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00:00All right, it's Adam Kaplan here again for SportsGrid Super Bowl 59 with two
00:05legendary Carolina Panthers, the running back Jonathan Stewart, the quarterback
00:09Jake Gallone. Guys, good to see you. All right guys, so it's it's a big Super Bowl.
00:13What I find fascinating is I've talked to easily like three dozen former
00:18players, and current players are here by the way, doing media stuff. Some coaches,
00:21some former head coaches that are here. I don't want to say everybody's split, but
00:25they're having a hard time picking this game. So Jake, I'm gonna start with
00:28you, a former quarterback. How do you see this game breaking down? Listen, I'm one
00:33that, I've said it the last few years, never will I ever bet against Patrick
00:37Mahome. He's a unicorn, it is what it is. But there's something about watching
00:42this Philadelphia team, and watching this physicality of this offensive line, the
00:46young defensive players in this team, but Saquon Barkley. I mean, how do you
00:51explain it? He looks like Jonathan, but like he just, what he has done, and then
01:00Jalen, and I think a healthy A.J. Brown, but this offensive line, that's the thing
01:03that I want to make sure. I want to see Landon Dickerson move. That's what I want
01:07to say. He was limping. It's his left knee. Yeah, limping an extreme amount in the
01:12championship game, but that big offensive line, if they can just control
01:15possessions against, you have to control them. You have to keep Mahomes on the
01:20bench, control possessions, and don't give a turnover. Jonathan, when you run behind
01:25a line like this, as a running back, how does it make you feel? Empowered,
01:30unstoppable. I am now on the second level, which means they're smaller, and when
01:36you're a guy like Saquon Barkley's size, it means the majority of them are smaller
01:40than you. So, the impact that he's had this season, I mean, the explosive runs, his
01:47touchdown runs, I think the average, his average in touchdown runs is like 30 plus
01:52yards. 30 yards is his average touchdown run. So, the explosiveness there, it
02:00becomes such a systematic thing that it's ingrained in you. Your expectations
02:06and your feel for, you know, hitting those big runs go hand-in-hand with the
02:13offensive line, the receivers, they're expecting it. So, the game plan, I'm
02:18confident every time I go into the game. When you're rolling, okay, speaking of
02:21your confidence, let's touch on that. When you're on a roll in your
02:25career with the Panthers, and I know you had D'Angelo Williams with you for part
02:28of it, but when you're on a roll as a running back, is it just, and not only
02:32does it build your confidence, but do you feel like you could do anything? Yeah,
02:35especially when you get to the point where you can do pre-snap read, right?
02:38Safety low, okay, maybe I might need to keep this thing, you know, within between
02:45the tackles. Depending on the safety, I might want to challenge the safety, right?
02:49So, pre-snap read, I definitely think, you know, Saquon is at that level where, you
02:55know, when him and, you know, Hertz are in the backfield, out of the gun, he's
03:01basically able to peek and look at how they're set up, if they're about three by
03:05one, the safety's over there hanging or something like that, I'm challenging the
03:09safety if nothing's going on in between the tackles. So, I'm just
03:14gonna set it up, nice little hessy, and then side shuffle to the left, and I'm
03:18gone. Now, but you talk about it, and in 2008, we had both Jonathan and D'Angelo,
03:25and we're able to run the ball a lot, but our big runs came late third. We had
03:30Foxy, we're gonna run the ball, but the body blows, the body blows, right?
03:34And we didn't have that big massive offensive line like Philadelphia has, and that's the
03:38thing where Jonathan and D'Angelo would break these long runs late third,
03:42fourth quarter, because the body blows, but Saquon, first play of the game, and like, that's the
03:48thing, it's not only the ones late in the game, but it's all game, it's any
03:52play. So, this is for both of you, because you would be on the field,
03:55let's say he was breaking an unbelievably big run at a big moment, do
03:59you see the defense demoralized? Do you see it in their face? Yeah, absolutely. How so?
04:03Like, they're like shaking their head, like their shoulders are down? The shoulders
04:06are down, yet explosive play, gone, like, you're on the, especially for the
04:13Commanders, right? Their game plan was, we're gonna go out there, control
04:18the clock, and have an 18-play drive. 18-play drive, first game of the game, first
04:23drive of the game. Saquon Barkley comes out there, okay, I got you, to the house.
04:29Now, most people expect, you know, passing plays, explosive plays, in the
04:34beginning of the game, a running play out the gate, and your objective is, we're
04:38not gonna let Saquon Barkley beat us, we're gonna let, we're gonna make
04:41Jalen Hurt beat us, and it doesn't work, that's demoralizing. Alright guys,
04:47let's move to Sunday, alright, Jake, how do you see it, what's your score? Man, I
04:51can't give a score, because I just, but I just think it's gonna be a tight
04:54football game, I just, I can't believe I'm saying this, it feels like sacrilegious,
04:59I'm going against my homes, I think, that is sacrilegious, there's a confidence
05:03level in Philadelphia, just listening to them talk after, like, yeah, we've been
05:08there already, we know, two years ago, right, it's different, right, it's different now, I
05:11think AJ Brown is a huge key to this game, he's one that you got to get him
05:16involved, somehow, someway, get him, I just, single high, I think that's a mismatch,
05:21I just, think about the, two years ago, it was a throw it up, and double coverage, 45-yard
05:26touchdown, yeah, yeah, that's my football, I'm saying, I just think you get him
05:29involved, and certainly with Saquon, but I just think Jalen, when he gets, there's
05:34a confidence, he played so well against Washington, some of the throws that he
05:37made, it was rhythm, it was timing, the ball came out of his hand, and it's just,
05:41there's a sense of calm, it's, it's something special, that's why I keep on
05:45going back to the offensive line for Philadelphia, and they're unbelievably
05:48healthy, and very healthy for this, as, as healthy as could be, sure, that can make a
05:52huge factor in this football game. All right, Chase, too. I think Saquon's gonna
05:56have at least 25 carries, or touches, and he's gonna have some explosive plays, but
06:02I think, most importantly, Jalen Hurts is gonna come through, offensive
06:06coordinator, I think, again, last game proved that, if they want to call the
06:11right plays, and get him in sync, they'll do it, and when you have Saquon Barkley
06:15running the ball that he's, how he's been doing it, Spaggs has to choose one
06:20or the other, you can't choose both, sure, you're gonna have to either say, I'm
06:23gonna commit to stopping the run, and Saquon Barkley's not gonna be the guy
06:26that destroys us, or I'm gonna play coverage, right, so you gotta pick one or
06:31the other, and I think they're gonna try to stop the run, and A.J. Brown's gonna
06:35be a huge difference. Get him one-on-one on coverage, right, single high safety, Jalen
06:38loves it when he sees single high, that ball's coming out, you know that as a
06:41quarterback, you like that. I had Steve Smith, I had Mohamed, but like one-on-one coverage,
06:45that's open. That's right. Well, you heard it for the Panthers, guys, they think it's
06:49gonna be a green win in New Orleans. For Jake DeLome and Jonathan Stewart, I'm
06:54Adam Kaplan.