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00:00I guess I could call this in the category of a little bit of show trivia.
00:07Bulldog and I both like to cook.
00:10You would say that about yourself, would you not?
00:12Sure.
00:13I'm not as adventurous as you are, but yeah, I enjoy, yeah.
00:19When it's my turn to do something, I feel good about it.
00:22This is my time of year right now.
00:24And my son loves sort of the comfort food, chili, turkey, tetrazzini, pot pies.
00:31That's the stuff I like to eat and make, and he's right there with me.
00:37But carpaccio, not Sal Carpaccio, which is a different word, different name.
00:44I've been watching these Jacques Pepin YouTube videos all the time lately.
00:50I'm not watching as much of the 1978 Falcons.
00:53Oh, all right.
00:54I'm more refined here.
00:55I'm watching more of the food ones.
00:57And Jacques Pepin is this legendary French chef.
00:59He's probably 90 now.
01:01And there are a lot of good ones if you like sort of simple.
01:04Oh, that looks easy.
01:05And then you watch him make an omelet.
01:08And you'll have to make 1,000 omelets to make it as good as the one.
01:11He just sort of flips it and it's over.
01:13But there's a mushroom carpaccio that looks very interesting to me.
01:18Very simple to make, probably.
01:20Anyway, this has nothing to do with Sal.
01:22Not to waste your time.
01:24Anybody's.
01:24Sal Carpaccio on the West Her Hotline.
01:27Sal, how's practice?
01:29Good.
01:30They were indoors today.
01:31A little wet outside.
01:32I think it poured a little more here in Orchard Park than it did near my house in the city.
01:37So a little wet.
01:38Went indoors, which is good.
01:39They have a game in the Dome on Monday night, so it kind of fits.
01:41You know what I mean?
01:43Sure.
01:44I was asked a trivia question today by a Bill's staff member, and I was embarrassed that I
01:48did not know the answer.
01:49Uh-oh.
01:49Okay.
01:50We're all going to be embarrassed.
01:51And I'm like, man.
01:51Well, I'm like, man, how do I?
01:53Like, I should know that.
01:54I don't.
01:54I never thought the fact that I didn't know it because I could have pried myself on stuff,
01:57but I was not around.
01:59Basically, the question was, who were the people who made up the Purple Pill Eaters?
02:04Oh, I have that.
02:06Oh, yeah.
02:07I didn't know all of them.
02:09There's one that I get wrong.
02:11I sometimes will say Sutherland and not Larson, but the other ones are...
02:16Mean Joe Green.
02:18Teddy Hendricks.
02:19Teddy Hendricks!
02:20Deacon Jones.
02:21I didn't answer those guys, though.
02:23I know that.
02:23Marshall Eller-Page.
02:24Yeah.
02:25Larson.
02:25Yeah.
02:26Yep.
02:26I would miss Larson or Sutherland, too, but the other Eller-Page.
02:30Yeah, and even then, that was like, it's really three of them, right?
02:33And then Page became a, what, a senator or judge?
02:37Judge, yeah.
02:38Yeah, amazing, right?
02:39Yeah, Alan Page.
02:40Still with us.
02:41Still with us.
02:42There was a guy, Bulldog, in Las Vegas.
02:44Did you meet this guy?
02:46He was all about, like, trying to bust me up on trivia.
02:50Oh, I don't...
02:51I did not have this experience.
02:53And he asked me this question, was one of the questions he asked me.
02:55Who the Purple People Eaters were?
02:57Yes.
02:57All right.
02:57And I guessed Sutherland.
02:59Love that.
03:00And he corrected me promptly.
03:03So, I was right on time for this one.
03:06Because I just had that experience recently.
03:08Yeah.
03:09Yeah.
03:09Well, it's not the Purple People Eaters, Sal, and we want to get to the injuries, but, you
03:15know, you're bringing this up.
03:16What do you like or think is interesting about Minnesota's defense this year?
03:23They've given up 93 points only so far.
03:26We know about the blitzing.
03:28Like, how big of a job is this team?
03:33What I really like and respect about them is they just kind of say, we're going to come
03:37after you.
03:37And, you know, they're going to play football in 2026 in a world where these quarterbacks
03:42and wide receivers can just, you know, throw the ball on you and be explosive and say,
03:46you know, we're going to line up.
03:47We're going to come after you.
03:48And it reminds me a lot of Houston last year.
03:51Houston really has more of the guys up front that just kind of do it themselves.
03:54Minnesota's like, we're just going to bring everybody at different times.
03:57But they're aggressive and they don't care.
03:58And that's their identity.
04:00And I think, you know, I respect when you want to have that identity and say, we're
04:04going to live and die like that.
04:06And they mostly live like that this year, right?
04:09Look, I mean, the Bills have a tough task.
04:12If they don't have Deion Dawkins or Alec Anderson, you asked me how practice was.
04:16They were not out there again.
04:17So, you know, the second day this week, it's a Friday.
04:20Now they could very well practice tomorrow.
04:22Tomorrow becomes like a normal Friday.
04:24We'll get the game designations on a Saturday.
04:26But, you know, neither of you are starting to let guys on the left side are available
04:30through the first couple of practices this week.
04:33They also are a defense, though, that can be had in the run game a little bit.
04:36And, you know, Detroit did that a little bit to them last week.
04:39Detroit did it by kind of, you know, going 12 and 13 personnel and big boing and say,
04:45we're going to block you and you're not going to be able to pin your ears back.
04:48But you've got to put yourself in that position.
04:49You can't live in third and long.
04:51You can't live coming from behind against this team, right?
04:53I mean, it's just not going to happen.
04:55I asked Conor McGovern yesterday, what is a good way to describe their defense?
05:02And he goes, I don't know if there's really a good way.
05:04And then he actually gave a great way.
05:05He called them a Rolodex defense.
05:09Now, it's funny.
05:10I mean, Conor McGovern's in his 20s.
05:11Yes.
05:12He knows they use Rolodex, right?
05:14The Bills have never sounded older.
05:17Right, right, right.
05:18But that's what he said.
05:19I'm like, I like that.
05:19I told him, I'm like, no, that's a great way to describe it.
05:22He's like, you just, they can kind of just flip it and like, what do we want?
05:25What do we want here?
05:26What do we want there?
05:27They're going to have to really be buttoned up.
05:29It's a loud environment.
05:31And they're going to have to know where guys are coming from.
05:33But how do you counter that?
05:35You settle it down by making sure you're in manageable situations,
05:39not having to come from behind, not having to be in long yardage.
05:42And that's what the Lions were able to do last week.
05:44And that's how they beat them.
05:45You just reminded me of that horn.
05:47That, that, oh, it's not worse than ours.
05:51No, but it's just, it's aggravating.
05:54It's equally meaningless.
05:55Just not, not looking forward to hearing that.
05:57And I feel like Minnesota, I think everyone does this now.
06:01And I include the Bills in that.
06:03Minnesota was the first team, I think that this is going way, way back.
06:06Sal, before you were even working here, like that we thought they're piping noise in there.
06:11There's no way that's all, like at the old Metrodome, right?
06:14I think every team is.
06:14Yeah, that's what I said.
06:15I think everyone, including ours, I would, I would suspect everyone has sound systems capable of doing that now.
06:20But that horn was a, was a central figure in all of that at the Metrodome.
06:24Fair enough, but it sort of fits with the brand.
06:28Of course, yeah.
06:29The Bills, what, did we invent trains?
06:31Yeah, no, I know.
06:32Right.
06:34I'm curious, Sal, like how much different,
06:38Allen has played Flores' defenses when he was in Miami.
06:42And the numbers are pretty gaudy.
06:44Like he's had success.
06:46But some of what I've read over the course of this week indicates that, yeah, there's similarities.
06:53Like, yes, they're aggressive.
06:54They're coming after it.
06:56But Miami, I read, played a lot of man.
07:00And I know the story usually is if you're blitzing, you're playing man.
07:04But I've read that Minnesota is mixing in a fair amount of zone, which is an interesting thing to do
07:10with a blitz-heavy scheme.
07:12Yeah, and, you know, I haven't seen that specifically in the numbers and the data.
07:16But, you know, that's interesting to do that.
07:19But I would say there are people that I've read that said, well, you know, Miami just wasn't that good.
07:25I think Miami had some good players on defense, man.
07:28Like they, under Brian Flores, it wasn't like they were no slouches.
07:31Like you could say all you want that, well, he's better personnel now.
07:34I don't know.
07:34Miami had some really good personnel a couple of times with those groups.
07:39Yeah, Javon Howland would have been a part of that, I think, right on the back end.
07:42I liked him a lot as a safety.
07:44I mean, Jalen Phillips had just come in, right, for early on in his career.
07:49And the Bills signed Cater Kohu this week, right?
07:52Isn't that interesting?
07:53He played for them.
07:54Yep, yeah.
07:54I mean, you know, is that a guy you get a little intel on what you're getting on the defensive
07:58side, right?
07:59Maybe.
07:59I mean, you know, teams do that sometimes.
08:01I'm just wondering.
08:02Well, would you think he's the guy that Diggs tortured when he played them?
08:07Right.
08:08How to attack them?
08:09You got to it.
08:10You mentioned what Detroit bully ball.
08:12And, you know, some of that was even lining the tight ends up in the backfield or a tight end
08:18up in the backfield and doing that.
08:20And I don't know.
08:21We haven't seen a ton of that from the Bills, but they don't have the fullback.
08:26So, you know, if you're going to try to do that, then one of those four guys, I would imagine,
08:31would be that guy.
08:31I wonder about 12 and 13 in this game, Sal, looking at what Detroit did.
08:36It's very recent, just, you know, last week and even in the second half, especially of their win against Minnesota.
08:42But the Bills certainly can play that game.
08:46No doubt.
08:46You know, the thing about I'll call the Bills a Rolodex offense, to be honest with you, and I'll steal
08:50that from Connor McGovern.
08:51You know, one of the things that I've been most impressed about with this Bills offense is they just have
08:54a lot of ways to attack you.
08:55And whatever you throw at them, they can counter.
08:58Now you still have to execute it.
09:00So if they get to it the right way, you have to pick and choose when you want to do
09:04that and make sure you're on the same page there.
09:06But, man, like, if you want to – if the Bills want to go 12 and 13 and run the
09:11ball, they have the ability to do that.
09:12If they want to spread you out and have Josh Allen throw the ball, they have the ability to do
09:16that.
09:17They make it much easier to do that when they have DJ Moore.
09:19And, by the way, just to, you know, button up the injury report, he was back on the practice field
09:23today wearing a red non-contact jersey,
09:25along with Keon Coleman wearing a red non-contact jersey.
09:28That's good news.
09:29Dalton Kincaid was out of the red non-contact jersey today.
09:32He was practicing.
09:33Spencer Brown was out there again.
09:35And to this point, Ty Johnson was back today.
09:38That's a really important player, I think, to me this week.
09:41Ty Johnson can be a very impactful player because I think that the way that they blitz, the amount they
09:47blitz,
09:47he's going to have to be a guy that is on the field for blitz pickup.
09:50He's going to have to be a guy that you might have to involve in the passing game a little
09:53bit here.
09:53But you're right, Bulldog.
09:55I mean, the Bills have really built this offense where no matter what you do on the defensive side, they
10:03should have a counter to it.
10:04And, I mean, Josh Allen can turn around and literally hand the ball to the league's leading rusher from a
10:10year ago.
10:10And part of that is because the offensive line was so good.
10:14Now, again, let's see what happens with some of these injuries.
10:17But they can play that way, no doubt about it.
10:20We talked to Sam Paniatovich about half an hour ago, and he came right at us with,
10:25how are the Bills only three-point favorites?
10:27What do you guys know?
10:29And, I mean, I don't know anything when it comes to that.
10:31I told him, as I think I've told you both, I tend to defer to that when I'm confused by
10:38a line.
10:39I'm like, I run for the hills.
10:41What do you think of Buffalo minus three?
10:44I mean, like, it's a road game on a Monday night, a tough place to play against a 6-1
10:50team.
10:51I have respect for that line.
10:52I wouldn't expect it to be much higher than that, to be quite honest with you.
10:56I think people are just probably looking at the inability for the Vikings to, you know,
11:02score, move the ball on offense, and that gets you to that.
11:05But that's a good football team.
11:08And, by the way, I mean, I think Carson Wentz, I just saw something today.
11:12You know, we all said this already, right?
11:14But even today, like, Matthew Berry is like, hey, good news for Justin Jefferson.
11:18They're going to throw the ball to him.
11:20We know that.
11:21They're going to do that.
11:21And he's going to stand in there, and he's going to deliver the ball,
11:24and he's going to be much more efficient in that regard than the Bills have to get to him.
11:28So I respect for that line.
11:29I think three and a half for a road team in the NFL is, that's significant to me.
11:35I heard today from Jim Coventry at Roto-Wire that, so when Wentz has been his quarterback,
11:42Jefferson averages seven for 95, which is basically like his career line.
11:48He's a hundred yard, I mean, how high would you go in this matchup?
11:54With Wentz and Jefferson as a prop bet.
11:56Would you go over a hundred?
11:58Now, I just went over a hundred on Zay Flowers last week, and that came in at 0.0.
12:03Yeah, yeah.
12:04So, injuries, randomness, but.
12:06Find me his first half bet, a prop.
12:09Here's why.
12:10I think they are going to make a very concerted effort to get him the ball early.
12:15Yeah, right.
12:16I mean, he's been frustrated.
12:17He's been showing that frustration.
12:19They're going to want to get him involved and show that this is going to work, and the
12:26Bills are going to have to adjust their coverage to him.
12:29Like, I think this, I would not be surprised if the very first play of the game goes to
12:33Justin Jefferson.
12:34Sure.
12:35Yep.
12:35You think Benford travels with him?
12:37We've seen a little bit of that, right?
12:39Even in the slot, he shadowed Bowers, some against the Raiders, and he's had pretty good
12:47success doing that.
12:48So, I don't know if I'm going to say I love that matchup, but I feel like I've got a
12:52guy
12:52that at least can make it as hard as it could be for Jefferson, if you're right about them
12:56targeting him, and I think it's a good thought.
12:59Yeah, I agree with you, and yes, I do think he will.
13:02Sorry.
13:02And he also follows Zay Flowers a little bit in the slot.
13:05You know, obviously, it was a different circumstance then, but yeah, you do that maybe until
13:08it doesn't work, or you feel like you have to do something different.
13:11Third down, you're probably shading to him.
13:13You know, hey, third and seven, you put Christian on his side on him, and then you kind of get
13:17a guy over the top of him, right?
13:18But yeah, I think I could definitely see that.
13:21So, what do you think the secondary, do you think we're, is Couch, Alford's been practicing
13:28and is healthy, right?
13:30He had a full go yesterday, but Couch really impressed, communication was better, like, does
13:36he have a role, could he play, I don't know, in a Hamlin spot, or, like, what do you think
13:43the secondary will line up, like, in normal, like, nickel-type personnel?
13:48I'd be surprised if D. Alford didn't go right back in as the starter.
13:51I mean, you know, they could wind up doing that, but that's what he does.
13:54He's your nickel.
13:56To Corey Couch, is your new, when everybody's healthy, he's your new Cam Lewis.
14:00He's your guy that can kind of play around everywhere, and he doesn't have to just focus on one job
14:04throughout the week, and you say, look, you know, we're going to put you in a dime.
14:08You have to be ready to play safety.
14:09If someone, you know, twists an ankle in the game, you can go in here.
14:12You know, when you have guys like that, I think that's, it's the blessing and curse, right?
14:17I mean, guys who probably are good enough to start, but they're so flexible that teams
14:23use them in that role, and they don't start, but, you know, you have them available.
14:27Plus, then you have to Corey Couch, his ability to play on special teams, which is needed,
14:31and I do wonder, like, do they activate Jordan Hancock by Saturday at 4 p.m., and what does
14:36that look like?
14:37Because that gives you a little more flexibility in the secondary, but I think the answer is
14:41Christian Benford, IGB, and then D. Alfred in the middle, DeMar Hamlin, along with Cole
14:49Bishop, to Corey Couch, becomes a very flexible player to play in dime.
14:53He can play safety.
14:54Maybe Jordan Hancock can be activated.
14:56If not, you're probably still okay there.
14:58Geno Stone, maybe, as a call-up again.
15:00Exactly, you can elevate him, too.
15:02There's more options than people think in that secondary right now, and obviously, maybe
15:07people don't like the options, but they have more options than you think, and then I'm
15:11thinking long-term, though, about what does it look like past Tuesday, you know, like,
15:17are they going to go out and get somebody, and, you know, Brandon Bean's saying that being
15:21aggressive, and it looks like defense, and that, I don't doubt that.
15:25But I said in the pod this week, I'll reiterate here, I'm more open to them trading for somebody
15:33up front than I had been.
15:35Early in the season, I'm like, no, you don't need that.
15:36You need somebody in the secondary.
15:38I mean, the numbers, the pass rush numbers aren't as good as they were.
15:42You can maybe help that secondary out by getting somebody.
15:45I wouldn't be surprised if that's more the area they want to target.
15:48And then, honestly, guys, like, this doesn't have to be on Tuesday or this week, but if
15:54you're moving on from starting Max Hairston, who was just your first-round pick, like, where
16:00is his spot on the roster going forward?
16:03That's interesting.
16:04I like him as a trait.
16:05Like, for the right guy, I would do a one-for-one with him.
16:11Yeah, I thought about that.
16:12Before it gets to the point where, you know, his, yeah, right, his value is really dinged.
16:19It's already, I mean, he's lost his starting job to a rookie, so, you know, he's already
16:23dinged, but I think if you get out from under it, the sooner the better, if that's going to
16:29be the end game.
16:31Yeah, I mean, he probably has value around the league on a rookie deal as a first-round
16:36pick, you know, team that might have said, hey, he can fit in.
16:39He's really fast, obviously.
16:41Um, so I, and I thought about that too today because of the reports about the Patriots
16:46with Barmore, right?
16:47Like, they could be looking to trade Christian Barmore, but they're not going to be sellers
16:51and Carlton Davis, by the way, which is like a corner.
16:55Like, so the Patriots apparently are reportedly looking to shop these two players, but they're
17:01not looking to sell.
17:03They're looking to buy even, but, you know, you can make, we always say hockey trade.
17:08You can make a football trade, a football player trade, right?
17:10Yeah, yeah.
17:11I'm glad we're talking about this today.
17:12I said this an hour ago because Monday we'll be talking about matchups and then Tuesday
17:16it'll be, it'll be over.
17:18So I want to get this trade talk in.
17:21Harrison only drafted last year.
17:23I mean, that was, he's only in his-
17:25It's only year two.
17:26Second season, he had an injury, but the scheme change, the coordinator change kind
17:30of makes it okay for another team to believe that he could still work out for them.
17:35Like, why, why are you so desperate when Sean McDermott's your coach for eight years and
17:40you want to trade Kyrie Elam?
17:41It's tough because like, what, what are you telling me?
17:43But maybe the Bills could get away with it if they wanted to do this.
17:47Sal, I asked Bulldog this.
17:50Jonathan Taylor, maybe even Derrick Henry, maybe even Saquon Barkley.
17:56If any of these elite level, maybe all with their best behind them, maybe not Taylor, but you
18:02know, elite level running backs get traded to an AFC team, would you flinch?
18:09Would it be something?
18:10Does it matter who the team is?
18:12Is there one of these guys?
18:13And I'll give you mine if you want me to go first, but I kind of want to ask you
18:17first.
18:18There's one particular-
18:19Okay, well, I'll go first.
18:20I mean, if you're going to talk maybe Cincy with Taylor or something like that, like that
18:23would probably be tough to deal with because they just have so, so much on offense that
18:29they can turn to.
18:29Suddenly he just makes them, you know, so much more tougher to defend, but their problem
18:34is defense.
18:35It's, it's propping up again, right?
18:37Looked like it was fixed maybe early in the year, but I don't know.
18:39I mean, you know, the Vikings are a big team for this, this week, right?
18:43We had on the pod, we had Paul Allen on long time play-by-play guy for them.
18:48And we were talking about that and he was bringing up Taylor and he was bringing up, uh, who
18:53was the other guy we just talked about.
18:55And I don't even know if it's Eric Henry.
18:56And you know, the guy I brought up to him, like whatever, a guy like Tony Pollard.
18:59He's like, Ooh, I didn't think about that.
19:01He can catch the ball too.
19:01Right?
19:02Like Tony Pollard, I think he's got to be in this mix.
19:04I think if you're talking about these guys, he's not, he's not to that level, but he's,
19:07he's versatile.
19:08He can do a lot of things.
19:10Um, yeah, I don't know if I'd flinch other than maybe that the one deal that I keep looking
19:16at going, Oh my God, is if the chiefs trade for Garrett Wilson, like that's like some buzz
19:22out there, is that going to happen?
19:23Garrett Wilson's in concussion protocol.
19:26He's not playing this week.
19:27Oh, by the way, they're playing the Kansas city chiefs this week.
19:30We're not going to play him against the team.
19:32We might, I don't know.
19:33Is that all real?
19:34I'm not really sure.
19:35Yeah, that's one.
19:36I got to admit, I saw concussion protocol and I, I, and I thought really, well, are you
19:43sure we're not just like protecting him for Tuesday?
19:46You know, what's happening this year and sell set me straight.
19:49If you think this is a misread guys are getting labeled with concussion protocol in the middle
19:55of the week.
19:56I mean, isn't that something that, you know, game day, you can see it.
20:01We'll see, but where is that coming from?
20:06Where's, you know, this is probably unfair, but where is Garrett Wilson's concussion coming
20:10from?
20:11Well, the symptoms, I mean, what happened with Watson happens like guys can, you can see
20:16a hit, you can be okay, you can be cleared.
20:19And then days later, suddenly you've got symptoms like that does happen legitimately.
20:24Okay.
20:24Sure.
20:25So any one of these guys last year with Deion Dawkins, right?
20:29Okay.
20:29Well, I don't mean to be so cynical, but I think it's warranted when it comes to the
20:34NFL.
20:36Honestly, my defense.
20:38Right, Mike, I understand.
20:39I think your skepticism is fair game here.
20:43Yeah.
20:44Because here's a player who has been rumored to be on the trade market, a team that's
20:49resetting.
20:49They have all these first round picks next year.
20:51He's upset.
20:51He's been frustrated.
20:52They're playing the team that he's been most linked to coming up this weekend, right?
20:57I get it.
20:58And then you have the Kyler Murray thing.
21:00Is this a soft benching, right?
21:02Yeah.
21:02Nobody doubts that he has a hamstring injury, but hey, it's our way of kind of just saying,
21:08you know what?
21:09We're going to move on anyway here.
21:11Those things happen.
21:12I mean, it's professional sports.
21:14Sal, what's your latest touchdown, Lane?
21:17I'm sticking with Javante right now.
21:20Haven't really changed on that yet.
21:22Nobody had last night?
21:24Nobody in the pool had anybody last night out of the nine people.
21:28And quite honestly, like leading up to the game, if Tootin was totally healthy, I might
21:33have gone with him.
21:34Obviously, I didn't want to go with him knowing that he was, you know, questionable and then
21:38he played.
21:38I'm like, I'm not going to risk that.
21:39But I would have thought about Tootin if it was a fully healthy game for him leading
21:43into it.
21:44Well, you would have gotten really lucky if you picked him because his touchdown was a
21:49gift.
21:49It was kind of just like third down and then we never saw him again almost.
21:53Just nothing happened last night.
21:55You almost got to get lucky on this thing anyway.
21:58I mean, it's a touchdown, right?
21:59Like how many times a guy gets stopped at the one yard line and then they don't, and
22:03then somebody else scores, right?
22:04So, I mean, I think those things happen anyway, but right now I'm still thinking Javante Williams
22:09until I kind of reevaluate here.
22:12I'll be in Minnesota thinking about it on Sunday morning.
22:15And you haven't used Walker yet.
22:17They're a 10-point favorite at home.
22:18That is correct.
22:19I have not used Walker yet.
22:21But, you know, he's had a couple of down weeks compared to what he had earlier in the
22:24year.
22:24You start to think our team's starting to figure that out a little bit.
22:28Or Hawes.
22:29You haven't used Hawes yet.
22:31Where's that been?
22:32Where has that been?
22:33All right, Sal.
22:35You got it, guys.
22:36All right, safe travels.
22:36We'll catch up on Monday.
22:37That's Sal Capaccio on the WestJour Hotline.
22:40His appearance is always brought to you by New York's only outlet, Liquor.
22:43When you need to stock up, it's the place to buy a case.
22:46What's your outlet?
22:46Fantasy advice next.
22:48Theo Gremminger.
22:49Later, Aaron Williams.
22:50Mike Schopen, the Bulldog.
22:51W.