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Speaker 1: Well, welcome home everyone. It's good to be back at

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Speaker 1: so FI Stadium for a three game homestand this is

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Speaker 1: Between the Horns where he is Entedboy, your southern California.

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Speaker 1: Tell you what the dealer's JB Long, DeMarco Farr and

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Speaker 1: Stu Jackson with us Maurice Jones Drew on assignment this week. Yes,

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Speaker 1: in London, right, not yet? Abiza? First vacation then a work.

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Speaker 2: Is that the normal trip? A Viza then London's the normal? Yes.

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Speaker 1: Jokes on him though, because this is like the last

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Speaker 1: remnants of summer, like we having ninety degree days. He

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Speaker 1: didn't have to leave Los Angeles to get a beach

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Speaker 1: day in.

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Speaker 2: You didn't go swimming to just do not yet I went.

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Speaker 3: I just I did go to the beach.

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Speaker 1: Then, all right, a lot to look forward to on

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Speaker 1: this edition of Between the Horns. We're gonna have like

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Speaker 1: a quarter poll check in on the Rams. At two

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Speaker 1: and two. I think it's time to look at the

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Speaker 1: NFC playoff picture and then a deep dive on the

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Speaker 1: Eagles and some keys to victory. But let's start with

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Speaker 1: the news of the week. Sean McVay is Ron Burgundy.

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Speaker 1: That means Cooper Cup is hopefully coming back.

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Speaker 2: Wow, the Triple Crown winner is coming back to the

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Speaker 2: Rams offense. You know gonna be fun. Can't wait to

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Speaker 2: see Cooper Cup. He is must see TV. He's one

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Speaker 2: of the best players we've ever seen offensively. But when

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Speaker 2: you think pair him with Pooka Nakua and pair him

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Speaker 2: with Matthew Stafford, who's playing out of his mind, and

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Speaker 2: where does this offense go? What does it look like?

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Speaker 2: Who gets better because Cooper Cup comes back. I hope

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Speaker 2: Cooper gets his, but I hope whoever benefits from Cooper

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Speaker 2: Cup being on the field takes it to the next level.

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Speaker 4: One thing that comes to mind for me is as

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Speaker 4: many callbacks as we it feels like we've already experienced

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Speaker 4: to twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen with the way this

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Speaker 4: offseason in the season has gone so far, I think

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Speaker 4: a lot about what Sean McVay did with Cooper Cup

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Speaker 4: and Robert Woods and kind of the similarities that Puka

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Speaker 4: has to Robert Woods especially, and so I'm excited to

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Speaker 4: see if it resembles maybe some of that, or if

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Speaker 4: Sean decides to take in a completely different direction. But

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Speaker 4: either way, that possibility is something that you know, if

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Speaker 4: it comes as soon as this Sunday against the Eagles,

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Speaker 4: is really exciting, Stu.

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Speaker 1: I knew you were in the room for the Anchorman reference, right,

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Speaker 1: which is positive indicator from the head coach that even

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Speaker 1: though he has to list Cooper as limited coming off

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Speaker 1: of that handshering injury, the expectation is that he's going

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Speaker 1: to be full go. Right exactly is this week?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, he was joking that he felt like you know,

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Speaker 4: Ron Burgundy reading off the teleprompter, where you know, even

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Speaker 4: though Cooper was listed as limited, he was going to

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Speaker 4: go through a normal practice on Wednesday, and just again

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Speaker 4: the open portion at least in the regular season is limited.

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Speaker 3: But you know, from what I saw, you know, when

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Speaker 3: he was.

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Speaker 4: Going through at least the individual drills, it looked full

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Speaker 4: speed and like the Cooper that we're all used to seeing.

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Speaker 4: To me, so that's a hopefully a promising sign.

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Speaker 1: Likewise, for QB one, who had that leg injury against

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Speaker 1: the Colts, gutted it out to an overtime victory, his status,

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Speaker 1: although they're not running any his own read speed option

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Speaker 1: in practice, appears to be on track for this weekend too.

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Speaker 1: But the question posed to him, is the obvious one,

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Speaker 1: the one that you both have touched on already. Okay,

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Speaker 1: now that you have your favorite target back, how does

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Speaker 1: it look with Cooper and pookin Dakua.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean as many good players as you can

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Speaker 5: get on the field is the goal, you know, and

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Speaker 5: we have a ton of good receivers at this point.

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Speaker 2: So it's a lot of fun. It's a great thing to.

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Speaker 5: Try to mix and match and try to find, you know,

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Speaker 5: combinations of guys on the field and things that we

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Speaker 5: can do to help, you know, those guys play to

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Speaker 5: their strength. So that's you know, part of what the

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Speaker 5: week is all about. Go out there and try to

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Speaker 5: execute it on Sunday. And it's obviously a really talented Eagles.

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Speaker 2: Team, you know. Wow, that's high praise. I haven't thought

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Speaker 2: about that. Cooper Cup, Robert Woods and Brandon Cooks that

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Speaker 2: might have been one of the best trios we've seen. Right,

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Speaker 2: this one could actually be better. A younger version of

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Speaker 2: Robert Woods, an older version of Cooper Cup, and a

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Speaker 2: faster version of Brandon Cooks and two two out well

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Speaker 2: and Matthew Stafford as the trigger man. Wow, we could

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Speaker 2: be entering a new era, like you said too, and two,

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Speaker 2: this team could actually get a whole lot better.

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Speaker 1: Stuve, You and I have talked off the air about

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Speaker 1: this too, but everyone's focus is going to be on

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Speaker 1: like the fantasy lens, like how do they divvy up

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Speaker 1: target share and catches and touchdowns. That's all great conversation,

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Speaker 1: but where I think it might be the most impactful

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Speaker 1: is actually benefiting the Rams running game because the way

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Speaker 1: that Puka bought into the way that the Rams compete

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Speaker 1: run and pass, and the way that Cooper Cup has

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Speaker 1: always done it. Now you have two really viable threats

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Speaker 1: to add your running surface and to insert into your

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Speaker 1: running game.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Puka's physicality as a run blocker is something that

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Speaker 4: has really stood out to me, and I don't know

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Speaker 4: that I guess I should. I shouldn't be surprised by

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Speaker 4: it at this point because of again the toughness he's

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Speaker 4: shown on some of these plays after the catch that

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Speaker 4: he's made. But you know, Cooper is someone that he

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Speaker 4: has obviously has a great example for that, and like

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Speaker 4: you mentioned when you when you put two of those

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Speaker 4: guys out there too, as you know assets in terms

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Speaker 4: of run blocking. I'm excited to see what that what

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Speaker 4: that's surface looks like in the way you know, Sean

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Speaker 4: mcvaid tries to deploy them.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's a misconception that Pookah's not a

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Speaker 2: big guy. Pooka is huge. He's a big receiver, and

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Speaker 2: he's a guy like you said, that's he's unafraid to

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Speaker 2: go down and chip on these bigger guys. So there's

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Speaker 2: a lot of ways you can use sounds. Like another

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Speaker 2: guy we're talking about, Cooper cup right, same thing. He's

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Speaker 2: bigger than what you think. So I heard a podcast

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Speaker 2: on the way over they called the RAMS receiver small,

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Speaker 2: and I'm like, okay, yeah, I guess you've been watching

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Speaker 2: from the from the stands. Puokah is not a small dude.

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Speaker 2: So there's a lot you can do with two receiver

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Speaker 2: that kind of resemble each other.

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Speaker 1: DeMarco, you're parents. Yeah, have you scheduled parent teacher conferences yet?

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Speaker 4: Now?

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Speaker 1: They're in the month of October?

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Speaker 2: Can't wait?

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Speaker 1: Mine just popped up on the calendar too. Here I

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Speaker 1: thought we just started second grade and we're already being

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Speaker 1: called into the teacher's office to get a progress report.

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Speaker 1: So at two and two and here in the month

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Speaker 1: of October, I thought now would be a good time

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Speaker 1: for some RAMS progress reports. We're not ready for grades yet, right, yeah,

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Speaker 1: too early for grades. So you strike me as a

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Speaker 1: very good academic student, by the way, I.

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Speaker 3: Did well enough.

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Speaker 1: You have a nice GPA through your academic years. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: yeah too, folks never got.

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Speaker 2: Called never never good citizenship. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: But what I love about the schedule this year is

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Speaker 1: that there are NFC measuring stick opportunities seemingly in every segment.

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Speaker 1: In the first segment, San Francisco, Week two at home,

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Speaker 1: and the Ren's are right there. They had their shot,

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Speaker 1: maybe not ready to join the upper crust of the

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Speaker 1: NFC contenders, of which I think at San Francisco, Philadelphia,

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Speaker 1: who's in next? And then I think you probably put

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Speaker 1: Dallas there too, right, So here's Philadelphia that next measuring

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Speaker 1: up opportunity, and at the end of this month, a

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Speaker 1: trip to Dallas.

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Speaker 3: All right.

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Speaker 1: So I'll begin with like a letter to the parents,

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Speaker 1: all right, and then you guys can take me through

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Speaker 1: I think the five courses pass offense, rush offense, pass defense,

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Speaker 1: rush defense, and special teams. So get your thoughts ready

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Speaker 1: in those categories.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: Here's how I would kind of introduce the topic the

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Speaker 1: two and two Rams. That's an accurate representation of who

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Speaker 1: they've played, where they've played, and how they've played. Yes,

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Speaker 1: we would all love it if it was three and one.

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Speaker 1: It was very nearly one in three though, after squandering

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Speaker 1: at twenty three point lead in Indianapolis. I think they've

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Speaker 1: played two flawless has that's good. Second half at Seattle,

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Speaker 1: first half at Indianapolis. That looks like as good as

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Speaker 1: anyone can be. But at the same time, you haven't

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Speaker 1: put together four quarters yet. You haven't put together four

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Speaker 1: complete quarters of complimentary football. Agree or disagree? I agree, yekay,

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Speaker 1: So someone take pass offense for me, then progress report

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Speaker 1: on the Rams passing game offensively.

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Speaker 2: Oh, okay, passing off Look, I think it's been I

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Speaker 2: think it's been great, to be honest, but I'm thinking

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Speaker 2: that might be more of just a one person grade.

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Speaker 2: In Matthew Stafford, I think protection has been there for

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Speaker 2: the most part. You've suffered some injuries, You've had a

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Speaker 2: reshuffled offensive line, but they came together and did a

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Speaker 2: pretty good job and helped you win in Indianapolis. If

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Speaker 2: you didn't have that second half collapse, I mean we're

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Speaker 2: talking about what a great show it would have been.

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Speaker 2: I mean, if you kept that goose egg. But I'll

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Speaker 2: give the I'll say the passing offense needs some improvement,

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Speaker 2: but it's nothing to where I would call you in

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Speaker 2: for early meeting, you know, math homework type stuff. So

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Speaker 2: I think the passing offense so far has been a

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Speaker 2: passing grade.

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Speaker 3: I'd agree with that, DeMarco.

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Speaker 4: I think what stands out to me is the way

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Speaker 4: they've been able to produce without their number one receiver

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Speaker 4: in Cooper Cup. I think if you had asked anyone,

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Speaker 4: or if you had told someone that at this point

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Speaker 4: in the season, Matthew Stafford would be second in the

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Speaker 4: NFL in passing yards and the Rams would be top

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Speaker 4: five in total offense. Without Cooper Cup, I'm sure they

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Speaker 4: probably would have looked like you, like you're crazy. But

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Speaker 4: that's where they stand, you know, heading into week five,

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Speaker 4: which is I think is great. And the fact that

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Speaker 4: they've been able to do that again with guys like

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Speaker 4: Pooka stepping up and also to to at well translating

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Speaker 4: you know what we all saw him do in training

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Speaker 4: camp in the preseason.

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Speaker 3: It has been I.

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Speaker 4: Think the biggest boost for me when it comes to

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Speaker 4: how I look at and evaluate the passing offense.

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Speaker 1: So far, I think pass pro can be better. It's

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Speaker 1: been okay. I think it needs to be better as

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Speaker 1: soon as this Sunday against the pass rush of the

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Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles. And this is the week to me where Avula,

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Speaker 1: Shelton and Dotson need to shine, Like this is the

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Speaker 1: moment where the offensive line that you've assembled needs to show.

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Speaker 2: Up, no doubt. That's the thing. While I would give

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Speaker 2: it a heading in the right direction type grade, is

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Speaker 2: because you haven't seen guys get whipped up front in

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Speaker 2: the middle to where Matthew Stafford has just been engulfed,

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Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So in Cincinnati it was different.

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Speaker 2: You lost your left tackle, you replaced them with a

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Speaker 2: guy that we were kind of surprised by, and you

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Speaker 2: paid for it and you didn't win the football game.

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Speaker 2: But for the most part, when they've gone nose and

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Speaker 2: nose with some pretty good pass rushers, at least from

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Speaker 2: guard to guard, they've held up.

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Speaker 1: I've got some thoughts on why Matthew Stafford has actually

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Speaker 1: been the best quarterback in the NFC. Will save that

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Speaker 1: for a little bit later on. I want to transition

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Speaker 1: to the rushing offense now, which statistically has actually been

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Speaker 1: more efficient than the passing game. If you look at

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Speaker 1: some of the advanced metrics, the Rams have been a

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Speaker 1: better rushing team than passing team. I don't think many

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Speaker 1: casual observers would agree with that assessment. Why is it

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Speaker 1: or is it not the case?

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Speaker 4: I think it starts with Kyrien Williams and maybe to

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Speaker 4: an extent, some of the gap scheme concepts that we've

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Speaker 4: talked about them deplaying in the run game. Kiren to me,

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Speaker 4: has he hasn't had like that home run, you know,

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Speaker 4: fifty sixty seventy whatever yard run in the run game

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Speaker 4: and broken off one of those explosives yet, But I

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Speaker 4: feel like he's done enough to keep the chains moving

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Speaker 4: and keep the offense on schedule where there have been

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Speaker 4: more positive plays when you've handed the ball off to

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Speaker 4: him versus negative plays.

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Speaker 3: And so I think that's a big part of it.

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Speaker 4: And also to look at the job that Steve Avila

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Speaker 4: and Kevin Dotson, at least as recently as this week,

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Speaker 4: have been doing from a run blocking standpoint, When you

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Speaker 4: have two guys who are just absolutely massive humans at

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Speaker 4: each of those guard spots. I think that also helps

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Speaker 4: quite a bit too.

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Speaker 2: And Coleman Shelton the center. I mean, look, there's a

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Speaker 2: lot that happens with play calling and then adjustment at

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Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage where they go from past to

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Speaker 2: run and vice versas. So there's a lot of communication.

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Speaker 2: And he's been at the forefront and they've been pretty

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Speaker 2: good with the priest and aat penalties outside of delays

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Speaker 2: and this is what they offensive guards. So they've been great.

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Speaker 2: But the run game, I think it's been the most

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Speaker 2: impressive part of this football team because when you think

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Speaker 2: about it, Kyron Williams was not supposed to be in

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Speaker 2: this role. He was supposed to be the complimentary guy,

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Speaker 2: the third down back, the guy that catches it out

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Speaker 2: of the backfield. Now he had to transition to starter.

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Speaker 2: And he's got five rushing touchdowns in the red zone. Right.

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Speaker 1: Why is Stafford's touchdown to interception ratio a little out

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Speaker 1: of whack compare it work normally as historically. It's because

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Speaker 1: he got a touchdown hawk in his red zone, punching

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Speaker 1: in behind that offensive line.

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Speaker 2: Physical it's a good sign getting downhill and look, I

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Speaker 2: think they're getting better and I think we were all

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Speaker 2: impressed with Ronnie Rivers last week. I was, Yeah, he's

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Speaker 2: a little bowling ball, a rolling ball of butcher knife.

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Speaker 2: So I've been more impressed with the way they've been

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Speaker 2: able to run the football effectively against some pretty good

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Speaker 2: defensive fronts and then throw off that play action.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's flip the defense now and we'll start

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Speaker 1: with the passing defense. Look at the elite wide receiver

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Speaker 1: duos the Rams have faced so far this season. Seattle,

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Speaker 1: San Francisco, Cincinnati really a tree, and now Philadelphia. I

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Speaker 1: think in that context, I'm not saying you got a

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Speaker 1: grade on the curve, but better than anyone would have expected.

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Speaker 2: Okay, See, this is where I'd say, I'll see you

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Speaker 2: at seven am for extra work. Because I think Aaron

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Speaker 2: Donald has been special. Last week he won the darn game.

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Speaker 2: I know Pukinakua caught the winning touchdown, but without Aaron

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Speaker 2: you're not even in that game. I mean, and he

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Speaker 2: won up and down. But the problem is there's not

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Speaker 2: much help. Byron Young's got two sacks. I like more,

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Speaker 2: you would like more pressure. But I think they fought hard.

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Speaker 2: I think the cornerbacks have played well, that they've been

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Speaker 2: tight and coverage. I think what they're giving up their

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Speaker 2: tenth in the league in yards per pass on defense.

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Speaker 2: So with that, with a lack of a pass rush

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Speaker 2: and the way they're covering, it's been exemplary. But for me,

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Speaker 2: for the passing defense to get, like you said, a

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Speaker 2: better grade, you're gonna need to find somebody else that

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Speaker 2: can rush the passer outside of Aaron Donald.

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Speaker 4: I would also say too that I think you'll still

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Speaker 4: need to see a little bit more from the secondarya

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Speaker 4: as well. I've been played with the way that you know,

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Speaker 4: a Kella Witherspoon and Darien Kendrick have played on the outside.

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Speaker 4: I feel like Kobe Durant has done very well at Star,

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Speaker 4: but you know they have they have had their moments

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Speaker 4: where you know, they've they've really shined and held their

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Speaker 4: own against some of these duos that we've talked about

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Speaker 4: receiving duos, but there are there have also been some

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Speaker 4: learning moments too, and so once those get put together,

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Speaker 4: you know, in terms of referring to the pass rush,

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Speaker 4: I think that'll.

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Speaker 3: Be they'll put the Rams in a really good spot.

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Speaker 1: Surely they've surrendered too many explosives run in pass and

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Speaker 1: not as many takeaways as you would like through four games.

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Speaker 1: Hopefully those continue to come around as they did in

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati and Indianapolis. How about the run defense better than

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Speaker 1: the metrics would indicate. I feel like, especially between the tackles,

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Speaker 1: it looks like a deficiency. Has it always felt that

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Speaker 1: way on Sundays though.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, outside of San Francisco. I thought they

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Speaker 2: did a real good job against mixing in Seattle. I

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Speaker 2: thought they the game kind of went away from the

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Speaker 2: run game from Seattle, but they did a pretty good

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Speaker 2: job against their running backs Indianapolis, if you take away

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Speaker 2: what richardson, then I think did a pretty good job

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Speaker 2: against the run, better than what we expected. But that's

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Speaker 2: all the teachable stuff, really, I mean, that's anybody. I mean,

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Speaker 2: Rahie Morris and the defensive coaching staff give them a

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Speaker 2: lot of credit. They've lined them up correctly, they've made

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Speaker 2: the right adjustments, and they're playing hard and they're running

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Speaker 2: to the football. Now it's time for somebody to take

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Speaker 2: a step forward talent wise, like Bobby Brown for instance.

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Speaker 2: They can't teach you anymore. It's up to you. Jonah Williams,

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Speaker 2: same thing. They can't teach you anymore. It's up to you.

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Speaker 2: So either you're gonna get better or you're gonna get worse.

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Speaker 2: But I think the run defense has been better than

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Speaker 2: what we thought it would be. But give credit to

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Speaker 2: the coaching staff. Now it's time for somebody, somebody's talent

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Speaker 2: to take over and make this defense special.

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Speaker 3: I would add to that too.

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Speaker 4: I think you want to also see Kobe Turner continuing

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Speaker 4: to progress as well, absolutely as much as you want

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Speaker 4: to see more from you know, Bobby Brown as well

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Speaker 4: in that phase. I think Kobe, if he continues to

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Speaker 4: develop or he I should say, like, as tough as

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Speaker 4: it may be to place expectations like this on a rookie,

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Speaker 4: he's smart enough and from everything you know that I've

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Speaker 4: reported about him and learned about him, capable enough of

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Speaker 4: taking those steps. And so I think he's someone who's

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Speaker 4: also been you know, a part of you know, when

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Speaker 4: there's been success in the run games, he's had those

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Speaker 4: moments too. Or on run defense, I should say, so.

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Speaker 1: Let's finish with special teams, and I hope the best

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Speaker 1: is yet to come for Brett Maher and the kicking game.

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Speaker 2: I still have confidence, I do, even with some misses.

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Speaker 2: I know, when placekickers start to miss, everybody starts to worry,

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Speaker 2: and sometimes it becomes a virus and it affects him

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Speaker 2: and then you have to change kickers. I don't see

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Speaker 2: that with this guy. I really don't. And when we

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Speaker 2: talked to Sean McVay about him, he's got confidence in

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Speaker 2: the guy. So still, if you need one over fifty

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Speaker 2: to win a football game and you trotted him out,

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Speaker 2: I'd be like, all right, we got a shot here,

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Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Not the opposite way and punning.

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Speaker 2: I think the punnying has come around. Wouldn't you say.

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Speaker 1: They're not punny much? But I think Ethan Evans opportunities

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Speaker 1: to maybe really tilt some field position and impact games

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Speaker 1: are in this month of October.

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Speaker 2: Variety of punts. He's got the missile he could drop

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Speaker 2: down the field, field position, and also the end over

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Speaker 2: end that's tough to field on short field. So yeah,

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Speaker 2: I think special teams as a whole has come around

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Speaker 2: from preseason.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the NFC playoff picture, because

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Speaker 1: as we evaluate the RAMS, I think it's also time

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Speaker 1: to kind of get a survey of the landscape. Some

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Speaker 1: would say, wait a second, JB. You're going to talk

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Speaker 1: playoff picture here in the first week of October. That's

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Speaker 1: way too early. Others would say, hey, welcome to the team.

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Speaker 1: We've been evaluating the playoff picture since we flew home

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Speaker 1: from Seattle. I think there's a group at the bottom

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Speaker 1: that you can pretty well eliminate, and I think there's

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Speaker 1: a clear group at the top that the Rams are chasing,

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Speaker 1: and that separates the kind of middle class of the

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Speaker 1: NFC into the RAMS peer group. And the good news

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Speaker 1: that I think is they've got a lot of head

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Speaker 1: to head opportunities against that group. So here's what I'm

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Speaker 1: talking about at the bottom. Tell me if you disagree

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Speaker 1: with these. Chicago and Carolina oh to four, probably out.

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Speaker 1: Chicago could be zero to five by the end of

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Speaker 1: this night.

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Speaker 2: We'll see.

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Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure they're out one in three, Minnesota, one

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Speaker 1: in three New York Giants, one in three, Arizona Cardinals. Wow,

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Speaker 1: even when it went over Dallas. It's one of the

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Speaker 1: most impressive lands. But they've got enough. He'll climb.

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Speaker 2: Sure.

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Speaker 1: Statistically, those teams don't often make their way in, and

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Speaker 1: then I think there's some playoff locks. Anyone disagree that

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Speaker 1: Philadelphia and Dallas are going to be there at the end.

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Speaker 2: San Francisco, yoh yeah.

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Speaker 1: Detroit in the North looks like a playoff team, and

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Speaker 1: we need a placeholder for the NFC South. Right now,

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Speaker 1: it's Tampa Bay, right, that could change right now, it's

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Speaker 1: in front.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, all right.

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Speaker 1: So let's say that those five seats at the table

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Speaker 1: are reserved. That means you need to be better than

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Speaker 1: four of these five remaining teams. The Rams need to

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Speaker 1: be better than four of these five remaining New Orleans

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Speaker 1: and Atlanta. You got a home game against New Orleans

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Speaker 1: in December. Washington from the East, you also have a

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Speaker 1: home game at so far against the Commanders in December.

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Speaker 1: Green Bay in the north that is going to be

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Speaker 1: a huge trip to Lambeau early in November. And then

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Speaker 1: Seattle in the West, and you got a head to

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Speaker 1: head win over the Seahawks and a home game in

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Speaker 1: the rematch coming out of the by I like that position.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I think you'd be favored in four of five

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Speaker 2: of those games, wouldn't you. Outside of Seattle because they're Seattle,

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Speaker 2: I think you'd be favored to win. You'd have the

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Speaker 2: best quarterback on the field. If Matthew Stafford plays in

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Speaker 2: all five of those games.

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Speaker 1: I guess my point is it's a great opportunity to

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Speaker 1: measure up this weekend. But regardless of what happens against

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Speaker 1: the Eagles, in the middle of this schedule, you can

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Speaker 1: really make some headway in the NFC standings and put

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Speaker 1: yourself in position to be there in the home stretch.

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Speaker 4: And I don't think that's what many people saw when

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Speaker 4: the schedule first came out right back in May. I mean,

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Speaker 4: to have those kinds of opportunities to I mean, we

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Speaker 4: knew that there were going to be some tests early

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Speaker 4: season tests against potential playoff teams in the first five

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Speaker 4: or so six weeks of this season. But to have

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Speaker 4: those kind of opportunities, especially the green By game, that

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Speaker 4: becoming that much more meaningful now is something that's really

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Speaker 4: really intriguing.

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Speaker 1: We will know so much more at the end of

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Speaker 1: this homestand and this month of course. All right, let's

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Speaker 1: get to the Eagles. They are one of two remaining

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Speaker 1: undefeateds left in the National Football League. It hasn't always

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Speaker 1: been pretty. In fact, Darius Slay called it an ugly

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Speaker 1: four and oh and so I think the question from

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Speaker 1: the Eagles perspective coming to so far is are they

435
00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,919
Speaker 1: primed for an upset? Like, have they been overachieving and

436
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,639
Speaker 1: do for a loss or did they just find their stride?

437
00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,840
Speaker 1: Did it just click in especially offensively for Hurtzing Company

438
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:09,400
Speaker 1: and that overtime win over Washington.

439
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:14,080
Speaker 2: I do you see it? What's ugly about four? And? Oh? Yeah, yeah,

440
00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,200
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. Four and oh, well, they're good.

441
00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:19,159
Speaker 2: You talked about the best teams in the NFC. San

442
00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,560
Speaker 2: Francisco like is always top of mind, but Philadelphia is

443
00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:24,640
Speaker 2: right there. I think they have the best lines both

444
00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,280
Speaker 2: sides in football. They pour into them, don't They absolutely

445
00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:30,480
Speaker 2: their resources. Oh, their d line is fun and scary

446
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:32,960
Speaker 2: to watch. It's fun to watch as a former defensive lineman.

447
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,520
Speaker 2: It's scary to watch that. I'm because I'm where I'm

448
00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,040
Speaker 2: We're the next football team. They absolutely get to you.

449
00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,000
Speaker 2: Their offensive line, they're a bunch of Navy seals. Man.

450
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,760
Speaker 2: They work well together, they really do. And so this

451
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,359
Speaker 2: will be a test for both sides of the ball,

452
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,480
Speaker 2: for the Rams offense and defensive lines.

453
00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,720
Speaker 4: I'm also looking forward to the challenge of yet another

454
00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,640
Speaker 4: as you kind of alluded to earlier in the show,

455
00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,080
Speaker 4: JB another strong receiving duo for the secondary to go

456
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,320
Speaker 4: up against. I mean, if they're are weeks and even

457
00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,680
Speaker 4: going back to last season, where if it's not AJ

458
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,760
Speaker 4: Brown's game, it's DeVante Smith's game. DeVante Smith doesn't have

459
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,159
Speaker 4: a good game, then AJ Brown goes off. Sometimes they

460
00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:11,560
Speaker 4: both go off at the same time. Point being they're

461
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:17,520
Speaker 4: both very, very talented, minimum Pro Bowl talents and guys,

462
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,320
Speaker 4: they're certainly going to pose a challenge to the Rams secondary.

463
00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,480
Speaker 1: In many ways, they're like the Athens Georgia Bulldogs of

464
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,400
Speaker 1: the NFC East, right, they've drafted so many of those

465
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,480
Speaker 1: national champions. One thing we talked about with Sean McVay

466
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:34,240
Speaker 1: on Monday to Marco is at least the schematic similarity

467
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,080
Speaker 1: or carryover. The thought was, if you're going to play

468
00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,560
Speaker 1: the Colts and the Eagles in the same season, nice

469
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:41,640
Speaker 1: to have them back to back.

470
00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,240
Speaker 2: True, because you don't have to change much and you

471
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,119
Speaker 2: can teach off what just happened in Indianapolis. But the

472
00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:50,000
Speaker 2: same is true for them. They're going to look at

473
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,560
Speaker 2: what or how Anthony Richardson had success and come right

474
00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:56,480
Speaker 2: back to it. So look, I think the issue right

475
00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,920
Speaker 2: now on this football team. I guess if you would

476
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:02,080
Speaker 2: call it a efficiency, it would be edge. Right. So

477
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,800
Speaker 2: you saw what Anthony Richardson was able to do put

478
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:07,720
Speaker 2: them back in the football game. What did you guys

479
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,840
Speaker 2: call him a leverage destroyer? Did you call him that?

480
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:14,560
Speaker 2: Because that's true. But this guy Hurts come in the town,

481
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,760
Speaker 2: is the same way and he's better. There's nothing he

482
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:18,239
Speaker 2: can't do.

483
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,400
Speaker 1: You're talking about Pukadancic. That's the leverage destroyer, leverage killing.

484
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:24,440
Speaker 2: For some reason, I was thinking the same thing with Richardson,

485
00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,560
Speaker 2: But Jalen Hurts is the same exact style of quarterbacking

486
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,080
Speaker 2: just a little bit better. There's nothing he can't do.

487
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,480
Speaker 2: So they're going to find ways to isolate what might

488
00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,320
Speaker 2: you what might be called a deficiency and make those

489
00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:38,240
Speaker 2: guys have to beat you.

490
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,120
Speaker 4: De Marco, what do you think of the tush push?

491
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,520
Speaker 4: As a former defensive lineman, how mandening would it be

492
00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:45,240
Speaker 4: to defend a players?

493
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:46,960
Speaker 2: Yeah? Look, I don't want to make it out lawed.

494
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,239
Speaker 2: It's out there. Let's play it. Why don't we use it?

495
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,880
Speaker 2: That's what I say. It's not like they're the only

496
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,919
Speaker 2: team that can do it. Everybody can do it, right.

497
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,400
Speaker 1: Well, like you've told me, the key to defeating it

498
00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:59,439
Speaker 1: is not third and short or fourth and short. It's

499
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 1: first and second and don't get into it. Don't let

500
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,679
Speaker 1: them get to those absolute circumstances. And there is no

501
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:05,879
Speaker 1: stopping that play. You know this, right, They're just too

502
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,600
Speaker 1: good and Jalen Hurts is that guy, Yeah, keys to

503
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,920
Speaker 1: victory who wants to lead off. Let's wrap this episode

504
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,640
Speaker 1: up with some see the game.

505
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,960
Speaker 4: I would say, first and foremost, we've talked about the

506
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,000
Speaker 4: pass rush quite a bit in the show and previous

507
00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,480
Speaker 4: shows obviously, but against an offensive line like that, you

508
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,000
Speaker 4: got to really be creative with the type of pressures

509
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:27,440
Speaker 4: that you bring, and you got to make sure that

510
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,840
Speaker 4: you get home because if you don't, Jalen Hurts, similar

511
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,520
Speaker 4: to Anthony Richardson, can beat you in lots of different ways,

512
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,200
Speaker 4: and the last thing you want, like it says, beating,

513
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,320
Speaker 4: is either beating him, beating you with his legs, or

514
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,120
Speaker 4: making some of those off platform throws where he's able

515
00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 4: to escape the pocket and find one of his receivers downfield.

516
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,919
Speaker 4: And so again it's not going to be easy because,

517
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,480
Speaker 4: as DeMarco said, just with how much talent especially they

518
00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,960
Speaker 4: have on that offensive line, but that's the number one

519
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:55,440
Speaker 4: thing for.

520
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:57,560
Speaker 2: Me, no doubt. It's funny on the way over or

521
00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,719
Speaker 2: yesterday thinking about keys to victory and it's like, come

522
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,640
Speaker 2: up with a way to beat Philadelphia. He just kind

523
00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:04,959
Speaker 2: of laugh right, Really, yeah, okay, what do you do?

524
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,120
Speaker 2: I mean, you could do what most teams have done,

525
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:09,639
Speaker 2: throw around that D line and hope you can get

526
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:11,440
Speaker 2: the ball out, or you can try to run through

527
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,960
Speaker 2: it like Minnesota, and there have been people that had

528
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,840
Speaker 2: success against Philadelphia. They are not unbeatable. But if I

529
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,240
Speaker 2: had one key to victory, and it's weird, it's not

530
00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:23,400
Speaker 2: something that you can quantify. It's really how much can

531
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 2: Matthew Stafford take and keep get up because they're gonna

532
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:27,680
Speaker 2: be there's gonna be a lot of times where even

533
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,399
Speaker 2: if it's a great play, a touchdown pass, he's not

534
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:31,720
Speaker 2: going to see the end of it. He's going to

535
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,359
Speaker 2: be on the bottom of a pile. They've got a

536
00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:36,960
Speaker 2: great pass rush and it comes like a wave, it'll

537
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,480
Speaker 2: just crash right on top of you. So it's how

538
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,680
Speaker 2: many times can you get hit and keep getting up

539
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,119
Speaker 2: and keep proving to them that you're made of steel.

540
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:46,919
Speaker 2: And on the other side, I guess This might be

541
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,800
Speaker 2: the key. No drops, because when he's under pressure and

542
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,440
Speaker 2: he's getting hit, you might as well give the guy

543
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,080
Speaker 2: the respect of catching it. Don't make him go through

544
00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,879
Speaker 2: that for nothing. So no drops against the Philadelphia Eagles,

545
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 2: hopefully you might have a chance to win. I'm with you.

546
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:02,320
Speaker 1: I do hope the return of Cooper cut means he

547
00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,880
Speaker 1: gets hit less. He's gonna wear it, don't get me wrong,

548
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,400
Speaker 1: But the ability to win assuredly, early, reliably. I think

549
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,440
Speaker 1: that can take some of the heat down on Matthew Stafford.

550
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,440
Speaker 1: But for me, it's be the best quarterback in the stadium.

551
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 1: He has been the best quarterback in the NFC through

552
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:17,720
Speaker 1: the first month of the season. Let me say that again.

553
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,160
Speaker 1: He deserves to be the NFC Pro Bowl starting quarterback

554
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:23,360
Speaker 1: if we ended the season today. I don't think many

555
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:25,840
Speaker 1: people outside of this room or this facility will understand

556
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,199
Speaker 1: that or agree with that. But you look at what

557
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,440
Speaker 1: he's done to get to two and two, and there's

558
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,360
Speaker 1: nobody else who's outperformed in the NFC. There really isn't

559
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:37,440
Speaker 1: never has touchdown to interception ratio lied so badly. Tell

560
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 1: your fantasy football buddies that they're not seeing the full

561
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 1: picture here because the underlying metrics, Pro Football Focus, QBR, EPA,

562
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,160
Speaker 1: you name it. He's right up there with the best

563
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 1: in the game and above the rest, including Jalen Hurts

564
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,760
Speaker 1: in the NFC. If we can say the same thing

565
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 1: about Matthew Stafford. When we drive home from so Far

566
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 1: on Sunday, the Rams are going to open up this

567
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,200
Speaker 1: three game homestand by getting above five hundred.

568
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,160
Speaker 2: You're rough gonna be fun.

569
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,679
Speaker 1: Yeah, no one said it's gonna be easy. Tell us

570
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:05,119
Speaker 1: on Monday.

571
00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:05,360
Speaker 2: Yeah.

572
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 1: If these aren't the type of games that are for you,

573
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:08,560
Speaker 1: then you don't belong in the National.

574
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,919
Speaker 2: Football This is gonna be like Rocky four. Here comes Drago,

575
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:13,480
Speaker 2: but he can't be beaten.

576
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,760
Speaker 1: For Sue Jackson and DeMarco Farr and for anyone who

577
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,160
Speaker 1: might be listening and watching from Abiza and Hugh Maurice

578
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:22,200
Speaker 1: Jones Drew, I'm JB.

579
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 2: Long.

580
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,080
Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us for this week five

581
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,160
Speaker 1: edition Between the Horns, presented by your Southern California Toyota Dealers.

582
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 1: I guess I shouldn't like blow up its spot