Where do the Falcons go from here? Instant reaction to 30-0 loss to Panthers | Falcons Final Whistle
September 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Will McFadden and Tori McElhaney react to the Atlanta Falcons 30-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers in week 3, discussing everything from Michael Penix Jr.'s struggles in the offense to how the Falcons can rebound in week 4 vs the Washington Commanders.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mile two.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Kind of exact slip eat.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Falcons fans. What's up? Welcome to another Falcons final whistle.
I'm your host, Will McFadden that I am joined by
Tory mclaney and we have a very different show than
the one we had this time. Last week, the Atlanta
Falcons dropped a road game to the Carolina Panthers they
are owing to in the division. They lost thirty to nothing.
(00:35):
It was not a great showing at all in kind
of all phases of the game for Atlanta. Tory, do
you have any just kind of like overarching thoughts for
this one before we get into the first quarter.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah, I think that for me, it's gonna be really
hard to break down this game in a way that
is even I think remotely digestible for fans, because I
don't know how you can talk about a thirty to
zero game against an zero and two team in your
(01:10):
division and not kind of want to like blow the
roof off of everything in terms of your own anger
about it. So I'm trying, like really hard to see
perspective but also understand how the perspective and reality is
(01:31):
is that you just lost thirty to nothing too. An
NFC South opponent that had two losses. Like, I don't know,
I'm I'm not gonna be able to sugarcoat this thing.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Well, I have been colored as the optimist on this podcast,
but I don't know sugar either.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
We'll continue to do the do those roles where I'm
the like the pessimist and you're the optimist.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
But I don't know how you how you've spinned this one.
I really don't.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yeah, I'm sure people will expect me to try my best,
and so that's what I'll i'm sure ultimately end up doing.
But as a quick reminder for anybody who is new
to this year's show, we've got four quarters. We have
six minutes for each quarter. Once the quarter is over,
we will hear a nice friendly whistle letting us know
that it is time to move on to the second quarter.
(02:20):
So Tory right up top. We're going to get into
the first quarter and talk a little bit about the offense.
You know, I think overall, when you put zero points
on the board, you got a lot of question marks
on that side of the ball. What's the number one
thing that you kind of identified offensively today? That was
an issue.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
So I don't think that you can talk about this
game in a vacuum, you have to talk about what
the offense has or Betty, you yet not.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Have, like what they have not done, but they lack
what they lack in.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Three full games of what we have seen from this offense.
You know, in week one there was like, okay, a
lack of explosives and you're like, okay, it's week one.
You're getting the jitters out, you're knocking the rust off.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Then week two it's like, well, you made it to
the red zone and you were moving the ball really well,
but you couldn't punch it in, so like, okay, next step,
like being able to punch the ball into then zone.
But then in week three against this particular alert, this
particular Carolina Panthers defense, you didn't even get.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
To the red zone at all.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
You never even gave yourself a chance inside the twenties.
And I think like there were a lot of miscues.
There were some procedural stuff that very early on it
was very worrisome. And then you have Michael Pennix not
being able to connect on very many of his throws
at all.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
You had some dropped passes.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
The Falcons couldn't consistently move the ball at all, like
it was there was no one thing that I'm sitting
here today being like, yeah, it was this one thing,
and if they fixed this one thing, it means that
they're going to score points. Like the reality of the
situation is the Falcons have spent the last eight quarters
of football and only gotten into the end zone one time.
(04:09):
And in this level of professional football, like, you can't
win games. That's not sustainable, that's not something that's not
an operation for success. And then on top of that,
the fact that games into this thing and a there
is no Falcons tight end or receiver that has had
(04:33):
a passing touchdown a receiving touchdown. We're three games in,
Like that to me is indicative of how far this
offense has yet to go.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, I think it's a great point, and you know,
it's easy to point to. I think some of the
like miscues early on in this game, the headset kind
of going in and out, having to call a time out,
or getting into lay of game after a timeout, things
like that, and those definitely need to be cleaned up. However,
(05:08):
I like I kind of look at more just the
overall flow of this offense and kind of the overall
how are we attacking teams right? Because this was once
again a defense that really I think kept a second
safety back. They were not pressuring Michael Pennix, they were
not trying to get the ball out of his hand quickly.
They were content to say, all right, let's see what
(05:30):
you got, number nine, Let's have you dice us up.
And by and large, he kind of turned down a
lot of those downfield opportunities and just kind of settled
for what was easy. And on top of that, when
the Vikings did a similar approach, the Falcons seemed very
content to just say, Okay, we're going to hand it
off to beajon to Tyler, We're going to run the
(05:51):
ball down your throats. And you know, I feel like
Atlanta had some success running the ball today. They just
didn't make it the core part of their game plan
the way that I was kind of expecting them too.
And I was just a little bit surprised that Michael
Penix would have he throw like thirty eight times in
this game. That's that's a lot of attempts for what
(06:11):
was a game that a lot of people I felt
like coming into it was hey, go handle your business.
Do you do best Go beat a team in the
division on the road, a team that you feel like
on paper you're better than, and get out of there.
And there were just a little bit of confusing moments.
I think offensively, yeah, I think.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
So too, And I think to your point about like, Okay,
you threw the ball a lot, and I think the
Falcons actually came into this game wanting to push the
ball downfield. I think that even in this first couple
of drives, like seeing kind of the play calls and
it really was like a okay, like teams have been
taking this away from us, like we're gonna just shoot
the ball down.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Getting Darnell involved seem like a big priority.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yeah, you had cow pits targeted very early. You had
Drakelin and Darnell Mooney, Like there were a lot they
were trying.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
To push the ball downfield.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And in the first couple of series, Michael Panix was
not connecting on some of these passes, and at that
point in time, I was like, it's okay, I see
what they're trying to do, Like he'll start connecting on
some of these eventually, like it'll be fine. And then
that never manifested that never came around. It was like
that never. It was almost like he never got comfortable
within the flow of what he was even needing to
(07:23):
operate within. And I think like that was again the
word that I'm using is worrisome, Like what we saw
today was worrisome in the context of this game and
also in the context of kind of the lack of
production that we've seen over the first three weeks of
(07:45):
this season.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Absolutely, But in a play Devil's advocate, and here comes
the optimist in me, is sometimes I feel like a
full blown thirty to nothing defeat may help identify a
clearer error than maybe a twenty eight twenty seven loss. Right,
if you're able to look at this and be like,
oh man, why is my computer key not tapping the
(08:09):
PA button when I hit it? And then you look
over and your actual computer itself is on fire, You're like,
maybe it's not a keyboard that's broken. Maybe there's something
else that's over here that's an issue. So a thirty
to nothing defeat maybe helps them identify something moving forward,
because there's a lot of season left to go. That's
our whistle. Let's move on to the second quarter, and
(08:30):
let's talk a little bit more about the quarterback play
for Atlanta today, we did see Michael Pennix get pulled
for Kirk Cousins Tory. What did Raheem have to say
after the game about that decision.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah, so he basically said that the game was out
of hand and it was the same reason that you
saw Jon Robinson Tyler Algier be pulled for Nathan Carter,
Like there was no reason at that point in time,
with ten minutes left in the fourth quarter that the
Falcons were going to make a comeback.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
That it just wasn't statistically possible.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
So at that point, it's like, okay, close up shop,
move forward, don't get anybody hurt, Hope for the best
next week. And then but then, of course, because of
the play of Michael PENNOCKX and the inconsistency of it
and the misses that he had, and you know, the
miscues within the operation itself, like then of course I
(09:20):
think that there's this overwhelming then conversation about like okay,
like well what does this mean? Like I saw a
lot of people being saying on Twitter or social media
that Michael Pennix was benched for Kirk Cousins, and that's
not the language here, like, that's not what happened here.
(09:41):
And then after the game, of course, Draheim Morris is asked,
so it does Kirk, Does this mean that Kirk Cousins
is going to have the chance to compete for the
starting job? And he flat out emphatically said no, with
no rebuttal no, just no period, full sentence no. So
that's kind of where they are right now. Like I
(10:02):
never even thought within the context of Kirk Cousins coming
out to finish that game, there was no thought in
my mind that the Falcons were thinking about moving back
to Kirk Cousins. Like I think that we've been in
such this carousel of quarterbacks over the last few years
that the like you've kind of fallen into this place
(10:23):
of like, oh, well X plus Y must equal Z,
but like in this situation, that's not what happened, Like
X plus why does not equal Z? Like you're going
back to X, You're going back to Michael Panix like that.
So for all of the fans out there, like, for
as not good as it was, I don't think that
it's indicative of the Falcons now having this quarterback conversation,
(10:48):
which again, of course, ever since the Falcons decided that
Kirk Cousin was going to be Michael Pennis backup. I
knew that this was going to come up as soon
as Michael Penis had a game where he wasn't at
his best.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, that we were going.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
To have to be talking about Kirk Cousins and potentially
what the Falcons are going to do there.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Right now, it is Michael Panicck's job and that's not changing.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I think it's a great example of kind of like
in all of our lives, we can say, like, hey,
instant gratification doesn't always lead to the long term best.
You got to sometimes pull like one foot in front
of the other and move forward and move forward and
sometimes take a step back, but then you keep moving
forward and you learn from it. This is a growing
pain game, I think for Michael PENNOCKX right, and there
was always going to be moments like this. Maybe he
(11:32):
didn't think it was going to be a thirty and
other thing loss that ends up with you finishing the
game on the bench, but there were always going to
be some moments where there were stretches where you said, hey,
all right, it's a young quarterback and we have not
seen the final products yet from Michael Pennox Junior, but
a game like this hopefully helps get him there and
provides him with a lot of lessons in the NFL
(11:54):
about how to play this game. And I appreciate the
fact that the coaching staff is probably going to write
those lessons hard this week and then give him another
shot out there, because that's kind of what development is,
is a growth through obstacles and hardship, and that's kind
of where they are here. But what's really interesting to
(12:14):
me is is more his approach in this game. He
wasn't taking the shots down field. When we did the
Friday five and talked about our confidence level, I gave
the passing game of four and my reason was I
have all the faith in the world for Michael Pennix
to push the ball down field. We've seen him do
that time and time again. What he showed me in
the first couple of games was the ability to kind
(12:35):
of spread it around in the intermediate game. In the
short game today though it felt like he was very
quickly just going to the backfield and his outlet passes.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, I mean, what's I mean?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
This is a good thought provoking question because it's like
the Michael Pennocks that we saw in the last three
games last year, in his three starts in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Four, he was letting it fly, was let it rip.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It was letting it rip.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
And I feel like in twenty twenty five, the first
three games, we're seeing a bit more of a timid approach.
And I don't know if that's play calling. I don't
know if that is what defenses are taking away. It
may be a combination of both of those. And but
the thing is is, like we haven't seen I think
what Michael Pennox's bread and butter is, and it's this
(13:21):
gunslinger Like that's that if you're gonna come up with
a word to encompass who Michael Pennock Junior is. He's
a gunslinger and he just has this like unreal confidence
in his arm strength. I think back to the Cadero
Hodge pass last year against Carolina in Week eighteen, like
we haven't seen that. We haven't seen the Kyle Pitts
(13:43):
fourth down against the Washington Commanders.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
We haven't seen that.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Or we haven't seen going back to back to Drake
over his back shoulder in the end zone twice, Like
we haven't seen those throws, And I don't know what
is missing from those three starts that Michael had in
twenty twenty four to these now three starts that he's had.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
And I do think it's a it's a bit of
a microcosm of the issues that the Falcons are having offensively.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Yeah, you got somebody who you want to kind of
build a downfield attack around. And I think maybe the
second interception was a moment where yeah, he's trying to
rip it comeback like twenty yards down the field. But again,
it just it just kind of felt like a little
bit of an off game from number nine, and we
will hope he gets it corrected. That's our second quarter whistle,
So let's go ahead and kind of do a quick
(14:37):
halftime break and talk about an awesome stat brought to
us by our sponsor, Microsoft co Pilot Toy. The Falcons
blitzed Bryce Young seventeen times in today's game, which was
sixty three percent of the rate for their defense, and
he was pretty effective against them. He was nine to
(14:58):
fourteen seventy two yards seven times pressured on the blitzes there.
But coming into this game, he had two hundred and
seventy yards on passes under ten air yards and four touchdowns.
Those four touchdowns were tied for the most in the NFL.
So it was a little bit of a curious, I
think approach to maybe blitz him and get the ball
(15:19):
out of his hands quickly, because that is coming into
this game what he did so well, really quickly. Do
you have any thoughts on kind of the defensive performance.
We're not going to touch on it a lot in
this episode, but really quickly here.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I mean, I think that I understood a bit of
what the defense was trying to do, and I'll give
credit where credit is due.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I thought the defense didn't.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Deserve to come out of that game having lost thirty
to zero. Like in reality for me, I say that
they gave up one touchdown like they in my brain,
they gave up one touchdown on that opening drive for Carolina,
like every other that was scored was either a field goal,
(16:04):
it was a pick six, and then it was kind
of a junk yard in the like garbage time put
away touchdown when your you know, your back is kind
of broken at that point. Like, so this loss, this performance,
this thirty to nothing score, I think it was an
(16:25):
indicative of this, this defensive performance and even and you
know they were getting off the field on third down,
like outside of those two long drive the first one
and then the one towards the end of the game,
like they were getting off the field.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
They were giving the offensive chance.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
No special teams outside of the kicking game was giving
the offense a chance, and it just never they never
did anything with those opportunities.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Completely agree. So seventeen blitz is one sack on the day.
Seven pressures Moving right along that halftime was brought to
you by Microsoft co Pilot third quarter Toy. Once you
see the fans reaction to this game, be I know,
I know you got a lot of replies.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
They were pissed, like and that's being completely honest and
completely real, Like I don't think there's any way around it. Again,
Like I you got shut out for the first time
in a decade on the road, and the last time
this happened was in Week eleven of the twenty fifteen
season against the Carolina Panthers. Like that in and of itself,
(17:33):
I especially coupled with the fact that the Falcons have
had such like starts and stops with this offense over
the last three games.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
That it's really difficult.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I think until the offense shows something different, shows that
there is life within it, I don't know how much
this fan base is going to be on board because
for the last however many years, since the years of
the Matt Julio Calvin offense that was so high powered
that took the team to a Super Bowl in twenty sixteen,
(18:08):
Like since that time, it I go back to the
quarterback carousel and the starts and the stops in the
run game being exciting and fun, but then also the
past game and the quarterbacks and you're switching a quarterback
every you know, half of a year, and it's just
like you can never buy in too much. And that
(18:28):
is a really tough place I think for fans to
be in. And right now the Falcons it's kind of
up to the Falcons offense to say, hey, you can
put your your hope and your trust in us in
what we're doing. Like when we say we're going to
be an explosive, high powered offense, like we're going to
(18:49):
show you that's who we are. And I think so
far we haven't seen that. And we've seen of course,
like we've seen bajon be bajonde. Yeah, but outside of that,
what have we seen? And the stats are what they are,
The red zone appearances are what they are. This game
(19:11):
against the Carolina Panthers was what it was. So until
we see something different, there's just like not a lot
to feel really confident about. And that's harsh, that's a
really harsh thing to say, but like, I don't have
anything else to go off of.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Yeah, the offense at this point needs a game like
the defense had in Minnesota, I think to kind of
win some fans back. And I don't know what that
looks like. I don't know if it's Michael Pennock's throwing
for four hundred yards and four touchdowns. I don't know
if it's Jon and Tyler combining for three hundred yards
on the ground three touchdowns, like any of the above
I think would fit.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
So what's interesting, too, is in the locker room, Drake
London says, you know, it was not good all around,
and the quote was like, this is not the standard
of kind of who we are. Well show us what
that standard is, because right now I don't know what
the standard is. I know what you've told me the
standard is. I know what the goal is, but this
the goal and the standard are these two things that
(20:09):
you've told me about but haven't shown me. And I mean,
it's hard to win games in the NFL, like it
really is, absolutely And you know, like I'm sympathetic that
anyone can go out on any given Sunday and beat
whoever the freak they want to be, Like, that's just
how the NFL is wired right now. But even in
saying that, like you should also score points. You have
(20:32):
an offense that has how many first round picks? Like,
and to put up zero points against the Carolina Panthers
is just a bit It's a bit mind boggling to me.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I feel like Jake Matthews always gets kind of left
out that first round pick conversation. I'm sorry, it was
just a brain a brain danger, but you were like
how many first round picks and go through them? And
I was like, don't forget Jake.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah you have Jake, you have Chris, you used to
have Caleb, you have Bejon Drake, Michael Kile Like you
how that's over half of your Yeah, it's over half
of your offense.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Do you remember in I think it was twenty twenty
when we had that like every pit or every all
eleven starters were first round picks for the the offen
Any of this is such a side tangent back to
the main point I do. I had right here. The
first note that I wrote down was, this is a
reminder of how quickly this league can humble you. Yea, right,
(21:27):
because this it like that twenty fifteen Panthers team was
undefeated at the time that they beat the Falcons, Right, Yeah,
this Panthers team was defeated by the time they came in.
So if you are and I don't think the team
at all was you know, celebrating or riding high after
(21:48):
last week's win to the point that they weren't focused
on this game, right. I asked Chris Lindstrom in the
locker room afterwards, did you see this coming based on
your week of preparation? He was like, no, we were
on point, We were locked in. Like so, so I
do think that the fans, though we're kind of coming
into this one riding a little bit a little bit high,
and in the NFL, any team is good enough to
(22:11):
beat any other team.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Yeah, But the thing is is, like you want your
fan base to be riding.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
You do you do?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Right?
Speaker 3 (22:16):
So, yeah, I don't. I'm not blaming the fans at all.
I'm just kind of saying that I feel like this
loss feels such like a three sixty or one eight.
I always say three sixty, but it feels like such
a one to eighty when in reality, like we should
have just been a division game. They're coming for us.
It's it's their home opener, X, Y and Z, so
maybe you know, again, like they didn't overlook them. But
(22:38):
this is also a reminder that that the league does
some crazy things at times.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Well, I mean it's like the surprise, Like even Bejon
Robinson was like, yeah, I'm surprised they didn't expect us
to lose thirty to nothing.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Today, right, Yeah, that's the bigger thing is is more
the the way the outcome happened. Yeah, in the outcome,
you always expect to win or lose, right, Like this
is the NFL. Everybody has those great players, but thirty
to nothing is something to fix. Fourth quarter toy, where
do the Falcons go from here?
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Like?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
How do they move forward from this? Because it just
counts as one loss?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Ye, but it's a big one.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
It's a big one.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, I think that The one thing that I kind
of hold on to is like, how out the gate
of the NFC South race Last year the Falcons were,
you know, like they they beat Tampa Bay twice, like
they they were just on an absolute tear in the
NFC South and then they ultimately don't win the division
(23:41):
at the end of the year. So like, even though
you've lost two in your division, your two losses on
the year came in your division. Like I don't I
don't think it's over. No, Like I think it's far
from over. Like there is this age, like the old adage,
and everyone freaking says it all the time. Sometimes I'm like, oh,
(24:01):
because it sometimes aggravates me so much. It's just like, Okay, yes,
it is just one game, and there's a long season ahead,
and you know we got however many more weeks of
this and all of that is true, But you can
only say that up to a point. Like, once you
get to a point, none of that matters anymore because
you've you've lost too many games. But I don't think
(24:22):
the Falcons. The Falcons are not to that point yet.
So while things do look bleak at this point in time,
I think if you can go into this Washington Commander's
game coming up next week next Sunday, I do, and
you can kind of come out either. I don't even
think you have to win that game. I think you
(24:42):
just need to have a much better performance, like you
just need to be in step with the Washington Commanders
that you can at least go into the bye week
feeling a bit better about your situation. However, I will say, well,
freaking better if you could go into the bye week
get two and two knowing that you have the Buffalo
Bills coming out of the bye week and the San
(25:04):
Francisco forty nine ers.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah, I would very much like to win, and you
feel so much better personally. Yeah, it's I kind of
just feel like the way that the Falcons respond next
week is going to say as much, if not more
than this game, right because it is still early in
the season, and when you get punched in the mouth, right, like,
(25:29):
that's when you kind of find what your resolve is,
what you're made of. And hopefully this is a galvanizing
moment for this Atlanta Falcons team that has a lot
of young players that have probably been through or are
going through this for like the first time. I mean,
how many times you think John Robinson has lost thirty
to nothing in his life?
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Right? Yeah? No, And I think that.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And I want to read this quote from Jon because
I think it's encompassing kind of everything that we're talking
about here that he says, I believe this game and
either break a team or make a team. And for us,
this needs to make the team. We need to come
in tomorrow. We need to watch this game. We all
need to feel to hurt the same way. This is
a division game at that so it needs to hurt
even more for us, this loss right here when people
(26:15):
look back at it, this needs to be the weak
where we come together and it changed everything so we
can become the team that we want to become. Like
that is so eloquently said, and that is the exact
mindset that you have to have coming out of a
game that was as I think de moralizing as this
one was.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
And again demoralizing is.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
A very very strong word, but it's the right word.
You can't talk about a shut out like this and
not kind of talk about it at the level of
what it should.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Be talked about.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
It.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
It was such a good quote that frankly, I'm a
little concerned that Bijan is coming from my job because
he's so succinctly I think put the game into context
and how you move forward from this? And it is
up to the Falcons to write the story of this season,
right Like that was kind of their mindset in training
camp in the offseason. We're not gonna talk it, We're
gonna walk it. And today you didn't walk it. So
(27:14):
how do you respond from this? And you got a
great team that was in the playoffs last year on deck,
go out there and put it to them the way
the Carolina Panthers kind of just did to you. So
really like the evolution. I know that the first couple
of games of the season can be misnomers and they
can be a little bit of fool's gold. Here do
(27:38):
you buy and where do you need to see the
Falcons evolve? To feel like this is a little bit
of a fool's gold game.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Offensively, you've got to score touchdowns, Like I mean, that's.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I feel like I'm not really saying anything that's like
rocket signs.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
I'm not about like the x's and o's.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I'm not really getting into much of anything at all,
Like I feel like, but the reason for that is
because at the end of the day, like put a
put good on good and go at it and win
your win your reps like and go punch the ball
in the end zone. Like, you can't win games consistently
in this league if you do not score. Like even
(28:21):
Zach Robinson said it himself last week talking about not
getting in the end zone last week against Minnesota, and
he said, like, that's not winning football games. You aren't scoring,
You're not winning football games. You can squeak out a
few here and there, but you're not winning. And like
that's what happened today, and it's what happened against Carolina Panthers,
(28:44):
And like you won't be sitting here with a win
in your back pocket against some of these really really
good teams, really good defenses and offenses in this league
if you're not scoring points.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah, I'm exascer.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
You.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
You've gotta you gotta be able to keep pace in
this league for sure. That's our our fourth and final whistle.
Thank you guys so much for listening to uh today's podcast.
I know it wasn't a great one. It certainly was
not a great game. Actually, let's toy we're gonna take
a five second moment of silence to let everybody just
(29:23):
sit in their feelings for a second, and then we're
gonna we're gonna flush this and we're gonna turn the
page and we're gonna move on. All right, ready, Ready,
let's go. Man. That felt good. All right, that game
it's in the past, it's in the rear view. We're
(29:43):
on to Washington. Thank you guys so much for listening
to today's Talkins Final whistle. Thank you Toy for joining me.
Thank you to our producer Jared for his work on
this episode. Hopefully we are talking to you guys next
week about a better and different outcome. But until then,
the Falcon's got a week of work ahead. They've got
(30:04):
some improvements to make, and we will discuss the outcome
of that work in one week. So for Tory mclaney
I and Will McFadden, we will see you all next time.
Mile two.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Kind of exact slip eat.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Falcons fans. What's up? Welcome to another Falcons final whistle.
I'm your host, Will McFadden that I am joined by
Tory mclaney and we have a very different show than
the one we had this time. Last week, the Atlanta
Falcons dropped a road game to the Carolina Panthers they
are owing to in the division. They lost thirty to nothing.
(00:35):
It was not a great showing at all in kind
of all phases of the game for Atlanta. Tory, do
you have any just kind of like overarching thoughts for
this one before we get into the first quarter.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah, I think that for me, it's gonna be really
hard to break down this game in a way that
is even I think remotely digestible for fans, because I
don't know how you can talk about a thirty to
zero game against an zero and two team in your
(01:10):
division and not kind of want to like blow the
roof off of everything in terms of your own anger
about it. So I'm trying, like really hard to see
perspective but also understand how the perspective and reality is
(01:31):
is that you just lost thirty to nothing too. An
NFC South opponent that had two losses. Like, I don't know,
I'm I'm not gonna be able to sugarcoat this thing.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Well, I have been colored as the optimist on this podcast,
but I don't know sugar either.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
We'll continue to do the do those roles where I'm
the like the pessimist and you're the optimist.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
But I don't know how you how you've spinned this one.
I really don't.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yeah, I'm sure people will expect me to try my best,
and so that's what I'll i'm sure ultimately end up doing.
But as a quick reminder for anybody who is new
to this year's show, we've got four quarters. We have
six minutes for each quarter. Once the quarter is over,
we will hear a nice friendly whistle letting us know
that it is time to move on to the second quarter.
(02:20):
So Tory right up top. We're going to get into
the first quarter and talk a little bit about the offense.
You know, I think overall, when you put zero points
on the board, you got a lot of question marks
on that side of the ball. What's the number one
thing that you kind of identified offensively today? That was
an issue.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
So I don't think that you can talk about this
game in a vacuum, you have to talk about what
the offense has or Betty, you yet not.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Have, like what they have not done, but they lack
what they lack in.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Three full games of what we have seen from this offense.
You know, in week one there was like, okay, a
lack of explosives and you're like, okay, it's week one.
You're getting the jitters out, you're knocking the rust off.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Then week two it's like, well, you made it to
the red zone and you were moving the ball really well,
but you couldn't punch it in, so like, okay, next step,
like being able to punch the ball into then zone.
But then in week three against this particular alert, this
particular Carolina Panthers defense, you didn't even get.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
To the red zone at all.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
You never even gave yourself a chance inside the twenties.
And I think like there were a lot of miscues.
There were some procedural stuff that very early on it
was very worrisome. And then you have Michael Pennix not
being able to connect on very many of his throws
at all.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
You had some dropped passes.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
The Falcons couldn't consistently move the ball at all, like
it was there was no one thing that I'm sitting
here today being like, yeah, it was this one thing,
and if they fixed this one thing, it means that
they're going to score points. Like the reality of the
situation is the Falcons have spent the last eight quarters
of football and only gotten into the end zone one time.
(04:09):
And in this level of professional football, like, you can't
win games. That's not sustainable, that's not something that's not
an operation for success. And then on top of that,
the fact that games into this thing and a there
is no Falcons tight end or receiver that has had
(04:33):
a passing touchdown a receiving touchdown. We're three games in,
Like that to me is indicative of how far this
offense has yet to go.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, I think it's a great point, and you know,
it's easy to point to. I think some of the
like miscues early on in this game, the headset kind
of going in and out, having to call a time out,
or getting into lay of game after a timeout, things
like that, and those definitely need to be cleaned up. However,
(05:08):
I like I kind of look at more just the
overall flow of this offense and kind of the overall
how are we attacking teams right? Because this was once
again a defense that really I think kept a second
safety back. They were not pressuring Michael Pennix, they were
not trying to get the ball out of his hand quickly.
They were content to say, all right, let's see what
(05:30):
you got, number nine, Let's have you dice us up.
And by and large, he kind of turned down a
lot of those downfield opportunities and just kind of settled
for what was easy. And on top of that, when
the Vikings did a similar approach, the Falcons seemed very
content to just say, Okay, we're going to hand it
off to beajon to Tyler, We're going to run the
(05:51):
ball down your throats. And you know, I feel like
Atlanta had some success running the ball today. They just
didn't make it the core part of their game plan
the way that I was kind of expecting them too.
And I was just a little bit surprised that Michael
Penix would have he throw like thirty eight times in
this game. That's that's a lot of attempts for what
(06:11):
was a game that a lot of people I felt
like coming into it was hey, go handle your business.
Do you do best Go beat a team in the
division on the road, a team that you feel like
on paper you're better than, and get out of there.
And there were just a little bit of confusing moments.
I think offensively, yeah, I think.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
So too, And I think to your point about like, Okay,
you threw the ball a lot, and I think the
Falcons actually came into this game wanting to push the
ball downfield. I think that even in this first couple
of drives, like seeing kind of the play calls and
it really was like a okay, like teams have been
taking this away from us, like we're gonna just shoot
the ball down.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Getting Darnell involved seem like a big priority.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yeah, you had cow pits targeted very early. You had
Drakelin and Darnell Mooney, Like there were a lot they
were trying.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
To push the ball downfield.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And in the first couple of series, Michael Panix was
not connecting on some of these passes, and at that
point in time, I was like, it's okay, I see
what they're trying to do, Like he'll start connecting on
some of these eventually, like it'll be fine. And then
that never manifested that never came around. It was like
that never. It was almost like he never got comfortable
within the flow of what he was even needing to
(07:23):
operate within. And I think like that was again the
word that I'm using is worrisome, Like what we saw
today was worrisome in the context of this game and
also in the context of kind of the lack of
production that we've seen over the first three weeks of
(07:45):
this season.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Absolutely, But in a play Devil's advocate, and here comes
the optimist in me, is sometimes I feel like a
full blown thirty to nothing defeat may help identify a
clearer error than maybe a twenty eight twenty seven loss. Right,
if you're able to look at this and be like,
oh man, why is my computer key not tapping the
(08:09):
PA button when I hit it? And then you look
over and your actual computer itself is on fire, You're like,
maybe it's not a keyboard that's broken. Maybe there's something
else that's over here that's an issue. So a thirty
to nothing defeat maybe helps them identify something moving forward,
because there's a lot of season left to go. That's
our whistle. Let's move on to the second quarter, and
(08:30):
let's talk a little bit more about the quarterback play
for Atlanta today, we did see Michael Pennix get pulled
for Kirk Cousins Tory. What did Raheem have to say
after the game about that decision.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah, so he basically said that the game was out
of hand and it was the same reason that you
saw Jon Robinson Tyler Algier be pulled for Nathan Carter,
Like there was no reason at that point in time,
with ten minutes left in the fourth quarter that the
Falcons were going to make a comeback.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
That it just wasn't statistically possible.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
So at that point, it's like, okay, close up shop,
move forward, don't get anybody hurt, Hope for the best
next week. And then but then, of course, because of
the play of Michael PENNOCKX and the inconsistency of it
and the misses that he had, and you know, the
miscues within the operation itself, like then of course I
(09:20):
think that there's this overwhelming then conversation about like okay,
like well what does this mean? Like I saw a
lot of people being saying on Twitter or social media
that Michael Pennix was benched for Kirk Cousins, and that's
not the language here, like, that's not what happened here.
(09:41):
And then after the game, of course, Draheim Morris is asked,
so it does Kirk, Does this mean that Kirk Cousins
is going to have the chance to compete for the
starting job? And he flat out emphatically said no, with
no rebuttal no, just no period, full sentence no. So
that's kind of where they are right now. Like I
(10:02):
never even thought within the context of Kirk Cousins coming
out to finish that game, there was no thought in
my mind that the Falcons were thinking about moving back
to Kirk Cousins. Like I think that we've been in
such this carousel of quarterbacks over the last few years
that the like you've kind of fallen into this place
(10:23):
of like, oh, well X plus Y must equal Z,
but like in this situation, that's not what happened, Like
X plus why does not equal Z? Like you're going
back to X, You're going back to Michael Panix like that.
So for all of the fans out there, like, for
as not good as it was, I don't think that
it's indicative of the Falcons now having this quarterback conversation,
(10:48):
which again, of course, ever since the Falcons decided that
Kirk Cousin was going to be Michael Pennis backup. I
knew that this was going to come up as soon
as Michael Penis had a game where he wasn't at
his best.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, that we were going.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
To have to be talking about Kirk Cousins and potentially
what the Falcons are going to do there.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Right now, it is Michael Panicck's job and that's not changing.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I think it's a great example of kind of like
in all of our lives, we can say, like, hey,
instant gratification doesn't always lead to the long term best.
You got to sometimes pull like one foot in front
of the other and move forward and move forward and
sometimes take a step back, but then you keep moving
forward and you learn from it. This is a growing
pain game, I think for Michael PENNOCKX right, and there
was always going to be moments like this. Maybe he
(11:32):
didn't think it was going to be a thirty and
other thing loss that ends up with you finishing the
game on the bench, but there were always going to
be some moments where there were stretches where you said, hey,
all right, it's a young quarterback and we have not
seen the final products yet from Michael Pennox Junior, but
a game like this hopefully helps get him there and
provides him with a lot of lessons in the NFL
(11:54):
about how to play this game. And I appreciate the
fact that the coaching staff is probably going to write
those lessons hard this week and then give him another
shot out there, because that's kind of what development is,
is a growth through obstacles and hardship, and that's kind
of where they are here. But what's really interesting to
(12:14):
me is is more his approach in this game. He
wasn't taking the shots down field. When we did the
Friday five and talked about our confidence level, I gave
the passing game of four and my reason was I
have all the faith in the world for Michael Pennix
to push the ball down field. We've seen him do
that time and time again. What he showed me in
the first couple of games was the ability to kind
(12:35):
of spread it around in the intermediate game. In the
short game today though it felt like he was very
quickly just going to the backfield and his outlet passes.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, I mean, what's I mean?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
This is a good thought provoking question because it's like
the Michael Pennocks that we saw in the last three
games last year, in his three starts in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Four, he was letting it fly, was let it rip.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It was letting it rip.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
And I feel like in twenty twenty five, the first
three games, we're seeing a bit more of a timid approach.
And I don't know if that's play calling. I don't
know if that is what defenses are taking away. It
may be a combination of both of those. And but
the thing is is, like we haven't seen I think
what Michael Pennox's bread and butter is, and it's this
(13:21):
gunslinger Like that's that if you're gonna come up with
a word to encompass who Michael Pennock Junior is. He's
a gunslinger and he just has this like unreal confidence
in his arm strength. I think back to the Cadero
Hodge pass last year against Carolina in Week eighteen, like
we haven't seen that. We haven't seen the Kyle Pitts
(13:43):
fourth down against the Washington Commanders.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
We haven't seen that.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Or we haven't seen going back to back to Drake
over his back shoulder in the end zone twice, Like
we haven't seen those throws, And I don't know what
is missing from those three starts that Michael had in
twenty twenty four to these now three starts that he's had.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
And I do think it's a it's a bit of
a microcosm of the issues that the Falcons are having offensively.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Yeah, you got somebody who you want to kind of
build a downfield attack around. And I think maybe the
second interception was a moment where yeah, he's trying to
rip it comeback like twenty yards down the field. But again,
it just it just kind of felt like a little
bit of an off game from number nine, and we
will hope he gets it corrected. That's our second quarter whistle,
So let's go ahead and kind of do a quick
(14:37):
halftime break and talk about an awesome stat brought to
us by our sponsor, Microsoft co Pilot Toy. The Falcons
blitzed Bryce Young seventeen times in today's game, which was
sixty three percent of the rate for their defense, and
he was pretty effective against them. He was nine to
(14:58):
fourteen seventy two yards seven times pressured on the blitzes there.
But coming into this game, he had two hundred and
seventy yards on passes under ten air yards and four touchdowns.
Those four touchdowns were tied for the most in the NFL.
So it was a little bit of a curious, I
think approach to maybe blitz him and get the ball
(15:19):
out of his hands quickly, because that is coming into
this game what he did so well, really quickly. Do
you have any thoughts on kind of the defensive performance.
We're not going to touch on it a lot in
this episode, but really quickly here.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I mean, I think that I understood a bit of
what the defense was trying to do, and I'll give
credit where credit is due.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I thought the defense didn't.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Deserve to come out of that game having lost thirty
to zero. Like in reality for me, I say that
they gave up one touchdown like they in my brain,
they gave up one touchdown on that opening drive for Carolina,
like every other that was scored was either a field goal,
(16:04):
it was a pick six, and then it was kind
of a junk yard in the like garbage time put
away touchdown when your you know, your back is kind
of broken at that point. Like, so this loss, this performance,
this thirty to nothing score, I think it was an
(16:25):
indicative of this, this defensive performance and even and you
know they were getting off the field on third down,
like outside of those two long drive the first one
and then the one towards the end of the game,
like they were getting off the field.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
They were giving the offensive chance.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
No special teams outside of the kicking game was giving
the offense a chance, and it just never they never
did anything with those opportunities.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Completely agree. So seventeen blitz is one sack on the day.
Seven pressures Moving right along that halftime was brought to
you by Microsoft co Pilot third quarter Toy. Once you
see the fans reaction to this game, be I know,
I know you got a lot of replies.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
They were pissed, like and that's being completely honest and
completely real, Like I don't think there's any way around it. Again,
Like I you got shut out for the first time
in a decade on the road, and the last time
this happened was in Week eleven of the twenty fifteen
season against the Carolina Panthers. Like that in and of itself,
(17:33):
I especially coupled with the fact that the Falcons have
had such like starts and stops with this offense over
the last three games.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
That it's really difficult.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I think until the offense shows something different, shows that
there is life within it, I don't know how much
this fan base is going to be on board because
for the last however many years, since the years of
the Matt Julio Calvin offense that was so high powered
that took the team to a Super Bowl in twenty sixteen,
(18:08):
Like since that time, it I go back to the
quarterback carousel and the starts and the stops in the
run game being exciting and fun, but then also the
past game and the quarterbacks and you're switching a quarterback
every you know, half of a year, and it's just
like you can never buy in too much. And that
(18:28):
is a really tough place I think for fans to
be in. And right now the Falcons it's kind of
up to the Falcons offense to say, hey, you can
put your your hope and your trust in us in
what we're doing. Like when we say we're going to
be an explosive, high powered offense, like we're going to
(18:49):
show you that's who we are. And I think so
far we haven't seen that. And we've seen of course,
like we've seen bajon be bajonde. Yeah, but outside of that,
what have we seen? And the stats are what they are,
The red zone appearances are what they are. This game
(19:11):
against the Carolina Panthers was what it was. So until
we see something different, there's just like not a lot
to feel really confident about. And that's harsh, that's a
really harsh thing to say, but like, I don't have
anything else to go off of.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Yeah, the offense at this point needs a game like
the defense had in Minnesota, I think to kind of
win some fans back. And I don't know what that
looks like. I don't know if it's Michael Pennock's throwing
for four hundred yards and four touchdowns. I don't know
if it's Jon and Tyler combining for three hundred yards
on the ground three touchdowns, like any of the above
I think would fit.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
So what's interesting, too, is in the locker room, Drake
London says, you know, it was not good all around,
and the quote was like, this is not the standard
of kind of who we are. Well show us what
that standard is, because right now I don't know what
the standard is. I know what you've told me the
standard is. I know what the goal is, but this
the goal and the standard are these two things that
(20:09):
you've told me about but haven't shown me. And I mean,
it's hard to win games in the NFL, like it
really is, absolutely And you know, like I'm sympathetic that
anyone can go out on any given Sunday and beat
whoever the freak they want to be, Like, that's just
how the NFL is wired right now. But even in
saying that, like you should also score points. You have
(20:32):
an offense that has how many first round picks? Like,
and to put up zero points against the Carolina Panthers
is just a bit It's a bit mind boggling to me.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I feel like Jake Matthews always gets kind of left
out that first round pick conversation. I'm sorry, it was
just a brain a brain danger, but you were like
how many first round picks and go through them? And
I was like, don't forget Jake.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah you have Jake, you have Chris, you used to
have Caleb, you have Bejon Drake, Michael Kile Like you
how that's over half of your Yeah, it's over half
of your offense.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Do you remember in I think it was twenty twenty
when we had that like every pit or every all
eleven starters were first round picks for the the offen
Any of this is such a side tangent back to
the main point I do. I had right here. The
first note that I wrote down was, this is a
reminder of how quickly this league can humble you. Yea, right,
(21:27):
because this it like that twenty fifteen Panthers team was
undefeated at the time that they beat the Falcons, Right, Yeah,
this Panthers team was defeated by the time they came in.
So if you are and I don't think the team
at all was you know, celebrating or riding high after
(21:48):
last week's win to the point that they weren't focused
on this game, right. I asked Chris Lindstrom in the
locker room afterwards, did you see this coming based on
your week of preparation? He was like, no, we were
on point, We were locked in. Like so, so I
do think that the fans, though we're kind of coming
into this one riding a little bit a little bit high,
and in the NFL, any team is good enough to
(22:11):
beat any other team.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Yeah, But the thing is is, like you want your
fan base to be riding.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
You do you do?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Right?
Speaker 3 (22:16):
So, yeah, I don't. I'm not blaming the fans at all.
I'm just kind of saying that I feel like this
loss feels such like a three sixty or one eight.
I always say three sixty, but it feels like such
a one to eighty when in reality, like we should
have just been a division game. They're coming for us.
It's it's their home opener, X, Y and Z, so
maybe you know, again, like they didn't overlook them. But
(22:38):
this is also a reminder that that the league does
some crazy things at times.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Well, I mean it's like the surprise, Like even Bejon
Robinson was like, yeah, I'm surprised they didn't expect us
to lose thirty to nothing.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Today, right, Yeah, that's the bigger thing is is more
the the way the outcome happened. Yeah, in the outcome,
you always expect to win or lose, right, Like this
is the NFL. Everybody has those great players, but thirty
to nothing is something to fix. Fourth quarter toy, where
do the Falcons go from here?
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Like?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
How do they move forward from this? Because it just
counts as one loss?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Ye, but it's a big one.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
It's a big one.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, I think that The one thing that I kind
of hold on to is like, how out the gate
of the NFC South race Last year the Falcons were,
you know, like they they beat Tampa Bay twice, like
they they were just on an absolute tear in the
NFC South and then they ultimately don't win the division
(23:41):
at the end of the year. So like, even though
you've lost two in your division, your two losses on
the year came in your division. Like I don't I
don't think it's over. No, Like I think it's far
from over. Like there is this age, like the old adage,
and everyone freaking says it all the time. Sometimes I'm like, oh,
(24:01):
because it sometimes aggravates me so much. It's just like, Okay, yes,
it is just one game, and there's a long season ahead,
and you know we got however many more weeks of
this and all of that is true, But you can
only say that up to a point. Like, once you
get to a point, none of that matters anymore because
you've you've lost too many games. But I don't think
(24:22):
the Falcons. The Falcons are not to that point yet.
So while things do look bleak at this point in time,
I think if you can go into this Washington Commander's
game coming up next week next Sunday, I do, and
you can kind of come out either. I don't even
think you have to win that game. I think you
(24:42):
just need to have a much better performance, like you
just need to be in step with the Washington Commanders
that you can at least go into the bye week
feeling a bit better about your situation. However, I will say, well,
freaking better if you could go into the bye week
get two and two knowing that you have the Buffalo
Bills coming out of the bye week and the San
(25:04):
Francisco forty nine ers.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Yeah, I would very much like to win, and you
feel so much better personally. Yeah, it's I kind of
just feel like the way that the Falcons respond next
week is going to say as much, if not more
than this game, right because it is still early in
the season, and when you get punched in the mouth, right, like,
(25:29):
that's when you kind of find what your resolve is,
what you're made of. And hopefully this is a galvanizing
moment for this Atlanta Falcons team that has a lot
of young players that have probably been through or are
going through this for like the first time. I mean,
how many times you think John Robinson has lost thirty
to nothing in his life?
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Right? Yeah? No, And I think that.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And I want to read this quote from Jon because
I think it's encompassing kind of everything that we're talking
about here that he says, I believe this game and
either break a team or make a team. And for us,
this needs to make the team. We need to come
in tomorrow. We need to watch this game. We all
need to feel to hurt the same way. This is
a division game at that so it needs to hurt
even more for us, this loss right here when people
(26:15):
look back at it, this needs to be the weak
where we come together and it changed everything so we
can become the team that we want to become. Like
that is so eloquently said, and that is the exact
mindset that you have to have coming out of a
game that was as I think de moralizing as this
one was.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
And again demoralizing is.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
A very very strong word, but it's the right word.
You can't talk about a shut out like this and
not kind of talk about it at the level of
what it should.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Be talked about.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
It.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
It was such a good quote that frankly, I'm a
little concerned that Bijan is coming from my job because
he's so succinctly I think put the game into context
and how you move forward from this? And it is
up to the Falcons to write the story of this season,
right Like that was kind of their mindset in training
camp in the offseason. We're not gonna talk it, We're
gonna walk it. And today you didn't walk it. So
(27:14):
how do you respond from this? And you got a
great team that was in the playoffs last year on deck,
go out there and put it to them the way
the Carolina Panthers kind of just did to you. So
really like the evolution. I know that the first couple
of games of the season can be misnomers and they
can be a little bit of fool's gold. Here do
(27:38):
you buy and where do you need to see the
Falcons evolve? To feel like this is a little bit
of a fool's gold game.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Offensively, you've got to score touchdowns, Like I mean, that's.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I feel like I'm not really saying anything that's like
rocket signs.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
I'm not about like the x's and o's.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I'm not really getting into much of anything at all,
Like I feel like, but the reason for that is
because at the end of the day, like put a
put good on good and go at it and win
your win your reps like and go punch the ball
in the end zone. Like, you can't win games consistently
in this league if you do not score. Like even
(28:21):
Zach Robinson said it himself last week talking about not
getting in the end zone last week against Minnesota, and
he said, like, that's not winning football games. You aren't scoring,
You're not winning football games. You can squeak out a
few here and there, but you're not winning. And like
that's what happened today, and it's what happened against Carolina Panthers,
(28:44):
And like you won't be sitting here with a win
in your back pocket against some of these really really
good teams, really good defenses and offenses in this league
if you're not scoring points.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah, I'm exascer.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
You.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
You've gotta you gotta be able to keep pace in
this league for sure. That's our our fourth and final whistle.
Thank you guys so much for listening to uh today's podcast.
I know it wasn't a great one. It certainly was
not a great game. Actually, let's toy we're gonna take
a five second moment of silence to let everybody just
(29:23):
sit in their feelings for a second, and then we're
gonna we're gonna flush this and we're gonna turn the
page and we're gonna move on. All right, ready, Ready,
let's go. Man. That felt good. All right, that game
it's in the past, it's in the rear view. We're
(29:43):
on to Washington. Thank you guys so much for listening
to today's Talkins Final whistle. Thank you Toy for joining me.
Thank you to our producer Jared for his work on
this episode. Hopefully we are talking to you guys next
week about a better and different outcome. But until then,
the Falcon's got a week of work ahead. They've got
(30:04):
some improvements to make, and we will discuss the outcome
of that work in one week. So for Tory mclaney
I and Will McFadden, we will see you all next time.
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