 Welcome back to the Falcons audible presented by AT&T. Thanks so much for joining us at Atlanta Falcons dot com YouTube Spotify iTunes or wherever you get your podcast these guys are still trying to work out their mics and their volumes and their headsets here He's just saying hello DJ Shockley go ahead and say hello to the folks joining us Dave do you want to wave to him or you just want to say hello or wave Dave All right Kind of a little bit because I don't know people are gonna watch us if we're angry Well, let's take that anger and let's bring it to excitement and energy and in true opinions All right, here's the rundown of what we're gonna talk about today so far We're gonna go go back and revisit the Jacksonville game talk a little bit about the Atlanta Falcons run the game Switch it over talk about the defense and some of the strides that they're making some of the performance We're starting to see from that side of the ball and then I will give arch the The cart blanch I will give him the floor to get angry about the Buccaneers game coming up You told me to calm down so I'm gonna try to channel it till I need it. Okay, so so that's the point to people All right DJ since you're in such a good mood you got the smiles You got the waves and everything show put into perspective the Falcons win over the Jaguars this past weekend Is it one of those games where it was like, you know what a win? I'm not gonna take anything for granted. They needed to get it or was it more like, you know what? We needed to win that game That was an opponent that was not as good not as talented as Atlanta and they needed to get it Where do you stand on the whole situation? Rick, I'm an area of both. I think you need to win but also it was a game that I know a lot of people are expecting you to win and You know, I went back and forth with the guy on Twitter who said ah shock don't get too excited This is the Jaguars and I'm like guess what these dudes get paid just like everybody else This is the national football league and these guys are, you know, the best of the best Yeah, they're having a not so good season But these guys are here for a reason and at any given week a team can beat you we talked about it last week The same Buffalo Bill team came down there lost nine to six So yeah, this is a team that obviously if they put it all together and don't have some of the mistakes They had versus us they can win ballgame. So I'm on the list of this was a good win It was a win you need it You went on the road again where you play really well Yeah but this was a win that you needed and you had to have if you were looking towards the future and This team won't ever say it. We always talk about yeah You're one game at a time But if you want to get to what your goal is which is to play in the postseason You got to win these type of ball games. You can't let these ball games slip by the wayside We saw that earlier with like Washington. You should have won that ball game Philly at the beginning Yeah, I mean there's certain ball games you look at and say you should have won those games But you didn't and this was one of those type of games I can't sit here and say that the guy that was arguing with you on Twitter is wrong either because the Falcons are not a complete Polished product themselves, right? However to your point and we all know this is former players that any week you win in the NFL is a good week Because there are pros on the other side of the ball There's really good players on that team as well Are they not clicking on all cylinders right now? Sure. I think that's fair They're shooting themselves in the foot a lot of penalties are hurting the Jaguars right now But Dave you got a chance to call the action. What differences did you see? Did you see a different mentality from the Falcons? What was the difference in them getting off to the lead and then holding on to the lead at the end? Yeah, by the way, JVL probably saying the same thing about us Well, this is the way this a game you gotta have this game, right? So that's just the way it is in this league. You have you certainly feel like you have advantages here and there They were decidedly challenged this week to to play more physical at the line of scrimmage They had gotten beaten up on the line of scrimmage on the offensive side of the football The challenge was can we play on another team's side of the line of scrimmage? You guys have heard it all We've all sat in offensive meetings. We need to re-establish the line of scrimmage on their side of line of scrimmage Yes, you saw it the entire day. You had 149 yards rushing Cordero Patterson was the featured guy in that but you still ran the ball with success That's the backbone of what Arthur Smith wants to do He wants to come downhill at you and run the football. I thought in your rotated center So there was there was a decided idea there saying hey, Matt Hennessy, we like you. We like you as a player Gotta play better. We're gonna give Drew Dalman an opportunity to step in there and see if he can play You know and he did and they both were pretty good Both of them played well and I thought the four guys around them did a good job tight in strolls guys in run game Was outstanding. I thought the physical part of the game from an offensive standpoint Was the part that to me just bled into the broadcast is just came out at you. Wow We're what is this coming off the ball yours up on the second level? You're getting safety's blocks guys are running through the touchdown run Cordero Patterson has from the 10 He walks in I mean, where is that? You know what's that being so so that to me is something that you try to carry forward because you have not seen Certainly in last couple weeks, and I don't know you'd seen it for a long time What'd you say it's been several several games? Yeah, it's Atlanta was 22 games I believe it was since the last time Atlanta had a 100-yard rusher talking about an individual player not rushing for over 100 Yards as a team and Dave, there's no surprise no getting around it Let me come right back to you Cordero Patterson was a big part of that run game We knew this a week ago when he was out of the lineup that that was gonna be something that was gonna hurt Atlanta He's been the most consistent playmaker this year And it's interesting that you talk about the physicality day because there was one run that Cordero Patterson took around the left side In a corner came up to try to tackle him and CP ran right over the top of them Yeah, and I was showing my wife and I was like that's the physicality that they need to play with the rest of the season So I think it's great that you talk about the physicality not just up on the offensive line But Cordero Patterson was running with physicality. He seemingly does that all year But what other differences did you see in the run game that gave them so much success? Well, first of all, it's playing on the other teams side of the line of scrimmage I mean when you got to make people miss in your back feel it makes it difficult The thing that I loved about his Cordero Patterson is not a cutback runner He is the perfect fit to what Arthur Smith wants to do go watch some of the film of Derek Henry It's stretch boom hit up once but when you push the line of scrimmage and you play on the other team side of The line of scrimmage now re-establish that line of scrimmage two or three yards down the field You naturally slide into cutback lanes and Cordero can do that That's what he did in the game where he slid back into those holes as opposed to having to put your foot in the ground or jump Cut back into a cutback. They were playing with that physicality that provided those other lanes to run the football Cordero Patterson's the is the MVP of this football team right now It probably will be for the rest of the year if he can continue to play one thing to point out about him He took a shot low the safety came over and I thought it was a church I thought it was a dirty shot guy took a shot at his ankles He was just stepping out of bounds and he dove into his ankles Don't think that that dude didn't know that Cordero Patterson sat last week with an ankle injury Yeah, he took a shot to try to get him out of the game We talk all the time that players don't want to knock guys out of the game You don't hurt other guys you want to But I thought that was a that was a dirty play Cordero jumped up limped off the field and got back in the football game He didn't credit that bothered me I was just something I needed to point out that I thought he was trying to take Cordero out of the game Cordero six foot two six three 225 pounds and he brings that load you just talked about out on the edge He ran through a couple of other players if you try to arm tackle his dude It's a no-go because I did an interview with him post game I had no idea how big the dude was why you didn't put why you didn't put your shades on he had his shades Oh, you should rock It's his it's his show Just a long for the ride No, he was he was outstanding in the game and to me he's been the MVP no question Yeah, I think it's great the points that you're making because there's been too often where they're trying to run the football Matt turns around hands the ball off or maybe it's out of the shotgun hands the ball off And it's got to stop the feet right away, right But when you get Cordero Patterson DJ to go downhill get him up to full speed and then give him multiple lanes On where he can go. Yeah now that's trouble for the defense. Is it not right? I think you're reading my brain right now because I have the perfect Danger place to go. It's a great place to be big I ain't gonna lie, but uh, I did a breakdown on line if I was that calm talking about the exact thing that you just talked About and our two members it's early in the first quarter and They bring cow pits over and then here comes Keith Smith on a motion and he gets a running start And he's downhill on the defensive end. You can see the tight end get up on the next linebacker You see the guard and tackle work together to get up on the linebacker and he has a two-way go It's a run from about 19 yards off the left side And he has a two-way go in the linebacker sitting right in the gap But he doesn't know which way to go and they do a good job of sealing good job We're getting his head on the right side and he has a two-way go He ends up hitting it on the left side and nobody touches him the same doesn't touch him till he gets 15 yards down the field This is exactly what I should talk about the physicality up front Get into the second level and then having a guy like Cory and Patterson who can pick and choose how many times That we had an opportunity to say he had a two-way go in the run game Yes, and not have to falter and stutter his feet having a two-way go that physicality up front and on that particular play offensive line tight end Receivers all blocking and unison together and it created a really nice run play in the run game And then you couple that with the creativity that Arthur Smith had to first bring over pits Well, now he has leverage now you bring the motion and now he has leverage on the defensive end to to crash him and put push Him out of the play. It's all coming together. It's there. You just have to have the execution You know real quickly on Cordero Patterson. I think I mean it's been phenomenal what they've been able to do with this guy Right, it's it's been amazing the versatility brings the table. He's always been that guy versatile Yeah, came in the league as a receiver kickoff returner number one traffic Vikings It was a guy who's gonna explode and really never came together Nobody really could figure out what to do give Dave Ragon and Arthur Smith a ton of credit For finding this guy's niche as to how you use him 16 carries I was a career high for him in this game. He had a career high 108 yards rushing But they find a way to get him to touch the ball like 20 times in the game Yeah, and kickoff returns are part of that. They did not have him return kickoffs in this game to preserve him I think he had to a couple of catches in the game as well But this is a guy It's been in the league for a little while and no one's been able to unlock the Cordero Patterson code that we're seeing this year Give Dave Ragon and Arthur Smith credit for fine This guy was a number one traffic and they've just now figured out this staff figured out how to use this Yeah, and it's it's interesting to shock you mentioned Keith Smith I think there was an old there was an old school full-back lead I so blocked that he squared somebody up down in the goal line miles Jack Yeah, and it was that was beautiful You don't see that a whole lot because it teams don't have fullbacks anymore I think it was where he wasn't even touched. I mean you talk about squaring somebody up That was beautiful kind of brings me back to the old Bob Christian. Yeah All right, so that's kind of the run game for Atlanta, obviously that gave him a big advantage in that game Allowed him to get off to a fast start. Let's switch it over to the other side of the ball Defense continues to make some strides again and Dave I'm gonna I'm gonna serve this one up to you because I want you to just tell us What impressed you most about the defense? I don't want to single you out Put you down a road with a certain player or a certain style But as you're watching the game as you're calling the game and you're seeing these guys go out and make play some Interceptions some sacks What is the most impressive to you that they need to replicate for the rest of the season? Well, I think taking away the explosive plays is number one They gave up five plays of 15 yards or more that might be a player to more than you would like But five plays is northern near the low end of what they've done this year They continue to get better at that, but it's got to be take the ball away Yes, you have to take the football if you go to all the games this this weekend in the NFL And just go look who won the giveaway takeaway ratio That team the team that had more takeaways lost you had a team in Tennessee that ran for 270 yards in a game and they lost because they turned it over five times or four times in the game That's what happened in this game Atlanta got a turnover deep in their own in took away a playing a scoring opportunity and then got the fumble that provided a Scoring opportunity two big takeaways to me that we're starting to see them get the ball out a little bit more We saw EJ Terrell's interception against New England. We're seeing a little bit more of that I think that's something they're improving This episode in part brought to you by the Home Depot Everything you need for your next home improvement project is just a tap away on the Home Depot app The Home Depot app digital toolbox gives you access to how-to guides Project calculators and image search so you'll know exactly what you need to pick up with the tap of the finger You can rent and reserve the right tools for the job Also browse through millions of items from top brands that you can have delivered right to your door Whatever your project find exactly what you need with the Home Depot app download the Home Depot app today So the takeaways Fowler starting to become a pass rusher that I think he needs to be on a consistent basis and again DJ that maybe the more impressive thing is having this performance without one of the best leaders on that defense in Deion Jones would stuck out to you the most Defensively for Atlanta. Well, let's start there I thought Michael Walker stepping into Deion Jones' spot was huge knowing that he had to come in here on You know, he's played throughout the year, but not to step in that void and say, okay Now I have to be the guy that feels that role That's a big role to feel for a guy and he comes in and he's the leading tackler in the ball game I mean, that's big. Yeah, you got a couple miss tackles here and there But the guy played pretty solid in there in that spot The other thing I want to talk about is I thought his defense played really good in the situational parts of the ball game you talking about they were over to the Jaguars one fourth down They were really good. They were one for three in the red zone. So those situations of the game matter those are game those are situations where teams go down and They win ball games because maybe they convert a fourth down and you go down to school or you score in the red zone We know how important that is The other part of it is I want to give Grady Jared his flowers. I mean come on this dude every week We expect him to be that guy. How many games have we seen him cause holding penalty? How many times have we seen him in the backfield just swim or beat a guy and Causes a negative yard is play how many times he forces a quarterback to move off his spot right in the middle Grady continues to be the guy in the middle that comes to play every single week and we can't take that for granted He is that kind of player every single week So I enjoy watching Grady Every single week because he's gonna give you four or five plays in a ball game That is just him and he's gonna win He's gonna beat the guy in front of him and cause a negative yard is play and win at the point of attacking Ars talked about it went in the line of scrimmage. That is a big part of it He is a big part of why teams want to go outside because they know that guy is stout on the inside And he calls at least two or three holding penalties throughout the game And there's a number of them that they don't call so he continues to be the guy like that first and goal at the six Gets penetration holding holding penalty get just completely kills the drive for Jacksonville I mean those are the things that you're right DJ. They don't really go in the stat sheet, right? But they're they're extremely important to the success of a defense is some of those plays that go unnoticed And I think it's interesting Dante Fowler. You've talked about this before DJ do your one 11th, right? Sometimes when you're having a struggling season guys try to do more Dante Fowler after the game says I think we're just starting to play together as a unit and doing our jobs Everybody do their own job not do something special just doing what we're supposed to and do it 100% So now we're starting to hear from the players the things that need to happen You don't have to try to play both defensive ends. Just play your defensive end position and do it Well and do it to a hundred percent. All right, Dave So let's let's take a step forward because the Buccaneers back on the schedule for Atlanta We know how that one went the last time 48 25 loss you talked about Turnovers on defense you talked about red zone defense Those probably are two of the more telling stats in a football game. That's gonna create wins or losses I know it's easy Dave to just say they need to take away the ball from Tom Brady But Tom Brady is one of the best in the business as far as getting the ball out of his hands But keys this time around what can Atlanta learn from the last game against Tampa? They can correct on this one to try to knock them down Well, first of all, you got to know you can play with yeah This was a game where you turn the ball over three times and they directly Two of them return for touchdowns Don't turn the football over we get back to that scenario right there This game was 28 25 after Atlanta clawed their way back into the football game down 2028 to 10 they claw their way back into it as we turn to the third fourth quarter the score is 28 25 against the Super Bowl champs in week two so you can play with them There's no question about that they look a little different now than they did in week two and their running game has become more prominent Yeah littered for that's coming off a hundred yard game. He's also effect. He has become their Cordero Patterson Yes, he's catching the ball of the backfield. He's running it He accounted for about 150 yards this weekend. I think he had four touchdowns this weekend against Indianapolis But what did Indianapolis do they turned the ball over five turnovers? I believe in that game against against the Tampa Bay Bucks. This is a Tampa Bay Bucks team It's still number one the league against the run so they're gonna make it tough on you You just you can't provide them short opportunities and or extra possessions Don't give them 12 possessions in the game make them have 10 make them have nine possessions I think you're gonna like what it looks like in the fourth quarter with a chance to win the game Yeah, and this is one of those games guys where We've been talking about the offensive line for Atlanta all season long But they have to show up in this game because the front six or seven for Tampa Bay Maybe one of the better front six or sevens in the National Football League with the athletes and the playmakers that they have DJ sometimes when you talk about keys to a game don't turn it over seems really elementary Is there anything else that sticks out to you? They're gonna have to do in this game if they're gonna knock off Tom Brady and company I think the number one thing is you got to be able to stop the run. I mean, that's a I think that's the most glaring thing because we talked about last couple weeks Brady's gonna find a way with that cast of characters to do what he's supposed to do They're gonna throw the football around they're gonna make plays But also you go back and you say that's where their team has really grown is in the run game Like you just mentioned with Leonard from that that is demoralizing for a defense If you're able to go down and throw it for 250 300 yards and they got all these cast of characters making plays But also you turn around and they're gashing you for six seven yards a run. That's not gonna be Good football if you're the Atlanta Falcons I think that's part of it is stopping that run Having the ability to maybe get them off the field and not allow them to have those extended drives where it comes with you With them running the football and being big in his ballgame and the coach went up and down the field on him in his past ball game I mean he rushed for over five yards of carry in the ball game I know, you know, Jonathan Tate is a good back But that's capable with the Falcons as well We just saw it this past week if you put all the right pieces together you can run the rock, too So I think that's part of as well is you got to make sure If they are scoring touchdowns You have to score touchdowns. Yeah, that's the big part of we there's been so many times where we've matched with field goals Or they've scored touchdowns and we come down and we get a field goal That's not gonna be winning for me You have to be good in the red zone if you want to beat a team like the Bucks Yeah, and they're an explode. They're an offense that feeds on explosive plays I'm talking about 15 yards or more you go back to last the last time at Falcons play Discount the turnovers and all that they had nine plays of 15 yards or more Atlanta I think had six five or six in the game you go back to the game in December a year ago the team that won the Super Bowl Trailed Atlanta 17 to nothing at halftime Atlanta lost that football game 31 27 if you guys remember They had no plays of 15 yards or more in the first half. They had nine in the second half Yeah, you it's Mike Evans. It's Godwin. It's for net Explosives yeah, and obviously Gronk down in the red zone Gronk had over 100 yards this weekend receiving as he's back on the field And he had two touchdown receptions against the Falcons last time they played down in the red zone But I really think that if you can limit how many times they touch it obviously and that's easier said than done But limit the make them earn it make them put seven eight ten plays together as opposed to four play drives five play drives Yeah, they're gonna continue to ride Leonard for net for how productive that he has been But just know that the play actions coming off of it and one thing that Tom Brady does not do is hold on to the football So yes, you can't get too antsy biting on routes because he will take you over the top But understand for the most part that the ball is coming out with him. He's gonna throw a quick slant He's gonna throw a comeback and he may be more than any quarterback in this league understands What timing is getting the football of his hands one thing that the Falcons don't have to worry about and they even got burned a little bit Last week with Trevor Lawrence is quarterback run has hurt them throughout the year. That's not gonna be the case Okay, Tom Brady's not running with the ball So they got to make sure you slow down Leonard for net and then make those plays in the passing game to a limit The explosives another thing you have to get back to in this game and you said all hands on deck You got to play a good football game this weekend You can't just flop around and make mistakes and then hope to have a chance to win at the end You're gonna have to play pretty clean in this football game. Maybe they're best 60 minutes of the year Mike Kyle Pitts has got to be a part of the the game play Yeah, you go back six games ago when against Miami at seven grabs for 160 yards the last three last five games He has 14 catches for 190 yards. You factor that in five kids. That's less than three catches a game And Matt missed him a couple times this game Matt didn't have his best game this weekend yet. You were able to run it played solid defense took the football away and won a game That's not gonna be good enough this weekend Matt's gonna have to have a cleaner game And he's gonna have to get Kyle Pitts the football when he's open cuz there were a couple plays where he missed him this week And I even remember hearing on the television broadcast no offense Dave Sorry was watching on television But it was late in the game when he got his first touch So to your point, I feel like they need to get the ball into his hands early like get him the confidence get Matt The confidence and then all of a sudden the big fella is gonna start creating some windows But you're right it is something the opposing defenses are gonna try to slow down just like Gronk being back on the field for the Bucks Kyle Pitts is probably gonna be the first Scenario that most defenses are gonna try to slow down in Atlanta's passing game You just got to be better gotta find a way to get off contact You got to find a good way to create separation get open show that jersey back to number two and let him hit You so that's kind of our thoughts on last week. That's our thoughts on this week. Let us know send us a message Wave at us wave at us wave at Dave Wanted to let you know I'm proud of you. You didn't get angry at the people Yeah You to calm down bad boys, too, man One of my favorite movies of all times that's gonna do it everybody Thanks so much for joining us here on Falcons audible presented by AT&T again joining us on however You find your podcast Atlanta Falcons comm spotify YouTube and iTunes We'll be back next week and I'm gonna get a wave in there as well. Take care everybody