November 7, 2025 • 29 mins
Terrin Waack and Tori McElhaney team up to bring you the 5 biggest things you need to know as the Atlanta Falcons head to Berlin to take on the Indianapolis Colts. From a team-wide vibe check to how to stop Jonathan Taylor, they break it all down on this week's episode of the Friday Five.
Check out the question of the day on the Atlanta Falcons TikTok!
0:00 - Intro & Question of the Day
2:47 - Heading to Germany
7:09 - Vibe check in Atlanta
11:08 - 3 themes from 3 losses
19:00 - Defending Jonathan Taylor
23:17 - Recipe for success
28:00 - Outro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Goot and dog.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
But remember when Ruke said that he's a skinny boy
at heart.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
All right, before we get completely off the rails here,
nobody wants to talk to me at nine am. No
goot and tog. I don't know how to say. Everyone,
But welcome back to the Friday five. I'm your host,
Tarren Walk and I'm joined today by Tory mclahaney. Well,
McFadden is still home with the newborn, so you're stuck
with us. Two girlies again.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Two girlies about to go to Germany who don't speak
a German. Yeah, I'm really worried about it, and I'm
not gonna lie. How will I order anything?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I don't ask Siri because sirih just steered us wrong
on how to say hello.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I know.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
So let's get to the question of the day before
we embarrass ourselves more with their lack of German. But
it is Germany related? Who would win a pretzel eating
competition between the two of us or was it supposed
to be about the team?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Probably about the team, I mean between the two of us, Like,
we could probably put down some pretzels. I'd throw myself
in the competition. But I've just based off of the
team because right they're answering question, they're not answering They're
not including us in there.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
If I caught astray from one of the players, be
flattered or insulted.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
No, I don't know. I feel bad because I feel
like everybody was probably gonna answer some type of linemen
and I'm like, maybe the lineman.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Dear, oh, a lineman either I don't know why I
phrase it that way.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I know either lineman and either either man on the line,
and I feel bad. So I'm like, Okay, who could
potentially burn the most calories, like as they are doing
what they're doing, and I was thinking it could maybe
be a despite them being like arguably the skinniest either
(01:43):
a dB or a receiver because of how much they're
having to run, so like you need caloric intake. Where
so potentially they are just this bottomless pit of pretzel
eating monsters.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
So which one are you picking? Name and name j Terrell.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
He plays, he plays every single snap, He's running all
the time.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
I'm gonna say, Ruco Rororo, I think that's fair too.
I'm going with the lineman.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
But remember when Ruke said that he's a skinny boy
at heart. Maybe he doesn't eat a bunch of pretzels
all the time.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
That's a throwback, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Watch Falcons Final or Final Whistle watch that too, But
go back and watch our episode with Ruke of Falcons
and Focus. When he talked about.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
That, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard on
a podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
That was the best podcast. I loved it.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So I'm going with him, even though he is a
skinny boy at heart. If it were me and you
have some beer cheese with it, I think I would win.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
You throw yourself in the competition.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, no beer cheese. No, no, only with beer cheese. Well,
because we're already starting talking talking about Germany, let's continue
into the five things we need to know this week,
starting with the fact that the Falcons are going to Germany.
We're not just randomly German and fans. Okay, So, Tori,
(03:03):
you know I've never been across the Pond.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I know this is Terran's first trip. Not internationally, you've
been to You've been out of the country.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Right to like Mexico, right Haiti, right wherever the Royal
Caribbean goes. Honestly, wherever the cruise ship tak I'm I
can't think of anywhere else. I was gonna say Puerto Rico,
but that's technically.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
You've been in international waters, but you've not been across
the bigger pond. Yes, you've not been across the Atlantic, right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And I was with the team when they went to London,
but just because of when I joined and when the
travel was booked, I didn't make the trip, which is
fine because I went to Talladega. You did go to
Tala day and they're basically the same, right.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Honestly, London Talladega. I think there are a lot of
people out there that are, like, you know what, not
the same, but good for you.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Okay, let's talk about the travel differences between the two destinations. Then, well,
can you tell me about the legistics of this team
going overseas. I didn't do it, so I don't know
what to expect, So tell me and the fans. Yes,
so I.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Went on the Yeah, I went on the trip to
London a couple of years ago. And this one's a
little bit different in terms of the travel logistics. Same
type of deal where you'll travel through the night later
this week and then Friday you'll land in Berlin like
eight am Berlin time, which is like two thirty in
(04:27):
the morning our time. You'll we'll you know, go through customs,
all that kind of stuff, get on the bus, go
directly to practice, which is different because in London we
have like a little time at the hotel to maybe
get a little extra sleep from the flight going directly
through the night, but that's not happening this time. We'll
(04:48):
go directly to practice. Raheem Worse will speak to all
of the media that's there, and that includes us US,
and it also includes German media, which I'm very excited
to meet our German and see our German friends over there.
But that will actually for people at home in Atlanta,
that will be at like five thirty in the morning
(05:08):
Atlanta time when we're talking to Raheem. So make sure
and stay up to date with what Tara and I
are tweeting and posting on Atlanta Falcons dot com. We'll
have you covered even if you're not awake, which why
would you be awake? O?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Wait, so is that a four hour five hour time difference?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I think it's like seven.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Okay, the game's at three thirty and it's nine thirty. Here,
we can do this.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah nine eight seven yeah, seven seven hours. Yeah, so
seven hour difference? Yeah yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
So or is it six?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I'm sure six to.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Six hours?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I'm not good. We've been We've had a Monday night game.
Three weeks ago we went out to the West Coach
and had a Sunday night game. Got back at like
six point thirty in the morning. I don't know what time.
We had a time change daylight saving time, which is stupid,
by the way, I hate daylight all.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Right, before we get completely off the rails here, for
those who are making the trip to Germany with the Falcons,
there are a lot of things that the Falcons have
planned for fans in Berlin. Let's see. Let me read
because I don't know them off the top of my head.
There's a lot. On Saturday, there's a day long event
called Falcons House. It's hosted at I'm gonna batch this.
Here we go, Tarren Photografiska Berlin. Of course I mess
(06:20):
up Berlin.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
You mess up Berlin, but you got photo grass Vista Man.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
It's free and open to the public from ten am
to six pm local time. It's basically massive meet and
greet with guests such as Freddie Falcon, Fritz Falcon, cheerleaders
and former players. On Sunday, then there's a fan rally
from ten am to noon, and there's also a Dirty
Bird fan walk, which I think sounds so cool. Yeah,
two Olympic stadiums starting at one thirty pm. A real
(06:46):
easy way to learn everything you need to know as
a fan and not having to like remember what I
just said, is by going to Atlanta Falcons dot com
slash Berlin. That's Atlanta Falcons dot com slash Berlin.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, Tarran and I will be at Falcons House later
in the afternoon on Saturday. So if you see us,
say hi, Guten talk yeah, or Guten tg that too.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah. I mean this is all good vibes and all
because we're very excited about Germany. Yeah, but I don't
know that we can say all vibes are good when
it comes to this team right now.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
They're coming off of three straight losses and the Falcons
are three and five overall, which puts the third in
the NFC South. The Buccaneers are number one at six
and two. The Panthers are number two at five and four.
I think that one surprises a lot of people. I mean,
they just pulled an upset over the Packers. The Saints
are fourth at one and eight, so not a great
(07:42):
place to be heading into this matchup where the Colts
are tied for the best record in the NFL at
seven and two. The other team who's tied with them
are the Patriots, who the Falcons just lost to Tory.
What are your thoughts like entering this week ten game
the vibes as we just talked about. Are the Falcons
lost in the division? Do the Falcons have to beat
the Colts? These are all massive questions. You can pick
(08:04):
your poison.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, so for me, I hate to be the bearer
of bad news here.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
But the math, the statistics, the odds are not just
as good as our time difference.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
That yeah, they're not in the falcons favor right now.
Just this past week, the New York Times and The
Athletic posted their playoff simulator, which I love using it.
I use it pretty much every day just to like
play around with what things could look like.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
It's so easy to use.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, it's so easy to use, And so I was
playing around with it as it stands right now at
this point with the Falcons zero and two in the division,
and with only three wins right now that they have
accounted for over the course of this season, they only
have a ten percent chance to make the playoffs. As
you were saying, the Panthers also, we're kind of slipping
(08:54):
inching further ahead of the Falcons. And what's interesting is, yes,
you you have this game against the Colt out in Germany. That, yes,
if you win that game, your percentages go up. Absolutely
obviously it helps your odds. But even though I'm trying
not to get too far ahead of myself, I'm actually
more concerned and almost looking at Week eleven against the
(09:18):
Carolina Panthers at home coming off of that Germany trip,
because that one, to me feels like a must win
to start the Sea to start this whole season oh
and two in NFC South play, and then the next
and if you were to drop to oh to three
after having already dropped the amount of games you have
(09:38):
up to this point, I mean, if you're just looking
at those sheer numbers, that the Falcons lose to the
Colts and then lose to the Panthers at home, that
puts them out less than a one percent chance to
make the postseason. The only way at that point that
you really even give yourself a fighting chance for a
wildcard spot is if you completely went out, and I
think even then it's like a seventy percent chance. So
(09:59):
that means you would have to beat the Bucks at
their place, as well as playing the Seahawks and Rams
at home. All three of those teams are top ten
organizations right now, so essentially you would have to beat
the Colts, the Panthers, the Seahawks, the Bucks, and the Rams. Again,
the math to me, isn't in their favor right now.
In these next you can maybe get away with not
(10:21):
beating the Colts, but I don't think you can get
away with not beating the Panthers.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
If you beat the Colts, I think it gives you
a huge confidence boost, which obviously would help when returning
home to host the Panthers.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, especially because the Panthers are riding a very high
high right now. You know. I think I saw the
they posted something where like Julian Edelman said something along
the lines of like the Packers were just like playing
with their food at halftime, geez, and it was interesting
because like the Panthers, I think social team clipped that,
and I think it's a very They're a tough team
(10:53):
right now. They're playing good football. They're playing I mean,
they're making some mistakes, but it's not getting in the
way of them having five.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
There's second in the NFC south right numbers. I can't
say numbers don't lie, but those are what the numbers are, right,
point blank period. And talking about how the Falcons are
riding a three game losing streak into this matchup and
the Colts are only coming off of one, but they
were riding four. Yeah, I think let's look at the
falcons last three. You and I discussed before this podcast started.
(11:25):
Three common themes across those three losses. Yeah, I'm gonna
pitch the idea you're gonna smack it out of the park. Oh,
thank you. We're gonna play baseball a little bit with this.
Here's some softballs, okay. Number one the Falcons third down
struggles on offense. The Falcons converted eight of their thirty
two third downs in the last three losses. That's good,
(11:46):
not so good for twenty five percent success rate. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
So I specifically ask Rahie Morris about this on Monday.
I said, Hey, I know these aren't a one size
fits all instance, like all of these these thirty two
third down ins Stan says all involved different play calls,
they all involved different structure, they all involved different timing
and placement. All of that. I get that, But I asked,
I was like, what are the steps that this staff
(12:12):
and this team is taking to be better in these
kind of situational moments, because right now there is a
theme that's it's not good eight of thirty two and
third downs. There's a key reason why this offense has
had the struggles that it has even up to last
week against New England. I know you scored three times
(12:32):
with three Drake London touchdowns, but there were many times
where you weren't moving the ball. The Falcons have i
want to say, just over ten three and out since
they came back from their week five by they're not
stringing these drives, these sustainable drives together, and a lot
of that is because of the issues on third down.
(12:53):
And so I asked for him this question and he
kind of said, and I don't want to like, I'm
just gonna pair for he kind of what he said,
because he had this whole thing about like he kind
of agreeing that yes, these situations are all different. I'm like,
I get that, but he said, we've got to put
ourselves in more favorable situations to get the third downs.
When you go third and ten, third and twelve, third
(13:14):
and nine, any quarterback would tell you those are tough situations.
We want to be in more manageable third downs and
be able to get those things going, particularly in the
opening drives when starting fast. And my response to that
is kind of like, it's actually interesting because I don't
necessarily think that the Falcons are in too many unfavorable
third down situations. You actually were the one that pointed
(13:34):
out that they're in a lot of third mediums.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Hold it at the Providence Airport.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah, so just this is numbers that these are numbers
that Tarn pulled up. But they have fifteen third down
situations where they're between one and five yards. They've converted
seven of those. So I do think that in these
short yardage third downs you need to be a bit better.
You're only converting half the time on let's say like
third and two, third and three some of these shorter
(13:59):
yard situations. The problem thereafter is you have thirteen third
downs between six and ten yards, So third and medium,
third and long, and you've converted zero of those you've converted.
You have four that were over eleven yards and converted one.
So yes, while I understand what Rahem is saying where
it's like you want to be in more manageable third downs,
(14:21):
there is a certain extent where the vast majority of
your third downs have even been like third and six
and below, which is third and medium and third and short,
which especially those third and short, you need to be
able to convert those. You need to be able to
with three on a third down with two yards to game,
you need to be able to convert that at a
rate and a high level. And right now the Falcons
(14:42):
I don't feel like are doing that enough.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
I think you hit a triple with that analysis to
stay on the three theme. Ah okay, topic number two. Okay,
Falcons run game overall has been squashed. The Falcons may
have the fifteenth ranked run offense, but that's what they're overall,
one hundred seventeen yards per game and the last three
losses though, the Falcons have only averaged fifty nine yards
per game.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, so this whole topic, it goes back to what
we were talking about last week. That there is a
direct correlation between the falcons inability to run the ball
consistently and whether or not they win or lose a game.
When the run game gets squashed, to use your term,
they the season right they Oh, I didn't even think
that nice like it thinking at this point. The evidence
is kind of as simple as that that if the
(15:25):
Falcons don't run the ball, they don't have the best
chance to win the game. What's frustrating is is as
for a team that claims that this is their lifeline,
they've been unable to get it going. And I understand
you were going up against the Patriots last week that
had a top three run defense, but the week before
you've faced a run defense that was thirty first in
the league in the Dolphins. A piece of this that
(15:47):
you can't overlook. And we're recording this on Wednesday afternoon,
so everybody will be listening to this on Friday morning,
So a lot can happen between now and when you're
listening to this when we're recording versus whin you hear it,
and we will be in Germany. We have a long
flight ahead of us. But Matthew Bergron, Chris Linschram are
working through injuries this week. We talked to Rahee Morris
(16:09):
about it earlier on Wednesday. He said that Matthew Bergron
has an ankle injury and is considered week to week.
He said that he didn't feel good about Matthew Bergron
being available to the Falcons this weekend in Germany. Chris
Lynstrom has a better out look, He's a bit more
day to day and he feels Rahee Morris said he
feels better about Chris Lynstrom opposed to Matthew Bergron. These
(16:31):
are key coggs in the wheel. These are two key
starters that the Falcons heavily, heavily rely on. And in
a point in time where the Falcons offensive line is
having trouble run blocking, to not have Matthew Berjeon, to
potentially not have Chris Lynstrim, that's a huge blow. When
you're going up against an Indianapolis Colts team that, I'll
(16:52):
be honest is playing some really, really good football despite
what they put on the field last week.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yeah, I agree with all of that. I don't really
have an analogy to make with that when it comes
to single, double or single, I mean triple. We already
hit a triple Anyways, just like my analogy, the Falcon's
kicking woes continue. Yes, the Falcons replaced Young Way Coup
with Parker Romo, but now the Falcs replaced Parker Roma
with Zane Gonzalez. What do you make of all this
(17:18):
movement at this one position.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I can't trust the kicking game trust to shoe like
I just can't. You're now on your third kicker in
ten weeks, You've brought in a handful of kickers, You've
signed two different ones, you released Coup earlier in the year,
like you know, and I I just don't have any
confidence in how things are gonna go. And now, granted,
(17:41):
and I haven't seen enough of Zang Gonzalez to truly
know one way or the other. I obviously know what
his stats are, but until you get someone in the moment,
like I don't know. I have no idea. And you
know something, I thought that was a bit interesting that
came to light on Wednesday, as Raheem Morris said, Zang
Gonzalez was actually in the groups that originally worked out
(18:01):
that the team worked out with, like Parker Romo earlier
in the year when Young Waiku was having all of
his issues and they started bringing people in, and I
thought it was interesting, Like Raheem said that they decided
to go with the young statesman instead of the older statesman.
So young statesmen being Parker Romo, older statesman being it
is interesting. Yeah, Zane Gonzalez and so I it doesn't
(18:24):
it doesn't make me feel confident that he Zane Gonzalez
was in the building earlier this year. You ended up
going with Parker Romo. Parker Romo obviously has some misses
in Carolina and then misses the extra point this past weekend. Like,
I'm just having a hard time at this point knowing
that I can send if I'm a coach, I can
(18:46):
send a kicker out there for a even a thirty
five yarder an extra point, an extra point, and it
be something good that you're talking about. Until until they
showed me something different, I can't trust it.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I think that's completely fair. Yeah, well, we'll move on
from those three dramatic things to something maybe a little
bit less dramatic, but it could be very important, very
important on this matchup. Specifically, we're going to talk about
the Falcons run defense. Atlanta is ranked twenty third in
stopping the run, allowing an average of one hundred twenty
(19:19):
four rushing yards per game. Not the worst.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It's actually gotten better since it has since the Christian
McCaffrey game.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
It has and Jeff Alberg identified those issues in the
past few weeks, and you have seen it pick up.
But now you have your real test because the Colts.
They're running back Jonathan Taylor is leading the NFL and rushing. Yeah,
what can you tell us about him and what he's
doing this season?
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Gosh, I feel like I have been talking about Jonathan
Taylor on this specific podcast for three weeks. I've been
talking about I'll.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yes, right, like I'm ahead to figure out what you
meant by that.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, because a big part of looking forward to that
I have because I've been really looking forward to watching
Jonathan Taylor play. I think what he's doing. I mean,
you can't overlook I think, even from a national perspective,
what Jonathan Taylor has meant to won the Colts offense.
Just in general. The numbers speak for themselves, but also
I think just from a broader spectrum of what the
running back position is like, he's playing at a level
(20:16):
that I think should be spoken about in the same
way that people talk about Christian McCaffrey, James Cook, Jamior Gibbs,
and John Robinson when the Falcons run game is going.
You know, like Jonathan Taylor is, I don't know if
he gets the same recognition nationally for what he did,
what he's been doing for this Colts offense. And so
(20:38):
he kind of said, you know, he's averaging around one
hundred rushing yards per game. He's one of two players
with more than eight hundred yards total rushing, James Cook
being the other one. He's averaging five point seven yards
per carry, which is crazy and the reason why it's
so that stat in and of itself, it's not like
these are clean five point seven yards or even three
(21:00):
clean like three clean yards. Yeah, he's breaking. He's forcing
a mistackle on thirty five point seven percent of his carries,
which is the highest mark among thirty three running.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Backs this season.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Like he's it's not like he's just clean. And I mean, yeah,
the Colt offensive line have done some really really good
things and their run blocking has been pretty superb all year,
but this is as much credit to them as it
is to Jonathan Taylor. And I think what he's been
doing and this is a very very difficult matchup for
this Atlanta Falcons run defense. But to your point, I
(21:32):
think that there has been growth within this run defense
in a very short amount of time. In the last
couple of weeks, I think they've done some good things,
and so I'm curious to see if they can take
another step or even sustain what they have done in
the last two weeks, because there has been improvement, and
you want to be able to see them go up
(21:53):
against the best running back in the game right now
and show up.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, and you mentioned two of the running backs who
in like the top tier rankings along with Jonathan Taylor
and James Cook, and Christian McCaffrey, who the Falcons have
both already faced. Well. James Cook rushed for eighty seven
yards in the Falcons Week six win against the Bills,
and then Christian McCaffrey rushed for one hundred and twenty
nine and two touchdowns in the Falcons Week seven loss
(22:19):
to the forty nine ers. So you kind of see
both sides of the coin where you were saying Christian
McCaffrey did really well.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
He did.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Christian McCaffrey's things did better, like they improved, they learned
from it, and you'd like to see those learnings continue
in Germany.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah. Well, I think about even when they were trying
to run the ball, like New England was trying to
run the ball up in Gillette Stadium this past weekend,
Like they had some success in the first half, but
I felt like in the second half, like when they
really wanted to run the ball because they were ahead,
the Falcons defense did some really good things in terms
of stopping the run and putting them in some uncomfortable situations.
So you have to give credit where credits do that
(22:57):
there has been improvement in the last two weeks especially,
but you want again, you want to see that remain
to be the established part of this defense, that it's like, oh,
it wasn't just a two week flash in the pan. No,
they've actually improved it as a run defense.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
And stopping Jonathan Taylor will be a huge testament if so. Yeah,
because I mean the recipe for success is that it
could be that in the sense that like the Colts
are defeatable. Yes, they lost last weekend to the Steelers.
Even though they have the best record, they have two
blemishes on it. The Steelers are five and three, so
(23:35):
they they're also good, but not as great as the Colts.
When you look purely at records, how did the Steelers
manage that? Do you think?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, so I actually thought it was really interesting, and
I pose this question kind of just something I've been
thinking about since the Colts lost to the Steelers. But
like I'm genuinely curious, like how much of last Sunday's
loss to the Steelers was the Colts more of the
Colts imploding on themselves versus the Steelers actually outperforming them.
(24:04):
Like I don't want to take anything away from the Steelers' performance,
but the fact of the matter is is like the
Indianapolis Colts has an offense had four turnover four turnovers
in the first eight weeks of the season total, they
had six in one game last week against the Steelers,
And like, you just.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Can't do that, like insane jump, You're.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Never gonna win, like that, You're never gonna win having
six turnovers, giving the ball to Aaron Rodgers that many times,
like not putting points on the board, Like those are
things that you can't do and it's not. But the
thing about it is, it's not that's not been a
notorious problem for the Colts that it really did feel
(24:45):
like this was a one time bad performance anomaly. Not
to use trigger word trigger, not to trigger people, but
like that it that genuinely felt like that because we
have seen the Colts take care of the ball, we
have seen them capitalize on we have some them be
one of the most productive offenses in all of football
(25:05):
up to last week. And last week they lay an
egg and they have they turned the ball over six times. Like,
that's not what you're used to the Carroll. You're not
used to the Indianapolis Colts to do.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
That's not what you're definitely not used to the Caroline
pay I know.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
I almost missmoke there. But like so, if you do
have a situation where the Indianapolis Colts go out to Germany,
first off, I think you're going to see them take
care of the ball. I think that you can't come
off of a six turnover game and not take care.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Of the ball in a sense, I do you think
they'll be more safe?
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, okay, yeah, I think that they or not even safe.
I think their fundamentals will be better. I think they'll
just taking care of the ball.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Just kind of a quick reality check.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah, yeah, Like back to that exactly, like, don't like
making it an emphasis. You cannot do that again. So
I do think that they probably will end up taking
care of the ball a bit better. And I also
think you're going to get a cult team that is
probably pretty angry at themselves, knowing that that's not what
they did against the Steelers, is not who they are.
So I'm curious to see what Colts team shows up.
(26:11):
But ultimately, what the Steelers did show us is that
if you do force the Colts into mistakes, you have
to capitalize on offense thereafter, Like if they do turn
the ball over, if you can get off the field,
like you've got to go down and score. You've got
to score points, which again is such simple in concept,
and I'm saying this so simply, but that's been a
(26:33):
struggle for the Atlanta Falcons over the course of the
last three games. Maybe not as much against the Patriots
thanks to Drake London, thanks to right, yeah, like thanks
to Drake London's acrobatic catches, but like prior to that,
and even in the losses earlier in the season, like
you have to if your defense gets you the ball,
you've got to go down and put points on the board.
(26:55):
You have to score and because let's be real, the
Colts are gonna score. They have a good they have
one of the best offense.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
They have the number one scoring offense.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
They have the number one scoring offense. You are going
to have to outpace them, and they're gonna get theirs too,
Like that's the point. They're gonna get their They're gonna
score points, and you've got to match it. And then
when your defense comes up with the stop, you've got
to capitalize on that.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Zach Robinson was asked today actually today as in Wednesday,
whether the Colts having the number one scoring offense puts
a little more pressure on his unit, and you get
the normal coach speak of like we got to do
our job. It's always our job to score touchdowns, execute
do the small things. But he did say there is
a high end sense of urgency because we need to
(27:38):
score as many points as we need to to win
the game. And read football one on one right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Again, it's it's simple. It's like we're not talking about
rocket science here.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
They got to go at least tit for tat Yeah,
and you know.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Hope that your defense can come up with a stop
here and there and score.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yeah. Yeah, well we've touched on a lot. Is there
anything you'd like to add on?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
No, just I guess, just like make sure everybody to
wake up, set your alarms for Sunday morning because kickoff
is at nine thirty, so you know, grab your mimosas
and your chicken and waffles and enjoy a very nice,
lovely time watching watching this game in Berlin.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I'm really excited.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
It's the first NFL regular season game in Berlin, which
is a really big moment I think for the Falcons
organization because they have exclusive marketing rights in Berlin or
in Germany, So I think it's a really big moment
just for as the game continues to grow internationally. Really
excited to see our German fan base because we do
have a lot of German friends. So excited to see
(28:39):
everybody over there. And make sure you follow along with
everything that Tarin and I are doing. A lot of
what we're doing probably is going to be while you
are asleep and or just waking up in the morning,
so make sure every morning check back into Atlanta Falcons
dot com.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, and I forgot to give the disclaimer at the
beginning of this EPPI that we are recording on Wednesday,
so you definitely need to go back to Atlanta Falcons
dot com to make sure you're keeping up with injury reports,
news in general. Another thing to keep up with is
the fact that the pregame show ah Yeah is actually
already live on the Falcons YouTube. Hey, so you can
check that out now, tomorrow, the next day, and forever
(29:13):
and ever. As Tory mentioned, the game will kick off
at nine thirty Eastern Time here in Atlanta. Thankfully for
us too, it's three thirty pm local. Wow, nobody wants
to talk to me at nine am. No, So that's
it for Tory and Tarn. Everyone have a great weekend.
And I have no idea how to say goodbye in Germany.
Goot and dog.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
But remember when Ruke said that he's a skinny boy
at heart.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
All right, before we get completely off the rails here,
nobody wants to talk to me at nine am. No
goot and tog. I don't know how to say. Everyone,
But welcome back to the Friday five. I'm your host,
Tarren Walk and I'm joined today by Tory mclahaney. Well,
McFadden is still home with the newborn, so you're stuck
with us. Two girlies again.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Two girlies about to go to Germany who don't speak
a German. Yeah, I'm really worried about it, and I'm
not gonna lie. How will I order anything?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I don't ask Siri because sirih just steered us wrong
on how to say hello.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I know.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
So let's get to the question of the day before
we embarrass ourselves more with their lack of German. But
it is Germany related? Who would win a pretzel eating
competition between the two of us or was it supposed
to be about the team?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Probably about the team, I mean between the two of us, Like,
we could probably put down some pretzels. I'd throw myself
in the competition. But I've just based off of the
team because right they're answering question, they're not answering They're
not including us in there.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
If I caught astray from one of the players, be
flattered or insulted.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
No, I don't know. I feel bad because I feel
like everybody was probably gonna answer some type of linemen
and I'm like, maybe the lineman.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Dear, oh, a lineman either I don't know why I
phrase it that way.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I know either lineman and either either man on the line,
and I feel bad. So I'm like, Okay, who could
potentially burn the most calories, like as they are doing
what they're doing, and I was thinking it could maybe
be a despite them being like arguably the skinniest either
(01:43):
a dB or a receiver because of how much they're
having to run, so like you need caloric intake. Where
so potentially they are just this bottomless pit of pretzel
eating monsters.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
So which one are you picking? Name and name j Terrell.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
He plays, he plays every single snap, He's running all
the time.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
I'm gonna say, Ruco Rororo, I think that's fair too.
I'm going with the lineman.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
But remember when Ruke said that he's a skinny boy
at heart. Maybe he doesn't eat a bunch of pretzels
all the time.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
That's a throwback, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Watch Falcons Final or Final Whistle watch that too, But
go back and watch our episode with Ruke of Falcons
and Focus. When he talked about.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
That, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard on
a podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
That was the best podcast. I loved it.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So I'm going with him, even though he is a
skinny boy at heart. If it were me and you
have some beer cheese with it, I think I would win.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
You throw yourself in the competition.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, no beer cheese. No, no, only with beer cheese. Well,
because we're already starting talking talking about Germany, let's continue
into the five things we need to know this week,
starting with the fact that the Falcons are going to Germany.
We're not just randomly German and fans. Okay, So, Tori,
(03:03):
you know I've never been across the Pond.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I know this is Terran's first trip. Not internationally, you've
been to You've been out of the country.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Right to like Mexico, right Haiti, right wherever the Royal
Caribbean goes. Honestly, wherever the cruise ship tak I'm I
can't think of anywhere else. I was gonna say Puerto Rico,
but that's technically.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
You've been in international waters, but you've not been across
the bigger pond. Yes, you've not been across the Atlantic, right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And I was with the team when they went to London,
but just because of when I joined and when the
travel was booked, I didn't make the trip, which is
fine because I went to Talladega. You did go to
Tala day and they're basically the same, right.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Honestly, London Talladega. I think there are a lot of
people out there that are, like, you know what, not
the same, but good for you.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Okay, let's talk about the travel differences between the two destinations. Then, well,
can you tell me about the legistics of this team
going overseas. I didn't do it, so I don't know
what to expect, So tell me and the fans. Yes,
so I.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Went on the Yeah, I went on the trip to
London a couple of years ago. And this one's a
little bit different in terms of the travel logistics. Same
type of deal where you'll travel through the night later
this week and then Friday you'll land in Berlin like
eight am Berlin time, which is like two thirty in
(04:27):
the morning our time. You'll we'll you know, go through customs,
all that kind of stuff, get on the bus, go
directly to practice, which is different because in London we
have like a little time at the hotel to maybe
get a little extra sleep from the flight going directly
through the night, but that's not happening this time. We'll
(04:48):
go directly to practice. Raheem Worse will speak to all
of the media that's there, and that includes us US,
and it also includes German media, which I'm very excited
to meet our German and see our German friends over there.
But that will actually for people at home in Atlanta,
that will be at like five thirty in the morning
(05:08):
Atlanta time when we're talking to Raheem. So make sure
and stay up to date with what Tara and I
are tweeting and posting on Atlanta Falcons dot com. We'll
have you covered even if you're not awake, which why
would you be awake? O?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Wait, so is that a four hour five hour time difference?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I think it's like seven.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Okay, the game's at three thirty and it's nine thirty. Here,
we can do this.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah nine eight seven yeah, seven seven hours. Yeah, so
seven hour difference? Yeah yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
So or is it six?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I'm sure six to.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Six hours?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I'm not good. We've been We've had a Monday night game.
Three weeks ago we went out to the West Coach
and had a Sunday night game. Got back at like
six point thirty in the morning. I don't know what time.
We had a time change daylight saving time, which is stupid,
by the way, I hate daylight all.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Right, before we get completely off the rails here, for
those who are making the trip to Germany with the Falcons,
there are a lot of things that the Falcons have
planned for fans in Berlin. Let's see. Let me read
because I don't know them off the top of my head.
There's a lot. On Saturday, there's a day long event
called Falcons House. It's hosted at I'm gonna batch this.
Here we go, Tarren Photografiska Berlin. Of course I mess
(06:20):
up Berlin.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
You mess up Berlin, but you got photo grass Vista Man.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
It's free and open to the public from ten am
to six pm local time. It's basically massive meet and
greet with guests such as Freddie Falcon, Fritz Falcon, cheerleaders
and former players. On Sunday, then there's a fan rally
from ten am to noon, and there's also a Dirty
Bird fan walk, which I think sounds so cool. Yeah,
two Olympic stadiums starting at one thirty pm. A real
(06:46):
easy way to learn everything you need to know as
a fan and not having to like remember what I
just said, is by going to Atlanta Falcons dot com
slash Berlin. That's Atlanta Falcons dot com slash Berlin.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, Tarran and I will be at Falcons House later
in the afternoon on Saturday. So if you see us,
say hi, Guten talk yeah, or Guten tg that too.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah. I mean this is all good vibes and all
because we're very excited about Germany. Yeah, but I don't
know that we can say all vibes are good when
it comes to this team right now.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
They're coming off of three straight losses and the Falcons
are three and five overall, which puts the third in
the NFC South. The Buccaneers are number one at six
and two. The Panthers are number two at five and four.
I think that one surprises a lot of people. I mean,
they just pulled an upset over the Packers. The Saints
are fourth at one and eight, so not a great
(07:42):
place to be heading into this matchup where the Colts
are tied for the best record in the NFL at
seven and two. The other team who's tied with them
are the Patriots, who the Falcons just lost to Tory.
What are your thoughts like entering this week ten game
the vibes as we just talked about. Are the Falcons
lost in the division? Do the Falcons have to beat
the Colts? These are all massive questions. You can pick
(08:04):
your poison.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, so for me, I hate to be the bearer
of bad news here.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
But the math, the statistics, the odds are not just
as good as our time difference.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
That yeah, they're not in the falcons favor right now.
Just this past week, the New York Times and The
Athletic posted their playoff simulator, which I love using it.
I use it pretty much every day just to like
play around with what things could look like.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
It's so easy to use.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, it's so easy to use, And so I was
playing around with it as it stands right now at
this point with the Falcons zero and two in the division,
and with only three wins right now that they have
accounted for over the course of this season, they only
have a ten percent chance to make the playoffs. As
you were saying, the Panthers also, we're kind of slipping
(08:54):
inching further ahead of the Falcons. And what's interesting is, yes,
you you have this game against the Colt out in Germany. That, yes,
if you win that game, your percentages go up. Absolutely
obviously it helps your odds. But even though I'm trying
not to get too far ahead of myself, I'm actually
more concerned and almost looking at Week eleven against the
(09:18):
Carolina Panthers at home coming off of that Germany trip,
because that one, to me feels like a must win
to start the Sea to start this whole season oh
and two in NFC South play, and then the next
and if you were to drop to oh to three
after having already dropped the amount of games you have
(09:38):
up to this point, I mean, if you're just looking
at those sheer numbers, that the Falcons lose to the
Colts and then lose to the Panthers at home, that
puts them out less than a one percent chance to
make the postseason. The only way at that point that
you really even give yourself a fighting chance for a
wildcard spot is if you completely went out, and I
think even then it's like a seventy percent chance. So
(09:59):
that means you would have to beat the Bucks at
their place, as well as playing the Seahawks and Rams
at home. All three of those teams are top ten
organizations right now, so essentially you would have to beat
the Colts, the Panthers, the Seahawks, the Bucks, and the Rams. Again,
the math to me, isn't in their favor right now.
In these next you can maybe get away with not
(10:21):
beating the Colts, but I don't think you can get
away with not beating the Panthers.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
If you beat the Colts, I think it gives you
a huge confidence boost, which obviously would help when returning
home to host the Panthers.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, especially because the Panthers are riding a very high
high right now. You know. I think I saw the
they posted something where like Julian Edelman said something along
the lines of like the Packers were just like playing
with their food at halftime, geez, and it was interesting
because like the Panthers, I think social team clipped that,
and I think it's a very They're a tough team
(10:53):
right now. They're playing good football. They're playing I mean,
they're making some mistakes, but it's not getting in the
way of them having five.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
There's second in the NFC south right numbers. I can't
say numbers don't lie, but those are what the numbers are, right,
point blank period. And talking about how the Falcons are
riding a three game losing streak into this matchup and
the Colts are only coming off of one, but they
were riding four. Yeah, I think let's look at the
falcons last three. You and I discussed before this podcast started.
(11:25):
Three common themes across those three losses. Yeah, I'm gonna
pitch the idea you're gonna smack it out of the park. Oh,
thank you. We're gonna play baseball a little bit with this.
Here's some softballs, okay. Number one the Falcons third down
struggles on offense. The Falcons converted eight of their thirty
two third downs in the last three losses. That's good,
(11:46):
not so good for twenty five percent success rate. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
So I specifically ask Rahie Morris about this on Monday.
I said, Hey, I know these aren't a one size
fits all instance, like all of these these thirty two
third down ins Stan says all involved different play calls,
they all involved different structure, they all involved different timing
and placement. All of that. I get that, But I asked,
I was like, what are the steps that this staff
(12:12):
and this team is taking to be better in these
kind of situational moments, because right now there is a
theme that's it's not good eight of thirty two and
third downs. There's a key reason why this offense has
had the struggles that it has even up to last
week against New England. I know you scored three times
(12:32):
with three Drake London touchdowns, but there were many times
where you weren't moving the ball. The Falcons have i
want to say, just over ten three and out since
they came back from their week five by they're not
stringing these drives, these sustainable drives together, and a lot
of that is because of the issues on third down.
(12:53):
And so I asked for him this question and he
kind of said, and I don't want to like, I'm
just gonna pair for he kind of what he said,
because he had this whole thing about like he kind
of agreeing that yes, these situations are all different. I'm like,
I get that, but he said, we've got to put
ourselves in more favorable situations to get the third downs.
When you go third and ten, third and twelve, third
(13:14):
and nine, any quarterback would tell you those are tough situations.
We want to be in more manageable third downs and
be able to get those things going, particularly in the
opening drives when starting fast. And my response to that
is kind of like, it's actually interesting because I don't
necessarily think that the Falcons are in too many unfavorable
third down situations. You actually were the one that pointed
(13:34):
out that they're in a lot of third mediums.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Hold it at the Providence Airport.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah, so just this is numbers that these are numbers
that Tarn pulled up. But they have fifteen third down
situations where they're between one and five yards. They've converted
seven of those. So I do think that in these
short yardage third downs you need to be a bit better.
You're only converting half the time on let's say like
third and two, third and three some of these shorter
(13:59):
yard situations. The problem thereafter is you have thirteen third
downs between six and ten yards, So third and medium,
third and long, and you've converted zero of those you've converted.
You have four that were over eleven yards and converted one.
So yes, while I understand what Rahem is saying where
it's like you want to be in more manageable third downs,
(14:21):
there is a certain extent where the vast majority of
your third downs have even been like third and six
and below, which is third and medium and third and short,
which especially those third and short, you need to be
able to convert those. You need to be able to
with three on a third down with two yards to game,
you need to be able to convert that at a
rate and a high level. And right now the Falcons
(14:42):
I don't feel like are doing that enough.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
I think you hit a triple with that analysis to
stay on the three theme. Ah okay, topic number two. Okay,
Falcons run game overall has been squashed. The Falcons may
have the fifteenth ranked run offense, but that's what they're overall,
one hundred seventeen yards per game and the last three
losses though, the Falcons have only averaged fifty nine yards
per game.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, so this whole topic, it goes back to what
we were talking about last week. That there is a
direct correlation between the falcons inability to run the ball
consistently and whether or not they win or lose a game.
When the run game gets squashed, to use your term,
they the season right they Oh, I didn't even think
that nice like it thinking at this point. The evidence
is kind of as simple as that that if the
(15:25):
Falcons don't run the ball, they don't have the best
chance to win the game. What's frustrating is is as
for a team that claims that this is their lifeline,
they've been unable to get it going. And I understand
you were going up against the Patriots last week that
had a top three run defense, but the week before
you've faced a run defense that was thirty first in
the league in the Dolphins. A piece of this that
(15:47):
you can't overlook. And we're recording this on Wednesday afternoon,
so everybody will be listening to this on Friday morning,
So a lot can happen between now and when you're
listening to this when we're recording versus whin you hear it,
and we will be in Germany. We have a long
flight ahead of us. But Matthew Bergron, Chris Linschram are
working through injuries this week. We talked to Rahee Morris
(16:09):
about it earlier on Wednesday. He said that Matthew Bergron
has an ankle injury and is considered week to week.
He said that he didn't feel good about Matthew Bergron
being available to the Falcons this weekend in Germany. Chris
Lynstrom has a better out look, He's a bit more
day to day and he feels Rahee Morris said he
feels better about Chris Lynstrom opposed to Matthew Bergron. These
(16:31):
are key coggs in the wheel. These are two key
starters that the Falcons heavily, heavily rely on. And in
a point in time where the Falcons offensive line is
having trouble run blocking, to not have Matthew Berjeon, to
potentially not have Chris Lynstrim, that's a huge blow. When
you're going up against an Indianapolis Colts team that, I'll
(16:52):
be honest is playing some really, really good football despite
what they put on the field last week.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yeah, I agree with all of that. I don't really
have an analogy to make with that when it comes
to single, double or single, I mean triple. We already
hit a triple Anyways, just like my analogy, the Falcon's
kicking woes continue. Yes, the Falcons replaced Young Way Coup
with Parker Romo, but now the Falcs replaced Parker Roma
with Zane Gonzalez. What do you make of all this
(17:18):
movement at this one position.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I can't trust the kicking game trust to shoe like
I just can't. You're now on your third kicker in
ten weeks, You've brought in a handful of kickers, You've
signed two different ones, you released Coup earlier in the year,
like you know, and I I just don't have any
confidence in how things are gonna go. And now, granted,
(17:41):
and I haven't seen enough of Zang Gonzalez to truly
know one way or the other. I obviously know what
his stats are, but until you get someone in the moment,
like I don't know. I have no idea. And you
know something, I thought that was a bit interesting that
came to light on Wednesday, as Raheem Morris said, Zang
Gonzalez was actually in the groups that originally worked out
(18:01):
that the team worked out with, like Parker Romo earlier
in the year when Young Waiku was having all of
his issues and they started bringing people in, and I
thought it was interesting, Like Raheem said that they decided
to go with the young statesman instead of the older statesman.
So young statesmen being Parker Romo, older statesman being it
is interesting. Yeah, Zane Gonzalez and so I it doesn't
(18:24):
it doesn't make me feel confident that he Zane Gonzalez
was in the building earlier this year. You ended up
going with Parker Romo. Parker Romo obviously has some misses
in Carolina and then misses the extra point this past weekend. Like,
I'm just having a hard time at this point knowing
that I can send if I'm a coach, I can
(18:46):
send a kicker out there for a even a thirty
five yarder an extra point, an extra point, and it
be something good that you're talking about. Until until they
showed me something different, I can't trust it.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I think that's completely fair. Yeah, well, we'll move on
from those three dramatic things to something maybe a little
bit less dramatic, but it could be very important, very
important on this matchup. Specifically, we're going to talk about
the Falcons run defense. Atlanta is ranked twenty third in
stopping the run, allowing an average of one hundred twenty
(19:19):
four rushing yards per game. Not the worst.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It's actually gotten better since it has since the Christian
McCaffrey game.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
It has and Jeff Alberg identified those issues in the
past few weeks, and you have seen it pick up.
But now you have your real test because the Colts.
They're running back Jonathan Taylor is leading the NFL and rushing. Yeah,
what can you tell us about him and what he's
doing this season?
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Gosh, I feel like I have been talking about Jonathan
Taylor on this specific podcast for three weeks. I've been
talking about I'll.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yes, right, like I'm ahead to figure out what you
meant by that.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, because a big part of looking forward to that
I have because I've been really looking forward to watching
Jonathan Taylor play. I think what he's doing. I mean,
you can't overlook I think, even from a national perspective,
what Jonathan Taylor has meant to won the Colts offense.
Just in general. The numbers speak for themselves, but also
I think just from a broader spectrum of what the
running back position is like, he's playing at a level
(20:16):
that I think should be spoken about in the same
way that people talk about Christian McCaffrey, James Cook, Jamior Gibbs,
and John Robinson when the Falcons run game is going.
You know, like Jonathan Taylor is, I don't know if
he gets the same recognition nationally for what he did,
what he's been doing for this Colts offense. And so
(20:38):
he kind of said, you know, he's averaging around one
hundred rushing yards per game. He's one of two players
with more than eight hundred yards total rushing, James Cook
being the other one. He's averaging five point seven yards
per carry, which is crazy and the reason why it's
so that stat in and of itself, it's not like
these are clean five point seven yards or even three
(21:00):
clean like three clean yards. Yeah, he's breaking. He's forcing
a mistackle on thirty five point seven percent of his carries,
which is the highest mark among thirty three running.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Backs this season.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Like he's it's not like he's just clean. And I mean, yeah,
the Colt offensive line have done some really really good
things and their run blocking has been pretty superb all year,
but this is as much credit to them as it
is to Jonathan Taylor. And I think what he's been
doing and this is a very very difficult matchup for
this Atlanta Falcons run defense. But to your point, I
(21:32):
think that there has been growth within this run defense
in a very short amount of time. In the last
couple of weeks, I think they've done some good things,
and so I'm curious to see if they can take
another step or even sustain what they have done in
the last two weeks, because there has been improvement, and
you want to be able to see them go up
(21:53):
against the best running back in the game right now
and show up.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, and you mentioned two of the running backs who
in like the top tier rankings along with Jonathan Taylor
and James Cook, and Christian McCaffrey, who the Falcons have
both already faced. Well. James Cook rushed for eighty seven
yards in the Falcons Week six win against the Bills,
and then Christian McCaffrey rushed for one hundred and twenty
nine and two touchdowns in the Falcons Week seven loss
(22:19):
to the forty nine ers. So you kind of see
both sides of the coin where you were saying Christian
McCaffrey did really well.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
He did.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Christian McCaffrey's things did better, like they improved, they learned
from it, and you'd like to see those learnings continue
in Germany.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah. Well, I think about even when they were trying
to run the ball, like New England was trying to
run the ball up in Gillette Stadium this past weekend,
Like they had some success in the first half, but
I felt like in the second half, like when they
really wanted to run the ball because they were ahead,
the Falcons defense did some really good things in terms
of stopping the run and putting them in some uncomfortable situations.
So you have to give credit where credits do that
(22:57):
there has been improvement in the last two weeks especially,
but you want again, you want to see that remain
to be the established part of this defense, that it's like, oh,
it wasn't just a two week flash in the pan. No,
they've actually improved it as a run defense.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
And stopping Jonathan Taylor will be a huge testament if so. Yeah,
because I mean the recipe for success is that it
could be that in the sense that like the Colts
are defeatable. Yes, they lost last weekend to the Steelers.
Even though they have the best record, they have two
blemishes on it. The Steelers are five and three, so
(23:35):
they they're also good, but not as great as the Colts.
When you look purely at records, how did the Steelers
manage that? Do you think?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, so I actually thought it was really interesting, and
I pose this question kind of just something I've been
thinking about since the Colts lost to the Steelers. But
like I'm genuinely curious, like how much of last Sunday's
loss to the Steelers was the Colts more of the
Colts imploding on themselves versus the Steelers actually outperforming them.
(24:04):
Like I don't want to take anything away from the Steelers' performance,
but the fact of the matter is is like the
Indianapolis Colts has an offense had four turnover four turnovers
in the first eight weeks of the season total, they
had six in one game last week against the Steelers,
And like, you just.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Can't do that, like insane jump, You're.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Never gonna win, like that, You're never gonna win having
six turnovers, giving the ball to Aaron Rodgers that many times,
like not putting points on the board, Like those are
things that you can't do and it's not. But the
thing about it is, it's not that's not been a
notorious problem for the Colts that it really did feel
(24:45):
like this was a one time bad performance anomaly. Not
to use trigger word trigger, not to trigger people, but
like that it that genuinely felt like that because we
have seen the Colts take care of the ball, we
have seen them capitalize on we have some them be
one of the most productive offenses in all of football
(25:05):
up to last week. And last week they lay an
egg and they have they turned the ball over six times. Like,
that's not what you're used to the Carroll. You're not
used to the Indianapolis Colts to do.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
That's not what you're definitely not used to the Caroline
pay I know.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
I almost missmoke there. But like so, if you do
have a situation where the Indianapolis Colts go out to Germany,
first off, I think you're going to see them take
care of the ball. I think that you can't come
off of a six turnover game and not take care.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Of the ball in a sense, I do you think
they'll be more safe?
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, okay, yeah, I think that they or not even safe.
I think their fundamentals will be better. I think they'll
just taking care of the ball.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Just kind of a quick reality check.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah, yeah, Like back to that exactly, like, don't like
making it an emphasis. You cannot do that again. So
I do think that they probably will end up taking
care of the ball a bit better. And I also
think you're going to get a cult team that is
probably pretty angry at themselves, knowing that that's not what
they did against the Steelers, is not who they are.
So I'm curious to see what Colts team shows up.
(26:11):
But ultimately, what the Steelers did show us is that
if you do force the Colts into mistakes, you have
to capitalize on offense thereafter, Like if they do turn
the ball over, if you can get off the field,
like you've got to go down and score. You've got
to score points, which again is such simple in concept,
and I'm saying this so simply, but that's been a
(26:33):
struggle for the Atlanta Falcons over the course of the
last three games. Maybe not as much against the Patriots
thanks to Drake London, thanks to right, yeah, like thanks
to Drake London's acrobatic catches, but like prior to that,
and even in the losses earlier in the season, like
you have to if your defense gets you the ball,
you've got to go down and put points on the board.
(26:55):
You have to score and because let's be real, the
Colts are gonna score. They have a good they have
one of the best offense.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
They have the number one scoring offense.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
They have the number one scoring offense. You are going
to have to outpace them, and they're gonna get theirs too,
Like that's the point. They're gonna get their They're gonna
score points, and you've got to match it. And then
when your defense comes up with the stop, you've got
to capitalize on that.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Zach Robinson was asked today actually today as in Wednesday,
whether the Colts having the number one scoring offense puts
a little more pressure on his unit, and you get
the normal coach speak of like we got to do
our job. It's always our job to score touchdowns, execute
do the small things. But he did say there is
a high end sense of urgency because we need to
(27:38):
score as many points as we need to to win
the game. And read football one on one right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Again, it's it's simple. It's like we're not talking about
rocket science here.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
They got to go at least tit for tat Yeah,
and you know.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Hope that your defense can come up with a stop
here and there and score.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yeah. Yeah, well we've touched on a lot. Is there
anything you'd like to add on?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
No, just I guess, just like make sure everybody to
wake up, set your alarms for Sunday morning because kickoff
is at nine thirty, so you know, grab your mimosas
and your chicken and waffles and enjoy a very nice,
lovely time watching watching this game in Berlin.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I'm really excited.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
It's the first NFL regular season game in Berlin, which
is a really big moment I think for the Falcons
organization because they have exclusive marketing rights in Berlin or
in Germany, So I think it's a really big moment
just for as the game continues to grow internationally. Really
excited to see our German fan base because we do
have a lot of German friends. So excited to see
(28:39):
everybody over there. And make sure you follow along with
everything that Tarin and I are doing. A lot of
what we're doing probably is going to be while you
are asleep and or just waking up in the morning,
so make sure every morning check back into Atlanta Falcons
dot com.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, and I forgot to give the disclaimer at the
beginning of this EPPI that we are recording on Wednesday,
so you definitely need to go back to Atlanta Falcons
dot com to make sure you're keeping up with injury reports,
news in general. Another thing to keep up with is
the fact that the pregame show ah Yeah is actually
already live on the Falcons YouTube. Hey, so you can
check that out now, tomorrow, the next day, and forever
(29:13):
and ever. As Tory mentioned, the game will kick off
at nine thirty Eastern Time here in Atlanta. Thankfully for
us too, it's three thirty pm local. Wow, nobody wants
to talk to me at nine am. No, So that's
it for Tory and Tarn. Everyone have a great weekend.
And I have no idea how to say goodbye in Germany.
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