Speaker 1: As a lead fifteen to ten touched up er.
Speaker 2: What's up, guys, We are back with a brand new
Speaker 2: episode of Chargers Weekly, presented by Microsoft Surface as always,
Speaker 2: joined by Mad Money Smith. What do you I got
Speaker 2: my surface here, a lot of information from the Patriots
Speaker 2: game and prepping for the Denver Broncos, and.
Speaker 1: Sin, don't you try to one up me? Come on,
Speaker 1: come on, let's see that it was just using it
Speaker 1: a little bit earlier. As a matter of fact, this
Speaker 1: is where I watch all the film, which I just
Speaker 1: watched every single snap of the Broncos Texans game and
Speaker 1: every snap of the Chargers Patriots game. I usually go
Speaker 1: back two games, so truly like, just finished watching the
Speaker 1: Chargers defense versus the Patriots offense two minutes ago on
Speaker 1: that thing, and yeah, we'll get into it, but love it.
Speaker 1: Can't recommend it enough. I you know, I've said it
Speaker 1: for years. I've had that thing for I don't know,
Speaker 1: four or five years now. Absolutely love the thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, same, And we appreciate you guys sponsoring us all
Speaker 2: season long. Hara on Charges Weekly, Buddy, I saw you
Speaker 2: put up on your story the ride into New England,
Speaker 2: and I feel like that that's the perfect setup for
Speaker 2: playing a game there. It's like the most uninviting place
Speaker 2: to play for an opponent. The fact that the Chargers
Speaker 2: could play a forty one to thirty eight game in
Speaker 2: the same season as a six to nothing game where
Speaker 2: I don't think either team got into the red zone
Speaker 2: is remarkable. But an AFC win on the road, you
Speaker 2: will take it anyway you can get it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it just continues the theme that we've talked about regularly,
Speaker 1: and that is the Chargers allow their opponent to dictate terms.
Speaker 1: Now that's one way to look at it. The other
Speaker 1: way to look at it is they are comfortable with
Speaker 1: game plans that are applicable to that particular week's matchup.
Speaker 1: They don't just play one way. It's okay, we believe
Speaker 1: in our defense, we believe in our special teams. It's wet.
Speaker 1: I mean it rained from the second the ball was
Speaker 1: kicked off until the second the final whistle blew.
Speaker 2: I should ask you, hey, the conditions, because Keenan said
Speaker 2: something like, Hey, didn't it didn't affect us that much,
Speaker 2: but it looked like it was coming down pretty good.
Speaker 1: Oh, it definitely affected him. I think that's Keenan just
Speaker 1: not making excuses. You know, he's a pro. He's not
Speaker 1: gonna to make excuses. It was coming down in sheets,
Speaker 1: so ten degrees colder would have been better because you
Speaker 1: wouldn't have had just the wet. You know, it would
Speaker 1: have been colder, but it would have been snow and
Speaker 1: it probably would have been a little bit easier. I
Speaker 1: think you saw that with a lot of the drop passes.
Speaker 1: Now you can go back two weeks and you still
Speaker 1: have issues with drop passes against Baltimore and Green Bay,
Speaker 1: and that is something they got to figure out. Otherwise
Speaker 1: they would have had two red zone possessions. But a
Speaker 1: just flat out drop by Q and a flat out
Speaker 1: drop by Parham prevented that from happening. So Parms would
Speaker 1: have been a touchdown. You know, he is in stride,
Speaker 1: he's got three steps on his defender. That thing hits
Speaker 1: him right in the hands between the numbers and it
Speaker 1: is just straight drop And it's been a bit of
Speaker 1: an issue now for parhim. You know, really this season
Speaker 1: he's for whatever reason, he was always sure handed and
Speaker 1: it's just kind of left him. But you know, when
Speaker 1: you've done it before, you know it's in there. So
Speaker 1: you just got to figure out what's going on and
Speaker 1: why he's dropping all these balls, and because that's think
Speaker 1: about green Bay, that fourth down turnover on downs instead
Speaker 1: of extending into green Bay territory, and it's just become
Speaker 1: a bit of an issue for parhim Q. We know
Speaker 1: we don't have to belabor that, you know, but that
Speaker 1: would have been a first and ten from the twelve.
Speaker 1: So Justin's receivers are letting him down. That's just the
Speaker 1: and they tell you the same thing. He's making the throws,
Speaker 1: he's standing tall in the pocket, he didn't take any sacks,
Speaker 1: they had barely any penalties. They played a clean game,
Speaker 1: and he didn't turn the ball over. And if you
Speaker 1: want to, you know, really, the way this thing was
Speaker 1: six nothing instead of what I think very well could
Speaker 1: have been seventeen or twenty to nothing is because of
Speaker 1: the drops. So I just don't I wish they would
Speaker 1: impose their will on somebody else. I wish there was
Speaker 1: a way, and I don't know what that way is,
Speaker 1: because I think this is their approach. Okay, this is
Speaker 1: the type of game it's going to be, and this
Speaker 1: is how we're gonna play, and this is what we
Speaker 1: think is our best chance to win. And I just
Speaker 1: feel like just kind of keep the door open for
Speaker 1: some of these teams on that front.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to talk about the defense because I
Speaker 2: know Billy Zappy was under center, and you know it's
Speaker 2: not it was terrible Patrick Mahomes, but it's a shutout
Speaker 2: to shutout in the NFL offensively, though, money when you're
Speaker 2: in December. Look at all these teams from Philly to
Speaker 2: even Kansas City and the Super Bowl San Francisco. They
Speaker 2: can all run the football. Miami can run the football.
Speaker 2: And when you're playing December ball and you're trying to
Speaker 2: get into the postseason, you have to pack a running
Speaker 2: game like you're gonna have to rely on the running
Speaker 2: game at some point to win you a game. And
Speaker 2: this has been a problem all season. You know, take
Speaker 2: Week one out of the equation and a big run
Speaker 2: by Joshua Kelly in Kansas City. For the most part,
Speaker 2: this running game has been stagnant. And I ask you
Speaker 2: what's the most culpable part of this? Is it the
Speaker 2: running backs? Is it the way the offensive line is
Speaker 2: run blocking? Is it the lack of weapons on the
Speaker 2: outside outside of Keenan With all these guys down that
Speaker 2: you know they know that Keenan is the number one
Speaker 2: guy that's going to beat them, and there really isn't
Speaker 2: a clear cut number two. I'm just trying to figure
Speaker 2: out where we kind of diagnose this issue because it's
Speaker 2: a big issue. You're seeing Denver who's coming in this weekend.
Speaker 2: You know, Javonte Williams. They're relying on him to run
Speaker 2: the football and chew clock Austin. I don't know if
Speaker 2: Austin's still hurt, but fourteen for eighteen Joshua Kelly six
Speaker 2: for sixteen averaging one point two yards to carry last
Speaker 2: week against the Patriot's not going to get it done.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the answer, you know, to your question
Speaker 1: is yes, it's all of those things.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: So I actually ended up watching every single run snap
Speaker 1: twice just I shouldn't say twice, but I just spent
Speaker 1: a lot of time on it from trying because it's
Speaker 1: just such a glaring number, right, you know, seventeen for
Speaker 1: eighteen and six for eighteen. You know, one point two
Speaker 1: per carry? So what went wrong? Everything went wrong? But
Speaker 1: if you were to ask me where I start, it's
Speaker 1: tight ends. It's the tight ends just can't block they
Speaker 1: they they are getting blown off their blocks. At least
Speaker 1: that was the case in the New England game. Gerald
Speaker 1: Everett and Donald Parham got absolutely washed out on every
Speaker 1: single run snap and a couple of the runs, I
Speaker 1: thought on one of the runs, I thought Austin had
Speaker 1: an opportunity. He chose chose the wrong you know, he
Speaker 1: chose the wrong gap. There was a cup values wide
Speaker 1: and look, I say these things not like, hey, you
Speaker 1: screwed up. That's not what I'm saying. I get it.
Speaker 1: It's you know, you're trying, You're you're in the middle
Speaker 1: of these things happen in a split second. You don't
Speaker 1: always pick right. But so one they it looked like,
Speaker 1: you know, he's he's got to read the gaps and
Speaker 1: figure out which one he wants to pay, and he
Speaker 1: just kind of hit the second gap he read instead
Speaker 1: of coming back one more, and it looked like that
Speaker 1: thing was opened up for him. On some of them.
Speaker 1: On quite a few of them, the offensive line is
Speaker 1: just losing. They're getting pushed back instead of pushing forward.
Speaker 1: There was one where it just kind of developed a
Speaker 1: little too quickly. Slater couldn't get out to the edge.
Speaker 1: He was kind of pulling out wide and the whole
Speaker 1: line was shifting. He just couldn't quite get out there
Speaker 1: to seal that block. So but but I think for me,
Speaker 1: what really really stood out was just how badly Everett
Speaker 1: and Parham got beaten in the run game. It seemed
Speaker 1: to be on almost every single run play, it was
Speaker 1: their guy that was making the play and was just
Speaker 1: in the backfield or in the fit you know, was
Speaker 1: fitting right away. And and that's something we've talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, we talked about it before the season started.
Speaker 1: We have a blocking tight end. Yeah, yeah, So it's
Speaker 1: just kind of like we knew these we knew that
Speaker 1: these tight ends are not blocking tight ends. They're really good.
Speaker 1: Gerald is a really good receiving tight end. He's not
Speaker 1: a blocking tight end. They don't have one. And so
Speaker 1: you know when that's the case, and look, not everybody
Speaker 1: needs it. You know that the right side just is
Speaker 1: not working, you know, Jamari and Trey, that's an issue.
Speaker 1: Whenever you run to that side, there's a there's a
Speaker 1: little bit more success left. But I think to to
Speaker 1: the point you were making that the boxes are stacked.
Speaker 1: They even though it's justin Herbert, they're not afraid of
Speaker 1: Jalen Guidon or are they afraid of Quintin Johnson. Those
Speaker 1: guys are in one on one coverage. They're brack. You know,
Speaker 1: the Patriots bracketed Keen in the entire game. He had
Speaker 1: two helmets on him the entire game. So I think
Speaker 1: you're going to continue to see that. And that's why,
Speaker 1: you know, hearing as we do this on Thursday, hearing
Speaker 1: yesterday that Josh Palmer's windows open. Man, if he could play,
Speaker 1: that's going to go a long way because they need
Speaker 1: him that And you know, I keep saying it as
Speaker 1: I continue to just kind of ramble here, but you know,
Speaker 1: just I don't I don't know why Alex Erickson isn't
Speaker 1: getting more snaps. He's just there's I don't get it.
Speaker 1: The guy catches, he's got sure hands. Made the play
Speaker 1: of the game, you know, on that third down. And
Speaker 1: I tip my cap to coach Staley and to Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore for just saying, hey, we got Justin Herbert. I
Speaker 1: don't need to run forty more seconds off the clock.
Speaker 1: You know, it doesn't matter to me if the Patriots
Speaker 1: have a minute twenty or if they have fifty seconds.
Speaker 1: Let's just end this right now. We've got justin Herbert,
Speaker 1: let's go end it and and man Erickson beat his
Speaker 1: man like a drum. He beat Brian like a drum.
Speaker 1: Off the snap, he got inside leverage and he pulled
Speaker 1: away and it's pouring rain, and Herbert throws him a
Speaker 1: laser and he, you know, downfield twenty yards. He secures it,
Speaker 1: and that's the game. And to me, I just got
Speaker 1: to catch the ball. And Alex Erickson catches the ball
Speaker 1: and Herbert, so think about it, right, that's the game.
Speaker 1: That's that's like, Hey, you complete this pass, you win
Speaker 1: the game. Where's Herbert go It goes to alex Erickson.
Speaker 1: So clearly there's trust there, which leads me to say,
Speaker 1: put them out there, let's get some more snaps.
Speaker 2: Maybe we see more of him on Sunday, and I hope.
Speaker 2: So when Mike Williams goes down, obviously it was crushing,
Speaker 2: but when Joshua Palmer goes down on top of that,
Speaker 2: that's when you're really kind of playing with one hand
Speaker 2: tie behind your back. With Keenan and you know, with
Speaker 2: Quintin struggles and you know, these guys just dropping balls.
Speaker 2: I don't know if Austin is one hundred percent you know, obviously,
Speaker 2: you know, there's the injury report and then there's just
Speaker 2: the wear and tear of the season. I still don't
Speaker 2: know why we're not seeing Isaiah Spiller when the runner,
Speaker 2: you know why, Like I get trying to earn it
Speaker 2: during practice, but like how much he really hitting as
Speaker 2: a running back in practice? I saw enough in preseason
Speaker 2: to say, give this guy. He has twelve carries this
Speaker 2: year money twelve carries over what are they five twelve games?
Speaker 2: He's averaged a one carry a game. You know, he's
Speaker 2: been active for five games, and I thought I saw
Speaker 2: enough at Texas A and M coupled with preseason this
Speaker 2: year to say, at least give him a shot, right
Speaker 2: because it can't get any worse than what it's been
Speaker 2: at this point.
Speaker 1: Or you know what, Chris or cut him or cut him? Yeah,
Speaker 1: like that's you know, they cut Elijah Dotson, so you know,
Speaker 1: cut him. It's taking up a space on your roster.
Speaker 1: What is the point you know, what is the point
Speaker 1: of having him on the active roster if you're going
Speaker 1: to make him an active every single game day and
Speaker 1: you're not going to give him an opportunity, Like that's
Speaker 1: the whole thing, Like We don't know what's going on
Speaker 1: in practice. We don't know if there is no situation
Speaker 1: with him, you know, behaviorally, if there's something there, Like,
Speaker 1: there's got to be something, because it does not make
Speaker 1: sense to carry this guy on the fifty three when
Speaker 1: you're going to make him an active every week, and
Speaker 1: when he is active, he gets no touches. He's not
Speaker 1: a special teams player. So what are we doing?
Speaker 2: You know, it's giving our teammate money. His former teammate
Speaker 2: eight Chan as a rookie he drafted. I believe in
Speaker 2: the same round looked like the best running back in
Speaker 2: football because he got on the field for a little bit.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I'm not saying this Spiller's eight Chan. I'm
Speaker 2: not saying that. But I saw enough at Texas A
Speaker 2: and M to know that, hey, they drafted him in
Speaker 2: the fourth round for a reason, and you can get
Speaker 2: running backs late who could be very, very productive for you.
Speaker 2: And I just don't know if twelve carries throughout twelve
Speaker 2: games is enough to make a determination on a second
Speaker 2: year player who didn't play at all last year. Give
Speaker 2: him a shot, because what do you got to lose?
Speaker 1: I think that's why I keep saying Chris, there's got
Speaker 1: to be something. There has to be something there. It
Speaker 1: just it's it doesn't make any sense. You know, you
Speaker 1: mentioned you know this last game, you know, six carries
Speaker 1: for eighteen from Joshua. What was it for for Austin? Seventeen,
Speaker 1: for eighteen fourteen, for eighteen fourteen, for eighteen? Why why
Speaker 1: are they keeping him off the field? So, I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's pass protection, if he's not picking up
Speaker 1: you know what they're asking him to do in practice.
Speaker 1: And it's like, hey, if you can't pass pro, you
Speaker 1: can't be out there. And maybe he's just you know,
Speaker 1: he's not maybe he can't play special teams that you
Speaker 1: know that the coach Ficken doesn't trust him on special teams.
Speaker 1: And it's like, okay, so now we're down a body
Speaker 1: there you've got to be you know, So I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I just because he's a big back. That's the thing
Speaker 1: is he's different from Austin. And look, Joshua's a bigger
Speaker 1: back than Austin and they're both physically strong, but like
Speaker 1: Isaiah's a legitimately big back, you know, two fifteen to twenty.
Speaker 1: He's a bigger guy. And then you would think he'd
Speaker 1: have value in those short yardage situations that they don't
Speaker 1: like to sneak Herbert, but they like to run. So
Speaker 1: I'm with you, but to me, it.
Speaker 2: Really impressive runs in the preseason money like that. I
Speaker 2: remember what it was.
Speaker 1: Like a saf the one of the guy called back
Speaker 1: on the holding.
Speaker 2: On the holding, but then he had another seventeen yard run.
Speaker 2: I think against the Rams or the Saints, I forget
Speaker 2: which team it was, but there was like two or
Speaker 2: three like wow, like wow, plays like this is an
Speaker 2: NFL running back plays And something that you mentioned a
Speaker 2: few weeks ago that I still am kind of puzzled
Speaker 2: by is just Austin Eckler in the passing game only
Speaker 2: three targets, two catches for nine yards. It was it
Speaker 2: was before one of these must win games where you're like, hey,
Speaker 2: we we got to get the ball in Austin's hands,
Speaker 2: and you know, if it's not working running the football,
Speaker 2: get them in space, because two for nine through the
Speaker 2: air for a guy like this, and we've seen he's
Speaker 2: he said Chargers records, he said NFL records as an
Speaker 2: undrafted running back, Like that's another guy that you have
Speaker 2: to kind of lean on during a time when your
Speaker 2: offense is lean at these explosive positions.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I again, it's it's multifold. But you know, you
Speaker 1: go back to the Jacksonville playoff game last year and
Speaker 1: that's why they lost. You know, I had I did
Speaker 1: an interview with a the Broncos radios in Denver yesterday,
Speaker 1: and you know, the host brought up was just kind
Speaker 1: of he wasn't taking shots at Herbert, but he sort
Speaker 1: of was. You know, it was more like, Hey, are
Speaker 1: you at all concerned that all these close games aren't
Speaker 1: being won? You know that you talk about Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: and how clutch he is, and Justin and Jalen Hurts,
Speaker 1: you know, two guys that were drafted in his draft class.
Speaker 1: You know that win these close games. You know how
Speaker 1: much of this, how much of the blame does he
Speaker 1: does he wear? You know, does he share in? And
Speaker 1: he then specifically brought up Jacksonville. He's like, you know,
Speaker 1: you're up twenty eight nothing, twenty seven nothing, and you
Speaker 1: lose a game that's got to stick to you as
Speaker 1: a quarterback. And I said, that's I think that's fair.
Speaker 1: I said, but you also have to remember, you know
Speaker 1: what the approach was in the second half, it's we're
Speaker 1: up twenty seven to seven, and we got to run
Speaker 1: the ball, I said. So they tried to run the
Speaker 1: ball and couldn't, and so now they're behind schedule, and
Speaker 1: now there's three and outs. And they continued to try
Speaker 1: to run the ball to play that the game management,
Speaker 1: you know, manage the clock game, and they couldn't. And
Speaker 1: that's gonna bite you. You're you're gonna lose when you can't.
Speaker 1: You're going to lose games when you can't do that.
Speaker 1: You've got to keep the ball. Or the flip side
Speaker 1: of that is stop running. Just stop running the ball.
Speaker 1: Don't care drop that. Let's go. Let's go Texas Tech,
Speaker 1: Washington State, Mike Leach style. We'll run the ball three times.
Speaker 1: Just throw it, throw it, throw it, throw it, and
Speaker 1: you can throw it quick. You can have some RPOs,
Speaker 1: you can There were a couple of those, by the way,
Speaker 1: the couple of RPOs that I thought justin hand it
Speaker 1: off where you could see the end was crashing, and
Speaker 1: he should keep those. And you know those are where
Speaker 1: you know you can see the end crash, so keep
Speaker 1: it in take off. I thought there were maybe one
Speaker 1: or two of those. So it's you know, it's just
Speaker 1: a confluence of issues as to why it's not working.
Speaker 1: But it's gonna have to you know, these last five
Speaker 1: games that you have to win them all, two against
Speaker 1: the Broncos, the Raiders, the Bills, and the Chiefs. You're
Speaker 1: gonna have to run the ball at least in one
Speaker 1: of those games in order to win them. You cannot
Speaker 1: or again, just don't run the ball. My answer to it,
Speaker 1: just don't run the ball, I know.
Speaker 2: But knowing that you have to at some point, you know,
Speaker 2: like with Burrow, Burrow had mixed in spots. Lamar Jackson has.
Speaker 1: Uh gus said, that's running game in the league.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, you know, Jalen Hurts, Christian McCaffrey in the backfield,
Speaker 2: the way that Shanahan runs the football in San Francisco. Like,
Speaker 2: you can be an a league quarterback, but also you
Speaker 2: have to have some help around you and you have
Speaker 2: to have some balance in your offense. So we'll see.
Speaker 1: I think that's you know, you talk about you talk
Speaker 1: about the Eagles, Chris, and it's like and I don't
Speaker 1: know if they just didn't know or you know, sort
Speaker 1: of where they were at from an evaluation standpoint, but
Speaker 1: it's like, you know, just go get DeAndre Swift for
Speaker 1: a fifth round. Pick know, that's what it costs. It's
Speaker 1: a fifth round, talk about and we talked about it
Speaker 1: and the salary is nothing. So if you don't feel like,
Speaker 1: if you don't want to extend Austin because you you know,
Speaker 1: and I think we've seen a decline there, you know,
Speaker 1: certainly from his peak. So if that's your concern and
Speaker 1: why you don't want to extend him, number one, Number two,
Speaker 1: Josh Kelly's in his last year, and three Isaiah Spiller's
Speaker 1: gotten no playing time. Like to me, that's it's fifth rounder.
Speaker 1: You know, the guy's got juice, Go get them. So
Speaker 1: and they tried it last year with Sony Michelle and
Speaker 1: it failed miserably, and you know, it just seems like,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, they can't get it right. You know,
Speaker 1: we've been talking about this since Melvin Gordon and Austin
Speaker 1: were together, and Melvin wasn't that effective, you know, and
Speaker 1: it was just like.
Speaker 2: We've been talking about this for years, like for years,
Speaker 2: seven years, and like, you know, just pushing it forward
Speaker 2: to next year however it goes. That needs to be
Speaker 2: an emphasis, like serting to be physical in the trenches
Speaker 2: with our offensive line, and we need to pack a
Speaker 2: running game for this quarterback, like a legit running game
Speaker 2: that could win games in December and January, because justin
Speaker 2: Herbert is phenomenal, but you can't do it alone. They
Speaker 2: haven't won close games, and I think the running game
Speaker 2: was a big reason why. So that's that's the offense.
Speaker 2: We got to give the defensive props.
Speaker 1: Though well, and special teams we got. We got to
Speaker 1: get to the positives of this game, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: Start start with special teams. JK. Scott Man like phenomenal
Speaker 2: when you have a weapon like that. The hangtime that
Speaker 2: he provides and the amount of times he had to
Speaker 2: punt and put that Patriots offense way way back that
Speaker 2: won the game.
Speaker 1: Frankly, special teams was certainly. You know, if you were
Speaker 1: to rank them, I would put, as you know, the
Speaker 1: defense pitch to shut out, yes, But if you ask
Speaker 1: me to rank in order the units, yeah, special teams
Speaker 1: is won because that offense is does not have any
Speaker 1: explosive plays in it. So the fact that you're making
Speaker 1: them go ninety to ninety eight yards on every single
Speaker 1: drive to get a score is what helps your defense
Speaker 1: because now you have an opportunity to eventually get them
Speaker 1: off schedule. Sooner or later on a series. They just
Speaker 1: can't overcome their ineptitude. So that's and that starts with
Speaker 1: the starting field position. So we talked to JK after
Speaker 1: the game. Tells you what kind of game it was.
Speaker 2: That.
Speaker 1: That's who we interviewed the punter, the guy Yeah, and
Speaker 1: he talked about Josh Harris and how he prepared them
Speaker 1: for this game. He's like, you know, Josh was pivotal
Speaker 1: to this game. All week, all we practiced with was
Speaker 1: balls that were wet, NonStop snap. He goes for me
Speaker 1: holding the field goals for Cameron Dicker. We did it
Speaker 1: over and over and over again, balls that were soaking
Speaker 1: wet to make sure we had it, you know, a wet,
Speaker 1: heavy ball for Dicker to kick, to make sure he
Speaker 1: knew what that was going to feel like and to
Speaker 1: make sure that was right. And then for him, he's like,
Speaker 1: you know, the whole operation, he's and you forget about that,
Speaker 1: you know, you forget about the snap, and you know,
Speaker 1: for it to be a perfect snap every time, especially
Speaker 1: in those conditions. I things flying back there fifteen yards,
Speaker 1: you know, and Jk's got to get in his hands,
Speaker 1: spin it to where he wants it, drop it within
Speaker 1: a second and a half two seconds, then be able
Speaker 1: to get his full force into it. You know, he
Speaker 1: almost got one blocked, and he was able to get
Speaker 1: that one off. You know when they really pined their
Speaker 1: ears back and came after it because they recognized there's
Speaker 1: nothing else we can do offensively. We're not making anything happen,
Speaker 1: so we've got to try to figure something out special
Speaker 1: teams wise. And then on top of that, two field
Speaker 1: goals from Dicker made both you know, seven punts, every
Speaker 1: single one of them inside the twenty. I think four
Speaker 1: of them inside the ten or three of them inside
Speaker 1: the ten. I think they had negative six return yards.
Speaker 1: And on top of that thirty four yard punt return
Speaker 1: that sets up a field goal that now forces the
Speaker 1: Patriots to have to go the length of the field
Speaker 1: and score a touchdown and order to gain a lead
Speaker 1: as opposed to it being three zero. So you know,
Speaker 1: special teams really made the difference in that game. And
Speaker 1: it's amazing you talk about how they have not packed
Speaker 1: a running game really since since you know, really they've
Speaker 1: been here, and you know since twenty seven team. This
Speaker 1: was the worst special teams team for about three years
Speaker 1: in a row. You know, it was that like, they
Speaker 1: ranked thirty second in the league multiple years DVOA. They
Speaker 1: are now one, number one, And I think it speaks
Speaker 1: to what Tom Telesco believes in when drafting, especially you know,
Speaker 1: making sure he gets guys that can play special teams.
Speaker 1: These young players. Dan Henley was exceptional and has been
Speaker 1: exceptional on special teams. Nick Neeman, it should be a
Speaker 1: pro bowler on special teams to spend money on Josh Harris,
Speaker 1: to identify and sign JK and Cam and then on
Speaker 1: top of that, especially coach ficken and what he's done
Speaker 1: and how well he has done with this unit to
Speaker 1: make it the best in the league. It's it's impressive.
Speaker 2: We don't say coach Fickens name enough on this podcast,
Speaker 2: you know, special teams coach, but what he's done to
Speaker 2: turn around that you to man in two years has
Speaker 2: been unbelievable. Remember, but he didn't come in with Staley,
Speaker 2: so you know, Staley made the decision to bring him
Speaker 2: in on his second year of his of his tenure
Speaker 2: as the head coach and instant, instant success and you
Speaker 2: know the production of Darius Day. I'm glad you mentioned
Speaker 2: Darius Davis too, because he's been a weapon for this team.
Speaker 2: They had a nice weapon and DeAndre Carter last year,
Speaker 2: who also gave him some flexibility on offense and had
Speaker 2: he had a really good year. But but Darius has
Speaker 2: picked up and and literally ran with it and and
Speaker 2: it's been awesome. What's it like to call a game
Speaker 2: like that for you? And DJ? Like I said, you've
Speaker 2: called forty one thirty eight. Uh, You've called tons of
Speaker 2: games where there's nothing but touchdowns and six nothing.
Speaker 1: I said this, Yeah, I said this at the end
Speaker 1: of the game, and as everyone was kind of laughing,
Speaker 1: and you know, we're joking in the hallway with Spiro
Speaker 1: and Arch about the game we're calling and what a
Speaker 1: mess it is. And I think I'm pretty sure I
Speaker 1: said it on the broadcast, but I've said it repeatedly
Speaker 1: since I cannot count how many pretty losses I've called
Speaker 1: for this team, how many beautiful games that they have
Speaker 1: played that defended in a loss. But I can tell
Speaker 1: you I've maybe called three ugly wins, maybe three. So
Speaker 1: I'll take it. I will take an ugly win. And
Speaker 1: they don't happen often. Pretty losses happen a lot, you know,
Speaker 1: a lot they've happened this year, you know, Detroit, pretty loss, Beautiful,
Speaker 1: Herbert ties to score at thirty eight, you know, with
Speaker 1: three minutes to go. Yeah, they lose on a field goal.
Speaker 1: Game was beautiful, Miami beautiful, back and forth, trade and
Speaker 1: punch is offensively gorgeous game. You know, I'll take it.
Speaker 1: I'll take six nothing, you know. And that then leads
Speaker 1: us to the defense and just how special of a
Speaker 1: season that certainly they can you know, I hope they
Speaker 1: can lift him up. I hope they can punch their
Speaker 1: ticket into the playoffs. So Khalil Mack can win Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year at thirty two, because I've got
Speaker 1: to believe nobody that's ahead of him right now, not
Speaker 1: with not with what he's doing, not with leading the
Speaker 1: league in sacks, leading the league in forced fumbles, and
Speaker 1: leading the league in sackyards. And I think back to
Speaker 1: multiple times the Patriots were knocking on the door. They're
Speaker 1: at the thirty, they're at the thirty five, and here
Speaker 1: it comes, big play, tackle for loss, sack, you know,
Speaker 1: And the thing about the sackyards, he's averaging eight yards
Speaker 1: lost per sack. So think about that, it's third and ten,
Speaker 1: you know, you now make it fourth and eighteen. You
Speaker 1: can't go forward on fourth down. You're pulling them out
Speaker 1: of field goal range. And that has been the case
Speaker 1: with Khalil year. You know, sack after sack after sack,
Speaker 1: he's got a hundred. I think it's one hundred and nineteen.
Speaker 1: I want to say it's one hundred and nineteen yards
Speaker 1: lost on his sacks, on his fifteen sacks. It's been
Speaker 1: really really impressive.
Speaker 2: And to do it without Joey Bosa on the other
Speaker 2: side too, because this current tear that he's on. I
Speaker 2: think he has two sacks in each of his last
Speaker 2: three games, and Joey hasn't been a part of that.
Speaker 2: We obviously know about the six sac game against the Raiders. Uh,
Speaker 2: the rookie Tooley took below two to have him on
Speaker 2: the other side the Chargers. You know, the jury is
Speaker 2: still out on Quentin. Tooley's gonna be a franchise guy.
Speaker 2: I was just gonna say it now. I think the
Speaker 2: Tooley is gonna be a franchise guy for this team,
Speaker 2: and he's gonna make an impact on this franchise for
Speaker 2: the next decade. So to have a rookie on the
Speaker 2: other side, it's a testament to the way Tooley's played
Speaker 2: to allow Khalil to do what he's doing. And you know,
Speaker 2: we've talked about the defensive struggles all year, and you
Speaker 2: know they made adjustments a couple of weeks ago against
Speaker 2: the Ravens, and like I said, Bailey ZAPPI a lot
Speaker 2: to be desired with that Patriots offense. I thought Romandre
Speaker 2: Stevenson leaving the game was a big boost to the
Speaker 2: Chargers defense. But you can't say enough about the year
Speaker 2: Khalil is having and and kind of how he's helping
Speaker 2: this team, trying to will this team into playing meaningful
Speaker 2: football in December Money.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know you started it, and I think I'll
Speaker 1: just pick it up when you mentioned Tooley and and
Speaker 1: this is something I also said, and because I know
Speaker 1: CBS showed the graphic during the game of Clinton and
Speaker 1: how poorly he's performing compared to every other receiver that
Speaker 1: was drafted behind him. And it's certainly a glaring issue
Speaker 1: that that we hope long term will be fine and
Speaker 1: overcome it and continue to grow your Your career is
Speaker 1: not one year. But if you want to ding the
Speaker 1: front office for that selection, well you better give them
Speaker 1: their flowers for the next three because Tooley is a
Speaker 1: steal he. You know, Will Anderson had a really good
Speaker 1: game against the Broncos, but you know Tuley had the
Speaker 1: force fumble and the fumble recovery. Tooley's got pressures. Tooley's helping,
Speaker 1: you know, he's helping Eric Kendricks. That that Eric Kendrick
Speaker 1: sack was a product of Tooley. The you know, the
Speaker 1: the Derwin James sack. They had two guys jump out
Speaker 1: to block Tooley, which opened that lane for Derwin to
Speaker 1: come flying through. So it goes beyond just the numbers
Speaker 1: for him. So that's your second round pick, your third
Speaker 1: round pick. We already mentioned core four special teams player,
Speaker 1: and I wish he'd be on the field for defensive snaps.
Speaker 1: I would love to see Dane Henley out there playing
Speaker 1: some linebacker, but he is. And again he made I
Speaker 1: think two tackles of those seven punts, two of those
Speaker 1: big tackles were I know two were Dean Leonard.
Speaker 2: Two.
Speaker 1: I believe we're Daan though. So there's that one in
Speaker 1: the third round, fourth round. Obviously your number one punt
Speaker 1: returner in the league in the NFL, not rookie, number
Speaker 1: one punt returner in the NFL that has the longest
Speaker 1: punt return for a touchdown, leads the league in punt
Speaker 1: return yards on average, and set up another field goal,
Speaker 1: you know, essentially one that put the game out of
Speaker 1: reach at six nothing. So that's your two, three, and four.
Speaker 1: A draft is not the first round. A draft is
Speaker 1: a complete draft, and those three picks have really made
Speaker 1: an impact for this team. So you know, I think
Speaker 1: it's important to keep that in mind, you know, when
Speaker 1: you're when you're assessing the issues that that Quinton has had,
Speaker 1: and you know, the the disappointment there in in in
Speaker 1: relation to other receivers in the league and their production
Speaker 1: thus far. The rest of the next three picks have
Speaker 1: been exceptional. And and also you mentioned Khalil, you know,
Speaker 1: and you scratched it there, Chris, just how important he's
Speaker 1: been for Touley and and what Tooley has talked about,
Speaker 1: having him to bounce things off of as a mentor
Speaker 1: someone that's helping coach up his game and develop his
Speaker 1: game in his rookie season. So his value goes beyond
Speaker 1: the box score. And what he does on the field,
Speaker 1: considering there's no Joey Bosa and how effective Tooley's been.
Speaker 1: I think the other part of that too is that
Speaker 1: that we have to mention is how good the interior
Speaker 1: line has been. Nick Williams with a huge tackle for loss,
Speaker 1: you know, Morgan Fox has been effective again, you know,
Speaker 1: rushing the pass or from the interiors. Pastin Joseph Day
Speaker 1: has the most sacks of his career rushing from the interior.
Speaker 1: So it's really been a collective that's that's helped to
Speaker 1: overcome this injury to Joey and you know, hopefully he
Speaker 1: can get back before the end of the season.
Speaker 2: Hey, just going back to Darius Davis real quick. I'm
Speaker 2: just looking at a few of these games. So that
Speaker 2: game against the Raiders early in the season, that was
Speaker 2: the game where Austin was out. He had a fifty
Speaker 2: one yard yeah run to open up the game to
Speaker 2: kind of set the tone for that game against the Jets.
Speaker 2: Obviously the touchdown what he did last week. I mean,
Speaker 2: those are three of five wins that Darius Davis has
Speaker 2: had a direct impact on the game and winning the game.
Speaker 2: And this is your fourth round guy. Another guy from
Speaker 2: TCU coincidentally, you know, and I believe Darius had the
Speaker 2: best game of any TCU receiver in the National Championship
Speaker 2: and that blowout lost to Georgia. So he's been huge.
Speaker 2: He's been huge, And you know, we always talk about
Speaker 2: during the offseason where you know free agency, you don't
Speaker 2: quite know who the rookies are going to be yet,
Speaker 2: but a rookie will make an impact on your team,
Speaker 2: and it's just a matter of time before that kind
Speaker 2: of expresses itself throughout the season. I think we're starting
Speaker 2: to see that with Henley a little bit more on
Speaker 2: special teams, and I'm with you, I would love to
Speaker 2: see him out there. I know coach is very high
Speaker 2: on Kendricks and what Murray's doing right now, but finding
Speaker 2: a way to get a number zero on the field
Speaker 2: during these last five games, I think, especially from an
Speaker 2: evaluation perspective, because I don't think there would be much
Speaker 2: drop off if Henley was on the field of defense money.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm just looking at the numbers with the Broncos,
Speaker 1: they are a very good special teams unit. So you know,
Speaker 1: if you're talking about a game that's going to be
Speaker 1: one on the margins, you know, I'm looking at their
Speaker 1: now they're gross and their net punting numbers aren't great,
Speaker 1: but that doesn't matter to me. It's you know, more
Speaker 1: about you know, punt return average, and so they are
Speaker 1: first in punt return average at seventeen point seven. The
Speaker 1: Chargers are second sixteen point six. They are sixth in
Speaker 1: return average against at six and a half. The Chargers
Speaker 1: are tent. That's super misleading because it's one return, it's
Speaker 1: one fifty one yard return that has skewed that stat.
Speaker 1: You take that out and they're probably first, but they're
Speaker 1: tenth at seven point two. So you know, they're converting
Speaker 1: ninety three percent of their field goals. The Chargers are
Speaker 1: converting ninety five percent of their field goals. So Special
Speaker 1: Teams is going to be a battle, and that's it's
Speaker 1: two of the best, if not the two best units
Speaker 1: in the game going head to head, you know, trying
Speaker 1: to you know, provide that little bit of extra you know,
Speaker 1: a little bit of extra push to get a victory.
Speaker 1: And it's gonna be it's gonna be fun, as as
Speaker 1: stupid as that may sound, it's gonna be fun to
Speaker 1: watch those particular units go after one another because they're
Speaker 1: two of the best in the game.
Speaker 2: Perfect segue into the Broncos. Let's take a quick break
Speaker 2: and we'll get into it all right, guys. A big
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Speaker 2: Go Chargers, so Mandy. The Chargers obviously need to sweep
Speaker 2: the Broncos to have any shot at the postseason. Haven't
Speaker 2: swept them since twenty ten. Just to kind of set
Speaker 2: the table on this Broncos team obviously started terrible one
Speaker 2: in five, gave up seventy points to the Dolphins. During
Speaker 2: that five game winning streak, they were a plus thirteen
Speaker 2: turnover differential, which is unheard of. I mean, it's just
Speaker 2: an insane stat that isn't sustainable. They lost twenty two
Speaker 2: to seventeen to the Texas last week. Russ had three picks.
Speaker 2: One was in the end zone at the end where
Speaker 2: you know they had a chance to win it and
Speaker 2: obviously go go on a six game winning streak. But
Speaker 2: we know about Sean Payton, we know about Joe Lombardi.
Speaker 2: This has always been a fierce rivalry and I think
Speaker 2: it's rated up a little bit. What's its stake for
Speaker 2: both teams.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Chargers gotta went out, you know, I gotta win out.
Speaker 1: And the Broncos are darn near close to that as well.
Speaker 1: And I think you can see how resilient that Denver
Speaker 1: team is having started one in five and now finding
Speaker 1: themselves at six and six. You know that that speaks
Speaker 1: a lot to the character of that team and the
Speaker 1: fight in that team. You know, watching watching the Houston
Speaker 1: game back, the running game is good. Russell Wilson looks
Speaker 1: like Russell Wilson again. You know, he's yeah, he's he
Speaker 1: wants to push. I know a lot of people have
Speaker 1: kind of stuck him with that game manager tag because
Speaker 1: of what his overall numbers are. You know what the
Speaker 1: passing yards per game are, the fact that you know
Speaker 1: there aren't a lot of interceptions. Prior to last week,
Speaker 1: I think it was twenty to four is what the
Speaker 1: the tv I T ratio was, you know, and now
Speaker 1: it's twenty one to seven after the three and he
Speaker 1: was a little careless with the football, but he's extending plays,
Speaker 1: he's using his legs. He's their second leading rusher, he's
Speaker 1: their leading rusher in yards per carry and pushing the
Speaker 1: ball downfield, and he and Courtland Sutton got something special going.
Speaker 1: They they are, they are. He's got the Cortland's got
Speaker 1: nine touchdowns and he's got explosive plays all over the field.
Speaker 1: And that's gonna be a headache. So you're gonna want
Speaker 1: it to You're gonna want your defense to be connected.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be incredibly important. That pass rush has to
Speaker 1: get home. They've got to mind the edges. They cannot
Speaker 1: let Russell break contain because if he does, you've got
Speaker 1: capable receivers, you're gonna be able to break free for
Speaker 1: some big gainers downfield. So it's gonna be gonna have
Speaker 1: to be disciplined. And I think it's, you know, just
Speaker 1: don't don't let I would it's crazy to say, because
Speaker 1: they have a good running game with Yvonte Williams, who's
Speaker 1: Who's looks like he's starting to get back to himself
Speaker 1: after the injury. Looked like he really had that juice
Speaker 1: last week against Houston. But I still think, just if
Speaker 1: you can take away Courtland Sutton, you know, Russell is
Speaker 1: has been very focused on him, So see if you
Speaker 1: can take that away and force him to beat you,
Speaker 1: you know, other you know with other pass catchers.
Speaker 2: Do you put on some money?
Speaker 1: I will multiple people, you know, I think I don't
Speaker 1: think you have a lockdown corner on this team. You know,
Speaker 1: it's you just don't so I.
Speaker 2: Right now, Dean Leonard is he's in the he's on
Speaker 2: the injury report. Sorry, he's on the injury report as
Speaker 2: we tape this. Uh yeah, I think with a heel.
Speaker 2: So I don't know if he practiced on Wednesday or not.
Speaker 2: But yeah, so Mikey would be back out there. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, Mikey be back out there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think it's it's gonna be a challenge with
Speaker 1: the defense. It's funny with the defense, Like as I
Speaker 1: watch it, parts of it are really good. You know,
Speaker 1: Sirtan is still exceptional and teams are just staying away
Speaker 1: from him. So they're gonna put certain on Keenan. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm quite certain of that, that would be my assumption.
Speaker 1: But like they just take the ball away. That's what
Speaker 1: they've been doing. They've been creating turnovers. So you think
Speaker 1: about the drops. Those drops can turn into picks, you know.
Speaker 1: I think about Quinton bobbling that thing and it's boobling
Speaker 1: around in the air and it's like that's those turn
Speaker 1: into interceptions. Yeah, Like that's that's what you got to
Speaker 1: be careful of. You know, the one that popped off
Speaker 1: of Keenan's chest and popped up into the air when
Speaker 1: he was being checked by J. C. Jackson just didn't
Speaker 1: quite get his hands out far enough in front of Like,
Speaker 1: those can turn into interceptions against this team. They're very
Speaker 1: good tips overthrows. They force a ton of fumbles. They're
Speaker 1: first in fumble recoveries with twelve, so their fumble luck
Speaker 1: is incredible. Chargers, by the way, second they got ten,
Speaker 1: So fumble luck Baltimore game, notwithstanding, has been incredible this year.
Speaker 1: So for me, like it's you have got to take
Speaker 1: care of the football because last week, notwithstanding, for the Broncos,
Speaker 1: they've taken care of the football. They do not give
Speaker 1: it away. So that's that's going to be a big
Speaker 1: part of it. Like that just I think speaks to
Speaker 1: how close these two teams appear to be out there.
Speaker 1: But oh yeah, so I was saying, so like Chargers
Speaker 1: are twenty ninth in yard in total defense, the Broncos
Speaker 1: are thirty first. Now, look there's a seventy point game
Speaker 1: in there that skews these numbers a little bit. But
Speaker 1: they've played thirteen games, or you know, they've played thirteen games,
Speaker 1: so they're you know, there there are twelve games. I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: they've played twelve games. So yeah, you can overcome the
Speaker 1: seventy point game and get that number down. But no,
Speaker 1: they're thirty first in total offense, thirty first in yards
Speaker 1: per play, twenty ninth in points per game, thirty second
Speaker 1: against the run, twenty fourth against the pass. They're you
Speaker 1: can get them, like you can get them now. They've
Speaker 1: been better as of late. You know, when you go
Speaker 1: through the schedule and you think about you know, they
Speaker 1: held Cleveland to twelve, they held Minnesota to twenty, they
Speaker 1: held Buffalo to twenty two, they held Kansas City to nine,
Speaker 1: they held Green Bay to seventeen on that five game
Speaker 1: win streak, so you know, they lost by giving up
Speaker 1: twenty two. So they've definitely cleaned things up from earlier
Speaker 1: in the season. Went over a three week span, they
Speaker 1: gave up one hundred and thirty two points, so you know,
Speaker 1: that's where the numbers get a little bit. But I
Speaker 1: do think I do think there's plays to be made
Speaker 1: out there. We saw that from Houston in that game
Speaker 1: that there are plays to be made out there, and
Speaker 1: you can trust that Justin's gonna be able to make them.
Speaker 2: So we got to figure out who that's gonna be. Right,
Speaker 2: if we're just kind of reverse engineering this, we say, Okay,
Speaker 2: Sertain's gonna be on Keenan, Right, we haven't really found
Speaker 2: out who the number two guy is. It could be anybody.
Speaker 2: Maybe it's Yer Old Everett, you know, maybe Ericson gets
Speaker 2: more run Like you said, Jalen Geiten deep. I think
Speaker 2: the key is gonna be Austin Eckler, and it's just
Speaker 2: finding ways to get him the football and hoping that
Speaker 2: he's ready to go. And then you know, like you said,
Speaker 2: you can run on them. Yeah, try to run, But
Speaker 2: who do you run with?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: Is it gonna be more Joshua?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: That's what you know? Coach Staley said that, you know,
Speaker 2: there's gonna be some competition. I don't know what that means.
Speaker 2: I don't know if that means less for Austin, more
Speaker 2: for Joshua or Isaiah comes in the mix too and
Speaker 2: we give him a run.
Speaker 1: So I think, you know the interesting thing about the
Speaker 1: Houston game is we know you know they want to
Speaker 1: on the ball with you know, with Singletary and Pierce
Speaker 1: came back and they only rushed for three yards per carry.
Speaker 1: They ran it thirty times for eighty nine yards. But
Speaker 1: Nico Collins tore them apart, tore them apart nine catches,
Speaker 1: one hundred and ninety one yards in a tug.
Speaker 2: So, like I said, down, go out of that game. Money.
Speaker 2: So excuse me what.
Speaker 1: Tank Dell left pretty early. I don't even think he
Speaker 1: had a target. So here, Yeah, he didn't even have
Speaker 1: a target. So you know, Stroud throws for two seventy
Speaker 1: four a touchdown on what sixteen to twenty seven passing
Speaker 1: explosive plays all over the field, Brevin Jordan goes three
Speaker 1: for sixty four and then it just kind of falls
Speaker 1: out from there. But you know, they found they found
Speaker 1: a waldo, they attacked and you know they got after it.
Speaker 1: So that's and that's the thing about the Broncos, right
Speaker 1: when when you look at it, like, yes, Justin Simmons
Speaker 1: and Patsertan are you know, the two of the best,
Speaker 1: if not the best free safety and the best corner
Speaker 1: in the league. You've got to contend with that. But
Speaker 1: then you look at Fabian Moreau, you know, and like,
Speaker 1: and that's what they did. They just so you've got
Speaker 1: an opportunity. They're up front, they're good it. You know,
Speaker 1: they're good at rushing the passer. I don't feel like
Speaker 1: they're exceptional at rushing the passer. So I think there's
Speaker 1: plays to be made out there offensively. There's a waldo.
Speaker 1: His name's Mike McGlinchey, and man, he is leaky. He
Speaker 1: is it's and you saw that last week. They and
Speaker 1: you've seen it every week for the Chargers. Like that's
Speaker 1: the one thing that they have been really really good at.
Speaker 1: Coach Staley, Coach Ansley, you know, Giff Smith, who coaches
Speaker 1: a defensive line, they find the waldo. If it's on
Speaker 1: the interior, they find it. If it's on the edges
Speaker 1: at the tackle position, they find it and they exploit it.
Speaker 1: And you know, they exploited it for six sacks against
Speaker 1: the Raiders, and they exploited it last week. Both tackles
Speaker 1: were leaky, but but Khalil really was able to use
Speaker 1: some speed against Trent Brown. And I think McGlinchey is
Speaker 1: Garrett Bowles had a nice year. But you can get mcglinchy.
Speaker 1: You you can get him, So I think that's what
Speaker 1: you're going to try to to get after. You know,
Speaker 1: stay away from Cirtan, make sure your receivers whoever's opposite
Speaker 1: who's being covered by Monroe or you know, by Moreau,
Speaker 1: attack attack there. And you know, I would please keep
Speaker 1: it away from Baron Browning. My gosh, guys at nightmare
Speaker 1: whenever he plays the Chargers, keep it away from him.
Speaker 2: He's a force. You know what you Russ had a
Speaker 2: really good game against the Charges of week eighteen, and
Speaker 2: I think the one touchdown that the Broncos head that
Speaker 2: Monday game was the dultest wide open. But Russ eder
Speaker 2: Denver thinking he was something he wasn't, and Sean Payton
Speaker 2: has brought him back down to earth. He's playing I
Speaker 2: think largely how he played in Seattle, where you know,
Speaker 2: for the most part, mistake free, not a game manager,
Speaker 2: but but knows when to make the right similar decision, right, yeah, similar.
Speaker 1: I mean he's pushing the ball downfield, he's extending, he's
Speaker 1: doing his pirouettes, he's running the ball. You know, he's
Speaker 1: back to doing all those things. I do think Chris
Speaker 1: and look, I don't like Sean Payton I just put
Speaker 1: it out there. I'm just not a fan. I don't
Speaker 1: like the way he handled the when he's at Fox
Speaker 1: and he's got people, because I know he's got people.
Speaker 1: I know I've worked with him. I know some of
Speaker 1: his people in the media you know that are breaking
Speaker 1: you know, not breaking news, but sharing stories about how
Speaker 1: much coach loves living in southern California but he'd love
Speaker 1: to get back into coaching. It's like, yeah, we can
Speaker 1: connect those dots, you idiot. We know what you're saying. Hey, Chargers,
Speaker 1: fire Brandon Staley. I want to coach the Chargers and
Speaker 1: it's lame. And I hope Brandon sticks it up there,
Speaker 1: you know, in both of these games. I really do,
Speaker 1: because it's not cool. That is not the way you
Speaker 1: operate when you're a head coach in this league and
Speaker 1: there's only thirty two of these jobs, and you know
Speaker 1: how tough it is to win week in and week out.
Speaker 1: So you know, I'd like nothing more than to truly
Speaker 1: have him humiliated. I'll be honest. I just I do
Speaker 1: not like him. On top of that, the stuff he
Speaker 1: said about Nate Hackett not cool. No need to do that,
Speaker 1: which is why I was so ecstatic that they started
Speaker 1: out one and five and I'd hoped they would finish
Speaker 1: one in sixteen. But you've got to give him his credit.
Speaker 1: He was able to keep them focused, keep them believing.
Speaker 1: He got him back onto his path. He's a good coach.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to argue that, however, And I bring
Speaker 1: that up because I want to make sure I say this.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying this because I'm not a head coach
Speaker 1: in the league. But I think you see the Jets
Speaker 1: and you see what the Broncos were last year, it's
Speaker 1: clear that Nate Hackett has got issues calling offense. Clearly
Speaker 1: he has got serious issues calling offense. So I think
Speaker 1: it's important to point out, you know, maybe was it somewhat,
Speaker 1: was there some of Russell Wilson issues there last year? Yeah,
Speaker 1: But I think it's also important to point out, look
Speaker 1: at what's going this Jets offense is. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: an embarrassment, and that's Aaron Rodgers' fault, you know. And
Speaker 1: that's why Nate Hackett ended up in Denver because I
Speaker 1: thought they were going to trade for Rogers. And that's
Speaker 1: why Nate Hackett ended up in New York because Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers wanted him, and he's not a good play caller,
Speaker 1: and it's affected both of those teams all that. I'll
Speaker 1: be honest, Risus, I'm not that surprised that Russell wilson
Speaker 1: s bounce back. He's a good quarterback. He's a really
Speaker 1: good quarterback. So to think that his career was over,
Speaker 1: I thought was just a little crazy money.
Speaker 2: The other lair to this is the Joe Lombardi. Lair
Speaker 2: who spent the last two years with the Chargers obviously
Speaker 2: knows the personnel of the offense, most of it is
Speaker 2: the same, and you know, obviously is probably aligned with
Speaker 2: Peyton in those meetings about what he has seen from
Speaker 2: Herbert and the offense and the defense. He's been in
Speaker 2: that building for the last two years. How much do
Speaker 2: you think that will impact the game because the Chargers
Speaker 2: also know Joe Lombardi.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think it impacts it at all. Really,
Speaker 1: I think there's an all familiarity. But I think when
Speaker 1: Callen came in, he had said this that offense is
Speaker 1: so similar. So many teams share concepts and plays, and
Speaker 1: you can watch film and know exactly what most people
Speaker 1: are doing. Now, I think what you're talking to and
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say it's not going to impact. You're talking
Speaker 1: tendencies when plays breakdown. This is where he likes to
Speaker 1: But I think most people again can see that, you know,
Speaker 1: they watch the film and they can they can assess
Speaker 1: that themselves.
Speaker 2: Peyton I was like Joe, I thought he said, he said, well,
Speaker 2: you know what the film is? The film, right, you know,
Speaker 2: because they ask about Joe Lombardi and he said exactly
Speaker 2: what you said.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So that's an I And you know, I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to steal it from them and pretend like I
Speaker 1: didn't hear that. I didn't. But to me, it's to me,
Speaker 1: it's execution, protecting the football. The offense is the offense.
Speaker 1: It's twelve weeks in for both these teams, they are
Speaker 1: what they are. There's for me, it's the getting over
Speaker 1: the drops, figuring out why they're dropping so many footballs
Speaker 1: when they didn't when they led the league in fewest
Speaker 1: drops the first nine weeks of the season to the
Speaker 1: last three now leading the league in drops, you go
Speaker 1: from one to thirty two. That's a that's a pretty
Speaker 1: drastic difference there. What's going on? And if you can't
Speaker 1: catch the ball, let's get you off the field, and
Speaker 1: let's get someone who can because Justin's busting his tail
Speaker 1: back there. He's holding onto the ball, he's willing to
Speaker 1: take the hits, he's avoiding the sacks, he's making great
Speaker 1: decisions and he's not getting paid off on it. So
Speaker 1: got to do that. And don't let Court and Sutton
Speaker 1: beat you, and don't let Pats ertan and and that
Speaker 1: that turnover happy Justin Simmons. Don't let those guys take
Speaker 1: the ball away. And this should be a really tight game,
Speaker 1: should be a really tight notty, I'm not breaking news.
Speaker 1: Chargers don't play blowouts, you know, so what they do
Speaker 1: gonna look, I just will it be a high scoring
Speaker 1: a litle screen. I don't know it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a one score game though, that's that's
Speaker 1: for certain.
Speaker 2: I've I've told myself. You know, we're not talking playoffs anymore.
Speaker 2: This five day stretch though, When you play two AFC opponents,
Speaker 2: you just beat an AFC opponent, that's big, right. It
Speaker 2: doesn't matter if it's six to nothing or you know,
Speaker 2: thirty five to nothing. You beat an AFC opponent in
Speaker 2: the New England Patriots, But coming up Sunday versus Denver
Speaker 2: at your place. Then you got to turn around and
Speaker 2: play the Raiders on Thursday night. It's five day stretch
Speaker 2: of football. Money will tell us a ton about this
Speaker 2: football team, where they're going this year and kind of
Speaker 2: what's in store for next year. I mean, the two
Speaker 2: division opponents. You've already beaten the Raiders. It's an opportunity
Speaker 2: to get to gosh, what do they have. They have
Speaker 2: won two, so they have four AFC West games to
Speaker 2: close this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, their entire schedule is AFC. It's it's Broncos twice,
Speaker 1: Raiders Chiefs, and then the Buffalo game on Saturday night.
Speaker 1: It's it's just the playoffs, Chris, That's what it is. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you knock off the Broncos twice and you get the
Speaker 1: sweep there, so now you've got the tie breaker. You
Speaker 1: knock off the Raiders twice, you get to sweep. Essentially,
Speaker 1: you put them out of the playoffs. You give the Raiders,
Speaker 1: let's say they beat Minnesota this week, you give them
Speaker 1: their eighth loss. They're out because you've swept them and
Speaker 1: you now have that advantage over them. You beat the Bills.
Speaker 1: So let's just say let's say the Chargers if and
Speaker 1: this goes back to what we talked about last week
Speaker 1: when they had lost their third game in a row,
Speaker 1: and it's like, what do we know? What do we
Speaker 1: have to look forward to? And it's like, well, it
Speaker 1: lays out. It lays out for them where they can
Speaker 1: stay concerned and focused on themselves. They do not have
Speaker 1: to watch the rest of the league. All they have
Speaker 1: to do is win. It's that simple. They will not
Speaker 1: need help from anyone else because if the Bills show
Speaker 1: up here in week sixteen at eight and six, the
Speaker 1: Chargers will show up at seven and seven, and if
Speaker 1: they win that game, they'll be eight and seven, just
Speaker 1: like the Bills with the tiebreaker, and now you will
Speaker 1: jump them. So it's all. And by the way, the
Speaker 1: Bills are going to play at Kansas City and they
Speaker 1: will play Dallas. Those are their two games going into
Speaker 1: the Charger game. So and I'm I'm giving them wins
Speaker 1: in both of those like that, even if they get
Speaker 1: the wins, the Chargers, as long as they win, will
Speaker 1: still have an opportunity to knock them out the next week.
Speaker 1: Sweep the Broncos, knock them out the next week. Think
Speaker 1: about best case, and this is now powder Blue Glasses,
Speaker 1: Pie in the sky. They do something that we haven't
Speaker 1: seen them do all the year.
Speaker 2: You should have this part of the podcast sponsored.
Speaker 1: Exactly this is But like, imagine if they can figure
Speaker 1: this out. And they did last year. And that's why
Speaker 1: I don't feel stupid like a Homer saying it. But
Speaker 1: they were six and six and we were talking about
Speaker 1: what a mess lost in Vegas. This is a mess
Speaker 1: the team had, so and then they ripped off four
Speaker 1: straight and Week eighteen could have been five straight, but
Speaker 1: they played weird. Some guys played, some guys didn't, some
Speaker 1: guys played a half, some guys didn't, and they you know,
Speaker 1: so just throw that one out. So if they win
Speaker 1: four straight again, if you know, they had to end
Speaker 1: up being five straight. But if they win their next four,
Speaker 1: think about Week eighteen, think about Week eight team Kansas
Speaker 1: City at so far, maybe the Chiefs are playing for
Speaker 1: the number one seed and the Chargers are playing to
Speaker 1: punch their ticket into the playoffs. And if the Chiefs win,
Speaker 1: they get the one seed and the Chargers get knocked
Speaker 1: out of the postseason. And if the Chargers win, the
Speaker 1: Chiefs don't get the one seed. And the two teams
Speaker 1: will face each other the next week in the first
Speaker 1: round of the wild Card for the for the third time.
Speaker 2: And like, that's just the Football Night in America promo
Speaker 2: for Week eight teen.
Speaker 1: That's how it could that's if they can take care
Speaker 1: of this, if they can play inspired football, that's what
Speaker 1: we could be headed towards. If the football gods smile
Speaker 1: upon us, which they rarely do, but if for some
Speaker 1: reason it twenty three they decided to, that's how we
Speaker 1: could start twenty twenty four with a winner, you know,
Speaker 1: essentially not winner take all, but one seed versus just
Speaker 1: getting into the playoffs and then being able to take
Speaker 1: the team on that you just knocked off the following
Speaker 1: week to try to knock him out of the postseason
Speaker 1: after knocking them out of the one seed and a
Speaker 1: buy the defending Super Bowl champs. Like, that's what this
Speaker 1: is is set up for them to be able to
Speaker 1: accomplish if they can take care of their football business.
Speaker 2: On the field, and it would be even more impressive
Speaker 2: than last year because during that winning streak, you beat
Speaker 2: Nick Foles, you beat Malik Willitts and Ryan Tannehill, you
Speaker 2: beat Baker Mayfield as a ram who was there for
Speaker 2: like a few weeks. This version, you'd have to beat
Speaker 2: Russell Wilson twice one on the road. You'd have to
Speaker 2: be Josh Allen at your place. You might be Patrick
Speaker 2: Mahome's Week eight team exactly with eg O'Connell sprinkled it
Speaker 2: on a Thursday night. So I mean, that would be
Speaker 2: a heck of a way to close the year.
Speaker 1: Yes and not. And you said you're asking to do
Speaker 1: it beyond the quarterbacks division opponents. You've got to be
Speaker 1: four Division You've got to win four division games. Not
Speaker 1: not easy. The odds are not Look, I'm not kidding anybody,
Speaker 1: the odds are not in their favor. They split with
Speaker 1: the Broncos almost every year. They've been splitting with the
Speaker 1: Raiders almost every year lately. The Chiefs have had their
Speaker 1: number year in and year out. Since Patrick Mahomes became
Speaker 1: the quarterback. I think they have three wins against him,
Speaker 1: and one of those it was a Chiefs are rushing
Speaker 1: everybody last week of the year, So I understand. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, I also understand this. The Broncos
Speaker 1: were one in five. The Raiders have already fired their
Speaker 1: head coach and their offensive coordinator and are playing a
Speaker 1: fourth round rookie quarterback. The Chiefs have not looked good offensively.
Speaker 1: Look at the Chiefs last here's the Chiefs last five.
Speaker 1: Last five games, they have scored nine, twenty one, seventeen.
Speaker 1: They hung thirty one on the Raiders after falling behind
Speaker 1: fourteen to nothing. Yep, and nineteen. The offense is not right.
Speaker 1: The offense is not right. Patrick Mahomes is looking for
Speaker 1: that receiver. He seems like Rashie Rice might be it,
Speaker 1: but he's still searching. The defense has been a little
Speaker 1: bit leaky. It's gotten a lot more leaky than it
Speaker 1: had been, so they can be had they you know,
Speaker 1: it's a little bit of a different sort of setup.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, it's important to keep it all
Speaker 1: in context, the good and the bad. You know, the
Speaker 1: bad you split with him, and the Chiefs have had
Speaker 1: your number. The good. His teams don't look that great.
Speaker 1: Broncos are one and five. They just lost to a
Speaker 1: Texans team that had the number two pick in the
Speaker 1: draft last year. You know, so.
Speaker 2: I won't apologize for this portion of the podcast, by
Speaker 2: the way, because if you're a Chargers fan, you're listening
Speaker 2: and watching Charges weekly because you want the charges do
Speaker 2: well as long as they're in the mix. I'm just
Speaker 2: telling you what lay out some positive vibes, right Like,
Speaker 2: hey man, I grew up in the DC area and
Speaker 2: the Washington Now commanders right every every December because they
Speaker 2: were always nine and seven, eight and eight, ten and six,
Speaker 2: always or worse. So when they were in contention, December
Speaker 2: was fantastic because I would do the scenarios. I would say,
Speaker 2: if they lose here, that's okay because if they win
Speaker 2: the next three and this team loses, you got a shot. Now,
Speaker 2: you don't want to be in that situation more times
Speaker 2: than not. But this is where we are. They're still
Speaker 2: in contention, and until they're not, we can lay out
Speaker 2: some scenarios, give some people some hope.
Speaker 1: No, and look, I'll finish on this. The point that
Speaker 1: I'm that I'm making is we thought, like always that
Speaker 1: the AFC was going to be this buzz saw and
Speaker 1: you had better be able to keep up. And it's anything,
Speaker 1: but every team has been sucked back to Earth and
Speaker 1: has issues. Pittsburgh is starting tonight as we record this podcast.
Speaker 1: We got a Mitch Trubisky against a Bill Belichick defense
Speaker 1: seven and five Steelers team, the Cleveland Browns just played
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco, who looked old and slow and got blown
Speaker 1: off the field by the Rams eventually in the second half.
Speaker 1: The Colts, Like, the teams that you need to be
Speaker 1: worried about are the Colts and the Texans, and thankfully
Speaker 1: they all play each other. The Jags, who now have
Speaker 1: no Trevor Lawrence, the Colts and the Texans are going
Speaker 1: to close the season by playing each other in this
Speaker 1: round robin for the AFC South, Like there is Jajoe
Speaker 1: monro Is.
Speaker 2: Jake Brown, and Kurt Warner.
Speaker 1: We don't know, That's what I mean now, Like the
Speaker 1: Bills are six and six. So the only point I'm
Speaker 1: making is you don't you don't have to have heartbreak
Speaker 1: because you were five and you were four and seven
Speaker 1: and you went on that three game losing straight because
Speaker 1: you lost to Tennessee in Week two. They can they
Speaker 1: all they have to focus on the Chargers is this week,
Speaker 1: and if they win this week, all they have to
Speaker 1: focus on is next week. They don't need any help.
Speaker 1: They can punch their ticket into the postseason on their
Speaker 1: own by winning out. Even though they were four and seven,
Speaker 1: they can still get into the postseason on their own
Speaker 1: volition without other teams falling out. All they have to
Speaker 1: do is win. And I think that's that's got to
Speaker 1: be a much more comfortable position for Brandon Staley and
Speaker 1: his staff to be in. Guys, don't worry about anything.
Speaker 1: The playoffs are still there. It's still a very real
Speaker 1: that that is still a very real outcome of this season.
Speaker 1: Just got to win. We just had to get to
Speaker 1: ten wins in a different way, that's all. So let's
Speaker 1: go get there.
Speaker 2: Let's go do it Sunday Chargers Broncos in a quick turnaround.
Speaker 2: Imagine we're gonna have to tape charge weekly early next week,
Speaker 2: maybe on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Right, Well, I would guess we'll leave probably a little
Speaker 1: bit later on Wednesday, just because it's a Thursday night game,
Speaker 1: so I can't anticipate the we're gonna be leaving before noon.
Speaker 1: My guess is we can bang this thing out on
Speaker 1: Wednesday morning.
Speaker 2: Okay, and and maybe we'll have a better idea of
Speaker 2: the injury report we want to get you guys.
Speaker 1: Shoot, Chris, we can do it on Thursday.
Speaker 2: Do it from I want as many people listening to
Speaker 2: this thing as possible, though, so that's true.
Speaker 1: So let's go Wednesday.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll do Wednesday morning.
Speaker 1: We'll do Wednesday. Get them ready, live on the.
Speaker 2: Pod, Get you ready, and hopefully it's it's coming off
Speaker 2: a big win against the Broncos and better be you know,
Speaker 2: gets you the seven seven if you beat the Raiders,
Speaker 2: the better. I think we laid it out. Nice man,
Speaker 2: anything else, all good, all, good man, all right. Uh,
Speaker 2: enjoy the game, guys. Uh say hi if we see
Speaker 2: it so far. For money, I'm Chris. We'll see you
Speaker 2: next week.