September 26, 2025 • 34 mins
On this episode of the Twentyman in the Huddle podcast presented by Copilot+ PC, Tim Twentyman is joined by Dave Birkett, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Mary Kay Cabot previewing the Detroit Lions Week 4 matchup vs. the Cleveland Browns.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Golf up under center turns gives I'm and rop flips
it out to Gibs. He's did the house baby touchdown
Detroit Lions.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All that is.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Beautiful golf, hands it time and Roth, I'm and rop
flips it to.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Gifts and the Lions have got the lead back.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
It is week four of the NFL season. I am
Tim twenty minute. This is the twenty the Huddle podcast,
and most of you will know who is sitting next
to me. Dave Briquet does a great job covering the
Lions beat for the Free Press Day.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Thanks for joining me. Yea, absolutely appreciate. I always happy
to do this.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yeah, I always get you on once a year. It's
always one of my favorite ones. You've been doing this
a long long time. Are pretty entrenched here with the Lions.
So Dave, let's look back before we look forward a
little bit. You look at Monday night's game in all
three phases? Was that one of the more impressive games
that you've seen this Lion's playing your time on the beat.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I mean I've been at the Free Press since twenty
ten and I can't think of many more better regular
season wins. Obviously, you know the the Rams the playoff
game that was a special atmosphere beat in Tampa. To
go to the NFC Championship game was amazing, but you know,
and look, it's early still, right, who knows what it
means at the end of the day. But to go
on the road against a team that I think is
(01:09):
a Super Bowl contender to win the way that they did,
I thought it was as good a win at least
that we've seen under Dan Campbell in the regular season.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Especially when you look at just everybody's predictions and everything
ahead of that game. I think, you know how they
always put the Monday night Yeah, guys on there, you
know it, and it was every single one had a
raven under it, like no one gave this team a shot.
And to go on the road and play the way
that they did, it was really really impressive, you.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Know, I think because the first game went so I mean,
it just was nothing like we expected the Lions to
look even if you thought the Packers would win, just
the communication issues and the errors that they had that game.
To get all that cleaned up and really, you know,
one week, I mean one road playoff or one playoff game,
one road game, I'm sorry, one road game to get
(01:55):
all those issues fixed. I mean it was you got
to give credit to the coaches, give credit to the
players for make that happened.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Two hundred and twenty four rushing yards, zero sacks allowed.
Any concerns that might have been there with the offensive line,
are are they now less for you moving forward?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
No doubt.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I mean you know that that week one, I think
Taylor Decker said it after the game that that was
really a situation where guys weren't getting their butts kicked.
It was just communication issues, running the wrong play, And
he said, hey, don't don't panic.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
This is all going to get fixed.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
And it did. And look, I'm sure they're going to
have you know, there's gonna be some hiccups going forward.
Right it's still two first year starters at guard. You know,
Nomine and Bouquet was out. Last game was out, last.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Game Sonoi was out.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yeah, so you know there's I mean, the Browns will
have a better interior defensive line this week. They will
be tested going forward. But for for one game to
do it down the road against a really good team,
a team that dominated them in the trenches a couple
of years ago, I thought it was a big step
forward for Tate Ratledge and for Christian Mahogany.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yeah, and Sewell with a ninety nine. Folks say, I
think it was the highest grade they said they've ever
given out in a game in the PFF era, which
I think goes back to what two thousand and six,
and then Ratledge with a ninety plus. You just mentioned
it right there. That was a game I think that
young man needed on the road against that kind of
team to dominate the way he did, especially in the
(03:19):
run game. I thought that's got to be such a
huge confidence boost for him move.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
You know, he I think that that first game, you know,
and Taylor even said it again, right that the one
play that stood out to everyone where he's going one
way and the rest of the offensive line is sort
of gone the other and and it almost led to
a safety on David Montgomery. And I know it wasn't
his fault, Taylor said, you know, both he and Tate
were running one play. The other three linemen we're running another.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
But you know he.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Heard that, right, you know, people said that was his fault.
And to come out and play the way he did
really to help key that rushing attack. David Montgomery was huge.
That's another guy that maybe he didn't need that because
he's a VET and everybody knows what he can do.
But you know, he's been the externally the forgotten man
with Jami or Gibbs there a little bit, and so
for him to dominate the way he did, I thought
(04:03):
that was pretty big too.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Sonic and Knuckles are back right in a big way.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
One other thing a lot of people talked about too
was the pass rush. Right and after the Week one,
you only had two quarterback hits, no sacks, You didn't
have a pass rush. It looked better against the Bears,
and then boy Dave seven sacks against Lamar. I think
that was the most that Ravens organization has given up.
And that's an organization that plays a brand of football
very similar to Droit Physical, prides itself on its offensive
(04:29):
line play running the football. Couldn't do that either. That
pass rush looked terrific. Eleven sacks in three games. I
think only the twenty ten, nineteen ninety seven, and nineteen
eighty three teams had eleven sacks through three games, So
they're in kind of historic area here now. Obviously, when
you get seven in a game, you know, those numbers
are gonna feel good, But like we talked about with
(04:50):
the offensive line, you feel a little bit better about
the pass rush too, or is that still I've got
to kind of continue to see it type down.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I think you know, coming into the season, I think
most people had three concerns, right it was the new
coordinators and what's the play calling going to look like
that that that interior of the offensive line, and how
good they were going to be in the pass rush.
And of those three, the pass rush is still the
one to me that maybe I'm not quite certain. It's
it's exactly what it needs to be for this team
(05:17):
to make a long playoff run. You know, Aiden Hutchinson
is going to be there. I still want to see
what that second edge rusher is going to be like
when Davenport comes back in a couple of months. You know,
if el Kadin Muhammad can can hold it down till then,
if they make a move, I still don't know that
they have enough. But for right now, and certainly in
a game like that, when you're playing with the lead
and you're playing a really good quarterback like Lamar, you
(05:39):
know they have impacted the passer.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
You are you looking at my list here? Next, I
had coordinators here, let's talk about that. And obviously, you know,
like again there were some concerns like you had talked
about before. They didn't get any quieter after week one.
But boy, I mean that offense nine hundred yards and
ninety points stave in two weeks. The defense to have
have that scheme and execute it the way they did
(06:02):
against Lamar and Derrick Henry. Yeah, they've looked, They've looked
really good the last two weeks. Those coordinators and I
think their players have really kind of bought in to
kind of what they're all about. And look, it starts
with Dan Campbell. The coordinators take their cues from him.
But it just seems from the head coach of the
coordinators to the players, to me, it seems pretty seamless,
(06:25):
more steamless than I thought it would be early in
the year.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, and you mentioned Dan, I mean, obviously it's his
vision that they bring to life. And just like Ben
Johnson did on offense and Aaron Glenn did before, you know,
you're seeing it with John Morton and Kelvin Shepard. Now
that that this is it's gonna look a lot the
same some of the trick plays, some of the aggressiveness
because you know, it's it's Dan's vision. You know, I
will say this like I think John was a guy.
(06:50):
The headline in our story, you know, we don't write
the headlines on freak dot com all the time. The
headline in my story immediately after the game was like
who needs Ben Johnson? Or what forget Ben Johnson? Or
something to that effect. And I think that that spoke
to what fans were thinking, like the first couple weeks
of the season, really going back into training camp, like, man,
we're gonna miss Ben Johnson, what's this offense gonna look like?
(07:12):
And I think John Morton showed that, you know, he's
got a little trickery up his sleeve too, and he
can call a game against a pretty good defense and
you know, same thing with the offensive line in the
pass rush, like they'll probably be a hiccup or two
going forward. But I thought both, you know, John Morton
and Kelvin Shepard called really good games. And give shep
credit because there there have not been a lot of
(07:33):
teams that have made that Ravens offense look like that
highest scoring offense in the NFL. And I know they
scored thirty, but one was a late touchdown and the
Lions got that goal line stand. Really good effort by
that defense.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And Dave, I don't think Dan gets enough credit for
the offensive mind that he is. You know, we're giving
all the credit to John Morton, and look, he deserves
a ton too, but Dan is a very underrated offensive
mind and he is very much on the head and
very much in that offensive room with the game planning
week to week. I don't think he gets enough credit
(08:05):
for the offensive mind that he has as well.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
There's no doubt. And look, the lines were blessed, right.
I mean, Ben Johnson is an excellent offensive coordinator, There's
no doubt about that. But that was always sort of
a you know, when that offense started to turn around
a little bit that first year twenty twenty one, it
was Dan Collin plays, yeah, And I thought it took
a little bit of Dan because he did a good
job to sort of, you know, give up those duties.
And he trusted Ben. And when he went out and
(08:30):
hired John Morton this offseason, he trusted John. John was
a guy who was here before, who he's known for
a long time, and so Dan is setting the tone.
He's the one who has the vision, but you know
those guys are extensions of him on the headset that
make it come to life.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
All right, let's move forward to Sunday. It's almost a
tail of two teams.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
With Cleveland.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
You look at their offense, and boy, they struggle. Joe
Flacco a forty year old quarterback. They don't have a
ton of explosive plays. I think they've got six pass
plays of twenty plus yards, no ony plus yard touchdowns
this year, A big contrast to Detroit's offense. But defensively, Dave,
they're number one in total defense, their number one against
the run fifty seven point three yards per game in
(09:12):
three weeks, and one of those was the Ravens, and
I think they're number four against the pass. Detroit's offense
has their hands full this weekend.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Don't think well, you know, look, I was certainly one
when I looked at the schedule where early on I
chalked this up as like a week the Lions are
going to win, you know, thirty one to fourteen, something
like that, And then I watched that game against the
Packers last week and what the Browns did to an
offense that we saw up close that was really good.
And Jordan Love look looked pretty darn good that first game.
And I know Green Bay didn't have red and who knows,
(09:40):
Kraft maybe was dealing with something like Zach Tom got hurt.
There were some maybe some some extenuating circumstances there. But
I thought the job that they did against the Packers,
it just really opened my eyes. Like you think of
that defense, and you know Miles Garrett's there right, you know,
they got some good players on the back end. I
think Mason Graham's playing good.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Football was a great addition for them in the middle.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
And when you have that front that's really good against
the run and has an elite edge rusher, I mean
we see it with the Lions right here, that's right.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I mean that that to me is a good comparison.
When you put a Leam and Hutch next to each other,
just like when you put Mason Graham and Miles Garrett
next to each other and you have that inside outside
combo where they can play games and they can you know,
the quarterback doesn't have a place to step up because
of Mason. Same with a Leam. I mean, it only
benefits Hutch. It benefits Miles. Miles the one to seven
players in the league with a sack every game this year.
(10:30):
You know, he's gonna get his He's gonna play a
majority over Tailor. They move him around a little bit,
but most of the time it's gonna be over Taylor.
That to me is the key matchup for this week.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
It's I mean philosophically, like maybe not exactly what they do,
but just in terms of building that roster. In that line,
it's a lot like what they did here, right, elite
edge rusher. You try to get some beef in the middle,
you know, it's it make it tough to run on
and then you can get after the quarterback. So I
think that that decor. You know, I want to see
Graham against that interier offensive line though, too, because again
we talked about the guards the young that the Lions have.
(11:01):
Even though Graham's a rookie too, like this is going
to be a really big He's.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
A little bit different in terms of he's got some
pass rush ability. You know, he's a big, stout guy.
You saw him at Michigan, but I think there's some
suddenness there and some twitch and his ability to get
in the backfield, play on the other sideline of scrimmage.
I think is a great point by you that those
guys inside are going to be tested again Terry and Arnold,
any concern there at all? I know Dan talked this
(11:25):
week and he was asked about Terry Arnold. I think
it was ninety seven point one. He does his radio thing,
and you know, he brought up, you know, the possibility
of a Meek maybe playing here or there. We saw
what a Meek did Week eighteen last year against Justin Jefferson.
We know he can go outside and play. Where's your
concern level with there?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Is it? Still? He's a young.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Player, David's only week four. Do we got to give
him some time or is there a little bit of
concern there?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
I mean you do have to give him some time, right,
I mean he's played you know, twenty games in his
career or whatever it is at this point, so he's
nowhere close to being a finished product. And what he
is right now was not with he's going to be
in week twelve. But you know, this is a championship
caliber team and you don't want to risk anything. You
don't want to lose a game. You shouldn't because something
happens in the back end. I don't know that terry
(12:11):
On is a high concern because you know, DJ Reid's
playing good football. They've got playmakers at every level. But
you know, same thing with as we talked about the
pass rush earlier, the interior of the offensive line. Terryan
is definitely someone that you know, my eyes are on
and you know he's there's a player to a game
where you're like, ah, man, that's a that's a pretty
big coverage buster. That's a penalty they didn't need to take.
(12:33):
And when you play good teams, a lot of times
those things cost you. So I do think they need
to get that fixed. And maybe the way to do
it is sort of what Dan alluded to. We'll we'll
see how it plays out. But you know, if maybe
they they give a Meek a few more outside cornerback
reps and they they sort of limit what terry On
is doing. Still use them, but maybe not use them
(12:55):
one hundred percent of the snaps. Maybe that helps him
find it. He's a confident guy. He's not gonna lose
his confident, but maybe that helps him find his footing
and what he needs to be and It should be.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Stated too that that you know, Terryan was on the
field when those seven sacks happened, and right there was
good coverage and you know there's some a lot of
good there too, but like you mentioned, some of the
bad just kind of sticks out a little bit. You
don't want it to cost them. Quinch on Judkins, what
does he add to that? To that Cleveland offense they
were obviously couldn't do much, you know, week one, I
(13:25):
think he's got one hundred and fifty five yards five
point five average a touchdown. In the two weeks. It
looks like he gives them a little bit of juice.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Yeah, you know, I talked to Tony Grosey long time,
you know, Cleveland radio personality writer over there. He called me,
you know, kind of a lot of times, you know
how it is. There's there's writers in other cities that
you sort of catch.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Up to about the team.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
And he was asking me about the Lions, And before
we got off the phone, I said, what about Judkins?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Like is he and he's like, oh yeah, yeah, They're
going to give.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Him more and more as this thing goes on, Like
he is he's the guy that the Browns will will
lean on and it looks like I mean when he
came back from missing those first couple of games, our
first game at least he started right away. And I
know he didn't play a full compliment of snaps that
first game back, but you can tell they have high
hopes for him. So I do think you mentioned it earlier.
This is not an explosive offense. They've got two decent
(14:12):
tight ends, so maybe some guys that can get open
in the short area, but if you can run the
ball with Quinn shot Jenkins, and especially with that defense, philosophically,
you got to think that's what they want to do
to have a chance to beat a high scoring offense
like the Lions.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
All Right, what's Dave Brichett's key matchup for the Lions
getting a big win at home moving to three and
one on the season.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Well, we talked about the interior the Lions offensive line
against Mason Graham earlier. That'd be the one that I'm
watching on the offense because you know that that interior
pressure can really impact this offense. I think the Lions
will be okay, but I want to see those young
guards go against Cleveland's interior of the of the offensive line,
and then you know, defensively, like you know, I just
want to say, like Aiden Hutchinson because he's only had
(14:53):
you know, he had one sack and it kind of
came late in the game. Maybe he gets overlooked and
I don't know that it's a key, key matchup that
will ultimately just the game. But you see him make
plays in draw double teams and everything that he does.
If that can help the rest of the Lions pass rush.
Playing at home in allowed Ford Field, I think this
Cleveland offense is gonna have a tough time getting started.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Something tells me Aiden will hear all the miles Geared
Sweet too. He's the best rusher in the league. How
are the Lions gonna stop him? I'm sure Aidan will
hear that and probably have something in store for Sunday
as well.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Dave.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
It should be a fun one lines try to get
to three and one. I always love the ruckus environment
of ford Field football. Sunday at Ford Field. You'll be there,
I'll be there, a lot of you will be there
and or watching, and we'll be back. Welcome back to
the Twin Podcast. The man next to Me, well Mark
Jackson knows a little bit with him, got familiar with him.
(15:50):
The other night, Monday Night, Al Kadi Muhammad two and
a half sacks, three and a half sacks on the year.
What a terrific game for you Monday night.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Just just how.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Fun was that going on the road and your defense
doing what they did. Thirty four pressures them, seven secs,
seven quarterback hits. You guys got after it, check casey Rogers.
They put together a great plan, but the players executed it.
And how rewarding is that when you go on the
road and have a game like that.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
I mean, to have a game like that Monday night football,
prime time, don't get no better than that. And you know,
the great thing is, guys was just flying around.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I mean it was just play at the play. You know,
I'll make a play. This got to make a play.
You know.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
It was just amazing to just see the guys flying
around and everybody playing together most importantly, you know, so
you know, coaches put an amazing you know game play together,
and we went out there and we executed.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You know, we talked at the end of last year
and we were just chatting kind of off the record,
and I was like, hey, you know, you want to
come back your entery free agency and you said, yeah,
you know, i'd love to. Why was that important for you?
Why was Detroit the number one kind of destination for
you and free agency?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
The culture, just how they do things around here, I
mean from top down. I just I mean I love
this place. I mean I just feel as though, like
you know, it's a great fit for me. And I knew,
you know, coming back, you know, I can definitely help
the team and excel in this defense. So you know,
(17:24):
it's just it's the coaches, it's the guys in the
locker room. This is just a great place to be at,
you know, just all around the board. You know, it's
fun and uh, you know, we do it the right
way here. So this is great to be a part of.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You know, a lot of coaches and players say, hey,
look I don't read what's going on in the media, media
and stuff like that, but you guys do a little bit.
And you know, just I'm curious all the stuff off
season about you know, did we get enough pass rushers?
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Ye?
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Do we have that guy opposite Aiden Hutchinson? When you
saw that stuff, how much did you take that personal?
Knowing Brad made you a priority to come back. You
were successful at the end of last season when you
got an opportunity, and you know, I know from just
us talking, you were excited about getting an opportunity again
this year. Marcus goes down, Oh my gosh, what are
(18:14):
we gonna do? How much would you take that? Personally?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Like like coach, like like, we know what we got here.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Yeah, we know what we got, So there's no need
to really like, you know, to uh, you know, I
call it taking the cheese, you know. Let you know,
let you know the outsiders be the outsiders. You know,
the reporters, you know, some fans and.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
You know whatever.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
You know, we know what we got here, and uh,
just you know, when your name and number is called,
you know, you just make sure you know you do
what you need to do. I mean, Chep always say
all the time in the meeting room. You know, he's
not just talking to one person, He's talking to everybody.
You know, when we making corrections and we're doing different things.
(19:03):
And that's true, that's true. So you know he's he
always say he's counting on everybody on that defense, you know,
and we know what we.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Got and everybody's here for a reason, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
So it's it's it's it's not just about you know me,
I just you know, happen to be able to you know,
you know my name and number was calling. You know,
took advantage of the opportunity. But you know that that's
that's the NFL. I mean, that's just what it is.
You know, it's just you know, injuries happen, Things happen,
and uh, you know that that next guy up is
(19:36):
the next guy mentality, you know, and sometimes it do sucks.
I don't wish an injury on nobody, but at the
end of the day, you know, it's all hands on
deck and that's and that's what Schep and you know,
our coaches always talk about, you know, just make sure
you know, being on the details. He's always preaching being
on the details and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And you know, I definitely don't take that for granted.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
How much you love playing for Ship and you just
look at the scheme, how he's how he's incorporated so
many different guys. You guys are playing a lot of
bas defense, extra linebackers. Yeah, you know, it just it
looks like it's a fun defense to play, and how
much are you enjoying it so far?
Speaker 4 (20:13):
I enjoyed it. I mean different, man, He's different. He's
hot energy.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
You know. I love it.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
And and you know he want the best for every
guy on it in the room, he want the best
for every guy. And you know you can either take
it personal or you could or you could take it.
And and you know, hone in on on the message
and what he's trying to accomplish, you know. And at
the end of the day, we all trying to win.
(20:40):
At the end of the day, you know, we all
got families, we all got you know, you know, people
that depend on us. So I love the energy.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
You know, he doesn't sugarcoat anything either. No, do you
respect that as a player, because he's been in your shoes.
He's going to ask you to do something he hasn't
done himself or been asked to do, and so he
tells it.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
To you straight too.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
You have to probably appreciate that as a player other
than some coaches maybe beating around the bush or whatever.
He'll come right up to you and tell you what
he what he wants, what you're doing wrong, Here's how
I'm going to help.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
You do it.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
And so far, that's where you have to appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Don't you. It's grown men business, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
So that's how I look at it, like it's grown
it's not it's not for the it's not for kids.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
It's grown men business. You know.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
It's a lot of people that's depending on each and
every one of guys, each and every one of the
guys that's on that field.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
So when you understand that, you understand the importense of
you know, what we're trying to accomplish as as an organization.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
So I love him whatever it is, what it is,
you know, so I rock with it.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
What do you like about playing opposite Hutch? Didn't get
a lot of opportunity.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
It's fun, obviously, it's fun planning on the opposite of Hutch.
Hutch is so funny, you know, if you really get
to know him, you know, he has a great personality.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
He's a great guy. He's a great person. You know.
So it's really.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Really really really fun, really is extremely fun. And you know,
we talk, we talking meetings, we talk on the field.
And what I like about playing you know, on the
opposite of Hutch. We both got that that mentality, you know,
we like we like we like a shark and the
(22:32):
ocean and we smell blood, you know, so so it's
it's it's it's fun. It's fun being in a room
with Hutch and being on the opposite side of him,
and I know how hard he works. I know what
he's about, you know, and I know what I'm about,
and I'm sure he knows too.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
So at the end of the day, it's like we're both.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Trying to get after it, you know, and and and
and that's it and and we get extremely happy, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
When we when we make things happen out there. It's fun.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
It's so funn We come in sideline, we talk about
it and you need to go back out there, and
we try to do.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
It again and do it again.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
So it's really it's really extremely fun to see him
bounce back from you know, that injury and see him
get back out there and doing what he loved to
do and executing and playing at a high level.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Okay, eleven sacks in the last two weeks for you guys.
You guys are really rolling as a defensive line, really
as a defense because without the secondary and playing and covering,
you guys can't do what you do up front. So
it's really been a whole defensive effort. What jumps out
to you about Cleveland this week's opponent. Obviously everybody talks
(23:42):
about them defensively, number one overall defense, Number one against
the run, number four against the pass. I've got a
really good, you know, a really good front. What is
it maybe that that's been the point of emphasis facing
Cleveland's offense this week at home.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I mean, Cleveland is a They're a good football team,
you know, and uh, they're gonna come out here and
they're gonna compete and they're gonna come to play. So
at the end of the day, you know, it's no
different than last week. We have to be on our
a game. We gotta go out there and we gotta compete,
and you know, last week is last week. This is
new week, you know, And at the end of the day,
(24:19):
you gotta turn the page and you gotta have a
next play mentality, you.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Know, short memory and move on, you know.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
So at the end of the day, you know, they're
gonna come out here and they're gonna be fired up,
you know, and you know, we gotta go out there
and we gotta build. We gotta build on what we
did last week, and we gotta take that next step,
you know, to to come out on top.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Last one, how's your son doing? One of my favorite
moments was that interview for Thanksgiving with you guys, when
he was hyping you up. He's playing a little football
eighth grade, I think, right.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Eighth grade. How's he doing.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
He's doing really really good. He's gonna be bigger than me.
You know, he's thirteen.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
He'st brand and Dan though, get on him early, keep
eye on.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Him, Keep eye on him. You know, you know, Wi
almost the same height. You know, he wears a size thirteen.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
So is he playing defensive tackle?
Speaker 2 (25:12):
He played a little d tackle. Dn.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
He's in my closet a little bit, you know. So
you know, he gave me all the motivation I need.
I gotta go out there and make some things happen,
you know, because you know he's a big k He
gets expensive now, but he's never really really good man.
I'm really proud of him. He's amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
I love that. Man.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
You're doing really really good too. You're playing at a
really high level to start this year. Great game Monday night,
keep it up on Sunday. Thanks so much. Welcome back
to the twenty in the Huddle Podcast. I am very
happy to welcome and Mary Kay cabit. She does a
terrific job. She is the person to go to if
(25:52):
you want anything on Cleveland. Does a great job for
the Playing Dealer Cleveland dot com. She's a two twenty
twenty five of the Bill Non Memorial. She's going to
be in the Hall of Fame. She is the insider
for Cleveland. Mary Kay, thank you so much for joining me.
Appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
Oh great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Okay, well, let's start with this. First off, Lions fans
want to thank you for the win last week against
green Bay. I'm sure Cleveland fans appreciated the Baltimore loss
as well. But what was the most impressive thing in
your mind, Mary Kay about that win against green Bay
last week.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
I would say it was just just another dominant defensive performance,
my goodness. To hold green Bay to ten points that
was remarkable, and to really contain Jordan Love, to hold
Josh Jacobs to only thirty yards rushing. He averaged one
point nine yards per game, and they just really couldn't
(26:50):
get anything going. And the Browns came through with a
big interception late and that kind of helped get things
rolling for them, but really it was just the defense
keeping them in the game drive after drive when the
Browns offense could not score a point for the first
fifty six minutes plus of the game.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Well, and that's the next question, Mary Kay, you know
what has been the biggest issue offensive Because you look
at the defensive stats and they really jump off off
the page. They're number one in overall defense. They're number
one against the run, I think fifty seven point three
yards per game. That's ridiculous. They're number four against the pass.
But offensively they're in the bottom, you know, third of
most of those categories. What's been the biggest issue kind
(27:30):
of getting rolling offensively?
Speaker 5 (27:32):
Well, it's really a combination of a lot of things.
I don't think that Joe Flacco has always played his best.
I don't think this offense is a well oiled machine
right now. Because they conducted a four way quarterback competition
in camp, Joe Flacco did not have time on task
with these guys. They really didn't get it rolling. And
then it's another new offense again, it's just a bunch
(27:56):
of guys trying to learn a new scheme. There's a
lot of young guys on it, and then Quinchhawn Judkins,
they're running back. He did not have his first full
practice until last week heading into that game, So I
think that also had a lot to do with it,
that they didn't really have their running game up and running,
so to speak, until they faced you know, the Packers,
(28:21):
and then he rushed for ninety four yards. So I
think there's been a combination of a lot of things.
I wrote a story today talking about how Joe Flacco
and his number one receiver, Jerry Judy, they just really
haven't been able to connect yet or get any rhythm going.
Jerry has only ten receptions for one hundred and thirty
four yards, no tds. Joe has only thrown two touchdown passes.
(28:44):
So there have been some issues.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
You know, going back to the defense a little bit,
Mary Kay. They've obviously played Baltimore, They've played Green Bay.
Those are two really good offenses. But this Detroit Lions
offense is really humming right now. I mean, nine hundred
and thirty seven yards of offense last two weeks, ninety points.
You know, a lot of the pre snap stuff, the
motions and just some of the misdirection I'm curious in
(29:07):
talking with some of the players and coaches this week,
what have they said about the challenge that Detroit's offense
possesses and how much of just how well they've played
the last two weeks can they take into this week
as well.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Well. I'll tell you what they have really noticed what
Detroit has been doing in the last two weeks, and
especially just in that Monday night game. As you mentioned,
all the creative shifting and motion and misdirection and trickery
and deception going on there from that offense. It's pretty incredible.
(29:43):
But the Browns defense, they're just going to have to
understand what they're facing. And I don't think that they
can get outside of themselves and try to get too
caught up with what they think that the Lions are
trying to trick them about or do to them. They
need to play their own brand of defensive football, which
(30:04):
is really attack, attack, attack, Get the quarterback off of
his mark, get him somewhat rattled, make him be somewhat inconsistent,
and make it so that the passing game just isn't
a well oiled machine. So these are some of the things.
And then stopping the run. They've done a really really
nice job of stopping the run. It's a really good
(30:24):
defensive line. Miles Garrett is off to a really really
great start, and then they've got Mason Graham in there
in the middle now and he's doing a really nice job.
So it's just it's been working well.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Yeah, it has a lot of the lines lines offensive players.
And talk to Jared Golf on Wednesday and he said,
look that that defensive line and the back end is
really good. They're just really good at all three levels,
and they're well disciplined and they play really well. That's
obviously going to be a great matchup. Injury wise, Mary, Kay,
how's Cleveland doing anything of concern there? I know it's
(30:58):
still kind of early in the week, but anything of
concerned injury wise?
Speaker 5 (31:03):
Well, they do actually have a pretty big issue at
offensive tackle for themselves. They're right tackle Jack Conklin, he's
missed the past two games with an elbow injury, and
then they're left tackle Dewan Jones suffered a season ending
knee injury in this past game, so he's out for
the season. They had to sign another player today off
(31:23):
the Patriots practice squad, and you know, and they've got
backups that are candidates to start at left tackle in
place of Dewan Jones. So this is not exactly how
you want to go into a game against the Lions
when your forty year old quarterback is not that mobile
to begin with. So this is something that they're going
(31:44):
to really really have to focus on and figure out.
They're going to have to get the ball out of
there quickly. They're going to have to try to run
the ball as best they possibly can and try to
do whatever they can to keep Joe Flacco upright because
he got hit ten times by the Packers, really hard
hits after the throw. You know how physical the Lions
are going to be. You know what the game plan
(32:05):
is going to be after they watched that film to
get to and get after that forty year old quarterback.
So that's something to watch. There are the tackle issues,
and then Denzel Ward, their number one cornerback, did not
practice today and in addition to a shoulder injury, he
has a toe injury that cropped up on the injury report.
So we're keeping an eye on that one as well,
(32:26):
and don't really know what's going on there yet.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, to your point about the offensive line, you know,
Aiden Hutchinson leads this Detroit Lions seemed thirty pressures against
the Ravens seven sacks, Mary Kay. So they've been getting
after eleven sacks in the last two games, so obviously
an issue. Are last one for you?
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Mary Kay?
Speaker 1 (32:42):
To you, what's the biggest matchup in this game? How
does Cleveland come out of Detroit with a victory? They do?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
What?
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Well, what do you think that? How do you think
they can win this game?
Speaker 5 (32:55):
I think it's going to be an incredible chess match
between Jim Schwartz and that Detroit Lions offense and all
the things that I watched a lot of that film,
and I'm seeing what they're doing there, and I know
that Jim Schwartz has got to be working overtime to
try to figure out how he's going to slow those
guys down, because I think it's going to come down
(33:15):
to the Browns defense doing its thing, the Browns line
doing its thing. Miles is very very very hard to block,
as you know, but so are a lot of other
guys on that defensive line. They make it very very
difficult on the opposing offense, as Joe Burrow found out,
you know, as Jordan Love found out and even to
a certain extent, it was tough sledding for Lamar for
(33:36):
a little while until the dam broke late in that
game because of some turnovers and things like that. So
it's an excellent, excellent Browns defense and they have their
toughest challenge yet this coming Sunday, and it's going to
come down to how that defensive line handles whatever Detroit
is doing to it.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Well, it should be a really fun match, one of
the best offenses in the league against arguably the best
defense in the league. For fie Fields gonna be rocking.
It's a short trip up for you and the safe
travels and we'll see you Sunday at for Afield.
Speaker 5 (34:06):
Sounds good, looking forward to it. Thanks a lot.
Golf up under center turns gives I'm and rop flips
it out to Gibs. He's did the house baby touchdown
Detroit Lions.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All that is.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Beautiful golf, hands it time and Roth, I'm and rop
flips it to.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Gifts and the Lions have got the lead back.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
It is week four of the NFL season. I am
Tim twenty minute. This is the twenty the Huddle podcast,
and most of you will know who is sitting next
to me. Dave Briquet does a great job covering the
Lions beat for the Free Press Day.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Thanks for joining me. Yea, absolutely appreciate. I always happy
to do this.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yeah, I always get you on once a year. It's
always one of my favorite ones. You've been doing this
a long long time. Are pretty entrenched here with the Lions.
So Dave, let's look back before we look forward a
little bit. You look at Monday night's game in all
three phases? Was that one of the more impressive games
that you've seen this Lion's playing your time on the beat.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I mean I've been at the Free Press since twenty
ten and I can't think of many more better regular
season wins. Obviously, you know the the Rams the playoff
game that was a special atmosphere beat in Tampa. To
go to the NFC Championship game was amazing, but you know,
and look, it's early still, right, who knows what it
means at the end of the day. But to go
on the road against a team that I think is
(01:09):
a Super Bowl contender to win the way that they did,
I thought it was as good a win at least
that we've seen under Dan Campbell in the regular season.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Especially when you look at just everybody's predictions and everything
ahead of that game. I think, you know how they
always put the Monday night Yeah, guys on there, you
know it, and it was every single one had a
raven under it, like no one gave this team a shot.
And to go on the road and play the way
that they did, it was really really impressive, you.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Know, I think because the first game went so I mean,
it just was nothing like we expected the Lions to
look even if you thought the Packers would win, just
the communication issues and the errors that they had that game.
To get all that cleaned up and really, you know,
one week, I mean one road playoff or one playoff game,
one road game, I'm sorry, one road game to get
(01:55):
all those issues fixed. I mean it was you got
to give credit to the coaches, give credit to the
players for make that happened.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Two hundred and twenty four rushing yards, zero sacks allowed.
Any concerns that might have been there with the offensive line,
are are they now less for you moving forward?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
No doubt.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I mean you know that that week one, I think
Taylor Decker said it after the game that that was
really a situation where guys weren't getting their butts kicked.
It was just communication issues, running the wrong play, And
he said, hey, don't don't panic.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
This is all going to get fixed.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
And it did. And look, I'm sure they're going to
have you know, there's gonna be some hiccups going forward.
Right it's still two first year starters at guard. You know,
Nomine and Bouquet was out. Last game was out, last.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Game Sonoi was out.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yeah, so you know there's I mean, the Browns will
have a better interior defensive line this week. They will
be tested going forward. But for for one game to
do it down the road against a really good team,
a team that dominated them in the trenches a couple
of years ago, I thought it was a big step
forward for Tate Ratledge and for Christian Mahogany.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yeah, and Sewell with a ninety nine. Folks say, I
think it was the highest grade they said they've ever
given out in a game in the PFF era, which
I think goes back to what two thousand and six,
and then Ratledge with a ninety plus. You just mentioned
it right there. That was a game I think that
young man needed on the road against that kind of
team to dominate the way he did, especially in the
(03:19):
run game. I thought that's got to be such a
huge confidence boost for him move.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
You know, he I think that that first game, you know,
and Taylor even said it again, right that the one
play that stood out to everyone where he's going one
way and the rest of the offensive line is sort
of gone the other and and it almost led to
a safety on David Montgomery. And I know it wasn't
his fault, Taylor said, you know, both he and Tate
were running one play. The other three linemen we're running another.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
But you know he.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Heard that, right, you know, people said that was his fault.
And to come out and play the way he did
really to help key that rushing attack. David Montgomery was huge.
That's another guy that maybe he didn't need that because
he's a VET and everybody knows what he can do.
But you know, he's been the externally the forgotten man
with Jami or Gibbs there a little bit, and so
for him to dominate the way he did, I thought
(04:03):
that was pretty big too.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Sonic and Knuckles are back right in a big way.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
One other thing a lot of people talked about too
was the pass rush. Right and after the Week one,
you only had two quarterback hits, no sacks, You didn't
have a pass rush. It looked better against the Bears,
and then boy Dave seven sacks against Lamar. I think
that was the most that Ravens organization has given up.
And that's an organization that plays a brand of football
very similar to Droit Physical, prides itself on its offensive
(04:29):
line play running the football. Couldn't do that either. That
pass rush looked terrific. Eleven sacks in three games. I
think only the twenty ten, nineteen ninety seven, and nineteen
eighty three teams had eleven sacks through three games, So
they're in kind of historic area here now. Obviously, when
you get seven in a game, you know, those numbers
are gonna feel good, But like we talked about with
(04:50):
the offensive line, you feel a little bit better about
the pass rush too, or is that still I've got
to kind of continue to see it type down.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I think you know, coming into the season, I think
most people had three concerns, right it was the new
coordinators and what's the play calling going to look like
that that that interior of the offensive line, and how
good they were going to be in the pass rush.
And of those three, the pass rush is still the
one to me that maybe I'm not quite certain. It's
it's exactly what it needs to be for this team
(05:17):
to make a long playoff run. You know, Aiden Hutchinson
is going to be there. I still want to see
what that second edge rusher is going to be like
when Davenport comes back in a couple of months. You know,
if el Kadin Muhammad can can hold it down till then,
if they make a move, I still don't know that
they have enough. But for right now, and certainly in
a game like that, when you're playing with the lead
and you're playing a really good quarterback like Lamar, you
(05:39):
know they have impacted the passer.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
You are you looking at my list here? Next, I
had coordinators here, let's talk about that. And obviously, you know,
like again there were some concerns like you had talked
about before. They didn't get any quieter after week one.
But boy, I mean that offense nine hundred yards and
ninety points stave in two weeks. The defense to have
have that scheme and execute it the way they did
(06:02):
against Lamar and Derrick Henry. Yeah, they've looked, They've looked
really good the last two weeks. Those coordinators and I
think their players have really kind of bought in to
kind of what they're all about. And look, it starts
with Dan Campbell. The coordinators take their cues from him.
But it just seems from the head coach of the
coordinators to the players, to me, it seems pretty seamless,
(06:25):
more steamless than I thought it would be early in
the year.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, and you mentioned Dan, I mean, obviously it's his
vision that they bring to life. And just like Ben
Johnson did on offense and Aaron Glenn did before, you know,
you're seeing it with John Morton and Kelvin Shepard. Now
that that this is it's gonna look a lot the
same some of the trick plays, some of the aggressiveness
because you know, it's it's Dan's vision. You know, I
will say this like I think John was a guy.
(06:50):
The headline in our story, you know, we don't write
the headlines on freak dot com all the time. The
headline in my story immediately after the game was like
who needs Ben Johnson? Or what forget Ben Johnson? Or
something to that effect. And I think that that spoke
to what fans were thinking, like the first couple weeks
of the season, really going back into training camp, like, man,
we're gonna miss Ben Johnson, what's this offense gonna look like?
(07:12):
And I think John Morton showed that, you know, he's
got a little trickery up his sleeve too, and he
can call a game against a pretty good defense and
you know, same thing with the offensive line in the
pass rush, like they'll probably be a hiccup or two
going forward. But I thought both, you know, John Morton
and Kelvin Shepard called really good games. And give shep
credit because there there have not been a lot of
(07:33):
teams that have made that Ravens offense look like that
highest scoring offense in the NFL. And I know they
scored thirty, but one was a late touchdown and the
Lions got that goal line stand. Really good effort by
that defense.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And Dave, I don't think Dan gets enough credit for
the offensive mind that he is. You know, we're giving
all the credit to John Morton, and look, he deserves
a ton too, but Dan is a very underrated offensive
mind and he is very much on the head and
very much in that offensive room with the game planning
week to week. I don't think he gets enough credit
(08:05):
for the offensive mind that he has as well.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
There's no doubt. And look, the lines were blessed, right.
I mean, Ben Johnson is an excellent offensive coordinator, There's
no doubt about that. But that was always sort of
a you know, when that offense started to turn around
a little bit that first year twenty twenty one, it
was Dan Collin plays, yeah, And I thought it took
a little bit of Dan because he did a good
job to sort of, you know, give up those duties.
And he trusted Ben. And when he went out and
(08:30):
hired John Morton this offseason, he trusted John. John was
a guy who was here before, who he's known for
a long time, and so Dan is setting the tone.
He's the one who has the vision, but you know
those guys are extensions of him on the headset that
make it come to life.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
All right, let's move forward to Sunday. It's almost a
tail of two teams.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
With Cleveland.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
You look at their offense, and boy, they struggle. Joe
Flacco a forty year old quarterback. They don't have a
ton of explosive plays. I think they've got six pass
plays of twenty plus yards, no ony plus yard touchdowns
this year, A big contrast to Detroit's offense. But defensively, Dave,
they're number one in total defense, their number one against
the run fifty seven point three yards per game in
(09:12):
three weeks, and one of those was the Ravens, and
I think they're number four against the pass. Detroit's offense
has their hands full this weekend.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Don't think well, you know, look, I was certainly one
when I looked at the schedule where early on I
chalked this up as like a week the Lions are
going to win, you know, thirty one to fourteen, something
like that, And then I watched that game against the
Packers last week and what the Browns did to an
offense that we saw up close that was really good.
And Jordan Love look looked pretty darn good that first game.
And I know Green Bay didn't have red and who knows,
(09:40):
Kraft maybe was dealing with something like Zach Tom got hurt.
There were some maybe some some extenuating circumstances there. But
I thought the job that they did against the Packers,
it just really opened my eyes. Like you think of
that defense, and you know Miles Garrett's there right, you know,
they got some good players on the back end. I
think Mason Graham's playing good.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Football was a great addition for them in the middle.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
And when you have that front that's really good against
the run and has an elite edge rusher, I mean
we see it with the Lions right here, that's right.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
I mean that that to me is a good comparison.
When you put a Leam and Hutch next to each other,
just like when you put Mason Graham and Miles Garrett
next to each other and you have that inside outside
combo where they can play games and they can you know,
the quarterback doesn't have a place to step up because
of Mason. Same with a Leam. I mean, it only
benefits Hutch. It benefits Miles. Miles the one to seven
players in the league with a sack every game this year.
(10:30):
You know, he's gonna get his He's gonna play a
majority over Tailor. They move him around a little bit,
but most of the time it's gonna be over Taylor.
That to me is the key matchup for this week.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
It's I mean philosophically, like maybe not exactly what they do,
but just in terms of building that roster. In that line,
it's a lot like what they did here, right, elite
edge rusher. You try to get some beef in the middle,
you know, it's it make it tough to run on
and then you can get after the quarterback. So I
think that that decor. You know, I want to see
Graham against that interier offensive line though, too, because again
we talked about the guards the young that the Lions have.
(11:01):
Even though Graham's a rookie too, like this is going
to be a really big He's.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
A little bit different in terms of he's got some
pass rush ability. You know, he's a big, stout guy.
You saw him at Michigan, but I think there's some
suddenness there and some twitch and his ability to get
in the backfield, play on the other sideline of scrimmage.
I think is a great point by you that those
guys inside are going to be tested again Terry and Arnold,
any concern there at all? I know Dan talked this
(11:25):
week and he was asked about Terry Arnold. I think
it was ninety seven point one. He does his radio thing,
and you know, he brought up, you know, the possibility
of a Meek maybe playing here or there. We saw
what a Meek did Week eighteen last year against Justin Jefferson.
We know he can go outside and play. Where's your
concern level with there?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Is it? Still? He's a young.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Player, David's only week four. Do we got to give
him some time or is there a little bit of
concern there?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
I mean you do have to give him some time, right,
I mean he's played you know, twenty games in his
career or whatever it is at this point, so he's
nowhere close to being a finished product. And what he
is right now was not with he's going to be
in week twelve. But you know, this is a championship
caliber team and you don't want to risk anything. You
don't want to lose a game. You shouldn't because something
happens in the back end. I don't know that terry
(12:11):
On is a high concern because you know, DJ Reid's
playing good football. They've got playmakers at every level. But
you know, same thing with as we talked about the
pass rush earlier, the interior of the offensive line. Terryan
is definitely someone that you know, my eyes are on
and you know he's there's a player to a game
where you're like, ah, man, that's a that's a pretty
big coverage buster. That's a penalty they didn't need to take.
(12:33):
And when you play good teams, a lot of times
those things cost you. So I do think they need
to get that fixed. And maybe the way to do
it is sort of what Dan alluded to. We'll we'll
see how it plays out. But you know, if maybe
they they give a Meek a few more outside cornerback
reps and they they sort of limit what terry On
is doing. Still use them, but maybe not use them
(12:55):
one hundred percent of the snaps. Maybe that helps him
find it. He's a confident guy. He's not gonna lose
his confident, but maybe that helps him find his footing
and what he needs to be and It should be.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Stated too that that you know, Terryan was on the
field when those seven sacks happened, and right there was
good coverage and you know there's some a lot of
good there too, but like you mentioned, some of the
bad just kind of sticks out a little bit. You
don't want it to cost them. Quinch on Judkins, what
does he add to that? To that Cleveland offense they
were obviously couldn't do much, you know, week one, I
(13:25):
think he's got one hundred and fifty five yards five
point five average a touchdown. In the two weeks. It
looks like he gives them a little bit of juice.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Yeah, you know, I talked to Tony Grosey long time,
you know, Cleveland radio personality writer over there. He called me,
you know, kind of a lot of times, you know
how it is. There's there's writers in other cities that
you sort of catch.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Up to about the team.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
And he was asking me about the Lions, And before
we got off the phone, I said, what about Judkins?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Like is he and he's like, oh yeah, yeah, They're
going to give.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Him more and more as this thing goes on, Like
he is he's the guy that the Browns will will
lean on and it looks like I mean when he
came back from missing those first couple of games, our
first game at least he started right away. And I
know he didn't play a full compliment of snaps that
first game back, but you can tell they have high
hopes for him. So I do think you mentioned it earlier.
This is not an explosive offense. They've got two decent
(14:12):
tight ends, so maybe some guys that can get open
in the short area, but if you can run the
ball with Quinn shot Jenkins, and especially with that defense, philosophically,
you got to think that's what they want to do
to have a chance to beat a high scoring offense
like the Lions.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
All Right, what's Dave Brichett's key matchup for the Lions
getting a big win at home moving to three and
one on the season.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Well, we talked about the interior the Lions offensive line
against Mason Graham earlier. That'd be the one that I'm
watching on the offense because you know that that interior
pressure can really impact this offense. I think the Lions
will be okay, but I want to see those young
guards go against Cleveland's interior of the of the offensive line,
and then you know, defensively, like you know, I just
want to say, like Aiden Hutchinson because he's only had
(14:53):
you know, he had one sack and it kind of
came late in the game. Maybe he gets overlooked and
I don't know that it's a key, key matchup that
will ultimately just the game. But you see him make
plays in draw double teams and everything that he does.
If that can help the rest of the Lions pass rush.
Playing at home in allowed Ford Field, I think this
Cleveland offense is gonna have a tough time getting started.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Something tells me Aiden will hear all the miles Geared
Sweet too. He's the best rusher in the league. How
are the Lions gonna stop him? I'm sure Aidan will
hear that and probably have something in store for Sunday
as well.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Dave.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
It should be a fun one lines try to get
to three and one. I always love the ruckus environment
of ford Field football. Sunday at Ford Field. You'll be there,
I'll be there, a lot of you will be there
and or watching, and we'll be back. Welcome back to
the Twin Podcast. The man next to Me, well Mark
Jackson knows a little bit with him, got familiar with him.
(15:50):
The other night, Monday Night, Al Kadi Muhammad two and
a half sacks, three and a half sacks on the year.
What a terrific game for you Monday night.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Just just how.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Fun was that going on the road and your defense
doing what they did. Thirty four pressures them, seven secs,
seven quarterback hits. You guys got after it, check casey Rogers.
They put together a great plan, but the players executed it.
And how rewarding is that when you go on the
road and have a game like that.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
I mean, to have a game like that Monday night football,
prime time, don't get no better than that. And you know,
the great thing is, guys was just flying around.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I mean it was just play at the play. You know,
I'll make a play. This got to make a play.
You know.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
It was just amazing to just see the guys flying
around and everybody playing together most importantly, you know, so
you know, coaches put an amazing you know game play together,
and we went out there and we executed.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You know, we talked at the end of last year
and we were just chatting kind of off the record,
and I was like, hey, you know, you want to
come back your entery free agency and you said, yeah,
you know, i'd love to. Why was that important for you?
Why was Detroit the number one kind of destination for
you and free agency?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
The culture, just how they do things around here, I
mean from top down. I just I mean I love
this place. I mean I just feel as though, like
you know, it's a great fit for me. And I knew,
you know, coming back, you know, I can definitely help
the team and excel in this defense. So you know,
(17:24):
it's just it's the coaches, it's the guys in the
locker room. This is just a great place to be at,
you know, just all around the board. You know, it's
fun and uh, you know, we do it the right
way here. So this is great to be a part of.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You know, a lot of coaches and players say, hey,
look I don't read what's going on in the media, media
and stuff like that, but you guys do a little bit.
And you know, just I'm curious all the stuff off
season about you know, did we get enough pass rushers?
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Ye?
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Do we have that guy opposite Aiden Hutchinson? When you
saw that stuff, how much did you take that personal?
Knowing Brad made you a priority to come back. You
were successful at the end of last season when you
got an opportunity, and you know, I know from just
us talking, you were excited about getting an opportunity again
this year. Marcus goes down, Oh my gosh, what are
(18:14):
we gonna do? How much would you take that? Personally?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Like like coach, like like, we know what we got here.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Yeah, we know what we got, So there's no need
to really like, you know, to uh, you know, I
call it taking the cheese, you know. Let you know,
let you know the outsiders be the outsiders. You know,
the reporters, you know, some fans and.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
You know whatever.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
You know, we know what we got here, and uh,
just you know, when your name and number is called,
you know, you just make sure you know you do
what you need to do. I mean, Chep always say
all the time in the meeting room. You know, he's
not just talking to one person, He's talking to everybody.
You know, when we making corrections and we're doing different things.
(19:03):
And that's true, that's true. So you know he's he
always say he's counting on everybody on that defense, you know,
and we know what we.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Got and everybody's here for a reason, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
So it's it's it's it's not just about you know me,
I just you know, happen to be able to you know,
you know my name and number was calling. You know,
took advantage of the opportunity. But you know that that's
that's the NFL. I mean, that's just what it is.
You know, it's just you know, injuries happen, Things happen,
and uh, you know that that next guy up is
(19:36):
the next guy mentality, you know, and sometimes it do sucks.
I don't wish an injury on nobody, but at the
end of the day, you know, it's all hands on
deck and that's and that's what Schep and you know,
our coaches always talk about, you know, just make sure
you know, being on the details. He's always preaching being
on the details and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And you know, I definitely don't take that for granted.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
How much you love playing for Ship and you just
look at the scheme, how he's how he's incorporated so
many different guys. You guys are playing a lot of
bas defense, extra linebackers. Yeah, you know, it just it
looks like it's a fun defense to play, and how
much are you enjoying it so far?
Speaker 4 (20:13):
I enjoyed it. I mean different, man, He's different. He's
hot energy.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
You know. I love it.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
And and you know he want the best for every
guy on it in the room, he want the best
for every guy. And you know you can either take
it personal or you could or you could take it.
And and you know, hone in on on the message
and what he's trying to accomplish, you know. And at
the end of the day, we all trying to win.
(20:40):
At the end of the day, you know, we all
got families, we all got you know, you know, people
that depend on us. So I love the energy.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
You know, he doesn't sugarcoat anything either. No, do you
respect that as a player, because he's been in your shoes.
He's going to ask you to do something he hasn't
done himself or been asked to do, and so he
tells it.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
To you straight too.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
You have to probably appreciate that as a player other
than some coaches maybe beating around the bush or whatever.
He'll come right up to you and tell you what
he what he wants, what you're doing wrong, Here's how
I'm going to help.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
You do it.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
And so far, that's where you have to appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Don't you. It's grown men business, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
So that's how I look at it, like it's grown
it's not it's not for the it's not for kids.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
It's grown men business. You know.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
It's a lot of people that's depending on each and
every one of guys, each and every one of the
guys that's on that field.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
So when you understand that, you understand the importense of
you know, what we're trying to accomplish as as an organization.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
So I love him whatever it is, what it is,
you know, so I rock with it.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
What do you like about playing opposite Hutch? Didn't get
a lot of opportunity.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
It's fun, obviously, it's fun planning on the opposite of Hutch.
Hutch is so funny, you know, if you really get
to know him, you know, he has a great personality.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
He's a great guy. He's a great person. You know.
So it's really.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Really really really fun, really is extremely fun. And you know,
we talk, we talking meetings, we talk on the field.
And what I like about playing you know, on the
opposite of Hutch. We both got that that mentality, you know,
we like we like we like a shark and the
(22:32):
ocean and we smell blood, you know, so so it's
it's it's it's fun. It's fun being in a room
with Hutch and being on the opposite side of him,
and I know how hard he works. I know what
he's about, you know, and I know what I'm about,
and I'm sure he knows too.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
So at the end of the day, it's like we're both.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Trying to get after it, you know, and and and
and that's it and and we get extremely happy, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
When we when we make things happen out there. It's fun.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
It's so funn We come in sideline, we talk about
it and you need to go back out there, and
we try to do.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
It again and do it again.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
So it's really it's really extremely fun to see him
bounce back from you know, that injury and see him
get back out there and doing what he loved to
do and executing and playing at a high level.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Okay, eleven sacks in the last two weeks for you guys.
You guys are really rolling as a defensive line, really
as a defense because without the secondary and playing and covering,
you guys can't do what you do up front. So
it's really been a whole defensive effort. What jumps out
to you about Cleveland this week's opponent. Obviously everybody talks
(23:42):
about them defensively, number one overall defense, Number one against
the run, number four against the pass. I've got a
really good, you know, a really good front. What is
it maybe that that's been the point of emphasis facing
Cleveland's offense this week at home.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I mean, Cleveland is a They're a good football team,
you know, and uh, they're gonna come out here and
they're gonna compete and they're gonna come to play. So
at the end of the day, you know, it's no
different than last week. We have to be on our
a game. We gotta go out there and we gotta compete,
and you know, last week is last week. This is
new week, you know, And at the end of the day,
(24:19):
you gotta turn the page and you gotta have a
next play mentality, you.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Know, short memory and move on, you know.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
So at the end of the day, you know, they're
gonna come out here and they're gonna be fired up,
you know, and you know, we gotta go out there
and we gotta build. We gotta build on what we
did last week, and we gotta take that next step,
you know, to to come out on top.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Last one, how's your son doing? One of my favorite
moments was that interview for Thanksgiving with you guys, when
he was hyping you up. He's playing a little football
eighth grade, I think, right.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Eighth grade. How's he doing.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
He's doing really really good. He's gonna be bigger than me.
You know, he's thirteen.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
He'st brand and Dan though, get on him early, keep
eye on.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Him, Keep eye on him. You know, you know, Wi
almost the same height. You know, he wears a size thirteen.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
So is he playing defensive tackle?
Speaker 2 (25:12):
He played a little d tackle. Dn.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
He's in my closet a little bit, you know. So
you know, he gave me all the motivation I need.
I gotta go out there and make some things happen,
you know, because you know he's a big k He
gets expensive now, but he's never really really good man.
I'm really proud of him. He's amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
I love that. Man.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
You're doing really really good too. You're playing at a
really high level to start this year. Great game Monday night,
keep it up on Sunday. Thanks so much. Welcome back
to the twenty in the Huddle Podcast. I am very
happy to welcome and Mary Kay cabit. She does a
terrific job. She is the person to go to if
(25:52):
you want anything on Cleveland. Does a great job for
the Playing Dealer Cleveland dot com. She's a two twenty
twenty five of the Bill Non Memorial. She's going to
be in the Hall of Fame. She is the insider
for Cleveland. Mary Kay, thank you so much for joining me.
Appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
Oh great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Okay, well, let's start with this. First off, Lions fans
want to thank you for the win last week against
green Bay. I'm sure Cleveland fans appreciated the Baltimore loss
as well. But what was the most impressive thing in
your mind, Mary Kay about that win against green Bay
last week.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
I would say it was just just another dominant defensive performance,
my goodness. To hold green Bay to ten points that
was remarkable, and to really contain Jordan Love, to hold
Josh Jacobs to only thirty yards rushing. He averaged one
point nine yards per game, and they just really couldn't
(26:50):
get anything going. And the Browns came through with a
big interception late and that kind of helped get things
rolling for them, but really it was just the defense
keeping them in the game drive after drive when the
Browns offense could not score a point for the first
fifty six minutes plus of the game.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Well, and that's the next question, Mary Kay, you know
what has been the biggest issue offensive Because you look
at the defensive stats and they really jump off off
the page. They're number one in overall defense. They're number
one against the run, I think fifty seven point three
yards per game. That's ridiculous. They're number four against the pass.
But offensively they're in the bottom, you know, third of
most of those categories. What's been the biggest issue kind
(27:30):
of getting rolling offensively?
Speaker 5 (27:32):
Well, it's really a combination of a lot of things.
I don't think that Joe Flacco has always played his best.
I don't think this offense is a well oiled machine
right now. Because they conducted a four way quarterback competition
in camp, Joe Flacco did not have time on task
with these guys. They really didn't get it rolling. And
then it's another new offense again, it's just a bunch
(27:56):
of guys trying to learn a new scheme. There's a
lot of young guys on it, and then Quinchhawn Judkins,
they're running back. He did not have his first full
practice until last week heading into that game, So I
think that also had a lot to do with it,
that they didn't really have their running game up and running,
so to speak, until they faced you know, the Packers,
(28:21):
and then he rushed for ninety four yards. So I
think there's been a combination of a lot of things.
I wrote a story today talking about how Joe Flacco
and his number one receiver, Jerry Judy, they just really
haven't been able to connect yet or get any rhythm going.
Jerry has only ten receptions for one hundred and thirty
four yards, no tds. Joe has only thrown two touchdown passes.
(28:44):
So there have been some issues.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
You know, going back to the defense a little bit,
Mary Kay. They've obviously played Baltimore, They've played Green Bay.
Those are two really good offenses. But this Detroit Lions
offense is really humming right now. I mean, nine hundred
and thirty seven yards of offense last two weeks, ninety points.
You know, a lot of the pre snap stuff, the
motions and just some of the misdirection I'm curious in
(29:07):
talking with some of the players and coaches this week,
what have they said about the challenge that Detroit's offense
possesses and how much of just how well they've played
the last two weeks can they take into this week
as well.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Well. I'll tell you what they have really noticed what
Detroit has been doing in the last two weeks, and
especially just in that Monday night game. As you mentioned,
all the creative shifting and motion and misdirection and trickery
and deception going on there from that offense. It's pretty incredible.
(29:43):
But the Browns defense, they're just going to have to
understand what they're facing. And I don't think that they
can get outside of themselves and try to get too
caught up with what they think that the Lions are
trying to trick them about or do to them. They
need to play their own brand of defensive football, which
(30:04):
is really attack, attack, attack, Get the quarterback off of
his mark, get him somewhat rattled, make him be somewhat inconsistent,
and make it so that the passing game just isn't
a well oiled machine. So these are some of the things.
And then stopping the run. They've done a really really
nice job of stopping the run. It's a really good
(30:24):
defensive line. Miles Garrett is off to a really really
great start, and then they've got Mason Graham in there
in the middle now and he's doing a really nice job.
So it's just it's been working well.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Yeah, it has a lot of the lines lines offensive players.
And talk to Jared Golf on Wednesday and he said,
look that that defensive line and the back end is
really good. They're just really good at all three levels,
and they're well disciplined and they play really well. That's
obviously going to be a great matchup. Injury wise, Mary, Kay,
how's Cleveland doing anything of concern there? I know it's
(30:58):
still kind of early in the week, but anything of
concerned injury wise?
Speaker 5 (31:03):
Well, they do actually have a pretty big issue at
offensive tackle for themselves. They're right tackle Jack Conklin, he's
missed the past two games with an elbow injury, and
then they're left tackle Dewan Jones suffered a season ending
knee injury in this past game, so he's out for
the season. They had to sign another player today off
(31:23):
the Patriots practice squad, and you know, and they've got
backups that are candidates to start at left tackle in
place of Dewan Jones. So this is not exactly how
you want to go into a game against the Lions
when your forty year old quarterback is not that mobile
to begin with. So this is something that they're going
(31:44):
to really really have to focus on and figure out.
They're going to have to get the ball out of
there quickly. They're going to have to try to run
the ball as best they possibly can and try to
do whatever they can to keep Joe Flacco upright because
he got hit ten times by the Packers, really hard
hits after the throw. You know how physical the Lions
are going to be. You know what the game plan
(32:05):
is going to be after they watched that film to
get to and get after that forty year old quarterback.
So that's something to watch. There are the tackle issues,
and then Denzel Ward, their number one cornerback, did not
practice today and in addition to a shoulder injury, he
has a toe injury that cropped up on the injury report.
So we're keeping an eye on that one as well,
(32:26):
and don't really know what's going on there yet.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, to your point about the offensive line, you know,
Aiden Hutchinson leads this Detroit Lions seemed thirty pressures against
the Ravens seven sacks, Mary Kay. So they've been getting
after eleven sacks in the last two games, so obviously
an issue. Are last one for you?
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Mary Kay?
Speaker 1 (32:42):
To you, what's the biggest matchup in this game? How
does Cleveland come out of Detroit with a victory? They do?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
What?
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Well, what do you think that? How do you think
they can win this game?
Speaker 5 (32:55):
I think it's going to be an incredible chess match
between Jim Schwartz and that Detroit Lions offense and all
the things that I watched a lot of that film,
and I'm seeing what they're doing there, and I know
that Jim Schwartz has got to be working overtime to
try to figure out how he's going to slow those
guys down, because I think it's going to come down
(33:15):
to the Browns defense doing its thing, the Browns line
doing its thing. Miles is very very very hard to block,
as you know, but so are a lot of other
guys on that defensive line. They make it very very
difficult on the opposing offense, as Joe Burrow found out,
you know, as Jordan Love found out and even to
a certain extent, it was tough sledding for Lamar for
(33:36):
a little while until the dam broke late in that
game because of some turnovers and things like that. So
it's an excellent, excellent Browns defense and they have their
toughest challenge yet this coming Sunday, and it's going to
come down to how that defensive line handles whatever Detroit
is doing to it.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Well, it should be a really fun match, one of
the best offenses in the league against arguably the best
defense in the league. For fie Fields gonna be rocking.
It's a short trip up for you and the safe
travels and we'll see you Sunday at for Afield.
Speaker 5 (34:06):
Sounds good, looking forward to it. Thanks a lot.
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