2023 Week 1 Recap

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
They Around the NFL podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Now football is back from the Chris Wesley podcast studio.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
It's around the NFL.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
The flagship program back for an eleventh season. Dan Hans
is here, Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. Week one of the
twenty twenty three NFL season is here, and now Mark,
we talk about it.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
That's what we do, you know, this is what we do.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Here is if we've been doing this because I, you know,
I will put my math skills to work. If we've
been doing this for eleven years. Yes, And there's that
floated between seventeen and eighteen weeks week uh seven hundred
and fourteen flagship Sunday night shows.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
That checks out to me. I just double checked the
math for you.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
We're good. The numbers are correct. Do you mean like
we're good, Like we don't have to do this anymore? No,
we don't need No one needs to check that total.

Speaker 4 (00:55):
That total is so incorrect. But I don't blame you.
We're all feeling a little crazy. Is a nice little
witching hour there with the late games. I just mainlined
some coffee right before the show, as if I wasn't
gonna be loud and annoying enough.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Once we get completely. You know over at all.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Who's the first of us to go full Jack Collinsworth
and and force the sun into the studio?

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Oh well, Greg, Greg is already crafted like a pro
football robot.

Speaker 5 (01:23):
My son will force himself.

Speaker 4 (01:25):
You guys know so little about my relationship with my
son to think, yeah, we.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Have been over your house in twelve years, let's start there.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
I like physical walls.

Speaker 5 (01:33):
You know that I could take anything like I'm over Mark.
Let's give me a break.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
You're welcome anytime.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Big slate of Week one action a little bit of
a funky week, but you know what, Yeah, we've been
doing this for over a decade. Week one is funky,
and I think the one thing to take away suck.
Kyle Brand tweeted this, and I've always felt the same thing.
There are teams that we're gonna talk about today that
played awesome and there'll be nowhere to be seen when
relevant football's played in January. The teams that look like

(02:00):
dog poop today that will get it together.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
So and players on both sides of that court.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Players, This is not a time to panic. It's not
a time to celebrate an incoming Super Bowl. But you
know what part of the fun is reading too much
of the week one and we're about to do that.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
In some case, when your team gets a bomb dropped
on it in week one, there's no way that doesn't
feel terrible. You can be as like philosophical and stow
about it as need be, but it's a terrible feeling.

Speaker 4 (02:24):
I mean that l counts the same as it does
in week seventeen if you lose a big time division matchup.

Speaker 5 (02:29):
I mean it sticks.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
There a lot of football, I guess at the point
and mark to that point. After a lot of excitement
around the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was time for real football
to be played. So let's start with a game that
was played in Pittsburgh against a Titan of the NFC.

Speaker 6 (02:48):
They did pick up the first down stretch run coming
left to McCaffrey, stays play side. Breck's a tackle forty
five block from our yoke down the sideline thirty cuts
back it's side twenty selling bombs on the sage on
a diving for the inside touchdown.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
See m see.

Speaker 7 (03:09):
In the Dynamite explodes on his first run in the
third quarter.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Greg Papa, good to hear you again, Buddy, and Tim
Ryan with pecall knbr healthy version of the forty nine
Ers offense. It just feels unfair. Christian McCaffrey took any
drama out of Pittsburgh with a sixty five yard touchdown
run to kick off the second half. The Niners cruise
to a thirty to seven win over a baffled looking

(03:38):
Steelers team. Boys, this was a compelling blowout because of
what it said about both teams in Week one. Let's
start with the Niners, who look like the best team
in football quite frankly, at least this week, in a
dominating two way effort.

Speaker 5 (03:56):
I am shocked by this.

Speaker 4 (03:59):
I mean, it's a big loss for the player guys
in the preseason brigade because who played the most and
looked the best in the preseason. The Pittsburgh Steelers in
the Kansas City Chiefs didn't really help.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
I mean, there's so much to point to because I'm
looking at their drive chart and the Steelers who looked
as crisp and clean on offense as anyone because they
had starters in there. But like, it's like you're searching
for something to take away from in August, and I
guess maybe none of it matters at all. They don't
have a single drive in their first five marches that

(04:31):
crosses five yards.

Speaker 5 (04:32):
This was your game, Dan, Like, well, what happened to
the Steelers?

Speaker 2 (04:35):
They just could not get it going. I mean it
started with a three and out. Their next possession, Kenny
Pickett threw into coverage, which he did a lot in
this game. A receiver slip led to an interception, and
then you know, the just started turned into a snowball
effect and before you knew it, they were down three scores.
And even when they were able to get a late

(04:57):
touchdown at the end of the first half, it was
the only time they should any life on offense. It
took them until I believe it was one fifteen to
play in the second quarter before they even had a
first down. And to their credit, they got that first
down and went down the field about ninety yards and
got on the board, and it made you think, maybe,
just maybe they might make it a game. It was,

(05:21):
it was within striking distance at that point. But that
pitch to McCaffrey makes one cut, he's gone. Brandon Ayuk
with a brilliant block on that run.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Ayuk.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Here's the other thing about this this Niners offense. If
Brendan Ayuk is going to become a superstar this year.
I mean, forget a turn out the lights because he
looked unbelievable. Patrick Peterson got cooked up on the first touchdown.
The second touchdown, it was again Ayuk on a beautiful
party throw right on the money with Patrick Peterson tight

(05:50):
in coverage. But it didn't matter. Like I said, his
blocking was on point. So he just played an elite game.
I would imagine there's not gonna be a PFF great
higher at wide receiver.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
What Brandon Io gets in this game.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
So they the defense turned it up on Pickett, who
just you know, and it is true he looked good
in the preseason and you heard all the positive talk
about him taking the next step. He kind of played
like button this game, and it was It's part of
the concern for the Steelers, but he's not the only
reason they lost.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
They just kind of no showed on offense.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
There were a couple of things you were thinking that
the Steelers might be that they weren't at this time
last year. Was an improved offensive line. They gave up
five sacks. That tells me. Also, the Niners, like Steve
Wilkes is like your eighteenth defensive coordinator in his many years,
and the defense absolutely baffled Pittsburgh's offense. It's like they
couldn't run the ball. I'm just for a lot of

(06:41):
it confirms for me what we hoped and thought about
the Niners. I mean, a lot of is a carryover,
except Ayuk looks like he's leveled up, which I'll never
forget Omar Ruiz coming in in our newsroom in the
middle of the summer having been to camp and saying,
he we know he's good, but he's a completely different player.
But we were like, question mark, who is brock Purty?
It was last year in Mirah? Was it real? And
just like kind of scanning the first half plus of this,

(07:03):
it was the version from last year.

Speaker 4 (07:05):
Well, I've mentioned how on the previous show how they've
started slow over the last few years, and like this
team just feels much more ready to go as long
as they keep their health. I mean, you don't even
have Nick Bosa plane like all the all his snaps
and making all the impact that he's gonna make in
the future. Nine qb hits, five sacks, eight tackles for lost,
four passes defense. I mean, when you're when you're getting

(07:26):
Drake Jackson to his second year player was quiet last year,
had a bunch of a couple of sacks in this game.
And you're getting Cleveland Furrel, the old Raiders bust who's
now like making plays like they just have so many plays.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
And it was a disaster of a day for Pittsburgh.
You had.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
In addition to the lopsided score, Cam Hayward leaves the
game with a groin injury.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
He didn't return.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Deontay Johnson left the third quarter after hurting his hamstring
on a twenty six yard game.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
He was gone.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
That didn't after that, and you just you get it
was kind of a worse case scenario. In fact, the
only person that showed up for the Pittsburgh Steelers was TJ. Watt,
who was a monster. He had three sacks and two
forced fumbled fumbles, recovered one of them. But that was it.
It was just it was as one sided as a
game as as you can imagine.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
And I think the final score tell you you that.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
The one other thing that I think is a takeaway
from this game, brock Purdy his consistency, like you could
put it in the bank. We talked before we started Marcus,
you have him in your fantasy team, like I never
stated my opponent too, right, Oh congratulations. He might not
be a guy that's gonna win fantasy leagues, but if
you need two touchdowns and two hundred and twenty yards

(08:33):
passing or whatever, and just a steady performance. He's up
to seven straight games in the regular season with two
touchdown passes or more.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
He looked very healthy, very sharp.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
He took a couple of big hits in this game,
so you got to keep an eye on that and
and the news to come in the upcoming days.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
But he got out of there healthy. I was a
little surprised Kyle Shannan kept giving Christian McCaffrey the rock
in the fourth quarter when this game was well.

Speaker 5 (08:56):
Does not need to be doing it.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Mitchell, Elijah Mitchell was not a part of the game
plan really, But yeah, when you when you get topp
Tier and that part of the thing about Ayuk is
sometimes he's a little enigmatic.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
You don't know which version you're gonna get of him.
But when you get this guy and Deebo's chipping in
and Kittle, who's quiet today does his thing, it's almost
like in that passing game, he has so many options
party and he's blocked up front. Well, Trent Williams got
beat up a little bit in this game too. Keep
an eye on that. We have a Monday show now,
by the way, which is good. That will track all
these different injuries, guys that got banged up, and the

(09:27):
and the subplots to.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Watch what a value add for the listener exactly.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
The passing game is so deadly that when you pitch
it to Christian McCaffrey, it's like this feels unfair. It
felt unfair on the field and that's not what the
Pittsburgh Steelers were expecting today.

Speaker 8 (09:42):
No.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
I would ask you this though, because you're said, I
get a week one. Everyone chill. It's a long season.
Like there are Steelers fans out there tonight who I
think thought this was a good bar for them, a
good test, but that they would compete and like they
were not competitive, Like is there reason for panic or
is it just go back and start O.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
No, it's a good test. Next Monday night they get
the brown and we'll get to it. But there's gonna
be a lot of pressure on them to show up.
And Cleveland balled out. We're gonna get to that soon
on defense, there's gonna be a lot of pressure on
Picket and that offense to show that this was just
an aberration.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
And they got boat raced in a in a surprise way.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
In a week where a lot of last year's superpowers,
the best teams from last year didn't look like the
best teams in Week one. It's nice to just see
a forty nine Ers group of marauders just like, we're here.

Speaker 5 (10:26):
We're superheroes.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
Absolutely, you paralleled that to that effort to us. No,
but I like, we're here, we're superheroes.

Speaker 4 (10:34):
I'm we were already going on. I was embodying. I
was embodying the forty nine Ers. I am the forty nine.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
You have any statement, Mark, you're obviously very high on
the Steelers throughout the summer that you'd like to make
before we move on.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
No, I'm gonna take your your typical route on this
and say I don't own any of this. It's a
long season. We'll talk to me. You know too well.

Speaker 4 (10:53):
You've got they've got to get to twelve. You have
four loss May you have four losses to play with?

Speaker 5 (10:59):
Still you have four loss that's to play with? That
one down one down.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
Fine, we just played the best team in football, So
all right we did. I just say we for the
Pittsburgh Steelers, right, But it's the dart gun.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
That's what I've always thought.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
Maybe there's a little reverse Jink Saxon in here, and
you're off to a great start. If that's the case,
let's move on now. The other NFC superpower is the
Philadelphia Eagles. They're going up to Foxborough and it's gonna
be a cakewalk, or is it?

Speaker 1 (11:26):
Now?

Speaker 8 (11:26):
The Patriots are looking at a fourth down and ten
plus with forty seconds in counting left here in the
fourth quarter, three receivers wide of the right, one left
snapped to Jones format watch Max stands.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
In throws it left fort got it?

Speaker 5 (11:45):
Why do you gotta do this?

Speaker 1 (11:47):
Eight?

Speaker 5 (11:49):
Get a play? Let's go time out.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
But remember reviews initiated for the booth, so I don't pick.

Speaker 5 (11:55):
That left foot got.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
In, bottle out. Hold that thought on the bid.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Completed pass is under further Ooh you heard there from
WBZ the sension power aide bottle Scott sol I got excited,
but it just wasn't happening. In the end, the Eagles

(12:20):
kept opening the door for the Patriots on Tom Brady
Day in Foxborough, but Mac Jones and company could not
bust in for an upset, the defending ANC champions, holding
on for a twenty five to twenty win after Jones's
fourth down conversion to Kaishan Bhute was overturned on review
in the final minute.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
Greggy, tough one for you. Bittersweet for you.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
You love your Eagles and your heart is in Western
mass This game started out looking like a laughter, but
you know, the Patriots made it close.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
They just couldn't get over there.

Speaker 5 (12:48):
Hey, I mean it's that bittersweet.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
I'm rooting for the Patriots in this game, and it
was a huge missed opportunity. You could talk the whole
offseason about all this stuff and who's built up the
Eagles and the charts and what the Patriots have done
with Bill O'Brien, and then you get to Week one
and the Patriots I think clearly outplayed the Eagles in
this game. I mean they outgained him by what one

(13:09):
fifty and a lot of the game and there's a
lot we can get into, but comes down to Kishan Budi,
an undrafted rookie who's in the game partly because DeVante
Parker ended up being ruled out late in the week
not dragging his foot down on two different plays. That
wasn't the only one he killed two different drives like that.
Another was on a deep, nice throw by Mac Jones,

(13:32):
and that ended up being a punt at a moment
where they were moving the ball pretty well. And you
could take positives that the defense looked much better and
that they outplayed them, but ultimately there still were a
lot of mental errors, including a late penalty that they
took for not getting a playoff in time on fourth
and twelve.

Speaker 5 (13:52):
Which was just surprising to see.

Speaker 4 (13:53):
So there were just little things that they still made mistakes,
even if the overall defense especially, but the team looked
better than it did a year.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
It's a difficult, frustrating loss for Patriots fans because you
wipe out the first part of this game and you
get what they had, what they were for the final
like seventy percent and they beat the Eagles, But that
first five offensive drive set pick six, fumbole then three
straight three and ounce, It's like it took a while
for these guys to get going. And I would say
one thing like, if you're relying on that wide receiver

(14:23):
at the end of the game. I know there was
an injury here with Parker, but like, this is a
team that did not stock up on offensive that position,
and like you're in week one in that situation that
should be like a late November deal where like a
bunch of guys go down and it's like, that's not
the right personnel to go beat the Super Bowl NFC
defending titleists.

Speaker 4 (14:40):
Now they already feel like a little bit of a
banged up team a wide receiver and throughout the roster.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
And you know, Jacobe Myers, by the way, had some
success in his Raiders' debut, So they are short at
playmakers or mac Jones, so they have a better scheme,
Greg Ye, but it's obviously a work in progress on
offense still the Eagle side of it, Greg, Like what
but I'm looking at you know, Jalen Hurts. His numbers
aren't popping off the screen. What was not working for

(15:05):
this team because you factor in the pick six and
they didn't really roll on offense.

Speaker 5 (15:08):
In this right.

Speaker 4 (15:09):
So for a little background, the Eagles were up sixty
to nothing very quickly. A pick six on a drop
pass in the rain, not a good throw by Mac
Jones and then another quick short field touchdown where they
took it over after Ezekiel Elliott fumbled, and after that
they had four straight three and outs. They couldn't run
the ball. It was all Kenny Gainwell, so that that
was a surprise. I think the fantasy owners almost nothing

(15:31):
of DeAndre Swift or anyone else. Hurts had a couple
nice individual plays, but it wasn't really the called QB
runs that were doing it either. I think Christian Gonzales
and the Patriots defense did a really good job, but
they they were disjointed. It was one of the worst,
you know, Eagles offensive performances we've seen in a long time.
Four yards per play, two hundred and fifty yards. I

(15:53):
think Belichick threw a lot at them schematically and did
a nice job. There were a couple drives late where
aj Brown and DeVante Smith won their one on one
matchups and that was enough. And you got Jake Elliot
booting bombs off the crossbar. Or they didn't have a
great kicker, three kicks in the rain over forty eight yards,
they might not win this game.

Speaker 3 (16:13):
Like so, do you see an issue with the double
coordinator switch switch which I did not really was was
it weather. It's like Jalen Hurts had a characteristic fumble
at this point. They're kicking field goals, not scoring touchdowns.
They have four straight punts at one point. I mean,
this is this doesn't look like any box score from
last year's Eagles team.

Speaker 4 (16:31):
They were very conservative when they got the lead, as
if it was like the fourth quarter, like making some
runs on third and ten and not going for any
points late in the first half.

Speaker 5 (16:39):
So I think it was partly the weather.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
It was driving rain early about the first quarter, then
it led up, and I think it was more about
what I believe to be a top five defense playing
well for the most part at every level, and five
months for Bill Belichick to plan for this game. Romo
kept pointing it out, you can scheme for this game.
You know this upon all summer long, and I think

(17:02):
the Patriots defense is going to be difficult for most
offenses dealing.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
Were you okay with what.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Gave New England that second life after the Henry failure
to convert on the drop they had fourth and two
Philly at New England's forty four. They go into shotgun
so they could even you know, they could have punted
and buried him back there they going shotgun. They passed
it incomplete and that opened the door for New England
to have one more shot.

Speaker 4 (17:24):
Well, I was okay with it as a Patriots fan. Yeah,
you got Christian Godales, the first round pickout there, who
looks like a real dude. And to answer your question,
the way that game was going, I actually thought, Wow,
the Patriots have a better chance of stopping him here
than I think they do of going ninety yards. I
would have felt differently at almost any point last season,
but the way this game had been going, it was

(17:44):
so disjointed. I thought, Okay, they can maybe get a
stop here, and they didn't. So that was one case
where Nick Sirianni was very aggressive and it didn't work out.
One worry some aspect for the Eagles I think, was
they just did not get much pressure on Mac Jones.

Speaker 5 (17:59):
He threw the ball fifty four times.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
I know there were some hurries and hits and sacks,
but he threw the ball fifty four times with two
rookie guards starting. For injuries, there's all sorts of injuries
on the Patriots offensive line, but they did a good
job protecting They could not run the ball whatsoever against
Eagles big front. But a little surprise, how little uh
pressure they got up there.

Speaker 3 (18:16):
Said seventy sacks a year ago when we came in
a week ago thinking like the Patriots offensive line, right,
it might be an apocalypse, right.

Speaker 5 (18:22):
And they got two in this game.

Speaker 4 (18:24):
And they totally stuffed for Andre Stevenson and Zeke for
the most part on the ground, but passing they did
a bad job.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Interesting we shall say, I mean, Philly gets the win,
but everything seemed to be just come so easily to
that team. Is it gonna be the same way this year?
In Week one, it wasn't easy, but they got it done.
Let's now move to the best game of the day.
We were just warmed up. Let's head across the sidewalk

(18:50):
Sofi Stadium.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
Dolphins up by two.

Speaker 9 (18:52):
The Chargers have a football people their old territory.

Speaker 10 (18:58):
They gotta pick uptim again.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
He blitzed them. They did not pick up the blitz.
I mean it was wide open.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
And the cut to vic Fansio, I love it and
the bongos are out. You know you made a huge
play when your QB throws for four sixty six and
Tyree goes over two hundred and we're talking a sack.
But that sack was the difference for the Miami Dolphins,

(19:34):
who score thirty six to thirty four win over the
Chargers in a great back and forth shootout. The door
had been left open a missed extra point after the
second Tyreek Hill touchdown from to I think I.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
Predicted thirty seven thirty four.

Speaker 5 (19:51):
Got ub by you.

Speaker 3 (19:52):
I won't go back to the preview. I just would
like to say, good job, make.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
The extra point. I don't know if that's right, but
keep those bongos going, bro. But but what a performance,
What a great game. But what a performance by Tua
and company. And let's welcome in a man who watched

(20:19):
this game. I watch it too, and I enjoyed the
hell out of it. The great Nick Shook.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
Look at him.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
Back for another year on the flagship Show Shook. We
got the shootout we wanted and it was glorious.

Speaker 11 (20:39):
Glorious.

Speaker 12 (20:39):
Indeed, as somebody who's tasked with writing the what we learned.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
I was gonna ask you, how do you do this?

Speaker 2 (20:45):
That would have really this game, that would have sent
Mark into a dark place.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
I would have got I would have I would have Hubert.

Speaker 5 (20:50):
Home and playing to us about it the whole time.

Speaker 12 (20:54):
Late in the fourth I'm just sitting there, going what
did I learn from this game?

Speaker 11 (20:58):
I don't even know.

Speaker 12 (21:00):
I think one thing I learned because to a tongue
of by Lowa and Justin Herbert are forever linked because
of where they were drafted. And I have received so
much hate from Dolphins fans over the last three years
anytime I praised Justin Herbert, because they always have to
make up for their insecurity. Regarding to a tongue of
my low, well, guess what, Dolphins fans, you got your
answer today. You're no longer insecure. He threw for four

(21:23):
hundred and sixty six yards three touchdowns. He completed twenty
eight to forty five passes. Tyreek Hill went for two
point fifteen. They were down late and they moved down
the field effortlessly. It was a fantastic offensive performance in
a shootout, and despite the final score. I even liked
some of the things I saw from the defense. They've
got allowed to clean up, but the way they close
that game, that's the potential of that Dolphins defense. So

(21:44):
for those of you who are Dolphins fans, who are
constantly checking Charger scorers and box scores and finding reasons
to poke holes and justin.

Speaker 11 (21:52):
Herbert, you don't need it anymore. You got it today.

Speaker 5 (21:54):
This is your super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
I like this.

Speaker 2 (21:57):
You know what it's a it's a this is not
this is a battle that was one by two of
the war. Well we'll see who wins the war and
who had the right draft pick. But like when you
see this sicko version of the Dolphins offense pop up
again this year, it gets you really excited for your
Dolphins fan because for two reasons, the fact that they
made it, like you said, shook looks so easy, carving

(22:19):
up a Chargers defense that we were pumping up as
a defense that could do some things this year, and
that was simple the fangio on the d Now not
there not a shining day for their defense, at least statistically.
But Fangio, you know, as the season goes on, they're
gonna start to gel and figure things out. Jalen Ramsey's
down in the horizon maybe as well, so they're probably

(22:41):
gonna get better as things go along. So if they
keep two upright, and this offense is gonna have big
time days like this and just a perfect start for
the season.

Speaker 4 (22:50):
Nick, I think were to mean the difference between this
and maybe if you think about that Bill's game early
last season and some of the great two of performances,
there was two was making rows in this game that
were because he's special. I mean, the scheme was great,
but some of those throws were just outrageous, and that's
what you think of when it's Justin Herbert. And it

(23:13):
was weird because Justin Herber was just kind of moving
the ball down the field and they're running the ball.

Speaker 5 (23:16):
But Tua, to me, made throws in this game.

Speaker 4 (23:19):
And Tyreek Hill helped him out a lot with those
late hands on that game winning touchdown. But his throws
were all about him being excellent, not just the scheme.

Speaker 12 (23:28):
Last drive alone, he had two great throws a Tyrek
Hill the one that you just mentioned. He also had
one down the right side where he just dropped it
right over the defender and it was a beautiful past.
And the funny thing is is I saw somebody tweet
Tua is like the master of getting just enough on
a throw, like not too much and not too little.
I think that there's an argement to be made that
he does sometimes leave too little on the ball, but
today was not that day.

Speaker 11 (23:49):
Today he was putting it.

Speaker 12 (23:50):
In all these different places, just putting it right on
his guys, operating the offense efficiently. I mean it looked
effortless at times, and the pairing with Tyreek is just
it's something.

Speaker 11 (24:00):
It's marvelous.

Speaker 12 (24:01):
It truly is, like I two hundred fifteen yards is
nothing to you know, scoff at of course, statistically, but
the way it looked was so much more than that.
The way Tyreek ran his route and got himself open,
the way too would flow with the play action fake
and find somebody, whether it was Tyreek or it was
River Craycraft or somebody else. He was operating this offense
as if he'd been there for a decade and he's healthy,

(24:21):
and that's this is what the Dolphins can be. It's
just like you guys said, he's got to stay healthy.

Speaker 5 (24:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
It's like the polar opposite of that Monday night meltdown
from a year ago when these two teams faced each other.
I would ask you from a Chargers side, because I
didn't love this that it's thirty one to thirty. They're
driving down the field. The Chargers and you get that
illegal holding on the Dolphins. It puts them right at
Miami's doorstep. They're thwarted and come out with a field goal.
It's then thirty four to thirty one. The Dolphins go

(24:47):
thirty four to thirty The Dolphins go do what they
do and then the final drive they were in a
tough spot. But Jalen Phillips is unblocked twice. Like him two,
there's two takedowns. You've got a problem here, where like
there's an intentional grounding on Justin Herbert and like, yet
I would say this, like, do you come out of
this game looking at the Kellen Moore approach to this offense,

(25:08):
because there was a lot of like pre snap motion,
they were highly productive in another world we're talking about
the Chargers not folding at the end of the game,
but they did. But do you think that there's maybe
like a different type of dash of optimism for what
this offense can be versus how he was stuck last year?
I thought Justin Herbert in the wrong type of s.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
Oh, that's the same thing.

Speaker 5 (25:28):
It's the same thing.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
Yes, I do think it's a different type of offense
for him.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
I'm sure, sure it's a different play caller, but this
is this is the same stuff, Like they couldn't find
a way again.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
Yeah, but that's Brandon Stealey's defense as much as anything
else though.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
But that's part of it too with this team, Right, I'm.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Saying, do you think that Herbert's in a better environment
to you know, sixteen weeks from now, we forget about
this one and just say this is a good news.

Speaker 12 (25:50):
I mean in that other world, I'm a millionaire, so
you know we can't all you get the best of
everything here, but I worry. Yes, thirty four points again
nothing just GoF at but my one can with them
is something that happened a lot, especially when Austin Eckler
was hurt last year. Was when he's out of the
ball game, their offense is just not as good. Yeah,
And he looked like he got a little dinged in
this game. He kind of like hobbled off a little bit.

(26:10):
And he did play throughout the fourth quarter, but he
didn't have the same role. And in that situation that
you just described, they're on the doorstep and a touchdown
and maybe a two point.

Speaker 11 (26:18):
Conversion could end this game.

Speaker 12 (26:19):
Yeah, they didn't go to him and they looked like
they didn't know what to do, and they were mixing tempo.
Who was noted on the broadcast they were mixing up tempo.
Then they went up tempo, going to that third down
play as if they were in a catchment a personnel
missmatch when you're seven yards away from the end zone
and you're forcing yourself to throw and guys don't even
they're not on the same page. So I think that
there is potential there, but a lot of the same
issues are still.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
Yeah, but they they were the worst running team in
the league last year. They ran for two hundred and
thirty four yards. This is very different. They talked all offseason,
We're going to be a North South running team. You
got Joshua Kelly going for ninety one yards, you got
Austin Eckler going for one to seventeen. That's the story.
If the defense can make any stops. I mean, they
kind of did what they wanted in terms of being
a power running team. That's positive, But give Mike McDaniel

(26:58):
a lot of credit. They got the ball with nine
seconds left in the first half and they tried to score,
and they did score, and you see all these coaches
not try to score, they get a twenty five yard
play and then they get a PI and then they
kicked the field goal. They also got a touchdown on
a drive where they went for it on fourth and seven.
So you came into the league being the dork hero,

(27:20):
Brandon Staley, but Mike McDaniel took your crown. You got
a little scared over the last couple of years. That's
all being aggressive, and that to me is a huge difference.
Those three points they got at the end of the
first half are the difference.

Speaker 12 (27:32):
There is an asterisk there though, and it is the
roller coaster ride that is the J. C. Jackson experience.
He had a terrible PI on that play. There's no
reason that he should have been right.

Speaker 4 (27:42):
That's why for it in that situation, just to make
them make a mistake.

Speaker 12 (27:46):
He also had an interception where he tried to bring
out of the end zone and then they had the
ball in their own two yard line.

Speaker 11 (27:50):
Couldn't do anything with that takeaway.

Speaker 5 (27:52):
But and then he.

Speaker 12 (27:53):
Also gave up a touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill who
just toasted him down the sideline.

Speaker 11 (27:57):
Well, very up and down there.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
And it should be non that the Dolphins also went
straight down the field in the first possession of the
game and then had a muff snap, so they were
they did whatever they wanted in this game to had
a pick as well.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
But he was brilliant.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
And I don't think maybe sometimes we give Tyreek Kill enough.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
Credit, like for how different he is.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
This is a Hall of Famer who has been everything
the Dolphins have could have asked for and more, quite frankly,
and we saw it again in this game. That is interesting, uh,
And that Chargers defense has to get better.

Speaker 4 (28:33):
We think we might have to. We might have to
rewatch this game as their NFL bust game.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
I think we might have Oh oh no, who.

Speaker 5 (28:44):
But you know who? They were honking up a storm.

Speaker 4 (28:47):
I see your little tweet snick whistling and come come
with a Week one win.

Speaker 5 (28:51):
If you're going to lock up, I.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
Wasn't daring lock though, and frankly, strategically bizarre lock.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Well, that's kind of a in this in this Sinnati zoo,
sometimes they they're a little flip and that's what happened here.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Oh to one, they joined me in that world.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
Let's head down, Yes, let's head to Cleveland, Shookie, your
hometown where the Browns made a statement.

Speaker 7 (29:14):
Burrow, actually, the last time they had the ball on
a fourth down and three wanted to go and was
upset when they sent the punt team on. Now they're
going at the thirty one. They need the thirty five
fourth out and four. Burrow claps his hands.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
He watched the ball. He's got the ball.

Speaker 5 (29:29):
Hop in the pucket.

Speaker 1 (29:30):
They chase him right, they got him, and they took
him down.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
Wals God got him all the way back inside the
twenty yard live.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
The Browns hit the ball. That is my defensive Player
of the Year pick. Everybody. Miles Garrett chas him down.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
It bewildered Joe Burrow for a sack that basically put
the kaibosh and any hopes for the Bengals In a
twenty fourth three Browns win in Cleveland, Joe Burrow, freshly
signed to a deal that made him the highest paid
player in NFL history, could not move since the offense
that managed just one hundred and forty two yards total

(30:13):
and shooky, I mean, listen what.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
It died in the world.

Speaker 5 (30:16):
One hundred and forty two.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
Browns fan, It's been quite a ride the last couple
of years. This is a dream start for Cleveland.

Speaker 12 (30:27):
Yeah, my longtime best friend went to the game today
and has not stopped texting me since he left the game.
And just to confirm that the Browns did in fact
win this game, because it does not happen in Cleveland
in week one.

Speaker 1 (30:40):
What's the last time that happened?

Speaker 3 (30:41):
When is the last two? At home?

Speaker 1 (30:43):
At home?

Speaker 12 (30:43):
Two thousand and four, Jeff Garcia led them to a
victory over the Baltimore Ravens, who also only scored three
points that day.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
Fun fact, you have three opening week wins since ninety nine.
That's absurd.

Speaker 4 (30:54):
Six first downs for the Bengals. I can't believe it.

Speaker 11 (31:00):
They went three and out. Let's see.

Speaker 12 (31:03):
Eight nine times. I mean, it was just it was
an abysmal performance. This is a team that has Joe
Burrow and George Chase and t Higgins and Joe Mixon,
and they showed life on exactly one possession and gotten
field goal range and converted that field goal. Evan McPherson
missed his second field goal. The weather was bad, I'll
give you that. But the other team put twenty four
points on the board. You put three on the board.
I've never seen a team from one year the next

(31:25):
and this is the Browns team that has been absolutely
horrible defensively for the last few years under Joe Woods.
Transform with a new defensive coordinator, they played with a
different emotion and intention that the passion and the attitude
was completely different. Blanket coverage throughout this game. The additions
they made in the front four showed up. They got
after Burrow all day. He was never comfortable. That's why

(31:45):
a big reason why they couldn't move the football and
then they just slowly tacked on points because their offense
wasn't really doing that much in the rain either.

Speaker 11 (31:52):
Remarkable.

Speaker 12 (31:53):
If they could play like this in a weekly basis,
I would actually feel really good about their chances to
win the division and be a legitimate contender in the conference.

Speaker 11 (32:00):
It's only one week, but it.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Was it was between.

Speaker 11 (32:03):
Last year and this year.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
They've done this to Cincinnati before, and like we kind
of talked about this in the previous show, that there's
some sort of weird connection between these two teams where
Burrow's going to get a game a year where he's
absolutely massacred by this defense, but these guys look different.
I mean, this has to be one of the wildest
stats of the game, t Higgins targeted eight times without
a single catch. That I mean, like these guys that,

(32:25):
when you know they've felled the Chiefs multiple times, they
are considered the class of the AFC at least one
of the top two. And Cleveland's defense under Jim Schwartz
that you're right that coordinator switch probably should have happened
a year earlier. But Jim Schwartz for all the people
that it's like, oh, it's Lions head coach, you know,
middle of the road, Like he can coach up a

(32:45):
defense and they added all these pieces and sometimes those
things work out, sometimes they don't. But it's like Miles
Garrett on that last play, he has not had support
around him in years, and so if he does now
and we already saw what he did without support, it's
kind of scary because even guys like Grant delp It
today were like showing up in a way where it's like,
I haven't seen this guy play this way before against

(33:06):
a team like this. I don't know what to think.

Speaker 12 (33:09):
Yeah, that speaks to the transformation, is that guys like
Grant Delpit, who was lost in Joe Wood's defense, was
arguably their best defender today.

Speaker 11 (33:16):
He led the team in tackles.

Speaker 12 (33:17):
He was there to clean up multiple receptions, stopping guys
short the sticks on third down, all over the field
all day. Every defensive back was really like that. No
matter where they threw him, they were always right in
the hip pocket. I was just completely stunned by how
effective they were and consistent they were after how bad
they'd been with arguably the same personnel, safe for some
changes in the front four. But you're right, Mark, you know,
Miles Geartt does have a little bit of help this time.

(33:38):
So Darius Smith looked really good in his first game
with the Browns, and the change that they made really
contributed to a total defensive effort to where we didn't
have to talk about whether Deshaun Watson played well or
not because they were so good defensively it didn't matter.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
It's crazy getting Jadavian Clowney out of a locker room.
What that could do?

Speaker 3 (33:52):
Oh, transformative.

Speaker 1 (33:54):
Joe Burrow had two point six yards per attempt. That
is like, that's that's blamed. That's sub Gabbard zone. That's
half of the Gabbard zone.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
I do like his comments, though he owned it and
sort of said like this is what happens when your
guy doesn't see you know, training camp practices or reps
or even a single preseason snapped that like, yeah, they
had a slow start last year. He's had one of
the worst luck for off seasons around by star quarterback.
And it happened again, and it showed up again.

Speaker 11 (34:24):
Well they also that was really evident when in that game.

Speaker 12 (34:27):
It's just that like they look like they were rusty,
like they hadn't had a lot of reps together. But
for you stat nerds, just to finish that point there,
Joe Burrow completion percentage over expected negative thirteen point nine
today is worst CPOE performance of his career.

Speaker 4 (34:42):
It feels it feels more significant than them steamrolling the
Bengals in very similar fashion in primetime halfway through last season.
I mean, that did happen, but that did happen, And
that's where we started the show wondering, like, Okay, which
Week one games are going to totally stick?

Speaker 5 (34:59):
Is this just a division thing?

Speaker 4 (35:00):
To me, just from the outside, it says probably more
about where the Browns could go defensively than it does
about the Bengals.

Speaker 5 (35:08):
But but it's it's concerning Jamar Chase.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
After the game he had made some comments apparently. I'm
sure you were tracking it shook about Elves mocking your
mascot guy at center.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
Mascot guy.

Speaker 1 (35:24):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know exactly what it is.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
It's a mythical bean.

Speaker 5 (35:28):
They paint the elve on the field, you know.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
I know that, But I still don't know like what
it is and how it relates to the Browns. I've
never quite but it's a fair question.

Speaker 5 (35:36):
I think I think what Jamara was getting at.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
In the locker room, not happy and and owning up
to Uh, maybe you shouldn't have said so much about that.

Speaker 13 (35:44):
It's frustrating because I called the ass Elves and we
just lost as an LS, So I'm pissed on my
I'm not I'm pissed on that. And like I said, man,
we got missed opportunities. We didn't capitalize on this and
we lost.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
And that's how we loved m Rough Rough star for Cincinnati.
Let's talk about the quarterbacks real quick? Did Burrow real quick?
Did Burrow look healthy to you? Was he moving well?

Speaker 1 (36:07):
Okay?

Speaker 11 (36:07):
And then finally just looked like he was harassed?

Speaker 4 (36:09):
All with that we should mention since our last show
he signed a contract that makes him the richest play
it did in the league.

Speaker 5 (36:15):
Oh you did, you did? Did?

Speaker 2 (36:16):
And then Deshaun Watson, Gregg should mention it after you. Yes,
Deshaun Watson. Obviously he was not the deciding factor in
this game. What did you see from him? In the
sloppy conditions?

Speaker 12 (36:27):
Early pressure made him very skittish and it took him
a while to settle in. He missed a lot of throws,
something that had to do with whether it was similar
to what Burrow was doing, which is a lot of
these passes just died just right into the ground. Both
him and Watson were doing that. Some of them were
just bad throws. But he did put it together on
a few drives. There was one drive that ended in
a Jerome Ford fumble where he was pretty solid, and

(36:47):
then he threw a touchdown pass late in that game
as well. So I give him like a C plus
B minus effort. I mean, it wasn't great, but you
know they won the game.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
Maybe he won't have to do it all alone on
this team. The way it looked in Week one, shooky,
you are flying high. I could tell you got a
little skip in your step. Enjoy your Sunday night. And
we'll see you again next week.

Speaker 11 (37:07):
I'll skip on out of here, guys.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
See, yeah, there you go.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
All right, let's take a break and then we will
continue onward Week one the flagship program.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
All right, welcome back.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
It's time now for the Sunday Drive presented by the
first ever Toyota Grand Highlander.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
Hit it.

Speaker 10 (37:24):
Fields takes the SNAM, scans the secondary with time now,
fires it up in the middle, cutting what breaks it?

Speaker 12 (37:34):
Tackle spins to a.

Speaker 1 (37:35):
Slap wat fifty oh.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
Touchdown.

Speaker 7 (37:43):
Had an opening day dagger.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
Oh big funk behind the glass. He's a Packers fan,
right he had his arm up and finger outstretch like
name it that the Orange Bowl six watching you know listen.
We were told then that was of course Wayne Larravie WRNW.
We were told, is this the bearst time to take

(38:08):
over the NFC North?

Speaker 1 (38:09):
Not so fast.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
The Packers began life without Aaron Rodgers with an easy
twenty eight to twenty win and Soldier Field. It was
not as close as that final score seems to indicate.
Mark Jordan Love gets a victory in this first Week
one start, and the Green Bay defense didn't seemed to
be phased by Justin Fields and his new collection of weapons.

Speaker 3 (38:26):
They were not phased by Chicago's offensive line, that is
for sure, and I'll get to that in a second.
But before that pick six happened, which obviously the game
fully out of hand at that point. You know, we
went into this thing wondering, well, maybe post Aaron Rodgers
of Aaron, if Love is just middle of the road,
then a team like Chicago, who was getting a lot
of positive buzz for months, might be ready to make

(38:49):
a leap and become an eight to nine win team.
They got a long way to go. And I want
to just say, like the Jordan Love, like for all
the years of like being in the middle of this,
Aaron Rodgers brew o haha, just came out and had
an incredible game, and I thought he got better and
better as the game went on. There was a on
the drive before that pick six. There's a moment where

(39:10):
Love took a snap, bobbled it to his feet, had
the awareness to pick it back up, looked down the field,
and a lot of times he did a good job
of looking off the first guy. You know, it's like
a little bit beyond his time on that front. In
this case, whipped it thirty seven yards downfield to Luke Musgrave,
who made a pretty great catch but then kind of
fell a part of that point. Minutes later, Romeo Dobbs

(39:34):
like pinpoint, passing the end zone his third touchdown of
the day. You come out looking at Jordan Love and
saying Jordan Love's third touchdown. You come out of this
looking at what he did in this start with a
lot of people not around him. I mean, Jaden Reid
got hurt at one point, No Christian Watson, So you're
working with what you have, and I just thought he
made play after play. It wasn't perfect out of the gate.

(39:56):
But then you get Aaron Jones who just dominated Chicago's
and I think, I look at Chicago and it's like,
outside of Yannick and Gockway, you can't really rush the passer.
And if you're Justin Fields who got brutalized in this,
it's like we saw him get hurt down the stretch.

Speaker 5 (40:10):
Last year.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
Their offensive line put Justin Fields in peril over and over,
and this is a good defense. This is the best
you're gonna face. They went and spent a lot of
resources on their offensive line, draft picks, added some guys,
and it just didn't look like it nightmare it was,
and like it was in Chicago, and I cannot. I
will watch the rest of these games, we all will,
but it's like I don't really recall too many games

(40:34):
where it started with such a crescendoing sense of hope
at Soldier Field and then by the end of the
third quarter, booze raining down, total frustration, old frustrated.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
We talked about it on Thursday, what an opportunity this
was as a clean the slate, new era in the
NFC North, new era for the Bears. And again what
we said at the top of the show, it's just
one week.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
But when Justin Fields and what's supposed to be a
superstar year after you gave up chance to have the
number one overall pick, can't get protected and it still
looks like the same old Bears blocking. And then you,
after years of Aaron Rodgers bullying you, you let Jordan
Love come into your building and throw three touchdowns. It's
just not a good look, Greg.

Speaker 4 (41:15):
And it's one week, but you're gonna have to win
in lambeau Field later in the season or you got
swept by your division rivals. Like these division games in
Week one mean a little more to me, and this
one especially, I just wonder, like, what is your identity
if if if you're the Bears, because if you're the Packers,
you think man Watson didn't even suit up for this game,

(41:37):
Bachtiari did. I want to apologize to to our listeners
for just making it sound like David Bochderry's not gonna
play in this game. I should have known he is
the greatest of all time of never practicing and just
playing anyways.

Speaker 11 (41:48):
I mean he had he looks like who hold the phone?

Speaker 4 (41:52):
He had practice in like three weeks and he was
and he he made the Alan Iverson joke after after
the game He's like practice, Like I don't need practice, and.

Speaker 1 (42:01):
He takes veteran weeks.

Speaker 4 (42:03):
Right, He's out there and they got three QB hits
on him. Where on the other side, the Packers have
to feel good. Lucas VanNess makes it play DeVante why
it makes a play some of their young guys. It's
like this is a very good organizational type of win
for Lafleur.

Speaker 5 (42:15):
I'm sure this was.

Speaker 3 (42:16):
Very Yeah, they kept like kind of flashing up to
Bears management and you could just sort of see like, well,
the rebuild is just this is a legit rebuild. You
were the worst team in the league last year. I
thought that, you know, DJ Morris, like, is DJ mortganage,
Like help Fields make a jump and a leap, and
it's like they've got to find a way to get
him involved. Earlier, he didn't even get a target until

(42:37):
like their third.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Or fourth try it twice the entire game, right, So.

Speaker 3 (42:40):
But I will say one thing on this. On one
drive he had two catches, and that is when I thought,
maybe the Bears can turn this around because DJ Moore
is the kind of wide receiver that Bears fans, automatics, physical,
they just like you could tell they loved him. But
then he vanished totally gone.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
He was targeted twice in one drive. Yeah, never again
before or aft.

Speaker 3 (42:57):
I mean, but also that speaks to it speaks to
the total chaos that Fields was dealing with. And it
was like he had a bad fumble one point, just
like Fields is not gonna survive, or I guess he won't.
It's gonna be tough to grow if this is what
he's dealing with.

Speaker 4 (43:10):
It's a bad combo too, because he holds onto the
ball a lot and he takes a little while sometimes
to make his decisions, so that combination with a bad
offensive line just kind of compounds it.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
Yeah, and as bad as the start was for the Bears,
like we're saying perfect, I mean in a very sensitive
time for the Packers as an organization, Aaron Rodgers about
to take the field for the Jets on Monday Night football.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
Now you can go watch that game and be like, oh,
Aaron whatever, and how about we're moving forward?

Speaker 3 (43:35):
And you know it's like, oh, Matt lafora only winning
games because Aaron Rodgers was there, Like this was a
great job by him, preparing everyone to get to this place.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
Ta, we can do it without Aaron. That's what they're
saying now. And that was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota.
Let's go places learn more at toyota dot com. Slash
Grand Highlander. All right, let's keep on moving.

Speaker 1 (43:57):
First town was.

Speaker 14 (43:57):
Essentially in this game block is only have one time
outlet Hooper, the tight end goes to the right motion.

Speaker 5 (44:04):
Here come the Broncos with pressure. Hey pick it up.

Speaker 7 (44:06):
Garoppolo, still with time in the pocket, escapes out to
the thirty five.

Speaker 5 (44:10):
Get to the thirty hen he gets out of attack of.

Speaker 1 (44:12):
The twenty five ye.

Speaker 13 (44:13):
Jason Bomba the first down, he polo with his legs
about to seal this game for the Raiders here in
Denver with an eight yard scramble.

Speaker 3 (44:23):
Oo Jason Harrowinz missed the note on that shared Uh, well,
I ain't.

Speaker 5 (44:29):
I'm just watching the monitor there.

Speaker 4 (44:31):
And Jimmy Garoppolo was Swagger incarnate when he.

Speaker 5 (44:35):
Got up from that. That was awesome.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
And you hear it all the time about Jimmy G.

Speaker 2 (44:40):
Maybe not the most talented quarterbacks, certainly not the most
durable passer, but his teammates love him. He's a he's
a good leader on that team. And this is a
type of win seventeen sixteen over the Broncos in Denver
that really kind of provides a lift for a Raiders
organization that you know, in the in the week leading

(45:02):
up to the game, there are some bad vibes around
this team, and for Jimmy G to make that scramblem
not known for making plays with his legs and seal
that game, big time, big time for Jimmy G and
company a one point win. Garoppolo threw two touchdown passes
to fellow newcomer Jacoby Myers in the game, and Sean
Payton's start with the Denver Broncos is not as he

(45:24):
envisioned it either.

Speaker 1 (45:25):
So I thought this was an interesting game.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
Wasn't the uh, maybe the most exciting game, but it
was a It was two teams that are to me
felt very evenly matched, and you saw it.

Speaker 1 (45:36):
It went right down to the end with the Raiders
taking it.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
Well, and it was there was the first kind of
there were a lot of injuries today but in around
the league, but out of the gate. It was like
the first time our newsroom had sort of a collective sigh.
Was that you saw Jimmy g you know, on the
ground with what looked like maybe a head injury, but
then he comes back in and it seemed to completely
change things. It's like I have been as down on

(45:59):
the Raiders as possible. I don't think the Broncos are
a Super Bowl contender here, so, uh, you know, you
eked out a nice win. But when I look across
the way, Sean Payton's number one chore was fixing up
Russell Wilson, and it looks like we got a bit
of a different version. It wasn't an explosion, but Cleaner.

Speaker 1 (46:17):
I thought he was pretty good.

Speaker 2 (46:18):
I don't think he he didn't look like maybe the
playmaker of yesteryear during his Seattle heyday. But certainly Cleaner
moved well, I thought, in and around the pocket. Threw
two touchdown passes through good balls to Myers on the
on the scores, there were other plays that kind of
got bogged down.

Speaker 1 (46:36):
There's a lot of dinking and dunking.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
You know, average five point two yards per attempt, so
you're gonna pop it in there and you're gonna say,
all right, he's he had a he had a very
fortunate to have a a fumble early in the third
quarter overturned on penalty. But overall, did you know, a
better job protecting the football, which is something that was
a major issue for him last year. Only took two
sacks in this game. That was an improvement. So yeah,

(46:59):
it looks like he's better coached. He looks physically better,
and he's moving better. But still they scored sixteen points
right game at home, and it's like, you just wonder
who's the playmaker on this team right now?

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Because I don't see the guy jumping out at us.

Speaker 3 (47:14):
Well, they're leading receivers running back in the tight end.

Speaker 4 (47:17):
Right with samaj p Ryan was a leading receiver in
Adam Troutman, who Sean Payton brought over from New Orleans
is like a backup level tight end. It's worrisome. Jerry
Judy didn't play in this game, and I heard a
lot of positive Yeah. I was curious of how Russell
Wilson looked because they ended that second quarter well and
everyone's like, wow, that was almost a perfect half by

(47:38):
Russell Wilson. But then you do look up at the
end of the game and they end up with two
hundred and sixty yards of offense and twenty two first
down So that to me tells me you're about as
unexplosive as possible, Like you're struggling to get to that
first down and then you get to it again.

Speaker 5 (47:53):
And it is one of those games.

Speaker 4 (47:55):
Though when you look at the stats, there was only
six drives by the Broncos. There might not be a
team all season that has let that's about the minimum
you can possibly have. So it's just like one of
those long, slow drive type of games where neither team
really has the ball much.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
Yeah, And I think maybe the difference for this game
with Wilson was. It was kind of similar to the
stilted offense of last year with Hackett, but without the
turnovers and all those backbreaking mistakes that he was making.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
Difference, it's progress.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
I think if you're a Broncos than he's like, all right,
it looked a little better, but now we got to
get We gotta get Jerry Judy on the field. We
got to get Courtland Sutton more involved, adult Chit's there,
tight end. He goes out with an injury. He's an
important player for them as well, so you take him
out of the mix. I don't know if it's a
serious injury. We'll know more by tomorrow, you know, but
there you go for the Raiders.

Speaker 3 (48:48):
I did like Sean Payton right out of the gate
back in the league, goes for the on sides kick
on the opening kick, and it seemed like they maybe
got it, and then they reversed in that sort of deflating.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
Bringing back memories the Super Bowl with the Saints when
they that is so showing.

Speaker 1 (49:03):
Peyton by the way, totally. I love it.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
It's it's a move that screams like, you know, I'm
pretty gutsy guy.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
I take chances. Hey, look at me. That's part of
it as well.

Speaker 4 (49:13):
Also a little bit like I've been saying, like a
guy playing the greatest hits at the end of it, a.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
Little bit that it's like, hey, look at me. Remember
when I did that. I'm doing it again because I'm back.
It was a little bit about and it came with
then a hair of being recovered to which would have
been badass, but it wasn't.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
So le Bronco's close. But no, Cigar Raiders get the winning.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
Good job because you got Buffalo next week and the
Steelers the week after that, so that's a big w
to get.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
Let's keep Apparently the Steelers are an object of nothing
at this point, though.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
Well this week they were. Don't you never know? Mark
hanging there.

Speaker 3 (49:45):
I'm already slightly peaked by the season.

Speaker 2 (49:49):
You haven't watched that game yet, have you. It's gonna
be even crazier when you watch it. Was it was
that bad. Let's move on to another game that didn't
make any sense based on what we perceived football to
be ahead of Sunday.

Speaker 1 (50:04):
Let's head to Seattle, goorth And.

Speaker 7 (50:06):
Going from inside the Larne Acres, the single back stafford
under center brings two two in motion.

Speaker 3 (50:12):
It's a toss left to Acres pill go oh, that
was easy touch.

Speaker 7 (50:18):
On fourth of goal from the one Acres to Peters
and the Rams have a double digit lead.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
No, they talk about all Los Angeles. It's just a
big sprawl of the city. That's JB. Long.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
Guess what Me and JB go to the same barber,
small town life in the big city.

Speaker 4 (50:37):
A great friend and neighbor of the Wesselings and a
friend of our show.

Speaker 1 (50:40):
How about that? I guess it is a community point
made Rams Radio.

Speaker 7 (50:48):
JB.

Speaker 5 (50:48):
Long, Mayberry by the sea.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
There it is.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Matthew Stafford threw for three hundred and thirty four yards
without Cooper cup Cam Acres jogged into the end zone
one of three touchdown runs and them stunned the Seahawks
thirty to thirteen in Seattle.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
The Pacific Northwest. In shock, Mark, you're in shock. You
fucked them up?

Speaker 3 (51:11):
I am again. I said, there's already a couple of
things that are thorns in the side. I like a
good comeback story.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
Same.

Speaker 2 (51:20):
SI's Matt Stafford fifty eight three hundred yard passing game
in his career. I like that because it's like a
Matt Stafford. Hey, I'm not dead. I'm not dead yet.
I won the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. Oh, Cooper,
Cut's not playing. We're gonna win three games. Look what
you just did. Nice job by Attie, Stafford and Coump.

Speaker 4 (51:39):
I mean not just I'm not dead. Maybe I'm the
best quarterback in the league this week. I don't know
if I saw a quarterback play any better. I know,
fantasy wise, you didn't get a touchdown out of it.
That's unfortunately. You got three short rushing touchdowns too, out
of Kyra and Williams. It might be a nice little
fantasy pickup for you. But Stafford took these young receivers,

(52:00):
Puka Nakua. We've been talking them up in this offseason.
Ten for one to nineteen Are you kidding me? A
rookie third round pick to to out well. Give credit
to Sean McVay. He's been trying to make two too
out well a thing for three years. He's finally a thing.
Six for one to nineteen. Two receivers I think twenty
three years and undergoing over one hundred yards and Stafford

(52:21):
putting dimes all over the field. A couple throws that
just almost no other quarterback in the NFL could make
and really supporting what everyone said that was up at
Rams camp that said, like, man, Stafford looks good this preseason, and.

Speaker 5 (52:39):
He looked trim.

Speaker 4 (52:40):
There was a great run that he made that was
very crucial, and I came out of this game just thinking,
my god, Matthew Stafford, for as long as he stays upright,
and maybe maybe it's just facing a Seahawks pass rush
that was non existent, as long as he stays upright,
he's gonna ball.

Speaker 5 (52:54):
That was really impressive.

Speaker 3 (52:56):
I became concerned about the lock part of this, which
is a minor story to most every human except myself,
but early on because.

Speaker 1 (53:04):
I like, for you, it's the overriding storyline of the.

Speaker 3 (53:07):
Entire no But it's like you're watching these things. It's
more like, when do you start to feel like maybe
you didn't have all the information on the way that
Sean McVay felt about his own roster, at least on offense,
for sure. But Jordan rod Reeg wrote that that opening
sixteen play scoring drives sixteen plays seventy five yards, ate
up a lot of time, was about as physical, she

(53:29):
wrote as I've seen them play in years. And you know,
if you think, if you think back to when the
Rams have been dinged, when they were like wiped out
on Monday Night that a couple of years ago by
the Niners, was like, oh, maybe they're not as physical
as some of these other teams like that they go
up against. It's like maybe they're rebranding what they are
and this is one game. But it's like, if you're
gonna get that version of Stafford and if these young
guys grow around them, get cut back like they're not

(53:52):
gonna win three games, They're gonna win more than that,
they're gonna win double that.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
Gino three for one hundred and twelve yards in this
game on twenty six attempts. All we talked about through
the summer I heard about Greg Gain the summer was
this is a team, the Rams, that had no names
other than Aaron Donald that you really could bank on.
And yet they go up there and Ginos the comeback
player of the year last year, they shut down this

(54:15):
passing game.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
I know DK metcalf. I think he was three for
forty second forty seven and a touch in the second
quarter that's where he ended. Yes, he just shut the
whole thing down it seems.

Speaker 4 (54:23):
I mean, the stats in the second half are preposterous.
It was two hundred and fifty seven yards to three
until Pete Carroll, who knows people are box score checking,
went for a nine yard run with six seconds to go,
you know, risking his running back getting hurt. So it
ended up two fifty seven to twelve. That is out praidous.
It was four straight plays, four straight drives that totaled

(54:48):
I believe three yards before that, they did get one
first down somehow by penalty in that mix and look,
the first half actually kind of went as scripted offensively.
They either scored or missed a field goal and ever
possession Seattle, so it wasn't like they looked off kilter
the whole game. But I really think it was a
complimentary offense defense performance here where the Rams kept going

(55:09):
on these long touchdown drives sixteen plays, ten plays, fourteen plays,
the Seahawks get the ball back, they're mostly passing. They
lose both their tackles in this game, which is definitely
I think a big part of what happened in the
second half. Abe Lucas and Charles Cross, who if you
guys remember two rookie tackles who started all last year
were a nice story. Both leave with injuries. One of

(55:30):
them I think it was Lucas on a cart and
suddenly like they could just couldn't get a first down.
It was a little bit of pass rush. It was
a little bit of timing. The Rams rookie linebacker Byron
Young made a couple really nice plays, and suddenly at
the end it's this Rams pass rush tee and off
on Gino Smith. It was like fourth and forty or
something on the last play. I couldn't believe it. It was

(55:51):
the most surprising thing I saw.

Speaker 3 (55:53):
I am looking at the second half drive chart for Seattle.
Five drives, two total yards. I mean, it's from a
Rams team that got looked like they were gonna get
run over, Like what does this say about Seattle's defense?

Speaker 1 (56:05):
Though?

Speaker 4 (56:06):
Wait, and the weird thing was that I think the
Rams are gonna be so proud that they ran the
ball forty times because they actually didn't run it very
well per carry. I mean, Akers went twenty two for
twenty nine, which is preposterous.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
Whoa.

Speaker 5 (56:19):
But they just kept sticking at it.

Speaker 4 (56:21):
And I think it was what Jordan Rodrieg was talking
about in terms of being physical. But you can only
do that if you've got a freaking magician at quarterback,
playing lights out and saving you in a lot of
third down situations.

Speaker 5 (56:31):
And that's what Stafford did.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
Man the Rams, if this is a sign of things
to come, are going to make a lot of people
look stupid.

Speaker 3 (56:39):
Well almost everyone.

Speaker 4 (56:40):
Well, this is and I mentioned it historically a matchup
that McVeigh has dominated, and even last year where the
teams were so far apart, they were decided by one
or two plays, and so I think it was a
couple of different things coming together. But if I'm the Seahawks,
I'm very concerned about those tackles, and I'm very concerned
my defense had no pass rush.

Speaker 5 (56:58):
That's the thing.

Speaker 4 (56:58):
If you give Matt Stafford time, he can cut you up,
and they they just had nothing going on getting after him.
So maybe it's the old line for the Rams do
getting better.

Speaker 2 (57:07):
Here's the other thing before we move on. I always
liked your theory. Greg there. What's your number you put out?

Speaker 1 (57:11):
There's five or six or seven NFL head coaches who
matter will make a difference. Rams have one of them.

Speaker 5 (57:18):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 1 (57:20):
Maybe we shouldn't count him out. Let's see what happens.
It's just one week. Let's take a break. Actually, should
we take a break? What should we keep going? Probably
sneaking another one in? All right, sneaking another one in.
We're flying. Blew through? He blew through?

Speaker 5 (57:32):
Uh one of those games pretty quickly. I think it
was the Raiders game.

Speaker 1 (57:36):
Now we're gonna hear from them. There you move.

Speaker 4 (57:40):
What other podcast has been talking up your good defense
for a month?

Speaker 5 (57:43):
You came through, Raiders?

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Raiders enjoy a moment. Get off our ace.

Speaker 3 (57:48):
First down at the twenty six yard line of the Colts.
The clock is it four fifteen?

Speaker 10 (57:54):
R'SVTN tries the mountain outside, He's got a little bit
of row, twenty fifteen yard line.

Speaker 6 (58:00):
The ice touchdown they have extendedly, How good.

Speaker 5 (58:05):
Is that twenty six yard touchdown run?

Speaker 1 (58:10):
Holy mackerel.

Speaker 2 (58:13):
Frank Franjie with the call, he does the games with
Jeff Logoman. Nice nice little pass rusher for the Jets
back in ninety two.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
Otherwise dark days w okv stmber working Remember Logoman?

Speaker 3 (58:29):
Yeah, absolutely sure.

Speaker 2 (58:30):
Travis DTN's twenty six yard touchdown run with four oh
eight to play. That was the clincher for the Jags,
who overcame a costly gaff gaffe from Tank Bigsby and
a thirty one to twenty one win over the Colts
at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mark We'll get to Anthony Richardson's
debut in a bit. Let's start with what you saw
from the defending South Champs.

Speaker 3 (58:53):
A weird game like not certainly not the heights that
we witnessed, the flawless Trevor Lawrence performances down the stretch
last year. Took him a while to get going. They
weren't really running the ball very well early on. They
were struggling on third down at the Colts. I didn't
expect this from the Colts, but they they really like
made life tough for Trevor Lawrence. And it started with

(59:16):
who I think will be the AFC Defensive Player of
the week, whether or not they won the game or
lost to Forest Buckner, who even when you just see
him on television, looks like a front door coming at you.
Sure a sack of forced fumble. There was a wacky
play where like the ball was tipped to Lawrence pass
and it kind of hit the ground and everyone sort
of stood around looking at it and It's like, this
isn't a dead ball. No one blew a whistle and

(59:37):
Buckner picks it up and just rumbles in for a touchdown.

Speaker 4 (59:40):
The gaff I was, I'm gonna spread a sandwich on Buckner.
Not defensive player of the week.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
I like TJ watch chances.

Speaker 3 (59:47):
He's just fine.

Speaker 5 (59:47):
He's on the Colts and he gave they gave up
thirty one points. It's not five. They're just weird.

Speaker 1 (59:52):
I don't.

Speaker 3 (59:52):
I just say, for your own enjoyment, go watch him.
Just it was a dominant performance and like from a
team that most people rode off, but the Lawrence made
some throws down the stretch, and the biggest story for
them is that Calvin Ridley looked phenomenal. He ate for
one in a touchdown, and there was a couple of
plays where it's like, I don't know what he was

(01:00:14):
doing last year or what he did this offseason, but
his because remember he played that entire season on what
he said was a broken version of a broken foot
and stole like a thousand yards. Like he looked as
fast as I've ever seen him. He's a complete, immediate
rain making difference maker for the Jaguars. But they're gonna
have better days than today.

Speaker 5 (01:00:29):
Don't say rain maker with Calvin Ridley though, that that
is something.

Speaker 3 (01:00:34):
Well, that's that's actually very fair. Please, But you're right, I.

Speaker 1 (01:00:37):
Was trying to make that was a tricky one. That
was a tricky one.

Speaker 3 (01:00:40):
But he looked great.

Speaker 2 (01:00:41):
Anthony Richardson, he exited the game in the final minute
is not ideal. It looked like he was standing on
the sideline. That not anything too serious. What did you
see from him?

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Overall? I thought he's pretty good box score, Yeah, you
know what.

Speaker 3 (01:00:54):
I thought that, like for all the concept that he's
gonna no matter what, it's gonna take him so long
to kind of comfortable and the accuracy issues. Well coached today,
but like made some throws show that he could kind
of hit people all over the field, had a pretty
a couple of great runs. He had a touchdown run.
There was a one on one where he just blew
up the middle of the team like on an RPO,

(01:01:16):
just run for twelve yards, Like he's gonna be doing
this all year. And I think that out of the
gate because I think Greg you mentioned this, like, is
it a disadvantage to get the cults early? Even if
they're not a good team because you don't know what
you're preparing for. With Richardson, the one thing that I thought,
like Shane Steichen is gonna realize just doesn't carry over
necessarily from his Eagles days. They were one for five
on fourth downs and they tried to do the butt

(01:01:36):
push with Richardson. He was stuffed. They had a couple
they that it just didn't look as clean on Deon Jackson.
You know, they miss they miss obviously Taylor and Deon
Jackson had a bad fumble on North and one. Yeah,
they miss them all. Like he had two fumbles in
this game. And so it's these little things where like
the Colts deep into it is like they're gonna win
this thing. Like the Jaguars just aren't separating.

Speaker 5 (01:01:58):
Wow, yeah they were winning. What halfway through the fourth quarter.

Speaker 3 (01:02:01):
They just looked they looked like they could steal us.
They did last shit.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
I thought Stichen was a little sleep of the switch too.
They had a seventeen play drive late in the fourth quarter.
They're down ten, they get stopped, they're in the they're
in field goal range. You can get it to seven
and then kick it away and then maybe get a
stop and have a chance to tie. They went for
the seven, didn't get it and it was over.

Speaker 4 (01:02:22):
Yeah, they're just they're just thin. And they had sixteen
non Athena Richardson carries on the day for twenty five yards.
And the whole idea is Stikeen. I think eventually is
going to bring a good running game and Richardson will
be a force multiplier. But for now that's rough. Although
they did.

Speaker 5 (01:02:41):
Get your boy Jake Funk into an NFL game here
Alec Pierce.

Speaker 4 (01:02:47):
Their second receiver also got hurt, and they're also they're
a little thin at receiver to beginning.

Speaker 15 (01:02:54):
Yeah, Jake Funk, Jake, Jake fuck, Jake Funk, Jake forget
about Jake Funk.

Speaker 3 (01:03:08):
Five yards per carry, got.

Speaker 1 (01:03:10):
Big Funk behind the glass, Randy Shop anything else, Mark, No.

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
I'd say go watch it for yourselves. And what was
the injury to Richardson exactly near the end of the
game that I don't know, Like they didn't they weren't
clear about that. He was like he walked, he he
left the field, alright, It wasn't like.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
He was ostensibly the games on the line and it's
still in the bounce and he's not on the field.

Speaker 3 (01:03:35):
It's hard to me. I think they're playing it safe
with him. But we'll wait and see.

Speaker 4 (01:03:39):
What's one of those little wins too, where it's like
they were trailing here. It's like at the end of
the season when they're going to be hoping to win
this division and battling for seeds.

Speaker 5 (01:03:46):
It's like he's put it in your pocket. Put in
your pocket, pocket, pocket, win pocket.

Speaker 3 (01:03:51):
That wasn't an escape, but they just took him.

Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
While the heat up to Baltimore, we go.

Speaker 10 (01:03:56):
Beckham to the left, Flowers to the right. Now Flowers
goes in most of the left Jackson inside handoff, Justice
Hill spins.

Speaker 7 (01:04:03):
In for six touchdown raven.

Speaker 9 (01:04:07):
That works too, same speed week look taking a Toza,
giving the ball back into a counter, coming back across
the field, finding their rhythm.

Speaker 1 (01:04:19):
No in the second half for this offense, and.

Speaker 10 (01:04:21):
After the defense stops the Texans on a fourth and one,
the offense.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
Cash is in MM Jerry Sandusky with Rod Woodson on
the call w B A L. Justice Hill scored twice
in the second half after JK. Dobbins exited with an
achilles injury. More on that in a second. The Ravens
pull away twenty five to nine win over the Texans.
Baltimore had just two hundred and sixty five total yards.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
In this game.

Speaker 2 (01:04:44):
Lamar turned them all over twice, but the defense did
the job against CJ. Stroud in his NFL debut. Greg
the Ravens Bank will win start the year, but at
a serious cost.

Speaker 4 (01:04:57):
Yeah, we have unfortunately lost JK. Dobbins here for the season.
It's a torn achilles according to our guy, Ian Rapport,
I mean rappaport, and this is one of those injuries
that you know right away had that thing before they
came out of halftime, and you know the injury was
late in the second quarter. I'm just thinking, man, what
a deflating way to like come out of the locker

(01:05:18):
room if you're John Harbaugh, who probably at least had
that information even if the teammates didn't. And then by
the end of the game, Ronnie Stanley, who to me
is a real bell Weather for this team, leaves with
a knee injury, although they don't think it's serious. And
I did see him kind of celebrating later in the game,
so that's a good time. But he's getting an MRI.
Marcus Williams, their great safety is getting an MRI, and
then they're starting center Tyler Linderbaum got his ankle rolled up.

(01:05:42):
Just eyeball test that Linderbaum one did not look great either.
So a lot of positives for the Ravens and then
major negatives there.

Speaker 2 (01:05:50):
Here's a harball on Dobbins, who you may recall was
trying to get a contract ahead of this year and
now kind of a devastating personal setback.

Speaker 16 (01:05:58):
JK has a torn killing unfortunately, so that's going to
end his season. That's just feel bad for him. It's
not the way we expected just to go, and he's
worked really hard. But Jk's a strong minded individual. He's
got a big heart, very large spirit, and he's going
to bounce back from this as well.

Speaker 3 (01:06:17):
I mean so torn Achilles also leaves and questioned what
he'd even look like when he returns, you know, a
year from now. If it's then like you've lost your
best running back, wait and see on two fifths of
your offensive line. We already talked about how how like
shallow this cornerback group was, so to lose your safety
behind them, it's like we're three or four hours into

(01:06:38):
their season and they're in tatters.

Speaker 4 (01:06:40):
Yeah, I think they survived training camp for once without
major injuries, and they'll come out of this hoping that
Dobbins is the only one that's really long term. But
that's that's what we'll have to wait till to Monday
to find out. He could be multiple weak injuries. The
the positive is some of the things they talked about
all off season in the room to me, bore fruit,

(01:07:01):
I mean Zay Flowers. They've they've missed on so many
of these draft picks over the years with the wide receivers,
and as long as he's healthy, man, Jay Flowers a hit,
we don't need to We don't need to see anymore
seven for or nine for seventy eight, and man, it
was nice to have an offensive cordnerator creatively mixing up
touches for a specific receiver, in this case Flowers funk
and pop, and a guy making plays for Lamar Jackson,

(01:07:23):
just like whenever they needed to play Zay Flowers very
much was the guy making it on his own.

Speaker 3 (01:07:28):
I do think Monkin's got to work on his uh
when they because he's up in the booth. He's not
a sideline guy like they cut up to him. And
I know things were a little shaky out of the gate,
but every time they showed Monk and he looked kind
of frazzled and nervous as he get just gotta work on,
like I got this under control. He just struck me
that way because.

Speaker 4 (01:07:43):
They were a little frazzled offensively, Like this game, the
score and everything it was it wasn't that competitive, but
they only had two hundred and sixty five yards of offense.
Lamar was kind of sloppy. I mean he had an interception,
he had had two fumbles. Uh, it wasn't like the
cleanest offensive performance, but their defense was too good.

Speaker 1 (01:08:00):
What did you see from Stroud in his debut?

Speaker 4 (01:08:02):
I actually saw a lot of good I think he
made five or six throws in this game that just
made you excited if you're a Texans fan. Their offensive line, though,
was a total mess and didn't give him a chance
for much of the game, Like there was a lot
of pressure on him. I think if you're a Ravens fan,
David Ajabo where they're hoping can make some impacts, stepped

(01:08:22):
up a dafe Oway, Like their pass rush really got
after it. They had an injury on their offensive line too,
but Stroud made some big clunking mistakes and some really
nice plays too.

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
All right.

Speaker 5 (01:08:33):
And by the way, Odell Beckham back in the league.

Speaker 1 (01:08:35):
Did he look like Godell two catches.

Speaker 4 (01:08:37):
Yes, he didn't have a catch until late in the
third quarter, but he did have two nice catches and
drew two pass interferences. Bateman had a couple plays. It
was like they did enough where it's like, okay, you
see the beginnings of it.

Speaker 1 (01:08:48):
All right.

Speaker 2 (01:08:48):
So we'll head from Baltimore to Minnesota, where the Vikings
set an NFL record going eleven to zero in one
score games. Weller alert another one score games or their
twenty three season with a different outcome.

Speaker 1 (01:09:06):
Both of heirs line up in a shotgun formation.

Speaker 9 (01:09:09):
Third down ten to two minutes left, are snapped good bell.

Speaker 1 (01:09:12):
High tho farce and it's clock Bawl. Is it in bounds?
It is bounds that Godwin has a huge catch plump.
Third down to ten. It's a diving catch on the
far sideline. Cane this game.

Speaker 5 (01:09:24):
Now, this is a ten yard speed out.

Speaker 10 (01:09:27):
The defender has his back to the sideline and Godwin
makes a fingertip catch just beyond the first down marker,
and we should be able to run it out from here.

Speaker 1 (01:09:36):
J Duckerhoff with the call wwus Baker to Godwin, you
didn't hear that a lot in this game, but when
it mattered most, the two connected on the strike that
iced a twenty seventeen win for the over the Vikings.

(01:10:01):
So yeah, and it would be very very on brand
for this particular Starcross franchise, the Vikings to go winless
in one score games this year, putting him out there,
just putting it out there. It's let's start with the Bucks.
It's a lot to get to with the Vikings in
this game, my god.

Speaker 2 (01:10:21):
But let me start with Baker, who looked utterly lost
with the rest of the offense early in this game.
But it all kind of changed on their last possession
before halftime, Like the Vikings kept leaving the door open
with dumb turnovers and not taking full advantage of opportunities.

Speaker 1 (01:10:41):
So there was this feeling that a game that the
Vikings were totally in control of. Well it wasn't.

Speaker 2 (01:10:47):
So it was only ten to three when Baker takes
over and goes right down the field sixty one yards
in ninety seconds and hits Mike Evans in stride for
a touchdown pass gets the game tied at half. Then
he comes right out after the half and then Baker,
And this is the thing we know about Baker. Baker
is a very inconsistent quarterback who's prone to long lapses

(01:11:08):
of ineffective play. But he'll get hot, he gets a
little hot, and when he starts feeling himself a little bit,
some of those gun slinger throws seem to find open
receivers and the offense can start to move. So back
to back he goes sixteen plays, seventy five yards for
a touchdown, this time to Tray Palmer seven yards, and
all of a sudden they go from down ten three

(01:11:29):
to up seventeen to ten. The Vikings pull even in
the fourth quarter early in the fourth quarter, but then
their offense just kind of goes to sleep. They can't
find a way to make it work, and the Bucks
kicked the fifty seven yard field goal. I thought Chase
McLoughlin kind of bailed out Todd Bowles on a fourth
and three that I thought they should have gone for it.

Speaker 1 (01:11:50):
But sometimes that's such a Todd Bowles decision.

Speaker 2 (01:11:52):
Sometimes though, like I say that, and it is very
Todd Bowls and I felt like they should have gone
for it, but man kickers hit fifty seven years now,
it's in the dome and the perfect conditions, and he
hit it, and then they made it stand up. After
the Vikings go three and out on offense, Bryan Flores's
defense needs to get a stop to get the ball
back and he can't do it. And that was this game,

(01:12:16):
the Bucks getting hot on offense and then the defense
finding a way to kind of shut down justin Jefferson
Kirk Cousins, and they kind of steal one here in Minnesota.

Speaker 3 (01:12:25):
I saw Mayfield also convert with his legs on a
very Baker mayfieldish run. Yes, I got this start. I
think he's obviously just fuels off of emotion and self emotion,
what's going on around him, and probably all the doubts
of people that just sort of rode him off entirely.
I don't think any of this happens without these Vikings
turnovers though.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
Yeah, they had three turnovers on the first half alone.
They had an off sides on defense on fourth and
less than five that took a three point field goal
off the board and led to the touchdown in the
third quarter by Tampa Bay that you know, look at
the final score. That was painful, and uh, it was
just it's that thing and you look at the you

(01:13:07):
look at this.

Speaker 1 (01:13:08):
Is the thing about the Vikings. Oh my god, they'll
just drive you crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:13:12):
Kirk Cousins thirty three of forty four, three hundred and
forty four yards, averaging nearly eight yards in attempt, two touchdowns,
a pick passer rating over one hundred. That's always a
good past it's always a good box score. But then
the game, you watch the game and it just it
doesn't all come together. And the first the game plan
in terms of a running game without Dalvin Cook was

(01:13:33):
very stilted. They averaged less than two and a half
yards per carry on seventeen rushes. They couldn't find a
way even though Justin Jefferson finished with one hundred and
fifty yards he got the bulk of that in the
first half, they couldn't find a way to make it
happen in the second half. And it was just a
lot of frustration and a game they had, in my opinion,
no business losing. But maybe the margin of error is

(01:13:54):
not as big as I realized. Between Tampa Bay and Minnesota,
two teams that played very close game and one came
out ahead.

Speaker 4 (01:14:02):
Was technically the biggest upset of the week because I
think that the end closing line that was bigger in
this game than it was even for the Lions or
for the Rams, which which were both big upsets too.
But the Vikings, like this is regression, like in game form,
because they outgained them by like one hundred and twenty
yards and then they lose at the end and there's

(01:14:22):
a couple of little plays, But like, didn't the Vikings
win so many games like that last year where they
looked like the inferior team but they won it at
the end.

Speaker 3 (01:14:30):
And also if you're like we're coming off we're coming
off a week okay, where like the Lions, uh, everyone
feels great about the Lions, you got to feel good
about the Packers and the Vikings, Yeah, won the division
last year. It's like this is about as big of
a letdown in Week one as you could have imagined
for them.

Speaker 1 (01:14:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:14:46):
They when they got the touchdown to tie it up
at seventeen, they have two more possessions after that, U
three and out game three yards and punt three and
out game three yards.

Speaker 5 (01:14:57):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:14:57):
And and I'm not gonna put it on floor, are
the d But then they couldn't get the ball back
in those last four minutes of game time, so it
was just kind of the whole team did not have
an ability to seize the moment. So while this doesn't
make me feel necessarily bullish about the Bucks, it does
plant a seed of doubt about the Vikings and everything
that went well last year. What if things what they

(01:15:21):
call it regression? Yeah, the regression of it all. And
then if Claybond was next to me, he would say,
that has nothing to do with last season and this
is this season. But I don't know this exists and
all that stuff. But I don't know sports. It's funny
how things tend to balance out in that.

Speaker 3 (01:15:36):
I don't think claybon should like maybe maybe just like
like all of us, stay quiet on one of the
few offseason narratives that we all sort of hit on.
The Vikings are regression?

Speaker 5 (01:15:45):
Are you telling the imaginary Claybond.

Speaker 3 (01:15:47):
No, I'm just saying, if he's listening to this, I
think there's a little more of mathematical like a.

Speaker 2 (01:15:52):
Lot of Clay don't want to put Pat in a
situation where you can't answer to these comments. However, Yeah,
the Vikings won a lot of games like this last year,
and this one they didn't. And I think that building's
empening out in Minnesota today and they're like, wait.

Speaker 1 (01:16:09):
How did we lose that game? And last year every
time there was a game like this is like, wow,
how do we win that? They did well? One more
weird note. This is courtesy of next Gen stats.

Speaker 2 (01:16:19):
For Sean White of the Bucks recorded a negative thirty
eight rushing yards over expectation in this game.

Speaker 4 (01:16:26):
It's hard to do under expectation, I guess would be
the way to do it, but I know that's how
they say it.

Speaker 5 (01:16:32):
That's that's a tough spot.

Speaker 2 (01:16:33):
I don't know even how that works. That's beyond me,
but that seems like something would be hard to do
from that angle.

Speaker 1 (01:16:39):
It's an achievement minus thirty eight.

Speaker 5 (01:16:43):
Did he just trip and fall a couple of times?

Speaker 2 (01:16:45):
I'm not sure that one's you know what, I'm Gonnaggie, I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:16:47):
Gonna put you on that one. I finished seventeen for
thirty nine.

Speaker 4 (01:16:50):
I gotta say, when I watched this game, and I'm curious, second,
I thought maybe this would be a good NFL plus.
Next day watch because because it was so weird. But
when I watched this one on game pass and NFL BUS,
I will keep an eye on how he lost thirty
seven yards, thank you under expectation.

Speaker 1 (01:17:07):
And then we could reconnect ahead of.

Speaker 5 (01:17:11):
So that's like, that's a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:17:13):
There's a lot. There's lots of break.

Speaker 3 (01:17:14):
Maybe they put the wrong person on that grade.

Speaker 1 (01:17:16):
Let's take a break and we will finish out the games.
All right, Let's add to the Bayou. What's it to lane?
That's you? How about the green wave they won this weekend?

Speaker 5 (01:17:33):
Joy get wide open.

Speaker 6 (01:17:35):
That is gonna be a touchdown too for sheet shut.

Speaker 1 (01:17:40):
Great name.

Speaker 2 (01:17:42):
Speaking of great names, little Jordan Humphrey scored a touchdown
today in Denver.

Speaker 1 (01:17:47):
Friend of the Show, Yeah yes, kind Mike Keith with
the call w g f X.

Speaker 2 (01:17:54):
Derek Carr in his Saints debut, passed for three hundred
and five yards and a touchdown and a forty one
yard passed to that man Rashid shahed on thirty six
in the final minutes, helped the Saints run out the
clock in a sixteen to fifteen win over the Titans.

Speaker 1 (01:18:14):
Who's on this one? I was Reggie.

Speaker 2 (01:18:17):
We just talked about a Vikings team and fan base
that are sick about losing this game. I saw some
angry Titans fans maybe Grave Digger in my feed and others.

Speaker 1 (01:18:28):
How do we not find a way against the Saints
in this one?

Speaker 4 (01:18:30):
This was there were some questionable calls and we can
get to that. But the Titans fans should stop crying
because sometimes the game is won by who has the guts.
You know, who's the bold team. And after getting beaten
down in the first half, Derek Carr took four sacks
and eight QB hits in the first half alone.

Speaker 5 (01:18:50):
This is out rated.

Speaker 4 (01:18:50):
Wow, he came back strong in the fourth quarter and
I want to compare him to what Mike Crabel did
late in this game. They had a second in fourteen.
They're leading by a point. There, Derek Carr's first game
of the Saints. The Titans are running short on timeouts.
You think that the Saints would run the ball. Then no,
they have faith in Derek Carr. They throw it on

(01:19:12):
second and fourteen, eight yards to Michael Thomas. Okay, then
it's third and medium. You think maybe they'll run, maybe
they'll throw. We'll see.

Speaker 5 (01:19:21):
They dial it up forty one yards down the field.

Speaker 4 (01:19:24):
To Rashid Shaheed with the one point lead and they
get it done. And comparing that to Mike Rabel who
had one of the most cowardly field goals I've ever seen,
oh No, on the eleven yard line with two and
a half minutes to go. To me, that was different.
The Titans played not to lose, the Saints played to win.

Speaker 1 (01:19:42):
And the Saints defense, to their credit, did not allow touchdown,
picked off Ryan Tannehill three times, sacked him three times, stop.

Speaker 2 (01:19:49):
Tennessee on ten of twelve third down plays. Speaking of
Grave Digger, our former producer shout out to Justin he
said he thought it was Tannehill's worst game ever.

Speaker 1 (01:19:58):
Is a title.

Speaker 3 (01:19:59):
I mean, Hill has been underrated as a Titans quarterback
from wire to wire, and I've always thought that, like
he was more fun to watch in my type of
passer than others out there. But when I see the
three picks and eleven passes defense, was it Tannehill? Just
like is he is he at the end? Or does he?
Is he working with a cast of receivers who aren't

(01:20:21):
getting open for him?

Speaker 4 (01:20:22):
I mean, on some level, two the receivers maybe weren't
that open and he definitely forced him in there to
DeAndre Hopkins almost felt like desperate.

Speaker 5 (01:20:30):
But it was a nightmare game. If any if either.

Speaker 4 (01:20:32):
Of those guys behind him, Willis or Levis played well
in the preseason, it was such a bad game, you'd
already be here and talk about it. Because he had
the three picks, there were two more that were dropped,
and then there were two more plays that they dialed up.
One was kind of a flea flicker type of play
where they passed it back to Tannehill and it was
a touchdown two oconquo and Tannehill just missed him. And

(01:20:54):
then later I think it was the fourth quarter, they
dialed up another like nicely does play and they get
Tajy Spears, who looked really good in limited work. It
was on the field quite a bit wide open down
the field. Tannehill missed that too. So in Mike Rabel's defense,
for a little context that that field goal that he kicked,

(01:21:15):
it was fourth and six from the Saints eleven yard line,
down four with two and a half minutes to go.

Speaker 3 (01:21:21):
Oh still wild and.

Speaker 4 (01:21:23):
So maybe, but what was I gotta say is like
maybe it was just like.

Speaker 3 (01:21:26):
My quarterback stakes right now, zero confidence that they're gonna write.

Speaker 5 (01:21:29):
So I'm gonna kick through the wars together.

Speaker 2 (01:21:32):
And you got gotten to that Hopkins on your team
now one of the great red zone receivers in the
last fifteen years.

Speaker 4 (01:21:41):
And to be fair to Tannehill, you had two fairly
long drives in the fourth quarter, both of them ended
in field goals, but he got them down there with
with some nice throws. He just kept throwing it into
tight windows and it was tough to watch, Like, I.

Speaker 3 (01:21:53):
Don't come out of this like whatever, I want to
examine this deeply, but like the Derek Carr experience, I
I've just been insane. I think it's gonna be frustrating
for Saints fans when they go through it from week
to week. And like I don't know, I don't this
was dealing with here, Like yeah, but.

Speaker 4 (01:22:08):
This was kind of it though, Like he he was
disappointing the first half and there was a play he
made in the fourth quarter where a titan almost took
his life. He hit him so hard and Carr put
it right on the money, okay, and then in money
time he puts it to Shahid. So after such a
brutal first half where where I kind of was having

(01:22:30):
similar comments Mark and we were talking about it lot
on Twitter.

Speaker 5 (01:22:33):
Yeah, he was frustrating me.

Speaker 4 (01:22:34):
He struggled, But the fact that he kind of bounced
back from that and played well at the end, you
got to give it up to him. Chris Alavi eight
for one twelve two. By the way, offensive player of
the Year candidacy is alive.

Speaker 2 (01:22:44):
Uh So your point about the brutality, car said, that
was one of the more physical games I've played in
my ten years. We showed that we could win the
ultimate physical type of game. Well, we'll see about that.

Speaker 4 (01:22:55):
Right, His offensive line needs to have it not be
so physical as left tackle Trevor Penny got worked by
Ard and Key.

Speaker 2 (01:23:00):
Titan's just got to be better on offense. Henry didn't
break the big one. And you know, obviously tenne Hill's
got to play better. And how did Hopkins look?

Speaker 1 (01:23:08):
Did he make any plays where he looked like old
new Cockins Hopkins or is he tough?

Speaker 4 (01:23:12):
Some tough contested catches but not a lot of separation
there at thirteen targets, seven catches sixty five years. They
just don't have a lot of other players on this team.
Trailing Burk's two for eighteen.

Speaker 1 (01:23:22):
All right, let's head to Atlanta, a town you got out.

Speaker 3 (01:23:28):
Chier and Smith and an I you got too, Pitts
and Smith.

Speaker 10 (01:23:35):
Here's the gift, Algier A little pawky, but Tyler will
score the left side, goes Tyler out cheer and he
bangs home his second touchdown.

Speaker 1 (01:23:43):
Of the day. Bang it home. I like that, Bang
at home?

Speaker 3 (01:23:48):
They Smith.

Speaker 2 (01:23:54):
The Smith looks like he's going down the conference table
after a FedEx quarterly meeting.

Speaker 1 (01:23:59):
He looks for three billion for the week. Now West
Nham with the call w ZGC yip Tyler Algier suppose
it afterthought after the arrival of Beejean Robinson but not

(01:24:19):
so outtouched the rookie phenom scored twice was the goal
line guy? What you know what?

Speaker 2 (01:24:27):
I am convinced that Arthur Smith is a terrorist. At
least it's a fantasy realm.

Speaker 3 (01:24:36):
Like he's got two good running backs and they'll both
get used.

Speaker 4 (01:24:39):
Okay, but I got like eighty three yards.

Speaker 2 (01:24:45):
Falcons over Panthers in a game that a take care
of business game.

Speaker 3 (01:24:51):
Yeah, I see you burying this down at the very
back end of the lineup. That's cool.

Speaker 1 (01:24:55):
Is this a was this a game that deserved higher placement?

Speaker 3 (01:25:00):
Enjoyed it? Reg enjoyed it? I know for certain reasons,
I would say this, after all the buzz A very
slow start for the Falcons. I can I think you're
You're right, he's going to continue, Arthur Smith to annoy
people because it's like, how long does it take to
get Kyle Pitts into the game? Why are we not
giving Jon Robinson the break catches? You did not? But

(01:25:22):
I think part of this problem I've not seen a
start to a game like this. Desmond Ritter at one point,
pretty deep into the first half, was four for four,
four completions for zero yards. His first pass, which was
a bit ominous, was a negative six yard completion to himself.

Speaker 5 (01:25:41):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:25:41):
Then he threw a pass to Bjon Robinson who was
stopped for six negative six yards. Then he got twelve
yards on the two. It just went on and onward.
Was like they couldn't get uncorked. But I will say,
Tyler Joe.

Speaker 2 (01:25:51):
As they count that mark in the box score, it
is yeah, yeah, one catch.

Speaker 3 (01:25:55):
For for a while it was like he was one
for one for negative six yards. It was like, I
love this, this is cool. Although I don't love it
for like what it means. Ritter was not a disaster,
but there's a lot they need to uncork, like Pitts
in London and have that be part of their game.
I think the thing that I saw though, if you
want to like project this out, you do have two

(01:26:16):
running backs Tyler Aljeler Algier on a second big run
in a row. Guy, Well, he's my guy, but you.

Speaker 5 (01:26:21):
Know Algae Algae here he is officially your guy.

Speaker 3 (01:26:28):
Yeah, he like I could see it in his eyes
a little bit that he's sort of just been written
off as like now you're Bijon like this, this guy
who was the best rookie runner a year ago is
just simply an afterthought like they used in him both
Bijon Robinson. Though it's he's gonna have bigger box scores
than this. It's the running, Like he had a couple
of runs where you're just like, oh, absolutely he's the guy.
He's he is going to be what they think. But

(01:26:50):
it's also like the ability to throw it to him
in the flats. There was a play where like if
you aren't on him in one second, he just took
that instant juked backwards juked around you and off he's gone.
And it's like they I think it's gonna take a
little bit of time. They almost have like I don't
want to say too many weapons because it's not gonna
look like that when you see this. I don't take
the right quarterback for all that. But if they get

(01:27:11):
if they can't get in their flow and you get
to a point where, like all these guys are involved,
there's a lot to handle. We can get to the
Brice Young part of it too. But this Falcons defense,
both defense has made it tough on the opposing quarterback.
But I saw something different with this Falcons defense.

Speaker 4 (01:27:25):
Well, the Falcons only had two hundred and twenty one
yards of offense at one point. I remember, uh, you know,
the Panthers were out getting him like two twenty to eighty.
But Bijon just a slow start that stops start on
the touchdown. Just chef's kiss. I mean, that's all you
need to see. That's special.

Speaker 1 (01:27:43):
Good That was.

Speaker 5 (01:27:46):
You know what else is good?

Speaker 4 (01:27:46):
By the way, Well, while we have a little break
in the action, I locked up this Falcons team over
here on Falcons corner.

Speaker 3 (01:27:52):
Damn, we gotta should have joined me to.

Speaker 1 (01:27:54):
Do something if you wanted out start to the season.

Speaker 5 (01:27:57):
For the could you create a more annoyance start to
the season.

Speaker 4 (01:28:00):
Then then I hit, I hit my lock and everyone
else goes, oh.

Speaker 3 (01:28:04):
And what no, we could like to answer your question,
he could not create a more annoying So you definitely
as annoying as possible right now, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:28:11):
But credit to you got an early lead, early lead.

Speaker 5 (01:28:15):
Very early, very early.

Speaker 1 (01:28:16):
But that's that's taking uh, you know, taking out your
lollipop just yet for a lick.

Speaker 4 (01:28:22):
You know, it's just when, it's when, it's when you
when you won it last year, and then everyone goes
just say it.

Speaker 5 (01:28:29):
It's oh, it's it's rare to have a.

Speaker 3 (01:28:31):
Week like we want to talk about Bryce Young or
more about Greg I just had to get okay, what
did you see from Bryce? I was up and down.
He had Jesse Bates, who was looks like he's going
to be an incredible offseason addition for the Falcons, picked
him off twice. The first one, I just he just
didn't see Jesse, he just didn't see the field. And
the second one was as bad and like he nearly

(01:28:54):
threw another bad pick into coverage. He attempted a couple
of deep balls that I don't know if it was
a wide receiver thing, but they were overthrows at To
say all that, though, I still think that there's something
about him, like there was zero panic. Like he made
some throws too, and he let a touchdown drive at
one point like that. He had a nice throw to

(01:29:15):
Hayden Hurst. There was just a calm to him. Even
at the end of the game. I almost was like
a lack of urgency. But I really just think as
a rookie, it was more like he was doing what
Frank Reich wanted. You could see it, and it's like,
I am totally willing to be patient with it.

Speaker 1 (01:29:27):
Hey, hated Hurst, come back to me.

Speaker 2 (01:29:29):
You have a very celebrated young man as your quarterback,
a high profile rookie. You catch his first touchdown pass
and you fire the ball into the second level.

Speaker 3 (01:29:38):
It was not the right thing to do.

Speaker 5 (01:29:39):
They got it back.

Speaker 1 (01:29:40):
They got it back there.

Speaker 3 (01:29:41):
Yeah, But I mean he created that eight people probably
to go do all that to get the ball back,
you know, and a fans annoyed anything else on this one.

Speaker 1 (01:29:47):
Mark.

Speaker 3 (01:29:49):
I mean, I think we can Brian Burns was awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:29:52):
I just think I think they don't have to say,
but I think the job about it.

Speaker 3 (01:29:56):
The Falcons, Like, I get it, they didn't go blow
their doors off, but I just think it's weak. It
was a very weak one scenario.

Speaker 5 (01:30:03):
This is a Falcons type of game.

Speaker 4 (01:30:04):
I mean, even if, even if this season goes exactly
as we hope, there's gonna be a lot of games
like this.

Speaker 2 (01:30:08):
Yeah, all right, So you got your little gimme against
the Panthers Packers next week.

Speaker 1 (01:30:12):
I like that, God one.

Speaker 2 (01:30:15):
That's a test with the potential team of around the
NFL waiting in week three. Wow, so a lot a
lot to be settled. Let's head to landover twelve.

Speaker 14 (01:30:25):
Minutes to go, third and goal at the seven. Three
wide receivers to the right, to the right, one to
the left. Antonio gives it, flares out to the right.
Cardinals break four. Hell's got a good pocket, steps up
and now he's get out.

Speaker 3 (01:30:36):
The rood board at the fire, comes back to your door.

Speaker 14 (01:30:39):
Push on touch down Washington seven yard stamper.

Speaker 3 (01:30:44):
A little bit of redemption for Sam.

Speaker 15 (01:30:46):
Has been a rough game for him.

Speaker 7 (01:30:48):
You'll love to see the young quarterback be able to
put some points up on the board.

Speaker 2 (01:30:54):
Sam Howell let's Bram Weinstein and Julie Donaldson on Wbig
Scrambles and the Washington Commander is avert a disaster in
Week one, Let's call like it is where the tanking
Cardinals ahead in the fourth quarter before that Hal Scramble,
allowing them to get out of town with a twenty

(01:31:15):
to sixteen win over the Cardinals. Greg, what did you
see from how you are high on these commanders? Was
your faith shaking it all by their performance in week
one despite getting the dub.

Speaker 5 (01:31:29):
Yeah, a little bit.

Speaker 4 (01:31:30):
Howell was such a roller coaster that I was just
thinking this will be fun, but a little worrisome that
it was this much of a roller coaster even against
the Cardinals.

Speaker 1 (01:31:40):
I mean he had to find the roller coaster. Yeah,
Like what makes it?

Speaker 4 (01:31:43):
He had a bad pick, He had a very Baker
mayfield in fumble. It was a lot actually a lot
of it was Baker mayfielding. I don't know, that's not
a word, the good and the bad. Like he was
just trying stuff, like after he made the bad fumble
though though he had some darts that he almost shouldn't have,

(01:32:04):
tried to get some points late in the first half,
and then you see him with the rushing touchdown that
ultimately gets him to win.

Speaker 5 (01:32:11):
So it was just like it was it was a lot.
That was what I would say. It was my Sam
Howell experience, but I think he'll be a fun watch
that he didn't. He didn't dissuade me from that.

Speaker 1 (01:32:20):
So it wasn't like you weren't spooked by it. It
was more just like, oh, this is gonna be a
roller coaster.

Speaker 4 (01:32:24):
Yes, I mean, maybe the Cardinals defense will be better
than expected. I did not expect them to be winning
sixteen to ten, you know, in the fourth quarter of
this game and really limiting. But credit to Washington's defense
played quite well. They were putting bad spots throughout the game.
There was a sequence when the Cardinals had the ball
up sixteen ten where it was like negative one run,

(01:32:44):
saw Dobbs then sacked for four and then Montes Sweat
forced to fumble with a sack and that led to
that short field Sam Howel touchdown. And the Commander's defense
kind of took over in the second half of this game,
even though they put up sixteen points, Like, the Commander's
defense was pretty great.

Speaker 3 (01:33:02):
This was one of those games where, like I heard
someone talk about the fact they were in a survivor
pool with like three hundred and eighty people and like
eighty or one hundred and twenty of them had picked Washington.
It's like, you would just love to see that thing
get torched down. I kind of found myself like rooting
for Arizona. Just say f you to everyone. You've been
telling us all off season that we stink up the joint,

(01:33:23):
we're terrible, and they're on the doorstep of winning. I
do think Josh Dobbs, like I'm looking at the box score.
It's not like he's amazing or anything, but like he's competent.

Speaker 5 (01:33:33):
He was competent. I was thinking it would be a
tough competent if.

Speaker 3 (01:33:36):
You're trying to get the number one. I mean, no,
I make him disappear.

Speaker 4 (01:33:40):
He's been so much. He's the perfect level of competent. Okay,
because I mean, let's be real. He averaged four yards
per attempt here. I mean, it wasn't that's he just like,
but he was under he was under duress. It was
a lot of short stuff. Hollywood Brown was open a
couple of times, but yeah, shout out to Dennis gar
Though a couple a couple of big time sacks. I mean,

(01:34:03):
like the sacks howl would take. We're like eighteen yard sacks.
That's what I sort of mean. It was just like
it was wild, but they got through it and they won.

Speaker 2 (01:34:11):
Shout out to five sacks. Shout out to Commandos fans
by the way, who filled that building. It was loloud,
It was loud. It was the first game with Josh Harris.

Speaker 1 (01:34:22):
Is that the owner?

Speaker 5 (01:34:23):
Now that's right?

Speaker 1 (01:34:24):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:34:25):
And there were chants goodbyes to former owner Dan Snyder.
You had a bunch of legends show up that haven't
been around lately. John Riggins, Champ Bailey RG three. Speaking
of RG three, there's a lot better energy, Griffin said,
per the ap, the team doesn't have the distractions.

Speaker 1 (01:34:40):
The community is back together.

Speaker 4 (01:34:42):
There was something sneaky big about this win because that
with all that having been said, and there was a
great vibe in the energy and everyone's going crazy, like
when they were down sixteen ten in the fourth grass like,
and this is a dark way for this to feel
like all of this is just more of the safe.
So even if they have a sligh disappointment that this
is the first game.

Speaker 2 (01:35:01):
Isn't it You could just picture, you know, Snyder in
some balcony with a giant like cigar cackling if they
would have found a way to lose this game. But
they did not, and as a result, it's a new
beginning for the Commandos, all right, which.

Speaker 1 (01:35:16):
Takes us to Sunday Night football.

Speaker 7 (01:35:18):
The newly minted, re signed and enriched Graham Gano.

Speaker 3 (01:35:23):
He is nine year veteran, just sign a new contract.

Speaker 7 (01:35:27):
We'll try a forty five yard field goal from the
left hash hand. That dollar is mishandled, blocked and picked
up by the Cowboys defender on the right side line.

Speaker 3 (01:35:38):
It is Noah Igan banomaghee, and he runs it in
for a touchdown.

Speaker 2 (01:35:47):
Our friend Brad Sham the sham god, with the call,
and you'll he'll tell you who scored.

Speaker 5 (01:35:57):
Noah egg mcnagany, Very nice, Gregg.

Speaker 1 (01:36:00):
One of the most.

Speaker 2 (01:36:01):
Grizzly Sunday night affairs in the history of the game,
at least on NBC. The Dallas Cowboys return a blocked
field goal attempt seventy five plus yards and then just
roll from there to a forty to zero win over
the New York Giants, which is I'll tell you what,
boys there are bad losses, and then there are are

(01:36:25):
we just talking about week one, it's just week one.
And then there are losses like happened to the Giants
tonight and your fan base filling up that building and
then getting poured on. It's one thing to get your
ass kicked as a fan out a game, but then
to get poured on, There's just something about that that's
just a kick in the nards from God himself. Anyway,
Mark Cowboys roll in stunning fashion.

Speaker 3 (01:36:49):
And it was like every phase of the game put
it to the Giants. The Cowboys had twenty six points,
twenty six to nothing, and it only put up two
field goals. So it's like it was a complete and
total collapse to the point like I know everyone's gonna say,
this is going to confirm everyone's you know, issues and

(01:37:09):
suspicions about New York. But I almost think this was
one of these games you had well. But I think
this is one of these games that got so out
of hand so early. Yeah, and the weather, well we'll see.
I mean that's what I'm saying, Like, let's all overreact
to it. Like I think the Cowboys are came out
ready to go. Coached well in every possible way. I'm

(01:37:29):
beguiled by what I've seen from New York tonight because
Brian Daball was one of the better coaches around last year.
I don't the thing I don't get in this game
when if you're watching it visually, that it was an
absolute downpour, it stops raining at some point. But the
game is so far to hand and we're watching Daniel
Jones take a seventh sack like late in this thing

(01:37:50):
soaking wet. Why why are any of these guys still in.

Speaker 2 (01:37:53):
Yeah, the old I can almost guarantee it, and maybe
they'll ask them about it after the game.

Speaker 5 (01:37:57):
The old.

Speaker 2 (01:37:58):
We just wanted to get something pop out of the
end of the game that we could like roll into
next week. But I thought that was foolish and he
got creamed a couple of times, and uh yeah, but
but but for the Cowboys, Greg, this is a game
that and we talked about like I picked the Cowboys
to win the division because when we're there in the
summer and we look at their roster, it's like it's

(01:38:20):
all there, like this is We've been waiting for this
team to get over the hump for years and years
and years. Uh then then you see a performance like
this and you're like, okay, you could see it.

Speaker 1 (01:38:29):
You could see the path to greatness for this team,
right Tomorrow's partnerdog.

Speaker 5 (01:38:34):
They're not. They're not anybody's underdog.

Speaker 4 (01:38:36):
Like, yes, it's somewhat fluky that you get Igbonogay running
up the silence just traded for him, by the way,
for Kelvin Joseph. I mean that it worked out nice
and then you get a They called it a pick
six on Daniel Jones, but it was ultimately a drop
by Barkley. I thought, I thought it should have been
a catch and a fumble that's returned for for six.
But that doesn't explain the twelve quarterback hit, the eight passes, defense,

(01:39:01):
the seven sacks, everything they did defensively to Daniel Jones,
who threw the ball twenty eight times and had one
hundred and four yards. I mean, there was a point
in this game. Let's take you back to a more
innocent time, and you're right, like, sure, it's only week
one and things could change.

Speaker 3 (01:39:19):
I'm not writing it off no event.

Speaker 5 (01:39:21):
All I mean is these.

Speaker 4 (01:39:22):
Fans can't get tonight back and the next week back
Like that was just the most miserable experience possible that
like that happened, and that was terrible. But there was
a point in this game they had had a perfect
first drive. They had they were running the ball well.
Saquan had a bunch of good runs double buck, It's
third and two. And then it all started with a
Andrew Thomas false start and then the new rookie center

(01:39:45):
throws a groundball for ends up getting sacked for Daniel Jones,
and then it just goes freaking hey wire. These were
more innocent times back then. In the first quarter, like
Chris Collins is really talking off, like talking up, like
this Giant's running game and what it's going to be
tough for the Cowboys all night.

Speaker 2 (01:40:01):
An NFL's dying on Park Avenue. You know they circled.
This is a big opener to the season.

Speaker 3 (01:40:06):
Will they make a profit this season? Tbd.

Speaker 2 (01:40:09):
They absolutely absolutely lost the entire country by halftime because
it was just an It was a non event, it
was a non competition. This from Andrew Siciliano, the Great
Siciliano via OPTA stats. Cowboys have now beaten the Giants
eleven out of the last twelve by a combined plus

(01:40:30):
three eighty nine This is no rivalry. This is one
sided and it's butt Wibben, not tonight, not tonight. And
so the cow the Cowboys are gonna feel great and
the Giants like I Again, there are losses and then
there's games like this where Dable's gonna be really tested

(01:40:51):
because you want to flush this one. It's a classic
bury of the ballgame. But to do it at home
against the rival to no show at this level, I mean,
you couldn't ask for. We talked about, like what better
way for the Packers to start a new era, What
worse way for the Giant try to build off last
season's optimism with one of the all time eggs for

(01:41:11):
the franchise in primetime history.

Speaker 3 (01:41:13):
Well, and we grew up in Giants' territory, and you know,
like we both have in Greg's maybe less so up
in mass Chuss, but like there're so many friends that
I am just on textreads with who are Giants fans,
And it's easy for us to say, hey, you know,
be chill about week one. Look at it from a distance.
It's a long season, Like this is your rival. You

(01:41:34):
just got wiped forty to nothing on television with the
entire with the skies erupting on top of you. This
is about as ugly as it gets after you spent
all off season trying to tell people know that what
we did last year is the Giants was more legitimate
than you believe. That's what I believed.

Speaker 4 (01:41:50):
Well the last time they were on the field too,
they weren't competitive against the division rival in a much
bigger spot.

Speaker 1 (01:41:57):
The division shows you where they might be at.

Speaker 4 (01:42:00):
And I think they'll be better. And they're very lucky
to have the Cardinals in Week two. That's a perfect opportunity.

Speaker 3 (01:42:06):
And it gets it goes, it goes forty nine Ers, Seahawks, Dolphins.

Speaker 5 (01:42:10):
I just mean, you really are needing to win next week,
and that's a good Jase.

Speaker 1 (01:42:13):
I think they'll be better.

Speaker 5 (01:42:15):
They'll be better.

Speaker 1 (01:42:16):
It will be better next.

Speaker 5 (01:42:17):
They will be better. So that's good.

Speaker 4 (01:42:20):
But the things that came into the season having concerns about,
namely their pass protection, their explosive UH plays on offense,
and then they're they're cornerbacks and we didn't see a
lot of that because Dak only had to throw the
ball twenty four times for one hundred and forty three yards.

Speaker 5 (01:42:34):
But your your boys, Addy, who's got to be feeling
good right now.

Speaker 4 (01:42:37):
Yeah, he had a couple of nice plays where they
got ceedee lamb pretty wide open early.

Speaker 5 (01:42:42):
They just didn't need to do much.

Speaker 4 (01:42:43):
A couple of nice red zone plays too, so they
did everything they needed to do off.

Speaker 2 (01:42:46):
I mean, that's a head coach prepares an entire team,
and they dominated in every phase. And that Giants bar
is subterranean right now, so they will clear the bar
next week and the week's follow.

Speaker 3 (01:43:00):
Well, there might be some bars filled with Giants supporters tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:43:04):
Soaked, soaking, wet. I mean, it's one thing you lose.

Speaker 2 (01:43:09):
You go to the stadium, you pay eighty five dollars
to park, you buy twenty dollars beers, your tailgate for hours,
You you build a whole day round. You might even
get a fight with your spouse because it's like, I
thought you were just going to the game, but now
you're leaving at two pm? What about the kids? What
about the And then you come home at night and
you drenched and you're angry. Guess what you just punted

(01:43:33):
Sunday to your wife or spouse and now she's like,
you're doing everything on Monday, and now Jet Life Stadium
opens up the next night, the other Jets, the other.

Speaker 4 (01:43:43):
New York Taay, okay, save it Monday night football recap.

Speaker 8 (01:43:47):
There you go.

Speaker 1 (01:43:47):
Could get worse. Just put it that way.

Speaker 3 (01:43:49):
Well, what's the weather report?

Speaker 1 (01:43:50):
You you did?

Speaker 5 (01:43:52):
Yeah, you did not, You didn't have it. I have
a good time on top of all that.

Speaker 1 (01:43:57):
That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (01:43:57):
I mean, when you when you justser is like I
thought it was an eight o'clock kickoff. It's like, yeah,
but I gotta go pick up Tom. We gotta stop
over at shop, right, we gotta gotta do this and
that they.

Speaker 4 (01:44:10):
Go, Oh, I was gotta say, this is the worst,
the worst primetime performance scenario there was since there was
a Josh Freeman game that was crazy. There was one
against Cam Newton in primetime that was particularly dark. But
this might be even This might be even worse. This
might be even worse.

Speaker 3 (01:44:25):
To start the season, I think Dane and I watched
that Giant's Cam Newton game.

Speaker 1 (01:44:29):
We did at that old bar and uh that rat
hole westside that hole, We's side rattle tomorrow's weather for
who cares.

Speaker 2 (01:44:38):
Let's get out of here. But before we do, a
reminder that Tomorrow, Monday is a new era for Around
the NFL. We have our Monday Reaction Show. It's a
shortened version of the podcast that just is almost like.

Speaker 5 (01:44:52):
A news rundown.

Speaker 2 (01:44:55):
The Rundown, it's a news rundown of everything that in
the old days in the past for this podcast, we'd
be sitting on for a day or two too long,
and now we are going to give you an instant
reaction in the latest from the fallout from Sunday's action,
whether it's injury updates or press conferences, things that kind
of slip through the cracks today. Now we're going to
be covered a Monday with a short show also Monday

(01:45:18):
Night Recap Monday Night Football Jets versus Bills. Oh my god,
I'm legitimately nervous. That is going to be something we
hit tomorrow night. So you get a two separate podcasts.
Drop it into your feed, keep up. It's okay. We
don't have anything on Tuesday, so you have time to
get through it all. And yes, we had our first
NFL Plus offering on Thursday.

Speaker 1 (01:45:39):
I thought it went well. The fans seem to enjoy it.

Speaker 5 (01:45:41):
It was fun.

Speaker 1 (01:45:42):
Yeah, and the people international viewers are wondering when it
would arrive it did land as we work out the
kinks and you were able to check it out hopefully
by now. So check out that one, and we got
another one. Every Monday, we have our.

Speaker 2 (01:45:55):
NFL Plus exclusive Game of the Week, and the game
of the week this week.

Speaker 3 (01:46:01):
Is Mark Dolphins Chargers Bangs.

Speaker 1 (01:46:06):
So we're gonna watch that game together, and we have.

Speaker 3 (01:46:10):
With a condensed runtime of seventy four minutes. I'm predicting now.

Speaker 5 (01:46:13):
Much shorter like thirty to forty.

Speaker 2 (01:46:15):
Drew Christiansen are a super producer, will work with us
on that, putting together a fun package reliving that game,
and we'll react to it as we watch together.

Speaker 5 (01:46:24):
I feel like we're missing a chance here, though.

Speaker 4 (01:46:26):
I know that was what we had decided on, but
that was before Cowboys forty Giants not I personally would
love to relive this.

Speaker 2 (01:46:36):
I'mould imagine that there's parts of your inner psyche that
enjoy what happened.

Speaker 5 (01:46:42):
How I my outer psyche is into it too. It's
all good.

Speaker 1 (01:46:46):
Can't make up what happened though, on those two days,
those two Sundays in February. Nothing's gonna ever change that.

Speaker 4 (01:46:52):
Second, the second one, can't keep it. Don't believe it
but the second one that was when it was even worse, all.

Speaker 1 (01:46:58):
Right, So that's it.

Speaker 2 (01:46:59):
So two new podcast on Monday and the NFL Plus
for people that are subscribed, the NFL Plus Monday Night Recap,
and you can get that on his own as well
international people.

Speaker 5 (01:47:10):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (01:47:12):
Thank you to a big funk, Randy and Eric Roberts
and they're made in voyage together on this particular program.

Speaker 1 (01:47:19):
Not an easy one.

Speaker 3 (01:47:20):
Gotta get Erica sexier nickname e the Call

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Host

Gregg Rosenthal

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