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Speaker 1: You are listening to the End Around postgame podcast. I

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Speaker 1: am Matt Tebeak of Atlanta Falcons dot Com joined with

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Speaker 1: Will McFadden. The Falcons fall twenty four to ten today

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Speaker 1: at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Will good to have you here,

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Speaker 1: A lot to unpack, Thanks, Matt. Yeah, I was always

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Speaker 1: glad to be on here with you. I wish we

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Speaker 1: were discussing, you know, a win instead of a loss.

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Speaker 1: But we're gonna dive into it and we're gonna see

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Speaker 1: what we can come up with. Yeah, the Falcons now

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Speaker 1: stand at one and three. Will you know two and two?

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Speaker 1: We kept on saying looks a whole whole lot better

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Speaker 1: than one and three, But the reality is there, one

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Speaker 1: in three, we're a quarterway through the season. We've got

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Speaker 1: twelve games to go. There was some good, some bad today,

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Speaker 1: but mostly not so good, not so pretty. Your takeaway

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Speaker 1: from today, your big takeaway? I mean my big takeaways

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Speaker 1: is when you're one in three, it doesn't matter what

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Speaker 1: other teams are, what other team's identity is. And you know, frankly,

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Speaker 1: your opponent all the matters right now is you and

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Speaker 1: this team. And Dan Quinn said it multiple times after

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Speaker 1: the game. Is they're gonna look hard at at this team,

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Speaker 1: at this Atlanta Falcons twenty nineteen team, to figure out

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Speaker 1: what's going wrong, because there are some things going wrong.

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Speaker 1: They've had slow starts, they've had penalties there. This is

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Speaker 1: not the team that we've seen be so explosive at times.

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Speaker 1: And so that's my big takeaway. When you're one in three,

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Speaker 1: like you just said, that's different than two and two.

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Speaker 1: When you're one in three, you got to figure out

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Speaker 1: what's going on in your own house and you got

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Speaker 1: to get things cleaned up, because this is in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: and any team on any given week can beat you. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the Falcons, it's just got into that early hole today.

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Speaker 1: It's just, you know, the Titans scored all twenty four

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Speaker 1: of their points in the first half and really didn't

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Speaker 1: need to do much else in the second half. They

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Speaker 1: were pretty conservative. It felt like their whole game plan

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Speaker 1: seemed fairly conservative. Coming into this one. You thought, Okay,

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Speaker 1: Derrick Henry is it begins and ends with Derrick Henry.

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Speaker 1: The Falcons did a really good job of bottling up

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Speaker 1: Henry the six three two hundred and I don't know

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Speaker 1: what he is, forty or some pound bruising running back

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Speaker 1: did a good job of bottling him up. Will for

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Speaker 1: three quarters. I don't really want to look at the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarters so much, but you know, he had a

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Speaker 1: big fourth quarter. They just it wasn't so much. He

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Speaker 1: had a lot of long runs, but you know, they

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Speaker 1: they bottled him up. But it was Marcus Mariota, who

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Speaker 1: has yet to throw a pick this year, the only

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Speaker 1: NFL quarterback in the league yet who hasn't thrown a

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Speaker 1: pick yet. He played, he executed, and he hit the uh,

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Speaker 1: the rookie receiver for two of those touchdowns. He had

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Speaker 1: three touchdowns in the first half. The Falcons just really

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Speaker 1: didn't have an answer for that passing game, and that's

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Speaker 1: really surprised me the most. And you know they had

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Speaker 1: the Titans. Will had surrendered seventeen sacks coming into this

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Speaker 1: one and the Falcons didn't touch him once all game. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: this was a team and Tennessee is known for its

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Speaker 1: rushing attack, you know, with Derrick Henry able to break

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Speaker 1: a lot of good runs. And like you said, I

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Speaker 1: really really think the Falcons did a great job, an

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Speaker 1: excellent job at stopping the run. And since that Week

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Speaker 1: one loss to Minnesota, this has been a team that

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Speaker 1: has played fairly well against the run. The inside editions

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Speaker 1: of guys like Tyler Davison and Alan Bailey have brought

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Speaker 1: out another level in Grady Jarrett. They stopped Derrick Henry.

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Speaker 1: But just like last week, the issue wasn't necessarily on

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Speaker 1: the run. It was allowing the quarterback to have enough

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Speaker 1: time to sit back and find those open throws against

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Speaker 1: his own defense. And they're going to be open throws

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Speaker 1: against his own defense. And what happened exactly, and when

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Speaker 1: you allow when you combine that, when you combine some

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Speaker 1: easy throws to get yardage with mental mistakes or mis

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Speaker 1: tackles such as Desmond Truffont failing to bring down his

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Speaker 1: guy on man coverage on that first touchdown, a fifty

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Speaker 1: five yard touchdown pass. When you combine the inability to

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Speaker 1: get pressure on a quarterback which allows him to sit

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Speaker 1: back and take those easy yards which let an offense

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Speaker 1: move down the field, with mistakes that lead to big,

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Speaker 1: explosive touchdowns, it's really hard for that to look good.

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Speaker 1: So as good as the run defense looked for Atlanta,

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Speaker 1: and they kind of took away maybe the scariest option

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Speaker 1: on Tennessee's offense the collective hole wasn't there today. No,

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Speaker 1: Marcus Mariota finished. He had a really solid first half,

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Speaker 1: but he finished eighteen to twenty seven two twenty seven

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Speaker 1: passing yards. Nothing eye popping but the three touchdowns. I'll

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Speaker 1: tell you what. The rookie A J. Brown. He had

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Speaker 1: three catches for ninety four yards and he had a

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Speaker 1: fifty five yard or for a score. He had a

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Speaker 1: good game in Week one against Cleveland. So he did

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Speaker 1: he had really he disappeared. He had he had a

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Speaker 1: really solid Week one game, and he's disappeared for the

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Speaker 1: last two games. And he showed up in a big

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Speaker 1: way today. So did Corey Davis. He had ninety one

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Speaker 1: yards receiving two in the other touchdown. But but kind

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Speaker 1: of to my point about the one in three start, this,

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Speaker 1: let's talk about that, talk about what this game really means. Well,

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Speaker 1: this game is almost indicative of that of that one

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Speaker 1: in three starts. It wasn't so much about what the

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Speaker 1: Titans did. This wasn't a game that feels like the

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Speaker 1: Titans came out and won it. So much is that

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Speaker 1: the Falcons didn't play to the level that they needed

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Speaker 1: to to even really be in it. I mean it

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Speaker 1: wasn't an overwhelm. I mean, Marcus Mario had a two

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Speaker 1: hundred and twenty seven passing yards, Derrick Henry one hundred

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Speaker 1: rushing yards, those totals coming into this game. If you

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Speaker 1: had told a Falcons fan that, you'd probably like the

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Speaker 1: Falcons chances. That's not a whole lot of offense on

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Speaker 1: Tennessee's part. That's yeah, that's typically what they do, right.

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Speaker 1: They're twenty eighth in the league passing heading into this game.

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Speaker 1: They were twelfth in the league running the ball, and

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Speaker 1: that's kind of what they did, right. I mean, but

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Speaker 1: it was those three touchdowns and the fifty five yard

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Speaker 1: or though. Was that that's what was surprising In the

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Speaker 1: lack of pressure, Yes, that was. I'm a group that's

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Speaker 1: been getting pressure so far this season, even if they

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Speaker 1: haven't been getting the sacks. But they've got a lot

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Speaker 1: of hits on quarterbacks, a lot of sacks. You're right,

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Speaker 1: But yeah, but they didn't they didn't have that pressure today.

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Speaker 1: I think they finished with only four hits on Marcus Mariota,

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Speaker 1: who can run the ball, But that wasn't the issue today.

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Speaker 1: That wasn't the issue. So they're one in three. We'll

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Speaker 1: talk more about this game, but right now it is

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Speaker 1: what it is seven o'clock as it stands. Right now,

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Speaker 1: the Panthers lost today to the Texans, where they beat

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Speaker 1: the Texans. I'm sorry. Back up, the Panthers beat the Texans,

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Speaker 1: and that's where the Falcons go next week. So that

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Speaker 1: the Panthers are two and two. The Bucks are the

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Speaker 1: ones who are still playing out in La. What's I

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Speaker 1: don't know what the score. They are currently beating the

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Speaker 1: Rams forty five thirty three wow, So they chances are

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Speaker 1: they will go to two and two. The Saints play

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Speaker 1: Sunday night against the Cowboys, and right now it is

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Speaker 1: the Falcons right now in fourth place of the NFC South.

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Speaker 1: But this is in panic time. No, but there's not

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Speaker 1: a lot of questions. But to your point, every week,

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Speaker 1: I don't you know, they're falling behind, But every single

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Speaker 1: week it's something. In week one it was three turnovers

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Speaker 1: in a pump pump that was blocked. Week two they

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Speaker 1: bounced back and have a physical, physical game against Philly,

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Speaker 1: and then week three it's the penalties, right, sixteen for

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Speaker 1: one twenty eight and seven of them end up in

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Speaker 1: for first downs. And then today it was just it

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Speaker 1: was weird that Matt Ryan was sacked five times, a

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Speaker 1: season high five times. That to me, outside of the

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Speaker 1: defense not getting pressure on Mariotta will to me, you know,

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Speaker 1: Matt Ryan being sacked five times, and how many times

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Speaker 1: was he hit, I believe twelve a dozen times, and

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Speaker 1: he took some there was three or four of those

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Speaker 1: hits that were just they were pretty big hits. Yeah. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that to me is the most stirning thing. Number two,

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Speaker 1: taking those shots, sack five times and just getting no

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Speaker 1: pressure on the opposing quarterback. So that's that's where we

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Speaker 1: are right now. And dan Quinn you were down there

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Speaker 1: for the press conference, well, and he said, look, we've

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Speaker 1: got to find some answers. Yeah, they're I mean, they're

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Speaker 1: they're not happy obviously about this start either. I mean,

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Speaker 1: but it does seem like there is a little bit

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Speaker 1: of they're still searching to figure out what is that

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Speaker 1: magic formula to get these guys out here to put

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Speaker 1: seventeen points up on the board in the first quarter.

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Speaker 1: We've seen this team do that before, and this team

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Speaker 1: has such a different feel and energy to it when

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Speaker 1: they are out in front of another team and they're

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Speaker 1: just kind of pressing down on that team's you know,

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Speaker 1: throw it with their heel, and this is the way

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Speaker 1: that team is kind of built to play when you've

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Speaker 1: got pass rushers and you can protect a lead and

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Speaker 1: let Vic Beasley and Tact McKinley loose and go after

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Speaker 1: the quarterback. But when other teams are able to really

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Speaker 1: dictate play because they're out was ten seventeen, twenty point lead.

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Speaker 1: That makes it much more difficult defensively to figure out

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Speaker 1: what they're trying to do. And then offensively you become

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Speaker 1: so one dimensional. And that you mentioned the offensive line

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Speaker 1: and the sacks and things like that as kind of

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Speaker 1: your overall factor for this game. Well, yeah, I think

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Speaker 1: the thing that stood out to me was an offense

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Speaker 1: that moved the ball, but none of that mattered. All

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Speaker 1: of the yards were empty calories because they could never

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Speaker 1: outside of the one touchdown run by Edo Smith and

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Speaker 1: the field goal, they couldn't put any points on the

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Speaker 1: board despite being able to move the ball, so they

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Speaker 1: turned it over on downs I think three times. It

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Speaker 1: was just weird offensively to see this team get bogged

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Speaker 1: down at a time when they usually don't. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: never like to see a quarterback throw the ball more

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Speaker 1: than fifty times. Man Ryan think got close three? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know he through fifty three. He had fifty three

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Speaker 1: attempts today, almost four hundred yards, and that usually means

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Speaker 1: you're behind, right Yep, the running game again, twenty eight

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Speaker 1: yards from DeVante Freeman. They'd fifty eight total, twelve you know,

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Speaker 1: twelve carries for free. It's just there's just not balance.

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Speaker 1: Matt is getting hit, they're behind. You talk about the

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Speaker 1: empty calories, a big chunk of those empty calories. But

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Speaker 1: it was kind of still great to see for me anyway.

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Speaker 1: I love Austin Hooper's game, and he had nine catches

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Speaker 1: for one hundred and thirty yards, and he's leading this

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Speaker 1: team in receptions right now. They get along at twenty eight.

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Speaker 1: I just wish that, you know, they would look for

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Speaker 1: him and they could get in the red zone a

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Speaker 1: little bit more and they would find him more in

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Speaker 1: the red zone. But he's obviously, you know, having the

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Speaker 1: kind of year we thought he'd have. He gets better

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Speaker 1: every single year. Yeah, he's he's benefiting a lot. But

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Speaker 1: I know, you know, i'd be remissed, and our colleague

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Speaker 1: Kelsey Conway will want me to point this out as

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Speaker 1: is Calvin Ridley, you know, finished with just three catches today.

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Speaker 1: And this comes a week after drop today too. Yes,

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Speaker 1: but this comes a week after Dirt Cutter said he'd

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Speaker 1: like to get Calvin a little more in fault through

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Speaker 1: the offense. And I don't know if Tennessee was doing

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Speaker 1: something special to try to take him away, but you know,

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Speaker 1: you've got a guy like that who can do so

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Speaker 1: much for you. Yes, it's great to see Austin Hooper

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Speaker 1: continue to play really really well. But for this offense

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Speaker 1: to function the way it really can, you need everybody

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Speaker 1: touching the ball. And let's give I say this, and

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Speaker 1: you have to let's give credit where credit suited. Tennessee's

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Speaker 1: secondary is very good. They bawled out today. They played

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Speaker 1: really well, tight coverage their secondary. I came away going, Wow,

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Speaker 1: they haven't I haven't seen a secondary challenge the Falcons

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Speaker 1: receivers as much as this one did today. They played

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Speaker 1: really well, really well. I mean, that was the best

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Speaker 1: unit for them on the field today, no question about,

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Speaker 1: no doubt. And then I gotta tip my hat to

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Speaker 1: Marcus Mariana. He just he's protecting the ball. He made

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Speaker 1: runs when he needed to. Yeah, you know, he's he

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Speaker 1: doesn't put up gaudy numbers, but he was smart with

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Speaker 1: the ball for sure. When you kind of look at

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Speaker 1: this game, is there a moment that stands out to

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Speaker 1: you as maybe a time when you thought, Okay, this

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Speaker 1: is where this game is gonna go now, kind of

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Speaker 1: like a pivotal stretch. I don't know, I just it

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Speaker 1: just feel it felt like from the very beginning that

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Speaker 1: you know, it was almost like a here we go again,

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Speaker 1: let's get some points here, let's get some points here.

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Speaker 1: And then when they didn't, um, you know, you know what,

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Speaker 1: you know, if I had to pick one moment, it

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Speaker 1: would have been and it wasn't such a big deal.

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Speaker 1: But when Matt Bryant missed the field goal and it

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Speaker 1: dwinked off the did you did kind of squirm next

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Speaker 1: to me. I was surprised. Yeah, And so that to me,

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Speaker 1: just in the timing of it was kind of like, oh,

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be one of those games maybe. Yeah. So

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Speaker 1: I mean to answer your question, I have to give

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Speaker 1: you some answer. I just feel like, no, I don't

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Speaker 1: think that's a great answer that that to me was

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Speaker 1: kind of like, oh, not money, Matt. Yeah, there was

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Speaker 1: a there was a little bit of a sense of like, oh, damn, man,

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Speaker 1: is this happening across the board? Is this just gonna

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Speaker 1: be one of those where yeah, it's almost like you're

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Speaker 1: snake bitting a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. And every time

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Speaker 1: I saw Matt Ryan take a shot, I was like,

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Speaker 1: I just watched him. I was like, just get back up,

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Speaker 1: just get back up, just get back up up, because

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Speaker 1: I was like, each time I'll go that was a

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Speaker 1: rib shot. That was a rib shot. Matt's facing down surf.

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Speaker 1: Is he gonna get up? Yeah, he's getting up. That

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Speaker 1: dude is tough. He's tough, tough guy. And you know,

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Speaker 1: everybody was on his case last week because of the picks.

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Speaker 1: Pick today, smart, you know, you took care of the ball.

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Speaker 1: You can't blame Matt Ryan for this one. No um

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Speaker 1: and kind of my my overall takeaway. But the moment

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Speaker 1: when I thought, oh this this could be a little

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Speaker 1: tougher today was in the third quarter after they had

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Speaker 1: gone down and I believe they kick a field goal

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Speaker 1: on the first drive of the second half to put

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Speaker 1: some points on the board of his great momentum. Then

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Speaker 1: their next drive they face a fourth and one. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Originally they come out with Mohammed Tanu at Wildcat, Tennessee

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Speaker 1: calls the time out. Falcons come back out, heavy formation,

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Speaker 1: handed off to Vontae Creem, and they can't pick up

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Speaker 1: that first down. Yeah. I liked the idea of coming

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Speaker 1: away from the twelve gage formation the Wildcat after they

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Speaker 1: call a time out, because clearly Tennessee was expecting something

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Speaker 1: like that and had something prepared for it. So I

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Speaker 1: like going away from that and trying something different. But

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Speaker 1: to not get that first down, that to me, based

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Speaker 1: off of last week's game against the Colts, when the

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Speaker 1: Falcon's offense came out and was firing on all cylinders

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Speaker 1: in the second half. To not see Atlanta be able

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Speaker 1: to pick up that first down in a drive when

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Speaker 1: they really needed it. If they had scored on that drive,

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it cuts it to seven points.

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Speaker 1: That's a one score game with a quarter and a

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Speaker 1: half left play. That's open ball game at that point.

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Speaker 1: So that to me was kind of a big moment

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Speaker 1: where Okay, maybe we're not going to see this red

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Speaker 1: hot run in the second half like we saw last week. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: what about let's talk a little bit more about this.

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Speaker 1: You know, when Tennessee. They're up by two scores. They

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Speaker 1: go for it, on for it now. Yeah, it was weird.

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Speaker 1: They could have gone up by three scores, which given

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Speaker 1: the way Atlanta's offense had played, that they should have

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Speaker 1: done that. I was like, wow, okay, weird. Maybe they

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Speaker 1: just wanted to put the you know, put the proverbial

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Speaker 1: nail in the coffin there, and it would have done that.

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Speaker 1: And maybe it would have done that. A field goal

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Speaker 1: probably would have done that too, but they they Atlanta

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Speaker 1: stops him. Yep, And then I'm thinking, okay, two plays,

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Speaker 1: two scores, one score, they're in this thing. Yes, um,

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Speaker 1: But go back to Mike Rabel head coach Mike Vrabel's

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Speaker 1: decision to go for it. Do you think that he

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Speaker 1: just I mean, was he trying to send a message.

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Speaker 1: Do you just believe that he believed that he just

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Speaker 1: had the all supreme confidence in his defense? Or was

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Speaker 1: he like I mean, if I'm Atlanta, I'm said, they're going, Wow,

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Speaker 1: that's that fires me up, that you, instead of you,

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Speaker 1: you have the audacity to I don't know, maybe I'm

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Speaker 1: looking too much. No, I think I think to your point,

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Speaker 1: I mean, for those for those people who are very

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Speaker 1: not anti analytic, but don't necessarily like this whole trust

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Speaker 1: the numbers or trust that whatever the chart says, movement.

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Speaker 1: That was definitely anti chart any chart in the world.

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Speaker 1: It says kick three points, go up three possessions. Yes,

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Speaker 1: so Mike Frabel, I think, and I'm not going to

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Speaker 1: speak for him. I've never met Mike Vrabel, but I'm

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Speaker 1: sure he's asked about it after the year. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: he was. But the only logical decision that I could

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Speaker 1: think would be made there is you're on the road.

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Speaker 1: Here's a chance where your defense is contained this offense

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Speaker 1: all day long. You're right there by the goal line.

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Speaker 1: So if you turn it over on downs, the offense

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Speaker 1: still has to go ninety yards to put points on

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Speaker 1: the board. So yeah, go for it. If you get

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Speaker 1: a first down there, it's it's first in goal in

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Speaker 1: inside of the ten. You know you are likely coming

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Speaker 1: away with points and probably end the game right there.

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Speaker 1: You probably do put the nail on the coffin, like

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Speaker 1: you said. Yeah, I'm trying to look up on Twitter

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Speaker 1: here as we talked about this to see if anybody

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Speaker 1: asks Rabel that. I just think that was kind of interesting.

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Speaker 1: But as far as Falcons fans go, they could care

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Speaker 1: less about that. So let's let's talk about what Falcons

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Speaker 1: fans care about. Because Falcons fans right now are tired

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Speaker 1: of hearing I'll tell you what. I don't know if

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Speaker 1: you heard it because we have a close press box,

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Speaker 1: but the boobirds were out today. The boobirds were booing.

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Speaker 1: They're not happy. They were They were pretty vocal at

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Speaker 1: halftime well and then after the game too. Yeah, they

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Speaker 1: don't want to hear about you know, hey, we've still

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Speaker 1: got a quarter of the season. I wrote my column.

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Speaker 1: I said, there's just no sugarcoating it right there, right

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Speaker 1: this is the reality. This is how they've gotten here.

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Speaker 1: And the reality is is that, you know, Dan Quinn said,

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Speaker 1: we're looking for answers, and the reality is they need

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Speaker 1: to find some answers quickly on how to start quickly,

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Speaker 1: you know, quicker to begin games. And they can't have

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Speaker 1: any more combinations of breakdowns, whether it's more sacks, whether

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Speaker 1: it's turnovers. They've got to play a complete game and

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Speaker 1: in a hurry. They do have to. And I'm encouraged

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Speaker 1: by the fact that Carolina one today and beat Houston,

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Speaker 1: but I know it's a different team. But I mean,

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Speaker 1: I just thought Houston was one of those teams it

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Speaker 1: was going to be a very good team. I still

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Speaker 1: think they're a very good team. Yeah again, I don't

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Speaker 1: at this point, you're one in three. I don't think

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Speaker 1: you're you're looking here playing the matchups. I think you

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Speaker 1: gotta fix what's going on here in Atlanta and take it,

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Speaker 1: you know, play by play, quarter by quarter, half by half.

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Speaker 1: And you know, we sit here and we ask them

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Speaker 1: at press conferences. It's not like we're we're ducking these questions.

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Speaker 1: You know, coach, what do you have to do to

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Speaker 1: get out to a fast start, And a lot of

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Speaker 1: times their answer is, you know, welcome to coaching. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: there's no magic formula, otherwise every team would do it.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes it is a momentum thing. Sometimes it's you connect

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Speaker 1: on a big play in the first quarter on your

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Speaker 1: first drive, all of a sudden, boom, we're rolling, we're

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Speaker 1: up in up tempo, we're getting on it, and it

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Speaker 1: just takes one spark to kind of get things going.

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Speaker 1: And the Falcons haven't had that yet this season, and

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Speaker 1: they're looking for it. I don't feel like they at

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Speaker 1: any point today kind of had I didn't feel at

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Speaker 1: any point today during this game that like, okay, they're

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Speaker 1: huming now, right. Yeah, And so you know, I'm sitting

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Speaker 1: here looking at my Twitter timeline and I and somebody

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Speaker 1: just tweeted me and said, look at where one cat

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Speaker 1: one missed catch drop ball dropped pass away from oh

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Speaker 1: and four. I'm talking about Aglar's drop in the Eagles game. Um,

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Speaker 1: that's you know, that's the reality of it that they

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Speaker 1: did win the game, and in Isaiahalver did make that

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Speaker 1: taglen Zach or its folks, that Julio did score that touch.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is usually a one scour league, yes,

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Speaker 1: so you can play that game with pretty much any

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Speaker 1: any result, but today it was not. Today it was

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Speaker 1: not and that and that's the thing that I think

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Speaker 1: leaving that Colts game, I know, I especially felt that

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Speaker 1: way was Okay, this team lost the game, but they

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Speaker 1: did not play like a bad team in this especially

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Speaker 1: in the second half. So there was a little bit

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Speaker 1: of optimism I felt leaving that game that Okay, maybe

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Speaker 1: this is the start of something. I don't feel that

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Speaker 1: way leaving this one. Yeah, so let's pivot to Houston. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, they go out to Houston and uh, it's

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Speaker 1: a two game road swing. Actually they go Houston Arizona

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Speaker 1: before returning back to the friendly confines of Mercedes ben

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Speaker 1: Stadium where they're one or one this year. Thoughts on

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Speaker 1: Houston will Deshaun Watson, this offensive line is going to

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Speaker 1: have to rebound quickly. We don't know what the deal

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Speaker 1: is Whichmon Brown who left the game, and I guess

401
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:30,359
Speaker 1: suffered a concussion, but and Alex Mack suffered an elbow injury,

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Speaker 1: but he did come back and fight through it because

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Speaker 1: he's a warrior. But they need to be ready up

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Speaker 1: front to deal with a good Houston defense, defensive line.

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Speaker 1: JJ Watt had another strip sack FuMB more recovery today.

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Speaker 1: That dude can wreck a game by himself. And everything

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Speaker 1: Houston does starts up front with for them. So if

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Speaker 1: Atlanta's offense is going to rebound those guys up front,

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Speaker 1: you'd have a good week. Yeah, you know, Deshaun Watson

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Speaker 1: and Marcus Mariota, I'm sitting here, you know, putting him

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Speaker 1: out scale. One's probably a better passer than the other.

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Speaker 1: And Jashan can run too. He can. They had some

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Speaker 1: problems protecting him last year. They've tried to shore that

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Speaker 1: up a little bit. I don't know how well they've

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Speaker 1: done doing that. And DeAndre Hopkins is as good as

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Speaker 1: any receiver in the league outside of number eleven here,

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Speaker 1: So they've got weapons. What'll be both sides of the

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Speaker 1: ball that, yeah, Atlanta is going to have to contend with.

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Speaker 1: What'll be interesting for me and that match team does, yeah,

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Speaker 1: is that Houston does tend to take their shots down

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Speaker 1: the field a little bit more. I think they really

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Speaker 1: like to push the ball. And they have every right

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Speaker 1: too when you've got guys like DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller

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Speaker 1: and players like that. But the Colts and the Titans

425
00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,919
Speaker 1: today really succeeded against this own defense when they just

426
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,680
Speaker 1: took what the defense gave him, when they just said, okay,

427
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,000
Speaker 1: that's not there, here's a six yard throw. All right,

428
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,199
Speaker 1: here's an eight yard throw, and then they waited for

429
00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,320
Speaker 1: kind of those big explosive plays to develop. I'm curious

430
00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:03,479
Speaker 1: to see if Deshaun Watson is going to be that patient,

431
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,000
Speaker 1: if he's gonna say, Okay, you guys are playing zone.

432
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,360
Speaker 1: I'm gonna hit this guy right here in the pocket

433
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:10,760
Speaker 1: and get a six yard and we'll be fine with

434
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 1: that a six yard game, so or is he going

435
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,720
Speaker 1: to try to force it to DeAndre Hopkins down the

436
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 1: field and maybe allow Ricardo Allen to make a break

437
00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,040
Speaker 1: on a ball deep or something like that That could

438
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,960
Speaker 1: create a turnover that the Falcons are looking for because

439
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,560
Speaker 1: the past two weeks the teams have been content with

440
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:27,919
Speaker 1: just sitting back and taking what the defense gives him.

441
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,480
Speaker 1: So I don't know if Deshaun Watson's got a little

442
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,639
Speaker 1: bit more gunslinger mentality to him, but the Texans do

443
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:35,359
Speaker 1: like to push the ball down the field, so that'll

444
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,680
Speaker 1: be something worth watching. Well whatever, Atlanta should probably study

445
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 1: this game against Carolina pretty good because Deshaun Watson was

446
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: only twenty yeah, twenty one thirty three for one hundred

447
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:52,480
Speaker 1: and eighty yards, no touchdowns, no picks, nuke. DeAndre Hopkins

448
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,159
Speaker 1: only have five catches for forty one yards. On the

449
00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 1: flip side, Christian McCaffrey went off, um, he had twenty

450
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:03,560
Speaker 1: seven carries for ninety three yards and a touchdown, but

451
00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,680
Speaker 1: he also had ten catches for eighty six yards. Um.

452
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,800
Speaker 1: You know, maybe maybe the Falcons can get DeVante Freeman

453
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,280
Speaker 1: out in space. Maybe there's something to exploit there. I

454
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:16,760
Speaker 1: would like to see them use DeVante a little bit more.

455
00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,520
Speaker 1: It just feels like the Falcons have yet to get

456
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 1: Freeman really going humming in full gear. You know, we

457
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,040
Speaker 1: saw a little bit early on against Indianapolis. You know,

458
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:29,880
Speaker 1: he started that game with a twenty eight yard run.

459
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,520
Speaker 1: But you know again what today he finished with twenty

460
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:37,200
Speaker 1: eight yards, So there you go. YEA. At some point,

461
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,359
Speaker 1: I mean this team, a team that has Julio Jones,

462
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,760
Speaker 1: Calvin Ridley, Mohammed Sanu, DeVante, Freeman, and Austin Hooper. Those

463
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,119
Speaker 1: are five really good skill players. At some point you

464
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 1: just want to see this offense unleash all of it.

465
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,280
Speaker 1: And I know they're trying. Dirt Cutter's not sitting back

466
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,320
Speaker 1: on his hands saying, no, we're not gonna throw the

467
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,119
Speaker 1: ball to Julio Jones, We're gonna throw the ball to

468
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,000
Speaker 1: Justin Hardy. I mean, they're not doing that. They're trying

469
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,680
Speaker 1: to get everything going. But when this offense is on,

470
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: it is the most fun offense to watch because everybody's

471
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,040
Speaker 1: a playmaker. They just need to put it together. Yeah,

472
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,960
Speaker 1: And the reality of it is, this too will. At

473
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,800
Speaker 1: one point today the right side of the line from

474
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:19,080
Speaker 1: starting center on was West Schweitzer, tie sombrella in a

475
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:25,000
Speaker 1: rookie right tackle um named Caleb McGarry. And so it's

476
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,040
Speaker 1: not what they thought four games in the season that

477
00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:31,280
Speaker 1: they where they would be. Probably, but that's the NFL.

478
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,480
Speaker 1: You gotta adjust, right and uh, you know, I'm sure

479
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:36,600
Speaker 1: they're counting down the days to where they get Chris

480
00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:41,959
Speaker 1: Lyndstrom back hopefully alex max elbow is okay, and Caleb

481
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,640
Speaker 1: gets better with each snap. So this this to answer

482
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 1: your question about those weapons. You've got to protect number

483
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,920
Speaker 1: two and give him time. Yeah, so to give him time? Yeah,

484
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,000
Speaker 1: what are your final thoughts just on on today and

485
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 1: now now at one in three, how do you assess

486
00:24:57,359 --> 00:24:59,560
Speaker 1: where they stand and then what the road ahead looks like?

487
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:01,800
Speaker 1: You know what, when you if you ask me in

488
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,120
Speaker 1: the beginning of the year if they would be two

489
00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,159
Speaker 1: and two or one and three after four games, I

490
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 1: would have said probably. I thought this was a really

491
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,919
Speaker 1: tough way to start the season, and I know what

492
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,359
Speaker 1: the expectations were heading into the season. I thought that

493
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 1: they would go that my prediction was and I hate predictions,

494
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,040
Speaker 1: but someone pressed me and I said, okay, ten and six,

495
00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 1: four and two in division because I think the reason

496
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:26,920
Speaker 1: I said that was because I thought it would be

497
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:32,920
Speaker 1: a rough start, especially with two rookie offensive linemen and

498
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:37,399
Speaker 1: in new you know, new coordinators and a tough slate

499
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,800
Speaker 1: to begin this season. You know, you're talking at the

500
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,919
Speaker 1: time Andrew Luck and the Colts were Super Bowl contenders

501
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,200
Speaker 1: or chic picks for the Super Bowl. Even without Luck,

502
00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,200
Speaker 1: they're a good team. Minnesota is a good team, one

503
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,639
Speaker 1: of the better defensive fronts. This team. Tennessee is salad.

504
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,159
Speaker 1: They beat the Patriots and the Cowboys back to back weeks,

505
00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,879
Speaker 1: you know, last year. I just you know, it's just

506
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,560
Speaker 1: it's not surprising to me that they got off too

507
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 1: and you know, you got Houston, who's a very good

508
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,119
Speaker 1: team too, So it's not surprising to me that they

509
00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:11,879
Speaker 1: would start slow this year and get better as the

510
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,480
Speaker 1: year goes on. That's what I think will happen. Still,

511
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,119
Speaker 1: I still believe that. I still believe when they get

512
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,399
Speaker 1: Lyndstrom back that they will start finding a groove. I

513
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,400
Speaker 1: think Caleb will get better as the year goes on,

514
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 1: provided knock on one everyone stays healthy. I just think

515
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 1: that this is going to be one of those years

516
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,600
Speaker 1: where they go, you know, ten and six takes some

517
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 1: lumps early on, but the reality is this, Well, if

518
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 1: they lose out in Houston, they're one and four heading

519
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: into Arizona, and that's you know, this this game is

520
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,639
Speaker 1: this league is so tight and so close week in

521
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 1: and week out. You know that's tough too. That's a

522
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 1: you want to talk about climbing out of holes, that's

523
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,959
Speaker 1: a one and four hole is not ideal. Yeah, and

524
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,399
Speaker 1: I there's a part of me that agrees with everything

525
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 1: that you just said. I do think the good teams

526
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,120
Speaker 1: in the NFL continue to get better with each week,

527
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 1: and the best ones aren't playing their best ball in September.

528
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,520
Speaker 1: They're playing them in November and December when it really

529
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,159
Speaker 1: really matters. But you know, at some point when we

530
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 1: sit here and we say that, and I agree with

531
00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,120
Speaker 1: you that the start of the schedule was tough. There

532
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:19,879
Speaker 1: were good teams on the start of the schedule. But

533
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: if you believe, as I did coming into the season,

534
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,640
Speaker 1: that the Falcons were a good team quite possibly able

535
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:30,120
Speaker 1: to be great, then I don't like that. That argument, yes,

536
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,359
Speaker 1: carry some weight, but if you're a good team, you

537
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 1: should beat good teams. And I think that this team

538
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,240
Speaker 1: is more talented than the Titans, and for them to

539
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:39,920
Speaker 1: drop one at home here one that they should win

540
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 1: because you have a tough start to the schedule. I thought,

541
00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:45,560
Speaker 1: it's yeah, and it's not going to get any easier

542
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,320
Speaker 1: going on the road to Houston's a tough game. Arizona

543
00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:50,119
Speaker 1: is a game like this, You should win that if

544
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,320
Speaker 1: you're a good team. But then you return home with

545
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,280
Speaker 1: Seattle with do they play the Rams or the Saints

546
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,159
Speaker 1: and you get these this tough NFC stretch and then

547
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 1: all of your division game. So this felt like a

548
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,399
Speaker 1: missed opportunity and if this is a good team, you

549
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:06,640
Speaker 1: can't miss these opportunities. And so the reality is there

550
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,760
Speaker 1: a one in three, no, and you gotta win at home.

551
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:10,840
Speaker 1: You have to win at home, and you gotta stack

552
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,560
Speaker 1: some wins, right um No. I wrote that in my

553
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,480
Speaker 1: column postgame column that this was a game on paper

554
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:20,800
Speaker 1: that it that you would have thought that the Falcons

555
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 1: should win, could have won, And it felt like coming

556
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 1: in that I don't I'm not saying any team takes

557
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 1: any you know, I'm not saying the Falcons we're taking

558
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,639
Speaker 1: any anyone for granted and whatsoever. Yeah, this is just

559
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,480
Speaker 1: mean you're talking here, And I thought that they probably

560
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:40,800
Speaker 1: if you'd ask you asked me for the game, I thought.

561
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,640
Speaker 1: My wife asked me, Hey, how do you think the

562
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:45,200
Speaker 1: Falcons are gonna do today? I said, I think they

563
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:50,200
Speaker 1: should win today? And they yes, and they didn't. And

564
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:55,120
Speaker 1: so here we are, Um, plenty of time left, twelve

565
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 1: games to go. But yeah, I got a good thing

566
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 1: that's kicking into gear. Yeah. Yeah. The reality is this,

567
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,880
Speaker 1: uh one and three, And you know, there's a lot

568
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 1: of woulda, shoulda could us. They could have been, they

569
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 1: could be going for and they could be two and

570
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,520
Speaker 1: two and they could be four. No, I don't know

571
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,720
Speaker 1: about that. There's an alternate universe out there somewhere. Um.

572
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,480
Speaker 1: But no, I see your point that, you know, would

573
00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:21,840
Speaker 1: it had surprised me if they just got humming and

574
00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 1: things didn't go wrong early on against Minnesota and uh,

575
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: you know, no, this team is capable. This is a

576
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,360
Speaker 1: very good team. It's got a good balance of veteran

577
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:36,720
Speaker 1: players and rookie players. It's um, it's got some core players. Um.

578
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:38,800
Speaker 1: But at some point that us to translate out. It

579
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 1: has to, it has to and and so um you know, well,

580
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:46,400
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sure I'm gonna get a lot of

581
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 1: questions this week in the mail bag. There's gonna be

582
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 1: a lot of unhappy people because fans aren't happy. You

583
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 1: heard them out here, can't wait to read them. Yeah,

584
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:59,200
Speaker 1: and uh, look it's it's off to Houston and uh

585
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:05,320
Speaker 1: this team. Do you think it's a must win game? Yeah, okay, yeah,

586
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,959
Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm not gonna say it's a that if

587
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,280
Speaker 1: they lose this game, their season is over, but it's

588
00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,880
Speaker 1: one they need to win. They Yeah, they need to

589
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,360
Speaker 1: get things going in the right direction, all right, that

590
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: that to prove that some that the things that they're

591
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,280
Speaker 1: doing in practice, that that that the things they're emphasizing

592
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 1: can get this team going in the right direction. It's

593
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 1: tough to win on the road, but the Falcons need

594
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,680
Speaker 1: to find a way. Gotta do it. They've got to

595
00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: pick up win number two. And on that note, we'll

596
00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,840
Speaker 1: wrap up the end around. Awesome, Thanks Matt, thanks for listening. Everybody.

597
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:39,720
Speaker 1: Thanks well so yeah, m