00:00I got a question for you guys.
00:03Critical?
00:04Yeah, it's a critical question.
00:06TJ, did you ever punch Aaron Rodgers in the ball?
00:10No.
00:12Can you guys name the starting quarterback for the Lions
00:18the last time they won in Charlotte?
00:23John Kitna?
00:25Last time they won in Charlotte?
00:27I feel like you're asking that because it has to be a long time.
00:30How about Charlie Bash?
00:33I was going to say Charlie Bash.
00:36Eastern Zone?
00:36Wow.
00:37That's the last time?
00:38I was there.
00:40I don't know if it was the last time they played in Charlotte.
00:43Shoot.
00:44The last time they played in Charlotte, they got rolled.
00:47Okay, so it was that game.
00:48Yeah, Christmas Eve.
00:49It was freezing cold.
00:50It was Christmas Eve 2022.
00:52Carolina ran for 300 yards, something like that.
00:55That was a brutal game to be at.
00:59Cedric Irvin scored the first touchdown for the Lions.
01:01Wow.
01:02Yeah, coming back a long time.
01:03The Lions actually made the playoffs that year.
01:05They started 6-2.
01:07Then they went 2-6.
01:08That's what people say.
01:09Carolina's a tough place to play, man.
01:12TJ.
01:13Great.
01:13You just rolled that one off the shoulder?
01:15Yeah, it's it.
01:17Carolina's not known for their great home field advantage.
01:20I did hear Dan Campbell praising the environment.
01:233-4 against the Lions.
01:24They have a winning record, believe it or not.
01:27Well, I mean.
01:27Tough place to play.
01:28Who hasn't had a winning record against the Lions, to be honest, over the years?
01:32Just saying.
01:33TJ News came out about Joey Porter Jr.
01:37Mm-hmm.
01:39Lions said that they were interested.
01:41They tried to do that.
01:42They didn't get him.
01:43What do you think they do next?
01:45Because the secondary, Branches is not going to be the magical fixer of everything.
01:50Are they going to?
01:51Do you think they're going to be active in the trade market?
01:53Or are they just going to rely on the guys they have now and hoping that a rake straw steps
01:57up and becomes that guy finally?
01:59Yeah, I think that they're still going to have the hand in the cookie jar.
02:02And I think it was encouraging.
02:04And listen, we can all discuss.
02:07Could you have given up a little more than the Cowboys?
02:09We don't know.
02:10Those offers are never public.
02:11Maybe the Lions did, and maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers were like, well, we think that second rounder, we think Dallas
02:19is going to be worse than the Lions, and that second rounder might look better.
02:23I don't know.
02:24But I am encouraged by the fact that they are still trying to find ways to improve this roster.
02:31And I think that Brad Holmes knew.
02:33We all know the clip of him and Dave Burkett.
02:37If you want to play it, going at each other.
02:40There it is.
02:41Or, you know, who did you want us to get?
02:43Somebody from another roster?
02:45We all know that.
02:46But the fact that I think that through three games that they've identified maybe a weak point of their team
02:52and are exhausting every option to try to go get guys is encouraging to me.
02:57And at the same time, the trade deadline wasn't yesterday.
03:01You know what I mean?
03:02It wasn't the only guy that's going to be available.
03:04And I still look at this and say, there's a lot of teams out there right now that are struggling,
03:10that are 0-3, that are 1-2, that are probably going to be 1-3.
03:14And maybe you get to that trade deadline and they have some guys that they're saying, okay, this is a
03:19lost season.
03:20We're not there yet.
03:21But there's going to be a guy that's become available that you don't think are available right now because teams
03:26don't want to make moves at this point unless there's a contract dispute with a Joey Porter Jr.
03:32But when you get to that week 6, week 7, week 8, and oh man, this is just not going
03:36our way.
03:37We've got a ton of injuries.
03:38Let's just build for the future, try to recoup some picks.
03:40There's going to be guys that have become available.
03:42So I think that the Lions, if they were interested in Joey Porter Jr., are going to be interested in
03:49the next couple weeks with other guys that might not be available right now, that might become available in three
03:57or four weeks.
03:57So I don't think that they're done building this roster.
04:00I actually, we were all bummed, right?
04:05I know everybody's bummed.
04:06I listened to the radio all week.
04:07Everybody was calling in bummed about Joey Porter Jr.
04:10And, you know, not getting him and not upgrading.
04:12He's not going to be the only guy available.
04:14By the time that, especially with this team, when you play these next two games, you go into the bye
04:21week.
04:22You got the trade deadline, what, another two weeks after that.
04:25It's like the week before the Germany game.
04:27You're going to have an opportunity to continue to add to this roster.
04:31And I don't think Joey Porter Jr. is, you know, Revis Island by any means.
04:38Would he be an upgrade?
04:40Sure.
04:41Does he get a lot of penalties?
04:42Yeah.
04:43Terry and Arnold took a lot of penalties.
04:45We're getting a lot of penalties, and I'm not saying comparing those two guys, but I just, I don't, I
04:53don't think that I'm going to kill them for not doing everything possible to go get a Joey Porter Jr.,
05:00if that makes sense.
05:01But I think the fans are just thinking, is he going to actually make a move?
05:06Because he's made three trade deadline moves.
05:08One was for Donovan Peoples-Jones.
05:10One was for Zedarius Smith.
05:12Zedarius Smith.
05:13And one was early on where he traded away, you know, what's his name, TJ Hawkinson.
05:17So I think people are wondering, like, sweet, we were in this one.
05:21You didn't get Joey Porter Jr.
05:23He might be the best corner that is moved right before the trade deadline.
05:28Fair.
05:28Right now.
05:28Fair.
05:29But I think people just want to be reassured that they're going to do something about this secondary and not
05:34just go forward with as is or just wait for Brian Branch to come back.
05:37And, like, this is just me completely speculating.
05:39But if you look at a team like the Chargers, that if they continue to tank, and they're 0-3,
05:44and they've got a hell of a schedule coming up,
05:47Derwin James is an all-pro safety that is up for a contract in, I think, a year and a
05:53half.
05:53I think he's got another year left.
05:55But, you know, could that be a team that you look at and say, okay, you're not going anywhere, right?
06:00This is a lost season.
06:02You know, can a team like that say, okay, let's recoup something for a player that we know we're going
06:08to lose or not repay?
06:10That's just complete speculation.
06:12No, I got you.
06:12Then there's a ton of examples out there with other guys on different teams, right?
06:18And so there's going to be possibilities.
06:20And I just – the fact that they were in it, the fact that they were inquiring about a Joey
06:27Porter Jr.,
06:28who you mentioned was the top name in that secondary position through weeks,
06:35the fact that the Lions were mentioned in that tells me that they're not going to be done.
06:41It's not going to say, oh, we lost Joey Porter Jr., and we're just going to stand pat and see
06:46what happens, you know, the rest of the year.
06:49It tells me that they're interested in upgrading that secondary position.
06:53So, you know, I hate to – I know Rico's going to kill me for this or be the John
06:58Jansen, but sometimes you've got to let it play out.
07:00You've got to see how the next couple weeks go.
07:04Some teams are going to be struggling, and there might be some guys that nobody's mentioning right now that in
07:10two weeks are going to be like, oh, they want to move on from him.
07:13Okay, can we be a part of that conversation?
07:15They were a part of Joey Porter's conversation.
07:17We obviously know Dallas did everything they could to get him.
07:19But that tells me that the Lions are still looking to improve that spot.
07:24Can we all agree on the fact that if you don't make the improvements back there, you're not a serious
07:30playoff team?
07:31Because you cannot tell your offense every week we need you to score at least 30 points or more because
07:37what happens if they have a bad game, somebody gets injured?
07:41They have to improve this secondary.
07:44Can we agree upon that?
07:45I would agree on that.
07:46Yeah, I would agree on that.
07:48I don't think you're one Joey Porter away from being all of a sudden a Super Bowl favorite.
07:55Could help, though.
07:56It could help, but I think that there's probably a couple positions that they're looking at to continue to improve
08:02on.
08:03It's tough once you get in the season because it's not acquisition of free agency or those routes.
08:08It's, hey, now you've got to give up assets.
08:10Now, the other thing I'll say on that real quick, too, is when you have such a top-heavy roster
08:15with Brad Holmes and you're re-signing all these guys to top contracts, right?
08:19Jared Goff was one of the highest-paid quarterbacks.
08:22Amon Ross St. Braun, Panay Sewell.
08:24I'm assuming that now that Sam Laporta has proven he can stay healthy, he's probably going to get a good
08:30contract.
08:30What do you need on the back end of that?
08:32You need the draft picks.
08:33You need the cheaper options to come in and kind of fill in the middle part of that roster.
08:39Now, I know that here's the thing.
08:41Well, that's the thing is that, Brad, and fairly so, the last couple drafts have been, okay, 2024, man.
08:48Like, Ennis Rakestraw playing a little bit, but Christian Mahogany was basically the jewel of that draft pick right now
08:56on your team who was a sixth-rounder.
08:58So, but I do say that you can't just trade for everybody and say, hey, we're going to sign him
09:05to the highest-paid contract because at some point you're going to need to fill that out with younger guys
09:10on cheaper contracts, right?
09:12And that's up to Brad Holmes to correct that.
09:15And he's no dummy.
09:16I think he knows that.
09:17I think he's probably heard the noise.
09:19We know he hears noise.
09:21We know a couple years ago when, well, no, I don't think he listens to us, but I think when,
09:25you know, when he's bringing up, hey, you wanted us to draft this guy and you wanted us to draft
09:31that, like, he hears those things, right?
09:33So he's no dummy to that, and I think he knows he's got to be better at acquiring the younger
09:37players.
09:37Very quickly, I saw this crazy stat.
09:39Tell me if this is a big deal or no big deal.
09:42Highest passer rating allowed by linebackers.
09:45Jack Campbell has the fourth worst, a 126.2 passer rating against them.
09:50Quick answer.
09:51How concerned should people be?
09:53Go ahead.
09:54It's been, the middle part of that defense has been a concern in the pass coverage.
09:59Yeah.
09:59There's a lot of space.
10:00His tight ends have been eating them alive.
10:03That's a big concern, and I know that's been probably a big focal point, you know, throughout this week of
10:08you got a guy again, Darren Waller, who I know he might not be Darren Waller of old, but he's
10:14still a big target that can make you hurt over the middle.
10:16So I think that the secondary has taken a lot of beating, you know, when it comes to the passing
10:21game.
10:21I think the linebackers have a lot, a lot of work to do to improve on helping those guys out
10:26when it comes to the passing game.
10:27All right.
10:28The picks are next.
10:29I'm not supposed to.
10:31I'm wrong.
10:32I'm sorry.
10:33I screwed up.
10:34We'll come back.
10:34We'll talk to TJ Moore.
10:36Too early, Jeff.
10:37Again.
10:37Damn it.
10:38That's what I do.
10:39Too early, Rieger.
10:4197.
10:42I deserve that.
10:42I deserve that.
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