WEBVTT - Big Red Rage - Big Roster Decisions Ahead 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:05.480 Strap on the boots and scrape up the knuckles ahead. 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:10.440 He got jacked. This is the Big Red Rain presented 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:14.760 by Santanford in Gilbert. Harry's Gonna score touchdown. Slim to 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.759 the ground by Buddha Baker Like a torpedo, he came 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:23.079 flying into the backfield. The Rage is brought to you 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:28.960 by satan Ford in Gilbert. Are you Satanford State Farm? 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.159 Talk to an agent today at eight hundred State Farm 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:37.760 and buy Arizona Cardinals podcasts. Visit Hacy Cardinals dot com, 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:46.000 Slash podcasts. The rod scene, rising guard, temperaturizing vision, flurring, 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.640 rage taking over. Here's Paul KELVC. Get the popcorn ready. 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.519 It's gonna be a show and Ron will flip. It 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:57.960 doesn't get any better than that horn. Unleash the far 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:05.319 our flag here on the Big Red Rage, regal and 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:10.720 majestic and its splendor, Ron Wolfley, it flies half staff 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:16.240 tonight in honor of a season that has passed. Now. 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.760 It lived a life longer than any season before it 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.880 since two thy fifteen. But the end, the very end, 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:29.720 was abrupt and grizzly. It wasn't a matter of what 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:34.640 the eleven wins. The playoff spot. It was a matter 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:39.400 of how how you got there, how you suffered losses 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:43.479 in five of the last six. So maybe at some 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.639 point here, you know, we're all gonna put the rage 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.040 into Big Red Rage tonight. And that's okay because you 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.760 know what, in my book, it just means we care. Yes, 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:57.960 we're invested. It's you know, you don't want the apathy, Okay. 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:00.760 So so that's my piece here off the top of 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:03.280 the Big Red Rage, brought to you by Santan Ford 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.440 and Gilbert. We are Santan four. Now my game plan says, 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:10.880 it's Ron Wolfley's job to bring some big red perspective 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.320 and analysis. Yeah, you know what, honestly, PAULI right now, 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:18.480 seven and oh happened as well. Seven and oh happened, 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:22.040 and ten and two happened. And that's the part that 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.520 gets me, Paul, That is the part. I think it 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:29.280 is the expectation that I allowed myself to have when 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:30.840 they were ten and two and it had the best 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.480 record in the National Football League. I think it was 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:37.359 the expectation that I allowed myself to have looking at 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:41.280 that team and Kyler Murray and how Kyler Murray was playing. 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:44.480 Just the fact too that you miss Kyler Murray for 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:48.040 three games along with DeAndre Hopkins, and yet there you 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:52.800 were at ten and two. Man, its just it's a 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.720 hard thing to think of and then see the way 0:02:55.760 --> 0:03:00.799 that season ended. Yeah, that's perfectly acceptable. You raise your 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:04.000 expectations at that point. Not only were you ten and 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.720 two and atop all the power polls, you were one 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.640 of two teams along with Buffalo, to spend the entire 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.920 season at that point top five and scoring offense, top 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.040 five and scoring defense. You were seven and o on 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:18.240 the road, and every win on the road was by 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.880 double digits. Yes, so there was a lot to celebrate 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.000 and there was a lot to get excited about it 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:29.360 and bolster those expectations as to what might be coming 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:33.040 in January. So it was the December. It was the 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:37.720 January that once again is so confounding that it has 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.880 everyone in the red seat asking a two word question, 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.400 what happened? What happened? Paul? Honestly, right now, and I 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.800 think you've got to highlight this once again, you really do, 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.800 because honestly, right now, if you would have told me 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.000 the Cardinals would have got out to a good start 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.800 on the season, I'm not going to throw out any numbers, 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.800 just a good start, and then they had a five hundred, 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.800 had a five hundred finish down the stretch the second 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:06.920 half of the season right there. You know, honestly, Paul, 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.400 if you won eleven games and finished eleven and six, 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:12.960 what would we all have said, Oh, my goodness, this 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.279 is just fantastic the way they went ahead, won five 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:19.920 games the first year of Cliff Kingsbury and then eight games. Yeah, 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:22.440 they folded down the stretch. But you know what, now, 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:25.560 they won eleven games the third season. If they won 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.800 eleven games again out of the postseason, we wouldn't be 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:34.040 talking like we are now. The problem is they were 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:38.279 ten and two. It happened. They were ten and two 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.000 and then went one in five, including the playoff game, 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.760 down the stretch. Once again, my thesis statement off the top, 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:49.080 it's not the what, it's the how. Yes, it's how 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.440 you got there. It's it's that feeling everyone had in 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:56.640 La we were there and JJ Watt, let's just say, 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.680 he vocalized it. He capsualized it, and you know what, 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.680 he didn't mince any words when he gave his assessment 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:08.920 on twenty twenty one. It was a massive failure. I mean, 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:12.600 from what we were capable of doing and from what 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:18.760 we showed we can do to what to today. There's 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.920 no other way to describe it than as a failure. Paully. 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:23.880 When I heard that, I have to tell you right now. 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:28.400 When I heard that, it gave me hope. It really did. 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:31.080 Is down in the dumps. And you know I was 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:34.360 down in the dumps as down in the dumps as 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:38.440 I was when I heard J. J. Watt characterize it 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:43.159 as a massive failure. I actually add hope, because Paully, 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:47.400 the first thing you've got to fix, you cannot fix 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:51.279 unless you tell the truth. You have to tell the truth, 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:54.240 and you have to characterize it. You know me, Paul, 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:56.880 I'm a big Nights Templar guy. I really am right. 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.599 But Paul, I've told you this many times. They believe 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.400 tough started with terminology. What you called things, or what 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.160 you said about things, or how you characterize things. It 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.520 mattered to the templars. And I think the blatant truth 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.279 about one in five and the one in five finish 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:17.920 culminating on Monday night. You gotta call it what it is. 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.440 And J. J. Watt did that, and that makes me 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.960 think if you can tell the truth about what happened. 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.880 Now you can go ahead and fix it. You can 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.799 confront it, and you can fix it, but you gotta 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:36.440 start by saying what is true and what happened. If 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.680 you put a thought bubble over his head while he 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:40.880 held that press conference, I think it would have said 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.600 something along lines of I I just cut my timeline 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.320 from this massive shoulder injury and half to come back 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:51.240 for this. You know, it's just it was just abject 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:55.400 frustration obviously on the part of JJ Watt. And you know, 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.839 I have a bunch of different theories. I advanced some 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:00.520 of them in Cardinals Underground, but off row this one 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.720 out here before we hear from Kyler Marie. And by 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:04.320 the way, Darren Urban is going to be our guest 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:06.640 on this edition of The Big Red Raid. Okay, so 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:09.960 it will get in depth there, believe me. But here's 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.600 a quick theory. Because we did all these Cardinals folk tales, 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:14.800 and we went back to the two thousand and eight 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.800 regular season, and we did the snow Game and the 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:19.880 Cardinals in the state of the Cardinals before they went 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:21.640 into that two thousand and eight playoff run all the 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.000 way to Super Bowl forty three and now, the comment 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.640 from Chris Collinsworth the worst playoff team in the history 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:28.920 of the postseason, et cetera. We remember all that, But 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.120 what I did not remember were some of the comments 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.760 from Kurt Warner at the time about how he had 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.240 to battle his own locker room to let these guys 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:39.840 know that making the playoffs is not the end goal. 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:44.000 Making a run in the playoffs is the end goal. 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.680 And he said that was a byproduct of a team 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.120 of a roster that had not been to the postseason 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:51.720 in quite a long time. Well, the Cardinals just ended 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:55.320 the longest NFC playoff drought at six years, from two 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.960 fifteen to twenty twenty one. And the only working theory 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:02.640 I have that's really feasible and plausible is that perhaps 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.800 at ten and two, Ron Wolfley everybody said, yeah, we 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:08.800 just checked the main box, the main objective this year, 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:11.160 which was to make the playoffs, take that next step 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.040 in this progression, and then all of a sudden they 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:18.080 lost that edge. That's the only thing I can truly 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.120 think of that might set because it happened before, and 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.000 Kurt Warner had to fight against that in the two 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.960 thousand and eight season and then literally take that team 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.480 by the nose and lead them on a playoff run. Yeah, 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:33.000 you know, and that's why, Paul two though, I was 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.280 hoping for the reset. But no, I'm not saying that 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.800 maybe they took their foot off the gas, that maybe 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:42.520 human nature took over and maybe they got a little complacent. 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.640 I know that. Hey, listen, ten and two. It happened. 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.840 It was real. We all saw it. They were the 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.880 best team in the league after three months of the 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.480 season and then they just fell apart. There has to 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:59.440 be something something you could point to, something that is 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:03.120 tangible and say this is what happened. Maybe you're right 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:06.200 about that, Paul, I don't know. And look, I'm like 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:08.000 you a week ago at this time on this very show, 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:12.720 I fully expected the Cardinals to flip that switch. Was 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.040 going to be the playoffs, yes, and they were going 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.959 to have that same energy and intensity and edge about 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.280 them that they had to start the first two thirds 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:22.559 of this season, especially on the road when it's them 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.320 against the world. And we did not see the same 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.520 team that we saw that started ten and two. And 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.240 after the game, after the playoff loss thirty four eleven 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.440 in La, Kyler Murray was was asked about well, the 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.960 immediate future, the near future. Here's Kyler. I haven't really 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.880 thought about the future or anything like that, trying to 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:42.560 trying to, you know, soak all this in. Um, there's 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.360 a lot of motions, Um, you know, proud of the team, 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.199 probably the way we fought, a lot of disappointment of 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.880 failure to end the season. But there's definitely a lot 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:52.800 to build up as well. And look, Kyler and the 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.720 Cardinals were not their best in prime time. They went 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:59.000 over four in prime time, whether it was Thursday nights, 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.559 Sunday night, whether it was day night football, oh for 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.280 four And you know what, Kyler and those four games 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:08.839 combined had one touchdown pass and six interceptions. Now, a 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.400 couple of those games were tight. In fact, a lot 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:13.800 of those games. The Green Bay game was tight. The 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:17.160 Rams game was tight in Week fourteen, obviously after they 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:18.960 got that on side kick and they took it down 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.439 to the wire. The Colts game was tight for most 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:25.160 of the game. But once again, Kyler and the Cardinals 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:28.280 were certainly not at their best in prime time. Yeah, 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:30.839 you know what, Paully. Honestly though, when I think of 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.360 prime time, I get what you're saying. The national audience 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:39.160 and everything. I didn't think that was what Kyler Murray 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:43.760 was going to suddenly look like the Kyler Murray we 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.280 all know and the way that he can play. To me, 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:48.480 it was the moment, it was. It was the fact 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:52.160 that it was the playoffs, that it was one in done, 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:56.200 a one in don scenario, and that's why I fully 0:10:56.200 --> 0:11:00.840 expected him to come out and light the lamp. That didn't. Yeh. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.400 He made plays we hadn't seen since his rookie year. 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:06.200 And that's that's just a fact, Hay. To catch up 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:09.079 on past episodes of The Day Pash Podcast, you can 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.920 fall along via your preferred podcast provider. Get the last 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:16.040 up States updates via Twitter at pashpod on Twitter. All right, 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.559 Darren Urban is up next? Do you think we have questions? 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:22.280 Absolutely the Cardinals inside or on acy Cardinals dot Com. 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.760 I'm gonna bring some answers next. The Big Red Rage 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:33.400 presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert Murry back to throw 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.120 on second and nine in trouble, moves to his left, 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.880 being chased by Bosa, now throws it deep across the 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:42.559 field near side, just falling at the ten and tackled 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.760 at the nine yard line. Kyler Murray threw that ball 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.400 outside the numbers on the far side to the near 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.360 sideline five twenty ago. Cardinals lead ten to seven. Can 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:54.720 they put them away? Can they get a touchdown? Snap 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.040 the Kyler? He throws a fade left side in the 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:01.439 end zone and in his card Bird put down the 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:05.199 hop bought it with Josh Norman draped all over and 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.800 trying to pull the ball away. What a great catch 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:14.360 by DeAndre Hopkins. Broke the sickles out on the fade 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:17.720 and staffed the pig up the air and brought it 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:22.199 in man. At some point, when you've got dudes who 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:26.040 are just better than the other team, that's enough. I've 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:30.920 the good old days, Week five at home home win 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:33.920 against the forty nine ers, when you had the dynamic 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.200 duel of Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins. Yeah, you had 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.559 the nine yard touchdown just over five minutes to go 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:42.400 after the thirty yard reception, and then the Cardinals got 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:44.440 the ball back with Fort's wold to play. I'm looking 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.040 at the quick game summary notes here, and they ran 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.400 out the clock to end the game seventeen ten. They 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:52.200 beat the forty nine ers to go five and oh 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.960 for the first time since nineteen seventy four. But what's interesting, 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.520 Wolf is after the game a couple of quotes, Kyler 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:02.600 Murray called the offensive formance ugly. It was winning football, 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.920 but it was ugly, man. And as the season went on, 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:09.040 other guys noted that, you know what, there were mistakes 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:11.720 when they went seven to No. Ten and two, But 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.520 maybe they got glossed over a little bit because after 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.920 the game Kyler said something that now proves to be 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.840 a little cryptic when his quote was you can't get 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.680 bored with winning. You can't get bored of doing the 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:28.880 little things right. That was Kyler Murray postgame week five. Wow, Bally, 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:31.760 So intriguing, is it not? Yeah, there's no done about 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.079 it. It It really is right here. They've got to answer 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:38.440 some of these questions going forward, and that certainly is 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:42.520 one of them. What happened, especially down the stretch. Somebody 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:45.200 who's been trying to answer questions in his mailbag at 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.040 Acy Cardinals dot com is Darren Urban, the longtime Cardinals 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.640 insider who joins us now. Darren, thank thanks for your 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.080 time here in the Big Red Rage, brought to you 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:55.440 by santan Ford and Gilbert. How has it been, you know, 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.800 how's your mental health after dealing with the mail bag 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:03.360 this week. Guys, how you doing? My mental health is fine. 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.959 I mean, you know, the season was going to end 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.000 at some point. Uh. You know, obviously everybody's hoping that 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.840 it's gonna be after the super Bowl. But uh, you know, 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:17.120 our our jobs go on. Uh. That's part of it, 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.240 you know, for me. Uh, and that's part of it 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:22.720 for the players too. I mean, uh, you're now on 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:26.640 the point where, okay, it's over. Um, just like the 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:28.960 one week at a time thing of the season where 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:31.480 you know, it's it doesn't pay a whole lot to 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:33.760 look back. It pays to look forward. I think the 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:38.600 players now kind of have to refocus on, Okay, what 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.200 what do we do going forward? Rather than looking back. 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.880 But obviously it was a disappointing end of the season. 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:46.480 I mean there's no way of getting around that. And 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.880 you know, I I you know, you you listen to J. J. 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.480 Watt right after the games, Uh, sit up there at 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.760 the podium and say called it a massive failure. And 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.600 and because Kingsbury wasn't going to go there. Uh And 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:01.560 and that might have been in the emotion of the moment, 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:05.160 but it pretty much encapsulated how everybody was feeling that night. 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:07.000 I think it so DRB. How do you fix this? 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:08.800 And you started, you know, I want to hear your 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:14.480 thoughts on Wolf. Honestly, you know difficult, isn't it? I mean, 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:16.480 where do you begin on this? Well? How do you 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:19.040 how do you diagnose it first before you fix it? 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:22.480 What is the problem? Because DJ Humphrey said this week 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:24.680 it was Monday, It was Tuesday after the game and 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:26.480 he was asked about he said, well, when you lose 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:31.200 that many games, you lost something. What is something? You know? 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.400 That's a great question that Paul, you and I were 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.560 talking about it on our podcast this week. I mean, 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:41.080 there were some people that kind of analyze the numbers 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.120 that we're saying that some of the success they were 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:47.400 having early in the season was not sustainable and a 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:51.000 and a very basic example, and again I brought this 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:53.360 up with you, Paul, but Wolf, I mean, how many 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.040 times early in the season, especially did they score a 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.400 touchdown or get a first down when it was third 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.760 and twelve, third and fourteen, third and sixteen. It seemed 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:03.680 like they were doing it every single time they were 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.480 in one of those situations. And that's not something you're 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.320 going to be able to pull off for a seventeen 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:12.480 game season, and that's that's one example. I think the 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.560 penalties got a little bit worse. There's no question the 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:19.680 injuries hurt them, and clearly I think some of the 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.560 player regressed, and some of that is the quarterback. I mean, 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:26.440 when you go into a playoff game and the coach 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:29.200 says that the quarterback is going to have his, hopefully 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.800 his best game of the year, and Kyler then talks 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:35.040 about being raised to be that kind of player, You're 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:37.560 you're really hoping that he plays better than he did, 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.920 and he didn't. You know, when it comes to total 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:45.080 wins without d Hop, Kyler and Colt McCoy tied, they 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.720 both had two. Kyler won two out of seven games 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.240 without d Hop, coult McCoy won two out of three. 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.920 So something happened. Now you still have a quarterback who's 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.800 going to the Pro Bowl, obviously, And after the game, 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:59.440 zach Ertz actually the next day meeting the media and 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.880 he was asked about twenty four year old Kyler Murray 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.080 and what he sees. Kyler is the most talented player 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.000 I've ever been around, and I think the sky is 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:10.879 the limit for him. I mean, if he didn't get 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.280 hurt this year, he's probably winning the MVP. And if 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:16.440 you have an MVP caliber quarterback, you're gonna have a 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.240 chance to win a Super Bowl. He puts so much 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.159 pressure on himself to be great, to win football games, 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:23.960 to play great, And that's why I think guys love 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.680 playing for him. Can I throw out a quick analogy 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:28.359 and you guys can agree with disagree, and I know 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:32.880 you will. Here we go, Lamar Jackson. Did Lamar Jackson 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:36.280 not have a miserable playoff game or two at the 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.919 beginning of his career and then rebound and win an 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.560 MVP plus a postseason game or two? But didn't the 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.960 very beginning of Lamar Jackson of playoff football was ugly? 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:51.280 Was it not? Yes? And a lot of people wondered, Okay, 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:53.960 wait a minute, how viable is this guy long term? 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.480 Has the NFL figured out Lamar Jackson? It's it's a 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.840 lot of the same blowback we're hearing now with Kyla Murray. 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.760 Every quarterback is different. But yeah, well, if I throw 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.239 that to you, and you know, obviously Lamar Jackson had 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:09.760 to evolve his game. Is the ball now in Kyler's core? Yeah, 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.920 there's no doubt about it. And hopefully the good news 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:15.560 here is that Kyler Murray is going to embrace the 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.080 fact that he's not a finished product and he's got 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:22.000 to get better. I fully expect him to embrace that 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:25.760 and to get better whatever it may be in his preparation. 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.000 Get better on the field, get better with decisions, get 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:32.840 better with reading coverage, whatever it may be. PAULI, I mean, 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:37.040 I believe Kyler is that type of individual. Let's hope 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.399 that he is and he embraces the process of getting 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.800 better right now, and I fully expect him to do that, Paul. 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:46.879 The one area I will say the one thing, guys, 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:50.600 when you talk about the Arizona Cardinals, especially this season, 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.920 when you talk about something being unsustainable, think of how 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.359 many times they had leads. They were in the lead 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.400 almost all the time. When you think about it, how 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:05.440 many games did they actually have to come back in, Paul, 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:10.440 I'm thinking Jacksonville they had to come back in that game, 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:13.359 and I think Houston as well. They got down five 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.119 nothing in that game and had to come But but 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:19.480 after that, you know, before they went on that's one 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.840 in five streak to win this season, they were all 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:28.000 about having leads and getting leads, there's no doubt about it. 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:30.920 And then and then as far as the playoff game goes, Darren. 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.840 You know, after the game, Aaron Donald said in a quote, 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:36.920 I feel like the quarterback wasn't comfortable at all. Yeah, 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.240 did the Rams just proved to be a really bad 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:43.760 matchup for Kyler and the Cardinals in hindsight? Well, I 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:47.720 mean it was a bad matchup potentially in the playoffs. 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.439 I mean, obviously they weren't a bad matchup the first 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.639 time they played in the season, when the Cardinals had 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.560 their way with them. Um, now, that was a much 0:19:56.600 --> 0:20:00.240 healthier Cardinals team than down the stretch. And again, not 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:03.720 gonna go too far in the injuries because every team's 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:07.640 got him that kind of thing. But you know, obviously 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:11.520 the Cardinals were missing a piece, especially on offense, that 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.840 meant something. But I agree with you. I don't think 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:19.560 that Kyler was particularly comfortable in that last game, and 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:25.520 I do think there was some echo of what he 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:27.879 felt the first time they played. The first time they 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:29.640 played the Rams on Monday night at the home game 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:33.040 where they lost. So you know, I'm very curious to 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.399 see where it goes with the quarterback. I mean, Kyler, 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:37.879 a lot of eyes are going to be on him. 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:39.679 I know you were talking about Lamar Jackson. You know 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:42.800 another guy who played pretty poorly in his first three 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:45.400 playoff games and two of them were blown out losses 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:49.000 was Peyton Manning, And obviously that turned out okay. Now, 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:51.399 nobody's saying Kyler Murray is going to be paid Manning 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:54.919 or even have the playoff success of Lamar Jackson. But 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:59.080 I do think there's a certain amount of leeway we 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:02.560 need to give. Now how much more in this in 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:06.560 the culture that we live in these days, with coaches 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:11.760 and organizations making quicker changes, I don't know, but I 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:15.120 you know, I do think that Kyler has shown enough 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:17.400 that you can feel confident that he has a chance 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:19.600 to be that guy. But like Will said, I think 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:21.640 he has to kind of embrace what he went through, 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:24.199 and I think he's got to. He does have to 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:27.080 make some changes, I think to get better. I don't 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:29.719 know what those are exactly. I'm not around him all 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:31.679 the time. I don't know what he does in the 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:35.320 offseason and what his preparation is, but I do think 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:37.840 he could probably do things that not only would help 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.000 his own game, but would help the team around him. Well, 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:43.639 here's Kyler on the team around him and all the 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:46.720 impending free agents. That's one of those things that you know, 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:49.639 hasn't you know, it won't sink in until you know, 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:52.439 maybe a couple of days or whatever. But you know, 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:54.399 hopefully we can get some of those guys back, you know, 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:56.320 if not all of them. So you know, when you 0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:58.760 build relationships with these guys, that's always the tough part 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.359