WEBVTT - The Group Chat Episode 15: Bye-bye London 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.920 Hey guys, we are back from London and back in 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.600 Bank of America Stadium where we are wrapping up our 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:11.040 stories from London. When everyone started yelling Luke like the 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:13.680 entire like, you know, they're like, what is happening? The 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:16.599 Americans are having a riot, and then we are handing 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:20.520 out our mid term grades for the Carolina Panthers. He's 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:24.320 not beating himself. He hasn't thrown interception yet. Yeah, this 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:26.400 the fumbles were an issue and that's something he's trying 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:28.640 to clean up. But he's not throwing any picks. All 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.400 of this and so much more on this week's the 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:44.479 Group Chat. You've been added to the group chat with 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:49.960 your friends Caroline, can Max Sensen, and Will Brian. We 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.880 are state side everyone, but we might still be on 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:56.760 London time. How did everyone wake up today? I did 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:02.080 wake up, Like Will, journey was a little different than ours, 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.520 so I don't We'll take that one first. Four thirty 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:08.800 this morning, that was after eleven hours on a plane 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.440 because of the flight. Actually had to get on the 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:13.479 plane and then was delayed while sitting on the plane. 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.160 Once we got on the plane, we were then told 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.200 the air conditioning isn't working, so sit there in your 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.119 seats on a packed flight while they go to fixed 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.959 air conditioning for however long an hour, and then another 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.840 hour to find the people to do the paperwork. Yeah, 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:31.080 that was not delightful. And then and then no, I 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.080 think I was on an aisle okay, But then once 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.760 we got going, they said, like the little little screens 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.160 you know with the TVs and movies like that, would 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.240 get going in like thirty minutes, and it just never 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:43.920 turned on, just never worked the whole flight. What do 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:47.200 you do? I actually got lucky that I had downloaded 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:51.200 some Peaky Blinders, so I watched four episodes of the 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:57.000 Peaky blind Does if you haven't Thomas Shelby, I can't 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:58.760 what they say on there. I can't say you can't 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.120 say that because we'll get in trouble. But you should 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.680 watch the BBC on Netflix Peaky Blind. I got to 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.040 check it out. It's on Netflix. That just started the 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:09.600 final season or the most recent season. Yeah. I've never 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:12.120 seen Christian gets so excited about meeting somebody. Yes, this 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:16.480 was an interesting fact. Christian asked for this photo. He's 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:20.720 never like, he's not one to do that, he said, Hey, Finn, 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:24.360 which fun fact. If you watch Peaky Blinders, Michael on 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.440 the show is who was there in real life. Michael's 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:32.639 name Finn. It's also a fan So when someone said like, oh, 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:35.320 you know Finn, Yeah, it's Finn is here. I was 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:37.680 expecting character Finn and then I looked. I was like, 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.079 that's not Finn, but it looks a lot like Michael. 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:44.200 That was looked Christian. It was very cool. I love that. 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:47.440 I love when you see people who people fan boy 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.280 and girl about beIN fan girl boy about someone else. 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.520 So that was a fun, a fun little tidbit. But 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:56.040 our trip back to the States was not quite as 0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:01.040 dramatic as Wills. However, something that I found funny about 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.600 this trip was so the Buccaneers, because they were the 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.480 home team, they were able to leave first. So after 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.640 the game, what normally happens on an away game is 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.960 an hour after the game ends, you're on the bus 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:17.200 and you're leaving. That's in a dream world. But this 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:18.840 time they were saying, you have plenty of time, you 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.640 have plenty of time, and they weren't kidding. About two 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:23.880 and a half hours after the game and ended, we're 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.800 sitting on the bus, still waiting to go. We finally leave, 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.800 and then we get to the airport, which it was 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.360 like a forty five minute trip to the airport. We 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:35.520 get to the airport, then we have to go through 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:37.960 normal security, which all of you out there are like, oh, 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.080 you poor things. We get it, but we're spoiled. So 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:43.760 we had to go through normal security, and they were 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:48.240 taking everyone's bag. Everyone like we forgot how to fly. 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:50.960 And I'll say, when I fly domestically, I don't put 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:54.920 all my liquids in one bag. They just don't really care. 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:58.880 Internationally they care, so they were pulling everyone's bag, the 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:03.000 poor medical bag that the athletic trainers had. They didn't. 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.080 I didn't stand a chance. So then we finally get through, 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:09.440 and you're walking through the airport to do and you 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:12.720 get to the gate and you're like, all right, we 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:15.240 finally made it, like three and a half four hours 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:17.640 after the game, and then you walk outside and there's 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:19.880 a bus. Yeah, I've got to take the shuttle. Then 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:22.560 you've got to take the shuttle from the gate to 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.960 the actual plane. It just was like a thank goodness 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:29.039 we won, because it was this like series of comical 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.839 little steps to finally get on the dad gumplane. And 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:35.800 we made it. Can you imagine having thrown five interceptions 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.320 and having to go through that process and lost to 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:42.320 fumble people. People were getting a little testy about their 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:44.400 liquids as we were going through security. But I'll think 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.240 at least we won. If we would have lost, it's 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:51.279 a long way to go, a long way ago, and 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.200 just all the little nuances to get back. So good 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.080 job Panthers. That airport experience was cool for the fans 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:58.960 because a bunch of them ran into the players to 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:00.880 take pictures and stuff, to which I kept seeing on 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:03.359 social media. So that, like having to go through the 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.279 normal security, allowed for some pretty cool fan moments. It was. 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.159 That was really neat too. I we talked about this 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.120 on the previous podcast, but coming into Heathrow, how many 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.200 fans they were that was very very cool. I didn't 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.440 we didn't see as many going out. Yeah, so I 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:18.520 was actually on that flight with all those fans. We 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:20.720 got in like thirty minutes before the team did, and 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:23.480 so it's like, you know, it's the back and forth 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.599 of the lanes going through customs, and so they're all there, 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:29.880 a full flight of however, many several hundred, all crowded 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.080 in one space, and then there's like the further lane, 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:34.960 the fast lane that all the team just kind of 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.920 walked by everybody, and I was up near the front 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.279 where the customs agents were, and they started getting freaked 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:45.159 out when everyone started yelling Luke like the entire like, 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.560 you know, they're like, what is happening? The Americans are 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.960 having a riot? You know, like what's going on? Yeah, yeah, 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:52.719 it was. It was pretty intense because you guys, I 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.200 guess we're probably behind the players, so they didn't hear that, 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.680 but yeah, they were just screaming as everyone came by. 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.320 It was it was pretty cool, that's all. And that's 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:02.120 what makes these games so cool is you just don't 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.120 know what you're going to expect when you go to London. 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:06.480 But thank goodness, it ended in a win. So it's 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.200 all positive news over here, except for the fact that 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:14.640 I went to bed last night around and I was 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:18.480 I was like in bed at eight thirty, woke up 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:23.120 wide eyed and ready to come to work, like five. Ah, 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:25.279 who wants to come to work? Who wants to do that? 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:27.120 Although it was kind of nice, I did kind of 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:29.320 like lay there for a minute thing like get back 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:31.560 to sleep, and I was like, actually, no, because when 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.320 am I ever this awake in the morning, I'm never 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.200 this away. So I got out of bed, enjoyed a 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:39.159 nice slow morning. It was in the office an hour 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:43.839 and a half early, employee of the employe of the 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.400 day except for yesterday because we had an optional stay 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.640 at home workday. I'm not sure if that was officially 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.840 what they said, but that's what I said for myself. 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:55.880 I don't know that memo. I stayed at home on 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.320 Monday after coming in. I do think there were a 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.800 couple of people came in, but thankfully for me, I 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:07.080 did not well deserved. I was only in for a 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:09.920 few hours only, if not deserve for you you. I 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:11.760 was here for a few and that was it. I 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.200 had to say. I had to Kelly and come back 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:16.200 and make sure the office was still in one piece 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:18.560 and we got some cool new posters on the wall. 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.600 She did. She redecorated. While it's like extreme home makeover. 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:25.200 Oh that's nice. We'll hope you guys enjoyed the weekend 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.400 and enjoyed all that London had to offer. If you 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.240 went or if you were just falling along with our coverage, 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.040 we certainly had a good time over there and sending 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:38.400 some content back. But now it's the bye and I 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:40.720 love it. Are you guys fans of these bye weeks? 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:43.760 Oh my god? How could you not be? Some people 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.920 who doesn't like it? Give me names? Well I don't 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:50.280 work with any, but give me names. I will go 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.320 after it. You know, it's really just the fans, which 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:56.440 I get you your team's not playing, but yeah, we 0:07:56.520 --> 0:08:00.120 need them. I love it. This one chance and the 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:05.160 entire fall winter for those of us who are you know, 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:08.080 attached to an NFL schedule to have an actual weekend? 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.480 So yeah, how could you not? Would you not be 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:12.880 excited about that? Players? I'll tell you what. The players 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:14.680 are excited about it too. No one looks more forward 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:16.080 to it than the players, that is true. What are 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.120 you guys going to do? Well? I think I'm gonna 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.680 go hiking on Saturday. It's the weather. We came back 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:24.320 to some nice weather here in Charlotte and try to 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.920 go get out hopefully the weather it's not raining, but 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.280 get outside. Well. Last year I think I went to 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:31.560 like a Clumpson game, but I think they're on the 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.640 road this week, so cool. Wife and I are going 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:36.719 to take the dog down to Charleston. He's never been 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:38.760 to the beach before, so we're gonna go down for 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:44.120 a nice family vacation weekend solvents. Uh. First question, it's 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:45.920 about the dogs. Sorry, sorry, sorry that one, and then 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:50.040 I'll get to you. He's a Cocker Spaniel poodle mix, 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.439 otherwise known as a cockapoo. Uh. He's twenty seven pounds 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:57.720 of pure adorable cuteness. He's the best. His name is Cooper. 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:04.200 And your question was yes, we'll be Sullivan's Island. That's exciting, awesome. Well, 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.720 I guess I'm one of those people that technically doesn't 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.160 love the bye because I'm still going to go watch football. 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:11.880 I'm going to visit my boyfriend in Indianapolis and watch 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:16.640 the Colts play during our bye week. I'm that person. 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.040 They are playing the Houston Texans. Oh, you're gonna set 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.079 so I will see Houston again. I since we already 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:25.240 played them. This is a technically a scouting report, but 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:27.840 so we're you gonna watch from This will be a 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.000 unique experience for you, right after being on the sideline 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.839 all those years. This is so I actually went our 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.160 Thursday night game. I went to Nashville to watch the 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.320 Colts play the Titans. So I did do some pre 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:40.920 that was pre scouting. That's what the trip was. Um. 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.559 But I was at the sideline pass for a pregame 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:45.600 and then sat in the stands, and that was my 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.520 first experience of being able to drink a beer in 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:50.920 the NFL football game. Like I didn't realize it until 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.079 I went to go sit down. I passed the concession 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.600 stand and I was like, whoa, I can get a beer. 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:58.160 This is this is very cool. So in Indy, I've 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:01.320 never been to a game game just as a fan. 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:03.319 So I will be on the sidelines for a pregame 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.960 to say hello to everyone and all my former co workers, 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.680 and then I'm gonna sit in his seats. A girlfriend 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.680 and I are going to go and just be fans. 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.600 It's gonna it's gonna be cool. I'm excited. But let's 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.320 go into mid term grades here for this team, because 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.280 we are not quite halfway. Although it does blow my 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:23.840 mind that after this forty nine Ers game, we're halfway 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.480 through the season. Did anyone just did we get that? 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.120 Just blink? And here we are? Really if you count 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:32.640 the preseason, we're over halfway. Um, But I think this 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:34.400 is a really fun team to look back on and 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:37.640 see the difference between when the sky was falling of 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:39.520 O and two and then they've gone on this four 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.360 game win streak. All that has happened and all the 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:44.360 depth that is being used and that will have to 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.880 continue to be used. Or we're coming up on this 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:50.079 interesting debate of this Cam Newton Kyle Allen, which we're 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:53.600 not going to completely dive into today because that deserves 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:55.800 its own podcast. So we've got Will's dating life in 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:01.800 a Cam Newton Kyle Allen episode on that one coming 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:05.360 up for you. But let's just go first with overview 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.160 of this team. When you thought back at the end 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.600 of training camp, preseason had ended, we're looking at the 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:14.319 regular season. Were you expecting a four and two team? 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.600 And maybe some hot takes that you remember that we 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.040 either took or other people talk about what this team 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:25.319 was going to be. I think that we were cautiously 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:29.199 optimistic about this defense. I think all of the moves 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:31.400 in the off season to bring these guys in, the 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:36.000 Burns draft pick, the Bruce Irvants signing, Gerald McCoy signing, like, 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.480 I think there's definitely optimism about what this this new front. 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:41.640 All the stuff was gonna look like and then it 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.400 kind of like fell down a little bit and like, oh, 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.400 maybe maybe it's not as good as we all thought. 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:52.440 And now they're pretty much second in most defensive categories takeaways, uh, sacks, 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.920 quarterback pressures, all that kind of thing. So there, they've 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:59.480 they've been stepping up, and I think that they're now 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:01.640 on a level they're on a track of like when 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:03.680 is this going to stop? I've been kind of waiting 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.120 for them not to be able to do it, and 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:07.880 it's like each week they keep living up to it. 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:09.840 You know, they keep putting more pressure on, they keep 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:13.280 getting to the quarterback, and it's pretty incredible. Yeah, the defense, 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:15.360 I think that that's where you start when you look 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:17.560 at what an O and two football team, how it 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:21.600 became a foreign two football team. The sacks, as you mentioned, well, 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.160 they lead the league in sacks right now and the takeaways. 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.079 And when you get when those two things are happening 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:30.280 and you're so disruptive on defense, it's making things easier 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.560 for the offense. And in in other cases they're they're 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.320 they're scoring. I mean, we've seen some defensive scores and um, 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.760 you know, the position, shorter fields, I mean, it's just 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.600 setting the table for Kyle Allen in that offense. Um, 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:45.600 So there's no there's no doubt what the defense has 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.120 done is kind of spearheaded things. And then of course 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:49.960 the focus is going to be on the quarterback position. 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.480 Cam was owing to Kyle is four oh. Um. What 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:57.120 Kyle is doing is exactly what you would ask a 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.600 guy in this position to do. He's not be be himself. 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:04.120 He hasn't thrown interception yet. Yeah, the fumbles were an issue, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.760 and that's something he's trying to clean up. But he's 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:09.480 not throwing any picks, he's not taking unnecessary risks. He's 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:13.040 spreading the ball around. He's doing his job and allowing 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.840 this offense to function the way it's intended to. With 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.120 an m VP candidate in the backfield. I mean, it 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:19.800 makes things a lot easier when you can turn around. 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:21.840 You've got Christian Vicaffrey back there to hand the ball 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:23.920 off to or use as an outlet in the passing game. 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.360 So you combine this defense and how disruptive it's being 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.840 with what Christian is doing offensively, and as long as 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:32.680 you don't beat yourself, you're going to be in position 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:34.920 of win ball games and that's and that's what we're seeing. 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.840 I over one didn't see it coming at Owen two. 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.040 I'll admit I felt victim to the panic. I thought 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:43.240 this could have gone off the rails pretty quickly. But 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:45.560 credit to this coaching staff and this team for kind 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:47.160 of and you heard it. It's kind of sounded like 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.000 coach Ben cliche. But we just got to continue to 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:54.040 ride this out. We can't, you know, overreact. Things are 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.800 going to work themselves out. We just gotta correct a 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:58.000 few things and look to be forward to at the bye. 0:13:58.240 --> 0:13:59.840 You could not ask for anything more as a Panther 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:03.000 fan and with you, I thought what was interesting when 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:04.959 we started this regular season is there were a lot 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.080 of questions for this team. And I think that's true 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.240 for indie team in the NFL, but you know, some 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:12.240 of the top tier teams there are questions. Is aren't 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:14.640 quite as pressing as I thought the Panthers had. It 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.520 was is your quarterback good? What are you gonna do? 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.000 You know? On defense? And the dB is the very 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:21.960 first question I was asked. I say this all the times, 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:23.880 can you play safety? Because you know no one out 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.880 there liked our safeties and then you have this defensive 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.000 line that looked great on paper, but you know, they 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.360 were struggling a little bit. They didn't have really the 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:33.560 preseason that we thought they were going to have. So 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.840 all the big questions going into this were big questions, 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.800 and they were maker break type questions. What I love 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.800 is that we've already gotten answers on pretty much all 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:46.280 of those except for the quarterback one. But what Kyle 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.480 Allen has done is allowed for some time for that 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.800 answer to come. I think I think, like you're, you've said, Max, 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.080 he's doing exactly what you want your backup quarterback to do. 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:56.480 It just doesn't always happen like that. You have a 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.560 lot of backup quarterbacks in this league that can't do 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.520 what Kyle is doing. But when a team signs a 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.400 backup quarterback, this is what they're looking for. Now, him 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:07.240 going you know four O is spectacular of what he's done, 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.560 but he still has his fumbles. He's you know, little 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:12.640 things here and there that he's struggling as a backup quarterback. 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.240 But uh, you're, you have kind of your answer ish there. 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:19.440 But then the defensive line answered the thieves, and the 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:23.080 you know, the secondary answered. I think the playmakers on offense, 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:24.880 they have answered, but there's still a lot of room 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.560 to grow there. And then Christian McCaffrey, what's that workload 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:29.120 going to be on him? Is he going to have 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:31.960 as many snaps? Well, that's been answered for us of 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:33.640 how they're going to use him, and I think when 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.680 you're you know, six weeks in, that's a pretty good 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:38.960 measuring stick. A lot a lot of times teams don't 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:42.200 get that until you know, past the midpoint in the 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:45.320 season or when you get into November and you're losing 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:47.760 some guys because this long season takes a toll on 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.080 their bodies. But you've seen the depth on this team 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:52.720 and you start to get some of these bodies back. Um, 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.560 now the questions are, Okay, if you get some guys 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.080 back on the offensive line who's not going to play 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:01.040 because they've been playing, well, that's a really good question 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:03.760 to have. Another one is Christian McCaffrey. Can he handle 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.800 the workload that he's been getting and being so productive. 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.480 That's a good question to have, especially when Reggie Botafon 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:11.520 has proven what he can do with his opportunity that 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:13.560 he got. So I like where this team is, but 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:16.760 I'm with you, Max, I was definitely with everyone else 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:20.080 when this guy was falling, hitting the panic button of oh, 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.640 goshen to where is this thing going? You starting two 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.080 and you put yourself in a back into a corner 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:27.680 like that. They lost the first two games at home, 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.680 they had to go on the road. Um And, like 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:33.400 I said, I mean, you just gotta give everybody a 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:35.280 lot of credit for just kind of sticking to it. 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.760 And you mentioned it. I think another group that deserves 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:41.120 and praise. That offensive line was a huge question coming 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.480 into the year. Everybody looked back at what happened to Can. 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:45.200 I was like, Okay, they gotta they gotta protect the 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:49.200 quarterback hell of a lot better than they did. And 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.640 things were not made easy for them. The injury to 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.960 Trey Turner, their Pro Bowl right guard. You're shifting around 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:58.040 Darryl Williams to left tackle and putting him over a guard. 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:00.320 Great little the second round pick, it's you know, a 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:02.600 couple of concussions, and now you've got a sixth round pick, 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.480 Dennis Daily starting a left tackle. And yet in spite 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:07.720 of it all, the offensive line is playing as well 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:11.200 as it has quite a while. Um, And I think 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.600 that group deserves a ton of credit and that was 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.720 a huge question coming into the year, and to Caroline's point, 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:18.600 now it's another one of those good problems to have. 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:21.320 It's we've got too many guys now who are deserving 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.320 a playing time and we can only can field five 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.119 offensive lineman typically at a time. So that's something that 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:29.040 I'll get sorted out after the bye week. Um. But yeah, 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.439 what that group is doing, I think it's been has 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.119 been huge for this team because everyone looks at the 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:35.560 skill players and you know, you know, really wants to 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.280 delve too far into the offensive line. But when you 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:40.639 really look back at what happened last year, that was 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.040 that was a big area that this team needed to address, 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.640 and you saw two draft picks bringing in Matt Paradis. 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:47.920 It was something that they really honed in on, and 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:51.120 especially with the injuries they've suffered, that's come in hugely 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.720 clutch to have Dennis Daily ready to go in there 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:57.040 and play when you've got down to your third left tackle. UM, 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:00.000 so kudos those guys big time and Greg Van wrote 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.120 and Taylor Moten have been doing their job, have been fantastic. 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:06.480 I think that one question that has now emerged in 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:09.679 the last couple of weeks is special teams. Is you 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.280 know the Panthers today released Ray Ray McLeod. We couldn't 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.080 tell you right now, tournament, you don't you don't know, um, 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:16.639 so that that's something that has to be stored out 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.119 the next two weeks. I mean, Joey Sly, there's a 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:20.720 lot of questions about him coming in and all of 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:22.280 a sudden we thought he was a pro Bowl kicker, 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.000 hit ten in a row, hit fifty yards, fifty yards 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:26.879 like it was nothing, and now he's just a few couple. 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:29.119 So it's kind of like getting him back on track 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:31.159 and kind of making sure that he's doing what he 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:34.320 needs to be doing. But yeah, there are some still there. 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:36.200 I thought it was a great sign. For the past 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.320 few weeks. The Christian m v P talk has been 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:40.680 really the focus around here, right you know, Cam hasn't 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.159 been out there and everyone everyone's been making the jokes 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.320 when when Christian's back injury popped up, and this is 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:47.159 something I wrote about it. How many times did you 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.439 see the joke gurgitated? Well that's Adams when you're carrying 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:53.240 the whole team, you know. But what I thought was 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.280 really impressive was against Tampa Bay in London, they held 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.000 Christian McCaffrey at one point four yards per attempt, had 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:01.840 twenty two rushes for already one yards. They weren't going 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:04.359 to let Christian beat them. Of course, Christian, being the 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:06.399 player he is, is going to make his plays regardless. 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:09.600 He had that amazing yard touchdown catch, but on the whole, 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:12.080 the Buccaneers pretty much shut him down and they forced 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.160