1
00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,200
Speaker 1: Disappointing finish, excited about the beginning. Welcome Bird Gang. On

2
00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:11,440
Speaker 1: today's show, Paul Calvic joins me, we look back at

3
00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,600
Speaker 1: Sunday's loss to the Seahawks a game and let's be honest,

4
00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,279
Speaker 1: the Cardinals outplayed the Seahawks. So many positives from the

5
00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:20,600
Speaker 1: final game of the season, a lot to look forward

6
00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:22,959
Speaker 1: to and a lot of work that needs to be done.

7
00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,479
Speaker 1: It's Cardinals Cover two, Episode seven nineteen, and it starts now.

8
00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,400
Speaker 2: Welcome to Cardinals Cover two.

9
00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:34,559
Speaker 3: Budda Baker, What Heart?

10
00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:35,440
Speaker 2: What rent?

11
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:37,000
Speaker 3: This guy's unbelievable.

12
00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:41,400
Speaker 2: Cardinals Cover two is presented by Hyundai, proud partner of

13
00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:47,280
Speaker 2: the Arizona Cardinals, and by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts. Visit Acycardinals

14
00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,480
Speaker 2: dot com Slash Podcasts. He's at the ten half of five.

15
00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,599
Speaker 3: He's it again so far Harry Magic.

16
00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,520
Speaker 2: Whoa, here's Craig Griolud.

17
00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,080
Speaker 1: So I've got to be honest, Paul, I have some

18
00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:08,080
Speaker 1: conflicted emotions here on this Monday morning. The season is done,

19
00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,920
Speaker 1: players are cleaning out their locker. Yet I cannot get

20
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:16,080
Speaker 1: over the fact that yet it was a loss to

21
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:19,600
Speaker 1: the Seahawks and four wins versus five wins. Is it

22
00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:20,880
Speaker 1: really that big of a deal.

23
00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:23,840
Speaker 2: Darn it. I wanted that win on Sunday.

24
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,319
Speaker 3: Well, you wanted to win because it was Seattle in town, true,

25
00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:29,200
Speaker 3: and the twelves in the stands and the whole thing.

26
00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:34,240
Speaker 3: Can you imagine if Green Bay had lost, and that

27
00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:39,040
Speaker 3: Prader missed at the very end had not only secured

28
00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:43,120
Speaker 3: a Seattle Seahawks win, but had propelled them into the

29
00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,800
Speaker 3: postseason the hashtag it can always get worse.

30
00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:46,480
Speaker 2: That's how it would.

31
00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,640
Speaker 3: In fact, if that would have happened, I would not

32
00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,320
Speaker 3: be here right now. I would have taken a mental

33
00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,440
Speaker 3: health day. If stink in Seattle would have clinched a

34
00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,920
Speaker 3: playoff spot based on two miss field goals in the

35
00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,600
Speaker 3: fourth quarter at the very end at State Farm Stadium.

36
00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,640
Speaker 1: Pete Carroll have been insufferable postgame. Now, I'll say this

37
00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,800
Speaker 1: as we look back at Sunday's twenty one twenty loss

38
00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,600
Speaker 1: to the Seahawks as the Cardinals finished four and thirteen

39
00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,200
Speaker 1: for the second straight year. Pete Carroll did tell the

40
00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,320
Speaker 1: media post game he knew the Bears had lost to

41
00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,960
Speaker 1: the Packers, which eliminated the Seahawks from the playoffs. Midway

42
00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,240
Speaker 1: through the fourth quarter, before deciding to go for the

43
00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,560
Speaker 1: two and the win. So the goal was to come

44
00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,679
Speaker 1: in with a victory and sending those Seahawks with a win.

45
00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:34,920
Speaker 3: So interesting because at halftime he told Laura Oakman, the

46
00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:39,120
Speaker 3: Fox sideline reporter, there shall be no scoreboard watching on

47
00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,600
Speaker 3: this sideline. Yeah, the head coach himself was well aware

48
00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:46,120
Speaker 3: of the final from Lambeau. Interesting. Also interesting that when

49
00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,000
Speaker 3: I walked into the postgame locker room where I am

50
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 3: doing some of the interviews, is adjacent to the main

51
00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,720
Speaker 3: locker room. It's connected, but adjacent. And then after I

52
00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,639
Speaker 3: was done with that, I walked into an auxiliary locker room, okay,

53
00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,200
Speaker 3: which is in between the Cardinals and the visitors official

54
00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,560
Speaker 3: locker room, and I'm like, what is that cigar smoke?

55
00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:12,040
Speaker 3: What is going on? And sure enough, the Seahawks lit

56
00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:17,079
Speaker 3: up cigars in the victory visiting locker room, despite the

57
00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,520
Speaker 3: fact they have been eliminated from the playoffs. Now, there

58
00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,480
Speaker 3: was some consternation and controversy about this afterwards, and apparently

59
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,600
Speaker 3: Julian Love is a new father and he had some

60
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,520
Speaker 3: you know, it's a boy cigars or whatever, and he

61
00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,440
Speaker 3: passed them out. But you know, they're flexing and taking

62
00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,720
Speaker 3: photos with cigars after they've been eliminated from the playoffs

63
00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,800
Speaker 3: for the second time in three years. So not a

64
00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,800
Speaker 3: great look by the Seattle Seahawks.

65
00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,880
Speaker 1: No, an awful look, to be honest, and not something

66
00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,840
Speaker 1: that probably should have been posted on social media mere

67
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,520
Speaker 1: minutes after that game on Sunday.

68
00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:54,839
Speaker 3: But it was open to the media at that point.

69
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,920
Speaker 3: They did open locker room. Now they took exception with

70
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,560
Speaker 3: one Beat writer who weeded it out, is no playoffs

71
00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,360
Speaker 3: and they're still lighting up victory cigars. And then they

72
00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,640
Speaker 3: railed against that saying, no, it is because we have

73
00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,360
Speaker 3: a new father in the locker room. Even so, some

74
00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,240
Speaker 3: of the veterans on locker room were quoted by some

75
00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,280
Speaker 3: of the Beat writers saying, yeah, some of these younger

76
00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,120
Speaker 3: guys maybe don't quite get it yet.

77
00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,279
Speaker 1: Time and place. There is a time and there is

78
00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:23,919
Speaker 1: a place for certain things. And that was not the

79
00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,839
Speaker 1: time nor the place on Sunday at State Farm Stadium.

80
00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,839
Speaker 1: But my conflicted emotions again that lost to the Seahawks.

81
00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,920
Speaker 1: You wanted to finish with back to back wins. You

82
00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,800
Speaker 1: wanted Kyler Murray to go into the offseason four and

83
00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,440
Speaker 1: four as the Cardinals starting quarterback, you at the same time,

84
00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,480
Speaker 1: and I think I'll feel better as we get closer

85
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:48,000
Speaker 1: and closer to April. But that miss did lock up

86
00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,880
Speaker 1: and secure the fourth overall pick. And you look at

87
00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:56,240
Speaker 1: the teams selecting ahead of the Cardinals, the Bears, the Commanders,

88
00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,839
Speaker 1: the Patriots, those are all depending on what the Bears

89
00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:03,920
Speaker 1: to to do with justin fields. Those three teams need quarterbacks.

90
00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,240
Speaker 1: And if quarterbacks go one, two and three, Cardinals are

91
00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:10,280
Speaker 1: sitting there with the fourth overall pick, taking the best

92
00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,120
Speaker 1: player available, maybe a wide receiver or again, if there's

93
00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,919
Speaker 1: another quarterback needy team moving up to that fourth spot.

94
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,240
Speaker 1: So that's where I'm conflicted, because if you had won

95
00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,680
Speaker 1: that game, then the Chargers are picking fourth and the

96
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,840
Speaker 1: Cardinals are picking fifth. Chargers have their quarterback and obviously

97
00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:29,880
Speaker 1: would most likely take Marvin Harrison Junior.

98
00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:31,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, by the time we get to March in April,

99
00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,279
Speaker 3: everyone will be grateful and thankful that you are picking fourth,

100
00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,520
Speaker 3: and then it was a one point loss instead of

101
00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,000
Speaker 3: a narrow win. I get all that, but I also

102
00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,360
Speaker 3: think we all can agree that quarterback is going number

103
00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,000
Speaker 3: one may not go to Chicago.

104
00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:46,680
Speaker 2: That's true.

105
00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,080
Speaker 3: Bear's just gonna trade out and cash it in for

106
00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,120
Speaker 3: the second in a row if they decide to stick

107
00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,359
Speaker 3: with justin fields. Heck, how do we know that quarterbacks

108
00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,080
Speaker 3: aren't going one through four? If it isn't Caleb Williams,

109
00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,960
Speaker 3: Drake May, Jaydon Daniels, Michael Pennix, if he balls out

110
00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,560
Speaker 3: the National Championship game, even a bow Nicks. You know,

111
00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,719
Speaker 3: there's always that guy who rises in the offseason workouts,

112
00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:12,640
Speaker 3: Anthony Richardson, Zach Wilson, those kind of guys who just

113
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,000
Speaker 3: you know, kill it at a Pro Day or a

114
00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,400
Speaker 3: combine workout, and all of a sudden, quarterback needy teams

115
00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:22,480
Speaker 3: they reach. And so there's to me, I think there's

116
00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,000
Speaker 3: a real good chance the Cardinals might trade out in

117
00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,120
Speaker 3: number four, especially with the Texans pick now being in

118
00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,480
Speaker 3: the twenties. So I would not be shocked whatsoever. I mean,

119
00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,520
Speaker 3: I don't see a cornerback worthy of a top five pick.

120
00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,960
Speaker 3: I don't think there's an edge rusher or game wrecking

121
00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,560
Speaker 3: de tackle worthy of a top five pick, at least

122
00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:45,520
Speaker 3: not right now. There might be an offensive lineman the

123
00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,279
Speaker 3: Penn State tackle, But otherwise if that's the case, boom,

124
00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:50,919
Speaker 3: see if you can pull the trigger on that. But

125
00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:51,800
Speaker 3: that's way down the road.

126
00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've got three plus months to discuss what happens

127
00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,680
Speaker 1: in April for the draft. But let's dive into what

128
00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,880
Speaker 1: happened what didn't happen on Sunday again the Cardinals. Outside

129
00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,880
Speaker 1: of the scoreboard, the Cardinals outplayed the Seahawks. They were

130
00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,480
Speaker 1: the better team for sixty minutes and I'm including the

131
00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,840
Speaker 1: entire game, despite what happened late in that contest with

132
00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,240
Speaker 1: Matt Prader missing two field goals. By the way, I

133
00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,160
Speaker 1: give Matt a ton of credit, not that I would

134
00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,000
Speaker 1: expect anything less. He stood in front of his locker,

135
00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:27,000
Speaker 1: answered every single question, took complete responsibility. Not the hole,

136
00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,240
Speaker 1: not the snap. It was on him. And that's only

137
00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,520
Speaker 1: the third time since arriving in Arizona that Prator has

138
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,960
Speaker 1: missed two field goals in a single game. It's unheard of.

139
00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,240
Speaker 1: Even from forty to forty nine. He's almost automatic, and

140
00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,400
Speaker 1: we've become accustomed to him hitting those fifty plus field

141
00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,520
Speaker 1: goals to where. Yeah, I was stunned when the official

142
00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,240
Speaker 1: underneath the goalposts were waving his arms in a horizontal

143
00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,840
Speaker 1: motion signaling no good is Like, really, are you sure?

144
00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:57,240
Speaker 1: I mean, this is Matt Prater.

145
00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,240
Speaker 3: So Fox flashed a graphic as he got to the

146
00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:02,600
Speaker 3: end of the game that Matt Prater had never missed

147
00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,160
Speaker 3: a game winning field goal attempt the final two minutes

148
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,400
Speaker 3: of a game or overtime, and Dave Pash hesitated to

149
00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,280
Speaker 3: read it on air, but he did and not saying

150
00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:13,480
Speaker 3: it was a factor, but man, you just sort of

151
00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,840
Speaker 3: had a bad feeling about that, and sure enough, oh boy,

152
00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,840
Speaker 3: the jinx was on. But that's a double ding. Matt

153
00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:25,040
Speaker 3: Prater meeting the media. Absolutely, you can tell so much

154
00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,960
Speaker 3: about a player and the person, the accountability and really

155
00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,480
Speaker 3: hit zoom out. That's the one thing that has been

156
00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,880
Speaker 3: instilled in this team. If you want to talk about culture,

157
00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,960
Speaker 3: I think the first bullet point under that is accountability

158
00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,880
Speaker 3: starts with a head coach, trickles down to the locker room,

159
00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,679
Speaker 3: the team leaders, the James Connors, the Buddha Bakers, and

160
00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,760
Speaker 3: Matt Prater. These are the guys and so when people ask, Okay,

161
00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,920
Speaker 3: what exactly is culture? How do you define it? Well,

162
00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,040
Speaker 3: accountability is a big and remember where last offseason started,

163
00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,400
Speaker 3: Craig with a move a head coach and the team

164
00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:03,000
Speaker 3: owner Michael Bidwell telling the media we have to address

165
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:07,640
Speaker 3: accountability within the organization. So that was first and foremost

166
00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,839
Speaker 3: in the coaching search and hitting the reset button, the

167
00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,560
Speaker 3: big red reset button on culture and you saw it,

168
00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:16,000
Speaker 3: and guys who weren't on board with it were no

169
00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,439
Speaker 3: longer members of the team. In fact, Jonathan Gannon after

170
00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:21,199
Speaker 3: the game, you know, we had a chance to talk

171
00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,640
Speaker 3: to him one on one on the postgame radio and

172
00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,640
Speaker 3: he made a few comments just about where this season

173
00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:28,720
Speaker 3: had come from and where it was going, and he said,

174
00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:30,720
Speaker 3: you know what, we were able to figure out what

175
00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,199
Speaker 3: we are and who we are going forward. Basically, we

176
00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:36,080
Speaker 3: found out a lot about who we are and who's

177
00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:38,360
Speaker 3: going to be a part of this game, this team,

178
00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,160
Speaker 3: and that was Jonathan Gannon. And really, you know, that

179
00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,760
Speaker 3: was this season, especially after Kyler Murray came back. So

180
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,319
Speaker 3: our whole marketing mantra that we used sometime last offseason,

181
00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:53,440
Speaker 3: the twenty twenty three dip for a twenty twenty four rip.

182
00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,240
Speaker 3: Hopefully that is tracking to be true.

183
00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,720
Speaker 1: So despite a loss, you feel good, even this Monday,

184
00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,520
Speaker 1: even as fresh as the outcome of Sunday still is,

185
00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,880
Speaker 1: but you feel good where this team, where this organization

186
00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:10,839
Speaker 1: is headed moving forward. In fact, a lot of the

187
00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:15,720
Speaker 1: postgame calls on Cardinal Talk echoed that people can tell

188
00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,720
Speaker 1: and we discussed this before four and thirteen. After twenty

189
00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,720
Speaker 1: twenty two. Oh, there were big questions, a lot of

190
00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,920
Speaker 1: issues four and thirteen after twenty twenty three, I'm excited.

191
00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:31,160
Speaker 1: In fact, I'm actually looking forward to you. Sometimes don't

192
00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:35,120
Speaker 1: want to wait until August for training camp in September

193
00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:36,960
Speaker 1: and the regular seas. Yeah, everyone needs a break in

194
00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,160
Speaker 1: all that. But there is a lot and depending on

195
00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,199
Speaker 1: what happens in free agency and in the draft, you

196
00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:46,520
Speaker 1: build around Kyler Murray because you know he's your franchise quarterback.

197
00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:48,720
Speaker 1: There's a lot of building blocks on both sides of

198
00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,439
Speaker 1: the ball. There's a lot of holes on both sides

199
00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,320
Speaker 1: of the ball. But bottom line is, you know your

200
00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,040
Speaker 1: general manager, you know your head coach, you know your quarterback.

201
00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,320
Speaker 1: And those three are the most important pieces to a

202
00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:03,360
Speaker 1: winning team.

203
00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,080
Speaker 3: The what and the who. I think the decision makers

204
00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:11,240
Speaker 3: know what they want this team to be, and they

205
00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,760
Speaker 3: know who is going to be part of it, the

206
00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,440
Speaker 3: sort of player that they're looking for, what they wanted

207
00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,720
Speaker 3: to resemble. It's not just hey, Kyler, here's the football,

208
00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:24,679
Speaker 3: roll it out there, go win the game for us.

209
00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:29,280
Speaker 3: No it's a top five running game. It's number two

210
00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:33,240
Speaker 3: in yards per Carrie. It's figuring out over the course

211
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,400
Speaker 3: of a game. Okay, what scheme is hitting? What's working?

212
00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,120
Speaker 3: You know, we're going to eventually get to a running

213
00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:42,000
Speaker 3: play that they're not going to be able to stop.

214
00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,280
Speaker 3: Look at that Seattle game, right, They started slow on

215
00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,200
Speaker 3: the ground, they weren't getting a lot of traction, weren't

216
00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,320
Speaker 3: getting a lot of yardage. But by the time the

217
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,000
Speaker 3: game was done, James Conner had one hundred and fifty

218
00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:53,480
Speaker 3: yards rushing. They had over two hundred yards rushing as

219
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:55,720
Speaker 3: a team for the fourth time, third time in three

220
00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,400
Speaker 3: game and four games, and talking to a few guys

221
00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,800
Speaker 3: in the locker room, that twenty nine yard touchdownd run

222
00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,320
Speaker 3: by James Connor was a play they ran six or

223
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:05,560
Speaker 3: seven times in the game.

224
00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:06,200
Speaker 1: Wow.

225
00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,160
Speaker 3: So they eventually, and this has been a trend, they

226
00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,920
Speaker 3: eventually get to a play that's gonna hit that the

227
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,520
Speaker 3: defense can't stop, and they're gonna repeat it.

228
00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:15,360
Speaker 1: To me.

229
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:20,000
Speaker 3: That's football IQ in this staff. The staff excels in that.

230
00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:20,719
Speaker 2: Now.

231
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,560
Speaker 3: It took a while maybe to get some of the

232
00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:25,080
Speaker 3: coordinators the experience they needed, but the play calling by

233
00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,400
Speaker 3: Drew Betsen, especially down the stretch. The players raved about that. Internally,

234
00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,600
Speaker 3: I think they figured out, Okay, what is our identity

235
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:34,880
Speaker 3: and this is who we want to be. And so

236
00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,200
Speaker 3: you're just going to see a draft and off season

237
00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:38,480
Speaker 3: trying to accentuate that.

238
00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,760
Speaker 1: Don't forget what Gannon had said previously this season, telling

239
00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,760
Speaker 1: Drew Petsing, don't be afraid to run the same play

240
00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,600
Speaker 1: more than once. Run it until it's stopped. And to

241
00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,600
Speaker 1: your point, Paul, if that was the sixth time that

242
00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,200
Speaker 1: they ran the same play and Connor got twenty six

243
00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,160
Speaker 1: yards to get to one thousand and four of the season,

244
00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:01,760
Speaker 1: it's working. Why go away from it right now? You

245
00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,880
Speaker 1: figured it out, so you keep doing it. And even

246
00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,640
Speaker 1: if you do get stopped maybe once or twice, you

247
00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,000
Speaker 1: know you've had success more times than not. So maybe

248
00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,480
Speaker 1: you change up the formations, or instead of doing it

249
00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:14,920
Speaker 1: to the left, you do it to the right, or

250
00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,040
Speaker 1: with a different running back. But I do like the

251
00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,280
Speaker 1: fact that this team has found an identity on offense,

252
00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,800
Speaker 1: even with a mobile quarterback, a dual quarterback who can

253
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:25,800
Speaker 1: throw it, who can run it. But this is an

254
00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,920
Speaker 1: run first offense. You talked about the rushing yards per game,

255
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,000
Speaker 1: number four in the league, number two rushing yards per play.

256
00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:37,840
Speaker 1: Cardinals finish with five point zero two rushing yards per play,

257
00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:43,000
Speaker 1: second most in franchise history, topped only by the five

258
00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:47,880
Speaker 1: point zero three and twenty nineteen cleft Kingsbury's first year

259
00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,560
Speaker 1: difference between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty three Paul Is

260
00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,600
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, Cardinals ran the ball for three hundred

261
00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,800
Speaker 1: and ninety six or three ran the ball three hundred

262
00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,440
Speaker 1: ninety six times this pass season in four hundred and

263
00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:08,200
Speaker 1: seventy one seventy seventy five more rushing attempts for four

264
00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:09,760
Speaker 1: hundred more yards.

265
00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,760
Speaker 3: And you know what. Look, I can't prove this, but

266
00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,839
Speaker 3: I think anybody who's watched Cardinals football closely over the

267
00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:21,760
Speaker 3: last five years, this offense, this team this year dictated

268
00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,240
Speaker 3: to the defense, whereas the defense would dictate to the

269
00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,680
Speaker 3: Cardinals offense in the past forced them to adjust to

270
00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,120
Speaker 3: the adjustment. In this case, defenses had to adjust to

271
00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,480
Speaker 3: the Cardinals. They found what worked, they dictated accordingly. But

272
00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:40,080
Speaker 3: then again, the other season half season where the Cardinals

273
00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,200
Speaker 3: were top ten in rushing was the first half of

274
00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,200
Speaker 3: twenty twenty one and James Conner had a Pro Bowl

275
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,840
Speaker 3: year and he was among the league leaders, and they

276
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:49,920
Speaker 3: had a couple of two hundred yard rushing games at

277
00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:52,560
Speaker 3: the Rams, at the Browns. In what happened that season,

278
00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,560
Speaker 3: they started seven to zero, they started ten to two.

279
00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,640
Speaker 3: So if you've put Kyler in a balanced offense and

280
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,960
Speaker 3: you don't ask him to do everything and be everything,

281
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,400
Speaker 3: and now maybe you can add some weapons in the offseason,

282
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,240
Speaker 3: especially on the perimeter in that receiver room. Once again,

283
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,880
Speaker 3: this is the direction they're going. I think they've identified. Okay,

284
00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,120
Speaker 3: this is where what we need to be. Now we

285
00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:15,440
Speaker 3: just need to find the parts.

286
00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:20,720
Speaker 1: And despite the loss, individually, some confidence for a Kyler

287
00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,720
Speaker 1: Murray who had his best passing game of the season,

288
00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,640
Speaker 1: James Connor with a career high one hundred and fifty

289
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:30,160
Speaker 1: yards on the ground, Michael Wilson a season best ninety

290
00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,800
Speaker 1: five receiving yards. So, yes, it comes in a loss,

291
00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,240
Speaker 1: but you take those individual performances within the context of

292
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,280
Speaker 1: the offense and you say, all right, we know what

293
00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,040
Speaker 1: we're doing as a coaching staff, what we're teaching, what

294
00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,920
Speaker 1: we want these players to run is successful. Maybe a

295
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,280
Speaker 1: little bit more successful with some better talent around so

296
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,280
Speaker 1: you finish with a heck of a lot more than

297
00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:53,200
Speaker 1: just the four wins.

298
00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,480
Speaker 3: He was under center thirty times in the season finale.

299
00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:58,640
Speaker 3: It's remarkable, isn't it.

300
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:03,160
Speaker 1: Almost Let's do think he came into this season with

301
00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,280
Speaker 1: like eighty plus times under center.

302
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:09,000
Speaker 3: Yes, because Josh Dobbs had exceeded over the first six

303
00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,400
Speaker 3: games of the season how many times Kyler had been

304
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,240
Speaker 3: under center in his career. Now you get to the

305
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,320
Speaker 3: season finale's under center thirty times, and you know it

306
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,040
Speaker 3: was something that Jonathan Gannon said on Game Plan Is

307
00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,440
Speaker 3: season finale of his weekly TV show, and I wrote

308
00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,320
Speaker 3: it down when I asked him about Kyler, Murray said,

309
00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,640
Speaker 3: you know what, and he's talking about the Eagles game.

310
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:33,080
Speaker 3: He played really fast without being sped up. The game

311
00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,960
Speaker 3: was slow to him. So the decision making got better,

312
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,480
Speaker 3: it got quicker, it got more decisive, He was seeing

313
00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,480
Speaker 3: the field better. Things did slow down. Kyler mentioned that

314
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,360
Speaker 3: to the media and his final lead up week in

315
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,280
Speaker 3: that Seahawks game, just talking about things were slowing down.

316
00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:50,960
Speaker 3: So you saw improvement. You saw an evolution of Kyler,

317
00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,440
Speaker 3: you know, in this offense, in this scheme, getting under

318
00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,280
Speaker 3: center looked so much more fluid in the in Week

319
00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:00,880
Speaker 3: eighteen and the abiliting and Kyler mentioned it, hide the football,

320
00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:03,160
Speaker 3: play action fakes. Wait, they can't see it. I got

321
00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:05,159
Speaker 3: my back to the defense. Where is the football? Did

322
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,000
Speaker 3: he handed off? Play action? They got to respect James Connor.

323
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:10,359
Speaker 3: And then by the time you get to the fourth quarter,

324
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,400
Speaker 3: when you're a physical team like the Cardinals are. Over

325
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,520
Speaker 3: the last month, we've had both wilheern ANDZ and Trey

326
00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:17,720
Speaker 3: McBride in the big Red rage. When I asked him, okay,

327
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:19,800
Speaker 3: is it a real thing wearing down a defense in

328
00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,000
Speaker 3: the fourth quarter? They both instantly answered yes. So when

329
00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,560
Speaker 3: you're talking about this identity in this culture, the whole

330
00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:30,720
Speaker 3: physicality figured in big this year and you saw it.

331
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,199
Speaker 3: You saw defenses turning down James Connor and company in

332
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:35,439
Speaker 3: the late stages of games.

333
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:40,200
Speaker 1: You mentioned Trey McBride. He met the media on Monday

334
00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,600
Speaker 1: as players are holding exit interviews, exit physicals and cleaning

335
00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,600
Speaker 1: out their locker. And the one thing McBride said, because

336
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,359
Speaker 1: he had a phenomenal season, I mean, one of the

337
00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:54,560
Speaker 1: best tight end seasons in recent memory. But what did

338
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,879
Speaker 1: he point to? He pointed to his blocking, especially the

339
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,000
Speaker 1: last couple of games. Last two or three weeks in

340
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:06,440
Speaker 1: which his blocking has improved to where on the broadcast,

341
00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,560
Speaker 1: Ron Woofley is pointing it out. Rob Frederickson on Cardinal

342
00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:16,000
Speaker 1: Talk is making mention of it, seeing what maybe I

343
00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:19,120
Speaker 1: don't see what the common fan sees, because you look

344
00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:22,560
Speaker 1: at the entire line of scrimmage and you're seeing that block,

345
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:24,760
Speaker 1: whether that's on the left side of the right side,

346
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,760
Speaker 1: getting to the second level. Blocking first and foremost again

347
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,840
Speaker 1: goes back to that team before me to make sure

348
00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,080
Speaker 1: the guys behind Trey McBride are moving the football.

349
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,080
Speaker 3: And that really is what makes it a tough challenge

350
00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,600
Speaker 3: for a defense when you're that multiple as an offense,

351
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,320
Speaker 3: when a trade McBride easily can be part of a

352
00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:48,639
Speaker 3: three tight end package and cram it vertical, or you

353
00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,720
Speaker 3: can flex him out or get them out on delayed route.

354
00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,720
Speaker 3: And so you saw the ability to really maximize a

355
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:56,680
Speaker 3: Trey McBride. A joked in the Big Red Rage this

356
00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:58,920
Speaker 3: last week. Hear as our guest, I need three tight

357
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,879
Speaker 3: end screens minimum per game through at least two. The

358
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:03,879
Speaker 3: first one hit big. They came back to it in

359
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,120
Speaker 3: the second half, not so much. You saw the Seahawks adjust,

360
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:12,359
Speaker 3: but It's remarkable how the defensive attention evolved over the

361
00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:15,080
Speaker 3: course of a season. I mean, by the last few games,

362
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,280
Speaker 3: he's getting chucked at the line of scrimmage, he's getting

363
00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,439
Speaker 3: pressed man coverage, there's bracket safety over the top. He

364
00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:24,239
Speaker 3: got a lot more attention. So as productive as he was,

365
00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:27,720
Speaker 3: he saw defenses adjust and adapt. And that's gonna be

366
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,840
Speaker 3: his offseason challenge. Now, all right, what do we do

367
00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,160
Speaker 3: to maximize eighty five? Because he's no longer a mystery

368
00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:35,879
Speaker 3: or an unknown to defenses.

369
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,800
Speaker 1: Elijah Higgins I think stepped up his game. I apologize

370
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,879
Speaker 1: for mentioning in his alma mater, but Stanford kid Paul

371
00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,320
Speaker 1: I do think has a future here in this league.

372
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,480
Speaker 1: Is a young converted wide receiver playing tight end for

373
00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:52,800
Speaker 1: the first time in his career. So yeah, a lot

374
00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,440
Speaker 1: of pieces in which you can build upon. The offensive

375
00:19:55,480 --> 00:20:00,720
Speaker 1: line played very well this entire season and to end

376
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,000
Speaker 1: the season with four hundred and sixty six total yards

377
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,840
Speaker 1: of offense, a season best again going into the offseason,

378
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,160
Speaker 1: and sometimes yards don't equate to points. Obviously, the Cardinals

379
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,480
Speaker 1: only had twenty points on the scoreboard, but it does

380
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,880
Speaker 1: show that this team can move the ball between the twenties. Now,

381
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,720
Speaker 1: just get touchdowns when you're inside the red zone, because

382
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,919
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, that's what costs the

383
00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,199
Speaker 1: Cardinals on Sunday. It wasn't Matt Prater. It was the

384
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,639
Speaker 1: inability twice in the second quarter to come away with

385
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,800
Speaker 1: touchdowns and settle for Matt praterfield goals.

386
00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,760
Speaker 3: Totally agree, and so that's something, yes, and you know

387
00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,320
Speaker 3: what I think they're going to learn. This is just

388
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,919
Speaker 3: my gut, my guess that Kyler Murray's legs in the

389
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,639
Speaker 3: red zone, that's something they can maximize more. I know

390
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:47,840
Speaker 3: defenses are hell bent on keeping him in the pocket,

391
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:52,639
Speaker 3: and he did a really good job down the stretch, dissecting, discerning, delivering,

392
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,160
Speaker 3: making decisions from the pocket. But in the red zone,

393
00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,960
Speaker 3: if you can get Kyler on the move, man, that's

394
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,600
Speaker 3: just solely where Lamar Jackson kills you. A Jalen Hurts,

395
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,280
Speaker 3: you know, even a CJ. Stroud. You saw that in Houston.

396
00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:06,960
Speaker 3: He's loath to run CJ.

397
00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:07,359
Speaker 2: Stroud.

398
00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:09,160
Speaker 3: But in the red zone, Okay, if I can get

399
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,119
Speaker 3: to the pylon, here we go. Here comes the four

400
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,280
Speaker 3: to five. Now, in Kyler's case, it's a four to three.

401
00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,280
Speaker 3: So the red zone, I would agree, but I was

402
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,000
Speaker 3: encouraged by the production from Michael Wilson in the final

403
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,159
Speaker 3: two games. He had a couple of stretches there, a

404
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,800
Speaker 3: couple of games where he was held with the bagel,

405
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,040
Speaker 3: and then to have six catches on six targets for

406
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:30,480
Speaker 3: ninety five yards, to have some plays where Kyler extended

407
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:32,400
Speaker 3: him and he came back to the football. They had

408
00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:34,720
Speaker 3: that sort of chemistry. In fact, he told us after

409
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 3: the game, there was they got a coverage broke, the huddle,

410
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,080
Speaker 3: got a coverage and Kyler made eye contact with him

411
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,320
Speaker 3: and they sort of had that non verbal communication and

412
00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,440
Speaker 3: it resulted in a big catch. That's what you were

413
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:49,439
Speaker 3: missing most of this season. If you would have had

414
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:53,680
Speaker 3: an offseason with the quarterback and these receivers, it does

415
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,880
Speaker 3: lead you to wonder, Okay, how much more productive could

416
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,800
Speaker 3: they have been this year? But now that's what we

417
00:21:58,840 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 3: look forward to next season.

418
00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:03,239
Speaker 1: And when Kyler returned, that's when Michael got hurt, and

419
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,680
Speaker 1: he was very open and honest with you postgame, Paul

420
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:10,439
Speaker 1: about just how serious that injury was initially called a

421
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:15,000
Speaker 1: shoulder neck issue, to the point where Michael told you

422
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,880
Speaker 1: that there were people telling him, hey, shut it down,

423
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 1: go on injured reserve and Michael the team player, and

424
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:26,600
Speaker 1: then probably thinking about, Hey, what is what is my resume?

425
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,399
Speaker 1: Say what am I known for? Oh, it's these season

426
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,280
Speaker 1: ending injuries. I can't stay healthy that narrative. I'm going

427
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:36,119
Speaker 1: to battle through this. And to your point, Paul, he

428
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,159
Speaker 1: finished the season about as healthy as one can be

429
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,119
Speaker 1: after seventeen games, but then finished with a productive final

430
00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:43,840
Speaker 1: couple of weeks.

431
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,680
Speaker 3: And you know, he had a shoulder injury at Stanford,

432
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,000
Speaker 3: and so you know, there was some concern about Okay,

433
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 3: you know he's already had surgery, you know, and what

434
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 3: does that mean and what's the best course of action.

435
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,439
Speaker 3: So they were extra cautious, and yes, he was intent

436
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:05,959
Speaker 3: on try to trying to eliminate that narrative about his availability.

437
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,760
Speaker 3: So but you saw, you saw his ability out there

438
00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,600
Speaker 3: to make those plays and how big a deal it

439
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 3: is to have a six foot two target. I mean

440
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,560
Speaker 3: when you're on the sideline and a lot of those

441
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:18,920
Speaker 3: plays came to the Cardinals sideline and you just see

442
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,280
Speaker 3: a ball come out of nowhere. I mean, you know,

443
00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:24,199
Speaker 3: the pocket is collapsing around Kyler and the ball just

444
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,600
Speaker 3: comes out. And so to have a guy who's six '

445
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 3: to two who can reel in some of those because

446
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:31,200
Speaker 3: you know, you have to get it over six foot

447
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,440
Speaker 3: six defensive linemen. It's not always that easy to get

448
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,800
Speaker 3: it on a line to the second level. Doesn't matter

449
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,760
Speaker 3: how tall you are as a quarterback, you still have

450
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,320
Speaker 3: to get it over those defensive linemens. So to have

451
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,080
Speaker 3: that guy, especially at the sideline on the edge. So man,

452
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,359
Speaker 3: if you can get a if you can have some

453
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,639
Speaker 3: additions to that receiver room, obviously everyone looks forward to that.

454
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:53,840
Speaker 1: By the way, speaking of the receiver room, Matt Prater

455
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,520
Speaker 1: Blake Gillikin lining up as wide receivers on that fake

456
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,720
Speaker 1: field goal, and that that to me, by the way,

457
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:03,760
Speaker 1: I went back and looked according to Pro Football Reference

458
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:08,480
Speaker 1: dot com, first career offensive snaps for Matt Prater, who's

459
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:10,719
Speaker 1: been in this league for a long long time, and

460
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,600
Speaker 1: Blake Gillikin on the field for that Kyler Murray touchdown.

461
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,400
Speaker 1: Pete Carroll, by the way, tried to call time out,

462
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,960
Speaker 1: but and here his words quote, I was too far away.

463
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 1: They couldn't hear me. And then he complimented the play

464
00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,960
Speaker 1: and the play execution by Kyler Murray. But that was

465
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,280
Speaker 1: something that caught the Seahawks off guard.

466
00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:31,879
Speaker 3: It always makes me think, you know, how many fakes

467
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,800
Speaker 3: does Jeff Rogers have at his disposal? He told the

468
00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,080
Speaker 3: media earlier this year. Hundreds. He has hundreds of fakes,

469
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,480
Speaker 3: is what he said. Oh, that one came from the

470
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,840
Speaker 3: depths of the playbook, right there is something they'd had

471
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 3: in for about five years. According to Kyler Murray, they

472
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 3: just were never able to run it. And then Jonathan

473
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 3: Gannet said they had it up like the front of

474
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,040
Speaker 3: the play sheet. The last couple of weeks they did

475
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,400
Speaker 3: get to it. And what's remarkable we learned after the game.

476
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 3: Tray McBride said he wasn't the primary target. It was

477
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 3: Greg Dorch, but Dorch fell down and so Kyler had

478
00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:04,479
Speaker 3: to find a secondary target. And that really wasn't an

479
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,320
Speaker 3: automatic throw from the sideline. He did have to arc

480
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,360
Speaker 3: it and get it over the defender, even though Trey

481
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,439
Speaker 3: McBride was behind the defender. But you didn't have infinite

482
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,240
Speaker 3: amount of space because he was dealing with the in

483
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,160
Speaker 3: line of the end zone. So he had to put

484
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:18,800
Speaker 3: that on the money.

485
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,159
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray Cardinals lose the regular season finale to the

486
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: Seahawks twenty one to twenty a lot to be encouraged

487
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:31,080
Speaker 1: about offensively. Defensively, individuals have stood out, but collectively as

488
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:33,800
Speaker 1: a unit, I'll go back to the lack of a

489
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:39,199
Speaker 1: pass rush and now six straight games. Over these six games,

490
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,239
Speaker 1: one sack, and I think it was really telling and

491
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:46,440
Speaker 1: listening to the broadcast Ron Wolfley that final Seahawks drive,

492
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,680
Speaker 1: Gino Smith standing in the pocket four plays, sixty seven yards,

493
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,280
Speaker 1: that thirty four yard touchdown to Tyler Lockett, but there

494
00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:57,440
Speaker 1: were a couple of smaller catch and runs by Zach Charboney.

495
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,199
Speaker 1: If you're able to get pressure on Gino Smith, get

496
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,400
Speaker 1: a little bit more difficult on that opposing quarterback, who

497
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,280
Speaker 1: knows what happens. But the inability to find a consistent

498
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 1: pass rush late in the season, I think is glaring

499
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:12,879
Speaker 1: and definitely needs to be addressed.

500
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:15,120
Speaker 3: And I said on the pregame show, you know, sitting

501
00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 3: there with Rob Frederickson and Roy jetstream Green and for

502
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,199
Speaker 3: all the talk about receivers, I said, look, Royal all apologies.

503
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,240
Speaker 3: This game's about quarterback and getting to the quarterback. And

504
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,720
Speaker 3: it's amazing how much better your secondary looks when you

505
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:29,520
Speaker 3: can get to the quarterback when you can at least

506
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,920
Speaker 3: affect the quarterback. What they only had two quarterback hits

507
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,800
Speaker 3: against Gino Smith in that game, so there obviously wasn't

508
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,120
Speaker 3: enough pressure. So now the question is, all right, what

509
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 3: can you do? Look what Montes Sweat did for the

510
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 3: Chicago Bears and the trickle down effect of when you

511
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,119
Speaker 3: get that guy off the edge, and it doesn't necessarily

512
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:49,879
Speaker 3: have to be off the edge. I keep mentioning that,

513
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,800
Speaker 3: and then a Kyle vannerboscher Rob Frederickson corrects me and says,

514
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:54,480
Speaker 3: why why does it have to be an edge guy?

515
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,359
Speaker 3: Why can't it be a d tackle. Absolutely, if you

516
00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,000
Speaker 3: want to go out and get an Aaron Donald or

517
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,200
Speaker 3: a Chris Jones, you know Jeffrey Simmons, one of those

518
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:06,480
Speaker 3: game wreckers at Dexter Lawrence from the inside. Absolutely, you

519
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,640
Speaker 3: know that is definitely in dire need. Cardinals came into

520
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 3: the game dead last and run defense. I know, just

521
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,600
Speaker 3: like we were talking about, Hey, Cardinal's gonna be able

522
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,879
Speaker 3: to run against the Seahawks. Seahawks were talking about, first

523
00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 3: thing we're going to try and do is run against

524
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,160
Speaker 3: that Cardinals front seven. And they did have some success,

525
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 3: no doubt about it. Kenneth Walker is legit. But this offseason,

526
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 3: to me, if Kyler Murray is a quarterback, and I'm

527
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,679
Speaker 3: convinced he is, and he's going to be the future

528
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 3: at that position, to me, the priority is getting to

529
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 3: the quarterback.

530
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,920
Speaker 1: And during those six games, only four takeaways and again

531
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: a pass rush direct correlation between can you get to

532
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,760
Speaker 1: the quarterback, because now all of a sudden that quarterback

533
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,160
Speaker 1: is making mistakes either a stripsack fumble or throwing it

534
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:54,000
Speaker 1: into traffic. Are the Cardinals getting enough hands on footballs

535
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 1: this season? How many passes defense? How many opportunities were

536
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 1: there to get an interception? Budda Baker one off a

537
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,399
Speaker 1: deflection and I thought it was funny. I certainly garnered

538
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,840
Speaker 1: a lot of attention when I tweeted it your report

539
00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:11,320
Speaker 1: that Baker threw his gloves in the trash after that

540
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,920
Speaker 1: near our interception. I think some people took it one

541
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,480
Speaker 1: of two ways. Oh, he's blaming his gloves, get rid

542
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,160
Speaker 1: of him that in this or now it's all ingest.

543
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,159
Speaker 1: How many times did guys change their shoes or change

544
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 1: their equipment? Oh, they're blamed the equipment. It's an internal

545
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,159
Speaker 1: thing that Okay, let me change something up because I

546
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:29,120
Speaker 1: should have had that ball.

547
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, it came to the sideline. He was frustrated. He

548
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,440
Speaker 3: sat down, he's talking. A couple of guys came over said, hey,

549
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,000
Speaker 3: it's all right, you know, and then he got up

550
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,480
Speaker 3: and he just sort of non shine, only took one

551
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,760
Speaker 3: off through in the garbage, took the other off, throw

552
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 3: it in the garbage, and then sat back down again.

553
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,000
Speaker 3: And it was amazing watching the Cardinals just moments ago

554
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 3: clean out their locker room. There was an offensive lineman

555
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 3: who literally took out like two dozen pairs of gloves

556
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:55,320
Speaker 3: and he' said, what am I supposed to do this?

557
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 3: He just threw them out. So, I mean, you got

558
00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 3: to remember players consider those gloves which are provided. It's

559
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 3: basically disposable, and so if one has cursed their opinion,

560
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,040
Speaker 3: they'll hesitate to change to the next pair. In fact,

561
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,000
Speaker 3: DeAndre Hopkins did that more than once. He'd come over

562
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,200
Speaker 3: and if he had a drop or he couldn't reel

563
00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:14,880
Speaker 3: one in, he'd come over take off the gloves throughout.

564
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 3: Now his gloves were slit at the base of the

565
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 3: palm because his hands are so freaking big, he couldn't

566
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,800
Speaker 3: actually get him. So he would wear the largest glove

567
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 3: and have to actually cut into it just to provide

568
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,800
Speaker 3: more room to get it over his big min Yeah.

569
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 1: Cardinals needs some big miths on some football's defensively because

570
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 1: you get that defense up to speed. Add some talent

571
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 1: for Nick Rowlis, because what I think we've seen from

572
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,360
Speaker 1: this coaching staff is and a credit to the players

573
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,000
Speaker 1: as well, who got opportunities because of injuries and made

574
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 1: the most of those opportunities. They were coached up, they

575
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,720
Speaker 1: were put in position to make plays, just didn't have

576
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,640
Speaker 1: the talent to overcome some of the offenses that they

577
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 1: were up against this season.

578
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,400
Speaker 3: For example, you used a seventeenth different starting lineup on

579
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:01,120
Speaker 3: defense in seventeen games. You look out there and you

580
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,440
Speaker 3: see the defensive line. I mean it resembled what you

581
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,160
Speaker 3: would field in August in a preseason game. And so

582
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,200
Speaker 3: by that same time, you know, and then you're on

583
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,200
Speaker 3: your third middle linebacker. Okay, but Kaiser White, I think

584
00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 3: we found out he is a keeper, and consider was

585
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:22,920
Speaker 3: a bicept injury that's obviously imminently you know, recoverable from that,

586
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 3: and you come back in the offseason and he's going

587
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,160
Speaker 3: into the second of a two year deal. So okay, Bool,

588
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,120
Speaker 3: you don't have to worry about middle linebacker in my

589
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 3: opinion that set. I mean he was he not only

590
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,240
Speaker 3: was great about calling the defense, but he played with

591
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 3: an edge. He was able to cover backs and tight

592
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:41,800
Speaker 3: ends when needed. And I thought you saw that was

593
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,360
Speaker 3: a liability when the two backups came in without Kaiser White,

594
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 3: who was able to run at former safety in college.

595
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,520
Speaker 3: He was able to run with backs and tight ends

596
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 3: unlike the backups, and so boom, you look forward to

597
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,000
Speaker 3: getting him in there and coordinating that defense, and I

598
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 3: just took it. It took a lot off the plate

599
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,680
Speaker 3: of a Buddha baker who had to be everywhere at

600
00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:00,760
Speaker 3: times for this defense.

601
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, the defense needs an infusion of talent on all

602
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,720
Speaker 1: three levels, and you can make a case whether that's

603
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,960
Speaker 1: d line linebacker or cornerback in that secondary. But again

604
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 1: going back to how we began this, the conflicted emotions

605
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 1: that I have after a loss. Yet you hear Jonathan

606
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 1: Gannon postgame telling reporters, I've never been more enthused going

607
00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 1: into an offseason. Kyler Murray post game, I'm very confident

608
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,240
Speaker 1: in what we've got going. James Connor, I have hope

609
00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,200
Speaker 1: there is a lot to look forward to with this

610
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:36,000
Speaker 1: Cardinals team. And now, of course the expectations are going

611
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,719
Speaker 1: to go through the roof because year one was the

612
00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,040
Speaker 1: building year. Now what do you do in year two?

613
00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:46,520
Speaker 1: Because the offseason officially begins on Monday, but it has

614
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,360
Speaker 1: been going on for a while now for that front office.

615
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,960
Speaker 1: But this is where you figure out what pieces did

616
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,280
Speaker 1: not fit and what pieces need to be at it.

617
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 3: And now you know, you came into the situation last

618
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:02,440
Speaker 3: year as a new GM and new head coach without

619
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 3: any real knowledge. There's what you know on film, what

620
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,560
Speaker 3: you can see, Okay, the All twenty two, there's what

621
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,880
Speaker 3: you hear anecdotally, But how is that player going to

622
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 3: adjust to your demands and what you're trying to instill? So,

623
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,520
Speaker 3: as Jonathan Gannat said afterwards, Okay, we figured out what

624
00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:22,720
Speaker 3: we want to be and who's going to be part

625
00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 3: of this and now you've identified those need areas. And

626
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,800
Speaker 3: I think Mantias support demonstrated a real acumen last offseason

627
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:33,560
Speaker 3: going out and maximizing the picks they did have. That

628
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,240
Speaker 3: rookie class got more snaps than any other rookie class

629
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,720
Speaker 3: in the NFL. How is that going to pay off

630
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 3: next year when you get some of those guys into

631
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,720
Speaker 3: the rotation for real, whether it's a Garrett Williams and

632
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,600
Speaker 3: Michael Wilson, you know, a Dante Stills. Think of all

633
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,560
Speaker 3: those guys Starling Thomas who got all those snaps as

634
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,240
Speaker 3: an undrafted rookie. So yeah, that's that's all. Part of

635
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,760
Speaker 3: the equation. Can be really interesting to see where they

636
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:02,840
Speaker 3: how they identified their needs and what areas they prioritize

637
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,480
Speaker 3: when it comes to bolstering both numbers and quality of player.

638
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,280
Speaker 1: Who sticks around and who maybe is a surprise that

639
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:12,360
Speaker 1: isn't sticking around and you go back, we saw that initially,

640
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,920
Speaker 1: Isaiah Simmons, Josh Jones, Marco Wilson, Kevin Strong on Friday.

641
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,160
Speaker 1: There's got to be something there because that just seemed

642
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: to kind of come out of the blue.

643
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,920
Speaker 3: But my Jay Sanders, a Cavon Wallace, I mean, guys

644
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,760
Speaker 3: during the course of a season. Now, look, I think

645
00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:29,720
Speaker 3: some of it this is just my opinion. Nobody told

646
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:31,760
Speaker 3: me this. I just think some of it was strategic.

647
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,440
Speaker 3: If a guy wasn't working out instead of way until

648
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 3: the end of the season, Eh, let's make it happen

649
00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:38,920
Speaker 3: right now, Let's send a little message to the locker room.

650
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:41,200
Speaker 3: There were certain flex points in the season where it

651
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,320
Speaker 3: could have really gone into a full tailspin, could have

652
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,680
Speaker 3: really bottomed out. And there was a move like the

653
00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:50,880
Speaker 3: Marco Wilson going into the Philly game after you started

654
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,720
Speaker 3: down twenty one to nothing in Chicago. Hey, we're not

655
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,040
Speaker 3: going to finish the last three games like that. So

656
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,760
Speaker 3: guess what. There was an earful at halftime of the

657
00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:00,600
Speaker 3: Bears game. You came out, you made it a one

658
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:02,880
Speaker 3: score game, you lost at the very end. You cut

659
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,760
Speaker 3: a Marco Wilson coming off that game, you go into Philly,

660
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 3: you ball out all the name of the head coach

661
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,480
Speaker 3: making his return, and then Kevin Strong on a Friday

662
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,880
Speaker 3: before the season finale. I just think it's a reinforcement

663
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,520
Speaker 3: there will be blood if you don't bring every ounce

664
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:19,440
Speaker 3: of energy and effort.

665
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:23,480
Speaker 1: So the question is how many Angry Bird Awards are

666
00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:27,439
Speaker 1: there in the future for some of these Arizona Cardinals players. Yes,

667
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,840
Speaker 1: it is week eighteen. We have not forgotten offense, defense,

668
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,600
Speaker 1: special teams all up for the Angry Bird Award for

669
00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: the week. I don't know if we need to do

670
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,800
Speaker 1: later on the offseason, maybe an Angry Bird Award winner

671
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,759
Speaker 1: for the entire year, go through all seventeen games and

672
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,359
Speaker 1: pick one player. But for Week eighteen, Paul, who is

673
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:47,920
Speaker 1: the Angry Bird Award winner?

674
00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:49,920
Speaker 3: You know, I tried to scan the landscape and I

675
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,120
Speaker 3: tried to go away from this player. Just give me

676
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,600
Speaker 3: one reason not to give it to this guy. But

677
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:58,000
Speaker 3: when it's given for the most talacious play or player,

678
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:01,360
Speaker 3: how can you not give it to a James Connor

679
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:06,200
Speaker 3: who gets a thousand yards in thirteen games. He had

680
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:10,200
Speaker 3: a twenty nine yard touchdown run. He had four catches

681
00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:14,719
Speaker 3: for over fifty yards receiving, making dudes miss coming to

682
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:19,560
Speaker 3: the sideline, mean mugging, stalking the sideline, guys feeding off him.

683
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,200
Speaker 3: So with all that being the case, I don't know

684
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,359
Speaker 3: it's at least the second time, hopefully it's not the third.

685
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:28,360
Speaker 3: But the Angry Bird Award does go to one James Conner.

686
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,160
Speaker 1: Thirty one total touches, two hundred and four yards from scrimmage,

687
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,759
Speaker 1: his second best total of his career. And I know

688
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:38,120
Speaker 1: there is and we can talk about this in the offseason,

689
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 1: but that running back when you hit a certain age

690
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,840
Speaker 1: and certain years in the league. But to me, James

691
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,120
Speaker 1: Connor is just fine. He takes excellent care of his body.

692
00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:50,960
Speaker 1: He missed four games earlier in this season. I'm not

693
00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,680
Speaker 1: sure if he needed to miss all four of those

694
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,759
Speaker 1: because he was placed on ir but maybe to make

695
00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,680
Speaker 1: sure he was fresh later in the season. But I

696
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,399
Speaker 1: do like what the Cardinals have in that running back room,

697
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:03,160
Speaker 1: no doubt.

698
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,400
Speaker 3: And again, he's more than a player, He's a mindset,

699
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:11,640
Speaker 3: he's a mentality. Jonathan Gannon, he's very sincere and genuine

700
00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,839
Speaker 3: in his praise of James Connor and what he told

701
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,880
Speaker 3: us last week that he has bounced a lot of

702
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:18,520
Speaker 3: what he was gonna do as a first time head

703
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 3: coach off James Connor, one of the team captains. And

704
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:23,520
Speaker 3: there have been times where Connor said, no, you went

705
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:26,920
Speaker 3: too hard with that. You weren't hard enough here. You

706
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,200
Speaker 3: know what you need to ratchet things up in this area.

707
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 3: So there's a lot of few. I mean, I think

708
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,359
Speaker 3: it was mid season I asked, Okay, you know how

709
00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:36,960
Speaker 3: much does this team feed off James Connor on Jonathan

710
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,080
Speaker 3: Gannon's TV show, And Gannon looked at us and he said,

711
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 3: I feed off James Connor. So when for anyone who

712
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 3: doesn't quite understand why they gave him big money on

713
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:48,120
Speaker 3: that second contract. You just need to be around the

714
00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:50,880
Speaker 3: team and around the player. He's far more than just

715
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,920
Speaker 3: a running back to this offense into the organization.

716
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:57,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, the stats on the piece of paper don't always

717
00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:01,720
Speaker 1: measure what the value is of a player. And James

718
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:03,719
Speaker 1: Connor Buddha Baker is another one. But there are a

719
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,120
Speaker 1: handful of players that you just can't say, all right,

720
00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:08,319
Speaker 1: well they've got this many touches and carries and what

721
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:10,080
Speaker 1: are you doing giving them that much money? And then

722
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:11,839
Speaker 1: there's more to it than that.

723
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:14,839
Speaker 3: We've said in the past, no QB, no chance, and

724
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,560
Speaker 3: the team knows. Team knows if it has a legit

725
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:21,520
Speaker 3: quarterback whether they have a chance to win. James Connor

726
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:23,959
Speaker 3: is that guy without being a quarterback. I mean, he's

727
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,120
Speaker 3: a guy. You walk guy said it before, you walk

728
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 3: into a biker bar and you got a tough guy

729
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,359
Speaker 3: on your shoulder as your personal protector, you're more app

730
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:33,399
Speaker 3: to mouth off, right, all of a sudden, you got

731
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 3: this guy, and so he is that guy to this

732
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,439
Speaker 3: Cardinals team. When you go into games, you know, all right,

733
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,560
Speaker 3: we can match and or exceed their physicality. When you

734
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:43,840
Speaker 3: have number six in the lineup.

735
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:47,680
Speaker 1: So the regular season is done. We here on Cardinals

736
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:52,479
Speaker 1: cover too. We'll continue throughout the offseason, maybe not as

737
00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 1: frequent as in season, but as needed in the course.

738
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,240
Speaker 1: We've got the Red Seaver Report on Tuesdays at eleven

739
00:37:58,239 --> 00:38:00,799
Speaker 1: am on ESPN six to twenty and then the Big

740
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:05,919
Speaker 1: Red Rage six pm on Thursdays on Arizona Sports. Basically, Paul,

741
00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:09,040
Speaker 1: there is no off season for you or I, And

742
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,000
Speaker 1: as much as I would like a break from you,

743
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,719
Speaker 1: I'm just not going to get one anytime soon. No,

744
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:17,040
Speaker 1: you know, get us statementally strong, no days off. Okay,

745
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:20,120
Speaker 1: that's the mantra around here. But it's not going to

746
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:22,839
Speaker 1: be as busy an off season as last year, when

747
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:24,799
Speaker 1: on this day a year ago you had to find

748
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,000
Speaker 1: a new head coach, a new GM, a new culture,

749
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:31,640
Speaker 1: a new direction. So boom, the foundation is set right,

750
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:35,239
Speaker 1: the ground floor has been laid and now it's just

751
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:37,719
Speaker 1: building from there. By the way, the Super Bowl was

752
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:41,120
Speaker 1: also held a year ago and they're build up to

753
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:45,160
Speaker 1: that in our own backyard. So yeah, not as much activity,

754
00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:47,839
Speaker 1: which is not a bad thing for us.

755
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:50,680
Speaker 3: You know, the rookies always lament how they go from

756
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:53,880
Speaker 3: the season, their final college season to then training for

757
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:56,080
Speaker 3: the Combine, and then the Combine and then all the

758
00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,160
Speaker 3: interviews and then the Pro days and then the draft

759
00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:00,560
Speaker 3: and they go right into rookie mini camps and then

760
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 3: many can you know, and then there's never a break. Yeah,

761
00:39:03,239 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 3: that's that's what it's been like. Uh, when you make

762
00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:08,759
Speaker 3: a coaching and you know, and GM change and you

763
00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:10,960
Speaker 3: host a super Bowl all in the same calendar year.

764
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:12,879
Speaker 1: I'd say, take the rest of the week off ball,

765
00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:15,720
Speaker 1: but we've got Red Sea report on Tuesday, so anytime

766
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:17,840
Speaker 1: after oh no, then there's the big Red Rage on Thursday.

767
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:19,080
Speaker 1: So yeah, again, no days off.

768
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:21,800
Speaker 3: That's right, right, And so you know, we'll just continue

769
00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:23,680
Speaker 3: to cram it vertical. That's what you That's what you

770
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:26,000
Speaker 3: have to do till you just till everybody wears out

771
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:26,760
Speaker 3: in the fourth quarter.

772
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,200
Speaker 1: The offensive identity, maybe even the identity of this team

773
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:34,440
Speaker 1: has been set here in twenty twenty three good stuff.

774
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,359
Speaker 1: Appreciate everyone's involvement all year around, but again we are

775
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:41,400
Speaker 1: not going anywhere. We will be back as needed here

776
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:44,040
Speaker 1: on Cardinals cover too. With that, we will put a

777
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:47,200
Speaker 1: lid on this edition this Monday after the regular season

778
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,760
Speaker 1: Cardinals lose to the Seahawks twenty one to twenty season

779
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:54,719
Speaker 1: ends four and thirteen, but again much better feelings going

780
00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:58,920
Speaker 1: into this offseason heading into twenty twenty four special thanks

781
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:03,080
Speaker 1: here are executive producer Jim Mamahundro our associate producer Coddie

782
00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:05,640
Speaker 1: Fincher From Paul cal VC, I'm Craig RAYALU. We'll talk

783
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 1: to you next time here on Cardinals Cover two