Speaker 1: We are joined by Lights Out himself Shawn Merriman as
Speaker 1: we roll through what was an incredible day of NFL action.
Speaker 1: And Sean, I want to start with you because I
Speaker 1: do think it's by far the most interesting game. What
Speaker 1: exactly is going on? We know that the Steelers now
Speaker 1: seven and oh they found a way to get it done.
Speaker 1: Is Lamar Jackson still the same player that he was?
Speaker 1: What's happening that he's not having the same electric season
Speaker 1: that he did last year? Defensively? Does it seem like
Speaker 1: teams are playing better against him? What's going on there
Speaker 1: in your mind? Yeah? Well, you know, one of my
Speaker 1: old coaches always used to tell me, too, let's go
Speaker 1: out and take a takeaway what the team does. Bet
Speaker 1: So you know, if a guy goes out and he
Speaker 1: can use his legs, let's take it away from him.
Speaker 1: Let's make him throw the ball in there if he
Speaker 1: has a deficiency where he can't throw to going out
Speaker 1: to us right or less? Less, forcing to do that.
Speaker 1: What defensive are doing right now, they're forcing Lamar Jackson's hand,
Speaker 1: They're taking away all the things you do great, and
Speaker 1: they have forced him to beat him in other ways
Speaker 1: and he has not done that so far, I don't
Speaker 1: think that, you know, he's having a worst year. I
Speaker 1: think the team is just making him do things he's
Speaker 1: uncomfortable with, and until that happens, they're going to keep
Speaker 1: on doing it. Do you think he's pressing at this point?
Speaker 1: Because we know he was incredible last year and he
Speaker 1: put his team, you know, they with the overall uh
Speaker 1: in the top you know, top echelon team. They gotta buy,
Speaker 1: they got to play at home. They lose to the Titans.
Speaker 1: He still never want a playoff game. They get everything.
Speaker 1: It seems like all hyped up for this Kansas City
Speaker 1: Chiefs game when they're coming to town. Oh, this is
Speaker 1: a get back game. This is where we prove how
Speaker 1: good we are. And then they get whipped and then
Speaker 1: they get the Steelers coming to town. And honestly, it's
Speaker 1: a big game. I mean, the Steelers are now seven
Speaker 1: and oh they've got a two and a half game
Speaker 1: lead on the Ravens in the division with with you know,
Speaker 1: nine games to go. I mean, that's that's not over,
Speaker 1: you know, incomprehensibly substantial. It's a pretty big move now
Speaker 1: that the Steelers have gotten this game. Do you think
Speaker 1: he's pressing like and and feeling like he needs uh.
Speaker 1: And maybe in a way he's not. When he's playing
Speaker 1: against the lesser teams, he's trying to take on too
Speaker 1: much himself. No, absolutely, uh. And I've seen that during
Speaker 1: the Kansas City game and the whole build up between
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahons during the whole week, and
Speaker 1: two young quarterbacks and who's gonna play better, who's the
Speaker 1: future in the NFL? Those things, And he did a
Speaker 1: whole bunch of uncharacteristic things that game, And to me,
Speaker 1: I just thought he had too much pressure on him.
Speaker 1: I thought that he was trying to go out there
Speaker 1: and win the game by itself. Uh. And he doesn't
Speaker 1: have to do that because that's not how the team
Speaker 1: is built. They're built to play great defense, they can
Speaker 1: run the ball, and he can do things to get
Speaker 1: them out of bad situations because he is so damn
Speaker 1: electric and he's so athletic, he can do that. But
Speaker 1: you don't have to go out there and win the game.
Speaker 1: And right now, that's what it seems Lamar Jackson is
Speaker 1: trying to do, and he's putting too much pressure on
Speaker 1: himself to go out and do But you have a
Speaker 1: great team around you, you don't need to go out
Speaker 1: and do those things. Now. The loss against Pittsburgh, Let's
Speaker 1: get this, let's get this straight. Pittsburgh is the best
Speaker 1: team in football right now. I don't look at that
Speaker 1: game and say that Lamar Jackson just stunk it up,
Speaker 1: or he's he's falling, falling downhill, he's not performing well.
Speaker 1: Still is right now the most balance team is football. There.
Speaker 1: You know, they have uh so many different weapons and
Speaker 1: they're playing solid on all three phases of the game.
Speaker 1: So I don't I don't take that game. But Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson is trying to do too much right now. He
Speaker 1: doesn't need to. How do you get a guy to
Speaker 1: just not try to do too much? I mean, how
Speaker 1: is that a conversation that an offensive coordinator has with him?
Speaker 1: And is it a head coach? Once you kind of
Speaker 1: get on that stretch, right, I mean, he threw the
Speaker 1: pick six early in the game. They fought their way back,
Speaker 1: but he's kind of got this reputation I would say,
Speaker 1: like Peyton Manning maybe had early in Peyton Manning's career.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you remember everybody would say, oh, Peyton Manning
Speaker 1: can't win the big game, and at some point, if
Speaker 1: you don't win that big game, it's like it starts
Speaker 1: to echo in your head a little bit and grow.
Speaker 1: Even though he's a young guy, it feels like he's
Speaker 1: here in that noise. Well, what he would Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: has to do is not fall to the outside pressures
Speaker 1: of uh did everybody else put on the media and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, video games and just fans. Just this step
Speaker 1: step out that light. All right. Your job is to
Speaker 1: go out and win football games, not be the most
Speaker 1: electrifying guy every single player that ever touched the football fields.
Speaker 1: You don't have to look at yourself that way. And
Speaker 1: it feels almost in a sense, that's what's going on.
Speaker 1: It's I gotta go out and make this big play
Speaker 1: every time I do something. And that's that's he's really
Speaker 1: beating themselves because that's mentality he's putting themself. If I
Speaker 1: was his teammate, I would le him know, man, like, look,
Speaker 1: just go out and play football, do you you know,
Speaker 1: do what got you here? Do what made you one
Speaker 1: of the most exciting players to watch in the NFL.
Speaker 1: But you don't have to go out and win the
Speaker 1: game for us every time, you know, we will will
Speaker 1: have people out and play great defense. We'll have to
Speaker 1: get some turnovers, will have to take to control and
Speaker 1: not with so much pressure on you, because I don't
Speaker 1: think it's necessarily just football. It's all the things outside
Speaker 1: of it, and the outside pressures that he's getting. He's
Speaker 1: got to go out and live up to. Is the
Speaker 1: a f C East Over The Bills finally gotta win
Speaker 1: against the Patriots. They weren't fantastic in the game, but
Speaker 1: the Patriots, I mean and and Cam Newton. We said
Speaker 1: before the season started, this is one of the most
Speaker 1: intriguing experiments out there. He's been mediocre at best. Josh
Speaker 1: Allen wasn't incredible. In fact, he was at times not
Speaker 1: very good. But the Bills got there. When they're now
Speaker 1: sitting at six into the Patriots are two and five.
Speaker 1: Could the Patriots be sellers coming up on on trade
Speaker 1: deadline or what do you think Bill Belichick is gonna do? Well?
Speaker 1: The problem with the Patriots is they have so many
Speaker 1: different holes to feel. It's like, okay, what do you
Speaker 1: do do you bring in a big wide receiver? What
Speaker 1: do you get rid of? Some guys when out performing? Um,
Speaker 1: you know they're seeing the life without tom Brady for
Speaker 1: the last you know, two decades. Yeah, you know, they're
Speaker 1: they're going a chance to see it and they're filling
Speaker 1: it for the first time. And you know, Mondio tom
Speaker 1: Brady did go down with a knee injury. I believe
Speaker 1: in that oh seven or eight years some other stuff.
Speaker 1: You don't even miss a few games here and there,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, he's been there, So they've
Speaker 1: never had to experience what they're going through right now.
Speaker 1: And just like everyone else, they're going through a rebuilding process.
Speaker 1: They just haven't had to deal with that for the
Speaker 1: last you know, several years or so. So they got
Speaker 1: to figure out, like what's gonna look like going forward
Speaker 1: because this is not the same organization that we've seen
Speaker 1: for the past, you know, fifteen twenty years. What do
Speaker 1: you think Packer fans should feel this morning when they're
Speaker 1: waking up. I mean, a couple of games in their
Speaker 1: last three they've not been very good. They were dominated
Speaker 1: by the Bucks, and then they're playing at home, and
Speaker 1: I know home field advantage is not the same this
Speaker 1: year as it usually is, but I don't think very
Speaker 1: many people expected the Vikings to come into town and
Speaker 1: kind of take control of that game like they did.
Speaker 1: What are you seeing from the Packers? You know, you
Speaker 1: know what? I think it's gonna happen with the package
Speaker 1: at this point. Um, they're gonna figure out a way.
Speaker 1: I say they, I mean media us, anybody's talking about.
Speaker 1: The organization is what's the problem. And I think it's
Speaker 1: going to go back to a head coach quarterback problem.
Speaker 1: I think that's what's gonna happen. And I'm not saying
Speaker 1: the chemistry between them two is wrong, but it's gonna
Speaker 1: be up to them to to get them back on
Speaker 1: track because these last couple of games, I mean, come on, Minnesota,
Speaker 1: they're not They're not a great team by any stretch.
Speaker 1: But when you gotta run it back, scoring three or
Speaker 1: four times in one game and breaking records, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it looks really bad. So they gotta they gotta
Speaker 1: take it up in other facets of the game. But
Speaker 1: also it's another thing. They just for lied on Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers for a way too long without giving him the
Speaker 1: appropriate weapons. And I'm not just talking about on the
Speaker 1: offense side of the ball. Also on the defense side
Speaker 1: of the ball. You have to give guys uh more
Speaker 1: weapons or the pressure is not on him soday. I
Speaker 1: think they'll be fine. They'll they'll be okay, and me,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers just is Uh. He's a great quarterback. He'll
Speaker 1: continue to go out and do some great things. But
Speaker 1: not not. Let's not get it mistaken. They drafted a
Speaker 1: quarterback for a reason. You know they are already planning
Speaker 1: to Uh had that situation unfold here right before very
Speaker 1: own eyes. We're talking to Sean Merriman Lights Out podcast
Speaker 1: I Heeart Podcast Network. Encourage you to go listen to it. Uh.
Speaker 1: So we've got the Rams put up four hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy one yards, but they turned the ball over four times.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins don't really have to do very much at all.
Speaker 1: They only put up a hundred and forty five yards
Speaker 1: total offense, eight first downs. They barely asked two to
Speaker 1: throw the ball at all. What did you see from
Speaker 1: two in his debut? And what in the world went
Speaker 1: so wrong for the Rams that they could put up
Speaker 1: that many yards thirty one first down sean to eight
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins and yet they still lost. Yeah, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: North Turner used to say back in the day, he
Speaker 1: used to pull up these numbers and look at the
Speaker 1: turnover ratio he had it uh so broken down that, uh,
Speaker 1: every turnover he would show you is how much we
Speaker 1: could possibly lose by. So you can you turn the
Speaker 1: ball over that many times, You're just not gonna win
Speaker 1: in NFL, period, especially to a team that is looking
Speaker 1: for you to make a mistake in order for them
Speaker 1: to win. You know, like you just said, Dolphins, they
Speaker 1: didn't play well, they didn't do anything exceptional. Uh, they
Speaker 1: just you know, the Rampers turn the ball over. They
Speaker 1: gave them more opportunity to squad and win the football game.
Speaker 1: And Yeah, I'm liking what I've seen out of tour
Speaker 1: them and and mainly the energy and and and what's
Speaker 1: built around him in a confidence everybody else having them,
Speaker 1: especially to be a young quarterback. For that for guys
Speaker 1: to be that confident, and that means that you know,
Speaker 1: they've seen a lot more than we've been able to
Speaker 1: see it because obviously he's taking you know, the second
Speaker 1: team up in practice. They've seen him, uh you know,
Speaker 1: in training camp, and they know they've seen him there,
Speaker 1: so they're confident about what he can do. And coaches
Speaker 1: don't make this, uh these changes like they did and
Speaker 1: at this point in time and said, Bryance is Patrick
Speaker 1: and putting him in the game if they wasn't confident
Speaker 1: in him going forward. You're a long time Charger, I
Speaker 1: mean I just kind of throw up my hands at
Speaker 1: this point and say, how many different ways can the
Speaker 1: Chargers find to lose football games? They gave up a
Speaker 1: three touchdown lead against the Broncos. Justin Herbert continues to
Speaker 1: look good, uh and make plays that make you think, man,
Speaker 1: this guy is gonna be great for the next decade
Speaker 1: or more. But what in the world's going on with
Speaker 1: the Chargers? You know if you try to put your
Speaker 1: finger on it, and it's so disheartened me being a
Speaker 1: former Charge and you're sitting there talking about things that
Speaker 1: they need to stake. They have a bright uh of
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert has a bright future. You're excited about him.
Speaker 1: But it's like, damn, guys, finished a football game. You
Speaker 1: know that. You know, what's the biggest problem right now
Speaker 1: is learning how to finish games. Um, And that becomes
Speaker 1: that's leadership, that's experience, and someone has to pull guys
Speaker 1: together as they look, we are losing these games by
Speaker 1: seven points. We're losing on this one turnover battle. We're
Speaker 1: not we're not closing out games, getting off the film,
Speaker 1: third and long situations. Let's get let's do the little
Speaker 1: things right, because you're gonna go back and look at
Speaker 1: the film and I believe there one in three since
Speaker 1: they started giving up the leads this year. They're going
Speaker 1: to go back and look at this season and the record.
Speaker 1: It's not going to reflect on how good this team
Speaker 1: really is. Yeah, no doubt. Once the Bears do at quarterback,
Speaker 1: they've already gone from Travisky to Folds. It's like in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter they can kind of get a little
Speaker 1: bit hot, but that's about it. Uh. I know they're
Speaker 1: five and three, so they're not in a disastrous position
Speaker 1: by any means. The Saints now have started to get
Speaker 1: on a little bit of a roll, find ways to
Speaker 1: win even without Michael Thomas. But what should the Bears do?
Speaker 1: We got a lot of people are Schicago Bear fans
Speaker 1: listening to us right now. What would you say? They
Speaker 1: need to do? Whatever you whatever you do, ride it
Speaker 1: out with whatever guy you're gonna go with. You can't
Speaker 1: keep confusing, uh, you know, the team. You can't keep
Speaker 1: confusing people who are watching the game and what direction
Speaker 1: you want to go, because you've got a lot of
Speaker 1: other people on the field that has to deal with
Speaker 1: the repercussions of you going back and forth of the quarterback.
Speaker 1: All right, So whatever your decision is, let's go with
Speaker 1: that and ride it out. You know, don't go with
Speaker 1: a guy because he had a uh, you know, one
Speaker 1: or two good games riding out the whole way through,
Speaker 1: because you're you're you're you're taking a confidence away from
Speaker 1: the starting guy, knowing that he can go out and
Speaker 1: make one mistake and he's he's looking to be replaced.
Speaker 1: So you have the whatever decision you make, ride it out,
Speaker 1: because uh that you're not gonna get anywhere by going
Speaker 1: back and forth between two quarterbacks. I watched Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: against the Titans. It doesn't happen very often that a
Speaker 1: team runs for over two hundred yards in the NFL
Speaker 1: like the Titans did and finds a way to lose.
Speaker 1: They missed the field goals we were talking about earlier,
Speaker 1: also had a turnover, and so all of that kind
Speaker 1: of factored in in a really negative way. But Burrow
Speaker 1: with a makeshift offensive line, I mean, he really feels
Speaker 1: like the real deal. And I know, it's hard to
Speaker 1: have a bunch of different guys hit, and we've only
Speaker 1: seen two of play a little bit, but it feels
Speaker 1: like Herbert has looked pretty fantastic if you're a Charger fan.
Speaker 1: It also feels like man uh Burrow has looked pretty
Speaker 1: fantastic even with all the big hits that he's taking
Speaker 1: with the Bengals. Would you agree so far based on
Speaker 1: what you've seen from him how to percent? I believe
Speaker 1: he's the most comfortable rookie when I uh that that
Speaker 1: we've seen since Andrew Luck. When you've gotta gotta step
Speaker 1: on the field. He looks confident, he's not rattled, he's
Speaker 1: not pressured. He looks like he's been in the league
Speaker 1: five plus years. He doesn't look like a rookie um
Speaker 1: and his interaction with his teammates and the morale, Uh,
Speaker 1: he knows he's another one bright future. But I just
Speaker 1: hope that they give him the weapons so he doesn't
Speaker 1: have to keep calling out and doing the things he's
Speaker 1: doing in order for the NOI football games, because those
Speaker 1: things only last. But so time, so so so long,
Speaker 1: and we're seeing one Rodgers, you know, when he's not
Speaker 1: giving him weapons for all these years and now you
Speaker 1: know you've kind of missed some of the glory years
Speaker 1: by not giving him the weapons he needs. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, looking at the draft, someone else and Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: they have that organization, have to do everything possible to
Speaker 1: support him. So he's not putting that same situation as
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers is. Right now, you for you may have
Speaker 1: done it, I can't remember it. Did you see the
Speaker 1: fight in the in the Bears game between the Bears
Speaker 1: and the Saints? I know, like hitting a guy in
Speaker 1: a helmet is one of the dumbest things you can
Speaker 1: ever do. Javon Whims through a punch, he gets kicked out.
Speaker 1: Did you ever throw a punch like that and hit
Speaker 1: somebody in the helmet? And if so, what does it
Speaker 1: feel like? And you immediately think, why was I so
Speaker 1: stupid to throw a punch at a guy in a helmet?
Speaker 1: I mean, it happens a lot. That was more than
Speaker 1: we are used to seeing. Right, We had Courtland Finnigan
Speaker 1: go at it back in the day with a bunch
Speaker 1: of different dudes. But to really get punched in the
Speaker 1: helmet or throw a punch in the helmet, what's the
Speaker 1: reaction in film room when that thing gets shown, well,
Speaker 1: it's two things. It's gonna be hurt on them tomorrow.
Speaker 1: That's his pockets in his hand, you know, so that's fine,
Speaker 1: it's going to be massive and you know his hand.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I've punched a guy in the helmet
Speaker 1: the practice we got, I got been in a fight
Speaker 1: with an offensive alignment, and I immediately thought, when the
Speaker 1: hell was I thinking? You know, it's your knuckles just
Speaker 1: feel like they're just bleeding. It's it's a horrible feeling.
Speaker 1: Uh and you even as for a quick second thing
Speaker 1: that you broke your head or not. You know, that
Speaker 1: was a rookie and you know, just kind of hot
Speaker 1: hot tim. But I've never done anything like that in
Speaker 1: the game, and more importantly, because I didn't want to
Speaker 1: do anything to hurt my teammates. And that's what happened.
Speaker 1: You know, he's only he's gonna get fine. But you
Speaker 1: know they got penalties and everything that like that. So
Speaker 1: it just it wasn't smart. You bring too many people
Speaker 1: because look we're it's a brotherhood, right, so you see
Speaker 1: guys fighting, and I believe it was never twenty the
Speaker 1: defensive back who came over there and jumped over to
Speaker 1: power and he also started to fight. You know. So
Speaker 1: that's what's gonna happen when you put your your teammates
Speaker 1: in a bad position to go out and defend you
Speaker 1: the way they did. Outstanding stuff is always Sean lights
Speaker 1: Out podcast. Encourage people to go download and listen to it.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you again next week. You got it.
Speaker 1: Thank you.