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00:00We're joined by Odyssey NFL insider Mark Schlaireth, host of the Stinkin' Truth podcast.
00:05Listen to the Stinkin' Truth podcast now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
00:10Insider calls are brought to you by Nationwide for your insurance and financial needs.
00:15Nationwide is on your side.
00:17So on the River Island's guest line, it's none other than Mark Schlaireth.
00:21Hey, Stink, what's going on?
00:22What were you guys talking about on the pod this week?
00:25Oh, man, we had all kinds of stuff going on on the pod.
00:28But we did a kind of a preview or a post wrap-up, if you will, of the New England game that I called last weekend.
00:38So that's in the leftovers thing.
00:40And then, you know, talking about the Broncos and how bad you guys think the defense,
00:44how bad the defense of the Dallas Cowboys is.
00:48And we just had all kinds of things.
00:50So it's all good.
00:51It's always fun.
00:52And you can find it on YouTube, Stinkin' Truth podcast.
00:55I look forward to catching up with that.
00:57And, you know, we're still poking our way through that 49er game at Houston.
01:02And I know that the Niners have never had a lower time of possession number.
01:05But when you look at that game just from 30,000 feet, was that just a classic case where Houston was just flat better on both sides of the ball,
01:13and therefore you lose?
01:15Yeah, the crazy thing is Houston's been horrible on offense.
01:19And, you know, that's where I kind of looked at this game as, hey, man, this is going to be close because they've been so bad.
01:26I know they've been one of the most – they've just been an elite defense.
01:29They have been great on the defensive side of the ball.
01:32But their offense is just that they haven't been in sync.
01:35They haven't been able to block people.
01:36They've given up a ton of pressures.
01:37So, I was like, hey, man, this should be a really good matchup.
01:41And then to watch them put up, what, 434 yards of offense and possess the ball for 40-some-odd minutes,
01:49it just is – it was one of those things I just flat wasn't expecting at all from that 49ers defense.
01:55All right, so, Stink, here's the question I think bouncing around in my head at least,
01:59maybe some other 49er fans too.
02:02You're right.
02:02The Texans' offensive line is terrible.
02:05But when they're able to block your defensive line, what does that say about your defensive line?
02:11And while the Niners are now 5-3, they're not going to get Bosa and Warner back.
02:16So, do you believe that the front office kind of owes it to these guys to give them an addition to help them out?
02:23Or is that silly to chase after something when a lot of your big guys aren't coming back?
02:29Yeah, no, I don't think it's silly.
02:30I mean, I think you look at the 49ers, they need a difference maker.
02:35Like, one of the things I always say about, like, as a player, like, when you broke the huddle,
02:41if there's not one guy you're afraid of going one-on-one with, then you're going to have a pretty good day.
02:48And so, you've got to have – we used to call them war daddies.
02:50If you've got one war daddy, then it becomes one of those situations where you're like,
02:54okay, we've got to protect that guy.
02:57We've got to protect against that guy.
02:58We're going to have to find ways to double-team that guy, to chip that guy,
03:01to have a tight end lined up over that guy, which creates a bunch of one-on-ones across the board everywhere else.
03:07But when you don't have that guy, when you don't have a dude that frightens you as an offense,
03:13well, then it's just like, man, we can get five guys out in the pattern
03:16or any time we want to get five guys out in the pattern.
03:19And that becomes a really – that becomes really problematic.
03:23And that's where the Niners are right now.
03:25So, if you get one dude that can be a difference maker on the edge,
03:30then all of a sudden it's a different defense.
03:33And that dude helps everybody become better.
03:36So, no, I don't think it's – I think it's one of those situations where,
03:40well, if you can go get somebody, if you can make a deal or cut a deal for a Max Crosby, you do that.
03:47Yeah, the price might be crazy and the salary is astronomical,
03:51but do you look at the Niners and think, if you had that war daddy,
03:55is the NFC wide open enough to where that could make the difference between being a playoff team
04:01and maybe even going on a little bit of a run?
04:03Yeah, because you've got to think about – you're going to get receivers back, right?
04:07You're going to get healthy, hopefully.
04:09You know, I mean, you can't be snake bit this many times for this long, right?
04:13I mean, the war – just the averages, the law of averages seems to me
04:20that you're just going to even out at some point.
04:22And then if you can just, you know, address that as a defense,
04:26I believe that, you know, you've got an opportunity to do something
04:30that could be potentially special down the road.
04:34And in the NFC, come on, let's face it.
04:36I mean, you've got an opportunity, and you look at the teams that are in the NFC right now.
04:41I would say Detroit and Green Bay are the two teams that are playing really good football.
04:47But, you know, they've been on and off again.
04:50And so, you know, you look at some of the losses they've had
04:53and some of the things that are perplexing.
04:55So, yeah, I think as long as you get in the playoffs
04:58and you start to get your health back and offensively your players back,
05:01and then you make some changes on the defensive side of the ball,
05:05you've got – if you get in, you've got as good a chance as anybody.
05:07Mark Slareth is with us here on Willard & Dibbs 95.7 The Game.
05:12Insider calls are brought to you by Nationwide for your insurance and financial needs.
05:16Nationwide is on your side.
05:18Stink, your expertise is obviously the O-line.
05:21We'd love to dig into this a little bit.
05:23And let me start with this very simple question.
05:26Like, when you look at how that group is playing,
05:30it's not just what needs to be better.
05:32It's sort of like, how?
05:34Like, how – because nobody trades offensive linemen, you know?
05:38Like, how is this group going to get better?
05:42Well, I think always the biggest thing for me when you're struggling at that position
05:50is you've got to be able to simple things down.
05:55And, you know, oftentimes, like, oftentimes you're trying to do so many different things
06:02and ultimately nobody becomes an expert at any of those things.
06:08And so, like, take like plays, like concepts together,
06:13whether you're running gap stuff or whether you're running zone stuff,
06:16and tie those things together and become exceptional.
06:20I always think about it from the standpoint of being good at one thing.
06:23Let me find one thing that we can do, and then let me lean into that one thing
06:28and build off that one thing.
06:31And oftentimes what I find – you know, what I find when I'm studying the league
06:36and I'm looking at things is it's really hard for teams that don't have an identity
06:40saying this is what we're going to do.
06:43This is what we're going to lean into.
06:45This is what we're going to do well.
06:47This is how we're going to build our team.
06:49And what ends up happening, when you have that, then you can build off of that
06:54and you can grow as an offense.
06:56When you don't and you're trying to figure it out – and that's what makes it hard
06:59is nothing's really working, so let's try to figure it out.
07:03And so then you throw a bunch of stuff on the wall and see if any of it sticks.
07:07And I'm kind of opposite of that.
07:10I'm trying to get rid of everything and just doing one or two things well.
07:14Well, and I wonder this as well.
07:16Do you think that the way they're playing would change if the quarterback was more mobile?
07:23In other words, would their output change if Brock Purdy returns instead of Mac Jones?
07:28Yeah, well, I think one of the things that would happen is then all of a sudden
07:32off your wide stretch, you know, you could start putting in a little bit more
07:36of your bootkeep game and capturing the edge with your quarterback outside the pocket
07:41and some of that stuff, whether it's the frontside waggle or the backside bootkeep stuff.
07:46You know, those things become easy completions.
07:48And one of the things that you do if you do have a little bit more mobile quarterback
07:52and you can implement some of those things is you can create a situation where you're like,
07:56hey, we walk into this game and my quarterback is 9-for-9 off of these plays.
08:03So now all of a sudden you're like, okay, we've got a base here
08:06and we're going to have some, you know, first down, kind of P and 10, bootkeep,
08:12play action, run action, play action things where we're going to get easy completions
08:17and all of a sudden we're going to have drive starters where we're second down and three
08:22as opposed to second down and nine.
08:25And I can just tell you from the voice of experience, man, second down and nine sucks.
08:30It's really hard to convert.
08:31So those things, to be in those situations, really help you out as an offense
08:37and really help you get a rhythm and put a drive together.
08:41And how much does the threat of a deep passing attack really help the run game?
08:46Because I'm watching the tape back against Houston and they're creeping eight and nine
08:50up on the line of scrimmage knowing that the 49ers don't really have a legitimate deep threat.
08:55Yeah, I mean, that's always like the deep threat obviously opens up the intermediate game.
09:00He opens up the underneath game as well.
09:03And when you can sit and play flat foot reads, you know, you can just sit and say,
09:07hey, man, we're going to take away your short passing game as well
09:10because we're not afraid of getting beat over the top.
09:12Then that makes it for a long day.
09:14I mean, that makes it really difficult.
09:16And then it becomes like everything is in the red zone.
09:19It's like the whole game is played from the red zone.
09:21You know, one of the things about playing red zone football is there's no vertical stretch
09:27or vertical element to the football field.
09:30And so the safeties will sit there and play with their heels at about eight yards.
09:34And so, you know, if you hand the ball off, they're at the line of scrimmage within two steps.
09:39And, you know, then you've got you're really playing against nine man fronts.
09:42Forget about eight man fronts.
09:43And so, and because there is no vertical stretch.
09:46So, you know, when you get into those situations, you want to be able to take the top off the defense.
09:52And like I said, then it opens up those shallow crossing, those low crossers,
09:56even the deeper cross crossing routes to where you can really exploit a defense.
10:00So, yeah, that makes it, it makes it incredibly difficult.
10:03Stink, what do you think of Jackson Dart so far?
10:06He's been really good, man.
10:09He's been dynamic.
10:10You know, they do a good job with getting him in and out of the pocket, like you talked about,
10:14athletically moving around and capturing inside the pocket.
10:19I think one of the cool things and one of the things that's really hard for young quarterbacks,
10:23especially college quarterbacks, is they all try to escape out the pocket, out the outside of the pocket.
10:28A lot of guys don't have the skill set or haven't been taught how to climb into the pocket.
10:33And in the NFL, you don't, you don't, like you don't escape out the back of the pocket and have success.
10:39Guys tackle, you guys run you down.
10:41So, he's been really good at climbing inside the pocket and getting yards, scrambling, or completing passes doing that.
10:48So, he's been dynamic that way.
10:49Now, the loss of Cam Scadaboo hurts them because that dude has brought all kinds of energy.
10:55And I don't know, like, just watching him play, he's not the biggest dude.
10:59I don't know how long he lasts, the way he plays the game.
11:02But, man, I tell you what, he brings some energy to that Giants football team.
11:07And then one thing I will say is that defense is legit.
11:11They are, you know, they can rush the passer.
11:14They can do a lot of things well.
11:16So, they're a really formidable group on the defensive side of the ball, especially that front seven.
11:20Yeah, Kayvon Thibodeau is the one I keep seeing pop up.
11:24And not just because he wears No. 5, but when you watch him set the edge in the run game and get after the quarterback,
11:30is he one of the more underrated defensive linemen?
11:34He's great.
11:34The Brian Burns kid has been outstanding for them as well.
11:39The kid they traded from, you know, from Carolina.
11:42He's been really good.
11:44So, yeah, they've just got a good edge presence.
11:47That sexy Dexter Lawrence is ridiculous on the inside.
11:51He's just a beast.
11:54So, yeah, they're a really group.
11:56They're just front seven is a really good group.
11:58And, you know, if you sit there, if you get one-dimensional against them
12:01and have to let them, you know, pin their ears back and rush the passer, you're in trouble.
12:05Hey, Stink, you said you called them war daddies.
12:08Is Thibodeau one of them?
12:09Like, would he fit for the 49ers as a trade target?
12:12Maybe the two GMs can sit together on Sunday.
12:15Yeah, you know, he'd be a guy that, like, he has – he's more coming to his own this year.
12:22I think there's been times where I thought as a rookie he was really good
12:25and then he kind of tapered off a little bit.
12:28And I think that happens to you because people kind of figure you out.
12:31Like, what's your go-to thing?
12:32I'm going to shut down your go-to thing.
12:34And then you don't necessarily have a counter off of that.
12:36And so, yeah, that would be one where Lynch could sit down with – who is it?
12:43Joe Shane over there with the Giants because they did draft Carter out of Penn State.
12:48So maybe that's a doable situation.
12:51Yeah, I like it.
12:52Mark's over here brainstorming.
12:54Mark and Mark here trying to lock in on a possible target.
12:57What's the hardest position to acquire and then integrate somebody,
13:01maybe outside of quarterback, at the deadline?
13:04Yeah, I think that, one, I don't think people give up good offensive linemen.
13:10So, like, that's not – you don't get your – you know, like, if that's your issue,
13:16you're not going to have that one answered for you.
13:18You know what I mean?
13:18It's just not going to happen.
13:20So that's one that I think would be a difficult one to get also to implement
13:25because there are – you know, all the offenses are the same,
13:29but the terminologies and stuff are always different.
13:32And then the nuance of the offense is different.
13:35So that would be a really hard one.
13:38Defense, let's face it, defense is easy to implement
13:41because most of those guys are dumb on that side of the ball.
13:43So you don't have to be real smart.
13:45So, you know, it's just like, hey, go get the – you know, go get the quarterback.
13:48How hard is that?
13:49Line up on the outside shade of the guard and go attack the quarterback.
13:53It doesn't take you.
13:54Like, you don't have to be smart to do that.
13:56So that one would be easy.
13:57But, yeah, offensive line, I think outside quarterback would be difficult.
14:01Hey, Stink, explain something to us if you would, okay?
14:03Let's go back to Sunday night, week and a half ago.
14:07Falcons are here in the bay.
14:08George Kittle returns.
14:10Christian McCaffrey wins offensive player of the week.
14:12Everybody's running the ball all over the place.
14:14And people go, see, you just needed Kittle back.
14:17Well, Kittle was back last week as well.
14:20And McCaffrey only got eight carries and went absolutely nowhere.
14:24So what happened from week to week?
14:26Yeah, hey, your guess is as good as mine.
14:30Sometimes they got your number.
14:33Sometimes they just do a really good job.
14:35I think the biggest thing was it was Houston.
14:38And the two edge setters they have in Houston are ridiculous.
14:43And when you look at – you may not know the names because they play in Houston.
14:47But when you look at all three levels of that defense, they got stars on that defense.
14:51And I'm telling you, the two guys off the edge are physical.
14:56They are – I mean, they are physical.
14:58They control it.
15:01They're built the right way.
15:04And then let's face this, that D'Amico knows what they like to run.
15:09I mean, he faced that offense in training camp all those years.
15:13So he really has a good bead on who they are and what they do well.
15:17So I think it's a combination of all those things where, you know, Atlanta, obviously you guys handled them.
15:24And it really is kind of week to week, I'd imagine.
15:26And you get now to where the Niners haven't had their bye and it's week nine and they have five more games until the bye.
15:32How heavy is that weigh on a player emotionally knowing that you still have another month before you catch a break?
15:37Yeah, I mean, it's always – that's always tough.
15:42But it's tough on everybody, man.
15:44Everybody's beat up.
15:44Everybody's hurt.
15:46Everybody's, you know, got issues in alleys.
15:49So nobody feels sorry for you, you know.
15:52And so it is what it is, man.
15:54It's what you sign up to do.
15:56And you just got to find a way through it.
15:58And they've got to manage you as best they can.
16:00But bottom line is, you know, you've got to learn how to play.
16:05Like, my thought process was always as a player, you've got to play hurt and you have to play injured.
16:11But most importantly, you have to play well hurt and injured.
16:15And that, to me, is a mindset.
16:17I mean, I don't care how I feel.
16:19When it's time to go out on Sunday, I'm going to go out and I'm going to whip somebody's ass because that's what I'm paid to do.
16:25And that, to me, is a mindset.
16:27If you limp out there feeling sorry for yourself, then you're no use to the team.
16:33So you've got to figure out a way to play well and produce even when you're hurt and you're injured.
16:40Mark, do you still see the 49ers as a playoff team?
16:44Yeah, I mean, it's like they're going to have to get better.
16:49No, at this particular, if you were to ask me, like, right now, where do I think they are even though they're 5-3?
16:55I think they're on the outside looking in because of the injury issues and where they are on defense.
17:02Now, that can change, obviously.
17:04They can get some production on the defensive side of the ball, maybe make a trade on that side of the ball.
17:08They get healthy on the offensive side of the ball with some of their receivers coming back.
17:12Then that could change.
17:14But right now, as currently constructed, no, I don't see them as a playoff team.
17:17Sting, great stuff.
17:19And we thank you.
17:20We'll talk to you in a couple weeks.
17:21Sounds good, guys.
17:22Take care.
17:23There he goes.
17:24That was Odyssey NFL insider Mark Schlereth, host of the Stinkin' Truth Podcast.
17:29Insider calls are brought to you by Nationwide for your insurance and financial needs.
17:33Nationwide is on your side.
17:35Mark, the host of the Odyssey original The Stinkin' Truth Podcast.
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