Cardinals Underground – Seeking A Philly Special

With Christmas behind them, Paul Calvisi, Darren Urban and Dani Sureck dig into the post-Bears loss leftovers and the New Year’s festivities to come in Philadelphia – where Jonathan Gannon last coached. The trio discuss the emotions at the start of the Chicago game, the consistent inconsistency of the offense and trying to get the wide receivers going, the inability to slow the Bears rush game or contain Justin Fields, the release of cornerback Marco Wilson and the message that might come out of it, the need at edge rusher, and what knowing the Eagles might help with for Gannon and the Cardinals.

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What do you say we start with a show of hands this goes back Darren oh wait you didn’t want that yet you come from a household run by a teacher you know know know your place that’s true okay let’s take a roll by the way Urban yeah how

About a little more you know professional here y Danny s present okay poly podcast I’m over here Danny how many uh how many on air appearances does this make for the day three in four hours okay here we go Danny s won’t you guide our sleigh tonight here we go here’s the question

Showah hands were you a were you not familiar with the rule as Arcane as it was out of the depths of the rule book Thou shalt not throw a backward pass out of bounds with less than two minutes to go and a half I was unaware unaware

Unaware yeah I feel a lot better now that makes me feel better and I’m off to a good start here there you go I’m Cardinal’s underground brought to you by Pacific office automation because when it happened in the moment okay I’m like all right are we expected to know that

Rule because we were perplexed up in the booth minus Dave Pash who is a master of the rule book okay so I already have an anxiety going so many different ways because I’m not paully Pash and then all of a sudden something like that comes out of nowhere and I’m like wait a

Minute and I really would love to know if Dave Pash would have known in the moment what was going on with that ruling you have to admit it’s a good rule explain it to me exactly Well here here’s what here’s what I would it prevents what it in that circumstance

You’re like well what would be the point of it however if you let’s say especially in the last two minutes you’re trying to score and it’s the last two minutes of a half and you’re running down the field and you realize you’re got to you you don’t have any timeouts

And you’re about to be tackled but you can lateral the ball to a teammate oh I missed them and it goes flying out of bounds and the clock stops even if you’re past the line of scrimmage you could lateral it backwards so you’re not throwing a forwards pass and and and if

That happened the the clock would stop it’s sort of the anti or the inverse of the Holy Roller yes the Raiders did back in the day right oh no time on the clock I’m about to get tackle oh I’m fumbling the ball forward just keep kicking it forward like it’s LaCrosse or something

But you know that rule and so okay now I get it now I get the Genesis it that’s that’s what I would assume be the the the reason for you know interesting well on the sideline Danny was there um an awareness of what was going on at that

Moment at the end of the first half I I don’t think I didn’t see any like true confusion I think it was I was just more trying to see what was happening on the field and seeing what what the ruling was it was confusing though they still

They still like had a huddle up as officials like we can talk about this rule all we want it didn’t seem like they knew it for sure either it’s true it’s true it it did remind me of um I won’t name the head coach but there was

A former head coach in Cardinals history where Dave Pas actually would come to the conclusion of what was going on the on on with the officials on the field much quicker than the head coach the coach would be sort like you know the uh the old Vince Lombardi commercial what

The hell’s going on out here you know the old thing well this guy had a propensity for that moment and Dave would actually come to the realization of what was happening in terms of the rules and regulations I love how you say you won’t say but then you said Dave

Pass so that only limits it to coaches since what 2002 he been around like Two Dozen Years so that I me not that involves five different head coaches I believe if you go back I think I’m not sure what I am sure of is this is not

Good podcasting to get into the depths of the rule book so what else are we going to talk about here on Cardinals underground how was the sideline Danny were there any close calls anybody barreling out of bounds did you have to go into a backpedal at any moment I did

Not thankfully good and thankfully it was dry there was no rain there was no snow um my toes did not go num which was a little surpris surprising I I mean I was wearing layers I was taking all the precautions I could in my wool socks I

Was wearing leggings under my pants my beanie my gloves my massive Joe namoth coat as general manager Monty awesome for called it when I was wearing it getting onto the plane because it didn’t fit in my suitcase so I had to wear it in 80° weather in Phoenix getting onto

The plane so thankfully I was dry I did not get run over so I guess you can call it a successful day see I wasn’t really sure if you’re going to go with that many layers cuz the night before the local weather person I saw on Chicago TV

Called it quote outrageously warm for this time of year so here’s the thing both things can be true Paul it can be outrageously warm that time of year in the windy city and I can still be cold somebody on Twitter said that like somebody somebody quote tweeted me and

Said likeo uh it’s actually not that cold in the midwest like I’m in Cleveland you don’t need that code it’s like oh I’m so sorry I didn’t realized that because you are not cold I am not allowed to be cold thank you for that she was debating before the game WEA to

Put on her leggings because and then I decided to they got smart and I’m glad I did it’s about Comfort it’s not about fashion I’m trying to learn that the good news is if you would have been barreled into it sounds like you had plenty of pading you had as much much

Padding on as the players themselves so that’s good okay all right uh what about uh you know what about that game did you sense and let’s just let’s get the assessment from the sideline reporter here was there or was there not a lack of energy in getting down 21 nothing what

Was the pulse of the sideline it did it did feel like there wasn’t the energy that we are used to seeing from this team now you could see that in some senses I feel like really in the defensive line that was the position where you could most feel the emotion at least most

Consistently of the frustration and getting run over which they were giving up a season High 250 rushing yards there were some I mean when the first play of the game rips the Cardinals front seven for 13 yards out of the gate that was one of those rutro moments right off the

Bat and the only other position group really was the offensive lineman just kind of I think it was more so working through some things and you could kind of see some passion there but a sideline as a whole it didn’t really feel like there was a ton of energy coming off of

That it was down it was either 14 nothing or 21 nothing when the cameras caught Buddha Baker and John and ladb are working the sideline pretty fiercely being pretty vocal and and letting guys know uh that’s not the standard we need more and then they dialed it in from

There and they did fight back and and make it a one- score game but you know some of the same issues cropped up that you’ve seen in past games I don’t know what where do you want to start on that front huh well I mean offensively I I think we know the

Shortcomings of this defense right right now and and the Bears aren’t a great offensive team um they were able to run the ball clearly but it’s not like they I mean they scored points they didn’t score a ton of points um but just offensively it just it just there’s

Nothing there right now with the wide receivers uh they bracketed treay McBride enough I thought James Conor got off to a great start running the ball and then they started making sure that that wasn’t going to be an issue anymore and then he kind of came alive as a

Receiver James Conor I thought had a great game uh in Rel ly limited touches given everything but and I know I asked this question of Drew petzing I don’t know about you guys or how you felt about it this was just my my feel in real time because Drew petzing said

There wasn’t anything special that was done but like I felt like Kyler was in the pocket a lot now again I don’t know if that was because the Bears were making sure he was going to get outside and and break up the play or if he was

Intentionally trying to make sure he was staying there but man it it seem like he was in the pocket a lot and unfortunately that didn’t play out to very many very much success this is not an offense that is built to play from behind Paul but they they don’t have the

Personnel they don’t have the star power so when you’re down 21 nothing like it or not you have to abandon the Run game to a certain extent plus you were already going up against the new number one run defense in Chicago anyway when you’re having to rely on the pass game a

Little more and you don’t have that production from your wide receivers that’s going to be difficult Trey McBride only having 31 receiving yards feels so low just because he’s been so explosive for the last couple of weeks he just is coming off his second 100 plus receiving yard game the fact that

Your leading receiver was James Connor and you were getting Amari D Marcado in there you had four receptions by your receivers and it’s just it’s not good enough and when again you’re playing from behind by 21 points and your wide receivers are not producing anything I can understand somebody like rookie

Michael Wilson is still being productive in the blocking game but that’s two straight games he has not had a single catch and that’s just not good enough when you don’t have Hollywood Brown out there and it’s not from a lack of targets right I mean Michael Wilson what

Do you get seven Targets in the game somewhere close and so yeah I mean here’s the thing you’re right they’re not built to come back they are not built for the big play right now especially Hollywood without Hollywood Brown you don’t have that big play threat The Proven big play threat that’s

Going to get you a three or Fourplay Drive even James Conor with that 16 yd catch and run for the Cardinals first touchdown that still Captain eight play Drive even Greg dorge actually nine-play drive and then Greg dorch the 38- yard pass and run which was phenomenal that’s

Still Captain eight-play 80 yard drive so you just don’t have that big strike ability especially when you’re down but to your question Drew petsy did say the Bears did quote a good job of keeping Kyler in the pocket and it’s one of those games you’re like okay did this

Game come down to which defense did a better job of keeping the opposing quarterback in the pocket it certainly seemed that was a very key factor because Justin Fields ran for nearly 100 yards yeah and had a 39 yard run where he ripped the Cardinal defense and that

Was problematic from the start Justin Fields the ability to extend a play and that’s the first thing Jonathan Ganon told us postgame radio yeah and he he brought it up in the in the postgame press conference too the extending of the plays and and you can’t have it but

Except the issue though is you knew he was going to extend play that’s that’s his G that’s what his game is based on that just tells me you don’t have the Personnel losing Jonathan Leed better mid game with a now season ending knee injury hurts your defensive line was

Intended at the the start of the season to have a rotation and now you’ve got LJ carlier LJ klier Carlos Watkins Jonathan Leb Ley fotu who have all missed games that hurts when you’re trying to have a rotation it wasn’t just the dline though on that 39 yard scramble Fields also had

A 33 yard scramble how many Cardinals Defenders was he shaking off the tackling I know Fields is is a big player but the tackling from the defense as a whole it’s one thing to have the game plan and know what to expect from fields and it’s another to not be able

To Capital not capitalize but to execute the game plan and that’s the one one of the things you point to down the stretch of a non-playoff season is the want to and of tackling and defense is a lot of just willingness where is it once again

They they corrected a lot of it but where’s it stand and going into Philadelphia because guess what you’re going to get a lot of the same challenges except a better offensive line better weapons at running back more explosive weapons to be sure at receiver than the Bears gave you especially after

DJ Moore heard his ankle on the second snap of the game he was never the same the rest of the way and wasn’t even a factor and Cole KT had four catches for 107 yards and in the first half and was tearing him up and then he got hurt and

He left the game so I’m hoping that’s remedied by the return of Garrett Williams if indeed Garrett Williams is coming coming back and he’s your nickel now Jaylen Thompson is more apt to be returned to be covering the tight end because you had to have Jaylen Thompson

Serve as your nickel Andre sasher got a lot of snaps and I don’t know who was assigned to the tight end but it wasn’t Jaylen Thompson at least not often enough wasn’t that an interesting defensive decision is you’re putting in a safety in Andre sash rather than sticking with another cornerback like

Aitro Clark who still isn’t getting snaps and or a former Cardinal Marco Wilson how about that yeah so do you put that in the same category as a uh my J Sanders Isaiah Simmons DeAndre Hopkins I mean those are all you know players that Marco being released you mean yeah yeah

I mean it they gave Marco Wilson every opportunity this year and but while we all saw it and it we all I think there’s a lot of people that thought the change with Marco Wilson playing a lot of quarterback was going to happen sooner than it did because he was struggling

The entire time he was out there and I was looking at the numbers he actually had a pretty good year last year like his his passing rating against last year was only like 77.1 which is pretty good but this year it’s like 137 and he’s given up like 15

Yards of reception and that that he gives up and that just it wasn’t going to work you he all the analytics and and and numbers say he was one of the worst in the league and you can you can overcome that I would think to at least

Get to the end of the season but Marco’s a different kind of dude we all know that and it just it didn’t seem like it fit real right and to be honest you know I the red flag got raised for me that and I can’t remember what game

It was now but when we were all going to talk to him in the locker room after he had a tough day and he wouldn’t oh it was a home game it was a home game but I can’t remember who was against might have been the Rams and uh and he he knew

Everybody was waiting to talk to him and he just kind of walked away from everybody that you know you you got to be in a different mind space than that and look this people ask me about where they’re going and building this culture and we’ve talked a lot about it but

There’s no doubt in my mind that Jonathan Ganon and Monty Austin Ford are looking for players who are deadly serious about football that’s who they’re looking for and so if there’s other stuff going on ancillary stuff if you don’t quite have the professionalism or the maturity and I’m not naming names

Here I’m just saying that’s the sort of player they’re looking for and so I think they did a real good job in identifying and drafting those players bringing those players in you just had your 11 different rookie start a game for the Arizona Cardinals which by the

Way leads the NFL and I fully continue that to happen again in this whole draft process in the off season I do think it’s interesting that Wilson hadn’t played a defensive snap in a month yep four games now partially part of the reason that he was one of your starters

He you didn’t have a lot of other options and I feel like it was was the same to a certain extent with the rookie and KR Clark now Clark has a lot of upside and I think just really needs time to develop but was a starter at the

Beginning of the year because you didn’t have the depth that you were looking for and then once the staff liked realized they liked Starling Thomas you take away those snaps from Clark not necessarily in my mind from the little We Gather that they don’t think he has a future

Here it was just maybe needs more time to develop I’m curious though when you’ve got a veteran like Wilson you’re not playing for a month and you’re only playing on special teams what were you missing what were you not improving on in practice if it you know

Was it more so off the field stuff was it on the field stuff what was not improving the fact that you weren’t playing for a month I mean for me I I don’t I don’t think it had anything to do with practice to me you got 11 starts

And you were bad and eventually I they they can say I I don’t don’t get me wrong I think practice means a lot and I think means a lot to these coaches but in the end it still matters most what you do in games and Marco Wilson was

Given this giant Runway of 11 starts and he did not perform he’s in a contract here and he was given he’s got one year left he does okay if somebody picks him up on waivers he’s under contract for next year so look he was to me it all falls under one

Umbrella with new decision makers in place if you’re the future the future is now they’re trying to figure out immediately who’s part of the future so to Darren’s point he got 11 starts uh whatever you want to assess about practice okay but ultimately you got to

Prove it in the game and you got to have the production to show for it and and he didn’t I think and I’m guessing that once they deemed that he wasn’t part of the future no more defensive snaps now they’re moving on to Starling Thomas Antonio Hamilton even though he’s the

Oldest guy on the defense if I got that number right he’s older than the defensive coordinator put it that way but I think Antonio Hamilton quietly has had a pretty dang solid year and right now is your best corner your most reliable corner I would agree with that

And it’s funny because you did mention the other guys I mean when you look at Mar Marco was really close to Isaiah Simmons who was really close to DeAndre Hopkins and they all kind of have that same personality and I I would tend to agree I don’t know if that personality

Really fits on or priorities maybe I I will say though when you’re talking about the culture Paul I do think coming off this performance it’s pretty telling that outside linebacker Dennis Gard a leader a captain told Darren Urban postgame that this still feels like winning culture that despite

Giving up 21 points in the first half to only give up six in the second to be able to stay calm execute the next play at hand and stay focused says a lot about the culture that is being set here and not freaking out on the sideline not

Getting caught up in things on the field staying zoned in on what you need to be doing for your individual role I think that says a lot coming off a 2716 loss on the road for a captain to say that well and I would agree from the

Standpoint and nobody wants to hear the moral Victory stuff but when it was 21 nothing oh yeah we’ve been around teams that that that would have ended 42 to7 I was just about to say the same thing I mean I was gripping there’s no when it

Was 21 nothing middle of the second qu because we thought it was your fault as the play-by-play guy no because where is this going well that’s true where is this is this going to be the a preseason game for you to do is this is this going

To be the 60 burger that got Brandon Staley fired right you know because in the past point in the past that’s the way a game had the potential to Trend the the fact that they had the ball down one score eight points I mean if you would have asked me that early in

The game I would like there’s no way that’s going to happen it reminded me of the ners game week four in Santa Clara you got down 213 and you’re fearing the worst against a juggernaut ners team with Josh DS a quarterback and then they fought back it’s 2116 late third quarter

So to your point Danny I I think it does illustrate the culture and at least the fight the refusal to give up pack it in which various NFL teams have done in a season where you’re at three wins again the the key becomes you you get you get

A little bit of space to show that out this is that season to show that out this is that season to say well we were down 21 nothing we could have let it get to be it could have been 49 nothing or 42 to7 and instead we had a chance to to

Come back at the end you get that this year next year you don’t get that next year the second year you don’t get to keep saying well we we fought back no you don’t get to do that this is this is your moment in time to get to that part

Of it and then starting next season you you better have some of that figured out then if you get down 21 nothing it doesn’t matter what the final score is what kind of fight you show you just screwed up and got down 21 nothing and that cost you you notice though in this

Is just me CU there’s never a bad time for a hot take or a conspiracy theory that when you’ve been at been at those pivotal points in the season someone has lost their job because the only way to truly motivate in professional sports is job security in this case it’s Marco Wilson

Are you saying partially a scapegoat not NE well no Danny we we just want people to be uncomfortable on this roster and to know that jobs are hanging in the balance and there’s a direct correlation between production and job security and if you’re not deemed part

Of the future then guess what um a good point we’ll make that decision sooner than later and if the other 52 guys on the active roster right now if they take something from that well so be it if we reinforce the message that this is a results oriented business week to week

And there’s still two games to go and thou shalt bring it instead of packing it then guess what uh we’ll reinforce that I’m pretty sure you had a Sim similar sentiment in Minnesota when the Cardinals traded Isaiah Simmons and I think you could find some correlations between the two of these which we’ve

Talked about look Marco Wilson was not playing well and again if you know he’s not part of the future if he’s just going to sit on your bench and this is the year where you’re trying to figure out what pieces do you have what pieces

Do you still need to both sides of favor release him maybe he finds somewhere else the last two games of the Season or ends up signing somewhere early in the off season but give some younger players that you maybe want to see not necessarily at cornerback right but now

You have a roster spot and you can Elevate somebody else and and get a better idea of who you have and what you still need so when it comes to the defense when you talk about some of the names and right I mean and the injuries and

The releases the trades all the above think think of how the personnel has evolved oh yeah on the defensive side of the ball over the course of this season so you’re now at Danny’s Point you’re missing your top four defensive lineman going back to day one you’re on your third difference starting Mike

Linebacker you have an undrafted rookie playing Corner along with Antonio Hamilton and Starling Thomas so yeah this you know I mean you know it’s a process when it’s 30 minutes before kickoff and we’ve seen every single practice of this team over the years we’re allowed to see and I’m literally

Writing down okay wait who’s 44 again and I’m writing down on my on my my board oh it’s 58 see I screwed it up 44 mam Tyreek Maddox Williams literally writing that down 30 minutes before kickoff because 44 is Owen Papa exact and then I’m like okay wait Kaden Davis

Is up 17 but he’s not 39 like he was in the preseason now he’s 17 these are things that have happened right before kickoff so you know I don’t know where the Cardinals are a number of players who have actually been in a game but

It’s up there so now if you’re Nick race what do you do right I mean from week to week you’re trying to you’re trying to get this a sound scheme to go against some pretty potent offenses and now you got the Eagles and Jaylen Herz I mean it’s uh it’s daunting to say

The least the Eagles uh Nick serani actually acknowledged in his postgame presser after they beat the Giants in a game closer than people thought it was going to be in Philadelphia um where the fans were chanting run the ball run theall he was saying run the ball and I’m thinking

Well you’re now about to fake statistically the worst run defense in the league in the Cardinals because of the injuries and everything that they gone through I’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles attacked this I mean the Bears were killing who we thought they

Were no I’m sorry uh that was bad the bear you can catch that on folktales thanks coach it’s a great Episode by the way I threw that out in the Big Red Rage Jamari D Marcado looked at me had no idea what I was talking about comment

Had never heard of Denny green nor the Denny green rant we’re to that point in our lives I deserved it um but the Bears were running over the the Cardinals and then for whatever reason Justin Fields tried to throw a touchdown pass and that’s the one that jayen

Thompson intercepted and I’m like why would you do that there was another three and out where they threw it twice and then uh and then and then that third time they tried like a draw play and it was three and out and you’re like okay Cardinals will take it if all of a

Sudden you’re going to shun the run and go that route because you realize that despite that despite a confus using emphasis with a two-score lead and and going with a pass game the Chicago Bears and actually helping turning into a close game in the fourth quarter which

Of course you know the locals were gripping about that considering the Bears propensity to blow double digit leads in the fourth quarter at a historic rate anyway you realize the last five games the Cardinals have given up more than 400 total yards in four of

Those five so if you add them up the last I went Craig guo and I took the last five games total yards by Cardinals opponents it’s over 2,000 it’s 44 per game and in terms of rush yards you’re giving up an average of 173 over the

Last five games it’s not an excuse I just think it’s noticeable that the way the schedule has panned out the Cardinals who are still playing meaningful football you are again showcasing what you can do why you deserve to be here why you deserve to continue to coach here that’s different

Than the meaningful football that a lot of these other teams Arizona’s playing this part of their schedule is playing for in terms of a playoff push that’s what you have from Chicago from Philly from San Francisco from Seattle so I think to a certain point when you’re

Looking at not just coaching and game plan is not what I’m saying I’m saying more when you look at the personel and the injuries you’re just at a point where this this defense is facing some really potent offenses and and you can really only do so much with who you have

Out on the field the other thing too and when you start talking about the schedule that’s that reminded me too like I I did a update on where the Cardinals two first round picks are uh and right now they’re picking two for their own pick and 16 which is where the

Texans pick is hey we’ll take it obviously those things can change but when you talk about tiebreakers and who gets the higher pick um if teams are tied the only tiebreaker that matters is opponent strength of schedule which means when you play a more difficult schedule then you have you’re going to

Have a lower pick than anybody else you you tie with and that’s what the Cardinals have faced with right now in fact I think right now if I remember the numbers correctly I believe there is no one with a higher opponent strength of schedule percentage than the Cardinals

And I think it’s like 568 right now which makes sense both the Rams and the Seahawks have been way better than people thought they they had the 49ers they play those teams six times um you know you know they they’ve played a lot of other good teams I mean they’re going

To down the stretch they they the Bears weren’t but they got the Eagles now now they then they have the Seahawks which who are probably going to be playing for a playoff spot in that last week so I mean it’s going to hurt them in terms of

If they tie anybody with draft picks but it does again not an excuse like Danny said but it does explain something when you’re talking about taking some some Haymakers here because when you put together the fact you don’t have the players and you have these really teams

That usually doesn’t end up well yeah the NFC West earlier this year was taking some heat right for falling off hello they might have three playoff teams this Division and you look at yeah a rams and a Seahawks team that’s why I was talking at length last week about to me the

Offseason initiative is this division you you got to figure out what you’re doing against Shawn mcve and what you’re going to do against coach double rainbow in Seattle he’s got him back in contention and maybe you can knock him out of the playoffs in week 18 we’ll see

That would be a joyous holiday season there’s no doubt about that and then of course the 49ers who still have the inside track on the NFC number one seed but yeah now you get an Eagles team that uh had lost three in a row beat the

Giants got a little uh you know drama on the end there but uh didn’t look that good though no not at all not at all I mean uh so and Jaylen Herz you know at his moments so we’ll see will the inside knowledge of Jonathan Ganon Nick RS and

Company serve the Cardinals well in terms do do they will you get hit by a snowball Paul do they have enough Personnel yeah Paul you might want to steer clear of Nick race and Jonathan G on the sideline I don’t know what’s going to be thrown their way in Philly

Here’s the thing do those Eagles fans well I’ll just say it the Eagles fans should have a newfound appreciation for what they had you know what I think they do but I think when they see JG and rless there they’re going to forget about that for the day and then after we

Get back to Arizona they’re going to go back to realizing what they had in Ganon do do you think the Eagles fans will be well lubricated considering it’s New Year’s Eve and they don’t have to work the next day that could be a fact is that a rhetorical question Paul could be

A factor that’s going be me in the Press Box the passion level that’s in those stand don’t look at me I’m just kidding Darren golly take a joke by the way the whole uh you know in the holidays you talk about Eagles fans somebody just did

A big article I think it was an AP writer it was December 1968 that was the infamous Bad Santa incident 68 I wasn’t even yet Paul so uh no comment over here and you revolved around how uh apparently the Eagles had started 0 and8 and then they had won a couple of games

And the fans were mad about that because all the fans wanted OJ Simpson to top the draft so there was even tank talk back in 1968 apparently so then they were mad and the Eagles I guess were you know and then all of a sudden they’re

Out there and and I guess some guy dressed some just ordinary fan dressed in a Santa suit decided to go ahead and make a spectacle out of himself and it triggered all the Eagles fans who weren’t in a festive mood and he bore the brunt of that and they said I triple

Dog Darion they let him have it and boom they haven’t been able to shake that that sort of Mark that’s you know smch on their on their reputation for a good 50 years if OJ had only been an eagle that’s right so uh there you go by the

Way do you know what OJ’s nickname was back in his plain days I should specify the juice that’s a good one he had another one among players headquarters he had the largest melon you’ve ever seen he was like a size you think Bruce Boi in his size eight and a half we’re

Talking like size nine hat size really are we saying bigger than Bruce Bruce bochi I got a I got a Bruce Boi story to tell you not on there so uh so what do you think about Ganon going because you know Ganon had his moment before the

Game with Matt eberl in Chicago and he spoke very highly of him and how he considers him one of his biggest mentors and worked three years under him as a position coach when Eber flu was a DC for the Colts but now you get Nick serani and they’re still tight

Interesting to hear Jonathan Ganon tell the media that they still talk on a regular basis and that he’s gone through serani for you know some advice here or there on how to run things as a head coach so okay they’re tight but good some of the institutional knowledge of

How the Eagles go about things and the Personnel could it be enough of an advantage competitive Advantage for the Cardinals that they could somehow make this a holiday you know Miracle of sorts and go in there with a very depleted roster and give the Eagles a game who

Have been struggling in their own right in different ways I’m going to be a Darren Downer over here and say that I don’t know that the in Insight knowledge is just going to be enough to really give the Cardinals any true Advantage just from what we’ve seen personal wise

And what the Eagles have on their roster I do believe that when Ganon says this is just the next game partially I believe that that’s how he’ll feel maybe once the whistle blows but I don’t believe that this is not any extra motivation during the week or having any

Extra juice to him which is hard to imagine that he could have any more energy than he already has I do think it’ll be interesting to see Nick race who has the Persona he puts his hoodie on he really doesn’t have any emotion when you’re on the field pregame and he

Walks past to he is locked in on just what’s directly in front of him he’s not chatting with other people don’t really see a lot of emotion so we saw a little bit of that when he talked to the media Tuesday about being back at the link and in

Front of the fans who are not very welcoming typically in Philly I think it’ll be interesting to see if we see any sort of emotion out of rless which we don’t typically see one way or the other I did enjoy following that up somebody had asked him about going back

To Phil and he said it’s just another game and then I came back to it later and kind of said okay I know it’s easy I know you believe that right now sitting here in temp on a Tuesday I I keep thinking I’ve I can think of a million

Players that have done this but the most recent example is James Connor in Pittsburgh and he sat up there early in the week and he said if this was the year after I left Pittsburgh blah blah blah and then the first thing I asked him at the postgame press conference was

After he had this huge game you said earlier in this week this game really didn’t mean that much to you and he cut me off and he’s like why you got to bring that up and I have a feeling especi if they win obviously not if they

But if they win I don’t I ganon’s too smart he’ll never gloat over any of this but you you cannot tell me that winning this game would not be extra special to him you can’t especially after what all the fans said about him after the Super

Bowl still do it’s like going back to your high school reunion right you want to make your best showing I guess I didn’t go to my high school reunion oh you did have one I was going to say are you even old enough to have a reunion I

Am I didn’t it’s but you know he doesn’t have his best roster by far right right so I mean it’s sort of like you know you go to the high school reunion and your Lamborghini in the shop you know you can’t drive it you can’t Flex tough it’s a tough deal you

Know not that I would really know I just sort of Envision and uh I I will say this much um when I I tried to redeem myself speaking to Nick RS in the press conference after last week where uh it looked like he had the hoodie on and he

Was giving me the star down oh yeah I remember that poorly phrased question it wasn’t good I owned it and I tried to come back and so I just asked him about his knowledge of the Run game by the Eagles and then he gave a very lengthy

Very detailed answer that dare I say we haven’t heard all year long so not that he didn’t have the knowledge of other teams Run games but he was willing to share it with the media this week so if you really know exactly how that Eagles offense works write down every single

Block they’re trying to execute what do you think the odds are he can devise something the X’s and O’s even with a depleted roster trying sty that and give them some headaches he knows what for example Jason Kelce wants to do what can you do as a defensive

Coordinator to make it extra difficult on the eagle Center who’s sort of the epicenter of everything they do I I think you can you can have something like that you can capture lightning in a bottle and have that all work out I mean I think you kind of saw that a little

Bit with the Raiders Chiefs game over the weekend where the Raiders probably had no business winning that game especially what they did offensively but they did so much defensively you know can it be the other way around can Kyler Murray in this offense do enough you know going back to that Chiefs Raiders

It’s why if you want upsets in the NFL look at the division games yeah because division opponents know each other so well yeah that’s a good point and this is not a division game no but but they but they know this team like a division opponent I guess is my point you would

Yes I I would the coaches do right to a certain extent you can only relay that to the players who haven’t gone up against him so much and I do think I like going back to the Chiefs Raiders game I think the Raiders have some pretty good talent on defense whereas

You know again this is going to come back to the the it’s not about the X’s and O’s it’s about the jimmies and Joe’s and I just don’t know if the Cardinals have enough jimmies or Joe’s you know what the Raiders have they have Max Crosby that Premier pass rusher who’s s

You know sort of like the whole Montes sweat thing I mean once we dug into the numbers the whole Montes sweat effect and what he’s done for that Bears defense is is truly remarkable I mean the before and after I I just I wonder if and I

Won’t get into it all other than to say that they were 23rd in Total Defense 28th in scoring D and since Montes sweat showed up they’re fifth in total D and seventh in scoring defense so I just wonder you know we look at all the priorities in the off season and we can

Talk all we want about corner and offensive line and receiver but Edge rusher to me I don’t know if that guy exists in the top five in the top three I don’t know if there’s that guy this year but if you I just get the feeling that yeah

Yeah the Bears gave up a high second round pick for montz sweat yeah they paid him a lot of money four years 90 something 62 guaranteed but I think Ryan Po’s of GM is feeling like it was worth it because they’re getting instant return on investment the Cardinals just

Don’t have that it’s not just the sack numbers it’s the pressures the hurries the quarterback hits Cardinals have not been able to put really any opposing quarterback under true duress the last couple of weeks we saw Sparks of it the start of the Season which kind of

Surprised a little bit when you look at who is in that room maybe again now it’s more about the quarterbacks you’re facing this time of year or what the game plan is of how fast they’re getting the ball out or who they’re handing the ball off to you’re just not getting really

Anything from that pass rush and and to your point Paul considering the fact the Cardinals have so much draft capital this year and also next year the player might not be in the draft that they need but it might be with another team and the Cardinals make a trade for a couple

Of picks in a player and and I would be okay with that at this point I mean Once Upon a Time this team was in dire need and they traded for Chandler Jones how’d that work out right till the very last season worked out real well if you could

Get a guy like Chandler Jones at that point of his career for a second round pick and a throw a offense of lineman oh absolutely I mean I’ll give you an example Jaylen Johnson their free agent to be cornerback is that a of a season

For the Eagles for the uh for the Bears Jaylen Johnson 33 you know four those four interceptions he’s had this year have all come in the last eight games it’s all come since Montes sweat showed up it’s amazing how much better your Corners are once you get a formidable

Pass rush because Montes sweat before he showed up the Bears ranked last in sacks and last in quarterback pressures so it’s just remarkable the before and after what he’s done and I’m just wondering if you you know we saw Monty OA for and Jonathan Ganon on that field

And they’re I wonder if they’re thinking of themselves you look at the Bears as a case study what getting that guy can do for your defense that’s all I I would I don’t think you’re GNA find any arguments here Paul no I’m not I’m just

I just I guess I guess I’m just sort of talking to myself thought bubble no and I do think that’s interesting talking about the draft it kind of feels like that might be assuming you have the right team to make a trade with and the right player it seems like that might be

One of your best options again it’s early to really go into details but if you’re not we know that this staff wants to start young and if you don’t feel like one of these older veterans who’s playing in a contract year or might have one more year in a contract you could

Pick up if that’s not something you want you want something that’s going to be more longterm maybe you don’t want to do another draft pick and really have to develop a player that could be your best bet is getting somebody who is entering or is already in their Prime and you

Know giving up some of the draft Capital you’ve collected usually the funny fun thing is is usually those don’t guys don’t come available The Mont sweats the the league don’t come available I’m not really sure what washingt was doing there to be honest but because if they

Go and get a themselves a quarterback and they would have kept those pass rushers cuz who was the other one they got Chase young San Francisco which again I know they both needed money I I I get it but they got a third rounder for just amazes me The Way San Francisco

Has the the money to do all this yeah well that’s what happens when you have a last pick in the draft quarterback right making no money they they just did a story on that the other day somebody went a deep dive so he’s making less than a million dollars a year I’m pretty

Sure there was a joke about because Christian mcaffry got everyone on offense like customized golf clubs and I’m pretty sure there was a a quote of Brock P joking that he couldn’t afford that even if he wanted to he has a roommate Brock pie rooms with an offensive lineman oh Danny Danny

Referenced was that a tweet did I did I tweeted out I said man I hope Rock party’s roommate has some freshly baked cookies or something waiting for him four interceptions yikes but here’s the thing even though he makes less than a million a year he has endorsements

Whatever that else but like for example when they made the run last year to the NFC championship game he got an extra 90 or 140 Grand for that and you know if you go to the Super Bowl this year and then if you go to the Pro Bowl you get

An extra 80 grand if you’re the winning I mean these are all things that add up there’s also a thing where uh overachieving uh yes nflpa has a fund has a fun so overachieving players get a bunch of extra not a bunch of extra money but extra money yeah yeah for him

I think he’s tracking like 150k extra through that fund which is the max you can get somehow so okay he’s a starting quarterback for a really good team and and most of those guys are making 20 30 million a year so yes I don’t want to

Sit here and say he should be happy with an extra 500k so if the Bears get the number one pick and and and as we wrap this up here do you stick with Justin Fields if you’re the Bears or not Danny you’re the Mastermind of three fantasy

Football teams I don’t want to talk about it Paul oh really postseason didn’t go so well rut Ro yeah I I lost last week I lost in the first round of two of those leagues coincidentally both of those opponents had Christian mcaffrey who put up 40 yards 40 points

Rather and then I made it to the second round in another league and I ended up losing because I had Brock Pie as my quarterback oh no so so 9ers did not do me any favors in the postseason so wait a minute you needed your roommate to

Book to a bake you cookies maybe I should go back on my statement that maybe being a GM is a little harder than a Dre because DJ Moore had the opinion with the media going into the game where he said you know what those two guys in college aren’t better than Justin fields

That was DJ Mor the media and he was talking about Drake May and Caleb Williams well and you can make that argument and nobody knows for sure that’s the thing the here the thing about when you talk about moving on to the quarterbacks is you know DJ Moore says

They’re not better than Justin Fields well he doesn’t know nobody knows that’s part of the problem true but part of the equation to is take out who you’re going to replace him with at least in the short term and you ask yourself isn’t it’s not just is Caleb Williams let’s

Say better than Justin Fields part of the question you have to ask yourself is Justin Fields the guy to take us to where we want to go that’s the ultimate question it really shouldn’t matter who you’re replacing them with when you’re asking that question because if you’re

Playing the is is this next guy we’re bringing in as good as this guy that’s you’re doing it wrong you also reset the clock on the whole QB contract if you go for one of those rookies you do and I bring this up because as it stands right now the Bears

Would pick number one one the Arizona Cardinals number two and what happens to Kyler’s cap number next year skyrockets to 50 million plus which is what quarterbacks cost if they’re good now you’re right you could reset it but again if you reset it you’re you might be helping well you’re not even helping

Your cap because you’re going to have to take a hit if you did something with Kyler but much more importantly if you keep Kyler and you have that second pick and you trade down to seven and you get another first round pick and another

Pick on top of that and maybe a body for somebody to move up to take that quarterback that’s a lot of pieces you can put around on a roster that we have just got through talking about needs a bunch of stuff yeah so anyway my point

Is that the top two picks could be traded yes easily bears and and Cardinals could stick with their guys or two pretty top-notch talented quarter backs could be traded to make way for the two rookies so very intriguing off season in that regard right that’s uh that’s my point we should have some

Podcast to talk about it yeah uh New Year’s resolutions um you know anything uh you know have have you given it a lot of thought um I’m my New Year’s resolution is to be nicer to Danny I see good luck with that I see does that

Count the Press Box you know when you got your game face on you know does that count the Press Box or are you exempt from that you’re pretty nice in the Press Box I feel like I’m pretty nice in the Press Box I might just be so what

Would you be referring to what in what circumstances are you not so nice in the podcast I see okay waiting for press conferences to start gotcha okay all right I think uh no Darren is pretty nice though I will say he always um puts up and takes down

My suitcase on the plane so I don’t have to which I’m appr Danny’s resolution is to grow another 4 in well when you figure that out let me know HGH for everyone on the house we’ll put it on Darren’s Tab and that’ll do it for this week’s edition of cardinals underground

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