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Speaker 1: Dirty Birds. What's up? And welcome to another edition, a

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Speaker 1: special edition of Falcons Final Whistle, presented by Zaxby's I'm

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Speaker 1: your host Will McFadden. I am joined as always by

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Speaker 1: Tory mclaney and sarn Walk. We are gonna give out

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Speaker 1: some awards today, but honestly, the biggest award given out

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Speaker 1: this week was to our very own Tory mclaney. Tory

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Speaker 1: was named National Sports Media Association Georgia Sports Writer of

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Speaker 1: the Year. That is a mouthful, but it is a

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Speaker 1: mouthful for a big award. The first woman to ever

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Speaker 1: win this award and it's been going what since like

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifty nine. Yeah, yeah, crazy, congratulations, Thank.

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Speaker 2: You, Thank you, first woman from the state of Georgia

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Speaker 2: to win, and first team affiliated person to win. It's

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Speaker 2: not I'm like really emotional about it. I was like

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Speaker 2: when I found out, I was kind of like crying

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Speaker 2: on and off, like pretty much all day long because.

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Speaker 1: You keep saying that, but I haven't seen you cry yet,

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Speaker 1: and I want you to just start bawling if you could,

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Speaker 1: right now on the pipe, right now, just weeping on

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Speaker 1: my crap.

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Speaker 2: I don't have to handle tears content. We're doing it

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Speaker 2: for the content, but no, I it's kind of just

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Speaker 2: like incredibly validating one because I didn't even think that

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Speaker 2: I could be nominated for this award, let alone win it.

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Speaker 2: And the fact that i'm it's not lost on me

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Speaker 2: that I'm the first woman from the state to be

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Speaker 2: recognized in this way. I know I've said this at

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Speaker 2: multiple junctions, but it feels like just a really good

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Speaker 2: time for me to say that for women in sports,

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Speaker 2: like you deserve to have a seat at the table,

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Speaker 2: and not just one seat at the table, but many

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Speaker 2: seats at the table, as many seats as there are.

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Speaker 2: You deserve to take up space, and doors deserve to

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Speaker 2: be open for you because you deserve to be in

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Speaker 2: the room where things are happening. And I hope that

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Speaker 2: this as much as what an accomplishment I feel like

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Speaker 2: for myself and as happy I am for myself, I

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Speaker 2: also think that it matters greatly to the next generation

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Speaker 2: of female reporters that are coming up as well, that

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Speaker 2: they can now see that a woman can can do

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Speaker 2: this as well. Sorry I'm about to start crying, but

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Speaker 2: like I really, I really am super grateful and super thankful,

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Speaker 2: and yeah, I don't really know what to say, I've

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Speaker 2: heard from so many people, and if I haven't like

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Speaker 2: reached back out or I haven't like liked your Twitter

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Speaker 2: message or anything like that, I've seen everything and it

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Speaker 2: has been truly very very special, especially in the wake

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Speaker 2: of losing my Mamma back in October. The fact that

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Speaker 2: I was awarded this award two days before her birthday

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Speaker 2: was Yeah, it was incredibly special, I think for me

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Speaker 2: and my family as well. So thank you, guys, Thank everybody.

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Speaker 2: I just want to thank everybody for I know it

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Speaker 2: wasn't like a voting award like for people who are listening,

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Speaker 2: but I am super thankful for the Falcons fan base

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Speaker 2: for trusting me with your news and respecting what I

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Speaker 2: have to say.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome. Again, Congratulations, It's been an incredible year, right,

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Speaker 1: Like I joined halfway through, but even being somebody who

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Speaker 1: followed you for a long time and was aware of

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Speaker 1: everything going on with this organization, I had immense respect

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Speaker 1: for everything that you kind of like held together through

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Speaker 1: a coaching change, through a tumultuous off season that involved

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Speaker 1: a quarterback being brought in twice, right, yeah.

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Speaker 2: And retiring another one. Like I think that's what people

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Speaker 2: the funniest thing is when people ask us, like, what

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Speaker 2: do you do in the off season everything, and I

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Speaker 2: wish like that's the thing is like I think people

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Speaker 2: don't necessarily Especially last off season, it was like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: we went through a coaching search, new coaching hires, free agency,

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Speaker 2: got Kirk Cousins, Darnel Mooney retired, Matt Ryan retired, and

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Speaker 2: was putting the Ring of Honor.

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Speaker 1: We did.

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Speaker 2: All of this stuff for the draft and OTAs and

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Speaker 2: training camp and all. Amongst all of that, we're working

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Speaker 2: on Grady Jarrett a ten year documentary. Tarren's working on

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Speaker 2: a big bajon project. We're hiring Will.

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Speaker 3: Like there off about the office, There.

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Speaker 2: Was nothing off about what we did in twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 2: And I'm just so proud of the work that we

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Speaker 2: did collectively as a unit as much as I am

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Speaker 2: just myself as well.

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Speaker 1: And see that That is a great sales pitch for

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Speaker 1: why everybody should stay tuned into this podcast throughout the

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Speaker 1: off season because it is very busy and we will

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Speaker 1: be covering all of it. Free agency, the draft. Hopefully

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Speaker 1: it's not as hectic is the one you just described,

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Speaker 1: but it's going to be important and So we're going

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Speaker 1: to start before we get to our final whistles, which

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Speaker 1: are going to be some season long awards and a

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Speaker 1: good bit of fun, We're going to start with the

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Speaker 1: importance of this offseason and tarn We heard from general

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Speaker 1: manager Terry Fontina today about kind of his mindset on

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Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four season and the road ahead. What

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Speaker 1: was one of your biggest takeaways.

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Speaker 3: I think the thing that stood out to me most

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Speaker 3: was how he handled answering questions when it came to

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Speaker 3: these big off season signings of veterans, because he did

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Speaker 3: it and like I'm talking about Matthew Judon, Justin Simmons,

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Speaker 3: even Kirk Cousins, because he did all that with the

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Speaker 3: hope that it was a win now mentality. Not the

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Speaker 3: hope that was the plan. It was a win now

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Speaker 3: mentality with the twenty twenty four roster, and you didn't

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Speaker 3: see that, and he acknowledged that that was the thought

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Speaker 3: process behind all those guys, which makes me curious about

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Speaker 3: how they're going to handle twenty twenty five, especially with

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Speaker 3: those such as Matthew and Justin who were on one

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Speaker 3: year deals, Like do you bring them back even though

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Speaker 3: they didn't do necessarily what you wanted in twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 3: Do you keep a win now mentality even though say,

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Speaker 3: like your offense is super young. I think you have

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Speaker 3: to keep the win now mentality. But do you go

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Speaker 3: about it differently than bringing in veterans thinking that they're

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Speaker 3: the solution, because in my mind, sometimes a veteran can

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Speaker 3: just be a band aid when you need to fully

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Speaker 3: heal the wound.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean you previously covered the Falcon's biggest

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Speaker 1: foe in New Orleans, and I think there is really

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Speaker 1: few organizations as emblematic as a doubling down on the

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Speaker 1: win now mentality over the last decade or so. Then

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Speaker 1: New Orleans, Right, they went from Drew Brees, but they said, hey,

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Speaker 1: let's keep a rolling, We're keeping the band together, and

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Speaker 1: they really tried to push it down and you know,

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Speaker 1: now maybe they're they're trickling out now. So we'll see

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Speaker 1: what the Falcons ultimately do this offseason. But yeah, they've

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Speaker 1: got pieces that you like going into the year, so

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Speaker 1: I do think they want to keep this thing going

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Speaker 1: and obviously get into the playoffs. Tory, what was one

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Speaker 1: of your biggest.

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Speaker 2: Takeways It had to do with the Kirk Cousins of

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Speaker 2: it all, and the decision that the organization has to

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Speaker 2: make about what Kirk cousins future is in Atlanta and

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Speaker 2: if there is a future in Atlanta, And that was

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Speaker 2: the one thing that I think because of the nature

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Speaker 2: of the contract that he was dealt ninety million dollars

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Speaker 2: guaranteed for four years to two years is what Terry

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Speaker 2: said was fully guaranteed. And then also the reconciliation of

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Speaker 2: the fact that that was a move that was cited

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Speaker 2: in a tampering violation, So you lose a fifth round

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Speaker 2: draft pick, and now you're sitting there paying your backup

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Speaker 2: quarterback essentially having a cap hit in twenty twenty five

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Speaker 2: or forty million dollars, and that's a tough pill to

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Speaker 2: swallow when the overarching plan and the overarching thought process

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Speaker 2: was that Kirk Cousins was going to be the starter

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Speaker 2: in Atlanta. And to Terry Fano's point, giving the organization

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Speaker 2: high level quarterback play for two seasons and then you

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Speaker 2: can bring Michael Pennox in, that didn't happen, and so

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Speaker 2: he has to stand up there and take the heat

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Speaker 2: for that as the general manager. And everything that he

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Speaker 2: said I thought was very interesting because it was all

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Speaker 2: a question of like, what do you do with Kirk Cousins.

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Speaker 2: That's the question. The crux of it is, you made

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Speaker 2: the decision, you did, You did what you did. Now

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Speaker 2: here you are. Kirk Cousins started fourteen games. You're going

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Speaker 2: with Michael Pennocks moving forward? What are you going to

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Speaker 2: do with Kirk Cousins who has three years left on

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Speaker 2: this deal? And Terry Fano essentially said that he's going

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Speaker 2: to stay on the roster and he is going to

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Speaker 2: be the backup to Michael Pennocks junior. There were reports

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Speaker 2: right when the switch was made in mid December that

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Speaker 2: the Falcons were going to cut kirk Cousins before his

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Speaker 2: ten million dollar roster bonus went into effect the first

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Speaker 2: of March in the league year, the.

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Speaker 1: New league year. That's Saturday after the move was made

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Speaker 1: Tuesday night, right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's very quickly that like there were national

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Speaker 2: reports of being like, oh, this is what they're going

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Speaker 2: to do. The divorce is coming. That was kind of

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Speaker 2: the prevailing message, and Terry Fanner said there was no

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Speaker 2: validity to those reports. The Falcons see themselves feeling comfortable enough,

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Speaker 2: and that was the word he used comfortable with keeping

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Speaker 2: Kirk Cousins on the roster and adds the backup to

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Speaker 2: Michael PENNOCKX Junior. And in essence, I think this still

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Speaker 2: leaves the door open for a trade. The Kirk Cousins

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Speaker 2: does have a no trade clause in his contract, but

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Speaker 2: that can always be waived by Kirk Cousins and his camp.

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Speaker 2: But to Terry's point, when he was asked about whether

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Speaker 2: or not you were going to feel he was going

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Speaker 2: to field calls for trade offers for Kirk Cousins, he said, plainly,

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Speaker 2: Kirk's agent, Kirk, his family, us, the other team, all

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Speaker 2: of these There's so many layers to it, and you

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Speaker 2: have to everybody has to be good with it, because

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Speaker 2: otherwise it's not going to happen if you can't get

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Speaker 2: everybody to agree. And so that takes the power out

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Speaker 2: of the Falcon's hands and puts it into Kirk's hands.

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Speaker 2: But that's the nature of this contract.

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Speaker 1: Well, and that's kind of the case. Yeah, it was

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Speaker 1: always that way, right, because I do think that proclamation

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Speaker 1: did a really key thing. It said to all the

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Speaker 1: teams in the rest of around the rest of the league,

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Speaker 1: if you're the Browns, for you're the Jets, if you're

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Speaker 1: the Raiders and you're looking for a quarterback, hey, you

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Speaker 1: got to go through us. And we have to then

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Speaker 1: work with Kirk about maybe potentially working out of trade,

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Speaker 1: but we're not going to release him. We're totally happy

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Speaker 1: with him staying on this roster. So if he wants

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Speaker 1: to be a starter somewhere else, then maybe you got

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Speaker 1: to look at that no trade clause a little bit differently.

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Speaker 1: And if you're another team looking come get him, He's

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Speaker 1: not just going to hit the market anytime soon, right,

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Speaker 1: So I do think that was an important message to send.

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Speaker 1: And to your point about the cost, it is a

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Speaker 1: little bit of the position itself, right, Like that is

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Speaker 1: the going rate of having a good quarterback room. It

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Speaker 1: stinks that he is the backup and you're spending that

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Speaker 1: money on that, but he's, you know, arguably the best

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Speaker 1: backup in the league outside of maybe a situation in

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Speaker 1: like like Pittsburgh where you kind of have maybe two

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Speaker 1: one bs instead of you know, clear one A and

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Speaker 1: the hope is that Michael Pennox will be that moving

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Speaker 1: forward for Atlanta. Mine was pretty plain and simple. I

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Speaker 1: thought Terry from the jump was like, look, we didn't

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Speaker 1: win enough games. We're very clear. I did the mail

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Speaker 1: bag this morning, which you guys can read on Atlanta

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Speaker 1: Fulkins dot com, and a lot of questions about like

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Speaker 1: the frustration from this fan base. Rightfully, so is is

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Speaker 1: at a very high level. And it was clear in

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Speaker 1: both Raheem Morris and Terry Fona's press conference that they

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Speaker 1: get it. They understand. Hey, look, we came into this

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Speaker 1: with our own expectations. We're frustrated and pissed off too.

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Speaker 1: I thought Raheem Morris after the game on Sunday was

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Speaker 1: about his frank and just laid it bare as I've

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Speaker 1: ever seen him, right, And he is an upbeat guy

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Speaker 1: by nature, but he'll call a spade a spade, and

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Speaker 1: he did on Sunday, And so that was I think

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Speaker 1: refreshing to hear. Now. Whether or not it truly set

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Speaker 1: in for the fans and they and they take it

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Speaker 1: to heart and they buy it, you know, is another thing.

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Speaker 1: But I did think it was important for him to

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Speaker 1: say I can sit up here and say whatever whatever

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Speaker 1: I want to say, but like that doesn't matter. The

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Speaker 1: results have to speak for themselves. So that's the mindset.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, what gets me is It brings me back to

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Speaker 3: the beginning of the season where they said the same thing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah right, we can talk all this positivity all we want,

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Speaker 3: but the results need to do it. And here we

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Speaker 3: are months later and it's the same phrasing.

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Speaker 1: But that's that's what makes this sport so on the

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Speaker 1: one hand compelling and on the other hand so frustrating

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Speaker 1: at times. Right, is because every well intentioned plan, to

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Speaker 1: your point, they went all in this offseason and kind

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Speaker 1: of a win now mindset, and you didn't get the

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Speaker 1: return from kind of the three key veteran guys that

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Speaker 1: you would have expected to get the returns from. I mean,

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Speaker 1: if there were three players going into September that you

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Speaker 1: were like, who are you banking on, it would have

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Speaker 1: been Kirk Cousins, Justin Simmons and Matthew Judon is the

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Speaker 1: new newcomers and.

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Speaker 2: They're the all pros. They're the prohole like, they're the

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Speaker 2: ones with the history and the experience.

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Speaker 1: So excited when Justin Simmons came here, I was like,

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Speaker 1: this is incredible. Right, And again that's not to say

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Speaker 1: you had a bad season and I want to get

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Speaker 1: ahead of our awards here and maybe it's a good

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Speaker 1: way to just segue right into that. But yeah, it

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Speaker 1: just kind of didn't all come out the way you

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Speaker 1: thought it would.

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Speaker 3: Cannon Ball was a really small splash exactly right.

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Speaker 1: You know, you gave you your best jump. You were

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Speaker 1: high in the air, everything was poised, and.

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Speaker 3: I think it splashed signings and it's like it was

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Speaker 3: more of a pencil dive.

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Speaker 1: A transition. There we go. Today's episode of Falcons Final

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Speaker 1: Whistle is brought to you by Zaxby's. And after a

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Speaker 1: long game, when I'm tired and I need to refuel,

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Speaker 1: I turned to his zax Pies, their marinated, handbreaded fried

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Speaker 1: to perfection chicken fingers. They hit the spot every time.

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00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,560
Speaker 1: Get yours with seasoned crinkle fries, a nice drink in

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Speaker 1: whichever of their twelve signature sauces you're feeling at the moment,

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Speaker 1: but it always hits just right. So next time you

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Speaker 1: need to refuel, go get yourself some Zaxby's. So let's

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Speaker 1: let's do h We'll start out with and these are

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Speaker 1: our final whistles, our first annual Final Whistles. Just a

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Speaker 1: good little way to go through the season and relive

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Speaker 1: some some favorite moments, maybe some down moments talk about

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Speaker 1: some guys. One last time, so most entertaining game of

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Speaker 1: the season, Teraren will start with you week.

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Speaker 3: Two, the twenty two to twenty one win against the Eagles.

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Speaker 2: I also have Philly Week two.

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Speaker 1: There we go.

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Speaker 2: It was the one. It was the most exciting game.

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Speaker 2: I was really really close to doing Washington a couple

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Speaker 2: of weeks ago, but I ended up landing on Philly

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Speaker 2: because of what that final one one hundred and thirty

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Speaker 2: three seconds like of the game, the last minute of the.

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Speaker 1: Game three, I think that's what it was. I've been

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Speaker 1: thinking about you going back a.

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Speaker 3: Minute in thirty nine seconds. The Falcons were down twenty

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Speaker 3: one to fifteen. As you'll remember, they had six plays

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Speaker 3: for seventy yards and one minute in five seconds with

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Speaker 3: the Kirk Cousins seven yard touchdown to Drake glunn In,

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Speaker 3: the Eagles had thirty four seconds to pull ahead to

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Speaker 3: like re win the game essentially exactly, and knowing that

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Speaker 3: Eagles offense, especially like with Jail DeVante Smith Saquon Barkley,

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Speaker 3: thirty four seconds was a lot for them. But instead

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Speaker 3: Jalen Hurts tried to throw deep ball to Devonte Smith

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Speaker 3: and instead found Jesse Bates for that game clinching interception,

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Speaker 3: And I think just the timing of the game too

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Speaker 3: made it much more exciting because the Falcons were coming

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Speaker 3: off that loss to the Steelers and former head coach

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Speaker 3: Arthur Smith. So to come in and beat the Eagles

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Speaker 3: on the road in prime time in such a crazy environment,

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Speaker 3: I like, yeah, one of my favorite stadiums just to

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Speaker 3: like experience a game in general, and so that one

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Speaker 3: was definitely the most entertaining it was.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think for it was the moment where

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Speaker 2: you felt like everything that I felt like we had

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Speaker 2: been talking about up to that point was like coming

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Speaker 2: to fruition. This is a team that's going to be competitive.

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Speaker 2: This is a team that's going to find a way

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Speaker 2: to win, that's gonna will itself to a win. This

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Speaker 2: is a team that has the veteran experience of Kirk Cousins,

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Speaker 2: who's going to be able to lead the team.

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Speaker 1: Your star players are making big plays.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, It's like there were so many moments in that

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Speaker 2: game where I was like, this is it. This is

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Speaker 2: where things are turning, things are different, and it's kind of

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Speaker 2: funny and also a little bit sad to think back

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Speaker 2: to that. What I felt, I think in that day

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Speaker 2: and what I now feel months and months later.

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Speaker 3: We're picking our most entertaining game in week two, when

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Speaker 3: everyone says your best football should be played in December's

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Speaker 3: that's fair.

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Speaker 1: You know what I was doing during your most entertaining game,

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Speaker 1: I was sleeping because I was in Italy.

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Speaker 3: Oh that is true.

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Speaker 1: I remember waking up at like two am my time

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Speaker 1: and looking at the score and I think it was

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Speaker 1: like six to three going into halftime, and I was like, oh,

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Speaker 1: that's good. I'm going to go to bed now, and

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Speaker 1: so yeah, so I just woke back up and everybody

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Speaker 1: it was, you know, obviously seeing the final score, I

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Speaker 1: was like, hey, that's great going to Capri. So like

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Speaker 1: I'll celebrate when we get back. Yeah, we'll.

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Speaker 2: We'll probably had it better than it was a great week.

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Speaker 1: For all of us. What I'm saying mine is a

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Speaker 1: little bit different. It's the Thursday night win against Tampa Bay.

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Speaker 1: I just think from start to finish. Obviously, that's the

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Speaker 1: game where Kirk sets the all time single game passing

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Speaker 1: record for the Falcons. Cadaryl Hodge has that incredible walk

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Speaker 1: off touchdown where like I'll still remember exactly his play

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Speaker 1: unfolding from my see in the press box, and it's

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Speaker 1: like he caught the ball and then a defender spun

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Speaker 1: him around a little bit and then he like just

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Speaker 1: got let go at the perfect angle to split the

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Speaker 1: defense and race to the end zone. Then him getting

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Speaker 1: like held up like Newt Rockney and carried off the field.

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Speaker 1: It was. It was just such a fun game from

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Speaker 1: start to finish, defensively, offensively, young Waiku making some big

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Speaker 1: kicks in that one. So it's it was just I

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Speaker 1: think a great time all around. The primetime games this

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Speaker 1: year were ultimately really fun for Atlanta. I mean you

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Speaker 1: mentioned Washington like that was another one there. There was

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Speaker 1: a good slate of primetime games, and I think the

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Speaker 1: Falcons buying large lived up to kind of the moment

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Speaker 1: in a lot of those they didn't always win.

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Speaker 2: But no, you make a good point because even the

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Speaker 2: Kansas City game in Week three, like that was a

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Speaker 2: good game, a close game. And the only one that

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Speaker 2: I would be like was the Monday Night against the Raiders.

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Speaker 1: Yes, that was that was tough.

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Speaker 2: That was just tough football, regardless of.

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Speaker 1: How there were some like fun losses, and fun is

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Speaker 1: maybe the wrong word. That was a lackluster win. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Tory will stay with you. Who was your favorite player

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Speaker 1: to talk about this year?

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Speaker 2: So it's funny because Will almost said that this award

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Speaker 2: was going to be the Cayden Ellis Award because of

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Speaker 2: how often I talked about Kayden Ellis this year, because

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Speaker 2: I did didn't miss a chance, didn't miss a chance

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Speaker 2: to talk about Kayden Ellis or brag about Kayden Ellis

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Speaker 2: or talk about the usage of Caden Ellis. And I

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Speaker 2: stand by that. Here we are at the end of

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Speaker 2: the season, we're wrapping up the twenty twenty four season,

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Speaker 2: putting a nice little bow on it. Well maybe not nice,

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Speaker 2: but we're putting a bow on it. And I I'm

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Speaker 2: just really happy that kind of what I said back

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Speaker 2: in training camp before the season started, about how important

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Speaker 2: I thought Cayden Ellis was to this defense and how

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Speaker 2: fun yeah the usage of him could be, and how

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Speaker 2: interesting and how unlike anything else you're doing with off

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Speaker 2: ball linebackers. Like I I was really happy.

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Speaker 1: That it turned out this is like your apple stock,

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Speaker 1: like ahead of the curve, and then now you're just

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Speaker 1: like reaping in the benefits everybody's talking.

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Speaker 2: About, and everybody's talking about Kay and Allison his usage,

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Speaker 2: and I was like, where were we all in June

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Speaker 2: like when I first brought this up. So nice, pat

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Speaker 2: on my back.

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Speaker 3: A second pat on your back today, big day for

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Speaker 3: Roll Tour, Ye Cadaryl Hodge. Okay, because pro bowler, first

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Speaker 3: time in his career, first of all, but he just

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Speaker 3: had such to go back to. He had a lot

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Speaker 3: of cannonballs that actually splashed to stick with an analogy

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Speaker 3: that I just made up on the way, No, I

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Speaker 3: don't know about coined. And because you had what the

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Speaker 3: two blocked punts essentially, I know one wasn't technically blocked,

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Speaker 3: but we'll give it to him on this podcast.

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Speaker 2: You had the.

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Speaker 3: Muff punt recovered for a touchdown and then you had

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Speaker 3: that walk off touchdown that you already described in overtime.

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Speaker 3: And this is somebody who normally wouldn't get any flowers

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Speaker 3: because he's not a starter. You have Drake London and

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Speaker 3: Darnell Mooney starting at wide receiver and that's Kadero's position normally,

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Speaker 3: but he has to make a name for himself on

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Speaker 3: special teams. And he said it himself once that he's

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Speaker 3: like I'll die by every play, like I'm going to

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Speaker 3: give it my all, and you see that from him,

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Speaker 3: and it's nice to see someone who works so hard

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Speaker 3: and doesn't take a single snap for granted actually shine yeah,

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Speaker 3: and like see it all pay off and be very

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Speaker 3: grateful for it and not really asking for more, just

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Speaker 3: making the most out of each opportunity.

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Speaker 1: No, I really do think you've felt that energy every

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Speaker 1: single time he was out there on the field. And

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Speaker 1: I can't remember if he was involved in one of these,

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Speaker 1: but I think he was. Like they had like three

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Speaker 1: or four prevented fake punts this year, which we always

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Speaker 1: just like gloss over when we're talking about special teams,

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Speaker 1: but a lot of times on like fourth and two

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Speaker 1: teams ran a fake punt and the Falcons sniffed out

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Speaker 1: every single one, which is kind of crazy, and I

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Speaker 1: think he had a hand in at least one of those.

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Speaker 1: So big year for Daryl Hodge. Big year four be

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Speaker 1: Jean Robinson And that is my pick finished. I believe,

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Speaker 1: third in rushing yards, fourth and overall yards from scrimmage,

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Speaker 1: tied for seventh with Sakwon Barkley. In touchdowns this year,

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Speaker 1: he had fifteen. You know, I gotta say, like coming

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Speaker 1: into the season or into training camp when everybody was

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Speaker 1: talking about the Christian McCaffrey type of role. I was like,

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Speaker 1: all right, but can he be that workhorse running back

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Speaker 1: who gets thirty carries a game? You know? Can he

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Speaker 1: be Michael Turner esque? And they're very different body types,

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Speaker 1: Like Bijan is not slight, but he's he's smaller than

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Speaker 1: your typical like rocked up, like give me the football

435
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:35,520
Speaker 1: and let me just go to town on the inside, and

436
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,720
Speaker 1: like he did it and then some He was such

437
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,399
Speaker 1: a huge facet of this offense every single game and

438
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,760
Speaker 1: in different ways, you know, Like I thought, actually in

439
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,320
Speaker 1: the Washington game, I went into that being like they're

440
00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,360
Speaker 1: going to attack the outsides off tackle, and they kind

441
00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:51,560
Speaker 1: of the first two drives like random right up the middle,

442
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,000
Speaker 1: and I was like, this is ingenious. It reminded me

443
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,760
Speaker 1: almost have Warred done back in the day, where it's

444
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,000
Speaker 1: like you don't expect somebody of his size to be

445
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,359
Speaker 1: as effective in between the guards like that, and his

446
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,879
Speaker 1: just vision, his smoothness, like every part of it. The

447
00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:06,760
Speaker 1: number of times he just like walked into the end

448
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,440
Speaker 1: zone from the two yard line and just everybody was

449
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:11,640
Speaker 1: kind of like chasing him. And then he made him miss,

450
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,119
Speaker 1: like the Tampa Bay guy who just he stopped and

451
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,400
Speaker 1: let him run right past. He was like, excuse me, sir, Yeah,

452
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,679
Speaker 1: after you, I'll score. I'll wait. Bajan was kind of

453
00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,200
Speaker 1: like to me, a defining player of the season this year.

454
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:27,320
Speaker 1: Now we've got our biggest what if moment and you

455
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,000
Speaker 1: mentioned the Kansas City game. My biggest what if moment

456
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,359
Speaker 1: is what if they made that fourth down conversion against

457
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,159
Speaker 1: Kansas City? Great, because I do think they would have

458
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,760
Speaker 1: scored a touchdown there. Yeah, and if they had, you know,

459
00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:40,720
Speaker 1: I don't It's hard to say the season would have

460
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,400
Speaker 1: turned out differently because that's Week three, but you would

461
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,440
Speaker 1: have gotten another win. I do think that would have

462
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,919
Speaker 1: instilled a lot of confidence. The team was successful early on,

463
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,359
Speaker 1: but imagine if you're seven and two at that point,

464
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,879
Speaker 1: right And I'm sure there are some moments that we're

465
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,080
Speaker 1: about to get to where maybe it would have played

466
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,040
Speaker 1: a bigger role for the second half of the season.

467
00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,000
Speaker 1: But I just kind of feel like that Eagles game

468
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:03,040
Speaker 1: and kind of what you were saying about the feeling

469
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,240
Speaker 1: of the team at the time, you doubled down on that.

470
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:08,760
Speaker 1: You get another big win against Patrick Mahomes going forward

471
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,159
Speaker 1: on fourth down, the aggressiveness pays off, who knows. So

472
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,119
Speaker 1: that was that was kind of my moment. But what

473
00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,320
Speaker 1: do you have toy.

474
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,719
Speaker 2: The non time out after the Darnell Mooney catch at

475
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,120
Speaker 2: the end of the Washington game, to your people are

476
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:27,879
Speaker 2: just cheering now to your point of you don't know,

477
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,880
Speaker 2: kind of like as the season goes on, you don't

478
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 2: really know how things are going to shake out divisional

479
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 2: standings at that point in time against Washington. If the

480
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,560
Speaker 2: Falcons were to win that game, they would have, I

481
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:43,720
Speaker 2: do believe won the NFC South. And the fact that

482
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,119
Speaker 2: it was so close to the point that we're having

483
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,639
Speaker 2: to talk about a timeout that was not called after

484
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 2: that Darnell Mooney catch which put them at midfield and

485
00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:55,920
Speaker 2: they couldn't get to the point of being able to

486
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,000
Speaker 2: kick a field goal that they felt good about and

487
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,160
Speaker 2: had to go to overtime and ultimately lost that game

488
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:07,080
Speaker 2: on prime time with all the playoff implications on the line.

489
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,120
Speaker 2: That's that's my biggest what if moment? If you call

490
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:14,080
Speaker 2: that time out, does it put you in a better

491
00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:16,680
Speaker 2: position to win that game and kick a field goal

492
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 2: to win it?

493
00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:18,920
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think it's one of the key what ifs

494
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,919
Speaker 1: of the entire season. Yeah, Taren, what's yours?

495
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:24,640
Speaker 3: So I hate what ifs personally because like, I don't

496
00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 3: like necessarily looking back and wanting to change things, because

497
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,240
Speaker 3: I believe everything happens for a reason. I don't know,

498
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,639
Speaker 3: But because I've been prompted the question, I can't and

499
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:37,680
Speaker 3: this will explain why I don't know how I feel

500
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,159
Speaker 3: about what ifs. What if they had played Michael Pennix

501
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,439
Speaker 3: Junior earlier because you can see in real time the

502
00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,160
Speaker 3: connections he was building with his receivers. You could see

503
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 3: him learning in real time, like from his own mistakes,

504
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,119
Speaker 3: and I just kind of wanted to see like one

505
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:55,439
Speaker 3: or two more games out of him, Like had they

506
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,439
Speaker 3: made the playoffs, what would he have done? And So

507
00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,760
Speaker 3: if I think back, if they had started him earlier,

508
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:03,399
Speaker 3: would those connections have built more? Would they have been more?

509
00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 3: Would they have been stronger during the Washington game for example,

510
00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,399
Speaker 3: when the stakes were on the line. But at the

511
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:15,439
Speaker 3: same time, if you did that when right and you

512
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,479
Speaker 3: can't take away Kirk tober So it's kind of like

513
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:20,520
Speaker 3: they did the best. They put him in at the

514
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,960
Speaker 3: best spot that they thought they could have but what

515
00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 3: if I don't know.

516
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,200
Speaker 1: That's the thing, right is there's a little bit of

517
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,040
Speaker 1: a revisionist history when people are asking that specific question

518
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:31,840
Speaker 1: is why didn't they go to Michael Pennox. But if

519
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: you go through the timeline, yeah, it makes sense. Right.

520
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:38,600
Speaker 1: The Saints game was the first time after that Kirk

521
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 1: tober where it was like weird, but also that was

522
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:41,120
Speaker 1: a kicking thing yep.

523
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:43,040
Speaker 3: And there was a brand new head coach there. Yeah,

524
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:43,920
Speaker 3: interim head.

525
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,919
Speaker 1: Coach, right, so you always get that that the interim

526
00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,879
Speaker 1: coach bounce. And then Denver was just like everybody was

527
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 1: having a bad day that day. Come back out of

528
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 1: the bye week. Then it's the Chargers, all right, that's

529
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:57,639
Speaker 1: a real issue with Kirk, all right. That was that

530
00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:59,639
Speaker 1: was a hey, we got to be better here, but

531
00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:01,800
Speaker 1: then you going to Minnesota, you're not gonna put Michael

532
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,720
Speaker 1: pennockx in in that environment. Also given the Kirk of

533
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:06,879
Speaker 1: it all in that return.

534
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 2: Also to the point like I wrote about this, like

535
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,040
Speaker 2: you needed to give Kirk the opportunity to write the

536
00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,080
Speaker 2: ship himself. And so the one like if we're starting

537
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:17,879
Speaker 2: at the Chargers game, yep, and the interceptions that he

538
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:19,040
Speaker 2: threw and Okay.

539
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:20,920
Speaker 1: You say bounce back, bounce back, and that's what.

540
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:22,600
Speaker 2: You talk about going into Minnesota.

541
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 1: You have a bad game in Minnesota. You threw that

542
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,199
Speaker 1: late pick right that was then becoming again like a

543
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,919
Speaker 1: troubling concern. But by and large, like they were it

544
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 1: was twenty one to twenty one at one point, and

545
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 1: like going into the second half, and they were in that.

546
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,160
Speaker 3: Game, yeah, until they weren't.

547
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,760
Speaker 1: Until they weren't. And so then it was Vegas and

548
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,679
Speaker 1: that was where you should roll over this team. And

549
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,080
Speaker 1: rahiem Mora said, we felt good about all aspects of

550
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,719
Speaker 1: that game outside of the quarterback position. And then they

551
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 1: make that move. So again, I would have loved to

552
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,240
Speaker 1: see Michael Penix Junior two more so because I I

553
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:52,440
Speaker 1: just think the guys got it.

554
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just selfish reasons more so than logistical reasons, exactly.

555
00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:00,760
Speaker 1: All right, So let's go to the expectation that never manifested.

556
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,440
Speaker 1: So this was a preseason expectation that just never came

557
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:04,960
Speaker 1: to fruition for one reason or another.

558
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:09,080
Speaker 2: Toy Kyle Pits breakout year, good one. I really thought

559
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 2: going into this year, this is a guy who's fully healthy.

560
00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 2: He has gotten his fifth year option picked up. He

561
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,480
Speaker 2: has a quarterback who at the time was one of

562
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:23,160
Speaker 2: the most accurate guys in the game, and you expected

563
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,160
Speaker 2: the production to look more like it did his rookie year,

564
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,240
Speaker 2: and it just didn't really happen. And there were a

565
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 2: lot of games where we were kind of left sitting

566
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:35,119
Speaker 2: there being like, where's Kyle Pitts and what is he doing?

567
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 2: And where is he and how are they involving him?

568
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, you even saw flashes of it early, Yeah, they did. Yeah.

569
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,080
Speaker 2: And then you see like the touchdown from Michael Pennix

570
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,160
Speaker 2: to Kyle pits at the end of the Washington game,

571
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,439
Speaker 2: and so you see it, you saw him, But did

572
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,399
Speaker 2: you see him as out there? Yeah, but did you

573
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 2: see him enough? I don't think so, not for a

574
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,120
Speaker 2: number four overall pick. I said this time and time again.

575
00:26:57,800 --> 00:26:59,640
Speaker 2: I thought in the last three games of the season,

576
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,040
Speaker 2: Drake Glendon, Jean Robinson and Michael Pinnix Junior played up

577
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:04,440
Speaker 2: to the level of their draft pick.

578
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 1: Yep.

579
00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:07,040
Speaker 2: I don't know if I can say the same thing

580
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,919
Speaker 2: for Kyle Pitts in a year where he really really

581
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:10,439
Speaker 2: needed to.

582
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,119
Speaker 1: I think it's entirely fair. Yea, yeah, that's a good

583
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 1: way to.

584
00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 3: Put it tern mine short and sweet with a winning record,

585
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,440
Speaker 3: I mean, seventh consecutive losing season, seventh consecutive season where

586
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,160
Speaker 3: you did not make the playoffs. You only had one

587
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,080
Speaker 3: more win than the past three years, and the past

588
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 3: three years felt completely different, I feel like than this season,

589
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,399
Speaker 3: and so it'll only pull off like a slight advantage

590
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,239
Speaker 3: over the past three I don't know. That's where I

591
00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:40,639
Speaker 3: was like, this is, to use Terry Fontina's words, disappointing.

592
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's where even though the season finale wouldn't

593
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:49,160
Speaker 1: have mattered in a playoff sense, it makes the feeling

594
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,359
Speaker 1: when not right now necessarily, but three months from now, Yeah,

595
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 1: next season when you're looking back, like just nine and

596
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,639
Speaker 1: eight feels better obviously. So mine is involves Justin Simmons.

597
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 1: I thought you would be a difference make her. And

598
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:03,240
Speaker 1: it's not to say he played poorly, like he had

599
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,920
Speaker 1: his moments. He picked off Patrick Mahomes against Kansas City.

600
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:07,959
Speaker 1: I think he finished with two interceptions this year. Like

601
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,240
Speaker 1: he was a starter pretty much about the entire season

602
00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,560
Speaker 1: unless you know when he was in the lineup. But

603
00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,240
Speaker 1: I just he wasn't to that level that I fully

604
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 1: expected and that he had shown in Denver. So yeah,

605
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,000
Speaker 1: he does have a game wait ordrobe.

606
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:23,760
Speaker 3: The house end of the season.

607
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,119
Speaker 2: Yeah, I shout out to the Gentleman's Playbook. Who is

608
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,360
Speaker 2: there the people who dress him?

609
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,400
Speaker 1: Well, if you want to address me, we can get

610
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 1: you as a sponsor on this podcast, right, Yeah, hit

611
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 1: me up.

612
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 2: Gentlemen's Final Whistle brought to you by the Gentleman's Playbook.

613
00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 1: Oh God, I'm gonna I'm so excited.

614
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 2: For me, Ladies Playbook.

615
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 1: All right, so let's now do unsung hero of the

616
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 1: team Tarren will start with you.

617
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 3: J D Bertrand really yeah, because he was a fifth

618
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,480
Speaker 3: round draft pick, he played more and more games than

619
00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 3: any other rookie. I think he was in such a

620
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 3: strong position group when you talk about Kaden Ellis, Troy Anderson,

621
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 3: and Nate Lanman, that he could just be a sponge

622
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:09,640
Speaker 3: and absorb it and learn from all of them, especially

623
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:11,640
Speaker 3: when all three of them are so different with their

624
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 3: skill sets, that JD can kind of just become Captain

625
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 3: America and the and take the best out of all

626
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:18,520
Speaker 3: of them, if you want to keep with the nickname.

627
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,080
Speaker 3: And I don't know, I just think he stepped up

628
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 3: when needed because Troy Anderson wasn't completely healthy, Nate Lanman

629
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 3: dealt with injuries, Kaden Ellis was healthy all season long.

630
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:33,360
Speaker 3: But to throw JD in there with someone like Kaden Ellis,

631
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 3: I feel like he stepped up to the plate.

632
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a that's a great pick because I do

633
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,440
Speaker 1: think his presence late in the year helped the defense

634
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:42,800
Speaker 1: when it was evolving a little bit after the bye week.

635
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:44,400
Speaker 1: So he got toy.

636
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 2: Charlie Warner, Okay, as someone who y'all know, I love

637
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:51,920
Speaker 2: some old school let's put our nose in the ground

638
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 2: and let's just run over some people. I don't think

639
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,080
Speaker 2: that's the saying, but yeah.

640
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:02,239
Speaker 1: Whatever the Grindstone has. Yeah, yeah, so that.

641
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:07,560
Speaker 2: But I I do not overlook Charlie Warner's role in

642
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 2: the run game and what he was able to do

643
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,160
Speaker 2: as an extension of the offensive line, and that's what

644
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 2: they call him. And I really appreciate kind of this

645
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,960
Speaker 2: old school nature of which he plays the position with

646
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,720
Speaker 2: and how he just loves the role that he has

647
00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 2: carved out for himself, and the fact that, like when

648
00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:28,280
Speaker 2: Bajon got over a thousand rushing yards, it was the

649
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 2: offensive line and they pulled Charlie into the photos like

650
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:35,360
Speaker 2: you're a part of this too, And I just loved

651
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,560
Speaker 2: watching you play, and I loved being able to break

652
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 2: down film and watch the All twenty two and seeing

653
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,000
Speaker 2: how much of a difference he made in Bajon and

654
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 2: Tyler getting to the next level.

655
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, it reminds me of when, like, you know, an

656
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 1: offensive lineman comes down, they designate him as an eligible receiver.

657
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:53,880
Speaker 1: Charlie Warner is like an eligible receiver who's designated as

658
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman. Yeah, so that's a that's a great call.

659
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 1: And I think the success Jean had and Tyler too,

660
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 1: like that owes a lot to Charlie. Mine is somebody

661
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,360
Speaker 1: who was a starter throughout the year but just didn't

662
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:07,880
Speaker 1: get I think the recognition relative to his play. And

663
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,680
Speaker 1: that's Mike Cues, you know, A j Trell had, in

664
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,400
Speaker 1: my opinion, just as good of a year as he

665
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:15,640
Speaker 1: did in his second season when he was a second

666
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,560
Speaker 1: team All Pro and they were throwing at Mike Cues

667
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,440
Speaker 1: a lot. They were throwing a d offered a lot,

668
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: and I think Mike Hughes handled it really really well.

669
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 1: He you know, the end of the season maybe wasn't

670
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,479
Speaker 1: as strong as as like the first three quarters of it.

671
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,760
Speaker 1: But again, he was somebody when we look back at

672
00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,720
Speaker 1: training camp in preseason and talked all about who is

673
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,160
Speaker 1: going to be that number two corner and the Clark

674
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 1: Phillips Mike Ces battle. He just took that job and

675
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 1: ran with it, and he shut down a few really

676
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,840
Speaker 1: good passing games in addition to Jesse Simmons or Justin Simmons. Esse,

677
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,600
Speaker 1: this is just worth ending the way we started. Let's

678
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 1: go baby, all right, So let's now do a Terran

679
00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:02,160
Speaker 1: favorite over here. A standout stats walk a word, guys.

680
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 3: Don't call me a nerd. I it's not even that

681
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 3: like nuanced of a stat So I am a little

682
00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,720
Speaker 3: bit like, oh, I should have done better. But in

683
00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 3: just his second season, Jean Robinson broke into the top

684
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,160
Speaker 3: ten in rushing because he has twenty four hundred and

685
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 3: thirty two career yards. Now that puts me at number ten.

686
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:24,160
Speaker 3: What makes this so interesting is Tyler Algier is eleven

687
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,720
Speaker 3: with twenty three hundred and sixty two career yards and

688
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,440
Speaker 3: Tyler came in with seven hundred and forty two yards

689
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,800
Speaker 3: on Bajon. Yeah, I head of Bajeon and Bejon was

690
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 3: like surpass.

691
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,640
Speaker 1: So those are the career all time rushing yard career.

692
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,280
Speaker 3: And so like Bajon's already in the top ten in

693
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:46,000
Speaker 3: year two, Tyler's in the top eleven because of Bajon

694
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 3: and year three. But I just think it's crazy that Bajeon,

695
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:55,440
Speaker 3: even though Tyler had such a head start statistically, was

696
00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:56,520
Speaker 3: able to pass him.

697
00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,000
Speaker 1: That It is crazy. It's something I didn't even realize

698
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 1: when I tweeted that Tyler had moved into the top ten.

699
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 1: It was like, actually, Bajon's in there now and Tyler's eleven.

700
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,800
Speaker 1: It's like that was so not on my radar because

701
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,280
Speaker 1: that's honestly how incredible it is. So Tori, what is yours?

702
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:15,720
Speaker 2: I'm gonna stick with actually a Bajon status that's crazy.

703
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,080
Speaker 2: That just goes to show like what type of season

704
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 2: he had. But my Bajon stats stand out staut of

705
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:23,720
Speaker 2: the year that he led the league in miss tackles

706
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,640
Speaker 2: force was that what you had? What I just like,

707
00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:31,160
Speaker 2: I couldn't not pick that one because I've talked on

708
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,920
Speaker 2: this podcast so much about how special of talent that

709
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,200
Speaker 2: I feel like Jean Robinson is and the way he

710
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,280
Speaker 2: plays and how I don't understand it. It's almost like

711
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,480
Speaker 2: alien esque to a certain extent, and no one else

712
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,760
Speaker 2: can really do what he does and it's very special.

713
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,440
Speaker 2: And I thought that stat, as much as any stat,

714
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:52,280
Speaker 2: shows you that aspect of his game, how he can

715
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,200
Speaker 2: make these split second moves and decisions and almost in

716
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:59,520
Speaker 2: his anticipation is off the charts. Again, one of one

717
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:00,400
Speaker 2: type player.

718
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,080
Speaker 1: There was a play in that Carolina game in the

719
00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 1: season finale that where they were right on the goal

720
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 1: line and he kind of gets it and everybody is

721
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,200
Speaker 1: where he is heading, and I was just like, he's

722
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:11,920
Speaker 1: not going to break through, and then he just kind

723
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 1: of like again, manipulates his speed so well to let

724
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,799
Speaker 1: everything unclutter in front of him, and then when he

725
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 1: notices there's my gap, Yeah, boom, he hits the accelerator

726
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,000
Speaker 1: and goes like he doesn't have that elite top end speed.

727
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,080
Speaker 1: But if you look at the number of plays, I

728
00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:29,000
Speaker 1: don't have this stat directly in front of me, but

729
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 1: it's a next gen stat, and I believe he is,

730
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:34,400
Speaker 1: if not number one, in the top three of number

731
00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:36,920
Speaker 1: of times he has hit like fifteen plus miles per

732
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 1: hour at the line of scrimmage. Like his acceleration is

733
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:43,680
Speaker 1: underrated when we talk about kind of his overall speed,

734
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:45,759
Speaker 1: and that is I think a huge part of it,

735
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,879
Speaker 1: in addition to that lateral agility that he has any

736
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,840
Speaker 1: credits Alan iverson too so big Big Bigan year and

737
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 1: it needed to be. But now we're going to go

738
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,759
Speaker 1: to a newcomer to the team, our Newcomer of the

739
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 1: Year award. I'll go first. I've got and I'm would

740
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 1: be surprised if nobody else has him. Darnell Mooney. I

741
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 1: also darnild There we go.

742
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:05,959
Speaker 2: Yeah, three for three.

743
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's our first match match match.

744
00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,359
Speaker 1: It's a there we go, triple triple match game set match.

745
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:15,360
Speaker 1: There we go. We'll figure it out. He it's so

746
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,359
Speaker 1: frustrating that he finished shy of a thousand yards right,

747
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,879
Speaker 1: like that's ok. Th one.

748
00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:24,640
Speaker 2: I was like to run a ten yard out route

749
00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:26,040
Speaker 2: and just throw.

750
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,520
Speaker 1: On Charlie Warner's back and let him run down the

751
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,360
Speaker 1: field and catch the ball, like take.

752
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,239
Speaker 3: The kick off at the twenty yard line and said,

753
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 3: give him a ten yard pass. Then you're basically where

754
00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:37,760
Speaker 3: you were going to start. Anyways, if it was a touchback,

755
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 3: were screaming with the other team.

756
00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:42,360
Speaker 2: I was so upset when I saw that he was

757
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,120
Speaker 2: on the inactive's list, and I was just like no,

758
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,719
Speaker 2: Like I was so mad, because like eight yards.

759
00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:51,959
Speaker 3: Michael Pennock Junior even said beforehand in the week leading

760
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:53,879
Speaker 3: up to that game, was like, I'll get that for him.

761
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:56,239
Speaker 3: I do think it wasn't given the opportunity.

762
00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:58,360
Speaker 2: I do think that it had to have been something

763
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,080
Speaker 2: seriously wrong with his shoulder he popped up in the

764
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:01,600
Speaker 2: middle of.

765
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:03,960
Speaker 1: The because you know he would have like if he

766
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 1: could have, he would have played. Yeah, like.

767
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,000
Speaker 2: Upsetting, But his.

768
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,719
Speaker 1: Chemistry with Kirk Cousins was one of the early highlights

769
00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,560
Speaker 1: of the year, just him like kind of breaking out

770
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:17,759
Speaker 1: in a way that I don't think people expected here

771
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,160
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, Like, yeah, everybody thought he was going to

772
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:21,600
Speaker 1: come in and be an upgrade at the number two

773
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,160
Speaker 1: receiver position, but there were plenty of games where he

774
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 1: was your number one receiver and that's you know, no

775
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: slight to Drake. They both finished with like over one

776
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,440
Speaker 1: hundred yards I think a few different times this season,

777
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,399
Speaker 1: and like, I'll never forget that pass against Tampa Bay

778
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,600
Speaker 1: where Kirk was just kind of like yolo and threw

779
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:38,799
Speaker 1: it up to Darnell in triple coverage and he came

780
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,160
Speaker 1: down with it, and it was like, man, this guy

781
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:43,640
Speaker 1: he was abut to prove something. You could tell that

782
00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:46,480
Speaker 1: in training camp and he did and it's it was

783
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,520
Speaker 1: really exciting, I think to see Darnell Mooney in a

784
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:49,919
Speaker 1: Falcon's uniform. Yeah.

785
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 2: One more thing about Darnell. If you are listening and

786
00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:56,799
Speaker 2: you followed my advice at the beginning of the year

787
00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,680
Speaker 2: when we were doing kind of our preseason predictions, and

788
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:04,000
Speaker 2: I say, Darnell Mooney's gonna be impactful, He's gonna get

789
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 2: some yards, and you picked him up on your fantasy team,

790
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:11,080
Speaker 2: You're welcome. You owe me a drink. If if that

791
00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:13,279
Speaker 2: is the case, if I'm talking to someone out there,

792
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:14,600
Speaker 2: I feel like someone had to have.

793
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:16,839
Speaker 1: You're like, it's like mad money in here. She's just

794
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:21,560
Speaker 1: like bye low on darn Ell Mooney. Low get in

795
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:23,040
Speaker 1: on Caden Ellis while you.

796
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:26,520
Speaker 2: Can Charlie Warner Gang Gang like. I have the people

797
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,680
Speaker 2: who I love like and I they they loved me back.

798
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 1: You know, it's a love story. Just say say yes.

799
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:37,239
Speaker 1: All right, So let's go to a highlight of the year. Tori.

800
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:38,200
Speaker 1: We'll go right back to you.

801
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,080
Speaker 2: Here's the thing hear me out on this Kirk Toober

802
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:46,920
Speaker 2: and I think that Kirktober is the highlight of the

803
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,960
Speaker 2: year because that was the most fun I had covering

804
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 2: this team in a very, very, very long time. It

805
00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 2: was electric what they were able to do against Tampa Bay.

806
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:00,160
Speaker 2: It was I mean, putting the wins together, put the

807
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,000
Speaker 2: performance together that they did, the fact that Kirk Cousins

808
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:05,120
Speaker 2: broke Matt Ryan's record on the night that Matt Ryan

809
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:09,239
Speaker 2: was inducted to the Ring of Armory. It was Kirktober

810
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,440
Speaker 2: and then like Kirk coming into the press conference and

811
00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:14,040
Speaker 2: talking about swag surfing and having the beanie on and

812
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:15,759
Speaker 2: being like walk into your trap, to take over your trap.

813
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:18,080
Speaker 2: Like there were so many things that happened in the

814
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:21,960
Speaker 2: month of October where I was just like, really I

815
00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:25,560
Speaker 2: felt the connection between the fan base and the team

816
00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:27,799
Speaker 2: for the first time in a really long time. And

817
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,400
Speaker 2: it's also a highlight because it was like that's how

818
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,759
Speaker 2: good it could have been, Like that was that was it?

819
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 2: Like that was what you wanted, that was what the

820
00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:41,400
Speaker 2: Falcons envisioned, And it was this like like flash in

821
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:42,960
Speaker 2: the pan of.

822
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:44,000
Speaker 1: It was his Icarus moment.

823
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:47,280
Speaker 2: It was he played close to the sun. And I

824
00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:52,759
Speaker 2: just also just the like significant downward spiral after that.

825
00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:56,040
Speaker 1: Well, but that's why, that's why it was the timeline

826
00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,360
Speaker 1: of everybody saying they should have gone to Michael Pennix.

827
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:02,160
Speaker 1: It's because of your coming off of that. Yeah, like Kirktober,

828
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,160
Speaker 1: well right, and you just got gets October.

829
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:08,520
Speaker 2: He had the pass leading he was the leader in

830
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:12,520
Speaker 2: passing yards in the month of October, like I don't.

831
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,480
Speaker 2: It was so it was so fun for me personally

832
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,160
Speaker 2: covering the team, Like the locker room was fun. Guys

833
00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,360
Speaker 2: were having a good time like and then it just

834
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:25,319
Speaker 2: went downhill and again flew too close to some. But

835
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:28,080
Speaker 2: it will remain a highlight of I think the twenty

836
00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:29,959
Speaker 2: twenty four season. When I think of the twenty twenty

837
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,600
Speaker 2: four season, I will think of one Kirktober and how

838
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:35,480
Speaker 2: crazy those games were and how much fun it was

839
00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:40,719
Speaker 2: covering this team, but also the ramifications of Kirktober in

840
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:41,680
Speaker 2: the month of November.

841
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:43,239
Speaker 1: There you go, Taren, what about you?

842
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:45,879
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with the defensive turnaround after the bye

843
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:50,520
Speaker 3: week where they went from what was it, ten sacks

844
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,960
Speaker 3: in eleven games before the bye, but sixteen sacks and

845
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 3: six games after the bye. Forget about Carolina is its sixteen.

846
00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:00,640
Speaker 1: I think it was twenty one. Yeah, h there.

847
00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:03,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, depends when Omna's story ran, because that's right.

848
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,560
Speaker 1: I believe it ran. I think it ran before or

849
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:12,080
Speaker 1: after or before that Giants game, yeah, or maybe Washington. Yeah,

850
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:14,480
Speaker 1: maybe it was sixteen and four games, but they had

851
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,920
Speaker 1: the most in the league through the five games heading

852
00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:17,879
Speaker 1: into the final week of the Sea.

853
00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 3: She had the numbers already for me. I added Carolina,

854
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,760
Speaker 3: which was nothing, and I was like, well, this is it. Okay,

855
00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:26,400
Speaker 3: So there were two games after this story ran, but anyways,

856
00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,279
Speaker 3: it was a great turnaround, and I just like they

857
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 3: kept crediting self scouting, self scouting. I'm like, what did

858
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:36,080
Speaker 3: you see? Like explain it to me and Jimmy like wouldn't.

859
00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:39,880
Speaker 3: But it's just it's such a mad turnaround that, like

860
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:44,960
Speaker 3: I questioned sometimes, like the defense took the bye and

861
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,720
Speaker 3: made the most out of it. What did the offense

862
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:54,880
Speaker 3: do during the bye? It is hypothetical, hypothetical, and like

863
00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:57,640
Speaker 3: I feel like a no answer is also the best answer.

864
00:40:57,960 --> 00:40:59,960
Speaker 3: The silence smoke of a crickets.

865
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, for real, And I'll tell you what they

866
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 2: did differently, going back to my uh Tory mcelhaney Award

867
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:09,799
Speaker 2: favorite player to talk about Kate Nellis.

868
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:10,800
Speaker 3: But that's defense.

869
00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, the defense did that, you said, like, and

870
00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:15,280
Speaker 1: you said.

871
00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:20,239
Speaker 2: The offense no, when you said yeah, yeah, Like I'm

872
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:21,880
Speaker 2: answering the question of, like, what.

873
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:24,799
Speaker 1: Did the get one of these moments and seas?

874
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:28,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I I was answering the question of, like

875
00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:32,520
Speaker 2: what did the DVNSE students. They had more elaborate blitzes.

876
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:35,280
Speaker 2: They used Kate Nellis in a really fun, cool way,

877
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:38,560
Speaker 2: as they should have from the runnering it was, and

878
00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:40,279
Speaker 2: they were just winning their win on once up front.

879
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,359
Speaker 2: Let's be honest. Sometimes it's just as simple as that.

880
00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:45,360
Speaker 1: Okay, you guys didn't actually pick highlights. Mine is a

881
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:48,799
Speaker 1: single play highlight, and it is Kyle Pitt's fourth down

882
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:51,600
Speaker 1: catch from Michael Pennock JUNR that sent essentially the game

883
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:53,799
Speaker 1: in overtime, and he did not know was.

884
00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:55,520
Speaker 3: The first touchdown pass of Michael Penick.

885
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,279
Speaker 1: Tried to just beat that ball into the stands and

886
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:02,279
Speaker 1: gets running after it, like yeah, Fortunately it didn't make

887
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:04,520
Speaker 1: it all the way there, so he got Michael Penix

888
00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:07,279
Speaker 1: got to keep that ball. Good for him, I think again,

889
00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:10,560
Speaker 1: it was just one of the hopefully many highlights that

890
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:13,440
Speaker 1: he will provide in the Falcons uniform, but on fourth

891
00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:15,640
Speaker 1: down to see him just rip that ball in there.

892
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:18,200
Speaker 1: DJ Shockley had a great breakdown of the play on

893
00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:21,759
Speaker 1: a film review recently, so go check that out. But

894
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:25,200
Speaker 1: it's it was just such a great kind of moment

895
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,040
Speaker 1: on the road in that environment, and you saw the

896
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:29,880
Speaker 1: proof of concepts with all the arm strength and he

897
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,799
Speaker 1: threw it over the middle, which we needed to see

898
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:34,640
Speaker 1: and we saw it. So it was a big moment

899
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:35,200
Speaker 1: for both of them.

900
00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:39,320
Speaker 2: Honorable mentioned the Michael Pennocks touchdown against the Panthers in

901
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,920
Speaker 2: eighteen where he laid out to the front pylon.

902
00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:43,759
Speaker 1: He kept that.

903
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:45,840
Speaker 3: Ball too, Yeah, I think I would.

904
00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:49,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was very Our social team put together a

905
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:53,520
Speaker 2: photo of Michael Vick doing that almost same exact thing,

906
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:55,840
Speaker 2: and the picture of Michael Penick's doing it, and I

907
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:58,360
Speaker 2: was like, all right, this is what we're to your point, like,

908
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:01,239
Speaker 2: this is what you're gonna see, hope in the years

909
00:43:01,239 --> 00:43:01,520
Speaker 2: to come.

910
00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,319
Speaker 1: Yeah. Julio also had a similar diving play in that

911
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,000
Speaker 1: exact end zone at that exact pilot, So you know,

912
00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:09,480
Speaker 1: big moments from our big stars in Falcon's history.

913
00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:11,839
Speaker 3: Well, was really sweet on the last day of the

914
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:14,839
Speaker 3: locker room and whatnot, like clean out day. Pennix did

915
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,000
Speaker 3: a kind of like closing interview and he had the

916
00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:20,480
Speaker 3: rushing touchdown ball in his arm, and then he had

917
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:23,560
Speaker 3: something else that I can't remember, another touchdown. I think

918
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:26,920
Speaker 3: the point is multiple people are like, do you want

919
00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:28,160
Speaker 3: to put it down? He's like no, no, no, and

920
00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:29,640
Speaker 3: then Matt Haley from Comms is like, do you want

921
00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:31,680
Speaker 3: me to hold it? He's like no, Like these are

922
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:34,960
Speaker 3: way too specially, so he's like holding him and like

923
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:37,520
Speaker 3: cradling the ball throughout the entire interview, and he was

924
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:40,320
Speaker 3: just happy, like not happy about how this season ended,

925
00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:44,239
Speaker 3: but like talking about those highlighted moments, you could see

926
00:43:44,239 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 3: a genuine smile on his face. It means a lot,

927
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:48,239
Speaker 3: especially with what's to come.

928
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:51,440
Speaker 1: And where he came from the journey to the NFL

929
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:55,080
Speaker 1: right knee injuries, like going to Washington and making that

930
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:57,799
Speaker 1: situation work. So we've got two left and we are

931
00:43:57,880 --> 00:43:59,440
Speaker 1: already a little bit over time, so we're going to

932
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:02,680
Speaker 1: make this quick. The main thing to address this offseason,

933
00:44:02,719 --> 00:44:03,840
Speaker 1: Taren will go with you first.

934
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,040
Speaker 3: Kirk Cousins and his expensive contract is what I wrote down.

935
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, I think we heard from Terry on that front,

936
00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:12,440
Speaker 1: and you know, remains to be seen, but that's a

937
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:14,840
Speaker 1: great one. Mine is the number two corner spot. My

938
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:16,960
Speaker 1: cues is set to be a free agent, so is

939
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,680
Speaker 1: d offered. So you know, is that a potential area

940
00:44:19,719 --> 00:44:21,479
Speaker 1: they look in the draft if you feel better about

941
00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:23,840
Speaker 1: your pass rush. I don't know, but that's a spot

942
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:25,719
Speaker 1: that's going to see a lot of action given the

943
00:44:25,719 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 1: way that AJ Trell has played.

944
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:30,839
Speaker 2: I also said cornerback opposite AJ Trerell, could you bring

945
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:32,759
Speaker 2: Mike cu'es back? I think you could. I think that

946
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:35,880
Speaker 2: the thought could be there to bring him back on

947
00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:39,480
Speaker 2: a shortened contract and then also think about drafting somebody

948
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:41,880
Speaker 2: or going out and getting somebody else in free agency.

949
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:45,360
Speaker 3: The first time making is Kirk's cousins contract though, because money.

950
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:48,440
Speaker 2: My thing is is that I when it comes to

951
00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:51,719
Speaker 2: the corner, when it comes to the cornerback position, I've

952
00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:55,120
Speaker 2: been saying since A. J. Trell got here that he

953
00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:57,560
Speaker 2: needs a running mate. He needs someone.

954
00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:00,440
Speaker 1: Try Jeff o'couta has been here, see Hayward's been I.

955
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:02,799
Speaker 2: Know he has had a different running mate for every

956
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:05,400
Speaker 2: single year that he's been here. And I'm I'm ready

957
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:07,920
Speaker 2: to see sinstability over and if that's my cues, it's

958
00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:09,640
Speaker 2: my cues. I'll be okay with that. If it's someone

959
00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:10,799
Speaker 2: that they drafted's someone that they.

960
00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:13,600
Speaker 1: Draft, I love it all right. So last one is

961
00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:17,160
Speaker 1: I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. This is you know again,

962
00:45:17,239 --> 00:45:19,759
Speaker 1: the title says it all. You just wanted maybe a

963
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:21,279
Speaker 1: little bit more and you didn't get it.

964
00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:24,920
Speaker 2: So Toy, the Falcons didn't outrun the South. It was

965
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:28,160
Speaker 2: the one thing. It was their rallying cry. It was

966
00:45:28,239 --> 00:45:30,239
Speaker 2: the thing that they said that they wanted to do

967
00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:32,799
Speaker 2: and that was their goal of twenty twenty four and

968
00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:35,800
Speaker 2: they did not do it. And that's I'm not mad.

969
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:37,440
Speaker 2: I'm just disappointed.

970
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:39,880
Speaker 1: They did what I did in the Crispy Kream five

971
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:42,799
Speaker 1: K in twenty fourteen and Athens, Georgia just hot out

972
00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:45,080
Speaker 1: of the gates and then Win died in the back house.

973
00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:46,640
Speaker 1: There you go, Tarin, what you got?

974
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:47,440
Speaker 2: I did?

975
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:53,200
Speaker 3: Troy Anderson, okay, because injuries just plagued his entire season,

976
00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:54,200
Speaker 3: and not just.

977
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:56,120
Speaker 2: In an entire season, his whole career so far.

978
00:45:56,239 --> 00:46:00,000
Speaker 3: I was getting there and so like this year, you

979
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:01,560
Speaker 3: were hoping he was gonna have he was going to

980
00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:03,279
Speaker 3: be healthy because last year he spent all of it

981
00:46:03,320 --> 00:46:06,120
Speaker 3: on IR and then he had a really strong rookie season,

982
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:08,279
Speaker 3: So you're kind of like looking back to that year

983
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:11,640
Speaker 3: one wanting to see that again. But even in the

984
00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:13,760
Speaker 3: middle of the season where they didn't put him on IR,

985
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:15,840
Speaker 3: it's just like he missed so many games and you

986
00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:18,840
Speaker 3: kind of wonder, like, what would the defense look like

987
00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:20,960
Speaker 3: if he was healthy, because when he was out there,

988
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:22,080
Speaker 3: he was a difference maker.

989
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:24,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, if he was healthy, NFC Defensive Player of the

990
00:46:24,520 --> 00:46:26,560
Speaker 1: Week against the Saints and then I are the next

991
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:29,319
Speaker 1: and it's it's really tough, but yeah, he's tantalizing for sure.

992
00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:33,759
Speaker 1: Mine is Kirk Cousins. You know, I get it, right, Like,

993
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:36,640
Speaker 1: coming off of an injury, that's in a tough spot,

994
00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:39,359
Speaker 1: and everybody you know has maintained he was healthy that

995
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:42,359
Speaker 1: that didn't play a role, but kind of you get

996
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:45,719
Speaker 1: where maybe the mindset was pushing so hard this offseason

997
00:46:45,719 --> 00:46:48,160
Speaker 1: to get back to prove it and then to have

998
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:50,840
Speaker 1: it kind of start trending down and being able to

999
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:52,600
Speaker 1: pull out of it or not being able to pull

1000
00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:54,759
Speaker 1: out of it. I just I kind of feel for him,

1001
00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:57,919
Speaker 1: So I can't be mad because I just could put

1002
00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:00,959
Speaker 1: myself in those shoes. It's got to be really tough

1003
00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:03,239
Speaker 1: and really hard, and I think he handled it very well.

1004
00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:06,040
Speaker 1: I think his press conference is something I'll never forget

1005
00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 1: after Michael Pennix was named the starter and going out

1006
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:10,120
Speaker 1: and having to kind of face the media like that,

1007
00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:12,279
Speaker 1: I thought he handled it really really well. He has

1008
00:47:12,400 --> 00:47:13,759
Speaker 1: done what he said he would do and be a

1009
00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:16,719
Speaker 1: great backup to Michael Pennox. So you know, I think

1010
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:19,960
Speaker 1: that Kirk Cousins the person is still very high in

1011
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:22,640
Speaker 1: my estimation, even if the player left me a little

1012
00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:25,320
Speaker 1: bit disappointed this year. But hopefully this podcast did not

1013
00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:28,280
Speaker 1: leave you disappointed, dear listener. And that is a segue

1014
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:32,040
Speaker 1: of all segues. Let's go. So that will do it

1015
00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:34,279
Speaker 1: for this episode of Falcons Final Whistle. But there is

1016
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:36,680
Speaker 1: a lot more to come during the off season, so

1017
00:47:36,719 --> 00:47:39,160
Speaker 1: stay tuned. Don't know exactly when the next one will be,

1018
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:42,640
Speaker 1: but we will have a schedule pretty soon and we

1019
00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:45,000
Speaker 1: will let everybody know, So follow us on on social media.

1020
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:46,560
Speaker 1: I'm at Will McFadden.

1021
00:47:46,239 --> 00:47:50,120
Speaker 2: At Underscore, maclheiney, there you go at tarn Walk Beautiful.

1022
00:47:50,320 --> 00:47:52,600
Speaker 1: So that will do it for us today. Thank you guys,

1023
00:47:52,640 --> 00:47:54,560
Speaker 1: again and we will see you next time.