Kyler Murray can be a 'CHEAT CODE' for the Cardinals + Lions going for it on 4th down! | NFL Live

Expectations for Cardinals we're back on NFL live the Cardinal's quarterback Kyler Murray has heard the negative comments said about him over the past two seasons he had this to say about people sleeping on his team quote let them sleep our job is to wake them up and allow them to realize what's going on out here I don't even feel like I've scratched the surface of what I'm able to do in this league kind of being hurt the last season and a half it is what it is in this world it's kind of what have you done for me lately we haven't won so I understand but I'm primed and ready to prove what I'm capable of what this team's capable of don't sleep on Kyler Bill Barnwell is not one of those sleeping on the Cardinals he has Arizona as one of his top five teams most likely to improve this season along with the Chargers Patriots commanders and the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs I like that you threw the Chiefs in there bill but let's go back to the Cardinals what do you like about them going into this season you gota you got to put the defending two times chance in there if you can Laura the Cardinals on the other side of the spectrum a team that I feel like while we are sleeping on a little bit I think Kyler is correct here the offense improved dramatically after he returned from his torn ACL last year they were 28th in EPA per play before he came back 10th in the NFL after he returned and by the way that was without a really impactful wide receiver they're adding this year in Marvin Harrison Jr and then you flip it to the defensive side of the ball and I went deep into my my nerd Cavern for this I guess when it came to stats on the defense and last year of course so many teams were dealing with injuries quarterback the average team faced about 73% of snaps from the opposing team's top quarterback so their primary guy you're Aaron Rogers and the Jets for example the Cardinals last year were at 93% that was the heaviest and most difficult schedule of opposing quarterbacks any team faced at all last year really was only a half game of like uh Taylor hinck in Atlanta a half game of Mitchell bisy with the Steelers otherwise they were playing the number one every single week so the Cardinal should face a a more backups this year I think and that will help the defense take a step forward uh I like this pick a lot I will say I am skeptical about this defense but the offense on the other hand I think could certainly lift them to more wins in part because of what Bill said the second half of the season after Kyler returned they were actually quite efficient and particularly efficient running the football in fact by some metrics they were the best rushing team in the NFL in the second half of last season I feel like under their new offens coordinator Drew ping they really found an identity on the ground this was a team that loved putting multiple tight ends on the field pulling their offensive lineman and just bulldozing defenses now if you can build any sort of consistent passing attack off of that and that should be a lot easier with Marvin Harrison Jr in the mix and Kyler actually coming off of a healthy offseason well I mean going from Top 10 in EPA per play to anything better than that you're talking about one of the best offenses in the NFL even just when we show the highlights there of Kyler it's just worth a reminder of how how Dynamic he Expectations for Ravens can be he can be a cheat code when it comes to being great offensively defenses don't want to see somebody like that this new on NFL live uh this is interesting from Ravens reporter Jameson Hensley tight end Mark Andrews back on the practice field today for the first time since being involved in a car accident on August 14th great to see him back and glad he's okay Andrews and the Ravens start the seasons in six days it's only six days away against the Chiefs Ravens GM Eric dasta was asked if his other tight end Isaiah likely is poised for a breakout season I've seen an urgency this year with him his leadership interaction with other players you know he's he's kind of changed from being a rookie to being a vet and uh I just feel like he and Mark Andrews will be the best tandem at their position in the league and really create a lot of problems for opposing defensive coordinators yeah uh seems like it what do you think Mina I I'd love to hear that and I completely agree I I I think this Ravens uh 12 Personnel grouping with those two tight ends Patrick card's kind of a deao tight end as well is going to be absolutely filthy this year and part because they were filthy last year albeit with the smaller sample size because of the injuries but when they had those or two tight ends on the field pardon me they were the most efficient grouping that the Ravens had they were the most efficient uh 12 Personnel grouping in the NFL with 0.57 EPA per play and what I loved about that grouping in particular 50/50 run pass split when the Ravens had three wide receivers on the field they almost entirely passed the ball when they went heavier they ran the ball but when they were in 12 defenses had no tells as to whether or not they were throwing or running the ball and that is where these Baltimore Ravens want to live with defense defenses in a constant state of uncertainty you know Mina while you were praising the Ravens and their potential and I was buying in you might have seen the skepticism on Bill's face he's not feeling the same way about the ravens as he talk about the Cardinals B I know come on Bill uh Baltimore is on his list of teams most likely to decline this season even though they finished last season with a 13 and4 record the other teams on Bill's list you see them there include the Steelers Giants Eagles and Browns Bill explain yourself the ravits are still going to be good I just think they're not going to win 13 games that's really hard to do in the National Football League and it's hard to do when you have the off season the Ravens had they lost three starters along their offensive line on defense jvan Clowny Patrick Queen and mikee McDonald of course their excellent defensive coordinator who's now the head coach in Seattle all left this is a team that was so efficient when it came to the Red Zone last year which is tough to keep up year after year on offense and defense and they had the best turnover margin of any team in football Lamar Jackson thre interceptions on about 1.5% of his passes that's way less than his career rate typically expect him to be right more in the two and a half% range which is about five or six more interceptions per season this still going to be a good team but the AFC North is tough this is the toughest division in football I just think the Ravens might be more of a 10 or 11 win team that doesn't seem like it's the worst thing in the world tiny decline Bill stop making so much sense we were trying to call you a hater in Detroit this season as we welcome you back to NFL live after kicking off last season with a win over the Champs the season ended with a trip to the NFC Championship Game a key piece of the Lions rise the aggression of head coach Dan Campbell in big spots something white out Aman Russ Brown loves we understand you know going into games that if it's Fourth and short and we're in the plus territory or whatnot we're probably going to go for it and so that's like you said that's our identity that's what we've that's all I've really known since I've been here when it's third and seven third and eight we get you know we call a play that's only designed to get six or seven yards it's because we're going to go for on fourth Downs so um me as a player understanding that it's it helps me out in certain situations because I'm not trying to you know my route is at five yards don't try to push it to seven yards to get the first down run the route at five catch Expectations for Lions it if you don't get the first down that's fine we're going to go for on fourth down kind of has helped I feel like our whole offense cuz early on we didn't really understand it but you know as we kept doing it it kind of made sense I feel like we're all bought in just fantastic stuff from the Mina Show featuring Lenny check it out she has amazing interviews like this all the time as well as her own commentary Amina what else did you take away from am man R Brown he said something right after that that I thought was so important which is you know I asked him about okay this organizational buyin that he describes it's really what you heard there when he talks about kind of understanding the intention of the play calling on third down and he said it's a lot easier when you have the same staff in place year after year and I just think that's so underrated when we talk about teams not just being competitive but potentially making it to the Super Bowl that culture that's instilled that you don't have to rete season after season and of course that also uh includes play calling the fact that they were able to retain both their offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and their defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn both head coaching candidates this season is massive Laura I think about the Kansas City Chiefs and what I think is fair to call a dynasty at this point or the beginning of a dynasty number one most important thing Patrick Mahomes number two Andy Reid but I would argue such an underrated piece of that has been their ability to retain Steve spagnolo their defensive coordinator year after year and I really think if we talk about the Lions making it to the Super Bowl this season uh that's going to be such a massive part of why the fact that they were able to keep their coaching sta in place it's a great Point bill you heard the references there to the aggression on fourth down and the buyin that the team has what do you think about that and specifically how it factors into where they're trying to go yeah I mean the nerd in me absolutely loves them going forward and forth down they go forward in situations where the numbers say it's great but there is a human element to this when it comes to the results and obviously last year for most of the season the results were great the lions were winning games because they were going forward on fourth down but those two major misses in the NFC Championship Game nowan R Brown get out in that great interview with Mina and Lenny and said the locker room still buying in but we've seen other teams who have been aggressive on fourth down have some push back remember Marcus Peters getting almost into a shuing match with Jim har Jim or John Harbor I should say on the sidelines in Baltimore after a failed fourth down decision when they were having kind of a struggle spot on Fourth Downs earlier in Harbaugh's tenure so for the Lions I think the question is can they keep succeeding at High rate on fourth down and his locker room as bought in on those fourth down decisions if they do have a stretch where they struggle you know one huge encouraging thing for Lions fans in this team Jeremy is the fact that pretty much the entire team that played in the NFC championship game is back what are you hearing about their confidence heading into this season well Laura the confidence is in their cash they are spending like a team that knows it's going to compete for a Super Bowl they have doled out 500 plus million dollar in extension money for key pieces and they might not be done have a Le mcneel a young defensive lineman that they would like to pay possibly before week one and so they have a product they know can win now but is also sustainable long term and look they're at a point where when you talk to people around the league and I try to sort of rate rosters and get top 10 players from executive Scouts and coaches they clearly have a top three roster in the NFL you got San Francisco you got you know the normal teams like Philly but when you bring up the Lions hey do they have the best roster in the entire NFL people don't scoff at that anymore [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]