1: an elite level. He almost became a victim of his

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Speaker 1: own success. But he really didn't fall off at all.

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Speaker 1: I think it was just some of those things that bounced,

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Speaker 1: you know, one way or the other, and then defensive

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Speaker 1: guys made some good place so he settled in. I

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Speaker 1: think he's done an excellent job over the last month

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Speaker 1: of the season, and most importantly, I think our team's

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Speaker 1: in a good place. One thing golf is definitely going

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Speaker 1: to have to contend with on Sunday is the crowd

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Speaker 1: noise at the mercedeses Been Superdome. And it's not like

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Speaker 1: the Rams haven't played in loud environments. I mean, hick

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Speaker 1: they even played in the Superdome earlier this year, and

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Speaker 1: of course they do go to Seattle once a year.

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Speaker 1: But the Rams run game coordinator Aaron Cromer, He's got

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Speaker 1: a lot of experience in that Superdome, having coached for

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Speaker 1: New Orleans for years. Cromer was coaching the Saints offensive

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Speaker 1: line back when they won the Super Bowl in that

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Speaker 1: two thousand and nine seasons, so he knows how rocking

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Speaker 1: that environment is going to be in a championship game

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Speaker 1: and how it could affect the Rams communication. A lot

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Speaker 1: of the Superdome has been that I was in was

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Speaker 1: a championship game. Don't bring this up to John Sullivan

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Speaker 1: because he was on the vikings at the times when

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Speaker 1: the Saints beat the John Sullivan's vikings in the championship

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Speaker 1: game in two thousand and nine season. After the two

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Speaker 1: thousand and nine and that was a lot of us

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Speaker 1: have heard it, so we're expecting it to be loud

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Speaker 1: this week. You know, the crowd, they loved their team

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Speaker 1: and they're going to pack the place and they know

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Speaker 1: that they can have an impact in their minds on

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Speaker 1: the game. And so we're expected in that noise. So

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Speaker 1: what does that mean for Jared Goff and the rest

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Speaker 1: of the offense on Sunday? Whenever you're in a place

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Speaker 1: like that and it is loud, you know, you obviously

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Speaker 1: can't hear very well and have to use a lot

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Speaker 1: of visual signals and a lot of you know, visual

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Speaker 1: communication and just be on the screws just that much

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Speaker 1: much that much more because you can't really communicate the

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Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. You can't get things changed much to

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Speaker 1: the line stcrimmage in the huddle, just making sure everyone's

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Speaker 1: on the screws and knows what they're doing. Aaron Donald

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Speaker 1: was named the Pro Football Writers of America Defensive Player

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Speaker 1: of the Year on Wednesday. And while Donald was the

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Speaker 1: AP Defensive Player of the Year last season and is

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Speaker 1: the favorite to repeat, this is actually the first time

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Speaker 1: that he's won the PFWA Award this week, though he

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Speaker 1: is focused on getting the quarterback Drew Brees, who is

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Speaker 1: a surefire Hall of Famer. Donald sack Breese twice in

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Speaker 1: his career, once in twenty sixteen at the Superdome and

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Speaker 1: then again in twenty seventeen when the Rams defeated New

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Speaker 1: World at the LA Coliseum. So does Breeze do anything

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Speaker 1: special in the pocket to evade defenders? Aaron Donald was

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Speaker 1: asked that on Thursday, Well, anytime you play against a

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Speaker 1: great quarterback like that, you know he's gonna do things

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Speaker 1: that you know, the typic of a numerical quarterback ain't

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Speaker 1: gonna do. So we know what they expect. Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: we try to do what we gotta do to you know,

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Speaker 1: try our best to make them uncomfortable and get after them.

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Speaker 1: And you know, um, but we got to stop the

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Speaker 1: run first before we think about rushing the parish. So, um,

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Speaker 1: we got two great backs, we got to slow down

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Speaker 1: and trying to find a way to stop. I think

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Speaker 1: we do that we get after the quarterback and trying

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Speaker 1: to pick some pressure on us. So Donald mentioned it there,

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Speaker 1: and it's the same line he often uses. The Rams

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Speaker 1: have to stop the run in order to earn the

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Speaker 1: right to rush the passer, and in this case that

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Speaker 1: means getting after a pair of backs with a lot

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Speaker 1: of ability and Alvin Kamara and then mark Ingram. Here's

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Speaker 1: what Donald had to say. But what they do to

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Speaker 1: make it tough on defenses. They can do everything. They

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Speaker 1: can bounce outside, they can run in between the tackles,

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Speaker 1: they can catch the ball off the backfield. So when

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Speaker 1: you got Um, then you got two backs that can

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Speaker 1: do the same, similar things. So you know, I just

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Speaker 1: got to trying to bottle him up and find ways

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Speaker 1: to slow him down and stop him if that's in

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Speaker 1: the run game or the past game. So I'm glad

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Speaker 1: with our hands full with that. So but you know,

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Speaker 1: like I said, we got to get a great game plan.

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Speaker 1: Everybody's flying around, anybody's hungry, so um, you know, finding confident.

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Speaker 1: Back in the Week nine loss to New Orleans, the

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Speaker 1: Rams didn't have cornerback a Keep to Leave on the field.

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Speaker 1: You still on injured reserve, then with an ankle injury

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Speaker 1: that really kept him out for half the season. To

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Speaker 1: Leave's presence has definitely been felt on defense since his

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Speaker 1: return in that Detroit game, and coordinator Wade Phillips expects

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Speaker 1: that to continue on Sunday. Well, it changes. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know, as you can see, I mean, since the

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Speaker 1: keeps have been back, we haven't given up a lot

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Speaker 1: of big plays in the passing game. So you know,

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Speaker 1: he helps right there. He helps with communication, he helps

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Speaker 1: with his talent, and and we don't have to change

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Speaker 1: people around to cover up for a guy that hadn't

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Speaker 1: been playing. So gives us a versatility that we didn't

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Speaker 1: have when he wasn't in there, and I think we

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Speaker 1: played better since he's been in there. Talib himself was

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Speaker 1: also asked about what he feels like he can bring

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Speaker 1: to the defense against New Orleans the second time around,

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Speaker 1: but he said it's more about how the unit as

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Speaker 1: a whole prepares and executes than anything about him as

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Speaker 1: an individual. I think all of us just preparing for

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Speaker 1: the game different. It's a huge game, so everybody's having

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Speaker 1: real sharp meetings and we all gonna bring a little

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Speaker 1: something different to take one thing. Finally, let's get to

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Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh, who's been one of the more aggressive play

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Speaker 1: callers in the league since becoming a head coach, but

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Speaker 1: especially this season. We saw it last week when McVeigh

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Speaker 1: elected to go for it on fourth down a couple

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Speaker 1: of times. It was early in the game with a

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Speaker 1: golf QB sneak that was successful, and then in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter two on fourth and goal from the one

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Speaker 1: and C. J. Anderson got a touchdown out of that.

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Speaker 1: So on Thursday, McVeigh was asked about striking a balance

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Speaker 1: between being aggressive but not too aggressive, and here's what

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Speaker 1: he had to say. It goes back to the communication

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Speaker 1: that exists amongst really our coaching staff and really kind

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Speaker 1: of following our process. And then there is an element

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Speaker 1: where a lot of those decisions. You know, I see

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Speaker 1: the stats and different things like that, but so much

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Speaker 1: of it is a product of a gut feel. You know.

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Speaker 1: The one thing I think is, especially when you're talking

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Speaker 1: about football, compared to some of the other stats where

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Speaker 1: you use those numbers, you're talking about twenty two moving

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Speaker 1: parts on every single snap, matchups that occur. You know,

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Speaker 1: I get what it says on the fourth and one,

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Speaker 1: here's what the chart says, different things like that. But

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Speaker 1: if you feel like you're getting good knockoff, you've got

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Speaker 1: confidence and a belief in your players to be able

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Speaker 1: to execute. That's more of a gut thing than sometimes

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Speaker 1: It is same thing with the QB sneak that we

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Speaker 1: did in Seattle. So I think we are an aggressive

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Speaker 1: team by nature. I think that's our mindset, that's our mentality.

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Speaker 1: But you don't want to be reckless. So there's an

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Speaker 1: element of making sure that that communication is amongst your coaches,

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Speaker 1: where you're utilizing those resources around you. But then there's

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Speaker 1: also a feel where, man, we feel real confident in

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Speaker 1: our players ability to execute, and we're going to play,

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Speaker 1: you know, not fear and failure, but to go attack

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to go win a conference championship with two

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Speaker 1: explosive of offenses, You've got to expect that We're going

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Speaker 1: to see a couple of situations where Sean McVeigh and

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Speaker 1: Sean Payton may need to make a decision and we

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Speaker 1: will see just how aggressive they are. So that'll do

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Speaker 1: it for this Friday, January eighteenth edition of Between the Horns.

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Speaker 1: Milesimmon saying, thanks so much for listening for continuing coverage

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Speaker 1: of the NFC Championship game. Make sure you keep it

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Speaker 1: locked to the rams dot com. Kickoff between the Rams

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Speaker 1: and Saints will be at noon Pacific on Sunday, enjoy

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Speaker 1: the game Rabbit