J.B. Long, D'Marco Farr, and Maurice Jones-Drew sit down on the newest episode of Between The Horns to discuss wide receiver Puka Nacua's return, expectations for Sunday's matchup against the New Orleans Saints, and first 7 weeks of the Rams' 2025 season.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Reunited and it feels so good. Welcome back from the
buy everyone with the Marco fire. Maurice Jones drew, I
am JB. Long. This is between the Horns, presented by
your southern California Toyota dealers. The Rams are five and two,
and after a week to rest and recover and enjoy
that blowout win over the Jags in London, now they
turn their attention to the second half and the Saints.
What's up, Fellas?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What's up? Man? Uh?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
You are truly amazing. You slept the entire way back
from that entire unbelievable How he does that. I'm gonna
be honest with you. I'm gonna be honest with you.
I knew it was gonna be a tough flight. I
watched a movie and a half, took a nap, thought
we'd be here. We had two more hours left. I said, oh, yeah,
that's we're in the air.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I can sleep. He drifted back to sleep. I'm so jealous.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
DeMarco had the window. I had the aisle. I didn't
have to get up to let him out once. So
I mean, you talk about clutch performances, that was incredible.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
JB was gone. I mean I'm not getting up.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Oh yeah, any highlights from your time away?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Rest yeah, yeah, flag football, we're playing, we're winning.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
My how is my.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Daughter broke from sixty Maurice. That's what I'm talking about,
end around. Yeah, but what does she do when she scored?
She handed the ball back to the official tears. That's
what we coached. That's that's Barry Sanders, No Camari Sanders.
No one watches wants to watch that anymore.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We got to celebrate. The fun is the winning. No,
the fun is when the scoring.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
You're getting across that line so hard, you know, especially
in flag there's there's fifteen other people out there in
your way or trying to get you.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
You gotta find you find a way to make a
long run. I think you gotta spike the ball or
kick it. We celebrated at the restaurant. That's where you celebrate.
There you go. So you're teaching the youth, our youth
the wrong way.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
I'd say, how I spent my off week. I watched
Minnesota lose in Dallas. Yes, in Chicago and Carolina and
Atlanta and Washington not playoff. Bubble got real soft last weekend.
I was kind of nice to see that.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Of course, you watch the Niners lose too.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I was leaving that for you, my friend.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
It was a beautiful It was a beautiful weekend for sure.
Super excited though, when you look at kind of where
the Rams are and kind of how teams are playing, too,
I think that's the most important thing. Winning is obviously
number one, but it's how you win, right or how
you lose. These teams aren't playing really good football right now.
That we saw Washington's not playing really good football. With
(02:23):
Daniel's being heard, Dallas didn't look good against the Broncos.
I thought the Niners kind of they stunk it up
a little bit. That thought that Houston. I thought they
did better against Houston's defense, but they really didn't do
anything in that in that regard. And so it seems
like teams aren't playing good football right now.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Everybody has problems.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
I mean, we get so caught up and looking at
the Rams, but everybody has their own issues and everybody's
trying to figure it out. And I think teams are
starting around in the form now. And I think what
we saw in Jacksonville out of the Rams, I think
that might have been the closest they've come to playing
a complete game and all three, so it's trending in
the right direction. And like you said, we'll see what
happens during the second half after the bye week, but
(03:07):
it was nice to see. I guess the NFC kind
of come back to you after you're coming off a
big win.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
So I'll ask you what five and two feels like,
especially in the context to where the Rams were in
twenty three and twenty four. In just a second, but
to color in five and two, all five wins against
the AFC, zero to two against the NFC, so they've
beaten the wrong teams, if you'll allow it. That being said,
those two losses each came on the final play of
the game in Philadelphia and against the Niners at home.
(03:35):
So relative to being three games below five hundred at
your by the last couple of years, mission accomplished. The
Rams got off to a faster start this year, no question,
But because they don't have a conference win yet, much
less a division win at five and two, it still
feels like there's a long way to go.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Oh yeah, there is a long way to go, a
long way to go. But at the arrows pointing up
in certain areas. If you go back and look at
last year and how they started, and then if you
kind of compare that to this year. To me, the
difference has been protection. For Matthew Stafford. You've given up
eleven sacks total. He is near the top, he is
on an MVP pace, and your O line is doing
(04:13):
a great job. Only four sacks allowed on the road.
Think about that, you went to Philly, you went to Tennessee.
When Tennessee with the best thing about him was their defense.
Only four sacks allowed on the road. You gave up one.
I think in London if you want to count that
as a road game, which it is. So they've been
They've been performing well. Matthew Stafford has been performing well
behind them, so and I thought in Jacksonville was probably
(04:35):
their best performance. So the arrow's pointing up and this defense,
if you go back to last year and look at
some of your notes, we said the lessons they learned
from twenty four will benefit them in twenty five. They're
starting not to waste opportunities when they have a chance
for a knockout shot or to get off the field.
They're doing it and they're making plays. So I think
this defense for where the NFC is now and what
(04:56):
you've gone through, I think you've set yourself up for
a pretty.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Good second act. So I also think this too.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
If you look at some of the teams that you're
sitting in there, there's a lot of injuries starting to happen.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Saquan's a little banged up.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
AJ Brown's out with Philly McCaffrey is still running well,
but you see he's kind of slowed down a little
bit after having a big game against the Falcons, and
there's some things are starting to happen where the Rams.
On the other side, they're getting healthier, kind of like
twenty four, they got healthy around this time.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
They're able to make that jump. I thought they handled
though this year.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
You talked about the protection they're not having Havenstein and
not having Steve Abola, you're able to make You're able
to manage that a lot better this year than you
were last year. Some of that was with the running game.
Some that's what using tight ends. Some that's doing some
different things to get the ball out quicker and also
taking your shots and having max protection. But I thought
(05:45):
the Rams managed it better this year. Same injuries I
thought happened last year, but you just managed it better
this year, which again you learn from that. And then
going forward, I look at the schedule, and again I
have a bunch of Niner fans, and I'm looking at
their schedule like godly, like that's crazy down the stretch
how that looks. But I want to play contenders. I
want to play teams that will possibly play in the playoffs.
(06:08):
I want to have that confidence going in and I think,
again the Rams health is going to be a big
part of that as well, as long as they can
continue to play really good football and keep getting better.
And we talked about we haven't talked about we'll talk
about the depth in which they have with tight end
and wide receiver and running back.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Those things are going to come into play.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
The depth that you're adding at cornerback, the defensive line depth,
the linebacker depth, all those things are going to come
into play here very soon. And so it's important now
that those guys got those quality reps throughout that first
half of the season because now you're in the second season, right,
and that second season is about playing your best ball
and being as efficient as possible.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
We know what next week is. You mentioned the Niners.
If the Rams want to defend their division crown. That's
a must win, and you gotta be careful not to
look past Sunday.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
This week to me is about building in some playoff cushion.
There's a world where we wake up on Monday and
the Rams are two games clear in the lost column
of any real serious competition on that wildcard bubble. I
get that making a wildcard appearance is not the goal
for this team. I'm just saying at the midway point,
that's where they stand. What'd you make with the trade
deadline approaching of their acquisition of Roger mccreer this week
(07:17):
to bolster their corner depth.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
So I called you about this and we missed calls.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I know I wasn't. I wasn't screening you.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
No, No, you are no.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
I know you were busy, and I was busy because
we were going we were playing phone tag. I personally
thought that we were gonna the It was gonna be
a big splash, right, a Jalen Ramsey type of guys,
which in my mind I was thinking because if you
look at the time when the Rams won the Super Bowl,
Aaron Donald was that you have that in four or
five guys on your defensive line that can rush and
get to the quarterback. You're missing that lockdown corner where
(07:46):
you can shade the other side. Now you're good to go.
I don't want to say I questioned it. I know
you needed depth. I just didn't know if, like how
good this kid is?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Right? I have to wait and see, So I want
to kind of reserve.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
My uh critique or my thought about him until I
see him playing this system.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
But we played, we played Tennessee. I didn't see him on.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
The seven tackles. He had seven tackles. He was a
he's a good player. Uh, it's a guy they know.
They had him at the Senior Bowl. They know a
lot about it.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
That's not good.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
If your corner has seven tackles, that means the ball
is getting caught.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
But I mean he's solid, he's he's he's solid, and
he can play inside. Now, so I think he's a
guy that fits well. Uh, he'll probably get a lot
of run.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
We'll see outside because because he's been playing, he's.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Not gonna you're not giving up played outside. He played outside,
played inside. He can he's he's a he's a complete corner.
He's what do you call those guys. He's kind of
like a Kobe Durant type where you can put him
just about anywhere and be effective.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Who was a kid we drafted in a couple.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Of years like Jack of all trade, master of none
so far in his career. But he's a high end
second round talent who's maybe not in the best environment
in Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I don't know what Tennessee is doing or what they're
mint is, but uh, he's the guy that they liked.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
He's a guy that started against the Rams. Uh.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
He's the guy that could you could plug in almost
right away. So he may not have the shut down ability,
but he's healthy and he can play.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Pcaution next to nothing.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Who was the kid we drafted a couple of years ago,
same build, athletic from like a small school. Remember he
was he was into being a gunner. We drafted him
to kind of be an athletic corner married. He looked
like Jalen Ramsey athletic Like body type wise.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Are you talking about Robert Rochelle.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Roberts And that's what I see with this kid is
that he has that body type. You just got to
hope the game translate. Now, this is my My only
concern is if you're on a championship run, right, and
I'm not saying this kid or can and not do it.
I just want to make sure I'm saying that to
our fans. I don't know if he can or can't
do it. But when you made that trade for Jalen Ramsey,
(09:50):
we knew what it was about.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
A yeah, you see what I'm like.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
I knew what you were doing, and I think our
audience knows what you're talking about. Where you come back
from London at five and two with your best performance
of the year, the Falcons take a loss, that extra
first round pick is looking like some real trade capital.
And look, there's still a week to go before the deadline.
It could still happen. But the sense that I'm getting,
and I don't know anything about anything, I'm just reading
Tea leaves here and I'm role playing. I get the
(10:15):
sense that the way they're playing right now and the
way their quarterback is playing right now at age thirty seven.
While you could use that as license to step on
the gas and go all in again in a twenty
twenty one like fashion, I wonder if behind the scenes
they're not saying, how about two or three bites at
this apple?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, I can see that.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
How about if Stafford plays thirty eight and maybe thirty nine,
and we get him and Sean McVay in the ring
with this ascending defense, and yeah, I would love to
see Matthew go out with confetti and his hair and
right off into the sunset.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
No, that would be fun. I wouldn't want that. I
wonder what you're talking about. Stay, stay longer, right.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Don't leave lod On, don't hey, don't leave me.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Hold a lot of good choices here, Yeah, but lifting
the Lombardi in Santa Clara.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Oh oh, but don't leave, dude. Let's do that and
then let's do it get let's run it back.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Okay, So you're saying, yes, yeah, yeah, Well so.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
In my mind it's this defense is playing at an
all time high.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
In the front seven, they're all over the place. You
do need help on the back.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
End, right, And if you're gonna beat Philadelphia, you can't
have a j. Brown do what he did in the
second half of that game. You can't have Kendrick, you
can't have Yeah, you're right, but almost right. You can't
have Kendrick Bourne go for one hundred and forty yards
and those gets. You just those things can't happen. And yeah,
but that's what I'm saying. So, but that's what I'm saying.
So if you could stop that, then it's it's it's
(11:36):
it's a completely different deal.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
If you can hold it until itspoon comes back.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I think that's awesome too. I think that's I think
as well.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
But to me, it's just you're gonna have to have
a superstar somewhere on this defense at that position.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
The game is, the.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Rules are for them to pass, and you're gonna have
to be able to cover these dudes. And you can't
give up third and thirty nine give a twelve yard catch.
You just can't do that and stay on the field.
That's what we saw in Philly. And then also you
can't you can't give it a five yard catch and
they got run for fifteen yards on thirty night. You said,
I saying, like, so something has to give in these situations,
And I'm not being again, I'm just noting.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I'm talking about the championship mindset.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Orady for conversation. Yeah, because on paper, the Rams have
been a top five defense they've been a top three
d oh, yes, for sure. But for those of us
who have lived every down in and down out, and
speaking to our audience, I think there's a lot of
caveats to that. There's a yeah, but which top tier
offense have you played? And what about the second half
in Philadelphia some of the plays that you've mentioned. What
about the forty nine ers practice squad coming in here
(12:36):
and getting after you in the first half on those
early drives. So there's a lot of that there, and we.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Still haven't seen JSN and Sam Darnold.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That's what I'm saying, torching the league right now. The
toughest is still to come, right and.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
So and so to me, I just think again, I'm
like you, I have no I have no idea what's
going on or what I'm just going how I feel
and what I see after how they played against the
Jaguars and seeing them dominate that game, and they have
some they have some talents and athletic dudes offensively, and
they did an awesome job. But if you are gonna
(13:08):
have to face let's just say, if you're gonna have
to face a Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl or
or seem we know the Cancie Chiefs in the Super
Bowl with seventeen weapons that can catch you.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Tampa Baya Bay like troits.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
All these guys that are getting that you have, you're
gonna have to be able to cover on that back
in and tackle on that back in.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
There's also the future to plan for and and whether
or not Matthew is in it, You're gonna have to
pay some guys very soon. And so that draft capital,
if they do preserve it in this next week, is
going to be utilized to get your next tackle of
the future, your next corner, and some other things so
that you can I don't know. I just wonder if
there's a world where they're planning to build a roster
(13:50):
like Philadelphia's or pick pick your favorite roster. Those draft
picks a more complete, exactly draft driven and fortified.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
It's funny because when you talk about paying people, I
just saw to try paid like the eighth guy over
one hundred million dollars.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
It's like, how and where we getting this money from? Right?
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I think there's ways to manipulate the cap. I do
understand what you're saying though, by using those draft picks,
because again there's nothing better than having a great player
on a rookie contract, right, There's nothing better than that.
So I understand that part.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
As well, especially as Pooka and Versu and others come off.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
There, right, But I just, you know, I think it's
the it's the the fan in me that wants the
Rams to like blow this year out of the water,
you know what I mean. It's just it's the it's
the the being attached to this team and seeing tasting
that success a couple of years ago, where like I
want that caviar back, like I don't. I want those
oysters and I want that back. Right, we haven't. We
(14:42):
haven't got We were close last year. We almost went
to the steakhouse, but we didn't get there.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
You know what I'm saying. We didn't get there. So
now I'm like, man, I'm hungry, like you know what
I mean.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
And so as a fan, I understand, because you know
you obviously we interact with fans all the time.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
I understand.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
And again I'm not saying that this won't work or
it will I have no I think forbes, I think
that was a great opportunity to see if that worked out.
It's shown flashes this hasn't been as consistent as you
want it to be. I thought he tackled awesome in London,
where he struggled with that early in the year.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
He just hoped that this is either a better version.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Of that, because again, like I don't again, and I
don't know what corners are available either. No one knows
who's available at this point and how much is going
to cost to get a guy. But you also, like,
I know he's going to take a superstar to help.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Do you want to add some first half thoughts on defense?
So you want to migrate over to offense.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Well, I think the front and I'll keep banging this drum.
I think that Byron Young and Jared Verse are playing
at all pro level, both of them. Just one is
getting all the numbers. The other one is causing the havoc.
And shout out to Josiah Stewart as well. He doesn't
look like a mismatch you when he goes out there.
He looks like a guy that plays major reps. So
(15:53):
and Nate Landman has been an absolute revelation for the
Rams and pursued his leadership every So. I think this defense,
if you're just healthy and you're credible in the back
end with the rush you're getting, the pressure you're getting,
and you continue to stop the run.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I think that is the best antidote to.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Any quarterback receiver duo in the league, is getting pressure
on that guy. So we'll see if that works out.
But flipping over to offense, like I said, when you
guys were talking about Matthew Stafford, when you watch him
on tape and you always start with thirty seven year
old Matthew Stafford, or we make jokes about how old
he is. When he's got that helmet on in uniform,
you can't tell how old he is. He looks like
(16:36):
prime Stafford and he is an absolute load in the
red zone what he's doing to you. So I can't
wait for this weekend. There's gonna be a high level
chess match out there, Brandon Staley versus Matthew Stafford, especially
when they get into the red zone. Let's see if
he can make those safeties bite on things and get
the ball out to Devonte Adams. So this will be
a fun matchup. But as far as Matthew Stafford and
(17:00):
this being the last go round or his last shootout
at the OK Corral, it doesn't look that way. So
whatever plans you had about restarting or reloading or rebooting,
I think you should keep those on hold until we
figure out where this train ends this year.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I you want to jump in.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Yeah, So before I say that, I want to say
when I talk about the back end, I'm not talking
about the safeties.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I think that. I think all three of them are
playing lights.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Out, curl kitchens, They're they're doing a really good job.
I just think you have a rotation of corners that
I think, again, we've seen it.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
When I talk about the offense, though, I thought the
game plan against the Jags, and we talked to Sean
about that, the wholesale change that we saw that is
terrifying for a defense. When I can go thirteen personnel,
come back and go eleven, go ten, go twelve, go
whatever you want, and you just move guys in and out,
you could be a different eleven.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
How do you coach against that?
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Because when you look at a defense, right, they're talking
about okay, when they're an eleven personnel, they have you know,
witting ten Adams and TUCU. They like to do this right,
But then when they come thirteen personnel. They do that
like it changes all your tendencies and you can still
run the same place. And so I think when what
I what I learned from the first part of the
season is the depth of the rams can and will
(18:20):
be a problem for a lot of teams.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Now, you got to continue. You can't turn the ball over, right,
you can't in the critical moments first game, and you
scored and it looked like it was easy, right, And
so as long as you continue to take care of
the football and you continue to have those wholesale changes,
it's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough for a
lot of people to stop.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
You're buying that they're going to lean into this multiple identity,
that they're going to continue to platoon at the skill
position players.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I would hope so, but history tells me no. But
I would.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
I would hold when you substitute, so can the defense.
And so for the better part of the McVeigh era,
they've lived in this eleven personnel identity because they can
then throw whatever pitches they want, They can go as
fast or as slow as they want. And with Puka
coming back, the team, with DeVante coming off a three
touchdown performance, it wouldn't surprise me if they just go
all the way back into spamming those two and seeing
(19:11):
if a defense like the Saints can stop it.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Right, I can see that as well.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I just think, like, if you're again, I don't want
to look forward, but if you're facing the Niners, the
game plan that you had against the Jaguars is probably
better against the Niners than it is against the Saints.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
In part because it involved Terrence Ferguson. Right, Yes, I
mean I think for this offense to get to its
highest ceiling, he's got a month maybe two, to become
the rookie menace that I think we all hoped he
would be.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
It will never be this good again, kid, just if
I was whispering in his ear, you have a Hall
of Fame quarterback less you're going back and looking for you,
it will never be this good again unless you're the
Green Bay pass or has had three quarterbacks in the
last thirty years play well like that.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
That's the only team that I could think of that's
had three really good qbs when the last twenty five years.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Right, but right for right now, Yeah, you've got a
hell of an opportunity.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
And I think if you keep running him up those
seams and get him matched up. Those are easy ways
to get him going, and then eventually you're gonna have
plays off of that that's going to open up, and
that's gonna be another avenue to the game. But I
think he needs to start getting You can tell he's
different than the other tight ends.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
He's differentiat. Yeah, like the touchdown Bill's confidence, right, it
gets your quarterbacks attention. But every time I talk to
coaches around here about him, it's like, yeah, not just
the plays that he's made, they've been limited so far,
but look at when he's not getting the target, the
easy separation, the timing with which he comes off the line. Look,
they were very cautious about dropping names like Kelsey into
(20:45):
his draft camp, right, but when you see the buzz
that we saw at LMU, when he shows up and
he does some of the things that are his superpower, again,
I think you need to get there sooner rather than
later if you want to be that offensive team come
end of year.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
No question.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Like I said, I think thirteen personnel puts a lot
of people in the buying with him there because that's
a receiver, right, so how do you match that do
you go base safety and do you put a corner
on him which bigger than him? Right? Do you put
a safety he's faster a linebacker, and then you still
have the two other tight ends. It could be Higbee,
it could be Davis, it could be Parkinson, and they're
different guys, and so to me, I think mcvay's unlocked
(21:23):
the he's starting to unlock that thirteen personnel where we
could be in thirteen and line up an eleven and
have to give our guys a break if we want
to still have Pooka out there, Davonte or you can
go twelve and do the same thing. But it just
it just that different look running the same plays against
like you said, Like imagine if they're at thirteen, they
trap the defense out there and you have a Ferguson
(21:43):
on a.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Corner the whole time.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Bet that's fifty to fifty ball, which turned into pretty
much a ninety ten ball.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Here we go like.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Almost spam it like you said, and then we're gonna
come out there. We're gonna put someone fast too, is
gonna like it just it just again it the the
the depth that they have can put really put pressure
on people.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
It's pointed too. As Tutu goes to injured reserve for
a month, right that, in a different iteration of this offense,
you might be like, Ooh, now you're without the guy
who can take the top off, and even if he's
not getting targets, he's creating all those zones for Puka
and for DeVante Deafist. I don't think I don't sense
that concern right now. And not to tie everything back
to the trade deadline and what we talked about previously,
but for multiple years now we've said all of the
(22:25):
resources are poured into this offense. That's where the picks are,
that's where the dollars are. This needs to be an
offensive led team that's scoring thirty points per game, and
there have been long drafts, but that's not been the case.
What if, what if the sky's are about to open
and they are going to become that team offensively, then
maybe you don't need a top three defense in terms
(22:46):
of touchdowns allowed in points allowed. I'm not saying that
the bar should be lowered for them. I'm just saying
maybe they are becoming the complete organization in the team
that they drew up on paper.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
This offense, you mean if the team, the offense starts
to score a lot of pon you often start, Yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Can start rulling by fourteen points and then now we see.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
What we're playing some home games with moss and attendance,
and then all of a sudden, this looks like.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
And I think that's what That's what we talked about
in the very beginning of the season was if this
this offense can get you ten fourteen point lead, what
can this defense look like?
Speaker 1 (23:18):
When we saw that, and there has been some built
in scheduling luck up and down the Rams first seven games,
and there might be more coming this weekend because you
would love to have a rookie first time starter. See
some ghosts at SOFI Stadium on Halloween weekend as the
Saints flipped to Tyler Shuck.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yes, shocked by it. I get it. I meant it
over that much. Yeah, but he's their best option. But
you can't turn it over.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
Yeah, you're right, and you're right, but you knew what
you were getting into when you took this job, right.
I think people it's like we have these unrealistic expectations. Right,
you have two young quarterbacks and you draft a rookie
who's played kind of all over college and you expect
them not to make miss So now we're gonna play
this guy's kind of like the Giants was like, oh,
(24:03):
we drafted Dart, he's gonna we're gonna let him sit.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Like, if you're gonna draft this kid, you should have.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
Played him right away, because now you're bringing him in
where people are starting to like, I'd rather play a
rookie early on because I know the defense aren't fine tuned.
This defense are starting to like figure things out. It's
getting that time of year where people are starting to
figure things out. You have tendencies, you have different things
that you like to do. All of a sudden, now
you're gonna throw a rookie in there who's probably not
gonna read it the same way I know you're gonna throw.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
You're gonna try to get the ball out quick.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Which they've already been doing. Yes, I mean Alave is
getting less than ten yards per reception.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
And when they take Shasse, throw it to Shahid, like
you know, I know what you're trying to do, and
like he's literally like getting the ball out. They're throwing
like hitches all over the place for shut when he
went in against Tampa. So to me, it's like all right,
Like so you will put them in against Tampa. Now
you're gonna start him against the Rams defense like rest
(24:56):
of luck.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
That's what I was telling DeMarco. That was scares me
about this game is I can't find much to be intimidated.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
By Werner, Demorial Davis just giving your names, Cam Jordan
can always be sneaky.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
They have guys. This defense is better than you think.
I have been there when you have to defend a
turnover machine. Excuse your numbers, but if you go back
and watch them play by play, they can get after you.
Brandon Staley gets you to third down, he makes I
guess the antidote to his defense is elite quarterback play.
(25:32):
Anything less than that, you're gonna get hit and they'll
probably turn the ball over. This Saints defense is really good. Now,
if the offense does its job, you'll force it onto
a rookie quarterback and then the way we go. But
if you're making mistakes, this defense can hang around for
a long time like luggage.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
So who's the double agent then? Is it Staley or
is it McVeigh Because you've practiced against each other multiple
times for what a.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Year, including this summer. Yeah, some joint practices this summer.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
So to me, it's like I always believe if we
ever played a coach that like we played Greg Williams
one time, who was with the Saints.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
I was with Jacksonville, he was in jat.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
We knew exactly what he was gonna do, exactly he's
gonna send blitz his pressures. We know what beats his defense,
what does and what we had to get away from,
and we weren't that good and we took him to
the wire.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
And the same time, this is Drew Brees Saints.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
This is the Saints that were going to Super Bowls
and deep in the NFC playoffs. But we knew what
the defensive coordinator was doing, so we were on the offensive.
We know how to like what plays work and what
plays don't work. I knew that, uh, we would call
a five man for our protection instead of like sliding one.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
We just call five man because we knew it was blitzing.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
And I'd just roll out and then Jonathan Billman would
be screaming at me all the time.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Like why aren't you picking up the blitz? Don't worry
about it, like you gotta cover.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
We're gonna make you cover, right, And so in my
mind it's like, is Sean is that Sean or is
it the other way around where Staley's like, I've been
going practicing against this offense OTAs and then we did
it this last year and right.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah, but he's not been practicing it against for instance,
Stafford was not there that day this summer. He's not
gone up against DeVante and Puka, He's not gone up
against three tight ends versions of this offense. So I
think Sean holds more cards, both personnel and scheme.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I think the more complicated Sean gets, the more simplified
he gets. And I think the whole thing with him
is going to be when he starts bringing pressure and
how you know what I mean, and what happens when
you get to the red zone and how we you
try to trick that up. But as for the most part,
they're going to know each other. It just depends on
how you play and what areas of the of the
game or what positions Sean is going to try to
(27:35):
attack that day and let's see if Staley can make
adjustments from there. But they're going to have notes on
each other. But that means nothing. Once toa meets leather,
you know what I mean. It's all about how you
play that day.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
It does.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
And I'll say this, what Davante did last week with
a single coverage, I don't see him single single coverage
in the red zone ever.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Again, I wouldn't do it.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
So then what's the counter punch is.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Pooka on the other side to run the football side.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
What's interesting is Pooka had become a red zone The
hard part about seeing him get injured on a fade
ball in Baltimore was like he had been killing the
red zone. They had unlocked the red zone. We saw
some of those double slants. We saw them using his
big frame run and pass. So if you put those
pieces back together now and you get the battering ram
of kiraen Williams in your running game in short yarded situations,
(28:20):
is that up into the right.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Oh yeah, I'm just saying, and you add that to it. Yes,
at some point you have no choice. You're gonna go
one on one as a defense down there because you're
so close to the goal one.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
You got to stack that safety in to protect versus
the run.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Oh yeah, Because then now it's again that the fadeball
we talked about is not a fifty to fifty ball anymore.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Yeah, but you're you're gonna have to at some point
and you're gonna bet on your corner playing good positioning.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I think you lose that battle, but I think at
some point every offense is going to get you in
that spot. There's the's no way around it.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Not only that, when you look at the red zone
woes from the first half of the schedule, you give
me like three plays that I can circle and change
the outcome of. They almost all involve nine in Davonte, Right,
It's like, give me this one at Philly, Right, this
one they hit this nine out of ten times. I
don't know why they missed it. Give me that one
and the goal post at Baltimore, and the whole game
looks different, the whole stat looks different. And so if
they were able to do it finally click in the
(29:13):
rain on the road in London, then I think there's
reason to expect Okay, yeah, there's reason to have very
very high expectations for the rest of this season.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
I I think it opens up the running game, and
I think you forced them because it could again if
I'm a defensive coordinator and I'm looking at the and
I'm looking at the rams and what they want to do,
especially this last game, we're gonna stop the pass in
the roads.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
We're going to.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
Force you to I want you to run the football.
I know some coaches things in this. I want you
to run the football. Yeah, I'm not gonna let you
get happy and throw fades. And I don't want Stafford
to throw the ball, throw touchdown.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Is there a danger in falling in love with the fade?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
There's a danger in it. No, God, no, there's a danger.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
But that's why if I'm a you're not gonna get it,
I'm not gonna let.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
You get it. I'm gon to make you do like,
oh no, hend them all off. Yeah, it's not the run.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
When you get beat like that, the fear is always
there and you're going to be nervous as a corner,
as a defense. So I would lean into that that
that would be a calling card for me. You can
even pencil it. If we get in this situation, you
know the fade ball's coming. Like you said, fifty to fifty,
I got a guy I can trust that's going to
put it in an area either he's going to get
it or it's out of bounds, So I would definitely
(30:23):
use that. But you said something I thought was interesting,
and I will take this as the second round of
the Olympics, this running back situation. If you can become
more explosive in the run game plus everything else we
just mentioned, then you start talking about an offense that's
well oiled and ready to go. So and whichever back
(30:43):
decides to take it over, I think there'll be opportunities
for both. I wouldn't rule out a Blake corm run.
I wouldn't rule out Kyvien Williams starting to tear it
up at some point when you start to put that
stuff on tape and you get Pooka back, Like you said,
I think what's going to suffer is your run defense.
So if you can take advantage of that with a
good running game, that turns explosive.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Now we're talk.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Saying you're gonna get the light boxes again, You're gonna
get a ball secure Kiren in the second half, you're
gonna get a healthy Blake Horn.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
I hope you get that part.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
And you're gonna get Rob Hanstein back at right tackle,
and you've got Steve back at left guard that this
should be the best version of the round running game
coming down the pipe.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
I believe so absolutely.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
If you, like I said, there's some moments in that
Jacksonville game that I call frameable stuff to where you
an old lineman or an O line coach would stop it,
look at and say, this is perfect. We're all stepping
with the right foot, had us on the right side,
we're making the right reads, and our running back has
an opportunity to make a play that happened time and
time again. They were stringing those plays together, moving the
ball down the field. That stuff carries over if you
(31:44):
start to go from an efficient run game to a
more explosive run game. I don't know how you defend.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Anything so explosive, being what like forty yard touchdown runs
or I don't know if I don't know if that's
in this backfield personally, Yeah, I don't. Johnathan, like when
you look at Nathan Taylor, that's completely different than what
the Rams have. That makes sense. I think that their
explosive runs maybe twenty five at most just because of
the speed of their natural like top end speed. But
(32:13):
to me, that's all you want.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
Yeah, right, because I don't care if you've got a
pinballet for fifty yards, if you could get twenty five yard,
twenty yard burst, maybe a thirty yard or maybe Kyen
does a great vision and cuts back and gets you, yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Thirty five like that. That's that to me.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
That, to me, is what you're going to see more
of because of the way the passing game is looking
right now.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Develop the bread and butter chunk runs not necessarily house calls. Yeah,
just refresh the downs.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
Yes, and if Kyen breaks the sixty yard and then
excuse me, right bad.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
I just haven't seen it.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I can't wait for that show.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I just haven't seen it. But if that happens, yeah,
oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Same time, same place, next Thursday's apology tour.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
What happens all the time. There you go.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
If he scores from sixty, you can dance there. Don't
hand it to the official. If he breaks off a
long run, I want to see him do like a
handstand in the end zone.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
If he scores from sixty, I may be in the
end zone. Wait on, good, there you go. Let's get fined.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
You gotta love this, uh, this selly game going to
the next level. Finally for the McVay rams. I've never
been like this.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
It's the youth movement. These young guys like I have
a puppy.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
I just got a puppy, and I have this old dog,
and it's like the old dog doesn't want to be
a puppy, but he has to because the puppy has
all this energy and he's jumping with them. That's Mumfield
and all these guys celebrating. Everyone's doing the sioux and
all this. Like that energy is contagious, right, and you
see it around the league. You saw it with the
Giants with Darton Scataboo, Like that energy is contagious.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
They don't they don't know any they don't know any better.
They just want to have fun.
Speaker 4 (33:41):
I got my first test out ay and everybody's like, hey,
I'll do it too, right, and then that celebration is just.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
What you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
I was smiling until he said Scataboo man gets surgery
in Philadelphia and then guess who comes in next Francisco forty.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
They're both beat up for.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Next week's show. Love you guys, good to be back,
Good to be back. Hope to see you at SOFI
Stadium this weekend. Good month of home games here. The
Rams only leave the city what once before Thanksgiving, don't
leave the state until after Thanksgiving. Come on, be loud,
four M J D and DeMarco far I'm JB Long.
I guess I'm wishing you a happy Halloween. Worst holiday
on the calendar. Can't wait to get to.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Take all the chocolate.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
That's my third favorite holiday. You see right there you are,
there you go, and Christmas there you go. Got you
with the first one with the first one gives in
a row?
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Is crazy what I was like, Yo, we gotta figure
this thing out. I was thinking Thanksgiving, Yeah, is like
fifth or six Saint Patti's days over Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Oh my god, Wow, too bad amount of time. It's
a lot more to dig into there. Thank you for
joining us for a Saints preview and a fresh between
the horns presented by your Southern California Toyota Dealers.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
Member.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
We kept the ki
Reunited and it feels so good. Welcome back from the
buy everyone with the Marco fire. Maurice Jones drew, I
am JB. Long. This is between the Horns, presented by
your southern California Toyota dealers. The Rams are five and two,
and after a week to rest and recover and enjoy
that blowout win over the Jags in London, now they
turn their attention to the second half and the Saints.
What's up, Fellas?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What's up? Man? Uh?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
You are truly amazing. You slept the entire way back
from that entire unbelievable How he does that. I'm gonna
be honest with you. I'm gonna be honest with you.
I knew it was gonna be a tough flight. I
watched a movie and a half, took a nap, thought
we'd be here. We had two more hours left. I said, oh, yeah,
that's we're in the air.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I can sleep. He drifted back to sleep. I'm so jealous.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
DeMarco had the window. I had the aisle. I didn't
have to get up to let him out once. So
I mean, you talk about clutch performances, that was incredible.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
JB was gone. I mean I'm not getting up.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Oh yeah, any highlights from your time away?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Rest yeah, yeah, flag football, we're playing, we're winning.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
My how is my.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Daughter broke from sixty Maurice. That's what I'm talking about,
end around. Yeah, but what does she do when she scored?
She handed the ball back to the official tears. That's
what we coached. That's that's Barry Sanders, No Camari Sanders.
No one watches wants to watch that anymore.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We got to celebrate. The fun is the winning. No,
the fun is when the scoring.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
You're getting across that line so hard, you know, especially
in flag there's there's fifteen other people out there in
your way or trying to get you.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
You gotta find you find a way to make a
long run. I think you gotta spike the ball or
kick it. We celebrated at the restaurant. That's where you celebrate.
There you go. So you're teaching the youth, our youth
the wrong way.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
I'd say, how I spent my off week. I watched
Minnesota lose in Dallas. Yes, in Chicago and Carolina and
Atlanta and Washington not playoff. Bubble got real soft last weekend.
I was kind of nice to see that.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Of course, you watch the Niners lose too.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
I was leaving that for you, my friend.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
It was a beautiful It was a beautiful weekend for sure.
Super excited though, when you look at kind of where
the Rams are and kind of how teams are playing, too,
I think that's the most important thing. Winning is obviously
number one, but it's how you win, right or how
you lose. These teams aren't playing really good football right now.
That we saw Washington's not playing really good football. With
(02:23):
Daniel's being heard, Dallas didn't look good against the Broncos.
I thought the Niners kind of they stunk it up
a little bit. That thought that Houston. I thought they
did better against Houston's defense, but they really didn't do
anything in that in that regard. And so it seems
like teams aren't playing good football right now.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Everybody has problems.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
I mean, we get so caught up and looking at
the Rams, but everybody has their own issues and everybody's
trying to figure it out. And I think teams are
starting around in the form now. And I think what
we saw in Jacksonville out of the Rams, I think
that might have been the closest they've come to playing
a complete game and all three, so it's trending in
the right direction. And like you said, we'll see what
happens during the second half after the bye week, but
(03:07):
it was nice to see. I guess the NFC kind
of come back to you after you're coming off a
big win.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
So I'll ask you what five and two feels like,
especially in the context to where the Rams were in
twenty three and twenty four. In just a second, but
to color in five and two, all five wins against
the AFC, zero to two against the NFC, so they've
beaten the wrong teams, if you'll allow it. That being said,
those two losses each came on the final play of
the game in Philadelphia and against the Niners at home.
(03:35):
So relative to being three games below five hundred at
your by the last couple of years, mission accomplished. The
Rams got off to a faster start this year, no question,
But because they don't have a conference win yet, much
less a division win at five and two, it still
feels like there's a long way to go.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Oh yeah, there is a long way to go, a
long way to go. But at the arrows pointing up
in certain areas. If you go back and look at
last year and how they started, and then if you
kind of compare that to this year. To me, the
difference has been protection. For Matthew Stafford. You've given up
eleven sacks total. He is near the top, he is
on an MVP pace, and your O line is doing
(04:13):
a great job. Only four sacks allowed on the road.
Think about that, you went to Philly, you went to Tennessee.
When Tennessee with the best thing about him was their defense.
Only four sacks allowed on the road. You gave up one.
I think in London if you want to count that
as a road game, which it is. So they've been
They've been performing well. Matthew Stafford has been performing well
behind them, so and I thought in Jacksonville was probably
(04:35):
their best performance. So the arrow's pointing up and this defense,
if you go back to last year and look at
some of your notes, we said the lessons they learned
from twenty four will benefit them in twenty five. They're
starting not to waste opportunities when they have a chance
for a knockout shot or to get off the field.
They're doing it and they're making plays. So I think
this defense for where the NFC is now and what
(04:56):
you've gone through, I think you've set yourself up for
a pretty.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Good second act. So I also think this too.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
If you look at some of the teams that you're
sitting in there, there's a lot of injuries starting to happen.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Saquan's a little banged up.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
AJ Brown's out with Philly McCaffrey is still running well,
but you see he's kind of slowed down a little
bit after having a big game against the Falcons, and
there's some things are starting to happen where the Rams.
On the other side, they're getting healthier, kind of like
twenty four, they got healthy around this time.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
They're able to make that jump. I thought they handled
though this year.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
You talked about the protection they're not having Havenstein and
not having Steve Abola, you're able to make You're able
to manage that a lot better this year than you
were last year. Some of that was with the running game.
Some that's what using tight ends. Some that's doing some
different things to get the ball out quicker and also
taking your shots and having max protection. But I thought
(05:45):
the Rams managed it better this year. Same injuries I
thought happened last year, but you just managed it better
this year, which again you learn from that. And then
going forward, I look at the schedule, and again I
have a bunch of Niner fans, and I'm looking at
their schedule like godly, like that's crazy down the stretch
how that looks. But I want to play contenders. I
want to play teams that will possibly play in the playoffs.
(06:08):
I want to have that confidence going in and I think,
again the Rams health is going to be a big
part of that as well, as long as they can
continue to play really good football and keep getting better.
And we talked about we haven't talked about we'll talk
about the depth in which they have with tight end
and wide receiver and running back.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Those things are going to come into play.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
The depth that you're adding at cornerback, the defensive line depth,
the linebacker depth, all those things are going to come
into play here very soon. And so it's important now
that those guys got those quality reps throughout that first
half of the season because now you're in the second season, right,
and that second season is about playing your best ball
and being as efficient as possible.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
We know what next week is. You mentioned the Niners.
If the Rams want to defend their division crown. That's
a must win, and you gotta be careful not to
look past Sunday.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
This week to me is about building in some playoff cushion.
There's a world where we wake up on Monday and
the Rams are two games clear in the lost column
of any real serious competition on that wildcard bubble. I
get that making a wildcard appearance is not the goal
for this team. I'm just saying at the midway point,
that's where they stand. What'd you make with the trade
deadline approaching of their acquisition of Roger mccreer this week
(07:17):
to bolster their corner depth.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
So I called you about this and we missed calls.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I know I wasn't. I wasn't screening you.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
No, No, you are no.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
I know you were busy, and I was busy because
we were going we were playing phone tag. I personally
thought that we were gonna the It was gonna be
a big splash, right, a Jalen Ramsey type of guys,
which in my mind I was thinking because if you
look at the time when the Rams won the Super Bowl,
Aaron Donald was that you have that in four or
five guys on your defensive line that can rush and
get to the quarterback. You're missing that lockdown corner where
(07:46):
you can shade the other side. Now you're good to go.
I don't want to say I questioned it. I know
you needed depth. I just didn't know if, like how
good this kid is?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Right? I have to wait and see, So I want
to kind of reserve.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
My uh critique or my thought about him until I
see him playing this system.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
But we played, we played Tennessee. I didn't see him on.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
The seven tackles. He had seven tackles. He was a
he's a good player. Uh, it's a guy they know.
They had him at the Senior Bowl. They know a
lot about it.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
That's not good.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
If your corner has seven tackles, that means the ball
is getting caught.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
But I mean he's solid, he's he's he's solid, and
he can play inside. Now, so I think he's a
guy that fits well. Uh, he'll probably get a lot
of run.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
We'll see outside because because he's been playing, he's.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Not gonna you're not giving up played outside. He played outside,
played inside. He can he's he's a he's a complete corner.
He's what do you call those guys. He's kind of
like a Kobe Durant type where you can put him
just about anywhere and be effective.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Who was a kid we drafted in a couple.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Of years like Jack of all trade, master of none
so far in his career. But he's a high end
second round talent who's maybe not in the best environment
in Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I don't know what Tennessee is doing or what they're
mint is, but uh, he's the guy that they liked.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
He's a guy that started against the Rams. Uh.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
He's the guy that could you could plug in almost
right away. So he may not have the shut down ability,
but he's healthy and he can play.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Pcaution next to nothing.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Who was the kid we drafted a couple of years ago,
same build, athletic from like a small school. Remember he
was he was into being a gunner. We drafted him
to kind of be an athletic corner married. He looked
like Jalen Ramsey athletic Like body type wise.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Are you talking about Robert Rochelle.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Roberts And that's what I see with this kid is
that he has that body type. You just got to
hope the game translate. Now, this is my My only
concern is if you're on a championship run, right, and
I'm not saying this kid or can and not do it.
I just want to make sure I'm saying that to
our fans. I don't know if he can or can't
do it. But when you made that trade for Jalen Ramsey,
(09:50):
we knew what it was about.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
A yeah, you see what I'm like.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
I knew what you were doing, and I think our
audience knows what you're talking about. Where you come back
from London at five and two with your best performance
of the year, the Falcons take a loss, that extra
first round pick is looking like some real trade capital.
And look, there's still a week to go before the deadline.
It could still happen. But the sense that I'm getting,
and I don't know anything about anything, I'm just reading
Tea leaves here and I'm role playing. I get the
(10:15):
sense that the way they're playing right now and the
way their quarterback is playing right now at age thirty seven.
While you could use that as license to step on
the gas and go all in again in a twenty
twenty one like fashion, I wonder if behind the scenes
they're not saying, how about two or three bites at
this apple?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, I can see that.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
How about if Stafford plays thirty eight and maybe thirty nine,
and we get him and Sean McVay in the ring
with this ascending defense, and yeah, I would love to
see Matthew go out with confetti and his hair and
right off into the sunset.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
No, that would be fun. I wouldn't want that. I
wonder what you're talking about. Stay, stay longer, right.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Don't leave lod On, don't hey, don't leave me.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Hold a lot of good choices here, Yeah, but lifting
the Lombardi in Santa Clara.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Oh oh, but don't leave, dude. Let's do that and
then let's do it get let's run it back.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Okay, So you're saying, yes, yeah, yeah, Well so.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
In my mind it's this defense is playing at an
all time high.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
In the front seven, they're all over the place. You
do need help on the back.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
End, right, And if you're gonna beat Philadelphia, you can't
have a j. Brown do what he did in the
second half of that game. You can't have Kendrick, you
can't have Yeah, you're right, but almost right. You can't
have Kendrick Bourne go for one hundred and forty yards
and those gets. You just those things can't happen. And yeah,
but that's what I'm saying. So, but that's what I'm saying.
So if you could stop that, then it's it's it's
(11:36):
it's a completely different deal.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
If you can hold it until itspoon comes back.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I think that's awesome too. I think that's I think
as well.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
But to me, it's just you're gonna have to have
a superstar somewhere on this defense at that position.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
The game is, the.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Rules are for them to pass, and you're gonna have
to be able to cover these dudes. And you can't
give up third and thirty nine give a twelve yard catch.
You just can't do that and stay on the field.
That's what we saw in Philly. And then also you
can't you can't give it a five yard catch and
they got run for fifteen yards on thirty night. You said,
I saying, like, so something has to give in these situations,
And I'm not being again, I'm just noting.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I'm talking about the championship mindset.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Orady for conversation. Yeah, because on paper, the Rams have
been a top five defense they've been a top three
d oh, yes, for sure. But for those of us
who have lived every down in and down out, and
speaking to our audience, I think there's a lot of
caveats to that. There's a yeah, but which top tier
offense have you played? And what about the second half
in Philadelphia some of the plays that you've mentioned. What
about the forty nine ers practice squad coming in here
(12:36):
and getting after you in the first half on those
early drives. So there's a lot of that there, and we.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Still haven't seen JSN and Sam Darnold.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That's what I'm saying, torching the league right now. The
toughest is still to come, right and.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
So and so to me, I just think again, I'm
like you, I have no I have no idea what's
going on or what I'm just going how I feel
and what I see after how they played against the
Jaguars and seeing them dominate that game, and they have
some they have some talents and athletic dudes offensively, and
they did an awesome job. But if you are gonna
(13:08):
have to face let's just say, if you're gonna have
to face a Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl or
or seem we know the Cancie Chiefs in the Super
Bowl with seventeen weapons that can catch you.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Tampa Baya Bay like troits.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
All these guys that are getting that you have, you're
gonna have to be able to cover on that back
in and tackle on that back in.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
There's also the future to plan for and and whether
or not Matthew is in it, You're gonna have to
pay some guys very soon. And so that draft capital,
if they do preserve it in this next week, is
going to be utilized to get your next tackle of
the future, your next corner, and some other things so
that you can I don't know. I just wonder if
there's a world where they're planning to build a roster
(13:50):
like Philadelphia's or pick pick your favorite roster. Those draft
picks a more complete, exactly draft driven and fortified.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
It's funny because when you talk about paying people, I
just saw to try paid like the eighth guy over
one hundred million dollars.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
It's like, how and where we getting this money from? Right?
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I think there's ways to manipulate the cap. I do
understand what you're saying though, by using those draft picks,
because again there's nothing better than having a great player
on a rookie contract, right, There's nothing better than that.
So I understand that part.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
As well, especially as Pooka and Versu and others come off.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
There, right, But I just, you know, I think it's
the it's the the fan in me that wants the
Rams to like blow this year out of the water,
you know what I mean. It's just it's the it's
the the being attached to this team and seeing tasting
that success a couple of years ago, where like I
want that caviar back, like I don't. I want those
oysters and I want that back. Right, we haven't. We
(14:42):
haven't got We were close last year. We almost went
to the steakhouse, but we didn't get there.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
You know what I'm saying. We didn't get there. So
now I'm like, man, I'm hungry, like you know what
I mean.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
And so as a fan, I understand, because you know
you obviously we interact with fans all the time.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
I understand.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
And again I'm not saying that this won't work or
it will I have no I think forbes, I think
that was a great opportunity to see if that worked out.
It's shown flashes this hasn't been as consistent as you
want it to be. I thought he tackled awesome in London,
where he struggled with that early in the year.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
He just hoped that this is either a better version.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Of that, because again, like I don't again, and I
don't know what corners are available either. No one knows
who's available at this point and how much is going
to cost to get a guy. But you also, like,
I know he's going to take a superstar to help.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Do you want to add some first half thoughts on defense?
So you want to migrate over to offense.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Well, I think the front and I'll keep banging this drum.
I think that Byron Young and Jared Verse are playing
at all pro level, both of them. Just one is
getting all the numbers. The other one is causing the havoc.
And shout out to Josiah Stewart as well. He doesn't
look like a mismatch you when he goes out there.
He looks like a guy that plays major reps. So
(15:53):
and Nate Landman has been an absolute revelation for the
Rams and pursued his leadership every So. I think this defense,
if you're just healthy and you're credible in the back
end with the rush you're getting, the pressure you're getting,
and you continue to stop the run.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I think that is the best antidote to.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Any quarterback receiver duo in the league, is getting pressure
on that guy. So we'll see if that works out.
But flipping over to offense, like I said, when you
guys were talking about Matthew Stafford, when you watch him
on tape and you always start with thirty seven year
old Matthew Stafford, or we make jokes about how old
he is. When he's got that helmet on in uniform,
you can't tell how old he is. He looks like
(16:36):
prime Stafford and he is an absolute load in the
red zone what he's doing to you. So I can't
wait for this weekend. There's gonna be a high level
chess match out there, Brandon Staley versus Matthew Stafford, especially
when they get into the red zone. Let's see if
he can make those safeties bite on things and get
the ball out to Devonte Adams. So this will be
a fun matchup. But as far as Matthew Stafford and
(17:00):
this being the last go round or his last shootout
at the OK Corral, it doesn't look that way. So
whatever plans you had about restarting or reloading or rebooting,
I think you should keep those on hold until we
figure out where this train ends this year.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I you want to jump in.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Yeah, So before I say that, I want to say
when I talk about the back end, I'm not talking
about the safeties.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I think that. I think all three of them are
playing lights.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Out, curl kitchens, They're they're doing a really good job.
I just think you have a rotation of corners that
I think, again, we've seen it.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
When I talk about the offense, though, I thought the
game plan against the Jags, and we talked to Sean
about that, the wholesale change that we saw that is
terrifying for a defense. When I can go thirteen personnel,
come back and go eleven, go ten, go twelve, go
whatever you want, and you just move guys in and out,
you could be a different eleven.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
How do you coach against that?
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Because when you look at a defense, right, they're talking
about okay, when they're an eleven personnel, they have you know,
witting ten Adams and TUCU. They like to do this right,
But then when they come thirteen personnel. They do that
like it changes all your tendencies and you can still
run the same place. And so I think when what
I what I learned from the first part of the
season is the depth of the rams can and will
(18:20):
be a problem for a lot of teams.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Now, you got to continue. You can't turn the ball over, right,
you can't in the critical moments first game, and you
scored and it looked like it was easy, right, And
so as long as you continue to take care of
the football and you continue to have those wholesale changes,
it's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough for a
lot of people to stop.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
You're buying that they're going to lean into this multiple identity,
that they're going to continue to platoon at the skill
position players.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I would hope so, but history tells me no. But
I would.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
I would hold when you substitute, so can the defense.
And so for the better part of the McVeigh era,
they've lived in this eleven personnel identity because they can
then throw whatever pitches they want, They can go as
fast or as slow as they want. And with Puka
coming back, the team, with DeVante coming off a three
touchdown performance, it wouldn't surprise me if they just go
all the way back into spamming those two and seeing
(19:11):
if a defense like the Saints can stop it.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Right, I can see that as well.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I just think, like, if you're again, I don't want
to look forward, but if you're facing the Niners, the
game plan that you had against the Jaguars is probably
better against the Niners than it is against the Saints.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
In part because it involved Terrence Ferguson. Right, Yes, I
mean I think for this offense to get to its
highest ceiling, he's got a month maybe two, to become
the rookie menace that I think we all hoped he
would be.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
It will never be this good again, kid, just if
I was whispering in his ear, you have a Hall
of Fame quarterback less you're going back and looking for you,
it will never be this good again unless you're the
Green Bay pass or has had three quarterbacks in the
last thirty years play well like that.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
That's the only team that I could think of that's
had three really good qbs when the last twenty five years.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Right, but right for right now, Yeah, you've got a
hell of an opportunity.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
And I think if you keep running him up those
seams and get him matched up. Those are easy ways
to get him going, and then eventually you're gonna have
plays off of that that's going to open up, and
that's gonna be another avenue to the game. But I
think he needs to start getting You can tell he's
different than the other tight ends.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
He's differentiat. Yeah, like the touchdown Bill's confidence, right, it
gets your quarterbacks attention. But every time I talk to
coaches around here about him, it's like, yeah, not just
the plays that he's made, they've been limited so far,
but look at when he's not getting the target, the
easy separation, the timing with which he comes off the line. Look,
they were very cautious about dropping names like Kelsey into
(20:45):
his draft camp, right, but when you see the buzz
that we saw at LMU, when he shows up and
he does some of the things that are his superpower, again,
I think you need to get there sooner rather than
later if you want to be that offensive team come
end of year.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
No question.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Like I said, I think thirteen personnel puts a lot
of people in the buying with him there because that's
a receiver, right, so how do you match that do
you go base safety and do you put a corner
on him which bigger than him? Right? Do you put
a safety he's faster a linebacker, and then you still
have the two other tight ends. It could be Higbee,
it could be Davis, it could be Parkinson, and they're
different guys, and so to me, I think mcvay's unlocked
(21:23):
the he's starting to unlock that thirteen personnel where we
could be in thirteen and line up an eleven and
have to give our guys a break if we want
to still have Pooka out there, Davonte or you can
go twelve and do the same thing. But it just
it just that different look running the same plays against
like you said, Like imagine if they're at thirteen, they
trap the defense out there and you have a Ferguson
(21:43):
on a.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Corner the whole time.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Bet that's fifty to fifty ball, which turned into pretty
much a ninety ten ball.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Here we go like.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Almost spam it like you said, and then we're gonna
come out there. We're gonna put someone fast too, is
gonna like it just it just again it the the
the depth that they have can put really put pressure
on people.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
It's pointed too. As Tutu goes to injured reserve for
a month, right that, in a different iteration of this offense,
you might be like, Ooh, now you're without the guy
who can take the top off, and even if he's
not getting targets, he's creating all those zones for Puka
and for DeVante Deafist. I don't think I don't sense
that concern right now. And not to tie everything back
to the trade deadline and what we talked about previously,
but for multiple years now we've said all of the
(22:25):
resources are poured into this offense. That's where the picks are,
that's where the dollars are. This needs to be an
offensive led team that's scoring thirty points per game, and
there have been long drafts, but that's not been the case.
What if, what if the sky's are about to open
and they are going to become that team offensively, then
maybe you don't need a top three defense in terms
(22:46):
of touchdowns allowed in points allowed. I'm not saying that
the bar should be lowered for them. I'm just saying
maybe they are becoming the complete organization in the team
that they drew up on paper.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
This offense, you mean if the team, the offense starts
to score a lot of pon you often start, Yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Can start rulling by fourteen points and then now we see.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
What we're playing some home games with moss and attendance,
and then all of a sudden, this looks like.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
And I think that's what That's what we talked about
in the very beginning of the season was if this
this offense can get you ten fourteen point lead, what
can this defense look like?
Speaker 1 (23:18):
When we saw that, and there has been some built
in scheduling luck up and down the Rams first seven games,
and there might be more coming this weekend because you
would love to have a rookie first time starter. See
some ghosts at SOFI Stadium on Halloween weekend as the
Saints flipped to Tyler Shuck.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yes, shocked by it. I get it. I meant it
over that much. Yeah, but he's their best option. But
you can't turn it over.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
Yeah, you're right, and you're right, but you knew what
you were getting into when you took this job, right.
I think people it's like we have these unrealistic expectations. Right,
you have two young quarterbacks and you draft a rookie
who's played kind of all over college and you expect
them not to make miss So now we're gonna play
this guy's kind of like the Giants was like, oh,
(24:03):
we drafted Dart, he's gonna we're gonna let him sit.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Like, if you're gonna draft this kid, you should have.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
Played him right away, because now you're bringing him in
where people are starting to like, I'd rather play a
rookie early on because I know the defense aren't fine tuned.
This defense are starting to like figure things out. It's
getting that time of year where people are starting to
figure things out. You have tendencies, you have different things
that you like to do. All of a sudden, now
you're gonna throw a rookie in there who's probably not
gonna read it the same way I know you're gonna throw.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
You're gonna try to get the ball out quick.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Which they've already been doing. Yes, I mean Alave is
getting less than ten yards per reception.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
And when they take Shasse, throw it to Shahid, like
you know, I know what you're trying to do, and
like he's literally like getting the ball out. They're throwing
like hitches all over the place for shut when he
went in against Tampa. So to me, it's like all right,
Like so you will put them in against Tampa. Now
you're gonna start him against the Rams defense like rest
(24:56):
of luck.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
That's what I was telling DeMarco. That was scares me
about this game is I can't find much to be intimidated.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
By Werner, Demorial Davis just giving your names, Cam Jordan
can always be sneaky.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
They have guys. This defense is better than you think.
I have been there when you have to defend a
turnover machine. Excuse your numbers, but if you go back
and watch them play by play, they can get after you.
Brandon Staley gets you to third down, he makes I
guess the antidote to his defense is elite quarterback play.
(25:32):
Anything less than that, you're gonna get hit and they'll
probably turn the ball over. This Saints defense is really good. Now,
if the offense does its job, you'll force it onto
a rookie quarterback and then the way we go. But
if you're making mistakes, this defense can hang around for
a long time like luggage.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
So who's the double agent then? Is it Staley or
is it McVeigh Because you've practiced against each other multiple
times for what a.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Year, including this summer. Yeah, some joint practices this summer.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
So to me, it's like I always believe if we
ever played a coach that like we played Greg Williams
one time, who was with the Saints.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
I was with Jacksonville, he was in jat.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
We knew exactly what he was gonna do, exactly he's
gonna send blitz his pressures. We know what beats his defense,
what does and what we had to get away from,
and we weren't that good and we took him to
the wire.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
And the same time, this is Drew Brees Saints.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
This is the Saints that were going to Super Bowls
and deep in the NFC playoffs. But we knew what
the defensive coordinator was doing, so we were on the offensive.
We know how to like what plays work and what
plays don't work. I knew that, uh, we would call
a five man for our protection instead of like sliding one.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
We just call five man because we knew it was blitzing.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
And I'd just roll out and then Jonathan Billman would
be screaming at me all the time.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Like why aren't you picking up the blitz? Don't worry
about it, like you gotta cover.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
We're gonna make you cover, right, And so in my
mind it's like, is Sean is that Sean or is
it the other way around where Staley's like, I've been
going practicing against this offense OTAs and then we did
it this last year and right.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah, but he's not been practicing it against for instance,
Stafford was not there that day this summer. He's not
gone up against DeVante and Puka, He's not gone up
against three tight ends versions of this offense. So I
think Sean holds more cards, both personnel and scheme.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I think the more complicated Sean gets, the more simplified
he gets. And I think the whole thing with him
is going to be when he starts bringing pressure and
how you know what I mean, and what happens when
you get to the red zone and how we you
try to trick that up. But as for the most part,
they're going to know each other. It just depends on
how you play and what areas of the of the
game or what positions Sean is going to try to
(27:35):
attack that day and let's see if Staley can make
adjustments from there. But they're going to have notes on
each other. But that means nothing. Once toa meets leather,
you know what I mean. It's all about how you
play that day.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
It does.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
And I'll say this, what Davante did last week with
a single coverage, I don't see him single single coverage
in the red zone ever.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Again, I wouldn't do it.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
So then what's the counter punch is.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Pooka on the other side to run the football side.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
What's interesting is Pooka had become a red zone The
hard part about seeing him get injured on a fade
ball in Baltimore was like he had been killing the
red zone. They had unlocked the red zone. We saw
some of those double slants. We saw them using his
big frame run and pass. So if you put those
pieces back together now and you get the battering ram
of kiraen Williams in your running game in short yarded situations,
(28:20):
is that up into the right.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Oh yeah, I'm just saying, and you add that to it. Yes,
at some point you have no choice. You're gonna go
one on one as a defense down there because you're
so close to the goal one.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
You got to stack that safety in to protect versus
the run.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Oh yeah, Because then now it's again that the fadeball
we talked about is not a fifty to fifty ball anymore.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Yeah, but you're you're gonna have to at some point
and you're gonna bet on your corner playing good positioning.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I think you lose that battle, but I think at
some point every offense is going to get you in
that spot. There's the's no way around it.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Not only that, when you look at the red zone
woes from the first half of the schedule, you give
me like three plays that I can circle and change
the outcome of. They almost all involve nine in Davonte, Right,
It's like, give me this one at Philly, Right, this
one they hit this nine out of ten times. I
don't know why they missed it. Give me that one
and the goal post at Baltimore, and the whole game
looks different, the whole stat looks different. And so if
they were able to do it finally click in the
(29:13):
rain on the road in London, then I think there's
reason to expect Okay, yeah, there's reason to have very
very high expectations for the rest of this season.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
I agree.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
I I think it opens up the running game, and
I think you forced them because it could again if
I'm a defensive coordinator and I'm looking at the and
I'm looking at the rams and what they want to do,
especially this last game, we're gonna stop the pass in
the roads.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
We're going to.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
Force you to I want you to run the football.
I know some coaches things in this. I want you
to run the football. Yeah, I'm not gonna let you
get happy and throw fades. And I don't want Stafford
to throw the ball, throw touchdown.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Is there a danger in falling in love with the fade?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
There's a danger in it. No, God, no, there's a danger.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
But that's why if I'm a you're not gonna get it,
I'm not gonna let.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
You get it. I'm gon to make you do like,
oh no, hend them all off. Yeah, it's not the run.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
When you get beat like that, the fear is always
there and you're going to be nervous as a corner,
as a defense. So I would lean into that that
that would be a calling card for me. You can
even pencil it. If we get in this situation, you
know the fade ball's coming. Like you said, fifty to fifty,
I got a guy I can trust that's going to
put it in an area either he's going to get
it or it's out of bounds, So I would definitely
(30:23):
use that. But you said something I thought was interesting,
and I will take this as the second round of
the Olympics, this running back situation. If you can become
more explosive in the run game plus everything else we
just mentioned, then you start talking about an offense that's
well oiled and ready to go. So and whichever back
(30:43):
decides to take it over, I think there'll be opportunities
for both. I wouldn't rule out a Blake corm run.
I wouldn't rule out Kyvien Williams starting to tear it
up at some point when you start to put that
stuff on tape and you get Pooka back, Like you said,
I think what's going to suffer is your run defense.
So if you can take advantage of that with a
good running game, that turns explosive.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Now we're talk.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Saying you're gonna get the light boxes again, You're gonna
get a ball secure Kiren in the second half, you're
gonna get a healthy Blake Horn.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
I hope you get that part.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
And you're gonna get Rob Hanstein back at right tackle,
and you've got Steve back at left guard that this
should be the best version of the round running game
coming down the pipe.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
I believe so absolutely.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
If you, like I said, there's some moments in that
Jacksonville game that I call frameable stuff to where you
an old lineman or an O line coach would stop it,
look at and say, this is perfect. We're all stepping
with the right foot, had us on the right side,
we're making the right reads, and our running back has
an opportunity to make a play that happened time and
time again. They were stringing those plays together, moving the
ball down the field. That stuff carries over if you
(31:44):
start to go from an efficient run game to a
more explosive run game. I don't know how you defend.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Anything so explosive, being what like forty yard touchdown runs
or I don't know if I don't know if that's
in this backfield personally, Yeah, I don't. Johnathan, like when
you look at Nathan Taylor, that's completely different than what
the Rams have. That makes sense. I think that their
explosive runs maybe twenty five at most just because of
the speed of their natural like top end speed. But
(32:13):
to me, that's all you want.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
Yeah, right, because I don't care if you've got a
pinballet for fifty yards, if you could get twenty five yard,
twenty yard burst, maybe a thirty yard or maybe Kyen
does a great vision and cuts back and gets you, yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Thirty five like that. That's that to me.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
That, to me, is what you're going to see more
of because of the way the passing game is looking
right now.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Develop the bread and butter chunk runs not necessarily house calls. Yeah,
just refresh the downs.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
Yes, and if Kyen breaks the sixty yard and then
excuse me, right bad.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
I just haven't seen it.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I can't wait for that show.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I just haven't seen it. But if that happens, yeah,
oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Same time, same place, next Thursday's apology tour.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
What happens all the time. There you go.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
If he scores from sixty, you can dance there. Don't
hand it to the official. If he breaks off a
long run, I want to see him do like a
handstand in the end zone.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
If he scores from sixty, I may be in the
end zone. Wait on, good, there you go. Let's get fined.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
You gotta love this, uh, this selly game going to
the next level. Finally for the McVay rams. I've never
been like this.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
It's the youth movement. These young guys like I have
a puppy.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
I just got a puppy, and I have this old dog,
and it's like the old dog doesn't want to be
a puppy, but he has to because the puppy has
all this energy and he's jumping with them. That's Mumfield
and all these guys celebrating. Everyone's doing the sioux and
all this. Like that energy is contagious, right, and you
see it around the league. You saw it with the
Giants with Darton Scataboo, Like that energy is contagious.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
They don't they don't know any they don't know any better.
They just want to have fun.
Speaker 4 (33:41):
I got my first test out ay and everybody's like, hey,
I'll do it too, right, and then that celebration is just.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
What you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
I was smiling until he said Scataboo man gets surgery
in Philadelphia and then guess who comes in next Francisco forty.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
They're both beat up for.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Next week's show. Love you guys, good to be back,
Good to be back. Hope to see you at SOFI
Stadium this weekend. Good month of home games here. The
Rams only leave the city what once before Thanksgiving, don't
leave the state until after Thanksgiving. Come on, be loud,
four M J D and DeMarco far I'm JB Long.
I guess I'm wishing you a happy Halloween. Worst holiday
on the calendar. Can't wait to get to.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Take all the chocolate.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
That's my third favorite holiday. You see right there you are,
there you go, and Christmas there you go. Got you
with the first one with the first one gives in
a row?
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Is crazy what I was like, Yo, we gotta figure
this thing out. I was thinking Thanksgiving, Yeah, is like
fifth or six Saint Patti's days over Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Oh my god, Wow, too bad amount of time. It's
a lot more to dig into there. Thank you for
joining us for a Saints preview and a fresh between
the horns presented by your Southern California Toyota Dealers.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
Member.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
We kept the ki
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders
Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders takes you back to 1983, when two teenagers were found murdered, execution-style, on a quiet Texas hill. What followed was decades of rumors, false leads, and a case that law enforcement could never seem to close. Now, veteran investigative journalist M. William Phelps reopens the file — uncovering new witnesses, hidden evidence, and a shocking web of deaths that may all be connected. Over nine gripping episodes, Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders unravels a story 42 years in the making… and asks the question: who’s really been hiding the truth?
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com