And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. What's up, everybody? Welcome to move to stacks.
DJ Bucky with you on a recap Monday, Buck. It was a week where the Jags. You've got to buy right, So you got nothing going on on your end, I've got a Monday night or I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you. I caught a nap yesterday. I watched a lot of ball and then I caught it. It was a Sunday nap. What I mean, there's nothing better. I searched in the morning and a Sunday nap. I was like unbelievable.
So so it's strategically when when did you take the nap? Did you take the nap after the one? After the morning game? So you came to the late games? Okay, you got there a little late. I was a little late getting to the late games.
Hour nap.
It was nothing too much, just the hour nap. By the way, if you're noticing, yes, Indiana did lose. Yes rhtt Lewis is not on. He needed a sick day. He needed a sick day after the loss. It was a little trouble. So he caught in. He caught his sick today. So yeah, he caught his sick. Hopefully he's recovered by Lady new week.
Yeah, it was a wellness day.
I thought it was a little much, though, I mean for the bosses to send out the counseling hotline to him, you know, on the group.
A lot happened. I was worried about him.
I think this was actually scheduled, believe it or not. So Red'll be back. We'll have a rookie draft coming up. That'll be tomorrow. We had a lot of games to get to the back, and I want to start, first of all, what we saw last night, and that was I don't want to say JV Varsity. That's insulting to the Rams. And I don't think this was as much about what's wrong with the Rams as it was what's
right with the Philadelphia Eagles. And I want to get to you on this point because I think there's a thread that you'll see as we go through a lot of these teams that are that are winning right now and playing good football and chasing a championship. It is a blend of speed and power. It is having explosiveness but also being a physical team, and no greater example of that than what the Philadelphia Eagles put on display last night.
Yeah, and one percent agreement with you when it comes to that, I think this.
I think the Philadelphia Eagles are a great example.
The Detroit Lions are another example of how you have to build your team and what we call an ideal way, meaning what is the ideal team that we can build, And it has to have a combination of speed power.
You got to be able to I say it all the time. You got to be able to.
Win with force orphinesse, meaning you can impose your will with the running game, but also have the firepower on the outside to throw it all over the yard.
Because to win games, you have to be a bit of a chameleon.
And when you look at the top teams in the league and whatever top five you put up there, they all have the ability to kind of change as they need to put themselves in a position to win against the opponent on that given day.
Yeah, I mean it's it's impressive, man. And they are on a heck of a run right now, and they are big and they are physical and I want to get to the offensive line in a moment here, and that in regards to Saquon Barkley. You can pull out a lot of different stats along different numbers from this game on Saquon and what he did. But how about this one second player since nineteen fifty to have two hundred and fifty plus rush yards three hundred plus scrimmage
yards in the same game. The only other one Adrian Peterson. That was in two thousand and seven against the then San Diego Chargers. Barkley one hundred and eighty two rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the second half alone, So it was a it was an impressive performance. And let's go back in time too, by the way, that's an excellent saucy nug back in time to the Rose Bowl against USC. Maybe Saquon just likes southern California. Man, he feels very at home out here, he does.
And it's funny you brought up his Penn State success because DJ when you go back to it, you remember watching him he was a bit of a boomer bust playmaker, meaning it was one yard, three yards, one yards, five yards, thirty yards, one yards, three yards, five yards, fifty yards. That's kind of the way that he was able to put up his production as an Indy Lion. Think about the Philadelphia Eagles, which is very different from the New York Giants. He's playing with a much better offensive line.
He's also playing with better weapons around him. I think part of I would say the impressive part that I've seen has been the consistency, fewer negative plays, more pop, but also the steady string of four, five, six, seven eight yard runs that he's able to produce. I used to think he was something from him stylistically, I'm now beginning to see maybe it was the environment that he played in, because he is the running back that every team should want because he has the ability to grind it out.
He can make big plays as a runner.
He can catch the ball out of the backfield and run all the routes out of the route tree. I mean, he is the ultimate running back, and we're seeing it because he's an environment that really showcases the skills because they're so good everywhere else.
I want to get your thoughts on whether you believe the bully can translate from one side of the ball to the other, because this is a Phladelphia Eagles defense that did the same thing.
The Rams came out and gashed him.
They had a fumble on their first drive, and then the second drive they go down to score like they came out and moved the ball. Vic Fangio made some adjustments and then I thought, kind of the typical play
that stood out to me. I mean, there was a bunch of pressure on Matthew Stafford from this front, but when Nakobe Dean just flat out ran right over Kiraen Williams on the way to Matthew Stafford, I thought, Okay, this is kind of Philadelphia in their prime right now, which is bully football on both sides of the ball.
Hate to see the injury to Brandon Graham, they lose him for the year, who was actually playing great here in his mid to late thirties, which is pretty remarkable, But they do they have a bunch of other depth around him. I think you'll see Hunt start to make some plays for them.
They've got other pieces. Nolan Smith.
That's the na Kobe Dean, the bully play that I'm talking about. But do you buy into that, buck? Because I am a firm believer and when you are a physical bunch on one side, it tends to translate to the other.
Yeah, because you faced that every day.
And even though like pro practices are not like college or high school where ones go against ones all the time, you can't.
Help but get some of that.
So when you're a very physical defense, you have to have a physical offense to compliment it.
You think about the toughness that.
Is created DJ that comes from the trenches, and so as much as we talk about stylistically how they do it, I would say the investment and the trench warriors on both sides of the ball something that Philadelphia has done for.
A long time. They did it with Andy Reid, They've continued to do it.
They invest in line of scrimmage players, and because they're so good at the line of scrimmage, they're always able to impose their will. But let me say this, big Fangio coming over, people think that you can't coach today's players in an old school way.
I disagree. Fangio is a testament to that.
People worried about him coming over to Philadelphia after Miami, after some of the players bristled at his methods. He has been the right guy for Philadelphia because he's not only made the defense tougher, I would say that his tactics have made the team tougher and has helped Nick Siriani gain control of the team and build a different bully.
Vig Fangio deserves a lot of credit for what he's been able to do with a very young defense that is getting after it not only at the line of scrimmage but also into back yet.
Yep, and as we move on to the next one, just real quick on the rams, look the defensive front. Jared Versus was still rushing while Bradon Fisk was still rushing. Well, they have a lot of good pieces. They've got to get better on the offensive line, particularly at tackle. That was a nightmare out there on the edge. That's something that you know that can be a focus for less
than the offseason. Less He's got a lot of good, young, talented players there, but continue to double down on the offensive line in the off season is going to be crucial. All Right, let's get to San Francisco, Green Bay. Everybody's gonna take this approach in this game. I want to take a different one. Everybody's going to have an autopsy on San Francisco and how they fell apart. The windows closed? Is Kyle Shanahan. Has he passed his prime? All these
conversations are gonna be taking place everwhere. I just want to focus on two things. Number One, this team is one game out in the division. Nobody's put them away like you got to knock them out. They have not been knocked out. Nobody in the divisions run away from him. That's the first thing. The second thing is, fuck, you can't lose. You know, your quarterback, your defensive player of the year in Bosa, the best offensive lineman of football,
and Trent Williams, your best route runner in Brandon. I like, at some point in time, Yeah, the welts dry, like that's too much. And McCaffrey, you know, let's give him a little more time to kind of get back into the groove. He doesn't look quite the same as before he got hurt. But to me, this is more about attrition than any type of you know, exclamation point on the end of the Niners.
Uh yeah, I would say this.
I feel like the night as well have a hard time this year, just because of the Super Bowl hangover. When you pour so much into getting to the Super Bowl and winning the Super Bowl and then you fall short the way that they did in overtime, there's an emotional hangover. That kind of lingers with the team for a while, and you can't really get past that until
you get into the postseason again. The thing about the Niners this year in the offseason and leading them from training camp, probably more distractions with the contracts and the stuff.
Never felt like they were fully together.
Now you get into the regular season, with the injuries and those things, you're playing with backups and young, inexperienced players thrust in more prominent roles than they were expected to be in and they're not quite ready for that.
It's a tough situation.
But as you pull out the silver lining, yeah, DJ, they're only one game back. If they don't knocked them out, they can get two or three wins in a row. They can do it.
Now.
They're a shell of themselves in terms of the heavyweight contended that we used to see. But there's still a dangerous fold because Kyle Shanahan's a terrific schemer. They have really good players, and if they get in they certainly can do some damage. But right now they certainly don't look like the team that we've seen dominate the last three to four years.
I've heard David Ort he's a baseball player tell the story about when they were down three to zero to the Yankees in the playoffs and they're playing in that pivotal game for and he said, don't let us win one game. Don't let us like, don't give us life, don't keep us around, and that you know how that ended. So I'm just saying I think it's a little premature.
This team still has a chance to get healthy. And if they're a team that's sneaking in, do you want to be one of these teams welcoming in the forty nine ers in the first round of wild Card weekend? Like, I wouldn't want any parts of that. So a little premature there. Let's give the Packers some love, though, a team that we've talked about the turnovers and the issues there, this was like this was no nonsense. They just kind
of they beat them up. I knew that was a team that wasn't healthy upfront, especially on the defensive line, and that was a lot of Josh Jacobs right at you.
So I'm gonna say this again, DJ.
We talked about you open the program talking about like the teams that can mix speed and power, force infiness.
The Green Bay Packers have done that.
The addition of Ash Jacobs in the offseason gave them what I call an anchor for their offense. So no matter what is going on with Jordan Love, they always know that they can slow the game down by handing the ball to number eight and that'll get them back on track. Being able to do that on offense allows them to gain better control of the game when things
can kind of get uneasy. And then defensively, defensive coordinator Jeff Hapley coming over bringing a pressure based scheme while also keeping vision on the quarterback, more turnovers, off tips and overthrows. In those things, they are a very balanced team that can get it done in a major way. And I know right now we're talking about the Detroit Lions being the team of the NFC.
I'm just saying, man, keep an eye on the Packers. Man. They are coming and they're coming fast.
And when you think about them in the Minnesota Vikings, there's a balance to the Green Bay Packers that just kind of has me leaning towards the pack because they have some intriguing pieces on the roster that could really get in the postseason.
Well, I mean, let me just ask you this, just as we're getting into this. How would you stack them right now? And you obviously the Philadelphi Eagles we talked about earlier, they didn't no joke.
Right now the NFC is loaded, man.
It is loaded, and I was stacking as we talk. We can talk about the Lions, then the Eagles, and then I must still have the Vikings over the Packers. And so they rematched and played again. But to me, the Packers are the dangerous team, and that because the running game with Josh Jacobs and their ability to create turnovers that is a huge thing. We always talk about.
The biggest deciding factor in football is the turnover. The way they can produce turnovers is something that could be the advantage that tips them over all of the teams when we get into the tournament.
Now we get Packers Vikings week seventeen. So that's a fun division. We said going into the year that was going to be the best division. It is going to be a fun division to follow as we come down the home stretch. It is again though, that that that theme we talk about power, speed, explosiveness. All these top teams in the NFC have those two elements. So it's interesting to see how evenly matched they are. As we go forward, how about this talk about a wild division.
NFC North isn't the only one in the NFC. How about the NFC West Arizona Seattle. This is a game that was just controlled by the Seattle defense. They get a pick six Kobe Bryant house house call on Kyler. Kyler was not sharp in this game. They can only muster six points. Leonard Leonard Williams like the forgotten man. Go back to what he was coming out Buck, how good he was at USC. He ends up, you know,
not sticking there with the Giants. They trade him to Seattle and kind of a reminder, Oh yeah, he's still really really talented.
They got after the quarterback five sacks, he had.
Two and a half. Boy, Mafey's getting pressured. They have a lot of different athletes up front. And then I think Mike McDonald, he get into a new environment, you get into a new surrounding, you're trying to build your roster around the way you do things. I thought, give him a John Schneider a lot of credit. They go out and make the trade in the middle season for Ernest Jones. Tyrese Knight, the rookie out of UTEP. Those are their two linebackers, and they have started to gel
these last couple weeks. They're fast, they're flying all over the field. We know about all the resources they have in the secondary, all the talent they have there with Devin Witherspoon and company. But now they've got that middle level under control. So hats off to John Schneider and coach McDonald for figuring that out.
Yeah, DJ, So on Friday, the Scouts Notebook was me kind of breaking down the NFC West Race, and one of the things was like, who did you have the most confidence in? The Seattle Seahawks with the team that had the most confidence in because of Mike McDonald and
his ability to get this defense right. When you look at the athletes that they have, it's funny because it's very similar to the way that Pete Carroll operates, but Mike McDonald to me, might be a little more organized when it comes to the deployment of the personnel.
This team can get after it up front.
They got talented playmakers on the outside because they can play man demand HoriZone, and then they have speed, speed speed at that second level. This is a really good defense and if they can just play middle of the pack to getting close to playing top ten defense.
With the offense that they have. Man, they are a very difficult team.
And you saw in that environment with the toils being a factor, some of that nostalgic Seattle Seahawks stuff does really dangerous team, really dangerous team.
Yep.
No, they're playing good football right now. Arizona, Man, they are just kind of streaky. They are up and down. You don't know exactly what you're gonna get from them week to week, but just could never get anything going offensively in this ballgame. So maybe that goes back to your trust factor. I think Arizona plays hard. I think they're getting the most out of what they have. I think if you're talking about the stealings of the rosters, I would agree with you. I would put Seattle above them.
And again though, that's why I'm just saying, as this division kind of hangs in the balance, I'm just somebody's got to put some distance between themselves in San Francisco.
I know San Francisco's.
Schedule is brutal, I know they have all these injuries, but still I just get a little nervous with them kind of lurking, just kind of hanging around, hanging around, and eventually they might figure it out. So one of these teams and maybe this Seattle needs to create some distance here.
Yeah, now that's the thing.
And because of the schedule, because when you look at the schedule, here's the thing about the Niners.
Man, they have a difficult road down the strew.
So when we talk about them reeling off a few games, it's gonna be hard to stack wins against the opponents that they have coming in. The same could be said for the Rams and with the Cardinals. The Cardinals I believe are one year too early. The talent is not quite there to win the division, but I love the toughness, to energy, all of that stuff. To me, the Seattle Seahawks are best position to just kind of win the division by default. The schedule lines up well, Mike McDonald
being able to fix the defense. But it's going to be an interesting six week process to watch how this thing plays out.
Yeah, this is a division that I think is going to come down to the very end, and I'm really excited to see how this thing shakes out. This is a team that I guess it's probably appropriate that when we do that segment, we should always follow it up with the Lions game because they're not messing around buck, They're just handling business and they're not making things competitive that don't need to be competitive. Once again, they do it here twenty four to six over the Colts.
Yeah. DJ.
What was interesting to me was listening to Ben Johnson talk about the team and talk about how the offense is perfectly constructed to play a variety of ways we have talked about, like when you building the team, you want to be a bit of a chameleon, meaning that you can kind of shift and morph into whatever type of team you need to to win each week. The Lions have that ability. They can become a power football team. They have two running backs at the top at upper
echelon players in David Montgomery and Jamior Gibbs. They have one of the best offensive lines in football, so they can impose their will at the line of scrimmage. And even though they're wide house are terrific with the ball in the hands. They're willing blockers, and so in a game like this against the Indianapolis Coast where they wanted to kind of beat them up and play a little
bully ball at the point of attack. They have the firepower to be able to do it because the roster is built to allow them to play big boy football that they need to or throw it all over the yard.
I'm just looking through I was actually trying to find the lines on here, but I'm you know, I.
Would totally butcher it, so I won't do that.
But remember the Ocean's Eleven movie when you've got George Clooney and Brad Pitt and they're talking about we're gonna need one of these, yep, and then we're also going to need one of those and one of these and one of those.
Like I feel like with the Lions, like.
They came in and Brad Holmes said, Okay, what does the championship you know, roster kind of look like, Okay, we need some physical offensive lineman.
We'll go get those.
Okay, let's get Let's get a quarterback who doesn't turn the ball over and is official. Oh okay, we got that going. Let's get some explosiveness both in the backfield and outside. Okay, got that. Let's give a reliable third down weapon in the middle of the field. But you know what, let's get too let's have a tight end and a slot receiver. Like they've they've just checked all of these boxes of how you would build a just
a nightmare of an offense to deal with. And one of the guys I wanted to give some love to on here, and I know he's had some issues off the field and it hasn't been the smooth sailing since he got into the league. But Jamison Williams five for sixty four in this game. Buck, He's got sixteen explosives this year. That's the twenty second most.
In the league.
I think Amana by the ways up near the very top, if not at the very top of the list of explosives.
But I went and watched all of his explosives, like, how are they utilizing him? What are they doing?
It is a lot of crossers, deep overs, go routes, corner routes, some digs. Like a lot of times when you look at explosives and leaders, you'll see you think about like Tyreek Hill Chiefs or even with the Dolphins. You'll see some shallow crossers. You'll see some bubble screens, You'll see different things where it's just catch and run. Buck, he is down the field, man like he is literally
the definition of a stretch receiver. And man, think about the value that has not only for Jared Goff with those big plays, but think about the space that generates for everybody else.
You know, DJ like one of the things about the Detroit Lions offense, and it's probably not talked about enough. I feel like Ben Johnson has done a really good job of stealing some of the more popular plays that Jered Goff ran with the Rams and putting them into the playbook for the Detroit Lions. If you go back, throw a dig Jared Goff, Yeah, you think about how Jered Goff played really well for the Rams. It was
a lot of condensed formations. It was a lot of deep overs, crossing routes, things that were hitting on the move. When you look at the Lions, you see similarities in some of the passing game that existed during his time that came with him from the Rams and Jameson Williams. When you talk about like the benefit of having a speed receiver that can stretch, it is not only vertically, but it's horizontally. The thing that the Lions are doing though, is not horizontal, it's diagonal.
Spending them across the field and Diagla.
And they're using his speed to run away from opponents, and they really put you in a buy and because if you play zone, Amon Roussaint Brown is going to absolutely kill you underneath. If you play man to man, they can run the speed around you. And if you can't figure out how you want to play it, they just run it right at you. Well constructed offensive line, the playbook in the scheme matches the personnel, which is why I did the best team in.
Football right now.
Yeah, I don't disagree with you for one second. And they have reeled off nine straight wins and they kind of just a whole hum butt kicking of the Indianapolis Colts. They made that look way too easy on the road there in Indianapolis. Okay, this is one of the more entertaining games of the day. There were a bunch of them in a wild early slate, but Minnesota Chicago to
me was the most bang for your buck. And watching two former Trojans go out at there with Sam Darnold as well as Caleb Williams, let's start there, buck to start with the two quarterbacks. Impressions on this wild game that went the Vikings way.
Such a crazy game, Like at one point it seemed like Minnesota had complete control of the game.
The Bears come back, they.
Keep again, they going over time, and then oh, here we go Sam Donald Kayleb Williams. Sam Donald continues to impress. I think Kevin O'Connell, certainly he alluded to being really excited about having Sam Donald in the offseason.
I think all of that stuff has come in.
Fruition has done a really good job building game plans to allow Sam Donald to play to his strengths.
They have firepower. Oh hello, Jordan Addison, way.
To be the great player that we thought that maybe you could be when you came out of sc You can see Kevin O'Connell's vision for having multiple route runners on the field at the same time. When you have Addison and Jefferson, just makes the game easy for Sam Donald. And that's not even talking about TJ. Hockinson, who can
get it done over the middle. This too, is another well constructed team with the firepower to allow the quarterback to be comfortable, to allow him to play within himself, while also having the big play potential that you always want to have on offense.
I felt like this was a great example of of environment mattering and how maybe we don't take that into account. And you know, and with Sam getting a chance to play for Kevin and all the pieces that they have on this offense, and all of a sudden, he's thriving. And even on the other side. I don't want to take shots in any other coaches, but you've seen the game plan change a little bit and be a little more quarterback friendly for Caleb, and all of a sudden,
Caleb playing really well. This is best game the three hundred and forty yards with some of the spectacular mixed in. As you see this throw on the run to Swift, which was, you know, one of the best throws you'll see all season long, was ridiculous. Then the clutch throw late to get him a field goal to push this
game into overtime. He made some big time throws. Now they're still you know, taking sacks on occasion where he doesn't need to, but you've seen the environment change in terms of how they're utilizing him, and all of a sudden, the performance is taken off for Caleb and has shown
everybody why he was a top pick. I don't know, I was just watching games on Sunday when when you're not at a game, when you're sitting on your couch and just flipping through I just remember thinking, like, you know, gosh, I'm watching bo Nicks and how they're utilizing him perfectly,
and I'm just seeing some of these other situations. All of a sudden, Bryce Young from what I saw early in the season to where they're using him now, and he's got some protection, like the offensive line's playing a little bit better, and all of a sudden, now Bryce Young's playing well. We'll get to that later, but I was happy for both these quarterbacks. I think both these quarterbacks have taken a lot of heat. You know, obviously very early for Caleb, but Sam's taking it for several years.
Yeah, Caleb. And I'm gonna say this about Thomas Brown. There's something about Thomas Brown in terms of researching the last couple of weeks as he's taken over where he talked about he wanted all the coaches to do a little more. He talked and challenged the team to do a little more when it comes to buying in and cleaning everything up and doing all that. I think he's done a really good job with Kayla Williams of simplifying the game, not necessarily like asking him to do less,
but making it very very clear. I see more repeat concepts. I see things that are not coleegi it, but they make sense in their natural building blocks. As Caleb goes throughout the course of the game, you can see, Okay, they did this early, so now here's the compliment and here's the addition to and all of those things are making sense for the young quarterback. And make no mistake, because there are people that are down on Kayleb.
Williams right now. The environment matters.
We've always talked about the three p's, play caller, playmakers, protectors. They're getting that, but the play caller and the playmakers can make it easier for the protectors. We're seeing some of that happen in Chicago. The only thing that I would challenge Caleb to do is just understand time, score situation.
When you can hang on to the ball and when you need to let go of it.
But that comes with experience, and the only way you get that experience is by playing. So far, so good the last two weeks with Thomas Brown calling the place, he appears to have a good feel for how to get the young quarterback on track.
Yeah, and look he brought him back.
Unfortunately he takes a bad stack on that first drive, but they get a great punt. They're able to penn Minnesota back deep and the defense couldn't get off the field. And give give Sam Donald a company credit. He found Hockinson. He was excellent on that drive, being patient, had one big play to Justin Jefferson, who wasn't as involved in this game. But I thought the Bear's defense let him down in the overtime. But look, it's progress for Caleb.
Sam is cooking and rolling in a very very competitive division there in the NFC North. I mentioned it briefly about Bryce Young and Carolina. I thought we could jump into that game next here. Man, they gave the Chiefs all they wanted. I tweeted after the game. I said, the Chiefs just Aaron reruns at this point in time, Like I've seen this game a million times, Like, did let an other team hang around?
They score? You got under two minutes left.
Oh, look it's Patrick Mahomes taking off to run for twenty something yards to get him in field range, Like I've just I've seen this a million times.
But let's go where I was talking earlier about Bryce.
Your impressions just on him, and I'll get to what my thoughts are right what you got here.
DJ, What I'm learning with young quarterbacks, The number one thing that I want to find out when we're going through the process is their toughness level and toughness, not in terms of physical toughness, but mental toughness. For Bryce Young to endure, it seems like he's already played three seasons within this one season. For him to endure in benching, come back, go back, come back and played really well
says a lot about his intestinal fort two. That says a lot about his toughness and his ability to continue to fight through all the noise and all the doubts. Give him credit, he's looked much better the last couple of weeks. Some of the weapons around him have certainly matured and are continued to evolve. But give the young guy credit. Man, He's shown far more toughness than some would give him credit for it.
Because we talked about.
It being over in Carolina, when he's showing that it's toletally not over. There's not an epitaph on that tombstone yet.
Yeah, a couple things, A couple thoughts here. One man there was a big drop passing. One think it was Lagett who had a big drop. But I thought Bryce played as well as he's played, you know, throughout his young career.
They protected him better.
And what do you know, Lo and Behold, when you get some protection as a young quarterback, you have a better chance to succeed. Especially for a guy who's not big. You've got to give him a little bit more of a clean surrounding, which they were able to do in this game. And Hubbard has run the ball well. I want to give coach Canalis and their whole organization credit. When I was there earlier this Yearbuck, I thought this team will win maybe one or two games, like they
were awful. They were awful, and I said, look this take it to the bank. This team will have the first overall pick. They have not quit. Not only have they not only have they not quit, they've played competitive, you know, good football, and they've played above I think what their talent level is at this point in time.
So that's a credit to the organization.
The one question I have for you, and I'm I'm torn on this one because I'm a firm believer in pumping your quarterback full of confidence. I see it with Harball, with being around the Chargers, and obviously Herbert's a made man like he's not like he needs it, but I mean he's still he's going to tell everybody under the son how great his quarterback is. He's done it with everywhere he's ever been. Kevin O'Connell does the same thing. He's done it with with Sam when Sam took over
and talked about how great he's gonna be. Shoot, Kevin does it with quarterbacks aren't even on his team, you know, talking about Anthony Richardson and other young quarterbacks in the league. I just I tend to believe that quarterbacks run on confidence. And so after the game, when coach Canalis was asked, is Bryce you know, does that mean that he's the guy going forward? And you know he does that mean he's your franchise quarterback? And he said, it's too soon
for all that. You know, we just kind of going week by week. He's obviously he's earned a right to start next week. And it was you know, he's he said good things about him, but it was short of like a full This is the dude, like, this is the guy like And I don't know if you're worried about getting boxed in the then the offseason, if you want to make a change, you feel like you'd be
going back on your word. To me, I'm pumping all of the confidence into the guy who's playing quarterback until he's not.
Yeah, it's funny, DJ, because I've been studying our buddy John Gordon book kind of like the positive leadership within the team, and I just can't underestimate. Look, I can't underscore the importance of breathing life into your quarterback. And when you talk about Jim Harbar and Kevin O'Connell and how they pump up their guys at every turn, it is the hardest position in football, yet it's the one
that is also the most criticized. And the noise around the quarterback is the loudest of any other position in sports. And when you have a guy, a young guy who's drafted number one overall, who you took number one overall because you expected him to be the franchise quarterback, I don't know why you wouldn't pump him up after some of his better performances. I know that it may be out of your hands, maybe ownership wants to move on
from him or whatever. But it just doesn't make sense when you're the coach, and there's a human element to this where relationships matter when it comes to players and coaches. Man, why not Rubbis shoulders until the young guy a man, you're doing really will? I appreciate how well you are. You are playing for us, and man, you got a bright future. And even if it's not true, whether it's gonna.
Be in Carolina or not, why not give him that?
So going into the next week he feels like a superhero when he.
Walks into the field.
Yeah, no, I And look, to be fair, he didn't draft him. He just came in after that, so he inherited him. So he's an adopted son. He's not a biological son that in that term.
So he's a still kid. He's a still kid, SI kid, maybe a step kid. But look, he said nice things about him. I don't know.
I don't want to mislead you. He said good things, but it wasn't just that full court you know, belief in the guy. And I just think, what do you got to lose? You might as well just put all that belief and see what you get out of him. And then at the end of the year you can always say, hey, look we did but you know, as we've had time to look back on it and we need to get better this, that and the other. And you want to make decisions, you feel free to do so.
But I'm always gonna I'm always going to err on the side of being you know, let's just pump these dudes full of confidence and let them know that they can conquer the world. That was the best team, that's us defending super Bowl champs. Just what toe to toe with them?
Like that?
To me is my message, Like, hey guys, hey, first of all, my quarterback's good enough to beat anybody in this league, and when we give him some help and some protection, he can accomplish that. So I feel good. I'll go into a war. I'll fight with him any day of the week, Like bring them all along. We can play with anybody. So I don't know, it's just a different it's there's different thoughts on that. I see both sides of it, But that's where I would go.
Let's get to another game here Buck Miami, New England. This was a game dominated by the Dolphins, and we've been sending it on here for weeks to as valuable to his team as any other player is to their team in the entire league. This is a different team with him.
That's a big reveal DJ.
I think that's the big reveal of twenty twenty four as released to South Florida and the Miami Dolphins football team. Before for so long, all the noise was about, Yeah, anybody could flourish in this offense. Look at all the weapons in the firepower around him. All he has to do is get it to the play because we have a chance to see what it's like when he's not there. Look, man, he's the major spoke in the wheel. He kind of
makes it kind of go. He's the wheel hug. And when he is at quarterback, his skills as a quick rhythm thrower, his skills as an RBO specialist. The way the ball is always in the strike zone at these short and interminute ranges allows this offense to go. And with the speed that the Miami Dolphins have, they can really stretch you sideline the sideline with this horizontal passing game, and it's very difficult. It's a unique offense and I can only tell you how unique it is by watching
it up close and personal during the season opener. It's not an easy offense because man, they make you run from sideline to the sideline. It's almost like watching a college offense. But they have elite personnel executing those concepts. And look, the quarterback is leaked elite.
Within this system.
Two a Tony be Low as the top five quarterback in that system.
I was thinking about him in the analogy of like keys, Like there's a mass the key, right, so you have a master key that can work for an entire complex. He can get you into every room, and so that can work for every team, Like there's few quarterbacks that are the master key that they'll go fit in any room. But there's no mistaking about it, like Tua is the key to the Dolphins, Like he unlocks that whole thing.
He makes the whole thing go.
And we can debate what does that look like, doesn't matter what it looks like for the other thirty one teams. He is the perfect fit to run this offense. I don't think there's a better fit out there to do what they want to do. And it's a it's a team that's dangerous when he's when he's healthy and in the lineup, they're five and six. They're clawing their way back into this thing. I do want to give some love to Chop Robinson. They have to find more pass
rush on the perimeter. They've just been crushed with injuries really over the last couple of years. But he has one and a half sacks. Both of those he's double team. He's getting chipped by the tight end, beats a tight end and the left tackle. So that was that was good to see for the young player out of Penn State who did some good things New England. I mean, look, we've had some fun moments. They've they've been competitive. This
was not one of those games. This was a This was just them getting their butts kicked.
Yeah, I was tail kicking.
I mean, the inferior team showed up. You can see the talent disparity. You can see that they were not quite on the Dolphins level on this Sunday, and it's unfortunate, but even in a lost Drake May continues to flash at times.
The talent is certainly there.
This off season is about building around the young quarterback. It's about putting the pieces around him. To allow him to flourish. But right now they just they just can't do it. And so what you want to do is you want to play out the stream. You want to see if you have some successes that you can build upon in the off season as you're thinking about this sophomore year.
For Drake Man.
YEP, a lot of roster traditions needed there for the Patriots. Let's rip through another one here, Tennessee Houston. Maybe maybe one of the biggest surprises of the day, although I guess it shouldn't be because the Texans don't look right. Tennessee gets their third win, thirty two to twenty seven. They got sacked a bazillion times, but give Will Levis credit, still made enough plays and was able to help get them over the finish line. Their defense took the ball away.
So let's start on the Houston side of this thing. Is we look at Will Levis and we'll give him his flowers in a moment. Let's start with the Houston side and what the heck is wrong with this group right now?
DJ One of the things that I worry about coming into the hype around the Texans was so big that I don't know if they had an opportunity to fully settle in in year two of the Demico Ryan's experience, meaning people expected this team to go from being a really good team and a playoff contended to being a
title contender. Some of that was due to the names of what they brought in, but what you always have to account for is with young quarterbacks, the more tape that's put out there, the more they're going to be challenged to evolve their game. And as people begun to dig into the CJ. Stroud evaluation and what he did really well as a rookie, and as they began to really hone in on those concepts and take those away and force them to play left handed, how is he going to continue to adapt?
And right now he is struggling.
Some of that is due to the injuries where he didn't he doesn't have digs, he didn't have any Goo Collins for a big part of it, and some of that is just a natural maturation process that quarterbacks.
Have to go through. But right now now he's struggling.
He's struggling right now because teams are really honed in on his game and they're taking away some of the things that he really showed did he like to do and execute his rookie season.
That's why it was harder for him this season as opposed to last season.
A couple of things on Stroud just you can tell he's visibly frustrated. When you go through and watch the tape, you'll see it at the end of plays and one of the picks I think it was Mechi they're not on the same page, so that results in interception. You can see some visual frustration there, So he definitely is frustrated.
The other thing is I.
Would say there's two f's here, frustration and I would say frenetic. This is this is what so impressed me about Stroud last year, to be, you know, that inexperienced and to be as poised as he was, and to not be busy and fortic and panicky this year. That's kind of crept in and a lot of it.
Dude.
Look, the offensive line has not played well really across the board. Tunsil leads the league in penalties. They've get a lot of interior pressure, so they haven't been great upfront. But I think you've seen that. You've seen the combination of him getting frustrated, but maybe more concerning is just that sped him up a little bit. He's spent a little frenetic.
Yeah, he has been frenetic and the like being uncomfortable in the pocket. A lot of that has to do with the offensive line, but also DJ, You've talked about it, because I've heard you talk about your eyes and feet being connected, and we have quiet feet in the pocket. More times than not, the ball is going to be accurate. It's gonna be delivered right within the strike zone. We're not seeing that from CJ.
Strout.
And the reason death stands out on tape because he's one of the more accurate throwers that we've seen going back to his time at Ohio State early.
In his career at Houston.
This is a guy that consistently paints the corners on the strike zone. He's not doing that this year. Tells me he's not comfortable. He's either not seeing it or where he feels all of the rest or the chaos around him. That's something that the Texans have to fish and to be honest with their offense.
It has been at his best when.
Joe Mixon has been able to get off and have big games. I would expect and anticipate the Texans leaning into the running game more as they try and find a way to get their young quarterback.
Back on track. Now, let's let's quickly give some love here to Will Levis.
I feel like Will Levis kind of a punching bag because he has kind of some of those quirks. Yeah, some quirks, but like some of like some of the mistakes are pretty almost like comical for lack of a better word, at times. But there's things you can't deny about Will Levis. Number one is this toughness. Like you watch him as a ball carrier, look at his just
look at his arms. He's got bruises all over him every time you see him out there because he gives himself up trying to, you know, fight for extra yardage. And number two, he's got a big arm. You know, there's an offense that works with him, which is a run game and an over the top explosive passing game. So it's a pretty simple formula. They haven't been able to get to it as much as they would like this year. Their special teams have been abysmal, just atrocious
all year long. But I think, look, let's give all of us some credit man. He's tough, competitive, and that's a big win for him.
Yeah, that's another look. We talked about tough being a common denominated. It has been the word that we've used the entire episode when talking to quarterbacks. He does have enough toughness that you admire. It's not always pretty. I mean there have been some ugly plays from the young quarterback.
But look when he is able to do what he does really well, which has pushed the ball down the field, when they are afforded a running game, which allows him to throw play actions off the compliments, then it really works out. He gets into trouble winnus I would say obvious passing downs and everyone in the stadium.
Knows he's going to pass.
And now you're relying on him to kind of play quarterback at a high level in terms of like aptitude, understanding and diagnosing.
But when you're able to run the ball and allow him.
To take a half shots each week, he has the arm talent to be able to get it done.
Now he has to take disperformance and build upon it as they go forward.
The Titans need to see him continue to progress as a envision how they want to build this team, particularly around him going forward.
The Raiders competitive in this game for a good little bit. It took it down late into the fourth quarter. I give him credit for that, but this was more of bo Necks. This was more of Sean Payton and a marriage that looks like it's really a perfect match with a quarterback and a play color book.
Yeah, perfect match. And DJ I think we've said this right.
We didn't compare bow Knicks to Drew Brees, but we thought that Sean Payton would like him based on what he could see in terms of the similarities and traits that bow Knicks had compared to Drew Brees. And what we're seeing is he does like this. He is building this offense very similar to the way that he constructed the offense in New Orleans.
With Drew Brees as the centerpiece.
The thing about it, the running game was not available against the Raiders because of all the cover zero pressures and all the things that Patrick Graham was doing to take that away. This forced bow Knicks to have to be the driving force of the offense. And even though it has taken him a while to kind of settle in and be the passer that can throw at forty plus times, really good decision maker athletic can buy himself
out of trouble. But I would say the best part of bo Nicks's game has been the discipline and the detail that he's displayed as the starting quarterback.
We talked about the offensive Rookie of the year.
That race will still be determined, but he's not only in that conversation, he's edging past Jayden Daniels because he has his team playing playoff football. And I don't know if any of us envision the shorthanded Broncos being a playoff contender this year.
Yeah, I feel like a baseball analogy that Bonix has been able to kind of hit fifth in the lineup here where this defense is two, three, four, Like they are getting on base, they're driving in runs. It's taking off some of the pressure from him. And and look, this is an offense the knock on Bonux. All the balls out too quick like it's this you know that they don't, you know, get deep into progressions and all these things at Oregon and it's the quick you know what.
That's what the NFL is right now. The NFL is playing with two high safeties or they're playing zero looks. Like you were just talking about, you've got to be able to think quick, get the ball out quick, and move on.
And that's what he does really well.
He takes a picture in his mind, he sees the field really well, and the ball's gone. He's not going to sit back there and hold it forever. And the other thing is, you know, we talked about the Drew Brees thing, but also some of the Taysom Hill stuff, some of the movement stuff you can do with bow because they're a really, really good athlete. So it has been a beautiful marriage there and what they've been able to accomplish is impressive. I'm going to see the Broncos.
They moved that game. It got flexed in a few weeks, maybe three weeks. We've got Chargers. Broncos got flex to a Thursday night, which I don't think that's been done before.
So you take a.
Say it's the first one. It's the first one to a Thursday, and Sean Payton had to sign off on it. He was for it because I think they play the Bengals the following week and that gives them a little bit of a mini buy to get ready for that one. But that's that's shaping up to be a big game. So you know, the Broncos have earned the right to be playing meaningful games at this point in the year. And and again, I think the lead is really the defense,
which has been dominant. Uh and then bow Nix's I mean he might be the front runner right now to be Rookie of the Year. He's he's right there.
If I am an organization, if I'm the Cleveland Browns, I would pay close attention to what Sean Payton has been able to do. With the Denver Broncos being shorthanded with a quarterback situation that you might have on your hands next season. The Cleveland Browns may have to take a page of the de Sean Payton playbook to figure out how to play competitive games with a short handed rust.
Yeah no, it's it's gonna be an interesting offseason in Cleveland. All right, Let's let's get to the Dallas Washington game. Another bonkers game. This game going on at the same time as the Chicago Minnesota game.
Too nuts.
So finishes, the Commanders have a furious comeback. They end up in a pat There's a lot of special teams magic. A couple returns there for the Cowboys late in this ball game, but they snapped a five game losing streak through the Cowboys and they went thirty four to twenty six.
My first thought on this one that I'll get over to you, Buck, is we've talked so much about environment mattering for quarterbacks, and what was our big concern with Washington coming into the season was, man, this offensive line, like, how are they going to be any good? How are they going to protect Jane Daniels or how's he going to play behind the suspect offensive line? Well, they played above their heads for a good chunk of the season.
They've lost three games in a Rowbuck, Jaden's been sacked ten times in the last three games. This is kind of what our fear was at the beginning of the season.
Yeah, this is the fear like they're kind of coming back. A few things are happening with the Commanders. One we always talk about more tape allows defensive coordinators to kind of get a bitter feel for how to play your quarterback as they get later in the year.
We're seeing some of that happen.
We're seeing the inconsistencies with the running game in those things. And look, let's be honest, Jade Daniels hasn't played the.
Same since he heard his ribs.
No one knows how much that's impacting him as a runner and as a thrower. But even in spite of all that, DJ, the throw that he had to Terry mclaurren in the clutch, we drops that thing in the scene and then Terry McLaurin like.
Just takes he wants untouched. Just a great throw.
And it's unfortunate that a special teams gap takes away our ability to really put him on a pedestal and give him his flowers in terms of what he's able to do. Look, young quarterbacks are going to have these ebbs and flows that kind of go on throughout the year.
But look, he's super talented.
And I think the combination of watching Jayde Daniels watching bow Knicks and even to a lesser degree Kayleb Williams, it's gonna change our eye when it comes to quarterbacks. We used to talk about experiencing those things, but man, DJ, I don't know how you can't include a experience and starts in all that in the equation when you're beginning to evaluate and project how quarterbacks are going to play at the next level.
Yeah, well that's a good point, but that is a you know, that's a tough loss for Washington. As the Philadelphia Eagles start to create a little gap a little distance there in the NFC East, we'll see hopefully Jaden get a little healthier, they play a little better up front, and we'll see more consistency that we saw earlier in the season. Tampa Bay just throttles the Giants. There are two quick points on this one, and then I'll let you have any parting thoughts in this game. We won't
linger number one Bucky Irving. It's just another reminder stay with your initial evaluation on players. Gotta be kidding me. I loved his tape and then I just kind of fell off of him a little bit later on in the process. He's been awesome running receiving. Hat tip to Jason light that's an excellent pick there for the Bucks. They're trying to hang in this thing there at five and six. So that's my takeaway on Tampa side of things.
On the other side of it, Buck, I think that I think Daniel Jones getting benched and released is not only the best thing you know to happen for him in his career, just because he'll get a chance to get a fresh start somewhere else. But I think it's the best thing for his value because when you can't get a first down with the other quarterback, it explains
away and can excuse away some of your performance. So and again, that's why, if I'm Daniel Jones, I'm going to an elite team where I can just sit take in as much knowledge as I possibly can as we come down the home stretch here, I don't really even care to play. I mean, you can't say that if you're him, but if I'm going to be honest, I wouldn't want to play. I want to sit out the
rest of the year. I want to watch the Giants completely go in the tank, and so it explains away and excuses away some of my performance, and then I get to cherry pick my spot next year. The worst thing for him would be to go to a dumpster fire team, get thrown into the lineup without any preparation, you know, play poorly, and then you start to go, well, maybe it's this guy. You know, he hasn't been good in a couple of different spots. I think that would be a terrible idea.
Yeah, I got this because I'm gonna ask you this. I'm gonna I'm gonna give you my take on the perfect situation for him, and I don't know if they will make it into the postseason.
If I'm Daniel Jones, I go right to LA and see if I can give with Sean McVay.
And part of the reason I want to get in LA is because they may have a potential opening coming up when it comes to Matthew Stafford, whether it's this year or next year, whatever, I want to go there because I also saw what it did for Baker Mayfield coming to LA before he went to Tampa and those things. So that's my spot for him. What is the spot that you believe would be ideal for Daniel Jones?
Well, I mean I was thinking, you know, there is one. The Niners would be another one. And here's the other thing I would think of if you're going to be smart from an agent perspective. Okay, what's the most popular tree in the NFL. It's the one buck he's talking about. It's the one you're talking about bucket.
Getting.
Let's get on there, let's get let's get a month plus to learn it, and then let's also have a chance to make an impression. All these guys are all best friends, that whole circle.
Of coaches, they're all buddies. They all talk to each other.
Yes, and guess who's gonna get hired as coordinators for these jobs when they open up? Guys from that tree. So you get a chance to spend time in that offense. You get a chance to impress the really the you know, the one of the two heads of that whole family that I don't call like a crime family, but it is. It's like McVeagh and Channing as the two crime bosses that they fuel out the whole league. So I want
to get a chance to learn their system. I want a chance to impress those guys with my work ethic. But oh yeah, bonus, I might get to learn from Matthew Stafford if you go to the Rams, who's not someone that'd be a bad person to learn from.
Yeah, it's interesting because the other team that is come up, Like people talked about the Vikings, kevinnc comme that makes sense, But then the Baltimore Ravens won I can't really understand, and I guess I can understand it in terms of like them one, we have insurance whatever.
But I guess Snoopunley there. I'm trying to figure.
Can you understand what the appeal would be for Daniel Jones to go to Baltimore potentially, because that's been one of the teams that's kind of been cited as a potential suitor.
Yeah, I mean, because Lamar has been heard at times. We've seen the Ravens enter into playoffs without Lamar.
I just I wouldn't. I mean, and look, they utilize a quarterback who can move. Daniel Jones can move.
But like, there's no tree there, there's no offensive tree in Baltimore. It's an offense that's built around, you know, a very unique player in Lamar Jackson. So to me, that would not be on my list if I were him. I'm trying to get to one of those other guys. But I can see, like I can see why I would fit for this. You know, he could fit in there, but I just don't think it bodes well from going
in the next year. He ain't gonna be the quarterback in Baltimore next year, So I don't know that one doesn't make as much sense to me speaking of Baltimore Buck, I'll be there on the call for the Chargers radio as the hardball takes place here. This is the third meeting between Jim and John Harball, A big, big matchup Monday Night football. I'm looking forward to this thing, man. I've been prepping for this thing all week and watching the tape and I was I was struck by kind
of the Ravens West aspect of this thing. So let me just give you a couple scenarios or similarities. Obviously, you've got the brothers coaching the teams. You've got quarterbacks. I think we would all agree, you know, however you want to shake it out any ranking. Herbert is going to be a top five quarterback Lamar Jackson's top five quarterbacks. So you start with elite quarterback play. Let's go to on the defensive side of the ball. How about safeties
that you can play all over the field. In Derwin James and Kyle Hamilton, that's a very similar player. We look at young wide receivers Zay Flowers and Lad McConkie, guys who can win before you know, at the line of scrimmage, at the catch point and can run after the catch explosive, explosive guys, maybe not the biggest guys in the world, but very similar. You've got the two three hundred pounds fullbacks in the NFL and Scott Matt Locke and Patrick Card. You've got a bevy of tight
ends that you can utilize and that can block. You've got first round left tackles, high first round picks at left tackle. You've gone into free agency and collected a physical runner. Obviously, Derrick Henry stands alone when you're comparing him with JK. Dobbins, but they went out and shopped and found that piece. You've got linebackers at the second level who are explosive and fast. Think about Rokwan and Simpson. Then you think about Dayon Henley and what he's done
for this Chargers defense. You've got edge rushers with power and physicality on both sides. Like these teams are really kind of mirror images of one another.
They are mirror images of one another, which is really impressive in terms of Jim Harbub making sure he goes MEAs Joe Ortiz and others from the Baltimore Ravens organization to make sure that everyone in the building sees the game through the same prism.
These teams are similar because it's.
Very clear when you turn on the tape you understand what the identity is.
They are tough.
They are teams that fancy themselves as the bully on the block. Their compative style can overwhelm teams that are not prepared to face them. And when you talked about the marquee positions that you outlined on their respective teams, DJ, they have blue chair players in those places. The thing about it, and people will talk about, yeah, style of play, you worry about, narrowpath to victory.
What if they get behind, YadA YadA, YadA.
Well, DJ, there's a confidence that they have that they can seize control over any game. I'll see this though, when comparing the two teams, the Chargers have a better ability to seize control of the game with their defense because jesse Mentor has their group playing well. Even though people will point to the Sunday night game in Cincinnati going up and down the field. To me, I believe the Chargers needed to see that because they needed to
have those flaws exposed so they could tighten up. Part of what you want to do over the course of the regular season, have those tough games so you can
continue to get better down the stretch. The team that the Ravens will face will be better than the version they saw last Sunday, because I would say the exposure and the shootout that they participated in against the Bengals will help them get ready for a high flying offense in Baltimore that also can do some of the things that the Bengals did when it comes to spreading them out and throwing.
All over the yard.
One key to the game to me is the Chargers getting home with four. They've been able to do it. They play with light boxes, They've been able to stop the run with a light box, and they've been able to pressure with four. You've got to do that in this game. Lamar Jackson and studying this thing. He eats up the blitz. You blitz him, you are dead. He's going to hit big plays behind you, or he's going to crease you and go with his legs. So I don't think this is a big blitz game. I do
think on the other side of it. The last thing and I'll leave at you with this and you give me your last thought, but with Justin Herbert, the beauty of this system and Greg Roman and the way that they've brought this thing in is I use the Superman analogy.
Right.
They give him a lot of Clark Kent games. Look, there's gonna be there's gonna be six to eight games every year on your schedule where we can win with you being Clark Kent. Like, we don't even have to take the driver out of the bag. We are not going to screw up. We're not going to lose the game. We're not gonna put you in harm's way. We can Clark Kent our way to this thing. This is a Superman game, Like, this is okay, let's go onto the phone booth and you're gonna have to make some big
boy plays today. You're going to have to be you know, that elite, elite player. So I think that's kind of the analogy I would use with how they've built this team and what they need from Justin Herbert.
Yeah, you know that's the thing and INDJ I know people get frustrated with that, but I kind of feel like Jim harper One being a quarterback, understands the beauty and having a franchise quarterback, isn't that you use them for all seventeen games, it's five or six games where you need that franchise quarterback to play at an elite level in terms of like being able to raise the
game and kind of put everything on his shoulder. Justin Herbert has shown that ability throughout his time in the league. He's done and you don't compile the kind of the numbers that he's compiled without having that. But in a more controlled environment like he's playing in now, you don't need to use them like that.
But this could be the game where you can do.
It, where you can say, hey, Justin, we're gonna have to throw it a little more because they're gonn take the runaway.
We're gonna have to throw it all over to the yard.
Or there's some vulnerabilities in the back end that we can attack. Look for Justin Herbert to kind of put on the cape a little more tonight. Maybe he's as superman this week that we haven't seen in a few weeks, where he has to come out and.
Do some special stuff.
Yep, looking forward to it. We saw it in the first half against the Bengals. They weren't able to keep it going. But I think he's gonna need four quarters of that play in this game if they're gonna knock off a very very good Baltimore Ravens team. So we'll have reaction to this game tomorrow on the show. We appreciate you guys hanging with us today. It's been fun. It was a wild weekend of football and glad we could break it all down for you right here. We'll
see it tomorrow right here on. Move the sticks.
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