Speaker 1: It's the NFL Report Week four edition.
Speaker 2: I've Seve White you is my guy, James Palmer, And
Speaker 2: after that game Sunday night, JP, I think I am
Speaker 2: more swift Fer than swift Tea. Not really sold on
Speaker 2: all of the shots of Taylor Swift, but what a
Speaker 2: great game we did see Sunday night between the Jets
Speaker 2: and the Chiefs. Kansas City eked out for the dub.
Speaker 3: Big time. Steve. It's so interesting.
Speaker 4: We're just seeing shot after shot of Taylor Swift walking
Speaker 4: through a security line at MetLife and everything. Every Twitter
Speaker 4: account Taylor Swift's at the game and standing right behind
Speaker 4: her is like Blake Lively, you Jackman, Brian Reynolds.
Speaker 3: No mention of.
Speaker 4: These megastars by any stretch of the imagination. As they
Speaker 4: walk in to MetLife, it is just Taylor Swift or
Speaker 4: bus because she is directly connected to those Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 4: And we'll get into it a little bit later with
Speaker 4: Jeff Chidia as we break down this Chiefs team where
Speaker 4: we've told up before with him about how good this
Speaker 4: defense has been, maybe one of the best we've seen
Speaker 4: in Mahomes's time in Kansas City. But we're also seeing
Speaker 4: them work through some of these growing pains with all
Speaker 4: these young pieces around Patrick Mahomes during training camp, I
Speaker 4: kept hearing Steve it was like Skymore is going to
Speaker 4: take a jump, and mvs' is year two of the
Speaker 4: system is going to take a jump and all of
Speaker 4: these It just hasn't happened or clicked entirely as an
Speaker 4: offensive unit, Yester yet. And you also have two new
Speaker 4: tackles as part of this as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's clearly one of those tackles has been an
Speaker 2: issue as we saw some more penalties get called on
Speaker 2: him last night on the right side. But James, again,
Speaker 2: I think defenses are playing the Chiefs differently. This was
Speaker 2: like a couple like last year when they had to
Speaker 2: adjust to a couple things. How defenses are playing them differently.
Speaker 2: And here's something I thought about last night with the way,
Speaker 2: I mean, the Jets just really gave them a lot
Speaker 2: of trouble on both sides of the balls. We saw
Speaker 2: Zach wilsoner quarterback play well. For as much as we
Speaker 2: want to malign Nate Hackett, the Jets offensive coordinated for
Speaker 2: the job he did his head coach with the Broncos.
Speaker 2: He did have the game plan against the Chiefs twice
Speaker 2: last season, so he may have had something in his
Speaker 2: pocket and understanding the Chiefs personnel, some of their principles
Speaker 2: and what they like to do when he went into
Speaker 2: game plan. Maybe that's why Zach Wilson played fairly well.
Speaker 2: I thought he played really well. I mean, maybe Aaron
Speaker 2: Rodgers being there made HI feel a little bit better.
Speaker 2: I mean, who knows, but I thought he played really well.
Speaker 2: But the fact that Kansas City James seems to have
Speaker 2: an answer for everything, like Isaiah Pacheco, you know, and
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes running when he has to, They're just so
Speaker 2: tough to beat when their defense, as you mentioned, is.
Speaker 1: Playing this well.
Speaker 4: Certain teams know how to win, Steve, we're gonna get
Speaker 4: into that when we talk about Philadelphia, talk about the Niners,
Speaker 4: some other teams in the NFC. We're gonna break those down.
Speaker 4: Sherry Burriss was at that Eagles commander's game. We're gonna
Speaker 4: talk to her. She'll be on the show. Cameron Wolfe's
Speaker 4: gonna talk about that big showdown that happened at Orchard
Speaker 4: Park between the Bills and the Dolphins. But let's start
Speaker 4: off with America's team.
Speaker 3: I hate to use that term.
Speaker 4: But I just did the Dallas Cowboys, Steve, they get
Speaker 4: a bounce back when over Bill Belichick and the New
Speaker 4: England Patriots, the worst defeat of Bill Belichick's tenure with
Speaker 4: the New England Patriots losing thirty eight to three. Your
Speaker 4: initial thoughts on this one, because what we have seen
Speaker 4: one of the identities of the Cowboys are when they
Speaker 4: have a bad loss, and they've had a couple of
Speaker 4: them under Mike McCarthy, they do bounce back and play
Speaker 4: really well and put a lot of points on the
Speaker 4: board in the next week.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we saw Week three, they had the tough loss
Speaker 2: against Arizona. No one really saw that coming. But here's
Speaker 2: the ultimate tale of what Dallas thought about what they
Speaker 2: did to the Patriots. I reached out to somebody with
Speaker 2: the Cowboys Monday morning. I was like, man, that was
Speaker 2: just a virtuoso defensive performance. The text I got back,
Speaker 2: big game coming up this week.
Speaker 1: They're already onto the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2: Their attitude was almost like that shell lacking of the
Speaker 2: Patriots was almost a throwaway game, like, Okay, we came
Speaker 2: out there, we buzzed through them. Now let's move on
Speaker 2: to the forty nine er. We're gona talk about that
Speaker 2: little later on, but just think about this. They made
Speaker 2: Mac Jones look absolutely terrible, and I know all the
Speaker 2: New England is like, get rid of Mac Jones, get
Speaker 2: rid of this guy. The Cowboys are going to do
Speaker 2: that to teams. Their defense is that good. They're gonna
Speaker 2: want to make you fire your head coach because they
Speaker 2: are going to stifle your offense. But jp they got
Speaker 2: two more defensive touchdowns. They have four defensive touchdowns on
Speaker 2: the year, another in the return game five non offensive touchdowns.
Speaker 2: This reminds you of two years ago when their defense
Speaker 2: had eight defensive touchdowns and they had a couple of
Speaker 2: touchdowns in the return game. If they continue to play
Speaker 2: this well on that side of the ball, Oh, that
Speaker 2: game against the forty nine ers, which they are so
Speaker 2: focused in on, is going to be something special.
Speaker 3: They are beyond focused in it.
Speaker 4: They didn't just start really, I would think honestly after
Speaker 4: halftime Steve for that game on Sunday against the Patriots.
Speaker 4: I got a text from one of the coaches this
Speaker 4: morning that said in Dallas, that said, we've had this
Speaker 4: game circled since.
Speaker 3: The end of last season. I mean, that's the way
Speaker 3: they felt.
Speaker 4: Remember the forty nine Ers ended their season last year
Speaker 4: and the year before, and this has happened.
Speaker 3: I don't know if people at home know this.
Speaker 4: But if you're in a game, you're like on the
Speaker 4: Dallas Cowboys sideline, and you're going through a blowout of
Speaker 4: a team like they did with the New England Patriots,
Speaker 4: and you have an opponent coming up the next week
Speaker 4: like they have circled with the San Francisco forty nine Ers,
Speaker 4: the mindset steve switches in game for some.
Speaker 3: Playoffs, doesn't it.
Speaker 4: Guys like Micah Parsons already turned the key before they
Speaker 4: even hit the locker room.
Speaker 3: As we're on to the forty nine ers.
Speaker 4: The entire postgame press conference or anybody speaking in the
Speaker 4: locker room was talking about San Francisco, not talking about
Speaker 4: the New England Patriots. That's where this team's mindset is
Speaker 4: right now. That's wild. Michael Parson is calling it a
Speaker 4: playoff game. Jerry Jones saying postgame that if we go
Speaker 4: up and compete and beat the forty nine ers, that
Speaker 4: will show everyone that we should be in the conversation
Speaker 4: for a Super Bowl this year. That's how big these
Speaker 4: guys are talking this game, is what I am concerned
Speaker 4: about before we move on. That zone still is a problem, yep.
Speaker 4: For the Dallas Cowboys. Four trips in there, one touchdown
Speaker 4: is about a three yard run, I believe it is.
Speaker 3: It's not like the forty.
Speaker 4: Nine Ers are incredible so far the season in the
Speaker 4: red zone, but if you get down there against San Francisco,
Speaker 4: you have to be able to convert in the red zone.
Speaker 2: You have to be able to score touchdowns. And just
Speaker 2: real quick as you move on, JP, with the Cowboys
Speaker 2: treating the Patriots like an afterthought, we are going to
Speaker 2: discuss a little bit later on on if they actually
Speaker 2: are an afterthought based on how they have come out
Speaker 2: of the gate.
Speaker 3: All right, j P.
Speaker 1: Let's move on.
Speaker 2: Because we saw the Pittsburgh Steelers go down to Houston
Speaker 2: and get slapped around. I mean, no one saw that
Speaker 2: coming the way it happened, especially my head coach Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 2: Here's what Tomlin had to say postgame about what's coming next.
Speaker 5: Hell yeah, we got to make some changes.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 5: That was an ugly product we put out there today,
Speaker 5: and so we're not going to do the same things
Speaker 5: and hope for a different outcome. What those changes are. Man,
Speaker 5: we'll put together a plan in preparation this week.
Speaker 2: Hmm, JP, when is the last time you've ever heard
Speaker 2: Mike Tomlin make a public declaration like that about we
Speaker 2: are going to be making changes. Look, we know JP,
Speaker 2: the quarterback is going to change. Can He Pickett sustained
Speaker 2: to knee injury. He's probably going to be out for
Speaker 2: a little while. Based on some of the reports we've
Speaker 2: heard from our insiders, he and Rappaport and Tom Pelasero,
Speaker 2: this doesn't sound like it is an injury induced type
Speaker 2: of change that Mike Tomlin is talking about.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's only done this a very few times in
Speaker 4: his career, Steve, and he has been extremely successful during
Speaker 4: his entire tenure in San Francis. How many losing I
Speaker 4: mean his tenure with Pittsburgh, how many losing seasons has
Speaker 4: he had? That'd be zero for again, that'd be zero
Speaker 4: that he's had. Now, they remember last year they made
Speaker 4: some changes Minci's nobody really knew what they were after
Speaker 4: their bye week, and that kind of helped them catapult
Speaker 4: themselves into the postseason. The second half of the year,
Speaker 4: they said they made some subtle tweaks, subtle changes. It
Speaker 4: wasn't a declaration like we saw from Mike Tomlin right there,
Speaker 4: and everybody's calling for Matt Canada's head the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 4: You would think if something was to change, that would
Speaker 4: have happened this offseason, right and that would have been
Speaker 4: another offensive coordinator for your young quarterback and Kenny Pickett.
Speaker 4: That would have also went against what we've seen in
Speaker 4: the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the way they operate.
Speaker 4: You don't usually change coordinators, Let's be honest, within a season.
Speaker 4: I'm curious what they want to change. The two things
Speaker 4: that I think are the biggest issues are a defense
Speaker 4: that hasn't been able to stop the run. Against the
Speaker 4: Houston Texans, I believe they ran the football.
Speaker 3: Let's look at this.
Speaker 4: Thirty eight times or one hundred and thirty nine yards.
Speaker 4: That team had struggled to run the football through their
Speaker 4: first three weeks, and their inability to stick with the
Speaker 4: run within their offense because the players in the locker
Speaker 4: room post they came out of the remember they came
Speaker 4: out of halftime and they ran the ball down the
Speaker 4: throat of the Houston Texans Najie Harrison Company. And then
Speaker 4: what happens, they get away from it again, and even
Speaker 4: guys in the locker room were saying, we're not staying
Speaker 4: consistent with the run game with Kenny Pickett and operating
Speaker 4: in the play action. I feel like, Steve, you have
Speaker 4: to stick with the run game if you are the
Speaker 4: Pittsburgh Steelers and have a consistency in rhythm with your
Speaker 4: run game, if you want this offense to click. To me,
Speaker 4: that is essentially coaching on calling these plays in those instances.
Speaker 4: What's your take on what you think could possibly change.
Speaker 2: It might not be the play caller, but it may
Speaker 2: be a directive to the play caller to run the
Speaker 2: damn ball. Stop putting pressure on our quarterback, who we
Speaker 2: really don't know what he's made of, whether it's Mitch
Speaker 2: Timiski the next couple weeks or Kenny Pickett when he
Speaker 2: comes back, and run the football. Stick with it, like
Speaker 2: you said, when it is working. This has been the
Speaker 2: Steelers brand for decades. The ruinies will tell you, cold Weather,
Speaker 2: run the football, stop the run. That's why we're always there.
Speaker 2: Mike tom Lowhen he came out and said we're not
Speaker 2: going to continue to do things the same way and
Speaker 2: hoping that they work.
Speaker 1: That means we're gonna change. He's hot.
Speaker 2: Like we said, he does not make public declarations like
Speaker 2: this ever unless something is very serious. In JPU and
Speaker 2: I both know last year you talked about some of
Speaker 2: those subtle changes. Very similar things happened with the directive,
Speaker 2: let's say, on what they needed to do offensively.
Speaker 4: What I remember, Steve, this is my last point on it,
Speaker 4: that it's gone on with the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 4: There were some comments coming out of the locker room
Speaker 4: after the win over the Raiders saying that in our
Speaker 4: first two weeks when we had to put up a
Speaker 4: game plan to stop Nick Bosa and to stop Miles Garrett,
Speaker 4: we kind of lost a large chunk of our offense
Speaker 4: because we were so focused on stopping those pass rushers.
Speaker 4: There were things we weren't even going to do as
Speaker 4: an offense. They kind of scrapped that in a sense
Speaker 4: when they were going against Max Crosby. To me, that's
Speaker 4: an interesting comment coming from guys on your offensive line
Speaker 4: saying there's things that we just eliminated, large chunks of
Speaker 4: our playbook that were gone because we're trying to accommodate
Speaker 4: ways to stop these pass rushers. There's a lot you
Speaker 4: can't do offensively if that's your main focus. That haends
Speaker 4: to do with how you're developing this scheme and this
Speaker 4: game plan. All right, let's move on to the other
Speaker 4: team we want to evaluate, because this was kind of
Speaker 4: teams that we were talking about last Thursday heading into
Speaker 4: the quarter mark. Another team that we were going after
Speaker 4: and looking at was the Baltimore Ravens. So far, we
Speaker 4: have seen the Ravens go on the road against the
Speaker 4: Bengals and win, go on the road against the Browns
Speaker 4: in the division and win. They have a Week five
Speaker 4: game on the road against the team we just mentioned,
Speaker 4: the Steelers. They could be three to oh Steve on
Speaker 4: the road in divisional games by Week five, and that
Speaker 4: could be a tremendous advantage. After they beat the Browns
Speaker 4: this past Sunday in the AFC North.
Speaker 2: Yeah, think about that. I mean, they beat all those
Speaker 2: teams on the road. They're going to get him back
Speaker 2: in Baltimore later on in the season. To be able
Speaker 2: to start your season like that while your offense is
Speaker 2: still developing, right, this is hardly a finished product. We
Speaker 2: know they've got a lot of injuries. I mean, Ronnie
Speaker 2: Stanley still didn't play the starting left tackle Odell Beckham.
Speaker 1: He still hurt.
Speaker 2: We still don't know the full functionality of this offense,
Speaker 2: which is why they kind of went back to what
Speaker 2: they did, which was Mark Andrews from Lamar Jackson. Look
Speaker 2: at this ball, those folks who are watching it, tell
Speaker 2: I mean, just beautiful passes. Lamar only through the ball
Speaker 2: nineteen times, but he ran the ball well.
Speaker 1: We saw some.
Speaker 2: Different techniques and some of the things that they did
Speaker 2: with the passing game to Andrews in the run game
Speaker 2: with Lamar. But the fact that this offense can explode
Speaker 2: like that against this defense now again, Cleveland gave them
Speaker 2: three interceptions and I think another turnover right there to
Speaker 2: shortens and fields. But the fact that they could hang
Speaker 2: twenty eight to three on a Browns defense that was
Speaker 2: absolutely dominant. I mean, it's kind of frightening saying with
Speaker 2: the potential with this offense can be while they're still
Speaker 2: working out a lot of the kings.
Speaker 1: JP.
Speaker 4: We were talking at the top of the show right
Speaker 4: about teams that know how to win. I think the
Speaker 4: hardball teams know how to win a lot of times
Speaker 4: in situations, and I think you're right we do have
Speaker 4: to look at this situation with a bit of a
Speaker 4: caveat going I myself even reported everybody, including Deshaun Watson,
Speaker 4: the Browns were confident that the pregame workout was gonna
Speaker 4: go well and he was going to play in that game.
Speaker 4: That is a late scratch for Deshaun Watson, which really
Speaker 4: put the Browns in a hole. But a banged up
Speaker 4: offensive line, as you mentioned, the injuries a little bit
Speaker 4: to be able to hold tough against this Brown's defensive front,
Speaker 4: I think shows a lot of toughness and like we mentioned,
Speaker 4: to get out to this start dealing with the injuries
Speaker 4: that they've been dealing with. Gonna start getting guys back
Speaker 4: in the next few weeks on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4: This could be a fantastic advantage for the Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 4: if they'd win that game in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3: After Week five, coming up.
Speaker 4: With more on the NFL report, We're gonna have boots
Speaker 4: on the ground. Sherry Burst was at that thriller and
Speaker 4: overtime between the Eagles and the Commanders, as well as
Speaker 4: Cameron Wolf right after this talking about the game of
Speaker 4: the week. We thought it was going to be between
Speaker 4: the Bills and the Dolphins.
Speaker 3: Bills showed us they are still contenders.
Speaker 6: Coming up more on the NFL Report.
Speaker 1: Cook in the backfield, Allen back to pass, Gonna roll.
Speaker 7: To his right, steps up cross the Diggs for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Eleven yard touchdown reception.
Speaker 2: Took the loan stepback play action passed as time pros
Speaker 2: to the left sideline, complete the Diggs, but there's a
Speaker 2: flag tinna spin away.
Speaker 1: From the tacklers that he does thirty five.
Speaker 2: Thirty twenty five, twenty headed to the end zone.
Speaker 1: Touchdown step five Diggs.
Speaker 2: Fifty five yards to paydirts.
Speaker 1: Holy moly, digs by himself on the left side.
Speaker 2: Here's the snap, takes the handoff to Murray to the inside.
Speaker 2: It's a try Christophon Diggs thirteen yard touchdown reception.
Speaker 1: Can you dig it?
Speaker 3: Can you Stefan digs it?
Speaker 4: We are now welcome on the NFL Report by Cameron
Speaker 4: Wolf Cam Steve I. We were talking before we had
Speaker 4: cam on off camera. You called it, Cam, you called it.
Speaker 4: The big boss of the AC East is still the
Speaker 4: Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 3: Forty eight to twenty right.
Speaker 4: Hold that high power Dolphins offense that drops seventy on
Speaker 4: the Broncos a week ago down to twenty points, which
Speaker 4: I think everybody would say is a phenomenal effort. Knowing
Speaker 4: that the offense just giving up twenty, it's like giving
Speaker 4: up three to most other offenses. Cam, what did you see?
Speaker 4: What did you predict? Give yourself a pat on the back.
Speaker 8: Yeah, James, I'm a big fan of the wire. And
Speaker 8: there's a saying from the wark you come at the games.
Speaker 3: I missed right, It's not missed.
Speaker 8: The Bills have long been the kings of this AFC East,
Speaker 8: and the Dolphins have been the hot team.
Speaker 9: They scored seventy points.
Speaker 8: Everybody's crowning them, and I think the Dolphins are well
Speaker 8: on their way to being a playoff team. But this
Speaker 8: was a check mark, and we talked about this on
Speaker 8: this platform Thursday. This was a checkpoint to see were
Speaker 8: they ready to overtake the Bills, and we saw Sunday
Speaker 8: they were not. The Bills had a statement to make
Speaker 8: of their own, and it was very interesting seeing the
Speaker 8: game plan the Bills had for Tua and the Dolphins offense.
Speaker 8: We saw all the motion they did, all the speed,
Speaker 8: the seventy points. The Bills went back with a good
Speaker 8: old fashioned physicality, punch you in your mouth. They beat
Speaker 8: them in the trenches. They had four sacks onto a
Speaker 8: nine quarterback hits. Tua came in with one sack over
Speaker 8: three games, and so the whole thing about the Dolphins
Speaker 8: offense is we're going to get the ball out quickly.
Speaker 8: You got to get credit to Sean McDermott. They messed
Speaker 8: up their timing. Matt Mlano and Bernard had a really
Speaker 8: good game in the middle. They did not take the
Speaker 8: bait on the motion with Tyreek Hill over the middle
Speaker 8: of the field, and they really showed the Dolphins that
Speaker 8: they had the personnel to be able to cover their
Speaker 8: receivers Tyreek Hill and Jalen Wadlin. So they're gonna have
Speaker 8: another chance. The Dolphins will at the end of the season.
Speaker 8: But I thought it was very interesting. After the game,
Speaker 8: Tua said this was a humbling performance and it was
Speaker 8: something they needed. And the Bills are doing this motion
Speaker 8: on their face that all day because that's what the
Speaker 8: Dolphins had coming off their team plane. And so the
Speaker 8: Bills feel like they got the upper hand and they're
Speaker 8: still the Kings of the AFCs.
Speaker 1: I love the wire reference.
Speaker 2: One of my favorite reference is one of my favorite
Speaker 2: memes that I like to use on social media. But
Speaker 2: I also like the fact you point out the physicality,
Speaker 2: because the one thing about all of the schemes from
Speaker 2: this coaching tree other than Kyle Shanahan, whether it's the Bengals,
Speaker 2: the Rams, some of those teams teams know if you
Speaker 2: hit them in the mouth enough times, these finesse teams,
Speaker 2: so to speak, might not be able to hang.
Speaker 1: But you also talked about the strategy.
Speaker 2: What about what Ruffalo did to have such a great
Speaker 2: connection with Josh Allen and Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 1: I mean three tds for Digs.
Speaker 9: Yes, Steve, that.
Speaker 8: Was probably one of the best games I've seen of
Speaker 8: Josh Allen of his career. And what you mentioned with
Speaker 8: Stefan Diggs is so interesting because coming into the game,
Speaker 8: Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Vangio said they had a scheme,
Speaker 8: and their scheme was not going to follow Stefan Diggs
Speaker 8: with their top corner xaviing Howard and then Ken Dorsey,
Speaker 8: the Bills offensive coordinator, drew up an excellent plan. They
Speaker 8: made sure every chance they could they were going to
Speaker 8: get Stefan Diggs on Cater Kohu.
Speaker 9: The Dolphins second year corner who's usually in the slot.
Speaker 8: He had to play outside corner because Jalen Rams is
Speaker 8: injured and Diggs, as we see on these highlights, was
Speaker 8: abusing him all day. Six catches, one hundred and twenty yards,
Speaker 8: three touchdowns. They moved Stefan Dicks in motion like the
Speaker 8: Dolphins do in their motion to make sure they get
Speaker 8: those one on one coverages against them, and Digs exploided them.
Speaker 8: I think a lot of times we forget how good
Speaker 8: the Josh Allen thinks combo is because of sometimes there's
Speaker 8: some drama. Steph can get a little bit of motion
Speaker 8: nor at times. But when they're on like they were
Speaker 8: on Sunday, they are one of the best duos in football.
Speaker 8: And they really explored vic Vango's d They did not adjust,
Speaker 8: they did.
Speaker 9: Not put extra help on Digs.
Speaker 8: They did not put Exavin Howard on Diggs, and that
Speaker 8: was a big mistake and Josh Allen really exploited them.
Speaker 8: One other thing that I thought was very interesting, they
Speaker 8: established the front on their offensive line as well. They
Speaker 8: slowed down the defensive front of the Dolphins and they
Speaker 8: did not get home to Josh Allen. And they also
Speaker 8: were able to get that play action game off. Josh
Speaker 8: Allen killed them in the play action because they had
Speaker 8: to stay honest with the run game.
Speaker 9: And so the.
Speaker 8: Bills once again are the big boss of the AFC's
Speaker 8: and they proved it really dominating and bullying.
Speaker 2: Them on both us of all super quickly. Cam, is
Speaker 2: that a blueprint what the Bills did to isolate?
Speaker 8: You know, digs, if you have the digs, if you
Speaker 8: have a digs, yes, I mean not a lot of
Speaker 8: teams have a digs.
Speaker 9: But hopefully Vic Vangel adjusts.
Speaker 8: That's the thing that you know, he's a very good
Speaker 8: defensive coordinator, but he's also a guy who's won his way,
Speaker 8: and so a lot of times those guys, they do
Speaker 8: their style, do their scheme. When they came into the season,
Speaker 8: they thought Jalen Ramsey and Xavin Howard are going to
Speaker 8: be on a less side and the right side. You
Speaker 8: don't have to move either of those guys. But no,
Speaker 8: Jalen Ramsey, you have to adjust. I hope that he
Speaker 8: had just gone forward for that.
Speaker 4: Guys, just raise your hand if you're just kind of
Speaker 4: happy this outcome happened. Because I believe in this offseason
Speaker 4: and through training camp, the entire world just kind of
Speaker 4: either rode off for God, moved on from the Buffalo
Speaker 4: Bills for whatever reason, and Josh Allen put himself back
Speaker 4: in that MVP conversation. I love can that we've seen
Speaker 4: him actually using his legs less, taking fewer hits, which
Speaker 4: he's wanted to do the last couple of years and
Speaker 4: actually is able to do it so far this season,
Speaker 4: and outside of that Jets debacle, the offense hasn't missed
Speaker 4: a beat, right, they'd still been very effective as an offense,
Speaker 4: very effective on Sunday, even with him not taking as
Speaker 4: many hits.
Speaker 3: Can appreciate it by it.
Speaker 1: And taking over.
Speaker 9: And Von Miller should be coming back Soon's a big
Speaker 9: time yep, yep.
Speaker 3: Von Mill right on the corner. Let's go. This is
Speaker 3: what he wanted. Dude down the stretch. Appreciated camp you
Speaker 3: see anybuddy, Well, listen to this, Steve.
Speaker 4: We have our second international matchup this week and it
Speaker 4: can be watched exclusively on NFL Plus. It's the Bills,
Speaker 4: It's the Jags at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, a
Speaker 4: fabulous venue. October eighth, nineteen thirty am Eastern. So if
Speaker 4: you want to watch that game. Sign up today at
Speaker 4: plus dot NFL dot com. All right, now we are
Speaker 4: welcomed in by Sherry Burris, who Cherry was at Commanders
Speaker 4: Eagles overtime.
Speaker 3: Sherry, take us to.
Speaker 4: The sideline, the Eagles sideline and Jalen Hurts, because I'm fascinated.
Speaker 4: You spend a lot of time being a sideline reporter
Speaker 4: at all these different college and pro games. Like what
Speaker 4: did you observe from Jalen Hurts on the sideline?
Speaker 3: Well, it was so interesting.
Speaker 10: You know, we were able to go down on the
Speaker 10: field with two minutes left in regulation. I kind of
Speaker 10: was watching the Commander side, but then realizing that they'd
Speaker 10: have the ball last I litch really sprinted through the
Speaker 10: end zone. So the Eagles fans, if they're watching, they'll
Speaker 10: know what I was doing to get to the other side.
Speaker 10: And the tension on that Eagles sideline as Washington was driving,
Speaker 10: you could just feel it like there was a belief
Speaker 10: that the Eagles were going to hang on, but there
Speaker 10: was that sliver of like maybe Washington will tie the game.
Speaker 10: So as we're getting set for overtime, I was just
Speaker 10: tracking Jalen Hurts. He was pacing at a towel over
Speaker 10: his head, but his facial expression, his.
Speaker 3: Emotions really they weren't really even there.
Speaker 10: I mean, he was very even, Stephen even keel. If
Speaker 10: I was just watching him, guys, I wouldn't know if
Speaker 10: this was the first quarter, the fourth quarter, overtime. He
Speaker 10: was just very steady the entire time until the offense
Speaker 10: went back out there.
Speaker 1: So, Sherry, you know, we saw you. They go out there,
Speaker 1: they drive, they get the.
Speaker 2: Field goal, eventually win it in overtime, and the Eagles
Speaker 2: are four and oh. And it's so weird because all
Speaker 2: you're hearing about the Eagles is they still don't look right.
Speaker 1: You said to me earlier we were prepping for the show.
Speaker 1: It feels like a weird four and oh. Four and
Speaker 1: oh is four and oh to me in the NFL.
Speaker 2: But why does it still seem like these aren't the
Speaker 2: Eagles you know that we know of last year.
Speaker 10: I wonder, Steve if it's because we are so used
Speaker 10: to the Eagles being the juggernaut and blowing teams out
Speaker 10: and there being no question if the Eagles are going
Speaker 10: to win a game. They were trailing in this one.
Speaker 10: This was the first game Washington had a lead going
Speaker 10: into the half if you could believe it. So the
Speaker 10: fact that the Eagles are having to come from behind.
Speaker 10: It was this week Nick Sirianni is saying, they've won
Speaker 10: each game this season a different way, and that's showing
Speaker 10: the character. It's building trust and resilience throughout this team.
Speaker 10: And if you talk to a bunch of different guys,
Speaker 10: they'll just tell you they're all still works in progress,
Speaker 10: which is a little frightening. I would have to imagine
Speaker 10: the fact that they are one of two teams right
Speaker 10: now that are four and oh, they are the defending
Speaker 10: NFC champions, and they still feel like they have progress,
Speaker 10: like they need to get better. We aren't seeing the
Speaker 10: impressive stats from jaln this year. He didn't have any
Speaker 10: turnovers against Washing but three interceptions in the first three games,
Speaker 10: which is not usual Jalen. He is still one of
Speaker 10: the top rushing qbs, but there are so many questions
Speaker 10: about the run game and his arm and you know,
Speaker 10: has he taken this step back? But you're right, four
Speaker 10: and Oh is four and oh. But I think most
Speaker 10: of you know, some of these teams that we expect
Speaker 10: to do really well, they almost like being sort of
Speaker 10: off the radar. Not maybe an on the radar team,
Speaker 10: but something I'd love to be able to ask the
Speaker 10: Eagles that they're okay with this not being, you know,
Speaker 10: picked to win the Super Bowl right this second. But
Speaker 10: it is interesting that it's it's a quiet four and
Speaker 10: O If that makes sense.
Speaker 4: I love to share that. You bring up the character
Speaker 4: of the Philadelphia Eagles. And this is what stands out
Speaker 4: to me most about this win. That phenomenal deep ball
Speaker 4: that Jalen Hurts connects with AJ Brown on he gets
Speaker 4: flagged for the taunting penalty in the end zone, and
Speaker 4: that drive that ended with Zeros on the clock to
Speaker 4: send the game into overtime was only sixty four yards
Speaker 4: because of that AJ Brown penalty. What fascinates me and
Speaker 4: makes me realize some teams just know how to win
Speaker 4: is the conversation that Aj Brown and Jalen Hurts had
Speaker 4: immediately after that touchdown. It wasn't celebrating we took the
Speaker 4: lead in the closing minutes of the game. It was
Speaker 4: you can't have a penalty like that, Aj. That's best friend,
Speaker 4: a best friend telling you you can't put us in
Speaker 4: that spot. That's Jalen Hurts, one of the leaders of
Speaker 4: this team. This Steve doesn't show up in the box
Speaker 4: score about how you manage your entire sideline and manage
Speaker 4: your roster. You find a way to make sure those
Speaker 4: mistakes don't happen. They got away with it in this one,
Speaker 4: and aj Brown was accountable after the game.
Speaker 3: About the position he put his team in.
Speaker 4: But I just think when you have that type of
Speaker 4: leadership Steve on the sideline in game and the wherewithal
Speaker 4: to bring that up in game to know the importance
Speaker 4: of it. Him and Kelsey Hurts and Kelsey halftime also
Speaker 4: made a big part, I'm told in how this game
Speaker 4: proceeded in the second half because of the penalties and
Speaker 4: issues in the first half. We mentioned, as Cherry at
Speaker 4: the top of the show, I hope you were watching
Speaker 4: or listening. Team just know how to find ways to win,
Speaker 4: and the Eagles did it in the Friday ways in
Speaker 4: this one.
Speaker 2: All right, great point, JP, Sherry, thank you so much,
Speaker 2: really really good stuff.
Speaker 1: Now go hug up that cute little daughter yours.
Speaker 2: You know one team when you talk about leadership issues
Speaker 2: and knows how to win.
Speaker 1: It's another four and old four and oh team.
Speaker 2: And I'm talking about the San Francisco forty nine ers
Speaker 2: right out JP. The forty nine ers, I mean we're
Speaker 2: looking at their them against the Arizona Cardinals. Christian McCaffrey
Speaker 2: going skeets. Neamaya, former world champion hurdler who also played
Speaker 2: for the forty nine, is hurtling someone into the end
Speaker 2: zone on a swing.
Speaker 1: Here he is on a short run. This is one
Speaker 1: of they had.
Speaker 2: He had four rushing touchdowns. This was just offensive wizardry.
Speaker 2: I mean, they didn't do anything extra dynamic other than
Speaker 2: just great performances. But JP, we heard last week we
Speaker 2: had safety Talano Hufanga on the show.
Speaker 1: They wanted to get out of the gate quickly.
Speaker 2: They wanted to be in mid season form week one
Speaker 2: because they didn't want any early season losses to come
Speaker 2: back and bite him down the road for playoff seating
Speaker 2: things like that. They want the playoffs to come through
Speaker 2: Levi Stadium. They're in Santa Clara.
Speaker 1: When you look.
Speaker 2: At the forty nine Ers, let's say, juxtaposed to the
Speaker 2: Eagles who are still working on things and the Chiefs
Speaker 2: who are still working through some things, and maybe in a.
Speaker 1: Team like the Bills, I mean, what are you seeing.
Speaker 2: Out of this team that just seems so good in
Speaker 2: every facet of the game.
Speaker 4: What I'm seeing is a quarterback that doesn't make mistakes.
Speaker 4: He went twenty of twenty one. Yeah you heard me right,
Speaker 4: yea twenty one on the game. A quarterback that gets
Speaker 4: this entire offense going, and a creative offensive mind that
Speaker 4: has every weapon you could imagine to go out there
Speaker 4: and beat you with Steve, And I think that's what
Speaker 4: stands out to me the most. Christian McCaffrey was the one.
Speaker 4: I mean, Christian McCaffrey played so well in this game.
Speaker 4: He put himself in the MVP conversation. So, yeah, sixteen
Speaker 4: first downs by himself, that's crazy.
Speaker 3: Nine rushing, seven receiving.
Speaker 4: That's crazy to think of that, and to think of
Speaker 4: that combat with event that George Kittle had one target,
Speaker 4: one catch, Deebo Samuel had zero.
Speaker 3: Targets in this game.
Speaker 4: Now, I don't think that's going to be the case
Speaker 4: against the Cowboys next Sunday. But when you have the
Speaker 4: ability to be this dominant and have dominant players like
Speaker 4: the two I just mentioned not even really be included
Speaker 4: in terms of how you were attacking a team, doesn't
Speaker 4: mean they weren't included in this offense. We know what
Speaker 4: they do in other aspects of this offense with their
Speaker 4: physicality as well. But you have the ability to lean
Speaker 4: on different players in different instances, in different games. I
Speaker 4: think we need to be talking about now. I remember
Speaker 4: doing this game against the Chiefs last year. It was
Speaker 4: Christian McCaffrey's first game his arrival with the San Francisco
Speaker 4: forty nine ers. Is there a better player in your mind, Steve,
Speaker 4: for a better system fit than Christian McCaffrey With Kyle Shanahan, you.
Speaker 2: Know what, I'll sell you this for the running back position, however,
Speaker 2: and this is where I think Christian McCaffrey's value has
Speaker 2: been totally understated.
Speaker 1: I think he's opened things up for Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 2: Sand I've got a running back who's got track speed, who.
Speaker 1: Runs physically tougher.
Speaker 2: He runs physically tougher in San Francisco than he did
Speaker 2: in Carolina Point. And that's a mandate when you play
Speaker 2: for Kyle Shanahan. And to me again, their Hall of
Speaker 2: Fame running back coach Bobby Turner, if you play that position,
Speaker 2: you better finish runs that snap people's head back when
Speaker 2: you're hitting them in the.
Speaker 1: Chest or something like that.
Speaker 2: So the physicality has the receiving aspect that he had.
Speaker 1: He could throw it too, right. We see him throw
Speaker 1: a touchdown, so.
Speaker 2: I think he's I think he has expanded the offense
Speaker 2: to a point where Kittle was probably thrilled to death
Speaker 2: to be blocking for him downfield. We saw one of
Speaker 2: those touchdown debo cleaning up a dB so McCaffrey can
Speaker 2: get into the ends.
Speaker 1: I think they love that because he is such a threat.
Speaker 2: And the fact that we can be talking about a
Speaker 2: running back in an off season that we've had with
Speaker 2: conversation about running backs as a potential MVP.
Speaker 1: I'm all about it, all about it, you right.
Speaker 3: That's a great point. That's great.
Speaker 4: Trent Williams was saying this after the game, saying, I
Speaker 4: knew he was a good back.
Speaker 3: I knew he was versatile.
Speaker 4: I didn't know he could pound the football between the
Speaker 4: tackles and be as physical as an eye formation type
Speaker 4: of back if you wanted him to be. And the
Speaker 4: other point I'll make is since brock Party became the quarterback,
Speaker 4: Brandon Nyuk, Steve oh Yeah has catapulted onto the scene.
Speaker 4: Another monster game for the wide receiver for the San
Speaker 4: Francisco forty nine ers. All right, that's wrapping up a
Speaker 4: couple of teams that are undefeated. What a lot of
Speaker 4: roses and a lot of smiles in San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Speaker 4: How about when we come back, Steve, the teams that
Speaker 4: are on the other side of the spectrum. If you
Speaker 4: have a friend that's a Bears fan, oh I'm a
Speaker 4: hug today, just show him some love.
Speaker 1: Again.
Speaker 4: We're going to break down the absolute mess that's going
Speaker 4: on in Chicago as well as Cincinnati. We're going to
Speaker 4: be joined by Jeff Shadilla coming up on the NFL Report.
Speaker 2: Well back at the NFL Report, and it's time for
Speaker 2: our regular Monday First Read segment, and for that we
Speaker 2: bring in Jeff Shadea whose column First Read is on
Speaker 2: nfl dot com slash first Read. How about that three
Speaker 2: first read references in about the first ten seconds of
Speaker 2: the bot Jeff hideah, oh, just good to hear it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know you are, hey man, make it happen.
Speaker 1: And it's really good.
Speaker 2: You got so much good stuff in there, you know,
Speaker 2: But we have to hit the negative. It's just that
Speaker 2: time because we see the Cincinnati Bengals, right, a team
Speaker 2: that I think most of us still believe in just
Speaker 2: because of all the talent they have. But right, I mean,
Speaker 2: they got smoked by the Titans this week. This is
Speaker 2: a team you know that's gotten well, teams have gotten
Speaker 2: well against in the Tennessee Titans. What is actually going
Speaker 2: on in Cincinnati? I mean, it's just Joe Burrow's calf
Speaker 2: is the way defenses are playing their offense differently because
Speaker 2: they are not functioning right now.
Speaker 11: Well, it's a little bit of both. And you look
Speaker 11: at last year when they started zero to two. The
Speaker 11: problem they had then was that Joe Burrow was trying
Speaker 11: too hard to make plays down the field.
Speaker 1: They want.
Speaker 9: You mentioned the talent, they wanted to make.
Speaker 11: Those big plays, and they had to start taking what
Speaker 11: teams were giving them. I think Joe Burrow's calf is
Speaker 11: a real problem for them. He saw it two weeks
Speaker 11: ago against the Rams and how limited he was. He
Speaker 11: looked better this week, but again, they really can't do
Speaker 11: a lot under center with him. They really can't push
Speaker 11: the ball down the field. Play action is such a
Speaker 11: huge part of their offense as far as creating those
Speaker 11: big plays, and that's not available to them with him.
Speaker 11: Dealing with this calf strain, so it's a lot going
Speaker 11: off for them. And Tennessee always seems to have games
Speaker 11: like this early in the year where they they got
Speaker 11: the Chiefs one year, a few years ago they got
Speaker 11: the Rams when they were riding high in their bow year.
Speaker 3: They will get teams if they're not ready to play football.
Speaker 11: But I do believe the Bengals have enough talent and
Speaker 11: enough pedigree to overcome this and get back into the
Speaker 11: playoff race.
Speaker 4: I do think, Jeff, we are we're in a bit
Speaker 4: of an interesting spot. I was with the Bengals early
Speaker 4: in the season. It was what Week one, it was
Speaker 4: on the weather. Week two, it was wow, Joe Burrow
Speaker 4: wasn't there throughout the entire preseason, entire preseason and training camp.
Speaker 3: We're gonna We've been here before. Zero to two. We're
Speaker 3: gonna be fine. Look at us.
Speaker 4: Week three it was against the Ramss. Well least the
Speaker 4: second half. The offense started to get a little bit better.
Speaker 4: We're back on track. And now it was like this
Speaker 4: time after this game, though, Steve, it was a little
Speaker 4: bit the frustration was boiling over. It was a little
Speaker 4: bit of we're gonna be okay early on and now
Speaker 4: it looks like with guys like Jamar Chase and company
Speaker 4: are are a little bit frustrated. What stands out to
Speaker 4: me is teams are blitzing Joe Burrow to a higher rate,
Speaker 4: vastly higher rate than they did a year ago, obviously
Speaker 4: because he can't move. He is a much better athlete
Speaker 4: than probably a lot of people give him credit for
Speaker 4: in terms of the ability to throw in the run,
Speaker 4: the ability.
Speaker 3: To escape pressure.
Speaker 4: He has been pressured like thirty five percent of his
Speaker 4: dropbacks and he has the second lowest time to throw
Speaker 4: the football. There's been some changes on that offensive line,
Speaker 4: and maybe that's another edition of this Steve that is playing,
Speaker 4: you know, rearing its head in a sense to where
Speaker 4: he hasn't had a whole lot of time and he
Speaker 4: can't move.
Speaker 1: Just speaking of time, what's the deal.
Speaker 2: They have not scored an offensive touchdown in the first
Speaker 2: half all season.
Speaker 1: That's a staggering That is a staggering stat to me.
Speaker 3: Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
Speaker 11: Yeah, and really, you know, it's I think James Bit's
Speaker 11: a good point. You know, even though most of the
Speaker 11: corp is still there, I think especially on defense, because
Speaker 11: Tennessee is not an explosive offensive safety. I think they
Speaker 11: miss von Bell. I think they missed Jesse Bates. I
Speaker 11: think they're more athletic in the back end. But you're
Speaker 11: not seeing them take control of games. And I say this,
Speaker 11: you know again living in Kansas City, I see it
Speaker 11: with the Chiefs. They're going through their own offensive struggles
Speaker 11: right now, but the defense is stepping up. You see
Speaker 11: that with the Jets. Zach Wilson is not getting done
Speaker 11: last last night. They step up with the defense. They
Speaker 11: got to get some plays from somebody else. Can't wait
Speaker 11: till Joe gets better and everything it will start going
Speaker 11: in the right direction. It's a team game. They got
Speaker 11: good players. Other guys have to start doing more.
Speaker 1: All right, jee All.
Speaker 4: Right, Jeff, you've been covering this league for a long time. Steve,
Speaker 4: you've been covering this league for a very long time.
Speaker 4: I want to ask both of you. With the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 4: have you seen an organization in let's not say a
Speaker 4: week's time, let's say an entire season, had their quarterback
Speaker 4: come out talk about certain things in terms of coaching, his.
Speaker 3: Opinion about what's happening to the offense.
Speaker 4: Then have to in the locker room speak again to
Speaker 4: clarify his statements, then have a head coach say things
Speaker 4: about Claypool w Chase Claypool about how things were going
Speaker 4: to how things went down, about him not being at
Speaker 4: the game on Sunday, and then then have to come
Speaker 4: out with a statement when the writers are up in
Speaker 4: the press box later.
Speaker 3: In the day.
Speaker 4: How many times have you seen teams have to go
Speaker 4: back around and clarify communication errors within a season, in
Speaker 4: a whole season. I think we've had three of them
Speaker 4: with the Bears in one week.
Speaker 3: Well, I can tell you this.
Speaker 11: You know, my first year covering in the NFL was
Speaker 11: nineteen ninety six and they covered the Oakland Raiders. And
Speaker 11: then my first year covering the team, John fought for
Speaker 11: the defensive coordinator. He vanished in training camp. Anthony Smith
Speaker 11: was the starting defensive end. He vanished in week four,
Speaker 11: Whard he lost his job, and then by weeks by
Speaker 11: seasons then Tim Brown was threatening to call the play
Speaker 11: because he was so upset with the offense. So that's
Speaker 11: my barn, That's that's what I consider. But the Bears
Speaker 11: are getting close.
Speaker 1: Right now, Oh my god, what's going on there?
Speaker 3: And it really is?
Speaker 11: Look, I do start to fear for people's jobs at
Speaker 11: this stage, because after the way Kansas City beat them down,
Speaker 11: and after blowing that, you know, twenty one point lead
Speaker 11: against the Denver Broncos, they're not in a good place.
Speaker 11: And we were talking about Chase Claypool having a stay
Speaker 11: away from the facility. I don't know what he's doing
Speaker 11: or what he's saying, but that to me is a
Speaker 11: huge red flag about what's happening in the locker room
Speaker 11: and how people are feeling about Justin Yield as a quarterback.
Speaker 11: But but again, Steve, you know this, It's like when
Speaker 11: when teams come in and you have a young quarterback
Speaker 11: and draft at high so you feel that the need
Speaker 11: to build the offense around it. But you have a
Speaker 11: defensive minor head coach, and so you got to find
Speaker 11: a way to get that side of the football going.
Speaker 11: They've just been all over the place. And when that happens,
Speaker 11: and at least at the top of the food chain,
Speaker 11: it affects everything.
Speaker 3: Sooner or later, what's the adversity hits.
Speaker 2: And and you know what, it's It's funny because yesterday,
Speaker 2: for most of that game, Justin Fields was playing the game.
Speaker 1: Of his life.
Speaker 3: He looked unbelievable.
Speaker 1: He looked fantastic. Right, he's the best player on the field. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Their defense, their defense looked like they actually had a
Speaker 2: clue and you know, how to stop somebody. And then
Speaker 2: of course it was like, okay, how are we not
Speaker 2: going to lose this one?
Speaker 1: Too late?
Speaker 2: You blinked, you lose the ball game. But to get
Speaker 2: back to James's point, this is a bigger issue what's
Speaker 2: going on with the Bears, because it's funny, you know,
Speaker 2: are the draft, everybody was ballyhooing their draft. Now we're
Speaker 2: saying these guys can't play. Now people are you know,
Speaker 2: there's whiskers off. Maybe Ryan Pole's got into this as
Speaker 2: a general manager a couple of years too early. Matt
Speaker 2: Ebraflus is not the guy. And when you start seeing
Speaker 2: things like these clarifications, you have to make Yeah, Jeff
Speaker 2: and I we've been covering this game for decades. And Jeff,
Speaker 2: by the way, my bar is the Bobby Petrino year
Speaker 2: in Atlanta. After the dog fighting scandal, Patrino quits in
Speaker 2: the middle.
Speaker 3: Of the season.
Speaker 2: We had all kind of chaos, We all kind of
Speaker 2: chaos going on with that team.
Speaker 1: But again, not being in Chicago.
Speaker 2: I can feel the constant churning of guts from all
Speaker 2: the way out here in Los Angeles, like.
Speaker 1: It is not good.
Speaker 2: And like you said, this latest thing Matt Evenflus, the
Speaker 2: head coach, came out Monday saying Chase Claypool has been
Speaker 2: told not to be with the team all week because
Speaker 2: we have a Thursday night game. They haven't suspended him, right,
Speaker 2: So whatever is going on there is real peculiar. But again,
Speaker 2: we're probably not going to find out the real story
Speaker 2: until they do another mia culpa or slash clarification.
Speaker 1: Based on the way things are going.
Speaker 2: I almost feel bad for people now because they can't
Speaker 2: get their stories straight. You know who always gets a
Speaker 2: story straight, Jeff Bill Belichick. Right, he benches his quarterback
Speaker 2: during a shelaking a thirty eighth to the Sheilaki by
Speaker 2: the Dallas Cowboys with the Patriots yesterday. He says Mac
Speaker 2: Jones was he benched. Wides felt it was best for
Speaker 2: him just not to be in there. It was almost like,
Speaker 2: we don't want to get our guy killed because this
Speaker 2: isn't going well and we want to pretend. I don't know,
Speaker 2: but you know, we talked about the Bills early in
Speaker 2: the show, how good they're playing. We know the Dolphins
Speaker 2: are really good, and the Jets actually show the signs
Speaker 2: of life Sunday night life. The Patriots, Jeff, I mean,
Speaker 2: we've we've held on for years now since Brady. Well,
Speaker 2: they're in the Patriots, they'll be there. I don't think
Speaker 2: anyone can say that right now because they don't look
Speaker 2: like they have any playmakers or any real idea of
Speaker 2: how to work themselves out of a jam.
Speaker 11: Now, and they're really you know, for so many years
Speaker 11: when Brady was there, there was the belief of we
Speaker 11: can just find certain guys, fit him into our scheme,
Speaker 11: coach him up, and we'll get great results. And they
Speaker 11: still operate that way, and Bill still operates that way.
Speaker 11: And the reality of it is, the teams that are
Speaker 11: winning consistently year in and year out right now have
Speaker 11: a lot of good players. They have playmakers, and they
Speaker 11: have a really good defense. They've got players on that
Speaker 11: side of the football. But Mac Jones is not a
Speaker 11: quarterback who can get them over the top. They haven't
Speaker 11: given him a great supporting cast to work with, and.
Speaker 3: It shows up each week.
Speaker 11: You know, I watched that Dallas Patriots game and it
Speaker 11: was watching it was it was painful because he was
Speaker 11: making decisions that you can't do. You can do him
Speaker 11: if you're Josh Allen or if you're Patrick Mahone, right
Speaker 11: you can roll to the right side of the field
Speaker 11: and throw the football back to the left and think
Speaker 11: you're gonna make something happen. You can't do it if
Speaker 11: you're Mac Jones. And I understand how Bill felt, and
Speaker 11: I've seen him do this before where he's pull players
Speaker 11: and put him back in. But that team right now
Speaker 11: is operating as if it's nineteen, if it's two thousand
Speaker 11: and eight, and it's not.
Speaker 4: I look at the Caleb Williams article Jeff and GQ saying,
Speaker 4: I don't want to go to the wrong organization.
Speaker 3: A I don't want to go to the really Arizona
Speaker 3: Cardinals is what he's saying.
Speaker 4: What was mac Jones going through his mind when he
Speaker 4: was drafting and walking with his straight arms across the
Speaker 4: top of the top of the stage going to missionear.
Speaker 4: He was probably going, I'm going to the Patriots. This
Speaker 4: is phenomenal. And what if they given him now three
Speaker 4: offensive coordinators in three years and honestly doing their opener
Speaker 4: against the Philadelphia Eagles. Talking everybody up there that covers
Speaker 4: the team on a daily basis, on a great, great
Speaker 4: embedded beat, they were, like I was told, universally, I
Speaker 4: don't think they have a whole lot of talent, and
Speaker 4: that's been the problem, from skill position players to anchors
Speaker 4: on that offensive line. And then your two most talented
Speaker 4: guys on the defensive side of the ball go down
Speaker 4: in that game on Sunday and Matthew Judon and the
Speaker 4: talented rookie and Christian Gonzales.
Speaker 3: That's a big.
Speaker 4: Blow to a defense that you were going to hang
Speaker 4: your hat on. It's been tough sledding for Mac Jones.
Speaker 4: Maybe go talk to Kayla Williams just say, hey, organizations
Speaker 4: can change very very quickly, and you know one that did.
Speaker 4: The Houston Texans. Oh very We're gonna keep round on
Speaker 4: the NFL Reporter as we talk about c J. Stroud
Speaker 4: and Damico Ryans, what this young quarterback is doing in
Speaker 4: four games?
Speaker 3: Historic Oh h NFL Report.
Speaker 2: I were back at the NFL Report, and as Leonardo
Speaker 2: DiCaprio said in Django, you have my attention, that would
Speaker 2: be you Houston Texans, Jeff Shediah, the Texans.
Speaker 1: Whole things are gonna go from house. No, no, no,
Speaker 1: we're just staying right there.
Speaker 4: C J.
Speaker 1: Stroud, Jeff, what do you got? Oh?
Speaker 11: You know, I talked to a friend of mine, personnel
Speaker 11: director about him last week and just raved about him
Speaker 11: and just talked about just how clean he is mechanically
Speaker 11: and just seeing the same things you saw.
Speaker 3: At Ohio State.
Speaker 11: Great process of information. But really the point he made,
Speaker 11: which I think is appropriate, is that the Tectors has
Speaker 11: done a great job of putting a good group around him.
Speaker 11: You see the depth of their offensive line they've had
Speaker 11: makeshift offensive line after makeshift offensive line, he still goes
Speaker 11: out there and feels comfortable. Nice connection with Nico Collins
Speaker 11: and James You know, it's nobody believed in this team,
Speaker 11: but c J. Stroud from your Ohio State university is
Speaker 11: proving to be the best chy quarterback in his class.
Speaker 3: He really is.
Speaker 4: And I'm going back to a couple of things that
Speaker 4: I was told during the draft process about him, And
Speaker 4: now it's a chance to see these four games, Jeff
Speaker 4: and see them kind of come to light. Because you
Speaker 4: mentioned that makeshift offensive line, he wasn't sacked by the Pitts.
Speaker 1: That's crazy. That was crazy.
Speaker 4: I couldn't believe that happened, right, And to me, I
Speaker 4: go back and look at some of the stuff that's
Speaker 4: got this said.
Speaker 3: You know themotion's a little bit funky. He's kind I
Speaker 3: don't know, he's kind of a pusher of the ball.
Speaker 4: But I'm not saying that in a bad manner because
Speaker 4: the ball is out quick, his motion is short, He's decisive,
Speaker 4: he doesn't really hesitate. Steve don't all those things kind
Speaker 4: of come together and culminate going I don't have a
Speaker 4: whole lot of time back here, and I'm gonna make
Speaker 4: a quick decision, and I'm not gonna make a bad decision.
Speaker 4: That's the other part he's thrived in early on, but
Speaker 4: to make sure the ball's out of his hands quickly.
Speaker 4: To some of these guys, it's not like he lit
Speaker 4: up the world against the Steelers, you know. I mean,
Speaker 4: I think hat like a fifty percent completion percentage, but
Speaker 4: going over three hundred yards again, it's he's not hurting
Speaker 4: his team by any stretch. But he gets through the
Speaker 4: ball quickly because he knows that this offensive line has
Speaker 4: been littered with injuries. He plays this game, I believe
Speaker 4: without Laramie Tunsel again, right, And so it's it's been
Speaker 4: very impressive of what he's been able to do when
Speaker 4: you've got a guy like TJ.
Speaker 3: Watt bearing down at you.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's been so good and the fact they're
Speaker 2: playing such complimentary football, it's almost like he's saying, I've
Speaker 2: got to do my share. I mean, the kicking game
Speaker 2: is has been very good, the defense has played very well.
Speaker 1: And I love love what he.
Speaker 2: Said after the game, because they said all the Steelers
Speaker 2: fans that were in the stadium and in our g stadium.
Speaker 2: He was like, oh no, we're gonna make it so
Speaker 2: people feel good about wearing the Texans brand gear around here.
Speaker 2: That stuff that happened in the past doesn't fly with me.
Speaker 2: That is music to the great football fans down in Houston,
Speaker 2: Texas to say, now we have a quarterback who is
Speaker 2: not only certain of himself, but he understands the importance
Speaker 2: of this game and the way he is playing it.
Speaker 1: You talked about getting the ball out.
Speaker 2: Quickly, them jet designing an offense to fit around him.
Speaker 1: It is a really really good setup.
Speaker 2: And when this offensive line comes back fully, I mean, I'm.
Speaker 1: Kind of wondering where this thing can go.
Speaker 2: I mean, we need to start talking about them as
Speaker 2: potential winners of this AFC South, the division we already
Speaker 2: know is up for grass wincy Damian Pierce finally be
Speaker 2: able to run the ball like he did yesterday too
Speaker 2: against his defense. Guys, this is a dangerous team because CJ.
Speaker 2: Shroud absolutely looks like the leader, Jeff. Once again, we
Speaker 2: want to thank you NFL dot Com Slash First Read
Speaker 2: Jeff Todia every Monday here on the first Read segment.
Speaker 1: That's right, CJ. Shroud did not get sacked.
Speaker 7: The boy did Aid and O'Connell, all because of one dude.
Speaker 7: Calif Mack comes in with a half dozen of the
Speaker 7: dirty dirty against the hated Raiders.
Speaker 1: What more we come back here on the NFL.
Speaker 3: Welcome back to the NFL Report.
Speaker 4: As we closed things up, James Palmer, Steve Whitch with you,
Speaker 4: we want to recognize one player that stood out to
Speaker 4: each of us, Steve fire Away.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think Khalil Mack hurt us really
Speaker 2: propping up his teammate Tully to a below to last week,
Speaker 2: the edge rusher who was getting all of the sacks
Speaker 2: leading into this game. Because Khalil Mack comes up to
Speaker 2: play the Las Vegas Raiders, a team that drafted him
Speaker 2: but didn't want to pay him.
Speaker 1: He hits him with six sacks. I was at this game.
Speaker 1: Six six sacks he's won away from Derek Thomas's record.
Speaker 2: Not only that, ten tackles, five TFLs, four hurries, and
Speaker 2: two forest fumbles.
Speaker 1: After the game, Raiders.
Speaker 2: Had goa Josh mccaniel said, hey, we were chipping in,
Speaker 2: we were doubling him.
Speaker 1: Went back and looked at the tape. The answer to
Speaker 1: that was no, you didn't not once.
Speaker 2: Maybe that was in the intent JP, but Khalil Mack
Speaker 2: reminded everybody he is still a dude.
Speaker 1: Six sacks he had. What do you got? JP?
Speaker 3: He had those six sacks with like twelve minutes to go.
Speaker 3: It was a fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: It was insane. It's a time here.
Speaker 3: It was unbelievable. Listen.
Speaker 4: He didn't get the w But I was blown away
Speaker 4: by the comeback that Anthony Richardson led in the Colts
Speaker 4: attempt to take the down down twenty three to nothing
Speaker 4: and comes back and comes back in this game and
Speaker 4: never gets the football in overtime, which was a bit
Speaker 4: of a shame because your guy Poka Nakua and Sam
Speaker 4: and Matthew Stafford take care of business and overtime. But
Speaker 4: seeing the calmness that Anthony Richardson had Steve seeing how
Speaker 4: after the game he said, you know, and Aaron Donald's
Speaker 4: a tremendous player. It took me a minute to figure out,
Speaker 4: you know, how physical and how fast he is. To me,
Speaker 4: that's a player that's really having things click very quickly.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 4: He goes, oh, I understand about what Aaron Donald does.
Speaker 4: And then you see him what thirty eight yards Aaron
Speaker 4: Donald draped all over him.
Speaker 3: He gets pierced down the sidelent for a brilliant pass.
Speaker 4: Like he was figuring things out, the physical ability he has.
Speaker 4: I heard Matthew Stafford raving about him to Albert Breer
Speaker 4: and his Monday Morning quarterback saying, this guy's a limit.
Speaker 4: The guy's just incredible, incredible, just like this show.
Speaker 3: Steve. Great to be with you again. See a Thursday.
Speaker 3: Everyone in the NFL Report