Welcome to Bucks Insider Live, Casey Phillips. Here, we've senior writer and editor Scott Smith ready to get you all the knowledge you need going up to this next week, because we've got a big week, everybody, It's a big one here. Um. First, we thought we'd start out by looking back at this Arizona game and some of the developments. Now we know there's also some very big news on the injury front and a lot of things going on
with the team, So we'll get to all of that. First, Let's look back at this Arizona game and just some of the big takeaways for you and what it means of knowing what a crucial time of year, this is, the way they pulled out that win. What it says about this team and the the things that we know going into the rest of the year. Well, yeah, they've all year. They've shown resiliency that's obvious, and that come back at the end was exciting and Tom Brady esque and season
saving potentially. But I think the big picture is the team. It's the same issue that they've had most of the season and that they can't quite put together sixty minutes of good football. You get a good opening drive, which we've had a lot, and it ends in the field goal, and then after that they unscore three more points until the fourth quarter, just really having trouble converting third downs,
getting anything downfield. Tom Brady's time to throw in that game, his average time from snap to throw was two point one six seconds, and he's been getting rid of it quick all year and last year as well, but that is the single lowest time to throw he's had in a game since they've been tracking it in two thousand and sixteen. So obviously there was pressure, there was difficulty having long developing plays, didn't get a ball to Mike's one five yeard pass until the fourth quarter. Uh, just
couldn't put together four quarters of quality football. And and they'll they'll say the same thing. Coach Bowles will say the same thing. It's just that's been the issue, and it's troublesome that it has that still does happening. But it also leaves you with a little bit of optimism that this team can play a much better game than it has and therefore this isn't just some empty gesture to get to the playoffs. If they get there and
they finally start putting it all together, could make some noise. Yeah, I completely agree, and I will say that the defense just incredible what they've been able to do at certain points this year. I mean, they've been a couple of games, so they've given up a lot of points, but for the most part, they are keeping the team in the game even when the offense is struggling to put up points.
And that's got to be really reassuring for them. So specifically, when it comes to that, what have you seen from the defense and their ability to keep them off the scoreboard more. Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, yes, it was an incredible comeback, but they wouldn't have been able to come back from twenty four to six seven to six. It was sixteen to six because for the eighth time this year, the Bucks defense held an opponent under twenty points. And that's I think tied for fourth
in the league something like that. Let's see here, it's tied for fourth in the league. And when they've done that, they've held opponents i mean, they've won seven of eight games. Now you say, of course, yeah, you hold them points less points, you're gonna win a lot, right, But look at look at the Broncos. They've done it ten times under four and six in those games, so it's not a guaranteed win, but keeping them under twenty, the Buccaneers
have been able in almost every case to score to win. Yeah. I guess that's the point, right, Yeah, And that's it's it's so reassuring when you know that that it's got again as your offense. If they are if they're struggling, if they miss a few drives, or if they get three instead of seven, it's got to still be nice to know that, hey, we're going to be in this, that you just keep giving us the ball and the
defense is going to hold us in this. But the offense, um, you know you talked about, there's still sometimes struggling to get a few more of the explosive plays. But I will say that we yet again keep talking about Chris Godwin and how reliable he is. That maybe you aren't getting as many of the explosive plays, but you are able to find guys on so many plays that Godwin
is still making so many catches so consistently. Yeah, I think I get questions about, well, let's get to this first um with the eight catches in that game, which was his twelfth straight game with at least five catches. By the way, he passed James Wilder to become second in team history in receptions, Which is kind of amazing that the top two guys on your team at the same time. I actually did a little look at that
a couple of months ago. It's not very common, but the two leading receivers in team history are your two starting receive rs right now. But Chris Godwin just keeps doing it week after weekend. A lot of it has to do with the type of passes that we throw to Chris, so he gets a lot of tunnel screens and and quick hits where he gains a lot of yards after the catch, like this one right here, and he's obviously extremely good at it. But you know that's a play where the ball is out of Tom's hand
like immediately. And so when I've getting I get questions in the emails and so on. You know, Iss got one now our number one instead of Mike Evans. Well, Mike, there's been no decline in the quality of Mike's play. It's the type of passes that we try to throw to each of these guys, their average depth of target. Mike's balls travel. The targets to him travel in the air about twice as far as they do to Chris
Godwin in twelve yards down the field. So with the way our offense is currently constructed and Tom getting rid of the ball very quickly, those are harder plays to get the quick passes to god when obviously it's not hard to get the ball in your hand quickly when you're throwing it, you know, right down the line. Now,
those players aren't guaranteed to work. They have to be blocked up well, and they have to go to a talented receiver like Chris, but you can understand why in some games he's getting the ball a lot more than Mike right. And I do think that, as you mentioned, there was some pressure in the game, and we've seen how quickly Brady is trying to get the ball out of his hands, potentially because he's not sure how long that pocket is going to be open and available for him.
And I think a huge factor in that, of course, could potentially be resolved by the end of the season. Ryan Jensen, maybe it's I was just so excited that there was going to be finally news for us to share with people about this, because I know, we felt we felt so bad that everyone's of course been asking and we're just like, we don't know, we got nothing. And finally we have something to talk about Ryan Jens and so tell us the news on that and what are the odds that we actually see him in a
game at some point the rest of the season. So Ryan was designated to return for major reserve, which means and that was Wednesday, and that means that it was the twenty one day window when he can practice with the team, which he did on Wednesday and will again today and doesn't count against the roster. And at any point during that twenty one days you can then activate him to the fifty three man roster, which would involve
another roster moved open a spot. Um In the first four guys that we did that with, like John Wells and and Logan Ryan, we act we designated them for return early in the week and by the end of that week also activated them. That's not gonna happen with Ryan. We know for a fact he's not gonna play this week. Coach Bowls bluntly said, no, we're gonna ask that question. Actually gives just a straight yes. It's not a politician
thing of like, no, he will not be playing today. However, he did not give and I don't think he's planning to give a much more detail response about when Ryan Jenson could possibly return. And it's interesting that they're couching this return to practice in terms of it's part of his rehab. Uh. Several people have said that already, which is interesting. I've not heard that before. I get it because they can't practice until you designate them for return.
So if you think getting him on the practice field is an important next step in getting him back, then whether or not you know when he's coming back, might as well do it. So because if he wasn't ready by the end of the third week, then he just reverts to die are which he if you designated for return or don't. Either way, these are and you get eight of these during the season, and this is only the fifth one bucks you, so I didn't have to
save it for somebody else. So all that means we don't know if and when he's gonna be ready to play. If I were a betting man, I would not expecting him play in these next two regular season games, but perhaps he can make an impact in the playoffs. Yes, And so let's say he plays, do you see them
moving Robert Hanzy over to left guard. That's a tough one because Nick Leverett is actually kind of settled in pretty well there and gotten some praise for his play and so, and I don't think you'd take check Mason out on the other side. So, I honestly was discussing with some guys in the office for a while yesterday.
And it's not an obvious answer. If Ryan Jenson goes back to starting center, and he's a Pro Bowl center, one of the best in the league, so you want him in there, obviously, what do you do with Robert Hanzi, who has been a fine replacement? Right, I don't know. I don't know that it's going to be so interesting, all right. So we've talked about how this is a huge game this coming Sunday, and it is basically this
is almost a playoff game, it feels like at this point. Yeah, and so tell us the situation here about what this game really means in terms of the playoffs and the standings. Well, as it stands, all are three of the four teams in the division could still win it. And I know it's kind of a messy little graphic here, but you see them not messy. Sorry to people who did the graphic cluttered. Because so you see the two two weeks worth of games that involved these three teams that are
left there at the top. And then we look at the scenarios. The easiest one, the simplest one, and the one we all want is all the Bucks have to do is win this game, and they they've won the division even no matter what happens anywhere else in the in the next two weeks. Uh. As you see, so both scenarios, whether Atlanta, whether we beat Atlanta or not next week not gonna matter. If we win this game. Carolina, if they win this week against the Buccaneers, they then
control their own destiny. And as you can see here, all they have to do is beat the Saints and they will definitely win the division because they will have the Bucks on a tiebreaker because they will have won head to head. However, there is a scenario that the Buccaneers can win, can lose this week against Carolina and still win the division, and that would involve the Bucks meeting Atlanta and the Saints meeting Carolina. It's funny because we may actually be rooting for the Saints. I don't
like it. I don't like it. It doesn't sit right now. The Saints could win if they need the Saint the Panthers to beat us, and then they beat the Panthers and then the Bucks goes to Atlanta, and in that case, the Saints will just be one game ahead of everybody else in the division because they can't win the tiebreakers because of head to head records. So they need to get clear of both Bucks and the Panthers, and to do that they need the Panthers to beat us but
then lose. This is crazy they would conceive. I mean, we'd be playing probably at the same time, but the Saints on Sunday of Week eight, team could be sitting there controlling their own destiny. If the Bucks are losing to the to the Falcons, that's not really controlling your own destiny. But they are the ones that they don't hope somebody else beats the Panthers they get to play them. There's a lot of different scenarios there, but just the one to keep in mind right now is just winning
in for the Buccaneers. Yeah, that's that's the easy one. Let's not worry about everything else, you just win and you're in UM. Of course, there will also be the Ring of Honor induction for Bruce Arians the Sunday. So this game has a lot of entreaty, a lot of fun things about it. Um. We know that it did not go well the last time these two teams faced each other. So what do you see as the keys this week? The things that are different already that need
to be different from that last matchup. I think the most obvious and the most important thing the Buccaneers need to stop the run the Panthers. The last time the Bucks played the Panthers, they had just traded Christian McCaffrey. And you know, Dante Foreman is a guy that's bounced around a little bit. Chuba Hubbard, you know, never really had much of a big role, and so it seemed like a good opportunity for the Buccaneers that week. And then they ran for a hundred seventy three yards and
that has become the key to Panthers victories. Sometimes this can be a causal. You can get confused in the causation where you see, oh, every time they've gotten a hundred yards rushing, they've won. Well, that's sometimes that's opposite causation. There you're winning the game, and therefore you run the ball more and you get more yards. But in Panthers case,
they are running to win games. And they have succeeded a hundred yards and eight of their games and their six and two in those games, that's all six of their wins. They lost every game when they haven't got two a hundred. And when I say they're exceeding a hundred, I don't mean they're getting a hunter. They have average one rushing yards in their eight games that passed a hundred, and they just ran for three twenty last week. That's
insane team records. So Hubbard Foreman, I guess the offensive lines a lot better than it has been in recent years. They did invest a number one pick in that and some free agents. So stop the run. That is the number one key, and that hasn't as dominant as the Bucks run defense was the three period previous seasons. It has been a little bit up and down there. Miss
this year and Vita Vella has been injured. Yeah, go ahead of He did practice in a limited fashion yesterday, so maybe there's a chance he can be back, because I think that would Beard he's kind of good at that whole run stopping thing. All right. Well, that is going to do it for us on Bucks in Saturday Live.
Thank you so much for being with us. And again, I know we talked a little bit about the playoffs scenario, but we're going to talk about it again in our Path to the Playoffs if you want to hear more, so make sure you stay tuned for that video. We'll see you next week if you ver here. He sat