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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. I'm Scott

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Speaker 1: Bayer alongside Tarren Walk and Tory McIlhaney, and we are

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Speaker 1: coming to you from Mercedes Benz Stadium shortly after an

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Speaker 1: unwelcome result for the home team, a thirty one to

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Speaker 1: twenty eight loss to the Minnesota Vikings that pushes the

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Speaker 1: Falcons below five hundred for the first time all season.

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Speaker 1: It was a loss that was characterized right at the

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Speaker 1: top of Arthur Smith's press conference, the Falcons head coach

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Speaker 1: said that it was a missed opportunity. I tend to

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Speaker 1: agree with him, and over the course the next twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty five minutes or so, the three of us are

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Speaker 1: going to break down what went wrong in this one.

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Speaker 1: How a game that sure looked winnable on paper and

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Speaker 1: definitely definitely looked winnable during the game ultimately ends up

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Speaker 1: with an L.

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Speaker 2: Next to it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, big picture, right, missed opportunity. I don't think

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Speaker 1: anybody's gonna argue with that, right, But to say what

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Speaker 1: went wrong, sure, that's a big question, and like we're

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Speaker 1: going to dissect it. But you know, from a five

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Speaker 1: thousand foot view here, Tory, what did it look like?

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Speaker 1: Where'd this thing go? Hey? Whyre?

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Speaker 3: I think, oh, that's always great? Just starting with an right,

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Speaker 3: I think I think for me there was the only

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Speaker 3: person who I could sit up here and say I'm

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Speaker 3: okay with their performance was Young Waiku.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I don't think anybody else. And it goes from coaches

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Speaker 3: to players. I think there's a lot of from conversations

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Speaker 3: that we had in the locker room, whether it was

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Speaker 3: offensive or defensive players or coaches. Arthur Smith at the podium,

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Speaker 3: I think that everybody knows that this was a loss,

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Speaker 3: that there was there was apparent issues from everybody, maybe

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Speaker 3: outside of Young Way. And when you can't consistently, and

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Speaker 3: Arthur Smith said this in his postgame press conference, when

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Speaker 3: you're not playing in sync, it makes things really difficult.

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Speaker 3: It makes wins really hard to come by when one group,

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Speaker 3: when unit is playing really well, but the other doesn't

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Speaker 3: back it up. And I even wrote in my notebook

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Speaker 3: at some point it's like for every good thing this

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Speaker 3: team does, there's a CounterPunch of something good that goes

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Speaker 3: wrong or something that just doesn't not even goes wrong,

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Speaker 3: but something that happens that is either misfortunate or you would.

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Speaker 2: Like to have that moment back.

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Speaker 3: And I think for me that's the big picture is

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Speaker 3: like at some point this team, the only way that

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Speaker 3: it can reach its full potential is if it becomes

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Speaker 3: a team that plays in sync, when it becomes a

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Speaker 3: team that the not so good moments don't outweigh the

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Speaker 3: good moments.

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Speaker 2: Do you think, going back to like your analogy, there

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Speaker 2: where something good happens, something bad happens, is it one

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Speaker 2: step forward, two steps back, or is it one in one?

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Speaker 3: I guess it depends on the moment, And I think

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Speaker 3: it depends on you know, if you look at the

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Speaker 3: turnovers and you have but Jean Robinson fumble and then

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Speaker 3: the defense gives up an eighteen yard scramble from Josh Jobs,

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Speaker 3: that to me is, you know, three steps backwards, and

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Speaker 3: there's no there's no good that comes from that. So

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Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't think I can sit here

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Speaker 3: and say, oh, every single time something bad happens, it's

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Speaker 3: two steps backwards or you know, it offsets. To me,

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Speaker 3: it more it more in line offsets each other.

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Speaker 2: What really puts it in perspective for me? I remember

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Speaker 2: turning to Scott at one point being like, how is

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Speaker 2: this a one point game? Because the Falcons at that

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Speaker 2: point had three four scoring drives on the Vikings. But

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Speaker 2: then the Vikings go make one touchdown and they're within

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Speaker 2: a point. Yeah, it's because you just keep putting up

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Speaker 2: field goals or random safety. Well, here's the thing.

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Speaker 3: I'll go back to something that one of my favorite people,

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Speaker 3: Dnp's used to say all the time. He used to

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Speaker 3: say yards don't matter, touchdowns do, and nothing is more

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Speaker 3: parent to back up that statement as this Falcons team

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Speaker 3: in the last few weeks where they are if we're

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Speaker 3: going total yards wise, they're putting up huge numbers in

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Speaker 3: terms of how many yards they are accumulating as an

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Speaker 3: office offense, but they are not punching the ball in

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Speaker 3: and at the end of the day, all of those

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Speaker 3: yards to me are a waste of time. Oh yeah, Like,

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Speaker 3: I don't care. I don't care that you put up

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Speaker 3: four hundred total yards if you're not punching the ball in,

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Speaker 3: because at the end of the day, touchdowns matter, and

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Speaker 3: to be completely fair, yards don't. And we have seen

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Speaker 3: that over the last four games for this team, where

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Speaker 3: this team has gone and lost three of their last four.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think that it comes down to, you know,

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Speaker 1: missed opportunity for the game overall, missed opportunities in specific

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Speaker 1: with this game, right, the defense gives you the ball

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Speaker 1: on the one yard line and you and the Falcons

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Speaker 1: don't punch it in. How like that that was pretty surprising.

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Speaker 1: And I think that when you lose games like this,

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Speaker 1: and Tori like, we can go into more examples, but

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Speaker 1: like when like, when you lose games like this, everything

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Speaker 1: gets questioned, right, everything, And I think that the Falcons

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Speaker 1: understand the nature of the business and the nature of

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Speaker 1: the opportunity because they're going to have to here on

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Speaker 1: Sports Center and everywhere else on social media about some

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Speaker 1: obvious facts. These This Minnesota Vikings team did not feature

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Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins, it did not feature Justin Jefferson. It did

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Speaker 1: not even feature their starting quarterback Jaron Hall. Yeah, who's

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Speaker 1: a rookie, who's a rookie for more than one series.

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Speaker 1: And Josh Dobbs comes in after being acquired earlier in

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Speaker 1: the week, with very few practices, with very few experience

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Speaker 1: with these guys, and finds a way. Now we've seen

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Speaker 1: Josh Obbs do these things before, but it's one of

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Speaker 1: those things where you look at it on paper in

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Speaker 1: execution here and that there are so many times where

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Speaker 1: you could go back, right, Taren and I we're definitely

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Speaker 1: talking about this where you can go back and if

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Speaker 1: you lose that game, you say, big red circle. Right,

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Speaker 1: this was a pivot point that didn't go their way

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Speaker 1: and ultimately there were just too many of those, and Tory,

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Speaker 1: as you wrote right like, there were a bunch of

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Speaker 1: opportunities that they didn't cash in on and that the

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Speaker 1: Vikings did.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So essentially, if you go back and look at it,

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Speaker 3: and this is something that I wrote, and you can

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Speaker 3: go back and read it, because I think it lays

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Speaker 3: it out better than how I'm gonna.

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Speaker 2: Speak it here.

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Speaker 3: In total, there were four turnovers in this game, two

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Speaker 3: and two split between the two teams, and the Vikings

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Speaker 3: actually scored eleven points off of those two turnovers for

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Speaker 3: the Falcons of fumble from Jon Robinson in an interception

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Speaker 3: by Taylor Heineke. The Falcons, on the other hand, had

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Speaker 3: two turnovers, both sack fumbles from Arnold Abakatti and David Onnyamata,

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Speaker 3: one of which Scott already said Lorenzo Carter returns to

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Speaker 3: the one. The other one I believe ended up on

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Speaker 3: the Minnesota thirty. So you're in great field position, even

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Speaker 3: better field position, one could argue, than what the Vikings

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Speaker 3: had when they got the ball on their two turnovers,

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Speaker 3: and you put up six points in total, eleven minus

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Speaker 3: six is five. The Falcons lost by three. There is

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Speaker 3: a direct correlation by not capitalizing on those moments where

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Speaker 3: the defense came up with a stop in the drive

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Speaker 3: and you did not as an offense, capitalized to the

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Speaker 3: best of your ability, especially trying to punch it in

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Speaker 3: from the one yard line. And that is not the

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Speaker 3: first time that the Falcons have been inside the five

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Speaker 3: with four you know, with four plays to go to

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Speaker 3: get into the with goal to go. This is not

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Speaker 3: the first time that this has happened. So that's what's

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Speaker 3: frustrating is that this is not that this is a

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Speaker 3: reoccurring issue. And yes, I understand that every game and

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Speaker 3: every moment is an entity in itself, but the fact

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Speaker 3: of the matter is the Falcons have been inside the

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Speaker 3: five yard line and have not punched it in on

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Speaker 3: a few occasions this season, and that has to change.

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Speaker 1: And I think when you mean frustrating, I think that

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Speaker 1: you're speaking for a lot of people in the locker room.

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Speaker 1: You mean that, Yeah, I mean Jake Matthews said there

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Speaker 1: is no one in this locker room who is not frustrated.

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Speaker 1: So that's kind of like what we mean by that

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Speaker 1: term is that that was expressed over and over and

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Speaker 1: over again, because Jeffalkuda said this too. They hold themselves

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Speaker 1: to a high standard, and I think they don't believe

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Speaker 1: that from what I grasped, they don't believe that they

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Speaker 1: met that standard in this game, and ultimately that did

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Speaker 1: hurt them. And when you look at it, I think

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Speaker 1: too often we sit here and we talk about critical

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Speaker 1: mistakes right that were over the halfway point, and we

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Speaker 1: talk a lot about turnover ratio, We talk a lot

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Speaker 1: about explosive plays allowed, and we talk about red zone

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Speaker 1: efficiency or missed opportunities in the scoring zone. Those things

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Speaker 1: have been talked about a lot in wins. They are

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Speaker 1: generally talked about as the Falcons overcame these issues right

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Speaker 1: in losses, it's that they became a bit too insurmountable

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Speaker 1: and ultimately that tip the scales in the other direction. So,

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Speaker 1: and that's again what I think was an issue in

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Speaker 1: this game, and I think that's why Arthur Smith says

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Speaker 1: missed opportunity, and I think that's a perfect word. But

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Speaker 1: you say missed opportunity enough and you're going to look around,

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Speaker 1: And I mean the Saints offense seems to start they

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Speaker 1: have started to figure it out a little bit. They're

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Speaker 1: now in first place.

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Speaker 3: At some point, you're going to look around and you're

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Speaker 3: not going to have any more opportunities to miss.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And that I think is the real pivot point.

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Speaker 1: And that's why hearing Kalays Campbell speak that wanting to

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Speaker 1: challenge his teammates, wanting to really get back to work,

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Speaker 1: and understanding that they still believe in themselves. They still

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Speaker 1: think that they can get there and get to a

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Speaker 1: point of sink. Using Arthur Smith's term, I feel like

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Speaker 1: I'm talking forever, but sinc is important right as they

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Speaker 1: continue to move forward here. The one thing that we

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Speaker 1: haven't talked about, as crazy as it is, is the

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Speaker 1: news coming into this game was all about the quarterback.

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Speaker 1: And we haven't mentioned Taylor Heineke or Desmond Ridders to

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Speaker 1: this point because there were so many things I was about.

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Speaker 3: To say, honestly, in the list of things that went

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Speaker 3: wrong quarterback wasn't really super top of my list, and

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Speaker 3: I think that's why we're just now bringing up at

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Speaker 3: the what fifteen minute mark of this.

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Speaker 2: Podcast, there was an interception, but other than that, I

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Speaker 2: feel like Taylor did what he had to do, did

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Speaker 2: his job. It wasn't like there any huge Yes, it

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Speaker 2: turned into Viking's points, but it's not like everything was

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Speaker 2: in disarray every play.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I think too that when you look at Taylor

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Speaker 3: Heineke's performance and compare.

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Speaker 2: It with kind of the norm of the season.

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Speaker 3: Right, the norm of the season, and also what Desmond

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Speaker 3: Ridder kind of the situations that he's been in over

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Speaker 3: the course of the first seven and a half games,

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Speaker 3: that it didn't look all too different.

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Speaker 1: It really didn't.

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Speaker 2: I literally turned to Scott at one point, I was like,

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Speaker 2: that could be Desmond Ritter out there and you wouldn't know.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it didn't feel any different. It didn't to me.

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Speaker 3: It didn't really look any different.

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Speaker 2: It wasn't like.

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Speaker 3: In the Tennessee game where Desmond Ridder comes out and

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Speaker 3: Taylor Heineke comes in and then.

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Speaker 2: It was a spark.

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Speaker 3: It felt like there was a spark and it felt

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Speaker 3: like there was this huge difference in production, and I

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Speaker 3: understand that. In the second half, I think the play

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Speaker 3: call looked a little different, protection looked a little different,

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Speaker 3: routes looked a little different, so I do think and

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Speaker 3: the run game started to pick up. So that does

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Speaker 3: help you as a quarterback. But when you look at

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Speaker 3: this game and its totality against the Vikings, it was

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Speaker 3: just kind of like, I don't I mean, I don't

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Speaker 3: think Desmond Rider could have gone out there and done

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Speaker 3: any better, any worse. You know, it felt very just like, Yep,

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Speaker 3: this is what it is. And I think that just

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Speaker 3: goes back to the question of how the how they're

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Speaker 3: not just the roster, but how this offense is constructed,

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Speaker 3: and how you can best get the most out of

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Speaker 3: this offense that you've put together.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and Arthur Smith didn't want to name a starting

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Speaker 1: quarterback for Week ten.

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Speaker 2: Taylor didn't want to comment on it either.

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Speaker 1: Right, that's in, you know, and it could be another

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Speaker 1: It could be that Arthur answers the question on Monday.

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Speaker 1: He obviously on Sundays. If you watch his press conferences,

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Speaker 1: it's like he's replaying the game in his head, like

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Speaker 1: his brain is going like a million miles an hour.

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Speaker 1: And then I think on Mondays, after he's had a

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Speaker 1: chance and we've talked about this internally, but then on

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Speaker 1: Mondays he has had a chance to process it and

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Speaker 1: he can be super objective, and I think we should

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Speaker 1: get a lot of good insight, whether it's about the

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Speaker 1: quarterback or just about this game on Monday.

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Speaker 3: So Taylor Heineke, I will try this, and I'll ask

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Speaker 3: tarn this too. Like I know, postgame, Arthur talked a

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Speaker 3: lot about Taylor Heineke being good on third down for

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Speaker 3: this team, and now was something that he went on

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Speaker 3: fifty Yeah, that's something that he said. And I was

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Speaker 3: just curious to both of y'all when you were kind

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Speaker 3: of analyzing his performance and even though touchdowns weren't scored,

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Speaker 3: were there things that he did Like what Arthur's saying

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Speaker 3: that third down he did well in third down situations.

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Speaker 2: The third downstat didn't necessarily pop off the charts for me.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's just over fifty percent. But what Taylor

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Speaker 2: said was the last drive, but he was wrong. It

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Speaker 2: was the second to last drive, but the second to

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Speaker 2: last enough was close. The last drive they finished was

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Speaker 2: the touchdown with whoever ran it in No, Tylerler was

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Speaker 2: Tyler Tyler Tyler pulling ball four were awesome. He literally

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Speaker 2: called that drive awesome and you can see it was

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Speaker 2: the best drive of the game out of either team

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Speaker 2: because it had thirteen plays, which tied for a game high.

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Speaker 2: The Vikings had a drive that went for thirteen plays too.

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Speaker 2: It went for eighty four yards, which was a single

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Speaker 2: hand did league game high? Is that how I want

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Speaker 2: to say it?

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Speaker 1: Yea, let's go for that.

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Speaker 2: But it's fine, and it ended in a touchdown, gave

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Speaker 2: them back the lead or put it out a tie.

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Speaker 2: I don't know. All the numbers are jumpling in my

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Speaker 2: head at this point, but like, that's when they were

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Speaker 2: flowing in in sync. That was the one moment in

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Speaker 2: the game where the Falcons defense or offense was in sync.

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Speaker 3: But I mean, let's go back too late, right, Well,

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Speaker 3: let's go back and look at that drive. Taylor Honike

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Speaker 3: threw the ball one time. It was a thirteen play drive.

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Speaker 3: They ran the ball twelve times. By you mean Tyler,

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Speaker 3: I mean Tyler and Pajan. Yeah, Tyler, majority of the

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Speaker 3: once they got past the fifty yard line. But you

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Speaker 3: run the ball with eleven design runs. Taylor Henike squeaked

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Speaker 3: out for a scramble which counted as a run. So

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Speaker 3: twelve of the thirteen are run plays and.

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Speaker 1: They were fishing as heck seven nine thirteen yeah, seven.

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Speaker 3: So for that, it kind of it gave you remnants

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Speaker 3: of the twenty twenty two Falcons team that were just like,

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Speaker 3: we're just gonna go run the ball down the everybody's

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Speaker 3: throat to do what they want to do. And there's

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Speaker 3: a part of me that wants to get back to that.

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Speaker 3: There's a part of me that when you're on the

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Speaker 3: one yard line and I'm not being critical though I

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Speaker 3: kind of am.

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Speaker 1: But like when was asked specifically about the play calling

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Speaker 1: it right, Yeah.

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Speaker 2: That drive that landed in the touchdown from Algier, he

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Speaker 2: had seven carries in that drive alone. He finished with twelve.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that's wild.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So it's it's it's just one of those things where

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Speaker 1: it again, I think the Falcons had every right to

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Speaker 1: feel good coming out of it, and I when like

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Speaker 1: when you look at the quotes and here where it's

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Speaker 1: like frustrating and this one stings and missed out opportunity,

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Speaker 1: I feel like I feel like the players and coaches

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Speaker 1: really encapsulated that well, and I think that that's an

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Speaker 1: important thing. Another important thing for you everybody. The Falcons

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Speaker 1: had four sacks. Guess what that means. That means that

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Speaker 1: because this podcast is brought to you by Zaxby's, they

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Speaker 1: got four sacks, which means that you can go to

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Speaker 1: any Atlanta area Zaxby's for a buy one, get one

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Speaker 1: big zack snack meal the day after the game, So

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Speaker 1: that's Monday for those of you listening right now. Use

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Speaker 1: the code atl Sack twenty three.

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Speaker 3: I feel like since two of the four sacks were

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Speaker 3: actually strip sacks.

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Speaker 2: That you should get like a cookie, right or like

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Speaker 2: one of those.

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Speaker 1: And strip sacks with strips, yeah, with like with a safe.

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Speaker 2: But still there was a sack with well still count well, I'm.

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Speaker 3: Those are three of the four. Honestly in terms of

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Speaker 3: sack production. You get two strip sacks and you get

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Speaker 3: a safety. That's pretty dangerous.

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Speaker 2: Somebody to make a gift of klay As Campbell doing

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Speaker 2: the cone dance, the safety dance, you mean, oh yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm doing the dance. Yeah, you can't see, but you

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Speaker 2: can't see. I can see. It's nice.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that was the that was the the third sack

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Speaker 1: of his creerse. He's one off tying the NFL.

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Speaker 2: Record third safety. Yeah, his third.

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Speaker 1: Right, everybody's mind just scrambled. There's has been a lot

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Speaker 1: going on, and you know, what, is there anything else

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Speaker 1: that we need to kind of address here? How about this? Look?

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Speaker 2: Can I hit my fun stat? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, let's

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Speaker 2: do it. Ooh, kicker, Young Wayku is responsible for forty

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Speaker 2: three point three percent of the Falcons points this year.

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Speaker 2: In total, he has single handedly been responsible for seventy

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Speaker 2: two points the Falcons have put up one hundred and

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Speaker 2: sixty six overall.

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Speaker 3: Here's the thing about that stat is like I'm just

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Speaker 3: like ough, I'm just like shaking with like anticipation or whatever.

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Speaker 3: But like with that stat, it's like great, yippy for

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Speaker 3: Young way I'm really happ That's not how this is

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Speaker 3: supposed to work, right, I'm really happy.

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Speaker 2: For Young way Ku.

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Speaker 3: I think Young way who is great. I'm I think

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Speaker 3: Atlanta Falcons fan should be so excited and so happy

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Speaker 3: that they have Young Wayku.

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Speaker 2: As their kicker. But touchdowns matter. Touchdowns you turn mix

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Speaker 2: point one of those field goals into a touchdown Falcons win.

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Speaker 3: You feel so different and that's what I wrote. Do

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Speaker 3: you feel so different if you're punching the ball in again?

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Speaker 2: Like you think ice is his game or ice is

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Speaker 2: his game? Ice is his leg after a game with

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Speaker 2: four field goals.

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Speaker 3: With a fifty two yard or a fifty four yard

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Speaker 3: or of super long pat.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, this guy was automatic. He should become a switch

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Speaker 2: kicker so you don't wear one leg out.

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Speaker 3: Oh wow, this thing is going off the rails.

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Speaker 1: You should definitely, But I do want to just just

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Speaker 1: for notes, right, because we were talking about play calls

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Speaker 1: down by the one right, just Arthur Smith was saying

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Speaker 1: that that they were trying to get outside because the

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Speaker 1: Vikings moved their goal line front. They stunted it and

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Speaker 1: tried to bully up. It's a thing that they've done.

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Speaker 1: They wanted to get outside. We didn't get outside, and

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Speaker 1: that's what they were trying to do. That's why they

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Speaker 1: were trying to kind of extend things outward. That's what

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Speaker 1: he said about that specific thing, right, So just moving forward, obviously,

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Speaker 1: it's it's one of those things where it's about reacting.

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Speaker 1: Well it's I don't know this to be true, but

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Speaker 1: it's pretty possible that Kyler Murray makes his debut on Sunday.

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Speaker 3: Well, here's the thing. Don't let one loss become two losses.

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Speaker 3: This that's the most important thing at this point. The

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Speaker 3: loss to Tennessee bled in, I think to this loss

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Speaker 3: against the Vikings. So don't let two losses become three.

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Speaker 2: Loss I think Taylor Heineke said it best. He said,

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Speaker 2: this week is really going to test our character because

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Speaker 2: it's right before the bye. Yeah, you are off back

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Speaker 2: to back losses. You don't want to go into the

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Speaker 2: bye with three.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you would be six and four at that point.

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Speaker 2: And then you're just sitting around for a week.

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Speaker 1: Right that. You want to go out on high note.

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Speaker 1: You want to keep pace with New Orleans, which is

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Speaker 1: the only team in the NFC South above five hundred

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Speaker 1: right now. And Jeff Okuda also talked about this, and

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Speaker 1: he says, this team, I have no doubt in my

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Speaker 1: mind that we're going to have a proper response in

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Speaker 1: Arizona next week. It will be fascinating to see what

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Speaker 1: the Falcons do and say over the course of the

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Speaker 1: practice week as they head towards their lone West coast

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Speaker 1: Western Western trip. Let's call it that there's no ocean

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Speaker 1: in Arizona and we will see how they respond to this.

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Speaker 1: They do need to get back on track, and I

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Speaker 1: think it's definitely possible. With the talent and the collection

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Speaker 1: of coaches that they have. I think they're built for this.

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Speaker 1: We're going to find out if they are. Scott for

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Speaker 1: Torri and Tarn. We will talk to you again next week. Bye.