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Speaker 1: What's up, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the

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Speaker 1: Falcons Final Whistle Podcast. I'm Scott Bear and with me

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Speaker 1: is Ashton Edmonds and Tory mcelhaney, and we're coming to

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Speaker 1: you pretty late in the evening on Sunday, October ninth,

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Speaker 1: after a twenty one to fifteen loss to the Tampa

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Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers that was dramatic at the Finnish, shall we say,

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Speaker 1: which fits right in with how the Falcons have played

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Speaker 1: every other game so far this season. But before we

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Speaker 1: can get to the drama of that game, we have

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Speaker 1: to deal with some breaking news and that is coming in.

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Speaker 1: The story was broken by NFL Networks I Rappaport. The

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Speaker 1: Falcons have traded inside linebacker long time Falcons inside linebacker

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Speaker 1: Dion Jones to the Cleveland Browns for late draft pick compensation.

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Speaker 1: Tory mclaney is going to dive into the details of

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Speaker 1: all that, but we do feel like, considering that Tory

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Speaker 1: just wrote this story right before we got onto this podcast,

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Speaker 1: that that has to be the first order of business.

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Speaker 1: So Tory kind of give fans who may not as

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Speaker 1: may not be as up to date as you are

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Speaker 1: about the details of this deal and how it can

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Speaker 1: benefit the Falcons moving forward. Yeah, this is something that

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Speaker 1: has really been in the works for a while now.

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Speaker 1: I feel like there's been speculation about Deon Jones's feature

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Speaker 1: in Atlanta. Gosh, since what like January February, since last

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Speaker 1: season ended. I feel like this has been a topic

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Speaker 1: of conversation, especially when the Falcons traded away matt Ryan

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Speaker 1: and then restructure Grady Jarrett and Jake Matthews contracts this offseason.

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Speaker 1: It was like, all right, Deon Jones has a whopper

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Speaker 1: of a contract, four years, fifty seven million dollars. That

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Speaker 1: is really eating up a lot of cap space right now.

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Speaker 1: What are they going to do with Dion? And that

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Speaker 1: was a question that I feel like we asked every

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Speaker 1: single week over the course of this off season, and

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Speaker 1: it finally got farther and farther along to where you

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Speaker 1: get into training camp and Dion's not out there. They

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Speaker 1: put him on IR with because he had a shoulder

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Speaker 1: procedure early in the off season. He comes back, plays

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Speaker 1: a little bit in the final preseason game for the Falcons,

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Speaker 1: and then the Falcons placed him on IR before the

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Speaker 1: season starts, which when you put someone on IR before

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Speaker 1: the season starts. That's four games you have to miss

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Speaker 1: at minimum. So this was the week if Deon Jones

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Speaker 1: is going to get activated. If he was okay, he

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Speaker 1: could have been activated this week like how we saw

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Speaker 1: Isaiah Oliver, but that didn't happen. And while all of

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Speaker 1: this is happening, you also have to think about the

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Speaker 1: cap ramifications. The Falcons have one of the largest dead

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Speaker 1: cap hits in the league, like the largest. It's massive

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Speaker 1: because you have to take into consideration that Matt Ryan's

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Speaker 1: contract was forty million dollars that is being taken up

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Speaker 1: in dead money. So you have that, and then you

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Speaker 1: also have a ton of money that's still left over

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Speaker 1: from the Julio Jones trade. You have all of these things,

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Speaker 1: and so it really was kind of coming down to

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Speaker 1: it where it was like, Okay, what are the Falcons

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Speaker 1: gonna do with Deon Jones's on ir There's still a

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Speaker 1: ton of speculation as to what they were going to do,

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Speaker 1: and finally we have an answer. They have reportedly traded

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Speaker 1: Deon Jones to the Cleveland Browns for like Scott what

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Speaker 1: you're saying. It's been reported that it is a late

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Speaker 1: round draft compensation. So the Browns get Dion Jones and

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Speaker 1: the Falcons seventh round twenty twenty four draft pick. The

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Speaker 1: Falcons RELI are relieved of Jones and they get the

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Speaker 1: Browns sixth round, twenty twenty four draft pick. I hope

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Speaker 1: I said all of that, accordingly, should free up some

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Speaker 1: cap space. Deon Jones contracts had been restructured a little bit,

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Speaker 1: so I believe if this is, if the numbers are correct,

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Speaker 1: the Browns will pay out his one point three nine

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Speaker 1: million dollars salary in twenty twenty two, and that's kind

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Speaker 1: of what they'll take on. But that's kind of the

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Speaker 1: the cliff notes version of a story that I feel

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Speaker 1: like we have been talking about NonStop since January and February. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: really for so long. And you did get all the

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Speaker 1: numbers right tho. It was pretty impressive because there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of information here and with all the dead money.

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Speaker 1: According to overthcap dot com, the Falcons are taking on

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Speaker 1: with some ir additions. It's up to about sixty five

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Speaker 1: million dollars in deadcap this year. Next year. What's on

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Speaker 1: the books, according to OTC is two hundred ninety three thousand. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so when they add Dion Jones's dead money to next

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Speaker 1: year's cap, that's very livable. That's nothing that's going to

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Speaker 1: impede them too much. And if if you go back

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Speaker 1: to the NFL scouting combine, Terry Fontineau said that that

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Speaker 1: he had a bunch of elephants in the room, a

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Speaker 1: bunch of contracts that that that he inherited. As Tory mentioned,

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Speaker 1: Jake Matthews, Matt Ryan, um Uh Jones and who am

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Speaker 1: I forgetting about? And and Grady Jarrett also and uh

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Speaker 1: and he he uh. He tended to all of those

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Speaker 1: um with this trade. And it does help them move on, um,

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Speaker 1: And it does I think, put to rest a longstanding

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Speaker 1: story that had been going on forever. I think just

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Speaker 1: if we're just talking about everybody moving on, I think

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Speaker 1: that's good for the Falcons. I think that's good for

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Speaker 1: Deon Jones. I think who just kind of wanted to

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Speaker 1: play and wanted a fresh start. Um. And I think

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Speaker 1: for them to get people will look at the draft

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Speaker 1: pick compensation and say, well, that's not very much. That's

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Speaker 1: not the point of this deal. I think Dion was

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Speaker 1: willing to restructure and restructure and found himself at a

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Speaker 1: place where he wanted to play again. I was very

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Speaker 1: clear that it wasn't going to be here. And I

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Speaker 1: think that while it comes kind of in the dead

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Speaker 1: of night on like right after week five, at least

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Speaker 1: we have some resolution because there were so much there

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Speaker 1: were so many questions about what they were going to

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Speaker 1: do with Dion Jones when he fully got healthy. He

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Speaker 1: hasn't been around too much on the practice field. Tory

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Speaker 1: has got her hand raised, and then we'll go down. Yes,

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Speaker 1: I was just gonna say, like, this shouldn't really come

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Speaker 1: as a surprise to anyone considering what we have seen

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Speaker 1: the Falcons do over the course of this offseason, and

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Speaker 1: that includes going out and getting Rashaun Evans. That it

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Speaker 1: also you talk about drafting Troy Anderson as high as

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Speaker 1: what they did. And then also also go back to

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Speaker 1: what Arthur Smith was talking about literally a couple months

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Speaker 1: ago in training camp when he was specifically asked about

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Speaker 1: Dion Jones and he made the comment he was like,

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Speaker 1: it's not like, if Dion's fully healthy, we're gonna pull

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Speaker 1: Michael Walker or Rashaun Evans and put Dion Jones in here.

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Speaker 1: He will have to he would have to work for

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Speaker 1: that starting spot back. I mean, these were all topics

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Speaker 1: of conversation that we have talked about ad nauseum. I

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Speaker 1: feel like for the last like five, six, seven months,

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Speaker 1: however long it's been, and now what you're talking about,

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Speaker 1: Scott finally have a resolution that it makes sense. I

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Speaker 1: think it's good for both parties. I agree with that,

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Speaker 1: and also it's just it's nice to kind of put

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Speaker 1: a bow on this and be able to move on. Yeah, definitely.

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Speaker 1: And Ashton, you're obviously new to this team and new

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Speaker 1: to this market, so you haven't seen Deon Jones play

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Speaker 1: in person a lot, but you have seen Michael Walker play,

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Speaker 1: you have seen Rashaan Evans play, and Troy Anderson talk

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Speaker 1: about maybe the state of this inside linebacker group now

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Speaker 1: that Dion Jones is no longer a part of it

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Speaker 1: in any way, shape or form. Yeah, for sure. I

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Speaker 1: think Michael Walker, Rashaan Evans, and Troy Anderson have been

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Speaker 1: the glue. I would say to this the Falcons defense

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Speaker 1: through these release five first games or the first five games.

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Speaker 1: Michael Walker's injury today um was definitely a big hit

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Speaker 1: to the Falcons defense. I would say, especially late in

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Speaker 1: the game. You know, when the Falcons were kind of

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Speaker 1: making a comeback. But I think the state of this

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Speaker 1: linebacker group is really good. You know, Rashaun Evans, he

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Speaker 1: has played in the league for a couple of years now,

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Speaker 1: Michael Walker, he's stepping up to the play and I think, um,

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Speaker 1: you know, he's a leader on his defense, and I

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Speaker 1: think more players are looking to him for his leadership

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Speaker 1: and for his play. He's been making plays, you know,

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Speaker 1: all over the field, like I said, through these first

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Speaker 1: five games, and I think Troy Anderson is now getting

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Speaker 1: acclimated to the league. He had a really a few

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Speaker 1: nice plays throughout these first five games, and I think

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Speaker 1: today he did really good stepping in for Michael Walker.

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Speaker 1: But um, I think this linebacker cord is in a

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Speaker 1: really good splike. Yeah, And they would say Secon round

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Speaker 1: draft pick on on Troy Anderson that they have a

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Speaker 1: young guy and Michael Walker and Rashaun Evans has been

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Speaker 1: really good. So I think they've set themselves up for

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Speaker 1: the future. Just one last US note from me on

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Speaker 1: this Dion Jones situation is I feel like this was

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Speaker 1: the last order of business for Terry Fontino and Arthur

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Speaker 1: Smith and the Falcons um to kind of move on

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Speaker 1: from the from the previous regime, right, all these contracts

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Speaker 1: that they inherited, some veteran players that had been maybe

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Speaker 1: rewarded beyond what they were, you know, at least some

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Speaker 1: of them that were still getting paid. And I think

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Speaker 1: that now that was the final order of business, or

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Speaker 1: one of the last to really kind of turn the page.

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Speaker 1: And now Terry and Arthur can move into especially twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty three without a lot of this dead cap space

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Speaker 1: with a lot of the guys they want to have around,

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Speaker 1: and then you know, contracts that they've that they've been

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Speaker 1: able to move on from. So I think that that's

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Speaker 1: an important thing to tory any last words on this

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Speaker 1: are we ready to move on to this Bucks game?

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Speaker 1: I think I think we have talked about Dion Jones

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Speaker 1: more than anybody has on any podcast. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if I so, I feel like we have hit everything

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Speaker 1: and anything we possibly could about Dion Jones. And you know,

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Speaker 1: I will say this, he as much as I think

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Speaker 1: the last couple of years, especially last year, was not

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Speaker 1: the Dion Jones that Falcons fans knew, I think Dion

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Speaker 1: Jones his career in Atlanta should be commended. It was

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Speaker 1: a really fantastic career. It's a Pro Bowl career, Pro

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Speaker 1: Bowl season. I mean, this is a guy who helped

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Speaker 1: Atlanta win games, and so you talk about fresh starts.

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Speaker 1: I feel like it's kind of the same sentiment as

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Speaker 1: when they traded away Matt Ryan and traded away Julio Jones,

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Speaker 1: and it's like, you don't forget what they did for

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Speaker 1: the Falcons and you kind of hope the best for

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Speaker 1: them as they as they move on, because everybody right

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Speaker 1: now is kind of getting to the point where it's like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: everybody's turning a page on what was and now what

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Speaker 1: Terry and Arthur want to do in Atlanta? Now, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean nothing in this very rarely in this league

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Speaker 1: does it end perfectly clean. But I do think that

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Speaker 1: time and separation will eventually allow fans to be able

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Speaker 1: to acknowledge all of the contributors to what was a

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Speaker 1: very good run over a couple of seasons in Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: Now moving on to this game, somehow after everything happened

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Speaker 1: in this game, yea, now it plays second fiddle to

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Speaker 1: what we just discussed, but nonetheless, a twenty one to

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Speaker 1: fifteen loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is another

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Speaker 1: one of those situations, like we've seen with the Falcons

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Speaker 1: every time, is that there there's a dramatic finish. It

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Speaker 1: comes down to the fourth quarter of a game that's

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Speaker 1: ultimately only separated by one score. And yeah, there was

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Speaker 1: a point where the Falcons were down twenty one points

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Speaker 1: and then they came roaring back with shadows of Week

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Speaker 1: two against the Rams, and they couldn't finish the job.

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Speaker 1: Then they couldn't finish the job here. But let's get

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Speaker 1: right to what everybody wants to hear about here is

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Speaker 1: that the Falcons were did not have an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: complete their comeback because after Grady Jarrett sacked Tom Brady

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Speaker 1: on third down with I don't have the time in

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Speaker 1: front of but three minutes left, Grady Jarrett was flagged

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Speaker 1: and penalized for a roughing the passer penalty that extended

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Speaker 1: the Buccaneers drive. The Buccaneers drive ultimately continued down fields

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Speaker 1: to the point that they were able to let the

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Speaker 1: clock expire. The comeback never happened, and the call was

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Speaker 1: extremely controversial, both when watching it live and afterward with

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Speaker 1: what was said not by the Falcons. Okay, Grady Jarrett

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Speaker 1: declined to comment right after the game, Arthur Smith stayed

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Speaker 1: away from making any overt criticisms. Tom Brady said, I

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Speaker 1: don't throw the flags, and yeah, and let's get to

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Speaker 1: the most important one here and I'll just read it guys,

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Speaker 1: if you don't mind. This is from pf WA pool

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Speaker 1: reporter Greg Allman, who covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in

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Speaker 1: an interview with referee Jerome Boger. The question was about

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Speaker 1: Grady Jarrett's roughing the passer penalty that extended the drive,

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Speaker 1: and the reporter asked for clarification on what constituted roughing

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Speaker 1: the passer on that play. Jerome Boger said, and I

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Speaker 1: quote what I had was the defender grabbed the quarterback

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Speaker 1: while he was still in the pocket and unnecessarily throwing

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Speaker 1: him to the ground. Think about that phrase. This is

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Speaker 1: what I was making my decision based upon. He was

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Speaker 1: then asked, because the play was similar to an injury

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Speaker 1: to Miami quarterback to a Tago, was it something that

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Speaker 1: you had made a specific measure to try to watch

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Speaker 1: out for takedowns on the quarterback like that, and the

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Speaker 1: referee said no, not necessarily. His comments seemed to pour

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Speaker 1: gasoline on a fire that extended not just throughout the

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Speaker 1: Falcon fan base, which was obviously upset by it, but

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Speaker 1: also across the NFL landscape. This is going to be

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Speaker 1: a conversation on Good Morning Football, on ESPN Sports Center

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Speaker 1: and all over the place. This was a major controversial call.

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Speaker 1: I'm now editorializing for one second, if I may, I

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Speaker 1: think the flag was incorrect. I think it cost the

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Speaker 1: Falcons dearly. As Tory put in her excellent recap of

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Speaker 1: the situation, we have absolutely no idea if it would

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Speaker 1: have set up or if the Falcons could have completed

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Speaker 1: a comeback and beat the Buccaneers. They were down only six.

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Speaker 1: A touchdown and an extra point would have won it.

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Speaker 1: We don't know what would have happened there. But if

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Speaker 1: we're talking about that call specifically, I don't agree with

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Speaker 1: the call that was made. Yeah, it's really hard to

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Speaker 1: go back and watch it because watching it live you

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Speaker 1: kind of I mean, there's the emotion of the game

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Speaker 1: and everything like that, and the Falcons are roaring back

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Speaker 1: and everything, But then to go back and watch the replay,

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Speaker 1: it's really hard to watch the replay and I think

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Speaker 1: every feeling that not only Falcons fans feel, but I

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Speaker 1: think the like people who are watching this play within

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Speaker 1: the league at large, every feeling of kind of anger frustration,

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Speaker 1: I think is very valid because it I mean, I

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Speaker 1: just myself, I don't agree with the call at all.

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Speaker 1: There's not a part of me that agrees with it,

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Speaker 1: but it's the call that was made. However, I also

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Speaker 1: think that it goes to show you when we were

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Speaker 1: watching the game live and I don't think people saw

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Speaker 1: this because we were in a teamy time out, because

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Speaker 1: it was at the two minute mark and Grady Jarrett.

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Speaker 1: I have never seen Grady Jarrett as agitated and visibly

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Speaker 1: frustrated as what he was. He was pacing the field,

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Speaker 1: absolutely pacing up and down here. I don't think I

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Speaker 1: saw him stop moving from the moment that flag was

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Speaker 1: thrown until the end of the game. And it is

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Speaker 1: really tough when you're talking about a player like Grady Jarrett,

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Speaker 1: who in that moment, we're talking about a guy who

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Speaker 1: for the last three weeks has come up with a

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Speaker 1: sack when it mattered most and for that to happen

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Speaker 1: on a let's be honest, kind of a technicality of

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Speaker 1: the rule, and it's a very like judge, a very

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Speaker 1: much like how you interpret the rule in the moment

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Speaker 1: like that is very very frustrating, and I honestly, I

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Speaker 1: was kind of hoping when we went into the locker

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Speaker 1: room post game and we go into this postgame press

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Speaker 1: conference with Arthur Smith, I'm sitting there thinking like, Oh,

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Speaker 1: they're about to just like go in like they're about

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Speaker 1: to go off on these guys like blah blah blah.

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Speaker 1: I think it's very much in the same mindset I

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Speaker 1: think as what a lot of people thought, because it

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Speaker 1: did feel kind of like that, you know, it's like,

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Speaker 1: screw the fines, who cares? Like that's I think the

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Speaker 1: sentiment that a lot of people were thinking. But that

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Speaker 1: didn't happen at all. What happened was is Arthur Smith

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Speaker 1: comes out out and he's very much like very adamant

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Speaker 1: about not talking about it and like not really answering

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Speaker 1: questions about it. He answers the questions, but it's essentially

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Speaker 1: like I haven't seen the film and I need to

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Speaker 1: go back and watch it because I need to know

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Speaker 1: how I need to coach that situation. It was very

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Speaker 1: very like buttoned up and then Grady Jarrett declining to

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Speaker 1: do a postgame interview which is not something that Grady

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Speaker 1: Jarrett like ever does. I think that should go to

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Speaker 1: show you how much he really cared about that moment.

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Speaker 1: I personally don't think I could have gotten in front

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Speaker 1: of a camera and been able to say something and

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Speaker 1: not have gotten in major trouble. And I think Arthur Smith,

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Speaker 1: you know, we'll talk to him on Monday, and I'm

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Speaker 1: sure it'll come up again. But something that I want

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Speaker 1: people to understand is like, yes, like you can kind

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Speaker 1: of get like like why didn't Arthur Smith like stick

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Speaker 1: up for his guy. It's like, well, you don't know

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Speaker 1: if you're going to see this officiating crew again, and

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Speaker 1: if you burn that officiating crew like in the rep

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Speaker 1: mutation that you could have like with officials at large,

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Speaker 1: Like that's a part of the conversation too. It's not

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Speaker 1: just about the money and getting fined or whatever. It's

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Speaker 1: about all of this stuff combined. And so it's a

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Speaker 1: really tough situation I think for Grady, Jared and Arthur

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Speaker 1: Smith to be in to where they can't say, like,

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Speaker 1: we don't freaking agree with this, because there's no way

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Speaker 1: that they freaking agree with it because it was ridiculous.

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Speaker 1: But that's just me like just just going on a

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Speaker 1: field again, but for real, it was very It was

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Speaker 1: a very very frustrating moment. And again I think every

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Speaker 1: emotion anger, frustration is valid in those moments. Ashton. What

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Speaker 1: were they saying on the broadcast after it happened and

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Speaker 1: what was your reaction to it? Yeah, I mean watching it, love,

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Speaker 1: it looked like a regular Grady Jared set, you know,

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Speaker 1: from the last three games. So if I'm being honest,

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Speaker 1: the announcers on the broadcast, um, you know, I think

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Speaker 1: they were trying to figure out what exactly what's going

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Speaker 1: on on the field because they can playing it, they

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Speaker 1: can't be playing it. And um, once the official call

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Speaker 1: came that it was a roughing ambassador. Um, even the

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Speaker 1: announcers didn't know exactly what was going on until they

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Speaker 1: made the official call. Um, just because you know, it

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Speaker 1: compared to I guess tourists hit and compared to Grady

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Speaker 1: Jared sack on Tom Brady, it was it was. It

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Speaker 1: was different all you know, throughout it was different all

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Speaker 1: the way. So, um, you know, I think everybody was

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Speaker 1: confused at the call um and you know, Arthur Smith

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Speaker 1: looking at looking at Arthur Smith watching it live. You know,

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Speaker 1: he was even like holding his face like, you know,

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Speaker 1: I can't believe this um, but watching it live, it

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Speaker 1: it looked like a regular sec um And I was

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Speaker 1: I was confused. I could not agree with you all

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Speaker 1: more about you know, I think the call was wrong,

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Speaker 1: but like Tory said, you can't really Bernie's bridges with

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Speaker 1: this officiating crew because you you might see him later

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Speaker 1: on down that season. So um, Scarlett with the revs

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Speaker 1: were saying yeah, and I all so think, um, something

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Speaker 1: that Scott you were talking to Caleb Huntley about in

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Speaker 1: the locker room that I put in a story that

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Speaker 1: I thought was really like well said it was. He

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Speaker 1: was like, you know, it looked like just another sack.

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Speaker 1: And he was like, and he was talking about that

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Speaker 1: moment and how in that moment the offense felt as

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Speaker 1: confident as it had all game. Like that's a that's

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Speaker 1: a part of this too, is like the repercussions, Like

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Speaker 1: I know, like what I wrote, I was like, you know,

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Speaker 1: we don't know if like let's say the call doesn't happen,

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Speaker 1: the Bucks punt the ball, the Falcons get the ball back,

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Speaker 1: like with two minutes and forty five seconds left, like

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Speaker 1: whatever it is who's to say they don't go three

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Speaker 1: and out, you know, like, who's to say that doesn't happen.

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Speaker 1: But talking to Caleb Huntley in the locker room, and

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Speaker 1: he makes the comment, he was like, you know, like

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Speaker 1: we felt like the momentum had shifted essentially to us.

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Speaker 1: We were able to move the ball. You got Ozzie

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Speaker 1: in the end zone, you got Avery in the end zone.

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Speaker 1: It was a one score game. It felt different at

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Speaker 1: that point. And so I think he even said I

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Speaker 1: can't remember his exact quote, but it was something along

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Speaker 1: the lines of like we felt good, like getting the

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Speaker 1: ball back or something. Scott, do you remember what the

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Speaker 1: quote was. I don't, Actually, no, you're good, You're good.

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Speaker 1: But it was just something along the lines of, like

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Speaker 1: we believe that if we would have gotten the ball back,

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Speaker 1: like we could have gotten the job done. I think

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Speaker 1: is kind of the gift of it. Yeah, yeah, definitely,

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Speaker 1: And and and I think that that's We're like, we're

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Speaker 1: never gonna know if that's accurate. But nonetheless, this is

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Speaker 1: another one of these games that came down to the wire.

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Speaker 1: It did have a controversial moment, and the weird thing

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Speaker 1: is Grady Jarrett will speak to the media again, and

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Speaker 1: he'll have some comments on it one way or the other,

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Speaker 1: and Arthur Smith will talk about it on Monday, and

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Speaker 1: maybe NFL officiating through their Twitter account or through a

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Speaker 1: statement or something like that. Well, we'll address this call

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Speaker 1: at some point. Nothing is going to make you feel

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Speaker 1: better about it, because I'm not going to go back

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Speaker 1: and change what happened. You know, it's just not, as

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Speaker 1: you pointed out, Tory, Arthur Smith getting upset in front

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Speaker 1: of a of a microphone is not going to change

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Speaker 1: the play. The NFL admitting it was wrong. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: do it like the NBA does. But that's not going

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Speaker 1: to change the play. It's not going to change the outcome.

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Speaker 1: The Falcons are still two and three. And I and

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Speaker 1: I transitioned here kind of to our last overarching topic

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Speaker 1: about something that I wrote about and something that Ashton

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Speaker 1: wrote about that I think is an important part of this,

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Speaker 1: right is that I thought, Okay, well here's another example

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Speaker 1: to write something or a column about how the Falcons

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Speaker 1: are fighters, how they never give up, how they're so

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Speaker 1: close to kind of completing some of these improbable victories.

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Speaker 1: And then in talking to Jake Matthews, he said, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's great, but we already knew we could fight, but

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Speaker 1: what was unacceptable? And I think this is them leveling up.

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Speaker 1: It's not like, oh, we we we we we really

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Speaker 1: tried hard. This is we got to do better earlier

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Speaker 1: so we don't have these problems late. And I think

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Speaker 1: that that was an important thing Ashton wrote about with

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Speaker 1: Marcus Mariota talking about having to turn things on early. Um,

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Speaker 1: the reason why I didn't know about the end of

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Speaker 1: the Huntley quote tory is because I was desperately searching

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Speaker 1: another story to find a quote by Lorenzo Carter Um,

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Speaker 1: who I thought was, uh, was like pretty good on

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Speaker 1: this topic as well, you know, and and and and

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Speaker 1: that's why I look at it, which, yeah, and I

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Speaker 1: think that I think it's good that these guys realize

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Speaker 1: it's not like, oh, we came up just short. It's actually,

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Speaker 1: you know, something more than that. Lorenzo carter said, we

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Speaker 1: definitely have to clean it up and make more plays

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Speaker 1: early in the game that might keep us from having

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Speaker 1: to fight for our lives at the end. And that's

429
00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,200
Speaker 1: what's happening. Right. They were down twenty one, and they

430
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 1: need nothing short of a football miracle, Right, They're down

431
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,040
Speaker 1: twenty eight. They're down twenty five points to the Rams,

432
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 1: and they need something crazy to happen to try to

433
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,680
Speaker 1: get back into it. Well, if they didn't fall back

434
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,720
Speaker 1: that far, you wouldn't have to climb so far to

435
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,320
Speaker 1: get back out of the hole that you dug, right,

436
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,359
Speaker 1: So I think that that's an important thing moving forward.

437
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 1: I'll just talk about the defense, right, and then Ashton,

438
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 1: you can talk about it from the offensive side. Defensively,

439
00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,960
Speaker 1: we've seen their strongest play has come in the fourth

440
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,800
Speaker 1: quarter over final drives. I thought they did a really

441
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,200
Speaker 1: good job containing the run of the Bucks, but Tom

442
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,959
Speaker 1: Brady's quick passing game was an absolute killer. Too often

443
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 1: they were getting the Tampa Bay in third downs, but

444
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,840
Speaker 1: they were third and manageable or third and short, and

445
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,680
Speaker 1: they were being converted. They were they were executing so

446
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,640
Speaker 1: many plays, and I think that eventually that that does

447
00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 1: wear on you. Eventually, they did give up some touchdown

448
00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:02,800
Speaker 1: and it was just too much before they kind of

449
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,439
Speaker 1: kicked it in gear and shut things down in the

450
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,640
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. So ultimately, I agree with Lorenzo, I agree

451
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,320
Speaker 1: with Jake, and I agree with what Aston is going

452
00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:14,840
Speaker 1: to tell you about what Marcus said and that you

453
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,199
Speaker 1: can't start that flat against the quality team and expect

454
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,720
Speaker 1: to come out with a victory. We said before, we're

455
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 1: not writing the Falcons off of any game anymore. They

456
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,320
Speaker 1: have shown us reason that they can that they can

457
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,000
Speaker 1: compete with anybody. But that means competing all the time.

458
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean only competing in the third and the

459
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,960
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. He means kicking it in earlier. That didn't

460
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:38,439
Speaker 1: happen defensively, Ashton, What did you think of their offensive performance? Yeah,

461
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,679
Speaker 1: I mean so in first the two first quarters alone,

462
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,199
Speaker 1: the Falcons had eighty nine total net yards compared to

463
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:49,760
Speaker 1: Tampa Bays two hundred ninety seven net yards. But Marcus

464
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 1: Mariota hit it right on the head. They have to

465
00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:54,159
Speaker 1: be better on the first and second downs. They just

466
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:58,000
Speaker 1: weren't executing on first and second downs which were pretty

467
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,600
Speaker 1: which were you know, that costs them a lot. Also

468
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:05,880
Speaker 1: the costly penalties that the offensive line, the holding, just

469
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 1: all of those different things combined, um just I would say,

470
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,720
Speaker 1: knocked off the momentum of the offense. And I think, um,

471
00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 1: you know that knocked off and also effectoring Coppits and

472
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,159
Speaker 1: Cordill Patterson not being in So you now have to

473
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 1: rely on Caleb Hunt, lead Tayler out year, um Jake Glendon,

474
00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 1: young players to step up and carry a heavy load,

475
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:29,200
Speaker 1: and I think, you know, they were just trying to

476
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:31,000
Speaker 1: figure it out as the game went on, but it

477
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,119
Speaker 1: was just so many I think the Falcons were kind

478
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,080
Speaker 1: of messing up themselves going into it or throughout the

479
00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:38,399
Speaker 1: course of this game. And I think that's why the

480
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,920
Speaker 1: offense struggled throughout the first three quarters. To be honest, Yeah, Tory,

481
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:45,040
Speaker 1: where do you weigh into this whole thing as they

482
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,400
Speaker 1: try to apply kind of what they have learned from

483
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,800
Speaker 1: this game. I mean, early on it seemed like it

484
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,000
Speaker 1: was going to be lopsided in every phase, and then

485
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,920
Speaker 1: all of a sudden it wasn't. In a hurry, yeah,

486
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 1: I mean, I think going off of the offensive performance,

487
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 1: I through the first half was not really like upset

488
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:07,879
Speaker 1: by what we were seeing from the defense. Like, yes,

489
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,200
Speaker 1: they were giving up yards, but we have said time

490
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 1: and time again. If I said it once, I've said

491
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,840
Speaker 1: a thousand times already, like this defense operates in a bind,

492
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,480
Speaker 1: don't break type of mentality as long as they're not school,

493
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:20,639
Speaker 1: as long as the Buccaneers are not getting in the

494
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:25,640
Speaker 1: end zone, You're all right. For me, it really hinged

495
00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 1: upon what Ashton was talking about on first and second

496
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,000
Speaker 1: down and how the Falcons were consistently not able to

497
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,919
Speaker 1: get in a third and short situation. I mean, I'm

498
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:38,000
Speaker 1: going to have to go back and look at it

499
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,399
Speaker 1: and then see how many third and long situations they

500
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: were in, especially in that first half, because when the

501
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,120
Speaker 1: Falcons are in a third and long situation, they get

502
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 1: away from who they are, which we know is a

503
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,920
Speaker 1: physical run first team. That's who they want to be,

504
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,640
Speaker 1: that who Arthur Smith wants them to be. And when

505
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 1: you are in a third and twelve, third and ten,

506
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,600
Speaker 1: third and nine, you can't be that in that moment.

507
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:07,119
Speaker 1: And so I think for me, it's like that whole

508
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,480
Speaker 1: that's something that's going to be shameless plug. Like my

509
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 1: notebook's going to be a lot about like the offensive

510
00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:18,719
Speaker 1: operation when they get maybe three or four yards off

511
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 1: of a run on first down in comparison to when

512
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 1: they don't when they have an incompletion on first down.

513
00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,280
Speaker 1: So these are all very like minutes topics that we're

514
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,520
Speaker 1: talking about, but in a grand scheme, when you aren't

515
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,879
Speaker 1: converting at a clip on first and second down and

516
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,920
Speaker 1: you're consistently putting yourself behind the sticks on third down.

517
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 1: It makes it a lot harder for this offense to

518
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 1: operate the way that it wants to. So that's my spiel,

519
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,440
Speaker 1: that's my two takes on it. Yeah, and as we

520
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: kind of wrap this thing up, but I think that

521
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:55,320
Speaker 1: the roughing the passer call will dominate headlines and discussion

522
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,520
Speaker 1: on radio and podcasts and television shows and all that

523
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 1: type of for a while. But I think the latter

524
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 1: part of this podcast, the more the less grabby topics

525
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,280
Speaker 1: or what the Falcons really have to continue to work

526
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,600
Speaker 1: on and progress and improve at. As they moved through

527
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 1: a difficult stretch where they face the San Francisco forty

528
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,520
Speaker 1: nine Ers next week, they suffer the forty nine ers

529
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 1: suffered a lot of injuries. They're starting safety, they're starting cornerback,

530
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: their kicker and Nick Bosa all went down with injuries

531
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,960
Speaker 1: against Carolina. They're gonna lick their wounds in West Virginia

532
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:34,360
Speaker 1: before coming down to Atlanta. That's going to be a

533
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 1: big game. And the Cincinnati Bengals as well. This is

534
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 1: a very difficult three game stretch and that and they

535
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 1: need to apply lessons that they learned against Tampa Bay,

536
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 1: if they hope to go out there and beat the

537
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:47,800
Speaker 1: forty nine ers, beat the Bengals, get back above five hundred,

538
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:52,000
Speaker 1: and really assert themselves as a team to be respected

539
00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:56,080
Speaker 1: no matter who they're playing. So I think that's gonna Wow.

540
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 1: We went through a lot of stuff so much. I

541
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:04,280
Speaker 1: think that's gonna wrap it all up for Tory Ashton

542
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 1: and me. Please rate, review, subscribe. Just another reminder, if

543
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: you're a Falcon's Final Whistle subscriber, please go over to

544
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,360
Speaker 1: the Falcons Podcast Network subscribe there. You can get all

545
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 1: of our podcasts there, in addition to Falcons and Focus

546
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,720
Speaker 1: and Falcons Audible. I cannot wait to hear Dave Archer

547
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,720
Speaker 1: and Derek Rackley and DJ Shockley talk about this Grady

548
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 1: Jarrett thing. Also, one last thing, Big kudos to Dave Archer.

549
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 1: Right West Archers, I'm sorry West Durham had some flight issues.

550
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:42,080
Speaker 1: Dave Archer called this game by himself, by himself, or

551
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,480
Speaker 1: football game by himself, that's unreal, very difficult. The man

552
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,680
Speaker 1: really worked his way through it, analysis and play by play,

553
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,040
Speaker 1: all of it without a whole lot of notice that

554
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,160
Speaker 1: he was going to have to do that. Big ups,

555
00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 1: to Dave Archer. So anyway, thank you guys so much

556
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 1: for joining in, for subscribing, for listening, for giving us

557
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 1: that five star review, and we will talk to you

558
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:11,680
Speaker 1: after next week's game against the forty nine h