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00:00Birchie, what's up my man? How you doing? I'm doing great, fellas. How about you guys?
00:05We're good. We're good. So, Z'Darrius Smith, first of all, Dan Campbell basically said
00:11they still don't know if he's going to play, right? Correct. Yeah, I know. I think we will
00:16see him play on Sunday night. You know, it might just be 10, 15, maximum 20 snaps, but
00:22I do think they'll get him out there. But I think the fact that they gave him the two
00:26days off this week was just another example of the Lions prioritizing the people in this
00:32building. You know, looking at them as more than players. This is a veteran who was traded
00:37in the middle of what was supposed to be his bye week in Cleveland. He gets shipped up
00:41to Detroit. As Campbell mentioned today, he also lives down south and his home was in
00:46the path of one of those recent hurricanes. And the Lions just felt like, let's give this
00:50guy a couple days to catch his breath, to just alleviate some of the stress. You know,
00:55they're not in desperation mode here. They have won three games straight since losing
01:01Hutchinson. And Campbell said, you know, we'd rather Z'Darrius Smith be of sound mind and
01:06body when he gets on the field more than forcing him out there on Sunday night. So, you know,
01:12that's just it's part of the culture this team has built itself on over the past three,
01:17four years under Holmes and Campbell. And it seems like they're just continuing to fulfill
01:23that and Z'Darrius Smith's arrival is just the latest example. Did you see what Snacks
01:28Harrison tweeted out about the situation? Yeah, I sure did. I'm sorry, his reply to
01:38finding out that the Lions traded for Z'Darrius Smith and were giving him a couple days off.
01:42His reply was Detroit truly has changed. Them folks throw me out there ASAP with swollen
01:48knees from the plane ride and a bunch of laughing with tears, emojis. But it goes to
01:54explain it, that this is, you know, again, part of the culture change and the respect
01:58of the players. No doubt it's a stark contrast from, from years past. And, you know, again,
02:05I do think that we'll see Z'Darrius on Sunday night, but, but the Lions won't, won't force
02:11him out there just because they've only recently acquired him. You know, when, when he does
02:15get out there, they want him to feel like he is ready to contribute, uh, to the maximum
02:20extent. And, and ultimately it's about this defense and this team firing on all cylinders,
02:25you know, come December and January, not so much right now. You know, I had expectation
02:30for what I was hoping Z'Darrius Smith would bring to the table. And then I heard Aaron
02:34Glenn talk about him yesterday and my expectation went up. Like he, he was like, he's not Hutch,
02:39but then he started talking about all the things he can do. And I'm like, Oh, this is
02:43going to be awesome. Like if this, if Aaron Glenn's pretty good at his job and I'm thinking
02:48if Aaron Glenn looks at him this way, I should be more excited than I was.
02:51Yeah. I think they were pretty intentional about bringing a guy in who wasn't just a
02:56past rusher. Obviously that's what you think of when, when you think of Hutch, but Z'Darrius
03:01Smith, a lot like Hutch can do more than that. And I think, um, for all of the, the, the
03:07justified focus on what he can do, getting after the quarterback, it's just as important
03:12his ability to set an edge against the run. And we've seen this defense struggle to contain
03:17the run uncharacteristically now since losing Hutch. And I, you know, Z'Darrius Smith can
03:22help them solidify that. So can Josh Paschal, two, two really physical, powerful defensive
03:28ends and Z'Darrius Smith can also move inside on passing down. Like there is a lot of versatility
03:33to his game, but I thought it was noteworthy today, Dan Campbell mentioning that, you know,
03:37for the first time in a while, they put pads on at practice yesterday. He doesn't like
03:41to do that on Thursdays, but just given the way this, this defense has struggled to contain
03:45the run recently, he felt like they needed to, to reemphasize some of those run defensive
03:51principles. And so they put pads on to open practice. They did some one-on-ones, forced
03:57their players to play a little bit lower just to replicate some of those game-like reps.
04:02And I think, I think we'll see that show up on Sunday night in addition to Paschal being
04:06back.
04:07I think that we're going to see a more spirited pass rush with Z'Darrius, not just because
04:13Z'Darrius Smith is there, but because it's going to create more competition for the guys
04:18that were getting the opportunities that now, now might not get those opportunities or it
04:23creates a, you know, a more, a tighter rotation of players that can come in.
04:27Yeah, I think so. You know, and, and despite all those losses up front, Hutchinson, Davenport
04:33Barnes, you know, you look at this defense now with Smith and with Paschal returning
04:38and with Reeder and Aleem and Levi on the interior, and you're like, damn, that's still
04:43a pretty good front five, front four, whatever you want to call it. And I think it's worth
04:49mentioning just how well Aleem McNeil has played as a pass rusher this season. I mean,
04:54I think from the moment he arrived, we all knew he was going to be a, a great defender
04:58against the run. He had those, those physical abilities, but he has really grown since losing
05:04that weight ahead of last season into, into a fierce interior pass rusher. And I was talking
05:10to Frank Ragnell about this yesterday, and he said after his very first practice against
05:15Aleem McNeil in pads, when Aleem McNeil was a rookie in training camp, Frank Ragnell went
05:20right to Dan Campbell and said, that dude's going to be a good player. He has a rare combination
05:26of power and quickness. And when you combine those things, Ragnell said, it's just a problem
05:30for guys inside. And over the past five games, since week four, Aleem McNeil is tied for
05:37first among defensive tackles and quarterback pressures with none other than Chris Jones.
05:42So while the Lions may have lost a star on the edge of the defensive line, we're watching
05:47another one rise on the interior in Aleem McNeil.
05:50We're talking about Jared Goff, and I heard a stat yesterday, and it feels like everybody's
05:54coming up with these amazing stats of what kind of streak they're on and how the offense
05:58is performing. And basically of his last 43 incompletions, 21 of them came in the Tampa
06:04game. He's thrown 22 incompletions since throwing 21 in the Tampa game. It's incredible, but
06:11I get the sense when they're down there talking, they're like, well, this is just kind of our
06:15offense. They don't think that he's hot. They don't think this is some great streak. This
06:19is just them executing what they do.
06:22Yeah, you know, it's crazy. CJ Stroud was 11 for 30 throwing the ball last week, which
06:28I think is more incompletions than Jared Goff has in the last two years. But you know, Ben
06:34Johnson said something funny yesterday. He hearkened back to his time as a quarterback
06:39at North Carolina in his college days, and one of his coaches telling him, you know,
06:44look, we can't go 18 for 18, but we can go one for one 18 times in a row. And it feels
06:51like that's kind of how Jared Goff and this offense are approaching each play. It's not
06:56about getting to the first half without having thrown an incompletion or going 18 for 22
07:02by the end of the day. It's just about executing the play in front of them. And for Jared,
07:07it's about finding the open receiver and not forcing the ball anywhere else. So the offensive
07:12line obviously gives him time to do that. And as I was explaining this week on our podcast,
07:17he's so comfortable checking the ball down to Montgomery or to Gibbs because it feels a lot
07:22like, you know, like each row in his prime was happy to accept a single because that single
07:27after a stolen base or two stolen bases becomes a double and then becomes a triple. And when you
07:32check the ball down to Montgomery and Gibbs, you might gain five air yards and then they're going
07:37to give you 5, 10, 15, 20 yards more. So there's just so much mutual trust in this offense.
07:43Everyone is doing their exact job on each play and the result is an offense averaging 30 plus
07:49points a game. We're feeling pretty chesty about Jamison Williams in this game. Doug feels he's
07:56gonna get the first target of the game. I think, you know, I could see a touchdown over 100 yards
08:00and scrimmage yards from him. What do you think is going to shake out on Saturday night? Yeah,
08:06I think this is a great game for Jamo to come back in. You know, it's a dome game. It's on
08:12that fast track in Houston. It's under the Sunday night lights. He loves stages like that. I think
08:18this is a game where the Lions can run the ball early and then break open a couple throws over
08:24the top as the game unfolds. Worth noting, though, he's going to see a lot of Derrick Stingley Jr.,
08:28who is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. And, you know, sometimes, guys, you draft
08:34cornerbacks third overall and they become stars and sometimes they don't, as we all know. But
08:41Derrick Stingley really has emerged as a true lockdown corner. I would imagine he'll be matched
08:46up on the outside against Jamo for most of that game. He hasn't allowed, I think, more than 60
08:51yards in coverage in a game this season. But, as you guys know, all it takes is one target from
08:56Jamo to put up 80 yards, 70 yards at once. I think he returns with a bang on Sunday night. What's the
09:03toughest matchup this weekend? Where should we be focused on things that Detroit, the biggest
09:07challenge against this Houston team?
09:10Well, the most noteworthy is that Taylor Decker did not practice today and he injured his shoulder
09:15yesterday in practice. They haven't decided whether or not he'll play on Sunday night. Dan
09:20Campbell said, you know, they're going to take the next 48 hours to kind of monitor his status and
09:25then make a decision most likely on Sunday. If he can't play and then it's most likely Dan
09:32Skipper stepping in for him, you know, we'll see if Will Anderson plays. He also hasn't practiced
09:37this week for Houston, but even if he doesn't, Daniel Hunter obviously poses his own challenge. I
09:42would imagine the Texans would have Daniel Hunter rushing as much as possible against either a
09:48hobbled Decker or a backup offensive tackle. That, to me, is a huge matchup. I think the Lions can
09:54impose their will on the interior in the trenches on both sides of the ball, but a tackle is going
10:00to have to hold up in a big way on Sunday night.
10:02Perchie, appreciate it as always. Thanks for joining us and we'll talk again next week.
10:07Hey, before I go, I got a couple of nominations for guys that we can't believe played here in
10:11Detroit, obviously for the wings, Patrick Kane, but how about for the lions? Adrian Pearson was
10:18briefly a Detroit lion back in 2020. That's still boggles the mind. If you ask me,
10:24totally forget about that. Yeah. One of the grades.
10:27No doubt. He'll always be remembered as a Detroit lion without question.
10:33Thanks, Perchie.
10:35You guys got it. Talk to you soon.
10:37There he is, the Perchie kid. You can read his stuff on our website,
10:3997172good.com, covering the Detroit Lions and all our teams.