December 13, 2023 • 37 mins
Get ready for an incredible episode of the Same Old Podcast! We've got the amazing Dan Leach back with us, along with the awesome Brandon Krisztal from IHeart radio Denver. Together, we dive into the fascinating world of Lions fans and their hopes and dreams. Plus, we tackle a bunch of other intriguing topics. Trust me, you won't want to miss this one!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Knock us down, We're gonna getup, and on the way up,
we're gonna buy a kneecap. Allfor long? Where's it going to be?
The last from standing? This iswhat the greatest thing about sports.
You plays who win the game.That's why we shot the damn field.
Now, if you want to crownthem, they crown there at But they
are who we thought they were andwe got about the hook. Welcome to
(00:23):
the Same Old Podcast. I'm Ronde Moss with Iheartsports Network sponsored by Victory
Lane. Quick Oil Change is MetroDetroit's most trusted brand for all your oil
change and preventative car care needs.They pride themselves on great customer service,
which is why they have received overeight thousand and five star Google reviews.
(00:44):
Victory Lane only installs the very bestproducts such as Penns Oil shell, rotell
At, Diehard Batteries, and Rainex. To receive twenty percent off your next
oil change, text sop that SameOld podcast to seven three four eight zero
eight three six four or three that'sseven three four eight zero eight three six
four to three. Enjoy the VictoryLane Loyalty Club one coupon per phone number.
(01:08):
Visit Victory Lane dot net to locateone of their twenty seven metro Detroit
locations, including Adrian, Selene andtwo locations in Jackson. Remember, only
winners make it to Victory Lane.Sorry, I fumbled, just like the
Lions. Any who, Dan LeachEncore by popular Demand. Yeah, I
(01:36):
heard there was a ground swallow ofsupport from nobody. No, there was.
There's some people that were here.You should see the outside. They're
lining up to see you. They'reholding up big the Leach signs squash signs.
So welcome to the same old podcast. We're going to get to the
Lions debacle in Chicago in one second. But first, oh yeah, my
gun. It to the bats getsfor two seconds left to make it one
(01:57):
thirty one to one twenty four.The Pistons dropped their twenty is straight.
You just win, baby, justwin. They haven't won a game since
October twenty eighth, Pistons. Thisis the real question. George Blaha by
the way, on ballet sports.Uh, the legendary George Bloc. Yeah,
I don't know how he's doing it. Here's the real question. Are
(02:20):
the Pistons ever gonna win again?I don't think so. You know,
will you know this, but I'mjust throwing it to the people out there
that they have lost a quarter ofa season's worth of games in a row,
not just at some point, theyhave lost over a quarter of an
NBA season's games in a row.And if you could buy the Owen Night
Detroit Titans, my old you knowteam, I hate to have to ask
(02:42):
this question. You know, whowins first? And is this the worst
period of basketball in the city ofDetroit and really the state in general?
Ever, it's feeling like it rightnow. Yeah, it has to be.
It has to be. When isit when the seventy nine eighty what
was it was by you know,the Pistons were you compare this to the
oh to sixteen Lions season. Imean right, well, the Lights were
(03:05):
competitive that year. They lost alot of games. It was the most
competitive out sixteen team you'll ever see. The Pistons have been getting the doors
blown off of them. I knowthey played better against Indiana coming off their
you know, the loss to theLakers and the in season Cup. But
it's ron. It sucks because Ilisten, my first loved sports were the
lines of the Wolverines. I thinkI mentioned this last week. But I
(03:25):
fell in love with sports with thebad boys. I was nine, ten,
eleven, twelve going to those gamesof my amazing dad, Doc Leech.
I was lucky to be able tosee all that stuff, and they
were just such a connective tissue withthe city. No one cares at all
anymore. I know they have theyoungest team of the league. I know
they've got some nice pieces like cunningm and Ivy and all. The Rockets
(03:46):
have a young team. Magic havea young team, and look what they're
doing. I've got a pulse.The Pistons have no bults. Yeah,
and someone's asking me, I thinkit on Twitter yesterday, is body William's
gonna walk away or get I mean, why would you walk away from that
much more? Well? Right,but it's the highest paid head coach in
the league. It's it's not.I don't think it's a Mahdi Williams problem
yet. I think it's it's aManti Williams could be it's a connecting with
(04:10):
the players, which is interesting becausehe did say at the beginning of the
season when they were two and one, remember that the good old days.
That was when I was like ten, right, that was back what swizzle
sticks were five cents the good olddays, and they were two and one
to start the season. He talkedabout his connection and the players and all
(04:30):
this other crap, and then allof a sudden, the bottom fell out,
and I'm like, I can't getan explanation of what happened, Like,
all of a sudden, what happened? I think, Well, and
by the way, that's a pileon. You know that they're the This
is the longest streak ever by ateam that had a winning record when the
streak of losing started. It's ina history of the NBA, no team
(04:50):
has ever lost twenty in row afterhaving a winning record before that, you
know, losing streak started. Ithink it's it's it's a lot of parts,
a lot of things. You know, you go to chemistry class,
not that I did really well asa kid, but you have you know,
your little you know, sauce here, and you got your baking soda
hair and you make the volcano.You've got some you know, chemistry and
connectivity issues. You've got some veteranlack of leadership issues. You've got the
(05:15):
youngest team, what is a twentyfour point two years by age in the
NBA. You had some injuries.I mean, I know Bodin was out
for a while, which he's gota little vegan. Tim Morris is still
out right so now Jalen Duran isout for a couple of weeks with the
sprained ankle. But I made abet before the season that the Pistons would
make the play in tournament. Boy, am I an idiot? It's a
waste one hundred hours. I boostedit if it would have been like a
(05:38):
huge payout because they were still lookedat as like a six to one team
to make the playing tournament. Theyare so far away from not being the
worst team in the NBA right now. They're the worst team in the NBA,
but in the league. But Iwonder if people will go to the
games only to see I was therewhen they finally won a game. Oh
you know what I'm saying, Likethat's where the interest would be because or
(05:58):
I want to see them lose,Yeah, twenty one in a row or
twenty two in a row or twentyeight and beat the league. Regard the
losing his team, Rod and Zachmore people. I hate to say because
this is you know, the peoplein this city not all of them,
but too many of them. They'regonna want to be there if it gets
to twenty eight, they're gonna wantto be there to see the all like
(06:19):
the Lions fans that would want tosee oh in sixteen because they're sadists.
Now, it's not somebody to beproud of. Someone was I was on
social media. People are like,go for the recker. Because I was
asking who's gonna win first? Theother nine Titans or the twenty loss in
a row Pistons. Why would youwant to see the all time losing streak.
That's not something you want to beproud of, to be Detroit Pistons
fan. I don't think it's gonnahappen, but boy, I thought there
(06:41):
was no chance that would happen abouttwo weeks ago. It is definitely on
the table. Now you're listening tothe same old podcast. I'm Ronda Moss
with iHeart Sports Network along with DanLeach. HI appreciate you being here.
But here's the thing, and it'sonly Tuesday, and it's already a bad
week in Detroit. Sports lose.In Chicago Wings lose. Last night,
(07:02):
David Prawn suspended six games with theCross checking Dylan Lark and the Captain out
a week with the upper body.We're a little messed up right now.
And then the Pistons lose their twentiethin a row. So not a good
week so far. But things canflip her out with a little Broncos action
on Saturday at the Wolverines before youknow it in the CFP. So let's
(07:23):
just you know, it's a holidayseason. I saw Walker last night cried
ten times. I want everyone tobe in the holiday mood and be grateful
for what we have and not whatwe don't have. Okay, so let's
get to the Lions and Moco inChicago, and you know, I gotta
say, Jared Goff, two picksand a fumble. You know, this
is where the small hands come intoplay. You know, the small hands,
(07:46):
small hands. You know that meanscabbage ron twenty and thirty five for
one hundred and sixty one yards anda quarterback rating of fifty four point six.
I know at two picks you mentioned, I know it's on the road
at Chicago, a house of Hordsfor decades for the lines, but that's
just unacceptable. It's the way thatthey played is unacceptable. You know,
(08:07):
sometimes you can accept, okay,a penalty he or a penalty there,
but it's the way the penalties andJared goff and nothing was going right,
and it was sloppy and and theywere undisciplined, and you could pick an
adjective, I think right, becausethey all of those sloppy, undisciplined,
off, missed tackles. Everything thatcould go wrong went wrong with this team.
(08:33):
And to me, this shouldn't behappening. These kind of mistakes should
not be happening this time of year. They should But like I always like
to do, you know, Ilike to try to at least if there's
if it's warranted. Let people relaxfor a second. Now, I get
that that was I said this too. The law. Well, let me
interrupt you because you and Dan Campbellare on the same page because he's encouraged.
(08:58):
Some of our best player on theteam did not play well, and
that's encouraging going into this one becausethose are prideful guys and those are our
dudes. And believe me, thoseguys are gonna come back no different than
us as coaches. We're gonna beat our best. And you know,
I just know what kind of lockerroom. We got what kind of players,
(09:18):
and we will respond. We willrespond, and that's why. So
we just kind of put a ballon that. And that's my point.
So lives have nine wins. Youdon't get nine wins by accident in today's
NFL if you just give you anexample. I'm not trying to take anything
away from that being a bad loss. I've already said it was a bad
loss. And you know, youlook at the Monday Night Football, the
Double Duo, you know, doa edition of Monday Night Football last night.
(09:41):
The Giants are not a good team. Yes, standy Devino starting for
him and twins at our shorts takingall that stuff. They're not a good
team. And they go and theybeat the Packers, and then the Packers
actually had the lead late in thatone. The Tennessee Titans are not a
good team. They beat the Dolphinsin Miami down fourteen late. My whole
point is this is that it's theNFL in this parody driven era. It's
(10:03):
a tough league. The Lions arean above average team. That is,
we know they have issues. They'vegot pass rush issues, they've got you
know, kerfuffle in the middle ofgame. Issues, Jared Goff can't play
out doors on the road. Iget all that, but if you take
a step back, Lions fans andI said this last week round and see
many people agreed with some people agreewith me on this. The goal this
year was to win. They mayhave agreed with you, but I was
(10:26):
right. You were right, andI give you I found That's why I
got you a walk up poster.They wow, Listen, they have nine
wins. The goal was always towin the division and win at least a
playoff game and work your way tobuild a crescendo. Lions fans need to
relax. I understand it was abad performance. Guess what. The Lions
before the Bears game were twelve andtwo in revenge games and in their last
(10:48):
you know and bounce back games.They're a good team. They're not a
great team, but they're a verygood team. Like Campbell said, there
and guys did not play well.How about Jameis and Williams one target?
I mean, obviously they missed AleeMcNeil. He was out and hurt.
And you know jamieor Gibbs didn't havea good game. They come on,
Aliam McNeil is not coming back rightnow. No, But and then Aiden
(11:09):
Hutchinson can't do what I was old, Who are you to to what did
he do? Crap? Now Ican't remember what played? Jump off sides?
He changed the play, he changedthe whatever he did was wrong twice.
But he did get to fields abunch of times. He was the
only one down there. But youcan't say, but he got to fields.
(11:33):
They lost the game. It doesn'tmatter, It didn't whatever whatever they
were doing on defense didn't help.And then, okay, so that whole
situation, the fourth and thirteen right, justin fields? How about jump not
jumping off sides? Jerry Jacobs getsburned DJ Moore with the touchdown, go
ahead touchdown. Well, you knowthe fourth down play and the Bears weren't
(11:56):
even gonna snap the ball and theyright, and they said, can't believe
they jumped off side. If thatdoesn't happen, I think the Lions actually
probably would have won the game.That's how crazy the NFL could be.
That one play. I mean,that was crazy on a four see too
many silly pedal Agreed, But that'sthe thing. The bad teams will let
(12:16):
that be a factor. Teams thatare good or trying to get great.
They'll come home, play a teamlike Denver, beat a team like Denver
at home, and reemphasize themselves intheir division race, which is probably over
anyway. I know they got thetwo games against Minnesota, but listen,
if people thought the Lions were gonnarun the table five six weeks ago,
they were insane. The Lions weregonna be the one seed this year.
The Lions aren't good enough to bea one seed. They're not Philly.
(12:37):
You know, the Philly has beenstronger. They're not San Francisco, they're
not Dallas. But what they canbe is a team that continues to get
better. And as Dan Campbell saidthere, listen, guys didn't play well.
We know that. We have toaddress that and come right back.
I mentioned the Lions were twelve totwo in rematch games before that game against
the Bears. They have been goodthe last two years, Ron, and
(12:58):
they've got to show that again.If the Lions two, three, four
to a row, different story.If they bounce back, it shows you
they know how to learn for theirlosses. Well again, I mean,
it's the eight penalties that killed Drivesobviously, and then again coming out of
halftime and just nothing nothing, fivestraight three and out with it. And
(13:20):
it's really surprising because their offense isreally there, the keys or saving grace
exactly, and they did nothing.And Jared Goff again was awful. Two
picks, as I said in afumble, again with the small hands record.
But here's the thing with Jared Goff. Okay, seven picks, fifteen
(13:41):
sacks, ten touchdowns last seven games. That's not very No, it's not.
And listen, I'm not trying toyou know, put you know,
make you put something on a pileof you know what I would rather if
you're a Lions fan and something's gotto be if he if it's he needs
to straighten. Yeah, if itstays this way, lines have no chance
of anything. Is if you winninga pakay whatever. But I'd rather this
(14:03):
be this kind of it's not inthe middle anymore. But we're like,
you know, middle towards the latelate part of the year where he's not
what he needs to be and thenhe is at the end of the year.
Because let's say he started super hotand then it was awful at the
end of the year. I wouldrather it be something where he figures it
out and the lines to figure itout too, and Bet Johnson's got to
figure it out. I mean,if you look at the numbers, to
be honest, all the people thatare been you know, going after Aaron
(14:24):
Glenn. The defense has been betterthan the offense the last couple of weeks.
I mean, I'm not say it'speople don't want to hear it,
but it's true. But that beingsaid, if golf in the offense figures
it out when it matters. Witha lot of these dome games coming up
where obviously we know the Lions aregood, and they host a playoff game
in a dome and they maybe playingthe second round in a dome, this
could be exactly what we thought theLions could have been this season. But
(14:45):
if they don't fix it soon,there's only four games left, it's going
to be a massive problem. I'drather it be an issue now than an
issue in a week eighteen. That'sall I'm saying, right, I mean,
I guess, but again again,it's just the way that they played
and zero points in the second half. It's very uncharacteristic of this offense,
(15:05):
and the Bears don't have like It'snot like the eighty six Bears defense.
I don't know. I don't know. The Lions just have this weird thing
on the road sometimes, especially indivision places and pass it was Green Bay,
but now it seems like at timesit's been Chicago where they just don't
look like themselves at all. Idon't know what it is. Maybe they're
having stakes at Gibson's the night before, having too many martinis a Lincoln Park.
(15:26):
I don't know what the deal is, but they just did not look
like the Lions were on or right. You look at the Lions who had
played on the twelve games or thirteengames to that point or twelve games to
that point, what had they lookedlike the majority of the year. They
did not look like that in thesecond half at all. And it's an
It's a great Bears team. They'remuch improved. No, but you know,
the Bears were the seeking revenge afterwhat happened at Ford Field, so
(15:48):
you know, I mean, theyweren't gonna let that game get away from
them again. And to be honestwith you, once the Bears went up,
I don't think the Lions had achance. I don't think they were
playing well at all, and therewas no chance they were coming back.
I'm sorry, I was when youwatch the game and you look at the
game and how they played and themistakes that were made, and I just
(16:10):
didn't think they were going to comeback well, and I'm with you on
that in the second half, Buthow about in the first half. How
many Lions teams in the past,which is why the one kind of thing
I'll point to one small positive thisgame, when they were down to nothing
and nothing was going their way,the Lions came storming back and took the
lead before you know, before halftime. That's something I think in the past,
maybe even definitely during mat Patricia,but in a lot of delivered lines
(16:33):
years, they would have just gottenthe doors. I still all right again,
sorry uh clown pants. In manydifferent years they would not have even
had a pulse in that game.And you see the Lions, they are
a talented team. I think thepeople just need to understand that, yes,
there's problems, they're not perfect,but there is talent there. But
that at the same time, youcannot let what happened in the second half
(16:56):
happened. You can't what happened tothe second half against the Bears at Ford
Field, where they Amos lost thatgame. That stuff's got to be worked
on. But it's year three ofthis regime. It's not like we're in
year seven, eight nine. They'reworking this stuff out. I believe in
Brad Holmes, I believe in DanCampbell, and I think that Lines fans
that are like it's over. It'salways people texting me and on social media
and the season's over, go goahead. Packers are with the division?
(17:18):
How did that work out? Packer'slot last night? Yeah, they were
sloppy team. They were sloppy too. But here here's the thing again,
and I'm gonna repeat myself, becauseit's the way that they're playing this time
of year. Sure, that isunacceptable, I agree, And they shouldn't
be playing this way this time ofyear. They should they want to if
they want to win a playoff game, Okay, I think, of course,
(17:41):
I think not With the Packers losingto the Giants yesterday, the Niners
clinched the first playoff spot. Withthe Packers loss, the Lines are winning
the division. I don't care.Yes, I think so too. And
then Game three, I mean,it's just ridiculous, but they won,
so you know, can I giveyou a cool stat real quick though of
(18:03):
that show. So you know thatthere's been seven hundred and forty three zero
zero games in the history of theNFL. Yeah, you know. The
last one was November seventh, nineteenforty three. I saw wanted a zero
zero game. Yeah. So,and they're having quarterback issues because who knows
who's going to be the Vikings startingquarterback. They have yet to announce it.
They'll do it later in the week. So so the Lions, Okay,
to make everybody feel better, becausethat's why Dan Leech is here.
(18:26):
No, I'm here because people loveme too. Now, if the Lions
win and we'll get to the Broncos, the Broncos coming up Saturday night at
Ford Field and then beat the Vikingson the road, they will clinch their
first divisional title since nineteen ninety three. I was sixteen, exactly, a
great shape and a lot of womenlove me then. But it's still the
same. It's different now, exactly. Okay, cool, old you're listening
(18:48):
to the same old podcast. I'mRond de Moss with iHeart Sports, a
network along with Dan Leech sponsored byVictory Lane Quick Oil Change. Okay,
so let's get to the Broncos.Now here's to me. The Broncos and
my friend, my former co worker, Brandon Crystal of iHeart in Denver is
(19:10):
going to come on in a coupleof minutes. But the Broncos first game
of the season seventy points, gaveup seventy points to the Dolphins, and
then I think they lost, andthen they lost their first five games.
Right right, that Broncos game wasthe Dolphins was the first game of the
year. It was in the earlypart of the season, right, I
thought it was the first game ofthe year. I think it was Week
(19:33):
three because I was with baby Daverieg Or our good friend, and he's
a big Broncos fan, and Iwas laughing at him for hours and hours
and hours. Anyway, they gaveup seventy points. Who gives up seventy
points? Nobody? But then Broncosturned it around. Sean Payton, Yeah,
week three, Sorry, bad,no question this? I forgot.
Why am I questioning? Well,you heard your stuff too, But I
(19:53):
thought, I don't know why Ithought it was the first game of the
season because you could believe that someonegave up seventies or like, it's got
to be the first game exactly.Anyway, they started oh and five,
and in between that oh and fivethey gave up seventy peers the Jets as
well, exactly. Oh yeah,that was a Monday night game where Aaron
Rodgers got hurt, and right,that was that game. Okay, no,
no, no, no, thatwas a different game. That was
(20:15):
That was weekend. I really don'tknow what the hell was happening in the
NFL without Aaron Rodgers. I believeZach Wilson started the game, but they
still lost at home in denverord tothe Jets, right, okay, So,
but the Broncos turned it around,yes, right now. And and
you know Dan Campbell going up againsthis mentor, he was a player under
Sean Payton and a coach. Soand the Broncos have won six of their
(20:40):
last seven. And interesting about theBroncos, they have eighteen takeaways in the
last seven games. They could eatJared Goff for lunch, have them for
lunch. I will say this,I'm excited to hear what Brandon Crystal say.
I don't think the Broncos offense isany good. I think Russell Wilson,
I'm not gonna say he's broken likesome people will say, but I
(21:00):
don't think their offense. I meanI watched them against a just a nept
Chargers team and the other reason theywere up early in that game in the
first half is because the Chargers Herbertthrew a pick six or an interception on
the five yard line. I thinktheir offense is not that good, but
the Lions offense has not been thatgood for the last couple weeks of times
as well. If the Lions scorea lot of points on Saturday Night,
(21:22):
big crowd, yes, but theBroncos it's their defense, so that has
been awesome. But if the Lionsoffense gets back to what we were trying
to say has been for the majorityof the season, I think the programs
has scored enough points to keep upwith them. The Broncos did that of
the Houston game. When they playedthe Texas a few weeks ago. I
think they scored and then he wasclose to the thirties. Otherwise, the
Procos offense has been very inept,and I think that this is a chance
(21:44):
for the Lions to get the offenseback on track, to figure out what's
going on and find a way toyou know, what they readdress what the
Lions have to do when they're protectingFord Field. What what's this saying,
let Russ Cook? Is that?Is that with the Broncos? Let Russ
Cook eat Right? You're listening tothe same old podcast. I'm Ron Demos
(22:06):
at Iheartsports Network along with Dan Leach, and I would like to welcome in.
We used to work with him inKansas City. We had fun.
Brandon Christall from iHeart in Denver,koa Bronco's esteemed beat reporter. Okay,
Brandon, welcome into the same oldpodcast. How are you? I'm doing
(22:29):
great. I'm doing great. It'sfun and I imagine it's fun for you
guys covering a team with playoff chancesvery much alive. Obviously, with the
Lions leading in the division, postseasonfeels like it's inevitable, but you never
know in this weird league. AndI saw something where thirty of thirty two
teams are still mathematically eligible for theplayoffs, and the Broncos are certainly one
of them at seven and six.So it's a much more enjoyable year than
(22:52):
it was last year, Year onewith Russell Wilson. Okay, so what
has been the turnaround? Because theBroncos started out like the line last season?
What were they zero to five?And then they turned it around and
now have won six out of theirlast seven. And where did the let
Russ cook come from? I thinkthat goes back to his Seattle days,
(23:15):
and he is certainly not cooking,or if he is, he's not making
much of a meal intentionally with whatwith what John Payton is asking him to
do. And so it's one ofthose things where in Seattle they felt like
the offense because Pete Carroll wanted torun the ball and play good defense and
then let Russ make plays late andyou don't accidentally throw two hundred and ninety
two regular season touchdowns in a careerand he's now up to I think three
(23:38):
thirty one if my math is right, which is more than Dan Marino.
You don't do that accidentally. Andso's it's one of those situations where Nathaniel
Hackett came in and wanted to that'sall he wanted to do was let Russ
cook. But Pete Carroll, Ithink, for his own good, was
keeping Russ kind of restrained and justrunning the ball, playing good defense,
(24:03):
and then when it was time tomake a play, Russ would make that
play, and so I think thatthis year Sean Payton had to figure out
exactly what Russ was good at thatSean was comfortable calling that you know,
was maybe different from what Drew Breesor Jamis Winston or even the five games
they had Teddy Bridgewater. What workedfor Russ that didn't necessarily that didn't necessarily
(24:23):
work in the past. And understandingthe defense and you know, they give
up seventy points in Week three tothe Dolphins, and it's still messing with
their averages. Like there's still oneof the lowest ranked teams in every category,
even though in this seven game stretchhere where there's six and one,
they've been one of the best defensesin football. And outside of the first
half against the Bears really and thesecond half against Washington, they've they've been
(24:45):
one of the best defenses in footballperiod except for you know, that's what
eight quarters so total. But theirfourth down defense has been great, Their
third down defense has been really good. They get up the field, the
red zone defense is really good.You hold Patrick Mahomes the one touchdown in
two games, and so it's Ithink it just took them a little bit
of time. But the key tothe turnaround you have to give credit where
(25:07):
it's doing. In this case,it's Sean Payton. Now he points the
last year's Lions team. There's afine line here between a groove and a
rut, and you know, youtake a look at I'll give you an
example Detroit. You know a yearago, was sitting and I watched it
as a media member covering a handfulof tough losses. They were one and
six. I know Dan well,and you know, you keep fighting.
(25:30):
You know, there's a grit elementinvolved, you know, some mental toughness
that's involved, and then pretty soonyou know, here they are at the
end of the season. They win, they're eliminated before that game played,
but they were in that contention andthen you know here they are now is
one of those teams and so youknow, we're kind of, you know,
in that position where it's you know, we're blowing up and we have
(25:53):
to The Broncos turnaround to me isimpressive. You have to admit, after
giving a seventy points, you know, losing, the way that they have
their defense have been to me hasbeen very impressive. Yeah, and it's
kind of been good at all threelevels. Their pass rush is getting better.
They've got these young pass rushers andNick Benito left the game in a
(26:15):
knee brace, so he's walking andI imagine that put it in a brace
and let you walk when you've tornsomething. But we didn't get much of
a report here early in the week. We'll see where it goes. But
it's one of those things where heis getting to play more. As their
highest draft pick two years ago,after they drafted Russ, they took him
at the end of the traded forRuss. The only pick they had was
(26:37):
late in the second round and theytook Benito. He didn't do much as
a rookie, looked like a rookie, but he's really immerged in camp and
now he's leading the team in sacks. And then two kids from Ohio State,
Baron Browning and Jonathan Cooper, whoare in year three. Browning has
talent for days. He was thehighest recruited high school player coming out of
Texas, landed at Ohio State.They played him inside, they played him
(26:57):
outside. He gets to the NFLplaying him inside, then they move him
outside last year and he's just anatural edge rusher. Along with Jonathan Cooper,
who was his teammate there at atOhio State. And so the three
young pass rushers are really good.The linebackers in the middle, especially Alex
Singletons, fly around, and thenon the back end you've got one of
the smartest, best ballhawks in theleague and Justin Simmons who's been to a
(27:18):
couple of Pro Bowls a couple oftimes second team All Pro, and Pat
Sartan is for most people's money,the best cornerback. So they've been good
at all three levels. Advanced Joseph, I think, has gotten more comfortable
calling what he wants to call ratherthan trying to do with Vic Fangio and
what Gero Rivero did last year.He's using some of those principles, but
it's his philosophy in terms of windto blitz and exotic blitzes and switching up
(27:41):
coverages and messing with an offense.And so Jared Goff is far and away
the toughest quarterback they'll see now herein these final four games, make him
get happy feet and they can takehim down. And he hasn't played very
well at all over the last sevengames. And it's a bit perplexing,
right because he looks so good earlyand so good late last year, and
you're like, oh, that's whatI got was number one? Right,
(28:03):
you can see it. You seethat, you see it. You don't
see it consistently, right, exactly, especially over the last seven games.
But we're talking with Brandon christaal IHeart in Denver covers the broncos KOA.
All right. My question to youis Patrick Certan junior. Did you tell
him that you covered his dad whenwe covered the Chiefs. You covered his
(28:25):
dad. I missed his dad.I missed his dad by a year or
two. I covered his dad,Patrick Stan your age though you don't I
know, But it's so funny whenI hear the But when I hear Patrick
cert I'm gonna have to go inand introduce myself to him on Saturday night.
I have to because I covered hisdad. His dad may actually be
(28:45):
there. He's a coach at FloridaState this year. Last year he coached
at Miami with the Dolphins. Ohright, maybe he will be here.
Oh, but I really he's there, because I don't know if you guys
saw Florida State did not make itin the you're talking excuse me, Brandon,
but Dan Leach is a huge Michiganslappy, so don't even you know,
don't even get into that. Sorrysevernals now, But Brandon, I
(29:07):
wanted to ask you about this.Thanks again for joining us. It's it's
it's one of these things where youobviously super impressive. The Bronco was the
one six to seven, and thedefense, as you and Ron and I
mean you know, talked about,has been great. But the offense to
me, I want to talk toabout the offense because you know, you
bring in Sean Payton. I mean, we know all bad things were before
he got there and even last year, and you you look at you know,
(29:27):
this offense with Russ Wilson, whichis not I mean, it's not
gonna be the way he was inSeattle. But he's still obviously very capable.
And yes, they've won these sixof seven games, But what is
the feeling about the offense, Becauseif the Lions can get their act together,
which they obviously weren't last week ableto do in Chicago and at home
they've been very good for the mostpart offensively, could the Broncos score enough
(29:47):
points because lately they haven't been.Yeah, it's it's certainly something that the
fan base, I think, theteam, the coaches, everyone's aware of
that this offense isn't going to scorethirty points too often. They have a
couple of times, which is somethingwe hadn't seen in a long while.
And it's funny because there's kind ofPTSD and I don't want to make you
know, I'm not picking on Lionsfans, but they don't have the same
(30:10):
track record that the Broncos have certainlyhad since Pat Bowling about the team at
least in nineteen eighty or they wentto the Super Bowl at the end of
the seventy seven seasons. Yeah andsoused. Yeah, there used to be
in above five hundred. There,used to be in the playoff mix,
and to not be in the playoffssince twenty fifteen after winning Super Bowl fifty,
which was great, but tonight reallysniffed the playoffs. They went nine
(30:32):
and seven that year right after withKerry Kubiak his last year, and it's
just been with Vance Joseph first timehead coach, Vic fangio a first time
head coach, Nathaniel Hackett first timehead coach. So when they start out
one in five, it is thatptsdo here we go again. So they
are playing complimentary football. Their returngame has been the best in the league
most of the year. Will Lutzwas AFC Special Teams Player of the Month.
(30:53):
Their coverage units have been good.They haven't given up too many really
even big returns, let alone wonfor a score. And so bestial teams
has been good. Is you know, we've now talked about defense is and
better, and offense has been solid, it's been efficient. Russell Wilson was
really good in the second half.He's he's been good in spots and so
his numbers are more respectable than maybethe offense. The fear that the offense
(31:15):
might strike in an opponent is becauseCourtland Sutton, if he gets near the
red zone, is as dangerous asanybody he has. He's incredible touchdowns in
the red zone and then two amazingcatches outside of the red zone, including
one the other day where they're holdinghis arm. Jerry Judy has yet to
kind of really click in this offenseand with russ consistently, but there was
a reason he was taking fifteenth.Then he does get open. But the
(31:37):
real key to the Bronco success andit goes back to what they were doing
in Seattle is running the football andgiving the ball to Javonte Williams, who's
coming off a horrendous knee injury.But every time he touches the ball,
he almost never goes down at forhis contact, so he's always gaining positive
yards and the biggest thing that keepshim from putting up one hundred yard games.
I think there's probably a problem thatthe Lions have to, you know,
(32:00):
sort through his how much you're gettingto Montgomery versum your gibbs when things
are going well and you're moving thesticks is if they like some on JP
Ryan, especially on third down.And then they've got this kid Julia McLoughlin,
who started at Notre Dame College andthen transferred to Youngstown. It has
eighty one hundred dollar purpose yards incollege or eighty one hundred yards from scrimmage,
and is just a little lightning boltshot out of a cannon, which
(32:22):
I guess is not where you wouldshoot a lightning bolt out of from zeus.
But he's so it's like you justhave to get him on the field
some and they still don't get himon the field enough, probably for their
liking to have a true thunder andlightning. That's because they need to play
p Ryan. But it starts withthe running him and then Russ is using
his legs. Last year, hedidn't this year. When there is green
grass in front of him, hewill take the three to five, to
(32:44):
ten to even sometimes sixteen eighteen twentyyards and keep the chains moving and then
look for those shots. That's reallywhat Sean Payton has done with this offense
is limit Russ's opportunity to take toomany wild shots. And that's what I
had heard secondhand, but from areally good source. One of the offensive
coordinators Russ had worked with in thepast said, he's the hardest player you'll
(33:05):
ever coach at quarterback because most coacheson first and ten want to get you
to second and six and then thirdand two or three, where you have
the whole playbook open right, andRuss on first and ten if it's a
play, if it's a play calledto pass the football, yeah he could
run, but he'd rather run aroundand then fleeing at eighteen yards and pick
up a first down. And sojust adjusting that that line of thinking and
(33:27):
creating that paradigm shift in his brainis what Sean Payton's really set out to
do so when you look every nowand then, there'll be three, four,
five options, but a lot oftimes there's only one or two options
that seem most obvious for us ina passing situation. And he's so still
physically talented throwing the football and creatingenough space that he'll get the ball there
more times than not. And that'swhy his completion percentage is certainly more than
(33:51):
respectable. Up until the Houston game, his interception numbers were great and they're
still really good, only eight onthe season, and he's obviously throwing more
touchdowns and he certainly did last yearand it's probably very likely going to be
north of thirty in that category.Two, Brandon, I want to thank
you so much for coming on thesame old podcast. We really appreciate it,
and it was so good to seeyou and talk to you. It's
(34:12):
great to see you and talk.We'll hear you and talk to you.
But also I'm in because it's thepodcast. If you write my name and
like who the guest is, youdon't even have to keep the part where
you reintroduce me because people will alreadyknow because they will have seen my name
in print. This is why.I found him annoying when I worked with
Ian, but I love him.I don't drink anymore when I want some
crystal. Brandon, thank you somuch. Are you coming to Detroit?
(34:36):
Are you coming to Detroit now?As much as I'd love to, I
am not. I am not onthis trip changed forever, Brandon. Yeah,
very emotional man. Last time Iwas there was when the super Bowl
was there. Yes, we stayedat my parents great. Yeah, it
was a blast. But again,Brandon, thank you so much. We
really appreciate it. Take care.It's good to see you, to talk
(34:59):
to you. This is a superBowl preview. Yes, okay, whatever,
I believe. Living in a worldof make Believe by Brandon Bye,
okay, that was Brandon Christall frommy heart in Denver, KOA covers the
(35:22):
Broncos. And you know, Brandon'sa talker like you, Dan can't shut
him up. All the best peopleare legendary figures. All right, orders,
all okay, all right, Igotta ask because I have to ask.
Now. It's our thing, yourpick for Saturday night. Yes,
well I'll tell you this, andRonnie you know this first hand, like
guy do. The Ford field hasalways been loud in a lot of situations.
(35:45):
It's been crazy this year, especiallyfor these primetime games. I think
it's going to be a very similaratmosphere. The Lions fans know they have
to win this game. What wejust talked about with Brandon. The offense
is not a scary offense, youknow with the Denver Broncos. The defense
could be. If the Lions don'tturn the ball over, the Lions can
win this game, like they will. I think it's going to be loud,
(36:06):
the crowd will be a factor.I have the Lions winning this game
with the offense back on track andmaybe Jamies and Williams getting more than one
target. Thirty one to twenty one. Last scoring affair as opposed to last
week where I thought it was gonnabe a low scoring crap beest and it
was, yeah, the best.Thank you, Dan, I appreciate it.
That seemed very sarcastic, by theway, was it was it?
(36:27):
Yeah? I was it? Zachxaxtly, Yeah, listen a little,
I have the best, but meetit next time you say it. Please,
Thank you so much for hopping onthe same old podcast. Sponsored by
Victory Lane Quick Oil Changes Metro Detroit'smost trusted brand for all your oil change
and preventative car care needs. Theypride themselves on great customer service, which
(36:51):
is why they have received over eightthousand and five star Google reviews. Victory
Lane only installs the very best productssuch as pennz Oil, shall rotal At,
Diehard Batteries, and Rainex. Toreceive twenty percent off your next oil
change, text sop to seven threefour eight zero eight three six four three
and join the Victory Lane Loyalty Clubone coupon per phone number. Visit victory
(37:14):
Lane dot net to locate one oftheir twenty seven Detroit metro locations, including
Plymouth, Brighton and two locations inan Arbor. Remember, only winners make
it to Victory Lane.
Knock us down, We're gonna getup, and on the way up,
we're gonna buy a kneecap. Allfor long? Where's it going to be?
The last from standing? This iswhat the greatest thing about sports.
You plays who win the game.That's why we shot the damn field.
Now, if you want to crownthem, they crown there at But they
are who we thought they were andwe got about the hook. Welcome to
(00:23):
the Same Old Podcast. I'm Ronde Moss with Iheartsports Network sponsored by Victory
Lane. Quick Oil Change is MetroDetroit's most trusted brand for all your oil
change and preventative car care needs.They pride themselves on great customer service,
which is why they have received overeight thousand and five star Google reviews.
(00:44):
Victory Lane only installs the very bestproducts such as Penns Oil shell, rotell
At, Diehard Batteries, and Rainex. To receive twenty percent off your next
oil change, text sop that SameOld podcast to seven three four eight zero
eight three six four or three that'sseven three four eight zero eight three six
four to three. Enjoy the VictoryLane Loyalty Club one coupon per phone number.
(01:08):
Visit Victory Lane dot net to locateone of their twenty seven metro Detroit
locations, including Adrian, Selene andtwo locations in Jackson. Remember, only
winners make it to Victory Lane.Sorry, I fumbled, just like the
Lions. Any who, Dan LeachEncore by popular Demand. Yeah, I
(01:36):
heard there was a ground swallow ofsupport from nobody. No, there was.
There's some people that were here.You should see the outside. They're
lining up to see you. They'reholding up big the Leach signs squash signs.
So welcome to the same old podcast. We're going to get to the
Lions debacle in Chicago in one second. But first, oh yeah, my
gun. It to the bats getsfor two seconds left to make it one
(01:57):
thirty one to one twenty four.The Pistons dropped their twenty is straight.
You just win, baby, justwin. They haven't won a game since
October twenty eighth, Pistons. Thisis the real question. George Blaha by
the way, on ballet sports.Uh, the legendary George Bloc. Yeah,
I don't know how he's doing it. Here's the real question. Are
(02:20):
the Pistons ever gonna win again?I don't think so. You know,
will you know this, but I'mjust throwing it to the people out there
that they have lost a quarter ofa season's worth of games in a row,
not just at some point, theyhave lost over a quarter of an
NBA season's games in a row.And if you could buy the Owen Night
Detroit Titans, my old you knowteam, I hate to have to ask
(02:42):
this question. You know, whowins first? And is this the worst
period of basketball in the city ofDetroit and really the state in general?
Ever, it's feeling like it rightnow. Yeah, it has to be.
It has to be. When isit when the seventy nine eighty what
was it was by you know,the Pistons were you compare this to the
oh to sixteen Lions season. Imean right, well, the Lights were
(03:05):
competitive that year. They lost alot of games. It was the most
competitive out sixteen team you'll ever see. The Pistons have been getting the doors
blown off of them. I knowthey played better against Indiana coming off their
you know, the loss to theLakers and the in season Cup. But
it's ron. It sucks because Ilisten, my first loved sports were the
lines of the Wolverines. I thinkI mentioned this last week. But I
(03:25):
fell in love with sports with thebad boys. I was nine, ten,
eleven, twelve going to those gamesof my amazing dad, Doc Leech.
I was lucky to be able tosee all that stuff, and they
were just such a connective tissue withthe city. No one cares at all
anymore. I know they have theyoungest team of the league. I know
they've got some nice pieces like cunningm and Ivy and all. The Rockets
(03:46):
have a young team. Magic havea young team, and look what they're
doing. I've got a pulse.The Pistons have no bults. Yeah,
and someone's asking me, I thinkit on Twitter yesterday, is body William's
gonna walk away or get I mean, why would you walk away from that
much more? Well? Right,but it's the highest paid head coach in
the league. It's it's not.I don't think it's a Mahdi Williams problem
yet. I think it's it's aManti Williams could be it's a connecting with
(04:10):
the players, which is interesting becausehe did say at the beginning of the
season when they were two and one, remember that the good old days.
That was when I was like ten, right, that was back what swizzle
sticks were five cents the good olddays, and they were two and one
to start the season. He talkedabout his connection and the players and all
(04:30):
this other crap, and then allof a sudden, the bottom fell out,
and I'm like, I can't getan explanation of what happened, Like,
all of a sudden, what happened? I think, Well, and
by the way, that's a pileon. You know that they're the This
is the longest streak ever by ateam that had a winning record when the
streak of losing started. It's ina history of the NBA, no team
(04:50):
has ever lost twenty in row afterhaving a winning record before that, you
know, losing streak started. Ithink it's it's it's a lot of parts,
a lot of things. You know, you go to chemistry class,
not that I did really well asa kid, but you have you know,
your little you know, sauce here, and you got your baking soda
hair and you make the volcano.You've got some you know, chemistry and
connectivity issues. You've got some veteranlack of leadership issues. You've got the
(05:15):
youngest team, what is a twentyfour point two years by age in the
NBA. You had some injuries.I mean, I know Bodin was out
for a while, which he's gota little vegan. Tim Morris is still
out right so now Jalen Duran isout for a couple of weeks with the
sprained ankle. But I made abet before the season that the Pistons would
make the play in tournament. Boy, am I an idiot? It's a
waste one hundred hours. I boostedit if it would have been like a
(05:38):
huge payout because they were still lookedat as like a six to one team
to make the playing tournament. Theyare so far away from not being the
worst team in the NBA right now. They're the worst team in the NBA,
but in the league. But Iwonder if people will go to the
games only to see I was therewhen they finally won a game. Oh
you know what I'm saying, Likethat's where the interest would be because or
(05:58):
I want to see them lose,Yeah, twenty one in a row or
twenty two in a row or twentyeight and beat the league. Regard the
losing his team, Rod and Zachmore people. I hate to say because
this is you know, the peoplein this city not all of them,
but too many of them. They'regonna want to be there if it gets
to twenty eight, they're gonna wantto be there to see the all like
(06:19):
the Lions fans that would want tosee oh in sixteen because they're sadists.
Now, it's not somebody to beproud of. Someone was I was on
social media. People are like,go for the recker. Because I was
asking who's gonna win first? Theother nine Titans or the twenty loss in
a row Pistons. Why would youwant to see the all time losing streak.
That's not something you want to beproud of, to be Detroit Pistons
fan. I don't think it's gonnahappen, but boy, I thought there
(06:41):
was no chance that would happen abouttwo weeks ago. It is definitely on
the table. Now you're listening tothe same old podcast. I'm Ronda Moss
with iHeart Sports Network along with DanLeach. HI appreciate you being here.
But here's the thing, and it'sonly Tuesday, and it's already a bad
week in Detroit. Sports lose.In Chicago Wings lose. Last night,
(07:02):
David Prawn suspended six games with theCross checking Dylan Lark and the Captain out
a week with the upper body.We're a little messed up right now.
And then the Pistons lose their twentiethin a row. So not a good
week so far. But things canflip her out with a little Broncos action
on Saturday at the Wolverines before youknow it in the CFP. So let's
(07:23):
just you know, it's a holidayseason. I saw Walker last night cried
ten times. I want everyone tobe in the holiday mood and be grateful
for what we have and not whatwe don't have. Okay, so let's
get to the Lions and Moco inChicago, and you know, I gotta
say, Jared Goff, two picksand a fumble. You know, this
is where the small hands come intoplay. You know, the small hands,
(07:46):
small hands. You know that meanscabbage ron twenty and thirty five for
one hundred and sixty one yards anda quarterback rating of fifty four point six.
I know at two picks you mentioned, I know it's on the road
at Chicago, a house of Hordsfor decades for the lines, but that's
just unacceptable. It's the way thatthey played is unacceptable. You know,
(08:07):
sometimes you can accept, okay,a penalty he or a penalty there,
but it's the way the penalties andJared goff and nothing was going right,
and it was sloppy and and theywere undisciplined, and you could pick an
adjective, I think right, becausethey all of those sloppy, undisciplined,
off, missed tackles. Everything thatcould go wrong went wrong with this team.
(08:33):
And to me, this shouldn't behappening. These kind of mistakes should
not be happening this time of year. They should But like I always like
to do, you know, Ilike to try to at least if there's
if it's warranted. Let people relaxfor a second. Now, I get
that that was I said this too. The law. Well, let me
interrupt you because you and Dan Campbellare on the same page because he's encouraged.
(08:58):
Some of our best player on theteam did not play well, and
that's encouraging going into this one becausethose are prideful guys and those are our
dudes. And believe me, thoseguys are gonna come back no different than
us as coaches. We're gonna beat our best. And you know,
I just know what kind of lockerroom. We got what kind of players,
(09:18):
and we will respond. We willrespond, and that's why. So
we just kind of put a ballon that. And that's my point.
So lives have nine wins. Youdon't get nine wins by accident in today's
NFL if you just give you anexample. I'm not trying to take anything
away from that being a bad loss. I've already said it was a bad
loss. And you know, youlook at the Monday Night Football, the
Double Duo, you know, doa edition of Monday Night Football last night.
(09:41):
The Giants are not a good team. Yes, standy Devino starting for
him and twins at our shorts takingall that stuff. They're not a good
team. And they go and theybeat the Packers, and then the Packers
actually had the lead late in thatone. The Tennessee Titans are not a
good team. They beat the Dolphinsin Miami down fourteen late. My whole
point is this is that it's theNFL in this parody driven era. It's
(10:03):
a tough league. The Lions arean above average team. That is,
we know they have issues. They'vegot pass rush issues, they've got you
know, kerfuffle in the middle ofgame. Issues, Jared Goff can't play
out doors on the road. Iget all that, but if you take
a step back, Lions fans andI said this last week round and see
many people agreed with some people agreewith me on this. The goal this
year was to win. They mayhave agreed with you, but I was
(10:26):
right. You were right, andI give you I found That's why I
got you a walk up poster.They wow, Listen, they have nine
wins. The goal was always towin the division and win at least a
playoff game and work your way tobuild a crescendo. Lions fans need to
relax. I understand it was abad performance. Guess what. The Lions
before the Bears game were twelve andtwo in revenge games and in their last
(10:48):
you know and bounce back games.They're a good team. They're not a
great team, but they're a verygood team. Like Campbell said, there
and guys did not play well.How about Jameis and Williams one target?
I mean, obviously they missed AleeMcNeil. He was out and hurt.
And you know jamieor Gibbs didn't havea good game. They come on,
Aliam McNeil is not coming back rightnow. No, But and then Aiden
(11:09):
Hutchinson can't do what I was old, Who are you to to what did
he do? Crap? Now Ican't remember what played? Jump off sides?
He changed the play, he changedthe whatever he did was wrong twice.
But he did get to fields abunch of times. He was the
only one down there. But youcan't say, but he got to fields.
(11:33):
They lost the game. It doesn'tmatter, It didn't whatever whatever they
were doing on defense didn't help.And then, okay, so that whole
situation, the fourth and thirteen right, justin fields? How about jump not
jumping off sides? Jerry Jacobs getsburned DJ Moore with the touchdown, go
ahead touchdown. Well, you knowthe fourth down play and the Bears weren't
(11:56):
even gonna snap the ball and theyright, and they said, can't believe
they jumped off side. If thatdoesn't happen, I think the Lions actually
probably would have won the game.That's how crazy the NFL could be.
That one play. I mean,that was crazy on a four see too
many silly pedal Agreed, But that'sthe thing. The bad teams will let
(12:16):
that be a factor. Teams thatare good or trying to get great.
They'll come home, play a teamlike Denver, beat a team like Denver
at home, and reemphasize themselves intheir division race, which is probably over
anyway. I know they got thetwo games against Minnesota, but listen,
if people thought the Lions were gonnarun the table five six weeks ago,
they were insane. The Lions weregonna be the one seed this year.
The Lions aren't good enough to bea one seed. They're not Philly.
(12:37):
You know, the Philly has beenstronger. They're not San Francisco, they're
not Dallas. But what they canbe is a team that continues to get
better. And as Dan Campbell saidthere, listen, guys didn't play well.
We know that. We have toaddress that and come right back.
I mentioned the Lions were twelve totwo in rematch games before that game against
the Bears. They have been goodthe last two years, Ron, and
(12:58):
they've got to show that again.If the Lions two, three, four
to a row, different story.If they bounce back, it shows you
they know how to learn for theirlosses. Well again, I mean,
it's the eight penalties that killed Drivesobviously, and then again coming out of
halftime and just nothing nothing, fivestraight three and out with it. And
(13:20):
it's really surprising because their offense isreally there, the keys or saving grace
exactly, and they did nothing.And Jared Goff again was awful. Two
picks, as I said in afumble, again with the small hands record.
But here's the thing with Jared Goff. Okay, seven picks, fifteen
(13:41):
sacks, ten touchdowns last seven games. That's not very No, it's not.
And listen, I'm not trying toyou know, put you know,
make you put something on a pileof you know what I would rather if
you're a Lions fan and something's gotto be if he if it's he needs
to straighten. Yeah, if itstays this way, lines have no chance
of anything. Is if you winninga pakay whatever. But I'd rather this
(14:03):
be this kind of it's not inthe middle anymore. But we're like,
you know, middle towards the latelate part of the year where he's not
what he needs to be and thenhe is at the end of the year.
Because let's say he started super hotand then it was awful at the
end of the year. I wouldrather it be something where he figures it
out and the lines to figure itout too, and Bet Johnson's got to
figure it out. I mean,if you look at the numbers, to
be honest, all the people thatare been you know, going after Aaron
(14:24):
Glenn. The defense has been betterthan the offense the last couple of weeks.
I mean, I'm not say it'speople don't want to hear it,
but it's true. But that beingsaid, if golf in the offense figures
it out when it matters. Witha lot of these dome games coming up
where obviously we know the Lions aregood, and they host a playoff game
in a dome and they maybe playingthe second round in a dome, this
could be exactly what we thought theLions could have been this season. But
(14:45):
if they don't fix it soon,there's only four games left, it's going
to be a massive problem. I'drather it be an issue now than an
issue in a week eighteen. That'sall I'm saying, right, I mean,
I guess, but again again,it's just the way that they played
and zero points in the second half. It's very uncharacteristic of this offense,
(15:05):
and the Bears don't have like It'snot like the eighty six Bears defense.
I don't know. I don't know. The Lions just have this weird thing
on the road sometimes, especially indivision places and pass it was Green Bay,
but now it seems like at timesit's been Chicago where they just don't
look like themselves at all. Idon't know what it is. Maybe they're
having stakes at Gibson's the night before, having too many martinis a Lincoln Park.
(15:26):
I don't know what the deal is, but they just did not look
like the Lions were on or right. You look at the Lions who had
played on the twelve games or thirteengames to that point or twelve games to
that point, what had they lookedlike the majority of the year. They
did not look like that in thesecond half at all. And it's an
It's a great Bears team. They'remuch improved. No, but you know,
the Bears were the seeking revenge afterwhat happened at Ford Field, so
(15:48):
you know, I mean, theyweren't gonna let that game get away from
them again. And to be honestwith you, once the Bears went up,
I don't think the Lions had achance. I don't think they were
playing well at all, and therewas no chance they were coming back.
I'm sorry, I was when youwatch the game and you look at the
game and how they played and themistakes that were made, and I just
(16:10):
didn't think they were going to comeback well, and I'm with you on
that in the second half, Buthow about in the first half. How
many Lions teams in the past,which is why the one kind of thing
I'll point to one small positive thisgame, when they were down to nothing
and nothing was going their way,the Lions came storming back and took the
lead before you know, before halftime. That's something I think in the past,
maybe even definitely during mat Patricia,but in a lot of delivered lines
(16:33):
years, they would have just gottenthe doors. I still all right again,
sorry uh clown pants. In manydifferent years they would not have even
had a pulse in that game.And you see the Lions, they are
a talented team. I think thepeople just need to understand that, yes,
there's problems, they're not perfect,but there is talent there. But
that at the same time, youcannot let what happened in the second half
(16:56):
happened. You can't what happened tothe second half against the Bears at Ford
Field, where they Amos lost thatgame. That stuff's got to be worked
on. But it's year three ofthis regime. It's not like we're in
year seven, eight nine. They'reworking this stuff out. I believe in
Brad Holmes, I believe in DanCampbell, and I think that Lines fans
that are like it's over. It'salways people texting me and on social media
and the season's over, go goahead. Packers are with the division?
(17:18):
How did that work out? Packer'slot last night? Yeah, they were
sloppy team. They were sloppy too. But here here's the thing again,
and I'm gonna repeat myself, becauseit's the way that they're playing this time
of year. Sure, that isunacceptable, I agree, And they shouldn't
be playing this way this time ofyear. They should they want to if
they want to win a playoff game, Okay, I think, of course,
(17:41):
I think not With the Packers losingto the Giants yesterday, the Niners
clinched the first playoff spot. Withthe Packers loss, the Lines are winning
the division. I don't care.Yes, I think so too. And
then Game three, I mean,it's just ridiculous, but they won,
so you know, can I giveyou a cool stat real quick though of
(18:03):
that show. So you know thatthere's been seven hundred and forty three zero
zero games in the history of theNFL. Yeah, you know. The
last one was November seventh, nineteenforty three. I saw wanted a zero
zero game. Yeah. So,and they're having quarterback issues because who knows
who's going to be the Vikings startingquarterback. They have yet to announce it.
They'll do it later in the week. So so the Lions, Okay,
to make everybody feel better, becausethat's why Dan Leech is here.
(18:26):
No, I'm here because people loveme too. Now, if the Lions
win and we'll get to the Broncos, the Broncos coming up Saturday night at
Ford Field and then beat the Vikingson the road, they will clinch their
first divisional title since nineteen ninety three. I was sixteen, exactly, a
great shape and a lot of womenlove me then. But it's still the
same. It's different now, exactly. Okay, cool, old you're listening
(18:48):
to the same old podcast. I'mRond de Moss with iHeart Sports, a
network along with Dan Leech sponsored byVictory Lane Quick Oil Change. Okay,
so let's get to the Broncos.Now here's to me. The Broncos and
my friend, my former co worker, Brandon Crystal of iHeart in Denver is
(19:10):
going to come on in a coupleof minutes. But the Broncos first game
of the season seventy points, gaveup seventy points to the Dolphins, and
then I think they lost, andthen they lost their first five games.
Right right, that Broncos game wasthe Dolphins was the first game of the
year. It was in the earlypart of the season, right, I
thought it was the first game ofthe year. I think it was Week
(19:33):
three because I was with baby Daverieg Or our good friend, and he's
a big Broncos fan, and Iwas laughing at him for hours and hours
and hours. Anyway, they gaveup seventy points. Who gives up seventy
points? Nobody? But then Broncosturned it around. Sean Payton, Yeah,
week three, Sorry, bad,no question this? I forgot.
Why am I questioning? Well,you heard your stuff too, But I
(19:53):
thought, I don't know why Ithought it was the first game of the
season because you could believe that someonegave up seventies or like, it's got
to be the first game exactly.Anyway, they started oh and five,
and in between that oh and fivethey gave up seventy peers the Jets as
well, exactly. Oh yeah,that was a Monday night game where Aaron
Rodgers got hurt, and right,that was that game. Okay, no,
no, no, no, thatwas a different game. That was
(20:15):
That was weekend. I really don'tknow what the hell was happening in the
NFL without Aaron Rodgers. I believeZach Wilson started the game, but they
still lost at home in denverord tothe Jets, right, okay, So,
but the Broncos turned it around,yes, right now. And and
you know Dan Campbell going up againsthis mentor, he was a player under
Sean Payton and a coach. Soand the Broncos have won six of their
(20:40):
last seven. And interesting about theBroncos, they have eighteen takeaways in the
last seven games. They could eatJared Goff for lunch, have them for
lunch. I will say this,I'm excited to hear what Brandon Crystal say.
I don't think the Broncos offense isany good. I think Russell Wilson,
I'm not gonna say he's broken likesome people will say, but I
(21:00):
don't think their offense. I meanI watched them against a just a nept
Chargers team and the other reason theywere up early in that game in the
first half is because the Chargers Herbertthrew a pick six or an interception on
the five yard line. I thinktheir offense is not that good, but
the Lions offense has not been thatgood for the last couple weeks of times
as well. If the Lions scorea lot of points on Saturday Night,
(21:22):
big crowd, yes, but theBroncos it's their defense, so that has
been awesome. But if the Lionsoffense gets back to what we were trying
to say has been for the majorityof the season, I think the programs
has scored enough points to keep upwith them. The Broncos did that of
the Houston game. When they playedthe Texas a few weeks ago. I
think they scored and then he wasclose to the thirties. Otherwise, the
Procos offense has been very inept,and I think that this is a chance
(21:44):
for the Lions to get the offenseback on track, to figure out what's
going on and find a way toyou know, what they readdress what the
Lions have to do when they're protectingFord Field. What what's this saying,
let Russ Cook? Is that?Is that with the Broncos? Let Russ
Cook eat Right? You're listening tothe same old podcast. I'm Ron Demos
(22:06):
at Iheartsports Network along with Dan Leach, and I would like to welcome in.
We used to work with him inKansas City. We had fun.
Brandon Christall from iHeart in Denver,koa Bronco's esteemed beat reporter. Okay,
Brandon, welcome into the same oldpodcast. How are you? I'm doing
(22:29):
great. I'm doing great. It'sfun and I imagine it's fun for you
guys covering a team with playoff chancesvery much alive. Obviously, with the
Lions leading in the division, postseasonfeels like it's inevitable, but you never
know in this weird league. AndI saw something where thirty of thirty two
teams are still mathematically eligible for theplayoffs, and the Broncos are certainly one
of them at seven and six.So it's a much more enjoyable year than
(22:52):
it was last year, Year onewith Russell Wilson. Okay, so what
has been the turnaround? Because theBroncos started out like the line last season?
What were they zero to five?And then they turned it around and
now have won six out of theirlast seven. And where did the let
Russ cook come from? I thinkthat goes back to his Seattle days,
(23:15):
and he is certainly not cooking,or if he is, he's not making
much of a meal intentionally with whatwith what John Payton is asking him to
do. And so it's one ofthose things where in Seattle they felt like
the offense because Pete Carroll wanted torun the ball and play good defense and
then let Russ make plays late andyou don't accidentally throw two hundred and ninety
two regular season touchdowns in a careerand he's now up to I think three
(23:38):
thirty one if my math is right, which is more than Dan Marino.
You don't do that accidentally. Andso's it's one of those situations where Nathaniel
Hackett came in and wanted to that'sall he wanted to do was let Russ
cook. But Pete Carroll, Ithink, for his own good, was
keeping Russ kind of restrained and justrunning the ball, playing good defense,
(24:03):
and then when it was time tomake a play, Russ would make that
play, and so I think thatthis year Sean Payton had to figure out
exactly what Russ was good at thatSean was comfortable calling that you know,
was maybe different from what Drew Breesor Jamis Winston or even the five games
they had Teddy Bridgewater. What workedfor Russ that didn't necessarily that didn't necessarily
(24:23):
work in the past. And understandingthe defense and you know, they give
up seventy points in Week three tothe Dolphins, and it's still messing with
their averages. Like there's still oneof the lowest ranked teams in every category,
even though in this seven game stretchhere where there's six and one,
they've been one of the best defensesin football. And outside of the first
half against the Bears really and thesecond half against Washington, they've they've been
(24:45):
one of the best defenses in footballperiod except for you know, that's what
eight quarters so total. But theirfourth down defense has been great, Their
third down defense has been really good. They get up the field, the
red zone defense is really good.You hold Patrick Mahomes the one touchdown in
two games, and so it's Ithink it just took them a little bit
of time. But the key tothe turnaround you have to give credit where
(25:07):
it's doing. In this case,it's Sean Payton. Now he points the
last year's Lions team. There's afine line here between a groove and a
rut, and you know, youtake a look at I'll give you an
example Detroit. You know a yearago, was sitting and I watched it
as a media member covering a handfulof tough losses. They were one and
six. I know Dan well,and you know, you keep fighting.
(25:30):
You know, there's a grit elementinvolved, you know, some mental toughness
that's involved, and then pretty soonyou know, here they are at the
end of the season. They win, they're eliminated before that game played,
but they were in that contention andthen you know here they are now is
one of those teams and so youknow, we're kind of, you know,
in that position where it's you know, we're blowing up and we have
(25:53):
to The Broncos turnaround to me isimpressive. You have to admit, after
giving a seventy points, you know, losing, the way that they have
their defense have been to me hasbeen very impressive. Yeah, and it's
kind of been good at all threelevels. Their pass rush is getting better.
They've got these young pass rushers andNick Benito left the game in a
(26:15):
knee brace, so he's walking andI imagine that put it in a brace
and let you walk when you've tornsomething. But we didn't get much of
a report here early in the week. We'll see where it goes. But
it's one of those things where heis getting to play more. As their
highest draft pick two years ago,after they drafted Russ, they took him
at the end of the traded forRuss. The only pick they had was
(26:37):
late in the second round and theytook Benito. He didn't do much as
a rookie, looked like a rookie, but he's really immerged in camp and
now he's leading the team in sacks. And then two kids from Ohio State,
Baron Browning and Jonathan Cooper, whoare in year three. Browning has
talent for days. He was thehighest recruited high school player coming out of
Texas, landed at Ohio State.They played him inside, they played him
(26:57):
outside. He gets to the NFLplaying him inside, then they move him
outside last year and he's just anatural edge rusher. Along with Jonathan Cooper,
who was his teammate there at atOhio State. And so the three
young pass rushers are really good.The linebackers in the middle, especially Alex
Singletons, fly around, and thenon the back end you've got one of
the smartest, best ballhawks in theleague and Justin Simmons who's been to a
(27:18):
couple of Pro Bowls a couple oftimes second team All Pro, and Pat
Sartan is for most people's money,the best cornerback. So they've been good
at all three levels. Advanced Joseph, I think, has gotten more comfortable
calling what he wants to call ratherthan trying to do with Vic Fangio and
what Gero Rivero did last year.He's using some of those principles, but
it's his philosophy in terms of windto blitz and exotic blitzes and switching up
(27:41):
coverages and messing with an offense.And so Jared Goff is far and away
the toughest quarterback they'll see now herein these final four games, make him
get happy feet and they can takehim down. And he hasn't played very
well at all over the last sevengames. And it's a bit perplexing,
right because he looks so good earlyand so good late last year, and
you're like, oh, that's whatI got was number one? Right,
(28:03):
you can see it. You seethat, you see it. You don't
see it consistently, right, exactly, especially over the last seven games.
But we're talking with Brandon christaal IHeart in Denver covers the broncos KOA.
All right. My question to youis Patrick Certan junior. Did you tell
him that you covered his dad whenwe covered the Chiefs. You covered his
(28:25):
dad. I missed his dad.I missed his dad by a year or
two. I covered his dad,Patrick Stan your age though you don't I
know, But it's so funny whenI hear the But when I hear Patrick
cert I'm gonna have to go inand introduce myself to him on Saturday night.
I have to because I covered hisdad. His dad may actually be
(28:45):
there. He's a coach at FloridaState this year. Last year he coached
at Miami with the Dolphins. Ohright, maybe he will be here.
Oh, but I really he's there, because I don't know if you guys
saw Florida State did not make itin the you're talking excuse me, Brandon,
but Dan Leach is a huge Michiganslappy, so don't even you know,
don't even get into that. Sorrysevernals now, But Brandon, I
(29:07):
wanted to ask you about this.Thanks again for joining us. It's it's
it's one of these things where youobviously super impressive. The Bronco was the
one six to seven, and thedefense, as you and Ron and I
mean you know, talked about,has been great. But the offense to
me, I want to talk toabout the offense because you know, you
bring in Sean Payton. I mean, we know all bad things were before
he got there and even last year, and you you look at you know,
(29:27):
this offense with Russ Wilson, whichis not I mean, it's not
gonna be the way he was inSeattle. But he's still obviously very capable.
And yes, they've won these sixof seven games, But what is
the feeling about the offense, Becauseif the Lions can get their act together,
which they obviously weren't last week ableto do in Chicago and at home
they've been very good for the mostpart offensively, could the Broncos score enough
(29:47):
points because lately they haven't been.Yeah, it's it's certainly something that the
fan base, I think, theteam, the coaches, everyone's aware of
that this offense isn't going to scorethirty points too often. They have a
couple of times, which is somethingwe hadn't seen in a long while.
And it's funny because there's kind ofPTSD and I don't want to make you
know, I'm not picking on Lionsfans, but they don't have the same
(30:10):
track record that the Broncos have certainlyhad since Pat Bowling about the team at
least in nineteen eighty or they wentto the Super Bowl at the end of
the seventy seven seasons. Yeah andsoused. Yeah, there used to be
in above five hundred. There,used to be in the playoff mix,
and to not be in the playoffssince twenty fifteen after winning Super Bowl fifty,
which was great, but tonight reallysniffed the playoffs. They went nine
(30:32):
and seven that year right after withKerry Kubiak his last year, and it's
just been with Vance Joseph first timehead coach, Vic fangio a first time
head coach, Nathaniel Hackett first timehead coach. So when they start out
one in five, it is thatptsdo here we go again. So they
are playing complimentary football. Their returngame has been the best in the league
most of the year. Will Lutzwas AFC Special Teams Player of the Month.
(30:53):
Their coverage units have been good.They haven't given up too many really
even big returns, let alone wonfor a score. And so bestial teams
has been good. Is you know, we've now talked about defense is and
better, and offense has been solid, it's been efficient. Russell Wilson was
really good in the second half.He's he's been good in spots and so
his numbers are more respectable than maybethe offense. The fear that the offense
(31:15):
might strike in an opponent is becauseCourtland Sutton, if he gets near the
red zone, is as dangerous asanybody he has. He's incredible touchdowns in
the red zone and then two amazingcatches outside of the red zone, including
one the other day where they're holdinghis arm. Jerry Judy has yet to
kind of really click in this offenseand with russ consistently, but there was
a reason he was taking fifteenth.Then he does get open. But the
(31:37):
real key to the Bronco success andit goes back to what they were doing
in Seattle is running the football andgiving the ball to Javonte Williams, who's
coming off a horrendous knee injury.But every time he touches the ball,
he almost never goes down at forhis contact, so he's always gaining positive
yards and the biggest thing that keepshim from putting up one hundred yard games.
I think there's probably a problem thatthe Lions have to, you know,
(32:00):
sort through his how much you're gettingto Montgomery versum your gibbs when things
are going well and you're moving thesticks is if they like some on JP
Ryan, especially on third down.And then they've got this kid Julia McLoughlin,
who started at Notre Dame College andthen transferred to Youngstown. It has
eighty one hundred dollar purpose yards incollege or eighty one hundred yards from scrimmage,
and is just a little lightning boltshot out of a cannon, which
(32:22):
I guess is not where you wouldshoot a lightning bolt out of from zeus.
But he's so it's like you justhave to get him on the field
some and they still don't get himon the field enough, probably for their
liking to have a true thunder andlightning. That's because they need to play
p Ryan. But it starts withthe running him and then Russ is using
his legs. Last year, hedidn't this year. When there is green
grass in front of him, hewill take the three to five, to
(32:44):
ten to even sometimes sixteen eighteen twentyyards and keep the chains moving and then
look for those shots. That's reallywhat Sean Payton has done with this offense
is limit Russ's opportunity to take toomany wild shots. And that's what I
had heard secondhand, but from areally good source. One of the offensive
coordinators Russ had worked with in thepast said, he's the hardest player you'll
(33:05):
ever coach at quarterback because most coacheson first and ten want to get you
to second and six and then thirdand two or three, where you have
the whole playbook open right, andRuss on first and ten if it's a
play, if it's a play calledto pass the football, yeah he could
run, but he'd rather run aroundand then fleeing at eighteen yards and pick
up a first down. And sojust adjusting that that line of thinking and
(33:27):
creating that paradigm shift in his brainis what Sean Payton's really set out to
do so when you look every nowand then, there'll be three, four,
five options, but a lot oftimes there's only one or two options
that seem most obvious for us ina passing situation. And he's so still
physically talented throwing the football and creatingenough space that he'll get the ball there
more times than not. And that'swhy his completion percentage is certainly more than
(33:51):
respectable. Up until the Houston game, his interception numbers were great and they're
still really good, only eight onthe season, and he's obviously throwing more
touchdowns and he certainly did last yearand it's probably very likely going to be
north of thirty in that category.Two, Brandon, I want to thank
you so much for coming on thesame old podcast. We really appreciate it,
and it was so good to seeyou and talk to you. It's
(34:12):
great to see you and talk.We'll hear you and talk to you.
But also I'm in because it's thepodcast. If you write my name and
like who the guest is, youdon't even have to keep the part where
you reintroduce me because people will alreadyknow because they will have seen my name
in print. This is why.I found him annoying when I worked with
Ian, but I love him.I don't drink anymore when I want some
crystal. Brandon, thank you somuch. Are you coming to Detroit?
(34:36):
Are you coming to Detroit now?As much as I'd love to, I
am not. I am not onthis trip changed forever, Brandon. Yeah,
very emotional man. Last time Iwas there was when the super Bowl
was there. Yes, we stayedat my parents great. Yeah, it
was a blast. But again,Brandon, thank you so much. We
really appreciate it. Take care.It's good to see you, to talk
(34:59):
to you. This is a superBowl preview. Yes, okay, whatever,
I believe. Living in a worldof make Believe by Brandon Bye,
okay, that was Brandon Christall frommy heart in Denver, KOA covers the
(35:22):
Broncos. And you know, Brandon'sa talker like you, Dan can't shut
him up. All the best peopleare legendary figures. All right, orders,
all okay, all right, Igotta ask because I have to ask.
Now. It's our thing, yourpick for Saturday night. Yes,
well I'll tell you this, andRonnie you know this first hand, like
guy do. The Ford field hasalways been loud in a lot of situations.
(35:45):
It's been crazy this year, especiallyfor these primetime games. I think
it's going to be a very similaratmosphere. The Lions fans know they have
to win this game. What wejust talked about with Brandon. The offense
is not a scary offense, youknow with the Denver Broncos. The defense
could be. If the Lions don'tturn the ball over, the Lions can
win this game, like they will. I think it's going to be loud,
(36:06):
the crowd will be a factor.I have the Lions winning this game
with the offense back on track andmaybe Jamies and Williams getting more than one
target. Thirty one to twenty one. Last scoring affair as opposed to last
week where I thought it was gonnabe a low scoring crap beest and it
was, yeah, the best.Thank you, Dan, I appreciate it.
That seemed very sarcastic, by theway, was it was it?
(36:27):
Yeah? I was it? Zachxaxtly, Yeah, listen a little,
I have the best, but meetit next time you say it. Please,
Thank you so much for hopping onthe same old podcast. Sponsored by
Victory Lane Quick Oil Changes Metro Detroit'smost trusted brand for all your oil change
and preventative car care needs. Theypride themselves on great customer service, which
(36:51):
is why they have received over eightthousand and five star Google reviews. Victory
Lane only installs the very best productssuch as pennz Oil, shall rotal At,
Diehard Batteries, and Rainex. Toreceive twenty percent off your next oil
change, text sop to seven threefour eight zero eight three six four three
and join the Victory Lane Loyalty Clubone coupon per phone number. Visit victory
(37:14):
Lane dot net to locate one oftheir twenty seven Detroit metro locations, including
Plymouth, Brighton and two locations inan Arbor. Remember, only winners make
it to Victory Lane.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com