Speaker 1: And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? Welcome to move to stacks.
Speaker 2: DJ Bucky with you on a recap Monday, Buck. It
Speaker 2: was a week where the Jags. You've got to buy right,
Speaker 2: So you got nothing going on on your end, I've
Speaker 2: got a Monday night or I mean, I'm gonna be
Speaker 2: honest with you. I caught a nap yesterday. I watched
Speaker 2: a lot of ball and then I caught it. It
Speaker 2: was a Sunday nap. What I mean, there's nothing better.
Speaker 2: I searched in the morning and a Sunday nap. I
Speaker 2: was like unbelievable.
Speaker 3: So so it's strategically when when did you take the nap?
Speaker 3: Did you take the nap after the one? After the
Speaker 3: morning game? So you came to the late games? Okay,
Speaker 3: you got there a little late. I was a little
Speaker 3: late getting to the late games.
Speaker 1: Hour nap.
Speaker 2: It was nothing too much, just the hour nap. By
Speaker 2: the way, if you're noticing, yes, Indiana did lose. Yes
Speaker 2: rhtt Lewis is not on. He needed a sick day.
Speaker 2: He needed a sick day after the loss. It was
Speaker 2: a little trouble. So he caught in. He caught his
Speaker 2: sick today. So yeah, he caught his sick. Hopefully he's
Speaker 2: recovered by Lady new week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a wellness day.
Speaker 2: I thought it was a little much, though, I mean
Speaker 2: for the bosses to send out the counseling hotline to him,
Speaker 2: you know, on the group.
Speaker 1: A lot happened. I was worried about him.
Speaker 2: I think this was actually scheduled, believe it or not.
Speaker 2: So Red'll be back. We'll have a rookie draft coming up.
Speaker 2: That'll be tomorrow. We had a lot of games to
Speaker 2: get to the back, and I want to start, first
Speaker 2: of all, what we saw last night, and that was
Speaker 2: I don't want to say JV Varsity. That's insulting to
Speaker 2: the Rams. And I don't think this was as much
Speaker 2: about what's wrong with the Rams as it was what's
Speaker 2: right with the Philadelphia Eagles. And I want to get
Speaker 2: to you on this point because I think there's a
Speaker 2: thread that you'll see as we go through a lot
Speaker 2: of these teams that are that are winning right now
Speaker 2: and playing good football and chasing a championship. It is
Speaker 2: a blend of speed and power. It is having explosiveness
Speaker 2: but also being a physical team, and no greater example
Speaker 2: of that than what the Philadelphia Eagles put on display
Speaker 2: last night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and one percent agreement with you when it comes
Speaker 3: to that, I think this.
Speaker 1: I think the Philadelphia Eagles are a great example.
Speaker 3: The Detroit Lions are another example of how you have
Speaker 3: to build your team and what we call an ideal way,
Speaker 3: meaning what is the ideal team that we can build,
Speaker 3: And it has to have a combination of speed power.
Speaker 1: You got to be able to I say it all
Speaker 1: the time. You got to be able to.
Speaker 3: Win with force orphinesse, meaning you can impose your will
Speaker 3: with the running game, but also have the firepower on
Speaker 3: the outside to throw it all over the yard.
Speaker 1: Because to win games, you have to be a bit
Speaker 1: of a chameleon.
Speaker 3: And when you look at the top teams in the
Speaker 3: league and whatever top five you put up there, they
Speaker 3: all have the ability to kind of change as they
Speaker 3: need to put themselves in a position to win against
Speaker 3: the opponent on that given day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's it's impressive, man. And they are
Speaker 2: on a heck of a run right now, and they
Speaker 2: are big and they are physical and I want to
Speaker 2: get to the offensive line in a moment here, and
Speaker 2: that in regards to Saquon Barkley. You can pull out
Speaker 2: a lot of different stats along different numbers from this
Speaker 2: game on Saquon and what he did. But how about
Speaker 2: this one second player since nineteen fifty to have two
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty plus rush yards three hundred plus scrimmage
Speaker 2: yards in the same game. The only other one Adrian Peterson.
Speaker 2: That was in two thousand and seven against the then
Speaker 2: San Diego Chargers. Barkley one hundred and eighty two rushing
Speaker 2: yards and two rushing touchdowns in the second half alone,
Speaker 2: So it was a it was an impressive performance. And
Speaker 2: let's go back in time too, by the way, that's
Speaker 2: an excellent saucy nug back in time to the Rose
Speaker 2: Bowl against USC. Maybe Saquon just likes southern California. Man,
Speaker 2: he feels very at home out here, he does.
Speaker 3: And it's funny you brought up his Penn State success
Speaker 3: because DJ when you go back to it, you remember
Speaker 3: watching him he was a bit of a boomer bust playmaker,
Speaker 3: meaning it was one yard, three yards, one yards, five yards,
Speaker 3: thirty yards, one yards, three yards, five yards, fifty yards.
Speaker 3: That's kind of the way that he was able to
Speaker 3: put up his production as an Indy Lion. Think about
Speaker 3: the Philadelphia Eagles, which is very different from the New
Speaker 3: York Giants. He's playing with a much better offensive line.
Speaker 3: He's also playing with better weapons around him. I think
Speaker 3: part of I would say the impressive part that I've
Speaker 3: seen has been the consistency, fewer negative plays, more pop,
Speaker 3: but also the steady string of four, five, six, seven
Speaker 3: eight yard runs that he's able to produce. I used
Speaker 3: to think he was something from him stylistically, I'm now
Speaker 3: beginning to see maybe it was the environment that he
Speaker 3: played in, because he is the running back that every
Speaker 3: team should want because he has the ability to grind
Speaker 3: it out.
Speaker 1: He can make big plays as a runner.
Speaker 3: He can catch the ball out of the backfield and
Speaker 3: run all the routes out of the route tree. I mean,
Speaker 3: he is the ultimate running back, and we're seeing it
Speaker 3: because he's an environment that really showcases the skills because
Speaker 3: they're so good everywhere else.
Speaker 2: I want to get your thoughts on whether you believe
Speaker 2: the bully can translate from one side of the ball
Speaker 2: to the other, because this is a Phladelphia Eagles defense
Speaker 2: that did the same thing.
Speaker 1: The Rams came out and gashed him.
Speaker 2: They had a fumble on their first drive, and then
Speaker 2: the second drive they go down to score like they
Speaker 2: came out and moved the ball. Vic Fangio made some
Speaker 2: adjustments and then I thought, kind of the typical play
Speaker 2: that stood out to me. I mean, there was a
Speaker 2: bunch of pressure on Matthew Stafford from this front, but
Speaker 2: when Nakobe Dean just flat out ran right over Kiraen
Speaker 2: Williams on the way to Matthew Stafford, I thought, Okay,
Speaker 2: this is kind of Philadelphia in their prime right now,
Speaker 2: which is bully football on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 2: Hate to see the injury to Brandon Graham, they lose
Speaker 2: him for the year, who was actually playing great here
Speaker 2: in his mid to late thirties, which is pretty remarkable,
Speaker 2: But they do they have a bunch of other depth
Speaker 2: around him. I think you'll see Hunt start to make
Speaker 2: some plays for them.
Speaker 1: They've got other pieces. Nolan Smith.
Speaker 2: That's the na Kobe Dean, the bully play that I'm
Speaker 2: talking about. But do you buy into that, buck? Because
Speaker 2: I am a firm believer and when you are a
Speaker 2: physical bunch on one side, it tends to translate to
Speaker 2: the other.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because you faced that every day.
Speaker 3: And even though like pro practices are not like college
Speaker 3: or high school where ones go against ones all the time,
Speaker 3: you can't.
Speaker 1: Help but get some of that.
Speaker 3: So when you're a very physical defense, you have to
Speaker 3: have a physical offense to compliment it.
Speaker 1: You think about the toughness that.
Speaker 3: Is created DJ that comes from the trenches, and so
Speaker 3: as much as we talk about stylistically how they do it,
Speaker 3: I would say the investment and the trench warriors on
Speaker 3: both sides of the ball something that Philadelphia has done for.
Speaker 1: A long time. They did it with Andy Reid, They've
Speaker 1: continued to do it.
Speaker 3: They invest in line of scrimmage players, and because they're
Speaker 3: so good at the line of scrimmage, they're always able
Speaker 3: to impose their will. But let me say this, big
Speaker 3: Fangio coming over, people think that you can't coach today's
Speaker 3: players in an old school way.
Speaker 1: I disagree. Fangio is a testament to that.
Speaker 3: People worried about him coming over to Philadelphia after Miami,
Speaker 3: after some of the players bristled at his methods. He
Speaker 3: has been the right guy for Philadelphia because he's not
Speaker 3: only made the defense tougher, I would say that his
Speaker 3: tactics have made the team tougher and has helped Nick
Speaker 3: Siriani gain control of the team and build a different bully.
Speaker 3: Vig Fangio deserves a lot of credit for what he's
Speaker 3: been able to do with a very young defense that
Speaker 3: is getting after it not only at the line of
Speaker 3: scrimmage but also into back yet.
Speaker 2: Yep, and as we move on to the next one,
Speaker 2: just real quick on the rams, look the defensive front.
Speaker 2: Jared Versus was still rushing while Bradon Fisk was still rushing. Well,
Speaker 2: they have a lot of good pieces. They've got to
Speaker 2: get better on the offensive line, particularly at tackle. That
Speaker 2: was a nightmare out there on the edge. That's something
Speaker 2: that you know that can be a focus for less
Speaker 2: than the offseason. Less He's got a lot of good, young,
Speaker 2: talented players there, but continue to double down on the
Speaker 2: offensive line in the off season is going to be crucial.
Speaker 2: All Right, let's get to San Francisco, Green Bay. Everybody's
Speaker 2: gonna take this approach in this game. I want to
Speaker 2: take a different one. Everybody's going to have an autopsy
Speaker 2: on San Francisco and how they fell apart. The windows closed?
Speaker 2: Is Kyle Shanahan. Has he passed his prime? All these
Speaker 2: conversations are gonna be taking place everwhere. I just want
Speaker 2: to focus on two things. Number One, this team is
Speaker 2: one game out in the division. Nobody's put them away
Speaker 2: like you got to knock them out. They have not
Speaker 2: been knocked out. Nobody in the divisions run away from him.
Speaker 2: That's the first thing. The second thing is, fuck, you
Speaker 2: can't lose. You know, your quarterback, your defensive player of
Speaker 2: the year in Bosa, the best offensive lineman of football,
Speaker 2: and Trent Williams, your best route runner in Brandon. I like,
Speaker 2: at some point in time, Yeah, the welts dry, like
Speaker 2: that's too much. And McCaffrey, you know, let's give him
Speaker 2: a little more time to kind of get back into
Speaker 2: the groove. He doesn't look quite the same as before
Speaker 2: he got hurt. But to me, this is more about
Speaker 2: attrition than any type of you know, exclamation point on
Speaker 2: the end of the Niners.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I would say this.
Speaker 3: I feel like the night as well have a hard
Speaker 3: time this year, just because of the Super Bowl hangover.
Speaker 3: When you pour so much into getting to the Super
Speaker 3: Bowl and winning the Super Bowl and then you fall
Speaker 3: short the way that they did in overtime, there's an
Speaker 3: emotional hangover. That kind of lingers with the team for
Speaker 3: a while, and you can't really get past that until
Speaker 3: you get into the postseason again. The thing about the
Speaker 3: Niners this year in the offseason and leading them from
Speaker 3: training camp, probably more distractions with the contracts and the stuff.
Speaker 1: Never felt like they were fully together.
Speaker 3: Now you get into the regular season, with the injuries
Speaker 3: and those things, you're playing with backups and young, inexperienced
Speaker 3: players thrust in more prominent roles than they were expected
Speaker 3: to be in and they're not quite ready for that.
Speaker 1: It's a tough situation.
Speaker 3: But as you pull out the silver lining, yeah, DJ,
Speaker 3: they're only one game back. If they don't knocked them out,
Speaker 3: they can get two or three wins in a row.
Speaker 3: They can do it.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: They're a shell of themselves in terms of the heavyweight
Speaker 3: contended that we used to see. But there's still a
Speaker 3: dangerous fold because Kyle Shanahan's a terrific schemer. They have
Speaker 3: really good players, and if they get in they certainly
Speaker 3: can do some damage. But right now they certainly don't
Speaker 3: look like the team that we've seen dominate the last
Speaker 3: three to four years.
Speaker 2: I've heard David Ort he's a baseball player tell the
Speaker 2: story about when they were down three to zero to
Speaker 2: the Yankees in the playoffs and they're playing in that
Speaker 2: pivotal game for and he said, don't let us win
Speaker 2: one game. Don't let us like, don't give us life,
Speaker 2: don't keep us around, and that you know how that ended.
Speaker 2: So I'm just saying I think it's a little premature.
Speaker 2: This team still has a chance to get healthy. And
Speaker 2: if they're a team that's sneaking in, do you want
Speaker 2: to be one of these teams welcoming in the forty
Speaker 2: nine ers in the first round of wild Card weekend? Like,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't want any parts of that. So a little
Speaker 2: premature there. Let's give the Packers some love, though, a
Speaker 2: team that we've talked about the turnovers and the issues there,
Speaker 2: this was like this was no nonsense. They just kind
Speaker 2: of they beat them up. I knew that was a
Speaker 2: team that wasn't healthy upfront, especially on the defensive line,
Speaker 2: and that was a lot of Josh Jacobs right at you.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna say this again, DJ.
Speaker 3: We talked about you open the program talking about like
Speaker 3: the teams that can mix speed and power, force infiness.
Speaker 1: The Green Bay Packers have done that.
Speaker 3: The addition of Ash Jacobs in the offseason gave them
Speaker 3: what I call an anchor for their offense. So no
Speaker 3: matter what is going on with Jordan Love, they always
Speaker 3: know that they can slow the game down by handing
Speaker 3: the ball to number eight and that'll get them back
Speaker 3: on track. Being able to do that on offense allows
Speaker 3: them to gain better control of the game when things
Speaker 3: can kind of get uneasy. And then defensively, defensive coordinator
Speaker 3: Jeff Hapley coming over bringing a pressure based scheme while
Speaker 3: also keeping vision on the quarterback, more turnovers, off tips
Speaker 3: and overthrows. In those things, they are a very balanced
Speaker 3: team that can get it done in a major way.
Speaker 3: And I know right now we're talking about the Detroit
Speaker 3: Lions being the team of the NFC.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, man, keep an eye on the Packers. Man.
Speaker 1: They are coming and they're coming fast.
Speaker 3: And when you think about them in the Minnesota Vikings,
Speaker 3: there's a balance to the Green Bay Packers that just
Speaker 3: kind of has me leaning towards the pack because they
Speaker 3: have some intriguing pieces on the roster that could really
Speaker 3: get in the postseason.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, let me just ask you this, just
Speaker 2: as we're getting into this. How would you stack them
Speaker 2: right now? And you obviously the Philadelphi Eagles we talked
Speaker 2: about earlier, they didn't no joke.
Speaker 1: Right now the NFC is loaded, man.
Speaker 3: It is loaded, and I was stacking as we talk.
Speaker 3: We can talk about the Lions, then the Eagles, and
Speaker 3: then I must still have the Vikings over the Packers.
Speaker 3: And so they rematched and played again. But to me,
Speaker 3: the Packers are the dangerous team, and that because the
Speaker 3: running game with Josh Jacobs and their ability to create
Speaker 3: turnovers that is a huge thing. We always talk about.
Speaker 3: The biggest deciding factor in football is the turnover. The
Speaker 3: way they can produce turnovers is something that could be
Speaker 3: the advantage that tips them over all of the teams
Speaker 3: when we get into the tournament.
Speaker 2: Now we get Packers Vikings week seventeen. So that's a
Speaker 2: fun division. We said going into the year that was
Speaker 2: going to be the best division. It is going to
Speaker 2: be a fun division to follow as we come down
Speaker 2: the home stretch. It is again though, that that that
Speaker 2: theme we talk about power, speed, explosiveness. All these top
Speaker 2: teams in the NFC have those two elements. So it's
Speaker 2: interesting to see how evenly matched they are. As we
Speaker 2: go forward, how about this talk about a wild division.
Speaker 2: NFC North isn't the only one in the NFC. How
Speaker 2: about the NFC West Arizona Seattle. This is a game
Speaker 2: that was just controlled by the Seattle defense. They get
Speaker 2: a pick six Kobe Bryant house house call on Kyler.
Speaker 2: Kyler was not sharp in this game. They can only
Speaker 2: muster six points. Leonard Leonard Williams like the forgotten man.
Speaker 2: Go back to what he was coming out Buck, how
Speaker 2: good he was at USC. He ends up, you know,
Speaker 2: not sticking there with the Giants. They trade him to
Speaker 2: Seattle and kind of a reminder, Oh yeah, he's still
Speaker 2: really really talented.
Speaker 1: They got after the quarterback five sacks, he had.
Speaker 2: Two and a half. Boy, Mafey's getting pressured. They have
Speaker 2: a lot of different athletes up front. And then I
Speaker 2: think Mike McDonald, he get into a new environment, you
Speaker 2: get into a new surrounding, you're trying to build your
Speaker 2: roster around the way you do things. I thought, give
Speaker 2: him a John Schneider a lot of credit. They go
Speaker 2: out and make the trade in the middle season for
Speaker 2: Ernest Jones. Tyrese Knight, the rookie out of UTEP. Those
Speaker 2: are their two linebackers, and they have started to gel
Speaker 2: these last couple weeks. They're fast, they're flying all over
Speaker 2: the field. We know about all the resources they have
Speaker 2: in the secondary, all the talent they have there with
Speaker 2: Devin Witherspoon and company. But now they've got that middle
Speaker 2: level under control. So hats off to John Schneider and
Speaker 2: coach McDonald for figuring that out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, DJ, So on Friday, the Scouts Notebook was me
Speaker 3: kind of breaking down the NFC West Race, and one
Speaker 3: of the things was like, who did you have the
Speaker 3: most confidence in? The Seattle Seahawks with the team that
Speaker 3: had the most confidence in because of Mike McDonald and
Speaker 3: his ability to get this defense right. When you look
Speaker 3: at the athletes that they have, it's funny because it's
Speaker 3: very similar to the way that Pete Carroll operates, but
Speaker 3: Mike McDonald to me, might be a little more organized
Speaker 3: when it comes to the deployment of the personnel.
Speaker 1: This team can get after it up front.
Speaker 3: They got talented playmakers on the outside because they can
Speaker 3: play man demand HoriZone, and then they have speed, speed
Speaker 3: speed at that second level. This is a really good
Speaker 3: defense and if they can just play middle of the
Speaker 3: pack to getting close to playing top ten defense.
Speaker 1: With the offense that they have. Man, they are a
Speaker 1: very difficult team.
Speaker 3: And you saw in that environment with the toils being
Speaker 3: a factor, some of that nostalgic Seattle Seahawks stuff does
Speaker 3: really dangerous team, really dangerous team.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: No, they're playing good football right now. Arizona, Man, they
Speaker 2: are just kind of streaky. They are up and down.
Speaker 2: You don't know exactly what you're gonna get from them
Speaker 2: week to week, but just could never get anything going
Speaker 2: offensively in this ballgame. So maybe that goes back to
Speaker 2: your trust factor. I think Arizona plays hard. I think
Speaker 2: they're getting the most out of what they have. I
Speaker 2: think if you're talking about the stealings of the rosters,
Speaker 2: I would agree with you. I would put Seattle above them.
Speaker 2: And again though, that's why I'm just saying, as this
Speaker 2: division kind of hangs in the balance, I'm just somebody's
Speaker 2: got to put some distance between themselves in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: I know San Francisco's.
Speaker 2: Schedule is brutal, I know they have all these injuries,
Speaker 2: but still I just get a little nervous with them
Speaker 2: kind of lurking, just kind of hanging around, hanging around,
Speaker 2: and eventually they might figure it out. So one of
Speaker 2: these teams and maybe this Seattle needs to create some
Speaker 2: distance here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, now that's the thing.
Speaker 3: And because of the schedule, because when you look at
Speaker 3: the schedule, here's the thing about the Niners.
Speaker 1: Man, they have a difficult road down the strew.
Speaker 3: So when we talk about them reeling off a few games,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be hard to stack wins against the opponents
Speaker 3: that they have coming in. The same could be said
Speaker 3: for the Rams and with the Cardinals. The Cardinals I
Speaker 3: believe are one year too early. The talent is not
Speaker 3: quite there to win the division, but I love the toughness,
Speaker 3: to energy, all of that stuff. To me, the Seattle
Speaker 3: Seahawks are best position to just kind of win the
Speaker 3: division by default. The schedule lines up well, Mike McDonald
Speaker 3: being able to fix the defense. But it's going to
Speaker 3: be an interesting six week process to watch how this
Speaker 3: thing plays out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a division that I think is going
Speaker 2: to come down to the very end, and I'm really
Speaker 2: excited to see how this thing shakes out. This is
Speaker 2: a team that I guess it's probably appropriate that when
Speaker 2: we do that segment, we should always follow it up
Speaker 2: with the Lions game because they're not messing around buck,
Speaker 2: They're just handling business and they're not making things competitive
Speaker 2: that don't need to be competitive. Once again, they do
Speaker 2: it here twenty four to six over the Colts.
Speaker 1: Yeah. DJ.
Speaker 3: What was interesting to me was listening to Ben Johnson
Speaker 3: talk about the team and talk about how the offense
Speaker 3: is perfectly constructed to play a variety of ways we
Speaker 3: have talked about, like when you building the team, you
Speaker 3: want to be a bit of a chameleon, meaning that
Speaker 3: you can kind of shift and morph into whatever type
Speaker 3: of team you need to to win each week. The
Speaker 3: Lions have that ability. They can become a power football team.
Speaker 3: They have two running backs at the top at upper
Speaker 3: echelon players in David Montgomery and Jamior Gibbs. They have
Speaker 3: one of the best offensive lines in football, so they
Speaker 3: can impose their will at the line of scrimmage. And
Speaker 3: even though they're wide house are terrific with the ball
Speaker 3: in the hands. They're willing blockers, and so in a
Speaker 3: game like this against the Indianapolis Coast where they wanted
Speaker 3: to kind of beat them up and play a little
Speaker 3: bully ball at the point of attack. They have the
Speaker 3: firepower to be able to do it because the roster
Speaker 3: is built to allow them to play big boy football
Speaker 3: that they need to or throw it all over the yard.
Speaker 2: I'm just looking through I was actually trying to find
Speaker 2: the lines on here, but I'm you know, I.
Speaker 1: Would totally butcher it, so I won't do that.
Speaker 2: But remember the Ocean's Eleven movie when you've got George
Speaker 2: Clooney and Brad Pitt and they're talking about we're gonna
Speaker 2: need one of these, yep, and then we're also going
Speaker 2: to need one of those and one of these and
Speaker 2: one of those.
Speaker 1: Like I feel like with the Lions, like.
Speaker 2: They came in and Brad Holmes said, Okay, what does
Speaker 2: the championship you know, roster kind of look like, Okay,
Speaker 2: we need some physical offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: We'll go get those.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's get Let's get a quarterback who doesn't turn
Speaker 2: the ball over and is official. Oh okay, we got
Speaker 2: that going. Let's get some explosiveness both in the backfield
Speaker 2: and outside. Okay, got that. Let's give a reliable third
Speaker 2: down weapon in the middle of the field. But you
Speaker 2: know what, let's get too let's have a tight end
Speaker 2: and a slot receiver. Like they've they've just checked all
Speaker 2: of these boxes of how you would build a just
Speaker 2: a nightmare of an offense to deal with. And one
Speaker 2: of the guys I wanted to give some love to
Speaker 2: on here, and I know he's had some issues off
Speaker 2: the field and it hasn't been the smooth sailing since
Speaker 2: he got into the league. But Jamison Williams five for
Speaker 2: sixty four in this game. Buck, He's got sixteen explosives
Speaker 2: this year. That's the twenty second most.
Speaker 1: In the league.
Speaker 2: I think Amana by the ways up near the very top,
Speaker 2: if not at the very top of the list of explosives.
Speaker 1: But I went and watched all of his explosives, like,
Speaker 1: how are they utilizing him? What are they doing?
Speaker 2: It is a lot of crossers, deep overs, go routes,
Speaker 2: corner routes, some digs. Like a lot of times when
Speaker 2: you look at explosives and leaders, you'll see you think
Speaker 2: about like Tyreek Hill Chiefs or even with the Dolphins.
Speaker 2: You'll see some shallow crossers. You'll see some bubble screens,
Speaker 2: You'll see different things where it's just catch and run. Buck,
Speaker 2: he is down the field, man like he is literally
Speaker 2: the definition of a stretch receiver. And man, think about
Speaker 2: the value that has not only for Jared Goff with
Speaker 2: those big plays, but think about the space that generates
Speaker 2: for everybody else.
Speaker 3: You know, DJ like one of the things about the
Speaker 3: Detroit Lions offense, and it's probably not talked about enough.
Speaker 3: I feel like Ben Johnson has done a really good
Speaker 3: job of stealing some of the more popular plays that
Speaker 3: Jered Goff ran with the Rams and putting them into
Speaker 3: the playbook for the Detroit Lions. If you go back,
Speaker 3: throw a dig Jared Goff, Yeah, you think about how
Speaker 3: Jered Goff played really well for the Rams. It was
Speaker 3: a lot of condensed formations. It was a lot of
Speaker 3: deep overs, crossing routes, things that were hitting on the move.
Speaker 3: When you look at the Lions, you see similarities in
Speaker 3: some of the passing game that existed during his time
Speaker 3: that came with him from the Rams and Jameson Williams.
Speaker 3: When you talk about like the benefit of having a
Speaker 3: speed receiver that can stretch, it is not only vertically,
Speaker 3: but it's horizontally. The thing that the Lions are doing though,
Speaker 3: is not horizontal, it's diagonal.
Speaker 1: Spending them across the field and Diagla.
Speaker 3: And they're using his speed to run away from opponents,
Speaker 3: and they really put you in a buy and because
Speaker 3: if you play zone, Amon Roussaint Brown is going to
Speaker 3: absolutely kill you underneath. If you play man to man,
Speaker 3: they can run the speed around you. And if you
Speaker 3: can't figure out how you want to play it, they
Speaker 3: just run it right at you. Well constructed offensive line,
Speaker 3: the playbook in the scheme matches the personnel, which is
Speaker 3: why I did the best team in.
Speaker 1: Football right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't disagree with you for one second. And they
Speaker 2: have reeled off nine straight wins and they kind of
Speaker 2: just a whole hum butt kicking of the Indianapolis Colts.
Speaker 2: They made that look way too easy on the road
Speaker 2: there in Indianapolis. Okay, this is one of the more
Speaker 2: entertaining games of the day. There were a bunch of
Speaker 2: them in a wild early slate, but Minnesota Chicago to
Speaker 2: me was the most bang for your buck. And watching
Speaker 2: two former Trojans go out at there with Sam Darnold
Speaker 2: as well as Caleb Williams, let's start there, buck to
Speaker 2: start with the two quarterbacks. Impressions on this wild game
Speaker 2: that went the Vikings way.
Speaker 3: Such a crazy game, Like at one point it seemed
Speaker 3: like Minnesota had complete control of the game.
Speaker 1: The Bears come back, they.
Speaker 3: Keep again, they going over time, and then oh, here
Speaker 3: we go Sam Donald Kayleb Williams. Sam Donald continues to impress.
Speaker 3: I think Kevin O'Connell, certainly he alluded to being really
Speaker 3: excited about having Sam Donald in the offseason.
Speaker 1: I think all of that stuff has come in.
Speaker 3: Fruition has done a really good job building game plans
Speaker 3: to allow Sam Donald to play to his strengths.
Speaker 1: They have firepower. Oh hello, Jordan Addison, way.
Speaker 3: To be the great player that we thought that maybe
Speaker 3: you could be when you came out of sc You
Speaker 3: can see Kevin O'Connell's vision for having multiple route runners
Speaker 3: on the field at the same time. When you have
Speaker 3: Addison and Jefferson, just makes the game easy for Sam Donald.
Speaker 3: And that's not even talking about TJ. Hockinson, who can
Speaker 3: get it done over the middle. This too, is another
Speaker 3: well constructed team with the firepower to allow the quarterback
Speaker 3: to be comfortable, to allow him to play within himself,
Speaker 3: while also having the big play potential that you always
Speaker 3: want to have on offense.
Speaker 2: I felt like this was a great example of of
Speaker 2: environment mattering and how maybe we don't take that into account.
Speaker 2: And you know, and with Sam getting a chance to
Speaker 2: play for Kevin and all the pieces that they have
Speaker 2: on this offense, and all of a sudden, he's thriving.
Speaker 2: And even on the other side. I don't want to
Speaker 2: take shots in any other coaches, but you've seen the
Speaker 2: game plan change a little bit and be a little
Speaker 2: more quarterback friendly for Caleb, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: Caleb playing really well. This is best game the three
Speaker 2: hundred and forty yards with some of the spectacular mixed in.
Speaker 2: As you see this throw on the run to Swift,
Speaker 2: which was, you know, one of the best throws you'll
Speaker 2: see all season long, was ridiculous. Then the clutch throw
Speaker 2: late to get him a field goal to push this
Speaker 2: game into overtime. He made some big time throws. Now
Speaker 2: they're still you know, taking sacks on occasion where he
Speaker 2: doesn't need to, but you've seen the environment change in
Speaker 2: terms of how they're utilizing him, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: the performance is taken off for Caleb and has shown
Speaker 2: everybody why he was a top pick. I don't know,
Speaker 2: I was just watching games on Sunday when when you're
Speaker 2: not at a game, when you're sitting on your couch
Speaker 2: and just flipping through I just remember thinking, like, you know, gosh,
Speaker 2: I'm watching bo Nicks and how they're utilizing him perfectly,
Speaker 2: and I'm just seeing some of these other situations. All
Speaker 2: of a sudden, Bryce Young from what I saw early
Speaker 2: in the season to where they're using him now, and
Speaker 2: he's got some protection, like the offensive line's playing a
Speaker 2: little bit better, and all of a sudden, now Bryce
Speaker 2: Young's playing well. We'll get to that later, but I
Speaker 2: was happy for both these quarterbacks. I think both these
Speaker 2: quarterbacks have taken a lot of heat. You know, obviously
Speaker 2: very early for Caleb, but Sam's taking it for several years.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Caleb. And I'm gonna say this about Thomas Brown.
Speaker 3: There's something about Thomas Brown in terms of researching the
Speaker 3: last couple of weeks as he's taken over where he
Speaker 3: talked about he wanted all the coaches to do a
Speaker 3: little more. He talked and challenged the team to do
Speaker 3: a little more when it comes to buying in and
Speaker 3: cleaning everything up and doing all that. I think he's
Speaker 3: done a really good job with Kayla Williams of simplifying
Speaker 3: the game, not necessarily like asking him to do less,
Speaker 3: but making it very very clear. I see more repeat concepts.
Speaker 3: I see things that are not coleegi it, but they
Speaker 3: make sense in their natural building blocks. As Caleb goes
Speaker 3: throughout the course of the game, you can see, Okay,
Speaker 3: they did this early, so now here's the compliment and
Speaker 3: here's the addition to and all of those things are
Speaker 3: making sense for the young quarterback. And make no mistake,
Speaker 3: because there are people that are down on Kayleb.
Speaker 1: Williams right now. The environment matters.
Speaker 3: We've always talked about the three p's, play caller, playmakers, protectors.
Speaker 3: They're getting that, but the play caller and the playmakers
Speaker 3: can make it easier for the protectors. We're seeing some
Speaker 3: of that happen in Chicago. The only thing that I
Speaker 3: would challenge Caleb to do is just understand time, score situation.
Speaker 1: When you can hang on to the ball and when
Speaker 1: you need to let go of it.
Speaker 3: But that comes with experience, and the only way you
Speaker 3: get that experience is by playing. So far, so good
Speaker 3: the last two weeks with Thomas Brown calling the place,
Speaker 3: he appears to have a good feel for how to
Speaker 3: get the young quarterback on track.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and look he brought him back.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately he takes a bad stack on that first drive,
Speaker 2: but they get a great punt. They're able to penn
Speaker 2: Minnesota back deep and the defense couldn't get off the field.
Speaker 2: And give give Sam Donald a company credit. He found Hockinson.
Speaker 2: He was excellent on that drive, being patient, had one
Speaker 2: big play to Justin Jefferson, who wasn't as involved in
Speaker 2: this game. But I thought the Bear's defense let him
Speaker 2: down in the overtime. But look, it's progress for Caleb.
Speaker 2: Sam is cooking and rolling in a very very competitive
Speaker 2: division there in the NFC North. I mentioned it briefly
Speaker 2: about Bryce Young and Carolina. I thought we could jump
Speaker 2: into that game next here. Man, they gave the Chiefs
Speaker 2: all they wanted. I tweeted after the game. I said,
Speaker 2: the Chiefs just Aaron reruns at this point in time,
Speaker 2: Like I've seen this game a million times, Like, did
Speaker 2: let an other team hang around?
Speaker 1: They score? You got under two minutes left.
Speaker 2: Oh, look it's Patrick Mahomes taking off to run for
Speaker 2: twenty something yards to get him in field range, Like
Speaker 2: I've just I've seen this a million times.
Speaker 1: But let's go where I was talking earlier about Bryce.
Speaker 2: Your impressions just on him, and I'll get to what
Speaker 2: my thoughts are right what you got here.
Speaker 3: DJ, What I'm learning with young quarterbacks, The number one
Speaker 3: thing that I want to find out when we're going
Speaker 3: through the process is their toughness level and toughness, not
Speaker 3: in terms of physical toughness, but mental toughness. For Bryce
Speaker 3: Young to endure, it seems like he's already played three
Speaker 3: seasons within this one season. For him to endure in benching,
Speaker 3: come back, go back, come back and played really well
Speaker 3: says a lot about his intestinal fort two. That says
Speaker 3: a lot about his toughness and his ability to continue
Speaker 3: to fight through all the noise and all the doubts.
Speaker 3: Give him credit, he's looked much better the last couple
Speaker 3: of weeks. Some of the weapons around him have certainly
Speaker 3: matured and are continued to evolve. But give the young
Speaker 3: guy credit. Man, He's shown far more toughness than some
Speaker 3: would give him credit for it.
Speaker 1: Because we talked about.
Speaker 3: It being over in Carolina, when he's showing that it's
Speaker 3: toletally not over. There's not an epitaph on that tombstone yet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a couple things, A couple thoughts here. One man
Speaker 2: there was a big drop passing. One think it was
Speaker 2: Lagett who had a big drop. But I thought Bryce
Speaker 2: played as well as he's played, you know, throughout his
Speaker 2: young career.
Speaker 1: They protected him better.
Speaker 2: And what do you know, Lo and Behold, when you
Speaker 2: get some protection as a young quarterback, you have a
Speaker 2: better chance to succeed. Especially for a guy who's not big.
Speaker 2: You've got to give him a little bit more of
Speaker 2: a clean surrounding, which they were able to do in
Speaker 2: this game. And Hubbard has run the ball well. I
Speaker 2: want to give coach Canalis and their whole organization credit.
Speaker 2: When I was there earlier this Yearbuck, I thought this
Speaker 2: team will win maybe one or two games, like they
Speaker 2: were awful. They were awful, and I said, look this
Speaker 2: take it to the bank. This team will have the
Speaker 2: first overall pick. They have not quit. Not only have
Speaker 2: they not only have they not quit, they've played competitive,
Speaker 2: you know, good football, and they've played above I think
Speaker 2: what their talent level is at this point in time.
Speaker 1: So that's a credit to the organization.
Speaker 2: The one question I have for you, and I'm I'm
Speaker 2: torn on this one because I'm a firm believer in
Speaker 2: pumping your quarterback full of confidence. I see it with Harball,
Speaker 2: with being around the Chargers, and obviously Herbert's a made
Speaker 2: man like he's not like he needs it, but I
Speaker 2: mean he's still he's going to tell everybody under the
Speaker 2: son how great his quarterback is. He's done it with
Speaker 2: everywhere he's ever been. Kevin O'Connell does the same thing.
Speaker 2: He's done it with with Sam when Sam took over
Speaker 2: and talked about how great he's gonna be. Shoot, Kevin
Speaker 2: does it with quarterbacks aren't even on his team, you know,
Speaker 2: talking about Anthony Richardson and other young quarterbacks in the league.
Speaker 2: I just I tend to believe that quarterbacks run on confidence.
Speaker 2: And so after the game, when coach Canalis was asked,
Speaker 2: is Bryce you know, does that mean that he's the
Speaker 2: guy going forward? And you know he does that mean
Speaker 2: he's your franchise quarterback? And he said, it's too soon
Speaker 2: for all that. You know, we just kind of going
Speaker 2: week by week. He's obviously he's earned a right to
Speaker 2: start next week. And it was you know, he's he
Speaker 2: said good things about him, but it was short of
Speaker 2: like a full This is the dude, like, this is
Speaker 2: the guy like And I don't know if you're worried
Speaker 2: about getting boxed in the then the offseason, if you
Speaker 2: want to make a change, you feel like you'd be
Speaker 2: going back on your word. To me, I'm pumping all
Speaker 2: of the confidence into the guy who's playing quarterback until
Speaker 2: he's not.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's funny, DJ, because I've been studying our buddy
Speaker 3: John Gordon book kind of like the positive leadership within
Speaker 3: the team, and I just can't underestimate. Look, I can't
Speaker 3: underscore the importance of breathing life into your quarterback. And
Speaker 3: when you talk about Jim Harbar and Kevin O'Connell and
Speaker 3: how they pump up their guys at every turn, it
Speaker 3: is the hardest position in football, yet it's the one
Speaker 3: that is also the most criticized. And the noise around
Speaker 3: the quarterback is the loudest of any other position in sports.
Speaker 3: And when you have a guy, a young guy who's
Speaker 3: drafted number one overall, who you took number one overall
Speaker 3: because you expected him to be the franchise quarterback, I
Speaker 3: don't know why you wouldn't pump him up after some
Speaker 3: of his better performances. I know that it may be
Speaker 3: out of your hands, maybe ownership wants to move on
Speaker 3: from him or whatever. But it just doesn't make sense
Speaker 3: when you're the coach, and there's a human element to
Speaker 3: this where relationships matter when it comes to players and coaches. Man,
Speaker 3: why not Rubbis shoulders until the young guy a man,
Speaker 3: you're doing really will? I appreciate how well you are.
Speaker 3: You are playing for us, and man, you got a
Speaker 3: bright future. And even if it's not true, whether it's gonna.
Speaker 1: Be in Carolina or not, why not give him that?
Speaker 3: So going into the next week he feels like a
Speaker 3: superhero when he.
Speaker 1: Walks into the field.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I And look, to be fair, he didn't
Speaker 2: draft him. He just came in after that, so he
Speaker 2: inherited him. So he's an adopted son. He's not a
Speaker 2: biological son that in that term.
Speaker 1: So he's a still kid. He's a still kid, SI kid,
Speaker 1: maybe a step kid. But look, he said nice things
Speaker 1: about him. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't want to mislead you. He said good things,
Speaker 2: but it wasn't just that full court you know, belief
Speaker 2: in the guy. And I just think, what do you
Speaker 2: got to lose? You might as well just put all
Speaker 2: that belief and see what you get out of him.
Speaker 2: And then at the end of the year you can
Speaker 2: always say, hey, look we did but you know, as
Speaker 2: we've had time to look back on it and we
Speaker 2: need to get better this, that and the other. And
Speaker 2: you want to make decisions, you feel free to do so.
Speaker 2: But I'm always gonna I'm always going to err on
Speaker 2: the side of being you know, let's just pump these
Speaker 2: dudes full of confidence and let them know that they
Speaker 2: can conquer the world. That was the best team, that's
Speaker 2: us defending super Bowl champs. Just what toe to toe
Speaker 2: with them?
Speaker 1: Like that?
Speaker 2: To me is my message, Like, hey guys, hey, first
Speaker 2: of all, my quarterback's good enough to beat anybody in
Speaker 2: this league, and when we give him some help and
Speaker 2: some protection, he can accomplish that. So I feel good.
Speaker 2: I'll go into a war. I'll fight with him any
Speaker 2: day of the week, Like bring them all along. We
Speaker 2: can play with anybody. So I don't know, it's just
Speaker 2: a different it's there's different thoughts on that. I see
Speaker 2: both sides of it, But that's where I would go.
Speaker 2: Let's get to another game here Buck Miami, New England.
Speaker 2: This was a game dominated by the Dolphins, and we've
Speaker 2: been sending it on here for weeks to as valuable
Speaker 2: to his team as any other player is to their
Speaker 2: team in the entire league. This is a different team
Speaker 2: with him.
Speaker 1: That's a big reveal DJ.
Speaker 3: I think that's the big reveal of twenty twenty four
Speaker 3: as released to South Florida and the Miami Dolphins football team.
Speaker 3: Before for so long, all the noise was about, Yeah,
Speaker 3: anybody could flourish in this offense. Look at all the
Speaker 3: weapons in the firepower around him. All he has to
Speaker 3: do is get it to the play because we have
Speaker 3: a chance to see what it's like when he's not there. Look, man,
Speaker 3: he's the major spoke in the wheel. He kind of
Speaker 3: makes it kind of go. He's the wheel hug. And
Speaker 3: when he is at quarterback, his skills as a quick
Speaker 3: rhythm thrower, his skills as an RBO specialist. The way
Speaker 3: the ball is always in the strike zone at these
Speaker 3: short and interminute ranges allows this offense to go. And
Speaker 3: with the speed that the Miami Dolphins have, they can
Speaker 3: really stretch you sideline the sideline with this horizontal passing game,
Speaker 3: and it's very difficult. It's a unique offense and I
Speaker 3: can only tell you how unique it is by watching
Speaker 3: it up close and personal during the season opener. It's
Speaker 3: not an easy offense because man, they make you run
Speaker 3: from sideline to the sideline. It's almost like watching a
Speaker 3: college offense. But they have elite personnel executing those concepts.
Speaker 3: And look, the quarterback is leaked elite.
Speaker 1: Within this system.
Speaker 3: Two a Tony be Low as the top five quarterback
Speaker 3: in that system.
Speaker 2: I was thinking about him in the analogy of like keys,
Speaker 2: Like there's a mass the key, right, so you have
Speaker 2: a master key that can work for an entire complex.
Speaker 2: He can get you into every room, and so that
Speaker 2: can work for every team, Like there's few quarterbacks that
Speaker 2: are the master key that they'll go fit in any room.
Speaker 2: But there's no mistaking about it, like Tua is the
Speaker 2: key to the Dolphins, Like he unlocks that whole thing.
Speaker 1: He makes the whole thing go.
Speaker 2: And we can debate what does that look like, doesn't
Speaker 2: matter what it looks like for the other thirty one teams.
Speaker 2: He is the perfect fit to run this offense. I
Speaker 2: don't think there's a better fit out there to do
Speaker 2: what they want to do. And it's a it's a
Speaker 2: team that's dangerous when he's when he's healthy and in
Speaker 2: the lineup, they're five and six. They're clawing their way
Speaker 2: back into this thing. I do want to give some
Speaker 2: love to Chop Robinson. They have to find more pass
Speaker 2: rush on the perimeter. They've just been crushed with injuries
Speaker 2: really over the last couple of years. But he has
Speaker 2: one and a half sacks. Both of those he's double team.
Speaker 2: He's getting chipped by the tight end, beats a tight
Speaker 2: end and the left tackle. So that was that was
Speaker 2: good to see for the young player out of Penn
Speaker 2: State who did some good things New England. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: we've had some fun moments. They've they've been competitive. This
Speaker 2: was not one of those games. This was a This
Speaker 2: was just them getting their butts kicked.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was tail kicking.
Speaker 3: I mean, the inferior team showed up. You can see
Speaker 3: the talent disparity. You can see that they were not
Speaker 3: quite on the Dolphins level on this Sunday, and it's unfortunate,
Speaker 3: but even in a lost Drake May continues to flash
Speaker 3: at times.
Speaker 1: The talent is certainly there.
Speaker 3: This off season is about building around the young quarterback.
Speaker 3: It's about putting the pieces around him. To allow him
Speaker 3: to flourish. But right now they just they just can't
Speaker 3: do it. And so what you want to do is
Speaker 3: you want to play out the stream. You want to
Speaker 3: see if you have some successes that you can build
Speaker 3: upon in the off season as you're thinking about this
Speaker 3: sophomore year.
Speaker 1: For Drake Man.
Speaker 2: YEP, a lot of roster traditions needed there for the Patriots.
Speaker 2: Let's rip through another one here, Tennessee Houston. Maybe maybe
Speaker 2: one of the biggest surprises of the day, although I
Speaker 2: guess it shouldn't be because the Texans don't look right.
Speaker 2: Tennessee gets their third win, thirty two to twenty seven.
Speaker 2: They got sacked a bazillion times, but give Will Levis credit,
Speaker 2: still made enough plays and was able to help get
Speaker 2: them over the finish line. Their defense took the ball away.
Speaker 2: So let's start on the Houston side of this thing.
Speaker 2: Is we look at Will Levis and we'll give him
Speaker 2: his flowers in a moment. Let's start with the Houston
Speaker 2: side and what the heck is wrong with this group
Speaker 2: right now?
Speaker 3: DJ One of the things that I worry about coming
Speaker 3: into the hype around the Texans was so big that
Speaker 3: I don't know if they had an opportunity to fully
Speaker 3: settle in in year two of the Demico Ryan's experience,
Speaker 3: meaning people expected this team to go from being a
Speaker 3: really good team and a playoff contended to being a
Speaker 3: title contender. Some of that was due to the names
Speaker 3: of what they brought in, but what you always have
Speaker 3: to account for is with young quarterbacks, the more tape
Speaker 3: that's put out there, the more they're going to be
Speaker 3: challenged to evolve their game. And as people begun to
Speaker 3: dig into the CJ. Stroud evaluation and what he did
Speaker 3: really well as a rookie, and as they began to
Speaker 3: really hone in on those concepts and take those away
Speaker 3: and force them to play left handed, how is he
Speaker 3: going to continue to adapt?
Speaker 1: And right now he is struggling.
Speaker 3: Some of that is due to the injuries where he
Speaker 3: didn't he doesn't have digs, he didn't have any Goo
Speaker 3: Collins for a big part of it, and some of
Speaker 3: that is just a natural maturation process that quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: Have to go through. But right now now he's struggling.
Speaker 3: He's struggling right now because teams are really honed in
Speaker 3: on his game and they're taking away some of the
Speaker 3: things that he really showed did he like to do
Speaker 3: and execute his rookie season.
Speaker 1: That's why it was harder for him this season as
Speaker 1: opposed to last season.
Speaker 2: A couple of things on Stroud just you can tell
Speaker 2: he's visibly frustrated. When you go through and watch the tape,
Speaker 2: you'll see it at the end of plays and one
Speaker 2: of the picks I think it was Mechi they're not
Speaker 2: on the same page, so that results in interception. You
Speaker 2: can see some visual frustration there, So he definitely is frustrated.
Speaker 1: The other thing is I.
Speaker 2: Would say there's two f's here, frustration and I would
Speaker 2: say frenetic. This is this is what so impressed me
Speaker 2: about Stroud last year, to be, you know, that inexperienced
Speaker 2: and to be as poised as he was, and to
Speaker 2: not be busy and fortic and panicky this year. That's
Speaker 2: kind of crept in and a lot of it.
Speaker 1: Dude.
Speaker 2: Look, the offensive line has not played well really across
Speaker 2: the board. Tunsil leads the league in penalties. They've get
Speaker 2: a lot of interior pressure, so they haven't been great upfront.
Speaker 2: But I think you've seen that. You've seen the combination
Speaker 2: of him getting frustrated, but maybe more concerning is just
Speaker 2: that sped him up a little bit. He's spent a
Speaker 2: little frenetic.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he has been frenetic and the like being uncomfortable
Speaker 3: in the pocket. A lot of that has to do
Speaker 3: with the offensive line, but also DJ, You've talked about it,
Speaker 3: because I've heard you talk about your eyes and feet
Speaker 3: being connected, and we have quiet feet in the pocket.
Speaker 3: More times than not, the ball is going to be accurate.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be delivered right within the strike zone. We're
Speaker 3: not seeing that from CJ.
Speaker 1: Strout.
Speaker 3: And the reason death stands out on tape because he's
Speaker 3: one of the more accurate throwers that we've seen going
Speaker 3: back to his time at Ohio State early.
Speaker 1: In his career at Houston.
Speaker 3: This is a guy that consistently paints the corners on
Speaker 3: the strike zone. He's not doing that this year. Tells
Speaker 3: me he's not comfortable. He's either not seeing it or
Speaker 3: where he feels all of the rest or the chaos
Speaker 3: around him. That's something that the Texans have to fish
Speaker 3: and to be honest with their offense.
Speaker 1: It has been at his best when.
Speaker 3: Joe Mixon has been able to get off and have
Speaker 3: big games. I would expect and anticipate the Texans leaning
Speaker 3: into the running game more as they try and find
Speaker 3: a way to get their young quarterback.
Speaker 1: Back on track. Now, let's let's quickly give some love
Speaker 1: here to Will Levis.
Speaker 2: I feel like Will Levis kind of a punching bag
Speaker 2: because he has kind of some of those quirks. Yeah,
Speaker 2: some quirks, but like some of like some of the
Speaker 2: mistakes are pretty almost like comical for lack of a
Speaker 2: better word, at times. But there's things you can't deny
Speaker 2: about Will Levis. Number one is this toughness. Like you
Speaker 2: watch him as a ball carrier, look at his just
Speaker 2: look at his arms. He's got bruises all over him
Speaker 2: every time you see him out there because he gives
Speaker 2: himself up trying to, you know, fight for extra yardage.
Speaker 2: And number two, he's got a big arm. You know,
Speaker 2: there's an offense that works with him, which is a
Speaker 2: run game and an over the top explosive passing game.
Speaker 2: So it's a pretty simple formula. They haven't been able
Speaker 2: to get to it as much as they would like
Speaker 2: this year. Their special teams have been abysmal, just atrocious
Speaker 2: all year long. But I think, look, let's give all
Speaker 2: of us some credit man. He's tough, competitive, and that's
Speaker 2: a big win for him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's another look. We talked about tough being a
Speaker 3: common denominated. It has been the word that we've used
Speaker 3: the entire episode when talking to quarterbacks. He does have
Speaker 3: enough toughness that you admire. It's not always pretty. I
Speaker 3: mean there have been some ugly plays from the young quarterback.
Speaker 3: But look when he is able to do what he
Speaker 3: does really well, which has pushed the ball down the field,
Speaker 3: when they are afforded a running game, which allows him
Speaker 3: to throw play actions off the compliments, then it really
Speaker 3: works out. He gets into trouble winnus I would say
Speaker 3: obvious passing downs and everyone in the stadium.
Speaker 1: Knows he's going to pass.
Speaker 3: And now you're relying on him to kind of play
Speaker 3: quarterback at a high level in terms of like aptitude,
Speaker 3: understanding and diagnosing.
Speaker 1: But when you're able to run the ball and allow him.
Speaker 3: To take a half shots each week, he has the
Speaker 3: arm talent to be able to get it done.
Speaker 1: Now he has to take disperformance and build upon it
Speaker 1: as they go forward.
Speaker 3: The Titans need to see him continue to progress as
Speaker 3: a envision how they want to build this team, particularly
Speaker 3: around him going forward.
Speaker 2: The Raiders competitive in this game for a good little bit.
Speaker 2: It took it down late into the fourth quarter. I
Speaker 2: give him credit for that, but this was more of
Speaker 2: bo Necks. This was more of Sean Payton and a
Speaker 2: marriage that looks like it's really a perfect match with
Speaker 2: a quarterback and a play color book.
Speaker 1: Yeah, perfect match. And DJ I think we've said this right.
Speaker 3: We didn't compare bow Knicks to Drew Brees, but we
Speaker 3: thought that Sean Payton would like him based on what
Speaker 3: he could see in terms of the similarities and traits
Speaker 3: that bow Knicks had compared to Drew Brees. And what
Speaker 3: we're seeing is he does like this. He is building
Speaker 3: this offense very similar to the way that he constructed
Speaker 3: the offense in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: With Drew Brees as the centerpiece.
Speaker 3: The thing about it, the running game was not available
Speaker 3: against the Raiders because of all the cover zero pressures
Speaker 3: and all the things that Patrick Graham was doing to
Speaker 3: take that away. This forced bow Knicks to have to
Speaker 3: be the driving force of the offense. And even though
Speaker 3: it has taken him a while to kind of settle
Speaker 3: in and be the passer that can throw at forty
Speaker 3: plus times, really good decision maker athletic can buy himself
Speaker 3: out of trouble. But I would say the best part
Speaker 3: of bo Nicks's game has been the discipline and the
Speaker 3: detail that he's displayed as the starting quarterback.
Speaker 1: We talked about the offensive Rookie of the year.
Speaker 3: That race will still be determined, but he's not only
Speaker 3: in that conversation, he's edging past Jayden Daniels because he
Speaker 3: has his team playing playoff football. And I don't know
Speaker 3: if any of us envision the shorthanded Broncos being a
Speaker 3: playoff contender this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like a baseball analogy that Bonix has
Speaker 2: been able to kind of hit fifth in the lineup
Speaker 2: here where this defense is two, three, four, Like they
Speaker 2: are getting on base, they're driving in runs. It's taking
Speaker 2: off some of the pressure from him. And and look,
Speaker 2: this is an offense the knock on Bonux. All the
Speaker 2: balls out too quick like it's this you know that
Speaker 2: they don't, you know, get deep into progressions and all
Speaker 2: these things at Oregon and it's the quick you know what.
Speaker 2: That's what the NFL is right now. The NFL is
Speaker 2: playing with two high safeties or they're playing zero looks.
Speaker 2: Like you were just talking about, you've got to be
Speaker 2: able to think quick, get the ball out quick, and
Speaker 2: move on.
Speaker 1: And that's what he does really well.
Speaker 2: He takes a picture in his mind, he sees the
Speaker 2: field really well, and the ball's gone. He's not going
Speaker 2: to sit back there and hold it forever. And the
Speaker 2: other thing is, you know, we talked about the Drew
Speaker 2: Brees thing, but also some of the Taysom Hill stuff,
Speaker 2: some of the movement stuff you can do with bow
Speaker 2: because they're a really, really good athlete. So it has
Speaker 2: been a beautiful marriage there and what they've been able
Speaker 2: to accomplish is impressive. I'm going to see the Broncos.
Speaker 2: They moved that game. It got flexed in a few weeks,
Speaker 2: maybe three weeks. We've got Chargers. Broncos got flex to
Speaker 2: a Thursday night, which I don't think that's been done before.
Speaker 1: So you take a.
Speaker 2: Say it's the first one. It's the first one to
Speaker 2: a Thursday, and Sean Payton had to sign off on it.
Speaker 2: He was for it because I think they play the
Speaker 2: Bengals the following week and that gives them a little
Speaker 2: bit of a mini buy to get ready for that one.
Speaker 2: But that's that's shaping up to be a big game.
Speaker 2: So you know, the Broncos have earned the right to
Speaker 2: be playing meaningful games at this point in the year.
Speaker 2: And and again, I think the lead is really the defense,
Speaker 2: which has been dominant. Uh and then bow Nix's I
Speaker 2: mean he might be the front runner right now to
Speaker 2: be Rookie of the Year. He's he's right there.
Speaker 3: If I am an organization, if I'm the Cleveland Browns,
Speaker 3: I would pay close attention to what Sean Payton has
Speaker 3: been able to do. With the Denver Broncos being shorthanded
Speaker 3: with a quarterback situation that you might have on your
Speaker 3: hands next season. The Cleveland Browns may have to take
Speaker 3: a page of the de Sean Payton playbook to figure
Speaker 3: out how to play competitive games with a short handed rust.
Speaker 2: Yeah no, it's it's gonna be an interesting offseason in Cleveland.
Speaker 2: All right, Let's let's get to the Dallas Washington game.
Speaker 2: Another bonkers game. This game going on at the same
Speaker 2: time as the Chicago Minnesota game.
Speaker 1: Too nuts.
Speaker 2: So finishes, the Commanders have a furious comeback. They end
Speaker 2: up in a pat There's a lot of special teams magic.
Speaker 2: A couple returns there for the Cowboys late in this
Speaker 2: ball game, but they snapped a five game losing streak
Speaker 2: through the Cowboys and they went thirty four to twenty six.
Speaker 2: My first thought on this one that I'll get over
Speaker 2: to you, Buck, is we've talked so much about environment
Speaker 2: mattering for quarterbacks, and what was our big concern with
Speaker 2: Washington coming into the season was, man, this offensive line, like,
Speaker 2: how are they going to be any good? How are
Speaker 2: they going to protect Jane Daniels or how's he going
Speaker 2: to play behind the suspect offensive line? Well, they played
Speaker 2: above their heads for a good chunk of the season.
Speaker 2: They've lost three games in a Rowbuck, Jaden's been sacked
Speaker 2: ten times in the last three games. This is kind
Speaker 2: of what our fear was at the beginning of the season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is the fear like they're kind of coming back.
Speaker 3: A few things are happening with the Commanders. One we
Speaker 3: always talk about more tape allows defensive coordinators to kind
Speaker 3: of get a bitter feel for how to play your
Speaker 3: quarterback as they get later in the year.
Speaker 1: We're seeing some of that happen.
Speaker 3: We're seeing the inconsistencies with the running game in those things.
Speaker 3: And look, let's be honest, Jade Daniels hasn't played the.
Speaker 1: Same since he heard his ribs.
Speaker 3: No one knows how much that's impacting him as a
Speaker 3: runner and as a thrower. But even in spite of
Speaker 3: all that, DJ, the throw that he had to Terry
Speaker 3: mclaurren in the clutch, we drops that thing in the
Speaker 3: scene and then Terry McLaurin like.
Speaker 1: Just takes he wants untouched. Just a great throw.
Speaker 3: And it's unfortunate that a special teams gap takes away
Speaker 3: our ability to really put him on a pedestal and
Speaker 3: give him his flowers in terms of what he's able
Speaker 3: to do. Look, young quarterbacks are going to have these
Speaker 3: ebbs and flows that kind of go on throughout the year.
Speaker 1: But look, he's super talented.
Speaker 3: And I think the combination of watching Jayde Daniels watching
Speaker 3: bow Knicks and even to a lesser degree Kayleb Williams,
Speaker 3: it's gonna change our eye when it comes to quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: We used to talk about experiencing those things, but man, DJ,
Speaker 3: I don't know how you can't include a experience and
Speaker 3: starts in all that in the equation when you're beginning
Speaker 3: to evaluate and project how quarterbacks are going to play
Speaker 3: at the next level.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's a good point, but that is a
Speaker 2: you know, that's a tough loss for Washington. As the
Speaker 2: Philadelphia Eagles start to create a little gap a little
Speaker 2: distance there in the NFC East, we'll see hopefully Jaden
Speaker 2: get a little healthier, they play a little better up front,
Speaker 2: and we'll see more consistency that we saw earlier in
Speaker 2: the season. Tampa Bay just throttles the Giants. There are
Speaker 2: two quick points on this one, and then I'll let
Speaker 2: you have any parting thoughts in this game. We won't
Speaker 2: linger number one Bucky Irving. It's just another reminder stay
Speaker 2: with your initial evaluation on players. Gotta be kidding me.
Speaker 2: I loved his tape and then I just kind of
Speaker 2: fell off of him a little bit later on in
Speaker 2: the process. He's been awesome running receiving. Hat tip to
Speaker 2: Jason light that's an excellent pick there for the Bucks.
Speaker 2: They're trying to hang in this thing there at five
Speaker 2: and six. So that's my takeaway on Tampa side of things.
Speaker 2: On the other side of it, Buck, I think that
Speaker 2: I think Daniel Jones getting benched and released is not
Speaker 2: only the best thing you know to happen for him
Speaker 2: in his career, just because he'll get a chance to
Speaker 2: get a fresh start somewhere else. But I think it's
Speaker 2: the best thing for his value because when you can't
Speaker 2: get a first down with the other quarterback, it explains
Speaker 2: away and can excuse away some of your performance. So
Speaker 2: and again, that's why, if I'm Daniel Jones, I'm going
Speaker 2: to an elite team where I can just sit take
Speaker 2: in as much knowledge as I possibly can as we
Speaker 2: come down the home stretch here, I don't really even
Speaker 2: care to play. I mean, you can't say that if
Speaker 2: you're him, but if I'm going to be honest, I
Speaker 2: wouldn't want to play. I want to sit out the
Speaker 2: rest of the year. I want to watch the Giants
Speaker 2: completely go in the tank, and so it explains away
Speaker 2: and excuses away some of my performance, and then I
Speaker 2: get to cherry pick my spot next year. The worst
Speaker 2: thing for him would be to go to a dumpster
Speaker 2: fire team, get thrown into the lineup without any preparation,
Speaker 2: you know, play poorly, and then you start to go, well,
Speaker 2: maybe it's this guy. You know, he hasn't been good
Speaker 2: in a couple of different spots. I think that would
Speaker 2: be a terrible idea.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I got this because I'm gonna ask you this.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna I'm gonna give you my take on the
Speaker 3: perfect situation for him, and I don't know if they
Speaker 3: will make it into the postseason.
Speaker 1: If I'm Daniel Jones, I go right to LA and
Speaker 1: see if I can give with Sean McVay.
Speaker 3: And part of the reason I want to get in
Speaker 3: LA is because they may have a potential opening coming
Speaker 3: up when it comes to Matthew Stafford, whether it's this
Speaker 3: year or next year, whatever, I want to go there
Speaker 3: because I also saw what it did for Baker Mayfield
Speaker 3: coming to LA before he went to Tampa and those things.
Speaker 3: So that's my spot for him. What is the spot
Speaker 3: that you believe would be ideal for Daniel Jones?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean I was thinking, you know, there is one.
Speaker 2: The Niners would be another one. And here's the other
Speaker 2: thing I would think of if you're going to be
Speaker 2: smart from an agent perspective. Okay, what's the most popular
Speaker 2: tree in the NFL. It's the one buck he's talking about.
Speaker 2: It's the one you're talking about bucket.
Speaker 1: Getting.
Speaker 2: Let's get on there, let's get let's get a month
Speaker 2: plus to learn it, and then let's also have a
Speaker 2: chance to make an impression. All these guys are all
Speaker 2: best friends, that whole circle.
Speaker 1: Of coaches, they're all buddies. They all talk to each other.
Speaker 2: Yes, and guess who's gonna get hired as coordinators for
Speaker 2: these jobs when they open up? Guys from that tree.
Speaker 2: So you get a chance to spend time in that offense.
Speaker 2: You get a chance to impress the really the you know,
Speaker 2: the one of the two heads of that whole family
Speaker 2: that I don't call like a crime family, but it is.
Speaker 2: It's like McVeagh and Channing as the two crime bosses
Speaker 2: that they fuel out the whole league. So I want
Speaker 2: to get a chance to learn their system. I want
Speaker 2: a chance to impress those guys with my work ethic.
Speaker 2: But oh yeah, bonus, I might get to learn from
Speaker 2: Matthew Stafford if you go to the Rams, who's not
Speaker 2: someone that'd be a bad person to learn from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's interesting because the other team that is come up,
Speaker 3: Like people talked about the Vikings, kevinnc comme that makes sense,
Speaker 3: But then the Baltimore Ravens won I can't really understand,
Speaker 3: and I guess I can understand it in terms of
Speaker 3: like them one, we have insurance whatever.
Speaker 1: But I guess Snoopunley there. I'm trying to figure.
Speaker 3: Can you understand what the appeal would be for Daniel
Speaker 3: Jones to go to Baltimore potentially, because that's been one
Speaker 3: of the teams that's kind of been cited as a
Speaker 3: potential suitor.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, because Lamar has been heard at times.
Speaker 2: We've seen the Ravens enter into playoffs without Lamar.
Speaker 1: I just I wouldn't. I mean, and look, they utilize
Speaker 1: a quarterback who can move. Daniel Jones can move.
Speaker 2: But like, there's no tree there, there's no offensive tree
Speaker 2: in Baltimore. It's an offense that's built around, you know,
Speaker 2: a very unique player in Lamar Jackson. So to me,
Speaker 2: that would not be on my list if I were him.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to get to one of those other guys.
Speaker 2: But I can see, like I can see why I
Speaker 2: would fit for this. You know, he could fit in there,
Speaker 2: but I just don't think it bodes well from going
Speaker 2: in the next year. He ain't gonna be the quarterback
Speaker 2: in Baltimore next year, So I don't know that one
Speaker 2: doesn't make as much sense to me speaking of Baltimore Buck,
Speaker 2: I'll be there on the call for the Chargers radio
Speaker 2: as the hardball takes place here. This is the third
Speaker 2: meeting between Jim and John Harball, A big, big matchup
Speaker 2: Monday Night football. I'm looking forward to this thing, man.
Speaker 2: I've been prepping for this thing all week and watching
Speaker 2: the tape and I was I was struck by kind
Speaker 2: of the Ravens West aspect of this thing. So let
Speaker 2: me just give you a couple scenarios or similarities. Obviously,
Speaker 2: you've got the brothers coaching the teams. You've got quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: I think we would all agree, you know, however you
Speaker 2: want to shake it out any ranking. Herbert is going
Speaker 2: to be a top five quarterback Lamar Jackson's top five quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: So you start with elite quarterback play. Let's go to
Speaker 2: on the defensive side of the ball. How about safeties
Speaker 2: that you can play all over the field. In Derwin
Speaker 2: James and Kyle Hamilton, that's a very similar player. We
Speaker 2: look at young wide receivers Zay Flowers and Lad McConkie,
Speaker 2: guys who can win before you know, at the line
Speaker 2: of scrimmage, at the catch point and can run after
Speaker 2: the catch explosive, explosive guys, maybe not the biggest guys
Speaker 2: in the world, but very similar. You've got the two
Speaker 2: three hundred pounds fullbacks in the NFL and Scott Matt
Speaker 2: Locke and Patrick Card. You've got a bevy of tight
Speaker 2: ends that you can utilize and that can block. You've
Speaker 2: got first round left tackles, high first round picks at
Speaker 2: left tackle. You've gone into free agency and collected a
Speaker 2: physical runner. Obviously, Derrick Henry stands alone when you're comparing
Speaker 2: him with JK. Dobbins, but they went out and shopped
Speaker 2: and found that piece. You've got linebackers at the second
Speaker 2: level who are explosive and fast. Think about Rokwan and Simpson.
Speaker 2: Then you think about Dayon Henley and what he's done
Speaker 2: for this Chargers defense. You've got edge rushers with power
Speaker 2: and physicality on both sides. Like these teams are really
Speaker 2: kind of mirror images of one another.
Speaker 3: They are mirror images of one another, which is really
Speaker 3: impressive in terms of Jim Harbub making sure he goes
Speaker 3: MEAs Joe Ortiz and others from the Baltimore Ravens organization
Speaker 3: to make sure that everyone in the building sees the
Speaker 3: game through the same prism.
Speaker 1: These teams are similar because it's.
Speaker 3: Very clear when you turn on the tape you understand
Speaker 3: what the identity is.
Speaker 1: They are tough.
Speaker 3: They are teams that fancy themselves as the bully on
Speaker 3: the block. Their compative style can overwhelm teams that are
Speaker 3: not prepared to face them. And when you talked about
Speaker 3: the marquee positions that you outlined on their respective teams, DJ,
Speaker 3: they have blue chair players in those places. The thing
Speaker 3: about it, and people will talk about, yeah, style of play,
Speaker 3: you worry about, narrowpath to victory.
Speaker 1: What if they get behind, YadA YadA, YadA.
Speaker 3: Well, DJ, there's a confidence that they have that they
Speaker 3: can seize control over any game. I'll see this though,
Speaker 3: when comparing the two teams, the Chargers have a better
Speaker 3: ability to seize control of the game with their defense
Speaker 3: because jesse Mentor has their group playing well. Even though
Speaker 3: people will point to the Sunday night game in Cincinnati
Speaker 3: going up and down the field. To me, I believe
Speaker 3: the Chargers needed to see that because they needed to
Speaker 3: have those flaws exposed so they could tighten up. Part
Speaker 3: of what you want to do over the course of
Speaker 3: the regular season, have those tough games so you can
Speaker 3: continue to get better down the stretch. The team that
Speaker 3: the Ravens will face will be better than the version
Speaker 3: they saw last Sunday, because I would say the exposure
Speaker 3: and the shootout that they participated in against the Bengals
Speaker 3: will help them get ready for a high flying offense
Speaker 3: in Baltimore that also can do some of the things
Speaker 3: that the Bengals did when it comes to spreading them
Speaker 3: out and throwing.
Speaker 1: All over the yard.
Speaker 2: One key to the game to me is the Chargers
Speaker 2: getting home with four. They've been able to do it.
Speaker 2: They play with light boxes, They've been able to stop
Speaker 2: the run with a light box, and they've been able
Speaker 2: to pressure with four. You've got to do that in
Speaker 2: this game. Lamar Jackson and studying this thing. He eats
Speaker 2: up the blitz. You blitz him, you are dead. He's
Speaker 2: going to hit big plays behind you, or he's going
Speaker 2: to crease you and go with his legs. So I
Speaker 2: don't think this is a big blitz game. I do
Speaker 2: think on the other side of it. The last thing
Speaker 2: and I'll leave at you with this and you give
Speaker 2: me your last thought, but with Justin Herbert, the beauty
Speaker 2: of this system and Greg Roman and the way that
Speaker 2: they've brought this thing in is I use the Superman analogy.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: They give him a lot of Clark Kent games. Look,
Speaker 2: there's gonna be there's gonna be six to eight games
Speaker 2: every year on your schedule where we can win with
Speaker 2: you being Clark Kent. Like, we don't even have to
Speaker 2: take the driver out of the bag. We are not
Speaker 2: going to screw up. We're not going to lose the game.
Speaker 2: We're not gonna put you in harm's way. We can
Speaker 2: Clark Kent our way to this thing. This is a
Speaker 2: Superman game, Like, this is okay, let's go onto the
Speaker 2: phone booth and you're gonna have to make some big
Speaker 2: boy plays today. You're going to have to be you know,
Speaker 2: that elite, elite player. So I think that's kind of
Speaker 2: the analogy I would use with how they've built this
Speaker 2: team and what they need from Justin Herbert.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know that's the thing and INDJ I know
Speaker 3: people get frustrated with that, but I kind of feel
Speaker 3: like Jim harper One being a quarterback, understands the beauty
Speaker 3: and having a franchise quarterback, isn't that you use them
Speaker 3: for all seventeen games, it's five or six games where
Speaker 3: you need that franchise quarterback to play at an elite
Speaker 3: level in terms of like being able to raise the
Speaker 3: game and kind of put everything on his shoulder. Justin
Speaker 3: Herbert has shown that ability throughout his time in the league.
Speaker 3: He's done and you don't compile the kind of the
Speaker 3: numbers that he's compiled without having that. But in a
Speaker 3: more controlled environment like he's playing in now, you don't
Speaker 3: need to use them like that.
Speaker 1: But this could be the game where you can do.
Speaker 3: It, where you can say, hey, Justin, we're gonna have
Speaker 3: to throw it a little more because they're gonn take
Speaker 3: the runaway.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have to throw it all over to the yard.
Speaker 3: Or there's some vulnerabilities in the back end that we
Speaker 3: can attack. Look for Justin Herbert to kind of put
Speaker 3: on the cape a little more tonight. Maybe he's as
Speaker 3: superman this week that we haven't seen in a few weeks,
Speaker 3: where he has to come out and.
Speaker 1: Do some special stuff.
Speaker 2: Yep, looking forward to it. We saw it in the
Speaker 2: first half against the Bengals. They weren't able to keep
Speaker 2: it going. But I think he's gonna need four quarters
Speaker 2: of that play in this game if they're gonna knock
Speaker 2: off a very very good Baltimore Ravens team. So we'll
Speaker 2: have reaction to this game tomorrow on the show. We
Speaker 2: appreciate you guys hanging with us today. It's been fun.
Speaker 2: It was a wild weekend of football and glad we
Speaker 2: could break it all down for you right here. We'll
Speaker 2: see it tomorrow right here on. Move the sticks.
Speaker 3: Before, Unity, before
Speaker 1: Community,