WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 139: A Quarterback's Best Friend 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.440 This week on a Happy half Hour. 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:08.320 A run game is a quarterback's best friend. And so 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:11.000 now that you have a little bit more stability at 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:14.120 that position and you have already established the run game, 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.279 I think that's why you're seeing Bryce. You know, I 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:18.680 know he hasn't put up huge numbers in these two lens, 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.480 but he's taken care of the ball and that's been important. 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:24.360 What's cow whoa? 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:31.040 It's time for the Happy Half Hour, presented by Southern Star, 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:37.400 an official bourbon of the Carolina Panthers. Here are your hosts, 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:39.840 Darren Gant and Cassidy Hill. 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.680 Hello, friends, and welcome to the Happy Half Hour. It's 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:51.000 the post by week refreshed, relaxed, and ready for the 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:54.040 back half of the season edition, and it's presented by 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.240 a Southern Star and official bourbon partner of the Carolina Panthers. 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:00.680 Celebrate the spirit of the Carolinas. And you know what, 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:03.000 maybe it's just because I had a bye week, but 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:04.480 I'm feeling celebratory. 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:06.800 I was about to ask, did Southern Star also sponsor 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:07.480 your bye week? 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.800 You know they could have. They did not. There was 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:16.560 no Southern Star in southwestern Colorado, where I managed to 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:19.360 sneak away for a couple of days or Southeastern Utah. 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:23.920 But nevertheless, we're feeling celebratory because we made it. We 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.440 got to that point. It always feels like a whole 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:28.720 nother season when you get to bye week. 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:30.959 Yeah, especially when this bye week was really kind of 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:34.120 situated right smack dab in the middle, and so it 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:36.360 does feel like a second half of the season. Now 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:42.320 home stretch here mathematically still in things in this division, 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.000 you just you never know. Crazier things have happened. 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:48.160 Yeah, And people always forget when they start doing bye 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:50.400 week calculations though when you say right in the middle. 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:53.000 There was also training camp on the front end of 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:55.400 this thing too in the preseason, so there was like 0:01:55.520 --> 0:02:00.400 seven weeks of that before love to all the other stuff, 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:02.880 so you know when the bye week's late. We've had 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:07.080 week thirteen byes pretty frequently around here in the last 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.040 couple of years, and it always just feels like you're 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:09.840 knee walking. 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:11.800 Week fourteen buys kill you all. 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:15.960 Oh, just just the worst. But listen to us complaining 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.880 about having to work seventeen weeks out of eighteen, so 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:22.640 there was a locket. There are a lot of people 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:24.880 who've got it a lot worse than us, and let's 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.919 be mindful of that good, right. It's almost like we 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:29.680 should be thankful for certain things. 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:30.839 Ah, look at what you did. 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:31.400 I know, right. 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.320 I do want you, while we're sitting here talking about 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:34.720 the bye week, I do want you to tell the 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:36.880 people your impression of Arches National Park. 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.400 Oh my god, it's the most amazing place I've ever 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:41.079 seen in my life. I mean, we were out there 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:44.959 seeing the in laws, and everybody's doing great out there, 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:47.040 but we had a little time to kill and it's like, well, 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.760 let's slide across to the border. And we were about 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:53.440 two hours away from Arches, and just driving to southern 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:56.880 Utah is amazing because you know, Colorado kind of mountains, 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:01.200 high desert plains, et cetera, et cetera. You it's almost 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:04.240 like as soon as you cross the state line into Utah, 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:09.800 everything turns wiley coyote, everything is what desert is supposed 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.320 to look like. It's these red rocks, it's cliffs everywhere. 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:15.480 I truly I looked at my wife at one point 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.240 and I said, if you would have told ten year 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.320 old Darren Gant this is Mars and dropped him here, 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:22.600 he'd have been like yeah, that's right. Sure, that's what 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.120 it's supposed to look like. But just an amazing place. 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.760 And Arches is beyond belief. I mean it truly. You know, 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:31.760 you see balancing rock and then there's another one laying 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.040 on the ground near it, and that's the artist formerly 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.800 known as Balancing you know, and delicate. Arch is truly 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.080 one of the wonders of the world. It's it's one 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.200 of those things when you when you climb the mountain, 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:44.440 you're sweating, you're out of breath. You turn the corner 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.200 around this cliff and it's like, oh, there's that thing 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.240 I've seen all my life on pictures. Take your breath away, 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:51.760 literally and figuratively. 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:55.320 It is pretty incredible. I was blessed to go out 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.800 there when I was younger. My uncle lived in Wyoming, 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.080 so we would go out there a few high and 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:04.200 you're right Arches is and I think I was probably 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:08.320 twelve when I was there, and it was unlike anything 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:12.000 I'd ever seen. One of my favorite travel stories. So 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.080 when we went to Arches, and we drove up and 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:20.440 we went to Four Corners, which is where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.000 and New Mexico come together. So I guess we went 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.200 down to go to Four Corners. Yeah, And I don't 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:27.800 know if you've ever been to Four Corners, but there 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:31.479 is nothing there. And you drive up on this plateau. 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.800 It's a pretty it's not steep, but it's high. You 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:36.560 go up on this plateau and that's where they have 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.200 the Four Corners monument set up, and it is pretty cool. 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:42.120 They have this concrete and it's like laid out and 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.239 there's a star in the middle to show you exactly 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:49.440 where you're standing in all four states. And some of 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.440 the reservations out there have booths up there and they're 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:56.040 selling bibbles and things. Well, the only place you use 0:04:56.080 --> 0:05:00.080 the restroom is a border body, and of course I 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.200 had to go and so, and it's really really windy 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:03.839 because you're on top of a plateau in the middle 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:07.080 of the desert, and I go on the porter potty. 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.760 The wind's blowing and all of a sudden, this porter 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.919 potty just starts shaking and it's going crazy, and I 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:13.839 hear my mom going. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.159 Cassidy, Cassidy, Oh my god, Cassidy. 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.719 And I come stumbling out of that thing. My dad 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.520 and brother had been shaking it to make me think 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:22.320 I was falling down the side of the cliffs. 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:26.560 Excellent. Yeah, that's excellent family values right there. I love 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.599 everything about that story. And as much as we could 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:32.280 talk about Southern Utah and Porta Potty high jinks all 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:35.200 day long, I assume people want us to get the 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.680 football at a certain point. Crazy, I know, right, It's 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:40.640 like that's what we do in exchange for my Although 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:44.560 I did run into one of my favorite Utahs you tights. 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:46.640 What do you call people from Utah? 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.880 We'll have to paulians I don't know, Robert Riffords. 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.360 No, it was Brady christians I was like, what are 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.720 you people doing? You've been holding out on us all 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.320 this time? And he's like, yeah, man, Utah is pretty cool. 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:02.880 I know. So anyway, speaking of Brady Christiansen, he plays 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.520 into what I believe to be one of the kind 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.640 of themes and this is what I want to do 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:10.080 with this episode. We could get in the weeds and 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:12.360 talk about the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, but why would 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:14.760 you do that? What I want to do is kind 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.160 of just look back over the first ten because after 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.159 you've had a chance to take a breath and sort 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:22.560 of process what's going on here, to me, as big 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:25.279 as anything that the Carolina Panthers have done over the 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.520 first ten to eleven weeks of the season is they've 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.760 kind of created a little bit of a personality. I mean, 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:36.000 and Brady Christiansen and that offensive line has been the 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:40.719 I mean to me that and Tuba Hubbard running the 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.960 ball and becoming kind of the drumbeat of this offense 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.400 that keeps everything in rhythm. That's the thing you take 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.479 away to me. I mean, it'll last beyond this year, 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:53.760 will come and go from memory. But the fact that, oh, 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.320 they realize they can run and they got a bunch 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.520 of big boys who can lean on people. That's kind 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:01.400 of the less and for me in this part of 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:01.880 the season. 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:05.520 And you know, Dave Canalis, to his credit, told us 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:07.599 before the season even began that that was going to 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:09.960 be the case, and he said, I'm gonna be stubborn 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.600 about it until we break through. It was what he 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:16.239 did in Tampa last year. You know, Tampa was bottom 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:17.960 of the league and rushing for the first half of 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:19.880 the season and they just stuck with it, stuck with it, 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.440 stuck with it and finally broke through. And that's what 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:24.360 helped them go on their stretch run the second half 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:26.920 of the season to get into the playoffs. It is 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.800 leaning on that run game just to open things up, 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.240 and so Dave Canalis has told us for months, this 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:35.000 is what we're gonna do, and people are gonna want 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.600 to bang their heads against the walls at times, but 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.640 we're going to be stubborn about it. And they have 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.600 found the identity that they wanted to find. Now it's 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:47.520 just about creating everything else that goes around it. They're 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:51.440 a little bit what I would call frisky in how 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:55.040 they approached the game in this offense, but it's working 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.480 for them because you know, I would also say, it's 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:02.720 not what you would call your true additional run game. 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:07.960 And let me explain. It's not pounding, pounding, pounding, four 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:09.880 yards and a cloud of dust and you get three 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.800 of those and you move the first down. Cuba Can 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.360 can kind of cut, he can get outside. He likes 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.760 to work in space, and he can also, you know, 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.960 go between the tack He's got the offensive line to 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.320 run behind the tackles as well, and so it's not 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:29.480 necessarily like a Derrick Henry bruising. But that's okay. It's 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:31.720 it's still a run game that works for what they have, 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.000 and it's they have figured out a way to make 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:34.400 it work. 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:37.400 Well yeah, I mean and Cuba talked earlier this year, 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:41.400 and listen, I think that a lot of this comes 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.840 from the fact that in March Dan Morgan spent one 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.160 hundred and fifty million dollars of Dave Tepper's money on 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:49.720 two big guards and that helped trp other people's money, 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:53.200 no doubt, and especially when it's on pieces as productive 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:57.720 as rob hunting. Damian lewis right, but Cuba has done 0:08:57.760 --> 0:08:59.400 his part in this too, and that's part of the 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:02.200 reason he got part of that money too. He has 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:04.719 become a more patient runner. I mean, he's not ever 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.360 going to be that Le'Veon bell wait wait wait, wait, wait, go, 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:10.480 but he's figured out how to adjust on the fly, 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:14.480 adjust subtly, you know, and stay in the lanes they're 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.680 creating for him. And he's always been willing to be 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:21.000 that ugly run guy, that two, three, four yard at 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.040 a time guy. But what you've seen lately is more 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.439 of those fours turn into fifteens, more of those threes 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:32.160 turn into twenties. And as he's been able to do that, 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:35.680 that buys time for everything else in the offense. And listen, 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.040 things changed over the first half of the season. The 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:42.920 quarterbacks obviously won by deliberate decision, won by car wreck 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:47.320 on Sardis Road and never go to South Charlotte. But 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.640 while all that stuff's been happening, and all, you know, 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.640 the quarterback stuff tends to get draw out of the oxygen, 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:58.320 they've actually been pretty consistently productive in the run game 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:01.480 throughout regardless. I think that's been a testament to those 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:02.200 guys up front. 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.640 And a run game is a quarterback's best friend. And 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.640 so now that you have a little bit more stability 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.160 at that position and you have already established the run game, 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.600 I think that's why you're seeing Bryce. You know, I 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.120 know he hasn't put up huge numbers in these two wins, 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.160 but he's taken care of the ball and that's been important. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.960 And his kind of game managed their way to these wins. 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:27.200 And that's not a bad thing, no doubt. 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.920 And he's and he's been able to do that because 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:31.599 they can lean on the run game so much. I 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.600 think at one point versus the Giants, you've had like 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.840 three runs of twenty five plus yards, right, And so 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.720 when you're doing that, you can just pound and ground 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:40.079 all day. 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.080 Yeah, and then you can get away with your quarterback 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:44.679 throwing for one hundred and twenty six yards, right exactly. 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.720 Bryce has done well. Bryce has gotten steadily, if not 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.520 in small increments, better each of these weeks he's been 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:54.559 on the field. But if one two in a row, 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.120 they're sitting here three and seven. And you know, I 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.400 was telling some friends last night, and I may have 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.880 written this in mail bag. I write so many things 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.400 in the mail bag. I tend to lose track. The 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.360 Panthers have kind of escaped at three and seven? Is 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:07.800 it great? 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:08.000 No? 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.440 Is it going to get you the playoffs? Only in 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.000 the NFC South and only if you catch a really 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:15.880 ridiculous hot streak in the second half of the season. 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:20.679 But they've kind of escaped that. Oh god, is it 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:22.800 over portion of the NFL? 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:23.360 Right? 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:27.320 I mean, Dallas would push the button to be done 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:29.960 right now, and they would they would just be willing 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.080 to call it the rest of the season. Take the 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:35.960 ticket money you've already banked. Keep at what I'm you 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.400 just don't have to play any of those And they've 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:40.280 kind of pushed through that, and now they're in that 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:43.160 great middle area of the league where nobody knows if 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.320 anybody's any good or not, or what you're gonna get 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:47.840 week in, week out, And that's where most of the 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:51.720 NFL lives. I mean, we watch KC and Buffalo last week, 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:55.520 you know, and those are the good teams, and there's 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.880 a lot fewer of those than there are terrible teams. 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:00.880 And there's certainly a lot few are those than there 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.240 are the ones in that great middle I'm talking about. 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.920 Yeah, the great Hey, the great middle, that's where the 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:11.680 color is. Let's have some fun in there. Would you call? 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.920 Who would you put up there with KSE and Buffalo? 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:20.080 You know, I obviously Detroit. You know, I think Philadelphia 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.760 is still pretty good. You know, those guys are you know, 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.200 they always tend to find a way, and they are 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:31.840 a well constructed team. They're put together, right, I'm I 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:34.880 am going to put you know, honestly, I'm gonna put 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:35.679 Pittsburgh in there. 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:35.960 Yeah. 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.800 Ever since Russell Wilson and I've never been the biggest 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:42.679 RUSS advocate. I think he was. I don't want to 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.040 say he was a passenger in Seattle because he was 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:48.320 an active participant in that deal, but he was more 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:52.120 of the guy who lived on great defense, great run game, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.360 well protected and that allowed them to do the things 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.320 that Russ was really good at. You know, I'm putting 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.920 them in that mix too, so it's it's a small group, 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.560 but there are a couple of people sneaking in there. 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.199 So I was hoping you would say Detroit and Pittsburgh. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.320 So thank you for that because they both kind of 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:11.559 represent what I think if you're a Panthers fan, you 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:14.600 can you can look forward to of what they did 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.000 to get to where they're at no doubt, and how 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.360 they got there and the identity that they failed to 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:21.720 get there. Pittsburgh beat the Ravens the other night with 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.480 six field goals. They didn't even throw a touchdown, and 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:29.280 so I'm not saying that that's ideal, but the point being, 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.080 like you can you can find a way to kind 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:34.160 of break through and to chip at that wall until 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:39.080 it falls over and establish yourself with the identity that 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:40.960 you want and find a way to win games doing that, 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.319 even if it doesn't necessarily look like the Patrick Mahomes 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:45.480 or Josh Allen of it all. 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.240 Seriously, the Chiefs may have ruined football for a lot 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:50.320 of people because you know, it doesn't have to be 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.959 thirty five forty points a game to be really good, 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:57.240 so it's possible to win games a lot of different ways. Hey, 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:00.760 you mentioned field goals. Speaking of things that happened over 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:04.000 the bye week, the Carolina Panthers suddenly have an all 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.120 time leader in NFL. 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.800 History, Edie credit to Tracy Smith. 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.400 Yeah, Eddie Pinero was sitting on his couch visiting with 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.199 his dad, who were glad Eddie Senior's doing well. Best 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:18.679 of best wishes to the Pinero's. Eddie Senior recently had 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.960 a heart attack and is recovering well. So Eddie Junior 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.200 went as a good son, went to see his dad 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:26.120 during the bye week, and while he was sitting on 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.200 the couch at his dad's house, became the league's all 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:33.120 time most accurate kicker thanks to Justin Tuster missing a 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:35.320 couple of field goals the other day. So Eddie is 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:38.800 now number one all time. And I love so much 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:42.320 about this story, beginning with the fact that Eddie was 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.920 sitting on his dad's couch when this happened. But b 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:48.000 Tracy Smith rolls out today and Tracy Smith the new 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:51.240 special teams coordinator. He believes, and you just have to 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.560 hear this. Tracy Smith was the key to this. 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.840 I noticed immediately that I wasn't getting enough credit for it. 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.800 I thought, the things that I've changed and Eddie have 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:02.880 been innumerable, heart so hard to say when I when 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:04.560 I spoke to him first in the spring and I 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.080 suggested that he uses right leg this year. I thought 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:08.760 that was a real turning point for him to get 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:09.560 him from two to one. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.360 And there you go. It's as simple as that. I mean, 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.720 why didn't somebody else try said he to kick with 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:17.000 his right leg in the past. 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.800 He said it so deadpan that there was a ten 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:23.680 second period where I was sitting there going wait, did 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.480 he used to kick with his left leg? Did I 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:27.040 miss that? 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:27.440 Like? 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:28.160 I was? 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.200 So I covered Eddy in college yet. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:32.400 Know what Eddie since he was a high school player, 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:34.520 and I know what he looks like when he kicks, 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:38.600 and I legit sat there and went, is he what leg? Like? 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:39.360 Did I miss? 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:39.960 Was that? 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:40.800 Am I? 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:42.040 Yeah? 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.320 No? And that's the beauty. And I've committed a journalism 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:47.560 since then and talked to some of my sources in 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:51.240 the special Teams room, and it's possible that Tracy has 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.600 used that line before and it's possible he's used it 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.520 on other people before. You know, the special teams community's 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.800 kind of tightened it anyway across the league, partially because 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:04.240 those guys move around a lot, and you know, it's 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.080 possible that Tracy may have walked up to other people 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:10.200 after games and said, have you ever considered using your 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:10.840 own left lig? 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:15.520 I like that he workshopped his jokes before he brought 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:17.760 them to ice. Yeah, Tracy Smith may be one of 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:19.480 the funnier coaches I've ever covered. 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.560 He's right up there. It's very dry, it's very deadpan. 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:26.160 It's almost Stephen Right esque. Yeah, but if you're old 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.640 enough and inclined to that kind of stuff. But it's 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.160 he is abute. But yeah, Eddie is the league's most 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.560 accurate kicker of all time. Of course, he's hit you know, 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.800 one hundred and some field goals compared to Justin Tucker's 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.800 four hundred and some field goals. So the opportunity for 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:45.800 fluctuation in those numbers is certainly. We'll enjoy it for 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:47.120 this week exactly. 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:48.840 I mean, take it while it lasts, you know. 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.680 It's uh, well, we'll see how that goes. But so 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:55.760 much to look forward to this week. Yeah, there is 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:58.240 a Mahomesky. Yeah, he is coming in. I talked to 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:01.520 some dudes about him the other day. Josie Jewel, he 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:03.320 kind of shrugged a little bit. I mean, as a 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.320 former Bronco, he's seen him a bunch ten times to 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.920 be specific, so he knows the experience as well as anybody. 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.520 And he talked about kind of all the obvious stuff 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:14.639 about you've got to be buttoned up, you've got to 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:18.080 play it all the way to the whistle, because if 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.440 you let up in that last second of the route, 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.439 that's where he side arms one and squeezes it in. 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:27.119 But even though he hasn't had much team success, Josie 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:29.919 Jewel has picked off Pat mahomes a couple of times. 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:31.760 And that's okay. I went back and looked at the 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.320 YouTube clips of that. He's made some pretty athletic plays 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.920 and coming on the heels of an athletic interception in Germany, 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.080 you know, maybe he's out there sharing his secret, so 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:42.560 to speak. 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.639 You know, Jerald Everro talked about those turnovers today and 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.040 how in that game, you know they were able to 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:50.560 pick him off a few times. But you know what 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:54.240 hej remembers about that game, the explosive plays. Patrick Mahomes 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.760 also got on them, no question, and of course that's 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:59.760 the coach thing to do, and that's what they're going 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:03.640 to be thinking of too as they game plan this week. However, 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.680 you know they've wanted all season to up their turnovers 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:11.280 and to get three in the Giants game. Turnovers can 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:14.760 be contagious, so we'll see if that rolls over to 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:16.680 this week or if you know, the bye week sort 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:20.159 of mess it up. But it is something that Patrick 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:23.040 Mahomes is gonna take his shots. So if you're disciplined 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:25.240 with where you're at and they play that zone defense 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.240 where they can get those turnovers, if you're disciplined where 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:33.480 you're at, the opportunity is there. He's also incredibly incredibly accurate, 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:35.640 so he's gonna put that. You're gonna have to take 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:37.679 the ball away. He's not gonna just throw you up 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:42.080 a floater like that. Daniel Jones deflected off of j 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:43.160 David Clowney one. 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.760 But if you're Clowney, skull off of his head. 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:47.479 It was a header. 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:49.760 Hey, we were in a soccer arena. It was just 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:51.240 a header, sure. 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:55.400 And name one Bayern Munich soccer player Harry Kane. There 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:58.359 you go. That's my girl. I knew, I knew you 0:18:58.400 --> 0:18:59.000 were listening. 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:01.199 That was the only one. Don't ask me to name 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:02.120 a second, fair enough. 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:05.920