Falcons Week 1 is here! Tua named starter: ft. Dave Choate & Tre'Shon Diaz: Falcoholic Live, Ep388

0:00football is back and this is believed your home for NFL and college football news and analysis all season long. Now let's start the show. Hello, Falco. Alex. What is up? Welcome to episode 388 of the Falco. Hallick live presented by Fan Dole. I'm of course your host Kevin. I enjoy my co host Adna Nguyen. We have a full suite of guests for you tonight as we get to our week one kickoff show as the Falcons are taken on the Steelers. You can see him. The man himself Dave Chote at the Falco Hallick. And of course we also have Gina Kelly with us as well before we dive in. Of course we want to check in with folks because it's been it's been a little bit since we've heard from a couple people we tried to hear about the game. We're really excited to see you guys celebrating then but Dave how are

1:03you doing tonight? I'm great. I am ready for some Falcons football and that's a feels weird to say that but I am. Yes, we may quickly regret being that that giddy for it, but you know, we may not. This this team always does the unexpected but yeah, Gina welcome back to the program. It seems like so far so great tonight. I am doing great. I spent two hours and 45 minutes on the road today so that I could cover the Atlanta Falcons. So basically I'm basically just winning a life. Yeah yeah, that sounds very much like Atlanta. I just departed on Tuesday and yeah, just apart on Tuesday. So not not missing the traffic portion of things. Luckily I was like mostly on Marta. So I got to avoid most of the downtown scrum and I was like, I'm really really excited. Yeah, it has a special place in my heart and not necessarily a good one. The Atlanta traffic, but I'll not

2:03leakage with this as well. My cohost ad say which way. I'm welcome back. I know you were you were off last week, but happy to have you back. How are you doing? Doing well. Excited. New season is kicking off here and key minus like 15 minutes. So it's very kind of rude that they're going to be on Thursdays, but you know, decided the NFL shouldn't compete with the Falcons live. So we moved it to Wednesday and here they are intruding on our territory. Yeah, I feel like we we specifically were like, you know, Thursdays, we got the competition of the Thursday night games. So let's just go to Wednesday. They won't put a game on Wednesday. And now they put a game on Wednesday. It's like, uh, these guys yeah, they're taking over every single like day possible. Yep. Yep. So we're going to power through that. It's okay if you guys have the game on in the game. We won't even know. So you can do that if you want. I probably will have it on. I will probably have it on at some point as well. So you know, we'll just have to deal with that. But uh, the show will be spicy because obviously big news of the week. Uh, is too a tongue of high low being named the starter and probably the least like fan fair way imaginable with the most

3:07couching imaginable. It's all it's been very odd in Gina. Well, I want to go to you first because this was you know, something you had mentioned, you know, we talked guys surprised the Falcolic staff talks, uh, outside of the show. And Gina mentioned you mentioned this that you thought that yes, they are pushing for PENIX, but it just the timeline was not enough for PENIX to be able to be ready for week one. And that does appear to be the case at this stage. Yeah. And I don't think that that means that there are any real concerns around PENIX's need. But I think that we have to be objective about the timing when he was actually medically cleared. Was right before the, uh, was that the, I guess that it was before the second preseason game or like around that time. But they didn't work him into 11 on the levens until the following week of course he didn't play it all in the preseason. And no matter what the speed of the game and the regular season is even just a little step up from preseason. And he's had none of that full speed work really because 11 on the levens. This is close as you get in practice.

4:10But the quarterbacks don't take hits. So, um, I think that it's the right move. I know that a lot of fans are not happy about it. I don't think that it's a long term move, but I do think that it is the right move for right now. Yeah, I think that, you know, it's very controversial at the moment. There's a lot of, you know, question swirling. A lot, you know, there's been a lot of hot takes on the radio, which, you know, that is, that is the radio. And I, you know, we could tell we're getting into week one because the hot takes are flying. But Dave, I know like this, you know, not necessarily an unexpected outcome, but given how much they seem to be holding the door open for penics, where you surprised at all that it did ultimately end up being to at least for week one. No, not really. And again, it's it's for all the reasons Gina mentioned right. Penics himself who has been remarkably honest about this throughout which I don't think has really done him any favors. It's done favors for like me and like people appreciate that candor, but at the same time, you know, him saying he's not ready is something that we're not necessarily used to hearing from the football player much less the quarterback.

5:18So, but when he said that and in the way he had talked and sort of knowing the recovery timeline is long and that to have had, you know, the prep work that he had, yes, I was expecting to start, I was hoping penics, I said, you know, all throughout the year. That was my preferred outcome, but we didn't get it. So I hope that, you know, if to it doesn't like the world on fire, which is a distinct possibility that, you know, two, three, four weeks from now, penics is very much ready to go. So that this doesn't become the Cooper rush show because no offense to Cooper rush, but that would be awfully depressing by the end of September. So yeah, I think we would be clamoring for the people's quarterback as Aaron Freeman dubbed him Jack straight by that if Cooper rush is actually legitimately in line to start a game at any point. But odd none. This is something obviously we've talked about at length over the past month, but now that we have the official word on to how are you feeling going into this week one matchup. Going into the week one matchups specifically not to right not great.

6:25Yeah, just given that, you know, to a sort of had every opportunity over the last month to kind of, you know, grab that job by the neck until I take it. But he just didn't and I think there's a reason why the team waited until literally the week of week one despite getting clowned in the media despite, you know, clamorings from the fan base and despite all of the outside noise where that really did not do them any favors from a PR perspective. And I think to a just sort of didn't get the job done to a point where they were kind of holding that door open and they were like, hey, you know, Michael, are you sure you don't want to go out there and be our starter in a week one like, you know, please be our starter by default because I just I'm worried about, you know, about the ball security more than anything from to a we've seen it.

7:26I've seen the fumbles and training camp we've seen them, you know, during the aims and at this point, I'm just afraid that I'll be holding my breath every time the Falcon sort of take us now on Sunday and that's not really the place you want to be in as a fan, especially going into week one. But you know, who knows maybe to a reverse back to 2023 to I and we're sitting here talking about how, you know, he was this incredible signing, you know, all possibilities are open. Yeah, I think at the end of the day, the Falcons really, this tool was signed to be here for at least the first month. I think that was the original idea because Panic's is on an accelerated timeline. You see someone like my homes who's who's pushing his timeline even faster and I do worry about my homes as well, you know, with with the way he's sort of pushing to play earlier and earlier. But you know, I get it for the chiefs. This is a super bowl contender. They they're like, we can't afford to not have my homes for any amount of time. The Falcons is a little bit of a different story. Let's be honest. This team is is not a super bowl contender. Maybe this is news to some of you. In that case, I'm sorry to break this news to you.

8:39But the Falcons are in a different place that they don't really need to rush panics out there. I think it would have been nice to have that clean start to the season if panics was was ready. But I think what folks have to really think about is do you actually want panics to go out before he is ready. And I think people are confusing. Like sort of maturity and restraint with like, I don't know if they think it's cowardice or like psychological weakness or whatever it is. I think that's very unfounded and kind of just digging a hole that you really don't want to dig. And really our place again to question these professional athletes toughness. I mean, really it isn't. I mean, I don't even think other professional athletes like to question their other athletes toughness. I mean, so I think going down that road is a very dark road that I think doesn't really move the conversation in any meaningful direction. So I prefer I refuse to participate in it. I know pretty much everyone here agrees. But there is merit behind waiting until your actually ready to play.

9:47On both a psychological and physical level and given Gina, you know, the injury report just came out as well. Panics was a full participant physically panics is ready. Like this doctor cleared him. The doctor would not have cleared him if he was not ready to play. But it's not just being physically ready. Like we've known for a while that pen. I mean, penics might have even been like 95% from the start of camp. I mean, he looked like he was moving around fine. It's not that it's that you have to get yourself to the mental level where you can actually go out and play effectively in a full speed full contact and a foul game and not be a detriment to your team. Absolutely. And I also think that it's worth pointing out that, you know, even though penics didn't get as much physical work this offseason as the team and penics would have liked. And he has been taking those mental reps. He puts a lot of work into it. A lot of time studying the playbook, you know, learning the game plan for this week, even though he's, you know, going to be an active.

10:50So it's not like he's not doing the work. I think that if we were talking about a situation that's like psychological weakness or whatever thing people are coming up with. I don't think that he would approach the work the way that he does. Yeah, I agree. I think I think if people were and, you know, not everyone could be there at Flyer Branch. Like I was only there for like a week. So it's not something that everyone can see, but I think what you hear from the people that are there, including Gina, Joe Patrick, Daniel Flick, a lot of folks that we've had on this program. There are penics is absolutely 100% invested and gung ho and he was pushing to be cleared earlier and earlier, but he didn't that's not his decision. And I think again, it's sort of a mature, more of a mature approach here. And like it doesn't make sense. Like penics is actually an older quarterback. He's not old by any means. He's like 26, but he's not like a third year rookie. That's like 23 or 24 years old. He's also dealt with serious injuries before. And I think he knows what it's like to rehab those injuries and the best at this point. I mean, he knows I think the best way to go about getting ready.

11:56And he says he's come back to early before and he did not like how his play affected the team. And I think that's sort of where we are with that. And we'll continue on that note here. He has real quick word from zipper cruder. And I told the story before, but now Dave is actually here. So now he can chuckle on the background when I tell it because, you know, I was trying to get Dave's attention many, many moons ago and now I feel like an old man saying this, but way back in the old 2014. I was I was fan posted it up. I was commenting on everyone at Dave's post. I was like, please notice me Dave. You know, maybe sometime, Dave will want to hire me. And eventually he did. And it was great. And that was that was awesome. But you don't necessarily need to do that to get the attention of the company you want to work for when you're hiring. It is really helpful though to know who actually wants the job. You don't need to do the stunts necessarily. I mean, you could try that. But you know, you don't necessarily need to be as desperate as I was. But you may just need to use zipper cruder and on zipper cruder qualified candidates can add a personal note to tell you why they're interested in your job.

13:01So you can see the most motivated people for those postings right away. Right now you can try it for free at zip recruiter dot com slash audio. Zipper Cruder now has a new feature. It shows you the most interested in qualified candidates first so you can meet the right people faster and zipper cruder's powerful matching technology finds you the qualified candidates for your job quickly. Candidates can tell you in their own words why they're excited about your job and zipper cruder makes it easy for amazing candidates to get your attention. You don't have to do the fan post. That's optional. Four out of five employers who post on zipper cruder get a quality candidate within the first day and you could try it for free right now at zipper cruder dot com slash audio that's ZIP recruiter dot com slash audio meet your match on zipper cruder and thanks again for sponsoring the show. All right so on that note Dave I'll go to you as well here you know just kind of wrapping up this to a penics conversation how long do you sort of think this is going to last because again we see penics practicing fully so it seems like the physical stuff mean the fact that he's not limited or like not practicing means that he could be back you know pretty much at any time from a physical standpoint what is the sort of timeline that you're envisioning for penics is possible return.

14:12Yeah I'll just tell add a note first that if you want like a job as a dentist or something you do not have to fan post. Alcoholics like that if they're a dentist's espionage and that will be older me it won't won't help you get your job but yeah yeah yeah so for the thing with penics I think is. You know unless this stretches out a long way and this is a pivotal season for penics so I don't think it's going to like I think it's pretty obvious that he'll be ready in the near future if he needs to be. It really does come down to like what is my level of faith into a. And I would love to be sitting here a month from now and be like sorry to you know and he can help me with footballs if you'd like to at that point like that's fine I'll fly him up but. It's going to be a month I think we're looking at like a month I think we'll probably get a solid game or two from two of but I just don't know if he is the same guy that he was even a couple of years ago when he was a fairly effective quarterback it seems like a lot of.

15:17Factors injury you know just skill set etc the way things have changed for him have not been super positive so I think this is a potentially good offense I think that is skill set is at least interesting in it but I'm going to need to see. I think it's probably a month I would love for it to be longer because that means the Falcons are winning to us playing really well that's a that's a nice problem to have I just I need to see it yeah yeah that that's a very good point we had a question from a big sis with the two dollars thank you big sis kind of touching on that which is like if two it does well I think it's going to be a good match for you. If two a does well are they going to just like never like shelf panic and be like oh we're not going to see panic you know a big sis says at some point he thinks that you just kind of have to see panic because we need to make a call in the future this is not really a super bowl year I think that's a good point I mean honestly if two is playing great you're just going to have to stick with them I think the I think that is a dubious proposition which is why I'm not really concerned about that happening but again if two plays that well to the point where you're like we can't take about that's a good thing I mean.

16:32It's a good thing I mean it's like you kind of just have to do that but I personally I'm not thinking we're going to have to worry about that unfortunately but it is it is a good thing to think about and and odd non you know what do you think about the timeline here with with a penics as possible return. Dave is correct I think it more so depends on two of them anything else because yeah if two is playing well then you can't really take the job away from him and I think that's where it could get a little murky for penics because this is I think we all agree he needs to sort of make an impact on the coaching staff this year this isn't a coaching staff or a front office that drafted him. These are all new decision makers in the building and I think we knew going into this year you have to see something from penics to really be able to you know consider him a potential franchise quarterback moving forward I don't think we've seen enough to make that conclusion yet and you know it's kind of out of his hands a little bit now because if two is lighting the world on fire then he penics is just going to have less time to do that.

17:47If you were in fewer opportunities to make that impact and to really sort of establish himself you know in the long term plans of the Atlanta Falcons however you know if we're being a little more honest with ourselves it's probably less likely the tool sets the world on fire and you know more likely that penics is going to be in there by October. I think to me I think about three weeks three to four weeks so pretty much in the same ballpark as Dave I feel like if they thought he wasn't going to be ready he'd be on IR right so I think they're they're thinking within four weeks is a possible time but again it's not a physical thing so it's a little bit dicey or like can you really put a guy on IR for not being like mentally prepared like he doesn't have the reps yet I don't know maybe I mean maybe you could do whatever you want to play your agrees to it but you know well let. But the Falcons aren't going down that road at this stage so we'll see how that pans out but before we get to this injury reports we do actually have an injury reports talking about that's how you know week one is on track I I want to take a moment because espionation is doing something I think that's pretty cool and Gina has been like intensely involved in this so all that Gina take the floor here to talk about it because I I've only messed with it a small amount I know Gina knows of quite a bit more about it.

19:06Thank you my friend so if you did not see it on the Falco holocaust ready espionation has released a new app there is a video of me walking you through the features in the app with my dog in my lap if you are interested in that sort of thing it's a whole new game day like game thread experience and the commenting system moves much faster it's much smoother and it's really just an upgrade over the mobile web version. If apps aren't your thing if you're not interested in that you're still going to get all of the same content we are not changing anything up so yeah so totally free app it's available in Canada as of today might take until tomorrow to show up in the in the Apple app store there but yeah it's available in Canada and we're working to expand it because I know that their sports fans all over the world so it's very exciting please check it out go download it today it's wonderful. Yeah yeah definitely if you're if you because my wife is one of those people that's like I'm just not downloading any more apps on my phone so I get it but yeah I think it's pretty cool I think especially like if you're one of those people that loves to be on the game day thread and you're tired of like a mill it like having to refresh it the app I think like really automates that and makes it like a little more clean like a live chat in some ways so definitely give it a shot I think it's pretty cool so one more quick thing about it so you can follow all of the teams that you love so I follow Ohio State.

20:34Both basketball and football obviously the Falcons and the Braves and the Hawks and the Dream and when you open the app you get all of the latest about all of the teams that you love all the teams that you want to follow in one place and it's really easy to like just swipe and move through the individual communities it just is a really upgraded experience in my opinion. Yeah and some people are going to asking me about an app for 10 years. Oh yeah maybe some day so that's something if you're asking. It was there was one released in like twenty ten maybe and it was terrible and it did not. It's fantastic so if you happen to download it like ten years ago and you hated it this is totally different. This is not the same apps. No it's really exceptional. It's too professional to say it so I will but basically as a nation is coming for bleacher reports change with this like that.

21:37Yeah I've played around with it. It's pretty cool. Also it's so like if you like participating in the feed and sharing your thoughts it's super easy to do that through the app that's another upgraded experience in my opinion. Yeah I will add the app to the description brand and that's actually a good idea I haven't done that yet but. Thank you. Yeah so I think that's a good idea just in case anyone's watching and wants to check it out it's also like if you go to the alcoholic you will get a pop up I met it's not really a pop it's sort of like a banner that will direct you there too so that is another option but yeah I had something to the description about it. But yeah we have a real injury report for week one so we were days away at this point so like we said at the top Michael Panic Jr. is a full participant which is great with with the knee injury still you know they're still listing it obviously he's going to be an active they've already announced that on Sunday. But good to know Falcons have five limited participation players Zachariah branch with the hamstring injury Kyle Hinton the offensive lineman with a knee cornerback Billy Bowman Jr. with the Achilles so he is officially practicing.

22:47And to the principal I'm a brand of dollars with the groin and then defensive and Zedarius Smith with the shoulder who is a recent addition as well no DNP so that's great news. But yeah Gina I know you were down there any concern about any of these limited or is this all at this point seem like sort of maintenance related stuff. I am a little bit concerned about Briance just because a guy with his particular skills that that makes a hamstring really tricky to rehab so slightly worried about him but I also just would recommend that nobody over reacts to anything on a Wednesday entry report like let's get to Friday and if he's still. Limited I might be more concerned but yeah I think that nothing to really worry about here that's good that's good yeah I think I think branch like i'm still not sure like if branches going to be the starting slaughter if it's going to be more of like a rotation with him and Zakias but he was definitely the star of training camp so that's really exciting but yeah Dave what do you think about this first entry report.

23:50It's like in looking and there you know DNP is obviously nice I just start the season yeah I think my my one thing would be obviously i'll be watching doorless like a hawk because it is vitally important to me that Aaron Rogers is buried deep in the aquasher stadium turf as possible and that the Falcons beat the Steelers for like the second or third time ever so doorless to me is very key to that so hopefully he's out there. He's out there Sunday i'm not concerned yet but i will be watching that one in particular yeah that is that is a big deal odd not any concerns on your end about the current state of this injury report. Not concerns more so on the other end i'm really happy to see Billy Bowman practicing and i'm really happy that Billy Bowman's not on the few beat because I imagined all off season given the timing of his injury and given what it was with the board of killies. I didn't expect to see Billy Bowman until mid season or maybe even later and even if he's not out there week one it sounds like he will be out there sooner rather than later so that's that's a really good sign that he's already out there practicing.

25:01Yeah yeah I like to see that so no big concerns for me either guys on this injury report I think you know it looks like the Falcons are in pretty good shape so we'll just hope that that that holds up and that these we'll see these limited get pushed up to full by the end of the week. We did have a couple of questions or comments more from Salar in this case shout out to touchdown balls so yeah one of the OG Gina Kelly like bits there with the touchdown balls love that one classic and also Salar is of course asking for draft takes week one. Salar you know we'll have to see how to what does on Sunday and then maybe the draft takes will start but yeah thank you Salar for that. She's up close in the first half we may okay yeah there we go we're going to do a mock draft at halftime but yeah Gina I know that you've got to head out soon anything else that you want to add on week one or or this team in general before we let you go.

26:03I'm going to write up a lot of the comments that we got today from Kevin Stofansky and to and but one thing that I've been really impressed with is just the maturity of the entire quarterbacked up chart you know last year. When her cousin says here I just didn't really love the way that he interacted or didn't interact with Michael Pennick's junior there's just a lot of mutual respect and it's made the situation as fraught as it's been for us. It really has not been you know a stressful or contentious situation so that's something that I'm really impressed by just their maturity and their respect for each other and I think that that's worth mentioning. Yeah absolutely I think that's a great point and it certainly does like for us contentious as like the various quarterback camps have made this seem it doesn't seem like to and Pennicks really are like having any bad blood like the two of them seem pretty cool I mean to in general just seems like extremely like like a bowl fun like like friendly guy so I'm not surprised by this but it's nice to see because there was some coldness in that room the past.

27:16First years that that I think was was counterproductive on the whole so yeah it's a much more fun situation to be around. Yeah glad to hear it's good for everyone it's good for everyone but Gina we appreciate the cameo the return of Gina Kelly no major technical snafu's this time so that's great guys she is at Gina Thomas on Twitter technically but it is Gina Kelly and of course she's rocking out at espionation and still at the Falco holic as well so Gina we appreciate you taking the time tonight. It was great to see you guys I'll talk to you soon. All right have a good night Gina. All right guys well we we will have Trace on D as also joining the show at some point soon so don't worry we will we will be having a whole suite for you folks tonight bringing in bringing everyone except Eric Robinson because we had a donation from Eric's deal with the five dollars saying can we get Eric Robinson to pop in so we can complete all of the OG co hosts of the show. Yeah I mean I I forgot to reach out to Eric keep I mean I don't know if he's covering this this isn't on the espn right I mean this is NBC so Eric might have been available I mean so I should I should have reached out to Eric too but yeah no we'll get Eric back on at some point when he gets a chance that's for sure.

28:29I'm also you know the freshers off I know Dave's here but the retail bosses now. Dave's boss yeah Dave's boss is yeah so yeah no it's Gina's great you guys could tell Southside's is Trace on's coming on this isn't Tuesday yeah I know it's we I was it's my fall I was gone on Tuesday I was flying back from dragon con you know working week one. Or lack of working on week one I should say so you know hey it is what it is but the Trace on's like now we still I still got to get on for for this week but real quick before we get into this week one matchup and sort of our thoughts on the Steelers themselves going to get you guys a quick word from our other sponsor this week week one's busy week for me and that is once again quote and guys think about when you were trying to get in touch. With a business maybe that's a handy man maybe that's a plumber because your pipes burst in the middle of the night or your tub is flooding or something catastrophic is happening and they won't pick up like you so you're not your column like seven different places it's a whole mess right.

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30:51Dave at this stage we're looking at the Steelers their offensive line look kind of like hot garbage in the preseason Aaron Rogers is like 50 I don't know what he's been injecting himself with maybe it's like some kind of serum peptides I mean I don't know he may have some kind of unknown powers at this stage but I think Aaron Rogers to me like looks like he's winding down but you can never count a guy like that out and of course Steelers have one of the things that I'm going to do is I'm going to do that. So, this is the most fearsome defense is in the NFL. How are you sort of feeling as as we're on the eve of week one. Um, yeah little apprehensive it's sort of you know you're missing James Pierce Jr. and J. Ellis Walker which both would have been really nice to have for this. But it's one of those games that I feel like is gonna feel like week one big time because you have two offenses that are kind of feeling it out, right?

31:52Mike McCarthy reunited with Aaron Rogers who is like half out the door into a podcast and career at this point. I don't love their skill position players. I don't love their offensive line. I don't think this is a good offense, but the Falcons defense has changed some pieces too. So there's a little bit of apprehension there. I'm a little more apprehensive, obviously, about the Steelers defense against this Falcons offense, which is studded with talent, but we don't really know what two is gonna look like. We do know that they can capitalize on turnovers. So in past years, I would be circling this is a loss because the Steelers were the Steelers, but this is kind of a whole new world. We don't really know what they're gonna look like under McCarthy. We do know that the offense has at least one offseason cycle before I think it's better than mediocre, but we also know the defense is a problem. So it could be low scoring.

32:53It could be a little bit ugly if the Falcons can get off to a good start and things are clicking for two. I like this one as a win, I really do. And that's a dangerous thing to say about Steelers, given the franchise history against them, but it's hard not to look at this and feel okay about it if this Falcons team has made any progress at all this summer. I think that's a good point. You bring up it. The Steelers are vulnerable. It is in their stadium. And this is a team that has beat the crap out of the Falcons in their history. The Falcons have won two games and tied one technically against the Steelers. Ever, they've never won in Pittsburgh. So it's bound to happen at some point. I mean, it's not gonna last forever, right? So I mean, why not Sunday? Why not Sunday, odd nine? Do you think this is an opportunity here for Atlanta, given that the Steelers have looked less than stellar so far? It's an opportunity. If you look at historically the Steelers teams

33:53of the Falcons have faced, this is probably statistically one of the weaker ones because those teams in the 70s were probably very terrifying. And then you had the Big Ben era. And then even that 2024 team still had, was still coached under Mike Tomlin who never once had a losing record, which is completely basking to me, given the fact that we haven't seen a winning record in the last decade. But this Steelers team does look a little vulnerable. The offense of Lrein, you look at some of the names. It's not the offensive line of Steelers past. The offense in general, looks like they're not really gonna light the world on fire. And this is one of those games where if the Falcons really can't get a pass rush going in this game against an Aaron Rogers,

34:54that is old as dirt at this point. I'll be even more worried about the Falcons past rush moving forward until James Pierce comes back. I'm already worried, but this is a game where, the opportunities are there. However, this Steelers team, like many of the Steelers teams of the past has a very voracious defense. And they still have some true ballers along that defensive line, particularly T.J. Watt, Cameron Hayward, they just started to have to queen recently, they have Jamal Dean, Jalen Ramsey, in that secondary. So I'm feeling like this game is gonna really sort of be one of those rock fights. The last time the Falcons played a season open or in Pittsburgh was 2009. And that game ended 15 to nine in favor of the Steelers in overtime.

35:55Both teams kicked a combined, what, six field goals, then a short mend and all that the 50 yard Russian touchdown and overtime. Falcons then they're winning 13 games that year. So it ended up being fine. But overall, I'm feeling like this is gonna be one of those games where we're not really gonna see too many fireworks. Last time the Steelers played the Falcons, they didn't score a single touchdown. I will get the slide edge to Pittsburgh because they are playing at home. And because I do think this may be one of the better wide receiver duo that the Falcons defense is going to face this year. Last time AJ Torell went up against DK Medcalf or in a season opener was 20-20 when he was with Seattle DK Medcalf, did get the better of him in that matchup. albeit you was catching passes from Russell Wilson, no disrespect here in Rogers, but I think Wilson was better at that point.

36:55And then I do think Michael Kittman's gonna be one of the better wide receiver Tuesday face. And it's gonna be on my cues to hold his own in that matchup, especially because the Falcons have struggled Russian for. I think Jeff Olbrick will be very liberal with calling up the Blitz as we have seen him in the past. And it's gonna be on these cornerbacks to really sort of win their matchups one-on-one and my cues looks like one of those weak points in the secondary one-on-one to where, if he's not on his game, I think a quarterback that is as savvy as Aaron Rogers will sort of pick him apart and will go down that well over and over again. So I don't think I would pick the Falcons, but it could go either way. Yeah, I think that makes this like a lot of sense. I think the past rush is gonna be a huge equalizer here

37:59for the Falcons. I think if they can frazzle Rogers and get pressure, they'll be okay. You know, they'll have to play the run better because I'm sure the Steelers wanna run the ball too. But the Steelers offensive line has really struggled. And you know, I think that that is a unit that's pretty vulnerable. We know the Falcons edge pressure might not be there, so they're gonna have to get creative with how they bring it, but that's gonna be really important. Is can they get Aaron Rogers frazzled an off his spot? That Aaron Rogers quarterback that used to be able to run away from the pressure and did it with regularity, not really his game anymore. So again, this is gonna be an interesting test for the Falcons because like Audenaw pointed out, really good receiving duo for the Steelers, they obviously like Jeremy Bernard as well as their slot guy. And this is gonna test the secondary, which we think is pretty good, but my cues is a very good cornerback to against, I would say like solid receiver twos.

39:01I think where we've seen him struggle is if he has to go up against premium wide receiver twos and Michael Pittman probably qualifies as that. So, and then Avion Terrell draws the rookie matchup in Jeremy Bernard, so we'll see how much, you know, three receivers that they actually play. That's another question that we'll dive into, but certainly a challenging matchup coming for this Atlanta defense. And they're gonna need something from this offense before we get to that. A couple of questions that I think I missed earlier, apologies, we got Alex Foster with the $10. Thank you so much, Alex. Saying thank you guys for not talking smack about anyone's toughness, it's a ridiculous argument. Guys do great work, it seemed like even better people. Appreciate you guys, we appreciate you, Alex. Thank you so much for your donation and the kind words. We try to keep it, you know, reasonable on here, but sometimes, well, just wait till the post game show if you want unreasonable, but, and then we got Alex Foster again with the five saying, Pennix has never played against the Saints. If he plays like Kirk did against the Bucks, that might be worth it. Yes, I'm that petty against the Saints. I mean, yeah, I hope we get to see Pennix against the Saints

40:04and he comes in and torches him. That would be a great way to endear himself to this fan base. That's for sure. And then Brandon Brass with the $5 says, so if Tuo plays like he did in the preseason and Pennix isn't ready mentally, what do we do at that point? Well, yeah, the people's quarterback, I guess, at some point. So we'll see. We'll see how quickly that arrives, but yeah, I think the timeline for Pennix, like we said earlier, probably within four games. So if Tuo is really struggling, it won't take very long. I don't think four Pennix to get out there. But yeah, guys, please do like it, subscribe and all that stuff. If you haven't already done so, appreciate that. Real quick, wanted to get, let's take a look at this. So I'm just going to talk about the Pittsburgh game, the line for this game as well, for all of our betting fans out there. We've got, this line has moved towards Pittsburgh slightly after the Tuo news, which is funny to me. But so now the Steelers are three and a half point favorites. It was down to three for a while.

41:04Now it's back up to three and a half Falcons money line. If you like the Falcons and this one is plus 150. If you like the Steelers and you're going to hate bet against the Falcons, minus 178 and then the over under has slid down after the Tuo announcement to 41 and a half now. So those are your numbers. Those are from Fandule, of course. They skin a Fandule for sponsor in the show. But an interesting line because it's not a very big line, Dave. It definitely implies sort of what you were saying, which this very much, very well could be a rock fight type of game, like a low scoring slugfest. And I think that's the game that Falcons would like to play, honestly. Like I don't think they're expecting to build this huge lead with an aerial attack in this one. No, I think what you're hoping for, obviously, is Tuo can feed London steady diet of screens to Kyle Pits, which worked really well in pre-season. So I see no reason not to hit that button a few times. And then of course, the genre, right? Like the more you can get it in his hands, the better off you're going to be. But I do think they're not looking to air this thing out

42:07and let Tuo let it fly and potentially create some turnovers that the Falcons really, really probably can't afford in this one. So I do expect it to be low scoring. I think I had sort of forgotten about the relatively new number one receiver for the Steelers. And that does make a slight difference. But to Adnan's point, Aaron Rogers, who is only six months older than me, is older than dirt. So it is a, it's going to be tough for him. If the Falcons can play the kind of game they want, I think they are built to deliver that interior pressure, which I think is going to force Rogers off the spot, if all goes well, which is why I'm watching Doerlis's status so closely. And if it comes down to, you know, can you, can you run the ball effectively? Can you get pressure up the middle and his special teams, you know, good? I'm actually feeling pretty good about this one.

43:09Because certainly, special teams this summer was a, was a pleasant surprise. Yeah, no, I think you mentioned a good point here, which is that the Falcons do want to like win with special teams. And I think like, honestly, that is something that could be a big equalizer in this game. And I mean, if we're looking at, like at LAN's ability to make field goals, that's what lost them the week one game last year, lost them another game later in the season and contributed to some of their other losses. Their return game was abysmal, their coverage game was not that much better. The punty game was mostly fine, but that was about it. And the preseason, the special teams look like a massive improvement. So I mean, we will, we will see if that could be an equalizer in this one too, but odd non, I mean, do you think that Falcons possibly improve special teams could play a big, big part in this game? No, for sure.

44:09The Falcons special teams, there's, there's nowhere to go, but up from last season, it was just so bad last year. But the special teams just didn't really put a foot wrong throughout the preseason and training camp. You saw it when you went to Flower of Branch, they really, you know, put an emphasis on special teams. Sometimes they started the practices out with special teams before doing anything else. So I think that was a major, that was a major pain point for the team last year. And, you know, it wouldn't surprise me if Stephanski came in here and said, okay, the easiest thing that we can improve that would substantially, you know, raise this teams floor is the performance on special teams. So, you know, let's see, let's see how it goes. I do think that it will work in the Falcons favor. I think they will probably have better special teams unit than most teams.

45:10Their punning was superb this year. Nick Volk was damn near perfect. I think he missed one field goal where he slept in all of camp and then he didn't miss another kick otherwise. So, yeah, if anything else, like my silver lining with this team this year is probably going to be the special team, especially if they, you know, play poorly in other cases of the game. Yeah, no, I think that's a great point. But the special teams talk occurring just as we're joined by special teams Smiley of the Falco Hall, like Trayshawn D, as Ed Trayshawn. Trayshawn, welcome into the program. How are you doing on this fine evening? I'm doing great. The word special teams is like the bat signal for me. So, you know, the timing just worked out really well. Yeah, someone said Nick Volk. All right, here we go. No, but before we get into week one with you because I want to get your take on, obviously, we didn't get Tuesday takes this week.

46:12So, and that's my fault. I was partying. So, sorry guys. But Trayshawn, to a name the starter, I know, other people are joining us late as well. They probably want to know your opinion on to a being named the starter as well. We talked about this at length that it was probably going to be Penix unless he wasn't ready. Sounds like he wasn't ready yet. Is that a shock to you? How are you feeling now that we do have the news that tool will be starting at least week one? Yeah. You know, as far as like Penix's timeline and everything, nothing is abnormal about it. Him not being ready at this stage. I don't think it's really a cause for concern or anything because he's hitting all the check marks that he should be within the timeline. I know there's other players that have come back sooner before. There's also players that have missed even more time and have had to sit out even longer. So, it's never going to be the same person to person.

47:13In terms of two of being named the starter, the feeling wasn't great, but it was just kind of, that's what was going to happen. Like you said, we talked about it. That's why Tua was here. Penix isn't ready. The staff wanted to have a veteran signal caller under center that they think can at least keep the train on the track. And hearing Vijon's, Presenter today kind of talking about Tua, that seems to be what the offensive mindset is is that we're not expecting Tua to pull us. We're going to pull him. We're going to be the supporting cast that he needs to be. And they, I think, have a really good mindset of knowing that they're all going to need to step up in order to make this work. And I think that's kind of the same mindset you have to have even if Penix is under center. This quarterback room, I think regardless of who's under center,

48:13even the Goat Jack strand, it's not a quarterback room that you look at and you're saying like the offense is going to be QB driven. With Stofanski coming in with the new scheme and everything, we all understood that this is going to be a really good opportunity for Vijon out of the gate, getting into a gap scheme, getting some more opportunities, pulling some of our linemen, and doing some of these other schematic tweaks to the run game. And that's kind of what I'm looking forward to. As somebody that's been a big Kyle Pitt supporter, I have to say, hearing two of getting the call, I mean, we feel pretty good about Pits' early season stock. We're definitely going to be able to get some early wins there, I think. So it is what it is. And this was a situation that we were kind of prepared for all summer. And it's unfortunate that Mike wasn't able to get back a little bit sooner. But this is the right move. I don't think that I don't think anybody

49:16should want to push a player out there that just isn't ready at this point in time. So Mike's got to do what's best for him. And I think that it's also the best thing for the team. Yeah, no, I think that's a great point that we didn't really touch on earlier either Dave. And I want to get your thoughts on this. We saw what it looked like when a quarterback went out there. When he wasn't ready, just a couple of years ago with Kirk Cousins, who really I think tanked that season because he sort of refused to admit how unready he was. And the offense was just not really functional at that point with the way he was playing. So I think people that are pushing like, oh, well, Penix, if he's physically healthy, you should just get out there. Obviously, Kirk was more of a physical ailment, but it's sort of an overall readiness thing. It's not just about the physical stuff. It's about, are you ready to go 100% or are you going to hinder your team? So you think that's something that fans should be more cognizant of given how we saw Kirk Cousins really struggle

50:16when he returned too soon from his own injury? Yeah, I think so. And I think it's just sort of, we know it's the nature of the game, right? Like it's very, very difficult to say and Kirk Cousins clearly did not want to, I can't do this at a high enough level right now. You need to take me out for the good of the team. Like, I don't think he's thinking like, I'm going to sabotage this season so hard. I can't even move. Watch me, watch me try to scramble. It's pathetic. You know, I don't think he's doing that, but he was worried he was going to lose his job and he was right to worry about that. And I think with Penix, it's a situation where, maybe he's a little bit cognizant that the door is going to be open for him because to us on a short term deal, because he is the only guy on the roster that, unless, again, Jack Strand turns out to be a miracle, could be the long-term starter for this team so they'll want to get a look at him. But I do think that he saw that situation firsthand

51:19with Cousins and I do think that he's been honest throughout this process, that he does care about how this team does, that he is invested in this franchise as they've invested in him, and that he wants to get out there when he's good and ready and feels like he can play, at a high level. And I think there is something admirable about that, right? Like, obviously, if we hit the end of November and he's not ready to go, we were having a slightly different conversation, 10 or wise, but I don't think that's going to be the case. I think this is somebody who's learned from his own injuries, from situations he's seen, and maybe from an NFL that's changing, ever so slightly, that it's okay for him to say, if I go out there right now, like, I'm not going to be ready to play at a high level, it's going to open him up to immediate criticism if he doesn't. He's got two awaiting in the wings, like this is the right move for him and probably the team, right at this point. So if two of us goes out there and absolutely bombs,

52:19this becomes a really difficult conversation as soon as week two, I guess, but he could be ready as soon as week two. So I think he's in the right place, and I think it is something that we need to recognize that this is a guy like declining to play football, because he doesn't want to. Like, I have no doubt he wants to be out there. It's about what makes sense for him, and ultimately what makes sense for the Falcons, and I think that's why the Falcons have been so supportive too, instead of trying to push this. Yeah, no, I think that makes a ton of sense, and Audon just said to get some words from you on this, because I think it's possible that the team could do far more damage by putting penics out there too early, him looking bad, and it's like, well, do we go back to two now? Like, how do you handle this? Like, we need to know that we're like actually seeing penics like at full speed, in my opinion before, we want to make any sort of evaluation. Is that sort of where your mind goes as well? Yeah, I mean, you don't want the scenario from 2023,

53:20where you were shuffling chairs in the quarterback room, where, you know, one week it's ridder, then the next week you had Taylor Heinecke. You had ridder and Heinecke just sort of swapping, starting quarterback positions, infinite amount of times down the stretch. It felt like that season, I think though, what's the way the old saying goes, if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks. However, I do think for, you know, to a sake as well, going into the season with his own mentality, you kind of have to give him like a real fair shake of being the starter and, you know, of not having to worry about, you know, the axe dropping on his head during the first slightest mistake. I don't know if Tua has that mentality, it seems like he's, you know, incredibly chill out there. But you never want a quarterback to go out there

54:21under that pressure of, oh my god, like if I throw this interception, it's just over because then at that point, he's forcing it. At that point, you know, it's going to be bad for the team either way. So I do think that the coaching staff is going to give, I don't think he's going to have a super long leash, but it's not going to be something where, you know, if he has a four week one, they're just going to completely yank at the media. Yeah, I agree. I think it's, you know, it's, I think it's sort of a timeline thing for both of these guys, but at this point, you know, Trace and we're going to get to see Tua. So I guess this leads us into again, with the week one discussion, like with this Falcons offense, like, what do you expect to see from Tua? Do you think this is going to be a functional offense or are we going to be in for a pretty long day and week one against the Steelers defense? Yeah, I think in, you know, early down situations, the offense will look pretty functional. I think that, you know, in your first and 10s,

55:24your second and fives, you know, all of those favorable situations, I do think Tua will be able to operate and be okay. Where you start to get nervous is third down and the red zone. When the process has to speed up and he has to become a bit more decisive and, you know, maybe push the ball a little bit more, I think that's when you start to worry about, okay, can this team convert on third down situations, third and seventh is even kind of feeling a little bit dicey in these situations because you know that if, you know, they're not going to be able to feast on, you know, yard after the catch opportunities and they need to actually, you know, push that football down the field. We haven't seen Tua do that this preseason and we haven't even really see him, you know, just take the attempt, just even try to force it a little bit because pre-season's when you can get away with that. And so kind of seeing the conservative play off the bat, that's really where I get concerned of, you know,

56:26what is this offense going to look like? You know, they didn't necessarily generate a ton of, you know, explosive plays last year, but you kind of always felt that, you know, they had the ability to convert on some of those situations, just due to pinnixes, you know, more, I would say gunslinger mentality and not being, you know, worried about pushing the football when he has to. So, you know, I think that we're going to see the Falcons really try to, you know, get, you know, on first down, you know, we're focused on, you know, success rate metrics, which is like getting half of the yards needed for that conversion. You're going to see a lot of the crosses that we saw. You're going to see those, you know, quick routes into the flat off of some play action boot concepts. And as long as they can stay ahead of the chains, I don't think you're going to be too concerned, but when they are in those unfavorable situations, it's definitely when I think, you know, Falcons fans are going to hold their breath a little bit more. Yeah, I think that's a great point you bring up.

57:28And I, we can only hope that the two has been able to like take that next step, like where he was a little bit tentative in the preseason, hopefully by now, he's been able to take that step. I mean, the fact that Falcons were still reluctant to name a starter until basically Monday, doesn't fill me with hope. But I mean, that's all we have at this point that they can try to build a boat sort of around to build a ship of this offense that takes advantage of two of strengths, which is that he is typically an accurate and quick passer in the short to intermediate area. And the fact that the Falcons can't really threaten deep, that's going to hurt them. But maybe it's something they can sort of work around temporarily if they can be efficient. And Tuha can be the game manager, quick processor type. We didn't like like Trashon said, we didn't really see that in the preseason, but small sample size, maybe two is more comfortable now. We'll see. But Dave, what is your level of concern about this offense going to week one?

58:28Because it's no slouch of an opponent against this Steelers defense either. Yeah, I think, you know, Trashon nailed it, which is, you worry when things get off schedule, when things get harder, when the Steelers feel comfortable bringing as much pressure as possible. The concern with Tuha all along is partially the arm strength and partially the mentality required to use what arm strength he has. But it is also like, is he going to get a little bit paralyzed in these situations where his first read is not there, he's got to make a quick decision. He's got to try to get away from pressure, which we also haven't seen him do at all thus far in preseason. So to me, you have to keep this thing on schedule. You have to keep him comfortable, pepper them with short passes, a lot of the genre right off the bat, and try to make it

59:29third and manageable as often as possible. Or ideally, just score touchdowns on first and second down over and over again, you know, easy, nothing to it. Yeah, but failing that, you know, the more that this offense does what it has done repeatedly in recent years and kind of stalls out and sets themselves up for a third or five or greater, that is definitely where I worry about Tuha, fumbling a snap, taking a costly sack, you know, not getting rid of the ball in time. And so I'll be curious to see what happens in those situations and whether he is a bit sharper than we saw last year and in preseason, then he just hasn't had a chance to show it. Or if this is just kind of who he is as a quarterback and the Falcons have to take as many steps as they can, they just not get in those situations. Yeah, I mean, it might be, you know, just be a situation for this offense as as Pentex said so eloquently that, you know, that this whole thing might get built out of B.

1:00:31John Robinson and prayers in the passing game. But it might particularly have to be the case odd non against the Steelers because, you know, the Steelers front is fearsome. They have a good secondary. You know, I know there's questions about whether if Joey Porter will play, that's obviously a big, would be a big loss if he doesn't play. The only player I believe on the Steelers' injury report also, but we're like the only major injury to watch at this point. So is that the approach you take is just, just put this thing on B. John and then go or is, do you have a game played you prefer on? No, that's absolutely what they're going to do. The last thing you want is to just kind of slinging it into what may or may not be double coverage 25 yards down the field. I mean, we saw it in the last Guregan's The Colts. Yeah, like a disgusting overthrow for that first interception. And then the rest of that game didn't really go so well either. But no, Tua is one of the quarterbacks that targets his running back,

1:01:34you know, naturally, maybe more than any other quarterback in the NFL on a perplay basis. So I would not be surprised at all if B. John comes out of this game with eight to 10 receptions. And that's in addition to all of the Russian work he's going to have. I do think when Panics comes back, it's going to be, you know, a little bit more leaning toward Drake London on those dropbacks. But with Tua in there, I think his favorite target is probably going to be B. John, which is going to be great for, you know, PPR, half PPR, B. John Robinson, known as in fantasy. I know there's some people that are really locked into that. But yeah, this is going to be a game where the felicans are really going to be relying heavily on number seven, particularly because I think you want to avoid as many longer dropbacks from Tua as possible, because at the very least that will mitigate

1:02:35Pittsburgh's past, especially a little bit. Yeah, I think that's kind of the idea is going to be to try to play mistake free football and just take what the defense gives you and not try to push too much with Tua at the helm, at least initially. But you do worry like, are we going to get a fumbled snap? Are we going to get a bad interception like that breaks this game open? Because I don't think this is going to be a high scoring game. So this is going to be one of those, those knife said type of situations. But yeah, I mean, beyond this game, you know, we're days away from the first game, obviously, the season is here. Trash, we've talked about this team all summer, all, all off season. How, how are you feeling in general about the felicans going into week one? Is this, is this better or worse than you thought it would be? At this point, how are you sort of feeling in general about the state of the felcates? Yeah, you know, obviously there's a lot of attention and for good reason on the quarterback

1:03:36room. But there's going to be five new starters on defense this year. And a lot of the deaf players that we have, we're not here last year either. So I am really curious to kind of see, you know, is the Jeff Ulberg scheme as bulletproof of some seem to think, you know, are they, are they really going to be able to, you know, replicate the pressure numbers? You know, obviously the stack numbers, you know, I, I think we're going to see a little bit of a regression there. But really just even being able to get the amount of pressure they got last year is kind of in question at this point. And, you know, there's still, I think a big question marks surrounding the run defense too. It wasn't the best showing in the preseason. And you know, they have made some bigger body additions. But these guys weren't necessarily known for their run defense either when you look at Dexter or Mason Smith, you know, these are guys that are big and, you know, athletic. But Dexter was known more as a pressure guy coming out of, you know, Chicago granted,

1:04:41he's going to be in a different front is going to get to do more of a attacking front now. So, you know, being able to shoot the gap might be able to lead to some more TFLs might be able to help out his game a little bit. But yeah, you know, the defense is probably an area that I don't think enough people have maybe examined because of all the quarterback noise that's been going on around this team. You know, as far as the offense goes, I am expecting, you know, at least from the skill position standpoint, a bit of an upgrade this year, you know, I think there's legitimate talent. A lot of complimentary talent sprinkled on this offense kind of, you know, excited to see, you know, what is the tight end utilization going to look like, not just Kyle Pitt, but, you know, we've got Austin Hooper back here. You know, are we going to be in that 12 personnel look a lot of the time? You know, we're all obviously very excited to see Bijon in this offense. You know, is Matthew Burzor going to live up to that contract? That's a big question, Mark. Is he somebody that's going to, you know, gel in this new scheme?

1:05:44Is it going to enhance, you know, his playstyle? So, you know, there's definitely, I think, you know, a small cloud right now over the team because of the quarterback situation kind of playing out how it did. But I still think there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic about, you know, the skill positions of this group. And then to, you know, get over to defense again. The secondary is something that I am very excited to see. I think that's going to be the strength of the defense this year, you know, the avian Torell edition. You know, it's, it's nice to have, you know, I think a legit inside out corner, kind of seeing how his role evolves as Billy Bowman gets healthy as something that's going to be interesting to watch. Does Mike use take a back seat and avian go to the outside? Once we get Billy back, are we going to get some fun, you know, nickel packages? And, you know, there's a lot there, the rookie linebackers, you know, Kindle Daniels, getting the start is exciting. You love when your day three guys are able to, you know, take over a spot, shout out to Dave

1:06:47who kind of made that comp immediately to Devandre Campbell as a guy that, you know, a lot of people didn't really know much about coming into the league, but was able to get a role in this defense early in you kind of like the length and athleticism that's in the middle of that defense now. Every team is obviously going to have faults and weak points, but I do think that there are some strengths kind of being overlooked on this team. You know, it's a tough schedule. I don't know if there's an easy schedule in the NFL, you know, but it's, it's definitely, you know, it's, it's not a season or a team that has me feeling down. I actually am excited to see the potential of some of the players that they have brought in. Yeah, I think that's a good point to bring up. I think the discourse like on the Falcons has become so just like overwhelmingly negative that it's like gone too far. I mean, I know we've seen some predictions like the fact they're going to finish last in the NFC, which is just ridiculous. I mean, two is not probably not going to be starting that many games, but I mean, I guess if,

1:07:51if Pennix, you know, can't get on the field and we have to start two of the whole season, then maybe that is a realistic outcome. And it wouldn't be the worst outcome, honestly, for a number of reasons that we've talked about. And I'm sure Celery will be happy at least about the draft takes. But, um, yeah, I mean, Dave, your thoughts sort of on where the Falcons stay and now at the precipice of the 2026 season? Yeah, similarly, I think this offense, you know, last year kind of went into the year saying, I did not like the receiver depth. I did not expect Mooney to basically be dead for half the season and, uh, you know, for them to cut and cloud that early, but they had a really grim situation at receiver a year ago. They're a lot deeper now, um, you know, and I think more talented than they were last year. You have Kyle Pits, you have Austin Hooper, Brian Robinson is not Tyler LG, but I think he's a good complimentary back. So you have, you know, a lot of interesting pieces here. And I do think one of the quarterbacks they trought out there is going to be able to make

1:08:57this thing go at a reasonably high level. Like I think this will be a solid to good offense, depending on what they get from the quarterback. Defenses a little bit more of a concern. I think we do have to see, I think Nate Ollie is a magician. That he's been a magician at enough stops that like I firmly believe that all of these guys up front are going to have terrific seasons. But beyond that, you know, how is Daniel's going to look as a starter? I have really high hopes for him over the long haul, but he is, you know, a rookie day three pick. Um, so he'll have his moments. I'm sure secondary is quite deep, but, you know, is Mike Hughes is up to being that that number two guy long term. Is that going to end up being Avion Terrell sooner rather than later? Um, once Billy Bowman gets back like, there are some question marks there without even getting to the fact that this edge room is very underwhelming at the moment without, you know, Pearson Walker. So, you know, I think you're looking at a team that if they're going to make any noise this year, it's going to be because the offense is

1:10:04pretty good. Special teams is hopefully not a disaster. And that would be a really nice change of pace. And the defense doesn't pull back too sharply from a year ago. If they play better, if the defense is improved from a year ago, you're not going to get the sack record again, right? But if they are a better all around group, the run defense improves, then we're going to start talking about this team as a legitimate contender. But I do think, you know, they may finish in the same ballpark of wins a year ago is disappointing is that would be for a lot of people who want them to win me among them, you know, at nine losing seasons in a row would be pretty grim. But if they make legitimate progress and they look better and more cohesive than they did a year ago, which I don't think is a huge, the high bar to clear, then I'll be failing pretty good. And I do think that's a reasonable bet if the defense doesn't sharply regress and the quarterback situation

1:11:04is disaster. Yeah, that would that would be very beneficial if we get that because I think they're going to be leaning heavily on the defense, I think to be like a good unit to keep this team in contention. But odd non, your thoughts now, 2026 season. Bless you guys for being optimistic. Well, then yes, I'm not super optimistic about this team's prospects in 2027. I think 2027, a lot of calc space, surplus of graphics. And then, you know, who knows where we can go. But I just think that this team, I think they sort of indicated to you in free agency that, you know, they were going to look at this as more of a transitional year where they didn't really restructural the contracts that they were able to. They didn't, you know, dole out some of those extensions that could have happened to where they can really, you know,

1:12:05adjust the salary cap sheet and really invest into this season to go all in this season. I think this year was about clearing the books a little bit and then there's just so much that kind of went wrong unexpectedly, one of which being the James Pierce situation where all of a sudden you lose your best pass for a shirt for half the season, Jalen Walker is down for the year. I am excited about seeing some of these younger guys, particularly those linebackers out there they'll get thrown into the fire so to speak, gave you a barrel of course. And, you know, who knows, maybe we have a FOIA-Luaq in situation on our hands here where someone or a Devandre Campbell situation where someone unexpectedly comes from day three and becomes a long-term starter that would be, you know, great for the long-term prospects of this team, but, you know, overall, you've so much so much talent and so much production from a year ago has left the door, you know, for one

1:13:13reason or another, pre-agency injuries or suspension, Kate Melis is another guy that was really a key cog in the defense last year that's no longer here. And I just sort of don't see, I think the defense was going to was going to kind of regress even if they kept everyone like intact. I don't think you were going to reach those sacchites last year anyway and now you've lost a lot of guys who were the reason for some of that pressure. And I just, you know, I'm just a bit pessimistic this season. I can easily see them winning like five games this year. I think my official prediction as of the last pre-season show is like five and twelve, which I know people are going to, you know, put my head on a spike for that. But I think it I truly think it's a transitional year and it's not the worst thing, especially given what the schedule is this year. It's it's going to be like, we're looking at the first couple games. If they don't come out with a win against the Steelers,

1:14:18it could start to get ugly kind of quickly. You have the Packers week three, you know, the Panthers, week two who swapped you last season. And then the schedule really starts getting tough after week four. Like that's just one game after another where there's just really not a break at all. And there until very late this season. So I think there's just a lot of stuff that's working against the Falcons this year. And, you know, I think it'll probably be another season where we end up missing out on the playoffs. And I don't think there'll be too close to them, but who knows this team, you know, when they when you expect them to zig-zag so who knows what happens. Yeah, yeah. I'm in the same boat. I think this this could be a rough year. But again, I think they're going to be better coached. So they could be a team that's dealing, you know, with some injury issues obviously in the Ed Room and some difficulties at quarterback, at least maybe until Panics returns. And they do struggle. Can't quite get to a winning record. Maybe,

1:15:26maybe it is like a seven to eight win season. And maybe that's enough to win this terrible division. You know, we'll see. I do think it, you know, going down to like a five and 12 that that happening wouldn't be the end of the world for this team because I mean, at a certain point, it's beneficial to bottom out in the win category and get a shot in what looks like could be a loaded quarterback class, a shot at one of these guys in the top 10 wouldn't be the worst the worst thing in the world. So we'll see how that plays out if that plays out. But guys, we really appreciate you hanging out here with us on the Falcaholic Live week one kickoff show presented of course by Fane Duel before we get out of here. Of course, want to thank everyone for for hanging out when I remind folks to like and subscribe. If you haven't done so already, please do give us five store review and your podcast platform of choice. If you want to support the show, you can do so on patreon patreon.com slash Falcaholic Live and the YouTube channel memberships. Also, I want to of course thank all of our guests Dave Chote had to take off just a minute ago, but he's of course, you know, I'm Dave Chote at

1:16:29the Falcaholic very easy to remember. We also of course have with us Trayshaan Diaz at Tray 3 Sean. He's at all Tray phases. Go check his work out there as well. And of course, my co-host Anani Kitsch at say which way folks we got just a few more days to the Falcons kickoff the regular season against the Steelers at one PM. We will have a Steelers preview show for you guys with Jarrah Bailey from behind the steel curtain to get a closer look at this Steelers team and roster and the trials and tribulations that that team is going through at the moment. And we will of course be here for the first post game show of the season on Sunday once the Falcons are wrapped up in Pittsburgh. So until then guys, we really appreciate you hanging out. We will see you guys next time. Enjoy the the first game of week one, which is going on now. Apparently Sam Donald has already been knocked out. So, you know, we're really off to a banger start for this season offensively. But otherwise enjoy it. We will see you guys in just a few days until then. Enjoy

1:17:34the start of the season and we'll see you next time. Have a great night folks. Thanks.