00:00which leaves us Kang to talk to Birchie as we do each week.
00:05Doug has another job?
00:07Apparently.
00:08It's like Birchie's got other jobs.
00:10What?
00:10Birchie has another job?
00:11I don't know.
00:12Birchie's all over the place.
00:13Birchie is nationwide, man.
00:15Am I really?
00:16I don't know.
00:17I would assume.
00:18Have you done interviews with other states?
00:21Yeah, I'm here and there, but nothing is scheduled weekly like this.
00:25But you're nationwide.
00:28A national brand, huh?
00:30Yes, exactly, 100%.
00:32Listen, a lot happened today out in the Allen Park.
00:36Lions talking with the media today.
00:38A lot was said, touching on a number of different topics
00:41that have really been at top of mind for people.
00:44I want to start with the Joey Porter Jr. stuff
00:47and what the Lions and what they had come out today.
00:50I guess it was Dan Campbell that talked about it
00:52and how serious the Lions were in adding or trying to trade
00:55for the now former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back.
01:00How close were the Lions, do you think,
01:02to actually landing Joey Porter Jr.?
01:06Yeah, I mean, you heard from Dan Campbell himself.
01:08I think they were very close.
01:09I think that they were right there in the running with the Cowboys
01:12all the way until the end, all the way until early Thursday morning
01:15when the Cowboys made the move and the Lions chose not to outbid them.
01:20Now, you can certainly object to Brad's decision to not add in perhaps a fifth rounder
01:26or a fourth rounder this year on top of the second rounder in 2028.
01:30But they were definitely involved, and it's a very clear acknowledgement
01:34on the part of Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell today
01:37that they aren't comfortable with this secondary,
01:40that in particular they are not comfortable with these cornerbacks
01:43who have conspired to allow the most passing yards in the NFL per game
01:46through three games, the most explosive passing plays in the NFL through three games.
01:50And it's also a window into their thinking ahead of the November 10th trade deadline
01:55that they will very much continue hunting help at cornerback.
01:59I think we all need to remember that for as much as we might have liked Joey Porter
02:03in this defense, he's not the only cornerback who's going to be available
02:07ahead of the deadline, and the Lions are definitely going to keep looking.
02:10The other important note here, Gator, and I mentioned this last night
02:14with Wojo and Rieger, is that as I understand it from talking to some people here
02:19inside the walls of Allen Park, so to speak,
02:22the Lions viewed Joey Porter Jr. as a rental.
02:25This was not a player they were going to acquire and then extend.
02:29And you can interpret that however you want.
02:32To me, it says that they weren't willing to acquire Joey Porter Jr.
02:35at the expense of extending Brian Branch or Sam LaPorta this offseason,
02:40which they still very much intend to do.
02:42And if you had extended Joey Porter at his likely demand of $30 million plus per year,
02:48you certainly have to let one, possibly both of those players walk,
02:52but definitely one.
02:53And so they looked at Joey Porter Jr. as a rental.
02:56And I think in some ways that should be encouraging to fans who are desperate
03:00to see this team add help, that they are willing to move draft capital
03:07for a player who might only be here for the next, call it, 10, 12, 13 games.
03:12And so I imagine that's their thinking ahead of the deadline.
03:17You mentioned that Brian Branch in that mix there as well.
03:21Obviously, his contract situation with him to extend him.
03:25He hasn't played yet this year, coming back from the Achilles injury last year.
03:28Dan Campbell talked about it today that he looks like he's pretty close to coming back.
03:36Yeah, definitely.
03:37I fully expect to see Brian Branch at practice next Monday.
03:41The question I have, and I was running this by someone here, and I'm waiting for an answer,
03:46is once they return Brian Branch to practice, does the bye week and those five days count
03:54toward his 21-day evaluation window?
03:57And I think that it does.
03:59I'm not entirely sure.
04:00I also don't necessarily think that it will matter.
04:03You know, I think that the plan would be, this is just kind of me extrapolating,
04:08listening to Campbell today, to return Branch to practice next week, let him rip for that week.
04:13Then you give him the bye to kind of recover, recuperate, stay here for whatever treatment
04:18he might need.
04:19Then he's got that third week out of the bye.
04:22And then you can unwrap him and unleash him for that Packers game out of the bye.
04:27And by the way, the Packers themselves might be debuting Micah Parsons that week.
04:31So it could be the return of two major defensive pieces in the NFC North.
04:36And you know that Brian Branch would love the idea of getting back on the field against
04:42the Green Bay Packers.
04:43Yeah, and he would be certainly a welcomed addition.
04:46And of course, I don't think anybody would expect him to be what he was last year prior
04:49to the injury, because an Achilles is one that takes more than a minute to come back
04:54from and get to full speed.
04:55But if he'd likely be an improvement in the secondary, then yeah, as soon as he can become
05:02available to play, that'd be great.
05:04Let's look at Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers.
05:07Sunday night, Bryce Young for the Carolina Panthers is off to a real hot start.
05:11He's averaging over 300 yards passing per game.
05:14He's been kind of progressing as a pro in each of the first few seasons of his career.
05:19And now it looks like he's taking a bigger step.
05:22Is he the real deal, or is he still just a bit of a novelty?
05:27I mean, I think the Lions take him as the real deal.
05:30I think the one knock, perhaps, against the passing of her so far is that I do believe
05:35he accrued a huge portion of those in a couple games where the Panthers were trailing, including
05:41that first game against the Bears.
05:43So they have been forced to throw the ball a lot, and he has been hurling it downfield.
05:47And he's got players, receivers, as Campbell said, who play above the rim, like big targets,
05:52including Seth McMillan.
05:54And we'll see if Jalen Coker plays on Sunday.
05:56I think he's questionable based on an injury.
05:59But they have big targets, and those have led to a lot of explosive passing plays.
06:03I believe Bryce Young leads the league right now in passing plays of 20-plus yards or more,
06:09and the Lions lead the league in passing plays of 20-plus yards and more allowed.
06:14So it does set up for a potential shootout on Sunday night.
06:19The other thing to note with Bryce Young is that this offensive line he's playing behind
06:24right now is ramshackle, and he has faced the most quarterback pressures in the NFL through
06:31three games.
06:31Again, part of that is, A, throwing the ball a lot, and then, B, throwing the ball downfield
06:36on plays that take longer to develop.
06:38But this Panthers offensive line, especially at tackle, is pretty beat up.
06:42And Monroe Freeling, who is their starting right tackle and who was on the board for the Lions
06:47at number 17 when they took Blake Miller, has looked like the project that everyone sort
06:53of assumed he would be.
06:54The Panthers, I don't think, intended for him to start in week one.
06:57They've had no choice based on injuries there.
07:00And Freeling has allowed 14 quarterback pressures, the most in the NFL, through two games and two
07:05sacks.
07:06So you can imagine that Aiden Hutchinson and DJ Wanham in his return to Carolina are licking
07:11their chops for Sunday night's matchup.
07:14They should be, but Bryce Young's also elusive.
07:16He's only been sacked seven times despite all the pressures.
07:19That's the one side of the ball.
07:21But the other side of the ball, the Lions attacking the Carolina defense.
07:24It's now without their top two corners.
07:27This is a suboptimal if you're a Carolina Panthers fan.
07:31And for Lions fans, is this the week they finally break the 31-point streak?
07:37Yeah, you know, you feel like they might have to, given the way this game might transpire.
07:42Yeah, I do think.
07:43I think that this offense is poised to possibly even push 40 this week.
07:47It's hard to project how the Panthers defense might look with two huge missing pieces in
07:53the back end.
07:54But if they have any hope, the Panthers, it has to start with their front seven and Derek
07:59Brown, one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL, creating some havoc.
08:03But yeah, I don't really see much of a path for the Panthers to slow down this Lions offense
08:08on Sunday night.
08:10And I mentioned Monroe Freeling.
08:12We should also, in that conversation, mention how well Blake Miller has played.
08:16The Lions loved both of those guys in the draft.
08:19They thought really highly of Freeling, just as they did of Blake Miller.
08:23But, you know, they looked at a guy in Blake Miller who had played every game for four
08:27years at Clemson and figured he could be a plug-and-play starter and looked at Freeling
08:31and saw more of a project.
08:32And they knew that they had a need at a premium position at right tackle and that Blake Miller
08:37made the most sense for them now and later.
08:40And I'll tell you what, man, through two games, that looks like a really sharp decision.
08:44Blake Miller, among the six offensive tackles drafted in the first round this year, has
08:49been the best.
08:50And again, I'll add a caveat, it's just two games.
08:52But the two guys that were drafted in the top 12 aren't even playing tackle.
08:58Mally Noah for the Giants and Proctor for the Dolphins have both begun their careers at
09:01guard.
09:02And then out of Fano and Ahina Shore and Freeling and Miller, Miller has been the steadiest.
09:07And it's really not all that close.
09:09So the Lions got to feel pretty good about that pick, just two short games into it.
09:14Quickly, who are we going to be talking about on Monday's show?
09:17And do you have a prediction?
09:19Yeah, I mean, I think it's a high-scoring game.
09:22I think both offenses, even if it rains, are putting up points.
09:25I'll take Lions 41, Panthers 31.
09:29And I think on the show Monday morning, we're talking about Sam LaPorta.
09:37How about that?
09:37Sam LaPorta having a big day for this Lions offense.
09:40There you go.
09:41Are you on TV on Sunday prior to this game?
09:43Or no, because it's...
09:44Yeah, yeah.
09:45All right, let's go.
09:45It's there.
09:46Lions game day live, 10 a.m.
09:47Don't miss it.
09:48Look forward to it, Bertie.
09:50And appreciate your time.
09:50As always, have a great weekend.
09:52And we'll talk to you next week.
09:54All right.
09:54See you, Gator.
09:55Appreciate it.
09:55See you, Gator.
09:56See you, Gator.
09:57Will Birchfield.
09:5997.1.
10:00The ticket's own Will Birchfield.
10:01Love talking to me each and every week.
10:02We will get some thoughts that you have, Kang, about the Lions game on Sunday.
10:06What to expect.
10:07Plus, we've got If I Bet It coming up at 1.38 here on 97.1.
