October 24, 2025 • 30 mins
Tori McElhaney and Terrin Waack share their insider knowledge with Will McFadden as they discuss how the Falcons can rebound after a loss to the 49ers, what can lead to more offensive success in the red zone, and what a win this weekend could mean for the rest of the season.
0:00 - Intro
0:50 - Question of the Day
4:00 - Finding sustained success
8:00 - Red zone offense
15:00 - Falcons WR room
20:00 - Divine Deablo's injury
24:43 - Miami matchup breakdown
29:35 - Outro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's got that straight line down Jesus.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Yeah, maybe like before he goes in sport mode.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
He's six three two two three. He has like a
seven foot long broad source that he carries on.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
His back to walk his dog. Happy Friday Falcons fans,
welcome back to the Friday five. I am your host,
Will mcfad and I'm joined by Tory mclaney and Tarren
Walk and we are here to break down the five
biggest things that you need to know before this weekend's
matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins. Falcons
need to bounce back coming off of a loss. They
return back at home. It's it's gonna be a big
(00:31):
game and I'm excited to dig into that with you both.
But before we get to that, let's say we start
with our social question of the day.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Yeah, okay, it's a good one, but for the Halloween spirit,
it's who would survive the longest in a horror movie?
And instead of like us saying between the three of us,
like I thought it would be better if we did
the players on the current team. Oh hey, yeah, like so,
(01:00):
And I'm here's do you want me to answer first?
Or Tarin do you want to go first?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I can go first.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Okay, go first.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So I'm torn between two. Do I say both or
yodel reasoning yeah, okay, David on your Mata Okay, that's good.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Or Liam McCullough okay.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
One is way way better than I know the winner
of those two.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
My thought process is David on your Mata kind of
goes under the radar because he's just a quieter guy,
but I know when he's on the field he's an
absolute menace. I go with Liam for half of that reason,
where it's like you just go kind of under the
radar unless you fully mess up, and it's like zombies
won't even come.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Near to you, won't even survive lips.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
So I like evading the zombies technique.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
So I was thinking, I considered everyone part of the
organization is being a part of the team, so they're
not technically on the fifty three man roster right now,
they're on injured reserve. But Caleb McGarry would absolutely be
the one to survive in a horror He has all
of these I mean, the man tracked a bear for
like two years, his groove's been had swords. Yeah, he
(02:11):
has like a seven foot long broadsword that he carries
on his back to walk his dog, like.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
He's the top draft pick without questions.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Absolutely honestly, And can you imagine like a because in
horror films it's kind of like, you know, they're not
these huge beings. I watched The Shining last night and
it's just like a man. Yeah yeah, but like.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Him up against Kayler McGary, Michael Meyer, like that's a
different story. Fair it depends on Jason is different than
Jack Nicholson. I agreed, pointed scissor Hands is different.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
I think that was like where my brain went is like,
how many actual like horror villains are bigger than Kayla McGary.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, I know. I think those are definitely both the
best like bruiser kind of berserker types. David Oniamata and
Kayla McGary would win. You know, I love you, Liam,
but we're gonna stick with us two. I do think
Charlie Warner sneaky ad to that risk would be good,
but I'm gonna go in a different I'll go in
the stealth direction which you were getting out with Liam is.
I think Darnell would actually be Darnell Mooney would be
(03:13):
kind of like caned into the shadows and then just
be like, no, yeah, nobody even knows where I am.
And they pop out at the end and be like,
all right, I win.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
That's true a picture.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
I'm like, flash, Jean is too nice though he's probably
sacrificing himself for sure.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Something's happening here.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
The zombies delete them.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
All Right, Well that was that was great. If you
want to see who the players actually picked themselves, you
can go check it out on the falcons TikTok feed
And if you like the segment, we've got plenty more
where that came from every day throughout the week. So yeah,
it's I love their social questions of the day, but
enough messing around. Okay, this is this is back to
business for the Atlanta Falcons this week. So for that reason,
(03:52):
after a loss, I feel like it's you often look inward.
A lot of our topics today are going to deal
with the Atlanta Falcons, and you know, Taren, I've been
thinking about kind of this show is a great like
back half of where we left off last week, because
the Falcons were going west with a chance to kind
of correct something they were unable to do earlier in
the season, Right, coming off of Minnesota, you go to Carolina,
(04:13):
things don't go the way you want it, and you
identified that, like right off the jump after the Buffalo game,
you're like, they have a chance to kind of do
something here. They didn't quite do it, did they?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
No, they just didn't do it.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
They lost to the forty nine ers. And I just
think about all the answers players and coaches alike A
gave in the lead up to the forty nine ers
game where it's like, we learned our lesson. Jesse Bates
straight up said that's a lesson that can't be taught twice.
But here we are entering week eight after a loss
that came after a massive win, where it's like, come on,
(04:48):
it's one of those things where you talk the talk,
can you.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Walk the walk?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Like you're saying all the right things, but we need
to see it come to fruition where you're stacking wins
and showing that you can maintain consistency and that winning
culture and that winning nature and it doesn't have to
be a big blowout win week after week. It can
be like Raheem Morris said, winning ugly.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And I think that's the difference here in talking about
where the Falcons are right now versus maybe some other
teams that we're talking about being playoff contenders either last
year or this year. And I think you made a
good point, like a good team stack wins, but they
also win the games that they don't necessarily play their
best in and that was something that even to Raheem's point,
(05:37):
I think he was asked about it on Wednesday and
he said, you know, like good teams win ugly games,
and that's kind of where the Falcons need to get
to because right now, if you look at the games
that they've won, which was Minnesota when they played out
of their minds defensively, you look at the Buffalo Bills game,
(05:59):
the Washington Commander's games, like there there were moments in
time where they were playing at their absolute best and
their their kind of peak of who they should be
and who they want to be and who their identity is.
That's really if if it takes you, it's gonna take
your best to like win double digit games every single
(06:20):
year in this league. We know that, but you're not
always gonna be at your best every single week. You're
gonna come up against a defense that takes Jehan Robinson away.
So it's when that happens. The good teams, the ones
that end up pushing to a postseason, are the ones
that when things don't look pretty, they still find a
way to win games. And I think, honestly, the Bucks
(06:42):
have been a very like, yeah, almost like a great
example of that, like where they aren't blowing people out
of the water. They are having mistakes here and there,
but when it all is said and done, outside of
this Detroit loss that they just had, which you know,
give credit to Detroit, Detroit's a good team, but the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the realm of like making
(07:04):
plays enough.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
To win games absolutely, And the reason that's important winning
ugly is because that's what playoff football is, right, And
when you look at the Chiefs last year, the Eagles
this year, the Bucks are a great example as well.
Like the ability to just win regardless in any form
and fashion, any way you can, that is important. And
good teams, when you're playing a good team and you're
a good team, they're going to take away what you
(07:26):
like to do. And it just kind of felt like
without the Jon Robinson cooking at the level that he
usually does, the Falcons didn't have the best second gear
that they can turn to, and so there's a lot
to learn from that game because they do aspire to
be a playoff team and this was a great test.
But Tori, if we're talking kind of playoff football, is
there in that game one clear area that the Falcons
(07:47):
need to get cleaned up if you do reach the
postseason and you do have aspirations to kind of go on.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think it all has to stem
from offensive issues in the red zone, and not even
offensive she's in the red zone. I think it's just
scoring offense in general, like not putting the ball in
the end zone, like relying on kicks and relying on Yes,
you can move the ball usually twenty yard line to
twenty yard line, but you can't have these moments like
(08:16):
what we saw in the second quarter of the Falcons
game against the forty nine ers where they put together
a nineteen play drive that eats up ten minutes of
clock and then you don't score. I know we talked
about that kind of in the postgame podcast on Final Whistle,
and I honestly think like that's if there's one thing
that if this thing gets fixed, we're talking about this
(08:39):
team in a different way.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
It's that yeah. I mean you look at the numbers
and it's pretty stark. Right. They're seventh in three and
out rate, which means they have the seventh lowest rate
of three and outs, so they're not going three and out.
They have the seventh average drive distance just over thirty
four yards, so when they get the ball, they're able
to get that first first down, they're able to kind
of move it across midfield more often than not. However,
(09:01):
their twenty fourth in drive score rate, they're twenty sixth
in points per drive, and they're twenty ninth in the
red zone. So those are clear issues that you do
have to figure out in a league that is centered
around scoring points. Tarin, what if the players and coaches
you've talked to this week, say, have said about how
they're going to go about doing that.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Hey, it's something they came to terms with. Their acknowledged
immediately postgame. Talking to Darnell Mooney with the nineteen play
drive specifically, he said, you always want to score, especially
when you have such a long drive. It feels so
amazing just to be able to do whatever you want
to do. But they're not scoring so it feels good
until it doesn't. And he did say it feels nostalgic
(09:43):
or reminiscent of last year when this was a similar issue,
or even earlier this year. And then head coach Rahim
Morris did say in his press conference too, like we'll
get back to it. Like they weren't scoring well at
the beginning of the season, they had the bye, figured
it out and then scored really well. And I get that,
and I agree, but we're only two games removed from
(10:04):
the by right that are you gonna have to keep
going up and down, up and down, fix and fix.
So I'm curious how that's going to go. But a
big thing like from everyone this week, Michael Pennis, Junior,
Zach Robinson, Raheem Morris, other's in the locker room. It's
just we have to execute better. It comes down to that,
and that's probably I mean, Michael did admit that's frustrating
(10:24):
because it sounds so simple and yet it's not. And
he did say like they are working on that every
single day and when they figure it out, it'll be
a beautiful.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Thing to watch.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, I understand kind of that execution piece feeling a
little frustrating to the fan base because it is ultimately
the result is what matters, because it's all they can see.
They're not out of here seeing practice and seeing the
work put in to try to correct. You just go
out there and you kind of see what the end
result is. And when the result is what it has been,
that's where you're like, how do you get it fixed?
(10:55):
Is execution? Just saying execution enough? But it does kind
of come down to that at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
And I will say, like from my point of view,
I'm like, Okay, how does the execution just change in
the red zone? Like you're doing the same thing at
the midway field or mid middle of the field. And
so for another perspective, I did ask Zach Harrison, like, okay,
on the flip side, do you amp up your energy
or like it's something completely different in the red zone
(11:21):
that like offenses just get stopped. And he said, yeah,
that's when you have to dig deep, bow up and
not let the teams get in the end zone. So
it goes both ways. It's not just the offense is
falling apart all of a sudden when they cross the
twenty yard line, like oh no, like we hate this
area it's the defense is manning up big time too,
So yeah, it goes both ways.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, I mean it's funny that you say that, because
that was exactly what I wrote was about, Like when
the field shrinks, when it becomes when you take away
the explosive plays when you're inside the twenty, it turns
the pressure up in multiple different ways, in one of
which is what the defense is trying to do. But
I think something that was evident in and this is
kind of a theme of like where we need to
(12:03):
see Michael Pinnockx's growth as a quarterback as a young
quarterback is when that pressure does get dialed up, whether
it's in the red zone or anywhere else on the field,
Like that's when you need him at his best, and
so far through this first part of this season, you
needed a bit more from Michael Pinnocks when he's under
pressure and under duress. I know the stat was kind
(12:24):
of thrown out everywhere that he did not complete a
single one of his nine passes under pressure this past Sunday.
That's not new. That's not a new thing against the Commanders.
He had been pressured on thirty four point three of
his dropbacks, which is just below lya gaverage, but has
struggled even in those moments despite being pressured less. He
(12:47):
versus Tampa Bay, he was pressured on twenty of his
forty six drop backs forty three point five percent. Took
us back, like there there is pressure that is mounting
with Michael PINNOCKX, and it's he's uncomfortable in that pressure
that it's become a glaring issue. And I even go
back to this game and it was kind of the
microcosm of those pressure moments because I looked it up
(13:09):
and I was watching film and for the Falcons got
inside the thirty yard line three times, so not even
red zone, let's just say inside the thirty yard line
three times. On two of the three, Michael PENNOCKX was
under pressure and that pressure thwarted a scoring opportunity. So
he was sacked on third down, even though I do
think that he had some receivers open. I think if
(13:30):
you were to go back and look at it, he
would say, yeah, I had Drake, Yeah, I had Darnell
held onto the ball for too long. And then of
course we know the intentional grounding that really did take
points off the board because you were in field goal position,
and that is again that's like a rookie mistake, you know,
like that's a young guy not realizing where the tackle
box is and thinking he's out of it and maybe
(13:51):
not being like people make mistakes, and I think, like
I'm pointing all of this out not to be like, oh,
Michael Pennox isn't the answer. No, that's not what I'm
saying at all.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
That's a correctable area, right.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
What I'm saying is that this is a very obvious
like fix to me, Like, this is very much something
that it's like, hey, when you feel the pressure, when
you're under pressure, whether you're inside the twenty or not,
like we need a bit more from you. We need
you to set your feet, We need you to really
get through all your progressions, we need you to like
sometimes just let the ball go. And so I think,
like that's that's where I'm coming from by pulling all
(14:23):
this stuff up.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Zach Robinson even said, well, now that lesson's learned, like
Michael's not going to make the same mistake again, Like
sometimes you have to learn those lessons. Actually, you do
have to learn those lessons at some point in your career.
And lesson learned.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Well, I do think Zach Robinson plays a role in
helping Michael Pennox as well. You know, when when pressure
is involved, it can be as simple as right, what
are our hot route options? What are the alerts is
in not being identified? Like, there are more ways to
correct that than just the quarterback playing better, which is
why I'm optimistic that it can get corrected. But when
we go back to kind of the red zone and
(14:56):
just the offense overall and scoring points, they're going to
have to figure out a way to do that without
one of the wide receivers that came into the season
with Taren. You want to explain what kind of went
down this.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Week, the Falcons released wide receiver Ray Ray McCloud, the
third on Tuesday. Falcons head coach where Heemore said on
Wednesday it was purely performance based. This is not a
disciplinary thing whatsoever. He goes.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
I've seen it all.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Like I'm sure there's rumors out there on La Internet,
but I haven't seen him. So when it comes to
that decision, he played in twenty one of a possible
twenty three games since he arrived in Atlanta last offseason.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
He started fourteen of them, he was the third starting
wide receiver on the depth chart. That is a big
void you now have to fill. And you kind of
got to see the Falcons wide receiver for depth already
tested this season when Darnell Mooney was injured, he missed
Week one, and then he missed Week Bills, whatever week
that was, Week Bills, Week six, Week Bills, and in
(15:55):
those moments, Casey Washington started. What I was curious to
see when the depth chart came out was it wasn't
Casey who took Raray McLeod's spot, though, it was David Sills.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
So I think that honestly, like my thought in that
is that the Falcons are continuing to lean into their
run game and continuing to lean into what they have
in Bejon Robinson, what they have with kind of these
other pieces, what's working, what they're relying on, And I
think the reason, like the reason we're seeing and this
is just speculation. I haven't like talked to anybody about this,
(16:26):
but like I think the reasons you saw someone like
a David Sills be inserted into that spot on the
depth chart, whether or not it's like how they run
things out or not, I think to me as an
indicator that the Falcons are continuing to really really value
what they do in run blocking, yep, really really putting
the emphasis on that to their receivers and also to
(16:47):
kind of just the team as a whole, to be like, hey,
because I do think David Sills does some good thing
good things in run blocking, and I think, not to
take anything away from his receiving skills, but he's not
the same entity of a receiver as Ray mclod. So
it's not a we talked a lot about like clones
that Raheem Morris is constantly trying to find like clones
for guys David Sills and Ray Ray mclod. That's not
(17:08):
a clone.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Such and Casey Washington been the guy like when they
need the receiver in the game, that's kind of who's
been in the game when they need that extra run blocking,
it's been more David Sills, yeah, or k Daryl Hodge
or who have you? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah. So I think, like the point that I am
trying to make and all of this is and I
don't want to be disparaging when I asked this question,
but it is a question that I have, Like, as
I'm looking at what the wide receiver room was this
year and going into this year, do you really truly
miss Ray Ray McCloud, Like when you have Drake London,
(17:41):
when you have Cole Pits, when you have a Jean Robinson,
when you now have Darnell Mooney back, I think that, like, look,
this is just personally how I felt. It's like when
you didn't have Darnell Mooney throughout training camp, when you
didn't have Darnal Mooney the first couple weeks of the season,
when you didn't have him the last couple of weeks,
like I truly didn't. I felt I felt his absence.
(18:03):
I felt that he needed to be out there, and
if he was out there, it would move the needle.
I don't know if I necessarily felt the same way
personally from where I was with Ray McLeod not having
been there the last two weeks, I think you do
miss kind of some of that top end speed one percent.
(18:23):
We saw Heck Kirk Cousins and Ravery McLeod were this
third down duo of you know, I don't know what
it is off the top of my head, but I
imagine that rayra mclod was Kirk Cousins top target on
third downs, I guarantee you like just thinking about it,
like he had so many third down receptions that were
so big for Kirk Cousins. But I don't know if
(18:46):
that was the same relationship that he had with Michael Pennox.
I'm not sure if I even like felt that throughout
training camp, like outside of a couple plays here and there,
and but I feel that if we're comparing apples to
oranges a little bit, like I felt the absence of
Darnel Mooney, but not necessarily the same as like Ray
Ray McLoud.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
No. I think that's totally fair because I do think
Darnell is has a bigger role and is frankly a
little bit of a better maybe all around receiver than
Rey Ray. So it's hard probably to divorce who was
absent when because they both have been kind of missing.
I think they've just missed maybe not Ray Ray from
this year because you know, like the Carolina game wasn't
what we saw from him last year. There have, but
(19:28):
they missed that guy from last year. They missed that
third down option, particularly on screens. I don't know if
you guys have noticed, but it feels like the last
couple of weeks, we've gotten Kyle Pitts on a lot
of these like wide receiver screens out wide yep. Have
to imagine that would be somebody like Rey Ray if
he were in the lineup. So it's more just those
little moments where you could use somebody with that level
of speed, with maybe that like short area burst in
(19:50):
these underneath routes, so you know his impact. Some will
probably miss it, maybe more than others. I think everybody's
gonna miss Divine Diablo. He's not going to be in
the lineup this weekend. Fractured is forearm we learned after
the forty nine Ers game. Taren, what's kind of the
latest done on all that.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I mean, he's week to week, but Raheem Moore said
it is very possible that Devine Dieblo can end up
on injured reserve, and if that is the case, that's
a massive loss to this Falcons defense. I mean, they
call him an avatar for a reason. He is such
a presence in the middle of the field.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I mean, I keep thinking of that Bill's game when
he was like no, looked back all down. That's one
of the coolest plays I've ever seen a defender make.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I mean it says he's six three, two hundred twenty
three pounds online, and I'm like, no, he's much bigger.
He's seventy seven and five hundred dollars. Yeah, he just
maybe like before he goes in sport mode, he's six
three two two three.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
By when he's in sport mode. No, no, no, everything
just extends.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
He becomes a transformer.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
But yeah, he.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
At this point in the season is at twenty four tackles,
four pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and half a sack,
a little bit of everything. And without him, that's a
big boy to fill And the person who had to
fill it in San Francisco was j D Bertrand, who
had only taken one defensive snap prior to that moment.
He did make ten tackles, which tied Jesse Bates and
(21:11):
Tatum Bethune for most, and Tatum was filling in for
Fred Warner, so both of them were filling in massive shoes.
And yeah, it's funny because, like afterward, j D said,
it's a God whisper. He just had this feeling something
was gonna happen, so he prepared to play defensively not
just his normal special team's role. He said he just
(21:31):
had this inkling was.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Going to have.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Touched down Jesus. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
But and then Kaden Ellis afterward did say he did great,
like JD Bertrand played great. He's very intellectual, very physical
and will be good with him. But you have to
wonder if they're gonna stick with JD only.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, toy you what do you think the Falcons are
going to do there?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah? So this was like the main question that I
got in the mailbag this week is like, how do
you replicate how do you account for Divine Diablo's absence?
Because yeah, I mean it's a fracture in the forearm,
like it's gonna probably be at least a few weeks
like and I think early you could maybe get him
back in maybe a month, like according to what the
fracture even is. So there's a lot of speculation where
(22:18):
it's like this is a big loss for this defense.
It's a big loss right now, regardless off he gets
put on IR or not. So how do they approach
feeling the role? And I kind of put it out
there that it has to be like a bi committee approach,
like it has to be and I threw out Josh
Woods because I think Josh Woods did some good things
in the preseason. He's somebody that Jeff Ulbrick really really
(22:40):
likes from a standpoint of like his the heart that
he plays with and how hard he goes and I
think like he's somebody that Jeff Ulberg has really grown
to appreciate. But I also made mention of someone like
a DeMarco Helms. Yep, you know, I think that you
could get a three safety look in there.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
To mark one of him this season.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Right if you need more of like a thumper, like
we know that DeMarco Hellams like can do that. Amm. Yeah,
he put him closer to the line of scrimmage. Maybe
he can do some things like in a pseudo hybrid
linebacker safety role. Also, D'angela Malone has been cross training
at a traditional air rusher but also inside linebacker. So
the and then let's be real, Jalen Walker is still
(23:21):
on this team, and I'm not no one has said
his name because one he's working through the groin injury
that's kind of lingered for him over the course of
training camp and then the first part of the season,
and he's he missed last week for it. But this
is a guy who played traditional inside linebacker for Karby
at the University of Georgia like that out, don't forget
(23:43):
about him, Like I know that Jeff Olbrick and Raheem
Morris has said over and over again we want him
to master being an a rusher like great, but you
do not have not that time. You do not have
Divine Diablo anymore. And it's not going to be a
one for one replication because of who Divine and Diablo
was and his coverage ability, his ability to rush the passer,
(24:03):
how big he is, how strong he is, how fast
he is, like he turned into this entity for this
defense that was a hav It causer.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yep, you do not have a.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
One for one replication of that. So you're going to
have to do it by committee by a bunch of
different people. And that's exactly what Jeff Albrick said when
he talked to media on Wednesday, that that is absolutely
probably going to be the plan. Like, yes, j D
Bertrand is going to get extended reps, but it's not
just going to be on j D alone to step
in for Divine Diablo.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, I will see exactly kind of what that plan
is on Sunday one o'clock when they take the field
against Miami Dolphins. And let's wrap up today's show kind
of talking a little bit about the Miami Dolphins in
this next game ahead, right, Falcons are are three and
three going into it. They need to I think, rebound
and look good doing it. Right. We've talked a lot
about in recent weeks, what good teams do you know?
(24:55):
They don't lose back to back games, they win and
stack wins, right, I think good teams. I'm going to
add another one here, so they beat the teams that
you're supposed to beat. This is a reeling Miami Dolphins team.
Like there are a lot of favorable matchups in this game.
And you know, Toy, maybe we'll start here with you,
is like, what when you look at the Miami Dolphins,
how do you see a path to victory for Atlanta here?
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah, I think a lot of people would look at
the Miami Dolphins and look at their offense and all
of the things that is kind of going wrong for
them offensively right now. But something that I found really
interesting this is on next Gen stats, is I do
think that the Falcons can get back on track running
the ball a bit against this Miami defense, particular, because
the Falcons have run a lot out of twelve personnel
(25:38):
and the Miami Dolphins kind of struggle to play against
twelve personnel. And I say this because the Falcons of
each twelve personnel on forty five point nine percent of
their offensive snaps this season. That's the highest rate in
the NFL. We know that to be the case. The
Falcons love doing it. They have to. They have Cole
Pits and Charlie Warner and Jon Robinson and Tyler Algiers,
(25:59):
so it makes But what's interesting is the Dolphins have
allowed six point three yards per play when facing twelve
personnel this season. That's the sixth most in the league.
So if you're just going by the numbers and reading
the tea leaves and all the things, like, the Falcons
are running out of twelve personnel frequently often almost all
(26:20):
the time, like almost fifty percent of the time, and
the Miami Dolphins are giving it over six yards per
play going against all personnel. I think that's a small
part of this matchup that maybe not a lot of
people are talking about, but maybe you should pay attention
to so.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
You tear anything. That's another big bijon game on deck.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Uh. I don't know what to think with this team
half the time anymore, but you would love to see
what Bajon did against the Bills against the Dolphins, That's
what I'll say. And going off of like what Toy
was saying with those numbers, I love that you had those.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Thanks, just run game.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Overall, the Dolls are last in the league when it
comes to defending the run. The Falcons are top ten.
I think seventh if I'm correct as.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
A as a rushing offense.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, seven, I think seventh and total seventh and rushing, yes.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
And by blanking on that stat, I blanked where I
was going. But regardless, yes, Jon, they need to feed
Bajeon Robinson and they need to just I think it
would give him the confidence back after the run game
was shut down in San Francisco. You're at home too.
So the Dolphins are one in six and they are
(27:32):
h and four on the road. Let's make that oh
and five because the Dolphins only win is against the
and seven Jets.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yeah yeah, Then when you paint it like that, the numbers.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Are telling the story here.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Thank you, Like this is some would say, I don't
want to say easy win.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
But it's a game you should win.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Its game you should win.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
It's absolutely a game you should win and I must win.
You know again, it's a game if you're a playoff team,
you should win. And I think that's where a lot
of people were looking at San Francisco as a loss
that you know, oh my god, how can the Falcons
lose that game? They can lose that game because I
think San Francisco is a playoff team too, Like that
is a good on good matchup and it's excusable to
(28:14):
lose that game. This is a different story in my opinion.
You're back at home, You're against a team really on
the ropes. The matchups favor you in a lot of areas.
Your strength is their weakness. Go out and handle your business.
Michael Pennix Junior. I really want to see him play
a fishing football. I want him to see he doesn't
have to throw it a ton, I think in this one,
when you do make it count. And then defensively, I
(28:36):
was digging into blitz rates and pressure rates and things
because that's just been the part of Atlanta's defense. It's
fascinated me the most. I think it's worth remembering here
that to attack of ALOA gets the ball out faster
than pretty much anybody.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
He's very good against pressure.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, yeah, Dolphins have the third lowest time to throw
in the league, behind Kansas City and Pittsburgh. So Patrick
Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, right, they have been blitzed, I
believe the fifth fewest or the fifth lowest rate. And
it's not just like it's a little bit different than Buffalo,
which had this great offensive line, So it made sense
why teams weren't necessarily going to try to do that.
(29:09):
They haven't needed to against Miami though, Like even though
they're getting blitzed at a low rate, they're giving up
kind of middle of the league pressure numbers and sac numbers.
So I think jeff Olbrick wants to get his front
four going and generate pressure that way. Maybe pull Jalen
Walker back. Maybe you don't need him this week, Maybe
you don't need Kanellis in that pass rush because I
think they can get pressure with four. So that's going
(29:29):
to be kind of the other side of the ball
matchup that I am looking at. But I think that'll
do it for kind of today's Friday five. Is there
anything else want to open the floor up to YouTube
before we get out of here that you want to discuss.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
No, I'm good on not embarrassing myself this week.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, falling down standing? Yeah, yeah good, I'm glad to
do that.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah, we're good.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Everything's good, all right? Well cool, Thank you guys so
much for listening. A reminder, please check out the pregame
show this Sunday is noon on the Falcons YouTube channel.
Will be live from Mercedes Benceadium. You can check Derek
Ractley and Taylor It is more for that and then
you can find us after the game Monday morning Falcons
Final Whistle, Tory and I will be breaking down all
of the action. But until then, everybody, have a great
(30:11):
weekend and we will see you next time.
He's got that straight line down Jesus.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Yeah, maybe like before he goes in sport mode.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
He's six three two two three. He has like a
seven foot long broad source that he carries on.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
His back to walk his dog. Happy Friday Falcons fans,
welcome back to the Friday five. I am your host,
Will mcfad and I'm joined by Tory mclaney and Tarren
Walk and we are here to break down the five
biggest things that you need to know before this weekend's
matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins. Falcons
need to bounce back coming off of a loss. They
return back at home. It's it's gonna be a big
(00:31):
game and I'm excited to dig into that with you both.
But before we get to that, let's say we start
with our social question of the day.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Yeah, okay, it's a good one, but for the Halloween spirit,
it's who would survive the longest in a horror movie?
And instead of like us saying between the three of us,
like I thought it would be better if we did
the players on the current team. Oh hey, yeah, like so,
(01:00):
And I'm here's do you want me to answer first?
Or Tarin do you want to go first?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
I can go first.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Okay, go first.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So I'm torn between two. Do I say both or
yodel reasoning yeah, okay, David on your Mata Okay, that's good.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Or Liam McCullough okay.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
One is way way better than I know the winner
of those two.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
My thought process is David on your Mata kind of
goes under the radar because he's just a quieter guy,
but I know when he's on the field he's an
absolute menace. I go with Liam for half of that reason,
where it's like you just go kind of under the
radar unless you fully mess up, and it's like zombies
won't even come.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Near to you, won't even survive lips.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
So I like evading the zombies technique.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
So I was thinking, I considered everyone part of the
organization is being a part of the team, so they're
not technically on the fifty three man roster right now,
they're on injured reserve. But Caleb McGarry would absolutely be
the one to survive in a horror He has all
of these I mean, the man tracked a bear for
like two years, his groove's been had swords. Yeah, he
(02:11):
has like a seven foot long broadsword that he carries
on his back to walk his dog, like.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
He's the top draft pick without questions.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Absolutely honestly, And can you imagine like a because in
horror films it's kind of like, you know, they're not
these huge beings. I watched The Shining last night and
it's just like a man. Yeah yeah, but like.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Him up against Kayler McGary, Michael Meyer, like that's a
different story. Fair it depends on Jason is different than
Jack Nicholson. I agreed, pointed scissor Hands is different.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
I think that was like where my brain went is like,
how many actual like horror villains are bigger than Kayla McGary.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, I know. I think those are definitely both the
best like bruiser kind of berserker types. David Oniamata and
Kayla McGary would win. You know, I love you, Liam,
but we're gonna stick with us two. I do think
Charlie Warner sneaky ad to that risk would be good,
but I'm gonna go in a different I'll go in
the stealth direction which you were getting out with Liam is.
I think Darnell would actually be Darnell Mooney would be
(03:13):
kind of like caned into the shadows and then just
be like, no, yeah, nobody even knows where I am.
And they pop out at the end and be like,
all right, I win.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
That's true a picture.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
I'm like, flash, Jean is too nice though he's probably
sacrificing himself for sure.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Something's happening here.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
The zombies delete them.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
All Right, Well that was that was great. If you
want to see who the players actually picked themselves, you
can go check it out on the falcons TikTok feed
And if you like the segment, we've got plenty more
where that came from every day throughout the week. So yeah,
it's I love their social questions of the day, but
enough messing around. Okay, this is this is back to
business for the Atlanta Falcons this week. So for that reason,
(03:52):
after a loss, I feel like it's you often look inward.
A lot of our topics today are going to deal
with the Atlanta Falcons, and you know, Taren, I've been
thinking about kind of this show is a great like
back half of where we left off last week, because
the Falcons were going west with a chance to kind
of correct something they were unable to do earlier in
the season, Right, coming off of Minnesota, you go to Carolina,
(04:13):
things don't go the way you want it, and you
identified that, like right off the jump after the Buffalo game,
you're like, they have a chance to kind of do
something here. They didn't quite do it, did they?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
No, they just didn't do it.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
They lost to the forty nine ers. And I just
think about all the answers players and coaches alike A
gave in the lead up to the forty nine ers
game where it's like, we learned our lesson. Jesse Bates
straight up said that's a lesson that can't be taught twice.
But here we are entering week eight after a loss
that came after a massive win, where it's like, come on,
(04:48):
it's one of those things where you talk the talk,
can you.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Walk the walk?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Like you're saying all the right things, but we need
to see it come to fruition where you're stacking wins
and showing that you can maintain consistency and that winning
culture and that winning nature and it doesn't have to
be a big blowout win week after week. It can
be like Raheem Morris said, winning ugly.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And I think that's the difference here in talking about
where the Falcons are right now versus maybe some other
teams that we're talking about being playoff contenders either last
year or this year. And I think you made a
good point, like a good team stack wins, but they
also win the games that they don't necessarily play their
best in and that was something that even to Raheem's point,
(05:37):
I think he was asked about it on Wednesday and
he said, you know, like good teams win ugly games,
and that's kind of where the Falcons need to get
to because right now, if you look at the games
that they've won, which was Minnesota when they played out
of their minds defensively, you look at the Buffalo Bills game,
(05:59):
the Washington Commander's games, like there there were moments in
time where they were playing at their absolute best and
their their kind of peak of who they should be
and who they want to be and who their identity is.
That's really if if it takes you, it's gonna take
your best to like win double digit games every single
(06:20):
year in this league. We know that, but you're not
always gonna be at your best every single week. You're
gonna come up against a defense that takes Jehan Robinson away.
So it's when that happens. The good teams, the ones
that end up pushing to a postseason, are the ones
that when things don't look pretty, they still find a
way to win games. And I think, honestly, the Bucks
(06:42):
have been a very like, yeah, almost like a great
example of that, like where they aren't blowing people out
of the water. They are having mistakes here and there,
but when it all is said and done, outside of
this Detroit loss that they just had, which you know,
give credit to Detroit, Detroit's a good team, but the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the realm of like making
(07:04):
plays enough.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
To win games absolutely, And the reason that's important winning
ugly is because that's what playoff football is, right, And
when you look at the Chiefs last year, the Eagles
this year, the Bucks are a great example as well.
Like the ability to just win regardless in any form
and fashion, any way you can, that is important. And
good teams, when you're playing a good team and you're
a good team, they're going to take away what you
(07:26):
like to do. And it just kind of felt like
without the Jon Robinson cooking at the level that he
usually does, the Falcons didn't have the best second gear
that they can turn to, and so there's a lot
to learn from that game because they do aspire to
be a playoff team and this was a great test.
But Tori, if we're talking kind of playoff football, is
there in that game one clear area that the Falcons
(07:47):
need to get cleaned up if you do reach the
postseason and you do have aspirations to kind of go on.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think it all has to stem
from offensive issues in the red zone, and not even
offensive she's in the red zone. I think it's just
scoring offense in general, like not putting the ball in
the end zone, like relying on kicks and relying on Yes,
you can move the ball usually twenty yard line to
twenty yard line, but you can't have these moments like
(08:16):
what we saw in the second quarter of the Falcons
game against the forty nine ers where they put together
a nineteen play drive that eats up ten minutes of
clock and then you don't score. I know we talked
about that kind of in the postgame podcast on Final Whistle,
and I honestly think like that's if there's one thing
that if this thing gets fixed, we're talking about this
(08:39):
team in a different way.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
It's that yeah. I mean you look at the numbers
and it's pretty stark. Right. They're seventh in three and
out rate, which means they have the seventh lowest rate
of three and outs, so they're not going three and out.
They have the seventh average drive distance just over thirty
four yards, so when they get the ball, they're able
to get that first first down, they're able to kind
of move it across midfield more often than not. However,
(09:01):
their twenty fourth in drive score rate, they're twenty sixth
in points per drive, and they're twenty ninth in the
red zone. So those are clear issues that you do
have to figure out in a league that is centered
around scoring points. Tarin, what if the players and coaches
you've talked to this week, say, have said about how
they're going to go about doing that.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Hey, it's something they came to terms with. Their acknowledged
immediately postgame. Talking to Darnell Mooney with the nineteen play
drive specifically, he said, you always want to score, especially
when you have such a long drive. It feels so
amazing just to be able to do whatever you want
to do. But they're not scoring so it feels good
until it doesn't. And he did say it feels nostalgic
(09:43):
or reminiscent of last year when this was a similar issue,
or even earlier this year. And then head coach Rahim
Morris did say in his press conference too, like we'll
get back to it. Like they weren't scoring well at
the beginning of the season, they had the bye, figured
it out and then scored really well. And I get that,
and I agree, but we're only two games removed from
(10:04):
the by right that are you gonna have to keep
going up and down, up and down, fix and fix.
So I'm curious how that's going to go. But a
big thing like from everyone this week, Michael Pennis, Junior,
Zach Robinson, Raheem Morris, other's in the locker room. It's
just we have to execute better. It comes down to that,
and that's probably I mean, Michael did admit that's frustrating
(10:24):
because it sounds so simple and yet it's not. And
he did say like they are working on that every
single day and when they figure it out, it'll be
a beautiful.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Thing to watch.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, I understand kind of that execution piece feeling a
little frustrating to the fan base because it is ultimately
the result is what matters, because it's all they can see.
They're not out of here seeing practice and seeing the
work put in to try to correct. You just go
out there and you kind of see what the end
result is. And when the result is what it has been,
that's where you're like, how do you get it fixed?
(10:55):
Is execution? Just saying execution enough? But it does kind
of come down to that at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
And I will say, like from my point of view,
I'm like, Okay, how does the execution just change in
the red zone? Like you're doing the same thing at
the midway field or mid middle of the field. And
so for another perspective, I did ask Zach Harrison, like, okay,
on the flip side, do you amp up your energy
or like it's something completely different in the red zone
(11:21):
that like offenses just get stopped. And he said, yeah,
that's when you have to dig deep, bow up and
not let the teams get in the end zone. So
it goes both ways. It's not just the offense is
falling apart all of a sudden when they cross the
twenty yard line, like oh no, like we hate this
area it's the defense is manning up big time too,
So yeah, it goes both ways.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, I mean it's funny that you say that, because
that was exactly what I wrote was about, Like when
the field shrinks, when it becomes when you take away
the explosive plays when you're inside the twenty, it turns
the pressure up in multiple different ways, in one of
which is what the defense is trying to do. But
I think something that was evident in and this is
kind of a theme of like where we need to
(12:03):
see Michael Pinnockx's growth as a quarterback as a young
quarterback is when that pressure does get dialed up, whether
it's in the red zone or anywhere else on the field,
Like that's when you need him at his best, and
so far through this first part of this season, you
needed a bit more from Michael Pinnocks when he's under
pressure and under duress. I know the stat was kind
(12:24):
of thrown out everywhere that he did not complete a
single one of his nine passes under pressure this past Sunday.
That's not new. That's not a new thing against the Commanders.
He had been pressured on thirty four point three of
his dropbacks, which is just below lya gaverage, but has
struggled even in those moments despite being pressured less. He
(12:47):
versus Tampa Bay, he was pressured on twenty of his
forty six drop backs forty three point five percent. Took
us back, like there there is pressure that is mounting
with Michael PINNOCKX, and it's he's uncomfortable in that pressure
that it's become a glaring issue. And I even go
back to this game and it was kind of the
microcosm of those pressure moments because I looked it up
(13:09):
and I was watching film and for the Falcons got
inside the thirty yard line three times, so not even
red zone, let's just say inside the thirty yard line
three times. On two of the three, Michael PENNOCKX was
under pressure and that pressure thwarted a scoring opportunity. So
he was sacked on third down, even though I do
think that he had some receivers open. I think if
(13:30):
you were to go back and look at it, he
would say, yeah, I had Drake, Yeah, I had Darnell
held onto the ball for too long. And then of
course we know the intentional grounding that really did take
points off the board because you were in field goal position,
and that is again that's like a rookie mistake, you know,
like that's a young guy not realizing where the tackle
box is and thinking he's out of it and maybe
(13:51):
not being like people make mistakes, and I think, like
I'm pointing all of this out not to be like, oh,
Michael Pennox isn't the answer. No, that's not what I'm
saying at all.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
That's a correctable area, right.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
What I'm saying is that this is a very obvious
like fix to me, Like, this is very much something
that it's like, hey, when you feel the pressure, when
you're under pressure, whether you're inside the twenty or not,
like we need a bit more from you. We need
you to set your feet, We need you to really
get through all your progressions, we need you to like
sometimes just let the ball go. And so I think,
like that's that's where I'm coming from by pulling all
(14:23):
this stuff up.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Zach Robinson even said, well, now that lesson's learned, like
Michael's not going to make the same mistake again, Like
sometimes you have to learn those lessons. Actually, you do
have to learn those lessons at some point in your career.
And lesson learned.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Well, I do think Zach Robinson plays a role in
helping Michael Pennox as well. You know, when when pressure
is involved, it can be as simple as right, what
are our hot route options? What are the alerts is
in not being identified? Like, there are more ways to
correct that than just the quarterback playing better, which is
why I'm optimistic that it can get corrected. But when
we go back to kind of the red zone and
(14:56):
just the offense overall and scoring points, they're going to
have to figure out a way to do that without
one of the wide receivers that came into the season
with Taren. You want to explain what kind of went
down this.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Week, the Falcons released wide receiver Ray Ray McCloud, the
third on Tuesday. Falcons head coach where Heemore said on
Wednesday it was purely performance based. This is not a
disciplinary thing whatsoever. He goes.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
I've seen it all.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Like I'm sure there's rumors out there on La Internet,
but I haven't seen him. So when it comes to
that decision, he played in twenty one of a possible
twenty three games since he arrived in Atlanta last offseason.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
He started fourteen of them, he was the third starting
wide receiver on the depth chart. That is a big
void you now have to fill. And you kind of
got to see the Falcons wide receiver for depth already
tested this season when Darnell Mooney was injured, he missed
Week one, and then he missed Week Bills, whatever week
that was, Week Bills, Week six, Week Bills, and in
(15:55):
those moments, Casey Washington started. What I was curious to
see when the depth chart came out was it wasn't
Casey who took Raray McLeod's spot, though, it was David Sills.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
So I think that honestly, like my thought in that
is that the Falcons are continuing to lean into their
run game and continuing to lean into what they have
in Bejon Robinson, what they have with kind of these
other pieces, what's working, what they're relying on, And I
think the reason, like the reason we're seeing and this
is just speculation. I haven't like talked to anybody about this,
(16:26):
but like I think the reasons you saw someone like
a David Sills be inserted into that spot on the
depth chart, whether or not it's like how they run
things out or not, I think to me as an
indicator that the Falcons are continuing to really really value
what they do in run blocking, yep, really really putting
the emphasis on that to their receivers and also to
(16:47):
kind of just the team as a whole, to be like, hey,
because I do think David Sills does some good thing
good things in run blocking, and I think, not to
take anything away from his receiving skills, but he's not
the same entity of a receiver as Ray mclod. So
it's not a we talked a lot about like clones
that Raheem Morris is constantly trying to find like clones
for guys David Sills and Ray Ray mclod. That's not
(17:08):
a clone.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Such and Casey Washington been the guy like when they
need the receiver in the game, that's kind of who's
been in the game when they need that extra run blocking,
it's been more David Sills, yeah, or k Daryl Hodge
or who have you? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah. So I think, like the point that I am
trying to make and all of this is and I
don't want to be disparaging when I asked this question,
but it is a question that I have, Like, as
I'm looking at what the wide receiver room was this
year and going into this year, do you really truly
miss Ray Ray McCloud, Like when you have Drake London,
(17:41):
when you have Cole Pits, when you have a Jean Robinson,
when you now have Darnell Mooney back, I think that, like, look,
this is just personally how I felt. It's like when
you didn't have Darnell Mooney throughout training camp, when you
didn't have Darnal Mooney the first couple weeks of the season,
when you didn't have him the last couple of weeks,
like I truly didn't. I felt I felt his absence.
(18:03):
I felt that he needed to be out there, and
if he was out there, it would move the needle.
I don't know if I necessarily felt the same way
personally from where I was with Ray McLeod not having
been there the last two weeks, I think you do
miss kind of some of that top end speed one percent.
(18:23):
We saw Heck Kirk Cousins and Ravery McLeod were this
third down duo of you know, I don't know what
it is off the top of my head, but I
imagine that rayra mclod was Kirk Cousins top target on
third downs, I guarantee you like just thinking about it,
like he had so many third down receptions that were
so big for Kirk Cousins. But I don't know if
(18:46):
that was the same relationship that he had with Michael Pennox.
I'm not sure if I even like felt that throughout
training camp, like outside of a couple plays here and there,
and but I feel that if we're comparing apples to
oranges a little bit, like I felt the absence of
Darnel Mooney, but not necessarily the same as like Ray
Ray McLoud.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
No. I think that's totally fair because I do think
Darnell is has a bigger role and is frankly a
little bit of a better maybe all around receiver than
Rey Ray. So it's hard probably to divorce who was
absent when because they both have been kind of missing.
I think they've just missed maybe not Ray Ray from
this year because you know, like the Carolina game wasn't
what we saw from him last year. There have, but
(19:28):
they missed that guy from last year. They missed that
third down option, particularly on screens. I don't know if
you guys have noticed, but it feels like the last
couple of weeks, we've gotten Kyle Pitts on a lot
of these like wide receiver screens out wide yep. Have
to imagine that would be somebody like Rey Ray if
he were in the lineup. So it's more just those
little moments where you could use somebody with that level
of speed, with maybe that like short area burst in
(19:50):
these underneath routes, so you know his impact. Some will
probably miss it, maybe more than others. I think everybody's
gonna miss Divine Diablo. He's not going to be in
the lineup this weekend. Fractured is forearm we learned after
the forty nine Ers game. Taren, what's kind of the
latest done on all that.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I mean, he's week to week, but Raheem Moore said
it is very possible that Devine Dieblo can end up
on injured reserve, and if that is the case, that's
a massive loss to this Falcons defense. I mean, they
call him an avatar for a reason. He is such
a presence in the middle of the field.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I mean, I keep thinking of that Bill's game when
he was like no, looked back all down. That's one
of the coolest plays I've ever seen a defender make.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I mean it says he's six three, two hundred twenty
three pounds online, and I'm like, no, he's much bigger.
He's seventy seven and five hundred dollars. Yeah, he just
maybe like before he goes in sport mode, he's six
three two two three.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
By when he's in sport mode. No, no, no, everything
just extends.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
He becomes a transformer.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
But yeah, he.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
At this point in the season is at twenty four tackles,
four pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and half a sack,
a little bit of everything. And without him, that's a
big boy to fill And the person who had to
fill it in San Francisco was j D Bertrand, who
had only taken one defensive snap prior to that moment.
He did make ten tackles, which tied Jesse Bates and
(21:11):
Tatum Bethune for most, and Tatum was filling in for
Fred Warner, so both of them were filling in massive shoes.
And yeah, it's funny because, like afterward, j D said,
it's a God whisper. He just had this feeling something
was gonna happen, so he prepared to play defensively not
just his normal special team's role. He said he just
(21:31):
had this inkling was.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Going to have.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Touched down Jesus. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
But and then Kaden Ellis afterward did say he did great,
like JD Bertrand played great. He's very intellectual, very physical
and will be good with him. But you have to
wonder if they're gonna stick with JD only.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, toy you what do you think the Falcons are
going to do there?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah? So this was like the main question that I
got in the mailbag this week is like, how do
you replicate how do you account for Divine Diablo's absence?
Because yeah, I mean it's a fracture in the forearm,
like it's gonna probably be at least a few weeks
like and I think early you could maybe get him
back in maybe a month, like according to what the
fracture even is. So there's a lot of speculation where
(22:18):
it's like this is a big loss for this defense.
It's a big loss right now, regardless off he gets
put on IR or not. So how do they approach
feeling the role? And I kind of put it out
there that it has to be like a bi committee approach,
like it has to be and I threw out Josh
Woods because I think Josh Woods did some good things
in the preseason. He's somebody that Jeff Ulbrick really really
(22:40):
likes from a standpoint of like his the heart that
he plays with and how hard he goes and I
think like he's somebody that Jeff Ulberg has really grown
to appreciate. But I also made mention of someone like
a DeMarco Helms. Yep, you know, I think that you
could get a three safety look in there.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
To mark one of him this season.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Right if you need more of like a thumper, like
we know that DeMarco Hellams like can do that. Amm. Yeah,
he put him closer to the line of scrimmage. Maybe
he can do some things like in a pseudo hybrid
linebacker safety role. Also, D'angela Malone has been cross training
at a traditional air rusher but also inside linebacker. So
the and then let's be real, Jalen Walker is still
(23:21):
on this team, and I'm not no one has said
his name because one he's working through the groin injury
that's kind of lingered for him over the course of
training camp and then the first part of the season,
and he's he missed last week for it. But this
is a guy who played traditional inside linebacker for Karby
at the University of Georgia like that out, don't forget
(23:43):
about him, Like I know that Jeff Olbrick and Raheem
Morris has said over and over again we want him
to master being an a rusher like great, but you
do not have not that time. You do not have
Divine Diablo anymore. And it's not going to be a
one for one replication because of who Divine and Diablo
was and his coverage ability, his ability to rush the passer,
(24:03):
how big he is, how strong he is, how fast
he is, like he turned into this entity for this
defense that was a hav It causer.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yep, you do not have a.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
One for one replication of that. So you're going to
have to do it by committee by a bunch of
different people. And that's exactly what Jeff Albrick said when
he talked to media on Wednesday, that that is absolutely
probably going to be the plan. Like, yes, j D
Bertrand is going to get extended reps, but it's not
just going to be on j D alone to step
in for Divine Diablo.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, I will see exactly kind of what that plan
is on Sunday one o'clock when they take the field
against Miami Dolphins. And let's wrap up today's show kind
of talking a little bit about the Miami Dolphins in
this next game ahead, right, Falcons are are three and
three going into it. They need to I think, rebound
and look good doing it. Right. We've talked a lot
about in recent weeks, what good teams do you know?
(24:55):
They don't lose back to back games, they win and
stack wins, right, I think good teams. I'm going to
add another one here, so they beat the teams that
you're supposed to beat. This is a reeling Miami Dolphins team.
Like there are a lot of favorable matchups in this game.
And you know, Toy, maybe we'll start here with you,
is like, what when you look at the Miami Dolphins,
how do you see a path to victory for Atlanta here?
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah, I think a lot of people would look at
the Miami Dolphins and look at their offense and all
of the things that is kind of going wrong for
them offensively right now. But something that I found really
interesting this is on next Gen stats, is I do
think that the Falcons can get back on track running
the ball a bit against this Miami defense, particular, because
the Falcons have run a lot out of twelve personnel
(25:38):
and the Miami Dolphins kind of struggle to play against
twelve personnel. And I say this because the Falcons of
each twelve personnel on forty five point nine percent of
their offensive snaps this season. That's the highest rate in
the NFL. We know that to be the case. The
Falcons love doing it. They have to. They have Cole
Pits and Charlie Warner and Jon Robinson and Tyler Algiers,
(25:59):
so it makes But what's interesting is the Dolphins have
allowed six point three yards per play when facing twelve
personnel this season. That's the sixth most in the league.
So if you're just going by the numbers and reading
the tea leaves and all the things, like, the Falcons
are running out of twelve personnel frequently often almost all
(26:20):
the time, like almost fifty percent of the time, and
the Miami Dolphins are giving it over six yards per
play going against all personnel. I think that's a small
part of this matchup that maybe not a lot of
people are talking about, but maybe you should pay attention
to so.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
You tear anything. That's another big bijon game on deck.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Uh. I don't know what to think with this team
half the time anymore, but you would love to see
what Bajon did against the Bills against the Dolphins, That's
what I'll say. And going off of like what Toy
was saying with those numbers, I love that you had those.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Thanks, just run game.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Overall, the Dolls are last in the league when it
comes to defending the run. The Falcons are top ten.
I think seventh if I'm correct as.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
A as a rushing offense.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, seven, I think seventh and total seventh and rushing, yes.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
And by blanking on that stat, I blanked where I
was going. But regardless, yes, Jon, they need to feed
Bajeon Robinson and they need to just I think it
would give him the confidence back after the run game
was shut down in San Francisco. You're at home too.
So the Dolphins are one in six and they are
(27:32):
h and four on the road. Let's make that oh
and five because the Dolphins only win is against the
and seven Jets.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yeah yeah, Then when you paint it like that, the numbers.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Are telling the story here.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Thank you, Like this is some would say, I don't
want to say easy win.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
But it's a game you should win.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Its game you should win.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
It's absolutely a game you should win and I must win.
You know again, it's a game if you're a playoff team,
you should win. And I think that's where a lot
of people were looking at San Francisco as a loss
that you know, oh my god, how can the Falcons
lose that game? They can lose that game because I
think San Francisco is a playoff team too, Like that
is a good on good matchup and it's excusable to
(28:14):
lose that game. This is a different story in my opinion.
You're back at home, You're against a team really on
the ropes. The matchups favor you in a lot of areas.
Your strength is their weakness. Go out and handle your business.
Michael Pennix Junior. I really want to see him play
a fishing football. I want him to see he doesn't
have to throw it a ton, I think in this one,
when you do make it count. And then defensively, I
(28:36):
was digging into blitz rates and pressure rates and things
because that's just been the part of Atlanta's defense. It's
fascinated me the most. I think it's worth remembering here
that to attack of ALOA gets the ball out faster
than pretty much anybody.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
He's very good against pressure.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, yeah, Dolphins have the third lowest time to throw
in the league, behind Kansas City and Pittsburgh. So Patrick
Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, right, they have been blitzed, I
believe the fifth fewest or the fifth lowest rate. And
it's not just like it's a little bit different than Buffalo,
which had this great offensive line, So it made sense
why teams weren't necessarily going to try to do that.
(29:09):
They haven't needed to against Miami though, Like even though
they're getting blitzed at a low rate, they're giving up
kind of middle of the league pressure numbers and sac numbers.
So I think jeff Olbrick wants to get his front
four going and generate pressure that way. Maybe pull Jalen
Walker back. Maybe you don't need him this week, Maybe
you don't need Kanellis in that pass rush because I
think they can get pressure with four. So that's going
(29:29):
to be kind of the other side of the ball
matchup that I am looking at. But I think that'll
do it for kind of today's Friday five. Is there
anything else want to open the floor up to YouTube
before we get out of here that you want to discuss.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
No, I'm good on not embarrassing myself this week.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Yeah, falling down standing? Yeah, yeah good, I'm glad to
do that.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah, we're good.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Everything's good, all right? Well cool, Thank you guys so
much for listening. A reminder, please check out the pregame
show this Sunday is noon on the Falcons YouTube channel.
Will be live from Mercedes Benceadium. You can check Derek
Ractley and Taylor It is more for that and then
you can find us after the game Monday morning Falcons
Final Whistle, Tory and I will be breaking down all
of the action. But until then, everybody, have a great
(30:11):
weekend and we will see you next time.
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