Lots to Say: Week 5 recap and 3x Super Bowl Champ Matt Light

Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcast.

We got lots to say. We got lots to say. We're glad you're here and we hope you stay because.

We got lots to say.

Yeah, we got lots to say.

Now here's Bobby and Matt. What's up, buddy? What's up, buddy? How was Montana?

Montana was awesome. It filled my cup. Got to go out there with my two brothers. And we walked around the woods. I wouldn't really say we were hunting. We were trying to hunt, but we didn't see an animal.

Does hunting only count as hunting if you kill or at least shoot?

I don't believe so. I think hunting is something you go out. As long as you're out there putting in the work, trying, and. The hours add up, but I mean, we'd walk seven miles in one morning and go glass and try to work. But at the same time, it's not as rewarding when you don't walk away without an animal or something, but.

You know, I hunted my whole life, my whole life. I'm talking not only hunt for, I guess, fun, but that's what my stepdad did. So that's what I did. And I hunted three or four days a week. We'd go before school. It didn't matter if it was with 22 killing squirrels or 20 gauge when I was small trying to kill deer or 12 gauge.

Rifle, whatever.

Killed a lot of animals. I just feel sad for them now. I've completely... You've changed.

I know, yeah. You've changed. There's something majestic about being out in the wilderness.

I'm animal woke. I'll say it.

Okay, you're animal woke.

I'm animal woke.

Well, that's why we didn't kill an animal. I said, you guys, I'm going to have to talk about this on Tuesday and Bobby's going to get really upset with me.

But also, it's like, what kind of hypocrite am I? I've probably killed.

Way more animals.

40 deer, 500 squirrel, you know, 100 quail.

My whole thing is if I'm going to hunt an animal, then I'm going to process the meat and eat the meat. I'm not going to be one of those people that just do it for the trophy of having it put up on the wall or do something like that.

But I am hypocritical because I'll catch a fish all day. Yeah, see, I like to fish too. I catch a fish all day.

Yeah, but don't feel bad for them because they're kind of ugly and they're slimy and everything else.

Yeah, I guess that makes me a bad person because I'm judging them based on their scales.

Yes, of course you are.

Yeah. Well, good to have you back. What a game. What a game. And that goes for all the games. Just universally. What a game. What a game.

Universally, it was an incredible weekend. But you've got the game of the week last week was, I mean, let's go Rams-Buffalo.

Let me ask you a question. Yes. I was thinking about you. Did you ever tie a game in the history of your career?

There was, when I was with the Detroit Lions at the end of my career, the last game of the year, we're in Green Bay and we ended in a tie and it was the weirdest circumstance ever.

And the overtime rules were different than two, but just a little bit, right? Because back in your day, back in your day.

Back in your day.

It was first one to score.

First one to score. Right. And so you could go 10 minutes and- Go the entire game. Maybe it wasn't Detroit. Maybe it was Minnesota at Green Bay.

Do you need us to fact check what game you took?

I need to fact check this game because I think it was Minnesota, Green Bay. Maybe it wasn't Detroit, Green Bay.

What's it feel like after a tie?

It's such a weird feeling. I'm telling you because you're like, okay, we didn't lose, but we didn't win. So you don't have the excitement. The locker room's not as jazzed, all those things. It just is like this dull feeling of the game didn't even mean anything.

It's like nothing happened, but your body hurts. Right. Like there's no movement on the leaderboard, but your body hurts.

There's nothing in your loss column, but there's just one at the end of your record that really is meaningless and throws you off.

I don't even know how to look and see who's leading. What do you got?

I'm coming up with zero ties.

You never tied a game?

No, we tied a game. I didn't start the game. See, that was different.

Did you get any snaps at all?

Not in that game. So really, it was really a meaningless game for me. I was just sitting there watching paint dry as they're going up and down the field going, is anybody going to score so we can get out of here?

You ready for my power rankings?

Of course I'm ready for your power rankings. It's what I look forward to every single week.

At number five this week, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ooh, they jumped up for you, huh? A four and one start. Yeah, it was.

A little sticky there for a while against the Philadelphia Eagles.

It's in London. Nothing matters.

That's true. They're going to always win at their home field.

And also, it doesn't count. Even if you lose, it's like a tie. When you play in London, whatever happens is like a tie.

It doesn't matter.

Yeah.

A strong quarterback production. They are finishing close games. That Philly game, as much as you say, man, they had to have some exact things go right. They had to put themselves in a place to have some exact things go right. They had to make a return. There's a lot we can look back at now and go, man, why did they do that? But they had opportunities presented to them, and they were able to... Did you guys find it?

Yeah.

I saw him smiling and noddling.

2013, he was on the Vikings.

There you go.

Go on.

And number five, just the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars. I like it. I mean, I think Trevor Lawrence is coming into his own. That defense is playing really well. And so you put together Trevor Lawrence, who is playing as the quarterback that we thought he was going to play as, and you have a defense that can keep you in ballgames and not give up a lot of points. You're going to do good things. Special teams was big for them, too, this week.

Number four, I really never thought they would be in my top five, but I can no longer deny them. It is the Minnesota Vikings.

5-0, babe.

They're 5-0, and that alone should get you in. Their defense is what we thought the Texans was going to be.

Seriously. There's not a defense that's playing better. Every statistical category matches. Brian Flores is a genius. There are different ways in which they pressure the quarterback. They... get after them, they make them uncomfortable, but then the disguise in the back end, and they're healthy right now, too. They're one of those teams that I don't think that there's any starters out on the defensive side of the ball, which is huge this time of year, because as we see around the league, everybody has to navigate injuries. But that defense is real. Kyler Murray, too. Yeah, efficient.

So I looked up his stats. He was 24 of 30 for 229, one touchdown, no interceptions. And that doesn't scream what we're going to see with Josh Allen. But you don't need that when you have a defense. So that's all you needed. And that's what he did. He played very efficiently. Defensively, Minnesota held New Orleans to 142 total yards. That's unbelievable. Unbelievable.

In a professional football game.

Their defense makes them dangerous, even when the offense does not have, I won't even say a huge day, a decent day. Their defense is that good.

And that's the thing for Kyler Murray. All he needs to do is go out there, be efficient with the football, take care of the football. and get the ball to his playmakers and let them, and you only have to score, what, 17 points a game, 20 points a game, and you're going to win a majority of your football games. They've proven that already.

And number three, the Buffalo Bills.

I like it.

Josh Allen's ability to create just with his feet on the ground, with the ball in the air, it keeps defenses completely on tilt because he can go any direction at any time. Last, yeah, last night when that game was on, this will come out Wednesday, but He took off around the left side for a game of like eight or so in the first half. And even the announcer said he runs like a fullback.

Oh, and he's not scared of contact. He never slides, which I love. I love it because he never gives himself up because you could take a hit that way. But at the same time, it's so difficult for defenses because you could be in the perfect coverage. You could have a spy. He's going to find a way out. And then he's so big. One guy can't tackle that guy.

He's like Ben Roethlisberger 10.0, right? It's just this evolution of the position.

Ben Roethlisberger. That does a few more curls and a few more crunches.

Yes.

Chin crunches. He got on the chin treadmill. Against the Rams, he rushed for 121. Yeah.

And it was the second half, really, that he just took over the game.

So the biggest concern, though, with the Bills is that they did allow 34 points. And so the offense had to do it all. But we've seen that happen already this year where the offense had to do it all. They can beat anybody. And their defense does not have to be a top 10 or 15 defense. It just needs to be, what, a top 20 defense? Yeah.

They need to be, but right now with the injuries that they sustained in the back end, it's very difficult to judge and understand what this defensive unit could eventually be because they've got to get guys back. They are down to their third, fourth set of cornerbacks. You know what I mean? So that's really difficult, especially when you're going up against the Rams and Matt Stafford and how potent that offensive unit is. You're not really going to know until they get those guys back.

Number two, the Kansas City Chiefs. They played great last week. I'm not a Kansas City fan. I say that every time. I'm not against these guys, I swear. Listen, they have an explosive running game. Yes, they do. Kenneth Walker is amazing.

He's an absolute stud.

He never really got the chance to get into rhythm, it seems, in Seattle. He was good. But when you got two backs, I was listening to... Who was I listening to?

Probably me last week.

Maybe it was you or something.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I want to give somebody their credit. But talking about how if a back doesn't get the ball... constantly and consistently that they're not finding their physical rhythm. It's nice to have reps off, but if you're not getting the ball, if you're not, it was Arian Foster, if you're not getting the ball regularly, like you're never adjusting to the rhythm of, not the speed of the game, you know the speed of the game, but the rhythm of whatever that game is with whatever the defense is doing to you.

So I see Kenneth Walker be so dominant. It's pretty cool because it shows you that a running back And for a few years, they didn't, according to the league.

Right, that they undervalued the running back, that anybody can come in here and get you four or five yards in a cloud of dust. But when you're talking about the running back and you're seeing it throughout the league, these explosive plays are game changers. And when you can run the ball effectively, and it's not always the big plays right it's getting you four yards in on a tough run in the middle of defense and keeping you on track and then setting up your play action everything stems from that run game the physicality of it and then all of a sudden you just wear down opponents and that's when you see in the third and fourth quarter these offensive units take over and because the defensive

line's a little bit tired, they're a little bit banged up, and they know that you're just going to keep coming and be relentless.

Kenneth Walker is averaging 6.2 yards a carry.

Damn!

Crazy. He has 537 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in four games, and that's really good, obviously, but 6.2 yards a carry is wild.

It's unbelievable.

Their defense has zero sacks, though, through four games.

They are generating pressure.

That's true.

They're not getting the sacks, and sacks will come if you continue to generate pressure, but pressure's An important stat as well. Anytime you can continuously put pressure on a quarterback, you're going to make them uncomfortable in the pocket. So that's a great stat to look at as well.

Let me ask the quarterback a question here. Yes. Patrick Mahomes obviously was injured late last year. He's not had to be as dynamic as he has in the past because they have a running game. Is it possible that he is still even rehabbing slowly while playing the first half of the season?

There's no doubt about that because he didn't play in the preseason. And to take anytime you take eight, eight months off or whatever it was from the time of his injury, it's going to take time to get back into the rhythm of the game to and the speed of the game. There is no simulation of that in practice. Right.

And so then when you get into an actual game and then you're going through four quarters of a game, it's the conditioning of it, the mental conditioning of it, everything that goes along with that and the rhythm with your wide receivers, your tight ends, all those things. So he's definitely building and you're going to see a better version of him, even though he's played very well because he's Patrick Mahomes. I think we're going to see a better version down the road.

Number one, you know who it is? No. Who do you think is the best team in the NFL right now? 49ers.

Yeah.

They know how to win in a lot of different ways. Yeah.

And they have the most convincing overall resume. They won a very close divisional game against Seattle, which Seattle is really good. I still think the Rams are really good. The Rams have just had a go. Man, they've had a tough go. They've had a tough go. So with the Niners, Mike Evans was that dude? He is that dude.

There was no separation on any of those things, but because the dude is, I'm guessing, 6'4, 220, 230, and he just body positions them up.

It's crazy.

Yeah, and his ball skills are incredible.

Mike Evans caught seven for 113 in a touchdown. And those numbers are obviously really good, but just to watch how he dominated, if you saw it, it was way more dominating than even that stat was.

Right, because the coverage was, the guy's in perfect coverage position in terms of hip-to-hip on him, and he just is going up snagging balls, mossing people, and he just looks at them like, it's okay.

Yeah. And it was during Crucial Possessions, too. Right. Like, you trust it, just throw it, I'll catch it. Dre Greenlaw was suspended for the next game. Yeah, the headbutt was a little over the top.

Hey, what'd you say to me?

Wow!

I was like, wow. With no helmet.

No, he had no helmet on.

The other guy had no helmet. That's not Dre. He at least got to do it with a helmet. Yeah, you don't want to go after a vulnerable human like that. You got to know better.

I mean, also the fact that they created four turnovers, three of those were within the Seattle's 20-yard line, right? One was right before half, recovered fumble. So Seattle didn't do themselves any favors in this game. However, San Francisco capitalized on it. They made plays when they needed to. Mike Evans was out saying, and the other thing about the 49ers, they got the run game going, which historically against this defense for Seattle, they haven't run the ball effectively.

I thought this was the first time when you watched The offensive line of San Francisco, I thought they dominated up front. I thought they created holes for the running backs to get through, Christian McCaffrey in particular. But they were able to get some production out of that run game that helped them.

They're really good. And they have a ton of ways to score. And that passing game was opening up the running game.

There's no doubt.

Like you were saying, they haven't traditionally run well against Seattle. That passing game was opening up McCaffrey, who usually doesn't need an opening. And he was... They're really good, man.

I have the only concern I have about them right now is they lost Debo Samuel again. And I know he hasn't been the marquee player that he was before in this offense, but he's out. Ricky Pearsall's out for the entire year. I think there's two other wide receivers that are both out right now. So they're a little bit limited. But if I have faith in anybody that can still operate an offense and call a game based on the personnel that they have, it's Kyle Shanahan. What's the latest on Debo?

How long is he out?

A couple of weeks.

Is what it says for now. Because even last week, I think he only had one, we'll call it a possession, but it was a big one. It was like an 85-yard hook and ladder where he scored a touchdown.

Great call.

So just his existence keeps defenses on edge. Okay, you want my bad five real quick?

Yes.

I wonder who those could be.

Number five. It's the only... I say the most salvageable team.

We're working down to the worst.

Yeah.

Okay. I already know what the worst is.

It's the most salvageable team, which is the Rams. They're two and three. I think they still have expectations of.

Going to the Super Bowl. Oh, you're putting them in the bad category.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Right now.

Bad record. Yeah. I think a good team.

Buffalo rushed for 234 yards against them.

Yeah, but 120 of that was by Superman.

Their defense is not giving them enough help right now. Okay. That's fair. I still trust their ability to recover.

Yeah.

And they're going to play Arizona next, I believe. And I think that will be the game they need.

Yeah.

They need to get back on track. There's some rush to get to 500.

You don't want to keep losing some of these close games because they're going to have a lot more difficult tasks on hand moving down the road.

And my list here, by the way, isn't just the absolute worst teams. It's the teams that have not lived up to their expectations at all.

Right. Expectations have not met where they are in terms of the record. Got it.

Because you're not going to see the Titans because they're awful. They don't even deserve to be there.

Yeah, that's why I said that. Or the Dolphins.

You're not going to see them.

We're already talking about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

These are teams that really let us down.

That's fair.

Number four, how about them Cowboys? Too many reasons to doubt the Cowboys right now. That was a humiliating home loss against Tampa Bay last Thursday. Got spanked. Dallas not only gave that team their first win, but also lost at home and also lost to an undrafted rookie quarterback. Right. All those things.

Who ran all over them. And then also made plays within the pocket, too. He made them look like he's been doing it for years.

Losing at Green Bay would make them two and four. They got to win this one.

They got to win this one. But they also are within a division right now that's kind of one of those faulty divisions where four losses is not going to hurt you. Three losses is not going to hurt you. Every one of those teams right now, there's no dominant number one team. In the NFC East.

The NFC East is the NFC South.

100%. That's what it is.

Yes.

Week to week, you have no idea what team's going to show up.

And nobody's that great.

And nobody's that great. And Philadelphia is completely banged up.

Number three, Philadelphia.

Okay, perfect.

Number three, Philadelphia. The offense is dragging them down. Three consecutive losses. Their offense ranks 29th. They're only 32 teams?

Yeah, they can't run the football. They don't have any running backs. Shipley just got hurt as well. Got a patchwork offensive line right now. They just don't have a lot going for them other than their defensive unit. Their defensive unit has been outstanding, and they played really well against Jacksonville last week.

They have Carolina coming up. They need that game to stabilize the season.

They do.

Number two, the Houston Texans. They have dug themselves such a massive hole. When we started the year, we thought this is a great defense, and C.J. Stroud's going to be the dude that's going to keep the offense good to pretty good. It's going to allow them to win a division also that seemed pretty weak. So, they start 0-1-4.

They beat Tennessee, but Do you really get a win if you beat the Titans? I think you should get like. 5.

Like a.

5 with a question mark.

They just give you the dub.

They're like, hey. They put it before the game even starts. Here's the dub.

No.

And the crazy part is that was a big question mark, like you said, coming in.

C.J.

Stroud, can he be the quarterback that we think he can be? I mean, he's earned his next contract, in my opinion. It's the defense that has let him down. That is throwing everybody for a loop because this defense was so dominant last year. They didn't lose anybody on that defensive unit. And then you look at them this year, and game after game, it seems like they are just out of sorts and giving up big. No, they did play Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen and some of these other teams. But if that defense gets caught up to speed like we saw last year, or even a resemblance of that, they're going to be a really good football team.

And don't they have Jacksonville this week?

They do.

That's a big game.

For both of them.

Yeah, I think it's more of a statement game for Houston. than it is for Jacksonville. Because if Houston wants to get back into this thing the way that they've started, then you go beat a team that's red hot like Jacksonville right now. That just permeates. I mean, it gives everybody confidence throughout that locker room and organization.

Number one, San Diego Chargers. This is the biggest gap between expectations and reality.

I don't know where to start.

Because with Justin Herbert, with Jim Harbaugh, I mean, those are two dudes that... With Mike McDonald coming in.

Oh, yeah.

He was the answer.

They have 13 turnovers. Against Denver, they squander a 17-10 second half lead. It's turnovers. It's turnovers. It's turnovers. Yeah, it's turnovers.

And I feel bad for Justin Herbert. I mean, the thing is, can they keep him healthy throughout the course of the year? I don't know. They're playing with four backup offensive linemen of their starting five.

Four.

It's wild to think about in terms of We all talk about injuries, but to have one unit in particular, and probably the most important for an offensive unit, to have your entire offensive line missing week in, week out going up against Denver, it's difficult. And the turnovers are awful. And some of them, you watch them and you go, why?

He's not even... It's not contested. It's not a tip ball. It is just throwing it right to the defense. It's like you're not understanding what's being asked. I think about two weeks ago when Herbert comes out, first play throws a pick. Oh, yeah, that was bad.

And then second play, Darnold throws a pick.

Thanks. Back and forth.

I got your back, bud. You know who they have next?

The Chargers? The Chargers, the Chiefs.

Yeah. You have like a photographic memory because for everybody that's at home and you're not watching this, if you're just listening, Castle's going just from the brain. I put all my notes down from this week. You're doming it.

I'm doming that.

Yeah. Yeah.

I shouldn't say that often. It sounds like a Shane Gillis skin or something like that. Okay.

We have Matt Light coming up.

It's your boy.

My boy. Yeah. Yeah.

He's awesome.

And you owe him an appearance. Yeah.

I feel so bad because it was leading into that first game that I was going to call. And he had texted me beforehand, hey, I can't wait to see your face. And I was like, dude, I can't come.

Can't go to the old charity event? Yeah.

And I'm a staple, though. I show up, I promise you. But this just happened to be one of those years I couldn't go. So I haven't talked to him since. He's probably, he doesn't really care, to be honest with you. But he'll probably give me some crap about it.

All right, Matt Light, coming up next. Joining us now is former Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light, a three-time Super Bowl champion who spent 11 seasons protecting Tom Brady's blind side in New England. Matt, appreciate you hopping on. Castle, this is your guy.

Yeah, but you protected mine, too. I bet it was more important to you to protect me than it was Tom over those years.

Yeah, and it wasn't about the gifts or how you showered us with, you know, words of affirmation, right? It was just It was just the love that we had for you.

Yeah, but that is my love language is words of affirmation. I knew that like just some gift that I give you guys, like a nice Rolex watch or a new car like Tom used to give you wouldn't be as meaningful as me telling you that I love you. Right.

OK, I thought you were saying that you gave us those things.

No, no, no.

I never gave you those things. I still hear it 20 years after the fact.

No, it's okay, man. Listen, it is about love, and we appreciate you for being you, the cheap man that you are.

I would say not paid as much more than cheap, if I can stick up for you.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Thanks. I appreciate it. I'm going to get this back on track, boys. Hey, Matt, so the Patriots last week, they beat the Bills, put a 45 against the Raiders. What looks different about this team over the last two weeks to you?

You know, look, I think it's the way that you should expect the National Football League to be moving forward, and that is you're not going to know anything, obviously, in preseason because no one does anything in preseason. And it will be week one or two or three, but by week four, you should start to see what the team is capable of. By week five, six, and seven, you hope that they can stay healthy enough that they'll have, you know, those units out there with the reps under their belt, gaining confidence, because... nobody has a clue, you know, where they really stand as a team until you have the amount of prep that goes into what used to be preseason, but now it's like week six or seven.

So I see a team that continues to get better from week to week. And that's even in the face of what all of these teams are facing. And that's a lot of injury.

Yeah.

You talked about the health of this team and Will Campbell goes out on Saturdays. That's a Big loss to somebody that's been playing really well. How concerned are you about this offensive line who already lost Micah Wenu earlier in the season?

Yeah, well, I think... On one hand, you hope that this knee or whatever it may be with Will Campbell isn't going to be a big deal because, you know, he is a presence and he's played really well so far. And I think that, you know, whatever happened last year, you know, was probably 100 percent injury, you know, more injury related than, you know, him just not being able to get the job done.

Right.

So you want to see him stay out there and have a really healthy year. and gain that confidence and that experience. If he's not out there, you know, look, can they get by? Yes, because as you know, Josh McDaniels is really good at playing to the strengths. You know, it could be like literally hours before the game when he finds out that, hey, we don't have so-and-so ready and we're going to make these adjustments. So I feel good with Josh McDaniels, Mike Vrabel, that coaching staff to be able to overcome a lot of these things, but there's only so much you can do.

You talked earlier about They're not really being a preseason. It's very abbreviated now. And you really don't know who a team is until they have a certain amount of reps. Do you feel like that's the case with what's happened to Drake Mayweather? It's kind of been a tale of two Drakes. First couple weeks, not good. Last couple weeks, really good.

Yeah, I mean, you know, he's the guy that has to be on the same page with everyone, right? His offensive line, his running backs, his tight ends, his receivers. I mean, obviously, there's a lot of things that you juggle when you're the quarterback of any team. Cass, you understand what it's like. I remember when you jumped in and you got Randy Moss out there shaking off calls that you're putting... You know, as he's saying, hey, man, I'm gone, cast dog, I'm gone, right? Like, there's a lot of things that you don't know until the bullets are flying for real and you figure it out. And I think that, you know, Drake is going to do everything he can do to prep and everything like that, but it's ultimately going to come down to when they

are in game time situations. So, look, injuries are always a big part of the game. Keeping guys healthy and out there to get those reps is more valuable now than ever before.

When you look at Drake May and the type of quarterback that he is, he's obviously a dual threat quarterback. Were you one of those guys that like to know where we always were as a quarterback? Are you somebody that is very comfortable and excited to have a guy that can get himself out of trouble when maybe a block's not perfect?

Yeah, well, in both ways, like there's a part of me that says, I want to know that you're going to be on that spot because that's the spot I'm defending, right? But the flip side of that is in the event that you're not there for a million reasons, right? Whatever you're seeing, the pressures that are, then if you take off from that point, it's all on you. And the good news is when Drake takes off from that point, right, because of whatever it is, he's really good with his footwork he's really good you know at being able to deliver the ball in the run and all those things and that that's a huge asset especially for a left tackle i love.

That the patriots kept max crosby from getting a sack on sunday but when you're game planning for a guy like crosby whenever you were game planning for a guy like insert whomever you were lined up against it was dominant you know what does that week look like for you.

You know, I would like to tell you that it's like any other week, but let's just call that a Dwight Freeney week, right? You're getting ready to play the Colts, and it's probably a big game. We never played them early in the season. We always played them later where you know, it meant seemingly a lot more, right? Not that we had crystal balls, but when you prepare for a week like that, you want every single rep and you want the guys on the scout team to give you the best possible look. And you want the pressure to be as high as it can be, whether that's crowd noise, if you're on the road, you want to simulate in that week's worth of preparation that as close to game-like conditions as you possibly can. And that's what

good teams can do, you know? I mean, people don't talk about the scout team guys enough. Those scout team reps and those players can make a huge impact on the team's overall success.

Talk about when preparing for somebody like a Max Crosby, how important game planning is, the chip and the tight end presence and all that stuff that went into it when we used to play, a guy like Dwight Freeney.

Yeah, or the idea that you're going to have all those things and then you get in the game and you're like, oh, we didn't call any of that stuff. Good luck, cowboy. I mean, you know, it's a huge part of it. And I think that, you know, it's something that well-intentioned, right? We're going to give you chip help.

We're going to have, you know, the back have some body presence or a tight end have body presence. But at the end of the day, if you put yourself in a bad situation, there's nothing that any coordinator can do. We need to get as many guys into a route. We need to get as many guys out and around these different areas so the quarterback has options. So really, it comes down to... how well can you start and how well can you stay on track? And that's a huge, you know, obviously that falls on a lot of people.

But when you have a coordinator and people that understand how to make those play calls, man, it does help you at all the positions. But definitely for the offensive linemen, staying on track is a big deal.

Something we were talking about earlier is the Chargers, and they're 0-5, and Herbert's under a lot of pressure all the time. How do you tell when the problem is actually the offensive line versus the problem is the scheme or the quarterback?

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, when you're not in those offices or in those meeting rooms or you're not part of the team, it's tough for the individual fan. I think the first thing is you say it is the offensive lineman, right? Because typically, if there's bodies around the quarterback, it comes from the fact that the guys up front are getting it done. But then there comes the point that, if you're going to show certain looks and you're going to be vanilla, and as a coordinator, you don't give those guys up front a chance because they can tee off on you defensively with different formation things and the way that they can line up certain packages. If you're not making the right call at quarterback, right, and putting the

guys in the right frame of mind to be able to look at the right guys, right, there's a lot of factors that come into play. But I would say this. You can tell when it's the offensive line because you'll see those guys in the huddle. You'll see them with those conversations on the sideline. You'll know when it's the offensive line. In a lot of cases, the most glaring ones are just the one-on-one battles that these guys get beat right out the gate. And right off the bat.

And those are the times that kill you at Castle. You could relate to that, too. When you have a guy in your face immediately, there's nothing you could do. You could have the best footwork. You can be a Patrick Mahomes where you like to throw the ball. But if you have to use your feet, you can. You could be a Drake May where you're really good with your feet. But, you know, none of that matters when they're on you in two seconds.

Yeah, a team like Philly, too, who's got multiple different offensive linemen in there, and they've really struggled to run the football. How difficult is it for an offense to be productive when you're not running the football successfully on early downs in particular?

Yeah, or you don't really respect the run the way you should, right? I mean, look, every quarterback wants to throw the ball. We get that. We understand that. Tommy was in that category, but Tommy was smart enough, Mr. Brady, to know that that run game was his best friend. And I'm going to tell you, as an offensive lineman, I live for the run game. Give me the run as much as we possibly can. We always talked about...

25 times or more rushing the ball, we will win the game statistically almost every single time, right? It's amazing what the run game can do. It takes tough guys, really tough guys to run the ball, right? By the way, that's not an easy thing to do because it's not easy to be a tough guy. You have to be disciplined.

You have to stick with it. You're not going to win on every run. You're going to have some no gains, some loss of yardage, and all those things. If you stick with it, if you can perfect it to some degree, it's the best tool in the box.

There's been a lot of changeover with a lot of teams. I mean, injuries are part of the game, but the Eagles have had a lot of change up front. Whenever you have a lot of change, what is the first thing that goes that you've got to work to get back to have some success?

Well, and by change, you're talking personnel and you're talking injuries and all those things, right? I think time is the only thing that heals those wounds, right? And again, it's why... They don't practice the way they used to. They don't hit the way they used to. And when they do get a chance to practice, it's never really going to be a full speed, right? So when you talk about change, what you're really saying is, is that it's inevitable today, more so than ever before, that the backup, the guy who's been on the bench, so to speak, is going to have to take the field. And when that happens, they're probably not going to have much time under their belt. So they're going to have to try to come up to speed in the media room, in

the film room. That's a very difficult thing to do. It's why we have a lot of dropped balls. It's why we can't hold on to the ball fumbles. It's why we can't form tackle. It's why we can't line up on sides or stay on sides. Discipline takes time. You can only develop those things. early in the season hard to do it during the season.

What would you say is the biggest difference playing offensive line now versus when you played.

Well i you know i i think there's a lot of similarities i think there's a lot of things that are the same i mean i think that um it depends on the offense that you're in right you know look josh's offense is one thing the the alternative to that is something a little bit more simplified a little bit more like uh You know, you're kind of free to do your own thing, you know, not as disciplined.

They both can work.

Right.

You can see success in both of those. I think, you know, for me, when I look at the game, I just don't think that there's as much variation. Right. I think the back when we played, I don't want to say it was more sophisticated. I mean, look, these guys are as smart as we were. I just don't again. I hate to say it. I'm like the broken record.

They don't have the time. to dedicate like we did and get those reps. We learned so much in practice that when we got to the game, it was almost easier in some ways, right? And that's how it should be.

If you go from right tackle to left tackle in the middle of a game because you've had to because of an injury, how hard is it to do that?

Well, if you're asking me, I'd say it's impossible. Whoever's behind me, if I have to play right tackle, they're going to get killed. And I'm telling you, I really admired the guys and respected the fact that a guy could go from left to right. Look, some guys, it's easier than others. I'm telling you, there's nothing easy about it.

You train a certain way. Your body's used to moving a certain way. When you reverse that, it's like writing with your left hand. You ever tried to throw a football with your left hand? you look really stupid. You know, it typically doesn't work out real well. So it's a tough thing.

You know, last week at the Raiders game, you guys celebrated the 25 year Super Bowl reunion. How great was that? And did you see who did you see who you're excited about to see that you haven't seen in a long time?

Man, it was it was exciting to see all those guys. I mean, I feel I just feel honored to to be a part of that group. And You know, it was cool. The first guy that I walked in, I walked into a reception that they had the night before, and there stood Anthony Pleasant, okay? And look, I don't know if people know about an Anthony Pleasant. His story's really incredible. He's a mountain of a human. I forgot how big Anthony Pleasant is. He used to tape his fingers individually and have these battleaxe club hands. I hated going against him in practice. You left there a broken soldier.

You were like, oh, God, AP got me again, you know? But, man, Cass, it was awesome to see everybody. What an era. What a way to, you know, for me, it was my rookie year to start, you know, my time in the National Football League. And, man, we had a lot of fun. We celebrated A.V. and his induction into the Hall of Fame.

And we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 0-1 Super Bowl, you know, champions that kind of kicked off a, a little bit of a wave of success here.

In New England. I just went to ultimategronkweekend.com and I'm going to buy some passes here. And so I don't have my wallet, but so explain what happens here. If we go and we get into Ultimate Gronk Weekend, it benefits your foundation. So what exactly is it benefiting and what do we get to do?

Yeah, it's benefiting the Life Foundation and the Gronk Nation Youth Foundation. And what you get to do is something that, honestly, you won't forget because you're going to hang with Rob Gronkowski while he's going through his Patriots Hall of Fame induction weekend. So you're going to be there for his induction.

You're going to have a front row seat. You're going to get to hang with the Gronk family. You're going to have unfettered access. It's going to be an amazing experience from that point of view. You also get a hotel stay, and you get to go to the game the next day, sit in a suite, watch the game. We'll hang out, tell some good stories, and just enjoy a weekend celebrating Patriots everyone's favorite, you know, a golden retriever, the dog that loves plants. And I tell you what, one of my favorite teammates, UCAS, Mr. Gronk, all the other guys we play with. We have a lot of greats, but, but Rob Gronkowski is one of maybe seven is amazing, man.

Do they have to sign a liability waiver for the weekend?

They should.

Yeah.

I mean, they should, because you may get bit. You don't know what's going to happen. It's it's prompt nation.

I'm going in for 500 bucks right now. And, you know, if you go for 500 bucks, you get a free signed ball by somebody.

Oh, my goodness. By me. Oh, no.

If you pay the $ 10, 000, you get somebody that's legendary.

Oh, no.

Where are you from?

Ultimate Gronk Weekend, man. I mean, who doesn't want the Ultimate Gronk Weekend? Let's go.

I just want to go to the game. I just want to go hang out. I think I know a guy. You know a guy that does what? That can get us through the game? No, but I want to also help.

Yes, of course we do. Yeah.

Of course.

It's either that or you go to his mat light celebrity, sorry I wasn't there, shootout, and you are conned into buying a $ 4, 000 bottle of whiskey.

Wait, you need to say more about that.

Oh, well, no. Matt's up on stage, you know, and I told him this year that you might be willing to emcee. And he said, there's nobody taking the mic out of my hand because Matt does not get off the stage the entire time. But he does a phenomenal job. Fair enough. But he does love to hear himself talk.

But he's up there. He's even got the auctioneer voice. And then all of a sudden I raise my hand, you know, trying to help help. raise the bid oh castle going once twice oh no no thank you very much.

Boo i literally just.

Walked in i literally just walked in got nailed with it hey but you know it's for the kids but you love that bottle of whiskey right like it was out saying horse soldiers over I thought I had that.

Did I actually give that bottle to you?

Yes, you did. Oh, you did.

Did you drink it?

I sure did, and it was delicious.

You did drink it? Yes, of course. There, or did you take it home?

No, I took it home. I wasn't going to let Light have any of that. Fair enough.

Hey, listen, you guys just keep having fun. I'll sit here and just keep shining up my trophy. But my Super Bowl trophy, you know, you guys just do whatever you got to do. Don't mind me. so we're uh we're getting ready for another successful season here in new england sorry i never get to break this thing out i like to show it off every now as as you should.

What's it what's the expectation right now of the patriots this season to you You know, it's.

A great question. Two weeks ago, everyone was like dying, like throwing up on the sidewalks. I mean, it was just craziness, right? And I remember saying what I said earlier here that, look, just pause, take a deep breath. We don't know anything right now. And so what I love about it is that if you listen to talk radio right now, Everyone is talking about how great this team is, how they're able to, you know, adapt and overcome and all this stuff. And we're going to go on another Super Bowl run. I think, look, it's it truly is. It's not it's not going to be easy.

It never is. But they've got great coaching. I mean, Mike Vrabel as a player, Mike Vrabel as a coach. He's somebody you believe in. You want him as a teammate. You want him as a coach. That goes a long way today. And I don't want to say it's bigger now than ever before. But look, if you don't have the practice ability, then you better be really good in the classroom. You better be really good at relating to these men in a way that you can get the absolute best out of them because you're not going to be able to. You know, really make that happen in the in the practice sessions and in the walkthroughs. Right.

So I think they they can go a long way. They've got a lot of those pieces of the puzzle. And let's see how these young guys do stepping up. They've gotten good production so far. And hopefully that continues.

How important is it going to be, though, when A.J. Brown comes back? Because they've been missing him since week one.

Yeah, and man, I'll tell you, everyone is so excited about him. And, you know, again, one of those injuries that happen and you're like, oh, gosh, here we go. And they may have him this weekend. I mean, so, you know, look, he's not coming back to save the team. He's coming back to ignite the team, right? And keep that momentum going, hopefully. And look, you know, hey, if you start stringing them together now, that's a big feather in your cap. You know, we always talked about after Thanksgiving, right?

That's the most critical point in any season. It is really critical. But you better do a lot of work on your way to Thanksgiving.

All right, man. I bought 725 tickets. Order number 79463. And because you bought so many tickets, we're only going to give you your first and last ticket number.

Right. You own everything between.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm pretty excited about that. All right.

I don't have my computer with me, and I'll do the same. Okay, Matt?

Oh, whatever.

Castle. Thank you, man. That's right.

Yes, sir.

There he is. The great Matt Light. And again, go to ultimategronkweekend.com. It's Light Foundation and Gronk Nation Youth Foundation. The winner will be drawn November 5th. Again, ultimategronkweekend.com. Matt, thank you so much for the time and good luck. I hope you make so much money that my 725 tickets are just dwarfed.

Well, I appreciate you guys. Have a great rest of your week and go Pats, buddy.

Go Pats. Love you, buddy. Now we got a new segment called, Is It Real? Okay, we're five weeks into the NFL season, and there's a few storylines that are starting to feel like they might actually be real. So here's your first one. Is it real? The Chargers are cursed. Los Angeles is 0-5, just blew another fourth quarter lead, losing 23-17 to Denver after leading 17-10 entering the fourth quarter.

So I've thought for a long time the Chargers have been cursed, not just this season, because they consistently find historical, painful, bizarre ways to lose. I would say they sometimes invent new ways to lose. And I say this as a Cubs fan and a Razorback fan, where we also find ways to lose.

So you know the feeling.

Absolutely. You go to the 27-point meltdown. It was the Chargers and Jaguars. What was that, the playoffs, the wildcard round back a few years ago? That game, if you don't believe in curses, watch that one. So do I think that the Chargers are cursed? Yeah. Probably especially because they've had three really great quarterbacks drew breeze philip rivers and I won't say right now That herbert is great, but he should be great If not today soon, right?

They've had three franchise quarterbacks. They've also had ladania tomlinson. They've also had antonio gates They've had these great players and they cannot get to the next level So also drew breeze didn't want to play there anymore. Eli manning didn't want to play there anymore or at all Because well, I think drew breeze had the injury but again Okay, he left. Injury, curse. Eli Manning didn't even want to play there.

We played them. They were 14-2 the one year. I think it was 2006. They're 14-2. They're a better football team all around. And they called a timeout. We're sneaking the ball late in the fourth quarter. Just trying to get the first down. It was fourth and one. We get stuffed. They called a timeout. We changed the play, hit Rasheed Caldwell down the sideline, set up a game-winning field goal. We also threw an interception in the fourth quarter that Troy Brown went up and stripped the DB of the ball after he intercepted it in our territory.

The game was over. It's crazy.

There's one historic 2010 statistic anomaly that I'm going to go to. The Chargers had the number one total offense and number one total defense in the entire NFL, and they missed the playoffs. That's wild. Because their special teams were so bad. Right. Again, the number one offense, the number one defense, and they not didn't win the Super Bowl.

They had dudes.

They didn't even make the playoffs. So it's real that they're cursed.

It's real. Okay.

Okay.

Question number two. Is it real? Clock management is broken in the NFL. Multiple teams got burned in late game decisions this weekend, including Philadelphia. Obviously, the kickoff. against Jacksonville, and Washington against the Giants.

So I think if we look at them individually, especially Philadelphia, more than a clock management situation, that was a, hey, we should know what we're going to do with our kicker, where we're going to kick it at all times. The kicker, and maybe your boy Pipes did say, I told him to kick it in the landing zone. I think I heard that in a press conference, and he shouldn't have now that we, and it shouldn't have been a line drive either, because he kicked a line drive. Right. So, I play and have played in my life a lot of Madden and a lot of college football. You learn so much about clock management by playing those games. So I don't think the coaches have time to play those games, but there should be a 19-year-old stoner with a headset

on that is giving you feedback from playing college and Madden.

It's just the day of analytics, too. You're sitting there going, everybody has the analytics that tell you what you should and should not do. And the crazy part is Philadelphia was here against the Tennessee Titans, what, in week two or something like that? They go up late in the game. Similar situation. They kick it into the end zone for a touchback. And so Tennessee doesn't have any time on the clock. Now, fast forward to this last week, and they decide to kick it to the landing zone. And it's the one thing you don't want to do is a big return because they still had a timeout, and they're able to get the timeout and kick a 59-yard field goal, which was honestly a great kick.

I also think you could just be up there and type in an AI and be like, what do we do? And it tells you within seven seconds. Yeah. Like, why they don't even do that.

Or just make the tackle on special teams, too. You could say that also. Yeah.

Or don't kick a line drive.

How about Washington against the Giants?

It was a great coaching move to go, you know what? That's on me, but we all knew who it was on. That's a quarterback. It's bizarre. That's a quarterback issue.

Because even on the sideline, you're sitting there as the Giants are driving before the fumble. You're sitting there going through scenarios. Okay, we could get the ball back here. If we're backed up, this is what we've got to do, but we've got to get a chunk play. But you're also going through, hey, this is where we need to get to at bare minimum to give ourselves a shot at a field goal. If we can get, though, to the ideal situation, which would be, say, the 25-yard line, that's what we'd like to go to. But at the same time, As you're working down the field, you're in field goal range and there's just under a minute and the clock's running. And I get running the football on that point, but at some point you have to understand, okay,

it's a clock situation. Bring out the field goal unit. You're not saving time or you're not trying to like minimize the clock. So the opponent doesn't have time left on the clock.

It's overtime.

You guys both have had a possession. It was awful clock management and blatant misunderstanding by the quarterback and the offense coordinator, whoever was involved, they should have been prepared for that situation. That's a situation that we prepare for all the time throughout the offseason, throughout training camp, going into these games.

Shout out Dan Quinn for taking the blame.

I know, I felt bad for him.

All right, one more.

All right, one more. Is it real? The Vikings are a top three team in the NFC. Minnesota is 5-0. And its defense just held New Orleans, as you said before, to 142 total yards in a 23-13 win. Do you want to hear the NFC standings?

No, I don't think I need to because I don't think they're a top three team right now. I think all top three teams in the NFC are in one division, and that's the West. So I think one, two, and three. The 49ers, the Seahawks, and the Rams. I think your top three NFC teams are right there living in the same neighborhood. Minnesota, they have the record. We are what our record says we are.

Yes, they are.

That being said, I would put all three of those teams up against Minnesota and bet the money line on those three every single time.

That's fair. That's fair. You want to know the current NFC standings? obviously 49ers are one Vikings are two the Giants are three the Panthers are four the Packers are five the Bears are six Lions are seven Seahawks are eight the Rams are nine and the Falcons are ten is that wild it's wild because they're is that real Yeah, because that's what they would be today. That's what they would be today. Holy crap. I know.

I could not have guessed that off the top of my head.

All right.

That'll do it for us today. Thank you, everybody.

I don't know.

I'm anxious to see what the Falcons are if Pennix plays. Because Tua comes in and throws a pick.

Yeah.

I think they might be better than we thought. I know they're better than we thought because as soon as Pennix started playing, they started to be competitive. I didn't expect them to be competitive. Right. So... I'm also looking forward to the Cowboys and the Packers this week. Because one of those teams is going to feel like they're in the mix. And one of them is really going to dig themselves a big hole once they lose and they're not in the mix. Because the Packers, nice win against the Bears.

Just drummed them.

Cowboys, they kind of keep us thinking, well, their offense is really good. Can their defense be okay? Just a terrible, terrible game last week. After a good one the week before.

On both sides. And you're always hoping that the Dallas offense is going to bail out the defense. But it just wasn't the case, right? The defense didn't play well like they usually do, but the offense was sputtering and they didn't look like themselves. And that's the, it's always this, hey, they're on track, they're going the right direction. And then it's this ultimate letdown when you feel like you're going up against a team that you should beat that's struggling, Tampa Bay, rookie quarterback, undrafted, all those things that the week before looked out of sorts. And now Dallas does the same thing and makes them look like a superstar.

There we have it. Thank you, everybody, for listening. That is Matt Castle. Thanks to Matt Light for coming on with us. That's Kickoff Kevin. That's Brandon Ray. I'm Bobby Bones. We've had lots to say. We'll see you guys next week.

Goodbye, everybody.

Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcast. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Lots to Say: Week 5 recap and 3x Super Bowl Champ Matt Light

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