- 3 hours ago
Seth and Sean discuss Logan Ryan ranking the Texans defense at number 1, and react to Texans DC Matt Burke explaining how they attempt to manage Will Anderson's relentless motor in practice sessions.
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00:00So Logan Ryan, former defensive back with the Patriots and the Titans,
00:06was on a podcast and was rancid around the NFL,
00:11and here's where he's got the Houston Texans.
00:13No secret, we're starting here at number one with the Houston Texans.
00:16In the playoffs last year, they looked like the 2000 Ravens.
00:19If C.J. Stroud played a little better and didn't turn the ball over,
00:21they could have went to the Super Bowl easily with how dominant they were.
00:24They're bookend pass rushers.
00:26You talk about Will Anderson, Daniil Hunter.
00:28You look at the secondary, right, with Stingley and Lasser.
00:31You have one of the highest paid corners in football, a great duo there.
00:35You have a great pass rush duo.
00:36Then I look at the linebacker, Aziz Alshire, right?
00:39That's balanced at all three levels.
00:41Look at their rankings, obviously first in yards, second in points, takeaways.
00:45It's not going down.
00:46They were able to retain all this stuff.
00:48And also I love Jalen Petrie.
00:50He's their missile, and I talked about the identity.
00:53Texas are a defensive team, and D'Amico Ryan, their head coach,
00:56is a former great defensive player and a better head coach, right?
00:59So this is a defensive team.
01:01Why start at the bottom of the list?
01:02We can just go right to the top.
01:04Obviously, Houston, Texas, there's a no-brainer.
01:06Okay, he brought up Petrie there.
01:08And, like, I don't think it's a hot take or anything that, you know,
01:12for somebody to come out and say the Texans have the number one defense right now.
01:15You know, like people in Seattle might argue with people with Houston about it.
01:18But I think those are the two clear-cut go-ahead.
01:21Yeah, that's it.
01:22I wonder where the Rams are.
01:24I'll have to go look at the defensive power rankings since the Rams added Miles Garrett.
01:27Yeah, that's a good question.
01:27And I think Denver kind of floats around in that same neighborhood a little bit.
01:30Yeah, Denver 100%.
01:31They kind of fell off in the second half or, like, in the back stretch of the season.
01:35And you know what?
01:37Ben, do you have that Chris Long audio of talking about Alec Pierce?
01:42And you sent that to Ben?
01:43I did.
01:43I did, yeah.
01:44Oh, okay.
01:45You want to play that here?
01:46Yeah, yeah, just because he mentioned Petrie.
01:48You didn't have it later in the show prep, but also.
01:50I did in the show prep.
01:51You just didn't get to it.
01:52Yeah.
01:52This is another little dose of positivity about the Texans' defense.
01:56This is Alec Pierce, hateable, loathsome Alec Pierce of the Indianapolis Colts,
02:02talking about the first hit he took in the NFL.
02:04When you play Houston and you're running a dig, is that a little nerve-wracking?
02:09So my first game ever was against Houston, and I ran a dig, and I got, like,
02:14it was, like, a backside of RPO, and it was Petrie right there.
02:18Oof.
02:18He hit me so hard, and my face mask bent.
02:21It was funny, because on the sideline, I was trying to take my helmet off,
02:24and I think they just thought I was messed up, because I couldn't take my helmet off.
02:27And I'm like...
02:28So he bent the sucker in.
02:29Yeah, it hit my face mask, and it bent, and that's why I couldn't take my helmet off.
02:33I was trying to get this thing, but I think it was stuck in the, like,
02:36the face mask kind of pinched it when it bent.
02:38So I'm...
02:38But I was sitting there, like, trying to take it off, and they're like...
02:41Dog, he's got to be one of the hardest hitters in the league,
02:44and then he puts that big-ass bonnet on, dude.
02:48Yeah, bro.
02:49I like calling it a bonnet.
02:51A bonnet.
02:51That was my favorite part of it.
02:53Well, it is funny that Chris Long and, to a degree, Alec Pierce,
02:59their processing of Jalen Petrie wearing the Guardian cap
03:02is it takes this already dangerous person and makes him even more dangerous.
03:07No, that's what we...
03:07Remember we said it was like in a movie where the badass gangster also sucks a lollipop.
03:14You know, it's one of those things where there's such badasses
03:17that they get away with something that would make anybody else look soft.
03:20But, like, Jalen Petrie is the guy who walks into a room,
03:25you owe him money, and he's sucking a freaking lollipop.
03:28And you're like, oh, no.
03:32This guy's really psychotic.
03:34You know, the funny thing is, that was also Jalen Petrie's first game in the NFL.
03:39They were both...
03:40It was in 2022.
03:41That was the tie in week one of the Lovie Smith year.
03:45Remember that?
03:45When everybody's mad at Lovie that he played for a tie?
03:48Semi-win.
03:48Semi-win.
03:49Oh, sorry.
03:49Yeah, that's right.
03:49It wasn't a tie.
03:50It was a semi-win.
03:52That's right.
03:53Yep.
03:54Yeah, that's right.
03:56Semi-win.
03:56Yeah, thank you.
03:57And Michael Irvin.
03:58Michael Irvin, ladies and gentlemen, yes.
04:00I was trying to place it because he's had a couple...
04:01I mean, one of the most iconic hits of this decade was against Rasheed Rice with the Chiefs.
04:07That one was...
04:08You know what was fun about that one was the entire nation piled on because...
04:13Sunday Night Football.
04:13...they loved that it was Rasheed Rice.
04:15And it was on prime time.
04:16It was Sunday Night Football.
04:18Yeah.
04:18And it was Rasheed Rice.
04:19There were so many good gifs and memes about a collision in traffic and all of that.
04:26It was great.
04:26Yeah, it was great.
04:27It was great.
04:28Yeah.
04:28So that was Jalen's first game also.
04:31You know, and that's a great clip from Alex Pierce talking about that one.
04:34Can you imagine me and Rasheed Rice and just sitting in your jail cell right now and all
04:38of a sudden you hear somebody walking down the corridor and you think it's a guard and
04:45he's clanking his nightstick against the cells as he's going on and all of a sudden you hear
04:51the footsteps slow and he turns and he looks up and it's Jalen Petrie in a guardian cam.
04:56Oh, dude.
04:57Freak him out, man.
04:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:59Oh, yeah.
05:00PTSD for sure.
05:03Back to the original cut we played with Logan Ryan talking about Texans being the number
05:08one defense, listed all the reasons why.
05:11That's the thing.
05:12And he compared them.
05:13That was a big thing, Seth.
05:14He compared them to the 2000 Ravens, which we know was a Super Bowl winning team.
05:19That's the thing that I think bums me out the most.
05:21It obviously just bums me out the Texans not getting to the Super Bowl last year.
05:25That would have been amazing.
05:26I guess the details off of that that it bums me out about most is that had they won a
05:33Super
05:33Bowl, that would have been a defense that would have gotten talked about alongside the
05:38other great defenses that get brought up in these conversations every year.
05:43It almost feels like that's the one thing.
05:44You do not get brought up in these great defense conversations unless you win a Super Bowl.
05:50The 85 Bears, the 2000 Ravens, the 2015 Broncos, those are the defenses that get brought up
05:59in large part because they were the catalyst for those teams winning the Super Bowl.
06:04Those are three teams.
06:05Those are the three that come to mind immediately because you got the 85 Bears, which were all
06:09about the defense, and Walter Payton.
06:10You got the 2000 Ravens, which was all about the defense because Trent Dilfer was the damn
06:14quarterback.
06:15And then in 2015, you had the Broncos where Von Miller was the MVP of the Super Bowl because
06:20Peyton Manning couldn't throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field.
06:23Well, the 2013 Seahawks also.
06:24That's another good one.
06:25Yes.
06:25Yeah, that's what I mean.
06:26That's Legion of Boom.
06:27They win the Super Bowl.
06:28You got a rookie quarterback.
06:29And you know, like Russell Wilson's game at that point wasn't going to be anything that
06:34was going to drive them to a Super Bowl.
06:36He just, I mean, he did some really good things, but it was their defense that led them to it.
06:41Yeah.
06:41Yeah.
06:41And I think, well, and if you think about it, it could have been, if they had been able to
06:45pull
06:46it off, it would have been one of the most iconic victories in Super Bowl playoff, the
06:53playoff run up to the Super Bowl history.
06:55If the Texans had somehow won that game against the Patriots, as your quarterback is throwing
06:59four interceptions in the first half in those weather conditions, that against the runner
07:04up MVP, that would have been incredible.
07:06But like credit to Drake May, he made some incredible throws in that game.
07:10I mean, the booty touchdown was just, that was, it was booty, right?
07:15In the end zone?
07:16In the second half?
07:17The, the, uh, I think, I know Diggs caught one.
07:21There was one in the corner.
07:22It was probably booty.
07:22I don't know.
07:23I thought that was booty.
07:24Yeah.
07:24Um, because, uh, Stingley had gotten, uh, the deep, uh, the, uh, the whole, uh, a couple
07:28plays before.
07:29Yep.
07:29I think it was.
07:30That was, if you go back and watch that, that was an incredible pass.
07:33Yep.
07:34That was really just a beautiful pass by Drake May.
07:36Yep.
07:37Um, but that's what it would have been.
07:39And yeah, it would have been a really iconic moment in victory and a run up to a Super
07:44Bowl.
07:45Well, no question.
07:45Cause they ended, they ended the season on a nine game winning streak, you know, so that's,
07:49you know, so you're continuing that into the post season.
07:52Um, so yeah, no, it, it, it absolutely, it absolutely would have been the crazy thing
07:56about that Patriots game is the only turnover that they, that the Patriots scored off of was
08:02the pick six, you know, the actual play that was a turnover.
08:05The Texans bowed up on defense every time CJ threw an interception and the Patriots offense
08:11went back out there.
08:12The problem was the other possessions, there were just busts on defense.
08:16I mean, the Patriots very first touchdown, Kalen Bullock overplayed a ball on a fourth
08:20and inches.
08:21And the, you know, the, I forget who the receiver was, but you know, caught it and took it to
08:26the house.
08:26So yeah, that was, that was a bummer.
08:28And I, I, I just, you know, hearing that into the 2000 Ravens, I'm like, oh man, you win
08:34that Superbowl last year.
08:35And that's the conversation that that defense is in.
08:38It's in a conversation with all time iconic defenses.
08:42So maybe it happens this year.
08:43We'll see.
08:44Um, Will Anderson Jr.
08:45Big part of that defense.
08:47This was Matt Burke, the defensive coordinator yesterday.
08:50Um, saying the, this is what he thinks Will Anderson Jr.'s ceiling is.
08:55Yeah, I, you know, I think I'm, I'm, I'm probably gonna be the last person up here to put William,
09:01put limits on Will Anderson.
09:02So I don't know that there's limits.
09:04Um, I, I always hate to say like, he's the best or the most of anything.
09:09There's a lot of good players in this league, in this history.
09:11And, uh, I would be, I would challenge anybody to, to tell me there's somebody working harder
09:17than Will.
09:17Maybe there's people working as close, but I would challenge anyone to say that anyone's
09:20working harder than Will Anderson.
09:21And so to do that, coming off the year he's had, coming off the, the contract he just
09:26received, uh, I do see some elevation.
09:29Again, we have some different faces in the room and some young guys.
09:31So from a leadership standpoint, uh, really being, uh, intentional and proactive with
09:37some of those guys to help, help get up to speed on, on the reps and the style and what
09:40we do.
09:41And, uh, you know, he sets the standard, uh, definitely in that room and for our defense.
09:45And so, uh, it's, uh, it's a joy, it's a joy to watch.
09:48Yeah.
09:49And I think that the biggest thing is you worry about sometimes is, okay, are guys reading
09:52their own press clippings and all of that?
09:54And I think that that's one of the other valuable things about having Will Anderson as one of the
09:57leaders is that he's been indoctrinated into, uh, not, not reading the rat poison, you know,
10:05not taking the rat poison.
10:06He spent those years with Saban, uh, like he very much understands that no matter how lofty,
10:13uh, you've, you've gotten or what you've accomplished or anything.
10:17And it, it like every time I hear one of the guys on defense talk, I really do get the
10:23sense
10:23that they're, they're kind of disappointed that they weren't better than they were last year.
10:29You know, uh, you know, they say stuff that if we, as radio hosts said it, uh, our listeners
10:34would be accusing us of just being way too negative.
10:37So it's nice.
10:38It's nice when the players say it, because you can cite like, oh yeah, look, they need
10:41to improve.
10:42They need to improve on the number of explosive plays they allowed.
10:45How do I know?
10:46Because that's what Aziz Elshire said.
10:48That's what Matt Burke, the defensive coordinator said.
10:50Like, that's what, that's what the guys on the defense are saying.
10:52Well, that's remember, I had that conversation with Aziz where he was saying after the regular
10:56season's over that the first team meeting to Miko was, you know, they lost the, they'd
11:02coughed up the lead in points allowed.
11:05Yeah.
11:05By 0.2 points.
11:07By 0.2 to the Seahawks.
11:08And Aziz made it sound like Tamiko was talking to them like they were the 23rd ranked defense
11:14in the league or something like that.
11:15Well, he said, yeah, like, you know, you guys think you're something special.
11:18Like, here it is.
11:19This is what, like, this is, uh, you're, you know, we're not going to lie.
11:23They, they entered that year with Matt Burke talking to the team about the all time scoring
11:28defenses and showing what the bar is, you know?
11:32So it's not something, it's not something they hadn't talked about and, and they relinquished
11:38it in a game versus a rookie quarterback where you don't, you could make excuses by some
11:44of the guys who weren't out there or guys who didn't play in the second half.
11:47But when it comes down to either just mental errors that, that yield some big plays, yeah,
11:55like you can, that, that's still on you, you know, like that's not, that is, you don't
11:59just brush that off as well.
12:01Yeah.
12:01It was a meaningless game in the last week of the season.
12:03So yeah, D'Amico, D'Amico does a really good job of keeping them hungry.
12:07Yep.
12:07Here's one more from Matt Burke.
12:09A big topic at OTAs has been Will Anderson and the effort he puts in and the fact that he
12:15wrecks plays and wrecks everything else.
12:18So how do you manage that?
12:19How do you manage Will Anderson Jr.'s motor in practice?
12:22Did you, did you ask Kaylee?
12:23I don't know.
12:24You have to ask him more than me.
12:25He doesn't mess up my practice.
12:26He's, that's what I want.
12:28You know, I don't, we, I think we held him out the other day, didn't we?
12:32I don't even know.
12:33I don't know if he practiced the other day.
12:34So like, I think it's hard.
12:36I think Will specifically, but just in general, like, again, we want our, our, we don't want
12:42to train bad habits for our D-line and, and our get off and the way we approach it.
12:45And I think Will doesn't know any different.
12:47I think he doesn't want to backslide or take a step in the wrong direction.
12:50So, you know, when you tell people like, Hey, kind of have speed this or like, it just doesn't
12:56register for him.
12:57And, and there's a part of it that we don't want to build bad habits of those guys.
13:00Cause sometimes if you're not in your stance and locked and loaded to get out and explode,
13:04like that's creating bad footwork or that's creating something.
13:06And I think Will is such a believer and a convert in that, that he doesn't want to want to
13:12do
13:12anything differently.
13:12So that's on the, it's on D'Amico to make sure that it's, he's controlling it.
13:16You know what I mean?
13:16It's just, I'll give you a little lever.
13:18There was a play the other day, I can't remember, we were in the high red or something and, and
13:22Will rushed off the edge and like, you know, there's just a fine line of when you're pulling
13:26off again, we don't want to be near CJ or be around the quarterback.
13:28And so we'll kind of walked it back and, and D'Amico looked at him and was like, Hey man,
13:34like, it's like, all right, we're good.
13:36We get it, like tempo it down a little bit.
13:37And so the next play, he was like, we, we, we use the word shadow technique.
13:40Sometimes we just want to kind of shadow the blocks and kind of like fit it up.
13:44And so Meek was like, Hey, shadow it, shadow it.
13:46And, and we'll kind of made an inside move and sort of stopped, but just kind of kept
13:49walking like, he was like, he was trying to show like, I'm still going to get through
13:53there if you really let me go.
13:54So he kind of like slowed it down, but still kind of like made sure he got through the,
13:58through the line of scrimmage.
13:59So like, I think he's trying to find his balance on that, but you know, at the end of the
14:03day,
14:03we don't want to, we don't want to take away what his, what his superpower is.
14:06And that's it.
14:07So it's fun for me to coach.
14:09Again, you have to ask some of the other guys, if they like doing that or not.
14:12I, the, it reminds me of that, uh, one of the two pre-Fontaine movies.
14:16Remember that weird era where like all of a sudden there were two movies about Steve
14:19pre-Fontaine within six months, the cross country runner.
14:23Hunter, get Judy on the horn.
14:25I want to talk to him.
14:26I want to get your daughter on the horn.
14:27I want to talk about some, uh, some cross country.
14:29That's what the audience wants.
14:30But there's a scene, I think it's in the one with Jared Leto where he's like doing some
14:34charity event and he's racing it like a little 10 year old kid, you know?
14:38And at the very end, he's like, he's, he's neck and neck with this 10 year old kid.
14:43He's just, he's jogging alongside him.
14:45And then the last few feet, he bursts ahead to win.
14:48Oh yeah, you got to still win.
14:49I want to be sure this kid knows that he wasn't actually going to beat him.
14:52That's funny.
14:53That's the kind of psychotic behavior you need.
14:55Yes.
14:55In your great athletes.
14:56That's Will.
14:57I'll shadow it for a little bit, but I just want to make sure everybody knows.
15:01I like those.
15:02Those are my favorite clips from like basketball camps and everything where somebody, you
15:06know, an NBA player kind of lets a guy have some success.
15:11Kid gets a little cocky.
15:13You're like, oh, oh, all right.
15:14Third row.
15:15Third row.
15:17That's great.
15:18That's great.
15:20Let's put Will on the practice squad.
15:22So he can just go a hundred percent all the time.
15:24That's what somebody just texted in.
15:26No, he's not going on the practice squad.
15:28$50 million practice, practice squad guy.
15:30We're not out there during, we're not out there during, you know, they never allow the
15:37media out there during the really important parts of practices.
15:40I'm curious.
15:41Most, most teams in the NFL.
15:43You're talking in the regular season.
15:44In the regular season.
15:45Yeah.
15:45Most teams in the NFL during the regular season.
15:48Yeah.
15:48You have the offense go against the scout team.
15:50The defense go against the scout team.
15:53Tom Coughlin would always want at least a couple periods where it was ones versus ones.
15:58Yeah.
15:58Stay sharp.
15:59Right.
15:59Yeah.
16:00And I always like, as a, as a, I doubt they do that anymore, but you know, it was one
16:04of those things you'd always kind of grumble about it because you knew how people did it
16:07on other teams, but I appreciated it, you know, moving on in my career because I do think
16:12it was, it just, it made you that much better.
16:13It was actual real competition.
16:15Oh yeah, man.
16:16Yeah.
16:16And now it's, you know, last year it was like the defense and training camp where it was,
16:19it was ones versus ones, but really it was the defense versus the scout team.
16:23That's what it felt like.
16:23And they weren't running the cards right.
16:26There is, there's other, sometimes you get, you know, so when the scout team during the
16:30season, a lot of times you're running the other team's defense, you know, so you, the
16:36opponent's defense.
16:37So they just put up cards of what you're supposed to do.
16:40Right.
16:40And that's when you start to get a feel for the kids that really aren't going to make
16:43it.
16:43It was like, they can't, they can't follow a line on a card and do that.
16:48And that next play, like, I don't, I don't know how to pick a playbook, man.
16:52Yeah.
16:53Yeah.
16:53He's really talented, but he doesn't know how to follow an arrow on an index card.
16:57God, that's crazy.
16:58That is crazy.
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