WEBVTT - The Dave Pasch Podcast - Kevin Clark 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:08.440 Everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast. 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:12.200 I'm your host. ESPN and Cardinals broadcast to Dave Pash. 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:16.600 What it came on Sunday in Las Vegas. An incredible finish, 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:21.400 hopefully a springboard to returning to early season twenty twenty 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:24.680 one form as the Cardinals welcome the defending champs, the 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.720 Rams to town this Sunday. We're going to talk about 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:31.040 that game. We're going to talk about the miraculous win 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:35.760 for Arizona on Sunday with Kevin Clark, senior football writer 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:39.320 and podcaster at The Ringer. He's the host of the 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:43.440 Slow Newsday video podcast. He's great to talk about for NFL, 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.080 for college football, and he was like us, in shock 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:51.880 over what we saw Sunday in Vegas and in particular 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:54.960 what Kyler Murray did against the Raiders. When you see 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.040 a comeback like that, you understand how valuable Kyler Murray's 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:01.480 to the franchise and how much he can do on 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:04.360 a game to game basis, to where not only is 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:06.920 no game out of reach, but no play is out 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:10.920 of reach. That's a special talent. Kevin will also talk 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:14.520 about the forty nine ers, his thoughts on Jimmy Garoppolo 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:17.440 and what this means for Cardinal fans and other teams 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:19.800 in the NFC. He'll break down the Packers and some 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:21.840 of the other teams in the NFL. We'll also talk 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.720 about what's going on at Arizona State with the departure 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.319 of Herm Edwards and who could be next as the 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.680 head coach of the Sun Devils. We are presented by BETMGM, 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.520 the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:37.200 by Hila River Resorts and Casinos. Get ready for a 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.680 football season like never before with bet MGM, an official 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:44.000 partner of the Arizona Cardinals. Sign up today using code 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.679 cards one thousand and get your first bet risk free 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.680 up to one thousand dollars. Visit betmgm dot com for 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.720 terms and conditions twenty one and over Arizona only. Please 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:56.600 gamble responsibly. Gamily problem called one eight hundred. Next step. 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.240 All right, now, let's hear from our guests. From the ringer, 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:04.840 Kevin clark Well, Kevin, first of all, you have a 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.680 hard act to follow, because our guest last week, Damian 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.280 Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers, brought the Cardinals some incredible 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:16.000 luck if you can top this, or maybe let's have it, 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:18.160 so there's no need for the comeback. We'll just take 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:20.119 a big win over the Rams this Sundays at work. 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:22.840 That's a big one. The Rams are a lot better 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.320 team than the Raiders. But no, that's I'm I'm happy 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:28.320 to bring the juice and happy to bring the luck 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:30.800 to Arizona. So this is the first time you and 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.640 I have actually talked. I think I don't believe we 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:36.280 have met, but I'm a big so I'm a big fan. 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:38.079 You do a great job. That's one of the reasons 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:40.040 I want to have you on. I really enjoy your work, 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:45.200 whether it's your columns or the podcasting. All the stuff 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:47.880 you do is great. And you've got like one hundred 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.240 and twenty five thousand followers, so you have quite the 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:52.680 following on social media, and I've heard you on other platforms. 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:55.760 Tell our listeners primarily most of the people listening are 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.960 Cardinal fans, So tell our listeners a little bit about 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.440 your background, how you got to where you are, because 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:03.600 I think you're only in your earlier mid thirties. You 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:07.359 graduated from Miami right in twenty ten. I did yep, yep. 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:09.799 So I we're going to company called The Ringer Rome 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:12.960 by Spotify, and that means we kind of do everything, Davis. 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.200 You know, I guess we all do everything now in media. 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:19.480 Nobody's just a writer, nobody's just a podcaster or a broadcaster. 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.880 Um and So I started at the Wall Street Journal 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:25.840 right out of college. We wrote a bunch on the Cardinals. 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.080 UM social day in the Bruce Arian days. Uh you know, 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:30.960 well I was sat the first time I ever went there. 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:32.440 I remember a Dave. I don't know if you're around 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.360 for it, but it was when they had so Bruce 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.280 had got had Tom Moore on staff, and he had 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:42.080 had a had a defensive line coach who had coached 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:46.480 in Super Bowl one. This is twenty thirteen, okay, and 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:49.200 and so so Bruce had assembled all of these guys 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.640 who just you know, he wanted them to mentor his 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.040 younger coaches. Um. You think about all the all the 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:59.000 great talent on that staff back then, um in the 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.119 kind of the first any run of the Cardinals at 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:03.920 the beginning of the last decade. UM and So I 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.040 worked to the Wall Street Journal and then got hired 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:08.720 by the Ringer and I just I just kind of 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.560 cover the league as a whole um, you know, and 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.400 it's it's as fun as anything because there's so many 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:18.160 different ways to podcast, videocast. You know, you're gonna have 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:21.680 Scott Vanpel on my video show tomorrow. Like it's such 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.359 a cool era for media because you can kind of 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:27.960 create whatever, and you have athletes like Tyler Murray who 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.200 get it on all platforms and and and are interesting 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:34.279 and it's just a fascinating time in the media. Well, 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:38.039 you mentioned the staff that BA put together when he 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.120 got here. This is my twenty first year, so I've 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:42.599 seen quite a few coaches come through here. When I 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:45.040 got here, mean, Joe Green was an assistant on the staff, 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:49.080 and the following year, Emmett Smith was an Arizona Cardinal. 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.400 I mean people forget, yeah, that Emmett was here with 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:55.839 the Cardinals. Um, so you're you're doing mostly NFL, but 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:57.880 I do see you tweeting on college sports as well, 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:00.960 So I want to hit on that, especially with locally 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.760 anyway here the news with Arizona State. I just happened 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:06.359 to be doing Arizona State Utah this Saturday. So a 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:08.240 lot going on there, a lot to talk about obviously 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:12.120 with her edwards being let go or not let go, 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.279 depending on how you read the press release, right, we've 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.480 got to I think I've a pretty good idea what 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:19.599 happened there. Yeah, me too, But we've got to figure 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:21.680 that out and pass through it all at ESPN to 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:23.320 make sure we, you know, say it the right way 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.960 journalistically on Saturday night. What were your thoughts though when 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.440 you're watching the game on Sunday? First of all, what 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:32.719 were your thoughts at halftime when it was twenty to nothing? 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:36.560 Because my thoughts were, my, goodness, this feels like last week, 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:40.120 which feels like last year, which feels like a losing season. 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.240 I think, you know, bab, you've been around from your 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.040 team for two decades. You can lose the season pretty easily. 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.080 And I think I'm staring at that. And I watched 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.680 that that first sat pretty closely because I just wanted 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.360 to see how they played Davanta Adams. By the way 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:57.920 they did it actually a nicer job than the Chargers 0:05:57.960 --> 0:05:59.840 did a week before, and a lot of those in 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.680 the Adams routes. But I was watching that game and 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:04.160 when I saw it was twenty and nothing, I just 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:06.119 started to say, here we go. Again, which I'm sure 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.479 a lot of Cardinals fans thought, maybe some of the players, 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:12.040 maybe the staff of diffront office. I mean, there's just 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:15.120 a I feel like there was there was a way 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:16.920 that game could have gone that was created a lot 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:21.880 of pessimism, and the good news is the comeback was 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:25.640 frankly astounding to the point that you see what Kyler 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.480 Murray is capable of. And when you get the type 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:30.880 of contract Kyler has gotten, you know, one of the 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:34.440 things that I always wonder and I don't think you know, 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:37.880 you think about all of the huge, mega contracts they 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.159 were going around with quarterbacks. Now, not all of them 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.159 create value. Some of them are just like good enough 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.240 to play quarterback, and you know, and we're gonna give 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:49.480 him twenty five million dollars or thirty million dollars a 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.960 year because he's there, right, you're kind of stuck there. 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.480 I mean, that was always the kind of Andy Dalton 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.880 problem right in Cincinnati, which is you got to pay 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.320 a guy twenty five million dollars up the kaplan, maybe 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:01.600 you should have just rolled it over and gotten a 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.280 rookie contractor or at quarterback, you know, going forward, So 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:07.800 when you see a comeback like that, and I didn't 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.240 ever think Kyler was in that bucket. But when you 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:14.080 see a comeback like that, you understand how valuable Kyler 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:16.520 Murray is to the franchise and how much he can 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:19.040 do on a game to game basis, to where not 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.080 only is no game out of reach, but no play 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:23.680 is out of reach. I mean, how many games, how 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.600 many plays in the game yesterday did you see and say, Okay, 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.520 this one's over and then Kyler made it happen. That's 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:34.120 a special talent And I don't listen. I don't think 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.280 he's ready to be a kind of top ten, you know, 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.800 super Bowl level of talent, but he the path is 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:44.360 a lot shorter than people think. And I think that 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:48.840 there's been an extremely weird narrative around him, especially since 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.240 the second half of last season. But I think we're 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.880 starting to see and if he didn't think this, you 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:58.600 do now. Kyler is a special, special guy who's worth 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:00.960 the money and worth the attack. Interview got when when 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.120 he got into this a few years ago. Day. So 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.720 you have on a lot of players, coaches. You mentioned 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.440 you have SVP on, so you're constantly talking to people 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:13.720 that are dialed into the NFL in your opinion, and 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.440 do you think that others would share this opinion? Did 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:23.560 what happened yesterday? Is that enough to flip a season, 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:27.880 to flip a franchise, because it's not just a play 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.000 that could turn around this season. It can turn around 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.959 all the bad narrative from last year as well. I mean, 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:35.880 so much of that has to do with this this week, 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.280 because what how do you how do you measure up 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:40.360 against the Rams, who are not only the class of 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.560 of the division, but the class of the NFL. Um 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:44.839 that to me, it is fascinating. There was now a 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:48.680 stat I saw, Um, then you have obviously the Panthers, 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:50.920 after that, the Eagles after that, Seahawks stains, but there's 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:53.599 some winnable games in that stretch day. There was a 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.840 stat I saw yesterday. There was astounding that that I 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.640 think that the Cardinals have won like eighth straighte games, 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.280 have won outright eighth right games when they're a road underdog. 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:05.880 They're a team that has the mentality that is really 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.840 fascinating to me. They can go in and win places 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.480 that maybe other teams can and so obviously they've got 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:14.160 the home game against the Rams, but then they go 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.760 on the road a lot in October and November against 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.839 some pretty interesting teams, and I think that they can. 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.240 They were a playoff team a year ago. They had 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.080 the talent to do this. Like I think that, as 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.800 I said earlier, the Vibes were heading in a bad direction, 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.160 that they lose that game yesterday, But I completely agree 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:35.920 with you that this is set up for maybe a 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.000 better season than we thought. And it all comes down 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:41.240 to that half. The last time the Cardinals saw the Rams, 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:47.079 it was ugly. I was there, and it was Even 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.480 though the Cardinals played poorly down the stretch in the 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:52.640 regular season, it went to another level in the postseason. 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.480 It was just an outright disaster on a lot of levels. 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:00.680 But early last season the Cardinals, people forget nominated the Rams. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:02.360 It was one of the worst games the Rams played 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:05.559 all year. Aaron Donald was completely shut down. They could 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.319 do nothing against the Cardinals. Now, again, that was a 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.920 year ago. So much has changed since then. How do 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.200 you look at this matchup because what I've seen from 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.000 the Rams so far is similar to last year because 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:20.400 the Rams got hot in the postseason. It came down 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.720 to week the final week of the season. The Cardinals 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:25.200 had to lose at home and the Rams had to 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:27.600 win for them to win the division. Things might have 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:29.880 changed if the Cardinals win that final game of the 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:33.000 regular season. So do you view the Rams kind of 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:34.839 the same or do you think they're better this year 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:38.040 than they were in the regular season last year? No, 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:40.520 I mean, I listen that first game with the Rams 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.880 was certainly concerning that with the Bills. But well, I'll 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:45.920 say about the Rams, is I think that And this 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.800 happens a lot of the time where a team will 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:51.560 make a run in January and exactly what you're saying, 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:53.360 we kind of reverse engineer that they were the best 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.679 team the entire time as long as they're you talked 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.280 about in the national media is good and all that stuff. 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:00.840 And I have a good coach, have a good quarterback. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.800 And essentially because I did a piece on Matt Lafleur 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:06.560 a couple of weeks ago, Dave, and one of the 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.840 things that Sean McVay told Matt Lafleur is that he 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:13.640 views the playoffs like March madness. And what he means 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.040 by that is it's not the best team that wins, 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.640 it's the best team that wins over a three hour space, right, 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.200 And so he started to engineer, like, how do I 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:26.600 mac McVay, how do I maximize those three hours? Because 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:30.199 it's not about October, it's not about November fifth, it's 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:32.880 about January tenth. And so I think the way McVey 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.719 started to view the postseason helps him. Last year. I 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:38.840 don't think you know, in the regular season, we saw 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.040 the Cardinals and the Rams were not that far off, 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:45.600 and so this is about I think that playoff experience 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.079 is its own beast. I think that the Cardinals obviously 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:52.800 got their doors blown off in that in that spot 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.559 last time I played the Rams. But I think that 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.920 that just comes from experience, not just just Cliff Kingsbury 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.720 at the NFL level, but Kyler Murray getting those represent 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:04.280 I mean not you have to be a special special 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.959 team in order to make a deep run on the 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:10.120 playoffs is not any playoff experience. It's a completely different beast, 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:14.240 especially with the expanded playoffs. It's just different. And I 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:16.880 think a guy like Sean McVey understood that. I mean, 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:18.400 by the way, that's why you go out and get 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:22.640 Matthew Stafford because you understand how much talent it takes 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:24.800 once you get to the final four, once you get 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.559 to the final two in the conference. You know that, 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:32.600 That to me is understanding the barrier for entry. And 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:38.199 so a team like the Cardinals, great quarterback, a lot 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.600 of talent all over the place. What they need to 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:42.839 do over the next two or three years become a 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:45.800 super Bowl team is to do those kind of big swings. 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.440 But I don't think on any given on a week 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.360 to week basis that there's some huge gap between the 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.160 Cardinals and the rest of division. I was like an 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.320 idiot Dave last year when I think I went on 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.719 Calvert and I was just joking about. I was like, man, 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.120 you know, prais the Cliff Kings because she's got the 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.200 NFCU West to deal with. Meanwhile, I didn't know that 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.160 they they had to deal with the Cardinals, you know. 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.079 And so I've already learned my lesson on that stuff 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.680 as far as saying, oh, you know, the Cardinals can 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:13.760 hang with these teams. They can hang with it, and 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:15.360 a lot of it has to deal with the quarterback 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.240 and the roster. You bring up an interesting point about 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:20.960 the postseason, because we can say all we want that 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.080 it is different than the regular season. It is its 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:27.199 own animal. But till you're in the middle of it. 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.240 Maybe you don't realize that, and that I think had 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.280 a lot to do with what happened last year. For 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.920 a lot of people that are members of the Cardinals, 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:38.680 it's a young roster in twenty twenty one, it's Kyler 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.640 Murray's first postseason game. It's different than college football, it's 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.960 different than high school obviously. It's just you cannot possibly 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.800 prepare mentally for what that's like. Do you think having 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.480 gone through that and then what Kyler did on Sunday 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.320 the comeback? There were some games last year and even 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.400 going back to his rookie year, where the Cardinals would 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:02.680 come back, but usually the game went how it started. 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:05.520 If Kyler played great early on, the Cardinals usually won 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.240 the game. If the Cardinals struggled offensively early on and 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.160 got behind, they usually didn't win the game. It feels 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.439 like they took this big step. So I'm kind of 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:16.840 jumping around here talking about the postseason last year in 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.000 Week two this year, But do you see a correlation 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:23.520 maybe to a young quarterback growing so when the opportunity 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.360 presents itself again, just like a different Matthew Stafford. After 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.080 losing those playoff games in Detroit, He's better suited to 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.400 have success. Yeah, I mean you think about it. The 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.720 answer is yes. The big overarching answer is yes, Well 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:38.400 you think about it. It's so many little things. How 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:40.480 do you rest on a playoff week? When do you 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:42.520 step on the gas? When do you knock? Do you 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:45.960 go full pads Wednesday or Thursday or both? You know, 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:49.000 I mean stuff like that, because you know, you're basically 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.280 all the rules were set, all the practice rules buncharted waters. 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:54.440 Are you a betteran team or a young team? There's 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:56.840 so many different things, and so I think Dick listening 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.480 last playoff game for the Cardinals was a complete disaster. 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:05.440 The entire national picture looked at that media whomever and said, 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.120 this is bad. Something's got to change, right. But I 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:11.080 do think there's a case to be made kind of 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.520 like what we're talking about, where it can only go 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.520 up because they understand what this is about, and they 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.040 understand the team. Like the Rams has been there many 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.160 different times and upgraded the talent and kind of got 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.200 above the barrier for enter to be a super Bowl 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:28.400 type team. The Cardinals understand what that looks like. You know, 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:32.240 there's been a lot of discussion about the extensions. Obviously 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:36.000 they were handed out before the Kyler murray, before the 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.160 mc murray contract, But at least the Cardinals know what 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:41.480 they are for the next few years and then they 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.280 can go from there. So I think that this structure 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:46.920 making the playoffs, like I do, think at some point 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.960 you're going to break through and make a run because 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:51.760 you understand what it's all about and you got the 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.200 quarterback to do it. When you look at Sean McVay, 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.440 in your opinion, what's the secret sauce to his success? 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:00.320 Because I've talked to so many people, whether it's coaches 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:05.200 or players, former players that played for Sean McVay, or 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.920 current players that played for Sean McVay when he was 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.440 an assistant coach, and everybody says, we always knew, we 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:16.080 always knew that he was going to have success. And sometimes, 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:19.560 you know, you talked to coaches about a particularly successful 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.160 coach and they'll say, well, Phil Jackson, for example in 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.640 the NBA, people say, well, look you had Michael Jordan 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:28.680 and Kobe Bryant, but still all those championships. There's something 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.440 you're doing right besides just having talents. So what do 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.400 you think it is with Sean McVeigh. I think a 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:36.440 couple of things. Number one is that players buy them 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:37.880 when they know they're going to make plays and be 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.400 put in position to win, right, And so that that's 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.520 number one. Number two is I think there's a leadership 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.080 element to it that I think goes overlooked, and I 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.040 think the people did see Sean McVey is this guy 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:52.440 in a lab coming up with man beaters. And it's 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:57.160 it's not that it's not just the plays, it's understanding 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:02.600 his roster really well. It's passion. Um, you know, I mean, 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:06.600 like just just something as little as I asked to 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:08.840 talk to him for the Matt before piece and he 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.000 was on the phone with me twelve hours later, um, 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.920 and and just so excited it talked about Matt And 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:15.520 you know, one of the funny things was he was 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.920 laying it on a little thick game where he was saying, 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.280 you know, I don't I didn't. I didn't teach Matt anything. 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.600 Because I said, hey, hey, did you uh you know 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:25.520 what what he what did Matt take from me that 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:27.000 you now see you on the field. He's like, I didn't, 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.560 I didn't teach Matt anything. He taught me. You know. 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:32.199 It's that kind of stuff. And there's this there's this compassion, 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:35.840 there's this human element um where he's just like just 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:38.640 a good person. I think that that that's the read 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.000 I get from it. The guys want to be around him, 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.439 guys want to play for him, um, and so it 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:47.040 all fits together. And i'd also say that he opens 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.680 up his football world to his assistance and I think 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:51.960 he learned that a little bit from Kylie Shanahan as well. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.719 And I think you see the kind of Shanahan McVay 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.200 tree have success, not just because play action and all 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.000 that stuff just helps and maximize is your value on 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.560 a football field, and there's certain concepts that just really 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:07.399 work against modern defenses. There's that, But on the other hand, 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:09.640 they just understand what it means to be a head 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:13.879 coach very early because you've heard stories. You know, everybody 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.280 in New England is pretty siloed and they don't necessarily 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.840 learn everything that Bill Belichick has to offer. Because of that, 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:25.240 the McVeigh tree is that is way more open, way 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.080 more honest, I would say, amongst the group. And so 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:32.040 you're seeing just it's a different vibe in Los Angeles 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:34.880 and people want to be there. And then once that happens, 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:37.800 everything starts to build on itself. You know, Kevin Demoff, 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:41.399 who's basically their team president without the title, said to 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:46.520 me one time that the best kind of inefficiency or 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:48.600 the best competitive advantage is the way you put it 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.960 is winning, because once you start winning, people just say, hey, 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:54.120 I'll actually take the million and a half dollar contract 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.439 to play here instead of the five million dollar contract 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.840 to play in Jacksonville. Whatever it is, right, And that's 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:02.520 we're seeing. We're seeing this set up now in Los 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:05.679 Angeles where it's becoming a bit of a machine because 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.160 people are attracted to it and will take less money, 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:11.080 and then that just keeps on building. Kevin. Looking at 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:15.800 some of the other interesting stories in the NFL. In 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:19.360 the NFC West San Francisco, I am more fearful now 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:21.760 with the forty nine ers that Jimmy Garoppolo is back 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:26.159 under center, just because every move that John Lynch and 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:29.880 Kyle Shanahan made in the last month and a half 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:33.320 screamed we don't trust Trey Lance. And that's unfortunate what 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:35.440 happened to him. You hate it to see a guy 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:37.880 go down like that and lose this whole season. But 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:39.480 I think the forty nine ers are going to be 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.720 better because of it, given Jimmy G's previous success. Not 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:45.240 saying he's Patrick Mahomes, but this guy's been to a 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:48.600 super Bowl, been to an NFC Championship game? Am I right? 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.040 Should should Cardinal fans be more fearful of the forty 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.480 nine ers right now? One hundred percent? You are correct. 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:59.160 I mean that the entire last month, I mean bringing 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.280 Meg even back in the first place, all to talk 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:06.680 about sort of a I wouldn't call a locker room descent, 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:08.399 because I don't think there was any of that. But 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:10.920 there was a report that basically Kyle and John Lynch 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.280