Hr1 - Falcons start the game planning with Tua as starter

0:00the countdown to game day is on and if you want your Falcon flag, well today's your lucky day. Atlanta, what's going on? It's Duke Simbell on sports radio, 92 9-2-game. We start off every day and every hour by saying, hey man, we are live at Napa Auto Parts guys right here and tomorrow and we'll be here until around 630 today, the Falcons, the cheerleaders are gonna be here, Falcon Legends, Freddie the Falcons are gonna be here and again, Mike, it's 5280 Jonesboro Road and we're down here because they are gonna be handing out Carflax and for everybody, every year it feels like this is a big deal and every year, Mike and I are surprised at how many people stop by and get their car flags, getting ready for the season, it kicks off on Sunday, Falcons, on the practice field guys, we'll tell you what B-Jahn had to say, what Coach Daphanski had to say as well and of course, Tua is gonna speak a little bit later on but man, another beautiful day in the A to be down here. Hey man, as we like to say Carl Clayton is popping and every time we come down here man, it's literally lined up around the corner.

1:04So we will do the flag giveaway Falcon promo team as Carl mentioned will be here cheerleaders, Freddie the Falcons, not sure who the former Falcon legend will be here but they'll be signing autographs, taking pictures. But yeah, the flag giveaway begins at 5 but you're more than welcome to come down now, say hello, holler at your boys, hello! And again Carl, look at the growth, we've got new buildings going out across C-Day Day, the Duke's Abel bounces real, here in Marlick City. Yeah, it is coming up down here, no doubt. So if you're driving by man, blow your horn, alright, if you're on the road as you pass this Napa Auto Parts and we'll certainly give you guys a big wave. Here's what's interesting Mike, B-Jahn said today and here's the quote, we have the product, we've been doing it, it's been looking good in practice, now it's time to show it. And of course he's talking about the offense, right? He's not talking about the defense, right? The offensive guys are working with the offensive guys and the defense is working on what they're working on trying to slow down A and Rogers on Sunday. But what is showing it look like? And is this offense going to be able to punch it in and have a real efficient red zone offense this upcoming season?

2:09I'm not going to judge the entire year by one game, but it does set the tone. When we get into these games, Mike, early on, and we always talk about biggest game of the season, important game. It is an important game because this is the first time we're going to see a Kevin Stofansky, Tommy Riesoff and it's on Sunday. And it's the first time we're going to see all the starters on the field together. We really haven't seen that in preseason, it was a mixed bag of things, you know, guys got a couple of series, some guys played, some guys didn't. So I am curious, but B-Jahn's feeling pretty good about it saying we've got the product, it's been looking good, and now it's time to show it. But will they show it? Yeah, man, how's Tua going to handle it with the Steelers? We're going to throw at him. I heard Mark Schlabeau on great conversation with Andy Randy on the way driving here to Napa. And basically saying, like the last couple of times you've seen Tua in the NFL, it hasn't been great. And he didn't see that Denver tape, and of course that was a moment that everyone went, oh geez, that was just ugly. But then of course he did better in practice, did better on 11 on 11, but there was a lot of, you know, let's be honest, Carl. Effort is uneven, best way to describe what we've heard anecdotally from some of the reporters and what we saw with our own eyes about Tua's preseason.

3:12Can he handle the pressure? Can he reinvent himself? Can he win this job? Keep it, or is he just simply a placeholder until Pennick's junior was ready? Well, let me, let me say this too, for all the Tua haters out there. Who brought him here, Mike? Matt Ryan and Ian Cuttingham. Correct. Did they have other options? Well, it was Kyla Murray or him, both guys were cheap. One guy's more of a long term real threat to win this job. One guy's a placeholder. I thought into it. They could have made a move for Cooper Rush and been done with it. He's on the roster. The point I'm making is this current regime is the one that made this decision. They did not make the decision on Michael Pennicks, but they made the decision on Tua. Did they just say, all right, well, he's only a million dollars, we don't give a damn if we win? Or did they feel like he could be a player and really help this team win? My point is, guys, if you want to point the finger, point in at Matt Ryan and point in at Ian Cuttingham. Because they brought him in here and they feel like he can help us win. I do not know what we're going to get to Mike's point. If he is hot garbage, as we like to say, then we'll see Cooper Rush sooner than we want to.

4:14And I don't think that boards well for the Falcons, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. I hope he comes out and plays well in week one. But this whole idea like, well, I don't know why we have Tua. Matt Ryan and Ian Cuttingham are why we have Tua. And they had other options this off season. But that's where they decided to go. And I think they went there again because of the experience and the possibility of the rehabilitation under this offense and this coaching staff that he could maybe have success. So this conversation kind of starts and finishes there. We blame the past regime for drafting Michael Pinnix. Have no problems with that because many people including Mike said we shouldn't have drafted him. And I think a lot of people say that now knowing where the situation is. But let's also talk about the new regime and their decision to bring into us. That's why he's here. Right. And guys, without getting the definitive word because no one's going to commit to anything whether it's the president or the general manager of the coach. Tua, can you win this job? I don't know. I mean, it is a good fit this offense for what his skill set is. As Carl just pointed out, he had the most experience of all the guys that were available. A better, slightly better track record than Kyle Murray who flamed out in Arizona.

5:16I mean, if we were talking about Cooper Rush starting this season, I think there will be a lot of people going up. There's an L. I mean, despite the fact he has started the games in this league, I just want to win. Okay, I don't care. I'm sick and tired of arguing about this. Hey, what's up brother? Sick and tired of arguing about this with listers. I just want to see Pinnix out there so I can see what he is. Right. And we've gone and we talked about this and we're blue in the face. Is Tua going to do enough where he doesn't give up the job? I mean, what if you go three and two? I mean, if you go three and two are four and one with two, you tell me you're going to bench him. I mean, that's hard to wrap your head around. That's why I mean, this is not supposed to be a gap year. And guys, I'll argue with this with people. Well, Pinnix, you can go ahead and read it. I go, I want to see him start this season because I think he gives us a better chance to win than Tua. That's my gut. Now, only time we'll tell, the thing Carl is, I got these guys I'm arguing with going, well, it's too early. He's not ready. So what's this Steelers game on Sunday? I almost said it. Exhibition. Yeah. I mean, what have we been in the last three years? One game away from winning this division. So you're just going to throw a game away.

6:18That's not how it works in the NFL, guys. Yes, teams come out looking sloppy and they regroup in the second week of the season. We've seen it in college already. Happens in the pros. But I just, I just want to win period. But I just hope Tua is up for the challenge because Pinnix is going to throw some meat at him. 404-726-0929. I hope B. John's right. I hope as good as he feels about what he sees and practice, which again, nobody's been privy to. These are closed practices now, guys. I mean, it's not as if everybody's watching. I hope this offense comes out and does some work because for me, that's where it starts and finishes. Yes, the defense is going to have to step up. I still don't know where the pressure is coming from to get to Aaron Rodgers, which we'll discuss in detail. West Durham is going to join us coming up the voice of the Atlanta Falcons and we're going to head to Pittsburgh and just a little bit next hour to talk with a guy that covers the Steelers. And, you know, look, I don't know what the expectation is. Stealer nations, Steelers fans always think they're going to Super Bowl because there is a rich tradition of winning. Right. Right. And that is an organization that's been ran right. Guys, three head coaches and it's an existence.

7:20I mean, there's nobody around the NFL that can state that. So there is a level and a standard. We talk about that word standard around the NFL and people throw it around. It's not our standard. Dude, you don't have a standard. The Steelers do. And so the fan base expects high things to happen, high expectations for them to get to where they need to be. For us, Mike, this offense has got to click if we're going to look like anything this season. If we're struggling again, offensively, man, it's going to be another long. Yeah, but you think, man, look, you put your money where you're mouth is. You you boat up, you signed up Drake, a beach on you knew that contract was extended. It was going to be extended. And of course, Kyle Pitz, we thought for a minute was going to be strictly playing on the tag and then they give him an extension. So they believe in our skill position players. The delivery system is going to be the question. Can these guys step up? Can two of us step up and will he hold on to this job or will Michael Pentax Jr. come in and win this job? Establish himself as the franchise quarterback. The the option is then picked up in May. But first things first, to your point, let's not mail it in against Pittsburgh. Steelers offense, I don't think is anything special, but what is our password going to look like?

8:22I mean, we don't really have that designated password right now that we lost James Pierce for this suspension. We were expecting Jalen Walker to take a big leap. I'm excited about guys like Kendall Daniels and some of the new looks, A.B. on Tarell on our defense. But where is that password coming from, Carl? I don't know. I mean, I'd love to tell you, but I honestly, I have no idea. And this goes beyond Jalen Walker's injury guys. James Pierce Jr. we know he's out. I'm just simply telling you that the benefit of having two guys like that was you could just call your base defense and they could make place. Now you're going to be more reliant on scheme. And I made the reference yesterday of patting the ball. We're going to hear a lot of it if we're not getting after the quarterback. And if I'm patting the ball three or four times, that means I got five or six seconds. Guys, the quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers will eat you up. I don't care how old he is. He can still deliver the football. So Mike, the rookies A.B. on A.V. and certainly Kendall Daniels. Another question for me is what kind of impact are they going to have? See, this could go both ways.

9:23You're starting two rookies on your defense and you're hoping to get major production out of them, which I think is possible. But the other side of that is they may play like rookies. And if that happens, then are they difference makers? I don't quite yet know, but they've earned the opportunity to be starters. And that's something again, insert some new blood in their man. And A.V. on is going to be our nickel guy coach today. Talked about Billy Bowman being on his way back. He's very close and they're excited about where he is. We know that Bowman from last year's a ball hawk. But I'm curious to what these two rookies are. Are we going to get above rookie performance from Kendall Daniels and A.V. on to real? Like 2016 Falcon Draft class. Correct. It's a super bowl where D.O. you know, D.B.O. did his thing, Keanu Neal. Everybody contributed. Devon, I mean, we had guys, Devon, a Campbell, all everybody. Brian Poole's undrafted. Hooper was great on the offensive side. So yeah, that's what you're shooting for. Aaron Rodgers said 29 times last year, 24 touchdowns, seven picks. The last couple of weeks of the season really took it in the key. And then we had a picture with Seattle that Jetson then, of course, had Houston playoff game. But can we generate that kind of heat with the down lineman?

10:23Or in this case, the outside lineman that walks up with your three lineman? Or is it going to have to scheme the pressure? Which is high risk with a guy even like Rodgers at this stage of his career? No doubt. Your phone calls are welcome guys as we are live down here tomorrow at Napal auto parks, by the way. And again, flag giveaway won't actually start until five. We just had a gentleman stop by. Get a photo with this, hanging out. Had a couple folks drive by and blow their horn. If you're in the area, man, we love to get a chance to see you and meet you. We appreciate your support and certainly listening to Duke's and Bell and sports radio 92 9 the game. All right, we're coming back. Braves losing ugly one last night. I think he's kind of worked his way out of the rotation, by the way. We'll get to that and Mike just told me something new about this LSU SEC battle that's going on. We'll give you the latest one we return on sports radio 92 9 the game. Braves lose seven one to the raise. Philly's a loss to the Astro. So division lead stays at four guys, but it was not pretty. And the offense continues to struggle. You're talking about two runs and in the last 18 innings.

11:24But AJ Smith, Sharver, Mike, I just feel like his last four starches. So I think it goes back to like August 18th. He's just I don't think he's going to be a part of this playoff rotation when you start talking about what this may look like. Right, we've talked about you know today, a lot of discussion this week about rushing back from an injury. Are you rushing back? In this case, he's had the minor league starts. So you had to feel like he's ready to go and you need him. I mean, you need him to eat anything, especially with Bryce Elder now not pitching the rest of the regular season. So yeah, it's a guy you feel a little shaky about right now. The other thing we're talking off the air, bad time for Matt Olson to get cold. He and I as he are really struggling right now. And hopefully they can find a way and hopefully they carl it's baseball. They just snap out of it because this is not in the dog days of September now with a postseason about to start that you really want Matt Olson to be in the kind of rut that he is in right now. Ozzy is for his last 28. Matt Olson is three for his last 27 with a hit last night. So do you just take this and stride and go all right, I'm not not really worried about this or how much how worried are you about this with the Olson situation?

12:30How worried are you? Pretty worried because we saw it. We've seen this happen in the past. Remember guys, 2023 everything was going right until it didn't. Yeah. And Matt we do know, I mean, look, all baseball players were talking with Tony Gwynn Jr. yesterday about it. Everybody goes to a cold patch. But with Matt, when he gets cold, it's ice cold. You know, and we saw it before. This is not a knock. This is not revisiting the Freddie versus Matt. Okay, Matt's our guy and he's put this team on his back and they wouldn't be where they were without Matt Olson. He was the only guy that was hitting for much of the season. But it's a little frightening because you got to depend on him. Yeah. This series continues and by the way, we told you raise pretty good. Okay, this is a good club and Grant mentioned it yesterday. This stretch where the fillies come back down here and then you know, you got the cubs. It's going to be an interesting stretch. This September is not going to be a cake walk. So we need our guys to, you know, continue to hit and score runs. But last night, AJ Smith shot four earn runs and five hits. The two home runs killed you. I mean, it was just that, that's just not going to get it done. So, um, Braves though at the plate.

13:31And this is what Mike's talking about. Five for 32 at the plate. That's, that's the problem. No, the thing is you also saw some really good Philly pitching last week. And, and that's also a problem. They've got some guys and Tony Gwynn said because of our bullpen, he'd say it's a push. Yeah, but I mean, as far as starting pitching, you know, you get away from Chris sale. I mean, they've got four guys you can count on right now. And Aaron Nolas having an off your by his standards and even he's, you know, dealing. So, that's, that's a concern. Right now, I think we're still playing the diamond backs. If I memory serves, it has a three six. But it's the best out of three. You know, so you'd have Chris sale, Mally, and then you'd probably have to go to a bullpen start. Think about that. Just to survive. It went to three games. Yeah. And the price elder thing, by the way, yesterday, after the report of, you know, scoping his knee and getting, you know, clean up or whatever. Guys, it could be four, four to six weeks. They're saying three to four weeks. I hope he's back, but I don't Mike right now. It's sort of like strut. I can't count on it, right? I just can't count on it. Let me hear Walt Weiss talking about AJ Smith's sharpers outing. You see flashes and glimpses of the talented arm that he is.

14:31It's just a matter of executing pitches, you know, like we talked about before the game. He got to mean good counts. He got to execute pitches. He had to work hard, you know, that pitch count got up there quickly. You know, he was having to grind through it, but just making pitches. Yeah, Walt, he doesn't have it. You know it. We see it. And look, doesn't mean he can't, you know, pitch in this rotation to the end of the season. But Mike's right, if you start talking about the playoff rotation and what this might look like, I've just not been impressed enough. Grant Holmes has impressed me. Bryce Elder, even though he was up and down, had impressed me. I was feeling a lot better about those two guys, and I still feel good about Grant Holmes. Here's what Walt Weiss said about being a free swinging team. Yeah, look, we're a free swinging club. I mean, it's, for the most part, tough to change the stripes. At times, we've been able to do it. I mean, I thought we did a nice job against Sanchez. But anyway, you know, we ended up forcing him in his own and making him earn every out. But we've been living and dying by that. There's been extremes to our offense, eyes and lows, but yeah, Paul has been tough on us. He has. Yeah. And as we know guys, you mentioned Ronaldo Lopez activated from the IL,

15:31Yeah. But Bryce Elder going down. So Lopez gets to start against Tampa Bay. All right. More on the Braves coming up. Mike, tell me the latest with LSU in the SEC. All right. Cooler heads have prevailed. A lot of passion. Passionate people down there in Louisiana. The SEC LSU federal court hearing that was scheduled for today has been continued. In other words, timeout. And now they're going to table it for at least the time being will be heard at a later date. So according to Pete Thammel, who's breaking it down, the situation has generally deescalated. And LSU remember guys deciding not to roster the two guys who have been NFL camps to quen right and Xavier on Harris. So they're not part of the roster. So the, I guess the nuclear option. Remember how president pushed that nuclear nuclear option that the SEC used against LSU got some traction. I know Bo Johnson who's working the board. Big LSU Tiger fans at Lane Kipp and got what he want. But it was a big, big, you know, spotlight on Lane for like two weeks about this orange now back at the ranch. But we're talking to Bo with the handoff. And yeah, so if that's what Lane wants, Lane the agent of chaos that is described.

16:32Okay. But the governor's involved. You got senators popping off. Sanky went and said, look, we'll vote you guys out of the conference. And I think now it's reality check. So good. Good. Let this is comments. Now can we please talk about football and stop talking about temporary restraining orders? Yeah. And look, I think the other night you probably saw this. They're good enough probably to win it or at least be in the playoff without these guys. Okay. So adding these guys were, was not going to change the, the, the, the, the direction of where this season was going to go for LSU. In my, in my opinion, Mike, I just feel like they're good. They were going to be good. Again, they spent all this money in the portal and, and this is why you have Lane Kiffin. So hopefully this goes away. That's what, that's what I'm kind of hoping. Meanwhile, the NCAA sets a standard timing protocol. You know what I'm going to do. What the hell is a standard timing protocol? Well, first of all, you didn't know this. I didn't know this. I don't know if anybody knew this. Didn't we feel like the clock that we're seeing on television was the clock that was supposed to be the one that was used?

17:36Apparently, it isn't because that's not what Terry McColley said on the broadcast ahead of the, you know, the NBC former NFL official after this said that's all synced up and then NBC can make it. Oh, no, no, no, there is that camera here about to talk about on another clock. So, so, did you know about the standard timing protocol? Because I did not know that nobody ever heard of this. That car out of their butts. Correct. Come on now. This is in response to the Michigan Western Michigan game, guys. The controversy of putting a second back on the clock. So the memo goes out and the official time for all college football games is the time displayed on the in stadium game clock. Okay. Well, if you went and looked at that clock and it still showed zero, right? It's the game still should have been over. But regardless, they're putting this out there now and writing so everybody can say, hey, we've got a standard rule here. This won't happen again. Not this season, but, but ever. And it should have never happened, but the idea that there's a standard timing protocol, it blew me away, Mike, because I was like, who knew? I mean, the official decisionally based on embedded game clock contained with the program feed.

18:39Was that what we were watching? That's what I was. I mean, again, guys, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I just, I just felt Michigan was too big to fail. And again, remember that video. You didn't see that in real time. That video, some guys even say that video they recorded the whole thing. Everybody's so calm and like, all right, there he is. He's touching the football. I'm like, yeah, he's touching the football. The game's at 0, 0, 0, 0. The game's over. I don't know what the hell you're looking at. I mean, it just seemed absolutely preposterous. And again, you know, said, what's Michigan, the Mac conference saying, they feel they've gotten jobs here. And it just seems like you can't trust anything in sports these days, Carl. You know, to me, it all started with, go back to the Cowboys when the catch wasn't a catch. Who was it? Who was the, the wide receiver back then? Des Bryant. Des. Right? That's for me, the NFL went sideways. Now that's not a catch. Now we don't know what a catch is. Then you get into the tuck rule. Then that proceeded that. And now we literally know there's a secret clock that only they see. This timing, the super secret clock that they have access to.

19:39This timing protocol is going to be followed consistently and at all institutions and game sites moving forward. Yeah. All right. Let's hope so. That was a debacle. So now you can't even trust when the clock ticks down is there. This isn't the NBA. So the fifth of a second back in college ball. Well, here's the bigger thing, Mike, for me is, you know, again, this isn't the 80s where if you got some home cooking, right? And the game wasn't on television. And they said, oh, there's still a second left on the clock and everybody in the home crowd's like, well, hey, we get a second. You didn't see it live as millions of people did. It's right there in front of you. Many of you watching an HD, right? 4K, 8K. And you're telling me that wasn't real. So I just, that's my, that's my bigger issue is you've got all these cameras in these stadiums now to, to tour this. And you didn't do that. This isn't 1978 where you went. Hey, we had two cameras in the stadium and I think there's a second left on the clock. Nobody saw it. I mean, I just didn't think the Michigan, Western Michigan game would turn into the US versus Russia in Munich, right?

20:40In 72. They're putting time back on the clock. I mean, for those who don't know, I know it. Carl, I hate to say this. I guarantee you have our audience doesn't know this. There was a thing called the Soviet block. There was a Cold War and the Russians basically leaned into those officials that were from the Warsaw Pact nations. They called it the Olympic gold medal that we never accepted. That's right. Cost us a goal. Manipulating the rules. Manipulating the game. Ah, so look, this is again all the sidebar. What we care about is what's going to happen on Saturday, Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, in some Friday nights, not high school football. I'm talking about college. But this stuff is ridiculous. And the NCAA, the goal, Mike, we are setting a new, you guys haven't done a damn thing. There's a clock. The game clock is, oh, if there are time immemorial, as we said, now we're just making, you know what? I'll say it. Now we're just making blank up. We're just making stuff up. And Western Michigan got screwed. Everybody in the planet knows it. Other than Big Blue. All right, coming up. More on the Falcons, guys, on the practice field, as we mentioned, two is going to speak. We'll have that for you coming up.

21:40He has received some criticism in regards to not stretching the field. Okay. However, he is proven that he can be efficient. And today, Kevin Stofanski said something very interesting about heading into Pittsburgh. We'll tell you what that is. And we come back on Sports Radio, 1929 again. A 20 Jonesboro road outside of Napa Auto Parts, literally. And we've had multiple people drive by, blow their horns. A couple guys stop by just to say hello. We appreciate that. Shout out to Shelton, who's an Uber driver and a big listener. He's like, man, it's kind of cool to see you guys with those on behind the scenes. How the sausage gets made. And said, yeah, we chop it up, but we're not on there. It's not like, Karla, just we turn off the head says we just sit in silence silence. Silence. But yeah, man, we're going to be out here again all the way up to around 630 today. And the Falcons, Falcons cheerleaders, Freddie to Falcons, a couple of Falcons legends. I don't want to tell you who because we're not sure, but I will tell you they will be here. Taking pictures, signing autographs and it's going to be a lot of fun. And then of course, get your Falcons flag. That's why we're down here. So we'll be here. Falcons, the Falcons flags won't be handed out.

22:41Started handing out until around 5 o'clock. Right. All right, let's talk about a couple of things with the Falcons. Coming up next hour, by the way, we'll go to Pittsburgh. Oh, it's going to join a Steelers beat rider for the athletic. We'll get the latest on the Steelers and their preparation for us on Sunday. Remember, we are on the road and we are the underdogs, right? On this in this game, at least going in. And I don't think that number changes. It hasn't pretty much all summer. But with two of starting at quarterback and get off that you like him, you don't like him, you think he's bad. Let's just talk about what is right now. What is is play to his strengths. What are his strengths? Well, this is what Kim is the fanski and Tommy Reesim and trying to figure out since they got him in the building, Mike. And I think he's got a grasp of the offense. We would hope that that's where it needs to be again. He got an early head start on this. I think him and Michael Pinnix, you know, they had to play book months ago, guys. So that shouldn't be an issue. Executing the offense is going to be key. But what about the run game?

23:41And Mike, right now, it's Wednesday. How many carries do you think B. Jean has? Are we talking 30 carries on Sunday? It's funny. I heard Mark Schlabeau again talking to Andy Randy about that. He's like, give him 20 and get him five to 10 in the air. B. Jean early, B. Jean a lot. Brian Robinson spelling him obviously as the duo there and the backup. But yeah, B. Jean has got to be a huge part of this game plan. I think the Steelers will try to take him away. I think they'll try to make two of beach. But that's where the quick release and the underneath stuff should have success. I mean, if everybody does their job, yes, I'm talking about you, Joanne Taylor. Oh, everybody on this offensive line does their work. Then you have things that should work against Pittsburgh, even though they are known for their tremendous pass rush. All right. This is Kevin St. Francis. He's talking about the run game today. I think any quarterback maybe your first or your... 100s start like say, good run game. I think it's our job as coaches to put together a balanced game plan. Because you never know what the game is going to call for.

24:41It's easy to say, hey, we're going to do X, Y and Z. But then the game changes. And then the game can change for a bunch of different reasons. So putting together a well-balanced attack and then Tommy on game day being ready to adjust. But obviously excited about B. Jean excited about the run game. Totally agree. And I'll give you an example of this. We go up there. We're up 14-10 in the fourth quarter. They're not letting two of throw the ball 15 times. Okay? Go run the ball, run clock. Make the Steelers work for it. Try to get the ball back, own field position. That's how the game changes. If you're down in the fourth quarter, 10-14 with seven minutes to play. Okay? You might have to open this thing up a little bit and let them try to get you back in it. There are different scenarios and different points in the game. And that's why it's called situational football. There's no such thing as you go into a game and go, we're giving B. Jean on the ball 30 times regardless of what they do. Well, you know what? We hardly ran the ball against the Patriots.

25:41We went up there last year and got our butts kicked. Because we were just not committed to it. We weren't earning or getting any yards, positive yards, Mike. And all of a sudden, you know, the game is now different, the game plan. So I agree with the fans. Got to go in balance and then say, where's this thing at? I think that the Falcons wide receivers, you know, we talked about last year, how bad it was. Yes. We talked about like, I didn't like Zach Robinson's play calls. They fired one of the assistants. We had injuries up the yin yang. You know, Darnell Mooney was even healthy really the whole season. Drake got hurt late. You know, what? Well, Ray Ray got cut. You're fired. Think about that. Now, is for it, are we going to come back to work on Monday and talk about, hey, how about that amazing? You know why Ray Ray got cut? You know what? Because he said something. I'll tell you in the five o'clock hour. Okay, I'm all ears. I think I'll stick around for that. I'll tell you in the five o'clock hour. No, but I'm, are you and I going to be talking about Zachariah branch and some crazy yards after the catch? And how about that? How about that 45 yard, whatever for Zachariah branch, things like that? I hope so, man. Like the, see, that's, those are game changing deals, right? When you start talking about a game and the game being close, sometimes you get a couple of those kinds of plays, Mike,

26:48that change the direction of the game and all of a sudden now, you can stray away from your game plan because you got a big play from Zachariah branch. Or someone else, right? Jahan Dotson. I'm not going to count him out. Guys, we ain't talked about, about Jahan Dotson a lot. You got a good camp. Jahan Dotson could be a real benefactor of having Drake and pits on one side and him may be getting single coverage, Mike, and taking advantage of that. Like if I'm a team looking at the Falcons right now, especially the Steelers, I'm not going to let five beat us. I'm not going to let seven beat us, okay? So Drake, I'm running guys over there and we're going to have you covered up and certainly we're going to have safeties. But Jahan Dotson, Mike, could easily see a lot of one-on-one coverage. Are you doing that for pits? Because that's the other side of this. So that's where the two experience hopefully comes into playing goes, you know what? Oh, I see him covering up pits. I'm going to go to Jahan. Let's not be silly and be so locked in on Drake that now you're throwing picks. But isn't this the same conversation we've had going back to Arthur Smith?

27:48Yes. We got this guy. We got that guy. They got to cover this guy. We got a mismatch here. Day-day, we've been having this conversation for six years. And that's why execution comes into play. And that's why the little details, the little details we didn't cover the last couple of years. Arthur Smith making it too complicated before that. You know what I mean? Sometimes just get the best player of the ball. It's not that complicated. But now my biggest concern, I think if two of you can do some of those things that make good decisions, ball comes out quickly, boom. We can do those things you're talking about. I'm just curious, how does Jervon Dexter along with Dorolas? Is that a pressure going to come from the middle? And Orioles, remember, it's a 3-4. Is Kendall Daniels going to be used in a blitz? You know, the way that Kate Nellis was from time to time. He's going to be starting next to a divine, I said divine Diablo. Can you expect anything from a guy like Samson Epochum? I mean, Zadaria Smith was brought back out of his self-imposed retirement. He's just excited to be back. Can he get after it? Because that's the question, because you said it earlier in the show. If you give even a Aaron Rogers and as bad as they looked at times last year.

28:48You give him four seconds back there. We're going to be in trouble. Look, is Aaron Corkey, yes? Is he indecisive about life sometimes and the things and the decisions he's made? Yes. Is he weird even? Yes. What he isn't, is he isn't a guy that doesn't have superior arm talent in this league. It's why he's a future Hall of Famer. It's why he won back-to-back MVP's. Guys, I don't give a damn if he's 48. He can still throw the ball. If you go and play an old NBA player right now, I bet you money you lose in a shooting drill. Because you always can shoot the ball if you were a shooter in the league. Quarterbacks, Troy Inkman could come out of the booth today with no pressure. And if you said just throw it around the field, he beats you. This is what these guys have done. So Aaron Rogers, even if he looks old and he's slow-mic and he's slow afoot and he doesn't have the escape ability he once had, he can still beat you with the arm talent and the touch down the field. And by the way, they got a big, big ass receiver out there called Metcalf.

29:48Yes. Metcalf is a man among boys out there. Right. Now I'm not saying Metcalf hung out with Aaron Rogers and they spent some extended time together. But now Metcalf, in addition to becoming the number one wide receiver, along with Pittman, feels that there's a civilization living underneath Antarctica. And there's a whole world down there. And that's why we never mess with the penguins and why we've signed all these treaties. And that's why Antarctica is off limits to everyone. And Aaron Rogers gets together now. It's like a lantern splot. I love these guys. They think they're splatter earth guys. But again, apparently there's a whole civilization underneath Antarctica. We got to get on that, man. Let's hear from Kevin St. Fansky talking about working with the quarterback. And in the two of situations, here's what he said today. I think we're, you know, any coach on care what you're coaching, you're only worth, you know, your worth your salt if you're doing what your players do best. And if you're leaning into what your players do best. And I could tell you with working with all the quarterbacks over my career, whether it started or not, the guys are comfortable with certain things.

30:51And they're not comfortable with everything. There was a bunch of concepts that Archen like. But what our job as coaches is to find out, or what in this broad scheme fits your eye, if you will. What are your strengths? What can we lean into in your strength? So sometimes that happens in a given season. If you play multiple guys, you have to have those small pivots in a season. We've had to do it via injury at times. And you do, you can't change an offense. You can't go to the Delaware Wing T. But you can lean into certain concepts that guys see better than others. It really is a great explanation. I'll tell you guys this just from folks in Cleveland who covered Kevin Stofansky and how he likes to operate. And I'm saying Stofansky, but he will always defer and say it's Tommy Riesu's the OC. Guys, they're going to come out and let two of you get into rhythm. They're not going to come out and drop him back and shout going to happen. Throw 30 yards down the field of first three plays and we're three and out. Secret Sunday, 1 o'clock. Trust me on this. We're going to run the ball.

31:51We're going to get to a ender rhythm because it's what I need to do to get him going and getting some confidence. So I move my arms around like this. I look like a clown right now if you can see me because I'm going left. I'm going middle and I'm going right. That's what he's going to do. And if that happens and it's to it gets established here in Mike is seven for ten and his first, you know, ten attempts. Right. Now, okay, I got a little rhythm going. I'm okay. Now we can open up this thing a little bit more, but that's just part of how Kevin's defense operates. Whether it was the Sean Watson or anybody else. And so I think that's part of what we'll see on Sunday. And again, that's whether it's five, 10, 15 yards. But this idea like we're just going to be in the pistol man and he's going to throw 30 yards down the field. That's not happening in that first series. No, I just again, be shot. I mean, what do you think the first play the game? Be shot up the middle. Be shot off tackle. You let two drop back and throw. I mean, these are we're learning about the fanski unless you follow the fanski, you know, with this time as you know, see manyapolis. And of course, then later on becoming a head coach. Now we're going to get to know how we because you can't take anything as far as the game plan from the preseason.

32:52That's showing you winning the shack. You know, I mean, it's all base stuff. It's all basic stuff. But now the question is how creative do they get? You know, and first off, there's two of come out with some confidence. You know, for all the things that Michael Pettics trying to find confidence in his own body to finally say, Hey coach, I'm ready to go. How is to his head? You know, it to us heard all the noise. You know, he's heard everything has been said about him here in Atlanta. Where is it? Where is that at? It's a good question. I would think, you know what? And again, I'm not him. But Mike, I'd be loose. Right. Everybody thinks I suck anyway. Play with house money. Well, you're playing with the dolphins money. Actually, well, the money, the money's in the bank, bro. Okay. I'm saying, but if you want to reinvent yourself, if you want to reinvent yourself and all starts up there in Pittsburgh. And when I say that, I don't mean he comes out and plays loose to go see, but this whole confidence thing, sometimes it can be overrated. Like, I'm actually better than what you think I am. I just, you know, it was a bad situation down there. Blank went to blank. And so now here I am and I got another opportunity.

33:53Like, I hope that's the attitude, but I can't answer that, Mike. I really can't. I don't know if anybody can accept to a 404726092929. You guys can text us. Let us know what you're thinking. Relive at Napa Auto Parts today hanging out as the flag. Give away from the Falcons about happening around five o'clock. One other thing from Kevin Stofansky as he spoke and we'll let you hear two of later in the show as well. So stick around for that. And we're going to head to Pittsburgh to talk to Mike DeFabo. Steelers beat right in front of the athletic at around 320 today. Here's what Kevin Stofansky said about the goal for week one. Yeah, I think all of our players, you know, in week one, you want to make sure that you execute at a high level and certainly whether it's a quarterback position or otherwise in week one, what we have to do as coaches is make sure that our guys have a really good understanding of game plans. I think there's a desire by a lot of coaches to do everything in week one and show everything you've been working on. And it's just there's not enough plays. That's not just not the reality. So for two and all of our players understanding what the game plan entails, understanding what we're trying to attack on each play.

34:55So much of that, you know, while you guys will hear me harp on Wednesday and why it's so important to work is that we put a lot on our guys plates on Wednesday. And here's a brand new game plan, you know, fortunately the quarterbacks got a sneak peak of it yesterday and can can digest a lot of information. But then it's also okay now you got to take this to the walker here and then you got to take it to practice and then you got to put some finishing touches on it today. And then oh, by the way, we got third down coming tomorrow. So there's a lot in the process that any player, particularly the quarterback that we put on their plate. So it's their ability in the week to trust in the routine and really own the game plan if you will. I like his process Mike. I don't know how successful Kevin's going to be here. But I like his process. I like I like what he's saying. Right. In regards to like this is an experienced guy and he get why people around the league like what he has to say or at least like him as a coach. And I do too, but I don't know how much success he's going to have again. This comes down to winning and all those things. But man, he's so on point with what he's saying right there about laying out this process and like, you know, oh, we want to show everything.

36:01You can't do you can't do that man. Where do we feel like we can attack these dudes on top of the Steelers and have success. Okay. And a lot of times we've said this. You think teams have great past rushes? You run right at him. We got a great running back. Right. We don't have a slouch. And we're better going forward than backwards historically. Now we're going to see again just how good our right tackle is going to be. Can you want Taylor speaking to reinvent yourself? Good point. He's working as kind of a discount for what he was making in Kansas City this year. So that's another guy that if it's not with us, it's maybe with somebody else. So certainly we know up the middle. But you and I were talking about Ryan Newsle. Is he going to be big enough for what they want to do in Calhans offense? They didn't even bark at that. They apparently like what they've got. We know we know how would Bergeron. He got the extension list. They're pretty confident in this in this crew. But you're right. It's a great point. Go right at him. All right, man. We got a lot more to dive into. Apparently, Dade has went to our social media has extracted some of the comments of people coming at us. Not liking what we had to say. Talking about us being in our fields.

37:01We're going to address all of that coming up. Also, we're going to head to Pittsburgh. But when we come back, guys, we get real NFL football tonight. Patriots, Seahawks. We'll talk a little bit about that. 49ers and Rams tomorrow night in Australia. More NFL news coming up. Stay there. It's Duke St. Bell live in that bottle parts.