Speaker 1: EVO.
Speaker 2: Samuel Front of San Francisco forty nine is in.
Speaker 3: This is the NFL.
Speaker 2: Report, EVO.
Speaker 4: Looks real relaxed you just sitting there. We entered the
Speaker 4: divisional round. James Palmer, Steve White with you on the
Speaker 4: NFL Report. A slammed show Today. All pro quarterback from
Speaker 4: the Chiefs Trent McDuffie.
Speaker 2: Joins the show.
Speaker 4: Former Falcons general manager and former Patriots scout Thomas de
Speaker 4: Mitchroff also joins the show. Baldy's Favorite films breaking down
Speaker 4: everything you need to know Steven the postseason, as well
Speaker 4: as Judy Batista telling us everything we need to know
Speaker 4: about Bill Belichick to the Falcons. This is weird, though, Steve.
Speaker 4: This isn't where I normally see you.
Speaker 3: What's going on here?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 5: I mean I'm in my hotel room over in Honolulu, JP.
Speaker 5: You know there's no NFL team. Oh here, I'm as
Speaker 5: you see right here, the Polynesian Bowl. It's be broadcast
Speaker 5: Friday evening on NFL Network. It is the greatest collection
Speaker 5: of high school football stars All Star Game. Dylan Rayola,
Speaker 5: the number one quarterback in the country, the son of
Speaker 5: Dominic Raiola, who decommitted from Georgia right to go to
Speaker 5: Nebraska where his father played.
Speaker 3: He's gonna be the big highlight of the game.
Speaker 5: But some of the best players in high school football
Speaker 5: who are going to matriculate to the NFL. We've seen
Speaker 5: guys like Talano, Hufanga, Hohoka Nakua, so many guys who've
Speaker 5: played in this game. For Jean Robinson go to the
Speaker 5: NFL from fired up, I'll be on the call with
Speaker 5: Cadoa Lahea. But JB, let's get to this wildcard weekend
Speaker 5: because the one thing you see with the remaining teams
Speaker 5: is kind of you have a healthy quarterback, you played
Speaker 5: most of the season, You had a good shot to
Speaker 5: get to this point.
Speaker 3: What quarterback matchup?
Speaker 5: Because they're so good this weekend really intrigued you the most.
Speaker 4: Steve, there is one quarterback matchup that we all should
Speaker 4: be focused on. It is the new Tom Brady versus
Speaker 4: Peyton Manning. It is Josh Allen versus Patrick Mahomes. So
Speaker 4: the first time in the postseason on the road for Mahomes,
Speaker 4: I've covered this game. I think I've covered almost every
Speaker 4: single matchup that they've had outside.
Speaker 2: Of the one.
Speaker 4: God the Mahomes played up there in Orchard Park. It
Speaker 4: was during COVID, no fans there, so he is getting
Speaker 4: his first experience playing on the road in Buffalo in
Speaker 4: this game. Now, what I find fascinating about this is
Speaker 4: they are both just dynamite quarterbacks, but what they're doing
Speaker 4: right now with both teams are I feel like it's
Speaker 4: the word resiliency Steve, And that's not usually what you
Speaker 4: would think of when you think of the Bills and
Speaker 4: the Chiefs over the last couple of years, but that's
Speaker 4: where they're both at right now. With the Bills have
Speaker 4: overcome and how they've gotten to the spot they're at
Speaker 4: as red hot as they are, with Josh Allen putting
Speaker 4: this team on his back at times and really going
Speaker 4: out there and carrying the Bills and willing them to wins.
Speaker 4: Patrick Mahomes, on the other hand, has been utilizing his.
Speaker 2: Defense, his run game.
Speaker 4: When I talked to coaches in Kansas City, they say
Speaker 4: his adaptability this year is the number one trait that
Speaker 4: has stood out to them in the eyes of Patrick
Speaker 4: Mahomes and what he's done differently. He has learned a
Speaker 4: lot to where it's okay Steve to take the check down,
Speaker 4: to flip the field to hunt the football in the
Speaker 4: postseason and protect it a different mentality. But we talked
Speaker 4: about it on a previous show, Steve. Could this be
Speaker 4: the formula for the Chiefs. That's why I find this fascinating.
Speaker 4: They're not playing like we've seen them both play in
Speaker 4: the past.
Speaker 3: And that's okay, and JP the one thing that's I've
Speaker 3: talked about enough.
Speaker 5: We talk about it so much with Josh Allen and
Speaker 5: Lamar Jackson, but Patrick Mahomes running the ball to move
Speaker 5: the sticks seems to be a constant trait in the
Speaker 5: postseason with this team. I love that matchup and we're
Speaker 5: gonna have Judy Batista. She'll be at the game in
Speaker 5: Baltimore this weekend between the Texans and Ravens. Talk about
Speaker 5: that dynamic matchup with c. J. Straud and Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 5: Later with JP. How could I not go with my
Speaker 5: guy Rock Hurry against Jordan Love a big Saturday Saturday
Speaker 5: evening game.
Speaker 3: Okay, I see the face, But here's why.
Speaker 5: Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers is playing better
Speaker 5: than any quarterback in the NFL right now. In the
Speaker 5: past five games, Jordan Love twelve touchdowns, zero interceptions.
Speaker 3: He's taking care of the ball.
Speaker 5: He's making plays as you're seeing right here against Dallas
Speaker 5: when he carved up throwing the ball, there's twenty one
Speaker 5: times in all kinds of different ways from the pocket
Speaker 5: rolling out. Now he has not played the defense like
Speaker 5: the rested Niners are going to be throwing in his face.
Speaker 5: But if Green Bay can run the balls, there's somewhat
Speaker 5: of a degree like they've been running it. This could
Speaker 5: set up things very interesting. Now, now I gotta go
Speaker 5: to my guy Brock. Perty Look after that four interception
Speaker 5: game against Baltimore, he has played much more like the
Speaker 5: Brock party that we know that is controlled, that is
Speaker 5: from the pocket, and that is operating on time. He's
Speaker 5: not operating on time in this highlight right here against Washington.
Speaker 5: This is also a part of his game nobody talks about.
Speaker 5: We had deep Deebo. Samuel introduced us and when we
Speaker 5: interviewed him last week, he talked about how much Hurry
Speaker 5: has got that killer in him. Right, He's got the
Speaker 5: thing that pushed things over the top and how they
Speaker 5: pushed the ball down field.
Speaker 1: JP.
Speaker 3: This isn't just a dink and donk quarterback. This is
Speaker 3: somebody who can win games all right. JP.
Speaker 5: Coming up next the Detroit Lions, I mean a team
Speaker 5: we've been on since the very beginning.
Speaker 3: They're playing a sleeper team, excuse me, a sleeper team.
Speaker 5: And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked really good and destroying
Speaker 5: the Eagles in the wildcard round. What is something they
Speaker 5: could do or what is something the Lions can do
Speaker 5: for Detroit to get to the conference championship game.
Speaker 4: I'll let you handle Detroit because I want to go
Speaker 4: down to Florida. I want to go to Tampa Bay,
Speaker 4: where maybe there's not enough credit.
Speaker 2: Steve, we talked about the tones of the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 4: I think we could say also, this Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Speaker 4: team is extremely tough and extremely resist You look at
Speaker 4: everything that they've been through with their quarterback and battle
Speaker 4: as we call it, with Baker Mayfield winning it this
Speaker 4: past offseason. We have to remember their offensive quarter Dave Canalis,
Speaker 4: who was on this show last week. He's been to
Speaker 4: the postseason regularly when he was in Seattle. This team
Speaker 4: with the Buccaneers, we're in the postseason over the last
Speaker 4: several years with Tom Brady as their quarterback.
Speaker 2: They have been there.
Speaker 4: And you mentioned what they did against the Philadelphia Eagles,
Speaker 4: one of the best offensive lines in football. They manhandled
Speaker 4: them at the line of scrimmage. Line played brilliantly. This
Speaker 4: is another very good offensive line, one of the best
Speaker 4: in football that the Detroit Lions have.
Speaker 2: And if this team can get physical upfront and.
Speaker 4: They can cause some issues in the timing and the
Speaker 4: way that Jared Golf operates this offense, this could be
Speaker 4: a sneaky interesting matchup and a sneaky potential upset.
Speaker 2: Possibly Steve or it really good Buccaneers.
Speaker 3: It really couldn't.
Speaker 5: And we're gonna have Brian Baldinger on later to talk
Speaker 5: about this game because this is something he really wants
Speaker 5: to sink his teeth and two after watching film. But
Speaker 5: I'm gonna go back to this and I talked about
Speaker 5: this or Detroit when they played the Rams in a
Speaker 5: wildcat round, and I think it showed up. And that
Speaker 5: is the center of their defense. Chauncey Gardner Johnson, who's
Speaker 5: been a little Twitter beef with Baker Mayfield this week
Speaker 5: in kind of that interior slot corner position, Herbie Joseph
Speaker 5: at safety, some of the things that they do, and
Speaker 5: Brian Branch, my gosh, how good has this rookie bent
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, where does Tampa and Baker like to drive
Speaker 5: the ball? We saw it last week. It is kind
Speaker 5: of the middle of the field. A lot of the
Speaker 5: crossing routes set up some of the over the top
Speaker 5: stuff to Mike Evans, which they really couldn't get going.
Speaker 5: And I think this is going to be something that
Speaker 5: Detroit is gonna have to use. I know their offense
Speaker 5: is gonna have some tough sledding against this defense. We're
Speaker 5: watching Aiden Hutchinson here on the highlight put pressure. They're
Speaker 5: gonna have to generate some of that pressure to flush
Speaker 5: Baker Mayfield to maybe get the ball out of his
Speaker 5: hands a little quicker. And again that's are some of
Speaker 5: those guys in that secondary, particularly at the safeties. Brian
Speaker 5: Branch caused some problems in that passing game for Tampa Bay.
Speaker 3: JP.
Speaker 5: This is gonna be a fun game, and I'm with you.
Speaker 5: I think the Buccaneers not be underestimated. Really, JP. We
Speaker 5: know there's some great coaches coming down in this round here,
Speaker 5: this divisional round. Is there any that has any greater
Speaker 5: pressure than the other coming into this level?
Speaker 4: I would say, Steve, it's kind of the two guys
Speaker 4: that had the number one seed in the bye. I
Speaker 4: look at Harball and what John Harball is up against
Speaker 4: in Baltimore, because the last time they were in this
Speaker 4: situation was twenty nineteen and Lamar won the NB good
Speaker 4: they had to buy and then they went and they
Speaker 4: lost to the Titans in the Divisional round and their
Speaker 4: postseason was over. I think this is for John Harbaugh
Speaker 4: and for Lamar Jackson as well, to get over a
Speaker 4: parobial hump because a lot of people have them as
Speaker 4: a super Bowl.
Speaker 3: Favorite, and I'm one hundred scent way you with the
Speaker 3: number one team.
Speaker 5: Kyle Shanahan, no one's going to doubt how great of
Speaker 5: a coach he is, but he's gonna go down as
Speaker 5: a great regular season coach or a great postseason coach.
Speaker 5: And this is where to me, the NFC is a
Speaker 5: very clear path for the forty nine ers.
Speaker 1: Guys.
Speaker 5: It's gonna be tough for the but this is gonna
Speaker 5: be a game they need to win and keep on rolling.
Speaker 5: So this weekend, I think the forty nine ers, who
Speaker 5: are well rested, we know they were nicked up when
Speaker 5: the end of the season. They need to finish strong.
Speaker 5: This again, they're playing a red hot Packers team. It's
Speaker 5: gonna be a heck of a challenge. They have it
Speaker 5: at Levi's Well, JP, you know what coming up next?
Speaker 5: We just talked about slot corners, right, I talked about
Speaker 5: Brian Branch. We've got the first team all post slot corner.
Speaker 5: That's the Chiefs trying to be joining us. Oh, JP,
Speaker 5: this is gonna be good. Don't be anywhere.
Speaker 6: Love back after the break for the nflbum.
Speaker 1: They just like the Bahamas.
Speaker 7: Huh Hey, great job, probaty guys.
Speaker 3: Make sure you have your cell phones.
Speaker 7: We'll let you know. You know when we're playing. Make
Speaker 7: sure you take care of yourself. If you're nicked up,
Speaker 7: let's get taken care of. We get ourselves back in
Speaker 7: there and get ready to go. Oh how beautiful is
Speaker 7: this man? How about those gotta love it? Gotta love it?
Speaker 1: Hey, for real, take care of your body this weekend.
Speaker 2: Make sure you're ready to go next week.
Speaker 1: We ain't done so chase something.
Speaker 4: Welcome back into the NFL report, James Palmer, Steve Whites
Speaker 4: with you and we have.
Speaker 2: All pro Steve Yeah. Back of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 2: Trent McDuffie, Trent I gotta ask you to start off
Speaker 2: with this right here.
Speaker 4: What do you feel like the slot corner spot actually
Speaker 4: getting this recognition in the all pro situation because on
Speaker 4: this show we talked about slot corners being one of
Speaker 4: the most valuable positions in all football.
Speaker 8: Yeah, kind of like you said, I feel like this
Speaker 8: slot cornerback position though, is definitely one that I feel
Speaker 8: like it's starting to get more recognition because, I mean,
Speaker 8: you look at it. We do so much. I mean,
Speaker 8: we got a blitz. They want us to play the
Speaker 8: line game, we gotta go cover the wide receivers, tight ends.
Speaker 8: I mean, they expect a lot out of us. So
Speaker 8: just that recognition, I always say, is a big blessing
Speaker 8: and I think just goes to show just how much
Speaker 8: I've been able to help out this team and this defense.
Speaker 3: Well, Frank, congrats on that and this week.
Speaker 5: I mean, your role, as we saw the first time
Speaker 5: you played them, is highly valuable because we know how
Speaker 5: they like to work the middle of the field with
Speaker 5: their tight ends to kind of slip cook out there
Speaker 5: and coverage, but to also keep an eye on Josh
Speaker 5: Allen in the run game, and you guys bottle them up.
Speaker 3: The first time you played.
Speaker 5: I mean how much I'll put it this way, what
Speaker 5: is it like preparing knowing that he can slip out
Speaker 5: in the run game. You always have to have eyes
Speaker 5: on him while also protecting your duties in the passing game.
Speaker 8: Right yeah. I mean whenever you play a quarterback that
Speaker 8: can throw it, run it. I mean, Josh Allens are
Speaker 8: those guys that can just do it all. It always
Speaker 8: adds just a little more dynamic challenge for the defense because,
Speaker 8: like you said, we can't just as a defender. I
Speaker 8: can't just play my man and not worry about what
Speaker 8: the quarterback is going to do. And he's also just
Speaker 8: extending plays, which on the back game he was to
Speaker 8: talk about this plaster and just out working theis and
Speaker 8: I mean, he's one of those guys that can just
Speaker 8: pose a problem on all downs, all field distances, and
Speaker 8: one of those guys that at all times you got
Speaker 8: nowhere he's at. So I feel like he does a
Speaker 8: really good job at gating the ballots and receivers and
Speaker 8: like you said, using his tight ends really well. And
Speaker 8: they've been fishing, especially after playing us, they've gone a
Speaker 8: little run so we know the advantages and disadvantages that
Speaker 8: they're going to bring to the game and for preparing
Speaker 8: for those.
Speaker 4: Truent With that said, you guys are so versatile specifically
Speaker 4: in the secondary too, that you can move guys playing
Speaker 4: different spots and you can give so many different looks.
Speaker 2: With what you're saying about what Josh does in the
Speaker 2: run game.
Speaker 4: I don't give anything away, but like you have the
Speaker 4: ability to have somebody spy in probably and then that
Speaker 4: person can change spots. What is the advantage when you
Speaker 4: have to go against a guy that is dynamic in
Speaker 4: multiple ways like Josh Allen is, But you guys have
Speaker 4: the ability to have so many guys play different spots
Speaker 4: that you can kind of try to confuse him at
Speaker 4: the same time.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think that's huge what you said. I feel
Speaker 8: like we have a group of players on this team
Speaker 8: that can really do it all. I mean, you got
Speaker 8: guys like me LJ. Shamar Connor who all played three
Speaker 8: different positions. Jay Reed comes down at dime at safety,
Speaker 8: you got Willy Gaye playing multiple positions like this defense
Speaker 8: is very unique in a way that everybody can do
Speaker 8: a little bit of everything. And when you play a
Speaker 8: quarterback like this, being able to throw off his timing
Speaker 8: with the receivers being able to confuse and pre snap
Speaker 8: is huge because when you just give him one look,
Speaker 8: a lot of these quarterbacks they know where the ball
Speaker 8: wants to go. And a guy like Josh Allen, I mean,
Speaker 8: if you just sit everybody out wide and play man,
Speaker 8: I mean, he's ready to take off at any point.
Speaker 8: So Spag's definitely does a great job at giving different disguises,
Speaker 8: different looks and making a lot of the same defenses
Speaker 8: look the same but do different things out of them.
Speaker 3: So definitely, just the.
Speaker 8: Movement wise in the back end on the front end,
Speaker 8: and just making sure he doesn't know just exactly where
Speaker 8: to go and give him just such an easy play
Speaker 8: each and every down is going to be huge.
Speaker 5: I'm kind of glad you ran on that roster for
Speaker 5: your teammates, and you mentioned LJ luxurious need. We've talked
Speaker 5: on the show all season long how there might not
Speaker 5: be an out tight corner who's had a better season
Speaker 5: than him. I mean, what has been so effective and
Speaker 5: impactful for him? Why can't he lock up a Stefan
Speaker 5: Diggs or another team's best receiver? What has worked so
Speaker 5: well as where he's really really climbed the ladder this season.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 8: I mean I think that dude is probably top two,
Speaker 8: if two, best cornerbacks in the league.
Speaker 3: I mean when you look at.
Speaker 8: Somebody who every week literally goes out there guards the
Speaker 8: number one receiver, all plays, all downs, doesn't complain, doesn't
Speaker 8: be like oh I need help over the top, is
Speaker 8: just a dog out there. And I feel like it
Speaker 8: all goes back to what he does off the field.
Speaker 8: I mean, he comes in each and every day practice
Speaker 8: is hard, watches film constantly asking questions. I mean we
Speaker 8: talk all the time about what receivers are going to do,
Speaker 8: splits and stuff like that. So just the knowledge of
Speaker 8: the game that he has, and also just the confidence.
Speaker 8: I mean, when you're a guy like that who's to
Speaker 8: go out on the island and cover the best receivers
Speaker 8: day in and day out, the confidences got to be
Speaker 8: at a high. And he's one of those guys that
Speaker 8: is able to have that compon confidence and also just
Speaker 8: making sure he does his job well and he's able
Speaker 8: to use his help and understands the defense. And I
Speaker 8: know for us on the back end, we love when
Speaker 8: we can just look out No. Lj's out there and
Speaker 8: be like, Okay, that's going to count a lot of guy.
Speaker 8: Let's focus on these guys over here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I tryed, I got to bring this up.
Speaker 4: We gotta look, we're looking forward in the division round,
Speaker 4: but I gotta look back real quick.
Speaker 2: When you guys were in the film room.
Speaker 4: And you watch him jam Tyreek Hill with the line
Speaker 4: of scrimmage on that one play. What was the reaction
Speaker 4: in the film room when everybody got a chance to
Speaker 4: see that play together.
Speaker 8: I mean, you already know, guys were who in the
Speaker 8: holler and the energy was high. And I gotta say,
Speaker 8: this is the first time. You know, this isn't the
Speaker 8: first time we seen LJ do this. I mean you
Speaker 8: go back game in and game out. I think he
Speaker 8: literally has done this every single game against these big
Speaker 8: time receivers. So I think it just goes back to
Speaker 8: the skills that he has and just the ability to,
Speaker 8: like I said, play the dB position so well locked
Speaker 8: in and it just technique wise, is just one of
Speaker 8: the best out there. I think right now.
Speaker 5: Even had to get praised because he was just like, yeah,
Speaker 5: he jam My, you know what all the way to Cancun.
Speaker 1: Hey.
Speaker 5: But you know, defensively, we're talking so much about your defense.
Speaker 5: What about the change and identity of this team, because
Speaker 5: we've always known the Chiefs to be this great offensive team,
Speaker 5: but now we're like, this is a lock down defense.
Speaker 3: What about that identity change?
Speaker 5: And how much you guys kind of walk around like, yeah,
Speaker 5: you know we're him so to speak.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it just goes back to our off
Speaker 8: season and Coach Back's coming in and being like, we
Speaker 8: know we won the super Bowl, but uh o, we're
Speaker 8: playing the Super Bowl and how many points we gave up?
Speaker 8: Everybody was like that wasn't our best showing. So all
Speaker 8: off season training camp, I mean throughout this whole year,
Speaker 8: Coach Back has been honest about being consistent, about being
Speaker 8: relentless about trusting each other, and I felt like just
Speaker 8: the communication, just the overall chemistry out there on the field,
Speaker 8: it's just huge. I mean, guys trust each other, Guys
Speaker 8: know who we're going to be. That noncommunication that we
Speaker 8: can just look out and know what each other are doing.
Speaker 8: I feel like has been so huge for us this year.
Speaker 8: And I keep saying, where a defense that knows what
Speaker 8: our offense can do. I mean, we got Patrick ma
Speaker 8: Hohomes on the other.
Speaker 3: Side, travel.
Speaker 8: I mean, our offense is explosive, and so being able
Speaker 8: to go out there, get down on third down, stop
Speaker 8: them all fourth downs, give the offense the ball on
Speaker 8: good field positions. I mean, everything we can do to
Speaker 8: help this offense go put once on the board has
Speaker 8: been a big thing for us. And I'm just happy
Speaker 8: that everybody around here continues to just keep working. You know,
Speaker 8: there's never a game where we're like, oh, we can
Speaker 8: be relaxed. You know, we going each and every week
Speaker 8: knowing that it's going to be a game, and everybody
Speaker 8: around here trust each other and goes out and does
Speaker 8: their job very well.
Speaker 4: Trent, I'm curious to take us back to training camp
Speaker 4: when you're seeing Rashi Rice for the very first time
Speaker 4: and you're going against him in camp where Andy runs
Speaker 4: just such a grueling camp up there, and say Joe like,
Speaker 4: did you see what's happening now back in camp going?
Speaker 4: He has the ability, if he developed something with Patrick,
Speaker 4: to be something. What did you see from Rashid in
Speaker 4: the very beginning?
Speaker 8: Yeah, no doubt. I mean you look back at training camp.
Speaker 8: I know we battled for sure multiple times our in
Speaker 8: training camp, and he definitely got a few passes that
Speaker 8: I was like, whoa. You know, those aren't easy catches
Speaker 8: to make, and he was doing it right out the gate.
Speaker 8: And he's one of those dudes that, like I said,
Speaker 8: this team has a lot of guys that's going out
Speaker 8: here and just working. You know, they ain't got to
Speaker 8: say much, they ain't got to come up with excuses.
Speaker 8: They just put their head down and work. And he's
Speaker 8: one of those guys. And I'm really proud to see
Speaker 8: just the progress cities he's made because rookie year, I mean,
Speaker 8: I know last year it can be tough, especially Andy
Speaker 8: Reed's offense. You got to learn a lot of things,
Speaker 8: play different positions, and man, he comes in weekend, week
Speaker 8: out and it's consistent and I feel like that's my
Speaker 8: favorite thing about this dude. It's just his consistency on
Speaker 8: the field has been huge and I was making big
Speaker 8: plays for us, which you've gotta love.
Speaker 3: Well till we got we got to wrap up.
Speaker 5: I'd love to have this conversation all day, but look,
Speaker 5: we know you're going from one ice box last week
Speaker 5: in Kansas City to another in Buffalo. Want to wish
Speaker 5: you the best of luck and thank you so much
Speaker 5: for joining us. Here on the NFL Report.
Speaker 8: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 5: All right, thanks so much for coming up next team
Speaker 5: in the Hottest Quarterback for Houston sections against the Ravens'
Speaker 5: playoff history not so great.
Speaker 3: Ludy Batista joined hims next on the NFL Report.
Speaker 5: You're listening to the NFL Report podcast, but you can
Speaker 5: watch me, Steve Weich and my co host James Palmer
Speaker 5: on The NFL Report at seven fifteen Eastern time on
Speaker 5: Mondays and Thursdays on the NFL App and free streaming
Speaker 5: platforms on the NFL Channel on Roku, twov Peacock, Pluto TV,
Speaker 5: and other.
Speaker 3: Free streaming apps.
Speaker 5: We are back at the NFL Report and James one
Speaker 5: of our favorite people, NFL media insider Judy Bautista.
Speaker 3: And Judy, let's get right to it.
Speaker 5: Bill Belichick is going into his second interview with the
Speaker 5: Atlanta Falcons. We've heard for weeks that this was a
Speaker 5: likely union. It seems like it's getting likelier, doesn't it.
Speaker 9: It does certainly. The fact that he's having a second
Speaker 9: interview and that there are going to be more members
Speaker 9: of of the Falcons brain trust in the room for
Speaker 9: this second go around suggests, you know, everything is pointing
Speaker 9: towards this. I wish we could be flies on the
Speaker 9: wall for an interview. What is an interview a job interview?
Speaker 9: With Bill Belichick, I feel like he.
Speaker 10: Is probably interviewing them as much as they are interviewing him.
Speaker 10: But I think, you know, getting more of the members
Speaker 10: of the senior management in the room is important because
Speaker 10: so much of this with Belichick is going to be
Speaker 10: about fit and structure and who's going to be responsible.
Speaker 2: For what, and what is his role going to be,
Speaker 2: how big is his role?
Speaker 9: And so I think having you know, Rich McKay in
Speaker 9: there and others in the room with Arthur and Bill
Speaker 9: is really important to make sure everybody's comfortable with how
Speaker 9: it's going to be, because clearly at the Patriots it
Speaker 9: ran its course with Bill having as much power as
Speaker 9: he did.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm upset that I won't give the proper credit
Speaker 4: to who tweeted this, but it was a great tweet
Speaker 4: out to the first interview that somebody put out, Like
Speaker 4: a scenario in the interview with Bill Belichick would have
Speaker 4: been Arthur Blank asking him was there a time where
Speaker 4: you overcame an unsurmountable sense.
Speaker 2: Of adversity before in the past, Bill, can.
Speaker 4: You Bill can say yes, I can remember a certain
Speaker 4: time where I was with what's happening in Atlanta right now, Judy,
Speaker 4: I'm curious if your thought is we waited to hear
Speaker 4: what was happening with Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 4: Does Bill being potentially unavailable maybe push Jerry Jones in
Speaker 4: the decision that he made to keep Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 9: You know, I hope we somehow we someday get the
Speaker 9: timeline of events because our great friend and colleague Jane Slater,
Speaker 9: I think, reported earlier today on The Insiders that it
Speaker 9: sounded to her like Jerry had not even looked around
Speaker 9: in these last few days, that it was all about
Speaker 9: Mike McCarthy, and considering that, you know that he hadn't
Speaker 9: put a line in the water to see who might
Speaker 9: be interested in the job.
Speaker 2: I'll just tell you this.
Speaker 9: I mean, I was in Foxborough yesterday for girod Mayo's introduction,
Speaker 9: and the conversation there was, you know, how soon is
Speaker 9: Bill going to Dallas? I mean, that was just everybody's
Speaker 9: default assumption that you know that Dallas would be open,
Speaker 9: and that that would be where Bill was going to
Speaker 9: go because Jerry and Bill have have had a good
Speaker 9: relationship over the year, so you sort of put those
Speaker 9: things together, and maybe maybe it was never going to
Speaker 9: be put together. I hope we will someday get the
Speaker 9: answer to that timeline. But but I agree with you, Steve,
Speaker 9: what you said earlier. We've been hearing for weeks that
Speaker 9: Arthur Blank would make a run at Bill Belichick. It
Speaker 9: was just a question to me of would Bill want Atlanta?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, look, I'll tell you this, Arthur Blank
Speaker 5: doesn't do postgame interviews in locker rooms, so that might
Speaker 5: be the thing that waits to scale down. Do you
Speaker 5: talked about you were you were at the press conference
Speaker 5: for Droid Mayo in New England, and this, look, this
Speaker 5: is somebody he somebody came up under Belichick.
Speaker 3: They're not straying far from the family.
Speaker 1: What was that like?
Speaker 5: Because he is also walking into one of the most
Speaker 5: difficult scenarios in terms of living up to that standard
Speaker 5: of the greatest who's ever done it.
Speaker 9: I thought he did a really good job of walking
Speaker 9: the line between being very respectful of Belichick. He was
Speaker 9: there as a player for him, and he coached under him,
Speaker 9: and also making it clear he was going to do
Speaker 9: things his way. He is his own man. I mean,
Speaker 9: he talked about the things he learned from Bill about,
Speaker 9: you know, the attention to detail and being game specific,
Speaker 9: and you know, you have to teach players, right, You're
Speaker 9: basically you have to develop players.
Speaker 2: You're a teacher.
Speaker 9: But he also said things like I don't want to
Speaker 9: be in an echo chamber and I plan to knock
Speaker 9: down silos, which is clearly a reference to you know,
Speaker 9: when Bill had a tremendous amount of power there, had
Speaker 9: accrued a tremendous amount of power there and all information
Speaker 9: went to Bill and came from Though, right, So Jared
Speaker 9: Mayo seems to want to have a more collaborative atmosphere there.
Speaker 9: He said multiple times, you know, he's a rookie head coach.
Speaker 9: He hasn't even been a coach that long. He's not
Speaker 9: that far removed from his playing case. So he kept saying,
Speaker 9: I'm going to lead. You know, there's a lot of
Speaker 9: people who are experts and things that I'm going to
Speaker 9: lean on them for their help. So certainly, look, you
Speaker 9: could just see by the personality, right, I mean, he
Speaker 9: said he's going to smile more like he's a much
Speaker 9: bubblier personality. But I think even on the day to
Speaker 9: day operations side, it's going to be a much more
Speaker 9: collaborative place, and I think they need that. He's going
Speaker 9: to need the support again, you know, he's a rookie
Speaker 9: head coach and they got a lot to fix in
Speaker 9: New England. He's going to need a lot of support.
Speaker 4: I'm fascinated to see what Drod Mayo wants to keep
Speaker 4: in place and what he wants to do entirely different.
Speaker 4: Those decisions are going to be just picked apart by
Speaker 4: everybody in New England with each one that he makes,
Speaker 4: which is a very fascinating situation for him to be in.
Speaker 4: Another one that we're keeping an eye on this head
Speaker 4: coach is go ahead.
Speaker 3: Yeah, if I could just add this.
Speaker 9: Yesterday they did not offer a whole lot of details
Speaker 9: about what the structure of the organization was going to
Speaker 9: be and who the offensive coordinators can be. So there
Speaker 9: are still a lot of big decisions to come about
Speaker 9: how they are going to function now that Mayo is there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's gonna we're gonna look at every single angle.
Speaker 4: How about Mike Rabel, Judy, We were hearing nothing about
Speaker 4: one of the best head coaches that's available. Maybe in
Speaker 4: some people's eyes, the best head coach is potentially available
Speaker 4: if you look at what he's accomplished and his age
Speaker 4: and what he's done. We weren't hearing anything. Now we're
Speaker 4: finally hearing that Mike Rabel is taking an interview with
Speaker 4: the Chargers. We know that prior head coaching experience is
Speaker 4: high on their list. They've been clear about that. What's
Speaker 4: your thought on Mike Rabel and his future in this
Speaker 4: head coaching cycle, because it is very interesting where he
Speaker 4: could potentially land or maybe not land.
Speaker 9: It's been curiously quiet, and I sort of wonder if
Speaker 9: now that the Dallas situation is settled, if now Domino's
Speaker 9: will start to fall. I you know, I sort of
Speaker 9: wonder if everybody was waiting to see what was going
Speaker 9: to happen in Dallas and what Jerry was going to do.
Speaker 9: And so now that that's out of the way, to
Speaker 9: other people make moves because you word, Rabel's name linked
Speaker 9: to a potential opening in Dallas too, So now that
Speaker 9: that's off the table, you know, does does Rabel start
Speaker 9: taking interviews? But I agree with you, it's it's been
Speaker 9: strangely quiet around Rabel. I assume that there will be
Speaker 9: interest in him. There's there's still a lot of openings
Speaker 9: and a lot to go through. And of course, because
Speaker 9: the timeline is extended, because the league wants to slow
Speaker 9: things down, you know, teams don't have to move quite
Speaker 9: so fast. But you know, I would expect that Rabel
Speaker 9: is going to be in the mix for some of
Speaker 9: these jobs. I'd be surprised if he's not.
Speaker 3: Judy.
Speaker 5: This weekend, you are going to be at that awesome
Speaker 5: Texant and Ravens game. Let's hear a quarterback Lamar jack
Speaker 5: had to say about the team's slow starts and shortcomings
Speaker 5: in the postseason.
Speaker 2: Your four previous playoff game defense didn't score more than
Speaker 2: twenty points. How much more confident do you feel that.
Speaker 4: This year's offense has the ability to put up a
Speaker 4: point you need to win in the playoffs.
Speaker 7: Very confident, very very confident, extremely confident, Judy.
Speaker 5: You heard Lamar Jackson's response, but the look on his
Speaker 5: face was like, oh, we got something for him, We
Speaker 5: got it.
Speaker 3: But do they I mean, why should he feel so.
Speaker 9: Confident because this is a different offense and he's a
Speaker 9: different quarterback than he has been with Todd Monkins offense.
Speaker 9: They do start slow. I mean, look, they're only one
Speaker 9: in three in the playoffs with Lamars the starting quarterback,
Speaker 9: and incredibly, in those four games, they haven't scored a
Speaker 9: point in the first quarter. So obviously they got to
Speaker 9: get up to a faster start. But I sort of
Speaker 9: set those aside because this offense is different. He is
Speaker 9: different this year. I was at the game against the
Speaker 9: Miami Dolphins. He played that game almost exclusively from the pocket.
Speaker 9: They were happy to leave him in the pocket. They
Speaker 9: didn't want him to get out and run, so he
Speaker 9: just tore them up from the pocket, which is not
Speaker 9: something in years past that Lamar has been doing. Right,
Speaker 9: he would go out and run. He is so comfortable now,
Speaker 9: he's so comfortable in the pocket, He's so precise. It's
Speaker 9: a different offense, so I think there will be different results,
Speaker 9: and he should be extremely confident. He played so well
Speaker 9: this year, especially down the stretch. He's going to be
Speaker 9: the league MVP. He should have a great deal of
Speaker 9: confidence in this offense.
Speaker 4: Judy, if I could run like Lamar Jackson, I would
Speaker 4: not opt to just sit in the pocket and play quarterback.
Speaker 4: Like I would be running everywhere just because you're more
Speaker 4: elusive and faster than everybody else in the field. But
Speaker 4: he has that ability to beat you in a variety
Speaker 4: of ways.
Speaker 9: I think it just must be so cool to be
Speaker 9: Lamar Jackson and to have his skills, like he's just awesome.
Speaker 2: I love to watch him.
Speaker 9: I'm so thrilled to be covering this game because I
Speaker 9: love to watch him play.
Speaker 2: I'm jealous.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, you're gonna get the ce CJ shroud as
Speaker 5: defense that no one's talking enough about.
Speaker 3: That defense is playing well, Judy.
Speaker 5: We got to get gone, but we appreciate you joining
Speaker 5: us as always. Have fun this weekend in Baltimore and
Speaker 5: coming up next the pack and running back Aaron Jones
Speaker 5: in that running game it's called the Attention to Ryan Baldinger,
Speaker 5: he's playing by Green Bay.
Speaker 3: One of his favorite films to watch on the NFL.
Speaker 4: Welcome back into the NFL Report, James Palmer, Steve Whitch
Speaker 4: with you? And there was some piece of my soul,
Speaker 4: Steve that was missing last week when we didn't have
Speaker 4: Baldy and Baldi's favorite films, my favorite segment every week,
Speaker 4: we didn't have it, and there was a big part,
Speaker 4: Baldi that was just missing in the show, that just
Speaker 4: was not replicated or replaced by anything.
Speaker 1: Let's make up for it. Just gotta get that break
Speaker 1: up for it this week.
Speaker 2: Let's do it get all right, Yeah, let's have a
Speaker 2: double dose. Let's do it Baldi.
Speaker 4: And listen, there was we watched everybody watch that game
Speaker 4: him down in Dallas, and everybody's eyes are focused on
Speaker 4: Jordan Love and what he's doing and what he's doing
Speaker 4: at the quarterback position. But the run game that the
Speaker 4: Packers have going right now for the last several weeks
Speaker 4: is something that you've seen and you've watched closely in
Speaker 4: the film room that I hear you just.
Speaker 1: Left, well, you know showtime Jones Aaron Jones is one
Speaker 1: of my favorite players in this league. I remember covering
Speaker 1: the kid when he was at El Paso. You know,
Speaker 1: the nine, one five. He always puts those numbers up.
Speaker 1: He's proud of his area code. But you know he
Speaker 1: missed a chunk of the season and his legs are
Speaker 1: fresh right now. And a couple of things is one,
Speaker 1: this guy doesn't miss a hole, all right, so his
Speaker 1: vision is unbelievable. And then the way that they run
Speaker 1: the ball. I mean, they're diverse. They use their tight ends,
Speaker 1: they use a lot of motions to get him singled
Speaker 1: up and to get him into space in a variety
Speaker 1: of ways. They can always throw it to him. He's
Speaker 1: an excellent receiver out of the backfield. But you know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if it's down the goal line like
Speaker 1: it was last week against Dallas where he scored from
Speaker 1: the one, he scored from the three, he scored from
Speaker 1: the nine, you know. And then short yardage like you
Speaker 1: name it, and when you watch it, it's it's wine backs,
Speaker 1: it's tossed, it's it's inside slant, it's outside zone. It's
Speaker 1: really every kind of run. And then what my floor
Speaker 1: is doing and what Aeron is doing is all right,
Speaker 1: which ones will working like that's a wind back play,
Speaker 1: all right? And you know it's And then if you
Speaker 1: look up front, the guys are not allowing penetration, uh
Speaker 1: the rotating some offensive linemen up there, but they're they're
Speaker 1: in sync right now between the line and what Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones is doing. And over the last month he's been
Speaker 1: the most productive running back in the NFL.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Baldy that that run game has set up the
Speaker 5: run action, which is why Jordan Love might be playing
Speaker 5: better than any quarterback right now when it just comes
Speaker 5: to efficiency, the plays downfield, the aggression. Speaking of aggression, Baldi,
Speaker 5: you just came out of the film room and with
Speaker 5: the Tampa Bay defense try to do against the Lions
Speaker 5: when they met earlier this year was pretty much medieval,
Speaker 5: except they came out on the back end of the win.
Speaker 1: Well, it's interesting, Steve, because we all watched what Tampa
Speaker 1: did the Philadelphia Monday night and it was a blitz creak.
Speaker 1: I mean, they blitzed Jalen Hurts Eavy which way you can,
Speaker 1: and it was effective. But I was thinking, Okay, let's
Speaker 1: go back and watch rewatch week six. Let's see what
Speaker 1: the they blitzed the very first play of the game, Steve.
Speaker 1: They came after Jared Goff on third downs. They had
Speaker 1: great success. I mean it was a ten to three
Speaker 1: game at halftime now, and the blitzing was a big
Speaker 1: part of getting off the field on third downs. They
Speaker 1: blitzed the run, Steve. It wasn't just a pass, but
Speaker 1: they blitzed the run. They blitzed him on third and one,
Speaker 1: and you know, I don't know where Todd Bowles comes
Speaker 1: with all these combinations, but when they come like there's
Speaker 1: no hesitancy, they hit that thing, you know, like a
Speaker 1: bat out of hell, and they're good at it. And
Speaker 1: so I'm sure Detroit spending a good chunk of time
Speaker 1: in preparation for this game on the Blitz and their
Speaker 1: Blitz pickups and their packages and how they're going to
Speaker 1: try and keep these guys from affecting Jared Goff in
Speaker 1: the past game.
Speaker 4: Well, let's go to another team that blitz is just
Speaker 4: maybe in a more creative fun way than anybody else
Speaker 4: in football, and that's Steve Spagnola's group with the Kansas
Speaker 4: City Chiefs. We just had Trent mcduffee on the show,
Speaker 4: and Trent was talking to us about his responsibilities in
Speaker 4: the slot, not only worrying about two really good tight ends,
Speaker 4: worrying about a really good slot receiver of the pass game,
Speaker 4: how his eyes have to be focused on Josh Allen
Speaker 4: and in the run game and Josh specifically running the
Speaker 4: football as well in the middle of the field. What
Speaker 4: does this defense need to do with the Kansas City
Speaker 4: Chiefs to limit what Josh Allen has been able to
Speaker 4: do over the last several weeks, which is essentially be
Speaker 4: their run game.
Speaker 1: Well, so it's interesting because when you go back and
Speaker 1: you rewatch week fourteen's game, they had a real package
Speaker 1: designed to contain Josh Allen, and so it was a
Speaker 1: variety of ways. I mean, you know, if you put
Speaker 1: Chris Jones one on one with any in this business
Speaker 1: right now, he's gonna win. But in certain rushes, he
Speaker 1: wasn't trying to win. He was just trying to push
Speaker 1: the pocket and keep Josh Allen on that postion stamp
Speaker 1: behind his center MIT's morse. So they did some of that.
Speaker 1: They did a lot of three man rush, and then
Speaker 1: they spied Josh Allen with Willy Gay in that game,
Speaker 1: and so Josh Allen would, you know, see the three
Speaker 1: man rush, feel it, exit, go, try to break it.
Speaker 1: And then here comes Willy Gay and he pressured him
Speaker 1: so much one time that he threw an interception or
Speaker 1: as a result of it. Now he had eight runs
Speaker 1: in that game, thirty two yards. Did have the one
Speaker 1: touchdown run which was kind of like a massive rugby
Speaker 1: play where they just pushed him across the goal line.
Speaker 1: But I thought they did a good job of keeping
Speaker 1: Josh Allen from breaking the pocket and doing what he
Speaker 1: did against Pittsburgh last week when he went fifteen to
Speaker 1: two yards to pay dirt. And so I'm sure Buffalo
Speaker 1: is anticipating something like this to happen again and how
Speaker 1: they're going to counter that if there is the three
Speaker 1: men rush and the or some other combination that Spaggage
Speaker 1: comes up with. They they've always liked this though. You know,
Speaker 1: you had Trent McDuffie on Lugarious need Watson their corners.
Speaker 1: They blitzed their corners more than any other team in
Speaker 1: the league. And one of the reasons why they do
Speaker 1: is it gets speed to the quarterback faster than somebody
Speaker 1: that's actually pass rushing, and so he gets quick, quick color,
Speaker 1: quick athletes onto Josh Allen, forcing him into making a
Speaker 1: decision stay throw, try to shake him off. They've had
Speaker 1: success in the playoffs against Josh Allen with some of
Speaker 1: those corner blitzes that you're talking to Trent McDuffie about.
Speaker 5: Hey, jab, you could tell Baldy was just coaching down
Speaker 5: at the Hula Bowl because he's using major football for
Speaker 5: naclar get quick color on that quarterback.
Speaker 3: And I freaking love it.
Speaker 1: Baldy.
Speaker 3: Hey Baldy.
Speaker 5: A team that doesn't blitz a ton that we've seen lately,
Speaker 5: but is probably more effective than any team in the
Speaker 5: NFL is the Ravens, right. I mean they get the
Speaker 5: rush with their guys up front and their zone defense
Speaker 5: in the back.
Speaker 3: Now they're playing the Texans and the Red Hot Sea drowd.
Speaker 5: How do you see the combination of what the Ravens
Speaker 5: do impacting of how well the Texans are functioning well?
Speaker 1: I mean they play a matchup zone Steve. Now, other
Speaker 1: teams play it. I don't know anybody plays it better
Speaker 1: than Baltimore right now. Kyle Hamilton is a huge part
Speaker 1: of it because of his length and all the different
Speaker 1: places they put them. In the addition of Genevian Clowney,
Speaker 1: Kyle van Noy, you go with mattabk They've got ways
Speaker 1: that they overload and get after you, but they zone
Speaker 1: up behind it. And if you look at Brock Purty
Speaker 1: in this game, if you look at Jared Goff mid season,
Speaker 1: if you look at Geno Smith, all these quarterbacks they
Speaker 1: came in playing pretty good football, all left struggling, to
Speaker 1: a tongue of Belowa struggled against his defense because part
Speaker 1: of it is you don't know where the matchup is
Speaker 1: coming from, depending on the route combinations. So the quarterback
Speaker 1: doesn't get a good pre snap read of where guys
Speaker 1: are going to be. They don't discover where they're going
Speaker 1: until the ball is snapped, and sometimes that's a little
Speaker 1: bit too late, and it makes that quarterback hold the
Speaker 1: ball like you see right there, a brock party in
Speaker 1: that blowout win that Baltimore had.
Speaker 5: All Right, Baldy, we gotta let you go. Aloha, my brother,
Speaker 5: you just finished a hula bull. I'm here at the
Speaker 5: Polynesian Bowl.
Speaker 2: I feel really like that here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Kap, but that's all right. Everybody says hello to you, Baldi.
Speaker 3: All right, man, appreciate you coming back.
Speaker 5: Next, Yeah, Bill Belichick taking a second interview with the Falcons. Oh,
Speaker 5: we're gonna be joined by somebody who works for that
Speaker 5: organization and for Bill Belichick, Jim Thumas de Mitchew.
Speaker 3: Next on the NFL.
Speaker 4: Hey, it's James Palmer, and you're listening to the NFL
Speaker 4: Report podcast along with myself and Steve Weisch.
Speaker 2: But remember, if you want to see our beautiful.
Speaker 4: Faces, this is a show at seven fifteen Monday and Thursday,
Speaker 4: that's seven fifteen pm Eastern, And we are on the
Speaker 4: NFL app as well as fast streaming platforms.
Speaker 2: That's two B, that's OK, that's Pluto, that's Peacock.
Speaker 4: All of those platforms as well as the NFL dot
Speaker 4: Com slash NFL channel.
Speaker 2: Find us all of those spots all.
Speaker 5: Right back at the NFL Report and James, I've been
Speaker 5: looking forward to this. We are bringing in former Falcons
Speaker 5: general manager Thomas de mitchrov TD. How you doing, man?
Speaker 11: I can't wait to talk to you guys. It is
Speaker 11: cold and hot down here in Atlanta, for sure. Is
Speaker 11: a lot going on.
Speaker 3: Well on that note, because we were going to slow
Speaker 3: play into that. But on that note, let's get right
Speaker 3: to it.
Speaker 5: You talk about it hot being in Atlanta, TD, and
Speaker 5: that's because Bill Belichick, who you used to work for
Speaker 5: with the Patriots, is having his second interview with the
Speaker 5: Atlanta Falcons, where you served as general manager. Just knowing
Speaker 5: that building, what do you think these tea leaves are
Speaker 5: telling us about what could possibly happen or what's likely
Speaker 5: to happen.
Speaker 11: Of course, I have not been in conversation with anything
Speaker 11: about anyone about this. You know, this is me stepping back.
Speaker 11: Knowing both gentlemen very well, right, you have Arthur Blank,
Speaker 11: one of the best owners in the league. As you know,
Speaker 11: he's going to do all he can to make and
Speaker 11: help that organization be the best that it can possibly
Speaker 11: be at so many levels as you know that. And
Speaker 11: then you have Bill Belichick, who I maintain and as
Speaker 11: does your buddy Scott Pioell and all of us who
Speaker 11: have been around him. He is the very best in
Speaker 11: modern times. And just like Micha Lombardi said, he is
Speaker 11: probably third only behind Vince Lombardi and Paul Brown. Like,
Speaker 11: what he can do for an organization is on my
Speaker 11: mind unparalleled. And so wherever he ends up going and
Speaker 11: whatever he ends up doing, you and I both know
Speaker 11: he brings the organization that he does go to closer
Speaker 11: to a super Bowl in the next three to four
Speaker 11: years than anyone out there in my mind, and that's
Speaker 11: not taking away from anyone out there that we know.
Speaker 11: This is an amazing in my mind group of coaches.
Speaker 11: With Dan Quinn out there, you know how I feel
Speaker 11: about him, With Mike Gravel out there, with Harbaugh, there's
Speaker 11: a lot of great opportunities.
Speaker 2: It's going to be really interesting.
Speaker 4: Gedie I'm curious with Bill Belichick and you knowing him
Speaker 4: so well, and there's seven openings right now, does.
Speaker 2: He fit in all seven? Though?
Speaker 4: I feel like when you look at him and what
Speaker 4: he's accomplished and what he's done, is there a certain
Speaker 4: group of teams that probably fit him better than saying
Speaker 4: maybe just because he's at the top of your list,
Speaker 4: he would fit all seven of these.
Speaker 11: Look, my feeling on this is anyone who has the
Speaker 11: stature that Bill Belichick has, and of course there are
Speaker 11: very few, but any of those really experienced coaches that
Speaker 11: have a really strong stance on everything and they should
Speaker 11: right they deserve it. They deserve it through an incredible
Speaker 11: amount of time in this league in an understanding of football.
Speaker 11: The only thing I would say is those organizations that
Speaker 11: have that first time general manager or first or second
Speaker 11: year general manager, it becomes a little more complicated.
Speaker 1: Tom.
Speaker 5: I want you to kind of take us through the process,
Speaker 5: not specifically speaking to anyone, but using your experiences. Right
Speaker 5: when I worked for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, I covered
Speaker 5: the team when you were hired as general manager, and
Speaker 5: it's a two parter, but just your.
Speaker 3: Experiences going through the.
Speaker 5: Interview process to get this job that so many people
Speaker 5: are doing right now interviewing for jobs. And then the
Speaker 5: second part is when you were part of the coaching
Speaker 5: search in Atlanta when you ended up hiring Dan Quinn.
Speaker 1: So where do you want me to lead on that? Then?
Speaker 3: Sorry, so let's start.
Speaker 5: Let's let's start with you going through the process with
Speaker 5: so many of these GM candidates are going through right now, Like, Okay,
Speaker 5: how do I interview for this position? What do I
Speaker 5: tell teams? How I want to build this team? Because
Speaker 5: you came in not knowing who your head coach was
Speaker 5: going to be.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean, look, I mean when I first started
Speaker 11: way back in two thousand and eight, when we run
Speaker 11: on Mike Smith through that whole process, and then moving
Speaker 11: on to Dan Quinn obviously in two thousand and six fifteen,
Speaker 11: excuse me, very different search situations, right, I mean, Arthur
Speaker 11: Blank was really good to allow me as a general manager,
Speaker 11: a first time general manager, to go through myriad lists
Speaker 11: as far as what we needed at that point. That is,
Speaker 11: so there are so many layers to it, Steve, But
Speaker 11: to me, it's contingent on on where your organization is
Speaker 11: at that time.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 11: Our interview process from Mike Smith back in early two
Speaker 11: thousand and eight was very different than it was with
Speaker 11: Dan Quinn in twenty fifteen because of where we were
Speaker 11: roster wise, where we were with a quarterback, what we
Speaker 11: needed to do. Mike Smith, as you know, great head coach,
Speaker 11: three time Coach of the Year, and there were changes
Speaker 11: that need to be made.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 11: You look at that as a GM and as an
Speaker 11: owner of course, and you say, Okay, here are all
Speaker 11: the great things about the former head coach that was
Speaker 11: here and now, and here are the things that were challenges.
Speaker 11: We want to make sure that the next head coach
Speaker 11: that comes in doesn't bring to the table some of
Speaker 11: the same challenges or that person and a new head
Speaker 11: coach potentially to come in, we know that that coach
Speaker 11: is not going to be running the same line of
Speaker 11: trying to deal with some of the stuff that maybe
Speaker 11: slow played the coach that came in or was there before.
Speaker 11: I guess what I'm saying is very very different and
Speaker 11: a lot of layers and a lot of a lot
Speaker 11: of conversations about leadership, about about abilities of the coaches. Right,
Speaker 11: we would go through myriad conversations again to use that
Speaker 11: word about how you know what what is the best
Speaker 11: way to approach that coach. You're talking about ability to coach,
Speaker 11: talking about ability in the in the meeting room, you're
Speaker 11: talking about ability to develop players there. Again, those are
Speaker 11: things that we really have to drill down on as
Speaker 11: general managers and former general managers, and.
Speaker 4: For everybody listening, that's kind of what's happening in Washington,
Speaker 4: right Thomas. They get Adam Peters and now they're kind
Speaker 4: of going into their head coaching kind of search after
Speaker 4: they've established it. So so to piggyback off of what
Speaker 4: you just said, I'm fast by. We're so entrenched in
Speaker 4: where coaches come from their coaching tree, as we always say,
Speaker 4: what tree did they come from? Did that ever play
Speaker 4: a factor or does it play a factor when you're
Speaker 4: looking at a coach knowing where he came from, in
Speaker 4: which tree he came.
Speaker 11: From, Yeah, there's no question about that, James. I mean
Speaker 11: you're looking about how they were raised there honestly, their
Speaker 11: approaches to building a team, their approaches and their former
Speaker 11: whoever they came up through, their former head coach, their
Speaker 11: mentors so to speak, how they quite honestly, and a
Speaker 11: lot of gms do this. How was this this guy
Speaker 11: that we're going to be interviewing now, how was he
Speaker 11: raised as far as personnel goes, right, Make no mistake
Speaker 11: about it, James, every one of these gms that have
Speaker 11: personnel background want to make sure that they are pairing
Speaker 11: with a with a coach that AA understands personnel, understands
Speaker 11: the ability to evaluate understands. Again, there are so many
Speaker 11: levels to evaluating. That is a big, big deal. No,
Speaker 11: and I go back into my first time with you know,
Speaker 11: someone like Mike Smith. I wanted to make sure that
Speaker 11: Mike knew about evaluation, believed in evaluation, believed in the
Speaker 11: scouting system, and understood that the scout scout and the
Speaker 11: coach's coach and then within that that we are able
Speaker 11: to come together as GM and head coach and be
Speaker 11: able to discuss at so many levels the nuances of
Speaker 11: the system. That is vital. You're most of these general
Speaker 11: managers out there, most not all, of course, you guys
Speaker 11: know this. Howie Roseman and Mickey Loomis two of the
Speaker 11: best out there. Those guys came from a different you know,
Speaker 11: a different road, just like Brandon Bean did, right, But yeah, yeah,
Speaker 11: and there's some really good ones out there that don't
Speaker 11: have personnel background. Everyone in this spot wants to make
Speaker 11: sure they have a workable relationship with their head coach.
Speaker 11: No one wants to come in this where they're batting
Speaker 11: their head against the wall every day that they're trying
Speaker 11: to help build the team. James, So again, very very
Speaker 11: very very important to make sure you know how these
Speaker 11: guys are raised in some last quot last point, Some
Speaker 11: that were raised in certain paradigms that don't have a
Speaker 11: real respect for the personnel staff. That that can be
Speaker 11: very treacherous and it can be a it can be
Speaker 11: a short lived relationship, of course.
Speaker 5: Thomas, I'm so glad you said that because I remember
Speaker 5: the union with you and Mike Smith, and you stressed
Speaker 5: the importance of the separate but collaborative dynamics that you
Speaker 5: were just talking about. Lastly, we have about a minute here, Thomas.
Speaker 5: You got to find a quarterback. You were fortunate to
Speaker 5: come into a situation your first time, you had a
Speaker 5: number three overall pick.
Speaker 3: And you got Matt Ryan.
Speaker 5: How vital is it, you know, when you look at
Speaker 5: some of these circumstances to know who is going to
Speaker 5: be the proper guy to fit into your locker room
Speaker 5: and real quick with the caveat. Remember, Thomas, everyone was
Speaker 5: telling you to draft defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey instead of
Speaker 5: Matt Ryan.
Speaker 3: At that time.
Speaker 11: There was a lot of that, as you know in town,
Speaker 11: and we won't mentioned some of the names, but yeah, oh, look,
Speaker 11: I mean anyone, even a head coach or GM that
Speaker 11: potentially could be coming into a team. One of the
Speaker 11: main things we're looking at. Of course, we're looking at
Speaker 11: who the ownership is. Making no mistake about that as well. Gentlemen,
Speaker 11: if you don't know the owner, at least have a
Speaker 11: grasp of what the owner is and their approach. That's
Speaker 11: a big deal. Now, when you're a first timer, you're open.
Speaker 11: We always used to joke about this. You're open to say, lo,
Speaker 11: I'll work anywhere. I could do anything with anyone, just
Speaker 11: give me the opportunity. And as you get experience, you're
Speaker 11: a lot more particular about that.
Speaker 2: That's one thing. Of course.
Speaker 11: The quarterback is massively important, not only that the quarterback
Speaker 11: might be there, but that the quarterback is within reach,
Speaker 11: that there's a potential to get a free agent, or
Speaker 11: equally important that you are in a draft spot, that
Speaker 11: you know that you might get one of these top
Speaker 11: five this year. If you're twenty two coming in or
Speaker 11: eighteen and you're going to have to move up and
Speaker 11: sell the farm to get up there, that's a little
Speaker 11: bit different when you're talking about making sure that you
Speaker 11: get the right quarterback to build around.
Speaker 4: All right, So I got to squeeze this one in
Speaker 4: Thomas because this is what I'm fascinating about. Look at
Speaker 4: the Bears, right, they have what some people believe is
Speaker 4: their quarterback, but they also have the number one overall pick.
Speaker 2: How would you kind of looking.
Speaker 4: At that from an outsider's perspective, kind of look at
Speaker 4: that spot that Ryan Poles is in right now? And
Speaker 4: is that a very difficult spot? Would it be a
Speaker 4: fun spot from a GM perspective?
Speaker 1: What? What?
Speaker 2: What is he dealing with right now?
Speaker 11: It's a lot of sleepless nights, I'm sure. I mean,
Speaker 11: there's a there's an element of excitement about it, right
Speaker 11: to know that you are in such control and have
Speaker 11: the opportunity to continue to build. Yes, it's a it's
Speaker 11: a I think it's a great spot to be in.
Speaker 11: You know, remember that that pick was not on Ryan Poles, right,
Speaker 11: We know that not not that it's whether it worked
Speaker 11: or not. But as again general managers, normally you want
Speaker 11: to stay with the quarterback that you that you picked
Speaker 11: and you brought in. Of course, Ryan Pace, I have
Speaker 11: a great deal of respect. You know, he was the
Speaker 11: one who actually drafted him, so you know, who knows
Speaker 11: where where he ends his quarter his former quarterback ends up.
Speaker 11: But great spot to be in if you're Ryan Poles,
Speaker 11: I believe.
Speaker 3: TD absolutely great stuff. I mean this.
Speaker 5: You know, we try to enlighten and you just really
Speaker 5: really open the bandwidth of some minds here with some
Speaker 5: of these topics. Brother, we appreciate you taking the time
Speaker 5: for us. Hopefully we'll get you back on here again.
Speaker 5: Love to be back anytime.
Speaker 2: Jents, don't forget.
Speaker 4: Every Monday every Thursday, seven fifteen East on the NFL channel,
Speaker 4: also on two b Roku Peacock The NFL Report also
Speaker 4: a podcast also on the NFL's YouTube account as well.
Speaker 2: We're going to be back.
Speaker 4: On Monday and Thursday of next week recapping Steve everything
Speaker 4: that went down in the divisional round.
Speaker 2: I'll be doing it from Buffalo. How about that?
Speaker 3: That's sweet. I'll be watching from Honolulu
Speaker 1: To Jay