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[Assistant] So, I, I don't, we don't know the whole story. But either way, it's just another little, you know, inkling to go.


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[Assistant] Being vaccinated helps your football team, helps you, you know, in a lot of ways professionally. I know not everybody's in favor and all that, but you know, for, for purposes of I want to be a starting quarterback and collect all my checks and have my team win, vaccination still is a pretty smart thing. But, uh, I'm not trying to judge anybody on that or anything like that. I hear you. We're just talking about football-wise.


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[Assistant] I think that he still will be the guy, no doubt. I don't think that's gonna change. You know, New England's not fickle like that, they're not over emotional.


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[Assistant] You've seen how steadfast they've stayed with Cam Newton this whole time, even though Max been phenomenal in practices and preseason here, right? You know, they're, they're, they're realistic to know what was against him last year too and evaluate it for what it is. So, uh, and.


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[Assistant] He's still the number one leader on their football team. And I think there is something said about something to be said about that. It's different times right now and the world's different. So this shit kind of happens, but yeah, I was really allowed to go like,


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[Assistant] Man, Mack Jones has looked awesome. I mean, he's looked awesome. He played awesome in the game the other night. I mean, he just, every throw is bullseye. He makes decisions quick, gets the bottom of his hands. It's like you're watching the third or fourth year veteran. You're just like, damn, I mean, this kid's a rookie. You know, it's phenomenal that way. It really is. Uh, but


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[Assistant] You know, I think ultimately just knowing New England and the way they, they


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[Assistant] I think it is. I think it's a short leash for sure. I do. I don't think he's gonna get like, you know, a six game stretch where he's gonna be like, well, it's been rough and I'm still just trying to find my way.


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[Assistant] I know. I don't think there was a whole lot of options behind him. Yep. This year's a little different story. To where yea, if we got to week three, week four, and it's been underwhelming and he's missed some open throws and turned the ball over, I think they will. They will, they will cut the court and go to Mac Jones. But I think as long as he plays solid and good, and does, he'll keep his job.


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[Assistant] You know, I, I, I think I really do. And like I said, I think in a lot of ways, you know, I know they're better at receiver and things like that, but with the two tight ends, that offensive line, you know, their defense.


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[Assistant] I think another year in the system for Cam and everything like that, uh, I expect it to be, he's the only one I sit here and literally just go, okay, Cam should be the guy in my opinion for right now. It's the easiest call for you. It's the easiest call for me.


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[Assistant] Revisiting. I've seen enough I think to say Cam is the guy there though. Okay.


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[Assistant] No, I mean, it's a tough call. Both have played really good in both preseason games. It's hard to sit there, you know, and say like, oh, one has a clear advantage from what we've seen in the two games to this point. You know, like I've always said, I get more excited with Locke.


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[Assistant] I do, I think his ceiling, his high end talent is greater. Just more talent. Right, and I think his ability can take advantage of Jerry Judy and Hamlin and Courtland Sun. They got some studs that can stretch the field. That's his game, you know. But at the same time too, he's got a show.


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[Assistant] That he can take care of the ball and not be a gunslinger and do those type of things. Bridgewater is the exact opposite story. As we always know, anybody ever listens to me and knows that's what I always say about him, I know he can take care of the ball and not throw interceptions and do those type of things. He can do all that stuff.


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[Assistant] Can he make all the plays that are there to be had has always been my question. Recent history would say no. No, exactly.


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[Assistant] That's where I get, I get into it, but, like, Bridgewater's been a little more aggressive with his decision making and throwing in both games. I mean, especially the other night, he made some unbelievable throws. And I'll say this too, in Locke's defense, you know, obviously, I think Locke won week one, Teddy won week two.


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[Assistant] You know, both guys got to be with the first team in the weeks they won, so I think that says a lot too. But here's one thing I'll give Locke a lot of credit for, what I liked in the game too. When Teddy, you know, they went down, scored two touchdowns, I went, oh man.


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[Assistant] You know, I hope Locke doesn't try to be like, Johnny, I'm going to come here and save the day and show everybody I should be the starter and throw rifles and you know, balls into tight windows and all that. He showed some maturity to be like.


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[Assistant] Okay, it's third and, third and twelve, or third and sixteen he had one time. He threw the check down. Got eight or nine yards. Shit, we punt the ball. Okay.


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[Assistant] I'm not going to force it down and get an interception and get my head coach as a defense head coach all pissed off at me and all those types of things too. So I thought, I thought he showed actually something, you know, in himself too, to kind of play smart and mature that way.


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[Assistant] Your logic is right, alright, and we add to that what you're saying here for Teddy Bridgewater's case. Also, George Payton, Payton, Patton, I always mess up. Back and forth. The GM. Yes. Is from Minnesota, Payton. Yep.


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[Assistant] He was there with Teddy Bridgewater. Yes, that's right. Was he there when they took him? He was. So there's gotta be a little bit of a respect, love affair there with that too. I always think about that, does that favor Teddy? But then I also just, you know, talking here, and again, I don't know the answers to these things.


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[Assistant] I mean, for Drew Lock to play the way he did in week one, and two days after, Fangio said they were really close to naming the guy.


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[Assistant] I was, the last week I was thinking he was leaning Drew Locke. Like, that to me sounds like he's gonna make Drew Locke the starter.


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[Assistant] You know? But I don't know if Teddy played so well that he just went, shit, hold on, I gotta pump the breaks and maybe I need another week of evaluation. I don't know, I don't think they can go terribly wrong with either one. I think your logic, in a lot of ways, makes sense.


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[Assistant] No, it did not. And he was, you know, even for him who takes care of the ball, he was a little careless with the football at times last year too. Ultra conservative at times too. Yes, no doubt about it. That's my problem. They had, you know, DJ Moore and Robbie Anderson and I came away from a few games just going, there was some people open and yards there and points there and he looked to be conservative and it cost them games.


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[Assistant] So, that's, that's where the million dollar decision is. Here's the other thing I'll just throw into it. You know, again, both guys look good.


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[Assistant] You know, the thing I've also erred on a little bit here is, you are in the NFC West. You know?


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[Assistant] There's some good offenses. Can you win every game? Defense, we're gonna win at 16-13? Like you're not gonna beat the Chiefs twice like that. Right. You know, you're gonna have to score 30 in one of those games against the Chiefs. Maybe your defense can get the best of them one time. How about the Chargers now too? The Chargers too, that's what I mean. So that's where I get a little into like,


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[Assistant] You know, you might be leaving a little out in the field with Teddy Bridgewater. Now they're seeing practice and they know more than I do, certainly. This really is a tough one. You know where I err. I err on going with Drew Lock. I do. As long as he hasn't been a basket case in practice and being like Brett Favre throwing into quintuple coverage and stuff like that, I would go


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[Assistant] It's just, it's just too hard to win that way. You gotta play the game and manage the game perfectly to win that way. Right. You know, and I've just seen very few teams really...


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[Assistant] With Peyton Manning that. That was like, their offense stunk. They just like, hey Peyton, just get us on the right play and run the ball and don't turn it over and the defense will win the game.


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[Assistant] But so it's hard, it's hard that way. Uh, I am gonna be really interested to see where he goes. We've, we spelled it out, but yea, Eileen Drewlock, as you know. There you go.


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[Assistant] Yes, I've seen enough. I've seen enough for all the haters of Zach Wilson's small school, all lack of competition, all those things. Like, that's over everybody. Sorry, just move on from your narrative. It's tired and lazy. He, the very least, I'm not saying he's gonna be a superstar or anything like that. He belongs, that's for sure. I mean,


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[Assistant] For me, and again, I, you know, I know I'm biased, I'm rooting for him, he's the number one guy, but I think I've proven that I can be pretty, like, fair. He has been hands down the best rookie quarterback. You know, to start with the first team each week, have to deal with the emotions of that, and then to me, again, same thing I said in week one.


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[Assistant] He's made the most realistic NFL regular season throws and plays. You know?


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[Assistant] Yes, and it's no game plan plays. That's the other thing I want to talk about too. You know, Field's got a wide open touchdown in week one. He got the Jesse James play we talked about, uh, where he dove and caught the ball. Those are game plan, let's dial something up to make our guy look good. Mac Jones and Zach Wilson, where they're different, it has been


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[Assistant] You know, Trey Lance had the post the first week for Shanahan, dialed up for him to specifically do that.


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[Assistant] But Mack Jones and Zach Wilson have been going, they've been, this is what they've been forced to do. Here's our offense. Here's the plays we've run in practice. We're going to run them on the field. We're not going to call some magical week five game plan play and waste that.


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[Assistant] He's up there in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers, a little play action pass, and they went, oh shit, look at number two, looking like Aaron Rodgers. Let's show it. I think we got some pictures. Oh yep, it'll be here in a second. But he has a little play action pass, you know, he's looking for a post down the middle.


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[Assistant] Both guys go with the post. Corey Davis is running a little wheel route on the right side. He gets flushed from the pocket. And it was like uhm, you know, his pro day workout.


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[Assistant] Where you go, woah, he took three steps to the right, started running, both feet were off the ground, and he threw a 30 yard laser down the sideline, perfect throw to Corey Davis, and that's where I just go, oh shit, that's the guy I thought he would be, right there.


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[Assistant] He's a baller. The kid's a natural. I just know that from people I've talked to. I got to see Jets practice two weeks ago. I just, again, I know I've been wrong. Did you get to meet him? Yes, I did. And he's bigger than you think in person. Good. He's thick. He's bigger than Aaron Rodgers. What would you say?


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[Assistant] 6'3", yea, I would say about 2'20", and really well put together, like thick neck and shoulders, legs where you go, mmm, you look like a high-end NFL receiver, or like a third down running back with those legs. I got to see him do some sprints and stuff against the other quarterbacks.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I get it. I get it. I think that uniform does that to you a little bit. But he's not, he's not small and he's not, you know, he's right up there with Patrick Mahomes in that size. He's got some legs and ass for sure. And here, let's show those pictures, Pete. Cause we got some, we got a, here we go, we got a first and 10.


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[Assistant] You know, and hopefully you guys are watching on YouTube, but you've got


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[Assistant] Two receivers to the right, the tight end to the right, and the back offset to his right in the shotgun. We're gonna little play action pass. So go ahead, let it roll. He's gonna ride it out. You see that there's a post going down the middle, right?


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[Assistant] You know, up top on the three, kind of like a skinny post, but he's smart and recognizes, wait, the safety's there, and he sees that the corner has taken the bait and is following that receiver inside as well.


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[Assistant] So, he's seeing that. Now go to the next frame. He's kind of like an okay spot in the pocket. 99 starts to come free.


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[Assistant] And he moves to his right and you could see here, now he sees Corey Davis on the top left of the corner who's open and look at his body. I mean, he's just loading up in a kind of a weird possession position on the run.


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[Assistant] But ultimately, look, that's perfect right there. He flicks it, gets his body right back to the perfect position, and, you know, to me that's, that's, this is the stuff you saw. That's great, yeaah.


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[Assistant] Throws that are really high level make him look like, oh, that was, looked very easy for him to do. And that to me was always the Aaron Rodgers Mahomish part that I liked. So, yea, impressive.


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[Assistant] You know, just to add more Aaron Rodgers, and I know, yeaah, I'm a Zach Wilson fan, I get it, but like,


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[Assistant] You know, even the touchdown he throws a little to, uh, the, the tight end coming out of the backfield. I, I know that wasn't like anything like, whoa, but what he does is how quickly, okay, wait, this is, don't show this yet. That's all right. We're going to get to this. I want to get to the other touches, but the first, the bootleg, right? He threw that little one there.


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[Assistant] Exactly. Little perfect spirals, you know, placed it perfectly. Now, we're going to show the first touchdown, okay? Because the first touchdown was interesting to me. This is the one of the tight end. The one of the tight end down the middle, cross down the middle. And this is where I love this play.


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[Assistant] They're trying with Croft to run, you know, the old stick nod. Five yards out, run up the field. Right, right. The old J. Novacek play, right. Dallas Clark with Peyton Manning used to do it all the time. So they're trying to do that.


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[Assistant] You wanna run that play against two deep safeties. Cause he's gonna fake out, you're hoping the guy underneath will cover him, and now he's gonna split the two safeties down the middle. That's ultimately what this play is for. Well, they get a single safety look. It's not really supposed to go to the tight end here.


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[Assistant] So, so Wilson, he's got two receivers to his right. Go ahead and let it play, play. So, and he's looking to his right as you can see here. And you can see he's 38, the safety in the middle of the field. This is not something you want to throw the ball, a look right now to the tight end down the middle of the field with the safety right there.


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[Assistant] He's looking to the right because he's been coached to look that way against this coverage. I do think there was either a bust of a route or whatever. Either way, Green Bay had it covered over there. So he has got nothing. Now...


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[Assistant] He's like, now, because you can see, there's the inside slot receiver, he's got two guys on him, the guy outside of him was running a go route, so now he's gotta play football. Now it's like, oh, this is why we drive. We know we, we know you can do exactly what we tell you to do, but shit doesn't always go exactly the way we tell you it's gonna happen, okay? Now you gotta make a play, and f***ing earn your money.


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[Assistant] And so he sits in the pocket, doesn't panic, right?


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[Assistant] And yes, by the rule of thumb in the quarterback world, you shouldn't throw this ball down the middle against this coverage.


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[Assistant] But this is where I think he's kind of special. He's got a great feel. The game doesn't move too fast and I think he just looked at it and went, wait.


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[Assistant] That guy's open, and that safety's way deep now. I can kinda get it in there.


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[Assistant] And he just played football to where I bet you like Michael Fuller might have been like, Oh, don't throw it down the middle. Yes, good throw. Way to go Zach Wilson. Oh, that was awesome. So let's see the next clip. You know, so now.


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[Assistant] And again, the appropriate ball, which you brought up a second ago, to just get the ball up over the top of 44, and then if you keep let it going,


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[Assistant] He protects Croft too by kind of stopping him and slowing him down to a man where he can catch the ball. And okay, the safety is going to hit you in the back, but I didn't lead you down the middle to where he was going to knock your head off, right? So that's where I look at that to be next level. And that's the one thing I've seen from Zach Wilson and Mack Jones, not only great accuracy,


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[Assistant] But even accuracy to the point of protecting the receiver in traffic and things like that. Uhm, but yes, you know, again, I know people are going to think I'm biased, but I, I, I think it's pretty unanimous from everybody I've talked to. I mean, Zach Wilson's looked the best out of all the rookie quarterbacks so far.


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[Assistant] Thank you. From where I'm sitting right here. And if you made me rank them all right now, I mean, first off, like, Fields has been better than Lance. Ooh, that's a good show, Pete. Yeaah. Fields has been better than Lance. Yeaah. Through two weeks, for sure.


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[Assistant] I would go Mac Jones 2. Who were you struggling with there? Him and Justin Fields. Mac Jones 2, Fields 3.


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[Assistant] Bad pocket presence and greedy in the first game. Those are easy fixes. It wasn't things where I went, oh no, I'm a little worried with what I'm seeing. Physically he looked the part.


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[Assistant] You know, and he's a good athlete, the arm looked good, everything like that. But yeah, you know, he's used to Clemson, he's adjusting the NFL offenses, things like that. Uh, I think we'll see a better Trevor Lawrence tonight against the Saints. And we get to see Tayson and James as well. Oh man, I know, another one. And we'll hit that on Wednesday. I mean, I, you know, we'll see where that goes.


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[Assistant] Well, I do, again, there's one I favor, Taysom Hill. Yea. I do. He looked really good. I think he's Sean Payton's pet project.


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[Assistant] You know, he wants it to work. I think, I think Sean Payton's excited.


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[Assistant] About the element of offense that Taysom Hill can bring and it kind of reinvigorates his crazy mad scientist mind to where, oh, I could do this with Taysom Hill and this and this and this and this. And then here's the other thing I just come to too.


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[Assistant] You know, no Michael Thomas. Man, you might need the Taysom Hill experience and all the things he can bring to the table at the quarterback just for a few schematical advantages without, you know, your best player or second best player in offense in Michael Thomas.


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[Assistant] We got plenty of stuff we're gonna talk about. We're still, I mean, we got a lot of rookies to hit on. I got a lot of stuff.


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[Assistant] You know, yeaah, we got a lot of guys to hit on, and like, you know, Pete and I basically the whole weekend, he just gets flooded by texts with me. So, he's got nine zillion Chris Sims thoughts on his phone that will, uh, will certainly break down Wednesday, and I'm hoping, I think Big Phil will be back Wednesday. He'll be back in the fall. Oh nice, I was wondering, I was wondering about Phil. Yeaah, I think we'll see him this week.


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[Assistant] Yeah, we got so much to hit on. I mean, we didn't even get to talk about Trubisky. We didn't get to talk about Big Ben.


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[Assistant] I didn't get to talk about the Colts quarterbacks. I got things I gotta say about my homes. I want things I gotta say about the Miami Dolphins.


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[Assistant] Don't worry, we will be not void of topics on Wednesday. We want to leave you wanting more. Wanting more. Yea. They call it a tease. There it is. There you go. A two day tease. Alright, you the man. Alright, good to see you. Way to be back. You the man, Paulie B. See you in a couple days. Alright everybody, we'll see you, see you, see you Wednesday. Be good, take care of yourself, enjoy Monday Night Football. Peace.


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[Assistant] Yo, yo, what's up? Come on, man. Subscribe on YouTube to Chris Simms Unbuttoned Podcast. I need you. Please hit the subscribe button, please.


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[Assistant] Hi, I'm Mike Tirico and thanks for watching. Make sure to hit subscribe for the latest news and highlights from NBC Sports.


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[Assistant] Oh, look at this guy over here. So coachable. Ready to go.


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[Assistant] Listening to Simzisms, don't do it too often or you will get stupider like me. Don't do it. Please, alright? What's up? Chris Simms, Paul Burmeister. It's a Wednesday afternoon here at NBC Sports.


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[Assistant] And, uh, we got a little schedule released today. We do tonight. We got, yes, we got, we know, we know week one. Correct. So we're gonna, we'll hit on some of the matchups there. We got a little bit of, uh,


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[Assistant] Defensive breakdowns, what we, continuation of what we did on Monday with Ahmed, where we talked about top five, you know, we're gonna go top five.


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[Assistant] Passing yards allowed. Top five running yards allowed. Points allowed. And gonna have a conversation about the year in review of what we saw last year. Maybe about what we expect this year. Gonna hit on that. Maybe some AMAs. Hit on some of those. And when you know when Bollie B's here.


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[Assistant] We're coming with quarterback trivia. It's back. It's back. And we're going back.


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[Assistant] To the Tim Tebow time machine. That's the last time he was relevant in football. Until now. And now we're going to talk about him more.


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[Assistant] And it's annoying, but we're not going to talk about them too much more because we talked about them on PFT a ton today. And if you want to see what I got to say about that, just tune, tune into that, go to the Peacock app. We got it on there and you can find it, but what's up? Sorry, I'm talking so much here.


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[Assistant] I can't help it. I can't help it. It's hard not to. It is hard not to. Yes, there's a lot of issues I have with it. It's not personal to him. It's more personal to the overall look of it.


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[Assistant] And then a little bit to his fan base. That's where it's personal too, if you want to really get into it. Where it's just like, he can do no wrong, and he'll probably be the top Titan in football this year.


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[Assistant] Why wouldn't they want to, they have a bad tight end room, so you signed Tim Tebow to make the room better. Oh you do? A guy that's never played tight end? That's what you do to improve the ti- Tim! They should tell the other 31 teams that, I don't think they knew that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, there's no doubt. I mean, they're gonna look out of the corner of their eye about, you know, this situation and, you know, Urban Meyer playing favorites. Listen, I understand it. I get it. You know, the NFL, just like the rest of the world, it's become very political. It's not about what you know anymore. It's about who you know. And yes, in this scenario, I mean, he's got the one guy who,


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[Assistant] He looks at him like a son. Always has. Always put him on a pedestal. I mean damn, Urban Meyer gives him credit over Chris Leake for winning the national championship. Tim Tebow wasn't on the field for. I mean he's always. Barely. He is. Barely. Right. So there's always that. He's got a real guy in his corner. It makes sense from a business aspect as far as they're in Jacksonville.


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[Assistant] Like, for people to think he's gonna run a Taysom Hill, you know, part of his offense and things like that, Taysom Hill runs 4-4.


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[Assistant] You know, Tim Tebow runs 4-7 and it's 8 years after the fact. He doesn't run 4-7 anymore. So he's going to be slower. Plus he's not a great thrower to begin with. Taysom Hill has a rocket for an arm and can launch at 70 yards. And also throw 20 yard outrouts that just


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[Assistant] And you didn't need to sign Tim Tebow to run the Taysom Hill thing. They got James Robin, they could have Travis ATN get in the Wildcat and run the ball and they would have been fine. Okay, so all these excuses people are trying to make, oh, he looked good in his workout, great. Give me a month, I could go out there and look pretty good for a workout with nobody out there. I mean, I'm dead serious.


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[Assistant] You know, this is to me a little bit of the example of white privilege in sports. That's what I kind of compare it to here. I can't really find another scenario.


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[Assistant] Where this has ever happened for anybody else. And I know people, like I saw someone, Aldon Smith. Aldon Smith was like the best at his position in the sport. Had issues, whatever. League, drug test, all that. Then missed five years and came back and played the same position.


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[Assistant] So that's a different, don't, that's not even, that's not apples to apples, that's apples to broccoli. I mean, that's not comparable.


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[Assistant] We're talking about a guy who played a position failed. They asked him repeatedly to play tight end. He said no, no, no, I'm a quarterback, I'm a quarterback, I'm a quarterback.


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[Assistant] I'm gonna go play baseball, plays baseball, no you're not good at that. I wanna play tight end now. And that's where I look at it, and I'm sorry, yeaah, I'm using that. I don't like that. You know? And the two positions- Rogers gets bagged on for hijacking the draft, and the storyline's there. Tebow tried it first.


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[Assistant] I mean that's, that's not cool with me either. I'm not. I know, I'm going off now. It's too late. It's too late.


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[Assistant] I'll make one more statement, okay? Anybody on the pod, you can listen and you tell me what you think.


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[Assistant] I mean, really, I think he's in the conversation for the most overrated athlete of this century. I'm gonna say that. That, that loud. Yes. Just because of the NFL, are you including college as well? I'm going college too. I mean, winning the Heisman going nine and four, you know, didn't even win the SEC player of the year, Darren McFadden did. Nine and four.


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[Assistant] That's what I'm saying. You're right. It always happens with the quarterback. I complain about that every year. That's true. That's consistent.


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[Assistant] I like you a lot, but I don't like you that much, alright. Not for the pulled calf. No. Yeaah. That's totally messing up. You're a little gimpy. I'm real, and I'm better. I mean, I've been walking around like I'm like a zombie the last two days. I can't push off that left leg.


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[Assistant] So yes, it's been a rough year. I've had back issues. I started the year spraining my right testicle. Wait, wait, wait. Yeah, you missed that. You were out for that little period. How do you do that? I must have... I understand the calf on the treadmill. I don't know. I was sitting here with Ahmed. We had a live discussion about it.


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[Assistant] I got up and I was like, ooh, I don't know if something got caught the wrong way down there, and I had a sore testicle.


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[Assistant] Well, I didn't hear my kid yellin' last night from nightmares. So, yeaah, he got a little history lesson, uh, for sure.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I definitely will watch it. Not that I'm gonna be sitting there like every second of the night tonight, but... Have it on. I'm gonna have it on for sure. Hey, go in the kitchen, you know, re-up some dinner from the wife, okay? I knew you wanted to hear that. Thank you, I appreciate that too. Yeah, so, uh, yes, but I'm always, I love the schedule.


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[Assistant] I really do, hey, I don't make as big a deal about it as we've talked about before with like all 16 games. Like you know, I love when people are like, it's December 12th and this team, like you don't know who's gonna be healthy or what's gonna go on at that point.


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[Assistant] But I am big into those first four or five weeks. I know we've hit on that a lot. That to me, you can have a certain feel for those matchups and how a team can maybe start off and get going and things like that. And that's what I'm really going to be, you know, glued to.


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[Assistant] It's gonna be a giant number. It's gonna be a giant number. It's the Cowboys. It's Dak Prescott. You're almost guaranteed of getting, and I think it'll be Dak Prescott. All signs point towards that. You know, you're guaranteed to get offensive explosion out of Dallas.


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[Assistant] So that's going to always lead to an exciting watch with big plays and things like that. And then of course, yeah, we know Tampa Bay and Brady and man, those fans, I mean, Florida, I mean, they, the pandemic stopped there a year ago, so they're going to be full-fledged at that stadium. And that's going to be cool to see.


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[Assistant] The Bucs fans are amazing. They're way better than people want to give them credit for. And the fact that they didn't get to pile in there last year and see Brady and that Super Bowl team, like that place is going to be shaking.


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[Assistant] On a Thursday night. To hang that banner and Brady running out of the tunnel and all that. It is giving me chills just talking about it.


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[Assistant] Bam! I mean, I'm with you there too. There's no doubt. There's a few interesting things there. I mean, you know, first off, the Cardinals, Kyler Murray, the Titans,


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[Assistant] Revamp secondary, uh, Bud Dupree off the edge. Like yeaah, I think that's a sneaky real good one.


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[Assistant] Uh, I think, you know, the first one you brought up to me is one of the crown jewels of the day. That was the Seahawks Colts, right? I mean, I'm really excited, but those are two legit playoff teams that I don't


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[Assistant] I mean, I think the Colts are in the Super Bowl window. I think the Seahawks are in a playoff window. I'm not ready to say Super Bowl. But either way, that's gonna be good. The other 1pm game that jumps out to me is like...


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[Assistant] Bill Steelers. Yeaah. I mean, I love that. I mean, to me, those, the two games I look at are Colt Seahawks at 1pm, Bill Steelers at 1pm.


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[Assistant] Let me ask you this, as like a quarterback, cause I kinda like was talking about this with Florio, right? So like,


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[Assistant] Like them, week one. Have to play them. Right. The Steelers defense is like, damn, we gotta worry about Josh Allen and all that. Not that they're scared, but they know that's gonna be a tough task. Right. But also the flip side of this is, and I know I put myself in these shoes, like, I had to play the Ravens week one, one year.


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[Assistant] Ray, Ed Reed, Chris McAllister. It was the year Steve McNair was the starting quarterback. 2006, right?


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[Assistant] You know, where that, where I look at it to where like Josh Allen and the Bills might be like, ugh, the Steelers, because you know how preseason a training camp is, it's very vanilla and like, you go to the, even the preseason games, like it's cover one, it's cover three.


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[Assistant] And then all of a sudden you get into a week one against a Pittsburgh team and you're like, I don't know what coverage this is or what blitz this is. And I haven't had many reps against this crap ball training camp. And that to me is a disadvantage for an offense when you haven't gone against that. So those are just some of like the mental gymnastics. So who do you think's got it worse? The Steelers getting ready for Josh Allen?


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[Assistant] Or the Josh Allen having to worry about all these different blitzes and zone blitzes and everything like that. I mean that's...


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[Assistant] It's, it's, it's John Allen of Dayball. Yea, yea, you're right. It's a lot of work. And that's the kind of thing, you know, too. It's the...


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[Assistant] How do teams approach the first game of the year? I've been on different ways of how you can approach it. Gruden, we used to go all in on week one. All in. Like, he's game planning today.


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[Assistant] Watch and film, and we're gonna slowly through OTA's be putting stuff in that we don't even realize that's for beating week one. And even picking some blitz up and things like that. Then I had some like other coaches, like a Jeff Fisher, the Titans and all that, where


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[Assistant] You might have worked a little aspect of all three of the first games a little like this team plays a lot of this coverage. So seven on seven, we're getting a lot of reps against that. And you know, this team plays this defensive front. So when we get in a run period, we're going to see a lot of that. What was Belichick like for week one this time of year?


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[Assistant] Non-existent, from my experience. Even with Josh McDaniels when I was with him in Denver.


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[Assistant] I think we did a little game planning and training camp of course, but...


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[Assistant] My, my, you know, just to remember Bill and my two off seasons there, they're so, they're focused on New England. That's what they, that's all they care about.


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[Assistant] Here's our first 15 plays we're gonna get good on on offense. As I've told you before, defense. It's like, we're gonna run cover two today until we're perfected it.


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[Assistant] And then we'll move on to cover three. That's just the way they are. They're not gonna like


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[Assistant] AFC Playoff, AFC East Championship Contenders. What should the spread be? It's in, where is it at? It's in New England. It's in New England? Yea.


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[Assistant] I've got a number in mind. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go the, the pats by three and a half. You're thinking.


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[Assistant] I gotta think what they've done. The Patriots still, when you break them down last year, there was a lot of good things they did still. It's Tua now hits his show.


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[Assistant] So I'm not like, like, oh, they're gonna be a points machine quite yet there in Miami. Uhm, but that's gonna be unbelievable. Let alone, I think it's gonna be, we're gonna talk defense today. I think it's gonna be two of the top defenses in football facing off against each other.


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[Assistant] That's, that's an interesting stat. It happens in a hurry. That does happen in a hurry. And I mean, man.


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[Assistant] They got a lot to play with on that offensive line. Yeaah. They do and some studs. I mean they really do. They've done as good as a job of rebuilding, building, whatever the hell you want to call it.


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[Assistant] As I can remember here in recent history, the Dolphins killed it.


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[Assistant] Flores, Greer, two off-seasons in a row. You could tell there's a real approach to what they see and envision in building the football team. I'm excited about them. You know the other one o'clock game just for themes. I know where you're going. Is the Sam Darnold ball. Yeaah. You know, that's a cool one. I'm excited to see that. Yeaah.


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[Assistant] There's Sam Darnold down in Carolina, an offense that fits him, weapons galore, and now it's the new savior in New York having to come down there with a new coaching staff and all of that. I mean, that'll just be a fun little theme to talk about as we go into week one.


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[Assistant] I think at this point, Darnold needs it more. You know, the Jets, I don't think you can expect like...


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[Assistant] You know, we're gonna be watching Donald because it's like, okay, wait, no, there is people around you now. You know, you had that excuse with the Jets, but you don't have it now. I think it would be very important. I think it would be more important for him.


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[Assistant] Then the Jets. Because if he loses and plays bad in week one and all that, oh man. The narrative will be set. Of course. He's gonna have to really fight, gonna have to fight hard after that to correct it. Because everybody's like, aww.


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[Assistant] You got 4-4-25 games, right? Which, you know, to me, again, this is, that's too many games on Sunday. If I could complain about one thing.


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[Assistant] I don't know. I mean, Brown, I mean, I guess Brown's Chiefs because it's Mahomes and Baker. But you're right. It's not that much. Not that much. Not a slam dunk. No. And then you got the what? The 425 on the other network.


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[Assistant] So they did. They covered their ass for Aaron Rodgers. They don't know. They know. And listen, everybody in football right now, if he gets traded, he's going to the Denver Broncos. They're in their leader house.


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[Assistant] It's up there for me. I'm trying to think actually just to be different from you a little bit. Because I'm, I'm with you. First off, listen, I like that style of football. I love how Flores and Belichick manage football games. Everything about it. There's just more to it and to their approach of how they play. Yeaah. There's one team that's


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[Assistant] So I think if I was going to be different, alright, just to be different, because I am really pumped about that game. I think Bill's Steelers would be my next one, where I'd go to. I think what I'm intrigued to see


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[Assistant] What Pittsburgh's approach is going to be on offense. You know, of course I want to see Allen versus that Steelers defense. That's going to be awesome. But I want to see what this new look is going to be for the Steelers and how they're going to play. So I think that's also kind of fascinating to me too. Uhm, but yeah, good.


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[Assistant] Well, it's a year in review, but a little bit of a preview to go along with it. Because I am going to talk about some teams that I think to watch out for this year, teams that have improved certain units, you know, who can make the biggest leap. So it's a little bit of both here. I think that's what's cool about the exercise, you know, Pete came up with here.


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[Assistant] Uhm, there's, there's some good ones right there, right? I mean...


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[Assistant] I think if you're going to give me best bet, alright, out of the top five, because I think there's some teams not in the top five who could also be number one, alright, and I'll get to that in a second.


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[Assistant] But for the sake of the teams that are there in the top five, I'm gonna go with the football team to be the number, Washington football team. Alright? What's the biggest reason? Well, listen, the pass rushes are special. We know that. You know, yes. But, you know, also let's remember,


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[Assistant] They now they've improved their linebacker in past coverage with, you know, Davis from Kentucky, who's going to be great in past coverage. I don't doubt his speed, his length, everything like that. You know, Landon Collins got hurt last year. He's back and he'll be ready to go. And then, you know, to sign a William Jackson, a corner.


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[Assistant] To improve the secondary that way too, which is a secondary and a bunch of corners that, yeah, good, not great. I think he makes them real, real good now. So, if you're gonna give me one team, I'm gonna go with Washington. Because again, I think they're gonna be able to consistently get there with the front four.


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[Assistant] Not have to blitz a lot. And that allows them, you know, some, some wiggle room in the back end as far as coverage is concerned. I had you penciled in for the Steelers to go for free.


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[Assistant] Yeaah, listen, I thought about it, I think the one thing I just thought about a little bit was the No Bud DuPree, right, and Steelers Secondary has been better


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[Assistant] But I always worry about them to a degree, and maybe I'm a little off that way, but I just, I don't know if they have those marquee man-to-man guys a little bit that you need to be the number one pass defense. So I guess that's why I kind of shied away from them a little bit.


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[Assistant] Hold on. They, they, they franchised Marcus Williams. There's another corner I'm missing here. It's gonna drive me crazy. Hold on a second here.


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[Assistant] Uhm, it's a Janoris Jenkins. Janoris Jenkins, which is a big one. And he went to... He went to the Tennessee Titans, who we're gonna talk about here in a second, because they're the team that I would look at. Uh, wait, there's somebody else I'm missing, though, that's driving me crazy here. I gotta pull up their team here to refresh my memory.


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[Assistant] Yes, but wait, no, it's still killing me here. I'm looking at the roster and just, I can't think of who the hell I'm missing that they also missed from their ro-


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[Assistant] Oh, no, it wasn't him. There's another corner there that they lost in free agency, isn't there?


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[Assistant] God damn, I can't remember who the hell it was. Hold on a second.


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[Assistant] They went corner round one, didn't they? No, they, they, they, they, uhm, they, they did not. That was the green bed. They went corner in round three with Paul Santadebo, who I really like, out of Stanford, a lot.


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[Assistant] They went past Russia in round one with a kid from Houston, which is a little bit of a reach in my opinion. Uhm, but I'm missing somebody they missed there. But either way, listen, I'm still gonna go with them, just off the Janoris Jenkin fact. Okay. Alright. They're an aggressive man-to-man football team.


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[Assistant] He was their best cover corner last year. He was. You know, Lattimore, they drafted him, he's in the prime of his career, he came on better at the end of the year.


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[Assistant] But that's what I would worry about a little bit with the Saints at least when it comes into that conversation. It's actually going to drive me insane here until I find out who I'm missing in my thought as far as the corner that I'm missing in this conversation here.


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[Assistant] Yeah, no, but I think I might be wrong. I might just be thinking, uh, uh, Jenkins altogether. Okay. Yep. So, uh, my doesn't hold as much water with just the one guy gone, but I still think it's a big guy. I'm still going to go with them. I am, you know, I think I look at them.


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[Assistant] You know, the 49ers are another team that I'd probably have looked at to go, maybe they could fall out.


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[Assistant] You know, Sala, the Seattle scheme, everything like that. The 49ers, if you really pay attention to them quietly, became like a cover four team last year.


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[Assistant] And now D'Amico Ryans is the defensive coordinator. I just, I don't know what they're exactly gonna be.


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[Assistant] So I guess that's where I question that a little bit. With Nick Bosa, you know, no long, I mean coming off the ACL injury, who's going to be the other guy off the edge that really can get after the quarterback? They lost to Kerry Heider who was kind of good disruptive type of guy. So they would be the other team I would think about dropping out of that top five.


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[Assistant] I mean, two years ago, it was the best past events in football. I mean, so it's all the changes they made. Like, I think that's the first thing to talk about. They still played really good last year with their defense being put in a lot of tough spots constantly. And then let's not forget the fact that


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[Assistant] Oh, that's right. Stefan Gilmour, how many games did he miss last year? Five? Six? So...


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[Assistant] You know, I don't expect that to happen again, and they have some younger players who I think are going to be a little bit better, like the Kyler Dugger, Dugger and all of those type of things, let alone the biggest thing is, and here's the, this is why, really, you know,


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[Assistant] They got a pass rusher in Judan, and they're not going to have to worry about trying to find nine million ways to load the box with secondary people because they don't have big people. They address that.


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[Assistant] Put four big D linemen up front, and play man to man, and double this guy, and have this guy drop into a zone, and do all these type of things. So where that, that, they are to me.


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[Assistant] The Broncos would be a team, I'd say, could maybe leap into the top five as far as pass yards are allowed. Okay, because Von Miller back healthy.


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[Assistant] They signed Fuller from the Bears once they lost him. They just drafted Patrick Surtain. So I look at that and go, and it's Vic Fangio. I go damn, and again, they weren't bad last year anyway. So that's a team I look at that can make a big leap. We know the Ravens. They were just on the outside looking in at number 6.


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[Assistant] So they could be certainly a team that could get to the top five or somewhere in there. And here's one just real dark horse that I'll throw in there. The Cardinals. A little. Based off what? Just off of, improve the secondary and getting a Malcolm Butler.


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[Assistant] You know, Marcus Golden at pass rusher, JJ Watt makes them a little better up front.


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[Assistant] But then even the two middle linebackers they got in the middle with Isaiah Tom, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,


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[Assistant] That's where I look at that and just go, nah, I think there's some stuff to like about what they did this offseason and he's a good defensive coordinator, Vance Joseph. He does a lot of creative stuff up front.


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[Assistant] Like, I expect the Jets to make a jump. Definitely. I mean, with Mosley and Gerard Davis at middle linebacker and getting Shaq Lawson in the, you know, in free agency as a pass rusher, uh, improving their D-line.


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[Assistant] You know, with guys like Sheldon Rankins, I look at them to be a team to go.


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[Assistant] It's gonna be a marked improvement on that side of Robert Sala, that scheme. I think that all of it's worth them jumping up five, ten spots as far as pass yards. But the team I'm really gonna go with is the Tennessee Titans. Gotta be. Yeaah. I mean, one, you get a Jadeveon Clowney to add to the pass rush, right? But the biggest thing is,


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[Assistant] Yeaah, they did Janoris Jenkins who we talked about when I was brain farting over the Saints Hole thing.


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[Assistant] Kevin Johnson. Clowney's not with the Titans. Oh, no, I'm Bud Dupree. Excuse me, I'm thinking of, yes, Bud Dupree off the edge. But, so now you got Janoris Jenkins at corner. Kevin Johnson, who has some man to man cover skills. And then of course, Caleb Farley in the first round. I mean, to me that was a huge improvement.


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[Assistant] For what they had last year as compared to this year. So I think they're a team to look at for the biggest leap.


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[Assistant] They're funny because they're one of those teams where...


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[Assistant] Think about some of those games we watched last year. I mean, it was just like... I don't expect it to be this bad. I definitely don't. So like, this is one of those things where...


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[Assistant] We're gonna talk about rush yards allowed in a minute. They were the number five rush defense in football. But that's one of those where you go, they weren't really.


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[Assistant] They were number five because everyone went, why would we run the ball? We can throw for 20 yards every play against them. I mean they really didn't get the run defense even remotely fixed until, I mean their past defense until late in the year where they got it going a little bit and everything like that. So I do expect a leap.


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[Assistant] As far as, like, that's concerned, cause I gotta think they're gonna...


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[Assistant] Okay, let's, we gotta make some tweaks to the pass game and do some things there to help that out. So I'm with you there. They're a team that I thought of as well. Uh, you know, but, you know, them and the Falcons have the same story that we're gonna talk about here in a second.


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[Assistant] I need, I need an argument why they wouldn't be. I don't think, I don't have anything for you. I don't. There's nothing that I can like. They found a way to bring everybody back, right? Yeaah. There's no team.


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[Assistant] That I can look at, that I can sit here and seriously say they're gonna challenge them for sure. I mean, I know I talked about the Patriots and all of that.


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[Assistant] Disruptive defensive tackles. So yes, hands down, not even close. I thought of that.


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[Assistant] As far as that great run D, you know, I do think the Saints are always right there closest in that conversation. They've been top 5 at least the last two years. Yeaah, they're just so big, you know, and they're like the Bucs, a little bit like we talked about the great pass teams.


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[Assistant] They, the Saints and the Bucks have the ability to go, oh, we don't need to put the extra guy in the box. Our front seven's so good and big that we think you can handle it, they can handle it themselves. And that's, the Saints do have that luxury.


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[Assistant] I mean they just, they're, they're got phenomenal size at all four positions on the defensive line, no matter if it's the first group or the second group. So I think that's probably the team.


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[Assistant] I look at the most to be the closest there in that category.


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[Assistant] The big, like, I think about the Rams a little because you lose Michael Brockers, so there's some questions there, but I think I'm still gonna go back to the Seahawks. I am. Just because I expect, like I said, I don't know


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[Assistant] If they, they weren't really a top five defense. I expect them to correct their past game woes to the fact of where teams start to go, hey, we'll run the ball on them a little bit more, be more balanced because, you know, it's not an easy 10 yard completion the way it was. I mean, just, again, I just want to, like, the first eight weeks of the year last year,


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[Assistant] Seahawks were on a record pace for yards allowed and passing yards allowed in an NFL season. And I think I brought this up last week. I mean, remember, we had the game, I think you were referring to it a few minutes ago, they played the Buffalo Bills. Pete Carroll after the game was like,


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[Assistant] Right, because I think he's like, the teams are just...


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[Assistant] Drop back every time. We have no fear of you. The hell with it. I know. I know they did. Well, I think they showed enough improvement and really towards the last five or six weeks, if I remember correctly, like we're one of the five best defenses in football. They did. So they did some things. I think that, you know, warranted keeping him.


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[Assistant] I mean, Baltimore I always look at. I mean, yes. As far as like, uh, rushing, rush defense goes, the size they have always, uh, you know, Kaleus Campbell was hurt a little.


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[Assistant] Signing a Malik Jackson, but got other guys up front like Larry Ogan, Joby, and things like that.


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[Assistant] Along with Owusu Koromoa and even new safeties that they're gonna be in the box as well. To me, and an Anthony Walker, uh, from the Colts to play middle linebacker, I just think they're better suited to play their scheme and system and everything like that this year to where I think they're a team, yes, that can be in that conversation. And then here's, I got two others that jump out to me.


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[Assistant] The bears, alright, and I know the bears last year were a little, uh, 15th.


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[Assistant] But the one reason I'll throw them in there is just because Eddie Goldman's back. Eddie Goldman opted out last year.


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[Assistant] Eddie Goldman is the best nose tackle in football. That's gonna make them a different team. Now they don't have to put Akeem Hicks there. They can move him out to the traditional de-tackle spot. And that's gonna make them a better football team. So that'd be one that really jumps out to me. And then the other ones, two teams we already talked about. The Pats and Dolphins. You know, the Pats have...


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[Assistant] We just talked about the big people they have. We didn't talk about Van Noy coming back as well. Van Noy being back. Dante Hightower being back. Who's as good a run stopping linebacker as you're gonna find. Okay. And then we talked about the improvements of the D tackles and all that. The Dolphins, I'll sit here and say the same thing. They got Christian Wilkins.


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[Assistant] First round pick. They have Rayquan Davis, who was a second round pick last year, who watch out for him this year. They traded for Bernard McKinley, who's their Dante Hightower. He's a Thumper middle linebacker. So I look at the Dolphins just like the Pats to go,


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[Assistant] Watch out. I mean, to me, when I just sit here and think about it, the more and more, I just go, man, the Pats and Dolphins defense, I'll be shocked if they're not top five almost in every category. Another reason to watch if you only had one


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[Assistant] Uhm, the two that jump out more, like I'm not gonna jump in and say, I-I-I expect the Cowboys to be better, of course I do.


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[Assistant] Now I still don't know if they have the actual guys to be there and just absolutely stop the run that way. The Texans are horrible, I expect them to continue to be horrible. Jacksonville, I can't say it with them, there's just not enough proven commodities there. To me, I do look at it as being the Lions or the Bengals.


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[Assistant] Uh, as far as a run stopping, a defensive tackle, and I gotta pull up their roster here just so I got everybody in front of me. Uh, I love that aspect of it.


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[Assistant] I mean, they got Andrew Billings, right? Uhm, oh, no, no, they got Ogan Jobi. The Browns got Billings. I'm getting all these guys mixed up. DJ Reader, okay, he's gonna be there. You know, Mike Daniels to,


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[Assistant] Round out the group. Alright, so I just look at them to be a team where, hey, you're two in that system.


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[Assistant] Ogunjobi with Reader, that's a pretty damn group altogether. They also got Trey Hendrickson on the end of the line of scrimmage, I think that can help them out too. So, they're one of those teams, and I think I'm missing somebody else, but I think I'm good here. Uhm, and then yeaah, the Lions...


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[Assistant] The attitude in which they play, I think that's the first thing I would talk about. Right? And then...


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[Assistant] You know, they have two out of their four top four picks in the draft are


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[Assistant] Our beast in the middle with Aleem McNeil from North Carolina State, who I love. And then my, my favorite defensive tackle, uh, in the draft and Levi Owens-Orique. So I just look at that to go, okay, that's enough there to make me think a little bit differently about their football team altogether.


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[Assistant] Damn, uhm, I know I'm mad I've missed a little slight details about some of these, I'm still pissed off about the Saints and not knowing that other corner and the fact that I just mixed up Billings and Ogden-Joby and I knew I was missing another player with Brockers. That's pissing me off and that's why I shouldn't have R.I.T.


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[Assistant] I don't think it'll be the rams again. I don't. You know, one,


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[Assistant] It's a new system with Raheem Morris, everything like that. And listen, I don't think the Seattle scheme again, which is a little bit what they run,


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[Assistant] Is ever gonna be really conducive to stop top scoring defense type of thing. I don't. Because it's just too predictable, teams kinda know how to bend it, maybe not break it, but they know how to continue to bend it to just


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[Assistant] Get enough points to where, you know, there's just, there's the teams you see at the top with points scoring.


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[Assistant] Our teams that are creative and game plan specific.


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[Assistant] And, oh, you thought we'd do this on third down? Well this week we're doing this, and we're doubling this guy and rolling coverage over there, like the Patriots we've seen with years past. Be that.


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[Assistant] That, that's the teams that usually are like the number one scoring defense. The Ravens. That kind of type of thing. Right? It's outside the box. You know, like the year before, it was the Steelers, it was the Bears, it was the Ravens, it was the Bills, it was the Patriots. All like,


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[Assistant] Malleable schemes that can change on a week to week basis. So I don't think that


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[Assistant] You know, I don't look at the Rams as being that. Let's, let alone they lost a Brockers and everything like that. So without all that talking and everything I go. Best bet to be number one?


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[Assistant] This is the New England Patriots. I'm going, the Patriots were seventh, really sixth, because there was a tie at five. And they were first the year before. First the year before, by a big margin. Like three or four points.


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[Assistant] So, yes, with that secondary, those coaches, the improved players, if you make me pick who's the best bet to number one, I'm going with the Patriots or the Dolphins.


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[Assistant] I'll go either one. It's the same thing. Phenomenal secondaries and then really versatile up front against anything, any type of attack. So I just look at that and then coaches that think outside the box and do different shit to where yeaah, I'm going


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[Assistant] That just shows an improvement of the roster. And then, to me, more than anything...


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[Assistant] I mean, Florio Flores found his, you know, niche for how he wanted to attack defenses, but I think most importantly, the biggest reason for the jump is Byron Jones.


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[Assistant] The guys up front that you feel like can do all like year one, all the intricate things I did with the patriots and the checks and all that type of stuff. So I think when you kind of add all that together, that's why it comes to the


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[Assistant] Remember that? He, he exposed them. He exposed their pass protection. Remember we did the whole breakdown? Yea, we spent a lot of time on it. That's what I mean. That's where he's an outside the box special thinker. And then, oh, then throughout the rest of the year, he used that game to his advantage.


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[Assistant] Oh, here's that same look from the Rams. Everybody's like, oh, we gotta block it up, block it up. And they drop out. Or they would drop four from this side and send three from the other side.


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[Assistant] He made it kind of like a jump off point to like, this is kind of what we do. The only team that really ever scared him out of it.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think it's all of those things and, you know, again, anything New England related, there's just so much thought and detail and things like that to where it's never gonna just come together perfectly in year one. You know, it is gonna take some time to figure out all the rules and things like that and I think that's why, you know, things look so bright in Miami.


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[Assistant] The rams of the team I go to that I think, and not that I expect like a huge drop or fall off, but, you know, again, I, they've been in all these categories


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[Assistant] Yes, they're good. I mean, I expect them to be right around the top five, top eight. I don't wanna say like a dramatic fall, but if you're gonna make me pick one team to fall off...


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[Assistant] Yeah, they lost John Johnson, who was a really damn good safety. And they lost Michael Brockers, who's a really good...


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[Assistant] Uh, you know, defensive tackle. And they even lost, uh, I wanna say somebody else too. Didn't they lose, uh, the kid Fox? The other, like, defense end even? I think they did. I think he went to the Carolina Panthers.


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[Assistant] Is the Patriots or the Dolphins? It's like, hey, this is what they do, but they're gonna do some things in this specific game that you're not gonna be ready for, whether that's


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[Assistant] Jalen Ramsey's on the island, and they're gonna play some crazy zone coverage over here, or it's gonna be all man to man, and they're gonna double these guys, like, that is, that's what Brandon Staley did, which is, which was special that way. Again, I don't know if Raheem Morris, it's gonna be disguises, but I think it's a little more predictable, which will lead to just a few more points and yards and things like that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, hey, the Bucks are right there on the edge. I think that's an obvious one I can just point to. The Giants would be a team that I'd tell everybody to watch out for. You know?


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[Assistant] I did, yeaah. You know, last year they were 9th in football.


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[Assistant] They got, they got a very good defensive line still. You know, I know they lost Alvin Tomlinson. They also got Danny Schell and then size was not an issue anyways. So there's no issues with that. You know, you're gonna have a...


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[Assistant] Uh, a healthy Xavier McKinney, they got a Dory Jackson at corner. You know, I just look at them and that system again is that Patriot system where I think you'll see more unleashed


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[Assistant] You know, schematics from it this year and year two of it and everything like that. But to get Aaron Robinson, you know, in that corner in the third round, Aziz Ojolari, a real edge guy there, uh, I just look at them to be the team to kind of pop on the scene here.


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[Assistant] And I don't think I missed anybody else on the defensive side of the ball that makes sense.


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[Assistant] I don't either. You're right. I'm with you. I was a little surprised by that too. And they were top five two years ago. I know. Uh, I mean, hey, there's a lot of change over on that defense of the Vikings. I mean, I think the Vikings and the Cowboys are the two teams I look at to go. I expect a huge leap. I mean, first off, we talked about the Cowboys got


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[Assistant] Two starters with their first two picks and Micah Parsons and Calvin Joseph from Kentucky. And, you know, Trayvon Diggs is going to be in year two.


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[Assistant] Signing a guy, uhm, uh, the, the, the safety Kian O'Neill from Atlanta. And I do think Dan Quinn and just his scheme and everything there is gonna be worth


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[Assistant] A huge improvement for their football team all together. So I think the Cowboys make the biggest leap. But I think the Vikings are a team that


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[Assistant] We should all watch for. Right. You know, I mean, it's Mike Zimmer. He's staying up at night in the off seasons with the fact that they were that made him bottom. Right. Exactly. Right. So I think we know between that, um, and, uh, you know, the big thing with the Vikings last year, they transitioned in the secondary.


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[Assistant] You know, got rid of some guys that way, and then lost their other big time pass rusher, in Everson Griffith, and they can never really find, like,


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[Assistant] The ability to kind of replace that production he had. And Daniel Hunter was dealing with his injury in the neck and everything like that.


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[Assistant] To where yeaah, it was a tough year. Anthony Barr got, you know, banged up. Uh, Kendricks got banged up. I mean, it was just too many moving parts. So yeaah, they're a team I still expect to kind of, uh, have a big improvement this year. Yeaah, it'd be a shock if we're here next May talking about the Vikings.


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[Assistant] I know. Here we are. Good. I'm ready for it. I need it. I need some just good old, let me think off the top of my head. I'm still, like I said, I'm still pissed off. I wasn't as detailed there as I would have liked.


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[Assistant] It's all about just quarterbacks, okay, cause you're not, you're not gonna go too far on the draft itself that year, are you? Maybe a little, but.


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[Assistant] Uhm, had some teams call. No pulling of the calf muscle on the treadmill. Nope, I was an actual athlete then. Uhm, and I was, you know, I think I've said this before, you know, the first few Sundays crying on the couch because I couldn't believe I wasn't on the team.


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[Assistant] Uhm, all that kind of stuff. But, and that was, I was, that was where I started to lay the groundwork to try to get a job in New England. I had started to get the, like, whoa, I might not get to play again here. And I started to...


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[Assistant] Send text to Bill Belichick and people in New England just to, hey, keep me on your radar, I'd love to come work there and do all that type of stuff. And you got there in the offseason? I got there, yep, uh, to 2000, after they lost, they lost to the Giants and the Super Bowl, and I got there, you know, a few weeks after that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, was I working for them yet? The year before I went to the combine just to meet coaches and specifically meet with New England.


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[Assistant] Where, like, John Robinson, the GM of the Titans, was kind of teaching us low level scouts about, you know, watching a game and here's little things to look for when you're watching a player and all those type of things. And I can still remember us sitting there and we, one of the first games they put on was Packers Giants that year.


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[Assistant] JPP was young and he was taking over the league and


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[Assistant] I, I just remember everybody in the room just like, oh my god, cause they didn't block JPV the whole game. But if you look at the stat line of what happened, you'd think Rogers was sitting back there baking cakes and just picking people apart. It was just one


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[Assistant] I mean, his left tackle was Marshall Newhouse, who's been on every team in football since then. But yeaah, it was amazing. I still remember that year. It was as good as a game.


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[Assistant] Was he? I think, I want to say there was a connection a little bit between Hugh and Carson. Yeaah.


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[Assistant] He went there, then he went to the Cardinals right after that? Or did he go one more year with the Raiders? He did do one more year.


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[Assistant] I was, I was like, man, I was thinking like, cause I know Case Keenum was playing for the Texans a little during that time period too. I was like, man, was a Case Keenum in there for a little bit? How's that guy? But okay, good. TJ Yates, 3-0. 3-0, baby!


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[Assistant] Hold on, I'm just trying to play back history in my brain here. Cause it's either the Titans or the Bills. I know that. And I'm gonna go with the Titans.


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[Assistant] I know, I know. Yes. Well it was good because I know you were with the Texans at one point, but it wasn't that year with that. So I knew that just from our previous question, but.


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[Assistant] Yes, right. And they went 10-6 and just missed the playoffs. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Okay. I'm not down on you for that. That's a good mix. No, it's kind of like a half right.


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[Assistant] Guess to come in. So that's not it, obviously. So don't tell me. I got it wrong. I understand that. No, you're just thinking out loud. That's all we're doing is thinking out loud. But, that was my guess. I was guessing McNabb. I'm not gonna lie. So wait, hold on. This is gonna drive me. Oh. Mother.


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[Assistant] Damn it! See, this is why I pulled up the teams and I didn't thoroughly look at them. If I just would have saw Denver a little earlier at 8 and 8. Oh my gosh.


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[Assistant] See, there's another thing too. 8-8, went to the playoffs, they beat the Steelers.


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[Assistant] Through the slant route, Ike Taylor played the wrong alignment. I've heard Mike Tomlin complain about it a number of times.


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[Assistant] Hey, other thing too, like Pittsburgh, that was one of those years. Pittsburgh was really good and could have won the Super Bowl that year. People gotta remember Big Ben got really hurt late in the year with a bad high ankle sprain. He played that playoff game on one leg. That was the only reason Denver won that football game. You know, and that


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[Assistant] Man, that's the other thing people don't realize. You know, context says about it, that Denver team was good. Steelers were defending AFC champs that year. Yeaah. They lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl. Right. I mean, they were good. They were 12 and 4 this year. But they lost, uh, but Baltimore was also 12 and 4, so they had the number 2 seed.


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[Assistant] But yea, Pittsburgh was legit, but that Denver team...


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[Assistant] You know, again, that's where you can't get too, like, oh, we won, we lost, and this is what hap- like, you can't get obsessed with that. Because Denver, after that year, went, wait, we were in 8-8. But that was not good. 8-8 was not good. Our team was a 12-4, 13-3 type of team. But we had no quarterback. And then they got Peyton Manning.


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[Assistant] And they were the number one seed in the playoffs. You know, so that's where that gets lost in translation, too. Again, it's like a quarterback when we talk about does he take advantage of all that's there to be had. Right. Sometimes you have the quarterback, too, that's like, no, the team's really good that he'd take advantage of all the wins they could have actually had there, too. Right. One last crap session on Tebow there.


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[Assistant] Let's see, yea, 11, I know you're right. I can't think of exactly the particulars there either, but yea, so he was with Denver. Yea, started with Denver. Started with Denver. And then, yea, Castle must have got hurt.


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[Assistant] And Denver knew that Orton was in the future, so they got rid of him. Wow. That's crazy. I know.


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[Assistant] Yeah. Orton threw a pretty ball. Perfect spiral every throw. Yeah. Perfect.


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[Assistant] I was, I was there. 2010, I was there that year. Yep. Doing some good things, and yeah, I mean, Orton, uhm, not the greatest athlete in the world, but a pure thrower. Yes, he did.


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[Assistant] They're not gonna run the ball to where we're gonna ever really look at them to go, oh, it's definitely a top five offensive line. I just, I gotta see that to believe it with Andy Reid to really think like that's how it's gonna go down.


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[Assistant] No, what they really need to be is a top 10 all-line, but really a top 5 pass protecting all-line. And that's where I really expect them to be, is a top 5 pass protecting all-line. I mean, again, the fact that they got Orlando Brown, you know, and Tooney,


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[Assistant] You know, the great center in the draft in Creed Humphrey to go along with Austin Blythe and all that, like, I legitimately think it'll be one of the better lines in football, but in the conversation from the best past protecting the line in football.


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[Assistant] I think he could be a huge like big play, big catch threat.


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[Assistant] That type of guy. I mean, really, that's, I compare to him really coming out a lot. He reminds me of Odell Beckham Jr. with the way he ran and played and speed sweeps and slants 70 yards to the house and all those types of things. So, uh, to me, he's like the missing part.


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[Assistant] If they could get him going, that nobody's thinking about, I mean, if they could get him going, and now you got that run game with that old line and, you know, T.Y. Hilton and Michael Pittman Jr. and everything going, and now a guy that you gotta be scared of at one on one,


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[Assistant] You know, I mean a Garoppolo Shanahan, I don't think is gonna, gonna cut it for me that way there. So, when I think about like the west coach quarterback combo,


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[Assistant] I think I gotta go with McVeigh and Stafford. I do. You know, I just, I need to see more out of something you heard me say a lot. Just a little more out of Kliff Kingsbury's offense first. And not that like McVeigh's is blown away, but McVeigh of course is a proven commodity. He has a real system that gives a lot of teams issues. And now he's got a quarterback who can do some things that


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[Assistant] You know, he's never had a quarterback that can do, and I think that's going to open them up a little bit more.


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[Assistant] I think that Shanahan of course is going to give people headaches with Trey Lance and his ability to run the football and all those type of things.


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[Assistant] I guess I just question whether yeah, Trey Lance is gonna be able to capitalize on some of the past game stuff and things like that and be consistent enough to do it that way. We've seen Shanahan get there with Garoppolo. That's to me the scary thing about this whole thing. May start Garoppolo.


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[Assistant] Their team's pretty damn good, like we've talked about. He could be sitting here in December going, damn, they're 10 and 2. Right? Like, they're gonna make a switch next year? A quarterback? I mean, that's where it's, it's gonna be interesting to see what Shanahan does in deciding all of this.


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[Assistant] It's one of the last two that I look at. It's De'Ami Brown or Michael Carter, right? I mean, and now, you talk about, you know, De'Ami Brown,


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[Assistant] He's got Curtis Samuel and McLaurin there.


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[Assistant] And, you know, just back to that, like McLaurin, as fast as an explosive as he was. He was on that Ohio State team with Parris Campbell. They chose to give the ball to Parris Campbell. So that just tells you how explosive he was, right? Sorry, I just had that popped into my head. And that's the kind of player he could be, alright? So, but.


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[Assistant] I think like, man, both are actually really great fits. I mean, they really are. Uhm, mmm.


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[Assistant] I guess I'm gonna go with Michael Carter for right now.


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[Assistant] You know, Jett's improved O-line, and I just think he's the perfect fit for that.


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[Assistant] And it's a defensive coach who I think got a rookie quarterback. They're gonna rely on giving that running back the ball and doing all that type of stuff. It's a tough one for me.


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[Assistant] Uh, I guess where I'm kind of putting a negative on just a Washington winner is just a quarterback for the future. Yeah. As far as the fit there. What's that going to be? Who is that going to be? I'm excited about De'Ami Brown though with Terry McLaurin and our man Curtis Samuel. Fun one to watch.


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[Assistant] Uh, I think I saw the Texas game where he didn't play great either. You know, Hal, I watched a lot of them. Because you were watching all those North Carolina kids. All those North Carolina kids, right? I liked them. I don't know if he...


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[Assistant] And I know you were impressed with him when you saw him in person. Yeah. And again, I didn't, I'm not studying every throw. I like him. I think he's got some starting quarterback qualities, but I didn't like look at him and go, oh, that's a definite top five pick for me. It didn't ring like that.


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[Assistant] It is. I mean, he's a good athlete, but not like a great athlete where you're just like, oh my gosh, he's going to be unbelievable that way. You know, he's a good throw of the football, but I didn't sit there and go, oh wow, like man, he can just throw lasers all over the field.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I would have, again, before the last process, I would have been like, Trevor Lawrence is the number one quarterback, that's easy, no doubt about it.


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[Assistant] I was wrong with what I believed as far as my evaluation. So that's where I want to be careful like judging too much. Right. I'm trying to think of some other guys that just jumped off to me.


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[Assistant] Uh, in a major way. Of course, the past rusher from Oregon, you know, like when I was watching Jovan Holland, you see him, uh, the kid number five, I can't even think of his name.


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[Assistant] He's certainly popped to where you just went, man, he looks the part and he's explosive. All of that. Our safety from Notre Dame. Kyle Hamilton. Kyle Hamilton. I'd have a hard time thinking he's not a top 25 pick.


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[Assistant] I mean, to be, maybe, maybe higher, exactly. I mean, really, to be as long and as rangey as he is, he's a really good tackler. I mean, he can fly, too. So, those are ones that jump off to me. Uh, I'm probably missing.


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[Assistant] So I'm in person two years ago. He does throw a really nice ball. It's a perfect spiral every throw. I don't know if I look at it as a special arm, but definitely an NFL quarterback with NFL starting potential. So yea, he's another one like I don't want to rush to judgment, but there's things I like for sure.


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[Assistant] Usually not. Yeah. I really don't. You know, because once like, we have our break. Yeah.


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[Assistant] And then, like, once pre-season starts, I get too worried about, like, wait, let me see the new rookie on the team. So I'm worried about, like, kind of just like, let me see if this guy's gonna start. I end up worrying about the NFL season to where I just can't go back to college again.


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[Assistant] Yes, I just casual. It's like whatever the big game is at 730 on Saturday night I'm gonna watch. Or maybe a little bit of the big 1230 game, whatever. But I'm not gonna sit there all day. Right. On my only day off during the season really, a lot of the times. And go, I'm gonna watch football all day long. I'm gonna spend four hours watching Spencer Radler.


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[Assistant] I think that's it. I think that's it. Booyah. There's a show, that's a show. There's a show, that's a show. Alright, we did defense. We're gonna do more, we did more AMAs next week for sure. Uhm, I'm sorry about no Big Phil today. Big Phil...


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[Assistant] Text me at 10.30 last night saying he had to go to the skin doctor. Alright, that's what he does. You know, that's why he's Dracula. I'm going next week. Are you? Yeah. What? Twice a year. Are you? Good for you. Dad's like twice a week, okay? I know. He is. He's very worried about his skin and we do have a history of it in our family, so I understand that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, well and yes, when you're the whitest human on the planet and you grew up on a farm in Kentucky, you might have gotten sunburned a few times.


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[Assistant] I've got a redneck every now and then. Definitely. But I hope everybody enjoyed it. We'll be back. Keep sending the questions. We're going to keep evaluating teams. Listen, I don't know exactly what we're going to do on Monday. We're going to think of something creative to do, talk about,


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[Assistant] And break down football. That's all I can really say. Alright. But peace out. Everybody be good. Enjoy the pregness this weekend on NBC. That'll be fun to watch. And I think that's it. Stay healthy. You're the man. I'll do my best. Alright. Good to see you. Peace out everybody.


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[Assistant] Yo, yo, what's up? Come on, man. Subscribe on YouTube to Chris Simms Unbuttoned Podcast. I need you. Please hit the subscribe button, please.


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[Assistant] Hi, I'm Mike Tirico and thanks for watching. Make sure to hit subscribe for the


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[Assistant] Hand raised here, we accidentally kinda wore the all black today. We're twinsies. I made a mistake, a lot of times I will have you a mic on in the morning. Yeah, you're right. So listen, Gene, I can also take a peek and be like, okay, I'm not gonna wear that. Right.


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[Assistant] Disco discussion. He would do that well. He'd also find a way to put a little snark. Oh, definitely. Definitely. No doubt. The snarkiest man alive right there.


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[Assistant] It looks like we're starting out with a bunch of defense. Yea, a lot of defense.


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[Assistant] The L.A. Chargers, 34-6. Anytime a defense holds that offense to one touchdown, and gives Justin Herbert his worst game of the season, second worst game of his career, I think it's worth a closer look.


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[Assistant] Stop right there. That is such a compliment because you can look at the numbers that we think matter and Baltimore is like, huh, if they're number one at creating the illusion of pressure, which confuses the quarterback, that's a hell of a defense.


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[Assistant] Well, what they did, and we're gonna find out the way they did it, certainly opened eyes because the Chargers had been either in the 20s, the 30s, even the 40s last week against Cleveland offensively in all their games, and now they hit only six. So let's hit some specific examples. Let's start out. We have second quarter here. Chargers trailing 14-0, facing fourth and three on their own 39.


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[Assistant] First of all, Humphrey turned around and found the ball. I see so often guys aren't doing that now. He's a special player. He's a special player.


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[Assistant] Let's bring it back to the snap. All the way back. Keep it coming back, back, back, back. Okay, right here. So hit pause. So Justin Herbert right now, he's kind of taking inventory. He talked about what Chris just mentioned. I don't know if they're bringing seven or eight. One thing he probably thinks he knows is that two yards off the ball is that safety up the top there. Who is that right now?


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[Assistant] Okay, he's only two yards off the tackle box. Right, right. And I guarantee you right now, he's not thinking, okay, he's falling back to play his happy zone.


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[Assistant] It feels to me like quarterbacks now in the last decade, they're like, okay, the line of scrimmage I've got to get myself comfortable with. I probably, I'm not going to know who's coming with these looks. I'm not going to know if it's three or if it's six, but I can look out there and think that safety isn't going to get back. Right. And that's, I mean, he's probably not trying to figure out how many are coming.


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[Assistant] He's likely going, you know what, okay, it's not going to be too deep because there's no way in hell that safety's getting all the way back there. Exactly right. From two yards off the board.


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[Assistant] Every week we've done this last three seasons, there's a different flavor, there are different kind of details. But the one thing that has come through defensively, what you're looking for and what we've found


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[Assistant] It really makes a quarterback, whether it's an average quarterback look poor or a really good quarterback look average, it's that deception, it's the hesitation where you get sped up and rushed that leads to a bad day more than anything else.


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[Assistant] Anytime Justin Herbert after the game, you can look down. He's thrown for less than 200 yards and he's the team's leading rusher. Those are two really, really bad signs. Domination. Domination. Exactly. Right. Potential domination. I want to glimpse at the other side real quick. The Ravens, they put up 34 points. They have been playing very, very well on that side of the ball. Right. A lot of questions about them preseason.


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[Assistant] It's obvious Lamar is better. I'd like a little more nuance and detail there on what you think he's specifically doing.


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[Assistant] Latavious Murray, Devontae Freeman, Le'Veon Bell, all on the back nine of their career. But anytime they can go 26 carries for 122, I mean that, that is, that's finding a way.


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[Assistant] Alright, let's go to another defense that's coming off an awesome outing. Arizona beating Cleveland 37 to 14.


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[Assistant] We know Kyler is playing at an MVP kind of level. We can talk about him in a bit if you'd like to. But I'd like to learn about this Arizona defense in these next few minutes. I know they're playing well, but I feel like most of the Arizona focus has been on, boy this offense is great. I want to know about this defense.


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[Assistant] Let's take a look at a point of the game here, Chris. Early second quarter, 14.45 left. We're Cleveland still thinking that they could get into their dominant run selves. It's only 14 to nothing right here.


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[Assistant] Well, at least Kareem Hunt got two yards there. Next drive we pick it up, Chris. It's now 17-0 and Hunt's not even going to make it back to the line of scrimmage here.


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[Assistant] At the point of attack, it looks like Arizona's playing with 12 guys and Cleveland's playing with 10.


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[Assistant] Let's pivot to the other side now. The Kyler Murray-led Cardinal offense against the Browns defense. For all of us who thought the Cleveland defense was going to be pretty good this year, what's going on?


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[Assistant] I've got a mess up here for you that we're gonna, we're gonna take a look at. How about when the other team has third and 19? Scoreless game halfway through the first and somehow they get 21.


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[Assistant] And as far as the other guys we're watching on the field there, Kyler Murray and the offense, when I watch him on Sundays now, then I kind of sort through and kind of see what they've done and what their themes are. I think we can say if he's not


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[Assistant] The most improved quarterback in the NFL. He's one of the most improved. Definitely. Yet, he's throwing less than he did last year. Yeaah. He's running less than he did last year. Right. So we talked about all this help that he needed to have this year to take the next step. I think part of the, or one of the ingredients there is, uh, he's doing a little bit less. Yeaah. But doing what he's doing really, really well.


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[Assistant] You have all the ways he's developed and all the talent he is showing really in all facets of his game. You also have the fact that their defense


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[Assistant] We sat right here last week, Chris, and a lot of people, I mean, they deserved it, railed against the Chiefs defense. Yea. I mean, last in the league at that point, played really poorly the last time we saw them. So they show up, big part of the 31-13 win over the Washington football team. I think we need to give them some props for what they did.


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[Assistant] Right? So many eyeballs on the cheeks and really focusing on the Mahomes picks and also the defense here. So I want to see a number of times here of what you're talking about. First one, late first quarter, third down and nine for the football team.


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[Assistant] Bringing six, I mean, I don't see why, I don't know why we don't see it more. We've talked so much about bringing five, often times isn't a great number. Unless you do a wonderful trick of disguising and tricking. Seven's pretty aggressive and pretty risky. You're vulnerable. Six puts you in that spot where you bring six.


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[Assistant] At least one safety, if not two, like we saw there, can kind of stay back and play their own version of center field. No doubt. It just feels like the right number. That's the right number.


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[Assistant] Big step in the right direction. Prior to that game, Chris, with the Kansas City defense, when they gave up 29 to Cleveland all the way back in week one, that counted as their best outing.


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[Assistant] Until yesterday. Everybody else was hitting in the thirties and above. How much of, uh, you know, how confident they were there and just kind of lining up and doing what they wanted had to do with the fact that they played Lamar, they played Herbert, they just played Josh Allen. Now you have Taylor Heinecke. So you walk into it like, okay, we're going to kind of do what we want, show what we want to play like we want.