GMFB Wednesday Hour 2: NFC East woes, Broncos Offense, and AFC South odds

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0:21 Good Morning Football.

0:25 That's right.

0:25 This is Good Morning Football presented by Old Trapper Beef Jerky.

0:29 Wednesday, October 14th. Full breakfast table here in Los Angeles.

0:33 Table for four to talk about the NFL. Jamie Erdahl, Manti Teo, Dante Wittner still here. Isaiah Stambach returns as well, which is great because the Packers have a fun or the Cowboys have a fun opponent this week.

0:45 It is the Packers and we have a lot of topics to get to. So let's get rolling on our second hour here on a Wednesday. Three and out it is.

0:52 Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons anticipated return from his knee injury last season has now pushed beyond the mid-October goal, which gives him plenty of time to enter the chat in regards to the Commanders' clock management at the end of their game against the Giants.

1:07 Jaden Daniels probably cost my man Dan quitting his job, to be honest with you.

1:11 That's tough. To be honest with you. And, like, I'm a big Jaden Daniels fan.

1:16 But the reality is, like, he probably cost a lot of people their jobs this past weekend.

1:21 So you put none of that on the coaches here?

1:23 Hey, bro, and all respectfully, we get coached so much on these situations that, like, I'm a defensive player, and this is programmed in me.

1:34 I know what to do in those situations. 100%. There's no way I'm taking a sack with 14 seconds of no timeouts.

1:43 Yes, Micah, yes.

1:46 Listen, it was a rough week five all around for the NFC East, okay? Of course, it's the Giants-Commanders tie. It's the Eagles and the heartbreaking loss of the Jaguars in London. And it's the Cowboys and whatever happened with them and the Buccaneers on Thursday night. So we're five weeks into the season. Mansai, where do we stand on the NFC East right now?

2:07 I don't know, Jamie.

2:08 Loaded topic.

2:09 Yes, so I think right now, out of all four teams, the team that's playing like the most complete team for me is the New York Giants. They're playing with a belief in each other. They're playing with a belief in their coach. You see it the way the defense responds. You see how they support each other after mistakes. You see Jameis going over there to his receivers and say, hey, it's okay.

2:29 It's a drop ball.

2:29 It's on me. I'll get your back.

2:31 You see them going over. I think Abdul Carter went over to the kicker. during the game and say, hey, you're going to be okay.

2:37 I can support you.

2:38 There's just a lot of camaraderie with the Giants team, and they're playing that way. Now, when I look at the other three, Cowboys, the Commanders, and the Eagles, there's just a lot going on there for me. The Cowboys, they should be doing a lot better, Zay, than they're doing, and I don't know why. The defense, it's... The defense is bad, and it's really bad. The offense, though, last week, a lot of turnovers. And you have CeeDee Lamb, you got George Pickens. It should look a lot better than that.

3:04 They should be a lot more explosive than that. Commanders, I don't know what to say about them.

3:10 And then the Eagles, you have another hiccup late in the game.

3:14 So I don't know what it is for three out of the four, Jamie, but right now I really like what's going on with the New York Giants. They're playing the best brand of football to me, Dante.

3:22 Okay. Right now, the NFC East looks like everybody wants to be the king, but nobody wants to wear the crown. And the crazy part is the New York Giants lead the division. They're 3-1-1. But I'm not ready to give up on the Philadelphia Eagles. The Philadelphia Eagles aren't getting blown off the football. They should have beat the Jacksonville Jaguars.

3:42 Look at this entire division. Nobody's playing complimentary football. Look at the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys, they can score points on offense, but their defense can't stop a nosebleed. Look at the Washington Commanders. They have a young, dynamic quarterback in Jaden Daniels, but their defense in situational football is letting the.

4:01 Team down every week.

4:02 When you look at the New York Giants, yes, they're contending, but I don't know if they can keep this up. So if I'm the Philadelphia Eagles... I'm looking around like, hey, we're two and three. We're not out of this thing. We don't need to be great in this division. We just need to be consistent and play complimentary football. So I know everybody's down on their Philadelphia Eagles, but I still believe in Jalen Hurts, and they're starting to get healthy.

4:27 They're going to have Saquon Barkley back, and they're going to have Devontae Smith.

4:32 They have Cooper.

4:33 They have D'Ottavion Wicks, who have filled in well for them. I'm still liking the Philadelphia Eagles in that division.

4:38 Scheduled quirk for the Eagles, they opt to not have the bye coming back from London after playing the Jaguars. And so after playing the Panthers this week, they have all three divisional opponents lined up, Cowboys.

4:48 And the Manders Giants.

4:49 So a team can opt not to have?

4:51 Oh, interesting.

4:52 Exactly.

4:52 It's now your choice.

4:53 So because the international schedule is so vast between week four and it goes all the way to week 11 or something like that, a week four team, you're not forced to have a week five bye now. You can actually choose because they've mastered the England travel so beautifully that you can now choose to come back and have a home game and keep playing. So that's what the Eagles have decided to do.

5:14 Jamie, do you know who Bubba Sparks is? What was his main song? Do you remember his main song?

5:20 All I can think of right now is booty, booty, booty, booty.

5:22 That was a good one. That's not the one I'm going with, Jamie.

5:25 But I'm glad you're on it, though.

5:29 You have to speak it.

5:31 It's okay, Jamie. It's all right. I'm with you. That's your hype song.

5:35 I'm going to go with Bubba Sparks Ugly. I'm going to go with Bubba Sparks Ugly. That's exactly what the NFC East is right now.

5:41 It is ugly.

5:42 I don't know that one.

5:43 You don't know that one? Booty, booty, booty.

5:45 Um.

5:46 Right now, dare I say that the Giants are the most trusted team in the NFC East right now?

5:53 Listen, we're going to talk about the Cowboys. You guys know I work for them. There's a lot going on there. But the Giants, they're consistently good on both sides of the ball.

6:02 The only question mark you have about the Giants is Jameis Winston?

6:05 Yeah.

6:06 Don't trust him.

6:07 Don't trust him?

6:09 You can work around that somewhat, right? You can work around that. And a lot of people would say, you can't work around a quarterback.

6:13 You can. You can, especially a veteran one. But that's all.

6:17 You don't worry about the running game. You don't worry about their ability to blow people off the ball. You don't worry about their defense, being able to get turnovers, get to the quarterback.

6:23 You trust the Giants. The Eagles are on a three-game losing streak. Who are they?

6:29 Obviously, they have some injuries right now that they're waiting for those guys to come back. But are they literally just dependent upon those handful of players to be the winning factor for them? And you start talking about the commanders. The commanders are in dire straits right now. The commanders, their quarterback is injured, they don't have an identity, they have a 30-year-old offensive coordinator that we just saw some of the mishaps show up on the field for them.

6:52 So they don't have a true identity and they have to get back to being dominant on one side of the ball. Dan Quinn was brought in to be dominant as a defensive mind and he brought in his guy Joe Witt Jr., all those kind of things. They don't even have that going for them right now. So the commanders to me are the least capable, the least trusted.

7:10 The Cowboys are gonna hopefully figure this thing out, right? They bringing in new coaches and things of that nature. The Eagles, I don't know who you are.

7:16 The Eagles had Jacksonville beat.

7:18 I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying. But right now, to me, they are the least outside of the commanders. I don't know what Philly is.

7:26 I truly don't.

7:26 And I think that they're so dependent on Barkley. They are so dependent on Slim Reaper that if they don't have those guys in there, they're hurting and they can't win ballgames. I'm not saying that's the only reason why they're not winning, but I'm saying it's such a huge factor for them that they have to have those guys back.

7:42 Got to love Bubba Sparks. Got to love Bubba Ventron. Shout out to you. Rams are having a tough special teams week, all right, because he's the coordinator now for L.A. Let's check in on the Broncos' offense. They are now in the hands of Sean Payton, which we kind of knew was going to happen for this team, but here we are. Their total offense is not great, and they sit at 3-2 heading into Week 6. Bo Nix has struggled to get things going, and now he's entered his self-scout era.

8:07 Take a listen.

8:08 Honestly, really and truly, the biggest battle right now is like, Want to be aggressive, want to be aggressive, want to be aggressive, and then you see stats and you're like, well, this team is causing the most turnovers in the league. And then you're like, okay, well, I can't put my team in a situation where I'm turning the football over and putting our defense in a bad spot, giving them a short field.

8:25 And at the end of the day, it's like, who cares?

8:27 You know, like, why would I go out there worried about throwing an interception? Why would I go out there trying to– Throw every football 50 yards down the field.

8:36 Just play the play. If the play's there, hit it. If it's not there, check it down, run, throw it away, punt. Who cares?

8:42 That's the play that I was dealt, and I have to do, just remind myself not to play hero ball.

8:48 It's just one play at a time.

8:51 All right, so for the Broncos to get back into the playoff conversation and make another run like they did last year, they need Bo Nix to, quote, become more game manager and not play hero ball Manti.

9:02 Do you agree with this?

9:04 I think that Bo Nix needs to needs a little bit of help. They don't have a run game right now.

9:09 You look at that. I think J.K.

9:10 Dobbins has like a little bit over 200 yards rushing in four weeks. And when you think about all the other running backs in the run games.

9:17 You got out there. You got the Seattle Seahawks. You got the San Francisco 49ers. You got B. John. You got Jameer.

9:22 And you start to see what those offenses.

9:23 Look like with a respectful.

9:26 Run game and then you look at the Packers and what that looks like without a run game and that nightmare.

9:33 It's the same thing.

9:34 That's going on with the Denver Broncos I know Sean took over the play calling but I'm hopeful and this is one thing about Sean is yes he likes to throw the ball around the yard but He is a two-headed monster running back. Let's thunder lightning this thing and let's get this run game going. And so in order to help Bo Nix, whether he's a game manager, whether he's a hero guy, they need to help him out first by establishing the run and then allow him to manage the game with all of those weapons you got over there because they have the weapons with Jalen Waddle in the receiving game. and Cortland Sutton, but unless you can establish a run game, it's all for naught.

10:08 I think he absolutely needs to be a game manager. Most people hear game manager and they think it's an insult.

10:13 Correct.

10:13 When I see a quarterback that manages the game, take care of the football, and wins, that's a smart quarterback. Bo Nix does not need to be Superman. Bo Nix needs to understand when to put a Superman cape on and when to leave it in the locker room. And as a defensive player, you love facing quarterbacks that think they need to make the spectacular play all the time.

10:35 You know why?

10:36 Because eventually he's going to turn the football over.

10:38 He's going to give it to you.

10:40 Bo Nix's job is to identify the cover, is to understand where the pressure is coming from and have an answer for it, and get the ball to the playmakers.

10:50 And look at how they're set up.

10:51 Their defense can win games for them.

10:54 Pass rush, turnovers, short field.

10:57 So, Bo Nix, you need to be a game manager, play to your defense, and when the plays are presenting.

11:04 Themselves, you take them.

11:05 But until then, just let your playmakers make the plays for you.

11:08 Be a bus driver.

11:09 Absolutely.

11:10 Yeah, I like my bus driver from back in the day.

11:12 You know who it is, and if there was a different bus driver, you didn't really know what the heck was going on.

11:16 You didn't trust him.

11:17 He didn't know what the heck was going on. Where are we going? You could fall asleep, and you'd be stuck, but just stop moving out the window. But my mom said, don't get in a car with a stranger. Exactly. No, I'm on par with you.

11:28 I believe that Bo Nix needs to become more dependent and reliable upon his coach. Sean Payton is going to put you in a position to be successful. All you have to do is execute. I am on record and I will stand by it today by saying that the Denver Broncos have the most weapons on offense in the league.

11:46 The deepest wide receiver room to me that you can trust. Possession guys, big play guys, red zone guys. The running back room is electric. You got guys that can go downhill. You got guys that get outside the tackle box. Guys that can go line up as a receiver. These guys are so versatile. You don't have to be Superman, right?

12:02 You don't have to be Superman. Matter of fact, you can just be Clark Kent. Just be Clark Kent. Just walk out.

12:06 Don't even walk in the phone booth, right?

12:07 Just walk down the street and just take care of guys. Get the guys the ball in their hand. All you have to do is when you get outside of the pocket– Move the chains. One thing I learned when I was playing in New England with Tom Brady is make football boring.

12:22 Make the game boring.

12:23 When you trust and you understand exactly the, you talk about situational football, you start talking about down the distance, you start talking about, okay, bubble screens and little dink and dunk passes.

12:33 As long as those chains are moving.

12:35 Guys like you guys that play defense are getting frustrated because what you guys want to do is have somebody take risks. What you want to have somebody do is say, give me a chance to go make a play.

12:44 But when they constantly are getting four and five yards a pop, you can't do.

12:47 Nothing but tackle. And tackling is not exciting. Now you're trying to get the peanut punch and trying to get the ball out. You know, that's your only chance at stopping the offense. That's exactly the type of offense these guys should be.

12:57 Dink and dunk. These guys are playmakers. Yards after catch. Get it in their hands. Let them do what they do.

13:01 When the defense starts getting impatient, now they start taking more risks. Ah, now I can step in the phone booth and push the ball down the field.

13:08 Yeah, you get tackled in the middle of the field and the clock keeps going. Now you have like a nine-minute drive and they're gasping for air.

13:14 In the red zone.

13:14 It's the perfect recipe.

13:15 Especially in Denver.

13:16 Boring football.

13:17 Yes.

13:18 Especially mile high.

13:19 Totally.

13:21 Last topic for three and out.

13:22 We're still wrapping our minds around the journey that we went on over the weekend with Marvin Harrison Jr. On Saturday, we learned that he's on the move. Team was TBD, though, only for the Texans then to win their first game of the year. And D'Amico Ryans announces in the postgame, it's us.

13:37 We got him.

13:38 Now we glean more information on the trade and what Marvin Harrison Jr.

13:42 Can do for Houston.

13:44 We're excited to add Marvin to our team. He's another, I think, really great playmaker. He's crushed a lot of college records, got multiple thousand yards, receiving seasons in college, All-American, always been a top receiver when he's been on the field. He has good rapport with CJ from their time at Ohio State. So nothing wrong with adding great players, as many as we can get to help us go out and play winning football. That's what this was all about.

14:13 So D'Amico mentioned it.

14:15 These two go back to their Ohio State days, a fantastic connection they had, especially in the red zone. But does Houston have life in the AFC South after this trade, Bantai?

14:23 For me, it doesn't change anything for the Houston Texans offense. Their biggest point of concern right there is this offensive line. Unless you brought somebody in from center to guard to tackle, that's what's going to change stuff for the Houston Texans offense.

14:36 That's what's going to change stuff. for C.J.

14:38 Stroud because I know you bring in Marvin Harrison Jr. And yes, he's a good player. He played with C.J. Stroud in college. But you have Nico Collins and you have Keyshawn Booty. Keyshawn Booty last year for the New England Patriots was electric.

14:52 So you have somebody like that already on your team.

14:54 And Nico Collins, you already saw the type of impact that he can have when he came back from injury.

14:59 But if C.J.

15:00 Stroud doesn't have time to throw the football, if that run game that is averaging like around three yards per carry, which is horrendous, doesn't increase, that production for the offensive side of the ball for the Texans isn't going to change.

15:12 And so, knowing what I'm going to get.

15:14 Everywhere else, it's just the offensive line to me, guys, was the point, was the area that they needed to address.

15:20 And bringing Marvin Harrison Jr. over doesn't address those needs.

15:25 I totally agree with you. And let's not get it confused.

15:29 Having a heartbeat and being a healthy team are two different things.

15:34 Dante, I love you coming. Like, the first two lines of your takes, bro, is like a bar.

15:38 That's how it's got to be.

15:39 Quote, bar, boom, get into your take.

15:40 That's how it's going to be.

15:42 And when you look at this offensive line, they're 31st running in the National Football League.

15:48 They can't protect C.J.

15:49 Straub.

15:50 Yeah, you go out and get Marvin Harrison Jr. You'll have Tank Dale returning at some point and Nico Collins. That gives them a formidable trio of wide receivers. But if you can't protect the quarterback, it means nothing. And then another thing is this defense that was so vaunted coming into the season, they have drastically underperformed. Look at their cornerbacks, Stingley and Kamari Lassiter. They're giving up explosive plays every week. this defense isn't making the impact that they thought they were going to make. And this is why D'Amico Ryans took over and assumed the defensive play calling.

16:23 So he understands that the light is blinking red right now.

16:26 So unless they.

16:27 Can go on a four, five-game.

16:29 Winning streak, I don't think it really matters with the acquisition of Marvin Harrison Jr.

16:33 At this point. I'm going to go against the grain here. I think it does matter.

16:38 I do agree with you guys in regards to the offensive line. You can't do anything on offense without a solid offensive line. And if they can't protect, it don't matter. If you can't run the ball, it don't matter. But we do know one thing.

16:49 If you want to improve your run game, you can do two things.

16:53 You can get an offensive line that can go out there and move people off the ball because I'm a believer that most running backs in this league can run the ball, right, as long as they protect it. So offensive line can impact it, or you can go out there and add weapons. If you add weapons on the outside that are threats to getting over the top of the opposing defense, now you start dictating how many people can be.

17:12 In the box.

17:13 And Manti, there's nothing that you love more than to have my hit man right here being able to walk down in the box and support you on run support, right? But if you have two receivers that can now threaten you deep, We all know Robert Harrison, Jr. Has a lot of work to do to get his confidence back.

17:29 But if he is to get his confidence back and start playing like we've seen him play in.

17:32 College and in his rookie year, then there's a problem. All right?

17:36 That's a big if.

17:37 It's a big if.

17:38 But that's what they're banking on. That is exactly what they're banking on. But let's look at the fact. This dude is a playmaker down the field. Look at these two working together.

17:44 Okay?

17:45 That's five years ago.

17:46 I don't give a doggone. Confidence is absolutely everything.

17:50 In the NFL.

17:51 I have a rebuttal for you, though.

17:52 I have a rebuttal.

17:53 What you got?

17:53 When you don't have the ability to run the ball, you keep two safeties deep and you stop the run with seven in the box. So I have one over Nico Collins. I have one over Marvin Harrison. How do you throw the ball down the field then?

18:05 Dalton Schultz needs to take off. And you have a Dalton Schultz at tight end. And so what I'm saying is it's not going to be an overnight thing. But what I do know is that I don't care how great of a player you might be. If my confidence is compromised, I am not even going to be a shell of who.

18:21 I used to be.

18:22 However, as soon as I start getting that thing back, like Stella, as soon as I start getting my groove back, now all of a sudden, I remember who you are. You guys remember that from Black Panther? Remember who you are, because if he remembers who he is, along with Nico Collins, along with the Tank Dale coming back, and a Dalton Schultz, all of a sudden, they start puffing their chests out a little bit.

18:42 That you're forecasting for like next year or something because you also have to come into the building and learn the system. You have to learn the checks. You have to know the depth of the routes. You have to know where to align. How long is that going to.

18:54 Take for it?

18:54 When you get to play with your QB. that you spent years with, that you have this, this, this. So they're gonna be roommates? They probably will. They probably will. I would actually suggest that.

19:05 Okay.

19:06 I would actually suggest that. Go stay at the crib with CJ.

19:08 Right.

19:08 Right, get on track, get on pace as fast as you can.

19:11 Go in there, I don't know how small I don't know how smart he is. I don't know how fast he can absorb a system. I don't know how similar this system is to what he was running Arizona.

19:18 We don't know.

19:19 We can speculate all day long. Maybe some of the concepts are the same. Maybe the language is the same. Or maybe they changed things up to start doing what they did in college. Maybe everybody adapts and starts welcoming him in.

19:29 We don't know.

19:31 It's a nice sentiment.

19:33 However, we saw this attempted a couple years back with one of the most prolific and high chemistry partners in Aaron Rodgers and Devontae Adams, and that did not pan out well when it turned to the Jets. And they didn't have a run game, and the play calling was all weird there. So it has to work on all fronts, and it hasn't up until this point, and he's not the magical wizard.

19:54 Wide receiver that I think.

19:56 He wasn't for the Cardinals, so it's hard to see it happening immediately for the Texans.

20:00 I think this has a.

20:01 Future game plan more so with the case where C.J. Stroud gets his contract done because they're both on their rookie deal still.

20:07 Moving on. Week six of the season starts on Sunday morning.

20:11 It starts on Thursday night, but on Sunday morning, Texans and the Jaguars play at Wembley Stadium as the international games continue. Sunday, 9.30 a.m. Eastern, right here on NFL Network and the ESPN app. Then it wraps with the Commanders visiting the 49ers with a Monday Night Football special. It's a perfect San Francisco team hosting a team that has a tie at the end of their record.

20:31 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC, ESPN, and the ESPN app. Can you tell by the tone of my voice how I feel about the tie?

20:36 Now let's bring in NFL Network insider Mike Garofalo. It's not the nature of the tie.

20:40 It's just a tie. It's a concept. Mike, gee, it's not great.

20:43 You have some quarterback news for us, starting with the status of Baker Mayfield and when his possible return could happen.

20:49 Maybe, maybe this week, although I would say likely not, Jamie, for Baker Mayfield. He's got that dislocated thumb. Look, we know Baker Mayfield is pushing to get back on the field as soon as possible. He might do some stuff in practice this week. But two games, you see, that he's missed already. We were thinking three was the minimum.

21:09 So I'd say his chances are minimal. Maybe he can do something to convince him this week. We shall see. But as of right now, I would expect Jalen Daniels to be the guy against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lamar Jackson, he's doing better. Jesse Minter said that the other day. He actually made some progress last week, just not enough to get back on the practice field. Will he get on the practice field this week? and put himself in a position to play.

21:32 We shall see.

21:32 I know he is efforting as much as he possibly can.

21:35 Rookie wide receiver.

21:36 Jacoby Lane, by the way, Ian Rappaport and I just reported this. He's expected to return to practice. He has a shot four weeks after wrist surgery. Then there's Caleb Williams, another quarterback that's pushing to get back on the field with that hamstring injury. He is, yeah, trending in the right direction is a good way to put it. He's got to make his way through the week.

21:54 It's a hamstring.

21:54 You never know.

21:55 Could there be a tweak.

21:56 Along the way?

21:57 We can't predict these kinds of things, but Caleb Williams on the right track. This is about how much we thought he would miss with that hamstring injury. And then there is Montez Sweat for the Bears, the defensive end, suspended for two games without pay, and it is a lot of pay that he's going to miss, by the way, for violating the performance-enhancing rules substances policy, so the Bears are going to be without sweat there for the game against the Falcons and the Patriots to follow after that, Jamie.

22:25 Thank you, Mike Garofalo.

22:26 Talked to you in a little bit. Keeping you busy today. A lot of topics to get to. We have the rest of our show, though, to wrap up on a Wednesday.

22:32 Coming up, after an.

22:34 Off-season of additions to the Dallas defense, there is not a name we said more than Chrissy Parker's name.

22:40 We're just not quite there when.

22:42 It comes to living up to expectations for this team as a whole. So, they have a coaching reinforcement move they've made.

22:49 There's a new man in town. We know his name. Is he the answer that they need? He being Mike Petten, Manti.

22:55 We will see.

22:56 Plus, we've got five random questions and 60 seconds on the clock.

23:00 No timeouts.

23:01 Guys, don't mess this up, boys, okay? Let's get through these five plays without messing this thing up.

23:05 It's another edition of In-N-Out right here on Good Morning Football.

23:08 Let's go.

23:19 Good morning football.

23:21 It's time for What's Your Beef? presented by Old Trapper Beef Jerky. Sometimes you come across people in life and you're like, wow, person's incredible at their job.

23:28 They're so talented. They're well-rounded.

23:29 You kind of need them to be a jerk just because then it like really balances out the universe. But like this person that I have a beef with this morning, he's got it all. He's great at everything and he's a nice guy. And that is the fact that Joe Buck, after calling play-by-play in the Monday Night Football booth on Monday night and had a fantastic call of the Bills overtime win with L.A., then gets the assignment to guest judge Dancing with the Stars last night here in Hollywood.

23:54 And I don't know, could he have done poorly? Nay, he did not. He was fantastic. I was in the studio audience last night. I sat behind his wife. He stuck the landing on every single line.

24:05 Call that he had.

24:06 There's Joe with Guillermo, who was eliminated, unfortunately, last night.

24:10 I know.

24:11 But Joe Buck, who is perfect, he gets introduced, and Julianne Hough is like, so, Joe, what do you think? There's Emmett, there's DeMarcus Ware, Donald Driver, Danny Amendola, because it was Super Bowl night. So Julianne Hough asks Joe Buck, Joe, what do you want to see tonight? I know our ballroom is very different than the broadcast booth.

24:28 Joe's like.

24:30 I know nothing about dance. My wife was a dancer. She was a Denver Broncos cheerleader. So I'm, you know, relying on her expertise to be.

24:37 In his life.

24:38 And then Joe, I know what you did, dude. I know that you watched every other judge's score and you went with the popular vote of positivity and you added plus one to every single, you got three sevens across the board and Joe Buck hits him with an eight and the studio audience lose their minds. And I'm like, Joe, you wizard. You're so smart. You're good at everything. And that is why I have beef with you this morning. Man, Ty, it was a fantastic event.

24:59 Joe is just so good.

25:00 Like, one of the qualities of somebody that is great at their job is they can go to different arts and feel like they belong, right? Joe did our Jeopardy thing a couple months ago. He did that, Dancing with the Stars. He does Monday Night Football. I didn't even know that, Zay, you did the bull riding thing, right?

25:16 Going from one sport to another, going from one art to another, especially within 24 hours, that takes a whole bunch of talent. But more importantly, it takes a lot of work ethic, because for Joe to be up there, and he seems like he's been, I know he says he doesn't know how to dance, but he seems like he's been there before, that's a huge compliment to his professionalism.

25:33 I love Joe Buck, he's the best.

25:34 Sounds like adaptability to me, right? So you can go from the NFL, I could play baseball, I could have made it to the.

25:40 NBA as well.

25:41 You?

25:42 No, I'm too short.

25:48 I've always respected Joe Buck, though.

25:50 The voice.

25:51 And a lot of times when you meet these guys, they sound the same way that they do on TV when.

25:55 You speak to them in person.

25:56 So it's just a true professional and adaptability is what he put on display.

26:00 Man, respect.

26:01 Respect, preparation.

26:02 We all have worn many hats, but the fact that he can jump from one sport to another sport, I guess you'd call it.

26:09 Sure, yes.

26:10 Yeah, I mean- It's an art. It's definitely an art. You can't take it for granted. TV is not easy for those at home. TV is not easy.

26:16 People who are really good at it, everybody has a high regard for them because of their versatility.

26:20 It's absolutely a sport because Guillermo's partner, the professional Whitney, who was eliminated with him, was like five months pregnant last night, and she's doing the splits to start their dance.

26:28 That is a sport.

26:30 Joe Buck, I love you. My beef is not with you whatsoever. You know that was said out of love. And it was a fantastic event that I got to bring my oldest daughter to.

26:37 And the look on this child's face when she came into the ballroom is fantastic.

26:43 So here she comes. Usually I take her to a football game. Look at this as she turns around and looks at me.

26:47 She's like, I can't. She got a new purse.

26:55 I love that, James.

26:59 Have you heard the.

27:00 Cowboys are bringing in Mike Pettin as their new senior defensive assistant to assist Christian Parker and to get the defense back on track because the defense is ranked 31st right now in total defense in the league. Now, head coach Brian Schottenheimer spoke about this decision.

27:15 Recently to add.

27:17 I think Pat's experience not only in football, but his experience in this system of what we do, his understanding of the 3-4 family. He has the awareness of some of our players, Kenny Clark, Rashawn Gary. You know, he was the coordinator when.

27:35 CP was there.

27:35 So I think it's just a great fit and a guy that, you know, certainly brings a bunch of experience to the entire staff, myself included. If you think about it, you know, we have someone like that on the offensive side. with Ken Dorsey, and so very excited to having Pat join us.

27:51 This is really unfortunate for the Cowboys because we had a high expectation. They go and they unearth Christian Parker from the Philadelphia Eagles, and he was supposed to be the game changer for this team. It's not been great, and they coughed one up to the Bucs at home on Thursday night, many calling it the worst loss to the Cowboys in a long time in the regular season. Dante, you know Mike Patton quite well. You played for him with the Cleveland Browns. You know what kind of influence he can have on teams or specifically more the defense.

28:17 So what do you make of this decision?

28:19 Well, Mike Pettin isn't changing that defense. You can go and bring in Bill Belichick, Dick LeBeau, and Buddy Ryan. If your players cannot cover, if they can't tackle, if they can't get after the passer, it does not matter.

28:31 Who calls the plays. And I just heard Schottenhammer tell a blatant lie on TV.

28:35 Oh, no.

28:35 He said that Mike Pettin has expertise in this system?

28:38 How?

28:40 Mike Payton got his system from the Rex.

28:42 Ryan brothers, right? The blitzing, the attacking.

28:45 You're at the point of attack, getting hits on your quarterback, trying to force turnovers, tips and overthrows, and fumbles. Christian Parker, he assumed his defensive philosophy and structure from... Vic Fangio, a lot of four-man rush, a lot of two-zone, a lot of four-zone, a lot of different versions of cover three.

29:04 He rarely blitzes. So how does he have expertise in this system? So I don't think that he'll make much of a difference when it comes to this Dallas Cowboys defense.

29:13 It's about the players.

29:15 Yeah.

29:15 Look at the amount of money that they're playing these defensive tackles. Mm-hmm.

29:19 Their panties defensive tackles. What's their names?

29:22 You know, you couldn't win Williams and.

29:24 Kenny Clark and Kenny Clark.

29:26 What?

29:26 Fifty seven million dollars to do nothing. They have 27 tackles, one sack and four tackles for loss on the season. The defense starts and ends up front. You have to stop the run with your defensive tackles.

29:39 You have to get.

29:40 Interior pressure and it takes pressure off your secondary.

29:43 Deron Blum.

29:44 He's getting paid 23 million dollars he's ranked 79th out of 90 cornerbacks in the national football league if your players can't cover they can't tackle they can't give pressure and they don't take the onus of the defense nobody's coming in.

29:57 To change Hasn't that been the story for the Cowboys the past few years? Defensively, it's like your highest paying guys just don't produce for you when you need them to. Well, I'm going to ask you, Dante, you played under Mike.

30:11 How is he as a leader?

30:12 Is he somebody that can come in there and really put a fire under some guys?

30:16 Or is he kind of like a passive dude?

30:18 He's very passive.

30:19 He's not the leader of men.

30:21 When he was in our building, we were getting fired.

30:23 Everybody knew that we were about to get cut, and the coaches were going to get fired.

30:27 And you know what they did?

30:28 They brought players in the room asking, oh, what should we do to this defense?

30:32 How should we tweak this? What should we do here?

30:35 Once it gets to that point, it's like, oh, you were just a front runner.

30:39 You don't really have the answers to the test. So I don't think that he'll have the answers for that Dallas Cowboys defense either.

30:45 Well, the reason why I ask you that question is another thing that I saw with the Cowboys defense the past few weeks is a lack of effort.

30:51 Lack of accountability.

30:52 There's a lack of just push. I mean, from the two main guys you just talked about, there was a big play last week with Bucky Urban just cutting up a defense, and you see guys walking.

31:01 Yeah.

31:01 Right?

31:02 And so I think this is it.

31:03 Right here.

31:04 Just watch Quinnen. Quinnen just walked. He's walking on the football field.

31:07 Just walking.

31:08 That right there. There's a documentary out right now. If anybody wants to go watch it, there's a man named Nick Saban. I don't know if you heard about him. Just look at the difference, right? There's a reason why you need to be a certain character man to stand in front of a locker room filled with men. Because when you need them to respond, you need them to perform, it takes a Nick Saban type of character to go up in there and light some fire under some people.

31:32 If he can't get that juice, if he can't bring the technique, if his techniques are opposite over the techniques that Christian Parker is teaching him.

31:39 I don't know how this helps.

31:41 Lot needs to change. There's a lot that needs to change. This team has no identity right now. Defensively, they don't have identity. A lot of people that they went and acquired this offseason have not been able to contribute due to injury.

31:53 Kobe Durant was out. Joey Porter Jr. was sick.

31:56 P.J.

31:57 Locke, Thompson at safety position. A lot of these guys haven't been available to them.

32:02 All defensive backs.

32:05 Absolutely.

32:06 Absolutely. So they're hurting. This problem is with the front, though. No, no, no. Let me address it. Let me address it.

32:09 So the back half has been compromised, and they're literally playing guys who were on practice squad who have been moved up to play on the roster. These guys are being asked to do things that are outside of their current abilities and their scope, right? They weren't originally on the main roster, so they're being asked to do things outside of themselves. Working your way down to the linebacker position.

32:28 DeMarvion Overshawn has been present. Dee Winters has, in my opinion, has underperformed. Jayshon Barham, your best linebacker right now, is a rookie. And he's learning it. He's doing his thing as best as he possibly can. He's the most physical guy that you have over there. That's where they're at in the linebacker position. Work your way down to the defensive line. The first three weeks of the season, they were running what Christian Parker wanted to do, which was a two-gap scheme. The defensive linemen literally come up, they grab an offensive lineman, they peekaboo this way, they peekaboo that way. They pick whichever lane they need to go address, and then they go out there and try to secure

32:59 a tackle.

32:59 That's what was.

33:01 Being asked ass of those defensive linemen.

33:04 See, that's wrong, though, Zay. It's a two-gap. You're playing two-gap.

33:07 I understand that.

33:08 The linemen, you're playing the front side, and the linebacker's playing the back side.

33:12 That's a really great area where it's like, no, you're a two-gapper, but you need to play one side of that thing.

33:18 But when you think about Vic Fangio's defense, it stopped the run with seven in the box. You need those guys up front to play two-gaps. There's not enough gaps up there, but you also need them to get penetration. You also need them to restrict space. You also need them in rush blitzes not to create vertical gaps and lateral gaps. Everybody has to work at one. You need Von Miller, who you brought in, who's been a double-digit guy in the league, is going to be a Hall of Famer, to not be rushing the quarterback on running plays. Barham, how many times on film I've watched this, and Barham, The ball is coming on the power to the left, and he backdoors it and runs through the B gap.

33:55 That's just the worst type of football that you can play. This is why they're ranked 32nd in run defense. So right now on the back end, they're missing a lot of guys, but at least they're ranked 21st.

34:05 So the thing is, up front, though, these guys, they're changing weekly. You can't do that. I understand but you're talking about our first time defensive coordinator that came in with the idea of what he wanted to do. He tried to initiate that it wasn't working. He asked Quinn and Williams and Kenny Clark two of the best defense interior defensive lineman in the league to play his scheme that wasn't working for them regardless of how it's worked for other people. It wasn't working for them. So then in week four.

34:30 He said, you know what you guys go ahead and do what you do.

34:32 Go play go make plays week everywhere halfway through week three and week four. So they started getting into backfields, started getting penetration. But then you started losing discipline on the outside. Your outside linebackers in a 3-4, which pretty much had the line of scrimmage. You got a five-man front.

34:44 Rashawn Gary's not really doing much of anything. Von Miller's out there collecting a check, right? He hasn't had any pressures. He said he's gonna get eight sacks off the couch. No, he hasn't seen it, right? So that's not happening. Donovan, Ezra, Malachi, Lawrence, your young guns are still figuring things out. So you don't have the discipline on the outside as outside linebackers to contain runs. Your linebackers only have two linebackers in the game at one point in time, and your defense alignment are running out of the holes. There's a lot that has to be addressed. It's not just one area.

35:09 So can Petten come in and fix things? I don't know, but I do know that the Dallas Cowboys have so many assistant coaches and specialist coaches on this defense. They have rush specialists. They have rush specialists. They got interior D-line specialists. They got linebackers. They have a lot of specialists.

35:26 It is not looking very special. So things have to change.

35:28 But you want to know why?

35:29 Because they don't have an authoritative figure in the building. There's not a place where a defensive tackle or two defensive tackles would tell Vic Fangio, we're not going to run your scheme. We're going to do it our way because we feel more comfortable. That means you'll be on the bench or they're going to trade you and get you out of the building. When you have Christian Parker who's 34 years old, Von Miller is literally older than him.

35:50 Quentin Williams can tell him, hey, I make more than you.

35:52 Don't tell me nothing.

35:53 Those are not the personality types that they bring into Dallas' locker room.

35:56 I'm just telling you that just from the back end.

35:58 But when you don't listen to the coaching and you say, I'm going to do it my way, not your way, that's not how defense operates. Have you ever walked into a meeting room and the player's like, no, coach, we don't want to do it like that.

36:10 What are you talking about? That's not the way it goes.

36:12 It seems that if it went the way that you just explained, it seems that the breakdown came to your point, Dante, that you brought in Christian Parker to run a certain style. Maybe the issue was you brought in the wrong person to apply it to the talent that you had in the locker room in the first place. And now you're trying to accommodate it five weeks in. But the fact that they just said, well, they just go out and do what you do best. That's when you have breakdowns because the second a play extends for too long.

36:37 Nobody knows what they're doing and they don't know their job.

36:39 It's an adaptability thing, right? So like I said, I'm not making any excuses for them. They got a lot of work to figure out. But what I am saying is you come in with an idea. You've been behind guys, Vic Fangio. You've been sitting behind gaining.

36:49 All this wisdom.

36:49 So you have it all mapped out. I drew up my game plan. I came in with my notes. And then I communicated to everybody. And we go out there and I'm like, all right, I'm excited to see this. And this is just not hidden. It's just not hitting it. You're making some food. It just doesn't taste the way that I envisioned it. Oh, and then by the way, now I'm missing ingredients. All my main ingredients are gone.

37:07 My whole back end is gone. My linebacker is gone. I'm missing a lot of pieces. So now I'm like, okay, now I don't have those guys. My system's not necessarily going the way I want to. I don't even have everything I need. Let me change it up a little bit. Let me see what I could change so that we can be effective so that we.

37:21 Can have an impact. And when that doesn't work now, it's like, oh crap.

37:27 You invoke the name Nick Saban.

37:28 Like we got a documentary out where guys are like crying. Honestly, probably pain because he held them to such a high standard when they were playing. But look at the teams and the products that he put on the field. Guys are crying in Dallas, but it's not because the product in the quality of the defense is so high.

37:42 So they'll get there. We'll play the games.

37:46 I'm not going to promise you that it'll get figured out.

37:47 That's why we watch.

37:48 We'll be right back on GMFB.

38:03 I didn't know this, but there's 313 miles between Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. And on Friday, our next guest here in GMFB plans to tackle this incredibly challenging journey. mostly on foot, in less than 10 days as a part of his mission to raise awareness of the importance of early cancer detection.

38:22 With that, we are proud to welcome Cody DiLorenzo.

38:25 What's going on, Cody?

38:26 Thank you, thank you.

38:29 Appreciate the intro, Jamie.

38:30 Oh, my gosh. Absolutely. We're honored to have you.

38:32 We're all wearing these crucial catchpins this month, obviously, but what you're doing is truly bringing awareness, and we appreciate it so much. So what is this plan for you ahead of Packers-Lions October 25th? And this all started with the fact that your wife, Shannon, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer last year. So this idea came from, obviously, your football fandom and your love for her.

38:53 So, first of all, how is she doing? And secondly, how did we get here?

38:57 She's doing amazing.

38:58 I'm actually missing some appointments right now while she's in Chicago, so I'm a little bummed, but she's doing amazing.

39:03 And then, yeah, it just all came together.

39:05 Love football, love my wife. Early detection is super important for us because obviously she was diagnosed at a young age, so.

39:12 Well, we love you, Cody, and we love your family. It's beautiful.

39:15 I really, really respect it.

39:16 Now, this trip does not sound like an easy trip, 313 miles. What's the game plan for the run, bro? I ran max five miles.

39:23 That was a max.

39:24 And about like three quarters into the first mile, I was like, when can I stop? So what is the stop plan looking like? You know, what's recovery looking like? And what's the first thing you're going to do when you hit that finish line? Yes, sir.

39:33 So, yeah, starting at Lambeau.

39:35 And then I'm only running during the day. Don't want to get hit by a car.

39:38 Sure.

39:38 I'm going to keep it during daylight hours. Average around 41 miles a day. We'll rest that night. maybe some ice baths, hit some electrolytes, and then go back the next day. And then finish line, probably gonna grab my wife's hand and do a little dance. That'll be the first thing we do.

39:53 What a hero, man.

39:54 We respect the dances around here. So Cody, so you're a Lions fan, man, but you've got some Packers fan in the family. You must be excited for everyone, man. I know this has to be amazing for them. So what did the family say whenever you first discussed this idea? And what does it mean to you to do this in inspiration for your wife?

40:10 Yeah, definitely. They were shocked a little bit.

40:13 They're like, oh, another big idea.

40:14 Funny.

40:15 But my father-in-law is a big Green Bay fan, and it's going to be cool because we're going to douse him in Lions gear for the week, and I'm going to get as many.

40:23 Photos as possible.

40:26 Everyone else in my family is a Lions fan, so it's going to be fun for all of us.

40:29 My dad will be following.

40:32 Cody, this month you're also fundraising for Game on Cancer. Can you tell us more about the organization and how we can support you guys on this journey?

40:41 Yeah, so I partnered with Henry Ford Game on Cancer. They help all patients when it comes to any expenses like rent, groceries. gas getting them to and from appointments and then 100 of these donations go directly to the families and whatever's left over goes straight back to research um so i love to partner with them they've been amazing on top of that um yeah so 100 goes back and then we're just going to raise as much money as possible throughout the week and try to change as many lives as possible.

41:08 Cody, your wife is beautiful, and we're so glad to hear she's doing well. Who's this handsome young man in some of these photos that are appearing? It's you and your wife, and then there's a little guy with you.

41:17 Who is that?

41:18 Yeah, that's my son, Lamar.

41:19 He is 13 now, and he's one of my best friends, too.

41:22 He's the man.

41:23 Oh, that's awesome.

41:25 I got an older son as well, Jaden. He's 19, so.

41:28 There they are.

41:29 Beautiful family members.

41:31 Cody, and then one last thing.

41:34 What's the attire that you are going to wear, and why is it that T-shirt that you have on now?

41:38 Oh, I run angry.

41:39 I'm angry about the situation, but I'm blessed to have the support that we have. So if I have to stiff arm my camera guy, he's a friend of mine. He won't mind, but we're going to make it on an angry run this year.

41:49 Cody!

41:51 We are locked in on this.

41:53 Journey and your family's story and most importantly the success and the health of your wife thank you so much for coming on gmfb shout out to shannon your boys lions fans packers fans and anyone who sees cody along the way scan that qr code and donate cody way.

42:07 To go you're an all-star thank you guys i appreciate your time nothing so.

42:12 Cool all right so for all the latest news around the league be sure to catch nfl total access today at noon eastern right here on nfl network I'm just asking Isaiah. Who's talking at the podium today for the Cowboys? We just had a healthy little Dallas Cowboys conversation here on GMFB.

42:29 I wonder if Mike Pettin, the new hire, will get the mic, huh?

42:32 Yeah.

42:33 Or Christian Parker?

42:34 Mike Pettin, probably not. He doesn't have much to say a lot of times.

42:37 Okay.

42:38 Quiet, huh?

42:38 A lot of quietness.

42:41 Dante does.

42:42 Dante is spinning a blast. You got to tell it, man.

42:44 You got to tell it.

42:45 Yeah.

42:46 That's why we keep bringing you back, Dante.

42:48 The truth will set you free.

42:51 No. Won't he do it?

42:53 I'll set you free.

42:54 And it will get you more TV jobs.

42:56 Yes.

42:57 We'll be back tomorrow.