Speaker 1: The game is over New York, the world. You baten
Speaker 1: to win the game. He's got it. That's as Jets.
Speaker 1: What's down? Can't? You're listening to the Official New York
Speaker 1: Jets podcast, a Jets three sixty production. What's Up Everybody?
Speaker 1: Ethan Greenberg, Eric Allen back here in studios on the
Speaker 1: Official Jets podcast this week Jets and Colts on Sunday,
Speaker 1: and we decided to talk to Stephen Holder of the
Speaker 1: Athletic Key Covers the Colds down there in America's Harland.
Speaker 1: We talked about all things Colts, all offense, defense, What
Speaker 1: is Andrew luck this year? How has he been performing?
Speaker 1: Will get Stevens takes. But first things first is I
Speaker 1: have to rewind the clock here for a second because
Speaker 1: on last week's pod, e A had of bold prediction.
Speaker 1: Roll the audio and they're bound to hit at some point.
Speaker 1: But I really think Greens the Jets are gonna have
Speaker 1: to have success. Moving to football on the ground and
Speaker 1: watched two nine. I think Blow Paul could have a
Speaker 1: big game. Yeah, that's right. E A said to nine
Speaker 1: blow Power is gonna have a big game against the
Speaker 1: Denver Broncos. He wasn't wrong, but Isaiah crow Hell really
Speaker 1: stole the show there. Hey, anytime a guy rushes for
Speaker 1: a hundred yards and then they took a couple back
Speaker 1: when the Jets were running out the clock he did. Okay,
Speaker 1: I know it got off to a tough start for
Speaker 1: not only Blow but the entire Jets team because it
Speaker 1: came out a little bit slow out of the gate. Again,
Speaker 1: but who could have forecasted Isaiah Coroel going for a
Speaker 1: franchise record to nineteen and any time you control the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, which the big Uglies did and rush
Speaker 1: for three hundred and twenty three yards, which, oh, by
Speaker 1: the way, was the second most. And for Chise history
Speaker 1: and Greens, this franchise been around since nineteen sixty and
Speaker 1: you know, I know you're getting a little bit older,
Speaker 1: but you aren't around in those early days. That's saying something. Yes,
Speaker 1: he did, he did, He contributed to the victory. The
Speaker 1: Crow flew higher than any other back in the franchise history. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll get e as slight prediction before we close up
Speaker 1: shop here, But I think that the whole game was shocking.
Speaker 1: But you can say you can point to some scheduling
Speaker 1: in the National Football League at times. And you had
Speaker 1: Denver coming off an emotional game, a divisional contest against
Speaker 1: Kansas City where they blew a fourth quarter lead, and
Speaker 1: they hung around here at MetLife for a quarter, but
Speaker 1: they really didn't put up too much resistance. You have
Speaker 1: to give credit to the Jets offensive line for a
Speaker 1: number of reasons. The running game is obviously the one
Speaker 1: that's sitting at the fore front of of everyone's mind
Speaker 1: just because of what Isaiahawllen belal Pal did. But from
Speaker 1: a past protection standpoint, the line held up very, very
Speaker 1: strong against Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, which is debateably
Speaker 1: the top pair of bookend pass rushers in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They're up there. It's early potential wise, like a couple
Speaker 1: of years. They might know I'm Miller's great, There's no
Speaker 1: doubt about that. And they got their hands on a
Speaker 1: couple of balls. But you have to credit I would
Speaker 1: give a game ball to the entire coaching staff because
Speaker 1: the Jets out coached the Broncos in a big way.
Speaker 1: You go for three three on the ground. The other
Speaker 1: thing is you took your shots up top. Jeremy Bates did,
Speaker 1: and he got a couple touchdowns. From Sam Donald to
Speaker 1: Robbie Anderson, and that is going to be on film. Now,
Speaker 1: what our defense is going to do when you face
Speaker 1: the Jets? Are you gonna put an extra safety in
Speaker 1: a box? If you do, you're rolling the dice out there.
Speaker 1: You might as well go to Vegas because that means
Speaker 1: no safety over the top on Robby Anderson. And how
Speaker 1: about the efficiency of Donald when you're talking about ten
Speaker 1: completion three go for scores? Yeah, Donald. I think what
Speaker 1: most fans are most impressive about his Sand Donald performance
Speaker 1: is the fact that he took chunk shots chunk plays
Speaker 1: when they presented themselves. But other than that, I thought
Speaker 1: he was very conservative in a good way. Not not
Speaker 1: not in a sense of checkdown check down because you
Speaker 1: don't want to take a shot, but very efficient with
Speaker 1: where he moved the ball. I think the next step
Speaker 1: for him is just gonna be maybe not scoring chunk plays.
Speaker 1: But I think that I was thinking about this. I
Speaker 1: don't think that Jets really worked the middle of the
Speaker 1: field a whole lot. I'm not saying they needed to,
Speaker 1: but I think that it was a good step in
Speaker 1: the right direction because you saw the playbook opening up
Speaker 1: a little bit and I'm excited to see what happens
Speaker 1: Sunday for a number of reasons, but mostly because the
Speaker 1: last time the Jets won there was a three game slide.
Speaker 1: So how are the Jets gonna respond to this victory.
Speaker 1: I think that that's gonna be a very telling factor.
Speaker 1: And this is the game so far off the season
Speaker 1: for the Jet. For Bradley Roby, I kind of feel
Speaker 1: bad for him. It's uh, Robbie, he loaned him to
Speaker 1: sleep on that first touchdown, I think, and then the
Speaker 1: second one he beat him and it was a perfect
Speaker 1: pass from Donald to use his eyes well, going to
Speaker 1: the right and then coming back to the left and
Speaker 1: dropping a diamond there. And defensively, I thought the Jets
Speaker 1: were very good. I thought they're gonna have some problems
Speaker 1: early against it. Broncos formidable run game. Philip Lindsay was
Speaker 1: getting a couple uh nice games out there, but they
Speaker 1: shut it down. And then Todd Bowles, who was calling
Speaker 1: plays in place of the ill Casey Rogers, Uh, he
Speaker 1: did some nice things too, because I think the Jets
Speaker 1: gotta lead. And then he started started seeing them using
Speaker 1: some twists and stunts up front, and Winter Williams had
Speaker 1: a couple of sacks the Jets at four sacks and all,
Speaker 1: and then I started my little soliloquy here talking about Roby.
Speaker 1: You gotta give the Jets defensive back some credit too.
Speaker 1: I know the Broncos they got some yardage late, but listen,
Speaker 1: Truemay Johnson not playing that game is out with a
Speaker 1: quad injury. So Darryl Roberts filled in and he played
Speaker 1: a good game. And then Perry Nickerson got some very
Speaker 1: valuable run for Buster Screen at the nickel position. You know,
Speaker 1: I think that you have to give a lot of
Speaker 1: credit to a lot of different places on the Jets
Speaker 1: team because I think that all three phases played very well.
Speaker 1: And I think that this upcoming week is a big
Speaker 1: test for the Jets. I think it's the biggest game
Speaker 1: of the season just because we saw what happened after
Speaker 1: Detroit and what's gonna happen after beating the Broncos. I
Speaker 1: don't know. But you can't say. But you can't say
Speaker 1: it's the biggest game of the season when you said
Speaker 1: that last week, because weeks the biggest game of the season,
Speaker 1: trick question, there was no question. But he can't say
Speaker 1: that because really, I think if you look back, and
Speaker 1: we will. After sixteen game regular season, this was a
Speaker 1: pivotal ball game you had to win against Denver. That
Speaker 1: was a team who was two and two coming off
Speaker 1: a short week. And conversely, the Jets were on a
Speaker 1: three game slide and they were starting a three game
Speaker 1: homestand they needed something positive to happen. This is what
Speaker 1: I think about this weekend is that I think it's
Speaker 1: a swing game in the sense of I don't even
Speaker 1: know if that makes say, if you know what I'm
Speaker 1: trying to say when I say, I'm gonna gonna ask
Speaker 1: you to explain it. So what I mean by that
Speaker 1: is it's one of those games where if the Jets
Speaker 1: are able to stack two wins together back to back,
Speaker 1: I think it just kind of changes the mood and
Speaker 1: the feeling internally. Externally more so in the sense that
Speaker 1: you start to put some games together. Now you're getting
Speaker 1: real juice for when the Minnesota Vikings come around and
Speaker 1: then going to Chicago and as the season goes on
Speaker 1: and on. But I think it's just one of those
Speaker 1: games where it may only be one game, but I
Speaker 1: think there's a little more at stake than just a
Speaker 1: winner a loss, and that you can you can say
Speaker 1: to say, I don't say that. I think you can't
Speaker 1: say that, because again you're here, you're falling for the trap.
Speaker 1: You are falling for the truth talking about me personally
Speaker 1: or the team. No, you are I don't think the
Speaker 1: team well. But but no, because again, then when are
Speaker 1: you gonna say next week that the Vikings game is bigger? No? No,
Speaker 1: I think that this is really taking a larger step
Speaker 1: than just their Let's be clear about something. And we
Speaker 1: watched the Colts Thursday night, and the thing I told
Speaker 1: you I think was last Friday is that Indianapolis is
Speaker 1: gonna play for sixty minutes. I don't know how many
Speaker 1: games are gonna win, but Andrew Locke is by one
Speaker 1: of the top performers in the National Football League this season.
Speaker 1: They are rebuilding or building or however you want to
Speaker 1: say it. But every game, Make no mistake, the Colts
Speaker 1: could win this game, make no mistake about it. This
Speaker 1: is profession, no football, and this cold steam could have
Speaker 1: beat Cincinnati lost by one point. They'd a lead in
Speaker 1: that game. They were at the four yard line against
Speaker 1: Philly defunded Super Bowl champion in their building. Oh, by
Speaker 1: the way, could have won that game. Frank Wright decided
Speaker 1: to go for it in overtime, which I like his
Speaker 1: aggression against Houston at home. Any of those games could
Speaker 1: have went the other way. So this Colts team keeps
Speaker 1: on coming at you. Uh, matchups. We just watched what
Speaker 1: Connor McGregor and this Kobib guy in Las Vegas over
Speaker 1: the weekend. Styles make fights. Styles make fights, and the
Speaker 1: Jets have to contend with the different style this weekend.
Speaker 1: I think the run game could give the Colts a
Speaker 1: lot of issues, but luck no matter who he's throwing
Speaker 1: a ball too, and the two guys I think the
Speaker 1: Jets have to make sure that they take care of,
Speaker 1: especially if t Y Helton is not in a lineup.
Speaker 1: Is Eric Ebron, the former first round pick in Detroit.
Speaker 1: He showed up on Thursday night a couple of touchdowns
Speaker 1: over Hunter Arabs receivers, and I him hides from n
Speaker 1: see state of course he's been an oppressive rookie back.
Speaker 1: All right, without further ado, let's go to Stephen Holder
Speaker 1: of the Athletic. All right, talking to Stephen Holder now
Speaker 1: of the Athletic. Stephen is this Colts team to me
Speaker 1: at least? And I think to e A as well.
Speaker 1: It's just very interesting because you look at the record,
Speaker 1: it's one and four, but you look at the team
Speaker 1: and it seems like it's a team that plays hard
Speaker 1: for sixty minutes with a new coach and Andrew luck back.
Speaker 1: So how would you describe this team through five games? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's a fair description. Look, you are what
Speaker 1: your record says, and I'm a faid believer in that.
Speaker 1: So I don't think the Cults are a good team
Speaker 1: right now, but I think they're on their way to
Speaker 1: becoming that. And I don't think they're very far away.
Speaker 1: They're they're really going, uh right now a team that
Speaker 1: can't finish games, and it's because they just don't have
Speaker 1: enough to get it done right now. But but they
Speaker 1: have enough to to be competitive every Sunday. And you know,
Speaker 1: even with all their injuries right now, which are which
Speaker 1: are really piling up, they're still finding a way to
Speaker 1: be competitive. So I think the key has been you know,
Speaker 1: we knew this would be every building year, but it
Speaker 1: was hard to sort of project how competitive they would be,
Speaker 1: especially given andrew lux situation coming off that year long
Speaker 1: absence at quarterback. But he's been fabulous really through five weeks,
Speaker 1: and I think that has kind of changed the conversation.
Speaker 1: And and now it's evident they're really not that far
Speaker 1: away from being a team that's a factor. But again,
Speaker 1: they got to prove they can get it done. They're
Speaker 1: so young on both sides of the ball, and that's
Speaker 1: really I think a big part of of why they're
Speaker 1: women for right now and why they haven't been able
Speaker 1: to make those plays to close games. So many things
Speaker 1: to get to you here. I got so many questions
Speaker 1: about the Colts and the Jets and the connections, but
Speaker 1: you mentioned Luck. What were your expectations for him going
Speaker 1: into the season. What were the organization's expectations for him?
Speaker 1: Had he entered the season? And has he surpassed maybe
Speaker 1: what you had thought we would see out of Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck here early And how delighted is the organization as
Speaker 1: far as what they're seeing here early on from him
Speaker 1: in two thousand eighteen. Okay, So it's interesting. I remember
Speaker 1: throughout the spring and summer just getting consistent like confidence,
Speaker 1: like I mean both confidence from from upper management about
Speaker 1: their outlook for and Luck. And I didn't understand it.
Speaker 1: I thought they were crazy. Okay, I was gonna set
Speaker 1: yourself up for trouble again here. Okay, it wasn't that
Speaker 1: I didn't believe he was coming back. I never thought
Speaker 1: there was those things. I had enough reporting and enough
Speaker 1: evidence to know that that there has been like legitimate
Speaker 1: progress with his arm, with his shoulder, and then I
Speaker 1: knew that that is showing it was in a much
Speaker 1: first better place, much much stronger. You can look at
Speaker 1: him physically throughout the off season and say, Okay, that
Speaker 1: guy looks like he's going to play football. Last year
Speaker 1: that was not the case. He looked clearly like he
Speaker 1: had been out for months. But all that being said,
Speaker 1: I mean I hadn't seen him do it. So at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, I mean, it's about playing football,
Speaker 1: not about you know how much events press. So I
Speaker 1: needed to actually see him throw a football and anything
Speaker 1: after that. After we saw him throw a football, oh,
Speaker 1: at the end of O t A, at the end
Speaker 1: of mini camp, which has been early to mid June,
Speaker 1: I mean, he wasn't rowing forcedly. He was he was
Speaker 1: conducting or participating I should say, in individual drills only.
Speaker 1: And really, you know, we've all spent a lot of
Speaker 1: time at football practice. We know that individual drills are
Speaker 1: not really uh it's not a real replication of what
Speaker 1: you're gonna do on Sunday. So that was the extent
Speaker 1: of what I've seen. So I was willing to believe
Speaker 1: that he was gonna play. I didn't necessarily not believe it.
Speaker 1: I just didn't think that he would be where he
Speaker 1: needed to be. I thought this would be a really
Speaker 1: gradual process. Range. Look, then we got the training camp
Speaker 1: and literally the first day of training camp was his
Speaker 1: first time taking full team snaps since two thousands sixteen.
Speaker 1: And here was the vault all over the place. And
Speaker 1: I was like stunned. I mean, it wasn't perfect, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't you know, necessarily in sync, but he was
Speaker 1: doing it, and it was like, all right, well, maybe
Speaker 1: we were wrong. And I think every day you started
Speaker 1: to see it more and more. Even though I would
Speaker 1: say by the end of training camp in the preseason,
Speaker 1: I still thought it would be a slow start for
Speaker 1: Andrew luck. I just you know, he didn't play a
Speaker 1: lot of snaps. He played about thirties five well, I
Speaker 1: said today, the first couple of preseason, he didn't play
Speaker 1: a lot. He did play a lot in his and
Speaker 1: and we've got a good look at him. But but
Speaker 1: he had a really uh throwing the ball down the
Speaker 1: field very much. Uh, it was very much a short
Speaker 1: passing game. They had a left tackle injury, which they
Speaker 1: still have, so they were protecting him a little bit.
Speaker 1: And so I don't think we saw the full breath
Speaker 1: of the offense, and we hadn't seen the full breath
Speaker 1: of what Andrew Luck could do. So I figured, Okay,
Speaker 1: they're gonna baby him for a while here. He's not
Speaker 1: really back, and I thought that process would take some time.
Speaker 1: And then he came out and see the open ball
Speaker 1: fifty times, so everything got blown out of the water
Speaker 1: and I realized I was completely wrong. But he's defied
Speaker 1: expectations for me at least. And look, he's not perfect yet.
Speaker 1: I think you'll see them throwing where he's out of
Speaker 1: sync with his receivers, in part because they're new guys.
Speaker 1: But I just think that comes from having a long layoff.
Speaker 1: But I think in terms of his ability to place
Speaker 1: the ball, I mean, if you watched the Thursday night
Speaker 1: against the Patriot, I mean either of the best balls
Speaker 1: he's thrown this year. I was toringly impressed, and they
Speaker 1: had no business even being in that football game missing
Speaker 1: probably you know, I would say six or seven of
Speaker 1: their top ten or twelve players, So I mean it
Speaker 1: was it was very impressive, no pun intended. Are they
Speaker 1: putting too much on Andrew's luck shoulders right now? Well,
Speaker 1: it's it's happening because of the situation. I think when
Speaker 1: you're when you're missing, you're starting left half, when you're
Speaker 1: starting running back, your Pro Bowl tight end, you're missing, uh,
Speaker 1: your a Pro Bowl receiver right now, t Y Hilton,
Speaker 1: it's very very much in question for this Sunday. I
Speaker 1: don't feel good about him playing at all. So obviously
Speaker 1: they have a lot going on in the injury department.
Speaker 1: It's not just because moments, and Frank Rich will tell
Speaker 1: you that and he goes out of his way to
Speaker 1: make it clear no one cares about our injuries, and
Speaker 1: he's right, but that doesn't mean we can't take them
Speaker 1: into account. So yeah, right now, Anti Luck is having
Speaker 1: to look he's from the ball in twenty times last game.
Speaker 1: It's insane. I've never seen anything like it. And part
Speaker 1: of that is certainly the game situations, falling behind a
Speaker 1: couple of times, going to overtime against Houston last week.
Speaker 1: So it's a unique set of circumstances. Granted, and it's
Speaker 1: not something that's going to happen every week. But they
Speaker 1: aren't having a lot of success running the football. Well,
Speaker 1: that's putting more on the passing game. Uh. They have
Speaker 1: been behind at times, so that puts pressure on the quarterback.
Speaker 1: There's just been a lot of situations that where yeah,
Speaker 1: I do agree with you, I think unintentionally it is
Speaker 1: falling on Anti Luck. What I would say though, is
Speaker 1: he is getting more help than he's gotten in the
Speaker 1: past from his defense. Now, the Patriots put up some
Speaker 1: points last week and that was a little bit out
Speaker 1: of character for the defense. But I do think for
Speaker 1: week the week, the defense is giving them a chance.
Speaker 1: Even the previous game against Houston, I believe they scored
Speaker 1: seven thirty eight points in that game, but four team
Speaker 1: of those points came off turnovers, one in the end
Speaker 1: zone and one inside the teary line. So the defense
Speaker 1: has given them a chance and that's where and wos
Speaker 1: getting a little bit of a lift from right now.
Speaker 1: So in fact, in some cases on some Sundays, it's
Speaker 1: a situation where the offense isn't carrying its ownly. So,
Speaker 1: so we'll see what happens on this Sunday. But but
Speaker 1: I do think it would certainly behooved them to get
Speaker 1: a running game going and take some of that pressure off.
Speaker 1: Andrew can't continue to throw the ball at this rate,
Speaker 1: whether his soldier is a per cent or not. It's
Speaker 1: just not really conducive to winning football. That was just
Speaker 1: it's unbelievable. I want to you mentioned the defense. I
Speaker 1: don't think that a lot of fans know a whole
Speaker 1: lot about the Colts defense, and so I want to
Speaker 1: know is what's the identity of the defense and what
Speaker 1: what do the players try to do? How do you
Speaker 1: try to take away an offense from the Colt's perspective?
Speaker 1: And for fans that don't know, is Darius Leonard? I mean,
Speaker 1: my god, this guy's really taking the NFL by storm.
Speaker 1: Is how good is Darius Leonard? Well, I'll start with
Speaker 1: your first question. Look, the defense is very reminiscent to
Speaker 1: to what you saw with the Colts under Tony Dungee.
Speaker 1: Actually ironically so it's very similar to that, very similar
Speaker 1: to what Lovey Smith ran with the Chicago Bears, and
Speaker 1: those are very simplistic schemes there's not a lot of pressures,
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of coverage. Is they're pretty basic
Speaker 1: and they're not gonna bring a lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of blizzes. There's not a lot of complex packages. So
Speaker 1: I think what you're gonna see is they're about running
Speaker 1: and hitting basically it. I mean, there's some complexities in it,
Speaker 1: and they do have some things that they'll they'll they'll
Speaker 1: sort of scheme up and and throw at you from
Speaker 1: week to week. But it's not gonna be a ton
Speaker 1: you know what you're going to get. I mean, as
Speaker 1: as the coaches have told me on numerous occasions, you know,
Speaker 1: we do what we do. So it's not a mystery
Speaker 1: to anyone. Uh, the chest coaches are not going to
Speaker 1: look at this team defensively on film and be confused.
Speaker 1: Like it's not that confusing, frankly. So it's really about, look,
Speaker 1: we we believe. This is their philosophy is we believe
Speaker 1: we can get to the football, get three or four
Speaker 1: guys to the football and prevent the big plays. And
Speaker 1: that's really the essence of it. It's been relatively effective.
Speaker 1: I do think one of the things that the Colts
Speaker 1: have really struggled with the last two season is just
Speaker 1: giving up huge plays. That's something that I think has
Speaker 1: been corralsed a little bit this year. So I think
Speaker 1: that is an indication of this scheme having intended effect.
Speaker 1: Now what can happen is a lot of times teams
Speaker 1: can kind of uh you can kind of end up
Speaker 1: dying by papercut if you will, and and maybe not
Speaker 1: getting off the field. So they are a little bit
Speaker 1: of an undersized defense, so that sometimes works against them.
Speaker 1: Uh they you know, they certainly play a lot of
Speaker 1: zero so teams that that are sort of guilt to
Speaker 1: beat zones, they tend to have some success. So there
Speaker 1: are they can be beat right and and they're not
Speaker 1: a finished product by any stretch. But I do like
Speaker 1: the concept and and they're playing it well. It's really
Speaker 1: about not pulling anybody. It's just about doing what you
Speaker 1: do at a very very high level. That's the defense.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned Darius Leonard. This is not a defense
Speaker 1: with a lot of household names. I mean very very
Speaker 1: very few. Uh. Millie Cooker is maybe a guy people know.
Speaker 1: He's the first round pick coming off an a c
Speaker 1: L a little bit of a slow start, but he
Speaker 1: I think has immense potential. But other than him, there's
Speaker 1: not a ton of guys on this team that you
Speaker 1: really would consider household names. But Darius Leonard I think
Speaker 1: is gonna be one of those names here pretty soon.
Speaker 1: This guy's having He did miss Thursday night's game against England,
Speaker 1: but this guy is having an incredible season so far.
Speaker 1: He's he's already gotten buzz I think from people who
Speaker 1: have watched him. He talked to some endless and they're
Speaker 1: talking about Rookie of the year buzz for this guy.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's UH two. I don't think it's
Speaker 1: too bold at all to to make those kinds of proclamations. UM.
Speaker 1: What he is basically a sideline to scideline player. UM.
Speaker 1: In my earlier in my career career, I covered the
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they had Derek Brooks playing week
Speaker 1: side linebacker. Right, he's got Derrick Brooks. I'm not suggesting that,
Speaker 1: but he plays a style very similar to Derek Brooks.
Speaker 1: He's great in coverage, he just finds the football. And
Speaker 1: so that's sort of my UH blueprint for that position,
Speaker 1: the weak side linebacker in this particular scheme. My blueprint
Speaker 1: is Derek Brooks and he fits that blueprint. Not in
Speaker 1: terms of talent, he's not there yet. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: that's Crazy's the guys in the hall same. But what
Speaker 1: I am saying is he plays that style of football
Speaker 1: and it's the perfect fit for this scheme. So between
Speaker 1: the scheme fit and just his football i Q which
Speaker 1: is really really off the charts. He's running the defensive huddle, Uh,
Speaker 1: he's he's wearing the green dot on the helmet's he's
Speaker 1: I think a guy who has already really earned his
Speaker 1: coaches trust as a rookie twenty three years old. All
Speaker 1: those things combine, I think make him just a really
Speaker 1: really great prospect, and the culture drives with him. So
Speaker 1: when you say those Tony Dongee lud defenses and Love Smith,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking four three cover two, run to the football,
Speaker 1: play with speed and ferocity. With that being said, the
Speaker 1: Jets just rushed for three three yards. Do you think
Speaker 1: they're They're running game poses a threat to the Colts
Speaker 1: defense that is predicated on speed. Yeah, And I think
Speaker 1: those are the matchups that these kinds of schemes have trouble, right,
Speaker 1: And I remember, uh, the year the Colts went to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, the first Super Bowl under oh, well,
Speaker 1: I guess I was gonna say first under Tony Dungee,
Speaker 1: Tony Dundee's loan Super Bowl in two thousand and six.
Speaker 1: There was the run up to that. They had certainly
Speaker 1: a game where the Jacksonville Jaguars rush for three hundred
Speaker 1: yards and and there were a lot of doubts going
Speaker 1: into that postseason, like how is this team going, how
Speaker 1: is this defense wanted to hold up? You know, and
Speaker 1: they were able to sort of pull it together and
Speaker 1: and make that run into the postseason and win the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl ultimately. But I do think that is an
Speaker 1: example of of where this scheme can be problematic. So
Speaker 1: we'll see. I mean, they haven't played a ton of
Speaker 1: really run heavy teams, but the Patriots did have some
Speaker 1: success there and I still mixed in and we one
Speaker 1: had some success for Cincinnati. So I think that's their challenge.
Speaker 1: I think there they are a team that that's gonna
Speaker 1: make it difficult for you to throw the ball down
Speaker 1: the field. Again that yeah, yeah, well that's that's kind
Speaker 1: of the calling card. But but I think the one
Speaker 1: area where you can exploit this scheme is with a
Speaker 1: power running game. So that's gonna be the test. Stephen.
Speaker 1: What's been the fall out there in American's heartland after
Speaker 1: the St. Patrick's Day trade? Is the Jets went up
Speaker 1: to number three overall. The Colts moved back, picking up
Speaker 1: Quentin Nelson from Notre Dame, an offensive lineman who could
Speaker 1: be a really good one, a fixture up in front
Speaker 1: of Andrew Luck for maybe the next time to fifteen years.
Speaker 1: And then they picked up a three second round picks
Speaker 1: in the process. Of course, Yeah, I tell you what
Speaker 1: I mean. I thought fans really had a reaction to that,
Speaker 1: to that trade, and you know, you know, with fins,
Speaker 1: never know how these things are gonna go. And I
Speaker 1: was pleasantly surprised. I thought people really had an open
Speaker 1: mind about it, and they understood that this was a
Speaker 1: long term vision and in order to execute your long
Speaker 1: term visions, well you need draft picks. And that's what
Speaker 1: this was about. This was about draft picks. And yet
Speaker 1: they were still able to get the player they loved
Speaker 1: in Clinton Nelson, and they were willing to take that
Speaker 1: risk that be there. I think it was, you know,
Speaker 1: a pretty reasonable risk to take given the needs of
Speaker 1: the players in front of them. So or the teams
Speaker 1: in front of them, so they forecasted it perfectly, the Colts,
Speaker 1: and they were able to pick up some extra picks.
Speaker 1: They feel good about their their hall of second rounders.
Speaker 1: I mean they've got they picked. They had four second
Speaker 1: rounders this year, and they feel pretty good about all
Speaker 1: those guys. So they were able to really hit some
Speaker 1: important spots to the football team, various learners one of
Speaker 1: those second round picks, for example. So they feel great
Speaker 1: about it, and I think they should. I think they
Speaker 1: did a pretty good job. These guys are Obviously the
Speaker 1: jury still out on all those young players, but if
Speaker 1: you're trying to rebuild a roster, the the quickest way
Speaker 1: to do it is to get an accumulation of draft picks.
Speaker 1: And and that has been the goal for j M
Speaker 1: because Ballard his first two drafts, and that trade with
Speaker 1: the Jets was a huge part of that. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think both teams are gonna look back at the straight
Speaker 1: in five seven years and they're both going to be happy.
Speaker 1: I think it's a win win, and and that's really
Speaker 1: the best case scenario. I thought that way when it happened,
Speaker 1: and of course at that point you're forecasting. But now
Speaker 1: that we have something to look back on. I think
Speaker 1: it's really truly is shaping up that way, and and
Speaker 1: I think both teams got the best of both worlds
Speaker 1: out of this. I think they're both very happy and
Speaker 1: should be speaking of the best world. Do you think
Speaker 1: the Colts were fortunate the way that all played out?
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniels ended up staying in New England, of course,
Speaker 1: but the Colts came right back and got a guy
Speaker 1: who I think it's been very impressive so far in
Speaker 1: a frank right, because the Colts, like you mentioned before,
Speaker 1: and then been in every game. Yes, they lost to
Speaker 1: New England by four team points, but you look at
Speaker 1: these other losses on the schedule, whether whether that be
Speaker 1: Cincinnati an opening day, I think that's a one point game,
Speaker 1: Philadelphia was a couple of point game, Houston overtime game.
Speaker 1: Rich seems like he's got that moving in the right direction. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And here's another fun fact other than the New England game,
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the the loft is outside of New England.
Speaker 1: So Cincinnati, Houston, and Philadelphia, the Colts were driving for
Speaker 1: the win on their last possession. I think in each
Speaker 1: case under a minute ago, we're driving for the win
Speaker 1: and just for various reasons, didn't get it done. Un Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: they got to the four yard line that stopped on downs.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was just a tragic way to lose.
Speaker 1: But in the event, I do think that, yes, Frank
Speaker 1: Wright is a really great fit for this team. As
Speaker 1: I said, they're really young, so I think leadership is
Speaker 1: huge for this team. And look, I don't know Josh McDaniels.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't have a personal relationship with
Speaker 1: the guy, but I think the questions about him are
Speaker 1: our areas where they were there was a very important
Speaker 1: questions to be answered for this team. In other words,
Speaker 1: what I mean by that is, you know, lead us hip,
Speaker 1: uh bringing you know, sort of bringing character to that
Speaker 1: locker room. Can he do that? You know, I don't know,
Speaker 1: can you get it? You can get players to follow
Speaker 1: him at tough times things like that. Those are questions
Speaker 1: that I think we're we're difficult to answer about Josh McDaniels.
Speaker 1: What I liked about the possible higher was offensively he
Speaker 1: was going to get answered about going I mean, I
Speaker 1: had no doubts about that, So that's great. But here
Speaker 1: the culture getting that from Frank Raich. They're getting a
Speaker 1: guy with really interesting offensive scheme okay, really innovative, are
Speaker 1: very uh, very analytics driven, much like Douck Peterson and
Speaker 1: Philly I think, really cutting edge stuff offensively. They're getting that,
Speaker 1: but they're also getting what seems to be a really
Speaker 1: I think a great leader of men in Frank Rich
Speaker 1: who uh, I think from day one really got his
Speaker 1: guys to buy in and and that was hard to do.
Speaker 1: I mean, after what happened. I mean, you're the second choice,
Speaker 1: you're the fallback plan, and you've got to get these
Speaker 1: guys to come on board and to buy into what
Speaker 1: you're selling. And he was able to do that right away.
Speaker 1: So he just I think has had a compelling message
Speaker 1: for his players that they have been just willing to
Speaker 1: follow him. As I said, from day one, it has
Speaker 1: never been an issue, and that's a credit to Frank Wright.
Speaker 1: The final question on my end here, Stephen, is that
Speaker 1: Marcus Hunt is someone that I think fans are somewhat
Speaker 1: familiar with, and I think NFL fans are somewhat familiar with.
Speaker 1: But what's gone on from your perspective in the resurgence
Speaker 1: of Marcus Hunt as one of the very good d
Speaker 1: linemen of his class. It's astounding. I don't, I don't
Speaker 1: know how this happened. Marcus Hunt was on this team
Speaker 1: last year and I barely called his name. I don't
Speaker 1: even know if I really storried about Marcus Unt. He
Speaker 1: just wasn't really a factor. And you know, he always
Speaker 1: had sort of a special team's presence, so that was
Speaker 1: always helpful to keep him on a roster. He could
Speaker 1: give you some some good snaps, whether a defensive end
Speaker 1: or at the interior spot, and you know, maybe as
Speaker 1: a depth player, but certainly wasn't a frontline player this year.
Speaker 1: There's a combination of things. Um, it's uh, it's a
Speaker 1: change in scheme. He really has adapted well to it.
Speaker 1: I don't. I think he's played the four or three before,
Speaker 1: but not in this style of fortnery. So this is
Speaker 1: more of a more of an attacking scheme. Get up
Speaker 1: the field, get off the ball. Uh. It's not a
Speaker 1: uh they're they're playing in the gaps, they're shooting gaps
Speaker 1: and and basically it's this in uh, what they're asking
Speaker 1: from their defensive linemen. So he adapts well to that,
Speaker 1: and then he's just getting more opportunity I looked back
Speaker 1: at his snap counts over the years, and this is,
Speaker 1: I mean, by fur the most Marcus Hunt has ever played.
Speaker 1: It's last year Cincinnati, if I remember correctly, he played
Speaker 1: about fifteen percent of the defensive snaps and it's really
Speaker 1: hard too much in that situation. Now, you could argue
Speaker 1: he didn't earn more snaps, and that's probably what the
Speaker 1: Bengals would tell you. Uh, And that's that's fine, that's
Speaker 1: not that's not an illegitimate argument. I think that's very fair.
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matter is he's getting opportunities
Speaker 1: and he's making most of them, and I think that
Speaker 1: builds confidence. And he just looks really comfortable right now.
Speaker 1: And the other thing is he's stills a versatility. He
Speaker 1: started off the year defensive end. Uh, some injuries popped
Speaker 1: up and they asked him to play three technique defensive tackle. Well,
Speaker 1: that ended up being very productive for Marcus Hunt, and
Speaker 1: so he's actually now spending more time there. The Colts
Speaker 1: really liked that spot for him, so uh, they're they're
Speaker 1: fine with it. They're ready for him to keep this up.
Speaker 1: That is Stephen Holder of the Athletic. You can follow
Speaker 1: him on Twitter at holder, Stephen with a pH not
Speaker 1: in f Stephen, thank you so much for coming on
Speaker 1: the Official Jets Podcast and we'll see you Sunday alright,
Speaker 1: looking forward to it. Thanks for having me, Thanks Stephen. Okay, so,
Speaker 1: green's a big picture here for the Jets. Damn an
Speaker 1: opportunity to get to three and three in the biggest
Speaker 1: game ever. As you're calling that, well, you could almost
Speaker 1: call it the Super Bowl, no pun intended. We will
Speaker 1: get there in a second. But how about this. Miami's
Speaker 1: playing the Bears. Bears are in Chicago. I don't know
Speaker 1: where that game is and I don't know I don't
Speaker 1: have it. And New England is playing Kansas City. I'm
Speaker 1: excited to watch that game. That's football. There is a
Speaker 1: chance the Jets could be sitting there Sunday night at
Speaker 1: three and three. The Dolphins could be three and three,
Speaker 1: The Patriots could be three and three. The Patriots will score.
Speaker 1: Are they gonna be able to score enough against that
Speaker 1: freak Patty Mahomes and company? Okay, this the threes thing
Speaker 1: is really blowing my mind here with the three and three,
Speaker 1: the three and three, the Jets straight up from six
Speaker 1: to three and oh, by the way, the Jets are
Speaker 1: honoring the team of Super Bowl three. There is some
Speaker 1: weird stuff going on right now. That's not weird because
Speaker 1: that's fifty but it's Super Bowl three fifty years And
Speaker 1: if you haven't checked out that podcast with Bob Letterer,
Speaker 1: that's posted as well, so check that out. Jets colts. Oh,
Speaker 1: everybody's asking me about uniforms all the time, white on white,
Speaker 1: gray face masks like they did January twelve night. But
Speaker 1: but the decals not changing, right, No, just just making
Speaker 1: sure because some fans is gonna be like, are they
Speaker 1: the old helmets? No. The final score, I'm very excited
Speaker 1: at sixteen and seven. Could you imagine if that was
Speaker 1: the final score of this game? Now, that would bring
Speaker 1: the house down A lot of festivities this weekend. The
Speaker 1: Super Bowl three team, we'll be here um throughout the weekend.
Speaker 1: I think they arrived on Friday and Saturday will be
Speaker 1: out here after walk through and then Saturday night Chris
Speaker 1: Berman is hosting at dinner at Life Stadium. The Q
Speaker 1: and A is going to be broadcast live stream live
Speaker 1: on some Jets platforms. Sunday, we gotta breakfast um, and
Speaker 1: then you gotta check out pregame Central and eleven a m.
Speaker 1: There's a lot going on. And for the record, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins and Patriots are home. The Bills are on the
Speaker 1: road against Texas Bills and Texans. That will probably be
Speaker 1: a defensive struggle. Josh Allen is finding his way right now. Um.
Speaker 1: I think Sam Donald the Jets rookies a lot further
Speaker 1: advance in terms of pocket presence, getting rid of the
Speaker 1: football on time, and things like that. The Bills are
Speaker 1: taking baby steps right now, and they're winning with their
Speaker 1: defense and want two of their last three games. You
Speaker 1: can't forget about them and the equation so early in
Speaker 1: the season. But I'm just saying, there is a chance
Speaker 1: you could be looking at all these teams that sitting
Speaker 1: there within three and three. That probably won't happen, but
Speaker 1: the Jets have a halvan opportunity to get to get
Speaker 1: the three and three, And then wouldn't that be something
Speaker 1: The players can leave my Life stadium, the fans can
Speaker 1: celebrate Super Bowl three, and then you go home and
Speaker 1: watch Kansas City put one on New England. I think
Speaker 1: that's what we're all rooting for. So you're saying there's
Speaker 1: a chance. Dumb and Dumber a great movie but that's
Speaker 1: all we have here. On the Official Jets podcast this week,
Speaker 1: you get Jets and Colts Sunday, one o'clock met Life Stadium.
Speaker 1: We said it multiple times on multiple podcasts. Get Chip
Speaker 1: Hop Corner early. Don't go anywhere during halftime because the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl three team will be honored and you don't
Speaker 1: want to miss it. But that's all we have here
Speaker 1: and we'll see you Sunday