Can Lamar Jackson and the Ravens UPSET the 49ers on Christmas? + Week 16 picks | Mina Kimes Show

I am joined by Diante Lee to preview Week 16. Can the Cowboys bounce back after their loss to the Bills? Plus, the Jaguars will be without Trevor Lawrence again as they face the Bucs and we’ll tell you what we expect from both the Lions and Vikings offense. The CJ Stroud-less Texans will take on the mighty Browns defense and Joe Flacco, and the Ravens and 49ers will battle it out on Christmas Day. And finally, we’ll give you our picks for every Week 16 game.

0:00 Welcome to the show
1:30 Cowboys vs. Dolphins
2:40 Why are the Cowboys so much better at home?
5:30 Cowboys run defense
10:15 Can the Cowboys offense bounce back in Week 16?
17:00 Jaguars vs. Bucs
18:00 Trevor Lawrence out, CJ Beathard in
21:00 Jaguars struggles with the run game
22:46 Jaguars defense
27:15 Lions vs. Vikings
28:00 Lions offense
32:05 Vikings offense
36:20 Browns vs Texans
37:10 CJ Stroud out, Case Keenum in
38:38 Does Joe Flacco give the Browns a chance?
45:30 Ravens vs. 49ers
46:00 How will the Ravens handle the 49ers defense?
49:30 Why Lamar Jackson is hard to defend this year
55:30 How can the Ravens stop the 49ers offense?
1:12:30 Week 16 Picks
1:23:10 See you next time

Welcome back to the me time show featuring Lenny the only NFL podcast or one of the hosts thinks Tales never fails applies to more than the coin flip that’s Lenny I’m meina Kims and ahead of a very eventful exciting I’d say a pretty uh a good week 16 I am joined by

Friend of the show you know him from the athletic maybe from Twitter Deontay Lee welcome back to the Show Bud I have to say I don’t think that you’ve missed with the Lenny PL or joke in all of my guest appearances so much much appreciate it but I’m doing well and how

Are you I’m great this is a good week I uh was like usually by this time of year there’s like one good game maybe two meaningful games and and in this year there there’s really good games including one that is frankly unreal uh that you and I are very excited to talk

About and then there’s a lot of games that have playoff ramifications because because every team is still in the mix for the playoffs um some I think with better chances of making some noise when they get to the playoffs and others but I as far as far as like choosing games

We had a a wealth of options to choose from this week um the game that I’m was alluding to is Ravens ners or Niners Ravens which we will finish with that game uh I I I figur we could start with a game that I don’t want to call it fraud watch

But Cowboys Dolphins I think are two teams that are very good teams that are um this is their chance both have the opportunity here to beat fraud allegations I will put it that way yes my yes no uh my my good friend Steven Godfrey who does a split Zone Duo a

College football uh podcast will call this an anxiety bowl for both fan bases like this is definitely a heavy narrative game yes for both teams and for both quarterbacks I think um so yeah I’m I’m right there with you there’s some big ramifications in how we’re going to talk about these teams as

Contenders in their respective conferences based on the result and it’s an interesting matchup stylistically I think yeah it’s funny that you mention narratives because the Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel I think it was on hardock I just saw the clip was talking about the quote narrative that they

Haven’t beaten good teams and the media and he’s used a lot of profanity which no like I love it for locker room obviously plays well it’s not a narrative if it’s true though you have lost good teams so here is an opportunity for Miami to beat a team

With a very good record and then for Dallas it’s it’s the road thing and I actually want to start there with you um coming off of a really accumulating loss to the Buffalo Bills so the Cowboys at home seven and0 this year on the road three and four um the splits are really

Ugly across both offense and defense h Jerry Jones was asked about it and he blamed the weather which I don’t think is the case um Deontay like for me a lot of that seems to be game script related which is to say at home when you

Look at um the games that Dallas has won and they’ve won a lot of them by quite a bit uh in most of them they’ve been able to jump out to leads the offense has been incredibly efficient in the first half um Dak Prescott who was like this

You know obviously like a a master at the line of scrimmage is able to run the offense and and read the defense the way he would like you know in in in silence in a perfect environment and because they’re able to jump out to leads they

Don’t have to defend the run right in the second half the way they did against Buffalo would you say that’s probably what’s responsible for the split and does that concern you as they go on the road to Miami yeah I think the the home dominance thing is really I think

Circumstantial based on game script stuff like and really outside of Buffalo the Buffalo game I would say that the Chargers game is maybe the only other game they’ve had all year where the offense did not just come right out to a roaring start um so that that’s really

What I think it is it is funny to mention the weather stuff for Jerry Jones because I think Buffalo is going to kick their teeth in Rain Rain Sunshine snow whatever um but I think the bigger the bigger question now is whether or not how you handle Dallas

Knowing that they have a potentially fatal flaw and I think that that’s kind of been the story of this NFL season in general for basically everybody except for the 49ers and they still have one but the guy’s just been playing out of his mind and the stats are too hard to

Deny with Brock pie but when you look at the Cowboys being light on bodies coming into last week then you lose rankings which is obviously a huge piece for them and you see just how much they struggled to control first and second down defensively and then on the other end of

The ball you see when a team like Buffalo who’s playing a lot of Zone coverage is sitting getting on those early down passes in the intermediate Windows um that allows Dallas to turn first downs into first downs so often now you’re getting deeper into these sequences and when the Run game’s not

There you’re seeing a lot being placed back on Dak Prescott shoulders in a way that was very reminiscent of last season in the games that they lost particularly you think about the umu the playoff game uh against the 49ers as the worst example of when you have to put the ball

In dak’s hands and there’s not enough support across thead of the team let’s hit the run defense aspect of it against Miami in particular because that like the offense I think um there were a lot of things that the bill I we Dominique Fox I talked a little bit about the

Bills and their use of Disguise and um some of the things they did out front as well against the Run versus Dallas excellent game plan I think certainly this Dolphins defense is capable of executing something similar we’ll get to that but for me the thing that really

Worries me uh is the run defense because you alluded to this it is Personnel related right um you mentioned you know Jonathan henss who’s their uh defensive tackle is injured I’m not sure exactly what his status is I think it’s a high ankle thing but this

Is a defense that plays light they like to put a lot of safeties on the field that’s what they did you know against the bills and they got pushed around they got bodied it’s a great defense to play the pass so in some ways you think against okay Miami this offense which is

Also kind of um like you know all about speed and certainly that downfield passing game in some ways they match up reasonably well with them right but if Miami decides to run the ball do you think that they’re going to give them problems it’s a very different

Run game from Buffalo um it’s a run game that really likes to again they hit the perimeter which is something Dallas also struggled with by the way do you think like if you were mik Daniel watching that game watching what that rushing attack did to was one of the worst run defensive performances

I’ve seen certainly of the season right are you g to go into this one with an intention to run the ball I would say so but I think you kind of mentioned it which is that uh Miami’s rushing success doesn’t look anything like what Buffalo

Did last week you know you saw a lot of like tackle traps and some Duo you know a lot of Run game that’s about you know getting downhill getting double teams on interior linemen and forcing linebackers to have to Pat their feet and go fit the

Run you know and be big bodies which as you mentioned is something that Dallas does not do a lot of from a Personnel perspective Miami is like dogmatically um committed to outside zones that’s a much different picture in the Run game and like you said it doesn’t mean that

Because it’s different that Dallas is just going to have an answer I just think that if Dallas struggles with the Run game it’s going to be something different than it was last Sunday which might open up the door for a looking at this team in a much different light

Because if you can’t stop downhill runs and you can’t stop perimeter runs and you’re dealing with you know the fact that you are a man heavy team a cover two heavy team and teams can get you with explosive passes from time to time where that leaves this team in terms of

Being a contender and whether or not they can beat Philly if they see them a third time whether they can beat San Francisco if we see them again um so that’s kind of the matchup I’m most interested to see is Dallas’s edges versus this outside Zone run scheme this

Pin and whole kind of toss sweep run scheme that Miami likes because they’re obviously as good at it as anybody in the league yeah the um bills offense really took Mel Parson’s out of the game some of that there’s so many things that go into that you know game script

Obviously matters a lot you talked about I think some of it was the design of the Run game some of it was the Personnel um some of it was michah Parson frankly I I thought like you know that some of that performance certainly falls upon him I think in how he approached

Defending the run but yeah it’s it’s so different with Miami like Miami I mean that offensive line will lose you know like if it’s actually about that but it’s not what they do is not about the offensive line it’s like the most offensive line agnostic offense in football which is crazy um and

Definitely built on doing as little blocking at the point of attack they absolutely have to I mean all last week it was tosses you know and just letting letting Jets edges run themselves out of the play and just running pin and pole behind it and just trying to get to

Linebackers and not really messing around with defensive tackles at all so that’ll be really fascinating to see I think to go back to the Cowboys defense if Dallas doesn’t fall behind certainly if they jump out to a lead I feel pretty good actually about that defense and

Their ability to get after it um and to cover I think you know all what everything Miami does in the passing attack but it’s when they able to run the ball and there’s the threat of the Run action and they have to defend all of it that I don’t feel great about it

Certainly not based on what we saw so that leads me to I think my next question which is you know do we think the Cowboys offense can bounce back against a Miami defense deont I’m gonna read you some numbers because I don’t think I’ve T I haven’t talked about it

On this show and I feel like it’s kind of fine under the radar a little bit uh since week eight the Miami defense first first in EPA per play first in success rate first in opponent qbr uh second in yards per play some of that has to do with the competition

They’re still 13 in dvoa which adjusts for competition although I think a lot of that also reflects uh the beginning of the year when there were injuries you didn’t have Jaylen Ramsey guys were still learning the defense it’s a Vic fangio defense it’s very complicated but

They do pass the ey test to me I mean I think Bradley chub is playing out of his mind right now um which is much needed obviously with the loss of jayen Phillips Wilkins and seeler are fantastic on the inside um I think the secondary is playing really well I think

Gny Ramsey back was you know pretty significant they’re really challenging uh this is not uh an easy defense to have like a rebound game for Dak Prescott after last week yeah I think that’s that’s probably the big red flag if you’re Dallas is that Miami not only

Are they good on their own accord the way that that defense is built they can pretty easily take everything they saw Buffalo did successfully against Dallas and replicate it in terms of the soft Zone shells you mentioned some of the play that they’ve gotten from their

Front four or front Five Guys this is a defense that can get um backfield penetration and backfield production without having the Blitz and that’s a dangerous place to be at for Dallas’s offense which has been great in terms of being precise and staying on time and being efficient on early downs but all

It takes is one tfl you know or a sack and now you’re back behind the sticks and they’re asking a lot again of an offense that for as good as it’s been this year it’s really not built on having more Talent than everybody else does on the perimeter CD is a good

Player that you can move around but it’s not just bombs away right it’s a lot about being a master of the West Coast offense as a play caller for Mike McCarthy and as a quarterback for Dak Prescott so I’m really fascinated to see what the early Down plan is because I

Think that the game script getting away from them last week took away a lot of Run game stuff that we thought was maybe improving with Dallas’s play sequencing um so I’m interested to see if they are really committed to first down runs and trying to get into second and seven

Second and six and see if you can control the sticks and control that pass rush and some of the soft Zone shells you know you’re going to get that way that was that was what’s so tricky about last week is because they fell behind so quickly and the bills were able to then

Just come out and play a ton of dime and put a ton of bodies in coverage and mix in some different pressures um that you just weren’t able to get a sense of okay is this you know C can they run the ball on them can they do some of the play

Action stuff um and to your point I think Miami can do a lot of the similar a lot of similar things to what we saw from Buffalo they certainly have the Personnel to do it they have a secondary that much like what we saw from Buffalo

Rotates a lot post Snap y they have a defense a defensive line that can stop the run with light boxes which uh I believe they’re playing at the third highest rate in the NFL it’s a Vic fangio special of course um so yeah it’s it’s a good unit and I

Think if again I really feel like if Dallas fouls behind again I don’t feel good about either side of the ball so game I feel like game script is I was saying this to Dan Orosi their day I feel like it’s the thing we don’t talk about enough when we analyze games and

And sports media generally because it dictates so much of what happens uh but I think right now in the NFL there are so many teams where uh whether they’re you know they have a lead the nature of the lead really affects their efficacy on offense in particular right and and

Defense in the case of Dallas I think I don’t think this Dallas defense is built to play from behind right um they’re great with a lead so if it was at home I would probably pick Dallas it’s at Miami and I’m probably going to pick the

Dolphins because of it I’m with you on that and we’ve kind of laid out a lot of the things that I think will be um easy matchups to watch I think the game within the game for me and one of the stats I was looking at is howto is done

Against man coverage because Dallas is such a man coverage team man coverage heavy team and if you’re just looking at all Downs obviously the EPA per dropback is through the roof because of all the explosive plays that they can get to especially when you have both jayen Wadd

And Tyreek Hill but something that was fascinating to me was Tua against cover one on early Downs I think he’s like 17 of 29 on the season for just 166 yards and that kind of made me think about last year’s Chargers game late this season

Right and whether or not you can win on first down with tight coverage and now if you’re Dan Quinn you can get to some of those funky cover two rotations and you can play a little bit more soft cover three and sit on those intermediate uh passing Windows where

Wad can get all those Yak opportunities that’s going to be a really fascinating thing on early downs and I think that on the other end like we talked about with Dallas’s Run game this is going to be a game that is going to be decided on

First down um because both teams are so games script and kind of you know play call script dependent yeah I think that’s a good way to put it that it’ll be decided on first down um yeah I I don’t expect the Dallas defense to change up

Their approach I don’t I mean well you know I don’t think the personal they are who they are right there’s not much else to do based on who they are and they’re very they’re good with those safeties on the they’re an amazing pass defense with

Them on the field and I think that what will be interesting to me to is to see how Mike McDaniel approaches the Run game against this team um and yeah because as we discussed at the beginning it’s it’s very different from the Buffalo Run game but I’m not

Sure that Dallas could stop this one either not many teams can so anyways leaning Miami um which you know my desire is for Miami and Buffalo to play for the division in week 18 so uh because that would be amazing so we’ll see uh Buffalo you know has to keep

Winning which I think seems likely we’re not talking about that game uh again we are talking about jaguars books CJ be bethard beard beard uh it’s funny because I was thinking so he’s playing I think well no that’s not true sorry we don’t know if Trevor’s playing obviously

We do know that Trevor didn’t practice today Trevor did not practice today we are taping this on Wednesday obviously this is a very different game if Trevor Lawrence plays um be bethard I’ve watched this guy play so much football how am I like struggling with his name I I Deontay I was like

Looking back I was thinking back through like because you started 10 games for the ners over the years quite a few yeah and I and I was like well I remember he’s like really tough and I’m like what is that just because his name is yeah um so uh let’s start on that

Side of the ball assuming it’s CJ uh I went back he has attempted 524 career passes he’s a negative 7% cpoe he’s thrown a lot of picks yeah okay no he started five games in 17 and 18 important note that was a very different ners team I always hate like when people

Compare this Niners team to like those other Niners teams and quarterbacks because they were kind of bad yes it’s very unfair not to say that he would be so much better playing with the monstars as I call them but I mean it’s a different offense there’s like Brandon

Iuk and Tren Williams era and then there’s the added Christian mcaffrey era then it’s much much different uh I think probably notable for this game because I remembered him struggling with this uh those two years that he played when he was pressured he had a qbr of four and

One so uh that’s not great this Buck defense doesn’t get a ton of pressure do Blitz a lot um but I think against the patchwork Jag’s offensive line guys like Kai jansy who’s been excellent Jack like I think that they can affect uh be bethard Beth yeah

CJ uh a fair amount and I don’t think he has Trevor Lawrence’s quick game ability so I think that um it’s it’s pretty it’s a pretty pretty tough situation for this Jaguars offense yeah it was hard kind of trying to put together notes for this because the

Quarterback situation so up in the air um but I do think if you’re Todd bus you’re probably approaching it like two separate game plans right if Trevor plays you probably don’t want to pressure Trevor a whole bunch because he is so good with quick game he does have

That kind of Herbert ask D Dak Prescott esque um ability to him to just get the ball out before pressure can get home um but if you’re fing somebody like CJ bethard and then you’re looking at this offensive line and you’re looking at a team that doesn’t run the ball very

Effectively um and has not certainly didn’t last week and generally is up and down with the Run game now you want to get after a quarterback in an offense like that right so and they don’t have probably their best receiving option you know so that’s that to me I think has

Been it that’s been a big hindrance for Jacksonville in general and then if you take Trevor out the picture I expect Todd BS to go back to the drawing board with all those crazy Rex Ryan old school pressures where you’re bringing four from a side and really trying to heat a

Quarterback up you know I think it’s worth um taking a moment to know like what we’re going to talk about some of them there are offenses around the NFL right now where backup quarterbacks have been productive and some of that is the quarterbacks Joe flaca we’re gonna talk

About Joe flaca it’s a big game uh and some of it is the offensive lines Playmakers whatever my point is this Jags offense is not one of them not at all no not at all oh they’re just a disaster uh you mentioned the Run game it’s been bottom five or worse in just

About every metric this year and there’s a number of reasons for that it’s it’s mostly not etn fault in my opinion um a lot of it’s blocking I think some of it is designed one thing is they face the second most stacked boxes in football yeah uh um and because teams don’t

Respect their P their pass catchers yes when they I I was grabbing this when they were playing the Ravens I didn’t use it so because the Ravens also faced a lot of Stack boxes when the Ravens face not as many which is kind of wild right like the Baltimore Ravens but

That’s because teams are afraid of the Baltimore Ravens when they face stacked boxes and this is while so uh the Ravens are excellent they average 11 yards per per play throwing against them Lamar M how many yards per play do you think the Jags average through the air when they

Face stacked boxes so when they have you know man coverage numerical Advantage what do you think they’re at the Ravens are at 11 o I would say anything below like seven and a half is when you start four God oh God I was going to say like

In the sixes and that’s bad you know that that’s bad anything below s you have the numbers you have the one-on ones you can do and and yet and yet and yet teams do not fear this offense they do not fear this offense with Trevor Lawrence they certainly won’t fear it

With CJ bethard I expect Todd Bulls to be salivating yes uh at the prospect of this matchup um the other side is interesting though because this ja’s defense and this would be I think the formula for an upset in this one I’ve assume the Bucs are favored if it’s

CJ uh the Jack defense has been kind of up and down and they’re coming off a game I thought I I said I texted you this like the previous two games they were bad the offense and defense never played good at the same time which D me

Crazy the last game the defense I actually thought played decently well against Lamar Lamar just Lamar a few times um but I thought they looked a lot better and they’re facing a bucks offense that was great I would actually say it’s kind of simple they were great

Last week but then there’s some weeks they’re they’re inconsistent as well what have you liked about this Jags defense watching them how do you think they match up with Baker Mayfield in the uh the Bucks offense I think that I think the calwell you know defensive coordinator my calwell is just he’s

Evolved from last year to this year when you look at Blitz rates when you look at how often they’re playing split safety shells um just playing Zone coverage in general um I think that the mark of a good defensive coordinator is that he was able to take a recipe that he had in

Tampa Bay you know working with those guys and say we don’t have the bodies to do that we’re not going to get the pressure that’s necessary to play all this tight coverage Maybe we need to play a little bit more Zone and I think that’s reflected um best when you look

At the all 22 especially last week you know Lamar was able to buy a lot of time but if you look at the what’s supposed to be the usual time to throw that you know zero to 2.5 seconds guys aren’t open they they were plastered in coverage they just couldn’t get home

With the pass rush um and that’s going to be interesting this week because I really wouldn’t recommend that they do any of the things they did against Baltimore against Tampa Bay because that’s what Joe Barry did and Baker Mayfield just had like the most comfortable day in the pocket that he’s

Had in a long time in his career so just dropping you know just dropping seven and rushing four and playing your soft shell coverages might not be it against this offense so I’m interested to see whether or not he turns up the pressure to try to get guys in baker’s face and

Get him back into some of his worst habits I would absolutely do that against Baker Mayfield The Joe Barry defense I mean they’re always bad but like I don’t think you could call a worse defense against Baker and also this Buck offense like Dave Canalis did

A great job but like it you know he work very hard oh you know you’re the this the seams are going to be wide open for us all day okay sure you know like they it like let’s not play any tight coverage at all that’s what is so

Infuriating about the Joe Barry defense it’s not just like oh it’s passive and soft and they play off it’s like an offense will do something and they never adjust to it it was I mean I lost my mind after the DeVito Zone ra game but this was the same thing like it was

Literally screen SE scream scheme scream anyway it’s just like oh God Crossing like Crosser Crosser Crosser anyways um along those lines yeah so like I think uh it’s going to be Paramount for Mike calwell not only because I do think that they’re probably also gonna have to turn

Baker over to win this game doable totally doable we’ve seen Baker do that um I think it’s just just uh yeah the nature of that offense I I am a little bit worried about their ability to defend the Bucks play action passing attack which is pretty good the Run game

Also the Bucs Run game is it’s kind of I wouldn’t say fixed but it looks much better than it has in recent years yeah and um like I really Rashad White’s a great pass catcher so because of all those things they can attack the Jags linebackers which we’ve seen teams do

With success lately but I think yeah you got to get you gota you got to um channel so I guess yeah like both sides I think we’re advocating for um sending pressure and yeah making things a little bit chaotic I got the Bucks it’s it’s CJ bethard if it was Lawrence

Right I might pick him but this game I think is going to be disgusting enough where you can go either way I think um but yeah I’m with you I I think that I think Tampa has just enough Playmakers on offense where even if you know Jacksonville plays them well you

Can get a jump ball to a Mike Evans you can get a good Yak opportunity for a Chris Godwin and that might be the difference in the game and I think that’ll probably be enough against CJ Beth okay so Lions Vikings one side we have a starter Jared gof and the other

Side um we have the third backup that the Vikings have started and Nick Mullins yeah um let’s start with the jarro go side I find this side interesting because uh Brian flores’s defense has probably been the most interesting defense to watch of the entire NFL season um so they’re

Going up against uh a lions offense that looks really improved last week upon what we’ve seen from them lately certainly on Thanksgiving a lot of that most of that is because the offensive line is healthy um so I think that’s where I would start with this

Game we know know the story with Jared gof in this offense and we know what it takes to get him off the game do you think uh Brian Flores and this defense are capable of heating him up um do you think they’ll try to heat him up like

How do you think they’ll approach this matchup knowing uh G’s weaknesses I’m glad you asked do you remember what happened to Jared G the last time he played Brian Flores in 2020 I can give you the stat line give the stat line it’s not good 35 of 61 I just

Want to start there 61 attempts for 355 yards one touchdown two interceptions and two sack strips and both the strip sacks went for touchdowns how much did they Blitz him I think third he had 30 passes against the blitz went 15 of 30 for 156 a touchdown

And an interception and was sacked twice and one of them was the aforementioned strip sack that was very different though because that’s when Flores was blitzing and playing man behind it yes all the time and that was definitely a Rams era that had kind of lost a plot with the Run

Game and didn’t have the kind of receiving Talent it needed to beat man coverage so it’s that’s not to say that it’s going to be a onetoone comparison but I I bring that up and I look that up because for me like the top note I had

Is this is the referendum game for whether or not I’m going to take Jerick off seriously for the rest of the if he can get over this hump pressure-wise and take care of business and is safe with the ball and he doesn’t have to blow the Vikings defense up for

400 yards and three touchdowns but if you can avoid being sacked the strip sacks the silly interceptions I think I’ll feel a little bit more comfortable looking at Detroit and saying okay you can beat any one of Philadelphia San Francisco or Dallas as a road team if

You had to that’s kind of what I’m using to base this off of because I think they have a lot a lot of the other pieces necessary on offense to be able to beat any of the top teams in the NFC yeah it’s about we’re talking about the

Offense because I don’t think this Lions defense can stop any of those teams but but the question and and lions fans know this going into the playoffs is like can your offense keep up with them because then you can pull off an upset it’s all about the offense right and this is

Quite a defensive test to your point um it’s funny because you know you said it’s a referendum game for golf I hear you but I also think like Ben Johnson this is huge game for him in terms of preparing Jared Goff for some of these pressures

Um I think the Run PA pass balance in this one is enormous again in terms of what we talk about like taking some of the heat off of goof um G’s been okay against the blitz this year he’s actually been very good versus blitzing DBS fourth qbr 9.1% cpoe is

Very good obviously that’s you know not a huge sample size but Vikings like to do a lot of is Meaningful against this uh this Vikings team uh I think yeah this is uh I I I I hear I I I think your point is good though like going into the

Playoffs especially now that it feels like the lions are probably you know got got the division locked up most likely um this you know like I feel like they’re on the upswing but if the offense doesn’t look good in this game I too will strongly question whether or

Not they can carry a defense that I think we both agree is not above average right and that that’s the thing is that we know where the weakness of this team is in terms of roster construction which is the defense but they need their quarterback to be able to hang and you

Cannot you cannot have your quarterback exposed as someone weak against pressure when you know that your defense is probably not going to get stops against the elite offenses and there’s a chance that they don’t get stops on Sunday against Minnesota because for whatever reason however the heck he’s been able

To do it Kevin oconnell has still been able to put together an efficient enough offense to run the ball and get the ball in his playmaker hands C can we okay look Kevin oconnell the back-to-back tush pushes with Brandon Powell not your finest moment no I will I’ve been around

Brandon Powell he as a Rams preseason analyst we are approximately the same size I would not Advocate Advocate doing that I know the first time they were trying to like you know trick them a little bit by right with their personnel but that was not great however give the

Man some credit for what that offense was doing otherwise in that game right like I uh what he’s been able to do by and large with playing with backups playing without the best wide receiver in football for the vast majority of the season I is pretty tremendous so I I you

Know I saw fire KOC on I never know if it’s actually trending or if it’s just Sports trending or there’s definitely some algorith tricker maybe it’s and and and you got me Elon because I’m talking about it so congratulations but that’s absolute nonsense um I I agree I think that I I I

Know the Lions defense just had a good game against Denver and I was impressed by the pass rush in that game we talked about it on Tuesday but like this is you know the this wide receiver group this offense in general the wide receiver tight end and then Chandler as

A pass caching weapons uh I don’t think I think that they that the the Vikings can find matchups to take advantage of lions defense 30th versus wide receiver twos y Jordan Addison 26 versus passes to running backs Ty Chandler question of course is just whether Nick Mullins can deliver the

Ball you saw he can he’s just inconsistent right but he’s not he’s not like incapable uh he like he made some pretty nice throws in that game actually um and then you know one of the most hilarious interceptions of all time but yeah I I think that there is an onus on

Goff and this offense to not only prove themselves for the playoffs but I think in this particular game um they cannot count on their defense I’ll just put it that way for sure especially having Justin Jefferson back in the mix from Minnesota I think that that’s spoken a

Lot to what they’ve been able to do in terms of having an effective rushing game the last couple of weeks you know I think two of like their top seven EPA and success rate games on the ground have happened in the last two weeks and we’re talking about playing on your

Third with your third quarterback so when teams don’t have to respect the pass at all or should not I think that they still have just enough receiving talent to where a defense cannot just go full board cover zero cover one and load up the box otherwise and I think that

They’ve done a pretty good job of finding those sneaky yards finding an explosive run here or there to be able to keep their quarterbacks comfortable now obviously in this game I do think if Jared G is able to score especially early they should be able to play pretty

Comfortably because there’s just I don’t think there’s any way that you can ask a back you know backup quarterbacks to just go blow for blow against an offense that can be as explosive as Detroit’s is when everything’s clicking between a run and a pass game um but that’s going to

Be a really fascinating thing for me is whether or not Kevin oconnell can find another way to kind of pull a game into the muck and run the ball 28 29 30 times um you know at four yards a carry and just try to keep the ball out of his

Quarterback’s hands as much as possible going Lions here um but I’d like I’d like I I I like what you said about the referendum game I want I want to see I want to see Jared gof in this offense um move the ball really well in this defense all right

Come back more backups and then we’ll get to Raven Steiners tickets to the game merch meals at iconic restaurants stays at Caesar’s Palace all this can be yours when you bet with Caesar’s Sportsbook win or lose every bet earns reward credits which you can redeem across the Empire now if you haven’t

Started yet register using Code Omaha full and then place your first bet up to $1,250 if you win great keep those winnings but if you lose you’ll get your stake back as a bonus bet okay so Bengal Steelers was on the table meaningful game backups but that

Is not the game uh I said to you to talk about next it is Browns Texans uh and this is again this is going to be backups because it looks like we are getting another Case Keenum game instead of CJ stad I am very sad about that I really wanted to see CJ

Strout against this defense I thought that would be really interesting um especially given all of the man coverage they play which uh he has been lights out against zone less so against man uh I don’t Texas offense against this Browns defense man like no CJ I think

Nico Collins might be back yeah it’s a tough ask uh tough ask for any quarterback a very tough ask for I mean this is you’re you are taking a backup quarterback in an offense that’s really not the most talented against yes one of the best performing defenses

Statistically that we’ve had like in the last two decades and one of the best pass rushers that we’ve ever seen period in this you know or at least in this Millennium so it’s a T task it it’s a tall task it’s a lot to ask of guys you

Know when CJ strout is playing I think that he he’s done such a good job at finding answers in this passing game for receivers that aren’t the most talented you know the ability to push the ball down the field to be able to find your guys in spots where they’re comfortable

That speaks both to stoud and to slowick you’re just not going to get that out of casum you’re not going to get that in general against his defense and certainly not against his defense on your backup quarterback and we’re also talking about an offense that’s like been bottom eight bottom five in Run

Game all year long so and here we are again with an offense and a backup quarterback but they can’t run the ball it looks a little better with single ter uh than it did with Pierce this year with the outside Zone scheme that they run but uh and I think like again this

Against this Browns defense in particular there are there is some vulnerability to the run right but not against this team if it was like a really good running team I’d be like ah you know I could make a case for it um yeah I don’t be tough don’t see Gonna Be Tough

Sing um now they are playing a backup quarterback themselves of course in Joe Flaco uh but I like of all when we talk about all these backup quarterbacks across the league right now potential playoff teams Flaco in this offense is the one that I maybe enjoy watching I mean

Jake Brown he’s playing really well but I enjoy watching him and I also think coupled with this defense you could actually like they could actually make some noise in the postseason um which is amazing Deontay and this is what really jumped out to me this last week uh given the fact that

The offensive line which we’ve long thought of as being of course a strength in Cleveland is in tatters I mean they they are on backups on backups on backups you put a 38-year old quarterback behind them and yet um they’re making work despite that and I think that’s a testament to flacko who’s

Looked really good throwing on the move is hit he’s hit on some uh very impressive passes some of the the pass to Amari my God was like one of the best passes of the entire season of the year I think it’s also a testament though to

To Kevin stansky because um not only has he called a good offense around the offensive line but he has made adjustments to week to week uh one thing that I wanted to highlight um that’s struck me against the Bears so in week 14 I think I mentioned it on this show

Or maybe on NL live uh the Browns I think it was against Jacksonville play action game was Sensational eight for 12 133 yards two touchdowns play action a week 14 that was almost entirely from under Center this week again play action game very effective but a lot of their

Big plays flacko was hitting from the gun where he went seven for seven with a 95 qbr are on play action so you’re seeing the offense kind of evolve week to week some of that has to do with the Run game the competition the Personnel but like that’s good coaching and I

Think Kevin stefansky deserves a ton of credit for what we’re seeing from this offense for sure and I wanted to look something up as you’re were talking about it because there’s something you can see on the film you know watching from broadcast as Joe Flaco creating

Outside the pocket so I wanted to look at just the EPA numbers his he has 22 snaps where he’s made where he’s outside the pocket and his EPA for dropb back on those is 73 that’s ridiculous a lot of that has helped a lot of that has helped

Obviously you know by the big touchdown throws that he’s made out of structure um but it it does speak to I think how well he’s been able to solve the issues that they have with this offensive line stylistically it’s just very funny to see an old quarterback like it looks

Like um you know the end of like Jay Cutler’s career where the knee was bothering him he couldn’t really move you can see him kind of trying to wiggle and then he doesn’t have enough you know lower body strength so he’s just like heaving the ball like all upper body and

It’s still just these dots go going right to guy’s chest um so it’s been fun to watch Joe flacko and I think that you know you made the point they’re doing just enough with this passing game um to be able to stay ahead of the sticks to

Be able to put points on the board and I is it is a big credit to Kevin stefansky because that’s been a big question right like coming into this year when DeShaun Watson was a starting quarterback you heard a lot about kind of like not necessarily tension but this almost

Philosophical struggle between what Kevin stefansky believed in in the passing game and what deshun Watson was most comfortable with right and there was a lot of struggle early in the year and still trying to sort that out um between you know the guy that they paid

All this money to to be their starter and the head coach so to be able to evolve on backup quarterbacks speaks really well to I think him understanding what this offense needs on a week-by-week basis and you alluded to this know it’s not all Flo The Playmakers in this

Offense who I’ve always I mean I I feel like I’ve been pounding the Amari Cooper like still in the prime of his career thing for a while now Flaco and nooku joku kind of got kind of got something going uh I I mean the the both

Some of I mean some of a lot of those big play action passes have been to him and he’s broken a ton of tackles but also like on those plays you’re talking about where Flaco’s like extended a little bit sometimes by Design sometimes evading pressure uh and joku found him

And the touchdown being the most uh I think dramatic example of both guys making a really good play together but like that’s he’s a load and he’s playing some of his best football right now so I I I continue to say I would not want to play this Browns team in the postseason

I think if stoud was playing in this game it would I I’m not sure I would pick Cleveland but against a backup I’m gonna take the 38y old back actually might be 38 too um even though I like I mean I think that you know the the Texas pass rush is

Very good grard went crazy um they still are down some guys they still have some injuries on that side of the ball um I think the injuries of the linebacker position could be an issue against this Browns team given everything we talked about with the play action

Stuff so I you know they the the brown the Texans front oh Will Anderson Jr is also hurt by the way yeah still perfectly capable of of winning a lot of matchups against a bears or proba me a browns offensive line that just made Montes sweat look like Lawrence Taylor

Yeah but um yeah I’m I’m rolling with Flo I am too I I think that this is where a team that’s ahead of schedule in the Texans um runs up against a team that’s been building itself to contend and you could start to see that difference as you know injuries and

Attrition take hold I I do think that the Browns probably win comfortably because his defense is has such an advantage in terms of talent um over the Texans offense but I don’t I’m not going to come out of this game if that happens looking at Houston any differently it’s

Still been a great year um they’d be in a different position if their quarterback were still healthy um and I’m happy with what I’ve seen from Dem o Ry and the rest of the staff uh but to your point I think Cleveland’s got just enough defense to where even if you’re

Kansas City or Buffalo you got to be looking at them like let’s make sure that we don’t ever have to see this team because they’ve got enough to turn us over a few times get a two-score lead and sit on the ball and beat us that way yeah I because of the

Defense shoot I mean because I don’t think anyone would put them in that top upper echelon of the AFC but I feel like they might have the most upset potential we’ll see how things shake out for the postseason um okay speaking of upset potential let’s get to the main

Event Ravens ners Niners are favored by four and a half last I saw Um let’s start here let’s start with the Ravens offense against the Niners defense because trying to find ways to beat this Niners offense is like if you and I had good answers for that I think we would both be working for pa um yes but however I do think this Ravens offense

Can move the ballan Francisco as San Francisco defense that just got ran all over by the Arizona Cardinals and has been getting run over a lot this season um they’re 18th in dvoa but you know I I I think there’s certain ways to break out how they’ve

Defended the run that are pretty ugly yeah uh very they’ve struggled particularly on runs inside between the tackles now in this last game they were down both hardgrave and Armstead didn’t play but even when they play man it’s not just that but however we’ll see what

That’s been the story on them all year you know it’s improved I think from that that early season slide where everybody was asking whether or not Phil snow had the ju not Phil snow excuse me Steve wols had the juice um but still if you’re going to beat this defense if

You’re going to put stress on this defense in the Run game it’s still up the spine the linebackers kind of Miss tackles now which is so weird is it are you like I’m sure you’re being a defensive-minded guy a Fred Warner Enthusiast is it like I pretend I do not

See it for you when you see 100 absolutely absolutely he he Dre green law those guys they can do no wrong in my eyes well this is the linebacker Bowl this is arguably the competition to see who the best linebacker do was in the

NFL um stat uh my guy Henry buggy I so I’m doing a a video on YouTube which you guys check out we’re on YouTube here but I’m gonna do a YouTube video on everything Baltimore needs to do to beat San Francisco and I my uh friend Henry

Buggy who’s a researcher ESPN uh we were going back and forth with some stats about the Niners run defense which uh another thing by the way really struggles against offenses that run the ball using motion which is something that Baltimore does yeah uh and they can

Get displaced frankly and uh one he sent me that was like damn so uh yards after contact per carry running backs so not even quarterbacks Baltimore is first in the NFL Gus bus right yeah um 2.34 yards after contact nice San Francisco’s last dude last okay so that that can be something

I mean and you mentioned the tackling issues you mentioned the tackling issues they definitely have not been it hasn’t been the same kind of just like Reckless Banshee AB you know Reckless abandonment that we saw with um demo Ryan at the helm defensively um that that’s been

Something that’s stuck out to me I do think if you’re Baltimore this is this is going to be a game where you really wish that ke MIT Mitchell was available as a guy that can create explosive plays you know as a speed guy somebody you can get out on the perimeter and really

Force them to honor you in every direction in the Run game but what I do think and this is something I think we saw little pieces of in the second half of the Jags game is there’s going to be more on Lamar’s legs and for as much as

I want to make sure yeah that this dude gets to the playoffs as healthy as possible with as least mileage this is the game I want to see you know the same Lamar I saw um on that Sunday night game a couple years ago against the Chiefs

Where it was like all right six carries you know five or six carries you’ve got to go get us down the field when we get in the red zone legs have to be our number one threat I’m fascinated to see whether or not Todd monin in this

Matchup finally kind of you know dusts off that part of the Playbook and says that Lamar you got to do it with your legs to open everything else up hasn’t it been fascinating watching Lamar run this year yes Dan and I were talking about this

It’s so it’s how would you describe I on my podcast last week I talked about it I described it as spidey sense yes that well it’s it’s weird because I don’t want to say that he’s slower he’s you can’t can’t possibly be as fast now this

Many years into the league as you were when you were fresh legged but I think it’s like it’s a pacing thing and this was something that Cam Newton I don’t think ever really figured out as a guy that was really dangerous with his legs um this is something that I think Jaylen

Herz has struggled with obviously being hurt is a piece of it but this is something that I think makes his running his Run game look a little tricky at times I think Lamar has really mastered how to run in between the numbers in a way where he can gain yards and make

Guys miss and never really expose himself to any hard contact it’s the most like uncanny thing I don’t even know how to describe it because I don’t think that it’s a quality that you can seek in a player it’s really just one of those things like he knows how not to

Get him how to not get his head blown off when he’s in the middle of the field running the ball um but yeah he definitely has that kind of spidey sense of knowing where everybody is around him it it also feels like he is not I think this is where it’s

Different because he’s always had that but what feels different this year is it’s almost like how LeBron conserves himself you know like uh as he AG like he goes he be like you can actually see LeBron be like I’m gonna give 77% tonight and you know I feel like that

Sometimes watching Lamar like I watch him and I and I’m like he could get 15 yards here but he only needs 11 and he’s going to go down in a way you know is going to go out of bounds I think so I’m curious to see in these meaningful games

And then certainly in the postseason if he’s if like another level is unlocked especially given the fact by the way that defenses now have to actually honor the entire field when they play the Ravens so there it’s felt like there’s been opportunities in the Run game versus light boxes and out of their

Primarily like an 11 team now um it’s felt like okay like Lamar could probably do even more in the Run game and it’ll be interesting to see to your point if this game uh he takes that approach from San Francisco’s perspective on defense I think like they’re aware you know like

They they haven’t the run defense hasn’t been up to the usual standard I do wonder if they do commit extra resources to stopping the run in this one um you know if if the Ravens can punish them through the air like I’m thinking quick throws outside the numbers to flowers

Get him the ball in space like I don’t think I think the Raven the Niners will struggle to tackle him when he has the ball in space obj to an extent as well so it’s this is a challenging offense for any team to play right now but I

Think for a Niners defense that’s still very good very good pass defense spine still amazing there are some certain weaknesses that Baltimore can push on I agree and this is something I I pointed out when I was speaking with um Kevin Clark last week um on his podcast and we

Were talking about um top monin um and how he’s called the offense and just how Lamar has looked in his offense and one of the things I noted and you’ll see it in all 22 is like there are vertical throws that they still haven’t really taken yeah and they get like four or

Five snaps a game you’re like oh Rashad bitman had a step on a guy they just didn’t take the shot Z flowers had a stride on this guy on this over route and Lamar just was moving in a different was in a different part of the progression this is the kind of Defense

Because you know you’re going to get Zone coverage because you know that they’re going to try to rush with four where if you get some time I want to see whether or not they try to take some chances especially if you’re getting those you know guaranteed one-on ones out on the

Perimeter and even if it’s not that this is they do have the receiving core now where you can throw a hitch and like you said a z flowers can go make a guy Miss yeah and turn a six-yard reception into a 15 yard gain um so that’s going to be

A fascinating thing for me um and I think that if anything goes wrong this will probably be the first real game of the year where we look up and say having a Mark Andrews to occupy Dre green law and Fred Warner that might be an issue um because they won’t there’s not as

Much in the middle of the field in terms of big body matchup problems that San Francisco has to respect and that’s acknowledging the fact that Isaiah likeley has been much better in the last few weeks and I’ve really like the role that they found for him I’m just I’m

Really interested to see whether or not Baltimore can push the ball down the field because I do think that this defense in general even at their best they can be had deep down the field it’s just a matter of getting enough time to test them it’s It’s tricky because they

Can be had and you see those opportunities on tape with Baltimore but do you risk the high variance throws right knowing one that you can run the ball on them you you’re capable of it as we’ve been talking about and two you got to keep this offense off the field man

Because if you fall behind good night yeah and that’s why I don’t know it’s a tricky balance because I do you know and and I think Lamar has been a little bit Hit or Miss throwing deep this season by the way another thing I’ll be curious to see is in the

Past game you mentioned Steve wils if they send a little bit more heat than usual this is not a defense that blitzes very much but Mars still been a little bit up and down against the blitz this season um so I think they’re this is the

Kind of game where you know with demo Ryan you always felt like he had the just such a good sense of when to send pressure and I think um they haven’t really had that wils to the same extent so I think this will be an interesting

One um you can’t fall behind you can’t fall behind unfortunately you’re playing an offense that’s not only the best in the NFL but is on a historic Pace yeah the numbers are bananas scary it’s really scary uh let me this is also from buggy let me S

These s read these to you it’s just it’s just comical stuff uh here are some of the rankings for the uh San Francisco offense this year they are first in EPA per play where did I put it hold on sorry I W to make sure I give this credit for what it

Is okay San Francisco 49ers offense in 2023 on the entire season arguably been better the last few weeks I’ll get to that okay first in points per game first in yards per play first in qbr first in Red Zone first in EPA rep play first in points per Drive first in touchdowns per

Drive so in the first eight weeks or so certainly during the losing streak when they didn’t have Deo and Trent Williams uh there were areas where Brock pry was not one of the best quarterbacks in football third down notably and you probably I people listen this podcast

Remember me saying this I think right when I came back from leave I was like if you get this dude into third down this is a different offense when you know that not everything’s on the table that’s changed yeah uh he’s been amazing and third down since

Then uh obvious there aren’t in that many third Longs obviously it’s I’ve talked about a lot mathematically there are no good answers against this defense because of everything they can do at the same time out of the same looks with the same players right they have not just one but multiple guys who

Are incredible both in the Run blocking or carrying the ball in case of Chris mcaffrey and pass game they have multiple guys who can beat you in man coverage but if you play zone coverage compromised Deontay and yeah so so that said this is a very good Ravens defense yes it’s a

Ravens defense that has very good linebackers which is incredibly important against this team it’s a Ravens defense that um uses a lot of Disguise which is one of the few things Brock birdie has not been excellent again this year against this year do you feel like they have a chance they do

Have a chance the issue is and we were talking about it looking at the other side of the ball or something I thought about as we were talking about the other side of the ball the problem with San Francisco and this is proof that they’re

The best team in the NFL right now is no matter what you’re playing the game on their terms if you’re going to beat them you still have to beat them on their terms it’s it’s near impossible to force this offense on its own to be off schedule and even when they’re off

Schedule they have such good answers and then you talk think about the fact that they have an Elite pass rusher you do have a very good linebacker or a pair of good linebackers in coverage um that’s that’s really the difficulty but focusing on this offense um the one of

The things I think about and Dominique Foxworth on your show talks about this often is all the things that they can do stylistically that make it difficult um you know I I’ve mentioned to friends of mine like you watch Christian mcaffry come out the back field and I’m like

This is Shawn Payton’s offense with like all the weak side options with chra and George KD running all the Slants on the other side and that’s one phase of this thing and then you still have all of the things that are true to Kyle Shanahan in

Terms of 12 and 21 personnel and forcing you into these regulated looks or you’re playing these base defenses and they can just throw the ball into these voids or there’s nothing you can do about it they can Mash you downhill running and perimeter running um and then you still

Have a dbo Samuel who you can get manufactured touches to you can take your deep shots to a Brandon iuk so there’s just so many layers there where they can attack you and so many different styles of football that they can play that said if there was a

Defense that is built with winning in different ways in mind I would say it’s baltimores so my big yeah oh sorry go ahead no no my big question really is gonna start with where do you place Kyle Hamilton because that’s going to tell me a lot about what Mike McDonald’s

Priorities are in stopping this off is it going to be you know on the weak side of the formation where you know Christian mcaffrey is more likely to be working those one-on ones that’s good that tells me then that you’re really comfortable with um KD against rocan Smith and Patrick queen as your

Linebackers you know if he’s playing more in the nickel role okay what does that mean for the rest of your defense how are you building everything else out around it because he’s usually a Blitzer in his Zone Defender when he plays as a nickel Defender so I’m interested to see

How much versus ility we get out of Kyle Hamilton and I think that that’s going to be kind of revelatory as to what the Ravens think the best Avenue to stopping this offense is because there’s no way to take everything that they do away well it it it it starts with Christian

Mcaffrey right because I feel that he is the straw that stir the drink on this offense as a reason why it became a death star after the trade look PR’s been great but this started before pry when even when when and they they Haven even figured out how to use mcaffrey or

Optimize him yet but the second he entered this team I mean the numbers in the I think the four games he played with Jimmy Garoppolo are insane and they played a really good Saints defense you know like they he was just what you know everything we’ve been talking about in

Terms of um how they can run so many different things on offense and then the Run pass stuff and the way they can get matchups it’s all oriented around the fact that they have a football player who’s like the queen on the chess board right um who’s an unbelievable running

Back which I think sometimes I was talking to Nate a little bit Nate our friend about this I feel like that can get lost a little bit because we’re like what a weapon talk about that the least that’s the least talked about thing with I was I was thinking about this watching

Him the last time they played Seattle I was like he is so good at setting up Defenders yes he runs between he’s strong the way he runs between the T like he is an amazing running back he does everything he’s not yeah he’s not just like a SC or like a pass catching

Guy who’s like pretty good no he is like the best at everything right now and he runs incredible routes danowski did a great tape on the um the play where he fell down because he got so open but um just talking about like all the the route the

Intricacies of Route running that you just don’t see in running backs so when you have a guy like that and your kle Shan and your best play color football it’s so I think to your question yeah can Kyle kilton defend him I’ve been wondering that myself because

Is it fair to put that on one guy like that even that feels but no one does and that’s why everyone else is so God open you want to know why everyone’s open in this offense it’s because every defense is worried about Christian mcaffrey and even if it doesn’t look like they’re

They got more than one guy on him watch his gravity on tape it’s crazy it’s insane for a running back um I think what I’m curious about you know you you you started this by talking about how the Niners offense dictates to everyone the Ravens defense is unique and that

They’re usually doing the dictating everything they do especially with their simulated pressures um can you do that against San Francisco is that too risky uh because of the time that you lose what do you and does it make you vulnerable to the run like what do you

Think I think that I think there’s a space where you can do it the issue is you don’t want to be caught on that third and six where jaavi and Clowney is dropping out into the flat and that’s where Christian mcaffry is going and you run the risk of doing that if you’re

Playing the simulated pressure game um but and on the other hand for as much as I’ve lik like mat who’s obviously having one of the best years as um an interior lineman in terms of you know rushing the passer well I’ve like what they’ve gotten out of Clowny I I do like what

They have in their front four this is also not a front four that was built um with the identity of we’re GNA line up and we’re just going to run by you and we’re going to drop seven the same seven every play and you’re just gonna have to

Deal with it that’s not this m that’s not the makeup of this depth chart either and that gets back to this is what San Francisco does to dictate things to you because some of the best stuff that Baltimore does it’s probably not the best idea or you just run the

Risk of exposing yourself in ways that are uncomfortable against an offense like this your linebackers are really good yeah outside of the guys in on your own San Francisco probably the best linebacker Duo suited to cover all of the weapons we’ve been talking about and also stop the run occasionally bring pressure I

Think it’s it’s really going to be very this is the challenge for Mike McDonald how do you um balance your desire to put them to keep them on tilt with everything you do up front with not wanting to expose guys yeah uh with with the yeah it it’s

It’s a real chess match the thing and we talked about this maybe like right around like the halfway point in the year um I know we were talking back and forth about simulated pressures um and and one of the things that I one of the things I like about Mike McDonald

Simulator pressures is that they’re not he’s not running them for the sake of running them right like one of the things that he’s really good at or has a Keen Eye for is how to set up these pressures in a way where the back has to

Stay in to protect right because now if you’re dropping an end out while it’s probably not the best idea on paper you’ve got a numers Advantage because the back’s not getting out of the back field the thing that the ners do especially with like that little Shuffle

Motion that they use with Christian m Caffrey is effectively every passing play if they want it to be can be empty because of the full route Tre that you get with Christian mcaffry out of the backfield that’s something that not every team has available to them and

What that means is is that you’re simulated pressures and manipulating protection and forcing the back to stay in to account for blitzing linebackers a lot of that goes out the window because Kyle Shanahan’s getting Christian mcaffry out on the route no matter what you do um so that that’s something I

Think like those game Within game types of things like knowing how committed Kyle is to getting all five guys out in the route and knowing the threats that auk and Samuel and mcaffrey and KD are and it’s ridiculous that I’m naming four guys who in their own right can be all

Pros at what they do um that’s that to me is the thing I’m going to be looking most at is what do you do to mitigate that do we see more allout pressure to see if that changes the way that um Kyle calls plays like I know Philadelphia

Tried that when they couldn’t stop mcaffrey and then they got hit with screens right and that that’s howo Samuel got loose so I’m interested to see if that’s a potential answer that that it is a potential answer because Baltimore can do something that uh Philadelphia cannot do which is tackle

So uh they’re very good tackling team which does I know if you’re a Ravens fan you’re listening to this you’re like oh my God he’s talking about the shuffle motion Shuffle motion is that thing where if you’re listening to this you haven’t if you’re not aware it’s like

Mcaffrey doeses he doesn’t go out he goes what how would you say it’s like five yards maybe or something he shuffel to the side and it’s like the most menacing thing you’ve ever seen in your life somebody moving laterally is he yeah like kind of like shuffles to the

Side and it’s like oh my God what is going about to happen I I hate this I hate this so much um yeah it uh I think the there there’s a lot of vulnerabilities and there are um a lot of things that Shanahan can do to combat the simulated pressures and

Whatnot but a lot of those things you know um Baltimore can combat too with their ability to tackle in space right and that’s part of the reason why their pressures are so effective for them you know and um I mean I think I’m pretty sure they’re in terms of yards after

Contact the best team in football this year um they do a lot of crazy Step Up Front they play zone and then they tackle and those are that’s what you have to do against this Niners team it’s it’s now will it work work I don’t know because it’s the monstar uh but before

You make your pick I have a question for you I think we all know or feel pretty solidified with San Francisco’s place in the NFL hierarchy for Baltimore they’re obviously kind of caught up in the mix of these AFC teams Buffalo obviously being as hot as they are everybody know

The known commodity that Kansas City is if Baltimore wins this game where does that place them for you assuming it’s like a one possession win right a blowout obviously where talking about them differently but if they just get like a one possession win over a team like the ners is there distance between

Them and the rest of the yeah 100% dude because the ners there’s a distance the ners are so clearly the best team in the NFL right now if you take out the king yeah especially because this Ravens team like especially offensively it’s still coming together like you it’s like we

Were talking about like it it it took about half the season I think still an ongoing process you I still feel like some of the run past they’re kind of figuring stuff out yeah not having Mark Andrews definitely I think put the momentum but um yeah if they

Beat San Francisco they’re already my favorites in the AFC even with you know what the bills are doing and the Chiefs being the Chiefs just because of the balance um yeah so that this would be huge uh I’m not picking them I am picking the ners uh but

I we I think we’ve made a a case at least the case for me starts with run running the ball is funny right it’s all this stuff and we’re like run ball and Tackle that’s it football tell you you stick around football long enough you everybody turns

Into the crotchety old man yelling at the TV because the guys aren’t running the ball well enough or tackling well enough I will say personally and I kind of hope as a friend of yours I kind of hope that this lands in your lap and you get made made responsible for this take

Because it’s on your podcast I kind of need Baltimore to win this game so that way I don’t have to talk about Brock birie being the MVP Christian mcaffrey MVPs join the movement also yes yes these are those are the two real MVP candidates in this in this game I it’s

It’s it’s so I was all I was Dak Tyreek and CMC were my top three Dak I think has lost uh he has fallen fairly uh Chris mcaffrey you have have the Tom Brady cosign and George KD cosign so if some ners hand gets mad at you you can be

Like you can you don’t know ball them to the end of the Earth because you have yes eminent balln knowers all right um I hope Ravens win just because it it’ll make things more interesting because agreed that’s not Niners fans that’s not hay but like you look so freaking

Dominant right now we I’d like to see some interest know I want to see an AFC team separate themselves that that’s kind of why I’m pulling for ball the way I I said I I believe the Ravens are the best team but I feel like it’s the ners

By like a lot and then the AFC I I think the Chiefs Bills Dolphins and Ravens are really like I think any of them could beat each other which is fun for the playoffs and I think any of them can compete with San Francisco beat them right now different proposition all

Right uh as always my guest is going to help me pick games uh not going so well I need to pick some upsets to catch up with my mom who’s dominating our leite she picked the Panthers last week she’s on a tear baller she is true baller um

Okay so are you ready it’s just straight up all right let uh all right so we picked some of them but uh the Saints head to LA to play The Seven and Seven Rams who are favored by four um this is Thursday Night Football it’s

A good game I’m going with the Rams I think the Rams have a top five offense right now that is why I am picking the Rams same they as long as Matt Safford is the one taking Snaps I’m picking the Rams in a matchup like this that’s the

Difference in this game I am glad obviously this would be bad for the Seahawks who I root for but I am glad that America will finally watch Matt watch him put up like a real stinker like a Matt classic Matt Stafford like you know three interception classic

Thing but like he’s been so good this year so I’m pleased that he is getting a national platform uh we’ll see how it goes maybe maybe it’ll it won’t go well but he has been amazing this year yeah uh this is so I alluded to like possibly talking about this

But the Bengals go to Pittsburgh um bason Rudolph is the quarterback for the Steelers Jake Browning who has been playing very good the Bangals are favored by two I’m gonna take uh the Bengals because of the quarterback play also because the Vibes in Pittsburgh I was gonna say Terri this

Is 100% of Vibes play for me I’m taking the Bengals almost side unseen because I can’t get through a week without there being a press conference where guys are sniping at each other in Pittsburgh uh George Pickins saying he didn’t want to get injured blocking yeah not the best look my

Friend I like you but you’re still on your rookie deal buddy I don’t think you get to make those kind of decisions don’t say it out loud also why are you say this out loud um okay uh bills are favored by 12 against the Chargers obviously the bills we don’t talk about

That uh the Seahawks must win game at Tennessee against the Titans tanah Hill I don’t know if that’s better or worse I think I think it’s better because he looked bad at the beginning of the year and this offensive line is awful um I’m worried about this game because

The Titans at home drag teams into the mud yes uh they still have very good front I’m gonna take Seattle status uh I think Gino’s playing Gino is definitely playing okay all right well then yeah I’m I’m more comfortable with with Seattle on the road if Gino’s a starter

I don’t feel good in general like you said this is going to be an ugly game this is going to be a Derrik Henry go sit on the ball for two and a half quarters if we can um but I do think there’s just enough for Seattle and I

Like the way that their receivers have looked when I’ve watched I think huge advantage in this game we’re we’re starting to see I think the some little inklings of what it can be at its best especially having Jackson Smith and jiga as somebody who can push

The ball down the field that that was something that I did not um think I would see and we obviously saw that in the two-minute drive to end the game it’s a great group of receivers I think it’s just going to come down to whether

Or not they can stop this front but Gino gets the ball out quickly yeah um okay the Colts go to Atlanta the eight and six Colts go to Atlanta oh Colts uh the Falcons are favored by one at home oh haniki is playing I already got all my Falcons anger off of my

Chest on Tuesday this is a tough one um Falcons Falcons Vibes are bad not saying anything out in public but so bad um Arthur Smith right now is not my favorite coach in the NFL I I don’t know what’s going on with them the last few weeks and obviously the touches

Distribution was as bad as it’s been all year this past week I don’t know if you can I don’t know if you can fix what ails this offense right now because it just feels like there’s no confidence in the play calling the quarterback play has obviously not been very confident

Whether it’s been hinei or Ritter um I don’t know if that gets sorted out this week my one fear of picking the Colts is I think the Falcons can turn mshu over um right but the Colts can also yeah the defense is real over I love this defense these backup

Quarterback games are just hard to pick um I need some upset so I’ll go with the Colts TI um currently the Falcons the Texans are favored against the Browns that might be you know like the not knowing the quarterback I’m going to take the Browns that one for other reasons

Discuss uh the Packers go to Carolina they’re favored by four and a half I will take the Packers in this one even though Carolina just won good for them uh Washington can’t get any worse for Joe Barry if if this Panthers offense gets a Get Right game against Joe Barry

Man ah well they yeah I would I would it would be a Get Right game because they didn’t actually play that well last week they were okay they were a little bit better um Washington on the road against the Jets Aaron Rogers is active I’m not interfacing with that at

All I’ve gone at least C I don’t think I’ve talked I’ve said his name since coming back so I don’t know I’m not like patting myself on the back for that just I’ve gone this far folks um I’ll take the Jets that defense does enough yeah and the Washington defense good Lord

Some point I need to really do a referendum on like what’s next for some of these horrible teams uh we talked about the Lions we both picking them over the Vikings and Nick Mullins we are picking the jet the Bucks over the CJ bethard bethard Leed

Jags uh this is tricky Arizona goes to Chicago the Bears are favored by four um I’ll take this as an upset I need a few upsets Kyler playing to keep his job Arizon has been kind of Plucky like the the talent’s not there all the way

But you can see some of the bones of what they’re trying to do offensively and defensively Kyler’s obviously been solid this year I I think that this is a game that they can go and get obviously I think the the browns offensive line which we talked about earlier in the

Show helped Chicago’s defense and their pass rush quite a bit I think Kyler gets this one done and for as much as a Justin field supporter as I’ve been we don’t get enough consistently out of this offense for me to feel comfortable saying that he’ll have decent performances or string together good

Performances on a week by- week basis yeah increasingly feels like Arizona is Gonna Roll with Kyler next year instead of drafting a quarterback a lot of finan I think that’s safe well it’s not like Chicago where there’s no there’s not a monetary reason to keep Fields um in fact they would

Have to pick up fields’s option and uh they’re actually I mean they’re in an interesting position because they have Surplus Draft cap Capital anyways and quarterback and there’s they’ll probably have a chance to accumulate even more if they were to get like a second or third

For fields and they got second pick oh my gosh and you got the two picks and I mean that is a very and I and I really like uh the phase of this defensive rebuild it’s just offensive it feels like you know that they’re but you get a

Quarterback and use your other picks to continue working on the offensive line and Playmakers it suddenly becomes very attractive spot in my opinion I agree um okay so uh I think we both picked Miami over Dallas they’re only favored by one and a half at home that actually maybe

I’m just guilty of recency bias after watching Dallas get stomped on the road but that’s yeah I don’t know if one and a I wouldn’t have guessed one and a half for that I would have got a little somewhere between two and a half three and a half

I I do think it’ll be a close game I think that you know as we described I think it’ll be a close game I’m surprised to know that betters feel that way about it and let the books feel that way about it Patriots go to Denver um

I’ll take the Broncos there seven and seven improving to eight and seven staying in the playoff hunt uh the Raiders go to Kansas City um like they always weirdly no it’s uh is it Raiders who anyways whatever uh I like what I saw from the Chiefs offense yeah against New

England I think they were fine I mean the and the defense is held you know defense is held really well through the offensive struggles this might be the game this might be a game for this offense where we leave it feeling like okay I think they’re playoff ready now we just have

To stop throwing the ball to cadarius Tony we should probably stop playing cadarius Tony but if we have to play cadarius Tony we should definitely not be throwing the ball to cadarius Tony anymore I I have not I don’t even know he is like um kind of like like the

Daughter in 24 where like like why are you on this show everybody but he’s like so part of the program now they can’t write him off the show and there’s not you know I don’t that’s such a weird pool I don’t know it mean Richie and the bear before he went

To uh you know Gourmet Gourmet dining school and became like the best chef or best employee ever in 48 hours yes oh my God I could think of a character like that he’s like uh he’s like Jubilee on the X-Men yes everybody’s got all these everyone in

The Kansas City Chiefs has all these sick powers and he’s like I shoot fireworks I wear a rain coat so mean okay uh Eagles Giants um Eagles are favored by 12 this feels like a let’s get out some frustrations game please for for the psyche of the guest

On this show here please oh it’s on Christmas together even better um and then we talked about the Niners Ravens oh the Niners lines moved they’re now favored by five and a half at home yeah that’s I get it at home oh man what a slate all right

Deontay Lee thank you so much for coming on as always um what’s your Twitter handle people want to follow you Deontay Lee FB all together Deontay Lee FB you can check out his work at the athletic at the athletic also here thank you as always to the fine folks at Omaha

Christen Kiren secky Owen sailor Anthony jenez you can check this podcast out on YouTube at uh youtube.com meim we got the full episode there as well as original content been doing some stuff on Raven ners uh continuing there because it’s such a great game but otherwise I will see you on the other

Side