December 26, 2025 • 33 mins
Will McFadden, Tori McElhaney, and Terrin Waack break down the five biggest things you need to know going into a massive Monday night showdown vs the LA Rams. From Bijan's brilliance to defending the Stafford-Nacua connection, they break down what it's going to take for the Falcons to pull off an upset.
0:00 - Intro & Question of the Day
3:46 - MNF & Pro Bowlers
6:08 - Bijan's "150" Number
10:30 - Rams Defense vs Falcons Offense
17:39 - The Stafford-Nacua connection
23:23 - How Atlanta can win the game
32:00 - Terrin's fit & Outro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm ready for Monday Night football.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'll quickly say mine was a Razor Scooters all.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Right for those listening, and it is Alfonso also known
as Carlton Banks.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Falcons fans. What's up and welcome back to the Friday
five Merry Christmas. It is the day afterwards. I am
joined by Tory mclaney and Tarren Walk. We are here
to break down a huge important matchup on Monday Night
against the Los Angeles Rams. A lot to dig into
to this one. It's going to be a really fun game.
I'm excited to do all of this with you. But
(00:35):
figure you know, as we usually do, We're going to
start with our question of the day. Make sure you
are following at Atlanta Falcons on TikTok for all of
the question of the days that we have had throughout
the season and we'll ever have for the rest of
that FET's life. But given that it is post Christmas, Yeah, Tory,
you want.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
To, surely will what was your favorite Christmas gift you
ever got as a kid?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Mine deserves an explain, so someone else go first.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Okay, I'll quickly say mine was a Razor scooter. Mine
was also a razoroo all right beat that terran.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Yeah, mine, why was Scooby Doo Like it was a
Scooby Do Razor.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Scooby Doo themed Razor scooter.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Yes, but it was the Razor scooter and it had
Scooby Doo on the bottom of it and the wheels
were green like the machine.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, I'm trying to I think mine were red. Okay,
I just said razor.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, yeah, I wanted a scooter so badly?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Did you? Could you do the little like kickspin thing?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I tried, but I basically took out. I'm pretty sure
I still have like scars on my ankles.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It on a lego. You were done?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
So that was mine. I can't believe we had the
same one that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah. Wow, now I'm gonna sound so sad empathetic. Oh god, Well,
you also just brought up trauma I had buried. I
never had a real Razor.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That's what this podcast is all about.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I had like a knock trauma.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I'm covering trauma.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I had a knockoff.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
May have been it was.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Smooth. I remember.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Mine was a mom was a solid one, like I
had that bad boy for.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I would like to borrow friends because mine was pathetic
and bumpy. But I also add to the sadness. I
can't remember any presence as a kid. I definitely had
some I wasn't unloved. We traveled a lot, like I
lived away from families, so like Christmas mornings were never
really at home home, so that was different. Also led
(02:32):
to why I believed in you know what, We're gonna
continue on and.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Thanks as you're worrying, Abaha, book let's not actually be scog.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So I'm gonna say my mom has developed this recent
trend recent like recent years, where she picked something random
she sees other like whether it's on Amazon, Facebook, she's
not on TikTok, but just the internet. And this year's
you got me this boomerang levitating ball and I turned
it on in that stuff flew across the room, I know,
(03:09):
but it came close and the dog chased after it.
We're like no, but it was like floating and moving
all on its own. It was actually really crazy.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
He did explain more about how this thing works very
quickly because we got to move on it's.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
And like it still goes, so it's like kind of.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Like one of those balls. But like, yeah, is what
I'm talking about like the tail cracker barrel. Yeah, basically
turn it on and it just the looks like John
in the backfield. Yeah all right, well that's that honestly
went pretty pretty well. Merry Christmas, everybody. Friday five keeps
on giving. Well, the Falcons are gonna be I think
(03:46):
giving it their best one last time here, uh well
second to last time, second last time. But it's kind
of like the best matchup that they have left is
what I was going for.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
And this is will a matchup that you have been
talking about being one of your favorites since we got
the schedule, saying early podcast.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I really thought that this was it was going to
be like a lot maybe more implications for this season.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I think the been there should have been right, Yeah,
that's that understood your thought process with it.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, but it is still going to be I think
a really really good indicator of where the Falcons are
is they head into yet again kind of another important offseason.
The Rams, of course, eleven and four vying for really
playoff seeding. Do they still have a chance at winning
the NFC West and getting the one seed? I believe? Yeah, Okay,
(04:36):
so yeah, they've got a ton at stake in this game,
and obviously like they are a Super Bowl contender, and
so when you look at some of the individual players
in this matchup, there are a lot of similarities that
you can draw with the Los Angeles Rams, but ultimately
the team's fortunes have not been identical. So for that
reason and many more that we're about to get into,
(04:57):
I think that this weekend is going to be a
fun game for Falcons fans to pay attention to. And
that really starts with number seven in the backfield, right
Like any week that you get to watch John Robinson,
it's gonna be a good week. And he got to
celebrate what has been an amazing season with a spot
in the Pro Bowl earlier this week on Tuesday. Yeah,
(05:18):
it definitely seemed like it was going to be a
huge snub if he didn't get in, and so I'm
glad that he was ultimately rewarded for his success. Tron
you wrote about like him shining and kind of an
otherwise down year for the team overall, and I think
that this is a great indicator of that he was
not alone. Chris Linstrom made it for the fourth straight year. Yep,
So that's awesome to see you know an offensive lineman
(05:41):
and a running back going together.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
If you haven't seen the video of Chris calling Bajon
to let him know that he was going with him
to the Pro Bowl, like you need to do that,
because it was a very sweet, very sweet, very cute video.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
It really was. And two other Falcons Kyle Pitts a J. Terrell,
are alternates. Really excited for Arell honestly to be an
alternate because I think he's had an under the radar
good season. They're going to need them again on on
Monday Night big time. But they're gonna need Bijon, I
think first and foremost. He leads the NFL and scrimmag
yards twenty twenty six. Uh and very importantly, he has
(06:17):
two games left to break William Andrews's all time Falcons
scrimmage yards record, which is twenty one, one hundred and
seventy six. So he's one hundred and fifty scrimmage yard
shy of tying that one fifty one short of breaking it.
And that one hundred and fifty number I want everybody
to keep in their minds for Monday Night's game and
(06:38):
tear and tell us why.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Okay, So if one fifty is the magic number. Jean
Robinson has had six games in which he totaled at
least one hundred and fifty yards from scrimmage. That's two
fifths of the season to be exact, but for simplicity's sake,
we'll go with half. The Falcons are five and one
in those six games. Though in the nine games Bajon
Robinson did not reach one hundred fifty yards from scrimmage,
(06:59):
the Falcons are one in eight. Just let that sink in,
Like there are two big things there. But Robinson is
averaging one hundred and thirty five yards from scrimmage per game.
So even if one fifty is too high of a number,
the Falcons are zero to five in games. Or Robinson
didn't break one hundred yards from scrimmage, I.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Think that's that's a key point right there.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah, so Robinson run, run, run and catch.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
What's crazy, though, is like teams are obviously aware of
that stuff, right and each week you would think that
you go in and say, hey, Bajeon Robinson, if you're
a defense coordinator, like that's our number one guy that
we are looking at. That's the number one player we
need to stop. And yet he still keeps doing this anyway, right,
So Tarin, what about the Rams defense? How do they
(07:45):
stack up? And are they going to be able to
slow Beajon down?
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's going to be difficult for Bajon to do Bajon
things against the Rams. Only one player this entire season
has totaled at least one hundred and fifty yards from
scrimmage against the Rams. Wow one, who was it? It
was wide receiver Amran Ross Saint Brown, and his lines
still lost to the Rams in that game. His was
all receiving. He had one hundred and sixty four yards.
(08:10):
So Bajean gets a little bit wiggle room with being
able to run and receive. But in total, to go
back to kind of that one hundred yard mark, there
have been ten players to break one hundred yards from
scrimmage against the Rams. Four were running backs, I was
getting ahead to the Rams and running.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Only four is a very small number.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah. The other six were receivers.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
And here's an even crazier stat. The Rams are allowing
only with a bit let me try again. I can't
even read my own stuff. The Rams are only allowing
skill players to average forty two point three yards from
scrimmage per game. I didn't include quarterbacks in that, just
running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. But even without
(08:52):
the tight ends and just going receivers and running backs,
that average goes up to just forty six point four
yards from scrimmage, not a lot. That's a third of
Bajon's average, right, So it'll be curious to see and
I think a big key of the game if Bajon
can do what he has been doing against this defense.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Something that you know, to bounce off of what you're
saying about like their numbers and stuff, I found something
else that I think backs this up, and it's that
kind of over a very key mid season stretch for
the Rams where they they did win a good number
of games against some pretty elite talent, they held backs
like Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, and Travis e
(09:35):
Ten to about three point five to three point nine
yards per carry, which for those guys, we have seen
them tear up defenses for years for some of them,
for Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor had started this
season off at the highest level I think any running
back had So this is a defense that I think
(09:58):
has vastly proved its run defense, specifically from last year
to this year. And I know Will you dropped a
stat into kind of my section on this, and I
do want to read it because I think it does
coincide with what we're talking about here. The Rams defense
has significantly improved against the run in twenty twenty five,
allowing just thirty eight point three percent rushing success, which
(10:21):
is the sixth lowest compared to forty four point seven
last season. So that's a pretty big chunk. But it's
not just the run defense. I think in totality this
defense as a whole. While we're talking about it in
the context of Bejon Robinson, this is actually a well
rounded defense from their front to their back end. I
know everybody talks about the Rams offense, and we'll get
(10:43):
into it. They should be talking about the Rams office,
but offense, but a major part of this team's overall
success is this defense, particularly in the lack of points
scored against this Rams defense. They're only allowing nineteen point
nine points per game, which is the sixth best in
the NFL, and their defense ranked second in the NFL
in red zone defensive success. It's really difficult for teams
(11:06):
when they get inside the twenty to score on this defense,
which I think is something that we talked about early
on in the season with the Falcons that Okay, they're
getting they're getting to the red zone, but not scoring. Well,
that has not been the case over the last month
and a half of the season. They've gotten into the
red zone and they've scored. They put the ball on
the end zone.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
So I'm to get curious having consecutive.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Yeah, so that they're doing.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
They've seen valuable improvement in that in that way, but
they're now about to go up against a defense that
is going to challenge that improvement.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah. So, I mean the situational football is going to
be huge, starting with Bijan and getting the run game
going is going to be huge. But again, the defense
for Los Angeles is so well rounded. Even their pass rush, like,
there's really no good answer. I feel like for Atlanta's offense,
every single avenue that they're going to want to pursue,
they're going to be met with a tough challenge. You
(11:58):
look at like we've talkedalked all year about Atlanta's pass
rush and deservedly so because it is better than LA's statistically,
which is great, Let's keep plugging that stat as much
as we can.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
I've been able to talk about that for a Foucon.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I love it Christmas to us. Yeah, but the Rams
are still sixth in the league with forty one sax
on the season, led by Byron Young who has eleven.
And you know, when you look at Atlanta's passing game,
they have been pretty well equipped to get the ball
out quickly. Obviously, Viijon has a huge hand in that.
Kyle Pitts his emergence has been big, and so that's
(12:32):
going to be important against a pass rush. But the
Falcons have also given up thirty two quick pressures since
week twelve when Kirk Cousins took over, which is most
in the NFL. Now, they've also been blitz at the
highest rate in the league, so teams are clearly kind
of like seeing something. Maybe it's without Drake kind of
having that like catch ball contested. Let's get pressure in
and see if anybody else can win. The Rams don't
(12:54):
blitz as much because they've got a really good front four,
but this is going to be, I think a game
where you want to get the ball out of Kirk's
hands and get into the hands of those playmakers. Drake London,
We're going to talk a lot about, you know, kind
of Puka Nakua, I think in the lead up and
just the excellence that the Rams have had with their
star receiver. But Drake London before he went out with injury,
(13:15):
was right up there with Puka and Toria. I think
he's going to need to be right back up there
with Puoka in this game.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
And I you know, I think that the Drake London
we saw in Arizona was a one. It was a
It was a Drake London that looked like he had
been off the field for a month. And I think
he would say that. I think even Raheem Morris said
that it was like a knock the rust off game
for him.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Which I think that makes total sense.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
He hasn't ye.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Not only has he not played, he hasn't practiced in
four weeks recovering from that strained PCL. He didn't actually
return to the practice field until the week of the
Arizona game. So that's a lot of time off the grass.
It's a lot of time trying to get yourself back
up to game speed. So I think it makes sense.
I have empathy that he wasn't the Drake Lennon we
(14:03):
saw pre injury. Like, I think that's incredibly fair. Only
had three receptions on eight targets for twenty seven yards,
not at all kind of what he had been pre injury. However,
I'd say that not to point out that like I'm
concerned about that lack of production in Arizona. I say
it more of like in an understanding type of way,
(14:23):
And my thought process is is that, Okay, I'm not
concerned about Drake, because if you were gonna have a
get back game, if you were gonna have a knock
the rust off type of game getting back to game speed,
you would rather that come against Arizona than this Rams team,
because to your point, you're gonna need all of your guys.
(14:44):
You're gonna need the best out of all of your guys,
and that absolutely includes Drink London. So while we didn't
see the Drake London, we had seen the honestly should
have been a pro bowler if he doesn't get hurt
at that point in time and wasn't on the field
during pro bull voting at all, Like I think if
he's on the field and he's doing what he we'd
(15:06):
known him to do, Like potentially we're talking about the
Falcons having three Pro bowlers in there, but that's neither
here nor there, if there's always next year. But I
do think that, like you're gonna need that level of
draglin in performance against this Rams team.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, and even today Raheem Morris today as in Wednesday, Wednesday, Yeah,
Christmas Eve, who knows, but today, as in Wednesday, Raheem
Morris was saying that Drake London just needs to find
his rhythm again. It's really difficult to get back into
that rhythm, as you said, like being off the field
for a month. But somebody who has kind of gained
his rhythm during that time period is Kyle Pitts. Yeah,
(15:44):
he had fifty seven receiving yards and the Falcons win
against the Cardinals, which put him at three hundred ninety
five yards receiving in the last four games, which is
the most in a four game stretch by a Falcons
tight end ever. Hello, rhythm smooth Jazzy Pits has been
like really good in London's absence, and like even Raheem
(16:05):
Morris when London was out called Pits like the number
one wide out like which we've been seen in London's absence,
and so only what was it two weeks ago he
had a career high one hundred and sixty six yards
against the Buccaneers to help the Falcons win, the.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
First time that ooh, that a tight end had ever
had over ten catches, one hundred and fifty yards and
three touchdowns since Shannon Sharp did it in nineteen ninety six.
I was looking at that satin early today.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Just giving a moment for that to hit. But basically
Kyle Pits is on a roll and I don't see
this role necessarily stopping, regardless if London comes back to
full form, because you go to the hot hands, and
I think Kyle wants to continue that. He won't talk
about his contract, which is understandable. He wants to be
in the moment finish out this season, but it is
(16:55):
a contract year. So putting these performances together right now now,
with immediacy bias and things like that, is only good
for him.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah. I do think that this offense, especially with Kirk
at the helm, we've seen them at their best when
they're spreading the ball around when you're getting like think
last year when it was Drake and Darnell and Kyle
and Bijon and Tyler, like everybody touching the ball really
makes it run. And so if anybody was kind of
David Sills. I know it's a one game sample size,
but his targets really I think took the biggest hit understandably.
(17:24):
So so if Kirk is able to kind of strike
that right balance of Drake, Kyle, Bajon, everybody that I
just named, I think that is what really best suits
Atlanta's offense. On the other side, though, there's no real
secret where Matthew Stafford wants to go with the ball.
It is kind of like the way that Seattle was
when we played him a couple of weeks ago, where
(17:44):
it was like so Jackson Smith and Jigba heavy yep
for Sam Darnold. Really, matt Stafford has been pokin Akua dominant.
And the best quarterbacks usually have their go to guys,
right Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, matt Ryan, Julio Jones. Matthew
Stafford has had a couple of them, but Pooka might
be one of the best. And how has he almost
(18:05):
like when you get an old dog and new puppy, right,
it kind of brings the old dog back to life
a little bit. I feel like Pooka has perked up.
Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Oh that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, good analogy.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Yeah, No, I'll kind of talk about Matthew Stafford for
a little bit. I mean it was really interesting because
going I was thinking back to going into this season,
this twenty twenty five year, and I remember during training camp,
like watching you know, the morning shows and everything like that.
A hot debate at the time was is this Matthew
Stafford's last year? Is retirement on the horizon because he's
(18:37):
you know, he's thirty eight years old. I think there
were a couple articles that I read from CBS Sports
as I kind of saying, you know, this is his
last year. There's no reason this shouldn't be his last year,
considering everything that he's gone through, the injuries, the back
issue that had him, you know, sleeping in a hyperbolic
chamber and sleeping on a weird.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Table like it.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
There were a lot of things that I think he's
even had to do to get to twenty twenty five.
So I understood the questions, but the counter to that,
and I think the Matthew Stafford counter to that is
that he may be thirty eight years old, but he's
playing as good, if not better, than we have ever
seen him play. He's been the talk of kind of
(19:18):
this MVP conversation for much of the last month and
a half. He became the first quarterback in NFL history
to throw four touchdown passes in three straight games without
an interception. He's on pace to finish the twenty twenty
five season with over forty touchdown passes.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
Which is leading the league.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Like, I think the season that Matthew Stafford has had,
I'm not saying that Puka Nuku wouldn't have had the
emergence that he has had in the last couple of
years without Matthew Stafford, for sure, as Heck Helps and
I just have. And this is kind of like a
homecoming for Matthew Stafford. His wife, Kelly, is from the
Atlanta area. They went to the University of Georgia together, Like,
(19:55):
so this is he's coming off of also a like
four hundred and fifty devan yard passing game against the
Seattle Seahawks in which the team lost. So like Matthew
Stafford is playing with his hair on fire, and the
person that he looks to more than anybody else's Puka,
which I'll save all the Puka stuff for you.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
To allow me to handle the Puka Nikua stuff.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
He has the second most receiving yards in the NFL
entering week seventeen with ninety two. The only other player
with more is who we already talked about, Jackson Smith.
Nick Digva yep, yes, and for what it's worth, JSN
which I much prefer to call him, had ninety two
yards against the Falcons three weeks ago, so.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
Which all almost all of them came in that second half.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Nikoua is also catching the majority of his targets seventy
nine percent to be exact, only stuff on. Diggs has
a better percentage, which is eighty two percent, but he
has been targeted fifty two times fewer than Nikua.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
It's interesting because before we started recording this, Will and
I were actually watching some film of Puka and kind
of all.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Of their So all we do is we stay grinding
here on the product five, but it.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Was something that we were talking about was kind of
how he is catching a lot of these like deep balls,
the explosives, the air yards.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
All of those kind of things.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, and he's being targeted a lot too. He's one
hundred and forty five targets are tied with Saints wide
receiver Chris Lave for second most in the league. Only
Jamar Chase with the Bengals has more, with one hundred
and sixty six, but Chase has only caught sixty six
percent of them. So this not only proves that Matthew
Stafford is looking for Nikua, they're connecting. Stafford has thrown
(21:35):
every pass for the Rams offense. I have to clarify
offense because there was a special team's pass. He has
thrown five hundred and nineteen, which means twenty eight percent
went to Nikua. Of his three hundred and forty one completions,
Nikua caught thirty three percent. Those might not seem like
large large percentages, but they are considering Stafford has thrown
to twelve different receivers. Yeah, Tory talked about how good
(21:58):
Stafford is, including his touchdown. Here are his other numbers.
He's completed sixty six percent of his passes for a
league high two hundred and seventy nine yards per game.
He's tied for the fewest interceptions among quarterbacks who have
played in every game this season with only five.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Wow, yeah, that's a lot. That's uh. Pooka has done
like so much for this offense this year. The accolades
speak for themselves, and really it's it's gonna be like
as much as we can talk about Mike Cues, who
won't be out there in that game, like in the
cornerback depth for Atlanta, I think it's going to be
kind of an all hands on deck, Yeah yeah thing
(22:35):
for this defense because of the way that he attacks
those inbreaking routes like Divine Diablo and Jesse Bates what
they did against Trey McBride in Arizona. I think they're
gonna have to do kind of the exact same thing
here against Puka.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
You also talked about Xavier Watts earlier too, like him
needing to have a big game.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
As well, cause that's like they're gonna hunt those matchups
right right, And that is what the Rams have done,
like they get so creative. He's inserted kind of off
of an inline type end to run routes against linebackers,
So everybody is going to have to be really watching
number one is he twelve twelve? Yep, keep all eyes
on twelve. He is the assignment because he's as dangerous
(23:11):
with the ball in his hands as he is before
he gets the ball in his hands. So everybody's got
to be ready. But really, when you look at just
how can Atlanta win this game? Because you want to
end the season on a high note, and you've stack
two wins, keep on going, but this is as tough
a task as any in the league. So really, given
the kind of weapons that Atlanta has there or the
(23:34):
LA has there on their offense, and just how well
everybody's playing, I really think you want to keep them
off of the field. And you mentioned all of the
kind of accolades that the defense has had for LA
this season, but that's still the unit that maybe I
would want to go up against if you're trying to
win this game. So I think it. Yeah, So I
think Atlanta's offense is where my mind goes to win
(23:55):
this game for the Falcons, and that starts with keeping
the Rams off of the field offensively, And when you
look at their time of possession in wins this season,
it's over thirty two minutes, and yeah, part of that
is when you're winning these games, you're running it later on.
So like that naturally is going to take up. But
it also means that you're dictating the game and the
(24:16):
tempo and the style. And Atlanta is better equipped. I
think it slowing and bogging this thing down and really
kind of making those possessions few and far between for
Matthew Stafford. So what is going to be key for
Atlanta and achieving that objective toy?
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Yeah, I think, like you know, streaming drives together. Obviously
you're staying on the field. Like I know, this isn't
rocket science, y'all. Like, if you're on the field, that
means time's clicking. But like that starts with converting your
third downs, which is something that we have talked about
so much over the course of this twenty twenty five season,
(24:50):
and majority not so good conversations because the Falcons that's
been a problem area for them for.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Much of the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
But I will say they did it did look better
against the Cardinals this past Sunday out in Arizona when
converting on those critical downs is a big reason why
is a number of those critical down passes went to
Kyle Pitts and he caught them converted them.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Like it's so well he did.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah, And it was a very obvious like trust there
between Kirk and Kyle in those moments that I think
Kyle Pitts, going back to the conversation we were having earlier,
earned the right to kind of get those looks because
he's come up clutch and continued to in Arizona. So
there's that piece of it. But then there's also the
other piece of it where there were a lot of
instances in Arizona where those were like third and medium
(25:39):
to third and long situations. So I fear that, like, Okay,
that puts a lot that stresses your operation. If you
can be better on first and second down with again
going all the way back to the top about John Robinson,
if you can pick up five or six or seven
on first and second down and get you into more
of third and three, third and two's, it's easier CONVERTI
(26:00):
it's running out the clock.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Yeah, and here like so here is how those two
are are really connected. Right in their wins, Falcons have
converted forty two percent on third down. In their losses,
it's twenty seven percent. So right there, when you're looking
at kind of like key identifiers between wins and losses.
Third down is maybe number one amongst them. In fact,
I found this so fascinating. They actually have higher red
(26:22):
zone efficiency in their losses this season at sixty eight
percent than in their wins, which is sixty one percent. Wow,
they're just not getting to the red zone enough in
their losses because that third down number is so much lower, right,
makes sense. So that is fascinating. And when we talk
about third down again, it kind of comes back to
first down. In their losses, their passing EPA which is
(26:45):
expected points allowed, right, But that is higher in their
losses on first down their pass EPA than it wins, right, Which,
again part of that is because you're late, you're passing
the ball a little bit more, so the defense could
play prevent you get some easier stuff. There's a lot
in there, but by and large, that is going to
be a stat that takes all of that into consideration,
(27:06):
and you're still throwing the ball well early in your losses. Yeah,
So the run is where it really kind of comes
and the rubber hits throat is in your losses, you're
at minus one point twenty nine expected points added in
the run game on first down in your wins, that's
at a positive one point five to eight. So really
it comes down to running the ball very well on
first down. Yeah, gets your offense in a rhythm, establishes
(27:28):
and keeps it going. But it's not just about starting fast.
I think also you need to lean on your run
game late in games. And we saw an opportunity for
the Falcons to do that against Arizona. They couldn't necessarily
do that, but against La you're gonna have to.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
You're gonna have to, and that's the point is like, Okay,
so we saw it at the end of the Arizona
game where they struggled to run the ball kind of
in those latter minutes of the fourth quarter in it
allowed Arizona to kind of stick around.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
They got two more possessions, right.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, because you couldn't get that next first down. And
I think that that is something that you're not gonna
have the chance to do against the Rams. To your point, like,
if you give them the ball, I think they're gonna do.
We've seen what they can do with the ball, We've
seen what their backs can do. They're a good running
team too. I know, everybody's talking about Puka and Matthew Stafford,
(28:20):
as they should, but these backs we just watched for
fifteen minutes. These backs kind of explode through the line
of scrimmage like they're good backs, and so there's that.
But also another reason why I think you can't be
giving these multiple chances to the Rams offense is because
the Rams have the best second half point margin of
(28:41):
any team in the league. So they're playing well in
the third quarter, and let's just look at the third
quarter in general, the third quarter scoring margin. The Rams
are second, the Falcons are twenty seventh in the league.
Like we have been talking a lot about third Like
that third quarter and the Falcons. What we saw the
Falcons do in the third quarter against Arizona Cardinals is
a recipe for success. They had a long drive that
(29:04):
sustained them through the first seven eight minutes of the
third quarter. They got a quick stop thereafter, and then
had the ball for the remainder of the third quarter.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
So like, that's exactly how you want it, that's.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
Exactly what you want.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
But the problem was when they got to the fourth quarter,
it was like that those long drives were not sustained
and it allowed Arizona to stay in it. The Rams
they're gonna get theirs, so you need to be able
to outpace them in almost every single area.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
And then honestly, like even if you do all of that,
I still kind of feel like this thing is gonna
come Like if you do all of that, yeah, it's
still probably gonna come down to like the last possession,
because that's how good the Rams are and what this
league is built to do. I think the Falcons when
you look at the win against Tampa, when you look
at the win against Arizona, you had some late big plays. CJ. Henderson,
(29:53):
David Sills, Kyle Pitts has had some late big plays.
Like you're going to need somebody to step up in
any phase and kind of get this win. So Taran
Tory and I have been kind of dominating the mics here,
like what what is your path to victory for Atlanta?
What say you? And all of this.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
So y'all went shopping, you bought the present, you put
it in a box, and you put the wrapping paper
on it. I'm here to put the bow on top.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Okay, do you tie your own bow or do you
get one of those tape them on tape.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Who has time to do your own boat?
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Do you tie your own bows?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
You guys? Tell me where clip on ties to? What
is this? I have some authenticity in.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
The actually worn to tie to.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Get somebody you got to put their finger in and
you're gonna hold it down and tie.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Oh okay, I thought you were talking about the one
with like a bunch of.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Whatever your flavor around.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Bundle bow, the bundle the bundle bow. I'm putting a
bundle bow that was bought and has sticker on it.
Because you do need the best out of everyone to
do everything that y'all are saying. In order to beat
the Rams and to get the best the bare minimum,
you have to believe you can beat the almost have
(31:02):
the wrong team. You need to believe you can beat
the Rams.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
You got so caught up on alliteration zone. We got
bows and bears and Battlestar Glacta.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
But the Falcons need to believe wholeheartedly that they can
win this matchup. Like, yes, the numbers say what they are. Yes,
the matchup is a little skewed on paper. Who cares?
Like you say every week any team can win on
any given Sunday. You need to truly believe that at
this point, because then you're gonna get the best out
of your players. And who knows, the Falcons do perform
(31:36):
better in primetime. It's just an extra layer. And so
thank you Jared for allowing me to emphasize my point.
I'm gonna make sure it's not so I don't a
little bit more believe they are believing for our listeners.
I am holding up a sign that says believe from
Ted Lasso.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
So go check out our show on YouTube. And I
think that's a good way to wrap this all up.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Whoah, the people need to know what's on my sweatshirt?
Oh yeah they do, Okay, so let me stand up.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
For Yeah, well, let's unwrap this thing up.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
Yeah, hopefully you can.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
See for those listening, and it is Alfonso also known
as Carlton Banks.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
Taren has all of the things today.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
She's the one that brought in the Santa hats for us,
She has her Carlton Banks sweatshirt.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Can you do the day?
Speaker 4 (32:23):
No?
Speaker 1 (32:24):
I can't foss Oh the dance I can, but I'm
not doing that on camera.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
And then the believe sign from Ted Lasso. She's ready.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
I'm ready for Monday Night football.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
All right, Well, let's hope the Falcons are because yeah,
Lord knows we all are. So I hope everybody had
a great Christmas, have a great rest of the holiday weekend,
get ready for an amazing game, hopefully on Monday night,
big time matchup with the Los Angeles Rams coming to
town for Tory mc laney and Taren Walk. I am
Will McFadden. Thank you to our producer Jared, thank you
for listening, and we will see you all next time.
I'm ready for Monday Night football.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'll quickly say mine was a Razor Scooters all.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Right for those listening, and it is Alfonso also known
as Carlton Banks.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Falcons fans. What's up and welcome back to the Friday
five Merry Christmas. It is the day afterwards. I am
joined by Tory mclaney and Tarren Walk. We are here
to break down a huge important matchup on Monday Night
against the Los Angeles Rams. A lot to dig into
to this one. It's going to be a really fun game.
I'm excited to do all of this with you. But
(00:35):
figure you know, as we usually do, We're going to
start with our question of the day. Make sure you
are following at Atlanta Falcons on TikTok for all of
the question of the days that we have had throughout
the season and we'll ever have for the rest of
that FET's life. But given that it is post Christmas, Yeah, Tory,
you want.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
To, surely will what was your favorite Christmas gift you
ever got as a kid?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Mine deserves an explain, so someone else go first.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Okay, I'll quickly say mine was a Razor scooter. Mine
was also a razoroo all right beat that terran.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Yeah, mine, why was Scooby Doo Like it was a
Scooby Do Razor.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Scooby Doo themed Razor scooter.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Yes, but it was the Razor scooter and it had
Scooby Doo on the bottom of it and the wheels
were green like the machine.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, I'm trying to I think mine were red. Okay,
I just said razor.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, yeah, I wanted a scooter so badly?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Did you? Could you do the little like kickspin thing?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I tried, but I basically took out. I'm pretty sure
I still have like scars on my ankles.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It on a lego. You were done?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
So that was mine. I can't believe we had the
same one that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah. Wow, now I'm gonna sound so sad empathetic. Oh god, Well,
you also just brought up trauma I had buried. I
never had a real Razor.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That's what this podcast is all about.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I had like a knock trauma.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I'm covering trauma.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I had a knockoff.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
May have been it was.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Smooth. I remember.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Mine was a mom was a solid one, like I
had that bad boy for.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I would like to borrow friends because mine was pathetic
and bumpy. But I also add to the sadness. I
can't remember any presence as a kid. I definitely had
some I wasn't unloved. We traveled a lot, like I
lived away from families, so like Christmas mornings were never
really at home home, so that was different. Also led
(02:32):
to why I believed in you know what, We're gonna
continue on and.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Thanks as you're worrying, Abaha, book let's not actually be scog.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So I'm gonna say my mom has developed this recent
trend recent like recent years, where she picked something random
she sees other like whether it's on Amazon, Facebook, she's
not on TikTok, but just the internet. And this year's
you got me this boomerang levitating ball and I turned
it on in that stuff flew across the room, I know,
(03:09):
but it came close and the dog chased after it.
We're like no, but it was like floating and moving
all on its own. It was actually really crazy.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
He did explain more about how this thing works very
quickly because we got to move on it's.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
And like it still goes, so it's like kind of.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Like one of those balls. But like, yeah, is what
I'm talking about like the tail cracker barrel. Yeah, basically
turn it on and it just the looks like John
in the backfield. Yeah all right, well that's that honestly
went pretty pretty well. Merry Christmas, everybody. Friday five keeps
on giving. Well, the Falcons are gonna be I think
(03:46):
giving it their best one last time here, uh well
second to last time, second last time. But it's kind
of like the best matchup that they have left is
what I was going for.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
And this is will a matchup that you have been
talking about being one of your favorites since we got
the schedule, saying early podcast.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I really thought that this was it was going to
be like a lot maybe more implications for this season.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I think the been there should have been right, Yeah,
that's that understood your thought process with it.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, but it is still going to be I think
a really really good indicator of where the Falcons are
is they head into yet again kind of another important offseason.
The Rams, of course, eleven and four vying for really
playoff seeding. Do they still have a chance at winning
the NFC West and getting the one seed? I believe? Yeah, Okay,
(04:36):
so yeah, they've got a ton at stake in this game,
and obviously like they are a Super Bowl contender, and
so when you look at some of the individual players
in this matchup, there are a lot of similarities that
you can draw with the Los Angeles Rams, but ultimately
the team's fortunes have not been identical. So for that
reason and many more that we're about to get into,
(04:57):
I think that this weekend is going to be a
fun game for Falcons fans to pay attention to. And
that really starts with number seven in the backfield, right
Like any week that you get to watch John Robinson,
it's gonna be a good week. And he got to
celebrate what has been an amazing season with a spot
in the Pro Bowl earlier this week on Tuesday. Yeah,
(05:18):
it definitely seemed like it was going to be a
huge snub if he didn't get in, and so I'm
glad that he was ultimately rewarded for his success. Tron
you wrote about like him shining and kind of an
otherwise down year for the team overall, and I think
that this is a great indicator of that he was
not alone. Chris Linstrom made it for the fourth straight year. Yep,
So that's awesome to see you know an offensive lineman
(05:41):
and a running back going together.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
If you haven't seen the video of Chris calling Bajon
to let him know that he was going with him
to the Pro Bowl, like you need to do that,
because it was a very sweet, very sweet, very cute video.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
It really was. And two other Falcons Kyle Pitts a J. Terrell,
are alternates. Really excited for Arell honestly to be an
alternate because I think he's had an under the radar
good season. They're going to need them again on on
Monday Night big time. But they're gonna need Bijon, I
think first and foremost. He leads the NFL and scrimmag
yards twenty twenty six. Uh and very importantly, he has
(06:17):
two games left to break William Andrews's all time Falcons
scrimmage yards record, which is twenty one, one hundred and
seventy six. So he's one hundred and fifty scrimmage yard
shy of tying that one fifty one short of breaking it.
And that one hundred and fifty number I want everybody
to keep in their minds for Monday Night's game and
(06:38):
tear and tell us why.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Okay, So if one fifty is the magic number. Jean
Robinson has had six games in which he totaled at
least one hundred and fifty yards from scrimmage. That's two
fifths of the season to be exact, but for simplicity's sake,
we'll go with half. The Falcons are five and one
in those six games. Though in the nine games Bajon
Robinson did not reach one hundred fifty yards from scrimmage,
(06:59):
the Falcons are one in eight. Just let that sink in,
Like there are two big things there. But Robinson is
averaging one hundred and thirty five yards from scrimmage per game.
So even if one fifty is too high of a number,
the Falcons are zero to five in games. Or Robinson
didn't break one hundred yards from scrimmage, I.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Think that's that's a key point right there.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah, so Robinson run, run, run and catch.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
What's crazy, though, is like teams are obviously aware of
that stuff, right and each week you would think that
you go in and say, hey, Bajeon Robinson, if you're
a defense coordinator, like that's our number one guy that
we are looking at. That's the number one player we
need to stop. And yet he still keeps doing this anyway, right,
So Tarin, what about the Rams defense? How do they
(07:45):
stack up? And are they going to be able to
slow Beajon down?
Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's going to be difficult for Bajon to do Bajon
things against the Rams. Only one player this entire season
has totaled at least one hundred and fifty yards from
scrimmage against the Rams. Wow one, who was it? It
was wide receiver Amran Ross Saint Brown, and his lines
still lost to the Rams in that game. His was
all receiving. He had one hundred and sixty four yards.
(08:10):
So Bajean gets a little bit wiggle room with being
able to run and receive. But in total, to go
back to kind of that one hundred yard mark, there
have been ten players to break one hundred yards from
scrimmage against the Rams. Four were running backs, I was
getting ahead to the Rams and running.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Only four is a very small number.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah. The other six were receivers.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
And here's an even crazier stat. The Rams are allowing
only with a bit let me try again. I can't
even read my own stuff. The Rams are only allowing
skill players to average forty two point three yards from
scrimmage per game. I didn't include quarterbacks in that, just
running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. But even without
(08:52):
the tight ends and just going receivers and running backs,
that average goes up to just forty six point four
yards from scrimmage, not a lot. That's a third of
Bajon's average, right, So it'll be curious to see and
I think a big key of the game if Bajon
can do what he has been doing against this defense.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Something that you know, to bounce off of what you're
saying about like their numbers and stuff, I found something
else that I think backs this up, and it's that
kind of over a very key mid season stretch for
the Rams where they they did win a good number
of games against some pretty elite talent, they held backs
like Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, and Travis e
(09:35):
Ten to about three point five to three point nine
yards per carry, which for those guys, we have seen
them tear up defenses for years for some of them,
for Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor had started this
season off at the highest level I think any running
back had So this is a defense that I think
(09:58):
has vastly proved its run defense, specifically from last year
to this year. And I know Will you dropped a
stat into kind of my section on this, and I
do want to read it because I think it does
coincide with what we're talking about here. The Rams defense
has significantly improved against the run in twenty twenty five,
allowing just thirty eight point three percent rushing success, which
(10:21):
is the sixth lowest compared to forty four point seven
last season. So that's a pretty big chunk. But it's
not just the run defense. I think in totality this
defense as a whole. While we're talking about it in
the context of Bejon Robinson, this is actually a well
rounded defense from their front to their back end. I
know everybody talks about the Rams offense, and we'll get
(10:43):
into it. They should be talking about the Rams office,
but offense, but a major part of this team's overall
success is this defense, particularly in the lack of points
scored against this Rams defense. They're only allowing nineteen point
nine points per game, which is the sixth best in
the NFL, and their defense ranked second in the NFL
in red zone defensive success. It's really difficult for teams
(11:06):
when they get inside the twenty to score on this defense,
which I think is something that we talked about early
on in the season with the Falcons that Okay, they're
getting they're getting to the red zone, but not scoring. Well,
that has not been the case over the last month
and a half of the season. They've gotten into the
red zone and they've scored. They put the ball on
the end zone.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
So I'm to get curious having consecutive.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Yeah, so that they're doing.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
They've seen valuable improvement in that in that way, but
they're now about to go up against a defense that
is going to challenge that improvement.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah. So, I mean the situational football is going to
be huge, starting with Bijan and getting the run game
going is going to be huge. But again, the defense
for Los Angeles is so well rounded. Even their pass rush, like,
there's really no good answer. I feel like for Atlanta's offense,
every single avenue that they're going to want to pursue,
they're going to be met with a tough challenge. You
(11:58):
look at like we've talkedalked all year about Atlanta's pass
rush and deservedly so because it is better than LA's statistically,
which is great, Let's keep plugging that stat as much
as we can.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
I've been able to talk about that for a Foucon.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I love it Christmas to us. Yeah, but the Rams
are still sixth in the league with forty one sax
on the season, led by Byron Young who has eleven.
And you know, when you look at Atlanta's passing game,
they have been pretty well equipped to get the ball
out quickly. Obviously, Viijon has a huge hand in that.
Kyle Pitts his emergence has been big, and so that's
(12:32):
going to be important against a pass rush. But the
Falcons have also given up thirty two quick pressures since
week twelve when Kirk Cousins took over, which is most
in the NFL. Now, they've also been blitz at the
highest rate in the league, so teams are clearly kind
of like seeing something. Maybe it's without Drake kind of
having that like catch ball contested. Let's get pressure in
and see if anybody else can win. The Rams don't
(12:54):
blitz as much because they've got a really good front four,
but this is going to be, I think a game
where you want to get the ball out of Kirk's
hands and get into the hands of those playmakers. Drake London,
We're going to talk a lot about, you know, kind
of Puka Nakua, I think in the lead up and
just the excellence that the Rams have had with their
star receiver. But Drake London before he went out with injury,
(13:15):
was right up there with Puka and Toria. I think
he's going to need to be right back up there
with Puoka in this game.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
And I you know, I think that the Drake London
we saw in Arizona was a one. It was a
It was a Drake London that looked like he had
been off the field for a month. And I think
he would say that. I think even Raheem Morris said
that it was like a knock the rust off game
for him.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Which I think that makes total sense.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
He hasn't ye.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Not only has he not played, he hasn't practiced in
four weeks recovering from that strained PCL. He didn't actually
return to the practice field until the week of the
Arizona game. So that's a lot of time off the grass.
It's a lot of time trying to get yourself back
up to game speed. So I think it makes sense.
I have empathy that he wasn't the Drake Lennon we
(14:03):
saw pre injury. Like, I think that's incredibly fair. Only
had three receptions on eight targets for twenty seven yards,
not at all kind of what he had been pre injury. However,
I'd say that not to point out that like I'm
concerned about that lack of production in Arizona. I say
it more of like in an understanding type of way,
(14:23):
And my thought process is is that, Okay, I'm not
concerned about Drake, because if you were gonna have a
get back game, if you were gonna have a knock
the rust off type of game getting back to game speed,
you would rather that come against Arizona than this Rams team,
because to your point, you're gonna need all of your guys.
(14:44):
You're gonna need the best out of all of your guys,
and that absolutely includes Drink London. So while we didn't
see the Drake London, we had seen the honestly should
have been a pro bowler if he doesn't get hurt
at that point in time and wasn't on the field
during pro bull voting at all, Like I think if
he's on the field and he's doing what he we'd
(15:06):
known him to do, Like potentially we're talking about the
Falcons having three Pro bowlers in there, but that's neither
here nor there, if there's always next year. But I
do think that, like you're gonna need that level of
draglin in performance against this Rams team.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, and even today Raheem Morris today as in Wednesday, Wednesday, Yeah,
Christmas Eve, who knows, but today, as in Wednesday, Raheem
Morris was saying that Drake London just needs to find
his rhythm again. It's really difficult to get back into
that rhythm, as you said, like being off the field
for a month. But somebody who has kind of gained
his rhythm during that time period is Kyle Pitts. Yeah,
(15:44):
he had fifty seven receiving yards and the Falcons win
against the Cardinals, which put him at three hundred ninety
five yards receiving in the last four games, which is
the most in a four game stretch by a Falcons
tight end ever. Hello, rhythm smooth Jazzy Pits has been
like really good in London's absence, and like even Raheem
(16:05):
Morris when London was out called Pits like the number
one wide out like which we've been seen in London's absence,
and so only what was it two weeks ago he
had a career high one hundred and sixty six yards
against the Buccaneers to help the Falcons win, the.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
First time that ooh, that a tight end had ever
had over ten catches, one hundred and fifty yards and
three touchdowns since Shannon Sharp did it in nineteen ninety six.
I was looking at that satin early today.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Just giving a moment for that to hit. But basically
Kyle Pits is on a roll and I don't see
this role necessarily stopping, regardless if London comes back to
full form, because you go to the hot hands, and
I think Kyle wants to continue that. He won't talk
about his contract, which is understandable. He wants to be
in the moment finish out this season, but it is
(16:55):
a contract year. So putting these performances together right now now,
with immediacy bias and things like that, is only good
for him.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah. I do think that this offense, especially with Kirk
at the helm, we've seen them at their best when
they're spreading the ball around when you're getting like think
last year when it was Drake and Darnell and Kyle
and Bijon and Tyler, like everybody touching the ball really
makes it run. And so if anybody was kind of
David Sills. I know it's a one game sample size,
but his targets really I think took the biggest hit understandably.
(17:24):
So so if Kirk is able to kind of strike
that right balance of Drake, Kyle, Bajon, everybody that I
just named, I think that is what really best suits
Atlanta's offense. On the other side, though, there's no real
secret where Matthew Stafford wants to go with the ball.
It is kind of like the way that Seattle was
when we played him a couple of weeks ago, where
(17:44):
it was like so Jackson Smith and Jigba heavy yep
for Sam Darnold. Really, matt Stafford has been pokin Akua dominant.
And the best quarterbacks usually have their go to guys,
right Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, matt Ryan, Julio Jones. Matthew
Stafford has had a couple of them, but Pooka might
be one of the best. And how has he almost
(18:05):
like when you get an old dog and new puppy, right,
it kind of brings the old dog back to life
a little bit. I feel like Pooka has perked up.
Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Oh that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, good analogy.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Yeah, No, I'll kind of talk about Matthew Stafford for
a little bit. I mean it was really interesting because
going I was thinking back to going into this season,
this twenty twenty five year, and I remember during training camp,
like watching you know, the morning shows and everything like that.
A hot debate at the time was is this Matthew
Stafford's last year? Is retirement on the horizon because he's
(18:37):
you know, he's thirty eight years old. I think there
were a couple articles that I read from CBS Sports
as I kind of saying, you know, this is his
last year. There's no reason this shouldn't be his last year,
considering everything that he's gone through, the injuries, the back
issue that had him, you know, sleeping in a hyperbolic
chamber and sleeping on a weird.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Table like it.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
There were a lot of things that I think he's
even had to do to get to twenty twenty five.
So I understood the questions, but the counter to that,
and I think the Matthew Stafford counter to that is
that he may be thirty eight years old, but he's
playing as good, if not better, than we have ever
seen him play. He's been the talk of kind of
(19:18):
this MVP conversation for much of the last month and
a half. He became the first quarterback in NFL history
to throw four touchdown passes in three straight games without
an interception. He's on pace to finish the twenty twenty
five season with over forty touchdown passes.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
Which is leading the league.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Like, I think the season that Matthew Stafford has had,
I'm not saying that Puka Nuku wouldn't have had the
emergence that he has had in the last couple of
years without Matthew Stafford, for sure, as Heck Helps and
I just have. And this is kind of like a
homecoming for Matthew Stafford. His wife, Kelly, is from the
Atlanta area. They went to the University of Georgia together, Like,
(19:55):
so this is he's coming off of also a like
four hundred and fifty devan yard passing game against the
Seattle Seahawks in which the team lost. So like Matthew
Stafford is playing with his hair on fire, and the
person that he looks to more than anybody else's Puka,
which I'll save all the Puka stuff for you.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
To allow me to handle the Puka Nikua stuff.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
He has the second most receiving yards in the NFL
entering week seventeen with ninety two. The only other player
with more is who we already talked about, Jackson Smith.
Nick Digva yep, yes, and for what it's worth, JSN
which I much prefer to call him, had ninety two
yards against the Falcons three weeks ago, so.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
Which all almost all of them came in that second half.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Nikoua is also catching the majority of his targets seventy
nine percent to be exact, only stuff on. Diggs has
a better percentage, which is eighty two percent, but he
has been targeted fifty two times fewer than Nikua.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
It's interesting because before we started recording this, Will and
I were actually watching some film of Puka and kind
of all.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Of their So all we do is we stay grinding
here on the product five, but it.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Was something that we were talking about was kind of
how he is catching a lot of these like deep balls,
the explosives, the air yards.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
All of those kind of things.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, and he's being targeted a lot too. He's one
hundred and forty five targets are tied with Saints wide
receiver Chris Lave for second most in the league. Only
Jamar Chase with the Bengals has more, with one hundred
and sixty six, but Chase has only caught sixty six
percent of them. So this not only proves that Matthew
Stafford is looking for Nikua, they're connecting. Stafford has thrown
(21:35):
every pass for the Rams offense. I have to clarify
offense because there was a special team's pass. He has
thrown five hundred and nineteen, which means twenty eight percent
went to Nikua. Of his three hundred and forty one completions,
Nikua caught thirty three percent. Those might not seem like
large large percentages, but they are considering Stafford has thrown
to twelve different receivers. Yeah, Tory talked about how good
(21:58):
Stafford is, including his touchdown. Here are his other numbers.
He's completed sixty six percent of his passes for a
league high two hundred and seventy nine yards per game.
He's tied for the fewest interceptions among quarterbacks who have
played in every game this season with only five.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Wow, yeah, that's a lot. That's uh. Pooka has done
like so much for this offense this year. The accolades
speak for themselves, and really it's it's gonna be like
as much as we can talk about Mike Cues, who
won't be out there in that game, like in the
cornerback depth for Atlanta, I think it's going to be
kind of an all hands on deck, Yeah yeah thing
(22:35):
for this defense because of the way that he attacks
those inbreaking routes like Divine Diablo and Jesse Bates what
they did against Trey McBride in Arizona. I think they're
gonna have to do kind of the exact same thing
here against Puka.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
You also talked about Xavier Watts earlier too, like him
needing to have a big game.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
As well, cause that's like they're gonna hunt those matchups
right right, And that is what the Rams have done,
like they get so creative. He's inserted kind of off
of an inline type end to run routes against linebackers,
So everybody is going to have to be really watching
number one is he twelve twelve? Yep, keep all eyes
on twelve. He is the assignment because he's as dangerous
(23:11):
with the ball in his hands as he is before
he gets the ball in his hands. So everybody's got
to be ready. But really, when you look at just
how can Atlanta win this game? Because you want to
end the season on a high note, and you've stack
two wins, keep on going, but this is as tough
a task as any in the league. So really, given
the kind of weapons that Atlanta has there or the
(23:34):
LA has there on their offense, and just how well
everybody's playing, I really think you want to keep them
off of the field. And you mentioned all of the
kind of accolades that the defense has had for LA
this season, but that's still the unit that maybe I
would want to go up against if you're trying to
win this game. So I think it. Yeah, So I
think Atlanta's offense is where my mind goes to win
(23:55):
this game for the Falcons, and that starts with keeping
the Rams off of the field offensively, And when you
look at their time of possession in wins this season,
it's over thirty two minutes, and yeah, part of that
is when you're winning these games, you're running it later on.
So like that naturally is going to take up. But
it also means that you're dictating the game and the
(24:16):
tempo and the style. And Atlanta is better equipped. I
think it slowing and bogging this thing down and really
kind of making those possessions few and far between for
Matthew Stafford. So what is going to be key for
Atlanta and achieving that objective toy?
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Yeah, I think, like you know, streaming drives together. Obviously
you're staying on the field. Like I know, this isn't
rocket science, y'all. Like, if you're on the field, that
means time's clicking. But like that starts with converting your
third downs, which is something that we have talked about
so much over the course of this twenty twenty five season,
(24:50):
and majority not so good conversations because the Falcons that's
been a problem area for them for.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Much of the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
But I will say they did it did look better
against the Cardinals this past Sunday out in Arizona when
converting on those critical downs is a big reason why
is a number of those critical down passes went to
Kyle Pitts and he caught them converted them.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Like it's so well he did.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah, And it was a very obvious like trust there
between Kirk and Kyle in those moments that I think
Kyle Pitts, going back to the conversation we were having earlier,
earned the right to kind of get those looks because
he's come up clutch and continued to in Arizona. So
there's that piece of it. But then there's also the
other piece of it where there were a lot of
instances in Arizona where those were like third and medium
(25:39):
to third and long situations. So I fear that, like, Okay,
that puts a lot that stresses your operation. If you
can be better on first and second down with again
going all the way back to the top about John Robinson,
if you can pick up five or six or seven
on first and second down and get you into more
of third and three, third and two's, it's easier CONVERTI
(26:00):
it's running out the clock.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Yeah, and here like so here is how those two
are are really connected. Right in their wins, Falcons have
converted forty two percent on third down. In their losses,
it's twenty seven percent. So right there, when you're looking
at kind of like key identifiers between wins and losses.
Third down is maybe number one amongst them. In fact,
I found this so fascinating. They actually have higher red
(26:22):
zone efficiency in their losses this season at sixty eight
percent than in their wins, which is sixty one percent. Wow,
they're just not getting to the red zone enough in
their losses because that third down number is so much lower, right,
makes sense. So that is fascinating. And when we talk
about third down again, it kind of comes back to
first down. In their losses, their passing EPA which is
(26:45):
expected points allowed, right, But that is higher in their
losses on first down their pass EPA than it wins, right, Which,
again part of that is because you're late, you're passing
the ball a little bit more, so the defense could
play prevent you get some easier stuff. There's a lot
in there, but by and large, that is going to
be a stat that takes all of that into consideration,
(27:06):
and you're still throwing the ball well early in your losses. Yeah,
So the run is where it really kind of comes
and the rubber hits throat is in your losses, you're
at minus one point twenty nine expected points added in
the run game on first down in your wins, that's
at a positive one point five to eight. So really
it comes down to running the ball very well on
first down. Yeah, gets your offense in a rhythm, establishes
(27:28):
and keeps it going. But it's not just about starting fast.
I think also you need to lean on your run
game late in games. And we saw an opportunity for
the Falcons to do that against Arizona. They couldn't necessarily
do that, but against La you're gonna have to.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
You're gonna have to, and that's the point is like, Okay,
so we saw it at the end of the Arizona
game where they struggled to run the ball kind of
in those latter minutes of the fourth quarter in it
allowed Arizona to kind of stick around.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
They got two more possessions, right.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, because you couldn't get that next first down. And
I think that that is something that you're not gonna
have the chance to do against the Rams. To your point, like,
if you give them the ball, I think they're gonna do.
We've seen what they can do with the ball, We've
seen what their backs can do. They're a good running
team too. I know, everybody's talking about Puka and Matthew Stafford,
(28:20):
as they should, but these backs we just watched for
fifteen minutes. These backs kind of explode through the line
of scrimmage like they're good backs, and so there's that.
But also another reason why I think you can't be
giving these multiple chances to the Rams offense is because
the Rams have the best second half point margin of
(28:41):
any team in the league. So they're playing well in
the third quarter, and let's just look at the third
quarter in general, the third quarter scoring margin. The Rams
are second, the Falcons are twenty seventh in the league.
Like we have been talking a lot about third Like
that third quarter and the Falcons. What we saw the
Falcons do in the third quarter against Arizona Cardinals is
a recipe for success. They had a long drive that
(29:04):
sustained them through the first seven eight minutes of the
third quarter. They got a quick stop thereafter, and then
had the ball for the remainder of the third quarter.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
So like, that's exactly how you want it, that's.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
Exactly what you want.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
But the problem was when they got to the fourth quarter,
it was like that those long drives were not sustained
and it allowed Arizona to stay in it. The Rams
they're gonna get theirs, so you need to be able
to outpace them in almost every single area.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
And then honestly, like even if you do all of that,
I still kind of feel like this thing is gonna
come Like if you do all of that, yeah, it's
still probably gonna come down to like the last possession,
because that's how good the Rams are and what this
league is built to do. I think the Falcons when
you look at the win against Tampa, when you look
at the win against Arizona, you had some late big plays. CJ. Henderson,
(29:53):
David Sills, Kyle Pitts has had some late big plays.
Like you're going to need somebody to step up in
any phase and kind of get this win. So Taran
Tory and I have been kind of dominating the mics here,
like what what is your path to victory for Atlanta?
What say you? And all of this.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
So y'all went shopping, you bought the present, you put
it in a box, and you put the wrapping paper
on it. I'm here to put the bow on top.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Okay, do you tie your own bow or do you
get one of those tape them on tape.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Who has time to do your own boat?
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Do you tie your own bows?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
You guys? Tell me where clip on ties to? What
is this? I have some authenticity in.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
The actually worn to tie to.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Get somebody you got to put their finger in and
you're gonna hold it down and tie.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Oh okay, I thought you were talking about the one
with like a bunch of.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Whatever your flavor around.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Bundle bow, the bundle the bundle bow. I'm putting a
bundle bow that was bought and has sticker on it.
Because you do need the best out of everyone to
do everything that y'all are saying. In order to beat
the Rams and to get the best the bare minimum,
you have to believe you can beat the almost have
(31:02):
the wrong team. You need to believe you can beat
the Rams.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
You got so caught up on alliteration zone. We got
bows and bears and Battlestar Glacta.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
But the Falcons need to believe wholeheartedly that they can
win this matchup. Like, yes, the numbers say what they are. Yes,
the matchup is a little skewed on paper. Who cares?
Like you say every week any team can win on
any given Sunday. You need to truly believe that at
this point, because then you're gonna get the best out
of your players. And who knows, the Falcons do perform
(31:36):
better in primetime. It's just an extra layer. And so
thank you Jared for allowing me to emphasize my point.
I'm gonna make sure it's not so I don't a
little bit more believe they are believing for our listeners.
I am holding up a sign that says believe from
Ted Lasso.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
So go check out our show on YouTube. And I
think that's a good way to wrap this all up.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Whoah, the people need to know what's on my sweatshirt?
Oh yeah they do, Okay, so let me stand up.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
For Yeah, well, let's unwrap this thing up.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
Yeah, hopefully you can.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
See for those listening, and it is Alfonso also known
as Carlton Banks.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
Taren has all of the things today.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
She's the one that brought in the Santa hats for us,
She has her Carlton Banks sweatshirt.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Can you do the day?
Speaker 4 (32:23):
No?
Speaker 1 (32:24):
I can't foss Oh the dance I can, but I'm
not doing that on camera.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
And then the believe sign from Ted Lasso. She's ready.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
I'm ready for Monday Night football.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
All right, Well, let's hope the Falcons are because yeah,
Lord knows we all are. So I hope everybody had
a great Christmas, have a great rest of the holiday weekend,
get ready for an amazing game, hopefully on Monday night,
big time matchup with the Los Angeles Rams coming to
town for Tory mc laney and Taren Walk. I am
Will McFadden. Thank you to our producer Jared, thank you
for listening, and we will see you all next time.
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