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[Assistant] Someone could spawn to that little stripe. Star Trek would be small.


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[Assistant] Thank you. Yep. We're moving up in the world. Clearly. I guess so. Obviously. What's up? What do you want to do today? How about, how about talk some football? Oh, okay. Sounds good. Talk the weather. It is officially winter here now. Yes, it is. Did you catch that? It's like in the thirties.


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[Assistant] Yeah, same here on the walk there from the parking lot into NBC. Yeah. And this is a, this is a cool podcast because we not only have the regular games we're getting into, but as promised last week, we have the new top 10. And knowing you the way I do and how you love to watch the quarterbacks, you put a lot of time into this. I'm guessing you spent all kinds of extra time on this top 10.


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[Assistant] Speaking of, this is very random, speaking of wanting people to like you, one of my sons was watching a show from the last couple of weeks and said, hey dad, you should go back and look at some of the comments people make about you. I'm like, I really try not to do that kind of thing, because there's always people that are going to write something that you don't like. So he's like, no, you really should.


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[Assistant] Well, it forced me to go back and look at a couple pictures of the, and that's a little disturbing.


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[Assistant] And then someone said last week, why did Paul, like, dye his hair so it's not gray? I have never dyed my hair. Never. My hair is mostly gray and it's doing a little something kind of different color now. I don't know what or why. Yeaah. No dye. It's, he's growing his windows.


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[Assistant] So I vowed to not read the comments anymore. To hijack a couple moments like this.


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[Assistant] Well, it's Wednesday, and this part of it's not sponsored, but it is a What the Fuck Wednesday. Oh yes.


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[Assistant] Let's start with the Seahawks offense against the Rams defense for a couple of reasons. Not only because I think it was an interesting watch for those four quarters, but there's some big picture things that creep in that really matter with Seattle. This is the first time


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[Assistant] They came into the game averaging 34 points a game, number one in the league. They scored in the teens. So that's a story right there. And this, this one off story a month ago, hey, Russell Wilson had a bad game. He threw more than one pick in a game.


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[Assistant] It's now three of the last four games. He has multiple interceptions. They've lost all three of those games. There's a disturbing pattern here with this team and the, I think still a MVP candidate, but not as strong as it once was. For those of you watching with us, we're taking a look at his, his production, Russell Wilson's production, first five games.


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[Assistant] 19 touchdowns, 3 picks, he made it look like a video game. Yeaah. Last 4 games, they're 1 in 3, and I don't think this number is up here, there we go. 10 total touchdowns, 10 turnovers. There's only one quarterback in the league with more turnovers than Russell Wilson as Carson Wentz, so.


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[Assistant] With, with those bigger themes a part of what we're talking about with this game, what happened with the Seahawks offense on Sunday?


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[Assistant] Perhaps the dumbest one in the first half on Sunday. No doubt.


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[Assistant] Huge part because that would have tied it if he keeps it their first and goal inside the 10. And I wonder even with a guy who still deserves to be in the MVP conversation, he's playing incredibly well for the whole season. I wonder how much confidence and doubt and hesitation comes in when you're putting up those kind of negative numbers.


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[Assistant] So was it creative enough, sound enough, highlighting the really strong individual abilities of Jalen Ramsey? All those things, are those things that good where you can make sense of the fact that DK Metcalfe not only didn't have a catch, wasn't targeted until the second half?


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[Assistant] Okay, but you're not even mentioning the one for Arizona who shut him down a couple weeks ago too. Patrick Peterson. Patrick Peterson.


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[Assistant] And I think that's a, those are really good ways of looking at it. Good points to bring up, how the scheme pre and post could really help DK Metcalf be even better. But, more often than not, when they were going at it, when it was DK Metcalf against Jalen Ramsey, Jalen Ramsey got the best of it. Did it make you come off of your hard stance that this is the best receiver in football?


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[Assistant] Thinking of fixing the situation, when I say Russell Wilson is the leading rusher for the Seahawks. Thank you. What's your reaction?


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[Assistant] Without thinking about, they got embarrassed. Not only beat, they were embarrassed the week before. Yes, Miami. Right. They had no answer for the Blitz. Jared Goff was a turnover machine.


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[Assistant] He was really good. The offense looked to have a better plan. So I think you have to consider the response to a horrible performance the week before when you think about what they did against Seattle. So with that in mind, what happened Rams offense, Seahawks defense?


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[Assistant] The first three times they touched the ball. Over 70 yards all three times. Field goal and two touchdowns. And just like the week before against Buffalo, where we sat here a week ago and I said, well Josh Allen had some easy throws. Golf stuck it in there a few times, but for the most part, I'm like, these guys are wide open.


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[Assistant] What's the deal? Why is an NFL team so aggressive? They stay committed to being that aggressive. We all know that leaves you vulnerable if you're not talented enough to cover it up. Why is it week after week guys running free against this team?


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[Assistant] And, and you just mentioned it happens every week. And I like it when these things tie together. So that's a major hole in the defense on the first drive. Last week we sat right here and we talked about the first touchdown pass Josh Allen threw. What was it? It was a crossing route.


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[Assistant] Let's bring it back to that. You talked about the run, and we mentioned the fact that Russell Wilson didn't have any of that. He's a leading rusher for that team.


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[Assistant] That loss, their third in the last four games, it's now Arizona as the favorite to win the NFC West. We have the Cardinals, the Rams, Seahawks, all at six and three. If you had to pick one right now that you think is the most likely, the way you see it.


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[Assistant] I think I'd go with, I think I'd go with the Rams. I think I would. That's what I had written down too and I thought it would be opposite of you. I thought you'd go Seahawks or Cardinals.


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[Assistant] Rams to win the NFC West, does that mean Jared Goff is going to show up in the top 10? No. Quarterbacks? Nope. Team sport. Sorry. Okay, we put to bed the Rams and the Seahawks. Let's move on to one of the really fun matchups this past weekend. The fifth pick against the sixth pick, Justin Herbert against Tua. Dolphins knock off the Chargers 29 to 21.


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[Assistant] I feel like we spent a lot more time on, well obviously he's been playing a lot more on Herbert so far this season on the pod. Let's kick it off here with Tua. And I didn't watch him too closely last week. Two weeks ago on his first start he didn't have to do a whole lot. There wasn't much to address. This week I watched the entire thing. I know you watched it more than I did. What did you think of Tua in this win?


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[Assistant] I've been pleasantly surprised at him throwing from the pocket. Just the rhythm, the ball handling. Perfect. Isn't it pretty?


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[Assistant] He's able to make up a little bit for that arm strength, which is okay with his timing and accuracy.


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[Assistant] Which parts of his game, uhm, I think a couple parts would be good because he's playing pretty well. Do you watch and you're pleasantly surprised by based off all the work you put in watching him this spring?


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[Assistant] Right, we don't know, and you're exactly right, he hasn't had to. He's been put in perfect places by his defense and special teams. Saw a few RPOs in the game like that, that was nice. It has looked, from the pocket, has looked better than I thought it would.


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[Assistant] What are the concerns, even though the team's winning, he's playing his role really, really well. What bothers you?


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[Assistant] You know who else would like that? The quarterback on the other side of the field, Justin Herbert, I mean, probably watched some of that and said, boy, if my defense and special teams played that way, we wouldn't be losing all these games by one score.


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[Assistant] And to me that's where they're dropping the ball. 20 out of 32. So you'd like to see him throw at 40, 40 plus times a game.


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[Assistant] That's where I get annoyed with them. At any time I see a quarterback with less than 10 yards per completion with this kind of talent for throwing the ball downfield with Justin Hadd on Sunday, 20 completions for only 187. Was that more scheme? You think that they were calling for those shorter passes or was he coming off a guy's downfield too early?


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[Assistant] You know, nine of them are runs. I have written down here seems to be a defensive mindset with their play calling. It does seem to be that way. Kind of want to absorb, don't make a mistake.


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[Assistant] It doesn't mind me just to have like, when you're watching them, just an extra tick, an extra level of energy or something out there. The Chargers certainly didn't have it. Scheme aside, just the way that they play looks, the energy level and aggressiveness. They're flying around.


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[Assistant] So that is, that's Tua, that's Herbert. Fun rookie matchup.


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[Assistant] Unless you want to make a couple more comments there. No, I think that's, that's it, that's all there is, you know. Another quarterback situation, getting a lot of headlines right now in New Orleans. Yeah. Drubri is going to be out for a while, injuries to his midsection. So, before we worry about what Jameis and Taysom might do in the coming weeks, uh, Sunday.


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[Assistant] What changed, if anything, and I know you pay close attention about the play calling and the scheme in that second half. Yeaah. When it was a little bit of Taysom Hill and a lot of Jameis Winfrey.


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[Assistant] I agree, I think it'd be a mistake to not play. The one thing that gives me pause, the first couple of third and medium, third and shorts in that game, where there was no Drew, they brought Taysom Hill in. And if I'm Jameis Swinson, I'm like, okay, come on, man, let me do this. If I'm going to be the guy to run the offense, give me these third and manageables.


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[Assistant] I went back and took a closer look at the Teddy Bridgewater wins they had last year. He went 5-0 and that's getting a lot of hype right now.


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[Assistant] Really well. Uh, but, but they have that. They have this formula where they can win with a backup. They can. Without scoring a shitload of points. Yeaah. And they have the number one rush defense in the NFL. They've got the combo with Thomas and Kamara. And they also have Sean Payton calling.


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[Assistant] And I think he's the best weapon in the NFL, and I said his name wrong. It's Kamara, not Kamara. Oh. $100 fine. It's tough. Alright. He is. He's a beast. We should start something like that. Okay. Speaking of Gruden. Yeah.


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[Assistant] Your old guy there, Michelle Tafoya has a new show, Sports Uncovered. Yeaah. And the next episode has to do with the John Gruden trade. And it gets really deep into everything that went into that. And I am reading here that you're part of it. I am part of it. It is.


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[Assistant] They are. They could get some things figured out defensively. I mean, that's a team that...


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[Assistant] Okay, so that is sports uncovered. Michelle Tafoya will focus on John Gruden. Drops on Thursday. You can listen wherever you get your podcast.


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[Assistant] Okay, that, that, that's all just been like appetizers. It's appetizers. Table setting for what's coming next. Steak and mashed potatoes coming now. For the halfway points, Chris Simms new top ten. Yes.


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[Assistant] So, let's roll out there last year's top 40. I say last year, this was earlier this year. This was summer. This kept me going this summer. Gave me a reason to get up and rollin' in May and June. As we would do a new 5 or 10 each week. So, say that again Pete?


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[Assistant] Okay, so we see the top 40 there, we're not doing the entire top 40, just redoing the top 10, I know. Okay, so new top 10, and here's how we're gonna do it, here's how Chris is gonna do it. One through 10, he'll reveal one, we'll talk about it, two, all the way up to number 10, correct?


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[Assistant] Pete and I had a staff meeting without you during the week. That's what we, that's what we thought would be best. And I don't know, I don't know who's going to be on this list. I wanted to be like all the other listeners and just be surprised. Well, you know who number one is, so don't waste your time.


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[Assistant] It was Patrick Mahomes. I mean, of course it still is. I mean, he's thrown an interception. They lost the game. Put him down.


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[Assistant] But, one loss in the last calendar year, one pick this year, I mean, it's kinda like, okay, you're awesome, and move on.


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[Assistant] And it's not just making it look easy. He's had a couple moments this year that I think to me are fun to watch. Early in the season against the Chargers, they didn't play well. He didn't play well, but...


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[Assistant] It's good to add context to it. Roethlisberger was 14 last year. I have him listed as one of the guys Chris might sneak into the top 10.


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[Assistant] Okay, so Mahomes number one, no change at the top. He had Russell Wilson number two heading into the season. For the majority of the season, you could make an argument he was right there with Mahomes at number one. Based off the last month, you still have him at number two. No, I don't. I've not.


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[Assistant] I'll say the same thing I said a little while ago. I mean, outside of Carson Wentz, Wilson has the most turnovers in the league. No matter where he came up in this top five, it's going to be a lightning round for conversation because, I mean, he certainly belongs at three. However,


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[Assistant] With those three losses, I mean, it's multiple picks in all the losses. Uh, they've lost three of their last four. So to have somebody...


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[Assistant] Mahomes won, we have Rodgers two, Wilson number three. Four before the season was Deshaun Watson. This is another one, it's a lightning rod no matter what. So who do you have it for now?


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[Assistant] Give me a hit. So he was just out of the top ten. Just out of the top ten. I'm gonna say it's either Tana Hill or Murray. Murray. Yea, Kyler Murray.


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[Assistant] You know, I would not have expected that when Cliff Kingsbury came in, right?


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[Assistant] For me not to have him at number 4. He's averaging 67 rushing yards a game. And it's one of those things where


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[Assistant] So that's a number you can throw out there, but you don't know how much less a team that has based its defense off of Blitz, how much less are they doing that because they're playing against Kyler Murray. You just can't seem to tackle him in the backfield. And he's almost at 70%.


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[Assistant] Your boldest pick so far, probably going to be your boldest pick of the top ten. Kudos to you for putting that out there. Calvin Murray, number four.


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[Assistant] You used to have, and maybe you still do, Lamar Jackson at five. Last year's MVP. Offense was the best in the league. Numbers are down a little now. So what do you got at five?


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[Assistant] Yeah, the numbers are phenomenal here, Chris. You went from 52% last year to 59. He's at 68% now, and that in and of itself is tremendous.


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[Assistant] His yards per attempt have gone up by over a yard. That's a massive, significant jump. So to jump up that much in your efficiency while you're pushing the ball downfield more, you don't often see those two things go up together at the same time.


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[Assistant] I think your top three is not debatable. That somewhere it's Mahomes, Rogers, Wilson. I think you'd find a lot of debate about four and five. Hey, four for sure.


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[Assistant] I, I, I don't think either one of them are out in left field at all. I think you've got really good conviction.


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[Assistant] There's wins, there's numbers, there's the eye test with all of it. I don't think you're off. I do think people are going to listen and say, I don't agree with number four and number five.


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[Assistant] Why is that? I mean, because again, the wins are there. He has fantastic throws every single week. He doesn't have manufactured numbers. I mean, he's one of these guys, he'd rather push it 20 yards down field than take the check down. Yeaah, he's like the opposite. Right. Why do you think people would debate


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[Assistant] Where's that conversation? If people were attached to his, I don't remember the exact completion percentage coming out of Wyoming, but that was, oh yeaah, he's got great talent, but he's not very accurate. Again, we talk about it all the time.


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[Assistant] In my opinion, a lot of the time. Love it. Josh Allen from 18 up to 5. I know this is changing. 60 had Carson Wentz. Yeah, he's not in the top 10. Yeah, so who's your new 6?


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[Assistant] I think your sequence here at 6-7 with Deshaun at 6, Amar at 7 really puts something to the test that since you and I have been talking quarterbacks a lot the last couple of years, I know that you don't value wins.


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[Assistant] Interceptions, completion percentage as much as other people do when it comes to the ranking. Right. But this really puts it to the test when you have somebody whose team has only won two wins. Yeaah. Or only won two times. Right. Uh, ahead of a team that's gonna be in the playoffs.


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[Assistant] I think it's great, because I think people, and the people that I've respected a lot through the years, and I, I do it too, it's easy to come back to, well, the team wins, he's completing 70% of his passes, those are easy things to hang onto, and I like that you are able to go to some of the other things and really sell them with your convictions, so, I think that's good. Thank you, I appreciate that.


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[Assistant] Which part of the blame goes to just him individually though? Like, you don't have to say he's regressing, but if he's stuck, if he's stuck in his, as he evolves into a permanent top five quarterback, what has him kind of in the same spot or maybe even taking a step back?


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[Assistant] I think it's good to point out good perspective that you don't, someone isn't either


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[Assistant] Awesome or they suck. I mean, there is, okay, maybe a little bit lesser than he was a year ago, but still a lot to love about it. And I think that's very fair to point that out. It's not all awesome or, boy, he's terrible, I was wrong, but he wasn't that good. No, no. There's something in the middle that makes a lot of sense.


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[Assistant] So at number eights, you had Dak Prescott. We talked last week that nobody who is injured and out for the season is going to be on the list. So Dak not being at eight has nothing to do with how he was playing. He's just, he's not around for the rest of the season, unfortunately. So your new number eights?


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[Assistant] Going to Rookieville. Rookieville. Going to Joe, Justin Herbert. Justin Herbert showing up at number eight. Ahead of Burrow and obviously ahead of Tua.


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[Assistant] Justin Herbert from number, hold on a second, I got it on the last page. From number 37. 37. Out of 40 preseason. All the way up to 8.


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[Assistant] Because I know at times in the past, like you maybe held out a little bit, and now you just unscrew it.


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[Assistant] We talked about it earlier in the podcast when we were breaking down the matchup against the Dolphins and the two of Herbert, that was fun to do. For everybody who's just catching this part and listening to the top ten, what are some ways that Charger's offense can highlight what he's good at even better?


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[Assistant] That's pretty damn impressive. I'm gonna reach into my imaginary bag of social questions that I'm picturing out there and just pull one out and you can attach whatever name you want to it. But someone wants to ask, if you were gonna have one rookie at number 8 on your list from the Miami LA game, why did you pick Herbert over Tua? Tua played better.


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[Assistant] And that's not to his fault. I mean, it's awesome for him that his defense and special team has been that good, but he hasn't been in as difficult situations as Herbert has.


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[Assistant] You only played three games. I know. And if you listened earlier to the podcast, we talked about him, and he, he, he did a nice job. He did. He did a nice job on Sunday. Okay, so that's eight, Justin Herbert. Last year, number nine, Matthew Stafford. I'm gonna guess that he's not on this list either. Sorry. Goodbye.


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[Assistant] It really is. And it's not the extending plays where he's gonna run 15 yards outside the pocket and 15 yards downfield. No. It's the two or three yard little shuffle and reset.


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[Assistant] And I know sometimes the numbers kind of mislead, and there are more important things. However, as a rookie quarterback, no games with multiple picks. Amazing. We're in mid-November, he hasn't had a single game where he's thrown more than one pick.


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[Assistant] Right? Right. Awfully good. Yes. No games under 50%. Maybe not as impressive as no games without a pick, but he just hasn't had these rookie kind of games where you watch and you're like, oh, he's got potential, but man, he's a long way away.


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[Assistant] Have you seen any evidence of what we talked about last spring where you loved what you saw, but question maybe, I don't know if his arm is quite good enough to be elite. Have you seen any signs of that?


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[Assistant] I think it's interesting that you pointed that out with Josh Allen. Always had a strong arm, but maybe tweaked his delivery a little bit. Joe Burrow. People so often think that a quarterback can't do that.


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[Assistant] There you go. Okay, so ten. Ten. Ten. I'm gonna read, obviously only one spot left. Yeah. We've got Tannahill would be a good candidate. Roethlisberger, you already said he wouldn't be on there. Brady and Breeze are both out there. Tannahill's who I'm going with though. Tannahill's your guy at ten.


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[Assistant] In a way, he's, he's the most efficient, best game manager right now, but he could be even more.


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[Assistant] I was gonna say, I had Ed Carr in golf as guys, both who were, I think, had played better this season than their ranking show. Definitely. When you wrote down 10, a hill of 10.


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[Assistant] It doesn't have to be Brady. I mean, Brady fits in well with the talking points, but what's the name that you maybe hesitated and thought, well, maybe this guy. I think it was Carr.


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[Assistant] So Pete, I don't know if we have the actual list to show or not, but I'll just run through it real quick. Mahomes at number one, number two Aaron Rodgers, three Russell Wilson.


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[Assistant] I don't think you were born yet. The play that gave it its name, Dallas at Minnesota.


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[Assistant] I love that this, he's already a little agitated because he was feeling the, you know, people questioning his top ten.


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[Assistant] We're catching him in a very fun mood here. Okay, 300. Yes. Late in the 2015 season, with your dad on the call, Hortfield, Packers-Lyons. Right. Last play of the game, Aaron Rodgers, Skies won 60 plus yards. Who came down with it? Oh man, it's the tight, it's one of the tight ends. Yep. Yep. Is it Richard Rodgers? Three for three.


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[Assistant] Okay, 400. One month later in the playoffs, Rodgers did it again in Arizona. Same area of the field where Kyler just threw the Hail Mary to DeAndre Hopkins. He connected with what Packer receiver to send the game to overtime where Green Bay eventually won. The white receiver. That doesn't count. It's correct. That doesn't count. Oh my god. Did he really?


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[Assistant] I cannot think of a- Late, late draft pick. I know! From a small school in Wisconsin, I think. Schroeder? Schrader? Schroeder? It's a fine guess. Schroeder from the Peanuts Gang? No, Je-


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[Assistant] Matt Casey, no? No! If Turrico didn't know. Yeah, that's, yeah.


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[Assistant] Don't use that to make yourself feel better. Damn it!


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[Assistant] September of 2012, I think Tariqa was on the call here. Seahawks beat the Packers on the final play of the game that's known as the Fail Mary. Oh, that was horrible. Russell Wilson threw the pass to Golden Tate. What Packers DB came down with two hands on the ball?


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[Assistant] So if you remember the play, they go down and it looked like the DB had the ball. And there were replacement referees.


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[Assistant] You're literally like, whoa, you botched that. And after a lot of deliberation, they said that Golden Tate had the ball, which is still pretty questionable. 2012. 2012. This dude is not in the league anymore, Pete, right? He's not, right? It's a safety.


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[Assistant] Pete's watching the play again. Oh, he's watching the play again. Yeah. I, I, I would not have gotten this one in a hundred years. I'm not gonna- I can picture the play and I have no idea what it was.


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[Assistant] I had you on the Janus thing and not getting Ahmad Rashad. No.


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[Assistant] So if we had, I initially had the question written as, who caught the ball on the fail Mary? Did you know it was Golden Tate?


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[Assistant] There's always next time, Pete. Next time, Pete. Yeaah.


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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] 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] Are you a little obsessed with the color? Can you not go a Monday without wearing it?


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[Assistant] Wow, okay, so uhm, those are, that's a good three to put it. And alright, so this is the way I think I would look at it. I would go with a run game one. I'd probably go Henry Ruggs two. And then car three. And I have reasoning here, because I don't know if there is a...


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[Assistant] You know, as far as it pertains to Sunday, all three were very important. But I do think that the success of the game first starts.


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[Assistant] Would the fact that the Oakland Raiders have a run game that a team like Kansas City or any team has to worry about? You have to worry about when you play the Oakland or Las Vegas Raiders, excuse me.


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[Assistant] That they are going to bludgeon you up front. That is a real thing. It's the biggest old line in football. Gruden's very smart, like not a really creative, but they never waste a play in the run game. And where I say it's important is


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[Assistant] Because it forced the Chiefs to play some defenses that I think...


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[Assistant] Maybe they didn't want to, or they just went, man, if we play coverage, they're just gonna smash it down our throat.


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[Assistant] So that led them to playing some defenses and calling the bluff of the Raiders a little bit, where they got caught, and we'll get into it, where they called the bluff and they went, eh, I don't think you'll throw it deep here. I'm gonna play really aggressive, stop the run, and you might throw a short pass, and call those types of defenses, and,


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[Assistant] That wasn't the case. And then that's where Henry Ruggs comes into play. Because Henry Ruggs is a game changer. They're a different offense when he is on the field. There's no doubt about that. It's like Kansas City losing Tyree Kill. Yeaah, they're still good.


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[Assistant] It's a huge part of just the weaponry and opening up other people. Rugs is a difference maker. There's no other way away. He gets other people open and


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[Assistant] He is, got three rockets up his ass and plays bigger than he looks out on the field when it comes to 50-50 balls and all that. And then comes Derek Carr, who I don't want to like say he deserves to be third here or anything because he played really awesome. I mean he really did, he did a lot of good things. The interception was the only dumb thing he did all day and that was really a good play by the Chiefs.


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[Assistant] No, it has been happening, but let's also not forget, they've played the Patriots and the Ravens.


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[Assistant] Who are teams that are very good at running the football and sometimes can have even skewed numbers that way. Like, you know, when you play the Ravens, sometimes you could have a great day stopping the run. And then Lamar has three scrambles and that goes against your rushing stats and you're like,


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[Assistant] The teams, people look at it and go, well, he ran for, they ran for 150 yards and you're like, well, it was really just Lamar on two plays. The rest of the day we did pretty good. You always do that to me.


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[Assistant] Well, I, I, but, but, but I, I understand what you're saying. And nonetheless, I think Steve Spagnolo realized that as well. I think he realized it and went, wait.


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[Assistant] The Patriots, what they did to us last week, that really put us in a bind. And it kept Mahomes off the field for a large part of the game. So in this game, and a few plays especially, hey, you know,


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[Assistant] Right? They're gonna throw the deep bomb to Henry Ruggs.


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[Assistant] Third and two, it's a tough down for a defensive coordinator, especially when you're playing a team like the Raiders, cause you go, wait, it's third and two, they could just run it up our gut and run it for a first down.


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[Assistant] They could throw a screen. Gruden's got a million short passes.


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[Assistant] Spagnolo went for it. He went, you're not gonna run it and you're not gonna throw it short on me. So he basically played like a cover one look, right? They had, they blitzed five guys and


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[Assistant] They had a safety down in the middle of the field, only like 5 yards deep, looking for somebody to come across, short crossers, short slants, that's all he was looking for. Well, Gruden called out the right play, and Derek Carr was smart enough to see


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[Assistant] Wait, they're gonna play this with Henry Ruggs on the field? I got a post called here. If he's gonna play there, I don't care if he turns around and runs at the snap. He's not gonna catch my guy. And Carr makes a great throw to where Ruggs never has to slow down and hits the big touchdown.


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[Assistant] No, not his best day either. Because we can go to the prior touchdown before that, and I could also sit here and blame Ward, Jarvarious Ward. So on that play there, again, does he deserve blame? Sure.


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[Assistant] Is he put in a spot that's almost unwinnable there when they call that play? Yes. So before we all go like, oh man, you know, the analytics team says he's the worst at this.


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[Assistant] That was a really tough position to be put in. They were in a bunch set, he's playing outside because he can't get inside him in a bunch set or he can get picked and he's just gonna go free and there's no safety in the middle of the field.


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[Assistant] So he's trying to, you know, cover the guy man to man, but there's nothing on the other side of the field to even threaten the guy. So once he gets off the line scrimmage clean, it's a foot race and that's just one he's not going to win.


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[Assistant] Now he had an issue on our touchdown to Nelson Aguilar. Okay. That makes the game 14-10. People want to know what happened there. It's 14-3. You're going, ooh, Kansas City looks good. This looks like the typical Raiders Chiefs game. They're going to kind of blow them out and here we go. Well, what happened on that there, on that play there, you know, is again,


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[Assistant] He kind of caught West not recognizing what was going on quick enough. It was the speed, you know, rugs is on the right, right? So he's on the right. He fakes the speed sweep going to the left. So now he's out into the left.


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[Assistant] And Aguilar is also on the left in a tight split and is going to run a post rat, of course. Darren Waller's on the right, he runs the deep crosser. They run deep crossers a lot. They do that, Waller, short crossers, deep crossers, all of it. Well, they played a coverage, a quarters coverage basically, where the safety


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[Assistant] Uh, the, the safety 22, Thornhill, he crashes to take the, the crosser and waller. Now it looks like it's Matthew one on one, right? If you look at the highlight, anybody watch it, you go, whoa.


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[Assistant] Tyrone Matthews one on one with Nelson Aguilar. Well, yes, but he's really playing quarters coverage. And Sharkandrick West, who's the corner, if you're on, if you're the quarterback, right, he's your right corner on the right side. When he sees his guy go across...


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[Assistant] He's got nothing to worry about anymore, right? So now he has to get back to his deep quarter.


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[Assistant] Yeah, no, I think it is like, to what you're saying, I think it is a little of the case. Gruden has to be forced to throw the ball down the field. Trust me, I've been there with him. That's not- So that was as much Gruden as with Carr. I think so. And I think also with the fact of, we gotta play Kansas City and Ruggs is back.


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[Assistant] Like, I can't think that I'm always going to go on a 10 play, 80 yard drive, like we're going to make some plays here to take a little like pressure off and we're going to match my homes back and forth. And yea, that's where I, I give Gruden a ton of credit. I mean, Derek Carr,


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[Assistant] Way to go. I mean really, he threw very few bad balls all day long. And he was aggressive in his thinking for the most part. And I think this is the thing that really, really, I was impressed with Gruden. Gruden was really patient with the run. Even when there was times where you go,


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[Assistant] Man, you could throw it here and just get in a total shootout, but I think he looked at it and went, I don't know if I want to just get in a total shootout where we're just gonna drop back and throw it every play. That's not our best suit.


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[Assistant] If it's that type of shootout, I don't know if we're gonna win. I think that's just like, I think that's what his approach was. I think he was like, I'm gonna run the ball, control the clock.


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[Assistant] And every now and then when the opportunity presents itself and I feel like, ooh, I got them in a down in distance where I can kind of think they're going to do something aggressive and we can take a shot.


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[Assistant] We had the bunch of f**kers rule. There's a bunch of f**kers where we're trying to run the ball. Why the f**k would we run it over there?


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[Assistant] Let's run it somewhere else. But he had, or let's go to a pass play. This game, there was a number of runs where I think normally he would have said, let's check out, let's get the spider tube banana, something like that, blah, blah, blah.


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[Assistant] Definitely. A ton of power. I mean, you know, it goes back to our old adage. Look at his legs and ass. They do. They got some real power. Trust me, I was. You were. Good. You better be. I mean, jeez. But to your point, it is rare, because he can make people miss, he can catch the ball out of the backfield.


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[Assistant] But he has a real sledgehammer quality about him, where there's nothing there, screw it, I'm gonna put my head down, and so what, it'll be second and eight, or second and nine. But it's not gonna be, I danced around, and now it's second and thirteen, or something like that. I do respect that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, 23 for 77. That was his stats for the day. That shows you how patient Gruden was. That really, there's something to be said about that. You know, that's why I was going to say the Chiefs run defense for the most part, other than the one Booker 43 yard run, there wasn't a lot of daylight. They, they, like last week,


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[Assistant] Uh, or no, two weeks ago against the Ravens when I said, they sold out and said, Lamar's gonna have to throw the ball to beat us. They, they did the same thing to the Raiders. They said, Derek Hart's gonna have to throw deep balls and we gotta see it to believe it before we get, come out of this. And that's what happened. And then they saw it and now they'll believe it next time they play. Every team's gonna believe it from


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[Assistant] No, they weren't able to continue to do it all day long. You're right. And, well, there's a few reasons, you know. And, you know, really, the Raiders played it.


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[Assistant] The right way, or let's say this, they played it the right way. They made the right adjustments. That's the big thing to me. You know, early on in the game, yeaah, okay, first drive of the game, my home's company, they go downfield and score. Second touchdown was off the car interception, right? It was only a 28-yard drive, so there was nothing special there. But I think the one thing they started to realize


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[Assistant] Halfway through the next drive, the drive that goes to 21-10, Kansas City, right? This is when I noticed a change in the game. They stopped blitzing.


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[Assistant] We're never gonna get there. He's gonna find the open guy or he's gonna make our blitzer miss.


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[Assistant] Or he's just smart enough to go, wait I know there's somebody coming but I'll float like a butterfly and eventually my crosser who's running down the field will be faster than your guy covering him and you blitz me and I'll just throw it out there and he'll get it.


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[Assistant] And that stopped. And that's when I think the Raiders realized there was a pa- I think a, a crossing route to like Sammy- I remember Michael Hardman. And I went-


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[Assistant] Like in the fourth quarter, because I started to pay attention, I went, I don't think they've blitzed since like, second quarter.


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[Assistant] They really stopped. And they started changing coverages every play, playing real conservative. I don't think I saw a play where they called the same coverage back to back the same coverage. Like, never. At any point.


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[Assistant] And for the most part, it was four man rushes, some three man rushes, and it was a lot of what I would call basic coverages.


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[Assistant] But true coverages were, and of course they knew what they were looking for out of that Kansas City offense. They're talented in the secondary, the Raiders. Their pass rush is not good.


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[Assistant] And I, I, I really praise them for not going, oh our pass rush isn't good, so let's putz more, our secondary is good, we can one on one. Now nobody can one on one Kansas City all game long. That's not possible.


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[Assistant] So you gotta do some things to help it, even if you're playing one on one, you gotta have a guy in the middle of the field, like being a robber, just to take a little pressure off those crossing routes, so that guy that's playing one on one doesn't have to worry about that. Do those type of things, and that's what they did. You started seeing, I started seeing coverages where I would call Tampa 2, P Tampa 2, P means there's a P dropper.


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[Assistant] He's going to have to fight and break the pocket and find somebody pretty quick or Arden Key was going to hit him and make the, make a sack. So they really had a good game plan that way as far as what they did and then really taking away big plays. And honestly, to your point with the dink and dunk and stuff.


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[Assistant] They needed to get back to that quicker. They s- they kept calling plays


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[Assistant] That was cool in the first quarter and early second quarter, but they haven't played those defenses since then. Like, we need to adjust and go back to the dink and dunk and things like that because they weren't going to let them hit the home run type shots down the football field.


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[Assistant] And are more teams going to play the Chiefs like that? I do think so. I think it's going to open people's eyes in that last two weeks to go...


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[Assistant] Maybe we should just rush three and not let them extend plays as long and keep people in passing lanes because, you know, again, you've heard me say Kansas City for the most part, especially when they get into leg modes they did last yesterday.


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[Assistant] All the guys end up in the same spots for the most part. It's deep cross or it's fake deep cross or go to the corner, but they're all ending up in the same areas. And smart defenses kind of know where to look them up going like, oh, he's over there. Oh, he's going to probably cross over to me or post to me or do all that. And I felt like the Raiders had a good, good game plan for all of that stuff.


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[Assistant] Well, thank you. Thanks for bolstering my argument there. But yea, that's it. Well, that was a great job by, you know, them, them re-evaluating going, wait, we're getting killed by the blitz. Let's not


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[Assistant] I'm not gonna put a, like Derek Carr in a spot where it's third and 14 and Chris Jones gets a strip sack fumble or Honey Badger, you know, Steve Spagnolo calls some crazy defense and they get a tip ball going down the middle and it becomes an interception or anything like that.


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[Assistant] Uh, I think that Gruden really coached a hell of a game and then Gunther on the defensive side, the D coordinator for the Raiders, really, really good. I mean, the Raiders, there's a lot to be excited about with the football team.


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[Assistant] The D-line is the only thing I'm not excited about, but they play hard.


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[Assistant] Third secondary is young and talented. They got young and talented receivers. They got one of the best O-lines in football. You mentioned the great running back they got. And Derek Carr is a really good quarterback. He's not a star, he's never gonna be that. But he's really good and you can win with him. Especially if you present him some opportunities like you saw there. Having said all of that shit, right? Yeaah. Right?


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[Assistant] Well, I'm just like, it's still amazing where the Raiders outplayed the Chiefs, but the Raiders, I mean the Chiefs still sitting there with like chances to win the game. Sure. Hey, just like turning points to me, they just jump out here. More than anything.


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[Assistant] The, it's 21-17. Kansas City throws the deep post to Tyree Kill. Josh Abrams, he passed interference. I mean, it's blatant.


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[Assistant] It's gonna, it should be first and goal at the four yard line. That doesn't get called. The next play, Mahomes scrambles to the right and sees the back up tight end, Kaiser going down the middle, hits him right in the hands. It's gonna be a third and fifteen conversion for a first down. Something like that. Third and eighteen maybe. He drops it.


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[Assistant] That was a huge turning point of the game, because the Raiders got the ball, went down and scored.


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[Assistant] And then it was like a game from that point on to where you went, ooh, the Chiefs are in advantage, they're in advantage, can the Raiders keep up, can the Raiders keep up? And that stopped the Raiders from having to keep up right there. I thought that was really a big turning point to me.


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[Assistant] It's very little. Yeah, it's very little. It's like at 5%. Okay, but that's probably more than we thought a day ago. They match up good with the Chiefs. There is some areas that they really match up well with. I mean, we kind of mentioned they can run the ball.


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[Assistant] They can take shots down the field, and when they don't play stupid defenses and play conservative, you can see they can cover. I mean, Abrams, Mullen, you know, uhm.


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[Assistant] The other kid they got, uh, 21, I'm gonna blank out his name, this rookie from, uh, La Tech. Oh, he's a rookie, he doesn't get his name. Amique Robertson, yep, why, there he goes. He did a really good job in the football game, uhm, but, but all in all, I think I was just more impressed with the, the, the game plan and everything like that, and you're right. I wrote, at the end, fourth and five, last drive, only Blitz in two and a half quarters, so. There it was.


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[Assistant] Maybe not as tough as the Raiders. But I don't think, like, I don't think Kansas, I don't, I'm not sure. Kansas City's played one good game this year. They played one good game. They played Baltimore. That was the best Kansas City Chiefs team we saw. All the other ones were kind of like, eh, eh, I've seen better.


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[Assistant] But they still win, and that's what's scary about the Chiefs is, we could be sitting here in week 10 going, they really haven't played that good, but they're 9-1. I mean, that's just the way they are, they're amazing that way.


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[Assistant] I mean, I think he is, you know? I mean, listen, he's not chopped liver, as I said last night on Football Night in America. He didn't go to the playoffs five years in a row just like because the Bengals carried him there. I know he wasn't like lighting the world on fire like Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers or anything like that. But the skill set is still like...


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[Assistant] There's nothing he can't do on a football field. It's not like you're going to go, oh, there goes the deep passing game. We can't do that. Not with, not with any Dawes.


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[Assistant] No, is he as good as Dak Prescott throwing the ball down the field? No. Is he as good as Dak Prescott throwing the ball with people around him in the pocket? No. And he's not as good at running and extending plays that way either. But he's still good enough. And they have enough talent in that offense to where I don't think they're gonna have to change a whole lot with what they do. And you're right, he did a good job.


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[Assistant] Also just, you know, Michael Gallup makes two great catches at the end. It's still, it's still a great job by Andy Dalton to just recognize, hey, there's a matchup. My guy's pretty damn good. Let me just throw it in the vicinity. See if he goes and makes a play. He does. That's why they got all these damn receivers. So it's a shame for Dak Prescott. I really feel for the guy. I really do.


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[Assistant] I can't imagine. I really can't. And you know, you're just in a big year of his career.


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[Assistant] That's a very powerful quarterback. Exactly. Well that's what got him hurt. It's the power, right? He's got a DB on him.


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[Assistant] Alright, and he's so f**king big and strong that most quarterbacks would just crumble and go down and be like, oh I give up. Right? He's kinda like, I think I can throw you off me and keep running. And, you know, and then that gets me into the field turf and I hate that s**t. I'm sick of field turf in the NFL.


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[Assistant] I'm sick of it. I'm just sick of it. Like we talk about player safety and all that bullshit and they have all this information that says field turf's more dangerous. It's more dangerous. 30% more injuries and it's like something like above 60% when it gets to the knee and ankle conversation as compared to grass.


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[Assistant] So I, all the money wasted. There's Dallas, they paid 31 million dollars for a quarterback, they're gonna get four games out of.


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[Assistant] We'll see where it goes. The defense was a little bit better yesterday. I don't know if it was really better because the Giants offense isn't good. So we'll see where that goes too. I need to watch that film a little bit.


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[Assistant] Yeah, it is. And I don't know if any, you know, any questions were really answered yesterday by what we saw. Uhm, I, I don't. I mean, you know, listen, they didn't let up as many big plays. I guess you could take that as a silver lining a little bit. Uh, but, but yeah, I still have my concerns about that Cowboy Day.


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[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, well. And I won't until next year, probably. No, I think he might have...


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[Assistant] He might have pulled his mask off the motherf***er refs that one time when they, because they called the fake field goal. And they weren't set. They weren't set. It was a perfect fake. It was, they had a guy that was on the field who lined up outside the numbers.


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[Assistant] Perfectly legal, it was good to go, and the holder didn't let the left tackle get set. Snap the ball, they all got too excited. Oh, we got him, we got him! Set hut! Like, they'll just wait a half more second to see if everybody's lined up and ready to go. And that, that screwed them too.


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[Assistant] I don't think, how can you blame Joe Judge for anything right now?


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[Assistant] No, well, I'm a giant sand too and I'm angry too. I mean, listen, if I'm looking at anybody right now, it's Dave Gettleman and then just the team itself that I'm bothered by more than anything. Let's give you another victory lap. Okay.


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[Assistant] You know, it's, it's, yeaah, our defense is not good, but we'll make two or three plays to help us win the game and then kinda look like crap the rest of the game. That's really what they did.


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[Assistant] You know, I think if there's a silver lining for their defense in general, you could say, alright, the way they got dominated early and the fact that they held them to two field goals to where it was two out of the three times it was just field goals and it was 13 nothing instead of maybe


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[Assistant] You know, 17-0 or even 21-0, right? That gave them a fighting chance to hang around the game and do that. A lot like the Bucks and Bears last Thursday night. Same type of thing. Where the Bucks settled for two field goals and you go, ooh, they let the Bears hang around. That's kind of what happened. When you don't put your


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[Assistant] On the throat of a team like Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson and stuff. Yeaah, you dominated the game, but you're only up 13 points. That's just not enough. Yeaah, 13-7, we're back in the game. That's all, that's all there is to it. And yeaah, Russell Wilson, what they do, uh, amazing. It really is. Am I worried about that Seattle defense? Of course. But like I said on football night in America last night.


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[Assistant] They're not going to get past 20 in football. They just, it would be cool if they could be like around 20 instead of dead last.


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[Assistant] Uhm, but I think this is again something we'll continue to see and come on. No third down conversions and you win a game? That's insane. And fourth down conversions, two of them on the final drive. To win the game and like couldn't be any harder. I mean just even that throw at the end.


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[Assistant] I know, I understand that too. I always err on that. Like, if it's close, let's just quarterback sneak it. Just smash it in there. I mean, the play was there. It was there. They had run the ball at will on the team all night. It's hard to fault Mike Zimmer.


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[Assistant] I am one that usually errors on, no, make the team go down and score a touchdown and get a two point conversion. They gotta score two touchdowns to tie the game.


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[Assistant] But I also understand him going, wait, we're this close, we moved the ball all night.


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[Assistant] And there's the thought of, well, Russell Wilson and what he can do, that scares me too. So I'm not going to fault Mike Zimmer for what he did there. It was there to be had, uh, they blew that opportunity. And really, you know, I've never seen a game change more than when one guy got hurt. I mean, when Dalvin Cook got hurt,


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[Assistant] Look at that. It's like a heartbeat. That's about as rigid as I've ever seen one, really.


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[Assistant] Yeah, maybe. Which would, that long one though, that was BS. I mean, the one that got called back. The guy tripped over his own feet. There was too many times, just to vibe around the subject real quick, yesterday during games, where I went...


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[Assistant] The refs are being told to only throw the flags on clear and obvious. They threw flags on too many things they think they saw out of the corner of their eye yesterday. Saw that too much. I mean, they showed that replay. Big Ben, he was like, are you kidding me? The guy tripped over his own feet. I mean, that was, that was bull crap.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I've seen him. I've thrown to him. You know, and Claypool. Yeah, it does. It helps. And Claypool, you know, again, I really look at it in a lot of ways and go, oh, you chicken. You should have made him a top five in your thing. But yeah, he was raw.


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[Assistant] And he ran a limited route tree at Notre Dame and I just thought, well it might take a few years before he really kind of gets ready for pro football life. I wasn't sure if he would be able to do it this year.


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[Assistant] He obviously is, and I think honestly, he kind of fell into it. What he told Florio yesterday is the game plan was not for him. Deontay Johnson got hurt. He kind of took over for that aspect of the game. He's really DK part 2. That's really what he is. Seen DK Metcalfe in person, he's a physical freak.


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[Assistant] Chase Claypool is freakier, looking, in person. Yeah, I know, right? That's wow. Like, they're both freaks.


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[Assistant] Claypool, I don't know, I haven't really studied Claypool with his shirt off to see if his six pack is the same. Okay, well we gotta get on that. But he is a little bit of a physically bigger person than DK Metcalf. But uhm, yeah, good for him and hopefully now that'll establish him as kind of the go-to guy that I'll


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[Assistant] I mean, he's, he's killing it right now. He is the go-to guy for the, for the Philadelphia Eagles, especially with no, you know, Ertz, I guess is, well, Ertz was healthy yesterday. I'm thinking of Goddard who's banged up, but I'll be interested to watch that game as well. You know, it looked like the Steelers were clearly the better football team to me. Uhm, but I know, you know, the Eagles made it close there.


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[Assistant] He is, he's that, that's the kind of player he is. You know, he's not perfect yet. There's times where, you know, he'll overrun a play or overrun his gap because he's young and he's so fast and explosive. He can just be out of control that way, but he's, he's made.


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[Assistant] To me, he has made their defense look different. To me, that's where they're better than last year for sure. I know they got Kaleus Campbell and things, but they really had no presence at the second level of their defense last year. Really slow linebackers. And now you got a guy that's arguably one of the fastest linebackers in the game.


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[Assistant] They're, they're, they're like unstoppable that way. Because they, they're not afraid to take chances and go, our guys will cover your guys one on one, we'll take a chance. And you know, they can also start to expose the protection schemes. And I think a little of that happened yesterday. I, I, I, that's another one I want to break down here before Wednesday's pod.


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[Assistant] Yeah, you're right. You're right. It's kind of a foregone conclusion. We all think they're going to be in the playoffs. We all think they're one of the best teams in football. Can they kind of peek at the right way at the end of the year to really take advantage of in the playoffs? You're right, that's what they are all about. I don't know, but it's kind of fun to watch it happen within the process. They're a fun team to watch.


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[Assistant] Miami had their way in whatever they wanted to do. And Miami did something that I thought, you know, you've heard me say before.


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[Assistant] And especially when the, when this Seattle scheme doesn't have good corners, like the place to attack is outside. It ends up being like one-on-ones outside a lot. I felt like they took advantage that they were not gonna like,


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[Assistant] Oh, you got backup corners in that we never heard of or anything. We're not just gonna like, oh, keep throwing it over the middle and let them off, you know, get out of jail free cards. They attacked the guys that they were supposed to attack.


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[Assistant] That to me is Brian Flores and Shane Gailey. That's like old school stuff. They would just go, why don't we just play a little like our guys better than that guy? And just make it that simple.


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[Assistant] Just everything. I mean, even the way they ran the football, uh, I think that was shocking to me. You know, I just never thought that 49ers defense would get dominated in that type of fashion. I guess that was probably the biggest surprise. I know Jimmy G didn't play well, that was surprising too, but I don't know if it was just shocking to me, especially after


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[Assistant] I don't know. The third pass play of the day, me and Coach Dungy looked at each other and went, I don't think he's healthy. I don't think he's normal. The ball came out of his hand weak.


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[Assistant] And, you know, uh, wobbly, all day long. Never saw a moment where I went, ooh, okay, there he is, that's our Jimmy G. You know, and I think that showed. He was unable to kind of shuffle in the pocket, and some of the throws and the interceptions he had, they were direct


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[Assistant] Correlation of a guy that can't push off with his back leg and drive through the football. So he's trying to find a way and he's doing it all arm and whatever else and that's why you saw some of those interceptions just flutter up in the air.


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[Assistant] Yes, uh, it is. I just, I would not expect it. I know there's no Nick Bosa.


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[Assistant] But, uh, it's still a good enough players out there and a defensive coach in Salah that I'm just surprised a Dolphins offense that's certainly not looked at as being one of the best offenses in football.


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[Assistant] Just consistently shredded them all day long. I mean really. All day long, let alone yea, they gave up a few field goals just because of the turnovers with Garoppolo and things.


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[Assistant] I can't. You can. You're close there already. You're getting close. But you're right, my little boy is 10. I can't stand his f***ing hair right now. He's got that whole thing going. Cause he's seen a few guys on TikTok.


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[Assistant] It is crazy. It just is another example of a team sport. No one guy makes a football team. Don't care who it is. All right. And as that, I mean, you're right. Robbie Anderson.


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[Assistant] You know, talk about taking it up to 100. I hope everybody's 100% noticing how talented he is as a football player now. Yeaah, he's kind of been obscured, in obscurity with the New York Jets the last few years. But Anderson, you know, the big thing is, it starts with his just straight speed. He can fly.


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[Assistant] You know, is it Tyreek Hilfass? No, but he is, he can run by just about any DB in football. And then,


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[Assistant] You know, has a similar skill set, and again, I'm not trying to say he's this guy, but always has reminded me a little bit of Marvin Harrison, right? Where that skinny, slight frame can beat you deep.


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[Assistant] Is a good route runner, can do all those things in the middle of the field, out of the slot, whatever it is that way. And then I'll tell you, that's where it went to 100.


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[Assistant] There's our man, Matt Ruhl, the coach. Him for having the vision won.


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[Assistant] He coached Robbie Anderson in college, at Temple. Alright, so he didn't get worried about some of the off the field problems about Robbie Anderson. Teddy Bridgewater had a relationship with Robbie Anderson. The head coach realized it and he went, wait, this kid's got talent, he can fit in our offense, let alone there's a little, you know, chemistry between him and our quarterback.


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[Assistant] And I know what he's all about because I coached him. To me, I mean, that's, that rule has been phenomenal. So yeah. Coach of the year.


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[Assistant] No. No? Okay. You are. I am. I don't know what I'm hearing. But either way, yes, just getting back to that whole Dan Quinn and uhm, yeaah. I got crazy stuff going on in my ear. Hold on a second.


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[Assistant] Falcons, we knew this was gonna happen, right? We knew it was gonna happen. Did we know it was gonna happen this week or whatever? No, we didn't. But we, I mean, this was inevitable at this point.


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[Assistant] I mean, sorry, that's just the way it is. Rip the bandaid off, start the coaching search, start building. Really. And I'm just going to be excited to see where this goes for the Atlanta Falcons. The team was poorly orchestrated the last few years. You've heard me say it. It's way too top heavy.


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[Assistant] Why? You wanna go, who's on the team that's the salary? Who's the defensive star that's got us in a salary cap issue? Who's the offensive line that's got us a salary issue? Yeah, it says Matt Ryan, Julio Jones. Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, I mean, and you know, Grady Jarrett are making up like,


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[Assistant] 60% of the, the damn salary cap. And Grady Jarrett would be the only one that I would say is truly get, they're getting their worth out of right now.


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[Assistant] You know, so, I don't know where this goes, uhm, I've been saying,


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[Assistant] The Falcons should be putting Julio Jones on the trade market. Now he's got a tough contract too. It's gonna be tough to trade him. It's a lot of dead money. And things like that too. So I gotta like deep dive into that a little bit there.


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[Assistant] Well, I mean, again, I don't think that's a crazy thought.


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[Assistant] Matt Ryan's still really good. Still has a lot of good years left in him.


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[Assistant] But when you have like this old mainstay at quarterback, who's the franchise. You try to placate him as much as you can. You do, and then it brings back in the old coach culture into it a little bit, right? Yeah. And that's where it doesn't always work and mesh the right way. So we'll see where it goes. Matt Ryan's still really damn good though. I'm not trying to, you know, take anything away from that.


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[Assistant] I don't know what it is. Do you want to take a time out? No, I don't care. Let's go. I'm just gonna...


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[Assistant] It's a really good damn defense. I mean, it really is. I don't really come away from the game feeling any different about the Coles defense. I just think it's still really good. I think what I came away going is that I officially go, no, the Browns oh is good. They got something here.


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[Assistant] I think they're believing what Stefanski is selling in just the style of football, complementary football, right? And we've talked about the Seahawks, yeaah, it's hair on fire on defense, it's hair on fire on offense, it works together, it works the right way.


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[Assistant] With the Browns, you know, first off, I would say the Browns, they won this game because their offense dominated the first half and their defense dominated the second half. That would be the big thing I would say. And really early on, I just thought they did a great job of


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[Assistant] Not letting the Colts defense ruin the game, which is what it has done to every team to this point.


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[Assistant] A lot of teams have gotten to play the Colts and they look up the scoreboard, it's early on and they're like, oh damn, we're down 13-3 already, we're down 10-0. And that plays into the Colts' favor because now it's, we can unleash our pass rush and you can't stop it. It's a really damn good pass rush they have. It's, it is arguably the best defensive line in football. And I think Stefanski,


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[Assistant] Uh, over-aggressive, talented, fast defensive line.


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[Assistant] You know, dangle a little something over here and go over here. And that's what they did. So they took them out of that like early on to where they never got a chance to just be like, we're putting our hand in the ground, we're going after Baker Mayfield.


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[Assistant] The game started off with them going, whoa, whoa, wait, this way, that way, this way, that way. Wait, when are we actually gonna get to go straight forward and go after Baker Mayfield? So between that...


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[Assistant] Him being incredibly patient with the run game. A lot like we just talked about with Gruden in the second half. The Browns were like that in the first half.


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[Assistant] They were going to run the ball. They were going to try to pound that defensive line a little bit and they played mistake free football. I mean, that's to me the big thing they did. And within that, that's of course what got them that, you know, 20 to 10 cushion going into halftime was really just playing smart football.


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[Assistant] Never gave it to him. And I think to me, that was the big thing. So they go into half time with, we've controlled the ball, we've scored some points, and


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[Assistant] We didn't let their defense mess the game up, and we've never really let their offense kind of get in a rhythm, and that was all done through the offense in the first half. Now in the second half, that changed around


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[Assistant] He was great at it. That was one of the big things from the first half is they just, there was no negative plays. You know, between the patience of Stefanski running.


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[Assistant] And the no negative plays, that's where the Colts D has killed people. I mean, that was, that was something, and yes, he's done a great job of, oh, okay, pressure, where in the past he might have gone, oh, there's pressure and he might throw some stupid ball down the middle of the field or try to make a play happen.


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[Assistant] Or he just, he throws it away. Or he tries to go scramble and get a yard or two, whatever that is.


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[Assistant] You know, that, that to me was the big aspect of the game. Now, he wasn't great in the second half. We know that.


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[Assistant] Yeaah, I mean, you know, the, the interceptions as far as, uhm, the one down the middle to, uh, I'm blanking on the name, was that Anthony Walker I think that time? I mean, that was really stupid. I, I don't know what he was looking at or what, but the, the point was there, that was the first mistake of the game, and


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[Assistant] They had already built up enough of a cushion to where it didn't kill them. But the point too there that is, and see this is where Stefanski was awesome for the offense, there was very few times during the game where the Colts defense could go, they gotta hold the ball here, they gotta throw it.


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[Assistant] It's third and 12. We can finally, they didn't do that. Stefanski was amazing and that's why they went 10 for 17 where they were in third and manageable all the time. They got in so many downs where it's third and four. Ooh, they could run, they could throw the screen, they could throw short quick pass. So the defense is really f**ked when you're in that aspect. Sorry for that bad word there, but.


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[Assistant] You know, the, the big thing, uh, to me more than anything as far as what they did there. And last week we saw OBJ, the mainstay, the main part of the offense. This week,


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[Assistant] They used him as a decoy. They did. He threw the reverse pass. He did. He was the guy that they used to get Jarvis Landry open early in the game. Kinda looked like it was a play for Odell. He's going deep, running double move, and they're so worried about Odell, it's like, oh shit, well we forgot about Jarvis Landry. Uhm, so, really good job by Stefanski is what I'm saying.


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[Assistant] The defense been the pleasant surprise for me for the, the brands. That was the part I really kind of questioned. I did. I mean, secondary, eh, linebackers, a little unproven there.


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[Assistant] The D-line has been kicking ass. That's the first thing I would say. But the defense scored nine points in the second half. That was big. I mean, that was the difference, the difference in the game. Did they or did Philip Rivers give them seven? Well, he gave them seven. You're right. I mean, he did.


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[Assistant] But they took advantage of it. They got pressure on Rivers. It was a, what was that, a second or a third down either way? Third and four from midfield. Third and four from midfield. Yep. So they got pressure on him and he looked downfield and then moved up in the pocket and just threw blind to the fly. That's stupid. You're right. It is.


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[Assistant] If you want to get into the Philip Rivers conversation, that's a whole conversation about the Colts and what were they doing yesterday. I don't understand why they got back into, to me too early on in the game it became like, we're going to play through Philip Rivers today. And I, I did, that was one of the things I wrote. I just, I don't understand that.


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[Assistant] That just, to me, that's the wrong approach. This is not the way, Philip Rivers is not that kind of quarterback anymore. And with your defense and everything you have in Indianapolis, I mean, we've already seen, there's two games he's had to throw the ball or they opted to throw the ball. They've lost both of them because he made stupid mistakes. The safety was his fault too. It was his fault.


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[Assistant] He, he, he dropped back so far, Miles Garrett never had to turn the corner. He just got to run straight line. If he steps up in the pocket, he's gonna hit a 30 yard completion down the left sideline. So, that to me, the defense, we're gonna, I'm gonna hit more on it in a second.


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[Assistant] That to me was also the occult issue. Where Frank Reich has to be a little more aware of, I can't put games on Philip Rivers. This is, he's not that guy anymore.


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[Assistant] Definitely. I mean, teams have been able to run the ball on Cleveland. You can do that. It's your best thing on your team as might be your offensive line. I know Costanza was hurt for the game and not out there.


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[Assistant] But, but that is where I just, I, I think they dropped the ball there in that aspect of it. Not taking advantage of what they have there. Um, it's not a real deep defensive line for the Cleveland Browns. So you're letting them off the hook that way. But they were getting pressure. Well let's now talk about that.


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[Assistant] Alright, so I'm gonna go with Aaron Donald. Yep. Alright. And now the other guy is, is he still playing?


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[Assistant] Well, that fits. I mean, they're three of the freakiest guys to play on the defensive side of the football the last years. Miles Garrett is unreal. And that's where the success of the Browns defense really starts. Is there D-line and Miles Garrett? Just like we talked about with the Colts, the Browns,


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[Assistant] The 49ers last year, the Browns can, they can get to the quarterback without ever blitzing. They don't ever need to blitz. Because between him...


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[Assistant] And all the plays he affects, like he's another one, like,


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[Assistant] Uh, are unbelievable. And then Olivier Vernon and a few of the other guys have some, you know, points of where they pop every game. But, uh, that is the big thing. And to me, here's the other aspect. I do think they're starting to understand the scheme.


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[Assistant] Joe Woods come from San Francisco. They're starting to realize all the rules that work in the Seattle defense and all those type of things.


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[Assistant] You know, I think it's showing on the field that we're not living up to a ton of big plays and playing pretty damn good football.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, it's between one and the two. I believe I picked, I mean, I picked Myles Garrett last year to be defensive player of the year. I think I picked him pre-season this year as well. I think I did.


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[Assistant] Yeah, maybe I went back to Aaron Donald. Because he was the favorite. Well, my, my, listen, other than Aaron Donald, if you want to talk about...


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[Assistant] The second best defensive players in football.


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[Assistant] That conversation definitely includes Miles Garrett. It definitely does. You're laughing because there's probably a lot of guys who are going, there's a lot of guys that are second best. Chris has 20 guys competing for second best. Well, between him, I mean, Aaron Donald's won between Miles Garrett, um, Chris Jones, Kansas City,


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[Assistant] DeForest Buckner so far, what we've seen this year. Those are probably the three guys I would look at to go. Those are the three guys I would put in that, you know, other than Aaron Donald list, the next guys up.


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[Assistant] Nope, 1994. Okay, don't tell me yet. Hold on, 1994. Who the hell was the coach of the Browns in 1994? Schottenheimer was, Bill Belichick? Bill Belichick! Whoa, my dad was almost on that team. We're four and one. Big Phil was almost on that team. Oh really? He went there to sign with the Browns. What happened? They were broke, they couldn't pay him.


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[Assistant] They said they were going to pay him this much, he got there, and they were like, all we can do is offer you the minimum, we're broke. Oh wow. Yea, and Belichick was like, I had no idea, I'm sorry Phil, I'm sorry I made you come out here.


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[Assistant] Like I said, I'm shocked by the Colts' pass-first approach. You know, play a game just to win the game. Not to how you want the game to look, but what is the best way to win the game?


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[Assistant] That's something I learned in New England and we watch them all the time. They don't care if it's 44-3 or 13-3. They play whatever is the best formula they think to win the game. That was upsetting to me with the Colts, the fact that they got in that past game, you know, uh, little, little rut there.


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[Assistant] Uhm, the Browns, I just was really impressed with how all over they were of some of the Colts concepts, because I think, you know, Frank Reich is one of the more offensive, uh, creative guys in, in football. But, they, uhm, where, where, what did I want to say? Oh.


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[Assistant] The Browns secondary did not back up. They did not respect Philip Rivers throwing the ball deep down the field. And that is something I'm going to continue to watch forward to because we know his arm is not big time. He did hit one shot down the field. It was a busted coverage. But other than that,


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[Assistant] I mean, anytime your leg did what his leg did a few years ago and you get back into playing football in the NFL, damn okay. You deserve to make that list for sure. I mean, that was an awesome story. Uh, I think what touched me even more was just the fact that it is like,


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[Assistant] His, uh, family was there to witness it. I know, I could put myself in their shoes a little bit, what that feels like again.


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[Assistant] Oh, I mean, I'm sure the whole family was. Yeah, the wife was probably just beyond belief, but that was cool to see. Good for him.


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[Assistant] Uh, damn, but also Jared Goff deserves a damn okay too. Man, did they, he tear it up yesterday. I mean, again, it was McVeigh stressing their schemes out and Goff took advantage of every bit of it. Just hit every big play available. They were a machine.


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[Assistant] And what they do too is a lot of the times, and what I think you saw yesterday was a corner who was responsible to be the edge setter in the run game. And he's seen this guy come at him with these motions where they run the ball all the time so much that he's thinking, wait, well, is he coming to block me one more time? And they just stutter a little bit.


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[Assistant] And by the time they stutter to look like, oh wait, do I need to get over there to the D-Gap to stop there? And the guy's already gone. And they go, oh man, and it looks like almost a busted coverage. But it's all part of this genius attack that Sean McVay has. And yesterday I thought it was cool.


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[Assistant] Because you know, you talk about the, the run game sets it up, right? They came out just doing boots and play actions to kind of set up the run. But I bet you they saw something and they went, oh, this Washington front. They're probably going to sell out to stop our run game. Let's come out and hit them the other way around and then go back to it. Uh, it was a good approach. Rams are looking good. I'm high on the Rams.


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[Assistant] He definitely does. Well, anybody that's been listening to my podcast over the years knows I like me some LeBron James. I do. I always jump on a guy that I feel gets wrongly accused, which I know people like right now go, wait, he's never been wrongly accused, but I want to go, yeah, no, early in his career and people saying he couldn't win a championship and oh my gosh, he's such a bad person.


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[Assistant] He left his team with an asshole owner and went to Miami, and on that day,


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[Assistant] He actually cared about his own life and went somewhere else?


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[Assistant] I mean, oh no! I mean, that's, that's, that's, I got so sick of that that I jumped on the bandwagon I've been on ever since.


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[Assistant] I mean what, so I don't think that's a fair argument. I'm sick of hearing that shit. And you're right, he's a victim of his own greatness. That's where I look at it. That's where shit got me on Aaron Rodgers too. I got sick of hearing that crap too. He's the only guy on the team. He's the only reason we talk about them.


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[Assistant] Nobody, if he gets five, there'll be no argument anymore. I mean, nobody will be, it'll be Jordan one, LeBron two, over. Like, I already think that, but don't you think that?


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[Assistant] Alright, I don't think he's better than Jordan, but I think it's close and he's clearly number two. That's how I do feel about that. Alright, let's go back to football.


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[Assistant] The pass game itself looked good. I mean, there was a lot of big pass plays down the field. I'll be interested to kind of break that down to see what or if they did anything different from, you know, Bill O'Brien calling the plays. And they even ran the ball yesterday. You know, that's the other thing too. David Johnson got in the fold there, had a pretty good day.


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[Assistant] Right, right. What proved to be is the offense is just not vast enough to really get...


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[Assistant] Wide receiver by committee, the ball. All of them the ball. Woah, sorry there, Nick. Uhm, but. Rough year. Yeaah, enough rough year. Uh, but.


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[Assistant] But, you know, with this group yesterday, we'll see. Maybe this changes. Maybe they still get to find a way to get everybody involved and get Watson on the right track and everything like that. I mean, I'm still concerned about their defense, of course. I don't think it's real good, but they get their first win and they had a really tough start of the year as far as their schedule is concerned.


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[Assistant] You need like the ravens to do it. You need the ravens. A team that has like, well, even if we mess this rugby crap up, we're still gonna score. We'll still stop them on this series and maybe even get a turnover and try again. That's true. That's just my logic, I don't know.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I don't know if we learned a whole lot from this football game. Even just sitting there, you know, watching it yesterday and everything, I'm not so sure I'm necessarily like overly impressed with the Cardinals' aspect of the win either. I mean, again, you know, it was late in the third quarter and it was 17-10.


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[Assistant] Now they separated themselves because they are the better football team. Right, right. They got aggressive and kind of pushed the ball down the field. I still have a little of my same concerns with the Cardinals though. You know, I went in the year gone.


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[Assistant] At the end of last year, I saw enough curveballs from Clif Kingsbury and things in the offense to go, okay, it's not just the spread and all that all the time.


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[Assistant] I just don't see enough of it. And I think that's where I get a little worried about them. It's just, can you get in the shotgun four wides and beat every team in football every week? No, there's just gotta be a little bit more to the offense. And we've seen some of their games where they struggle. There's just like,


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[Assistant] Yeah, okay, the passing game's not clicking and everything's not on all the cylinders. What else can we work to or go to when that's not, you know, a defense has our, you know, has us down a little bit or has our number here for a quarter or two?


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[Assistant] College coach who's gone to the pros where the NFL is catching on a little bit. And that's what I'm worried about. It's like three games in a row. And again, I haven't seen this film yet, but


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[Assistant] Just people always seem to be dropping in the right areas to stop certain plays and certain passes. And I think there's really only one or two runs that they really run as far as their run game's concerned. And I think with all of that, it's kinda catching up to them. So yeaah, they're, they're, they're still a team that's


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[Assistant] You know, gotta figure some things out. Uh, I do look at them. They're dangerous. He's dangerous. Uhm, but yeaah, it's just, I feel like there's defenses.


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[Assistant] Well yeaah, I mean what I'm a little concerned is I think it's the, the Jets and the Giants might be getting down there to that category where they're like solidified themselves as one and two for a long time here.


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[Assistant] I just, Brown's fans, sorry for like liking you guys and like questioning the hire of Kevin Stavansky. I'm sorry. How dare I do that to you guys? I know you guys have hired so many of the right coaches.


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[Assistant] So, but you do, you hate the Packers a little more than the Vikings. A little more than the Vikings.


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[Assistant] Alright. Well, you guys know where Ahmed is, Chicago.


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[Assistant] Just let me know. I'll throw some right jabs at him or something. Whenever we get away from social distancing, I will punch him or do something. I promise.


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[Assistant] Wow, good job. You're a really nice guy. He's got a big game tonight too. Chargers, Saints, Battle of Breeze.


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[Assistant] Alright, good job dude. Well done. Hey, make sure you wear another red shirt next week, okay? My best color. Clap it up? Yes, let's do it. Clap it up.


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[Assistant] Yo yo, what's up? C'mon 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] And you, I mean, first off, you didn't expect to be doing this podcast. Amid was supposed to be here.


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[Assistant] Little boy's not feeling great, so he's playing it smart, getting tested, so he's not here. You being the ultimate quarterback here, got in, got ready, you're ready to go, ready to talk some balls. So thanks for doing that. Absolutely. You the man.


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[Assistant] No, these are, uh, this is a collaboration. To peel back the curtain. Sunday Night Football. The Football Night in America gets done. Yep. Walk out of the studio. Matt Casey, who's producer, you know, producer for PFT and all this crap. He's got like nine other jobs too.


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[Assistant] We usually talk about one or two games where we go, this is, I think we gotta hit these games. And then, okay, that's for Monday.


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[Assistant] Really, what we try to do is hit the games or at least the side of the ball that people want to know the most about, that are the most interesting, the most relevant to the league right now as far as playoffs and standings and all those things. And we do our best. We can't do it all, but I think we're going to hit the big ones today.


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[Assistant] We've been really good this year. I think the first thing we talk about is that group that's really good this year. And I don't know if we gave it enough respect on Monday, and I probably didn't give it enough respect leading into the football game, obviously.


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[Assistant] DeForest Buckner not being there was a huge issue for them. Sometimes you don't appreciate how good football players are until you don't see them in the lineup. And then you start to realize, man, I think, I don't think that team would have been able to do that if DeForest Buckner's in there. You know, again, he has so many plays like an Aaron Donald and everything like that.


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[Assistant] We know Tennessee can run the football, to your point. We all know that, right? They're a machine. They only got a few runs, but they do it really well.


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[Assistant] And what I love about Tennessee is they're not all like, a lot of good run teams are, we're all inside zone, we're all outside zone. That's all we do is those two concepts and we got a few little different ways we can do it. Tennessee's one of those teams where,


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[Assistant] But they can do some man-to-man blocking, whether that's straight ahead, man-to-man, double teams, get up to the second level, Iso, you know, weak side, Iso, full back on a linebacker, everybody blocking man-to-man. So they have that element.


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[Assistant] And I think that's very, you have to have it if you want to be a good running team. Because there's some teams that are going to be, hey, we can stop the inside zone, we can stop the outside zone. Alright, so now what are you going to do now? And when you're built around the run game like the titans are.


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[Assistant] You know, they always have a few things, and I think that's where I'll start, like the first drive. Let's just talk about the first touchdown. He throws, we talked a little bit about it on Monday.


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[Assistant] Right? He throws the little toss to the, he throws the swing pass to the right. It ends up being a rush because it was a lateral. But it was truly a toss play.


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[Assistant] This play in the John Gruden offense would be 98 bunch crunch.


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[Assistant] Usually you have a bunch, two guys blocked down, the inside guy, the bunch comes around as you toss it, so now you have a guy that's lead blocking after you block down, block down, block down, block down, and now it's the toss and one guy's out leading the running back. Instead, they did it at a trips right formation. They spread it out.


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[Assistant] And because their wide receivers are good blockers and they had one tight end over there, they basically went, hey, we're all spread out.


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[Assistant] You know, tight end, you block down, you're the middle of the three receivers, AJ Brown, you're way outside, you block outside, and then they had the inside slot receiver come out as like that puller. Right. And now you got Derrick Henry, throw it out to him, let him go, he's in space, and he's got a lead blocker in front of him, and of course once he gets ahead of steam, it's over.


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[Assistant] No, no, it definitely not. I think there was some, you know, schematical, you know, uh, advantages that the Titans found within the matchup that I think they probably learned from the first time around. Up front? Up front, yeaah. And that's where we'll get, I mean, hey, we know that's the first touchdown, we just explained that.


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[Assistant] I mean, they're such a big play team too, which is so weird. Like, oh yeah, we're Derek Henry Power Football. But how many, they have so many drives that are four plays, 75 yards. And because of the run game and people worried about it, it leads to, you know, optimal pass looks at times.