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Dan Miller, the voice of the Lions, joins the show to preview the Commanders and Lions who square off in week 2 of the preseason tomorrow.
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00:00voice of the lions mr dan miller dan what's up dude how are you hey guys what's happening we're
00:05good man what's going on with you bro hey just like you guys getting through this camp getting
00:10ready for the regular season and uh sort of kind of reach that point where you can see the uh
00:16the end of it there and then start getting excited about games that count and and uh seeing these
00:21get to work how are things going uh now with montgomery out of there and uh gives the main
00:28dude yeah it's that's going to be interesting brian it's it's isaiah pacheco was brought in
00:34from kansas city to be the number two back he has been out for a while we don't know how
00:38long this
00:39is going to linger so you know right now behind gibbs you don't have a lot jacob sailor's had a
00:45really nice opening game against cincinnati did some good things for him last year on special teams they
00:51like his toughness uh sione vac he wouldn't be surprised if he gets a heavy dose of running back
00:56this week against washington but um you don't have a ton of experience now behind gibbs as long
01:03as pacheco is not in there so um look i didn't love david montgomery being dealt this offseason
01:10uh loved having that tandem back there but i also understand that you know montgomery wanted to go
01:16someplace where he was going to be a little bit more featured and and this was clearly moving in the
01:20direction of gibbs although i think in this league today you still need to have two of those guys back
01:24there yeah it's um let's start here dan i'm curious what campbell is going to do playing guys
01:31tomorrow are you expecting to see the starters i'm jared goff like how will he determine that
01:36rotation yeah he made it clear that you will not see goff but i i think that you're definitely going
01:42to see a number of starters in this game we didn't see many against cincinnati this is kind of uh
01:47i just
01:48got done with him recording something for the pregame and and this is kind of the old game three
01:53of a four game preseason that they're looking at here game two um i don't think you're going to
01:59see some of the main guys you won't see gives you won't see saint um be shocked if you saw
02:05somebody
02:05like a jack campbell um but in particular they need that offensive line to play uh i don't know that
02:14you'll see sewell i would doubt that but uh they they've moved some things around and then they lost
02:19their center cave maze to an injury that after signing him as a free agent so uh they need juice
02:24scrugs to be in there and play at center they need christian mahogany to take that spot at left guard
02:30where he has been kind of slow to to grab that position and put a stranglehold on it they need
02:35snaps for tate ratledge and blake miller's a rookie he needs snaps as well so i'd say four-fifths
02:40of the offensive line is going to play and then these are important snaps for these guys because
02:46like i said this is this is going to be a significant change from last year when the
02:50offensive line was a problem uh and they're trying to to make that unit better so um i think
02:58defensively you'll see some of the starters but again frontline guys when you see a lean mcneil
03:03highly doubt it uh but secondary they're still sorting through some things so some guys that will be
03:09starting opening day will certainly be on the field for this one and then um you know it's so
03:15this is as close as you're going to get to seeing anything resembling in the regular season for the
03:20lions in the preseason we uh last time we were up there was the the playoff game and any fans
03:27still
03:27upset and want them to try to break play everybody against us you know what i mean look that that
03:35was
03:35a convincing game i mean yes that game was kind of a uh a microcosm of what happened to them
03:41in that
03:41season and and you know everybody looks at the 15 and 2 but if you look at at what happened
03:47to that
03:47team defensively from really the buffalo game on uh they were running on fumes they just didn't have
03:54guys and you look at that game they couldn't get any stops and they couldn't get daniels in that
03:59offense off the field and you know they scored 31 points and still got run out like a track meet
04:03so it was that that was disappointing you know you put up 15 and 2 you get the number one
04:08seed you're at
04:09home but again i think if you take a step back and look at that you had one team that
04:15was ascending
04:15and playing well and you had one team in detroit that had kind of been hanging on for a while
04:20and
04:20their offense had been doing some good things and their defense had what looked like a good game
04:26against minnesota which was in some cases true but also sam darnold having a really bad game in week
04:3218 um they just they just lost too many guys on that defense and washington took full advantage
04:37um it is crazy man that that we were just kind of reliving that night a moment ago and i
04:44asked some
04:44of the players about it yesterday for a tv package for tonight it was just it's crazy how that year
04:51both of those offenses were just so explosive cooking obviously washington went in the tank last
04:56year injury is a big part of that detroit was still you guys were still pretty good i think what'd
05:02you
05:02finish nine and eight and and outside of the playoffs like what do you think shifted last year and is
05:08losing ben johnson that big of a part of it well i mean they still were fourth in the league
05:14in scoring
05:14last year right so it wasn't like they stopped scoring but the difference was if you go back to 23
05:21and 24
05:21uh and in particular in the run game when they had to have it they got it last year in
05:29critical
05:30situations when they had to have some things they didn't have it and the offensive line was not the
05:37same unit that it had been in 23 and 24 uh frank rag now retiring was a huge part of
05:42that i mean you're
05:43talking about one of the best centers in the league and he wasn't there anymore and you know you go
05:48back to
05:49the two losses they had to minnesota they had no ability to handle that viking front and and what
05:55um they were trying to do to them and and the loss to pittsburgh was just kind of ugly offense
06:01really
06:02wasn't there that day um and those are the three games that ended up costing them and yeah nine and
06:06eight last place in the division didn't make the playoffs but again fourth in the league in scoring
06:11but they'll tell you it wasn't anywhere near good enough and and they knew that offensive line
06:17which you know and i think we've talked about this before you can talk about golf and gibbs and jamo
06:21and it's faint and everybody and hutch when this team was at its best in 23 and 24 that offensive
06:30line
06:31was the driving force that offensive line is what gave them the confidence when they walked on the
06:36field that however you wanted to play if you wanted to grind it out or you wanted to start a
06:40track meet
06:40they were going to be able to find a way to win and that just wasn't the same last year
06:45they just
06:45didn't have the same group didn't have the same confidence didn't have the same ability
06:48um to do things offensively so um they needed to make some changes this year they have uh unfortunately
06:57one of the most significant ones and as i said in cave mays who was supposed to take over at
07:02center
07:02is now hurt and it is going to be out into the regular season how about the defense i mean
07:08when they
07:09were cooking back those days too the defense was also having timely turnovers and things for them too
07:14yeah and and the unfortunate thing there brian is you're going to be missing two of the best
07:19playmakers in the league we just don't know how long because brian branch and kirby joseph are both
07:24out are both going to be out for the start of the regular season uh branch is coming back off
07:29an
07:29achilles and kirby just has a knee that is honestly something of a mystery they've talked about it and
07:36and talked about the fact that they're doing everything they can to rehab it it is not a surgery thing
07:40it is
07:41just uh that knee has has you know not fared well over his football career and he's got some
07:49significant damage in there and they're trying to figure out if he can play football again and if he
07:55can come back and figure out a way to um tolerate the pain they've tried you know all sorts of
08:00um you
08:02know go overseas get some treatment there they've tried all sorts of exotic things to try to get that
08:07thing right uh still not there i've seen him run in camp he looks great running how that holds up
08:12cutting and and playing football and driving and hitting people remains to be seen but um it's just
08:19it's it's disappointing when you have probably the best safety tandem in the league and guys that can
08:26make plays on footballs and change games and neither what i'm going to be in there so i think they
08:31like
08:31their front seven and what they've been able to put together uh this will be our first look at
08:36derrick moore their second round draft pick uh who didn't play in the opening preseason game
08:40but with hutch with a lean mcneil another year removed from an acl that he had a couple years
08:45ago i think he just looks much better than he did a year ago tyleek williams kid from manassas actually
08:53um lost a significant amount of weight this offseason just looks better for it so i think they're excited
08:59about what the defense can be uh that secondary though is a bit of a question is as they piece
09:05that
09:05thing together i think they feel like they've got some answers they brought a bunch of veterans in
09:08but seeing it in action is what really is going to be the the ultimate test uh we had i
09:16mean you
09:16all had amik robertson last year um and what could you tell us about him i mean the one game
09:21i happened
09:22to sit and watch the whole game he he basically handled jefferson yeah and that's it that's a rivalry
09:29that goes way back oh yeah i've been playing against each other since high school um love amik
09:34he is just tough as nails he's great teammate um great interview great guy to sit down and talk with
09:41um you know he he is going to give you everything he's got i i don't look at him necessarily
09:47as a
09:48shut down corner he's going to cover one side of the field for you but he is somebody that gives
09:53you versatility he can play inside he can play outside he's a willing tackler um he's just a
09:58good player to have on your team and he gives you you know as i said some some ability to
10:04move around
10:05if guys go down and and you know you can pretty much play him anywhere you want to and he's
10:09going
10:09to give you everything he's got but um you know he he was just one of those guys here that
10:15things
10:16happen you move in a different direction and and bring other guys in and and he obviously found a
10:21better deal there but i would have nothing but good things to say about him as a player
10:26as a teammate and he's always going to bring toughness i think to a team he's just a he's a
10:31guy you love having on your roster pitbull dude he's not a guy man totally and then he's just a
10:37great
10:38inner one of the all-time great quotes you know somebody's talking to him about you know
10:42fact that he'd been buried or something he said you can't bury what comes from dirt
10:46and i'm like that's perfect man that's that's that's a meek in a nutshell right there
10:52um dan the nfc north has changed so much we're talking with our friend dan miller from fox 2
10:59in detroit voice of the lions and the bears ascension last year um i'm kind of cost you
11:07guys that playoff spot right do you do you buy what the bears did last year or do you think
11:15there
11:15were some some really good breaks along the way yeah i mean i look i think there's a couple
11:20different ways you can look at that i mean we we had some fun with him we were able to
11:23beat him twice
11:24uh we just we didn't handle our business elsewhere but um look ben's a heck of a coach and i
11:31i think
11:32that quarterback is going to be better for it um you know i still need my quarterback to not be
11:39completing 58 of his passes i'm looking for a little bit more yep and i think you can you can
11:43look at
11:44that thing two ways you can say okay you had seven comebacks in the final two minutes or whatever
11:47it was you can either say look this team's going to find its stride and those are going to be
11:52two
11:52score games from now on they're going to be up by 10 or 14 or you can say that that
11:57thing's going to
11:57revert to its mean and you're not going to win that many close games like happened in minnesota a couple
12:02years ago um but i anticipate look if you had to ask me right now i minnesota's probably the team
12:11that
12:11may struggle a little bit this year but i think it's probably the best division in football i think
12:16any one of these teams could win the division any one of these teams could could uh make the playoffs
12:22um you know the minnesota and detroit you know two years ago went to you know week 18 with what
12:3029
12:30wins between them or whatever it was and uh green bay is going to be good we know that and
12:35chicago
12:36i look do they take a little step back maybe but again i'm i'm really intrigued to see what they
12:42do
12:42because i think there's an equal possibility that they take a step forward and everybody's just a
12:47year better in that system and you know that and caleb you know finds it and really gets on a
12:54run
12:54because he can make you scratch your head sometimes because he can make some throws that you just your
13:00jaw drops it's like who else can make that throw um and then you'll just miss some easy ones and
13:07you
13:07just you look for an explanation but um ben's relentless i know him as a coach he's gonna just
13:13keep driving these guys and and i think this division is just gonna be a rock fight all year
13:18long and it's it's uh if we have any advantage you hope it's it's the last place schedule we earned
13:23last year and maybe those three games can help you but um you know going in that that those six
13:29games you have to play in the division are going to be brutal and you're going to have to win
13:33you
13:33know probably 12 or 13 to get this division i would think it's crazy that you know technically
13:39the lions are last place in the nfc north with a winning record of nine and eight and detroit has
13:45the best point differential of the division and didn't you know what i mean like talk about a
13:49rock fight bunched up weird year yeah it really was a weird year it was you know we we scored
13:56a lot
13:57of points and and at times you felt like they were rolling but um like i said just pull up
14:02the tape of
14:03of the minnesota game when we lost to brosmer and lost to jj and but it was that defense man
14:09we just
14:09couldn't handle it and turning the ball over and and then that pittsburgh game just you know having
14:15them come in and and win that's you know that's the difference between 10 and 7 and making the playoffs
14:21and not making the playoffs and again that was a day where our offense really didn't show up
14:25and it ended up costing them so it's man you you guys know it's it this league is hard man
14:32and and
14:33you it doesn't do you any good to look good most of the time and then at critical times not
14:38be able
14:38to finish the best teams finish the best teams find a way yeah and most of these games are somewhere
14:43winnable in the fourth quarter and the best teams figure out a way to get it done it's what the
14:47bears
14:48did last year and that's what somebody will do this year to to win the division again it's what
14:52washington did two years ago yeah um dan i think a lot of our audience knows of your dc roots
14:58but
14:58maybe not all of them um i got a text from steve lieberman who i'm guessing you know and i
15:05do
15:05and he said please ask dan about doc and dan the show on wtm when tc was the operations director
15:15we listen man you might not want to say everything on dan yeah there's some stuff you got to say
15:21for
15:21the book but i mean we had so much fun i mean i feel like i grew up there you
15:27know five years felt
15:28like a long time working there in the best of ways and you know when you're working with guys like
15:34doc
15:34and cornizer and todd has been a friend my whole life and um you know andy poland and and you
15:41know
15:41kylie and the coach and you know just everybody up and down the line i mean it was just such
15:46a
15:46we were just getting started and we were figuring things out and it was just such a cool place to
15:51be
15:51and you know i'm just happy to say that some of those relationships are ones that i have kept
15:56forever and hosting a show would be mitch you know in a bar and having fun with him and being
16:02able to do
16:03that and um you know we're blessed for the experiences that we get to have in this business and
16:08believe me those are those are close to my heart because a it was where i grew up it was
16:13my home and
16:14um just was great to go to work with a bunch of people that you really liked and and i
16:21have just
16:21never any great memories of it i love that man yo i am i'm trying to go to gray ghost
16:27tonight i've heard
16:28that's an excellent restaurant you got any uh do they have a bar i just want to be able to
16:33sit at the
16:33bar yeah it's it's always crowded it can be tough to get in so you just got to check um
16:40but it's the
16:41food is outstanding and it's there's a lot of good restaurants in downtown detroit people don't realize
16:47like how many good places have gone up and and uh it's that's one of the best you will enjoy
16:54it uh
16:55just see if you can slide in and and they'll give you a seat but uh you will check in
17:00with me tomorrow
17:00and let me know how you did you did uh my guess is you'll enjoy the heck out of it
17:04you got to back
17:05up in case it's packed what's the uh i'll text you okay there's a mexican place down there that is
17:12that is terrific as well okay it's slipping my mind right now that would be my second choice okay
17:17perfect uh looking forward to seeing you tomorrow man um thank you for making time for us hi dan
17:21appreciate you got it anytime great talking to you guys always
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