September 18, 2025 • 47 mins
Today’s Best of Features:
(00:00-15:27) – Tony East from Forbes Sports joins the program to preview, what could be, the Indiana Fever’s final game of the season tonight against the Atlanta Dream. Tony highlights what the Fever did well in game two that they didn’t do well in game one, if he’s been surprised with the way Indiana hasn’t had to go through Aliyah Boston to be productive, and previews the start of the Pacers season with his outlook for Andrew Nembhard and the centers.
(15:27-32:23) – John Glennon from the Nashville Post joins Query & Company to kick off the final hour of the show to give the Tennessee Titans perspective heading into week three. He evaluates Cam Ward’s performance after two weeks, where the team struggles defensively, and comments on how realistic it is for Nashville to get an expansion NBA or MLB team.
(32:23-47:04) – Radio voice of the Colts, Matt Taylor, joins the show to preview Sunday’s contest for the Colts against the Tennessee Titans. Jake asks Matt to divulge on how Daniel Jones acts in the locker room and around the facility with his teammates, accesses how much communication the wide receivers have with the defensive backs and weighs in on the NFL’s quarterback development problem.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is not the Devil down in Georgia, but the Fever.
Are they take on the Atlanta Dream tonight. Eddie Garrison
will have the pregame on this radio station. That begins
Eddie at seven fifteen. It is correct the quarter after
seven thirty, and then the re quarters becomes. When you
are doing the postgame show, will you be talking about
a continuation of the Fever season or will we begin
(00:22):
recapping the season because it is tonight a win? Or
come back home and then stay there for the Indiana
Fever best of three and it is game three down
in Atlanta. Tony East joining us now to talk about that. Tony,
I'll begin with this. What was different other than the
fact the obvious, which was the score, But what did
the Fever do in game number two where they really
(00:45):
controlled the vast majority of that game that had eluded
them in game number one.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It's it's kind of a simple thing, but still very significant.
It was their point of attack defense right. Kelsey Mitchell
after Game one said that that was one of the
biggest thing she felt like was an issue. The Dream
players were getting wherever they wanted, able to set up
whatever action they wanted into the pain and while the
Fever defense was okay in game one, they couldn't stop enough.
(01:13):
As my cat yells at me as you, I'm sure
you'll love to hear that.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
What's the name of the kiddy.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
This is Winston. He is now eight months old. So
in game two they were just way better doing that right.
Alicia Gray couldn't get into the lane. She was four
for nineteen or something. Jordan Canada struggled, Ryan Howard struggled,
they were missing free throws. Everything was going wrong for Atlanta.
That was huge. That changed their whole fortune defensively in
(01:40):
the game. And for a team that's supposed to be
so good at shooting, the Dream couldn't make anything. And
so you know carl s Mesko, Atlanta's head coach, after
the game. So yeah, their defense was way more aggressia.
We did not respond well to that, and I thought
that was the story of the difference of the game
and why the Fever were so much better.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I would like to know, by the way, musician World
World Leader, former Anderson Indiana guard cigarettes, I'd like to
know Winston's name for who.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I think my wife just thought it was cute if
we had to actually like pick a person. It's the
character from New Girl. I don't know if you ever
watched that show.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I've not seen that. I kind of liked the cigarettes.
I like the thought of the cat smoking cigarettes because
it's Winston.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I don't call him Winston. I just call him Squeeze.
So that was pretty easy to follow. Yea, I was
very high pitched, fair enough.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
All right? You know, I thought it was tony when
I looked at If you were to just look at
the box score, you would say to yourself, Okay, the
Fever shot the ball better in game two than they
did game one.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
What's happened much better?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yep?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Okay, so did they The question is that sometimes shooters
just need to get in rhythm, and then other times
they they do things differently to set up shots to
get themselves better looks, and they come up with wrinkles
to get better looks. Was it just simply a matter
of there just wasn't touch in game one or did
(03:10):
they make wrinkles in the way that they were distributing
to get open looks?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Some of both. I mean game one was their worst
shooting performance of the whole season, right like that is
clearly anomaly. Levels of bad not that Atlanta's defense isn't good,
but they made two threes the all game, Right, they
were dreadful with the jumpers that night, and that was it.
And so yes, they were generating better looks in game two,
and some of that is all season they've told us
(03:37):
in media sessions, and they've been right to do so.
Our defense leads to our offense. If our defense is good,
will score better. When their defense was good in game two,
they turned that into you know, a ton of transition chances,
open threes, quick in the shot clock. Whatever that was.
So I think it was two things from these games
to games. And this is what the dream Will kind
of hang their hat on, honestly, is that they shot
(03:59):
so bad in game one that they were naturally going
to be a little better in game two. But they
focused so much on better defense and it led to
better offense for them. Like Kelsey Mitchell made as many
threes in just the first quarter of Game two that
the whole Fever team did in game one. Right, that
was such a big shift in their fortunes. And I
think they did a good job of actually working the
ball around to get those shots. That Lexi Hall three
(04:20):
was perfection to close the third quarter, but it came
in part because of his natural statistical progression and better defense.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I thought, Tony, when you look at the situation, the
fever or and Tony East is our guest, and when
you look over the course of the season, they have
been so decimated by injury, and I think there was
a lot of thought from people of you know, whether
or not they would even get into the play You
(04:46):
know here they are right. I mean, there was certainly
that there was doubt. They kind of backpedaled their way
into the playoffs itself. But have you been impressed by
the their ability to kind of plug in different playslayers
and still maintain at the level they have or does
that strictly speak to the fact that this is a
(05:08):
league that does not have the number of teams that
the NBA does, and thus you have plenty of available
free agent players that are indeed capable starters right from
the get go. Is it credit Indiana the way they
went about doing it, or is it credit just to
the league itself that there is that level of talent
that's out there.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I think it's some of both, because, yeah, on one hand,
it's very easy to say, you know, they get Chloe
Bibby and Aerry McDonald midseason and they're both great, and Joe, well,
look at that. The league's too small. They're expanding, and
these expansion teams will be good, and there's a lot
of good free agents. Like Golden State just made the
playoffs as an expansion team, right Like that does show
what is possible with just players who are not on rosters.
(05:53):
So in some ways it is a talent, but it's
not just that because both of those players were on
different teams this season. Right Donald was in LA for
training camp, Chloe Bibby was on the Valkyries earlier this season,
Odyssey Sims was on the Sparks earlier this season, Aeriel
Powers on Golden State this season. Like all their players
that they've had on hardship deals, we're on different teams
(06:14):
at a different point in the season pre Haul two
and all of them, basically all of them, I would say,
are playing better for the Fever than their first team
for whatever reason that is volume, situation, comfortability, whatever, And
I think that is a testament to what their coaching
staff and style is able to do. Is they're able
to get players up to speed very quickly, now. Honestly,
some of that is that they've had a ton of
(06:35):
reps doing it right. They're so used to it now
on what that process should look like, how they get
the player of the playbook, keep a simple and all that.
But I think they have done better than other teams,
even as we've seen with players that they've had this year,
at getting those players up the speed and making them
look effective and helpful. Like they're playing four players right
now who weren't even on their team to start, three
or four players weren't another team to start the season,
(06:58):
real playoff rotation minutes, and none of them are bad.
They're certainly all being helpful in some way. So I
think that's been a huge part of their seasons. Their
ability to do that. It says a lot about like
the build that they've had, because last year, when players
came in and out, or even before last year, they
were just totally dead on arrival. So that is a
big part of our franchise growth.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Have you been I'll use the term surprised for lack
of a better word, but what is I guess the
better way of saying it. Your assessment been of the
fact that I personally thought Tony, and feel free to
tell me that this is my own ignorance. When she
first entered the league, I was under the assumption or
just expectation, that Aliah Boston was going to be an
(07:37):
offensive centerpiece and that plays and offense were going to
run through her because she had been such a dominant
college player. But perhaps I was naive to just the
style of play in the W and kind of the
open style that it works with. Have you been surprised
at all that she has not been a look the
(07:58):
ball has to go through her on every repossession level
offensive player.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, it's really interesting. Two things. One is out of college.
I think actually her biggest selling point as a prospect
was her defense. She was like probably the best defensive
player in the country for last year at South Carolina,
and obviously was a good offensive player too, But the
fact that she was a two way player made her
show so valuable and such an obvious number one pick.
But I think what you're asking has honestly been like
a big story of the season Steppian White all the
(08:23):
time when they were going in and out of point
guard and everybody's hurt, they don't know what to do.
Is like we got to play through Lea Moore. We've
got to figure out how to do that. And so
some of it is, like I think, execution, Like they
want to use her as a fulcrum at the top
of the key or at the threat at the elbow
more often, and for some reason, whether that's because they've
had a turnstyle of point guards, whether that's just poor execution,
(08:44):
whether that's something else hasn't happened. Maybe that's on a
liah for not demanding the ball more. I would not
call that her personality or anything like that, So perhaps
that's a part of it, But yeah, I think they
do need to do that more. She is, you know,
outside of Kelsey Mitchell, their most potent offensive player certainly,
and is really talented and getting her involved has helped them.
She was much better in game two than Game one
(09:04):
and game one she was great at the start and
the people were winning and then that kind of faded away.
But the other part of this is the difference between
the college game. I got lucky that I interviewed Aleah
the first day she came to India after the draft,
and we happened to do the interview on the fever
Core And while we were talking, she kept looking down
and I couldn't figure out why, and it's because she
was looking at the paint and she was like, the
(09:25):
paint is this wide like in the pros. This is
how big it is? Like you catch father from the basket,
there's three in the key. There's all this different stuff
that changes your game and how impactful you can be.
And I think that is changed how she's had to
impact the game and what she's done in a way
that made her not quite the same player she was
in college.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Tony East is our guest at Tony R. East on
the ex post Twitter and of course locked on Pacers
Forbes as well, where you can see and hear his
work Tony before we let you go, obviously before we
know what it's going to be here, which is hard
to believe. And that is just a pacer season. And
I still keep going back to in my mind, you know,
(10:05):
the Halliburton injury, and it's like I almost forget that,
Oh gosh, that's right, he's not going to be there
this year, and then Myles Turner. But let's begin with Halliburton.
Just in terms of what you hear or see, everything
seems to be that he is on timeline or maybe
even ahead of it, but will not play this year obviously.
But what do you hear an aspect of that in
(10:27):
terms of there have been no setbats, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Correct, yep, nothing yet out of the boot. Sometimes I
think now, maybe always he told us it would be
about this time shooting free throws on his Instagram story.
I think that was a shoot promo and not actually
him being healthy, but good for him shooting some free
throws moving around. So yeah, certainly on the path, I
think we're going to see a lot of Tyree's Halliburton
(10:51):
arms stuff, shooting stand still jumpers, dribbling a ball but
not moving hardly at all. But yes, believe completely on
track to this point.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
You know the other that I'm curious about, and you
tell me, do you believe that over the course of
a season. You know, Andrew Nemhart is a really good player.
I mean, we know that and nem Hart has had
moments and flashes when Halliburton has been unavailable or where
they need that level of backcourt scoring, nem Hart has
been able to rise to those occasions. Do you believe
(11:20):
he can sustain that over the course of a season
when now all of a sudden, he is a microscope
guy from the other team's defense.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And required to be good, right, Like, if they're going
to be good and them hard has to be a
good player. Yeah. I've had a lot of trouble answering
that question, truly, because I mean, you know, you were
there at these games like Game three and four of
the conference finals two years ago, and he was unguardable,
right the best events in League. Boston was like, we
can't stop this guy, right, And he's had many games
like that throughout his career, here and there, the legendary
(11:51):
Golden State game where he just destroys that furry great
playoff games all the time, but that's the thing, they're
legendary because they're like not frequent or like not consistently.
What he does do and that's what this season needs
to be about, is he has to be like all
the time, a good point guard, creating shots for others,
able to get in the lane, keep the ball moving,
stuff like that. We know he can do it. He
(12:11):
did it at Gonzaga, He's done it at times before,
but not with any sort of like consistency or Okay,
this is clearly a lead creator for a really good
team level. That's one of the biggest stories of the
season is can he do it? How much frequency can
he do it with? What's the right volume? How did
he keep other guys involved? Because the Flashes are crazy, right,
the Flashes are like, oh perfect, like they're gonna be
(12:33):
just fine and they could make the playoffs. 're playing
it again or whatever. But they're just that, they're flashes.
And I know the team believes that he can do it.
I know he believes he can do it, but canny
and that could be a huge question. And how much
do they have to change their system, if at all,
to make it possible, Because that's the other part of this.
They play so fast and move but all so much
because of Halburton. They don't have him this year. How
much are they going to be willing to change things
to make other guys better when it might not matter
(12:55):
that much in a year from.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Now, Tony, do you think considering that this year again,
it's it's just this weird year. It's probably the easiest
way to say it, right, this gap year a.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Year it will perfect, but I I know, I just
I can't weird.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Let's just say weird. It's gonna be weird.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
When I heard somebody say that you would love because
specifically it's Halliburton who's out for the year, they should
call it a leap year. I thought that was pretty good.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Well, that's solid for those that don't know Tyrey's Haliburton
born on leap here that that's pretty solid. Right, although, yeah,
although he can't leap, that's the only problem there, right,
you know what I mean? Right, you know what I mean.
So it's the non leap year basically. But so here's
the thing though, when you look at between Huff Wiseman
(13:39):
and Isaiah Jackson, and I do love Isaiah Jackson, but
he's also coming off the Achilles, So there's a big
question mark there. Do you believe that this year is
about grooming and auditioning those three to find out which
one is your long term answer there? Or are they
simply rotating through filling and warming that seat until they
go out next year through free agency and get the
(14:01):
Miles Turner replacement.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I think they would hope that one of those guys
is the answer. And I think they clearly believe in
their you know, ability to heal these Achilles injuries because
they resigned two of them or both of them, right,
and it'll help them learn more about the process for Tyreech.
But yeah, I think they got to hope it's one
of them, right, because it's really hard for them to
functionally get like a high paid, good starting center right now.
(14:25):
They could trade for a guy a rookie, still you
don't pay them more later. So figuring out their center
situation is really interesting. And I think that I did Jactual.
He's quite good, but who knows what he's going to
be like post Achilles, Like his whole thing is athleticism.
Is he going to have the same level? Huff looks
good last year He's played ninety five total NBA games.
The Pacers played more than that last year in total
between the playoffs, right, Like, you have no idea how
(14:46):
good these guys are going to be, And so that's
I think their hope. But I think you're right that
maybe like not stop gap or placement, but you know,
it is like a fill in, like hopefully it's one
of these guys. We'll see before they have to really
figure it out when Haliburn's back as they try to
compete again.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Okay, seven thirty tonight, it is the Fever and the
Atlanta Dream down in Atlanta, Tony East, appreciate the time,
and who knows, man, maybe we'll be talking to you
again about another round for the Fever, depending on what
happens tonight. But appreciate the time.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
There's a chance we find out tonight that they're hosting
the second round.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Jakes could be crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I did see somebody. Yeah, they were talking about that, right.
It all depends on what happens between Las Vegas and Seattle,
but we will keep our eye on it. Tony appreciated
telling ya Nashville and it's an awesome city, but the
whole Vegas feel to it. It does feel like it
has become the bachelorette party capital of the world, and
(15:41):
it's almost more like a like Vegas is the has
the reputation of, you know, the guys weekend, even though
now it's become a more family friendly environment in Vegas.
But it does feel like Nashville is kind of the
girls like the girls weekend get away, right, I mean
literally any and you don't if you're driving there and
(16:06):
you have like a rental car with a blind spot,
and you don't have to necessarily worry about like accidentally
cutting off one of the bachelorette buses because you hear
him coming from three blocks away. That's what it sounds
like the whole time. That's not an ambulance, by the way,
that's right. Those are all the wool girls joining us
now and perhaps avoiding exactly that. He is from the
(16:27):
Nashville Post talking about the Titans and Colts this weekend.
He joins us on the guest line John Glennon on
the program, John, how are you?
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I'm doing well?
Speaker 1 (16:35):
How were you guys? Was that a fair assessment of
Broadway or am I over selling it?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think you nailed it. I think you hit it
right on the head there. There's little doubt that we
are the national capital of bachelorette parties. And kind of
the fascinating thing is that they travel in every manner
of vehicle now too. Like you mentioned the bus, sometimes
we see tractor pulls with with loads of bachelorette in
the background. You know, we've got other you know, like
(17:04):
vans or open bed trucks with pools in the back
and hot tubs. So yeah, if you come to Nashville
and you're around downtown on a weekend, you are you're
going to see a few bachelor at parties, without question.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
I don't know that I would necessarily want to like
be running around telling everybody that my fiance is away
on a tractor pole, right, you know what I mean?
Like the sawed off top of the school bus is passable,
but the tractor poll seems to be a little condescending.
It's me, I don't know, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Just I don't see that and think, you know, hey boy,
yeah you know I got to get on one of
those tractors and ride around Tad just now that that
doesn't strike me as a must do either. But apparently
they're doing pretty well because they've been around for a while.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
You know, I'm going to be before we get into
the nuances and x's and o's of this game, John,
I want it for anybody that's listening that may be
going down to Nashville for this game this weekend, and
it is a great spot to go down for, you know,
for Colts fans over the years to go for away
games just because it's a great city. But I know
that they are building the new stadium right next door.
(18:08):
How much has that made it difficult in terms of
parking and getting in and out of the stadium or
is it relatively unaffected from what people have done in
the past.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
You know, the last couple of years have have been
you know, there's been construction there and and some people
certainly have had to alter their usual strategies of getting
there that you know, there's a lot more buses, a
lot more parking areas around town that you can park
and take bottle buses or shuttles in there. You know.
Of course, we being the lucky few that still get
(18:42):
the media parking, so it hasn't really affected us too much.
And you know, I guess sad to say the Titans
have been kind of poor enough the last couple of
years that crowds haven't exactly you know, been filling up
Nissan stadiums. So from that standpoint, you know that the
traffic hasn't been too bad even with all that new
(19:05):
construction going on.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Okay, that construction includes the team itself obviously, because they're
in a makeover period with cam Ward at quarterback. It
is very early. It goes without saying and being I mean,
I think we now know in Indianapolis how long it
takes to determine whether a guy's the guy or not.
But when you have a quarterback like that, Tennessee has
offensively come up with, what sort of a scheme or
(19:29):
what sort of looks that Indianapolis should anticipate seeing on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Well, you know, there's not necessarily a wealth of offensive
options with this team right now. You know, I think
we're seeing some promise that maybe, you know, Colts fans,
we'll get a look at some young receivers that will
be around for a while. Two rookies, elk Iomanor and
(19:54):
Chim ray d Ka both have impressed in the first
couple of weeks. I am man Or was on the
receiving end of that that crazy cam Ward touchdown pass
last week where he held the ball for eight seconds.
So those guys, you know, keep an eye on them.
Of course, Calvin Ridley is a talented veteran, but you know, yeah,
(20:16):
you will see some things that cam Ward did pretty
well in college here. And of course one of the
things that he excelled at at in Miami was was
downfield passing. Uh, that hasn't gone so well, I would
say in the first couple of weeks. And and you know,
I think it's something that the most quarterbacks have to
(20:37):
learn when they come from the college game, especially when
they're big play kind of guys that occasionally, you know,
you have to take that checkdown pass, that that moved
the chains kind of pass as opposed to taking you know,
kind of one big shot downfield after another. And I
think that's one of the first lessons that that cam
Ward is learning.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
How have they done in terms of just protection of
cam Ward?
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Not well, well, not too well. You know, eleven sacks
in the first two weeks, which is you know, kind
of all the more disappointing because of the money they
invested in that offensive line this year. You know, they
went out. First thing they did in free agency was
they got Dan Moore, their new starting left tackle, to
have you know, signed him to a like a four year,
(21:21):
eighty two million dollar deal. You know, they got a
veteran right guard from Detroit and Kevin Zeitler, you know,
brought him at nine million per year. They moved J. C.
Latham the tackle from left to right where he'd played
in college. They figured that would be a good move.
And you know, at center, you've got a high price
free agent from twenty twenty four in Lloyd Cushionberry, but
(21:43):
the end result so far has not been good. You know,
probably have those eleven sacks, I think three have been
attributed to cam Ord, you know, maybe holding the ball
a little bit too long. That still leaves you with
eight sacks, you know, are that are attributed to offensive
line or running back situations. So it's not been a
(22:06):
start from that standpoint for the Titans, and that was
something that certainly bothered this team quite a bit last year.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
One of the things John, I've always felt John Glenn
and our guests from the Nashville Post talking about the
Titans and Colts this Sunday one aspect that I've always
felt is really underrated, and we've talked about it a
lot on this show, but I want to get your
thoughts on it. You can go out and accumulate five
offensive linemen that are all a seven and a half
(22:32):
or hire in terms of their skill set, but if
they're not used to playing with one another, oftentimes that's
almost an inferior line to a group that might be
all sixes but are used to one another's tendencies, especially
when you're moving guys from left to right. It just
seems to me like an offensive line takes literally a
half a year for guys to understand what's around them
(22:56):
and then kind of gel together as a line itself.
Does your observation of the NFL tell you the same thing?
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah, I think you're accurate there. And you know, you
look at the five man front, and three of those
five guys are new. Two are absolutely new to the team.
And then, as I mentioned, Latham moves from left tackle
to right tackle this year. So yeah, a lot of
newness there. And you know, because some of these guys
are veterans, like a Zeitler and Cushion Berry was coming
(23:28):
back from injury, they didn't get a chance, you know,
in any of the preseason games to play all five
of them together in any of the preseason contests either.
And then we've already seen a couple of injuries, you know,
to the offensive line in the first two games. In fact,
you know, there's a chance basically the right side of
the lines Zeitler and Latham Hight both miss you know,
(23:51):
Sunday's game. We'll have to see how things play out.
But yeah, so they really haven't had that great amount
of time together yet to kind of form that chemistry
and as of right now, as I say it's not
a it's not off to a good start. You could
sort of say, Okay, they've gone up against two very
good defensive fronts, and that's true. Denver led the league
(24:13):
in sacks last year and the Rams have a you know,
a pretty outstanding front seven as well. But nonetheless, at
some point, especially when you have you know, the future
of the franchise presumably playing quarterback, you know things have
to things have to get better in that department.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Okay, John, We're going to pretend that Shane Styken calls
you on the phone, right and he says, John, Shane Styken,
head coach Inniapolis Colts. And then he speaks really fast
and typically in very short cliches, but in this case
he's going to have a conversation with you, and he says, look,
you cover the Tennessee Titans. I got a quarterback in
Daniel Jones that has just been excellent for me through
(24:51):
two games. I've got a tight end and Tyler Warren
that is exactly as advertised. Got a good running back
in Johnathan Taylor. I've got a bevy of receivers for
Daniel Jones to throw around too. But I want to
make sure that we're keeping on stride with what we've
done through two games. Can you, John Glennam, please tell
me what it is that Tennessee shows defensively that is
(25:13):
their biggest vulnerability that I need to scheme to take
advantage of to keep Daniel Jones confident and rolling.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Well.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I would say, Shane, you've got a few options so far,
you know, I might not limit it to just one
thing that you're gonna have to. You know, that is
a deficiency on the Titan side of the ball, because
they really haven't done a good job, you know, for
several years. They were at least very good at stopping
the run. Last year was not a good you know
(25:43):
season for stopping the run. And so far the first
two games about one hundred and fifty yards average against
on the ground, and they've given up, you know, two
big chunk carries of over forty yards, one in each
of the two games. So that is troublesome for the Titan,
you know. And I would also say the pass rush
(26:03):
is a deficien city for the Titans. You know, you
can certainly bank on Daniel Jones probably having a little
bit more time than usual the Titans have all of
two sacks in the first two games, and really, Jeffrey
Simmons is the only guy that's been bringing consistent pressure
in there. The Titans just don't have much on the
on the edges right now. So you know, when you're
(26:27):
kind of having a hard time stopping the run and
you're having a hard time getting after the passer, that
doesn't necessarily bode too well for the defense.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
This is season number John, I'm trying to guess here,
would this be what season twenty seven in Nashville for
the Titans? Somewhere in there.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
That sounds about right. I think that is accurate.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Out of curiosity, and I'm always I call this the
Willie McGhee factor. Willie McGee is the player that in
Saint Louis, he is a beloved figure. But I think
people outside of Saint Louis would be surprised to know
that Willie McGee is. You know, Jeff Foster's that way
here right, Like, I don't know, you know, Jeff Foster
was a super popular pacer and people outside Indiana probably
(27:09):
be like, really, Jeff Foster was a beloved guy. Uh,
give me the player for the Titans overall, that is
a beloved figure that perhaps is not thought of outside
of Nashville as being a long term Titan.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Hmm, that's a good question. You know. I might think
of one who unfortunately, you know, passed away, you know,
not all that long ago, and that would be Frank Whitechek,
the tight end you know, who played for so many years.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
He had a pretty big pass completion in his career.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Yes he did, Yes, he did. Uh. He was part
of the Music City miracle of course, through that pass
all the way across the field to Kevin Dison against
the Buffalo Bills and the playoffs, and Dison scored on
the last second, seventy five yard touchdown return. But yeah,
you know, he he made maybe you know, one or
two Pro Bowls potentially. But because of the kind of person, well,
(28:10):
he wasn't an uber talented, skilled, you know type player,
and and you know, I believe was originally a UDFA.
You know, he became a very much beloved type of
player here in Nashville. Was a great uh you know
target for Steve McNair over the years. Uh and afterwards too.
(28:31):
You know, he remained very much a part of the
community for several years so that one comes to mind.
I would say, uh, top of the top of the
charts as a person that maybe around the country, you know,
doesn't get as much notice, but certainly here again, I
would say a beloved type character.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Okay, I'm going to guess the foremost popular players in
Titan's history. You ready, all right? McNair, Yeah, Eddie George, Yeah,
I'll go. I'm gonna go Curveball here, Javon Curse.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Possibly, yeah, yeah, possibly.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
I would say carry Collins.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I don't know if I can give you carry Collins
on the on the on the Mount Rushmore, if you will.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Okay, certainly very popular. Chris Johnson, Chris Johnson's Johnson.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Uh would certainly be a good one.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Well, Kevin Dyson, Kevin Dyson for for what he did.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Sure, I would say, you know, here's another one that
doesn't get too much national attention. But Derek Mason was tremendous,
you know, tremendous wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Just because he's an Indie native. We're gonna throw Blaine
Bishop in there.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
There you go. That's another good one too.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
He you know, he started in in Houston, but certainly
had some great years, some Pro Bowl years for the
for the Titans here as well.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Okay, John, before we let you go, I'm curious of
this and just being on the beat in Nashville, that
is such a growing city and such a great city,
and this is both of these leagues. I'm kind of
fascinated that, you know, Baseball has been one that's been rumored.
I mean, when the White Sox, it seems like Naphville
always comes up in conversation between the NBA and MLB,
(30:19):
which one is more likely to eventually land themselves a
franchise in Nashville.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
That's a good quote. I suspect it would be MLB,
you know, and you know, maybe one of the main
reasons I think, you know, you've got an NBA franchise
in Memphis on the other side of the state, and
you know it's only three hours three three and a
half hours away, So maybe the league would probably steer
(30:47):
clear of that, I would think. And there's a tremendous
amount of enthusiasm for MLB here, there's no doubt about.
You know, a ton of Atlanta fans here, of Saint
Louis fans, both those cities within driving distance. The one
thing they don't have, right now is that huge walleted,
(31:10):
deep pocketed guy that's going to say, yeah, here's the money,
you know, for for an expansion team if that's you know,
if that is indeed the case. So you know a
lot of people say maybe it's going to start stretching
the sports dollar too thin. You know, Nashville is not
a massive city, and you well you got.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
The Predators there too, which are I mean, the Predators
are a huge sell right.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yeah, yeah, they sure are. They've they've been selling out
for a while. So that that is kind of one
of the big questions if there's enough sports dollar to
go around, especially with MLB. You know, obviously you've got
the eighty two home games. Uh so, yeah, that's a
that's a question mark. But I know the the enthusiasm
certainly is there for a for an expansion team.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Well, John, we appreciate the time. As always, we will
probably reach out to you again here coming up just
before Halloween as a matter of fact, when the Titan
step to come up here and we'll see where things
stand there. But certainly look forward to this Sunday and
appreciate the time and the perspective on the game.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Sounds good, all right, thanks for having me, guys.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
John Glennon joining us from the Nashville Post. You probably
heard Eddie in the background. Did you hear one of
the bachelortt parties in the background that sounds like Zeppelin,
doesn't it? It's a good song. Yeah, I can hear.
And they put on a good show, great van fleet.
But but there was definitely part of it where I
was like, is this a led Zeppelin tribute band joining us?
Speaker 4 (32:35):
Now?
Speaker 1 (32:35):
He is the Robert Plant of NFL play by play announcers.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
I was thinking about this Jake because he goes on
the morning show on Fridays and he has this little
section of their conversation where it's Taylor's tidbits. I was
thinking maybe we were phrases, you know, in some way
or form to where it it's time to get tailored,
or it's time to visit the tailor.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
It's time to get tailored. Typically, if you get tailored,
you're getting an orange fluffcake from Taylor's Bakery. And I
think Taylor'd be cool with that, right if I said
that that's what that should be. Getting tailored should be
reserved for Let's ask Matt what what he'd like to
be our Thursday visit to be known as Matt Taylor
joins us. Now, any thoughts on that?
Speaker 5 (33:13):
Matt, Hey, listen, it's your show. You can do whatever
you want. Those are the rules they put when they
put your name on it.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
You can do whatever you want.
Speaker 5 (33:21):
Listen, we can visit, we can visit the tailor and
I'll do your end them and I'll make sure you
got you know, the proper length and it's it's cut
and trim. And that's good too, looking good.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
All right, fair enough, And I do like the fact
that I don't agree with you necessarily on the fact
that if my name's on it, I can do what
I want. But you know, I am. I do have
my feet up on the desk right now for what that's.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
Well, well, it's not my show. I can tell you that.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
All right, Well it is now at least when you're
on Okay, let's get to this. And that is the
good news is when it comes to the Coltons and Titans,
the Colts, excuse me, and Titans on Sunday, looks like
from the Indianapolis standpoint, the health report is good, or
at least better today than yesterday.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
Correct, Yeah, the non contact Jersey you know, the the
red jersey that guys in the concussion protocol where to
make sure that they can get through all the different
five steps of the process of the concussion protocol. You know.
Tarvarius Ward is out of that are those steps, I
should say. So he's back at practice in full yesterday.
(34:26):
I would think that his designation today would be similar.
And then of course Tyler Warren and Josh Dowens were
back at practice today, which was good. I think it
was more of a precaution rest day, you know, for
both guys. It's a long season. You know, Warren played
over sixty snaps, which is a lot for a tight
end in week two, so you know, just kind of
(34:49):
monitoring things, you know, just keeping an eye on guys's
usage and you know, just the wear and tear in
their body. So kind of a normal thing to be,
you know, on Wednesday. But good to see them back
out today and trending towards you know, being fully available
for Sunday. And same thing with Layatsu Latsu. I think
(35:10):
it was limited yesterday. We'll see what that says today,
but it'd be big on the defensive side of the
ball to get both Ward and Latsu back to difference makers,
you know, within their respective layers of that defense.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Matt, let me give you an observation from afar and
then you tell me, as somebody who is much closer
to it, if I'm even within the ballpark of accurate,
because I think this may be completely inaccurate. Okay, but
the my outside observation is that Daniel Jones is kind
(35:44):
of one of those leaders that you know, the quarterback
naturally is the leader of the team. I mean there's
just by you just are and when you're the quarterback,
and leadership comes in a lot of different forms. I've
always said that in Matt, I think you were around
it when Peyton Manning would turn the corner on the
locker room, it was like, I mean that was he
was the alpha and there was no question everything.
Speaker 5 (36:03):
Everybody shut up right totally.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Like it was like what and he didn't have to
say anything. I mean, he wasn't asking that of people.
It just happened that way, right.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Daniel Jones to me, and we don't know him well,
but he strikes me as the kind of guy that
isn't a push to chest out an overly vociferous like
raw rop pat On the back lifting up teammates kind
of guy, but rather a I've just got my playbook,
and I keep my nose down and I do what's
(36:34):
asked of me, and I turned my homework in on time,
and therefore guys have learned to respect that I've gone
about it that way and that's my form of leadership.
Any accuracy to that.
Speaker 5 (36:46):
Yeah, I think he nailed it spot on, to be
honest with you, because that's exactly what I see too.
And when i'm you know, noticing the vibe and the
energy in the locker room, I pick up on the
same thing where guys, you know, Daniel's not You're right,
I mean, Daniel's not like a you know, he's not
(37:06):
going to point at guys and screaming guy's face when
they make a mistake. But he is he's not going
to just let those things go too. I think there's
a good little balance there of of you know, you know,
lifting guys up, but also holding guys accountable to And
it's all the stuff that he that he does for
himself because he is, you know, to your point, very
(37:29):
much a you know, first guy in, last guy out,
very professional, cares deeply about uh, you know, wanting to
be good. And I also think that he has a
chip on his shoulder, you know, to change the perception
of his his you know, ability to play quarterback in
the NFL. And I mean through two games, he is
(37:51):
the next version of you know, whatever you want to say,
Geno Smith or Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield career resurgence,
you know, guys, it goes to a different you know,
setting a new team. You know, seems to be fitting
in greatly with Shane Steichen. So far, so good, absolutely
through two games. But he's a quiet guy, but also
(38:12):
is very intentional about everything that he does. I mean
you're hearing stories about how he's inviting guys to go
to dinner and you know they're going to go bowling.
And I mean if you just walk down to the cafeteria,
you know, five days a week, Monday through Friday, you
see him sitting with a different guy or a different
group of guys every single day because he's just trying
to be intentional about connecting with everybody on the team.
(38:35):
And I think you're right. I think you hit on
something that's really important. It's really the way that we,
for whatever reason, how we've gotten here as a football society,
how we judge quarterbacks and how we put so much
on their plate. It's it's really unfair. I mean, we
have quarterback power rankings that come out every week, and
you know we scrutinize every throw that they make. You know,
(38:56):
one week they're great, the next week they're a bum.
I mean, we're just so fickle about it. But you know,
the way Daniel Jones has been able to come in
here and you know, really provide the the culture of
the team, and I think that's something that you know,
the Colts were interested in too, to see how that
played out when they named him as the starting quarterback,
(39:16):
because that's something else. I mean, not only do you
have to know the playbook and you have to know
all the guys, and you have to know all the
little interacies of the offense. But you know, it's unfair
for the quarterback to sort of be in charge of
the culture in the atmosphere of the locker room. But
you know, that's what he's done and in short order
as well. So again I've said this a million times
that the biggest compliment I can give Daniel Jones is
(39:38):
that he does not at all look like a guy
that's only been here since March. He looks like he's
been a part of this team now for three to
four years, based on the level of respect that you know,
all the guys have for him. And certainly you you
get more respect when you know you put in all
the work and then you just ball out the way
that he's done in the first two games of the
season for Colts.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
You know, Matt you talk about you know, just like
the in the cafeteria, like in the facility, or you know,
in the downtime, and there is downtime that does take
place when these guys are around each other as much
as they are, even though there's meetings and films and
all that. And I've asked this before, I think, but
to players. But I'm curious if you have observed this.
(40:17):
It would be my feeling that if you were running
an NFL franchise, your defensive backs and your receivers. I
know that they go into different rooms and they're you know,
they're they're different units with different coaches. But it seems
as though it would be who of your organization to
have those guys interact a lot together because of the
(40:38):
fact that a receiver when he's lining. You know, if
he's talking to the defensive backs on his roster, he
can get an idea of what's in the head of
a dB and like and vice versa, right, so that
they are getting an idea of what the opposition that's
trying to shut them down on a Sunday has in mind,
and vice versa. Do you see any of that at
(40:59):
all in terms of guys talking to their own teammates
to get an idea of what the opposition would be
doing for them.
Speaker 5 (41:09):
Yeah, great point. All the time. It happens all the time.
You know, you see those guys talking to each other
in the locker room. You know, they're sitting next to
each other, and you know at their locker stalls, you know,
going through their iPad and watching film and breaking down
the playbook. And you also see it too. And I
think this is really important. And I don't know if
this happens everywhere, but I have seen it happen here
(41:33):
multiple times over the years, where the defensive coordinator or
at the very least a secondary coach, you know, guy
that's overseeing both cornerbacks and safeties, will sit down with
the quarterback and say, this is like if we saw
this play from the Colts offense, this is how we
would we would attack it. Or you know, if you're
(41:55):
a young quarterback, it's like, you know, teach me your
way of interpreting defense. You know, when I see you know,
the second just throwing out just you know, random examples.
Right if you see, you know, a safety drop in
the box in this coverage or in this situation in
the red zone, this is more likely than not what
they're trying to do here. So you know, even though
(42:16):
they're on different sides of the ball, there's a lot
of crossover and a lot of help between you know,
offense and defense, players and coaches throughout the course of
a seventeen game season in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
I don't know if you heard it, Matt, but but
I think it was to the beginning of this week.
I played some audio and look, I know in Indianapolis,
the you know, playing quotes from Tom Brady, you know,
isn't exactly the most probably a popular thing, but Brady
was on I think it was I'm Not Show. He
was on colic OUH heard, yeah, and he was talking
(42:47):
about when he was a young quarterback, when he first
took over for Drew Bledsoe. Unfortunately, tragically, the quarterbacks coach
for the Patriots at the time, passed away of an
unexpectedly during camp, so Bill Belichick overtook the quarterback coach
role even though he was the head coach. So Brady
(43:09):
talked about how, basically the first year that he was
learning the quarterbacking position, he was learning it by Belichick
saying to him, look, I can't tell you about footwork
in rotation or whatever else, but I can tell you
about every defense you're going to see. And you know
what I mean. And so he was learning it from
the outside in and as a result of that, and
(43:31):
you could see it, and I think you can see
it with Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck in the fact
that those guys were human computers that could look over
a defense and their biggest strength was in looking at
an alignment and figuring out what the best play was
or how to get out of a bad play. And
Daniel Jones strikes me as the kind of guy that
has a similar process, may not go as deep into
(43:54):
his checks, but is able to determine and quickly figure
out in process us what's going to work. Has that
been your assessment through two games.
Speaker 5 (44:04):
Absolutely, and you know, just to piggyback off the Tom
Brady thing. I mean it's that famous you know video
footage of him, you know, in that droopy, you know,
long collared you know, white T shirt at the combine.
I mean, he looks like my neighbor. Very physically unimpressive, right,
But I mean that was Tom Brady's superpower was he
(44:25):
was an average quarterback in terms of athleticism, but the
super computer part that you just brought up, that's where
he was just different. And then you took that mental
ability and you paired that with a guy like Bill
Belichick to bring the best out of him with a
football IQ, and then he was just off the charts
as he continued to grow and develop, you know physically
(44:48):
in the NFL. But yeah, Daniel Jones has that too,
and I think he's even probably well, I know, definitively
way more athletics than Tom Brady ever was at any
point in his career. So you pair the mental part
of the game with Daniel Jones and his deceptive running
ability and you know, being able to get out of
(45:10):
the pocket and extend plays and get first downs, and
I think you really have something and you know, truth
be told, That's where I think he won the job.
That's how I think he won the job over Anthony
Richardson is that at this stage in their careers, you know,
presently speaking, Daniel Jones is just further along with pre
snap recognition and being able to get the Colts into
(45:32):
good plays and out of bad plays. I mean, obviously
Anthony Richardson has all of the physical tools, but it
was just the mental side where I think Daniel Jones
had the leg up. And again through two games, the
Colts have been completely validated in making that choice.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
I noticed that when you wanted to give the stereotype
of just your average non athletic guy, you went with
your neighbor and not yourself.
Speaker 5 (45:55):
Right.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
He looked like a fat guy like my neighbor.
Speaker 5 (46:02):
Right, we'll just insert cliche here. You know, you can
do the What was it is that, Bill Toby? You know,
my my postman knows more about football than melt Kiper.
You know I could have said my mom or postman
or neighbor or whatever.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
Well, Matt certainly enjoyed Nashville. You hope you will hear
plenty of this in the background Eddie from the bachelorette parties.
But we'll see if you hear it from Colts fans
that make the drive down because hopefully will be a
good day for the Colts on Sunday. But we shall see,
and we will be listening as well. Appreciate the time
as always, Matt.
Speaker 5 (46:34):
All right, I'll count them up for you. I'll just
you know, I'll go from here to the sports bar,
the hotel of the sports Bar and count how many
bachelorette parties I see just for you.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
I mean over under of six on a half block drive.
I can tell you that right now, no question.
Speaker 5 (46:48):
There's at least eight hundred in the general area.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Yes, that is correct. All right, Matt, We'll be listening.
Appreciate it all right. See you guys, Matt Taylor, the
Voice of the Colts. You just got tailored. That's not bad.
That actually that's not bad. But you just got tailored.
Not bad.
It is not the Devil down in Georgia, but the Fever.
Are they take on the Atlanta Dream tonight. Eddie Garrison
will have the pregame on this radio station. That begins
Eddie at seven fifteen. It is correct the quarter after
seven thirty, and then the re quarters becomes. When you
are doing the postgame show, will you be talking about
a continuation of the Fever season or will we begin
(00:22):
recapping the season because it is tonight a win? Or
come back home and then stay there for the Indiana
Fever best of three and it is game three down
in Atlanta. Tony East joining us now to talk about that. Tony,
I'll begin with this. What was different other than the
fact the obvious, which was the score, But what did
the Fever do in game number two where they really
(00:45):
controlled the vast majority of that game that had eluded
them in game number one.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It's it's kind of a simple thing, but still very significant.
It was their point of attack defense right. Kelsey Mitchell
after Game one said that that was one of the
biggest thing she felt like was an issue. The Dream
players were getting wherever they wanted, able to set up
whatever action they wanted into the pain and while the
Fever defense was okay in game one, they couldn't stop enough.
(01:13):
As my cat yells at me as you, I'm sure
you'll love to hear that.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
What's the name of the kiddy.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
This is Winston. He is now eight months old. So
in game two they were just way better doing that right.
Alicia Gray couldn't get into the lane. She was four
for nineteen or something. Jordan Canada struggled, Ryan Howard struggled,
they were missing free throws. Everything was going wrong for Atlanta.
That was huge. That changed their whole fortune defensively in
(01:40):
the game. And for a team that's supposed to be
so good at shooting, the Dream couldn't make anything. And
so you know carl s Mesko, Atlanta's head coach, after
the game. So yeah, their defense was way more aggressia.
We did not respond well to that, and I thought
that was the story of the difference of the game
and why the Fever were so much better.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I would like to know, by the way, musician World
World Leader, former Anderson Indiana guard cigarettes, I'd like to
know Winston's name for who.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I think my wife just thought it was cute if
we had to actually like pick a person. It's the
character from New Girl. I don't know if you ever
watched that show.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I've not seen that. I kind of liked the cigarettes.
I like the thought of the cat smoking cigarettes because
it's Winston.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I don't call him Winston. I just call him Squeeze.
So that was pretty easy to follow. Yea, I was
very high pitched, fair enough.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
All right? You know, I thought it was tony when
I looked at If you were to just look at
the box score, you would say to yourself, Okay, the
Fever shot the ball better in game two than they
did game one.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
What's happened much better?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yep?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Okay, so did they The question is that sometimes shooters
just need to get in rhythm, and then other times
they they do things differently to set up shots to
get themselves better looks, and they come up with wrinkles
to get better looks. Was it just simply a matter
of there just wasn't touch in game one or did
(03:10):
they make wrinkles in the way that they were distributing
to get open looks?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Some of both. I mean game one was their worst
shooting performance of the whole season, right like that is
clearly anomaly. Levels of bad not that Atlanta's defense isn't good,
but they made two threes the all game, Right, they
were dreadful with the jumpers that night, and that was it.
And so yes, they were generating better looks in game two,
and some of that is all season they've told us
(03:37):
in media sessions, and they've been right to do so.
Our defense leads to our offense. If our defense is good,
will score better. When their defense was good in game two,
they turned that into you know, a ton of transition chances,
open threes, quick in the shot clock. Whatever that was.
So I think it was two things from these games
to games. And this is what the dream Will kind
of hang their hat on, honestly, is that they shot
(03:59):
so bad in game one that they were naturally going
to be a little better in game two. But they
focused so much on better defense and it led to
better offense for them. Like Kelsey Mitchell made as many
threes in just the first quarter of Game two that
the whole Fever team did in game one. Right, that
was such a big shift in their fortunes. And I
think they did a good job of actually working the
ball around to get those shots. That Lexi Hall three
(04:20):
was perfection to close the third quarter, but it came
in part because of his natural statistical progression and better defense.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I thought, Tony, when you look at the situation, the
fever or and Tony East is our guest, and when
you look over the course of the season, they have
been so decimated by injury, and I think there was
a lot of thought from people of you know, whether
or not they would even get into the play You
(04:46):
know here they are right. I mean, there was certainly
that there was doubt. They kind of backpedaled their way
into the playoffs itself. But have you been impressed by
the their ability to kind of plug in different playslayers
and still maintain at the level they have or does
that strictly speak to the fact that this is a
(05:08):
league that does not have the number of teams that
the NBA does, and thus you have plenty of available
free agent players that are indeed capable starters right from
the get go. Is it credit Indiana the way they
went about doing it, or is it credit just to
the league itself that there is that level of talent
that's out there.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I think it's some of both, because, yeah, on one hand,
it's very easy to say, you know, they get Chloe
Bibby and Aerry McDonald midseason and they're both great, and Joe, well,
look at that. The league's too small. They're expanding, and
these expansion teams will be good, and there's a lot
of good free agents. Like Golden State just made the
playoffs as an expansion team, right Like that does show
what is possible with just players who are not on rosters.
(05:53):
So in some ways it is a talent, but it's
not just that because both of those players were on
different teams this season. Right Donald was in LA for
training camp, Chloe Bibby was on the Valkyries earlier this season,
Odyssey Sims was on the Sparks earlier this season, Aeriel
Powers on Golden State this season. Like all their players
that they've had on hardship deals, we're on different teams
(06:14):
at a different point in the season pre Haul two
and all of them, basically all of them, I would say,
are playing better for the Fever than their first team
for whatever reason that is volume, situation, comfortability, whatever, And
I think that is a testament to what their coaching
staff and style is able to do. Is they're able
to get players up to speed very quickly, now. Honestly,
some of that is that they've had a ton of
(06:35):
reps doing it right. They're so used to it now
on what that process should look like, how they get
the player of the playbook, keep a simple and all that.
But I think they have done better than other teams,
even as we've seen with players that they've had this year,
at getting those players up the speed and making them
look effective and helpful. Like they're playing four players right
now who weren't even on their team to start, three
or four players weren't another team to start the season,
(06:58):
real playoff rotation minutes, and none of them are bad.
They're certainly all being helpful in some way. So I
think that's been a huge part of their seasons. Their
ability to do that. It says a lot about like
the build that they've had, because last year, when players
came in and out, or even before last year, they
were just totally dead on arrival. So that is a
big part of our franchise growth.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Have you been I'll use the term surprised for lack
of a better word, but what is I guess the
better way of saying it. Your assessment been of the
fact that I personally thought Tony, and feel free to
tell me that this is my own ignorance. When she
first entered the league, I was under the assumption or
just expectation, that Aliah Boston was going to be an
(07:37):
offensive centerpiece and that plays and offense were going to
run through her because she had been such a dominant
college player. But perhaps I was naive to just the
style of play in the W and kind of the
open style that it works with. Have you been surprised
at all that she has not been a look the
(07:58):
ball has to go through her on every repossession level
offensive player.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, it's really interesting. Two things. One is out of college.
I think actually her biggest selling point as a prospect
was her defense. She was like probably the best defensive
player in the country for last year at South Carolina,
and obviously was a good offensive player too, But the
fact that she was a two way player made her
show so valuable and such an obvious number one pick.
But I think what you're asking has honestly been like
a big story of the season Steppian White all the
(08:23):
time when they were going in and out of point
guard and everybody's hurt, they don't know what to do.
Is like we got to play through Lea Moore. We've
got to figure out how to do that. And so
some of it is, like I think, execution, Like they
want to use her as a fulcrum at the top
of the key or at the threat at the elbow
more often, and for some reason, whether that's because they've
had a turnstyle of point guards, whether that's just poor execution,
(08:44):
whether that's something else hasn't happened. Maybe that's on a
liah for not demanding the ball more. I would not
call that her personality or anything like that, So perhaps
that's a part of it, But yeah, I think they
do need to do that more. She is, you know,
outside of Kelsey Mitchell, their most potent offensive player certainly,
and is really talented and getting her involved has helped them.
She was much better in game two than Game one
(09:04):
and game one she was great at the start and
the people were winning and then that kind of faded away.
But the other part of this is the difference between
the college game. I got lucky that I interviewed Aleah
the first day she came to India after the draft,
and we happened to do the interview on the fever
Core And while we were talking, she kept looking down
and I couldn't figure out why, and it's because she
was looking at the paint and she was like, the
(09:25):
paint is this wide like in the pros. This is
how big it is? Like you catch father from the basket,
there's three in the key. There's all this different stuff
that changes your game and how impactful you can be.
And I think that is changed how she's had to
impact the game and what she's done in a way
that made her not quite the same player she was
in college.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Tony East is our guest at Tony R. East on
the ex post Twitter and of course locked on Pacers
Forbes as well, where you can see and hear his
work Tony before we let you go, obviously before we
know what it's going to be here, which is hard
to believe. And that is just a pacer season. And
I still keep going back to in my mind, you know,
(10:05):
the Halliburton injury, and it's like I almost forget that,
Oh gosh, that's right, he's not going to be there
this year, and then Myles Turner. But let's begin with Halliburton.
Just in terms of what you hear or see, everything
seems to be that he is on timeline or maybe
even ahead of it, but will not play this year obviously.
But what do you hear an aspect of that in
(10:27):
terms of there have been no setbats, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Correct, yep, nothing yet out of the boot. Sometimes I
think now, maybe always he told us it would be
about this time shooting free throws on his Instagram story.
I think that was a shoot promo and not actually
him being healthy, but good for him shooting some free
throws moving around. So yeah, certainly on the path, I
think we're going to see a lot of Tyree's Halliburton
(10:51):
arms stuff, shooting stand still jumpers, dribbling a ball but
not moving hardly at all. But yes, believe completely on
track to this point.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
You know the other that I'm curious about, and you
tell me, do you believe that over the course of
a season. You know, Andrew Nemhart is a really good player.
I mean, we know that and nem Hart has had
moments and flashes when Halliburton has been unavailable or where
they need that level of backcourt scoring, nem Hart has
been able to rise to those occasions. Do you believe
(11:20):
he can sustain that over the course of a season
when now all of a sudden, he is a microscope
guy from the other team's defense.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And required to be good, right, Like, if they're going
to be good and them hard has to be a
good player. Yeah. I've had a lot of trouble answering
that question, truly, because I mean, you know, you were
there at these games like Game three and four of
the conference finals two years ago, and he was unguardable,
right the best events in League. Boston was like, we
can't stop this guy, right, And he's had many games
like that throughout his career, here and there, the legendary
(11:51):
Golden State game where he just destroys that furry great
playoff games all the time, but that's the thing, they're
legendary because they're like not frequent or like not consistently.
What he does do and that's what this season needs
to be about, is he has to be like all
the time, a good point guard, creating shots for others,
able to get in the lane, keep the ball moving,
stuff like that. We know he can do it. He
(12:11):
did it at Gonzaga, He's done it at times before,
but not with any sort of like consistency or Okay,
this is clearly a lead creator for a really good
team level. That's one of the biggest stories of the
season is can he do it? How much frequency can
he do it with? What's the right volume? How did
he keep other guys involved? Because the Flashes are crazy, right,
the Flashes are like, oh perfect, like they're gonna be
(12:33):
just fine and they could make the playoffs. 're playing
it again or whatever. But they're just that, they're flashes.
And I know the team believes that he can do it.
I know he believes he can do it, but canny
and that could be a huge question. And how much
do they have to change their system, if at all,
to make it possible, Because that's the other part of this.
They play so fast and move but all so much
because of Halburton. They don't have him this year. How
much are they going to be willing to change things
to make other guys better when it might not matter
(12:55):
that much in a year from.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Now, Tony, do you think considering that this year again,
it's it's just this weird year. It's probably the easiest
way to say it, right, this gap year a.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Year it will perfect, but I I know, I just
I can't weird.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Let's just say weird. It's gonna be weird.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
When I heard somebody say that you would love because
specifically it's Halliburton who's out for the year, they should
call it a leap year. I thought that was pretty good.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Well, that's solid for those that don't know Tyrey's Haliburton
born on leap here that that's pretty solid. Right, although, yeah,
although he can't leap, that's the only problem there, right,
you know what I mean? Right, you know what I mean.
So it's the non leap year basically. But so here's
the thing though, when you look at between Huff Wiseman
(13:39):
and Isaiah Jackson, and I do love Isaiah Jackson, but
he's also coming off the Achilles, So there's a big
question mark there. Do you believe that this year is
about grooming and auditioning those three to find out which
one is your long term answer there? Or are they
simply rotating through filling and warming that seat until they
go out next year through free agency and get the
(14:01):
Miles Turner replacement.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I think they would hope that one of those guys
is the answer. And I think they clearly believe in
their you know, ability to heal these Achilles injuries because
they resigned two of them or both of them, right,
and it'll help them learn more about the process for Tyreech.
But yeah, I think they got to hope it's one
of them, right, because it's really hard for them to
functionally get like a high paid, good starting center right now.
(14:25):
They could trade for a guy a rookie, still you
don't pay them more later. So figuring out their center
situation is really interesting. And I think that I did Jactual.
He's quite good, but who knows what he's going to
be like post Achilles, Like his whole thing is athleticism.
Is he going to have the same level? Huff looks
good last year He's played ninety five total NBA games.
The Pacers played more than that last year in total
between the playoffs, right, Like, you have no idea how
(14:46):
good these guys are going to be, And so that's
I think their hope. But I think you're right that
maybe like not stop gap or placement, but you know,
it is like a fill in, like hopefully it's one
of these guys. We'll see before they have to really
figure it out when Haliburn's back as they try to
compete again.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Okay, seven thirty tonight, it is the Fever and the
Atlanta Dream down in Atlanta, Tony East, appreciate the time,
and who knows, man, maybe we'll be talking to you
again about another round for the Fever, depending on what
happens tonight. But appreciate the time.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
There's a chance we find out tonight that they're hosting
the second round.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Jakes could be crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I did see somebody. Yeah, they were talking about that, right.
It all depends on what happens between Las Vegas and Seattle,
but we will keep our eye on it. Tony appreciated
telling ya Nashville and it's an awesome city, but the
whole Vegas feel to it. It does feel like it
has become the bachelorette party capital of the world, and
(15:41):
it's almost more like a like Vegas is the has
the reputation of, you know, the guys weekend, even though
now it's become a more family friendly environment in Vegas.
But it does feel like Nashville is kind of the
girls like the girls weekend get away, right, I mean
literally any and you don't if you're driving there and
(16:06):
you have like a rental car with a blind spot,
and you don't have to necessarily worry about like accidentally
cutting off one of the bachelorette buses because you hear
him coming from three blocks away. That's what it sounds
like the whole time. That's not an ambulance, by the way,
that's right. Those are all the wool girls joining us
now and perhaps avoiding exactly that. He is from the
(16:27):
Nashville Post talking about the Titans and Colts this weekend.
He joins us on the guest line John Glennon on
the program, John, how are you?
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I'm doing well?
Speaker 1 (16:35):
How were you guys? Was that a fair assessment of
Broadway or am I over selling it?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think you nailed it. I think you hit it
right on the head there. There's little doubt that we
are the national capital of bachelorette parties. And kind of
the fascinating thing is that they travel in every manner
of vehicle now too. Like you mentioned the bus, sometimes
we see tractor pulls with with loads of bachelorette in
the background. You know, we've got other you know, like
(17:04):
vans or open bed trucks with pools in the back
and hot tubs. So yeah, if you come to Nashville
and you're around downtown on a weekend, you are you're
going to see a few bachelor at parties, without question.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
I don't know that I would necessarily want to like
be running around telling everybody that my fiance is away
on a tractor pole, right, you know what I mean?
Like the sawed off top of the school bus is passable,
but the tractor poll seems to be a little condescending.
It's me, I don't know, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Just I don't see that and think, you know, hey boy,
yeah you know I got to get on one of
those tractors and ride around Tad just now that that
doesn't strike me as a must do either. But apparently
they're doing pretty well because they've been around for a while.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
You know, I'm going to be before we get into
the nuances and x's and o's of this game, John,
I want it for anybody that's listening that may be
going down to Nashville for this game this weekend, and
it is a great spot to go down for, you know,
for Colts fans over the years to go for away
games just because it's a great city. But I know
that they are building the new stadium right next door.
(18:08):
How much has that made it difficult in terms of
parking and getting in and out of the stadium or
is it relatively unaffected from what people have done in
the past.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
You know, the last couple of years have have been
you know, there's been construction there and and some people
certainly have had to alter their usual strategies of getting
there that you know, there's a lot more buses, a
lot more parking areas around town that you can park
and take bottle buses or shuttles in there. You know.
Of course, we being the lucky few that still get
(18:42):
the media parking, so it hasn't really affected us too much.
And you know, I guess sad to say the Titans
have been kind of poor enough the last couple of
years that crowds haven't exactly you know, been filling up
Nissan stadiums. So from that standpoint, you know that the
traffic hasn't been too bad even with all that new
(19:05):
construction going on.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Okay, that construction includes the team itself obviously, because they're
in a makeover period with cam Ward at quarterback. It
is very early. It goes without saying and being I mean,
I think we now know in Indianapolis how long it
takes to determine whether a guy's the guy or not.
But when you have a quarterback like that, Tennessee has
offensively come up with, what sort of a scheme or
(19:29):
what sort of looks that Indianapolis should anticipate seeing on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Well, you know, there's not necessarily a wealth of offensive
options with this team right now. You know, I think
we're seeing some promise that maybe, you know, Colts fans,
we'll get a look at some young receivers that will
be around for a while. Two rookies, elk Iomanor and
(19:54):
Chim ray d Ka both have impressed in the first
couple of weeks. I am man Or was on the
receiving end of that that crazy cam Ward touchdown pass
last week where he held the ball for eight seconds.
So those guys, you know, keep an eye on them.
Of course, Calvin Ridley is a talented veteran, but you know, yeah,
(20:16):
you will see some things that cam Ward did pretty
well in college here. And of course one of the
things that he excelled at at in Miami was was
downfield passing. Uh, that hasn't gone so well, I would
say in the first couple of weeks. And and you know,
I think it's something that the most quarterbacks have to
(20:37):
learn when they come from the college game, especially when
they're big play kind of guys that occasionally, you know,
you have to take that checkdown pass, that that moved
the chains kind of pass as opposed to taking you know,
kind of one big shot downfield after another. And I
think that's one of the first lessons that that cam
Ward is learning.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
How have they done in terms of just protection of
cam Ward?
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Not well, well, not too well. You know, eleven sacks
in the first two weeks, which is you know, kind
of all the more disappointing because of the money they
invested in that offensive line this year. You know, they
went out. First thing they did in free agency was
they got Dan Moore, their new starting left tackle, to
have you know, signed him to a like a four year,
(21:21):
eighty two million dollar deal. You know, they got a
veteran right guard from Detroit and Kevin Zeitler, you know,
brought him at nine million per year. They moved J. C.
Latham the tackle from left to right where he'd played
in college. They figured that would be a good move.
And you know, at center, you've got a high price
free agent from twenty twenty four in Lloyd Cushionberry, but
(21:43):
the end result so far has not been good. You know,
probably have those eleven sacks, I think three have been
attributed to cam Ord, you know, maybe holding the ball
a little bit too long. That still leaves you with
eight sacks, you know, are that are attributed to offensive
line or running back situations. So it's not been a
(22:06):
start from that standpoint for the Titans, and that was
something that certainly bothered this team quite a bit last year.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
One of the things John, I've always felt John Glenn
and our guests from the Nashville Post talking about the
Titans and Colts this Sunday one aspect that I've always
felt is really underrated, and we've talked about it a
lot on this show, but I want to get your
thoughts on it. You can go out and accumulate five
offensive linemen that are all a seven and a half
(22:32):
or hire in terms of their skill set, but if
they're not used to playing with one another, oftentimes that's
almost an inferior line to a group that might be
all sixes but are used to one another's tendencies, especially
when you're moving guys from left to right. It just
seems to me like an offensive line takes literally a
half a year for guys to understand what's around them
(22:56):
and then kind of gel together as a line itself.
Does your observation of the NFL tell you the same thing?
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah, I think you're accurate there. And you know, you
look at the five man front, and three of those
five guys are new. Two are absolutely new to the team.
And then, as I mentioned, Latham moves from left tackle
to right tackle this year. So yeah, a lot of
newness there. And you know, because some of these guys
are veterans, like a Zeitler and Cushion Berry was coming
(23:28):
back from injury, they didn't get a chance, you know,
in any of the preseason games to play all five
of them together in any of the preseason contests either.
And then we've already seen a couple of injuries, you know,
to the offensive line in the first two games. In fact,
you know, there's a chance basically the right side of
the lines Zeitler and Latham Hight both miss you know,
(23:51):
Sunday's game. We'll have to see how things play out.
But yeah, so they really haven't had that great amount
of time together yet to kind of form that chemistry
and as of right now, as I say it's not
a it's not off to a good start. You could
sort of say, Okay, they've gone up against two very
good defensive fronts, and that's true. Denver led the league
(24:13):
in sacks last year and the Rams have a you know,
a pretty outstanding front seven as well. But nonetheless, at
some point, especially when you have you know, the future
of the franchise presumably playing quarterback, you know things have
to things have to get better in that department.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Okay, John, We're going to pretend that Shane Styken calls
you on the phone, right and he says, John, Shane Styken,
head coach Inniapolis Colts. And then he speaks really fast
and typically in very short cliches, but in this case
he's going to have a conversation with you, and he says, look,
you cover the Tennessee Titans. I got a quarterback in
Daniel Jones that has just been excellent for me through
(24:51):
two games. I've got a tight end and Tyler Warren
that is exactly as advertised. Got a good running back
in Johnathan Taylor. I've got a bevy of receivers for
Daniel Jones to throw around too. But I want to
make sure that we're keeping on stride with what we've
done through two games. Can you, John Glennam, please tell
me what it is that Tennessee shows defensively that is
(25:13):
their biggest vulnerability that I need to scheme to take
advantage of to keep Daniel Jones confident and rolling.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Well.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I would say, Shane, you've got a few options so far,
you know, I might not limit it to just one
thing that you're gonna have to. You know, that is
a deficiency on the Titan side of the ball, because
they really haven't done a good job, you know, for
several years. They were at least very good at stopping
the run. Last year was not a good you know
(25:43):
season for stopping the run. And so far the first
two games about one hundred and fifty yards average against
on the ground, and they've given up, you know, two
big chunk carries of over forty yards, one in each
of the two games. So that is troublesome for the Titan,
you know. And I would also say the pass rush
(26:03):
is a deficien city for the Titans. You know, you
can certainly bank on Daniel Jones probably having a little
bit more time than usual the Titans have all of
two sacks in the first two games, and really, Jeffrey
Simmons is the only guy that's been bringing consistent pressure
in there. The Titans just don't have much on the
on the edges right now. So you know, when you're
(26:27):
kind of having a hard time stopping the run and
you're having a hard time getting after the passer, that
doesn't necessarily bode too well for the defense.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
This is season number John, I'm trying to guess here,
would this be what season twenty seven in Nashville for
the Titans? Somewhere in there.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
That sounds about right. I think that is accurate.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Out of curiosity, and I'm always I call this the
Willie McGhee factor. Willie McGee is the player that in
Saint Louis, he is a beloved figure. But I think
people outside of Saint Louis would be surprised to know
that Willie McGee is. You know, Jeff Foster's that way
here right, Like, I don't know, you know, Jeff Foster
was a super popular pacer and people outside Indiana probably
(27:09):
be like, really, Jeff Foster was a beloved guy. Uh,
give me the player for the Titans overall, that is
a beloved figure that perhaps is not thought of outside
of Nashville as being a long term Titan.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Hmm, that's a good question. You know. I might think
of one who unfortunately, you know, passed away, you know,
not all that long ago, and that would be Frank Whitechek,
the tight end you know, who played for so many years.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
He had a pretty big pass completion in his career.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Yes he did, Yes, he did. Uh. He was part
of the Music City miracle of course, through that pass
all the way across the field to Kevin Dison against
the Buffalo Bills and the playoffs, and Dison scored on
the last second, seventy five yard touchdown return. But yeah,
you know, he he made maybe you know, one or
two Pro Bowls potentially. But because of the kind of person, well,
(28:10):
he wasn't an uber talented, skilled, you know type player,
and and you know, I believe was originally a UDFA.
You know, he became a very much beloved type of
player here in Nashville. Was a great uh you know
target for Steve McNair over the years. Uh and afterwards too.
(28:31):
You know, he remained very much a part of the
community for several years so that one comes to mind.
I would say, uh, top of the top of the
charts as a person that maybe around the country, you know,
doesn't get as much notice, but certainly here again, I
would say a beloved type character.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Okay, I'm going to guess the foremost popular players in
Titan's history. You ready, all right? McNair, Yeah, Eddie George, Yeah,
I'll go. I'm gonna go Curveball here, Javon Curse.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Possibly, yeah, yeah, possibly.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
I would say carry Collins.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I don't know if I can give you carry Collins
on the on the on the Mount Rushmore, if you will.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Okay, certainly very popular. Chris Johnson, Chris Johnson's Johnson.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Uh would certainly be a good one.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Well, Kevin Dyson, Kevin Dyson for for what he did.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Sure, I would say, you know, here's another one that
doesn't get too much national attention. But Derek Mason was tremendous,
you know, tremendous wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Just because he's an Indie native. We're gonna throw Blaine
Bishop in there.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
There you go. That's another good one too.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
He you know, he started in in Houston, but certainly
had some great years, some Pro Bowl years for the
for the Titans here as well.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Okay, John, before we let you go, I'm curious of
this and just being on the beat in Nashville, that
is such a growing city and such a great city,
and this is both of these leagues. I'm kind of
fascinated that, you know, Baseball has been one that's been rumored.
I mean, when the White Sox, it seems like Naphville
always comes up in conversation between the NBA and MLB,
(30:19):
which one is more likely to eventually land themselves a
franchise in Nashville.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
That's a good quote. I suspect it would be MLB,
you know, and you know, maybe one of the main
reasons I think, you know, you've got an NBA franchise
in Memphis on the other side of the state, and
you know it's only three hours three three and a
half hours away, So maybe the league would probably steer
(30:47):
clear of that, I would think. And there's a tremendous
amount of enthusiasm for MLB here, there's no doubt about.
You know, a ton of Atlanta fans here, of Saint
Louis fans, both those cities within driving distance. The one
thing they don't have, right now is that huge walleted,
(31:10):
deep pocketed guy that's going to say, yeah, here's the money,
you know, for for an expansion team if that's you know,
if that is indeed the case. So you know a
lot of people say maybe it's going to start stretching
the sports dollar too thin. You know, Nashville is not
a massive city, and you well you got.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
The Predators there too, which are I mean, the Predators
are a huge sell right.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yeah, yeah, they sure are. They've they've been selling out
for a while. So that that is kind of one
of the big questions if there's enough sports dollar to
go around, especially with MLB. You know, obviously you've got
the eighty two home games. Uh so, yeah, that's a
that's a question mark. But I know the the enthusiasm
certainly is there for a for an expansion team.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Well, John, we appreciate the time. As always, we will
probably reach out to you again here coming up just
before Halloween as a matter of fact, when the Titan
step to come up here and we'll see where things
stand there. But certainly look forward to this Sunday and
appreciate the time and the perspective on the game.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Sounds good, all right, thanks for having me, guys.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
John Glennon joining us from the Nashville Post. You probably
heard Eddie in the background. Did you hear one of
the bachelortt parties in the background that sounds like Zeppelin,
doesn't it? It's a good song. Yeah, I can hear.
And they put on a good show, great van fleet.
But but there was definitely part of it where I
was like, is this a led Zeppelin tribute band joining us?
Speaker 4 (32:35):
Now?
Speaker 1 (32:35):
He is the Robert Plant of NFL play by play announcers.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
I was thinking about this Jake because he goes on
the morning show on Fridays and he has this little
section of their conversation where it's Taylor's tidbits. I was
thinking maybe we were phrases, you know, in some way
or form to where it it's time to get tailored,
or it's time to visit the tailor.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
It's time to get tailored. Typically, if you get tailored,
you're getting an orange fluffcake from Taylor's Bakery. And I
think Taylor'd be cool with that, right if I said
that that's what that should be. Getting tailored should be
reserved for Let's ask Matt what what he'd like to
be our Thursday visit to be known as Matt Taylor
joins us. Now, any thoughts on that?
Speaker 5 (33:13):
Matt, Hey, listen, it's your show. You can do whatever
you want. Those are the rules they put when they
put your name on it.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
You can do whatever you want.
Speaker 5 (33:21):
Listen, we can visit, we can visit the tailor and
I'll do your end them and I'll make sure you
got you know, the proper length and it's it's cut
and trim. And that's good too, looking good.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
All right, fair enough, And I do like the fact
that I don't agree with you necessarily on the fact
that if my name's on it, I can do what
I want. But you know, I am. I do have
my feet up on the desk right now for what that's.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
Well, well, it's not my show. I can tell you that.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
All right, Well it is now at least when you're
on Okay, let's get to this. And that is the
good news is when it comes to the Coltons and Titans,
the Colts, excuse me, and Titans on Sunday, looks like
from the Indianapolis standpoint, the health report is good, or
at least better today than yesterday.
Speaker 5 (34:03):
Correct, Yeah, the non contact Jersey you know, the the
red jersey that guys in the concussion protocol where to
make sure that they can get through all the different
five steps of the process of the concussion protocol. You know.
Tarvarius Ward is out of that are those steps, I
should say. So he's back at practice in full yesterday.
(34:26):
I would think that his designation today would be similar.
And then of course Tyler Warren and Josh Dowens were
back at practice today, which was good. I think it
was more of a precaution rest day, you know, for
both guys. It's a long season. You know, Warren played
over sixty snaps, which is a lot for a tight
end in week two, so you know, just kind of
(34:49):
monitoring things, you know, just keeping an eye on guys's
usage and you know, just the wear and tear in
their body. So kind of a normal thing to be,
you know, on Wednesday. But good to see them back
out today and trending towards you know, being fully available
for Sunday. And same thing with Layatsu Latsu. I think
(35:10):
it was limited yesterday. We'll see what that says today,
but it'd be big on the defensive side of the
ball to get both Ward and Latsu back to difference makers,
you know, within their respective layers of that defense.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Matt, let me give you an observation from afar and
then you tell me, as somebody who is much closer
to it, if I'm even within the ballpark of accurate,
because I think this may be completely inaccurate. Okay, but
the my outside observation is that Daniel Jones is kind
(35:44):
of one of those leaders that you know, the quarterback
naturally is the leader of the team. I mean there's
just by you just are and when you're the quarterback,
and leadership comes in a lot of different forms. I've
always said that in Matt, I think you were around
it when Peyton Manning would turn the corner on the
locker room, it was like, I mean that was he
was the alpha and there was no question everything.
Speaker 5 (36:03):
Everybody shut up right totally.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Like it was like what and he didn't have to
say anything. I mean, he wasn't asking that of people.
It just happened that way, right.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Daniel Jones to me, and we don't know him well,
but he strikes me as the kind of guy that
isn't a push to chest out an overly vociferous like
raw rop pat On the back lifting up teammates kind
of guy, but rather a I've just got my playbook,
and I keep my nose down and I do what's
(36:34):
asked of me, and I turned my homework in on time,
and therefore guys have learned to respect that I've gone
about it that way and that's my form of leadership.
Any accuracy to that.
Speaker 5 (36:46):
Yeah, I think he nailed it spot on, to be
honest with you, because that's exactly what I see too.
And when i'm you know, noticing the vibe and the
energy in the locker room, I pick up on the
same thing where guys, you know, Daniel's not You're right,
I mean, Daniel's not like a you know, he's not
(37:06):
going to point at guys and screaming guy's face when
they make a mistake. But he is he's not going
to just let those things go too. I think there's
a good little balance there of of you know, you know,
lifting guys up, but also holding guys accountable to And
it's all the stuff that he that he does for
himself because he is, you know, to your point, very
(37:29):
much a you know, first guy in, last guy out,
very professional, cares deeply about uh, you know, wanting to
be good. And I also think that he has a
chip on his shoulder, you know, to change the perception
of his his you know, ability to play quarterback in
the NFL. And I mean through two games, he is
(37:51):
the next version of you know, whatever you want to say,
Geno Smith or Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield career resurgence,
you know, guys, it goes to a different you know,
setting a new team. You know, seems to be fitting
in greatly with Shane Steichen. So far, so good, absolutely
through two games. But he's a quiet guy, but also
(38:12):
is very intentional about everything that he does. I mean
you're hearing stories about how he's inviting guys to go
to dinner and you know they're going to go bowling.
And I mean if you just walk down to the cafeteria,
you know, five days a week, Monday through Friday, you
see him sitting with a different guy or a different
group of guys every single day because he's just trying
to be intentional about connecting with everybody on the team.
(38:35):
And I think you're right. I think you hit on
something that's really important. It's really the way that we,
for whatever reason, how we've gotten here as a football society,
how we judge quarterbacks and how we put so much
on their plate. It's it's really unfair. I mean, we
have quarterback power rankings that come out every week, and
you know we scrutinize every throw that they make. You know,
(38:56):
one week they're great, the next week they're a bum.
I mean, we're just so fickle about it. But you know,
the way Daniel Jones has been able to come in
here and you know, really provide the the culture of
the team, and I think that's something that you know,
the Colts were interested in too, to see how that
played out when they named him as the starting quarterback,
(39:16):
because that's something else. I mean, not only do you
have to know the playbook and you have to know
all the guys, and you have to know all the
little interacies of the offense. But you know, it's unfair
for the quarterback to sort of be in charge of
the culture in the atmosphere of the locker room. But
you know, that's what he's done and in short order
as well. So again I've said this a million times
that the biggest compliment I can give Daniel Jones is
(39:38):
that he does not at all look like a guy
that's only been here since March. He looks like he's
been a part of this team now for three to
four years, based on the level of respect that you know,
all the guys have for him. And certainly you you
get more respect when you know you put in all
the work and then you just ball out the way
that he's done in the first two games of the
season for Colts.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
You know, Matt you talk about you know, just like
the in the cafeteria, like in the facility, or you know,
in the downtime, and there is downtime that does take
place when these guys are around each other as much
as they are, even though there's meetings and films and
all that. And I've asked this before, I think, but
to players. But I'm curious if you have observed this.
(40:17):
It would be my feeling that if you were running
an NFL franchise, your defensive backs and your receivers. I
know that they go into different rooms and they're you know,
they're they're different units with different coaches. But it seems
as though it would be who of your organization to
have those guys interact a lot together because of the
(40:38):
fact that a receiver when he's lining. You know, if
he's talking to the defensive backs on his roster, he
can get an idea of what's in the head of
a dB and like and vice versa, right, so that
they are getting an idea of what the opposition that's
trying to shut them down on a Sunday has in mind,
and vice versa. Do you see any of that at
(40:59):
all in terms of guys talking to their own teammates
to get an idea of what the opposition would be
doing for them.
Speaker 5 (41:09):
Yeah, great point. All the time. It happens all the time.
You know, you see those guys talking to each other
in the locker room. You know, they're sitting next to
each other, and you know at their locker stalls, you know,
going through their iPad and watching film and breaking down
the playbook. And you also see it too. And I
think this is really important. And I don't know if
this happens everywhere, but I have seen it happen here
(41:33):
multiple times over the years, where the defensive coordinator or
at the very least a secondary coach, you know, guy
that's overseeing both cornerbacks and safeties, will sit down with
the quarterback and say, this is like if we saw
this play from the Colts offense, this is how we
would we would attack it. Or you know, if you're
(41:55):
a young quarterback, it's like, you know, teach me your
way of interpreting defense. You know, when I see you know,
the second just throwing out just you know, random examples.
Right if you see, you know, a safety drop in
the box in this coverage or in this situation in
the red zone, this is more likely than not what
they're trying to do here. So you know, even though
(42:16):
they're on different sides of the ball, there's a lot
of crossover and a lot of help between you know,
offense and defense, players and coaches throughout the course of
a seventeen game season in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
I don't know if you heard it, Matt, but but
I think it was to the beginning of this week.
I played some audio and look, I know in Indianapolis,
the you know, playing quotes from Tom Brady, you know,
isn't exactly the most probably a popular thing, but Brady
was on I think it was I'm Not Show. He
was on colic OUH heard, yeah, and he was talking
(42:47):
about when he was a young quarterback, when he first
took over for Drew Bledsoe. Unfortunately, tragically, the quarterbacks coach
for the Patriots at the time, passed away of an
unexpectedly during camp, so Bill Belichick overtook the quarterback coach
role even though he was the head coach. So Brady
(43:09):
talked about how, basically the first year that he was
learning the quarterbacking position, he was learning it by Belichick
saying to him, look, I can't tell you about footwork
in rotation or whatever else, but I can tell you
about every defense you're going to see. And you know
what I mean. And so he was learning it from
the outside in and as a result of that, and
(43:31):
you could see it, and I think you can see
it with Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck in the fact
that those guys were human computers that could look over
a defense and their biggest strength was in looking at
an alignment and figuring out what the best play was
or how to get out of a bad play. And
Daniel Jones strikes me as the kind of guy that
has a similar process, may not go as deep into
(43:54):
his checks, but is able to determine and quickly figure
out in process us what's going to work. Has that
been your assessment through two games.
Speaker 5 (44:04):
Absolutely, and you know, just to piggyback off the Tom
Brady thing. I mean it's that famous you know video
footage of him, you know, in that droopy, you know,
long collared you know, white T shirt at the combine.
I mean, he looks like my neighbor. Very physically unimpressive, right,
But I mean that was Tom Brady's superpower was he
(44:25):
was an average quarterback in terms of athleticism, but the
super computer part that you just brought up, that's where
he was just different. And then you took that mental
ability and you paired that with a guy like Bill
Belichick to bring the best out of him with a
football IQ, and then he was just off the charts
as he continued to grow and develop, you know physically
(44:48):
in the NFL. But yeah, Daniel Jones has that too,
and I think he's even probably well, I know, definitively
way more athletics than Tom Brady ever was at any
point in his career. So you pair the mental part
of the game with Daniel Jones and his deceptive running
ability and you know, being able to get out of
(45:10):
the pocket and extend plays and get first downs, and
I think you really have something and you know, truth
be told, That's where I think he won the job.
That's how I think he won the job over Anthony
Richardson is that at this stage in their careers, you know,
presently speaking, Daniel Jones is just further along with pre
snap recognition and being able to get the Colts into
(45:32):
good plays and out of bad plays. I mean, obviously
Anthony Richardson has all of the physical tools, but it
was just the mental side where I think Daniel Jones
had the leg up. And again through two games, the
Colts have been completely validated in making that choice.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
I noticed that when you wanted to give the stereotype
of just your average non athletic guy, you went with
your neighbor and not yourself.
Speaker 5 (45:55):
Right.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
He looked like a fat guy like my neighbor.
Speaker 5 (46:02):
Right, we'll just insert cliche here. You know, you can
do the What was it is that, Bill Toby? You know,
my my postman knows more about football than melt Kiper.
You know I could have said my mom or postman
or neighbor or whatever.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
Well, Matt certainly enjoyed Nashville. You hope you will hear
plenty of this in the background Eddie from the bachelorette parties.
But we'll see if you hear it from Colts fans
that make the drive down because hopefully will be a
good day for the Colts on Sunday. But we shall see,
and we will be listening as well. Appreciate the time
as always, Matt.
Speaker 5 (46:34):
All right, I'll count them up for you. I'll just
you know, I'll go from here to the sports bar,
the hotel of the sports Bar and count how many
bachelorette parties I see just for you.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
I mean over under of six on a half block drive.
I can tell you that right now, no question.
Speaker 5 (46:48):
There's at least eight hundred in the general area.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Yes, that is correct. All right, Matt, We'll be listening.
Appreciate it all right. See you guys, Matt Taylor, the
Voice of the Colts. You just got tailored. That's not bad.
That actually that's not bad. But you just got tailored.
Not bad.
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