Speaker 1: As a league fifteen to ten touchdown Chargers.
Speaker 2: What's up?
Speaker 3: Guys?
Speaker 2: Welcome into a week four edition of Chargers Weekly.
Speaker 4: We're powered by Microsoft Surface as always, joined by Matt
Speaker 4: Muney Smith. The first podcast of the twenty twenty three season.
Speaker 4: After a win, Chargers get it done in Minnesota, a
Speaker 4: game they had to have twenty eight, twenty four. Buddy,
Speaker 4: I have like twenty things written down about that game
Speaker 4: and pushing.
Speaker 3: Them forward to the Raiders.
Speaker 4: So much to get into. I want to start with
Speaker 4: justin forty of forty seven, four hundred and five yards,
Speaker 4: three touchdowns through his one hundredth touchdown pass in the NFL.
Speaker 4: Save for maybe a couple of throws and maybe some decisions,
Speaker 4: I thought it was the best game he played as
Speaker 4: a Charger, given the circumstances, what was necessary, what was
Speaker 4: required to get a win, to avoid going to zero
Speaker 4: and three.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was his best game.
Speaker 5: I don't you know, he's had really obviously, he's had
Speaker 5: incredible games, but this one, like you said, it's, you know,
Speaker 5: his first four hundred yard passing game. He's blitzed on
Speaker 5: eighty percent of his dropbacks. It's Brian Flores. We know
Speaker 5: what that looked like the last time he faced the
Speaker 5: Dolphins with Flores, and.
Speaker 3: This is so much different. He had much different, much different.
Speaker 5: You know, you go through when you when I was
Speaker 5: watching it back and I watched every one of his dropbacks.
Speaker 5: Flores has got seven minimum sometimes eight guys on the
Speaker 5: line of scrimmage. You know, you don't know which ones
Speaker 5: are dropping out. So credit the offensive line, Credit Isaiah Spiller,
Speaker 5: Joshua Kelly for picking up those blitzes. And he's not
Speaker 5: just bringing five on so many of those drops, he's
Speaker 5: bringing six on a handful, he's bringing seven. And Herbert
Speaker 5: and Justin was just calm. That's That's the one thing
Speaker 5: that I really took away is those first two weeks
Speaker 5: when he experienced pressure, it seemed like he was just Okay,
Speaker 5: get rid of the ball, let's get to the next play.
Speaker 5: It's not gonna happen here. Pressure came. We didn't pick
Speaker 5: it up. I got to in this game. He just
Speaker 5: held the ball and he's like, I'll figure it out.
Speaker 5: I'll find a lane. And he moved in the pocket,
Speaker 5: you know, very the Tom Brady esque. Five feet this way,
Speaker 5: three feet this way. There's my little bit of space.
Speaker 5: Now I can deliver, got rid of the ball quickly,
Speaker 5: had a hot you know, he was just spot on
Speaker 5: his hot reads and you know he was calling out
Speaker 5: the protections. He knows where to go with the hot read.
Speaker 5: Who's going to be the guy that's wide open and
Speaker 5: ready for a pass in under two seconds. And then
Speaker 5: there were just some ridiculous throws in there as well.
Speaker 5: It's not you know, it's forty seven attempts for forty
Speaker 5: completions in four hundred five yards. But there's some big
Speaker 5: old chunk plays in there, you know. And the left
Speaker 5: sideline throw to Joshua Palmer was incredible. The first touchdown
Speaker 5: to Donald parum that little side arm that he I mean,
Speaker 5: and that thing is just a bang bang play. It's
Speaker 5: ball is snapped, pressure is in his face and he
Speaker 5: just almost underhands that thing to Parum for that first touchdown.
Speaker 5: The fourth down to Parum Man talk about hands. First
Speaker 5: of all, param snatched that first touchdown down by his knees.
Speaker 5: The guy six foot nine second touchdown is a laser
Speaker 5: at his face that probably would have got stuck in
Speaker 5: his face mask if he didn't catch the thing. He
Speaker 5: ends up snatching that. But there so those the one
Speaker 5: throw and DJ said it in the moment, and I
Speaker 5: didn't quite recognize it until I went back and watched it.
Speaker 5: And Daniel's just so good at this stuff. You know,
Speaker 5: it's seeing things, you know in the moment they happen.
Speaker 5: And he said, he's like, man, that is that is
Speaker 5: one of the great that's going in the archives. Is
Speaker 5: one of the great justin Herbert throws. And when you
Speaker 5: go back and watch it, it's a third. It's a
Speaker 5: third and seventeen I think. And this is when they're
Speaker 5: down twenty four to twenty one and it's a third
Speaker 5: in seventeen in the fourth quarter and he is rolling
Speaker 5: to his left under pressure, and man, he throws that
Speaker 5: thing on a rope. It is a rope to the
Speaker 5: right from outside the numbers left to outside the hash
Speaker 5: right to Keenan Allen. You know, I don't know what
Speaker 5: the total yardage was on the play. I don't, I don't.
Speaker 5: I don't have the play by play in front of me,
Speaker 5: but air yards. That's probably a thirty five yard throw
Speaker 5: and it got there and what felt like a quarter
Speaker 5: second really quick.
Speaker 2: How many quarterbacks do you think in the NFL can
Speaker 2: make that throw?
Speaker 5: Yeah, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen one hand.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I mean I though probably those probably those two. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I think there's three guys in the NFL that can
Speaker 5: make that throw.
Speaker 3: And it's and.
Speaker 5: It's those two and and Justin and I think it's
Speaker 5: also in terms of Alan, you know, his accuracy gets
Speaker 5: a little wobbly there. This thing is between the numbers,
Speaker 5: you know, rolling to your left, throwing to your right,
Speaker 5: under pressure, thirty five air yards and it gets there
Speaker 5: like that, like it's it was. I almost want to
Speaker 5: just pull it up. And I know people can't see,
Speaker 5: and I'm not doing you guys any favors, but I
Speaker 5: just want to make sure I got it right.
Speaker 4: It's all over. It's all over Twitter, guys. Just is
Speaker 4: it justin Herbert Third and seventeen.
Speaker 2: You'll find it. You'll find it.
Speaker 4: He's going, he's rolling left, He's thrown across his body
Speaker 4: to Keenan, I think in the middle of the field.
Speaker 2: And I think it was a first down. I thought
Speaker 2: he picked up the first Oh yeah.
Speaker 3: No, so here it is.
Speaker 5: It's third and seventeen. I'm looking at it now, and
Speaker 5: they snap the ball at the exactly at the fifty
Speaker 5: just before the fifties. So from the Charger forty nine left,
Speaker 5: Hash snaps the ball. He's rolling to his left. He's
Speaker 5: outside the numbers, so he is outside the numbers left side,
Speaker 5: behind the forty. He lets this thing go at the
Speaker 5: thirty nine and Keenan is he's open. He's found the
Speaker 5: soft spot. But there's two defenders that are responsible for him,
Speaker 5: and they are closing in on that completion and he
Speaker 5: catches it at the thirty at the I'll call it
Speaker 5: the thirty one yard line, so you're talking about twenty
Speaker 5: nine yards of distance, actually thirty I'll go thirty yards
Speaker 5: of distance, and then you go outside of the numbers
Speaker 5: to the right. Hash that's another ten yards, maybe seven
Speaker 5: to ten yards, talking about thirty seven to forty air
Speaker 5: yards and it gets there in the blink of an eye.
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, crazy, crazy, and the guy on the
Speaker 4: receiving end of it money. First of all, Justin Herbert
Speaker 4: Chargers fans, I think knew early and often when Brian Flores.
Speaker 2: Was blitzing him the way he was, and Justin was.
Speaker 4: Just he was on a heater in the middle of
Speaker 4: the game for I don't know how many straight completions
Speaker 4: he had. You may know off the top of your head,
Speaker 4: I don't remember, but you know, to go forty to
Speaker 4: forty seven.
Speaker 2: Obviously he had a stretch where he was.
Speaker 3: Just consistraining them together.
Speaker 2: Since Man, it was crazy.
Speaker 4: I think Chargers fans realized early in that game Justin
Speaker 4: was gonna put the team on his shoulders and try
Speaker 4: to get that win by any means.
Speaker 2: Necessarily, you're only going to be in a game with him.
Speaker 4: But the guy on the receiving end Money twenty thirteen,
Speaker 4: the longest tenured Charger. We talked about it all training camp,
Speaker 4: how he was having the best training camp I think
Speaker 4: I've seen him have.
Speaker 3: I mean, he was.
Speaker 4: He was incredible in the summer, put together the best
Speaker 4: performance we've seen from a Chargers receiver. Eighteen catches, two
Speaker 4: hundred and fifteen yards and a forty nine yard touchdown
Speaker 4: pass to boot.
Speaker 2: Keenan.
Speaker 4: Allen Man, I don't know what you can say. He
Speaker 4: outplayed Justin Jefferson on that football field. We remember the
Speaker 4: toss that Justin Jefferson gave him on the sideline a
Speaker 4: couple of years ago. Keenan returned the favor and then
Speaker 4: some those two. Man, that was the best game Keenan
Speaker 4: has ever played best game, Justin's ever played best game,
Speaker 4: Keenan's ever played.
Speaker 5: I'm sure in in Minnesota they're, you know, asking a
Speaker 5: lot of the same questions we were asking after week one,
Speaker 5: you know, with Tyreek Hill, like you can't, you can't
Speaker 5: do better than that, you can't. And that was just
Speaker 5: Brian Flores approach. And it's very you know, what worked
Speaker 5: before just didn't work again, and he refused to believe
Speaker 5: that it wasn't going to work, and he just kept
Speaker 5: blitzing relentlessly, and there were single coverage on Keenan and
Speaker 5: we know he's you know, he's in the conversation. It's
Speaker 5: the best route runner in the league. And he just
Speaker 5: he made a fool of Byron Murphy. And and I
Speaker 5: mean the idea that the fact that he decided to
Speaker 5: get lippy with him after that offensive pass interference. I
Speaker 5: think Keenan already piled up like fourteen catches for one
Speaker 5: hundred and seventy yards.
Speaker 3: What you taught?
Speaker 5: What are you barking about? It's the and just Flores
Speaker 5: just kept with it. He's like, yeah, go on back
Speaker 5: out there, give it, give it another go. And Keenan
Speaker 5: just ate him alive. And you know, one thing I
Speaker 5: do want to say about the touchdown pass, and we've
Speaker 5: talked about I think we've talked about this on one
Speaker 5: of the you know, on the previous two following the
Speaker 5: the Tennessee or of the Miami game. Just so impressive
Speaker 5: about Kellen Moore when you go back and watch it,
Speaker 5: and we kind of felt it in the moment too.
Speaker 5: But you think about all those blitzes and all those screens,
Speaker 5: the tunnel screens, the quick throws into the flat, you know,
Speaker 5: Josh Palmer going into that touchdown pass, the double pass
Speaker 5: to Mike Williams. Keenan had caught a couple of those,
Speaker 5: two to three, he might have had three. You may
Speaker 5: have even had four of those, just quick screens, tunnel screens,
Speaker 5: blockers in front. Let's go get five six yards. You're
Speaker 5: blitzing all good. We got hat on hat. Keenan can
Speaker 5: make it hat. You know, did it with Josh Palmer,
Speaker 5: got one with Mike Williams, you know, had it with
Speaker 5: Joshua Kelly, had it with Gerald Everett. And then all
Speaker 5: of a sudden he's like, okay, okay, I think I
Speaker 5: got you. Here comes another one. What happens. Safety's like, crap,
Speaker 5: here's another screen. I got to go up and support
Speaker 5: and tackle, and there goes Mike Williams and you just
Speaker 5: knew that Kellen Moore was setting them up for it
Speaker 5: the whole game, and he took is shot. Keenan delivered,
Speaker 5: and that's There's a lot that goes into that. You know,
Speaker 5: one is is Herbert making all those completions. You know,
Speaker 5: the receivers getting all that yak on those screens and
Speaker 5: fighting for yards, the receivers and the tight ends on
Speaker 5: the outside blocking to allow those plays to be successful.
Speaker 5: That are completions behind the line of scrimmage. And then
Speaker 5: obviously Keenan and Mike connecting. Keenan with a perfect pass
Speaker 5: to Mike to get the touchdown. But man, it was
Speaker 5: a it was a thing of beauty, and it was
Speaker 5: just an entire team effort to put that thing together
Speaker 5: and it was it was pretty cool to see it
Speaker 5: work out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Keenan having an all Pro season through the first
Speaker 4: three weeks. We'll get into the Mike Williams injury obviously
Speaker 4: crushing for the offense, and we'll talk about the two
Speaker 4: guys who were going to have to replace that production,
Speaker 4: but you flip it to the defense money and I
Speaker 4: thought ALOHI Gilman set the tone right from the beginning
Speaker 4: forcing the turnover got completely robbed on the other turnover
Speaker 4: that did they culture progress? It's almost like ridiculous, but
Speaker 4: I thought, uh low, I mean Hockinson's forward progress was
Speaker 4: stopped more than Madison's in that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, like that. That's what was crazy about it. It's
Speaker 5: like I thought they were gonna I thought that that
Speaker 5: they were going to because that's and that's what it's
Speaker 5: why it was very weird. And and you know, credit
Speaker 5: our producer Justin who brought this up. He showed me
Speaker 5: a little clip. I didn't I was not aware of this.
Speaker 5: I didn't think you could challenge forward progress. And that's
Speaker 5: what Kevin O'Connell was complaining about because when Hockinson, when
Speaker 5: Aloe ripped that ball out of Hockinson's hands, you know,
Speaker 5: O'Connor wanted to throw the challenge flag, claiming his forward
Speaker 5: progress was stopped. So referee says, no, you can't challenge
Speaker 5: that so fast forward yeah, ripped out of the hands
Speaker 5: of Alexander and and they're like, uh yeah, we're gonna
Speaker 5: challenge it. And I've said you can't challenge that, but
Speaker 5: they let them. And apparently there's some weird rule where
Speaker 5: there are there is there are certain cases of forward
Speaker 5: progress you can challenge, and there are those that you cannot.
Speaker 5: I don't know exactly what the nuances are of it.
Speaker 5: I should probably brush up on it before the Raider
Speaker 5: game to make sure I've got it all squared away.
Speaker 5: But I'm with you, like it was, this is beyond
Speaker 5: the point. The point is that Aloe played a very
Speaker 5: physical game. Ye a great game on that final drive.
Speaker 5: Obviously we're gonna focus on Niemen and Kenneth Murray and
Speaker 5: the play they made to get the win. But you know,
Speaker 5: earlier in that final drive you had a great pass
Speaker 5: breakup of Hockinson by a Lowie, just again with a
Speaker 5: He's just such a physical player, you know, And I
Speaker 5: think that's when you combine he and Kenneth Murray back
Speaker 5: there and derwin, you you know your head's on a swivel.
Speaker 5: You know you're gonna get thumped and there's gonna be
Speaker 5: there's gonna be some serious contact and some serious violence
Speaker 5: in the tackles if if you're not aware of where
Speaker 5: it's coming from between those three guys, and yeah, I'm
Speaker 5: with you. It was an impressive performance by by a Lowe,
Speaker 5: a very physical, very tone setting performance that he and
Speaker 5: Kenneth Murray were able to put out there that day.
Speaker 4: But before we get into the other two levels of
Speaker 4: the defense, just staying in the secondary, obviously, Justin Jefferson
Speaker 4: did get loose one hundred and fifty yards and j
Speaker 4: C Jackson a healthy scratch.
Speaker 2: What did you make of that?
Speaker 4: I think that was a surprise that everybody that JC
Speaker 4: was just a healthy scratch straight up.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Look, it's not great. It's it's not great. It's
Speaker 5: eighty two million dollars. There's nothing you can do about
Speaker 5: it this season or next season. It's I mean you could.
Speaker 5: It's just a monster hit to take. It's hard to
Speaker 5: know how much of it is injury, how much of
Speaker 5: it you know. Look, it's it's very hard to project
Speaker 5: success on Patriots players when they leave New England, you know,
Speaker 5: especially secondary players. I mean, j C had an exceptional career,
Speaker 5: you know with the Patriots. Just I totally get hes,
Speaker 5: you know, I'm sure a ton of teams wanted them,
Speaker 5: but it just hasn't worked out. And to the detriment
Speaker 5: of what Brandon Staley wants to do on defense. He
Speaker 5: desperately wants that pressman corner to take one half of
Speaker 5: the field so we can play quarters on the other half,
Speaker 5: and that's what he wants to do, and JC has
Speaker 5: just not been up to it. The thing I do
Speaker 5: like about it is, okay, if it's not gonna happen.
Speaker 3: We spent the money. It stinks.
Speaker 5: You don't like look in your owner in the eye
Speaker 5: and say hey, sorry about that eighty two million bucks,
Speaker 5: and you just try to keep making it happen, hoping
Speaker 5: that sooner or later it is. But after watching what
Speaker 5: happened to him against Miami, hearing you know Michael Davis's
Speaker 5: issues with not being able to find a rhythm, Like,
Speaker 5: I don't know what we're doing. It's hard for me.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: I credit the coaching staff and Tom and his for saying, okay,
Speaker 5: you know what, just just make him a healthy scratch
Speaker 5: and let's go with the guys we think are going
Speaker 5: to win the game. And you know, I appreciate that
Speaker 5: takes That's that's a very brave, courageous move to make
Speaker 5: on a football team. When you ask somebody to scratch
Speaker 5: to check that big and and acknowledging that it's not
Speaker 5: working out, but let's go get some wins and we'll
Speaker 5: move forward and try to make it work with our
Speaker 5: younger guys that are on these rookie contracts, and that's
Speaker 5: how it balances out.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think it's a message to the team too, that
Speaker 4: we don't care how much money you make, we don't
Speaker 4: care where you were drafted.
Speaker 2: The best players are going to play.
Speaker 4: And that was the best group in Brandon Staley's eyes
Speaker 4: last Sunday. We'll see if that changes in any way
Speaker 4: this Sunday. You talk about Eric Kendrick's not being in
Speaker 4: that game, the way Nick Neman played, the way Kenneth
Speaker 4: Murray has played the last couple of weeks. Man, Kenneth
Speaker 4: has really flipped the switch in a positive way. And
Speaker 4: then I'd be remiss if if I don't mention Toully
Speaker 4: to it below too again.
Speaker 2: Man nine pressures. He was incredible. Man, he's been.
Speaker 4: I think you know, you talk about Jalen Carter and
Speaker 4: all these other guys in the first round for defensive
Speaker 4: Rookie of the Year and early candidates Tooley's up there
Speaker 4: with all of them.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent.
Speaker 5: He's so like Pro foot All Focus does this thing
Speaker 5: where they they'll and I love it. It's such an
Speaker 5: awesome tool. Like I cannot give them enough credit for
Speaker 5: what they've put together over there. It's like it's just awesome.
Speaker 5: Everybody subscribed. You know, they don't pay me, they don't
Speaker 5: give me anything. I'm just telling you it's awesome. But
Speaker 5: they do sacks and then they do NFL sacks. So
Speaker 5: Tooley's got two NFL sacks on his ledger. Pro Football
Speaker 5: Focus has him with five, as do I, And the
Speaker 5: idea behind that is it's not necessarily the hockey assist,
Speaker 5: but it's sort of like, Okay, this sack happened. Why
Speaker 5: did it happen? Like Joey sack in that game, and
Speaker 5: that's why, you know, it's funny to see that video
Speaker 5: of him hugging Tooley and he's all into it. It's
Speaker 5: all Touley, I mean, it is all Tooley, and they
Speaker 5: ran just it was such a great I think he
Speaker 5: was on Ingram, Joey was on O'Neill the right tackle,
Speaker 5: and they were going to run a stunt. But Tuley
Speaker 5: just I want to say that might have been the
Speaker 5: one where he had a spin. I think he bull
Speaker 5: rushed him, spun off of him, and then just shoved
Speaker 5: him with his left hand out of the picture, like
Speaker 5: he flies out of the frame. He's on Cousins, who
Speaker 5: has to climb the pocket into the arms of Joey
Speaker 5: for the sack. That was just one like man, he's
Speaker 5: just so strong. There's another one where he's on the
Speaker 5: outside rushing up against O'Neill. She puts him on skates.
Speaker 5: I mean this heils a good he is a good tackle,
Speaker 5: not great tackle. He's a good tackle, though. She puts
Speaker 5: him on skates, picks him up, runs them right into
Speaker 5: the hands of Cousins, who you know, gets caught off
Speaker 5: guard and has to flush the pocket. I think that
Speaker 5: was the Morgan Fox sack. Trully's great uh and he's
Speaker 5: he look, it's crazy to say he's best pass rusher
Speaker 5: on the Chargers right now, like and Joey's having a
Speaker 5: great year, no doubt about it. And it's hard to
Speaker 5: say that. And I don't know if anyone would agree
Speaker 5: with me, but I think down in, down, out what
Speaker 5: he's done against the run. He's had some huge run stops,
Speaker 5: had a couple in Tennessee. That helped keep Derreck Henry
Speaker 5: to seventy yards and under four per carry. Saw a
Speaker 5: couple more in this game. Like he's playing the best
Speaker 5: out of any edge player right now. And plus he's
Speaker 5: so versatile, you know, like there were a handful of
Speaker 5: snaps where you're seeing him, you know, Bosa outside two
Speaker 5: Lee in between Joey and Morgan Fox. Then you're seeing
Speaker 5: him whip to the outside. Now Joey's inside and Tuley's outside,
Speaker 5: or he's stacking with Khalil Mack and it's yeah, it's
Speaker 5: it's gonna be fun, man, because he is just scratching
Speaker 5: the surface. It's a lot of strength. Like I said,
Speaker 5: there was one spin move in there. But I know,
Speaker 5: being able to work with with Joey and Khalil and
Speaker 5: just learn and understand the nuances of pass rushing all
Speaker 5: that that he's gonna get. My goodness. The second thing
Speaker 5: you mentioned Kenneth, I'll just say this real quick. It's
Speaker 5: gonna be interesting because you know, when they first drafted Kenneth,
Speaker 5: they moved him. You know, they're playing him a middle
Speaker 5: linebacker and we were like, eh, I don't know if
Speaker 5: that's really you know, it wasn't working. It's like, maybe
Speaker 5: just you know, put him outside, give him an assignment.
Speaker 5: You're pass rushing, you're attacking here. This is the player
Speaker 5: response before me. That'll be better for Kenneth. And now
Speaker 5: he's playing the middle, he's playing better, you know, he's
Speaker 5: just these last two games have been the two best
Speaker 5: games of his career. So it'll be interesting when Eric
Speaker 5: Hendricks get healthy because he can't play outside, he's got
Speaker 5: to play middle. So I don't I'm anxious to see
Speaker 5: what they do because it's just a there's a difference there,
Speaker 5: you know, there's a difference in setting a tone in
Speaker 5: violence that that occurs when Kenneth is in that position.
Speaker 5: So I'm anxious to see, you know, what they decide.
Speaker 3: To do.
Speaker 5: When when Kendricks gets healthy. But you know, Nick Deamon's
Speaker 5: played great as well. He's just played really really he's
Speaker 5: such a solid player, solid player, you know, and he's
Speaker 5: the one that obviously called out the He knew it
Speaker 5: was coming, he studied it on tap, he knew it
Speaker 5: was coming. He alerted JT. Woods, gave him a little
Speaker 5: little wave, broke up the pass, and there's the end
Speaker 5: of the game. You know, those three guys.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Kenneth with the game saving interception again back to back,
Speaker 4: incredible weeks for him wearing the green dot too, and
Speaker 4: he said, hey, I've been wearing the green dot at
Speaker 4: practice and I'm comfortable with it.
Speaker 2: And he sure has shown that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, before we push it forward to the Raiders and
Speaker 4: take a quick break, Money got to ask you about
Speaker 4: the fourth down. It has been a hot topic of conversation.
Speaker 4: There's old school football heads on TV that couldn't believe it.
Speaker 4: The analytics community said absolutely, that was the right decision
Speaker 4: fourth and one game on the line up for what
Speaker 4: did you think in What were you and DJ thinking
Speaker 4: in the moment?
Speaker 3: So we disagreed. I put DJ on the spot.
Speaker 5: I was like, hey, you know, I said before they
Speaker 5: even did it, I said, hey, there's Herbert, see him
Speaker 5: holding up the four.
Speaker 3: He wants it.
Speaker 5: He's like, oh, man, no way, He's like that, You're
Speaker 5: you're up four. You know they've got to score a touchdown.
Speaker 5: Just get one of those big JK. Scott boots and
Speaker 5: flip the field and force them to go you know,
Speaker 5: eighty yards or something. And I said, I like it, it's
Speaker 5: two feet. It's not even a full yard. You know,
Speaker 5: I think if it's outside of one, if it's fourth
Speaker 5: and one plus, I don't think they go for it.
Speaker 5: But it was inside, you know, one yard. It was
Speaker 5: that the ball was, you know, on the opposite if
Speaker 5: I'm looking at it and they're moving left to right,
Speaker 5: the ball was on the right of the twenty four
Speaker 5: yard hash mark, you know, the twenty four yard line
Speaker 5: hash mark. They had to gain the twenty five exactly.
Speaker 5: It was two thirds of a yard. It's two feet.
Speaker 5: And I said, I've watched a thirty six yard touchdown
Speaker 5: pass on fourth and sixth. I watched a fifty three
Speaker 5: yard touchdown pass because JT took a terrible angle on
Speaker 5: Justin Jefferson. I've watched seven explosive plays already out here.
Speaker 5: It's a team that's given up the most explosives in
Speaker 5: the NFL. I'm not interested in giving them eighty yards
Speaker 5: of grass. I want to get the two feet. So
Speaker 5: I was all for it. Yeah, I was not happy
Speaker 5: with the plague. That's that's you know, and that was
Speaker 5: my issue. And I think, you know, and that's that's
Speaker 5: what the analytics committee is. That's what the analytics crew
Speaker 5: is saying, Like love the call, and that's what I
Speaker 5: said in the moment. I was like, man, I love
Speaker 5: the call, I just hate the play. And Kellen and
Speaker 5: Brandon are taking a lot of incoming for that. But
Speaker 5: and they'll never say it, and I don't even know it.
Speaker 5: I'm just assuming that's a Justin decision. You know, for
Speaker 5: whatever reason, what he saw up front he did not
Speaker 5: like for a quarterback sneak. It just he didn't, you know,
Speaker 5: he just didn't.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 5: Maybe he didn't think they would get it based on
Speaker 5: what their alignment was. But that's up to Justin. He's
Speaker 5: got three you know, he's got three plays.
Speaker 3: He can run.
Speaker 5: He can run the sneak. He can hand to Josh
Speaker 5: Kelly on the full back, or he can pitch to Darius.
Speaker 5: A week ago against Tennessee, he pitched the Darius. They
Speaker 5: got twelve yards out of it on a fourth and two.
Speaker 5: You know, this week he decides to hand to Josh Kelly.
Speaker 5: Now instead of being two feet, it's four yards that
Speaker 5: you got to pick up because he handed it to
Speaker 5: him at the twenty one yard line. If that's Lorenzo O'Neil, fine,
Speaker 5: I still don't like it, but you have to sneak
Speaker 5: that you're twenty five of twenty seven on third or
Speaker 5: fourth and one or less than one. I would rather
Speaker 5: have the six foot six, two hundred and fifty pound
Speaker 5: guy two feet away with the two hundred and five
Speaker 5: pound running back pushing behind him, than the two hundred
Speaker 5: and five pound second string running back playing full back
Speaker 5: running a full back dive. I know it was successful
Speaker 5: earlier in the year. I think it was against Miami
Speaker 5: that they ran it that he ended up getting like
Speaker 5: ten yards off of it, Josh did.
Speaker 3: But this is the game. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 5: To me, it's like, you could this play will win
Speaker 5: the game. They're out of timeouts. You get two feet,
Speaker 5: the game is over. You are not zero and three.
Speaker 5: Your your season is still alive. So that's just kind
Speaker 5: of where I I came out on it.
Speaker 4: There's still ay, there's still one and two. It worked
Speaker 4: out in the end, Kenneth Murray.
Speaker 5: But I think moving forward, Chris, like, that's it is.
Speaker 5: I know, I'm relentless with it. I say it every
Speaker 5: week to me. They they've got to figure it out.
Speaker 5: Like I don't know what's going on in practice or
Speaker 5: what's they need that play. The play is unstoppable, you know,
Speaker 5: and and I think it's a you know, Petros brought
Speaker 5: this up on the show yesterday and it was a
Speaker 5: great point.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: I mentioned Jalen Hurts and how effective he is. I
Speaker 5: was like, and he's thirty pounds lighter than than Herbert,
Speaker 5: you know, and and he and he said, he's a
Speaker 5: running back. And he's like, Matt, you're talking about someone
Speaker 5: who's a running back, like Jalen Hurts was a dual
Speaker 5: threat quarterback who was probably more comfortable running than throwing.
Speaker 5: He's like, so he knows, like he's that's a situation
Speaker 5: that he's comfortable in. You know, there is a mentality
Speaker 5: to it. And then you know, my pushback to that was, well,
Speaker 5: the greatest player in the history of football was the
Speaker 5: best at it in Tom Brady. Nobody better he So
Speaker 5: if who was six foot six, who is not as
Speaker 5: sturdy as Trustin Robert, not a running back, there was
Speaker 5: no there's there's been nobody that's been better at it
Speaker 5: than Tom Brady.
Speaker 3: So like, I would.
Speaker 5: Assume that the justice of the stature that he can
Speaker 5: reach out to Tom and just say, hey, man, you're
Speaker 5: a tall drink of water. I know, it's probably not
Speaker 5: fun getting bent backwards when you're that tall and you're
Speaker 5: trying to get low. It's not easy. But what, like,
Speaker 5: what can you pass along to me? Like, what is
Speaker 5: it that I need to know so I am comfortable
Speaker 5: in those situations. I'm not making it out like it's easy.
Speaker 5: You talk to people and they tell you, man, it's
Speaker 5: nasty in there. It is rough. It is it is
Speaker 5: not clean sled, and it's so I get it. All
Speaker 5: I'm saying is I'd like to see them figure it
Speaker 5: out in the bye week, say hey, we need this,
Speaker 5: like this is something that we've got to have, because
Speaker 5: that was a got to have it, that was a
Speaker 5: got to have play, and they did not run the
Speaker 5: They did not run the play with the highest percentage
Speaker 5: of possible success, and that needs to be addressed. You know,
Speaker 5: when you're talking about ninety three percent for justin on
Speaker 5: third or fourth and one or less than one ninety
Speaker 5: three percent, we gotta run that play. So to me,
Speaker 5: that's something that'll be work done. You know, I'm assuming
Speaker 5: this week and also in the bye week.
Speaker 2: It's simple for me.
Speaker 4: The ball should not be out of ten's hands in
Speaker 4: those situations, not at all.
Speaker 2: He's either throwing the football. He's forty or forty seven
Speaker 2: in the game.
Speaker 4: All Right, I realized, if if you have a couple
Speaker 4: of feet to go, probably not the best idea to
Speaker 4: throw the football. But the quarterback sneak has got to
Speaker 4: be in play. I don't take the ball out of
Speaker 4: Ten's hands. I remember Week eighteen, two years ago, money,
Speaker 4: I think it was a third quarter. They went for
Speaker 4: it on fourth and one. Austin Eckler up the middle,
Speaker 4: did not get it. Vegas kick the field goal. And
Speaker 4: you know those are those are I think plays that
Speaker 4: you have to learn from and say, you know what,
Speaker 4: we need a better solution. We have a top five
Speaker 4: quarterback in the NFL. Uh ten should not be handled
Speaker 4: the ball off to anybody on fourth and whatever.
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 5: So and that's and you know what Chris like for me?
Speaker 5: What I then do if I'm Kellen Moore, is you
Speaker 5: call the sneak. It's not a three way play, it's
Speaker 5: I formation, and it's hey, you want to go for it.
Speaker 5: Here's the play. You do not audible out of it,
Speaker 5: you do not check out of it. This is the play.
Speaker 5: This is what we're doing. Tell the offensive line it's
Speaker 5: on you guys. You could you will determine whether or
Speaker 5: not we win this game. You can go win the
Speaker 5: game right now for us, it is in your hands.
Speaker 5: Go get it. If you're not comfortable and you don't
Speaker 5: think you guys are getting the push that you need
Speaker 5: against this front, tell me right now, and I'm up
Speaker 5: on it away. But that's what we're doing. I think
Speaker 5: that's just something that has to be ingrained into this team.
Speaker 5: And it's an identity thing, you know, I think it.
Speaker 5: You know, when I talked to Lorenzo and I you know,
Speaker 5: tonight they'll they'll do the thing on Balley's Sports West.
Speaker 5: You know, he brought it out. He's like, look, I
Speaker 5: was six for six. He's like, I know what my
Speaker 5: stats are. He goes, because that's you know, that's what
Speaker 5: that play is. That play is all about want. It
Speaker 5: is all about commitment, it is. And you know, he's like,
Speaker 5: that's just that's what that play is. That is not
Speaker 5: you're out scheming them. It's not oh we're gonna we're
Speaker 5: gonna move, Oh we're gonna hike it and we're gonna
Speaker 5: dive into this hole. He's like, no, he goes, that
Speaker 5: is a play where you know, this ain't gonna be fun,
Speaker 5: but I'm gonna go get it. And you know, you
Speaker 5: just keep your legs moving and you go get it
Speaker 5: and I'll figure it out, you know, like you said, Hey,
Speaker 5: it worked out. It worked out, and I to answer
Speaker 5: your question, I was fine with it. I actually liked it.
Speaker 5: I loved the call. I was like, perfect, go win it.
Speaker 5: And that's I know I'm talking a lot about it here,
Speaker 5: but because I think a lot of people are still
Speaker 5: talking about this play. Like to me in his first season,
Speaker 5: it's what we loved about Brandon Staley.
Speaker 3: It's like, this is great. Be aggressive.
Speaker 5: You've got Justin Herbert, you got Keenan Allen, Mike Williams,
Speaker 5: Austin Eckler. That's better than what they probably have on
Speaker 5: the other side of the football.
Speaker 3: So go take it.
Speaker 5: You've got the advantage. And that's one of the things
Speaker 5: he said when you know, when it was working, when
Speaker 5: he was nine for nine on fourth down and everybody's
Speaker 5: selling celebrating Brandon Staley as this you know, new age
Speaker 5: thinker as a head coach. We love this guy, and
Speaker 5: and that did him no favors because all the traditional
Speaker 5: folks were like, no, we don't love this guy. This
Speaker 5: isn't right. We don't like what he's doing. It's different,
Speaker 5: and we're not comfortable with different, and change isn't good.
Speaker 5: And it's going to get him. It's gonna bite him eventually.
Speaker 5: And they were rooting for him to fail. But to me,
Speaker 5: that's his identity. It's something that he believes in. He
Speaker 5: said it in the first eight games of that season,
Speaker 5: and I wish he hadn't got away from it because
Speaker 5: of all the incoming he took. You know, I hope
Speaker 5: he presses forward because he went Look, he went forward
Speaker 5: on fourth down instead of kicking the field goal to
Speaker 5: Donald Parum and got a touchdown.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, got an extra four points out of it.
Speaker 2: But the week before, so if you're all right, but
Speaker 2: the week.
Speaker 4: Before punting it on fourth down in your own hated it,
Speaker 4: you right, So it's it's like.
Speaker 5: Hated it from the Tennessee forty one. It's like, don't
Speaker 5: be punting that. It's fourth and two. You got justin Herbert,
Speaker 5: go get it. Yeah, one hundred percent. And that's the
Speaker 5: other thing too, Chris. Before we move on from this game,
Speaker 5: the one play I did not lie, though I did
Speaker 5: not like him not accepting the holding call on third
Speaker 5: and six would have made it third and sixteen, would
Speaker 5: have put them all the way back at the forty
Speaker 5: six yard line. Instead, they're at the thirty six yard line,
Speaker 5: which Greg Joseph's got a sixty one yarder on his
Speaker 5: He could have kicked the field goal, but they end
Speaker 5: up going forward. It's the kJ Osbourne thirty six yard touchdown.
Speaker 5: In the moment as the game's being played, DJ and
Speaker 5: I are looking at each other. I'm like, why is
Speaker 5: he not accepting this penalty? Push him back to the
Speaker 5: forty six's That was a call I disagreed with. His
Speaker 5: reasoning for people that didn't see it was he didn't
Speaker 5: want to give Justin Jefferson two plays. He was hoping
Speaker 5: they could defend him in one and get a turnover.
Speaker 5: Undowns He's like, I figured out I gave him third
Speaker 5: and sixteen. They're on the plus side of the field.
Speaker 5: They're probably going to go forward on fourth down anyway.
Speaker 5: Why not just give them one crack at it instead
Speaker 5: of two? And my answer, so now I'm paying ponging it.
Speaker 5: My answer to that is because they're probably not going
Speaker 5: to go forward if it's fourth and twelve. They're not
Speaker 5: going to go forward. If it's fourth and sixteen, They're
Speaker 5: not going to go forward if it's fourth and nine.
Speaker 5: You know, fourth and six. Yeah, that's you got a
Speaker 5: lot of options in there.
Speaker 4: So anyway, well, you brought up a good point too
Speaker 4: about the amount of grass that Kirk would have if
Speaker 4: they did punt and keeping my Darwin James was not
Speaker 4: that football game. On the other side, we're gonna get
Speaker 4: to all the injuries. The list is long on a Wednesday.
Speaker 4: I know it's going to change.
Speaker 2: As we get through the rest of the week, but
Speaker 2: let's take a quick break. We'll talk about the Raiders.
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Speaker 4: dot com So want to hear we go the Raiders
Speaker 4: come to town on Sunday. Opportunity for the Chargers to even
Speaker 4: up their record before the bye week and kind of
Speaker 4: hit the reset button as they get into a couple
Speaker 4: of tough games coming out of the by against Dallas
Speaker 4: and Kansas City. This Raiders team has not been very good.
Speaker 4: They have not forced a turnover through three weeks.
Speaker 2: They have given up.
Speaker 4: The ball seven times minus seven turnover differential. Justin Herbert,
Speaker 4: I think the only quarterback in football who has not
Speaker 4: turned the football over through the first three weeks. I
Speaker 4: think that that's a nice starting point against a hated
Speaker 4: rival that you absolutely have to beat. You can't go
Speaker 4: one in three.
Speaker 5: No, and look, we brought this up on an earlier
Speaker 5: podcast about Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jimmy was great with the
Speaker 5: greatest play caller in the NFL. Jimmy was great with
Speaker 5: a defense that had the best front in the NFL
Speaker 5: and would stake him to Leeds. Jimmy was great with
Speaker 5: a guy that had incredible run design, that had receivers
Speaker 5: that were all about run after catch and physical and
Speaker 5: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel and Brandon Ayuk and then
Speaker 5: Christian McCaffrey. But even before that, Raheem most are all
Speaker 5: like Jimmy was great in that situation. Well, now Jimmy
Speaker 5: comes to a team with a below average offensive line
Speaker 5: with Josh Jacobs who right now is averaging two point
Speaker 5: four yards per carry and just cannot get it going,
Speaker 5: has zero tds. This was your rushing leader last year.
Speaker 5: DeVante Adams is pissed. Darren Waller is gone, Like you're
Speaker 5: now asking Jimmy Garoppolo to play, like Justin Herbert, like, Hey,
Speaker 5: we're gonna put the team on your back and you're
Speaker 5: gonna carry us. And that I'm looking at it right now.
Speaker 5: You know what that looks like. Five touchdowns, six interceptions,
Speaker 5: That's what that looks like. So in less than two
Speaker 5: hundred and fifty yard about two hundred and twenty yards
Speaker 5: per game. So that's and I don't even know if
Speaker 5: he's gonna play. You know, he didn't he did not
Speaker 5: practice yesterday, have not. You know, there's no injury report
Speaker 5: yet as we're as we're recording this.
Speaker 3: So Daniel, whether or not.
Speaker 4: Daniels made it seem to think that he would be okay.
Speaker 4: I think Jeremy Feller ESPN thinks that that he'll be okay.
Speaker 4: But the Chargers preparing for all three quarterbacks. For you, yes,
Speaker 4: Ryan Hohr is the backup. But I think Raider Nation
Speaker 4: was to see aide O'Connell.
Speaker 5: If they want O'Connell in the worst way, they want
Speaker 5: him in the worst way, to which I would say, look,
Speaker 5: you know me, I love Purdue players, huge fan of
Speaker 5: Purdue players. But I would say, you know, how many
Speaker 5: quarterbacks have looked great in the preseason. Zach Wilson looked
Speaker 5: great in the preseason, you know, like that's it's the preseason.
Speaker 3: But it just goes to show.
Speaker 5: You how they are not on board with the you know, Garoppolo,
Speaker 5: the Jacobe Myers instead of Darren Waller, like all of
Speaker 5: these these things. It's a problem. Like it's a big
Speaker 5: problem in Las Vegas right now. The fact that Josh
Speaker 5: McDaniels is trying to recreate what he had in New England.
Speaker 5: They draft Hyree Wilson. He's the worst pass rusher in
Speaker 5: the NFL right now. I mean they take him with
Speaker 5: a top ten pick. He's got what did we just
Speaker 5: say about Tully had.
Speaker 3: What nine pressures or ten pressures in the.
Speaker 5: Last game I think it was last week. Yeah, nine
Speaker 5: pressures against the Vikings. Wilson's got won this year and
Speaker 5: he's rushing opposite Max Crosby. Think about the resources you
Speaker 5: have to devote to Max Crosby, the best pass rusher
Speaker 5: in the NFL. He's opposite him. He's got one pressure.
Speaker 2: I think it at some point, like a zero percent
Speaker 2: pass rush.
Speaker 3: Win Race benched him last week.
Speaker 4: He was sick last week and played like fifteen snaps.
Speaker 4: So you'll probably see a little bit more of him
Speaker 4: this upcoming week.
Speaker 3: But they don't.
Speaker 4: They can't generate a turnover, and you know, sometimes you
Speaker 4: think that the script's going to be flipped. You're like,
Speaker 4: all right, you know what, Minnesota's going to take care.
Speaker 2: Of the football.
Speaker 4: They've been off for ten days, concerted effort, take care
Speaker 4: of the football.
Speaker 2: You know what. Kirk gave it up at the end,
Speaker 2: turnover right off the top.
Speaker 4: Should have had a third one that although he force
Speaker 4: from Madison, So sometimes that turnover luck is just you are.
Speaker 3: What you are.
Speaker 4: And right now the Raiders are mistake prone and they
Speaker 4: can't take the football away. That gives you a built
Speaker 4: advantage right off the top. Now, money, I need to
Speaker 4: read off this injury list, and keep in mind we're
Speaker 4: taping this Thursday morning. This is gonna change. But you
Speaker 4: know Bosa d n P. He hasn't practiced on Wednesdays
Speaker 4: the last couple of weeks. Eckler limited. I would be
Speaker 4: surprised that.
Speaker 3: That's good news there. Limited is good news.
Speaker 2: It's good news.
Speaker 4: And Eckler said himself, he said, the bye week has
Speaker 4: no bearing on whether or not I play Sunday.
Speaker 2: If I'm one hundred percent, I'm one hundred percent. If
Speaker 2: I'm not, I'm not.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 4: Gerald Everett d m P Illness, Alohi Gilman d n P,
Speaker 4: heel Derwin James uh this could be concerning because of
Speaker 4: the rap that we saw on his hamstring during the game.
Speaker 4: Hamstrings dmp Kendricks hamstring limited. That's good news. Corey Linsley
Speaker 4: illness dmp Khalil Mack rest Uh So he's been getting
Speaker 4: that rest growing for Kenneth Murray and then uh Rashaun
Speaker 4: Slater ankle limited. The two players that you cannot let
Speaker 4: beat you on Sunday is one Davonte Adams and two
Speaker 4: Josh Jacobs. Now Minnesota entered Week three with the worst
Speaker 4: rushing attack in football. Didn't have a ten yard rush
Speaker 4: all season. They had multiple against the Chargers in that game.
Speaker 4: Josh Jacobs, you set a money two point four yards
Speaker 4: of rush. I think he had a minus zero point
Speaker 4: two in one game. It may have been a Week
Speaker 4: two against the Bills.
Speaker 3: He's first week. I think, right, was the first week
Speaker 3: or was it?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 5: No, you're right it was against the Bills were had
Speaker 5: negative two yards rushing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, megas, whatever it is, two point four yards of
Speaker 4: rush clearly needed training camp. You don't want Josh Jacobs
Speaker 4: to get going against you, so it can only go
Speaker 4: up for him. Davonta Adams. What scares me about that?
Speaker 4: If there's no Derwin James. You talk about the angles
Speaker 4: that safeties take. With DeVonta Adams, he can get you
Speaker 4: going sideways. I don't care who if you or me're
Speaker 4: throwing him the football, he'll probably get one.
Speaker 2: Hundred and sixty.
Speaker 3: So if I were thrown him the football, it would
Speaker 3: never make it to him hit the grass.
Speaker 2: You could do one of those those to his shovels
Speaker 2: to him, though I.
Speaker 3: Let him do his work.
Speaker 5: He better be five feet he better be within five
Speaker 5: feet of me. If I'm going to complete a pass film,
Speaker 5: that's for sure, because as soon as I get that snap,
Speaker 5: I am throwing away. I want nothing to do with
Speaker 5: a pass rush.
Speaker 4: But buddy, the second, I don't care who's throwing him
Speaker 4: the football. The secondary right now, in flux with J. C.
Speaker 4: Jackson's situation, both are starting safety's stemp's on Wednesday and
Speaker 4: giving a big plays throughout the first three weeks. That's
Speaker 4: the one thing that gives me a little worried this
Speaker 4: Chacobe Myers DeVante Adams tandem regardless of who's throwing the football.
Speaker 5: So I would say, you know, just I'm not even
Speaker 5: playing Devil's advocate. Like what I would say is the
Speaker 5: most important name on that list is Rashaun Slater as
Speaker 5: long as you can have because you know, if the defense,
Speaker 5: I am accepting that the defense is probably not you know,
Speaker 5: I think the ceiling for this defense as we've watched
Speaker 5: thus far as probably mid pack like that would be huge.
Speaker 5: If they can get to the middle of the pack.
Speaker 5: I think the Chargers can win a lot of games.
Speaker 5: I don't have any designs, and I don't say it
Speaker 5: to be snarky or me and I just think what
Speaker 5: we've seen thus far shows there are some limitations with
Speaker 5: this defense in the secondary. Injuries are not helping them.
Speaker 3: The J. C.
Speaker 5: Jackson thing is a huge blow. So if they can
Speaker 5: just get to average, this offense can score thirty points.
Speaker 5: They can score you know, we've seen kind of the
Speaker 5: way this thing is played out. They're averaging thirty points
Speaker 5: a game. They can score thirty points a game. I
Speaker 5: don't think the Raiders can keep up with that offensively,
Speaker 5: I don't think they have the ability to put up
Speaker 5: those kind of numbers. Like now, Mike Williams is down.
Speaker 5: That's a huge hit. I mean a monster hit for
Speaker 5: this team. He attracts so much attention because of the
Speaker 5: damage he can do downfield with those fifty to fifty balls.
Speaker 5: It's really hard to put him one on one and
Speaker 5: not have some safety help because he's going to crush
Speaker 5: in those balls push downfield. That's gone, which means Keenan's
Speaker 5: not Keenan is going to get a lot more attention,
Speaker 5: a lot more. I think Josh Palmer can excel. I
Speaker 5: believe he can. He can be a eighty two one
Speaker 5: hundred yard receiving yards per game player. I really believe
Speaker 5: that he is incredibly He is wildly underrated. So I
Speaker 5: think Slater, being healthy, you can leave him on an island.
Speaker 5: Max wants to rush him. I'm totally fine with that
Speaker 5: battle Slater versus Max Crosby the other side, Tray, you
Speaker 5: can give him all the help you want. You know,
Speaker 5: put your back over there to help him, put your
Speaker 5: tight end over there to help him, because we're not
Speaker 5: concerned about anybody else except for that one guy. And
Speaker 5: as long as you can neutralize him, you can put
Speaker 5: points on the board.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 5: So that's sort of the I think DeVante's going to
Speaker 5: have a good game. He always has a good game
Speaker 5: against the Chargers. You know, he pretty much always has
Speaker 5: a good game against anybody. He's averaging one hundred and
Speaker 5: ten yards per game and a touchdowne hundred and ten
Speaker 5: and a tug per game is what he's averaging. He's
Speaker 5: probably going to get that. I think the situation with
Speaker 5: you know, the rush attack last week, and the vikings
Speaker 5: is it's what they gave them. You know, those safeties
Speaker 5: were twenty yards off the line of scrimmage. They were
Speaker 5: playing in a two high shell almost the entire game,
Speaker 5: so they were willing to give up the rush yards
Speaker 5: to try to put a top on it to prevent
Speaker 5: those explosive plays.
Speaker 3: Didn't really work.
Speaker 5: They still got quite a few of them, but it
Speaker 5: did work enough where they're like, that's fine, you want
Speaker 5: to rush. That first drive is a perfect example. We're
Speaker 5: gonna make you methodically make your way downfield and here
Speaker 5: comes a lowie Gilman ripping the ball out of the
Speaker 5: hands of t J. Hawkinson for a turnover. You know,
Speaker 5: so like that's the sort of thing I think that
Speaker 5: led to those rushing yards being higher than they had
Speaker 5: been at all in previous games. I wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 5: if it's the opposite this week. If it's you are
Speaker 5: you are not going to get Josh Jacobs going. We're
Speaker 5: going to commit resources to the line of scrimmage and
Speaker 5: we're going to force Jimmy to beat us with a
Speaker 5: pass because we think we can get home by the
Speaker 5: time he's ready.
Speaker 3: To get rid of it.
Speaker 5: So smart. Yeah, that's that's kind of the way I
Speaker 5: see this thing going.
Speaker 4: The offense is going to change. Let's just say, for
Speaker 4: the sake of this conversation here, Austin doesn't play. Uh no, Mike,
Speaker 4: No Austin. This is a huge spot for Quinton and
Speaker 4: josh And josh obviously had that touchdown. I think it
Speaker 4: was the one maybe the one mistake that Justin made
Speaker 4: that that ball shouldn't have been intercepted. But we've seen
Speaker 4: Joshua last week last year when Mike and Keenan were
Speaker 4: out for big stretches. I remember Atlanta vividly and he
Speaker 4: was such an integral part of the reason they won
Speaker 4: that game. He has been in a spot where he
Speaker 4: has been relied upon to be the wide receiver one,
Speaker 4: wide receiver two. So this is nothing new to him.
Speaker 4: For Quinton, though, this is a big spot. What do
Speaker 4: you think we're going to see from him? And how
Speaker 4: do you think the offense changes? Knowing that you may
Speaker 4: not have Austin and then you're down big.
Speaker 5: Mike, He's going to get a lot of snaps and
Speaker 5: you know time, it's time for him to grow up.
Speaker 5: In a hurry, you know, they were they were slow
Speaker 5: playing it. They were talking about you know, this is
Speaker 5: coach Daley had said it to us, and you know,
Speaker 5: we talked about it last week. So I asked him
Speaker 5: before the game, why why isn't quitting out there more?
Speaker 3: You know, and and he.
Speaker 5: Was, I don't want to say defensive, but he just said,
Speaker 5: look at the wide receiver room. You know, we've got
Speaker 5: three Pro Bowl level receivers, and you know that's we're
Speaker 5: not putting four receivers out there. So it's he's in
Speaker 5: a rotational situation. Well that's that's no longer the case.
Speaker 5: I'm trying to find the trying to find the offensive
Speaker 5: alignment because they're in eleven almost all the time.
Speaker 3: Like they are.
Speaker 5: They basically Kellen Moore wants to line eleven, meaning one
Speaker 5: running back, one tight end, which means there's three receivers
Speaker 5: out there for people that don't.
Speaker 3: I didn't mean to do that.
Speaker 5: So they're constantly in three receiver sets. So, okay, who's
Speaker 5: the third receiver? If if Josh Josh is obviously now
Speaker 5: the two Keenan's the one is the third receiver. Darius
Speaker 5: Davis is the third receiver. Quinton Johnston is the third receiver.
Speaker 5: Semi Fojoko is the third receiver. John Hiite like, are
Speaker 5: we digging into the practice squad now? Like who who
Speaker 5: ends up getting that third receiver? I think the one
Speaker 5: thing with Quinton is and I get it. You've got
Speaker 5: Keenan Ana Kallen, Keenan Allen out there. Look, Gerald Everett's
Speaker 5: targets are going to go up.
Speaker 3: I don't. I have no doubt in my mind about that.
Speaker 5: Justin trust Gerald. I think there's a I think there's
Speaker 5: a trust thing there. I don't think Herbert is comfortable
Speaker 5: throwing to Quinton yet, because they're have plays where he's
Speaker 5: had an opportunity where Johnston has the leverage, he's broken
Speaker 5: off his route, he's created separation. And I can watch
Speaker 5: it back on film. I can see that Justin's going
Speaker 5: through his progressions and he's looking there and I think
Speaker 5: he's just like, Hm, I'll throw it to Mike. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I'll throw it to Keenan. And now he's going to
Speaker 5: be forced to throw those passes, and when he does,
Speaker 5: it's up to Quinton to catch him. You know, there
Speaker 5: were a couple there's two plays that I'd like to
Speaker 5: have erased from my memory, and one was in the
Speaker 5: end zone against Tennessee. And one was this last week
Speaker 5: on a third down one yard past the sticks, and
Speaker 5: Justin's trying to tea you know, is treating Quinton like
Speaker 5: he treats Mike. Where he's throwing that ball up there
Speaker 5: where only a guy who's six foot four can go
Speaker 5: get it. And for whatever reason, Quinton's jumping with one
Speaker 5: hand like he's on both the plays he leaps and
Speaker 5: he's only has one hand extended, and I'm like, what
Speaker 5: is that? Like, that's you can't catch the ball that way.
Speaker 5: You've got to have both hands up ready to secure
Speaker 5: the ball and win the fifty to fifty. So those
Speaker 5: are the things that I'm sure he and he and
Speaker 5: Justin are going to go through. And look, it's it's
Speaker 5: on him, man, He's he is going to be pressed.
Speaker 5: He's going to go from it's been like fifteen snaps
Speaker 5: a game to probably forty fifty.
Speaker 4: Like I say, good, you know what this is the
Speaker 4: this is the opponent to money to to start against. Okay,
Speaker 4: and we'll know a lot a lot about Quentin's development
Speaker 4: after Sunday's game, where he is right now, how much
Speaker 4: trust Justin has in him. But we've done this so
Speaker 4: many times. As you go back to Justin's rookie year.
Speaker 4: He's trusting Jalen, Geidon and t Billy. If you get open,
Speaker 4: Justin's gonna find you and and Quentin's gonna have a
Speaker 4: lot of opportunities.
Speaker 2: To be found in this offense.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: The other TCU receiver though, Darius Davis.
Speaker 4: I think Brandon Stilly mentioned Darius specifically about guys.
Speaker 2: That may have to step up.
Speaker 4: You know, maybe we see more of Darius Davis's speed
Speaker 4: on the field, whether it's jet sweeps or these quick
Speaker 4: little screens or maybe just going vertical right, because you know,
Speaker 4: during the preseason we saw Darius Davis do some things
Speaker 4: on offense in addition to his special teams powers. And
Speaker 4: you know they clearly trust Parham in the red zone.
Speaker 2: Another big target.
Speaker 3: He's been great, He's.
Speaker 4: Been fantastic and just like everybody has a specific role,
Speaker 4: right and Parham has excelled in that role in the
Speaker 4: red zone. Gerald Everett, I think you're right that trust
Speaker 4: there that Justin has in him. You're going to see
Speaker 4: en up ticking targets there. So I still think that
Speaker 4: they're more than capable.
Speaker 3: And he, by the way, real quick, Chris.
Speaker 5: He had a great game. He had a great game
Speaker 5: against Minnesota, fought for a first down. Like I'm looking
Speaker 5: at his numbers now, twelve targets, eleven catches, one hundred yards.
Speaker 5: You know it's gonna get you ten yards. You throwing
Speaker 5: the ball, he's gonna catch it twelve And that was
Speaker 5: an issue you remember early last year he kind of
Speaker 5: had to acclimate I think to Herbert where he had
Speaker 5: some drops early twelve targets, eleven catches. Like the thing
Speaker 5: about Quentin, I said fifteen, he's not even at fifteen.
Speaker 5: He's at like twelve. Twelve receiving snaps per game is
Speaker 5: what Quentin's at. So that's gonna that is going to jump.
Speaker 5: To put that in perspective, Mike Williams is averaging just
Speaker 5: just receiving snaps one hundred and thirteen, So like Keenan's
Speaker 5: at one hundred and thirty six, he's at basically forty five.
Speaker 5: I mean, that's what you're talking about the kind of
Speaker 5: jump that he's going to take in terms of receiving snaps.
Speaker 5: Obviously you're out there for the run place as well,
Speaker 5: but that's kind of what I'm getting at.
Speaker 3: When you're in the pattern.
Speaker 4: So you know, Muddy, I hate to do this in
Speaker 4: like fantasy football terms, but like you, if you play
Speaker 4: fantasy football, you probably do if you watch this. The
Speaker 4: tight end position has been an absolute nightmare this year.
Speaker 4: It's been like Kelsey and everybody else, like Samuel Porta,
Speaker 4: a guy you probably didn't draft, is balling out. So
Speaker 4: you know, Gerald's one of those guys that, hey, if
Speaker 4: if you have like a Dallas Goddard and he hasn't
Speaker 4: done anything, maybe you look at Gerald Everett after this
Speaker 4: bike injury and say, hey, he may see an uptick
Speaker 4: in targets.
Speaker 5: You know, I agree, Yeah, Everett Parham, you know we're
Speaker 5: probably going to see a little look if Austin's out there,
Speaker 5: he's going to start getting some balls as well. Clearly
Speaker 5: just not quite as comfortable throwing the ball to Joshua
Speaker 5: Kelly like he is Austin Eckler. You know, I'd like
Speaker 5: to see more Spiller. Spiller had a really nice run
Speaker 5: in that game. Nobody could run the ball, and he
Speaker 5: had one for about six seven yards where he got
Speaker 5: hit at the line of scrimmage should have been like
Speaker 5: a one yard loss. He shook the guy off with
Speaker 5: all that strength and turned it into a six yard game.
Speaker 5: Did a really good job in blitz pick up, I thought.
Speaker 5: So I'm hoping we can see a little bit more
Speaker 5: of him. I'd like to see him get involved in
Speaker 5: the past game because we know from his time at
Speaker 5: A and M he can catch the ball, So maybe
Speaker 5: we'll see an uptick in his snaps as well.
Speaker 2: The Rashaun Slater element to this. He was limited Wednesday.
Speaker 4: You hope that that's just precautionary and he's going to
Speaker 4: be good to go on Sunday. The offensive line has
Speaker 4: played well, they've protected Justin Herbert. What are the things
Speaker 4: that they cannot absolutely do to to explosive plays this game?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Yeah, explosive plays, you know, just like we saw what
Speaker 5: are your touchdowns thirty six yards to kJ Osbourne, fifty five,
Speaker 5: fifty three yards to Justin Jefferson. Seven explosives out there
Speaker 5: in that game. You know, they lost the Tennessee game
Speaker 5: because of explosive plays seventy yards to Trailing Burke's, you know,
Speaker 5: forty nine yards to Chris Moore, Like that's they still
Speaker 5: have an issue with that. You know, you play great defense,
Speaker 5: you get teams behind the sticks first in twenties, third
Speaker 5: and eighteens, you know, second in twenties, and like teams convert,
Speaker 5: and they've got to stop with the bonehead penalties on
Speaker 5: third down, just like the raheem lane one. Come on, man,
Speaker 5: you cannot draw you know better than that. You cannot
Speaker 5: drop your head like you just can't do it. It's
Speaker 5: you know, Derwin had another one like that's just inexcusable.
Speaker 5: Those are self inflicted wounds where you can get off
Speaker 5: the field or force a field goal and you're given
Speaker 5: the team.
Speaker 2: Points defense man weeks.
Speaker 5: Now, yeah, all third they're all third downs, like it's
Speaker 5: it's brutal. So that's got to get cleaned up. And
Speaker 5: explosive plays have to get cleaned up, you know, and
Speaker 5: they do that, this team's going to be really good.
Speaker 5: I mean it's this team's got a chance to be
Speaker 5: really good if they can clean that up. But we've
Speaker 5: been saying that for three years now, you know, clean
Speaker 5: up the explosive plays, and they keep biting them. So
Speaker 5: we'll see, you know, right now, Devonte Adams has a
Speaker 5: season long of thirty two yards. Can't let him cannot
Speaker 5: let him erase that and put a new number there.
Speaker 5: His season high is a thirty two yard reception. You
Speaker 5: cannot let him put a new number there.
Speaker 4: Same with Josh Jacobs. That two point four yards of
Speaker 4: pop needst around that territory.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, before we get out of here, I want to
Speaker 4: ask you about the bye week. And normally, you know
Speaker 4: you hate the early buy but I almost feel like,
Speaker 4: given the injuries, given the way that the season has started,
Speaker 4: if you can get out of this two and two
Speaker 4: and take a breath and get ready for Dallas, I
Speaker 4: almost feel like it's come at the right time for
Speaker 4: this team to maybe end this first quarter of the
Speaker 4: season on a high note, figure out what the heck
Speaker 4: is going on in some of the breakdowns, and then
Speaker 4: kind of retool and get ready for two huge games
Speaker 4: against Dallas and Kansas City.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I hate that the league did them so dirty.
Speaker 5: You know, you get a bye and the Cowboys get
Speaker 5: extra rest. You know, you go from a buye into
Speaker 5: a Monday night football game. I wish it were reversed.
Speaker 5: I wish it was bye week Kansas City and then
Speaker 5: the Monday nighter.
Speaker 3: That would be a short week going to Kansas City too.
Speaker 5: Exactly, so you get a short week instead. You're coming
Speaker 5: off a buy and you get the Monday nighter, the
Speaker 5: extra rest, and then you have to go to Kansas
Speaker 5: City on a short week.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: After that is where So that's two very tough games.
Speaker 5: Go into those two and two, and if you come
Speaker 5: out of those two to one and one, not the
Speaker 5: end of the world three and three after six weeks,
Speaker 5: because after that is where they got to make their bones.
Speaker 5: They have got to make their bones in that stretch.
Speaker 5: Bears at home at Jets, Monday night, Detroit, at home
Speaker 5: at Green Bay, Baltimore, at home at New England, Denver,
Speaker 5: at home at Vegas. I mean, that is the stretch
Speaker 5: that will dictate their season because after that, Buffalo and
Speaker 5: Kansas City in two of the final three weeks of
Speaker 5: the season.
Speaker 3: So it's still there. Looks it was a huge win.
Speaker 5: Even at zero and three, I would have been like, eh,
Speaker 5: probably still there for him. Not ideal going into the
Speaker 5: by at one and three if you beat the Raiders
Speaker 5: and then having the Cowboys and the Chiefs, and you
Speaker 5: might be looking at two and four, you know, but
Speaker 5: go in at two and two, get out of those
Speaker 5: two at three and three, and then you can really
Speaker 5: start to make your march and it's very similar to
Speaker 5: what they did last year, you know at the end
Speaker 5: of the year, when they when they packaged all those
Speaker 5: wins together at the four game win streak, you know,
Speaker 5: right before Week eighteen, at the end of the year,
Speaker 5: to punch their ticket in at ten. So the other
Speaker 5: good news is and it never fails. It just got
Speaker 5: to make we got to stop making stupid proclamations prior
Speaker 5: to the season about oh, the AFC and all these quarterbacks,
Speaker 5: and it's a you're gonna have teams. You better win
Speaker 5: eleven games if you want to win, if you want
Speaker 5: to make it in the the playoffs.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 5: Now, it turns out Baltimore, you know, the brilliant Shane
Speaker 5: Steichen forces Lamar to throw the ball outside the numbers
Speaker 5: can't do it, and the Colts go in there with
Speaker 5: Gardner Minshew and get a victory. And you know, and now,
Speaker 5: and obviously the Jets do not have Aaron Rodgers. The
Speaker 5: I'm going through it all. Now, let me just go
Speaker 5: through the conference as we go down. Yeah, there's one
Speaker 5: three and zero team. Are you afraid of? The Steelers
Speaker 5: at two and one second year of Kenny Pickett. Kind
Speaker 5: of a reminder the defense looks great, but you know
Speaker 5: you've got obviously. The Chiefs look fantastic. The Colts are
Speaker 5: two in one, the Browns have an incredible defense, don't
Speaker 5: quite know what the offense is yet. Patriots are talking
Speaker 5: about moving on from Mac Jones. The Jaguars are a
Speaker 5: complete disaster after getting humiliated by by the Texans. Trevor
Speaker 5: Lawrence looks lost. The Bengals are one and two, and
Speaker 5: Joe Burrow looks like he's got a calf injury that's
Speaker 5: going to be dogging them all year. Sean Payton is
Speaker 5: a laughing stock.
Speaker 2: Can I get your thoughts on seventy twenty real quick?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: You earned it, dude, You know you earned it. That's
Speaker 5: what you get. So it's just there was no Look.
Speaker 5: I don't know Sean Payton personally, but you know I
Speaker 5: know enough people that have been around him to kind
Speaker 5: of know what his personality is, his disposition is, and
Speaker 5: that's hubris and it bit him in the ass. You know,
Speaker 5: you want to run your mouth about the worst coaching job. Hey,
Speaker 5: at least the defense was good last year for Denver.
Speaker 5: It's one of the best defenses in the NFL. Now
Speaker 5: you've shown up, You broke the defense and the offense sucks.
Speaker 5: Can I as a first and a second rounder?
Speaker 2: Can I ask you this?
Speaker 4: I think VIC probably had some mixed emotions in that game, like,
Speaker 4: you know what, we just beat my former team by fifty,
Speaker 4: but I had that defense humming and yeah, and it's
Speaker 4: it's a shame to see what they've become in just
Speaker 4: a couple of years since my departure, right like it's
Speaker 4: I mean even last year money with with with ever,
Speaker 4: like they were a good defense.
Speaker 2: They were they would get after you.
Speaker 3: In the league.
Speaker 4: Justin Simmons wasn't in the game, didn't matter, wouldn't have
Speaker 4: mattered anyway. Maybe they don't give up seventy, but Jalen
Speaker 4: Wattle wasn't even in that game.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 5: By the way, you know they don't have their second
Speaker 5: round pick this year. Very well can end up being
Speaker 5: you know, like the Bears traded their second rounder for
Speaker 5: Chase Claypool. They traded it for Sean Payton along with
Speaker 5: the the Miami first rounder that went to New Orleans.
Speaker 5: If i'm if I'm Tom Telesco, We'll give you our
Speaker 5: second for Justin Simmons. You want you want to replace
Speaker 5: your second with our second, we'll give it to you
Speaker 5: right now, you know, like I would, What do you
Speaker 5: want for certain? We'll give you our one. We'll give
Speaker 5: you our one for certain right now?
Speaker 2: You think they afc West trade there?
Speaker 5: I mean, I the wheels are going to come off
Speaker 5: that thing they're playing. They're playing the Bears this week,
Speaker 5: I think, aren't they if they lose to the.
Speaker 4: Bears everything, That's what I mean, Judy Simmons, everybody is
Speaker 4: on the way.
Speaker 3: Lose to the Bears.
Speaker 5: You might as well start playing for Caleb Williams because
Speaker 5: you can't get rid of Russell's contract. You know, that's
Speaker 5: that thing stuck on the books for at least another year.
Speaker 5: And if you do cut them, I think it's like
Speaker 5: a forty million dollar hit of dead money this year
Speaker 5: and then you're clear, you know, thirty five to forty million.
Speaker 5: So if you have a rookie quarterback, you can account
Speaker 5: for that, right if you If you draft Drake may
Speaker 5: or Caleb Williams or you or is one of those
Speaker 5: high picks six, that's fine. Yeah, so I think that
Speaker 5: that will become a serious conversation. And yeah, you know
Speaker 5: you mentioned it. Mike Williams is down all right, I
Speaker 5: don't know what the Courtland Sutton contract looks like, but
Speaker 5: you know, get that outside receiver, that big, physical outside
Speaker 5: receiver to come in the you know, if they're going
Speaker 5: to go into a full rebuild, they don't care. They
Speaker 5: don't care. If you know they're they're given an AFC
Speaker 5: West team, you know, a player. It just's like whatever,
Speaker 5: we're we're going to be two years away anyway, So
Speaker 5: let's let's just freaking recoup and get some picks. And
Speaker 5: I don't think they'd give up Cirtan. He's too good.
Speaker 5: But some team will give him a one. I don't
Speaker 5: think there's any question about it. They'll give him one
Speaker 5: for certain, maybe even they'll give him a one plus.
Speaker 5: But I'd give him a I just think about you know,
Speaker 5: we talk about the physicality of a lowis and and
Speaker 5: what you'd be able to do if you could have
Speaker 5: a free like a legit free read the field, take
Speaker 5: the right angles, put a lid on it like that man,
Speaker 5: that'd be a huge addition for this team, a huge addition.
Speaker 4: Certaan's father was on Twitter on Sunday, and he was
Speaker 4: none too pleased with the situation that his son is
Speaker 4: in either so.
Speaker 5: I'm sure you know the son was in the conversation.
Speaker 5: Is the best corner in football last year, the best
Speaker 5: corner in all of football, and now he's on a
Speaker 5: defense that allowed seventy points to a team like disaster,
Speaker 5: And you know what couldn't happen to a better guy?
Speaker 2: AFC. You said it, and it's the same. It's the
Speaker 2: usual suspects.
Speaker 4: Man, it's Kansas City, it's Buffalo, and now it's Miami,
Speaker 4: and now it's Miami.
Speaker 2: It's those it's those three teams.
Speaker 4: And if the Chargers can do what they're supposed to
Speaker 4: do and beat the Raiders and beat the Cowboys and
Speaker 4: maybe beat the Chiefs or split that, like you said,
Speaker 4: make some hay in that soft part of the schedule,
Speaker 4: they may be in a position.
Speaker 2: Right historically they have not.
Speaker 4: Done what the Rams did in terms of getting guys
Speaker 4: like Jalen Ramsey, Ron Miller or Odell Beckham. But if
Speaker 4: they're in a position where they're making hey and Mike
Speaker 4: Evans is available or Justin Simmons is available.
Speaker 3: Mike Evans a great call.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe this is a year you do go for
Speaker 2: it because you haven't done it in the past.
Speaker 4: You do have the draft capital to do it and
Speaker 4: it's not gonna kill you. And you know, you look
Speaker 4: at the cap number of a lot of these guys,
Speaker 4: Joey Khalil, Keenan, Mike. Some of those guys are not
Speaker 4: going to be here next year. So if you can
Speaker 4: make some hey, maybe that's something that we talk about
Speaker 4: here in the next four or five weeks. I purposely
Speaker 4: did not do the mail bag this week because we
Speaker 4: have a bye week next week, and we'll.
Speaker 3: Do it next week. There's just too much talk weeks. Exactly, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: All right, that's gonna do it, Uh, buddy, I will
Speaker 2: be there on Sunday. Look forward to seeing you, man.
Speaker 4: It's for telling you guys, Uh, Chargers Raiders Sunday, they're
Speaker 4: going to go one zero in the AFCU West for
Speaker 4: money on Chris. This has been Chargers Weekly, presented by
Speaker 4: Microsoft Service
Speaker 3: Strip