Speaker 1: They Around the NFL podcast.
Speaker 2: It's Spongos time from the Chris Wesley podcast studio. It's
Speaker 2: Around the NFL the Flag Shift Program Week nine. Dan
Speaker 2: Hans is here with heroes Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler
Speaker 2: and boys.
Speaker 1: I have to say, came.
Speaker 2: In to the office today, or I would I should say,
Speaker 2: you know, settling in for the ten am or the
Speaker 2: one pm Eastern games today.
Speaker 1: And I'm thinking to myself, Oh, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I do not know, because let's face it, the Case
Speaker 2: Miami game had a nice ending, but it wasn't kind
Speaker 2: of what we were expecting or hoping for, which was
Speaker 2: like a glorious shootout. And then I looked at six
Speaker 2: rookie quarterbacks starting on the slate for Sunday, and even
Speaker 2: beyond those six rookies, a bunch of like backups or
Speaker 2: kind of journeymen dotted across the landscape, and I was
Speaker 2: thinking this could be a bad Sunday rough seas and
Speaker 2: then Gregy the game started and we got some bangers.
Speaker 2: I think this is one of the most exciting Sundays
Speaker 2: we've had in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: I think this is the best Sunday. Not only does
Speaker 3: that have the most big games. So that's important. And
Speaker 3: I think the Dolphins Chiefs was intriguing in that it
Speaker 3: felt like a big game.
Speaker 4: And we'll get into all that.
Speaker 3: But if one Sunday deserves bongos just as a Sunday,
Speaker 3: this is it.
Speaker 4: Some all hit it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think there's almost no close second place. I
Speaker 5: mean it delivered in ways that I think to the
Speaker 5: point where this is the first Sunday that I recall
Speaker 5: the three of us gathered around Dan's screen watching the
Speaker 5: old one of these games, holding hands, embracing together. That
Speaker 5: hasn't happened a lot in the late window.
Speaker 3: NFL is kind of undefeated when he can get like
Speaker 3: mini classics out of Texans Bucks and what was the
Speaker 3: other one?
Speaker 4: Vikings Falcons in week ten?
Speaker 2: Yeah, some unexpected bangers today, But yes, I think everyone
Speaker 2: expected Philly Dallas to bring the goods and it did.
Speaker 1: So why do why not start there?
Speaker 2: Let's head to Philly where the Cowboys were looking to
Speaker 2: make a statement and the Eagles were looking to keep
Speaker 2: pace or maintain pace a top.
Speaker 1: The NFC Eagles.
Speaker 6: Are five stuconds away from going eight and one.
Speaker 7: What happened?
Speaker 1: Prescott back again?
Speaker 8: He steps up, he pumps he fires and it's caught,
Speaker 8: but he's tackled.
Speaker 6: Tackled of Ceedee Lamb at the two yard line.
Speaker 1: I think gave us over the Eagles win.
Speaker 7: What a heavyweight fight we've witnessed.
Speaker 1: This is great football.
Speaker 2: There you go, mel Ree and Mike Quick with the
Speaker 2: call w IP.
Speaker 1: It was. It was a great fight. We talked about
Speaker 1: it on Thursday.
Speaker 2: It's like, hey, Dallas win a game, a mega statement,
Speaker 2: or let's go back and forth, you know, show up,
Speaker 2: and they certainly did. But ultimately, despite the Eagles kind
Speaker 2: of doing everything they could down the street much to
Speaker 2: blow that game the Cowboys and this was a theme
Speaker 2: in this game, just we're falling short time and time again,
Speaker 2: ending with that Ceedee Lamb reception and tackle inside the
Speaker 2: five yard line. Final score Eagles twenty eight, Cowboys twenty three.
Speaker 2: Mark a lot of places to go here. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: it is that that frustration. So many places mark to
Speaker 2: go here as we as you begin the show. But
Speaker 2: it's that Cowboys that pain. Mark had some anxiety about stuff.
Speaker 7: I did not at all like it.
Speaker 4: Just the wholeso rides on you nailing the tone.
Speaker 7: I don't need anything.
Speaker 4: I am summing it all up succinctly.
Speaker 7: Sure, well, we'll see if that happens. That's not my
Speaker 7: skill set.
Speaker 1: And we could we're going to go through them.
Speaker 2: But the Cowboys had so many little micro moments where
Speaker 2: they could have stole this one, and yet they fell
Speaker 2: short each and everything.
Speaker 5: The word because I think the theme when we previewed
Speaker 5: this was to your point, like, Okay, asking for a
Speaker 5: win out of pocket or everything else is worthless, is
Speaker 5: a lot, but don't go and fold the tent out
Speaker 5: of the gate, And they did not. I thought you
Speaker 5: got a really high quality game out of Dak Prescott's
Speaker 5: ceedee lamb gives you one hundred and ninety one yards.
Speaker 5: I mean a lot of what you were asking for happened.
Speaker 5: But there was this like ongoing tussle with like the
Speaker 5: football gods and demi gods and various like mythological figures
Speaker 5: in this one. And there are these Canwboys moments, nymphs,
Speaker 5: you name it, Elvin creatures. I mean, there's all happening
Speaker 5: about the people, trolls, under bridge rolls. Yes, yes, the
Speaker 5: whole like the whole kitt kaboodle doing great so far.
Speaker 5: I keep going, yeah, like we're right on, No, But
Speaker 5: I think it started for like that. It to me
Speaker 5: it started with these little moments like Luke Schunmaker getting
Speaker 5: down a fourth and goal from the Eagles one. It's
Speaker 5: twenty eight to seventeen at that point with ten minutes
Speaker 5: to go, and it's like the Cowboys on the next
Speaker 5: drive they score a touchdown after forcing a punt, but
Speaker 5: it's twenty eight twenty three, and you get this moment
Speaker 5: where Dak Prescott is racing towards the end zone on
Speaker 5: the two point conversion to make it a three point game,
Speaker 5: and is it just goes out of bounds, and it's
Speaker 5: like it clouds what has been a really good Dak performance.
Speaker 5: On the next drive that they have, it is still
Speaker 5: twenty eight to twenty three, it's fourth down, and Dak
Speaker 5: has on it is the rare bad throw in this
Speaker 5: game where he's not aiming at Ceedee Lamb but Jalen Tobart.
Speaker 5: It's an off kilter toss out of bounds. The Eagles
Speaker 5: get the ball back. There's about a minute and seven
Speaker 5: left at this point when DeAndre swipt fumbles the ball,
Speaker 5: but the Eagles recover right, they still are forced to punt.
Speaker 5: Dallas then gets the ball back with forty six seconds.
Speaker 5: They go on a drive that is sort of a
Speaker 5: maddening drive. It had like five plays and five penalties
Speaker 5: on both teams and it ends with that play we
Speaker 5: just heard with Ceedee lamb short of the goal line
Speaker 5: on third and twenty six to end the game. But like,
Speaker 5: even though these went, these things went against Dallas, it
Speaker 5: felt like the Eagles were inviting the Cowboys to take
Speaker 5: the game away from.
Speaker 1: Them, right.
Speaker 2: I mean, in those final minutes it was third and
Speaker 2: twenty six because Dak gets sacked on back to back
Speaker 2: plays and Greg the Eagles allowed fifty six yards of
Speaker 2: penalties that allowed the Cowboys to get to the six
Speaker 2: yard line. And these are penalties not just bad in
Speaker 2: terms of, you know, not taking care of business at
Speaker 2: the end. It was stopping the clock and making what
Speaker 2: seemed like would be almost an impossible ask on the
Speaker 2: Cowboys on that last drive where they really seem to
Speaker 2: be in the driver's seat and they just couldn't get
Speaker 2: it done right.
Speaker 3: Brad Bury gets hurt on the first DPI. He's been
Speaker 3: having a bad year. There was a you know, just
Speaker 3: a mental mistake by Hassan Reddick. There was an encroachment
Speaker 3: by Carter and yet I look at this game and
Speaker 3: it's a fun game to analyze because I think every part,
Speaker 3: every aspect of both teams had great moments and bad moments.
Speaker 3: So it's not easy like pin blame or this guy's
Speaker 3: the hero. But ultimately it's another game where at the
Speaker 3: very end of the game, it's Philly's pass rushers who
Speaker 3: make the biggest plays in the game. The two biggest
Speaker 3: plays in the game to me are those two back
Speaker 3: to back sacks. And when it comes down to it,
Speaker 3: they have so many different ways that they can win games,
Speaker 3: and we've seen it this year. They haven't been able
Speaker 3: to run the ball the last three weeks, and they've
Speaker 3: been able to survive that. And it's Carter, and it's
Speaker 3: Josh Sweat and it's Brandon Graham.
Speaker 4: Like it ever was.
Speaker 3: I was getting flashbacks to the Patriots Super Bowl with
Speaker 3: that play that Brandon Graham almost ended the game. I
Speaker 3: thought Doc did a nice job even just holding onto
Speaker 3: the ball. And yeah, the Cowboys are gonna be really
Speaker 3: wishing that they had taken these opportunities because I think
Speaker 3: they played the Eagles well. But it's just not surprising
Speaker 3: to me because Philadelphia has so many different areas, and
Speaker 3: it's always those guys up front on defense that end
Speaker 3: up closing it out.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about some injuries that the Eagles incurred in
Speaker 2: this game. Jalen Hurts will start here. He gets whacked
Speaker 2: in the knee right before the half and he limps
Speaker 2: off the field. They show him coming out of the
Speaker 2: tunnel after the half and he's got a real limp
Speaker 2: and it's like, Oh, what's going on with him? They
Speaker 2: promptly leads him right down the field for a touchdown
Speaker 2: after the game. Didn't make up any didn't make anything
Speaker 2: of it, but it was a scary moment for them.
Speaker 2: They also appear to have lost Dallas Goddard, one of
Speaker 2: their most trusted targets.
Speaker 1: The tight end went down hard on his arm after
Speaker 1: the game.
Speaker 2: In the locker room, he saw him in a sling
Speaker 2: and it looked like he's going to be missing significant
Speaker 2: time as well.
Speaker 1: So they don't get out of this clean.
Speaker 2: We mentioned the secondary injuries on that last drive, so
Speaker 2: Philly paid the price.
Speaker 1: But they're eight and one.
Speaker 4: They get a buye, they.
Speaker 2: Get up, they get a they're going into a buy
Speaker 2: now to get healthy. They're eight and one and the
Speaker 2: Cowboys are now five and three. Uh, and it does.
Speaker 2: Although this was a much better Dallas showing than we
Speaker 2: saw against San Francisco. God, that's you start to get
Speaker 2: that feeling if you're on the on the Cowboys, like
Speaker 2: are we ever going to get over the hump against
Speaker 2: these guys?
Speaker 5: Yeah, because you know, in a long season there's real
Speaker 5: estate that can be made up down the road. But
Speaker 5: losing this game puts you in a tough spot, puts
Speaker 5: everyone in a tough spot in the NFC East. And
Speaker 5: it's not we're not too far away to think about
Speaker 5: which one of these teams is going to get that
Speaker 5: that one buy in the And it's like this was
Speaker 5: a kind of a necessary lever pull for Dallas. I
Speaker 5: think to make a statement and you know, make up ground,
Speaker 5: and the opposite happened, and yet I don't come out
Speaker 5: of it. I come at it with more faith than Dallas.
Speaker 5: This version of a Dallas team could win games on
Speaker 5: the road in the playoffs if you get this, Except
Speaker 5: they still feel like it does come down to these
Speaker 5: final moments and it's like I want to trust them.
Speaker 5: I do trust them more up to this game, but
Speaker 5: Philly seems like an almost impossible foe in terms of
Speaker 5: their matchup.
Speaker 4: Well, Deck, Deck's playing really well.
Speaker 3: The end about gaining, he played awesome, I thought. I
Speaker 3: think he's been near perfect for three weeks. Although that
Speaker 3: one throw it at Tovert really it was a big
Speaker 3: spot and it was like the one really bad thing.
Speaker 4: That's what I talking about.
Speaker 2: And the City Lamb, I mean, I know he's been
Speaker 2: huge the last two weeks of them, but this guy
Speaker 2: cannot be covered in this game. He's in one on
Speaker 2: one coverage in the end zone. Give Cede Lamb a
Speaker 2: chance to win a jump ball and win that ball game.
Speaker 5: And that one that one spot. Yes, but they did
Speaker 5: target him sixteen times.
Speaker 1: It wasn't told.
Speaker 3: It was in ferget. Ferguson is stepping up as a
Speaker 3: real guy. I mean, he has replaced Dalton Schultz and
Speaker 3: maybe maybe not extra, but he's at least replaced Dalton Sultz.
Speaker 4: They have certain things to be proud of. I did.
Speaker 3: Their defense was disappointing, you know, especially in the third quarter.
Speaker 3: But in the first half of this game, Dallas is
Speaker 3: putting up touchdowns and the defense is just letting Philadelphia
Speaker 3: do the same. Right back and the Eagles get touchdowns
Speaker 3: in four of their first six drives, but you can't
Speaker 3: kill them that much when they forced three to three
Speaker 3: and outs in the fourth quarter to set it back
Speaker 3: up for the offense. And so that's why I look
Speaker 3: at this and both teams have a lot to work
Speaker 3: on and a lot to improve. But you said the
Speaker 3: one seed. Look, Philadelphia's next three games before they play
Speaker 3: Dallas again is at Kansas City and then Buffalo and
Speaker 3: then San Francisco. So we could be in a different
Speaker 3: situation before that Sunday night game against Dallas.
Speaker 2: And I'll throw out the next two games for Dallas
Speaker 2: or maybe against the two worst teams in the league
Speaker 2: or two of the three worst teams. You got Giants
Speaker 2: on their fourteenth string quarterback and then at Panthers. So
Speaker 2: like I mean, if they could have found a way
Speaker 2: in this game, they really would have had some momentum.
Speaker 2: And then who knows where this division goes. It's still
Speaker 2: wide open because the Eagles. As much as you cannot
Speaker 2: take away anything for team that has won loss, as
Speaker 2: we get deeper into November, you don't sense that this
Speaker 2: is a juggernaut, Like this is a team that still
Speaker 2: has some things to work out if they want to
Speaker 2: actually hoist the trophy.
Speaker 3: But they're figuring it out and winning as they go
Speaker 3: to They can't, I said, I mean.
Speaker 4: They're not healthy.
Speaker 1: You can't.
Speaker 2: You can't demean them for that, because that's one of
Speaker 2: the hardest things to do is to win while you're
Speaker 2: you know, not playing your best ball. But I don't
Speaker 2: get the feeling that they're playing like at a high level,
Speaker 2: at least compared to what we were seeing from them
Speaker 2: last year.
Speaker 5: I think that they keep getting compared to themselves from
Speaker 5: a year ago. And you're right, it's and they were
Speaker 5: such a contrast last year's team to the Eagles team
Speaker 5: from the year before, and so we want what happened
Speaker 5: last year, and it's like it's been imperfect. But I
Speaker 5: love the by coming up right now because I don't know,
Speaker 5: like Jalen Hurts has been testing when been asked about
Speaker 5: his knee and when he went down today, I did
Speaker 5: not look good to me at all.
Speaker 3: Well, and he looks slow on a play before that
Speaker 3: knee injury. Yeah, and happened where I forget which Dallas
Speaker 3: defender ended up runing him down by I'm just thinking
Speaker 3: like that would not have happened if he is healthy
Speaker 3: I just I.
Speaker 5: Don't know if a solves all that, but it couldn't
Speaker 5: come in a better time because they're banged up all
Speaker 5: over the place and Goddard was playing really well for.
Speaker 3: Them twenty four and three with Jalen Hurts as the starter.
Speaker 3: That's including the playoffs in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Damn good.
Speaker 3: So it's even better in the regular season. But twenty
Speaker 3: four and three, I mean they I think winning becomes
Speaker 3: a habit there. They're winners. They find different ways to win.
Speaker 3: They can win any style of game. If they're not
Speaker 3: running the ball, like they haven't been able to last
Speaker 3: two or three weeks, I think that's concerning, but they
Speaker 3: still can find a way.
Speaker 2: They have the same DNA as the next team we're
Speaker 2: about to talk about, a team that did outlast them,
Speaker 2: just barely in the Super Bowl, where when it does
Speaker 2: come down to those last couple of minutes the crucible,
Speaker 2: they always seem to find a way. That is the
Speaker 2: Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 1: M let's head to Germany.
Speaker 9: Very nice, Well, the Dolphins at the Kansas City thirty
Speaker 9: Chiefs lead fourteen or nothing.
Speaker 1: They'll throw it in near site.
Speaker 2: Tyreek Hill him right, Oh no, Tyrek col tumble, recovery,
Speaker 2: cut the side down.
Speaker 1: Pick cups, Bi gets high stepping.
Speaker 6: Touchdown chanceas City Whi Edwards.
Speaker 4: Hit Tyreek Kill right in the stomach.
Speaker 1: The ball came out and Brian Cook would not.
Speaker 10: Let the play in.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Jeremany, chief safety would turn this out.
Speaker 7: All day long.
Speaker 2: Chief safety Brian Cook took a fumble returned fifty nine
Speaker 2: yards for what turned out to be the decisive touchdown.
Speaker 2: The Chiefs are up twenty one zip after that late
Speaker 2: in the first half. They hang on for twenty one
Speaker 2: to fourteen win over the Dolphins at Deutsche Bank Arc
Speaker 2: in Frankfurt, Germany. Great vibe, they're great scene. Great job
Speaker 2: by rich and Orlowski and the mccordy and the whole
Speaker 2: crew there was. That was a good vibe, good game.
Speaker 1: Fun.
Speaker 2: The comeback fell short when Tua Tungevailoa could not handle
Speaker 2: a snap on fourth and ten from the case thirty
Speaker 2: one with one o three to play. Greg This game
Speaker 2: was again it's it's hard to what it's confounding watching
Speaker 2: the Chiefs this year because everything is so hard on
Speaker 2: offense and we're right now back into this.
Speaker 1: It's two weeks weeks in a row.
Speaker 2: Where you're just like watching and you're like, man, Mahomes
Speaker 2: is going on and off the field and the punter
Speaker 2: keeps coming out, and I thought it was an interesting,
Speaker 2: it was kind of funny, quite frankly moment when before
Speaker 2: their last possession, their last real possession, they had done
Speaker 2: nothing in the second half and they were about I
Speaker 2: want to say, around three minutes left. Don't hold me
Speaker 2: that it was about two to four minutes left, but
Speaker 2: I think it was around three minutes left. And they
Speaker 2: come back and they say, Matt Naggi, the offensive coordinator,
Speaker 2: called the Chiefs over and had a spirited, spirited things
Speaker 2: to say. He was fired up, and he was basically
Speaker 2: you could probably guess the context saying, I know where
Speaker 2: we've sucked in the second half, but let's close this
Speaker 2: goddamn game out because we're the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: And then what happens three and out again and they had.
Speaker 4: To to a third down play call there too.
Speaker 1: Bizarre, I don't know.
Speaker 2: So there are a lot of things where it's just
Speaker 2: like scratching my head about what's going on with the Chiefs.
Speaker 2: But anyway, the defense got the big stop in the end,
Speaker 2: and it was the defense that saved him.
Speaker 1: It's a defense Greg.
Speaker 2: That has you know, this team, you know, in position
Speaker 2: again for home field advantage. But it's hard not to
Speaker 2: think about the other stuff.
Speaker 3: It is, but they're very they're symbolic of this season,
Speaker 3: like these are the two best teams in terms of
Speaker 3: seeding heading into the day in the AFC. This was
Speaker 3: a show piece game. I mean, the NFL network looked
Speaker 3: at this at the beginning of the season. They thought, oh,
Speaker 3: this could be great, and it ended up being a winner.
Speaker 3: But like twenty the rest of twenty twenty three, defenses
Speaker 3: are winning like points are down, yards are down, big
Speaker 3: players are down. Everything is down, and even in a
Speaker 3: game like this, it's kind of about the defense. The
Speaker 3: Kansas City blitz forced panic from two a tongue of
Speaker 3: Iiloa on that fourth down play with all the movement
Speaker 3: that was happening before the snap and the offensive line,
Speaker 3: and that was the case for most of the day.
Speaker 3: They lead the NFL in negative EPA created when they blitz,
Speaker 3: and you saw it.
Speaker 4: On the last two drives.
Speaker 3: The Dolphins got two different chances after they had already
Speaker 3: caught up twenty one to fourteen, which was largely because
Speaker 3: of their defense holding the Chiefs under fifty yards fifty
Speaker 3: in the second half, forcing a turnover on Mahomes, which
Speaker 3: gave them a short field, and they took advantage of that.
Speaker 3: And they give them two different chances in the fourth
Speaker 3: quarter to go make a drive, and the Dolphins are
Speaker 3: driving on one of them, and Willie Gay hits Ahmed
Speaker 3: for a negative six and that was on a run
Speaker 3: blitz and then to a sack the very next play
Speaker 3: for eleven yards that ruins one drive. Then they get
Speaker 3: the ball back. Moster hits it for over forty yards
Speaker 3: on two runs and it's the blitz again those next
Speaker 3: four plays a couple times that that gets to him
Speaker 3: and disrupts them. And I kind of wish that scene
Speaker 3: Raheem Mostered again because he was cooking at that point,
Speaker 3: and I do wonder and McDaniel regrets that because ultimately
Speaker 3: their passing game was out of sync and had a
Speaker 3: lot of self inflicted wounds, but a lot of it
Speaker 3: was because the Chiefs were making them overthink.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the Dolphins, you know, atypical to everything else we've
Speaker 5: seen this season except when they seem to play Super
Speaker 5: Bowl contenders, did not convert a third down until six
Speaker 5: minutes left in the third quarter, and it looked like it.
Speaker 5: And it's like I thought this was one game where
Speaker 5: Tua and Miami kept getting into second and long, third
Speaker 5: and long.
Speaker 7: They were not making the plays. The early three quarters,
Speaker 7: they couldn't do much.
Speaker 5: And like I, this is a star even though defenses
Speaker 5: might be you know, trending up in across the league.
Speaker 5: Like all we we asked questions about Kansas City's offense
Speaker 5: week upt a week and that's fine, but they have
Speaker 5: like a super Bowl level star defense, like Trent McDuffie
Speaker 5: is has been out of this world and like, these
Speaker 5: guys are making plays. And I thought that today Steve
Speaker 5: Spagnola like to basically undo Miami's passing game.
Speaker 7: The way they did was a real feat.
Speaker 5: And it leaves me with some questions about Miami because
Speaker 5: when they've had to go and play the better teams,
Speaker 5: this offense has not shown up the way it has
Speaker 5: against lesser company.
Speaker 4: Offense hasn't been good enough against good teams.
Speaker 1: That's yeah.
Speaker 2: They're now zero and three against you know, every big
Speaker 2: team they've faced, and they can and Dolphins fans.
Speaker 4: Great today by the way their defense standing.
Speaker 7: It was their best defensive showing it and they.
Speaker 2: Say, oh, that's just you know, everyone's talking about that.
Speaker 2: It's like, well, it's true. Like that is now three
Speaker 2: true Super Bowl contenders you've faced, and they've all beaten you,
Speaker 2: and this one, you least you made it interesting. But
Speaker 2: you got your butt handed to you at the half
Speaker 2: and then weren't able to dig out of the hole.
Speaker 2: And yeah, you got to put I mean you got
Speaker 2: to put the loss on Tua ultimately, I think because
Speaker 2: there are two plays. Two plays again, if you want
Speaker 2: to be you want to be seen as a contender,
Speaker 2: you need to get bigger when the when the moment rise,
Speaker 2: when the crucible of the game arrives late in the game,
Speaker 2: he has Cedric Wilson open wide open for a touchdown
Speaker 2: and he boofs it. He throws some type of moon
Speaker 2: ball up.
Speaker 4: Was a miscommunication.
Speaker 3: He clearly thought Wilson was gonna look at the coverage
Speaker 3: break off the route.
Speaker 1: And he was wide open.
Speaker 2: He beat his man and was and waving his hands
Speaker 2: and it didn't get close to him.
Speaker 10: Uh.
Speaker 2: And then right after that he's unable to hold on
Speaker 2: to the snap and that leads to the turnover.
Speaker 1: Here's too on those two plays, that essentially decided.
Speaker 11: Things with what happened with me and said that was
Speaker 11: just miscommunication. And you know, in big time moments, those
Speaker 11: things like that can happen. So you know, I I
Speaker 11: I gotta throw a better ball.
Speaker 1: You know, it was just miscommunication there.
Speaker 11: And then with with the last play of the game.
Speaker 11: I mean, I'm always gonna blame myself. I I you know,
Speaker 11: I got to catch the ball. So whether that's getting
Speaker 11: in a in a better position to catch it or
Speaker 11: whatever it is. Can't end the game like that when
Speaker 11: we have an opportunity like that against a really good team.
Speaker 2: And I'm not going to flame Tua like overly because listen,
Speaker 2: ultimately it was against a very good defense and the
Speaker 2: snap could have been better and if there's a miscommunication there,
Speaker 2: that there is. But at the same time, you have
Speaker 2: to find a way in that spot, and he didn't,
Speaker 2: and they didn't.
Speaker 3: No, they're an offensive team and they were sloppy. Sometimes
Speaker 3: the game is lost in the first half. Like Tua's
Speaker 3: best throws of the day were totally blown by his teammates.
Speaker 3: They also had injuries on the offensive. I think about
Speaker 3: the great back shoulder he had to Tyreek Hill, except
Speaker 3: in the first half, except there was an illegal shift
Speaker 3: on Cedric Wilson where he just like messes it up.
Speaker 3: That's points, Dan, like, that's either three points or seven points.
Speaker 3: They were inside the twenty five at that point. I
Speaker 3: think of the beautiful ball to throw to Tyreek Hill
Speaker 3: that he just dropped. Those were points that was in
Speaker 3: field goal reigns. That brings it back. And then you
Speaker 3: think on the other side, not that there was incredible
Speaker 3: offensive execution, but sometimes it's the little plays and Rashi
Speaker 3: Rice making that diving play on third and five near
Speaker 3: his own end zone to keep a drive going when
Speaker 3: they were really struggling that ends up turning into a touchdown.
Speaker 3: It's kind of a boring answer, but it's like they
Speaker 3: just executed better. Like the Dolphins offense had a lot
Speaker 3: more mistakes than the Chiefs.
Speaker 5: It does not look this way in the box score,
Speaker 5: but I thought that the Chiefs there were little moments
Speaker 5: of hope where they got some helping hands because the
Speaker 5: Dolphins defense mcfonto did a nice job of essentially removing
Speaker 5: Travis Kelce from this game, but Kadarius Tony had little moments.
Speaker 5: Sky Moore had a big catch on second and twelve
Speaker 5: Jerreed McKinnon had that catch and run into the end
Speaker 5: Zone's like, it's just it's a start.
Speaker 7: Rashie Rice, I.
Speaker 5: Think, is like becoming the guy you hope he can become.
Speaker 5: And it's like it doesn't look like a whole sale
Speaker 5: operation at this point. But it was a better than
Speaker 5: it was better than other weeks considering Kelsey was a raised.
Speaker 1: Just absolutely disagree.
Speaker 2: I thought it was more disheartening as the season's going
Speaker 2: deeper now, and it made me think about how, oh
Speaker 2: the trade deadline just happened and they sat on their
Speaker 2: hands and didn't bring in another real weapon here, I thought,
Speaker 2: Rashid Rice, he gets the touchdown on the first drive,
Speaker 2: he has that great catch there, and that's good. Those
Speaker 2: are the only two targets he had in the game.
Speaker 2: And there are other moments in the game where you're
Speaker 2: just like looking, who's gonna make a play that the
Speaker 2: three and out after the NAGGI come to Jesus conversation,
Speaker 2: it's third and what half a yard?
Speaker 3: And that's sort of on mahomes the team.
Speaker 2: And this is what and and Mark you know this
Speaker 2: the Chiefs Browns playoff game a few years back on
Speaker 2: that ballzy call with the backup quarterback on third and short,
Speaker 2: Like they've had so many plays in their back pocket
Speaker 2: where they're confident they could execute a pass play in
Speaker 2: those situations. But the fact that that was like no, hope.
Speaker 2: I was like, who are these guys? And I don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't want to say because Kelsey could easily go
Speaker 2: off Greg for ten for two oh five and three
Speaker 2: their next game, So I'm not gonna say anything. I'm
Speaker 2: just saying, like, there's been a lot more quiet games
Speaker 2: from him this year than last year, and he's thirty
Speaker 2: three years old and there's no one else around him
Speaker 2: that's truly picking up the scene.
Speaker 10: You want to talk yoh, was just a little bit.
Speaker 3: I think I would not talk any because look, he's
Speaker 3: on pace for like twelve hundred yards.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but we could say that all day and the
Speaker 4: weapons around him, I can't say that.
Speaker 2: And I've thought the same thing you mentioned on the
Speaker 2: Thursday show. You see it on Twitter. It's like everybody's
Speaker 2: going nuts about the Chiefs offense, but they're seventh in
Speaker 2: DVOA and those like, But it's like, no, they don't
Speaker 2: pass the eye test a truly dangerous offense anymore.
Speaker 4: I agree with that.
Speaker 3: It's the people around him, and I think that play
Speaker 3: at the end. At some point you got to grow
Speaker 3: up and let Patrick Mahomes sneak the ball. The game
Speaker 3: was literally over. There was one player between the A
Speaker 3: and the B game. There's one player between the center
Speaker 3: and the two guards. The Miami decided to set up
Speaker 3: in that spot like we know you're not gonna sneak it.
Speaker 3: Like if that's Tom Brady, if that's Jimmy Garoppolo, if
Speaker 3: that's anyone. You're just tapping the center on the butt
Speaker 3: and you're going to half a yard and it's over.
Speaker 3: And Mahomes they haven't don't Well, they haven't done it
Speaker 3: once since he.
Speaker 7: Got hurt got Banks.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So you either got to be able to run
Speaker 3: forward with Pacheco for a yard or in that scenario,
Speaker 3: you have to give him the choice to do it.
Speaker 3: One last thing I want to say on this game
Speaker 3: is I think Brett Beach is loving this game because
Speaker 3: Trent mcdovey made that play and Trent mcdovey might make
Speaker 3: the Pro Bowl this year as a cornerback, and Trent
Speaker 3: mcdovey is on the Kansas City Chiefs in part because
Speaker 3: in large part because they traded Tyreek Hill. They ended
Speaker 3: up making trade, so it's not as like thin but
Speaker 3: as clean. But they got Trent mcdovey in the trade
Speaker 3: for Tyreek Hill, and this is the vision, not that
Speaker 3: he's going to replace him, but here's the vision. We're
Speaker 3: gonna get a couple picks, including one first round or
Speaker 3: a premium player. They ended up getting mcduffe and kr
Speaker 3: Laftus in that draft, and those are two premium pay.
Speaker 5: Absolutely on and that's one reason this defense is what it is.
Speaker 5: But flip side, I think Brett Beach would acknowledge, like, yeah,
Speaker 5: not only have we not replaced Tyreek Hill, like it's
Speaker 5: it is potentially our achilles heel this season.
Speaker 2: You know what's gone, The baps, the big ass plays,
Speaker 2: they're just gone from the offense. And that's what Mahomes
Speaker 2: built his legend on and he was able to win
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl last year in the VP without baps also,
Speaker 2: but now you're stripping off another layer this year.
Speaker 4: And this just I hear you.
Speaker 1: It's not bad.
Speaker 3: You play to win the game. It's it's seven and two.
Speaker 3: They're a different sort of team. They're a different team.
Speaker 2: I understand. Maybe I'm just a little you know what
Speaker 2: I wanted. I kind of wanted forty one thirty eight to minute.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you, Yeah, I think wanted it. But
Speaker 3: you know what they ended up getting. I was worried
Speaker 3: when I was twenty one nothing. I'm like, man, is
Speaker 3: that is this? They gonna get a stinker?
Speaker 2: I can't And I was the one early in September
Speaker 2: saying let's let the Chiefs figure this out. But I'm
Speaker 2: just I guess the reason I'm now like honking about
Speaker 2: this is it's like we're a little too late in
Speaker 2: the season now and again after the trade deadline to
Speaker 2: still be asking when are they going to figure things out?
Speaker 3: They are the hea, They're a I would say because
Speaker 3: of the schedule, they're a sizeable favorite to be the
Speaker 3: one seed.
Speaker 1: You are less concerned than I, maybe, but.
Speaker 3: No, I'm just saying, just they're seven and two and
Speaker 3: their schedule, and I.
Speaker 1: Hear you, and you have every right to be confident
Speaker 1: in the team.
Speaker 2: And I like, they're seven to two with Mahomes and
Speaker 2: Reid and things could be a lot worse.
Speaker 1: It's just a little strange watching them now. Just weird,
Speaker 1: all right? You know what else? Is weird.
Speaker 7: I did like the ref taking a call in German?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, added a gate.
Speaker 7: I'm sure that was planned.
Speaker 4: Just it's done, number eighty forty.
Speaker 1: I don't know. We're gonna have to be hooked on
Speaker 1: phonics for this game?
Speaker 10: Was that.
Speaker 1: All starting German did?
Speaker 4: That's a var rich, it's a var.
Speaker 7: My goodness, it's chose Claypool moving.
Speaker 5: That game happened about twenty seven hours ago. It just
Speaker 5: came to my mind now. But like it was, it
Speaker 5: seemed like they probably I think they cooked they cooked
Speaker 5: that up probably before, like the guy knew we would
Speaker 5: be saying, you know, saying that line, but uh, there
Speaker 5: you go.
Speaker 1: You know what else is weird?
Speaker 2: Remember on this very show a Sunday late in the
Speaker 2: season when we were like freaking out because Lovey Smith.
Speaker 1: I don't even remember the circumstances anymore.
Speaker 2: But wild stuff went down that allowed the Texans to
Speaker 2: win a game that allowed the number one overall pick
Speaker 2: to go to Chicago.
Speaker 7: Oh does that? Greg love that game?
Speaker 2: And it was the Texans now locked in at number two,
Speaker 2: and there was so much freaking out about it because
Speaker 2: hy would Houston win that absurd game and they were
Speaker 2: not going to get the guy that they.
Speaker 3: Want, Davis Mills's finest moment against the Colt.
Speaker 2: Right, And so that led to the Carolina Panthers trading
Speaker 2: for the first pick and getting Bryce Young and we'll
Speaker 2: get to that later, and the Texans having to quote
Speaker 2: settle CJ.
Speaker 1: Stroud, that feels like a very silly thought.
Speaker 12: Now, first down of the Bucks, fifteen ten seconds to go.
Speaker 12: CJ gets the snap, CJ looking throwing to the Enzell.
Speaker 4: So with the reception, rock Acrol.
Speaker 1: Want to come back. Oh you got it.
Speaker 2: Oh it deserves it, you got it.
Speaker 9: Strap strap strap struck strap strop from struck struck.
Speaker 1: CJ.
Speaker 2: Stroud threw for five touchdowns and a rookie record four
Speaker 2: hundred and seventy yards. What the final yardage and touchdown
Speaker 2: coming on a brilliant touchdown drive when they were down
Speaker 2: four with less than a minute to go.
Speaker 1: And I love this quote. Shout out to the AP.
Speaker 2: Here's what he said, give me the ball, call the plays.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna make the plays. And he did so, rookie
Speaker 2: lifting the Texans to a thirty nine Oh keep it going,
Speaker 2: lifting the Texans to a thirty nine, thirty seven win
Speaker 2: over the Bucks. Let's welcome in a friend. Mark VanderMeer,
Speaker 2: he's got that rock and roll play call. Or we're
Speaker 2: gonna start hearing that again. Nick Schuck, we got you,
Speaker 2: We got you one and done today. But man, it's
Speaker 2: quite a one.
Speaker 1: CJ.
Speaker 2: Stroud, he just locked up. He just locked up Rookie
Speaker 2: of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the year. And I'm
Speaker 2: wondering where he's gonna be on the next QB Index
Speaker 2: top top eight.
Speaker 13: Oh, it's tough that you'll do this to me right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, what was it?
Speaker 14: Sitting twelve thirteen for a while, four hundred and seventy yards?
Speaker 14: He just said it the rookie record for most yards
Speaker 14: in a game. He also posted the highest Next Gen
Speaker 14: Stats passing score of any quarterback in the league on
Speaker 14: Sunday at ninety six.
Speaker 4: And it was a game that.
Speaker 13: Was absolutely fitting of that score. Do I can I
Speaker 13: explain that scored?
Speaker 1: Please? Ok? But we gotta keep it, keep doing that, Yes.
Speaker 13: Exactly, guys. This is a game in which the Buccaneers
Speaker 13: went to halftime in relative control. Okay, let me just
Speaker 13: break this down for you real quick. They come out,
Speaker 13: they kick a field goal. It's twenty to ten.
Speaker 1: Early third.
Speaker 13: From then on, they were outscored twenty nine to seventeen.
Speaker 13: The Texans drives from there. This is how stupid this is.
Speaker 13: From their first possession in the start of the third quarter,
Speaker 13: go touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal kicked by a running
Speaker 13: back Dario and Goombawale by the way, Oh we'll get
Speaker 13: to that.
Speaker 1: Kyami Fairburn was my good punt.
Speaker 13: And then a touchdown drive that covered seventy five yards
Speaker 13: in forty seconds with no timeouts with a rookie quarterback. Okay,
Speaker 13: this was one of the greatest games I think I've
Speaker 13: ever seen, not because it was perfectly played football, but
Speaker 13: just because it was incredibly thrilling. It had everything, and
Speaker 13: the final play of significance made me shout in my
Speaker 13: future mother in laws spare pedrim metterhouse. Okay, that's the
Speaker 13: type of.
Speaker 1: Game it was, Nicholas, are you Okay?
Speaker 13: Luckily she wasn't here.
Speaker 3: But I can't believe the buck this Bucks defense too,
Speaker 3: Like it's a sign that the way they've constructed this roster,
Speaker 3: where like Carlton Davis is getting all this money and their
Speaker 3: defense getting all there, and they're built on this defense
Speaker 3: and Davis gets fried for three touchdowns in this game
Speaker 3: and they give up thirty nine points to a rookie
Speaker 3: on the road, Like, even if they had found a
Speaker 3: way to win this game, it's sort of an indictment
Speaker 3: on the structure, Like what is it about Stroud and
Speaker 3: Dell and Dalton schultzho is getting after it? Noah Brown
Speaker 3: who had a seventy five yarder and Nico Collins, Like
Speaker 3: what did you see today from them? That just like
Speaker 3: made this performance special.
Speaker 13: It was interesting because the first half it was a
Speaker 13: lot of CG. Stroud kind of hanging on the ball
Speaker 13: for a while and not really being too sure of
Speaker 13: where he wanted to go with it. And then it
Speaker 13: started to open up with some deep passes over the
Speaker 13: middle of the deep ense kind of the thing that
Speaker 13: you see Miami do so well. Houston started to do
Speaker 13: that well. But what was most intriguing to me was
Speaker 13: something that Davis pointed out on the broadcast, which is
Speaker 13: that a sign of respect or appreciation for who CJ.
Speaker 13: Stroud is at this point in his very young career.
Speaker 13: Was Todd Bowles calling off the blitz, which I think
Speaker 13: hurt them because he realized, I can't afford to sacrifice
Speaker 13: those defenders to create pressure. I need them in coverage,
Speaker 13: except Stroud sat back and pick them apart. I mean
Speaker 13: dimes all over the field. It was poised. It's a
Speaker 13: lot of the stuff that we've talked about with Stroud
Speaker 13: for most of this season, but it was just amplified.
Speaker 13: Fourth down, fourth and goal. They can't kick a field
Speaker 13: goal because they don't have a kicker.
Speaker 1: What does he do?
Speaker 13: He finds Dalton Schultz in the right corner of the
Speaker 13: end zone with a perfectly placed pass. They need a
Speaker 13: huge conversion late in the game, he drops a dime
Speaker 13: on Tank Dell. The next play he throws the game
Speaker 13: winning touchdown. It was that type of play from the
Speaker 13: second half on. It wasn't a four quarter performance. They
Speaker 13: wouldn't a halftime He had one hundred and thirty passing yards,
Speaker 13: he finishes with four to seventy. An absolute second half explosion.
Speaker 13: It's halftime adjustments, and it's a guy really dealing with
Speaker 13: adversity and proven to be wise beyond his years, which
Speaker 13: has been the story for this season. Why I think
Speaker 13: the Texans fans have every reason in the world to
Speaker 13: be so optimistic.
Speaker 4: About so much better home too.
Speaker 7: They have a nice little home, everything changes for Texans fans.
Speaker 7: I mean you have to win or lose.
Speaker 5: Like what is happening right now is like a franchise
Speaker 5: altering moment.
Speaker 7: And we came into this year kind of wondering, like,
Speaker 7: m is CJ.
Speaker 5: Stroud at a disadvantage because we don't really have If anything,
Speaker 5: we're curious about the lack of talent around him. They
Speaker 5: have three one hundred yard pass catchers today. They don't
Speaker 5: run the ball that really well, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 3: Either that they're terrible. They had zero run get the.
Speaker 2: Team in the Leaguey's turn and absolutely nothing thirteen for two.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I just I think the thing I took away
Speaker 5: was after Baker Mayfield goes and does what he does.
Speaker 7: This is a rookie. The look in CJ.
Speaker 5: Stroud's eyes was one of total calm, like on the sideline,
Speaker 5: and then he just goes in there and like executes
Speaker 5: complete magic. And it's like, this is a quarterback that
Speaker 5: is change. He's the one of the biggest stories of
Speaker 5: the entire season. And this fan base was lost at
Speaker 5: sea and now there's like intense hope.
Speaker 1: And that's that's how quickly it can happen.
Speaker 2: It's and and the Texans now and quite frankly before
Speaker 2: everything that turned his career into what it was or
Speaker 2: what it is now. They had a guy into Shaun
Speaker 2: Watson that looked like it was the future. And some
Speaker 2: organizations walk the earth for decades looking for a guy
Speaker 2: and they might have found another one here in stratt
Speaker 2: I never thought I'd lived to see the day that
Speaker 2: Dalton Schultz went ten for one point thirty in a game.
Speaker 2: Three players on the Texans went over one hundred and
Speaker 2: fourteen yards receiving in this game. And it does cover
Speaker 2: up because I want to just give him a little
Speaker 2: love here that Baker and the Bucks offense had kind
Speaker 2: of been in in a funk the last few weeks
Speaker 2: and he had led Baker led a great drive late
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter to put them ahead, and it
Speaker 2: looked like it was a game winning touchdown pass to
Speaker 2: Kate Odden and it wasn't enough.
Speaker 13: Yeah, the Buccaneers, I thought, finally kind of lift themselves
Speaker 13: out of the doldrums offensively. A lot of that had
Speaker 13: to do with Rashad White, who finally started to find
Speaker 13: some success on the ground started to happen I think
Speaker 13: in the week prior, but really picked up this time.
Speaker 13: He's also pass catchery total over one hundred yards from
Speaker 13: scrimmage combined between those two efforts, and he found Mike
Speaker 13: Evans for a long pass that ended up on the
Speaker 13: goal line.
Speaker 1: They were converting, they were keeping up.
Speaker 13: It's just that they gave Houston a little bit of
Speaker 13: a peak through the door, and they went right through
Speaker 13: the door. They just knocked it down. I'll tell you
Speaker 13: what you talk about Deshaun Watson and how he had
Speaker 13: that period with them and how he was, you know,
Speaker 13: a superstar and everything else. If it's me right now,
Speaker 13: if I had to pick between Deshaun Watson and CJ.
Speaker 13: Stroud and building a franchise, it sounds hyperbolic, but I'm
Speaker 13: saying it definitively, it's CJ.
Speaker 1: Stroud.
Speaker 13: The kid has an incredibly bright future. This is like
Speaker 13: a Justin Herbert level effect with the Texans. I think
Speaker 13: that we're going to see.
Speaker 4: Also, I don't think that's a hot take.
Speaker 3: I think there's probably about thirty front offices that would
Speaker 3: be right there with you.
Speaker 5: I think also, like the Bobby Slowick, you know, Shanahan
Speaker 5: esque offense has a little this is a well coached
Speaker 5: team like kind of all over. It's a complete sea
Speaker 5: change from what they went through the last two years.
Speaker 3: I love this list, but I'm glad Stroud got to
Speaker 3: the top of them. This is a record, by the way,
Speaker 3: most yards in a game. That's a big time record,
Speaker 3: especially because there's it's actually a lot of like slightly
Speaker 3: older players that the top of list. So I was like, Wow,
Speaker 3: he's gonna pass all these legends of the game. The
Speaker 3: list is kind of bizarre. Mark Boulger was next, but
Speaker 3: he was like an old, weird rookie that was somewhere
Speaker 3: else before Aaron Brooks underrated career but still Jeff Garcia
Speaker 3: and even older rookie. He was like thirty when he
Speaker 3: was a rookie, I don't know what he was doing.
Speaker 3: And then Kellen Moore. Kellen Moore threw for four hundred
Speaker 3: and thirty five yards is no agents. It was like
Speaker 3: one of those week eighteen games where no or seventeen
Speaker 3: years where no starters were playing.
Speaker 2: I think, But yeah, have we heard from Demiko Ryans
Speaker 2: on the show. Let's listen to Demiko Ryans on his
Speaker 2: young star quarterback.
Speaker 15: It's a gutsy performance from him. It wasn't all clean,
Speaker 15: but he gutted it out. He was tough in the pocket,
Speaker 15: made some plays right, made some big time throws for us.
Speaker 15: And the receivers they were reliable for him. They made
Speaker 15: those catches. They made tough catches, made big plays for
Speaker 15: So it's all those guys working together. But CJ was
Speaker 15: just very gutsy performance by him.
Speaker 2: And before we say goodbye to Shuck and good job
Speaker 2: Demiko Ryans, I think he's gonna stick for more than
Speaker 2: one Coach of the It's funny how it works out. Uh,
Speaker 2: what's funny how you get coach of the year. Sometimes
Speaker 2: when you know a quarterback falls into your lap like that,
Speaker 2: not taking anything away from it, but that's pretty nice too.
Speaker 2: It makes you look good having a great young quarterback.
Speaker 2: The Texans running back who kicked the field goal because
Speaker 2: the kicker was hurt, say his name for me, Shook,
Speaker 2: So I don't.
Speaker 1: Mess it up, dary Ogon. Let's listen to the call
Speaker 1: on k I lt.
Speaker 12: Of gun the running back for the lead, snap us down,
Speaker 12: the kickers off. But it's good story for three and
Speaker 12: the Texans are packing front.
Speaker 15: Are you kidding?
Speaker 16: We may be watching the changing of the game today
Speaker 16: and how it's played and how rosters are filled out.
Speaker 3: Okay, well, I think at least we might have seen
Speaker 3: a good Mowal's career extended a couple of years. It's like,
Speaker 3: let's keep him on our special themes for a while,
Speaker 3: and we got a nice back up joke.
Speaker 1: I hope it was. I hope he's just.
Speaker 7: Having caught in the moment. He's enjoying himself anyway, Bottle.
Speaker 1: Service Day, you could stay all night?
Speaker 10: Yeah, thanks, Bud.
Speaker 13: Hey, he's got the best swag of any kicker in
Speaker 13: history with the dark Advisor.
Speaker 1: You'll never see that again.
Speaker 2: You'll never see it again. It's such a good call,
Speaker 2: all right. It imagine imagine Shook on like in a nightclub.
Speaker 2: He would take up some real estate, his fist pumps
Speaker 2: and knock you out.
Speaker 4: I can imagine him working the front door, like you're.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he would fit as he's a bouncer or that's fair. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and but you could obviously see Shook in a bouncer role.
Speaker 2: But imagine him owning the dance floor. And it's like
Speaker 2: people are giving him a wide berth because of his
Speaker 2: immense size and strength.
Speaker 1: But the ladies they're still finding their way.
Speaker 7: Feel like you've spent some time pondering this.
Speaker 1: Let's move on.
Speaker 2: Let's head to the other big fun, surprise, silly quarterback performance.
Speaker 1: It went down in Atlanta. He weapons play of.
Speaker 16: A sixty nine yard possession, dops back to pass on
Speaker 16: third down, he stays in the pocket, fires to the
Speaker 16: inzol touchdown.
Speaker 8: Brindin pow the further Falcon past Dayton the Atlanta Falcons
Speaker 8: with a six yard touchdown pass.
Speaker 2: From Josh Dogs thirty twenty eighth Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Was twenty seconds ago. Oh boh, he did it.
Speaker 10: Dah.
Speaker 4: They say you never go double bongos.
Speaker 1: You went double bongos.
Speaker 4: Love it the big week.
Speaker 3: I think it's where that these two games are so
Speaker 3: they're bongos, their bongo worthy.
Speaker 2: This is like dropping the A bomb and not like
Speaker 2: having any media beforehand.
Speaker 1: You just hit the button. I like it.
Speaker 7: I'm dropping it twice.
Speaker 1: But you know it's interesting because you know I love
Speaker 1: the bongos.
Speaker 2: But actually I think I would like you to play
Speaker 2: another song, if.
Speaker 4: You may, producing Eric from the chair, and.
Speaker 1: I think Eric knows what I'm talking about.
Speaker 10: MM crank it.
Speaker 1: This is a very special honor entering son.
Speaker 2: I had already given up even the thought that it
Speaker 2: could be something that was still in play for twenty
Speaker 2: twenty three.
Speaker 7: We said it was too late.
Speaker 1: It felt like it was. And then a couple of
Speaker 1: things happened.
Speaker 2: The Kirk Cousin's injury, the spirited play of the Vikings
Speaker 2: in recent weeks, Josh Dobbs ending up on the roster,
Speaker 2: and then Josh Dobbs just he doesn't even know the
Speaker 2: names of his teammates, never needs to, but he knows
Speaker 2: how to make them winners. It's like a redo of
Speaker 2: what we saw with Baker and the Rams last year.
Speaker 2: The ubiquitous Journeyman through two touchdown passes, including a go
Speaker 2: ahead six yard at Brandon Powell twenty two seconds of play.
Speaker 2: He ran for a score five days as well, five
Speaker 2: days after being acquired in a trade, thirty one eight,
Speaker 2: outlasting the Falcons and Greg. I'm not saying, you know
Speaker 2: this is we have to vote on these things, mm hmm.
Speaker 1: But it's interesting.
Speaker 2: It's interesting that the Vikings are supposed to be dead
Speaker 2: and yet there's a lot to root for for this team,
Speaker 2: including this quarterback who seems to keep forrest gumping his
Speaker 2: way into very interesting places in his life.
Speaker 3: I mean, there is something about this team, they have
Speaker 3: got juice, they have got mojo.
Speaker 4: Whatever you want to say.
Speaker 3: This player, Josh Dobbs, maybe he could just be the
Speaker 3: player of atl I mean, we've been honking about him
Speaker 3: all week, all year, enjoying him, and what he did
Speaker 3: today was special and the way that they talked about
Speaker 3: it after the game that look, he hadn't introduced himself
Speaker 3: to anyone yet. O'Connor is literally describing the plays into
Speaker 3: the headset as he's talking to him, like Okay, first
Speaker 3: you know he's going this way and then to do
Speaker 3: this and this that, and Dobbs is able to process
Speaker 3: it all. And it's not because like oh they had
Speaker 3: a second change of heart and Jaron Hall was struggling,
Speaker 3: or that Dobbs ended up starting this game. Surprisingly no,
Speaker 3: Jaron Hall actually went down the field and looked quite
Speaker 3: good the rookie quarterback right off the bat. He was
Speaker 3: five for six for seventy eight yards and had a
Speaker 3: couple of rushes. But he gets a concussion on a
Speaker 3: running play and Dobbs comes in there after not taking
Speaker 3: on any snaps all weeks, and his fourth down scramble
Speaker 3: to get away from Falcons defenders and eventually pick up
Speaker 3: the first down on the game winning drive for twenty
Speaker 3: two yards. To me, was one of the NFL plays
Speaker 3: of the season.
Speaker 5: Mark It's almost like a redundant tale in the sense
Speaker 5: that Dobbs has done this three places now, and I
Speaker 5: mean the what O'Connell did say, like, you know, but.
Speaker 4: He didn't win the first ones in the other place.
Speaker 7: This is no.
Speaker 1: He just was like fannas last year Arizona.
Speaker 3: This year he was like respect he played well and
Speaker 3: gave it, but there was a rum this one.
Speaker 5: There was a drum beat of this play in Arizona.
Speaker 5: And I know that it was like, oh, we don't
Speaker 5: look enough with the with the Cardinals and stuff, but
Speaker 5: it was like dobb was doing this, especially on the grounds.
Speaker 5: I mean we even had like an NFL Plus segment
Speaker 5: about Dobbs's ground ability. It's like he led them in
Speaker 5: rushing today. You you I just say, I because well no,
Speaker 5: but it's a team effort. But like it was very
Speaker 5: flashpoint focused.
Speaker 7: Well also, I.
Speaker 5: Was thinking we did it like, well, this is going
Speaker 5: to get snowed under because it's not timely. He may
Speaker 5: not even start this speek, but bang, like the NFL
Speaker 5: gods said that will not be the way it is.
Speaker 5: I would back this as team of atl in a second,
Speaker 5: because we're right back to them winning strange one score
Speaker 5: games with a quarterback who's got a little bit of
Speaker 5: magic to him and it doesn't matter what's happening around him.
Speaker 2: I mean, do you want to in terms of like
Speaker 2: the story around it? Two weeks ago you nominated them
Speaker 2: for the fork and and that was when they still
Speaker 2: had Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 7: Yeah, there's something in there you did. I don't recall that, but.
Speaker 1: Does anybody remember anything?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1: Let's have a let's let's let this, let's sit on
Speaker 1: this for a couple of days.
Speaker 5: Okay, Well I would have said a team we just
Speaker 5: talked about the Texans are in that world for me too.
Speaker 3: Well, they're very similar. They're both angling for the seventy
Speaker 3: feed right now.
Speaker 2: Let's come back to that on Wednesday show. How about that?
Speaker 2: But yeah, Jaron Hall, poor kid. He he does look
Speaker 2: pretty good early on, and then he makes a faithful
Speaker 2: decision to believe that his legs and the speed that
Speaker 2: he had in college was enough to get to the
Speaker 2: pylon in the NFL and gets absolutely destroyed at the
Speaker 2: goal line, which leads to him leaving the game quickly
Speaker 2: and sets it up for Dobbs and I have and
Speaker 2: it's very easy to just do like the gloss it
Speaker 2: over version of this and be like Dobbs was amazing
Speaker 2: and what but he was a nightmare early on and
Speaker 2: it felt like it wasna he took a safety and
Speaker 2: then he had really his bad ball security and lost
Speaker 2: the fumble immediately after that. That's set up Atlanta first
Speaker 2: and goal from the one. Of course they didn't score
Speaker 2: a touchdown, and of course they didn't give it to
Speaker 2: be John Robinson three times at the goal line in
Speaker 2: that spot, but that's the falcon.
Speaker 4: But they at least they got it to John new
Speaker 4: Smith twic.
Speaker 2: But what once Dobbs got settled into the game, that's
Speaker 2: when he really started too. And it's just a credit
Speaker 2: to him because that's a nearly impossible situation. So you know,
Speaker 2: credit to the Vikings who started oh and three and
Speaker 2: they are in playoff position in the NFC and they've
Speaker 2: done it without Justin Jefferson for a month and he's
Speaker 2: gonna be I think he could come back as soon
Speaker 2: as what next week.
Speaker 4: He could.
Speaker 3: I think the latest reporting calls. Some question whether it'll
Speaker 3: be that quick, but we'll see.
Speaker 2: And they lose kJ Osborne to a concussion in this
Speaker 2: game as well. Running Back Cam Akers, who who's already
Speaker 2: dealt with an achilles injury in his career, had another
Speaker 2: achilles injury in this game.
Speaker 1: So I don't know if it's you know, the end.
Speaker 2: Type of Achilles injury, but that doesn't sound great at all.
Speaker 3: Dared left tackle got hurt during the week, Deresaw who's
Speaker 3: a pro bowler and ended up getting downgraded on the
Speaker 3: injury report. They didn't have him either, and they won.
Speaker 2: So from Owen three to five and four, and yeah,
Speaker 2: it was it was a really it was a fun
Speaker 2: game to watch. And it just shows you, you know,
Speaker 2: the power of these games sometimes where or you just
Speaker 2: don't know what's gonna happen. I don't even know how
Speaker 2: they were competitive the Vikings and they and they win somehow.
Speaker 3: I've got a I've got a theory their opponent that
Speaker 3: they were playing, the Atlanta Falcons, a team that looks
Speaker 3: at opportunity and looks at great players, and they just
Speaker 3: find a way to blow it, to blow things and
Speaker 3: and Heinike, you know, you you watched it closer than me,
Speaker 3: But I was keeping an eye on this one because
Speaker 3: I'm just fascinated by it.
Speaker 12: You know.
Speaker 3: He made miss some mistakes, but he made some good
Speaker 3: plays too, Like they were running the ball, like this
Speaker 3: is a team that I I just don't trust him.
Speaker 3: It was why I said it in the previo, was
Speaker 3: like four and a half points is way too much
Speaker 3: for this Falcons team against any team with some self belief.
Speaker 3: And there's there's something about him that's just it's just
Speaker 3: bad vibes.
Speaker 5: Was heinike and or any Was it another an uptick
Speaker 5: over ridder or is it just like we've seen.
Speaker 2: Definitely an uptick because I think Ritter is one of
Speaker 2: the worst quarterbacks in the league.
Speaker 1: Heinike is he was true to forem.
Speaker 2: Basically what Greg said is true is that he plays
Speaker 2: with that he plays with more confidence than perhaps he should.
Speaker 1: And he threw the ball a lot, He pushed the
Speaker 1: ball down field.
Speaker 2: He had a very bad interception in the third quarter
Speaker 2: that that really hurt them.
Speaker 1: They really is a game that.
Speaker 3: Also had a game winning drive, like they should have
Speaker 3: won the game. They go up four with two minutes
Speaker 3: to go after like their best drive.
Speaker 2: Of the They had multiple opportunities that first and goal
Speaker 2: from the one as an example, And there were different
Speaker 2: spots in this game where they should have really took
Speaker 2: control and instead they left the door open, which is
Speaker 2: like the opposite of like the Eagles and the Chiefs
Speaker 2: of the world. Like middling teams or poorly coached middling
Speaker 2: teams always seem to find a way to let teams
Speaker 2: back in and blow games. And I think if things
Speaker 2: are evening out for the Falcons after kind of being
Speaker 2: on the lucky side of the ledger early on.
Speaker 3: This NFC South is gross in this seventh seed for Minnesota,
Speaker 3: it's it's attainable.
Speaker 4: You look at their schedule.
Speaker 3: If they can settle dobs in there, I'm assuming he'll
Speaker 3: keep this already job if Faul gets healthy.
Speaker 4: But who knows.
Speaker 1: You got it now? Right?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I don't think you should.
Speaker 1: This is all they when they think they.
Speaker 3: Were excited about holl and then they were excited how
Speaker 3: that went. So it was a tough break for him
Speaker 3: as a rookie. But yes, but now that you saw it,
Speaker 3: you saw Dobbs.
Speaker 2: The thought in that building now is okay, Now let's
Speaker 2: get him comfortable. Let's actually hear him like, you know,
Speaker 2: he can learn some of the names of his teammates.
Speaker 2: Let's actually hear Josh Dobbs introduce himself at his postgame pressler.
Speaker 4: What's up, y'all?
Speaker 17: Josh Dobbs honor to be in Minnesota, introduced myself to.
Speaker 2: Everyone, well, class act, what a flex And you mentioned
Speaker 2: that this is not the first time he's been thrown
Speaker 2: into active duty out of nowhere. All he does, he's
Speaker 2: comparing this to when he got thrown into the playoff
Speaker 2: basically a play in playoff game last January.
Speaker 1: Here's what he said about that.
Speaker 17: Last year in Tennessee. So we had per se a
Speaker 17: couple first team routes. We played on a Thursday, so
Speaker 17: played Saturday to a Thursday game, so quick turnaround, late
Speaker 17: in the season, last second, last week of the season.
Speaker 1: So it didn't get a.
Speaker 17: Ton of reps, but we at least got, you know,
Speaker 17: two walkthroughs, a chance to communicate on the same page.
Speaker 17: This one was you know, kind of like learn as
Speaker 17: you go, hairs on fire, hold on to your seat.
Speaker 17: But guys were able to respond, you know. Obviously being
Speaker 17: in a similar situation allowed me to be able to
Speaker 17: not be too prideful, communicate when I'm when I don't
Speaker 17: know what's going on, but also tell the coaches, hey,
Speaker 17: what I need to be successful.
Speaker 5: That is a fiery leader. And nice job by the
Speaker 5: Cardinals giving away your best quarterback.
Speaker 4: Wow, I think I don't think they regret it.
Speaker 2: I think Kyler mur is probably a little better, not anymore,
Speaker 2: I guess don't agree.
Speaker 3: I think they're angling to get an even better quarterback
Speaker 3: in April.
Speaker 7: See how that works.
Speaker 2: I think everything ended in its right place, which is
Speaker 2: Dobbs in the middle of a playoff race. All right,
Speaker 2: let's take a break. Hey, let's let's ruminate. Let's just
Speaker 2: let that sink in. Team of around the NFL Nominee
Speaker 2: Minnesota Bike.
Speaker 7: Got some candidates and some competition.
Speaker 1: All right, let's take a break. All right, we're back.
Speaker 2: It's time now for the Sunday Drive, presented by the
Speaker 2: first ever.
Speaker 1: Toyota Grand Highlander.
Speaker 8: Hit it Eric Mark Andrews alone, split to the left,
Speaker 8: inside hand off Keith Mitchell, price attack leased to thirty
Speaker 8: five thirty.
Speaker 6: Who's he's in the ten touch con right in Keaton
Speaker 6: Mitchell and with twenty nine seconds left in the third
Speaker 6: quarter that hey's in the barn.
Speaker 2: Hey, that was Jerry Sandusky, of course, w BA l Hey,
Speaker 2: Keaton Mitchell, you're a celebrity now with the five foot eight,
Speaker 2: undrafted rookie from East Carolina, a child practically who had
Speaker 2: zero NFL carries before Sunday, ran for a buck thirty
Speaker 2: eight and his first pro touchdown.
Speaker 1: The Ravens absolutely hammer.
Speaker 2: Greg's beloved Ravens absolutely hammered Greg's beloved Seahawks thirty seven
Speaker 2: to three.
Speaker 1: Greg. I think I kind of hinted at it on Thursday.
Speaker 2: I didn't love your decision to lock against Gino because
Speaker 2: you've been kind of.
Speaker 1: Defending Gino for weeks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like you're kind of maybe getting a little contrarian
Speaker 2: like and pushing back against this idea that Gino hasn't
Speaker 2: been playing well. Yeah, and then I didn't see this game,
Speaker 2: but it doesn't appear that Gino played.
Speaker 1: Well once more, and the result in part is a
Speaker 1: total blowout.
Speaker 4: I with you, I'm with you, but I think if
Speaker 4: Gino is your main takeaway, you got them. I'm just saying.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying the fact that you locked against Gino
Speaker 2: after telling me for a month straight that you're not watching.
Speaker 4: It, because I think the Ravens are the best team
Speaker 4: in the league.
Speaker 3: That's like, I think it's not even that close, and
Speaker 3: so I'm gonna be locking them when I can't.
Speaker 4: They're going up two.
Speaker 1: Teams six and that's a tough situation, that's all, you know.
Speaker 3: Some would say it was, you know, foresight, five hundred
Speaker 3: and fifteen yards to one fifty one. I haven't seen
Speaker 3: two lines as uneven in this NFL season. The Ravens
Speaker 3: ran for seven point seven yards per carry today, not
Speaker 3: counting the two Neil downs at the end, they had
Speaker 3: almost three. They had three hundred yards before the nel
Speaker 3: Dowbs Keaton Mitchell is a dude. He had more yards
Speaker 3: over expected than any runner in three years in this game.
Speaker 1: Where was this guy in the practice squad?
Speaker 3: He was hurt earlier in the year, an undrafted rookie
Speaker 3: that they had some high hopes for, I believe, and
Speaker 3: then they yeah, kind of getting getting ready to play.
Speaker 3: In almost every one of his runs, he broke a
Speaker 3: tackle or showed really special speed. Gus Edwards is obviously
Speaker 3: running really well. They are a truly dominant offensive line
Speaker 3: right now. They're on a heater, and that's that's kind
Speaker 3: of why I'm just with the Ravens because they have
Speaker 3: two dominant lines. They have the offense line that did that,
Speaker 3: then they have the defensive line which held Seattle to
Speaker 3: a one point nine yards per carry. So right there,
Speaker 3: the running game, it's all over there. Gino Smith was harassed,
Speaker 3: he was sacked. He made bad decisions certainly in this game.
Speaker 3: But the pocket was collapsing on him almost every play
Speaker 3: in the first half of this game, and they when
Speaker 3: they didn't, they batted down his passes three times to
Speaker 3: end drive. So this thing was a total woodshed situation.
Speaker 4: But they're scary.
Speaker 3: Twenty nine first downs mark to six, and that that
Speaker 3: is not That is not about a quarterback. It's not
Speaker 3: about Lamar or Gino. It's not about anything other than
Speaker 3: one team just beating the ever living crap out of
Speaker 3: the other team on both sides.
Speaker 5: And beating the everliving crap out of a good team
Speaker 5: from the NFC.
Speaker 4: They all run defense too, by the way, going into
Speaker 4: this game.
Speaker 7: Right they shattered the lions.
Speaker 5: They've done this week's later, and this was this was
Speaker 5: a team that you know, came into the season with
Speaker 5: a new offense, and it looked that way even when
Speaker 5: we were back in London. They a completely different team
Speaker 5: at this point, and it's like, if you can we're
Speaker 5: in November. If you can control the offensive line and
Speaker 5: the defensive line this way, I mean, there really is
Speaker 5: probably no ceiling to them. I mean, Seattle's had a
Speaker 5: number of games where they ran the ball really well
Speaker 5: and it's like one point nine yards per Carrie Kenneth
Speaker 5: Walker completely removed, and you've got guys like if you're
Speaker 5: the Ravens, Keaton Mitchell out of nowhere becoming a star,
Speaker 5: your pick up, Kyle van Noy having a big game.
Speaker 5: It's like they are doing everything right and you didn't
Speaker 5: need to put everything on Lamar Jackson alone today it's
Speaker 5: got He's got all these pieces around him. Very scary
Speaker 5: situation for the AFC North and the rest of the AFC.
Speaker 2: Lamar didn't even play in the fourth quarter, so you
Speaker 2: get and they had more sacks and points allowed in
Speaker 2: this game, and it just it just this is greg.
Speaker 2: If you're a Ravens fan, you just want to make
Speaker 2: sure this keeps rolling and you're not peaking too soon,
Speaker 2: because right now it's you know, if I was still
Speaker 2: in the power rankings game, this team has a very
Speaker 2: real case now to be number one for the the
Speaker 2: play they put together.
Speaker 1: Really going back now about a.
Speaker 3: Month right, it's them getting healthier. I think on the
Speaker 3: offensive line was step one, and even in the secondary
Speaker 3: they have gotten healthier. A lot of those they had
Speaker 3: so many injuries early and they were surviving him and
Speaker 3: then they get these guys back. But you mentioned van Ney,
Speaker 3: Matt Abike, like Brandon Washington, they were just they're all
Speaker 3: controlling it. And Tony Romo, I think did a good
Speaker 3: job describing why Mike McDonald's so tough to play against.
Speaker 3: The defensive coordinator, just that every snap they're like lining up,
Speaker 3: they look the exact same and then they scramble you
Speaker 3: by moving post snap and mixing up the coverages and
Speaker 3: being so unpredictable. I think that's really good against good
Speaker 3: mental quarterbacks like a Gino Smith, where Gino's just holding
Speaker 3: the ball and doesn't know what he's seen. And I
Speaker 3: think that bodes well for matchups against the Burrows and
Speaker 3: Mahomes and Josh Allen that it gives you a chance
Speaker 3: that they're a really well coached It's not just about talent.
Speaker 3: They were a really really well coached defense. The only
Speaker 3: defense Dan, that has a better percentage of since the
Speaker 3: merger of touchdowns allowed per drive is the two thousand Ravens.
Speaker 3: That that's where the twenty twenty three Ravens are right now.
Speaker 3: I'm not saying they're that good. Schedules a big part
Speaker 3: of it. But when they've played pretty good offenses Seattle
Speaker 3: in Detroit, they've they've laid it on them too.
Speaker 2: Gino completed fewer than fifty percent of his passes through
Speaker 2: an interception.
Speaker 3: Lost the fumble too. That one wasn't really on him,
Speaker 3: but he could have had another interception.
Speaker 7: Are we about to go to our third Ravens Super
Speaker 7: Bowl in our time here?
Speaker 1: Dan? No, Well, you don't know that's four straight games
Speaker 1: or do you know at least turn two turnovers in
Speaker 1: a row? So they listen.
Speaker 2: Drew locks his backup so that we're not there yet,
Speaker 2: but he's got to start cleaning things up. We'll see
Speaker 2: if he does. But man, Ravens, Man, they're good. I
Speaker 2: don't want to peak early, though. They don't want to
Speaker 2: peak early.
Speaker 3: You don't want to peak early, but you also want
Speaker 3: to win your division. You'd love to get as high
Speaker 3: as a seat as I.
Speaker 1: Know who's nervous about the Ravens in the black jacket
Speaker 1: right there. Why Browns are up next?
Speaker 5: I mean they shadowed the Browns a couple weeks ago.
Speaker 5: I think the Browns should be nervous. I don't feel
Speaker 5: too much about it, Like we'll see what happens there.
Speaker 1: So we're just lying to each other.
Speaker 5: No, but it's like, I mean, go take care of
Speaker 5: business if you're for real, We'll get to the Browns
Speaker 5: down the road.
Speaker 2: And that was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota Let's
Speaker 2: Go Places. Learn more at toyota dot com slash Grand Highlander.
Speaker 2: All right, let's keep moving. I mean the lock competition's over.
Speaker 2: I mean you are just you want to talk.
Speaker 7: About hot I think it ended a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1: It's over. Yeah, enough with this, that's not true. How
Speaker 1: many times you lost so farther one?
Speaker 4: I mean we all lost it together.
Speaker 2: Ex give him a little round of applause, give him
Speaker 2: a give greg. The lock competition is already over on
Speaker 2: November fifth round of a clause.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I stopped thinking about it around Columbus Day.
Speaker 4: We're literally we've got like sixty percent of the season
Speaker 4: to go. We're nine weeks. That's how you'd answer twenty.
Speaker 7: This is about how we feel.
Speaker 1: All right, let's head to the super Dome.
Speaker 16: Saints up by seven to sixteen to play in the
Speaker 16: football game.
Speaker 1: Come on dire four looking for reason.
Speaker 10: The ball is out.
Speaker 1: The ball is out, still out, he's pulling doll on
Speaker 1: a peak.
Speaker 10: Warner picks it up.
Speaker 1: Pete Warner has it inside the twenty.
Speaker 4: The Saints didn't yet another.
Speaker 12: Turnover forced by Tomorrowo Davis, and then Pete Warner finally
Speaker 12: picked it up.
Speaker 7: Wow, what a huge play.
Speaker 2: The Saints are a roller coaster. Mike Costs with the
Speaker 2: call there. WWL.
Speaker 1: This is a game that you know, they kept leaving
Speaker 1: that door open for the Bears.
Speaker 2: They should have closed the game out in a couple
Speaker 2: different ways in the second half, and they just candn't
Speaker 2: do it, because that's just this team that's in their DNA,
Speaker 2: but also in their DNA is when their defense gets hot,
Speaker 2: they cause a lot of ruckus and they did against
Speaker 2: the Bears for seeing five turnovers, intercepting Tyson Badger three times,
Speaker 2: they recovered two fumbles, and that final play was the
Speaker 2: difference in a twenty four to seventeen win. That was
Speaker 2: to Mario Davis sack Pete Werner with the recovery. So
Speaker 2: the Saints get it done winning the turnover battle. Five
Speaker 2: zero will typically do that. There was a crazy stat
Speaker 2: out there, Greg that they're one of the few teams
Speaker 2: in the last like twenty years. I want to say
Speaker 2: that were plus five and turnovers and still didn't cover.
Speaker 2: And that tells the story of a team that didn't
Speaker 2: quite take advantage of all their great field position and
Speaker 2: what happened after those turnovers. But let's stay positive that
Speaker 2: the Saints, I believe here in first place in the
Speaker 2: NFC South as we hit the midpoint of the season,
Speaker 2: and there's some things to be positive.
Speaker 1: On the offensive side of the ball. You have Chris
Speaker 1: Olave we were talking.
Speaker 2: About on him on Thursday, kind of joined he joined
Speaker 2: us amongst the living at a touchdown. He made some plays.
Speaker 2: Derek Carr is playing mistake free football, and Taysom Hill
Speaker 2: is really he's on a heater as well.
Speaker 1: Right now.
Speaker 2: He had a touchdown reception, he had a touchdown pass,
Speaker 2: and I feel like Mark, they've found a nice little
Speaker 2: flow to this offense now where it's Carr, it's Taysom,
Speaker 2: it's Camara and a team that's had a lot of
Speaker 2: trouble in the red zone. You saw some of that
Speaker 2: starting to melt away in this game because they're starting
Speaker 2: to just kind of find their identity a little bit
Speaker 2: on offense at last.
Speaker 5: I don't like the game ending with downs upon a
Speaker 5: missfield goal and the end of the game there for
Speaker 5: the Saints. But I think you're getting it. I mean, Carr,
Speaker 5: if he's healthy last couple of weeks, there's some hope there.
Speaker 5: I do think that they continue to be like a
Speaker 5: nasty secondary and it helps to play a Bears team.
Speaker 5: I think it's been better of recent weeks, but you're
Speaker 5: still dealing with Tyson bage.
Speaker 7: I mean, it's like this is that should be a gimme.
Speaker 5: And like they're you know, they're five and four, they've
Speaker 5: got the second third most wins in the NFC.
Speaker 7: I mean, but I don't know if I trust them
Speaker 7: at all.
Speaker 3: I mean, Beijen puts up you know, two and twenty
Speaker 3: yards averages seven point three yards per attempt. They actually
Speaker 3: outgained the Saints that they put the moments where it's surprising.
Speaker 2: Was actually moving the ball well and he plays with
Speaker 2: the sound like first half they did Yeah, he plays.
Speaker 2: He plays with some like swagger again maybe a little
Speaker 2: bit unearned at this level, but still you like it.
Speaker 2: Like he he obviously believes himself and but he started
Speaker 2: throwing the ball up for grabs and that's never gonna end.
Speaker 9: Well.
Speaker 2: I want to give also a special shout out on
Speaker 2: the defensive side of the ball to cornerback Paulson Debo
Speaker 2: the defensive Player of the Week award. It's a rap
Speaker 2: two interceptions, he forced the fumble and he recovered a fumble.
Speaker 2: So that is that's like the equivalent of like the egot,
Speaker 2: you know when you get the Emmy, the Grammy, the
Speaker 2: Oscar and the Tony.
Speaker 1: Yes, I mean that's that's for a defender. He did that,
Speaker 1: so they gave that a week.
Speaker 3: He is coming off as good at two games as
Speaker 3: a cornerback can possibly had no doubt. Last week was
Speaker 3: the best game of Paulson a Deevo's career. I was
Speaker 3: really surprised when he won the starting job over Lante Taylor.
Speaker 3: They ended up moving to a lot that is a
Speaker 3: great cornerback trio with a Devo playing like that, So it.
Speaker 5: Sounds like Montes Sweat played well too. Led the bears
Speaker 5: and pressures.
Speaker 2: Yep, he popped up here and then not not a
Speaker 2: dominant outing, but obviously he makes them better. And I
Speaker 2: thought in general and and Justin Fields is now throwing,
Speaker 2: so he's edging towards playing. They're on a short week
Speaker 2: this week, so you'll probably get one more bage and start.
Speaker 2: But there were things to like. They looked like a
Speaker 2: professional offense in this game, Lucatzi called a good game,
Speaker 2: but the turnovers just killed them and that will do it.
Speaker 3: We should mention Montes Sweet signed a monster extension.
Speaker 7: You know what I loved about that this last week?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it happened like over It's like last week He's like,
Speaker 5: you know, yeah, I'm interested potentially, but I want to
Speaker 5: take a little bit of time and see that Thursday.
Speaker 5: Yeah what I feel about you know, like my experience
Speaker 5: here like bang two day later, a ton of guaranteed money,
Speaker 5: let's do it.
Speaker 4: Yeah here would you?
Speaker 1: Would you?
Speaker 4: Like four years?
Speaker 1: And what was it?
Speaker 3: Ninety eight million dollar extension and people are going crazy like,
Speaker 3: oh they paid too much and it's like, oh, calm down, costs.
Speaker 3: It was first of all, was the extension. So if
Speaker 3: you do the whole deal, it was like twenty per year.
Speaker 3: It's like that's what they would call. He would have
Speaker 3: cost more than that in free agency. I actually it's
Speaker 3: weird to be defending the Bears front office, but I
Speaker 3: have no problem with that trade and definitely don't have
Speaker 3: a problem with that contract after the trade.
Speaker 5: No, And you know he's gonna he's a consistently right,
Speaker 5: he's a good player, and like I look, it'll look
Speaker 5: good in a year or two.
Speaker 2: And my last thought on this game, bringing it back
Speaker 2: to you know, Taysom Hill, who's thirty three now former
Speaker 2: BYU Cordback, a favorite of West back in the day.
Speaker 2: He after when he caught the touchdown in this game,
Speaker 2: he became the first NFL player since Giants Hall of
Speaker 2: Famer Frank Gifford, who retired you know, fifty years ago,
Speaker 2: sixty years ago, to score ten or more times each
Speaker 2: as a passer eleven times, runner twenty six times in
Speaker 2: a receiver ten times. Dennis Allen said after the game,
Speaker 2: that's pretty impressive, right. Half the guys in our locker
Speaker 2: room would have no idea who Frank Gifford was, and
Speaker 2: sure enough, Taysom Hill was not aware who Frank Gifford was.
Speaker 2: What and this would be the point where I would
Speaker 2: do that and I would get really like, I know,
Speaker 2: up on my high horse about it. However, I'm like
Speaker 2: twenty five, twenty years younger or older than all these players,
Speaker 2: and I only really knew Frank Gifford because he was
Speaker 2: Captive Lee's husband for the.
Speaker 5: Most partyday night football announcer.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean so I can't I get like
Speaker 2: that was a long time ago, and it's more a
Speaker 2: tribute to how he is one of one in this league.
Speaker 2: You might not think he's like a big time player,
Speaker 2: but nobody else does what he does this series.
Speaker 3: He's a big time player. He led them in rushing today.
Speaker 3: By twenty he doubled the Galvin Kamara. I mean, it's
Speaker 3: kind of ridiculous.
Speaker 5: I mean, Sean Paper was signing to those three or
Speaker 5: four contract extensions over the course.
Speaker 3: I know those contracts look as bad anywhere. I'm like, actually,
Speaker 3: you know, thirteen of years not too crazy for Taysom
Speaker 3: uh Greg.
Speaker 2: This is always a dark portion of the show for
Speaker 2: a certain segment of our listeners. It was once the
Speaker 2: throne of ease. It's not it's not. It's not so
Speaker 2: easy in New England it's lazy. It's pretty slee eazy.
Speaker 2: In fact, let's head to Gillette, step to Jones.
Speaker 13: Washington breaks forward, pressure up the middle, throws over the
Speaker 13: center of the field.
Speaker 10: That was popped up the air picked off and it
Speaker 10: picked off Kuan.
Speaker 12: Martin at the thirty two yard Linde and Washington's gonna
Speaker 12: get a win in New England.
Speaker 4: They had not had a turnover yet.
Speaker 3: There you go, they get it and it is the
Speaker 3: young guy Kwan Martin all right, gave over.
Speaker 2: Brian Weinstein and Julie Donaldson with the call w B
Speaker 2: I g yes Mac Jones through that interception, would you say,
Speaker 2: Guama Martin, Kuan Kwan, I'm seeing its jar tiedius in
Speaker 2: a in a different way.
Speaker 4: That's uh, that's his nickname though or it goes by that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: One good job by mister Martin, whose interception helped hold
Speaker 2: off the Patriots twenty to seventeen. It is the first
Speaker 2: game obviously for the Commanders after trading away both young
Speaker 2: and Sweaty, and it is a game in which Mac
Speaker 2: Jones was outplayed by Sam Howell, who threw for three
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty five yards and a game tying touchdown.
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler, what was going on there today?
Speaker 7: Patriots made it interesting out of the gates.
Speaker 5: This is the game that happened? Huh, Mark, Well it was.
Speaker 5: It was slightly flavorless game, to be honest. The Patriots
Speaker 5: kind of just did Patriots things from wire to wire.
Speaker 5: But I thought you got the best throw of mac
Speaker 5: Jones's seats. I saw our pat When you say that,
Speaker 5: what does that mean this year? Dull to the eyes,
Speaker 5: not productive, like, not a lot of inspiration on offense.
Speaker 5: They cracked through that with the throw. I just mentioned
Speaker 5: to know that God a touchdown a Hunter Henry was
Speaker 5: what the kind of throw that makes you believe in
Speaker 5: Mac Jones? But then he's going to go do things
Speaker 5: later in the game that erased that belief to some degree.
Speaker 5: Ramandra Stevenson had a sixty four yard run for a
Speaker 5: touchdown and Jen Rager and Cole Strange on that. You
Speaker 5: got to watch this like some great blocking on that,
Speaker 5: and so it's like the Patriots were hanging around. But
Speaker 5: I think for me, I come out of this game
Speaker 5: that yes, Washington move on from those defensive linemen, move
Speaker 5: on and away from this season spiritually and probably their
Speaker 5: head coach.
Speaker 7: But I kind of believe in Sam Howell.
Speaker 5: I know we've sort of seen evidence week after week,
Speaker 5: but he was doing some wild stuff in this game,
Speaker 5: where it's like he just seems to see the field
Speaker 5: in a certain way, do stuff kind of off schedule,
Speaker 5: and then has the daring do to whip the ball
Speaker 5: where he wants to, and some incredible things unfurled in this.
Speaker 5: I thought that, you know, this is a classic O
Speaker 5: Bill Belichick will take someone like Sam Howell and put
Speaker 5: him in a blender. But I think the opposite happened,
Speaker 5: where he made enough kind of throws in unpredictable in
Speaker 5: certain terms of like not what you'd expect where you'd
Speaker 5: go with the ball, and it was successful, and I
Speaker 5: come away believing in their passing game and believing in
Speaker 5: what he can do in every possible way.
Speaker 3: The problem is the odds on him having the same
Speaker 3: coordinator next year. I don't think that really smart. I
Speaker 3: don't think that will like really matter, though I don't
Speaker 3: think why not. I don't think that's because I don't
Speaker 3: think this is like a we Washton.
Speaker 1: How about this? How about this from this?
Speaker 2: If we all agree that and I know the commanders,
Speaker 2: and I think a large portion of their fan base,
Speaker 2: if not all of them see this kid as somebody
Speaker 2: with an actual future at this point that he could
Speaker 2: be a guy for them, You've got to make decisions
Speaker 2: that put him in the best position to be successful. So, like,
Speaker 2: I know, after the young and Sweaty trade, the ideas
Speaker 2: that we're heading towards a cleaning house. But you know what,
Speaker 2: if they keep winning and they hang around in the
Speaker 2: NFC playoff race, is is it actually not the the
Speaker 2: house cleaning that's coming and the change behind the scenes,
Speaker 2: And maybe that's more if they actually really do think
Speaker 2: they might have something here, that kind of changes a
Speaker 2: lot around how you view where they're going.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 3: It also could, potentially, if they really played well offensively,
Speaker 3: be a candidacy for Eric Bienemy to just stay and
Speaker 3: Ron Rivera goes.
Speaker 5: That, I like, I like that you're not losing, You're
Speaker 5: not losing like OC every every week. I mean, he
Speaker 5: just I think like he seems to thrive. I know
Speaker 5: he had a terrible interception in this game too, and
Speaker 5: that's gonna come when you're when you're young and you're
Speaker 5: just beginning to do all this. But like on third
Speaker 5: and long, in certain situations, like he just uses his legs.
Speaker 5: He got them out of jams, like certain throws, Like
Speaker 5: it's like it the situation never seems too big to him,
Speaker 5: and like the deeper the holder in, it's like he's
Speaker 5: the kind of quarterback that gets you out of it.
Speaker 7: And he did it a number of times today.
Speaker 3: I just think that the Patriots are so sloppy, Like
Speaker 3: they special teams penalties, they benched j. C. Jackson and
Speaker 3: Jack Jones to start the game and won't say why
Speaker 3: like that when you said the Patriots, well, Belichick just
Speaker 3: said they played like like you know, but they each
Speaker 3: one set out the first two or three drives and
Speaker 3: the other set out the entire first qu order, and
Speaker 3: they wouldn't say why they're the usual starters. It's probably
Speaker 3: some punishment that he doesn't want to talk about. And
Speaker 3: just it's a lot of that. And then the game
Speaker 3: ends with a good enough pass from mac Jones, a
Speaker 3: pretty good pass actually into a very tight window. And
Speaker 3: I saw something on Patriots Dot common. He threw into
Speaker 3: tight windows something like, you know, three times as much
Speaker 3: as Sam Howell because other offenses actually create open receivers,
Speaker 3: but the Patriots don't have the players or the scheme
Speaker 3: to do so, and Juju Smith Schuster is one of
Speaker 3: the worst free agent signings this team's ever had. You know,
Speaker 3: goes off his hands to lose the game pretty fitting.
Speaker 7: Well, and before that four straight punts.
Speaker 5: It just they can't get out of their own way,
Speaker 5: even in a game where they had some of their
Speaker 5: better plays early on.
Speaker 2: Jeff Howard reported that both Jackson and Jones entered the
Speaker 2: game late due to performance issues, and neither of them
Speaker 2: seem very happy. It's the vibes are not good and
Speaker 2: the and the Patriots are two and seven for the
Speaker 2: first time since Bill Belichick's first season as head coach
Speaker 2: way back in two thousand and they're also winless in
Speaker 2: non division games. They're the only team in the NFL
Speaker 2: without a win outside their division. Rough rough times. Let's
Speaker 2: take a break and then we'll finish out the games.
Speaker 2: All right, We're gonna keep moving on here. And you know,
Speaker 2: after the incredible CJ. Stroud performance, boys, I actually I
Speaker 2: X this doesn't it still doesn't work. I tweeted, hey
Speaker 2: this in the late window. This would be a good
Speaker 2: good day for our guy Bryce Young to throw a
Speaker 2: couple of touchdown passes and have a nice little day,
Speaker 2: and it's not gonna be five touchdowns in four hundred
Speaker 2: and seventy yards.
Speaker 1: But don't, don't fall on your face and make a
Speaker 1: uncomfortable situation worse.
Speaker 16: Checking down an eight have it at the Colts thirty
Speaker 16: four yard line. Colts twenty Panthers ten thirteen to sixty
Speaker 16: one to go. Here's the fourth quarter play action. Bryce
Speaker 16: Young left home and it's picked off by the Colts.
Speaker 16: They're running the other head with it.
Speaker 13: It's Kenny Morgan.
Speaker 4: He's at the thirty twenty fifteen ten touchdown two of
Speaker 4: the day, a pick six by Kenny Moore.
Speaker 6: Touchdown indeed, why climber twenty three PAA day.
Speaker 1: It's twenty six to ten.
Speaker 2: And you see the shot on the telecast of Bryce
Speaker 2: Young pulling the chin strop off, walking dejectedly back to
Speaker 2: the sideline.
Speaker 1: He threw two pick.
Speaker 2: Sixes to Kenny Moore at home on Sunday in Charlotte
Speaker 2: and the Colts cruise to a twenty seven to thirteen
Speaker 2: win that snaps a three game losing streak for the
Speaker 2: Colts and gets.
Speaker 1: Them, you know, back in the AFC playoff hunt.
Speaker 2: Gregie, you tell me where you want to start, we
Speaker 2: could look at from the Bryce Young side of things,
Speaker 2: or we.
Speaker 1: Can talk some cults here.
Speaker 3: I want to set up where that pick six from
Speaker 3: because it was twenty to ten at that point. Young
Speaker 3: had probably the worst half of football, definitely that I
Speaker 3: had seen him play seven for fourteen for thirty four
Speaker 3: yards in the first half, holding the ball too long,
Speaker 3: had the pick six.
Speaker 1: That was the play calling. I know we've had a
Speaker 1: change in play callers.
Speaker 4: Not a I mean, not much positive was happening.
Speaker 3: You know, when you're seven for fourteen for thirty five yards,
Speaker 3: just holding the ball and nothing down the field. And
Speaker 3: then they came out for the second half. I was
Speaker 3: thinking the same thing. It was like, okay, let's show
Speaker 3: up in the second half. I had one of their
Speaker 3: best drives of the year. I would have said, wasn't
Speaker 3: all Bryce Young. It was a running game to fifteen plays,
Speaker 3: get a touchdown, get a stop. Then he hits a
Speaker 3: fifty yarder to Hayden Hurst. We're cooking here. And that
Speaker 3: was the moment that he threw that pick six. So
Speaker 3: the air just completely went out of the stadium and
Speaker 3: I couldn't help but thinking, man, that was that a
Speaker 3: play where the height did come into play because it
Speaker 3: was a screen pass.
Speaker 4: You just never expect pick six on a screen pass.
Speaker 3: And the play was blown up a little early, like
Speaker 3: the timing was off, but there were multiple defenders and
Speaker 3: offensive players in between. And he threw you know, he
Speaker 3: hit like a four iron when you needed a pitching wedge,
Speaker 3: you know, to go up nice and high over the
Speaker 3: thing and have a nice touch pass.
Speaker 1: And caddy, aren't you.
Speaker 3: I was the guy in the back room that would
Speaker 3: wash the guy's clubs. Also, yeah, the clubhouse attendant. Also
Speaker 3: if it was raining, you go to the bottom of
Speaker 3: the hill and you drive the guys up the hill
Speaker 3: who don't have their own carts, or maybe you hold
Speaker 3: the umbrella.
Speaker 7: So rich guys stuff like that.
Speaker 3: Yes, Bryce Young, I mean, I don't think he's gonna
Speaker 3: be working at a golf course or anything like that.
Speaker 4: I'm not as worried about him at this That's what
Speaker 4: I'm saying.
Speaker 3: I'm not as worried about him as you I certainly
Speaker 3: you know, I don't think it's a big deal to me.
Speaker 3: I know it's uncomfortable for Panthers fans, but I've seen
Speaker 3: enough that I'm not worried about him having like a
Speaker 3: solid NFL I've seen high picks look like so much
Speaker 3: worse than him.
Speaker 4: I can see it. Everything around him is bad.
Speaker 3: But it's also obvious that Stroud and even Richardson when
Speaker 3: he was in there, like showed really special enough to
Speaker 3: get more clarify.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying that I feel like they have a
Speaker 2: bust on their hands, but it just stinks. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's stinks for everybody connected to that building right now.
Speaker 3: I Metro and the Texans literally last factored that game
Speaker 3: in two I thought he looked good in that game,
Speaker 3: and he gave me evidence that he can do it.
Speaker 7: I think it's compared to what we saw C. J.
Speaker 5: Stroud do in front of a national audience today, Like
Speaker 5: the Colts end with five scoreless drives and you take
Speaker 5: away the two pick sixes and the Panthers.
Speaker 3: Played in this the Colts didn't even top two hundred yards.
Speaker 3: I mean, minshew. They had a couple of drives early
Speaker 3: in this game where Taylor got going. They won field goal, touchdown,
Speaker 3: field goal in the second quarter. They only had four
Speaker 3: drives in the first half. After that, they did absolutely nothing.
Speaker 3: The Panthers defense played well enough for them to win
Speaker 3: and they didn't.
Speaker 4: It's tough.
Speaker 3: This was his worst game, Bryce ng even if you
Speaker 3: took away the pick sixes, I would say this might
Speaker 3: have been his worst game.
Speaker 1: And I think the part of it is the disappointment too.
Speaker 2: That did seem set up well for him to take
Speaker 2: the next step today after having that nice win last week,
Speaker 2: and you're at home against the struggling Colts team and
Speaker 2: it doesn't work out.
Speaker 3: So Colts have it off here. By the way, they're
Speaker 3: four and five. They've got the Patriots and Frankfurt next
Speaker 3: week on NFL Network.
Speaker 1: There.
Speaker 3: I think they only play two winning teams the rest
Speaker 3: of the season.
Speaker 7: It us like no Germany, like you get like try
Speaker 7: to stay awake watching the Patriots.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's an old rivalry Manning Brady. Remember, I'm
Speaker 3: sure we'll see some some nice ones. They I think
Speaker 3: they had the second easiest record based on strength the
Speaker 3: schedule the rest.
Speaker 4: Of the way. The Colts they're not totally out of
Speaker 4: it either.
Speaker 7: They just can't get in their own way because they
Speaker 7: feel like they're prone to get in the.
Speaker 4: Right I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't think they're built or enough in any area.
Speaker 3: And with minshe as their quarterback, to win enough of
Speaker 3: those games, they'll probably more like, you know, go eight
Speaker 3: and nine something like that, but they do have a chance.
Speaker 2: Hey, moving on, you can only play your schedule, and
Speaker 2: you don't you don't ask for you know, you don't
Speaker 2: give anything back or say, oh you shouldn't, you know,
Speaker 2: put too much into this game. No, forget about that,
Speaker 2: because everything evens out. But the Browns had the Cardinals
Speaker 2: today and they also got Clayton Fune and the Browns
Speaker 2: in that situation absolutely should dominate, and that they did.
Speaker 9: My friend Deshaun Watson under center, hands of the Hunt
Speaker 9: running right side, had courses his way in for a touchdown.
Speaker 9: Kareem Hunt on a three yard touchdown run. He's third
Speaker 9: of the season and the Cleveland Browns now have a
Speaker 9: twenty six nothing leaves.
Speaker 2: And for Kareem Hunt now he has scored in four
Speaker 2: straight games for the Browns. That's four straight with a
Speaker 2: rushing touchdown, the longest active streak in the NFL.
Speaker 1: That was very informational. Where's Ceciliano?
Speaker 4: I want to know He's on NFL Fast Channel this morning.
Speaker 4: That's where he is.
Speaker 1: Paul Keels with that call with Nathan Segura, w k
Speaker 1: R Kay.
Speaker 2: The Cleveland Browns got Deshaun Watson back in the lineup,
Speaker 2: and he threw two touchdown passes and then they leaned
Speaker 2: down a defense that once again dominated and a twenty
Speaker 2: seven to Zilch win over the Cardinals market is the
Speaker 2: first Brown shutout.
Speaker 5: Since Man, I'd have to go back to maybe even
Speaker 5: Bill Belichick and night No, night.
Speaker 1: Was well, I don't think it was that far back.
Speaker 2: I will get that too, first shoutout since two thousand
Speaker 2: and seven, and you got Watson back?
Speaker 1: How did Watson back? We'll get to the defense in
Speaker 1: a bit, you know.
Speaker 5: I think it's one thing that's been like consistent with
Speaker 5: that offense is that I thought Amari Cooper's sort of
Speaker 5: shown Chemist Street with anyone who's in there to some degree.
Speaker 5: And there was there was a great fifty nine yard
Speaker 5: pass from Watson to Cooper, some good things, a little
Speaker 5: bit better than what we've seen from Watson. I also
Speaker 5: just felt that there were a couple of plays where
Speaker 5: it was like, did this guy like work with anyone
Speaker 5: in the offseason on like his I just seemed like
Speaker 5: the Deshaun Watson of old, Like there was some weird
Speaker 5: footwork in this where he's just throwing the ball off.
Speaker 5: Just didn't look like Deshaun Watson, the guy that we knew,
Speaker 5: and so it was better than like the ugliest aspects
Speaker 5: we've seen from Watson.
Speaker 7: A little bit of an uptick, but I don't trust
Speaker 7: him right now.
Speaker 3: Well, he'll love a tough test next week against Baltimore.
Speaker 3: We'll get to that during the week.
Speaker 4: I'm with you.
Speaker 3: By the way, You've been talking about Cooper all season,
Speaker 3: and it's one of those like Cooper's had really great
Speaker 3: seasons mixed in with lesser. I don't know why that is,
Speaker 3: but if he was on a better offense, like he
Speaker 3: would be putting up fourteen hundred.
Speaker 7: And this is he's made plays every week.
Speaker 1: Another helmet ricochet touchdown, which I've never seen before.
Speaker 7: This was very strange.
Speaker 1: And now that he has two in the last two
Speaker 1: or three weeks.
Speaker 7: Yeah, wow, that's in their playbook at this point.
Speaker 4: That was also how they lost last week's game.
Speaker 3: So I guess helmet ricochetes giveth and Helmmett ricochets takes true.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, and got to watch this game, but statistically,
Speaker 2: Watson looked like he played okay, and the fact that
Speaker 2: he made it through the game, they're just I feel
Speaker 2: like you're just trying to get to the point where
Speaker 2: he's no longer It's like this soap opera around him
Speaker 2: week to week.
Speaker 1: Is he gonna play?
Speaker 4: Think we're there, We'll see.
Speaker 17: I think.
Speaker 2: So he stays in the lineup and builds off this,
Speaker 2: we'll see, because we've been saying it all year. Mark
Speaker 2: you if you can just get you know, solid quarterback
Speaker 2: play with this defense, you could do damage in the
Speaker 2: AFC and in that division. And the Cardinals stink they're
Speaker 2: one and eight, but again like this is they can
Speaker 2: flex on teams and it is. That's I think a
Speaker 2: very interesting game next week against the Ravens because it's
Speaker 2: a real uh gut check for that.
Speaker 5: Well, the Ravens totally outclassed them in the first matchup,
Speaker 5: so I think it's like it's an opportunity for Cleveland
Speaker 5: to suggest who they actually are. This defense though, and yes,
Speaker 5: it was the perfect situation where Clayton Tune is just
Speaker 5: simply not ready to play. The team has broken down
Speaker 5: post Josh Stobbs. They were out yardage three hundred and
Speaker 5: twenty six to fifty eight.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, what that's a typo. No, they
Speaker 1: had fifty eight yards fifty eight.
Speaker 7: If I know Mark, the entire game, I fifty eight
Speaker 7: total yards.
Speaker 10: They had it.
Speaker 5: They was for twelve on third down, like I wrote down,
Speaker 5: you just don't see games like this.
Speaker 7: I don't recall.
Speaker 5: This is like destroying your younger brother in Madden or
Speaker 5: some sort of computer outposts.
Speaker 3: If I know you, Mark and I would have been
Speaker 3: the same way, So I don't want to project here.
Speaker 3: I would have been rooting like how those last few
Speaker 3: Cardinals drives, You're like, don't just get like some random
Speaker 3: big play.
Speaker 4: Don't like go on like a seventy yard field go drive.
Speaker 3: I want these beautiful, ridiculous stats for the podcast later.
Speaker 3: They don't deserve to go over fifty eight yards. Josh,
Speaker 3: I think it was Dubo of the Associated Press said
Speaker 3: they're the fourteenth team since the merger.
Speaker 4: That's a long time ago to be held under sixty years.
Speaker 2: You know who else was hoping that they weren't going
Speaker 2: to give up a field goal at the end, People
Speaker 2: like me that started the Browns and fantasy they get
Speaker 2: that twenty nine point outing. Here's a parallel mark that
Speaker 2: I want to let tell me if you agree because
Speaker 2: we talked about the Dolphins when they've been playing lesser opponents,
Speaker 2: they don't just beat them with their offense, they embarrass them.
Speaker 2: So they have that ability, and I'm seeing the same
Speaker 2: thing with Cleveland's defense, where they have this ability to
Speaker 2: just level up and really humiliate an opponent. But there
Speaker 2: are still questions about how that defense plays against big
Speaker 2: time competition.
Speaker 1: So again, I do like it.
Speaker 5: I think that's an ideal, that's an ideal parallel because
Speaker 5: it's like when the Ravens started to crack through and
Speaker 5: become what they were with their ground game. The first
Speaker 5: kind of hints of that, We're lashing Cleveland's defense right
Speaker 5: up the middle, and I think, so the next week
Speaker 5: is a big test.
Speaker 7: But how often does this happen?
Speaker 5: Shit noted this as well, that fifty percent of Arizona's
Speaker 5: forty eight plays went for zero or negative yards.
Speaker 7: That just doesn't happen in the NFL.
Speaker 2: That's not the first time we've had this type of
Speaker 2: conversation on the Sunday this year about the Browns.
Speaker 1: They've done this to a couple of teams.
Speaker 4: Now, absolutely half the plays went for zero yards or less.
Speaker 5: I would notice, I wouldn't know that they're left tackled.
Speaker 5: Jed Will's went out with it looked like a very
Speaker 5: painful knee ankle injury.
Speaker 7: Carted off.
Speaker 1: Uh, you've been on on that.
Speaker 5: Marky s Goodwin was hurt. They traded away Donovan People's Jones,
Speaker 5: so we'll see. I mean, health could be a factor.
Speaker 1: But the Browns are five and three.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of drama around this team, and there
Speaker 2: has been for a couple of years, but they're in
Speaker 2: good position now as they head towards the second half.
Speaker 2: Let's move now to lambeau Field where the Packers are
Speaker 2: trying to get their mojo back.
Speaker 1: Jones on the slot right now.
Speaker 8: He orbit routes to the left and they faked the
Speaker 8: past to Joe swinging over the middle of musk Grave
Speaker 8: ten the end zone, touchdown and a dagger, excellent bull
Speaker 8: fake bye the quarterback Jordan Lovey found Musgrave.
Speaker 12: Why not?
Speaker 8: But at the ten end of the end zone, pull
Speaker 8: the touchdown. It's nineteen to three Green Bay.
Speaker 2: You know, I know it's different when you're beating up
Speaker 2: on Brett Rippon in the Rams as opposed to Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 2: But again, like with the Browns, the Packers needed a
Speaker 2: game like this, a nice rocking chair win take care
Speaker 2: of business, which they did twenty to three over the Rams,
Speaker 2: snapping a four game losing streak. Yes, you had the
Speaker 2: dagger there, as explained by Wayne Larravie of WRNW, but
Speaker 2: you also got Aaron Jones.
Speaker 1: Back in the end zone.
Speaker 2: And I believe I believe this that finally they scored
Speaker 2: a touchdown in the first half, which is something that
Speaker 2: just has not been happening this year. So Greg, you
Speaker 2: tell us if it was a sign of things to come,
Speaker 2: or just take you know, catch an opponent at the
Speaker 2: right time at home.
Speaker 3: I leaned toward the latter, baby. Look, they ran for
Speaker 3: one hundred and eighty four yards, Aaron Jones and Dylan
Speaker 3: combined for one thirteen. Like for them, that's an explosion,
Speaker 3: and some of that was early, but Brett Rippen and
Speaker 3: there the Rams offense was essentially non functional, even on
Speaker 3: Jordan Love's best play of the game, which was a
Speaker 3: deep shot to Watson on that game you know, ceiling drive.
Speaker 3: Although at that point it was thirteen to three and
Speaker 3: it felt like the Rams weren't gonna possibly get the
Speaker 3: double digits at any point in this game. Christian Watson
Speaker 3: skies up for a pass to catch a thirty seven
Speaker 3: yard A wow, they finally hit a deep shot, especially
Speaker 3: after Jordan Love missed Watson who was wide open earlier
Speaker 3: in the game. He underthrew him and Watson hurt his
Speaker 3: back and his chest and was in the concussion protocol
Speaker 3: all in one play. So it was like it was like,
Speaker 3: even on your best play of the game, there was
Speaker 3: something to be upset about, and there was like a
Speaker 3: lot of sloppy offensive play by Green Bay to keep
Speaker 3: this more of a game than it should have. It
Speaker 3: was ten to three still entering the fourth quarter, so
Speaker 3: I didn't come away too excited, except for.
Speaker 7: You didn't sound excited when sorry Packers.
Speaker 1: I tried, but I was wondering.
Speaker 3: About the defense, dominated I told Mark, I said, if
Speaker 3: there was one game to not watch so far, of
Speaker 3: all the games this year, this would be my choice.
Speaker 1: So far, we haven't gotten to Giants Raiders yet, but yeah.
Speaker 4: But that's sort of I want to see Giants Raiders.
Speaker 4: I don't know why I ate in O'Connell or whatever.
Speaker 5: It's the opposite of what we think November football is
Speaker 5: because it's like, if you're the Rams you've lost your
Speaker 5: starting running back. You're stuck with Brett Rippian at quarterback.
Speaker 1: It's just like you did it again.
Speaker 7: That's how I'll always call him that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're handing off to Royce Freeman. I mean Ripian,
Speaker 3: you can you can get a.
Speaker 1: I think it was his dad is literally Super Bowl MVP.
Speaker 5: I know, but I've been I've been calling him Rippian
Speaker 5: since like the early nineties. It's weird because that's how
Speaker 5: I see it.
Speaker 3: With the way I'm remembering you calling him Rippian over
Speaker 3: and over again.
Speaker 4: And this is back in Culver City.
Speaker 3: This is I'm actually surprised Brett Rippian has been in
Speaker 3: our life that long.
Speaker 1: How much more Brett Rippian do we need to see?
Speaker 1: By the way, there's got to be somebody better.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, they thought John Wolford, I think was better,
Speaker 3: and the Bucks wouldn't let them.
Speaker 2: They also did draft a quarterback who was winning national
Speaker 2: titlers in Georgia, and that has sourced out.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah he's not available, and so that that was
Speaker 3: their plan. That was maybe a questionable plan to begin with,
Speaker 3: but it's not working. And mcvai didn't help him by
Speaker 3: going run, run pass Seemingly every can't do that.
Speaker 1: And that's the old Hackett movie.
Speaker 2: It does not work with a quarterback you're trying to hide,
Speaker 2: you just end up putting them in worse You're trying
Speaker 2: to protect him and the team, but you end up
Speaker 2: putting him in worse situations.
Speaker 1: In it, Saniel Hackett. Yes, nice, it's okay to throw
Speaker 1: on first down.
Speaker 3: Pal, Okay, let's come up with one positive thing about
Speaker 3: the Packers and then move on. Who's their guy? Carrington? Oh,
Speaker 3: Carrington Valentine their cornerback who started? They traded Razil Douglas like.
Speaker 3: He looked quite good this game, so maybe they knew
Speaker 3: what they were doing. Their inserting the young player and
Speaker 3: jyr Alexander played really well and said that he feels
Speaker 3: healthier than he.
Speaker 2: Has all year, So maybe and I'll throw one more
Speaker 2: out there, give him something wide receiver Dontavian licks four
Speaker 2: for forty nine. They need somebody else to step up,
Speaker 2: especially Wots and missus time and he was, ah, dang, Greg.
Speaker 1: I'm trying.
Speaker 4: He had the most Packers playing fun behind the glass.
Speaker 3: I'm trying, but he was reaching for a first down.
Speaker 3: You know the play I'm talking about. Randy At the
Speaker 3: beginning of the second half when was only seventy three
Speaker 3: and he dives for the first down and he just
Speaker 3: slams it on the ground and he hits the ground,
Speaker 3: and then the Rams just pick up the back touched
Speaker 3: him at that point, So that was a fumball.
Speaker 2: And finally, let's give the floor over to one of
Speaker 2: the great actors of his or any generation, who's finally
Speaker 2: asking the question that apparently everyone has been sitting on quietly.
Speaker 1: Samuel L.
Speaker 2: Jackson tweeted, at what point do we start the RAMS
Speaker 2: coaching conversation? Double question mark, double slammer viewed over five
Speaker 2: hundred thousand times of a couple of hours ago.
Speaker 1: Is that a thing?
Speaker 7: I don't know if I'm like, if I'm like Sean McVay.
Speaker 2: Wait, oh, Sammy Jackson thrown out a flashpoint focus.
Speaker 1: I don't think that sam l himself.
Speaker 4: This is not the year for it.
Speaker 3: Sam I don't think that he's this is not I
Speaker 3: love that he's invested enough in the Rams that he's
Speaker 3: acting like an irrational fan, because I think that's I
Speaker 3: think the most again, the most irrational of RAMS fans
Speaker 3: that are too emotional in the middle of a game.
Speaker 3: Maybe they're sending out that type of tweet.
Speaker 7: You never know what else is going on.
Speaker 4: One that I trust is football acumen, but you know.
Speaker 2: It's the wording that I enjoy and also that his
Speaker 2: like avatar is a picture of him with a very
Speaker 2: serious face.
Speaker 1: At what point do we start the RAMS coaching conversation?
Speaker 5: This is somebody had to say it a group convo
Speaker 5: that he's part of with a bunch of people discussing.
Speaker 4: It's truly because this the RAMS, they could be in
Speaker 4: the mix.
Speaker 3: They should have been winning this Like this was a
Speaker 3: great case for Matthew Stafford to make the Pro Bowl
Speaker 3: this year because like the difference between him and Brett
Speaker 3: Rippian is them either winning you don't do it too Wait.
Speaker 4: Now I'm doing it.
Speaker 1: We are a professional podcast here. His father won the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl MVP.
Speaker 2: One of the great teams of that are the nineteen
Speaker 2: ninety two Redskins were a super underrated team and they
Speaker 2: stopped the ball.
Speaker 7: They destroyed people the entire way.
Speaker 2: Best Samuel L. Jackson film Mark performance for me pulp fiction, Jules.
Speaker 4: I mean, now that's all I'm going with. What else
Speaker 4: am I going to go with?
Speaker 1: You could go with the Jackie Brown character he played.
Speaker 7: Jackie Brown, he's a scouter.
Speaker 4: How about deep Wait what was the shark one? Deep Bluecy?
Speaker 2: No, probably not that one, but I I can't say
Speaker 2: the full line because I can't. But my fait one
Speaker 2: of my favorite lines in all of Quentin Tarantino universe,
Speaker 2: uh is when he says.
Speaker 1: Bully for you or was it bully to you? Bully
Speaker 1: for you? For you? I believe I can't finish it,
Speaker 1: but it was like a great deliver Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think people probably know what the next you know,
Speaker 2: few words classic Samuel.
Speaker 4: Daky Brown would would be a good choice.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, and deep Lucy. You know you could
Speaker 2: throw it out there. It's it's one of the more
Speaker 2: populist works. But all right, one more before sunder football.
Speaker 2: We got to talk about it. Giants Raiders o Connor.
Speaker 2: He gives it to Jacobs, calling the offensive line way
Speaker 2: more jus fact lose.
Speaker 10: But they called a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Wut to Washington?
Speaker 6: Tell me if it stood over the line before it
Speaker 6: popped out of his hands his second rushing touchdown of
Speaker 6: the day.
Speaker 4: How the Robertson pick isn't Jacob's touchdown?
Speaker 1: Hey, it's twenty to nothing here late in the.
Speaker 18: Second Yeah, city, we take out that fork, Dan, I mean,
Speaker 18: I think it's time.
Speaker 1: Time.
Speaker 2: You know, if they didn't blow that game last week,
Speaker 2: I thought they had a chance to make some noise.
Speaker 1: But also there are a couple other factors going on
Speaker 1: with the Giants right now. By the way, I was
Speaker 1: in Vegas this morning. I was there over the weekend.
Speaker 2: I checked out the U two shoe at the Sphere,
Speaker 2: which was incredible, the only good thing James Dolan's ever done.
Speaker 1: Great time. I loved it. And there were a lot
Speaker 1: of Giants fans flying into Vegas over the weekend.
Speaker 2: And as watching that game, I'm like, oh my god.
Speaker 2: People spent a lot of money to go to this game,
Speaker 2: which was a easy, I mean easy, thirty to six
Speaker 2: win for the Raiders. And remember this is the Raiders
Speaker 2: that are in absolute tumult. They call it the dead Cat,
Speaker 2: the dead Cat bounce. It's a temporary uptick in I guess,
Speaker 2: some stock performance. But also in the case of sports teams,
Speaker 2: they'll probably go back to stinking next week. Maybe probably,
Speaker 2: but with a new head coach the Raiders, Antonio Pierce,
Speaker 2: shout out to you, buddy, congratulations your first win. A
Speaker 2: new offensive coordinator a new Well, no, they didn't name
Speaker 2: a new general manager yet, but he gone and a
Speaker 2: new quarterback, Aidan O'Connell. They easily take care of business
Speaker 2: with Josh Jacobs not averaging four yards of carry because
Speaker 2: we can't do that, but he did have two touchdowns
Speaker 2: as they jumped out to a twenty four nothing halftime lead.
Speaker 2: So the Raiders almost impossibly like under the you know,
Speaker 2: you just think they must be a train wreck based
Speaker 2: on all the reporting. We'll get to a little of
Speaker 2: the Josh McDaniels drama that dropped this morning. They're four
Speaker 2: and five somehow in the mix in the AFC. I'm
Speaker 2: not saying they're a team to take seriously, but they're
Speaker 2: better than the Giants who are two and seven. Yes,
Speaker 2: fourth they're out. I apologize for keeping them alive.
Speaker 5: No, this is not like a Jeff Saturday scenario where
Speaker 5: like the bump in their first game was like, well
Speaker 5: that can't possibly last.
Speaker 7: I don't know what will happen here.
Speaker 5: But Antonio Pierce, who Mark Davis got to know better
Speaker 5: over the last during this season, has the locker room
Speaker 5: like we can get into the Josh McDaniel stuff, but
Speaker 5: it's like I think in a way. This is like
Speaker 5: kind of like a lot of vented frustration. We've all
Speaker 5: in our lives like had bad leadership over us, and
Speaker 5: like it can suppress you. And I think, like this
Speaker 5: is a team with talented players, they've had it all along.
Speaker 5: It's just been such a hot mess that their record
Speaker 5: isn't a joke to me or a fraud from who
Speaker 5: they really can be.
Speaker 7: And it's like, I don't know, in a weird.
Speaker 5: In a weird bottom half of the AFC, I kind
Speaker 5: of think this coaching switch came at the exact right
Speaker 5: time and saved a lot of worse stuff from happening.
Speaker 7: They did not play a very good team today.
Speaker 3: I mean, this is an all time fired coach principal.
Speaker 3: It's Brad Spicer, the Spice Racks favorite. I mean, he
Speaker 3: thinks he locks it in to have this like taking
Speaker 3: Josh McDaniels away as the fired coach principal. It's like
Speaker 3: an extra bounce, you know, because yes, they were trying
Speaker 3: to say that they weren't celebrating a practice, but they
Speaker 3: all seemed kind of like.
Speaker 4: They were celebrating.
Speaker 3: And it's crazy that they hadn't scored twenty points in
Speaker 3: a game all season. It had been the longest streak
Speaker 3: of not scoring twenty points in a game in Raiders
Speaker 3: history other than a JaMarcus Russell stretch. So they won't
Speaker 3: break that. And they had twenty four points a half time.
Speaker 3: I mean, you kind of can't make it. These kind
Speaker 3: of things up. The biggest halftime lead they had before
Speaker 3: this game Dan was twenty ten. It was against the
Speaker 3: Denver Broncos. Was the last time they had a halftime
Speaker 3: lead this big. Do you know who the coach of
Speaker 3: the Denver Broncos at the time of the Raiders having
Speaker 3: that big of a halftime late, Josh mcdonn.
Speaker 4: Josh freaking McDaniels.
Speaker 1: You can't write this, Yeah, not a guy who's going
Speaker 1: to get another head coaching job. That's just my no,
Speaker 1: my theory. I don't know if it's true or not.
Speaker 7: I think it's a solid theory.
Speaker 1: There was a reporter.
Speaker 2: It was reported by Ian, but also came from all
Speaker 2: different directions, So this was something that was not a
Speaker 2: well kept secret that the Josh McDaniels firing came after
Speaker 2: a revolt against him, Like remember the John Voight character
Speaker 2: in Varsity Blues where they all revolted against him before
Speaker 2: the Babe game, like where they it was a team
Speaker 2: meeting this from Ian and others in which everyone took
Speaker 2: turns basically venting and getting emotional and angry with McDaniels
Speaker 2: and how things how he goes about communicating, practicing everything
Speaker 2: about him, and it went so went so far from
Speaker 2: where McDaniels thought it was going to go that he
Speaker 2: actually waved in Antonio Pierce at one point to kind
Speaker 2: of almost stand up for him or the coaching staff
Speaker 2: rather than face the music. And then in that Thursday
Speaker 2: practice ahead of the Monday night game, it was reported
Speaker 2: that he was like a ghost basically, and he wasn't
Speaker 2: even really coaching the team, and he wasn't correcting anything,
Speaker 2: and sure enough they get beat up on Monday night
Speaker 2: football and he's gone the next day. That's a pretty
Speaker 2: We've heard a lot of crazy stories about things, you know,
Speaker 2: you feel like you've heard it all at this point,
Speaker 2: but just the way that has been reported and explained,
Speaker 2: that is a crazy ending to Josh McDaniels' head coaching
Speaker 2: career in the NFL. And yeah, Pierce's obviously got with
Speaker 2: no experience and there's not a lot of talent on
Speaker 2: this roster. But they now are completely free of that
Speaker 2: dark cloud and they're playing free and easy.
Speaker 1: Obviously, at least they were on Sunday.
Speaker 3: Well Glazer's nugget Jay Glazer's particular nugget that Pierce brought up,
Speaker 3: you know the Giants team back in O seven, saying like,
Speaker 3: no matter who we played, we thought we could beat them.
Speaker 3: We had a game plan to beat them. It's all
Speaker 3: about self belief, no matter what situation you're in. And
Speaker 3: then after he finishes the speech, McDaniels goes up to
Speaker 3: him and says, don't ever talk about the Patriots like that.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's just I mean, he's sighted.
Speaker 2: I thought you were also filling out to you know,
Speaker 2: who is the play caller of that team yet.
Speaker 3: But the fact that if this is true, and this
Speaker 3: is where I almost start to feel bad, like he's
Speaker 3: getting piled on. And I don't doubt the truth of
Speaker 3: the story, but man, that makes him look small in
Speaker 3: that moment.
Speaker 5: Yeah, crazy, Brian Table's not having a great coaching situation.
Speaker 4: Now we're burying the lead here, uh somewhat.
Speaker 3: I mean, actually the Raiders winning that big and Antonio
Speaker 3: Pearson's no game is big, but Daniel Jones going down
Speaker 3: with the knee injury that looks like a potential torn
Speaker 3: acl is just a really sad way for this already
Speaker 3: really sad giant season to get even and.
Speaker 2: Listen, the Jones thing was really a tough watch too
Speaker 2: because of what happened, Like they are Tyrod Taylor's and
Speaker 2: I are. We know Tommy DeVito is a guy that
Speaker 2: really has no business playing in the NFL, and they
Speaker 2: wouldn't even let him pass against the Jets last week.
Speaker 2: So Jones takes a shot on his knee and he
Speaker 2: just missed a bunch of time, and he knows there's
Speaker 2: a lot of pressure on him after he signs of
Speaker 2: the contract. He stays in the game, which is a
Speaker 2: credit to him, and he drops back to pass and
Speaker 2: when he plants his back leg, he just collapses and
Speaker 2: he limps to the ten.
Speaker 1: And now we're hearing that it's a potentially serious injury.
Speaker 2: It's probably the end of his season, and you know,
Speaker 2: this is a I mean, in terms of disaster seasons,
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any team that from where they
Speaker 2: what they thought of themselves on September first to where
Speaker 2: they are now on November fifth, Like you can't even
Speaker 2: script the worst case scenario to a Giant fan. They
Speaker 2: wouldn't believe you that could be as bad as it
Speaker 2: has been. And I don't know what happens the rest
Speaker 2: of the way. I don't know how many wins they have.
Speaker 2: Certainly you fork him here, but now you got to
Speaker 2: realize the Tyrod's out of the picture with a rib
Speaker 2: injury that had him in the hospital for a couple
Speaker 2: of days. Daniel Jones is out for the year, and
Speaker 2: you just you don't have anybody now to hold down
Speaker 2: the fourth They could be head towards the top three pick.
Speaker 5: Now, well, you cannot stick like this version of Tommy
Speaker 5: DeVito into the lineup. It just doesn't even seem vaguely safe,
Speaker 5: Like I don't know, unless you're trying to you know it, well,
Speaker 5: I don't know if you, I don't know.
Speaker 3: There's some interesting franchises now with a chance for that
Speaker 3: one pick. Giants, Patriots.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think there's anything else really to share
Speaker 2: from this guy. I was happy as a local New
Speaker 2: Jersey kid. DeVito did throw a touchdown late in this
Speaker 2: game that avoided the shutout, and now he could always
Speaker 2: say I threw a touchdown. But like this, this guy
Speaker 2: shouldn't be starting games in the NFL and they don't
Speaker 2: have another option on the roster right now.
Speaker 5: So I mean, I wonder if you if this is
Speaker 5: when Carson Wentz returns to Our Lives or or someone
Speaker 5: like that, because it's like this is just uh, if
Speaker 5: you're Brian Table, you can it.
Speaker 2: Couldn't get The only thing I could make their season
Speaker 2: more depressing is if Carson Wentz becomes their quarterback the
Speaker 2: rest of the way. But I don't disagree, but they
Speaker 2: might just they're a proud organization and maybe they they
Speaker 2: will make a move like that just to try to
Speaker 2: don't you have to they get finish line.
Speaker 3: These two quarterbacks, Drake Man and Caleb Williams are quite
Speaker 3: intriguing that I think some of these teams that are
Speaker 3: buried you just ride it out, just you just DeVito
Speaker 3: it out here. I mean, it reminds me so.
Speaker 1: Much you never go full divido.
Speaker 3: It reminds me so much of Ben mcadow's second season.
Speaker 3: I mean, Ben McAdoo. People kind of forget went to
Speaker 3: the playoffs, like Brian Dable went eleven and five, actually
Speaker 3: better than Brian Dable and didn't make it to the
Speaker 3: end of year two. Now there's not as much like
Speaker 3: off the field bumbling and you know, rough press conferences
Speaker 3: from Dable and there's I don't think there's any chance
Speaker 3: he would get fired.
Speaker 4: But the year it's very similar though.
Speaker 3: It's very similar though to how mcadow's two years first
Speaker 3: two years ago.
Speaker 5: I mean, he's back and having that terrible like luck
Speaker 5: with the health of his players, so the previous coach had.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can'd of remember Joe Judge being somewhat popular
Speaker 2: after the first year even though they didn't have success,
Speaker 2: and then that thing went sideways. It's been a really
Speaker 2: rough run for the Giants since that last Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: All right, Next up and finally a huge Titanic AFC
Speaker 2: Sunday night football matchup.
Speaker 1: Big third down and seven play coming up.
Speaker 4: Williams in the game.
Speaker 1: He lines up to the left off Joe Burrow.
Speaker 16: Joe has the ball, Hunger pressure dumps it off, short caught.
Speaker 15: True Sample has a first down to the ten tonight
Speaker 15: the pie line.
Speaker 4: He's in touchdown beautiful Bengals.
Speaker 6: True Sample catching a short pass from Joe Burrow and
Speaker 6: doing the rest on a twenty.
Speaker 4: Two yard TD.
Speaker 2: I mean Drew Sample's just gonna make a miss how works?
Speaker 2: So what they say, that's what Drew Sample does. Dan
Speaker 2: Horde with the gall w see k Y. It was
Speaker 2: a showdown of AFC Titans. Only one could be victorious,
Speaker 2: but unfortunately for our producer Eric Roberts, it was the
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals who came out ahead with a twenty four
Speaker 2: to eighteen win. The Bengals, now after their slow start,
Speaker 2: have really solidified themselves in the AFC. There are now
Speaker 2: five and three, and man, that is going to be
Speaker 2: a great division race with the Baltimore Ravens. The Buffalo
Speaker 2: Bills meanwhile.
Speaker 1: Fall to five and four. How about that?
Speaker 2: Four losses now here as we reached the midway point,
Speaker 2: Now a lot of people would have predicted that.
Speaker 1: And Mark the Bengals, you know, got a little dicey
Speaker 1: at the end.
Speaker 2: They needed a conversion after a late Bills score and
Speaker 2: two point conversion to put this thing game away. But
Speaker 2: they were clearly again we're the better team, just like
Speaker 2: they were in January's playoffs.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I didn't feel like immense tension around what the
Speaker 5: end result would be. You know, they went into a
Speaker 5: few corners here, But what I love is when Buffalo
Speaker 5: comes storming back, they make it twenty four to eighteen,
Speaker 5: that Burrow and the Bengals turn around and Burrow hits
Speaker 5: that thirty two yard shot to Tyler Board, Tyler Boyd
Speaker 5: to essentially set the table for Joe Mixon to seal
Speaker 5: the game. It's like, I just trust this passing game,
Speaker 5: this passing offense right now to do it where it's
Speaker 5: like it's not so much a negative thing on the
Speaker 5: Buffalo Bills, but it's just like this version of Cincinnati
Speaker 5: and this version of Joe Burrow.
Speaker 7: They detonated the Niners a week ago.
Speaker 5: They're the one team that has shown the DNA to
Speaker 5: be able to beat both Kansas City and Buffalo.
Speaker 7: And here we go, we're sailing away.
Speaker 4: I mean, I love it's three now, we're locking things up.
Speaker 7: We are locking things up.
Speaker 5: We never and the West we didn't even discuss it
Speaker 5: along with the West Brothers because there was another sense.
Speaker 7: Of drama around it.
Speaker 1: We knew it no one more. I love that call. Mark.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you brought it up because so many teams
Speaker 2: would have opted to try to milk as much of
Speaker 2: the clock as possible, maybe run it twice and then
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, it's third and six and you're
Speaker 2: on your own end, and then who knows what happens,
Speaker 2: but instead and Greg, as they so often do, Zach
Speaker 2: Taylor says, Joe, you are the man. We trust you,
Speaker 2: and if you can throw it thirty yard out here, hit.
Speaker 3: It, it's crazy because it's not like it was like
Speaker 3: a safe pass or a play action pass or anything.
Speaker 4: So it was just a straight drop back.
Speaker 3: And that's how we're gonna start our three and a
Speaker 3: half minute drill, four minute kill the clock. They haven't
Speaker 3: run the ball great for much of this season, and
Speaker 3: they didn't tonight, but they were able to in that
Speaker 3: last spot when they absolutely needed to get a first down.
Speaker 3: But to me, it's just like, what do you do
Speaker 3: with Joe Burrow seeing these two games back to back,
Speaker 3: Where last week he could argue is one of the
Speaker 3: best games any quarterbacks played all season. This wasn't quite
Speaker 3: there thirty one for forty four, three forty eight and
Speaker 3: two touchdowns because it wasn't as spectacular, but it wasn't
Speaker 3: that far off. Like the Bills had no answers because
Speaker 3: when they blitzed him, and there was the whole thing
Speaker 3: years ago. You can't blow you can't blitz Joe Burrow.
Speaker 3: You can't blitz Joe Burrows. He's gonna cook you up.
Speaker 3: And then the earlier this season when he couldn't move,
Speaker 3: you could blitz Joe Burrow. So what did they do
Speaker 3: earlier this game? They blitzed him quite a bit and
Speaker 3: he was always getting rid of the ball. I'm thinking
Speaker 3: of one where they dove right at his feet, he
Speaker 3: gets out of the play, makes the play. Second reaction
Speaker 3: to t Higgins there even the play where Drew Sample
Speaker 3: scores the touchdown. Like, but when they don't try to blitz,
Speaker 3: the Bills don't really have a pass rush. Von Miller's
Speaker 3: not right russo it wasn't happening. And when you leave
Speaker 3: him back there, he picks you apart. And that that
Speaker 3: was where he got The big place to played to
Speaker 3: Chase too, is when they don't rush more than four.
Speaker 3: So when he's like this, it's just like it's Tom Brady,
Speaker 3: like it's Montana, like it's whatever.
Speaker 2: He's just thrown dots all over the field. He's that special.
Speaker 2: And again we talked about it after the Niners wipe out.
Speaker 2: He is obviously healthy now, yet another scramble in this game, Greg,
Speaker 2: and I think you're right. And you know what they
Speaker 2: talked about in the offseason about some of his training,
Speaker 2: he's moving so well. This is a guy that had
Speaker 2: a fairly serious calf injury that blew out his knee
Speaker 2: in a gnarly way as a rookie, and yet he's
Speaker 2: never looked more spry. And when you put it all together,
Speaker 2: the level of co financ he plays with, the actual
Speaker 2: physical ability. I mean, we locked it up and I
Speaker 2: felt confident because I just think Burrow and that building
Speaker 2: in primetime is pretty much gonna beat anybody, including the Bills.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean there was you talk about his confidence
Speaker 5: because we've seen that. I think you saw it visibly
Speaker 5: on his face against the Niners, just this relief that
Speaker 5: his body was back. And there was a point tonight
Speaker 5: on a third and six and this is what triggered
Speaker 5: a field goal. They didn't score here, but Burrow had
Speaker 5: this incredible, like quick release shot to t Higgins that
Speaker 5: went down to the Buffalo seven first and goal. But
Speaker 5: that throw and that connection and the way he threw
Speaker 5: the ball, it's like, to your point, I think last
Speaker 5: week was the best quarterback performance we've seen all all year,
Speaker 5: but tonight there were elements.
Speaker 7: Of the same thing.
Speaker 5: Maybe it wasn't as complete a dominant performance. I was
Speaker 5: a little bit more up and down. But I can
Speaker 5: think of one underthrow deep to Chase. But other than that,
Speaker 5: like he is doing things on a weekly basis where
Speaker 5: it's like, this is the quarterback of the AFC right now.
Speaker 4: For me, Well, you're also getting Higgins involved. This was
Speaker 4: t Higgins' best.
Speaker 5: Mahomes is like what, well, no, I don't mean like
Speaker 5: career wise, but if you look at the two quarterbacks,
Speaker 5: Burrow right now in the last two weeks is like
Speaker 5: a sizzling watch.
Speaker 4: Sure you're saying who's playing the best at this very moment, this.
Speaker 2: Very moment, I don't have to take one year quarterback
Speaker 2: for one game next week.
Speaker 7: Josh Stubbs.
Speaker 3: Getting Higgins involved eight for one. He hasn't been doing
Speaker 3: anything this season. You got Tyler Boyd who who's finally
Speaker 3: making big plays again. And then there is something about
Speaker 3: this defense and I know they gave up the late touchdown,
Speaker 3: but there was like a stat Paul Daner at the
Speaker 3: Athletic had that you know, over the last two years
Speaker 3: under you know, Captain Lewo and Rumo. They were twenty
Speaker 3: one percent better than any other team in goal to
Speaker 3: go situations. And I'm going to extend that out into
Speaker 3: the red zone here where they get the fumble on
Speaker 3: Dalton Kincaid and the bills of another drive that comes
Speaker 3: up short. And there is something if you look at
Speaker 3: like this last month where they look like the Bengals defense.
Speaker 3: And to me, the Bengals defense is like not amazing
Speaker 3: between the twenties, but they just have a knack for
Speaker 3: locking it down and they coach it up well once
Speaker 3: it gets near the goal line and limiting points.
Speaker 7: And that fumble doesn't happen without Jermaine Pratt punching.
Speaker 4: He's always one of those guys.
Speaker 1: Yep. And I'll use some Paul Daaner reporting as well.
Speaker 2: It does great work for the athletic and this is
Speaker 2: a testament to Captain lou of course, Joe Burrow, but
Speaker 2: Greg and our ongoing discourse around Zach Taylor. This is
Speaker 2: all under Zach Taylor's watch that they are the best
Speaker 2: team in football over the past three years when it
Speaker 2: comes to putting games away when they score first. They
Speaker 2: are now after tonight twenty one and two in the
Speaker 2: last three years, and they have that ability again, like
Speaker 2: we were talking about, it's kind of a little bit
Speaker 2: of the theme of the show today, the teams that
Speaker 2: know how to take care of business even when they're
Speaker 2: not playing at their best and just kind of grind
Speaker 2: out wins. Those three teams are the Bengals, the Eagles,
Speaker 2: the Chiefs. Those are one, two, three and in this metric,
Speaker 2: and like they're just in a very good place right now.
Speaker 2: And it's funny because earlier we were talking about the
Speaker 2: Ravens and who's better than the Ravens right now?
Speaker 1: And you can make the case nobody.
Speaker 2: The fact that they're in the same division and only
Speaker 2: one team's gonna be able to come out of there
Speaker 2: with the home game and potentially a bye. That is
Speaker 2: the best division race in football as we look at
Speaker 2: to the second well.
Speaker 3: All four of the teams in the division would be
Speaker 3: in the playoffs as of this moment.
Speaker 2: But I don't know, maybe you disagree, but I think
Speaker 2: we have a no disrespect to the Steelers and Browns,
Speaker 2: but there's a very different buy between Bengals Ravens to
Speaker 2: me than the other two teams.
Speaker 5: Well, I think like Cincinnati, like everything that we thought
Speaker 5: about them changed in the last couple of weeks. And
Speaker 5: like Cleveland's got an excellent defense, I think their offense
Speaker 5: is very up and down. The Steelers obviously are an
Speaker 5: up and down team like Yes Bengal or Bengals Ravens
Speaker 5: is and they play in a couple of weeks is
Speaker 5: essentially like this sort of ultra clash waiting to happen.
Speaker 3: And this is a huge test of the Seohn McDermott
Speaker 3: era and defense. Right now, there's nothing about their defense
Speaker 3: that's special. And they lose to El Bernard early in
Speaker 3: this game. We know they've lost Milano and Dayquon Jones
Speaker 3: and Tredavious Way and they're not getting those guys back.
Speaker 3: It's a long season right now. They're really ordinary, especially
Speaker 3: on defense. On offense, you know they're good, they're not
Speaker 3: quite good enough, and they're certainly not consistent running the
Speaker 3: ball enough to make up for it. But they just
Speaker 3: don't make sense if they're an ordinary defense. But they
Speaker 3: are the Bills. They do have Josh Allen, the DNA's
Speaker 3: all in there, and there's a million teams over the
Speaker 3: last ten years in NFL history that were kind of
Speaker 3: blah after nine weeks, and so I think they have
Speaker 3: a chance to be a different team by the time
Speaker 3: they get to the playoffs, but they're not that team
Speaker 3: right now and they can't take on too many l's.
Speaker 2: Here's another kind of ongoing conversation we had going into
Speaker 2: the season, that the feeling that this is such an
Speaker 2: important season for the Bills, not because they don't have
Speaker 2: another chance to win the Super Bowl. They have Josh Allen,
Speaker 2: but like this core, this group of Bills, like I
Speaker 2: sense again that this team is just I don't know,
Speaker 2: Eric behind the glass, you are a hardcore Bills fan, Like,
Speaker 2: do you get a do you have a level of
Speaker 2: confidence at this point when they face these fellow titans
Speaker 2: of the league that I feel like a couple in
Speaker 2: the last couple of years, you probably always felt pretty
Speaker 2: good going into a game like this.
Speaker 1: Have you been shaking the confidence? Why at this point
Speaker 1: now this season is different. I don't know.
Speaker 19: There's there's something missing and every points like there's a
Speaker 19: second piece missing on the offense, and we were kind
Speaker 19: of hoping that was Kincaid and he's kind of come
Speaker 19: around the last two weeks, specially with Knoxby, you know,
Speaker 19: being out with the wrist injury. He's a good, tough,
Speaker 19: tough fumble. What are you gonna do? That's that's a
Speaker 19: big that's a big play by the Bengals defense. But no,
Speaker 19: there's it's a hard watch. Like they always sneak in
Speaker 19: this last little touchdown to make it kind of close
Speaker 19: at the end. That kind of makes the box scores
Speaker 19: a little better. They did against Jaguars. They came out
Speaker 19: on the right side of the Giants game. This one again,
Speaker 19: Josh Allen kind of went down. They went for two,
Speaker 19: made it made it look better on the box score.
Speaker 19: Where's something is not there to watch?
Speaker 7: Yeah, And I like, I think kin Kaid is a
Speaker 7: great development.
Speaker 5: And it was you know, that was the hope and
Speaker 5: even in the summer, but it almost tonight came in
Speaker 5: replace of like until the end, Stephan Diggs had you know,
Speaker 5: a massive touchdown and two point conversion, but largely taken
Speaker 5: away gave Davis taken away like you're leaning on different people,
Speaker 5: but they're not special characters.
Speaker 7: And so I look at the Kincaid's night and be like,
Speaker 7: I like that.
Speaker 5: But it's like the Bills can't work themselves out of
Speaker 5: a corner with so many weapon rich layers like the
Speaker 5: Bengals cant for.
Speaker 19: As much like you know, crap that Josh Allen got
Speaker 19: for doing the hero ball stuff, even that's not really
Speaker 19: there like that that like he had a weird like
Speaker 19: interception that he just kind of missed the throw.
Speaker 4: Today he overthrew some like something.
Speaker 1: Made some great throws too, and that's why there's reason
Speaker 1: for home.
Speaker 19: But yeah, but those things there at the back, yeah,
Speaker 19: I mean, yeah, yeah, you know what he can be,
Speaker 19: but something is something is missing. I don't know if
Speaker 19: it's you know, doors see in the play calling, but
Speaker 19: that's the.
Speaker 1: Healthy at least. Yeah, you know, the shoulder was concerned going.
Speaker 3: You don't want him getting forty four of your sixty
Speaker 3: eight rushing yards. We are kind of back to like
Speaker 3: we need Josh Allen to run. And I and one
Speaker 3: thing I like the schedule makers. You know, all these
Speaker 3: teams seem to be playing each other down the stretch.
Speaker 3: The Bills have a couple easy games, but then they
Speaker 3: have an at Philly, they got they got another and
Speaker 3: at Kansas City coming up. So all these teams are
Speaker 3: playing each other coming up.
Speaker 1: The Bills being in.
Speaker 2: Third place at the midway point was not what we predicted,
Speaker 2: and the Jets Chargers playing Monday night.
Speaker 1: The Jets can find a way in that game.
Speaker 2: You got the Dolphins who took a loss at six
Speaker 2: and three, The Jets can be five and three, Bills
Speaker 2: five and four. Interesting division going down the stretch. Interesting,
Speaker 2: anything else good? Sunday now fun. It's like almost like
Speaker 2: the it is is that the Germany game and even
Speaker 2: the Sunday night game. Maybe you wanted a little bit
Speaker 2: more about everything in the middle that you weren't expecting
Speaker 2: as much from the middle of the sandwich. Very nice
Speaker 2: word and the bread was fine, fine, but it really
Speaker 2: was No, it should be the meat. It would be
Speaker 2: those we've now finished eating the sandwich. You've lost the sandwich, and.
Speaker 4: Yeah it was Eagles Cowboys not delivered.
Speaker 1: That was the meat. That was the meat. Okay, I
Speaker 1: think we got this kind of gross, But why do
Speaker 1: you back in the meat?
Speaker 7: No, it's not I'm not saying that.
Speaker 2: Just like everyone Sessler housed that double cheeseburger. We didn't
Speaker 2: even notice it until he was halfway through it.
Speaker 4: Tom, Tom, Just like the inards were.
Speaker 2: I don't make those sounds like make it bloody, bloody
Speaker 2: as hell when the waiters like, yes, sir, it's not
Speaker 2: to go.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, the man after my own heart.
Speaker 3: You sound like someone that woke up in Vegas. It's
Speaker 3: time to fifteen hours.
Speaker 1: Eric, please hit the music. We gotta go.
Speaker 2: All right, good stuff, Thank you everybody for sitting. Thank
Speaker 2: you Eric and Funk behind the glass.
Speaker 1: Some one to night. Heed the call.