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

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Speaker 1: Falcons Final Whistle Podcast. I'm Scott bar alongside Aston Edmonds

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Speaker 1: and Tory mclaney, coming to you from Mercedes Benz Stadium.

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Speaker 1: The roof has been closed, the sun has gone down,

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Speaker 1: and the Falcons have ultimately lost their Week nine matchup

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Speaker 1: twenty to seventeen to the Los Angeles Chargers. What a shock.

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Speaker 1: This was another dramatic one. This is the sarcasm was

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Speaker 1: very apt. I mean, all all but two games have

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Speaker 1: been one score. Ye have come down to the end.

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Speaker 1: Last week against Carolina, they emerged victorious from one of

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Speaker 1: these tight ball games. This time they did not. We

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Speaker 1: were going to break down exactly what happened, what went right,

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Speaker 1: what went wrong for the Falcons, including going over their

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Speaker 1: running game, the really stark difference between the first and

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Speaker 1: third quarters for the Falcons and the second and the fourth.

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Speaker 1: We're going to dive into their defense, some third down conversions.

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Speaker 1: We are obviously going to talk about that two crazy

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Speaker 1: turnover sequences kind of back and forth, especially when Austin

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Speaker 1: Eckler fumbles to Kuon Graham picks it up, loses possession

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Speaker 1: and that sets up the game winning field goal. So

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Speaker 1: we're going to get into all that, and of course,

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Speaker 1: as we like to do, put this thing in big

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Speaker 1: picture perspective. Yeah, capital j journalism. Capital, Actually that's more

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Speaker 1: of that's not like journalism, that's more of just like

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Speaker 1: talking about what is Yeah, I feel about to happen. Well, well, Tory,

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Speaker 1: give me some capital, a analysis about what you thought

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Speaker 1: of how this game played out and how we ended

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Speaker 1: up at a final result that was unwelcome for the

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Speaker 1: home team. Yeah, I think the word that I would

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Speaker 1: use to describe this game was frustrating. I think it

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Speaker 1: was a very frustrating game, and I think it honestly,

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Speaker 1: I felt as frustrated watching this game as I did

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Speaker 1: watching last Sunday's game for almost the same reasons. And

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Speaker 1: I'll say this, the defense is still having issues getting

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Speaker 1: off the field on third down, that is what they

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Speaker 1: are still having issues the offense. What I will say

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Speaker 1: about the offense, I know last time on the podcast,

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Speaker 1: I talked about the need for the Falcons offense to

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Speaker 1: start quicker. They did that, However, they did not sustain

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Speaker 1: that through four quarters, which I know that we're going

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Speaker 1: to talk about. And then of course you have young

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Speaker 1: Wick who missing a fifty yard field goal, which I

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Speaker 1: know is fifty yards, but we've seen him make those

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Speaker 1: in the past, and he's become this reliable figure. And

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Speaker 1: so I was very frustrated in the fact that the

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Speaker 1: Falcons had every opportunity, I think, to win this game,

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Speaker 1: and instead of having every opportunity to win this game

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Speaker 1: and still somehow pulling it out like they did against Carolina,

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Speaker 1: That's not what we saw happen here. And it was

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Speaker 1: something that I thought that the Falcons just really had

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Speaker 1: moments of not executing on offense, defense, and special teams,

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Speaker 1: and it was the accumulation of all three of those misadventures,

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Speaker 1: if you will, that kind of brought you to a

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Speaker 1: last second field goal to win it for the Chargers. Ashton,

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Speaker 1: what did you think of everything that went down in

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter? They I believe the Falcons took a

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Speaker 1: lead into the fourth Does that sound correct to anyone?

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Speaker 1: I know? It was seventeen all with like five minutes

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Speaker 1: left to go, right, Yeah, So yeah, it was seventeen

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Speaker 1: fourteen late in the third quarter, so slim lead. Yeah. Um,

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Speaker 1: your thoughts on what happened in the fourth quarter and

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Speaker 1: where things broke down? Yeah, Honestly, the offense just wasn't

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Speaker 1: executing at all. Um. I think Mariota he threw a

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Speaker 1: lot of incomplete passes, a lot of deep throws to

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Speaker 1: cow pits, to um Drake Glendon. You know what I'm saying. Uh,

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Speaker 1: it was just a lot of things on offense that

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Speaker 1: that wasn't working. The defense. Again, I feel like the

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Speaker 1: defense was doing okay, but they weren't executing at all.

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Speaker 1: They you know, justin Herbert, were stilling a lot of

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Speaker 1: short passes that resulted in a lot of chunkyard each Um.

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Speaker 1: I feel like Joshua Palmer, he had a big day.

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Speaker 1: He was open, you know, majority of the game. Um.

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Speaker 1: I think he had over one hundred receiving yards, so

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Speaker 1: that really hurt the defensive light. Um. But I just

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Speaker 1: think late in the fourth quarter, you know, we didn't

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Speaker 1: see that consistency that we saw in the first quarter

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Speaker 1: translated to the fourth quarter. I just think the Falcons

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Speaker 1: didn't finish through fourth quarters. Here's here's a wild thing.

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Speaker 1: And I'm trying to do math while I'm recording this,

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Speaker 1: so it never goes well. Marcus Mariota threw eleven in

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Speaker 1: completions and if I'm counting correctly, nine of those eleven

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Speaker 1: in completions were targeting Kyle Pitts and Drake London. Kyle

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Speaker 1: Pitts two receptions twenty seven yards on seven targets. Drake

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Speaker 1: London three receptions for twenty three yards on seven targets.

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Speaker 1: That's inefficient to your best targets, guys who you would

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Speaker 1: think now, of course, you're probably more likely to throw

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Speaker 1: them lower percentage ball thinking that those guys are going

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Speaker 1: to make a play. Ultimately, those guys didn't make a

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Speaker 1: lot of plays or weren't in sync with their quarterback

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Speaker 1: in a way that could have been more impactful. I

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Speaker 1: think too, like this is something that has come up

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Speaker 1: a lot. It's not the Falcons lack of throwing the ball,

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Speaker 1: but they're not going to throw the ball forty times

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Speaker 1: in a game. But it's not necessarily the lack of

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Speaker 1: thought to throw the ball. It's the lack of execution

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Speaker 1: when they do throw the ball, and that is something

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Speaker 1: that has come up time and time again over the

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Speaker 1: course of the first nine weeks of this season. It's

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Speaker 1: a problem an issue that the Falcons if they want

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Speaker 1: to be competitive and win some of these games like

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Speaker 1: this one, it's something they got to fix. Yeah, and

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Speaker 1: it was a great stat I read in Nerdy Birds,

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Speaker 1: which you can find on Friday, written by John Dayton

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Speaker 1: and Matt Haley, and I think a stat that wowed

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Speaker 1: me is that they run into heavy boxes, which is

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Speaker 1: eight or more individuals in the box and NFL high

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Speaker 1: forty six percent of the time going into this game.

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Speaker 1: The reason why I bring that up and is just

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Speaker 1: to try to say the way that you keep defenses

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Speaker 1: honest right is being able to not only throw but

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Speaker 1: convert those deeper shots. It was something that they did

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Speaker 1: better against Carolina. It's something that they didn't do very

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Speaker 1: well here, and I think ultimately it was costly. Tory

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Speaker 1: and I the running dialogue during the game needs to

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Speaker 1: be on a Twitter space that we said someone should

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Speaker 1: give us a headset during the game, Yeah, just to

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Speaker 1: hear our ramblings. But then I was like, maybe don't

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Speaker 1: do that. Yeah, Tory and Scott and Ashton unfiltered. Maybe

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Speaker 1: that's a bad idea. Nonetheless, just that if if they're

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Speaker 1: not staying on schedule, yeah, with a productive first down,

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Speaker 1: if they fall behind early, it's hard for them to convert.

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Speaker 1: With the way that this passing game is going. That's

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Speaker 1: something a point that I think Tory has brought up

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Speaker 1: a number of different times, and I think it showed

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Speaker 1: up here during this game that when they were able

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Speaker 1: to get three plus again, this is your number nine.

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Speaker 1: This is not my idea. I want this to be

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Speaker 1: very clear. I'm regurgitating the smartness from miss mcclaney. Are

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Speaker 1: we all clear on that affair. I appreciate the credit,

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Speaker 1: but I but I think that it's a good point.

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Speaker 1: And I think that until they get this passing game

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Speaker 1: to become more efficient, it's gonna be harder for them,

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Speaker 1: you know, to to because sometimes you have to make

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Speaker 1: off schedule plays. Yeah, sometimes you're gonna have like the

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Speaker 1: Charges did first in twenty five and they convert. You

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Speaker 1: have to be able to to do that, not because

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Speaker 1: sometimes everything won't go perfect. Does anyone understand what I'm saying? No, no, no,

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Speaker 1: And another point that I would make, You're gonna have

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Speaker 1: teams that are gonna load the box to take the

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Speaker 1: run away when you have a guy like Tyler Algier

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Speaker 1: who is running at a clip where he is averaging

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Speaker 1: nine point nine yards to carry nine point nine yards

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Speaker 1: to carry people when he is doing that, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: have teams that are gonna load the box. You have

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Speaker 1: to be able to take some of that pressure off

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Speaker 1: of the run game. And I think it goes back

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Speaker 1: to also running the ball is not a problem. No,

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Speaker 1: it is. The Falcons ran for two hundred and one

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Speaker 1: yards rushing today, five point seven a clip, two touchdowns.

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Speaker 1: That is a wild number to lose the game. And

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Speaker 1: so I really am sitting here kind of I go

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Speaker 1: back to the whole frustrating thing that what I said

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Speaker 1: at the top, it's like with this offense, and I

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Speaker 1: think this is something we talked about actually in the

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Speaker 1: Bengals loss, where it's like, is there a formula for

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Speaker 1: defending the Falcons offense? And I think it's interesting because

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Speaker 1: I asked Marcus Mariotte about the three and out in

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, the with five minutes to go in

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Speaker 1: the game, where they ran the ball. On first down,

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Speaker 1: he takes a deep shot to Kyle Pits. It's an

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Speaker 1: incompletion and then I can't remember what it. They threw

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Speaker 1: an incompletion on third down and then punted, And he

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Speaker 1: was talking about that play, that whole sequence in a nutshell,

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Speaker 1: and he kind of said, you know they go to

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Speaker 1: the pass on second down because they load the box

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Speaker 1: and you try and get some pressure off of your

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Speaker 1: running backs and your offensive line, so you try and

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Speaker 1: hit hit Kyle Pitts deep and you don't hit him.

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Speaker 1: And I feel like that probably happened more times than not.

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Speaker 1: When you're looking at, you know, those targets that you

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Speaker 1: were talking about to Drake London and Kyle pits how

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Speaker 1: many how much of that is to set up what

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Speaker 1: the Falcons can do in the run game. I feel

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Speaker 1: like for years we've been talking about how the pass

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Speaker 1: is set up by the run, and I feel like

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Speaker 1: now we have switched that in this year where it's

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Speaker 1: like the pass has to set up the run because

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Speaker 1: right now the run is the one thing that is

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Speaker 1: consistently successful for the Falcons this year. Yeah, And when

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Speaker 1: I kind of look at it, I look if they

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Speaker 1: can solve that problem and they don't have to be

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Speaker 1: you know, the run and shoot anything right, They don't

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Speaker 1: have to throw the ball. They can throw the ball

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Speaker 1: twenty three times and be just fine totally. They just

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Speaker 1: have to be more efficient with it. And I think

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Speaker 1: that if they can solve that problem, this offense could

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Speaker 1: be really good. Yeah, we've seen them. We've seen that. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: during individual drives, you will see those moments where they

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Speaker 1: connect on a pass and they're consistently running the football

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Speaker 1: and you're like, that's how it's supposed to look. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: because his offense is I mean Arthur Smith, it's well

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Speaker 1: coached and it's well orchestrated on game day and he

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Speaker 1: comes with a good plan. But if so, if the exit,

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Speaker 1: if the execution can improve just a little bit, I

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Speaker 1: think a lot of these other problems that we're talking

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Speaker 1: about that are being exposed, aren't that big of a deal.

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Speaker 1: I think maybe not everything has to be a last

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Speaker 1: minute a last minute thing. Question is can they do it?

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Speaker 1: And that's the real issue. So when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the running game, that's in a good spot. We've identified,

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Speaker 1: you know, kind of what the issues were in this game,

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Speaker 1: in particular Ashton. You look at the first quarter, Falcons dominated.

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Speaker 1: You look at the third quarter, they were better, second

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Speaker 1: and fourth did not go well. And Arthur Smith, talking

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Speaker 1: about the difference between the first and the second quarter, said,

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Speaker 1: we certainly allowed them to go back out there. As

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Speaker 1: you feel like that you have the momentum, you get

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Speaker 1: them on the ropes a little bit, but that's the NFL.

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Speaker 1: We have to find a way and we'll continue to

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Speaker 1: do that as they get back to work. Finding that consistency.

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Speaker 1: That's another one of these themes, right, this team is

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Speaker 1: both inconsistent in games and between games. Right, it seems

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Speaker 1: like you know, um, how do you know? Like, how

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Speaker 1: do you I guess, how do you solve that is

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Speaker 1: a terrible question. But how much of an impact is

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Speaker 1: inconsistency and was inconsistency in this game? Yeah? I mean

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Speaker 1: I go back to what Tory said, Um, I think

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Speaker 1: those misplays was the determining factor in this game. U.

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Speaker 1: The Falcons, they definitely have to stay consistent. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know when they start, when they start fast and

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Speaker 1: they and they execute in the first quarter, I feel like,

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Speaker 1: you know, that brings some type of momentum to the

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Speaker 1: Falcons offense and defense. I think the defense executed well

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Speaker 1: also on the first quarter, limiting Justin Herbert, limiting Eckler

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Speaker 1: on a run. But those inconsistent quarters the second and

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter, that's what hurt the most. And you can't

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Speaker 1: let a quarterback like Justin Herbert get hot. You can't

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Speaker 1: let a running back like Eckler find you know, open

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Speaker 1: holes or run a deep route or catch a short

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Speaker 1: pass that that might result in the twenty yard game

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Speaker 1: from Herbert, the Falcons have to limit those specific things,

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Speaker 1: and I think if we're going to contend for a

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Speaker 1: playoff spot or continues who stay at top of the

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Speaker 1: NFC South, we have to clean up those things. You know,

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Speaker 1: what's a wild stat is if you look at I

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Speaker 1: haven't pulled up, so I'm going to read it sweet.

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Speaker 1: In the first quarter, Atlanta had one hundred and forty

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Speaker 1: five yards and scored ten points. The Chargers had sixteen

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Speaker 1: yards and scored no points. Then it was completely flipped

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Speaker 1: on its head. In the second quarter. The Falcons had

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Speaker 1: negative five yards, in the second quarter, no points. The

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Speaker 1: Chargers had one hundred and sixty six yards and scored

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Speaker 1: fourteen points. Wow. Wow, that is when you look at

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Speaker 1: that stat just without any other context at all, that

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Speaker 1: is a while to me how you could go from

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Speaker 1: so hot to so not in the span of like

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Speaker 1: one to two quarters. And this wasn't like a half

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Speaker 1: to break or made some adjustments. It was just the

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Speaker 1: clock strug zero. The quarter number changed, and then we

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Speaker 1: kept going, yeah, it's it was crazy to me, and

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Speaker 1: I think even kind of looking at this was something.

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Speaker 1: This was an idea that I wrote about post game,

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Speaker 1: something that kept coming up when I was talking, when

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Speaker 1: we all were talking to players and coaches and etc. Etc.

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Speaker 1: They kept saying like talking about the EBB and the

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Speaker 1: flow of a game, and how there's always going to

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Speaker 1: be an EBB and a flow of the game. And

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Speaker 1: I think we can all agree on that. However, when

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Speaker 1: the Falcons ebb, it's it's a big ebb. I don't

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Speaker 1: I don't know how else to describe it, but it's

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Speaker 1: like the EBB of the entire second quarter put them

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Speaker 1: in a position to where you're going into the third quarter,

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Speaker 1: and even though you play better in the third quarter,

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Speaker 1: you ebb again in the fourth quarter offensively and defensively.

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Speaker 1: And it's almost like these ebbs are creating situations that

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Speaker 1: make it more difficult for the Falcons to flow offensively

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Speaker 1: and defensively. They are at their best when they are

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Speaker 1: kind of flowing where it's not terrible, it's not fantastic,

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Speaker 1: They're just kind of moving the ball. They're coming up

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Speaker 1: with some key stops, even if they have defensive drives

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Speaker 1: that last the full length of the field or twenty

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Speaker 1: to twenty. When they start ebbing and when they start

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Speaker 1: getting in these negative yard situations and giving up one

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Speaker 1: hundred and sixty six yards and fourteen points in one

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Speaker 1: singular quarter, that is where the ebb becomes almost insurmountable, right,

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Speaker 1: TidalWave style. Yeah, it just kind of hits you and

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Speaker 1: knocks you back and can you recover? And the Falcons

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Speaker 1: ultimately did recover for a while. And we're gonna get

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Speaker 1: to I'm sure what everybody wants to hear about, and

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Speaker 1: that is the Austin Eckler fumble recovered by te Quon Graham,

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Speaker 1: which was he dropped the football as he was trying

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Speaker 1: to get a big return set up a big play

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Speaker 1: for his team. Ashton wrote about this, Ashton, We're gonna

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Speaker 1: go over some of the quotes that Arthur Smith and

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Speaker 1: to Quan Graham said, because I know this is a

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Speaker 1: flashpoint for fans. Before we do that, can we just

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Speaker 1: all have like like a genuine human moment here. To

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Speaker 1: Quon Graham, as we all have gotten to know him

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Speaker 1: over the last two years, is just a genuinely good

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Speaker 1: dude who cares and wants to make plays for this

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Speaker 1: team and is a good football player and a heavy

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Speaker 1: contributor on a defensive line. As Tory pointed out before

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Speaker 1: we started recording defensive line stats, they're not showing up

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Speaker 1: on your fantasy team and they're not something that you're

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Speaker 1: going to tangibly notice, especially with the way the Falcons

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Speaker 1: play their defensive front. Okay, so we have to deal

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Speaker 1: with this singular negative moment in his season, but I

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Speaker 1: did not want to dive into it one. We're not

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Speaker 1: blaming him for anything. Now to his contributors. Positive contributions

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Speaker 1: in this game and really throughout the course of this

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Speaker 1: season must be noted, and they greatly outweighed this one

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Speaker 1: moment that he had in my opinion. Right, So all

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Speaker 1: those things being said, Ashton, what was the postgame conversation,

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Speaker 1: first from Graham and then for Arthur Smith, the head

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Speaker 1: coach who really stood up for his good young player. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: for sure. Graham honestly was was in great spirits. You

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Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. His head wasn't down, he wasn't sad,

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Speaker 1: you know, he was. The gist of what he was

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Speaker 1: saying is, you know, I have to move on from

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Speaker 1: this situation as football. The ball slipped you know, he

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Speaker 1: really wanted to make a play, but the ball just

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Speaker 1: came out and you know, he couldn't really do anything

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Speaker 1: about it. Arthur Smith was extremely proud of to Quan,

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Speaker 1: and the quote from Arthur says, I backed TQ one

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Speaker 1: hundred thousand percent. He wanted to make a play. It's

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Speaker 1: a funny shape the ball, but I love TQ. He

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Speaker 1: should never hang his head down. He scooped the ball

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Speaker 1: up and it slipped out. He's a defensive liman and

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Speaker 1: the ball takes funny bounce it sometimes. And I just think,

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Speaker 1: you know, TQ he's going to learn from this moment.

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Speaker 1: This was his first NFL fumble recovery, and you know,

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Speaker 1: he just he even joked and he said, maybe switch

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Speaker 1: out the leather palm gloves to to stinkies. Maybe he

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Speaker 1: even said that after the after the game. So I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, to Quan isn't He's not going to dwell

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Speaker 1: on something like this. Um he felt like he contributed

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Speaker 1: to the loss, but we all know he didn't. Um. Well,

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Speaker 1: I mean, he definitely contributed to the loss. Okay, yeah,

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Speaker 1: but I wouldn't say that that's the soul. Yeah right,

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Speaker 1: that's true, But I would just All and I would

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Speaker 1: just say t Q was was in great spirits out

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Speaker 1: of the game, and it's something that he looks to

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Speaker 1: build upon. Yeah, I'll say this too about t Q

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Speaker 1: and um it goes back to kind of what Scott

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Speaker 1: was saying when we were talking about it. I did say,

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Speaker 1: you know, if a defensive linement isn't getting a sack,

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Speaker 1: it's like it in the eyes of people. I think

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Speaker 1: sometimes watching the games, it's like, oh, well, they didn't

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Speaker 1: do anything. I never heard their name called, so they

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Speaker 1: didn't do anything. But with that position particularly, and I

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Speaker 1: think Dean Pass talks about this a lot, is like

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Speaker 1: they are contributing to a lot of different factors as

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Speaker 1: just getting the quarterback off their spot. And I think

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Speaker 1: that we have over the course of these first nine

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Speaker 1: games we've seen I think the Falcons defensive line be

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Speaker 1: better at doing that in comparison to what they did

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Speaker 1: last year. I think last year it was a huge

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Speaker 1: issue that they that the quarterbacks were just way too

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Speaker 1: comfortable in the pocket against this defense. I feel like

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Speaker 1: at this point now, even against Justin Herbert, who I

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Speaker 1: did feel like played you know, fairly well, and there

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Speaker 1: were moments that I think he did maybe have too

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Speaker 1: much time in the pocket, but I do think that

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Speaker 1: you were seeing this defensive line get after quarterbacks at

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Speaker 1: a better rate than not but before TQ and for

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Speaker 1: what he's been to the Falcons this year, I mean

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Speaker 1: you think about just how the Falcons let go of

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Speaker 1: Tyler Davidson in the offseason. They think that they're going

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Speaker 1: to go into the twenty twenty two season with Grady Jarrett,

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Speaker 1: Marlon Davidson kind of hoping that Marlon Davidson was going

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Speaker 1: to get a have a good healthy year for them.

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Speaker 1: And then you have TQ kind of acting as your

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Speaker 1: reserve guy, and Vincent Taylor, who you get off the street,

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Speaker 1: who you would think was coming off of an injury,

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Speaker 1: was really excited to get out there, someone who could

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Speaker 1: provide depth for you. That was your core of defensive

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Speaker 1: Anthony Rush and Anthony Rush, that was your core of

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Speaker 1: interior defensive lineman. And now you look at where this

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Speaker 1: group is nine weeks into the season, and TQ and

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Speaker 1: Grady Jarre alongside each other, have been such an important

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Speaker 1: part of what this defense is doing when they are successful,

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Speaker 1: and you look at Anthony Rush is no longer here,

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Speaker 1: Marlon Davidson is no longer here. Obviously, Tyler Davidson's no

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Speaker 1: longer here. He was let go and before the season

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Speaker 1: even started, Vincent Taylor got hurt. All of these names.

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Speaker 1: You now have Abdullah Anderson and Jayalen Dalton who was

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Speaker 1: just elevated from the practice squad. Like all of these names,

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Speaker 1: and even in all of this change and everything, I

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Speaker 1: think feel like TQ has been a solid contributor from

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Speaker 1: the from week one to where we are at week nine.

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Speaker 1: And I don't want I say all this to say

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Speaker 1: like I don't want people. Yes, he should have not

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Speaker 1: have fumbled the ball. We can all agree on that,

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Speaker 1: he would agree on that, everybody would agree you have

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Speaker 1: to hold on to the ball in that situation, and

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Speaker 1: that it was costly, and that it was costly. But

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Speaker 1: I will say this, I hope people don't take this

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Speaker 1: one moment and kind of have it ruin. What TQ

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Speaker 1: has been for this defense over the course of these

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Speaker 1: nine games is what essentially and what he could be

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Speaker 1: for defenses down the road. So let's set the magnifying

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Speaker 1: glass aside, take the eye off of the microscope, and

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Speaker 1: try to go big picture. Here we are recording this

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Speaker 1: in the slate seven o'clock hour on Sunday, as we

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Speaker 1: have been recording, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came back and

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Speaker 1: beat the Los Angeles Rams. Now they now have the

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Speaker 1: same record as the Falcons at four and five. Technically,

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Speaker 1: because of a head to head, you'll see Tampa Bay

399
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Speaker 1: on top of the division. Carolina lost badly to Cincinnati.

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati will make a lot of teams look bad. And

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Speaker 1: you have the New Orleans Saints coming up their record

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Speaker 1: which was just in front of me. Their record is

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Speaker 1: three and five. They play the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.

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Speaker 1: So we as we look at this from a higher perspective,

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Speaker 1: and I wrote a column about this, is that, look,

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Speaker 1: this wasn't a division game, but this was a winnable

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Speaker 1: game that the Falcons didn't win. And they're three and

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Speaker 1: four and one score games there are seven and two

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Speaker 1: last year. That's not a translatable thing between year to year,

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Speaker 1: so the experts tell me. But nonetheless, when you have

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Speaker 1: an opportunity like the Falcons had today with a couple

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Speaker 1: of better results on critical downs, offense, defense and special teams,

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Speaker 1: this outcome is different. Yeah, just is. And you cannot

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Speaker 1: let opportunities slip or you're gonna get to early January

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Speaker 1: with some regrets. And the Falcons cannot afford to let

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Speaker 1: opportunities slip away. You won't have an opportunity every week.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes will dominate, sometimes you're gonna get dominated. It's the league.

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Speaker 1: It's the way that it is. Losing out on this

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Speaker 1: golden opportunity is hurtful. I think to their quest to

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Speaker 1: win the division, which whatever I get it's Week ten.

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Speaker 1: They are playoff contenders, meaning they are a contender for

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Speaker 1: a playoff spot. Let's get the definition right, Yeah, they

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Speaker 1: are playoff contenders to win this division. They have to

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Speaker 1: do better when they are given opportunities like this, when

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Speaker 1: they are in games and they have a chance to

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Speaker 1: get a w and maybe start seriously stacking wins. This

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Speaker 1: goes back to the consistency problem that they've had, and

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Speaker 1: it showed up again today. Maybe some people might say

429
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,480
Speaker 1: they got a little lucky against Carolina. I think they

430
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:58,159
Speaker 1: made one more play than Carolina did. Their kickers pretty good, right, So,

431
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,159
Speaker 1: so I think that when you add it all up,

432
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,360
Speaker 1: you can't continue to let these opportunities slip at this

433
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: rate and expect to be standing atop this division. That's

434
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:10,720
Speaker 1: where I think they stand. Of course, they have a

435
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:15,240
Speaker 1: huge if every game matters, as alominates Zaki has pointed

436
00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 1: out to me, every game matters, Division games matter even more,

437
00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,480
Speaker 1: and they have that Thursday night game kind of tory.

438
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,000
Speaker 1: We're at the pivot point and in the season, we

439
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,359
Speaker 1: can say that we're heading into the second half of

440
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,679
Speaker 1: the year evaluate maybe kind of where the Falcons are, Like,

441
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,120
Speaker 1: maybe nobody expected them to be in this division race,

442
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,920
Speaker 1: but here they are. If they do the right things

443
00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,720
Speaker 1: they which they can control, they could win this whole thing. Yeah,

444
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,560
Speaker 1: I think it's really I look at this. I don't

445
00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,120
Speaker 1: want to get too far ahead and start speculating too

446
00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 1: far ahead, but if you are just looking at this

447
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,560
Speaker 1: Thursday night game coming up against Carolina, it's a big

448
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 1: game for many reasons, but mainly for I mean for

449
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 1: just the NFC standings, NFC South thing endings. I'm sorry.

450
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,840
Speaker 1: You look at what Tampa Bay just did beating the Rams.

451
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,119
Speaker 1: You look at what the Saints have an opportunity to

452
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 1: do on Monday night. Maybe maybe we know by the

453
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,639
Speaker 1: time you're listening to this what they do on Monday night.

454
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,119
Speaker 1: But then you look at the Falcons, and it really

455
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 1: does feel like in this division, because of the way

456
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 1: that the league is kind of playing right now, that

457
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,879
Speaker 1: every team kind of has their destiny in their hands.

458
00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,199
Speaker 1: You know, I really do feel that way because it

459
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,680
Speaker 1: is kind of the old saying on any given Sunday,

460
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,120
Speaker 1: like anyone can beat anyone. And I feel like, more

461
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 1: than ever, these last few years have really been dictated

462
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: by that old cliche. And so for that reason Thursday

463
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,480
Speaker 1: Nights game. The more the more division wins you get,

464
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:50,920
Speaker 1: the easier it is for you to get a playoff

465
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,919
Speaker 1: birth and that's just how it is. So because of

466
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:56,919
Speaker 1: all that, this is a very very important game on

467
00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: Thursday night, It's going to be very interesting to see

468
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,120
Speaker 1: how all the Falcons bounce back on a short week.

469
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,400
Speaker 1: It's also going to be very interesting to see what

470
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:09,720
Speaker 1: changes both teams make after playing each other what ten

471
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 1: days ago, right, that is gonna be It is a

472
00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,720
Speaker 1: quick turnaround. It is very fascinating, I think to see

473
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,359
Speaker 1: because it almost becomes like a coaching chess match. You

474
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:21,600
Speaker 1: when you have two teams that know a lot about

475
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 1: each other, especially recent knowledge of each other. I think

476
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:30,439
Speaker 1: getting Cordiill Patterson back this time around may make a

477
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,640
Speaker 1: difference in terms of what the Falcons can do offensively.

478
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,359
Speaker 1: I think that that is kind of advantage Atlanta. But

479
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:39,880
Speaker 1: an advantage for Carolina is that we don't know who

480
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,120
Speaker 1: the heck is gonna be under center for them. Yeah,

481
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,159
Speaker 1: it could be Baker Mayfield, it could be p J. Walker.

482
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,040
Speaker 1: It literally could be either of the two at any

483
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:50,959
Speaker 1: point in time during four quarters of the game. We

484
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,960
Speaker 1: don't know that, So that's advantage I think Carolina. There

485
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,119
Speaker 1: is so many storylines that are going into this Thursday

486
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:01,000
Speaker 1: night game, and the outcome of it, I think very

487
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:05,560
Speaker 1: much dictates where the Falcons go moving forward in their division,

488
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,200
Speaker 1: just in their division, right, Yeah, And I think that

489
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,000
Speaker 1: that's a good way to look at it. It's week ten.

490
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,720
Speaker 1: Let's not start thinking about the week eighteen matchup against

491
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,480
Speaker 1: Tampa and really hone in on what's coming up here.

492
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,800
Speaker 1: And Richie Grant called it a must win. Yeah, it's

493
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:21,679
Speaker 1: week ten. Maybe it is, maybe it doesn't, but it

494
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,880
Speaker 1: seems like that's where their head is at Ashton. Let's

495
00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 1: kind of wrap it up here. Did what were your

496
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,720
Speaker 1: takeaways from what the guys were saying in the locker

497
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,879
Speaker 1: room about moving on from this loss and having a

498
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,640
Speaker 1: game against Carolina on a Thursday night, seems like every

499
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 1: everybody was just kind of kept harping on the fact that, Hey,

500
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,680
Speaker 1: gotta turn the page, gotta turn the page, gotta turn

501
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,640
Speaker 1: the page. That was literally the quote of the night

502
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,920
Speaker 1: from literally every player, even CQ. They they're not really

503
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,520
Speaker 1: harping on this loss. They're looking forward to Carolina. Like

504
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,679
Speaker 1: story mentioned, Baker Mayfield might be under center. He had

505
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,159
Speaker 1: two touchdowns today against the Bengals in the last two

506
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,520
Speaker 1: quarters of the game. UM, you know, players, it's a

507
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,919
Speaker 1: short week, you know what I'm saying. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

508
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,199
Speaker 1: they got practice. Thursday they have the game, so they

509
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 1: can't really harp on this loss against the Chargers, who

510
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 1: are not in their division. They have to learn from

511
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:14,480
Speaker 1: it and they have to move on and win this

512
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: divisional game. This is going to be very crucial and

513
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 1: very important on Thursday in UM, I just think players, uh,

514
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 1: you know, they're they're already moved on to Thursday's game,

515
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,800
Speaker 1: and UM, you know, I think you know, this week

516
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,359
Speaker 1: in practice, how they practice UM and how they what

517
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,880
Speaker 1: they learn from watching this game's film will be critical.

518
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,080
Speaker 1: UM against the Panthers on Thursday. It's interesting too, because

519
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:39,520
Speaker 1: Arthur's been sent his postgame press conference. Who's like, as

520
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 1: soon as I leave here, we're moving on to Carolina.

521
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:46,280
Speaker 1: And I believe him when he says it. I bet

522
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 1: as we're recording this on a Sunday night, he is

523
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,560
Speaker 1: probably at the officer in front of an iPad watching

524
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:56,040
Speaker 1: film trying to get this team. As Grady Jarrett always says,

525
00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 1: you cannot let one loss turn into two. That is

526
00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,440
Speaker 1: the Falcons quest as they towards Thursday night's game against Carolina.

527
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 1: We're gonna be in Charlotte. Of course, we are all

528
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:07,840
Speaker 1: three of us as a matter of fact, covering this game,

529
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 1: a huge divisional game, prime time should it should be

530
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,600
Speaker 1: a fun one, and we will talk to you after

531
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,480
Speaker 1: that one gosh, in just a few days time. So

532
00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 1: thank you all for downloading, listening, subscribing to the Falcons

533
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,320
Speaker 1: podcast network. If you haven't done that, do it right now.

534
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:29,160
Speaker 1: Sebou play that I've officially lost my mind. So I'm

535
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 1: gonna get out of here before before I say any

536
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 1: more crazy stuff. I'm Scott Ashton Tory. Thank you guys

537
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 1: so much. We'll talk to you again after that Panthers game.