Colt and Catch Fire! Previewing Week 12

35:58Like they're so good at containing and retracing and it's just relentless. I mean, I, we talked about them a little bit on Tuesday, but the performance against Stafford was like eyeopening. It was not eyeopening because we've been talking about them all year, but yeah. Anyways, that's about as big of a mismatch as it gets. I imagine we are both on the Seahawks there. Yep. All right. Let's wrap by talking about actually a good game and a really important game. This could be Kansas City's last stand. I mean, I haven't looked at the little playoff, how much they change depending on a win or loss, but this is huge, not for the Colts, but for the Colts, with the Broncos winning and you want a chance at that number one seed, and I think that is important.

36:42But for Kansas City, they got to win. There's no losses from here on out. So you're on the Colts. I'll talk about the Chiefs side of this. There's a lot to unpack here. I'm looking at the Chiefs offense in this one. Because I do think with the Colts defense, there are places you can go after. There's a couple of things that I think they need to do in this game. Mahomes has to start connecting on those deep balls. I mean, I'm the biggest Patrick Mahomes apologist. I'm not the biggest. I'm friends with Nick Wright. But he's just missing guys. A couple of lanes against Denver, I was kind of surprised.

37:27I think Thornton is their best deep ball receiver. And he gets open. I was just going to say, that was the one that he missed, right? He missed him on that. Oh, my God. He's wide open. I just watched that. He's not even under pressure. I just couldn't believe it. But notable because Indianapolis is 26th in 20-yard completions, 20-plus yard completions, and QBR, and they have zero interceptions against deep balls this year. So that's an opportunity. The other thing I think is an opportunity is I think this could be a big Travis Kelsey game. The Colts struggle to defend tight ends. They are 30th in success rate, 26th in yards per play, 28th in DVOA when quarterbacks throw to their tight ends.

38:10and especially with sauce Gardner now in the mix that to me when I look at them strikes me as like if I'm Kansas City I'm not loving the receivers too much outside the numbers in this one so I think this could be a big Travis Kelsey game yeah no and that's a that's a great point too with with Mahomes just not connecting with God and I offer your point with Kelsey I think he does have a big game and then um I also want I mean sauce I thought he looked pretty good against the Falcons you know when they played in London. And they should have been, what, they have Ward, I think, coming back this week?

38:43I believe so, yeah, last I saw. Yeah, so that's their fully armed battle station on defense. Yeah, so healthy. I mean, the Forrest Buckner still on IR, obviously hurts him. And that's kind of my key for the game, I think. Just Indy's defense versus designed off-tackle runs. You know, not to get so far into the weeds with that one, but it's just can Casey actually run the football and establish early. Right, right. No, you're right. You're right. It's the right point, especially watching them against the Falcons. And, yeah, but, yeah, I can't see. Yeah. So, and just with Kareem Hunt, that's what I'm looking for, and hopefully they can do that.

39:26Just with opposing teams running off tackles, it's over 60 % of the time. Yeah. So teams are definitely going after them, at least off tackle. But in Atlanta, I think it was 25 or 28 runs of just off tackle or at least designed runs to the outside, I should say, with Bijan or Bijan, whatever you want to call it. But yeah, that was one thing that I watched when I watched that film. I actually wrote down, I was like, you know, the Colts defense is lucky they don't have to face the Colts offense because I think Jonathan Taylor would go crazy. Yeah, but I think fortunately for Indianapolis, you're right, Kansas City should do that, but they've not been a good running team.

40:16I'll be interested in seeing if the Colts, especially with those cornerbacks now playing, lean into man coverage, just given the Chiefs struggles against that. And if they do that, then I think Mahomes just has to scramble like crazy and do the Mahomes thing. Because that's probably their best chance consistently against man coverage. Yeah. And obviously, that's how he shines, right? In the big moments, Mahomes. But yeah, I really am with you on the man coverage. with Blackman, Sauce, Ward coming back, and Nick Frost is playing well, Bynum in the back. They look like a good defense right now. The secondary is good.

41:01Yeah. Yeah, Latu's good. But I think, yeah, against good running teams, you're a little worried. So we haven't talked about the other side of the ball.

41:12So there's a lot of things I worry about with the Chiefs. I always talk about attacking the backers. Colts are very, very good at that play action. Chiefs have a mid-run defense that struggles and runs mostly between the tackles, actually, for them. We did the fatal flaw for the Colts, and I talked about how their fatal flaw is just playing from behind. Because Daniel Jones, when he's tied or ahead, his QBR is fifth. When they're behind, it drops to 30th. That's when you start to see some of those mistakes, especially when the run action is off the table. for but you know like do we think that's going to happen in this one right like again it falls upon the offense i think for kansas city to keep this game script manageable uh because i think game script is kind of the only thing i really worry about with indianapolis right now yeah and i just love how the colts run the football right now too just by a quentin nelson um bordellini concave like especially interiorly they're so good um so i i'm i'd be curious to see how they're just running the football you know especially in this game you know can they obviously they you know they're very good at it you know i'm not saying they're but just the um just being you know really picking up where they left off you know uh we're just with this defense yeah Coming off of the Jonathan Taylor insane game.

42:35Kansas City's actually favored. I guess that's more like Kansas City backs against the wall. We've seen this. I'm taking the Colts. They're a better team. Maybe they'll lose, but they're a better team. They just are. Yeah, no. Mahomes has never lost. So excluding the Super Bowl, he's never lost three regular season games in a row. He lost the last Super Bowl, and then this year he's 0-2. too. So, but, so I guess that, but I'm saying excluding that Superbowl, he's never lost three games in a row. So I'm, I'm taking the cheap. I'm taking my homes in this one. So we are split on this one. No, that's, I mean, I think Vegas probably thinking along those lines too.

43:16And also I think, you know, if people are a little bit worried about Daniel Jones, now we've had a few weeks where we've gotten some of the old, old Daniel Jones, but I just, they're just, they're not as good. I don't know. I mean, maybe I'm wrong. They're just the Colts are a better team. All right, Let's take a quick break, come back and talk about the rest of these games.

44:00And Messi only trusts Duracell.

44:31MLB.tv on ESPN is your home for every out-of-market game, live or on demand. Catch your favorite teams and players, plus MLB Network and ESPN app features like Multiview, syncing your stats, key plays, bets, and fantasy, all in one place. Sign up now for MLB.tv in the ESPN app. Separate subscriptions required, blackouts, and other terms apply. Visit stream.espn.com slash MLB TV for more information. all right we're back uh so i give myself jets ravens woof woof this is the other massive spread game of the week um tyra taylor starting for the jets uh ravens defense has really improved but if they haven't faced like serious i you know i want to see them i don't know when they're next they have the patriots at some point that's going to be a really interesting test uh but my focus here is is lamar jackson because the took me a second to get to the Browns, but the game, offense still just ain't right.

45:35It's just not right yet. The thing I wrote, there's a lot of things you can point to, but I think if I had to isolate, they're still not running the ball the way they did last year. That's a big thing. The quick game is not as efficient as it was last season. I think people always think about Lamar and they think about the crazy outstructure plays and it's like, oh my god, how he did that? He found a guy downfield, but the reality is he was just an assassin last year on quick game and that's not been the case um but the thing i would emphasize that i think is relevant to this game if like this goes sideways for baltimore is just the sacks that he's taken um i've mentioned this before and his play under pressure generally but he last year had the second best pressure to sack ratio or probably fourth best in football this year it's 31st he is sacked 30 percent of the time when he's pressured geez and um also his play under pressure and this is partially because of those sacks last year was second qbr this year it's 23rd um i don't think he's losing his athleticism i'm not like he can't escape anymore but i do think the offensive line isn't getting quite they're not as good as they were last year and it just feels like when I watch them they aren't like the run pass conflict in particular isn't working like it did last season but yeah he just can't take those sacks especially when they start playing better defenses yeah no and I think their own line has definitely missed a beat I think 100 % watching them but then also switching it to the Jets linebackers, I think, off of play action that Lamar has success this year throwing off of play action, especially with Drake May off, you know, when they played Drake May and his intermediate passing and off of play action.

47:30Yeah, he's just playing on. You're talking about the Jets. The Jets linebackers. The Jets, sorry, the Jets linebackers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the Jets linebackers, I think, just not good in play action, right? They get sucked in in the run game, and then they can't get the depth and turn their heads and watch anything develop behind them. So I think that's going to be where Lamar needs to get to in this game and at least get back to that and playing off of play action a little bit better. And they ran the ball well, too, last week against the Braves. Yeah, they didn't use a lot of play action, though, against the Braves.

48:01No. That was interesting. I thought they would. Yeah. Yeah, different. Hopefully that changes. I imagine we're both on the Ravens here. I don't really need to talk about Tyrod Taylor. Okay, so I mentioned the Browns. I gave you Browns Raiders, which is going to have a hilarious amount of eyeballs on it because of the news. It really is. Or Sanders is starting. A great start option opportunity for him because we watched this Raiders defense on Monday Night Football. You're welcome to talk about him, but if there's another direction you want to go in, that is fine as well. Yeah, no, and unfortunately, I was back and forth.

48:41I was thinking about it because they have been running the ball well out of 12 personnel and then play action off of it with their two tight ends. So I was like, maybe I can kind of tie Shador into that one, but I'm going the opposite side of the ball, and I'm going just Browns pass rush. Like it's just, you know, Miles Garrett versus these Raiders tackles. The Raiders offensive line. Yeah, offensive line in general. I mean, that was the other thing about the Ravens against the Browns is my scared. I mean, what miles Garrett didn't that game? Oh my. The craziest part too. I posted something about like how his get off was 0.6 seconds, which is like the highest.

49:19It's insane. And then you go back and watch, you can tell the tackles are so afraid of him. I'm not, you know, an offensive line expert, but you can just tell by their sets. They're just like, Oh, they don't want to come out of their fans right yeah it's just like and then it's like watching like a just a lion toy with like an animal I've just never seen anything like it I mean he's been amazing his entire career I would argue this is his best season yet which is insane insane yeah yeah I mean and it's it's it's it's crazy that he's you know has what five sacks one game four sacks last week like it he the man is is not human.

49:59I believe, you know, I think he's just, he's just different. He's built in a lab. So he, uh, yeah, he, he's going to definitely cause some, some havoc, I think in this game and, and Gino being sacked 31 times, you know, I think that's eighth most, you know, four last week against Dallas. So he, uh, he's another QB that that's struggling. Um, a little bit. So it, this is the, the, the Browns defensive line versus the Raiders offensive line is probably the biggest mismatch in the outside of Seattle and tennis. and it's going to make it again that adds to what i was saying which is like this is such an opportunity for sure like you're probably not going to be playing from behind here so can they find a way to run the ball on las vegas um can the dallas i know we keep talking about play action dallas went crazy heavy play action against the raiders and they were guys were getting wide open and obviously that's george pickett's cd lamb but there's no reason why the level of difficulty in this for Sanders has to be high as long as he doesn't take a million stupid like like long sacks you know which is the thing he does so yeah right well you know just smart decisions right just a little just get him acclimated a little bit in the game you know get the run game established and then get start throwing a little bit short get the get the corners and and db's playing up and then that's where you uh you would take your shots obviously downfield but yeah we'll see i'm okay I'm going Cleveland here because of the other side of the ball.

51:27I mean, this is going to be, I think this is going to be very low scoring and like Shadort can be a point guard, you know, he's capable of it. He's accurate. I mean, he threw a catchable ball for the wind. That was, you know, like he's not, it's not impossible. I think, you know, the Ravens were a tricky matchup in a couple of ways, but, and obviously he was thrust into action without preparation. He got the week, he got the opponent that's very beatable. This is, this is the dream for him. And then if they do win, oh my God, the discourse is going to be crazy. It really is. And yeah, you're right.

51:59He's got a whole week to prepare. And so for that, I mean, not I, I'm leaning more of the Browns, right? Defense line, what we talked about versus the, the Raiders online. So I'm, I'm leaning Browns in this one. All right. Jags Cardinals is me.

52:18The Jags are such a weird team. I don't, They're like one of the... They really are. I'm just like, I didn't. What? So last week against LA, who's, they have a bye, mercifully for Justin Herbert. They, I mean, the Jags just completely dominated the Chargers of the line of scrimmage. And that's largely because of the Chargers, quite frankly. I mean, that offensive line is right there with the Raiders. Yeah. And the Titans. But I'm going to focus on the Jags offense here. So watching them back, I really love the way they ran the ball last week against LA. Because that was a more like, okay, this is a good defense.

52:56And I thought the offensive line showed a lot of improvement. I thought the tight ends were blocking well. Johnny Munt, they had some nice inside zone runs out of 12 personnel. Both ETN and Tootin looked good to me. And I kind of think that's the identity of this Jags team with Liam Cohen. is like they're at their best a really good running team. And I don't know if Brenton Strange, when he's coming back, I've seen some reports, but I think he can be a big part of that going forward as well. I also think it's the right way to attack Arizona. This Arizona Cardinals defense is sneaky, tricky against the pass.

53:35They're 12th in DVO against the pass, 24th against the run. I think you want to clarify. They do a lot of weird stuff. So you want to clarify things for Trevor Lawrence. Obviously, this group of pass catchers is diminished now. So I want to see if the Jags can repeat on the ground what they did this last week. Because then it's like, do I want to take this Jags team seriously? If they can run the ball well down the stretch, then I start to think, okay, like it could be a difficult matchup for some teams. Yeah, 100%. And I like watching when I watched the Cardinals this past week, just how their pass catcher stepped up.

54:13you know michael wilson you know with marvin yeah marvin harrison jr coming down or going down mcbride's obviously a stud um double digit receptions and over 100 yards a touchdown but michael wilson just winning on contested catches uh in man and yeah just having that just a wide catch radius right so i think he stepped up greg dorch you know also just being slippery in space and having the the yak ability that he has and um so i think that's one of the like going off of what you were saying i kind of switched and paid attention to carnal side um just with jacoby also being yeah somewhat you know capable of kind of getting the job done i guess right uh you know he was fine against sam i thought against i mean he threw it a million times because they can't run the ball but yeah um but and you know jacksonville had what they have 13 interceptions i think too and they're you know they're pretty pretty good uh in their secondary too or at least their their their pass coverage so yeah i i i'm still don't know what i think about the jacks defense got off to like such a hot star and so they played so good and then it's kind of taking a step i think last week i i have trouble knowing what to take about from watching them against the chargers just because it was such a feast feeding frenzy at the line of scrimmage um so i guess that would be another thing i want to see because the jacks pass rush i think has played below their talent level um and josh heinz allen went crazy against you know again la though so yeah but like the i think if i had to say something and i'm going to pick jacksonville in this but moving forward i it's the it's all about the offensive line for me can they move bodies can they you know actually displace people at the line of scrimmage can they protect trevor lawrence um because i like liam cohen's scheming it up man like guys get open like they're really good at attacking weaknesses But I think if the offensive line can't be consistent, if they can't run the ball better, then I'm out on them.

56:10Yeah, and I'm also going Jacksonville too. I mean, I know I hyped up the Cardinals pass catchers a little bit and Jacoby playing somewhat decent. But yeah, I don't see them. I don't see Jacksonville losing this game. All right, Eagles-Cowboys, the rematch. I'm on the Cowboys. You have the Eagles in this one. There's a lot. There's a lot that's interesting about this game. So excited for this one. All right. What do you have as a key for the Eagles? Yeah. And it was tough watching the Eagles, at least their pass game, right? I mean, it hurts averaging whatever. I think it was only a little over four yards per attempt versus Detroit.

57:03So I think that was one of the things I looked into. And then Dallas obviously run a lot more zone coverage. And so I think that's going to help the Eagles just because I just with, you know, obviously they have A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith. But they're creating the whole separation. They didn't do, in my opinion, a great job, at least against Detroit, I should say, creating separation. Hurts had a 36 % tight window throw rate. To put that in perspective, the league high is Dak. It's always Dak. And his is 19%. The NFL average is 15%. The Lions were just all over their passing offense. The predictability of it, which we talk about all the time.

57:50and it felt like they were running their routes for them, quite frankly. And Devontae Smith is one of my favorite receivers in the NFL to watch at the top of his route, but it's like he can only do so much in terms of comebacks and hitches. It was hard to watch. And A.J. Brown just slants. Same thing, hitches, just maybe occasionally running a go ball.

58:16um do you are you buying though the Cowboys defense because you know I talked about like I don't really know what to take from Jacksonville against LA I think the same thing applies to Vegas like I'm not gonna like watch any team against the Vegas offensive line and say wow that pass rush or wow they're really good at stuff in the run now because Vegas is so bad yeah uh you're saying the eagles yeah no no probably the cowboys defense you're talking about the eagles offense and how constipated right there right right do we actually believe in this cowboys the cowboys and quinn williams played very very well right last week so it uh and as a rock who's playing well i i i loved him coming out of college right so i mean he's over shown was back to over shown was back right well so i i think i am and i'm buying into this one and uh you know it i mean it's tough obviously going against the eagles so i'm actually going to be leaning more cowboys um in this game believe it or not well um one more thing on the cowboys defense i'll flip it to the other side of the ball um i mean no lane johnson is massive in this one right because the splits i was pulling them before with and without lane johnson over the last three years since 2022 with him uh their 0.12 ep every play without it's negative 0.03 they're 4.7 yards per carry with 3.9 without they jalen hurts has a 68 qbr with 43 without eagles fans will point out that aj brown and devante smith missed some of those snaps as well but it's it's still pretty stark um it's a line that's already been less dominant compared to last year and he is their best offensive lineman and to our point of our discussion like i i am not totally convinced that the cowboys run defense is fixed but the cowboys pass rush has actually been good all year which is kind of funny right and after you trade michael parsons and now they get quinn and williams back and it could be even better so the cowboys defense has the potential to like take advantage of that in a way um yeah so i think for philly like i'll be interested in seeing like philadelphia if they try to run on dallas and if they they've been so inconsistent on the ground if they have any success doing that um and then on the other side of the ball like you know okay so eagles fans you're listening to this you're like what the hell like you know yeah the offense it's constipated lane johnson's absence terrible but i have great news for you your defense absolutely slaps right now uh and this is like arguably the strength on strength matchup right is dallas's offense which has been good most of the year versus philly's offense which is peaking at the right time i have i mean there's a lot of things i think dallas should do do you think there's anything that they can take advantage of because the eagles defense has been so good over the last two weeks against the packers and the lions or good teams yeah and on it and i i i'm very i'm very much looking forward to this matchup with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens and Quinion Mitchell.

1:01:31You're right there. You can go on and on with the Eagles depth. But I think watching the Cowboys on Monday, Monday night, they're just so good. At least Dak was just with intermediate passes down the field. And being smart with the football is obviously just a huge key. But I think having George Pickens and unleashing George Pickens like he was, like George Pickens is – I mean, he's a freak, right? I mean, I think he – I mean, I don't know, top eight, top five receiver maybe. I mean, I'm a huge fan of George Pickens. So I think – and Quinion Mitchell has been very good too. So, I mean, if CeeDee – or excuse me, if George Pickens on Quinion Mitchell, I think CeeDee will take advantage of it and maybe they'll slide Cooper Dejean inside the match CD.

1:02:25Well, I mean, if I'm Dallas, I'm just probably, and this is what they did in week one, I'm putting those receivers wide and saying, you want to kick out Dejean? Because they just haven't been willing to do that. The Lions weren't able to take advantage of the Adore. Adore Jackson played really well in that week, but we know what you do. You hunt Adore Jackson. Yeah, every team's doing it, right? so the good teams are so yeah if i'm if i'm dallas i think i'll be interested in seeing if dallas tries to run the ball because the again the eagles run defense until the trade they were pretty up and down um they seem to have solidified and that's not just about the trade they also did kobe dean coming back and but you know i think what you don't want to do if you're dallas is getting to third and long because that's where i think the eagles now have an advantage on teams because of how good the pass rush is so it's just like can you like you said dac was so surgical on those intermediate throws can the offense play on time can you run the ball a little bit uh when and if they play light boxes and then can you hunt adory jackson to me that's it um god i don't want to pick dallas this is in dallas too which is a big deal for dallas to be in Dallas because they're much better at home.

1:03:44The Nolane Johnson is really giving me pause here.

1:03:52Some of those statistics you gave too are just crazy to me, right? Having, yeah. It's eye-opening. Oh my goodness. I think I'm going to take the Cowboys. Oh my God. I agree. I know that's tough. i might regret that all right three more games we got one good one one really good one i think um this is not one falcon saints is you uh we've dominique and i talked about how what a bummer just falcons everything is right now um panics out for the year that was just reported today so this is gonna be kurt cousins tyler shuck do you have a key in this yeah and i'm looking at this game too. One of the games, obviously, it's not a so-called one that stands out, but I had just Tyler Shuck getting the ball out quickly against Atlanta's defense.

1:04:51They love blitzing. They're, I think, 46.9%, I think, blitzing against opponents this year and having 34 sacks, that's second behind, obviously, Denver's insane defense. But just pressure in QBs, too. And I think this could play off of Tyler Shuck, his crammon ability, and keeping his eyes downfield and kind of making plays outside the pocket like he did against Carolina. And, you know, the deep ball to Alave was one. I know he stayed in the pocket, but that was just something that stood out. and the Jawan Johnson touchdown. He scrambled out of it and found him. I think that would be my key. Tyler Schock is athletic.

1:05:41He is, yeah. I was just looking at the rest of the Saints schedule. This is an opportunity for him. I really think nobody –

1:05:54it's hard to know what the Saints will do next year. But he was a second-round draft pick, and I think he's played all right. I also think he's getting better. I think if you're a Saints fan, that's what you want to see, which is improvement as the year goes along. I love your point about his athleticism. That was something I liked about his college tape. He's really good at throwing on the move as well. But yeah, I think you held it. You just got to beat the Blitz. That's it. They're going to Blitz the whole other. So I'm going to beat the Blitz. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, the Falcons, you saw they cut Brandon Cooks.

1:06:28They're so bad. Yeah. Like, just. They really are. Mickey Loomis. What the hell, man? I'm taking the Falcons. Or the Saints, pardon me. In large part because, oh my God, Kirk Cousins looked really rough when he came in for panics. Oh, yeah. He really did. He really did. You can tell that age has caught up a little bit. All right. Rams-Bucks. This is a good game. This is a great game. Bucks, 6-4. Been on a losing streak. Really tough competition. Unfortunately for them, that continues this week because they're going up against the Rams. So, you guys, I do my top five every Thursday or Friday. I've been posting them on the Mina Kaim show Instagram.

1:07:15And the Rams are going to be very high. They've been in the top five now. But, yeah, I mean, that defense is awesome. You and I were talking a little bit about it. I'm going to focus on the other side of the ball, though. Rams against the Bucs defense. I think a major injury to watch in this, and this is, I think, a key for how the Rams should approach this, is whether Jamel Dean plays, who's the Bucs' best cornerback. The young cornerback's up and down. Benjamin Norris and got cooked pretty bad with Dean's absence. But, you know, because if Dean's out, it's like, all right, let's get, you know, Adams, Puka, it doesn't matter.

1:07:53You can go after their, you can find matchups. But if he plays, and maybe even if, you know, regardless, they should do this regardless. I think this could be another big Rams 13 personnel game. It was really interesting, you know, against Seattle. They came in with that, and Seattle always matches it with Dime, and they just ran on them. And at first it looked like, oh, they're – but then the Seahawks kind of tightened up, and so they went back. I'm sure you noticed this. The Rams went back to just using – like playing the hits. Yep. Problem is for Tampa. I mean, so Tampa matches 12 and 13 with base almost all the time, meaning they put three linebackers on the field.

1:08:32It's a problem because their linebackers are not good in coverage. So if I'm the Rams, if I'm Sean McVay, I put my tight ends back on the field. And if they put those linebackers on the field, I am throwing on them all day long because that is a massive mismatch that favors L.A. And you definitely took my key, Mina. So that's basically what I had, too. I mean, I think just covering the Bucs, covering tight ends and running backs out of the backfield, their second and third level defense, like it's, you know, they struggle. They really do. And I think the amount of blitz may hurt them, right? The amount of, you know, blitz and DBs, you know, whether they're sub packages or just in base and blitz and linebackers or, you know, vice versa, whatever.

1:09:19But I think they get lost of seeing at least running backs, so to speak, out of the backfield. But yeah, them covering tight ends and especially them in 13 personnel, it could be trouble for them. On the flip side, you know, so the Rams played, I talk about the Seahawks playing down. And the Rams had, were in dime an insane amount against Seattle. And they basically were daring Seattle to run in Seattle. So the Rams play Diemma already at the highest rate in the NFL And three safeties on the field And Seattle just couldn't run on them Because Seattle's a bad running team The Bucs are not a bad running team And they've been up and down But they looked better Certainly against Buffalo And think they're going to get Bucky Irving back I think so I've been burned by this before But when I googled Bucky Irving just now Everything says we think he's back week 12 um even if he's not back but especially if he is I do think that if the Rams go light they should be able to run on them similarly and I would use a lot of the same stuff that they did against Buffalo honestly because I mean you know that I think the Bucs can go back to being like a very good rushing team and I also think that's how even though statistically the Rams have been great in run defense, I would still go after them that way.

1:10:43Yeah. I also think the Bucs run schemes right now, especially in particular, just their gap schemes, right? They're just counter and wham. They're running the ball. I know we spoke on it earlier, but the GT countered with Werff's pulling and lightened up who was it, Poyer. you know so yeah so so i think that yeah it really was yeah he uh he lit him up but it i think that i mean and they've been doing it all year so i think if they could somehow establish you know getting the run game going um early and often uh i think they could you know shock some people in this one because me personally i think the rams are one of the best teams in the nfl right now you know they proved it you know against uh seattle so yeah the rams pass rush is a real problem i mean it's funny because we talked about how great the seahawks are getting matchups the rams in that game were unbelievable at it um i do like this i feel like the bucks offensive line is getting healthy mayfield i think you need to see more consistency from i think he harbors like he deserves some of the blame for the bucks loss uh against buffalo you know it was more so about just like josh allen going nuclear and then not being able to keep up but you know he hasn't connected on the deep ball and again some of that is the injuries i get it but you know early in the season it was like he was like just unstoppable throwing downfield and it was he was so accurate and now i think you have seen some aggression from him as the season goes along so he has to be just early season Baker in this one.

1:12:25I'm going LA here. I think they're just so good on both sides of the ball. But, you know, maybe if Baker, we get a little bit of a magical Baker performance, Bucky comes back, they can make this close. Right. Make it interesting. And I know we've talked about it too, but just Chris Shula, just a credit to him on that side of the ball, right? When you alluded to their pass rush and just the way their secondary is disguising their coverage post-snap too right now it's you know it's unbelievable and they um I don't I I I'm trying to think like because I've been going back and forth too in this game and I I I think I'm I'm leaning more Rams I think you know I I just think they're too good right now I mean the Ram is you mentioned Chris Shula I just want to mention this because I was I was just thinking they must have close to the cheapest defense in the NFL.

1:13:17I know the Eagles probably do because

1:13:22the Eagles have so many rookies who play and whatever. But I mean, the Rams, and this is players, NFL defense, positional spending. All right. Well, I know even without looking, I can just tell you the Rams have got to be near the bottom of the NFL. And he deserves so much credit too for, we talked about the specific scheme and what he was doing against Sam Darnold. But he is getting unbelievable play out of like reclamation projects, Emmanuel Forbes, young players, you know, their safety, like Camp Kitchens has been so good for them. Older vets as well. It's not, there's a lot of draft capital up front and then behind it, it's a very young group.

1:14:04Omar Spates was undrafted and our seventh rounder or undrafted one of the two and Nate Landman's been really good for them at linebacker. Like I just, what a testament to that coaching staff. Yeah. And I, I'm a huge Nate Lamb fan. Forbes last week played great. What you said and kitchen's making it tough for Darnold last week. So, you know, you know what too, is the Rams last week. Again, I know we, we said the 13 personnel running the football, they ran the ball very well in 11 personnel, you know that's how it's kind of what, especially towards the red zone, right. That's kind of where they got out of it.

1:14:41out of 13, I'm saying, because obviously they love going 13 personnel down there, but having 11 personnel with Puka and then Jordan Winnington, those two in the run game is dangerous. So I think that can give them problems too in this game. All right, let's wrap with Monday Night Football. The shocking Carolina Panthers, the 6-3, right? 6-3? I mean, what the hell? 6-5. Six and five. Six and three. Seven and four. These are the two, like, how the hell are they have these records teams, I feel like, the Niners and the Panthers. The Niners are favored by seven. Wow. Yeah, that's crazy. All right.

1:15:24So my key in this one, we can talk about whether or not we agree with that, I guess, but my key in this one is who can take advantage of the deficiency of linebacker. Niners without Fred Warner, you have seen teams attack that. You saw that Arizona last week went after their backers a decent amount. Dee Winters, they got in coverage a few times. And then on the other side of the ball, Christian Roseboom is questionable. Seems like he won't play. And then Trevin Wallace hasn't practiced. So they're starting linebackers. Both out. You know who loves attacking linebackers? Kyle Shanahan. So I just feel like – and then Bryce Young is coming off his best game of the season.

1:16:02Brock Purdy looked decent last week. So I just feel like both of these offenses can be laser focused on attacking that position because we're looking at backups on both sides of the ball. Yeah. And the Panthers run defense to a sneaky good. Yeah. And I was watching them. Yeah. I mean, their D line, Derek Brown is deserves a lot more credit than he deserves. Wharton, Bobby Brown, Scorton, the rookie like they they're playing very well up front. So I think with San Fran trying to maybe run the ball a little bit, I don't know. We'll see if they can manage. I would emphasize more Christian McCaffrey in the passing game if I'm then and go after the backers in coverage.

1:16:42But I love your point about the run. I mean, because I know I joke a lot about how I don't know which Panthers we're going to get on any given day. But if I had to say something about this team that I feel concrete, the run defense is – I mean, it went from being non-functional last year the worst in the NFL to shutting teams down. And I like, I go into every week feeling like pretty good about them and credit to Giro Evero as well. But the, you know, Brown coming back and the players have been phenomenal. I mean, yeah, there, this is, what do I know about the Carolina Panthers 2025? Much better run defense.

1:17:18I feel good about saying that feel good about how much I love Ted McMillan. I don't know what to tell you about Bryce young, man, like week to week. It is, he was so good last week, but then the week before I it's, it's just it's hit or miss yeah i i don't know he was awesome last week awesome i mean are we gonna see that guy again and some of those throws that he was making me and were astonished i was like it's almost like wow yeah you're he looked very good and we've talked about how much we like ted roe mcmillan and he looked good right um you know i know the the falcons played a little bit of all but they mixed it up a little bit but more zone i should say but they at least in his you know targeting him but yeah they uh they it looks like they're on the the right line to kind of keep climbing so we'll see mcmillan should also be a mismatch against these uh niners cornerbacks um i'm gonna go with san francisco here just because i a backup linebacking group against Kyle Shanahan has never worked a gridlining group but if we get another hot Bryce game I could easily see the Panthers pulling this off it's just it's just so touch and go for me with him so yeah they uh the Niners secondary too is just not you know they haven't been playing well and and what your your point earlier too with um you know Niners you know just their linebackers and uh having just the play action off of two i know like i said i know we've talked a lot of play action on uh this podcast but it's bryce young last week was nine of 11 he's thrown for 80 percent or over 80 percent of the time uh last week and i mean it was one of the crazier bryce young games that we've seen but um i'm actually i'm leaning towards carolina do it I am.

1:19:17I think I am. I think I'm taking Carolina in this game. I mean, they're plus seven. That's crazy. That's insane. That's what it says right now. It's in San Francisco, but I still don't think that's... I mean, I thought pretty looked good coming back. And this is why I'm picking Niners. I think the offense is obviously the healthier side of the ball. And I think Kyle Shanahan will be successful. But yes, I think this could be a sneaky good game. alright well that wraps it up for this week we've got all the games Luke I don't even think you're on social media I know I feel like you can't find me that's good for you man yeah right it's Twitter's at Luke Stern at underscore and then the same with I guess Instagram and all that I guess that's one thing I gotta work on is getting some social media out there no don't you're living life right my guy well Luke does an amazing job working on NFL Live for us.

1:20:17We all really appreciate his work and his match reports, as you guys saw here. He's got great information. I appreciate you coming on this week. This was a ton of fun. Appreciate everyone at Omaha Productions who make this podcast, Kirsten Sebecki, Owen Saylor, Jack Foster, Tucker Tashton. We'll be back to talk about the Monday Night Game with Dominique next week, which I'm hoping is good. I think it'll be good. And picking some winners and woofs from the week. You can check that out. YouTube.com slash I'm being at times. If you don't listen to this audio, if you're watching this, you want to subscribe.

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