Speaker 1: The late fifteen ten touchdowns. What's up, guys? Welcome into
Speaker 1: a Week thirteen edition of Chargers Weekly, as always, joined
Speaker 1: by Matt money Smith. It's Raiders Week and Money I
Speaker 1: was just telling you last night I popped on Hard
Speaker 1: Knocks just you know, the Chargers were a part of
Speaker 1: episode four, so I figured i'd I'd dive in and
Speaker 1: check it out. And I heard DJ and Money sprinkled
Speaker 1: throughout the montage of the Chargers Cardinals games. Very cool
Speaker 1: to hear your voice and uh hey man two point
Speaker 1: conversion may have saved the season. Wow. Look that's a
Speaker 1: Mustlin game. I think this week is a Mustlin game
Speaker 1: as well. I mean, you know, and that's projecting that,
Speaker 1: you know, if they're not gonna win out, I mean, look,
Speaker 1: can they beat the Dolphins shirt fighting shirt? It's just
Speaker 1: gonna be a heck of a lot harder, you know,
Speaker 1: based on what we've seen through you know, ten eleven
Speaker 1: games actually, since the Cardinals are on there by this week,
Speaker 1: so eleven games from each of these teams. They look
Speaker 1: to have their issues, their flaws. That's why they have
Speaker 1: the record they do, are ranked where they are, and
Speaker 1: the Chargers got to win these games. You know, Titan's
Speaker 1: going to be tough with the way they run the
Speaker 1: ball and the way the Chargers run defense has been operating.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins look to have, you know, arguably the most
Speaker 1: unstoppable offense in the league right now with Tyreet Kill
Speaker 1: and Jaalen Waddle. So you want to take advantage of
Speaker 1: the advantages. And that was a Cardinals team that I
Speaker 1: think you sought after that loss. You know, there's just
Speaker 1: in disarray and there's some serious issues there, you know,
Speaker 1: with their quarterback, with coaches being let go, with attrition.
Speaker 1: That offensive line was you know, a mess, and they
Speaker 1: weren't able to take advantage of it until the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: And thankfully they were able to take advantage of it
Speaker 1: there and get out with the victory. And I knew,
Speaker 1: you know, I think a lot of people that you know,
Speaker 1: do what we do and watch football weekend and week out.
Speaker 1: You knew they were going for two. There was no
Speaker 1: way they were going to send that defense back out there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they had three straight three and outs, but you don't
Speaker 1: want to send them back out there, not when you
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to win the game from the two
Speaker 1: yard line. It's just that that presents a much better
Speaker 1: option to emerge victorious, I think than trusting a coin flip,
Speaker 1: maybe losing it and asking your defense to stop a
Speaker 1: team that had really kind of had their way with
Speaker 1: you for three quarters. I said on Monday, it truly
Speaker 1: is a fork in the road moment for this team.
Speaker 1: I think that game in that way they won, really
Speaker 1: energized the players in the locker room and hopefully that's
Speaker 1: something you can build on, and you know, if you
Speaker 1: don't get it, then we're talking about a team it's
Speaker 1: five and six that has to literally maybe win out
Speaker 1: to get to the playoffs. And you have a team
Speaker 1: that man the run defense is the one thing I
Speaker 1: think we'd be talking about today if they didn't win
Speaker 1: that game as the lead, right, like five straight games
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty seven yards on the ground are
Speaker 1: more one hundred and eighty one allowed to the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: Like you said, defense buckled down the last half of
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, but the way it started and the
Speaker 1: slow starts kind of started to creep up again. That's
Speaker 1: something that can happen, especially with Josh Jacobs, a running
Speaker 1: game that's starting to get figured out here in Miami
Speaker 1: with with Wilson and Mostart and then Derrick Henry and
Speaker 1: then Jonathan Taylor on deck. I mean, that's that's a
Speaker 1: that's a tough stretch of running backs. Bony. Yeah, I'll
Speaker 1: start with you know, the you know, the point you
Speaker 1: made about you know, momentum, and I do think there
Speaker 1: is ability to validity to that that. You know, they
Speaker 1: tell you it's week to week league, and I believe that,
Speaker 1: you know, just with the amount of injuries and who's
Speaker 1: available and who's not. And the same thing goes for
Speaker 1: the other side. Who is your opponent the previous week?
Speaker 1: Did you get your head kicked in? Did you win easy?
Speaker 1: Is it a short week, are you on the road?
Speaker 1: You know, so many factors that go in week to
Speaker 1: week that same momentum does not carry over. But I
Speaker 1: think you hit it on the head. You know, there's
Speaker 1: something about that play, and because we do travel with
Speaker 1: the team, we can see it, Chris, and you could
Speaker 1: just kind of see there was a bounce, you know,
Speaker 1: and there was not all wins look the same and
Speaker 1: not all losses feel the same. When you get on
Speaker 1: the plane to fly home or when you're in the
Speaker 1: locker room, you can just that one felt different. It
Speaker 1: felt like you know, they were staring, you know, they
Speaker 1: were they were staring over the edge into the abyss
Speaker 1: and it looked like they were going to get shoved
Speaker 1: into it in that fourth quarter when they had to punt,
Speaker 1: and then they you know, we're able to just kind
Speaker 1: of hang on and get that victory on a on
Speaker 1: a ballsy call. And I think that does I think
Speaker 1: that does help. You know, it's, hey, Keenan's back, Herbert's healthy.
Speaker 1: We believe in these guys. And you heard a lot
Speaker 1: of that after the game of you know, we just
Speaker 1: we knew, you know, we just you see number ten
Speaker 1: and you're like, yeah, we're fine, we got this, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think that's that being able to say that
Speaker 1: and get the win. Um. I think especially because they
Speaker 1: got it when the defense pitched in. You know, you
Speaker 1: think about the Chiefs game and it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: Herbert drives you down, It gets you the game. What
Speaker 1: should have been the game winning score. You just got
Speaker 1: to get a hold from the defense, you know, over
Speaker 1: seven five yards and they couldn't do it. And I
Speaker 1: think that's you know that that's not easy for a
Speaker 1: team to reconcile. So I think the fact that you
Speaker 1: had both sides pitch in when you needed it too. Hey,
Speaker 1: we need a three and out. We gotta get this
Speaker 1: ball back in order to win this game. Defense pitches
Speaker 1: that three and out. Special teams gets the huge return
Speaker 1: from DeAndre Carter. Well, first of all, JK. Scott pins
Speaker 1: the team inside the ten. Then you get the three
Speaker 1: and out, Then you get DeAndre Carter's return for twenty yards.
Speaker 1: That sets you up at the thirty eight with the penalty,
Speaker 1: and then the offense cashes in like that's that's momentum,
Speaker 1: that that's something that can carry you over. Like every
Speaker 1: single facet of this team pitched in to get that
Speaker 1: win when the backs were against the wall. Many cliches
Speaker 1: can I use in one answer? So I think for
Speaker 1: the run defense, if you want, I know, you asked
Speaker 1: for a lot of questions. I don't know how it
Speaker 1: seemed like, you know, as I looked at the replies, Chris,
Speaker 1: it seemed like probably fifty percent of them we're about
Speaker 1: the run defense. I don't know if you plucked any specifically,
Speaker 1: but you know, as we kind of talk about what
Speaker 1: went wrong in those first three and a half quarters,
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's a couple that you want
Speaker 1: to sprinkle in there, give some shout outs to people
Speaker 1: that are nice enough to shoot us some ammo, yeah,
Speaker 1: we may as well, and man, I wouldn't expect. We
Speaker 1: got like thirty some odd questions, which is awesome and
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys always chipping in with this stuff,
Speaker 1: and I think this would be a nice vehicle into
Speaker 1: the Raiders game, a lot of Raiders related questions before
Speaker 1: we get into it too. I just want to say,
Speaker 1: you know, I think Gerald Everett mentioned that like they
Speaker 1: were waiting for that moment where it was like a
Speaker 1: team win and we're all winning here together. In that
Speaker 1: fourth quarter I think was indicative of that. And I
Speaker 1: much rather would have seen what you predicted or what
Speaker 1: you wanted to see, which was a blowout. We knew
Speaker 1: right off the bat that wasn't going to happen. After
Speaker 1: that first quarter you knew, you knew started a different
Speaker 1: type of game, right, Yeah, such a bad start, and
Speaker 1: you know it was God. I'm trying to think of
Speaker 1: the right word to use, because there's there's a word
Speaker 1: I wanted that I don't want to use because I
Speaker 1: don't mean it that way, but um, it's just they
Speaker 1: they came out flat, you know, and they came out
Speaker 1: and they weren't they were missed assignments and they were
Speaker 1: just getting shoved around in that first quarter. You know
Speaker 1: when you watch and and I'm not saying it's you know,
Speaker 1: interior and oh you're dealing with Gaziano and Fijoko instead
Speaker 1: of Johnson and h Bosa, but like it was everyone.
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack had a rough start to that game, and
Speaker 1: he's usually as good a run defenders. They're area just
Speaker 1: kept crashing and they kept sealing, and now you've got
Speaker 1: the edge and that's where Tranquil and Derwin are supposed
Speaker 1: to fit, and they're crashing, and it was just like, man,
Speaker 1: what is going on? You know? On one play, I
Speaker 1: saw Derwin kind of running toward the back and there's
Speaker 1: little Hollywood Brown that ends up standing him up, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, how does that happen? You know, It's just
Speaker 1: kind of weird things like that that kept happening. I
Speaker 1: do think like one one issue that I do I've
Speaker 1: got to believe comes out of watching the film that
Speaker 1: that's just got to be corrected. You know, Kenneth is
Speaker 1: such a heat sea King missile, like he's just got
Speaker 1: to take a beat and diagnose. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if he's just guessing, if he's got an assignment that
Speaker 1: he's executing or what he's doing, but repeatedly I am
Speaker 1: just watching him run as fast as he can into
Speaker 1: the line to perhaps fill a gap. And the gap
Speaker 1: to his right or his left is the one that's open,
Speaker 1: and you've got Connor running through there for ten twelve yards,
Speaker 1: so that needs to be corrected. Kyle Van Noy had
Speaker 1: a really rough first half. It just seemed like they
Speaker 1: were picking on him the band. He made as big
Speaker 1: a play in this game as anyone. In that fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: he was able to shoot from the edge and he
Speaker 1: tripped up Connor I think it was on that last
Speaker 1: three and out tripped him up on that first down,
Speaker 1: put him behind the sticks right away, and it was
Speaker 1: just a monster place. So it's there like that's the thing.
Speaker 1: It's like, you know, you know, these guys can do it,
Speaker 1: They're capable of doing it. And I think that's why
Speaker 1: when Brandon st when Coach Staley was talking about it
Speaker 1: in the presser, you know, I think he addressed that.
Speaker 1: He's like, and I think it comes across poor when
Speaker 1: you're the coach saying, hey, the calls are there, I
Speaker 1: just need the guys to execute you never and I
Speaker 1: think he was very careful not to position it that
Speaker 1: way and present it as well, I'm doing my job, coach,
Speaker 1: and the guys aren't doing it. It's not what it was.
Speaker 1: It's we know it's there because you know they executed
Speaker 1: at times, and they executed at three offensive possessions in
Speaker 1: a row. But man, it just seems like it's a
Speaker 1: where are you supposed to be? And if you are
Speaker 1: where you're supposed to be, can you make the play?
Speaker 1: And too often we just saw broken tackles, guy's not
Speaker 1: being where they were supposed to be and huge runs
Speaker 1: and you know Connor, you know Connor who was not
Speaker 1: run for seventy yards in a game. You know, rushes
Speaker 1: for nearly double that, one hundred and thirty, who was
Speaker 1: averaging three sat carry. Yeah, he had it at the half.
Speaker 1: He had sixty nine at a half, his highest total
Speaker 1: of the season. And James Connor ends up rushing for seven.
Speaker 1: You know, he's at nine yards per carry through the
Speaker 1: first quarter, seven yards per carry at the half, and
Speaker 1: then ultimately you see it trickled down into the fours
Speaker 1: because they were able to figure it out. So J
Speaker 1: Paul Pez says, Hey, Chris, enjoy listening to you and
Speaker 1: money talk. Chargers wanted to know if you saw Daniel
Speaker 1: Popper's rite up that included the run defense philosophy from
Speaker 1: coach Staley, what are your thoughts on it? Essentially, it was, hey,
Speaker 1: we a lot more resources to the back end, right,
Speaker 1: and yeah, there's a there's a sliver of truth to that,
Speaker 1: but I know coach Staley doesn't want to give up
Speaker 1: five point five per carry on design runs. That's not
Speaker 1: that's not the game plan. No, I think you know
Speaker 1: you can make numbers figure right as the old saying,
Speaker 1: and so I think it's convenient to do that to show. Okay, well,
Speaker 1: the twenty fourth ranked rush d I think is what
Speaker 1: Popper wrote and it's a great article. You should check
Speaker 1: it out. And if you don't subscribe to The Athletic,
Speaker 1: you should. I really like what they do over there,
Speaker 1: everybody in the football department, Nate Tyson, Robert May's and
Speaker 1: Popper for the Chargers. They do a really really good
Speaker 1: job at the at the Athletics. So free plug for them.
Speaker 1: I pay for it. They don't give it to me
Speaker 1: for free? So I would do they give it to
Speaker 1: you for free? Chris? No, I pay for it all right? Good, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll make sure you're not getting a free being them
Speaker 1: that there. Listen, I get happy to get that. Although,
Speaker 1: you know what, I think I should refinance because there's
Speaker 1: there's deals, always a deal. It's like, what about existing customers?
Speaker 1: I always wonder. I always wonder, like, hey, you know
Speaker 1: what you're you're giving this, uh this Black Friday deal
Speaker 1: out and uh, you know a little bit more. How
Speaker 1: about the guy that's been doing it for three years?
Speaker 1: But yeah, So Popper printed out that Staley made the point,
Speaker 1: and he showed the twenty fourth ranked rush d gives
Speaker 1: up fifteen hundred and thirty yards. The twenty fourth ranked
Speaker 1: passed he gives up like twenty four hundred yards. So
Speaker 1: it's like the point that's being made is we're giving
Speaker 1: up a thousand less yards by committing to stopping the
Speaker 1: past on the run. Well that's great, except for you know,
Speaker 1: when you're a poor run defense, your offense doesn't get
Speaker 1: as many opportunities. When you're a poor run defense, your
Speaker 1: defense gets beat up because they're running right at you.
Speaker 1: And those offensive linemen and they're getting to the second
Speaker 1: level and they're busting you up and you're getting worn
Speaker 1: down by the end of the game. And the other
Speaker 1: problem is when that run defense is going well, now
Speaker 1: play action is causing your guys to stop a beat
Speaker 1: because the run has been so effective and now they're
Speaker 1: committing their mental resources to stopping it. So I get
Speaker 1: what coaches saying, I just don't necessarily think I agree
Speaker 1: with it. And I guess the best way I would
Speaker 1: put it is looking for a correlation. And I dug
Speaker 1: and I saw that question, and I knew you were
Speaker 1: going to end up getting to it. So I dug
Speaker 1: around and I was like, all right, is there is
Speaker 1: there a correlation between good run defenses, scoring defenses and
Speaker 1: the playoffs? And the answers yes. Ten of the top
Speaker 1: fourteen rush defenses are in the playoffs, ten of fourteen,
Speaker 1: and I did fourteen because of fourteen spots. And I
Speaker 1: know it may not be equitable with AFC versus NFC,
Speaker 1: but whatever, I'm not going to go that far down
Speaker 1: the rabbit hole. I'm just saying of the top fourteen teams,
Speaker 1: of fourteen teams make the playoffs, ten of the top
Speaker 1: rush defenses are in. Seven of the top PA defenses
Speaker 1: are in so it's pretty big swing. That's thirty percent
Speaker 1: more if you're stopping the run in the postseason then
Speaker 1: by being one of the top past defenses. And on
Speaker 1: top of all that, eleven of the top fourteen scoring
Speaker 1: defenses are in the top run defenses. So it shows
Speaker 1: that if you stop the run, you stop points, and
Speaker 1: you're in the postseason, you flip it over to offense
Speaker 1: because I assume people were wondering, well, what if you
Speaker 1: to score a bunch of points. Now it's all defense.
Speaker 1: Seven of the top fourteen rush the offenses, seven of
Speaker 1: the fourteen pass offenses are in the playoffs. It's a
Speaker 1: fifty fifty prop position. And eight of the fourteen scoring
Speaker 1: offenses are in the playoffs as opposed to eleven of
Speaker 1: the fourteen defenses. You got to stop. You have to
Speaker 1: stop teams, especially in the postseason when possessions and that's
Speaker 1: my other issue with it too, with that taking that
Speaker 1: position is in the playoffs, possessions are at an even
Speaker 1: greater premium. You need more possessions in the playoffs because
Speaker 1: you're playing better teams and there's a chance that they're
Speaker 1: going to score on you if they're because they're they're good.
Speaker 1: They're good at scoring. They've proven it over seventeen games.
Speaker 1: That's why they're in the postseason. So position. But possessions
Speaker 1: are at a premium, and that means you've got to
Speaker 1: be able to stop the run and get some time
Speaker 1: of possession on your on your side, and and you know,
Speaker 1: use that to your to your advantage. Exactly when you
Speaker 1: have number ten, you don't want him on a sideline,
Speaker 1: you know. And that's the thing, like if if you
Speaker 1: keep getting five and six and nine and nine, your
Speaker 1: defense is get a ward up at the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: and justin Herbert's not going to be on the field,
Speaker 1: you know, And I think that's you look at let
Speaker 1: me just kind of I want to get to it
Speaker 1: real quick, sorry, Chris, because here's here's my point, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: they won that game, but they you know, when you
Speaker 1: give up, uh, what do we got here? Nineteen first downs?
Speaker 1: You know, that's that's a problem. You know, that's a
Speaker 1: problem because that's moving the sticks and maintaining possessions and
Speaker 1: like you said, keeping your team off of the field.
Speaker 1: And look, the only reason the time of possession is
Speaker 1: relatively equal in that game. It's because of those last
Speaker 1: three drives, because they finally stopped the run on those
Speaker 1: last three drives and they dominated fourth quarter possession, so
Speaker 1: that's why. Otherwise it would have been probably a three
Speaker 1: to four minute, five minute advantage to the Cardinals. And again,
Speaker 1: I think it's good to start with the run defense. Listen,
Speaker 1: they won the game, right, they're six and five, but
Speaker 1: these are the things that need to be cleaned up
Speaker 1: if you're going to get to the playoffs, Jene Scott.
Speaker 1: And they cleaned it up on the last three drives.
Speaker 1: That's the thing, Chris. That's my point is, Yeah, they
Speaker 1: don't clean it up and they don't win that game.
Speaker 1: They finally you had a huge play derwin on one,
Speaker 1: Mikey on one, Kyle van Noy on one where they
Speaker 1: were able to stop that first run on first down
Speaker 1: and that was the difference in that game. And can
Speaker 1: that carry over Sunday against Josh Jacobs question from Jane
Speaker 1: Scott do you feel the ben but don't break causes
Speaker 1: the Chargers to cautiously play not to lose rather than
Speaker 1: aggressively play to win. We rarely get blowout wins and
Speaker 1: I'm only led teams back into games when we have
Speaker 1: good leads. It's a very good question, Gene. Yeah, it is,
Speaker 1: um and that's kind of been the steam of this
Speaker 1: year because last year it was different. It was different
Speaker 1: last year. Yeah it is. I mean, look there, you
Speaker 1: know where they're you know where they're ranked. Um, here
Speaker 1: I am at points per game, they're midpack, they allow
Speaker 1: twenty three per game. You know rush, and we know
Speaker 1: they're thirtieth passing. They're one of the better teams against
Speaker 1: the past. But that's because teams just run on them.
Speaker 1: You know that, Like that's the whole thing. Yes, you've
Speaker 1: got a good pass defense. Well yeah, well teams just
Speaker 1: running on you. You You know that if they can run,
Speaker 1: why put the ball in peril? You know that you
Speaker 1: don't need to put it up in the air. If
Speaker 1: if you're able to keep it safe and on the
Speaker 1: ground and rip off six yards per per touch, you're
Speaker 1: much better doing that because there's less like it is
Speaker 1: less likely that you'll have a turnover. When you put
Speaker 1: the ball in the year, you invite the potential for
Speaker 1: turnovers at a much higher rate than if you put
Speaker 1: it in the belly of your back and he's carrying
Speaker 1: for six yards per carry. So, um, I look, I
Speaker 1: do think Ben Don't Break can work because you've got
Speaker 1: to play to your personnel. And I think that that
Speaker 1: coach has just been unwilling to commit to blitzeing, like
Speaker 1: at the rate the Cardinals were or have all season long.
Speaker 1: With Vance Joseph he's, you know, the most blitz happy
Speaker 1: guy out there, or Tod Bowles is very blitz happy.
Speaker 1: I think he just prefers to trust his guys. You know, hey,
Speaker 1: mind your assignments. I'm asking you to do your job.
Speaker 1: And you know, we can hold these guys to threes
Speaker 1: while we get our sevens. And they've been very good
Speaker 1: at that. They're one of the best run red zone
Speaker 1: defenses in the league. And as long as that continues,
Speaker 1: then it's effective. Remember, like the whole Ben Don't Break
Speaker 1: in the failures of this team to put teams away
Speaker 1: when they build leads like they did against the Raiders
Speaker 1: in Week one, or the Chiefs early on in that
Speaker 1: that second game in Week two, or against the Texans.
Speaker 1: You know, that's as much on the offense as it
Speaker 1: is the defense. Remember, you know you've got an offense
Speaker 1: that's coming out in third quarters and doing nothing, and
Speaker 1: so I think it's important to remember it's not just defense.
Speaker 1: But we've also had the same questions for the offense. Hey,
Speaker 1: why can the offense not put teams away? You know, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're up two touchdowns, but now you come out in
Speaker 1: the third quarter three and out, they score three and out,
Speaker 1: they get a field goal, and now that's a ten
Speaker 1: point swinging inside of the first eight minutes of the
Speaker 1: second half. And now we got ourselves a game. So
Speaker 1: that goes both ways. I guess to answer the question,
Speaker 1: I do think Ben Don't Break can work because again,
Speaker 1: they've been really really good in the red zone. It
Speaker 1: just makes it tough on a defense. And again you
Speaker 1: limit your offensive possessions, which means it's just not an
Speaker 1: ideal approach in my opinion. We got so many questions. Listen, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: let's go one here, this is from Chargers. No matter
Speaker 1: what six and five. What should the Chargers focus be
Speaker 1: in minimizing the Raiders rushing attack? Should they focus on
Speaker 1: approving the defensive scheme or game an early lead in
Speaker 1: forcing the Raiders to throw? I guess that would be
Speaker 1: the Davante Adams And then the other one, te Yo guy,
Speaker 1: how can the run defense get to the low twenties
Speaker 1: or even league average? And why has it been so
Speaker 1: poor the last two years? I don't know which one
Speaker 1: you want to hit first. One I start with us, Yeah, yeah, Chris,
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess I'll just quickly and then you
Speaker 1: can you can jump in here just a quick note.
Speaker 1: The last two years thing, I think is the part
Speaker 1: of the question that I find most interesting. It's like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, two years ago, coach didn't have the bodies
Speaker 1: or the style of player that he wanted to execute
Speaker 1: his scheme. So he was trying to jam square pegs
Speaker 1: and round holes and it wasn't working well. This sure,
Speaker 1: they spent a ton of money to go out and
Speaker 1: get the guys that we're supposed to be the round
Speaker 1: pegs and the round holes, and it's still not working now.
Speaker 1: Attrition is a big part of that. Joey Bose's loss
Speaker 1: is a big part of that. So, you know, not
Speaker 1: having JC Jackson. I know he struggled at first, but
Speaker 1: I think the idea was, hey, we're just gonna man
Speaker 1: this guy up on the best receiver and then we're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to cut our guys loose and be
Speaker 1: more fact up against the run and things like that.
Speaker 1: So unfortunately that didn't work. So I do think that's
Speaker 1: a good you know, that's a good way to phrase
Speaker 1: it last two years, not just this year, because last
Speaker 1: year you could say, oh, personnel. This year, I don't know,
Speaker 1: but it's it's been equally as bad, if not worse. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then as far as minimizing the raiders rushing attack,
Speaker 1: what do you do? Because you know, Josh Jacobs said again,
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah did a great film room on him. How
Speaker 1: just he's a load in the run game, he's also
Speaker 1: a pain in the passing game. Tom, what do you do?
Speaker 1: Because I don't think the scheme really changes at this point. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe maybe Gaziano and Fijoko have a couple
Speaker 1: extra games to get even more comfortable. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the right answer is in terms of slowing Josh Jacobs.
Speaker 1: And then you know you also have to deal with
Speaker 1: Derek cart and Davante Adams on the outside. So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, scheme wise, it's not scheme isn't said? Well,
Speaker 1: I guess scheme could be the way to phrase it,
Speaker 1: but it's just committing resources to stopping the run, right,
Speaker 1: are you comfortable commit eight men in the box and
Speaker 1: then saying, all right, Derek Carr is gonna have to
Speaker 1: beat us, and and you know what, Yeah, I would
Speaker 1: do that. I would do that. I would I would
Speaker 1: commit the resources to stop Josh Jacobs. And I know
Speaker 1: it's not ideal. And look, it's a reason why you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about the AFC West being the best division
Speaker 1: that we'd seen in a while because we knew, Look,
Speaker 1: if you commit resources to stop Josh Jacobs, you got
Speaker 1: the Vantae Adams out there, and he might be the
Speaker 1: best receiver in the league. So you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: contend with that and Darren Waller. And thankfully for the Chargers,
Speaker 1: Waller's not out there. But like that's yes, that's that's
Speaker 1: the riddle that that's the that's the riddle that the
Speaker 1: coaches have to answer. How do we do it? What's
Speaker 1: the best approach? And if it were me, yes, scheme wise,
Speaker 1: if that's how you want to personnel wise, I would
Speaker 1: commit the resources to the box and I would do
Speaker 1: everything I could to stop Josh Jacobs. And because I
Speaker 1: feel like Derek Carr is gonna put that ball. Look,
Speaker 1: he threw two bad picks in the game against Seattle,
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs crushed him three hundred plus scrimmage yards, you know,
Speaker 1: two hundred twenty nine in the ground. I would just assume,
Speaker 1: see if Derek can keep doing it to Davante. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like this would be the JC Jackson game.
Speaker 1: You just stick him on Davante Adams and say you
Speaker 1: go where he goes. Don't worry about anything else. It
Speaker 1: is you and him. I don't care about what you know,
Speaker 1: we're not going to play, you know, zone concept or
Speaker 1: you gotta worry about quarters or whatever, cover three. Just
Speaker 1: freaking stick on Davante and we'll do everything else. And
Speaker 1: that's the way you would have approached this game. And
Speaker 1: then you commit your resources to stop in Jacobs. But
Speaker 1: if it were me, that's what I would do. As
Speaker 1: far as the offense. Yeah, look, if you can do it,
Speaker 1: of course, I'd love to see you. Let's go big
Speaker 1: and then have them have to throw. But you know what,
Speaker 1: Seahawks scored a ton of points in that game thirty four,
Speaker 1: and they kept running it. They kept running it. They
Speaker 1: did not stop. Josh Jacobs carried the hell out of
Speaker 1: that ball. In that game and overtime in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter when they were down and needed it, carried it
Speaker 1: on a third and one and a fourth and one,
Speaker 1: didn't get it late in the game. Like they are
Speaker 1: committed to running the ball now, Josh McDaniels has realized,
Speaker 1: this is what I have to do to win football game.
Speaker 1: How about the Raiders stopping the run and it's slowing
Speaker 1: the Walker? I think he had fourteen for twenty eight
Speaker 1: if I read that correctly. I mean, so they they
Speaker 1: got after it and Jerry Tillery was out there figure
Speaker 1: that one out. You know, I think one of the
Speaker 1: worst run defenders that we'd seen last year and through
Speaker 1: this year and the reason why he's not on the
Speaker 1: Chargers this year. And he was part of that defensive
Speaker 1: line that held Kenneth Walker at one point nine yards
Speaker 1: per carry. Jerry Tillery reunion on Sunday. I think we
Speaker 1: got a question about Jerry two. Is there any hope
Speaker 1: for the Chargers run defense against Henry and Jacobs on
Speaker 1: the schedule? We kind of answered that. I think to
Speaker 1: your point money about the fourth quarter life if they
Speaker 1: can kind of carry over what they did in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter into that Vegas game. I think that'd be
Speaker 1: a nice sign. By the way, you're you're going straight
Speaker 1: to Derrick Henry, don't don't sleep on Mike McDaniels and
Speaker 1: freaking Jeff Wilson and they figured something out there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that that may be the more scary one, by the way,
Speaker 1: because you have that you cannot commit resources to it
Speaker 1: because of Tyree killing. I believe that to be the
Speaker 1: scariest one. I think that is this kind of you know, uh,
Speaker 1: excuse we got we got some Joey Bosa questions and
Speaker 1: a doctor don't know, don't know. Um, this was from
Speaker 1: t k uh would be good to do a quick
Speaker 1: injury summary on who we expect to be back for
Speaker 1: the stretch run, Who is not Slater situation known? What
Speaker 1: about Geiten or palm guitans out for the year? Uh?
Speaker 1: No guests on Joey at this point, Any chance we
Speaker 1: have them for the Dolphins or Titans. Love the pod
Speaker 1: listen all year. Thanks. This is from Tid Kennedy. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1: You We just don't know, like we don't know. We
Speaker 1: know Derwin do not practice on Wednesday. Um, Bryce Callahan
Speaker 1: did not practice on Wednesday. I think Darwin had a
Speaker 1: hip Bryce Callahan had a groin, Mike Williams did not practice,
Speaker 1: um Corey Linsley did not practice with the concussion. So
Speaker 1: those are all things to kind of monitor throughout the week.
Speaker 1: You know, there'll be another injury update today and then
Speaker 1: obviously Friday will be the big one. And uh and
Speaker 1: if you don't know, by the way, you know you
Speaker 1: have access listeners to the injury report if you just
Speaker 1: go to Chargers dot com. There's a little tab there
Speaker 1: that says injuries and you get to see exactly what
Speaker 1: we see when they send it to us. They post
Speaker 1: it so you can follow along day by day. Yes,
Speaker 1: they're not going to give you a whole lot. It's
Speaker 1: medical is always tricky, and Coach Stealey usually gets that
Speaker 1: question at the top of his Wednesday presser and usually
Speaker 1: addresses it. I guess to the best of his ability.
Speaker 1: So money, let's take a quick break. We got a
Speaker 1: ton of questions about the offense and the Raiders take
Speaker 1: a quick break. Well, come back, all right, guys, want
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Speaker 1: Visit Chargers dot com slash promotions to learn more. All right, money,
Speaker 1: let's continue with these questions both of fifteen. This is fun.
Speaker 1: In your honest assessment, which players are named to the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl and All Pro Team this year? You saw
Speaker 1: you saw guys like Drew Tranquil and Drwin and Austin
Speaker 1: I believe kind of tweets some stuff out Thursday morning. Um,
Speaker 1: Austin Ekelers, I've been to a Pro Bowl. He deserves
Speaker 1: to be to a Pro Bowl. He's he's gonna go
Speaker 1: this year, I think so. I think Austen, Yeah, Eckler's going.
Speaker 1: I think Herbert would go. Uh, I think Durwin would go.
Speaker 1: And would you say, you know, Drew TRANKI is having
Speaker 1: a pretty good year. Is he on the fringe there?
Speaker 1: You think he should Drew should go with the interception,
Speaker 1: with the sacks, with the tackles. Um, he absolutely should go. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say, I think that's that's about right. Durwin,
Speaker 1: Uh Derwin, Tranquil from the defense, Herbert Eckler Linsley, although
Speaker 1: with him being out, he's probably gonna be out for
Speaker 1: a couple here would be my guest with the concussion,
Speaker 1: so that's gonna be a tough one. So yeah, that
Speaker 1: sounds about right. I think you're looking at for Herbert Eckler, Derwin, Shranquil,
Speaker 1: and look, if Khalil can get to eleven twelve sacks,
Speaker 1: you know, if he can, if Joey comes back for
Speaker 1: maybe the final three or four games, if he can,
Speaker 1: then Khalil could maybe get to eleven twelve sacks and
Speaker 1: he could find himself out there as well. Somebody asked
Speaker 1: about Drwin's chances for Here we go Blake if we
Speaker 1: make the playoffs, is there a chance dj will get
Speaker 1: some love for Defensive Player of the Year. I think
Speaker 1: he'd have to go on quite the tear in December
Speaker 1: if he's going to get Defensive Player of the years.
Speaker 1: It seems like he plays so many positions and it
Speaker 1: actually draws some attention away from how specially is two
Speaker 1: or three more sacks, two or three more interceptions, dot
Speaker 1: dot dot let me see him looking so yeah, let's
Speaker 1: see if he's got three turnovers in the last two games.
Speaker 1: If it's gonna be tough, that would be yeah. I
Speaker 1: would say it's gonna be very tough. Just kind of
Speaker 1: looking at you know, Chris Jones has ten sacks, eleven
Speaker 1: tackles for loss, couple forced fumbles, you know, in the
Speaker 1: chiefs of the number one seed. I think you look
Speaker 1: at what Max Crosby's doing in Vegas. I know they
Speaker 1: don't have a winning record, but he's probably the best
Speaker 1: pass rusher in the NFL. Right now. We're gonna see
Speaker 1: him on Sunday, you know, with his ten sacks, you know,
Speaker 1: his two forced fumbles, Like that's um, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: very hard. Speaking of Max Crosby, Yes, this is from
Speaker 1: da Max Crosby period. How do we stop him from
Speaker 1: wrecking the game like he did in Week eighteen the
Speaker 1: last season. This is a game too where one of
Speaker 1: the entries I did not mentioned. By the way, the
Speaker 1: name mentioned Michael Parsons. Yeah, no he's not. I forgot
Speaker 1: about Michael. It's like, yeah, that's not happening. It's not happened,
Speaker 1: much as I'd love to see it. Yeah, hey, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't put it past Irwin to have an awesome
Speaker 1: December and put himself in the kind of exactly what
Speaker 1: would have to happen. As it stands right now, I
Speaker 1: would say the gap between he and Mica is quite
Speaker 1: substantial considering where the Cowboys are and what Parsons has
Speaker 1: done weekend and week out. But yes, he is your
Speaker 1: November Defensive Player of the month, he wins the December
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of the month. And yes, now he's in
Speaker 1: the conversation. So Max Crosby, we we saw it week
Speaker 1: eighteen last year. You mentioned the year he's having. How
Speaker 1: about Chandler Jones has half a sack this year? It's
Speaker 1: been a mess. They thought they were gonna upgrade the
Speaker 1: defensive backfield with rock your scene and you know, be
Speaker 1: able just to plug Chandler Jones in there for Yannick
Speaker 1: at Gakway. Look at it's a precipitous drop when it
Speaker 1: when it's gone, and you know, Chandler's been doing it
Speaker 1: for a long long time, and it just does not
Speaker 1: look like that juice is there this year. That was
Speaker 1: there last year. So how do they stop Max Money
Speaker 1: with this offensive line? If if Trey can't go, you
Speaker 1: have Foster Sorell And we saw Falster had a tough
Speaker 1: go i think against Nick Bosa a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1: Then you get you get Max Crosby, and then you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't really mentioned the fact that if Corey Linsley
Speaker 1: doesn't play, what a blow that is. He saw what
Speaker 1: the Cardinals defensive line was able to do and get
Speaker 1: him after justin it sacking him quite a bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like nine sacks in the last two games, that's a
Speaker 1: that's a rough time. Or two. Yeah, I think it
Speaker 1: was like nine in the last three. Or's a line
Speaker 1: in the last two, nine and the last two. I
Speaker 1: think right, he was nine in the last two. So
Speaker 1: after thirteen over the first nine, that's exactly what it was.
Speaker 1: Thirteen over the first nine, nine in the last two.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a tough deal. And we saw it
Speaker 1: last year was Storm Norton and Max Crosby just I
Speaker 1: think it was every snap he was in the backfield
Speaker 1: and it totally affected the way the Chargers were, you know,
Speaker 1: what they were trying to do offensively. I'm the only
Speaker 1: thing you really can do is just run away from him.
Speaker 1: You know, wherever he is, you're booting the opposite direction.
Speaker 1: And because you know, I just think right now we
Speaker 1: kind of know what the tie ends look like. And
Speaker 1: you know, unfortunately, the blocking just has not been there
Speaker 1: this year from that group. It's been a real struggle.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, in Foster Sarell's defense, it's
Speaker 1: just it's a lot to ask man, you know, and
Speaker 1: Jamari Sawyer as well, Like you have got a sixth
Speaker 1: round rookie that's at left tackle and an undrafted looking
Speaker 1: for a job four months ago free agent at right tackle.
Speaker 1: That is a rough deal. And that's why I think
Speaker 1: it's like I say, hey, just run away from him. Well,
Speaker 1: wherever he goes, he's going to have a decided advantage.
Speaker 1: You know. That's that's the problem. And that's nothing. That's
Speaker 1: not a slide on Sawyer and Surrell. That's just the
Speaker 1: reality of it. It's not going to be easy. The
Speaker 1: best way to overcome it is to run right at him.
Speaker 1: And you know, and unfortunately, the Chargers run game offensively
Speaker 1: has not been good. So if you can try to
Speaker 1: get that going again. Hey there's our friend Jerry Tillery.
Speaker 1: If you can just run right at him and established
Speaker 1: a run game with Josh Kelly now that he's back
Speaker 1: with Austin and with Isaiah Spiller, I think that's that's
Speaker 1: the best remedy, is not. You can't allow him to
Speaker 1: just pin his ears back and pass rush on every play.
Speaker 1: You've got to get him to have to think, Okay,
Speaker 1: I've now been burned, you know, for eight yards to
Speaker 1: carry because I keep coming up field. I've got to
Speaker 1: take a beat and slow down and set an edge.
Speaker 1: And I can't just go get the pastor So that's
Speaker 1: what you have to do. Came in. That's the same thing.
Speaker 1: I think you have good answer there. Who will the
Speaker 1: Charger's counter with the face off against Crosby? I think
Speaker 1: running the vocal would be Austin. Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1: But you know what, it's a nice thingue into this
Speaker 1: question from our guy a Fear. This is a question
Speaker 1: for money. Will the Chargers abandon the run versus the
Speaker 1: Raiders and let Herbert Cook, Mike Peyton Manning forget the run,
Speaker 1: air it out can't do that because if you abandoned
Speaker 1: the run. What did we just say, Max Crosby's got
Speaker 1: an incredible advantage on that defensive line against the offensive line,
Speaker 1: So if you abandoned, He's just coming every single play.
Speaker 1: And we know his motor. I nobody's got a better
Speaker 1: motor in the league. He'll just keep coming and coming.
Speaker 1: We saw it last year. Um what But but what
Speaker 1: I do think you can do to counter it is,
Speaker 1: you know, Keenan is just so good at getting open fast.
Speaker 1: You know, that's the one thing is he gets open
Speaker 1: in a hurry, and you can just you can speed
Speaker 1: that clock up and just get the ball out. And
Speaker 1: you know, now Crossby's flying up field and you've got
Speaker 1: a little vacated spot. You know, Keenan always finds that
Speaker 1: soft spot, and you're just completing fives and sevens and
Speaker 1: methodically moving your way down the field, you know, churning clock.
Speaker 1: So it's the best. That's really the only way to
Speaker 1: counter it. It's not with protection, it's it's and like
Speaker 1: I said, because you're you've got either Sawyer or or
Speaker 1: Pipkins I'm sorry, or Sorell, and it's just gonna be hard.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be hard. You know. That's Josh Williams by
Speaker 1: way of Delaware. Okay, with another sputtered second half performance.
Speaker 1: Do you believe the offensive struggles in the same I
Speaker 1: could have to put points on the board eighteen and
Speaker 1: three games. An execution problem or lack of adjustments. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I wish I knew. This is one I don't have
Speaker 1: an answer for. I don't get it, Chris. It's it
Speaker 1: doesn't It just takes one play, you know. That's a
Speaker 1: thing like it just seems like in the third quarter
Speaker 1: it's always one play. I think last week they got
Speaker 1: that first first down and then I want to say,
Speaker 1: Sawyer got a holding penalty. If I remember, right, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't quite remember. Let me see if I can
Speaker 1: go to the play by play and remember how because
Speaker 1: I remember this start of the third quarter, they had
Speaker 1: that great oh no, their first possession, they got the
Speaker 1: field goal. That's right. They stalled in the they had
Speaker 1: a goal to go and just bang bang too. You
Speaker 1: had the short run and two incomplete passes, So that's
Speaker 1: where that one stalled out. But I think it was
Speaker 1: the next one. Yeah, the four play punt there you
Speaker 1: go first and ten twenty three yards on the first play,
Speaker 1: twenty three yards on the first member that was that
Speaker 1: Herbert scramble, and then minus one yard, minus three yards
Speaker 1: on the next two plays, and you're out. And it's
Speaker 1: just it's see, it's not just one thing, right, it's both.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's a lack of I think execution and
Speaker 1: then maybe adjustments at the same time, because you don't
Speaker 1: have one thing kind of dictates. No, it just seems
Speaker 1: like in every one of those possessions, there's that one
Speaker 1: because the very next drive was a three and out
Speaker 1: and it was a sack. Yeah, that was the one
Speaker 1: where Allan just basically stepped over will Clap's head and
Speaker 1: was in Herbert's lap immediately and it was a sack.
Speaker 1: And now you're at second and fourteen and that's it. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll think about that too, man. Yeah, you know what
Speaker 1: for Will Clap is in that same category. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's doing his best. There is all pro center on
Speaker 1: this team that's not in the football game. And look,
Speaker 1: Zach Allen is gonna be Zach Allen's gonna be one
Speaker 1: of the best interior defensive linemen you face all season.
Speaker 1: You know, it's not a household name. It's not Aaron Donald,
Speaker 1: Chris Jones. But Zach Allen is good and he's having
Speaker 1: a heck of a year. So you know, JJ watt
Speaker 1: Zach on the interior that line that is nasty, and
Speaker 1: you know, I think you gotta cut him some slack. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you got a rookie right tackle. Um, And you know,
Speaker 1: let's give Trey Pipkins a lot of crap out. You know,
Speaker 1: he's played well, and he's played hurt, and you know
Speaker 1: it's it's a guy that they've actually been able to
Speaker 1: rely on. I remember he got hurt in that Cleveland game.
Speaker 1: He came back. Um, so he's been he's been beat
Speaker 1: up these last few weeks and and still kind of
Speaker 1: stays in this fight. Um from our guy Dan. Hey, guys,
Speaker 1: hope he had a great holiday weekend. Which side of
Speaker 1: the football do you feel needs to improve more? As
Speaker 1: much as the defense gets dragged by the fans, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, they've also done enough for the team to
Speaker 1: win these last three games. Thoughts. It's it's not just
Speaker 1: one side. I think it's both. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: the offense. I don't think that's an I would just sorry,
Speaker 1: go ahead, Chris no, I just I think it's obviously
Speaker 1: the run defense, but the offense has to be more
Speaker 1: efficient in the second half. So it's like it goes
Speaker 1: his hand at hand to me, I think both sides
Speaker 1: need to improve collectively for this team to have a
Speaker 1: chance to go to the posting. Yeah, I just disagree
Speaker 1: with with the position. You know, the the offense had
Speaker 1: the lead with one hundred and six seconds left against
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, you know, so that's that that suggests Okay,
Speaker 1: well that's not the case. In the last three games.
Speaker 1: The offense had the lead with a minute forty six
Speaker 1: left and that you know, it's Patrick Mahomes. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you got it. You got to hold them. You're up,
Speaker 1: you're up four. They need a touchdown. You've got to
Speaker 1: win that game. Um. Yeah, the defense, the defense held,
Speaker 1: you know and showed up in in Arizona. But you know,
Speaker 1: when when the defense knows you need a touchdown, you know,
Speaker 1: it's not like it's easy. It's not like Herbert's just
Speaker 1: making easy work of it. Man, that's a that's a
Speaker 1: labor that's the offense carrying their weight as well. So
Speaker 1: now I would just disagree with with that position. I
Speaker 1: think it's you know, all three facets have to execute
Speaker 1: with how much how much attrition this team has had
Speaker 1: to deal with this year. You need it in all
Speaker 1: three phases and that's why they won that game in Arizona.
Speaker 1: All right, speaking of one one phase here, how his
Speaker 1: special teams coordinator Riot Ficking changed this unit from one
Speaker 1: of the worst to one of the best in the league. Well, numbers,
Speaker 1: it's been a yeah, I mean a ton of different personnel.
Speaker 1: Number one, you know, you've got a new punter, and
Speaker 1: then I think JK has changed the punt coverage dramatically.
Speaker 1: Dramatically with his hang time lack of return, guys don't
Speaker 1: have to deal with a return on every single punt
Speaker 1: like they did last year. You know, Ty would boom
Speaker 1: the heck out of the ball, but it had no
Speaker 1: hang time, so he'd have these ridiculous gross numbers, you know,
Speaker 1: at like forty nine and a half or fifty you
Speaker 1: know yards gross, but then the net was like thirty
Speaker 1: eight because they're getting twelve yards per return and you know,
Speaker 1: guys aren't able to set up. So I think with
Speaker 1: the way that j K Scott punts, you know you've
Speaker 1: got guys that are able to man their assignments like
Speaker 1: you know that return by Carter Special Teams wise. You
Speaker 1: know you heard the guy talk about it. It's like
Speaker 1: we've practiced that man and it was called on the
Speaker 1: sideline return, right, we all knew this is this is
Speaker 1: your assignment. You know, every man has to make his block.
Speaker 1: If you don't, If one doesn't make the block, it
Speaker 1: recks the whole thing because you've got to make that wall.
Speaker 1: And they were able to execute. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: coach Ficken has done a great job of you know,
Speaker 1: preaching what he needs, and they now have the guys
Speaker 1: they drafted. Look Dean Leonard, Jossier Taylor they make that
Speaker 1: play against the Broncos. You know those are two rookies,
Speaker 1: two new guys in the game that are out there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, two new guys that are out there. So
Speaker 1: I think you're getting And remember, like it's hard to
Speaker 1: commit financial resources to special teams. You know. I think
Speaker 1: if you if you gave Tom Telesco some truth serum
Speaker 1: and said, hey, should you have kept Derek Watt for
Speaker 1: ten million bucks, he'd say absolutely, you know, and even
Speaker 1: though his primary role with Special Teams, it's like you
Speaker 1: need that guy, And I think when you have to
Speaker 1: replace him and you get young and you do it
Speaker 1: through the draft, you're just hoping, you know, and I
Speaker 1: think that Nick Neimani, Yeah, Nick Neiman has been able
Speaker 1: to be that guy in his second year. Xander Horvof
Speaker 1: has been able to be that guy. Joss here, Taylor,
Speaker 1: Dean Leonard, They've been able to be that guy. And
Speaker 1: I think that's helped a lot. JK. Scott special teams
Speaker 1: players the way. By the way, who's going to be
Speaker 1: the X factor on offense for the Chargers to take
Speaker 1: out the Raiders defense on Sunday? This is from Kevin
Speaker 1: the Red Dog eighty eight. I don't know if I'll
Speaker 1: necessarily take out the Raiders defense, but just staying with
Speaker 1: a guy who's been awesome on special teams and on
Speaker 1: offense is DeAndre carter Man seven for seventy seven and
Speaker 1: a touchdown. He has stepped up in the absence of
Speaker 1: both Mike and Keenan and now you know, Justin trusts him.
Speaker 1: This was a guy who really only had wide receiver
Speaker 1: jews last year, and I think at Washington he was like,
Speaker 1: you know, a wide receiver four, wide receiver five. He
Speaker 1: comes into this program with that potential flexibility at wide
Speaker 1: receiver five and look at him, he's making huge impacts
Speaker 1: Layton game or late in the season. Rather, I guess
Speaker 1: I'll just say, Chris, I hope it's not him, because
Speaker 1: I'd love for it to be Mike Williams, Josh Palmer
Speaker 1: and Keenan Allen out there. You know That's what I Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: that's what my hope is, that that Mike's ready to
Speaker 1: come back. I'm thinking x X factor. You know, the
Speaker 1: X factor guy is the guy that's not Keenan, right,
Speaker 1: And that's what I'm saying. I don't know if he
Speaker 1: would get the reps then, right, if we can get Keenan,
Speaker 1: Mike and Josh out there as yours, your three and
Speaker 1: you're thirteen personnel, then that's what I would love to see. Um,
Speaker 1: he's been great, You're right, you know, I think he's
Speaker 1: been great, and I'd love to see him more on
Speaker 1: those jet sweeps and just trying to figure out how
Speaker 1: to get that timing right on those calls because I
Speaker 1: think he's such a weapon, um and and they're gonna
Speaker 1: need it because obviously Mike didn't practice yesterday at the
Speaker 1: time when we're you know, when we're doing this, see
Speaker 1: whether or not he's able to get out there. But man,
Speaker 1: that would be such a huge help considering how he
Speaker 1: torched him in Week one and how he torched him
Speaker 1: in a Week eighteen last year. Would love to see
Speaker 1: Mike Williams out there. Um X factor, boy, oh boy.
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking defensively, you know, I'm just gonna go
Speaker 1: Drew Tranquil. I know it's you know, we I already
Speaker 1: talked about him being a Pro Bowl or so. Was
Speaker 1: that really an X factor? But I just think if
Speaker 1: you can get Drew to make some of those big
Speaker 1: splash plays like Derwin did last week forced fumble interception,
Speaker 1: I think Drew's capable of doing that. If we can
Speaker 1: get a Drew Tranquil interception, a sack, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: a strip sack, I think that that could end up
Speaker 1: going along way. I think you're gonna need to get
Speaker 1: turnovers in this one like you did last week, you know,
Speaker 1: in order to get the win from Gerald to the Chargers.
Speaker 1: Start out with the pass to start the game and
Speaker 1: then work to run in and get the offense to
Speaker 1: run more smoothly. I just score points. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's I don't appreciate it, but I think that's you know,
Speaker 1: but I kind of know what he's getting at, Like,
Speaker 1: do we run the ba do we run the ball
Speaker 1: too much on first down? Maybe, you know, maybe be
Speaker 1: nice to see him, you know, on cork one on
Speaker 1: first down. I think the trick and I'd like to
Speaker 1: see Josh Kelly get going money a little bit suddenly.
Speaker 1: I think. The thing to remember though, is, you know,
Speaker 1: you got Max Crosby and an old line that is
Speaker 1: that is down three of your five starters, and and
Speaker 1: you know, for you know, if you consider Zion he's
Speaker 1: a rookie so and Matt Filer's had a bit of
Speaker 1: a rough go this year. So that's the offensive line
Speaker 1: you're talking about right now. So it's easier to say, hey,
Speaker 1: let's just pass it around, you know, and abandon the
Speaker 1: run since it doesn't really work. That's a waste of
Speaker 1: a down. Well, no, it's not, because you're you're dealing
Speaker 1: with again, a really good pass rusher. They can wreck
Speaker 1: a game, bionic superhero. Why can't we play two running
Speaker 1: backs Ecklin Kelly or Spiller or Max tight End on
Speaker 1: every play to help protect Herbert give him more time
Speaker 1: to the throw down to the field. Given enough time,
Speaker 1: Herbert can make any throw to any receiver. Agree, completely agree.
Speaker 1: I would love you know, I would love to see
Speaker 1: owned by the way, I said thirteen instead of eleven
Speaker 1: on the three receivers, because now I'm like, I would
Speaker 1: love to see more thirteen. Yes, I'd love to see
Speaker 1: more three tight ends and match protect and let someone
Speaker 1: go out and make a play, you know, one hundred percent,
Speaker 1: I would love to see more of that bionic superhero.
Speaker 1: There you go. Yeah, three receivers eleven, three tight ends, thirteen.
Speaker 1: My bad. This is an interesting question, Richard Miller. Is
Speaker 1: there anyone unconventional on the roster, regardless of current position,
Speaker 1: that Sailey can coach up with the power and length
Speaker 1: to set the edge versus the run on defense like
Speaker 1: what New England did with Troy Brown at corner of
Speaker 1: years ago. But at edge, I don't know, maybe late
Speaker 1: in the year to be experimenting with that type of situation.
Speaker 1: That was a thought with Van Noyon, you know, because look,
Speaker 1: he's been an inside linebacker most of his career, his
Speaker 1: entire career. Remember they tried that with Kenneth at the
Speaker 1: end of last year and it didn't really worked out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so he's trying, he's just not happening. Let's see, we
Speaker 1: got through a lot of these good This is from
Speaker 1: mar Would you say that at this point the offense
Speaker 1: and defense is what it is. Getting some players back
Speaker 1: may help, but you know, she's not sure if this
Speaker 1: team can really do what they need to do in
Speaker 1: the playoffs as currently constructed. No, I would disagree with that.
Speaker 1: I don't think it is what it is because you've
Speaker 1: got too many players out, you know. I I think
Speaker 1: it's you know, I know you said I think the
Speaker 1: question had it in there. But yeah, this offense is
Speaker 1: going to look completely different. We saw it in the
Speaker 1: game against the Chiefs. You know, when Mike Williams, Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen and Josh palmerre your three receivers, this offense is
Speaker 1: going to look different. They're going to be more afraid
Speaker 1: of the pass and they're going to commit more resources
Speaker 1: and now you can run the ball. So to me, no,
Speaker 1: the offense is not what it is. If, especially if
Speaker 1: you can get Donald Parham healthy and we know what
Speaker 1: kind of weapon he can be in the red zone, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: this this offense will look completely different if it's healthy.
Speaker 1: Of Corey Lindsley's healthy of Trey Pipkins healthy, if in
Speaker 1: fact they start the playoffs and all of a sudden
Speaker 1: for Shaun Slater's out there, Yeah, this offense is not
Speaker 1: what it is. Same Defensively, they run for the most part,
Speaker 1: teams are running away from Khalil Mack, so they are
Speaker 1: running to where Joey Bosa would normally be set up.
Speaker 1: You put both out there, and now you have bo
Speaker 1: Khalil coming from the edge, and you think about what
Speaker 1: it looked like in that first half against the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: in the game against the Raiders, you know, it's just
Speaker 1: a different deal. So yeah, they're not what they are
Speaker 1: because we believe that those players are going to be back.
Speaker 1: So that's why I would just say it's not the case.
Speaker 1: It could look dramatically different if Boss out there on defense,
Speaker 1: and if Mike Keenan and Josh Palm are all play
Speaker 1: in wide receiver on offense from Max Money, who do
Speaker 1: you expect to line up across from Davante Adams Asante
Speaker 1: or Mikey Davison both. I think they're going to move
Speaker 1: them around. I think you'll see some bryce if they
Speaker 1: put them up in the slot I think they'll just
Speaker 1: probably maintain their positions. I don't think you're gonna see
Speaker 1: I don't think it makes sense to have Asante travel.
Speaker 1: I think you'll see, like we did in Week one,
Speaker 1: it's a tight game. You'll see dear one on him.
Speaker 1: You know, we saw drewe on him in that that
Speaker 1: Week one game and a couple pivotal on a couple
Speaker 1: pivotal snaps. So that would not surprise me at all,
Speaker 1: especially with no Darren Waller out there. If the Chargers
Speaker 1: end up making the playoffs, which see do you think
Speaker 1: they will wind up with? This is from Zach Well.
Speaker 1: I think you know, five, six or seven. I think
Speaker 1: I think seven is probably it, right. I mean, you
Speaker 1: look at at the way it's well, look at Miami.
Speaker 1: So if Miami loses to San Francisco and the Chargers
Speaker 1: beat the Raiders, that's a wild card tiebreaker right on Sunday.
Speaker 1: And now I guess that's true. Maybe that gets you
Speaker 1: to five or six. If you avoid seven, you probably
Speaker 1: avoid Buffalo or Kansas City, and that means you're going
Speaker 1: to Baltimore or Tennessee or Cincinnati. So I think i'd
Speaker 1: I'd like to be in that five or six seed.
Speaker 1: So I know that I'm going to Baltimore, Cincinnati or
Speaker 1: Tennessee as opposed to Buffalo or Kids. I think the
Speaker 1: reason why, like for me, I'm not I don't fear
Speaker 1: any of the teams. I know you don't either, Chris,
Speaker 1: But like last year, I would have said I don't
Speaker 1: want to go to Kansas City or Buffalo in a
Speaker 1: Week one, you know, in the wild card round or something.
Speaker 1: I felt like they had a advantage over other teams.
Speaker 1: Don't feel you know, Buffalo has really struggled this year,
Speaker 1: especially lately Kansas City. We've seen the Chargers hang with them.
Speaker 1: You know, if Justin Herbert get hurt in that Week
Speaker 1: one and they get some calls to go there a
Speaker 1: week two, I should say I think they win that game.
Speaker 1: They had the lead with a minute forty six to
Speaker 1: go this last time, so I feel good about them
Speaker 1: trade and punches with the Chiefs. I think your point
Speaker 1: about the Dolphins is great. You know, beat the Raiders
Speaker 1: win that game against Miami because here's why, Because there's
Speaker 1: gonna be what I just pointed out. You know, wildcard
Speaker 1: teams are gonna win. So if you can work your
Speaker 1: way up to that six, or maybe even the five,
Speaker 1: you know, because look, the Bills got to play the
Speaker 1: Dolphins again, they got to play the Patriots again. They've
Speaker 1: got to play you know, they do not have let
Speaker 1: me click on their schedule they have. They got the
Speaker 1: Jets again, they got the Bengals, the Patriots, the Dolphins
Speaker 1: at Patriots twice. Dolphins, Jets, Bengals, like, they do not
Speaker 1: have an easy stretch. So like, if you could somehow
Speaker 1: work your way up to the five, you might be
Speaker 1: hosting a playoff game, you know, because then you get
Speaker 1: into the playoffs and it's like, okay, it's Bills versus
Speaker 1: Dolphins in the first round. The Bills knock them off
Speaker 1: and they're the wild card team, or the Dolphins knock
Speaker 1: them they're the wild card team. Now you get a
Speaker 1: home game. So that's where trying to work your way up,
Speaker 1: you know, it might benefit. But I think that the
Speaker 1: thing about you know, the thing about this year is
Speaker 1: I just don't I don't necessarily have a fear or
Speaker 1: an aversion to the road. I just you know, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't think it really matters. I don't think they're
Speaker 1: on the road. Yeah, they've played much exactly they're much
Speaker 1: better on the road than they are at home. So like,
Speaker 1: it doesn't really bother me all that much. Just get in.
Speaker 1: And they've won close games on the round, you know,
Speaker 1: I think that's that's really important. Get I think the
Speaker 1: fact that it's been kind of ugly in your six
Speaker 1: and five you lose the fact that you've gone on
Speaker 1: the road and you've won four games. The two you
Speaker 1: lost where to San Francisco, which you held a lead
Speaker 1: in in the fourth quarter, in Kansas City, which you
Speaker 1: are dominating that first half. So I think every time
Speaker 1: they've gone on the road, Um, you know, Derwin said
Speaker 1: it to me on Saturday, said there's something about getting
Speaker 1: on the bus, getting on the plane with your guys,
Speaker 1: and getting after an opponent in their place. So I'm
Speaker 1: with you on that. I think the only reason I
Speaker 1: want to avoid Buffalo is if there's any sort of blizzard,
Speaker 1: right and it's wild in in uh. I mean, look whatever,
Speaker 1: everybody else, Look, it's it's why they had to win
Speaker 1: that game against Arizona. It's set up for them to
Speaker 1: win a handful of these games. You know, Miami has
Speaker 1: got to play the They've got to go to Buffalo
Speaker 1: in December, they've got to you know, they've got to
Speaker 1: play at our place. They've got to play at San Francisco,
Speaker 1: They've got to play at New England in December. You know,
Speaker 1: like they they've got a rough go. We mentioned what
Speaker 1: the Bills schedule is. You look at the you know,
Speaker 1: the Bengals who just went on the road and won
Speaker 1: in Tennessee. But they've got the Chiefs this week. They've
Speaker 1: got the Browns with the Shawn Watson I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: sprouted as the Browns one out. You know, they're starting
Speaker 1: to kind of hit their stride a little bit here,
Speaker 1: and I just believe Deshaun Watson is that good of
Speaker 1: a quarterback. They got to go to Tampa, They've got
Speaker 1: to go to New England. They've got the Bills at home.
Speaker 1: They've got the Ravens at home. Like you look at
Speaker 1: the way these other schedules are laid out for the
Speaker 1: teams in front of them. The Patriots who are in
Speaker 1: the eight, you know, because they have a tiebreaker right now, Bills,
Speaker 1: and then they get at Cardinals at Raiders. But then
Speaker 1: they get Bengals, Dolphins, Bills to close. Like you look
Speaker 1: at strength of schedule, the Chargers is so much easier
Speaker 1: than it, just based on what teams have done up
Speaker 1: to this point. I know there are no easy games.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying. They played a four win team in
Speaker 1: the Cardinals last week, They're playing a four win team
Speaker 1: in the Raiders this week. Then they get the Dolphins
Speaker 1: and Titans at home. Then they're playing a four win
Speaker 1: team in the Colts, a three win team in the Rams,
Speaker 1: and a three win team in the Broncos. They go
Speaker 1: win these games and it is it is set up
Speaker 1: for them to take advantage of the schedule. I know
Speaker 1: they've got their own issues injury wise and stuff, but
Speaker 1: it is set up for them to be able to
Speaker 1: make a run. All right. Last question that's from Tom
Speaker 1: Tom t Lesco's burner account. Love it. I don't know
Speaker 1: if this is really Tom, but not really a question,
Speaker 1: but would like to see more Gerald Everett's screens and
Speaker 1: to start using him on end around sweeps. He has
Speaker 1: some serious yackability that we need to utilize. Love the show.
Speaker 1: Chris some money touchdown Chargers. Well, you know, look, we
Speaker 1: just just a statement money. He likes cheryld. We saw
Speaker 1: it when the game was on the line. They trusted
Speaker 1: him you know, that's where it comes from. I do
Speaker 1: think there was some issues early between he and Herbert
Speaker 1: just not necessarily being on the right page, Like you
Speaker 1: know that. You know that pick six in Kansas City
Speaker 1: was very similar play, Like, that's what he was supposed
Speaker 1: to do. He's supposed to set up shoot, was it
Speaker 1: Jalen Watson, You're supposed to set him up with those
Speaker 1: steps out and then cut in, And he just didn't
Speaker 1: put his foot in the ground and cut in, and
Speaker 1: that's how he ended up with that pick six that
Speaker 1: lost the game. So I think when you have that
Speaker 1: happened early, and I think there were some critical drops early.
Speaker 1: I think maybe there were some you know, look, it's
Speaker 1: it's just natural for that to happen. I do think
Speaker 1: that's disappeared, though. I think Justin does trust him. Think
Speaker 1: about that drop at the start of the second half
Speaker 1: against forty nine ers like they're the chiefs um So,
Speaker 1: I think there's still a little bit there. But I
Speaker 1: was so like I said, I think it was so
Speaker 1: great for him to be the guy that caught that
Speaker 1: pass to win the game in the two point conversion
Speaker 1: because you need him. He's he's a really good player
Speaker 1: and you need him all right? Money final thoughts, I
Speaker 1: guess we kind of answered everything as it relates to
Speaker 1: this Raiders game. Like I said to DJ on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: nothing weird will happen, right, nothing weird ever happens between
Speaker 1: the Raiders and Charges. Nothing, nothing else. It's not gonna
Speaker 1: be easy, just like you know, I know I said
Speaker 1: I wanted to blow out against the Cardinals, and I
Speaker 1: think you know why. You look at the offensive line.
Speaker 1: You looked at the way they behaved after the game.
Speaker 1: Now I got Patrick Peterson and Kyler Murray yelling at
Speaker 1: each other on social media, like the team is just
Speaker 1: a mess, and I just wanted them to take advantage
Speaker 1: of that. You know, the Raiders look like they've settled down.
Speaker 1: You know, if they lose these two games, both in overtime,
Speaker 1: and they're sitting, you know, with with three wins or
Speaker 1: two wins or whatever, they I think they what are
Speaker 1: they got now? Four or five? I think four and seven?
Speaker 1: There you go, they got two wins instead of four.
Speaker 1: Then yeah, I'm like, hey, this is a complete mass
Speaker 1: go bulow the doors off them. But I think they
Speaker 1: have belief now we can win out. It's not gonna
Speaker 1: be easy. They gotta play the Chiefs and forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: but they get them both at home, and it's like,
Speaker 1: if we went out, we're in the we're in the tournament,
Speaker 1: so just go win out. I think they do have
Speaker 1: a little bit of belief right now, so you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to take their punches, and it's gonna look exactly
Speaker 1: like it's looked in each of the last three weeks.
Speaker 1: You know it's gonna be tight or four weeks against
Speaker 1: the Falcons. You know they're two and two the last
Speaker 1: four weeks, it's come down to the last possession. They've
Speaker 1: lost two, they've won two. Let's see if you can
Speaker 1: string another one in a row here and get that
Speaker 1: second win and improve to seven and five and feel
Speaker 1: good about these next two games at home and see
Speaker 1: if you can really get on a roll. Yep, another
Speaker 1: primetime game after Sunday. How about that? Man, was it's
Speaker 1: gonna be six because I'm sure they'll give Yeah, they'll
Speaker 1: be flexed out in New Year'sday, I'm sure. But all right, dude,
Speaker 1: let's do it. I'll see you this weekend for Vegas,
Speaker 1: and guys, always appreciate the questions. Man. We had a
Speaker 1: we had a ton of them. I think we got
Speaker 1: to most of them. Always appreciate you guys listening. Hey,
Speaker 1: final thing, Bunny, how about that crowd in Arizona. That
Speaker 1: was awesome, most power, the most Charger Road fans I've
Speaker 1: seen since Week eighteen last year. You know, there were
Speaker 1: a ton allegiant for that Week eighteen game against the Raider,
Speaker 1: but I think this is the most I've seen since then.
Speaker 1: Thousands like it was. The Charger's sideline was full of
Speaker 1: powder blue and hey, tip of the cap. If you
Speaker 1: didn't see it, I didn't. I don't see if they
Speaker 1: put it on social or not. But how about Herbert,
Speaker 1: you know, doing the whole lap and just high five
Speaker 1: and everybody on his way out, like the entire field
Speaker 1: went one hundred yards on the sideline and then all
Speaker 1: the way through the end zone into the tunnel. Very classy,
Speaker 1: Very cool of him to recognize that those people made
Speaker 1: their way out to a visiting stadium. And I really
Speaker 1: like seeing that from our vantage point where we were
Speaker 1: sitting in the booth. Well said, well ended, dare for money,
Speaker 1: I'm Chris. This has been Chargers Week.