Aly: I do wanna know how fun was it to watch the Packers lose yesterday? Mike: Super fun. I loved it. Yeah, I think the it made me think that they actually might be go Corey, don't don't over over analyze the first game. We just talked about that. But it couldn't have happened to a nicer better team is what I would say. How about that? Yeah. Aly: I totally agree. It also is really interesting to watch the Vikings sort of go back to their classic. It reminded me of the the season where they only lost one game, where we only lost one game too. Mike: Yeah. Aly: You know, they're blitzing at the right time. They're Mike: Yeah. Aly: really like putting the pressure on Jordan Love in a way that definitely got in his head. I mean, they've the Packers fell apart towards the end. And that's a very classic Vikings strategy. yeah, so that was Mike: Yeah. Yep. That is their that is their ML. Aly: That was really fun to watch. I did really enjoy that. Welcome to week one of Passing Down Pride, your only podcast with a father-daughter duo. I'm Allie Baxter and I'm joined today by my dad. Say hello, dad. Mike: Hi everybody, Mike Kumpola. I loved your text mid game your mid third quarter. Why did you guys get me invested in this sport? Yeah. Aly: Here's a question. How how? You know now it's the next day. We're looking at the stats. We feel good with the win. All Mike: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Aly: yesterday all I felt was feels like a loss. Mike: I felt the same way your mother was like, Why how come you're not happier? I'm like, it just felt mediocre. Aly: It felt like a loss. Mike: It felt mediocre. Like our offense wasn't what I thought it would be at this point. you know, there's always a point where yeah, I'm worried about our defense, but our offense can put the points up. I think our offense can Aly: And then we didn't. Mike: And then we didn't. So I they'll make some adjustments. I hope I hope it comes back. Aly: I think that all of my all of my things that I felt going into this season about where we were going to be strong were confirmed. Jameer Gibbs is the best running Mike: Yes. He's a beast. Yep. Aly: back in the league. Full stop. And he Mike: Full stop. Aly: continued to perform incredibly well against the Saints, who last season Mike: Yeah. Aly: had like one of the best run defenses. Mike: Yeah, at the end they did for sure. Yep. Aly: And the fact that we made it seem like maybe they didn't have that together felt really good. How'd you feel? Mike: I I was glad we won because going into Buffalo is gonna be tough, you know, I would hate to be that next Friday be and two. I think Buffalo's gonna be a tough win. It'd be a tough game. I don't know that I when I was kinda walking through this season, Buffalo was a loss. So I'm anticipating it'll be one and one. so that's ha I'm happy with that. I thought the first half our defense played exceptional, considering the How weak I think our secondary is going in. I was really impressed with them. I think there was a coach mentioned it in his press conference. There was a I'm gonna call it a series of unfortunate events or maybe a perfect storm where we did a couple of three and outs and the defense was g I think they were gassed. And so when they're gassed, we're not getting the pressures that we were, which exposed the secondary. So we started blitzing, which then they started just dumping the ball right to where the guy blitzed. Olave was wide open every time where w they threw it right to a blitzing spot. Aly: Olave ended the game with a hundred and eighty-two receiving yards and it felt like most of that was in the second half. Like Mike: I agree. Yeah. It was crazy. Aly: I hats off to Olave. Like those were insane catches in a lot of cases. but it was a little painful to watch. And you're right. But I think I think on the offensive side, I I don't know if maybe I'm just in that like optimism of the first week of football. Mike: Yeah. Aly: But it feels like there were a couple of missed catches on the offensive side. Jameson Williams had a couple of those. Mike: yeah. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Aly: He catches those, different game. There Mike: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Aly: were a couple of missed tackles in the second half on the defensive side. We hit those, different game. Mike: Yep. Aly: So it didn't feel as structurally bad as last year did, especially towards the end, where it just felt like we couldn't. Mike: yeah, last year was bad. But for opening games awful. Aly: We couldn't get the yeah, we just couldn't get the rhythm. This felt like, okay, couple of mistakes that we need to get better at. As Dan Campbell Mike: Yeah. Aly: would say, we got some stuff to clean up. Mike: Yeah, even in the second half, that that holding call on first and goal on the half yard line killed us. I mean, that Aly: Yeah. Yeah, that was awful. Mike: was awful. And then we did the blitz on fourth and twelve and I don't know which corner was coming in. Had had the quarterback dead to rights. Just whiffed him. Can't do that. You've got to tackle him. And that both those either one of those plays ends the game. Aly: Yeah, and I think the thing that's hard is you know who never would have missed that? Bry Mike: Hmm. Aly: branch. Mike: Yes. That's the other piece I take heart with is that our defense is just going to get better. I think we got rookies, they're gonna get better, right? Everybody else is gonna get better as well, but I think we have a lot more talent, especially when Brian Branch and hopefully Kirby Joseph comes back. That is gonna be a game changer for us, I think, from a defensive perspective. we're gonna introduce a new segment which is we're gonna have a sideline reporter or our version of Adam Scheffter. Not a sideline reporter. Aly: Yeah, this is just dad's attempt to get Mike, my brother, to join us. Mike: Yes. So he's gonna come out. He has a lot of knowledge of of the lines at the at the personnel level. So he's gonna come in and he's gonna give us his own analysis of it, So looking forward to that. Aly: Thanks so much for joining us. Mike: Welcome, Michael. Michael: I'm really happy to be here. I can't commit to every week, but I will jump in when I can. Mike: We appreciate it. Aly: Thanks for joining. Tell us what did you think about the game on Sunday? Mike: Yeah, give us your analysis. Aly: Yeah. Michael: You know, I reading a lot of articles and kind of seeing the content after the game, a lot of Lions fans are pretty frustrated and there's a lot of SOL going on. I don't feel that way. I think it's too early to tell. When I thought about the game leading up to Sunday, I really wanted to see a couple things. One, I wanted us to see us run the ball. And Two, I wanted to see our defensive line create pressure and havoc. And I think we did those two things. We knew that our secondary is probably one of the worst units on our team, and it showed. I think in the normal flow of any NFL game, there's ups and downs, and I think when we went up twenty one nothing, that was great, but what happened is our defense was on the field a lot. And so all of a sudden our defense was holding, holding, holding. And then they got a turnover, touchdown, turnover, touchdown, and then a three and out, and they were back on the field. And then it was like, boy, now we're at a track meet. Mike: Good. Yep. Michael: I mean if you if you look at the stats, the Lions defense was on the field almost ninety plays. Aline McNeil played over eighty. I think it was like eighty three plays. You you don't want your no your free technique defensive tackle playing 83 plays. And so it just kind of fell apart. So when I think about the game in its entirety, I want to take it within context. We ran the ball and we created some havoc. I think it definitely slipped. I think just like Dan said our defense got strung out. Am I ready to proclaim that we're gonna suck on defense always? No, I don't think so. I I do think our offensive line is where it needs to be. I don't think it's necessarily 2023, 2024 levels, but I think it's a lot better than 2025. I really didn't think about Blake Miller much, which I think is a great attribute of a new rookie tackle. so honestly, I'm encouraged. I was ready for the Lions to lose this game. Not because I thought that they were gonna lose, but I I thought the Saints were better than maybe people anticipated. And in the NFL, you know, there's I mean, getting it in Sunday when the Lions beat the Chiefs back in twenty twenty four, I think it was, twenty twenty three. the Lions beat the Chiefs and the opener of the entire NFL season, and the Chiefs went on to win the Super Bowl. So I think week one lies. It's really easy to have knee-jerk reactions and say this is what's gonna be for forever. I don't necessarily think that's true with the Lions. Also, too, of note, a lot of Jameer Gibbs stats last year were big plays. His running efficiency last year was not great. His successful run percentage was low. Now that is a running back stat and also an offensive line stat. you can kind of play the game of you know, he had 160 yards last you know, yesterday, but Take away his longest run, what was his average? How what was he actually averaging within the normal flow of the game, not just big plays? His biggest run was I think like eighteen yards. So if he was having chunks, nine, seven, six, eight, ten, twelve yards, he's just efficient and he averaged over five yards carry. So if we can do that, plus have a couple more big runs. Plus a couple more defensive stops. J Mo catches that deep pass. We're talking about a whole different game. So I was encouraged. I don't I I'm not down. I'm not up. I and I like that by Friday we're at least gonna be one on one, if not two and Aly: Yeah. Two and Tell me more. How do you feel about going against the Bills on a Thursday night? Short week. Michael: I think the Yeah, I think the Bills are obviously a Super Bowl favorite. Josh Allen is a MVP candidate for a reason and they're really good and I didn't see the line. I think it was three and a half, but the line the the Buffalo Bills were they're favored by three and a half points. I think that's totally reasonable. the idea that we lose this game is very real. They they're a really, really good team. I do I don't love short weeks. however, I think when you're the underdog, I think the more variables that are unknown actually could kind of sometimes help you. Like it's a really big game, it they're opening their new $2.2 billion stadium. There's gonna be a lot of emotion, a lot of feelings. It's Thursday night, it's a short week. I think there's a chance we can grasp onto that. And just like I, you know, I talked to dad the other day. The thing with the Lions at this juncture of their kind of journey is if we can run the ball, we have a chance. If we can run the ball, if we can control the clock. And this is what we even though we ran the ball well on Sunday, I think we did not do this. And this is one of our magic, this is one of our superpowers in 2023 and 2024, was we were just able to squeeze the ball and deflate it and take all the air out of the game. And so we did not do that on Sunday. But if we can keep it close, keep Buffalo close, maybe have a touchdown lead, run the ball, match them, and then in the third or fourth quarter keep running and get up by one or two s get up by two scores, then I think we have a real shot. I definitely think Josh Allen is gonna have his yards, he's gonna have his run around in the backfield and chuck it up and score touchdowns. I think that that's gonna happen. If we beat Buffalo, it's probably gonna be forty two to thirty five. Or forty five to thirty seven. I really do think that. But because we we ran the ball on Sunday, if we can run the ball on Thursday, control the clock, keep our defense off the field, I mean we got a shot. We're we're good enough to beat anybody. Mike: I agree. Michael: but if we if we get into a if we let our defense get strung out, if we go three and out in the third quarter, then we could get in a track meet in which we lose. Mike: Well, I wanna ask you question. what do you think happened to Isaac Tesla yesterday? Michael: Nothing. I think Isaac Tesla is the last option in a five horse race. You have Amon Ross St. Brown, you have Jameson Williams, you have Jameer Gibbs, you have Sam Laporta, and you might even put Brock Wright in front of Isaac Tesla. I think he's he's the third receiver in a team that likes to play twelve personnel. It's fine. I I'm not that worried about it. I didn't see him out there and think, man, I can't believe he's not making plays. I mean Jared Goff was generally on point. He had a couple miss throws, but if if JMO catches that pass, Amon Ra had 14 targets and 10 catches. He absolutely destroyed that cornerback on the overtime catch at the goal line. I don't think we're talking about that enough. That was an absolute beast move. Mike: Yeah. Yeah. Michael: and So I I'm not worried about Tesla. He he only has to do what they ask him, which is block and get open when needed. I do can I can I say one thing real quick about Mike: Someone? yeah. Michael: that that play at the goal line during overtime? I specif Aly: One we're not talking about enough? Michael: the one we're not talking about enough, I'm gonna I have to talk about it. And the reason I want to say it is I remember specifically a couple years ago, it was like two or three years ago, maybe three or four Where Amon Ra was good. I think it was his second year where we were kind of figuring him out. His first year he was pretty good, but kind of took a little while to get going. And his second year, he had a catch against I'm almost positive the Vikings. That was pretty similar, where he caught it near the goal line and a guy tried to hit him and he just shrugged him off. And I bought a jersey that day. Mike: I remember that play play, yeah. Michael: And and that's what that play reminded me. He's not that tall. I in fact he's short. He's not that fast. He's not big. But for him to make those kind of plays is awesome to watch and I love it. Mike: I could s I could see how being in a different offense we are now. But I thought that Tesla, when they would drafted him, would be the Josh Reynolds or the big play Timmy guy that comes in and is that option in a deep dig or a Michael: Mm-hmm. Yep. BPT. Mike: or curl, yeah. to get us a first down, but he didn't get a whiff. Michael: Yeah, I think I think it's one game. I think let's see how it goes. Jameer Gibbs touched the ball thirty times, something like that. Amon Ra got Yeah. Mike: He ran the ball twenty nine times, plus he got yeah. Michael: You know, Amon Ra Saint Brown had fourteen targets. Jmo had nine. Samuel Porta had like eight. I do think that there's gonna be a place. There's gonna be a time and a place for Tesla to become be running over the the the back of the end zone and catch it at the catch it at the back of the end zone just like Josh Reynolds, the Josh Reynolds play or those deep curls that big play Timmy used to do. I think we'll we'll get into there get into that. But just remember last year even, one, he had a bunch of highlight real plays, so he made all the social medias, but it was like his second or third year playing wide receiver like Ever. he is a big, athletic, strong guy. And I think he'll be fine. I'm not that worried about it. I think we'll when we get Jameer Gibbs down to fifteen carries and twenty touches, I think that that's gonna open up the offense. But I think yesterday they just went with what was working, which was Jameer Gibbs and that makes sense. That's okay. Mike: And we don't really know, because every team is different at the start of the season. We don't really know how good New Orleans Saints defense is. I think that is a really, really good defense. Michael: Well, they were top five last year in the last five games. I think they're top ten overall in throughout the entire season, but they really came on strong at the the you know, they were kind of the twenty twenty three version of the Lions when they won all those games at the end of the year and beat the Packers. So I think they're a good team. I think Tesla will be fine. I don't think he's being gonna be asked of a lot. I think he's gonna be asked of to make a couple catches a game, two or three. I think that's okay. Mike: Let me ask you two before we go, each of you the same question. start with you, Allie. What are you most excited about after the first game now going forward? Aly: You know what I will say? The thing that I missed, you know, you go all summer sort of thinking, like, you know, football's fun to watch, but it is emotionally devastating. Mike: Yeah. Aly: And then you win, and I thought, I'll get to listen to Calls of the Game, I'll get to listen to Mike'ed Up. I'll get to Michael: Mm-hmm. Post game speech. Aly: I'll get to watch the postgame speech and I'll get to see Holly Campbell post the Starbucks win run. And I just I love that content. I'm excited. So if we win Mike: That's true. Okay, Mike, what do you got? Aly: again on Thursday, that's what I'm looking forward to. Mike: Okay, Michael, what you think? Michael: Okay, in the past five years, Mike: Yeah. Michael: I would say, six five or six years, I worked really hard to not let the Lions result on Sunday ruin my week. There is a time in my life where whatever happened on Sunday, I would let it really ruin my week. And I and I've been working hard on that. we were watching the game on Sunday, and you know the lines go up twenty one zero. I started to have this physical reaction while the Saints came started coming back where I Mike: Mm-hmm. Michael: and I think I looked at Allie and I was like, I'm gonna be really bummed if they lose this. And I think what I try to do as a Lions fan now is just enjoy the journey. It is so fun to root for this team. It's so fun to root for Dan Campbell. It's Mike: Yeah. Michael: so fun to root for a team that feels like you want to root for them. so I I think that's the cop-out answer is I just I just like watching this team. I think it's fun. I also like what Mike: Not a capital entry. That's good. Michael: I like what Ali said is the content is fun. The all the stuff that comes out. I will say what I'm looking forward to the most with this line team, I just want to see them run the ball. If we can run the ball I think we're gonna have a really good chance to win a lot of games. I think that's gonna make our offense dynamic. It's gonna get Jared Goff in the Jared Goff place we want Jared Goff to be. We're gonna be able to be explosive, and I think it's going to take the heat off our defense, which is gonna allow the allow them to play freer. Last year, what I saw, a lot of people, you know, bemoaned the secondary, bemoaned the defense, and I and I think a lot of that criticism is warranted. Man, how many times do we go three and out and put them in a terrible spot? How many times do we lay them out to dry again? you know, this is a salary cap league. You can't just pay everybody. You can't just load up on all the talent because Sheila wants to. You you have to play within the confines of the salary cap. And we have chosen to invest a lot of resources in the offense. Honestly the defense too, but I would say even more so the offense. I think the offense not only by points, but I want to see the offense control games. And that's what I saw in twenty twenty four. Is the offense would just go out there and control a game. It didn't even matter what the defense was doing. They would just come out and control the entire game. And that's what I really want to see. Mike: Yeah, I'm I'm excited about week five. After after the after the the bye week. I think we'll have our two safeties back, we'll have our center back. I'm looking forward to that run, that team. I like this team, Michael: Mm-hmm. Mike: but I think that team really is gonna be a something to reckon with. Michael: Yeah. Yeah. I I'm really hoping I'm hoping we get the our safeties back at least B B. get our center back. I am at the point too, and I don't know if it's just 'cause I'm older or not where every time there's like a tackle, every time there's a collision, I'm like, please get up. Don't get hurt. Get up. Get up, get up, get up. Mike: Yeah. I get it. Yep. Yep. Michael: maybe it's because we're good now. I don't know. Mike: Mm-hmm. Michael: Yeah. Okay. This was more fun than I thought. Aly: Yeah it is. Mike: Yes. Aly: so I'm trying out a new segment called Extended Family, where I highlight people who have left the Lions, but we want to talk through how they did on Sunday. Michael: It's Aly: So I did I did David Montgomery, who scored three touchdowns Michael: Yeah. Aly: for the Texans, two rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown. Michael: Did you do Khalifa Raymond? Aly: I did not because, and I stand by this, I will not be doing an extended family on anyone who goes the Bears, Packers, or Vikings. I'm not gonna do Ben Johnson. Michael: We call that we call this section cutting them out. Aly: Yeah, I've cut them out. I don't think about them anymore. They're dead to me. I also highlighted Aaron Glenn because the Jets won yesterday. I know, against the Titans. Michael: The Jets did win. His hat his locker roech was fun too. Aly: It was fun. I watched it. He was so excited. I already watched it. Are you kidding? Yeah. I Michael: I almost sent it to you. Good. Mike: You should send it. Send it. I don't get a chance to follow up on all that stuff. I'd love to I'd love your content when you send it to me. Aly: I also told dad that Ted Bowles said Alex Anzaloni was rusty in his postgame recap, which was rough. Michael: Lines are one and A Alex Antelone zero and one. Mike: Last thing I wanna say, and I I'm not trying to put any pressure on you, no guilt trip or anything. But what is it with not answering the FaceTime calls? I feel like well it's just me and at me and Maddie sometimes like what's going on? I don't know. Aly: Answer? Mike: Sometimes not all of them. Not all of them. And you might never answer Michael, Michael: Yeah. Mike: you never answered one. Michael: I very busy. I'm Mike: Ha. Michael: I have a lot of things going on. I'm just like I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere. I just got like ooh ooh getting pulled in so many directions. Mike: For those of you who don't know, Dad calls between every break, every timeout on FaceTime. What'd you think? Let's talk about it. Where are you going? And it just didn't happen yesterday. Aly: Mike was s Michael: You know, it's just Aly: over the wings that he made, eating them. Because I answered that was enough. Michael: I figured Allie's answering. She's kinda covered. Mike: Yeah. Doesn't count. Doesn't count. Michael: Yeah. Nobody wants to have the echoing. Aly: Well thanks all. Love ya. Mike: Love you guys. Bye. Michael: Love you. Aly: Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, Michael: Goodbye now. Aly: goodbye now. Okay, bye, Michael: Love ya. Aly: love ya.