September 29, 2025 • 28 mins
The Atlanta Falcons bounced back with an impressive 34-27 victory against the Washington Commanders and head into the bye week with an even 2-2 record. Will McFadden and Tori McElhaney sat down after the game to share their instant reactions to the win, which included a big step forward from Atlanta's offense. With the Falcons finding their stride heading into the bye, Will and Tori discuss what they've seen from the team through the first four games and what it could look like after a week away.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mild two to.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Slip thirty birds. What's up and welcome back to Final Whistle.
We have a very exciting Falcons win to talk about.
The Falcons beat the Commanders thirty four to twenty seven
in their return back to Mercedes Benz Stadium on Sunday.
(00:29):
They will head into the bye week at two and two.
A crucial rebound performance for the Falcons today, Toy, Yes.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It was everything that this offense particularly needed it to be.
They needed a response from being shut out against the
Carolina Panthers last weekend, and I think they did everything
offensively that I was one hoping that they would have
been doing for all four games this season. But I
(00:57):
will take this performance as a step in the right direction,
especially considering what happened last week in Carolina and the
fact that someone like Michael Pennix was able to bounce
back the way he was, I think is a testament
to what the Falcons have in him specifically.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Absolutely so. For those of you who may be joining
us for our first Final Whistle up the season, a
quick refresher. We're going to do four quarters, four topics
for you, six minutes each. Tory and I are going
to go back and forth, discuss the game, be in
and out and get you on your way on this
victory Monday.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So Tory up top.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
We're going to start a little bit with the offensive performance,
as you said, was the bounce fact that they needed.
What was the most impressive part of their performance.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I mean, I feel like the low hanging fruit Isjon Robinson.
Robinson was he's always he's but he's always a point,
an exclamation point in their offensive operation everything. I think
what you wrote in our little document that we're working
off of here is that he remains the engine for
this offense and that couldn't have been more true than
(02:01):
it was today. And you know, he's putting up these
numbers every single week. That shows you why he's one
so important to this offensive operation, but also too how
special of an athlete he truly is. I mean he
had over one hundred receiving yards today to go along
with over seventy five rushing yards. I mean that his performance.
(02:25):
I don't know if this offense is the same without
Bajon Robinson in it. And he is just a very
special player. I mean, heck, he had a first down
run today that I swear it was a twelve yard run,
but I swear he picked up half of those yards
running backwards. He's just such a fun player to watch operate,
and I think that he is. I mean Michael Pennock
(02:48):
Junior set it himself after the game, where you know,
someone asked the question of like, what does your confidence
level feel like when you get to hand the ball
off to Beajon? Not like when you hand but when
you get to hand the ball off to Beajon. He's like,
I mean, every time I get to do that, I
feel like we're in a pretty good spot. And it's true.
When Bajeon Robinson gets his hands on the ball, good
(03:08):
stuff happens.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I mean, he had one hundred and eighty one total
yards from scrimmage today, seventy five on the ground, one
hundred and six through the air. I kind of feel
like his best friend in the world right now is
that right sideline at Mercedes Benz where he's just kind
of running Scott free on the swing pass. The only
thing that I would change would be to half Caleb
McGary right in front of him, running leading the way,
(03:30):
because man, that would be just so much fun to
watch this season, specifically with Bajen right behind him. But
there was a note from next Gen Stats that I
feel like is very emblematic of just kind of the
way that he played today. He reached twenty one point
eight five miles per hour on that sixty nine yard reception,
sixty seven yards of which came after the catch, and
(03:51):
that was the fastest of his career. I mean, I
know that explosive plays were a big kind of focus
for this offense coming in. Do you think through four
games that that goal has kind of been sorry to
say a chief because it's only four games in, but
he feels like a little bit more of an explosive
player this year.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I mean you think about Week one, he had that
fifty yard run. Today he has a sixty nine yard run. Well,
I catch an run, I should say. But I think
that that those are.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Always hard, though, because it's kind of like he basically
did all the work. That's like the easiest throw Michael
Pennox is going to have all games.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
The thing is, I think, I know the sixty nine
yarder is what everybody's talking about, but I actually think
his touchdown run up the middle where he breaks like
four or five tackles, he pinballs and spins his way
into the end zone. I thought that was even more
impressive and more indicative of Jon Robinson and who he
is as an athlete. So I just loved watching him today,
(04:44):
and I'm so glad that we get to talk about
his performance in the context of a win.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yes, absolutely, and it is truly just such a joy
to watch a special player like this. But it was
also a joy to watch Michael Pennox out there today
after a really, really poor performance, I think in Carolina
he bounced back in a big way.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
So what did we learn about Michael Pennock Junior today?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I think that we learned that he can and always
has been able to handle adversity even throughout his college career.
Even you know, coming in with the last three games
of twenty twenty four and performing the way he did
last year. You know this, the first three games of
the season has not been what we have known Michael
Pennocks to be. You know, the Falcons were not pushing
(05:27):
the ball super downfield. It was a bit more conservative
and kind of these shorter routes or not shorter routes,
but shorter completions that he was you know, throwing for
the first three games. This Sunday was the first Sunday
that we saw him air the ball out. He looked
like the confident version of himself, and even to the
point where the Falcons had a I think Michael Pennocks
(05:47):
Junior off the top of my head. I hope I'm
correct in this in saying this, but he had eight
passes of fifteen or more air yards today. How much
have we been talking about over the course of the
last three games, the fact that that hasn't manifested, those
downfield throws have not manifested, And it happened today. Not
only did it happen today, but he was completing those passes.
And I felt like today felt like the Michael Pennix
(06:10):
of what we expected him to be at this point
in his career. And maybe even a little bit farther
there's the three hundred passing yards and Michael getting Kyle
Pitts involved, getting Drake London involved. I just thought what
he was able to do was very impressive. And the
fact that Drake London and Jean Robinson are the first
(06:30):
wide receiver running back duos since nineteen eighty one to
go for over one hundred receiving yards. That was a
fascinating stat to me, and it all comes from Michael
Pinnox and his confidence and comfortability in the pocket today,
which I thought you could feel more than you didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, that's crazy forty four years ago, I guess.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
So, yeah, congrats to those guys, But no, I thought
Michael Pennox was really good at just kind of, like
you said, attacking downfield but doing it wisely. Know, he's
one of nineteen on those air yards of fifteen or
more coming into this game, and today was five of eight.
And I thought the Falcons, they were six to twelve
on third down, did a really good job of kind
of converting in those situations when they needed to and
(07:12):
really kind of keep stringing those drives along. I thought,
like one of my favorite plays for Michael Pennix was
when he was rolling out to his left and he
kind of wanted to throw the ball down field, but
it was very clear like you could pick up the
first down with your legs and they're like the crowd
was kind of like run, run, run, and he was
like still looking downfield because he just he's a big
game hunter toy. He wants to take those deep shots
(07:33):
and that's what I love about him. Oh, there's our
first whistle. We're going to move right along to the
second quarter, and Tory, I want to talk a little
bit about the contrast that this game presented with the
home opener here in Mercedes ben Stdium. It looked kind
of similar in some ways, but with key differences. In
the first game, I kind of felt like the Falcons
were the better team and they made some of the
(07:55):
mistakes that ultimately end up costing you wins. Today, it
kind of felt like they were the better team and
they didn't make those mistakes and they were forcing Washington
into some of those mistakes.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Did it feel like that to you?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
It definitely did. And I also think that the fact
that the Falcons were able to run the ball as
well as they did with Tyler Alger and Bejon Robinson
and I'm trying to think of what their yards per care. Yeah,
but Jon Robinson had a four point four yards per
carry average, Tyler Gier was three point two, and a
lot of Tyler's yards towards the end of the game
(08:28):
came in that fourth quarter when they're bleeding the clock.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Which is of important three point two and important dyes.
And it also like that probably doesn't do him just
as because those were yards earned in a moment where
everybody knew you were going to run the ball.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah, And I was just really to your point about
the the key difference. To me, it had to be
the running game, because the Falcons could not run the
ball well against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And I don't
think that Washington's defense is anything to like overlook by
any means. And I think what I was really excited
(09:03):
about was how balanced as well the offense felt and
when you and that was not something that we felt
in Week one that there was this balance because they
couldn't run the ball. They were averaging collectively I think
like a little over two yards per carry, and they
weren't picking up first downs on the run. They weren't
having good first down runs at all, I feel like,
(09:25):
And so going into this game and it felt more
indicative of exactly what this offense wants to be like
when you look at this stat line and you have
Kyle Pitts, Jean Robinson and Tyler Algier, Drake London, all
of these guys involved in Michael Pennock's leading this this
group in both the run and the past. I mean,
(09:47):
I just felt like this was the performance that we've
been waiting on for this Falcons offense.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And hopefully it's a springboard, you know. I know they
got the bye week.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
In some ways you're like, man, carry this momentum, keep
it going, let's play again next Sunday. But you do
have an opportunity to kind of look at what works,
what didn't, make some tweaks, and get back out there
with a big game. I thought, Yeah, offensively, the balance
was very important. This was a Commander's defense that was
coming in with a really high pressure rate they like
to get after deposing. Quarterback Michael Pennox only sacked one
time in this game. I think he was pretty clean.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
I mean for all of those deep down the key
for those downfield throws is that he has time in
the pocket to allow those routes to manifest, and so
we saw him he was fairly clean the whole entire game.
So you have to give kudos to that offensive line
as well.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Well.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I think another side effect of that is kind of
allowing those plays to develop downfield stretches the defense and
spreads it out, which then when you dump it off
to Bajon in the flat there's way more room to
work with. Ye against Carolina, it felt like he was
going boom boom bajan. Yeah, and the defense hadn't really
kind of like just dissipated yet and it was still
(10:53):
all really like zeroed in. And so today it felt
like there's just a lot more room to operate and
work with. And then again, like in that fourth quarter,
when you kind of when Washington cuts it back to
that one possession game and you're like, all right, you
know this is the NFL. Things can get a little interesting.
It's the witching hour, as they like say, on the
red zone. But the Falcons kind of didn't blink. They
(11:14):
just went right down the field with Tyler all year
and ended up tacking on a field goal to kind
of keep that distance there. That was really important to see.
And then flipping over on the defensive side, I thought
that they did a great job shutting down a run
game that has been kind of one of the best
in the league. And even when you know Jade Daniels
isn't in there, Marcus Mariota can hurt you with his legs.
He only gained twenty yards on the ground, and I
(11:36):
thought that was a big difference between what they did
with Baker in week one and some of those crucial
scrambles that he had to kind of keep those drives going,
and the way they were able to contain.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Washington agreed.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
I think going into this game, it was something that
we had talked about all week long, is that an
achilles heel of potentially this defense is the scrambling quarterback,
because you saw what Baker did against them, you saw
what Bryce Young did against them, and they were able
to move the chains because they could pick the ball
up and run it. And I know that Marcus Mariota
(12:07):
had that one twenty two yard scramble on third down,
but the amount of times that I feel like this
defense made Marcus Marioto so uncomfortable that he was throwing
it away. There was an intentional grounding. There were a
couple of times where if he doesn't get the ball out,
it's a sack. And I think that people will look
at this defensive performance and kind of feel like it's
(12:28):
a little lackluster compared to what maybe some of the
defensive performances of the last three weeks have been. But
I think because of the way that Washington's offense operates.
You knew that this was going to be a bit
more difficult of a challenge for this defense, specifically because
of the way that Washington likes to play. But you
have to again give credit where credit is due that
the defense did what they could in the offense even
(12:52):
when the defense kind of messed up. You know, they
allowed a twenty four yard touchdown reception on fourth and three, Like,
even when that happened, the offense picked them up. And
that's what playing good, complimentary football is all about. And
I think that's what we saw today.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, I think that's how you prevent the lolls from happening,
where it kind of you know, like if one side
is really playing well and then you pick it out,
the energy is going in the building, maybe then keeping
that going, paying it forward helps, But if you bring
it back down to earth offensively or defensively, having a
unit like Atlanta's defense that's able to step in there
and say, hey, don't worry, we can get a quick
three and out, get you guys back on the field,
(13:31):
keep the energy going, keep the rhythm flowing. I really
thought you felt that kind of holistic style of Atlanta's
football team come to life today.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yeah, I do too, And I mean, let's talk about
Xavier Watts as well. You know, let's make a point.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I'll just okay, fine, talk about him real quick quick.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
I thought that, you know, he that interception was such
a pivotal point of the game and this is now
the second second interception in four games for Xavier Watt's like,
you're really still excited about this, young Core.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
I'm sorry the disrespect my whistle.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I know, I feel bad because the whistle told me
to stop and I was.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Like, but Exavier, what, No, it's important. We got to
mention Xavier Wats because that was a huge play. But
it is our halftime break, and so I want to
bring you a quick stat brock to you by Microsoft
co Pilot, which was very helpful in building today's podcast outline.
Drake London, let's talk a little bit about him. Was
he caught eight of his ten targets for one hundred
(14:27):
and ten yards against the Commanders, but a lot of
his work came in the slot. On six of his
eleven routes in which he was targeted, five of those
were from the slot and he got eighty one yards
and his touchdown. Drake has been just a beast in
the slot. We know that that is something that the
Falcons really like to do with him is move him
around again matchups because of his blocking ability, because of
(14:47):
his size ability, you know, just the catch radius. He's
amazing from the slot. What did you think of Drake's
game day?
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I thought that he was great. But it was something
he said in the locker room after when he was
asked about you know, what does this performance do for
the confidence of this team and everything? And he made
the comment like it's everything, and he said, I'm sure
this win meant the world to some of these guys
in this locker room, and then he kind of added,
(15:12):
I know it meant the world to me. And I
know that Drake London over the last three performance or
three games, has only had one hundred and fifty six
total yards and he had one hundred and ten today.
It just goes to show you how quickly things can change,
especially if you're fantasy football team owners.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yes, hopefully you kept Drake in your starting lineups. But
that was our halftime break, brought to you by Microsoft
co Pilot. Let's move right along to the third quarter Tory.
They're gonna head into the bye week at two and two.
I know a lot of people were worried, all right
after these four games, tough four games. Are you going
to go into the bye week one and three with
(15:50):
the Buffalo Bills coming out and then you got the
San Francisco forty nine? Oh my gosh, what's happened.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
To those on prime time in primetime slot.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yes, people were ready to snowball. I think they were
ready to be like, oh my gosh, this season's over
before it even got started. Lo and behold, you're two
and two. You go back in at even you can
kind of reset. How important was it to get this
win going into that by week?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I think it's incredibly important because it's important for confidence.
I think this offense needed to show the fan base,
show the league at large, and honestly a little bit
show themselves who they are because this is the type
of offense. I said it at the beginning, but this
is the type of offense and the production that it
(16:32):
should be the not bare minimum for what this team does,
but it should be the standard. Yeah, you know, last week,
Jon Robinson, Drake Lennon and all these guys talked about
like that was not our standard. What we did in Carolina.
That's not our standard, that's not who we are. And
I think I even said on the postgame podcast last week,
it's like, okay, well show us who you are, because
for three games, I don't know if I know who
(16:53):
you are. Yeah, And I thought that they did that today.
I thought that they stepped up and did what they
were supposed to do. And also think that interesting enough,
as we were talking in the first quarter about key
differences between week one and week four, I think Michael
Pennix said too, that moving Zach Robinson from the coach's
box down to the sideline was really good for the
(17:15):
Falcons at this point in time. I think Zach Robinson
called it a reset during the week and I think
that ended up being very true because talking to Michael
Pennocks about that move, and he was like, it was
really good for us because I'm able to come off
the sideline have one on one conversations with him about
what I'm seeing, what he's wanting us to do, what
we could do in the next series out like just
(17:37):
having that effective communication and it being more organic and
not Zack Robinson calling down into a headset with TJ.
Yates or Dwayne Ladford to walk over and talk to
my like, no, you cut all of that middle man
crap out and you get in there and you have good,
important conversations to where you can put drives together. And
(17:57):
that was another thing that really I think bill confidence
within this offense is the fact that Okay, in week
one you had that first drive and you're feeling good,
but you could never get it going again. Against the
Washington Commanders, you were constantly putting good drives together your
scoring points, and I think that has a ripple effect,
a snowball effect, and you hope that you can do
(18:18):
it again moving forward, because that was the big thing
is like the Falcons world to have lost this game,
you go into the bye week one and three, the
obvious elephant in the room is that you could potentially
be one in five after the Buffalo Bills in San
Francisco forty nine Ers game in two and a half
three weeks. So this was a huge moment I think
for this offense from a confidence standpoint, also just from
(18:40):
a record standpoint.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, I mean, I think this was a really good
like can you kick it into gear game? Yea, Right,
because like you said, if you go into this and
you are one and three, like this felt like a
mini gotta have it game for these reasons. So what
would be your confidence level that you can then turn
it on against the Bills or the forty nine ers
if those become god have a game. So the fact
that they were able to really kind of flip the
(19:03):
switch and play to their standard, like you said, after
not doing so against Carolina does speak volumes. Does show
me something that this is the standard and I do
have a little bit more confidence that they know how
to reach that more frequently because they were able to
kind of flip that page really quickly after a tough loss.
But the reset comes at a very good time. There
were a couple of injuries that occurred during this game.
(19:25):
Theatron Brooks concussion, Darnol Mooney hamstring, a couple other guys
who started this season on IR designated return or the
pup list. All of that, could you know in week
five like they can come back yeah, or in cow
week six yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
To come into play. You also have aj Terrell that
they're pinpointing for a post by week return as well.
He's been working through the hamstring, has missed the last
two games.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Like this could feel like a healthier, fresher, different team
coming out of the buy.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
It absolutely could, and I think that would be the hope. Like,
obviously we don't have any more like new information on
Troy Anderson or Store Norton or TQ, Like we don't
know Braylan tries like even like, you know, I think
his injury, just from the way that Rahem was talking
at the beginning of the season, felt a little bit
more serious, but like we don't know kind of what
the future holds for this group, but getting some options
(20:17):
healthy at the bare minimum helps you in depth.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Of those players, is there one that you kind of
circle to be like, man, I really maybe take aj
he is, he is the starter, But is it? Is
it Troy, is it Storm Norton? Is it you know,
Darnell Really.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
To me, it's Darnell to me, Darnell Mooney getting him
back to one. You know, he missed all training camp
with that shoulder. I think it was still kind of
bugging him through the first couple of weeks and now
he has a hamstring. It just kind of feels like
one thing after the other, and it's like, and I
know too, he was a bit disappointed in his performance
(20:55):
even with Carolina and having a couple drops, and you know,
like he missed a lot of time on the grass
and so he's still even trying to acclimate himself to
the speed of the game again.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Ye a new quarterback and yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And I think Darnell Mooney is in a really like
tough spot. And I'm pretty sympathetic towards what he's having
to deal with with all of these injuries and new
quarterbacks and everything. But I think if you can get
him through the bye week, you can get him back
on track. Like you'll see the Darnell Mooney from last year.
I think there are a lot of things stacked against
him right now and you need to kind of get
(21:29):
those things out of the way so he can be
who he is.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I always encourage players to go take all the time
off during the bye week that they can. However, I
would be very curious to see what Darnell's doing during
his bye week. He could stand to benefit from just
a lot of time and reps out there on the grass. Uh,
not that that's exactly how he's.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Gonna use it.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Go get some go, get some rest, like you've earned
it all right. Tory fourth quarter time, We're gonna wrap
things up just by talking about the Falcons in this
form four game block. Yeah, Like, what have we learned
about this team that maybe we didn't expect coming into
the year. What are some things that we maybe expected
that we haven't seen? You know, is there one thing
that kind of stands out to you as when we
were talking at the end of training camp looking at
(22:08):
the season in totality about to start, if I had
told you, hey, this pass rush is going to be here, Like,
would you believe if I had told you, hey.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
The running game didn't get going in week one?
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Like?
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Where are you at with this four game block?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
I think for me it stems from the defense. I
think the defense is so much farther along than what
I thought they would be at this point in the season,
Like I remember even you know, this is a plug
for a story series in a very big feature project
that Will Tarran and myself have been working on for
the last few weeks where we sat down with Jeff
(22:41):
Ulbrick and we went over his defensive coaching philosophy of
heartmind fist and what that means and how it manifests.
And it's been a great conversation but I in the
conversation that we had with him in his office a
couple of weeks ago, he made the comment that, you know, initially,
I feel like it's not, you know, not everything is
gonna be exactly what we want it to be, and
(23:03):
this could maybe be a slower start defensively, I don't
want to get people's hopes of like kind of like
really tampering expectations to to kind of be like, hey,
we're installing a new system, a new way to play,
a new style of play, like it's gonna take time.
And I fully was one hundred percent willing and ready
to get the defense time to figure themselves out. I
(23:25):
think we know who this defense is. I think they've
shown us who they are over four games. I think
if they're an exciting bunch, they I want to see
a bit more like consistency and pass rush because sometimes
it's like which you know, I think is probably a
little bit nitpicky of me, but I because I'm sitting
here being.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Like, well, what you want pressure, I'm.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
So sorry that was so nitpicky, But I do think that,
like I have been really excited to see what this
defense is and how they've played and how they've played together,
seeing guys like Brandon dor Lis Roucarow, like those guy
Divine Diablo, some new names, do some Billy Bowman Junior
for gosh sake, like some new names, some new earth
(24:09):
faces making a pretty big impact in doing things really
well and being an exciting group to watch. And I
think that that just means that, Okay, they already surpassed
my expectations for what this first floor block was, Like,
I'm leveling up my expectations for the group is what
I ultimately think that if you would have told me
(24:32):
in week one, prior to that Tampa Bay game, like
where I would want the defense to be, I would
have said, there's no way that they have ten sacks
by this by the bye week.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
No, Like, yeah, it's.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Gonna take time. The fact that it hasn't taken that
much time for us to see kind of the fruits
of the labor put in over the off season by
all the acquisitions, the draft picks, et cetera, Like that
just means I'm moving on up. We're leveling up with
this defense. I'm expecting more out of I.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
And I remember that conversation kind of with Brick that
you're referencing. And part of that is because Brick is
not a puppet master on game day, right, Like he
doesn't necessarily want to be like everything's dependent on the
play that I'm calling or I'm scout scheming the offensive coordinator.
A lot of what he says is the style comes
from the players out there on the field, right, And
so I think that is where the interconnectivity. There's always
(25:23):
just going to be an element of unknown to that
going into a season where you're like, We've got new pieces,
how are they going to play together? It could start slow,
it could start fast. It started fast, And I think
that is a credit to the guys they have on
this defense as well as the coaching staff. And Divine
Diablo is a great example of that. Yeah, because I
was talking to de Alford in the locker room after
today's game and he just kind of like out of
(25:43):
the blue, brought up Divine Diablo and he was like, man,
he is so freaking good, like his coverage ability and
this is d kind of talking. He was like, he
is maybe one of the best defenders of the dig
route that like I've ever seen. And he was like,
as a corner, that is just one of the toughest
routes to cover based on the way that it's set up,
kind of the depth that it happens, the leverage and
(26:05):
having a linebacker is able to drop into that throwing window.
We saw today Divine just getting his big old Mitt
up there and knocking it down. He's like, that gives
me so much more kind of confidence and allows me
to play looser as a cornerback because I have faith
that my guy's going to be there to make the
play in that window and the throw is not going
to be there. So I just kind of think it's
the right combination of coach scheme, mindset, style, but also
(26:29):
the small additions that they've made this offseason to compliment
the players that were already here.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Yeah, small additions that are making giant dividends I think
for this unit.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
I felt bad saying small additions that they've been like
huge editions tbh, But yeah, I just kind of can't
believe how good the defense would look so far, and
I don't want to jinx it. What about really quickly offensively?
Was there anything that you know? The run game has
gotten turned around a little bit, so I think we
(27:00):
feel better about that spot anything that you want to
see from the offense.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Maybe after the bye week.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Show us what you just showed us again. Consistency, consistency.
I feel like Raheem Morris talks all the time about
this emotional roller coaster that you can get on, and
I feel like the offense has been so indicative of
that emotional roller.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Get off the roller coaster, Get.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Off of it. I don't want to be on the
roller coaster anymore. I want to be on the people mover, Like,
let's just move the ball downfield, give people into the
end zone, play clean football, like have Bjon Robinson do
Bjon Robinson things. And you know, same thing with Drake London,
Michael Pennix, Kyle Pitts, Tyler out here, all of it. Like,
I think that we need to see replication because the
(27:39):
only way we can be confident that this offensive identity
that we saw on Sunday is actually who they are
is if they do it again and again and again.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
So do it again, perfect timing. That was our final whistle.
I hope they do it many many more times. But
thank you all so much for listening to today's show.
We got a big Falcons win. To feel good about
going into the bye week. I hope everybody has awesome plans,
you know, for their bye week, for their weekend off.
(28:09):
If you're going to watch football, enjoy that. If you're not,
go outside, touch grass. Tori, any messages for the fans
before we get out of here.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
It's going to be a long season coming out after
the bye week, so rest for juvenate recover. I'm going
to be on a beach drinking some apple all sprits.
So I'll see y'all when we get back. But it
is nice to go into this bye week feeling really
good about the product that they put on the field
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Feeling good about the product on the field, Feeling good
about Spritzy season coming up for you.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
But always sprit season.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, all right, that'll do it for Falcons. Final whistle
for Tory mclaney. I am Will McFadden. Thank you all
so much for listening, and we will see you in
two weeks.
Mild two to.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Slip thirty birds. What's up and welcome back to Final Whistle.
We have a very exciting Falcons win to talk about.
The Falcons beat the Commanders thirty four to twenty seven
in their return back to Mercedes Benz Stadium on Sunday.
(00:29):
They will head into the bye week at two and two.
A crucial rebound performance for the Falcons today, Toy, Yes.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It was everything that this offense particularly needed it to be.
They needed a response from being shut out against the
Carolina Panthers last weekend, and I think they did everything
offensively that I was one hoping that they would have
been doing for all four games this season. But I
(00:57):
will take this performance as a step in the right direction,
especially considering what happened last week in Carolina and the
fact that someone like Michael Pennix was able to bounce
back the way he was, I think is a testament
to what the Falcons have in him specifically.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Absolutely so. For those of you who may be joining
us for our first Final Whistle up the season, a
quick refresher. We're going to do four quarters, four topics
for you, six minutes each. Tory and I are going
to go back and forth, discuss the game, be in
and out and get you on your way on this
victory Monday.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So Tory up top.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
We're going to start a little bit with the offensive performance,
as you said, was the bounce fact that they needed.
What was the most impressive part of their performance.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I mean, I feel like the low hanging fruit Isjon Robinson.
Robinson was he's always he's but he's always a point,
an exclamation point in their offensive operation everything. I think
what you wrote in our little document that we're working
off of here is that he remains the engine for
this offense and that couldn't have been more true than
(02:01):
it was today. And you know, he's putting up these
numbers every single week. That shows you why he's one
so important to this offensive operation, but also too how
special of an athlete he truly is. I mean he
had over one hundred receiving yards today to go along
with over seventy five rushing yards. I mean that his performance.
(02:25):
I don't know if this offense is the same without
Bajon Robinson in it. And he is just a very
special player. I mean, heck, he had a first down
run today that I swear it was a twelve yard run,
but I swear he picked up half of those yards
running backwards. He's just such a fun player to watch operate,
and I think that he is. I mean Michael Pennock
(02:48):
Junior set it himself after the game, where you know,
someone asked the question of like, what does your confidence
level feel like when you get to hand the ball
off to Beajon? Not like when you hand but when
you get to hand the ball off to Beajon. He's like,
I mean, every time I get to do that, I
feel like we're in a pretty good spot. And it's true.
When Bajeon Robinson gets his hands on the ball, good
(03:08):
stuff happens.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I mean, he had one hundred and eighty one total
yards from scrimmage today, seventy five on the ground, one
hundred and six through the air. I kind of feel
like his best friend in the world right now is
that right sideline at Mercedes Benz where he's just kind
of running Scott free on the swing pass. The only
thing that I would change would be to half Caleb
McGary right in front of him, running leading the way,
(03:30):
because man, that would be just so much fun to
watch this season, specifically with Bajen right behind him. But
there was a note from next Gen Stats that I
feel like is very emblematic of just kind of the
way that he played today. He reached twenty one point
eight five miles per hour on that sixty nine yard reception,
sixty seven yards of which came after the catch, and
(03:51):
that was the fastest of his career. I mean, I
know that explosive plays were a big kind of focus
for this offense coming in. Do you think through four
games that that goal has kind of been sorry to
say a chief because it's only four games in, but
he feels like a little bit more of an explosive
player this year.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I mean you think about Week one, he had that
fifty yard run. Today he has a sixty nine yard run. Well,
I catch an run, I should say. But I think
that that those are.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Always hard, though, because it's kind of like he basically
did all the work. That's like the easiest throw Michael
Pennox is going to have all games.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
The thing is, I think, I know the sixty nine
yarder is what everybody's talking about, but I actually think
his touchdown run up the middle where he breaks like
four or five tackles, he pinballs and spins his way
into the end zone. I thought that was even more
impressive and more indicative of Jon Robinson and who he
is as an athlete. So I just loved watching him today,
(04:44):
and I'm so glad that we get to talk about
his performance in the context of a win.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yes, absolutely, and it is truly just such a joy
to watch a special player like this. But it was
also a joy to watch Michael Pennox out there today
after a really, really poor performance, I think in Carolina
he bounced back in a big way.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
So what did we learn about Michael Pennock Junior today?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I think that we learned that he can and always
has been able to handle adversity even throughout his college career.
Even you know, coming in with the last three games
of twenty twenty four and performing the way he did
last year. You know this, the first three games of
the season has not been what we have known Michael
Pennocks to be. You know, the Falcons were not pushing
(05:27):
the ball super downfield. It was a bit more conservative
and kind of these shorter routes or not shorter routes,
but shorter completions that he was you know, throwing for
the first three games. This Sunday was the first Sunday
that we saw him air the ball out. He looked
like the confident version of himself, and even to the
point where the Falcons had a I think Michael Pennocks
(05:47):
Junior off the top of my head. I hope I'm
correct in this in saying this, but he had eight
passes of fifteen or more air yards today. How much
have we been talking about over the course of the
last three games, the fact that that hasn't manifested, those
downfield throws have not manifested, And it happened today. Not
only did it happen today, but he was completing those passes.
And I felt like today felt like the Michael Pennix
(06:10):
of what we expected him to be at this point
in his career. And maybe even a little bit farther
there's the three hundred passing yards and Michael getting Kyle
Pitts involved, getting Drake London involved. I just thought what
he was able to do was very impressive. And the
fact that Drake London and Jean Robinson are the first
(06:30):
wide receiver running back duos since nineteen eighty one to
go for over one hundred receiving yards. That was a
fascinating stat to me, and it all comes from Michael
Pinnox and his confidence and comfortability in the pocket today,
which I thought you could feel more than you didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, that's crazy forty four years ago, I guess.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
So, yeah, congrats to those guys, But no, I thought
Michael Pennox was really good at just kind of, like
you said, attacking downfield but doing it wisely. Know, he's
one of nineteen on those air yards of fifteen or
more coming into this game, and today was five of eight.
And I thought the Falcons, they were six to twelve
on third down, did a really good job of kind
of converting in those situations when they needed to and
(07:12):
really kind of keep stringing those drives along. I thought,
like one of my favorite plays for Michael Pennix was
when he was rolling out to his left and he
kind of wanted to throw the ball down field, but
it was very clear like you could pick up the
first down with your legs and they're like the crowd
was kind of like run, run, run, and he was
like still looking downfield because he just he's a big
game hunter toy. He wants to take those deep shots
(07:33):
and that's what I love about him. Oh, there's our
first whistle. We're going to move right along to the
second quarter, and Tory, I want to talk a little
bit about the contrast that this game presented with the
home opener here in Mercedes ben Stdium. It looked kind
of similar in some ways, but with key differences. In
the first game, I kind of felt like the Falcons
were the better team and they made some of the
(07:55):
mistakes that ultimately end up costing you wins. Today, it
kind of felt like they were the better team and
they didn't make those mistakes and they were forcing Washington
into some of those mistakes.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Did it feel like that to you?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
It definitely did. And I also think that the fact
that the Falcons were able to run the ball as
well as they did with Tyler Alger and Bejon Robinson
and I'm trying to think of what their yards per care. Yeah,
but Jon Robinson had a four point four yards per
carry average, Tyler Gier was three point two, and a
lot of Tyler's yards towards the end of the game
(08:28):
came in that fourth quarter when they're bleeding the clock.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Which is of important three point two and important dyes.
And it also like that probably doesn't do him just
as because those were yards earned in a moment where
everybody knew you were going to run the ball.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah, And I was just really to your point about
the the key difference. To me, it had to be
the running game, because the Falcons could not run the
ball well against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And I don't
think that Washington's defense is anything to like overlook by
any means. And I think what I was really excited
(09:03):
about was how balanced as well the offense felt and
when you and that was not something that we felt
in Week one that there was this balance because they
couldn't run the ball. They were averaging collectively I think
like a little over two yards per carry, and they
weren't picking up first downs on the run. They weren't
having good first down runs at all, I feel like,
(09:25):
And so going into this game and it felt more
indicative of exactly what this offense wants to be like
when you look at this stat line and you have
Kyle Pitts, Jean Robinson and Tyler Algier, Drake London, all
of these guys involved in Michael Pennock's leading this this
group in both the run and the past. I mean,
(09:47):
I just felt like this was the performance that we've
been waiting on for this Falcons offense.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And hopefully it's a springboard, you know. I know they
got the bye week.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
In some ways you're like, man, carry this momentum, keep
it going, let's play again next Sunday. But you do
have an opportunity to kind of look at what works,
what didn't, make some tweaks, and get back out there
with a big game. I thought, Yeah, offensively, the balance
was very important. This was a Commander's defense that was
coming in with a really high pressure rate they like
to get after deposing. Quarterback Michael Pennox only sacked one
time in this game. I think he was pretty clean.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
I mean for all of those deep down the key
for those downfield throws is that he has time in
the pocket to allow those routes to manifest, and so
we saw him he was fairly clean the whole entire game.
So you have to give kudos to that offensive line
as well.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Well.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I think another side effect of that is kind of
allowing those plays to develop downfield stretches the defense and
spreads it out, which then when you dump it off
to Bajon in the flat there's way more room to
work with. Ye against Carolina, it felt like he was
going boom boom bajan. Yeah, and the defense hadn't really
kind of like just dissipated yet and it was still
(10:53):
all really like zeroed in. And so today it felt
like there's just a lot more room to operate and
work with. And then again, like in that fourth quarter,
when you kind of when Washington cuts it back to
that one possession game and you're like, all right, you
know this is the NFL. Things can get a little interesting.
It's the witching hour, as they like say, on the
red zone. But the Falcons kind of didn't blink. They
(11:14):
just went right down the field with Tyler all year
and ended up tacking on a field goal to kind
of keep that distance there. That was really important to see.
And then flipping over on the defensive side, I thought
that they did a great job shutting down a run
game that has been kind of one of the best
in the league. And even when you know Jade Daniels
isn't in there, Marcus Mariota can hurt you with his legs.
He only gained twenty yards on the ground, and I
(11:36):
thought that was a big difference between what they did
with Baker in week one and some of those crucial
scrambles that he had to kind of keep those drives going,
and the way they were able to contain.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Washington agreed.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
I think going into this game, it was something that
we had talked about all week long, is that an
achilles heel of potentially this defense is the scrambling quarterback,
because you saw what Baker did against them, you saw
what Bryce Young did against them, and they were able
to move the chains because they could pick the ball
up and run it. And I know that Marcus Mariota
(12:07):
had that one twenty two yard scramble on third down,
but the amount of times that I feel like this
defense made Marcus Marioto so uncomfortable that he was throwing
it away. There was an intentional grounding. There were a
couple of times where if he doesn't get the ball out,
it's a sack. And I think that people will look
at this defensive performance and kind of feel like it's
(12:28):
a little lackluster compared to what maybe some of the
defensive performances of the last three weeks have been. But
I think because of the way that Washington's offense operates.
You knew that this was going to be a bit
more difficult of a challenge for this defense, specifically because
of the way that Washington likes to play. But you
have to again give credit where credit is due that
the defense did what they could in the offense even
(12:52):
when the defense kind of messed up. You know, they
allowed a twenty four yard touchdown reception on fourth and three, Like,
even when that happened, the offense picked them up. And
that's what playing good, complimentary football is all about. And
I think that's what we saw today.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, I think that's how you prevent the lolls from happening,
where it kind of you know, like if one side
is really playing well and then you pick it out,
the energy is going in the building, maybe then keeping
that going, paying it forward helps, But if you bring
it back down to earth offensively or defensively, having a
unit like Atlanta's defense that's able to step in there
and say, hey, don't worry, we can get a quick
three and out, get you guys back on the field,
(13:31):
keep the energy going, keep the rhythm flowing. I really
thought you felt that kind of holistic style of Atlanta's
football team come to life today.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yeah, I do too, And I mean, let's talk about
Xavier Watts as well. You know, let's make a point.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I'll just okay, fine, talk about him real quick quick.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
I thought that, you know, he that interception was such
a pivotal point of the game and this is now
the second second interception in four games for Xavier Watt's like,
you're really still excited about this, young Core.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
I'm sorry the disrespect my whistle.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I know, I feel bad because the whistle told me
to stop and I was.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Like, but Exavier, what, No, it's important. We got to
mention Xavier Wats because that was a huge play. But
it is our halftime break, and so I want to
bring you a quick stat brock to you by Microsoft
co Pilot, which was very helpful in building today's podcast outline.
Drake London, let's talk a little bit about him. Was
he caught eight of his ten targets for one hundred
(14:27):
and ten yards against the Commanders, but a lot of
his work came in the slot. On six of his
eleven routes in which he was targeted, five of those
were from the slot and he got eighty one yards
and his touchdown. Drake has been just a beast in
the slot. We know that that is something that the
Falcons really like to do with him is move him
around again matchups because of his blocking ability, because of
(14:47):
his size ability, you know, just the catch radius. He's
amazing from the slot. What did you think of Drake's
game day?
Speaker 3 (14:52):
I thought that he was great. But it was something
he said in the locker room after when he was
asked about you know, what does this performance do for
the confidence of this team and everything? And he made
the comment like it's everything, and he said, I'm sure
this win meant the world to some of these guys
in this locker room, and then he kind of added,
(15:12):
I know it meant the world to me. And I
know that Drake London over the last three performance or
three games, has only had one hundred and fifty six
total yards and he had one hundred and ten today.
It just goes to show you how quickly things can change,
especially if you're fantasy football team owners.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yes, hopefully you kept Drake in your starting lineups. But
that was our halftime break, brought to you by Microsoft
co Pilot. Let's move right along to the third quarter Tory.
They're gonna head into the bye week at two and two.
I know a lot of people were worried, all right
after these four games, tough four games. Are you going
to go into the bye week one and three with
(15:50):
the Buffalo Bills coming out and then you got the
San Francisco forty nine? Oh my gosh, what's happened.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
To those on prime time in primetime slot.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yes, people were ready to snowball. I think they were
ready to be like, oh my gosh, this season's over
before it even got started. Lo and behold, you're two
and two. You go back in at even you can
kind of reset. How important was it to get this
win going into that by week?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I think it's incredibly important because it's important for confidence.
I think this offense needed to show the fan base,
show the league at large, and honestly a little bit
show themselves who they are because this is the type
of offense. I said it at the beginning, but this
is the type of offense and the production that it
(16:32):
should be the not bare minimum for what this team does,
but it should be the standard. Yeah, you know, last week,
Jon Robinson, Drake Lennon and all these guys talked about
like that was not our standard. What we did in Carolina.
That's not our standard, that's not who we are. And
I think I even said on the postgame podcast last week,
it's like, okay, well show us who you are, because
for three games, I don't know if I know who
(16:53):
you are. Yeah, And I thought that they did that today.
I thought that they stepped up and did what they
were supposed to do. And also think that interesting enough,
as we were talking in the first quarter about key
differences between week one and week four, I think Michael
Pennix said too, that moving Zach Robinson from the coach's
box down to the sideline was really good for the
(17:15):
Falcons at this point in time. I think Zach Robinson
called it a reset during the week and I think
that ended up being very true because talking to Michael
Pennocks about that move, and he was like, it was
really good for us because I'm able to come off
the sideline have one on one conversations with him about
what I'm seeing, what he's wanting us to do, what
we could do in the next series out like just
(17:37):
having that effective communication and it being more organic and
not Zack Robinson calling down into a headset with TJ.
Yates or Dwayne Ladford to walk over and talk to
my like, no, you cut all of that middle man
crap out and you get in there and you have good,
important conversations to where you can put drives together. And
(17:57):
that was another thing that really I think bill confidence
within this offense is the fact that Okay, in week
one you had that first drive and you're feeling good,
but you could never get it going again. Against the
Washington Commanders, you were constantly putting good drives together your
scoring points, and I think that has a ripple effect,
a snowball effect, and you hope that you can do
(18:18):
it again moving forward, because that was the big thing
is like the Falcons world to have lost this game,
you go into the bye week one and three, the
obvious elephant in the room is that you could potentially
be one in five after the Buffalo Bills in San
Francisco forty nine Ers game in two and a half
three weeks. So this was a huge moment I think
for this offense from a confidence standpoint, also just from
(18:40):
a record standpoint.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, I mean, I think this was a really good
like can you kick it into gear game? Yea, Right,
because like you said, if you go into this and
you are one and three, like this felt like a
mini gotta have it game for these reasons. So what
would be your confidence level that you can then turn
it on against the Bills or the forty nine ers
if those become god have a game. So the fact
that they were able to really kind of flip the
(19:03):
switch and play to their standard, like you said, after
not doing so against Carolina does speak volumes. Does show
me something that this is the standard and I do
have a little bit more confidence that they know how
to reach that more frequently because they were able to
kind of flip that page really quickly after a tough loss.
But the reset comes at a very good time. There
were a couple of injuries that occurred during this game.
(19:25):
Theatron Brooks concussion, Darnol Mooney hamstring, a couple other guys
who started this season on IR designated return or the
pup list. All of that, could you know in week
five like they can come back yeah, or in cow
week six yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
To come into play. You also have aj Terrell that
they're pinpointing for a post by week return as well.
He's been working through the hamstring, has missed the last
two games.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Like this could feel like a healthier, fresher, different team
coming out of the buy.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
It absolutely could, and I think that would be the hope. Like,
obviously we don't have any more like new information on
Troy Anderson or Store Norton or TQ, Like we don't
know Braylan tries like even like, you know, I think
his injury, just from the way that Rahem was talking
at the beginning of the season, felt a little bit
more serious, but like we don't know kind of what
the future holds for this group, but getting some options
(20:17):
healthy at the bare minimum helps you in depth.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Of those players, is there one that you kind of
circle to be like, man, I really maybe take aj
he is, he is the starter, But is it? Is
it Troy, is it Storm Norton? Is it you know,
Darnell Really.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
To me, it's Darnell to me, Darnell Mooney getting him
back to one. You know, he missed all training camp
with that shoulder. I think it was still kind of
bugging him through the first couple of weeks and now
he has a hamstring. It just kind of feels like
one thing after the other, and it's like, and I
know too, he was a bit disappointed in his performance
(20:55):
even with Carolina and having a couple drops, and you know,
like he missed a lot of time on the grass
and so he's still even trying to acclimate himself to
the speed of the game again.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Ye a new quarterback and yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And I think Darnell Mooney is in a really like
tough spot. And I'm pretty sympathetic towards what he's having
to deal with with all of these injuries and new
quarterbacks and everything. But I think if you can get
him through the bye week, you can get him back
on track. Like you'll see the Darnell Mooney from last year.
I think there are a lot of things stacked against
him right now and you need to kind of get
(21:29):
those things out of the way so he can be
who he is.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I always encourage players to go take all the time
off during the bye week that they can. However, I
would be very curious to see what Darnell's doing during
his bye week. He could stand to benefit from just
a lot of time and reps out there on the grass. Uh,
not that that's exactly how he's.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Gonna use it.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Go get some go, get some rest, like you've earned
it all right. Tory fourth quarter time, We're gonna wrap
things up just by talking about the Falcons in this
form four game block. Yeah, Like, what have we learned
about this team that maybe we didn't expect coming into
the year. What are some things that we maybe expected
that we haven't seen? You know, is there one thing
that kind of stands out to you as when we
were talking at the end of training camp looking at
(22:08):
the season in totality about to start, if I had
told you, hey, this pass rush is going to be here, Like,
would you believe if I had told you, hey.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
The running game didn't get going in week one?
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Like?
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Where are you at with this four game block?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
I think for me it stems from the defense. I
think the defense is so much farther along than what
I thought they would be at this point in the season,
Like I remember even you know, this is a plug
for a story series in a very big feature project
that Will Tarran and myself have been working on for
the last few weeks where we sat down with Jeff
(22:41):
Ulbrick and we went over his defensive coaching philosophy of
heartmind fist and what that means and how it manifests.
And it's been a great conversation but I in the
conversation that we had with him in his office a
couple of weeks ago, he made the comment that, you know, initially,
I feel like it's not, you know, not everything is
gonna be exactly what we want it to be, and
(23:03):
this could maybe be a slower start defensively, I don't
want to get people's hopes of like kind of like
really tampering expectations to to kind of be like, hey,
we're installing a new system, a new way to play,
a new style of play, like it's gonna take time.
And I fully was one hundred percent willing and ready
to get the defense time to figure themselves out. I
(23:25):
think we know who this defense is. I think they've
shown us who they are over four games. I think
if they're an exciting bunch, they I want to see
a bit more like consistency and pass rush because sometimes
it's like which you know, I think is probably a
little bit nitpicky of me, but I because I'm sitting
here being.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Like, well, what you want pressure, I'm.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
So sorry that was so nitpicky, But I do think that,
like I have been really excited to see what this
defense is and how they've played and how they've played together,
seeing guys like Brandon dor Lis Roucarow, like those guy
Divine Diablo, some new names, do some Billy Bowman Junior
for gosh sake, like some new names, some new earth
(24:09):
faces making a pretty big impact in doing things really
well and being an exciting group to watch. And I
think that that just means that, Okay, they already surpassed
my expectations for what this first floor block was, Like,
I'm leveling up my expectations for the group is what
I ultimately think that if you would have told me
(24:32):
in week one, prior to that Tampa Bay game, like
where I would want the defense to be, I would
have said, there's no way that they have ten sacks
by this by the bye week.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
No, Like, yeah, it's.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Gonna take time. The fact that it hasn't taken that
much time for us to see kind of the fruits
of the labor put in over the off season by
all the acquisitions, the draft picks, et cetera, Like that
just means I'm moving on up. We're leveling up with
this defense. I'm expecting more out of I.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
And I remember that conversation kind of with Brick that
you're referencing. And part of that is because Brick is
not a puppet master on game day, right, Like he
doesn't necessarily want to be like everything's dependent on the
play that I'm calling or I'm scout scheming the offensive coordinator.
A lot of what he says is the style comes
from the players out there on the field, right, And
so I think that is where the interconnectivity. There's always
(25:23):
just going to be an element of unknown to that
going into a season where you're like, We've got new pieces,
how are they going to play together? It could start slow,
it could start fast. It started fast, And I think
that is a credit to the guys they have on
this defense as well as the coaching staff. And Divine
Diablo is a great example of that. Yeah, because I
was talking to de Alford in the locker room after
today's game and he just kind of like out of
(25:43):
the blue, brought up Divine Diablo and he was like, man,
he is so freaking good, like his coverage ability and
this is d kind of talking. He was like, he
is maybe one of the best defenders of the dig
route that like I've ever seen. And he was like,
as a corner, that is just one of the toughest
routes to cover based on the way that it's set up,
kind of the depth that it happens, the leverage and
(26:05):
having a linebacker is able to drop into that throwing window.
We saw today Divine just getting his big old Mitt
up there and knocking it down. He's like, that gives
me so much more kind of confidence and allows me
to play looser as a cornerback because I have faith
that my guy's going to be there to make the
play in that window and the throw is not going
to be there. So I just kind of think it's
the right combination of coach scheme, mindset, style, but also
(26:29):
the small additions that they've made this offseason to compliment
the players that were already here.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Yeah, small additions that are making giant dividends I think
for this unit.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
I felt bad saying small additions that they've been like
huge editions tbh, But yeah, I just kind of can't
believe how good the defense would look so far, and
I don't want to jinx it. What about really quickly offensively?
Was there anything that you know? The run game has
gotten turned around a little bit, so I think we
(27:00):
feel better about that spot anything that you want to
see from the offense.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Maybe after the bye week.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Show us what you just showed us again. Consistency, consistency.
I feel like Raheem Morris talks all the time about
this emotional roller coaster that you can get on, and
I feel like the offense has been so indicative of
that emotional roller.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Get off the roller coaster, Get.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Off of it. I don't want to be on the
roller coaster anymore. I want to be on the people mover, Like,
let's just move the ball downfield, give people into the
end zone, play clean football, like have Bjon Robinson do
Bjon Robinson things. And you know, same thing with Drake London,
Michael Pennix, Kyle Pitts, Tyler out here, all of it. Like,
I think that we need to see replication because the
(27:39):
only way we can be confident that this offensive identity
that we saw on Sunday is actually who they are
is if they do it again and again and again.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
So do it again, perfect timing. That was our final whistle.
I hope they do it many many more times. But
thank you all so much for listening to today's show.
We got a big Falcons win. To feel good about
going into the bye week. I hope everybody has awesome plans,
you know, for their bye week, for their weekend off.
(28:09):
If you're going to watch football, enjoy that. If you're not,
go outside, touch grass. Tori, any messages for the fans
before we get out of here.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
It's going to be a long season coming out after
the bye week, so rest for juvenate recover. I'm going
to be on a beach drinking some apple all sprits.
So I'll see y'all when we get back. But it
is nice to go into this bye week feeling really
good about the product that they put on the field
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Feeling good about the product on the field, Feeling good
about Spritzy season coming up for you.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
But always sprit season.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, all right, that'll do it for Falcons. Final whistle
for Tory mclaney. I am Will McFadden. Thank you all
so much for listening, and we will see you in
two weeks.
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