Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL podcast has tips for Steve Bartin's
Speaker 1: podcasts from the Chris Wesley podcast studio. It's Around the NFL.
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Kanzas joined by heroes Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler.
Speaker 1: What's while money tag comes along? And I don't know
Speaker 1: what the hell is about? Zero context? Um, we look
Speaker 1: at each other, we do a little, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of fable giggle, and then we move on because it
Speaker 1: does no meaning. Does Steve Martin have a podcast? Who doesn't?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I know he's got a banjo Uh
Speaker 1: maybe it's a banjo podcast. I don't know. Do you
Speaker 1: know anyone that does not have? I mean, literally every
Speaker 1: human I know is is operating some sort of show
Speaker 1: with this about simone life with the Sessler's pod. I
Speaker 1: would definitely listen to that. She does not, So you've
Speaker 1: already foiled my theory. But you're right. This is the
Speaker 1: Tuesday show Around the NFL Podcas asked Greg is made
Speaker 1: it out of the BTS concert alive? You were able
Speaker 1: to navigate, Your daughter and your wife made it out
Speaker 1: of the venue. You got out and home apparently because
Speaker 1: you're here now, unless you never got them and there's
Speaker 1: still at the stadium somewhere. I don't know, Oh, I
Speaker 1: thought you were getting it. Took a while to get
Speaker 1: out that night, but it is nice. You know, we
Speaker 1: work here. It was nice when we walked over from
Speaker 1: the Chargers game the other night, and this time I
Speaker 1: just said, yeah, meet me at the bottom of the
Speaker 1: stairs outside of NFL Network, And there they were, you know,
Speaker 1: right after the show. Took took a long white way
Speaker 1: to get home. But what a what a tough cookie.
Speaker 1: You know that ellis is loses a tooth about an show,
Speaker 1: getting bloody, go, you know, running up to a bathroom,
Speaker 1: washed it out, get back to the seat in time
Speaker 1: for the show, standing up for three straight hours having Yeah, um, excellent.
Speaker 1: So bts is still owning the world where we live.
Speaker 1: But we have football to discuss. We gotta go one today. Uh.
Speaker 1: Brian Baldinger, the King of tape. I call him the
Speaker 1: tape Pitbull because he's the most fearsome of all tape dogs.
Speaker 1: That's new. I don't know if that's gonna take, but
Speaker 1: I think what I'm trying to get across is that
Speaker 1: he's peerless and ferocious, and anyone that tries to step
Speaker 1: to him, that's a level above a tape dog. Sure,
Speaker 1: I mean I hear where you're going with that. Everyone
Speaker 1: else is a tape golden retriever. When you get to
Speaker 1: Baldy and his ability to study, and I think we
Speaker 1: need his help because we need the game. And there
Speaker 1: are questions we have about what's going on in a
Speaker 1: very strange NFL season. We seek answers, so we turned
Speaker 1: to Baldi. He's coming up a little bit later. Also,
Speaker 1: Thursday Night Football, can you believe it? Week thirteen will
Speaker 1: kick off in just two short days in the Dallas Cowboys,
Speaker 1: who probably wish they had a normal schedule at some
Speaker 1: point where they play on a Sunday with all their
Speaker 1: COVID issues and injury issues. They are on a short week,
Speaker 1: although I guess they played last Thursday, so it's not
Speaker 1: a short week. But you know what I'm saying. Uh,
Speaker 1: they play against the Saints, who are free falling out
Speaker 1: into nothing right now. Uh, they are going to try
Speaker 1: to keep their seasonal. I we'll get to that in preview,
Speaker 1: that with Connie Fox the Tiny Box. But before that,
Speaker 1: you know what we mark, you know what we do
Speaker 1: around here. We're going to another aspect of football that
Speaker 1: occurred this week. Absolutely. We closed the door on week
Speaker 1: twelve with our Monday Night Football recap sponsored by not
Speaker 1: a goad damn thing. You hold it to no one
Speaker 1: holds mostly to nobody until they tell us. Then we
Speaker 1: are under lock and key with a zero control. Good
Speaker 1: little boys, Yeah, alright. Ricky Wilson takes the stack, looks
Speaker 1: over the middle. Then I grown into the df may
Speaker 1: teams the league. Now they just need a kick off. Ah,
Speaker 1: there it is. The Seattle Seahawks had a chance for
Speaker 1: a miracle comeback, could not get it done. Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: line drive incomplete pass Taylor Heineke throws his arms up
Speaker 1: and rejoices on the sideline because the Washington football team
Speaker 1: is alive and well in the NFC after a seventeen
Speaker 1: fifteen win at FedEx Field. My goodness, Mark. So it's
Speaker 1: funny because and we'll get to the Seahawks, which it's
Speaker 1: a whole other thing with him, but uh, montest sweat.
Speaker 1: He goes out for the year. Then Chase Young blows
Speaker 1: out his knee. He's out for the year. That's coming back, right,
Speaker 1: I think? So is he coming back? Oh? He had
Speaker 1: the jaw tough injury. There he'll come back at some point.
Speaker 1: He's still seat, but without these players, the defense has
Speaker 1: come alive and they're playing that Ron Rivera ball that
Speaker 1: Ron loves, running the ball forty three times for a
Speaker 1: buck fifty two and a touch in this game game.
Speaker 1: So Washington is relying on a old school style football
Speaker 1: and against the Seattle Seahawks team that cannot get out
Speaker 1: of its own way, that was good enough on Monday night.
Speaker 1: It is Uh, Greg and I were talking, I think
Speaker 1: before last week's preview show that Ron Rivera kind of
Speaker 1: does this everywhere he goes where it's like, let's start
Speaker 1: wicket slow, then round into shape, form an identity that
Speaker 1: looks a lot like Ron River and start kicking people's
Speaker 1: butt and often, like with teams that don't even end
Speaker 1: up that good. Remember that seven eight and one Panthers
Speaker 1: that won the division by winning force straight and then
Speaker 1: they did a similar thing last year and here they
Speaker 1: go again. They did they did. That was the game
Speaker 1: where they won three to two in the wildcard round
Speaker 1: and Cam completed like twelve centers passes and then was
Speaker 1: posing and smiling on the sideline like they just well,
Speaker 1: that's what victory that cardinal, right, who was that game anyway?
Speaker 1: Uh Yeah, So Washington uh gets it done with their defense,
Speaker 1: with their running game, Ron Rivera is feeling it and
Speaker 1: uh more are fun with Taylor Heineke, who uh didn't
Speaker 1: really stand out on a high level, but still twenty
Speaker 1: seven thirty five. And I just again appreciate the way
Speaker 1: he runs this offense, and I thought he made a
Speaker 1: lot of smart decisions as well. When he could have
Speaker 1: maybe forced it the way we've seen in the past,
Speaker 1: the way Russell Wilson has been known to do at
Speaker 1: times this year, he instead took the shorter option and
Speaker 1: kept them on this path, which was, Hey, Seattle stinks
Speaker 1: on offense, We're not gonna take extra chances. We're gonna
Speaker 1: count on our defense. And it paid off. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: mean it's the forty one minutes of possession had something
Speaker 1: to do with the football team and something to do
Speaker 1: with Seattle's defense. They beat them up on both lines,
Speaker 1: Washington and Taylor Heineke twenty three twenty five on passes
Speaker 1: a fewer than ten plus air yards. I mean they
Speaker 1: were hitting intermediate little shots and getting yards after the catch,
Speaker 1: and their ground game has really come to life. I
Speaker 1: mean they you know, JD mckissic, who I don't think
Speaker 1: it's been mentioned on this podcasts like all year. Well,
Speaker 1: then I've just mentioned him for the fifth time, and
Speaker 1: it's due. He deserves a little bit of a nod.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm with you. I mean, Taylor Heinekey. I
Speaker 1: get that the debate goes on whether or not he
Speaker 1: would continue on as um a functional starter after this season,
Speaker 1: But what more do you need to do to be
Speaker 1: watchable to run this offense? And they are? They are
Speaker 1: a team to me that like I had these little
Speaker 1: pet teams to shield the dislike of my own team
Speaker 1: and what they're doing to me inside. Um, Washington has
Speaker 1: shifted right into that. And I'm surprised because I've never
Speaker 1: really been into Washington on any Yes, well, they've got
Speaker 1: watch It's not surprising to me. Mark likes sixteen play
Speaker 1: drive absolutely often that end in field goals, Like that's
Speaker 1: what Marks into. At one point in this game, before
Speaker 1: that last Seas drive, it was seventy nine plays to
Speaker 1: thirty five. They had a fifteen play field goal drive
Speaker 1: in the first quarter, a couple of long ones in
Speaker 1: the middle, and then the biggest reason to give this
Speaker 1: offense some credit is that sixty play nine dr drive
Speaker 1: that they couldn't quite finish out because they didn't have
Speaker 1: a kicker. They would have kicked a field goal to
Speaker 1: win the game. Essentially, they didn't have it. The an
Speaker 1: overturned call that was questionable on the goal line, you know,
Speaker 1: ended that drive. But they held the ball for over
Speaker 1: eight minutes, and it's very similar to how they ended
Speaker 1: the game against Tampa. All that said, I don't want
Speaker 1: to give the offense like too much credit in a
Speaker 1: game where they went three and out about five times,
Speaker 1: like the defense was the star here for Ron Rivera
Speaker 1: and for Washington. Uh no, I mean Washington, I mean
Speaker 1: went three and out at least four or five times
Speaker 1: in this game. Seattle took it to the next level.
Speaker 1: They got the drive consecutive times. And there's only two
Speaker 1: teams in the season. A lot of times you don't
Speaker 1: get the ball back that many times if you keep
Speaker 1: there's only two teams in the NFL this season that
Speaker 1: have gone three and out five consecutive drives, and somehow
Speaker 1: it's the Seahawks twice. It's not surprising when you watch
Speaker 1: them though, it's just like historically shocking. It's it's unbelievable
Speaker 1: that it's gotten to that. But the end of the
Speaker 1: game just real quick. Uh, it's kind of a cliche.
Speaker 1: I don't even know what to catches anymore, like that,
Speaker 1: that's the thing that people say all the time. Right
Speaker 1: to night, I thought about West with that because nothing
Speaker 1: drove him crazy. That was his thing for about four
Speaker 1: years on this show, right, he said it drove him
Speaker 1: crazy to catch. At some point he thought. We kind
Speaker 1: of thought they fixed it in the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: I don't know that that touchdown catch at the end
Speaker 1: of the game that has to stand there and it
Speaker 1: and it kind of gets wiped away. I think it
Speaker 1: was Logan Thomas. Uh, it's ruled to catch on the field.
Speaker 1: There's no to me clear evidence. You kid know a
Speaker 1: catch when you see one, and and yet they overturn it.
Speaker 1: And thankfully, at least that's where my perspective on it,
Speaker 1: not just because the Jets draft pick keeps getting better
Speaker 1: because Seattle keeps losing. It's like Washington deserved to win
Speaker 1: that game. They made every play they needed to make,
Speaker 1: and then you make this arbitrary ruling that opens the
Speaker 1: door for Seattle to have this miracle come back. I
Speaker 1: didn't like that. The fact that they then recover the
Speaker 1: onside kick Seattle and go from missing the two point
Speaker 1: conversion uh to tie it at seventeen too, potentially getting
Speaker 1: the ball back near midfield to win on a field goal,
Speaker 1: only that then gets wiped away because one of the
Speaker 1: guys was lined up on the wrong side of the
Speaker 1: hash market. I mean, it's Seattle season in a nutshell.
Speaker 1: The frustration, there's just layers of it. That two point
Speaker 1: conversion you know that we heard before. To me, said
Speaker 1: it all about Russell Wilson, like that ball has gotta
Speaker 1: come out. I'm telling you, if like that was, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think of a mid level quarterback Mac Jones
Speaker 1: or Cousins most likely, or Tannehill. It's just like a
Speaker 1: timing throw and the guy's open right, and DK is
Speaker 1: open to his second receivers open too, and Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: just holds it. And I know they had that last
Speaker 1: minute drive where it felt like they're the Seahawks again.
Speaker 1: But even within that drive, there was that sack that
Speaker 1: I know you tweeted about, Dan, where Wilson's just holding
Speaker 1: the ball forever, forever and never. You could almost see
Speaker 1: him thinking it never gets to the thought, I gotta
Speaker 1: throw the ball away and get sacked there. And so
Speaker 1: even even in that comeback attempt, which should have been great,
Speaker 1: like that two point conversion, left me with such a
Speaker 1: sour taste because I'm just thinking, like, what is going
Speaker 1: on with Russell Wilson. I mean he is he is
Speaker 1: in the most non functional offense by far of his career.
Speaker 1: He leads the team last night with sixty functional earlier
Speaker 1: in the season. That's the part I don't get. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying where they are now, I mean he's not.
Speaker 1: He's It's like it's not just on Russell Wilson. He's
Speaker 1: not playing well, but I mean there's like they're out
Speaker 1: of tune. Like DK Metcalf doesn't get a caste in
Speaker 1: the game on Shane Waldron. How much have we put
Speaker 1: on Russell Wilson? How much should be put on the
Speaker 1: fact that Russell Wilson uh came back early from the
Speaker 1: thumb the finger surgery. He says his fingers absolutely fine.
Speaker 1: So if he's telling but then that's not the team missed.
Speaker 1: He's missed a lot of throws since he's come back.
Speaker 1: In the DK Metcalf thing is, Greg you were kind
Speaker 1: of beating the drum on this, uh for a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks now it almost looked like he took himself
Speaker 1: out of that game. Uh do you know who he
Speaker 1: was complaining to you on the sideline too. That's the
Speaker 1: Yaks Twitter love that they're like, there's something going on here.
Speaker 1: You know, it's always been a guy that keeps a
Speaker 1: locker room together. One thing that I know he d
Speaker 1: k Baca was just venting. But to get Brian Greasy
Speaker 1: criticizing Russell Wilson for not seeing the field, it's like
Speaker 1: it takes, it takes a lot. I think. I think
Speaker 1: they're just so hesitant. I'm not saying it's all in
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson. It's not like they were lighting it up
Speaker 1: with Gino. But they weren't much. They weren't different, that's
Speaker 1: for sure. And I know his fingers hurt, but a
Speaker 1: lot of it just seems like there's open guys and
Speaker 1: he's not throwing it to him. And Pete Carroll came
Speaker 1: about as close as he could. He was very supportive
Speaker 1: Russell Wison. But to just admitting that, I think it
Speaker 1: anyone that watches his film right now can can see
Speaker 1: that that for whatever reason, he has scrambled. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I can I just say something, we have emergency quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: This is going to sound like a bit because I
Speaker 1: talked about the kicker club. But doesn't this happen enough
Speaker 1: now we see this enough during a season. We're losing
Speaker 1: your kicker and he popped the hamstring. The Washington kicker,
Speaker 1: um Joey Slid popped the hamstring on that extra man.
Speaker 1: That was kind of a crazy game. The p a
Speaker 1: T block that turned it to two points for the
Speaker 1: Seahawks to make it nine nine before the half, Like
Speaker 1: that really changed so much in that game, right down
Speaker 1: to what we're talking about. They couldn't just kicked the
Speaker 1: field go to ice the game and it almost cost
Speaker 1: them the game. Why isn't there some type an emergency
Speaker 1: kicker situation. I know you say, oh, roster space, this
Speaker 1: and that, all right, then making a fifty four van roster.
Speaker 1: It's strange to me that it that it's that you
Speaker 1: have no security blanket. It's happened with multiple teams this
Speaker 1: season too, in a weird in a weird campaign. But
Speaker 1: you can't hit an extra point or you can't have
Speaker 1: some wide receiver he used to be a soccer player,
Speaker 1: practice guest, these are like premier athletes. You think that almost.
Speaker 1: I mean I was on, like, up, I've told you this,
Speaker 1: you might play Pop Warner. We had a kid that
Speaker 1: could kick extra points? Oh yeah, everyone. I mean it's like,
Speaker 1: how do you not have at least five people that
Speaker 1: have kicked extra points in their life? Maybe there just
Speaker 1: wasn't confidence in them, but that that was another by
Speaker 1: the way, um struggle with the situational football from this
Speaker 1: Monday Night football crew. They just they didn't mention that
Speaker 1: that whole drive and that was this it was this
Speaker 1: anvil hanging over that whole drive. He kept hitting the
Speaker 1: third in the fourth downs and it was like, that's
Speaker 1: so huge because they don't have a kick. Didn't mention
Speaker 1: it one time until the like about ten seconds left
Speaker 1: on the planet. You're out for blood. I do every
Speaker 1: time the Man cast isn't on now, it really does
Speaker 1: my Monday viewing experience. Like there, I tweeted about. I said,
Speaker 1: like I feel like these guys are my friends now.
Speaker 1: It was actually a really heartwarming little social media moment
Speaker 1: for the old Zuser tug Boats mentions. We're all like
Speaker 1: that's how we feel listening to your show that there
Speaker 1: you go, Mark, I mean, alright, that's Monday night football, weird,
Speaker 1: funky little game. It's fun. Let's take a break and
Speaker 1: then all right, now it's time for a guest. Listen.
Speaker 1: We don't have a ton of guests on the podcast,
Speaker 1: and when we do have one, it's because you know,
Speaker 1: they're the goods and it's one of our favorites. He
Speaker 1: is the great Baldi of NFL Network, Brian Baldinger, one
Speaker 1: of the great tate men in the league, one of
Speaker 1: the great adventurers of the universe, and and Baldi before
Speaker 1: we get into what's some questions we have about things
Speaker 1: we can't figure out in the NFL and you're you're
Speaker 1: hopefully gonna help us, and I'm sure you will. Greg
Speaker 1: took his or Greg's wife took their daughter to the
Speaker 1: BTS show at Sofie Sofi Stadium this past weekend and
Speaker 1: it did get me thinking, what's the last concert that
Speaker 1: Baldy went getting loose? Well, well, you have to fill
Speaker 1: me in. What is BTS like a k pop Korean
Speaker 1: pop band, but they're like they're like in sync um
Speaker 1: but like worldwide and don't act like you don't know.
Speaker 1: It's zeitgeist education in this Well they've played four well,
Speaker 1: I mean that's a big stadium, so they must be
Speaker 1: pretty popular. But you have to understand, I live in
Speaker 1: a bubble, like a very small, little narrow bubble, and
Speaker 1: if BTS isn't being played on one of my screens,
Speaker 1: then I have no idea who they are right now.
Speaker 1: It's good, it's good. Well, what about you your last concert?
Speaker 1: My last My last concert was Billy Joel Billy Joel
Speaker 1: at the Garden Madison Square Garden, New York City, probably
Speaker 1: just before the pandemic. So it's been a it's been
Speaker 1: a low stretch now. Even though I'm a native New Yorker,
Speaker 1: I've never been a Billy Joel guy. It was always
Speaker 1: more of a Springsteen guy. But I have to say
Speaker 1: this about Joel. Joel figured it out. He got out
Speaker 1: of the game as a recording artist in like ninety three.
Speaker 1: He did the River of Dreams album. He said, I'm out.
Speaker 1: But you know what I'm gonna do. I'm not hitting
Speaker 1: the road and touring in my sixties. I'm setting up
Speaker 1: a residency. Oh you're gonna go to some dump in
Speaker 1: Vegas or go down to Atlantic City. No, Bro, I'm
Speaker 1: playing MSG. I'm playing the Garden once a month forever,
Speaker 1: how long I want. That's actually one of the great
Speaker 1: baller moves in rock touring history. Well, I've been good
Speaker 1: friends with it, with the guys in the band for
Speaker 1: a long time. He's a Long Island guy. His drummers
Speaker 1: original drummer Liberty de Vitos from my town, Massipiqua. So
Speaker 1: in all the roadies are like some of my best friends.
Speaker 1: So Larry Dobe Senior's son, Larrydobe Jr. You know, does
Speaker 1: all the lightning form. So like I get, I get
Speaker 1: treated like a rock strong when I go I get
Speaker 1: to go back there and tinker around with somebody guitars
Speaker 1: and pianos and stuff. So you know, it's it's been fun.
Speaker 1: It's been a fun. It's yet more evidence that there
Speaker 1: is the lives that we live, and then there is
Speaker 1: Baldi's existence, which is on about a level thirty levels
Speaker 1: above my level. Alright, let's turn to football, Baldi. Now,
Speaker 1: this is what we want to talk about out here. Um,
Speaker 1: we're trying to figure out this NFL season. It's a
Speaker 1: tough one. This is a toughie even beyond other seasons.
Speaker 1: There are mysteries that we have and we need help.
Speaker 1: We need a real tape dog, a premier tape dog
Speaker 1: like Baldy sees the game in a different way. So Mark,
Speaker 1: why don't you get us going something that you need
Speaker 1: assistance with that? Bald he can help you. Well, look
Speaker 1: at um, I this is on brand. Uh, Bald do
Speaker 1: you know that I'm a Browns fan and I just
Speaker 1: have to ask you. Let's let's just microcositive down to
Speaker 1: what happened in the Baltimore game. Uh, and feel free
Speaker 1: to go beyond. But they were as healthy as they
Speaker 1: had been in eons in months. Everyone's there, everyone's there's
Speaker 1: no excuses. They flatline, they fall apart um. They look
Speaker 1: nothing like the team from last year or even at
Speaker 1: high points earlier this year. When you're watching, I know
Speaker 1: you love the row line and stuff, but when you're
Speaker 1: watching this offense, help me, help me not just simply
Speaker 1: fall off a cliff psychologically? What is going on here? Well,
Speaker 1: you know the Ravens, they you know wink Mark and
Speaker 1: now he I mean understands what the Browns are trying
Speaker 1: to do. Uh. They give him a lot of different looks.
Speaker 1: They're not easy to prepare for. Uh. You know, when
Speaker 1: you look at a guy like Tie his Bowser in
Speaker 1: that game, he lined up everywhere, he was manned man
Speaker 1: on the tight ends, he was rushing the quarterback. They
Speaker 1: really went after the right tackle in Cleveland, you know,
Speaker 1: the backup to Jack Conklin. So, Uh, they found some
Speaker 1: weaknesses and they exploited it, and they just couldn't take
Speaker 1: advantage of the field position or the extra at bats
Speaker 1: that they had in that game. And they looked like
Speaker 1: a ten point offense. You know, coming out of that game.
Speaker 1: Defense couldn't play a whole lot better than what they played.
Speaker 1: So let me ask this bother because Stefanski dismissed it
Speaker 1: out of hand after the game. When you watch Baker
Speaker 1: in the state, do you think there's a case or
Speaker 1: case Keenum taking over and trying to juice this offense
Speaker 1: if they're at ten point offense. That kind of tells
Speaker 1: me the answer. But I'm curious what you think. Well,
Speaker 1: I know, you know, look, I I feel like i'd
Speaker 1: know Baker, like I've watched him since he was at
Speaker 1: Texas Tech, Uh, just doing Big twelve games, and so
Speaker 1: when I watch him right now, he doesn't look like
Speaker 1: the same guy, Like, I don't know what it's like
Speaker 1: to throw a football with your other shoulders strapped to
Speaker 1: your chest, you know, and what that feels like Baltimore
Speaker 1: planted him into the turf a number of different times
Speaker 1: in that game, and so you know, when I watch him,
Speaker 1: I don't know just the mechanics of what you gotta
Speaker 1: do to compensate for that. And I said weeks ago
Speaker 1: that this is a ticking time bomb. I don't know
Speaker 1: if he can survive the season or not. He bristled
Speaker 1: a week ago when people said he wasn't playing well.
Speaker 1: He wasn't playing well. I mean, like I know that
Speaker 1: that offense is not that difficult to figure out. There's there,
Speaker 1: there's openings to throw the football and where it's got
Speaker 1: to be. And he he has not gotten the ball
Speaker 1: too his receivers consistently where he's got to get it
Speaker 1: to him. And so some of it is on Baker,
Speaker 1: uh and some of it is everything else around him
Speaker 1: right now. Takes a lot of hits to Baker that
Speaker 1: that he could avoid. I mean that that's part of
Speaker 1: the reason he keeps getting hurt in that game, Like
Speaker 1: I expected the Browns offensive line to do better in general,
Speaker 1: that they're one of the best groups in the league.
Speaker 1: And you know, we're coming off talking about this Washington
Speaker 1: football team on Monday night, and I look at what
Speaker 1: the Patriots have done, and I look at the forty
Speaker 1: Niners right now and the Eagles, and it feels like
Speaker 1: it's one and all these defenses that are are so
Speaker 1: light are now getting counteracted by guys like Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: who want to play with these heavy fronts and they
Speaker 1: want to play pounded out football. They want to bring
Speaker 1: it back to the eighties and nineties. Do you think
Speaker 1: that there's a little bit of a seat change in
Speaker 1: the way the offenses are trying to win a lot
Speaker 1: of running heavy teams getting it done in this season. Well,
Speaker 1: if you want to get if you want to get
Speaker 1: fixed right now, Like for example, I was just watching
Speaker 1: the Rams. The Rams don't move the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: at all. All they do is position block. And that's
Speaker 1: why the forty is handed it to him, and that's
Speaker 1: why the Packers just handed it to him. And you
Speaker 1: know this, the quarterback isn't great right now, but they
Speaker 1: can't move the line of scrimmage. But when you do,
Speaker 1: when you watch the Eagles. I mean, it's a shame.
Speaker 1: They should never even they should just play academy football
Speaker 1: the Eagles. They should never throw the football, just run it,
Speaker 1: like they would have scored if they just did that
Speaker 1: against the Giants. Um. But yes, the forty niners right now.
Speaker 1: The Washington football team looked really good last night. The
Speaker 1: teams that are the Patriots have been. When you commit
Speaker 1: to it, it does make life easier for your quarterback.
Speaker 1: He does take less hits, You generally do turn the
Speaker 1: ball over less when you commit to the run. And
Speaker 1: so you look at these teams that are kind of
Speaker 1: surging right now. You can look to the offensive line
Speaker 1: and how they're playing the game and how often and
Speaker 1: frequently they're turning around and handing the ball off. And
Speaker 1: I don't want to leave Cincinnati, which which like line
Speaker 1: really get well. I mean, well you gotta watch Landon
Speaker 1: Dickerson and Jorge my Lotta right now. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: that's that's like um that, I mean that that's like
Speaker 1: a feature on HBO right there, Like that's that's the
Speaker 1: main event, you know. But like you know, but even
Speaker 1: though I'm going back to I was like out there
Speaker 1: on the field Sunday at MetLife Stadium, and there's Jeff
Speaker 1: Stoutland the offensive line coach and the Eagles, and there's
Speaker 1: Landon Dickerson and there's you know, Jordan my Lotta, and
Speaker 1: they're just working on fundamentals for an hour straight before
Speaker 1: the game. Now I'm saying this, and they lost the game,
Speaker 1: so I look like an idiot. But I don't see
Speaker 1: anybody from the Giants working on it. I don't see
Speaker 1: anybody doing extra work before the game just to sort
Speaker 1: of tighten things up on looks we're gonna get. And
Speaker 1: sometimes it's just that simple, like you gotta work on
Speaker 1: the things that you need to get work on. And
Speaker 1: the Eagles they'll get back to what they gotta do
Speaker 1: here pretty soon, probably this week. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: but we're watching that group right now is as good
Speaker 1: as there is. The Giants don't look like a team
Speaker 1: that needs to be doing extra works, so that checks out.
Speaker 1: Get on that front, all right. I'm looking at the
Speaker 1: playoffs right now, the way it's set up if you today,
Speaker 1: uh and I see Washington moved into the seventh spot
Speaker 1: with the Monday night win. You got the Chargers who
Speaker 1: fell into that seventh spot. In the a f C.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw out I'm gonna throw out six teams, dud.
Speaker 1: And you could tell me which one of these fringe
Speaker 1: teams right now, not only you think have it in
Speaker 1: them to make a run and get a playoff spot,
Speaker 1: but win a game, win a game in January in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, a team you think could really cause some havoc. Chargers, Raiders, Broncos,
Speaker 1: Washington Vikings, Falcons. I would I would still say I
Speaker 1: think the I just cut myself. I don't know what
Speaker 1: I did. Um anyways, Uh, the Vikings will take it
Speaker 1: out and post. I just I just I got to
Speaker 1: talk about the offense line. I just scratched myself. It's
Speaker 1: just beautiful. Yeah. I still think like the Vikings. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously they were disappointing against San Francisco this week, but
Speaker 1: that offense is a good offense. And I don't know
Speaker 1: what Dalvin Cook's situation is right now that can make
Speaker 1: a difference. He's a game changing type player, So I
Speaker 1: don't know what a situation is. Uh. I feel like
Speaker 1: if Washington got to the postseason, they would be tough
Speaker 1: because of the way that they play like they play
Speaker 1: keep away because that's how the quarterback and I mean
Speaker 1: they just they I think uh forty eight of their
Speaker 1: seventy something touches last night went to mckiszick or went
Speaker 1: to Antonio Gibson. Like they play a very different style
Speaker 1: of football than just about anybody else. Now McLaren can
Speaker 1: still get deep on you. Logan Thomas will help him
Speaker 1: now that he's back. But I think the way that
Speaker 1: they play right now, defensively, they're doing a lot and
Speaker 1: they're playing hard for a change. They didn't play hard
Speaker 1: the first half of the season, and they were hard
Speaker 1: to watch because they didn't play hard. Now they're playing hard.
Speaker 1: They understand how hard you gotta play. And then offensively,
Speaker 1: the quarterback doesn't make a lot of mistakes. I feel
Speaker 1: like that is a team if they get there. I
Speaker 1: think that's a team that can with a playoff game. Baldi,
Speaker 1: this blood on your on your face is now going
Speaker 1: down the whole side of the face. Not I don't
Speaker 1: know if you're bothered by it because it's an audio show.
Speaker 1: To me, it's perfect that you are the first guest
Speaker 1: to literally have bloody down your face like this is
Speaker 1: a remember one before J J Walk got the surgery
Speaker 1: to the plastic surgery, and he would just open up
Speaker 1: that gash in his forehead and it was kind of
Speaker 1: like the most badass thing possible for you to do
Speaker 1: it in front of a team cam at NFL Films headquarters.
Speaker 1: You are the ultimate grind. You gotta be careful. You're
Speaker 1: wearing a nice suit right now. But like, if you
Speaker 1: had asked me, who's the perfect guest to have a
Speaker 1: bloody face while he's talking a lot, it's Baldi. Well,
Speaker 1: you know you asked me about concerts. I was thinking,
Speaker 1: like I've been to a kiss concert when Gene Simmons
Speaker 1: is like spowing blood right, you know, from the ceiling,
Speaker 1: so that that kind of ties together, And like, it's
Speaker 1: not really a good day unless I'm drawing blood somehow,
Speaker 1: like something, you know, like I'm walking to a rose
Speaker 1: bush and I'm scratched or I scratched myself talking about
Speaker 1: offensive line play, Like it's not really a good day
Speaker 1: unless I'm drawing some blood. That's good. Well, there is
Speaker 1: only one Baldy. We've figured that out. I will attempt
Speaker 1: to bring us back into the world of the grid iron. Here.
Speaker 1: I I the bills. I think that they drive me
Speaker 1: a little bit nuts. Um the Jacksonville Jaguars game. What
Speaker 1: happened there? The way they were stamped by the cults.
Speaker 1: They've got an acid test showdown with the Patriots, and
Speaker 1: I would when you watch them, do they just simply
Speaker 1: not match up well with rugged offenses like Indie and
Speaker 1: New England that want to come in and run on you.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've been a statistically devo a wise, a
Speaker 1: very good defense. What do you think about this team?
Speaker 1: Why are they so up and down compared to a
Speaker 1: year ago? Well, I mean, Tremaine Edmonds didn't play against Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that he would have shut down Jonathan Taylor,
Speaker 1: but they were they would have been better inside with
Speaker 1: his presence there against Taylor. Uh. You know they're a
Speaker 1: passing team, and so uh, last year everything went well,
Speaker 1: Like when the play isn't there, Josh Allen could create
Speaker 1: a play and he'd find Stefon Diggs or you know,
Speaker 1: he'd find Gabriel Davis, who whoever. They don't seem quite
Speaker 1: as creative when things don't go right right away right
Speaker 1: now the way they once did last year. And so
Speaker 1: I think that's part of it. And they kind of
Speaker 1: you know, the running game is just it's it's really
Speaker 1: just a chance for Josh Allen to rest his arm.
Speaker 1: That's what it looks like to me. Like it's it's
Speaker 1: it's not really any kind of a commitment to it.
Speaker 1: So when those kind of teams start blitzing you and
Speaker 1: chasing your quarterback, like what how do you slow that down?
Speaker 1: Most teams, if you had a balanced offense, you could
Speaker 1: run it and you could take the blitz out of it.
Speaker 1: They don't really, you know, have that luxury because they
Speaker 1: don't really commit. Like maybe Matt Breed is gonna be
Speaker 1: their running back right now. They look it's like they're
Speaker 1: looking for it. And Zach Boss wasn't even active last week. Um,
Speaker 1: they can't get pushed around up front like the Colts
Speaker 1: did push them around pretty good. They're vulnerable to that.
Speaker 1: You know, the Patriots play them on Monday night. I'm
Speaker 1: sure you'll see I information Jacob Johnson at fullback, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure you know they'll get tested by a pretty
Speaker 1: good run blocking offensive line of the Patriots. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: was thinking like them just running Josh Allen Moore, that
Speaker 1: could solve it. Like you might not want to make
Speaker 1: your living doing that all regular season, but as you
Speaker 1: get closer to the playoffs, like, let's make it a
Speaker 1: little more like Cam Newton for Josh Allen, Like go
Speaker 1: go chase that championship. I thought when we saw the
Speaker 1: Chargers life to Justin Herbert running, you know, really help
Speaker 1: that Chargers team out. They are a team I can't
Speaker 1: figure out at all offensively, Like I don't want to
Speaker 1: put much of it on Herbert because it feels to
Speaker 1: me like he's playing well and making a lot of
Speaker 1: big plays, and yet the offense seems to just get confused.
Speaker 1: They're stuck in my like, what what do you see
Speaker 1: there with that team? That's maybe the number one team,
Speaker 1: especially on offense, and I just can't get a handle
Speaker 1: on m Yeah, well then they're a little past happy
Speaker 1: and how they want to do it. A lot of
Speaker 1: these teams are listening to these analytics experts and they're
Speaker 1: just going, Okay, you know, if we flipped this coin
Speaker 1: a thousand times, just what you gotta do in order
Speaker 1: to win? And I, you know, sometimes I just think
Speaker 1: if they just ran behind Matt Feather and Rashawn Slater,
Speaker 1: like you couldn't go wrong. Um, you know, Austin Ekeler
Speaker 1: behind those guys and sometimes they get away from that.
Speaker 1: So I think they could run it a little bit more.
Speaker 1: Um you know, when you know, when Justin Herbert does
Speaker 1: take off with it like he did against Pittsburgh, they
Speaker 1: look a lot more dynamic. But when you gotta just
Speaker 1: drop back and throw it right now, Uh, too many
Speaker 1: bad things are happening to him. He's throwing these interceptions,
Speaker 1: the balls glancing off Austin Ekeler, you know, into the
Speaker 1: opponent's arms like it did on Sunday. Uh, you know
Speaker 1: there's Patrick Surtan taking it to the end zone. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I think when you look at if you
Speaker 1: play the Denver Broncos, I mean, make them stop the run.
Speaker 1: That seems like that's been an issue for them, and
Speaker 1: don't play to their strengths, which is their secondary. And
Speaker 1: so I thought their secondary outplayed their receivers throughout that
Speaker 1: game last Sunday. And know Justin Herbert the end of
Speaker 1: the day look pretty pedestrian. All right, there is a
Speaker 1: final Billy Joel concert and uh here comes the encore
Speaker 1: and you got what's your drinking choice, Baldi? Well, whatever's cold?
Speaker 1: You know you got because of your buddy the drummer
Speaker 1: and all the ROADI guys, you're actually side of the stage,
Speaker 1: so you're there for the last ever Billy Joel concert.
Speaker 1: At the encore, three songs pick them baby m hmmm,
Speaker 1: uh well bottle red Bottle, right, I mean when we
Speaker 1: can sing along with that one, that would be good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say, uh, Lenning Grad is a good one.
Speaker 1: I like that. Um little Uh well, I haven't and
Speaker 1: that's a little too pop for me. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I guess you know. Well, the encore will just go
Speaker 1: straight piano. Man, we'll just have like nineteen thousand people's guards.
Speaker 1: The lights come on. You've nailed it. You did nail it.
Speaker 1: You even nailed your own face opening up a woman
Speaker 1: that will heal in time. But we'll always have this
Speaker 1: to remember. Baldi from NFL headquarters there in Jersey Mount Laurel,
Speaker 1: where he is grinding out the tape. And if you
Speaker 1: want to come into that room, as he said to
Speaker 1: us before, you could come in, but you better come
Speaker 1: into play because I don't want you sleeping on the
Speaker 1: couch behind him when he's in the twelfth hour of
Speaker 1: tape grinding. You come into dog, you'd be a dog. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: get your get your red bull in your early or
Speaker 1: no nose or whatever your choices. You know, you get
Speaker 1: get your your extra vente or whatever it is like,
Speaker 1: you get it, get it if you have to find
Speaker 1: it wherever you need it to stay up all night
Speaker 1: with Baldi. Ideally no civilians would be bothering you, but
Speaker 1: in this plan, they're coming off the street to bug you.
Speaker 1: I don't like that. All right, thank you, you got
Speaker 1: guys good? There he goes the great Ryan Baldinger. It's
Speaker 1: a contact sporting on our show, you know. I mean
Speaker 1: we're known as the most physical podcasters around. I mean
Speaker 1: that's just facts. You know, that's big facts. As they
Speaker 1: say right now, we out physical the other pods, uh
Speaker 1: that we compete. I would say we can hold our
Speaker 1: own in the against the other football podcasts. I mean, Greg,
Speaker 1: you know, it's also the first time anyone's ever been
Speaker 1: slashed on our show. So there's there the statistics. The
Speaker 1: analytics suggests that we're not as physical of it as
Speaker 1: we think. Greg would be the shift, the sprowls, like guy,
Speaker 1: he could dart around, maybe get behind a guy, and
Speaker 1: then I'll use my half to like push a guy
Speaker 1: over and then Mark you just need to, like remember
Speaker 1: the old Nintendo hockey game, middle guy. Yeah, you're middle guy,
Speaker 1: fat guy, middle middle guy. Your job is just to
Speaker 1: fill in all the gaps, right, Uh, I use middle
Speaker 1: You could pick your line up on that Nintendo hockey
Speaker 1: game and you have to. It's a blend. You have
Speaker 1: to learn over the course of many defeats the blend
Speaker 1: and middle guy is core. Do it. But you can't
Speaker 1: just have middle guy. You need bigger guy, smaller guy.
Speaker 1: The problem is that other football podcast. I feel like
Speaker 1: if Mark was on those, he'd be the small guy.
Speaker 1: That might be more his role. And now I'm pushing
Speaker 1: him into middle guy. And we're a lightweight grow Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I got bills to pay. We're like the bills. We're
Speaker 1: a finesse team. Right, You're like you It's like you
Speaker 1: don't have a number one receiver. Somehow I am the
Speaker 1: middle sized person, which is a problem. Why are we
Speaker 1: still maybe, yeah, yeah, why are we still talking about it?
Speaker 1: Let's take a break, all right, we're back up next. Well,
Speaker 1: we're doing Thursday night football, so let's start with the Queen.
Speaker 1: Queen Jonas. But I know you've gotta and I don't
Speaker 1: want to spoil it, but I'm working on stuff behind
Speaker 1: the scenes. You know my feelings about Will I Am
Speaker 1: and how he slathered really bad about the leaving production
Speaker 1: all over this otherwise a perfect song. Okay, come oh,
Speaker 1: I'm working on a anti will I Am mix, so
Speaker 1: stay tuned everybody, and now lightly vindictive, but I route
Speaker 1: you on in that project and now joining us. Yes,
Speaker 1: she's the queen of Thursday Night Football. You know who
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. It's the Tiny Box. It's Connie Fox,
Speaker 1: Colleen Wolf. Colleen, you should know this. How are you
Speaker 1: by the way, I'm great. I know the answer to that.
Speaker 1: You shouldn't. You should know this? That um Greg's daughter
Speaker 1: lad for for the Korean pop group Like, yes, she
Speaker 1: lost the tooth. She wasn't headbutted by a football helmet
Speaker 1: or anything. She didn't, although that would have been an
Speaker 1: amazing story if one of the members of BTS gave
Speaker 1: her the broken tooth, that probably would have made the news.
Speaker 1: But anyway, so blood there. We just had baldy on
Speaker 1: bleeding during our interview with him. I just opened up
Speaker 1: a gash on his head like j J Watt, I
Speaker 1: don't doing this getting excited and he scratched himself, like
Speaker 1: I didn't you know he's got It wasn't the one
Speaker 1: finger that's just joined, did it. It was the other hand.
Speaker 1: But it scratched the cheek and suddenly the lighting didn't
Speaker 1: make it totally evident. But he turned to one point
Speaker 1: and just saw a little river of red coming down
Speaker 1: the cheek. Battle scars. I love it. So the question is, well,
Speaker 1: Colleen will bleed for the Around the NFL podcast, Well,
Speaker 1: I did just put a band aid on so when
Speaker 1: it's a mini mouse spin, but it's covering up a burn.
Speaker 1: So alright, Connie, so great to have you, and you
Speaker 1: burned yourself cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I did I let my
Speaker 1: finger on fire by accident? You broke your finger catching
Speaker 1: all from Kurt Warner. I mean, you're a bit of
Speaker 1: a disaster. But that's part of the reason we love
Speaker 1: you exactly. I'm not perfect. I I know it's hard
Speaker 1: to believe, but I too have flaws. Alright, Cowboys Saints,
Speaker 1: You're going down to New not Miami family for this
Speaker 1: Cowboys Saints game. And it's a story, Connie, of two
Speaker 1: teams that are searching right now that Cowboys searching to
Speaker 1: get healthy searching to get guys back on the field,
Speaker 1: searching for a way to avoid the COVID nine team
Speaker 1: bug uh. And then a Saints team that has not
Speaker 1: been able to get out of its own way during
Speaker 1: a losing streak that has really kind of sent their
Speaker 1: season into a dark place. Somebody's gonna be feeling a
Speaker 1: lot better at the end of Thursday night. Somebody is
Speaker 1: going to feel like the walls are falling in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And this really is the story of these two teams
Speaker 1: just not having guys available, whether it's because of injuries,
Speaker 1: whether it's because of COVID. I was texting with Jane Slater,
Speaker 1: who's going to be the reporter at the game on
Speaker 1: Thursday before this pod, and she was saying that right
Speaker 1: now the Cowboys are up to thirteen players or coaches
Speaker 1: that will be sidelined because of COVID. Now that actually
Speaker 1: does include Amari Cooper, so it could be fewer, but
Speaker 1: we know that his symptoms are ongoing, so his status
Speaker 1: is still up in the air for this game. Right
Speaker 1: Tackle Terrence Steele, he's out, And then you have a
Speaker 1: slew of coaches, multiple coaches on the offensive line or
Speaker 1: out as well. Strengthen conditioning. So the big one is
Speaker 1: obviously a Marii Cooper following his status to see if
Speaker 1: he's going to be available Ceedee Lamb. He did practice
Speaker 1: in full um so they will at least have him.
Speaker 1: But this is a bad stretch for them. They've lost
Speaker 1: three of their last four after starting six and one,
Speaker 1: and they haven't been able to run the ball well.
Speaker 1: Zeke he's banged up his knee. This is the worst
Speaker 1: four game stretch of his career. Pollard he has the explosion,
Speaker 1: We've all seen that from Tony Pollard, but he doesn't
Speaker 1: have that same power as Zeke when he's healthy. So
Speaker 1: they're just not running the ball effectively. And that's also
Speaker 1: hurting Dac and the passing game too. And the thing is, though,
Speaker 1: in this game, I wonder if things will switch if
Speaker 1: Dac is feeling better or if zeke knee is feeling better.
Speaker 1: Because the Saints run defense that has typically been really
Speaker 1: good to start the season, that's actually been a pain
Speaker 1: point for them. So they were fabulous. They held eight
Speaker 1: of nine teams to fewer than one hundred rushing yards
Speaker 1: to begin the year, and now back to back weeks
Speaker 1: it's been a problem. The Eagles around two forty two
Speaker 1: rushing yards on them. Part of that is due to
Speaker 1: injuries on the Saints defensive front. Marcus Davenport, Tanno Passengo,
Speaker 1: they've been hurt. Neither practiced on Monday, so it's gonna
Speaker 1: come down Dan to who controls the line of script.
Speaker 1: I don't even know what to catch anymore. They're they're
Speaker 1: the Saints sera mess. I mean the Cowboys are catching
Speaker 1: them at the right time. You can flip it and
Speaker 1: say it's true the other way. But Tyrone Smith's at
Speaker 1: least back. He looked good on Thanksgiving. Ceedee Lamb being
Speaker 1: back is massive. It's like, oh, it turns out, actually yeah,
Speaker 1: Amari Cooper and Ceedee Lamb matter. It'd be nice to
Speaker 1: have like the best, you know, wide receiver combo in
Speaker 1: the league if you have one of them. It sounds
Speaker 1: to me like Cooper's trending to not playing. That makes
Speaker 1: a big difference because the Saints are probably getting Camara back.
Speaker 1: He was limited in practice and Ingram said he's fully back.
Speaker 1: He's back, but they didn't have either of their tackles
Speaker 1: to ourn Armstead are Ram checked back, It's like you've
Speaker 1: just taken too many pieces away, but at least you're
Speaker 1: adding one to make this a little more watchable. And
Speaker 1: that's Taysom Hill. I mean, assuming our guy rap sheet
Speaker 1: is right that Trevor Simeon bus went off right now,
Speaker 1: I don't want to see Trevor Simeon behind fourth and
Speaker 1: fifth string tackles anymore. I want to see what happens
Speaker 1: with Taysom Hill at least add a little of craziness
Speaker 1: and yeah, a little juice to the Saints who are
Speaker 1: dealing with so much. At least Hill gives you some
Speaker 1: element of excitement because that's been lacking under Simeon. Yet.
Speaker 1: I feel like I was the one banging the drum
Speaker 1: for Taysom Hill for a couple of seasons there, and
Speaker 1: I don't feel the excitement around Taysom Hill more so
Speaker 1: than Trevor Simeon. I mean, that's a you know, stale
Speaker 1: milk at this point. But uh, the Saints, I mean,
Speaker 1: what's it doesn't solve what's around Taysom Hill. If you
Speaker 1: get Kamara back, that's a big thing, because they haven't
Speaker 1: been able to they've been able to run the ball either.
Speaker 1: And then if the whole idea was get Ingram and
Speaker 1: Kamara back together, and you've got a functional backfield because
Speaker 1: they are an empty cupboard at wide receiver. I it's
Speaker 1: just a mess. And DeMarcus Lawrence is going to be
Speaker 1: back for the Cowboys too, So you got Michael Parsons,
Speaker 1: you got, you got Lawrence. I mean, I just don't
Speaker 1: like the matchup for New Orleans at all. They've been
Speaker 1: really watchable. They've been a really tough minded team coached well.
Speaker 1: But it's just like you're Thanksgiving night. They weren't watchable
Speaker 1: against the Eagles. That the floor kind of fell out
Speaker 1: of this team. Now Camar and Ingram Retorney and maybe
Speaker 1: maybe they get at least one of the tackles back.
Speaker 1: Armstead did finish that game. So that's confusing to me.
Speaker 1: Like if you all right, then then they've been this
Speaker 1: like feisty defense that right now, Like the Cowboys keep
Speaker 1: being favored in these games, like they were heavy favorites
Speaker 1: against the Raiders, couldn't get it done. They're pretty heavy
Speaker 1: favorites in New Orleans, Like they gotta prove it too.
Speaker 1: Last time I checked, I think the Cowboys are laying
Speaker 1: four and a half in this game. Um, I thought
Speaker 1: about locking it up, but there's just too much indecision
Speaker 1: around Dallas right now. There's too many question marks. Dan
Speaker 1: Quinn is uh in from Mike McCarthy as head coach,
Speaker 1: and we just don't know what's gonna happen. Who knows it.
Speaker 1: More positive test pop up between now and Thursday, so
Speaker 1: it's just kind of like a stay away and see
Speaker 1: how it all plays out. It should be noted that
Speaker 1: there was some reports out there early in the week
Speaker 1: that Zeke Elliott has this knee injury that is could
Speaker 1: use a break, like put him on the bench or
Speaker 1: really lessen his role and have Tony Pollard take on more.
Speaker 1: Jered Jones came on the radio on Thursday morning or
Speaker 1: Tuesday morning said Zeke will have a quote serious load
Speaker 1: on Thursday. Well, yeah, I heard that. He also said
Speaker 1: he fully expected a Mari Cooper to play. So it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, the Jerry Jones radio segment weekly, it's a
Speaker 1: little bit of science fiction mixed mixed with potential fact.
Speaker 1: That's how I take Joe. It's like him saying the
Speaker 1: most optimistic things possible, and then the coach is always correct.
Speaker 1: They're just thinking like, now, that's that's not true. Jerry's
Speaker 1: a part of the job. Need Dak to play a
Speaker 1: little better. He finished out that game well, but he
Speaker 1: has been out of sorts a little bit. You know,
Speaker 1: you know that thing that well maybe some of us,
Speaker 1: the your aunt would have hanging in the hallway, and
Speaker 1: it's the the footsteps on the beach and the man asked, Jesus,
Speaker 1: why you know, why aren't you there for me? I
Speaker 1: heard you out. Let's finish out and it's like, why
Speaker 1: did you betraying or leaving? It's not a tray scenario
Speaker 1: correcting myself. Why did you leave me in my time
Speaker 1: of need? He's like, no, No, those footsteps I was
Speaker 1: carrying and you know I brought it home Mark, And
Speaker 1: that's what the Cowboys kind of need from Dak. He's
Speaker 1: got to be their personal Jesus, like get us through
Speaker 1: these hard times. Because since he's come back from the
Speaker 1: calf two out of three games, he's been part of
Speaker 1: the issue as well. So Dak has to show that, like, listen,
Speaker 1: get on my back. I am one of the best
Speaker 1: quarterbacks in the league. I'm gonna kick some mass on
Speaker 1: Thursday night. Football'm gonna be on the Dais with Connie
Speaker 1: Fox and the Gang, like let's make that happen. That's good,
Speaker 1: that's ratings dynamite. I would love that because you know,
Speaker 1: Irv would be out of his mind. If the Cowboys won,
Speaker 1: it would be be bring balanced, very balanced during this
Speaker 1: This won't be tilted in any way. My favorite thing
Speaker 1: about Michael Irvin is that he takes self He has
Speaker 1: to take a selfie with the star of the game
Speaker 1: on his phone after every interview, and we all make
Speaker 1: fun of him for it. Now, so I'm sure he's
Speaker 1: going to be all over whoever it is. But if
Speaker 1: it's a Cowboy, it'll be there. And be honest, no one,
Speaker 1: no one's listening. Where's the relationship between Irvin and Steve
Speaker 1: Smith right now? Because there's been you know, heat in
Speaker 1: the past. I think Steve Smith promised to kick Urban's
Speaker 1: ass once and it was not joking about it. Have
Speaker 1: there been any run ins or any heat, any drama
Speaker 1: in the air between these two wide receiver grades? Can
Speaker 1: I just tell you these two I have watched their
Speaker 1: relationship completely turned and blossom into something beautiful and real
Speaker 1: and genuine, and it has been the strangest journey I've
Speaker 1: ever been on. But they legitimately will talk and help
Speaker 1: each other and show each other notes, and it's kind
Speaker 1: of a door or anybody a little disappointed. They were
Speaker 1: strange journeys to just like lit up he has for
Speaker 1: this journey that they've been on. It it makes sense
Speaker 1: because it's like when you're too similar to me. They
Speaker 1: seem like they have a lot of similar DNA here,
Speaker 1: So at first you know that you find that person
Speaker 1: annoying at first, but then once you got a little
Speaker 1: time together there there it's seeing the it's Will Ferrell's
Speaker 1: character and John c Riley's character and stepbrothers like they
Speaker 1: want to destroy each other. In the beginning, it's like,
Speaker 1: are we best friends? Now? That's I think we're It
Speaker 1: sounds like that's what's happening. Does Joe Thomas sort of
Speaker 1: the odd man out here? It feels like we all
Speaker 1: like they're all just like bros. Now, it's Joe Thomas's
Speaker 1: birthday on Thursday as well. It's I think it's actual
Speaker 1: birthday is on Saturday, but he's going to celebrate Saturday.
Speaker 1: We got the birthday to Joe Thomas and then I
Speaker 1: never remember like my best friend's birthdays, and Mark knows
Speaker 1: Joe Thomas. Well, I was informed. I didn't. I didn't
Speaker 1: know that out of hand. All right, let's pick the game.
Speaker 1: Why not? What the hell? I got Cowboys thirty one
Speaker 1: twenty Cowboys fifty eight Saints twelve because I wanted to happen.
Speaker 1: If the Saints can get chimera and at least one
Speaker 1: of the tackles back, I think they can cover this
Speaker 1: game at least and make it like a field goal
Speaker 1: game at the end. If if they're missing the tackles,
Speaker 1: forget to score, kill them low scoring. I hate You're
Speaker 1: not allowed to. I always bet they do on the game.
Speaker 1: I'm not allowed to, but I do anyway. I'm a rebel.
Speaker 1: Someone's not watching t NF preview, gangerous female TNF preview
Speaker 1: Cowboys twenty seven to something weird is going to happen.
Speaker 1: Everyone in the control room. She can't do that. She
Speaker 1: can't give she she she she's the host, apoplectic producer person.
Speaker 1: That is my favorite like stupid TV thing in sports television. Hey, listen,
Speaker 1: can't do it, James Brown, can't give you a right,
Speaker 1: God forbid Moses leading us through the haze with your score,
Speaker 1: James Brown. The dumbest thing, though, actually is when they
Speaker 1: pan to like the back room on Christmas and like
Speaker 1: everyone's sitting there like waving, like they're in a hostage scenario,
Speaker 1: like wait, you finally get your moment in the sun please. Well,
Speaker 1: that actually is kind of a warm thing. I like
Speaker 1: those people. I'm saying, it's it's a minor. They should
Speaker 1: receive more attention they get. They get no attention. It
Speaker 1: feels very back then it was. You know, they're wearing
Speaker 1: Christmas threes around their change. You like, you like the people,
Speaker 1: but you despise all their kids and wives and families,
Speaker 1: no wanting to see daddy. That's a nice narrative by Greg.
Speaker 1: I am saying that essentially they deserve more of a nod.
Speaker 1: Maybe give them their own show behind the scenes. But
Speaker 1: it's like an hour and a half of that ninety
Speaker 1: minutes show is always the better show. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1: It's so much CBD. I feel like that's what the
Speaker 1: kids called gaslighting, what Mark was doing. Now you know,
Speaker 1: I'm annoyed with Greg wanted because this is just every
Speaker 1: time Mark speaks, Greg concoct some lie, a total lie
Speaker 1: about Mark not facolating anyone. I have to say if
Speaker 1: you do, miss because I do miss Steve Smith wanting
Speaker 1: to kill Michael Irvan. You can tune into this podcast
Speaker 1: when Mark wants to kill Gregg Last. To be fair,
Speaker 1: yes we all get it every once in a while,
Speaker 1: but I mean if you're looking for a real like
Speaker 1: replacement heart, All right, Connie, you've said it all, you've
Speaker 1: done it all, You've lived a life in the industry,
Speaker 1: and you're just getting started back with my family, my
Speaker 1: family in Miami, Yes Angeles, all right, there she goes
Speaker 1: the Queen Thursday, and there we go. We will be
Speaker 1: back on Thursday, of course with the week thirteen preview,
Speaker 1: also the recap of the game you just previewed. You
Speaker 1: can catch that Thursday as well. It's gonna be Greg Rosenthal,
Speaker 1: one of our favorite overseas exports imports. We imported him.
Speaker 1: We didn't they exported him. We imported him. That's how
Speaker 1: trades were, trade deals. My favorite things as a teenager
Speaker 1: was at the height of my fandom for the UK
Speaker 1: band Oasis, go into that, traveling to Times Square, going
Speaker 1: to the Virgin Mega Store and finding those imports singles
Speaker 1: that had all these great b sides on it. That
Speaker 1: was living. That was like you know, like when you
Speaker 1: used to watch the control room when you said this,
Speaker 1: that's what I think about nineties six, taking the bus
Speaker 1: to Times Square to get those in the same thing. Dad.
Speaker 1: You know how you always tell me that I'm going
Speaker 1: to be a great old lady. I can now I
Speaker 1: see that within you, You're gonna be a great old lady.
Speaker 1: I'm already there. That is the nicest compliment anyone's ever
Speaker 1: given me. Thank you. All Right, here we go. That's enough.
Speaker 1: H What do you take Caaracas? Thinking like the show's
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes too long? Why she's not in a car
Speaker 1: driving and it's not over? Quiet storm, Candie Bog the
Speaker 1: old box, Tricky Hollywood. He's a call