- 16 minutes ago
Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase are joined by Vic Carucci for his weekly Football Friday appearance with Jeremy and Joe to discuss the Bills upcoming game with the Vikings, and what they should be thinking about for the trade deadline on Tuesday. They start by discussing the trade market, and Vic shares one of his favorite trade ideas, safety Nick Cross. Then they advance to the game itself, and Vic explains just how big a challenge the Vikings defense will present to the Bills.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Football Friday, Pizza Friday here on WGR, and we're going to talk with our friend Vic Carucci.
00:05His appearance on WGR brought to you by Northtown Volkswagen, Northtown VW,
00:09West of New York's number one VW dealer, NFL insider Vic Carucci on the Western Hotline.
00:12Vic, good morning.
00:14Good morning, guys. Great to be with you.
00:16Vic, we got a little gif this morning in terms of, you know, just talking about the bills
00:20and a little angle to go with, and that's Brandon Bean telling the Associated Press
00:24that he's as aggressive as ever at this deadline.
00:27John Worrell tweeting this out also that, you know, maybe more likely to look on the defensive side of the
00:31ball
00:32given their cap situation, but as aggressive as ever.
00:35And I wonder your take on the pressure he's under to do something, whether it's all in or how, you
00:43know,
00:43that's in the eye of the beholder.
00:45How much do you feel like Bean is feeling that he probably has to act?
00:50Well, I just think the nature of his job is pressure filled.
00:55Let's just start there.
00:57Always pressure.
00:58I don't know that it's more under the circumstances of how, and I know what that's being judged by,
01:06the struggling of the defense through most of the season, and especially that, you know,
01:12obvious need, or so it seems on the back end, and how it did not work out with C.J.
01:18Gardner-Johnson.
01:19So where do they go?
01:21To me, it's an obvious thing that they're going to do something.
01:26Aggressive is an interesting word because aggressive by whose definition?
01:32If aggressive means you're going to get the, you know, let's just say Buda Baker,
01:36you're going to get that veteran guy with a high salary and all of that to just show,
01:41hey, we're addressing a big need with a big name, okay, maybe, but it feels to me like
01:49Brandon Bean and that personnel staff would be more judicious, address it, but do it in a way
01:56that fits what they're doing and also fits what they have from a business standpoint.
02:02And maybe an opportunity here, maybe the C.J. Gardner-Johnson release opens a spot that
02:07if they wanted to address safety. You mentioned Buda Baker. Maybe they are more likely to look
02:12for a player that is on the team for two to three years, if possible. Like pulling the Dawkins lever
02:18to open cap space to make room for Amani Hooker. I mean, he's got some term on his contract,
02:23and some of these guys have term left. And, you know, I feel like if you're doing it that way,
02:27Vic, where you're getting a player that's on the team multiple years, it's not a rental,
02:30it seems less spontaneous. It seems, it seems more calculated to me if you're doing it that way.
02:39Exactly, Jeremy. I, I don't see rental making sense here. I, you know, that's why I like the
02:44name, like Baker, just that's a, you know, plug them in and, and you're looking for the best right
02:50now. Of course, you're always looking for the best right now, but kind of first year head coach,
02:55you've got still a program in place that you should see growing, not a program that you've
03:02got to, you know, make it happen right now, or else you fall off a cliff. They're not that team,
03:08I don't think. So, you know, you mentioned, um, Hooker. I, I look at a guy like, uh, Nick Cross
03:15from Washington, you know, 25 years old, came into the league with Indianapolis, uh, really athletic,
03:22good cover safety. Who's, you know, who's got time ahead of him. That that's the, the sweet spot age
03:29is the other thing I would look at stay under 30 years old and stay at that point where, as
03:35you said,
03:35you could have this guy for a couple of years or more. His acquiring cap hit for a new team
03:40is 1.7 as
03:41well, 25 years old under contract next year. Like I like that as a name is a, whatever, uh, if
03:48it's
03:48skill set, if it's timeline and again, of course, like money, like that's not a name I've heard yet,
03:53Vic. And I think it's a good one. Yeah. And, you know, coming from the NFC, uh, uh, whatever. I
04:00mean, I'm not saying that any of these lost seasons in the AFC should, you know, be thinking
04:05about how much that matters, but, uh, I, I just think it's a guy that, and he started out with
04:11the
04:11Colts. And the more I've looked at him, the, the better fit I see there. That's just a thought.
04:18I don't know if Washington is going to move him, but it, it feels like they, you know, that would
04:23be a guy they could move. This is really ramped up Vic over the years. Like I, I remember not
04:29that
04:29long ago, was it maybe, maybe 10 years ago where deadline day in the NFL was like a trade or
04:35two
04:35maybe. And now it, I mean, you've got some insider saying like, maybe there's a dozen, but either way,
04:40even if it's not that it's certainly more active than it used to be.
04:44Absolutely, Joe. And it speaks to the kind of general manager style that's out there at the
04:51combine. I had a conversation with Brandon Bean, uh, for, and some other GMs, uh, for a piece I did
04:57for the Lindy's football annual about the, you know, the invasion of young coaches to the NFL,
05:03if you want to call it that the, the, the trend. Um, and he made a point of saying that
05:09part,
05:09that is also linked to a lot of youth in the GM spots that you're getting more and more GMs
05:16who, uh, who want to be active with movement and trades and such, uh, and the way they approach
05:22things aggressively to use that word again, um, just by the nature of their sort of upbringing
05:29in football that, you know, that they, that the old way of seeing this game, that you put your team
05:36together, stuck with it as much as possible. And that you, you really aren't helping yourself
05:41tremendously when you do something at the mid season point. I, I, that thinking's gone. This is,
05:47you know, the, the analytics of it all, the, the, the deeper, uh, dives that teams do, um, with and,
05:54and have those mindsets in, in their organizations, tell them, Hey, look, you know, keep an eye on this,
06:01or we can do that. Look at how many games are left. Look at what's needed. Look at who's out
06:06of
06:06the running. And I think the willingness to do things is far greater than ever before.
06:12Vic Carucci joining us in the Western hotline part of our football Friday. How about the matchup,
06:16Vic? It's Monday night football, the Vikings. It's funny. You got two teams that are six and one
06:20and here's Minnesota. We've talked with a few folks from Minnesota today or this week,
06:25Matthew Collar, a purple insider. The tone there seems to be unease with a six and one team,
06:32because maybe it looks like it's going to fall apart. Maybe that's just the quarterback situation,
06:36but it's a big test for this bill's offense going against this defense that has made a lot of other
06:40teams look kind of bad. Yeah, it's a, it's definitely a test. Uh, and there's a lot to like about
06:47what
06:47they do defensively. Um, uh, you know, I had a, uh, conversation with Ben Gessling, uh, uh, on a show
06:55we do on WGRZ, uh, plus, uh, with John Scott and I previewing the game and Ben, you know, points
07:02out
07:02again, that this is a lead. They leave nothing in that, in that game plan. Uh, they don't leave
07:09anything behind. They unleash it all. That's Brian Flores, his way. And, uh, the attitude. And then,
07:15and I think, again, this helps explain part of why they're, they're good defensively talent being
07:20the biggest part, but Flores, uh, says, if you're going to go down, go down the way we play,
07:28which is they have the highest blitz rate in the NFL. So right there, you have two possibilities.
07:34One that that blitz affects the bill's passing game, uh, in, in a negative way or two, it affects it
07:41in
07:41the most positive of ways, right? Cause you sacrifice giving up a lot of single coverage
07:46all over the place. And, oh yeah, Josh Allen, I think we've seen him take advantage of that once
07:51or twice or a million times. You have a noise factor in that stadium and, and that can, can make
07:57things difficult for obviously the O-line, an O-line right now that had a couple of guys missing
08:03from practice. Uh, Deion Dawkins notably, and then Spencer Brown's still limited. So I want to see
08:10how that progresses. I, I think they're going to play, but, uh, their chore is, is going to be
08:15challenged. But then there's this, the defense has issues against the run. Um, and, and obviously
08:22that's a vulnerability that you would think the bills take advantage of with James Cook. Uh, and then
08:28to the other side of the ball, the fact that it's interesting guys, isn't it that they're declaring,
08:34Hey, Carson Wentz is going to start that you're telling this many days ahead of the game who you're
08:39going with at quarterback. There was a discomfort as I understood it with, uh, you know, with Kyler
08:45Murray there and not just, I mean, pre hamstring injury that his fit just isn't with Kevin O'Connell's
08:53scheme. It's a read scheme. Carson Wentz is a read quarterback, meaning right. He takes
08:58progressions and sits in the pocket and does his passing thing. He's not a gigantic playmaker,
09:05but he's not a guy who will turn it over. Kyler Murray will. And Kyler Murray's maybe that one read
09:10and then bail and then improvise. And I think part of that was Justin Jefferson as talented a receiver
09:19I think you're going to get, or at least he seemed to be finally just getting so frustrated that he,
09:25he needs, I think Carson Wentz, uh, more than, than anything. And I'm, and I'm not saying that's
09:30a great option. Vic Carucci with us on the Western hotline. Yeah. Vic, the Vikings defense, I was
09:35looking at Aaron shot site in the break. They're the number one defense by DVOA against the past.
09:39They're 17th against the run and Detroit did that last week a bit. Are you one generally though,
09:46to prefer the number one offense against the number one defense? Like we don't always get
09:51this matchup. I think Chris Trapasso had the numbers. It's happened like six times in the last
09:56seven years and the offense recently does end up getting their points. Do you feel like this is
10:02another one where if I can pick one, I would take the offense over the top offense over the top
10:07defense? Yeah. I'm, I'm usually going to do that because when you, when you're riding with the top
10:15offense, chances are they'll make the one or two more plays that you need in a game like this.
10:21In other words, it doesn't have to be the, the mid thirties, uh, scoring type of thing,
10:27um, necessarily to win it. It does mean, uh, you know, one or two big plays can make the difference
10:33because the style of football that they're playing in Minnesota is we count on our, excuse me,
10:40we count on our defense to keep the thing, keep the numbers down, keep the score low. Uh, and then
10:45our offense, a, not to screw it up, uh, be not in, and not to, you know, uh, give the
10:52defense
10:53unfavorable field position, and then maybe make that one or two plays that can make the difference.
10:59So this could be one of those games that's in the twenties, right? One of those rare bills games
11:03that, that you you're seeing the game teens and twenties, um, possibly, but, um, I, you know,
11:11I, I, I, I certainly love, and I'm sure ESPN loves the marquee nature of best offense, best defense.
11:19They got to sell something here because they can't sell the quarterbacks. They could sell Josh Allen,
11:24but, but they're selling a team that's on Carson Wentz. And I had my wife ask me that, wait a
11:29minute,
11:29he's still playing. He's yeah. He's, he's still here. Vic, as we look at the one seed race,
11:36the bills are in the one spot. And I wonder which team you think is the one to watch. It
11:42could be
11:42Kansas city. They've lost two in a row though. The Jaguars last night. I mean, you know, that,
11:46that win is a little bit of a freebie, but they look very good. Who do you mark as the
11:51number one
11:52contender with the bills? Yeah. I, a lot of people are on that Jaguars bus. I'm not,
11:59I don't see it. I see so many flaws and I know you weren't you watching last night's game? Yeah,
12:05I watched it. And, and the Ravens are a train wreck now. So three straight losses,
12:10three straight losses by the Ravens of 20 points or more. That's the first time in franchise history.
12:14And, and, and by the way, we talk about, we talk about poor Joe Finiano and, and, you know,
12:20this kid who really just shouldn't be out there as a starting quarterback, he's not their main problem.
12:26They don't stop anybody. They're, they're defense. And, you know,
12:29for all their names anyway, that aside I'm not going Jaguars. I would go Broncos. I think there's
12:35still something very dangerous about them from a, you know, just for, I say dangerous that the threat
12:41that they would be to that number one seed, especially defensively. And there's something
12:46that tells me Bo Nix for all the question marks that are still hovering around him and his play
12:52that it still could be a progress line, right? Physically still coming back from that playoff injury
12:58against the bills. And, and do we, as, as it gets deeper, not that playing more would make you heal
13:05better, but you would think timeline could favor that. I also am not off the chiefs. I, I, you know,
13:11I felt there was a, they're getting back into this thing. Still the two losses, you know, would be,
13:18would, would, would counter that. Uh, their issues are still on their offensive line, but there's part
13:25of that is the youth of it. And I still don't know why they have as young a guy as
13:30they have protecting,
13:30uh, Patrick Mahomes is blindside, but, um, that could, I emphasize could improve with more time.
13:39Um, and you still have my homes who, who looks like the guy he's been, but when he's under duress,
13:46he doesn't receivers getting healthier for them. Is that going to happen? The Kenneth Walker addition
13:52is still a thing, even if teams are figuring out maybe how to contain him better. Uh, so I, again,
13:59it's Broncos and it's, and it's chiefs for me. I really, I'm not seeing anyone else in the AFC.
14:06That's that much of a threat a and B I guys, I don't know. I, I think there's a gap
14:11forming
14:12between the bills and the rest of the AFC. It's not just that they're six and one right now. Uh,
14:18and obviously other teams are closer close behind record wise on top to bottom play. Um, that's the
14:26feeling I get is that, that there, this, there is a separation going on here. Vic Carucci on the
14:32Western hotline. We chat every Friday. Thanks Vic. Enjoy the weekend, the games of the week and a
14:37Monday night football. All right, guys. Thanks Vic. Thanks Vic. Not on the Jaguars. I'm, I'm going to
14:42put a pin in that name, Nick cross and maybe root for the Rams to beat the commanders. The commanders
14:48are already at 1% to make the playoffs ish. They're two, four, and one, but that's a young safety
14:53and a
14:54cheap safety. That's been in the league. Nick cross acquiring contract cap hit is low 25 years old.
15:02I just tweeted it out because I'd not heard that name yet. Somebody said I'd rather play Jalen
15:06Kilgore. If that's the case, maybe, I mean, he's a guy that's played in the league and I don't know.
15:12I'm, I'm not one to just think, Oh, the guy, the bills drafted that's never played will just be fine.
15:17You know, I don't, I don't know about that for Jordan Hancock, for Jalen Kilgore to just throw guys
15:22in there. Like Nick cross has been a starting safety in the league for five years. So I, I, I,
15:29I don't
15:30know anything about him. He played in Indy and then he went to Washington, his Indy highlights. He's doing
15:35a lot of stuff. He's blitzing. He's attacking the run. So it's just Vic mentions a name. I'm going to,
15:42I'm going to put a pin in it. Yep. Is Washington selling though? They should be. They're
15:47two, four and one. Someone has to win that division though. They won't. And it's going
15:51to take eight wins. Are they going to beat the Rams tomorrow or Sunday? Are they going
15:55to beat the Rams? Because then they're two, five and one. They're going to come back and
15:59what? Tie the Giants. They are at the moment, two games back of the Giants. I think you can
16:06if, especially if Daniels is on the field, I would want to shoot for, I can make up two
16:11games on the New York Giants. That's something else you can't count on is being on the field.
16:17The, the commanders, I would be going for it to win the division. According to the
16:20athletic playoff machine, they put them at 6%. What is the Giants at? Uh, the Giants
16:26are 33%. What's missing there? What's the Cowboys? Jeez, Joe, I keep navigating away from
16:35this page. I got 39%. The Cowboys are 15%. The Eagles are one. That doesn't add up to
16:42a hundred. Uh, Oh, sorry. The athletic does it by seed number. I have to add. Oh, I was
16:48going to say, I'm like, something's missing here because I've only got 30, like the Cowboys
16:5250%. I forgot by the way that the NFC South also stinks. So I have to add up the three
16:58seed
16:58and the four seed. Here I can give you giants are 53%. All right. I I've got, I've got DVOA
17:07Aaron shot site. Washington's 20% to win the division. Okay. Like I would be shooting for
17:12that. I think the division is terrible. You can't count on anybody to win more than seven
17:15games. And if I can get into the playoffs, if Daniel stays healthy until then, like I would
17:21feel like I'm the most live team to actually win a playoff game of any of the four. Yeah.
17:24You are in denial. If you're Washington to do that. However, there's one thing working
17:28against if you want to, if this is the player you love, you had to convince Washington to
17:32sell. If they were to beat the Rams this week and stay alive, they play the giants next
17:37week. Okay. Yep. And then the week after that it's Titans, Texans, Falcons, Vikings, Jaguars,
17:44Cowboys. They're not winning nine. They're not winning eight games. They're not winning eight
17:50games. No way. Might not even take eight. Also they tied the giants.
17:54In the previous matchups, whoever wins the it's Thursday night football this week,
17:57they'll have the tiebreaker. That would be the tiebreaker. So their season will be over
18:00by Thursday. The commanders. I just, I don't think anybody in that division season's over
18:06except Philadelphia because of the quarterback thing. Like the giants are going to have a
18:09stretch where they play Jacksonville, San Francisco, Seattle, and three out of four.
18:13They will lose all three of those football games. They'll lose to Detroit. Like the giants,
18:18maybe it's not even eight. Maybe it's going to be seven that wins it football Friday.
18:22Hey, it is time to remember some Vikings. I love the one. I love the one that I tweeted.
18:31How would you have spelled? Because I chose you are. I chose it. I went B W A A A
18:43A dash.
18:44Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh. That sound is in there. What? The Viking horn. Cause I used to use
18:50it on
18:50the afternoon. It's in that computer somewhere. We're going to start playing it for remembering
18:54some Vikings. Football Friday on WGR.
Comments