00:00and the Falcons are gearing up for their first game of the season with the Steelers. We did get
00:04to hear from Kevin Stefanski yesterday. He talked about the Steelers and the weapons they have on
00:09offense. Offensively with Aaron Rodgers who I've seen quite a bit in my my time as a coach and
00:15you know he's he still can make every single throw. He's got as good an arm as anybody I've
00:21ever seen live. It's unbelievable so none of that has has fallen off at all. He can beat you with
00:27his mind. He's just a terrific player. They have ways they can get the ball in the perimeter to
00:32big physical fast receivers. A really good run game with some backs that I really think are
00:39excellent. Yeah and it's they did they tried to diversify I think the body type they do have
00:46out wide by going and drafting Jeremy Bernard in the second round and so it was like you need a
00:51little bit of diversification but they're just a big football team man. It goes back to you know
00:56conversations we've had today and before about you you have those kind of slashers in the backfield
01:01to an extent and just big bodies and Aaron Rodgers knows what to do with the football. He knows what
01:05the strengths are of those guys that are playing out wide and and it's it's a tall task whether or
01:11not you believe in Aaron Rodgers as a Super Bowl caliber quarterback. It's a tall task to go out and
01:15have that chess match with him. Jeremy Bernard scares me uh with Aaron Rodgers. Now hopefully it's
01:22still early in the season and the chemistry has not blossomed yet but he's the type of guy that
01:28Aaron Rodgers gets paid or used to get paid because of his ability to get he's he's always
01:35open Mike. He was always open at Alabama. Um I just felt like that Alabama team last year he was
01:41the
01:42best player on the on the team and I didn't and and he wasn't the highly the highly touted Ryan
01:48uh was
01:48at Coleman Williams I think is what he his name is now. Um who came out you know the the
01:54babe the boy
01:54was as a 17 year old. The Aaron Rodgers 22nd year. Now he didn't start for the first what three
02:05years
02:05I believe but it's hard to it's hard to read that and be like man I cannot believe it's been
02:10that long.
02:11I don't buy into the demise physically of him as others do. I know that he's looked broken at times.
02:18He looked broken last year at the very end of the year when he took some a couple big shots
02:22but
02:24September Aaron Rodgers I think can still move around the pocket well enough to to extend plays
02:31bootleg be accurate. His arm is still as good as it's ever been. He can make every throw on the
02:36field.
02:37It's not he he might not scare you like he used to but the guy can still sling it. Yeah
02:43there's no
02:44doubt about it and I would say though the interesting part is I think we're going to spend a lot
02:48of time
02:48talking about Aaron Rodgers and rightfully so we'll do it today we'll do it tomorrow and we'll do it on
02:52pregame on Sunday. I would if I think if you had to ask Mike McCarthy he would be willing to
02:58to say
02:59that he hopes Aaron Rodgers throws a ball less than 20 times you know what I mean like that's just
03:03the mix
03:03and I know that Aaron Rodgers threw it a ton last year I think he averaged over 30 pass attempts
03:07per
03:07game over 20 completions per game but yeah I think if you had to you know talk to Mike McCarthy
03:13and
03:13that kind of west coast style of offense that he would love to have you know just a run game
03:18be
03:18able to pick up five yards to carry that yeah that's the McCarthy that's his that's his bread and
03:23butter could you imagine looking like I look at his numbers last year and on paper he was phenomenal
03:3224 touchdowns seven picks last year completed right at 66 percent of his passes and you know
03:39that but the problem was that that other number wasn't was was you know he didn't he only threw for
03:443,300 yards I think that doesn't feel necessarily like an Aaron Rodgers type season in that
03:50standpoint but yeah the this team is built to to come downhill and and just lean on you for
03:58you know 60 minutes and then wear you out and then win a 24 to 20 game we'll get some
04:05more audio
04:06from Kevin Stefanski in a minute but should Jeff Ulberg blitz Aaron Rodgers this weekend I think
04:11you have to disguise it very very well um I go back and forth on this because if Aaron Rodgers
04:16knows
04:16what you're doing he's going to make you pay Jeff Ulberg's done a nice job though and did and did
04:20here
04:20last year of disguising those things and where those blitzes are coming from and walking guys up and
04:25bailing guys out it's it's just one of those things where Jeff Ulberg's been in the game a long
04:30time and he understands that and he understands how to do it but to to get the guys on the
04:35field
04:36to understand it is a whole different thing and you know Jeff Ulberg's not that much older than Aaron
04:40Rodgers you know what I mean like Aaron Rodgers has been doing it on the field for a long time
04:45and
04:45it's Jeff Ulberg knows that there's a gamble anytime you're going to try to do that and it's
04:49it's like that at any point but when you talk about two of the more what should be the more
04:55blitz
04:55heavy positions on this team are probably two rookies right with Avion Terrell possibly playing
05:01you know starting at nickel this week and you get Kendall Daniels at the other linebacker spot
05:05now we're talking about a situation where it's like oh you know what I mean you can either blitz them
05:10and trust them to blitz from a couple different spots or you blitz somebody else and you're leaving
05:16them in some kind of coverage thing that I would you know those guys are literally half Aaron Rodgers
05:22age uh he's been playing since both of them were born and so it's it's just you you're just you're
05:28running a risk but you have to do it you have to get him uncomfortable because otherwise on the flip
05:32side he can sit back there and pick you apart with those big body receivers Aaron Rodgers career
05:36is 22 years you said Avion's 21 exactly that's what I'm saying like that we're running a risk but you
05:42have to do it I think Falcons fans always see that they can't they think about when you say
05:48blitzing Aaron Rodgers they always think about that the 2016 NFC championship game and multiple times
05:54Dan Quinn had Brian Poole coming off that nickel spot and and he he absolutely lit Aaron Rodgers up at
06:01times that the I Mike there's nothing I can say or I can't say in any better way than what
06:08Mike said
06:08about disguising it though because he Aaron Rodgers he's got it one thing about that quarterback spot
06:16is the one of the reasons why quarterbacks can play so much longer in their career you can point to
06:22the
06:22obvious of oh well you know they they just drop back and throw and they're not asked to do you
06:28know
06:28move a lot but the reality is is they they fit it starts to slow down the older you get
06:35Matthew Stafford
06:36has been a prime example of this where you know you you have the answers to the test now Tom
06:42Brady
06:42got better I mean Tom Brady was hand the ball off throw it 15 to 20 times when they won
06:49their first
06:50three Super Bowls and play defense and then the rest of his career late in his career when he started
06:55making runs again he was throwing it 40 times a game because it all the game slowed down for him
07:01and
07:01and and that's why not allowing you know trying to disguise everything that you're doing and it's
07:08not just blitzes you gotta just you gotta try to disguise coverages as well Mike yeah and and again
07:15most of the time and Aaron Rodgers didn't throw many picks last year most of the time when he you
07:18know you're looking at Aaron Rodgers of last year's throwing interception it feels like he got some
07:22kind of trap coverage you know what I mean otherwise he knows where the matchups are he knows exactly
07:26what the you know the structure of the defense and the structure of the offense are supposed to be so
07:30it's a it's a gamble man there's no doubt about it but you're gonna have to pick your spots that's
07:34why the question that pops in my head is how do you play coverage you know do you do you
07:42get
07:42because they're big physical guys and they're bigger than you are on in its skill position right
07:49you know that you're we're what six uh four five ten and six one on the outside and they got
07:54two six
07:55four guys so do you give them a little bit because getting if you even with their size if
08:01you whiff on that on you come up and try to kind of pop them at the at right at
08:06the line on uh the
08:08snap and you whiff they're by you and it's over yeah I think you have to change it up um
08:14because
08:15look the last thing you want to do is give a big cushion and then allow them to run just
08:18these quick
08:18slants and body you the way Mike Evans has done over you know over the last few years against some
08:22of
08:22the smaller corners right give him a big cushion all of a sudden he sticks his foot in the ground
08:26he's running the slant you know Aaron Rodgers recognizes the blitz coming off that side and
08:30you know you're in a bad situation as well so change it up man but I think you can't be
08:34afraid
08:34to go be physical with these guys and um you know I'm sure that's what Jeff Ulbrich's gonna be
08:38preaching too and and I think we've talked all the way around and Mike had mentioned earlier about
08:43that that's what they want to do but we talked all the way around it the the most important player
08:47on
08:48the field could be you know Mason Smith and the addition of him and if the efficient the addition
08:55of Javon Dexter and can they plug up that interior to allow Devon Diablo and Kendall Daniels or whoever's
09:05playing nickel to be able to get there and and keep it keep a keep a gain to one to
09:12two yards when
09:13they are you know if not it could be four to six I think it's a good point and I
09:17want to make sure I
09:17make this real quick too because we talked about picking your spots and blitzing and we talked about
09:20the rookies that are on the field Javon Dexter Zedaria Smith Jared Ivey how much do those guys know
09:28right how much are those guys going to play and how much of the blitz packages do they actually know
09:32and how much do you trust that so it's it's another component of a of an interesting game plan
09:36I've wondered if Jared either I'm I'm not sure if Yaseer Abdullah or Javon Jared Ivey will both be active
09:43I think one or the other could be inactive this week but Cameron Thomas was one of your best
09:49defensive linemen edge whatever you want to call him in the run game in the preseason that's he's
09:54going to be really important
09:56you
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