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Speaker 1: It is a football Friday Week four edition, the last

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Speaker 1: of a three game September homestand welcome burg Gang. On

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Speaker 1: today's show, Zach Kerstman joins me. A win on Sunday

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Speaker 1: and the Cardinals go two and one at home to

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Speaker 1: close the month two and two overall. So how do

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Speaker 1: they get it done? We'll get into that update the

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Speaker 1: key injuries, plus head into enemy territory. We speak with

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Speaker 1: Zach Selby, senior writer for Commanders dot Com, at Cardinals

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Speaker 1: Cover two Episode eight hundred Pow. Good job everyone, and

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Speaker 1: it starts now.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Cardinals Cover two.

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Speaker 3: Bud to Baker, what Heart?

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Speaker 1: What rent?

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Speaker 3: This guy's unbelievable.

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Speaker 2: Cardinals Cover two is presented by Hyundai, proud partner of

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Speaker 2: the Arizona Cardinals and by Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Visit Azycardinals

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Speaker 2: dot Com slash podcast.

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Speaker 3: He said the ten half of five.

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Speaker 1: He's it again, so more hurry magic whow here's Craig.

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Speaker 1: So some history being made here on this Friday, September

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Speaker 1: twenty sixth.

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Speaker 3: Come on now, Craig.

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Speaker 1: Eight hundred episodes of Cardinals Cover two.

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Speaker 3: That's awesome. Congrats to you. Congrats to everyone, You've been

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Speaker 3: one of the star quarterbacks of this of this fantastic program.

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Speaker 3: So congratulations, I appreciate that, but even better, congratulations to

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Speaker 3: you because we worked it out.

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Speaker 1: We tweaked it just so you could be a part

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Speaker 1: of the eight hundredth episode.

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Speaker 3: I know, all the emergency cover twoes that we've had

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Speaker 3: all the years, it was so that we could be

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Speaker 3: here in this moment, September twenty seventh, ready to go.

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Speaker 1: Should we go to last week the moment, this point

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Speaker 1: a week ago, or you just want to fast forward

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Speaker 1: to week four or about you could go to it,

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Speaker 1: revisit your predictions that none of them came true.

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Speaker 3: And once again, it's because I should be my own identity.

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Speaker 3: You called me the nose though whatever Nostradamus exactly, and

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Speaker 3: I should have never associated myself with that individual because

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Speaker 3: me as me has been doing great so far. That's

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Speaker 3: so good to me. That's gonna be clips.

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Speaker 1: That's so good. One clip.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, I went over three. I said it was

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Speaker 3: gonna be a force fumble for the third week in

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Speaker 3: a row. That did not happen. I said that we're

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Speaker 3: going to keep the Lions, both Jamier and Gibbs and

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Speaker 3: David Montgomery to under around one hundred and ten rushing yards.

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Speaker 3: I think that it only happened for David Montgomery himself.

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Speaker 3: And then I said Trey Benson's first touchdown and that

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Speaker 3: definitely did not happen. So we bounce back week eight hundred.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we're gonna retire the prediction. Very fair.

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Speaker 3: Okay, good, because I was thinking about you.

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Speaker 1: Need a break.

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Speaker 3: I was thinking about it. You know, the way to

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Speaker 3: get back in your in your groove, you gotta take

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Speaker 3: a little step back, reevaluate, observe. I'm gonna have an

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Speaker 3: off season during the season. That's what we have right now.

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Speaker 1: Well, it is not the off season for the Arizona Cardinals.

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Speaker 4: I like that.

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Speaker 1: Week four and just like that, we are near the

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Speaker 1: end of the month of September. Next week, by the way,

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Speaker 1: is October.

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Speaker 3: So that's how the calendar works. That's how it works.

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Speaker 1: Cardinals and Commanders. One oh five is the kickoff. That

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Speaker 1: means eight thirty am pregame coverage begins. Set your alarm,

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Speaker 1: zach wait, we'll make sure you don't miss Early Bird

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Speaker 1: with Paul calBC on Sunday morning. Third of three straight

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Speaker 1: at home and can the Cardinals now have a winning

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Speaker 1: home record for the month of September. A little bit

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Speaker 1: later on, we will speak with Zach Selby, senior writer

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Speaker 1: for Commanders dot Com, get his thoughts on this matchup.

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Speaker 1: But there is some news on Friday, some bad news

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Speaker 1: and some good news. Let's get the bad news out

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Speaker 1: of the way. And I don't think it's a surprise

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Speaker 1: considering Trey McBride did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday,

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Speaker 1: but prior to practice on Friday, head coach Jonathan Gannon

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Speaker 1: ruled out his starting tight end, who remains in concussion

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Speaker 1: protocol after that hit last week against the Lions, so

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Speaker 1: he is out, and also Kyrie's Tonga defensive alignment is

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Speaker 1: out with a knee injury. But everyone is going to

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Speaker 1: focus on Trey not being available, first time, by the way,

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Speaker 1: since Week one his rookie year in which he was inactive.

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Speaker 1: But McBride out means that everyone else has to step

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Speaker 1: up in that tight end roum Well.

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Speaker 3: First off, it's a testament to Trey McBride and his

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Speaker 3: ability to stay healthy throughout his career. This is going

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Speaker 3: to be a very tough hole to fill because Trey

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Speaker 3: McBride draws a lot of attention in all different facets

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Speaker 3: of the offense in the run game and in the

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Speaker 3: past game, you know what he's able to do. And

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Speaker 3: when you have so much of a focus on Marvin

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Speaker 3: Harrison Junior, it opens up the door for Trade McBride

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Speaker 3: to have success. And this really seemed to be at

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Speaker 3: least what the experts were talking about, the quote unquote

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Speaker 3: experts we're talking about how this really was poised to

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Speaker 3: be the game that Trade McBride was going to have

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Speaker 3: a similar breakout game as he did last season. So unfortunately,

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Speaker 3: the Cardinals are going to be without their tight end

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Speaker 3: number one. But when your tight end number two is

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Speaker 3: Elijah Higgins, who has looked really solid so far, and

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Speaker 3: you already know what Tim Riman's going to be able

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Speaker 3: to do in the run game, potentially gets his first

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Speaker 3: catch of his NFL career this week. Jonathan Gannon said,

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Speaker 3: he's confident and comfortable with the guys in the room,

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Speaker 3: and I have no reason to doubt that.

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Speaker 1: Also might see Travis Vocoleck active for the first time

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Speaker 1: this season, to give the Cardinals three tight ends if

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Speaker 1: you want to establish re establish that run game, because

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Speaker 1: we have seen a lot of three tight ends on

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Speaker 1: the field this season. Right now, you've got three on

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Speaker 1: the roster, but we've only have not seen vocal liket

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Speaker 1: at so far yet this season. Another big body, kind

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Speaker 1: of tip Ryman type of frame who is probably no

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Speaker 1: more for his blocking than his pass.

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Speaker 3: Catching exactly, Or what about the odds of they they

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Speaker 3: decided to elevate a guy like Psycho.

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Speaker 1: That's a possibility and hard psych ofist. That would be nice,

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Speaker 1: That would be that'd be a story, Yes, that would

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Speaker 1: be a nice story on the International Pathway program.

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Speaker 3: Very much would because Jonathan Gannon thinks it's a very

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Speaker 3: good program, as he said to the media on Friday.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, look, once again, you can't replace Trey McBride,

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Speaker 3: especially what he brings to the table. But with the

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Speaker 3: amount that the Cardinals like to use twelve and thirteen personnel,

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Speaker 3: you like to have those three tight ends out there.

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Speaker 3: And Travis Boklek in the latter half of the season

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Speaker 3: in twenty twenty three against the Bears and against the Eagles,

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Speaker 3: and in that last game at State Farm Stadium, he

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Speaker 3: was out there and he was playing good snaps on

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Speaker 3: the run game. So it would not be a surprise

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Speaker 3: to see him get that that one of the get

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Speaker 3: some in game action for the first time of the season.

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Speaker 1: So no Trey McBride. Also no Kyrie's Tonga. He is

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Speaker 1: out with the knee injury. So that defensive line has

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Speaker 1: taken a couple of hits this week with the news

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Speaker 1: that Justin Jones is going to miss the rest of

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Speaker 1: the season with a triceps injury. So you've got Balal Nichols,

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Speaker 1: Roy Lopez, LJ Collier, Dante Stills, Nakwan Jones who was

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Speaker 1: re signed after being on the Dolphins practice squad, and

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Speaker 1: a name that the Cardinal fans should be familiar with.

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Speaker 1: He was here with the team late last year. So

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Speaker 1: you do have five healthy and the possibility of another

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Speaker 1: elevation from the practice squad. Angelo Blackson could be a

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Speaker 1: candidate nine year vet if you want to maintain that

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Speaker 1: six man rotation. We have seen five man rotation before,

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Speaker 1: but again, when you have a commander's team that likes

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Speaker 1: to run the football, perhaps you'd want six to kind

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Speaker 1: of keep everyone fresh.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and now the rotation is key in this Arizona

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Speaker 3: Cardinals defense, which is why you once again it's gonna

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Speaker 3: be a big time loss losing a guy like Justin Jones,

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Speaker 3: and it's gonna be a loss, especially this week without

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Speaker 3: having Kyrie's tongue out there, because he has been able

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Speaker 3: to flip flop with Roy Lopez a lot, especially at

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Speaker 3: that nose tackle position because of their big body frame.

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Speaker 3: So regardless of who it is, and we know with

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Speaker 3: Nick Rolis's defenses that they're unconventional in a sense, and

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Speaker 3: with a rookie quarterback back there, you want to try

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Speaker 3: to make the most of your opportunity to get back

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Speaker 3: there and confuse him as much as you can. I

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Speaker 3: think back to the game against the Houston Texas last year.

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Speaker 3: While the Cardinals loss, CJ. Strad only had five interceptions

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Speaker 3: and three came against the Arizona Cardinals in that one

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Speaker 3: game in Week eleven. So there's Nick Rollis has a

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Speaker 3: reputation for being disruptive to rookie quarterbacks, and you have

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Speaker 3: to hope they were able to follow it up even

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Speaker 3: in place of not having Justin Jones or Kyrie's tongue

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Speaker 3: out there.

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Speaker 1: So that's the bad news. The good news is Kelvin

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Speaker 1: Beacham in the words of JG Okay to go. So

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Speaker 1: expect beach back at right tackle after missing last week.

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Speaker 1: Now the question is do you use another elevation on

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Speaker 1: Charlie Heck to have another tackle as a potential replacement

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Speaker 1: should something happen. My guess is yeah, because you want

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Speaker 1: that backup just in case. Plan B kind of a thing.

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Speaker 3: That in that case, if you don't elevate Charlie Heck,

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Speaker 3: who do you potentially move over if God forbid something

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Speaker 3: to were to happen. Isaiah Adams has experience on the

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Speaker 3: right side of the line from his time in Illinois.

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Speaker 1: That would be the that would be that'd be the

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Speaker 1: only place.

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Speaker 3: So I do expect for Charlie Heck to to go

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Speaker 3: out there. He did play well in his handful of

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Speaker 3: snap that he had, so at least you couldn't tell

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Speaker 3: that there was a drop off. And that's what was

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Speaker 3: important in this game against the Detroit Lions last week,

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Speaker 3: not to look so far in the past, because then

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Speaker 3: we're gonna just be reminded of my predictions. But in

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Speaker 3: this case, you didn't really see much of a drop

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Speaker 3: off with Jackson barn or with Charlie heckin that's a

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Speaker 3: very encouraging sign because you know that you're not going

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Speaker 3: to experience a drop off with Calvin Beacham, So what

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Speaker 3: happens when you get down the depth chart. Unfortunately for

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Speaker 3: the Cardinals, you couldn't really believe that they were going

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Speaker 3: down to depth chart.

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Speaker 1: More good news, and probably the best news that the

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Speaker 1: Bird gang wants to hear, is that Buddha Baker and

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Speaker 1: Marvin Harrison Junior they're fine and there are no concerns

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Speaker 1: when asked on Friday whether they would miss the game.

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Speaker 1: And I know when you see names like that show

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Speaker 1: up on the injury report, even though Buddha was a

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Speaker 1: full participant on Thursday. But the word limited on an

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Speaker 1: injury report, it's less than it's defined as less than

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Speaker 1: one hundred percent of normal reps. So if you miss

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Speaker 1: one rep, by the letter of the law, you are

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Speaker 1: limited in practice. And I even though you see that

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Speaker 1: on WEDNSDA, you're like, oh, okay, something to pay attention to.

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Speaker 1: But watching both Buddha and Marvin during the open portion

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Speaker 1: of practice this week, there were no concerns on my

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Speaker 1: part that either one was going to miss this game.

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Speaker 3: When it comes to putting together the injury report, at

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Speaker 3: least from my perspective, when you're writing these articles, you

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Speaker 3: look out at the practice field, you see who is

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Speaker 3: out there, you start taking down your notes, or at

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Speaker 3: least your mental notes of who's out there, and you

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Speaker 3: know the players, like I expected Dante Stills to be

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Speaker 3: on the injury report because he talked about how he

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Speaker 3: was banged up to me after the game on Sunday.

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Speaker 3: So you start to have those expectations going into the league.

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Speaker 3: But then when a guy like Marvin Harrison Junior, or

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Speaker 3: Buddha Baker or Dennis Gardek pop up on the injury

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Speaker 3: report and they don't really have any injury that stands

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Speaker 3: out just from the open portion of practice, then you

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Speaker 3: start you start to get a little bit hesitant. What

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Speaker 3: does that mean, what does that look like? How severe

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Speaker 3: is the injury? But when it comes to the limited

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Speaker 3: versus fold, that's literally all it is. As you said, Craig,

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Speaker 3: by the letter of the law, one minor change has

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Speaker 3: to be noted in the injury report, and especially the

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Speaker 3: controversy that surrounded the San Francisco forty nine ers in

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Speaker 3: the first week of the season when he came to

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Speaker 3: Christian McCaffrey and that whole situation. Teams are being very

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Speaker 3: cautious about it, as they should, because they have to

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Speaker 3: follow all the rules here.

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Speaker 1: Cardinals need number three, number eighteen on the field on Sunday. Again,

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Speaker 1: it's the finale of a three game home stand Cardinals

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Speaker 1: and Commanders coming up at one oh five on Sunday

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Speaker 1: from State Farm Stadium eight thirty am. Pregame covers begins,

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Speaker 1: and as I tased earlier here on Cardinals Cover two,

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Speaker 1: this week, had a chance to catch up with Zach Selby,

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Speaker 1: senior writer Commanders dot Com, to get his thoughts on

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Speaker 1: Sunday's matchup at State Farm Stadium. Full disclosure, Bird Gang.

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Speaker 1: As we speak here on this Thursday morning, we have

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Speaker 1: yet to hear from Cliff Kingsbury his thoughts on his return.

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Speaker 1: So let's then start with Cliff's arrival in Washington, Zach

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Speaker 1: and what he said at that introductory press conference, and

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Speaker 1: then now what you've seen and heard from him over

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Speaker 1: these first three games.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, if I had to guess, I would

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Speaker 4: say that I don't think Cliff is gonna make a

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Speaker 4: too too big a deal about his return, you know, externally,

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Speaker 4: I mean I'm sure internally probably needs something to him.

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Speaker 4: And you know, Daniel was even asked about like what

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Speaker 4: it was like for for He's if he's spoken to

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Speaker 4: Cliff about you know, turn day to Arizona and he

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Speaker 4: said he hasn't, you know, I mean that's really a factor.

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Speaker 4: But I don't think it's gonna be made into like

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Speaker 4: as big a deal for him necessarily. I'm sure that

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Speaker 4: some people are gonna make a big fuss about it,

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Speaker 4: But as far as what I've seen from him, I mean,

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Speaker 4: it's a lot of people were wondering what it was

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Speaker 4: going to be like as far as the Cliff Kingsbury

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Speaker 4: run system, whether he was gonna learn a lot from

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Speaker 4: his previous time in Arizona, and it seems like he has.

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Speaker 4: I mean, there's been a really good balance of running

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Speaker 4: paths and they've been very creative plays. I and you

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Speaker 4: don't you don't really see a lot of laying as

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Speaker 4: far as you know, like we'll see from from Shanahan

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Speaker 4: or Mike McDaniel or some of these other you know,

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Speaker 4: Sean McVay or people like that. It's it's like, Hey,

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Speaker 4: I'm just calling plays that I like and I like

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Speaker 4: in these situations, and so far that strategy has really worked.

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Speaker 4: I think him and Jay and Daniels have a really

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Speaker 4: good chemistry together. But they play off each other quite well,

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Speaker 4: and you can see the results. I mean that they

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Speaker 4: trust each other so well. I mean they're averaging to

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Speaker 4: one of the most points in the NFR right now.

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Speaker 4: They're a top ten team in yards per game, they're

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Speaker 4: a top ten team, and third down convergence, like everything

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Speaker 4: aren't next clicking for them. I mean it's how rare

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Speaker 4: is that to see a team that hasn't punted in

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Speaker 4: two weeks. I know, we know eventually that's going to change,

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Speaker 4: of course, but so far everything has just been clicking

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Speaker 4: on all cylinders. They have a really dominant run game.

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Speaker 4: Whenever they get things going and you see it starts,

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Speaker 4: see the passing game start to open up a little

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Speaker 4: bit more. Now with Terry mccluurin ketching that fifty five

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Speaker 4: yard twenty seven yard touchdown pass to essentially hits the

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Speaker 4: game against the Bengals, and with that incorporated in it,

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Speaker 4: I mean, this offense with King Kingsbury at the Helm

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Speaker 4: is going to be quite something. I tried to say

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Speaker 4: week four and then honestly beyond as well.

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Speaker 3: It was a very impressive thirty eight already three victory

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Speaker 3: over the Bengals on Monday Night football. But I know

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Speaker 3: that there was a lot of there was a storyline

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Speaker 3: surrounding the oh, the Commanders play a college offense, as

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Speaker 3: one of the Bengals defenders said, And I know because

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Speaker 3: hearing from some of the players and their postgame locker

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Speaker 3: room availabilities they talked about how they heard that. How

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Speaker 3: much do you think that that fed into their emotions

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Speaker 3: going into that game and potentially propelling them throughout the

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Speaker 3: rest of the season.

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Speaker 4: I mean, I'm sure it played something over run. And honestly,

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Speaker 4: I can'tlet's feel bad for Brandon that moment, because I

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Speaker 4: don't think you said it like maliciously turned into something

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Speaker 4: that was a lot more than what he made it

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Speaker 4: out to be. And you know, I think I think

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Speaker 4: there is maybe a little bit of truth to at

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Speaker 4: least we'll be seeing so far. Right, if you look

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Speaker 4: at the way the Commanders performed on offense of the

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Speaker 4: last couple we've heard just Jade Daniels pass charge, a

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Speaker 4: lot of his passes have been screened behind the line

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Speaker 4: of scrimmage. And that's kind of what you sort of

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Speaker 4: expect to have a quality sort of offense. A lot

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Speaker 4: of screens, a lot of you know, these intermediate throws

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Speaker 4: that they don't really get him into Jaden into a

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Speaker 4: rhythm necessarily, but do get the offensive going a little

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Speaker 4: bit more. But I think I think a lot of

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Speaker 4: that is is because the commanders have done a very

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Speaker 4: good job of insulating Jade, and as he's coming along,

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Speaker 4: they're not just throwing the whole thing at him like

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Speaker 4: some of these other teams have done with their ricky quarterbacks.

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Speaker 4: They're very much taking him one step at a time

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Speaker 4: because they're not looking for immediate, you know, success necessarily,

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Speaker 4: certainly that's what they want, is they want long term

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Speaker 4: sustain success. They want to develop the quarterback as he

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Speaker 4: comes along. So and if you notice as the weeks

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Speaker 4: have progressed, the pass stars, you's got a little more diversified,

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Speaker 4: a little bit more downfield. And I think in week

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Speaker 4: three you saw them say, okay, we're going to give

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Speaker 4: you another key to the car here and see how

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Speaker 4: you handle it with these deep passes. And it's it's

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Speaker 4: been reped up and going pretty much ever since then.

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Speaker 4: Because that fifty five yard or to Terry I think

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Speaker 4: was one of the more beautiful plays that you've seen.

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Speaker 2: It.

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Speaker 4: It shows again Jaden's development because it's not like they

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Speaker 4: weren't trying to run those plays because you had seen

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Speaker 4: a couple of moments where Terry was open, Luke McCaffery

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Speaker 4: was open downfield, but for whatever reason, Jayden just wasn't

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Speaker 4: wasn't hitting them a lot. But now he's starting to

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Speaker 4: understand what it's like to be an f a open downfield.

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Speaker 4: He's understanding the concept and what defense is trying to

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Speaker 4: do to him more. And now you're starting to see

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Speaker 4: the offense sort of open up to start to become

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Speaker 4: a modern NFL system. So I do understand a little

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Speaker 4: bit of the college offense comparisons, but again I think

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Speaker 4: that's more just because they're being in deliberate and it

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Speaker 4: consistent in trying to execute and try to get Jayden's

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Speaker 4: development go along one step at a time, whether it's

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Speaker 4: like two or three or four steps at a time.

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Speaker 1: Slow playing a rookie quarterback, I think makes a lot

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Speaker 1: of sense. So the rushing carries and the rushing attempts,

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Speaker 1: is this something a product of a young quarterback? And

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Speaker 1: then maybe as weeks progress, years progress, Because thirty eight

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Speaker 1: carries through three weeks, Zach's that's not sustainable. Regardless of

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Speaker 1: whether you're young or a veteran in this league. But

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Speaker 1: how many times Daniels has tucked it and run or

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Speaker 1: how many design runs have been called for him?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think I think it's the mixture

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Speaker 4: of both, right, I think you know, as he's it's

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Speaker 4: and some of that is because he's not seeing He

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Speaker 4: wasn't seeing the defense as well as he could have

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Speaker 4: because he's a young player and his natural incalation is, Okay,

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Speaker 4: if I don't see anything, I'm going to try to

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Speaker 4: make get as much yard as I can and try

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Speaker 4: to get and try to get something with my legs.

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Speaker 4: But I think I think you're right when you say

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Speaker 4: that as he starts to develop it more, you're gonna

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Speaker 4: see a little bit less of that. But at the

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Speaker 4: same time, they don't want to take away something that

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Speaker 4: he is good at, right, Like they don't want to

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Speaker 4: they don't want to limit him in what he can do,

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Speaker 4: because we've seen teams try to do that with like say, okay,

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Speaker 4: we want our quarterbacks to be just a traditional pocket quarterback,

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Speaker 4: and that has that's been that's hamstrung them terms they're

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Speaker 4: developed because of how well they are, you know, good

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Speaker 4: they are with their legs. I think, I think what

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Speaker 4: you're gonna see as jadeves, he's going to be more

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Speaker 4: decisive and I guess a little more judicious about when

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Speaker 4: he runs because as you've seen this, like I mean,

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Speaker 4: as as quarterback starts to developed, they start to realize that, hey, like,

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Speaker 4: what's what's what's better for us to say success? Is

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Speaker 4: it for me to just power for this five yard

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Speaker 4: game or is it for me to scramble around, extend

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Speaker 4: to play and try to find one of our receivers

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Speaker 4: for maybe a fifteen yard game. You're you're always obviously

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Speaker 4: gonna take the latter, But at the same time, you're

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Speaker 4: you're never going to You're never gonna stop him for

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Speaker 4: doing these readoption players. You're never gonna stop him from

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Speaker 4: doing these the couple of these design runs every now

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Speaker 4: and again. But I think as they start to develop,

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Speaker 4: and I think you saw a little bit more of

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Speaker 4: this in the Bangals game, is that as he progresses,

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Speaker 4: Anthea starts to understand they're not gonna be more of there.

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Speaker 4: There's gonna be less of the scrambles and more of

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Speaker 4: the more of the passes along the way.

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Speaker 3: One of the targets that Jay and Daniels has at

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Speaker 3: his disposal. Is a guy Cardinals fans are familiar with

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Speaker 3: in zach Ertz, and even in year number twelve, he

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Speaker 3: seems to still be playing some pretty good football out

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Speaker 3: there in the nation's capital. What have you seen from

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Speaker 3: him and how has he immersed himself into this new regime,

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Speaker 3: in this new organization that he has a lot of

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Speaker 3: familiarity with during his time in the NFC East.

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Speaker 4: Oh, he has been one of Jaden's biggest security blankets

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Speaker 4: in practice. I mean, you could see the hints of

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Speaker 4: what he could be in training camp, just because of

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Speaker 4: how instant that connection was between him and Jayden. And

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Speaker 4: he even said going into the coming out of the

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Speaker 4: off season that this is the healthiest he's been in

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Speaker 4: a long time. And for someone who is, you know,

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Speaker 4: in his early thirties as an NFL pass catchers like

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Speaker 4: that says a lot and he pretty I mean, he

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Speaker 4: didn't see too much of in the preseason. I think

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Speaker 4: some of that was by design because they intentionally left

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Speaker 4: him out of the preseason game plans. But you do

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Speaker 4: see how reliable he is. He still has. You know,

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Speaker 4: one of my coworkers, Logan Paulson, calls the dark arts

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Speaker 4: of route running because he knows how to you know,

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Speaker 4: work these linebackers, know how to work these these nickel

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Speaker 4: corners to get open and find stoft spots in the zone.

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Speaker 4: Cover just not he's not, obviously not as fast as

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Speaker 4: he was. He's not. He's not He's not in a

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Speaker 4: spring chicken anymore. But at the same time, he knows

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Speaker 4: that the mind of knowing how to get open and

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Speaker 4: provide the security blanket for a young quarterback has become

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Speaker 4: so critical. And you I think, you know, you see

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Speaker 4: a little bit more of that with the Bengals game.

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Speaker 4: He had a nine yard completion of four Une four

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Speaker 4: to help keep that drive alive. And I think you're

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Speaker 4: gonna see more of that as Jayden starts to get

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Speaker 4: more comfortable running against NFL defenses the games that actually matter.

434
00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:29,480
Speaker 4: And and plus on top of the e Fgaanstitu Facks

435
00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:31,600
Speaker 4: is like I said, that didn't play in the preseason

436
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,639
Speaker 4: at all, so that that chemistry and game situation is

437
00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:36,159
Speaker 4: not always going to be there as quickly as you

438
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,320
Speaker 4: would like it to be. But no, he has been

439
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,960
Speaker 4: just a boon for this team. And on the field

440
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,840
Speaker 4: and off field is leadership and what he hails himself

441
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,959
Speaker 4: and shows these younger tight ends and NFL players how

442
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,959
Speaker 4: to how to have a long sustain career. So I

443
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:51,840
Speaker 4: think he's been just one of one of the better

444
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,640
Speaker 4: pickups that this team has had this offseason.

445
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,080
Speaker 1: Twelve catches the first three games already for zach Ertz.

446
00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:59,760
Speaker 1: One more on the offense before we switch to defense.

447
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,440
Speaker 1: Without Austin Eckler his availability. You won't have him this

448
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,720
Speaker 1: week because of concussion. Does that change a lot dramatically

449
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,120
Speaker 1: what the offense might look like? I know it's more

450
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,560
Speaker 1: of a run first offense based off the numbers, but

451
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,000
Speaker 1: not having one of your running backs, how much now

452
00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,440
Speaker 1: does the commanders have to lean a little bit more

453
00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:19,760
Speaker 1: on Brian Robinson Jr.

454
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,480
Speaker 4: You know, I don't think it's gonna change that much

455
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,960
Speaker 4: in terms of just stranth schematics. Just because Brian Robinson

456
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,040
Speaker 4: has proved himself to be a number one running back

457
00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,200
Speaker 4: in this league. I think he I think you're gonna

458
00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,320
Speaker 4: see more of that as he gets more carrid. He's

459
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,280
Speaker 4: very much a volume runner where he gets more momentum

460
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,760
Speaker 4: going as he gets more carries, and I think you're

461
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,399
Speaker 4: probably gonna see a little bit more of that on

462
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,760
Speaker 4: Sunday against the Cardinals. Now, I do think they you know,

463
00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:48,680
Speaker 4: obviously not having Austin Eckler is a big, big hit

464
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,280
Speaker 4: to this team because what he opens in the passing game,

465
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,320
Speaker 4: and plus he's you know, he's a really good pass protector,

466
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:57,280
Speaker 4: and on top of that, he's also you know, just

467
00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:59,600
Speaker 4: a really he's a really shifty guy. He's still got

468
00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,080
Speaker 4: a lot of that juice had left in him. But

469
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:03,840
Speaker 4: I do think this is gonna be a good opportunity

470
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,360
Speaker 4: for Jerryman McNichols, who Adam Peters knew from his days

471
00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:09,639
Speaker 4: in San Francisco has a little bit of some some

472
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,119
Speaker 4: kickoff returnability as well. They're really excited for him. But

473
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,800
Speaker 4: I could also see them possibly elving a guy from

474
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,960
Speaker 4: the practice squadline Michael Wiley and under act a free

475
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,200
Speaker 4: agent who really honestly could have been the RB three

476
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,320
Speaker 4: in training camp just you know, that was just a

477
00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:29,280
Speaker 4: very competitive position in training camp. But I do if anything,

478
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,960
Speaker 4: it might it might end up effecting the passing game

479
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,199
Speaker 4: a little bit. Maybe you'll see Zach ERTs get some

480
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,280
Speaker 4: of those plays that that Austin Neckler would have gotten,

481
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,720
Speaker 4: or maybe Luke McCaffery or some of these other quick

482
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,199
Speaker 4: guys out there. But I don't think it's gonna be

483
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,120
Speaker 4: able to fundamentally shift what they're doing. I think they're

484
00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:46,880
Speaker 4: still gonna they're still gonna want to run the ball,

485
00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:49,199
Speaker 4: They're still gonna want to rely on on Jade to

486
00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 4: and it's poised to make these make these plays. But yeah,

487
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 4: I mean, honestly, anytime you lose off to the Austin Eckler,

488
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,600
Speaker 4: it's gonna be it's gonna be, you know, an interesting

489
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:57,800
Speaker 4: challenge for you to try to.

490
00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,400
Speaker 3: Overcome that sticking in the run game. Switching sides here

491
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:03,520
Speaker 3: with the Cardinals running game. Obviously, with a guy like

492
00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:07,000
Speaker 3: James Connor, the game against the Detroit Lions was one

493
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,760
Speaker 3: of his career lows that he's had since being in

494
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,720
Speaker 3: the league. But when you have a guy like Kyler Murray,

495
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:14,879
Speaker 3: who has the ability to scramble out of the pocket,

496
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,560
Speaker 3: and obviously the powerhouse that we know James Connor is

497
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,399
Speaker 3: and can be, what do the commanders have in store

498
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,000
Speaker 3: to potentially limit the Cardinals running game for a second

499
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:24,720
Speaker 3: week in a row.

500
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:29,720
Speaker 4: You know, honestly, it's interesting because this team is one

501
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,680
Speaker 4: of the better pass rush win rate teams in the

502
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,600
Speaker 4: league in terms of just what the straight up rushing

503
00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,240
Speaker 4: the passer. They but they're one of the worst in

504
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,560
Speaker 4: tackling right now. Now, I will say the tackling has

505
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,399
Speaker 4: gotten a little bit better. Think they impressed me a

506
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,240
Speaker 4: lot with how much they grew in Week three against

507
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,560
Speaker 4: the Bengals, but it's still not where they wanted to be.

508
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,480
Speaker 4: Like even Dan Quinn said yesterday that they're still not

509
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,240
Speaker 4: playing at the speed that they would want to play.

510
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,320
Speaker 4: And you know, on paper, they've got Frankie louver who

511
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,800
Speaker 4: is you know, you talk about Zacher's being a good

512
00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,600
Speaker 4: player on offense often to take him on offense. Frankie

513
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,679
Speaker 4: loev is an exceptional player on defense. He's quick, he

514
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,720
Speaker 4: knows how to russe pas, he knows how to anticipate

515
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,879
Speaker 4: the snap very well, and he's going to be a

516
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 4: challenge for this Cardinals offense. Now, obviously in the middle,

517
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,400
Speaker 4: you've got you've gotten offan Allen drawn Payne. You're again

518
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,200
Speaker 4: to try to call it up in the middle there. Uh,

519
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,800
Speaker 4: But they're they're part of that group that seems to

520
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 4: be struggling a little bit, trying to get back in

521
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,160
Speaker 4: back into the pace of things. I think they only

522
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,119
Speaker 4: have like five and a half of buying tackles between

523
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,199
Speaker 4: the two of them, which is obviously not where you

524
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 4: want to be right now. And on top of that,

525
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 4: you've got Bobby Wadner, who has experienced playing against Kyler

526
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,439
Speaker 4: Murray uh knows the kind of player that he is

527
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 4: and how hardy is a tackle. He even said yesterday,

528
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,520
Speaker 4: how about like you know, he's one you can barely

529
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 4: ever see him that much in the back of so

530
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 4: you always have to make sure that you're around him

531
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,159
Speaker 4: and make sure that you're you're very aware where he

532
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,200
Speaker 4: is on the field because if not, he's going he's

533
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,240
Speaker 4: going to burn you in some in some way or another.

534
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 4: So on paper, they do have the pieces to to

535
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,159
Speaker 4: to limit Kyler and dam Connor and that and that

536
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,760
Speaker 4: Cardinals offense, which has impressed me honestly to the first

537
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 4: three weeks. But it's a matter of finishing and if

538
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:04,959
Speaker 4: they can do that, I think they're gonna have an

539
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,800
Speaker 4: even chance. If not, it's going to be another offensive

540
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,879
Speaker 4: struggle for this for this of Commanders team going forward.

541
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,960
Speaker 3: Like the like the Cardinals, the Commanders have a lot

542
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,919
Speaker 3: of young first year second year players, especially on the

543
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:18,639
Speaker 3: defensive side of the ball, whether it's a guy like

544
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,399
Speaker 3: Mikey Sinstrol or Johnny Newton or Emmanuel Forbes, what have

545
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,639
Speaker 3: you seen from them? Has the game started to slow

546
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,359
Speaker 3: down for a lot of those first year, second year guys.

547
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,560
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it has in a different levels because

548
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 4: I think Mirk Stammerstill you mentioned him with the top.

549
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 4: I mean he's been someone who I mean, Jaden has

550
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,560
Speaker 4: Jayden has been one of the best best draft picks

551
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,040
Speaker 4: of in the last two years. So it seems like

552
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 4: Mike Sanmerston has been the Jayden Dano equivalent of of

553
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,200
Speaker 4: that of that on the deepensive side, because he doesn't

554
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,359
Speaker 4: carry himself like a rookie. He seeks very maturely. He

555
00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:54,359
Speaker 4: he's he's even in training camp, he was already he

556
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,480
Speaker 4: was already showing times games slowing down for him. I mean,

557
00:25:57,680 --> 00:25:59,480
Speaker 4: I think he Nick Sadan called in the best nickel

558
00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:01,679
Speaker 4: corner in the draft, and he's so far he has

559
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:04,760
Speaker 4: he's mostly lived up to that. Occasionally you'll stay out

560
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,399
Speaker 4: some moments where he has some Brookie growing pains, like

561
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,680
Speaker 4: going go one on one against the mar Chase is

562
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 4: a tough outing for for anybody, and you saw him

563
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 4: go through some some tough some tough lessons there. But

564
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,399
Speaker 4: but I do think he's he's got enough, He's shown

565
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,159
Speaker 4: enough to where I have a lot of confidence and

566
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,680
Speaker 4: he's going to be just fine heading into the rest

567
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,440
Speaker 4: of his career. Now. Emmanuel Forbes is another guy who

568
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,800
Speaker 4: seems like he's going to be coming back after dealing

569
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 4: with the surgery on his thumb, and it seems like,

570
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,680
Speaker 4: you know, it's there. There are moments where he's been

571
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,040
Speaker 4: he's shown the right technique but hasn't always resulted in

572
00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 4: pass breakups or interceptions, which is something that he was

573
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,840
Speaker 4: very well known for, uh during his days Mississippi State.

574
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,800
Speaker 4: It seems like they're it's still he's still struggling a

575
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,000
Speaker 4: little bit. But I also said he's attacked the training camp,

576
00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,120
Speaker 4: he's attacked the off season where he's at least giving

577
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 4: a lot of effort, and with his coaching staff, they're

578
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,160
Speaker 4: they're willing to live with the effort and the mistakes

579
00:26:58,160 --> 00:26:59,520
Speaker 4: as long as you get as long as you show

580
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,720
Speaker 4: them there trying, You're you're trying to implement the things

581
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,080
Speaker 4: that they're teaching him. So it's gonna be interesting to

582
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,400
Speaker 4: see with how he handles himself in his work first

583
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,600
Speaker 4: week back, I'd imagine he's gonna see a lot of

584
00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 4: Marvin Harrison Junior. But I think he's gonna I think

585
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,159
Speaker 4: he'll be one of the top story lines for me

586
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,719
Speaker 4: to watch, uh heading into Sunday. And then for Johnny

587
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,639
Speaker 4: Newton is the guy who's so quick. I mean, he

588
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,800
Speaker 4: was the first round pick that that guy dropped into

589
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,719
Speaker 4: the second round. But it's with him. It's interesting because

590
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:30,640
Speaker 4: he missed most of the training camp with the injuries

591
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,400
Speaker 4: and now exposed starting to to to get him back

592
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,240
Speaker 4: into the fold and remember like and he's learning on

593
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,600
Speaker 4: the fly. I mean, his first NFL action was any

594
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,680
Speaker 4: actual game, which is, you know, not ideal for any

595
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 4: rookie in any circumstance. But you did see, uh, the

596
00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:47,280
Speaker 4: flashes of what he could do against the Bengals. He

597
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,920
Speaker 4: eventually he's going to start making plays because he's very quick.

598
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,520
Speaker 4: He knows how to fill those running lanes. And it

599
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:54,879
Speaker 4: seems like he's the game starting to slow down for

600
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,919
Speaker 4: him a little bit. But yeah, you're right, the defense

601
00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 4: is the defense is full of young players you know,

602
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,040
Speaker 4: have shown flashes, but they're just not all coming quite together.

603
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:05,480
Speaker 4: Just yeah, but I think they will.

604
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,920
Speaker 1: Eventually we will all be watching on Sunday. State Farm

605
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,040
Speaker 1: Stadium is the place. One oh five is the kickoff

606
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:15,880
Speaker 1: on Sunday. The Commanders and the Cardinals. Zach, appreciate the time,

607
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 1: good information, and I'd say best of luck Sunday, but

608
00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,520
Speaker 1: I'll reserve that to after this Sunday.

609
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 4: Yeah for sure. Yeah, Well, wish all the best of

610
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:26,040
Speaker 4: luck except for this week.

611
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think, Zach, it is going to be interesting.

612
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,280
Speaker 1: How do the Commanders defend Kyler Murray, a mobile quarterback.

613
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:37,359
Speaker 1: And you look at Washington their first three games, Baker Mayfield,

614
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,680
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones, Joe Burrow. I wouldn't put them in the

615
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:43,720
Speaker 1: category of a Kyler Murray.

616
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 3: I wouldn't put anybody in the category of Kyler Murray.

617
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,080
Speaker 1: That's true, that's a fair point. But as far as

618
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,320
Speaker 1: looking the ability to be as dangerous with your arms

619
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 1: as you are with your legs, and yeah, I mean

620
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,520
Speaker 1: a Mayfield and Joe Burrow they're a little bit. They

621
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 1: can be, but they're not going to scramble extend plays

622
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,760
Speaker 1: to your point eight seconds like a Kyler Murray. So

623
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,080
Speaker 1: that's a test for the Commanders this week. And now

624
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,160
Speaker 1: the job of Drew Petsing and company to try to figure,

625
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: all right, how best to utilize that dual threat ability

626
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 1: that Kyler has On Sunday.

627
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 3: With the expectation that Kelvin Beacham's out there, you have

628
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,560
Speaker 3: a little bit more flexibility because you know that Beacham

629
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,440
Speaker 3: has experienced blocking for Kyler Murray. And then while Jonah

630
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 3: Williams is not out there this right now, what you

631
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 3: have is to be the starting lineup until Jonah Williams

632
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,600
Speaker 3: is healthy on that offensive line. So you have to

633
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 3: start to continue to develop the chemistry back there. But

634
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 3: it is going to be a test for that dan Quinn.

635
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,960
Speaker 3: You know, defense over there in Washington. It's a unit

636
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,000
Speaker 3: that very similar to the Cardinals, has some veteran pieces,

637
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 3: but also has a lot of young players, as we

638
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 3: talked to Zach about, So with a guy like Kyler

639
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 3: Murray back there, those young players have not seen a

640
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,720
Speaker 3: guy like Kyler Murray before, so it'll be interesting.

641
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 1: By the way, Kyler two to zero with five touchdowns,

642
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: no interceptions against dan Quinn, whether as a head coach

643
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: or a defensive coordinator.

644
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 3: And for what it's worth, and we talk a lot

645
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:16,720
Speaker 3: about comparing previous previous experiences, or whatever. And last season,

646
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 3: the Cardinals opened up the twenty twenty three campaign against

647
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,239
Speaker 3: the Washington Commanders, and this team looks entirely different than

648
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,640
Speaker 3: the last year's team, I know, for both for both sides.

649
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,400
Speaker 3: Once the once the Commanders decided to bring in Dan

650
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 3: Quinn and they start to bring in veterans like Bobby

651
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 3: Wagner and then Zach Ertz on the offense side of

652
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,760
Speaker 3: the ball, and new quarterback in Jade and Daniels, it

653
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,760
Speaker 3: looks like a very different organization. But the takeaways I

654
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 3: feel like the Cardinals could take more away from just

655
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,280
Speaker 3: scouting their opponent in the Washington Commanders and vice versa

656
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 3: based off the previous game.

657
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:50,000
Speaker 1: Big change coming up on Sunday is the Commander's offensive coordinator,

658
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury. And as we alluded to in that interview,

659
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:56,160
Speaker 1: was Zach before we had a chance to or it

660
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,280
Speaker 1: was after we had a chance to speak with Zach

661
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 1: in which Cliff met the media on Thursday this week

662
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,479
Speaker 1: and had nothing but good things to say, whether it

663
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:08,080
Speaker 1: was Kyler, Murray, James Connor, Buddha Baker, Jalen Thompson, quote

664
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 1: nothing but positive memories. He was quote grateful to Michael

665
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 1: Bidwoll for being given the chance to be the head

666
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:16,400
Speaker 1: coach of the Arizona Cardinals. And then, of course what

667
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 1: everyone wants to know, Yes, he still has his house here.

668
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 3: We talk all the time about it. That that house

669
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 3: seems to just be the one. You don't talk about

670
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,400
Speaker 3: Cliff Kingsbury without mentioning the house had seen.

671
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 1: It might be the most famous house in Arizona because

672
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 1: of the draft.

673
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, isn't it crazy what Coe had the opportunity to

674
00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 3: one of the most famoses And that's exactly what happened

675
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,880
Speaker 3: there that that photo, and he talked about how much

676
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 3: he loves just the value general, which is why he's

677
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,520
Speaker 3: kept his house out here. And it's nice to hear

678
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,800
Speaker 3: that there wasn't really any bitterness on his end that

679
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,360
Speaker 3: he felt. Both Kyler and Cliff have mentioned that they step,

680
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,080
Speaker 3: they've seen each other and that the relationship is good.

681
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 3: You just hope on Sunday that relationship they have is

682
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,240
Speaker 3: out the windows. So Kyler Murray could be locked into

683
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:06,320
Speaker 3: beating the Washington Commanders.

684
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 1: Everyone has said the right things publicly before the game.

685
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,800
Speaker 1: Now you play the game and what happens, because again

686
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:16,480
Speaker 1: it's a story whether it's media driven or fan driven,

687
00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,160
Speaker 1: but I do believe it's not just another game. I mean,

688
00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:25,520
Speaker 1: it can't be exactly. You can't compartmentalize that kind of thing.

689
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,320
Speaker 1: You can say you do and it's great, but at

690
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,880
Speaker 1: the same time, to your point, we're all humans. We

691
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 1: all have feelings. There's relationships, good, bad, and different, and

692
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,479
Speaker 1: you always want to kind of get back at that

693
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:39,680
Speaker 1: person that you once had a relationship with or your

694
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,000
Speaker 1: teammates with, and all of a sudden they went somewhere else.

695
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,640
Speaker 3: There's a reason why. Sometimes in the locker rooms and

696
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,520
Speaker 3: you see them when they have cameras and they're allowed

697
00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:49,880
Speaker 3: access into there, you see that sometimes the head coach

698
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:51,920
Speaker 3: will give away a petty game ball, which is just

699
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,160
Speaker 3: when you beat the team you previously worked for, you

700
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,120
Speaker 3: played for, or whatever it is. And in this type

701
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,000
Speaker 3: of game, you want to have your guys in the

702
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,480
Speaker 3: locker room rooting you on because they were here under

703
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:06,479
Speaker 3: Cliff they knew what that was like. And it's a

704
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,920
Speaker 3: very different regime, very different culture, vibe everything from the

705
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,200
Speaker 3: looks of it. Now, you got to hope that that

706
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 3: translates to wins. But just like it was with Jonathan Gannon,

707
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 3: going back to Philadelphia for that game against the Eagles,

708
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:20,920
Speaker 3: and JG was trying to downplay and say it was

709
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:24,480
Speaker 3: just another game, you know, because you know the type

710
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 3: of passion that Johnathan Gannon coaches with that it really

711
00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 3: wasn't just another game. Sure, the clock's gonna start and

712
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 3: the ball's gonna be kicked off the same exact way,

713
00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:36,600
Speaker 3: but once you're in the trenches, all those memories and

714
00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 3: emotions might not be there, but you will remember them

715
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:40,000
Speaker 3: at that time.

716
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,840
Speaker 1: So how did the Cardinals get the job done on Sunday?

717
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:47,600
Speaker 1: One Feed James Connor and get that run game going

718
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,840
Speaker 1: like we've seen it go this season. And keep in

719
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,200
Speaker 1: mind you're playing a Commander's team that is near the

720
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,040
Speaker 1: bottom as far as defending the run. In fact, they

721
00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:00,480
Speaker 1: allow better than five yards to carry. They also in

722
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,680
Speaker 1: the past defense as well. But you have to be

723
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,080
Speaker 1: able to establish to run in order to set up

724
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,400
Speaker 1: a Marvin or a Michael or a Greg Dortch in

725
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,480
Speaker 1: the slot, because the last thing anyone wants to see

726
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:14,439
Speaker 1: is another one dimensional offense like we saw last week

727
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:15,160
Speaker 1: against the Lions.

728
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,560
Speaker 3: There was the eighteen plays in the road towards the

729
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:20,040
Speaker 3: end of the game that Drew Petson called pass plays

730
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:22,120
Speaker 3: on and he said he was very well aware that

731
00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,720
Speaker 3: that's exactly what he was doing because of the time

732
00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:26,919
Speaker 3: and the score, and you need to find a way

733
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,040
Speaker 3: to get down the field, bounce back, and you knew

734
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,040
Speaker 3: that the running game was not working, so you're not

735
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:33,280
Speaker 3: going to try to force something that is not there.

736
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,879
Speaker 3: But if you get James Connor moving and you get

737
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 3: him that momentum like we saw in the game against Buffalo,

738
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:39,960
Speaker 3: and we saw a game we saw in the game

739
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 3: against the Rams where they really fed him early and

740
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 3: he was able to start to get his feet under him,

741
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,239
Speaker 3: start to become one with the ground and be able

742
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,120
Speaker 3: to run down the field and find the holes that

743
00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:54,360
Speaker 3: he saw with the offensive line. So you have to

744
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:57,239
Speaker 3: get the run game a going. But with the pass game,

745
00:34:57,560 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 3: I think the most important thing that we saw a

746
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,360
Speaker 3: little bit in the game against the Detroit Lions. You

747
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,360
Speaker 3: have to be able to spring the ball around a

748
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:06,640
Speaker 3: little bit more than just Marvin Harrison Junior. Because there

749
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,240
Speaker 3: were moments where Michael Wilson was opened down the field,

750
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:11,560
Speaker 3: but Kyler decides to go further to try to go

751
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,759
Speaker 3: find Marvin Harrison or if it's Greg Dortsch in the

752
00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:16,719
Speaker 3: slot and he has a nice slant route, but you

753
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:18,279
Speaker 3: want to look a little bit further to try to

754
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:20,840
Speaker 3: find your tight ends, find where the ball is supposed

755
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 3: to go, but don't try to force it. That's the difference.

756
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:26,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, That relationship on field relationship Kyler and Marvin still

757
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 1: a work in progress to a certain degree, especially on

758
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:31,760
Speaker 1: some of the back shoulder throws and the deep pass

759
00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,200
Speaker 1: this sole. We'll be watching that on Sunday. Also will

760
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:39,600
Speaker 1: be watching defensively for the Cardinals, the secondary and the

761
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:43,480
Speaker 1: coverage units, whether that's a corner, a safety, or a linebacker,

762
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:47,600
Speaker 1: because Jane and Daniels as well as he has performed

763
00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:49,319
Speaker 1: and we all saw it on Monday Night Football. But

764
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 1: he gets that ball out quick. He averages the second

765
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,160
Speaker 1: quickest time to throw according to Next Gen Stats. And

766
00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:58,439
Speaker 1: even when we spoke with Zach Selby about a lot

767
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,799
Speaker 1: of the what we saw here when Cliff was the

768
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:05,120
Speaker 1: OC slash head coach, a lot of screens, passes behind

769
00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. Get that ball in the hands

770
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,879
Speaker 1: of your playmakers, let them make the plays. So far,

771
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,920
Speaker 1: the Commanders have, but it's something that defensively, the Cardinals

772
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,400
Speaker 1: need to be aware of and maybe get a little

773
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,920
Speaker 1: bit closer to that line of scrimmage so you're not

774
00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:20,440
Speaker 1: catching that ball and then trying to make a move

775
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:21,319
Speaker 1: to make someone miss.

776
00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:23,960
Speaker 3: Which now this is the week where you need to

777
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,040
Speaker 3: have everybody being at the top of their game when

778
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:29,000
Speaker 3: it comes to open field tackling, because if they are

779
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:31,400
Speaker 3: going to go with those wide receiver screens or bubbles

780
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:33,400
Speaker 3: or whatever it is, you have to be able to

781
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 3: go attack them at the line of scrimmage. Try to

782
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:37,480
Speaker 3: get him as coach, to the line of scrimmage as possible,

783
00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 3: hopefully further back behind it. But if you whiff on

784
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:45,799
Speaker 3: a tackle, if you don't follow your fundamentals and your technique,

785
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,160
Speaker 3: they have the playmakers to get those extra yards, those

786
00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:51,880
Speaker 3: yards after catch. And that's why Jonathan Gannon gave a

787
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 3: lot of praise to a guy like Terry mccorran because

788
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 3: he has that ability to break tackles and make field

789
00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:00,839
Speaker 3: makes space in the open field. So that's where it's

790
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 3: going to start becoming really important. But you do start

791
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:04,680
Speaker 3: to see a little bit of the similarities. And Dennis

792
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,319
Speaker 3: Gardek talked about it outside of his locker. He said,

793
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:10,480
Speaker 3: it's different because I never had to scout against our

794
00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:13,359
Speaker 3: own offense when we were practicing during the weeks when

795
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,400
Speaker 3: Cliff Kingsbury was the head coach. But you start to

796
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,799
Speaker 3: see some of the similarities and it starts to pop

797
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:20,359
Speaker 3: up back in your mind. Okay, I remember what this

798
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,120
Speaker 3: sort of looked like when we did practice at training

799
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:26,160
Speaker 3: camp at State Farm Stadium all those months ago. But

800
00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:27,279
Speaker 3: when Cliff was here.

801
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have an idea on what Cliff wants to

802
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,600
Speaker 1: do offensively, but it's different players. And then even if

803
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,080
Speaker 1: you know what's coming, you have to make the play.

804
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:39,600
Speaker 1: And how many times do we see teams run the

805
00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:42,839
Speaker 1: same play over and over and over again, even though

806
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,319
Speaker 1: defensively they know it's coming, but they can't stop it.

807
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,279
Speaker 1: And if it's successful, why go away from it?

808
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,359
Speaker 3: And there's a lot of wrinkles too that I'm sure

809
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:53,080
Speaker 3: Cliff has been able to since his time at USC.

810
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 3: And then he was talking about how he had to

811
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,959
Speaker 3: evaluate his own coaching style and the calls he made

812
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:02,000
Speaker 3: in his press conference earlier this week, So there are

813
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:04,080
Speaker 3: going to be some wrinkles that I'm sure that the Cardinals,

814
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:07,520
Speaker 3: while they were working with him for all those years,

815
00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:09,279
Speaker 3: it's going to start to look a little bit different out.

816
00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:12,239
Speaker 1: There, by the way. Defensively, how about the Cardinals do

817
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:15,520
Speaker 1: something that no team has done yet this season, and

818
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,600
Speaker 1: that is get the Commanders to turn the ball over.

819
00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:20,440
Speaker 1: I mean, you're a three game punt well punt in

820
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,800
Speaker 1: the last two weeks. Yeah, they have not punted fourteen

821
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:26,399
Speaker 1: straight drives that it didn't end in a kneel down

822
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:29,479
Speaker 1: and have not turned the ball over. The only team

823
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:30,759
Speaker 1: that is not coughed it up well.

824
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,120
Speaker 3: Once again, CJ. Stroud, rookie quarterback. He threw his first

825
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:36,520
Speaker 3: interceptions against three of them, three of them against the

826
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:39,480
Speaker 3: Arizona Cardinals in that week eleven game out in Houston

827
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:44,759
Speaker 3: at Energy Stadium. So Nick Rowles has experience of confusing

828
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,279
Speaker 3: our rookie quarterback, and once again it was with the

829
00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:49,919
Speaker 3: Cardinals defense that is not I don't want to say

830
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,879
Speaker 3: not nearly as talented, but this unit is a lot

831
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,759
Speaker 3: more improved with cornerbacks like Sean Murphy bunting. And you

832
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,040
Speaker 3: saw what Max Mellen and Garret Williams in year number

833
00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,080
Speaker 3: two are able to bring to the table. So I

834
00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:03,480
Speaker 3: am very confident and very eager and excited to see

835
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 3: what Nick Rolis is able to draw up to try

836
00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 3: to confuse Jayden Daniels.

837
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:10,680
Speaker 1: Not predicting anything. I'm just stating facts that the team

838
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:12,359
Speaker 1: hasn't turned the ball over yet.

839
00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 3: I'm still predicting that Trey Benson scores his touchdown this week.

840
00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,440
Speaker 1: Boy, I'm gonna keep predicting until it happened. Until it happens,

841
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:20,440
Speaker 1: and then you can claim that you are right all along.

842
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:22,520
Speaker 3: I was right all I am going to be right along.

843
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:27,480
Speaker 3: It's happy this week, okay, last week, preseason, just preseason.

844
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:31,680
Speaker 1: Just make sure eight thirty early, Bird, I'm up, Okay,

845
00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,560
Speaker 1: well make sure, maybe not sure, Bird, dang, make sure

846
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,880
Speaker 1: you are up on Sunday morning, eight thirty am. Kickoff

847
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,359
Speaker 1: one oh five from State Farm Stadium. If you want

848
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:44,200
Speaker 1: to be at State Farm Stadium again, Azycardinals dot com

849
00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:48,160
Speaker 1: forward slash tickets. And that's Azycardinals dot Com Forward slash tickets.

850
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:50,960
Speaker 1: Next two weeks after Sunday, Cardinals on the road at

851
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:53,960
Speaker 1: San Francisco and at Green Bay. So your last chance

852
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,600
Speaker 1: to see this team live for at least a couple

853
00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,160
Speaker 1: of weeks. It should be a lot of fun on Sunday.

854
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:01,799
Speaker 1: Hope to see everyone out at State Farm Stadium. And

855
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:03,360
Speaker 1: on that note, we will put all it on. This

856
00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 1: edition of Cardinals Cover two presented by a Hyundai, proudly

857
00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:09,000
Speaker 1: partner of the Arizona Cardinals. As always, special thanks to

858
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:12,520
Speaker 1: our executive producer Jim Mamahunre, our associate producer Cody Fincher

859
00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:14,680
Speaker 1: for Zach Gershman, I'm Craig Rayal Lou. We'll talk to

860
00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:16,560
Speaker 1: you next time here on Cardinals Cover two