Speaker 1: Happy Thanksgiving for the guys. Here a tape its Bobo
Speaker 1: Shows and Dan Orlovsky Scott p Oli. It is obviously
Speaker 1: a traditional football day on Thanksgiving Day, and we talked
Speaker 1: a lot about the three Thanksgiving games in our previous episode.
Speaker 1: So if you missed that, please feel free to rewind,
Speaker 1: go back to the one that dropped on Tuesday and
Speaker 1: listen to what we had to say about the Thanksgiving games.
Speaker 1: But today we're gonna be looking ahead to this weekend
Speaker 1: and in a way, looking back at some teams that
Speaker 1: found a way to solve problems, because there's no bigger
Speaker 1: problem in the NFL than when your quarterback is hurt,
Speaker 1: especially if your quarterback's name is Lamar Jackson. But the
Speaker 1: Ravens found a way to win with Tyler Huntley at quarterback.
Speaker 1: How did he find out that he was starting last week?
Speaker 1: Here's the story. He's crazy. I was walking towards the
Speaker 1: bus and Lamar test He said, I'm gonna do your
Speaker 1: thing today. I'm gonna be watching, and I was like,
Speaker 1: all right, let's go. We're the bus was on the
Speaker 1: bus ride here to the stadium while I was walking
Speaker 1: to the bus, and that's how it came about did
Speaker 1: you did you think that you probably were gonna start?
Speaker 1: You were like, na, Lamar was definitely gonna play, Like,
Speaker 1: what were you thinking before? Just every week, I feel like, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, you gotta be one play away with Lamar.
Speaker 1: He tuts, so, just so you know what you gotta saying.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking he's gonna play the regardless. Uh he could,
Speaker 1: he could be breaking out in sweat. I feel like
Speaker 1: he's gonna play. But today it's just a different circumstances
Speaker 1: that I happen to play. So Tyler Huntley finds out
Speaker 1: very much on short notice that he is the quarterback
Speaker 1: for the Baltimore Ravens. Cult McCoy though he found out
Speaker 1: he was playing this past week for the Cardinals as well.
Speaker 1: But that's not the kind of news that's gonna shake him.
Speaker 1: I've played long enough in this league to understand that
Speaker 1: those kind of games happened. Um, they're absolutely not fun,
Speaker 1: and the good teams are able to bounce back from that.
Speaker 1: And I didn't know if I was going to be
Speaker 1: a part of that or not. This week with Kyler,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of just he was really close. I
Speaker 1: just prepared the same way and had the opportunity to
Speaker 1: come out here and play, and you know, again, good
Speaker 1: teams respond to week to week and and we were
Speaker 1: able to to play really good, complimentary football. All right, So,
Speaker 1: Dan Orlovski, Scott Poli, it's life in the NFL, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, how often does your quarterback make it all
Speaker 1: the way through now seventeen games unscathed. Most teams in
Speaker 1: the NFL at some point are probably going to have
Speaker 1: to lean on their backup. And the Ravens did it,
Speaker 1: and the Cardinals did it and they both got wins. Dan,
Speaker 1: let's start with the Ravens, and obviously they have to change.
Speaker 1: Nobody can do with Lamar Jackson does when he's not
Speaker 1: in there, Like you're back. There's no backup quarterback in
Speaker 1: the NFL. But no matter who you have, that's gonna
Speaker 1: come in and do what Lamar Jackson can do. So
Speaker 1: how does it change just schematically from a play calling standpoint,
Speaker 1: and how you put the game together when you know
Speaker 1: he's not there. Yeah, I don't think Baltimore changed at
Speaker 1: Oh honestly, Bob, I mean because they're similar type of players. No,
Speaker 1: Huntley is not in the same conversation as Lamar, but
Speaker 1: they're both similar with the skills that they have that
Speaker 1: are their strengths, that the talent, the ability to go create,
Speaker 1: the throwing outside the pocket, loving the tight ends, the athleticism,
Speaker 1: and also the things that you don't ask them to do.
Speaker 1: You know, again, he he is not a pick you
Speaker 1: apart type of quarterback. So I think whenever the situations arrived,
Speaker 1: you know, when a backup quarterback has to play, my
Speaker 1: mind always goes back to something. And I heard Steve
Speaker 1: Young say, I don't know how many years ago, but
Speaker 1: years ago when he said, your number one job, don't
Speaker 1: lose the football game. Do not neither reason your team
Speaker 1: loses the game. And I thought that was evident for Huntley.
Speaker 1: In for Cope McCoy, I thought Huntley did a fantastic
Speaker 1: job of never being tied to the scoreboard. You know,
Speaker 1: they were struggling offensively and they couldn't get anything going,
Speaker 1: and you're sitting there going, you know, you're so used
Speaker 1: to this offense being more explosive and and dynamic, and
Speaker 1: then you're in this game, You're going, why can't we score?
Speaker 1: Why can't we score? Why can't we score? And I
Speaker 1: thought he did a really good job with his mindset
Speaker 1: of going and I don't know if this what is
Speaker 1: his mind, but it just seemed like, I gotta get
Speaker 1: the game to the fourth quarter. Let's get the game.
Speaker 1: You can lose it in the first and second quarter,
Speaker 1: trying to be lamar And I thought he did a
Speaker 1: really good job of that. Get the game to the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. I got a really good coaching staff, John Harball.
Speaker 1: What he has done is out of this world. A
Speaker 1: defense that played well, they're struggling on offense subsequently for
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, and then when the game like he
Speaker 1: needed to go make some plays. I thought it was
Speaker 1: really smart that they just stayed attacking to the right
Speaker 1: side of the field. You know, the Chicago Bears defense,
Speaker 1: the secondary vill door, their rookie corners, you know, struggling,
Speaker 1: and I just thought it was really good to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're just gonna can continue to attack the right side
Speaker 1: of the field for this game winning drive. And what
Speaker 1: you saw was throw to the right, throw to the right,
Speaker 1: throw to the right run, throw to the right run,
Speaker 1: throw to the right, game over. And I just thought
Speaker 1: that was impressive by Huntley, mindset wise. And then once
Speaker 1: the moment came attack, Yeah, you know, Dan you brought
Speaker 1: up early, Um, the whole idea or the concept about
Speaker 1: Tyler Huntley being some or to Lamar, I mean, I
Speaker 1: totally get I agree with you on that. And the
Speaker 1: thing is one of the conversations that goes on behind
Speaker 1: closed doors in the off season of every offseason is Okay,
Speaker 1: here's likely who our starter is, who's the backup? And
Speaker 1: is the backup going to be similar or different than
Speaker 1: what we have as a starter. How much do we
Speaker 1: want to change what we have to do? How much
Speaker 1: of a stress are we going to put on the
Speaker 1: rest of our football team as to who our backup
Speaker 1: quarterback is? And you're right when you say they are
Speaker 1: completely different level players but have similar strengths, have similar limitations.
Speaker 1: What they want them to do, what they want both
Speaker 1: quarterbacks to do is is very similar. You know. Um.
Speaker 1: By the way, a little random note here that I
Speaker 1: found out after the game was it, did you guys
Speaker 1: know that Tyler Huntley beat Lamar Jackson in a high
Speaker 1: school football game they played against one another? That Huntley
Speaker 1: eat Lamar chat I heard someone talking about and of
Speaker 1: course I had to google it and look at But um,
Speaker 1: it's one of those things when you're doing your team building,
Speaker 1: what are we gonna do with our backup quarterback? I
Speaker 1: remember these conversations we had every year, you know, in
Speaker 1: New England specifically, but I remember being a part of them.
Speaker 1: In the first time. I was a big part of
Speaker 1: those conversations. It was back in at the New York
Speaker 1: Jets when we're talking about, Okay, we've got Vinny Testaverdie,
Speaker 1: who's going to you know, be the backup. We've got
Speaker 1: Ray Lucas, who's this one guy. We've got Rick Meyer,
Speaker 1: who's this other guy? You know, completely different guys, completely
Speaker 1: different skill sets, knowing that you'd have to have specific
Speaker 1: packages if the backup has to come in, but what
Speaker 1: happens if the backup has to come in long term?
Speaker 1: And then every year up in New England, you know,
Speaker 1: one year we had Doug Flutie, one year it was
Speaker 1: he Ward, it was you know, we have any Testa Verdie.
Speaker 1: We had all these different backups, and then it was
Speaker 1: Matt Castle, and then we drafted Cliff Kingsbury, trying to
Speaker 1: find someone that was going to be similar to Brady
Speaker 1: in terms of style. And I think what Baltimore did
Speaker 1: in terms of their roster building was really really smart
Speaker 1: because what they did was they helped the rest of
Speaker 1: the football team by having a player that has, you know,
Speaker 1: a similar playing style or strength of playing style in
Speaker 1: the same way as their starter in Lamar Jackson. And
Speaker 1: how about the Cardinals I mean, maybe they're looking at
Speaker 1: Kyler right now and saying, look, we like we've got
Speaker 1: a little bit of a cushion here, like we we
Speaker 1: can potentially lose a battle to win the war. And
Speaker 1: yet it doesn't matter. They bring Colt McCoy and he
Speaker 1: finds a way to win anyway. That's the benefit of
Speaker 1: having a guy that's been there and done that. You know,
Speaker 1: with Colt has been a starter, he's been a backup,
Speaker 1: he's been cast off. You know, he's he's mentally resilient.
Speaker 1: That that helps. I was kind of a little bit
Speaker 1: in that role myself. And when you go to a
Speaker 1: football team, I think what happens with the Cardinals and
Speaker 1: Colte McCoy is coat has had such a tremendous impact
Speaker 1: on Kyler and the development of him, that you kind
Speaker 1: of become better as a player yourself by the way
Speaker 1: you are helping that younger quarterback that and your men
Speaker 1: during and teaching him that allows you to become better
Speaker 1: as well. Two things in this game, you know specifically
Speaker 1: to this game and kind of the situation. First of all,
Speaker 1: I thought this past weekend was more about the Seahawks
Speaker 1: and the Cardinals, and the Seahawks are not playing well
Speaker 1: right now. It helps as a quarterback like Cote McCoy
Speaker 1: when your defense is playing the way that they are playing.
Speaker 1: Just mindset wise, Bob and Scott like you as a quarterback. No,
Speaker 1: I don't have to go score thirty. That allows you
Speaker 1: to play a certain way. You don't have to be
Speaker 1: careless with the football. You don't have to be be
Speaker 1: overly aggressive with the football. It doesn't often have to
Speaker 1: get put in harm's way because you're you know your
Speaker 1: defense is gonna play well. It was early on in
Speaker 1: the game that you could tell the Cardinals pass rush
Speaker 1: was gonna win. And what you saw from Cote was
Speaker 1: very similar to what Steve Young that that quote I said,
Speaker 1: you know, don't be the reason your team lose the game.
Speaker 1: Coupe wasn't the reason they won the game. Completion completion, completion,
Speaker 1: You're gonna He just kept taking short completions and said,
Speaker 1: I know if I don't turn the ball over. If
Speaker 1: I don't give the ball away, you Seattle cannot beat us.
Speaker 1: And I think that's that is that experience that pays
Speaker 1: off of them. This team is gonna go as far
Speaker 1: as Kyler is going to take them when they play
Speaker 1: good football teams. I'm adamant about that. I think their
Speaker 1: defense losing JJ you can run it on them and
Speaker 1: they're not gonna be explosive enough to beat other teams
Speaker 1: without Kyler's dynamic playmaking. It does speak to the coaching
Speaker 1: and the roster that they're able to survive this, but
Speaker 1: it really is because Colt was just very good going.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna make you beat us rather than beating myself,
Speaker 1: and that is the key. Then it's don't go out
Speaker 1: and lose the game, don't screw it up. I know
Speaker 1: there's a lot of coaches out there who say something
Speaker 1: much more explicit, but don't screw it up, and that's
Speaker 1: what they asked the backup to do. But you know,
Speaker 1: another important point you brought up was the the history
Speaker 1: and experience of Colt and being around ound and helping
Speaker 1: with the development of Kyler. You know another place that
Speaker 1: I'm watching it happen very specifically, right now. Is Brian
Speaker 1: Hoyer up at the New England Patriots. The importance of
Speaker 1: him to Mac Jones, if you watch the sidelines of
Speaker 1: the New England Patriots, and you know, I got a
Speaker 1: chance to see them during training camp and was up
Speaker 1: there watching Mac Jones. Yes he's listening to Bill, Yes
Speaker 1: he's listening to Josh, but he cannot get enough of
Speaker 1: Hoyer and Hoyer's value. He's one of those again, one
Speaker 1: of these players. He's been around a long time, been
Speaker 1: a bunch of places, mostly been a backup, but everywhere
Speaker 1: that he's a backup. And and Dan, I'm not saying
Speaker 1: this to pump your tires, but I know players that
Speaker 1: have played with you, they talk about your intelligence and
Speaker 1: your value and the importance and how you see the game.
Speaker 1: Having a backup quarterback that is smart and selfless is
Speaker 1: invaluable in your team building. It's Jason Garrett when he
Speaker 1: played at as a backup at the Cowboys. It was
Speaker 1: Frank Reich when he was a backup the backup quarterback position.
Speaker 1: When you have someone who is smart and and and
Speaker 1: selfless and wants to be a champion, that you cannot
Speaker 1: put of value on the importance of that role. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a big deal. I appreciate that there is a
Speaker 1: guy that wants to rewrite his legacy as a quarterback
Speaker 1: in the NFC North. And that's something that we are
Speaker 1: going to talk about when we come back on Tapeds.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Tapeds, Bobo Shues and Dan Orlovsky, Scott
Speaker 1: p Oli. Alright, guys. It is a traditional rivalry game
Speaker 1: between the Vikings and Packers, and it's a game that
Speaker 1: way too often Viking fans know they come out on
Speaker 1: the short end. And when you give the kind of
Speaker 1: money that they gave to Kirk Cousins to come there
Speaker 1: and be the quarterback, what you're kind of announcing to
Speaker 1: the world is we feel like we're a quarterback away, right,
Speaker 1: Like we have a team that could go to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. We had a really good defense, we got
Speaker 1: skill guys on offense, just a Jefferson's a hell of
Speaker 1: a player. We have done everything we need to do.
Speaker 1: We just need that quarterback to go toe to toe
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers. And it seemed like he went out
Speaker 1: air and did that this path and it seems probably
Speaker 1: to give Kirk Cousins is due what he has done
Speaker 1: this season. His numbers are absolutely spectacular and if you
Speaker 1: look at what they've got on the horizon. We've been
Speaker 1: talking about the Eagles and how they've got maybe some
Speaker 1: soft landing spots coming up on their schedule. There's certainly
Speaker 1: seems to be a tilt in the favor of the
Speaker 1: Vikings schedule wise coming up down the stretch of this season.
Speaker 1: So give me Scott. I mean, I know you've been
Speaker 1: someone that's kind of been, you know, waiving the flag
Speaker 1: that people should notice what Kirk Cousins is doing for
Speaker 1: the Vikings. Why has he been so good? And do
Speaker 1: we believe that what we're seeing out of the Vikings
Speaker 1: right now is real? Well, I think what Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: did this past weekend um that he needs to do.
Speaker 1: Because again I am not an over the top Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins guy, because I see his limitations and I believe
Speaker 1: he has limitations. I don't think he's a very good
Speaker 1: or great NFL quarterback. I don't think to me he is.
Speaker 1: What Kirk Cousins did and the final drive with two
Speaker 1: minutes left that the Vikings had to me showed what
Speaker 1: kirk Cousins needs to do in order for them to
Speaker 1: be a good football team. And if you remember, you
Speaker 1: go into first play, they've got first, you know, first
Speaker 1: down from their own thirty and he throws a pass
Speaker 1: and it's intercepted. Thankfully, the play was reversed and they
Speaker 1: get another shot. So I am a firm believer in
Speaker 1: the old football adage in critical situations, think of players,
Speaker 1: not plays. And I'm thinking someone probably said to Kirk Cousins, hey, listen,
Speaker 1: we're gonna do something here. Knock it off. Get the
Speaker 1: ball in the hands of your best players. So the
Speaker 1: very next play, what they do is they get it
Speaker 1: to Jefferson for six yards. Right next play, Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: for nineteen yards. One of your best players, Adam theland.
Speaker 1: Next play for twenty six yards, Dalvin Cook. The next
Speaker 1: play for twelve yards. They kneel, they kneel, they get
Speaker 1: out of there. So to what Kirk Cousins did, either
Speaker 1: he did it on his own or the coaching staff
Speaker 1: made a decision. The best thing that he needed to
Speaker 1: do was to humble himself and let the best players
Speaker 1: take over. And the best players on that football team
Speaker 1: on offense, in my opinion, are Jefferson, Cook, and Field,
Speaker 1: not necessarily any order, but Dalvin Cook is their best
Speaker 1: and most dynamic and most important player in their offense.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, Yeah, I think that the Vikings have
Speaker 1: the best wide receiver duo in football at Sadam and
Speaker 1: Thinland and Justin Jefferson. I think that the Vikings are
Speaker 1: a quietly very dangerous football team. They've got five losses
Speaker 1: by nineteen points. And I know there is the world
Speaker 1: of hey, you are what your record says you are.
Speaker 1: I don't subscribe to that because I think that the
Speaker 1: Vikings are six and five and they're four plays away
Speaker 1: from being seven and four. They're they're six plays away
Speaker 1: from being eight and three. So I think they're a
Speaker 1: really good football team. I think that because the Vikings,
Speaker 1: like when you have two wide receivers that are both
Speaker 1: physically talented but then also can win. And when I
Speaker 1: say that, I mean you can give them routes and
Speaker 1: they get open, you know, like I can take a
Speaker 1: piece of paper and draw up, Hey, we're gonna run
Speaker 1: this pylon route justin or run this pylon route forever.
Speaker 1: And I've seen a lot of cats be able to
Speaker 1: run that route and not get open. You know, they
Speaker 1: run it too straight. Their tempo is not right they
Speaker 1: stay too far outside, they don't seem inside enough, they
Speaker 1: don't get to the proper depth, they don't take a
Speaker 1: high enough angle. Both those guys are great route runners.
Speaker 1: You saw the vikings on both third and goal situations.
Speaker 1: Take Feeling once and Jefferson once once. They motioned Feeling
Speaker 1: over and they just give him a choice route. It
Speaker 1: is literally, guys, get open, dude, you know it is.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you a three way go here, and
Speaker 1: I trust that you can go get yourself open depending
Speaker 1: on the leverage of the defense. And this is this
Speaker 1: isn't an absolute and you never say never. You can't
Speaker 1: be right on defense when the when the guy is
Speaker 1: talented and then smart and nose route running, you can't
Speaker 1: be right. And Feeling motions over. He gets Kevin King,
Speaker 1: He sets him inside because the outside releases Justin. Jefferson
Speaker 1: pushes vertical who's in front of him, and he uses
Speaker 1: Jefferson as a little bit of a you know, kind
Speaker 1: of a shield the guys inside. He breaks away touchdown.
Speaker 1: The next drive, it's third and goal again. They take
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook, put him in the slot as a wide receiver.
Speaker 1: They take Justin Jefferson, put him in the backfield as
Speaker 1: a running back and they run the same exact play.
Speaker 1: It's just Jefferson out of the backfield as a tailback.
Speaker 1: It's almost Cooper Cup, you know, early on in the
Speaker 1: season for the Rams, and he runs the choice right
Speaker 1: on the secondary. You can't be right. And I think
Speaker 1: that's the thing about Minnesota that does make them a
Speaker 1: little different than a lot of other teams is they've
Speaker 1: got those two guys that wide receiver that are very talented,
Speaker 1: They're very smart, and they know how to win on
Speaker 1: routes versus leverage. When you've got two guys like that,
Speaker 1: that makes you really difficult to defend. Scott, You're right,
Speaker 1: Dalvin is such a big piece. But I truly believe
Speaker 1: and I don't want to minimize Kirk's performance. I think
Speaker 1: Kirk's a good player playing quarterback. Is I don't want
Speaker 1: to say it's easy, but it's easy, you know in Minnesota.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's it's comforting, that's the phrase I'll use.
Speaker 1: It's comforting knowing how good those two guys on the
Speaker 1: perimeter are. Is this a team in Green Bay though,
Speaker 1: that we should be looking at any differently, right? I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously they had when Aaron came back after the layoff.
Speaker 1: You know, they had a rough performance. Now they lose
Speaker 1: this past week. Um, you know, again, the evolution of
Speaker 1: the season. We talked about that a lot on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: How teams change as we go. Is there any kind
Speaker 1: of evolutionary process going along right now with the Packers?
Speaker 1: We certainly they got time to become the Packers again
Speaker 1: before the end of the season. Bobby. You know, it's
Speaker 1: the most concerning thing about the Packers for me coming
Speaker 1: out of that game, the Elkton Jenkins a c L injury. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: that's the most consptly because at some point injuries matter.
Speaker 1: Jenkins has been their best offensive lineman by far this season.
Speaker 1: David Batari, they're all pro. Left tackle is coming back,
Speaker 1: we don't know, So then how is he going to
Speaker 1: look coming off of a CLS And now you've lost
Speaker 1: another key piece of your offensive line, and he's a
Speaker 1: big piece. So I'm not concerned about you know, the
Speaker 1: Packers defense. You're not gonna see a wide receiver duo
Speaker 1: like that much in the NFL. Those guys are really, really,
Speaker 1: really good. I think they're the best. So I'm not
Speaker 1: overly concerned about the defensive performance because you're just not
Speaker 1: gonna see those Cats. But the Elkton Jenkins injury matters
Speaker 1: such a big deal because of how good he is
Speaker 1: and how versatile he is. Yeah, I Dan, I couldn't
Speaker 1: agree more. And I hope I as I was hearing
Speaker 1: you unfold that answer, I was hoping you were to
Speaker 1: say Jenkins because that is a big problem. And Bob,
Speaker 1: we talk about the identity of teams, and the identity
Speaker 1: of team is about what they become and what are
Speaker 1: they right, we don't know what the identity of a
Speaker 1: team is until the season's over. And what matters when
Speaker 1: the season is over or as its ending, is where
Speaker 1: they're at near that time of the season, and injuries
Speaker 1: become a part of it. The healthy teams evolve in
Speaker 1: a positive way. The unhealthy teams digress, and this Jenkins
Speaker 1: injury is going to be a real thing for them offensively.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're banged up at the running back, they're
Speaker 1: banged up on the offensive line. They've got some issues.
Speaker 1: They've got a little bit. I still also get the
Speaker 1: sense with all of the Aaron Rodgers drama that's been
Speaker 1: going on through the entire offseason training camp, then things
Speaker 1: quieted down, they started winning some games, and then the
Speaker 1: hold vax or non vax thing comes up and that
Speaker 1: chaos that locker room. It can't I can't believe. And
Speaker 1: I'm an outsider, so I may be talking out of
Speaker 1: my ear here, but it I can't believe it. That's
Speaker 1: not affecting or impacting the culture in and around this
Speaker 1: football team somehow with all of the trauma that is
Speaker 1: real and or not real. Interesting, Yeah, and it's funny.
Speaker 1: The team I want to talk about next after we
Speaker 1: take a quick time out. Um, it almost sounded like
Speaker 1: you were in a way describing the Titans, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously not with the Aaron Rodgers vax thing, but as
Speaker 1: a season evolves based on health, if you have a
Speaker 1: big running back injury, you know how all of that
Speaker 1: impacts a team. It sounded like if someone just came
Speaker 1: in and picked up what you were saying just now, Scott,
Speaker 1: you might have been talking about Tennessee because they are
Speaker 1: as jekyal and hide as a team could be. For
Speaker 1: eight and three, We're gonna talk about what happened with
Speaker 1: the Titans as they lose to the Houston Texans when
Speaker 1: we come back on Tapeds. We are back on this
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving weak condition of tapeds, Bobo shoes on Dani Orlovsky
Speaker 1: and Scott Pioli. There was not a more eye opening,
Speaker 1: stunning result this past Sunday and all of the NFL.
Speaker 1: Then the Titans losing to the Texans. Ryan Tannehill throws
Speaker 1: four interceptions. Here's Mike Vrabel after the game on his quarterback.
Speaker 1: We've seen Ryan um perform at a high level, and uh,
Speaker 1: offensive football at any level is takes eleven guys, you know,
Speaker 1: and so there was a lot of good football out there. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: we we turned the football over Um too many times,
Speaker 1: way too many times. I felt like our defense battled
Speaker 1: and our offense certainly was, you know, its own worst enemy.
Speaker 1: Al Right, guys, I don't even know what to make
Speaker 1: of this performance, right, I mean, obviously, it's the NFL
Speaker 1: to seventeen game season. There's a reason these knockout pools
Speaker 1: are all done by the time we get to the
Speaker 1: midway point, because we don't see these kinds of results coming.
Speaker 1: It is that kind of a league, and I get that.
Speaker 1: But having said that's got just in the last segment
Speaker 1: we talked about the Green Bay Packers having some key injuries,
Speaker 1: you know, having you know, as the evolutionary process of
Speaker 1: season goes on, learning about themselves. Well, what have we
Speaker 1: learned about Tennessee is a team that's got eight wins
Speaker 1: and three losses. Two of their three losses are to
Speaker 1: the Jets and Texans. So so what do I make
Speaker 1: of this team now that we know that they're not
Speaker 1: going to have still for the bulk of the season,
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry, you know, are are they a team that's
Speaker 1: gonna have to find themselves down to stretch? Clearly, they
Speaker 1: have to find themselves because this is this is not
Speaker 1: what I would expect in any way from a Mike
Speaker 1: Rabel coached football team, because Mike is consistent, he's steady,
Speaker 1: he's smart, he's thoughtful, he's disciplined. And his football team
Speaker 1: did not play that way this past weekend because also
Speaker 1: in addition to the four interceptions thrown by Ryan Tannehill,
Speaker 1: and we could make you know, whatever those reasons are,
Speaker 1: they put the ball on the ground four additional times.
Speaker 1: In terms of fumbles, they only lost one, but they
Speaker 1: put the ball on the ground four times. And that
Speaker 1: is not Tennessee Titan football. That's not Mike raable football.
Speaker 1: They go again. You know, you're looking at this team
Speaker 1: that plays so well against good teams, but then they
Speaker 1: lose to the Jets and the Texans, and and just
Speaker 1: being realist, I'm not trying to be a wise guy
Speaker 1: and beat up on the Jets or Texans, but those
Speaker 1: two teams are not good NFL football teams this season.
Speaker 1: And for them to lose to those two football teams
Speaker 1: tell you you that something is off. And they've had
Speaker 1: some injuries at the beginning of the year and they
Speaker 1: got back, but losing Derrick Henry is a real thing.
Speaker 1: And I think once Henry was injured, we're all sitting back. Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean we we We did this in one of
Speaker 1: our podcasts and and Dan brought up the point. Listen,
Speaker 1: they don't need to change because their past first offense
Speaker 1: and Ryan Tannehill just has to play good, clean football
Speaker 1: and do a good job. And that's what they did
Speaker 1: when they won. Now this week, they didn't play good,
Speaker 1: clean football and they took it on the chin. They
Speaker 1: need to do everything right. When you lose one of
Speaker 1: your best players or your best player, what you have
Speaker 1: to do is play additionally clean football. You know, we
Speaker 1: talk about the teams that are sending right now, the
Speaker 1: teams that are doing things well. You know, we talked
Speaker 1: about the Colts on Tuesday. Those teams are doing things right.
Speaker 1: You can't be penalized, you can't turn the ball over,
Speaker 1: you cannot do you can't play dumb football. I mean
Speaker 1: it's that simple. I don't like saying that word, but
Speaker 1: you can't play dumb football. And it's um when you
Speaker 1: put the you know, put the ball in peril eight
Speaker 1: times in one football game, you don't deserve to. The
Speaker 1: Tennessee game was fascinating to me, so I think, first
Speaker 1: of all, Tennessee was one the only team in the
Speaker 1: NFL that was built around They're back in those two receivers. Okay,
Speaker 1: they were built around that. And they were the only
Speaker 1: team and I talked about this six seven weeks ago
Speaker 1: that had that type of physicality at those positions. The
Speaker 1: average size of Derrick, Henry A. J. Brown and Julio
Speaker 1: Jones is six three pounds at skill position. So their offense,
Speaker 1: identity wise, success wise, everything was built around those three guys.
Speaker 1: Not only have they lost Derrick Henry, Julio Jones has
Speaker 1: been on I R as well, so we're talking about
Speaker 1: sixty six percent of who they are and who their
Speaker 1: organizationally like, offensive wise, they're built around, is not playing.
Speaker 1: And I think the thing that became most evident in
Speaker 1: this football game is how much they are forced feeding
Speaker 1: the ball to a J. Brown And listen, at times
Speaker 1: that's gonna work, and at times that's smart. He's your
Speaker 1: best player by far on offense right now. But then
Speaker 1: there's moments you where you see Tannehill is just locked
Speaker 1: on him it equals two interceptions, or you see Tannehill
Speaker 1: just completely committed to I'm throwing this football to a J. Brown.
Speaker 1: He misses two throws that are open, and other progressions
Speaker 1: to the sideline you can see as an offensive play
Speaker 1: caller and Todd down and going or where I who
Speaker 1: I gotta get the ball to a J. I gotta
Speaker 1: get the ball to a J and it and when
Speaker 1: that happens. And it's a fine line I don't want
Speaker 1: to make, make no mistake about it, Like this is
Speaker 1: a very difficult kind of road to travel, and it's
Speaker 1: a fine line between hanging on the we gotta get
Speaker 1: our best player of the ball and players over plays
Speaker 1: and we can't become so dependent and locked in that
Speaker 1: it has a negative impact on our offense. So that
Speaker 1: stood out to me. What also stood out to me
Speaker 1: was I think that that they played better than what
Speaker 1: the score versus the Houston Texans showed. The turnovers are
Speaker 1: something that I just don't think that's who this football
Speaker 1: team is going to be. They also were oh for
Speaker 1: three on third and one or fourth and one and less.
Speaker 1: You make those which that oftense should more often than not,
Speaker 1: You're getting more plays and you have more chances to
Speaker 1: put points on the board. So it was such a
Speaker 1: weird game for me because I'm sitting there. They played
Speaker 1: a little bit better tape wise, and I thought the
Speaker 1: score in losing to the Texans was going to show um,
Speaker 1: but they're in a bad spot because there they were
Speaker 1: solely dependent on the health of a j who Elio
Speaker 1: and and Derek. And if Julio and Derek aren't gonna
Speaker 1: Derek's not there, if Julio is not going to be there,
Speaker 1: I just don't see how this team is going how
Speaker 1: I can't feel confident that this team is gonna beat
Speaker 1: good football teams. And when we were talking about the
Speaker 1: Titans early on, and you know, Dan, your point about
Speaker 1: counting on Julio being healthy. I I was with Julio,
Speaker 1: and I watched Julio the last couple of years when
Speaker 1: I wasn't there, and he hasn't been healthy in years.
Speaker 1: And you know, there's another old adage in football, and
Speaker 1: you know, older injured players are going to stay older
Speaker 1: and injured. And Julio is an incredible talent when he's
Speaker 1: out on the field. He's just had so many things
Speaker 1: over the past several years that have slowed him down
Speaker 1: and kept him out of games. And he's never had
Speaker 1: a real transition because he couldn't even practice, you know,
Speaker 1: enough during training camp and in the early part of
Speaker 1: the season, they were never able to get on track.
Speaker 1: So if they were counting on Julio to be that
Speaker 1: much of an important component this year, you know, I
Speaker 1: think the recent history should have told them that we
Speaker 1: can't count on Julio. And not not that he's he's
Speaker 1: not an undependable person, but his body has made him
Speaker 1: undependable the last several years and we're seeing it again
Speaker 1: this year. And guys, we talked about Kirk Cousins. I
Speaker 1: kind of put Ryan Tannehill in that same category. You know,
Speaker 1: from last segment to this segment. Two quarterbacks that I
Speaker 1: think have their limitations. Two quarterbacks that I mean Ryan
Speaker 1: Tannehill over the last couple of years has been talked
Speaker 1: about as if he's like a top five, top ten
Speaker 1: quarterback in the NFL when he's been able to hand
Speaker 1: it to Derrick Henry, you know at three out of
Speaker 1: every four plays. Um, is there a chance that and
Speaker 1: maybe we're blowing one game out of proportion with the
Speaker 1: four picks without Derrick Henry? Is there a chance that
Speaker 1: Tennessee is going to ask too much of Ryan Tannehill
Speaker 1: or need him to perform at a different level than
Speaker 1: he's capable long term here to make up for the
Speaker 1: fact that they don't have Derrick Henry. Yeah, of course,
Speaker 1: Well he even expose because of that, I guess the question, Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: any quarterback is going to be less because they're starting
Speaker 1: tailback and starting wide receiver. Go away maybe outside of
Speaker 1: Lamar you know, I I just if I took away
Speaker 1: you know, Zeki Elliott and Amari Cooper from Dak Prescott,
Speaker 1: He's gonna play less, you know, if I took away, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, Aaron Jones and Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers is
Speaker 1: gonna be there, So yes, there is going to be
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill is going to be asked to do more.
Speaker 1: I think he can in spots, I don't think he
Speaker 1: can for an extended period of time. UM, quarterback is
Speaker 1: the number one dependent position in all of sports. And
Speaker 1: that's why I'm so hesitant to really continue to love
Speaker 1: Tennessee because Tannehill, I think he's a good player, to
Speaker 1: ask him to be the reason you win beat games
Speaker 1: because of I'm not there with Ryan Tannehill. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: UM just real quick again, because my background is scouting. UM,
Speaker 1: I was never allowed to live in a world of
Speaker 1: superlative terms, which is I think you know a limitation
Speaker 1: for me now that I'm in the media. And we
Speaker 1: would always talk about players, no, because we always had
Speaker 1: to keep it real, because we were making decisions, and
Speaker 1: we were told and taught and therefore taught those around
Speaker 1: us that there is a scale of what you call
Speaker 1: a player. There's you know, part of that scale is
Speaker 1: a below average, average, above average, good, very good, great,
Speaker 1: and then those words great, rare, elite. I hear the
Speaker 1: words great or very good and good thrown around far
Speaker 1: too easily. And here's what I understand anyone who's starting
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I understand that they're probably one of
Speaker 1: the thirty two best in the world. Right they are
Speaker 1: world class athletes and players. But then when you get
Speaker 1: into that class of what the standard is, you have
Speaker 1: to start breaking things down. And Ryan Tannehill and Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins who you mentioned, Bob also to me, when it
Speaker 1: comes to the standard of an NFL starting quarterback and
Speaker 1: you want to start using that scale, and you need
Speaker 1: to use that scale. I've never felt because a player
Speaker 1: has a very good game doesn't make them a very
Speaker 1: good player. You need to string things together and be consistent,
Speaker 1: and I have always felt that Ryan Tannehill has been
Speaker 1: in that area of good or maybe a step below
Speaker 1: above average or maybe a step higher very good games. Right.
Speaker 1: It's just like when we talk about teams, just because
Speaker 1: you have a bad game, you're not a bad team.
Speaker 1: So again, I just haven't felt um that Ryan Tannehill
Speaker 1: is not going to carry a team. And that's not
Speaker 1: a knock on him at all. And people think when
Speaker 1: you say something like that that you're ripping a guy.
Speaker 1: I'm not ripping a guy. I think that he needs
Speaker 1: some other things around him in order to be a
Speaker 1: good player and to have a good or very good performance,
Speaker 1: and they need to do it consistently well. One of
Speaker 1: the games we're gonna be talking about next week on
Speaker 1: te Peds is another one of those litmuth tess games
Speaker 1: for two teams, because the Tennessee Titans play the New
Speaker 1: England Patriots this week, so that is gonna be one
Speaker 1: we'll have our eyes on. Please enjoy the Thanksgiving Day games.
Speaker 1: We've got Charges, Broncos, Rams, Packers, Brown's Ravens to talk
Speaker 1: about as well. Next week, the Eagles pushed for the
Speaker 1: playoff continues. We have a ton as we come down
Speaker 1: the stretch heading towards the playoffs in this NFL season,
Speaker 1: So thank you for listening, Rate and subscribe and join
Speaker 1: us next week on te Pits