It's just a matter of, can you limit the breakaway explosive runs and live with four or five yards a clip here or there, and in theory, get ahead on the scoreboard and try and make it a shootout where the Falcons can't sit there and run the ball all game? It's, it's a lot to ask.

Yes, it definitely is.

And, uh, we'll see, uh, if the Bears can do that.

Uh, offensively, I think, you know, there's the potential.

We've seen this Bears offense really cook with, uh, Ben Johnson and, and various quarterbacks at the helm.

So i- you know, it, it tells you that the structure of the offense is very good, and that gets to what I think is another key matchup, which is not a player versus player.

It's a coach versus a coach.

Terms and more at applecard.com.

i'm not really sure that the tyler huntley led offense could do that so if i had to guess my guess would be he sits out this week because you know worst case here he comes back isn't 100 isn't as mobile can't throw the balls effectively he can't run as effectively with that atlanta pass rush you know does the ankle get worse if he gets tackled funny or something happens if he has to miss a game or two to trade off him being back healthy when he's ready i mean i'll take that trade off but obviously it's unfortunate considering that you know This is a pretty big game against the Falcons here, especially with how Atlanta's been playing.

Yeah, and that segues nicely into sort of what's the big story for the Atlanta Falcons is they've been playing great these last two games, and can they keep that going? The Falcons always seem to have this great injury luck.

I remember the last time we did a crossover, Kevin, back in 23.

Lamar did not play in that game.

It was Tyler Huntley.

He was able to take care of business, I believe, in Desmond Ritter's first start of his career.

Yeah, whenever that was.

Welcome to the

Harder, yeah.

But, uh, I do think this team is well-positioned to have another repeat performance on the road.

Uh, obviously, the big questions are going to be will they get another spectacular game from Bijan Robinson and Drake London like they did on Thursday night? And if they do, that makes things a whole lot easier for the rest of the offense.

If they don't get that...

And traditionally, Drake London and Bijan Robinson have played well against the Saints, but do not dominate that team as well as they dominate some of the other teams in the division.

So you do kind of expect a little bit of a step back from the 194-yard performances like they had on Thursday night.

And if that is the case, who's going to be the player to step up? Is it Kyle Pitts? Is it Jahan Dotson? Is it Zachariah Branch? Is it Austin Hooper or somebody else on this offense to kind of pick up the slack? And then of course, the other question is really about the quarterback position.

After watching three games and looking at the film, have you seen the Bill Callahan influence that everybody said would come with him?

Yeah.

But, uh, I do think this team is well positioned to have another repeat performance on the road.

Uh, obviously, the big questions are going to be will they get another spectacular game from Bijan Robinson and Drake London like they did on Thursday night, and if they do, that makes things a whole lot easier for the rest of the offense.

If they don't get that...

And traditionally, Drake London and Bijan Robinson have played well against the Saints, but do not dominate that team as well as they dominate some of the other teams in the division.

So you do kind of expect a little bit of a step back from the 194-yard performances like they had on Thursday night.

And if that is the case, who's going to be the player to step up? Is it Kyle Pitts? Is it Jahan Dotson? Is it Zachariah Branch? Is it Austin Hooper or somebody else on this offense to kind of pick up the slack? And then, of course, the other question is really about the quarterback position.

After watching three games and looking at the film, have you seen the Bill Callahan influence that everybody said would come with him?

How confident are you in what we saw Thursday night? And I'll start with the offense and Michael Penix is something they can replicate tonight.

Well, you know, confidence in the Atlanta Falcons are two sort of opposing viewpoints and perspectives.

But I do think this team is well positioned to have another repeat performance on the road.

Obviously, the big questions are going to be, will they get another spectacular game from B. John Robinson and Drake London like they did on Thursday night? And if they do, that makes things a whole lot easier for the rest of the offense.

If they don't get that and traditionally Drake London and Bijan Robinson have played well against the saints, but do not dominate that team as well as they dominate some of the other teams in the division.

So you do kind of expect a little bit of a step back from 194 yard performances like they had on Thursday night.

And if that is the case, who's going to be the player to step up? Is it Kyle Pitts? Is it Jahan Dodson? Is it Zachariah branch? Is it Austin Hooper or somebody else on this offense to kind of pick up the slack? And then of course, The other question is really about the quarterback position.

After watching three games and looking at the film, have you seen the Bill Callahan influence that everybody said would come with him?

I mean, we saw the, the ridiculous stat Bijon with 194 rushing yards, Drake with 194 receiving yards, really funny that they had the same number, but, um, I mean, does that give you some confidence that this, this ship is, is on the right track offensively for the first time, maybe in years?

Yeah, you know, I don't think this offense, you know, is the fully formed version of it, obviously.

But I think what we saw on Thursday was a good starting point.

You did get to see a decent amount of Michael Penix under center.

You got to see him attacking the middle of the field.

Those were two areas of question marks for Michael Penix when he did attack the middle of the field last season.

He was effective at it, but he just rarely did it.

And I mean, how are you feeling about the state of this defense going into week four?

Yeah.

And at this point in time, it's kind of just kind of a big mystery because we don't know what Penix is going to be.

We're still trying to figure out what the identity of this offense under offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, under head- new head coach Kevin Stefanski is.

And so for me, a lot of the offensive stuff is just kind of a we'll see.

So the one thing that I kind of tend to focus in is something that I'm a little bit more familiar with, that I, is a little bit more of a known commodity, which is the Falcons defense.

We talked about the pass rush, um, earlier.

Uh, and I think that pass rush is going to be pivotal for this Falcons defense against this Packers offense.

[laughs]

What has been your initial interpretation of how things are going with Kevin Stefanski and his influence into the Falcons?

Well, it's interesting, Chris, because the Falcons have had a lot of different coaches these last couple of years.

I know the Steeler fans cannot relate at all to constant coaching turnover or anything like that.

But elsewhere in the NFL, you change coaches every few years rather than every few decades.

And so because we've been through this before with other coaches, usually a new coach comes in, there's a lot of excitement going But I think there's a little bit more cautious optimism with the Falcons right now with Kevin Stefanski.

It's really kind of will the real Kevin Stefanski stand up? And we're going to find out this season.

Is the real Kevin Stefanski the guy that was basically the only guy in like three decades to lead the Browns to the playoffs twice in his first four years there? Or is the real Kevin Stefanski the team, the guy that led – Two very underachieving teams these last two seasons with eight wins combined over that span.

What did they kept Jeff Ulrich, the defensive coordinator from the previous coaching staff in here? Why do you think they did that? And what do you expect from this defense and particularly the secondary to be so good this year?

So this is probably the time to talk about the state of this quarterback room, Aaron, but how are you sort of, uh, vibing with, with the current state with, with the four quarterbacks here at this moment?

Yeah, you know, it's one of those things that you did wonder a little bit if they would do that or would they just be like, hey, you know, we're going to keep three quarterbacks.

We're going to be a normal team and keep three quarterbacks.

But as you mentioned, them and three other teams were like, we're going to be as abnormal.

And then you do wonder if there is part of some strategy to kind of sneak a guy through waivers by waiting until September to cut him as opposed to doing so or, you know.

we're now in September but you know what I mean like waiting until after the season starts to sort of move him where there's a higher probability that they'll sort of clear waivers and sort of like you know It's interesting with like, you know, Michael Pennix, Jack Strand, you know, I've labeled Jack Strand the people's quarterback.

You know, there's a lot of people that support Michael Pennix to be the Falcons future quarterback.

Is it a bit or are you actually like you've been very impressed with Strand and you think there's a legitimate possible future here? We're not talking high percentages or anything, but a possible road to Jack Strand eventually being an NFL backup starter or something, you know?

What's the plan there this year?

That's the question that everybody's asking right now because no one really knows.

Right.

And, you know, from his days in Cleveland, you know, a lot of the talk was that Devin Gabriel was his handpicked guy because he likes a quarterback like Tua Tunga-Vailoa.

And sort of you wonder if Tua Tunga-Vailoa and the selection of him this offseason was, you know, Kevin Stefanski saying, this is the guy that I believe can run my offense or run Tommy Reese's variation of my offense.

And so far right now, Tua has been very up and down.

And unfortunately, there seems to be more downs than ups as of late.

Aaron, what have you seen from Penix? Where do you have him in terms of what they drafted him to be, which was to be a franchise quarterback? Does he have that in him?

[laughs]

Yeah.

So you know, I think you, you go back to Stefansky's time in Cleveland, where you go back to when, I, I believe it was Joe Woods was their defensive coordinator back in 2022, and their defense really struggled that year 'cause they blew a bunch of leads.

And then they made the switch to, uh, Jim Schwartz, um, the following year, and then they had the best defense in the NFL that season, and that was really the thing that drove their success that season to, to make the playoffs that year.

You know, 'cause their offense had, had its moments when, when Joe Flacco was just throwing bombs to Amari Cooper.

But outside of, like, you know, those plays, like, their offense wasn't really doing a whole lot that season.

And I, I felt like, you know, with, with Jim Schwartz's defensive style being more of that four-man front, that wide nine front, you know, obviously Nate Ollie first got his start as a, uh, D line coach in Philadelphia when Jim Schwartz was the de- defensive coordinator there.

I- is it gonna be Christian Harris? Is it gonna be a, a rotation of guys? Is it gonna be, you know, Jalen Walker? [laughs] You know, I mean, who, what, what do you think, uh, is gonna be the plan here, um, to fill, you know, probably the biggest overall loss on the whole team?

Yeah.

So looking forward to those two games.

So we heard from Julian Council.

Let's hear from Ross Jackson of Locked On Saints to discuss how the Saints' off-season moves are pointing to this being an all-important evaluation year for our second-year quarterback.

Well, Ross, let's jump right into it.

It feels like th- 2026 is really all about finding out if Tyler Shuck is the answer at quarterback.

As we discussed on a previous episode looking at the Saints' off-season moves, they did a lot of, you know, in free agency, in the draft, trying to, uh, add pass catchers, beef up that offensive line, uh, to really support Tyler Shuck.

But I think this is also the year where you really find out, is Tyler Shuck the guy after a promising, you know, nine-start season last year, winning four of his last five?

They're more reclamation projects.

Yeah, I think, you know, when you kind of set it up, James, where like you kind of have to grave the Falcons on a curve because they do not have the they do not have the resources and assets that other teams had going into this draft, winning, going into the draft with only five picks, not including a first round pick, not including a fifth round pick, as you mentioned, trading that last year for James Pierce.

It'll be fascinating to see that in a hypothetical alternate reality where the Falcons didn't trade that draft pick for James Pierce, would they have taken Ruben Bain at pick 13 instead of James Pierce? So it'll be interesting in addition to the Ty Simpson conversation in terms of what the Falcons could have done, particularly with still concerns about whether or not the Falcons have a franchise quarterback, sort of comparing those three players over whether or not James Pierce, Ruben Bain, or Certainly will not keep people up at night wondering what could have been should some of those guys succeed and fail in the NFL.

But I think for the most part, the Falcons did a decent job.

They tried to go into the draft by being aggressive and free agency signing the two dozen players so that they did not go into the draft with any sort of pressing needs.

And I think their strategy was let's just get good players that fit what we want to do.

I think they were able to hit a home run in the second round with A.B. Antarelli, a player that was widely considered to be a first-round caliber player.

So where do you think Atlanta measures up against the rest of the division right now, given all of the changes that they've made from the coaching staff down to the roster?

Today on The Big Three in 30, the Falcons forced to make moves on the offensive line.

Big changes for the Falcons' offensive line.

Aaron Freeman from Locked On Falcons has more on that move.

Big changes for the Falcons' offensive line.

As we discussed on yesterday's episode with, uh, Treshawn Diaz, "Oh, the Falcons are gonna run it back with all five of their starters." Well, we found out today that is not going to be the case, as they will have a new starting right tackle, uh, in Jawan Taylor.

We'll break down what he's gonna bring to the table, and whether or not the Falcons' scheme can solve his penalty issues.

Uh, and the reason for Taylor being in the building now is because Caleb McGary had an somewhat unexpected retirement.

We'll break down why it wasn't as big a surprise as maybe it would seem.

But what happened when he got to Atlanta? Why was why was he never able to replicate that kind of production that he had in Chicago?

Well, actually, in his first year, he was pretty productive.

He should have had a 1,000-yard season, but he missed the Week 18 game in 2024.

I think he finished eight yards shy of 1,000 yards.

And he was kind of a big reason why the Falcons' offense was so effective in 2024 because a lot of his success was just kind of – Running these vertical routes outside the numbers and with Kirk Cousins and his touch down the field.

And then later when they made the switch to Michael Penix and his ability to push the ball outside the numbers down the field.

Like Mooney was kind of this big sort of weapon for the Falcons.

How physical is this game, especially for those contested catches?

Mm-hmm.

So, y- you kind of expect the Falcons get off to a fast start.

You kind of expect the Saints to finish this game strong.

And the Falcons have really struggled in the third quarter this year.

They're one of the worst teams in the NFL in third quarter, and I think they're like 29th in point differential.

It just feels like every single game every single week, you know, they get off to a, a reasonable first half performance and then it all falls apart in the third quarter.

And so, I'm not expecting the Falcons to win the third quarter.

Sure.

Sure.

... players like Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua and has a real big opportunity to really help this game because I think as you mentioned, you know, I don't think the Falcons want to get into a shootout with the Rams because I feel like the Rams are much more better equipped with Sean McVay, with- at the play caller, at the coordinator position.

And with Drake London not 100%, um, compared to Puka Nacua, like...All that favors the Rams, and if they get into a shootout with the Falcons, they're gonna favor it.

So, for me, the Falcons, run the football, right? Control the clock, keep that Rams offense off the field, right? And I think featuring Bijan is gonna be a major part of that.

And also in the passing game, there are agendas at stake here on Locked On Falcons.

Travis, you have a certain linebacker that used to play for the Atlanta Falcons in Nate Landman.

(laughs)

"...Marquese Williams, uh, and he's probably, uh, going to be removed at the end of the season regardless of what happens, uh, with Raheem Most.

Yeah.

Because so many people have busted their...

Uh, I mean we just, we're so lucky here, we're so lucky.

Um, keys to victory.

Turnover battle.

The only problem with this, Aaron Freeman of Locked On Falcons, is the Cardinals took the ball away from Trevor Lawrence four times and still lost weeks ago.

So it's not an exact science anymore.

This is maybe a... one of the rare instances where their special teams may give them that slight advantage in this game and in a close game, as we talk about turnovers, you know, one big kick return, one messed, uh, coverage, uh, you know, one muffed kick and whatnot, uh, that could really turn this game in a major way.

I think that is crucial this game for Seattle's offense.

Well, y- I think you'll have an opportunity to see that.

The Falcons have been very up and down when they've come to defending the play action.Uh, and as you mentioned, the play action passing game has been a big part of that Seahawks, uh, success this season.

So we'll see if they can get that going again, uh, against this Falcons team.

Another key for me, as you mentioned earlier, Corbin, is a fast start.

The Falcons really need to put Seattle in a position where they're forced to abandon their run game, where they're potentially forced to abandon their play action passing game, because they're down, you know, two scores or whatever and trying to sell the run, uh, is, is maybe not necessarily a winning strategy.

And so, if they can get off to a fast start, uh, as they did, uh, two weeks ago when they beat the, the Saints, the one win that they've had in their last seven games, uh, and, and go up early, uh, that I think will give the Falcons their best chance.

Not that it's going to happen, but I, I think that would be the pathway where Seattle can make this one of those snowball games where things really snowball out of control for Atlanta.

If the Falcons are gonna win this game, what's one thing you think needs to happen?

I think everything they do is predicated off of their ability to get off to a fast start.

Um, it has been a running gag on Locked On Falcons that basically you watch the first two offensive series to know if the Falcons (laughs) are gonna play well today.

If they have, if they were able to move the ball, uh, and score on either one of their first two offensive series, it's like, "Okay, they, they'll, they'll be in this game." If they don't, then it's like, "Oh, well, better pack it up, go rake some leaves, you know, go make the pie, get some leftovers or whatever, go check out.

You got better things to do, uh, this Sunday with the Atlanta Falcons." And, you know, they built their defense to play with the lead.

Uh, as I said, it's not a great run defense.

Their best, uh, run defense is their ability to get up early and, and force teams to have to abandon the run by playing catch-up, so that's a big part of it, as well as their ability to dial up that pass rush, um, you know, in the, particularly in the second half.

So, I think the Jets just have to use Breece Hall in a way that maximizes his skills better.

Yeah.

... and hope that, you know, they can get an early lead that will allow the Saints to be a little bit more one-dimensional.

Um, and, you know, force Tyler Shuck to have to be in a more standard drop back and- and hopefully they can sort of key up that blitz.

And if they can get the run game going early, uh, which they-

Mm-hmm.

... were unable to do again in that Dolphins game in week eight, um, that, I think, is going to help allow them to not have to rely on unreliable playmakers and pass catchers that have been the case this season in the passing game with- with Drake London, I remember, with Drake London out and Kyle Pitts and- and Darnell Mooney having to take over and really not a whole lot else in the passing game other than throwing the ball to Bijan Robinson.

Uh, so-

So, yeah, that, those would be the keys I have at least for, uh, this coming Sunday.

Yeah, um, you know, you, you bring up the, the kicking situation.

Uh, I...

That's one of the keys f- for me.

I've been basically because of the revolving door at the kicking situation and the lack of consistency, I've, I've basically refused to acknowledge the new kicker, uh, Zane Gonzalez, on the podcast.

Basically, you gotta go out there and earn the right for me to learn what your name is, because I don't trust that any kicker the Falcons bring into this building is actually going to work long term for this football team.

But he did make both kicks.

Yikes.

(laughs)

Uh, but sort of, I- I guess building off of that one point is, Bijan needs to have a better rushing day than Jonathan Taylor.

Like, that's the key.

If you can get Bijan...

You know, if you give up 150 yards to Jonathan Taylor, if you get Bijan to 160, that, to me, I think is going to be huge for the Falcons, uh, to get this thing going 'cause I may...

As I said, I'm- I'm expecting a big day for Jonathan Taylor, so if you can get a big day from Bijan Robinson, then I think that will be huge for the Falcon's offense success and- and taking some of that pressure off of Michael Penix, uh, to have to carry the- the- the team on the road.

You mentioned turnovers at the beginning of the show.

But we have two running backs that are fun to watch, so maybe it'll just be like a big run-heavy game for the, for their two teams.

Yeah.

And with a Mike Vrabel coached team rarely are you ever gonna question the toughness of his football teams.

Well you can question the toughness of the Atlanta Falcons all day every day, uh, at this stage and so the Falcons are going to have to close that gap, uh, first and foremost because pretty much everything they want to do offensively and defensively is predicated off of that.

For me my second key, it's a cliche for a reason but it really fits for the Atlanta Falcons, it's about winning the turnover battle.

Wow.

... with Miami, uh, being the ninth loss, uh, this past week and when it's an even turnover margin they're two and four.

So basically if they don't steal a, a, a series away from a team with a, uh, with a positive turnover margin, they're dead in the water.

And then my last one is also sort of piggybacking on a similar point with looking at their records, they need a fast start, right? Their offense has gotten off to slow starts these last couple of weeks, it's been a trend of theirs on the road but you look at this season so far they're three and one in games where they score on their opening drive.They're oh and three in games when they don't, um, score on their opening drive.

So that's, for Miami, that goes into some of your personnel stuff, but that also goes into if you're gonna play bend don't break when the field compresses, that's when you really have to force Atlanta to kick some field goals and make sure that if you lose the score on per- possession percentage battle, Atlanta's only getting three if you're getting seven a few times.

Yeah, we'll see if the, uh, Falcons can, uh, sort of resurrect, uh, their red zone, um, you know, woes, I guess you could say.

Um, you know, that's one of the keys to victory for me is just, like, the Falcons need to be better in the red zone when they get those opportunities to score.

Uh, they need to be able to put seven on the board.

Uh, t- too often they have been settling for three at times, uh, this season.

Uh, and so, you know, my second key to victory is, you know, get this offense off to a fast start, and I think this week that means a commitment to running the football with Bijan Robinson and trying to get him going.

This offense's foundation, their identity is, uh, you know, the Bijan-driven offense.

Yep.