00:01Is this going to be the gimme game that we think it is on Sunday?
00:07The gimme, isn't it, Figgy?
00:08The Titans in Nashville.
00:097-1-3.
00:10It should be.
00:105-7-2-4-6-10.
00:13It's a gimme, yes.
00:14It feels like it.
00:15It feels like it.
00:16Now, of course.
00:16It should have been a gimme last year.
00:19Yeah.
00:20And that's the thing, right?
00:22Let's be honest and let's be real introspective about this
00:26and make sure that we are not missing anything.
00:28Obviously, we'll continue to talk about this game all the way through the week
00:31and get you ready for it when the Texans take off to Nashville.
00:35But there's a couple of developments, obviously,
00:37that happen with the practice report and everything that I imagine
00:40give you a little bit of, I don't know, pause,
00:42but give you a little bit more context on it.
00:44But, Lopez, where are you at?
00:45Does this feel like the gimme that we've been talking about it as?
00:49Short answer, yes.
00:50Okay.
00:51Texans are going to go in there and take care of business.
00:55So, they're feeling quite good about themselves, as they well should.
00:59All right.
00:59Done with segment.
00:59Thanks for talking about it.
01:00Defense is amazing.
01:01I'm not done yet.
01:02Oh, my bad.
01:03You can see it.
01:04You can hear it coming, right?
01:05You can feel it coming.
01:05There's a bug coming.
01:06Yeah.
01:08This is going to be a gimme.
01:09That's the short answer.
01:11This is how I'll put it, though.
01:12Something to think about.
01:14Not necessarily gives me pause,
01:15because the connotation there is like,
01:18oh, maybe I'm not as confident.
01:19I'm confident they're going to win.
01:20But something to think about.
01:21Okay?
01:22And it occurred to me yesterday when we were talking to,
01:26is it Ron Slay?
01:27Yeah, we're talking about Ron Slay.
01:29Ron Slay.
01:29You don't remember the man's name?
01:30I couldn't.
01:30I drew a blank on his first name.
01:31Is it Ron or Rob?
01:32I couldn't remember.
01:33Ron.
01:33Yeah.
01:34Richard Slay.
01:35We were talking to Ron Slay.
01:37And he mentioned, you know,
01:38that Calvin Ridley and Arden Key are going to be back this week.
01:44Yeah.
01:44Her immediate instinct is, oh, Calvin Ridley.
01:47Calvin Ridley doesn't scare me.
01:48Not against this defense.
01:49Not against this secondary.
01:50I think Cam Ward described him as like one of the veteran guys.
01:54Like actually having a veteran wide receiver back.
01:56And it's like, the dude who got suspended for a year for gambling?
01:59Yeah.
01:59But not even that.
02:00Just like against this defense, Calvin Ridley, you know,
02:04he's a good player.
02:05I'm not, I'm not.
02:05No, of course.
02:06Yeah.
02:06I don't want to.
02:07He doesn't scare me.
02:08He shouldn't.
02:09I don't think he's under caliber.
02:10You know who did?
02:10A little bit.
02:11There's something to think about.
02:13Arden Key.
02:14You know why?
02:15Not just because of what he does, you know, defensively.
02:17But that guy is a special teams menace.
02:21Like he's blocked, I think, at least one kick.
02:24I think maybe two.
02:25Oh, he think he did Niko Autry?
02:26He is that guy.
02:28Yeah, he's that guy.
02:29And so Frank Ross was talking yesterday.
02:33And again, it led to something to think about.
02:37Ross was talking about the special teams and freely, fully admitted it hadn't been good enough, right?
02:45Yeah.
02:45So the first thing is, is you don't just, man, you don't roll that off and just say, that's not us.
02:51Like, that's our tape.
02:53We have to own that.
02:54We have to make sure we correct honestly and making sure that we are holding ourselves to what we think is a high standard.
03:02So I'm just going to start with disciplining our alignment, our assignment, and then when we're at the point of attack, like playing off of each other.
03:09I've always said we're an aggressive tackling unit team.
03:12Take your shot.
03:13Go and make that returner check his feet.
03:14If you miss, your buddy will clean up for you and play off of each other.
03:18But if you don't do that and somebody hesitates, a lot of hesitation and my teachings and my emphasis on that.
03:29So it doesn't matter how good – every week there's good players.
03:34That's a good returner.
03:35But that's not an excuse for us.
03:36We've got a really good returner this week.
03:39He's maybe the fastest returner we'll see.
03:43So we have to be sure we're disciplined, playing with and off of each other, and making sure that we're tackling the ball.
03:48Sound, purely.
03:50And it's all going to work together.
03:51You're trying to flip field, you're going to have to cover space.
03:53So we've got to force fair catches.
03:55You've got to win on the perimeter and do our job together collectively.
03:59Special teams has been sliding.
04:00Nobody can deny that, right?
04:02Right.
04:02I feel – because I think it was steak night yesterday I was talking with Bajani and T-Mill and Santiago, I think Lou Morrow as well.
04:11And one of the things we were kind of talking about is, you know, we're talking about this Frank Ross,
04:14because, of course, we're dorks that still talk about football when we're eating steaks.
04:18And he may mention of, like, yeah, Frank felt like that performance wasn't good.
04:22And I was like, it's been sliding before that.
04:24It's been sliding.
04:24Like, this wasn't just an individual instance of the special teams not standing up to what the – you know,
04:30what our expectations have been in the past, especially under Frank Ross.
04:33And so, yeah, this absolutely needs to be solidified, especially with Chimiri Dike, the returner he's talking about.
04:38He's really good.
04:38He's really good.
04:39Solid slot receiver, too.
04:40Now, of course, if you're getting the pressure on Cam Ward that you should be, like, I don't know how scared you should be of any of that.
04:46But, yeah, like, they need to tighten this up because that third facet of the game pops up real quick.
04:51Like, all of a sudden, that can make a game that should be an absolute runaway a lot more interesting than it need be.
04:58Yeah, that's the part that kind of scared me a little bit.
05:00I'm not worried about the –
05:01Something to think about, right?
05:04Yeah, not at all.
05:05Matter of fact, I don't think the Titans' offense is going to do anything, but I'm just worried about the special teams part of it.
05:12If they get a touchdown, that kind of makes me worry about what kind of offense you're going to get from the Houston Texans.
05:18Right, and what were the two –
05:19What kind of Davis Mills you're going to get?
05:21This past Sunday, we thought that game was a dead stick.
05:24We thought it was over.
05:25Why?
05:26Because of two plays on special teams.
05:27You know, the muff punt.
05:28Yep.
05:29And the return.
05:32And Dike can do that and has done that.
05:35And then you have Arden Key in there, who's a guy that can block some kicks.
05:39And I'm like, all right, we've got to watch that because that's – you mentioned it.
05:42You know, they call up – they talk about sudden change and if you get turnovers, your two turnovers and your chances of winning go up whatever percentage.
05:51Well, these, I guess, aren't always technically turnovers, but it feels like it, you know, when you have a big return.
05:56It's a big play, right?
05:57It doesn't even have to necessarily be a full turnover, but a big play kind of changes the vibe of the game.
06:01And, I mean, sometimes can jar a play caller or what have you.
06:04There's ways in which it can affect the game.
06:06So, I feel you on that.
06:08I think that the special teams note is a good one.
06:10I will say, in looking at this game, there were a couple of things where I was like – you know, because, again, as much as I've talked about this in such a confident manner,
06:17I think I still try and go through looking at this and treating it with the level of respect that I should.
06:21And in looking at the Titans, there was something that – at least one number, because you look at certain things and it's like the Texans – Texans have the advantage.
06:29Texans have the advantage in all these various different places.
06:31There was one thing in looking at the Titans where I went, huh, this is a little interesting.
06:34And that's that their sack rate has ticked up tremendously, in fact, over the last four games where I think they might be one of the best teams when it comes to getting –
06:45but when they do, actually getting that sack there over the last four weeks have been really good.
06:50Well, I was double-checking with that.
06:51A lot of that was Jihad Ward and Draymond Jones.
06:54No, Draymond Jones.
06:55Draymond Jones has been traded.
06:57Jihad Ward is still there.
06:58Arden Key returning.
06:59Are they capable of maybe keeping that up is a question that I think is interesting.
07:03But without Jeffrey Simmons returning, or at least he did not practice yesterday, so it's a little bit more in the air, whether he returns, I'm not afraid.
07:11And if you can manage to keep Jihad Ward and Arden Key under wraps where they're not really attacking Davis Mills,
07:18I think that Davis Mills can do capital D damage because one thing is that defensive line might possibly be interesting.
07:26The secondary is just washed right now.
07:29It's been washed out.
07:31So you should be able to, especially with the confidence that I imagine that this offense built in with this construction,
07:36throwing a ball to Jaden Higgins, throwing a ball to Dalton Schultz, throwing a ball to Nico Collins.
07:40You hope that that continues on against a defense and a secondary that's not capable of handling it.
07:45Yeah, and one more note, while we're talking about special teams, and Frank Ross has done just a tremendous job,
07:50but there's no denying the last three or four weeks we've seen some gaping holes in some areas.
07:57One other thing to think about, Matthew Wright's probably still going to kick.
08:00Yeah.
08:00He was good last week, or good enough, but that's still your backup kicker, too.
08:05Yeah, yeah.
08:06I mean, a dude that you signed off the street.
08:07Yeah.
08:07So, especially, that comes back to your Arden Key getting his hand on the football when it's kicked.
08:12That does bring up a thought.
08:14So, yeah, it's one of those, it's the side of the football that we most frequently neglect.
08:19Could that be something that makes this game more interesting than 8-3-2,
08:25that the Falcons are supposed to be a gimme game,
08:27Zach Wilson, Jets on Halloween were supposed to be a gimme game,
08:30Bryce Young and the Panthers were supposed to be a gimme game?
08:32100%.
08:32Like, that is incumbent upon this team to go out and handle their business.
08:36They have every possibility to.
08:38You're just making notes.
08:39Like, hey, there's some instances where maybe the gimme doesn't end up being as much of a gimme.
08:43Like, hey, there's some instances where we're going to be a gimme game.
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