September 12, 2025 • 22 mins
Good morning @everyone in Who Dat nation! Today's confessional is getting you ready for Week 2 when the Saints will take on the 49ers! We're focusing on matchups and of course the growing injury report for both teams.
* Mac Jones in at QB for 49ers
* Defeating the Shanahan system
* Key matchups to watch for Saints D
* Injury report update
Also, don't forget to check out https://saintsfootballtalk.com for the latest news and Ellias' written thoughts as the season progresses!
* Mac Jones in at QB for 49ers
* Defeating the Shanahan system
* Key matchups to watch for Saints D
* Injury report update
Also, don't forget to check out https://saintsfootballtalk.com for the latest news and Ellias' written thoughts as the season progresses!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Who that God blessed and welcome to another episode here
of the Hudak Professional Podcast with my man Elias.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I remembered I told you I'd get it. I nailed it.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I am see the podcast already rated ten out of
ten upvoted right now subscribe, like do all the things
that the kids say do on the youtubes because we
don't have TikTok because we're old, but we can still
drop some knowledge on you, like a good unk on
this game coming up San Francisco forty nine ers New
Orleans Saints. I believe the New Orleans Saints should be
(00:50):
favored in this game. But we're gonna talk about matchups.
How are you doing, Elios with two.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
L's blessing man, I'm pleasant, listen. I have faith in you.
I had one hundred percent faith in you that you
would come out and you would say elliots. Never even
doubted you at.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
All, Thank you, not one bit.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah. Best thing to fix the world is public shaming,
and that will help everybody. We're just kidding. People have
some fun, have some levity. It's been rough in the world. Laterly,
you gotta laugh a little bit, smile. Main matchup. Normally
you probably think weren't talk about Spencer route and everything.
I'll be honest the Spencer Ratler discourse. We're gonna let
him put film out on Sunday. I think the real
(01:30):
key for this game. Sure, you need him to perform well,
like don't turn the ball over, all those cliches for
quarterback play.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
But what really interests me about this.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Week is Shanahan, head coach of the San Francisco forty
nine ers. Obviously we've been touting him, we as in
collective NFL Ethos universe of being great play caller. Quarterbacks
can just slide into his system and be successful well,
as we have learned they're going to be without their
starting quarterback. That was reports that were confirmed yesterday, the
(02:00):
injury report. We will talk injury report a little bit
here in a minute, but that means mac Jones is
sliding in. Can mac Jones come in immediately look good
in this system? Can Shanahan work his magic or is
this an opportunity for guys like Demorrio Davis who looked
absolutely phenomenal in week one. You did the defensive film
study for us this week, you really enjoyed his play there?
(02:20):
Can sank or fill in the safety role. Can we
have an elevated performance from red? How does kool a.
Mcentry's look, mckinstrey look. That's the matchup I think that
determines this one. Can the defense stop Shanahan's quarterback plug in?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Well, I'm gonna say that they should. And the reason
I'm gonna say that they should is, unfortunately, we've had
these types of games in the previous regime. Team comes in,
they're hobbled, they have a backup quarterback, or they lose
their starting quarterback mid game, and then they still come
(02:55):
out and they end up beating us. We've had that
happen enough, which is where I think that caution comes from. Right,
here's the flip side. That Fangio Staley or Fangio Staley
defense is designed to beat the Shanahan offense. It's literally
designed to beat it. In other words, the zone run
(03:19):
and they like to run. That's the purpose for clogging
up the gaps, having the zero technique, having the two
to four, the four eyes, it's supposed to clog up
the A and B gaps so they have nowhere to go.
You play a lot of zone on the back end
so they don't have to respond to the play action,
fake and get pulled out out of whack. It's designed
to beat that offense. So for me, they should, as
(03:45):
you said, be favored. They should as long as they
don't go full Dennis Allen, and keep in mind, you
should never go full Dennis Allen. As long as they
don't go full Dennis Allen, they should be able to
beat this offense. And Stanley worked with the forty nine ers,
(04:06):
so he's got some insight there from a year ago.
And that could work both ways because I think he
was almost like a quality control scout for that offense
in his role last year. He wasn't fully on the
defensive side, so I like to think he probably scouted
the offense in some way said hey, I probably would
do these things to attack you such and such. So
he's got some insight into that organization, into that offense
(04:28):
as well, having been there last year. I feel good
about the team as long as they're more aggressive. What
do you think about that?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, I love that you brought up being aggressive because
I think if you're going to take advantage of a
team that is going through injuries, and look, I know
everybody is used to the Saints dominating the injury report,
and obviously we just had a big one with a
starting safety we just brought in that we it was
pretty high on, especially from a veteran presence and athletic presence.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But if there's a team in the.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
NFL that got hit by the injury bug, maybe worse
than any anybody to start this year, it's San Francisco, right,
So here's their injury report. You've got Nick Bosa who's resting,
so don't worry about that DNP. But after that, you
got Grossmatos, one of their defensive ends who especially the
type of injury and knee injury is not even something
that if you could play, that's one of those things
that is a defensive lineman. You're not going to be
(05:18):
one hundred percent if you're dnping on a Wednesday and
a Thursday practice wise, with something like a knee or
a foot injury.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Juwan Jennings is a DMP.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Christian McCaffrey is again resting, but he has continual calf
issues at this point in his career. I'm not saying
he can't be an effective player, but I'm just saying
Christian McCaffrey has gotten a lot of contact and he's
been going through this even back into college. And he's
not Dereck Henry. He's not six three two forty made
to take a million hits. I mean, he's just I
don't know if we'll ever see Derek Christian McCaffrey at
(05:48):
that one hundred percent level. It's something keep an eye on.
Then we see Brock party out DNP or every talking
about Mac and Jones. Mac Jones coming in. Trent Williams
is resting. He still plays at as a great love,
as a high level for his age, but again, he's
an aging veteran.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
A lot of their big names aging veterans.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
There's no Kittle, there's no Iyuk, right, so a lot
of their weapons are either unavailable or weakened in a
weekened state. Now, even Vegas recognized this because everybody right
now likes to talk about the Saints being the worst
team in the NFL. I'm not being hyperbolic. Literally, NFL
dot Com and all these ratings are putting them at
number thirty two, which is really hard for me, Like,
do you really believe the Saints looked worse than the
(06:27):
Browns did in Week one or the Panthers?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I mean, maybe I'm a homer.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Maybe it's black and gold colored glasses, but whatever. But
even Vegas recognized it because this week the odds are
plus three New Orleans, which is technically us them saying
we're going to lose. But you consider just a week
ago it was doubled that right, So coming into this match,
even Vegas is recognizing this is a lot closer than
we would say, because they've also been saying New Orleans
(06:53):
is You know, I actually had another set of odds
that came out that were mailed to me thanks to
my old media connections, says Spin Rattlers, the second most
likely odds based quarterback to be binged, and that came
out after Week one. Right, So, like, clearly a lot
around the league are not high on New Orleans nor high.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
On our quarterback situation.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And yet even with that said, they still look at
the matchup and go, Saints can win this game.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
They can, they should. You know, I listened to Kellen
Moore's reason for not taking the timeouts last week.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Essence, did you like his reason? I'll be honest, like,
I'm not anti Kellen Moore, but.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
In essence, the reason was he was worried about the
other team flipping the field. In other words, he was
being cautious. He was worried that they would not be
able to do what they needed to do and that
it would give the other team, because they also had
three three timeouts, the opportunity to then come back and
(08:01):
move down the field. So, in other words, he was
playing scare right now. If you look at it, which
is fine, I get it, that's your first game as
a head coach, But if you look at how that
entire game played out. I talked about they didn't want
to push the ball down the field, like talking about
you had the timeouts. Ratler spoke about leaving plays on
the field, about not using his legs. They played tentative
(08:25):
last week. Fortune favors the Bold agreed if they played
more aggressive this week, blitz more, attack down the field more,
let Ratler use his legs, be aggressive on four down.
If they do that, if they flip last week's script
on his head, they will have no problems winning this game.
(08:45):
I think that's the entire key to them winning this
game is just Kellen Moore's gotta let the team cut
loose a little bit in all fat sets of the game.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Here's and I love that you bring that up because
I had a layer to this. I do agree one
him being a little bit conservative, a little bit cautious
is fine for a new head coach at the same time,
and many people, you know, they've brought this interpretation out.
It's not more saying this, but there is reason to
also be cautious with a young quarterback who does not
(09:15):
have a full season and has had in the past
turnover issues.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Where is that boundary? Because I agree, I.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Think if you want to win games this year, you've
got to tell Rattler, look, you got to pull the
trigger and if mistakes happen, they happen. But what is
that bounds between aggressive? I say, let's put a number
to it. How many plays. Let's just use shot plays
from the passing game as them, because we've got basically
one shot play that was actually attempted in Week one.
What do you think is the safe number that you
know for you that is going to push that defense
(09:46):
for the forty nine ers, make them respect that that's there,
which I think opens things up for Olave Cooks and
Shaheed anyway. They I mean, those type of quick, shifty
receivers don't need everybody down in ten yards. You need
them push back some what's your mom For me, it's
four to five plays, whether they're successful or not, even
if one of them is an interception, they need to
(10:06):
push the ball. And I think that's my minimum number
going along as well that I think Alpha Kamara needs
to have twenty total touches, fifteen runs, five passes.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
But what about you? Do you agree with that too high?
What do you think? I think there needs to be
a level of aggressiveness.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
No, I was right there in my head thinking at
least one at least one per quarter on the minimum,
so that that amounts to at least four throughout the
entire game. On the high end, I would say at
least six attempts because I mean you, as they say,
you missed one hundred percent of the shots that you
don't take right and when you're gonna ball down to hey,
(10:46):
I think Kellen spoke about it. They didn't get the
shot played. When they did take it right, they had
it incomplete. Well, it's easy to kind of be hard
on it because you only took one shot, so going
zero of one is absolutely terrible. But if you take
three and you do you do one of three, which
is pretty much what the Arizona Cardinals did. They they had,
(11:06):
you know, one successful attempt. Well, that successful attempt led
to them scoring points off of that. So you've got
to take more attempts this game again, even if they're
not going to be completed. You have to threaten. You
have to you have to threaten and say, hey, you're
not just gonna be able to sit back here and
enjoy your day and and and eat everything short. You're
(11:27):
going to have to turn and play the ball deep.
And you tell Spencer you wing it. You tell him
wing it, and we're gonna be okay with the mistakes
because the mistakes will happen. They inevitably will happen. But
he has to have some confidence behind him that it's
okay for him to make a mistake. What was this
his college coach name, Spencer's college coach name?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, which what Riley?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Lincoln Roby Right, This is this is an opportunity for
Kellen Moore to not go all Lincoln Riley, which is
make Rattler feel pressure behind him because of the young
rookie that's back there. Lincoln Riley benched them the year before.
He benched them during that game and I don't know
if it's because Lincoln had the pressure to win, but
(12:13):
it gave the quarterback the sense that, hey, every time
you make a mistake, you need to be looking behind
your shoulder. I think if he takes that weight off
of Ratler a little bit, it'll allow him to play
more freely. And if he can play freely, he'll go
out there and make some plays.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I do want to put out I didn't expect us
to hit Ratler, but I think we it's a good
idea that we are and a couple of analytics I
want to give y'all, so this is not just us
hyping up and keep my one game sample I'm about
to give you. But last year Spencer Rattler. Now again,
this is advanced analytics taken for what they're worth. I've
always said grain of salt on advanced analytics, but advanced
analytics gave him an eighteen point two percent of his
(12:50):
throws were rated as bad throws, as in, wildly inaccurate,
could lead to interceptions, et cetera. Eighteen percent this past
week that was dropped significantly. Now, Grint, it's only a
one game sample compared to a six game sample, but
it was down to eleven percent. The big key why
is he was only pressured on eight percent of his
throws in Week one. This offensive line, while still having problems,
(13:12):
is an improvement from what we've seen last year. That
means for me, I think we need to see a
little bit more of that. Let's push it. Here's why,
even though San Francisco has not been known for giving
up a lot of yards, like most people they think
San Francisco right now, they think of an elite defense
and it has been very good for the past few years.
There's a reason they went to the Super Bowl even
(13:32):
though they lost. But what gets lost is because every
time you rank a defense in the modern age of NFL,
everybody just uses yards. So everybody's been like, well, they've
been a top ten defense for like the past ten years.
But last year the San Francisco forty nine ers were
twenty ninth in the league in giving up points. Big
plays hurt them. They did not consistently just let you
(13:52):
drive down the field, but you could slice them with
a huge chunk play score a touchdown, and that's how
they started having struggle with winning their football games. And yes,
they had injuries last year everything, but twenty ninth in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
That is an exploitable thing. And if you look.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
At this past game, they obviously did not have the
same level explosiveness. They did not give up a lot
of points, but it shows that there is an opportunity
there to take advantage, and I think the aggressiveness is
needed to at least attempt it. I just I think
you diminish your chance of winning if you just try
to drive down the field where everything's at ten play
drive Alva Kamara runs four of those, you throw two
(14:30):
of them to Juwan Johnson, et cetera. You just have
a higher chance of success if you can stress this defense.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Think they gotta cut it loose. I agree, I cannot
see them winning if they go conservative like they did
the last game. And there's a bonus look at it
if they win this game and they win it like
the way they should win it. I think about the
following week versus Seahawks, and they're gonna be playing the
(14:57):
exact same offense. Yes, they will travel, yeah, but Kubiak
runs the exact same offense. So if it's if it's
any consolation, if they can come out of this game
or to win, the confidence that they get facing that
type of team. Yes, they have to travel, but I
think it gives them a leg up basically seeing the
same offense again, probably with I mean, the skill talent
(15:21):
is going to be better, and you're traveling, but it's
the scheme that you have to play right and more
has talked about it, You've hit on it. You have
to study for the scheme, play the scheme first and
then worry about the player a second. And seeing that
scheme twice I think would benefit them.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
One element that I think we would be remiss if
we didn't acknowledge is I brought up week one again.
It's one week, but Week one only eight percent pressure
rate on Spencer Rattler. You've got you got at least
one guy like Nick Bosa coming in right. There's also
gonna be a lot of pressure on Fuaga and Banks
to keep that clean. You've got to protect the edge here,
(15:59):
especially when we've been talking about the injury with Pinning
at left guard. We've obviously got Ruiz having diminished play
from what we've seen him in the past, and even
when he was doing better, he wasn't playing at like
a Pro Bowl all pro level. So that I have
a you know, this is called average guard have a
diminished play, that's concerning. But then you've got this threat
of an interior rush for also somebody who is very
(16:19):
good at stunting inside, you know, making ways and finding
pathways to the quarterback. How worried are you about Fuaga
based off his Week one and positioning to a new
or transition to a new system, And do you believe
that we can maintain that same like eight percent or
less pressure rate, because that's going to give Rattler the
opportunity to be successful.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Well, according to some of the data that I saw,
there was nobody on the forty nine ers defense that
led in pressure rate last week. However, we did face
a team that had two players from Arizona in the
in the pressure rate, as in their outside linebackers gave
us a significant amount of trouble. One of them was
a rookie third rounder. I think Spencer did very well
(17:04):
in the quick game, as in throwing the ball under
two point two to two point three seconds. Probably gonna
have to do that again, and so because he was
so successful at it, I have confidence that he can
be successful at it again. And so he did all
of that despite the right side of the offensive line.
Breaking down last week, I think you have a I
(17:24):
think now that you have a clearer picture of what
that right side looks, you can actually game plan for
it a little better, and so I think they should
be able to handle that this week. Bosa does rush
from that left side a lot more. They set him up,
he'll be Fuaga, will be facing the Michal Williams, the rookie,
and so Bosa. It's gonna be a tough thing for
(17:45):
Banks this week to keep Spencer's blindside. But also after
haying Spencer talk, I do expect him to be a
lot more aggressive with his legs. We heard that. I
think that after the first preseason game he realized he
plays played a little tentative with his legs. He mentioned
it after that game. In the second game, he was
more productive with his legs. I see that same pattern here.
(18:07):
He talked about being less aggressive last week. I expect
him to be more aggressive with his legs and that
should also help the offensive line too.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, I agree. I will throw out some numbers for you.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
These are from SIS, But in terms of pressure rates,
Bosa had two pressures in that game. Again, it's week one,
so like, we don't have a lot to give y'all
in terms of data.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
But data can still be good.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
But just to give you a comparison, well, Carl Granerson
by himself had four in Week one, obviously going agains
different teams, different players, But the New Orleans Saints, according
to SIS, had nine total pressures while obtaining five total sacks.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
That keep in mind that you.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Had a sack from a Pete Warner that was essentially
kind of like a coverage sack or a containment sack. Right,
he wasn't out there blitzing, but I do appreciate him
maintaining containment on that. But nine total pressures but you
only saw three from San Francisco in Week one. I
think that's the key, and I think it really benefits
New Orleans if this is a home game, because there
is one thing about going to sorry now San Francisco
(19:07):
going to Seattle, which we'll talk about next week, with
that being the twelfth man and that being allowed away,
I think having that here, I really do look at
this game and think based on what we know now,
especially with the injury situation with just key stars for
the forty nine ers, and I never wish injuries on anybody,
but they exist. This is a more winnable game than
(19:28):
Arizona was. And people talked about Arizona being the worst
team in the division. I don't know if I really
buy that, but this is more winnable because you also
have Mac Jones, not exactly the move around guy that
Kyler Murray is.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Prediction.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
My prediction is the New Orleans Saints win this game
twenty four to seventeen, which is basically what I said
they would lose last week. I don't think they'll completely
stop Shanahan, but and maybe that's a fault on me.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
I still have too much respect for him.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
But at the same time, he's earned it because if
you look at it as his offense, all the different
players and quarterbacks he's had, that offense has scored points
consistently for the past, you know, decade with him. It
may not be the best team in the NFL, but
they can still hurt you. But I think this is
a winnable game, if not the most winnable game that
we'll see this month, being honest, because after here we
(20:21):
got the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I'm worried about.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I'm knock Goingvin some Seattle but I do believe this
is a very winnable one and I'd love to see
them come out of the way.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
I'm gonna I'm gonna roll with that. I will have
more of a prediction. I'll do an article Saints Football
Talk dot Com later in the process and so, but
for now, I do expect them. This is definitely a
more likely win. Even though last week should have been
a win. It definitely helps that they're down a quarterback,
(20:52):
they're unhealthy, they're traveling. We should win this game. I
just really need them to see them to be more aggressive,
and I think that will be what changes the scope
for this team and what they can be. Just still
a little bit more aggression.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Now, one more point in one throw.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
And why I want aggression because if this team can
build confidence in themselves, Like I'm not saying that they're
down on themselves or anything, but if they can build confidence,
that will go a long way. Because after this month,
which I talked about not being super confident about playing
the Bills or going to Seattle, You've got the Giants
at home, the Patriots at home.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
There are wins to be had here.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
This is not a team that should be going one
in fifteen ladies and gentlemen. And I know there are
people out there saying the Saints are gonna lose every
game of the season.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
I don't believe that. I think we're good. Let's go.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Let's go. Because Clinton Rev trying to get me fired.
I'm like, yo, I'm trying to leave. I got to
go to work, and Rev. I got one more point.
I got one more point. Here's my final point. I
high let y'all later.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Duce Is
Who that God blessed and welcome to another episode here
of the Hudak Professional Podcast with my man Elias.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I remembered I told you I'd get it. I nailed it.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
I am see the podcast already rated ten out of
ten upvoted right now subscribe, like do all the things
that the kids say do on the youtubes because we
don't have TikTok because we're old, but we can still
drop some knowledge on you, like a good unk on
this game coming up San Francisco forty nine ers New
Orleans Saints. I believe the New Orleans Saints should be
(00:50):
favored in this game. But we're gonna talk about matchups.
How are you doing, Elios with two.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
L's blessing man, I'm pleasant, listen. I have faith in you.
I had one hundred percent faith in you that you
would come out and you would say elliots. Never even
doubted you at.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
All, Thank you, not one bit.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah. Best thing to fix the world is public shaming,
and that will help everybody. We're just kidding. People have
some fun, have some levity. It's been rough in the world. Laterly,
you gotta laugh a little bit, smile. Main matchup. Normally
you probably think weren't talk about Spencer route and everything.
I'll be honest the Spencer Ratler discourse. We're gonna let
him put film out on Sunday. I think the real
(01:30):
key for this game. Sure, you need him to perform well,
like don't turn the ball over, all those cliches for
quarterback play.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
But what really interests me about this.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Week is Shanahan, head coach of the San Francisco forty
nine ers. Obviously we've been touting him, we as in
collective NFL Ethos universe of being great play caller. Quarterbacks
can just slide into his system and be successful well,
as we have learned they're going to be without their
starting quarterback. That was reports that were confirmed yesterday, the
(02:00):
injury report. We will talk injury report a little bit
here in a minute, but that means mac Jones is
sliding in. Can mac Jones come in immediately look good
in this system? Can Shanahan work his magic or is
this an opportunity for guys like Demorrio Davis who looked
absolutely phenomenal in week one. You did the defensive film
study for us this week, you really enjoyed his play there?
(02:20):
Can sank or fill in the safety role. Can we
have an elevated performance from red? How does kool a.
Mcentry's look, mckinstrey look. That's the matchup I think that
determines this one. Can the defense stop Shanahan's quarterback plug in?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Well, I'm gonna say that they should. And the reason
I'm gonna say that they should is, unfortunately, we've had
these types of games in the previous regime. Team comes in,
they're hobbled, they have a backup quarterback, or they lose
their starting quarterback mid game, and then they still come
(02:55):
out and they end up beating us. We've had that
happen enough, which is where I think that caution comes from. Right,
here's the flip side. That Fangio Staley or Fangio Staley
defense is designed to beat the Shanahan offense. It's literally
designed to beat it. In other words, the zone run
(03:19):
and they like to run. That's the purpose for clogging
up the gaps, having the zero technique, having the two
to four, the four eyes, it's supposed to clog up
the A and B gaps so they have nowhere to go.
You play a lot of zone on the back end
so they don't have to respond to the play action,
fake and get pulled out out of whack. It's designed
to beat that offense. So for me, they should, as
(03:45):
you said, be favored. They should as long as they
don't go full Dennis Allen, and keep in mind, you
should never go full Dennis Allen. As long as they
don't go full Dennis Allen, they should be able to
beat this offense. And Stanley worked with the forty nine ers,
(04:06):
so he's got some insight there from a year ago.
And that could work both ways because I think he
was almost like a quality control scout for that offense
in his role last year. He wasn't fully on the
defensive side, so I like to think he probably scouted
the offense in some way said hey, I probably would
do these things to attack you such and such. So
he's got some insight into that organization, into that offense
(04:28):
as well, having been there last year. I feel good
about the team as long as they're more aggressive. What
do you think about that?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, I love that you brought up being aggressive because
I think if you're going to take advantage of a
team that is going through injuries, and look, I know
everybody is used to the Saints dominating the injury report,
and obviously we just had a big one with a
starting safety we just brought in that we it was
pretty high on, especially from a veteran presence and athletic presence.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But if there's a team in the.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
NFL that got hit by the injury bug, maybe worse
than any anybody to start this year, it's San Francisco, right,
So here's their injury report. You've got Nick Bosa who's resting,
so don't worry about that DNP. But after that, you
got Grossmatos, one of their defensive ends who especially the
type of injury and knee injury is not even something
that if you could play, that's one of those things
that is a defensive lineman. You're not going to be
(05:18):
one hundred percent if you're dnping on a Wednesday and
a Thursday practice wise, with something like a knee or
a foot injury.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Juwan Jennings is a DMP.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Christian McCaffrey is again resting, but he has continual calf
issues at this point in his career. I'm not saying
he can't be an effective player, but I'm just saying
Christian McCaffrey has gotten a lot of contact and he's
been going through this even back into college. And he's
not Dereck Henry. He's not six three two forty made
to take a million hits. I mean, he's just I
don't know if we'll ever see Derek Christian McCaffrey at
(05:48):
that one hundred percent level. It's something keep an eye on.
Then we see Brock party out DNP or every talking
about Mac and Jones. Mac Jones coming in. Trent Williams
is resting. He still plays at as a great love,
as a high level for his age, but again, he's
an aging veteran.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
A lot of their big names aging veterans.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
There's no Kittle, there's no Iyuk, right, so a lot
of their weapons are either unavailable or weakened in a
weekened state. Now, even Vegas recognized this because everybody right
now likes to talk about the Saints being the worst
team in the NFL. I'm not being hyperbolic. Literally, NFL
dot Com and all these ratings are putting them at
number thirty two, which is really hard for me, Like,
do you really believe the Saints looked worse than the
(06:27):
Browns did in Week one or the Panthers?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I mean, maybe I'm a homer.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Maybe it's black and gold colored glasses, but whatever. But
even Vegas recognized it because this week the odds are
plus three New Orleans, which is technically us them saying
we're going to lose. But you consider just a week
ago it was doubled that right, So coming into this match,
even Vegas is recognizing this is a lot closer than
we would say, because they've also been saying New Orleans
(06:53):
is You know, I actually had another set of odds
that came out that were mailed to me thanks to
my old media connections, says Spin Rattlers, the second most
likely odds based quarterback to be binged, and that came
out after Week one. Right, So, like, clearly a lot
around the league are not high on New Orleans nor high.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
On our quarterback situation.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And yet even with that said, they still look at
the matchup and go, Saints can win this game.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
They can, they should. You know, I listened to Kellen
Moore's reason for not taking the timeouts last week.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Essence, did you like his reason? I'll be honest, like,
I'm not anti Kellen Moore, but.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
In essence, the reason was he was worried about the
other team flipping the field. In other words, he was
being cautious. He was worried that they would not be
able to do what they needed to do and that
it would give the other team, because they also had
three three timeouts, the opportunity to then come back and
(08:01):
move down the field. So, in other words, he was
playing scare right now. If you look at it, which
is fine, I get it, that's your first game as
a head coach, But if you look at how that
entire game played out. I talked about they didn't want
to push the ball down the field, like talking about
you had the timeouts. Ratler spoke about leaving plays on
the field, about not using his legs. They played tentative
(08:25):
last week. Fortune favors the Bold agreed if they played
more aggressive this week, blitz more, attack down the field more,
let Ratler use his legs, be aggressive on four down.
If they do that, if they flip last week's script
on his head, they will have no problems winning this game.
(08:45):
I think that's the entire key to them winning this
game is just Kellen Moore's gotta let the team cut
loose a little bit in all fat sets of the game.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Here's and I love that you bring that up because
I had a layer to this. I do agree one
him being a little bit conservative, a little bit cautious
is fine for a new head coach at the same time,
and many people, you know, they've brought this interpretation out.
It's not more saying this, but there is reason to
also be cautious with a young quarterback who does not
(09:15):
have a full season and has had in the past
turnover issues.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Where is that boundary? Because I agree, I.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Think if you want to win games this year, you've
got to tell Rattler, look, you got to pull the
trigger and if mistakes happen, they happen. But what is
that bounds between aggressive? I say, let's put a number
to it. How many plays. Let's just use shot plays
from the passing game as them, because we've got basically
one shot play that was actually attempted in Week one.
What do you think is the safe number that you
know for you that is going to push that defense
(09:46):
for the forty nine ers, make them respect that that's there,
which I think opens things up for Olave Cooks and
Shaheed anyway. They I mean, those type of quick, shifty
receivers don't need everybody down in ten yards. You need
them push back some what's your mom For me, it's
four to five plays, whether they're successful or not, even
if one of them is an interception, they need to
(10:06):
push the ball. And I think that's my minimum number
going along as well that I think Alpha Kamara needs
to have twenty total touches, fifteen runs, five passes.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
But what about you? Do you agree with that too high?
What do you think? I think there needs to be
a level of aggressiveness.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
No, I was right there in my head thinking at
least one at least one per quarter on the minimum,
so that that amounts to at least four throughout the
entire game. On the high end, I would say at
least six attempts because I mean you, as they say,
you missed one hundred percent of the shots that you
don't take right and when you're gonna ball down to hey,
(10:46):
I think Kellen spoke about it. They didn't get the
shot played. When they did take it right, they had
it incomplete. Well, it's easy to kind of be hard
on it because you only took one shot, so going
zero of one is absolutely terrible. But if you take
three and you do you do one of three, which
is pretty much what the Arizona Cardinals did. They they had,
(11:06):
you know, one successful attempt. Well, that successful attempt led
to them scoring points off of that. So you've got
to take more attempts this game again, even if they're
not going to be completed. You have to threaten. You
have to you have to threaten and say, hey, you're
not just gonna be able to sit back here and
enjoy your day and and and eat everything short. You're
(11:27):
going to have to turn and play the ball deep.
And you tell Spencer you wing it. You tell him
wing it, and we're gonna be okay with the mistakes
because the mistakes will happen. They inevitably will happen. But
he has to have some confidence behind him that it's
okay for him to make a mistake. What was this
his college coach name, Spencer's college coach name?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, which what Riley?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Lincoln Roby Right, This is this is an opportunity for
Kellen Moore to not go all Lincoln Riley, which is
make Rattler feel pressure behind him because of the young
rookie that's back there. Lincoln Riley benched them the year before.
He benched them during that game and I don't know
if it's because Lincoln had the pressure to win, but
(12:13):
it gave the quarterback the sense that, hey, every time
you make a mistake, you need to be looking behind
your shoulder. I think if he takes that weight off
of Ratler a little bit, it'll allow him to play
more freely. And if he can play freely, he'll go
out there and make some plays.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I do want to put out I didn't expect us
to hit Ratler, but I think we it's a good
idea that we are and a couple of analytics I
want to give y'all, so this is not just us
hyping up and keep my one game sample I'm about
to give you. But last year Spencer Rattler. Now again,
this is advanced analytics taken for what they're worth. I've
always said grain of salt on advanced analytics, but advanced
analytics gave him an eighteen point two percent of his
(12:50):
throws were rated as bad throws, as in, wildly inaccurate,
could lead to interceptions, et cetera. Eighteen percent this past
week that was dropped significantly. Now, Grint, it's only a
one game sample compared to a six game sample, but
it was down to eleven percent. The big key why
is he was only pressured on eight percent of his
throws in Week one. This offensive line, while still having problems,
(13:12):
is an improvement from what we've seen last year. That
means for me, I think we need to see a
little bit more of that. Let's push it. Here's why,
even though San Francisco has not been known for giving
up a lot of yards, like most people they think
San Francisco right now, they think of an elite defense
and it has been very good for the past few years.
There's a reason they went to the Super Bowl even
(13:32):
though they lost. But what gets lost is because every
time you rank a defense in the modern age of NFL,
everybody just uses yards. So everybody's been like, well, they've
been a top ten defense for like the past ten years.
But last year the San Francisco forty nine ers were
twenty ninth in the league in giving up points. Big
plays hurt them. They did not consistently just let you
(13:52):
drive down the field, but you could slice them with
a huge chunk play score a touchdown, and that's how
they started having struggle with winning their football games. And yes,
they had injuries last year everything, but twenty ninth in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
That is an exploitable thing. And if you look.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
At this past game, they obviously did not have the
same level explosiveness. They did not give up a lot
of points, but it shows that there is an opportunity
there to take advantage, and I think the aggressiveness is
needed to at least attempt it. I just I think
you diminish your chance of winning if you just try
to drive down the field where everything's at ten play
drive Alva Kamara runs four of those, you throw two
(14:30):
of them to Juwan Johnson, et cetera. You just have
a higher chance of success if you can stress this defense.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Think they gotta cut it loose. I agree, I cannot
see them winning if they go conservative like they did
the last game. And there's a bonus look at it
if they win this game and they win it like
the way they should win it. I think about the
following week versus Seahawks, and they're gonna be playing the
(14:57):
exact same offense. Yes, they will travel, yeah, but Kubiak
runs the exact same offense. So if it's if it's
any consolation, if they can come out of this game
or to win, the confidence that they get facing that
type of team. Yes, they have to travel, but I
think it gives them a leg up basically seeing the
same offense again, probably with I mean, the skill talent
(15:21):
is going to be better, and you're traveling, but it's
the scheme that you have to play right and more
has talked about it, You've hit on it. You have
to study for the scheme, play the scheme first and
then worry about the player a second. And seeing that
scheme twice I think would benefit them.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
One element that I think we would be remiss if
we didn't acknowledge is I brought up week one again.
It's one week, but Week one only eight percent pressure
rate on Spencer Rattler. You've got you got at least
one guy like Nick Bosa coming in right. There's also
gonna be a lot of pressure on Fuaga and Banks
to keep that clean. You've got to protect the edge here,
(15:59):
especially when we've been talking about the injury with Pinning
at left guard. We've obviously got Ruiz having diminished play
from what we've seen him in the past, and even
when he was doing better, he wasn't playing at like
a Pro Bowl all pro level. So that I have
a you know, this is called average guard have a
diminished play, that's concerning. But then you've got this threat
of an interior rush for also somebody who is very
(16:19):
good at stunting inside, you know, making ways and finding
pathways to the quarterback. How worried are you about Fuaga
based off his Week one and positioning to a new
or transition to a new system, And do you believe
that we can maintain that same like eight percent or
less pressure rate, because that's going to give Rattler the
opportunity to be successful.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Well, according to some of the data that I saw,
there was nobody on the forty nine ers defense that
led in pressure rate last week. However, we did face
a team that had two players from Arizona in the
in the pressure rate, as in their outside linebackers gave
us a significant amount of trouble. One of them was
a rookie third rounder. I think Spencer did very well
(17:04):
in the quick game, as in throwing the ball under
two point two to two point three seconds. Probably gonna
have to do that again, and so because he was
so successful at it, I have confidence that he can
be successful at it again. And so he did all
of that despite the right side of the offensive line.
Breaking down last week, I think you have a I
(17:24):
think now that you have a clearer picture of what
that right side looks, you can actually game plan for
it a little better, and so I think they should
be able to handle that this week. Bosa does rush
from that left side a lot more. They set him up,
he'll be Fuaga, will be facing the Michal Williams, the rookie,
and so Bosa. It's gonna be a tough thing for
(17:45):
Banks this week to keep Spencer's blindside. But also after
haying Spencer talk, I do expect him to be a
lot more aggressive with his legs. We heard that. I
think that after the first preseason game he realized he
plays played a little tentative with his legs. He mentioned
it after that game. In the second game, he was
more productive with his legs. I see that same pattern here.
(18:07):
He talked about being less aggressive last week. I expect
him to be more aggressive with his legs and that
should also help the offensive line too.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, I agree. I will throw out some numbers for you.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
These are from SIS, But in terms of pressure rates,
Bosa had two pressures in that game. Again, it's week one,
so like, we don't have a lot to give y'all
in terms of data.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
But data can still be good.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
But just to give you a comparison, well, Carl Granerson
by himself had four in Week one, obviously going agains
different teams, different players, But the New Orleans Saints, according
to SIS, had nine total pressures while obtaining five total sacks.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
That keep in mind that you.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Had a sack from a Pete Warner that was essentially
kind of like a coverage sack or a containment sack. Right,
he wasn't out there blitzing, but I do appreciate him
maintaining containment on that. But nine total pressures but you
only saw three from San Francisco in Week one. I
think that's the key, and I think it really benefits
New Orleans if this is a home game, because there
is one thing about going to sorry now San Francisco
(19:07):
going to Seattle, which we'll talk about next week, with
that being the twelfth man and that being allowed away,
I think having that here, I really do look at
this game and think based on what we know now,
especially with the injury situation with just key stars for
the forty nine ers, and I never wish injuries on anybody,
but they exist. This is a more winnable game than
(19:28):
Arizona was. And people talked about Arizona being the worst
team in the division. I don't know if I really
buy that, but this is more winnable because you also
have Mac Jones, not exactly the move around guy that
Kyler Murray is.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Prediction.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
My prediction is the New Orleans Saints win this game
twenty four to seventeen, which is basically what I said
they would lose last week. I don't think they'll completely
stop Shanahan, but and maybe that's a fault on me.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
I still have too much respect for him.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
But at the same time, he's earned it because if
you look at it as his offense, all the different
players and quarterbacks he's had, that offense has scored points
consistently for the past, you know, decade with him. It
may not be the best team in the NFL, but
they can still hurt you. But I think this is
a winnable game, if not the most winnable game that
we'll see this month, being honest, because after here we
(20:21):
got the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I'm worried about.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I'm knock Goingvin some Seattle but I do believe this
is a very winnable one and I'd love to see
them come out of the way.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
I'm gonna I'm gonna roll with that. I will have
more of a prediction. I'll do an article Saints Football
Talk dot Com later in the process and so, but
for now, I do expect them. This is definitely a
more likely win. Even though last week should have been
a win. It definitely helps that they're down a quarterback,
(20:52):
they're unhealthy, they're traveling. We should win this game. I
just really need them to see them to be more aggressive,
and I think that will be what changes the scope
for this team and what they can be. Just still
a little bit more aggression.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Now, one more point in one throw.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
And why I want aggression because if this team can
build confidence in themselves, Like I'm not saying that they're
down on themselves or anything, but if they can build confidence,
that will go a long way. Because after this month,
which I talked about not being super confident about playing
the Bills or going to Seattle, You've got the Giants
at home, the Patriots at home.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
There are wins to be had here.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
This is not a team that should be going one
in fifteen ladies and gentlemen. And I know there are
people out there saying the Saints are gonna lose every
game of the season.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
I don't believe that. I think we're good. Let's go.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Let's go. Because Clinton Rev trying to get me fired.
I'm like, yo, I'm trying to leave. I got to
go to work, and Rev. I got one more point.
I got one more point. Here's my final point. I
high let y'all later.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Duce Is
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