What the Football with Suzy Shuster & Amy Trask: Marshall Faulk

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. And yes, we know after all this waiting, it is Kansas City. It is the Niners. Amy, I can't think that you're very surprised.

No, I'm not. And we're down to two teams. And very, very soon, we will see the ecstasy of victory and the agony of defeat. One team is going to win it all.

And the other team is going to be heartbroken. And that's the way the league is. That's the way it works.

And if that wasn't the case, it'd be really, really weird. Marshall Faulk joins us momentarily. We're going to talk in depth about something that I find consternating, which is still the Dan Campbell decision for fourth and go for it.

I'm just wondering your thoughts on this. Well, I would have thought, Amy, that I love the fact that he is a guy that wants to go for it. And this is on behalf of all these brokenhearted Lions fans out there. Do you think that after the Dallas game, that when he was in the same opportunity, he could have gone up, he could have put more points on the board against a Niners team?

That would have felt like a momentum shift to me. I'm just curious about your thoughts on his decision to go for it. A couple of things. You mentioned heartbroken Lions fans. Yesterday, I ran into, I should say, I met a Lions fan.

I saw someone down at the beach in Venice wearing a Lions outfit. And I gave him a hug. Not just figuratively. I actually gave him- You gave a stranger a hug. I sure did.

I said, I'm sorry. And we embraced and I hugged him. And we had a terrific conversation about the decision to go for it. And this fan was not in favor of it. I also spoke to someone who works for the Lions, who said to me that, look, questionable calls aside, the guys in the locker room, the men on this team would lay down in traffic for Dan Campbell. He's built more than a team.

He's built a family. And while that is just phenomenal, because here we are talking about the Lions at this point in the season, we haven't done that for a long time. But Susie, while I don't speak for anyone in the Lions front office, and I don't know if this was the case, I can tell you from my experience in a front office that while the men in the locker room may have been fine with those calls, there will be people in the organization who were not fine with them.

They may love Dan, and certainly they should love what he has done with this team. It is now relevant. It is in the conversation.

It is dramatically improved. But my strong hunch is there were people in the press box at that game or people back in Detroit watching the game, saying aloud, either under their breath in the press box or loudly if they were at home, take the points, take the points, take the points. Yeah. I mean, it would have given San Francisco less room for error, right? They would have had less time on the clock. Maybe it would have kept the ball out of McCaffrey's hands more. It's a big what would have happened.

I know that we're conjecturing and you love legal stuff, so it's conjecturing. But what would an owner like Al have thought of this? That's a great question, and I will tell you, number one, I love your use of conjecture. Number two, we don't know what would have happened. As you know, I'm a big fan of citing the butterfly effect.

If a butterfly flaps its wings, the world can change. What would Al have done? Many people think he was bold and aggressive, and in many, many ways he was. He would not have been in favor of going for it each of those times. He would have wanted to take some of those points. And clearly, Ben Johnson on Tuesday, saying that he's staying as offensive coordinator for the Lions, not going elsewhere for a head coaching job, must say a lot about his thoughts on Dan Campbell as a coach.

We'll ask Marshall Falk about that ahead. And I do think it says a lot about his choice to stay there, both as to Dan Campbell and as to the organization. And I think he's also very wise, recognizing that sometimes the grass isn't always greener, even if that grass would elevate you to, that makes no sense, if the grass would elevate you.

I mean, and by the way, I don't mean marijuana when I say grass. The grass is not always greener. Opportunities that appear to be better are not necessarily always better. Right.

And perhaps the grass would elevate you for those opportunities. You know, I have no idea. And look, I'm not saying that the game came down to that decision because it didn't. That said, it just, it's about momentum shifting. And we will ask Marshall Falk when he joins us about this in particular, because, you know, we talk all the time about momentum and, oh, that was a momentum changer.

But I wonder, is that a real thing for athletes or is that just something that we think of? I think you raised two extraordinarily good points. One, games generally don't come down to one play. They can, you know, we know what happened with Marshawn Lynch in that game. But a general rule, you're absolutely right. Put those two plays aside. There were other plays on which Detroit didn't execute. And of course, San Francisco still needed to get the job done, which San Francisco did. So that's a great point.

I also think your point about momentum is phenomenal because it's a real thing. I can't wait to hear what Marshall has to say about it. You know, and the other thing to talk about is just, everyone loves to, and president company excluded, everyone loves to question Brock Purdy. What I thought was so fascinating about his performance was his ability to scramble and make something happen when nothing was happening. And what I thought from my perspective is, you know, he's got the baby face already, right? He already is so, you know, we say he's inexperienced as compared to so many other, you watch Patrick Mahomes and it's just like, the guy's on autopilot. He's so incredible. But the way he scrambles, he looks like a little boy running.

He looks like a guy on fire and he is making something happen that doesn't exist. And we talked about this in the last couple podcasts about when he's throwing the ball, there is concern. And sometimes like even with the IU catch, I mean, it looked like he was going to deliver that ball into the defender's hands, but he decided at some point, maybe he's like, I'm going to prove the entire world wrong about their questions about me because the way he ran was insane. And he changed the momentum of that game. Well, and the two things I shared about him immediately after the game, when I say shared, shared on social media, shared on the radio, were he never lost focus. He had tremendous, tremendous focus, laser focus and ice in his veins. And those are two qualities for which he should be commended, for which I have commended him. Those are the qualities you want in a quarterback.

Yeah. And Brandon and I are making that catch. And then the next touchdown, he's a kid from Vegas. He's a kid from the neighboring areas in Northern Vegas or Northern Nevada. He's going to be psyched to go home and perform in front of a lot of friends and family.

I wonder how many ticket requests he will get, by the way. Nice segue. Yeah, I did that segue.

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Marshall Faulk joins us next. On the BiggerPockets real estate podcast, cohost David Green and Rob Abasolo interview real estate investors and entrepreneurs about successes, failures, and hard earned lessons. Joined by author Dave Meyer, who wrote a book. I did write a book. It seems like you're coming out with a book every four minutes. You are one to talk. You've released two books this year. I've done half as many as you.

It is more about strategy than it is about just finding whatever the new buzzword happens to be. BiggerPockets real estate podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen. And Marshall Faulk as promised joins us now. And Marshall, thanks again for taking the time. Really appreciate it as always. Thanks for having me.

My two favorite ladies to talk for private. That's right. It's what I want to hear.

Thank you very, very much. Hey, what does it say about the lions that Ben Johnson decides to stay put as the OC there? I like it. I like it. Unfinished business.

I think about two years ago, what was it? Yeah. Two years ago when D'Amico lions, he ended up staying and I believe D'Amico lines stand with the 49ers that extra year landed him in a better position. He went to the Texans, the team that was like, that was, that was ready and they were ready for him and he was ready.

Um, I just think it's, uh, his body of work is, is amazing. Uh, but, but I think, I think they want to accomplish something. Um, here's what I was thinking about for the first time ever. People looked at the Detroit lines and was like, I want to play for that team. Could never happen, but now based on their culture and what they're doing, people want to play for the lions.

So here's my question. We talked about this a lot, Amy and I, before you came on with the play calling with the fourth and one fourth and two fourth and three, what happy with this decision to go for it and not make it. How much of that is a decision between Johnson and Campbell? Is that Campbell going for it?

Like what exactly is happening there? Well, they made a decision. I'm talking about when Dan Campbell took the job on, on how they were going to play. They say, we're going to play to win. We're not going to play not to lose.

And in doing so, if you watch them play all season, that's who they were. The situations never dictated whether they went for it or not. If his team was playing well and they got those fourth and ones, and sometimes they were on their side of the 50 and they would do it. He just, he stuck to his guns. And if I, if I'm going to lose that decision, I can second guess myself and then not go for it. Feeling like I should have, it just didn't happen for him soon. But I like, I like what he did. I like how he did it all year. And, um, more times than not, they actually, they came through.

You know, I understand your point about to thine own self be true and doing what works for you. And of course, Marshall, those are tremendous points. And I agree with those points, but you lost a game by the number of points you did. You went for it twice on fourth and one, had you made even one of those field goals, you're tied. And I understand the butterfly effect of butterfly flaps at wings.

We have no idea what happens next. You make both of those field goals, again, recognizing the butterfly effect. You could win the game. So the one struggle I have with this is the concept you play to win the game. And we of course know that quote, but isn't kicking two fields, isn't kicking two field goals also playing to win a game? Well, if those two field goals would have won the game, if it was at the end of the game and he had to kick the field goal or go for it a fourth and one, then I would understand that. But that wasn't the case.

That was not the case. And, and here, here's, here's what you decide. Although you play to win the game and all of the cliches that go into it in reality, guess what you have to decide?

How am I comfortable with losing? Which, which loss is going to make me, um, lose sleep at night and in his DNA, as many times as we saw them go for it on fourth and one to then not go for it on fourth, they want to kick the field goal and lose. I just don't think he could have stomached that. I know I couldn't get that.

If that is who I am and like, I'm gonna take you back. You know, how many times we talk about, um, the Seattle Seahawks not handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch down on the goal line. Oh my God. How do you not go with your bread and butter? How do you not do it? You know, Pete Carroll is still second guessing himself as to how do you not get a ball to Marshawn Lynch? Like everybody I listened to Marshawn tell the story. Everybody knew what play was being called in the huddle.

And when they called the plan, the huddle, he said, everybody looked up at him. Like what? It's just unbelievable. You got to decide how you, how you want to lose. And that one there, it tore that team apart. And as a running back that had to make you on a vomit too. Listen, um, I told you, uh, I remember back in the day when they, when, when, uh, when the Chicago bears handed the ball to William refrigerator Perry, instead of giving it to Walter Payton, I was pissed off then. And, and as much as the 49ers hand the ball off to Deebo Samuels and he's affected, I'd be pissed off there. It's just, you play team, but you want the ball. And I suppose with the Campbell, I suppose that he's got a kicker who misses a lot. So that's why he's worried about that mid range attempt. But at the same time, it's like, why do you have a kicker in the championship game that misses a lot?

It just doesn't make any sense to me. I guess we're kind of tearing apart a little bit of the Campbellism if you will. And Marshall, I shared, I shared earlier in the show that I spoke with someone with the lions who said, you know, put the questionable call aside, the guys in the locker room. And these are exact words would lay down in traffic for Dan Campbell. He's built more than a team.

He's built a family. Um, you know, I, I think that's terrific from the player perspective, as I shared with Susie, I will, I don't speak for the lions. I don't know if this is the case, but my strong hunch is there are people in the front office who didn't agree with the call. Well, I'll be honest with you, everybody in the front office, aside from Brad and Ray Agnew and the people that are new, there's a lot of calls that they didn't agree with throughout the history of the lions.

All right. Let's just be real here. And, um, the fact that, that this, this play is still being talked about in the lines on the, on the cusp of the super bowl, we're still talking about the Detroit lions, something that's happened in that organization and I'm okay with it. Amy, we're in a very, we're in a very good, very good spot here.

You know what we get to do? We get the second guest in question decisions that are made within 30 seconds. And what Dan Campbell did was what he always did in that situation. And to do something different, I would, if I was in that building and I was the suits, if he had did something different, I'd be questioning him. Then I don't question who this guy is because he was, he was consistently being consistent. I'm just curious about whether momentum shifts, like just talking about this and about, about the decision-making we in the media say all the time, well, that was the shift that changed the game.

And we talked about that too, with the brand and I you catch, um, off of Vildor's leg helmet, what call or what have you, but how much of that really exists for a player versus what we see at home or in the studio? Is momentum shift a real thing? It is.

It is. And throughout the game, Suze, um, what we're trying to do is we're trying to create momentum plays on both sides of the bowl. And it's, it's consistent on both sides of the bowl. We're all trying to create momentum plays, whether, whether we're adding onto the momentum, or we're trying to take the momentum back, the game of football is about runs and momentum.

And that's, that's it. And once you get it, you enjoy it, you score as much as you can with me, you try to hold onto it as long as you can. But at some point in time, the game is going to switch to the other team. And it's like, okay, can we stop their momentum and regain the momentum? It's it's just like, these are just the, the, the, for one team lucky for the other team, unlucky bounces of the ball.

And that's why this game is so amazing because you never know what's going to happen. That looked like a Brock Purdy interception. So when we say, Oh yeah, that kid is not ready to 10, 20 years from now, that's just going to show up as a catch to Brandon by you and Brock Purdy going to look like he had the best game ever. I already heard people talking about how many yards he threw for in the fourth quarter, as if that play was designed to go off of his helmet and be caught by. What's that like with IU click when you're the guy out there catching the ball and there's something that bounces like that. Walk me through from your perspective, how you keep your eye on the ball like that.

Yeah. Just for, for him, a receiver, most receivers, once the ball is deflected or it's, it doesn't look like they have a chance at it. Most receivers, they're not, they're not as engaged, but the fact that his level of concentration and, and, and, and what he did there, it just showed how it shows how locked in he is. And as people say, he's not the one receiver. I think different. I think he's one B I'll give Deebo. Samuel was one a, but he's, he's moved himself up from being the number two receiver to the one B receiver.

Definitely. You ever have anything like that happen with you? Oh, the ball's been tipped up, catch it. I mean, nothing, nothing down the field to that extent. I mean, that was like, I mean, just, just, just, just imagine being a Lions fan and the ball, like all you're thinking is he threw the ball directly to your defensive back and it's an interception.

And then you're thinking this could only happen to us. You know, talking about shifts in games, I will now shift to the chiefs at Ravens. We saw in that game, something we saw a number of times this season, which is the chiefs not scoring in the second half.

Is that because the opposing team is making the better adjustments at halftime? Is there something that the chiefs need to worry about going into next week? What are your thoughts on the chiefs second half performance, not only last week, but in other games? As opposed to their first half performance. You know, I'm just glad they're as effective on defense as they are.

The fact that they're able to do the things that they did. I just give, I give them, I know we're talking about the second half. It's hard to score in any half, any quarter of football, especially against the Ravens, especially against the Ravens. And I think about what they did in the first and second quarter, the drives that they sustained and how they came out, how they came out, the chiefs, they dominated the line of scrimmage. I hadn't seen anybody do that to the Ravens all season.

I don't care in games that they lost. Nobody dominated the line of scrimmage the way that they did. And I was just impressed. I was impressed at the statement that they made, the statement that they made.

It just, it blew me away. And Patrick, Patrick Mahomes was locked in. I didn't see any drop balls. It was, it was that first half of football was a statement have, and I think it set the tempo. And, and for, for Lamar Jackson, you know, we, we, we put quarterbacks against each other, but they they're never on the field at the same time. But when Lamar felt Lamar felt pressure because Mahomes was on top of his game. Lamar felt the minute he didn't convert a third down, the minute he didn't convert another third down and back to back drives, it was like, Oh my God, we're down by double digit points. This thing is getting away from us.

And that put pressure on him to be more of a pocket guy when he should have just allowed the game to come to him. I absolutely unequivocally agree with everything you said about the chiefs. And there's not a chance I could say it anymore perfectly than you just did. So I won't say it.

I'm just going to say, as we say in the law, I concur. I, and the reason I raised the second half issue was not in any way to diminish what they accomplished in the first half. Cause as you noted, it was spectacular. I just wondered if there's any sort of theme to them not scoring in the second half, whether it's that they may let up a little bit or people are recognizing things, obviously it didn't matter given what they did in the first half and given, as you noted that spectacular defense, I just wonder what the 49ers are thinking about that going into the game.

Yeah, that's a great question. And if I start to really get into it, I'll tell you what I've seen different about Andy Reid. Andy Reid is what we call a play caller and a sense of he loves having fun.

But what I've seen in the second half of games is because his defense has control of the game. He's like, okay, we're not going to lose it. We're not going to do any of the antics that we normally do. And let's play solid football. We're going to allow them to make mistakes and we're going to beat them. If they make mistakes, if they don't, we're going to come out and play solid football. And if they need the plays to be made, we've seen them make the plays. They'll make the plays down the line if it needs to be made. But if it doesn't need to be made, they're not playing.

I'm going to tell you what's more important. The 49ers were a front running team. And now they've come back in two games down double digit points. The question was always, can this team play from behind? And I'm like, wow, the 49ers can play from behind. This becomes a very, very dangerous team. When you look at the 49ers, the ability to dominate the line of scrimmage, run the football and throw it, short passes in long and all, and all three levels of the field. And now, and now if they get behind, they're not down and out. That's a scary team. If you look at what they'd been able to do.

All right. So Mahomes is a two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP. Brock, Brock Purdy has never been there. How does that affect the two quarterbacks?

I don't think it affects either one of them. I think there's a level of confidence that Mahomes going to bring into the game. And I just think, I just think Purdy has swag, man. It's just, they're not, and I don't want to say it like they're not asking him to do much, um, but, but they're not, he's not the person responsible for the win and the loss. He's not making 40 million. He's not even supposed to be in this position. He's playing with house money is what we call it. So when I think about what he's doing, I just love how he's consistently, regardless of what goes on in the game, he's raising, raising his level of play.

And now I was like, oh, maybe the kid came through off schedule. Oh, he gets out of a sack running down the side to the sideline, flips the ball down the field. It's just amazing what he's able to do. I think it's going to be a heck of a game. I think Mahomes is going to be Mahomes. He's going to do exactly what he normally does. He's going to consistently be consistent. Um, he's going to put the pressure on, on their defense, uh, in a sense that, that they have to either decide to attack him or sit back and play coverage.

But they have all the answers when it, when it comes to that. Now on the flip side, Purdy's going to have to answer if their defense finds themselves, because if you get down, you get down against the chiefs, they're not going to make the mistakes that the lions made. They're not turning the ball over. They're not giving the ball back to you.

They're not making those mistakes. So, so in, in, in moving forward, the question is going to be, can Brock Purdy make the plays that's necessary of him as the game goes down? Because Mahomes is going to put the pressure on him to make those throws and we'll see.

And, and here's what I like. I just love what Shanahan is doing, um, with McCaffrey, keeping them involved. Let's break this down though, by, by position. So who's got the advantage. We already talked about quarterback a bit, but who's got the advantage on running backs. Um, if, if I would go McCaffrey receiver, uh, receivers, um, I would go, uh, 49ers tight end. Um, no doubt Kansas city defense.

And it's, and it, and hold on, let's go back because it's plural. What they do with the two and three tight end set is so important and how they run out of that, which, which is going to be a little issue because, um, the 49ers play a lot of nickel. And if they can hold up in nickel in the three tight end set, that's going to be just pay attention to the run game with that. And they got to glue themselves to Kelsey.

Don't they? I mean, it was like the old days when we used to watch and like 75 people would be on Gronk and he'd still get up there and get the ball. Uh, impossible. Uh, impossible. You got to be Taylor Swift in order to glue yourself to him. Oh, well done, Marshall. Very well done. Isn't that cute.

Isn't that cute. I have one very important thing I want to say to Marshall before we let him go. Keep that, keep that thought really quick coach. Who's got the advantage on coaching.

Uh, I'm going with Andy Reed. 100%. All right. So he's, is he winning? Um, I, I, I said it when I was on your significant, your significant others show. Um, I'm never picking against my home. I don't care how good the other team is. Like the kid has proven. Um, I'm gonna call it the Brady effect. You know, when he steps on the field, like all the normal things, it doesn't count.

Like he can, he can, he can erase a bunch of stuff. All right. As I shared, I have one very, very important thought to share with Marshall. Ready for it. I'm ready. I love talking to you. That's it.

That's the thought. I love talking football with you. I would love talking anything with you. I just love talking to you. So thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me.

I appreciate you ladies continue to do a great job that you're doing. Hey, before we go, you told me a story once about the first time you took the field at the super bowl and what it was like and how you almost passed out. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Yeah. We're in Atlanta and I'm like the last person called out and I got so hyped and I literally forgot to breathe. I ran through the tunnel of guys and went straight to the sideline and I'd like got the head. I was on the oxygen immediately.

Oh man. It's just so funny. Like how hyped up you get all the memories of, of playing the game as a little kid. And in my neighborhood, it didn't matter what the score was. When the street lights came on, we had to go inside that last play. Whoever had the ball was to win the super bowl. And now I'm getting a chance to play in the super bowl. It was so euphoric, man. I was, I was, I was exhausted, exhausted. Just, just from running out of the tunnel. But I caught my breath about the time the national anthem started and ended.

All right. So what was better, that moment or when you actually won it? That moment was better. But the feeling of winning it lasts, it's forever. You know, it's like, it's forever. Um, but, but getting a chance to run out of the tunnel and the super bowl, um, as a kid, you dreamt of playing football.

Uh, man, there's just nothing like it. Sick Marshall. Thanks again for your time. Thank you, Marshall. Thank you. All right. You take care. Thanks again to Marshall Falcon. Thanks to all of you for taking in this edition of what the football for Amy. I'm Susie.

Thanks again. See you next week. The Rolling Stone Music Now podcast gets inside the biggest stories with Rolling Stone senior writer, Brian Hyatt. And here's Lil Yachty with Tierra Whack. I've never been to a fashion show. I never did any Paris fashion week, New York fashion week. And I'll tell you why, because I would always go to events and people would say to me, Oh man, Yachty, man, I love your music, bro.

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