November 6, 2025 • 38 mins
Ben Leber in studio for most of the hour, followed by news!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
To noon, very happy at this time each and every
week to be joined by Ben Lieber, former Minnesota Vikings
linebacker at Nacho liber Is where you find him VX
and you can watch him on the television each and
every weekday. It is Twin Cities Live three to four
thirty on Channel five, Twin Cities Live. If you have
(00:21):
not seen the weekday bit on Channel five, TCL is
fresh and clever and authentic and next level.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Welcome Ben. Well, it's funny because the other day I
was obviously just joking and having fun. I also said
our show is silly and stupid, which you.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Know, you say that about The Power Trip, nobody thinks
twice say it about a big time TV show.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And yeah, well, I mean I think everybody understands. I mean,
even it's like she's like stupid. I'm like, you know,
I say, in a very endearing way, this is a silly,
stupid little program that we just love to entertain people
in education, people and what's going on in the Twin
Cities and abroads.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, wells are tuning in most Twin Cities Live three
to four thirty each and every weekday on Channel five.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's TCL.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, you know we and for those who haven't seen
it of late, just to know that it's fresh and
clever and authentic and next level and offers very very
intelligent repartee. Let's play a game to start. Okay, the
game is called how bad is it If? How bad
(01:33):
is it if? And we'll start here. Okay, how bad
is it? If Aaron Jones doesn't play against the Baltimore
Ravens na cheeto, it's not great?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, I would prefer that he plays. We saw it,
We saw it all. We all saw it. The way
that he ran the football, the way that he was
doing a knife through that line's defense, and he gives
us a different element. And as much as I love
Jordan Mason for what he is, I think we're seeing
that there is a thunder and enlightening to this running
(02:11):
back room. And we kind of forgotten that when he
was out with this hamstring injury, and then we saw
it again and we're like, see, that's that's what our
run game is supposed to look like. That right there
is what it's supposed to look like. And that's how
our play action plays a big part in all of this.
Pass protection though, pass protection is another huge thing the
guy's tough as nails. He's a little mighty mouse out
there when he comes to pass protection. So yes, I
(02:34):
think how bad is it if? I think it's pretty
bad if he doesn't play.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Before I make this proclamation about the Ravens defense, I'm
hoping you know more about number forty for them. He
is a cal rookie taken in the fourth round. His
name's Teddy Buchanan, but it's ted dye. I think it's
Teddy Teddy Buchanan. Here's the reason I ask, Well, he's
their leading tackler. Who knew something called Teddy Buchanan leads
(02:58):
them in tackles. Here's the acclamation. While you got some
big names over there, like veteran John Jenkins, Kyle Vanoy,
Kyle Hamilton, Rokwan Smith, so on, Marlon Humphrey, so on
and so on, it's it's a big, physical, lumbering defense.
(03:19):
It ain't that fast. Kyle Hamilton's good, he ain't that fast.
I don't know anything about Teddy Buchanan. I'm hoping he's
not that fast. Because here's the point. How bad is
it if Aaron Jones doesn't play well? I mean it's
negative because he's really good. But he's also really fast.
And the more speed you can put against these big, old,
lumbering beef eaters, the better chance I think you have
(03:41):
to win.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
You know what I mean. You know, I'm so glad,
you know, when somebody like you, Eddy Buchanan, when somebody
like you sort of corroborates what I'm thinking as I'm
doing my research, it makes me feel really good about
sort of my my take on the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
That well, that's very kind of you, but you played
the games and we steal takes from you, not vice versa.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Listen, you've seen a lot of football. You've seen lots
of different varieties of football. I tend to agree. I mean,
this defense, although it's become they're bowing up the last
couple of weeks, especially in the run game, playing much better,
little schematic change with your guy number fourteen, Kyla Hamilton
in the way that they use him. But overall, when
(04:23):
I turned the film on, I'm like, boy, they seem slow.
They seem like they are not the quick twitch, violent
play with the sense of urgency and hair on fire
defense that I think that we have always kind of
associated with the Ravens. Maybe that's partly why they're thinking
(04:44):
about bringing ray Lewis back in a conciliatory role on
defense and on the team. They kind of bring in
this juice in this a different mentality. I think that
is that's definitely what is missing. The mentality doesn't seem
to be there unless.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Teddy Buchanan's a four to two guy we've never heard
and all of a sudden, the whole.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Game has changed. Yeah, the the and and maybe Draymont
Jones makes a difference. Maybe he's the missing link to
all this. They make, they make the trade before the
trade deadline. They bring in a pass rusher, which they need.
They get a little fresher, a little quicker. But I
don't know, man. I mean, I think having obviously having
(05:24):
an Aaron Jones type guy in the backfield would really
knife through this defense like we did against the Lions.
But I agree with you, and it feels good, feels
good to be validated in that way that you kind
of see their defense the same way I do.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
No team ever wants to trail in a football game.
But how bad would it be ben if the Vikings
are put in a spot where they spend most of
the game chasing Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and that Ravens offense.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
That would be less than ideal, not a good situation
to be in. We we handled the first wave of
the Lions on that first drive. We we didn't back down.
We came right back and then from there on out
it seemed like we took control. It's gonna take that
sort of concerted effort in this game to come out victorious.
(06:15):
And as you guys probably already mentioned, they are completely
healthy football team. There's not one person on the on
the injury report, which is so rare. I've never seen that. Yeah,
I especially yesterday, this time of the year, this time
of year, and I get that they're they're coming off
a middle mini bye week as well, playing on the
Thursday night game against the Dolphins. But man, to have
(06:36):
a completely healthy team and all that stuff. We know
that Henry's gonna be hard to stop. You can do it.
He's not like none of these none of these guys
are superman. You know, they're not immortal. We've definitely seen them.
Take comfort in the fact that lots of teams have
bottled up their running back. It's just that if Henry
(06:57):
gets going. We saw the first game of the season
when when he gets going and gets loose and he
and they jump on you and they'll they take your soul,
then it's a long day, Lamar. We've seen it. We've
eve been playing against them at at Baltimore now early
in his career, but we've seen him be put on
games where he's inaccurate, he's flustered, he sees ghosts, he's
(07:18):
unsure about what coverage these he puts. You know, he's
inaccurate with his throws this year, he's on one. He's
extremely efficient, he's doing a great job taking care of
the football, all of that stuff. But it's not like
this guy's immortal. If we can get apply pressure, bottle
him up, make him second guess some things, disguise some
coverages like we did such a good job of last week,
(07:40):
we can get to him. So, yes, they are formidable,
and yes you don't want to be behind the chains,
and yes you want to play with the lead, all
that stuff being said, but if it doesn't happen, it
doesn't mean it's the end of the world. So I
guess ideally, ideally we wouldn't be controlling this game. But
I don't think that these guys are like the most
(08:02):
complete team in the league, and we could be so
fearful of.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Them, Bett Lieber, how bad is it if the Ravens
run for one fifty and one? Would you take that
right now? One fifty and one rushing touchdown?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
No? No, that seems no. I think I think that
seems at that seems like a lot, you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Know, but it's only it's only one rushing touchdown. So
here's the rub. Ah, here's the rub. That means they're
becoming more reliant on Lamar throwing touchdowns than running into
three or four.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, but that don't just consider that. Yeah, but that
also means to me, that's a boxbox box nor do
it your turn? Yeah, I knew when I wrote it,
I didn't like it. Boxbox box. That means one of
their boy I know, I know, I know.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Patrick Ricarda's thirty five and wo okay, what's next?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Well, I just asked him if it's better that they
don't play from behind the whole game, So let's let's
try and change. Is I have something too? Fat? I
have something here more season at large, maybe into the future.
How bad is it if Blake Brandell is our starting
center for the rest of the season, and how bad
is it if he was our starting center in twenty
(09:14):
twenty six.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
I saw Ryan Kelly on a side field yesterday right
next to Josh Oliver. They were on the field known
as the Mike Ues Memorial Field.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah, I would love to have Kelly back. I think
he gives us a little bit more of a of
a comfort blanket in that situation. But that's not, as
you know, totally a slight on the the huge strides
that Brandell has has shown us. Yep, I'm mad at
the fact that if he is our starting center for
(09:44):
this year, and really, honestly, if he keeps improving the
way that he does and he starts getting more and
more comfortable with that position, I ain't mad if he's
our starting center next year. I'm really not like the guy.
What he's been able to do on this team to
be a do everything offensive lineman. Put him anywhere across
the line, he gives you a really solid game, and
(10:07):
if he really settles in that center spot, I'm cool
with it.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Well, this week he'll he will be opposite the likes
of John Jenkins, thirteenth year from Georgia, a former Raider
behind him, you got Rokwan Smith again.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Roquan hits hard, Roquan ain't fast.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yep, you got something called Travis Jones in his fourth
year from Yukon. David Ojabo, fourth year from Michigan, played
with JJ Brent Urban thirteenth year from Virginia. They're just
slow and old, I mean just, I mean curious.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Easy though. I know, but I don't want to give
everybody this soft, this this wee, I know, this false
sense of security because again, it is about it is
about what they've done to turn the page defensive and
and that is something that they're hanging their hat on
that and that's actually what's given that team a lot
of hope in their fan base, a lot of hope
is that, yes, in the last three weeks they've stop
the run. They are not just this like sieve on
(11:03):
a running game where they're just like giving up all
these yards and they don't look slow, and they don't
look like they're out of place, and they don't look
like they don't know what they're doing. The last three
weeks they played really really well against the run. And
it's this, It is a philosophical shift. It is getting
Kyle Hamilton in the box. It is getting Kyle Hamilton
Hamilton into that that Harrison Smith role where he's literally
(11:23):
at the line of scrimmage. He's on the edge of
the line of scrimmage, He's a couple of yards off
the ball, and he's not necessarily be there just to
rotate back. They get Malachi Starks their rookie safety is
that part of getting confidence in him.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Though when you think about the ability to push Hamilton
up into the box and operate that way, that you
got to trust Malachi out.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Back, well, it sounds like it's a little bit of
like they've had to force their hand into finding answers.
And so I think if they started the year with
Kyle Moore on that hybrid role safety in the box player,
they would have stuck with it. But I think it's
happened in the conjunction with the fact that they haven't
(12:02):
stopped the run very well, they haven't disguised looks very well,
and the development of Malachi being a rookie, it's like
it's taken him some time to kind of get comfortable
with his role, and so I think it all has
happened around the same time. And because Kyle's been asked
to do a lot of different things since he was
brought in. They're like, well, he's versatile enough, maybe we
can just like move him down the box and was
to almost a permanent Joshuma Tellus sort of role versus
(12:26):
a Harrison Smith role. It's working out, and it sounds
like they're very excited about what Starks can do on
the back end as well, to be sort of that
coverage guy and that over the top defender.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And lastly, lastly for the baby game, Ben Lieber, how
bad would it be for Vikings fans if Sam Darnold
leads the Seahawks to the NFC title game?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Listen, well liber style Listen, Vikings fans, you got to
put that one to bed, you know, you you just
do the thing is like you we were the plan
was to always have McCarthy, you know, a McCarthy type
(13:15):
player take over this team. You know, we for so long,
ever since Koc got this job, it just seemed like, look,
we love Kirk Cousins, but wouldn't it be nice to
get out from underneath this guaranteed contract, have a little
bit more flexibility, develop an actual quarterback that you know,
(13:35):
we can get on the cheap for a couple of
years before you really have to pay him and sort
of build this team from the ground up foundationally with
some really good young players. That's that. That to me,
has been the whole idea. And and I don't think,
you know, going away from that and having Sam Darnold
and paying him, you know, a huge second contract would
(13:56):
have been necessarily the right move. So oh, let's just
I know it's difficult. I get it. I know it's
difficult because I feel like we all feel like we
turn this guy into what he is now and now
look at him and what he's doing with Seattle Boy.
That could be us. Yeah, it could be, but that's
(14:20):
that's not part of the plan.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Whoop them not your style, liber bade the music, fire
up the elite football mind then Libert Notcho LIBERVX. Our
segments are provided by Children's Cancer Research Fund.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah everybody knows talked about him quite a bit on
this show that they're a local cancer research charity not
only just to help the kids, but also to help
the families and they would love love your support, So
you can find them at Cure dot Children's cancer dot org. Listen,
you can do a dollar. You know you can do
a monthly payment of a dollar. It can be five dollars,
(14:57):
it can be ten dollars, twenty five dollars, one hundred dollars.
They would they would take anything in that you can
to help out these kids in these families.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
So thank you, Ben leberm with the something that came
up a few days ago nine to noon I think
it was Tuesday, a couple of days ago. Excited to
talk to you about it. Sources tell me that you
opined on it this morning. Sadly I missed him. Little
baby Khalif Raymon, where's number eleven? Goes in motion to
the right of the formation, smacks the gik is on fire.
When the gank is on fire, did not see him
(15:26):
coming now Andrew was firing off for what looked to
be some form of a pass rush. Khalif gets him
middle of his upper body, knocks him out, neck snaps,
neck hits ground and yesterday on the side of Vikings
practice that actually was was kind of a juicy talker
between several of us, and my initial take was because
(15:48):
I don't know the letter of the proverbial law when
it comes to hitting players, blind siding you know, when
they don't know what's coming. So that's that's that's FIJA
fairness and host act. I do not know how the
rule is written. What I do know is every coach
in the National Football League and throughout the annals of
time pushes the envelope when players are coming back from injury,
(16:11):
specifically very important players like Andrew van Ginkel. When I
saw that play, and I saw Monday night shared it
with a Nordo on Tuesday on the radio, which subsequently
means sharing it with the audience. My initial thought was, Hmmm,
we got an envelope pusher here. Dan Campbell just wants
to make sure one of your better players is all
(16:34):
squared away after missing a month plus with injury. And
I felt it was a legal hit. Now the gink
is on fire thought it was a dirty hit. Mattellis
and some others on defense thought it was a dirty hit.
What did you think about that? I thought it was
a dirty hit too.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Why so, the way that I understand, I'm trying to
understand this rule, because it really hasn't come up lately.
The whole heinz War idea of crackbacking on defenseless players
in a blind side manner where now the force of
impact was on the front part of Gank's body, so
(17:11):
it's not like he got hit in the back sor
like Brian Branch got hit in the back by Smith Schuster,
which was another dirty hit, and I understand why he
was pissed off about that as well. If I if
I can interpret the rule, and please out there correct
me if I'm wrong that if you're lined if you're
lined up in a reduced or compressed formation, and you're
(17:32):
deemed in the box, you're allowed to hit that guy
in a legal manner, just like he hit him front part,
even if he's looking at you or not. I got you.
He can hit you in the front and he can
block you. Now if you motion into Yeah, if you
start outside of said box, belief was outside the numbers
when he started. Correct, if you are outside of said box,
(17:52):
either a motion or post snap, come into the box
and hit a player in the box in that manner.
I thought that that was the rule that they got
rid of. That was the Heinz Ward rule that they
got rid of. That's an illegal crackback block on a
defenseless player when it looks like that's what it looked
like in the game and they don't call it. It's
(18:12):
an egregious miss because it's not like he just got
hit and he just kind of wobbled. He got decleted.
So how does a referee not see this player fly
through the air? Fortunately for us, they throw a screen
pass right at his feet and he makes the tackle.
But how do you how do you miss that? How
do you miss that call? That wasn't as egregious of
an illegal block in front of the officials because he's
(18:37):
outside of the outside of the box. So does Gink
and Mattelus and the rest of the defensive players and
staff have a right to feel like that that was
a dirty hit? Got it?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Now?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Do I think that? Well?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Gank's neck went to snap in twice, so I looked
at it, like Campbell's like, and that's without knowing that, Okay,
Campbell's like, neck hint. Yeah, See, that's I want to
I want to make we just want to make sure
you're all squared away.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
It happens all the time. See, that's the thing that
that's where I I'm not gonna go there with that
because I have a lot of respect for Dan Campbell
and I he's a former player that I think ultimately
doesn't want to play a dirty game. I don't think
that that was intentionally dirty. Maybe it was a misformation
by Raymond. Maybe he was supposed to be lined up
(19:28):
in the box and a little bit and so he
was within the rules. Whether that was intentional to gink
and test his neck, I don't necessarily think so. I
think he just happened to be the edge guy on
that particular It could have been Gernard. It could have
been Gernard on that side. You know, they do flop
those guys around a little bit. So I'd like to
think that that was not an intentional play to try
(19:51):
to test one of our injured, injured players. It was
just one of those egregious penalties that got missed. Well,
this is the NFL, not the NHL.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
However, in the NHL, which may become the NFL, in
this situation, does that mean you just remember it, you
mark it down, shove it off to the side. Lions
are here. Whenever the Lions are here and you catch
Khalif Raymond, Yes, and it does. I think some players
like that. They talk about that and stuff like, oh okay, dog,
(20:19):
I got you Next time, yes, absolutely. Guys will say,
you know, I got you so and so number like
you'll go back to your your guys. And you know,
I wouldn't say it's an intentional like hit. You know,
it's not like they put a marker on this guy.
But I think if you have the opportunity, let's just
say it picks. You know, interception, situation, belief is on
(20:42):
Cleif's backside. He's not looking. Wow, take your shot, bro,
take your shot. Ben Leber at natcha Labor. Wow, that
was violent, just the way you said it has scared
me all right around the corner. Some McCarthy conversation and
also proper routes to corralling a quarterback who run like
Lamar Jackson. And there are two pieces of reference that
(21:04):
are going to hit Ben hard and I can't wait
to hear what he has to say.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
But first, the fan along with two men in a
junk truck, want to give you a shot at some
bonus bucks with the National Cash Contest. This hour's keyword
is money. Use the keyword money at kfan dot com.
You might win with the keyword money at kfan dot
Welcome back nine to Noon, Ben Lieber and Studio and
you heard that audio there, Ben from JJ McCarthy. What
(21:30):
do you think building confidence off the w you heard it,
it's onto the next one full week of practice and
rhythm for him. But game two of JJ Take two
against the Ravens this weekend. What excites you about it?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Well, let me just go back and talk about the
mindset that he's talking about, because you know, I'd never
really heard consistency and motivation and focus sort of presented
in this way until I got to the NFL and
I was being coached by Already Schoenheimer, and I just
I just loved all of a lot of his speeches,
(22:04):
and he's very very articulate in his thoughts, and he
was always trying to motivate us in just different ways.
And you know, we're all kind of built to talk
about you're only as good as the game that you
just played, right, and that that was like always sort
of beat into you, like, listen, you can't rely on
anything else than the product that you just put out.
(22:26):
But he changed that mindset for me because he would
talk about you're only as good as your next game,
and you're only as good as your next play, And
so I know it sounds silly because you're just kind
of shifting the verbiage around a little bit, right, But
when you think about what that means, it's like, yeah,
(22:47):
you're right, turning the page, flushing it, doing all this
other stuff. It's like it's easier to do all of
that when you think about it in this context of like,
I have to prove myself each and every opportunity, not
the opportunity I just had, but the one that's coming up.
And so I think for all of these guys, and
(23:08):
you know they have the right mindset, yeah, you cannot
rest on your laurels. You can't look back and say like, yeah,
I feel I'm feeling myself right now because we played
really well. I made some really great throws, I had
the right approach, I checked out as certain things did
I played the game that were supposed to be played.
That's great, But you know what, after twenty four hours
after you get to like revel in that you're only
(23:29):
as good as your next game, and you really, honestly,
the way you really statistically when I approach is like
you're only as good as your next practice. And if
you take that mindset, that's what keeps you hungry that's
what keeps you motivated. It can be terribly exhausting and
it plays a lot of mental tricks on you. But
you want to develop a mental toughness and this drive.
(23:51):
You take that approach it like I'm only as good
as my next practice, and then I'm always good as
my next rep. And that'll keep you going. Man. And
then all of a sudden you've developed this, uh, this
edge where you're going into every game just hungry to
prove yourself over and over again.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
What are some ways you think Flores may come bat
Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Well on paper, on paper when it comes to rush lanes,
you know, I think the one thing that that they'll
try to do is a lot of the same stuff
that you saw against against Jared Goff. They they really
want to test these the guard center guard combination that
those those three guys, that that little battery has not
(24:34):
been great. It's the weakness of their offensive line and
they have not been happy about it. They were hoping,
they were hoping to pick up Kevin Zeitdler in the
before the trade deadline. Faw Lelly has not played very well.
He's been inconsistent. So I think that you have to
expose those guys anyway that you can, whether it's you know,
(24:55):
our twist game. Our twist game was awesome last week.
Our guys moving around, which I think is a large
reason why Hargrave have had such a good game. It's
like we really kept those guys mobile and moving and
attacking the gap and tacking half a body and all
this other stuff. I think we still have to do
that in this game, but the difference is we need
(25:17):
to somehow funnel again on paper, funnel Lamar Jackson to
where he's got happy feet and he's got to move
around the pocket, but never really break the pocket. And
that's really really difficult to do with such an athletic quarterback,
and a lot of people do it. So that means
more of a controlled rush on the outside. It's like, hey,
guys on the inside, you go eat, you do what
(25:38):
you guys need to do. You guys fluster him, get
him to feel that pressure inside to where he's got
to pull the ball down. He's got to pull his
eyes down just slightly, make him shift his feet around,
see if he can try to escape. But it becomes
more of a speed to power on the outside to
where you're engaging those tackles, pushing them back, but then
(25:59):
ultimately keeping in arms like distance, being able to disengage,
can't get swallowed up, can't get grabbed, can't get pulled
into those big guys, And you want to stay in
arm length away and be more controlled. And it might
look like we're not doing our job and getting to
the quarterback and getting quarterback hits, but it's more about
making him panic inside the pocket. And again that's difficult
(26:22):
to do on the front end at the front of
our defense, and then obviously in the back end. Anything
that we can do to disguise them, disguised coverages, give
them a secondary looks, all of that stuff, that'll be huge.
Yeahn memory Lane we go.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Ben Leber played Mike Vick twice two thousand and four
with the Chargers twenty ten on that Tuesday and pilling
when Ben wore purple and gold. So let's start here.
Who's better and why? Vic or Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Man.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Well, unfortunately I've never played against Lamar. You have three
tackles in each games, by the way, they were all solo,
and four of the six run BA they didn't have
me getting pancake by Algie Crumpler.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
That's good that happen. Yeah, it happened. Instead of a
bitch like put his hands on me and like me Algae,
Crumpler was a dog. He was a dog man, was
a big man. It was a different Yeah, you want
to talk about like you want to talk about Mount
Washington that they have they have in Pittsburgh right now,
like they were building tight ends like that when I
(27:30):
was playing.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yes, anyway, you had at least three solo tackles on
Mike Vick. It might have been two, which means that
somehow you're like an open field with Vic and you
got him.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
I don't know what. Honestly, it might have been zero,
but never Yeah, two sounds like better than zero. Copyright
noon to three. Okay, So let me just say that
I think Lamar Jackson is better than Michael Vick. And
I will say it because the era that I played in,
our defenses were not built to be in space as much.
(28:02):
Our defensive players were bigger, we were more downhill. It
was a little bit sixty to forty more run to pass.
It seemed like we were there to stop the run.
And when you had a mobile quarterback like Michael Vick,
that was just electric with a you know, a canon
of an arm right that could do a lot of things.
He was playing in an era that he was like generationally,
(28:23):
I think in the wrong situation. He was in the
wrong era to play what he the style of the
stylistic So I think he was made to look even
better because he was playing against body types in a
game that wasn't really suit to stop people like that.
He was the outlier. Lamar is doing it in an
era where football is built like that. You see lots
(28:45):
of multiple dual threat quarterbacks. A lot of these a
lot of these young players in college are playing dual
threat quarterbacks. They understand what read option looks like. They understand,
you know what a quarterback that can break the pocket
and move around and be athletic and do all that
other stuff. They're built for that. So the fact that
he's having success against defenses that are tailor made to
(29:08):
stop guys like him and got in offenses like him,
I think it's even more impressive what he's doing now. Lastly,
in the silence, you hear is lambeau Field. Who do
you like in that Billy Green Bay game? I like
Philly Mine. I think Philly's getting their swagger back, and
you saw it against us. And I think that they're
(29:29):
probably getting a little healthier on the offensive line as well,
which is helping us well. And they are more even
when they're quote unquote down, they're more consistent in what
their operation is versus what I think Green Bay has
been doing. It's got to be maddening, I think right
now to be a Green Bay Packer fan, because you
(29:50):
don't know what you got in your football team. You know,
they show up when they want to show up and
play well. Then all of a sudden, you know, you
lay an egg like you did against Carolina, and it's like,
what are you guys doing? Who are you? You know,
they haven't been able to hit the deep ball very successfully.
They've got injuries now that are going to mount up
and I think really impact this offense. I mean, Tucker
(30:11):
Craft is one of the best offensive weapons in the league,
let alone just on their football team. And so you know,
I have a ton of respect for that guy, and
I it sucks that he's going through is going through,
but it's gonna be really hard to replace that guy.
And they haven't found a consistent deep threat again, Like
I was saying, and you've you've lost your short to
(30:33):
intermediate player and you're a playmaker and you're tight end
as well. So I'm gonna go with the Eagles on
this one, not.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
You man, Ben Leber at Nacho liber via Twitter TV
Today three to four thirty, Channel five. It's Twin Cities Live,
a show that is fresh, clever, authentic, next level and intelligent.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Have a good time today, Yeah, love it. I can't
wait to call a game with you this weekend and
have a great day back after the.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Welcome back at his news de Noord brought to you
by the casino at Canterbury Park Canterbury Park dot Com
down in shock Ape, by the way, they're building that
place out like Badger Hill. They got these cool restaurants
down there. I mean, just hang out down at Canterbury.
They got so many cool things around it. But inside
Boardwalk exactly, you're feeling the felt indoors at Canterbury and
(31:38):
it's poker, blackjack and table games. You're also because let
me check my okay, it is indeed Thursday. Let's get
after this pro this NFL Pro Pick Them challenge at Canterbury.
All you do roll in there, you can do it today.
You got a big Broncos opinion, get in before kickoff
and throw that one on the list. You pick the
winners of the NFL weekend of games, and then there
(31:58):
are weekly winners, a little walking around money, and then
at the end of the year, somebody's going to win
free fuel for a year courtesy of Quick Trip. So
thank you Quick Trip, Thank you Canterbury. I want to
start here. The Minnesota Timberwolves lose last night at Madison
Square Garden one thirty seven to just one fourteen. The
good news is is you needed Aunt back on the
(32:20):
court and you got him. He played twenty nine minutes.
In terms of his impact on the game, fifteen points,
five to thirteen, didn't really get to the line very much,
and just kind of we want to see how that
hammy responds, and we did. Julius Randall continued his scoring.
Terry led the Howl with thirty two. But it was Kat,
it was og Nanobi. I mean, Jalen Brunson is terrific
(32:44):
right now. Twenty three, ten dimes and seven boards. He
was all over the place. And the team, as you
noted earlier, PA, they allowed eighty three points in the
second half to roll away victorious. The Wolves are four
and four, come back to comfy. I believe it's either
Friday or Saturday. I believe it's tomorrow night.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Jazz in town.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Jazz going to be without Walker Kessler, who is now
done for the season because I believe shoulder surgery. So
the Jazz should be a winnable game for the Howl.
Ant should look better in this next one than he
did last night as he finds his way back onto
the court. But four and four the Howl middling kind
of stinks. But we need the next one. Let's go
five and four against the Jazz.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
The physical nature of the New York Knicks tilted this
contest last night. The Timberwolves giving up eighty three second
half points is obviously not preferred, but losing by nineteen
in the rebounds and Mitchell Robinson kind of a part
time befeeding veterans center. He had nine offensive rebounds that
(33:48):
tied the amount of leading rebounds for Rudy Gobert for
the Timberwolves, he had nine total. So that right there
indicates that one team was more tenacious, boxed out better,
and wanted the basketball off missus more than the other. Team,
So your foreign form and you move on to take
on take on the Utah Jazz tomorrow night at Target Center.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Some sad news.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I'm going to play a highlight from Monday night's game
Dallas and the Cardinals, the defensive touchdowns. We're going to
take one play for the Cowboys to snap out of
this and get back in it.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Toun his block, it.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Is picked up in the fifth game and loosen the
end zone and my son Neeland, who will cover it
for a touchdown?
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Well, you asked for one play. There was crazy news.
I saw pop on X.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
That was Marshawn Neeland, defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys.
He scored that touchdown as part of Monday Nights, I
leave the loss for the Cowboys. If you are a
Cowboys fan, Marshawn Neeland has passed away. According to the team,
just twenty four years old. He was I think let
me see here. He was a second round pick Western
(34:57):
Michigan out of twenty twenty four, number fifty six overall,
played in eleven games his rookie season, had played in
seven and started three this year. Also had a sack,
but just kind of the real world implication of it
just twenty four years old and has passed away. I
don't have any information in terms of exactly what happened.
(35:18):
Let me find the team statement here. It's extreme sadness.
Dallas Cowboys share that Marshaw Kneelan tragically passed away this morning.
Marshan was a beloved teammate and member of our organization.
Our thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn or with his girlfriend
Catalina and his family. His agent has also made a
statement you can find on social.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Media as well. But this does not seem like it
was a known or that.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
This sounds very sudden and sounds very tragic. So the
NFL multiple teams have come out and posted their statements
of prayer and support as well. But sad news in
the NFL. This twenty four year old kid, he's just
a kid, has passed away.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
May God rest his soul. That indeed is very sad.
Also weird news.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Miami Heat coach Eric Spolstra his house was heavily damaged
Thursday morning by a massive fire. There were no immediate
reports of injuries. This courtesy of ESPN dot Com. Miami
Dade County fire officials said the blaze was called in
around four thirty six am. Spolster in the heat. They
played in Denver Wednesday night. Their charter flight did not
(36:22):
land until after five. I mean, going on a road
trip and coming home and your house burned down. Just
tough news there. So they more than twenty units had
to respond to the fire, fighting it both on the
ground and in the air. So the yeah, we got
sad tragic news of death. We got houses on fire.
We got the Minnesota Wild tonight, Pa, we got the
(36:44):
Minnesota Wild doing their thing in Carolina. Puck drop on
the East Coast is gonna be six pm Central time,
Minnesota Wild ending their home stand with a couple of victories,
hoping they can find two more points tonight at the.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Cane Yeah, I'm looking forward to this one tonight because
the after having coach John Hines on yesterday HEINZ nine
to noon. When right at the end when I asked
him about the differences between Bruno's Nashville bit compared to
the Canes, Yeah, I mean just hed. He talked for
like two minutes straight about their speed and just about
(37:20):
the way they do things that are different than the
way Nashville does them. Zukrello I believe is on this trip.
It's it's yesterday. I caught when that he was, didn't
check it today, but I think zu Corelo's on the trip,
and I wouldn't be surprised if he played in one
of these next two, specifically giving it a back to back,
(37:41):
and they may want to cut some minutes with some
of the forwards, some of the Wild Wingers when they
go to the island to play the New York Islanders tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
So Zuki on the horizon, that's nothing but good news.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
But these Canes are good, man, These Canes are a
fun team to watch, very very good.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
And that's news.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Denord brought to you by the casino, the very best casino.
It's Canterbury Park and it's down in Shockapee. We are
going to take you to charch around the corner. It's
the Fantasy Football Feast portion of the equation for nine
to noon on a Thursday. A longtime friend and devoted
fantasy mind, Paul Charchion joins next. After that the box
(38:23):
of all boxes ever the Box. Then we start previewing
the Feast of Buffalo wild Wings up river tomorrow. That's
the destination for the Friday Football feest, so hopefully we
see a lot of you there. You're listening to nine
to noon to FM one hundred point three kfa N
To noon, very happy at this time each and every
week to be joined by Ben Lieber, former Minnesota Vikings
linebacker at Nacho liber Is where you find him VX
and you can watch him on the television each and
every weekday. It is Twin Cities Live three to four
thirty on Channel five, Twin Cities Live. If you have
(00:21):
not seen the weekday bit on Channel five, TCL is
fresh and clever and authentic and next level.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Welcome Ben. Well, it's funny because the other day I
was obviously just joking and having fun. I also said
our show is silly and stupid, which you.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Know, you say that about The Power Trip, nobody thinks
twice say it about a big time TV show.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And yeah, well, I mean I think everybody understands. I mean,
even it's like she's like stupid. I'm like, you know,
I say, in a very endearing way, this is a silly,
stupid little program that we just love to entertain people
in education, people and what's going on in the Twin
Cities and abroads.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, wells are tuning in most Twin Cities Live three
to four thirty each and every weekday on Channel five.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's TCL.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, you know we and for those who haven't seen
it of late, just to know that it's fresh and
clever and authentic and next level and offers very very
intelligent repartee. Let's play a game to start. Okay, the
game is called how bad is it If? How bad
(01:33):
is it if? And we'll start here. Okay, how bad
is it? If Aaron Jones doesn't play against the Baltimore
Ravens na cheeto, it's not great?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, I would prefer that he plays. We saw it,
We saw it all. We all saw it. The way
that he ran the football, the way that he was
doing a knife through that line's defense, and he gives
us a different element. And as much as I love
Jordan Mason for what he is, I think we're seeing
that there is a thunder and enlightening to this running
(02:11):
back room. And we kind of forgotten that when he
was out with this hamstring injury, and then we saw
it again and we're like, see, that's that's what our
run game is supposed to look like. That right there
is what it's supposed to look like. And that's how
our play action plays a big part in all of this.
Pass protection though, pass protection is another huge thing the
guy's tough as nails. He's a little mighty mouse out
there when he comes to pass protection. So yes, I
(02:34):
think how bad is it if? I think it's pretty
bad if he doesn't play.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Before I make this proclamation about the Ravens defense, I'm
hoping you know more about number forty for them. He
is a cal rookie taken in the fourth round. His
name's Teddy Buchanan, but it's ted dye. I think it's
Teddy Teddy Buchanan. Here's the reason I ask, Well, he's
their leading tackler. Who knew something called Teddy Buchanan leads
(02:58):
them in tackles. Here's the acclamation. While you got some
big names over there, like veteran John Jenkins, Kyle Vanoy,
Kyle Hamilton, Rokwan Smith, so on, Marlon Humphrey, so on
and so on, it's it's a big, physical, lumbering defense.
(03:19):
It ain't that fast. Kyle Hamilton's good, he ain't that fast.
I don't know anything about Teddy Buchanan. I'm hoping he's
not that fast. Because here's the point. How bad is
it if Aaron Jones doesn't play well? I mean it's
negative because he's really good. But he's also really fast.
And the more speed you can put against these big, old,
lumbering beef eaters, the better chance I think you have
(03:41):
to win.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
You know what I mean. You know, I'm so glad,
you know, when somebody like you, Eddy Buchanan, when somebody
like you sort of corroborates what I'm thinking as I'm
doing my research, it makes me feel really good about
sort of my my take on the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
That well, that's very kind of you, but you played
the games and we steal takes from you, not vice versa.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Listen, you've seen a lot of football. You've seen lots
of different varieties of football. I tend to agree. I mean,
this defense, although it's become they're bowing up the last
couple of weeks, especially in the run game, playing much better,
little schematic change with your guy number fourteen, Kyla Hamilton
in the way that they use him. But overall, when
(04:23):
I turned the film on, I'm like, boy, they seem slow.
They seem like they are not the quick twitch, violent
play with the sense of urgency and hair on fire
defense that I think that we have always kind of
associated with the Ravens. Maybe that's partly why they're thinking
(04:44):
about bringing ray Lewis back in a conciliatory role on
defense and on the team. They kind of bring in
this juice in this a different mentality. I think that
is that's definitely what is missing. The mentality doesn't seem
to be there unless.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Teddy Buchanan's a four to two guy we've never heard
and all of a sudden, the whole.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Game has changed. Yeah, the the and and maybe Draymont
Jones makes a difference. Maybe he's the missing link to
all this. They make, they make the trade before the
trade deadline. They bring in a pass rusher, which they need.
They get a little fresher, a little quicker. But I
don't know, man. I mean, I think having obviously having
(05:24):
an Aaron Jones type guy in the backfield would really
knife through this defense like we did against the Lions.
But I agree with you, and it feels good, feels
good to be validated in that way that you kind
of see their defense the same way I do.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
No team ever wants to trail in a football game.
But how bad would it be ben if the Vikings
are put in a spot where they spend most of
the game chasing Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and that Ravens offense.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
That would be less than ideal, not a good situation
to be in. We we handled the first wave of
the Lions on that first drive. We we didn't back down.
We came right back and then from there on out
it seemed like we took control. It's gonna take that
sort of concerted effort in this game to come out victorious.
(06:15):
And as you guys probably already mentioned, they are completely
healthy football team. There's not one person on the on
the injury report, which is so rare. I've never seen that. Yeah,
I especially yesterday, this time of the year, this time
of year, and I get that they're they're coming off
a middle mini bye week as well, playing on the
Thursday night game against the Dolphins. But man, to have
(06:36):
a completely healthy team and all that stuff. We know
that Henry's gonna be hard to stop. You can do it.
He's not like none of these none of these guys
are superman. You know, they're not immortal. We've definitely seen them.
Take comfort in the fact that lots of teams have
bottled up their running back. It's just that if Henry
(06:57):
gets going. We saw the first game of the season
when when he gets going and gets loose and he
and they jump on you and they'll they take your soul,
then it's a long day, Lamar. We've seen it. We've
eve been playing against them at at Baltimore now early
in his career, but we've seen him be put on
games where he's inaccurate, he's flustered, he sees ghosts, he's
(07:18):
unsure about what coverage these he puts. You know, he's
inaccurate with his throws this year, he's on one. He's
extremely efficient, he's doing a great job taking care of
the football, all of that stuff. But it's not like
this guy's immortal. If we can get apply pressure, bottle
him up, make him second guess some things, disguise some
coverages like we did such a good job of last week,
(07:40):
we can get to him. So, yes, they are formidable,
and yes you don't want to be behind the chains,
and yes you want to play with the lead, all
that stuff being said, but if it doesn't happen, it
doesn't mean it's the end of the world. So I
guess ideally, ideally we wouldn't be controlling this game. But
I don't think that these guys are like the most
(08:02):
complete team in the league, and we could be so
fearful of.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Them, Bett Lieber, how bad is it if the Ravens
run for one fifty and one? Would you take that
right now? One fifty and one rushing touchdown?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
No? No, that seems no. I think I think that
seems at that seems like a lot, you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Know, but it's only it's only one rushing touchdown. So
here's the rub. Ah, here's the rub. That means they're
becoming more reliant on Lamar throwing touchdowns than running into
three or four.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah, but that don't just consider that. Yeah, but that
also means to me, that's a boxbox box nor do
it your turn? Yeah, I knew when I wrote it,
I didn't like it. Boxbox box. That means one of
their boy I know, I know, I know.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Patrick Ricarda's thirty five and wo okay, what's next?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Well, I just asked him if it's better that they
don't play from behind the whole game, So let's let's
try and change. Is I have something too? Fat? I
have something here more season at large, maybe into the future.
How bad is it if Blake Brandell is our starting
center for the rest of the season, and how bad
is it if he was our starting center in twenty
(09:14):
twenty six.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
I saw Ryan Kelly on a side field yesterday right
next to Josh Oliver. They were on the field known
as the Mike Ues Memorial Field.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah, I would love to have Kelly back. I think
he gives us a little bit more of a of
a comfort blanket in that situation. But that's not, as
you know, totally a slight on the the huge strides
that Brandell has has shown us. Yep, I'm mad at
the fact that if he is our starting center for
(09:44):
this year, and really, honestly, if he keeps improving the
way that he does and he starts getting more and
more comfortable with that position, I ain't mad if he's
our starting center next year. I'm really not like the guy.
What he's been able to do on this team to
be a do everything offensive lineman. Put him anywhere across
the line, he gives you a really solid game, and
(10:07):
if he really settles in that center spot, I'm cool
with it.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Well, this week he'll he will be opposite the likes
of John Jenkins, thirteenth year from Georgia, a former Raider
behind him, you got Rokwan Smith again.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Roquan hits hard, Roquan ain't fast.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yep, you got something called Travis Jones in his fourth
year from Yukon. David Ojabo, fourth year from Michigan, played
with JJ Brent Urban thirteenth year from Virginia. They're just
slow and old, I mean just, I mean curious.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Easy though. I know, but I don't want to give
everybody this soft, this this wee, I know, this false
sense of security because again, it is about it is
about what they've done to turn the page defensive and
and that is something that they're hanging their hat on
that and that's actually what's given that team a lot
of hope in their fan base, a lot of hope
is that, yes, in the last three weeks they've stop
the run. They are not just this like sieve on
(11:03):
a running game where they're just like giving up all
these yards and they don't look slow, and they don't
look like they're out of place, and they don't look
like they don't know what they're doing. The last three
weeks they played really really well against the run. And
it's this, It is a philosophical shift. It is getting
Kyle Hamilton in the box. It is getting Kyle Hamilton
Hamilton into that that Harrison Smith role where he's literally
(11:23):
at the line of scrimmage. He's on the edge of
the line of scrimmage, He's a couple of yards off
the ball, and he's not necessarily be there just to
rotate back. They get Malachi Starks their rookie safety is
that part of getting confidence in him.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Though when you think about the ability to push Hamilton
up into the box and operate that way, that you
got to trust Malachi out.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Back, well, it sounds like it's a little bit of
like they've had to force their hand into finding answers.
And so I think if they started the year with
Kyle Moore on that hybrid role safety in the box player,
they would have stuck with it. But I think it's
happened in the conjunction with the fact that they haven't
(12:02):
stopped the run very well, they haven't disguised looks very well,
and the development of Malachi being a rookie, it's like
it's taken him some time to kind of get comfortable
with his role, and so I think it all has
happened around the same time. And because Kyle's been asked
to do a lot of different things since he was
brought in. They're like, well, he's versatile enough, maybe we
can just like move him down the box and was
to almost a permanent Joshuma Tellus sort of role versus
(12:26):
a Harrison Smith role. It's working out, and it sounds
like they're very excited about what Starks can do on
the back end as well, to be sort of that
coverage guy and that over the top defender.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And lastly, lastly for the baby game, Ben Lieber, how
bad would it be for Vikings fans if Sam Darnold
leads the Seahawks to the NFC title game?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Listen, well liber style Listen, Vikings fans, you got to
put that one to bed, you know, you you just
do the thing is like you we were the plan
was to always have McCarthy, you know, a McCarthy type
(13:15):
player take over this team. You know, we for so long,
ever since Koc got this job, it just seemed like, look,
we love Kirk Cousins, but wouldn't it be nice to
get out from underneath this guaranteed contract, have a little
bit more flexibility, develop an actual quarterback that you know,
(13:35):
we can get on the cheap for a couple of
years before you really have to pay him and sort
of build this team from the ground up foundationally with
some really good young players. That's that. That to me,
has been the whole idea. And and I don't think,
you know, going away from that and having Sam Darnold
and paying him, you know, a huge second contract would
(13:56):
have been necessarily the right move. So oh, let's just
I know it's difficult. I get it. I know it's
difficult because I feel like we all feel like we
turn this guy into what he is now and now
look at him and what he's doing with Seattle Boy.
That could be us. Yeah, it could be, but that's
(14:20):
that's not part of the plan.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Whoop them not your style, liber bade the music, fire
up the elite football mind then Libert Notcho LIBERVX. Our
segments are provided by Children's Cancer Research Fund.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah everybody knows talked about him quite a bit on
this show that they're a local cancer research charity not
only just to help the kids, but also to help
the families and they would love love your support, So
you can find them at Cure dot Children's cancer dot org. Listen,
you can do a dollar. You know you can do
a monthly payment of a dollar. It can be five dollars,
(14:57):
it can be ten dollars, twenty five dollars, one hundred dollars.
They would they would take anything in that you can
to help out these kids in these families.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
So thank you, Ben leberm with the something that came
up a few days ago nine to noon I think
it was Tuesday, a couple of days ago. Excited to
talk to you about it. Sources tell me that you
opined on it this morning. Sadly I missed him. Little
baby Khalif Raymon, where's number eleven? Goes in motion to
the right of the formation, smacks the gik is on fire.
When the gank is on fire, did not see him
(15:26):
coming now Andrew was firing off for what looked to
be some form of a pass rush. Khalif gets him
middle of his upper body, knocks him out, neck snaps,
neck hits ground and yesterday on the side of Vikings
practice that actually was was kind of a juicy talker
between several of us, and my initial take was because
(15:48):
I don't know the letter of the proverbial law when
it comes to hitting players, blind siding you know, when
they don't know what's coming. So that's that's that's FIJA
fairness and host act. I do not know how the
rule is written. What I do know is every coach
in the National Football League and throughout the annals of
time pushes the envelope when players are coming back from injury,
(16:11):
specifically very important players like Andrew van Ginkel. When I
saw that play, and I saw Monday night shared it
with a Nordo on Tuesday on the radio, which subsequently
means sharing it with the audience. My initial thought was, Hmmm,
we got an envelope pusher here. Dan Campbell just wants
to make sure one of your better players is all
(16:34):
squared away after missing a month plus with injury. And
I felt it was a legal hit. Now the gink
is on fire thought it was a dirty hit. Mattellis
and some others on defense thought it was a dirty hit.
What did you think about that? I thought it was
a dirty hit too.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Why so, the way that I understand, I'm trying to
understand this rule, because it really hasn't come up lately.
The whole heinz War idea of crackbacking on defenseless players
in a blind side manner where now the force of
impact was on the front part of Gank's body, so
(17:11):
it's not like he got hit in the back sor
like Brian Branch got hit in the back by Smith Schuster,
which was another dirty hit, and I understand why he
was pissed off about that as well. If I if
I can interpret the rule, and please out there correct
me if I'm wrong that if you're lined if you're
lined up in a reduced or compressed formation, and you're
(17:32):
deemed in the box, you're allowed to hit that guy
in a legal manner, just like he hit him front part,
even if he's looking at you or not. I got you.
He can hit you in the front and he can
block you. Now if you motion into Yeah, if you
start outside of said box, belief was outside the numbers
when he started. Correct, if you are outside of said box,
(17:52):
either a motion or post snap, come into the box
and hit a player in the box in that manner.
I thought that that was the rule that they got
rid of. That was the Heinz Ward rule that they
got rid of. That's an illegal crackback block on a
defenseless player when it looks like that's what it looked
like in the game and they don't call it. It's
(18:12):
an egregious miss because it's not like he just got
hit and he just kind of wobbled. He got decleted.
So how does a referee not see this player fly
through the air? Fortunately for us, they throw a screen
pass right at his feet and he makes the tackle.
But how do you how do you miss that? How
do you miss that call? That wasn't as egregious of
an illegal block in front of the officials because he's
(18:37):
outside of the outside of the box. So does Gink
and Mattelus and the rest of the defensive players and
staff have a right to feel like that that was
a dirty hit? Got it?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Now?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Do I think that? Well?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Gank's neck went to snap in twice, so I looked
at it, like Campbell's like, and that's without knowing that, Okay,
Campbell's like, neck hint. Yeah, See, that's I want to
I want to make we just want to make sure
you're all squared away.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
It happens all the time. See, that's the thing that
that's where I I'm not gonna go there with that
because I have a lot of respect for Dan Campbell
and I he's a former player that I think ultimately
doesn't want to play a dirty game. I don't think
that that was intentionally dirty. Maybe it was a misformation
by Raymond. Maybe he was supposed to be lined up
(19:28):
in the box and a little bit and so he
was within the rules. Whether that was intentional to gink
and test his neck, I don't necessarily think so. I
think he just happened to be the edge guy on
that particular It could have been Gernard. It could have
been Gernard on that side. You know, they do flop
those guys around a little bit. So I'd like to
think that that was not an intentional play to try
(19:51):
to test one of our injured, injured players. It was
just one of those egregious penalties that got missed. Well,
this is the NFL, not the NHL.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
However, in the NHL, which may become the NFL, in
this situation, does that mean you just remember it, you
mark it down, shove it off to the side. Lions
are here. Whenever the Lions are here and you catch
Khalif Raymond, Yes, and it does. I think some players
like that. They talk about that and stuff like, oh okay, dog,
(20:19):
I got you Next time, yes, absolutely. Guys will say,
you know, I got you so and so number like
you'll go back to your your guys. And you know,
I wouldn't say it's an intentional like hit. You know,
it's not like they put a marker on this guy.
But I think if you have the opportunity, let's just
say it picks. You know, interception, situation, belief is on
(20:42):
Cleif's backside. He's not looking. Wow, take your shot, bro,
take your shot. Ben Leber at natcha Labor. Wow, that
was violent, just the way you said it has scared
me all right around the corner. Some McCarthy conversation and
also proper routes to corralling a quarterback who run like
Lamar Jackson. And there are two pieces of reference that
(21:04):
are going to hit Ben hard and I can't wait
to hear what he has to say.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
But first, the fan along with two men in a
junk truck, want to give you a shot at some
bonus bucks with the National Cash Contest. This hour's keyword
is money. Use the keyword money at kfan dot com.
You might win with the keyword money at kfan dot
Welcome back nine to Noon, Ben Lieber and Studio and
you heard that audio there, Ben from JJ McCarthy. What
(21:30):
do you think building confidence off the w you heard it,
it's onto the next one full week of practice and
rhythm for him. But game two of JJ Take two
against the Ravens this weekend. What excites you about it?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Well, let me just go back and talk about the
mindset that he's talking about, because you know, I'd never
really heard consistency and motivation and focus sort of presented
in this way until I got to the NFL and
I was being coached by Already Schoenheimer, and I just
I just loved all of a lot of his speeches,
(22:04):
and he's very very articulate in his thoughts, and he
was always trying to motivate us in just different ways.
And you know, we're all kind of built to talk
about you're only as good as the game that you
just played, right, and that that was like always sort
of beat into you, like, listen, you can't rely on
anything else than the product that you just put out.
(22:26):
But he changed that mindset for me because he would
talk about you're only as good as your next game,
and you're only as good as your next play, And
so I know it sounds silly because you're just kind
of shifting the verbiage around a little bit, right, But
when you think about what that means, it's like, yeah,
(22:47):
you're right, turning the page, flushing it, doing all this
other stuff. It's like it's easier to do all of
that when you think about it in this context of like,
I have to prove myself each and every opportunity, not
the opportunity I just had, but the one that's coming up.
And so I think for all of these guys, and
(23:08):
you know they have the right mindset, yeah, you cannot
rest on your laurels. You can't look back and say like, yeah,
I feel I'm feeling myself right now because we played
really well. I made some really great throws, I had
the right approach, I checked out as certain things did
I played the game that were supposed to be played.
That's great, But you know what, after twenty four hours
after you get to like revel in that you're only
(23:29):
as good as your next game, and you really, honestly,
the way you really statistically when I approach is like
you're only as good as your next practice. And if
you take that mindset, that's what keeps you hungry that's
what keeps you motivated. It can be terribly exhausting and
it plays a lot of mental tricks on you. But
you want to develop a mental toughness and this drive.
(23:51):
You take that approach it like I'm only as good
as my next practice, and then I'm always good as
my next rep. And that'll keep you going. Man. And
then all of a sudden you've developed this, uh, this
edge where you're going into every game just hungry to
prove yourself over and over again.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
What are some ways you think Flores may come bat
Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Well on paper, on paper when it comes to rush lanes,
you know, I think the one thing that that they'll
try to do is a lot of the same stuff
that you saw against against Jared Goff. They they really
want to test these the guard center guard combination that
those those three guys, that that little battery has not
(24:34):
been great. It's the weakness of their offensive line and
they have not been happy about it. They were hoping,
they were hoping to pick up Kevin Zeitdler in the
before the trade deadline. Faw Lelly has not played very well.
He's been inconsistent. So I think that you have to
expose those guys anyway that you can, whether it's you know,
(24:55):
our twist game. Our twist game was awesome last week.
Our guys moving around, which I think is a large
reason why Hargrave have had such a good game. It's
like we really kept those guys mobile and moving and
attacking the gap and tacking half a body and all
this other stuff. I think we still have to do
that in this game, but the difference is we need
(25:17):
to somehow funnel again on paper, funnel Lamar Jackson to
where he's got happy feet and he's got to move
around the pocket, but never really break the pocket. And
that's really really difficult to do with such an athletic quarterback,
and a lot of people do it. So that means
more of a controlled rush on the outside. It's like, hey,
guys on the inside, you go eat, you do what
(25:38):
you guys need to do. You guys fluster him, get
him to feel that pressure inside to where he's got
to pull the ball down. He's got to pull his
eyes down just slightly, make him shift his feet around,
see if he can try to escape. But it becomes
more of a speed to power on the outside to
where you're engaging those tackles, pushing them back, but then
(25:59):
ultimately keeping in arms like distance, being able to disengage,
can't get swallowed up, can't get grabbed, can't get pulled
into those big guys, And you want to stay in
arm length away and be more controlled. And it might
look like we're not doing our job and getting to
the quarterback and getting quarterback hits, but it's more about
making him panic inside the pocket. And again that's difficult
(26:22):
to do on the front end at the front of
our defense, and then obviously in the back end. Anything
that we can do to disguise them, disguised coverages, give
them a secondary looks, all of that stuff, that'll be huge.
Yeahn memory Lane we go.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Ben Leber played Mike Vick twice two thousand and four
with the Chargers twenty ten on that Tuesday and pilling
when Ben wore purple and gold. So let's start here.
Who's better and why? Vic or Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Man.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Well, unfortunately I've never played against Lamar. You have three
tackles in each games, by the way, they were all solo,
and four of the six run BA they didn't have
me getting pancake by Algie Crumpler.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
That's good that happen. Yeah, it happened. Instead of a
bitch like put his hands on me and like me Algae,
Crumpler was a dog. He was a dog man, was
a big man. It was a different Yeah, you want
to talk about like you want to talk about Mount
Washington that they have they have in Pittsburgh right now,
like they were building tight ends like that when I
(27:30):
was playing.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yes, anyway, you had at least three solo tackles on
Mike Vick. It might have been two, which means that
somehow you're like an open field with Vic and you
got him.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
I don't know what. Honestly, it might have been zero,
but never Yeah, two sounds like better than zero. Copyright
noon to three. Okay, So let me just say that
I think Lamar Jackson is better than Michael Vick. And
I will say it because the era that I played in,
our defenses were not built to be in space as much.
(28:02):
Our defensive players were bigger, we were more downhill. It
was a little bit sixty to forty more run to pass.
It seemed like we were there to stop the run.
And when you had a mobile quarterback like Michael Vick,
that was just electric with a you know, a canon
of an arm right that could do a lot of things.
He was playing in an era that he was like generationally,
(28:23):
I think in the wrong situation. He was in the
wrong era to play what he the style of the
stylistic So I think he was made to look even
better because he was playing against body types in a
game that wasn't really suit to stop people like that.
He was the outlier. Lamar is doing it in an
era where football is built like that. You see lots
(28:45):
of multiple dual threat quarterbacks. A lot of these a
lot of these young players in college are playing dual
threat quarterbacks. They understand what read option looks like. They understand,
you know what a quarterback that can break the pocket
and move around and be athletic and do all that
other stuff. They're built for that. So the fact that
he's having success against defenses that are tailor made to
(29:08):
stop guys like him and got in offenses like him,
I think it's even more impressive what he's doing now. Lastly,
in the silence, you hear is lambeau Field. Who do
you like in that Billy Green Bay game? I like
Philly Mine. I think Philly's getting their swagger back, and
you saw it against us. And I think that they're
(29:29):
probably getting a little healthier on the offensive line as well,
which is helping us well. And they are more even
when they're quote unquote down, they're more consistent in what
their operation is versus what I think Green Bay has
been doing. It's got to be maddening, I think right
now to be a Green Bay Packer fan, because you
(29:50):
don't know what you got in your football team. You know,
they show up when they want to show up and
play well. Then all of a sudden, you know, you
lay an egg like you did against Carolina, and it's like,
what are you guys doing? Who are you? You know,
they haven't been able to hit the deep ball very successfully.
They've got injuries now that are going to mount up
and I think really impact this offense. I mean, Tucker
(30:11):
Craft is one of the best offensive weapons in the league,
let alone just on their football team. And so you know,
I have a ton of respect for that guy, and
I it sucks that he's going through is going through,
but it's gonna be really hard to replace that guy.
And they haven't found a consistent deep threat again, Like
I was saying, and you've you've lost your short to
(30:33):
intermediate player and you're a playmaker and you're tight end
as well. So I'm gonna go with the Eagles on
this one, not.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
You man, Ben Leber at Nacho liber via Twitter TV
Today three to four thirty, Channel five. It's Twin Cities Live,
a show that is fresh, clever, authentic, next level and intelligent.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Have a good time today, Yeah, love it. I can't
wait to call a game with you this weekend and
have a great day back after the.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Welcome back at his news de Noord brought to you
by the casino at Canterbury Park Canterbury Park dot Com
down in shock Ape, by the way, they're building that
place out like Badger Hill. They got these cool restaurants
down there. I mean, just hang out down at Canterbury.
They got so many cool things around it. But inside
Boardwalk exactly, you're feeling the felt indoors at Canterbury and
(31:38):
it's poker, blackjack and table games. You're also because let
me check my okay, it is indeed Thursday. Let's get
after this pro this NFL Pro Pick Them challenge at Canterbury.
All you do roll in there, you can do it today.
You got a big Broncos opinion, get in before kickoff
and throw that one on the list. You pick the
winners of the NFL weekend of games, and then there
(31:58):
are weekly winners, a little walking around money, and then
at the end of the year, somebody's going to win
free fuel for a year courtesy of Quick Trip. So
thank you Quick Trip, Thank you Canterbury. I want to
start here. The Minnesota Timberwolves lose last night at Madison
Square Garden one thirty seven to just one fourteen. The
good news is is you needed Aunt back on the
(32:20):
court and you got him. He played twenty nine minutes.
In terms of his impact on the game, fifteen points,
five to thirteen, didn't really get to the line very much,
and just kind of we want to see how that
hammy responds, and we did. Julius Randall continued his scoring.
Terry led the Howl with thirty two. But it was Kat,
it was og Nanobi. I mean, Jalen Brunson is terrific
(32:44):
right now. Twenty three, ten dimes and seven boards. He
was all over the place. And the team, as you
noted earlier, PA, they allowed eighty three points in the
second half to roll away victorious. The Wolves are four
and four, come back to comfy. I believe it's either
Friday or Saturday. I believe it's tomorrow night.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Jazz in town.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Jazz going to be without Walker Kessler, who is now
done for the season because I believe shoulder surgery. So
the Jazz should be a winnable game for the Howl.
Ant should look better in this next one than he
did last night as he finds his way back onto
the court. But four and four the Howl middling kind
of stinks. But we need the next one. Let's go
five and four against the Jazz.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
The physical nature of the New York Knicks tilted this
contest last night. The Timberwolves giving up eighty three second
half points is obviously not preferred, but losing by nineteen
in the rebounds and Mitchell Robinson kind of a part
time befeeding veterans center. He had nine offensive rebounds that
(33:48):
tied the amount of leading rebounds for Rudy Gobert for
the Timberwolves, he had nine total. So that right there
indicates that one team was more tenacious, boxed out better,
and wanted the basketball off missus more than the other. Team,
So your foreign form and you move on to take
on take on the Utah Jazz tomorrow night at Target Center.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Some sad news.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I'm going to play a highlight from Monday night's game
Dallas and the Cardinals, the defensive touchdowns. We're going to
take one play for the Cowboys to snap out of
this and get back in it.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Toun his block, it.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Is picked up in the fifth game and loosen the
end zone and my son Neeland, who will cover it
for a touchdown?
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Well, you asked for one play. There was crazy news.
I saw pop on X.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
That was Marshawn Neeland, defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys.
He scored that touchdown as part of Monday Nights, I
leave the loss for the Cowboys. If you are a
Cowboys fan, Marshawn Neeland has passed away. According to the team,
just twenty four years old. He was I think let
me see here. He was a second round pick Western
(34:57):
Michigan out of twenty twenty four, number fifty six overall,
played in eleven games his rookie season, had played in
seven and started three this year. Also had a sack,
but just kind of the real world implication of it
just twenty four years old and has passed away. I
don't have any information in terms of exactly what happened.
(35:18):
Let me find the team statement here. It's extreme sadness.
Dallas Cowboys share that Marshaw Kneelan tragically passed away this morning.
Marshan was a beloved teammate and member of our organization.
Our thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn or with his girlfriend
Catalina and his family. His agent has also made a
statement you can find on social.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Media as well. But this does not seem like it
was a known or that.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
This sounds very sudden and sounds very tragic. So the
NFL multiple teams have come out and posted their statements
of prayer and support as well. But sad news in
the NFL. This twenty four year old kid, he's just
a kid, has passed away.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
May God rest his soul. That indeed is very sad.
Also weird news.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Miami Heat coach Eric Spolstra his house was heavily damaged
Thursday morning by a massive fire. There were no immediate
reports of injuries. This courtesy of ESPN dot Com. Miami
Dade County fire officials said the blaze was called in
around four thirty six am. Spolster in the heat. They
played in Denver Wednesday night. Their charter flight did not
(36:22):
land until after five. I mean, going on a road
trip and coming home and your house burned down. Just
tough news there. So they more than twenty units had
to respond to the fire, fighting it both on the
ground and in the air. So the yeah, we got
sad tragic news of death. We got houses on fire.
We got the Minnesota Wild tonight, Pa, we got the
(36:44):
Minnesota Wild doing their thing in Carolina. Puck drop on
the East Coast is gonna be six pm Central time,
Minnesota Wild ending their home stand with a couple of victories,
hoping they can find two more points tonight at the.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Cane Yeah, I'm looking forward to this one tonight because
the after having coach John Hines on yesterday HEINZ nine
to noon. When right at the end when I asked
him about the differences between Bruno's Nashville bit compared to
the Canes, Yeah, I mean just hed. He talked for
like two minutes straight about their speed and just about
(37:20):
the way they do things that are different than the
way Nashville does them. Zukrello I believe is on this trip.
It's it's yesterday. I caught when that he was, didn't
check it today, but I think zu Corelo's on the trip,
and I wouldn't be surprised if he played in one
of these next two, specifically giving it a back to back,
(37:41):
and they may want to cut some minutes with some
of the forwards, some of the Wild Wingers when they
go to the island to play the New York Islanders tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
So Zuki on the horizon, that's nothing but good news.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
But these Canes are good, man, These Canes are a
fun team to watch, very very good.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
And that's news.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Denord brought to you by the casino, the very best casino.
It's Canterbury Park and it's down in Shockapee. We are
going to take you to charch around the corner. It's
the Fantasy Football Feast portion of the equation for nine
to noon on a Thursday. A longtime friend and devoted
fantasy mind, Paul Charchion joins next. After that the box
(38:23):
of all boxes ever the Box. Then we start previewing
the Feast of Buffalo wild Wings up river tomorrow. That's
the destination for the Friday Football feest, so hopefully we
see a lot of you there. You're listening to nine
to noon to FM one hundred point three kfa N
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com