- 1 week ago
Sean Payton or Mike Vrabel- Who has the coaching edge? Rob Ninkovich joins!
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00:00What's about coaching edge, Rob Ninkovic, before the break?
00:02Coaching edge, that's tough.
00:03I mean, both are good coaches.
00:04Sean obviously has a great track record.
00:08Hasn't won a Super Bowl or gotten to a Super Bowl, what, since 2009?
00:12Right.
00:12I was on that team.
00:15You were?
00:15Yeah, 2009 with the Saints.
00:18No, I did not because they cut me.
00:19He was a long snapper, Sean.
00:21It was great.
00:22It was an awesome feeling to get cut.
00:24You should go all Baker Mayfield on him.
00:27No.
00:27Well, that actually got me here, so I'm cool with that.
00:31Way to cut me.
00:33Made me a lot more money and a couple of Super Bowl rings.
00:37But I'm going to go with, this is going to be a defensive battle,
00:42so I'm going to go with a defensive coach.
00:44I'm going to go with Vrabes because I feel like in this matchup,
00:49particularly with the backup, like we talked about earlier,
00:52it's going to come down to our defense stopping the run, number one,
00:58because what do you do when you've got a backup quarterback in,
01:00you've got to establish the running game, helps you with the play-action pass,
01:03opens up some receivers a little bit more in the intermediate routes,
01:0810 to 15 yards.
01:09That's what intermediate route is.
01:11Greg knew.
01:11Greg knew that.
01:12I'm all over that.
01:13For everyone listening.
01:13I'm all over that.
01:14I might not be great with timing, but I do know route concepts and distances.
01:20But so, yeah, I'm going to go with Vrabes because I like how the defense
01:25is kind of flying under the radar.
01:28Well, not in the last two weeks.
01:30They've obviously taken off.
01:32But everyone's talking about everybody else's defense up until this point,
01:38Texans' defense.
01:39Now it's Denver's defense, how fast they are.
01:42I think that you're going to go into a game plan against Denver where their
01:47linebackers are all 220 pounds.
01:49They're very light, not very big guys.
01:52Their defensive front is fast, so they like to get up the field.
01:56So let them fly.
01:57Let them get up the field.
01:59Let their aggression kind of work against them and run it up inside.
02:03You have to establish the running game.
02:05And, you know, let Drake use his legs and scramble around, extend some plays,
02:12and look to throw the ball down the field.
02:14Is there an advantage in the familiarity that Josh McDaniels has with Jared Stidham
02:21when it comes to these guys preparing?
02:24I mean, you know that Stidham's going to be in the pocket.
02:27So he's not a guy that's going to try and scramble and run around.
02:30I think Bo gives you that ability to get out of the pocket and use his legs.
02:35But Stidham's more of a statue.
02:38Right.
02:38And you know that if it's a seven-step drop, his foot's going to be right there
02:42at seven.
02:43If it's a 10-step, he's going to be right there 10 yards behind the ball.
02:46So you kind of pin your ears back more with Stidham.
02:49And you could probably apply more pressure, understanding that, hey,
02:53if we load the front up, he's not going to be able to bail out of the corners
02:57and run for first down.
02:57And then you'll know, like, okay, what does he struggle with?
03:00Does he struggle with reading certain concepts of defense?
03:03Does he struggle?
03:04Like, Josh will know all those things from half coaching him.
03:07Like, all right, he might struggle when it comes to seeing this.
03:10But I think the biggest thing, and kind of Rob just alluded to it a little bit,
03:16is that his inability to run, not only is it a benefit for you defense,
03:22but it's also a disadvantage for Sean Payton in his offense because you got to
03:28understand, he built an offense around the quarterback who was mobile.
03:34Now he has to change a lot of what his offense is to now build it around
03:43Jared Stidham one week before the AFC championship game.
03:47So that's something that's going to be very difficult to do.
03:49If he was plugging in an athletic guy, you know, you don't have to change as much.
03:54Now you have to change your scheme a little bit because now you're getting a guy,
03:58like you said, who's a statue back there.
04:00Or he goes to the filing cabinet and he goes, Drew Brees, later career, not mobile,
04:05let's do some of these, you know.
04:07But even then you have to now add this into an offensive, like,
04:11we're coming to the meeting, Coach, like, you know, as an offensive player,
04:14like, wait, wait, what is this?
04:16You know, this is something that we haven't done all year long, but now you're saying,
04:20well, because our quarterback is not as mobile, we have to think, you know,
04:24we might have to take the nakeds and bootlegs out of the game plan or some of those,
04:29you know, sprint out passes that we have.
04:31But don't you think Sean Payton can do that in a week?
04:33I mean, we're not talking about putting in, like, oop-de-oop, right?
04:36No, but it's not that he can't do it.
04:39It's just how are some of those offensive players now going to be able to pick this,
04:43you know, new game plan up that they're just getting a week before the most important part of the game?
04:50Now, the only thing that I look at with Bo Nix and Stidham would be the check-with-me system.
04:57So say the defense comes up and they're a loaded box and they got, you know, mugged A-gaps.
05:02Mugged A-gaps is like two linebackers in the A-gap,
05:04or you have a, you know, eight-man or a seven-man and he's counting down the line.
05:09He's like, all right, check, check, check, alert, alert, alert.
05:12He's hot, he's hot, and he's able to check into something else.
05:16Some quarterbacks, when they're young, the head coach understands we got to run what we got to run.
05:22And if we call the play and the defense isn't in what we think they're going to be in,
05:27we're kind of screwed.
05:28Right.
05:29But back when you were playing guys like Drew Brees and Tom and Manning,
05:33you would have to make sure you didn't show some of your defenses too early,
05:39or else they would check into the right play.
05:41Right.
05:41So now does Stidham have that ability?
05:44I don't know.
05:45If he hasn't played.
05:45If he hasn't played.
05:46You know if he's been sitting on the bench forever.
05:48I mean, he's been doing scout team for the last two years.
05:50He has this game over by the first quarter.
05:53No, no, no, but I'm saying.
05:55We literally watched the quarterback position, the worst it's ever looked against the Patriots.
05:58It was a one-score game in the second half.
06:00It was a bad game by C.J. Stroud, but we're talking about C.J. Stroud has enough knowledge
06:05to know, okay.
06:06C.J. Stroud looked like he had never seen a football.
06:07But I got to be able to check from around.
06:09I don't think C.J. Stroud's checking much.
06:11No, no, but he's checking more than what Stidham's going to be able to do.
06:16You're asking.
06:16It looked like the Patriots were intended receivers.
06:18Right, right.
06:19We're not saying that, Curtis.
06:21I'm just saying he's going to be better than C.J. Stroud, and you think that's crazy.
06:24Because he's not going to be better than C.J. Stroud.
06:27Not against this defense.
06:27Jared Stidham's going to throw five picks?
06:29I don't think he's going to throw five picks.
06:31Well, that would be worse than C.J. Stroud.
06:32No, no, no.
06:32Just because you throw more interceptions doesn't mean he might just look bad out there
06:36and a bunch of incomplete passes.
06:38Maybe he only throws the ball 15 times.
06:40Right, if C.J. Stroud doesn't throw a touchdown pass to the Patriots, the Texans maybe win that game.
06:44I understand that, but you're talking, Curtis, you're talking about a guy who's been sitting on the bench for three years
06:50and you're asking him to play in a football game that is an answer.
06:54It can't be worse than C.J. Stroud.
06:56Listen, when's the last time you played in a game?
06:59A football game?
06:59If I'd say.
07:00So it would have been November of 2001, we beat St. Paul.
07:03Right, so if I said, hey, you know what, Curtis, I need you to play in an NC championship game.
07:07Hey, ask me that question.
07:10I just don't think people understand.
07:12I don't think you understand how awful C.J. Stroud was.
07:14No, no, I do.
07:15I watched the game.
07:16Okay, so he sucked.
07:17I think Garrett Stidham might suck slightly less.
07:18I know he sucked, but I think the defense.
07:20If you're Sean Payton, what are you telling Stidham?
07:22I'm telling Stidham, whatever you do, turn the ball over.
07:27Take care of the ball.
07:28Let our defense create turnovers.
07:30Let our defense battle.
07:32But what that's going to do is now make him gun shy for everything.
07:38Because he's going to be like, in his mind, he's going to be hearing Sean Payton, don't turn the ball.
07:42And then Sean Payton's not going to.
07:43Yeah, but I like the argument that he has nothing to lose.
07:45I hate the backup.
07:46I hate the backup.
07:48I hate playing a backup.
07:50Because if you're playing the guy that's supposed to be there, and he's the starter, then you come in, you know exactly, okay, this is what we got to do.
07:57But then you're playing a guy that you don't have much tape on.
08:00He's been there for a long time for a reason.
08:02He used to play for the Patriots, so he knows Josh's system.
08:05He was with Hoyer and played, you know, like, he's a smart guy.
08:09You know, Stidham is not a dummy.
08:12No, nobody's saying that.
08:13But I'm saying his athletic ability is not like Bo Nix.
08:17No, not even close.
08:19But he is potentially a smarter quarterback because he's been in the league longer and he understands offense more.
08:25And you know what the offensive player's saying?
08:27You hate the backup.
08:28And you know what the offensive player's saying?
08:30Damn, I hate the backup.
08:31Because he's not going to be able to create and get me open on certain plays because of his legs.
08:37Or we're at the backup saying, damn, Bo Nix hasn't been chucking the ball like I want him to.
08:42Maybe Stidham can get me a few more catches.
08:45That ain't happening.
08:46Because if you look at Bo Nix, sometimes you're like, what?
08:51Like, he has a few head scratchers as well where he's turning the ball over and doesn't look great sometimes.
09:00But that's when the status sucks and you're going, man, we should be playing the backup over this guy.
09:04I was wondering if CJ Stroud maybe was born left-handed and he didn't know it watching that game.
09:10No, they probably should have went with Davis Mills.
09:12Well, didn't he play four games this year for him?
09:15Yeah, because Stroud got hurt for a few games.
09:18Yeah, concussion.
09:19So maybe he got the scrambled legs too much.
09:21I just know from being on that field and being in those situations how difficult you're asking.
09:29And I'm not saying, listen, if you want to do the cliche thing any given Sunday, yeah, we could say that.
09:36But I'm knowing how difficult it's going to be for a guy to just come off the bench one week,
09:43different offense or, you know, a large, you know, a certain portion of that offense is going to be different.
09:49And now you're saying go out there and win a game.
09:51978 Texter says you are single-handedly jinxing the entire region.
09:55Maybe I am.
09:55With your overconfidence.
09:57I was overconfidence in the first two games.
09:59What happened there?
10:00We won.
10:00Yes.
10:01So.
10:01Worst offensive line in the NFL and worst quarterback play in the NFL I've seen in a long time last two weeks.
10:07So you have to go into this game with the mentality of Stidham is going to be better than what we think he's going to be.
10:16You can't go in saying this guy's going to be worse than Stroud.
10:18You can't say.
10:19You can't.
10:20You just have to respect the fact he's been with Sean for a long time.
10:23He's going to understand the system.
10:25He's going to be in the pocket.
10:26We know where he's going to be.
10:27Let's not let him beat us.
10:29Right.
10:29Let's not run past him and open up big passing lanes.
10:32Right.
10:32He's not a very big guy.
10:34Right.
10:35So as a shorter player, body's in front of him.
10:38Don't let him see the field.
10:40The ends can't be jetting up the field and having a massive B gap where he can see the field.
10:44Just stick to the game plan.
10:46But don't disrespect.
10:47I would say don't disrespect the guy.
10:49Are you alarmed by the way the offense has looked the last couple weeks?
10:55The Patriots offense?
10:57I think I'm alarmed with the amount of pressure on the quarterback.
11:00I mean, the Chargers got after Drake.
11:03And then last week, the Texans are a great defense.
11:06Let's give them credit.
11:06But they got after him as well.
11:08So you have to go into this game saying our offensive line has to do a better job than they have the last two weeks.
11:14Drake can't be getting hit on his back step trying to throw the ball down the field.
11:18Can't happen.
11:19And our defense has to go into this matchup having the same amount of respect towards that offense as if it was Bo Nix or Stidham.
11:28Yeah.
11:29Go take care of business.
11:30I think they'll do that, though.
11:30I think they'll do that.
11:31I think the one thing you would say is if I'm a defensive coordinator, you've always got to respect your opponent.
11:37But we've played good quarterbacks.
11:39And look what we were able to do.
11:41If we go out there and we play the way we're supposed to play against the quarterback that we all know.
11:46Say what you want.
11:47CJ Stroud had a bad game.
11:48But he's a better quarterback.
11:50Justin Herbert is a better quarterback.
11:52Go out there and do what you're supposed to do.
11:55You'll win this football game.
11:56Yeah.
11:56Okay.
11:57Four sleeps till Sunday.
11:59Give me your call it right now.
12:02It's a win.
12:03Patriots are going to win.
12:03But it's not going to be like, hey, we're going to go destroy the Denver Broncos in Denver.
12:08There's a reason why it's hard to play in Denver.
12:11The altitude is not easy to play in.
12:13A lot of these guys haven't played in the AFC Championship games.
12:15So it's a little more violent.
12:16I mean, everything steps up every week that you advance.
12:20So you go from the regular season into the playoffs.
12:23Things are a little bit different.
12:24That next game is a little bit different.
12:26This game is going to be a little bit different.
12:28And how many of these guys have played in Denver?
12:32So sometimes there's the unknown that helps you.
12:36And then there's that unknown that hurts you.
12:37So you just say, yeah, it's just going to be a normal game in Denver.
12:40We're going to feel great.
12:41Well, you feel a little heavy.
12:43You start thinking about it a little bit.
12:45You're hitting the oxygen tank on the sideline.
12:47You're confused about what the time difference is.
12:49The time difference.
12:50Like, I ate breakfast.
12:51What time is it?
12:52But at the end of the day, it just comes down to the turnover differential.
12:56Who's taking care of the football?
12:57Like, every single playoff game we've witnessed.
13:00Double digits do the Pats win by?
13:01No.
13:02I think seven.
13:03Okay.
13:04All right.
13:04All right.
13:05Seven points.
13:05Because, I mean, the Denver defense, they're going to keep a minute.
13:09So you've got to establish a running game.
13:12Not just rely on Drake to drop back and throw the ball down the field.
13:16So they've got to set it up through running the football.
13:19And I would expect a couple trick plays.
13:22So Josh is always, always, you know, on a napkin somewhere thinking, all right, well,
13:27we tried the throwback.
13:29That was overthrown.
13:30We had too much penetration on our left side of the line.
13:33What's another play?
13:34The double pass, I don't know about that one.
13:36But he's probably always thinking about how do we steal a play to make a big play.
13:41Because you also have to take the crowd out of it.
13:43So what's the best way to take the crowd out of an away game?
13:47Running the football, making it methodical, making it boring, and then having a big chunk
13:52play or an exciting play for you.
13:53Okay.
13:54Can't wait.
13:55Should they advance?
13:56Will you make your way to California?
13:58Depending on if I can make a little coin on it.
14:01Oh, sure.
14:02That's a far flight.
14:04If you go for Ken, he's going to got, you got $25 stockyard gift card.
14:07$25?
14:08All right.
14:08I love that.
14:09I love that.
14:10Are they going to practice at the 49ers facility, though?
14:12I hear that the electricity that is next to the practice field could hurt your soft tissue
14:18connected.
14:18Have you been in that?
14:19I'm sure you have.
14:20I've played there, yeah.
14:21Everybody says it sucks.
14:22It's weird.
14:23It's like off the beaten path.
14:25Why is it in Santa Clara?
14:26Well, where's cheap land for a lot of these stadiums?
14:30Especially in San Francisco.
14:31It's like, where's the cheapest land?
14:33Oh, that was an old dump.
14:34Yeah, let's buy it.
14:35Let's put a stadium on top of it.
14:36How far is it from San Francisco, downtown?
14:38Is it 45 minutes?
14:39Oh, I don't remember.
14:40I think.
14:41I think.
14:42I mean, it's not Candlestick.
14:42It's been a while since I played there, but.
14:44I mean, it's iconic when you have a stadium in the city.
14:47Yeah.
14:47Isn't it?
14:48No, it is.
14:49You go to some of these.
14:49We had one here.
14:51Like the Bears.
14:51They want to move.
14:53But you go to Chicago.
14:54You see the field.
14:56Right?
14:56It's right off the lake.
14:57They want to go to Arlington Heights.
15:00That's one of the best stadiums I've ever been in.
15:02I was out there for 2018.
15:03It was so nice.
15:03Yeah, they remodeled it.
15:04At the end of the day.
15:05It's freezing, though.
15:06That is one of the coldest stadiums around.
15:08Well, Cleveland's cold, too.
15:09Yeah, Cleveland.
15:10I played there.
15:11But Chicago, boy.
15:13Before you go, your opinion on this.
15:15I seem to be the only one who was bothered by it, and that's fine.
15:18But did you watch a game Monday night?
15:22Yes, I did.
15:24Does it bother you at all that Carson Beck is the quarterback,
15:28the national champion winning quarterback of a school that he doesn't go to?
15:32Is that alarming at all to you?
15:34I mean, he takes probably like knitting or something.
15:36He takes a class.
15:37No classes.
15:39Advanced.
15:39No, he's got to take.
15:40I think he's got to take six hours.
15:42We've reached a point where it's free agents.
15:45Learning pickleball.
15:46You want Phillip Rivers as your starter?
15:49You can go get Phillip.
15:50I think he has a $5 million home or something there, which is pretty crazy.
15:55I know.
15:56You think back in the day when you were driving your high school,
15:59Monte Carlo, to a $300 a month apartment, and now these guys are loaded.
16:05I never did play in San Francisco.
16:06I thought that was – how long has it been open for?
16:08So, I played there.
16:11I played against Trent Brown.
16:13So, that's how old he is.
16:13What was the stadium before that?
16:15Maybe that's the one I played in.
16:16Candlestick was where they played before.
16:19All right.
16:20Maybe I played there.
16:20Baseball field inside of it.
16:21I thought Levi was open when I played there.
16:23Is Matt Collins playing Sunday?
16:25I don't know.
16:26I've seen him running around.
16:27He'll fit right in in San Francisco with no shoes.
16:29He's eligible to return.
16:30I know that.
16:31And Denver.
16:32That's true.
16:33And Denver.
16:33A lot of people with no shoes in Denver.
16:35I've seen him working out.
16:36So, like, you know, they had video of him working out.
16:38So, maybe –
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