Rays Sweep the Yankees to Win ALDS While Bucs Search for a Win in Dallas

0:00When you've got a job to do, Lowes knows how to help you keep it moving. My Lowes Pro Rewards members save more with member-volume discounts on eligible orders to a quote of $2,000 or more. Plus, save time with job site delivery on select purchases. Not a member? Join for free today. Exclusions, more terms, and restrictions apply. Can't be combined with any other discount, including but not limited to contract and or special price loyalty programs subject to terms of conditions. Details at Lowes.com slash terms. Subject to change. Now, the worst thing about the Tampa Bay race going to the American League Championship series is that they can no longer celebrate a series win at Yankee Stadium this year. They have popped the last champagne bottle at Yankee Stadium. There was about 13 or so days ago, I think, less than two weeks maybe, that the race got to clinch the American League Easton. At that time, it's like, yeah, nice story. Good for you, Ray's.

1:00We're going to, you know, Yankees will take them in the, in the, in the postseason. Not so fast, my friend. A sweep, a literal sweep again of the Yankees incredible game, four to three. The Yankees never had a lead in the series. That's right. You're right. They did not. They were tied a few times, but they did not have a lead. Yep. Yeah, was second time in 15 days to be exact that they get to celebrate at Yankee Stadium. It's only just a shame that when they clinched a playoff birth, it was at Yankee Stadium as well. I mean, all right. Yeah. A little mini sale celebration. Apparently they had some restaurant that they went to and partied into the night that remains unknown, but Richie Palacios hook him up or something. So I imagine this one might go late into the night as well. Well, why not? You're not playing to, what, what month, or Monday, right? Monday, isn't playing next. So you got some time. Yeah. You'll play either the white socks or the guardians, the guardians came back. The white socks had a two o'lead in that series. The guardians came back on one game three. You just want that series to go five.

2:02That's right. You know, go guardians today and then, you know, whoever wins Saturday, go about 18 innings and that's it. And then Monday at the top. Yeah. Third time they have reached the American League Championship series and previously it was against, of course, the Red Sox in 2008. And in Houston in 2020, they went to the World Series, of course. So this is a look unbelievable year, right? Unbelievable year. Like I don't, I'm sorry. I happy to tell you I did not see any of this happening. But there are guys on this baseball team that some did not start the season there. I'm wrong about this. Victor Mesa, Jr. was not on the opening. No, no, no, close injuries to like Rayleigh. And, you know, I mean, it's, and Deluca was down for a while and, yeah, you know, no,

3:02Mesa wasn't there. And the great years, you know, that Caminaro and Aronda and Yandee Diaz had and Chandler Simpson, who Chandler Simpson wasn't even in the lineup for Game 3. Yeah. And when I saw that man, I was like, I don't think this is a good idea. But instead Ryan Velade goes ahead and hits a, hits a home run and then Victor Mesa, Jr. of course wins it with the two run blasts. So smart on Kevin Cash. Every time we doubt the raise in their lineup decisions, it generally works out. It's, it really, they're not wrong. It really isn't. I mean, I'll still go back to the, with the wild card game. I think it was like 2019, 2018 in Oakland. Mm-hmm. And Yandee Diaz coming off the IL or DL, I think at the time. And they put bat on lead off and you're like, what are they doing? He only hits two home runs. Like, you know, you know, it, it, it, it, meanwhile the Yankees change up their lineup. And Ben Rice doesn't bat first, he bat second. That man, he didn't get up in the last and the night then he. Chees right. He would have been the last, he would have been the batter at the end of the night had

4:04he been batting lead off instead of second. Yeah, and they couldn't get him out. No. Well, you know, the, you know, the, the raise with their lineup changes with, you know, their defensive positioning and we'll get to that too what baseball's experimenting with now in the, the minors and the fall league. Yeah, I've heard this is going to be good. But how about the bullpen that they, I mean, look, I, I was not all aboard. I, Ian Seymour's been great, but Griffin, Jack's who went from bullpen to starter. And then now of course, he's being used out of the bullpen. And you thought, and well, I mean, I, I was understood why he was there. And then all of a sudden you thought he gave up the lead. That was shaking. I thought he gave up the lead on the home run. They got, they got fortunate with that that ball wasn't hit, you know, foot or two further and it would have mattered what the fan did. But then all those guys combined for the next ten, and then the cam booster comes in. Kevin Kelly gets out of a jam and then Brian Baker looked like he lost a little control there. Obviously, the, the go ahead run was at the plate. Yeah, he got about six straight balls and then they, yeah, Hicks and, and Cousiner finally came out.

5:08Yes, and Snyder knows what to say. These guys, he just settles them down, man. He's a psychologist, you know, you wonder if he's out there going, you know, what's the problem here? You know, get some candlesticks. You know, right. Candlesticks makes a good winning gift. Yeah, you kind of wonder what he's saying out there. I don't know. I don't know. But he, we need a miced up with Kyle Snyder. It would be great because he knows how to address every, you know, guy from a psychological standpoint to get him back to neutral because he's squeezing the ball a little too tight there and missing, missing the strike zone. You couldn't walk people because, you know, now you, now at home run will beat you. So, but now just, just incredible, bowl pin, incredible pitching, clutch hitting. I mean, Mesa hitting the two run bomb when they really needed it after the Yankee said, that was a bomb. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, there's no doubt. I love the way you just kind of looked in the dugout and said, hmm, off a lefty, no less. That was the thing. You don't expect that. But, you know what? I don't know how many, how many ball parks, I mean, it was hit pretty well.

6:09Imagine it goes out of the trap. Oh, that was over 400 feet. That was going out. Yeah, that was going out. I mean, that wasn't a center. That was deep, deep right, right field. Now, now, Valleys home run goes out of one park. Yeah, that's true. That is very true. And it only made it by a single row, I think, if that. But Valleys, you know, that was a huge hit and to have Simpson on the bench, I mean, it all worked out. I mean, just they wanted more balance, I guess. They didn't want to hold a whole row of lefties against free. I mean, which I understand. No, I get it. And it worked. I mean, it absolutely worked. And then, you know, it was rare to see Martinez kind of come out of the game. I thought he would go deeper, but they spackled it together in the bullpen and got to their closer and the rest of his history, man, it's just, it's really something to think about where this team has come. So many young players, so many guys that didn't begin the season on the Major League team, guys, you know, getting hurt coming back.

7:10But even like Brian Baker, like he was a, he was your B bullpen to start the season. Like he was supposed to be Useda and Mani Rodriguez and Griffin Jacks and like, sure, you know, Garrett Clevanger, those were your A bullpen. That's right. Baker was a, you know, a B bullpen guy. Then he goes out leads the majors and saves. Didn't that's 34 35 straight now. Unbelievable. You know, I mean, it's those, those kind of sort of cam boozer. What was this guy? You know, I mean, you know, they just cam boozer. I they were told the story. He was out of baseball. No, yeah, a couple of years ago, he was, yeah, yeah, he was like, I think installing something on, but yeah, he had, he had left the game. He's been in a story. He's come in and he's been lights out. As a high leverage left handed guy, eighth inning guy, really to set up Baker as much as anything. I mean, like I said, you're a bullpen going in this year was Useda, who's hasn't played. Mani Rodriguez, who's not playing right now, hurt.

8:10Heard, yeah, Griffin Jacks who started in the bullpen was really bad. Was a starter. Yeah. Now he's back to bullpen, but, you know, he's not, not really your A bullpen or anything. Um, Garrett Clevver and Drew's hurt right now. Like, yeah, like the going into the year, you're a bullpen. You don't have an A bullpen. You didn't have one. No, no, no, no, no. They speculated he has a phenomenal year starting. He did. You know, you expected Rasmussen to have a good year. He expected McLean to have a good year, which he did. He's hurt right now. Yeah. Nick Martinez is the one you're like, whoa. Yeah. Yeah, he was lights out. Yeah, you didn't expect it. Steven Matt started well and kind of struggled, but, mm-hmm. But this team's been just like, and they were supposed to be fifth place in the division this year. So listen, no, I, I'd be hard pressed to find a single expert writer, anyone that picked them to win the division. And most people did pick them last, as you said, because, you know, everybody thought the Yankees would be at the top. Red Sox had gotten better.

9:11Toronto won it last year. They went to the World Series for God's sakes. And Baltimore, a couple of years ago, won 100 games. So yeah, yeah, the race, just, you know, the little team that could, and it's funny to hear people on MLB network or TBS or wherever these games are, are aired, twist themselves into pretzels, trying to explain, you know, how good this baseball team is or this organization or how they can do this. And they've done it for so long that it should be, you know, accepted that they're always in the hunt. They're, they're very capable of beating anybody and they did give them their flowers for, you know, sort of bringing the fun and the fundamentals back to baseball, funning, stealing, hitting run, all those things that were kind of gone, you know, out of vogue, if you will, when it was home run or strikeout. But the other thing is they still have power. Like they hit a couple of home runs. This was not a small ball night, you know, they hit three home runs in the series.

10:12The Yankees hit two. There you go. The Bronx Bombers got out, out bombed, you know, and there's an article in the Wall Street Journal. I saw it. I haven't read it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. About, you know, the nerdyest team in baseball brought bonding back basically. But and they said, look, we didn't go into the season going, we're going to bond more than anyone. And they had more, more fun attempts than any team in 10 years. Yeah. And more hits than an American league in 15. Like, but as they said, they didn't go into it, but they learned that teams don't know how to defend it. So, you can keep doing it. Like, you know, the race. Like it's finding the guys and tinkering and, you know, bring Freddie Peralta in and change kind of his pitch usage and tweak a few things and it becomes better. But it's also about exploiting your weaknesses. Okay. If everybody's hitting home runs now and it's long ball, long ball, long ball, and we've got bad defenders on the field, well, then we're going to make you play defense. You know, we're going to bump. We're going to run. We're going to, you know, do all the things that you don't do very well because all you

11:15focused on was getting home run hitters. Yeah. And it's pretty much the sport. I'm not just saying one team, but right, right. But they couldn't, they could not match that economically, right? You could not go out and hire a bunch of sluggers that can give you 30 a year. You know, and the race have always found a way to win on the margins, you know, run prevention and not accumulation. You know, strong bullpened good starting pitching speed defense has been their biggest hallmark, probably is, is, you know, pitching in defense go hand in glove. So they've been that from the beginning, but it really does, you know, win ball games. And you saw it now, they had a couple of, I don't know if they gave them errors or not, but some loose plays, you know, some, no, a couple of ones at first. Yeah, I thought a Rhonda should come up with both of those, to be honest with you, but they were great throws, but you still, you got to come up with those. Yeah, I'm able to pick some, some relays on some double plays. But again, for the most part on balance, they played great defense the whole year.

12:18They're elite, elite defensive team and pitching in defense will carry a long way. But the difference is is if they've got three to four guys in that lineup that are a problem, like they can, they can, they got power. Most of them hit for pretty good averages and they're at the top of it lineup. And when that lineup turns over, then you got to go through Dias and Rhonda and Ronda. And Kim and Arrow and those guys, I mean, it's tough, you know, it's really tough. And I think they lengthened it with Hicks coming in here. I mean, they just, you know, Neander made the right trades at the right time. Got the right kind of players. And here they are, man, it's just, you know, for a new ownership group too with Ken Bally and those guys, I mean, they got to be pinching themselves, literally pinching. We bought a baseball team, right, that small market, low budget, didn't have a home, didn't have a home, pick, yeah, didn't have a, let's start there. Didn't have a home, picked last by everybody in their division. And you're walking out of there with a t shirt that says,

13:18ale, ale, uh, East champs and now ALDS champs. That's incredible. Well, and, and I think baseball, you know, we didn't, but baseball forgot how good the raise are as an organization because for the last two years, they had some 500 records. They didn't make the playoffs. And so you kind of take for granted, oh, you know, they didn't add a lot. They didn't do this. They, you know, they had their time. They had their run. They're done. They kind of forget how good this organization is and how, how pinpoint accurate they are and figuring out their weaknesses and then fixing it or addressing it or finding ways to make it a strength. Yeah. You know, okay, we don't hit a lot of home runs. But boy, we can bump the ball because you guys can't play defense. You know, we can put pressure with you on the base pass our speed. Yeah, our athleticism in the outfield. Yeah. The outfield how they're playing deeper than anybody plays. But they're more, they're getting to more balls because they're on a dead sprint from the,

14:19the moment the ball's hit. Right. They adjust the routes and they make more plays than anybody else. Yeah. Not because they're necessarily the best outfielder per se, but because they're doing things differently. Yeah. They figured out, they figured out a better way to do things. And now baseball is experimenting and what the winner leagues and minor leagues about telling you where you can position your outfielders and infielders. The raise rule. Yeah. I mean, they're already doing it to some extent with the infield and the line. Yeah, but actually not they're talking about, you know, your infielders have to be within a certain range of whatever. Like you can't just be behind second. So they're going to start painting the field at some point. Yeah, probably. You know, put, put, you know, lines and in different colors so that you can't, you know, step across it before the pitch. Yeah. It's, it's kind of headed that way. So I'm wondering with the ball that, you know, was first ruled a home run and then instant replay review showed that a fan leap stuck his hand over. A ball piece home run. Yeah, a ball piece home run.

15:19I didn't think like I just watched it, forgetting who the runner was at first base, but he kind of went halfway and a little more than halfway and waited for the ball. No, he didn't. He was, he was all the way halfway to third. No, see, I, when I watched the replay, no, he was halfway to third. He was out. He was out a whole lot. A little bit. It was two outs. Yeah, but he didn't run right away. I'm telling you. He didn't, I'm having to watch it again. He wasn't in a hard sprint to start. But he was, he was, he was, he was, so you think he scores no matter what? If that ball hits the top, you do. Yeah, unless Mesa somehow, unless it falls right in front of Mesa. Like his, I wasn't so sure that you could just award him home plate like that, but they did. Well, it's, it's, I'm prior discretion. It's adjustment. Yeah. Yeah. But because he was, because there was two outs, he was halfway between second and third. Because at first, I'm like, no, he was halfway, but I, but, but I think the ball, he, he had just hit second base when the ball hit the top of the wall. No, I, he was, he was past second. I'm not by much.

16:20Do you agree to disagree? Well, look at the replay. You may be right. But regardless, the, the umpire's discretion was that he would have scored. Cash argued unsuccessfully. I think that was the right call. Had there not been two outs, the runner wouldn't have been where he was. And maybe at that point, you say third. But because there was two outs, he was going. Yeah. Like unless that ball drops right in front of Mesa, where he can pick it up and throw it immediately. Right. Like that guy scored. It is left field. So who knows? But yeah. But regardless, they got the break of a lifetime. And maybe not because, you know, it could have gone the other way. But for that ball to be that close and not go out. Um, and then maintain that four three lead and then close it out. At four to three. That was the big thing. What also impressed me too was that even after that inning, Kevin Cash stuck with Jack's for another inning. He did. And he was great. I was not a big fan of that decision. I was, he hasn't pitched a lot to be starter, you know, to start with. His control was a little off. Um, and, you know, he's always had great stuff. But I was just like, uh, I think you're just, you're pushing it too far, man.

17:23You just need six outs or you need five outs like, you know, don't, don't try to be cute here, you know, use your A bullpen and get out of the Yankee Stadium and fly back home after this. And it just felt like he was pushing and pushing him. But he pitched really well, man. He got out of it. Um, and, you know, I thought Seymour did a great job. And he was great in this series. And then of course, Baker, you know, closing it out despite a good patch of wildness there in the middle of that, but he got the, uh, he got the out. He needed so, yeah, man, um, race moving on. It's unbelievable. It's, and it's a good thing. It couldn't come too soon because not everybody's excited about the Buccaneers. I don't know if you've heard their, uh, oh, in four. But they're what? Yeah. And, uh, the lightning season has off, is off to a decent start. So there's that. Well, you know, after they lost the first game, I mean, everyone jumped off that bandwagon, but, you know, they maybe they're maybe they're back on now. Well, Thursday night tonight would have been quite a, uh, quite a scene had, had the, uh,

18:26the race still be playing. I guess it wouldn't have played, but I mean, you got a lot going on in one night. Yeah. Well, USF set UTSA. Yep. Lightning to home against the wild. And the box are in Dallas. The box in Dallas and the TVs. Yeah. So you, you know, the race did everyone a favor. You don't have to go buy that fourth TV for your, uh, you know, right? That's right. That's right. You know, office, whatever, you know, wherever you're watching, you just need three. Just need three. Uh, I think I know who's going to have the lowest ratings. That's for sure. Now, the, on the other hand, it will not be the box. I can tell you that. No, on the other hand, in the National League, uh, the Dodgers have made it through. Yes, they have. So they're in the NLCS. What are the, I mean, wouldn't you know that the race get good again? It's been a few years. And then who's going to be waiting for them? The LA Dodgers in all probability. Yep. Well, the Brewers look like they may go through tonight too. So yeah, well, that'd be a hell of a series. There are up three one in the city. If it's Milwaukee and Tampa Bay, those contract talks are going to get really wonky during the offseason.

19:30I mean, you know, owners pushing for a salary cap. Uh, players are going to be using that nonstop. Absolutely. Yeah. You know, but just make, just make sure you don't send players any Christmas cards after December 2nd though. Why is that? Well, baseball put out a 34 page memo to teams of how to handle and contact with players during a lockout. Oh, and one of it was do not send Christmas cards after December 2nd. Because you can't have contact with players. That's a good rule for everybody. So ask an organization, you know, if you're going to send your Christmas cards, you better get them out early. If you're going to send them to your players. Wow. They're banning Christmas cards. Well, only after December 2nd, you can do it before. But not after, but that's pretty early, even for Christmas person like me. Just like last time when there was a lockout coming out of, you know, after the COVID year, but, you know, the websites were scrubbed. No videos of players, no names of players. Like the MLB websites will be bear basically.

20:33Yeah. They'll have community stuff, things like that. But, you know, there's a 34 page memo that went out. No Christmas cards after December 2nd. Well, so be it. I look for somewhere on the today's show Good Morning America. We'll be seeing Jeffrey mayor interviews anytime. No, with that fan. I assume he got ejected, by the way. I would say he did. He can't reach onto the field like that, right? Yeah. But as he becomes Steve Bartman in New York, well, I don't know. That's a great point. But granted, had you that only tied the game and you're only hoping to just avoid elimination. It wasn't like that was it, you know, like it, you all said you were winning and now you're losing. Now he'd be Bartman if that were the Yankees trying to make that catch. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it wound up beating them. This one, this one, you get first awarded a home run and then realized that he did an interfere. And it cost them a run though. Absolutely cost them run. But that ball is not going out of the park if he didn't reach over.

21:34No, unclosed. Back in the day when Merritt did it, it was game one of the 96 championship series against the Orioles. And when he reached over the wall, they didn't have all the instant replay and stuff like that. Richard Garcia used to live here in Tampa Bay, as a matter of fact, he ruled that it was a home run rather than spectator interference. And actually, Merr became a local hero in New York. Yeah. Yeah. That would not have been a home run. It would not have been a home run. It was awarded a home run because he reached over and pulled it in the stands. And then I don't think that guy's bought a drink since. But yeah, I don't know what's going to befall the people in left field that did that. I don't think you get too ticked off at him. It's not like, like I said, it wasn't the Yankees trying to camp under that ball to make an out. So, you know, it would not have gone out. Had he not reached over and that's why they ruled it a home run. And just didn't get away with it. Too much instant replay. Too many judgment calls in New York office, all that stuff.

22:37But man, Kevin Cash and those guys, they just killed it. They just slated this year. I mean, if you add, what did they win? 96 in the regular season? 98. 98. So now they're over 100 victories with this team. 101 with that. Yeah. I mean, that's stupendous. I mean, it's so many wins. It's incredible. You know, although even with those wins, though, assuming Milwaukee holds on tonight, yeah, they do know if they make the world series, they will start on the road. It will. Even with all that, even with all that winning. Wow. Because the Dodgers and Brewers are the only two teams with more wins than them. So, yeah. Well, the Dodgers, I think, won over 100 as well. They won 100. It was a quiet one. Have you ever heard the blurs were one of the Brewers were 103, I believe. So, I know, but I haven't heard less about a team this one 100 ever. Like it's like, yeah, they expected to do it. But it's that, you know, they're back to back chance. West Coast back to back. Chams, yeah, you know, everybody wants something new. Yeah. Well, including us because we want the race to win it.

23:39Yeah, that would be new. You're about to get, uh, I, I feared for the race sake, they're about to get the Dodgers again. But you know what? Maybe they prefer it. Yeah, maybe they prefer it. Like, hey, we owe these guys something. You know, what? Hey, if they get there, now you still got to get past Chicago or Cleveland. But if they get there, like, you could say, oh, it's the Dodgers, but the Brewers were better than the Dodgers this year. They were. They want three more games. Now, you know, whether that means who knows? I mean, that's going to be a great series. Like, the Brewers Dodgers. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think all the, even though the scores aren't necessarily, you know, the series wins and sweeps and things like that. But there's still been some pretty competitive games in all these series. And what the Whitesox have done is just stupid. I mean, to lose 100 games for what, two, three years in a row, your superfan is named Pope and then all of a sudden, you win, you win like 100 yourself and then your, your bashing teams in the, in the ALDS right now, I mean, it's crazy.

24:43It's crazy what's happened on the South Side of Chicago. It really is. And it's a Cubs town as much as anything, right? There are Whitesox fans, but it's primarily a Cubs town. And now these Whitesox fans are taking over. It's great. You think the Pope will come to game one of the ALC. You should, you should throw out the first pitch. No, I mean, game one at the top. I mean, do we go the top? Oh, oh, well, he won't, but I mean, it'd be cool if he did. Would be if anything, he'd go to game three in Chicago. But yeah, I think so. But he might, you know, he might wait for the World Series open. They get the role amount on the Pope mobile. Like, like, like a bulb. Remember, you just have those bullpen cards. Yeah, I mean, this one you bring him in from the bullpen. Play like Anna Sandman or something. Anna Pope, man. A rock version of what Christian him. Can we do? I don't know. Unwored Christian soldiers. I don't know something. I have to think of something. Like Axel Rose out there. Yeah, now that would be a crazy scene.

25:44I just, I can't believe it that, you know, here are the little team that could, man, back in the American League Championship series. You see the Tampa Bay Bucks could take a lesson from that somewhere, somehow. As bleak as things are, they could bounce back next year. I don't know if this year is going to work or not. Well, I'll just take it from the white stock, you know, three straight hundred loss. That's your inspiration. Yeah, right there. Right there. I'll tell you. All right, we'll get into what we'll be. I don't know. A very good matchup. Bucks at Dallas. Thursday night football, national TV where they have not fared well in their Todd bowls. In just a minute. First, get on down to Brightling, boutique folks, international plaza mall. They are sponsors and a good one. The Brightling company's been making the best Swiss watches now for over 144 years. They've been an international plaza for over six years. Now, where do you find it? Center the mall's second floor. Tremendous store going there. Let them pour you a drink.

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27:45All right, speaking of the box. How's this going to go tonight? Well, at least Chase McLaughlin's kicking for you. That's a break. Yeah, your best player. The guy they chose not to resign for whatever reason. That's going to become a free agent. Chase McLaughlin, nine for nine on field goals. Popped up on the injury report a day ago. With a couple ailments and on his right leg, no less. So there's a hip and something else. But basically they had that kind of a walk through in the indoor facility before they left to go to Dallas. He was not doing anything, but he looks fine. And he is going to kick. They didn't bring in another kicker. They didn't try to sign somebody to practice squad. So now whether or not his range will be affected. I really don't know. If you've got, you know, ankle or foot and injuries like that, certainly could have an impact. But they seem confident he's going to be fine. Of course, we know who won't be fine. This Baker Mayfield and Trollenfield Jr.

28:46Those two guys are both out. Jalen Daniels gets his second start of his young career having lost 17-14 in his first try against Green Bay. You know, and somehow, some way, this season, which is getting away from them all too fast, they need to find a win. And they need to find it right now. And it's going to be tough sledding. But look, Dallas has some holes on defense. They give up a lot of yards and a lot of rushing yards. And conversely, I think the bucks do a good job against the run. But Dex, I really believe Dex is going to throw the ball and throw it off then and, you know, CDLAM the other day, I think had, I don't know, like 19 targets and tons of catches. And, you know, it's just, it's a really, you know, enriched offense with big stars almost everywhere, including the quarterback, Dex Pressgot. And yet, they're the Saints. Like, sometimes, if you let them,

29:47they won't be able to get out of their own shadow. And that's what you have to hope for. You have to hope for Jalen Daniels handling the noise, being in their second time, being a little more relaxed, a little more sure of himself, you know, what to call it, the line of scrimmage, because it's going to be a lot of, you know, like I said, a lot of miscommunications and things like that. If you can do that, if you can handle all that, I give them a puncture's chance to put up some points. But we just, it was so just jointed in his first try that I'm not sure this is going to go easier to be honest with you. Yeah, you, I mean, you just, you like more time. More time. You know, if they had a couple days between starts, you know, in the preseason, you know, you get a lot of snaps, you play a lot, but once a regular season goes, like, the backup doesn't get snaps. Nope. You know, so it's, you know, in the words of Tom Moore, we don't practice F'd. That's right. If our quarterback goes down. And that's right. You know, so he hasn't got many snaps. So he gets the snap last week, because he's going to be the starter. He does some good things. A lot of things he needs to work on.

30:49First time starter, that's expected, right? And to the game, and to the game, he couldn't set the protection. Right. And he got blitzed four times. And on the final one, he ends up throwing what was rolled in the reception and then incomplete pass. But, you know, there are those mental things that he has to see and do and throw things hot and try to keep himself in the best play. He was in no way prepared for that. Until you're in the fire, I agree with you. I think he'll have a much better week of practice and preparation, even though he's not going to be physically exerting himself. Right. But the problem is, he doesn't get to, there's really no practice. There's walkthroughs. No, they're walkthroughs. No, they are walkthroughs. Which will help him. But, yeah, it's not the same. It's not the same. Just like the practice is in the same as the games either. But it's correct. But it simulates it a little bit better. So basically, he's kind of playing the fifth quarter, if you will, from the other day. Not much time to get rid of. And this time, you're going to be on the road. That's right. It's going to be louder, incredibly loud. You know, under granite, there were a lot of green bay fans. It wasn't like it was quiet when they were on offense. No, that's true.

31:49But these will all be dressed in cowboy gear. I mean, this is going to be, you know, a mercous team. And a mercous team is going to show up and show out. And it can get really deafening in there. And yet, you know, the ownership and the owner is invested heavily and emotionally and otherwise. And, you know, it's a jury world. And it's always fun to go down there. And you just never know what you're going to get. The cowboys cannot play defense right now. They are, they are giving up a lot of points. They're scoring 30 points a game. But they're also giving up a ton of points. And they may struggle running the ball against this Tampa Bay team. I think the bucks will have some success running the ball against Dallas. Like it's all just kind of a chess match each week anyway. But this will be a big test for them. A huge test for them. Because one thing Dallas can do is score points. I mean, 30 a game, second in the league. You know, that's, that's where you hang your hat if you're, if you're the cowboys. Yeah, it's, I mean, I think, you know, yesterday we talked about,

32:52you're getting Rubin Bain Jr. back. Yeah. And presumably he's healthy. Prop maybe healthier than he was the first two weeks he played. Maybe. Yeah. You kind of hope he wasn't healthy those first two weeks based on what he showed. His performance. Yeah. You know, but he could be a game record like you, to your point. Like we don't know. Like what if, right? What if he's the guy we saw in training camp and look, I've done this long enough. I know the guy can play. I saw the get off. I saw the bend. I saw the strength. I saw him, you know, ragged off some grown offensive tackles on his team. And if he's healthy, because he heard his shoulder in Jacksonville, then he had a groin injury. But if he, if we're talking on Friday about Rubin Bain Jr. being a game record, I'm telling you there are players that come into this league that for spurts at a time, but can absolutely change the complexion of an entire game. Rubin Bain is that guy. He could do it. We don't know if he will, but he's going to start. I imagine it'll start, but he's going to play.

33:54And, you know, and that's if he feels good and he plays well, he's going to have an impact on this game. And you just, you never know. You never know if it takes that one guy to like the fuse. You get a couple of turnovers. Things are going bad for Prescott. Jerry's a little nervous in the box with Charlotte and all of a sudden. You know, we got us a party in Dallas. So that's why I do think it is too early to just like say, well, that's it. They're they're all in 17 or, you know, this team will never win a game. Or the NFC South is already out of reach. It's not. It's a two game, you know, whole, but you could close the gap by a lot if you're able to find a way to win. And don't not predicting it. Don't think they're going to. I think Daniels will be better. And some other operations might be better, especially the line calls and protection calls and things like that. I still couldn't I wouldn't pick them to win the game. I think Dallas is far too talented on offense. Then for that to happen, but you got to start somewhere, man.

34:56Well, here's what I know. They can't lose special teams like they did last week. Boy, that's for sure. That is, you know, really if you take out special teams, it's a tie game last week. I mean, Jaylen Daniels has you in a tie game. Yes, he does. I mean, you don't give up the touchdown on the pun return, man. Yeah, I mean, to be honest, when I look at Jaylen, I don't think he played a bad game. Like, no, I'm not I'm not saying he's job. Two interceptions aren't good. What I'm saying is from what I expected. Yeah, oh, could it have been worse? Oh, yeah, I think to be honest, I think he exceeded my expectations. Did he? Okay. I'm not I wouldn't say like blew him out of the water, but you know, I don't know. I think I kind of met mine a little bit. Okay. And that's fair enough too, you know, it wasn't like you and this is what you get with rookie quarterbacks, even the ones that sometimes win games is, you know, they throw it 25 times, it complete 12 or 13 under 200 yards. Maybe one touchdown, a couple picks like that's what you get, right? That's that's kind of the universal rookie stat line.

35:57The question is how much better does he get between the first and second game? I would think a lot except that the second game comes, you know, just a couple days after they played the first. That's where you want that week of practice. Yes, especially, you know, you want to be able to go in the film room. And I know they did it as fast as they could, but you want to be able to go in the film room and look at that start that he made and find all the errors and say, yeah, you know, if I do this, if I see that, I didn't see this guy coming free, like, you go through all those, you know, and then you move on to the next week, but man, they just they just didn't have any time. And I think when he looks back, especially that last series, they needed 10 yards. That's it. 10 yards to kick a game tying field goal, perhaps. And see how it goes. And, you know, a bunch of things just just happened. They brought blitz. The brought blitz is on every play. But quarterback didn't pick them up. I thought it was absolutely brilliant coaching on Green Bay's part. Absolutely. That you saw what Minnesota did to the week from Baker.

36:58And just blitz, and Green Bay didn't do that. They held it back a little bit here. They waited until we need them. Because we know the box can't handle it. That's right. We waited until they waited until that last drive. And Jalen Daniels had no idea how to address it or fix it. Same safety safety came off the edge twice. And the first time he was able to get away a little bit and dump the ball and throw it away. The second time, those the last play of the game on fourth down, it was an interception. I'm sorry, it went sack then interception. But they had four different types of pressures. And the final four plays needing just 10 yards to get in field goal range. And oh, by the way, chase McLaughlin for those of you worried. Because I know yesterday he popped up on the injury report with a hip. That was bothering him and and something else on his on his kicking leg. He is okay. He didn't practice if he would not have practiced if they had one. It was a simulated type deal in the indoor facility. But they did not bring in another kicker.

37:58They think that McLaughlin will be will be good to go. So healing vibes to him, if you will. I wonder that flight from Tampa to Dallas probably wasn't too pleasant over the golf of Mexico for the bucks. We're going to be big. A little motion sickness on the way. I wonder if they flew a little north just trying to avoid it some. Probably. Yeah, north or south. I'm telling you, I'm not sure I've ever lived here my whole life. I was I was in lutes probably around eight or so. I'm not sure that band came through. I'm not sure I've ever seen it rain harder like louder. There was no hail or anything. So I've seen that but like man. And it's we've had to have gotten five inches in the last day. It's just incredible how much rain is out there. So be careful, my friends, especially when you're driving around Tampa and hit some bad roads and some potholes and things like that. But yeah, that's the storm is a coming. And you know, they got to find a way in Dallas to contend with CDLAM.

39:03And you know, those I mean, the receivers deck press God is so good. Ferguson the tight end is so good. I don't think defensively I think it's it's an unit that they can handle. I think they should be able to run the ball. So maybe it's closer than the odds makers think, which is about seven points in favor of Dallas. I'm not sure. But they can you imagine I've tried to picture this somehow sack fumbles, interceptions, hail Mary's like somehow the bucks leave Dallas and have a victory. Everything changes. You're one game out of first place and you got division games coming up after you play Pittsburgh. Like that's how quickly the perception could change. And I'm not predicting it because what do I know? But if you could ever get back there, you know, like Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, like get me back, you know, tap your red slippers or whatever, and get back to the beginning, your back and Cincinnati. I mean, I think you might have a different outcome. But we'll see.

40:04Should be an interesting weekend for sure. You got college football. The best college game I saw was Alabama, Georgia are playing each other whether or preventing, of course. Yeah, that's storm. So it's going to go right through that area. Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what the plans are contingency-wise, but that's a heck of a matchup right there. So we will see exactly what the bucks come up with in terms of, you know, their trip out there out to Dallas for this West they go. I believe this year and as you think of the zero, that's been the toughest thing for them. Yeah, for sure up to this point. Make sure you get on down to Brighton and Boutique. Folks, international plies of mall, check out the NFL team watches, wall supplies, last watches for your wife or girlfriend as well. It is Brighton and Boutique and please let them know. That's you heard about it here on Sports Day Tampa Bay. Thanks for listening as always, Forced Deep bursting, I'm extra on the Tampa Bay Times. Have a great day, everybody.

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