Speaker 1: And now Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2: What's up, everybody.
Speaker 1: Welcome to move the Sticks, DJ, Bucky and Rhett As.
Speaker 1: We had a chance yesterday to dig into a lot
Speaker 1: of the changes that were made around the league. Today
Speaker 1: we're getting back to football, get a chance to really
Speaker 1: dig in on these playoff matchups. Cannot wait to get
Speaker 1: these games here and looking forward to chatting about what
Speaker 1: we expect in those contests.
Speaker 2: So that's the ground we're going to cover here today
Speaker 2: on mo the Sticks.
Speaker 1: Before we look forward, guys, let's look back real quick.
Speaker 2: Buck.
Speaker 3: We haven't had a.
Speaker 1: Chance to catch up on this one, but the Lions,
Speaker 1: in a game that looks more lopsided than it really was,
Speaker 1: they take care of the Minnesota Vikings thirty one to nine.
Speaker 1: Some late scores, some red zone failures for the Vikings.
Speaker 1: Sam Darnold seems to be the kind of the punching
Speaker 1: bag on this one. But what was your takeaway after
Speaker 1: digging into it?
Speaker 4: Takeaway Man Dan Campbell, then his coaching staff, they're fearless.
Speaker 4: We can talk about the Andrew and all that other stuff,
Speaker 4: but it doesn't change the expectation that they have within
Speaker 4: that building they expect and whin they expect to play
Speaker 4: at the championship level, And the game plan that they
Speaker 4: featured against the Minnesota Vikings suggested they have the ultimate
Speaker 4: confidence in their players on defense, in particularly, they're going
Speaker 4: to go man to man. And even though there were
Speaker 4: some double teams and brackets and those things that were
Speaker 4: cleverly hidden, they challenged the Minnesota Vikings one on one
Speaker 4: on the outside press covers, very aggressive in their approach,
Speaker 4: and then they doubted depression to go as Sam Donald.
Speaker 3: And even though Sam Donald had been one.
Speaker 4: Of the best in the league this season, against the Blitz,
Speaker 4: the lines were undeterred and they were able to get
Speaker 4: away from it. But I'm gonna say this, if this
Speaker 4: was a baseball game, there were a lot of long
Speaker 4: foul balls. They better make sure if they play them again,
Speaker 4: if they play them again, they better make sure that
Speaker 4: those things don't go inside the foul pole, because as
Speaker 4: lopsided as it was in Detroit's favor, it could be
Speaker 4: the other way the next time they match up if
Speaker 4: they don't tighten up the coverage.
Speaker 5: Well. Look, the thing that I would say is Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 6: Deserved that reception that he got at the at the
Speaker 6: Pistons Arena.
Speaker 5: He was on it.
Speaker 6: In this game, fourteen plays in the red zone for
Speaker 6: the Vikings, zero red zone touchdowns. They clouded the picture
Speaker 6: and made made Sam Donold question his process and then
Speaker 6: you know, held it just long enough for the pressure
Speaker 6: then to get there. That was I thought, a masterclass
Speaker 6: in dealing with a very good offense and a very
Speaker 6: good offensive scheme that Kevin O'Connell puts out there every
Speaker 6: week and puts into the hands of Sam Donald. And
Speaker 6: now if you are the Vikings, and we'll get into
Speaker 6: this here in a second, pushing this forward to that
Speaker 6: Rams game on Monday night, but you've got a you've
Speaker 6: got a little bit of a you know, reclamation to do,
Speaker 6: like how do we get back to being us? How
Speaker 6: do we get back to you know, having that confidence
Speaker 6: in what we do. But man, that's what the Lions did.
Speaker 6: They not only won that game, but they planted some
Speaker 6: seeds of doubt for me and what the Vikings can
Speaker 6: do moving forward.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna go back to a Buck said too though.
Speaker 1: Those long foul balls, I mean you have one where
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson catches that ball, you know ninety five times
Speaker 1: out of one hundred. It was a little bit high,
Speaker 1: but that's the back of the end zone. That's a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Then you have a protection breakdown. They get to Sam's
Speaker 1: hand on that double move. It was a slug o
Speaker 1: I believe from Jefferson that would have been a layup touchdown.
Speaker 1: He just threw it a little bit flat. I just
Speaker 1: think cleaning up the red zone. Buck, You've you've been
Speaker 1: in these been in these moments on these teams, and
Speaker 1: I know it's maybe it's different going into a playoff week,
Speaker 1: but is there something too if you're Kevin O'Connell that
Speaker 1: it's just, Hey, we're gonna spend we're gonna spend a
Speaker 1: majority of our time this week just dialing in red zone.
Speaker 1: We're just gonna clean up some of that stuff. We're
Speaker 1: gonna give it a little more attention. You ever on
Speaker 1: a team where that type of a practice week where
Speaker 1: it may be changed up just a little bit, put
Speaker 1: a little more emphasis on that or third downs.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm actually glad you said that, because I think
Speaker 4: you'll get this approach. I played for David Shaw's dad,
Speaker 4: Willy Shaw, who's office coordinated. When I played for the Raiders,
Speaker 4: and he always talked about when you're building your team
Speaker 4: early in the season, you have to figure out what
Speaker 4: kind of team you have. Are you a team that
Speaker 4: can aggressively go after Are you a BIM but don't
Speaker 4: break team? And he said, if you're one of those teams,
Speaker 4: that's a BIB, but don't break team. Between the twenties,
Speaker 4: you need to spend most of your time on the
Speaker 4: practice field working in the red zone because your job
Speaker 4: is to make sure that in the red zone we're
Speaker 4: the best at it. We have most of our tricks
Speaker 4: and gadgets in the red zone, so spend more time
Speaker 4: on tasks being good there. We're not going to give
Speaker 4: them the big play in between the twenties because our
Speaker 4: work is done in the red zone. What you're saying
Speaker 4: about the Minnesota Vikings, based on how they lost to
Speaker 4: the Detroit Lions, you one hundred percent add some minutes
Speaker 4: to the periods in the red zone. You spend maybe
Speaker 4: two days working on red zone efficiency as opposed to just.
Speaker 3: The one day.
Speaker 4: To me, this game was one and lost in the
Speaker 4: red zone. So the Minnesota Vikings, if they have another
Speaker 4: opportunity against the Lions, they certainly have to spend more
Speaker 4: practice time doing that and have some beaters to take
Speaker 4: advantage of some of the things that the Lions throughout
Speaker 4: at them and that win or go.
Speaker 3: Home situation that they saw on Week eight.
Speaker 2: Team right about the Rams it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Look, I think the Rams have everything they need
Speaker 6: to win this game and did win a game like
Speaker 6: this at home against the Vikings. Think it was back
Speaker 6: the second game after their bye week, and that was
Speaker 6: kind of the beginning of this surge for LA. They
Speaker 6: were getting everybody back healthy.
Speaker 5: At Puka.
Speaker 6: You had Cooper both going, You had about almost one
Speaker 6: hundred yards from Kyron Williams, like you saw the formula.
Speaker 6: I had a few sacks from that talented young defensive front.
Speaker 6: They got after Sam Darnold in that game, and then
Speaker 6: you know, they got some contributions from the you know,
Speaker 6: the ansel that the auxiliary players like Robinson seeing here
Speaker 6: catching the the you know, the game winner. I think
Speaker 6: that this game, that game, when you look back on it,
Speaker 6: showed us what the Rams are at.
Speaker 5: Their best and if they are at their best, I
Speaker 5: think they win this game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what's a confident bunch when you rest up,
Speaker 1: not Karen, who the opponent is, whether it was Washington,
Speaker 1: believe what, you would have thought they would have preferred.
Speaker 1: But they were like, Hey, whoever's comming's coming, we don't care.
Speaker 1: We're going to rest up and get get ready to
Speaker 1: roll Buck.
Speaker 4: I mean, look, I think there's a really unique approach
Speaker 4: because in listening to Sean McVay talk about that, he said,
Speaker 4: our job and our goal and I expectation is to
Speaker 4: not only be in the playoffs for one game, but
Speaker 4: to play multiple games. So at some point we're going
Speaker 4: to see these teams anyway. To me, that is a
Speaker 4: confident coach that doesn't matter anytime, any place, anywhere, like
Speaker 4: we're gonna play whoever. I dig it, I mean, I
Speaker 4: I appreciate it. We'll see if it comes to fruition.
Speaker 4: If they do benefit from having a home game, like
Speaker 4: they've been pretty good on defense and they played really
Speaker 4: well at home, Uh, that might be.
Speaker 3: That might have also gone into their thinking too.
Speaker 6: If you gonna win a super Bowl, not win the
Speaker 6: first round of the playoffs, right, so if this puts
Speaker 6: you in a better position to do that, to rest
Speaker 6: some of these guys, then so be it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, unless unless being the three would have given you
Speaker 1: a home field advantage in the in the championship game,
Speaker 1: and being the four send you on the road. That
Speaker 1: could that could change it. But yeah, we'll see. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's likely uh a scenario to breakdown. So
Speaker 1: let's get to the next one. Walk in Tampa Bay,
Speaker 1: another rematch that we saw earlier this year.
Speaker 2: Buck, I'm so excited to see Jayden Daniels.
Speaker 1: But I say that, and I go back to what
Speaker 1: I said a few weeks ago. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 1: Although they mess around with some teams and keep some
Speaker 1: teams in games that maybe they shouldn't, man, I must
Speaker 1: saw them on their best day, because when they came
Speaker 1: out and whooped the Chargers, I was like, this is
Speaker 1: one of the most physical teams in the NFL. Both
Speaker 1: lines of scrimmage, very physical. And that's a team that
Speaker 1: I don't know that i'd be all that excited to
Speaker 1: face in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, how about that.
Speaker 4: It's funny, man, because I don't want to say in
Speaker 4: essence edition by subtraction, but you would think this team
Speaker 4: would have fallen apart after they lose Chris Godwin and
Speaker 4: some of the others own offense, they appeared to found
Speaker 4: to find a formula that works for them offensively. They
Speaker 4: started running the ball right down people's throats while using
Speaker 4: Mike Evans as the ultimate eracer. In the passing game,
Speaker 4: Baker Mayfield is playing really well. And what they've done
Speaker 4: with Baker Mayfield is they have them on a bit
Speaker 4: of a pitch count, but they've let him go past
Speaker 4: that pitch count when they need it, and he's been
Speaker 4: really good, really efficient, really effective finding those open receivers
Speaker 4: in those various windows. And then anytime you play a
Speaker 4: Todd Bowles defense, regardless of who they have in the
Speaker 4: back end, they are going to test your courage and
Speaker 4: your discipline with relentless pressure. The Buccaneers are a tough
Speaker 4: team and they can give Jayden Daniels problems, but I'm
Speaker 4: not gonna lie. I'm excited to see how the young
Speaker 4: quarterback handles this opportunity on a big stage in the postseason.
Speaker 6: You just from a you know, a team building perspective
Speaker 6: here looking at this game, if I am wanted to
Speaker 6: just kind of bring it all full circle with some
Speaker 6: of these teams that are gonna be looking at new
Speaker 6: head coaches and new personnel, executives. I'm taking a close
Speaker 6: look at what Jason light has done in Tampa and
Speaker 6: what his staff and Mike Greenberg, and I know it
Speaker 6: has already gotten a interview require I think from the
Speaker 6: New York Jess John Spytech as well. Like their formula
Speaker 6: for building, rebuilding, and retooling offensive and defensive lines is
Speaker 6: among the best that we have seen in this league.
Speaker 6: I mean the way that they continue to find premier
Speaker 6: players in the draft up front on both sides. Graham
Speaker 6: Barton the latest on the offensive side for Tampa, but
Speaker 6: they they've gone to all corners. I mean Hobart College
Speaker 6: with Ali Marpette who did some good things for him.
Speaker 6: Alex Kappa, you remember, started in Tampa and then you
Speaker 6: got a big deal to go to Cincinnati. Like, they
Speaker 6: have found really good players there and on both sides,
Speaker 6: and I think that's what it's going to come down to,
Speaker 6: Like can they continue to provide some time for Baker
Speaker 6: Mayfield against the team in Washington who is a top
Speaker 6: five sack team in this league as a group, right,
Speaker 6: So if they can continue to find time for Baker,
Speaker 6: open up some holes for Bucky irvingha Rashad White, I
Speaker 6: think the commander. I mean, I think the Buccaneers marched
Speaker 6: through to the second round.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think it's gonna be a fun game,
Speaker 1: one of the ones I'm looking forward to the most.
Speaker 1: Maybe not as much as this next one though, green
Speaker 1: Bay Philly for having the year Philly had. Man, it's
Speaker 1: not not a walk in the park with the seventh
Speaker 1: seed coming in here with the Green Bay Packers, who
Speaker 1: a little bit stumbling down the home stretch here, buck,
Speaker 1: but it's still a dangerous team. They played to kick
Speaker 1: off the season in Brazil and they're going to see
Speaker 1: each other again here. A very contested game. They're in Brazil,
Speaker 1: and look, I think Philadelphia's got the better roster. I
Speaker 1: think They've got the better team. But man, that is
Speaker 1: not a layup first round game for a two seed.
Speaker 4: No, not a layup. And the Green Bay Packers are talented.
Speaker 4: They have tremendous depth that can give you problems. It'll
Speaker 4: be tested though. They lose Christian Watson to an ACL
Speaker 4: injury that robs them of a deep ball playmaker for
Speaker 4: Jordan Love, but they have the running game, and they
Speaker 4: have a team that is really a bit of a
Speaker 4: chameleon when it comes to their offensive style.
Speaker 3: They can run the ball heavily with Josh Jacobs.
Speaker 4: They have a bit of a ball control offense where
Speaker 4: they can throw it around to a bunch of different
Speaker 4: pass catchers and when Jordan Love values the ball takes
Speaker 4: care of the ball. This offense is one that allows
Speaker 4: them to play keep away and they can put pressure
Speaker 4: on Philadelphia by using their offense to be their best defense.
Speaker 4: And oh, by the way, Jeff Afley into their defense,
Speaker 4: they turned the ball over a ton. Really challenging game
Speaker 4: for the Philadelphia Eagle is they got to be on there,
Speaker 4: They got to bring their a games.
Speaker 3: They gonna win it.
Speaker 6: I feel like the movie Rounders was playing in my
Speaker 6: head when this match. Right back to where I started
Speaker 6: with three stacks of high society here, right back to
Speaker 6: where we started down in South America with the Packers
Speaker 6: in the Eagles. Now, a lot has changed, certainly, But
Speaker 6: you know, for the Packers, you know, coming out of
Speaker 6: that game, Jordan Love was banged up, a little bit
Speaker 6: banged up in this last season finale for Green Bay two,
Speaker 6: It's not think he's going to be fine. My biggest
Speaker 6: question is, you know, what's the word on Jalen Hurts
Speaker 6: and you know, what's it going to be like for
Speaker 6: him in the concussion protocol these last couple of weeks
Speaker 6: to get back out there full throttle with this group there.
Speaker 6: You know, this has not been a you know, last
Speaker 6: couple of weeks of the season that has been free
Speaker 6: from drama, as is the case in Philly, So you
Speaker 6: don't want to get this thing started off poorly, right, Like,
Speaker 6: how does Philly react if Jalen's got some rust early?
Speaker 6: That's that's something that I'll be watching for. How do
Speaker 6: those receivers react. How does this offense come together? Good
Speaker 6: thing is they can They can hand it off to
Speaker 6: the best running back in the league.
Speaker 5: So we'll see how that plays out. But that's what
Speaker 5: I'm curious about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that them being able to rest, Philly
Speaker 1: being able to rest last week, get saquon fresh legs.
Speaker 1: I think that's a big part of it. And you
Speaker 1: know it hurts, you know. I imagine he'll be cleared
Speaker 1: and ready to go by the time we get to
Speaker 1: game day and he's going to have fresh legs as
Speaker 1: well and be rested. So I'm telling I'm telling Jalen,
Speaker 1: let's spend a little extra time on the legs in treatment.
Speaker 1: Not really worried about the shoulder right now, let's not.
Speaker 1: Let's just let's get ready to roll with our offensive line.
Speaker 1: You've got fresh legs. Saquon's got fresh legs. We'll worry
Speaker 1: about the passing game when we get to round number two.
Speaker 1: But let's take care of business against the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: And I do think the best way for them to
Speaker 1: do that is on the ground. All right, guys, let's
Speaker 1: get over to the AFC Buffalo Denver buck. I feel
Speaker 1: like this is a game where you know all these
Speaker 1: other you know matchups, you can make the argument and
Speaker 1: make the case.
Speaker 2: For the upset.
Speaker 1: I feel like nobody has made a strong argument for
Speaker 1: the Denver Broncos to win this ballgame. And I think
Speaker 1: there is a path. What is that path in your opinion?
Speaker 6: Oh?
Speaker 4: I think that path is their defense really getting after
Speaker 4: Josh Allen, really suffocating the run a game and making
Speaker 4: Josh Allen play at a superhero level and hoping that
Speaker 4: bad Josh Allen shows up where he makes a couple
Speaker 4: risky throws that go the other way. This Broncos defense
Speaker 4: leads the league in sacks they can get after advance Joseph.
Speaker 4: Look he's fearless when it comes to attacking the quarterback.
Speaker 4: If you're Sean Payton, like, and I hate this saying,
Speaker 4: but you're playing with house money because no one necessarily
Speaker 4: expected them to be there, they can be free and
Speaker 4: loose when they played this game. The pressure is really
Speaker 4: on the Buffalo Bills to knock off a team that
Speaker 4: everybody expects them to win. Lean on the defense, see
Speaker 4: if you can shrink the game with the running game,
Speaker 4: and look, man, let bow knicks make a handful of
Speaker 4: plays with his arm and leg. If they can get
Speaker 4: it to the fourth quarter, that's when I think you're
Speaker 4: trying to win it. If you're Sean Payton, I think
Speaker 4: this is a game where you do everything in your
Speaker 4: power to make it a fifteen minute game by being really.
Speaker 3: Close to the Buffalo Bills and that last quarter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, and I gave you something real quick. Here,
Speaker 1: let me get you something real quick sometimes. You see,
Speaker 1: you know, you get to play caller. You're holding the thing.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 1: Sean Peyton likes to hold that card up there and
Speaker 1: there's usually a message there.
Speaker 2: So if he flips the card around.
Speaker 1: This week, this is what it's gonna it's gonna look
Speaker 1: like here, it's gonna have it's gonna have all these screens.
Speaker 1: It's going to have a million of these, have a
Speaker 1: good bit of runs right here, and then our pure
Speaker 1: past a couple, just a couple of those. That's gonna
Speaker 1: be our that's gonna be our Sean Payton call sheet
Speaker 1: this week.
Speaker 6: Marvin MEM's going on some of those screens, right, get
Speaker 6: get Troy Flank Franklin the ball, maybe maybe down the
Speaker 6: field that.
Speaker 1: Every screen you ever imagine, tight end screens, We're going
Speaker 1: to dust it all off.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 6: That run section is kind of what I'm a little
Speaker 6: bit curious about, especially if we get some adverse weather
Speaker 6: up there in Orchard Park, New York. So I don't
Speaker 6: obviously that has not been their strength this year, but
Speaker 6: I think this will be a really fun test, you know,
Speaker 6: for a quarterback in bo Nicks, who's the heck of
Speaker 6: a competitor, just like Josh Allen. Think there's some some
Speaker 6: real similarities there on the way that they approach the game.
Speaker 6: Now we kind of get to see it unfold.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then here I have a buck. I've just
Speaker 1: got the call sheet handed to me for the for
Speaker 1: the Buffalo side of things.
Speaker 2: And that's that's all you gotta do. Uh, Josh you
Speaker 2: you I get it. That's it.
Speaker 3: I get it.
Speaker 2: That's all we need.
Speaker 4: Good.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm in a professional call sheet. Yeah maker over here.
Speaker 1: You know, I just uh a free service that I'm
Speaker 1: offering up for the rest of the league.
Speaker 2: Now, this is going to be Josh Allen.
Speaker 1: This is I'm hoping that he just stays healthy and
Speaker 1: we get to see the get the full Josh experience
Speaker 1: where he's he's running the ball like ten, twelve, thirteen
Speaker 1: times to go along with these incredible throws he's capable
Speaker 1: of making. But it's because it reminds me buck of
Speaker 1: of what you get to see. It's high school football
Speaker 1: with him, Like he plays the game like you would
Speaker 1: if you're at a high school and you just say,
Speaker 1: you're the biggest, baddest dude my team. You play quarterback,
Speaker 1: and then Why'm gonna make them tackle you as many
Speaker 1: times as possible?
Speaker 4: I mean, why not when you have the best player,
Speaker 4: you don't make it really complicated. Give him the ball,
Speaker 4: give him opportunities more than anybody else, and let him
Speaker 4: have the biggest impact on the game. That's how Buffalo plays.
Speaker 4: And it's funny at a time when we look at
Speaker 4: this team and we look at their roster, particularly one
Speaker 4: that is without Stefan Diggs on the perimeter, one that
Speaker 4: kind of shed a lot of the pieces around him,
Speaker 4: they perform better.
Speaker 3: And let's talk.
Speaker 4: About Josh Allen and what we see from quarterbacks. It's
Speaker 4: the maturation and the evolution of him at the position.
Speaker 4: The guy that was kind of the gunslinger, the one
Speaker 4: that played like John Wayne.
Speaker 3: He still has some of that, but.
Speaker 4: He really reserves it to until red zone situations or
Speaker 4: end of game. Gotta have his situations. You don't see
Speaker 4: him run around recklessly for most of the game, but
Speaker 4: it's only in those two areas when you got to
Speaker 4: have a play at the end of the game, where
Speaker 4: the end of a half or down in the red zone, will.
Speaker 3: He put their cape on and go and do Josh
Speaker 3: Allen type stuff.
Speaker 5: I mean, that's that's the formula, right.
Speaker 2: You know who he is.
Speaker 1: You know who he is by the way he's he's
Speaker 1: if Derrick Henry spent like six years training with David Morris,
Speaker 1: that's who.
Speaker 2: That's who Josh Allen.
Speaker 5: Got demo.
Speaker 2: What's up? Buddy, we'll see down there.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Hey, that tells you, That tells you can trade
Speaker 6: some quarterbacks.
Speaker 5: Now that's the case. Let's get Derek Henry.
Speaker 1: Going, dude, He's he's literally if the touchdown active touchdown
Speaker 1: rushing touchdown leaders, it is Derrick Henry, Ezekiel Elliott, and
Speaker 1: Josh Allen. That's insane. You're I know Chargers, Hey, you
Speaker 1: never know. I always have a veteran in reserve here
Speaker 1: Hungary bet him and Bosa but reunited again, like we're
Speaker 1: back at Ohio State in like two thousand and six.
Speaker 5: Eight.
Speaker 2: All right, let's get to Pittsburgh Baltimore third time? Is
Speaker 2: it is?
Speaker 3: That? Is? That?
Speaker 2: Is that an issue?
Speaker 5: Buck?
Speaker 2: You've been You've been on teams that have seen the
Speaker 2: team for the third time postseason.
Speaker 4: Well, anytime you play a division rival in a playoff
Speaker 4: game and stuff, because they really know you and you
Speaker 4: can throw out the records in those things. And for
Speaker 4: this team is very difficult because Lamar Jackson has typically
Speaker 4: struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not the last time, but
Speaker 4: if you go back and let's get his history, he's
Speaker 4: had a tough time dealing with the Mike Tomlin coach
Speaker 4: defense that would trouble me a little bit. But let's
Speaker 4: say this about the Baltimore Ravens. This is the version
Speaker 4: of the Ravens that we thought we would see. From
Speaker 4: beginning to end.
Speaker 3: They're playing their best football heading to the stretch.
Speaker 4: Some of that has been fueled by that defense and
Speaker 4: the move of Cayle Hamilton to free safety. Cayle Hamilton
Speaker 4: has cleaned up some of the issues that they had
Speaker 4: in the middle of the field, the tackling, the blown
Speaker 4: coverages and those things. They've tightened that up, and so
Speaker 4: they're playing competent football on defense and then on offense. Man,
Speaker 4: they just continue to put you in a bind because
Speaker 4: it's not only Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, the playmakers on
Speaker 4: the outside and the explosiveness of this offense that keeps
Speaker 4: you up at night if you're a defensive coordinator having
Speaker 4: to face them.
Speaker 6: Yeah, man, I just wonder. You know, the Steelers have
Speaker 6: been in this position before, right to a couple of
Speaker 6: years ago when.
Speaker 5: They started out you know whatever, it was eleven or zero.
Speaker 6: And and then kind of had that losing streak to
Speaker 6: finish up. This feels a little bit like that for Pittsburgh.
Speaker 6: You know, I know they've had some success, although albeit
Speaker 6: not recently as far you know as the last couple
Speaker 6: of weeks ago against the Ravens. But man, it just
Speaker 6: feels like the way things are going, it's going to
Speaker 6: be hard for them to pull out of this tail
Speaker 6: spin a little bit. With the way that you know,
Speaker 6: they've been playing on all offense in particular, and what
Speaker 6: we've seen from George Pickens when he came back, and
Speaker 6: obviously what we've seen from Russell Wilson over the last month.
Speaker 6: You know, obviously talk about you know, justin fields moving
Speaker 6: forward and all that in the next year. I just
Speaker 6: this feels like the Ravens are a juggernaut and that
Speaker 6: they are rolling into a Marque matchup later in the
Speaker 6: postseason with the Bills of the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I would say that the Pittsburgh formula is deep shots,
Speaker 1: deep shots, deep shots. So you're just hoping Pickens comes
Speaker 1: down with a couple. You're hoping you get a couple
Speaker 1: of flags, you know, some thirty forty yard penalties. I
Speaker 1: don't see them moving the ball. They just haven't shown
Speaker 1: the ability to do that. So they're going to rely
Speaker 1: on on the defense. Getting them some short fields. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's a punt return, it gives them a short field,
Speaker 1: and then it's it's go balls and penalties. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a tough way to live. So I'm I'm kind
Speaker 1: I'm looking more in this one. We'll see if the
Speaker 1: if the Steelers can make this more of a ball game.
Speaker 1: Chargers Houston. Look, it's a big difference for the Chargers
Speaker 1: getting the five versus the six. Going to Houston versus
Speaker 1: going to Baltimore. You gotta be careful. I mean, Houston,
Speaker 1: you don't want to be disrespectful there, but just off
Speaker 1: the years they've had and we just saw Houston and
Speaker 1: Baltimore square off and we saw how lopsided that was.
Speaker 1: So there is a big difference there between those opponents.
Speaker 1: But you know, buck, to me, the matchup to watching
Speaker 1: this game that I'm looking forward to. Rashaun Slater is
Speaker 1: back at practice today. He'll be I'm sure he'll be
Speaker 1: rocking and rolling ready to go. Him and Joe Alt
Speaker 1: going up against Will Anderson de Neil Hunter. That's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, if they can if they can get that
Speaker 1: done and take care of the edges, justin Herbertson are
Speaker 1: really good groove right now, and mcconkey's is, you know,
Speaker 1: playing really really well. Will Disley's found a role. Quentin
Speaker 1: Johnston had thirteen for a buck eighty six last week,
Speaker 1: coming off his best game.
Speaker 5: As a pro.
Speaker 2: Offensively.
Speaker 1: Offensively, they're starting to peak and JK. Dobbin, since he's
Speaker 1: come back healthy, is a nice weapon. They're out of
Speaker 1: the backfield. So I feel like the Chargers are peaking
Speaker 1: at the right time. But I also feel like the Texans,
Speaker 1: I mean, shoot it, I would say you'd use the
Speaker 1: word disrespected. I think they're being disrespected by a lot
Speaker 1: of folks as you go into this matchup.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they've been disrespected because the expectations were so significant
Speaker 4: for this team. We talked about this team being a
Speaker 4: super Bowl favorite, and they haven't played to that level.
Speaker 4: But it doesn't mean that they can't play to that
Speaker 4: level in the postseason. A lot of it really hinges
Speaker 4: on c J. Stroud. What I am looking for. I
Speaker 4: want to see how Jesse Mentor goes after c J.
Speaker 3: Stroud. C J.
Speaker 4: Stroud has not been the same player that we saw
Speaker 4: last year's mark. He's had more turnovers then we saw
Speaker 4: his rookie season. How does Jesse Minner kind of attack him.
Speaker 4: Does he sit back in coverage and dare him to
Speaker 4: fit it into tight windows versus those zones. Does he
Speaker 4: play a little tighter and snugger on the guys, Because
Speaker 4: let's be real, the number one threat that they have
Speaker 4: in the passing game is Nico Collins. If they can
Speaker 4: run the ball, it allows Nico Collins to get loose
Speaker 4: on play action. But if they can contain Joe Mixon
Speaker 4: and I guess you may have to say Damian Peert,
Speaker 4: they then are able to put all their odds on
Speaker 4: Nico Collins and force C. J.
Speaker 3: Stroud to beat them left handed.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Look, you know, when I think about the Texans, obviously
Speaker 6: this has been a disappointment of a year. Yet they're
Speaker 6: still AFC South champions and have been for like a month,
Speaker 6: and you know they've they've had time to figure it out.
Speaker 6: It hasn't quite worked yet. But when you go back,
Speaker 6: if I'm the Texans, I go back and look at
Speaker 6: where we've been, where we were at this time last year,
Speaker 6: it's kind of similar, you know, in terms of personnel
Speaker 6: that's available.
Speaker 5: Right, Remember Tank Dell got hurt, you know, a.
Speaker 6: Couple of weeks a few weeks before the postseason started,
Speaker 6: was done for the year, and it was kind of
Speaker 6: the Nico Collins show at receiver. They were getting maybe
Speaker 6: a little bit more at a Dulton Schultz at the time,
Speaker 6: it felt like. But I think they're in a better
Speaker 6: place defensively, and you know, that was a nice confidence
Speaker 6: building drive. One drive for CJ. Stroud, Nico Collins and
Speaker 6: the Texans offense. I'll be it against the Titans, but
Speaker 6: got that touchdown. He was six of six. They've won
Speaker 6: a playoff game, you know, kind of in this spot before.
Speaker 6: So if they can take care of the football and
Speaker 6: keep CJ. Stroud relatively clean, I think there's still an
Speaker 6: opportunity in a pathway here for the Texans to get
Speaker 6: a dub.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be a good game. I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to going to Houston and checking that one out.
Speaker 1: A little cold though, looking at the I know it's indoors,
Speaker 1: but just weatherwise for me walking outside, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a challenge.
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's going to be me. I
Speaker 2: think I'm gonna be in the hotel room in some
Speaker 2: college to freeze getting down there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's got that's got hotel watching college tape written all.
Speaker 6: Over it for this weekend as they get ready attle
Speaker 6: early and head over to the Cotton Bowl.
Speaker 2: You know, oh yeah, yeah, but it's like for Houston
Speaker 2: to dall Us with.
Speaker 5: Like four hours not a great drive in the cold.
Speaker 1: That's not happening. Yeah, I had conditions not going to happen.
Speaker 5: By the way.
Speaker 1: Uh, I guess we'll have more information on this, uh
Speaker 1: going forward. But I've been told by a little birdie
Speaker 1: in my ear that rookie draft was a tie this year.
Speaker 2: I tied him, bled him in.
Speaker 6: We need to go back and look about whether we
Speaker 6: actually that year did week eighteen last year? Okay, that's
Speaker 6: what we need to go back and look whether we
Speaker 6: played through Week eighteen last year.
Speaker 3: Can't wait next year, can't wait the next year? Last year?
Speaker 1: Hey, look, we just we protect our turf here, that's
Speaker 1: what we do.
Speaker 2: We protect our turf.
Speaker 1: Bucky and I go on this thing for a decade
Speaker 1: and Rett comes in and just that wasn't going to happen.
Speaker 1: We couldn't let that. Co champs by the way, I
Speaker 1: got it. I got a hatch uh. For high school
Speaker 1: we were co champs of the Harbor League. And they
Speaker 1: didn't put a dash between the co and the Champs,
Speaker 1: so it just says coach imps coach umps.
Speaker 2: Harbor League debated on whether you're putting out my jack?
Speaker 2: I was like, what am I supposed to? This is terrible?
Speaker 1: Come on, it's embarrassing to print a cod Champs patch
Speaker 1: so nothing will be hanging on the bookshelf behind me.
Speaker 1: We got to win these things out right, all right?
Speaker 1: This has been a fun one. Hope you guys have
Speaker 1: enjoyed it. We've enjoyed digging into these matchups. Can't wait
Speaker 1: for a great week into football. We'll see you next
Speaker 1: time right here on with the sticks