Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we'll always call it Joe
Speaker 1: Robbie Stadium. I am Greg Rosenthal here on a Thursday night. Yes,
Speaker 1: we're live on YouTube. Welcome, and to everyone else who's
Speaker 1: not watching, I'm with Bill Barnwell in a game that
Speaker 1: was well decided before the biggest thing to happen in
Speaker 1: this game happened. The Bills win easily in Miami thirty
Speaker 1: one to ten. Bill, and normally I'd be screaming and
Speaker 1: yelling and getting into the football of it all, but
Speaker 1: we got to start with a tongue of Ila who
Speaker 1: left this game in the third quarter with a concussion
Speaker 1: and quickly rolled out of the game. It was a
Speaker 1: scary hit on the field. It's tough to even know
Speaker 1: where to go with this Bill in terms of analysis,
Speaker 1: but it was one one of those moments that takes
Speaker 1: your breath away, unfortunately and felt familiar.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the tough part for me is, you know,
Speaker 2: you could see what was happening right like it wasn't
Speaker 2: as if this was a random play in a random
Speaker 2: moment in a game where nothing could have been anticipated
Speaker 2: and nothing could happen Like clearly, this was a game
Speaker 2: where the Dolphins were struggling, Tua was struggling. Hed already
Speaker 2: thrown three interceptions, including a pick six, and clearly he
Speaker 2: wanted to make a play, right like, he wanted to
Speaker 2: do something for his team. He wanted to go above
Speaker 2: and beyond, and it just is unfortunate and sad to
Speaker 2: see that that led to you know, him taking a
Speaker 2: necessary hit on a play where you probably could have
Speaker 2: slit and got a first down. I'm not criticizing to
Speaker 2: it here, like I'm saying basically, you know, like the
Speaker 2: circumstances of the game I think led to it to
Speaker 2: do something that in a different situation he would have
Speaker 2: been smarter about. And that is unfortunate because you know,
Speaker 2: the Dolphins and Tua, like his history is well known.
Speaker 2: You know, the impact of the injury the Dolphins is significant,
Speaker 2: but the impact on the interim two is significant. I mean,
Speaker 2: this is a player who you know, there were serious
Speaker 2: questions about the future of his career a couple of
Speaker 2: years ago. I'm very happy he was able to stay
Speaker 2: healthy last year, very happy he got paid this offseason.
Speaker 2: But obviously, you know, just a heartbreaking injury for Tua,
Speaker 2: for Dolphins fans, for fans of the league. Just one
Speaker 2: of those things where everyone just felt awful the moment.
Speaker 1: It happened, right, and it reminds you so much of
Speaker 1: you know, the injury he had really the second one,
Speaker 1: which was I believe on a Thursday night football game
Speaker 1: two years ago in the twenty twenty two season. So
Speaker 1: just to recap, this is the fourth known concussion that
Speaker 1: he's had since twenty twenty two. And he spoke before
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three season and said that earlier that offseason,
Speaker 1: especially in the wake of the concussion, when he was
Speaker 1: out at the end of the twenty twenty two season,
Speaker 1: that he considered retirement, and that stayed in my mind,
Speaker 1: and it definitely was something that I thought about when
Speaker 1: he got this contract extension. The NFL moves so quickly
Speaker 1: that that contract feels like it was a long time ago,
Speaker 1: and it was just last month. It was in August,
Speaker 1: where you know, he gets ninety three million dollars guaranteed,
Speaker 1: maybe one hundred and sixty depending on how you look
Speaker 1: at it. And Mike McDaniel signs a contract before this season,
Speaker 1: and we're taping this after the game, We're going to
Speaker 1: be looking to see what Mike McDaniel says, at this
Speaker 1: point in the process, it's hard to imagine there's much
Speaker 1: of any specifics, but you do worry about a young
Speaker 1: man who obviously had questions bigger than football. Kaylee Hartung
Speaker 1: on Amazon, who did a good job throughout the night
Speaker 1: updating the audience, pointed out that he was ruled out
Speaker 1: six minutes after did say. Family was with him in
Speaker 1: the locker room, and you could see Bill Mike McDaniel
Speaker 1: and the look on his face. It was a very
Speaker 1: human moment when, first of all, when he kissed two
Speaker 1: on his way out, but also they had a shot
Speaker 1: on him. I don't know if you saw. It was
Speaker 1: early in the fourth quarter and the game's going on,
Speaker 1: and you could almost just read what was going on
Speaker 1: in his head that he was already thinking ahead to
Speaker 1: what's next. And there's no point in guessing like how
Speaker 1: long this is going to be or anything like that.
Speaker 1: But obviously they're going to have to come up with
Speaker 1: some solutions in the short term and maybe in the
Speaker 1: medium tournament, and we'll see how long term it is
Speaker 1: for what they want to do at quarterback. It was
Speaker 1: Skyler Thompson tonight who won a backup battle and that
Speaker 1: backup battle, which I was following pretty closely with Mike
Speaker 1: White in training camp, now looms a little larger just
Speaker 1: in my mind because the word from their fans, from
Speaker 1: everyone that was tracking that, the reporters were that both
Speaker 1: backups were really struggling and had a really poor training camp,
Speaker 1: and Thompson kind of won that job by default, and
Speaker 1: it was a short sample, but he struggled tonight too,
Speaker 1: as did Tua when he was on the field.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean a couple of things come to mind
Speaker 2: for me, you know, with the the tuit injury. In
Speaker 2: the big picture, right, I mean, this was a situation where,
Speaker 2: like you said, the league moves so fast that I
Speaker 2: really think after twenty twenty three, after a successful season
Speaker 2: where he didn't take a lot of hits. He was
Speaker 2: very smart with the football. He gets the ball out
Speaker 2: so fast anyway, you know, there is he talked about
Speaker 2: him doing jiu jitsu, practicing, you know, going taking hits,
Speaker 2: avoiding head injuries. You know, I think there was this
Speaker 2: hope that Okay, like he had this scary thing happened
Speaker 2: to him in the past, But things are different now, right,
Speaker 2: Like he is a smarter player, He's gonna be safer.
Speaker 2: No one's gonna get mad at him if he doesn't
Speaker 2: take a hit or if he's protecting the foot like
Speaker 2: you know, protects himself. Like everyone's on board with that.
Speaker 2: We're hoping this is a thing of the past and
Speaker 2: that this is a smarter safer to a tongue of
Speaker 2: vaaloa moving forward. And I think this injury sort of
Speaker 2: poked a hole in that balloon, right, like that is
Speaker 2: not the case anymore. Maybe that was naive, Maybe that
Speaker 2: was just hope as opposed to logic, but it did
Speaker 2: feel like, you know, that feeling of of you know,
Speaker 2: sort of to having moved past those injuries. Unfortunately it's
Speaker 2: not the case. He's still gonna be dealing with this.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's one play. That's football, Like all these guys,
Speaker 1: no matter how safe you are, you're one play away.
Speaker 1: And you're right. I think it was such a good
Speaker 1: point to make because I hadn't really thought about that
Speaker 1: that the situation of the game might have led a
Speaker 1: little bit to the desperation of that play, just to
Speaker 1: just to situate it. It was thirty one to ten bills,
Speaker 1: so this injury did not really have a material impact
Speaker 1: on the game, in fact that the score was the
Speaker 1: exact same as the final score. They were inside the
Speaker 1: ten yard line. It's midway through the third quarter in tours,
Speaker 1: having a nightmare game. Now, the first two interceptions you
Speaker 1: could put on his receivers and the lack of depth.
Speaker 1: They have a wide receiver right now. The first one
Speaker 1: hits his receiver in the hands. It's maybe a little
Speaker 1: bit early, but it hit him in the hands, good anticipation,
Speaker 1: pops up in the air of the Bills get it.
Speaker 1: The second one Robbie Chosen, who's newly joined to the team.
Speaker 1: With the receivers who were involved in these plays weren't
Speaker 1: on the team in mid August. Doesn't seem like Chosen
Speaker 1: runs the route that Tua expects. He sails it. And
Speaker 1: then the third interception was just a play that Tua
Speaker 1: was trying to throw the ball out of bounds, but
Speaker 1: he was under such pressure his arm didn't get it there,
Speaker 1: and it was a really poor decision by him there.
Speaker 1: So it was a game where he obviously was not
Speaker 1: happy with how I was going because it was so
Speaker 1: similar to so many Bills games in the past that
Speaker 1: they put it up that they've lost eleven to twelve
Speaker 1: they've lost. To me, those don't matter as much as
Speaker 1: they've now lost five of six in the McDaniel era,
Speaker 1: and that to me is jermaine to this discussion, including
Speaker 1: a September game last week when the last season, rather
Speaker 1: when the Dolphins were undefeated and the Bills came in
Speaker 1: and waxed them. So we will get to the Bills
Speaker 1: side of it. It was a really important game for
Speaker 1: the Bills and they did a fantastic job. So we
Speaker 1: will give their fans and I know Eric, who's our producer,
Speaker 1: who's taking care of his four month old baby behind
Speaker 1: the glass and is like quietly gleeful that the Bills
Speaker 1: had such an easy game, Like, have some class Bills
Speaker 1: fans and Eric, let's finish though the Tua discussion, just
Speaker 1: from a practical standpoint, al Michaels mentioned that, well, Tua's
Speaker 1: got like the mini bye week to try to come back,
Speaker 1: and I'm just shaking my head here. It was not
Speaker 1: a good game for al Michaels. I'm just not I'm
Speaker 1: not sure this is the crew for Amazon. I just
Speaker 1: don't think it's I don't think they were up for it.
Speaker 1: Like they didn't provide context when Tua was coming off
Speaker 1: the field, they asked, really Hardtung to do a lot
Speaker 1: of that. You know, he compares it, you know, says
Speaker 1: it's ironic that it's Damar Hamlin in the moment and
Speaker 1: all this stuff. And I'm thinking it's probably going to
Speaker 1: be more of a mini by situation. But I couldn't
Speaker 1: help but look ahead, just because you start thinking about
Speaker 1: like managing the season and what's going to be next.
Speaker 1: They're at Seattle in week three, they're home for Tennessee
Speaker 1: in week four, and they're at the Patriots in week five.
Speaker 1: Then they have their their bye week after that. So
Speaker 1: that's just a little bit of context of who's coming
Speaker 1: up next. Do we dare like speculate about whether it
Speaker 1: could be anyone but Skyler Thompson here, you know, Ryan
Speaker 1: Tannehill Dolphins fans were hoping might be an option when
Speaker 1: when this battle was going on. Skylar Thompson hasn't really progressed,
Speaker 1: I don't think since his rookie year when he actually
Speaker 1: was surprisingly good and played pretty well against the Bills
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. You know, there is a former Patriots
Speaker 1: quarterback that's out there that they once tried to sign
Speaker 1: during the season. I'm just saying, it's not that crazy
Speaker 1: their owner wanted them, then, is it that crazy Bill
Speaker 1: barn Moore? Or am I getting way too ahead of myself?
Speaker 2: Like Ted, I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself.
Speaker 2: And I would say, Greg, really, you know the thing
Speaker 2: that gets lost in the shuffle here with the Dolphins
Speaker 2: is they're already feeling the impact of the two assigning.
Speaker 2: And I don't want to talk about what might happen
Speaker 2: with two down the line. In terms of the contract,
Speaker 2: I don't think that's this is the tire of place
Speaker 2: for that. But in terms of the roster they constructed
Speaker 2: around what was presumably going to be a healthy two
Speaker 2: of this year. Think about the interceptions in this game,
Speaker 2: Like you said, the first two picks two players who
Speaker 2: were not on the roster in mid August, fourth and
Speaker 2: fifth wide receivers behind the big two in Braxton Barrios,
Speaker 2: guys who are not making a lot of money because
Speaker 2: the Dolphins can't afford has spent a lot of money
Speaker 2: on their third, fourth, fifth receivers. The third interception comes
Speaker 2: into play where the left side of the line gets
Speaker 2: caved in. They have they're on a third string guard.
Speaker 2: I believe after injuries and of course we lost Robert
Speaker 2: Hunt to the Panthers this offseason in free agency, and
Speaker 2: then toront Armstead. They're very good left tackle who has
Speaker 2: a significant track record of battling injuries. Himself, came out
Speaker 2: for that play to get a shoulder. Harnet suggested he
Speaker 2: ended up leaving the game later on as well. That
Speaker 2: to me is sort of, you know, even if you
Speaker 2: go out and get a Tannehill, even if you go
Speaker 2: out and get Mike White, even if Skalar Thompson does
Speaker 2: play better than he has in years past, this is
Speaker 2: a much more limited version of last year's team and
Speaker 2: a team that is rebuilding on the offensive line, a
Speaker 2: team that has, you know, questions on defense with the
Speaker 2: pass rush, and because we were okay against Jacksonville in
Speaker 2: the second half, but inconsistent with the pass rush. The
Speaker 2: secondary is a work in progress. They have some you know,
Speaker 2: they have veterans there, but some changes there as well.
Speaker 2: I just have this sort of question about, you know,
Speaker 2: even given even if you know, hopefully Tua is able
Speaker 2: to recover and come back relatively quickly, Greg, what we've
Speaker 2: seen from this team the first two weeks does not
Speaker 2: suggest they are, you know, even close to what they
Speaker 2: were a year ago. Let the competitive to the point
Speaker 2: where you think they're they're taking a step forward. And
Speaker 2: you know with a roster where you have guys like
Speaker 2: Tyreek Kill and Jalen Ramsey, who are you know, exiting
Speaker 2: the prime of their careers.
Speaker 1: Right, And that's a good point because look, before the injury,
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill and Jalen Wattle were both very cool in
Speaker 1: this game and it's been an inconsistent pass He's act
Speaker 1: very different than the Dolphins how they started last season,
Speaker 1: actually two seasons ago to Tyreek Hill finishes with only
Speaker 1: three catches for twenty four yards. Wattle goes four for
Speaker 1: forty one. Eric let's throw up a question here from
Speaker 1: our YouTube viewers. But Cody home asked, why were the
Speaker 1: Fins running so much? That's an interesting question. I think
Speaker 1: that was the plan coming into it. So I think
Speaker 1: they were effective running the ball at halftime. They actually
Speaker 1: had one hundred and one yards rushing on twenty carries.
Speaker 1: Midway through the third before the two injury, they had
Speaker 1: one hundred and forty three yards on like twenty four carries.
Speaker 1: So I think the plan tonight and it goes to
Speaker 1: what you were saying, Bill was they don't have a
Speaker 1: third receiver. Odell Beckham has not been healthy. I mean,
Speaker 1: they should have probably seen that coming last week. Actually,
Speaker 1: they had two tailbacks on the field, whether it was
Speaker 1: a full back or two running backs, because they had
Speaker 1: most h chan on the field at the same time
Speaker 1: over fifty percent of the time. I mean, they are
Speaker 1: right at the center of going heavier personnel and running
Speaker 1: and throwing out of it. They've had two tight ends
Speaker 1: on the field quite a bit. They had two running
Speaker 1: backs on the field, and I think they rightly were
Speaker 1: thinking that they could run the ball well against the Bills,
Speaker 1: and they did. The situation of the game just dictated
Speaker 1: that it got away from them. And when they were
Speaker 1: throwing the ball, the Bills didn't blitz. I have to
Speaker 1: recheck the stats, but they didn't blitz once in the
Speaker 1: first half. So they're just laying back. They're trying to
Speaker 1: prevent the big pass. And even without their linebackers and
Speaker 1: they lost Terrell Bernard to a pectoral injury in this game,
Speaker 1: that is something to watch closely because they could be
Speaker 1: down there. Two really good linebackers, Matt Mulano and Trell
Speaker 1: Bernard for a while, if that's serious. They were able
Speaker 1: to make it work by trying to prevent the big play,
Speaker 1: so I don't fault the Dolphins for trying to run.
Speaker 1: They also lost Jeff Wilson actually late in this game,
Speaker 1: who had an oblique injury, and you mentioned Armstead, it
Speaker 1: was officially a shoulder injury. So just kind of a
Speaker 1: disaster for the Dolphins, who also, you know, Mike McDaniel
Speaker 1: struggles with clock management in this game. There was a
Speaker 1: lot going on, to your point, to make them a
Speaker 1: little bit more worry than just the tu injury.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Greg, you know, during the during the broadcast,
Speaker 2: from what I saw from what the announcers were saying,
Speaker 2: don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but
Speaker 2: they said the Bills were playing a ton of two
Speaker 2: high shelves and that typically for teams means you're going
Speaker 2: to have an advantage in the box, you should be
Speaker 2: running the football, and so I do think from their
Speaker 2: perspective they were going to be a run heavy team
Speaker 2: in this game because of how the Bills were coming
Speaker 2: out and defending. Like you said, the Bills were taking
Speaker 2: away the big plays, something Shownick damon defenses do extremely
Speaker 2: well historically is take away big plays, and they wanted
Speaker 2: them to run the ball, and the Dolphins were going
Speaker 2: to run the ball, and the Dolphins were running the
Speaker 2: wall pretty successfully. The only problem was they would end
Speaker 2: up in a third down situation and throw the ball
Speaker 2: and it would lead to a sack or an interception.
Speaker 2: And so they fell behind because they gave the Bills
Speaker 2: a couple of short fields and then, like you said,
Speaker 2: once the game script changed, it was unfortunately a still
Speaker 2: a mess. But you know, even into that two minute
Speaker 2: tro they were running the ball a ton, a lot
Speaker 2: of short passes. They weren't attempting stuff downfield because the
Speaker 2: Bills weren't giving them anything downfield, and that felt so
Speaker 2: much to me. The comparison I made on Twitter was
Speaker 2: it felt like the Jimmy Garoppolo drives with Kyle Shanahan
Speaker 2: where they did not trust Jimmy Garoppol in those situations,
Speaker 2: they did.
Speaker 1: Not want to stress, they didn't want to.
Speaker 2: Put it in tight spaces. Kind of felt like Mike
Speaker 2: McDaniel was doing the same thing that situation, where for
Speaker 2: him it was more important to deny the Bills another
Speaker 2: opportunity to score than it was to give the Dolphins
Speaker 2: the best possible chance of scoring a touchdown, and you
Speaker 2: know it ended up kind of being lost in the shuffle.
Speaker 2: But like you said, this was a situation where you know,
Speaker 2: even the broadcast was criticizing the clock management for the
Speaker 2: Dolphins in that situation. It was not an impressive piece
Speaker 2: of work. And you know, it led to a field goal,
Speaker 2: which is fine, but just a a very curious series
Speaker 2: of decisions from the Dolphins, who seemed very concerned about
Speaker 2: throwing the ball deep against Like you said, you know,
Speaker 2: a Bills team that had injuries at linebacker, they're rebuilding
Speaker 2: its safety. It's like this is a dominant Bill's defense
Speaker 2: on paper.
Speaker 1: No, and I have an advantage on you, Bill and
Speaker 1: you know many of the rest of our industry. Now
Speaker 1: I'm getting the next gense that's live. Apparently I could
Speaker 1: have had this last year and I didn't even realize it.
Speaker 1: But yeah, split safety two. It was fine against at
Speaker 1: thirteen for seventeen, but you know, only one hundred and
Speaker 1: three yards in one of his picks, but that's a
Speaker 1: lot of throws. So they had the split safeties out
Speaker 1: there a lot of the way. And as I mentioned,
Speaker 1: it was Dolphins ball seven to seven very late in
Speaker 1: the first quarter when he threw that second interception, and
Speaker 1: after that point, it just felt like the Bill's offense
Speaker 1: was too big and tough, and they started just running
Speaker 1: it down their throats. And then when they were in
Speaker 1: a tough situation, Josh Allen started doing Josh Allen things.
Speaker 1: It's been a bummer talking about this to a thing.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's a bummer when we lose starting quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: This is the second primetime game that we've been talking
Speaker 1: about it. So let's feel good and let's listen to
Speaker 1: a positive highlight. Eric, give me your boy. Josh Allen
Speaker 1: finding James Cook on a great running throw to set
Speaker 1: up a touchdown.
Speaker 3: Samuel goes back and forth and gets shut past of
Speaker 3: the outside, wide open inside the ten, and James Cook
Speaker 3: takes it in a lot of eye, can't down here,
Speaker 3: a lot of motion and finds the open man and
Speaker 3: the wide open man.
Speaker 1: As it turns out, so that is fourth and three.
Speaker 1: That's actually early in the first quarter. And the reason
Speaker 1: I wanted to point that out is that they went
Speaker 1: for it. It's first quarter, it's scoreless, and I noticed
Speaker 1: this last week and I clocked it in two situations
Speaker 1: last week where Sean McDermott traditionally was pretty conservative, they
Speaker 1: went for it in a first half situation that was
Speaker 1: rather similar to that one and they didn't get it,
Speaker 1: and then a second half situation where they did get it,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, hey, if they're going to lean into
Speaker 1: this offense, I love that Sean McDermott is kind of
Speaker 1: finding finding religion when it comes to going for and
Speaker 1: fourth down because ultimately, as good as their defenses s
Speaker 1: grammatically and stuff like, this is an offensive team and
Speaker 1: they've been great on offensese first two weeks.
Speaker 2: Wasn't he in Carolina when Ron rivera wonder yes transformation
Speaker 2: in NFL history from a team coach who actually cost
Speaker 2: his team games to very briefly a marginally aggressive coach
Speaker 2: and got about eight years of got eight years of
Speaker 2: jobs out of it. I mean, you know, you have
Speaker 2: Josh Allen, like you have that guy who is going
Speaker 2: to be a difference maker, who's going to terrify opposing
Speaker 2: teams in short yardage, And in that play, Josh Allen
Speaker 2: didn't too much, but it was a you know they
Speaker 2: called mesh. They just do some really cool motion to
Speaker 2: get some picks some natural picks for the swing route
Speaker 2: or sorry, the rail road, I should say, uh, And
Speaker 2: it's a perfect catch and throw in. James Cook is
Speaker 2: absolutely great player for that situation. So as long as
Speaker 2: they have plays they feel good about. I mean, they
Speaker 2: should absolutely be a team that's aggressive on fourth down.
Speaker 2: And you know, this is not the same caliber of
Speaker 2: Bill's team that I believe they've had in years past.
Speaker 2: This is a team that is in transition.
Speaker 1: I might disagree with you there, buddy, I like disagree
Speaker 1: with you. I picked them to win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling good about it right now.
Speaker 2: Wow, I picked them to win the AFC, so I
Speaker 2: felt like that was a pretty aggressive choice. But there's
Speaker 2: definitely positives here right Like, you know, the running game
Speaker 2: looks good. The von Miller looked kind of spry tonight
Speaker 2: for a guy who was pretty much anonymous last year.
Speaker 2: The secondary looks okay so far. I thought Arizona gave
Speaker 2: them a little more trouble than I would have liked.
Speaker 2: But I just feel like this is a team where
Speaker 2: the losing Stefan Diggs was their biggest story of this offseason,
Speaker 2: and that was not going to be as impactful of
Speaker 2: a loss as maybe people banned out to be. I
Speaker 2: think some of the players they lost this offseason were
Speaker 2: out of their prime years. They're doing with the injuries
Speaker 2: a lot. I think the moves that had to be made,
Speaker 2: and I do think the Spills team is better than
Speaker 2: Dolphins on paper. I do think that the Spills team
Speaker 2: is good enough to win the division. But of course,
Speaker 2: so much that's going to come down to how healthy
Speaker 2: Josh Allen is for seventeen games.
Speaker 1: Right, I mean you can say that about any great quarterback.
Speaker 1: And look, Josh Allen didn't have to do much to
Speaker 1: Night thirteen for nineteen for one thirty nine in the
Speaker 1: air with a touchdown because the running game got going
Speaker 1: in because they just turned the ball over on offense,
Speaker 1: I mean on defense. But you know, the reason I
Speaker 1: went with him was well more just that it just
Speaker 1: seems so hard to three p and I just felt
Speaker 1: the team out of it. I'm going to pick an
Speaker 1: AFC team. There's too many good teams, and Josh Allen
Speaker 1: is he's doing like an MVP year. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is all like ridiculous things to talk about record. They
Speaker 1: reminded me of the twenty twenty two Chiefs where it's
Speaker 1: like you have the offensive line. I think this is
Speaker 1: the best offensive line of the Bills era with Josh Allen.
Speaker 1: I think this is the best coordinator and the best
Speaker 1: fit just right now for where they're at, that this
Speaker 1: can be a really good year and that they have
Speaker 1: enough options. So Khalio secure Tonight their leading receiver again
Speaker 1: five for fifty four. He only had to run sixteen routes.
Speaker 1: So again, this was a strange game, but what I
Speaker 1: was talking about in the first half, when they needed to,
Speaker 1: they just kind of leaned on the Dolphins defense, which
Speaker 1: seemed to start getting tired, and Cook ends up going
Speaker 1: eleven for seventy eight and two touchdowns. Let's listen to
Speaker 1: one more play. It was actually a near touchdown, but
Speaker 1: it was Josh Allen being Josh Allen and setting up
Speaker 1: what ended up being a Cook touchdown.
Speaker 3: Low snap dancing, looking downfield, firing downfield. Part at the
Speaker 3: two yard line. They'll mark it at the one yard line,
Speaker 3: so Allen extends to play. Ty Johnson is the third
Speaker 3: down back, normally stays in the block. Send him out
Speaker 3: in the pattern, find him at the one yard line.
Speaker 1: And yeah, if you're watching that play over again, you
Speaker 1: can see it's Jalen Ramsey on the play. He's been
Speaker 1: on the wrong side of a lot of negative plays
Speaker 1: through two weeks now. He missed camp some injury concerns
Speaker 1: there right before he signed the contract. He wasn't even practicing.
Speaker 1: Whether that was injury or contract related. You know, some
Speaker 1: some people have different right, so some people have noticed
Speaker 1: though he has struggled these two weeks. But that was
Speaker 1: just a great roll out by Josh Allen on what
Speaker 1: was a third and twelve when the game was still
Speaker 1: up for grabs to Ty Johnson and yeah, they they've
Speaker 1: been resourceful on offense. I'm glad you mentioned von Miller
Speaker 1: because I don't think we mentioned him on our show
Speaker 1: last week that he had five or six pressures in
Speaker 1: that game last week. He had a couple of nice moves.
Speaker 1: He didn't look like prime prime von Miller, but he
Speaker 1: looked like a plus pass rusher at which he was
Speaker 1: so far away from being. And man, they could use
Speaker 1: another one with Greg Russou and tonight. Not that I
Speaker 1: was watching von Miller every single snap, but he looked
Speaker 1: fast as hell on that sack, So that that is
Speaker 1: good for a team that has some negatives with injuries.
Speaker 1: I mentioned Bernard and obviously Milano's gone, and you didn't
Speaker 1: have Tron Jhonson. They've had some positives here from their
Speaker 1: veterans Dion Dawkins. Also, their left tackle has played very
Speaker 1: well through two weeks. So a lot to feel good
Speaker 1: about if you're a Bills fan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and really, you know, on both sides tonight, it
Speaker 2: felt like the game plan was attacking the linebackers. You know,
Speaker 2: for the Bills, there was a lot of the you know,
Speaker 2: throws out into the flats, some boots for Josh Allen
Speaker 2: trying to get stuff on the edge. And then for
Speaker 2: the Dolphins more of the tap passes, the reverses, the
Speaker 2: Jets sweeps, you know, trying to use their receivers in
Speaker 2: those roles or using some you know, eight chan in
Speaker 2: the flat quite a bit on some escort escort motion
Speaker 2: with those swing passes. But it felt like that was
Speaker 2: both teams identified that as a weakness for the other team.
Speaker 2: I think it was right for both teams. I think
Speaker 2: the Bills, obviously, you know, without Milano and then losing
Speaker 2: Bernard Earlie in the game, made sense to attack linebackers
Speaker 2: if you could. For the Dolphins, you know, they attacked
Speaker 2: David Long and coverage so that they you know, I
Speaker 2: know Ramsey was in coverage on that big play, but
Speaker 2: it felt like they wanted to, you know, attack the
Speaker 2: linebackers where they could and so that you know, it
Speaker 2: feels like if there's a weakness for the Bills right now,
Speaker 2: if Bernard does miss time with a pectoral injury, you
Speaker 2: feel like that would be it. But they looked fine
Speaker 2: without Milano the first two weeks, so hopefully Sean mcdermoty
Speaker 2: was done a great job coaching linebackers in the past.
Speaker 2: Can have them get by without Milano and Bernard for
Speaker 2: a stretch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they I mean they're down to it though.
Speaker 2: You know they they lost and we too.
Speaker 1: They lost the linebacker to Seattle on the off season,
Speaker 1: and uh, they do have Dorian Williams from Tulane University
Speaker 1: stepping in and he's at least not stood out in a.
Speaker 2: Bat inevitably on this team at one point or another.
Speaker 1: Think think AJ Glyde's retired at this point. They do
Speaker 1: have a man bail in spector. Is AJ Glyde retired?
Speaker 1: I don't know. Come back, Aj, We would love to
Speaker 1: have you start.
Speaker 2: Looking back and Greenok, Greig, You're the thing I wanted
Speaker 2: to say about the quarterback situation. I just wanted to
Speaker 2: bring this up. Okay, the haves and have nots in
Speaker 2: the NFL for backup quarterback feel really distinct. Right where
Speaker 2: you have the you have the Dolphins, where obviously you
Speaker 2: hope too doesn't get hurt. You don't know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 2: But Skyler Thompson was a guy who, like you said,
Speaker 2: not playing well in camp, kind of won the job
Speaker 2: just because Mike White lost it. Look at the Green
Speaker 2: Bay injury. I mean they had to trade from Lake Willis,
Speaker 2: a guy who's not been good as a pro quarterback
Speaker 2: and who looked absolutely abysmal in the two snaps he
Speaker 2: had filling in for Jordan Love at the end of
Speaker 2: the game in Brazil. You know, it's one of those
Speaker 2: things where that is a position we don't think about
Speaker 2: very much. But man, you know, even if you have
Speaker 2: a Nick Foles caliber backup, you know that is a
Speaker 2: big difference between guys who will replaced some level players.
Speaker 1: And so it's why I overrate these quarterbacks at least
Speaker 1: for what the money they make every year. On my
Speaker 1: top one on one free agents, I always put Jameis
Speaker 1: Winston way higher. And Jameis Winston gets like a one year,
Speaker 1: three point five million dollar contract or whatever it is.
Speaker 1: He gets the equivalent of like a rotational defensive tackle,
Speaker 1: and yet the team that has just a somewhat capable backup,
Speaker 1: which I think he's even above that. Like sure, it's
Speaker 1: such an advantage to me. It's always been, especially lately, Uh,
Speaker 1: it's been, you know, a problem. All right, let's let's
Speaker 1: let's let's look at one more comment, uh from the audience. Here,
Speaker 1: come get zappy Miami says, I mean that now there
Speaker 1: is I think practice squad.
Speaker 2: So I don't know what the purpose of getting Bailey's at.
Speaker 1: No, there's no point.
Speaker 2: You might as well say to get Jake Culer back
Speaker 2: in the Dolphins uniform.
Speaker 1: Man, it is a depressing night because the people I'm
Speaker 1: trying to look for comments maybe from Mike McDaniel, you know,
Speaker 1: as we're taping it, it hasn't happened yet. And the
Speaker 1: reality is, like the Amazon postgame crew, they're already talking
Speaker 1: about retirement. People are writing about retirement. I think this
Speaker 1: is a very personal decision for to a tongue of Iloa,
Speaker 1: it's just the night of the injury. That to me
Speaker 1: that it's very premature, but the reality is everything's going
Speaker 1: to be on the table and we will just have
Speaker 1: to see it. It's an awkward night and just from
Speaker 1: a brass tax perspective, will remember the Tua injury. But
Speaker 1: it's also a very important night for the Bills, who
Speaker 1: go to two and zero and could really be in
Speaker 1: charge of this division once again. They've kind of owned
Speaker 1: the Dolphins the last few years. They beat him decisively
Speaker 1: twice last year and that's how they won the division
Speaker 1: through tiebreak and and now they will have the early
Speaker 1: tie break over the Dolphins too. Okay, I got to
Speaker 1: take a quick break, but we're not done yet. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's it for the game talk. But we're not done,
Speaker 1: Bill Barnwell, we are gonna just talk a little bit
Speaker 1: about some predictions because there's nothing I love more than
Speaker 1: the navel gazing, Bill, and I thought it would be
Speaker 1: fun just kind of as we wrap up the normal
Speaker 1: part of the week here on NFL Daily, we will
Speaker 1: be dropping our picks against the Spread show on Friday afternoon,
Speaker 1: and so that's going to be a separate show. So
Speaker 1: for anyone that was looking for Cynthia Freelan and I's picks.
Speaker 1: We're picking three games against the spread every week. It's
Speaker 1: very quick, and that's going to come up in a
Speaker 1: separate show a little later though. I did pick the
Speaker 1: Bills tonight, so I got that one right, but that
Speaker 1: wasn't part of that. We're going to go back and
Speaker 1: actually just quickly go through a few predictions that we
Speaker 1: made before the season even started. And you might say,
Speaker 1: we've just started week two, We've only played one game
Speaker 1: each and one game in Week two, and yet I
Speaker 1: want to already see what's changed your mind. So what
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about, Bill, is a prediction we
Speaker 1: feel really good about after one week, a prediction we've
Speaker 1: already started to regret, which is really my inspiration for
Speaker 1: this segment, because there are a couple, but there's one
Speaker 1: that really stand out that I'm like, why did I
Speaker 1: do that? And then just for fun of prediction I
Speaker 1: wish I made? So why don't we start about with you?
Speaker 1: We'll go a prediction that you feel good about so far?
Speaker 2: Prediction I feel good about. I predicted that the Giants
Speaker 2: were going to take a further step backwards and that
Speaker 2: they were going to be if not the worst team
Speaker 2: in football, one of the worst teams in football. From
Speaker 2: what I saw in Week one, things were not pretty.
Speaker 2: I mean the offense was hopeless. They couldn't block. They
Speaker 2: that's not true. They couldn't block on some plays. They
Speaker 2: were probably like a C minus blocking. They were a
Speaker 2: D minus for quarterback play. Milick Nighbors is already unfortunately
Speaker 2: battling a knee injury. He was limited in practice today.
Speaker 2: The defense looked totally made Sam Donald look like the
Speaker 2: guy Sam Donald believers I've hoped he was going to
Speaker 2: be for about half a decade now. I mean, everything
Speaker 2: looked wrong for them at home and not like the
Speaker 2: Vikings are a great football team in my eyes. So
Speaker 2: I just that's that's one where I feel like I
Speaker 2: feel prekid about, you know, being skeptical of the Giants
Speaker 2: making a step in the right direction.
Speaker 1: Well, I hope that you regret picking this as the
Speaker 1: prediction you feel good about on Sunday afternoon about four
Speaker 1: twenty Eastern because there was no game. I had a
Speaker 1: harder time picking this weekend than Commanders Giants, but actually
Speaker 1: went Giants in the end because I just feel like
Speaker 1: I honestly think they're two of the three worst teams
Speaker 1: in the NFL right now. So I'm with you that
Speaker 1: I agree. If I just had to guess, I think
Speaker 1: the Panthers, Commanders and Giants are the worst three teams.
Speaker 1: But the Giants are in year three of their program
Speaker 1: and they just have better players that I know. Daniel
Speaker 1: Jones was a mess, but that Commander's defense, they could
Speaker 1: have given up sixty points to the Buckets. There were
Speaker 1: so many receivers just flying open. And they don't have
Speaker 1: a lot of talent on offense either, So I just
Speaker 1: kind of maybe the vibes are enough for the Commanders
Speaker 1: to get away in that.
Speaker 2: That is the only thing I can think of.
Speaker 1: Yes, wait, I mean both teams are bad, don't don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong. I said it was the toughest game
Speaker 1: for me to pick all weekend. I wrestled back and forth,
Speaker 1: but I went with the Giants in the end because
Speaker 1: you know, they do have a bunch of good players,
Speaker 1: so and they're like year three, can't I think they
Speaker 1: can maybe go get a road win and at least
Speaker 1: get to one and one, But ultimately I think that
Speaker 1: will be a prediction you feel good about. I'm not
Speaker 1: arguing with you about that. Okay. The prediction I feel
Speaker 1: good about was fading the Falcons will also the Bill's
Speaker 1: winning the super Bowl. It's a little early for that.
Speaker 1: I had Josh Allen MVP Bills winning the super Bowl
Speaker 1: as like a three or four seed. Just felt like
Speaker 1: that's how they'll finally do it. Okay, that feels good
Speaker 1: too far, But fading the Falcons was one of my
Speaker 1: strongest things all off season. A lot of it was
Speaker 1: that Kirk Cousins was coming off a torn achilles and
Speaker 1: we just did just not assume that that's nothing and
Speaker 1: so far we'll see, but that really looks like something,
Speaker 1: and that the rest of the team wasn't so great
Speaker 1: that like he's coming into a good situation, that they
Speaker 1: were more like about a four to five win roster
Speaker 1: that had a terrible schedule last year, and that I
Speaker 1: know they added talent on defense, but just there were
Speaker 1: questions all over the place that even if it was
Speaker 1: normal Kirk Cousins, like normal Kirk Cousins is pretty up
Speaker 1: and down, and I am very concerned about him after
Speaker 1: that Week one performance that he's going to take a
Speaker 1: while maybe to get going, and that the injury could
Speaker 1: could really be an issue here early in the season
Speaker 1: or maybe throughout the season. So I'm feeling good about
Speaker 1: that prediction.
Speaker 2: You should. I mean, that was a absolute mess and
Speaker 2: they were I know ESPN Satinfo had the numbers on
Speaker 2: them throwing one hundred percent out of the time in
Speaker 2: the shotgun or a hundred percent of the time.
Speaker 1: Out of the ste pistol.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no percent throw out of the shotgun, eight run
Speaker 2: rate out of the pistol. So very distinct play calling
Speaker 2: based on where Kirk Cousins was standing. Zero play action
Speaker 2: STAPs in the game. Kirk Cousins is I believe how
Speaker 2: did my column his slowest max speed of any game
Speaker 2: as a pro? I think Ben Solek had his column
Speaker 2: travel the least distance by far he's ever tried a
Speaker 2: game in the next gen era. I mean, everything just
Speaker 2: tells you Kirk Cousins cannot walk at a high speed,
Speaker 2: let alone run.
Speaker 1: And I hope, I hope that's wrong because he's on
Speaker 1: Monday Night Football this week, and like I I want
Speaker 1: them to win and everything, but I just don't want
Speaker 1: it to be like this weird, sad thing with Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: All right, let's do the prediction that you already regret.
Speaker 1: So this is what this is the centerpiece of this
Speaker 1: segment here, like what is something that you said that
Speaker 1: you actually are already like legitimately moving off And if
Speaker 1: there's nothing, you could say nothing, But if you're just
Speaker 1: stretching a fine one, tell me that.
Speaker 2: The couple that come to mind for me thinking I
Speaker 2: will go with Blake Korum being the lead back with
Speaker 2: the Rams and Ky you know, I think at some
Speaker 2: point he's going to have a role. I think it's
Speaker 2: going to be injury dependent on Kiren Williams. But I
Speaker 2: just over this offseason, I look back at like late
Speaker 2: round picks who haven't had big rookie seasons, who got
Speaker 2: significant snaps in the year two and what happened and
Speaker 2: so often they got benched quicker than anybody expected, like
Speaker 2: they were one and done in lead roles at running back.
Speaker 2: And then you know, Karen Williams gets hurt during the
Speaker 2: off season, he's dealing with the foot injury that he's
Speaker 2: had on the past. He gets put on punk return duty.
Speaker 2: I'm just like, man, Blake Koram might get seventy five
Speaker 2: percent of the snaps week one, like he might just
Speaker 2: be the lead back to begin the season and then
Speaker 2: Blake Korham got zero offensive snaps in Week one.
Speaker 1: Man, that was that was a small level prediction because
Speaker 1: I have a feeling Bill actually that's gonna work out fine.
Speaker 1: In the end, I think you were on the right track.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he's gonna be the lead back now,
Speaker 1: but like it took a month for Kien Williams to
Speaker 1: get the job last time. In fact, I believe there
Speaker 1: was some thought that when they had the injuries during
Speaker 1: the game on the offensive line, that they just prioritize
Speaker 1: pass protection in terms of their backs above all, even
Speaker 1: like Ronnie Rivers might not blow up in a big hole,
Speaker 1: but they can trust him in pass pro and that
Speaker 1: you see with that with running backs, and maybe that
Speaker 1: will be an issue for a couple of weeks. But
Speaker 1: I think it might have been situational. I have a
Speaker 1: much bigger regret than that, a much bigger regret. So
Speaker 1: I don't know why I did this, Like I really
Speaker 1: leaned in at the very end. I got convinced that
Speaker 1: the Cowboys were just gonna be a total disaster, and
Speaker 1: I like I kind of bought into the hole. Everything
Speaker 1: was feeling negative and maybe it will turn negative in
Speaker 1: the end. But it really only took one game of like,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, Dak Prescott is freaking awesome, and I know
Speaker 1: it wasn't his best game ever, but he's still freaking awesome.
Speaker 1: And Michael Parsons is a you know, total beast, and
Speaker 1: they really seem like they have some answers defensively that
Speaker 1: I think will make up for a few of the
Speaker 1: lack of depth issues that they have on the offensive side.
Speaker 1: And I think the rookies on the offensive line will
Speaker 1: figure things out. And they've already started off pretty well.
Speaker 1: So that was when I think I went a little
Speaker 1: too hard on was the Cowboys go going?
Speaker 2: I just think the Browns might not be that good.
Speaker 2: I mean, I had the Browns as a team likely
Speaker 2: to decline before the year. I thought about them, But
Speaker 2: the three things I thought about when you asked me
Speaker 2: the first question were Giants decline. I felt strongest about
Speaker 2: Brown's decline. I think about and Chargers improving, which they
Speaker 2: had the most Jim Harbaugh victory I can imagine in
Speaker 2: Week one against the Raiders. But I think the Browns
Speaker 2: their defense looked good but not great in Week one,
Speaker 2: and their offense looked just horrifically bad. And I think
Speaker 2: the Cowboys played a role on that. But I do
Speaker 2: think the Cowboys may not look quite as good against
Speaker 2: different competition in the weeks to come.
Speaker 1: Okay, let us know you guys can let us know
Speaker 1: that are pass it along in the comments. What mistakes
Speaker 1: you've made into terms of your prediction. Chris Green says
Speaker 1: biggest regret is paying Daniel Jones. Yeah, well that that
Speaker 1: was two years ago. Although I do think the Giants
Speaker 1: doubling down this offseason, Joe Shane didn't want to. I mean,
Speaker 1: he wanted to trade up for Drake May, but he
Speaker 1: didn't want to enough. I think if they had really
Speaker 1: just sold the farm for him, I think the Patriots
Speaker 1: could have listened, and they had a good offer, but
Speaker 1: it didn't happen. And I don't know, if you know,
Speaker 1: there's a chance Joshane doesn't make it the year four
Speaker 1: and then he has regrets about that.
Speaker 2: Can I give you my unifying theory of the New
Speaker 2: York Giants and Joshane's quarterback situation?
Speaker 1: Please? Yes.
Speaker 2: I believe Brian Davil and Joshane did not want Daniel Jones.
Speaker 2: I think when they got there, they were like, well,
Speaker 2: give this guy a shot, but we're probably drafting quarterback
Speaker 2: next year. And they had the same thing that happened
Speaker 2: with the Bills, where they had the unexpected year one
Speaker 2: playoff run with your incumbent quarterback you don't love. And
Speaker 2: Daniel Jones played well at the end of the year.
Speaker 2: His best football was the end of that season. It
Speaker 2: was his first healthy year as a pro. And I
Speaker 2: my guess is that ownership who had bought it Daniel
Speaker 2: Jones for several years wait for him to be good,
Speaker 2: were the driving forces in that Daniel Jones on track.
Speaker 2: Maybe Joshane didn't want to sign sa Quon Barkley.
Speaker 1: I'm with you, but like it, what's gonna happen now,
Speaker 1: Like they're gonna lose their job, right, because that's that's
Speaker 1: they should have listened to them about Saquon. They should
Speaker 1: have actually listened to that and just paid saquad instead
Speaker 1: of paying who is that guard from the Packers, Oh,
Speaker 1: John run instead of playing John Runyon ten and a half, Like,
Speaker 1: go an extra million for Saquon. If you can't catch
Speaker 1: up your guards to be better than that, then that's
Speaker 1: probably on you, you.
Speaker 2: Know, Greg, Greg, when you look at the draft and
Speaker 2: how nobody's going to draft in you look at free
Speaker 2: agency and how good teams safe bad decisions in free agency,
Speaker 2: good teams make bad Trades're like, why are these guys
Speaker 2: getting paid so much? Well, one of the reasons gms
Speaker 2: and coaches get paid so much is that sometimes they
Speaker 2: get fired because the owner strongly encouraged them to make
Speaker 2: bad decisions, and the owner is not the one who
Speaker 2: has to pay for it with their jobs. If you
Speaker 2: look at it the last twenty years of the Las
Speaker 2: Vegas slash Oakland Raiders, that describes a lot of what's
Speaker 2: happened with the Raiders franchise. But we'll see Daniel Jones.
Speaker 2: You know, it can't be much worse than it was
Speaker 2: week one. The Commanders, like you said, a lot of
Speaker 2: guys are running free last week. If anyone's going to
Speaker 2: make Daniel Jones look good, it is the Washington Commanders
Speaker 2: in week two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a it's a trend with these this giants.
Speaker 1: There's a sneaky amount of reports of medaling. I mean,
Speaker 1: you had the whole Geno Smith Eli Manning thing. You
Speaker 1: had really the last year or two of Eli Manning's
Speaker 1: career in different right, forms of fashion, which I think
Speaker 1: was was definitely owner related. All Right, finally we wrap
Speaker 1: with with the with the prediction you wish you made.
Speaker 2: That's a tough one. The prediction I wish I had made.
Speaker 1: You want me to go first?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm trying to think about I got a couple
Speaker 2: of four.
Speaker 1: I mean, well, first, you know, we did the over
Speaker 1: under draft on this show, and I didn't want to
Speaker 1: take Pats over four point five because it just felt
Speaker 1: like Homer. I believed that it could be about after
Speaker 1: one week. I'm like, well, they're already there. Tough, but
Speaker 1: that was one of the tough, tough parts of the schedule,
Speaker 1: a tough road game in Cincinnati. So there's one. I
Speaker 1: think they can get to five. So I didn't want
Speaker 1: to be a Homer. They were on my longer list
Speaker 1: when I listed the over unders last week that I liked,
Speaker 1: So that was one. No one, literally no one, I
Speaker 1: don't believe. On NFL dot Com, they asked like thirty
Speaker 1: six writers to make who makes the playoffs, and I
Speaker 1: thought that six seven spot in the AFC was pretty
Speaker 1: up for grabs. I didn't have the Dolphins or Jets there,
Speaker 1: so to me, I thought that the AFC East was
Speaker 1: going to be worse than people thought, and we'll see.
Speaker 1: But I was like, who makes it? And I ended
Speaker 1: up going Colts Chargers six and seven. But literally no one,
Speaker 1: and I think it was because of the preseason. Out
Speaker 1: of thirty six people picked the Steelers. It's like now
Speaker 1: already I'm like, yeah, maybe I should have taken the Steelers,
Speaker 1: like the Steelers are just fine the way. And then
Speaker 1: finally I had heard some buzz from people in Philadelphia
Speaker 1: about Quinnon Mitchell in training camp. I like, man, they
Speaker 1: really think they found someone. So a little Quinnon Mitchell,
Speaker 1: like defensive rookie of the year having a great season
Speaker 1: even after one week, I'm feeling like that, that feels
Speaker 1: a little that could have been a spicy pick that
Speaker 1: looks good.
Speaker 2: A sprinkle. I think it's fair to say I had
Speaker 2: the Patriots over four and a half. I had them
Speaker 2: as one of the most likely teams to improve in
Speaker 2: my column. This year did not go boldly all the
Speaker 2: way to the playoffs, that is, to go quite that far,
Speaker 2: but crazy but stranger things. I mean, it would have
Speaker 2: been crazy to say the three thirteen and one Texans
Speaker 2: were going to win the AFC South last year, especially
Speaker 2: after they got blown out in Week one by the Ravens.
Speaker 2: And yet that is exactly Greg what happened. Football is
Speaker 2: a very strange sport. I think they're going to be
Speaker 2: a lot better than people give them credit for. They're
Speaker 2: not going to be a playoff team, but I think
Speaker 2: a seven win team this year in New England. And
Speaker 2: had that before the season prediction I wish I had made.
Speaker 2: I wish I'd had the Rams out of the playoffs.
Speaker 2: That was the one where for the longest time when
Speaker 2: I was doing my playoff article, I had them out
Speaker 2: and I kept the teams I was putting in. I
Speaker 2: didn't feel good about I didn't feel good about the Falcons.
Speaker 2: I didn't feel good about Tampa. I didn't feel good
Speaker 2: about the Vikings. I had the Eagles out so I
Speaker 2: couldn't pick them, and I felt like, if I had
Speaker 2: to pick, you know, a big team out, I was
Speaker 2: gonna go with the Eagles. And that doesn't feel great
Speaker 2: right now, but we'll see. But the injuries were already
Speaker 2: bad before they before the season began, and now kukin
Speaker 2: Akua is on the puplet or on ir for four weeks.
Speaker 2: Joseph Nopoom's on IR for four weeks. Stevenveil is on
Speaker 2: IR for four weeks. They were already banged up on
Speaker 2: the offensive line before this. I mean, they are just
Speaker 2: absolutely battling injuries so far. So I feel like I
Speaker 2: would have had Rams out and maybe been a chicken
Speaker 2: and kept Eagles in. But maybe I should have just
Speaker 2: stuck with it. And maybe it just because the Rams did.
Speaker 2: They were in position to beat the Lions in Detroit
Speaker 2: with you know, if they get a stop at the
Speaker 2: end of that game. So maybe I'm being a little
Speaker 2: too harsh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was That was one of those games they
Speaker 1: played so well. You if you're the Rams, you would
Speaker 1: have loved to come away with a win. But it
Speaker 1: almost made me feel better about them. Then again, they
Speaker 1: feel like a month at least away from being anywhere
Speaker 1: close to hole on the offensive line, which is a
Speaker 1: pretty big deal. They're kind of built around their offensive line.
Speaker 1: As we wrap up, and thank you, Bill Barnwell, one
Speaker 1: of the best in the entire business, the best writer
Speaker 1: in the game right now. Check them out at ESPN
Speaker 1: dot com. As I tell them often, my ESPN Plus
Speaker 1: subscription largely for Bill, a little bit for Zach Lo too.
Speaker 1: I gotta admit I do love them.
Speaker 2: A lot of people, a lot of people tell me
Speaker 2: Zach is very good.
Speaker 1: I always throw that in.
Speaker 2: I like that if I can be, if I can
Speaker 2: be like the ten percent of your ESPN plus behind.
Speaker 1: No, No, you're number one, You're number one by far.
Speaker 1: Number two is actually the US Open Women's Tennis tournament
Speaker 1: Court thirteen, Like you can get that on ESPN Plus.
Speaker 1: Not to give them an but it's just like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: there's the Martakostiak match that I want to watch. I
Speaker 1: can't actually find that any anywhere else.
Speaker 2: Individual high level but like modest court tennis speeds is what.
Speaker 1: You're yes for. Yeah, love that. I mean what an
Speaker 1: athlete she is, but yeah, he gets it done. Also,
Speaker 1: the Bill Barnwell Short Show, of course is great podcast,
Speaker 1: and he's on around the Horn and you see him
Speaker 1: on NFL Live. He is everywhere and he's been great forever.
Speaker 1: Before we say goodbye, though, I will read you just
Speaker 1: something that Mike McDaniel said after the game onto a
Speaker 1: tongue of by Loa's injury, just said he's just worried
Speaker 1: about his guy. Not something you ever want to be
Speaker 1: part of. He'll get a proper evaluation and then the
Speaker 1: Dolphins will make a decision on how to proceed with
Speaker 1: the injury. And look, he said, every concussion is different
Speaker 1: and you'll see. But there was good news that Tua
Speaker 1: was in good spirits in the locker room after the game.
Speaker 1: That alone makes it a different situation, at least than
Speaker 1: the last time that he had it. He was talking
Speaker 1: to the team, to his teammates in the locker room
Speaker 1: and that made everyone feel better. And so we'll just
Speaker 1: have to see what the evaluation is. Obviously we're wishing
Speaker 1: the best for him. He also says, look, a loss
Speaker 1: like this early in the season as a gut check,
Speaker 1: and you know, they have to see how they respond.
Speaker 1: It's gonna either be a good thing or a bad
Speaker 1: thing to lose a game like this, and obviously losing
Speaker 1: their quarterback makes it all the more painful. That's it
Speaker 1: for our Thursday night recap show. Hopefully the next one
Speaker 1: doesn't have any injuries to speak of. We will be
Speaker 1: back on Friday. Thanks again, Bill. Like I said, with
Speaker 1: a really quick pick show, we're going to try it
Speaker 1: separated from the rest of the show. I know not
Speaker 1: everyone's into the picks against the spread, so we'll do
Speaker 1: that separate on Friday. Then we'll be back for the
Speaker 1: Sunday Week two recap. Until then, so happy that football
Speaker 1: is back.