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Speaker 1: What's up, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the

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Speaker 1: Falcons Final Whistle Podcast. I'm Scott Bear, and across the

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Speaker 1: zoom meeting from me right now is Tory mclaney. Ashton

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Speaker 1: Edmonds is on the road back from Charlotte road trip,

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Speaker 1: and yeah, Tory and I flew back. We are recording

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Speaker 1: this at a somewhat unusual time because the Falcons played

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Speaker 1: the Panthers at a somewhat unusual time on a Thursday night.

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Speaker 1: The game ended late, our flight back to Atlanta, and

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Speaker 1: then the drive through pouring rain ended even later. So

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Speaker 1: now it's nine nineteen in the morning, Tory and I

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Speaker 1: are on precious few hours of sleep, so let's get

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Speaker 1: delirious as we break down the panthers twenty five to

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Speaker 1: fifteen victory over the Atlanta Falcons, a game that did

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Speaker 1: not go right for the dirty Birds in a lot

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Speaker 1: of different ways. So we're gonna break all those ways down,

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Speaker 1: including something that I wrote about in my column on

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Speaker 1: the last night Slash this morning about how the Panthers

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Speaker 1: kind of played Falcons football and kind of dominated the

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Speaker 1: line of scrimmage and did a bunch of stuff that

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Speaker 1: the Falcons like to do. We're obviously going to talk

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Speaker 1: about the quarterback situation. That's something that Tory wrote extensively

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Speaker 1: about yesterday in a great job, by the way, in

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Speaker 1: addition to some big picture look at where the Falcons

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Speaker 1: stand in the NFC South and also kind of how

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Speaker 1: the Falcons can use this mini by this rest period

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Speaker 1: to try to get right get back on track because

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Speaker 1: they're at a point now where they've got to start

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Speaker 1: stacking some wins. So preamble over, Tory mclaney, you have

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Speaker 1: the floor and the spotlight and the microphone. Give me

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Speaker 1: your immediate overall general takeaways from Thursday night. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: thought that just overall, and maybe this isn't even like

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Speaker 1: a just a Thursday night thing now that we're kind

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Speaker 1: of like, I don't know, less than probably what like

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Speaker 1: seven eight hours removed from the game, twelve hours removed

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Speaker 1: from the start of the game. Time is irrelevant, I

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Speaker 1: don't know anymore. It's yeah, who we're drying our best here.

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Speaker 1: But essentially, what I was thinking, kind of as we're

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Speaker 1: sitting here after the game's over and kind of thinking back,

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Speaker 1: is that this game against the Panthers, I really felt

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Speaker 1: like from start to finish, offensively even if the stats

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Speaker 1: like kind of don't necessarily back this up to a

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Speaker 1: certain extent, I felt like the Falcons offensively just like

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Speaker 1: couldn't ever get going from start to finish. It felt

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Speaker 1: like that, and I felt like I'm not and I

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Speaker 1: tweeted this after the game too. When I look at

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Speaker 1: the defense of performance, I wasn't like displeased by what

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Speaker 1: they did defensively, Like should they have stopped the run more? Yes?

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Speaker 1: Should they probably have caught not one, not two, but

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Speaker 1: maybe even three interceptions that landed in defensive backs hands. Also, yes,

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Speaker 1: all those things are true. But I thought that they

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Speaker 1: did a good job of keeping the Panthers out of

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Speaker 1: the end zone, and essentially they caused I think four

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Speaker 1: three and outs if I'm remembering correctly, giving the ball

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Speaker 1: back to the Falcons offense. But I never felt like

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Speaker 1: the offense could really like capitalize on any moments or

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Speaker 1: any swings in the game that you felt like, okay,

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Speaker 1: like maybe there's an opportunity here. And that's something that

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Speaker 1: I felt like over the course of the last four games,

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Speaker 1: in which the Falcons have only won one game, and

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be honest, I don't think they've played consistently

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Speaker 1: in these last four games that they have gone with

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Speaker 1: one win and three losses against the Bengals, the Chargers,

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Speaker 1: and then of course Carolina twice. When you look at

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Speaker 1: these last four games collectively, it's like there hasn't been

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Speaker 1: something clicking that I feel like was clicking during a

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Speaker 1: time where you know, they beat the forty nine ers,

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Speaker 1: and they beat the Seahawks and it and they beat

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Speaker 1: the Browns and it felt kind of different often what

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Speaker 1: they were doing offensively, And I can't really put my

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Speaker 1: finger on it, but that's just kind of like where

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Speaker 1: we're at and where I think the Falcons are at now.

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Speaker 1: Taking a look back not only at the Thursday night game,

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Speaker 1: but at the last four games that they played. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think that's interesting to put it that way. And

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Speaker 1: I look at the defensive performance, and you know, we

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Speaker 1: all know what Dean p says it. You know, yards

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Speaker 1: don't matter. Points Do they gave up twenty last week?

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Speaker 1: They gave up twenty five? Here I covered Charles Woodson

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Speaker 1: for a long time. He always said that if a

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Speaker 1: defense holds the team to twenty four points or less,

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Speaker 1: that defense deserves to win the football game. Adamant about that,

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Speaker 1: they gave up twenty five here kind of at the

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Speaker 1: last minute. They were at twenty two for most of

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Speaker 1: the game. The thing that I look at here and

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Speaker 1: Carolina ran for a bunch of yards the last time

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Speaker 1: that they played Atlanta, but they ran for two hundred

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Speaker 1: and thirty two yards. They ran the ball forty seven times.

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Speaker 1: Forty seven times. That's an ideal Falcons football game, in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, And what the Falcons do well is that

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Speaker 1: they run the ball well. I think it was kind

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Speaker 1: of surprising, maybe to some to hear that. Entering Thursday

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Speaker 1: nights game, the Falcons were the number eight overall run defense.

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Speaker 1: They got beat pretty good, and Carolina made a point

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Speaker 1: to run. They ran seventeen of the first twenty three

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Speaker 1: plays they were. They racked up more than one hundred

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Speaker 1: and thirty some odd yards. I don't have that number

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Speaker 1: in front of me rushing yards in the first half.

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Speaker 1: They won both lines of scrimmage. That's not me saying that.

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Speaker 1: That's Arthur Smith saying that immediately after the game. And

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Speaker 1: when you do those things and you don't get bailed

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Speaker 1: out by a turnover and your passing game doesn't go bananas,

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Speaker 1: you end up with a result like this, and that's

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Speaker 1: ultimately where the Falcon stand here is that they didn't

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Speaker 1: play their game. The Panthers played their game and did

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Speaker 1: it well. Because when the Falcons are at their absolute best,

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Speaker 1: as they were against San Francisco, they stick it to

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Speaker 1: you on the ground, they defend well, they don't allow

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Speaker 1: a bunch of explosives, they make scoring hard. And that's

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Speaker 1: what it was for Atlanta. They got kind of a

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Speaker 1: taste of their own medicine, and it doesn't taste very

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Speaker 1: good at taste like that, like generic store brand version.

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Speaker 1: Tussing right, it's like it's not I did not know

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Speaker 1: where you're going with that. I had no idea. It

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Speaker 1: was like he's going where. I don't know where he's

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Speaker 1: going though. Yeah, I was trying to think of the

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Speaker 1: name of it, and then struggled mightily. It's weird because

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Speaker 1: some of these numbers on critical downs, demps would probably

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Speaker 1: take one of two in the red zone, six of

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Speaker 1: fifteen on third down, they didn't pass. They passed the

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Speaker 1: ball for one hundred and one yards. And the past

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Speaker 1: defense has struggled not so much that they couldn't do it,

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Speaker 1: just because they didn't need to do it, because they

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Speaker 1: were running the ball so well. The reason why those

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Speaker 1: critical downs were good enough is it's all relative, it's

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Speaker 1: all comparative, right. Arthur Smith said, Look, it was ugly,

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Speaker 1: and we did pretty well on critical downs, but we

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Speaker 1: didn't but we did even worse, and he's right, three

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Speaker 1: of eleven, one third down, one of two in the

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Speaker 1: red zone, oh and two on fourth down. Four point

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Speaker 1: nine yards per play. They ended up with one hundred

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Speaker 1: and thirty eight rushing yards. They still ran the ball

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Speaker 1: twenty five times, and my stat lecture is now over

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Speaker 1: a tory. But I guess when I look at this game,

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Speaker 1: I look at a game where they wanted to be

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Speaker 1: the more physical team, They wanted to do some of

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Speaker 1: these things, and it got done to them. Shaan Evans

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Speaker 1: called it and called it an eye opener that not

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Speaker 1: only that they got beat, but they got beat this way.

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Speaker 1: Do you buy into that that maybe this was kind

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Speaker 1: of like a hey, whoa, that's what we do and

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Speaker 1: this is where we ended up. Yeah, No, I definitely do.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's a really interesting kind of story

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Speaker 1: to come out of Thursday, what Thursday Nights game was.

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Speaker 1: And I think just kind of looking at offensively, you

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Speaker 1: know what was really interesting, And you and I both

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Speaker 1: talked to Chris Lindstrom in the locker room, and it

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Speaker 1: was kind of funny because you talked to him, and

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Speaker 1: then I walked up and you finished, and I was like, Chris,

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Speaker 1: I'm so sorry. Can I please ask you like three

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Speaker 1: more questions? And he definely goes that were from the

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Speaker 1: same outlet, like that's right. So he's like, wait, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you guys are together, and then okay, yeah, it was

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Speaker 1: great he was and he said something interesting. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if he said this to you, he did say

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Speaker 1: it to me, but he said something along the lines

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Speaker 1: of like that it just wasn't clicking for them at

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Speaker 1: the very beginning of the game. He was like, something

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Speaker 1: didn't feel right. And for somebody to say that, I

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Speaker 1: felt like one is being very honest, but also too

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Speaker 1: like it was putting to words exactly how I felt

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Speaker 1: when that game started. And now this is now the

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Speaker 1: second time that the Falcons have played the Panthers, and

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Speaker 1: it's also the second time that offensively, they've had a

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Speaker 1: pretty rough start to the game. If you remember last

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Speaker 1: or this is what twelve days ago at this point,

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Speaker 1: the first time that they played the Panthers um started

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Speaker 1: the game off with an interception. I believe it was

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Speaker 1: the second play of the offense their f drive, and

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Speaker 1: then of course to go out in the first half

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Speaker 1: and to only rush for thirty three yards at a

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Speaker 1: clip of I can't exactly remember, but I want to

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Speaker 1: say it was like less than three yards to carry

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Speaker 1: on average in the first half. It's two point eight

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Speaker 1: yards per carry, and then included that included a twelve

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Speaker 1: yard run by Avery Williams in the first half. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so that take that with what you will, but essentially

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Speaker 1: I'm saying that, no, it wasn't clicking. And Marcus even

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Speaker 1: said he was, like, you know, because I asked, because

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Speaker 1: it felt like from watching it in the press box

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Speaker 1: from our vantage point, to me, it felt like Carolina

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Speaker 1: did a really good job of taking what they learned

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Speaker 1: about the Falcons the first time that they faced them

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Speaker 1: and transitioning that to coming out in the first half

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Speaker 1: of this game on Thursday night and making adjustments to

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Speaker 1: where they were kind of dominating up front. And I

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Speaker 1: used the example of Falcons like wanting to run the

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Speaker 1: ball and not necessarily being able to. And I asked

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Speaker 1: a few people this if it felt like that if

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Speaker 1: it felt like Carolina came in with a different plan,

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Speaker 1: and Marcus Mariota said that, yeah, they were loading the

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Speaker 1: box a bit more and they were kind of putting

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Speaker 1: pressure on the Falcons to throw the ball a bit more,

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Speaker 1: particularly early, which is something that we talked about in

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Speaker 1: the press box, how it felt like they were going

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Speaker 1: to try and make Marcus Mario to beat them through

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Speaker 1: the air. And then you go into this first half

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Speaker 1: and essentially that's what they're doing, and the Falcons don't

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Speaker 1: have hardly any production offensively through the first half at all,

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Speaker 1: and that's just being I mean, they didn't score a

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Speaker 1: touchdown until well into the second half. So because of that,

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Speaker 1: it really did feel like one Carolina. You're talking about

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Speaker 1: them playing to their game plan and being able to

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Speaker 1: do what they wanted to do and being able to

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Speaker 1: be the more physical front on both sides of the

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Speaker 1: ball in that first half and how that kind of

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Speaker 1: shaped the rest of the game. And I think the

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Speaker 1: Falcons can kind of use this as a it's kind

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Speaker 1: of an eye opener and we need to figure things out,

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Speaker 1: and they have a quote Mini buy to do that,

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Speaker 1: but it's it kind of when you look at these

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Speaker 1: last two games particularly, it's kind of it's a tough

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Speaker 1: pill to swallow. And that's not my words, that's Marcus

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Speaker 1: Mariota's words. Yeah, And when you think about mini buys,

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Speaker 1: one thing I want fans to understand is during a

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Speaker 1: normal buye week, you get two or three practices on

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Speaker 1: the field to work things out. After a Thursday game,

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Speaker 1: the players are out of there. It's mandatory, so it's

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Speaker 1: more and then you get, I guess, an extra practice

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Speaker 1: on a Monday. But this is about the extra time

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Speaker 1: is for coaches to kind of maybe take a deep

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Speaker 1: breath and self scout and figure out what they're going

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Speaker 1: to do. I think I asked after the Cincinnati game

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Speaker 1: if Cincinnati's offense designed a blueprint for how to beat

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Speaker 1: the Falcons defense. They did it. And it's just funny

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Speaker 1: because the Panthers and Bengals couldn't have done it any differently.

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Speaker 1: And this kind of speaks to week to week league

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Speaker 1: and matchup issues and playing cheer and strengths and those

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Speaker 1: types of things. And what is repeated, right, if you

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Speaker 1: go back to the Cincinnati game, they they had a

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Speaker 1: unique talent in Joe Burrow that can execute a pass

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Speaker 1: heavy game plan in a way that was effective and

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Speaker 1: impactful and very difficult for the Falcons to stop. And

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Speaker 1: not just Joe Burrow, but three receivers that can do

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Speaker 1: what they also did right, absolutely electric playmakers. When you

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Speaker 1: look at what the Panthers did, and I'm not trying

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Speaker 1: to discount their talent, it's very clear Ikey Iquana is

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Speaker 1: the real deal. And they've got some horses up fronts

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Speaker 1: and they've got some big, physical running backs behind them.

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Speaker 1: But this seems like a more executable plan to me.

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Speaker 1: Is what I'm saying is to be able to run

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Speaker 1: the football well, you know time and time began and

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Speaker 1: to you know, to essentially on defense is the more

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Speaker 1: important thing is to force the Falcons to beat you

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Speaker 1: through the air or at least be balanced. If they're

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Speaker 1: now the Falcons praying forty times against the Chargers and lost,

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Speaker 1: which mind blowing. But if the Panthers seemed very committed

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Speaker 1: to loading up the box, preventing early runs, getting a lead,

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Speaker 1: and then pressure, pressure, pressure, right and bring more than

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Speaker 1: they got, have more people than they can block, and

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Speaker 1: there were guys open down field. The passing game, as

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Speaker 1: we've said before, simply just wasn't able to execute at

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Speaker 1: a consistent and high enough level to overcome the obstacles

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Speaker 1: the team was having in the run game and the

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Speaker 1: fact that they were down multiple scores in the first half.

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Speaker 1: While they've been down multiple scores in the first half,

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Speaker 1: and we've talked a lot about how much the Falcons

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Speaker 1: have scratched and claude to get back in games and

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Speaker 1: to get within one score. They never completed a full comeback.

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Speaker 1: They've gotten close, but when they've fallen down by multiple

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Speaker 1: scores in the first half. Those games include the La Rams,

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Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Bucks, Cincinnati, and this one they've lost

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Speaker 1: everyone despite cutting it to one score within the last

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Speaker 1: few minutes. So it's obviously not a viable strategy. It's

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Speaker 1: not a place that they want to be. And I

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Speaker 1: think that, you know, when I look at this game,

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Speaker 1: is it repeatable? Is any game repeatable? But I definitely

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Speaker 1: feel like the Panthers have a more executable game plan

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Speaker 1: to assert their will over the Falcons that other teams

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Speaker 1: could emulate. I guess is what I'm trying to say

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Speaker 1: that this may be more realistic in terms of how

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Speaker 1: you're going to go out them, and the coaches are

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Speaker 1: going to have to figure out a way to avoid

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Speaker 1: you know, the same traps, I guess. Or they have

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Speaker 1: to get the passing game right, because if the passing

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Speaker 1: game right and they start connecting downfield again, of which

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Speaker 1: there were opportunities to do so, then it indicates all

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Speaker 1: this they kind of blueprint stuff, right. Yeah, And I

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Speaker 1: think too you look at the I mean the team

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Speaker 1: that's coming into town. If you're if you're kind of

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Speaker 1: flipping it again and you're you're going back to your

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Speaker 1: original point about like the Falcons being beaten by their

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Speaker 1: brand of football. You have a team that is coming

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Speaker 1: in after this quote unquote mini buy that is going

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Speaker 1: to run the ball. I think Arthur Smith even said

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Speaker 1: it in his postgame pressor like the like Chicago's gonna

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Speaker 1: come in here and they're gonna try and run the

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Speaker 1: ball five hundred times. And it's like, okay, if you're

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Speaker 1: in a situation where it's like you have a last

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Speaker 1: second drive that you got to pull off and you're

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Speaker 1: having to throw the ball downfield or you do get behind,

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Speaker 1: I mean it is there and they are running the

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Speaker 1: clock out to a certain extent, do you have the

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Speaker 1: offensive capability to be able to make that type of

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Speaker 1: comeback or to lead a final game winning drive. That's

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Speaker 1: the question of kind of where the Falcons are at

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Speaker 1: I think right now offensively, and I think they do

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Speaker 1: have a good opportunity to kind of when you're looking

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Speaker 1: at the next slate of games, it's like, Okay, can

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Speaker 1: you get right in these next games? Because right now,

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Speaker 1: like going back to what I was saying before, it's

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Speaker 1: like these last four games have not been it. And

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Speaker 1: they I think they know that. I think coaches know that,

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Speaker 1: players know that. I think everybody watching knows that. It's like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: now what do you do with this information moving forward? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you wrote about Marcus Mariota, the passing game, the offense

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Speaker 1: in general. I think you mentioned it in your story

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Speaker 1: that Arthur Smith was asked five different questions in his

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Speaker 1: postgame press conference about Marcus Mariota. I think the first question,

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Speaker 1: and it was a valid one from the Athletics Josh Kendall,

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Speaker 1: was did you ever consider going to Desmond Ritter after

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Speaker 1: Marcus Mariota went through a day where he completed nineteen

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Speaker 1: of thirty passes for one hundred and eighty six yards

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Speaker 1: all yards, two touchdowns and a pick that stat line

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Speaker 1: maybe looks better than how it looked. He missed some opportunities,

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Speaker 1: there is no doubt about that. There was one I

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Speaker 1: thought sure touchdown where you overthrew Kyle Pitts. Kyle Pitts

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Speaker 1: targeted eight times, two catches, twenty eight yards. Again, I'm

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Speaker 1: not gonna do another stat lecture here, but nonetheless kind

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Speaker 1: of takeover for me here, Tory, What did you learn?

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Speaker 1: What did you hear about Marcus from Marcus Mariota the

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Speaker 1: passing game, and what Arthur Smith said when Desmond Ritter's

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Speaker 1: name got brought up. Yeah, I think it's interesting because

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Speaker 1: in a game where it felt like everyone was talking

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Speaker 1: about Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ritter, I felt like Arthur

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Speaker 1: Smith in his postgame press conference was very almost adamant

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Speaker 1: that he was not going to just talk about Marcus

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Speaker 1: Mariota's performance. And I felt like the line of questioning

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Speaker 1: about if he was going if he ever thought about

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Speaker 1: putting Desmond Ritter in and his answer was a straight

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Speaker 1: up no, what he kind of thought about Marcus's overall performance?

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Speaker 1: And he's like, you know, y'all can make this about

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Speaker 1: the quarterback, but what about the team, Like we should

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Speaker 1: have protected better, we should have run the ball better,

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Speaker 1: we should have stopped the run better. And he's listing

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Speaker 1: all of these things as to why the fact, why

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Speaker 1: it's not just quote about quarter backplay, and that's what

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Speaker 1: he was saying. And so you have your head coach

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Speaker 1: that comes to the podium and is talking and is

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Speaker 1: very adamant that it was a team loss and that

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Speaker 1: he wasn't going to point out and he wasn't going

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Speaker 1: to point to Marcus Mariota and his performance and his

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Speaker 1: role in the loss. Now, what's interesting, and this is

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Speaker 1: something that I wrote about, was that when Marcus went

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Speaker 1: to the podium, Marcus was very i think not just

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Speaker 1: aware of his role in the loss, but knowing that

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Speaker 1: it wasn't good enough. And he made the comment he

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Speaker 1: was like, you know, he kept saying, like it starts

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Speaker 1: with me. I can't take those sacks. He was sacked,

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Speaker 1: I believe five times for a loss of thirty three yards,

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Speaker 1: and so he was like, I can't take some of

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Speaker 1: those sacks, Like some of those things are on me.

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Speaker 1: Connecting with receivers. He talks about that. He talked about

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Speaker 1: feeling like he was forcing things because he felt like

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Speaker 1: he needed to provide a spark for this offense that,

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Speaker 1: let's be honest, started out sparkless and started out kind

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Speaker 1: of on a note like I don't even know how

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Speaker 1: else to describe it, but that's how I would describe it.

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Speaker 1: And so he's trying to create this spark and he

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Speaker 1: has said this before and he said it again on

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Speaker 1: Sunday where he was like, when I start playing out

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Speaker 1: of myself and when I kind of get in those

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Speaker 1: moments where I'm trying to almost like overplay and overcompensate,

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Speaker 1: like that's when I get myself in trouble. And that

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Speaker 1: was something that he was talking about, and so he

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Speaker 1: was very cognizant and aware of kind of the pressure

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Speaker 1: that I think not just the fan base, but we're

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Speaker 1: talking about Thursday night football and in a primetime saw

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Speaker 1: it where it felt like the whole league and multiple

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Speaker 1: fan bases or watching this game and for the Falcon's

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Speaker 1: offense to perform that like that with Marcus Mariota as

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Speaker 1: the quarterback, he's going to take a lot of heat.

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Speaker 1: And he was well aware of that and he for

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Speaker 1: his part, I think he was he wasn't defensive. He

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Speaker 1: knew that it wasn't good enough. He talked about, you know,

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Speaker 1: they letting the Panthers play their game of football and

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Speaker 1: defend the way that they wanted to and to execute

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Speaker 1: the game plan that they wanted to because they were

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Speaker 1: getting the Falcons in third and long situations. And we

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Speaker 1: know when the Falcons are in third and long situations,

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Speaker 1: they struggle because they have to throw the ball because

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Speaker 1: it's an obvious passing down. So all of that to

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Speaker 1: say that Arthur Smith wasn't pointing to Marcus Mariota, and

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Speaker 1: he very much shut down any type of conversation about

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Speaker 1: potentially seeing Desmond Ritterer on Thursday night, which I understand

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Speaker 1: if we want to talk about Desmond Ritter. I'm not

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Speaker 1: putting Desmond Ridder into that game. It's a game on

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Speaker 1: a short week, it's a game in not ideal conditions,

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Speaker 1: and it's a game in which your offensive line wasn't

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Speaker 1: necessarily working at the clip that they need to. And

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Speaker 1: that's something that Chris Lynstrom said. That's not me saying that.

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Speaker 1: It's Chris Linstrom saying that they need to be better

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Speaker 1: for Marcus and for the team and for this offense.

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Speaker 1: And you don't have the balance of being able to

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Speaker 1: rely on the run as much as you can. So

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Speaker 1: that's a long winded explanation as to why I understood

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Speaker 1: the decision not to pull Marcus for Desmond. Am I

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Speaker 1: saying that that completely takes away the possibility of seeing

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Speaker 1: Desmond Ritter later? No, that's not me saying that. So

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Speaker 1: I want to prefer I want to say all of

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Speaker 1: that and add that little two cents in because I'm

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Speaker 1: sure there's a lot of people listening to this wondering

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Speaker 1: why in the world, like why in the world didn't

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Speaker 1: we see Desmond Ritter on Thursday night? And those I

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Speaker 1: think are the reasons. And I mean, if you look

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Speaker 1: at it like they had a chance to tie it

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Speaker 1: up in the fourth, you know that it wasn't like

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Speaker 1: they were completely out of the game, as I think

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Speaker 1: tough as it was is at multiple points in the

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Speaker 1: game to feel like the Falcons were in it at

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Speaker 1: one point they were. Yeah. I look at Marcus Mariota's

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Speaker 1: performance overall, and I look at the struggles of the

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Speaker 1: passing game, and I agree with Arthur Smith in a

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Speaker 1: lot of different ways that he was asked about Mariota's

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Speaker 1: accuracy on some balls, and he said it's hard when

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Speaker 1: you can't even set your feet man, which is alluding

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Speaker 1: to there isn't enough protection for him to get the

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Speaker 1: ball downfield. And look, I don't want to go into

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Speaker 1: the popular narrative. That's not what I'm trying to do.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not trying to lay the blame at one

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Speaker 1: person's feet when clearly the entire team wasn't good enough.

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Speaker 1: But in this game, there's a reason why quarterbacks get

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Speaker 1: paid hundreds of millions of dollars. Eventually, whether everything in

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Speaker 1: front of you goes right or wrong, the trigger man

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Speaker 1: has an opportunity, right, they have an opportunity to make

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Speaker 1: a miracle happen, make magic happen. We've seen Marcus Mario

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Speaker 1: to do that a ton. Tori and I talk a

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Speaker 1: lot in the press conference of if that was a

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Speaker 1: slower quarterback that's second and seventeen. There are also opportunities

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Speaker 1: where you look at it and everything is right or

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Speaker 1: enough is right, where he has time to get the

431
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 1: ball out to a productive target and it's just inaccurate.

432
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 1: That can also be a thing, right, Yeah, all of

433
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 1: these things can and are true. Like that's the thing

434
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 1: is like, it's not just like a one size I

435
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: feel like Arthur Smith has just like come out of

436
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,120
Speaker 1: my mouth because he always says it's not a one

437
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:42,919
Speaker 1: size fits all thing, and I was about to be

438
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:44,960
Speaker 1: what I was saying, but it's true. I mean, it's

439
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,840
Speaker 1: like with Marcus. I mean, it is a little bit

440
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,200
Speaker 1: of everything right now, and it goes to every level

441
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,320
Speaker 1: of the offense. And there's not a part of the

442
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 1: offense that I don't think is touched by it. But

443
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 1: of course, like you're talking about a quarterback, and there

444
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:05,880
Speaker 1: are a lot of times that games are won on

445
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 1: the back of the quarterback, and that's I think that's

446
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 1: kind of the point that we both are trying to

447
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 1: get to, right, that this is a this is a

448
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:21,800
Speaker 1: layer cake. But with that quarterback position, you've seen a

449
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:26,119
Speaker 1: number of quarterbacks go out and you make, you know,

450
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,600
Speaker 1: an important play that turns the tide in the game.

451
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,320
Speaker 1: I used to cover the forty nine ers and I

452
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,040
Speaker 1: was at Super Bowl fifty one, fifty four. I don't

453
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,520
Speaker 1: know Chiefs forty nine ers, right, and Jimmy Garoppolo played

454
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,680
Speaker 1: a really solid game. But there was a point where

455
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:45,439
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Sanders books at wide open down fields a complete pass.

456
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,960
Speaker 1: It's a hard pass, low percentage pass, I get that

457
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,080
Speaker 1: if he puts the ball in the right spot, the

458
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,600
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers win the Super Bowl. That's simple. I'm sorry,

459
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:57,880
Speaker 1: it's that simple. He missed them, they didn't win. He's

460
00:26:57,920 --> 00:26:59,679
Speaker 1: gonna have to live with that, right. That's part of

461
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:03,040
Speaker 1: the quarterback position, is what I'm saying that at some

462
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,720
Speaker 1: point you just have to deliver a good ball, and

463
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:07,960
Speaker 1: if you don't, the entire team kind of has to

464
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,880
Speaker 1: deal with it. Anyway, I would say, look in terms,

465
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,439
Speaker 1: you're exactly right, that was not the time to bring

466
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 1: in a backup quarterback who's never played a game before

467
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,040
Speaker 1: in the rain, where the running game is slowed. That's

468
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,400
Speaker 1: so important. He has not He does not get regular

469
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 1: reps with the first unit. It just doesn't happen. There's

470
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,960
Speaker 1: only two quarterbacks. He runs the scout team. The scout

471
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 1: team runs the other team system. Okay, there are kind

472
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: of young guy periods and backup periods, so he does

473
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,159
Speaker 1: get some and he's obviously in the meeting rooms and

474
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: he knows what the heck is going on, and Desmond

475
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 1: is a smart guy. But I think you and I

476
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,120
Speaker 1: both said this tour, you want to bring a young

477
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,960
Speaker 1: quarterback in in a position where he can succeed, and

478
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,760
Speaker 1: that was not one of those things. And to Arthur

479
00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 1: Smith's point, I'm gonna channel him too. They found a

480
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,360
Speaker 1: way to get within one score, They found a way

481
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,960
Speaker 1: to push, and Marcus has done that before. So why

482
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,840
Speaker 1: would you assume that on this night he couldn't do

483
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,119
Speaker 1: that again, that he couldn't flip the script as he

484
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,440
Speaker 1: has done before, As he did on that drive where

485
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,760
Speaker 1: he accumulated eighty two of his one hundred and eighty

486
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:22,280
Speaker 1: nine yards. He went eighteen twenty one, eighteen twenty five,

487
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 1: something like that, and he took big chunks. So why

488
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:28,000
Speaker 1: would North think that Marcus could do that one more time?

489
00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 1: It didn't happen one more time. I think the most

490
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 1: important thing about this quarterback conversation is the point that

491
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,040
Speaker 1: you and Marcus brought up about him playing outside of himself.

492
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,400
Speaker 1: You see some of those throws where he's kind of

493
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,480
Speaker 1: getting thrown to the ground and he's literally just kind

494
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,800
Speaker 1: of like vauling it up in the air, or he's

495
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 1: throwing it into heavy traffic, trying to make a great

496
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: thing happen, but it ends up being ill advised. I

497
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 1: don't mind the effort, but the execution of the passing

498
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,720
Speaker 1: game just has to be better or they're just gonna

499
00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,239
Speaker 1: put eight, I don't know, nine guys up front and

500
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,040
Speaker 1: do whatever they can to stop the run, and the

501
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 1: Falcons have to adjust to that, and that's really what

502
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: they have to do moving forward in my opinion, when

503
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 1: it comes to the NFC South standing, we're talking on

504
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,880
Speaker 1: a Friday. There's still some more games to be played

505
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,520
Speaker 1: the NFC South. We don't know how the standings are

506
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: going to work out. There's no team above five hundred.

507
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 1: But I think more important than the standings, right, We've

508
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 1: talked a lot about the standings because they were on

509
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 1: top of them. We're at a different point now, right, Yeah,

510
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 1: we're at a different point now. This team is four

511
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 1: and six and it needs to figure itself out before

512
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,080
Speaker 1: and there's still seven games left. There's plenty of time

513
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 1: to do that. But this team needs to figure itself

514
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 1: out before it starts worrying about its standing within the

515
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 1: context of the NFC South or of the conference at large. Yeah, No,

516
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:55,240
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right. I think like it's it's one of

517
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,720
Speaker 1: those things that you do have to look inwardly at

518
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:02,680
Speaker 1: this point in time, because is there's so much happening elsewhere,

519
00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,240
Speaker 1: and you know, I mean we're proponents of that too,

520
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,400
Speaker 1: like where we were, Like we've been talking about the

521
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,240
Speaker 1: standings and really making a point of that because it

522
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 1: is important because it is happening, and the Falcons were

523
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,640
Speaker 1: on top of the NFC South there for a little bit.

524
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,960
Speaker 1: But now I completely agree with you that it kind

525
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,920
Speaker 1: of shifts where it's like the Falcons just need to

526
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 1: get wins and they need to play well consistently through

527
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:35,640
Speaker 1: four quarters and kind of to get to the point

528
00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 1: where you feel like you did after the Browns game

529
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,400
Speaker 1: or after the forty nine ers game, not after the

530
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,880
Speaker 1: last four games. Even in a win for one of

531
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,560
Speaker 1: those four games, but even in that win, it's like

532
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 1: if that game, if if there is not one but

533
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,800
Speaker 1: two game winning field goals that are made, that's a

534
00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:03,160
Speaker 1: different You're caught talking about a completely different game, and

535
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the first time the Falcons played the Panthers.

536
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,320
Speaker 1: So all of that to say, this has not been

537
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,600
Speaker 1: a good four weeks for the Falcons, and I think

538
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 1: that needs to change in order for them to feel

539
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 1: better about where this twenty twenty two season is going. Yeah,

540
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,320
Speaker 1: I think that's a great point they're very, very close

541
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,120
Speaker 1: to being oh for their last four and there are

542
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 1: issues that need to be fixed. Opponents ce tape and

543
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 1: they start adjusting. Now the Falcons have to adjust back.

544
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 1: I don't think, and I say that it's not a

545
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 1: coaching situation. I can't be labor that point enough. I

546
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,320
Speaker 1: think it's just about improved execution and run defense in

547
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 1: past defense in previous weeks, and trying to get the

548
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,719
Speaker 1: passing game to a point where it doesn't have to

549
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,720
Speaker 1: be perfect. They don't have to throw the ball sixty

550
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 1: two times. But when Kyle Pitts is open and he's

551
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 1: your target and you throw it towards him, you gotta

552
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 1: h him. Yeah, at some point, it's just that simple. Yeah,

553
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 1: with three with like three yards of separation, you gotta

554
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: hit them. You just do, and you did last week

555
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:14,440
Speaker 1: right that. We can talk about route depth and concept,

556
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 1: but at some point you just gotta hit them. You

557
00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: just got to go make a play. And that's, in

558
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,640
Speaker 1: my opinion, the difference between the Falcons coming up on

559
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 1: the short end of some of these close games and

560
00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,960
Speaker 1: being on the other side. That's not necessarily be Scott

561
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,920
Speaker 1: and Tories recipe for Falcon's success I think that's common

562
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,120
Speaker 1: sense more than anything else. Just you have to execute better.

563
00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 1: The scheme is good, the game plan is good, you

564
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,320
Speaker 1: have to execute better. You have to take advantage of

565
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,560
Speaker 1: the opportunities. These games are all going to be close.

566
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,840
Speaker 1: That's how the Falcons play, That's what they're kind of

567
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:51,560
Speaker 1: roster dictates, and that's how the NFL is right now. Exactly. Yeah,

568
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,720
Speaker 1: that's something that you said back in week one, and

569
00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:55,760
Speaker 1: I kind of raised my eyebrow at you because I

570
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,000
Speaker 1: was like, that game never should have been close against

571
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,400
Speaker 1: the Saints. And it turns out we've there's so many

572
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:05,360
Speaker 1: one score games regardless of who who is perennially good

573
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:10,200
Speaker 1: or bad. So nonetheless, Tory and I set out to

574
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,680
Speaker 1: talk for fifteen to twenty minutes. I'm staring at my

575
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,680
Speaker 1: zoom screen and they're saying we're getting ready to kick

576
00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:20,880
Speaker 1: you off, because which means we've gone a lot longer

577
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 1: than that. So let's cut it off right here. Any

578
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,880
Speaker 1: final thoughts, So you want me started doing the final spiel,

579
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:31,800
Speaker 1: go ahead, I'll give you the final spiel floor, all right, y'all,

580
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 1: do what you do. Rate review, Subscribe to the Falcons

581
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:40,080
Speaker 1: podcast network on iTunes and Spotify or join us on YouTube,

582
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,880
Speaker 1: won't you That place is a It's a fun little

583
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,200
Speaker 1: community where we put tons of videos and including video

584
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 1: podcasts where you can also see not only Falcons Final Whistle,

585
00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:55,200
Speaker 1: but also Falcons Audible with Derek DJ and Dave and

586
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,280
Speaker 1: Falcons and Focus our passion projects Tory and I have

587
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 1: where we go in depth with Falcons players. You get

588
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 1: to know them on a more personal level away from

589
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:08,480
Speaker 1: the game. It's the best part of our week, so

590
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:12,080
Speaker 1: please find a way to listen to that. In my opinion,

591
00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:18,160
Speaker 1: getting to know these players deserves a big audience, and nonetheless,

592
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:21,360
Speaker 1: we have a great weekend, by the way, saying this

593
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:25,719
Speaker 1: to you Tory and to everyone listening, and we will

594
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:31,720
Speaker 1: catch you next week in ten days or so, after

595
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:37,120
Speaker 1: the Falcons play the Chicago Bears. We'll talk to you

596
00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:41,879
Speaker 1: then see Yeah Yeah,