 Hey, welcome into Falcons audible presented by AT&T along with DJ Shockley. I'm Dave Archer We don't have Derek Rackley with this rack is with his family over the Christmas holidays They're doing a little bit of traveling. So we'll get rack back in the pocket here next week But for now it's shock and I a couple of quarterbacks coming at you We're just good We're gonna discuss this Baltimore game and certainly how that went down in a frigid showdown in Baltimore We'll look forward to the keys of the game and what the what might happen with the Arizona Cardinals coming In here and then we're out of the playoffs. So what are we doing? Why are you still playing? Do you just shut it down after week 15 week 14? Don't even play the rest of the games. No There's a reason why you continue to play. We're gonna discuss that as well here on Falcons audible brought to you by AT&T First of all shock Merry Christmas to you. They go well for the family. Yeah, man. Same to you man. All went well Obviously Falcons played on Christmas Eve. So, you know, I think we all were working up into Christmas And then obviously you had the day off. So all was good kids got exactly what they wanted and which was good Man, how about you? Yeah, it was it was a fun time to spend time with family rare situation because in football Kind of holidays are optional But this was kind of a cool moment for us is Falcons and there were the number of other teams that played on Saturday you had the what they had the six teams that played on Sunday, right? And of course The the two teams that played on Monday night were were given Sunday as well So a rare moment for you to have that a Sunday off that late in the season And if for it to be Christmas day pretty cool to spend time in the family had a chance to visit with Arthur Smith On his coach's show for radio this week and asked him about that and he says yeah That was a very rare and cool opportunity. He's got three young children So he had a chance to be Be home with his kids and stuff like that. So pretty cool opportunity for Arthur You guys got home a good enough time, right? I mean we did we got back about nine o'clock on Christmas Eve 9 9 9 30 Yeah, so Christmas Eve night and then of course the next day was unabated Yeah, an opportunity to spend some time with your family. How did you survive out and be more aware? Did you have enough layers on I know it was kind of cold Well, it's a good question coldest game in Baltimore Raven history now. I know some of the purists out there gonna say wait a minute I saw some Baltimore games back in the day. They're in black and white and people were freezing their rear ends off Yeah, we're not talking about the Baltimore Colts We're talking about the Baltimore Ravens and so you can go back the length of time that they've been in existence But this was their coldest game on record. I believe it kickoff the temperature was In the single digit somewhere in at five range. I believe somewhere near the windshield factor Was below that of course. It was chilly. No question about it We we had the windows open on the on the broadcast booth The Baltimore Raven broadcast did not which included Hall of Famer Rod Woodson The windows were down over there way tougher than him. We won. Oh, give me some arch. We won now. Yeah, yeah Way tougher than our radio team kicked their radio team's ass. That's the one. Let you know Unfortunately, we didn't score any points That's like the Falcons did when they got into red zone when it came to touchdowns But when we look back on this game cold football game, how much did you feel? You feel like that that played in shock the cold weather and all that kind of stuff, you know what I I think it absolutely was a factor. You look at some of the the plays in the game where there's wind And maybe the ball was knocked down a couple times But at the end of the day, they had to play it in as well So I think regardless of if it was too cold It was windy both teams had to play in the same kind of environment had to play in the same kind of game So I don't put a lot of stock into The weather being a huge factor and you think at some of the things that happened in the game The weather really had nothing to do with it. Um, and obviously, you know, this was a big question that uh, You know, a lot of people asked author smith after the game and you know, I thought he answered it really well But obviously there were three or four calls in the game that Absolutely changed the landscape of how that game could have been you talking about being on the one yard line and you get the the phantom phantom You know Ground and ground and call or the guy absolutely hits ridder's arm Was unbelievable the you know, Michael Pruitt was an absolute cat. You can see it on tv I don't know how they overturned it. I still don't get down and then obviously you're watching oz and the holding call Going into the end zone where Uh, you know cp goes in the score So, uh, absolutely there were some plays and we can talk about it because we won't get fine So it's all right, uh, and I'm watching the game and I'm you know yelling at the tv Because they're taking stuff away from us. But uh, those are you know, those are moments in the game that you look back on But there's also other things in the game where you say, all right Falcons didn't do well in this particular situation and you know I heard you talked to a lot of the guys after the game and that was one thing they talked about was the Situations of the game that hurt you But I think defensively you gave up too many big wrong runs They had a lot of what we call chunk yardage runs I think they had four or five in the first half of 10 15 plus yard runs in the game and that really hurt you Uh, especially in the game and obviously, uh, the red zone was a big part of it But I thought you did well defensively in the red zone. They had four trips in the red zone They only kick three field goals So the defense did enough to keep you in the ball game and we got to be honest They scored 17 points You know, you still should be in this ball game. You mentioned it coming on We just didn't score enough points in this game To make it one of those type of games where you say, all right We got a chance. Yeah, I certainly think there's a number of things to be excited about or enthused about or encouraged about If you just want to go to that level you mentioned some of the stuff your red zone defense has been really good Really the whole second half of the season you've been really good about keeping teams out of the end zone keeping yourself in the game Now with that goes along the fact of your inability to stop the run game their ability to run You mentioned a couple of chunk runs that they were able to get But just their ability to run the football and keep it in manageable third down situations It allowed the quarterback who's not a dynamic player like lamar jackson Huntley was able to run for some first down Certainly that one touchdown drive that they got and they moved pushed it down the field there right at the end Of the first half His run game on third down they were one for five to start the game on third down They went three for three in that drive and punched it in to get themselves back To even par or 50 percent in third down So I think there's some some things to be encouraged about where'd you feel like the biggest struggles where you talked about some of the stuff And the referee calls notwithstanding and there were some you could imagine what I was doing on the radio There was some glaring screw-ups in that area But Where do you think that if you're going to win this game this next weekend? Let's try to apply what happened in this one to maybe apply it to next week's game What has to happen? What after you fix? You know, I think one thing that comes to mind is like some short yardage situations in the ball You know both sides of the ball where you have to be a little bit more stout I just I go back to the first drive of the game You get a great play on first down where you get Eight nine yards on first down a little you know little pop pass to oz pick up eight yards second play You get no game third play you have a fumble snap and now you're punting the football And it's you know, three and out and you you had a chance to go and get a first down and start the ball game Get your game get the game rolling And situatially in that ball in that part of the game You have to be a little bit better in the short yardage part of the game because you got to be honest Haven't had a lot of explosive plays down the field. So it's going to come down to Third and five or less sometimes in a ball game the way you run the football And I think you have to be physical enough to maybe get those Throughout, you know, these next two ball games if you've done that over over the spatter this season I mean tyler jeer has been awesome this year I mean his physicality and his runs have been really big in time So you you want to lean on that for sure? I thought we took a step forward in the passing game at least a little bit more efficient than you were in the first game Um, obviously there are throws that you want their plays that you want to have back But I thought they were a little bit more efficient in the past game which we talked about last week Well, which was a good deal But defensible you can't have the chunk plays and I go back to it because in the previous game It was chunk plays in the past game And those are just the moralizing but when they're running down you throw and you're picking up 11 12 13 yard games And they never get to third down. That's the big part of Of this ball game. I thought you did a a pretty decent job in the second half only given up with three points I think it was in the second half So this is a a game coming up against arizona where it's going to be a physical nature game as well Obviously, you don't have their quarterback in there in calla murray Think cold McCoy may be still be out trace McSory. We saw last week was a big part of That ball game getting to get in the start But I think the the situations and the short yardish plays in the ball game are critical to the success of your having but To be honest, I thought I thought number four Played a lot better from the quarterback spot. Yeah No question about it. And I want to dive into that too. By the way, there's no truth to the rumor That neil lomax or jim heart will start at quarterback this weekend for the cardinal. So we won't worry We won't we won't worry about that Uh And for you if you don't know who that is go look it up. Okay, there you go Uh desmond ridder, uh, he's going to be the focal point He has been for the last two weeks He will be for the next two weeks as the fans kind of try to digest. Is this your guy Moving forward. I'm not sure we certainly can't answer that two through two games I'm not sure we're going to be able to answer that through four games, but You're getting a pretty good idea of of the improvement. This guy is making Through the first two games We saw in in game one and i'm saying game one is the new orleans game Little jittery to start off with shock. I thought that his pocket awareness was not there He wanted to get out too quickly and then he is he settled into the game You kind of started to see his his ability for let his ability take effect as opposed to thinking too much Now he's still thinking quite a bit because he hasn't played very much But you saw that gradually progressed to where he makes the play on fourth down to drake now didn't turn out our way And I'll talk a little bit about drake laying the ball on the ground in back to back weeks But he makes the play there at the end to give you a chance The key to the for me the key for ridder was to start this game where he finished the last game I thought he did that He started off you mentioned the oz throw you got started I thought there was a couple things in the game that stuck out for me ball coming out on time We saw a couple of games against new orleans where the ball was late, right? And some of that is not because he's just doesn't know to trust the guys yet to turn it loose on time His bench route or sideline route to demir bird is a big time throw Uh in between the corner with a safety coming over the top He shoots that ball in or beard makes bird makes a nice catch on the sideline and then the pocket awareness Sliding in the pocket and kind of that short start sidearm Just a gas shot blast it right over the middle fastball to drake london against the zone over the middle Those are you talking about encouraging now those are cool moments And then obviously his hookups with drake is coming drake's caught 14 passes in the last three games Just your thoughts on the progress that ritters made and And you hope he takes it from here now in the cardinal game and takes it further on But tell me about where you think he is I think you brought up some great points and some things that he's done really well inside the pocket that gives you A lot of encouragement and you talk about poise at the line of scrimmage. I saw way more command the line of scrimmage I saw a lot of a lot more talking to his offensive line changing plays can you know, uh, you know Have an opportunity to do so I thought coming out of the third quarter where they changed the tempo and they went a little bit tempo on them And you could see him Running the show that was big in the ballgame to see him able to do that on the road with conditions Um against a pretty good defense. I mean you got to give they got two linebackers who Uh are still running right now. I mean they they stay running But it's fun to watch the things that he's done and you talk about that that one throw to drink He climbs up in the park a little bit and then give drake a lot of credit too They're playing like some kind of zone on the back side and if drake continues on his dig route He continues. He's going to run into the back side linebacker He just settles in the zone right there gives him his numbers and you know And then ritter puts it on those are the type of things that you want to see in game You can see it all day in practice But when the live bullets are flying around you and you're able to make those kind of throws It shows you what he's about and then you think about the last two weeks Uh, you know kind of what he's had to overcome the defenses that he's played And I don't think people realize you know the the the fronts that he's played against the last two weeks And the things that you know these defenses give you in a game And he's been able to decipher them and they've been able to move this team down the field and make some plays And he's only going to get better 22 or 33 for 218 yards Is you know, you see the progression starting to get there. I think he had nine different passcatchers in his ball game Uh drake had nine targets talking about their their connection. There was another play I want to talk about on that on the sort of left side And it's a timing throw as well And it looks like drake maybe has a a fade stop and he can't get on top of him and he stopped It's the play where he you know gets the foot down and gets the elbow down had to review it That's the timing. Yeah, they had to review it and the timing of that play Was pretty unbelievable because he lets the ball go and i'm watching it and I went back and looked at fem Ritter lets the ball go It's halfway there and the guy still has a arm or hand On drake and he's battling him at the top of his route But the most important thing that happened in that route is even though he's running this outside release Fade kind of stopped he gives his quarterback five yards worth of room on a sideline And that's exactly where ridder puts that football high in a way and drake comes down with it and it's a you know It ends up being you know a cash just a unbelievable timing from ridder on that particular throw because if he doesn't guess what it's probably a A pass breakup or it's not complete and you're not even worried about the review So those are some of the small nuances in the game That you know people never really realize and there's probably even more that when they turn on the tape and they watch it And there's so many things probably in the run game that he's doing that We have no idea about but he's putting them in you know into good situations So I I think if you're a falcon fan you are very encouraged of what you've seen from week one to week two From desmond ridder. Yeah, I hope you are I hope your fans are paying attention because they are they are definitely Uh showing some signs of some really good play at that position It gives seems to be getting better You mentioned a couple of things that really jumped out at me Jumping into the no huddle and or tempo in the middle of a game It's one thing to do it in in two minute offense or late in the football game You go to a limited amount of plays. It's something you work on and you try to flood people throwing the ball It's another thing to do it in game shock I'll tell you that now all of a sudden the whole playbook is available because remember the coach is still you're in your Year to a certain time on the play clock So now I'm coming up dummy audibles doing all sorts of stuff to try to maybe get a guy jump off side Get them to declare themselves and then I'm going to step back and I listen to the coach and now I'm going to change things He's got the whole playbook at his disposal with that personnel group in the fee on the field A lot of trust there from arthur smith a lot of maturity and poise for the young quarterback Also trust in the fact 33 attempts most we've had all year 22 completions most we've had all year Yeah, and that's just his second game on the field him him putting out those numbers and yes, those will get better They're going to get better as he gets more and more accustomed to being in the game and more and more in accustomed to the field Mention drake london. He's got 14 receptions over the last uh last two games You talked to career catches in yards last two weeks, right? Yeah, and so he's doing it So he and ridder certainly have there's something going on there There's some magic going on there and I think that's only going to get better Nothing told you more about that than that little red zone throw where he makes the little sail route And he gears it down his own give it to me elevates in front of three dudes right there Puts it on him and trust in his young receiver to go up and get the football I think there's a real connection there between between those two. All right, let's talk about You know kind of the the elephant in the room if you will drake's laid the ball on the ground the last two weeks Yeah, um, yeah, I talked to him uh yesterday on the coach's show And he says that's all on me says I've got to understand He says I have a real good feel for Situational awareness from zone coverage Where to sit it down if a guy's going to play me man the leverage and how I can get on top the guy or create Separation for my quarterback. I got all that. Yeah, and I'm still going to continue to work on that Just because I got it He says my work has to be in situational awareness of protecting the football He says and you watching he tried to cover up. Yeah, he did give Humphrey credit Humphrey comes in and pops it out of there He immediately went to the sidelines took his sleeves off Um, so He says that's something that I've got to continue to work on he recognizes. There's an issue there He's got to take care of that, but I applaud again. You're talking about maturity of these young players Here's drake london. Uh, here's a guy that understands. Hey, I've created some problems for my own team Yeah, I've been a problem for us and he understands that he's working on this game. Yeah, and and what's Interesting enough about that is we've seen Uh, you know a guy around this league who didn't play well and didn't own up to it and how much flak he took for it and For drake to immediately come out and say, yeah, that's on me. That's an issue that I've heard my team with is huge It's big because he understands He's one of the key catalysts not only to these teams with his offense and he's making plays doing it And obviously that's gonna happen You're gonna have time to time where you know things don't go your way But I love the fact that you know, he owned up to it for one like you mentioned You talk to him and say hey that told me that's something I got to clear up But then he continued to play and he continues to fight and even in the fumble last week As he's starting to run in our running motion, you know, with one arm coming forward one coming back That's when the ball was hit coming out. I mean those are just some of those are freak things and obviously yeah He gotta make sure you take care of the football. That's number one But owning up to it being mature enough in his rookie season where you know, he's had some success And then he's had these instances where things have gone against him. He hasn't let him get him down He's continued to play the style of football that everybody's expecting when he came in and he's been a key part What this offense it's all about. So, you know 14 catches. I mean, he's you know, he's had I mean probably over 25 targets the last two weeks and he continues to be a guy that can create separation for you Makes big plays in In the in the in the game for you you talking about that throw and catch that he made on that sail ride It's unbelievable. You got oz on the outside cleaning them out with a post and they literally got a triangle around because the the linebackers dropped so deep and To be honest, Ritter probably should have got off of it and checked it down but you look at having trust in the receiver and that speaks to Ritter that speaks to to drake is Drake new not to run so fast into it because you still got that cover three corner over there And it's kind of tight going into that red zone and he kind of throttles down a little bit in there But then also to throw by Ritter. It was high But it was a little bit behind him where he didn't lead him into that corner Those are the like the small things that are just so cool to watch And the trust they have between each other be able to go up and get that football It's fun. I wish we were on video right now and we will be back for you video wise We're making some adjustments out here from a from a studio standpoint. So just sound today But we're going to get back on video for if you could have shocks saw shocks eyes right there. He was lighting it up He was using his hands. I love it. He's exactly right. Think about Those kind of moments and he and I shock and I both played quarterback Those kind of moments for a guy to do that for you when you let it go That plays huge dividends down the road whether it's a red zone throw a third down throw Whatever it might be that you're going to be willing to put your guy up to back because you know He's going to go get the football. Let's touch on One other young guy here. You mentioned a little bit about algear He's now over 800 yards rushing eight. I think 817 somewhere in that neighborhood 1,000 yards kind of in In in the in the view right here Who thought fifth round draft pick out of byu? Um is going to come in and be your feature back. I think anybody that watching him on tape probably said Yeah, I can see that but they got him in the fifth round So credit to terry font know and the coaching staff and of in the in the scouts to go and get this guy when they did Um, but he's been outstanding shock and he runs with power I had no idea was as good a receiver out of the back. How about the catches and then the little Niffing this in the open field the sidestep a guy and go get a first down This is encouraging. You're talking about young quarterback young receiver young running back How do you gotta get excited about that? I mean, it's brighter. There's lights in here right now. I mean, come on Let's be real. I mean, it's it's gonna be fun to be able to see these three grow Over the next few years and become maybe, you know Something that's one of the most exciting things to watch in the league and I like you mentioned going in the fifth round Maybe you thought okay. Yeah He'll get some playing time late in the season or he'll start to take over their role I mean have to be honest. Where would this office be without tile out here? I mean obviously see people's out for a little bit Um, you got some, you know guys that's trying to feel that spot. Obviously move Avery over. He's been a part of it Uh, Huntley was a you know, obviously a big bruiser who was absolutely big for you throughout the season for you end up getting hurt um last week but I think the number one thing that comes to mind is Other Smith said when we watched this guy on film the number one thing that stuck out for us and you see it every single week His ability to break tackles and they say they saw that from game one when they turned on the tape His physicality running through arm tackles and you see it every single week when he has the football in his hands and then you add that that extra Characteristic of being able to catch the football out the backfield That means he can stay on the field for all three downs And be a critical piece to what you need and you can use other guys like cp and other places that can help you But I love the fact that when he comes into ballgame, there is a different Different demeanor about this offense and he's physical. He's downhill Um, he wants to come back and he's gonna continue to pound you the first guy would not make the tackle You see it may be a zero yard game It's gonna be two three yards game because he's gonna he's gonna run through you And he's gonna have a have a finishing factor about him. But it's been great to see Al jeer turn into the guy That has become the feature back for this falcon team And you know when you have a run game like a guy in al jeer It makes your offense so much better. It takes a lot off your quarterback takes a lot of ritter Going into a ballgame knowing you have a guy like that So it's it's been fun to watch the progression of a lot of these rookies as the season progresses And not hit that rookie wall like a lot of guys do seems like he's continued to get stronger. Yeah, he really has I think absolutely good points on all that without jeer. All right, let's be real Oh for four in the red zone. That's that's losing football Five for 14 on third down one for four on fourth down That means you were six for 18 in conversion situations You can't win football games that way now. There's a lot of reasons for why that's happening Execution of the players. You can't put your finger on one thing. You can't say, okay, it's the quarterback Okay, it's the offensive line. It's it's this guy dropped the ball There's a lot of reasons for that oh for four in the red zone Let's face it and that's being real here. The referees contributed to that There were a couple of calls the oz holding call is ridiculous Go back and look at the tape. He pushes the guy down. They throw a flag on him He had there was no hold at all oz. He's not big enough to hold anybody let alone He didn't hold anybody there cp scores the grounding call. You talked about it shock He clearly gets hit the rule is if he's if the arm is is hampered in any way with the motion It's not grounding. That was a blown call. You heard arthur smith I'm sure over the ref's mic the how he felt about that call But then there's also you got to take some onus on yourselves as players and play call Maybe we're not getting into the right stuff and that'll be something that arthur smith will grind On to try to make sure that he fix whatever play calls are getting to on third down So that that's just touching on some of the realness that's out there Defensively, let's talk a couple of young guys real quickly before we move on to get beating the cardinals Some guys that are sticking out for you on the defensive side of the football There's some young players on that side that are coming too. Yeah, I mean you obviously saw Daniela Malone have some more time. You see ak have, you know, some some more Pressures in this ball game. Obviously trojanerson Getting the second star being, you know, flying all around the field I mean, this is a defense that's was kind of put together kind of patchwork to be honest I mean, we had a lot of guys here coming in on a on a one-year deal Or you had a lot of young rookies, you know playing this season But this has been a a fun defense I say to watch because of how some games have started But then how they've been able to adapt to it how they've been able to change how they become Um a defense that understands, you know, okay, you could bend a little bit But once you get in the red zone, you type down and we saw this in this ball game Where you force three field goals, so you're keeping yourself in this ball game that's happened You know the last two three weeks This is a A defense that these guys are continue to fight these guys are continue to play at a at a high level for you And you're like some of the the young talent that you're seeing Troy obviously moving into that linebacker spot playing Um next to a guy like rachan evans is huge, you know that communication that you could have in game That you can see on tape you can come to the sideline and talk about those are things that You could absolutely build on in these last two games and going into the next season that you got a veteran Got next to you and a rookie who is just as talented Um to be able to come in here and have and have the impact that he's having so it's it's been good to see Like you said the evolution of the guys on offense, but it's continued to happen on the defense side of all as well Yeah, and I thought that drake had an important thing to say. I was asking him about the rookies Obviously the three that we talked about on offense. You mentioned trojanis and you mentioned, uh, malone ebba kt He says don't forget now. We're pretty young in some other spots, too AJ's not very old player, you know, he's played a lot of football So there's a lot of young players on this team that are kind of both safety still young Yeah, and they're and they're struggling to get over the hump you keep hearing about them They need to win And he said hey, maybe we need to go through some of these hard times It kind of kind of harden us a little bit that we don't want this feeling to be able to get over the hump And win some of these games now there are things to fix on the defensive side as well This is a defensive team that has not been very good against the run now They've gotten better as you got down deeper in territory got deeper in the red zone But not very good against the run. They haven't put a consistent enough pressure on the passer Those are things they're going to have to try to improve and that might be an off-season scenario When you start bringing in some players now that you get freed up from a money standpoint And we got to maybe bring some more players and we're going to be honest when you give up Nearly six yards of carry and a ball game. That's that's going to be tough on the on any of these That makes third down easy, right? I'll send them a play call or I'm third and three not third and nine, right? Yeah, no doubt and I mean that's a big part of the game Obviously as we talked about Obviously on our side the ball is being able to run a football and the bowls well for you Other teams are doing the exact same thing. I mean they rushed for 184 yards and it was like 5.9 to carry in the ball game And we talked about the chunk yardage runs they had And it puts your defense in a bind where you know, you're kind of catching now because you're playing, you know Third and lesser second and you know four or five and the offense is wide open for that team 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 All right. Well, I'm sure there's fans out there discouraged and upset and We're just trying to give you a couple things maybe to focus on as you watch as these last two games play out Some of the young players are going to be the bulk part of this football team And the playmakers on this football team that are going to be a part of you moving forward just something maybe To focus on oh, let's take a look at the arizona cardinals. They come in on sunday Kyler, uh, murray tears his knee up two weekends ago. He's gone for the year. You mentioned colt mccoy their veteran He's been banged up as well. They've gone to trace mcsorley who played in the last game In maybe one of the more. I don't know if monday night football has enjoyed this But they've had some of the more unwatchable games ever But but that was a sunday night game. That was not a monday night game That was a sunday night game between arizona and tampa bay, but tampa found a way to win that game at overtime So shock when you look when you think arizona What what immediately comes to mind? And what are some of the things the falcon fans should watch for and what does this team need to overcome here in Atlanta? Yeah, I think obviously with the change in quarterback, you know, it's it's a Not a sore subject, but it's something that you look at and say, okay, maybe that's not the to position of Concern that you had coming to this ball game color murder. We know what kind of player he is and not having him on the team obviously Kind of boats well for you. You feel better about that situation, but they got a Back in james connor who's tough. He's physical. He's kind of built in the mode of like our jeer It's a downhill guy played a lot of football for you He's average over four yards of carry this season, you know, just over 700 yards and look on the outside You got you know are going to be one of the top three receivers in the game and the andre hopkins And you know, he's missed a bunch of games this season, but he's still leads the team and targets Got 64 catches on the team that leaves the team And then you got the speed of hallowed brown on the outside as well Who's right behind him with 60 catches and you know over 90 some targets as well So you have those kind of veteran guys on the outside you have a run game That's going to come in here and try to control The atmosphere inside Mercedes Benz stadium take a little bit off your quarterback Now chase trace last week threw it for he threw it 45 times only had one interception in the game 217 yards versus that bucks defense who we know had some pretty good players on it Um, you think he would only build off that he comes in with a little moxie though You know, he's one of those guys who you know can run around can make some plays But it's ultra confident. Washington memorandum playing at Penn State was a similar style player Uh, and you know everything you hear from the Arizona side of it is this guy is just as confident as anybody else Come in on the defensive side. They got some really good players on that side buddha bakers. They've been Collins who He dragged a few years ago Big time, you know Russia off the edge. Isaiah Simmons is the guy who's kind of the the hybrid guy that everybody looks like everywhere Play everywhere and then obviously the the freakish one year that's still doing it on the outside and jj Y who you know leaves their team with nine and a half sacks. So there's a lot of Uh, you know players who have you know done some good things in this league that you look for Uh, it's exactly when you're watching this ball game Uh, but you you're thinking about the last three ball games This arizona team has scored 13 15 and 16 points on offense. Who's that sound like? That's what i'm saying one of those uh, you know line up schlauber knocker hit you in the face kind of ball games because Sometimes there's not a lot of points scored and every possession coming in will probably matter Yeah, and I think when you start looking at what what can atlanta do against this, uh, Arizona defense, they're gonna run the football obviously and I think you can pound them with the run game I think it is a team you can move the ball against you mentioned Some of their really good players and they've got some good ones one of the best safeties in the game In buda baker. He had nine tackles last weekend Or just this sunday night against a tampa bay in a loss for them But they've got guys at all three levels that you like They have some issues as well. This is an opportunity to go win in your building And start to build for the off season and that's where I want to kind of go That's kind of give it gives you an idea of what arizona is I think we all know where atlanta can kind of go they're going to run the football. We'll see the Expansion now desmond ridder for the first time will play at home That's another thing. It's encouraging for the fans to come out and watch your young quarterback Play in this building. Uh, he's been on the road in two adverse situations inside in new orland's tough place to play And then out so outside in the frigid weather In baltimore has afforded himself pretty well against two pretty good defenses Now you get one that you might be able to make some plays against and you're going to be able to play inside with your With your people in the building. So let's take a look at One of the things that I think the fans get caught up in says, oh, let's just lose the last two games We'll get a better draft pick Okay, and yeah that that probably would be the case if you lost the last two. Maybe your draft pick would improve But why give an I said an idea of the mindset of the player shock if you can As to how you close this season out and why you close it out the way you do You have two games left to play and obviously the The frustration of the season has built up as a player And all that matters and you should feel a certain way you work so hard in the offseason You work so hard during the season you work so hard week to week To win ball games and I heard grady talk about it after the game. Yeah, I'm gonna be honest. I'm frustrated I'm you know sad and mad that all this continues to happen week in and week out But he said I'm gonna come in and I'm going to continue to work these last two weeks And I shouldn't have to tell Another professional to come in and have that same attitude because it should mean something to you and as a player Anytime you get a chance to put something on tape. You want it to be good and here's the thing. Let's be let's be perfectly Honest here. They're going to be changes in this building in this team next year Do you want to be a part of the change? Do you want to be a guy who is a part of this team? Or you want to be a guy that's on the outs because you're not playing anything right now I think the biggest thing is When you go into the offseason you want to go in on a high note You got two games at home. You're playing for an organization. Do you want to be a part of this organization? You have to put good things on tape for The next team or whatever it may be or this team But you got to show this coaching staff regardless of situation regardless of how the season's going I'm gonna continue to fight for my brothers and continue to fight for these guys that I work hard with That I sweat with every single day And I want to give everything I have for this team I don't care what the situation is on the outside I get a chance to play in the national football league You cannot take that for granted regardless of the situation because there are guys who are sitting out right now Who would give their left toe? They give their left foot to freaking be in the uh on a on a on a team for the last two ballgame So do not take it for granted. I think a lot of these guys They understand that they know it and they know that these next two games are tied to their career We mentioned there are a lot of guys on one year deal. There are a lot of guys who are hanging on by You know a thread to their NFL career And what you're doing these last two ball games in practice how you go out about your business And then what you put on tape for other teams to see for this falcons organization to see Matters so winning ball games does a lot for a lot of players It does a lot for this organization and you want to give everything you have because this is your job This is what you're paid to do and if you love it like you say you do and if you love it To be in the national football league you should have enough waterfall to go out and give everything you got So well said shock so well said You put your signature on every play folks Because it's on tape your peers are watching you play. There's other coaches You may not be here in Atlanta and we hope you are we as a player And shock just talked about are you playing for your opportunity to be here in Atlanta? Yes, but if you're not And they see you're not playing late in the season Are you going to be someplace else? Probably not As a teammate I want to be able to trust G. J. Shockley He wants to be able to trust Dave Archer that he's going to go out there and play as hard as he can possibly play Because I've got the I'm representing Atlanta. I'm representing the bird. There's no caveat. You built in Oh, well, the season was over so they weren't really playing right right. You can't put the ass that doesn't that doesn't happen All you do is see the tape and you see you're either winning or you see your ass getting kicked Yeah, so which do you want to be and that means you go out and lay it on the line I owe it to my teammate to go play on the line And that's why you will never see or never hear of a mindset where players or a team or a coach Is going to lay down at the end of the season and do the whole I guess NBA word tank or where that doesn't exist The national football league you owe it to your teammates and all that kind of stuff We're not talking about april and what's going to happen in april We're talking about what's happening right now and you talked about momentum I want some momentum going to the off season. I want to feel good about us ourselves going into the off season Let's make the other teams feel bad about themselves going into the off season. No doubt and I think One point you bring up is april and I heard Arthur Smith talk about it yesterday There was a question posed to him about how do you finish this last two ball games and you're looking for You know the right draft pick and he says I understand your question But let's be honest You never know how that top draft pick is going to pay it out. Sometimes they pay it out Sometimes they don't so if you go into off season putting all your eggs in the basket of okay Well, we got a top five pick or we got a top six pick and it don't pay it out Then what so it's all about the here and now and I love the fact that Arthur Smith had a resounding No, there's no way in the world anybody in this building is going to Quote and quote tank or not play their best to win these last two games. He's DJ Shockley. I'm Dave Archer This is falcons. This is falcons audible presented by at and t Derek wrackley will join us again next week and we'll be back on video for you really soon I know you guys would prefer it that way like subscribe and review at spotify itunes atlanta falcons dot com YouTube wherever you get your podcast. We appreciate you being with us. We try to keep it real Hit us back Let us know what you think because what's going on throw us some throw us some comments our way Some of the things you'd like us to talk about we'll chop it up for you right here on falcons Audible on by presented by at and t