49ers Have a STUD in CJ West | Niners - Eagles Tale Of Tape

[00:00:07] Speaker A: Dieter and Hutch clogging up the middle and keeping our jobs here on a Tuesday short week. Jake Niners are going to play Saturday night, which should be to the surprise of absolutely nobody, seeing as for the last five years of the NFL playoffs, the 1 seeds play on Saturday. Not a new thing. You're, you can say that it's unfair, but it's not a new thing. [00:00:29] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think the NFL should probably make strides to at least having teams all on similar rest in the playoffs just to get the best product. You disagree? I would just personally like to see teams all get seven days of rest. I know it's, it's an extra day of advantage for the 1 seeds, which I'm fine with them having an extra advantage. I just think generally speaking, in the games that matter most, I would prefer teams to have the best chance to compete. But, you know, the, the broadcasting deals mean that's never going to happen. So. [00:01:06] Speaker A: No, I don't even think it's that. I think it's strictly, you know, some teams, some teams, you're coming off a buy. Why do you need to wait until Sunday off of a buy? You just gave them the buy. There's only one buy team. So somebody, unless you, unless the seating works out perfectly, some team is probably going to have to play on Sunday. So who do you give the advantage to? The team that was the sixth seed, who. Oh, well, you know, now we're on a short week. Isn't that so unfair? You're the six seed. You don't get any say in this matter. Or are you going to give the one seed the Saturday? Are you going to give the one seed an extra day of rest on Sunday? Like, that doesn't make any sense. So it is simply, if you don't like it, you should have done something about it. And I can tell you this, a good cogent argument against this would be if you felt, and perhaps I think with your case, you do feel this way, that you want the best possible product. I would say that if the Niners were in the situation where Seattle was coming in on a short week, I don't think any tears would be shed. It wouldn't feel like an injustice. [00:02:07] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, Yeah. I think, I think from a fan perspective, it's always like, well, like if you're not the 1 seed, sucks for you. I just personally wish the NFL made a little bit more of an effort. But I get it. It's. The schedule's weird. They get up, they get paid an insane amount of money and they will continue to do things that pay them money, like create terrible Jersey matchups in key situations because money. Have you met money folks? [00:02:37] Speaker A: Well, we haven't that. That you can help us by becoming a subscriber to the channel. By the way, we're members only on the chat from. From this point on. Luckily, we've had a. An in an influx of external influence in recent weeks, both with sickos. Yes. But also with just absolute lunatic people coming into the comments section. So we're locking it down. And this is a playoffs are members only. That's how we're doing it from this point on. And it might stay that way. A perk for all of our great members. And of course, the main perk of being a member is that you're going to get that thick old draft guide. That thick one where I've already started doing a little bit of work here, Jake, as I was texting you beforehand. Just kind of looking in the future and what the 49ers are going to need. But we'll save that topic of conversation for another point in time. We got some news to get to both league wide and local. Let's start with the big news today. [00:03:33] Speaker B: Locally, Gordon Addison has been arrested again. Oh, sorry. Were we going to talk about something else? Knucklehead. [00:03:39] Speaker A: That's the only thing all I heard was, Charles, this guy's a knucklehead. He out here in the Hard Rock Casino. [00:03:45] Speaker B: I've never heard that before. That was incredible. [00:03:47] Speaker A: I got a good. I got a good Barkley. I've spent a lot of time with Barkley and Dina. I think you drink it too many beers. So it's. And he was right. But he also paid for them. [00:03:58] Speaker B: So about the woman in Tallahassee. [00:04:02] Speaker A: San Antonio. They all look like they eat two miniaturos. Okay, thank you. Uh, let's go. It was terrible. Fred Warner's practice window is now open. And before y' all get a little too tight in your trousers, uh, they're not going to play them this week. This is for next week. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Which, by the way, next week is a maybe. So maybe, as Kyle said, I'm going to do what the doctors tell me. You can't always think with your heart. And as soon as he's ready, it will be zero decision on my part. As in, he's playing. So coming off one of the best linebacker games I've seen, seen the 49ers play in recent years, we're going to toss in old, broken Fred Warner. [00:04:44] Speaker B: Huh? I think I Think it's, it's super bowl or bust. I think that's the only way he plays. I mean, I don't know because clearly he would be willing to sacrifice his own life to play on in the NFC Championship. But I mean, for as quickly as it's been, that's an insane timeline and there's just so much into. I know, I know it's the playoffs and I like you get back. And if he can play great, but like, I don't know, I'd want to be very, very, very sure that he's not going to re. Injure that thing. [00:05:23] Speaker A: Yep. Well, that's why you asked the doctors. That's. And, and I do believe that when this first went down and there was some, I thought it kind of un, ridiculous, unhinged speculation that he could return late in the year, which clearly has been somewhat of the case. He is, as the kids would say, built different. He's not of this mortal coil. So listen, if they say he could play in an NFC championship game, who am I? Who am I to stop them? I am not a medical doctor, nor do I pretend to be one. I am however, a, an electrician, official union electrician. So I can't speak about substations. [00:06:09] Speaker B: It's either going to be in the freezing dirt in Chicago. [00:06:14] Speaker A: Yeah. That'll be a mud pile. That's. [00:06:16] Speaker B: Or it will be on the turf in la. So you'll, you'll feel bad about it either way. [00:06:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Not ideal. Not ideal. Couldn't be that beautiful. Beautiful. What do they got? They got the red light therapy thing going on for the grass. [00:06:31] Speaker B: 49Ers have a crazy system for maintaining their grass. Terrible. [00:06:36] Speaker A: For years they got grow lights on, on wheels and they're just out there. [00:06:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Sometimes I actually have gone out there and I've seen Jed York just staring open eyed into the, the pink LED lights. [00:06:47] Speaker A: It's not helping his hairline. He thought it would also grow the hair back. Sorry I had to do it, by the way. You know, as much stick as we've given Jed York because he's a billionaire who inherited it and you can get a little bit of shtick along the way. Good autumn. That's good ownership in George Kittle goes down. First guy to meet him down in the locker room, Jed York gets him a whole bottle of tequila. I drink it too. [00:07:10] Speaker B: Yep. Well done. Well done. That's. Ownership is about doing rich guy things that make everybody feel good. Yep. And that's a, that's a good rich guy thing. So. [00:07:19] Speaker A: Yep. Very good rich guy thing. If you got the means, by all means, do it. Walk through practice today, they'll see how they feel tomorrow. They're only in the building for three and a half hours today. Usually they're in for seven. So they're. They're giving them. They're giving them some time after that game. And this being the short week, usually Tuesday is their day off. So they're playing it as they see it. Let me give you the practice report. Even though they didn't really practice. Dee Winters, Luke Gifford, and Jair Brown, no walkthrough, no practice. Whereas limited, we got Ricky Pearsall, limited. Hey, now, Dominic Punis got an ankle thing. That's something to maybe keep a slight eye on. Trent obviously isn't practicing today. Keon White, who hasn't practiced in a minute, is not practicing today. And Utah Grossman's who never practices, is also not practicing. [00:08:11] Speaker B: Shout out Keon White, who's just been like, good, going through hell and is just playing like. And not like a couple snaps. [00:08:18] Speaker A: Nope. [00:08:18] Speaker B: Like really crucial snaps, going full force, taking on double teams. One acquisition. [00:08:25] Speaker A: Yeah, one. One other thing to note from Kyle's presser, at least as it stands here, is there is a weirdness to the fact that Seattle has not played a game in between playing the 49ers. Like, it hadn't dawned on me until Kyle's, like, what's changed for them? They've seen 70 more plays of us, as if they don't already know everything that we do all the time. I just hadn't calculated that. They're playing a baseball series against The San Francisco 49ers. Week 18, two playoff caliber games. One literally, one figuratively. Whereas the Niners, yeah, they had to go to Philly and do this thing. But it is. It is somewhat bizarre. I. I couldn't even begin to tell you the last time something like that's happened, but I think it makes this short week all the more palatable for the Niners. And it's like, I don't know, we just broke, like, we just watched it. [00:09:20] Speaker B: Like 49ers, it was like a double elimination tournament, but then they went down. Losers, losers, bracket. Now it's a finals game where whoever wins. Yeah. Goes through. Right. But it is bizarre. You're right. I think it's fascinating that the Seahawks are just sitting there and watching, going. [00:09:37] Speaker A: All right, well, we just did it. [00:09:40] Speaker B: Same game plan. Maybe. Sam. Hey, hey, Sam. Maybe don't do that a little better. [00:09:46] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Maybe don't put it on the ground or kind of want to throw interceptions. But I, I do think that that maybe highlights something that I'm sure we'll talk about when we get into the film breakdown on Thursday, which is a lot easier for us again, because we haven't watched anything but this Philly tape in between. So it's all very fresh on everybody's minds on what happened. For better and for certainly worse, given the circumstances of that game for the 49ers. But, like, there's no mystery. They're division rivals. They play twice every year. I guess there was some weirdness in the fact that they played week one, week 18, and so there was some separation there, but it's not. [00:10:25] Speaker B: Didn't look that different for being like that far off. Like, usually teams change a lot and these teams, I feel like besides injuries for the Niners, like, well, and I. [00:10:37] Speaker A: I would say besides injuries for the Seahawks too, because they don't have Emanwari in that game. Now you have Eman worri in this second matchup and it's like, oh, that's a big difference. That's a big change. And obviously that would maybe be the thing amongst all the other stuff we'll focus on as this week progresses. Like, that's a thing that really stands out to me. You know, Seattle's entire defense is predicated on we have more versatile athletes than you and we're going to beat you man to man with these versatile athletes. And so you're putting Devin Witherspoon and Neiman Warrior in the box and splitting them out. What? You're moving them all around when the Niners are now down one of their two vital, versatile athletes without having George Kittle. So I don't know. I don't know, Kyle. And by the way, I guess the good news here is, okay, week 18, you're probably not holding back any punches, but you're sure as hell not doing it now, seeing as we just saw Joanne Jennings throw a touchdown. But, like, where you're at with the team that you have, Kyle has to have reams binders full of cool, interesting plays that they can add in because they don't have to really change that much for from the last time they went about it, they just have to execute it significantly better. So this is the time with all these walkthroughs and short week practice, like, let's toss in two or three more trick plays that we can bust out here. And I'm just going to call it right now. This might come across as the dumbest prediction Ever made on the show. I think we get a fake special teams play. I'm not. I think it's a fake punt week for the 49. [00:12:07] Speaker B: I. I love that. I think Shanahan would have to be incredibly dire to do that, and I think this is a game that could force him to do. It's also like, no one is even remotely Preparing for the 49ers to run a fake. I mean, now there should be out there. [00:12:25] Speaker A: They've literally never done it. The only time they've run a fake punch. [00:12:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:29] Speaker A: Mitch did it himself and it was called back by penalty. [00:12:31] Speaker B: That was devastating. Real quick. Yeah. I would like to know the quantity of coffee that is being consumed this week by the coaching staff as well as the unan. The number of unanswered wellness checks from their respective spouses. It is going to reach an apocalyptic high this week, and I cannot fathom what that looks like. [00:12:53] Speaker A: To quote Kyle Shanahan, we've been in a hole for seven months. We're going to need to not see each other pretty soon. That's. That's it. I mean, at least Kyle's shaving this year. Last year. Yeah, he didn't shave, which we actually. Yeah. So the. I believe yesterday was the anniversary of Sean McVeigh getting hired by the Rams. He and Kyle are now the second longest tenured coaches, along with the other Sean in Buffalo behind Andy Reid, with everybody getting fired, which we'll get into here in a moment. But obviously Shanahan a little bit older. A little bit older than Mr. McVeigh, who was hired at age 30 and is now not even 40 years old. But McVeigh doesn't look like he's aged a second in nine years. And Kyle Shanahan is the poster child for the new belief that you age dramatically at 44. [00:13:48] Speaker B: Well, because Kyle's been sleeping in an underground substation, whereas McVeigh has been on the beach for a decade. And he also has Matt Stafford as his quarterback. [00:13:58] Speaker A: That would. That would help. Not going through a Trey Lance like saga going from Jared Goff, which is tough enough as is, but not the worst place to then be. Like, let's just trade him for Stafford. That will put you in a pretty good spot. So there's a lot of open jobs, though, as there are. [00:14:14] Speaker B: Should we talk about that briefly? We will leave comments to the end. We see you. [00:14:18] Speaker A: We see you. We love them. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Let's talk about those openings and then let's talk about CJ west and all the things we loved from the Eagles. Game. [00:14:26] Speaker A: Yeah, let's, let's, let's start with the fact that Tony Patullo. That's his name, right? Patullo. [00:14:32] Speaker B: Kevin. [00:14:33] Speaker A: Kevin. [00:14:34] Speaker B: Kevin. [00:14:34] Speaker A: Who's Tony? Well, he's, he's, he's a patulo in for a new job. [00:14:40] Speaker B: Not fired. Which is arguably worse. It's not because you keep your job. It's not. It's not worse. But he's, he's demoted. He has lost the position, but has not been fired from the staff. [00:14:54] Speaker A: They sorensed in him. [00:14:57] Speaker B: Yeah. And it seems like unlike Sorensen, like, he'll probably just stick around quietly. [00:15:03] Speaker A: That's the, the Bobby Evans play where they fire you as gm, but you're just still there. That's fine. [00:15:10] Speaker B: You can take on another role. Just stop doing as much. [00:15:13] Speaker A: Not, not that one. I will note. You know, before we get into the Philly stuff, it's very hard to take a team that had our friend Kevin as their offensive coordinator because he was just not good at that job. But I did notice as the game progressed on the all 22. And you get the wide angle. Why is Big Dom standing where the head coach should be? [00:15:35] Speaker B: Because he is the head coach. [00:15:37] Speaker A: I know that's a joke, but, like, I'm starting to wonder if that guy's actually the head coach. He has a headset and he is standing in the middle of the sideline, like in the perfect place that the head coach should be on every snap. He's the only guy. I mean, mind you, he is much more massive than any other person on the sideline, including the defensive tackles. But that's so weird. And it's been weird. And I don't think it ever really dawned on me until I'm like, is it looks like he's the head coach of the team? [00:16:06] Speaker B: I think he is. [00:16:07] Speaker A: Okay. [00:16:08] Speaker B: I think he is. And it's also like, I mean, what does Sirianni really have to. [00:16:12] Speaker A: It's just, you know, the chief vibes officer of the worst vibing team in all football. [00:16:16] Speaker B: He's just on TikTok. [00:16:21] Speaker A: Just eating a hoagie, just commenting. [00:16:23] Speaker B: He's. He's like. He's pre ordering sandwiches for halftime. He's like, I got guys, I gotta. I got our lunch. [00:16:30] Speaker A: I'm on. I'm on. Hold on. WIP right now. Okay? Here are the open jobs in the NFL right now. 30% of the league has an open job. As we have said time and time again, not a great year for needing a new head coach. And yet all these teams are like, we got to get a new head coach. Steelers. Mike Tomlin quit today. He's going to probably go work for NBC. Ravens, Browns, Dolphins. Oh, by the way, Steelers, Ravens, Browns. The only coach that survives in the NFC north is Zach Taylor, who was the one who absolutely should have been fired, but his owner is too cheap to actually fire him because he's got a year left on his contract. [00:17:07] Speaker B: NFC north, remember that their scouting staff for the Bengals is two people. [00:17:11] Speaker A: Two people. And even though that's become, like, a thing and everyone knows that now, they're like, no, we're good, we're good. And it worked out great with their first round pick this year. We won't relitigate that. Dolphins is open, though it does seem as if Shula's grandson is going to take that gig. Titans, Raiders, Giants, Cardinals of note, and Falcons are all open. [00:17:33] Speaker B: Oh, I forgot about the Cardinals and the Falcons. Oh, my God. [00:17:36] Speaker A: Do you think. But should the Cardinals just hire Jonathan Gannon back? Should they go ahead and Kyle use check this thing and be like, no, we were just kidding. [00:17:45] Speaker B: Probably. [00:17:46] Speaker A: I mean, it's the Dell Curry bit. Like, you don't want to be out on these matters. [00:17:50] Speaker B: I mean, I guess it does matter. They. They could be, theoretically, I don't know, it just feels like their quarterback situation, until they get rid of Kyler, it's hard to know, like, what they're doing, where they're headed. They just feel like. And listen, they've stacked up a lot of talent. It's just. They feel a little aimless and sort of in this. Like, they need. They need some clarity at the top to really define what their direction is. And, like, I don't know how many people are going to be thrilled about working for one of the cheapest owners in sports. [00:18:21] Speaker A: And it's not like he's going to be, you know, opening up the checkbook to say, hey, let's bring in the best and the brightest. So, my goodness, a lot of open jobs to the point where Mike McDaniel's definitely getting hired. Like, right? [00:18:35] Speaker B: Got five, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Nine jobs. [00:18:40] Speaker A: 30% of the league. Nine jobs. Unbelievable. Okay, let's talk. 49ers and Eagles. A game that was really difficult to watch on the broadcast and really fun to watch on the all 22 in my estimation. [00:18:56] Speaker B: Agreed. Agreed. Shout out Fox for being truly the worst network in so many ways. [00:19:02] Speaker A: I agree. [00:19:03] Speaker B: So many ways. Just, hey, show me a replay. No, absolutely not. And if you want a replay, it's going to be close up. You won't be able to tell what's happening. Just a brutal, brutal watch during the game, not being able to tell what's going on. I was. My first takeaway. Bob throwing out quite a bit of man coverage, and 49ers corners did a good job now. [00:19:27] Speaker A: Yes, they did. [00:19:28] Speaker B: The thing is, trying to extrapolate that for next week is difficult because one, all of the Eagles players seem to want to die. And also, we're running a lot of hitches and a lot of. How should I say, Extraordinarily basic routes. That said, that said, I was impressed with the 49ers secondary, aside from Alec Mustafa, who suddenly is, like, I think, the pretty clear weak point in coverage, particularly, like, in any short area. Like, he sets his feet too heavily, and then he just. That first step, he can catch up in sort of long speed, but that. That short area. And. And, yeah, okay, we'll take questions at the end, but, like, this is a good one. Yeah, this is a good question. Demo seemed like he was having a rough start to the game. He was. [00:20:15] Speaker A: He was. [00:20:15] Speaker B: He was. He got beat quite a few times, but in the second half, I thought he was stellar. Yeah, he made up for that horrible run fit early on, almost the exact same play. And he was really good in the second half. [00:20:27] Speaker A: Also, you know, they. They put him on the boundary side exclusively, and they. Because that offense was so simplistic, when they actually had to stop running all those hitch routes, it became pretty obvious. It's really tough when you have kind of overloads to one side and it's all hitch routes. So I am. Listen, Demo did not cover himself in glory in the first half. He rebounded in the second half, and he was really good against the run, and he was solid against the pass in the second half. Shamefully, I write most of my studs and duds column at halftime, and then I just. I write, like, a thousand words, and then I delete, like, 400 of them as it goes, because, hey, you can't be a stud anymore. You did a bad thing. Or, hey, you can't be a dud. I did. You know, when you're not getting replays in all 22, it is difficult to kind of discern how. How good he was. He was fine, and he was outside of Mustafa, who is kind of flailing, if we're being honest, he was the weak link. I thought Green had a really solid game. [00:21:30] Speaker B: He was very good. [00:21:32] Speaker A: And. And clearly, you know, we were back to sort of week one here where Bob is putting it all on him. And Bob is they didn't. They played a lot of quarters. To be very fair. One thing that stood out to me. Does Philadelphia have a single quarters beater play at all? [00:21:50] Speaker B: No. And it's funny because you see teams week after week after week say, hey, we're going to run a deep intermediary play to drag down the safety because you. Because in theory, like the way it draws up quarters, he's like, oh, like the whole deep part of the field is totally covered. It never works like that because you draw the middle safety down and you make people make decisions and then you have another route going over top and really you end up with a one on one without safety help. [00:22:19] Speaker A: Right. [00:22:20] Speaker B: And it's actually very, very, very vulnerable in a lot of ways to that because it takes like exquisite communication very quickly. And the 49ers have not been great at that while running a lot of COVID four. [00:22:34] Speaker A: It's. It's wild because, you know, people were asking in the comments a couple of weeks ago, like, how did the Rams put that many points on the Seahawks? And the answer was pretty straightforward. One, Thursday Night Football makes no sense. And two, dagger concept. They ran the dagger concept like 15 times in that game. And every single time the Seattle safeties made the wrong decision. And here comes puka for Kyle would be a Yankee concept where on the opposite side then you get that kind of crossover. Philadelphia just doesn't have those plays. I don't quite understand how you don't see cover four consistent. I'm sorry, we keep. I keep going on about the Philadelphia Eagles, but it's like how on Earth 2026, where quarters is the du jour coverage. Do you not have a quarters beater? One of them. [00:23:25] Speaker B: It's. It's funny how if you replayed that game 10 times, I actually think the Niners win most of the time. [00:23:31] Speaker A: Agreed. [00:23:32] Speaker B: Because I think we overestimated the Eagles talent versus their level of wanting the season to be over and having such a horrific offensive coordinator. [00:23:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:43] Speaker B: That they would just sort of crumble. But if they had. If they had even Drew Petzing who's like, yeah, like met the ire of Cardinals fans, they would win that game with. With Drew Patsy easy. Like very. If they had even a semi coherent offensive coordinator who could look at a defense and say they're not very good at that. Let's maybe try and attack that. I don't know if I'm gonna dial every play up perfectly. But like they have a few weaknesses. Let's go at them. Just no ability to do that. And a quarterback who's like, sort of hates everything about it and also kind of refuses to throw basic stuff over the middle of the field and just bails in the pocket constantly. And then he makes like three good throws and then the receivers drop him. So they had everything working. [00:24:32] Speaker A: Two things. One, you know, Marquis Siegel comes in. You were of the mindset in the post game, I think that the tape really does bear it out that on it was his second defensive play. He comes in with about 250 to go in the second. And on the second play, they run a deep post to AJ Brown, and he gets the. Gets beats outside leverage. And Siegel turns and makes a beeline and is running right up the middle of the field towards it. And I do think Brown took a hesitation step because he knew that Siegel would get there sooner. And then it's a drop. So that's. They didn't try that again. Like, it was there. They didn't try it again. And then to your point, again in the post game, they run A quarterback draw second and 10. It goes for an easy 10. He Hertz doesn't get touched until he's on the sideline. But because Landon Dickerson gets called for a hold against Jordan Elliott, which was. I mean, it was a hold by the letter of the law. But like, a lot of shit goes in the playoffs. Like, you probably shouldn't call that. They're like, let's not do that again. Like, that's the kind of stuff that we talk about Kyle Shanahan, which is just so night and day different. But we talk about Kyle Shanahan and like, he's setting stuff up or he's seeing something that the defense does and then that informs him to make a future decision. [00:25:49] Speaker B: These guys are down. They scored with McCaffrey, right? [00:25:51] Speaker A: These guys are getting clear indicators and they're acting on the results, not the process. Like, that is the most damning thing you could possibly say about a coordinator. That it's like, well, that didn't work. It's like, yes, but it did. It did. You just need to adjust it a little bit. You just need to tweak it. But instead you're like, well, I didn't work. I guess we can't do that again. And that's why I got fired, by the way. [00:26:14] Speaker B: Siegel. Like, I think it was the first play. He comes in, A.J. brown's blocking him. He just destroys. Destroys A.J. brown and gets right through it for a run stop. Just as Shanahan admitted, like, he was fantastic. [00:26:28] Speaker A: He was really good. [00:26:29] Speaker B: He's playing this week regardless of. Yes, of anything. I. I don't think Jair is going to even be able to play. [00:26:38] Speaker A: But I'll throw something your way here. I'm going to again say that you were right. They have their answer. If Jair can go, he probably can't go full bore and you probably don't want him in the open field. You play Jair a big nickel. [00:26:54] Speaker B: I completely agree. [00:26:55] Speaker A: That's because, again, this, A lot of this is rehashing. I thought we had this game pretty well pegged on Sunday night. But like Siegel's ability to cover, the way he flips his hits open and explodes across the field. Let's all pause for effect is. Is not something that they have had. And he does all the things that Jair does well, which is cover the flat and run stuff. [00:27:20] Speaker B: He's also fresh. It's like the same thing as Kendricks and Walla, where, like, they don't have the wear and tear of all this. You have the ability to say, I feel good, like my body actually feels fine because I don't have the attrition of an 18 game season. I'm gonna let it rip. The other thing I want to mention, you pointed out that, like, communication, a key factor with Jair, that is, that is a key factor. And you go back to Fred Warner, it's like it's more evidence. Not that we needed it, but I do think it needs to be reminded that, like, Warner was just organizing and calling the entire defense. He was getting everyone at every single level organized on every single play. Right. And it's really hard to adjust from that. Not that anyone's ever going to be able to pick up that slack, but I think that's part of the reason there have been so many vulnerabilities in the secondaries. If you don't have like, very loud talkers. And, and I get it if they say, like, Jair is just the best communicator we have. I understand it from that angle. Again, I still think they had big nickel, and I would have rather seen Jair's big nickel than Pinnock and put Seagull back there. But anyway, communication matters and it will matter this week. [00:28:31] Speaker A: Well, I thought Kendricks was incredible at communicating in this game. I thought Garrett Wallow did a really nice job communicating. I believe that Kendrick's called his communication crispy in the post game and it looked that way. I saw both. I mean, obviously Kendrick's been around for a while. He knows that they're running Basic cover for stuff like nothing that they're doing. Though they did blitz 11 times in this game on pass plays and. And six of them coming on first and second down. So Bob was getting a little funky with it, but I thought his communication was impeccable. He was moving dudes around. That's the kind of stuff that we really hadn't seen with Bethune. Right. Kind of that authoritative voice. Winters is not going to be that guy because he doesn't know half the time. But Wallow. I saw a couple of plays like going and changing defensive line fronts and say, no, you got to get out wider and this and that. That's really impressive that those guys. Kendrick's maybe more understandably so that Wallow felt such a conviction to do it. I. I'm. You know, it was a kind of a running joke. Like, who the hell is Garrett Wallow? You mean one T Garrett Wallow. He was outstanding. [00:29:41] Speaker B: Like. [00:29:44] Speaker A: I have no earthly idea. Now I do question if that can continue against Seattle because Seattle is a real mauling team downhill. Whereas the Eagles offensive line was embarrassingly soft in this game. [00:30:00] Speaker B: Yeah, they didn't get quite the push that you would have expected. They had a. They had a couple plays where they got movement, you know, like Elliot got collapsed in that clip I posted where. Yeah, again, teams love running duo at him and I think they will do that. Gray's ables just. But you also have Anthony Bradford, who's just horrific. I can't wait to talk more about him. [00:30:20] Speaker A: Oh, don't. [00:30:21] Speaker B: On Thursday. Because he. It's funny. It's like you've got four football players and then a guy who looks like. He's just. He looks like Escalade from and one basketball. Anyone remember Escalade? I'm sorry. That's. Sorry. Disrespectful to Escalade. [00:30:39] Speaker A: I believe Escalade is no longer with us. For what it's. [00:30:41] Speaker B: I know, I know. That's why I say I apologize. It's disrespectful to Escalade because he was moving, he had some moves. He was light on his feet. Anthony Bradford, not so. [00:30:51] Speaker A: Not only do I remember Escalade, when you say Escalade, my first thought is immediately Cadillac. The second one is him. I have the. And one mixtape tour intro, like, ingrained in my head. So it wasn't just Escalade, it was Escalade in the white T shirt going behind his back. And then the video stops and it goes all gold and it just says Escalade. [00:31:16] Speaker B: And he's Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. [00:31:18] Speaker A: It's. That is so deep in my head. That is the deep millennial cut that you, you might have just caught. [00:31:23] Speaker B: So, speaking of Escalade, let's talk about CJ west, because this is our ongoing bit where whatever the title is, we're not going to get to for the first half hour. We got to know that at this point. [00:31:31] Speaker A: Look, foreplay. [00:31:33] Speaker B: C.J. west, do you want to start? [00:31:36] Speaker A: I love him so much. Like, we're not. [00:31:40] Speaker B: Rah, rah. [00:31:41] Speaker A: This is fun. Like, that's not what we do. We try to be serious football minds, but I love him and he's my favorite boy and I just can't get enough of him. Like, this is. This is. I'm not gonna lie. There were some moments of doubt throughout the season that CJ west could be this level of consistently impactful when he's on the field. There were moments where it didn't feel like his very heavy, violent hands were available to him. [00:32:11] Speaker B: He also did have a hand injury. [00:32:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Which, you know, as I talk to him about, I'm like, wouldn't the club help? Apparently not. I'll just give you the numbers. This is from Nick Wagner, ESPN. Without 99 on the field, that would be C.J. west. The Eagles ran for 4.5 yards per carry, 19 carries, 85 yards. That does include the D' Amador Lenore collapse in on the end. The. The weekly defensive back doesn't realize you need to contain and so they got a big run again, but still 19 for 85 without CJ west on the field. Just west on the field. So west on the field, exclusive of nothing. 17 carries, 55 yards. That's three two. 99 and 95. Collins and west on the field together. 13 carries, 38 yards, 2.9 yards per carry. Robert Sal is a bright guy. I don't know how he can't see this and how he can go out there and start Jordan Elliott and Kalia Davis again. [00:33:09] Speaker B: I understand starting them because it doesn't really matter. It's like who finishes. And Weston and Collins have been finishing the game and it's trying to keep them fresh, I guess, because those guys do have utility and you kind of have to play them just to piggyback off that because I, I did on Twitter. I posted it for my stats this year that I've tracked and I will update it very shortly. Later today, I will have updated season long grades for all these guys and I've already graded it out, which I'll I'll get to in a second. But for weeks two through 18, CJ west had the second highest run win rate on the 49ers, only behind Mikel Williams, while having a 49 double team slash chip rate by far the highest on the team. The way he, he attacks double teams and the way you watch guys have, like, an expectation of, all right, we've run this play a million times. We know what it feels like to run it. And guys move at least a little bit, and then you watch him not move, and they go, oh, it's incredible. And somebody asked about Collins and Wes vs. Gray's Abel, and I'm not going to say he dominated Gray's Abel, but, like, there were points where you, I watched Gray's able in that game go, oh, who's this? I don't remember him from week one at all. He is. And, and here's the thing, like, he's not as consistent in the past game because he doesn't have a huge variety of moves. But when he gets one on ones, he's creating push. He's closing the pocket vertically. Andy's smart. I watched him. Yeah, he faced a double team at one point and he went, I'm not getting home. And he ran to the flat to cover Saquon Barkley. And I went, what did. He's, he's got the, he's got the mind. He, I mean, I, I, it's hard. [00:34:55] Speaker A: Mind, the body, the spirit. Spirit. This is a perfect man. [00:34:59] Speaker B: Unfortunately, you know, there's, there's some players we just get attached to, and we try and just be like, oh, he's a really good player. He's just a specimen. I love everything about his game, and he really is a crucial piece to any success they're gonna have. [00:35:14] Speaker A: I remember this was very early in the draft process last year, and I pulled up Indiana film to watch somebody else, and I'm like, I don't, I forget when I think he was 99 there. I could be wrong, but it was, he was obvious. And I'm not, I'm not kidding. I've been very lucky, very happily married. I've had some, had some relationships beforehand. Once a year during the draft process, you get love at first sight. Just once a year, I, you know what that thunderbolt feels like. And you're just like, this is. I just remember being just head over heels for CJ west and being like, this is my guy. And so, yeah, you're right. We could absolutely be anchored much like him in this belief that he's this great player. But on a day where Marquis Siegel comes out of the shadows and looks incredible after nine weeks of us being like, why aren't you playing him? You know what? I think we deserve a little bit of a victory lap. [00:36:16] Speaker B: Agreed. Agreed. By the way, he was my highest graded player on the defensive line by far. Just. I mean, the numbers he's putting up are outrageous. Yeah. Again, they will all be available for all of you sickos. [00:36:28] Speaker A: Do it. [00:36:30] Speaker B: But I remember going back to the draft where he was in the Shrine bowl and shout out the Shrine Bowl. People who actually, like, give you access to practice tape don't have a weird complex about them like some former people. Well, no longer there. [00:36:43] Speaker A: We're going to believe in the Senior bowl this year. We're giving the Senior bowl another shot. [00:36:48] Speaker B: But the Shrine bowl, like, they provided tape and you'd watch one on ones. And I was like, oh, this is C.J. west. And you just watch him like, destroying people. Literally, like getting through them in two seconds. And that was like one. That was the pick where, you know, they drafted Mikel. We thought that was fantastic. Alfred Collins could. Could kind of go either way. Then they draft Nick Martin. You're like, oh, where are you going? And then it's up in Stout and you go, maybe a reach, but I kind of get it. Yeah. And then you get. And then you get CJ west and you're like, all right, it's. [00:37:21] Speaker A: They know what they're doing. [00:37:22] Speaker B: It's a good draft. [00:37:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:24] Speaker B: And it's going to work out. [00:37:25] Speaker A: We'll get into the larger context of this. But if you just kind of look in off of this defense moving forward. [00:37:34] Speaker B: Right. [00:37:35] Speaker A: If we're thinking about 26, they're in like a really strong position because Weston Collins have separated themselves as clearly viable defensive tackles. And just looking at, you know, the situation on the defensive side, let's just run through it real fast. Your defensive ends next year are Bosa, White, Huff, Michael and Sam. Oh, if you can keep them on restricted free agency, that's the best in the NFL. Sorry. I know there's a lot. I mean, Texans got a really good unit. Like, I get it, but like, you're not beating that. Keon White as a second stringer, like, that's absurd. Defensive defensive tackle, you have Collins, you have West. Kalia Davis is a restricted free agent. [00:38:20] Speaker B: So you're going to Collins and West and maybe Sebastian Valdez, if you so choose. [00:38:24] Speaker A: Maybe. But you have that there so that you're not absolutely floundering. You have Your starters for next year there. [00:38:31] Speaker B: I think they need a, like a. An insane sort of wiggly guy who's got some. You needed flash, but you need a. [00:38:40] Speaker A: U tier Gross mottos replacement that actually plays football. Linebackers Fred Winters, Bethune, and oh, yeah, Martin. He's still on the team. So you're. You're okay there. You could probably add there. And I would say you have to bring back Wallow. Even with one game. You try to bring back Kendricks and. [00:39:01] Speaker B: Probably bring back Gifford for special teams. [00:39:03] Speaker A: I agree with that. Cornerbacks, you're pretty good at corner with Lenore and Green and Luter and Tomlinson. Like, sure, you can upgrade, but like, you're feeling okay. [00:39:14] Speaker B: And. And also quietly, they. They still have Jacob Robinson, who's like, kind of impressive. He broke his hand. Yeah. [00:39:20] Speaker A: I have him as a slot guy behind Stout. That might be their strongest position. [00:39:24] Speaker B: And then I think you could. You could definitely use another corner. Probably day three. [00:39:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:31] Speaker B: And yeah, yeah. [00:39:33] Speaker A: Seagull Mustafa Brown makes a lot more sense when Siegel plays. Like, their defense is in a pretty good situation moving forward. And we'll have a lot of time to talk about that, but just again, you know, they built this defense understanding that they were going to need some beef in the middle to make everyone's life easy. And the two rookies that they drafted. Collins still has his warts, don't get me wrong. But like, I like Collins. I'll bet on Collins moving forward. I think that he gives you a good floor at this point. [00:40:02] Speaker B: I agree. I agree. And I liked him this week especially. [00:40:05] Speaker A: Yeah, he was great. And west is. Is just a consummate pro at this juncture. First year in, you just can expect west to give you that Puna Ford every week in, week out. So I'm actually very bullish on this 49ers defense moving forward. There will be a lot of questions. I think maybe we might be overreacting a little bit in the positive realm towards this Niners defense because the Eagles were so incompetent on offense and we know that won't be the case Even with the NFL's turnover leader in Sam Darnold, the quarterback for the Seahawks. But again, if you're trying to stay big picture on this, I think that they're in a really good spot defensively moving forward. Again, Siegel unlocks so much, so much in just actually having a free safety who is good. He's damn good. [00:40:54] Speaker B: I agree. I agree. Yeah. And I think they're set up well on defense. You definitely need another defensive Tackle could go safety. Definitely need to add to the secondary. But like, it's funny, you could. You really look at defensive end and you're like, we're actually in pretty good shape there for next year. You have four, like very high quality defensive end players locked up under contract for next year now pending the health of Mikel and Bosa. Right. Both coming back from ACL tears. You're going to need another piece. Obviously you probably want to retain Samo. I think paying him 5 million on the second round tender is probably worth your time. Gotta do it because someone else is probably going to want to pay him. [00:41:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:35] Speaker B: Because he's played well. And then we can talk about other positions, but you're going to wide receivers. Very, very, very high tight end suddenly jumps. [00:41:44] Speaker A: We're not in a great spot on offense. You have a great quarterback. Everything else is just totally up in the air. I mean, even running back, you're like, well, Christian McCaffrey, Christian, you desperately need. [00:41:53] Speaker B: To draft another running back too, if not two. Robinson's a free agent. I don't know that you really care about bringing him back. He's not really an additive player. [00:42:02] Speaker A: Nope. No. So there's a lot. We will get into all of that as the time comes. They have a playoff game. Any other notes that you had from the Eagles game that you, you want to make sure are on the record? [00:42:13] Speaker B: I mean, so many notes. But I was, I was impressed with the coverage on the back end. I think obviously west one thing, Bryce Huff was phenomenal in the run game. I mean like truly, truly phenomenal. At one point split a double team and had a, a solo backfield stop on Saquon Barkley where you're like, yeah, he is mad at Vic Fangio. So that just take you places. [00:42:37] Speaker A: Just try to convince Bryce Huff that the Seattle Seahawks didn't want him in some way. Just, just do whatever you can to make Bryce Huff play angry because he was outstanding in the run game and that is always going to be his downfall. So when he plays better in the run game than he does in the past game, you have a good, good thing going. We'd love to see that push and wiggle that he used to have on the outside. But like, if you're gonna not get to the quarterback, make sure you're not getting beat in the run game. I thought Bryce Huff was really good and we talked about it after the game. Can I also mention that Jake Brendel is on a heater again? [00:43:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, listen, like, I thought he had some Ugly moments. But like when it mattered, down the stretch, he was blocking his ass off. There was one play towards the end of this game where he, I just have it says 432 remaining, exquisite Brendel rep where he, I think it's like a nine yard McCaffrey run. And he, when he can get off on a double team, pass somebody off and get second level, like, he is really, really damn good at that in the run game. And I would say Spencer Burford did not have the finest moments in this game. Also, Colt McKivitz struggled at times. And also Trent Williams got beat pretty bad a couple times. But my God, for a guy with a barbecued hamstring, what a game. [00:43:56] Speaker A: He said it was 75%. Like that's, that's just him being a. [00:44:01] Speaker B: Warrior, 37 years old with like a bad knee on a barbecued hamstring and just. Sheesh. By the way, we'll get to comments. [00:44:11] Speaker A: Short, I do want to add in again, as I said earlier, 11 blitzes on pass plays in this game, including six on first and second down. Like, that's Bob pushing it. So you get Kyle with trick plays. You got Bob pushing it. This is somewhat of what we were asking for. Like you got to throw caution to the wind a little bit. [00:44:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Last thing I do want to mention during I got a shout out Chris Firster who said, Jalen Carter, not gonna let you beat us and double teamed him almost every snack. Every single one. [00:44:47] Speaker A: And he still almost did because he's just that good. He is. He's a frightening man in a lot of capacities. [00:44:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is why Burford didn't grade out all that well because he was taking a lot of one on ones against Jordan, Davis and A Jomo and tough, tough players. [00:45:01] Speaker A: That is a, that is an exceptional defensive tackle unit. And again, they have a great corner, they have good linebackers, they have exceptional defensive tackles. You know, Phillips had a really nice game against McKivitz. Number three. Sorry, Nolan. [00:45:19] Speaker B: Nolan Smith. [00:45:19] Speaker A: Nolan Smith, I thought had some good reps, especially late against Trent, but safety is our destiny. And I think it was even more clear in the All 22 that the Niners, the Niner safeties, even with Malik Mustafa kind of winging it. On a play by play basis though, he was a good blitzer early in this game. They had the better safeties than RE Blankenship and Epps who was. Don't know what he was doing out there. That was, that was a tough one. [00:45:48] Speaker B: Blankenship had like a couple good plays and Then in the fourth quarter got destroyed. [00:45:51] Speaker A: Yeah, they. They started targeting him and pragmatic Kyle showing up in the fourth quarter of that game. I thought it was a very pragmatic attack plan. And you know, a lot of other people have done the breakdown of the opposite side Texas route for Christian McCaffrey and how that relates to the touchdown that he scored against the Colts where no linebacker came up to defend him. That is really good stuff. Not disparaging anybody for breaking that down. That's really good stuff. That's every fucking week. Every fucking week. There's like five things like that that Kyle does. So when people say, oh, you know, he's running it too much, like it's very difficult unless you are taking comprehensive notes and referring them to each other to see like, oh, this is setting this stuff up. And that he is constantly probing while continuing to get his offense in position to move the ball 7, 8, 9 yards at a time. [00:46:53] Speaker B: And there's levels and literally running plays even in playoff games where he's like, this probably isn't the best look, but I need to run this to run a better play later. Yeah, there's like an element of that that, you know, some of that's insanity and maybe you just try and run your best place. But I think you need to have a bigger picture to say we need to be able to set something up later in the game. [00:47:16] Speaker A: It's some real Dr. Strange stuff. Says the man who never actually saw any of the doctor Strange movies, but he's. He's operating on dimensional levels that clearly our friend. Yeah, our friend in Philly who has been recently fired. [00:47:31] Speaker B: Who's Tony Petullo? [00:47:32] Speaker A: Is Tony our friend not operating? [00:47:36] Speaker B: I think we're overdue for some comments here. Appreciate you folks. Aren't we start with Vice. If I was Kyle, I'd throw in Watkins and cowing. That's as much speed at them as you can. Seattle doesn't have tape on them, so they'd never expect it. I am a little surprised. Watkins was just an active. But I think they said Malik Turner can play special teams. [00:47:55] Speaker A: He can. [00:47:55] Speaker B: And that dictated feels like at this point I don't think either of them are playing but I do think those guys both have speed and that is more lacking it. But I do think Pearsall again I said last week I think Piercel is going to play this week. We'll see. But I think he's gonna play. [00:48:14] Speaker A: It's trending that way. I don't think he has much of a choice as you Properly laid out on Sunday. Jacob Cowing has not gone through a full speed practice this season. You're not playing him. Jordan Watkins has. And again, we're not in the business of giving benefit of the doubt here. But you don't think with all the shit that's gone down at the wide receiver position for The San Francisco 49ers and Kendrick Bourne still not knowing the plays in week 19, that if Watkins had anything to give them that they would have tried it out by now in an earnest manner. Like, these guys see him at practice now and they're keeping a guy in Siegel, who by the way, has apparently been practicing great the whole time. They're keeping him down. Like, what are they doing with why? I don't think it's that situation. [00:49:04] Speaker B: I would push back a little bit and say that Kyle has an extraordinarily high bar for receivers. And at this point in the year, it's like what he knows. And he knows Kendrick Bourne's gonna fuck up, but he also like knows what Kendrick Bourne does, like when he knows the play, that he's going to do the right thing. And Watkins is sort of an unknown. And again, he's always hard on rookies, even when he really likes him. The wide receiver position, I, I still think they do like Watkins and there was a lot. But he also dealt with a lot of injuries and there's just not a level of trust there. Not that I would trust Kendrick Bourne and I would prefer to have the speed of Watkins, but it's also blocking comes into play and Bourne's a little bit of a bigger body. Even though I've seen walking again. Again, I am not wrong. Yeah, but I think that's what goes into it. [00:49:55] Speaker A: Especially too. They're going to be in tight formations this whole game though, you know, actually, you know what, I don't know if that's the case because it was very evident in watching week 18 as it unfolded that the way to beat them is to spread them out. And if you can't beat them is to spread them out and put guys like Iman Warri in space. And maybe he still beats you there. Probably does. But you, you, you go four wide, you go five wide, you go to empty stuff and you motion running backs in. But I thought the fullback stuff with gap manipulation was just empty calories because they didn't care, they didn't respond to it. So you're not manipulating their adjustments, you're just running into a wall. And so, yeah, maybe Watkins does need to play because it would Be him over cowing at this point. Maybe Watkins does need to play. Just because you have another receiver. And Malik Turner hasn't had a catch in the NFL since 2021. [00:50:52] Speaker B: Right. [00:50:52] Speaker A: Including a bad drop in this game this past. [00:50:54] Speaker B: Right. And I think I. Okay, I do think if Gifford is up for that game, Turner probably doesn't play. [00:51:02] Speaker A: Right. [00:51:03] Speaker B: I think that's the calculation there of like, you have you need a special team or you trust. Yeah. So there's a route there. But then if Pierce all plays, I don't think Watkins plays either. [00:51:13] Speaker A: So anyway, we have also openly praised Malik Turner's special teams on this channel before. I think it was. What was it was it made some great. [00:51:22] Speaker B: Made some great special teams place maybe earlier in this year. [00:51:25] Speaker A: Last year they showed he showed up against the Saints and was just like. [00:51:28] Speaker B: Hey, with his oversized sleeves, too. [00:51:31] Speaker A: There we go. Now we're talking. That's the kind of stuff I'm into. [00:51:34] Speaker B: Too much sauce. 33. I don't know what happened to the other too much sauces, but do you trust Eric Kendricks for the next three games? Probably not, but what other choice do you have? And also, I liked a lot of what I saw. I mean, he's. And he's fresh. So do I fully trust what the Eric Hendricks experience is going to be? No. But, like, on the scale of like, what I trust with this Niners defense over the last two months, yeah, I'd say I sort of trust him. [00:52:04] Speaker A: He's the second best middle linebacker. They've had one game, simple scheme. But he. He looked way better than Tatum Bethune looked. And he's bigger than Tatum Bethune, which is saying something. Yeah. Again, you don't have any other choice. Oh, well, Fred could come back this and that. Like, I am of the mindset that, like, as cool as that could be. One, you're not sure if that's Fred Warner. Right. Like, it might. He might wear 54. [00:52:32] Speaker B: And people talk about Quan Alexander coming back and Alexander looked like shit. Like, Right. Like, remember when Quan did that? He was terrible. Like, there was an energy level to that. But I don't know. [00:52:43] Speaker A: So again, if he's out there, he looks great. All that stuff. That's just a huge win. First off, you've already beaten the Seahawks, so you're just riding the highest of highs. And then you probably get the Rams. So who knows, maybe the Bears again. Then we wouldn't have to do any tape analysis again. It'd be great. But I am. Yeah. You have to go with Kendricks. And this isn't to say that it was just the Eagles, like, that's a playoff team. And what he did at the linebacker spot, shedding blocks, great gas. [00:53:12] Speaker B: He turns his hips and runs in coverage. Really good stuff. [00:53:16] Speaker A: Great in coverage. He's always been a great coverage linebacker. He played weak side linebacker for a long time. I thought he was an exceptional Mike in this game. And it was the closest we've seen to Fred. Knowing that there is eons of space. That's the closest we've seen to Fred since Fred and the communication stuff. So do I trust him? Yeah. Yeah. Of all the options you have available to you far and away, Eric Hendricks is the best one. [00:53:38] Speaker B: Vincent, is it too optimistic of an assumption to think Kendricks and Wallow could be enough of a defensive improvement to make Darnold see ghosts and be the difference maker in winning? Interesting question. Like, I think, I don't necessarily think they need to be outrageous. Like, I think they need to be good, but I think it's. It's. Darnold gets in his own head. If he gets confused at all, if Bob mixes it up, maybe throws more. I do wonder if like the man coverage, and it's not to say he used an insane amount, but it did seem like more. I wonder if using more of that messes with Darnold. There was also a delayed blitz where Stout got home and it was like cover zero. Or it was either cover zero. I think it was. Maybe it was cover one. It was cover one and Stout. Stout blitzed late from a weird depth and I didn't really like it, but it kind of worked because they had the whole right side of the progression covered off and then the timing got home. Stuff like that where Darnold's not comfortable with it, not used to it, and people just execute their assignment. Well, I think that's going to be more than. Than them like playing out of their gourd. That said, they probably do need them to play out of their gourd. [00:54:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:55] Speaker B: To win this game because they. They have almost everything stacked against. [00:54:59] Speaker A: Let's be clear about who they're going up against. Yes, it's Sam Darnold and that is not the toughest assignment in and of itself. But you're also going up against Jackson, Smith and Jigba, who's going to be his first read on every play. And you're going up against Clint Kubiak, who has some serious warts as an offensive coordinator. I've complained about some of the stuff that he's done for a Long time, but he was a step ahead of Salah on every snap in week 18. And he's a Kubiak, his entire light. I mean, the family crest of Kubiak's is we're here to ruin linebackers lives. Which again, I don't think that Petullo even understood the concept of a linebacker for the Eagles. Like, what did they do to manipulate linebackers in that game? Nothing. They're running hitch routes. They don't have cover four beaters. [00:55:46] Speaker B: So there's no plan. [00:55:48] Speaker A: Right. So this is going to be a more targeted attack. But from what I saw in the somewhat, you know, schematic vacuum that was the Eagles offense versus the Niners defense last week, those guys can play. They might lose you the game, but they can also win you the game. Which is more than you could say for late stage D Winters and post injury Tatum Bethune, who I think because there was no other option, we might be, gave a little bit too much deference to Winters in particular. I was a little bit too kind. [00:56:22] Speaker B: I think since the injury. Yeah, it's. [00:56:24] Speaker A: But Bethune was. Once you watch Curtis Robinson, everyone looks better. So, you know, it's just expectations versus reality. But yeah, Kubiak is going to go after him. He's going to go after him. These guys do have the ability to make that backfire. And Darnold, much like in this game, right? So Bob goes in and he says, okay, we're not going to do right corner, left corner. We're doing field side boundary and we're going to dare many times on both a tactical and macro level. Like we're going to dare Jalen Hurts to be a good quarterback and beat us. But how we're going to do that is we're going to make sure that the big side of the field, field side is well covered and then we're going to leave Lenore over here on the boundary side so that he can help him with run stuff. But we're going to try to take away the first read for Jalen Hurts. And it worked a lot and it particularly worked late. The same thing you can do again against Sam Darnold. The challenge is he has a better coordinator who's going to give him better first reads than Kevin Patulo ever did. So yes, I think that those two guys can do it. I. I was in particular kind of wowed with how good Walla was in this game and Kendrick's very clear communicator, very good coverage man, and really punched above his weight in the run game. [00:57:45] Speaker B: Yep. Seamus, thank you for the quid. Hey guys, love the show. There going to be another draft guy this year. We are working through what we're going to put out. There will be something. I don't know whether it will be as robust because it almost killed me. [00:58:03] Speaker A: There will be. There will be absolutely something. It might be members only videos. That would be the draft guide. Very long videos that are film heavy. It could be an actual document. Again, there's. There's going to be something. [00:58:16] Speaker B: The thing is, once I start committing to like a full thing, I don't have it in me to do like a shorty, like a little short version. [00:58:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:26] Speaker B: Which the point is if there's going to be like a draft guide, it's going to be a full on thing and it's going to take up most of my life now. There will be a hundred percent draft content. [00:58:39] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [00:58:40] Speaker B: I. We just. The 49ers season is going on and last year it was over. So we got to get a jump on it early so we'll have less time and we're both trying to figure out exactly how much we can commit to it. So we don't promise you something we can't do. But there will be stuff. There will be plenty of draft stuff. It's just. What form does it take? Not quite certain yet. [00:59:01] Speaker A: And it will be very focused towards the members. So if you want the really good draft stuff, that's where you get your membership bang for the buck. It's just. It might not be the exact same form. It might be in a new, different 2026 edition. [00:59:14] Speaker B: That's right. James, tell Siegel not to park in solid spot ever again. [00:59:20] Speaker A: Stop dating your daughter. You know, it feels like that had. There's something there. And again, the. My understanding was that it was a communication thing. J Air takes that spot almost directly after Fred goes down for the year. And I think that they were already having some problems in communicating in the secondary, so they kind of leaned on that. And then J air did do a very good job in run stopping and covering the flat. And there was a stretch there, I would say up until, well post the Panthers game, maybe even the Browns game. I thought he was okay in, but they get to the buy and you're like, okay, yeah, that was a good decision. Like things worked out okay. And then after the buy it just, just all went to hell. Because get this, I mean even Tennessee is like, this guy sucks. We're going to go right at him. [01:00:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:04] Speaker A: And they did. And the Colts. My God, what the Colts did to him. [01:00:08] Speaker B: My God, Vincent was. This is sort of a question we kind of answered already. I've been debating people on who's more likely to play this year, Calvin or Watkins? Again, I, I think we'd both say Watkins at this point. [01:00:18] Speaker A: I'd give Watkins a. A 25 chance and cowing a 5% chance. [01:00:23] Speaker B: That sounds about right. Cool. JC the difference this week from week 18, maybe the three fresh body defenders, Kendrick's wallow Siegel. Difference makes no sense, but I love the ride. Yeah, I think Siegel made a major difference in that second half. I also think the emergence of west and the improvement of Collins, while not necessarily disruptive and every play, his level of size and stoutness, it, it matters. It matters against double teams and just how teams can move their front and. [01:01:02] Speaker A: Just take up space makes linebackers lives a lot easier. I'll also add in a difference is that that was Seattle's best defensive shot. They played an impeccable defensive game and the fall off from that is still more than good enough to win. But that was a game that had no business being that close with that kind of defensive performance, with that kind of offensive domination. When we talk about yardage and stuff, Niners in a weird way, right? Like Niners haven't lost back to back games this year because this is a back to back game for Seattle. Does that kind of qualify? I know that they just beat the Eagles. [01:01:43] Speaker B: Interesting. [01:01:43] Speaker A: But like the Niners have done an exceptional job in responding to losses and you know, Michael Jordan in the chair, last dance, taking it personally, it does feel like, okay, they watch that back. They're really good at correcting errors. I don't know what more Seattle has to offer. I do think that the Niners have a lot more to offer than they presented in week 18, even without George Kittle. And we saw them move the ball pretty well for, you know, two, three series. So yeah, I have to really get into that tape again just, just to kind of look at it from that vantage point. Like, hey, what is it that the Niners missed on? Like, what were their opportunities that they didn't take advantage of? There's not going to be a lot of them, but they were there. And again, I do like this kind of pragmatic caution to the wind. Kyle and a more aggressive Bob who. What do they have to lose? I think everything at this point for this team is gravy. If they lose to the Seahawks this week, there's no rational person who's like, oh, what a garbage season, right? Like, you're down Bosa, you're down Warner for at least now you're down Competitive game. [01:02:57] Speaker B: That's really impressive and I think it will be. [01:02:59] Speaker A: I think it will be too. [01:03:00] Speaker B: I think it will be run the ball. Kyle says Robinson's emergence affect the Niners game plan versus Seattle. What round would you take a tight end in the draft or would you go after Pitts? This is a very Eric Branch approach. [01:03:14] Speaker A: Love it. [01:03:16] Speaker B: Gotta say, hey, gotta question. Except. Except it would take a lot longer to get out. Love Eric. Yeah, first one. How does DeMarcus Robinson's emergence affect that IRS game plan versus Seattle? I think it means Seattle has to account for him more as like hey, we have to prepare that. Like the last time we played them they didn't really lean on him very much. [01:03:39] Speaker A: No. [01:03:40] Speaker B: And if we're going to play man, have to know that he might give us a little rocker step, a little hesitation especially on in breaking routes and he's not. And if, and if you're going to shade any direction, make him beat you to the boundary. Make him beat you to the sidelines. So that's, that's more of the Seattle game plan. But I would expect the Niners still have him semi regularly involved though I don't have the same. Same feeling I had where he was going to, you know, have a dominant performance. Performance. [01:04:08] Speaker A: It's a fundamental shift in the last time they played because the last time they played, as I've said before, they expected they had Ricky Pearsall in the game plan and Ricky Pearsall didn't even try to go that day. That was. They didn't change the game plan. So. And I noted this before the Eagles game. The big difference. Well, okay, yeah, it's going to be hard to win without a man beater. But the big difference is they know they don't have Pearsall. So what did they do? They're just like, I guess we're going to try to run a bunch of man to man stuff with DeMarcus Robinson and it worked out. It did. They went at Quinn Mitchell like eight times with them. It worked. Not always. In fact once very clearly not. But like that is the big difference. So having Robinson as a third receiver or maybe it's just one more viable option that you need given that you no longer have Kittle as a viable option though that said, every time K was out, Jake Ton just was just an absolute man. That's right. Can't stop him. Rossi died so he can get it. What round would you take a tight End in the draft. Jake and I actually literally had this argument earlier today. [01:05:14] Speaker B: Yes, I would not take a tight end round one. I would consider it pretty much every round after that. It's just too expensive for a tight end. Like, even if it's like an outrageous tight end, the cost of free agent tight ends makes it so that a first round usage, I mean if it's late first round, it's different. But if you're anywhere, you know, in the 20s or above, like it starts a week comparison. So I would say day two and on. But I, but if you took him in round two, I, I think that's fine. [01:05:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I would say earlier rather than later. I think that their, their two most glaring needs going into this off season are wide receiver and tight end. So they should take the best available player. They're still in a position where they can get away with that. Money is available for them to sign. Free agents don't love the way that they've signed any tight end. Tonjas has been the best tight second tight end they've had since they drafted Kittle. And maybe, I'm sorry to Charlie Warner and Ross Dwelly, but I feel that way. So Jordan Reed, maybe those fleeting three games. [01:06:28] Speaker B: Yeah, they've been so bad at replacing tight ends. It's been right. [01:06:32] Speaker A: So I, I would, how about this? I would try to get one early. I want the kid from Oregon, Sadiq. I think that would be your best option. Let's also not forget, you know, George Kittle's coming off an Achilles injury. That's a very serious injury and he's like 32 years old as a tight end. [01:06:47] Speaker B: Get an athlete. I don't care what it is. Get kidding. Get a top tier athlete. Get a 90th plus percentile tight end. Even. Even. Because in, at the tight end position it doesn't really seem to matter too much if you're actually good at playing tight end sometimes. Like I think you need to have a willingness to block a general level of aggression, particularly in the 49ers scheme that for my, for me that's a prerequisite. But like don't just draft a player because they like know how to play the position. Like get someone who's a freak, you need that. [01:07:18] Speaker A: That's how you got George Kittle in the first place. You had very little tape. You just took the freak. You taught the freak how to play football. Turned out he was a Hall of Famer. Would you go after Pitts? Yes, I'd go after Anjoku. I'd go after pits. I'd go after top of the market at tight end this upcoming free agent cycle. That said, I don't think that Pitts is getting out of Atlanta. I think he'll get franchise tagged because it's be foolish of them not to do that. [01:07:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't think they can, they can really let him go. [01:07:45] Speaker A: But good question. All three of them. [01:07:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Gray fox coming in. Wow. Hey now gray fox, with all these head coach vacancies, I can only say one. Jim Schwartz is our DC is inevitable. Love it. Absolutely love it. My question is he's still under contract with the Browns. I believe so. [01:08:07] Speaker A: That doesn't say head coach gets fired though, right? [01:08:09] Speaker B: You know, I know, but he's so valuable to them. Do they let him leave and it or does he force his way out? You know, I would say if solid. [01:08:21] Speaker A: I would just hire him as their head coach. [01:08:23] Speaker B: Like I mean they should. [01:08:24] Speaker A: They should. He's the one good thing they have in their building. Like they should just. And then let him pick, you know, whichever Kubiak is still hanging around. Unborn Kubiak, you're now the, you know, offensive coordinator. Like I don't know but like yeah. [01:08:38] Speaker B: I would just make one coaching high school football or maybe, maybe that's the one they have on staff. I'm just saying there's always another Kubiak. [01:08:44] Speaker A: There's always another one. I would, I would hire that, that guy who runs the go go offense at the college. Just hire somebody, just have a offensive coordinator. But yeah, I would just let Jim Schwartz be my head coach. But it's the Browns and they're incompetent and I think, I think that, I think that the thumbnail that I put in in our post Browns game analysis. I don't remember if you were here for that or not. Jake, which was Kyle and Schwartz hugging at midfield and I just put soon on the top, is going to age very, very well. I'll tell you this, I'll tell you full stop. Robert Sala absolutely probably is going to be offered multiple head coaching jobs this cycle. I do not know if he'll take it. I think he's making about four or five million dollars. He was still getting paid a certain amount by the jets this year. I don't know if they were offsets or not, but he could, he could decide, you know, hey, the Raiders is the spot for me or you know, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, like hell yeah. Robert Salah, of course. But in that same realm, the first call is to Jim Schwartz and if you have to buy him out. You buy him out, so be it. But Jim Schwartz is the D.C. if Robert Sala leaves, there's. I, I think, I think that the wheels have already been emotion about that. [01:10:03] Speaker B: I'm with you. All right, we got about, let's say three more. [01:10:07] Speaker A: Okay, that sounds good. Stream today. [01:10:10] Speaker B: So yeah, thank, thank all of you. Nevin, sure you'll handle this in a podcast, but what do you think was your biggest draft guide miss last year? I just was going through, through and looking at my top 150, feeling pretty good about it. It's also like some guys, the guys that like I was high on that didn't work out. Like Vernon Broughton injured very early in the year or like the wide receiver Trey Harris who like kind of came on later for the Chargers but like is in a crowded, pretty crowded wide receiver room off the top of my head maybe. Like, I mean he also got injured but like Jalen Conyers, who I was incredibly high on a tight end but like went undrafted. We'll see. We'll see. But he, he's on injured reserve, but I would say that one, I was incredibly high on him and he has not panned out yet. [01:10:59] Speaker A: Shador probably Shadour. Loveland. [01:11:09] Speaker B: Yeah, Loveland. Loveland. I would agree. I, I'm still not fully sold on his blocking as much, but yeah, I think we were lower on Loveland than we probably should have been. And Anthony. Yeah, I was. I'm still a Max Rosmer guy at heart, but Yikes. [01:11:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Listen, there are misses. I think we got way more right. [01:11:27] Speaker B: And I was looking at the, I was looking at our list at my top 150 and I felt pretty, pretty damn good about it. [01:11:33] Speaker A: Yeah. In hindsight, I mean, especially too. I mean, if nothing else, for like fantasy football purposes, like, I think you would have rather had both of the running backs that we liked over Ashton Genti. [01:11:45] Speaker B: Oh, and what's his name, Caleb Johnson, who people were like, yeah, He's a round two player. He was my 151st player on the board. [01:11:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:11:55] Speaker B: Round five. And I still felt like that might be a little high. I hated him. [01:12:00] Speaker A: You really did. Yeah. There's going to be some stuff wrong, unquestionably, but I do think that the ones that we got right, we got very right. And the ones that we faded I think really held up. I think that might be the thing that stood out. Just. I haven't been able to pull it up because I somehow lost in my folders. But like the guys that we faded to a lot of consternation and commentary from outside sources. The hive mind aged very well. We look very smart, which is a hard thing for us to do. [01:12:36] Speaker B: That's awesome. All right, a couple more. Real Griff asking a really important question. Should the Steelers and Jets try and pick up Jennings in the off season as a quarterback? Since everything. I can't think of a better place for Juwan Jennings to play than Pittsburgh. By the way, if he's gonna leave just in terms of like, brilliant, brutal, slow, hard, physical games, he is like a working class Pittsburgh sort of player. [01:13:02] Speaker A: Just absolutely batshit insane. But they cover up for it. I'll also. I'll. I'll add. I'll add one more to you. Real Griff 49ers should bring in Justin Fields as a wide receiver. [01:13:15] Speaker B: Love it. [01:13:16] Speaker A: You know that backup running back spot? That's a problem for them. Have I got one for you. Justin Fields. [01:13:22] Speaker B: Now we're cooking. [01:13:23] Speaker A: T. Martin, kick returner. [01:13:26] Speaker B: This is a silly question from Gold Rush. Word on the street is pure cells getting traded. I don't know who the word. [01:13:32] Speaker A: No, no, no. Okay. So here's how that happens. [01:13:35] Speaker B: Okay. [01:13:37] Speaker A: Word on the street is Dieter and Larry had a conversation publicly. And then that gets. So we don't aggregate anything anymore because no one writes words. So we just take an idea, which, by the way, we had, you and I had four or five weeks ago, which was Brian Thomas Jr. For Ricky Pierce, all straight up. [01:14:02] Speaker B: I don't remember us. [01:14:04] Speaker A: I thought, oh, I had that conversation with somebody. I'm pretty sure it was you, but that's. [01:14:08] Speaker B: I don't know. So it was for somebody else. It was like Brian Thomas Jr. For someone else. There was like a Trevor Lawrence element to it. [01:14:17] Speaker A: There was a lot. There was a lot that was a different conversation about Trevor Lawrence. That one aged very poorly. Yeah, but it is. Listen, Peirce, all pearsall is. There's some weirdness around that situation right now. That weirdness could very well go away with a great game on Saturday. So the rumors. The rumors are baseless speculation from your boy off of. Well, it's not baseless. I have some general weird vibes. But that's not like there's that common conversation happening. So it wouldn't shock me if Pierce all got traded. [01:14:52] Speaker B: I would be shocked. I think that's. I think it's idiotic. I think people saying, move on from him. Don't understand the finances of how the NFL works, have him locked up. People, like, just move on. I get being exhausted with Injuries. Right. Let's not forget the man was shot so that was sort of out of his control. Not pretty. Pretty tough injury come back from. Came back played well down the stretch last year has been very good when he has played. Should you be frustrated by the injuries? No question about it. Does cutting a player or trading him for nothing because he has injury issues make any sense at all? No, none whatsoever. Especially when he's on a rookie deal for another two years. You can control him friend or not just franchise tagging. But pick up his fifth year option. [01:15:41] Speaker A: Right. [01:15:41] Speaker B: Trade him if you want. I get being frustrated. Should they draft another wide receiver? Absolutely. Should you put all your eggs in the Ricky Pierce all basket that he's going to be your wide receiver? One you can't because he's not healthy. Is he a great player when he's healthy? [01:15:56] Speaker A: Yes. [01:15:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:57] Speaker A: No, no. I'm in agreement with all of that. I'm saying again if the Jaguars want to move on for Brian Thomas and the 49ers maybe don't know if Ricky Pearsall has the right stuff and Brian Thomas does well, it's a problem for a problem. It's a Wiggins for d' Angelo Russell trade. Like I. I don't think they'll do it. I was just merely suggesting that that's something that they could entertain given the peculiarity around the situation currently and some conversations that have been had about certain aspects and so that's all it is. But the word on the street is not that they're going to trade him. The word on the street is they're not too thrilled with the way that this has gone down the last couple of weeks. And if you want to extrapolate that to trade as I have fair play. [01:16:44] Speaker B: I'm not even going to pull up that last comment. Makes no sense to me whatsoever. [01:16:53] Speaker A: I know. Here's the thing. You know, pull it up because I know. I know the source of this. I know the source of it. That's not a viable source for something like that. Not even. I'm not going to speak it. But it's not a viable source. Yeah, very good in a lot of things. Not this sort of thing. [01:17:14] Speaker B: I just think it's. It doesn't make any sense for a team that is desperate for wide receivers to trade a wide receiver who has played very well when he has been healthy and also suffered a knee injury. That PCLs are extremely nagging. That is like the nature. [01:17:31] Speaker A: I seem to remember a certain somebody who was shut down for an entire year last year because of a PCL injury. Oh, right. Christian McCaffrey. But they should have traded him this past off season. Right. [01:17:42] Speaker B: It's also an incredibly tough position to make cuts with a knee injury. Should you be frustrated? Yes, but I, I don't think moving on from him makes, I think a lick of sense whatsoever. Going into year three. [01:17:55] Speaker A: I think Griff nailed it. I think he gets another year and you see. And if it's another injury filled year, then you don't pick up the fifth year option and you, you, you, you figure it out from there. You're going to need to draft a wide receiver that can replace him or sign one. Hey, that's an idea. You're going to have to have another, another wide receiver who can reasonably step in as an X on a, on a down by down basis for long stretches at a time. This probably informs very heavily what they do with Juwan Jennings this off season, which is an interesting conversation for when it happens. Yeah, their wide receiver situation is not ideal. And by the way, a year ago they paid someone $30 million to, to hold down that spot. And here we are. [01:18:44] Speaker B: Not great. But you know what is great, all you folks? Yeah, today we'll be back on Thursday to actually look at tape that we've just very recently watched. And I appreciate it, really appreciate that. [01:18:57] Speaker A: It'S cool that it's cool that one, we don't have to like be crazy about it and two, we can watch it with like very specific intent, like where are the holes? How do you actually beat these guys? And that will be interesting because I'm not sure we're going to find something on that defense. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. All right. [01:19:17] Speaker B: Nor am I. [01:19:17] Speaker A: Should we call it Jake? I think we should talk to you guys on Thursday. [01:19:20] Speaker B: Bye.