Welcome to Bucks Insider, presented by Verizon. Casey Phillips here with senior writer and editor Scott Smith, and we have a playoff show to talk about. It is a great day to be a Bucks fan. Clinched the NFC South for the third year in a row, which is the first time in franchise history. It has been a great few years here to have these back to back to back titles and now, of course most importantly, that means they're going to the playoffs. So tell me just kind
of your takeaways from this last game. Even though it may not have been the prettiest win, it got done what you needed to get done.
Yeah, you're echoing Baker there in the in the press comes after the game saying it was an ugly win. You know, it's an ugly win if you don't like defense. But I saw some things that were pretty spectacular on defense. Antoine Winfield for the most part, and we'll obviously be talking about him, but the defense really stepped up, and of course so did the kicker, and we'll also be talking about him. But you know, Baker was obviously banged up.
He had the ribs to start, then he injured an ankle pretty early in the game, so he's playing through all that. Carolina has a nice defense, a good defensive front, and things really weren't clicking a lot on offense, but they found a way to win, and that's what's important. And the last two weeks on offense haven't been great, and Tristan Worf says something about that afterwards in the locker room, and his leadership is really starting to show.
But before that, the Bucks offense had really started to click. And I think that this team is confident that despite the last two weeks, they can get back to that. And they may need to because Philly is a high scoring team and so you may have to score a bunch to keep up.
Yeah, it's going to be interesting. And so you brought up antoinin field junior. It's impossible not to bring him up after every game and all the things that happened with the Buccaneers, and he just put on a show this week. It was splash plays and it was impact plays, and I think I can make a case for him just two plays individually saving ten points exactly, And I'm like, what else do you want in a defensive player than that? We're single handedly essentially they are.
Yeah, it's you know, he was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. This play is incredible. He was twenty three yards away from that player when the ball was caught. DJ Shark I did the little next gen dig into that, and he he was He ran the fastest of any player on the field on that play, and he covered the most ground of any player on the field. And of course just poking that out and you think, well, is that just an instinct? Is that
just an accident? He described that play and said he saw the Chark was starting to hold the ball out in front of him. He's like thinking, I think he's going to try to extend that over the goal line and then I'll try to poke it out. Okay, I just set all that. Probably the time it took me to say all that probably is longer than the time it took for that whole thought to happen to be beat his head and then process it and do it.
I Mean, there's athleticism is important, but there's something to be said about a guy who just has unbelievable instincts like that.
That really was incredible.
And yeah, the look at his numbers, such a great job of last week going on the ramp about numbers in the Pro Bowl and everything. He even upped all of the numbers basically.
In this game.
He ended up on another sack and another forced fumble and all the things. So, yep, just continuing to be incredible.
First, first in three categories there among all safeties, second and hits. Second in total takeaways because that's interceptions and fumble recoveries, passes, defense. I mean, he's he's making plays in the backfield, and he's making plays in the back end. It's what hasn't the guy done. We've already seen the results of the Pro Bowl, and like you said, I've already done my rent on that one. Won't do it again. But you know, all associated press, all Pro still a come.
Hopefully there's some vindication there.
And we saw that I think he broke the record for tackles by a dB in franchise history, which is pretty incredible. And I know also you brought up Baker and that this was a game that was very dominated by the defense, and it was so good to have that. And that's what you want going into the playoffs is knowing that if one side the ball is struggling for whatever reason, you have people to step up in there.
But Baker, I have to say that, even though the offense maybe didn't produce a ton I just have so much respect for him grinning out that game.
And I know the rest of the team does too.
He came in already beat up and got even more banged up during the game with the ankle, and then we see him running for this gutsy third down play. I just think that he shows that no matter what, he's going to try to make it happen, and even if it's in an unconventional way.
Yeah, even I can tell you from experience up in the press box, everybody around me was the same reaction when he ran.
You're like, oh no, yeah, no, no, no no, because.
You know he's got the interest and you don't want him do it. But then you know he's just going to do it. And I think in addition to the one I think you're referring to, which was like a seven yard scramble on third and six after he'd hurt his ankle, he had another play. It was third and one. It was a fake handoff to a shot and then he was supposed to throw it out to I think kaitot and out to the right, just a real quick
pass in the flat. But he cocked his arm and he saw a defender there and realized if he throws this, it might be a pick. So what does he do. He just immediately tucks it and just barrels right into the line, right into Derek Brown, one of the biggest and best defensive linemen in the league, and just bash it into him to get the first down. I mean, that was one where I was like, don't do that,
but he did it, got the first down. And you know, he didn't have the most productive game passing obviously, but if you look at a season as a whole, he said career highs in the yards. He had more than four thousand yards. He had twenty eight touchdowns, both of those were career highs for him. He only had ten interceptions, and he is one of two quarterbacks in Bucks history to finish the season with four thousand yards, at least twenty five touchdown passes and ten or fewer interceptions. The
other one is the Goat. So I mean, it's good company, good.
Company to be in for sure.
And like we said, if your offense is going to struggle and you have some injuries. You need your defense to have your back. It also helps to have a kicker that has your back and that this can become a pretty potent offensive weapons, particularly when you have a guy like Chase McLaughlin.
Yes, and I'm gonna preface all this the same way I did on Jeff and I's podcast, The Salty Dogs Shameless Plug. I'm talking about Chase McLaughlin, the Bucks kicker for the twenty twenty three regular season. I'm talking about his regular season. It's over. There is no gossible jinks here done in the books.
That is a very good thing to preface it.
And nobody can be this is the regular season.
It's over because we aren't superstitious, but we're a little stitious.
That's good.
Chase made his last eighteen field goals in the regular season, finished twenty nine to thirty one ninety three point five percent, is the best field goal percentage in team history. He made seven of eight from beyond fifty yards, including five of five from fifty five or longer. You saw one of them there in that game. That's not just the most in a season, that's the most fifty five plus yarders a Bucks kicker has ever made in their career. Connor Barth was good. He was here for five years
and he did three times. Chase did five times in one season and didn't miss his only two misses successful unsuccessful kicks. This year, we're both blocked. Yeah, so it's hard to say whether those were his fault or not. But and he made all of his extra point attempts. So a Pro Football Focus named him there first team All Pro kicker. I think it's because he basically didn't miss all years of those two blocks, and he had the long distance.
Well else can you ask for?
It's incredible and it's a guy at work was pointing out. One thing about him is he tends to hit him right down the middle.
It's not sneaking in right. Yeah.
I mean, hey, you want the kicker to get through one way or another. If it goes in one yard past this the post, than fine. But wouldn't you want a guy who generally hits it down the middle because those are more often going to go.
Yeah? I completely agree.
And then also another bright spot from this last game, yeah, Aad Diab. I just think we can't talk about him enough either to see how he's come on and progressed and grown as a rookie, and just the excitement I feel like he, he and Collijah both you know, are causing about the future of this defense with these young guys. But yah yah, his combination of strength and speed is incredible, and so when you have that much athleticism, the more you start understanding the game plan and the game.
It's only up from here.
That's a great highlight package we're watching here. I love this And it doesn't even take into account the fact that the coaches considered and consider him the best run stopper of their edge rushers, and that's why they drafted him for the most part, and that's why he was available in the third round because he wasn't necessarily considered the one of the top two or three edge rushers.
But he had seven point five sacks. I think it's third in the league among trickiers, or tied for second, and it's tied for the second most ever by a Bucks rookie with Adrian Claiborne, who was a first round pick. Just to find this in the third round is just such an enormous hit by our player personnel department that I'm sure they're just absolutely thrilled.
By that one, as they should be, and of course someone we know, they Hills, are very thrilled they drafted Tristan Wurfs, who not only did we ask him to change positions and play one of the most important and hardest parts of the offense after doing so well at another spot, he has conquered that, but he's also I don't know if he was asked or just knew he needed to do this, has stepped up in a leadership role.
You mentioned earlier his speech after the game to the team, and it's just been thing after thing like that this year where you start to see him take on the not just do as I do, but also the vocal leadership role for the team.
Both yeah, and I think that's an exciting development for the Buccaneers. And of course he became a team captain for the first time this year and it seems like he's taking that seriously. And what he was vocalizing to the team afterwards, you know, he said, great win, everybody celebrate, this is awesome, but also, hey, we the offense, we need to step it up. You know, the last two games have not been great for us, and going forward, we got it you know, we can't leave it all on the defense.
Yep, for sure.
And so we talked about this is the third straight NFC South title, first time in team history. So now also four seasons in a row of playoffs. And it is so crazy as how many people on this team only know the playoffs. Yes, I think we have Tristan and Antoine that they came in that you're now we're talking about them being these veteran leaders on the team. And man that these guys, so many people on this roster only know the playoffs, which is pretty incredible.
Said he tells. He tells his story to the rookies to scare them to realize this is what could happen. You might wait appreciate that's it, because you do. You wonder if, like Antoine or Tristan or anybody drafted in twenty twenty, if they start to take it. I don't think they do, but if he started to take it for granted like this is going to happen every year, so whatever, this doesn't necessarily come along all the time.
And Levante certainly won't the one who knows that after eight years without the playoffs and didn't know when Bruce arians and then Todd Bowles got here that everything was going to change and that you know, he could have gone his whole career without going to the playoffs, and he's well aware of that, so he definitely savors it. But speaking of Todd Bowles, he's the first Bucks head coach to lead his team to a division title in each of his first two years.
So amazing.
It's been a nice transition.
In that regard.
And I think that we still have not appreciated the fact that they have so much dead cap money and have still been able to have a winning record and make it to the playoffs. I think that's an incredible thing to keep in mind of how few teams are able to make the playoffs at this and I think it's what the Bucks had the most dead cap money in the league.
It's something like that and playoffs.
It's like they had one hand tied behind their back but lasted through twelve rounds of a boxing match. I mean, they did it. They made it. And they're one of only four team three teams in the NFL currently that have been in the playoffs each of the last four years, along with Kansas City and Buffalo And yeah, to do that with the restrictions that they had, and to do so you had to hit on things like yah ya dab and Christian Izzy and and that's you know, that's
how you get it done. It's not easy to do.
And so speaking of not easy to do, advance in the playoffs, that's you know. I mean it helps you have a home game, which is a huge deal and why you want to win the division. You have the Eagles coming in here rematch, maybe that helps you have some knowledge of what didn't work the first time, can make those adjustments, have that film when you look at these two teams, what are the things that stand out
about the keys for this matchup? And both teams seem pretty different than the first time around.
Yeah, that was Week three and there's a Monday night game and we're not going to sugarcoat it. The Philly The Eagles dominated that game mainly. The difference was and a couple of players talked about this yesterday, the difference in the run games. We allowed two hundred and one rushing yards to the Eagles and only got forty one rushing yards. I mean that there was the Gulf that gave Philadelphia such a big advantage in that game, and the Bucks run game isn't one of the best in
the league now, but it's definitely better. And you saw that in what they call a four minute trill the last six minutes of the game in Carolina, assaulting that game away by running successfully six, seven, eight times on the last drive when the defense knew you were going to run the ball. To be able to succeed in that situation means you have found some answers in the running game, and it's been a little bit hit or miss, but in the second half of the season it's definitely
been better. And the Bucks run defense is actually ranked fifth in the league, so they know it's a challenge because Philadelphia has such a great offensive line again this year three Pro bowlers from that line, so it's going to be a battle in the trenches on both sides. They didn't the pH The Eagles defense didn't. I keep saying Phillies. The Eagles defense didn't have as many sacks as when they went nuts last year, but they still have a very talented defensive front led by Hassan Redick.
So as Levonte David was saying yesterday, it's really right there on both sides of the ball where this game is probably gonna be won.
It's going to be an interesting matchup for it.
Is interesting also because the Eagles and the Bucks are The Eagles are the Bucks' most common playoff opponent in their history, and it's not even close. This will be the sixth time these two teams have played. Washington is next with three, so I don't know why it keeps coming up Philadelphia. But if you look at this, you know the very first playoff game in team history was
the top one there in seventy nine. Bucks won that one. Obviously, you can remember that in two thousand and two thousand and one, those seasons ended very disappointingly with lopsided losses in wildcard games in Philly. And that's why the game in two thousand and two, the NFC Championship game, it was such a big deal because it was in Philly, it was the last game in the Veterans Stadium. It
was the Rendez Barber play. And then two years ago, a more current iteration because Jalen Hurts was he was early in his starting career, but he was starting for that team, and the Bucks really handled that game in the wild her around going up thirty one to nothing at one point, so and really handling Jalen Hurts well. But Jalen Hurts has definitely advanced since then, so it's a big question mark as we show graphically there, what's going to happen this time around?
All right, well, that is going to do it for us on this edition of Bucks Insider. We hope everyone enjoys that game. We hope to see a lot of you out here at Raymond James Stadium or at least following along on Buccaneers dot Com, and we'll see you next week.