Speaker 1: Week two of the NFL Report is here. I'm see
Speaker 1: White and my guy James Palmer rocking the terra cotta
Speaker 1: right there as he is back in Denver after a
Speaker 1: long flight back from.
Speaker 2: Cincinnati this week.
Speaker 1: Jpe, we got a lot going on because you're usually
Speaker 1: Week two is a.
Speaker 2: Much more truth teller than week one.
Speaker 1: Right, we can kind of read the tea leaves, and
Speaker 1: I think we can see what some teams like Cincinnati
Speaker 1: and Miami might be. He's like, Dallas, do we really
Speaker 1: know they're too?
Speaker 2: Well know how good they are? Wet? Still a ton
Speaker 2: of unanswered questions?
Speaker 3: Yeah, see, how about this if we're telling the truth.
Speaker 3: What's your take on Skyline Chili in Cincinnati?
Speaker 2: Skyline Chili is good.
Speaker 1: I'm also but I'm probably a bigger gold Star fan myself.
Speaker 1: But I don't want to insult anybody in our audience.
Speaker 1: You know that there's there's a lot of touchy feelings
Speaker 1: about that. Do you like chili on spaghetti?
Speaker 2: JP?
Speaker 3: No, I skip halftime meal in the press box when
Speaker 3: I'm there at Peay Course Stadium. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 3: A double up pregame pre game was good. I double
Speaker 3: up pre game, get a little something extra. There was
Speaker 3: sticky buns up there this time, even though I told
Speaker 3: that's a Philly thing when you say sticky buns too often,
Speaker 3: cinnamon roll, whatever you want to call it. I call
Speaker 3: them all sticky buttons. But I had an extra one
Speaker 3: of those, so I wouldn't do the skyline stuff at halftime,
Speaker 3: I'll be honest.
Speaker 1: And and everybody watching and listening, they're like, oh, these
Speaker 1: sports writers, they get fed. They don't I don't want
Speaker 1: to hear them complain about anything. Well, you know that's
Speaker 1: part of the issue. I'm sure you want to complain
Speaker 1: about the fact that we also get to watch football
Speaker 1: for a living.
Speaker 2: Shame me.
Speaker 1: We saw a fantastic display of what this Ravens offense
Speaker 1: could look like when they went and they beat Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: I mean, this was a huge game.
Speaker 1: You heard John Harbaugh talk about it's a big game,
Speaker 1: players talking about how how sweet it.
Speaker 2: Was to send the Bengals to an zero and two start.
Speaker 1: You were there, and you were texting me during the game, like, man,
Speaker 1: Lamar looks really good.
Speaker 2: This offense is serious stuff. Tell us a little bit
Speaker 2: about what you.
Speaker 3: Saw, man, Yeah, pregame, Steve and I think I was
Speaker 3: on with you pregame. Also, when I was talking to
Speaker 3: that commend members of the coaching staff and they're like, listen,
Speaker 3: Lamar is not comfortable in this offense. Shed We're not
Speaker 3: sure how long it's gonna take. We're gonna see how
Speaker 3: the process goes. But obviously this is very different. He
Speaker 3: didn't play in the preseason, so Week one was really
Speaker 3: our first opportunity to see him go out there and
Speaker 3: operate in it. We didn't see him run at all.
Speaker 3: I thought it was really interesting. When I talked to
Speaker 3: Zay Flowers, the rookie wide receiver, he was like, no, no, no,
Speaker 3: that was the plan for Lamar not to run. The
Speaker 3: plan was for him to sit back there, get comfortable, Steve,
Speaker 3: get a feel for this offense, sitting in the pocket,
Speaker 3: because why, he knows he can run right, he knows
Speaker 3: you can find ways to go out there and create
Speaker 3: and make plays. He wanted to sit back there and
Speaker 3: feel it. And what did we see in week two?
Speaker 3: We saw him go out there and have an extremely
Speaker 3: balanced attack. I think that's the difference. When I talked
Speaker 3: to Mark Andrews after the game, he was like, now
Speaker 3: that we have these receivers on the outside, life's easier
Speaker 3: for him in the middle. You have explosive players on
Speaker 3: the outside. You saw after the interception bang right to
Speaker 3: a fifty two yard reception by Jay Flowers to go deep.
Speaker 3: Lamar Jackson was accurate. He was comfortable. If they're wondering
Speaker 3: how long it's going to take him to get comfortable offense,
Speaker 3: I don't know. Week three. Now, they're so balanced because
Speaker 3: at the back end of this game, what did they do?
Speaker 3: They just kept the Bengals off the field. Lamar ran
Speaker 3: the football. They ran the football even when Cincinnati knew
Speaker 3: they were going to run the football. I think this
Speaker 3: is a really fun, interesting offense to watch now because
Speaker 3: of the balance it has.
Speaker 1: And what's interesting about that is they were down two
Speaker 1: starting offensive linemen right the center, Tyler Linderbaum.
Speaker 3: Center.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean this was this was we were wondering
Speaker 1: before the game, you want a pregame show with me.
Speaker 2: JP were like, well, Lamar.
Speaker 1: Is gonna be on his horse all day because these
Speaker 1: these Bengals rushers are going to be all over him.
Speaker 1: He was on his horse on scalded runs and because
Speaker 1: that's what may have opened up because this offensive line
Speaker 1: held up well, that is a positive sign because we
Speaker 1: know left tackle Ronnie Stanley has had injury issues to
Speaker 1: his legs for years. So if they can have somebody
Speaker 1: come in and feel incapably, that's fantastic. But the balance,
Speaker 1: that's when the Ravens work right. When they have to
Speaker 1: rely you know, one dimensional running too much or throwing
Speaker 1: too much, that's not them. But also, and I want
Speaker 1: to get this back to you, Zay Flowers. You saw
Speaker 1: Odell Beckham go out with an ankle injury. We don't
Speaker 1: know how significant that is, but the rookie wide receiver
Speaker 1: out of Boston College seems to open up this offense,
Speaker 1: open up the.
Speaker 2: Field for Mark Andrews across the middle.
Speaker 1: What impact could he make because they have not had
Speaker 1: not only a deep threat like him, but a route
Speaker 1: runner like him, maybe a Lamar's tenure.
Speaker 3: That's the thing, And there's already such a it looks
Speaker 3: like chemistry and connection between him Lamar Jackson's nine catches
Speaker 3: in the first week like from a rookie wide receiver.
Speaker 3: The interesting part about Zay real Quick is that he
Speaker 3: already can line up in every single receiver spot they have.
Speaker 3: He can play the X, he can play the Y.
Speaker 3: He can be a different member of a trips group,
Speaker 3: you know, the number two of the three. He can
Speaker 3: line up in the backfield. His versatility in that sense
Speaker 3: and understanding of the offense and being able to do
Speaker 3: that is extremely important and really impressive this early. But
Speaker 3: what they're impressed with Steve is how strong he is
Speaker 3: for his size for a little Yeah, guys on the
Speaker 3: coaching staff, they were like, you know what he can do.
Speaker 3: He can't get tackled, and that's pretty important. Is he's
Speaker 3: hard to tackle and I look like he's gonna be
Speaker 3: that explosive player to add into making this a layered
Speaker 3: offense with Mark Andrews as well. As we talk about offenses,
Speaker 3: talk about explosive plays. That's usually what we talk about
Speaker 3: with the Cincinnati Bengals, but we have not seen that
Speaker 3: very much. We saw them get better offensively in the
Speaker 3: second half, but what we also saw in the second
Speaker 3: half was Joe Burrow reaggravating that calf injury. I was
Speaker 3: in the press room to hear him say this postgame.
Speaker 4: Well, when when your quarterback missus camp, it's it's tough
Speaker 4: to it's tough to start fast, it's it's not an
Speaker 4: ideal situation. Yeah, I'm still confident. I feel really confident
Speaker 4: in all the guys we have in that room. Now,
Speaker 4: Like I said, we're gonna have to see how that
Speaker 4: feels the next couple of days. It's pretty sore right now,
Speaker 4: but no telling how it's gonna feel sorrow. I think
Speaker 4: we're gonna take it day by day.
Speaker 3: Steve. This is a team that we were not very
Speaker 3: concerned with starting oh to one. Now they're zero in two,
Speaker 3: which is what they did, I believe last year. So
Speaker 3: what's your take watching this game? Watching a Super Bowl
Speaker 3: contender start not just oh and two, oh and two
Speaker 3: in the division?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean JP.
Speaker 1: Normally i'd be like, you know, they're gonna be fine.
Speaker 1: This seems a little different. There's a feel to it.
Speaker 2: And you were there, not me, but in pregame again,
Speaker 2: you were on the pregame.
Speaker 1: Show with us on our game day preview show with
Speaker 1: Andrew Ciliano and me, and you said, I have been
Speaker 1: watching him warm up and he doesn't look right.
Speaker 2: That calf did not look right. You saw that pregame.
Speaker 1: Then he aggravates it during the game, and then we're
Speaker 1: seeing him and for those of you listening on the podcast,
Speaker 1: he's got the thera gun kind of gunning and trying
Speaker 1: to get it loose, you know, after he's staying this,
Speaker 1: you know, the injury, the aggravation.
Speaker 2: This seems like it might be something that could linger.
Speaker 2: And so you say to yourself, well, will they shut
Speaker 2: him down?
Speaker 1: You know, because Burrell said, we have to figure wait
Speaker 1: a couple days to see what's going on.
Speaker 2: That's not Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is usually not that open about how he
Speaker 1: physically feels.
Speaker 2: And when you hear a.
Speaker 1: Lot of athletes like that talk about that they know something,
Speaker 1: they know something, and so maybe they have to shut
Speaker 1: him down or maybe this is gonna be an issue
Speaker 1: for several weeks, if not for longer, that he has
Speaker 1: to work through. And we know, if Joe Burrow is
Speaker 1: not at full strength with some of the pressure that
Speaker 1: they allow on him, this could be something where the
Speaker 1: folks in Cincinnati, and the words of the great animated
Speaker 1: legend Scooby Doo say rut Row.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, say it again, Steve Row. There we go. Listen.
Speaker 3: This was a dejected locker room. There was definitely a
Speaker 3: lot of confidence after the first loss. This one was
Speaker 3: a little bit different, and I don't think it's because
Speaker 3: they're Row and two. When I had side conversations with players,
Speaker 3: it was Steve, I have a fear that this is
Speaker 3: going to linger, like that's my concern, that this calf
Speaker 3: thing is going to linger with Joe Burrow and that's
Speaker 3: going to impact our ability to get out of this
Speaker 3: own two start. I don't think anybody in that locker
Speaker 3: room doubts Joe Burrow as a player, doubts that he's
Speaker 3: one of the best quarterbacks and players in football, that
Speaker 3: this offense can still be one of the best offenses
Speaker 3: in football. We've just seen too much success out of
Speaker 3: this group, right, That's not their concern. Their concern in
Speaker 3: these conversations I was having in the locker room were man,
Speaker 3: I hope this doesn't linger like I feel like that
Speaker 3: might be the case. And that is the major concern
Speaker 3: because you saw them in the second half. Steve, after
Speaker 3: a slow start, I talked to Orlando Brown Junior, is like,
Speaker 3: we wanted to get out to a quick start. They
Speaker 3: barely had the ball. They had the ball for eighteen
Speaker 3: plays and that first half the Ravens had forty seven
Speaker 3: plays in the first half. The second half, they started
Speaker 3: stringing together some drives. They really did, and then this happened.
Speaker 3: So that's where really, to me, the major concern is
Speaker 3: everybody says Joe Burrow is the next peg down, and
Speaker 3: I believe they say Steve from Patrick Mahones, who on
Speaker 3: his birthday goes out and gets his sixty fifth career
Speaker 3: win over the Jags, a game that I thought was
Speaker 3: going to be a shootout and it was just the opposite.
Speaker 1: Well, and that's in part JP because this Kansas City
Speaker 1: Chiefs defense, which typically slow plays it's development into being
Speaker 1: very good, is off to a great start. I mean,
Speaker 1: they get Chris Jones back and he plays thirty four
Speaker 1: plays and none of us really thought he was going to,
Speaker 1: you know, completely dominate.
Speaker 2: Well he did. He did. And once again, to go.
Speaker 1: Back to our pregame conversation, that's where I said. One
Speaker 1: thing about Chris Jones when we talk about his dominance
Speaker 1: is he does it at the right times.
Speaker 2: He does it in key moments. He does it on
Speaker 2: third line.
Speaker 1: This is a three man rush we're watching right here,
Speaker 1: and he bats it down, just.
Speaker 2: Absolutely works the left tackle.
Speaker 1: Here's one where we three man rush again gets to
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence. This is one on one This is impact football.
Speaker 1: This is getting Trevor Lawrence to think, oh my god,
Speaker 1: there's ninety five coming off the edge from a five technique,
Speaker 1: not even a seven technique, and I can't get away
Speaker 1: from him.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Part of that's the coverage downfield and James. This speaks
Speaker 1: to the bigger issue of Chris Jones' impact. It effects
Speaker 1: all three levels of what the Chiefs are doing. They
Speaker 1: could cloud the deep past and from behind drop their
Speaker 1: linebackers to cover the intermediate stuff because they know Chris
Speaker 1: Jones can be that disruptive. That's what we saw over
Speaker 1: and over again in this game.
Speaker 3: And you saw him rush from different spots. He was
Speaker 3: out there on the edge. Remember when they toyed without
Speaker 3: a couple of years ago, he dropped some weight and
Speaker 3: they were like, may maybe he's an edge rusher. Now
Speaker 3: he's doing it at his current dominance and his current
Speaker 3: strength that he has in the middle of the defensive
Speaker 3: line seat, but also can rush from the outside. They
Speaker 3: always love moving him around finding advantages. But you mentioned it.
Speaker 3: He's a drive ender, a game ender. You saw him
Speaker 3: do that on fourth down. You see how he's able
Speaker 3: to get their defense off the field to put the
Speaker 3: best player football back on the field and what's happening
Speaker 3: with this defense? And when I spend some time Darren
Speaker 3: Camp there, I was talking to safety Justin Reid and
Speaker 3: he was like, everybody now understands our system in the secondary.
Speaker 3: He's like, I was teaching everybody my role and their
Speaker 3: role throughout all of the season last year. So many
Speaker 3: new faces. Now they're to year two into the system,
Speaker 3: and this group as a defense, which usually starts slow,
Speaker 3: is playing really well early on and helping out this
Speaker 3: offense that struggle a little bit. I have to put
Speaker 3: this out there. As we talked about Patrick Mahomes. This
Speaker 3: was a nice birthday present from the Chiefs. This is
Speaker 3: this is from rap sheet right now while we're recording.
Speaker 3: This a new deal for Patrick Mahomes. In the restructured deal,
Speaker 3: he now receives two hundred and ten point six million
Speaker 3: between twenty twenty three and twenty twenty six, the most
Speaker 3: in NFL history over a four year span. We knew
Speaker 3: this was coming, Steve, it is now here and who
Speaker 3: the offense is sputtered a little bit, but.
Speaker 1: I might hold on, hold on, okay, okay, Now everybody
Speaker 1: who's watching and listening, this is how like TV and
Speaker 1: all this works. Thirty seconds before we are coming on
Speaker 1: to tape this show, James and I are talking about
Speaker 1: this Mahomes deal is gonna get done pretty soon. Don't
Speaker 1: believe all this hype where Patrick says he doesn't need
Speaker 1: all this money. There's been conversations going on for months
Speaker 1: about getting this restructure done, and now you are saying
Speaker 1: he's getting two one hundred How does Marshawn Lynch put
Speaker 1: it two hundred grips two hundred thousand.
Speaker 3: Ten million, two hundred ten million, two d two hundred
Speaker 3: and ten millions.
Speaker 1: This this is cash dollars. I'm assuming this is guaranteed
Speaker 1: bread that is get per in.
Speaker 3: Listen to this. Steve Mahomes has now received over two
Speaker 3: hundred and seventy three million in guarantees since the deal
Speaker 3: was originally signed in twenty twenty, an NFL record that's unbelievable.
Speaker 3: But I mean this, and this is this is how
Speaker 3: this team is operating, Steve. And it's interesting when we
Speaker 3: talked about this whole Chris Jones situation and everything that
Speaker 3: was going on and Chris Jones wanting this new deal,
Speaker 3: We've talked about how this team has looked to build
Speaker 3: moving forward, they move on from Tyreek Hill to make
Speaker 3: other money. They look how they're moving everything forward with
Speaker 3: Patrick Mahomes in line. How does that change everything else
Speaker 3: We're going to find out this offseason.
Speaker 1: Well, and let's let's also not let people forget Wow,
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes is getting all this money, this and that
Speaker 1: in hard cash dollars. The amount of money he took
Speaker 1: in the first three years of that ten year, four
Speaker 1: hundred and.
Speaker 2: Fifty million dollars deal was minimal. Isn't a lot.
Speaker 1: I want to say it was around sixty million. Now
Speaker 1: minimal to NFL players, It's a lot for you and I.
Speaker 1: But the fact that he was willing to sinimal for
Speaker 1: Steve Wych, yeah right, damn right if you took that
Speaker 1: little money, when you see some of this other upfront
Speaker 1: cash these players got, this is this is a just
Speaker 1: reward for him to get to two Super Bowls. Plus
Speaker 1: it's going to allow, as crazy as the sounds, the
Speaker 1: Chiefs to create cap space along the way, so maybe
Speaker 1: they can get Chris Jones done depending on how the
Speaker 1: structure of it is. We're not going to get into
Speaker 1: all of that good stuff right there, all right, JP
Speaker 1: you're gonna get the final word before we move on
Speaker 1: to the B block.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll say this, they were just waiting for Joe
Speaker 3: Burrow's deal to get done before they really pushed this
Speaker 3: things forward. Once they had those numbers, they were able
Speaker 3: to readjust everything they wanted to do moving forward. Now,
Speaker 3: as we move forward with this show, Steve Wera have
Speaker 3: Jeff Schadea on to talk about a couple of these comebacks.
Speaker 3: Who is gift rapped of victory and who had to
Speaker 3: go out there and actually earn it More coming up
Speaker 3: on the NFL Report. Welcome back to the NFL Report.
Speaker 3: James Palmer, Steve White, John by Jeff Chadea.
Speaker 5: Who.
Speaker 3: I'm not sure how close, Jeff, you lived to Patrick Mahomes,
Speaker 3: but you might want to swing by and see what's
Speaker 3: happening over there at Mahomes Manor. It's been redone and
Speaker 3: now they have some more money for future upgrades, even
Speaker 3: though it's all Brent spanking nouah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, we're not in the same neighborhood. I can promise
Speaker 6: you that.
Speaker 2: Come on, yeah up to see where he's You're adjacent.
Speaker 2: You're adjacent, right.
Speaker 3: Not the right right word to use.
Speaker 6: I'm more like he's up here and I'm way down
Speaker 6: here with the other peons. But yeah, you know, look,
Speaker 6: I think one thing that we knew when he signed
Speaker 6: his first big extension was that that was not going
Speaker 6: to last for ten years. The numbers sounded great, half
Speaker 6: a billion dollars, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 6: he took a team friendly deal with a discount, and
Speaker 6: they weren't going to allow Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson
Speaker 6: and Deshaun Watson and everybody else, you know, justin Herbert,
Speaker 6: all these their quarterbacks to be paid more than the
Speaker 6: best quarterback, the best player in the league. So this
Speaker 6: was definitely not a surprise. The numbers aren't surprising. I
Speaker 6: think James in the break we talked about just the
Speaker 6: possibility and then looking at this again in four years
Speaker 6: and redoing it. But they're always going to make sure
Speaker 6: that he's at the top of the pay list, and
Speaker 6: they're also going to try to make sure he has
Speaker 6: his money. But they have the flexibility to keep making
Speaker 6: moves to keep this team going.
Speaker 1: And yeah, real quick, explain that because people who may
Speaker 1: not necessarily know how to finesse the cap say, wow,
Speaker 1: he's getting you know, two hundred ten million dollars over
Speaker 1: the next three years.
Speaker 2: We're going to be hamstrung.
Speaker 1: But that money, when it's amortized over the length of
Speaker 1: the deal, it actually creates cap space.
Speaker 6: But it does, it does, and really, and they've been
Speaker 6: doing this for the last couple of years where they
Speaker 6: don't want to get into this world and I don't
Speaker 6: want to go too deep into the weeds and how
Speaker 6: NFL contract works, but they don't want to go into
Speaker 6: this world where they're always trying to borrow money, get
Speaker 6: players restructured, and try to get create salary cap space.
Speaker 6: They feel like having him at a number that's manageable
Speaker 6: for them, they're able to go to him and create
Speaker 6: cast spaces when they want to. But they also know
Speaker 6: he's getting paid as well, so this number will be
Speaker 6: spread out over the course of the deal. I don't
Speaker 6: know exactly all the details involved, but even though it's
Speaker 6: a big number, it's really more about the years and
Speaker 6: the way that the escalators are set up, the way
Speaker 6: that they can actually spread it out, uh, you know,
Speaker 6: pay to pay it to him over the course of
Speaker 6: that deal. So a lot of ways to work and
Speaker 6: make it flexible, which.
Speaker 3: Is big for a general manager Breadfeach. And with that said, Jeff,
Speaker 3: look at what they have to do this offseason. You
Speaker 3: have to pay the two guys that are right there
Speaker 3: in front of Patrick Mahomes and centered Creed Humphrey and
Speaker 3: their left guard, right right right guard.
Speaker 2: The guard guard, his guard.
Speaker 3: You know, those those are two of the best guys
Speaker 3: that their positions right now in football, and they want
Speaker 3: to hang on to the interior portion of that offensive line.
Speaker 3: And both of those guys, Steve are up uh and
Speaker 3: looking for for some cash of their own.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: And you've got to pay some of those guys if
Speaker 3: if you're gonna build all this around Patrick Mahomes, protecting
Speaker 3: Patrick Mahomes is a big part of it as well.
Speaker 1: So as you guys know, that's that's when you have
Speaker 1: guys in the roster like, hmm, I'll be thirty two
Speaker 1: the time of this next deal. I've got two years
Speaker 1: left on my contract. Honey, let's go ahead and put
Speaker 1: the house up for sale because we will not be
Speaker 1: here next year. One guy who will be in placed
Speaker 1: for a long time is Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who,
Speaker 1: like Patrick Mahomes, signed a big deal this offseason, not
Speaker 1: for as much bread. But here's Brian Dayball talking about
Speaker 1: his quarterback and his team rallying from three touchdowns down.
Speaker 2: Yesterday to beat the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 3: Belief.
Speaker 5: But you can talk about it till you're blue in
Speaker 5: the face, pat belief, it's got to happen. You have
Speaker 5: to see tangible results too. So I think we have
Speaker 5: some mentally tough players on our team and coaches.
Speaker 2: It's not always easy to be mentally tough.
Speaker 5: When you're you know whatever, it is, sixty to nothing
Speaker 5: after a game and a half.
Speaker 1: Yeah, mentally tough. You better be because, like he just said,
Speaker 1: like Brian Dayball has said, Jet, you have not scored
Speaker 1: after being outscored sixty to nothing after a game and
Speaker 1: a half. You're playing the Arizona Cardinals, who I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: aren't really that team.
Speaker 2: You gotta do something.
Speaker 1: And JP and I were talking about this before the show,
Speaker 1: the coaching that Brian Daball and that staff had to
Speaker 1: do not only to motivate those guys, but to scheme
Speaker 1: them back.
Speaker 2: And to get them rolling again.
Speaker 1: Jeff, what about being able to come back from a
Speaker 1: game like that when they really were reeling?
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, I do. The first three column every week,
Speaker 6: and I thought about writing about this team. The Giants
Speaker 6: are what to make of them for what you just said,
Speaker 6: which is, you've got a team that got destroyed by Dallas.
Speaker 6: You got a team that couldn't score a point against
Speaker 6: the worst team in the league for the first half,
Speaker 6: and then they have this great comeback. And then they
Speaker 6: also by the way Sakuon Barkley gets hurt, you don't
Speaker 6: know how his ankle is going to respond. I feel
Speaker 6: as if the Giants are a little bit of a
Speaker 6: mess right now, and I think you have to do
Speaker 6: all this work to beat the Cardinals. You've got some problems,
Speaker 6: and I'm a big fan of Brian Dable, and you
Speaker 6: can say that they did a great job of coming
Speaker 6: back in this game, but I also feel like they
Speaker 6: got away with a lot of stuff last year, got
Speaker 6: some things that break their weight. They're not doing it
Speaker 6: to happen now, and I just feel this is more
Speaker 6: of a team that's going to end up being around
Speaker 6: six seven wins than a real playoff contender.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jeff, you just said something that has been talked
Speaker 1: about kind of behind the scenes for a while, and
Speaker 1: so I mean, even speaking with folks of the Giants.
Speaker 1: They'll tell you last year they won, but they did
Speaker 1: it with smoking mirrors and some optical illusions because they
Speaker 1: were not a fast team, right They did not have
Speaker 1: a ton of speed, and they had to upgrade their
Speaker 1: speed to be able to compete. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if they necessarily did that by adding Darren Waller and
Speaker 1: this and that. They've got to be tougher and better
Speaker 1: at some of the positions of the coaching job Brian
Speaker 1: dave Ball did last year was worthy of him winning
Speaker 1: the Coach of the Year honors. But Jay, you know again,
Speaker 1: you look at this team. They play Thursday night against
Speaker 1: the Niners. Saquon we don't know if he's gonna be
Speaker 1: able to go because of that ankle.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm with Jeff.
Speaker 1: I mean, you just don't know what to make of
Speaker 1: this team right now because we still don't know what
Speaker 1: their identity is and I don't know if anybody still
Speaker 1: is really sold on Daniel Jones.
Speaker 3: Well, part of that identity seed was gonna be you
Speaker 3: bring in Darren Waller to be really probably your number
Speaker 3: one target, and you don't know how his season's gonna
Speaker 3: go with the hamstring right now, and how that's gonna
Speaker 3: move forward, especially with some of the offensive line issues
Speaker 3: that they have, and what we saw on the second half, Yes,
Speaker 3: that was the most yards, by the way, Daniel Jones
Speaker 3: has ever thrown four and a half. I think it
Speaker 3: was two hundred and fifty nine, most he's ever done
Speaker 3: in a half. But it was essentially him and Saquon.
Speaker 3: I'd like that they got Jalen Hyatt kind of like
Speaker 3: into the mix of sense, maybe you can find ways
Speaker 3: to stretch the field a little bit, Jeff, because you're
Speaker 3: gonna need to do that if that's your offense. Essentially
Speaker 3: Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley trying to somehow half run it,
Speaker 3: half throw it as a because there are definitely some concerns,
Speaker 3: but I do agree that once again, what I saw
Speaker 3: was a locker room that kind of believes, and that
Speaker 3: was a definite defining moment. When you get embarrassed in
Speaker 3: Week one and then you're going, well, we have the
Speaker 3: Cardinals and then you're getting embarrassed when you walk into halftime,
Speaker 3: that might be a defining moment to where this season
Speaker 3: somewhat salvage. But I think their margin for error, Jeff,
Speaker 3: is really really thin. If they think they're a playoff.
Speaker 6: Team, Yeah, certainly. And look the money that Daniel Jones
Speaker 6: got paid this offseason. Sometimes when you pay a guy
Speaker 6: that usually usually when you pay a guy that kind
Speaker 6: of money, you want to turn him into somebody who
Speaker 6: can justify that kind of payment. I agree that this
Speaker 6: was a big moment for him and this team, But again,
Speaker 6: if you have to be down twenty to nothing in
Speaker 6: every game you play against bad teams to find yourself,
Speaker 6: I just don't think that's a great place to be
Speaker 6: and discover your identity. They did a great to have
Speaker 6: a coaching this team up last year, but weapons wise,
Speaker 6: they're still lacking in a lot of ways. And by
Speaker 6: the way, no one really talks about this, but came on,
Speaker 6: Tipada's gonna start doing something it.
Speaker 2: Yeah he doesn't. You're right, You're right, Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's got he's got to start making it.
Speaker 2: And here's the other part.
Speaker 1: You know, we're talking about the Giants and them rallying,
Speaker 1: they're still probably, uh probably they are the worst team in.
Speaker 2: The NFC East because the Washington.
Speaker 1: Commanders folks are two and oh the team we thought
Speaker 1: that was gonna be busterrific is two Sam right now,
Speaker 1: and because they had a big time comeback against the
Speaker 1: Denver Broncos. Jeff, We're gonna talk about the Broncos a
Speaker 1: little bit later on, and some great stuff you wrote
Speaker 1: in your column at NFL dot com slash Jadia. But
Speaker 1: what about the Commanders right now and the fact that
Speaker 1: Sam Howell, who you wrote about, looks like a real dude.
Speaker 6: The biggest surprise of the week for me. And I
Speaker 6: was certainly a doubter and Sam Howell did not see
Speaker 6: him being a prime time player. But you know, I
Speaker 6: watched a little bit in the preseason game when they
Speaker 6: played against Baltimore, and he showed some of that savvy
Speaker 6: and that and kind of that cavalier style of play.
Speaker 6: But to do it in week two, when you're on
Speaker 6: the road and you're down and you have to forget
Speaker 6: a lot of bass that's happened and still deliver big
Speaker 6: plays for you. I was mesmerized by what he did,
Speaker 6: and not just the throws, but leading the offense, keeping
Speaker 6: things together. I feel like he and Eric Bienemy right now,
Speaker 6: this tandem is it's almost like Dangiel Jones and Brian
Speaker 6: Dabole last year. Like they are surprising people with the
Speaker 6: way the enemy's coaching him and the way Howell's responding.
Speaker 3: I love that you brought up eb I mean, I'm
Speaker 3: not gonna say that the Chiefs are struggling offensively because
Speaker 3: Eric Vienemy is not in the building, but I'll say
Speaker 3: that the Washington Commanders as an offense that definitely have
Speaker 3: some weapons. I talked to Patrick Sardan in the locker
Speaker 3: room last Wednesday before this game, and he was like,
Speaker 3: Terry mccluurin is the most underrated receiver in the NFL.
Speaker 3: That's in Pat's mind. He's like, I don't understand why
Speaker 3: he doesn't get attention. He can do everything. But he
Speaker 3: also told me Johan Dotson is an up and coming
Speaker 3: star in his eyes. That's one of the best cornerbacks,
Speaker 3: maybe arguably the best cornerback in Football's opinion of these
Speaker 3: wide receiver duo, let's let's just remember this Steve before
Speaker 3: we get to break they had, they were down eighteen
Speaker 3: on the road, Sam Howse first ever WROT start in
Speaker 3: the NFL, and then they really go on a thirty
Speaker 3: two to three run in a stretch in the middle
Speaker 3: of this game. That is just ridiculous.
Speaker 1: I mean, who the hell would have thought that Eric
Speaker 1: b Enemy might be able to coach up a quarterback. Jeff,
Speaker 1: We're going to see you a little bit later in
Speaker 1: the show as we get ready, as we move on
Speaker 1: to the next block, Chef A Baker, We've got Jordan
Speaker 1: Love and a new dog in Atlanta, the Beijon Freeze
Speaker 1: here on the NFL.
Speaker 7: Report does just can you just talk about how that
Speaker 7: game was?
Speaker 3: It was so crazy.
Speaker 7: You guys looked like you were, you know, kind of
Speaker 7: down for the count, and then you come back and
Speaker 7: you just kind of take us through never done.
Speaker 8: When you see the nflcons out there, will never be
Speaker 8: down for the count. We're gonna fight until that clock,
Speaker 8: kids zero. So you know that's what I'm proud of
Speaker 8: this team and everyone on this team for not giving up,
Speaker 8: not you know, and just keep going out there and
Speaker 8: just fighting so that clock kids zero.
Speaker 1: I thought Stockings quarterback Desmond Ritter is now James and
Speaker 1: I are joined by Sarah, And I gotta tell you, like,
Speaker 1: if you're if you're a teammate of Desmond Ridder and
Speaker 1: you see that, you're like, that's my quarterback, especially after
Speaker 1: the way he just played. I mean, they made some
Speaker 1: fourth down conversions. He made some really gritty like run
Speaker 1: type place and big throws to Mac Collins and Drake
Speaker 1: London down there as they come back from twelve down,
Speaker 1: Sarah to beat the Packers and to move to two
Speaker 1: and zero atop the NFC South. And you were telling
Speaker 1: me earlier that you know, you had a conversation with
Speaker 1: the team owner just by a chance, by the way, about.
Speaker 2: The optimism first circles. Does Sarah run in like just
Speaker 2: hunting this Sarah gets down?
Speaker 9: Yeah, guys, I just you know, I didn't make it
Speaker 9: to the owners meetings, the fancy owners meetings that you
Speaker 9: get to go to. So I was just playing around. No,
Speaker 9: I was actually in Atlanta. I was at Mercedes Benz
Speaker 9: Stadium on Saturday for a different kind of football, soccer
Speaker 9: related because Arthur Blank, as you know, owns Atlanta United
Speaker 9: as well, and so he has just given the US
Speaker 9: Soccer Federation a fifty million dollar check. They're going to
Speaker 9: break ground and have US Soccer's training facility in Atlanta.
Speaker 9: I also cover soccer. Again, everything, as you know in
Speaker 9: life is a very very small world. So I was
Speaker 9: up there. I was at their stadium on Saturday, with
Speaker 9: Arthur Blank and obviously the season is very young, there's
Speaker 9: a lot of optimism. And I was actually standing out
Speaker 9: on the field, which was the soccer pitch at that time,
Speaker 9: because they were about to play a game after this.
Speaker 3: Press conference, no message, no.
Speaker 9: There were people yelling at me, and I was like,
Speaker 9: you guys, don't think I wanted Messi to be here.
Speaker 9: I was doing this. I was doing an unrelated press
Speaker 9: conference announcement, and then Messi was supposed to be playing
Speaker 9: thirty minutes later. So I was staying I was all
Speaker 9: in on this thing, and like fans are yelling at me,
Speaker 9: I'm like, yo, I want him out on the field
Speaker 9: just as much as you do. I actually don't know
Speaker 9: if Arthur Blink wanted him on the field because it
Speaker 9: was better for his Atlanta United anyway. But they're so
Speaker 9: excited and this is it. It was crazy because we're
Speaker 9: standing out on this field and I was talking to
Speaker 9: a team in play and I'm like, it's insane to
Speaker 9: think that since this stadium was built, there's been a
Speaker 9: Super Bowl there and there has not been a The
Speaker 9: Falcons have not hosted a playoff game in that stadium,
Speaker 9: which feels like it's been around for a while now,
Speaker 9: so to think that you erected this beautiful stadium at
Speaker 9: host Super Bowls, Peach Bowls, all these exciting games, like
Speaker 9: they are clamoring for a playoff game to be in
Speaker 9: Atlanta in that stadium, and it hasn't happened yet. And
Speaker 9: you know, I saw the Falcons last year too, and
Speaker 9: they were knocking on the door, as you could say
Speaker 9: about every single team in that division, right because they
Speaker 9: were all separated by one game with the box and
Speaker 9: then everyone else's tied, so it could have gone either way.
Speaker 9: But look, they've shored up that defense. They need Desmond
Speaker 9: Rudder to not make mistakes. He needs to make the
Speaker 9: plays when he needs to make them, and we saw
Speaker 9: him do that in a really gritty, gritty win. I
Speaker 9: think to the sense about Arthur Smith is, you know,
Speaker 9: this hasn't been like the most when you look at
Speaker 9: wins and losses. Hasn't been the best start right of
Speaker 9: anyone's coaching career when you come in and like you
Speaker 9: want to go right away, right to the postseason, and
Speaker 9: that hasn't happened for him. But anyone you talked about
Speaker 9: Arthur Smith, there's just so much respect for him around
Speaker 9: the league and how smart he is, and there's always
Speaker 9: just been this sense like they are going to get
Speaker 9: it on track, and it sort of felt like they
Speaker 9: were really putting the pieces in place this offseason and
Speaker 9: you're starting to see this. I mean, look, he's doubled
Speaker 9: down on Desmond rd Or this offseason when they could
Speaker 9: have looked elsewhere, and he was like, Nope, this is
Speaker 9: our guy. And that was the first time I saw
Speaker 9: his comment, Steve in that press conference and when I
Speaker 9: was sitting here when he was saying that and cut
Speaker 9: off their porterns like nope, never doubt. I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 9: like I'm in. I get it, like I'm in. So
Speaker 9: I think this is a Falcon team that's certainly heading
Speaker 9: in the right direction. I'm not surprised by that. To
Speaker 9: enough start.
Speaker 3: Listen, not everybody's sporting a mustache, but this team has
Speaker 3: Arthur Smith's identity all over it, Steve like, they are
Speaker 3: physical in every way that they play on both sides
Speaker 3: of the football. I found it interesting talking to people
Speaker 3: in that building this morning after their win. One of
Speaker 3: the most interesting things that said that was said to
Speaker 3: me was we really love Drake London and Mac Collins
Speaker 3: as a one to two. You're like, Matt came in
Speaker 3: as an afterthought. He leads this team in receiving right now,
Speaker 3: and they really like those as a one two wide
Speaker 3: receiver combo. Now you're looking at it and going like, well,
Speaker 3: that's kind of interesting. But they like that matchup, Steve,
Speaker 3: because of all the other pieces they have as well. Right,
Speaker 3: they are wowed by Bjeon Robinson and what they can
Speaker 3: do with him. He's their second leading receiver honestly, and
Speaker 3: where they can put him all over the field. I
Speaker 3: was told we're just scratching the surface about what we
Speaker 3: can do with Bijeon, and and you're seeing this is
Speaker 3: right now. I know we're two weeks in. This is
Speaker 3: probably offensive Rerookie of the Year materials so far, this
Speaker 3: is what we're looking at. I mean, I think Andrews
Speaker 3: and Siliano hosting that show with you, Steve said his
Speaker 3: moves have moves, which is essentially the way Bijeon plays,
Speaker 3: but he also plays physical. I think that's the other
Speaker 3: aspect of it. I'm curious how Kyle Pitts fits into
Speaker 3: this coming off with the knee, does he become another
Speaker 3: added element. We'll see if that happens. But what I
Speaker 3: like is they have enough talent Steve where they do
Speaker 3: think Desmond Ritter is making mistakes, but they feel like
Speaker 3: he's making rookie mistakes because they do consider him still
Speaker 3: a rookie. They have enough talent around him right now
Speaker 3: in a physical enough defense to where if he doesn't
Speaker 3: make rookie mistakes that cost you games, they're still in
Speaker 3: a very good spot as he grows.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, I spoke to Terry font No years
Speaker 1: ago and they were building this and twice passed and
Speaker 1: two drafts passed on quarterbacks, and he said, look, we
Speaker 1: want to build our rosters.
Speaker 2: And when we get to the point where we find
Speaker 2: a quarterback, he has got a nice landing spot. He'll
Speaker 2: have time to develop. He's got land Ron who can
Speaker 2: carry this seat.
Speaker 1: So they've got those types of players. You know who
Speaker 1: else is two and oh in this division? Though, the
Speaker 1: team that nobody thought was gonna be two and oh, Sarah,
Speaker 1: those are the Bay Buccaneers who just put a absolute
Speaker 1: waxing on the Bears.
Speaker 2: You were there, You.
Speaker 1: Saw that game at Baker Mayfield. Two and oh for
Speaker 1: the first time in his career. What is transition from
Speaker 1: Brady to Mayfield not only done for Baker, but kind
Speaker 1: of the rest of the guys.
Speaker 2: You're saying, yeah, we can win without Tommy.
Speaker 9: I think what's interesting is that it's not that Tom
Speaker 9: is his own entity, right, Tom is his own universe
Speaker 9: in the football world and even bigger than the football world.
Speaker 9: And as soon as Tom was gone, these expectations change.
Speaker 9: And I don't necessarily think that it has to be
Speaker 9: in a bad way, because when I say the expectations
Speaker 9: of change, like, no one expects them to win. Everyone's
Speaker 9: saying that they're going to fish last in the division.
Speaker 9: And while you would go, wow, is that a good thing,
Speaker 9: it just took pressure off these guys. They have been
Speaker 9: under the spotlight every single game since the day that
Speaker 9: Tom Brady announced he was coming to Tampa Bay. And
Speaker 9: then you win a Super Bowl. That doesn't lower the expectations.
Speaker 9: And so I just think that that starts to wear
Speaker 9: on you in a different way. And look, expectations are
Speaker 9: a privilege. You hear pressures of privilege, all those things. Yeah,
Speaker 9: that's great and all, but this is a team that's like, Okay,
Speaker 9: nobody's looking at us, nobody cares about us. Like that's fine,
Speaker 9: We're just gonna go out have a good time. And
Speaker 9: I do think it's sort of changed this mentality of
Speaker 9: the team where they're just kind of out there having
Speaker 9: a good time. I know, Steve, you and I talked
Speaker 9: about it when I was in Minnesota last week and
Speaker 9: I was in the room right next to where the
Speaker 9: box their locker room. I've never heard them screaming and
Speaker 9: hollering after a game the way they did when they
Speaker 9: beat Minnesota take out the Super Bowl. That's a different thing.
Speaker 9: But like, this is a team that's just operating in
Speaker 9: a different manner because one people discounted them. But I
Speaker 9: think that they're enjoying that. I think they're enjoying being
Speaker 9: out of the spotlight. Every little thing that this team
Speaker 9: has done in the last three years has been picked
Speaker 9: apart and scrutinized in every single way imaginable. And if
Speaker 9: you don't have that on you, it's almost like it's
Speaker 9: a relief. And like, let's be honest, Chicago came to
Speaker 9: town and after they're terrible Week one, the pressure's on Chicago.
Speaker 9: I mean everyone's looking at like the sky is falling
Speaker 9: in Chicago, whereas in Tampa they're like, hey, great Week
Speaker 9: one win.
Speaker 3: We surprised.
Speaker 9: We went to Minnesota and like no one thought we'd
Speaker 9: come win, And now we're down here and no one
Speaker 9: still expects us to win, and they win again, and
Speaker 9: they've done it in a myriad of ways. The defense
Speaker 9: has been really good, really lights out, and Baker Mayfield
Speaker 9: one of them. I know you guys are on a
Speaker 9: stat show, but tell me if this surprises you, because
Speaker 9: it surprises me. Baker Mayfield is leading the NFL right
Speaker 9: now in third down completion percentage number one, and like
Speaker 9: that was something they struggled out last year. Do you
Speaker 9: have Is that not surprising to you?
Speaker 3: I surprised.
Speaker 9: It's unbelievable he's been He's he's converted eighty seven percent
Speaker 9: of the time on third down. I mean that's like insane.
Speaker 9: And this is a new offense to him, a new team,
Speaker 9: and so I think they're just really enjoying themselves here
Speaker 9: in Tampa right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's I think Sarah that's been the biggest surprise
Speaker 3: I think for all of us. Everybody's seeing.
Speaker 9: Uh.
Speaker 3: I think Baker. Let me do the math here. My
Speaker 3: math's not as good as yours, but I think he's
Speaker 3: played for fourteen teams in the last twelve months, and
Speaker 3: he goes out there and he plays the way that
Speaker 3: he's gone out and played, specifically on third downs protecting
Speaker 3: the football, which I think, I will say this Steve,
Speaker 3: everybody's kind of waiting for that Baker stretch to happen,
Speaker 3: where you go, what was that throw? Right? But it
Speaker 3: hasn't happened yet. It hasn't happened yet. And I do
Speaker 3: think that there's something between him and Mike Evans specifically
Speaker 3: when plays breakdown, and I think Mike is, you know,
Speaker 3: definitely that type of player, and Sarah you know him
Speaker 3: well in terms of being able to make plays when
Speaker 3: things are off script, with the size that he has,
Speaker 3: the speed that he has. We'll still see ingim going
Speaker 3: out there just being one of the best receivers in
Speaker 3: all of football. But Baker is the one who's making
Speaker 3: this go. In terms of all of us being surprised
Speaker 3: because this is a talented roster, Vidavea and Twine Winfield Junior,
Speaker 3: I mean the linebackers. I mean they have Tristan Wurf's
Speaker 3: on the offensive line. I mean they have a lot
Speaker 3: of talent and one of those guys that I didn't mention, right,
Speaker 3: there is a pass rusher in Shaq Barrett's there. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and hey he goes out, and he goes out and
Speaker 3: makes an unbelievable play to seal that game. But what
Speaker 3: happened in the end zone just on another level compared
Speaker 3: to the play that he made.
Speaker 9: Yeah, here's the thing. And for people that aren't aware,
Speaker 9: and I think most people are shocked. First of all,
Speaker 9: it's coming back from a tour Achilles that happened I
Speaker 9: think in week eight of last season, so he's just
Speaker 9: trying to make his way back right. And then horrific,
Speaker 9: horrific tragedy this off season, his little two year old daughter,
Speaker 9: Ariah drowns in the family pool. So what he has
Speaker 9: had to endure over the last several months of his
Speaker 9: life are it's just incomprehensible. And he talked about it
Speaker 9: yesterday that before the first game of the season in Minnesota,
Speaker 9: that he just sat in his locker room and started
Speaker 9: crying because it hits him in different moments. And yet
Speaker 9: he stepped to the podium yesterday and he was so joyful,
Speaker 9: and I had this like I actually had this anxiety
Speaker 9: of like, oh my god. So he just has this
Speaker 9: pick six end of the game seals the deal. But
Speaker 9: he's going to get asked about his daughter and what
Speaker 9: it means and like, this poor guy, because he's now
Speaker 9: he's going to get up there, like how is he
Speaker 9: going to handle it? And he had the biggest smile
Speaker 9: on his face. He had this huge, blinged out necklace
Speaker 9: that was a heart and it was his little daughter
Speaker 9: on it, and he was so joyful though, and he
Speaker 9: was like, I was so happy that happened because I
Speaker 9: blew her a kiss and like it brought the spotlight
Speaker 9: back to my daughter. And which was like a very
Speaker 9: way of thinking about it, because I mean this he's
Speaker 9: he's going through it and he's going to be going
Speaker 9: through this for a long time. And Todd Bowles was
Speaker 9: asked about, you know, how do you see Shack being
Speaker 9: able to maneuver what he've been able to maneuver through
Speaker 9: not you know, he has an injury that he's still
Speaker 9: working his way back from. And he said it's unbelievable.
Speaker 9: I mean it's it's unbelievable what he has been going
Speaker 9: through on and off the field. And so to have
Speaker 9: that finish, the people that know that story behind that,
Speaker 9: to have the finish that he had yesterday. It was
Speaker 9: just crazy, and it's been a very an amazing start
Speaker 9: for a Buccaneers team that there were a lot of
Speaker 9: question marks about. And then of course, you know the
Speaker 9: Eagles are coming to town for Monday night football. Soever
Speaker 9: and goes, okay, here's here's the test now, so we'll
Speaker 9: see what happens on Monday night.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, And Sarah, just real quick, yeah, yeah, just
Speaker 1: just we're all parents here, and so the respect for
Speaker 1: Shaq Barrett to continue to wear a smile on his
Speaker 1: face going through what he's going through just immeasurable.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Sah.
Speaker 9: Community is just devastated.
Speaker 3: One of the best dudes in the league, man, one
Speaker 3: of the best people in the league covered him for
Speaker 3: a long time. Unbelievable. Yeah, all right, Sarah, appreciate it.
Speaker 3: We're gonna move back onto the football field a little bit.
Speaker 3: A couple of legendary coaches, Steve in terms of Sean Payton,
Speaker 3: Bill Belichick, both Owen two, how about Brandon Staley Owen two,
Speaker 3: whose seed is the hottest? Well, Jeff tod is gonna
Speaker 3: come back and tell us.
Speaker 10: Russell in the pocket now bounces around set it throws
Speaker 10: the ball up in the air, the ball.
Speaker 3: Deflected Johnson, good Cook Logan, Well, I mean the hell
Speaker 3: Mary did not get to the end zone. Steve Jeffett
Speaker 3: did not reach the goal line, but somehow it was
Speaker 3: caught in the end zone Brandon Johnson. That was the
Speaker 3: hell Mary from Russell Wilson to Brand Johnson, but no
Speaker 3: two point conversion. Some debate about a penalty in the
Speaker 3: end zone, there wasn't called, and the Broncos fall shorts
Speaker 3: and lose thirty five thirty three. But it wasn't that
Speaker 3: hell Mary, even though we saw Russell Wilson play a
Speaker 3: little bit better. Sean Payton still having some issues with
Speaker 3: the operation. Sound familiar, Here's Peyton.
Speaker 10: There's a number of drives you know where we're late
Speaker 10: with personnel getting out of the huddle. We took a while.
Speaker 10: I mean, that's got to change. We had to burn
Speaker 10: timeouts in the first half and I'm not used to doing.
Speaker 10: We got to be better, and I've got to be better.
Speaker 10: Russ's got to be sharper with get getting the play
Speaker 10: out and then we got to look at how much
Speaker 10: we have in But you know, if we need to
Speaker 10: riskband it, we will.
Speaker 1: Well you know, one too long ago when Sean Payton
Speaker 1: was talking about Nathaniel Hackett and the bad operation because
Speaker 1: he was a bad head coach Jeff. Now he's getting
Speaker 1: it kind of a reality check, talking about going to
Speaker 1: wrist bands get personnel out today. On Monday, he said
Speaker 1: he had to shorten the verbiage now of the play
Speaker 1: calls so they can get to the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 2: Quicker.
Speaker 1: I mean they're they're searching for answers already, my man.
Speaker 6: Yeah, building a glass house over there is what Sean
Speaker 6: Payton's doing. It's easy to throw stones when you're watching
Speaker 6: from a farm, but once you're actually in there dealing
Speaker 6: with the quarterback, things get a little bit different. I
Speaker 6: thought it was ironic that he was talking about these
Speaker 6: kinds of challenges because I thought Russell Wilson played fairly,
Speaker 6: played fairly well, and Russell Wilson even said they played
Speaker 6: their best half of offensive football this year in that game.
Speaker 6: First of all I see with this team right now
Speaker 6: is that all the talk about culture and teaching people
Speaker 6: how to win and getting the right people in the room,
Speaker 6: it just it takes a while to make this kind
Speaker 6: of stuff work. And I will say this. The Broncos
Speaker 6: are probably a better team right now with Sean Payne
Speaker 6: coaching them, but the numbers game is not working in
Speaker 6: their favor because when you lose two games against teams
Speaker 6: you should beat at home, and you have the Dolphins
Speaker 6: coming up next, a couple weeks down the road, you
Speaker 6: get the Chiefs and the Bills and the Packers and
Speaker 6: the Chiefs again, it's starting to look like this team
Speaker 6: is going to end up being two and six, you know,
Speaker 6: two and five as they near the midpoint of the season,
Speaker 6: and that's just not going to get it done in
Speaker 6: a crowded AFC. So I understand the concerns and Sean
Speaker 6: Payton desire and make Russell Wilson as good of a
Speaker 6: quarterback as he possibly can be. But you're up twenty
Speaker 6: one three at home. You got to win that game.
Speaker 2: Hold up, John, if they're two and five. If they're
Speaker 2: two and five, what do they do a quarterback?
Speaker 1: Because you know people are going to be screaming for
Speaker 1: Jared Sidham or whoever.
Speaker 6: Oh man, it's I think part of it depends on
Speaker 6: how it looks, because you can be you can play well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this the second half that squandered this one.
Speaker 6: Away, thank you, thank you. No one wants to talk
Speaker 6: about that part of it. But defensively, they're not the
Speaker 6: same team they were a couple of years ago.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I want to chime in a little bit
Speaker 3: before we move on about this whole situation that is
Speaker 3: being talked about here in Denver at nauseum on Monday,
Speaker 3: the play calling and about it taking too long in
Speaker 3: the operation first point. I was told repeatedly after Sean
Speaker 3: Payton's initial comments to jare Belle and USA today this
Speaker 3: offseason texts from multiple members of that coaching staff from
Speaker 3: a year ago that just kind of all had the
Speaker 3: same sentiment, wait till Sewan starts working with Russ. We
Speaker 3: had these issues constantly last year. I was told repeatedly
Speaker 3: that there are issues about plays getting in too slow,
Speaker 3: and that blame kept going on Nathaniel Hackett and the
Speaker 3: offensive coaching staff. And now we're seeing the same issues
Speaker 3: with a new coaching staff coming in. And I remember
Speaker 3: at the beginning, maybe third of training camp, I asked
Speaker 3: Sean Payton about that communication between both sides, Steve, and
Speaker 3: he said to me, ninety percent of it is on
Speaker 3: the play caller when things go wrong, it's usually the
Speaker 3: play caller's fault. That is not where he's coming from.
Speaker 3: Right now, it looks like it is the same quarterback
Speaker 3: with two different play callers, that this is an issue
Speaker 3: with the verbiage. Now, the interesting part with the wristband
Speaker 3: was Russ was wearing a spand on Sunday, So I
Speaker 3: guess they're gonna change some aspects of the wristband, change
Speaker 3: some of the verbiage. This has been an issue with
Speaker 3: Russell Wilson his entire career. This was a big issue
Speaker 3: in Seattle. They just work ways to work around it.
Speaker 3: Michael Robinson has talked on our air at nauseum about
Speaker 3: the help that he gave in the huddle to Russell
Speaker 3: Wilson at times. So it's finding ways around it, which
Speaker 3: my last point. I know I'm going home with this,
Speaker 3: but I'm fascinated by it. During training camp, you always
Speaker 3: see right the play caller with the with the walkie
Speaker 3: talkie and they're talking to the guy. They're talking to
Speaker 3: the quarterback. That did not happen during training camp here
Speaker 3: in Denver, Sean Payton was in the huddle giving the plays.
Speaker 3: What I'm curious about was are we not practicing this
Speaker 3: or is there an aspect of this to where this
Speaker 3: is slowing down our operation in training camp. So we
Speaker 3: just have to make sure I get the play in
Speaker 3: so the rest of the other ten guys aren't affected.
Speaker 3: Jeff like, we have to get work on this. We
Speaker 3: can't let this slow us down to camp. I'm curious
Speaker 3: to try to get to the bottom of this because
Speaker 3: apparently it is an issue in Denver.
Speaker 6: Yeah. I have a hard time understanding how a quarterback
Speaker 6: who's played as long as Russell Wilson's played can't understand
Speaker 6: verbiage or can't get play calls in. It seems like
Speaker 6: it should be second nature, right, It's it's a miss draggery.
Speaker 6: It's it's hard to understand it, and it's happened so
Speaker 6: many times now that it's easy to say, oh, it's
Speaker 6: the play caller, but it's got to be the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, look and the guy. Let's let's not forget
Speaker 1: about this. He has had tremendous success in his career,
Speaker 1: but for things.
Speaker 3: That kind of wine always told me, Steve, not everybody's perfect.
Speaker 3: Somebody everybody has everybody has a flaw in their game.
Speaker 3: This is something russell'sn't been great.
Speaker 1: Hey James, what is it about being in Denver and
Speaker 1: bringing up how mama has raised you. I'm just talking
Speaker 1: about Colorado, I should say, not Denver. That's a part
Speaker 1: of the whole Colorado State Colorado thing, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Hey, Jeff. Another coach who who Sean Payton supposedly was.
Speaker 1: Going to replace before he got to Denver's Brandon Staley
Speaker 1: with the Chargers.
Speaker 2: As we know, this team is loaded.
Speaker 1: They spend all their money on defense, I mean tons
Speaker 1: of it on defense, other than on their quarterback.
Speaker 2: They're owing to. They've lost games the same ways. It's
Speaker 2: tough teams. Now well to Miami and then well Washington.
Speaker 1: They're doing all right, but they just keep you know,
Speaker 1: they just keep getting I'm sorry the charge loss of
Speaker 1: Tennessee beat on the deep ball. Defensively, they're not affecting
Speaker 1: the quarterback the way they're paying people to do that.
Speaker 1: And Brandon Staley is a defensive coach. We know last
Speaker 1: year there are roamings about his job security. The way
Speaker 1: this team has started. Are you concerned about this?
Speaker 9: Yes?
Speaker 6: No, without without a doubt. You're talking about again, a
Speaker 6: team that was supposed to be pushing the Chiefs every
Speaker 6: year we hear this right. The Chiefs owned the AFC
Speaker 6: West for the last seven years, But the Chargers are
Speaker 6: always that team that's snipping at their heels and getting
Speaker 6: close and on the version of a huge breakthrough. And
Speaker 6: I just don't get it. Brandon Staley is a I
Speaker 6: like him as a coach, I like him as a person,
Speaker 6: but he's supposed to be a defensive guy, and the
Speaker 6: defense has never been good since he's been there. There
Speaker 6: was a great stat that I read earlier today that
Speaker 6: said the Chargers as a team have given up more
Speaker 6: pass completions of over thirty yards than any team in
Speaker 6: the league since Stateley became the head coach. And you're
Speaker 6: talking about a secondary that has Derwin James, that has
Speaker 6: j C. Jackson, that passed for us is Khalil Mack
Speaker 6: and you know.
Speaker 3: Joey Bosa, all these guys, and it just never seems
Speaker 3: to work.
Speaker 6: Again, oh to two with against teams that they're good
Speaker 6: enough to beat. You can't do that in a crowded AFC,
Speaker 6: and certainly when you're chasing the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the one that blows me away. And the
Speaker 3: other part is if you look at the numbers, the
Speaker 3: way Ryan Tannehill has closed out games with the Tennessee
Speaker 3: Titans that are in overtime. He's five and one. If
Speaker 3: you look at what's happened with Justin Herbert in these
Speaker 3: late games, the stats are not the same. A lot
Speaker 3: of times, guys, that's coaching right, what happens down the stretch.
Speaker 3: And a lot of times also we think one guy's
Speaker 3: gonna win Rookie of the Year, Steve. Maybe another guy,
Speaker 3: a sleeper already through two weeks, could be the rookie
Speaker 3: of the year. We'll tell you who Steve has his
Speaker 3: eye on. Coming up next on the NFL Report.
Speaker 1: Are back with a final block here at the NFL
Speaker 1: Report And JPI was at the Rams Niners game yesterday.
Speaker 2: A fantastic game, Trucky.
Speaker 1: The Rams are a lot better than we give them
Speaker 1: credit for their very physical upfront. Matthew Stafford looks absolutely reborn.
Speaker 2: You saw that in joint practices with the Broncos.
Speaker 1: But rookie wide receiver Puka Nakua, a fifth round draft pick,
Speaker 1: the latest mid to late round draft pick the Rams
Speaker 1: had that have been developed by wide receiver coach Eric Yarber,
Speaker 1: who is the secret sauce to this offense no one
Speaker 1: talks about.
Speaker 2: He went for.
Speaker 1: Fifteen catches against the Niners. He's got twenty five over
Speaker 1: the first two games, the most by a rookie. First off,
Speaker 1: the fifteen catches the most by a rookie in the game.
Speaker 1: Twenty five most by a rookie over two games. But
Speaker 1: you know, I'm speaking of Niners players. After the game,
Speaker 1: Talaa Hufona was like, oh, I know his brother.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm tight with his brother. But I always knew
Speaker 2: Pookap was a dog.
Speaker 1: And they said in the first half he was their
Speaker 1: zone buster, right, and they saw it on film against
Speaker 1: Seattle the week before that. He saw the seams in
Speaker 1: their zones and was killing them. So in the second
Speaker 1: half they went up, they pressed him a little bit more,
Speaker 1: they put a little more traffic.
Speaker 2: In front of him.
Speaker 1: He had eight catches in the second half after having seven.
Speaker 2: In the first, so he was better. He's a real dude.
Speaker 1: And here's the thing, when Cooper Cup comes back, because
Speaker 1: right now he's playing Cooper Cup's role, I mean lining
Speaker 1: up at flanker, cracking guys like Nick Boges at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage.
Speaker 2: When Cup comes back, he may change roles a little bit,
Speaker 2: but he clearly.
Speaker 1: Is trusted by Stafford, as you can tell by the
Speaker 1: twenty targets James he received against the forty nine ers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we should make it abundantly clear with Cooper Cup
Speaker 3: comes back, this is not just like all right, Cela
Speaker 3: ter Pooka that that is not the case. He's definitely
Speaker 3: gonna have a major role in this offense. And when
Speaker 3: they had those two joint practices in Denver and I
Speaker 3: was there, I was just like, this guy is torching
Speaker 3: a secondary that's supposed to be very, very good. Now
Speaker 3: through the first two games, we haven't really seen it
Speaker 3: plays women at that level, but he was really the
Speaker 3: dominant player in those two games. And I love that
Speaker 3: we bring up Cooper Cup repeatedly because that's what I
Speaker 3: love about Team Steve is this guy drops in the
Speaker 3: draft due to concussion due to speed. He was like
Speaker 3: a four to five guy. You know who else was
Speaker 3: a speed guy that dropped. A guy that dropped because
Speaker 3: of his speed, Cooper Cup. And this is a team
Speaker 3: that has not really been focused on the speed aspect
Speaker 3: of it. It's understanding defenses, understanding space, understanding ways to
Speaker 3: get open. And this is just a great example, just
Speaker 3: like Cooper Cup to go out there and be a
Speaker 3: dominant player when the whole league apparently is based off
Speaker 3: of speed.
Speaker 1: JP he's got football speed because they were using him
Speaker 1: on jet sweeps and things like.
Speaker 2: That as well. They were getting the ball in his hands,
Speaker 2: speaking of speed.
Speaker 1: This edition of the NFL Report, it flew by j Peb.
Speaker 1: You want to thank Sarah Watash and Jeffshediah NFL dot com.
Speaker 1: Slash first read for more on Jeff and We'll be
Speaker 1: back on Thursday. Also listen to the podcast