00:00Boy, it was all good a week ago.
00:02Boy, it was all good a week ago here in Atlanta, boy.
00:05And then just like it rained on the parade down there,
00:08it rained on the love with this damn football team.
00:11God, this is a week-to-week love affair with this damn football team.
00:15And I understand him.
00:17Well, boy, as happy as it was last week, a lot of them pissed off people this week.
00:22Yeah.
00:22Yeah, I was like, damn, it was all good a week ago.
00:25It was.
00:25It was like, from this to a bum and a bust and steps back.
00:31I'm like, damn.
00:32Yeah.
00:33But, I mean, you know.
00:34I think the context of the win and the loss, too, right?
00:37Like, they beat a team that hadn't lost yet this season,
00:41and Penix had his best game.
00:43So kind of two obvious things to get excited about, right?
00:46The quarterback who you want or don't,
00:48but you're kind of looking to see what the quarterback can be,
00:51and he has his best performance, NFC Player of the Week.
00:53They beat Kyle Shanahan and Raheem Morris and the 49ers who hadn't lost yet.
00:58That's great.
00:58Yeah.
00:59And then it wasn't that they lost the game.
01:04They lost to a team that had zero completions,
01:07and they scored zero points.
01:09So it would have been,
01:11say that Tampa kicked the field goal to end the game,
01:14to win the game in the fourth quarter.
01:17Kick a field goal and win the game like that.
01:18Would it have been as bad?
01:20Probably not.
01:20I mean, if Michael Penix those four picks, though,
01:23because, I mean, there's a lot to it.
01:24Like, again, obviously, you're right.
01:27The reactions are extreme, but the reactions are always extreme.
01:30But the games were extreme.
01:31They played their best game,
01:33and then they played one of the dumbest games.
01:36Right?
01:37Like, I don't think people that are having the extreme swings of emotions aren't wrong.
01:41No, I'm not calling anybody wrong.
01:43No, I would never call anybody wrong for the emotions of being a fan of this football team.
01:48I was just pointing like, damn, it was just a damn week ago.
01:51We were all hyped up and everything.
01:53I'm telling you, I was like, damn.
01:54And then they went out and threw it 24 times in a monsoon,
01:57and everyone's like, are these guys dumb?
01:59Like, who are these guys?
02:02You know what I mean?
02:02That's where I'm at with it, honestly.
02:04It's like, yeah, if the weather was what it was,
02:07and both teams threw the ball six times,
02:09and, all right, Penix throws a couple picks,
02:11and it's like, we can't throw it anymore.
02:12We got to run it.
02:13Oh, their run game's too good.
02:14Whatever.
02:14And it's just like a nine-to-six slog.
02:16You come out of it like, all right, that sucked,
02:19but wash your hands of it.
02:20You know what I mean?
02:21But it wasn't.
02:22Like, one team realized what the day was,
02:25and the other team didn't.
02:26And to me, that's the thing that's the most concerning,
02:28is Michael Penix threw three interceptions in his first nine passes.
02:33And two other ones could have been intercepted as well.
02:35And I'm not saying he could have thrown five,
02:37because he threw one after he almost threw one on the same drive,
02:41so he couldn't have thrown five,
02:42but he threw five interception-worthy passes in his first nine passes.
02:47And you're two minutes into the second quarter,
02:49and you're only down by six.
02:51And you still decided to throw it 15 more times.
02:54You know how many times the Bucs threw it after that?
02:56None.
02:56Once.
02:57They threw it one time on third and sixth in the second half,
02:59and that's it.
03:00It's just the coaching staff that kind of realized what it was,
03:03and ours didn't.
03:04And that's also a couple weeks off of the Chicago Bears game,
03:08where they've spent the whole day not adjusting
03:10to what the Bears are doing.
03:11So I just, I mean, I don't know.
03:13Obviously, losing a game is frustrating in the division, all of that.
03:16It's history when you lose to a team that doesn't attempt to pass.
03:18But I just kind of come out of it, and I'm like,
03:20what are these guys doing?
03:21Right.
03:22Like, I don't know.
03:23Because it's all like a trial basis, right?
03:26Like, you're hoping that Penix can prove to the fan base
03:29and the team and all that that he's the future quarterback.
03:31And again, that's week to week.
03:34And then it's the same thing with the new regime.
03:36I mean, everybody's new,
03:37and everybody's on this, like, getting to know them basis.
03:41And two of the last three weeks from this coaching staff
03:44have left me, like, shaking my head,
03:46wondering why they did what they did.
03:49Right.
03:49Okay.
03:50When you say, when does the week to week stop?
03:54Is it more like wins in a row?
03:56Is it...
03:57With who?
03:58With both.
03:59With the quarterback and with the staff.
04:01Is it wins in a row?
04:02I don't know.
04:02I mean, it just has to be...
04:04Because if Michael plays good and they lose,
04:07you know what I mean?
04:09And just, I mean...
04:10It hasn't happened yet.
04:10It hasn't happened.
04:11That's what I'm saying.
04:12And that's what I'm saying.
04:12We're looking for that part of it,
04:14is the consistency that he needs to have
04:16at the quarterback position.
04:17Because I still think Michael's going to be
04:19the quarterback here next year.
04:20I still think that we all...
04:21I know Kevin Stefanski's going to be back next year.
04:24Oh, definitely.
04:24But my biggest thing,
04:25and I'm with you on that right there,
04:26is just the optics of how you lost both of those games
04:29and me sitting there watching it
04:31and doing the ins and outs
04:33of what you're trying to do
04:33on any given Sunday.
04:35And I'm sitting there looking,
04:36like you said,
04:37to Chicago and like,
04:38what is so hard about what they're doing over there?
04:40And then again,
04:41I went back and looked at it
04:42because I had to look at it again
04:43because I said it can't be that hard,
04:44which it was not.
04:46It was more or less...
04:47You had individuals losing one-on-one matchups
04:49more than what they were doing.
04:51The coaches didn't help them,
04:52but you lost.
04:52You saw more guys lose one-on-one matchups
04:54for the reason why I was scratching.
04:56I was like,
04:56you didn't see that?
04:58You couldn't block that up?
04:59Why'd you step right there?
05:00You knew that guy was coming out.
05:01Like, dude,
05:02this game here,
05:03I just didn't understand
05:04why the hell they were throwing the ball
05:05the way they were.
05:05Yeah, me too.
05:06Me too.
05:06And look...
05:07And that's my only thing.
05:08Not even the four picks,
05:09obviously, Mike,
05:10where the hell you throwing the ball?
05:11But why were y'all putting him
05:12in a position to throw the damn ball?
05:14Yeah.
05:14And I'm not trying to exonerate
05:17any individual from criticism
05:19from bad play either.
05:21Like, it's everybody
05:22when something like that happens,
05:23for sure.
05:25But obviously,
05:26you know,
05:26coming out of the Chicago game
05:27and getting your analysis
05:29of what didn't happen
05:31and probably should have happened
05:32from a coaching standpoint
05:33and also from a player standpoint
05:35to try to adjust
05:35to what they were doing,
05:37it helps me
05:38and probably people
05:39that know football this way
05:42but not the way that you do.
05:44I don't think anybody needs
05:45to know all that much
05:46about Sunday, right?
05:47No.
05:48It's raining hard.
05:49It's hard to throw it.
05:49Run the ball.
05:50You know what I mean?
05:51And I know it's hard
05:52to run the ball against Tampa.
05:54They've got a good run defense.
05:55There's no doubt.
05:57But they didn't seem
05:58to really deviate
06:00from what their initial
06:01running game plan was
06:03either outside of the first quarter.
06:04You weren't far enough
06:05behind in that game
06:06to throw the ball.
06:07Oh, never.
06:07No, that can't possibly
06:09be why they did it, right?
06:10Because they didn't score
06:11a touchdown to make it 16
06:12until the fourth quarter.
06:13But that's what I'm saying.
06:14So what was the reasoning?
06:15I don't know.
06:15Yeah.
06:15Because the game plan was this.
06:17Yes.
06:17And they didn't adjust
06:18the game plan.
06:19And that's the biggest issue
06:21that I have with what happened
06:23on Sunday was like,
06:24OK, it's not working.
06:26It's just the ball, anything.
06:28And then also,
06:28he's throwing multiple picks.
06:30All right?
06:30I didn't say bench him
06:31because there's no way
06:32to hell I'm benching
06:33my starting quarterback.
06:34No.
06:34What I'm going to do
06:34is I'm going to figure out
06:36some ways to get
06:37our best player to football.
06:38And even if I'm throwing it to him,
06:40I'm going to throw him swings.
06:41Right.
06:42Throw him, you know.
06:42There's ways to get the ball
06:43in people's hands safely.
06:45Yes.
06:45You can bring the receivers
06:47into the backfield.
06:48You can obviously
06:50throw a little quick screen stuff,
06:51which the screen stuff
06:52hasn't really worked at all
06:53for the Falcons,
06:53whether it's been Bichon
06:54or Kyle or anybody.
06:55Like, it just hasn't
06:56gotten going at all
06:58or whatever.
06:59But yeah, I mean,
07:00that's to me,
07:01that's why I kind of
07:02come out of that loss
07:03on Sunday
07:05more kind of like skeptical
07:08than the other ones
07:09where it's like,
07:10I don't know,
07:12because I'm pretty late
07:14to blame coaches for stuff.
07:16Like, I don't know.
07:17Maybe it's my understanding
07:18of it or whatever,
07:19but I don't,
07:20to me,
07:20it's usually individual.
07:21It's like,
07:21well, they're just more talented
07:22and that's what happened.
07:23And I think that,
07:24by and large,
07:25is what happened
07:25with the Raheem era.
07:27I think that's,
07:27by and large,
07:28definitely what happened
07:29with the Arthur Smith era.
07:30Like, I think coaching
07:31obviously helps,
07:32but I think at the end
07:32of the day...
07:33You can't coach
07:34non-talent.
07:35Yeah.
07:35It's hard.
07:36If you don't have
07:37a real player
07:38at the most important position,
07:40then you're just not
07:41going to be able
07:42to be competitive
07:42week in, week out.
07:43And again,
07:43we're still trying
07:44to figure out
07:44if Michael Penix
07:45is that guy
07:46at the quarterback position,
07:47but I don't know.
07:50I haven't felt very often
07:51coming out of games.
07:53Chicago, for sure,
07:54and then after listening
07:55to you break down
07:55what didn't happen,
07:56and then Sunday,
07:58just kind of sitting there like,
07:59are they really still
07:59throwing the football?
08:01Because again,
08:02if Penix did what he did
08:04and the Falcons offense
08:05did what they did,
08:06and Baker Mayfield
08:07was like 6 for 22
08:09or something like that also,
08:10or whatever,
08:11even like 4 for 11
08:13or something,
08:14he was 0 for 3.
08:15And they threw the ball
08:16twice on their first two drives
08:18and then once
08:18for the rest of the game
08:19and were like,
08:19to hell with this,
08:20it's impossible to throw today.
08:22Then maybe the reaction
08:24would be different,
08:24but it isn't.
08:25Like one team
08:26saw what it was
08:27and changed,
08:28and the other team
08:29just didn't.
08:30Do you think that
08:30they may have thrown it more
08:32if Baker was more healthy?
08:33And that's part of it.
08:35It's possible.
08:35Yeah.
08:35Baker is coming off
08:36the broken thumb
08:37and the ball is slick.
08:39Is there a certain time
08:39where maybe,
08:40but it don't matter
08:42because they still were able
08:43to go out there
08:43and win a football game.
08:44I thought of that
08:45this morning too.
08:45I was like,
08:46all right,
08:46maybe that's part of why
08:47they just flat out
08:48abandoned it completely.
08:49Also too,
08:50like it was working,
08:52right?
08:53Especially as the second half
08:54wore on,
08:55like they were starting
08:56to get more and more yards
08:57and then they had a couple
08:58sustained drives.
09:00I mean,
09:00they also just played
09:01the field position game.
09:02Like they did
09:03a really good job
09:04of realizing
09:05what the conditions were
09:06and that's to me
09:07the other frustrating
09:08thing about it is
09:09nine of the 16 points
09:11that Tampa scored
09:12were off of turnovers
09:14or I mean,
09:16Nick Folk
09:16attempting a field goal
09:17in a rainstorm
09:18from 53
09:19as a turnover
09:20in my opinion too.
09:21So that's three turnovers
09:22led to three field goals
09:23and again,
09:24you didn't score any points
09:25so it doesn't really,
09:26you would have lost.
09:26You wouldn't even threaten
09:28You really weren't.
09:30I don't know.
09:32It just feels like
09:33so much of that game
09:34was decision making
09:35and that's a problem.
09:37I mean,
09:37I think you're absolutely right
09:38on the decision making
09:40part of it
09:40but I think sometimes
09:41even as a player
09:43when you're out there
09:43you still got to go
09:44make plays
09:44because the plays call
09:45you got to execute
09:46you can't leave it short
09:47you can't do all those
09:48different things
09:48you can't miss blocks
09:49you can't miss
09:50and I'm curious
09:51there's a stat out there
09:52how many damn tackles
09:53this defense missed.
09:54Yeah.
09:55You know,
09:55it was just so much
09:56grabbing and holding
09:58and all those different things
09:58but I said
09:59a lot of times
09:59in this weather
10:00it benefits the offense
10:01because you can cut
10:02these guys are
10:03coming at a different angle
10:04and can't slow down
10:05and all those different things
10:06and it happened to be
10:07arm tackling
10:07and NFL running backs
10:10run through arm tackles
10:11you know
10:11and so
10:12it was just so much
10:14that went on in the game
10:14and so I mean
10:15you know me
10:17I'm ready to flush it already
10:18but I just thought about that
10:19this morning
10:19the way to work
10:20I was like
10:20it was all good
10:21a week ago boy
10:22Yeah.
10:23If they beat the Bengals
10:24people will be happy again
10:25Yeah.
