Speaker 1: Hey there, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the
Speaker 1: Dave Pash Podcast. I'm your host Arizona Cardinals, an ESPN
Speaker 1: play by play announcer Dave Pash. My guest this week
Speaker 1: is CBS broadcaster Charles Davis, who is simply one of
Speaker 1: the best in the biz, and he's also one of
Speaker 1: the best guys in the business. Saw Charles as he
Speaker 1: was calling the Titans Cardinals preseason game for Tennessee Television
Speaker 1: and always good to catch up with him. One of
Speaker 1: the friendliest people in our business, so good at what
Speaker 1: he does, whether it was calling college games for all
Speaker 1: those years at Fox, calling NFL at Fox, are now
Speaker 1: at CBS. With his broadcast partner Ian Eagle, We'll talk Cardinals,
Speaker 1: We'll talk NFC West, We'll talk about other teams that
Speaker 1: maybe under the radar that Charles has his ion potentially
Speaker 1: to make the Super Bowl. So the Cardinals are as
Speaker 1: good as shape as anyone. To me, it all comes
Speaker 1: down to one thing. Kyler Murray, Cliff Kingsberry, both of
Speaker 1: them to me, have to find a way to bring
Speaker 1: the rest of tea the law that the second half
Speaker 1: of the season is exciting and winning as the first
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Speaker 1: eight hundred. Next step. Now time to hear from one
Speaker 1: of the top analysts in the sport, CBS's Charles Davis.
Speaker 1: First off, Charles, we are in a business where there
Speaker 1: are a lot of egos. Like I've had other former
Speaker 1: coaches and former players coming into our business and say, Man,
Speaker 1: there are more egos in this business than they weren't
Speaker 1: football or basketball. You're one guy that has no ego
Speaker 1: and you work with Iron Ego on CBS. And I've
Speaker 1: known Iron for thirty years. He was a big help
Speaker 1: to me when I was coming out of college. Still
Speaker 1: is a big help to me. Yeah. But the two
Speaker 1: of you guys are two of the nicest guys in
Speaker 1: this business. So you've been working together for a couple
Speaker 1: of years. Do you ever argue? Do you agree on everything?
Speaker 1: You guys must be the best announced team to be around. Oh,
Speaker 1: you're awfully kime first and foremost, Dave. That's very nice
Speaker 1: of you to say. It's greatly appreciated. Second, anyone who
Speaker 1: really knows me knows I do have an ego, and
Speaker 1: plenty of it. Okay. I mean, let's face it, if
Speaker 1: we're in this business, every one of us does to
Speaker 1: some extent because we know what it's like and the
Speaker 1: willingness to put yourself out there and the whole thing
Speaker 1: and to believe that, Yeah, what I'm doing is pretty
Speaker 1: darn good. Yeah, we all have it. My thing, I
Speaker 1: think is learning along the way and coming up the
Speaker 1: way that I've had to come up. I have more
Speaker 1: to prove all the time, Dave. So I'm not one
Speaker 1: that has a resume that just sings out at you.
Speaker 1: You know, I wasn't an All American, I wasn't an
Speaker 1: All pro I wasn't a Coach of the Year. I
Speaker 1: wasn't all those things. So I have to keep working
Speaker 1: to prove. So no no way, shape or form can
Speaker 1: I jump into the front of the line and go
Speaker 1: look at me and do jazz hands. It just doesn't
Speaker 1: work that way. He's unbelievable, isn't he. I mean, as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, he helped you, he helps me all the time.
Speaker 1: There's things we disagree about, but I don't I'd be
Speaker 1: stunned to find out if we had this question ten
Speaker 1: years down the road, that he and I ever had
Speaker 1: cross words. I mean, it's just he's so good and
Speaker 1: so brilliant and so smart. I'm very, very happy to
Speaker 1: follow his lead, and at the same time, when I
Speaker 1: have something to offer, he considers it, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's everything is legit, and if we decide not to
Speaker 1: do something, there's always a valid reason for it. So
Speaker 1: I don't spend any time going I can't believe he
Speaker 1: didn't want to do my idea. I mean, every idea
Speaker 1: I have isn't brilliant. I like to thank you this,
Speaker 1: but you mentioned I mean, you remind me in some
Speaker 1: ways of Kirk Herbstreet, who you know, didn't have this
Speaker 1: tremendous resume in terms of being a player that you
Speaker 1: know won multiple national championships or an All American or
Speaker 1: a pro bowler, yet here the two of you guys
Speaker 1: are among the top analysts in the world. And take
Speaker 1: me through because you did such a great job at
Speaker 1: Fox for so long, whether it was with Gus Johnson
Speaker 1: or Kevin Burkhardt, and then you get the number two
Speaker 1: gig at CBS, which includes a playoff game. Take me
Speaker 1: through the decision Charles to leave Fox where you'd been
Speaker 1: for a long time and go to CBS. Well, you
Speaker 1: know that again, I really really appreciate that. And we
Speaker 1: know how you know terriffic Kirk is. I mean, look
Speaker 1: at him east top of the food chain in terms of,
Speaker 1: you know, the respect, the analysis. Plus he's an incredible worker.
Speaker 1: I mean, how many jobs does that man have? I mean,
Speaker 1: just waking up in the morning, I'm tired of thinking
Speaker 1: about what kirk schedule is going to be this fall,
Speaker 1: and that he's edited Amazon and everything else. And you know,
Speaker 1: I always always would tease it before. Now we made
Speaker 1: that similar resumes if you know what one for you
Speaker 1: hear you played quarterback at Ohio State. Okay, at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, that does not hurt. But when
Speaker 1: you go behind things, as you've alluded to, and I'll
Speaker 1: stop here on Kirk after this and move on. He
Speaker 1: had to wait his turn there, right, If I remember correctly,
Speaker 1: I think he was a fifth year, first year starter
Speaker 1: and captain to the team. So the respect level was
Speaker 1: there because he waited his turn in terms of hey,
Speaker 1: i went out the starter, but I'm still a great
Speaker 1: practice player, I'm still a great teammate. I'm still ready
Speaker 1: if they need me. And then when it was his turn,
Speaker 1: he produced in a big way. But think about nowadays, Dave,
Speaker 1: and again, I'm not lasting anyone because when I was
Speaker 1: a freshman at Tennessee, I was very unhappy my first investor.
Speaker 1: I thought about transferring too. So I get it when
Speaker 1: people want to move if. I don't think there's any
Speaker 1: denying that the movement now is well beyond anything we've
Speaker 1: seen before. Kirch in this day and age may he
Speaker 1: may not have stated how he might have found another place,
Speaker 1: but he did find this his niche there, but he
Speaker 1: understands what the grind is. He understands the effort you
Speaker 1: have to put in. He also understands the word patience.
Speaker 1: So I've been fortunate. I've sit next to some really
Speaker 1: great people. As you've mentioned, you know from from from
Speaker 1: Dick Stockton helping room me Tom Brennaman. Before that you
Speaker 1: mentioned Kevin Now of course the Iron I hope. I'm
Speaker 1: not leaving any one out. I will say this, Kenny Albert,
Speaker 1: who would jump in during baseball season, brilliant guy. I've
Speaker 1: been lucky, you know, Sam Rosen, all those things kicking in.
Speaker 1: I'm fortunate. Here's the deal. My time there between college
Speaker 1: football and NFL football. At a certain point it gat
Speaker 1: to where I sit, got to you know, there there
Speaker 1: was conversation that I wasn't quote unquote privy too, but
Speaker 1: I had understood, hey, you know, somebody else may be
Speaker 1: coming in. This may be happening. But as I said then,
Speaker 1: it made sense because my contract was coming up. CBS
Speaker 1: was interested in me, and as I tell everybody, without
Speaker 1: diving too deep at all, that it just made sense
Speaker 1: for me to be where I am now, which is
Speaker 1: a CPS and I consider myself grateful that they would
Speaker 1: want me to join their team. Well, you and I
Speaker 1: are great together, and you guys are going to be
Speaker 1: a great team for a long time. You called the
Speaker 1: game Sunday for CBS, the Steelers game, but then on Saturday,
Speaker 1: prior to that, you did our game against the Titans,
Speaker 1: for a yeah, it was. It was great catching up man.
Speaker 1: So it's in a way kind of a difficult question
Speaker 1: to ask for your thoughts on the Cardinals because nobody played.
Speaker 1: But what did you think based on what you saw? Well,
Speaker 1: it's it's you're right. I mean, if we're taking off
Speaker 1: the snapshot of what we saw, you and I can
Speaker 1: neither one of us could venture anything. And you're closer
Speaker 1: to the team than I am. Right. I mean around
Speaker 1: the league, if you ask teams, ask any anyone who
Speaker 1: watches their team, Hey, which take th team? I don't know.
Speaker 1: None of the guys play. I mean Pittsburgh against Detroit
Speaker 1: played guys a lot longer in Game three than than
Speaker 1: I would have expected. Nag Harris, there's running back played
Speaker 1: the entire first half. I think the whole entire starting
Speaker 1: offense played the first half. T J. Watt played the
Speaker 1: first half. I mean, it was you're iway sitting there
Speaker 1: going wow, this is not normal in this day and age.
Speaker 1: But that's how the Steelers do it. And I'd say
Speaker 1: Mike thomas track record is pretty good on it. For
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, I had to take them an aggregate, Dave,
Speaker 1: and this is a good football team. We know it's
Speaker 1: a good football team. They were in the playoffs last year.
Speaker 1: Did they lose anything anyone? You know that makes the
Speaker 1: appreciable difference. Well, you're always wondering if this guy's gone,
Speaker 1: will not change things with that guy. But I feel
Speaker 1: like they have such a good core roster and she's
Speaker 1: not worried as much about that other people up to
Speaker 1: plug in play. That happens everywhere around the league. So
Speaker 1: the Cardinals are as good as shape as anyone. To me,
Speaker 1: it all comes down to one thing, Kyler Murray Cliff
Speaker 1: Kingsbury that can them. Both of them to me, have
Speaker 1: to find a way to a long bring the rest
Speaker 1: of the team a law that the second half of
Speaker 1: the season is exciting and winning as the first half.
Speaker 1: And that may sound trite, but I don't know that
Speaker 1: there's anything else left for this Cardinals team to prove
Speaker 1: they're good. They wouldn't the playoffs last year day and
Speaker 1: you watch them, please tell me if I'm wrong. But
Speaker 1: the previous two seasons, there were opportunities to make the
Speaker 1: playoffs in those seasons, but they couldn't close it the
Speaker 1: on the second half of the year. This past year
Speaker 1: they sprinted out so far ahead that when they did
Speaker 1: hit bumps in the second half year, they could weather them.
Speaker 1: But they weren't good going into the playoffs, and then
Speaker 1: they didn't well in the playoffs. And look, Cliff Kingsbury
Speaker 1: has exceeded what many would have thought when he was
Speaker 1: named head coach. Why well, look at the resume coming
Speaker 1: in Texas Tech. Losing record overall second half of any
Speaker 1: season in Texas Tech, never a winning record. It was
Speaker 1: gonna be the offin's coordinate at USC all of sudden
Speaker 1: head coaching have what just happened here? But he's proven
Speaker 1: his metal in terms of adapting, putting together a heck
Speaker 1: of a product, getting better every year on the field,
Speaker 1: and then getting to the playoffs last year. But that
Speaker 1: does go with him. The second part is Kylin Murray.
Speaker 1: We went through the entire offseason with the Kylin Murray
Speaker 1: drama of this is that and everything. But as he
Speaker 1: talented beyond belief, there's times I have to believe, Dave,
Speaker 1: when you're watching pleasures like did I just describe that?
Speaker 1: Because when we call games, I mean I am called
Speaker 1: the Hill Murray. I mean, so we've seen it. But
Speaker 1: now is he that guy going to move this team
Speaker 1: ahead and make that type of progress that they have
Speaker 1: to have in order to go deeper into the playoffs
Speaker 1: to be a factor, because it's all on him now.
Speaker 1: Every move has made in the offseason, every move has
Speaker 1: made in the preseason, in my mind, has been a
Speaker 1: reflection of management saying, give Kyler what he wants or
Speaker 1: what we believe he needs to make us better. That's
Speaker 1: my own estimation of it. I want to get back
Speaker 1: to Kyler, but you mentioned Cliff, and I've had to
Speaker 1: remind people that are cardinal fans of this. Often in
Speaker 1: today's NFL head coaching hires are as much about ability
Speaker 1: to develop and get the most out of the quarterback
Speaker 1: position as we've ever seen it. It's not necessarily about
Speaker 1: being CEO managing the whole organization. It's about that relationship
Speaker 1: with the quarterback. And you think about who Cliff worked with,
Speaker 1: and the problem is, other than Mike Evans, he didn't
Speaker 1: have a lot to work with for his quarterbacks, but
Speaker 1: he had case Keenum Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes, Johnny Manziel
Speaker 1: the year he won the Heisman, and now La Murray.
Speaker 1: And he deserves credit for helping all of those guys
Speaker 1: along the way. I'm curious if have you noticed any
Speaker 1: changes in the way Cliff has approached things, because we
Speaker 1: have here in terms of I think the biggest thing
Speaker 1: that stands out to me, obviously I'm close to it,
Speaker 1: so we see it every day is I think Cliff's
Speaker 1: he's such a humble guy and just a good dude
Speaker 1: that I think initially he didn't want to step on
Speaker 1: anybody's toes. He heard exactly what you were talking about,
Speaker 1: people saying, oh, why does he have this job? So
Speaker 1: I think he wanted to make sure that he didn't
Speaker 1: step on anybody's toes. And now that he's more comfortable,
Speaker 1: he's one, he has proven himself at this level. I
Speaker 1: think we're seeing more of who Cliff really is. He's
Speaker 1: a lot more comfortable with the media. We saw an
Speaker 1: edge last year with officials. I think that's really who
Speaker 1: Cliff is. So I'm curious if you've seen other things
Speaker 1: or heard other things about how he's grown and changed
Speaker 1: over the last few years. Dave, I think that's a
Speaker 1: great synopsis on it on Cliff, because the back round
Speaker 1: on and you know, some people may not be aware
Speaker 1: of Cliff comes out of this like so many others.
Speaker 1: He's the son of a coach too, raised in the game,
Speaker 1: cerebral quarterback who produced at a big time level of
Speaker 1: college football, had the cup of coffee in the NFL,
Speaker 1: was never a threat to be a starter, but a
Speaker 1: guy that you liked having on the roster was going
Speaker 1: to know your playbook, was gonna work hard, all those things.
Speaker 1: So he didn't just take in quarterback play along the
Speaker 1: way he took in coaching one oh one, relationships, all
Speaker 1: of that. So go back, and I agree with your
Speaker 1: point of getting the job hearing oh my god, who hired?
Speaker 1: What are you kidding me? And feeling it from the
Speaker 1: peers and that are in the business. You and I
Speaker 1: understand that, Dave, because when we're getting it, if we
Speaker 1: get a certain job, we may get congratulations, not all
Speaker 1: of them our heartfelt now, because that's just the way
Speaker 1: we are. Because some people are like, how do you
Speaker 1: get that job? Right now? The truth of the matter
Speaker 1: is you and I both privately have said the same
Speaker 1: things ourselves, how big get that job? And that's just
Speaker 1: the way. No, no, never, never, never never, Well, okay,
Speaker 1: let me but what the funny part is, you know,
Speaker 1: Clifford had to go through that, so I think you're
Speaker 1: spot on with that one. But now he's been through
Speaker 1: the fire, he's done these things, and I think that
Speaker 1: and what I've heard is more time with other positions,
Speaker 1: even though he's still running the offense. More time with
Speaker 1: those other coaches. In the beginning, hey, I'm counting on
Speaker 1: you to like you be the CEO of defense or whatever,
Speaker 1: that sort of a deal. Still that's there, But now
Speaker 1: I don't think I don't think he's shy about offering
Speaker 1: an opinion about what he's seeing, how it's being coached,
Speaker 1: what's going on out there, And people keep forgetting just
Speaker 1: because you coach one side of the ball more exclusively
Speaker 1: than the other doesn't mean you don't know what's going
Speaker 1: on on the other side. In fact, your experiences on
Speaker 1: that side of the ball can help you and help
Speaker 1: your other side of the ball get better. If you're
Speaker 1: a defensive coach, you're going to sit with your offense
Speaker 1: Cordner and tell him, Hey, this is what i'm seeing
Speaker 1: from your crew, and this is how I would stop you.
Speaker 1: This is what I want to do. If you're an
Speaker 1: offensive coach going to the d coordinay, Hey, these types
Speaker 1: of things that I'm running or I'm seeing, or what
Speaker 1: I suspect they're going to do with you, And this
Speaker 1: is how I think they're going to attack you use
Speaker 1: those eyes to help that go on. And so I
Speaker 1: think he's gotten to that stage, and I think it
Speaker 1: burns him to know that that records out there the
Speaker 1: second half of a year and trying to figure it
Speaker 1: out to where they find where they finished strong and
Speaker 1: they got into the playoffs and have an opportunity to
Speaker 1: win some playoff teams and go deeper. That's the next
Speaker 1: goal for him, and he's a competitor throwing through. He's
Speaker 1: not taking that lightly, and I think he's going to
Speaker 1: try and attack that as well. And obviously the team
Speaker 1: has to produce. But Dave, imagine if if that's what
Speaker 1: you're hearing everywhere you go, and the problem is, it
Speaker 1: isn't what'sit deal. This isn't one where we're just talking
Speaker 1: about it. We can point to actual numbers and say, okay,
Speaker 1: here they are. How do you fix that? You've known
Speaker 1: Charles and covered Kyler Murray going back to even when
Speaker 1: he was at Texas A and M before he went
Speaker 1: to Oklahoma and won the Heisman Trophy and then was
Speaker 1: the number one overall pick in the draft. You know
Speaker 1: the family he played against his dad. I think you
Speaker 1: guys were in college at the same time play against him,
Speaker 1: but we were the same time frame. And this is
Speaker 1: how old I am. I called a bunch of Cliffs
Speaker 1: games at College of Texas Tech, So I'm an old dude.
Speaker 1: You've been doing this a long time and at a
Speaker 1: high level. So, but what's your assessment of Kyler's ceiling
Speaker 1: Because you talked about it and you witnessed the game
Speaker 1: against Buffalo a couple of years ago. I mean, he
Speaker 1: can he can do that now, I mean the crazy,
Speaker 1: the unimaginable, he can do that. The question ever on
Speaker 1: everybody's mind here is, you know, can he do it consistently?
Speaker 1: Can he deliver not just in one big game, but
Speaker 1: in a series of big games to get you to
Speaker 1: a championship. Look, you said something that I've really latched onto,
Speaker 1: and you talked about how Cliff has coached all these
Speaker 1: quarterbacks and helped make them better. And what I always
Speaker 1: talk about is to me, and you call a lot
Speaker 1: of college football too, So please tell me if you
Speaker 1: sink something different. I don't believe the game of football
Speaker 1: is as quarterback centric as it is right now, like
Speaker 1: it's never been this quarterback centric. I grew up in
Speaker 1: an era where you could actually play around your quarterback
Speaker 1: by how the game was played. If you had that,
Speaker 1: that that horrible expression of game manager. See to me,
Speaker 1: a game manager is Tom Brady, is Peyton Manning, It's
Speaker 1: it's Drew Prize, it's you know, Patrick Walls. The guys
Speaker 1: at the top of the food chain manage the game
Speaker 1: better than anyone. But I know the way that we
Speaker 1: use it popularly as game managers. Guy who is not
Speaker 1: quite the guy that you point to hopefully won't get you,
Speaker 1: be hopefull he'll make the right decisions. All of that.
Speaker 1: I could open era when you could do that with
Speaker 1: your quarterback and still win championships. I don't think you
Speaker 1: can do that now. I think your quarterback has to
Speaker 1: be that person everything runs through. You're too big, the
Speaker 1: the the Baltimore Ravens defense that carried him to a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and everyone talks about that. No. My reminder
Speaker 1: is Dave Trent Dilfer was a first round pickular quarterback, right,
Speaker 1: so I know you're ripping him, But at the same time,
Speaker 1: It's not like he didn't have talent. Was it a
Speaker 1: weird year? Yeah, they went to the entire bunth of
Speaker 1: October Then's quote off as a touchdown and won a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. So yes, that defense was predominant. But there's
Speaker 1: less and less where one side of the ball, meaning
Speaker 1: defense in art this case carries you that far. At
Speaker 1: some point your quarterbacks gotta be able to make plays.
Speaker 1: To me, there is no ceiling with Kyler Murray, now
Speaker 1: that we've broken down the barrier about height and people
Speaker 1: so concerned. This kid never was Paul Bunyan. He's always played,
Speaker 1: having to learn how to do that and to go
Speaker 1: undefeated in high school, to go through some bumps in
Speaker 1: college and come out the other side. You know, he
Speaker 1: wasn't total silver spoon Texas A and M. It didn't
Speaker 1: go so great as verse year. He and Kyle Allen
Speaker 1: both transferred out. Then he goes and get shit behind
Speaker 1: the Heisman Trophy winner in Mayfield longer than he thought.
Speaker 1: Still managed to hang in there, win the Heisman. This
Speaker 1: posun picking baseball, Dave, I don't think there's a ceiling.
Speaker 1: I think there's nothing he can't do. He can be
Speaker 1: that exciting the consistency is going to be the word
Speaker 1: meaning to me down the stretch, bigger games, and can
Speaker 1: he find ways to win when he doesn't have his
Speaker 1: best stuff. It's like a great pitcher, you know, he
Speaker 1: used to used to get in fifteen ten, you know,
Speaker 1: ten twelve strikeouts the game. Now he doesn't have that.
Speaker 1: But can he pitch his way and keep his team
Speaker 1: in it? And all of a sudden go strikeouts turned
Speaker 1: into the ground balls. Okay, he doesn't have his best stuff.
Speaker 1: Instead of winning, you know, two to one, he finds
Speaker 1: a way to hold him the four runs. His team
Speaker 1: wins by four. Those are the times when you find
Speaker 1: out about a quarterback. When you're seventeen to thirty eight
Speaker 1: going into the fourth quarter and somehow in the last
Speaker 1: drive you fashion it together and go six verse seven
Speaker 1: and stick it in the end zone. That's when found
Speaker 1: a quarterback. Not to days you're twenty eight at thirty one,
Speaker 1: that's not when you find out who you are. And
Speaker 1: those are the things that we're looking for. I think
Speaker 1: from a Kyler Murray was more than capable of doing
Speaker 1: everything I mentioned and ends up and I couldn't agree
Speaker 1: with you more about what you said about and the
Speaker 1: Cardinals no that that's why they gave Kyle to the contract.
Speaker 1: The hope is that it works out great, but if
Speaker 1: it doesn't, Okay, you had to. You had to. You're
Speaker 1: in a position. We absolutely had to do that. And
Speaker 1: definitely you know, the last two guests we had on
Speaker 1: this podcast, we had Jason Light the Buccaneers GM think
Speaker 1: how his life is different with Tom Brady coming back
Speaker 1: as opposed to not And Dabo Sweeney, who I just
Speaker 1: had on the other day. You know, Clemson and made
Speaker 1: the college football playoffs six straight years. They missed it
Speaker 1: last year. Well, why well, the quarterback didn't play well.
Speaker 1: And San Francisco clearly Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch feel, Okay,
Speaker 1: Jimmy Gee, We've got a great defense, We've got Deebo
Speaker 1: Samuel who can do everything, but Jimmy just can't get
Speaker 1: us to that next level. They think Trey Lance Ken,
Speaker 1: how much you've seen if Trey Lance I don't know
Speaker 1: if you had San Francisco at all last year, but
Speaker 1: do you think do you think Trey Lance in the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers are a contender in the NFC West
Speaker 1: and beyond. I think that they are. I did a
Speaker 1: lot of work on him Dave prior to the draft.
Speaker 1: I've not had him as a professional yet, but I
Speaker 1: think that they are and should be because of what
Speaker 1: we talked about a little bit, meaning that defense is
Speaker 1: so good you don't want to waste it. And it's
Speaker 1: a calculated gamble. Jimmy G's been to an NFC Championship
Speaker 1: game and a Super Bowl. So if you're going to
Speaker 1: turn your back on a guy who's gotten that far,
Speaker 1: you got to have conviction that that did it's not
Speaker 1: going to get better. And that's why Lance became the guy.
Speaker 1: So you're saying, now, okay, we're bringing in the guy
Speaker 1: whos gonna take us farther calculated gamble. The Rams did
Speaker 1: that with Jared Goff, who had taken them to a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl or have been a part of a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl team. How for the Rams fans want to talk
Speaker 1: about it. He was the quarterback and if they get
Speaker 1: a catch in the end zone in the Super Bowl game,
Speaker 1: the outcome might be different too. But they decided that
Speaker 1: he was only going to take them so far. Calculated
Speaker 1: gamble and if boy, it paid off, Matthew Stafford, they
Speaker 1: get it. They want it. Class guitar dropped an interception.
Speaker 1: We might have a different script going how big, but
Speaker 1: the bottom line is it gets done. So now everybody's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe I'm bolder. Now I go for it. Lance's skills
Speaker 1: are phenomenal. Oh, Dave, I don't know if you've seen
Speaker 1: him in person. Yes, he played in one of the
Speaker 1: games last year against the Cardinals. He played instead of
Speaker 1: Jimmy g Yeah, how gorgeous you to look at? Oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, right, but remember one season at the one
Speaker 1: double a level, one game the next year, and then
Speaker 1: essentially not much play since then. So you're counting on
Speaker 1: him making a big leap in a short amount of time,
Speaker 1: which is essentially kind of his rookie season playing hurt
Speaker 1: last year. But I do think that they feel like
Speaker 1: they can play around it a little bit. Kyle is
Speaker 1: not averse to running the football, and they run it
Speaker 1: quite well and let him get his sea legs and
Speaker 1: then start expanding his plate as they go along. It
Speaker 1: won't be easy, but they're taking that calculated gamble that
Speaker 1: he can get them over the top when it comes time,
Speaker 1: that he'll make those plays. And maybe they didn't get
Speaker 1: before from Jimmy Garoppolo. It's an interesting fix, an interesting
Speaker 1: situation in a day. You're good enough to get to
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl, almost won it, You're good enough get
Speaker 1: to an NFC championship game, almost got to another super Bowl.
Speaker 1: That's not good enough, and they move on. And we've
Speaker 1: seen people do this throughout time, college programs that aren't great,
Speaker 1: but somehow this coach is winning eight or nine a
Speaker 1: year and they go, you know, we can win more
Speaker 1: than eight or nine a year, and they fire that
Speaker 1: coach and the next coach doesn't come close to win
Speaker 1: an eight or nine. So it's a calculated gamble. It's
Speaker 1: so hard to repeat too now in the NFL because
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks, there's so many great quarterbacks spread throughout the league.
Speaker 1: And you know Matthew Stafford, who knows with the elbow situation,
Speaker 1: if he's going to be one hundred percent at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the year or maybe even throughout the year.
Speaker 1: And the Rams, like you know, it came down to
Speaker 1: the last game of the season. The Cardinals win that
Speaker 1: game at home, the Rams are on the road. Maybe
Speaker 1: they still make the Super Bowl and win it, but
Speaker 1: it would have been a different path in terms of
Speaker 1: locations of their games. It wasn't like they were a
Speaker 1: great team all year. They got hot in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Do you see them legitimately being in the conversation in
Speaker 1: the end to repeat this year? I do, And the
Speaker 1: reason is, and you framed it perfectly. I'm going with Okay,
Speaker 1: let's say Matthew Stafford is more than healthy enough somehow
Speaker 1: somewhere right they were past the elbow or is not
Speaker 1: going to hinder him and he can play and all that,
Speaker 1: I think they are. There's a confidence that goes with
Speaker 1: doing what they did last year. There is a you
Speaker 1: saw how guys and how they keep filling in different
Speaker 1: people on the roster. We know about the f those
Speaker 1: picks T shirt. The unwritten part of it is, yeah,
Speaker 1: those I you did make those pretty darn good and
Speaker 1: accounting on some of those guys to be even better
Speaker 1: this year, like in Ernest Jones at linebacker, Well, I
Speaker 1: love coming out of South Carolina. Didn't get much burned
Speaker 1: last year, but he's can be account out to be
Speaker 1: a frontline guy and I think he can play to
Speaker 1: that level. So those are the types of things you
Speaker 1: see them developed well. With the Sean mcvayan crew. He
Speaker 1: had a chance to do the introspection. He had a
Speaker 1: chance to come over to the dark side with us,
Speaker 1: right Dave big money too, Yep, and he realized that's
Speaker 1: not who he is. He still burns to be a coach.
Speaker 1: That speaks well for him. Aaron Donald's talking about for
Speaker 1: the retiring what have you, Well, it certainly looks like
Speaker 1: he's still firing. I'm not in favor of anyone swinging
Speaker 1: helmet than anyone else. Believe me, if there was any
Speaker 1: type of action taken, I would be applauding it. I
Speaker 1: know that they're not, and they have to study that
Speaker 1: in the future. But I'm feeling about Aaron Donald the
Speaker 1: essence of wanting to be a great player, which he's
Speaker 1: always been. I don't think that goes away. And I
Speaker 1: just think that they still feel like there's more out there.
Speaker 1: I say, you know, they want to be the next
Speaker 1: Patriots who that that repeat. People haven't done that in
Speaker 1: a long time, and I feel like they've got the
Speaker 1: firepower to do it. Remember, they didn't get cam Akers
Speaker 1: back till the end of the year last year, and
Speaker 1: even then, you know, he had a good game against
Speaker 1: you guys, But was he one hundred percent truly now,
Speaker 1: so again you're projecting a little bit like, hey, if
Speaker 1: we get all this back, we can be right in
Speaker 1: the mix. And I think so. And is that, as
Speaker 1: I said, that confidence that goes with it. Cincinnati was
Speaker 1: ten and seven last year. None of us saw them
Speaker 1: racing to the super Bowl, but they did. And now
Speaker 1: they've got you know, Okay, here we go again. And
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you what the difference is is I
Speaker 1: see a day between the two of them. They got
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl. The Rams have been on the
Speaker 1: scene for a while. This is not new. They'd already
Speaker 1: been to one super Bowl with Sean mcback, so this
Speaker 1: isn't new. Being the hunted for Cincinnati. I think you've
Speaker 1: heard the same thing I've had when you talk with
Speaker 1: other other franchises. Tell me if this is correct. Hey,
Speaker 1: respect the heck adam great run last year. Let's see
Speaker 1: how they handled now being a marquee team, right, yes, okay,
Speaker 1: And it's not just being a marquee team where hey,
Speaker 1: you went to the super Bowl circle on the calendar. Well,
Speaker 1: one organization pointed out. I said, Okay, if you are
Speaker 1: a bad team, you play every week at noon or
Speaker 1: one o'clock, right noon Central one o'clock Eastern, because no
Speaker 1: one ispecially would be very good. When you are expected
Speaker 1: to be a good team, your schedule is total flux.
Speaker 1: One o'clock this week, Thursday night, Monday night, Sunday night,
Speaker 1: short week, all of that because the good teams go,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, by the way, don't feet four twenty five
Speaker 1: get a lot of those slots too. So now you're
Speaker 1: getting back later and you're doing things. That's when you
Speaker 1: find out you're a franchise. It endoors when you can
Speaker 1: handle back year in and year out. The Rams have
Speaker 1: been like that, you know, Kansas City has been like that,
Speaker 1: Tampa's been like that. That's what Cincinnati's gonna face this year.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying they're not up for the challenge. They
Speaker 1: very well could. But that's what people are wondering. Hey,
Speaker 1: let's check it out and let's see the Cardinals play
Speaker 1: Kansas City week one. Clearly, yeah, it is a great matchup. Clearly,
Speaker 1: that game is on CBS. Clearly they're gonna be fired up.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Tony will be all jacked up watching that.
Speaker 1: They're gonna have a great time with that one. Do
Speaker 1: you think Kansas City gets back to the top of
Speaker 1: the Mountain. It just for whatever reason. I know, the
Speaker 1: offensive line, you got to look at that. But it
Speaker 1: just as great as Patrick Mahomes is. He had some
Speaker 1: some moments that were very unlike him last year in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Do you do you see them getting back
Speaker 1: though to the Super Bowl? I see I'm getting back
Speaker 1: to being contenders in a big way. I really do, Dave,
Speaker 1: and that you know the mum stop out with Mahomes.
Speaker 1: For me, I'm a zero in on one particular one
Speaker 1: second half against Cincinnati. I'm staying at home on the
Speaker 1: couch watching the game, and you know it's easy hindsight
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, right, So I'm counting on you knowing me
Speaker 1: that I'm going to tell you something that I would
Speaker 1: go take a lot detector testock. Watching the second half
Speaker 1: and a certain point in the second half, I said, oh,
Speaker 1: this is the first time I've seen Patrick Mahomes play
Speaker 1: not to lose instead of playing to win. He got tight.
Speaker 1: Remember some of those throws. Those are so unlike Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 1: I thought, off my coach couch on the couple of us,
Speaker 1: WHOA what happened there? He wanted to be so careful
Speaker 1: and so precise with the ball as to not make
Speaker 1: a mistake that it hindered him, it hindered their offense,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, offense throttled down and here
Speaker 1: came to Cincinnati. And the beauty is he actually has
Speaker 1: said that himself. I thought with a headline where he said,
Speaker 1: I'm the one who did it. He took it all
Speaker 1: on his own shoulders. I'm the one who throttled us down.
Speaker 1: I didn't make throws, I didn't stay free wheeling. That
Speaker 1: doesn't mean reckless, but he said I didn't take the
Speaker 1: shot that should have taken that we're there. I was
Speaker 1: trying to make the safe play, and I heard our team.
Speaker 1: How about that for mature. They also have trusted him
Speaker 1: like you have trust like the league trusted a Brady,
Speaker 1: like the league has trusted Aaron Rodgers. And might say
Speaker 1: the league the Packers Tampa Bay before that New England
Speaker 1: where they didn't spend a lot of draft capital on
Speaker 1: the guys out of the perimeter to do they Green
Speaker 1: Bay still has a drafted in the first round receivers
Speaker 1: in two thousand and two. They count on that quarterback
Speaker 1: bringing those guys along. That's what Kansas City told Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes this offseason and canceled some OTAs and mini camps
Speaker 1: and said, oh, Patrick's got the guys. Is this summer
Speaker 1: with him, He'll take care of that. An inordinate amount
Speaker 1: of trust in a youngster, But I think it's trust
Speaker 1: well placed. I think that they have a good chance
Speaker 1: to get back there. They built up things on defense.
Speaker 1: They were hurt a lot on defense to begin last year.
Speaker 1: It took a while to jail. I think Spags what
Speaker 1: he does, the Spagnola does a great job on that
Speaker 1: side of the ball. I think Patrick Mahomes would bring
Speaker 1: along these guys on offense, but boy would have division
Speaker 1: they're in now. This is no longer Kansas City and
Speaker 1: Chase Denver is going to be better with Russell Wilson.
Speaker 1: That Herbert and the Chargers should have gotten to the
Speaker 1: playoffs last year, and the Raiders did get to the
Speaker 1: playoffs and not. Josh McDaniels is in Downiso, Davante Adams.
Speaker 1: The AFC West is gonna be a fun one to watch.
Speaker 1: Last one, Charles, and we'll get you out of here.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Cincinnati. There were a team that nobody saw
Speaker 1: making the Super Bowl, and I don't know as good
Speaker 1: as Joe Burrow was in college. If anybody saw, especially
Speaker 1: after that injury, him being this good this quickly. Who
Speaker 1: are some teams that because in the NFL year to
Speaker 1: year things change. You've got teams at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the year you think are going to be Super Bowl
Speaker 1: contenders that have terrible seasons, and other teams that were
Speaker 1: bad last year that end up being great. Who are
Speaker 1: some teams that are under the radar right now that
Speaker 1: in your mind will be either playoff teams or in
Speaker 1: contention at the end of the year. AFC East, I'd
Speaker 1: go right to Miami. I think Brian Flores included a
Speaker 1: great job with infrastructure. Mike McDaniel think is going to
Speaker 1: profit from that. Two of goes into a season not
Speaker 1: rehabbing but ready to play. You get Tyree Hill and
Speaker 1: the under understated part of that defense stayed intact, including coaches,
Speaker 1: and they were good on that side of the ball.
Speaker 1: So I'd keep a real strong an eye on them.
Speaker 1: I think that in the AFC North, if Lamar has
Speaker 1: helped the all year long, Baltimore was six and two
Speaker 1: mary and they still missed the playoffs just by one game.
Speaker 1: Last year. Struggling, they've they've refurbished and replenished. Their draft
Speaker 1: was terrific. I keep a big eye on Baltimore and
Speaker 1: the NFC North. If I go over to the NFC,
Speaker 1: I think Philadelphia's ascending. I think that Nick Siriani is
Speaker 1: the head coaches settled in quite well. Was gone from
Speaker 1: being ridiculed about his Flower analogy, which actually worked quite
Speaker 1: well with that team to get to a playoffs ahead
Speaker 1: of schedule. And it may be a referend to mint
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts as a quarterback, but boy did they surround
Speaker 1: him with talent, including a J. Brown coming over from Tennessee.
Speaker 1: I keep a really good eye on them. I saw
Speaker 1: the Titans in preseason. I liked that franchise. I think
Speaker 1: Mike Rabels one top five coaches in the league. This
Speaker 1: guy is on point. Everything has instant respect from his team.
Speaker 1: And let's face it, day we have the twelve and five.
Speaker 1: Last year, Dave and played ninety one players, the most
Speaker 1: ever in NFL history, and somehow we're twelve and five. Yes, Internet,
Speaker 1: gall I'm in the playoffs. That's a good franchise, that's
Speaker 1: a good team. But those are a few that just
Speaker 1: catch my eye off the top and I want to
Speaker 1: just talk to your off and go to a team
Speaker 1: by team, but those are some of the ones. And
Speaker 1: obviously your Cardinals team is always going to be a story.
Speaker 1: And if you come out of that first one with
Speaker 1: Kansas City and the home, I mean, Murray kind of
Speaker 1: outduels the Homes quote unquote, even though it doesn't totally
Speaker 1: come down to that, you're off and running. But I
Speaker 1: think the whole league is just waiting for Okay, we
Speaker 1: want to see the Cardinals November December. That's when they
Speaker 1: have That's when they have to really prove themselves. That's
Speaker 1: when everyone will believe, and I think this team is
Speaker 1: more than capable of doing it. Charles, this was great.
Speaker 1: You're one of the best in the biz. I really
Speaker 1: appreciate the time. Have a great season. Hopefully we'll see
Speaker 1: at some point, I certainly hope. So you two, Dave,
Speaker 1: and please be safe out there to travel. You do
Speaker 1: you know to put in the excellent work that you do.
Speaker 1: My goodness, I'm always like David's where and then He's
Speaker 1: where each and every week you in your travel, but
Speaker 1: make sure you tell all your teams and your squads
Speaker 1: in your group that you work with. Hello, for me.
Speaker 1: You got some really neat people that are around you,
Speaker 1: but you are simply one of the best, not to mention,
Speaker 1: nicer than me and I combine, all right, Charles, I
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Man, have a good one. You're the best day.
Speaker 1: Take care of Charles never shy to tell you what
Speaker 1: he really thinks. And he's bush on the Cardinals, of course,
Speaker 1: like everybody, waiting to see if they can finish what
Speaker 1: they started. They haven't done that the last two years.
Speaker 1: But he's very confident in Kyler Murray and Cliff Kingsbury
Speaker 1: is a duo being in the playoff picture. But Charles
Speaker 1: is also high on the other teams in the nf West.
Speaker 1: Despite the quarterback change in San Francisco and some questions
Speaker 1: about the health of Matthew Stafford and the difficulty of
Speaker 1: trying to repeat this day and age as a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl champion, Charles is still pretty high on the ramp.
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be a difficult schedule for the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: starting Week one against the Kansas City Chiefs, a game
Speaker 1: that will be on CBS. And you heard Charles mentioned
Speaker 1: that Jim Nanson, Tony Romo, the eighteam for CBS, will
Speaker 1: be on that called. Charles will handle the Steelers. He
Speaker 1: works with the Iron Eagle on the number two CBS
Speaker 1: broadcast team. He'll be on the Steelers telecast the first
Speaker 1: two weeks, but hopefully we'll see Charles at some point
Speaker 1: during the season. We are presented by bet MGM, the
Speaker 1: official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and by
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Speaker 1: us what you think. I've noticed as I've gone on
Speaker 1: iTunes where I listen to podcasts, that you have some
Speaker 1: thoughts on the Day Pash Podcast. We want to hear more.
Speaker 1: What do you like? What do you not like? Who
Speaker 1: are some of the guests that you've really enjoyed. Who
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Speaker 1: Dave Pash Podcast. Please go tell us would you think?
Speaker 1: Thanks again to CBS is Charles Davis, and thanks to
Speaker 1: you for listening to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast.