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

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Speaker 1: the Falcons Final Whistle podcast, presented by Zaxby's. We are

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Speaker 1: coming to you after a Week eight defeat at the

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Speaker 1: hands of the Tennessee Titans. The final score was twenty

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Speaker 1: eight to twenty three. I'm Scott Behar alongside Tory Mcalaney,

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Speaker 1: our partner in crime, Tarren walk is still road tripping

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Speaker 1: back actually with some members of the Falcons digital team,

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Speaker 1: So it's just the two of us.

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Speaker 2: This time, and we're obviously going to get into a

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Speaker 2: lot of.

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Speaker 1: Topics that you would expect us to get into the

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Speaker 1: fact that multiple quarterbacks played in this game, We're going

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Speaker 1: to delve into exactly why and evaluate the performances of each.

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Speaker 1: We're also going to dig into what Kalayas Campbell told

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Speaker 1: me was the first time this year that he really

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Speaker 1: feels like the Falcons defense got got and I think

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Speaker 1: that's because of what everybody saw for explosive plays for touchdown.

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Speaker 1: Those are his words, and Jesse Bates is as well,

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Speaker 1: too many explosives. And also we're just gonna look at

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Speaker 1: the fact that, look, it's not early anymore. We're through

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Speaker 1: eight games. The Falcons are four and four, still around

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Speaker 1: five hundred, which we can get into this down the road,

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Speaker 1: but preview in terms of my feelings on it is,

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Speaker 1: I don't think eight nine it's going to win the

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Speaker 1: NFC South again. I just don't think so. I think

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Speaker 1: they're going to have to do better and get farther

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Speaker 1: away from five hundred. The old stacking wins cliche. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: let's talk about the main headlines first, and that is

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Speaker 1: the fact that deswin Ritter played the first half of

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Speaker 1: this game. Taylor Heineke played the second. It's not as

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Speaker 1: simple as a quarterback switch, because Arthur Smith went into

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Speaker 1: some detail about why it's kind of happened, and Torri

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Speaker 1: you wrote about this for the website.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'll just present the facts as they were

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Speaker 3: presented to us, which was that that Falcons go into

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Speaker 3: halftime and they are losing fourteen to three. They have

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Speaker 3: eighty nine total net yards. It's not looking very good offensively.

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Speaker 3: They really and truly, I think you could look at

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Speaker 3: that first half performance and you can say that it

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Speaker 3: was flat and there was no spark to it. A

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Speaker 3: lot of three and ounce today, so that's kind of

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Speaker 3: where you were going into half time. Coming out of halftime,

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Speaker 3: you find out that Grady Jarrett, who went out in

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Speaker 3: the very first defensive series with a knee injury, he's

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Speaker 3: been downgraded out. Also find out that Desmond Ritter was

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Speaker 3: evaluated for a concussion and then he cleared concussion protocol.

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Speaker 3: That was something that came in at the same time,

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Speaker 3: was that Desmond Ritter was evaluated for a concussion.

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Speaker 4: He cleared concussion protocol.

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Speaker 3: So then you see Desmond Ridder come out, you see

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Speaker 3: Taylor Heine come out, Desnanhutter puts his hat on, Taylor

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Speaker 3: Heneke puts his helmet on, and then Taylor it was

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Speaker 3: the Taylor Heinike show at quarterback for the remainder of

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Speaker 3: the day. So, of course, the question is what kind

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Speaker 3: of what was Arthur Smith gonna say when question about

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Speaker 3: it after the game, And essentially what he said, and

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Speaker 3: this is this is what he said, this is his words,

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Speaker 3: was that desman Utter was not taken out of the

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Speaker 3: game for a performance based issue. Arthur Smith said that

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Speaker 3: it was because he needed to be evaluated for a concussion.

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Speaker 3: Of course, the follow up question to that is, well,

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Speaker 3: he was cleared for the concussion, why didn't he come

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Speaker 3: back in and to answer that, Arthur Smith said that

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Speaker 3: he wasn't a medical professional and that he was being conservative.

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Speaker 4: So that's the gist of it.

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Speaker 3: Taylor Heineke goes on to score or throw a touchdown

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Speaker 3: pass He was I think twelve for twenty one through

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Speaker 3: the air with one and seventy five passing yards.

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Speaker 4: It was a pretty good showing, I think from Taylor Henikey.

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Speaker 4: He's somebody who I.

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Speaker 3: Think that you know, we've known about Taylor henike for

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Speaker 3: a long time. He's a Georgia guy, you know, really

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Speaker 3: made a name for himself with the Washington Commanders organization

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Speaker 3: and with somebody that became really reliable for them. So

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Speaker 3: to me, it wasn't at all shocking that he was

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Speaker 3: able to kind of come off the bench and perform

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Speaker 3: the way that he did and really I think get

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Speaker 3: the Falcons back in a position to win the game.

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Speaker 3: They had a chance to go to go and win

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Speaker 3: that game. A couple of times they were within reach,

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Speaker 3: and so that was kind of the situation as it

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Speaker 3: was presented. And I mean, I'm saying all this and

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Speaker 3: I've probably been talking for five minutes and everybody's like, yeah, Tory.

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Speaker 3: We watched the game, like we know exactly what happened.

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Speaker 3: We were there with you, like we watched it. But

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Speaker 3: I mean, I'm just kind of to I just want

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Speaker 3: to make sure that I present all of the pertinent

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Speaker 3: information so that we understand kind of where this thing

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Speaker 3: goes from here, because again Arthur Smith was out, where

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Speaker 3: does this kind of leave your starting quarterback discussion?

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Speaker 4: Is it even a discussion?

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Speaker 3: Are you just are we going to go back to

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Speaker 3: Desmond Ritter next week when they host the Minnesota Vikings

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Speaker 3: at home? And he said, the game just ended. We

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Speaker 3: aren't in that headspace right now. And essentially it's like,

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Speaker 3: let's see how the week progresses.

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Speaker 4: Was how it was left?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: And that is and the reason why the context is

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Speaker 1: so important here and the reason why everything has to

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Speaker 1: be specific is because that there had been a lot

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Speaker 1: of discussion in previous weeks when Desmond Ritterer had trouble

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Speaker 1: with turnovers, loss fumbles in one game, interceptions in another game.

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Speaker 1: The question has come up to Arthur Smith, did you

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Speaker 1: ever think about going to Taylor Heineke after some disappointing

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Speaker 1: moments or not disappointing, but some critical mistakes that Desmond

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Speaker 1: Ritter had in important and close football games. So with

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Speaker 1: the numbers that he put up in the beginning, sometimes

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Speaker 1: that's the automatic assumption, especially when you're not playing with

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Speaker 1: a full deck. So I think what we're trying to

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Speaker 1: do is arm is to allow everyone to understand the

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Speaker 1: full context of the situation in as many layers as

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Speaker 1: humanly possible. So he was asked a bunch of different ways,

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Speaker 1: who's going to be the starting quarterback They're coming up

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Speaker 1: next week. They're not ready to make those declarations in

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Speaker 1: Nissan Stadium's ground floor before they hopped on a plane

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Speaker 1: to fly home from Nashville. So that's kind of where

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Speaker 1: we are. Another part of this is that Desmond Rader

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Speaker 1: also spoke after the game he was allowed because he

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Speaker 1: was cleared from after an evaluation for a concussion, reading

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Speaker 1: almost verbatim from what Tory said here. So since I've

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Speaker 1: given it's not plagiarism.

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Speaker 2: But basically what she said is after.

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Speaker 1: The game, Ridder was asked about going through the concussion protocol.

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Speaker 1: He was specifically asked if he felt off during the game.

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Speaker 1: He said, no, these coaches know us, like some of

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Speaker 1: our parents know us, Ridder said, and they just felt

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Speaker 1: like I was a little off, and again going back

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Speaker 1: to Tory's words, Ridder could not pinpoint the exact play

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Speaker 1: that triggered the zech Frey concussion. And that's pretty much

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Speaker 1: what he said. And then he also said that they're

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Speaker 1: going to go back in tomorrow and make sure that

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Speaker 1: he wakes up fine and make sure that everything is

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Speaker 1: good to go.

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Speaker 2: So that's the situation.

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Speaker 1: There, and that is where we are in terms of

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Speaker 1: knowing who's going to be the starting quarterback moving forward.

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Speaker 1: There is at least a certain element of uncertainty around it,

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Speaker 1: because Arthur Smith was asked specifically that question and did

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Speaker 1: not answer specifically with another with an affirmative yes, it's Desmond. Yes,

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Speaker 1: we're thinking of going to Taylor. They're just going to

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Speaker 1: get continue to evaluate based upon probably fur their testing,

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Speaker 1: and then make a decision from there.

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Speaker 2: Is that a fair conversation?

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Speaker 4: I think so? I mean I think too like this

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Speaker 4: could be definitely.

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Speaker 3: Something that we're talking about all the way up until

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Speaker 3: Sunday when the Vikings are in town. I really think

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Speaker 3: that this thing could could drag all the way through

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Speaker 3: the week, this this conversation about Desmond Mitter and Taylor Heineke.

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Speaker 3: And I'll say this too, like, I know there were

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Speaker 3: a lot of people that were, you know, questioning the

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Speaker 3: whole concussion conversation of it. And I will say this, like,

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Speaker 3: I don't know what's going on with that. I don't

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Speaker 3: I'm not privy to those conversations with doctors or medical

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Speaker 3: personnel or anything, but just knowing kind of path in

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Speaker 3: the past. You know, if you remember after the second game,

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Speaker 3: Troy Anderson played the entire game, you know he played

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Speaker 3: he played or was it the first game, first or

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Speaker 3: second game?

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Speaker 1: Right, I can't recall which one.

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Speaker 2: I don't want to be wrong, Yeah, right.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, but he plays an entire game and then comes

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Speaker 3: in on Monday says he doesn't feel well, he had

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Speaker 3: a concussion, and and it wasn't With these things, you

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Speaker 3: sometimes don't know. And you know, I'll give credit where

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Speaker 3: credit is, zoo where Arthur Smith was like, you know,

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Speaker 3: we're trying to be conservative, like we didn't want to

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Speaker 3: throw somebody out there who we personally didn't think was

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Speaker 3: was feeling all right.

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Speaker 4: And that's from what does said. He was like, they

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Speaker 4: thought I was a little off.

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Speaker 3: So just because I feel like I'm not, you know,

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Speaker 3: they thought I was. So that's just the situation as

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Speaker 3: it is, But I think like moving forward, you know,

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Speaker 3: I'm not going to get like into my opinion or

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Speaker 3: anything like that, but I do think that this is

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Speaker 3: something that we're going to be talking about for the

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Speaker 3: week as it stands.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's there's still even with the explanations that

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Speaker 1: we're given, there's still some nuance within within the timeline.

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Speaker 1: What if he's being tested right as halftime is ending

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Speaker 1: and they need to go with a quarterback to start

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Speaker 1: the third quarter. That there's just elements of it that

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Speaker 1: are missing. So it's impossible to say, you know, exactly

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Speaker 1: other than the information that we have been given. Okay,

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Speaker 1: that segment is now done in terms of the explain

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Speaker 1: the explanation that was given for why Desmond Ridder didn't

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Speaker 1: play beyond the first half. Now let's move on to

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Speaker 1: a separate discussion related but still separate that Taylor Heineke

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Speaker 1: looked pretty good.

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Speaker 2: God he's got a fastball. There's no doubt about that.

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Speaker 1: He looked assertive and confident in the moment. Look, he's

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Speaker 1: been in this situation a ton of times before, as

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Speaker 1: somebody who's come in in the second half and is

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Speaker 1: made has done some good things. He's been a starter

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Speaker 1: in this league for a while that that shouldn't have

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Speaker 1: been a shock. But I think it was impressive to

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Speaker 1: see that he came in and in the second half

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Speaker 1: Falcons scored twenty points and they were moving the ball

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Speaker 1: well now he was. Of course, I will have to

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Speaker 1: include this detail because it's just funny and it sounds

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Speaker 1: like Taylor Heineke would have said it. I guess according

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Speaker 1: to him, he's in the bathroom taking a leak. God,

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Speaker 1: and then and then he hears Arthur call his name,

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Speaker 1: and then he came out, talked to Arthur and was

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden ready to go, and when he

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Speaker 1: came out again. I think Tory listed the stats already,

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Speaker 1: but for those who don't, recall twelve for twenty one

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Speaker 1: for one hundred and seventy five yards in a touchdown,

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Speaker 1: and the fourth and one play that ultimately ended the

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Speaker 1: Falcons rally, which was not the play that lost them

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Speaker 1: the game but did stop a comeback attempt, was Van

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Speaker 1: Jefferson had a chance to make an easy catch to

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Speaker 1: convert a first down and continue that endeavor. Van Jefferson said, simply,

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Speaker 1: it went through his hands. He just dropped it. No excuses.

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Speaker 1: He has to be accountable. There was no anything about it.

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Speaker 1: He knows that he should have ultimately made that play.

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Speaker 1: How would you evaluate Taylor Heineke strictly on a performance

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Speaker 1: level and how he did in the second half.

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Speaker 2: I thought he liked pretty darn good. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean I think that he provided a spark that

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Speaker 3: this offense needed.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you look at that first half, and it

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Speaker 4: was tough sledding there for a minute.

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Speaker 3: I mean it was really it was really like every

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Speaker 3: yard felt hard to gain. And that's something that I've

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Speaker 3: said about this team before, is like sometimes they're just

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Speaker 3: like fighting almost against themselves to like just get going.

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Speaker 4: And that's what it felt like.

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Speaker 3: It felt very much like if you go back to

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Speaker 3: Week three in Detroit, that start, it was just sluggish,

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Speaker 3: and that's kind of where I felt as the first

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Speaker 3: half went into the second half. And then when the

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Speaker 3: second half gets in there and you put Taylor Heineke

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Speaker 3: in and the chains start moving and things start happening,

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Speaker 3: You get in the end zone, you build some confidence,

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Speaker 3: the defense comes up with a couple stops.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you feel different about it, and I know

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Speaker 4: that it's hard.

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Speaker 3: It's hard because I wish that we would have been

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Speaker 3: able to see a two minute drill led by Taylor Heineke.

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Speaker 4: I really do.

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Speaker 3: I wish that Van Jefferson and would have made that

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Speaker 3: catch and they would have converted that first down and

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Speaker 3: then they have, you know, two minutes to go down

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Speaker 3: and try and win it.

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Speaker 4: But that's not what happened.

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Speaker 3: All we can do is evaluate what Taylor Heineke did

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Speaker 3: in the two quarters he was given, and I.

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Speaker 4: Thought he led the team well.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you can't argue that the Falcons moved the

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Speaker 3: ball better in the second half versus what they did

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Speaker 3: in the first half. They didn't have a turnover either,

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Speaker 3: and that's another topic of conversation. The Falcons have had

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Speaker 3: a turnover problem in the last three games. They've had

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Speaker 3: seven turnovers in three games. That's not going to cut it.

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Speaker 3: It's just not so you don't turn the ball over

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Speaker 3: in the second half either. I think that you took

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Speaker 3: care of the ball when you needed to. All of

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Speaker 3: these things do kind of go back to Taylor Heineke.

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Speaker 3: But what I thought was really interesting was after the

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Speaker 3: game when Taylor Heineke is straight up ass like essentially, like,

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Speaker 3: do you think that you deserve to be the starter essentially,

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Speaker 3: and he goes, no, this is Desmond's team. And I

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Speaker 3: think Desmond has grown a lot. I think he's done

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Speaker 3: some good things, and you know, Logan Woodside and I

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Speaker 3: have tried really hard to you know, help him along

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Speaker 3: and help him as best as we can. And I

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Speaker 3: thought that was such an interesting answer, because I think

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Speaker 3: like human nature is to be like, yeah, I went

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Speaker 3: out there and I gave us a chance to win.

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Speaker 3: But the fact that he was like, no, this is

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Speaker 3: still Desmond's team, I think is really a really interesting

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Speaker 3: answer and one that I don't know that I was

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Speaker 3: fully expecting.

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Speaker 4: But I can.

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Speaker 3: Guarantee you, like Taylor Honekey, I'm sure he wants that

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Speaker 3: starting job.

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Speaker 4: This is a kid from Collins Hill High School a

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Speaker 4: chance to play, to be the.

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Speaker 3: Starting quarterback for your kind of hometown team, even though

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Speaker 3: he was a Green Bay Packers fan growing up, big

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Speaker 3: Brett Farv guy, like even in that that would mean

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Speaker 3: something to him. So even though he's saying that, like,

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Speaker 3: I don't think that, it's just like Taylor Honekey is

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Speaker 3: gonna after this performance, is just gonna roll over and

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Speaker 3: be like, all.

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Speaker 4: Right, death take the starting job back.

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Speaker 3: I don't think that's going to happen, and I think

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Speaker 3: it would be better if that doesn't happen. If if

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Speaker 3: Taylor Honnikey is pushing Desmond Ritterer, that's only going to

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Speaker 3: make I think both of them better because the best

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Speaker 3: one's going to see the field on Sunday.

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Speaker 1: In my opinion, the way this team is structured going

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Speaker 1: back to camp, everything is open competition, doesn't matter how

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Speaker 1: you got here. The best player is going to play.

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Speaker 1: And I still believe that to be the case. But

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Speaker 1: I think that Taylor has done a good job from

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Speaker 1: the moment that he arrived on what's a pretty.

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Speaker 2: Significant deal for a backup quarterback.

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Speaker 1: Six ish million bucks in the first year. That's not

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Speaker 1: right something in that ball. And he came in and said, look,

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Speaker 1: I'm here to be Desmond's backup. I'm here to help him,

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Speaker 1: I'm here to counsel, I'm here to make.

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Speaker 2: A good quarterback room. That's a quote that helps make a.

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Speaker 1: Good quarterback room moving forward, and I think ultimately that's

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Speaker 1: a positive. But of course, if you're a competitor and

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Speaker 1: you do want to play this, it wasn't the ultimate

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Speaker 1: end goal. He wanted to win this game. They didn't

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Speaker 1: win the game. It's tough to say that it's anybody's

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Speaker 1: fault necessarily, but it didn't happen that way. I don't

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Speaker 1: claim to have seen every Washington Commander slash foot Washington

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Speaker 1: football team game that he's played, but the style of

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Speaker 1: play that we saw where he's fighting out of would

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Speaker 1: be sacks. He's throwing the ball really hard in stride.

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Speaker 1: That's like the best version of Taylor Heineke. Now there's

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Speaker 1: another version that can be so confident and so gunslinger,

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Speaker 1: like you're talking about Brett Favre, that he can kind

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Speaker 1: of get himself into trouble right by trying to push

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Speaker 1: and be aggressive. So there are different sides of it,

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Speaker 1: and you do kind of know he's been around a

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Speaker 1: five hundred quarterback as a starter, he was pretty darn good.

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Speaker 1: I think ultimately one Washington chose to go in a

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Speaker 1: different direction. But this is what you want and went

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Speaker 1: back to what Arthur Smith said about him, is this

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Speaker 1: is why you go out and you get a guy

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Speaker 1: like Taylor Heiniek for moments like this, now we don't know,

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Speaker 1: you know, and moments like this is your starting quarterback

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Speaker 1: has some concussion related tests that he has to go through,

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Speaker 1: and then you need to get a relief pitcher in

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Speaker 1: there who goes in and things go well. How often

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Speaker 1: do we see backup quarterbacks walking and the whole thing

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Speaker 1: falls apart. That's not what happened here. In fact, quite

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Speaker 1: the opposite. It provided, to use your term, which was

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Speaker 1: a really good one. It provided a spark something that

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Speaker 1: you really felt the team get going. And you know,

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Speaker 1: I think that's that's important.

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Speaker 2: That's what you want from a number two.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I do think too.

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Speaker 3: And this is the question that I think everyone in

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Speaker 3: the Falcons organization should be asking themselves.

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Speaker 4: What is it going to take to win a game?

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Speaker 3: Like, if you are looking at the quarterback position, who

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Speaker 3: is going to put you in the best position to

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Speaker 3: win a game?

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Speaker 4: Period?

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Speaker 3: That should be the question, because you know, I am

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Speaker 3: more with myself a little bit because it's like, how

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Speaker 3: much time do you give Desmond Ridder to develop and

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Speaker 3: to kind of you know, he's only what twelve games

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Speaker 3: in eleven games into his career as a prow How

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Speaker 3: often do you or how long do you stick with

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Speaker 3: the developing ness of a young quarterback? And do you

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Speaker 3: think that Taylor Heneke can provide you a consistency that's

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Speaker 3: in the last three games you haven't had that.

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Speaker 4: To me, is the question, like, do who do you

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Speaker 4: think you can win with?

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Speaker 3: Because the Falcons have an opportunity in front of them

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Speaker 3: to be atop the NFC South, they just do with

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Speaker 3: how this whole thing is constructed, So how do you

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Speaker 3: get there?

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Speaker 4: Who's going to be the one to lead you there?

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Speaker 3: That's the question I have for this team, and I

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Speaker 3: don't have the answer to that. That's gonna come with

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Speaker 3: the games. I guess in the next couple of weeks.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, as you look at it, and as I mentioned before,

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Speaker 1: it's not early anymore. It's we're heading towards the second

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Speaker 1: half of the season, when not I mean, every game matters,

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Speaker 1: but it's those types of things that you have to evaluate.

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Speaker 1: And no, we're not going to necessarily give hard and

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Speaker 1: fast answers here, but those are things that you have

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Speaker 1: to look at.

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Speaker 2: You have to look at both.

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Speaker 1: It's so tough for a head coach who has to

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Speaker 1: think about the short and the long term at the

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Speaker 1: same time. Short term vision, long term goal, big picture, immediate.

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Speaker 1: Who can help you win a game, who can help

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Speaker 1: you end a playoff drought that's been around since twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 1: all these things that can show progress for a new

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Speaker 1: regime that not new anymore. But this is also I mean,

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Speaker 1: going back to it, Arthur Blank said back, this quote

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Speaker 1: will always keep coming.

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Speaker 2: Back, right.

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Speaker 4: I know, I know exactly what you're going to say.

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Speaker 1: He said in August, it's the third year of a

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Speaker 1: three year plan, and how does that impact things?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 1: So you got all these questions in your mind and

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Speaker 1: how the powers that be choose to answer them is

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Speaker 1: going to be pretty interesting right over the next couple

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Speaker 1: of coming weeks. But there's obviously a medical component that

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Speaker 1: has nothing to do with anything that we're talking about,

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Speaker 1: and that will get straightened out first and obviously take priority.

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Speaker 1: So are we good with the quarterback conversation as we've

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Speaker 1: kind of set it up?

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Speaker 4: I hope.

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Speaker 3: So I'm sure people are listening to, like telling having

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Speaker 3: a lot different opinions than what but honestly, we haven't

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Speaker 3: really given our opinion. So the whole reason for this

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Speaker 3: is that we just want to present the information and

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Speaker 3: you have your opinion.

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Speaker 2: Right, and that's the ultimate goal with it.

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Speaker 1: That's what our job is as reporters, especially present the

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Speaker 1: information in an unbiased way, talk about and analyze what

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Speaker 1: types of questions that are going to be going through

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Speaker 1: people's minds. Yep, And I think on the other side

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Speaker 1: of the ball, I know the quarterback part was kind

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Speaker 1: of long winded, so we don't have to be quite

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Speaker 1: as extense on that end of it. But talking to

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Speaker 1: Jesse Bates right he was asked about the defensive performance,

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Speaker 1: kind of kept saying the same thing. We can't allow

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Speaker 1: explosive plays for touchdowns. We can't allow us exposive play

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Speaker 1: for touchdowns, and there were a lot of exposive plays

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Speaker 1: for touchdowns. Kalays Campbell kind of said that there were

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Speaker 1: some things where they kind of got got that this

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Speaker 1: was a team a Titans team coming off of a

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Speaker 1: bye at two and five, starting a rookie quarterback with

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Speaker 1: and Will Levis with an absolute cannon and DeAndre Hopkins,

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Speaker 1: I don't care how old he is, can still do

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Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins things, and he did some of those.

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Speaker 2: Should there have been a flag on a couple maybe,

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Speaker 2: but it doesn't matter.

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Speaker 1: What matters is that that physical play was allowed and

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Speaker 1: that they were schematically able to get some matchups that

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Speaker 1: they wanted.

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Speaker 2: This defense has been pretty good for most of the year.

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Speaker 1: I think there were moments and times against Derrick Henry,

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Speaker 1: who in person looks like a monster, and I think

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Speaker 1: that they did some things that set the team up

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Speaker 1: for victory. But you can't just like we always if

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Speaker 1: we're gonna be critical of the quarterback for making major

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Speaker 1: game changing mistakes fumbles, interceptions, if we're gonna say the

434
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Speaker 1: defense needs to get more takeaways, then we have to

435
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Speaker 1: treat what happened here with the explosive plays in the

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Speaker 1: same light. And yes, that's unacceptable, but it's it's kind

437
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Speaker 1: of a new wrinkle, right. We've seen some explosive plays

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Speaker 1: get hit before the Mike Evans play. I believe that

439
00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,880
Speaker 1: was a touchdown. There was one with green Bay down

440
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,919
Speaker 1: the middle. Yeah, Sam Laporta with touchdown.

441
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,360
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean there have been a few and there

442
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:49,400
Speaker 3: there have actually been a few explosive touchdowns. That's kind

443
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:54,960
Speaker 3: of been a uh, a little thorn in the Falcons

444
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,000
Speaker 3: defense side that you can kind of get away with

445
00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,400
Speaker 3: here and there, but when they kind of of rack

446
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,639
Speaker 3: up to what you're saying, you know, four explosive plays

447
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,600
Speaker 3: and you know, everybody can talk about you know, however

448
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:07,560
Speaker 3: many yards.

449
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:08,280
Speaker 4: But what was it?

450
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,600
Speaker 3: Two of the four were thirty plus or three of

451
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,639
Speaker 3: the four were thirty plus, and then one was sixteen.

452
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,840
Speaker 4: So these are points.

453
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,479
Speaker 3: Being put on the board and in one fell swoop

454
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 3: and that that's not how this defense operates. This defense

455
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,080
Speaker 3: is one that's gonna like hitch you hard and get

456
00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,880
Speaker 3: off the field quick. And so these these long plays

457
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:34,720
Speaker 3: that have kind of bit them in the butt here

458
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,800
Speaker 3: and there a little bit really took center stage. But

459
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:40,400
Speaker 3: the thing is, and this is what I'll say about

460
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,199
Speaker 3: this defense. Every single time that they have said that

461
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,000
Speaker 3: they want to do something different or change a statistical metric,

462
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,840
Speaker 3: they have done it. This is something that I was

463
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,399
Speaker 3: talking about throughout this entire week with this defense, was

464
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,919
Speaker 3: that in week one they said they wanted to stop

465
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 3: the run at a more productive clip. Here they are

466
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,119
Speaker 3: having still even though with the touchdowns today they've not

467
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:10,240
Speaker 3: allowed they've allowed one rushing touchdown this entire season. Two

468
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:13,800
Speaker 3: weeks ago, they said they need takeaways in the against

469
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,360
Speaker 3: the Commanders they get to or not the commanders. Who

470
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:18,480
Speaker 3: am I thinking of? They got two last week, two

471
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,680
Speaker 3: turnovers last week sacks. They said they wanted more sacks

472
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 3: they got five against the Commanders, like, sorry, two turnovers

473
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,919
Speaker 3: against Tampa, five sacks against the Commanders.

474
00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 4: Sorry. All of these games are in my head jumbled up.

475
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,760
Speaker 3: But every time they've said that they wanted to do something,

476
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,240
Speaker 3: they've done it, and that I think provides a level

477
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,479
Speaker 3: of trust that when Jesse Bates sits there and says

478
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,919
Speaker 3: we can't have these explosive plays, We've got to limit those,

479
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 3: this can't continue to happen, it makes me feel pretty

480
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,359
Speaker 3: confident because there's a track record of this defense saying

481
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:57,520
Speaker 3: they're gonna do something and doing it and having positive

482
00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:00,240
Speaker 3: a positive change.

483
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 4: In recognizing that they need to change and then changing.

484
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,680
Speaker 3: So I say all that to say I'm not necessarily

485
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,440
Speaker 3: worried about the defense. This was obviously not the performance

486
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,880
Speaker 3: that we have come to know from this group at all.

487
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:14,359
Speaker 4: I would say, like, not even close.

488
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,960
Speaker 3: Like what Kalaia said, they got got on a couple

489
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,879
Speaker 3: on a few plays. So go back to the drawing board,

490
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 3: figure out what's going on there. If it's broken, if

491
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 3: it's mistackles, or if it's you know, busted coverage, whatever

492
00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:31,000
Speaker 3: it is, figure.

493
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:31,399
Speaker 4: Out the issue.

494
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:32,919
Speaker 3: And I know it's not a one size fits all

495
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 3: thing to use Arthur's Smith's words, but figure it out,

496
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 3: come back next week and limit limit them.

497
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,959
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's going to be important again as they

498
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,000
Speaker 1: continue to I know, nobody likes to hear the word,

499
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 1: you know, playoffs at this point in the year, but

500
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,680
Speaker 1: as you're thinking big picture and long term and you're

501
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 1: trying to keep your goals in sight and in frame,

502
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,120
Speaker 1: it's about trying to The Falcons have had a couple

503
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:02,120
Speaker 1: of different opportunities to really give themselves some not cushion,

504
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 1: but build an above five hundred record, and not just

505
00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 1: by one game or kind of falling back and forth,

506
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,400
Speaker 1: which is kind of what we've seen. They won two

507
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:18,199
Speaker 1: to start the year against Panthers and Packers, teams that

508
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,520
Speaker 1: in hindsight of course have three wins between them, and

509
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,640
Speaker 1: they haven't been able to be more consistent since that time.

510
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 1: Now we all know it's week to week and the league,

511
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 1: I mean, the Minnesota Vikings coming up are a great

512
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:30,680
Speaker 1: example of that.

513
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:32,720
Speaker 2: Coming into the year.

514
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,840
Speaker 1: That's maybe a pretty difficult game, and then they start

515
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: zero and three and then you think it's really easy game.

516
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,920
Speaker 1: And now they're four and three, right or I'm four

517
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 1: and four. So those shifts happen, and I think that

518
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,800
Speaker 1: I asked a couple of different veterans, especially those who

519
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:55,679
Speaker 1: had been through some quote unquote stacking wins, and the

520
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,960
Speaker 1: key component kind of the keep saying is the level

521
00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: of consistency that that we just haven't seen from the

522
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 1: Falcons to this point. And to that reason, they've got

523
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,119
Speaker 1: to find it a little bit more. Kalay is kind

524
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:14,119
Speaker 1: of even he's never okay with explosive plays, don't I

525
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:18,720
Speaker 1: didn't phrase that right start over that having as many

526
00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 1: as they had today is unacceptable. And that's about being

527
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:24,920
Speaker 1: attuned to what, as Richie Grant put it, being attuned

528
00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: to what the defense is being asked to do, being

529
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:32,600
Speaker 1: understanding of what the Titans or the opponent is trying

530
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,400
Speaker 1: to do to them offensively. Gosh, you look at it

531
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: and you think, if you can lower those critical mistakes,

532
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:40,840
Speaker 1: that that's what we're talking about. They don't have to

533
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,199
Speaker 1: be eliminated completely, but they have to be lowered to

534
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,840
Speaker 1: the point that the level of talent on this roster,

535
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:47,120
Speaker 1: of which there is a good.

536
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 2: Amount, can overcome one or two.

537
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,919
Speaker 1: Of these issues, but not three or four, not the

538
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,120
Speaker 1: volume that they've been getting. So in my opinion, it's

539
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 1: about greater consistency and within the concept of this week

540
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,679
Speaker 1: to week league thing. They just did this critical mistakes thing.

541
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:08,240
Speaker 1: How many times do we use that phrase? And that's

542
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,480
Speaker 1: where it has to change or you're going to look

543
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 1: back in weeks eighteen and say critical mistakes cost us

544
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:19,320
Speaker 1: a chance to realize our potential and then maybe you're

545
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: left short because the volume of them to even when

546
00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:26,080
Speaker 1: they've won against Houston and Tampa, it was still too high,

547
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 1: right that those numbers have to drop. Not everything is

548
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:33,880
Speaker 1: going to be perfect all the time. Tennesseeo overcame a turnover.

549
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,680
Speaker 1: They overcame some issues as well, But the volume is

550
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:39,959
Speaker 1: too high for the Falcons right now.

551
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 2: That's got to go down.

552
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 3: M hmm, yeah, No, I think you put it put

553
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,000
Speaker 3: it perfectly. I mean, and I don't really have anything

554
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,200
Speaker 3: else to add. It's just kind of like, you know,

555
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:51,000
Speaker 3: at the beginning of the season, I think when the

556
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,560
Speaker 3: Falcons lost, they were always especially kind of Arthur Smith

557
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 3: will be like, you know, it's just one.

558
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 4: That was something you said, it's just lost. It's just one.

559
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,280
Speaker 3: We're lucky it's just one and not you know, multiple.

560
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,080
Speaker 3: But as the season goes on, you've got to limit

561
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,240
Speaker 3: those just ones. Got it got to do exactly what

562
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,080
Speaker 3: you're saying, which is stacking wins. And so far the

563
00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:15,320
Speaker 3: Falcons haven't really found a rhythm to be able to

564
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:17,360
Speaker 3: do that. And yes, it is a week to weekly,

565
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:21,640
Speaker 3: but the most successful teams find ways to stack wins

566
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:26,160
Speaker 3: because that's what gets you to January and February where

567
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 3: you want to be.

568
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 4: So, yeah, I think you make a good point.

569
00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think let's just end it right there then,

570
00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:37,960
Speaker 1: and kind of There's gonna be plenty of things to

571
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,520
Speaker 1: talk about over the course of the next week heading

572
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:44,880
Speaker 1: into this week nine home clash against the Minnesota Vikings,

573
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: including the injury status of Kirk Cousins, which could could

574
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,560
Speaker 1: be have a significant factor on.

575
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 3: This game, and Drake Drake Lennon and Hearrett and.

576
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 1: And Desmond Ritterer and Taylor Heine and so on and

577
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 1: so forth. Yes, there were more injuries in this game

578
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,480
Speaker 1: than the Falcons have been fortunate in that regard. It

579
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:09,880
Speaker 1: will be interesting to see how they come out of it.

580
00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:12,280
Speaker 1: I did was in a scrum with Drake London. He

581
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,240
Speaker 1: did say he's fine, but that's one of those things.

582
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:19,120
Speaker 1: Probably doctor's got to say that because Drake is relentless

583
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,840
Speaker 1: in that regard. So anyway, please rate review, Subscribe to

584
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,520
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons podcast network on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Please

585
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 1: subscribe to our YouTube video channel.

586
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:30,120
Speaker 2: Why don't you?

587
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: There's lots of great stuff right there. For Torri, I'm Scott.

588
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 1: We will talk to you again with Tarren next week.

589
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:57,200
Speaker 1: See it