Rob Ninkovich has one big concern for Patriots!

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Rob Ninkovich has one big concern for Patriots! Ninko: "The Chargers' pass rush is legit" Is Chargers pass rush vs. Patriots O-Line the X Factor?

Transcript

00:00I have a concern that you were talking about with us during the break

00:02when it comes to this New England Patriots team

00:05and this game against the Chargers.

00:06The Chargers' pass rush is legit.

00:08So, you know, watching their last matchup,

00:11I know Herbert wasn't playing,

00:12but they're getting after the quarterback now.

00:15And, you know, that's really the Achilles heel of any offense

00:18is timing, getting the ball out on time, deep shots.

00:24You know, the pass rush is the biggest X factor

00:27when it comes to any offense.

00:29So I think that that's going to be their biggest challenge.

00:34And when you have a team that is great at pass rushing,

00:37you usually come out with a lot of split backs,

00:40which are two backs in the backfield or off tight ends.

00:44You know, they're playing off, so they chip out.

00:46So basically those guys in the backfield are your flat routes

00:48and they're helping on the ends and they're chipping

00:51and then they're getting out into the routes.

00:52But, you know, I think this matchup, I said this before,

00:56sometimes when you have two very easy games

01:00that aren't challenging at all,

01:02you run through the last two games of the year.

01:04The Jets, obviously, they're in Cancun right now.

01:06They're on vacation.

01:07And Miami, they didn't want to be here.

01:09So then you go into a playoff game that next week

01:12where the talent and the, you know, competition level

01:18and the speed of the game, and Wiggy, you know this,

01:21preseason or regular season, turn it up.

01:24It's jacked way up.

01:24It's jacked up.

01:25So you go from a couple losers to a completely different scenario.

01:31Different scenario where guys aren't flying around

01:33and then you go from regular season to the playoffs.

01:35Yep.

01:35It steps up.

01:36You turn that dial up even more.

01:38And, you know, I can remember playing the Ravens

01:41and in a playoff game, the Ravens were very physical.

01:46I mean, that's when, you know, they were knocking guys out

01:49and, you know, the offensive line was very physical.

01:51They had some big dudes.

01:52They're running the ball.

01:54I just remember saying to myself, like,

01:57wow, I feel like I've been run over by a car many, many times

02:01after these games in the playoffs.

02:03And it's challenging because you're stepping it up.

02:06And a lot of these guys don't have the experience of that.

02:09So how do you prepare?

02:10How does Vrabel prepare this team for turning it up a little bit more?

02:15Yeah, and every round turns up.

02:17Every round turns up.

02:17Every round turns up in the playoffs.

02:19So I think the good thing about, and I give credit to Vrabel

02:23and I'll give credit to Jim Harbaugh out with the Chargers,

02:28they understand that and they can get that message across to players

02:33that have might have, you know, who've never been in that situation.

02:37You know, you were fortunate enough to get into the league

02:40and then be in the playoffs for the first time

02:42and then go back to the playoffs and understand what the differences were

02:46from your first year to your second year.

02:48I was fortunate to do that.

02:51So when you have some coaches that understand,

02:54they might be able to get these guys to say,

02:57hey, this playoffs is about to ratchet up.

03:00And we have to understand that.

03:03Yes, Curtis.

03:04Your last game, Nick, if I'm correct, is the, was it Super Bowl 51?

03:07Yeah.

03:07So I'm just fascinated.

03:10I've watched that game probably 5,000 times.

03:12But were you as shocked as everybody else that they didn't just,

03:16when Julio Jones made that catch,

03:18one of the great catches in NFL history to get them at the 30,

03:21down eight, looks like the game's over.

03:23Were you shocked that they were dropping back to pass in that situation?

03:27No, have I ever, have I ever spoke about my theory on this?

03:30No.

03:30Uh-uh.

03:31So what, every team, and you go into the playoffs,

03:36you go into the Super Bowl,

03:38what is one of the iconic ceremonies after you win a Super Bowl?

03:43The MVP?

03:44The MVP.

03:45Mm-hmm.

03:46If you're an offensive coordinator

03:47and you have the game somewhat wrapped up,

03:51who do you want to receive that MVP trophy?

03:56You're a quarterback.

03:57Yeah, you're a quarterback.

03:58In the two Super Bowls that I won,

04:01if Russell Wilson hands the football off to Marshawn Lynch,

04:04Marshawn Lynch is the MVP.

04:06Right.

04:07Right?

04:07Mm-hmm.

04:07He's the MVP.

04:08He's a beast.

04:10They drop back and pass.

04:11They try to throw a touchdown pass.

04:13Russell Wilson's the MVP.

04:15Who's the offensive coordinator?

04:17The next head coach candidate for a next team.

04:19They're all chasing the money.

04:20They're chasing the bag.

04:22Shanahan is the offensive coordinator with Atlanta.

04:25Your quarterback, Matty Ice.

04:28Yep.

04:29Drop back and pass.

04:30Throw a bomb.

04:31Put the icing on the cake.

04:32MVP.

04:33Next head coach somewhere.

04:35Follow the money.

04:36No.

04:36They get sacked.

04:37They fumble.

04:38No.

04:38They throw an interception on the one-yard line.

04:41So at the end of the day, the smart thing to do is to hand the football off,

04:45kick a field goal.

04:45You win that game 99% of the time.

04:49But you get greedy, just like the bank robber in the town right down the street.

04:53You want to go back for that one last bite, and it bites you.

04:57So at the end of the day, the coaches, they want to put on a show.

05:02They want to put on the entertainment so then they can climb the ladder, keep climbing it,

05:06and sometimes it gets you.

05:07The reason to that point is, though, you have two teams that kind of have defensive-minded

05:11head coaches, and both Dan Quinn at the time and then Pete Carroll, you would think they

05:18would be like, uh-uh, run the football to the OC.

05:22And we just found out Harbaugh didn't realize that Derrick Henry wasn't in the game.

05:27You know, some important parts of this situation.

05:30So maybe these guys don't know.

05:32They're not paying these coordinators $5 million now.

05:34And they just completely look the other way.

05:37They say, hey, take care of the offense.

05:39I'll take care of the coordinating of everything.

05:41I just can't believe that that was the last game you played in, like the greatest game in the history of the NFL.

05:46That had a lot to do with why I retired.

05:48Like, did you do that?

05:49It's not going to get better than this.

05:50Well, I'm like, yeah, no, they're going to pay me $1.3 million to play next year and beat my head against a wall

05:55and then let my backup make $5 million.

05:57No, I'm out of here.

05:58Let him play.

05:59Were you pinching yourself?

06:00Like, did you believe it?

06:02No, that's, you know what's funny?

06:03Me and Chris Long, we basically at halftime were telling each other how embarrassing this was.

06:10And that was the general feel of the whole locker room is when you make it to a Super Bowl,

06:16you understand that every single eye is on you.

06:19So when you get embarrassed like that, you almost feel like, wow, we shouldn't even have made it here.

06:26We're going to make this game look like...

06:27And you guys are literally talking about that.

06:28We were talking about how embarrassing it was.

06:30Yes.

06:30And then we slowly...

06:32And I remember saying to myself, because we got the ball to start the third quarter,

06:37I remember specifically saying in my mind, if we go three and out on offense, we're cooked.

06:42And we went three and out on offense.

06:45After we got the ball to start the third quarter, three and out punt.

06:48I'm like, geez, this is not good.

06:52So, you know, with that game, you really felt the momentum shift.

06:58And those guys ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.

07:01So they ran out of gas.

07:04And I think they were a little overconfident.

07:05They were flying high on, hey, we got this thing won.

07:08Who's playing in the after party?

07:10So are you saying that part of the decision making when it came to retiring

07:14is that you maybe stole one that you didn't think you were going to be able to steal

07:20and you wanted to go out on that?

07:22No.

07:22My thought process on retiring was they're not paying me enough to play my 12th year.

07:28And that was it.

07:29So I had a discussion with Bill.

07:30I said, hey, I'm going to need to get paid a little bit more.

07:32He said, well, I've never given a 33-year-old defensive end in a contract extension.

07:36I said, okay, well, I think I'm going to walk off on my own two feet.

07:39I always just called it that was Kraft by Wiggy.

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