00:00Oh, and that leads right into the conversation about the NFC South.
00:03First place Falcons.
00:05Yeah, first place.
00:06Listen, we said it after the spectacular effort the other night in Green Bay.
00:13Like, this is not a division that's ever going to get away from you, right?
00:16No.
00:17Todd Bull said it himself.
00:18He's getting absolutely pepper for being 0-3, and he's like, yeah, we're one game out of the league for
00:22the division.
00:23You can't say that if you're a head coach.
00:24But you can.
00:25You can't say that.
00:26Explain what he said.
00:27Go ahead.
00:27He's 0-3, and they're absolutely peppering him because he is by far and away the top odds coach to
00:33be fired first.
00:34ASAP.
00:35And he said, look, we're one game out of the division lead.
00:37There's no need to freak out right now.
00:40I give him credit for it.
00:41Try to sugarcoat him.
00:43Settle the waters.
00:43Settle the waters.
00:44As opposed to saying, I'm not happy he's unacceptable or anything.
00:48He went with that angle.
00:49But, listen, I think we all recognize, you know,
00:53there's somewhere between the absolute natural disaster of the Carolina game two weeks ago
00:59and the most proficient pounding probably of the season,
01:05probably the best win of the year of any team in the NFL was the Falcons
01:09because they were on the road.
01:10And I'm not telling you the Bills haven't looked good or other 3-0 teams,
01:13but nobody went on the road and beat somebody and scored 35 points away at the Falcons.
01:18So somewhere in between that is our team, right?
01:22Hopefully, yeah.
01:23Somewhere in between that.
01:24And, obviously, we knew what the problem was first two weeks.
01:27Nobody's going to win in the league with your third stringer or your fourth stringer.
01:30But every thought or hope you have for the Atlanta Falcons is absolutely within their grasp.
01:37I was not surprised that New Orleans struggled yesterday,
01:40Tampa being 0-3 with Baker Mayfield hurt.
01:43And then what are the Carolina Panthers?
01:45I mean, Carolina's a 1-2 team that gave up 60 to the Bears and just lost to the Browns.
01:51So who are they other than when they play us?
01:54World beaters when they play the Falcons.
01:55You're exactly right.
01:56That's seemingly what the Carolina Panthers have been.
01:59So, you know, it is very energizing for Jeff Albrecht and Tommy Reese
02:07and Kevin Stefanski, three guys running their units, to say,
02:11listen, we just keep getting better, right?
02:14I don't know how much better you can get on defense.
02:16Jeff Albrecht has just been unbelievable.
02:17And I'll give, look, we can't leave Craig Aukerman out of this, too.
02:21I mean, the block field goal, Nick Folt getting back on the right page.
02:24Their coverage.
02:25Yeah, they've been exceptional as well.
02:27So, no, I'm with you.
02:28And I said it to you on Friday, and I'll say it again when Drew's sitting here.
02:32It's proof of concept is what it is more than anything.
02:34It's just proof that the things you are doing can work given the circumstances.
02:39Before that game, you're going, I don't know anything's on the table
02:42for what the season can look like, but Michael Bennett comes back,
02:45and your guys ball out, and now you feel like you have a fighting chance any week.
02:49It's extremely clear that with Bijan Robinson, you do have a fighting chance any week.
02:54However, the only caveat is that he needs a quarterback to be in the football game,
02:58and the Falcons did not have that in weeks one and two,
03:00which is by far and away the most frustrating thing for all Falcons fans.
03:04You know, we can point the finger at Michael Penix Jr.
03:07Why weren't you playing when you were cleared?
03:09I would probably point the finger more towards Tua Tungabailoa.
03:12What was that?
03:13It's just fair.
03:14What was that?
03:15And I give credit to Cooper Rush for actually putting the helmet on
03:19and getting in the game.
03:20I mean, what the Falcons had to deal with at the quarterback position specifically
03:24weeks one and two were unlike anything we've ever seen.
03:28Yeah.
03:29Truly.
03:30And then you plug Penix in on Thursday night, and you've got to just tip your cap
03:34to that young man.
03:35He balled out.
03:36I mean, the best game of his career.
03:39By far.
03:40Totally in control after the interception.
03:43We're watching a lot of mental midgets that cannot recover.
03:46Drake may put it at the top of the list.
03:48Once you throw an early pick, you completely fall apart.
03:50You can't get your game back in line, or you're just in your own head.
03:54Michael Penix Jr. running under center play action pass down the field.
03:58And now, Kyle Pitts has a net.
04:01It's almost like he's blocked great last game.
04:03He blocked great.
04:03I heard the whole tight end discussion.
04:04It was a great one this morning.
04:05Yeah.
04:06But he hasn't got going.
04:07No, he hasn't.
04:08Zachariah Branch hasn't.
04:08I promise you we'll have a day where we go, Zachariah Branch won that game with that
04:12catch late in the game when he went and he broke it for 45 yards and whatever.
04:16Well, that hasn't happened yet.
04:17And you can see what he's capable of, as Kyle Pitts and everything else.
04:21And I think that's the beautiful part of it.
04:22There has been times where Michael Penix is locked on Drake Lennon.
04:26But you had, I think, eight guys that were targeted in the passing game the other night,
04:30which is nice.
04:30We saw Zacchaeus get a screen.
04:32You saw Branch get a catch.
04:33You saw Hooper get the big catch as well.
04:36There was some upside there.
04:38But you're right.
04:39Being able to lock in, and we talked about this moment on Friday, Tuesday, you had intentional
04:45grounding, right?
04:45You went from second and one to third and 11.
04:47You get hit in the face.
04:49That gives you a first down.
04:51Bajon rips off a 50-yarder the next play.
04:52And you are in business.
04:54From that moment on, you threw this thing into gear.
04:57And that was a snowball going downhill.
04:59Okay, so what are you thinking about Monday night?
05:02I mean, this is a big, big week for the Atlanta Falcons.
05:05Road division game.
05:07Tyler Shuck looks like he's going to be the franchise quarterback for the New Orleans Saints.
05:11You know that the atmosphere inside the Superdome is going to be,
05:14Insane.
05:15Insane.
05:16One of the best throughout the entire league all season long.
05:19It'll be the loudest building of 2026.
05:23Yeah.
05:23Because of the Katrina 20-year anniversary.
05:26Because of Steve Gleason's presence.
05:28Because of what that game represents for that region.
05:31And it's all wonderful.
05:32You know, think of New York after 9-11.
05:35They lost the World Series.
05:36I mean, you're going to have everything in the world.
05:38Sure.
05:38I mean, that doesn't mean you're going to go out and it all happens.
05:41And just think about the teams.
05:44New Orleans is not a better team than Atlanta.
05:46How do I know that?
05:48They're 1-2.
05:49We're 1-2.
05:50They lost to the Raiders at home.
05:51I mean, we're all about, we have the best player on the field.
05:55That's Bajon Robinson.
05:56Drake and Chris Alave, very similar.
05:59But these teams are very similar.
06:01I would say that the number one way, and I'm not breaking any news here, the number one
06:05way you quiet that stadium is Bajon, Bajon, Bajon, then Brian Robinson, then play action
06:11and hit one and drive down the field and just be methodical and win time of possession.
06:16But it's going to be, the buildup to that game is going to be big.
06:20But you've got to think, with the added rest that the Falcons have coming off Thursday
06:24night, with their quarterback back in the play, Tommy Reese, I thought he called a great
06:29game on Thursday night.
06:30Phenomenal.
06:31Phenomenal.
06:31The momentum is clearly on the Falcons' side heading into this big Monday night football
06:35matchup.
06:36Yeah, and I thought Tyler Shuck watching him play yesterday.
06:38You know, they had the, I think they won like, what, five of their last six last year.
06:42They were good down the stretch.
06:42But when you looked at the teams they were playing, not very good, I think that he's
06:46still in development phase.
06:48I don't think you can look at Tyler Shuck and be like, oh yeah, he's the runaway guy.
06:52Like, he still has problems.
06:53And you saw a lot of those, you know, tend to come out yesterday as well.
06:56So I don't know.
06:57Like, to answer your question, I don't know what we're going to get on Monday.
06:59I really don't.
07:00Because it's like State just said, you're somewhere between what you were against the
07:03Panthers and the Packers.
07:04How bad are the Packers?
07:06I don't know.
07:07They seem pretty bad on Thursday night.
07:09So we'll see how it measures up.
07:11The Packers aren't winless.
07:13They found a way to win two weeks ago in New York.
07:16So, you know, I know they want to call them the worst team in the NFL.
07:19They were playing at home.
07:20They had plenty of weapons.
07:21And you beat the hell out of them.
07:23Yeah.
07:23That was a beatdown.
07:24Yeah.
07:24It was a complete beatdown.
07:26And listen, Jeff Albrecht, like, we're not going to be, we're not going to come up
07:31shortchanged on defense.
07:32We didn't hit Pittsburgh.
07:34We really didn't hit Carolina.
07:36Like, Jeff Albrecht's going to cause problems for Tyler Shuck.
07:39That's what's so sad.
07:40Like, Tyler Shuck will have problems with Jeff Albrecht because he's going to dial something
07:44up.
07:45Oh, God.
07:46Oh, God.
07:46Could be the Cam Thomases of the world.
07:48Could be other guys.
07:49Javon Dexter.
07:50Yeah.
07:50I mean, Mason Smith.
07:51So, like, what's satisfying when you go to work and fly a brand is like, dude, we just
07:56need to keep getting better because this division, we know on the offensive side, we have better
08:02players.
08:02We got, we, you, you talked about our guard play finally coming to life.
08:06So good.
08:07So good.
08:08Watching Chris Lindstrom pull, kick out on these power plays and do different things that, that
08:12he should be good at, that he has never done in his career.
08:15And yet he's doing them now.
08:16You could see the excitement from him celebrating the touchdown.
08:18Yeah.
08:19I mean, when new Orleans is game planning against us, they're like, that's a, that's a load,
08:23dude.
08:23That's like, they got Lindstrom and Bergeron, they got veterans, then they got, then they
08:28got those two running backs, Robinson, Robinson, then they got, you know, pits, London, branch
08:34dots, like we're going to be a problem.
08:37I do want to say one more thing too, because I just, we were naming off guys.
08:41I got to give Ian Cunningham a ton of credit for what he's done in that front seven.
08:44I really do.
08:45Like the Javon Dexter move, the Mason Smith trade for Rook, the Cam Thomas signing to bring
08:50him over on a one year from Cleveland, drafting Kendall Daniels.
08:54I mean, you can keep going down the way.
08:56It's just the Darius Smith.
08:58I mean, every move they've made so far.
09:01They had nothing two months ago.
09:03There's only one player in the front seven that's the same as last year's, Divine Diablo.
09:07That's it.
09:08Like it's a completely, well, doorless to him.
09:10It's also, it's also, I know if I can give Jeff Albrecht a little something, he's going
09:14to figure it out.
09:15Yeah.
09:15And he has.
09:16And I'm a huge Divine Diablo fan.
09:18I think he is the linchpin of that defense, without question.
09:22When he hit Jordan Love's arm.
09:23Oh, yeah.
09:23Oh, my God, dude.
