Speaker 1: As a league.
Speaker 2: Fifteen to ten touchdown Chargers Everybody.
Speaker 3: We are back with another episode of Chargers Weekly. Week six,
Speaker 3: back from the Bye Cowboys Chargers on Monday Night, Football
Speaker 3: and Money. My takeaways from Week five. Obviously the Chargers
Speaker 3: headed off, but you look at this AFC doesn't scare
Speaker 3: me as much as it did maybe before the season started.
Speaker 3: I think there's three teams one the Chargers should have
Speaker 3: beat in Week one, the Dolphins to the Bills, who
Speaker 3: lost in London.
Speaker 4: They'll play in December.
Speaker 3: And obviously you got to slay the beasts of the
Speaker 3: Kansas City Chiefs, and they're gonna have that opportunity.
Speaker 4: But I look up and down the conference. The Chargers.
Speaker 3: You may not like how it started the first quarter
Speaker 3: of this season. They're two and two and it's up
Speaker 3: to them to flip the narrative of their season. And
Speaker 3: what a golden opportunity against the Cowboys followed by the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: Well, it's a tough stretch, you know. It's you don't
Speaker 1: only play the AFC. You got to play these NFC teams,
Speaker 1: and you got to play the Lions, and you got
Speaker 1: you know, this next stretches. Obviously, Cowboys Monday night, the
Speaker 1: Chiefs coming off a mini bi because they're playing tonight
Speaker 1: when we record this against the Broncos. Let's go Broncos.
Speaker 1: Can we root for Sean Payton and Russell and Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson here, you know? So they get a mini by
Speaker 1: the Chargers get a short week. So that's a tough
Speaker 1: back to back. You hate to be two and four
Speaker 1: coming out of that. You'd love to get at least
Speaker 1: a split. We know it's going to be tough in
Speaker 1: Kansas City. You know. The Chiefs play the Chargers well,
Speaker 1: the Chargers play the Chiefs well, and we've gone through this,
Speaker 1: you know. But but after that, you look and it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I can make a case that this is a good
Speaker 1: stretch for the Chargers to build some win equity. Bears
Speaker 1: at home at the Jets, Lions at home at the Packers,
Speaker 1: Ravens at home at the Patriots, Broncos at home at
Speaker 1: the Raiders. So just go through that stretch, and the
Speaker 1: one thing that jumps out at you is, Okay, there's
Speaker 1: winnable games. The Chargers will probably be favored. They get
Speaker 1: the Ravens at home, they get the Lions at home,
Speaker 1: but those are tough road trips. You know, you're talking
Speaker 1: about East Coast trips to New York Monday night primetime
Speaker 1: in the Big Apple, you know, to Green Bay, lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: You know, very heck of a home field advantage there
Speaker 1: for green Bay, all the way to freaking Foxborough, and
Speaker 1: we know it feels like you're taking a drive into
Speaker 1: the Salem Witch Trials when you roll into Foxborough. Just
Speaker 1: how creepy that place is so and the Raiders, you know,
Speaker 1: a place where they have struggled. You know that they
Speaker 1: have struggled to win a game in Las Vegas. So
Speaker 1: it looks good, but it's still a bit of an
Speaker 1: arduous stretch, you know. And as we saw, the Bills
Speaker 1: looked like a buzz saw two weeks ago, and you know,
Speaker 1: to some degree that's a tough one for them. You know,
Speaker 1: you have the Jaguars who've been there for a full
Speaker 1: week plus and have acclimated and have settled in, and
Speaker 1: you know they fly over there on Friday and have
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to to get after it.
Speaker 1: Not to mention in their two best defensive players now
Speaker 1: and back to back week. So what I'm getting that is,
Speaker 1: you know, it looks good, It looks like it's lining up,
Speaker 1: but there's still you can still make a case. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is probably a little tougher than maybe it looks
Speaker 1: on paper when fans are trying to draw out their
Speaker 1: their wins and losses.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's up to the Chargers. Frankly, I mean,
Speaker 3: this week is almost a reset. It sounds like, you know,
Speaker 3: we're taping this on a Thursday. The first injury report
Speaker 3: will come out today, but it sounds like everybody except
Speaker 3: for Joey Bosa was on the practice field earlier.
Speaker 4: This week.
Speaker 3: We're expecting Austin Eckler to return to the lineup. WHI
Speaker 3: should give that that running game some juice. You hope
Speaker 3: Joey's back and you pair him with Tully and Khalil
Speaker 3: and they can kind of build off that success derwin
Speaker 3: and a low he obviously in the secondary. And you know,
Speaker 3: you go up against the Cowboys team who frankly was
Speaker 3: just outclassed in every facet against the San Francisco forty
Speaker 3: nine ers forty two to ten, and that defense just
Speaker 3: buzz sold by Brock Purdy and company. And you know
Speaker 3: that Niners defense can make a lot of people look mortal.
Speaker 3: Dak Prescott, maybe one of the worst games of his career.
Speaker 3: I set that up for you to say, do you
Speaker 3: want to see Dallas coming off a huge loss like this,
Speaker 3: or Hey, they're struggling right now, maybe it's time to pounce.
Speaker 1: Well, I think what I'm hoping is that Brandon Staley
Speaker 1: does what he did last year. Remember Miami went to
Speaker 1: San Francisco and you know you kind of saw I
Speaker 1: think that's how it went. I feel like there was
Speaker 1: a team that gave him the blueprint for what he
Speaker 1: did against Miami. I should go and look at what
Speaker 1: them I that'd be good if I had done that
Speaker 1: homework before the before the pod here. But remember they
Speaker 1: had a great game against Miami when everybody thought they
Speaker 1: weren't going to play. Well, yes, that's exactly what it was.
Speaker 1: So I was right. Miami played San Francisco. San Francisco
Speaker 1: gives Brandon to some degree, the blueprint. Hey this this
Speaker 1: is a good idea of how to play this offense.
Speaker 1: And Brandon took it to the next level and played
Speaker 1: an even better game against Miami than the forty nine ers.
Speaker 1: Let's flip that. I hope they're watching, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: they are. What Kyle Shanahan did to that Dallas defense.
Speaker 1: I went back and watched every snap, in particular the
Speaker 1: Michah Parsons pass rush. Now number one. You know, the
Speaker 1: conversation with the best left tackle in the NFL starts
Speaker 1: with Trent Williams, and when he was one on one
Speaker 1: with Micah, he won, And I think that's kind of
Speaker 1: what we're thinking about with Rashaun Slater. We feel pretty
Speaker 1: good that if Slater's healthy and one on one with
Speaker 1: Michaeh Parsons, he's going to hold his own. When Micah
Speaker 1: wasn't one on one, it is incredible to watch all
Speaker 1: the different looks that they gave him, because the thing
Speaker 1: about Michael Parsons and why he is such a game
Speaker 1: wrecker is he's everywhere. He's lined up on the right
Speaker 1: tackle and before you know it, he's just he is
Speaker 1: a flash in through the a gap between the in
Speaker 1: the guard, and nobody knows who has him. They ran
Speaker 1: so much motion, They ran receivers into him, They stacked
Speaker 1: two tight ends and then all of a sudden moved
Speaker 1: both of them, and Micah thinks he's got a free
Speaker 1: pass rush, but they're flashing wide open a half a
Speaker 1: second after the snap for fifteen yards like they did
Speaker 1: so much basically centered around one player. What are we
Speaker 1: going to do to negate Micah Parsons And whether it
Speaker 1: was double teams or triple teams or running backs chipping,
Speaker 1: a lot of it was just the way they ran
Speaker 1: the offense and when they were running away from him,
Speaker 1: and when he thought he had one on ones when
Speaker 1: he didn't. The ball was already out by the time
Speaker 1: he got to brock Perry. I think he only had
Speaker 1: I think I only counted two pressures maybe three in
Speaker 1: that entire game, and you're talking about a guy who
Speaker 1: got thirty on the season. So to me, that's that's
Speaker 1: the benefit of getting the Cowboys off of that game
Speaker 1: is just go back watch the blueprint and look at
Speaker 1: how the forty nine ers, specifically, you know, try to
Speaker 1: negate the Micah Parsons problem.
Speaker 3: We'll get into Kellen Moore and Nuss facing their former team,
Speaker 3: but I just want to look at these Cowboys stats
Speaker 3: real quick. And so in their three wins money they've
Speaker 3: allowed a total of thirteen points and their two losses
Speaker 3: they've allowed a total of seventy points. So who's the
Speaker 3: real Cowboys defense Obviously, Layton vander esh is not gonna
Speaker 3: play in this game. Trayvon Diggs hurt earlier in the season,
Speaker 3: so down a couple of big dudes. The Cardinals were
Speaker 3: able to run wild on them two hundred and twenty
Speaker 3: two yards. San Francisco ran for a bucks seventy. So
Speaker 3: how do you attack this Cowboys defense knowing that they've
Speaker 3: kind of been jekyling hide this year? You know, when
Speaker 3: they're dominant, they're super dominant. And when they were exposed,
Speaker 3: boy were they exposed.
Speaker 1: So two things. I think it's so important when you
Speaker 1: have such a small sample to look at, you know, specifically, Okay,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the three wins. New England's offense has
Speaker 1: been an abject failure. We just saw a Saints team
Speaker 1: that's got a good defense, but their offense has start
Speaker 1: a mocking all season long. So shut them out, you know,
Speaker 1: So take that thirty eight to three and you recognize
Speaker 1: that they've had issues. And I went back and watched
Speaker 1: all those snaps as well with Mike and he just
Speaker 1: abused Trent round just I mean, he was all over
Speaker 1: that offensive line. Micah Parsons was and just wrecked the game.
Speaker 1: Arizona was interesting. Dobbs played a really good game. I
Speaker 1: mean he just hung in the pocket. I mean he
Speaker 1: took a lot of shots and was able to just
Speaker 1: kind of get what he wanted, waited for those routes
Speaker 1: to develop downfield and was getting those chunk plays which
Speaker 1: opened things up for the run game that you were
Speaker 1: talking about, Chris. The Giants, we know Evan Neil has
Speaker 1: been a major issue. The majority of those thirty pressures
Speaker 1: for Parsons came in that game. I bet at least
Speaker 1: ten of them were from that game, and it was
Speaker 1: all right tackle. So much of it was on Evan Neil.
Speaker 1: I'd say at least four of them were wide open
Speaker 1: runways to Daniel Jones. And then the Jets, we know
Speaker 1: that's the first game coming off the emotional high of
Speaker 1: Monday Night football on nine to eleven. You lose Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers and it exposed how bad their offensive line was.
Speaker 1: So what I'm getting at is it all comes down
Speaker 1: the old line and blocking, and I think if you
Speaker 1: can block up front, and that's why I think you
Speaker 1: know you heard. I think it was Coach Staley. I
Speaker 1: want to say it was Coach Staley that said it
Speaker 1: after practice. You know, he just said, this group's too
Speaker 1: good to have the pressures that we have. This offensive
Speaker 1: line group is too good. So and I agree with that.
Speaker 1: When you have Soler and Zionic guard, they've played well.
Speaker 1: You know, Pipkins has been a league average, if not better,
Speaker 1: right tackle, and Rashaun Slater is an elite left tackle.
Speaker 1: I know you don't have Corey Linsley, but as long
Speaker 1: as that group can block and at least not allow
Speaker 1: Micah Parsons to become a game wrecker and not allow
Speaker 1: Lawrence to feed off of all the attention you're giving Parsons,
Speaker 1: I think they can move the forward. I think they
Speaker 1: can do not maybe not what the forty nine ers
Speaker 1: were doing, because Kyle Shanahan's offense is just incredible, But
Speaker 1: I think they can do what what you know the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers did to some degree, and what the
Speaker 1: Cardinals were able to do, and that's block it up,
Speaker 1: scheme it up, and take advantage of a back end.
Speaker 1: Without Trevon Diggs, it's given up some big plays.
Speaker 4: So you alluded to it. Listen, just look at the
Speaker 4: quarterbacks that they face.
Speaker 3: Daniel Jones week one, Zach Wilson week two, Joshua Dobbs
Speaker 3: Week three, Mac Jones Week four, Brock Purty Wee five.
Speaker 3: Brock is in the probably the best situation in the
Speaker 3: NFL right now, but justin Herbert Isa's quarterback that they
Speaker 3: face to this point, and by the way, Kellen Moore
Speaker 3: is going to be calling the plays. Kellen Moore and
Speaker 3: Dan Quinn know each other very very well. Who has
Speaker 3: the edge in a in a game like this money,
Speaker 3: especially Kellen coming straight off the Cowboys coaching staff. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's not like this is two or three years from
Speaker 3: He knows this personnel like the back of his hand.
Speaker 1: I think what happens in those because you know, we
Speaker 1: have enough film now, you got five games to the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys have four games of the Chargers, so they
Speaker 1: kind of know what the offense looks like, what the
Speaker 1: defense looks like. If there's any advantage, it's tendencies. It's
Speaker 1: just being around that person and that coach and knowing, Okay,
Speaker 1: I kind of know where he likes to go in
Speaker 1: this situation. You know we're down, this is his gotta
Speaker 1: have it play on third down. That's the sort of
Speaker 1: stuff that having coached with somebody else will will produce,
Speaker 1: and so I don't think it's a because it's you know,
Speaker 1: even Kellen said it when he was hired. He said, look,
Speaker 1: we're gonna use a lot of the stuff that worked
Speaker 1: here and then I'll figure out what I want to
Speaker 1: add to it and how we'll adjust. So, if anything,
Speaker 1: maybe Kellen has a little bit of an advantage there
Speaker 1: because it's predominantly the exact same defensive roster that they
Speaker 1: had the last couple of years that Kellen Moore had
Speaker 1: practiced against, you know, day in day out all season long,
Speaker 1: kind of knowing what dan Quinn wants to do. So
Speaker 1: I guess if I were to give an edge, it'd
Speaker 1: be there. You know. The Chargers also, I think Chris
Speaker 1: I forgot to mention this is Austin Eckler's back, and
Speaker 1: we talked about some of the pass pro issues that
Speaker 1: josh Kelly and Isaiah Spiller have had this year, and
Speaker 1: specifically in that Miami game, those blitzes at the end
Speaker 1: of the game. You know, two of those were missed
Speaker 1: opportunities for Joshua to pick up the blitz and he
Speaker 1: chose wrong. You know, it's up to him to choose right,
Speaker 1: and he chose wrong. So we know Austin is one
Speaker 1: of the best pass pro backs in the league. That's
Speaker 1: going to help a lot. That's that I think is
Speaker 1: going to go a long way, specifically with the group
Speaker 1: that can get to the quarterback here. So, you know,
Speaker 1: for Kellen, I'm guessing I think he's still trying to
Speaker 1: account for the loss of Mike Williams. I think that's
Speaker 1: still something that he's going to have to figure out,
Speaker 1: you know, sort of beyond how do I take advantage
Speaker 1: of Dan kind of know what he likes to do.
Speaker 1: I think that's you know, riddle one. Real two is
Speaker 1: how do I get Austin Eckler back in here and
Speaker 1: use him as an ultimate weapon that I know he
Speaker 1: can be that creates just nightmares for defensive coordinators. I
Speaker 1: think those are probably his two. I would guess that's
Speaker 1: Priority one is solve Michael Parsons. Priority two is how
Speaker 1: do I get things to open up downfield so I
Speaker 1: can get this running game going? And three use Austin Eckler.
Speaker 3: Well, you're halfway there in slowing Michael Parsons with ra
Speaker 3: Shaun Slater, with Austin Eckler, getting that running game going.
Speaker 3: Knowing that the Cardinals and Niners ran for almost a
Speaker 3: combined four hundred yards.
Speaker 4: You saw it Austin did in Week one.
Speaker 3: Since Austin has been out of the lineup, I believe
Speaker 3: the Chargers are averaging like two point seven a carry.
Speaker 3: So getting Austin back and having a week to prepare
Speaker 3: for this Cowboys defense, how are you gonna use Austin?
Speaker 3: How are you gonna use Darius Davis? And you set
Speaker 3: up money? Just that riddle trying to figure out how
Speaker 3: you're gonna get the ball down the field without Mike Williams.
Speaker 3: Can Quintin Johnson step up? Who's going to kind of
Speaker 3: fill the void of Mike. We know Joshua Palmer had
Speaker 3: a big play a couple of weeks ago, but you
Speaker 3: know we're gonna have to see it at some point.
Speaker 3: I think this would be a nice spot for Quentin
Speaker 3: Johnson to be showcased a little bit if he can
Speaker 3: get open and Justin can trust them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think for the run game, you know, it's
Speaker 1: one thing not to run the ball against Minnesota. You know,
Speaker 1: Justin tore them apart because they chose to commit that
Speaker 1: many resources to the box and blitz on nearly every
Speaker 1: single snap. So just take advantage of it. If you
Speaker 1: can beat it, beat it. And he did, and they
Speaker 1: you know, picked him apart that way. The Raiders game
Speaker 1: is a little disconcerting just because you should have been
Speaker 1: able to run against the defense. The difference was they
Speaker 1: didn't see a light box. I mean, they really haven't
Speaker 1: seen light boxes, you know, outside of the Miami game.
Speaker 1: They're you know that they've been seven guys, eight guys
Speaker 1: they had. The Raiders had nine guys in the box
Speaker 1: repeatedly in that second half, so they got to open it. Uh.
Speaker 1: That's that's how you get the running game to work.
Speaker 1: You have got to force defenses to honor the deep ball.
Speaker 1: This is what happened last year, you know, when when
Speaker 1: Joe Lombardi just wouldn't push the ball or Justin I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know how you want to distribute sort
Speaker 1: of the responsibility of not being able to push the
Speaker 1: ball downfield. Now we know that's not the case this year.
Speaker 1: You know, Justin's averaging almost nine yards per attempt in
Speaker 1: air yards. That's you know, the highest of his career.
Speaker 1: So we know that that they're pushing the ball. A
Speaker 1: lot of that though, disappeared when Mike went down and
Speaker 1: they've got to be able to get it back, whether
Speaker 1: it's using tight ends and seams and pushing that, you know,
Speaker 1: or if it because you know, I'd like to see
Speaker 1: Gerald Everett get involved a little bit more just in
Speaker 1: the middle of the field. If you're going to commit
Speaker 1: that many resources the line of scrimmage, you should be
Speaker 1: able to find some soft spots and the centate. And
Speaker 1: I just want to see Justin take a few more shots.
Speaker 1: Just I feel like, even though the numbers say that yes,
Speaker 1: he is pushing the ball further down, there's a couple
Speaker 1: if you just go back through the film, there's a
Speaker 1: couple of slug gos in there that he just does
Speaker 1: allow them to develop. You know, he's already moved on
Speaker 1: and it's like, well, you know what the route is.
Speaker 1: You know, there was one Mike Williams one against Tennessee
Speaker 1: that jumps out at me. It's like, you know that
Speaker 1: he's running a slug So you got to wait for
Speaker 1: the slant to become a go and before you move
Speaker 1: off of that. And so I think that's something that
Speaker 1: we talked about repeatedly last year, right that Justin such
Speaker 1: a fast processor and can get through his reads so
Speaker 1: quickly that he just wants to find that first one
Speaker 1: that's open right away. And I think you have to
Speaker 1: sort of coach him into the let's breathe, you got
Speaker 1: a good offensive line, let's let the play develop, and
Speaker 1: let's see if we can get a couple of these
Speaker 1: that we dial up to pay off. So there was
Speaker 1: one for Josh as well, and he just missed the pass. Remember,
Speaker 1: and Palmer had talked about that after the Raider game.
Speaker 1: He's like, I'm so happy I got that second one
Speaker 1: because we missed the first one where he was open.
Speaker 1: So I think it's important for them to go back
Speaker 1: through all of those plays and say, hey, I know
Speaker 1: you picked up six here, but let's let's just hang
Speaker 1: here for a second, you know, or start there and
Speaker 1: then let's go here, you know, work your progressions in
Speaker 1: a different manner, so we can see if that if
Speaker 1: what we're dialing up for that shot play is paying off.
Speaker 3: I think that's the most intriguing part of Monday Night
Speaker 3: is seeing how this offense can kind of get back
Speaker 3: on track and in sync and find ways to get
Speaker 3: the ball down the field, especially looking at that second
Speaker 3: half against the Raiders where nothing was going so a
Speaker 3: couple of weeks to prepare for Dallas. Let's take a
Speaker 3: quick break. We'll touch on the Chargers defense. Hey Chargers fans,
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Speaker 3: surface dot com. So money I mentioned this Dak Prescott
Speaker 3: perhaps one of the worst games of his career last
Speaker 3: Sunday night in San Francisco. San Francisco makes everybody look bad,
Speaker 3: but Dak, coming off a three interception performance, ceede Lamb's
Speaker 3: questions about him getting going, and you obviously Tony Pollard
Speaker 3: in the backfield. Where do you start in attacking this
Speaker 3: Cowboys offense? If your Brandon Staley.
Speaker 1: Well, I start with Terrence Steele because he has given
Speaker 1: up seventeen pressures, two sacks, six quarterback hits and pressure
Speaker 1: rate that sniffing ten percent, so much less we've talked about, yeah,
Speaker 1: against the Raiders with Illuminor who had very similar numbers.
Speaker 1: Start there. I think that's kind of attack the weak spot.
Speaker 1: And that's you know, whether that's tu Ley or Joey
Speaker 1: if he's healthy, or Khalil Mack. Let's start there, and
Speaker 1: let's see if you can take advantage of that and
Speaker 1: force Dak into some more you know, some more problems.
Speaker 1: It kind of goes back to what we said about
Speaker 1: the Raiders. You know, you had you get two things.
Speaker 1: You got to take care of Max Crosby and DeVante Adams,
Speaker 1: and if you can do that, you should win the game.
Speaker 1: You know, force them to beat you, you know, force
Speaker 1: them to beat you left handed, don't give him the right.
Speaker 1: So if the right is Ceedee Lamb and Micah Parsons,
Speaker 1: it starts there and you take away, you take away
Speaker 1: Micah obviously with hope, hoping that he rushes opposite Rashaan
Speaker 1: Slater and he can hold his own. Or you double,
Speaker 1: you get tight ends, you get multiple tight ends. You
Speaker 1: make sure Roustin Eckler is always on Micah Parson's side
Speaker 1: and has his eyes on him at all time if
Speaker 1: he's staying in you know, it's those things. In the
Speaker 1: case of dak you make sure cd Lamb that's where
Speaker 1: he wants to go. You make sure cd Is is
Speaker 1: taken care of. Tony Poller doesn't hasn't quite had that
Speaker 1: season that they had hoped, you know, once they moved
Speaker 1: on from Zeke and flipped him the keys. He's only
Speaker 1: got six explosives and of those, four of them are
Speaker 1: barely over ten yards. So that's that's something that they're trying.
Speaker 1: I would imagine that's what Mike McCarthy wants to get
Speaker 1: going against this team. Let's see if we can get
Speaker 1: our run game established, much like Josh McDaniel's try to
Speaker 1: do with Josh Jacobs, and they did a great job
Speaker 1: of holding it down, you know, And that's also happened
Speaker 1: in Tennessee with Derek Henry, right, and they did a
Speaker 1: great job of keeping it in check. So let's see
Speaker 1: if they can do that again. And I think very
Speaker 1: similar to what we saw in Minnesota, you know, where
Speaker 1: their run game did get going. Everyone's like, wow, how
Speaker 1: this team only has four, you know, rushes over five yards?
Speaker 1: Why is it going? Because they don't want Justin Jefferson
Speaker 1: to beat him and he was doubled the entire game.
Speaker 1: Now he did burn him, you know, for that fifty
Speaker 1: three yarder and ultimately ended up getting quite a few
Speaker 1: explosive plays, but that was their priority, was making sure
Speaker 1: that Justin Jefferson or at least trying to slow him down. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: it didn't work. He ended up with nearly one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty yards in that touchdown, but for the most part,
Speaker 1: so much of that came on that one play. I
Speaker 1: think that's that's something to keep in mind, is I'm
Speaker 1: sure they're going to try to get Tony Pollard going.
Speaker 1: He is rushing for over four per carrie. He has
Speaker 1: just two rushing touchdowns the majority of his runs and
Speaker 1: every single, every single one of the explosives came in
Speaker 1: the airb gap. So he's going to try to run
Speaker 1: between the tackles which means it's an Austin Johnson Sebastian
Speaker 1: Joseph Day game and Eric Hendricks and Eric Hendricks and
Speaker 1: Kenneth Murray game as well. To make sure you're be
Speaker 1: a sound tackler. I feel comfortable with Tullian Khalil set
Speaker 1: in the edges, but that's not really what he does.
Speaker 1: He's he's trying to gash you. So that's I know,
Speaker 1: that's kind of a lot. I'm sort of ping ponging
Speaker 1: all over the place, but I think attack Terrence Steele.
Speaker 1: Make sure Ceedee Lamb does not beat you, because that's
Speaker 1: what Dak wants to do. And then you know that
Speaker 1: the interior of that line and the interior of the
Speaker 1: defense linebackers, defensive tackles just sound tackling. So Tony doesn't
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to have one of those Tony Pollard
Speaker 1: two hundred yard two touchdown games. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Pollard eight carries for twenty nine yards against the forty
Speaker 3: nine ers.
Speaker 4: Ceedee Lamb four for forty nine on just five targets.
Speaker 4: You saw the Raiders. The running game.
Speaker 3: Wasn't really going with Josh Shakers, but they got him
Speaker 3: going through the air. I think he had eighty one
Speaker 3: receiving yards in that game. So Tony Pollard a similar
Speaker 3: back who can get going in the passing game. But
Speaker 3: you know, the week before you mentioned, you know, the
Speaker 3: Patriots are just a mess right now. They won thirty
Speaker 3: eight to three over New England, and I'm looking at
Speaker 3: the Cowboy stats here, Tony Pollard just eleven for forty seven.
Speaker 3: Jake Ferguson was was your leading receiver, Michael Gallup. So
Speaker 3: it's not necessarily justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and Devontae
Speaker 3: Adams that you're checking. It's an interesting offense because you know,
Speaker 3: you lose the tight Endalton Show to Houston. And I
Speaker 3: think Cavante Turpin got hurt in that game, if I'm
Speaker 3: not mistaken, the speedster from TCU that brought the charges
Speaker 3: in the preseason last year.
Speaker 4: So I think Pollard and Ceedee Lamb are.
Speaker 3: The two guys that you can't let get off in
Speaker 3: this game against the against the Cowboys, Bunny.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you look at targets and you know it's it's
Speaker 1: pretty balanced. You know, Ceed's got thirty nine, which is
Speaker 1: the most for his twenty eight receptions. But remember Michael
Speaker 1: Gallup's kind of coming back off that injury. So he's
Speaker 1: been eased into it a little bit more slowly, but
Speaker 1: he's starting to become a big part. And he's got
Speaker 1: some speed. He's a good player, you know, and he's
Speaker 1: got twenty four targets. Like you met Brandon Cooks twenty
Speaker 1: We know what he can do with speed, those explosive plays,
Speaker 1: and I think that's that's something this team and you
Speaker 1: know they I don't remember how many they had. I
Speaker 1: think it was four. I think it was four explosive
Speaker 1: plays against the explosive passing plays against the Raiders, but
Speaker 1: two of those were Josh Jacobs. One just disaster of mistackling,
Speaker 1: you know, on that in nineteen that they allowed him
Speaker 1: to get twenty one. So you're hoping that And I
Speaker 1: brought this up last week and I'll mention it again today.
Speaker 1: You know, the defense has gradually gotten better. You know,
Speaker 1: they have been asked to win a game. You know,
Speaker 1: they have been tasked with you need to hold the
Speaker 1: lead here in the final two minutes, and they've done
Speaker 1: it with interceptions both times. And now we just saw
Speaker 1: Dak who's got four interceptions, three of them last week.
Speaker 1: On the season. You know, that's promising that Asante has,
Speaker 1: you know, become that player where you expect him to make.
Speaker 1: You know, we were used to that since his rookie year.
Speaker 1: He's a gambler. You know, he has some issues in coverage,
Speaker 1: but he's also exceptional at others and if he can
Speaker 1: face the quarterback, he's very good it kind of feeling
Speaker 1: out what's coming his way. He's got a very good
Speaker 1: mind that way. You know, where he struggles is if
Speaker 1: his back is to the quarterback and he's got a
Speaker 1: track and try to stick with a receiver step for step.
Speaker 1: That's where he struggles. But so I I'd love to see,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of more schemes that put him in
Speaker 1: that position where he is facing you know, the quarterback
Speaker 1: a little bit more zone. If you're now comfortable, J. C.
Speaker 1: Jackson is gone a lowie, Gilman is back, Derwin is back. Okay,
Speaker 1: Well now I'm a little more comfortable knowing if I
Speaker 1: want to play quarters and I want to play a
Speaker 1: too high shell, I'm comfortable that these guys know what
Speaker 1: their leverages are, they know what their assignments are, they
Speaker 1: know who's being passed off and who's running with who,
Speaker 1: and like that's that's I think something that I wouldn't
Speaker 1: mind seeing. You know, see if you can get into
Speaker 1: Dak's head and make it get an early interception, get
Speaker 1: an early turnover, and try to kind of get that
Speaker 1: clockwork and then speed it up, you know, for the
Speaker 1: remainder of the game. So that's you know, because of
Speaker 1: the health. I'm hopeful of that. You know, we saw
Speaker 1: we saw Dean Marlow. I thought excel. I thought he
Speaker 1: played a great game, a real solid game against the Raiders.
Speaker 1: So now if you can play that too high shell,
Speaker 1: you know, in a dime and Derwin's out there freelancing
Speaker 1: is almost a lot linebacker, you know, that's something that
Speaker 1: can really create some issues for the Cowboys. So there's
Speaker 1: and I got a lot of hope for now that
Speaker 1: everybody's healthy in the secondary, you're settled with your rotation,
Speaker 1: Let's see if you can, you know, kind of get
Speaker 1: Brandon Staley to do what he came here to do,
Speaker 1: and that's coordinate a defense that creates turnovers, that does
Speaker 1: not allow explosive plays. That's the whole idea of the
Speaker 1: Vic Fangio defense. You know, the quarters and the too
Speaker 1: high you're supposed to keep everything in front of you,
Speaker 1: So keep it in front of you and and force
Speaker 1: them to have these ten twelve, thirteen, seventeen play drives
Speaker 1: if they want to score a touchdown, and you hope
Speaker 1: you can create a mistake on one or two of them.
Speaker 3: It was encouraging to see the play of Marlow and
Speaker 3: Lane a couple of weeks ago in the absence of yeah,
Speaker 3: of Derwin and ALOHI you get those guys back, and
Speaker 3: you know, I saw an interesting quote from Michael Davis
Speaker 3: about just not really knowing who was going to start
Speaker 3: at the beginning of the year with him and JC,
Speaker 3: and I have to imagine I'd love to get your
Speaker 3: thoughts on just the fact that now that we know
Speaker 3: Jac's gone, Michael Davis can just maybe take a breath
Speaker 3: and say, hey, this is my starting job. Now I
Speaker 3: don't have to worry about anything but just playing ball.
Speaker 3: I think that debt provides a nice reset for the
Speaker 3: secondary getting these guys back, but also just kind of
Speaker 3: the comfort of knowing that, hey, this is my side
Speaker 3: of the football field and I'm not looking over my
Speaker 3: shoulder anymore.
Speaker 1: I think so much of it, Chris is just how
Speaker 1: how many rules there are in Brandon's defense. How many
Speaker 1: different things you have to follow and adjustments that you
Speaker 1: have to make. You know, he likes to confuse, you know,
Speaker 1: that's what he did against Aidan O'Connell against the Raiders.
Speaker 1: There is just a ton of pre snap movement and
Speaker 1: masking and trying to muddy the picture for him. So
Speaker 1: when you're when you're on it for a series and
Speaker 1: then you're not, and then you're back in and then oh,
Speaker 1: I've been sitting for the entire third quarter and now
Speaker 1: I'm coming in the fourth and what's my leverage here?
Speaker 1: What am I? You know, that's if you're out there
Speaker 1: the whole time. I feel like you can create that continuity.
Speaker 1: You know what the rules are, you know what your
Speaker 1: assignment is on any given play when it's called. And
Speaker 1: I think that's sort of to me, that's important. That's
Speaker 1: important if you're going to run this defense. You know,
Speaker 1: with Gus it was simple. It's like, I believe in
Speaker 1: you guys. This is what we do. We don't blitz.
Speaker 1: I rush for you guys. Are we're playing Cover one
Speaker 1: or Cover three and this is what we do. Let's
Speaker 1: go get it, you know, go make plays. That's not
Speaker 1: Brandon it's you know, it's cover six, it's quarters, it's
Speaker 1: passing guys off. Am I supposed to pass her, Am
Speaker 1: I supposed to run with him? You know, Like you
Speaker 1: think about that third and nineteen, Kenneth Murray just got stuck.
Speaker 1: He was in the wrong spot and that left middle
Speaker 1: flat was left wide open, and then you have two
Speaker 1: misstackles and that's how you gained twenty one yards on
Speaker 1: a third and nineteen. Because just there's so many rules
Speaker 1: you have to follow. So to me, that's what comes
Speaker 1: out of no JC is these guys can be out
Speaker 1: there together as long as they're healthy the whole time
Speaker 1: and know exactly what their assignment it's are and what
Speaker 1: they're supposed to do to execute a defensive play call,
Speaker 1: How do you.
Speaker 3: Deploy Derwin now that he's bag money.
Speaker 1: Look, I think he's best closer to the ball, you know.
Speaker 1: I think DJ said something on the air that rings
Speaker 1: so true. It's like, you know, he can do everything.
Speaker 1: He's that player. He's that good. He's capable of doing everything.
Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean that's the best way to use him.
Speaker 1: The best way to use him is to get him
Speaker 1: as close to the football is possible. It's it's blitzing,
Speaker 1: it's chipping the tight end, it's putting them in the
Speaker 1: slot over ceed lamb and using you know, his physicality
Speaker 1: and his strength to bust him up a little bit
Speaker 1: and to make make the day a little bit longer.
Speaker 1: So to me, that's that's the best way to use him.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that he's a box exclusively a box safety.
Speaker 1: What I'm saying is he's just Derwin is exceptional. When
Speaker 1: he's close to the ball, that's where I want him.
Speaker 1: I don't want him fifteen yards deep, that second high
Speaker 1: safety with a lowie Gilman without the ability to impact
Speaker 1: the play on every single snap. So I'd love to
Speaker 1: see more blitz is he's so good at timing up
Speaker 1: his blitz you know that I would like to see
Speaker 1: more of that. So that's what I would do. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm I don't know what Dean
Speaker 1: Marlow looks like in practice. If they have the confidence
Speaker 1: to put him up there, you know, and trust him,
Speaker 1: I would like to think they do. You know, I
Speaker 1: don't know how much stock they put into the aid
Speaker 1: and O'Connell quarterback raiders offense, you know, and all the
Speaker 1: pressure that they were getting on him. You know, when
Speaker 1: it comes to to Dak and a pretty darn good
Speaker 1: offensive line, save what Terrence Steele's kind of shown so
Speaker 1: far this season.
Speaker 4: Just look at the AFC.
Speaker 3: West Man like Jimmy g comes back inexplicably, Devonte Adams
Speaker 3: get is like four targets. Right, They're two and three.
Speaker 3: They play the Patriots next week. Raiders, I don't think
Speaker 3: are scaring anybody in the AFC. The Broncos are done right,
Speaker 3: They're ready to rebuild. I think Randy Gregory's out the
Speaker 3: door now. It sounds like a lot of guys could
Speaker 3: be on the market. So you know, you lose the
Speaker 3: Kansas City Thursday night, you best believe the more guys
Speaker 3: going to be out the door going around the AFC.
Speaker 3: The South, you lose to the Titans, but everybody's kind
Speaker 3: of middling in the South. The Bengals are kind of
Speaker 3: resurging at this point. I think some expect them to
Speaker 3: kind of regain their form of the last couple of years.
Speaker 3: Baltimore's up and down, Pittsburgh's offense is not great. Cleveland,
Speaker 3: you don't know what's gonna happen with Deshaun Watson their
Speaker 3: defense is good. The Jets are a mess offensively, even
Speaker 3: though they beat the Broncos. The Patriots are done, and
Speaker 3: then you got Miami in Buffalo. So you know, the
Speaker 3: first two weeks couldn't have gone worse for the Chargers.
Speaker 3: But you get to two and two A, you're by
Speaker 3: and it's almost like, okay, you have everything in front
Speaker 3: of you. It doesn't matter what anybody else is doing
Speaker 3: but money. These next seven days, from from Monday night
Speaker 3: to Sunday and arrow ahead, it's gonna tell us a
Speaker 3: lot about this team. You mentioned that there's some there's
Speaker 3: some hay to gain. I guess after Dallas and Kansas City,
Speaker 3: with games like Chicago and the Jets coming up, and
Speaker 3: you mentioned the Patriots and the Packers, teams you can
Speaker 3: you could definitely beat on the road. But at some
Speaker 3: point you're gonna have to take control of your season.
Speaker 3: You're gonna have to show people that hey, we can
Speaker 3: win against the best in the NFL.
Speaker 4: We can win convincingly.
Speaker 3: But we're still waiting for that that one victory that's
Speaker 3: a little bit more decisive than.
Speaker 4: What we're used to seeing here in recent games.
Speaker 3: So I just look at the next you know, two
Speaker 3: games against high quality, super Bowl caliber opponents and say, hey,
Speaker 3: if you can win these two games, people are gonna
Speaker 3: talk about you, and maybe that's the leaping off point
Speaker 3: you need.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't. It's not. You can't tank in
Speaker 1: the NFL like you can in the NBA. It's just
Speaker 1: too violent of a game. Guys will get hurt. It's
Speaker 1: not it's not something you can do. But what you
Speaker 1: can do is adjust your roster accordingly. So just pull
Speaker 1: up the Bronch You mentioned the Broncos, right, So I
Speaker 1: pull up their schedule. They got Kansas City twice in
Speaker 1: the next three weeks, right this short week on Thursday
Speaker 1: night at Arrowhead, and then they get him again on
Speaker 1: the twenty ninth at home before thereby, and that's right
Speaker 1: at the trade deadline. So like to me, I think
Speaker 1: about how, for whatever reason, no matter how good they've
Speaker 1: been and how bad the rest of the division has been,
Speaker 1: the Chargers just seem to split. You know, they have
Speaker 1: not been able to sweep the Broncos, to sweep the Raiders.
Speaker 1: So they're one in, you know, they're one and zero
Speaker 1: in the division. Now they beat the Raiders, and now
Speaker 1: they get a chance to beat that you like. To me,
Speaker 1: that's still the most important goal. You know, don't put
Speaker 1: yourself in play for a wild card you have no idea,
Speaker 1: Like you said, if the Bengals are going to catch fire,
Speaker 1: if the Jaguars are are ready to take that step,
Speaker 1: if the Colts are are gonna be a viable player,
Speaker 1: because they've got an NFC an AFC South schedule that's
Speaker 1: got some question marks. You never know what the Titans are.
Speaker 1: They're great one week, they're horrible the next. Can they
Speaker 1: find themselves a rhythm? So if you can take that
Speaker 1: out of play and take care of the division, to me,
Speaker 1: that's where that that game against the Chiefs, because they
Speaker 1: have not looked dominant yet. They just they just haven't
Speaker 1: they They they're wide receivers have left a lot to
Speaker 1: be figured out. You know, sky Moore was supposed to
Speaker 1: be the replacement for Tyreek Hill, this fast, explosive player
Speaker 1: that's gonna run those quick slants and get a ton
Speaker 1: of yard after catch, and it's clear that Mahomes is
Speaker 1: just not comfortable with him. You know. It feels like
Speaker 1: the most comfortable receiver is Justin Watson. That's his guy,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's like that's Marquez Valdez Scantlet's barely
Speaker 1: getting two targets per game. You know, Kelsey's banged up.
Speaker 1: Let's see what that looks like like. And we know
Speaker 1: how well Derwin tends to play him the last game
Speaker 1: against the Chiefs last season, notwithstanding you know when Kelsey
Speaker 1: put it on him. But we know that that tends
Speaker 1: to be a good matchup. So I think there's I
Speaker 1: feel like there's that opportunity is still there. At two
Speaker 1: and two. You can still sweep the Broncos, sweep the Raiders.
Speaker 1: That's four wins right there. You know, can you get
Speaker 1: a win against the Chiefs and put yourself back in play?
Speaker 1: You know, for they've done it, Go, let's go. The
Speaker 1: last two years, Chris, they have played the Chiefs with
Speaker 1: the division in the balance where they get that win.
Speaker 1: Last year, they get that win on that I don't
Speaker 1: remember if it was a Thursday or a Sunday night.
Speaker 1: I think it was a whatever it was. They get
Speaker 1: that win and now the division's in play, and that's
Speaker 1: something I think they just have to try to get
Speaker 1: over that hump. Win the division don't have to play
Speaker 1: three road games in order to get to the Super
Speaker 1: get that try to get that buy, you know, and
Speaker 1: you can do that by winning the division. And they're
Speaker 1: playing so many teams that are going to be in
Speaker 1: the city. That's what's great about it is it's there now.
Speaker 1: Like you said at the start of the pod, it's
Speaker 1: up to them to take advantage of it. But they
Speaker 1: play Buffalo, they play the Chiefs, they play the Ravens,
Speaker 1: like all of these teams that are going to be
Speaker 1: in play for their their division, they're going to play them.
Speaker 1: They're going to have an opportunity to win the head
Speaker 1: to head. You know, they already lost the one to
Speaker 1: the Titans, they lost the one to Miami. So this
Speaker 1: is where they got to start kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: sort of performing that calculus of how do we get
Speaker 1: that buy, how do we get that or at least
Speaker 1: get a home game in week one and maybe home
Speaker 1: games and you know, if we got to play the
Speaker 1: wild card home games in week one and week two,
Speaker 1: you know, that's that's still there, that is still available
Speaker 1: to them. And considering how close those games were against
Speaker 1: Miami had to lead with five minutes left in the
Speaker 1: game despite how poorly the defense had played throughout and
Speaker 1: Tennessee where you're up to touchdowns and you just let
Speaker 1: it get away from you, Like, so it's there. I'm
Speaker 1: just hoping they had a chance to figure it out
Speaker 1: through the by So.
Speaker 3: I recognize close doesn't count, but nobody plays the Chiefs
Speaker 3: closer than Justin Herbert. You know those two games, I
Speaker 3: think it was a Sunday nighter last year and a
Speaker 3: Thursday night or the year before.
Speaker 4: The Thursday night er.
Speaker 3: I specifically remember, like if they won that game, they
Speaker 3: were in the driver's seat for the AFC West because
Speaker 3: they had the Texans that was the COVID game and
Speaker 3: ended up losing that game. But you get so close
Speaker 3: against this team, This Chiefs team looks like the one
Speaker 3: that you could potentially dethrone because of all the points
Speaker 3: that you mentioned. That offense has been a little bit
Speaker 3: out of sync. Nobody really on the outside scares you
Speaker 3: that much. Travis Kelcey's been banged up, that defense is
Speaker 3: playing pretty good, and obviously Chris Jones is back in
Speaker 3: the mix. But this is one of those opportunities they're
Speaker 3: going to have to seize, and you know, Justin Herbert
Speaker 3: has to be seething at playing this team as close
Speaker 3: as they've played them and coming on the short end
Speaker 3: of the stick. And you know we're talking about Kansas
Speaker 3: City now it's two weeks away. Obviously, the Cowboys are
Speaker 3: the focus on Monday Night, but it's just this stretch
Speaker 3: money that I think really can.
Speaker 4: Flip the narrative nationally.
Speaker 3: Not that that really matters, but I think more so
Speaker 3: for that locker room to have a little bit of
Speaker 3: belief that hey, we're on the track. We're four and
Speaker 3: two after these games against the Cowboys and Chiefs, and
Speaker 3: now we can really make our hay and have the
Speaker 3: inside track for the ASC West, a division that the
Speaker 3: Chiefs have dominated I guess since twenty fifteen. Right, So
Speaker 3: at some point it's going to have to happen. The
Speaker 3: Chargers of the closest team to making that happen. We
Speaker 3: know the Broncos are Raiders, aren't going to get it
Speaker 3: done this year in the West.
Speaker 4: It's up to the Chargers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, you know, for like you said, you
Speaker 1: can't look past the Cowboys. To me, it's it's imperative
Speaker 1: for them to be three and three. I think at
Speaker 1: two and four that's when you start pressing, and you know,
Speaker 1: you get the Bears. I think it's because you know,
Speaker 1: you're alternating home and road. I just want to make
Speaker 1: sure I got it right. So I think it's Bears
Speaker 1: than at Jets.
Speaker 4: I think you're for the rest of the year, right,
Speaker 4: you're alternating.
Speaker 1: Right every So, if you're two and four, are you
Speaker 1: pressing against the Bears? Are you? Are you just a
Speaker 1: little too tight knowing? Okay, we lose this and the
Speaker 1: season very well could be over, you know, much like
Speaker 1: it was. Remember when they went to Tennessee lost that
Speaker 1: game on those Melvin Gordon fumbles at the goal line.
Speaker 1: They were two and five, and it just felt likeugh, man,
Speaker 1: that was the game. You know, that was the game.
Speaker 1: You had to be three and four and you don't
Speaker 1: want them to press press against the Jets, and then
Speaker 1: you got the Lions coming in. You know, if now
Speaker 1: you're four and four and you got the Lions come in,
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, are we're going to go in for
Speaker 1: five hundred again? And is this kind of what we
Speaker 1: are all season? So it's not the end of the
Speaker 1: season if you lose them both. To me, I would
Speaker 1: just hate to go that far below five hundred at
Speaker 1: that point of the season. You know, get to that,
Speaker 1: get through those two worst case at three and three,
Speaker 1: and then you feel a little bit better because you
Speaker 1: get that the schedule eases up. You know, you're not
Speaker 1: playing two teams that most people have in the top
Speaker 1: five in their power rankings. So you know, I'd love
Speaker 1: to see that split, especially coming off of bye with
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. And look, if you go back to last
Speaker 1: year and really kind of the last two years when
Speaker 1: it comes to San Francisco, teams struggle the next week
Speaker 1: because of how physical that forty nine Ers team is.
Speaker 1: You know, it tends to have a carryover effect. And
Speaker 1: we saw it last year with Miami with the Chargers
Speaker 1: where they were still beat up and Cowboys got beat
Speaker 1: up in that game. You know, they got beat up
Speaker 1: pretty good. So it's it's a very physical game that
Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers play and it can take its
Speaker 1: toll on you. So I think you take advantage that
Speaker 1: the Cowboys catch a break because they get the extra
Speaker 1: day of rest, which goes a long way. But you know,
Speaker 1: the Chargers are well rested, Cowboys are still going to
Speaker 1: be feeling that game a little bit, so you hope
Speaker 1: that they can take advantage, you know of that, And
Speaker 1: then like I said, for whatever reason, the schedule tends
Speaker 1: to favor the Chiefs in these matchups, you know, whether
Speaker 1: it's a Thursday night in Kansas City or coming off
Speaker 1: a mini by like they are this week playing tonight
Speaker 1: as we do this on a Thursday, and then you know,
Speaker 1: getting that extra three days of rest, while the Chargers
Speaker 1: only get six days of rest and have to put
Speaker 1: a travel day in there, so it's not ideal. I
Speaker 1: think what I'm getting at here in a very long
Speaker 1: circuitous path is feel like you gotta win this game
Speaker 1: on Monday night. This is this, This is a big one.
Speaker 1: This is a big one to be three and two
Speaker 1: instead of two and three going to Cincinnati and are
Speaker 1: we going to Kansas City in a short week.
Speaker 3: Our buddy James tweeted this to us the Niners coming
Speaker 3: off a game against the Niners, their opponents last year
Speaker 3: zero to fifteen. There you go zero to fifteenth this year.
Speaker 3: I think the Steelers got crushed in Week one, ended
Speaker 3: up winning their.
Speaker 4: Game in Week two.
Speaker 3: So I don't know what the record is this year,
Speaker 3: but it just goes to your point from last year.
Speaker 3: They beat teams up Dallas with a bit of an
Speaker 3: advantage with that extra day, and you know, the sky
Speaker 3: is falling in Frisco right now, so you know that
Speaker 3: they're going to come out with their hair on fire
Speaker 3: on National.
Speaker 4: TV Monday Night Football.
Speaker 3: And then we have the whole Taylor Swift thing. You know,
Speaker 3: is Tailor going to be at the game against the
Speaker 3: Chargers in ten days? You know, that's another element, a
Speaker 3: layer to this that. I don't think anybody who's expecting.
Speaker 1: Money no, no, I did not anticipate having to come
Speaker 1: up with a bit of analysis for that and whether
Speaker 1: or not the Chargers players are going to be distracted
Speaker 1: by the idea that arguably one of the most famous
Speaker 1: people on the planet Earth is going to be in
Speaker 1: the exact same stadium where they are playing, watching them.
Speaker 3: Money and DJ be distracted, you know, if the box
Speaker 3: is right next to the the radio booth.
Speaker 4: That's that's the question I have.
Speaker 1: I will not I I don't think I will be Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think if I you know, when you when you
Speaker 1: come into the presence of superstardom somebody that's that famous,
Speaker 1: you tend to feel it. You can feel their presence.
Speaker 1: So I think if maybe I bumped into her in
Speaker 1: the hallway, that would be a bit strange. You know,
Speaker 1: I think you would feel that.
Speaker 3: Would you put a picture? Do you put a picture
Speaker 3: up in the booth like you did with Yeah?
Speaker 1: Right the snow Man exactly quick quick I could. I
Speaker 1: could bring Jerry Reid with me, although that did not
Speaker 1: work in Tennessee, so I don't want it to you know,
Speaker 1: be zero in two. I did not bring it to Minnesota. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe we get a selfie, take a photo printer, print
Speaker 1: it out and put one up of us in Taylor.
Speaker 1: So she's in our booth and we got that juju
Speaker 1: with us, So yeah, I would imagine it. I don't
Speaker 1: think she's got anything else to do. I mean, her
Speaker 1: movie just came out, right, so she's she's unless she's
Speaker 1: out promoting that. My guess is she'll be there on
Speaker 1: that Sunday and we'll the pressure to perform in front
Speaker 1: of one of the world's greatest performers of our time
Speaker 1: and space.
Speaker 3: Right now, so you've been prepping all week for this one,
Speaker 3: Let's just get you out of here on this calling
Speaker 3: a primetime game has to be pretty special for you
Speaker 3: and DJ. What do you think is going to decide it?
Speaker 4: For the charges?
Speaker 3: We talked about everything, but if you had to kind
Speaker 3: of distill it down to one or two things.
Speaker 4: What would they be.
Speaker 1: Well, just looking at the two losses the Cowboys have
Speaker 1: this year, it was even though we don't think of
Speaker 1: the Cardinals offense as super effective, it was offenses that
Speaker 1: were able to maintain the ball, to possess the ball,
Speaker 1: to not allow the Cowboys to jump up early on
Speaker 1: them and let that pass rush pin their ears back,
Speaker 1: knowing that teams had to pass the ball in order
Speaker 1: to get back into the game, that they were too
Speaker 1: far back. So to me, it's and the Chargers we know,
Speaker 1: are very good at this, whether it's in a win
Speaker 1: or a loss, they will keep it close. So keeping
Speaker 1: it close, keeping their offense, you know, forcing their offense
Speaker 1: to to not be able to just take the air
Speaker 1: out of the ball and run it a bunch of times,
Speaker 1: but have to run you know, Dak Press got out
Speaker 1: there into danger trying to take advantage of that on
Speaker 1: your passer. So I know it's not the most you know,
Speaker 1: intricate plan, but I think have your offense be successful,
Speaker 1: put some points up on the board, get the Cowboys behind,
Speaker 1: you know, force them to chase points, you know, not
Speaker 1: sit on a lead so to me, that's a big
Speaker 1: part of it, a big part of why it got
Speaker 1: away from them in San Francisco. You know, it wasn't
Speaker 1: just how dominant the forty nine Ers defense was. It
Speaker 1: was that offense put up a ton of points quickly
Speaker 1: and they just could not recover. It was too hard
Speaker 1: for them to try to get back into it. I
Speaker 1: don't think very highly of Mike McCarthy as a play caller.
Speaker 1: I don't feel like you're you know is when you
Speaker 1: watch that game back and you just see the offense
Speaker 1: that Kyle Shanahan has run, and it's probably not fair
Speaker 1: to coach McCarthy, but because he's going against a dude
Speaker 1: that's just so freaking good at play calling. But just
Speaker 1: the difference is night and day that the gap was massive,
Speaker 1: and so you know, let's let's make this a Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore game. You know, they tried to. They made Kellen
Speaker 1: a scapegoat coming out of that forty nine Er game,
Speaker 1: you know, and that's what that's that's all that was.
Speaker 1: That was a complete scapegoat. Our offense couldn't get anything
Speaker 1: going against the forty nine Ers in this playoff game.
Speaker 1: We blame Kellen Moore I'm taking control of it. Our
Speaker 1: defense was good enough, the offense wasn't, So you know,
Speaker 1: get it for coach More. You know, go go out
Speaker 1: there and prove that that that play card is nothing
Speaker 1: more than a Denny's menu in McCarthy's hands, and get
Speaker 1: Kellen some some big plays and put some points on
Speaker 1: the board.
Speaker 4: I like that.
Speaker 3: I also agree with possessing the football is going to
Speaker 3: be important, and we want Kellen to air it out.
Speaker 3: But I think Austin Eka running the football and getting
Speaker 3: that running game going, keeping Dallas' defense on the field,
Speaker 3: and you know, keeping Justin her on the field because
Speaker 3: you know Dallas is going to try to establish the
Speaker 3: run and keep Justin in that offense off the field.
Speaker 3: So possessing the football is going to be big. And
Speaker 3: you know, the primetime matchup is going to be Parsons Slater,
Speaker 3: the guys who were drafted right next to each other
Speaker 3: a few years ago. And you know, again, Trent Williams,
Speaker 3: you're right best tackle in football. I think Rashawn is
Speaker 3: a close second. And that's gonna be a big part
Speaker 3: of what the Chargers offense needs to do. Because still
Speaker 3: Max Crosby wrecked that game a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 3: You can't have Micah Parsons do it money because that's
Speaker 3: going to wreck your offense.
Speaker 1: And they didn't account for Max enough. I thought they
Speaker 1: could have devoted a lot more resources to help Trey out.
Speaker 1: You know. Now he did rush against Slater and had
Speaker 1: some success, but that goes back to what we talked
Speaker 1: about last week. I think Rashawn got hurt in that game.
Speaker 1: He got bent back on that sack from Max that
Speaker 1: came from the other side immediately because Pipkins had no
Speaker 1: help and they just met at the quarterback at the
Speaker 1: same time and he got bent back badly and he
Speaker 1: was not the same after that. So hoping the bye
Speaker 1: week has helped him out, and if in fact Micah
Speaker 1: wants to try it, that Slater's there to stone him.
Speaker 1: But if not, it's going to be super important for
Speaker 1: that old line to be schemed up to figure out.
Speaker 1: And again I think just go back and watch the
Speaker 1: San Francisco game with all the different ways they approached
Speaker 1: slowing him down. Just again, three tight end sets, pass
Speaker 1: pro from the backs, you know, leaking the full back out.
Speaker 1: Micah thinks that he's got a quick pathway to the quarterback,
Speaker 1: no use check has just blown by you on purpose,
Speaker 1: and now he's wide opening the flat for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Like there were just so many different ways that they
Speaker 1: were able to keep the Cowboys on their heels. Do
Speaker 1: not let them play on their toes. They let Max
Speaker 1: Crosby play on his toes, and that's you can't do that.
Speaker 1: They're just these players are too good. Crosby's too good.
Speaker 1: Micah Parsons is too good to be playing moving forward.
Speaker 1: How to get them to think about moving backward with
Speaker 1: a like you said, quality run game. Establish that run
Speaker 1: forced them to defend all phases of your offense. Get
Speaker 1: some light boxes, take advantage of them.
Speaker 3: And money if Joey does come back, you got Joey, Khalil,
Speaker 3: and Tooley on the field together. The Raiders did not
Speaker 3: double team Khalil Mack as much as they said they
Speaker 3: they added bodies to to try to double them.
Speaker 4: They did not. Six sacks was the result. So can
Speaker 4: Khalil have.
Speaker 3: A repeat performance or at least get a couple of sacks?
Speaker 3: And and how does Joey react after being off for
Speaker 3: a couple of weeks? And obviously Tooley's just doing his thing.
Speaker 3: So I think that that Chargers pass rush getting after Dak.
Speaker 3: You mentioned the pressures that Steel has given up. That
Speaker 3: offensive line has been pretty banged up. I think this year,
Speaker 3: so an opportunity to get after Deck.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. You know, if Joey's healthy, that's a huge boon.
Speaker 1: It's been fun to watch those three out there. At
Speaker 1: the same time, it's been real fun because that's you
Speaker 1: know Tooley's exceptional at free lance and we talked about
Speaker 1: that last week. You know, just how sometimes he's going
Speaker 1: off script and he's really good at it and he
Speaker 1: sees things out there, and you know when you've got
Speaker 1: to account for those three and those being three of
Speaker 1: the four and the ability and you know, especially they
Speaker 1: had it. They had him out there with Morgan Fox
Speaker 1: a couple of times, and I got four legitimate pass
Speaker 1: rushers on the defensive line and guys that can play
Speaker 1: interior defensive line, you know, defensive interior tackle or you
Speaker 1: know whatever. I'm stumbling all over my words, but yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's a big boost. If you can get Joey back.
Speaker 1: I think the big question is, you know what's better
Speaker 1: is it? Is it getting Joey to one hundred percent
Speaker 1: against the Chiefs or is it getting him out there
Speaker 1: to ensure you do everything you possibly can to get
Speaker 1: this win. You know, that's something they'll have to figure out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and we'll know more, You guys will know more
Speaker 3: because we're taping this on a Thursday morning, So check
Speaker 3: the injury report and we'll see what Joey's status is
Speaker 3: as we get closer to Monday night. That's going to
Speaker 3: do it for us. Always appreciate you guys listening, watching.
Speaker 3: You can watch us on YouTube on Friday mornings. The
Speaker 3: podcast posts audio on Thursday, and we'll keep it rolling.
Speaker 3: We'll get you ready for Kansas City next week. In
Speaker 3: the meantime, enjoy the game against the Cowboys for money.
Speaker 4: I'm Chris. This has been Chargers