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Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Chris Harry with you on a week four

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Speaker 1: edition of Chargers Weekly. A bit later, James co of

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Speaker 1: Direct TV's Fantasy Zone joins me to help set your

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Speaker 1: week four lineups. We'll also get this week's supposing view

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Speaker 1: up in the bay from forty nine Ers writer David

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Speaker 1: Lombardi of The Athletic. But first, the voice of the Chargers,

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Speaker 1: Matt money Smith joins me and we preview Sunday's game

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Speaker 1: against San Francisco. All right here with the great Matt

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Speaker 1: money Smith on Chargers Weekly. You're great. Come on, we're

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Speaker 1: coming in hot money right. Yeah, that's a little too hot.

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Speaker 1: I got a start with this from our own Haley

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Speaker 1: o Wood fantasy question. She asked me to pass along

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Speaker 1: to you. Okay, Ryan Fitzpatrick, guess the Bears. The Bears,

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Speaker 1: which I'm saying is a no, Tom Brady A guess

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Speaker 1: the Dolphins. Oh Tom Brady, it's Tom Yeah. Overreacting to

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Speaker 1: the Matt Patricia meltdown, Yeah I think so. I mean, look,

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Speaker 1: the there are issues there, um, but Sony Michelle looked

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Speaker 1: good enough now that Rex burkheads on ir um that

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Speaker 1: they'll have a running game. He certainly is not enamored

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Speaker 1: with his pass catching options. You know, Julian Edelman doesn't

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Speaker 1: get back until next week. We'll see if Josh Gordon

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Speaker 1: gets out there. But for me, Fitzpatrick just you know,

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Speaker 1: he holds the ball so long to get those routes

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Speaker 1: to develop. And with the pass rush and the line

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Speaker 1: the front seven that the Bears have led by Khalil

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Speaker 1: Mack right now, man, I don't want any part of

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Speaker 1: that fits. Yeah, just because that's what he needs. He

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Speaker 1: needs those deep routes. You know, that's where he's making

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Speaker 1: all those you know, pardon the punt, Well, that's not

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Speaker 1: a pun. Pardon all you know. The fitz magic is

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Speaker 1: holding onto it for five seconds and just ripping it downfield.

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Speaker 1: Did DeShawn Jackson or Mike Evans And that's just not

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Speaker 1: going to happen against the Beard Bears. I agree, Tom Brady, Brailey,

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Speaker 1: Tom Brady Dolphins. You know, we're both insane, leg we're

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Speaker 1: both three and oh so yeah, we're doing a people

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Speaker 1: right now. I like it. All right, We're gonna rewind

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Speaker 1: to the Colosseum. I thought it was an awesome atmosphere

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Speaker 1: for a lay foot was It's a great atmosphere I'd say,

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Speaker 1: I don't know what the exact numbers were, but you know,

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Speaker 1: the coliseum holds ninety thousand. I'd say probably sixty thousand

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Speaker 1: people there based on, you know, the peristyle being shut

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Speaker 1: down and things like that. Okay, And it was a

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Speaker 1: great mix. A lot of Charger fans I think that

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Speaker 1: aren't able to find their way into stubb Up Center

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Speaker 1: because it's a twenty three thousand seat venue, so I

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Speaker 1: think they took advantage of a lot more seats and

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Speaker 1: piled in there. Seemed like it wasn't a violent atmosphere

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Speaker 1: at all, a two rowdy of an atmosphere, which the

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Speaker 1: Colisseum can be at times. I thought it was just

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Speaker 1: a great afternoon of electric football and a lot of

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Speaker 1: offense for both fan bases to cheer. It was a fun,

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Speaker 1: entertaining game. What was the story from your vantage point, money?

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Speaker 1: I just thought from the beginning they were just a

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Speaker 1: step behind throughout the whole game on their heels. Defense

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Speaker 1: was on the heels, on their heels the whole I think.

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Speaker 1: I said at one point during the broadcast, you know

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Speaker 1: you always hear the cliche the defenses on its heels.

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Speaker 1: I said, this defense is sitting down the lane down

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Speaker 1: in a Shay lounge right now. They just could not

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Speaker 1: you know, whether it was the scheme, the talent, the

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Speaker 1: inability to get to the quarterback with four because Joey

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Speaker 1: Bose is still out, it just was a bad matchup

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Speaker 1: for this Chargers team. And I think before people overreact

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Speaker 1: to well so much for a top three defense, you know,

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Speaker 1: coming back this season that we had last year, it's

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Speaker 1: the two best offenses in the NFL facing a team

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Speaker 1: that is down their best defensive player. That's a bad combination.

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Speaker 1: Let's not forget about Quarry Legion. Let's not forget about

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Speaker 1: who came on at the end of last year and

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Speaker 1: as a defensive tackle is a little bit more of

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Speaker 1: an upfield defensive tackle who pressures the quarterback from the

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Speaker 1: pocket as opposed to that stout run stopping defensive tackle. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we were also talking about Jalen Watkins, who that just

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Speaker 1: that underrated injury in the preseason. At free safety, you

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Speaker 1: would have got some valuable snaps and no questions like

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Speaker 1: that would have helped against an explosive offense like the

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Speaker 1: No question Watkins could have played free because you can

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Speaker 1: see they're trying to do it with Jalil, and good

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Speaker 1: on him for trying to make it happen. But we

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Speaker 1: know Julie's probably better in the box. But when you

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Speaker 1: got Durwin James, you gotta figure out a way how

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Speaker 1: to get him up there on that line of scrimmage,

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Speaker 1: you know a little bit, a little bit more often,

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Speaker 1: I think they're they're kind of getting it there too.

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Speaker 1: So it's it's mixing and matching. And I think again

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Speaker 1: starting starting this week on this stretch here where you

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Speaker 1: get the forty nine Ers, the Raiders, the Browns, the Titans,

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Speaker 1: you odyssey this defense perform at a much higher level. Well,

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Speaker 1: let's workshop this in terms of finding that pass rush.

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Speaker 1: You know, hopefully Ingram Rochelle can get to the quarterback.

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Speaker 1: Who else can you bring in? You know, we saw

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Speaker 1: Drwin in the box against Buffalo and he had some success.

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Speaker 1: I think you Chenna des mckin can show that he

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Speaker 1: can get to the quarterback at four Sex last year,

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Speaker 1: what can they do to get their pressure? They're trying

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Speaker 1: to do everything right. Chris landrum um Chenna had it

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Speaker 1: in Buffalo, but against the Rams, just go you know, look,

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Speaker 1: Whitworth's a great tackle. It's a great offensive line. So

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Speaker 1: when you're talking about Whitworth, Saffold, Sullivan on that one side,

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Speaker 1: you know, left side, it's just hard to penetrate. They

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Speaker 1: had Melvin lined up on the right side a lot,

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Speaker 1: and what were they doing. They shading the tight end

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Speaker 1: over there and even Dublin him. So that's what they're

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Speaker 1: gonna have to figure out. I mean, that's that's the riddle,

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Speaker 1: is how do you generate a pass rush without bringing

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Speaker 1: the house the whole time and falling victim, you know,

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Speaker 1: to guys that are going to break open if a

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Speaker 1: quarterback's able to see him. I think you'll see maybe

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Speaker 1: a little bit more aggressive aggressiveness from Gus, maybe five

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Speaker 1: guys coming more often than we were used to seeing,

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Speaker 1: certainly last year because of c. J. Beathartin he's just

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Speaker 1: not able to diagnose as quickly as Jimmy Garoppolo would

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Speaker 1: have been able to. Yeah, one in four as a

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Speaker 1: starter and obviously devastating news for the Fortnite Terrible Bealo.

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Speaker 1: It looks like Richard Sherman is not going to be

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Speaker 1: in this game either. Yeah, but we saw listen, you

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Speaker 1: were in Buffalo. You saw the following week what happened

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Speaker 1: in Minnesota. This league, every week, you gotta be ready

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Speaker 1: regardless of the opponent. Yeah, and look, I'm not trying

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Speaker 1: to take anything away from the Bill. So they're clearly

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Speaker 1: good enough to get a win over team that was

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Speaker 1: in the NFC Championship last year. But when when I

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Speaker 1: put together you know what we call the board for

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Speaker 1: this game compared to that Buffalo game, it's not close.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the Niners have not just good players, they

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Speaker 1: have great units. I mean they have a great offensive line.

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Speaker 1: They've got a great defensive line in Buckner and Armstead

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Speaker 1: and Solomon Thomas. They have great inside linebackers, So you know,

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Speaker 1: in Warner and Foster, this is a good team. I mean,

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Speaker 1: this is a team that has got some talent, and

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Speaker 1: he got a heck of a playhole exactly. Kyle Shanahan's

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Speaker 1: one of the best play callers in the NFL. So

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Speaker 1: I don't think there is any chance that the Chargers

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Speaker 1: would overlook this team to get to Raider Week, you know,

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Speaker 1: even though that's the big rivalry week. I think they

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Speaker 1: know that this is their stretch, right if if what

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Speaker 1: we're hearing is Boss is going to get back sometime

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Speaker 1: in October and just I guess string it out to

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Speaker 1: maybe worst case, the last game in October. You've got

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Speaker 1: an opportunity against teams that aren't the Chiefs and aren't

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Speaker 1: the Rams in the Niners, the Raiders, the Titans, and

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Speaker 1: the Browns to get wins and come out of this

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Speaker 1: stretch without you know, one of your two three best

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Speaker 1: players on the team the entire stretch at five and two,

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Speaker 1: and you got to take advantage of that opportunity every week.

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Speaker 1: That's the silver lining two A. I think just the

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Speaker 1: fact that you played the Rams, he played the Chiefs

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Speaker 1: in weeks one in three. What lessons do you think

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Speaker 1: this team can take from them? That their offense is

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Speaker 1: really good? You know the offense is there, you know

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Speaker 1: they're gonna score points. And that's that's kind of where

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Speaker 1: I project those games. Even though I do think the

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Speaker 1: Titans are a good team, the Browns are a much

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Speaker 1: better team, a pretty darn good team too, as are

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Speaker 1: the Niners. I just think the Chargers offense is going

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Speaker 1: to be able to outscore them. They're gonna be able

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Speaker 1: to make up for their lack of defense without Joey

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Speaker 1: Bosa by putting twenty eight thirty two points on the

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Speaker 1: board and winning these games twenty eight eighteen, you know,

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Speaker 1: thirty one twenty one kind of I think Philip and

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Speaker 1: you know in company have the ability to do that.

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Speaker 1: They're good enough to give you that kind of that

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Speaker 1: kind of buffer that the defense can take their time

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Speaker 1: to get back to the level they were at and

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Speaker 1: that last year when Joey Bosa returns. The forty nine

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Speaker 1: Ers have allowed twenty four points in all three games

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Speaker 1: this year. And let's go to Mike Williams. I mean,

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Speaker 1: this was a guy in t any camp, a preseason

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Speaker 1: money that you saw these exciting plays day in and

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Speaker 1: day out. He didn't really see him do it. With

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Speaker 1: Philip Rivers these last two weeks, he is looking like

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Speaker 1: a guy the forlid and night is gonna have the

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Speaker 1: game plan for you. Oh yeah, he's special. I mean,

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Speaker 1: there's just no question. He's the first guy that you

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Speaker 1: want to send off the bus, you know, with with

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Speaker 1: Bosa injured, you know, what do you think? Okay, who

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Speaker 1: do you want him to look at? Well, obviously want

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Speaker 1: to look at Philip Rivers exactly, but I want eighty

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Speaker 1: one up front because I want a safety, a cornerback

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Speaker 1: to go What the hell do I do with that,

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Speaker 1: you know, and you saw it in both positions last week.

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Speaker 1: You know, Marcus Peter is one of the best cover

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Speaker 1: corners step for step, and what does Mike Williams do. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: blue by him and uses his length to just lay

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Speaker 1: out and get that ball, you know, with that basket catch,

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Speaker 1: you know, and then you LaMarcus joint are super physical

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Speaker 1: athletic safety, and what does Mike do. He uses his

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Speaker 1: body to shield him and run to that corner and

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Speaker 1: it's like, hey, you might be big and strong, I'm bigger,

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Speaker 1: I'm stronger. You're not getting around me. And that's how

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Speaker 1: he got his second touchdown. So he's the whole package.

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Speaker 1: I mean, look, there's a reason A why he was

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Speaker 1: draft where he was and b why you won a

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Speaker 1: national championship, you know. I mean it's not easy to

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Speaker 1: beat Alabama in a national championship game, and that guy

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Speaker 1: did it against NFL caliber defensive backs by being one

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Speaker 1: of the three or four best players on the field.

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Speaker 1: So I think it's you know, we shouldn't be surprised.

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Speaker 1: I think the big question was it's not. You know

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Speaker 1: when you hear, oh the guy broke his neck. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's that's what, you know, kind of freaked you out

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Speaker 1: a little bit. It's like, how do you come back

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Speaker 1: from that? And now we're seeing okay, if he comes

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Speaker 1: back from the injury, he's physically, athletically, he's as gifted

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Speaker 1: a package as you have at that position in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: It was unfair to he was almost buried his first

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Speaker 1: year just because he came in late. He didn't have

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Speaker 1: the rapport with with Philip. You can't pick up the playbook,

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Speaker 1: you can't do the things that he's doing now without

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Speaker 1: a full healthy off season. Now that he has shown

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Speaker 1: what he can do, I think people forget, Okay, this

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Speaker 1: is why this guy was number seven overall. Yeah, And

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Speaker 1: I think also, you know, it's it's it's a Philip issue.

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Speaker 1: You know, Philip he's got a trust, you know, because

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Speaker 1: he's gonna and once he's got it, you know, once

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Speaker 1: you have that trust from him, it's coming your way.

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Speaker 1: If you're open, you don't have to worry about not

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Speaker 1: getting looks. Because it's clear that he trusts Virgil Green,

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Speaker 1: now he trusts Mike Williams. It's not just a heavy

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Speaker 1: dose of Keenan Allen, which is kind of what we

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Speaker 1: had last year. For most of the year, you know,

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Speaker 1: there weren't a lot of targets for Travis Benjamin. Occasionally

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Speaker 1: you'd get a Tyrrell Williams game, but it was really Keenan,

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Speaker 1: and you know, Keenan was kind of your first and

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Speaker 1: second option, and then he would move on to check

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Speaker 1: downs to Melvin. Gordon kind of almost became that second option.

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Speaker 1: So I think now he's looking as you know, I

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Speaker 1: think Philip looks at the defensive backfield and says, go ahead,

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Speaker 1: pick it. What are gonna do. You're gonna do Allen?

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Speaker 1: Are you gonna do Williams? Because whichever one you're not

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Speaker 1: taking care of, that's the guy who's gonna get the ball,

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Speaker 1: and he's probably gonna beat you. And there's a lot

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Speaker 1: of males defeat too. We look at the way that

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Speaker 1: Gordon and Eckler have started this year and just the

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Speaker 1: way that the Wiz has has used those guys really

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Speaker 1: at the same time, you know, in certain situations, Eckler

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Speaker 1: as efficient as a Yeah, I think he's at eleven targets,

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Speaker 1: eleven catches, and he always makes a big play. He

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Speaker 1: only has seven touches money, but he makes a big

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Speaker 1: play every single game. Yeah, and his running efficiency as well,

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Speaker 1: he's average, yeah, you know, and Anthony Lynn mentioned He's like, look,

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Speaker 1: that's one of the things you can do when you're

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Speaker 1: not asked to do it thirty times a game. And

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Speaker 1: that's what makes him, to some degree so valuable is

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Speaker 1: that Melvin's benefficient in his touches as well. So now

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you bring a guy in who

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Speaker 1: doesn't need a lot of touches and has given you

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Speaker 1: eight to ten yards per touch. It's it's a luxury,

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Speaker 1: but to some degree it's also a necessity because that's

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Speaker 1: how you set up those big plays. I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: not like the Mike Williams touchdown pass, you know, the

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Speaker 1: forty two yard grab was something that existed on its

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Speaker 1: own and a vacuum, no set up by all those

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Speaker 1: dink and dunks that Philip's comfortable with. He really this season,

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Speaker 1: through three games, has been the poster boy of taking

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Speaker 1: what the defense gives you and being totally fine with it.

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Speaker 1: I don't think i've seen him force one. Obviously, the

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Speaker 1: interception against Kansas City was a little bit forced, but

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Speaker 1: outside of that, the guy has just taken whatever is

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Speaker 1: in front of him, and he's been super efficient as well.

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Speaker 1: The thing about Philip two is this was an emphasis

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Speaker 1: I think coach Linnead is just hey, take care of

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Speaker 1: the football. You don't have to do that much. And

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Speaker 1: to that point, money Philip. He doesn't take as many

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Speaker 1: risk because he doesn't need to beat. He's got the

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Speaker 1: weapons around him to be successful, and that's why those

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Speaker 1: turnovers are down. The Chargers last ten wins, twenty one touchdowns,

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Speaker 1: just one interception for Philip. Yeah, and I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: I think the key is for this team, you know,

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Speaker 1: over this next four game stretch is get ahead, you know,

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Speaker 1: get ahead because that's gonna help your defense. Talking to

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Speaker 1: James Lofted, I think it's been twenty games that they

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Speaker 1: haven't scored a first possession touchdown. Yeah, that needs to change, yes,

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Speaker 1: So get ahead and let your defense breathe, you know.

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Speaker 1: That's that I think is the key is, like we

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Speaker 1: saw on that that Buffalo game, when you get up,

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Speaker 1: the defense is going to be much more effective just

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Speaker 1: because they're down men right now. So that to me

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Speaker 1: is the key against the forty nine Ers. If you

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Speaker 1: can get that ten, fourteen point lead, h it's gonna

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Speaker 1: come easy. I think to that to that defense, if

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Speaker 1: you got a chase, it gets a lot tougher, you know,

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Speaker 1: and they just could not get out from underneath it.

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Speaker 1: Against the Chiefs, against the Ramps, mistakes are magnified when

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Speaker 1: you're in that situation. They have a chance to tie

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Speaker 1: the game up coming out of the half, and what happens.

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Speaker 1: Keenan fumbles and then all of a sudden you're down

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Speaker 1: fifteen again, and it took like yeah, it's just like, okay,

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Speaker 1: well that was our shot and now it's gone. The

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Speaker 1: same thing with the Chiefs. Okay we cut it to ten.

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Speaker 1: JJ fumbles the ball they scored, and it's like, okay,

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Speaker 1: it's over. Yeah, that's that's it. You know. It's just

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Speaker 1: too hard to keep climbing out of these holes. So

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Speaker 1: that's that's what I'm hopeful of. Is that what we've

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Speaker 1: seen from this offense as a whole. We can see

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Speaker 1: in the first fifteen minutes of the game. Finally, besides

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Speaker 1: playing ahead, what else do you want to see from

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Speaker 1: this team based only just saw the first three weeks.

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Speaker 1: Maybe things that need to be corrected, things you want

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Speaker 1: to see improved. Oh I don't. I think it's the

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Speaker 1: front seven, no question. You know, I think it's just

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Speaker 1: can they find it is there? You know, there's plenty

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Speaker 1: of talent. You know, we know that Isaac Rochelle's talented,

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Speaker 1: and U Chenna Nowosu was one of the best pass

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Speaker 1: rushers in college football last year. You know, what do

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Speaker 1: you have to do to try to find that pressure

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Speaker 1: from the other side so Melvin Ingram can go back

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Speaker 1: to being Melvin Ingram and really racking offenses. So to me,

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Speaker 1: more than anything, that's that's probably when I was seeing Also,

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Speaker 1: you know what, I'd like to see the offensive line,

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Speaker 1: you know, and just selfishly like to see it get healthy.

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Speaker 1: I'd like to see Forest Lamp out there, you know,

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Speaker 1: instead of having Sam Tavy, who's kind of a I'll

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Speaker 1: give you a breather here for a series or two. Guy,

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Speaker 1: go back to that kick Schofield out to tackle. Get

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Speaker 1: Forrest Lamp there next to Mike Pouncey and really get

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Speaker 1: strong on that interior line with Phoeney, Pouncey and Lamp

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Speaker 1: and see if you can get some push inside there

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Speaker 1: and eventually get Barksdale back too. Exactly. You gotta have

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Speaker 1: that depth down the stretch. Money an important couple of

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Speaker 1: games at stub Up Center. Excited to get back home,

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Speaker 1: appreciate you joining me, Absolutely love doing it all. Right

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Speaker 1: before we get to David Lombardi of the Athletic San Francisco,

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Speaker 1: a quick break to let you know that this season

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Speaker 1: we've taken Chargers Weekly to the next level. That's because

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Speaker 1: I'm using Bows Quiet Comfort thirty five headphones two on

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Speaker 1: air now. The powerful noise canceling technology helps me block

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Speaker 1: out distractions and brings you all the latest news on

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Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Chargers and when I'm not recording, these

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Speaker 1: are my go to wireless headphones. They help me block

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Speaker 1: out noise. I always use them on the team plane

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Speaker 1: so I can concentrate on my prep for games, and

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Speaker 1: of course bring you that next episode of Chargers Weekly.

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Speaker 1: Visit Bows dot com Slash Chargers to learn more about

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Speaker 1: the most powerful Bows headphones yet. Bows the official headphones

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Speaker 1: of the NFL. To get this week's opposing view, David

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Speaker 1: Lombardi of the Athletic San Francisco joins me and David,

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Speaker 1: let's start with the lead. Jimmy Garoppolo out for the year,

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Speaker 1: devastating news for a team with high hopes in twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 1: what's the mood in Santa Clara now that they've had

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Speaker 1: a few days to digest that news. You know, it's

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Speaker 1: always devastating because I think this early in the season,

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Speaker 1: for how the first three games have gone, your gut hope,

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Speaker 1: especially if you have a win in one of those

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Speaker 1: first three games in the four, nine, one, and two,

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Speaker 1: So you're your gut feeling and your your initial emotion

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Speaker 1: is hope. Right, So whenever the franchise quarterback that you

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Speaker 1: miraculously acquired last year and that you signed to a

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Speaker 1: one hundred thirty seven point five million dollar extension to

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Speaker 1: make him your cornerstone in the off season, when he

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Speaker 1: goes down, it sucks that hope right out of the

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Speaker 1: franchise for this year. After a few days, though, I

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Speaker 1: think that people have starting to get some perspective on this.

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Speaker 1: They realized that Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be back

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Speaker 1: for the season open and season opener in twenty nineteen,

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Speaker 1: and they also look to see where the forty nine

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Speaker 1: ers were likely headed this year. And you know, based

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Speaker 1: on all the data that we have so far through

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Speaker 1: those first three games, this was still a flogged football team.

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Speaker 1: This was still a team that was likely headed toward

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Speaker 1: the eight and eight range, which probably would have meant

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Speaker 1: no playoffs. And when when you consider that this wasn't

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Speaker 1: really the year that the the Niners were circling the

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Speaker 1: wagons looking to make a deep run. This was just

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Speaker 1: the next step. Will they take that next step in

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Speaker 1: the win loss column this year now that Garoppolo has gone,

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Speaker 1: Probably not. But it's not like a chance that a

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Speaker 1: championship has has gone out the window with Jimmy Garoppolo

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Speaker 1: heading to i R for the year. Because this team

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Speaker 1: led to NFL and miss tackles through or still leads

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Speaker 1: the NFL mis tackles through three weeks, their third and penalties,

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Speaker 1: they have a ton of drops. I mean, this is

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Speaker 1: still a roster and needs some development, needs to take

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Speaker 1: its lumps, and it was going to take its lumps

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Speaker 1: regardless of whether or not Jimmy Garoppolo was in the lineup.

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Speaker 1: So I think that the forty nine ers are looking

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Speaker 1: at this is okay, we'll just circle the wagons. We're

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Speaker 1: not going to try to bring in another quarterback. We'll

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Speaker 1: go CJ. Bethird this this year and then we'll make

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Speaker 1: our big run after we get another draft pick and

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Speaker 1: another offseason of acquisitions. With Jimmy Garoppolo healthy again in

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Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. You know, it's just tough luck too, though, David. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Jared McKinney, you bring him in is a big free

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Speaker 1: agent signing, and he tears his ACL before the year.

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Speaker 1: So really, the top two weapons on your offense gone

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Speaker 1: in September. And CJ. Bethard is a guy they drafted

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Speaker 1: in the third round last year from Iowa. We've talked

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Speaker 1: to Desmond King about him in his former teammate, he

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Speaker 1: started five games last year. How much confidence does the

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Speaker 1: coaching staff and the players have in CJ. I think

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Speaker 1: they have a lot of confidence in him, and I

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Speaker 1: think it's really important to look at the details of

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Speaker 1: what happened last year. I mean, CJ. Bether did a

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Speaker 1: job that maybe nobody else in the NFL can do.

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Speaker 1: For the forty nine ers last year, they were completely

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Speaker 1: decimated up front. I mean, this was a bad roster

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Speaker 1: to begin with that Kyle Shanahan inherited in twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 1: and you know, early on in the building process there's

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Speaker 1: still a lot of questionable pieces, and the forty nine

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Speaker 1: ers had a lot of questionable pieces and injuries on

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Speaker 1: top of that. So at one point in this the

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Speaker 1: low point of last year against Philadelphia, the forty nine

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Speaker 1: ers were about five seconds away, i think, from having

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Speaker 1: to use their tight end, Garrett Selleck as right tackle

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Speaker 1: because they had they had two injured tackles, their swing

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Speaker 1: tackle got hurts, they had no tackles on the roster.

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Speaker 1: They moved out one of their guards who was also

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Speaker 1: hurt to play right tackle, and he wasn't getting up

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Speaker 1: after one of the snaps. And at that point when

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Speaker 1: when it looked like this guy wasn't going to be

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Speaker 1: able to continue, Garrett Selleck was on the sideline started

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Speaker 1: to talk to the offensive line coach about coming into

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Speaker 1: the game. Then the backup guard got up and he

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Speaker 1: finished the game against Philadelphia. But on that afternoon, p J.

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Speaker 1: Bethard was still pressured, according to PFF on sixty percent

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Speaker 1: of his snaps, which is the highest out of any

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Speaker 1: game by any team last year. And then the very

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Speaker 1: next week, PJ. Bethard was hit sixteen times by the

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Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals, which is also a high for the NFL

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Speaker 1: in a single season. Now, remember that in between those

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Speaker 1: two games, the forty Hinders trade it for Jimmy Garoppolo.

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Speaker 1: Obviously he wasn't ready to start yet because he had

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Speaker 1: to learn the playbook, so they had him in uniform

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Speaker 1: as the only other quarterback for that Arizona game where CJ.

425
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,600
Speaker 1: Bethard got hit sixteen times. So if CJ. Bethard isn't

426
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:25,439
Speaker 1: able to tough that out, then Jimmy Garoppolo has to

427
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,880
Speaker 1: come into the game three days after a trade where

428
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,280
Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers not knowing the playbook, but fort

429
00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,359
Speaker 1: Anders don't have any healthy tackles, and that's obviously the

430
00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,119
Speaker 1: last thing that Kyle Shanahan wanted. They might have gotten

431
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:42,080
Speaker 1: Jimmy Garoppolo injured within a couple of days of arriving

432
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,240
Speaker 1: we have that big trade. So CJ. Bethard was nails

433
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 1: last year for the forty nine Ers, even though he

434
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,359
Speaker 1: wasn't particularly accurate, he didn't have that much of a

435
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,199
Speaker 1: chance because that that line was so beaten up, and

436
00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,280
Speaker 1: he hung in there and he gutted it out when

437
00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,440
Speaker 1: when this football team really needed it, And I think

438
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,480
Speaker 1: that earned him a lot of credibility in the forty

439
00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,920
Speaker 1: nine ers locker room. Well, you know, context matters so much, David,

440
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:05,800
Speaker 1: and I'm glad you brought that up from last year

441
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,919
Speaker 1: in the offensive line was because CJ was sacked I

442
00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,840
Speaker 1: believe in those five starts seventeen times. And you mentioned

443
00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:16,520
Speaker 1: getting hit sixteen times against Arizona. How much was it

444
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 1: a product of the line versus him just holding onto

445
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:20,800
Speaker 1: the ball too long if you had to, if you

446
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,280
Speaker 1: had to put the blame pie on the offensive line

447
00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:27,320
Speaker 1: versus just a young quarterback, inexperienced quarterback maybe holding onto

448
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:32,439
Speaker 1: the ball too long. It was both. Anytime you get

449
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:37,320
Speaker 1: hit sixteen times, you I think you have to look

450
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,240
Speaker 1: at all factors. And then also when Jimmy Garoppolo came in,

451
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,240
Speaker 1: the line did get healthier, but it wasn't fully healthy,

452
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,160
Speaker 1: but but the hit right went down significantly. And obviously

453
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:50,080
Speaker 1: the offense was actually the most productive in the NFL

454
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,119
Speaker 1: in December. Garoppolo just lit the world on fire in

455
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,679
Speaker 1: the five games that he took over. So obviously having

456
00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,440
Speaker 1: a quicker release at quarterback, having a better quarterback helped

457
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:06,400
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers a lot. That being said, it

458
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 1: was ugly for the forty nine ers, especially during that

459
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 1: stretch where c J. Bettard, who was the quarterback as

460
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:16,119
Speaker 1: far as the supporting cast went, that line was in

461
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,720
Speaker 1: dire straits there for a little while, so m it

462
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,120
Speaker 1: was both. And that's why Kyle Shanahan has been very

463
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,560
Speaker 1: open about his opinion and you know, maybe more than

464
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 1: an opinion this week that TJ. Bethard has improved since

465
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:31,760
Speaker 1: last year, that this is going to be better than

466
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,520
Speaker 1: Round one. And and I think that you have to

467
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:36,200
Speaker 1: believe him because the line is going to be better.

468
00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,399
Speaker 1: Bethard's decision making, he's, you know, within the context of

469
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,439
Speaker 1: Shannahan's complicated system, is going to be better. And I

470
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,760
Speaker 1: think that's the one thing that people aren't talking about

471
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,040
Speaker 1: enough is that the forty nine ers have a run

472
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: game now. After yeah, after heavily modifying their offensive line

473
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,639
Speaker 1: at offseason, they got Weston Richburg, big free agent center.

474
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 1: They drafted Mike mcglinche, who was not as good of

475
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,120
Speaker 1: a pass blocker as their form of tackle Trent Brown,

476
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,840
Speaker 1: who's now protecting Tom Brady in New England, but he's

477
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,880
Speaker 1: a lot better run blocker. And they're able to run

478
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,119
Speaker 1: the outside zone the way that Shanahan wants it to

479
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 1: be run, even without Jerick McKinnon. And they're the top

480
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,320
Speaker 1: three in NFL not running and that's a benefit c J.

481
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,439
Speaker 1: Bezard was not working with last year. Yeah, Matt Breda

482
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,800
Speaker 1: tied for the lead in rushing with Ezekiel Elliott and

483
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,920
Speaker 1: then Alfred Morris. They're a guy that Kyle knows very

484
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 1: well from his time in Washington. But let's go back

485
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,720
Speaker 1: to last week, David, take me through what happened in

486
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,439
Speaker 1: Kansas City, because listen, the Charges saw the Chiefs a

487
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,160
Speaker 1: few weeks ago. In the opener, Chiefs scored thirty five

488
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,240
Speaker 1: points in the first half against the Niners. And that's

489
00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:39,119
Speaker 1: more about the Chiefs, I think than anything else. Was

490
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,080
Speaker 1: it just as simple as they just couldn't keep up

491
00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 1: too much too quick. Well, everybody knew that the forty

492
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,679
Speaker 1: nine ers decentse would would go through some growing pains

493
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,320
Speaker 1: this year. This is a unit that's still far from completion.

494
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:53,920
Speaker 1: As I mentioned at the top of the segment, they

495
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,480
Speaker 1: lead to NFL and miss tackles. They racked up a

496
00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,960
Speaker 1: ton of miss tackles against the Chiefs. Is Ruben Foster's

497
00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: first game back. He had six miss tackles, which is

498
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,119
Speaker 1: something he probably won't he continue just because of how

499
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,880
Speaker 1: sound of a tackler he is. And Fred Warner they're

500
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:13,240
Speaker 1: they're very talented. Other inside linebacker had four miss tackles,

501
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 1: which is something that I think will will improve as

502
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,000
Speaker 1: the season goes along, and he gets used to the

503
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: NFL sea to play because he didn't play inside linebacker

504
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,879
Speaker 1: in college. He was more of like a slot outside linebacker,

505
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,960
Speaker 1: hybrid strong safety kind of guy. So he's getting used

506
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:29,919
Speaker 1: to all these new angles. And the forty nine Ers

507
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: are growing as a team, which is one of the

508
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,920
Speaker 1: reasons why I said that maybe losing Garoppolo this season

509
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:39,600
Speaker 1: isn't as devastating as losing him, say in twenty nineteen,

510
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 1: where the defense is much more mature and the team

511
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,880
Speaker 1: is ready to make more of a run. So I

512
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,800
Speaker 1: think that was the story of this game. You had

513
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,639
Speaker 1: a young defense that still has some holes in it,

514
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 1: it still awesome development to do going up against the

515
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,720
Speaker 1: Chiefs offense that was firing on all cylinders. And when

516
00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:59,920
Speaker 1: that's the case, the only way that you're going to

517
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,000
Speaker 1: in that football game, if you're the forty nine Ers,

518
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 1: is if you take control that game offensively and play

519
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 1: some ball control, right, and if your best defense is

520
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,040
Speaker 1: your offense and they fail to do that, they on

521
00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:14,320
Speaker 1: the very first play of the game they drew up

522
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 1: a big game that Shanahan has done that a lot

523
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 1: this year. That was dropped and that's happened a lot

524
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,120
Speaker 1: this year. George Kittled, their tight end who was CJ.

525
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,919
Speaker 1: Besterer's teammate at Iowa, put and hang on to a

526
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:29,120
Speaker 1: perfect pass in wide open spaces and they went three

527
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,880
Speaker 1: and out. The Chiefs get the ball, they scored touchdown

528
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,280
Speaker 1: and then it's snowballed on the forty nine Ers. The

529
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,120
Speaker 1: Chiefs don't have a good defense, and in the second half,

530
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,200
Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers, who I think have a good

531
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,359
Speaker 1: offense this year and they may still be decently even

532
00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 1: without Garoppolo, started coming back and racking up points. But

533
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,200
Speaker 1: it was just too little, too late, and they didn't

534
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,240
Speaker 1: give their defense a chance to dig in at the

535
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: start of the game. So I think for the forty

536
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: nine Ers, the story because their defense is is precarious still.

537
00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 1: They won't even have Richard Sherman this week, who's been

538
00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:03,840
Speaker 1: their best player alongside the Forest Buckner. Because of that,

539
00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,159
Speaker 1: they need to play some ball control on offense, and

540
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,359
Speaker 1: if they don't, they're going to get behind the ball

541
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,280
Speaker 1: really quick. That leads me to Richard Sherman and obviously

542
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 1: the Garoppolo injury overshadowed everything, and then you learn you

543
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,479
Speaker 1: lose Richard Sherman maybe for a few weeks. How much

544
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,760
Speaker 1: does that affect the back end over the forty nine

545
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,240
Speaker 1: As you mentioned that him and Buck are playing the

546
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,000
Speaker 1: best ball for them. Yeah, well, nobody was throwing at

547
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:28,399
Speaker 1: Richard Sherman, and if you go by that metric, he

548
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 1: was playing the best football of his career, which is crazy. Wow,

549
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:33,880
Speaker 1: I mean, this is this is the best cornerback over

550
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,600
Speaker 1: the last you know, six seven years, right, But even

551
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 1: his prime in Seattle, coming off in Achilles to David Yeah, yeah,

552
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,359
Speaker 1: coming off an Achilles. So but even in his prime

553
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,639
Speaker 1: in Seattle, people were testing him a little bit, probably

554
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,160
Speaker 1: because they had to, because the rest of that secondary

555
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,639
Speaker 1: had some talent. So you can make the argument of

556
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,600
Speaker 1: the reason that teams have only thrown at Richard Sherman

557
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,640
Speaker 1: six times all year, and they've only complete one pass

558
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: against him this year, one out of six all year,

559
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:03,680
Speaker 1: and he broke up a nice deep one a tired

560
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 1: kill last week, which was a nice indication that Sherman

561
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,399
Speaker 1: has some bursts still after that Achilles injury. But the

562
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,640
Speaker 1: fact that that that teams aren't testing him at all.

563
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 1: Probably tells you that the forty nine ers have some

564
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 1: other unproven pieces to put it nicely, in the secondary

565
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,119
Speaker 1: the teams would rather face, right you know, with that

566
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 1: Seahawks secondary, you're afraid of some other guys. The forty

567
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:29,439
Speaker 1: niners right now are gonna have to put guys that

568
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:32,880
Speaker 1: other teams obviously aren't not afraid of on both sides

569
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:34,800
Speaker 1: of Sherman out. So it's going to be a Kello

570
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 1: Witherspoon most likely on one side. Second year guy who

571
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,040
Speaker 1: surged last year but has regressed that teams a little

572
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 1: bit this year, maybe has been fighting a little bit

573
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,240
Speaker 1: of an ankle injury. Now he's really going to be

574
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,240
Speaker 1: in the spotlight. And Jimmy Warren, who was one of

575
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,160
Speaker 1: their former first round drafts from several years back, now

576
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:55,160
Speaker 1: in his fifth season, likely not a guy to stay

577
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,520
Speaker 1: with this team beyond this year, but they did pick

578
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 1: up that first round year option for him to kind

579
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: of plug in into situations like this. He could play

580
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 1: any spot in the secondary, and it's gonna have to

581
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 1: be cornerback this time with Richard Sherman out. So um, yeah,

582
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,160
Speaker 1: that was big because and shut down the whole side

583
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 1: of the field for the forty nine ers. Outside of

584
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,560
Speaker 1: the fields no longer shut down, and it's a lot

585
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,600
Speaker 1: of suspect young guys now who are still taking their

586
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:25,000
Speaker 1: lumps that in that secondary for the forty nine ers.

587
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,800
Speaker 1: And you know, if you're if you have Philip Rivers

588
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 1: on your fantasy team, this is not a bad week

589
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 1: to play him. David. Let's look ahead this Sunday. What

590
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:34,640
Speaker 1: are the forty nine ers saying about facing this Chargers team.

591
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 1: Obviously there's some connections there. It goes back from you know,

592
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,120
Speaker 1: Mike Shanahan hired coach Lynn his first coaching job in

593
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,840
Speaker 1: the NFL, so he knows Kyle very well. Uh, Gus Bradley,

594
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,000
Speaker 1: Robert Salad, they worked together for number of years in

595
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:52,200
Speaker 1: Jacksonville and Seattle. Some pretty cool connections here. Yeah, And

596
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 1: obviously the quarterback for the forty nine Ers, c J. Besterard,

597
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 1: is the grand set of the great GM Bobby Better.

598
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 1: That's right. It's funny because c J. His first career

599
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 1: action last year came against Washington, that's right, in the

600
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 1: second half, right, he got he was he came in relief,

601
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,200
Speaker 1: he led him to a big comeback. They almost won

602
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,320
Speaker 1: that game. In fact, the forty is Ers had a

603
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,480
Speaker 1: stretch last year of five straight games that they lost

604
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 1: by three points or fewer each one of those games,

605
00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:22,960
Speaker 1: which was an NFL record, which was obviously covering the

606
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,480
Speaker 1: emotions of that was pretty brutal because even if a

607
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 1: team is in building mode, the guys put a lot out.

608
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:32,800
Speaker 1: You know, the guys aren't thinking of that when they're

609
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,640
Speaker 1: when they're putting their health on the risk to play

610
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: the game of football and have to go into a

611
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:42,440
Speaker 1: locker room week after week after week after they you know,

612
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: have just lost the game by three points or even

613
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,320
Speaker 1: fewer than that. A couple of them they lost by

614
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,920
Speaker 1: one or two. Was just like, you know, a it's

615
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:55,720
Speaker 1: a broken record, and be the emotions there were were

616
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 1: tough because it was so much close. But no cigar

617
00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 1: for the forty ours, but that was better. It's first

618
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:04,040
Speaker 1: it was part of that five game stretch. And it

619
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 1: was interesting because his grandson was the GM of Washington

620
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,360
Speaker 1: or the red Skins there for a while and obviously

621
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: also of the Chargers, so this will be uh, that's

622
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,960
Speaker 1: an interesting connection. You look at Salah and Gus Bradley

623
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: obviously together and Seattle and then Jacksonville. So you have

624
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,840
Speaker 1: two teams running the same defensive scheme and the Chargers

625
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 1: in the forty nine ers, which I think what five

626
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,480
Speaker 1: or six teams the league now run. It's all part

627
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 1: of that peat Carroll coaching tree on defense to four

628
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:38,360
Speaker 1: or three with a fast edge rusher and the strong

629
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,040
Speaker 1: side linebacker bringing some heat, single high free safety. Um

630
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 1: that that's I think it's a fun defensive scheme to

631
00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:46,760
Speaker 1: watch a lot of hard hitting, you let guys run,

632
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:49,480
Speaker 1: so that that will be one of the common threads.

633
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:51,840
Speaker 1: And then what was the last one? Oh, just the

634
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 1: Shanahan in Lynn connection. You know coach Lynn he played

635
00:30:55,880 --> 00:31:00,160
Speaker 1: for the Broncos Coach Shanahan. Mike Shanahan gave him his

636
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,840
Speaker 1: first opportunity as a coach, and he's known Kyle for

637
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 1: a long time. I think Kyle was a ballboy in

638
00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:09,040
Speaker 1: Denver when coach loom was there. Yeah. So, and the

639
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:15,800
Speaker 1: offensive coaching tree connections, especially with Shanahan are so fascinating.

640
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:20,080
Speaker 1: When the forty nine Ers, it goes back to Bill Walsh.

641
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:26,080
Speaker 1: You had Mike Shanahan coaching the forty nine ers under

642
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,760
Speaker 1: George Steefer right in from nineteen ninety two to nineteen

643
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,480
Speaker 1: nighty four. Those are three really prolific Steve Young Championship,

644
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:38,120
Speaker 1: prolific Steve Young offensive teams that went to the NFC Championship.

645
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,040
Speaker 1: Each year they played the Cowboys, they lost twice, and

646
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: then they won in ninety four and then won the

647
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,880
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Kyle Shanahan was a ball boy for those

648
00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,480
Speaker 1: forty nine ers teams under George Steafer because his dad,

649
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:57,320
Speaker 1: Mike was the offensive coordinator and obviously George George Steafer

650
00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:01,320
Speaker 1: was the direct coaching The send into Bill Walsh, who

651
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,200
Speaker 1: had just left the forty nine ers. So for the

652
00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,200
Speaker 1: Foreign nin Ers, everything kind of came full circle when

653
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:09,800
Speaker 1: they hired Kyle Shanahan because he started talking about all

654
00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:11,720
Speaker 1: those stories from the glory years when he was the

655
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,080
Speaker 1: ball boy. And then you start hearing these stories of

656
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:18,040
Speaker 1: guys like Lynn, and it just reminds you that the

657
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,800
Speaker 1: coaching tree grew past Bill Walsh and George, Steve Hinden

658
00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:25,240
Speaker 1: and Mike Shanahan, from Mike Shanahan to the Kyle and

659
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,920
Speaker 1: other guys. So it is really neat when you start

660
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 1: delving into all these NFL coaching webs. Final thing for you, David,

661
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 1: what's going to decide this game on Sunday based on

662
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,960
Speaker 1: what you've seen from this forty nine Ers team through

663
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 1: the first three weeks, and knowing that they're coming into

664
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,760
Speaker 1: this game with a brand new quarterback, and I'm sure

665
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: they're gonna rally around CJ. And you're gonna get your

666
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,800
Speaker 1: best football from the Niners on Sunday. Yeah, that's what's

667
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,080
Speaker 1: going to decide this game. You know, we talked about

668
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,160
Speaker 1: it before we came on the show. The NFL is

669
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 1: a very unpredictable league. The minute that you know are

670
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,760
Speaker 1: certain that something's going to happen, the opposite usually does,

671
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 1: as as is the case in Buffalo last week in Minnesota. Right.

672
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:11,720
Speaker 1: So I think that because these are all professional players,

673
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,000
Speaker 1: this is not like Pollarge, where if you lose your

674
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,719
Speaker 1: quarterback and you were already overmatched to begin with, if

675
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 1: you're gonna lose by fifty points. It's not the case.

676
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:22,000
Speaker 1: These are all the best guys from their respective college program.

677
00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:25,520
Speaker 1: So there's talent everywhere. A lot of it is reliant

678
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,600
Speaker 1: on how motivated a particular team is. That how you

679
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:30,960
Speaker 1: know into the game they are. If they're steps slow,

680
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,800
Speaker 1: they're gonna get killed no matter who they are, because

681
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,480
Speaker 1: this is the NFL, and and I think to the

682
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:42,080
Speaker 1: forty oars motivation level following that CJ. Bethard insertion into

683
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:44,880
Speaker 1: the lineup is going to be really important. I think

684
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:46,920
Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers are our team that's going to

685
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:50,800
Speaker 1: rally around c. J. Bethard. You know, I think when

686
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:52,840
Speaker 1: we first talked a few minutes ago, I was pretty

687
00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:54,960
Speaker 1: skeptical to forty hours, but you talk me into it

688
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:59,360
Speaker 1: a little bit, Chris. I think that you're right. You

689
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 1: never know what's going to happen in the NFL, and

690
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:02,680
Speaker 1: I think that all of the fort Niners aren't going

691
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 1: to be sustainable winners this year because they aren't as

692
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,000
Speaker 1: good at the quarterback position. I think they are, you know, well,

693
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 1: being able to get a good game or two worth

694
00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,480
Speaker 1: of emotional energy off of what's happened because they do

695
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:19,080
Speaker 1: respect CJ. Bethard so much. So I do expect the

696
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:23,520
Speaker 1: really close game between the forty nine Ers and the Chargers. Yeah,

697
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:25,759
Speaker 1: it's all about respecting your opponent. And I know in

698
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:28,719
Speaker 1: this building they have nothing but respect for the forty

699
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,520
Speaker 1: Niners and what they've done, from the front office all

700
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:33,680
Speaker 1: the way down to the coaching staff and the players

701
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,440
Speaker 1: in that program. So David, this was awesome stuff. Man,

702
00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:39,480
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you joining me. Enjoy your weekend and

703
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:41,879
Speaker 1: we'll talk to you soon. Bud, Yeah, thanks a lot.

704
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:43,600
Speaker 1: All Right, I want to tell you about this rare

705
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:45,600
Speaker 1: chance for you and a guest to join the Chargers

706
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707
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Speaker 1: a game and a special VIP beat and greet with

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713
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Speaker 1: January tenth, twenty nineteen. Again, go to Chargers dot com

714
00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,799
Speaker 1: slash win for all the rules and details. All right,

715
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:15,560
Speaker 1: we'll get to my guy James co in a second,

716
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:17,360
Speaker 1: but I want to tell you that the Los Angeles

717
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718
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720
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721
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Speaker 1: Learn more at bows dot com. Slash Chargers Bows the

722
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Speaker 1: official headphones of the Los Angeles Chargers. Now joined by

723
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:43,600
Speaker 1: James Coe of Directife's Fantasy Zone and The Athletic James

724
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,360
Speaker 1: gonna help you set your Week four lineups today, and

725
00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:48,400
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start with this, James. I'm gonna brag on

726
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:51,239
Speaker 1: you a little bit because the last time you join

727
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 1: me on this program, it was June eighth, Right, we

728
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:56,839
Speaker 1: were in just the dog days and we were talking

729
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:01,239
Speaker 1: about getting your fantasy team ready for twenty eighteen, and

730
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,640
Speaker 1: we talked about Mike Williams, and you had a few

731
00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,439
Speaker 1: things to say about Mike Williams, James co on June eighth,

732
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:09,960
Speaker 1: to me, Mike Williams is a lock to be a

733
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,959
Speaker 1: top thirty fantasy receiver, and he has the talent level

734
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,560
Speaker 1: and the opportunity to really explode on the scene. You

735
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,280
Speaker 1: wanted to say, you expect a seventy catch, one thousand

736
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:24,560
Speaker 1: yard performance this season, sixty eight touchdowns. Right now, he's

737
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:26,560
Speaker 1: on pace for a thousand yards, he's on pace for

738
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,680
Speaker 1: eighty catches, and he's got three touchdowns through the first

739
00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:32,200
Speaker 1: three games. I just want to give you your proper due.

740
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,279
Speaker 1: James co get him, I get him right every now

741
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:39,160
Speaker 1: and again. Man. But yeah, no, look, it's hard not

742
00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,080
Speaker 1: to It's hard not to have liked Mike Williams and

743
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:45,239
Speaker 1: the sit in that Charger's offense, you know what I mean,

744
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,160
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, big body wide receivers streaking downfield. It's

745
00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:51,839
Speaker 1: just like it's like hot sauce and fried chicken. Man,

746
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:54,600
Speaker 1: it just goes together when you're talking about those kind

747
00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:56,640
Speaker 1: of receivers and Philip Rivers, you know what I mean,

748
00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:58,799
Speaker 1: just going all the way back to those Vincent Jackson days,

749
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,279
Speaker 1: you know. Oh, yeah, you know James I talked to

750
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:03,680
Speaker 1: I talked to James Lofton because he's calling the game

751
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,319
Speaker 1: earlier in the week. I talked to him. He's calling

752
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,880
Speaker 1: game for CBS Hall of Fame wide receiver. Also was

753
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,680
Speaker 1: the wide receivers coach with Vincent Jackson and Keenan McCardell

754
00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:15,480
Speaker 1: and and all those guys. And Philip has always had

755
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:18,560
Speaker 1: one of those big body receivers. Yeah, just and just

756
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,839
Speaker 1: you know, making tough catches, you know. So it's it's

757
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,919
Speaker 1: good man. And Mike Williams is certainly that guy. So

758
00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:26,920
Speaker 1: um from a fantasy perspective. You know, I think you

759
00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 1: could feel pretty confident firing him up this week against

760
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,799
Speaker 1: the San Francisco forty and nine ers, who again, uh,

761
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:36,120
Speaker 1: you know you feel bad for Jimmy Garoppolo. You feel

762
00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:37,560
Speaker 1: bad for the forty nine ers. I mean, they have

763
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,680
Speaker 1: just been just absolutely struck down by injuries. And I

764
00:37:41,719 --> 00:37:43,719
Speaker 1: know I'm talking to Charger fans, so they have no

765
00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,440
Speaker 1: mercy and they have no pity for anyone else's injuries.

766
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:48,880
Speaker 1: And I get that. But you know, they made a

767
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,160
Speaker 1: free agent acquisition in Jack McKinnon. He goes down with

768
00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:54,560
Speaker 1: the injury, Jimmy Garoppolo a huge you know contract, and

769
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 1: their their franchise quarterback and he goes down with the

770
00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,759
Speaker 1: knee injury as well. So yeah, man, they they've seen

771
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,239
Speaker 1: some you know, hard luck in terms of in terms

772
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,320
Speaker 1: of injuries over there in the bar. Jay's got a

773
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,040
Speaker 1: lot of questions for you, but I just want to

774
00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:09,680
Speaker 1: start with this. What's the craziest fantasy trend or just

775
00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 1: the biggest fantasy surprise for you through the first three

776
00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:16,399
Speaker 1: weeks of the season. Um, you know, off the top,

777
00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:19,560
Speaker 1: it's just been you know, the top draft picks have

778
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 1: largely been either ho hum or disappointing. You know, David

779
00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:28,359
Speaker 1: Johnson is completely looks like he's mired in a real

780
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,920
Speaker 1: bad offense. And these are things that were easily predictable

781
00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:35,799
Speaker 1: and honestly things that I was talking about in the preseason.

782
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:39,880
Speaker 1: I had Alvin Kamara as my number three overall pick, right,

783
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 1: and I got so much pushback and so much you know,

784
00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,640
Speaker 1: blowback from that, people saying, oh, I'd rather have Zeke,

785
00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:49,120
Speaker 1: I'd rather have David Johnson. And now people are saying,

786
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:53,319
Speaker 1: I'd rather I'm gonna bench David Johnson. It's like, hold up, dude,

787
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:57,840
Speaker 1: we're in September still, the season's exactly, We're benching a

788
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 1: top five pick, like this is a crazy talk, but

789
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,920
Speaker 1: um but yeah. And again, it was one of those

790
00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,160
Speaker 1: things where in the preseason I was saying, look at

791
00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:08,840
Speaker 1: the offense, look at the offensive line, there's going to

792
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:12,040
Speaker 1: be some serious problems here. They have no consistent downfield threat.

793
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:14,400
Speaker 1: Talking about the Arizona Cardinals, and then you look at

794
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:16,839
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys. Same thing with Ezekiel Elliott. You know,

795
00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:20,919
Speaker 1: he's been he's been pretty good through the first three weeks, right,

796
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:23,760
Speaker 1: but there are some serious warning signs if he doesn't

797
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:26,800
Speaker 1: get a touchdown. There are there are going to be

798
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:29,759
Speaker 1: games when he is a massive disappointment. Um. You know,

799
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:31,520
Speaker 1: teams are trying to crowd the box, are trying to

800
00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:33,520
Speaker 1: figure out, okay, we don't even need safety help over

801
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,080
Speaker 1: the top. We're just gonna bring our safeties down and

802
00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:38,520
Speaker 1: crowd the box and forced Zekiel Elliot to beat us

803
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:43,040
Speaker 1: um And he's been great against loaded boxes this year.

804
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:48,680
Speaker 1: He has been go great. But at some point that number,

805
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,000
Speaker 1: that efficiency and that number is going to come down.

806
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:55,440
Speaker 1: And when it does, and already ugly Dallas offense is

807
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:58,840
Speaker 1: going to be even worse. So I just think that

808
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:02,360
Speaker 1: there are definitely acts in the armor and some warning

809
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,439
Speaker 1: signs out there. But yeah, I think in terms of

810
00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:07,160
Speaker 1: I've just been surprised by you know, the entire first

811
00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:10,879
Speaker 1: round has been consensus. First round draft picks have been

812
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:15,080
Speaker 1: largely disappointing and or you know, just kind of whole hum.

813
00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:17,040
Speaker 1: Even Antonio Brown, as great as he's been, you know,

814
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:19,560
Speaker 1: it's not like he's been gangbusters, you know what I mean.

815
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:23,919
Speaker 1: Juju Smith Schuster almost as you know, has as many

816
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 1: or more points than than Antonio Brown's craps shoot in September,

817
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:29,920
Speaker 1: and we got a bunch of questions, a couple of

818
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,560
Speaker 1: Mike Williams questions off the top, James, and this is

819
00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,600
Speaker 1: from Russell. He asked, basically, do we view Mike Williams

820
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:38,360
Speaker 1: as a must start moving forward over someone like a

821
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:41,200
Speaker 1: Doug Baldwin when when he comes back, Sammy Watkins, but

822
00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:44,480
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, Calvin Ridley, et cetera. Oh yeah, I mean

823
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:46,120
Speaker 1: compared to all those guys you just listed off one

824
00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:49,279
Speaker 1: hundred percent even I mean, I know Doug Baldwin. The

825
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,280
Speaker 1: problem with Doug Baldwin is that he's just not healthy.

826
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:53,600
Speaker 1: If he was healthy, Okay, yes, you played Doug Baldwin

827
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:57,239
Speaker 1: ahead of Mike Williams, but acid stance right now, the

828
00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:00,120
Speaker 1: health is certainly a concern. You know. I think the

829
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:02,640
Speaker 1: Lockett has certainly emerged in that passing attack as well,

830
00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:07,080
Speaker 1: meaning when Baldwin and there are signs that he'll play Sunday.

831
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:11,960
Speaker 1: But um, even moving forward, is the is the target

832
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,760
Speaker 1: share going to be there for Doug Baldwin will be downfield?

833
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:18,960
Speaker 1: You know? Um, there's a next gen stat called air yards.

834
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,440
Speaker 1: Will the air yards be there? Meaning will they attack

835
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:29,040
Speaker 1: downfield as often with Doug Baldwin, I would say the

836
00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:31,840
Speaker 1: answer to both of those would be no. So to me,

837
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,839
Speaker 1: Mike Williams. And again I get that he's playing you know,

838
00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:38,560
Speaker 1: um he is, you know, obviously second in the pecking

839
00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:41,800
Speaker 1: order behind Keenan Allen, but he's going to be getting

840
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:43,520
Speaker 1: all those downfield threats and when they get into the

841
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:47,080
Speaker 1: red zone. Man, clearly we've seen it. Three touchdowns in

842
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:51,399
Speaker 1: three games. He is an absolute elite touchdown maker. Yeah,

843
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,080
Speaker 1: and it's not just the red zone. You that that

844
00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:55,600
Speaker 1: first touchdown against the Rams was the forty two yard

845
00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:59,640
Speaker 1: variety blowing by Marcus Peters, you know, so he can

846
00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:03,400
Speaker 1: he can catch it deep as well. Another Mike Williams question,

847
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:07,040
Speaker 1: Mike dub or Calvin Ridley this week against the Bengals,

848
00:42:07,239 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 1: and then it's a two parter dropped Jue Bernard for

849
00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:14,400
Speaker 1: Austin Eckler. Well, you know, you know, I loved me

850
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:18,080
Speaker 1: some Austin Eckler. And it's funny you brought up, Mike Williams,

851
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:20,480
Speaker 1: you know, talking about that that piece I wrote back

852
00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:23,520
Speaker 1: in June and even talk to you, you know, um,

853
00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:27,200
Speaker 1: back on the podcast back then too. If there was

854
00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:30,919
Speaker 1: one guy I was, I mean just through the moon

855
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:34,880
Speaker 1: with excited about watching and super optimistic. It was Austin Eckler.

856
00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,440
Speaker 1: And I don't think you would find a fantasy analyst

857
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:42,160
Speaker 1: that was bigger on Austin Eckler than I was coming

858
00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:44,840
Speaker 1: into the preseason, because again, my whole take on Austin

859
00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:49,200
Speaker 1: Eckler was, you're getting this guy in fourteen fifteenth round.

860
00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:52,239
Speaker 1: You're getting this guy for free. He is going to

861
00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:55,719
Speaker 1: have a role that is similar to Terree Cohen in

862
00:42:55,800 --> 00:43:00,799
Speaker 1: Chicago that Cohen is going in the or ninth round.

863
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:04,640
Speaker 1: If you like Cohen, you should love Austin Eckler. And

864
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:07,600
Speaker 1: I love Austin Eckler, and it's been great to see him,

865
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:11,600
Speaker 1: you know, really come through statistically the first three weeks

866
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:15,200
Speaker 1: of the season, So that's been nice. In regards to

867
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:20,800
Speaker 1: that question in particular, Eckler versus Geo Bernard, it's awfully

868
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:24,120
Speaker 1: tough because I would just say, God, there's got to

869
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:26,160
Speaker 1: be somebody else you could you know, you could drop

870
00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:29,320
Speaker 1: to pick up Eckler right now. You know, Geo Bernard

871
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,080
Speaker 1: is going to be the lead back for Cincinnati, I know, mixing.

872
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:36,880
Speaker 1: You know is could potentially come back next week or

873
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:39,439
Speaker 1: maybe in a couple of weeks, and when he does,

874
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,160
Speaker 1: you know, you would expect that he gets you know,

875
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:44,799
Speaker 1: the lion's share of the carries. But again, it's a

876
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,960
Speaker 1: knee injury, and you know it's it's he's coming back.

877
00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:50,080
Speaker 1: I love when they call it a procedure. By the way,

878
00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:52,279
Speaker 1: it's like he had knee surgery. But you know they

879
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:53,759
Speaker 1: want to damn play and say, oh, he just had

880
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:57,120
Speaker 1: a procedure done on this way. Nay, did they cut

881
00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:00,239
Speaker 1: him open or not? Because if they did, that's a surgery. Yeah,

882
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 1: that's something. But yeah, so we don't know what the

883
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,759
Speaker 1: health is going to be like from mixing. So I

884
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:09,440
Speaker 1: just man, it's I just can't advocate dropping Geo for

885
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:12,560
Speaker 1: for Austin Eckler. But it's like, I still feel like

886
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:15,880
Speaker 1: Eckler is a must own uh in twelve team or

887
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:19,600
Speaker 1: greater leagues next one Tyreek Hill or Austin Eckler in

888
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,680
Speaker 1: my flex spot this week. I think that's pretty easy

889
00:44:22,719 --> 00:44:25,320
Speaker 1: in terms of just keeping Tyreek Hill in your lineup

890
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:27,960
Speaker 1: every single week. Yeah, you gotta do that. I mean,

891
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:31,319
Speaker 1: I like the Charger optimism, um, you know, and there's

892
00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:34,440
Speaker 1: a lot of reasons to to really, you know, feel

893
00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:36,200
Speaker 1: like Eckler's going to have a big game against the

894
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 1: niners um. But that being said, even on his best day,

895
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:44,880
Speaker 1: it's just it's it'll be hard for Eckler to access

896
00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:49,680
Speaker 1: the ceiling um, the fantasy ceiling, statistical ceiling that tyreek

897
00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:52,440
Speaker 1: Hill has. Uh just in that casey offense, you know

898
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:55,320
Speaker 1: what I mean. So yeah, I think it's a no Brander.

899
00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:58,120
Speaker 1: You gotta keep you know, tyreek Hill in there. Megan's

900
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:00,879
Speaker 1: gotta go one and it's not charge related. Has all

901
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 1: three backs from Green Bay and she's got Christian McCaffrey

902
00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:07,040
Speaker 1: on a bye Which packer RB shoes should go with

903
00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:09,960
Speaker 1: or should she just get a Waivers snag in Week four?

904
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:14,360
Speaker 1: I like Aaron Jones. You know Buffalo this week by

905
00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:17,319
Speaker 1: the way, right, green Bay Buffalo? Yeah, exactly, green Bay

906
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:20,080
Speaker 1: Buffalo and green Bay playing at home too, which is nice,

907
00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:25,040
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? If it was you know

908
00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:28,320
Speaker 1: what Bill's team, were we going to see? I guess

909
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,319
Speaker 1: the first two weeks because they were the worst team

910
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:33,839
Speaker 1: in the NFL. They were the worst team in them.

911
00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:38,400
Speaker 1: And then week three, out of nowhere, they go on

912
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,120
Speaker 1: the road, they take on you know, one of the

913
00:45:40,120 --> 00:45:42,480
Speaker 1: division's best, one of the NFL's best, in the Vikings,

914
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:46,359
Speaker 1: and they just put it on a man, So it's

915
00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:48,560
Speaker 1: hard to say what Bill's team we're gonna get. Okay,

916
00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:52,320
Speaker 1: now that being said, I do think the Vikings clearly

917
00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:55,359
Speaker 1: we're dealing with some off the field stuff, and I

918
00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:59,200
Speaker 1: think that they did not come into that game focused

919
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:01,560
Speaker 1: at all, a little bit of a look ahead to

920
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:06,759
Speaker 1: Thursday's game against the Rams exactly exactly, and you know

921
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:08,480
Speaker 1: it's got to be human nature to do that, you

922
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:11,239
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So, um, so yeah, I think

923
00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:14,080
Speaker 1: Green Bay playing at home against the Bills, I don't

924
00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,160
Speaker 1: think they're going to take the Bills lightly, you know,

925
00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:18,799
Speaker 1: especially because with where the Packers are at right now

926
00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:22,279
Speaker 1: on the record, you know, um, that division being so tough. Man,

927
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:25,160
Speaker 1: they have they have to win these games, these winnable games.

928
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:28,520
Speaker 1: They got to win these games, man. So yeah, I

929
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:30,640
Speaker 1: think I think it'll. I think that they're going to

930
00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:33,120
Speaker 1: try to, you know, put a pretty big number up

931
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:37,279
Speaker 1: the Packers will um and and I think Aaron Jones

932
00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:40,279
Speaker 1: is their most explosive running back. I don't think, I know,

933
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:43,160
Speaker 1: you know, it's like, look Jones. To me, it's the

934
00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:48,000
Speaker 1: clearly superior offensive weapon anyways to Jamal Williams. So there

935
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:50,520
Speaker 1: you go, There you go. Megan, Aaron Jones, all right,

936
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:54,280
Speaker 1: next one, Rob Ramirez, Marvin Jones, or a Maury Cooper.

937
00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:57,200
Speaker 1: I believe the lines have the Cowboys and the Raiders

938
00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:00,560
Speaker 1: are at home to the Browns. No Sean Lee for

939
00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:04,080
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. I think Marvin Jones and I know you know,

940
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:06,880
Speaker 1: Charley's a linebacker, and how's that impact of wide receiver. Well,

941
00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:08,719
Speaker 1: just the defense in general is just going to be

942
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:12,560
Speaker 1: much worse off. There's a bunch of statistics to back

943
00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:14,839
Speaker 1: that up, but the bottom line is the Cowboys are

944
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:19,560
Speaker 1: a one of the five worst defenses in the NFL

945
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:23,919
Speaker 1: without Chon Lee, and their defensive front is pretty good,

946
00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:26,120
Speaker 1: you know, so they'll put some pressure on Matt Stafford.

947
00:47:26,719 --> 00:47:31,040
Speaker 1: That being said, Marvin Jones is the one A. Maybe

948
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:33,160
Speaker 1: he's the one B. Who knows, but it's a one

949
00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:35,840
Speaker 1: A one B situation with Kenny Golladay and him on

950
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:38,200
Speaker 1: the outside. But he still gets plenty of looks, man.

951
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:40,160
Speaker 1: So for me, it's a Marvin Jones, and I think

952
00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:42,239
Speaker 1: it's a No Brenner. All right. These are a few

953
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:45,400
Speaker 1: good ones, a few Rivers questions. Rivers at home against

954
00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:50,520
Speaker 1: the Niners or Rogers at home against the Bills. I

955
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:52,759
Speaker 1: love Philip. At first, I was like, Oh, you gotta

956
00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:55,439
Speaker 1: play Philip Rivers. But how do you not play Aaron

957
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:57,799
Speaker 1: Rodgers at home against the bild I just don't know

958
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:00,600
Speaker 1: how you do that. Again, we talk about accessing a

959
00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:04,680
Speaker 1: higher ceiling, and Rogers is that guy. He's that guy

960
00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:07,720
Speaker 1: that you know he legitimately can give you thirty points

961
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:11,359
Speaker 1: in fantasy. Now Philip Rivers could potentially do that as well.

962
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:16,000
Speaker 1: But my question there is, I wonder if they go

963
00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:18,399
Speaker 1: up huge, if the if the Chargers go up huge

964
00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:20,360
Speaker 1: against the Niners, team that's going to struggle to score.

965
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:23,120
Speaker 1: You know, Let's say they're up fourteen points going to

966
00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:25,160
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. I mean, I think you're going to

967
00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:28,520
Speaker 1: see a healthy dose of Melvin Gordon, right, So I

968
00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:31,920
Speaker 1: just yeah, I think I wonder if game script actually

969
00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:34,960
Speaker 1: will work against Philip Rivers. If he's going to get points,

970
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:37,520
Speaker 1: it's going to be early on, because I tell you what,

971
00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:39,600
Speaker 1: the way that that game is kind of sort of looking,

972
00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:42,799
Speaker 1: I would be surprised if he gets you any fourth

973
00:48:42,840 --> 00:48:44,759
Speaker 1: quarter points at all. All right, James, this one is

974
00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:48,600
Speaker 1: pretty interesting too. Rivers or Tom Brady against the Dolphins

975
00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:50,960
Speaker 1: and a game the pass absolutely have to have. I

976
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:53,400
Speaker 1: just wonder if Brady has the weapons to put up

977
00:48:53,600 --> 00:48:56,400
Speaker 1: big time numbers. Yeah, what's Josh Gordon going to do?

978
00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:58,680
Speaker 1: I don't know that the number one question, you know

979
00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:04,680
Speaker 1: what I mean? Man, boy, that's that's interesting. I want

980
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:07,880
Speaker 1: to lean towards Tom Brady, and I know he was

981
00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:10,520
Speaker 1: absolutely atrocious against the Lions and that was a plus

982
00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:14,560
Speaker 1: matchup and and all of those things. But um, yeah,

983
00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:17,640
Speaker 1: I got to think that Bill Belichick and the Boys

984
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:21,440
Speaker 1: will game plan some kind of way to you know,

985
00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:26,399
Speaker 1: shake loose these offensive woes. So yeah, I think I'm

986
00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:29,239
Speaker 1: still going with Tom Brady there. Sometimes you got a

987
00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:33,280
Speaker 1: zig when everyone else is zagging, right James. I mean, yeah,

988
00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:35,279
Speaker 1: we don't know what's going to happen week to week,

989
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:37,959
Speaker 1: and I think Philip is a QB one this week.

990
00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:41,480
Speaker 1: But when you have guys like Rogers and Brady, sometimes

991
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:44,000
Speaker 1: you got to make tough decisions. And here's one more

992
00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:49,320
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson or Philip Rivers. Deshaun Watson or Philip Rivers

993
00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:55,640
Speaker 1: man against the Colts against a pretty underrated Colts defense. Yeah,

994
00:49:55,640 --> 00:49:57,880
Speaker 1: they're speaking good, aren't they. I Mean they've been, you know,

995
00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:01,520
Speaker 1: racking up turnovers and putting pressures on the quarterback. They're

996
00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:04,719
Speaker 1: not nearly as bad as you would think that they are.

997
00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:09,279
Speaker 1: But uh yeah, Texas on the road too. Man, I

998
00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:11,520
Speaker 1: feel like, God, it seems kind of crazy, but I

999
00:50:11,560 --> 00:50:13,439
Speaker 1: mean it is Deshaun Watson, you know what I mean.

1000
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,960
Speaker 1: Even in horrible game scripts, he's been pretty good Fantasy wise.

1001
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:21,560
Speaker 1: I still think Deshaun Watson. But man, I feel bad

1002
00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:25,120
Speaker 1: because I really think Philip Rivers is. Let me go

1003
00:50:25,120 --> 00:50:27,280
Speaker 1: back to the Tom Brady one and just say, Philip Rivers,

1004
00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:30,840
Speaker 1: give Philip one of the three. Well, I think James this.

1005
00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:33,040
Speaker 1: I guess this is my point with quarterbacks though, because

1006
00:50:33,480 --> 00:50:37,359
Speaker 1: this is why you don't get a quarterback early, right,

1007
00:50:37,400 --> 00:50:39,359
Speaker 1: I mean, this is why you draft a quarterback late

1008
00:50:39,400 --> 00:50:41,560
Speaker 1: because Philip Rivers and QB one. I think all four

1009
00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:43,800
Speaker 1: of those guys are gonna put up QB one numbers

1010
00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:47,560
Speaker 1: this week. And sometimes you overreach for quarterback and you

1011
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:49,920
Speaker 1: don't get the backs and receivers you need to really

1012
00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:53,440
Speaker 1: get towards a championship. That's right, That's the the overall

1013
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:56,880
Speaker 1: philosophy behind you know, waiting on quarterback as long as

1014
00:50:56,920 --> 00:50:58,919
Speaker 1: you target the right guy, you know, and I think

1015
00:50:59,239 --> 00:51:01,800
Speaker 1: if you targeted Philip Rivers I've target Philip Rivers in

1016
00:51:02,200 --> 00:51:06,040
Speaker 1: damn near every draft I had because the overall health

1017
00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:08,200
Speaker 1: of the offense looks great, you know what I mean. So,

1018
00:51:08,960 --> 00:51:11,680
Speaker 1: um yeah, I'll say Philip Rivers over Tom Brady, but

1019
00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:14,160
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson over Philip Rivers that that would just be

1020
00:51:14,239 --> 00:51:17,359
Speaker 1: my my thing. And again, part of it is I

1021
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:20,200
Speaker 1: just think that, Look, I love the matchup for phil.

1022
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:22,839
Speaker 1: You know, Philip is gonna get you know, he's got

1023
00:51:22,880 --> 00:51:25,600
Speaker 1: a great match up against a ninder stay. But again,

1024
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,720
Speaker 1: just if it's not a competitive game in the fourth quarter,

1025
00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:31,480
Speaker 1: how much are we going to see the Chargers throw

1026
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:34,160
Speaker 1: the ball? And I know they're a throw first offense

1027
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:36,880
Speaker 1: because anytime you've got Philip Rivers, Keen Now and Mike Williams,

1028
00:51:36,880 --> 00:51:39,680
Speaker 1: you're you're gonna throw. And Melvin Gordon and Austin Eckler

1029
00:51:39,719 --> 00:51:42,200
Speaker 1: are great pass catching running backs as well. Ye that

1030
00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:47,200
Speaker 1: being said, uh, you know, I just when when a

1031
00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:49,799
Speaker 1: team is up double digits in the fourth it's you know,

1032
00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:53,560
Speaker 1: it's pretty tough to throw the ball if you're pretty

1033
00:51:53,560 --> 00:51:56,000
Speaker 1: tough to call a pass play when you an offensive coordinator,

1034
00:51:56,040 --> 00:51:58,279
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, No doubt, Listen, man, you

1035
00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:01,840
Speaker 1: always crush it you crush these questions, James co Direct

1036
00:52:01,880 --> 00:52:04,400
Speaker 1: TV Fantasy Zone. Tell us everything you're working on, including

1037
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:07,239
Speaker 1: the Fantasy Zone and what you're doing it at the Athletic. Yeah.

1038
00:52:07,320 --> 00:52:09,440
Speaker 1: So at the Athletic, I have a column coming out

1039
00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:13,120
Speaker 1: every Friday. Um, go catch it there for both places,

1040
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:14,960
Speaker 1: the Athletic and for a Direct TV. You know, I

1041
00:52:14,960 --> 00:52:17,000
Speaker 1: focus on next gen stats, so I give people some

1042
00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:21,360
Speaker 1: advanced stats, um, some analytics. You always use air quotes.

1043
00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:25,799
Speaker 1: Whenever I say analytics, you just like scared. It scares people. Um,

1044
00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:28,520
Speaker 1: but look, if you've ever read my work, if you've

1045
00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:32,000
Speaker 1: ever watched my work, um, yes I use you know,

1046
00:52:32,320 --> 00:52:34,719
Speaker 1: I'm using air quotes here analytics, and yes I use

1047
00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:40,400
Speaker 1: advanced stats, but I make it incredibly as digestible as possible.

1048
00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:43,600
Speaker 1: I promise you if you watch my pieces is, if

1049
00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:48,520
Speaker 1: you read my work, you will learn something about fantasy football.

1050
00:52:48,560 --> 00:52:51,120
Speaker 1: And I make it as easy to understand as possible.

1051
00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:54,040
Speaker 1: So um so yeah, that would be so that would

1052
00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:56,080
Speaker 1: be my one thing. But yeah, so next s work

1053
00:52:56,160 --> 00:52:58,600
Speaker 1: for for at the Athletic, next gen stats work and

1054
00:52:58,680 --> 00:53:01,680
Speaker 1: just overall fantasy football for Direct TV as well. So

1055
00:53:01,800 --> 00:53:05,439
Speaker 1: catch that show Fantasy Zone Sunday, we're on an hour

1056
00:53:05,560 --> 00:53:09,040
Speaker 1: before kickoff and we just go through the entire day.

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Speaker 1: It's red Zone style. Man, we're gonna give you every

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00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:13,759
Speaker 1: single game, We're gonna give you every single touchdown. We'll

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00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:16,680
Speaker 1: give it to you all. But we'll also give you

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00:53:16,719 --> 00:53:20,160
Speaker 1: a lot of fantasy advice and fantasy implications while you're

1061
00:53:20,200 --> 00:53:22,880
Speaker 1: watching the games as well. So that's Direct TV Channel

1062
00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:25,800
Speaker 1: seven o four if you have if you've got Twitter

1063
00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:28,080
Speaker 1: questions for me, I try to be as good as

1064
00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:30,719
Speaker 1: possible about getting back to the fan stuff. So you

1065
00:53:30,719 --> 00:53:33,879
Speaker 1: could find me on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram at

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00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:37,279
Speaker 1: James Dco. The last name is feld K. A must watch,

1067
00:53:37,520 --> 00:53:40,319
Speaker 1: a must listen, James Co. You're always a friend of

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00:53:40,320 --> 00:53:43,520
Speaker 1: the program and can't thank you every time. Bud all right, man,

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00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:45,759
Speaker 1: thanks for having me on anytime, and that'll do it.

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00:53:45,840 --> 00:53:48,520
Speaker 1: A big thanks to James Co, David Lombardi and Matt

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00:53:48,600 --> 00:53:50,840
Speaker 1: money Smith for joining me, and of course thanks to

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00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:53,120
Speaker 1: you all for listening. You can find Chargers Weekly in

1073
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:57,200
Speaker 1: our new Backstage Chargers podcast on Apple Podcasts. Why Are There?

1074
00:53:57,200 --> 00:54:00,400
Speaker 1: Please rate and review, help spread the word, Enjoy Sunday's

1075
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:03,600
Speaker 1: game against the Niners, and until next time, I'm Chris Hayren,

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00:54:06,800 --> 00:54:06,840
Speaker 1: m