00:00I was talking to my wife last night.
00:03I mentioned on Friday my kids are out of town, down with the grandparents.
00:06Got the whole world in front of us, and I'm like, man,
00:09this week could have started better, but that's okay.
00:12I thought you were going to go, got the whole world in his hands.
00:15You got the whole world.
00:17I mean, we need it.
00:18Dude, hey, if yesterday –
00:20Wrap our arms around one another and start singing.
00:22If fumbling on the first snap from scrimmage and losing 34-3
00:26doesn't make you find a higher being,
00:29then I don't know what will.
00:31Yeah, let's rip the Band-Aid off.
00:32We do have to talk about the Falcons game.
00:34That is our top priority today.
00:36We do want to hear from you, whether you call in, whether you tweet us,
00:39let us know your thoughts.
00:40We will get it out of our systems all together, 404-726-0929.
00:45I do want to mention, though, the Braves clinched the NL East
00:47after their 4-2 win over the Astros, swept the series.
00:50We will celebrate the Bravos at 6-20 because we're going to need a bright spot.
00:54Ole Miss beat LSU 32-24, sent Lane back to Louisiana with an L.
00:58But yesterday at the Benz, Falcons lost to the Panthers 34-3.
01:02They are 0-2.
01:03They have not reached the red zone, had five turnovers yesterday.
01:06Cooper Rush had three, including the one Bo was just talking about,
01:09a fumble on the first play of the game.
01:10Jack Strand came in through a pick six.
01:12It was not what we wanted to see at home against a divisional opponent.
01:16Let's hear from Kevin Safanti on this game not being up to their standard.
01:21Listen, every game you come into as a team and as a coach, as a player,
01:26you want to perform well and you want to perform up to your standard.
01:29That was not up to our standard.
01:30So we will look at ways that we can be better.
01:35I'm going to raise my hand here because the very first play of the game
01:38that you all are talking about, the Jack Strand fumbled on,
01:41I sit next to Joe Patrick and I'm like, yes, let's go.
01:44So, and I think when I was excited about it, he gets under center
01:50and I'm like, all right, I want to see wide zone, I want to see bootleg.
01:53I want to see wide zone, I want to see bootleg.
01:54Wide zone, bootleg.
01:55Bootleg, first play, under center.
01:56I'm like, yes, run the ball, yes.
01:59And then I thought he was down and I'm looking down at the field
02:01and I'm going, that could not have started worse, possibly at all,
02:04could not have started worse.
02:05Yeah, he was down.
02:08The problem is that they are going to call that a fumble
02:11so it automatically gets reviewed most times.
02:14And because of that, it was such a bang, bang play
02:18that there wasn't enough to overturn it.
02:20Because, I mean, it literally was basically his knee touches,
02:24ball comes out.
02:26So it's one of those dills.
02:27You got to fight through it.
02:29He was, I think it's safe to say that we won't see that again.
02:34And what I mean is I don't think we're going to see Cooper Rush again.
02:38And in radio, we've all been a part of firings, us, others.
02:44I remember the first time I saw someone get fired in radio,
02:46I knew they were getting fired and they walked in and was like,
02:48yeah, I got to meet with the boss.
02:50Probably getting fired.
02:51And they were laughing, like joking.
02:53And then literally, and I was like, oh, but you don't know.
02:56You really are getting fired.
02:58That's the way I felt yesterday when I saw Cooper Rush leave the locker room.
03:01I felt bad because I was like, yeah, I don't know if we'll see you again.
03:05Cause I, I, if Penix comes back, I don't know if Penix comes back Thursday,
03:10like we're kind of bit, that's been alluded to by some in the national media.
03:15I think he would just, I think he would probably just move on.
03:19I think if anything, cause we'll get into the Jack Strand conversation,
03:23I'm sure throughout the day, but I think if anything,
03:26when Jack Strand came in and struggled himself, I think it made us look at him.
03:31At least me, it allowed me a little bit more to look at Cooper Rush and say,
03:34dude, you're kind of a sacrificial lamb here.
03:36You know what I mean?
03:37Both of you guys, neither one of you should be in this situation.
03:39And you start feeling bad.
03:41You know, obviously during, while it's happened, you're mad at the quarterback,
03:44but once you kind of zoom out on the situation, you start getting mad at other things.
03:48And you're like, you know what, man, you were just the target of the angst for just a little bit.
03:52And I'm looking at it now in whole and I'm going, you were never set up for success.
03:57No, no, they weren't.
03:58And I want to bring in the question that you asked before we went on air today, Mike,
04:02in that who do you think Falcons fans are mad at today?
04:07Well, he's still going to be a significant portion of it,
04:10but I do think that it's being spread around to other parts that were not being spread around to six
04:16days ago.
04:17Yeah, I agree.
04:20So we all know that we have a plan A and a plan B.
04:23Plan C never made it to camp.
04:26He got injured.
04:28Plan D was Jack Strand, essentially, because he was in there on the roster,
04:33he was undrafted because you didn't think you'd ever have to worry about him playing.
04:35You only know, coming into camp, you honestly probably didn't think he would even make the roster.
04:41Cooper Rush is, if we're being honest, he's plan E, right?
04:45A, B, C, D, E.
04:46I'm trying to do alphabet.
04:48He was your fifth choice, and he ended up having to start the first two games.
04:53When you're talking about plan E at quarterback in week one,
04:59things have not gone well in training camp.
05:01I mean, the whole lot.
05:03And it didn't with the Tua and getting injured.
05:07I mean, I don't know.
05:10It's just so hard to talk about because people are mad,
05:13and then they're blaming Matt Ryan and Stefanski, which is fine.
05:17Ian Cunningham, which is fine.
05:18I get it because everybody's looking for one person to blame.
05:23But, I mean, man, you just never thought you would be there.
05:28I want to make sure we clarify that plan C was Trevor Simeon
05:31because I don't think people even remember that name.
05:33Yeah, touche.
05:33Because he was not in camp.
05:35So plan A, panics.
05:36Plan B, Tua.
05:36Plan C, Trevor Simeon.
05:37Plan D, Cooper Rush.
05:41Yeah.
05:41Essentially, yeah.
05:42He had to switch places with Trevor Simeon, yeah,
05:45because of Jack Strand's background.
05:48I mean, and it's just – the thing is, I think more people –
05:51you're mad at Matt Ryan and Ian in this situation
05:54because you had two oft-injured quarterbacks as plan A and B,
05:57and you – essentially, you knew that Michael Penix was coming off an injury
06:03even though you thought he would be completely healthy,
06:05and you brought in another quarterback as plan B
06:07that was also – had significant injuries and was an injury risk.
06:10I think that that's kind of the way it unfolds.
06:12I don't necessarily think that Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Reese
06:17can be held without at least some liability,
06:19but you're right.
06:20It's not one person.
06:21We can't sit here and look at one person.
06:23The bottom line is I think that most Falcons fans –
06:26y'all correct me if I'm wrong.
06:27I think most Falcons fans didn't think it had to get worse
06:29before it got better coming into the year,
06:32and yet it feels much worse.
06:34Yeah.
06:36Yeah, I agree with that.
06:37I also think about how everybody last week was like,
06:39oh, I can't get any worse than this.
06:41Oh, you think so?
06:42Buddy.
06:43Because last week was – last week looked like a master class
06:49compared to what – yeah, yesterday's –
06:51That's the most frustrating thing.
06:52Can't get much worse.
06:53Don't have nothing to lose.
06:54I'm like, bro, it can get way, way, way, way worse than this.
06:58What was the change in decibels in the Benz when Jack Stren went out
07:03versus when he threw the pick six?
07:05Oof.
07:06Because it was an overwhelming excitement when he got out there,
07:09and then I think fans realized why we've been saying
07:13maybe that's not the best idea.
07:15Yeah, I actually – I thought that the pick six wasn't really on him.
07:23He threw a – was it a throw that he threw in a tight window?
07:27Yes.
07:28But it also was right on the – right in the hands of the guy
07:31who just coughs it right up in the air.
07:35Now, the next drive and then the next drive,
07:38and maybe I think another drive, I can't remember,
07:41was exactly what we've been talking about.
07:44You throw in behind guys.
07:45You're throwing high.
07:49The ball comes out.
07:51The sack that he took from Jalen Phillips, it almost –
07:57I felt like Jalen Phillips pulled up when he hit him
07:59because he beat Michael Jarrell, and I saw it, and I was like,
08:02oh, God, I thought he was about to just clobber Jack Stren,
08:06and it just felt like he pulled up a little bit.
08:09But, yeah, you're right, Allie.
08:10Like, that is – and it was very – it was a light traffic day leaving the Benz.
08:15Yeah, and that's the thing is I think with the sides that everybody had to take
08:20about the Jack Stren issue, it doesn't – we're not going to get on here
08:24and dunk on Jack Stren.
08:26I think that Jack Stren played exactly the way Jack Stren was supposed to play,
08:30honestly.
08:30He took some risk.
08:31He had some bad moments.
08:32It is what it is.
08:33Like, it's not here to dunk on Jack Stren.
08:35It's to say that we should have never had those expectations,
08:38nor should they have ever – either one of those guys ever been put in this situation
08:41from the get-go, and I think the disingenuous part about the Jack Stren conversation
08:46is when you say, well, at least he gives you the element of running, and he does.
08:50But this offense, and this is why we keep always going back to repetitions
08:53during practice, this offense isn't designed for him to go out and run.
08:56It's designed to look exactly like it looked when he came in,
08:59and that's throwing slants, and that's dropping back in the pocket,
09:02and that's doing some other things with his legs when he could.
09:04So did Cooper Rush.
09:05It's just not designed that way, man.
09:07And so it's just – it's so frustrating to that end because he –
09:13honestly, the poor guy should have never been in the situation
09:15to throw the pick six from the get-go, and there's a lot of people above him,
09:19a lot, in all different directions that failed him that put him in that situation.
09:23Well, and they did – they tried to not do that.
09:26And look, the problem for me – I think you nailed it when you said
09:30whatever side of the argument you ended on.
09:32This is why I was getting so frustrated with the – it's dishonest when you have a platform
09:41and you just say things for people to like you.
09:44You're being – it's not – I don't like it, and I felt like there was such a push.
09:48Oh, yeah, can't be any worse.
09:49Put strength out there.
09:50Like, you're – that's not the best thing for the human being that you're putting in that situation.
09:55The player – you're killing growth.
09:58You're killing development, and it turned people into, like, sounding like haters
10:04because they're like, no, he's not ready, and he wasn't.
Comments