[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, it depends, like, if it's the first night of the week that I'm drinking, which is usually Friday night, I'm just gonna have two drinks, and then probably eat a good dinner, and then smoke a little after.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But then Saturday, where I feel like, hey, I got a day under my belt and I'm used to the drinking a little bit, you know, I smoke, and then I might have three or four drinks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then smoke after I eat. And then on Sunday, I might combine it all. A little bit. I might have like a drink and then do a little puff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And just a little, I mean, I puff first, and then I drink, and then I puff a little more, and then I keep drinking. And the drink is normally... Don't follow me, everybody out there. I'm not your bottle sister. Or else you won't enjoy your steak. I'm vodka, all the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Chopin on the rocks, two lines. All the time. That's what I drink. Sam Bourbon. Yea. Woodford Reserve. I'm gonna get there though with that. With what? Bourbon? I wanna try it. Yea, cause I haven't really


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're all acquired tastes, right? Well none of them taste good. It's poison.


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[Assistant] It looks like it. You look like you got a little neck. You look a little meatheadish there, honestly. A little meatheadish. I could have played linebacker.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, please do. Please do. Please do. You've seen me throw the football. It's okay. It's okay. Your dad is your coach.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He knows. That's very true. That is very true. My dad used to come to my little league games on like a Friday night, right? And he didn't want to get out of the car and then everybody be like, oh, Phil Simpson.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our town might have been okay with him there, but right, the other town was like, oh my gosh, the quarterback of the Giants is over there, right? So then, so he would, he would like, in our old rec field,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah, I mean he didn't come to many games, even as a little league kid, but that's what he would do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] High school, I think he only came to like three or four of my high school games, right? Cause he was working for NBC and CBS, announcing games on the road, whatever else. But if he came to like even a practice, right, on like a Wednesday at high school,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He would watch from like 700 yards away, right? He was never going to get involved or make the coach feel like he was, you know, looking over things or second guessing or anything like that. Uhm, but yeaah, that's good. That's obviously someone I played against because they would know that. You wouldn't know that unless you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, unpacking the, the pass rushers, the DBs with Devin McCourty. Thanks to him so much for, for taking part and taking some time to hang out with me and Ahmed. Ahmed, you the man as always for driving the ship.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright everybody, you know where to find us. Wednesday, we got O-Line rankings, alright? It's back to the draft talk, and man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a class. I don't know. I sit here and go, are we going to have a record number of offensive line drafted in the first round? That's kind of my initial thought and I'm not even done with the whole group yet. So we'll see where it goes. Be ready for that. You know where to find us. Get at us on social media. Everybody be good. Enjoy the next two days. Peace out homies. Clap it up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Me and Ahmed Fareed are gonna be here for it all. You know, we got free agency. We're gonna break it all down. The draft, the rankings of positions. Of course, we're gonna unpack it all. Hit subscribe, get to my free agency reactions, 2024 draft rankings and more. Thanks again for watching. Peace out, homies. See you soon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I do buy that. I, I do, you know, and again, I mean, your power rankings say that, you know, you, you got the number three team in football, the Buffalo Bills, you got the Steelers below 12, right? Or somewhere below that. So it is some truth there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But at the end of the day, you don't want to sacrifice your own team for the sake of anything. They're going to sit players. We know that Baltimore's not going to be at full strength.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think that necessarily means that they lay down as a football team and like the Steelers are going to blow them out though. I don't. I mean, I know we're not going to see a lot of the main stars from the Baltimore Ravens football team. There's still a lot of good backups and role players there.


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[Assistant] And it's a Pittsburgh team that, you know, as I don't think is in the same class as the Baltimore Ravens. Uh, and, and we know that it's an offense that struggles to score points anyways. And with the Ravens having a backup quarterback, that's one of the better backup quarterbacks in football.


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[Assistant] I think they'll move the ball on the Steelers with Tyler Hunt, Huntley and company. I'm going to pick the Steelers, but I think this will be a nail biter. I do and will not be shocked if they lost even with the Ravens playing with backups here, but I'll take Steelers 20 to 17.


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[Assistant] I'm a believer in the Texans. I am. Uh, I think one, you know, first off, they're, they're a different team than, than they were in that week two matchup where they were still young and figuring themselves out on both sides of the ball.


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[Assistant] Alright, so they're far more dangerous now than compared to that.


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[Assistant] And what I would even say is where they're more dangerous I think now than maybe even compared to six or seven weeks ago is the Texans run game has come along here.


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[Assistant] And between that and CJ Stroud, it's, it's hard to defend them right now. You kind of heard me say in PFT today, but that run game and then them being one of the best play action passing football teams in the game and how they strike there.


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[Assistant] Right? That, that, that worries me for, for the Colts defense. Colts defense, you know, not special. I do think you can throw the ball on them. I do. You know, you can run the ball on them as well. We know that too. And I just think that's a dangerous.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Formula for this type of football team. And then I think when I flip it around, you know, I got so much respect for Shane Steichen and, and what they're doing there.


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[Assistant] You know, offensively they are based on the run game. The Texans are phenomenal at stopping the run. And I just don't think Gardner Minshew and his right arm are going to carry this one to victory. I don't. I'm going to go with the Texans one game, one or done type of scenario. I think they have more talent on their football team. I'm going to ride them 27 20 Mike.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think that that's fair to say, uh, they both done a phenomenal job. We know that they both exceeded expectations, you know, and especially Indianapolis, of course, with their quarterback getting hurt and then having to ride Gardner Minshew. It's, it's been very impressive.


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[Assistant] I don't think this will be easy. I expect them to win the game. I do. I'm gonna have them covering the spread. But I think it's scary. I mean, we saw, you know, Carolina hung around the first time. Carolina, I think, has some things on their defensive side that matches up well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With Tampa Bay. You know, Tampa Bay, their run game, it's not like a proven force. It's spotty.


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[Assistant] Right? And that's where you can take advantage of Carolina. I just don't know if they're good enough to take advantage of it. That's where I'm not sure.


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[Assistant] Right? So, uh, if you rely on the pass game too much against the Carolina Panthers, you will get in trouble.


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[Assistant] Right, I can see them giving the Bucks some issues here and there and certainly don't expect the Bucks to just keep moving the ball up and down the field on Carolina's defense. The other side of that coin is we say it every week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I just have no face on the Carolina offense. I can't imagine them putting up enough points to keep pace with Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans. Gotta think that the Bucks, even though Baker Mayfield a little banged up, highly motivated after


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really making a lot of self-inflicted mistakes and dropping a huge opportunity to win the NFC South last week at home. I'm going to take them to kind of win an ugly 21 to 10 football game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it's important. Zach Taylor, his football team, he wants to end on a positive note, be nine and eight, right? I think there's, there is some importance to an organization and a head football coach that way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so I, I don't expect them to lay down. This is the interesting thing about this week, right? You got to figure out what teams do you think are actually going to fight this week that are playing for nothing and which ones do you think might just lay down eventually, right? Like Carolina's one where I go, I think they're going to look at it and just go, I want the year to be over with it. I don't expect them to fight forever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Bengals, yeaah, they want the year to be over, uh, but I do think there's still some fight here into trying to end the year on a positive note, especially after, you know, the way they played last week. That, that was certainly disappointing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I'm gonna take the bangles. I'm not gonna have them cover in the spread though. I think that's a little too much for me. Wow. Yeaah. I'm gonna have the bangles kind of, uh, or the browns hanging around here. What makes it hard in these type of games is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, again, I know the quarterback's not gonna be in there.


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[Assistant] And I know they'll probably take a few of their linemen out here and there, but what, what defensive guys aren't gonna and gonna be in there? That's where it's hard.


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[Assistant] Like Cleveland, yeaah, I think Myles Garrett will be out entirely or early on, certainly, but it's still a really damn good defense. I'd be shocked if like even against the backups and some of the guys that are not the stars in the team, if Cincinnati just moves the ball up and down on the, on the Cleveland defense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I hear you there. Some of those thoughts certainly go through my brain. I am going to be interested to see where it goes. You know, again, they are playing for something.


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[Assistant] Every time I've kind of thought or wanted to count this group out, O'Connell and Brian Flores kind of...


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[Assistant] Revive them and they kind of surprise me, right? So that's where that's where it's a little scary. All right. And they're going to look at it and go, wait, we played the lions a few weeks ago and we could have beat them. In fact, we probably should have beat them if Nick Mullins didn't like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they could also look at that and go, wait, we could have beat the lions. The lions beat, beat the Cowboys and why can't we go to Dallas and beat Dallas down there? Why can't they do that? They're going to try to sell themselves to that. Here's my other thing too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm a little surprised with Detroit. If I were the Lions, I would not be playing this weekend. I really, I know we all want to be the higher seed, but I think the likelihood of the Cowboys and the Eagles both losing is extremely low.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would be, let's just rest, let's be totally 100% for the wild card game and make sure we win that rather than let's play really hard in a divisional matchup against a team that has something to play for and now we're beat up going to the wild card game and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think it's a smart move. Let alone if Minnesota does beat them, wow, that's real good for you Detroit going into the playoffs at a two game losing streak and you lost to the Vikings the last week of the year. I don't see any positives. I really don't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, the only thing is that yea, if the Cowboys lose and the Eagles lose, they become the number two seed. I think they're making a big mistake by playing their guys this weekend.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, helping out the Chiefs, right, to drive them down the field and, and, and, and score against Jacksonville. And what was that, a 96-yard drive, right? I mean, that was a big point. Very long drive. Yes, yes. So that, that, your point there, you know, it does have some value, for sure.


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[Assistant] The biggest thing is I just don't imagine that the, the Jets can really drive the ball.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the New England defense, like you said, New England's been playing. They have not quit on their, on, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the, on their football team, their teammates or the head coach. Uh, I just, I'm, I'm going to go with one less touchdown for the Patriots. I made it 17 10. You know, I still don't really think that Patriots, uh, offense even against an unmotivated, probably spotty defensive group with the jets can score a whole lot of points.


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[Assistant] I, I, I do think they match up well with the New Orleans Saints. And why I say that is, you know, you know, you've heard me say this. I mean, again, Atlanta can run the ball, right? New Orleans has issues stopping that. You know, New Orleans, uh, Atlanta can play pass defense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] New Orleans wants to throw the ball and can't run the ball all that well. I, this is one here where I don't know in a lot of my ways and thinking I, you, you, you think, Hey, saints at home, they won a big game last week, all of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm gonna ride Atlanta here. I just think they match up well with the Saints. I think they're gonna bounce back and show a little grit and toughness from their loss last week.


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[Assistant] In Chicago. And, and, you know, they got some people with some knowledge on their staff of New Orleans in general. Uh, I just say, I always look for that kind of one upset. We don't expect that type of game. This is the one I'm going to go with. I'm going to take the Falcons 2320 on the road.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] See, this is another one where I think it's scary, right? I'm going to pick Jacksonville to win the football game, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's some things that concern me about this one. You know, I mean, again, it's Mike Vrabel. The Tennessee Titans don't look like they're going to lay down. I don't expect them to lay down. That's not the type of football team they are, right? You know, whether it's Will Levesse or Ryan Tannehill, I look at it and go,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think, uh, the offense will be that drastically different.


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[Assistant] The issues the Jags have on the offensive line, and I know they ran the ball a little last week against Carolina, but Carolina's not good at running, at stopping the run.


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[Assistant] I think that could be issues for Jacksonville. You know, Jacksonville not protecting the passer all that well. Tennessee can get after the passer. I'm gonna take the Jags here, but I'm gonna have it closer than the spread. I'm gonna take the Jaguars 24-20, just barely winning on the road in Tennessee.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I like both birds. They're both really kind of fascinating birds. Cardinals are very pretty. Seahawks are really cool. I mean, they're cool birds. So, and I'm an animal lover, so.


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[Assistant] I like the Cardinals. I like the Cardinals. The Cardinals are one of these teams that we look at.


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[Assistant] And I go, they're not going to, they're going to play this weekend. They're enjoying the positive vibes and, and where things are going. I would think spirits are high there in that facility right now. Wow. You got that win. Wow. We can.


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[Assistant] Screw the Seahawks over this weekend. Not let them get in the playoffs and then go into the offseason going, damn, we're, we're going to be a force to be reckoned with next year. We got a ton of money and draft picks and everything, let alone, I mean, the Cardinals, you saw.


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[Assistant] You know, it stinks, they, they lost their, their, uh, you know, one tackle last week, I'm blanking on his name. Damn, the guy that got drafted, he's from Houston, either way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, they lost a tackle. They're still one of the best running game, running, running teams in football. Seattle's defense stinks. Stinks.


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[Assistant] I mean, Pete Carroll making excuses going, Oh, we, we overplayed for the explosive Steelers passing offense. That's why they ran on us.


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[Assistant] You want to talk about a bunch of bullshit coming out of a coach's mouth. You overplayed the explosive Steelers passing offense. Either you're lying or you're not coaching that well to think that that's a thing to do.


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[Assistant] But either way, yeaah, I'm riding the Cardinals here. I don't have faith in the Seahawks. I think the Cardinals defense will slow down the Seahawks attack.


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[Assistant] I think it's simple. A guy like Gannon will figure it out. I'm going Cardinals, 27, 24.


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[Assistant] I mean, they can. I'm not going to pick it though. I'm not. I'm going with the bears. The bears are one of the hottest teams in football.


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[Assistant] I saw a quote, you know, what was that? Yesterday or this morning? I think I saw it on PFT, right? Justin Fields, it'd be important for them to win the football game. They want to win this game. They got a lot of the same feel of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Detroit Lions of last year going into Green Bay. Yeah, we're not making the playoffs, but we're putting you Packers and everybody else on notice. Watch out for us next year, right? And a lot like Arizona, they got all this money and draft picks to work on next year. Their defense, nobody runs on them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Green Bay likes to run the ball. Take a little pressure off of Jordan Love. It opens up things downfield. They're not gonna have that luxury. No. Chicago, they challenge everything in the pass game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, they're gonna make Jordan Love throw the ball into tight windows. Alright. And then, yeaah, the, the, the Bears offense has got it going. I love the Bears offense. I love everything they do. So I'm taking Bears 24-17 on the road. They knock the Packers out of the playoffs if all that other stuff doesn't happen.


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[Assistant] I'm like damn, a playoff Packers quarterback here, Jordan Love. He could win the last game of the year and get in there. Yeaah. I don't know. Yeaah. That was a low blow by Rodgers. That was about as low as I've ever seen an athlete go actually on an interview. I'm still shocked by it.


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[Assistant] But still didn't own it. Tried to call it like shit talk and all that. That's the worst shit talk I've ever seen in my life, if that's what that is.


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[Assistant] I'm gonna go with the Chiefs still. I'm not, I don't have any magical break down here. I'm gonna go with the Chiefs culture and their backup quarterback still better than Easton Stick.


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[Assistant] And that they'll find a way to win this football game no matter what. The Chargers are one of those teams that I look at that go, I can't wait for the year to be over. I'm not fighting for anything. I don't care. I'm out of here. Right?


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[Assistant] So, again, no, nothing high level X's and O's I can look at here. This is a tough one to call because, you know, you don't know who's going to be in or out of the Chiefs. We know mostly it's going to be all the big time players out. I'm still going to go with their depth and the culture of their football team that they somehow win this football game 17-14.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, you know, I think this could be, the Raiders have fought. They, it's been valiant, for sure.


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[Assistant] I think this is a week, you know, the foot comes off the gas pedal a little bit.


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[Assistant] I, you know, the Broncos, I know there's nothing to play for, but I think the fact that Jared Stidham starting at quarterback, right? I think that is a little bit of a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, hey, we're still, we'd like to show that we can win with this guy and kind of still ignites a little fire in Denver.


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[Assistant] Let alone Sean Payton I think is trying to set it up for next year too and wants to make sure he goes in the off season on a good note. I just have a little more faith on him to keep the pressure on his football team to still look good and end on a positive note here.


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[Assistant] I'm gonna go with that because the Broncos players know, hey, he's the king of the castle, Sean Payton. He ain't going anywhere. If he can bench Russell Wilson, he certainly can bench any of us or cut us in the off season. I think that's enough to scare them to help them win the football game 24 17.


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[Assistant] It is. I, I don't know. Again, I think with Tyrod Taylor at quarterback, right, in the Giants, and again, I think they're


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[Assistant] Still playing too. And I think the energy of the Eagles fans and it's Philadelphia and the rivalry there and the energy in the stadium, the Giants players are going to show up. They've continued to show up. We haven't seen them lay down.


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[Assistant] Again, the Eagles are not playing good football. It scares me a little bit. The Giants, I think, will be able to move the ball on the Eagles defense. And then, we know Wink Martindale and that Giants defense is going to challenge Philadelphia, and especially with no Devontae Smith now.


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[Assistant] That can allow them to put a little bit more into, hey, let's stop AJ Brown. I think the Giants are gonna keep this uncomfortably close. Eagles win 27-24, but the Giants scare the shit out of them. Literally.


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[Assistant] Yeah, and that's going to continue. I'm going to pick them to win this football game too. Again, I think it just in a game like this where I know there's a lot of good players not playing on either team. There's not. So I'm going to go with the team that's, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, got a culture and depth on their football team that, that can play in this moment.


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[Assistant] I think the Rams are totally like, you know, off the board. We're ready for the wild card game. We care nothing about this, right? The 49ers, they got nothing to game plan for in the future quite yet.


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[Assistant] You know, it's gonna be a mishmash of starters and backups, certainly, but I have more faith, I think, in Sam Darnold, you know, behind the Shanahan offense, and still some of the weapons that'll be available to him more than, hey, it's Carson Wentz.


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[Assistant] They're crazy if Kyron Williams even touches the field. Cooper Cup, I doubt is in there at all. If, if he is, it's a few plays and Pukka Nakua being in there, right? Until he breaks the record, which I would think is going to be maybe one series if two.


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[Assistant] And then I think the talent level really drops off. So that's why I'm gonna take the 49ers. 21 to 16. Maybe I should go more than that. Uh, but I'm gonna take 49ers there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you say mishmash? Mishmash, I think I did say mishmash, yes.


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[Assistant] Yeah, it's scary, right? It is scary. We saw last year, the Cowboys went in there and played in a meaningless week 18 game and got thumped by Washington. Sam Howell's first start.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, did some really good things, but that was a Washington team that wanted to win and had something for the future to prove to their coach and a quarterback that wanted to be the starter and all the things that have lined up about some of the other teams we've talked about that have nothing to play for, but we still think they'll be competitive. This is one where I look at it and go,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, the commanders, they, they probably are like, I can't wait for this season to be over. Holy crap. And I can't wait for our coach to get the hell out of here and get a whole new regime in here. That's how I gotta look at it. But within that, it is still Eric Bieneme, those receivers, and Sam Howell, who


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I expect Dallas to move the ball up and down the field out of them. I might be being kind by giving Washington 20 points.


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[Assistant] I don't know where I got it. I usually get it from hearing people but when I typed it in...


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[Assistant] It said, what is a mishmash? And it said a confused mess, a hodgepodge, a jumble. So it's in there somewhere. Somebody's saying, if Google brings it up and it says it, like, there's gotta be something there. Now I, yeah, most likely screwed it up or combined things. We know that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't forget on DraftKings Sportsbook this season, new customers can bet $5 in pocket, 150 bonus bets instantly, plus all customers can get a no sweat, same game parlay, every day.


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[Assistant] Download the app and use the promo code unbuttoned when you sign up. DraftKings Sportsbook. The crown is yours. Mike Florio says please, please, please bet responsibly and don't mess up your life.


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[Assistant] Does that mean that you say please bet irresponsibly? Is that the counter? Well, I don't know. I'm not gonna say anything before I get myself in more trouble, okay?


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[Assistant] It all goes back to England. They know phone box, they know flipping the bird. Of course that's where it's from.


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[Assistant] I would imagine either Pittsburgh or Jacksonville win, right? That's gonna put a lot of pressure on Buffalo.


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[Assistant] Miami of course wants to right the ship here before they go in the playoffs, but they know they're in the playoffs. They know that.


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[Assistant] I think that psychosis is an advantage Buffalo Bills.


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[Assistant] Let alone they dominated him the first time around. And McDermott has shown


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[Assistant] That he's one of those few coaches out there that has a true understanding of the Dolphins offense and what they do and how to play it.


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[Assistant] You always hear me say, right, the Dolphins, when they're, when it's not a track meet and the game gets physical and ugly a little bit, and they can't throw screens and reverses and start the game looking like that, and then, you know, the little throws over the middle, it's like, okay, well, what else you got? What else is there?


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[Assistant] And that's the thing that I come into common in all their losses. Listen, I know they won one gritty win against the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys have their own issues of gritty football. So it was like, you know, poor man versus poor man in that scenario.


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[Assistant] But so that's what I worry about with the Miami Dolphins here.


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[Assistant] And, you know, McDermott, the Bulls defense, they have a great defensive line. If there's a weakness of the Dolphins, it is their O line in pass protecting on third down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, they can't just, you know, run at will on you. Like if you play run defense, they're not going to just do it constantly, but, or always have success, but where the Dolphins could be better and where you've heard me say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is teams are calling their bluff also on the run game. They're all, they're all at some point in the game going, they won't stick with the run.


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[Assistant] They'll become too obsessed with all their little cute pass plays and getting Tyree kill the ball. So, you know, I know they ripped off a few runs on us and already have a hundred yards maybe at halftime, but they'll give up on it. They will.


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[Assistant] And I don't understand that about the Dolphins. So that plays into the Bills hands as well. The Bills I do think will struggle moving the ball against the Dolphins defense. Alright, the Bills we've seen here, it's teams have caught on to what they're doing in the pass game, right? And Joe Brady and all of that.


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[Assistant] It's simple. Embrace the ugly Buffalo. You heard me say that earlier today. I think they're at their best when they kind of do the Baltimore Ravens run game stuff.


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[Assistant] And, and use Josh Allen in the run game, and then they'll start to get some looks that really benefit them in the pass game. I'm gonna go Bills, of course, as you can tell by my breakdown there, 27-21. Bills win, get in, AFC's champs.


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[Assistant] What I texted you a little bit during the week about the dolphins, right?


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[Assistant] You know, you brought it up today. I don't remember what you texted. Well, just that, you know, the grit and the toughness, right? That's something that seems to be missing there in Miami a little bit. And in this kind of game, yeaah, I think Buffalo and McDermott, they've been in more of these type of games and have shown the ability to be grittier and tougher in this type of scenario.


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[Assistant] Well, I'm going with a team that you know I've been riding hard, and I'm going to continue to ride them hard. Week 18, I think they've been a best bet for me maybe six out of the last eight weeks.


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[Assistant] The bears, the Chicago bears, Mike Dick on the bears going into green Bay. Yeah, I'm picking the bears. I just said the Packers favored by what was it? Is it three and three? Yep. I think the bears are going to win outright. If they lose, it'll be really, really close. So I feel comfortable with that one.


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[Assistant] Okay, alright, damn, so that does give me some intrigue on that Saturday afternoon game. I like that right there, a little spice there. Okay, my next one?


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[Assistant] I'm going to the Dallas Cowboys versus the Commanders. Yup. I mean, I just feel like, Hey, it's over in Washington. It's, it's like, get the hell out of here. We can't wait to pack our bags up. Dallas needs to go into the playoffs with a positive vibe, let alone secure that number two seed going with the Cowboys.


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[Assistant] Woo, man, you're going with Bailey's Abby and Mr. I'm going to throw the ball to the chest of the other team at least three times this game. Woo, man. That's Dicey. Woo baby. All right. My last one. I'm going to our game. I'm taking the bills. I am. I don't like a lot of bets this week. I really don't.


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[Assistant] I'm gonna take the bills to win this one. Three is a little much, it is, but I got him winning 27-21. Uh, I'm gonna go with it.


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[Assistant] Cowboys. Cowboys. Cowboys. And now you're gonna make me root for the Giants even harder! You're gonna hear me on Sunday! I'm coming after ya! See ya!


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[Assistant] Yo yo, what up homies, thanks for watching. Remember, subscribe to Chris Sims on Button.


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[Assistant] Out of the Ravens here on Monday night. I'm sorry, I know that's disrespectful to the Ravens.


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[Assistant] I download the app and use the promo code on button when you sign up. DraftKings of Sportsbook, the crown is yours! It's a be a Florio! A Wario!


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[Assistant] All the kids want to play receiver, right? And so you can't have every kid play receiver. So do those kids that are unable to play receiver, do they just automatically go over to corner?


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[Assistant] After throwing just two interceptions the entire season, Sims, 8 for 20, 113 yards, one touchdown was picked off twice today. Twice, twice. What?


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[Assistant] But here's what the New York Times writes. But he was, he managed to keep his composure directing the Raiders game winning drive hitting Mike Miano with a 14 yard pass in overtime to set up Keith Tornichias.


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[Assistant] The three yard touchdown run Hoboken failed to score on its subsequent possession and the game was over. You were state champions completing eight passes in the state championship game. Right, yea big time.


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[Assistant] Look at the people who could be intercepting, who knows, better quarterbacks than me. Some other quarterbacks in the NFL currently. Let's take a look back first, as we always like to do. Pete and I like to do this. We look at your rankings from last year and go, where did Chris mess up the most? Because we would like to talk about that again. And also, perhaps, maybe,


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[Assistant] If it applies, say where you excelled here. So, uh, Devin Witherspoon was awesome.


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[Assistant] In the conversation for Rookie of the Year, you loved him. He was a man crush last year. You have a man crush this year too. Uhm, DJ Turner, who was a later pick, you were higher on him than most, but definitely showed in Cincinnati that he became the star.


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[Assistant] You were bigger on him and then he ends up going in the first round. I think that was a borderline conversation where when we did the rankings, I don't think a whole lot of people had Deontay Banks in the first round, but then he ends up going there and he was the kind of guy that Wink Martindale really liked and he had a tough defense. It was a tough year for the entire defense for the Giants last year.


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[Assistant] So you look for the edge, is it also a position where you look at the combine numbers more and you weigh those more than you would at other positions?


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[Assistant] The first corner off the board, fifth overall to Seattle. I think the Lions were probably looking at him. And I think when they did not get him, they traded back, ended up getting Gibbs and then.


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[Assistant] That extra pick got Sam Laporta, so I think that works out pretty well, uh, with that. But yea, Witherspoon went first off the board. Emmanuel Forbes, who you were lower on than most out there, was the second corner taken.


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[Assistant] Like these are self-fulfilling prophecies because if you take a guy in the first round, you're going to play him because you don't want to be wrong in the first year. And so the fact that, that Washington actually did not play him in the first round, I think goes to show that some of the things you were concerned about with him showed up on the field.


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[Assistant] That's tough, right? You don't get to talk to the guy. And for Stingley too, you had to believe that his tape from two years prior was going to trump anything he put on tape the last year. And it turns out maybe that is the case. Maybe it did, maybe it did. Not a great rookie year for him, but bounce back last year.


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[Assistant] Let's say as someone who has now been evaluating on tape corners for the past few weeks. Maybe days is more appropriate. I don't know how you do it. It's so incredibly difficult. Cause you mentioned the best corners out there are not getting tested a whole lot. And so they don't have a whole lot on tape. And every corner is going to have a few plays where they look bad.


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[Assistant] And get beat. And so it just seems like a very, very difficult position to evaluate from the tape, from what you see.


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[Assistant] So without further ado. Yeaah. We get into your countdown. We have a top five. We have what? Three tiers here. We have a tier to start it all off. Tier number one who has one player and one player alone. Only one. Your man crush this year. You know it. This is my first man crush.


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[Assistant] Your first defensive man crush. It's our first defensive ranking. But still, uh, tier one, we're going to name this one shutdown cornerback one. You think he's a shutdown corner. Oh, without a doubt.


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[Assistant] Such a quick decision, such a quick decision maker, comes up, delivers, hits, reads well.


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[Assistant] He knows how to position his body to screen off and get in line with the route. It's almost like he knows the route as well as the receiver knows the route. Played off the line a lot, gave him the ability to go right, uh,


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[Assistant] Read the field, go downhill if necessary, played physical, even in cold weather, they had some cold games there in Toledo, and I think that's important. Yep. Uh, plays fast as a tackler, and this was the thing that really stood out, because I looked at all these guys that you sent me, and there are a few plays for every single corner where it's like, oh, that looked terrible. If you just saw that one play, you'd be like, he can't trap that guy, it just looks so bad. He basically didn't have any of those plays. Yeah.


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[Assistant] Panagon is a measurables out there. NFL.com says he's built like a running back, tackles like a safety, has the ball skills of a corner.


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[Assistant] Uh, here's his nana gun, so it is pretty impressive with the hand size, big, he's fast, 10 yard split's good, 40 yard dash is awesome. Yep. He's lacking a little bit in the broad jump. I haven't seen a corner have to broad jump that often, so. Of all the traits not to have. We're not worried about that one. Is he a player, and some of these you read the...


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[Assistant] The reports on it go, they're gonna need to be drafted into a specific system.


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[Assistant] Other notable recent draft picks from Toledo. You got Deontay Johnson. You have Kareem Hunt. There's only been one round one pick. Pete notes here from Toledo. Defensive tackle Dan Williams was taken 11th overall by the 1993 Denver Broncos.


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[Assistant] Just like that. Your shutdown corner one is off the board. So now we're going to tier two. You got two corners in this tier. Yep. And this one is, is titled Island Corners. So what, can you give me the distinction between shutdown corner one and island corner?


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[Assistant] Your number two corner in this tier of Island Corners was nicknamed Nate the Great by his coach Dabble Sweeney. Your number two corner is...


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[Assistant] One of the things I noted was, much like Mitchell, rarely looks bad. And so here's another guy, like you said, maybe not as clean or doesn't look as clean in doing it, but doesn't look flat out bad because he's got the speed to make up for his mistakes.


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[Assistant] And he's got the want to in the, in the, some of those plays that you mentioned stood out. The 80 yard run, I think it was by Miami where he comes and strips the ball at the one yard line. It was cool. He did it a couple of times.


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[Assistant] Yeah, he did. What was the other one? I can't even remember the other one. I think it was, uh, it was the UNC game. Oh, UNC. UNC had one? It was Miami, and then he almost did the same thing. Almost, I think he scored, but it was just like, he almost tried to rip the ball out right at the one yard line again.


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[Assistant] I got a question here from AddieM27. Hey Sims, love the pod. Is it just me or is Wiggins the only corner out of the consensus that plays man to man on a consistent down to down basis? Seems like a CB1 to me.


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[Assistant] So he's grown too, it seems like, when he was at Clemson, he originally committed to LSU, switched over to Clemson, his freshman year, Dabo said he had an immature year, missed some classes, doing stuff like that, but in 2000,


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[Assistant] Uh, as a sophomore, became the full-time starter, had a pick six in the ACC Championship game then. Dabble said that he matured, got more focused, and so that translated onto the field.


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[Assistant] An anonymous NFL source has to say from NFL.com this is an NFL national scout. He has better physical talent than Devin Witherspoon, but he doesn't have that same level of dog in him. That's probably the biggest difference right now. I think Wiggins is the better prospect though.


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[Assistant] I think in my humble opinion, those two guys stood out. They stood out. Wiggins and Mitchell. But you also have another guy in tier two. I do. Island Corner, you're not necessarily in the consensus on this one, although many people like the traits of this corner, would not necessarily put him in this tier. You like him better than most. He's from Auburn.


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[Assistant] And PFF notes that he is one of the few players, DJ James, who handled Malik neighbor's quickness in that game. That's my point. NFL.com said, quote,


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[Assistant] A thin frame combined with questionable long speed could push James inside, whereas pattern matching and short area athleticism should work to his advantage. So similar to what you're saying right there. It's like he has the speed, but necessarily all the way down the field.


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[Assistant] Which makes sense, right? So they context clues, it was like they trusted him in those situations, it was hard for him, but they did trust him in those. They did.


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[Assistant] But to the point I was making about your first two guys, it's like you really couldn't find any bad play. There were some for DJ James, and also I was like wondering, should it, should it be disqualifying? He was the one in coverage that gave up that 4th and 31 game winning touchdown to Alabama.


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[Assistant] Like, I think it was indicative of maybe some of his ball skills sometimes, his lack of awareness sometimes getting lost in Zone 2, and so I think that showed up a couple of times, but the elite physical traits is what puts him number 3 on your list.


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[Assistant] And this is your final tier. You have your final two players in tier number three. And this is raw and explosive. Can you give me just a, uh, what does that encapsulate for you? Raw, explosive, you know,


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[Assistant] Four year starter at Rutgers, part of a family, an athletic family. His brother, Packers wide receiver, Bo Melton. Father played wide receiver and corner at Rutgers. Mother played basketball at Rutgers. He's from Maze Landing, New Jersey. This is why you like this guy. He's a New Jersey guy. You know that. He's got Jersey toughness. Jersey toughness.


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[Assistant] Exactly right. Be patient. Right. Exactly right. The Ahmaud Fried film notes. Definite make-up speed. So there you go. Great hands, ball skills, knack for jumping routes for sure.


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[Assistant] A lot of his good plays are in run support as well, which is a good sign for a guy with speed, and you know who can cover. I go his negative here, definitely committed his share of penalties, had some holds, I don't know if that was a function, and we talked about this, the Big Ten officiating compared to the SEC officiating,


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[Assistant] He definitely was handsy and polled and committed some of those penalties, but I don't know if those Big Ten officials look for that more than other officials do out there.


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[Assistant] Arm length pretty good here, for a guy who's not necessarily that tall, so the weight is the big concern, but just eat some pizzas. Okay, I'm sold on the Nana, the Nana gun. Yea, it's the weight and the height.


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[Assistant] Yeah, projected round two pick right now in the mock drafts. Your number five corner, who is also in the raw and explosive category. And this is another one that not necessarily in the consensus.


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[Assistant] 6'2", 188, so he is like 10 pounds heavier than some of the other corners we've already had here. His numbers at the combine, 4-3-4, 40 yard dash, a 1-4-8, 10 yard split, and so we'll already do the, uh, what do we got here for him? It's also a nonagon.


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[Assistant] They're all nonagons here. So yea, 95th percentile in the 40 yard dash, 92nd percentile in the 10 yard split. And so those things just jump right out at you.


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[Assistant] That's what I, I know, I go, there are times he can definitely look clunky and out of control. Exactly right. Right? Exactly right. And so you see those plays and you're like, alright, I see why he's way down in the list, but you, you think, and this is one of those players where there probably is a scheme fit for him.


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[Assistant] We gotta get his name first and then his name will start going off. Yes. Draft boards. Uh, he led all SEC corners and tackles each of the last two seasons. Yeah. 79 in 2023 at 85 back two years ago, but he had zero interceptions in college. Yeah. Which is not always indicative of a guy who can't do that, but


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[Assistant] It is something that does stand out here. NFL.com says he is leggy with below average lateral transitions, is what you said, and change of direction in space does have big makeup gear in straight lines.


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[Assistant] Pete wants to know the difference between him and Emanuel Forbes, who also went to Mississippi State, was the 16th overall pick last year in the draft.


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[Assistant] Your top five corners is done. It is in the books. We split it up into three tiers. Here they are. Shut down corner one, Quinian Mitchell. And then you got the island quarters, corners and Nate Wiggins, DJ James, all on the lighter side. I feel like we have more lighter.


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[Assistant] Corners here. We told Max to eat some pizza, but Pete knows that it's a, it's a, that's a worrying thing because he's in New Jersey. He probably did have a lot of pizza. So maybe this is the Max. He might be maxed out. Max Melton. Uhm, but okay, so.


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[Assistant] As we look at this, and we'll get to the names, I'm sure there, for people that follow it, there are a couple names that are lacking on the list right now that are standing out. But would this indicate to you, and I think we heard a lot, that there are a lot of corners, teams that, you know, I don't know.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so you got to, you do this in alphabetical order too. So you probably got to Wiggins. You're like, all right, finally another, another top corner in this draft class.


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[Assistant] So, let's do the, uh, let's do the Robin Hoods real fast. And then I know we got a question here from one of the homies we'll get to in a second.


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[Assistant] And your Robin Hood's got one of my favorite guys because I'm a Michigan fan, I'm a homer. Mikey Sane Restill. Uh, we'll get to him in a second. Yeah. Because I think I want to start with, uh, Tarion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry. The people that were watching were waiting. Where are the Alabama guys? Yeah, right. They go, where are the Alabama guys? Because depending on who you look at,


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[Assistant] Out there. Tarion Arnold might be some people's number one. Right. Corner. Right. In the class. Yeah. Uhm, so let's go to both of those guys, but let's start with, you wanna start with Arnold here? Because I think it was Kool-Aid that got all the hype coming into the year. And then it seems like right now that Tarion is getting the hype as a possible top corner off the board.


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[Assistant] Now, go ahead, what else do you want to show us? The LSU game, watch that because you want to see how they stack up against those studs.


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[Assistant] Definitely gave him quite a bit of room to operate those wide receivers and you did see that at times when it almost looked like he, you're right, he didn't trust his own speed because he gave a pretty big cushion and you'd see some crossing routes and where it's just like he's given a pretty big cushion trying to work the angle because I don't think he thought that he had the speed to run with him.


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[Assistant] Which is weird because it's flipped, you know, it's like he was the guy that had all the hype. Right. And what, isn't Kool-Aid, didn't he have a Liz Frank injury? Kool-Aid had a... Jones Fracture.


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[Assistant] So he had that Jones fracture that he had surgery on. Uh, a anonymous, anonymous NFC regional scout says he is a serious guy on the field and he knows ball. You rarely see him bust because he's always prepared and he's really natural in coverage. So that'd be good. That'd be good news.


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[Assistant] The defensive back from Michigan, Mikey Sainra Still. He was aw- I loved him just because it converted wide receivers. He goes over, plays defensive back. He's learning on the fly at Michigan. You know, a team that's expecting to win. And they played through their defense and won through their defense and he was a big part of it. Got huge ball skills. You see him.


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[Assistant] So yeaah, GentlemanTBD says, how do you view the value of the nickel position in today's NFL? And how could it impact a prospect like Mike Zane Restill's draft stock?


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[Assistant] Which is great for a team. If you want to get a guy in the third round, maybe even fourth round, a guy who can contribute for you. Right. So let's throw some other names out here. Cooper DeGene from Iowa. Yeah, right. A realistic take says, what do you think about Cooper DeGene playing all over the field? Seems he has great instincts and athleticism and could be very versatile.


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[Assistant] With the right scheme I can see him playing safety and in the slot as well as outside corner. Feel like some teams could really value him.


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[Assistant] I will say there was one game I was looking forward to seeing him play in, the Penn State game, and Iowa just got railroaded in that game. I mean, the defense played like 90 plays, so I don't blame him too much for tiring out, but he was not great in that game against Penn State, which I was like, ah, this is a chance for them to go, him to go up against, and that wasn't even like a great offense with great wide receivers.


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[Assistant] One more player that we're going to talk about here, and that is Renardo Green from Florida State.


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[Assistant] Alright, so those are the names to talk about, and of course the homies can.


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[Assistant] 31 picks in the 7th round. They got a 20-25 3rd round 3 picks. So this is not one of those, you know, give me your 1 and next year's 2.


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[Assistant] This was definitely a, uh, a lesser cost, although they did have to pay him as well. That's part of it. That factors in.


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[Assistant] But should that matter though, because all it takes is a couple of teams to want him, which I think did, that will drive up the price. Like even though you know Kansas City's not gonna be able to keep him, but we know Tennessee likes him, and the Lions want him, and this team wants him, right? I know, so it seems like that shouldn't matter as much.


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[Assistant] We've dipped into defense now. On Wednesday we look at Edge. I'm curious about this now. I'm curious if any of those Edge will surpass your love of


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[Assistant] But I'm trying to keep up with them. What's up man? How are you? Happy new year. Happy new year. We probably won't make it to the new year. I hope not. I'm hoping that we can go somewhere and get out of here before the new year. Yeah. All right. So we'll see where that goes.


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[Assistant] It's not with you. I mean, first off, we've been with each other for 12 hours now, right? And I'm like, it's a football podcast. I don't feel like people are like, oh damn, I gotta hang in there to the end to see Chris and Ahmed say happy new year. Yeah. So I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe our fans like us more than I think they do.


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[Assistant] All seriousness, uh, first off, it is great working with you. You are my buddy. Great working with you. Alright. Do you do New Year's resolutions? Yes, I do. You do? Yep. You got one this year already? Cause I've been thinking about mine. I'm not one to normally do that, you know, and I think I've come to mine this year.


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[Assistant] Uh, it took a little while, but I figured it out. I think I'm gonna try to like adhere to it this year. We'll see what I can do. Honestly, less road rage. Less road rage. Yeah. Road rage. I have a heavy foot.


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[Assistant] Right? I'm very, you know me, into detailed, let's not waste time, right? Maximization of the day. So, you know, I can get a little mean on the road. And to the point to where my kids are literally at times like, dad, chill out. Like, right? So I have to stop being a bad father, let alone a bad citizen.


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[Assistant] Four teams cancelled? Five teams cancelled out of the playoffs before today? I mean, it wasn't many. Uh, I would like a few to be cancelled so I don't have to study everybody so closely every week here, but we only got one week nonetheless.


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[Assistant] That's right, 23-3 Green Bay to continue our tradition of 23-3 Green Bay.


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[Assistant] Bench Jaren Hall, Nick Mullins on his first drive in the third quarter, drove them down there, they got stopped on fourth and goal, or fourth and three, didn't get it. And the Packers are now driving, and they're gonna win this game it looks like, and really actually put it away right here to where I will not be referencing it again after this.


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[Assistant] Yeah, it looks like we're wrong. I mean, it's hard to think of a team that's gonna go deep play off front. I don't remember ever.


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[Assistant] Where we go, oh my gosh, they've lost like that? Right now? I mean, it's rare to see. Uhm, the Ravens have hit their stride.


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[Assistant] The Ravens, as we kind of talked about a little bit last week, seem to play better when they're in fear of their opponent, right? We've kind of made that point, whether it was the Niners, the Lions, when they were hot, right? The Seahawks scared them. Of course, the Dolphins scared them. The Dolphins were a team last year that the Ravens were up 35 to 14. What? Late third quarter, early fourth, and lost the football game.


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[Assistant] Ravens absolutely stomped them today. The Ravens are a different football team than we've ever seen the Lamar Jackson, John Harbaugh Ravens look like. I think that's the biggest thing that I come away with after the last few weeks is that


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[Assistant] You know, we know they're big and physical. We know the defense off awesome. You heard me say it in football night in America a little bit. This is the first year though. They're going to go into playoffs with Lamar Jackson and be a pass first football team and then go, wait, if you overplay the pass, we have this huge offense alignment and we can run on you too.


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[Assistant] That is different about them, and it was an offensive show today. I don't know where else to say it. I mean, it never felt like...


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[Assistant] You know, I'm looking here at my notes and really from the get-go I was like...


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[Assistant] Lamar's on fire. He's throwing the ball great. The passing game's killing it, right? I mean, we even had Rashad Bateman drop that bomb on the, it was the first play of the game, right? So, uh, Lamar, the passing game, phenomenal.


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[Assistant] They kept kind of put a guy short, runs, run a little post route behind it. And that would kind of seem like, whoa, okay, they're breaking off a few runs to Dolphins. And they've kind of found this little scheme that's working, but the Ravens are so well coached. They kind of caught onto it. And I think that was to his first interception. They went back to the well one more time. Roquan Smith got the interception and that was kind of where you felt like the game started to fall apart for the Dolphins. It was the one play 70 play.


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[Assistant] 75 yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers, which was a Tyree-Kill type of play, which I love, right? Off the motion, run-up field, it confuses people because it's like, woah, it's happening so fast, wait, you got him, I got him, are we in zone, are we in man? He goes uncovered, and then the next drive was the two interception,


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[Assistant] That led to, I think the fourth and seven go for it, Isiah Likely catch, right? That was one handed.


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[Assistant] And then, that was pretty much all she wrote. Ravens went up 28 to 13 and you felt like, it felt like the Dolphins never had a chance after that.


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[Assistant] It didn't seem like the Dolphins did anything after that, you're right. They, they go into the half with the lead, then they come out in the second half, right, and Baltimore, uhm, Baltimore has the huge kick return.


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[Assistant] And that was where you were like, oh my gosh, like, the Miami Dolphins defense isn't going to get to make a stop here and, and, you know, hold them to no points.


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[Assistant] They got the ball. I think he returned it back all the way to like the 18 yard line. A few plays later, they scored a touchdown and then you were like, wow, it's 35-13.


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[Assistant] Right? And it kinda became a little bit of like, oh, a stalemate for a minute, and you're like, ooh, the Dolphins gonna, you know, mount a comeback like they did last year, cause it was 35-14, I think you heard me in the room going, oh, they scored a touchdown, but it was work to go down to make it 35-19.


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[Assistant] But it just didn't matter. I mean, the Dolphins had all the answers throughout the day.


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[Assistant] Throwing the ball, they even started to run the ball a little bit at that point. Uh, the Ravens, excuse me. And, uh, the Ravens, yeaah. Right now, hitting their stride. Pina is good on both sides of the ball as we've seen them play all year. We saw that little inkling in the middle of the year where we went,


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[Assistant] Hey, when the Ravens are at their best, they look like the 49ers. It kind of went away, but here they are, they've regained it just in the right time, and they're looking awesome.


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[Assistant] It's quarterback-y, you know. Even you heard me talking about the 4th and 7th play to Isaiah Likley. He kind of runs up in the pocket.


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[Assistant] And I feel like again, old Lamar would have been like, Oh no, there's people here. I just got to tuck it and run go-go gadget legs. Let's see if I can get it.


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[Assistant] He's still running up in the pocket, looking upfield, jumps, cause he's got somebody kinda coming at him, and throws an unbelievable football to Isaiah Leclerc. Jamon Holland was not in a bad spot there.


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[Assistant] And he puts it in the spot where it was safe. Like likely he's gonna get it or no one's gonna get it.


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[Assistant] They get the touchdown there, but yeah, Lamar I think solidified the MVP today, definitely. You know, I think with the way the Ravens have been, right, putting more on his shoulders.


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[Assistant] And then again, I don't think you could just, oh, look at overall statistics when it comes to Lamar Jackson, right? It's the effect he has on the football game, it's the plays he makes in big moments, uh, you know, they, they, they, he, he is everything the Ravens embody. And, uh, great job by them and way to go, Jim, John Harbaugh and the whole organization.


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[Assistant] He can only sustain the soul for a little while. You're right. Yeaah, he lost it. But he had it going, and uh, they're a fun team. They got a lot of personalities. They're physical, they're fast, and uh, they're really well coached on both sides of the football. They got leaders, and of course they got a really, really special quarterback who looks like he's gonna win his second MVP.


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[Assistant] So, if you do decide to shave your hair, which, I mean, you're a man of your word, and you want to come at me with the get real thing,


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[Assistant] Let's see if you can be real and be a man of your word. Alright, and if you do, cause this is all in good fun and we appreciate you listening to the pod and your interaction, please like take a picture, film it, something, cause we're gonna put it on the pod. We're gonna have some fun with you there.


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[Assistant] I worry about it, I do. You know, they're not the team that we ever thought was like the most physical team in football, right? Uhm, no Mozart today, right? The Tua thing, certainly concerning. I don't think it's bad, but the Bradley Chubb, that's one that's significant. I really look at that and just go, man, they've


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[Assistant] They've arguably lost their two best players on their defense this year. Jalen Phillips, to me, is their best player on their defense. And now you lose Bradley Chubb. I think they were 1 and 2 when you really go off of it. Uh, so that, that's unfortunate. And, you know, you think about them and where they wanna go, right? Oh, they gotta play the Bills. They might have to play the Bills in the playoffs. They might have to play the Ravens again in the playoffs.


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[Assistant] You know, guys like Chubb and Jalen Phillips to corral guys like Lamar and Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, right? Gonna be a lot harder to do without them out there on the football field, let alone Xavier Howard who's been battling injuries all year long, so we'll see where it goes.


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[Assistant] I mean, I think if it's, if we're gonna be honest about this, we're gonna go, if Bailey Zappi doesn't throw three of the dumbest interceptions we've seen, then who was it? Brown fumbled at one point.


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[Assistant] You'd go, this game was gonna be a nail biter. I mean, there's no doubt about it. Buffalo's offense was not capable of doing anything.


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[Assistant] I mean, you know, whether it was the first turnover of the game, they had the ball in the four yard line, they had to settle for a field goal. They went nowhere.


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[Assistant] So, we never saw the Bills offense get in any sort of rhythm today at all. And, uh, you know, we know the Patriots defense is really good.


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[Assistant] You know, it's, it's, that's where the bill's, the offense is good, it's still not like I don't watch it and go, oh wow, it's so creative, you know that. We've liked some of the elements with James Cook.


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[Assistant] I do, but I just, I wonder if they still have enough on the offensive side of the ball.


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[Assistant] You know, to beat a Ravens defense or beat the Chiefs defense even, you know, once again, you know, without some of another playmaker just kind of being a part of the offense. But man, they couldn't do anything today.


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[Assistant] And, uh, it was, it was kind of concerning, honestly, in my opinion, that the offense looked the way it did. But for their, but I'll give them credit there, here, Amin, is that they...


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[Assistant] You know, at least didn't do stupid stuff on their side of the ball. Allen did throw the one interception, which was bad, but after that kind of reined it in and they realized what kind of game it was and they kind of embraced it from there.


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[Assistant] Their D line is awesome. It's hard, I mean the Patriots offense as we know is nothing to write home about, right?


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[Assistant] Hoping like Kyra Leelam can get back on the field for them a little bit. Maybe add a little bit of a man-to-man element for their defense at times. I think their defense, listen, I respect the defense in a big way.


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[Assistant] I'm just not sure what to think about the offense as a whole. I think the defense is going to be a pain in the ass for anybody they play in the AFC playoffs. I don't doubt that.


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[Assistant] It's the offense and certain matchups that I worry about. And again, another day today where good coach defense that has a little talent.


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[Assistant] And you're like, okay, pass game, can't get going, Stefan Diggs, is he out here today? I mean, I mean, we barely ever saw him, right? And that's what I think is a little scary. I mean, hey, listen, if New England doesn't miss the field goal later on in the football game, which I want to say it was going to make it 27-22.


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[Assistant] Or maybe somewhere right around there. Uh, or it was gonna maybe be 20 to 17 after Josh Allen threw the interception.


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[Assistant] That game, you know, I think could have got really uncomfortably close for the Buffalo Bills. They missed that field goal, they kind of weathered the storm and went down and got a touchdown on the tush push from Josh Allen, and it just was too much for New England to come back from.


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[Assistant] People can coach defense, I know that. That's for sure. Now they gotta be, they gotta figure out quarterback and explosive weapons on the offensive side of the ball. That's the big problem. And we'll see. But yea, I mean again, I don't think like,


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[Assistant] I think Bill Belichick, the football X's and O's guy is still really good. Yeah. Bill Belichick, the higher the offensive coordinator or, you know, what kind of players make it happen in 2023, especially in the offensive side of the ball. I think that's where we question him.


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[Assistant] Again, we saw that Josh Allen was never comfortable at any point.


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[Assistant] I mean, there was really no highlights to show of the Bills other than one throw to Dalton Kincaid down the middle of the field, right? Other than that, you know, it was tough sledding, and that's what I do worry about. I still worry about, hey, I know they're gonna run the ball and they'll be tougher, and I'd like that about today, like you said. There's still that.


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[Assistant] But is that enough for them to really make a real run in the AFC? I'm just not sure. I've got it.


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[Assistant] Embrace the ugly. That's gonna be my new phrase, right? Embrace the ugly Kansas City Chiefs. This is who you are this year.


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[Assistant] You're gonna run the football, run it more, you know, even today at one point it was like, why are they not running the ball more? Pacheco I think at one point had five carries for 88 yards and I was just like, and then the next drive they come out and throw the ball three times in a row and you're just go, what are we doing here?


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[Assistant] So yeaah, I'd like to see them embrace that, play through their defense, which is awesome.


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[Assistant] Mahomes be efficient like we saw today, and then he'll make two or three big plays in the game. Oh, we're sick of getting run on. We're sick of getting run on. Oh, now Justin Watson's one on one downfield. Big corner out. Oh, now Rashid Rice is one on one on the right sideline. Big play down the sideline for that, right? That to me is who they are.


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[Assistant] Play ugly, be that way. There's been a lot of teams that have won Super Bowls just playing run the ball, quarterback, be clutch at the end of the football game, defense be awesome, and they can do that. Defense struggled a little early on in the game, right? We were all sitting there going, damn, the Bengals are kind of moving the ball.


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[Assistant] After the game went to 17-7, after the Mahomes strip sack,


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[Assistant] I mean, the Bengals couldn't do shit on offense after that. And like you said, it felt like the Chiefs were finally like,


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[Assistant] Screw with how we look, we just gotta win the game now. And they went into, let's just get down the field and get points, and we didn't go for it on fourth down too many times, we kicked field goals and did all that, and I think that's who they are, that's the way they gotta, they gotta play coming down in the playoffs.


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[Assistant] So, everybody's gonna play defense at first being, we're scared of Mahomes, we don't want him making magical plays and throwing bombs everywhere.


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[Assistant] So that's where, yeaah, I'd like to see them be more creative, go more all in on the run game, more run game ideas, you've heard me say that, right? And then Mahomes who played absolutely horrible on Christmas Day against the Raiders, I mean horrible. Can you tell me more about that?


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[Assistant] Yeah, and you heard me say today, right before we started, I just went, the Chiefs were a disaster against the Raiders. It was way worse than I even thought on TV, right? Where you thought, oh, TV they made some mistakes or whatever else. They couldn't do anything in that game. Mahomes was horrible, the pass protection was horrible, they couldn't run, they were running into each other. I mean, we had the drop passes.


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[Assistant] So don't, I don't want to look at it, but yeah, there's definitely a handful of plays in that game. And again, this is what happens to great quarterbacks when they're used to being a part of this machine that never gets stopped, right? They start to go, damn.


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[Assistant] Like, we haven't got anything going. The five yard completion just doesn't look as good. I want to jump start us. And you pass up completions. He did a little bit of that in the game. Let alone, as the game went on, the Raiders were just all over their stuff. So like, it was everything, right? It really was. But this is a good...


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[Assistant] Oh, the Chiefs are in the AFC Championship game? Like, no way. With this group and that quarterback in this defense, it just might not be the way we expect to see the Chiefs, but they can do that.


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[Assistant] You heard me say last year many times, I think one of the worst things the Chiefs do is throw the ball deep. Because everybody plays them so deep all the time, they don't even ever get to do it, right?


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[Assistant] So, they've got, you know, the way defense has played Mahomes, it's almost relegated them to always have to throw the 5 and the 10 and the 15 yard crosser and do that.


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[Assistant] You know, there was one game last year, it was on Netflix, where Mahomes was like, whoa, I can't believe they're playing me like this. It was the 49ers, right? And remember on Netflix, he was like, they better, they don't know who they're messing with. They're going to play like this, right? All of a sudden he started throwing bombs. So it's a little bit of, they don't get to do it much, defenses don't let them have that opportunity.


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[Assistant] You run the ball and Isaiah Pacheco starts getting more yards than he should. Defenses change and now you get some one on one matchups and they still got some guys there that can make some plays down the field.


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[Assistant] You know, you move the ball on one of the better defenses of football, you know, throughout the night, made plays there. Okay, scoring points was a different


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[Assistant] Uh, but again, that's a top notch defense there. Still have the concerns about


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[Assistant] Your defense, as you know. I mean, man, there was a lot of big plays on both sides of the ball that didn't make me feel better about either defense. McCarthy's management at the end of the football game, the fact that he threw the ball,


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[Assistant] On that second down right after the two minute warning. That was crazy to me. I was literally sitting there like, wait, are they not gonna make a bigger deal about this on the telecast right now? Like I was literally like, wait, that was huge that they just threw a


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[Assistant] Go route down the right sideline with a team that's got one timeout left. Like I was like, what?


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[Assistant] So, to make that mistake, then have Detroit go down the field and of course capitalize, and really, when they made that mistake, I'm not gonna lie, like I picked Dallas to win the game, but when they did that, I was like, they deserve to lose. They deserve to lose after that right there.


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[Assistant] Well, that I don't understand either, okay? But either way, you know, I mean, golf, golf throws the interception late, your defense gets the stop, holds them to the field goal, right?


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[Assistant] Go down the field, looks great, everything's good, get the touchdown.


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[Assistant] The two, the, the, the two point conversion play with the ineligible, eligible guys, all that. Let's dive into that a little bit. Alright. One, the referees obviously messed it up. I don't think there's any doubt about that. I will also say within the referee's defense that I don't think anything, anybody, any team has ever come out this situation quite like the Detroit Lions did.


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[Assistant] Three different linemen telling them like three different things. Like, I'm actually not eligible, cause I'm the tackle, but I'm gonna go move the tight end. And I'm actually eligible.


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[Assistant] Because I'm not the tackle, but I'm gonna play the tackle position and be eligible. They wanted to throw a little misdirection. There was misdirection, so the Cowboys would be like, wait, we're not even sure who's who, right? The referees obviously messed it up, I don't know why in those cases they don't just take more time and go, hey everybody, and explain it to the crowd, we'd all like to know, right?


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[Assistant] Give them a few seconds, I don't understand the rush of the situation, but I will say, and all in all, right? And I want to make sure I clarify this, because I know you heard me say this already. Listen, if I was a head coach, I'd do the same thing, and try to take advantage of those rules.


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[Assistant] All in all though, I don't like that play. I don't like these type of plays. I think they're against the spirit of the rules of football. Too gimmicky for you. Too gimmicky.


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[Assistant] Again, our left tackle is eligible and he's going to be a left tackle, but we brought in another left tackle, but he's not going to be a left tackle. We're going to line him at tight end and we're going to have a cover up because he's actually a tackle. And if you have to explain it that much, it shouldn't be allowed. Again, it's football.


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[Assistant] I-I don't like that much trickeration to this, so we're gonna get into a big moment of the game and be like, who's who? What's what?


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[Assistant] All that? So again, I want to clarify, I would take advantage of these things too, but I do feel like the NFL needs to step, this is very much as, well you weren't on this text chain, but my pro football talk text chain, I was like, this is Raven's Patriots in the playoffs of 2014 all over again a little bit. Something we had never quite seen done this way.


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[Assistant] And yeaah, confused the refs and ended up screwing over your own football team.


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[Assistant] That's how it looks right now. In fact, it almost looks inevitable that that's what's gonna happen right now. I don't- I don't-


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[Assistant] You know, I don't know, can the Rams, we'll have to figure it out. I'm not sure, can the Rams slip to the seventh spot and then avoid playing the Lions? We'll see. We'll unpack that as the week goes here and try to figure that out. But, uh, right now, yeaah, you're playing the Rams in Stafford.


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[Assistant] Yeah, it's, uhm, concerning. I mean, you know, we've talked about it all, right? I mean, the offense definitely doesn't seem as creative or as complicated as years past, right? But from the get-go of this football game,


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[Assistant] I mean, Arizona marched the ball right down the field the first drive of the game. They had to settle for a field goal, but you kind of were like, ah, you know, it was like a let down, like, ah, that was their chance to, you know, really put some pressure on Philly because they got inside, you know, the 10 yard line, I think at one point, short field goal, you know, Eagles as they do answer right back.


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[Assistant] The thing that was like, opened your eyes a little bit is, the very next drive, Arizona went right down the field again. And you were like, my gosh, some of these holes in the run game are like, gigantic. They are absolutely dominating Philadelphia right now.


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[Assistant] Tyler Murray throws the pick 6 and it goes 14-3 and you go, ah, the Eagles are going to win this even though they don't look like they're playing very good football. The Eagles have done this all year where it's like, eh, they're not, don't look that good, but they make the big plays at the big moments and you go, here they are kind of controlling a football game.


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[Assistant] The Cardinals hung in there and just kept hanging around and at 21-6 started to turn things into their favor. And I mean, it just seemed like every time they got the ball, it was an 8, it was a 10 play drive for 70 yards, 75 yards, and they were marching down getting points.


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[Assistant] I mean, Philly got pushed around up front big time. And then of course we know their secondary is not great. Kyler Murray certainly had some success there throwing the ball, but the story of the day was the Cardinals run game and their O-line just punishing the Eagles front.


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[Assistant] Yeah, well, yeah, I think that it's, it's just, when you talk about culture, confidence, things to build on for the next year, right? You know, the cardinal players, the young ones are gonna go, hey, our coaches are pretty good.


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[Assistant] That was the Eagles. We got people open for big plays. We're running for big plays. We were on some of their stuff they were doing on the offensive side of the ball, right?


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[Assistant] You know, held them to a field goal late in the football game when we needed to. So, I think this is the kind of game that like rallies the young core for the football team for next year.


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[Assistant] To go like, hey wait, you know, new guys come in, free agents come in, hey, our coaches, we got a clue here.


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[Assistant] And of course they have a ton of assets to go in the draft. I mean, they got a lot of positive things for sure, but Ganon's done a really good job. How good do you think that felt for him? Oh my gosh. Like...


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[Assistant] Yeah, that, that was a, that's gonna be a special moment for him. That's game, win of the year for him. I would, I would, I would bet that. And I think it sticks in Philly a little bit more, right? You know, by all due account, you know, Gannon told them he was going to stay in Philadelphia. Vic Fangio left to become...


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[Assistant] The Dolphins defensive coordinator, and then two days later, Gannon left to become the head coach, and they were like, wait, we don't have a defensive coordinator now. We were gonna name Fangio it, but you told us you were staying.


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[Assistant] So I think there's some bitterness in Philadelphia about that, and that's why Howie Roseman, you know, uh,


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[Assistant] We brought the tampering charges to, to light in the offseason and all that. We'll see where it goes. But Cardinals, four and twelve, yeaah, not great. But how many games were they more impressive than we expected them to be and how close they were? And they got the, on their resume that they beat the Cowboys and the Eagles this year. And there's something to say about that.


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[Assistant] No, no, you can't take that away. Yes, exactly right. At some point you gotta win some football games and show your team that there's hope, or there's a light at the end of the tunnel. And I think when you talk about the way they run the football, hey, the quarterback looking good, you know, the OC is creative, got a damn good tight end in Trey McBride,


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[Assistant] Uh, our Michael Wilson, the receiver from Stanford we talked about in the draft, he's a damn good player. You know, and then you add on Rondell Moore and Higgins and a few of these other guys.


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[Assistant] They got a lot of things that excite me. The defense needs some blue chip stars maybe, especially in the front seven, but still not bad. Uh, they've done a really good job competing and staying relevant throughout the year. And yeaah, I'm concerned with the Eagles. How could you not be?


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[Assistant] No, I, he's, uh, those are, those are proper assessments, though. I think that, that's the big thing, right? In, you know, at lockdown, cornerback.


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[Assistant] It, it just feels like a year on the offensive side of the ball, they've relied on the, you know, my old saying, the Jimmy's and the Joe's over the X's and the O's. And, and at times, okay, you know, it's easy to fall in that trap with the Eagles because again, defense has been to such a degree to have to stop or you have to worry about, oh, the run game and all that. And then we see,


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[Assistant] Well hey, it's one-on-one outside. Let's just throw it outside or throw a go-round, right? Or it's one-on-one and we'll throw a screen. If he breaks a tackle, watch out. So I think for the most part, they've been able to keep a simple formula, right? And that's been enough.


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[Assistant] But you're seeing defenses kind of catch on to some of their tricks and what they go to in big moments or what plays they go to according to what defense you play.


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[Assistant] And again, I think it's just a learning process for this Eagles team all, all, all together. Uh, and, and of course the, you know, the offensive coordinator, uhm, uh, what is it? Johnson, right? Uhm, I'm blanking on his name.


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[Assistant] Brian Johnson, excuse me. Yeah, it's a learning experience for him and it hasn't been easy taking over for Shane Steichen.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I think you said it right. Like, it was impressive, but it wasn't their best football. No.


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[Assistant] Right, we, we saw Sam Howell in the passing offense, you know, catch a little fire.


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[Assistant] And the commanders drove down and that's where Sam Howell threw the interception, like on the five yard line. I believe that was Lenore who got that one.


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[Assistant] That's where the 49ers went on the march to say, see you later, this game's over. We've let you hang around enough. And Purdy made that, of course, the incredible scramble and play all there altogether. But, you know, again, I think we see the 49ers, the dangerous weapons they have on the offensive side of the ball. We see that. The defense is definitely a little less dominant than


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[Assistant] We've seen the 49ers late in the season in certain years here, but they'll get it right. They will. And I think they're a little bit beat up on the defensive side of the ball too. This will be big for them that they won this game.


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[Assistant] And now, week 18, they can play it any way they want, right? The Rams are in the playoffs, so it doesn't matter about the game in general. But one, if they have some guys that, oh, this guy's beat up, like, we could play if it meant something, but we don't have to now, let them get, you know, full recovery mode so they can be at their best for that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, that's, it's, it's a fine balance of damn, I want us to go into 100%.


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[Assistant] But I'd also like us to be playing as close to 100% our best too. And that's hard as cause we've seen this and we've talked about it. Number one seeds who don't play the last week of the year, all of a sudden they get in the first divisional round and they haven't played football in three weeks. And then we go, damn, they don't look the same, right? And that to me is where I always err on, you know,


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[Assistant] What would New England do? And what did New England do for 20 years as they dominated football? They got a lot of situations like that, and if they had the number one or two seed wrapped up,


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[Assistant] Last week of the year, they still played their starters for a half, right? And maybe some of the other role players into the third quarter before they started to say, alright, we're out.


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[Assistant] I think there's important things there to be done to keep you in the groove of, you know, pregame, getting ready for a game, your emotions, firing off the ball, keeping your good habits alive. You don't want to go that long this time of the year without playing because you're going to get one team that's going to go, wait, we're a hundred percent healthy. We're a hundred percent playing our hundred percent best.


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[Assistant] And now you haven't played in three weeks, and that's scary as we know. We've seen this year lesser teams beat better teams, you know, every week I think.


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[Assistant] Interceptions that were made way too big of a deal of the whole week. Not all interceptions are created equal.


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[Assistant] These weren't ones where it was like, woah, he didn't see the guy and he hit the guy in the chest. The first one was, the other three were,


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[Assistant] A little bit of, hey, the Ravens are awesome, and some bad luck, but it wasn't like, oh man, he's way, he's, he's,


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[Assistant] You know, out of his mind here, he's not even seeing the field right, he's making dumb throws. It wasn't that crazy, and I feel like that's how it got blown out of proportion a little bit this week about his play. But either way, he made a lot of big throws today, uh, and the 49ers back on track.


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[Assistant] He just misses no throws really, right? So like, the game is maximized. And that's where...


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[Assistant] You know, we come in here a lot of weeks and talk about how good he is, but sometimes I don't know if everybody, you don't realize how good he is until you see some other quarterbacks playing the offense and you go, hey, we took that 27 yard out route for granted that CJ Stroud just walks into everybody's pocket every week, right? And all of a sudden you go, damn, the offense doesn't move the same. So I, you know, again, like any great quarterback,


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[Assistant] When he's on the field, the confidence kind of permeates throughout the rest of the football team. But this was, you know, pretty much a dominant affair. It was a little bit of a defensive struggle at first, but you could see that Tennessee was not going to be able to move the ball on the Houston Texans. They had a hard time moving the ball against the Houston Texans a few weeks ago.


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[Assistant] And, you know, will Lewis get knocked out of the football game? Ryan Tan will have him go back in. Yeaah, it just...


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[Assistant] Kind of the thing we talked about with the, the Tennessee Titans all year. If they can't run the ball, they just don't have enough in the pass game, weapons, you know, imagination, any of it to be dangerous. And this was one of those days where, yeah, it seemed like they had nothing going there and not that the Houston Texans were awesome on offense, but they were efficient, they're balanced, and they slowly just started to break down this Tennessee


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[Assistant] I think that'll be enough to get people open down the field. Between that...


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[Assistant] The game plan design and then Stroud being really arguably the best play action quarterback in football as far as, you know, aggressive down the field on the money throws, throw after throw after throw. He's up there with anybody, uh, that'll be enough for them. They don't, you know,


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[Assistant] They'll miss, they'll miss the speed of receiver but I think they'll be able to get away with it.


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[Assistant] Let the Raiders hang around. You know, I think that that, that, that would be the big thing. You know, how did maybe a chance to.


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[Assistant] I don't think that you can't put it on Gardner Minchew and go, oh, you know, mid thirties, high thirties throwing the ball. To me, that's not when he's at his best.


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[Assistant] He's not a carry the team quarterback. He's a, hey coach, if we do things the right way, I'll take advantage of everything you kind of.


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[Assistant] Put out there for me today. But if you're asking me to like drop back, play after play after play, then scramble and make great throws, then I'm gonna screw up a few times and I'm gonna miss some throws too.


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[Assistant] Right? So this to me, when I come away from these kind of games where I go, oh, they ran the ball, and then, oh, 15 for 23 for 224, right, 15 completions for 200, it shows you that, you know, hey yea, they're controlling the line of scrimmage, the defense is worried about stopping the run, and they took some shots down the field.


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[Assistant] And to me, that's when they are at their best, right? It felt like they were in more control of this game than 23-20. Totally. Yea, but, you know, I think really it's, it's the end of the football game, the Raiders offense finally started to kind of catch on fire. They did nothing really in the first half.


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[Assistant] And, you know, late third quarter into the fourth quarter, all of a sudden they started moving the ball up and down the field and Aiden O'Connell kind of got in a rhythm and, uh, he and Devonte Adams started to tear it up a little bit, uh, but, but overall it was too little too late with the late score and, and the Colts


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[Assistant] It almost has to, it feels like to me it almost has to start over. I'd want to blow it up to a degree.


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[Assistant] You know, not that saying the coaching, like Antonio Pierce has done a great job to make you go, woah, he's definitely done enough to be in the conversation for keeping this job, but I don't think Aiden O'Connell is the answer, right?