September 5, 2024 • 35 mins
On this episode of Twentyman in the Huddle podcast presented by Microsoft, Tim Twentyman is joined by Ray Agnew, Jourdan Rodrigue and Dan Miller, previewing Sunday's Week 1 opener vs. the Rams.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Baker leans in, there's the snap blitz comes may feel
back loads.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Gross picked up by the Lions, intercepted by the Lions, intercepted.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
By the Lions.
Speaker 4 (00:10):
Derek Bards, Derek Bards, Derek Barns.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It is Week one of the NFL season and that
means the Twenty Men The Huddle Podcast is back and
I'm very excited to kick off this year's twenty in
the Hull Podcast with Ray agnew assistant general manager for
the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Ray, thanks for joining me. Oh, it's been it's been
a little bit. We did this the Senior Bowl maybe
a couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, and it's as exciting now that it's that it's
week one. I mean the building the roster and the offseason.
Obviously that's a big part of your job in camp
and whittling it down. But now does it feel like
football's here?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Week one?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Very exciting, man.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
You just can't wait to see a full group on
the field. Uh, all the starters playing and everybody going
at once. Man, dang't planning getting ready for the Rams.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Man.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
So it's is last week bittersweet a little bit, you know,
because obviously you've got to make some tough decisions, and
you've got to end a.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Dream at least for a moment for a lot of guys.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
But then the excitement of okay, now we've got our
sixty nine right now, we've got the guys we're gonna.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Kind of go to war with for sixteen weeks. So
is last week a little bit bittersweet for gull.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
Like you, Yeah, it is bittersweet because there are some
kids you get attached to, and then you have to
tell a kid something he's never been told before, that
he's not good enough. And then some of them they
go on and play with other teams, but some of
them that's their last game, that lest their last chance,
you know. So it's tough, But at the same time
you're excited. You get your group together and it's time. Okay,
(01:39):
let's go, let's go take make a run at this thing.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I don't know if it was you or Brad who
made the comment, but it's important to talk about the
sixty nine man roster and not just the fifty three, right,
How important and how much time to do you and
Brad spend on getting that practice squad together. And you've
got some veteran guys on there because you're gonna need
every guy. It's not a matter of if injuries are
gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
It's right. Yeah, And so how why is it important
to talk about the sixty nine.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
It's very important because you just said that you're gonna
need all of those guys, and and those guys are
told when they're on that practice card, look, we're gonna
need you at some point this year. You know you're
gonna get a chance to play. And the majority of
those guys they end up playing it and some get
signed to the active rosters.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
So it's very important to get.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Football players on that uh, that sixteen man practice squad.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Get football players.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I think you guys think you've got some good football
players on defense too, and obviously you know there's some
of the struggles down the stretch last year into the
playoffs on that side of the football. I think we
both agree that offensive lead with what's coming back and
the offensive line, that that's a pretty strong unit. But
you and Brad knew that you had to get better
on the other side of the ball.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
How do you guys think you did that.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
We're excited about some of the guys obviously getting trading
for Carson and then drafting those two corners early.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
And you know, those guys have lived up to you
know who we thought they would be excited about Hutch
and a Lean you know, and Levi Levi is playing
really well. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Uh, and then Marcus Davenport brings a you know, physicality
to the game, you know. So we're excited about all
those guys, man and what they bring to the table.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
You know, the growth of some of you know, Campbell
and Derrick Barnes, you know, some of those guys that
are getting better and better, you know. So we're excited
about our defense. And then Ag you know, with his
creative mind. So we're happy look forward to seeing it.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
With McNeil and DJ Reader obviously a big one too.
We'll see we have him this week.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
But no question, I can't believe I didn't mention DJ
probably one of the you know, one of my favorite
of the group. Man, a big, powerful man, you know,
so when we get him back, it's gonna be even better.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
When you watch the film from last year, you see
a lot of times like Hutch was one step away,
or like had an armound of quarterback but so close,
and it was just that one step, guys like DJ
Reader Mark steventhfore pushing everything kind.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Of his way.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
You expected a huge season from Hutch just because of
what you did helping him along that line. But then
the guys on the secondary that you talked about too,
maybe giving him an extra step, and could this be
a huge year because you look at him in training camp,
I mean he was terrific. I mean he was a handful.
I just from the outside looking at it looks like
he's set up for a huge year.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Of course, I totally agree, and I wouldn't be surprised,
you know, if this guy had you know, whatever the
amount of sacks it is. But he's he's been awesome
all camp, man, and he's gotten better and better each day.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
It's been amazing to watch.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
And yes, those guys will help Alien and Levi and
then Davenport with the push on the opposite side of
Hutch and then Lorita and knows all those guys are
gonna help tremendously.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
But he doesn't need a whole lot of help. He's
a pretty pretty good football.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
You guys still kick pinch yourselves a little bit when
he was sitting there at number two. I know you
guys couldn't kind of get the card in fast enough.
But he's been everything that you guys thought when he
was there at number two, right, you know.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
The guy is the thing that stands out about him
is intangibles. You know, it's tough. You know, he plays hard.
You know he's competitive. You know, and along with that,
he's a good athlete and a good football player. But
the thing that stands out the most is the intangibles.
That guy loves to play the game and you can
see it and he cares. Yeah, so that means a
lot to us.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
What a perfect fit for this city, this team, this defense.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Ag All right, let's flip.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Over to the other side real quick. A guy that
you have some big expectations for, you know, heading into
his third season, Jamison Williams. And this was kind of
the first offseason, first start to the season. He hasn't
been kind of dealing with something. It was just about ball.
What have you seen from his development and how much
of a step are you guys expecting him to take?
Speaker 5 (05:50):
Man, he's grown tremendously, leaps and bounds as a player
and as a person. Guy, clean route runner, catching the ball. Well, oh,
I mean the guys, it's a touchdown waiting to happen.
He's extremely fast, he's a tough, competitive dude, you know,
passionate about the game. And I you know, obviously I
(06:13):
know a little bit more about him being from Saint Louis,
but I expect big things from him. Excited to see
what he's gonna do this year. The growth and the
maturation of him has been great to see.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
And uh, we're excited, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Because you just you saw, you know, anytime he got
the hand his hand on the football, whether it was
a reverse, it was running the football down the field,
like you said, he's a touchdown where he happened. Now
you're gonna see his snaps with with Josh no longer
here probably double right. So that's that many more opportunities
for him to get the hand on the football.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Right, no question.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
That's that's exciting to think about, because I mean, you
got a guy on the field who's who's a threat
to score it at any time. And as a as
a defensive player, you know what those guys all right,
we gotta find nine, you know, yeah, we got to
watch nine going deep.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
So so he brings his scares defense.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
And when you couple that with you know, having to
know where Gibbs is at and having now where Montgomery
is at and then obviously right, I mean we don't
even have but then Laporta over the middle too, and
that weapon. It's just as a defensive guy, when you
look at that offense, is it just who do I?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Who do I stop? And there's always going to.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Be somebody who's single covered, right, And when you have
an offensive coordinator like Ben, that's got to be pretty exciting.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
No question.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
As a defensive guy, you always try to take away
what the other team does best, but you know which.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
You got to pick your paws and with this offense.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Behind one of the best offensive whole home right, Yeah,
all right? You signed Jared Goff this offseason, sign pinas signed.
I'm on Ross Saint Brown Ray. Why was that big
for you guys?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And you've been on both sides of it, right as
a player and now front office guys, so you have
a great perspective on both those Why was that so
important for you guys to get done? And just what
does that mean big picture for this football team?
Speaker 5 (08:02):
You know, I can't, I can It speaks volumes in
the locker room. You know, and you have to be
to be in there to understand it. Because when you
see your best players, the guys that show up for
you weekend and week out, you see the team reward them,
you see the organization reward them.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
It tells you that the organization is going to do
the right thing.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
But if I go out and play and do what
I'm supposed to do as a player, They're gonna take
care of me also, So it sends volumes do It
sends a great message to the locker room, and you know,
as you and all those guys deserve money. So you know, no,
not that we did anything that they didn't deserve, but
it sends volumes through the locker.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Room, and those young guys are like, I want to
be next, right, and what do I need.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
To do to do that?
Speaker 5 (08:47):
So then you know they start watching those guys. Yeah,
and those are three guys that are worst people watching.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Did you notice in your talkings with free agents and
stuff in the off season how this is maybe flipped
to be a destination for some guys. Was that part
of the conversation when you talk to.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
That, Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
You know, when we first got here, you had to
kind of you know, try to talk guys in the coming,
but now that you know they want to come, you.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Know, so.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
A little bit of a change. Well, let's finish with this.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
You've now kind of set your roots here in Detroit,
and you were in that building for the for the
playoff games, and you know the atmosphere and the excitement
that's now gone around the cover of Sports Illustrated and
everything else.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Just what is it about?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
What have you learned about Detroit as a football town
in your time here?
Speaker 5 (09:39):
That's exactly what I've learned that it is a football town.
Football is first.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
I love it, man. The fans are so passionate it's unbelievable.
And last year was great.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
But I remember the first year when we was here,
we won three games, and you know, I remember that
first Thanksgiving Day game. It was amazing, you know, it
was amazing. I didn't realize it's the magnitude of that game,
you know, because obviously I never played in it, but
it was outstanding. So the fans, the passion has been
there all alone. Now last year was it was on
(10:10):
a whole other level.
Speaker 6 (10:11):
Man.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Yeah, that playoff game was outstanding, both of them, you know,
But the people here are great, man, the fans are great.
I enjoy going into the city and having a meal
and you know, greeting some of the fans. But it's
been great.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
It's gonna be a great atmosphere Sunday night.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
No, no, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Well, it's really exciting to be talking about the Super Bowl,
to be kicking off this week at home against a
great opponent. Ray, thanks so much for joining me. Appreciate
your perspective and good luck to see.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
You all right, Thanks boy, all right, appreciate you having.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Welcome back to the twenty Huddle Podcast presented by Microsoft,
and I am very happy to welcome in Jordan Rodriy.
She does a great job with the Athletic and she
was just promoted. She is now senior writer at the Athletic.
She covers the Rams and does NFL project. She's great.
Check out her stuff. She knows everything about the Rams
and Jordan it likes. It hasn't been very long since
(11:07):
we've talked to Right, it's a little deja vous here.
Speaker 6 (11:10):
I know.
Speaker 7 (11:10):
It's funny. I when you popped onto my screen, I
was like, I was just here.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Obviously.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
That was a terrific matchup between the Rams and Lions
in the wild Card. It had really had everything, you know,
came down right to the end. Obviously there had to
be a winner, had to be a loser. It was
a great story for Detroit. Came thirty minutes away from
their first Super Bowl, and the NFL loved it so
much they said, heck, let's do this again week one,
and so you know you're going to be back in Detroit.
(11:39):
I just want to start with this, that atmosphere. I
saw an interview with Sean McVay, you know, in the
off season. He talked about just what kind of atmosphere
that was like in Detroit. Have you ever been a
part of anything like that? Has anything rivaled it? In
your tours around the NFL, there have.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
Been a couple that have been close Super Dome, you know,
FC Title game at Sofi Stadium, but that was a pretty.
Speaker 7 (12:02):
Split crowd at that time. So I have to tell
you I was so moved by that, by.
Speaker 6 (12:07):
That atmosphere in Detroit, and I wrote about it in
my column from postgame. The juxtaposition between the enormous wave
of feeling and celebration and like exorcism of long standing
curses and demons by the crowd. It stayed so much
longer after the game was over, before taking to the
streets of course to party. And then that juxtaposing with
(12:30):
how despondent some people in the Rams locker room were,
because they really felt that if they would have won
that game, they could have carried that momentum all the
way to the Super Bowl. And I believe it they
were really catching their stride at the right time. Matthew
Stafford was playing out of his mind, and that game
was so physical and it was so electric. And the crowd,
(12:51):
I mean the crowd, I mean the Rams. You know,
when you're when you're going into a place like that,
you got to expect a hostile crowd. I say hostile
as a compliment, like the crowd let them hear it.
I mean I that was football, man, That was real,
real football.
Speaker 7 (13:04):
And I had a blast.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Yeah, it should be a great one.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
You know, obviously September eight, next Sunday too, because you
look at the preseason with Detroit and look, the Lions
were away their first two preseason games. They were home
last week against Pittsburgh. They sold out standing room only
for the preseason Jordan, I mean they were causing penalties
in the fourth quarter of a preseason game. There's certainly
a football hangover here in Detroit, and they are excited
(13:29):
to get back at it, and this is a great matchup.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Well, let's get into the matchup a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
My first question, I'm just curious, where are the Rams
a better football team right now than the one that
the Lions saw in the wildcard?
Speaker 7 (13:42):
Yeah, I think they're better.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
They were great at running the ball by the end
of that twenty twenty three season. I think they're going
to be even better running the ball now that they
have Kirain Williams is going to be able.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
To get a spell every once in a while. With
Blake Corum.
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Another player that they really like, and anyone in Michigan
is very familiar obviously.
Speaker 7 (14:00):
With Dake Koram.
Speaker 6 (14:02):
He has fit right in into the mix, and he
and Kyen Williams will probably get a little bit of
a rotation. Kyen Williams is still the lead running back
on this team.
Speaker 8 (14:11):
Allegedly they are better along the offensive line.
Speaker 7 (14:14):
They've been dealing with injuries.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
Another familiar face, Jonah Jackson. He's actually playing a little
bit of center now that he's coming back from the
injury because the Rams are missing their.
Speaker 8 (14:23):
Left tackle, Alec Jackson has suspended.
Speaker 7 (14:26):
The first two games of the season.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
So Steve Avila, who was playing center now is switching
back to his rookie year position left guard because they
need more help on that left side. And so this
is going to be really that in theory because of
the investments they made up front. In theory, they are
better along the offensive line, but they are going to
be missing some players. Rob Hanstein, right tackle, may or
(14:48):
may not be ready to go. He's been dealing with
an ankle injury that's had him out for most of camp.
So that's where in theory it's better. But like in
actuality weeks one and two, you might not really see it.
But they where they are better is at their outside
linebacker position, where they really only had one full time
emerging rusher in Byron Young last season, who was a
(15:09):
rookie at that time. They at outside linebackers specifically, they
really have added some talent there. Jared Verse obviously their
first round pick. He looks and walks the part I
walk in and I'm like, oh, yeah, that's what a
first round pick looks like, because they're.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
In He was a guy draft process standing.
Speaker 6 (15:25):
He's outstanding, and he talks, so the Lions offense is
going to hear him. I mean he is like very
much like I would say a Jalen Ramsey personality, Like
they are going to hear him.
Speaker 8 (15:35):
And he's very physical, He's got speed to power. They
are going to feel him as well.
Speaker 6 (15:39):
This is going to be his debut, you know, because
seanman Fay doesn't play starters in the preseason, and then
Byron Young on the opposite side. But they have a
four deep there now where they didn't last year with
Michael Hoyt, the veteran, and then with Brennan Jackson, who
was another draft pick out of Washington State, who I
think is going to surprise some people this year. They're
certainly deeper at cornerback. They've got some they're more experienced
(16:00):
and more talented at cornerback, bringing in Trey White, Darius
Williams is going to be healthy. And then safety is
where I'm really excited to see this team play because
at safety, Chris Shula, the new defensive coordinator, he's going
to be leaning into safeties in his sub packages, where
other coordinators have used corners in dime and Nickel packages well,
Chris Shula is going to be using safeties and he
wants bigger bodies on the field who can also move.
(16:22):
So Cam Curl Quinton Lake, who's going to be their
star the position star. I think he will be a star,
but he will literally be in the star position. Cam
Kinchins and John Johnson the third. I mean, this is
a deep group of DB's at this point, and if
they can stay healthy, I think that that's where you're
going to see the most improvement on this defense.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I think that's really interesting because I think Detroit's in
a similar situation, you know, completely remade their cornerback room,
their secondary. Obviously looked at that game last year, Stafford
through for three hundred and sixty seven yards, three touchdowns,
had a one twenty rating, and Brad Holmes looked at
that and was like, Okay, something's got to change here.
And it was a theme that the end of the
season with Detroit throughout the players Matthew Stafford obviously exploited.
(17:02):
But it's interesting that you talk about all the new
faces and the secondary, some of the new pieces, because
that's what Detroit's dealing with too. We didn't see those
guys in the preseason either, So that'll be an interesting
dynamic to this one too. Obviously experienced really good quarterbacks
seeing brand new secondaries that each team is hoping to
make a difference, So that'll be interesting, all right.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Maybe the tougher question of the two is where.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Are the Rams maybe not as strong as they were
going into that wildcard game last year.
Speaker 7 (17:28):
Well, they don't have Aaron Donald.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Yeah, that is the check mark. There we go.
Speaker 7 (17:35):
That is very significant.
Speaker 6 (17:36):
I think you're going to see more straightforward pressure from
them though, because most of what they had to do
was find ways to get Aaron Donald away from double
and triple teams. So you're actually going to see a
little bit simpler, more straightforward pressure at least to start
with these guys. So that's a question mark. I'm curious
that group. I've been really impressed with Braidon Fist, Kobe Turner,
(17:58):
Bobby Brown has taking a step. I've been very very
impressed with them all through the course of not just
training camp, but particularly these joint practices. They are a
little light upfront, they have been for years. Last year
they defended the run really well still, but they had
again Aaron Donald.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
So this year.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
I'm really interested to see a bit concerned about how
they are against the run so far early on, but
that's always something I think with this group that's a
work in progress anyway, because they have tended to be
a little bit lighter on the interior.
Speaker 7 (18:29):
So that's something where it's a big question mark.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
I don't want to say you're always going to take
a step back when you don't have the best player
in the world on your team anymore. He's retired, and
so I'm more so curious than willing to say they
have taken a step back, because I feel like it's
almost an unfair parameter to place.
Speaker 7 (18:46):
Around this group.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
Yeah, the big question mark too for me is inside linebacker.
They recently traded their former team captain and starter for
three years, Ernest Jones, to the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 7 (18:58):
Ernest was dealing.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
It was coming back from an issue he missed out
of the spring, and as he was absent, a couple
of other players just really started playing so well to
the point where the Rams thought, Okay, well, we're not
going to extend Ernest.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
Jones anyway, so this is inevitable.
Speaker 6 (19:12):
Let's make an immediate that's a less need saying that
Brad Holmes knows very well as well.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
And so now the question is.
Speaker 8 (19:19):
Is Troy Reader, who has really been kind of up and.
Speaker 6 (19:23):
Down for this Rams team in his six seasons, and
whether he can really take actually another step forward. Particularly.
I mean, you know, Ben Johnson is looking at the
middle of the field. Ben Johnson is looking at these
inside linebackers and he is figuring out, you.
Speaker 8 (19:39):
Know, which players to circle on his play sheet.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
And that's just going to be one of the big
key matchups in my opinion, is how that middle of
the field looks, not just because there's questions and inside linebacker,
but also Quentin Lake is going to be again playing
the star, so he's going to be roaming all over
that middle of the field. And I know he thinks
about what happened last Sea last time with that game,
the Amonra catch. It was basically like a really it's
(20:03):
a it's a coverage beating slant.
Speaker 7 (20:04):
It's basically the slant.
Speaker 6 (20:06):
You need when you need like five yards right and
it's almost unguardable. But Quentin Lake definitely remembers that he's
a team captain. This year, he trained with Amandra in
California in the off season, and so I'm like, okay,
did that come up?
Speaker 7 (20:20):
And it's like no, no, no, it didn't come up.
I mean why would it come up?
Speaker 8 (20:22):
Right, You're not gonna be if you're Amra, you're not
gonna be.
Speaker 7 (20:24):
Like he remember that, you know.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
But like it is interesting because they are going to
be doing different things with their safeties to help out
kind of a linebacker group.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
In question.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
I know you've talked about a lot of names already,
but is there a new face, whether it's maybe a
free agent, whether maybe it's a young guy that maybe
Lions fans don't know but who could maybe have an
impact come you know, Sunday night for this Rams team.
Speaker 6 (20:46):
Yeah, so free agent Cam Curl. I'm not really quite
sure why he became a free agent because it's.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
One of those players.
Speaker 6 (20:55):
I mean, I guess, you know, the ball Skille stats,
like maybe they weren't sexy or whatever, but like, yeah,
watching this guy play, I'm I'm amazed. I mean, I'm
a big dork over safety play anyway. As you know,
and as very much has come clear in this conversation
as well to the to the viewer and to the listener,
the range that this guy has and the savvy and
the awareness, and like I watched him make plays all
(21:18):
through camp and he just quietly goes about his day,
you know.
Speaker 7 (21:21):
Goes about his business.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
But the amount of space on the field that this
guy can cover and it's like he has no questions
about where he's supposed to be. It's just so instinctual.
I'm pretty I'm pretty astounded by him so far. I
think he's gonna have a really big season for the Rams.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Well, since you're such in love with safety play, you'll
enjoy Brian Branch.
Speaker 7 (21:43):
I'm so excited about Troy.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Is Brian Branch going a terrific rookie nickel cornerback, one
of the better defenders, you know, I think he was
right there in terms of Rookie of the year in
terms of defensive guys. But now he's made that switch
to safety and Aaron Glenn's defense, they've said, like that
safety position is one in this defense that can just
see the field, make a place, has a little bit
more freedom to roam around a little bit and do
(22:09):
some of that stuff. So it'll be really interesting to
see how Brian Branch translates to the safety here in Detroit.
So we've got two young safeties, one young safety, one
one veteran guy that'll certainly have our eyes, you know,
Sunday night. All right, Jordan, maybe one or two big keys.
You looked at that matchup last year, you know, I
think one of the couple things that jumped out to
(22:30):
me was the Lions were three for three in the
red zone the Rams were ozer for three in a
one point game.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
That's a killer.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
And then obviously what Detroit has done to you know,
better their secondary, to improve the talent level, the depth there,
getting all of the veteran cornerbacks and drafting Terry and Arnold,
Ennis Rayshaw junior. Those are obviously two big keys for Detroit.
What's what's one or two big keys for the Rams?
How do they come out on top, go on the
road and escape with a win here in Detroit?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
What do they have to do?
Speaker 6 (22:59):
Yeah? Red zone production one hundred percent is one of
my keys as well, And that needs very little more
explanation with you know how well you described it there.
But I remember last this last game when it felt
like the swing was so in Detroit's favor.
Speaker 7 (23:15):
The Rams had totally let the crowd into it. You know,
they were you could tell.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
I mean it was they were a bit unsettled, and
then they hit a deep shot I believe it was
Puka Nakua downfield for the touchdown, and you could feel
the oxygen just like reverse.
Speaker 7 (23:31):
Order out of the like it just wooshed out of
the building for a minute.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
Right in that small window of time, the Rams resettled
and were able to recalibrate, and then that game got
really fun after that. It got physical on both sides,
not just the Lions sort of coming out and punching
them in the teeth and it really started to become
a battle at that point. If the Rams can score early,
I think that they really will make this fun way
(23:56):
quicker than it was last time for sure.
Speaker 8 (23:58):
And they're gonna have to take the crowd out of it.
Speaker 7 (24:01):
I don't care what anyone says.
Speaker 6 (24:02):
The crowd is absolutely a significant factor in a game
like this, and it's like it's a smart, educated crowd
in terms of they know what they're doing for like
with football, like they know when to they know Matthew
Stafford was checking into the second of the two plays
that he receives in his helmet, and as he was
audibling into that second play they would get louder so.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
That his own teammates couldn't.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
I mean, it's a really smart crowd, so taking them
out of it early, I think is going to be
absolutely a crucial key.
Speaker 7 (24:31):
For this RAMS group.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Well, Jordan, we can expect a terrific atmosphere. Again, I
expect it to be everybody in their seat thirty minutes before,
just like it was for the wild card playoff game.
And I know both of us hope that we get
a good game, a close battle. And it's an important
one too. You know, teams with playoff aspirations the NFC
and obviously we know these are important in terms of
(24:52):
tie breaking and stuff that happens you know, down the road.
So week one is important. It should be a fun one.
Thank you so much for joining me. You are one
of the best in the business. And again you can
follow all her stuff Jordan or she works for the
Athletic She does NFL projects there and covers the RAMS.
Does a great job. So if you need anything RAMS
are related, make sure you check with her. Jordan, thank
(25:13):
you so much for joining me.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Safe travels here and it should be a fun one.
Speaker 7 (25:17):
Thank you. I agree it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 8 (25:18):
Thank you for having me, and I hope we get
another one down.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
The road here.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I know, right, that'd be fun.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Here we go, Welcome back to the twenty in the
Huddle podcast presented by Microsoft, and I am very happy
to welcome in Fox to sports director the Voice of
the Lions, Dan Miller. We're gonna get into our key
to the Game segment here, but real quick.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
PJ.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Clark has been the producer for this podcast here for
the last you know, a couple of years. No longer
with the franchise anymore.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
So we have a new new face. There's roster turnover
every year, so I want to introduce Barrett Jones. Real quick, Bart,
it's gonna come around. Bart's gonna come around. You can
now you can put a face with the name here.
This is Jones, gonna be producing the podcast here. He's
got some good video ideas. He's gonna correlate with this
and stuff like this. So welcome to have you. Thanks
for doing it, putting up with me for a while,
(26:10):
and now you get a little FaceTime with us.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Yeah, it'll be fun.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I'm glad Tim's on the camera.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
I'd break the camera, but uh, yeah, I'm glad to
produce us for Tim. It's gonna be a fun season.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
All right, good deal man. All right. So now we're
gonna get to keys to the games, do it. And
there's a fun one.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Right, I mean, I mean, come on, your mind goes
directly back to last year, right, and that incredible scene
at Ford Field. And now you're opening, which always brings
about more emotion. You're back inside Ford Field, which is
gonna be nuts. Nuts fans have an extra seven hours
to get lubed. I mean, it's it's gonna be Look,
this is this is what opening weekend in the NFL
(26:46):
is all about. You've got a really good football team here,
a really good football team coming in and you're at home.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And one of the big question marks, I think, and
one of the exciting things for linespans is gonna finally
see this secondary, this remade secondary.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
For the first time.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
You know, obviously they traded for Carlton Davis, I mean,
Robertson and free agency's gonna be a big part of it.
And then the two rookies Terry and Arnold and Ni's
Rakestraw Junior. They're going to play their pieces too. Yeah,
Brian Branch moving back to safety from Nickel, so he's
they're gonna be tested. I mean, this is pookin Nakua,
(27:20):
Cooper Cup, Matthew Stafford. He threw for three hundred and
sixty seven yards and three touchdowns the last time these
two teams based off, So I think that's really.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Gonna be one of the keys.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Can this remade, new look secondary slow those weapons down
for the Rams?
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (27:34):
And I think that's where I have some questions. And
I don't think they're questions that I have for the
long term because I love what they've done back there.
But I think it's more for me, it's a question
about where they are right now, because if you think
about it, Carlton Davis's miss time during camp, Arnold's miss
time during camp, Rake Straw's miss time during camp, Branch
is miss time during camp. You go up and down
that secondary, Robertson's miss time. They've all missed time. So
(27:57):
I just I worry about the cohesion as they go
into Game one against the guy like Stafford that we
know what he's capable of. So really it's going to
be about communicating when they're out on the field and
that's going to be a difficult part of it too,
no doubt. And it's difficult on them too because that
crowd noise we know is a factor for the opposing offense.
So that that's something that I'm watching just because they
(28:19):
haven't had a lot of time on tasks together during camp,
and we know what kind of challenge Matthew is and
we know what kind of challenge those receivers.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Are, and we saw it in that game last year.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Three explosive plays twenty plus yards in the passing game,
you know, against this Lion's defense. And they looked at
that and they said, look, it's obvious this is where
we have to go to that's where they win.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
And it wasn't just that game.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
The last quarter of the season, you consistently had receivers
busted them up for one fifty two hundred, and I
think they looked at that and said, you know what,
we need.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
To overhaul this.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
And I think in fairness, they thought they had the
year before, but Gardner Johnson goes out and email goes out,
and what they envisioned having last year they really didn't have, right,
So I think again they've put a lot of assets
into it. And I love what they've done. Davis is
a guy that we know can play in this league.
Robertson as tough as nails. I think they love him
(29:11):
back there. And you have two really talent to brookies
and the thought of Branch being able to move around
back at safety is huge. So I love the big picture.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I just want to see it get going, and we'll
see it Sunday night. It should be fun, all right.
Second one second big key to me is you look
at that game last year. Detroit was such a good
rushing football team all year long. I think what I
had it down fourteen games of at least one hundred
yards and a touchdown of their seventeen. But the Rams
(29:39):
did a pretty good job of containing them. Detroy had
seventy nine yards.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
In that game.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
And over on the other side too, Detroit it was
really good defensively number two rushing defense. Ram struggled a
little bit. I think they had sixty eight yards. To me,
we know the quarterbacks are talented, right, We know the
wide receivers are talented.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
They can make plays there.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
But to me, I think an important part of this
too is who's going to control the temple with the run.
Game too, and can those Detroit running backs kind of
get off set the tempo And who's going to be
a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Versatile, who's going to be a little bit more dynamic
in the run game in this one. I think it's
a big key.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
I think the Rams have questions on both lines, not
that they may not have the answers there, but I
think there's some unknowns for them. There's a guy missing
that'll be in the Hall of Fame in five years,
Aaron Donald not playing, so he retired, so that gives
them a new look. But they were already moving in
some young guys last year. They were already replenishing that
defensive line, and they did it again going out in
(30:32):
their top two draft picks, both out of Florida State
are guys that are going to be on that defensive line.
So I think when you look at where they are,
I think the Lions, we know they're going to try
to run the football. We know Ben wants to establish
that run, utilize that offensive line, set up the pass
off the run. So I think it's going to challenge
that Rams defensive line to see if they're ready to
(30:54):
hold up against it. On the other side, look, they've
had some injuries.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
To both their tackles.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
They're talking about moving Jonah Jacks into center. That offensive
line could have a whole different look for LA. But again,
go back and look at the last half of last
season what Kyram Williams was able to do. The last
seven games. He averaged one hundred and twenty plus yards
per game over five yards of carry. They would love
to take the pressure off of Stafford and set Stafford
(31:18):
up with that play action game. So they're going to
try to establish the run. The Lions, as you said,
were elite last year against the run, and I think
they believe in some ways they're going to be better
reader Will you know, we'll figure out his status, but
Levi the way that he's played and they're counting on him.
A Leam is back and healthier than he was at
the end of last year. So I think there's a
(31:40):
lot to like about those matchups. I really want to
see them unfold because I think there's some unknowns in
there which you usually get in the first game of
the season.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I Stan Campbell too about you know, not having Aaron
Donald and scheming that for the first time, and he said, well,
wait a minute. They've got some young guys there that
are pretty good. I mean, you talk about Kobe turn
Jared Verse, who's a guy I liked in the draft,
Braiden Fisk, a guy I liked in the draft too,
you know, Bobby Brown. They've got some young guys that
(32:08):
have some juice that can still get after it. So again,
it's gonna put a lot of pressure on this Detroit
offensive line, who we expect will be just as good
as they were last year. This run game, which was
top five in the league. It's gonna be an interesting
matchup there, kind of that old guard, those veteran offensive
linemen against some of these young, you know, defensive linemen
that got some juice for the Rams.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
It's an interesting matchup, Yeah, no doubt about it. And
I credit the Rams because they could see this coming
and you could see kind of the churn beginning on
their defense where they were going to younger guys, and
those guys got some experience last year, you know, guys
like Kobe Turner and heck, they got experience. They're ready
to come back this year as veterans that have seen
it before. So this is a team that I think
(32:49):
believes that their defense can take a step even after
losing Aaron Donald. And it's the young guys that got
some experience that'll help lead the way. All right, Dan,
third key to the game? To me, what are those
important stats in every game?
Speaker 6 (33:00):
Right?
Speaker 2 (33:01):
We talked about turnovers, we talked about third down, right,
and to me, another big one is the red zone.
And you just look at this game last year as
a perfect example of how important this was. That was
a twenty four to twenty three Lions win. The Rams
were zero to three in the red zone. The Lions
were three for three. That was the difference, one of
the big differences.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
In that game.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
I think it's going to be key again and Aaron
Glenn talked about that being part of kind of his
process this year of looking at areas of where they
needed to improve. They were twenty ninth last year in
red zone officialcy. I think sixty six percent. That's an
area that they've got to be better. And I think
that this is a good opportunity to show it here
against the Rams.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
And that was big for the Lions to be able
to cash in on those opportunities. One of them came
in a fourth down pass to Laporta, which was huge,
but also you could see defensively some of that was
them pressuring Stafford and making him throw the ball before
they wanted to. And that's always going to be a
big key. So look, it's about being opportunistic. It's about
taking an opportunity to not put three on the board
and put seven on the board. You look at that
(33:59):
early last year where Stafford got him right back down there,
Lions pressured him, he wasn't able to complete the pass.
They ended up with three at seven to three and
then fourteen to three before you can blink. So you know,
it gives you the opportunity to get a jump on somebody,
I think, both on the scoreboard and mentally when they're
settling for three instead of seven. So when you get
down there, a take care of the football. B come
(34:23):
out of there with seven if he can. And I
think that's one thing that the Lions are good at.
And look, if the Lions defense is what they want
to be, which is better against the pass, better rushing
the passer, then that's going to show up in that area.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
I mean, look, it's not hard.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
To figure out where they struggled last year or second
against the run twenty seventh in the league in defense,
tells you this really struggled against the pass. Make quarterbacks uncomfortable,
and that's a good place to do it. When you
get down there and everything's compacted, don't get in time
to make a decision.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Those are the keys of the game. He is the
voice of the Lions. It's gonna be a fun atmosphere
in there. It's gonna be crazy. Look, they're talking super
Bowl around Allen Park now. They were on the cover
of Sports Illustrated this. We haven't gone into too many
years like this, and we've been doing this for for
a while. It's It's fun, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Yeah, No, this is this is amazing. Last year, the
end of it was amazing. Those are Those are games
and moments that I'll never forget. They were standalone moments
in my career to see the city lit up like
that and the electricity, and you know what, I think
it's going to be just as electric for this opening game.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
I think people have been looking.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Forward to this.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
They're excited about this team.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
So man, let's roll it out there. Let's go. I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
He's Dan Miller, I'm Tim twentyman.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Thanks for joining,
Baker leans in, there's the snap blitz comes may feel
back loads.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Gross picked up by the Lions, intercepted by the Lions, intercepted.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
By the Lions.
Speaker 4 (00:10):
Derek Bards, Derek Bards, Derek Barns.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It is Week one of the NFL season and that
means the Twenty Men The Huddle Podcast is back and
I'm very excited to kick off this year's twenty in
the Hull Podcast with Ray agnew assistant general manager for
the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Ray, thanks for joining me. Oh, it's been it's been
a little bit. We did this the Senior Bowl maybe
a couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, and it's as exciting now that it's that it's
week one. I mean the building the roster and the offseason.
Obviously that's a big part of your job in camp
and whittling it down. But now does it feel like
football's here?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Week one?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Very exciting, man.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
You just can't wait to see a full group on
the field. Uh, all the starters playing and everybody going
at once. Man, dang't planning getting ready for the Rams.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Man.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
So it's is last week bittersweet a little bit, you know,
because obviously you've got to make some tough decisions, and
you've got to end a.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Dream at least for a moment for a lot of guys.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
But then the excitement of okay, now we've got our
sixty nine right now, we've got the guys we're gonna.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Kind of go to war with for sixteen weeks. So
is last week a little bit bittersweet for gull.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
Like you, Yeah, it is bittersweet because there are some
kids you get attached to, and then you have to
tell a kid something he's never been told before, that
he's not good enough. And then some of them they
go on and play with other teams, but some of
them that's their last game, that lest their last chance,
you know. So it's tough, But at the same time
you're excited. You get your group together and it's time. Okay,
(01:39):
let's go, let's go take make a run at this thing.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I don't know if it was you or Brad who
made the comment, but it's important to talk about the
sixty nine man roster and not just the fifty three, right,
How important and how much time to do you and
Brad spend on getting that practice squad together. And you've
got some veteran guys on there because you're gonna need
every guy. It's not a matter of if injuries are
gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
It's right. Yeah, And so how why is it important
to talk about the sixty nine.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
It's very important because you just said that you're gonna
need all of those guys, and and those guys are
told when they're on that practice card, look, we're gonna
need you at some point this year. You know you're
gonna get a chance to play. And the majority of
those guys they end up playing it and some get
signed to the active rosters.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
So it's very important to get.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Football players on that uh, that sixteen man practice squad.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Get football players.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I think you guys think you've got some good football
players on defense too, and obviously you know there's some
of the struggles down the stretch last year into the
playoffs on that side of the football. I think we
both agree that offensive lead with what's coming back and
the offensive line, that that's a pretty strong unit. But
you and Brad knew that you had to get better
on the other side of the ball.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
How do you guys think you did that.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
We're excited about some of the guys obviously getting trading
for Carson and then drafting those two corners early.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
And you know, those guys have lived up to you
know who we thought they would be excited about Hutch
and a Lean you know, and Levi Levi is playing
really well. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Uh, and then Marcus Davenport brings a you know, physicality
to the game, you know. So we're excited about all
those guys, man and what they bring to the table.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
You know, the growth of some of you know, Campbell
and Derrick Barnes, you know, some of those guys that
are getting better and better, you know. So we're excited
about our defense. And then Ag you know, with his
creative mind. So we're happy look forward to seeing it.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
With McNeil and DJ Reader obviously a big one too.
We'll see we have him this week.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
But no question, I can't believe I didn't mention DJ
probably one of the you know, one of my favorite
of the group. Man, a big, powerful man, you know,
so when we get him back, it's gonna be even better.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
When you watch the film from last year, you see
a lot of times like Hutch was one step away,
or like had an armound of quarterback but so close,
and it was just that one step, guys like DJ
Reader Mark steventhfore pushing everything kind.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Of his way.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
You expected a huge season from Hutch just because of
what you did helping him along that line. But then
the guys on the secondary that you talked about too,
maybe giving him an extra step, and could this be
a huge year because you look at him in training camp,
I mean he was terrific. I mean he was a handful.
I just from the outside looking at it looks like
he's set up for a huge year.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Of course, I totally agree, and I wouldn't be surprised,
you know, if this guy had you know, whatever the
amount of sacks it is. But he's he's been awesome
all camp, man, and he's gotten better and better each day.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
It's been amazing to watch.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
And yes, those guys will help Alien and Levi and
then Davenport with the push on the opposite side of
Hutch and then Lorita and knows all those guys are
gonna help tremendously.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
But he doesn't need a whole lot of help. He's
a pretty pretty good football.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
You guys still kick pinch yourselves a little bit when
he was sitting there at number two. I know you
guys couldn't kind of get the card in fast enough.
But he's been everything that you guys thought when he
was there at number two, right, you know.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
The guy is the thing that stands out about him
is intangibles. You know, it's tough. You know, he plays hard.
You know he's competitive. You know, and along with that,
he's a good athlete and a good football player. But
the thing that stands out the most is the intangibles.
That guy loves to play the game and you can
see it and he cares. Yeah, so that means a
lot to us.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
What a perfect fit for this city, this team, this defense.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Ag All right, let's flip.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Over to the other side real quick. A guy that
you have some big expectations for, you know, heading into
his third season, Jamison Williams. And this was kind of
the first offseason, first start to the season. He hasn't
been kind of dealing with something. It was just about ball.
What have you seen from his development and how much
of a step are you guys expecting him to take?
Speaker 5 (05:50):
Man, he's grown tremendously, leaps and bounds as a player
and as a person. Guy, clean route runner, catching the ball. Well, oh,
I mean the guys, it's a touchdown waiting to happen.
He's extremely fast, he's a tough, competitive dude, you know,
passionate about the game. And I you know, obviously I
(06:13):
know a little bit more about him being from Saint Louis,
but I expect big things from him. Excited to see
what he's gonna do this year. The growth and the
maturation of him has been great to see.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
And uh, we're excited, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Because you just you saw, you know, anytime he got
the hand his hand on the football, whether it was
a reverse, it was running the football down the field,
like you said, he's a touchdown where he happened. Now
you're gonna see his snaps with with Josh no longer
here probably double right. So that's that many more opportunities
for him to get the hand on the football.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Right, no question.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
That's that's exciting to think about, because I mean, you
got a guy on the field who's who's a threat
to score it at any time. And as a as
a defensive player, you know what those guys all right,
we gotta find nine, you know, yeah, we got to
watch nine going deep.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
So so he brings his scares defense.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
And when you couple that with you know, having to
know where Gibbs is at and having now where Montgomery
is at and then obviously right, I mean we don't
even have but then Laporta over the middle too, and
that weapon. It's just as a defensive guy, when you
look at that offense, is it just who do I?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Who do I stop? And there's always going to.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Be somebody who's single covered, right, And when you have
an offensive coordinator like Ben, that's got to be pretty exciting.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
No question.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
As a defensive guy, you always try to take away
what the other team does best, but you know which.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
You got to pick your paws and with this offense.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Behind one of the best offensive whole home right, Yeah,
all right? You signed Jared Goff this offseason, sign pinas signed.
I'm on Ross Saint Brown Ray. Why was that big
for you guys?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And you've been on both sides of it, right as
a player and now front office guys, so you have
a great perspective on both those Why was that so
important for you guys to get done? And just what
does that mean big picture for this football team?
Speaker 5 (08:02):
You know, I can't, I can It speaks volumes in
the locker room. You know, and you have to be
to be in there to understand it. Because when you
see your best players, the guys that show up for
you weekend and week out, you see the team reward them,
you see the organization reward them.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
It tells you that the organization is going to do
the right thing.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
But if I go out and play and do what
I'm supposed to do as a player, They're gonna take
care of me also, So it sends volumes do It
sends a great message to the locker room, and you know,
as you and all those guys deserve money. So you know, no,
not that we did anything that they didn't deserve, but
it sends volumes through the locker.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Room, and those young guys are like, I want to
be next, right, and what do I need.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
To do to do that?
Speaker 5 (08:47):
So then you know they start watching those guys. Yeah,
and those are three guys that are worst people watching.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Did you notice in your talkings with free agents and
stuff in the off season how this is maybe flipped
to be a destination for some guys. Was that part
of the conversation when you talk to.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
That, Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
You know, when we first got here, you had to
kind of you know, try to talk guys in the coming,
but now that you know they want to come, you.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Know, so.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
A little bit of a change. Well, let's finish with this.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
You've now kind of set your roots here in Detroit,
and you were in that building for the for the
playoff games, and you know the atmosphere and the excitement
that's now gone around the cover of Sports Illustrated and
everything else.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Just what is it about?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
What have you learned about Detroit as a football town
in your time here?
Speaker 5 (09:39):
That's exactly what I've learned that it is a football town.
Football is first.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
I love it, man. The fans are so passionate it's unbelievable.
And last year was great.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
But I remember the first year when we was here,
we won three games, and you know, I remember that
first Thanksgiving Day game. It was amazing, you know, it
was amazing. I didn't realize it's the magnitude of that game,
you know, because obviously I never played in it, but
it was outstanding. So the fans, the passion has been
there all alone. Now last year was it was on
(10:10):
a whole other level.
Speaker 6 (10:11):
Man.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Yeah, that playoff game was outstanding, both of them, you know,
But the people here are great, man, the fans are great.
I enjoy going into the city and having a meal
and you know, greeting some of the fans. But it's
been great.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
It's gonna be a great atmosphere Sunday night.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
No, no, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Well, it's really exciting to be talking about the Super Bowl,
to be kicking off this week at home against a
great opponent. Ray, thanks so much for joining me. Appreciate
your perspective and good luck to see.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
You all right, Thanks boy, all right, appreciate you having.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Welcome back to the twenty Huddle Podcast presented by Microsoft,
and I am very happy to welcome in Jordan Rodriy.
She does a great job with the Athletic and she
was just promoted. She is now senior writer at the Athletic.
She covers the Rams and does NFL project. She's great.
Check out her stuff. She knows everything about the Rams
and Jordan it likes. It hasn't been very long since
(11:07):
we've talked to Right, it's a little deja vous here.
Speaker 6 (11:10):
I know.
Speaker 7 (11:10):
It's funny. I when you popped onto my screen, I
was like, I was just here.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Obviously.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
That was a terrific matchup between the Rams and Lions
in the wild Card. It had really had everything, you know,
came down right to the end. Obviously there had to
be a winner, had to be a loser. It was
a great story for Detroit. Came thirty minutes away from
their first Super Bowl, and the NFL loved it so
much they said, heck, let's do this again week one,
and so you know you're going to be back in Detroit.
(11:39):
I just want to start with this, that atmosphere. I
saw an interview with Sean McVay, you know, in the
off season. He talked about just what kind of atmosphere
that was like in Detroit. Have you ever been a
part of anything like that? Has anything rivaled it? In
your tours around the NFL, there have.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
Been a couple that have been close Super Dome, you know,
FC Title game at Sofi Stadium, but that was a pretty.
Speaker 7 (12:02):
Split crowd at that time. So I have to tell
you I was so moved by that, by.
Speaker 6 (12:07):
That atmosphere in Detroit, and I wrote about it in
my column from postgame. The juxtaposition between the enormous wave
of feeling and celebration and like exorcism of long standing
curses and demons by the crowd. It stayed so much
longer after the game was over, before taking to the
streets of course to party. And then that juxtaposing with
(12:30):
how despondent some people in the Rams locker room were,
because they really felt that if they would have won
that game, they could have carried that momentum all the
way to the Super Bowl. And I believe it they
were really catching their stride at the right time. Matthew
Stafford was playing out of his mind, and that game
was so physical and it was so electric. And the crowd,
(12:51):
I mean the crowd, I mean the Rams. You know,
when you're when you're going into a place like that,
you got to expect a hostile crowd. I say hostile
as a compliment, like the crowd let them hear it.
I mean I that was football, man, That was real,
real football.
Speaker 7 (13:04):
And I had a blast.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Yeah, it should be a great one.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
You know, obviously September eight, next Sunday too, because you
look at the preseason with Detroit and look, the Lions
were away their first two preseason games. They were home
last week against Pittsburgh. They sold out standing room only
for the preseason Jordan, I mean they were causing penalties
in the fourth quarter of a preseason game. There's certainly
a football hangover here in Detroit, and they are excited
(13:29):
to get back at it, and this is a great matchup.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Well, let's get into the matchup a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
My first question, I'm just curious, where are the Rams
a better football team right now than the one that
the Lions saw in the wildcard?
Speaker 7 (13:42):
Yeah, I think they're better.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
They were great at running the ball by the end
of that twenty twenty three season. I think they're going
to be even better running the ball now that they
have Kirain Williams is going to be able.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
To get a spell every once in a while. With
Blake Corum.
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Another player that they really like, and anyone in Michigan
is very familiar obviously.
Speaker 7 (14:00):
With Dake Koram.
Speaker 6 (14:02):
He has fit right in into the mix, and he
and Kyen Williams will probably get a little bit of
a rotation. Kyen Williams is still the lead running back
on this team.
Speaker 8 (14:11):
Allegedly they are better along the offensive line.
Speaker 7 (14:14):
They've been dealing with injuries.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
Another familiar face, Jonah Jackson. He's actually playing a little
bit of center now that he's coming back from the
injury because the Rams are missing their.
Speaker 8 (14:23):
Left tackle, Alec Jackson has suspended.
Speaker 7 (14:26):
The first two games of the season.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
So Steve Avila, who was playing center now is switching
back to his rookie year position left guard because they
need more help on that left side. And so this
is going to be really that in theory because of
the investments they made up front. In theory, they are
better along the offensive line, but they are going to
be missing some players. Rob Hanstein, right tackle, may or
(14:48):
may not be ready to go. He's been dealing with
an ankle injury that's had him out for most of camp.
So that's where in theory it's better. But like in
actuality weeks one and two, you might not really see it.
But they where they are better is at their outside
linebacker position, where they really only had one full time
emerging rusher in Byron Young last season, who was a
(15:09):
rookie at that time. They at outside linebackers specifically, they
really have added some talent there. Jared Verse obviously their
first round pick. He looks and walks the part I
walk in and I'm like, oh, yeah, that's what a
first round pick looks like, because they're.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
In He was a guy draft process standing.
Speaker 6 (15:25):
He's outstanding, and he talks, so the Lions offense is
going to hear him. I mean he is like very
much like I would say a Jalen Ramsey personality, Like
they are going to hear him.
Speaker 8 (15:35):
And he's very physical, He's got speed to power. They
are going to feel him as well.
Speaker 6 (15:39):
This is going to be his debut, you know, because
seanman Fay doesn't play starters in the preseason, and then
Byron Young on the opposite side. But they have a
four deep there now where they didn't last year with
Michael Hoyt, the veteran, and then with Brennan Jackson, who
was another draft pick out of Washington State, who I
think is going to surprise some people this year. They're
certainly deeper at cornerback. They've got some they're more experienced
(16:00):
and more talented at cornerback, bringing in Trey White, Darius
Williams is going to be healthy. And then safety is
where I'm really excited to see this team play because
at safety, Chris Shula, the new defensive coordinator, he's going
to be leaning into safeties in his sub packages, where
other coordinators have used corners in dime and Nickel packages well,
Chris Shula is going to be using safeties and he
wants bigger bodies on the field who can also move.
(16:22):
So Cam Curl Quinton Lake, who's going to be their
star the position star. I think he will be a star,
but he will literally be in the star position. Cam
Kinchins and John Johnson the third. I mean, this is
a deep group of DB's at this point, and if
they can stay healthy, I think that that's where you're
going to see the most improvement on this defense.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I think that's really interesting because I think Detroit's in
a similar situation, you know, completely remade their cornerback room,
their secondary. Obviously looked at that game last year, Stafford
through for three hundred and sixty seven yards, three touchdowns,
had a one twenty rating, and Brad Holmes looked at
that and was like, Okay, something's got to change here.
And it was a theme that the end of the
season with Detroit throughout the players Matthew Stafford obviously exploited.
(17:02):
But it's interesting that you talk about all the new
faces and the secondary, some of the new pieces, because
that's what Detroit's dealing with too. We didn't see those
guys in the preseason either, So that'll be an interesting
dynamic to this one too. Obviously experienced really good quarterbacks
seeing brand new secondaries that each team is hoping to
make a difference, So that'll be interesting, all right.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Maybe the tougher question of the two is where.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Are the Rams maybe not as strong as they were
going into that wildcard game last year.
Speaker 7 (17:28):
Well, they don't have Aaron Donald.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Yeah, that is the check mark. There we go.
Speaker 7 (17:35):
That is very significant.
Speaker 6 (17:36):
I think you're going to see more straightforward pressure from
them though, because most of what they had to do
was find ways to get Aaron Donald away from double
and triple teams. So you're actually going to see a
little bit simpler, more straightforward pressure at least to start
with these guys. So that's a question mark. I'm curious
that group. I've been really impressed with Braidon Fist, Kobe Turner,
(17:58):
Bobby Brown has taking a step. I've been very very
impressed with them all through the course of not just
training camp, but particularly these joint practices. They are a
little light upfront, they have been for years. Last year
they defended the run really well still, but they had
again Aaron Donald.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
So this year.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
I'm really interested to see a bit concerned about how
they are against the run so far early on, but
that's always something I think with this group that's a
work in progress anyway, because they have tended to be
a little bit lighter on the interior.
Speaker 7 (18:29):
So that's something where it's a big question mark.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
I don't want to say you're always going to take
a step back when you don't have the best player
in the world on your team anymore. He's retired, and
so I'm more so curious than willing to say they
have taken a step back, because I feel like it's
almost an unfair parameter to place.
Speaker 7 (18:46):
Around this group.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
Yeah, the big question mark too for me is inside linebacker.
They recently traded their former team captain and starter for
three years, Ernest Jones, to the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 7 (18:58):
Ernest was dealing.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
It was coming back from an issue he missed out
of the spring, and as he was absent, a couple
of other players just really started playing so well to
the point where the Rams thought, Okay, well, we're not
going to extend Ernest.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
Jones anyway, so this is inevitable.
Speaker 6 (19:12):
Let's make an immediate that's a less need saying that
Brad Holmes knows very well as well.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
And so now the question is.
Speaker 8 (19:19):
Is Troy Reader, who has really been kind of up and.
Speaker 6 (19:23):
Down for this Rams team in his six seasons, and
whether he can really take actually another step forward. Particularly.
I mean, you know, Ben Johnson is looking at the
middle of the field. Ben Johnson is looking at these
inside linebackers and he is figuring out, you.
Speaker 8 (19:39):
Know, which players to circle on his play sheet.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
And that's just going to be one of the big
key matchups in my opinion, is how that middle of
the field looks, not just because there's questions and inside linebacker,
but also Quentin Lake is going to be again playing
the star, so he's going to be roaming all over
that middle of the field. And I know he thinks
about what happened last Sea last time with that game,
the Amonra catch. It was basically like a really it's
(20:03):
a it's a coverage beating slant.
Speaker 7 (20:04):
It's basically the slant.
Speaker 6 (20:06):
You need when you need like five yards right and
it's almost unguardable. But Quentin Lake definitely remembers that he's
a team captain. This year, he trained with Amandra in
California in the off season, and so I'm like, okay,
did that come up?
Speaker 7 (20:20):
And it's like no, no, no, it didn't come up.
I mean why would it come up?
Speaker 8 (20:22):
Right, You're not gonna be if you're Amra, you're not
gonna be.
Speaker 7 (20:24):
Like he remember that, you know.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
But like it is interesting because they are going to
be doing different things with their safeties to help out
kind of a linebacker group.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
In question.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
I know you've talked about a lot of names already,
but is there a new face, whether it's maybe a
free agent, whether maybe it's a young guy that maybe
Lions fans don't know but who could maybe have an
impact come you know, Sunday night for this Rams team.
Speaker 6 (20:46):
Yeah, so free agent Cam Curl. I'm not really quite
sure why he became a free agent because it's.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
One of those players.
Speaker 6 (20:55):
I mean, I guess, you know, the ball Skille stats,
like maybe they weren't sexy or whatever, but like, yeah,
watching this guy play, I'm I'm amazed. I mean, I'm
a big dork over safety play anyway. As you know,
and as very much has come clear in this conversation
as well to the to the viewer and to the listener,
the range that this guy has and the savvy and
the awareness, and like I watched him make plays all
(21:18):
through camp and he just quietly goes about his day,
you know.
Speaker 7 (21:21):
Goes about his business.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
But the amount of space on the field that this
guy can cover and it's like he has no questions
about where he's supposed to be. It's just so instinctual.
I'm pretty I'm pretty astounded by him so far. I
think he's gonna have a really big season for the Rams.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Well, since you're such in love with safety play, you'll
enjoy Brian Branch.
Speaker 7 (21:43):
I'm so excited about Troy.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Is Brian Branch going a terrific rookie nickel cornerback, one
of the better defenders, you know, I think he was
right there in terms of Rookie of the year in
terms of defensive guys. But now he's made that switch
to safety and Aaron Glenn's defense, they've said, like that
safety position is one in this defense that can just
see the field, make a place, has a little bit
more freedom to roam around a little bit and do
(22:09):
some of that stuff. So it'll be really interesting to
see how Brian Branch translates to the safety here in Detroit.
So we've got two young safeties, one young safety, one
one veteran guy that'll certainly have our eyes, you know,
Sunday night. All right, Jordan, maybe one or two big keys.
You looked at that matchup last year, you know, I
think one of the couple things that jumped out to
(22:30):
me was the Lions were three for three in the
red zone the Rams were ozer for three in a
one point game.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
That's a killer.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
And then obviously what Detroit has done to you know,
better their secondary, to improve the talent level, the depth there,
getting all of the veteran cornerbacks and drafting Terry and Arnold,
Ennis Rayshaw junior. Those are obviously two big keys for Detroit.
What's what's one or two big keys for the Rams?
How do they come out on top, go on the
road and escape with a win here in Detroit?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
What do they have to do?
Speaker 6 (22:59):
Yeah? Red zone production one hundred percent is one of
my keys as well, And that needs very little more
explanation with you know how well you described it there.
But I remember last this last game when it felt
like the swing was so in Detroit's favor.
Speaker 7 (23:15):
The Rams had totally let the crowd into it. You know,
they were you could tell.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
I mean it was they were a bit unsettled, and
then they hit a deep shot I believe it was
Puka Nakua downfield for the touchdown, and you could feel
the oxygen just like reverse.
Speaker 7 (23:31):
Order out of the like it just wooshed out of
the building for a minute.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
Right in that small window of time, the Rams resettled
and were able to recalibrate, and then that game got
really fun after that. It got physical on both sides,
not just the Lions sort of coming out and punching
them in the teeth and it really started to become
a battle at that point. If the Rams can score early,
I think that they really will make this fun way
(23:56):
quicker than it was last time for sure.
Speaker 8 (23:58):
And they're gonna have to take the crowd out of it.
Speaker 7 (24:01):
I don't care what anyone says.
Speaker 6 (24:02):
The crowd is absolutely a significant factor in a game
like this, and it's like it's a smart, educated crowd
in terms of they know what they're doing for like
with football, like they know when to they know Matthew
Stafford was checking into the second of the two plays
that he receives in his helmet, and as he was
audibling into that second play they would get louder so.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
That his own teammates couldn't.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
I mean, it's a really smart crowd, so taking them
out of it early, I think is going to be
absolutely a crucial key.
Speaker 7 (24:31):
For this RAMS group.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Well, Jordan, we can expect a terrific atmosphere. Again, I
expect it to be everybody in their seat thirty minutes before,
just like it was for the wild card playoff game.
And I know both of us hope that we get
a good game, a close battle. And it's an important
one too. You know, teams with playoff aspirations the NFC
and obviously we know these are important in terms of
(24:52):
tie breaking and stuff that happens you know, down the road.
So week one is important. It should be a fun one.
Thank you so much for joining me. You are one
of the best in the business. And again you can
follow all her stuff Jordan or she works for the
Athletic She does NFL projects there and covers the RAMS.
Does a great job. So if you need anything RAMS
are related, make sure you check with her. Jordan, thank
(25:13):
you so much for joining me.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Safe travels here and it should be a fun one.
Speaker 7 (25:17):
Thank you. I agree it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 8 (25:18):
Thank you for having me, and I hope we get
another one down.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
The road here.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I know, right, that'd be fun.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Here we go, Welcome back to the twenty in the
Huddle podcast presented by Microsoft, and I am very happy
to welcome in Fox to sports director the Voice of
the Lions, Dan Miller. We're gonna get into our key
to the Game segment here, but real quick.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
PJ.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Clark has been the producer for this podcast here for
the last you know, a couple of years. No longer
with the franchise anymore.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
So we have a new new face. There's roster turnover
every year, so I want to introduce Barrett Jones. Real quick, Bart,
it's gonna come around. Bart's gonna come around. You can
now you can put a face with the name here.
This is Jones, gonna be producing the podcast here. He's
got some good video ideas. He's gonna correlate with this
and stuff like this. So welcome to have you. Thanks
for doing it, putting up with me for a while,
(26:10):
and now you get a little FaceTime with us.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Yeah, it'll be fun.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I'm glad Tim's on the camera.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
I'd break the camera, but uh, yeah, I'm glad to
produce us for Tim. It's gonna be a fun season.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
All right, good deal man. All right. So now we're
gonna get to keys to the games, do it. And
there's a fun one.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Right, I mean, I mean, come on, your mind goes
directly back to last year, right, and that incredible scene
at Ford Field. And now you're opening, which always brings
about more emotion. You're back inside Ford Field, which is
gonna be nuts. Nuts fans have an extra seven hours
to get lubed. I mean, it's it's gonna be Look,
this is this is what opening weekend in the NFL
(26:46):
is all about. You've got a really good football team here,
a really good football team coming in and you're at home.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And one of the big question marks, I think, and
one of the exciting things for linespans is gonna finally
see this secondary, this remade secondary.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
For the first time.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
You know, obviously they traded for Carlton Davis, I mean,
Robertson and free agency's gonna be a big part of it.
And then the two rookies Terry and Arnold and Ni's
Rakestraw Junior. They're going to play their pieces too. Yeah,
Brian Branch moving back to safety from Nickel, so he's
they're gonna be tested. I mean, this is pookin Nakua,
(27:20):
Cooper Cup, Matthew Stafford. He threw for three hundred and
sixty seven yards and three touchdowns the last time these
two teams based off, So I think that's really.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Gonna be one of the keys.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Can this remade, new look secondary slow those weapons down
for the Rams?
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (27:34):
And I think that's where I have some questions. And
I don't think they're questions that I have for the
long term because I love what they've done back there.
But I think it's more for me, it's a question
about where they are right now, because if you think
about it, Carlton Davis's miss time during camp, Arnold's miss
time during camp, Rake Straw's miss time during camp, Branch
is miss time during camp. You go up and down
that secondary, Robertson's miss time. They've all missed time. So
(27:57):
I just I worry about the cohesion as they go
into Game one against the guy like Stafford that we
know what he's capable of. So really it's going to
be about communicating when they're out on the field and
that's going to be a difficult part of it too,
no doubt. And it's difficult on them too because that
crowd noise we know is a factor for the opposing offense.
So that that's something that I'm watching just because they
(28:19):
haven't had a lot of time on tasks together during camp,
and we know what kind of challenge Matthew is and
we know what kind of challenge those receivers.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Are, and we saw it in that game last year.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Three explosive plays twenty plus yards in the passing game,
you know, against this Lion's defense. And they looked at
that and they said, look, it's obvious this is where
we have to go to that's where they win.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
And it wasn't just that game.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
The last quarter of the season, you consistently had receivers
busted them up for one fifty two hundred, and I
think they looked at that and said, you know what,
we need.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
To overhaul this.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
And I think in fairness, they thought they had the
year before, but Gardner Johnson goes out and email goes out,
and what they envisioned having last year they really didn't have, right,
So I think again they've put a lot of assets
into it. And I love what they've done. Davis is
a guy that we know can play in this league.
Robertson as tough as nails. I think they love him
(29:11):
back there. And you have two really talent to brookies
and the thought of Branch being able to move around
back at safety is huge. So I love the big picture.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I just want to see it get going, and we'll
see it Sunday night. It should be fun, all right.
Second one second big key to me is you look
at that game last year. Detroit was such a good
rushing football team all year long. I think what I
had it down fourteen games of at least one hundred
yards and a touchdown of their seventeen. But the Rams
(29:39):
did a pretty good job of containing them. Detroy had
seventy nine yards.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
In that game.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
And over on the other side too, Detroit it was
really good defensively number two rushing defense. Ram struggled a
little bit. I think they had sixty eight yards. To me,
we know the quarterbacks are talented, right, We know the
wide receivers are talented.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
They can make plays there.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
But to me, I think an important part of this
too is who's going to control the temple with the run.
Game too, and can those Detroit running backs kind of
get off set the tempo And who's going to be
a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Versatile, who's going to be a little bit more dynamic
in the run game in this one. I think it's
a big key.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
I think the Rams have questions on both lines, not
that they may not have the answers there, but I
think there's some unknowns for them. There's a guy missing
that'll be in the Hall of Fame in five years,
Aaron Donald not playing, so he retired, so that gives
them a new look. But they were already moving in
some young guys last year. They were already replenishing that
defensive line, and they did it again going out in
(30:32):
their top two draft picks, both out of Florida State
are guys that are going to be on that defensive line.
So I think when you look at where they are,
I think the Lions, we know they're going to try
to run the football. We know Ben wants to establish
that run, utilize that offensive line, set up the pass
off the run. So I think it's going to challenge
that Rams defensive line to see if they're ready to
(30:54):
hold up against it. On the other side, look, they've
had some injuries.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
To both their tackles.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
They're talking about moving Jonah Jacks into center. That offensive
line could have a whole different look for LA. But again,
go back and look at the last half of last
season what Kyram Williams was able to do. The last
seven games. He averaged one hundred and twenty plus yards
per game over five yards of carry. They would love
to take the pressure off of Stafford and set Stafford
(31:18):
up with that play action game. So they're going to
try to establish the run. The Lions, as you said,
were elite last year against the run, and I think
they believe in some ways they're going to be better
reader Will you know, we'll figure out his status, but
Levi the way that he's played and they're counting on him.
A Leam is back and healthier than he was at
the end of last year. So I think there's a
(31:40):
lot to like about those matchups. I really want to
see them unfold because I think there's some unknowns in
there which you usually get in the first game of
the season.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I Stan Campbell too about you know, not having Aaron
Donald and scheming that for the first time, and he said, well,
wait a minute. They've got some young guys there that
are pretty good. I mean, you talk about Kobe turn
Jared Verse, who's a guy I liked in the draft,
Braiden Fisk, a guy I liked in the draft too,
you know, Bobby Brown. They've got some young guys that
(32:08):
have some juice that can still get after it. So again,
it's gonna put a lot of pressure on this Detroit
offensive line, who we expect will be just as good
as they were last year. This run game, which was
top five in the league. It's gonna be an interesting
matchup there, kind of that old guard, those veteran offensive
linemen against some of these young, you know, defensive linemen
that got some juice for the Rams.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
It's an interesting matchup, Yeah, no doubt about it. And
I credit the Rams because they could see this coming
and you could see kind of the churn beginning on
their defense where they were going to younger guys, and
those guys got some experience last year, you know, guys
like Kobe Turner and heck, they got experience. They're ready
to come back this year as veterans that have seen
it before. So this is a team that I think
(32:49):
believes that their defense can take a step even after
losing Aaron Donald. And it's the young guys that got
some experience that'll help lead the way. All right, Dan,
third key to the game? To me, what are those
important stats in every game?
Speaker 6 (33:00):
Right?
Speaker 2 (33:01):
We talked about turnovers, we talked about third down, right,
and to me, another big one is the red zone.
And you just look at this game last year as
a perfect example of how important this was. That was
a twenty four to twenty three Lions win. The Rams
were zero to three in the red zone. The Lions
were three for three. That was the difference, one of
the big differences.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
In that game.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
I think it's going to be key again and Aaron
Glenn talked about that being part of kind of his
process this year of looking at areas of where they
needed to improve. They were twenty ninth last year in
red zone officialcy. I think sixty six percent. That's an
area that they've got to be better. And I think
that this is a good opportunity to show it here
against the Rams.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
And that was big for the Lions to be able
to cash in on those opportunities. One of them came
in a fourth down pass to Laporta, which was huge,
but also you could see defensively some of that was
them pressuring Stafford and making him throw the ball before
they wanted to. And that's always going to be a
big key. So look, it's about being opportunistic. It's about
taking an opportunity to not put three on the board
and put seven on the board. You look at that
(33:59):
early last year where Stafford got him right back down there,
Lions pressured him, he wasn't able to complete the pass.
They ended up with three at seven to three and
then fourteen to three before you can blink. So you know,
it gives you the opportunity to get a jump on somebody,
I think, both on the scoreboard and mentally when they're
settling for three instead of seven. So when you get
down there, a take care of the football. B come
(34:23):
out of there with seven if he can. And I
think that's one thing that the Lions are good at.
And look, if the Lions defense is what they want
to be, which is better against the pass, better rushing
the passer, then that's going to show up in that area.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
I mean, look, it's not hard.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
To figure out where they struggled last year or second
against the run twenty seventh in the league in defense,
tells you this really struggled against the pass. Make quarterbacks uncomfortable,
and that's a good place to do it. When you
get down there and everything's compacted, don't get in time
to make a decision.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Those are the keys of the game. He is the
voice of the Lions. It's gonna be a fun atmosphere
in there. It's gonna be crazy. Look, they're talking super
Bowl around Allen Park now. They were on the cover
of Sports Illustrated this. We haven't gone into too many
years like this, and we've been doing this for for
a while. It's It's fun, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Yeah, No, this is this is amazing. Last year, the
end of it was amazing. Those are Those are games
and moments that I'll never forget. They were standalone moments
in my career to see the city lit up like
that and the electricity, and you know what, I think
it's going to be just as electric for this opening game.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
I think people have been looking.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
Forward to this.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
They're excited about this team.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
So man, let's roll it out there. Let's go. I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
He's Dan Miller, I'm Tim twentyman.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Thanks for joining,
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