December 12, 2025 • 30 mins
Tori McElhaney joins Will McFadden to break down the Atlanta Falcons' thrilling fourth-quarter comeback over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football. From the Pitts that was promised to oh my goodness HOW many penalties?! they get into all of it in the classic, 4 quarter format.
0:00 - Intro
2:18 - The Pitts that was promised
8:03 - James Pearce Jr. sacks again
13:53 - Halftime stat!
16:04 - Miscues & redemption arcs
22:17 - Falcons keep fighting
28:02 - Outro
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mile two to just kind of exact slips exact Falcons fans,
what's up? And welcome back to Falcons final whistle. I
am joined by Tory mclaney, who just got off a
(00:20):
flight of a few hours ago. It was a late night,
but a thrilling night. The Falcons beat the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers twenty nine to twenty eight in walk off fashion.
We've got so much to unpack in today's episode, But Tori,
I mean, I feel if I was going to make
a bet on anything at this point in my life,
(00:42):
it is that we will see the Falcons and the
Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football again in the near future,
if not for the rest of our lives.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I know. I think what I wrote for the game breakdown,
my little blurb was, I didn't think that there was
gonna be a game that was gonna even remotely be
in the same realm as what last Thursday Night Football was.
Last year, when you had Kirk Cousins in front of
Matt Ryan break his franchise record for passing yards in
(01:10):
a single game. You had the Darrell Hodge walk off touchdown,
like there were.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Jessee Bates, like late fourth quarters turnout yeah, there was
so much.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
So many like just iconic moments for that Thursday Night
game to be followed up this year with this Thursday
Night game. I don't think you could have like in
the fashion of which this game ultimately prevailed for the
Falcons is just like you couldn't have written this. It's like,
you know, they're always everybody's always joking about like NFL
(01:40):
script writers. None of this, it was in the script,
none of it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
No, I mean yeah, Like, so both teams they combined
for over eight hundred yards of offense. The Falcons had
nearly five hundred yards. They had over all hundred yards
and penalties. We'll get to that a little bit later.
But it was really a back and forth game throughout.
And then you know, it looked like in the fourth
quarter there things we're gonna get dicey for the Falcons,
(02:05):
and it didn't. They showed so much resilience to claw back,
made some late plays. So again, we've got so much
to get into, but let's start the clock on our
first quarter and let's start talking about Kyle Pitts. Yeah,
because this this was the Pits I was promised right
like this was a good one. This was thank you.
(02:26):
I was thinking all night about that.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, eleven catches, one hundred and sixty six yards, three touchdowns,
easily the best game of his career. I mean you
were there in the building, like it it felt like
early on, all right, Pitts is going to be involved
once again. What was it like just being in the
stadium for that.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I think that you know, there's the joke about like
Kyle Pitts when he's in Florida, Like there's something I
think it was even Bajon said in the locker room too,
Who's like get that man in Florida air all the time,
Like he just turns into this, for lack of a
better word, unicorn. That heat, to your point, was like
promised to be. I thought that he specifically showed a
(03:06):
lot of heart in a lot of moments. You know,
some of these catches that he had were you know,
there are a couple of contested catches, there are a
couple of like just really good scheme and we're out
literally the back to back a little wheel route almost that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, I was very pleased by not only what we
saw from like Kyle Pits in kind of this like
penultimate type of performance. But this isn't like a new
revelation like Kyle Pits, I think had been building up
to this moment over the last couple of weeks without
Drake London out there. And I thought you made a
(03:43):
really good point on Twitter during the game about like
how much that even potentially shifted things for this offense
in terms of where Kyle Pits is in, like route progressions,
like how often Kirk is getting to him on his
first or second read instead of maybe like second or
third read, and how that impacts Kyle Pitts's performance, how
(04:05):
much he's being targeted. And I mean I he had
the hot hand, so like give the ball to the
to the hot hand. He caught eleven of twelve like
which I think that in and of itself is impressive
when we've been talking for a very long time, months
and months, if not the whole year, about like when
you need a guy to make a catch like cop
(04:27):
Pits made the catch absolutely yea.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And I want to kind of stick on that role
part a little bit because that's always been I think
both the promise of Kyle Pits but also kind of
the question of like how exactly do you use him
in the best possible way. Yeah, And I mean there
were times with during the Arthur Smith era where it
was like, all right, you're running kind of a dagger
concept with Drake London and Kyle is your clearout guy,
(04:49):
and there were times where it was like, all right,
is it getting cleared out fast enough? There's a couple
receivers in the areas? Like is that his best role?
Obviously we've seen him as like inline blocking, and I
think this year it's gotten better where you look at
the outside zone game that Atlanta has been able to run.
But you know, he's still not a George Kittle, Like,
he's still not necessarily a dominant rum blocker. So this
(05:11):
seems like the best use for him and being able
to be kind of this movable chess piece who is
early in the route progression.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
That seems to be the magic sauce for him so far.
And it's crazy like he's just a fourth tight end
in NFL history with ten plus catches, one hundred and
fifty plus receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns in a game,
joining Shannon Sharp, Kellen Winslow. Todd Christensen can't say I
am too familiar with Todd Christensen. But I do know
Shannon Sharp and Kellen Winsow, right, Yeah, they're pretty dang good, right.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, I feel like good company to keep. And I
think that you know, Kyle Pits, this is a everyone knows.
He knows, Falcons know, the broader NFL landscape knows this
is a big year for Kyle Pits. This is a
year that he needed a performance like this, and he
needed kind of multiple, kind of stacking performances in the
(06:02):
way that he has in the last three weeks for
his next contract because he is playing on his fifth
year option. Don't know if that's going to be in Atlanta,
but he is kind of this entity of what does
an organization see ass and what do they value him as?
(06:23):
And I think that it's kind of ebbed and flowed
his value. I mean, the coming out rookie year value,
exceptionally high, injury value lowers, coming off of the injury
value lowers, like not really performing and producing in the
way that you want in that fourth year lowers. And
I think that this was such a big year for him,
It was such a big year for what he could
(06:44):
show the broader landscape. And so the fact that he
had this performance I think, I don't know if it
puts him back on the map, but I definitely think
that this type of performance is a marker of what
he is, what you could ultimately have in him to
your point to bring it full circle, like the promise
of him.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, I mean, he's the only tight end Falcons history
to have more than one hundred and fifty receiving yards
in a game. He's now done it twice. Talk about
his rookie year. He did it against Miami as a rookie,
which again Florida, Florida, Florida, Man Florida. But kind of
getting to a lot of his production came offset, it
wasn't in line. And again I kind of think that
(07:25):
that is how you've got to figure all of this out.
And whichever team, whether that's Atlanta or you know, somewhere else,
if if that's how everything rolls like, that's going to
be kind of the question, right is this is he
a tight end? Is he just a really movable wide receiver.
But we did finally see the realization of like what
everybody hoped he would be, and it is exciting right
(07:47):
to see even if you know you would have loved
for this happen with playoffs still a reality.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I think that there are a lot of things that
you wish were happening, like in the same vein as playoff.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
But something and that is our whistle has moved to
the second quarter. Something else that really I think stand
out that is real and should provide a lot of
hope for the future was James Piers Junior. Yes, I
mean the dude was six games now in a row
with sack like. He had two last night. He's got
eight on the season. James Pierce like has been I
think everything anybody could have hoped for, And should we
(08:24):
just officially put the first round pick? Conversation and nonsense
to bed.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
I mean I think that I was already therefore even
before this performance. I think we talked about it on
a Friday five episode not too long ago, and I
kind of was like, I don't want to hear it anymore.
And you know, I understand the argument, I understand the frustration,
but I have to go often, I always have to
go back to the mindset of where you were when
(08:52):
you made the decision. Like we have the luxury of
hindsight at this point in time. The Falcons are not
in playoff contention. They are like, but in April, when
you're going through draft evaluations and you're trying Fulbrick is
trying to build a defense, and he's trying to fix
past rush, and they are making it evident that like, hey,
we feel really good about this offense that we have.
(09:14):
We feel like we fix the quarterback position. The only
thing that we have to be like to push us
to the next level, we need a pass rush, and
they invested to do that. Now looking ahead, it's like, okay, yeah,
the Rams are probably going to have a top ten
pick according to how kind of the next three weeks goes.
(09:35):
But that was kind of the risk you took, Like
that was the and again you got a guy who
now is the franchise leader in rookie east sacks in
a season since nineteen eighty two. Fun fact, the Falcons actually,
even though individual sacks were not recognized until nineteen eighty two,
(09:56):
officially the Falcons as an organization actually do they do
recognize Claude Humphreys as the NFL or as their franchise
leader in sacks by rookie He had eleven and a half.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Yep, I'm not putting.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
It outside the realm of possibility that James Pearce in
the next three weeks like gets up in there into
a double digit type of situation.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yeah, I mean they look again, he's done this, He's
got at least a sack in six straight games. He's
got three more games to only get two. Yeah, odds
are right now. Yeah, Like I like him to probably
finish with double digits there, if not push for for
Claude Humphrey. And you mentioned the Rams, like he's ahead
of Jared Verse. I know, like he is ahead of
a lot of the Kobe Turner, a lot of those
(10:39):
guys and what they were doing Byron Young and like
I wonder if like we always look at the first
round pick trade as kind of, oh man, now the
Rams have this this great kind of piece this offseason. Yeah,
but the Falcons identified a player that a lot of
other teams were passing over. Yeah, and credit to them.
(10:59):
They there were like red flags around James Pierce Junior
character wise coming out of college. The Falcons did a
lot of research and really dug into any of those
concerns and felt comfortable about getting the player and the
person and the player has been sensational. There have really
been no character issues so far, and I feel like
(11:20):
this is a home run and we should be giving
a little bit more credit to them for identifying somebody
that the rest of the league seemed to miss on. Yeah,
and now it seems like they've got an impact player
for at least the next four year. Ars.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I mean, I genuinely believe around draft season and through
the draft process that smoke screens are put out. And
I absolutely think that James Fears Junior. I think that
there were a lot of teams that felt very high
on him, and I think the character she says, like
I talked to James frequently. I have a lot of
respect for James Peers Junior, and I really have enjoyed,
(11:57):
genuinely enjoyed watching his maturation as a player and as
a person too, and like becoming kind of in his
own way, like his own type of person. And I
think his connection with Jayalen Walker has been really great.
I think his connection with Raheem Morris and Jeff Olbrich,
Like I remember, like Jeff Ulbrick said during one of
(12:17):
the interviews that I had with him around draft season,
and he's like, I feel like we have such a
good defensive corps in place, whether it be coaches or players,
that he's gonna thrive here. He's gonna be fine, and
we're gonna let him go out and be the guy
that he wants to be. And that's exactly what's happening here.
And I wouldn't I don't know if I would trade
(12:41):
James Pearce Junior for for anything right now in the
speculation of what could have.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Been, Is he in your mind the front runner for
defensive for Kie of the Year one?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I mean, I think I haven't looked at any of
the updated stats because I'm going off for four hours
of sleep, But I don't think that there is a
defensive rookie that is being more has been more impactful
in the last seven weeks of the season. Like you
talk about like trajectory. Yeah, there's no one who I
think defensively is on the trajectory that James Truer is.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Like straight up, straight up, if people were playing in
New York or Dallas or LA anywhere, whatever, Yeah, he
would be leading. Yes, PTI Sports Center around the horn,
what have you like? It's crazy. He's eight sacks on
the season, tied with Jeffrey Simmons half a sack behind
Aiden Hutchinson, one sack behind Max Crosby.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Like he's done something that only Micah Parsons has done
in the last five years. You like, I don't. I
don't again, I don't want to hear the like the
first round thing, Like, I'm happy with what the Falcons
have in James Trace Junior.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Take the junior off his name. He's grown all the
way up.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
But then we can't call him JPJ JPJ.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Is great, all right, So that is the whistle. Let's
get to our halftime stat presented by Microsoft co pilot
the Falcons win probability early in the fourth quarter, with
thirteen twenty nine left in the game, it was just
four point eight percent, right, Yeah, Han Solo unlike to
hear the odds. Hey, neither's Tory mclaney.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Never tell me the odds.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
So what did they do? They threw those odds right
out the window, and they came all the way back,
trailing twenty eight to fourteen. Their twenty nine to twenty
eight comeback was felt every bit as maybe unlikely and
as thrilling as that stat.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Well, I was talking to Jon Robinson in the locker
room and I kind of asked him the question, like,
at at that point in time, you know, going into
the fourth quarter after a third quarter debacle against the Seahawks,
this team kind of like rolled over a little bit,
and whether they meant to or not, like that's what
(14:42):
it looks like. And I kind of said, what was
the difference for y'all hitting the gas pedal versus hitting
the brake within you know, five days time? And he
was very like adamant that, like in that moment on
the sideline they had like Chris lntrim was literally walking
up and down the sidelines yelling at the top of
(15:04):
his lungs that we're gonna go win this game. And
Jean was kind of like, it's that leadership that makes
you forget about everything else going on and you want
to go fight for your guys. And we'll get more
into that, but like that story I thought was like
an anecdote, was like so indicative of like four point
eight percent, Like you have Chris Lntrim on the sideline
(15:26):
like I don't care, I don't care, I want to
win this freaking game.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Yeah. No, it's kind of like a battlefield general or whatever,
when when people are retreating. You need like George Washington
just single handedly stopping a retreat during the American Revolution.
You didn't know you were getting some history facts on
Today's Today's podcast. But yeah, like you need that galvanized leadership,
and it is much more impactful when it's coming from
(15:51):
somebody like Chris Lenstrom. I know Jean has, you know,
aspirations to kind of be that leader as well. So
like that, it was great to see, especially juxtaposed with
that Seattle game. So a great point by you. Let's
move on to our third quarter. And when we first
sat down for this show back in week one, we
were talking about some a good game by the Falcons
(16:12):
that ultimately missed opportunities kind of cost them late against
Tampa Bay. Yeah, there were still some miscues in this game.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I would argue there were more in this game.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Probably, you know, with nineteen penalties committed. Yeah, it's gonna
it's gonna feel that way. That's most by any team
in the league this season, most by the Falcons in
their franchise history. Yeah, I mean, what what did it
feel like being in that building? Because everything on Twitter
just like home, It felt like it was so stop
start stop start penalties, another flag.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Yeah, it felt exactly like that in the moment too,
Like it kind of got to the point where, like
so many it felt like every play there was something
and it just like never felt like, oh, the Falcons
would break a run with Jon Robinson, it's called back,
A sack gets called back. There were so many moments
(17:02):
of just like pure like frustration because of the penalties,
and you really did, up until that fourth quarter when
they really started to like mount that comeback, you felt
like those penalties were was gonna be the difference in
in the game, And honestly, statistics show it should have been,
like you know, it should those penalties and being and
(17:24):
losing one hundred and twenty five yards on penalties, giving
up seven first downs on penalties like that is staggering
numbers that don't happen every day. And I think that
like there is this love that there was like a
level of frustration that I think even like probably the
Bucks felt as well, because like you know, they were
(17:45):
getting penalized as well. There were there were there were
so many things about that those moments and it's not
even just like the penalties too, like there were other
moments that David Sills drop of a wide open touchdown
like the Darnel Mooney fumble that could have made a
really big difference in that game. Like, there were moments
(18:06):
where you felt like, Okay, this is this is the Dagger,
but for some reason or another, by plays made and
moments kind of taken in a different direction, the Falcons
did what they needed to do to kind of make
those moments not minuscule but not matter towards the win.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, they weren't magnified because it did. It felt like
a game where you were like holding sand in your
hand and it was just kind of like slowly slipping
through your fingers no matter how much you were trying
to like keep grasp of it. And eventually they did
enough to hold on. Yeah, and yeah, like when you
give up one hundred march like penalty yards more than
the other team, that's crazy to ultimately overcome that.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
But at one point they had more penalties than they
had first downs as an offense, Like that is.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Did they have in the first half fourteen?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I think so, Yeah, And at one point they had
I think I even tweeted this, I think this is
like halfway through the second quarter, Bajon they had just
as many penalties as Bejon Robinson had rushing yards, and
it was like almost all of it had been negated
by penalties. Bajeon had sixty rushing yards and they had
(19:19):
fifty five penalty yards, Like, yeah, you're only plus five
at that point.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Some some of them, you know, I agreed with some
of them. I didn't agree with. Right, it's it's not
here to officiate the officials. But but yeah, we'll leave
that right there, looking at you. Let's talk a little
bit about the redemptive moment though for some of these players. Right,
we can start with David Sils because you mentioned that
that dropped to me, it just looked like one of
(19:46):
those where you know, if you have like an overhead
in tennis and you get like a second to think
about it, and your brain enters the equation and you're
kind of like, oh my god, Like that's what struck
me in that moment was kind of like, my guy
fell down, here's the ball and he's trying to really
it in. Yeah, and just but to see him come
back and make that huge, huge fourth down grab on
(20:07):
the right sideline. Yeah, what were what were you kind
of thinking of that moment?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I mean, that was what Raheem Morris has been talking
about over the last few weeks, is like, especially in
regards to the receivers, you need someone to go out
and make a catch, Like there were so many times
over the lot, like even just going back to the
Jets game a recent example, like you had three drops
inside the two minute to force three and out, like
and balls were hitting receivers in their hands in the chest.
(20:33):
And I think that like in regards to David Seals,
like he needed that moment as well, like and let's
be realized third and twenty eight before that, like.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah for them to even yeah eat Mile Pitts getting
nothing right down catch and leaving his way up the field.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And then David Steels like going up to get that
ball like I mean it wasn't a perfectly thrown ball, like,
but he went up and he made the play. And
that's something that Raheem Morris is like you just he
literally said last Tuesday or literally Tuesday, he was like,
we need to have a dog out there who goes
out and makes that dog play. And there were moments like.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
That and he he made it again. The response to
do it you mentioned Ryan Neusel jumping in to somehow
like I didn't even really see it happen, because when
the ball got jarred out of Darnell's hand, I kind
of like looked up at the ceiling and was just like,
oh gosh. And then I look down and it's like
there's suddenly a pile and a fight. He jumps in
(21:30):
and makes a huge play. I think the Alford getting
that interceptions it was a really good adjustment, I think
defensively because Kobe Bryant comes in the game after Mike
Cues is injured, and it's immediately apparent that they were
just picking on him.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
If Kobe was in coverage with Mike Evans, it was
going to Mike Evans every time.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Every single time, and so on are the Falcons do,
all right, We're gonna kind of drop a guy underneath,
We're gonna start bracketing a little bit, and you come
up with a huge play, so you swing the game. There,
Kirk getting involved, not making those business decisions. He's jumping
in and trying to fight for that ball. And then
the way that first game ended with a missed field
goal and a missed opportunity to send it over time
(22:08):
to end it with a game winning field goal felt
just like the perfect book end. Yeah for this, I agree, awesome.
Well let's move along to the fourth quarter. And Tori,
you wrote a column after this game on just No Sleep,
But I thought it was eloquent. I thought it was
really well done, So everybody go please check that out.
But it was all about kind of the team fighting
(22:28):
for each other, right with nothing left, no playoffs left
to fight for. What do you have to fight for? Right,
And it's kind of this team.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
And I think that was the theme of this game.
It was the theme of conversations in the locker room,
it was the theme of Rahem Morris's press conference, his
idea of fighting when you have nothing to fight for.
Because the fact of the matter remains, We've said it.
Falcons don't have one, they don't have any playoff hopes.
(22:56):
Two again, you don't have a first round draft pick,
so it's not like you're really playing to like move up.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
And yeah, there's no winning and losing right right.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, it's just getting to it's just finishing. It's getting
to the end of the twenty twenty five season. And
I think that like the the difference I saw in
this team from I've alluded to it before, but the
difference I saw from the Seattle game and that second
half to this game and this second half was night
and day. And I think that this I genuinely believe
(23:29):
that this team, when they say that they're together and
they're in it, they are because I think that there
is evidence to prove that. I think this game is
evidence to that that they genuinely feel that way and
that they're gonna be playing to fight for each other.
And I think that was I mean, almost every person
(23:51):
said that mantra of fighting for each other, playing for
each other, playing with each other, like I think that
that speaks kind of to some of the leaders in
that locker room that I think Raheem Morris has alluded
to in the past, like Ah, like Cayden Ellis on
Monday talked for five minutes straight about what it means
(24:13):
to fight when you don't have anything to fight for,
and it's He's like, ultimately, you're fighting for the guy
next to you. And it goes back even to I
think what we wrote about early in the season about
like talking to Jeff Ulbrick about his mantra and what
he wants the identity of this defense to be and
(24:33):
like heart mind fests and like that heart piece of
it is all the Falcons have to play for right now?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah, what's your why?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Yeah? What is your why? Why are you standing next
to the guy and playing for him? Like that's it?
And I think that there is. You know, there's no
moral victories in this league, like and there, you know,
the Falcons are out of playoff contention. Like I'm not,
I'm not kind of like erasing all of the things
that got them here, but it was in the scope
(25:02):
of this moment, this game, what it means for kind
of moving forward, the Falcons needed this absolutely.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
I'm glad you brought up Kayden because I feel like
his leadership has been revelatory this year. Like I wish
more fans could kind of see, we know how good
of a player he is, right, but like behind the scenes,
his character just like so shines through. But I keep
seeing a ton and it's understandable. But like every mistake
that this team makes, it feels like people figure out
(25:32):
a way to point the finger at the coaching staff
as like the reason for these mistakes. To me, you
look at a result like that last night and the
way that this team bounces back after a halftime, and
credit should be given to leadership for that, Like coaches
have a hand in ultimately the mentality of this locker
room and the buy in from some of the guys,
and I think that was on full display last night, right,
(25:54):
And there were multiple times like it could be so
frustrating to have some of the big plays that the
scheme stuff I really liked yesterday from Zach Robinson. I
thought there were really unique ways they keep doing this,
like little trip set trio inside thing where like the
middle guy's running and it's clearing a lane and there's
just confusion right created defensively. So to continue to kind
(26:18):
of like have big moments, have setbacks, have big moments,
have setbacks, but to keep fighting and get that buy
in and maintain that buy in, I do think should
be a point in the credit.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah, I mean I think too, like even just being
able to run the ball the way they were ye
yesterday against a really good Tampa defense against a very
good and that they could not run the ball at
all in that first week, and I think that like
there have been moments where they haven't been able to
run the ball like that to me is like purely
this offensive line being like we're tired of of this,
(26:50):
Like we're gonna go out and we're gonna step on
somebody's neck. And that's what I felt in the moment
watching them perform and then hearing about Chris Lnstrm, just
kind of being in this like flow state on the
sideline of like, guys and this is let's get it together.
We're winning this game. Like I don't know, I think
there's something There's still something here, you know, Like I
(27:12):
feel I still feel that I know why this team
felt the way it did going into the season. Yeah,
and it's unfortunate that it did not pan out that way,
But it doesn't mean that there aren't like these pieces
in place that if you can capitalize on their like
rookie deals like you have, you have something good. And
(27:34):
you just wish that the wins came with that something good.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Absolutely, and this is always a one score league, but
like you look at some of these games where they're
so close and got over the hump, and to finally
do that, I'm really curious now to see with three
games remaining, you've got at the Cardinals home against the Rams.
That's gonna be just like a really telling game, I think,
and then you close it out home against the Saints,
like these three games are gonna be really revealing as
(27:57):
you head into an offseason, right, that feels important? So awesome?
Well that is our final whistle, Tori, You got anything
else you want to talk? Like? We've talked a lot
about the game, but somehow it still feels like there's
I know.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I this is the you know, it's been difficult to
have to like talk about, you know, finding ways to
talk about a team that continues to lose, and so
it's nice to actually feel like we have threads to
pull on and performances to talk about in the scope
of like again not having anything to fight for, but
now we at least can it's easier to do our
(28:32):
jobs a little bit.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
You know, what do you think you'll remember most from
this game? The comeback, the Kyle Pitts performance, the James
Pierce junior of it all.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
I think that I will. I think I'll remember the
like the final four minutes when the Falcons I thought that,
to be completely honest. I think I'll remember Kirk Cousins
a little bit too, Like I think that he's kind
of getting lost in the sauce of the performances and
(29:00):
and it's understandable, but I think that we can't talk
about this game without talking about the leadership of Kirk Cousins.
He put some good he put some good tape out there.
And I don't know what the future is for Kirk
Cousins and this organization, if there even is a future,
but for what I have to give a lot of
(29:22):
kudos in respect to Kirk Cousins in the way he
has handled the last year of his career.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
I couldn't have said it better myself, so that's a
great point. It's a shame we didn't talk about Kirk
more on this show, but maybe we'll do it later.
So kudos to Kirk. Kudos to everybody who is tuned
in a little bit later than usual, but hey, circumstances
were what they were, so Cory, thank you so much
for sitting down, Jared, thank you as always for producing
(29:50):
the show. For Tory maclaney, I'm badden. We will see
you all next week.
Mile two to just kind of exact slips exact Falcons fans,
what's up? And welcome back to Falcons final whistle. I
am joined by Tory mclaney, who just got off a
(00:20):
flight of a few hours ago. It was a late night,
but a thrilling night. The Falcons beat the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers twenty nine to twenty eight in walk off fashion.
We've got so much to unpack in today's episode, But Tori,
I mean, I feel if I was going to make
a bet on anything at this point in my life,
(00:42):
it is that we will see the Falcons and the
Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football again in the near future,
if not for the rest of our lives.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I know. I think what I wrote for the game breakdown,
my little blurb was, I didn't think that there was
gonna be a game that was gonna even remotely be
in the same realm as what last Thursday Night Football was.
Last year, when you had Kirk Cousins in front of
Matt Ryan break his franchise record for passing yards in
(01:10):
a single game. You had the Darrell Hodge walk off touchdown,
like there were.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Jessee Bates, like late fourth quarters turnout yeah, there was
so much.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
So many like just iconic moments for that Thursday Night
game to be followed up this year with this Thursday
Night game. I don't think you could have like in
the fashion of which this game ultimately prevailed for the
Falcons is just like you couldn't have written this. It's like,
you know, they're always everybody's always joking about like NFL
(01:40):
script writers. None of this, it was in the script,
none of it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
No, I mean yeah, Like, so both teams they combined
for over eight hundred yards of offense. The Falcons had
nearly five hundred yards. They had over all hundred yards
and penalties. We'll get to that a little bit later.
But it was really a back and forth game throughout.
And then you know, it looked like in the fourth
quarter there things we're gonna get dicey for the Falcons,
(02:05):
and it didn't. They showed so much resilience to claw back,
made some late plays. So again, we've got so much
to get into, but let's start the clock on our
first quarter and let's start talking about Kyle Pitts. Yeah,
because this this was the Pits I was promised right
like this was a good one. This was thank you.
(02:26):
I was thinking all night about that.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, eleven catches, one hundred and sixty six yards, three touchdowns,
easily the best game of his career. I mean you
were there in the building, like it it felt like
early on, all right, Pitts is going to be involved
once again. What was it like just being in the
stadium for that.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I think that you know, there's the joke about like
Kyle Pitts when he's in Florida, Like there's something I
think it was even Bajon said in the locker room too,
Who's like get that man in Florida air all the time,
Like he just turns into this, for lack of a
better word, unicorn. That heat, to your point, was like
promised to be. I thought that he specifically showed a
(03:06):
lot of heart in a lot of moments. You know,
some of these catches that he had were you know,
there are a couple of contested catches, there are a
couple of like just really good scheme and we're out
literally the back to back a little wheel route almost that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, I was very pleased by not only what we
saw from like Kyle Pits in kind of this like
penultimate type of performance. But this isn't like a new
revelation like Kyle Pits, I think had been building up
to this moment over the last couple of weeks without
Drake London out there. And I thought you made a
(03:43):
really good point on Twitter during the game about like
how much that even potentially shifted things for this offense
in terms of where Kyle Pits is in, like route progressions,
like how often Kirk is getting to him on his
first or second read instead of maybe like second or
third read, and how that impacts Kyle Pitts's performance, how
(04:05):
much he's being targeted. And I mean I he had
the hot hand, so like give the ball to the
to the hot hand. He caught eleven of twelve like
which I think that in and of itself is impressive
when we've been talking for a very long time, months
and months, if not the whole year, about like when
you need a guy to make a catch like cop
(04:27):
Pits made the catch absolutely yea.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And I want to kind of stick on that role
part a little bit because that's always been I think
both the promise of Kyle Pits but also kind of
the question of like how exactly do you use him
in the best possible way. Yeah, And I mean there
were times with during the Arthur Smith era where it
was like, all right, you're running kind of a dagger
concept with Drake London and Kyle is your clearout guy,
(04:49):
and there were times where it was like, all right,
is it getting cleared out fast enough? There's a couple
receivers in the areas? Like is that his best role?
Obviously we've seen him as like inline blocking, and I
think this year it's gotten better where you look at
the outside zone game that Atlanta has been able to run.
But you know, he's still not a George Kittle, Like,
he's still not necessarily a dominant rum blocker. So this
(05:11):
seems like the best use for him and being able
to be kind of this movable chess piece who is
early in the route progression.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
That seems to be the magic sauce for him so far.
And it's crazy like he's just a fourth tight end
in NFL history with ten plus catches, one hundred and
fifty plus receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns in a game,
joining Shannon Sharp, Kellen Winslow. Todd Christensen can't say I
am too familiar with Todd Christensen. But I do know
Shannon Sharp and Kellen Winsow, right, Yeah, they're pretty dang good, right.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, I feel like good company to keep. And I
think that you know, Kyle Pits, this is a everyone knows.
He knows, Falcons know, the broader NFL landscape knows this
is a big year for Kyle Pits. This is a
year that he needed a performance like this, and he
needed kind of multiple, kind of stacking performances in the
(06:02):
way that he has in the last three weeks for
his next contract because he is playing on his fifth
year option. Don't know if that's going to be in Atlanta,
but he is kind of this entity of what does
an organization see ass and what do they value him as?
(06:23):
And I think that it's kind of ebbed and flowed
his value. I mean, the coming out rookie year value,
exceptionally high, injury value lowers, coming off of the injury
value lowers, like not really performing and producing in the
way that you want in that fourth year lowers. And
I think that this was such a big year for him,
It was such a big year for what he could
(06:44):
show the broader landscape. And so the fact that he
had this performance I think, I don't know if it
puts him back on the map, but I definitely think
that this type of performance is a marker of what
he is, what you could ultimately have in him to
your point to bring it full circle, like the promise
of him.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, I mean, he's the only tight end Falcons history
to have more than one hundred and fifty receiving yards
in a game. He's now done it twice. Talk about
his rookie year. He did it against Miami as a rookie,
which again Florida, Florida, Florida, Man Florida. But kind of
getting to a lot of his production came offset, it
wasn't in line. And again I kind of think that
(07:25):
that is how you've got to figure all of this out.
And whichever team, whether that's Atlanta or you know, somewhere else,
if if that's how everything rolls like, that's going to
be kind of the question, right is this is he
a tight end? Is he just a really movable wide receiver.
But we did finally see the realization of like what
everybody hoped he would be, and it is exciting right
(07:47):
to see even if you know you would have loved
for this happen with playoffs still a reality.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I think that there are a lot of things that
you wish were happening, like in the same vein as playoff.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
But something and that is our whistle has moved to
the second quarter. Something else that really I think stand
out that is real and should provide a lot of
hope for the future was James Piers Junior. Yes, I
mean the dude was six games now in a row
with sack like. He had two last night. He's got
eight on the season. James Pierce like has been I
think everything anybody could have hoped for, And should we
(08:24):
just officially put the first round pick? Conversation and nonsense
to bed.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
I mean I think that I was already therefore even
before this performance. I think we talked about it on
a Friday five episode not too long ago, and I
kind of was like, I don't want to hear it anymore.
And you know, I understand the argument, I understand the frustration,
but I have to go often, I always have to
go back to the mindset of where you were when
(08:52):
you made the decision. Like we have the luxury of
hindsight at this point in time. The Falcons are not
in playoff contention. They are like, but in April, when
you're going through draft evaluations and you're trying Fulbrick is
trying to build a defense, and he's trying to fix
past rush, and they are making it evident that like, hey,
we feel really good about this offense that we have.
(09:14):
We feel like we fix the quarterback position. The only
thing that we have to be like to push us
to the next level, we need a pass rush, and
they invested to do that. Now looking ahead, it's like, okay, yeah,
the Rams are probably going to have a top ten
pick according to how kind of the next three weeks goes.
(09:35):
But that was kind of the risk you took, Like
that was the and again you got a guy who
now is the franchise leader in rookie east sacks in
a season since nineteen eighty two. Fun fact, the Falcons actually,
even though individual sacks were not recognized until nineteen eighty two,
(09:56):
officially the Falcons as an organization actually do they do
recognize Claude Humphreys as the NFL or as their franchise
leader in sacks by rookie He had eleven and a half.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Yep, I'm not putting.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
It outside the realm of possibility that James Pearce in
the next three weeks like gets up in there into
a double digit type of situation.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yeah, I mean they look again, he's done this, He's
got at least a sack in six straight games. He's
got three more games to only get two. Yeah, odds
are right now. Yeah, Like I like him to probably
finish with double digits there, if not push for for
Claude Humphrey. And you mentioned the Rams, like he's ahead
of Jared Verse. I know, like he is ahead of
a lot of the Kobe Turner, a lot of those
(10:39):
guys and what they were doing Byron Young and like
I wonder if like we always look at the first
round pick trade as kind of, oh man, now the
Rams have this this great kind of piece this offseason. Yeah,
but the Falcons identified a player that a lot of
other teams were passing over. Yeah, and credit to them.
(10:59):
They there were like red flags around James Pierce Junior
character wise coming out of college. The Falcons did a
lot of research and really dug into any of those
concerns and felt comfortable about getting the player and the
person and the player has been sensational. There have really
been no character issues so far, and I feel like
(11:20):
this is a home run and we should be giving
a little bit more credit to them for identifying somebody
that the rest of the league seemed to miss on. Yeah,
and now it seems like they've got an impact player
for at least the next four year. Ars.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I mean, I genuinely believe around draft season and through
the draft process that smoke screens are put out. And
I absolutely think that James Fears Junior. I think that
there were a lot of teams that felt very high
on him, and I think the character she says, like
I talked to James frequently. I have a lot of
respect for James Peers Junior, and I really have enjoyed,
(11:57):
genuinely enjoyed watching his maturation as a player and as
a person too, and like becoming kind of in his
own way, like his own type of person. And I
think his connection with Jayalen Walker has been really great.
I think his connection with Raheem Morris and Jeff Olbrich,
Like I remember, like Jeff Ulbrick said during one of
(12:17):
the interviews that I had with him around draft season,
and he's like, I feel like we have such a
good defensive corps in place, whether it be coaches or players,
that he's gonna thrive here. He's gonna be fine, and
we're gonna let him go out and be the guy
that he wants to be. And that's exactly what's happening here.
And I wouldn't I don't know if I would trade
(12:41):
James Pearce Junior for for anything right now in the
speculation of what could have.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Been, Is he in your mind the front runner for
defensive for Kie of the Year one?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I mean, I think I haven't looked at any of
the updated stats because I'm going off for four hours
of sleep, But I don't think that there is a
defensive rookie that is being more has been more impactful
in the last seven weeks of the season. Like you
talk about like trajectory. Yeah, there's no one who I
think defensively is on the trajectory that James Truer is.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Like straight up, straight up, if people were playing in
New York or Dallas or LA anywhere, whatever, Yeah, he
would be leading. Yes, PTI Sports Center around the horn,
what have you like? It's crazy. He's eight sacks on
the season, tied with Jeffrey Simmons half a sack behind
Aiden Hutchinson, one sack behind Max Crosby.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Like he's done something that only Micah Parsons has done
in the last five years. You like, I don't. I
don't again, I don't want to hear the like the
first round thing, Like, I'm happy with what the Falcons
have in James Trace Junior.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Take the junior off his name. He's grown all the
way up.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
But then we can't call him JPJ JPJ.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Is great, all right, So that is the whistle. Let's
get to our halftime stat presented by Microsoft co pilot
the Falcons win probability early in the fourth quarter, with
thirteen twenty nine left in the game, it was just
four point eight percent, right, Yeah, Han Solo unlike to
hear the odds. Hey, neither's Tory mclaney.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Never tell me the odds.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
So what did they do? They threw those odds right
out the window, and they came all the way back,
trailing twenty eight to fourteen. Their twenty nine to twenty
eight comeback was felt every bit as maybe unlikely and
as thrilling as that stat.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Well, I was talking to Jon Robinson in the locker
room and I kind of asked him the question, like,
at at that point in time, you know, going into
the fourth quarter after a third quarter debacle against the Seahawks,
this team kind of like rolled over a little bit,
and whether they meant to or not, like that's what
(14:42):
it looks like. And I kind of said, what was
the difference for y'all hitting the gas pedal versus hitting
the brake within you know, five days time? And he
was very like adamant that, like in that moment on
the sideline they had like Chris lntrim was literally walking
up and down the sidelines yelling at the top of
(15:04):
his lungs that we're gonna go win this game. And
Jean was kind of like, it's that leadership that makes
you forget about everything else going on and you want
to go fight for your guys. And we'll get more
into that, but like that story I thought was like
an anecdote, was like so indicative of like four point
eight percent, Like you have Chris Lntrim on the sideline
(15:26):
like I don't care, I don't care, I want to
win this freaking game.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Yeah. No, it's kind of like a battlefield general or whatever,
when when people are retreating. You need like George Washington
just single handedly stopping a retreat during the American Revolution.
You didn't know you were getting some history facts on
Today's Today's podcast. But yeah, like you need that galvanized leadership,
and it is much more impactful when it's coming from
(15:51):
somebody like Chris Lenstrom. I know Jean has, you know,
aspirations to kind of be that leader as well. So
like that, it was great to see, especially juxtaposed with
that Seattle game. So a great point by you. Let's
move on to our third quarter. And when we first
sat down for this show back in week one, we
were talking about some a good game by the Falcons
(16:12):
that ultimately missed opportunities kind of cost them late against
Tampa Bay. Yeah, there were still some miscues in this game.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I would argue there were more in this game.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Probably, you know, with nineteen penalties committed. Yeah, it's gonna
it's gonna feel that way. That's most by any team
in the league this season, most by the Falcons in
their franchise history. Yeah, I mean, what what did it
feel like being in that building? Because everything on Twitter
just like home, It felt like it was so stop
start stop start penalties, another flag.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Yeah, it felt exactly like that in the moment too,
Like it kind of got to the point where, like
so many it felt like every play there was something
and it just like never felt like, oh, the Falcons
would break a run with Jon Robinson, it's called back,
A sack gets called back. There were so many moments
(17:02):
of just like pure like frustration because of the penalties,
and you really did, up until that fourth quarter when
they really started to like mount that comeback, you felt
like those penalties were was gonna be the difference in
in the game, And honestly, statistics show it should have been,
like you know, it should those penalties and being and
(17:24):
losing one hundred and twenty five yards on penalties, giving
up seven first downs on penalties like that is staggering
numbers that don't happen every day. And I think that
like there is this love that there was like a
level of frustration that I think even like probably the
Bucks felt as well, because like you know, they were
(17:45):
getting penalized as well. There were there were there were
so many things about that those moments and it's not
even just like the penalties too, like there were other
moments that David Sills drop of a wide open touchdown
like the Darnel Mooney fumble that could have made a
really big difference in that game. Like, there were moments
(18:06):
where you felt like, Okay, this is this is the Dagger,
but for some reason or another, by plays made and
moments kind of taken in a different direction, the Falcons
did what they needed to do to kind of make
those moments not minuscule but not matter towards the win.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah, they weren't magnified because it did. It felt like
a game where you were like holding sand in your
hand and it was just kind of like slowly slipping
through your fingers no matter how much you were trying
to like keep grasp of it. And eventually they did
enough to hold on. Yeah, and yeah, like when you
give up one hundred march like penalty yards more than
the other team, that's crazy to ultimately overcome that.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
But at one point they had more penalties than they
had first downs as an offense, Like that is.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Did they have in the first half fourteen?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I think so, Yeah, And at one point they had
I think I even tweeted this, I think this is
like halfway through the second quarter, Bajon they had just
as many penalties as Bejon Robinson had rushing yards, and
it was like almost all of it had been negated
by penalties. Bajeon had sixty rushing yards and they had
(19:19):
fifty five penalty yards, Like, yeah, you're only plus five
at that point.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Some some of them, you know, I agreed with some
of them. I didn't agree with. Right, it's it's not
here to officiate the officials. But but yeah, we'll leave
that right there, looking at you. Let's talk a little
bit about the redemptive moment though for some of these players. Right,
we can start with David Sils because you mentioned that
that dropped to me, it just looked like one of
(19:46):
those where you know, if you have like an overhead
in tennis and you get like a second to think
about it, and your brain enters the equation and you're
kind of like, oh my god, Like that's what struck
me in that moment was kind of like, my guy
fell down, here's the ball and he's trying to really
it in. Yeah, and just but to see him come
back and make that huge, huge fourth down grab on
(20:07):
the right sideline. Yeah, what were what were you kind
of thinking of that moment?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I mean, that was what Raheem Morris has been talking
about over the last few weeks, is like, especially in
regards to the receivers, you need someone to go out
and make a catch, Like there were so many times
over the lot, like even just going back to the
Jets game a recent example, like you had three drops
inside the two minute to force three and out, like
and balls were hitting receivers in their hands in the chest.
(20:33):
And I think that like in regards to David Seals,
like he needed that moment as well, like and let's
be realized third and twenty eight before that, like.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah for them to even yeah eat Mile Pitts getting
nothing right down catch and leaving his way up the field.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And then David Steels like going up to get that
ball like I mean it wasn't a perfectly thrown ball, like,
but he went up and he made the play. And
that's something that Raheem Morris is like you just he
literally said last Tuesday or literally Tuesday, he was like,
we need to have a dog out there who goes
out and makes that dog play. And there were moments like.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
That and he he made it again. The response to
do it you mentioned Ryan Neusel jumping in to somehow
like I didn't even really see it happen, because when
the ball got jarred out of Darnell's hand, I kind
of like looked up at the ceiling and was just like,
oh gosh. And then I look down and it's like
there's suddenly a pile and a fight. He jumps in
(21:30):
and makes a huge play. I think the Alford getting
that interceptions it was a really good adjustment, I think
defensively because Kobe Bryant comes in the game after Mike
Cues is injured, and it's immediately apparent that they were
just picking on him.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
If Kobe was in coverage with Mike Evans, it was
going to Mike Evans every time.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Every single time, and so on are the Falcons do,
all right, We're gonna kind of drop a guy underneath,
We're gonna start bracketing a little bit, and you come
up with a huge play, so you swing the game. There,
Kirk getting involved, not making those business decisions. He's jumping
in and trying to fight for that ball. And then
the way that first game ended with a missed field
goal and a missed opportunity to send it over time
(22:08):
to end it with a game winning field goal felt
just like the perfect book end. Yeah for this, I agree, awesome.
Well let's move along to the fourth quarter. And Tori,
you wrote a column after this game on just No Sleep,
But I thought it was eloquent. I thought it was
really well done, So everybody go please check that out.
But it was all about kind of the team fighting
(22:28):
for each other, right with nothing left, no playoffs left
to fight for. What do you have to fight for? Right,
And it's kind of this team.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
And I think that was the theme of this game.
It was the theme of conversations in the locker room,
it was the theme of Rahem Morris's press conference, his
idea of fighting when you have nothing to fight for.
Because the fact of the matter remains, We've said it.
Falcons don't have one, they don't have any playoff hopes.
(22:56):
Two again, you don't have a first round draft pick,
so it's not like you're really playing to like move up.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
And yeah, there's no winning and losing right right.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, it's just getting to it's just finishing. It's getting
to the end of the twenty twenty five season. And
I think that like the the difference I saw in
this team from I've alluded to it before, but the
difference I saw from the Seattle game and that second
half to this game and this second half was night
and day. And I think that this I genuinely believe
(23:29):
that this team, when they say that they're together and
they're in it, they are because I think that there
is evidence to prove that. I think this game is
evidence to that that they genuinely feel that way and
that they're gonna be playing to fight for each other.
And I think that was I mean, almost every person
(23:51):
said that mantra of fighting for each other, playing for
each other, playing with each other, like I think that
that speaks kind of to some of the leaders in
that locker room that I think Raheem Morris has alluded
to in the past, like Ah, like Cayden Ellis on
Monday talked for five minutes straight about what it means
(24:13):
to fight when you don't have anything to fight for,
and it's He's like, ultimately, you're fighting for the guy
next to you. And it goes back even to I
think what we wrote about early in the season about
like talking to Jeff Ulbrick about his mantra and what
he wants the identity of this defense to be and
(24:33):
like heart mind fests and like that heart piece of
it is all the Falcons have to play for right now?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah, what's your why?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Yeah? What is your why? Why are you standing next
to the guy and playing for him? Like that's it?
And I think that there is. You know, there's no
moral victories in this league, like and there, you know,
the Falcons are out of playoff contention. Like I'm not,
I'm not kind of like erasing all of the things
that got them here, but it was in the scope
(25:02):
of this moment, this game, what it means for kind
of moving forward, the Falcons needed this absolutely.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
I'm glad you brought up Kayden because I feel like
his leadership has been revelatory this year. Like I wish
more fans could kind of see, we know how good
of a player he is, right, but like behind the scenes,
his character just like so shines through. But I keep
seeing a ton and it's understandable. But like every mistake
that this team makes, it feels like people figure out
(25:32):
a way to point the finger at the coaching staff
as like the reason for these mistakes. To me, you
look at a result like that last night and the
way that this team bounces back after a halftime, and
credit should be given to leadership for that, Like coaches
have a hand in ultimately the mentality of this locker
room and the buy in from some of the guys,
and I think that was on full display last night, right,
(25:54):
And there were multiple times like it could be so
frustrating to have some of the big plays that the
scheme stuff I really liked yesterday from Zach Robinson. I
thought there were really unique ways they keep doing this,
like little trip set trio inside thing where like the
middle guy's running and it's clearing a lane and there's
just confusion right created defensively. So to continue to kind
(26:18):
of like have big moments, have setbacks, have big moments,
have setbacks, but to keep fighting and get that buy
in and maintain that buy in, I do think should
be a point in the credit.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah, I mean I think too, like even just being
able to run the ball the way they were ye
yesterday against a really good Tampa defense against a very
good and that they could not run the ball at
all in that first week, and I think that like
there have been moments where they haven't been able to
run the ball like that to me is like purely
this offensive line being like we're tired of of this,
(26:50):
Like we're gonna go out and we're gonna step on
somebody's neck. And that's what I felt in the moment
watching them perform and then hearing about Chris Lnstrm, just
kind of being in this like flow state on the
sideline of like, guys and this is let's get it together.
We're winning this game. Like I don't know, I think
there's something There's still something here, you know, Like I
(27:12):
feel I still feel that I know why this team
felt the way it did going into the season. Yeah,
and it's unfortunate that it did not pan out that way,
But it doesn't mean that there aren't like these pieces
in place that if you can capitalize on their like
rookie deals like you have, you have something good. And
(27:34):
you just wish that the wins came with that something good.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Absolutely, and this is always a one score league, but
like you look at some of these games where they're
so close and got over the hump, and to finally
do that, I'm really curious now to see with three
games remaining, you've got at the Cardinals home against the Rams.
That's gonna be just like a really telling game, I think,
and then you close it out home against the Saints,
like these three games are gonna be really revealing as
(27:57):
you head into an offseason, right, that feels important? So awesome?
Well that is our final whistle, Tori, You got anything
else you want to talk? Like? We've talked a lot
about the game, but somehow it still feels like there's
I know.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I this is the you know, it's been difficult to
have to like talk about, you know, finding ways to
talk about a team that continues to lose, and so
it's nice to actually feel like we have threads to
pull on and performances to talk about in the scope
of like again not having anything to fight for, but
now we at least can it's easier to do our
(28:32):
jobs a little bit.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
You know, what do you think you'll remember most from
this game? The comeback, the Kyle Pitts performance, the James
Pierce junior of it all.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
I think that I will. I think I'll remember the
like the final four minutes when the Falcons I thought that,
to be completely honest. I think I'll remember Kirk Cousins
a little bit too, Like I think that he's kind
of getting lost in the sauce of the performances and
(29:00):
and it's understandable, but I think that we can't talk
about this game without talking about the leadership of Kirk Cousins.
He put some good he put some good tape out there.
And I don't know what the future is for Kirk
Cousins and this organization, if there even is a future,
but for what I have to give a lot of
(29:22):
kudos in respect to Kirk Cousins in the way he
has handled the last year of his career.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
I couldn't have said it better myself, so that's a
great point. It's a shame we didn't talk about Kirk
more on this show, but maybe we'll do it later.
So kudos to Kirk. Kudos to everybody who is tuned
in a little bit later than usual, but hey, circumstances
were what they were, so Cory, thank you so much
for sitting down, Jared, thank you as always for producing
(29:50):
the show. For Tory maclaney, I'm badden. We will see
you all next week.
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