2024 Week 14 Recap

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're always excited to bring
up Otto Graham. At the top of the show. I'm
Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Westleying podcast studio with
my friend Patrick Claybon Eric Roberts behind the glass, just
coming over from so Far seeing one of the games
of the year. And yes, Nick Shook in Cleveland, you

(00:29):
dirty dog, you took this game from us, Shook, and
you were the one covering the score fest that was
Rams Bills today.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, I took the game from you, but I also
gave you the opportunity to go cover your favorite player
in the history of football, Gino Snow. Okay, I think
it was a fair trade.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
We'll get to that. That's a good tease.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
We're going NFC West heavy at the top of the show.
And yes, I mentioned Otto Graham's name because Josh Allen
did something that no one's done since Otto Graham. Surely
that would be enough to win the game. Right, Let's
go over to so Far so to go in.

Speaker 4 (01:01):
Regulation, Stafford from the shotgun looking left, rose right, receiver
screen cut.

Speaker 5 (01:06):
Block touchdown cooking a cou touchdownlay with one fifty four remaining.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
A receiver screen for.

Speaker 6 (01:15):
A two possession lead over the Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
That is our friend JB.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Long, I'm kespn Yes, Puka Nakua on another brilliant play
call from Sean McVay, more brilliant execution from the.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
Blockers on the outside. They're so good at that.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
And yes, this receiver going twelve for one sixty two
and a touchdown through the air, also one on the ground.
There just aren't many receivers like Puka Nakuah. There's not
many players like Matthew Stafford. There's not many players like
Josh Allen who might have helped his MVP case on
a day where.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
They didn't win.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Forty four to forty two is the final the Rams
pull off the upset. Patrick called it all that's something,
and yet we go to you shook when you drilled
down and think about this game. How did the Rams
do it? What was the difference between these two excellent quarterbacks?

Speaker 7 (02:14):
Man?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
The Rams made every play that they needed to make
to get the lead that they needed to outlast the Bills.
It was the first drive was like a haymaker, a
twelve play, seventy yard march that ends in the Kirad
Williams touchdown run, and it's just back and forth, back
and forth. Then they get the punt block and suddenly
they're up by ten points. That was the difference. They
needed to have just enough breathing room just to stay
out in front of this Bills offense that we know

(02:35):
can be very explosive with Josh Allen. Matthew Stafford has
a career or a season high three hundred and twenty
passing yards in a season in which he's been very
up and down, very hard to pin down. He was
very solid today and they came through in the clutch.
They faced a fourth and five on that drive, a
couple of plays that preceded that Puka Dakua touchdown, Stafford
drops back. Tom Brady's already second guessing the decision to

(02:56):
go Ford on fourth and five, But as we know,
the worst place to be in football is up six
with a few minutes left to go, and Sean mcvasas,
we're not getting stuck in that position. We're going for it.
Stafford drops, he fires a sidearm rocket over the middle
to two to two at well, perfect pass, perfect timing.
First down. They did everything they needed to in the
biggest spots and that's how you beat a team like
the Buffalo Bills, home field advantage or not. That was

(03:17):
what they needed to deliver, and they did, and it
took a lot.

Speaker 7 (03:20):
It took a lot of effort.

Speaker 8 (03:20):
The last time the Bills lost the game, it was
back in Week five to the Texans where Josh Allen
had that nine of thirty game. This decidedly not a
Josh Allen nine of thirty game. One of the better
games that we've seen Josh Allen play, which is saying
something considering the caliber football player that it is. And
so Bills fans aren't gonna blame their generational quarterback. They're
going to look back to that decision that happened. A

(03:41):
couple of plays before Puka Nukua goes into the end zone,
there's a third down where the Rams are called for
a holding. You can either decline the holding penalty and
make it fourth in fourth and seven, or you could
take the holding penalty, make it third and seventeen.

Speaker 7 (03:55):
They took the penalty.

Speaker 8 (03:57):
Stafford gets one completion, He gets the completion that was
mentioning the two two at well. They go on to
score and then after they score that touchdown, the Bills
drop down the field with no timeouts, they get a
second in goal of the one yard line, and they
like to go.

Speaker 7 (04:10):
For a quarterback sneak and they don't get it, so
they have.

Speaker 8 (04:13):
To use a timeout, which necessitates the on side kick,
which leads to the Rams win.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah, there's a lot of focus in Buffalo and nationally
on how Sean McDermott finished that game.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
I get it.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
McDermott hasn't been good in those spots before. It was
the wrong decision to call the time out there. The sneak,
to me is understandable. Yeah, just because it's Josh Allen
and it's such a successful play and you're on the
one and maybe you're thinking the Rams are thinking that
you're going to throw it there to save your timeouts

(04:47):
and save the time. That said, when they lined up,
it was obvious what they were going to do, and
the Rams stuffed it earlier in the game, And you
have to give the Rams credit for stuffing it. This
was a game with very few great defensive plays and
they did something not many people have done in that spot.
They stuffed it. The problem is then taking the time out,
you could aligned back up and then run a play

(05:08):
and you would have lost fifteen seconds. But even then,
fifteen to twenty seconds is less valuable than that time
out because that forced them having to go for a
non side kick.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
I just think Nick, in a game where these two.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Quarterbacks were that good making that the focus is just
missing the forest for the trees, because the Bills had
a very long shot to win in that scenario. Anyways,
there is very little about this game that would have
indicated they're about to get a three and out when
the Rams know that they need to get a first down.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
We just saw it.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
The Rams were picking up first downs when they absolutely
needed to. That last drive that they went on was
a six minute, fifty five second drive where they killed them.
So I would have expected Stafford to get it done
in the end. Anyways, no matter what McDermott did, because
the Bill's defense, if you want to point fingers, that's
where the problem is in some of these plays. You

(06:02):
can't even point the finger at the defense. You said
solid out of Stafford. This wasn't my game, But man,
every other time I looked up, there were other worldly throws.
The nineteen yard out he had to pooka the no
look he had, he had a deep one a cup.
I mean, Stafford was absolutely sensational. And our friend Jordan
rod Rieg is killing herself because she took him off

(06:24):
quarterback Island and we supported him and he goes out
there and he just absolutely balls out. So it's pretty
amazing to outshine Josh Allen on.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
A day like this.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
Shook yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
And I've been wanting something like this from him all
season because he's just been so volatile. But it was
beautiful to see. It was beautiful to see him and
Sean McVay working in tandem like we've known them to
do over the last few years and doing so so
effectively against a team that you knew you're gonna have
to put up a lot of points against. But you
go back to what you were talking about, the idea
that you were gonna get off the field in the
final defensive possession if you actually kept your timeouts, not
gonna happen. The Rams with eleven for fifteen on third

(06:56):
down today, and a lot of that was because of
Matthew Stafford, the type of performance had. It's interesting because
they're seven and six now, they're still in the hunt
in the NFC West, a division that still doesn't want
to sort itself out. And there's been multiple times where
the Rams have been right on the precipice of taking
a dirt nap of us bearing them for the season.
Yet each time they find a way to fight back,
get back on the conversation with wins like this, and

(07:18):
this is the best one they've had all season. I
know there's a lot of points in the defense wasn't
really there, but it was the best one they had
all season, and it just reminds us they're not going away.
We have to take them seriously no matter who they
play for the rest of the season.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, it was a moment that they had to have.
They go to San Francisco on Thursday night. We'll get
to the rest of the division shortly, but they are
right in it. So many crazy stats in this game.
I mentioned out of graam so Josh Allen first quarterback
with three touchdowns passing and three touchdowns rushing since Auto Graham,

(07:49):
you boy shook. I mean they say the Browns having won,
you know, titles, they were winning titles like crazy, and
for every list that you know, you do the greatest
of all time or whatever, and you're trying to do
it respective of era. If you look at Auto Graham's
Pro Football Reference page and and you know that they
black out anytime you're leading the league in that category.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
All of his categories are black.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
There is no other quarterback that has led the league
in everything to even the fraction of a degree of
Auto Graham. So just shout out to us. I know
it was a totally different sport back then, but he
truly did dominate it in a way that other quarterbacks
probably never have. So it's cool what a guy like
Josh Allen can can can bring us. Bring his name up, shooky.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
I gotta slide in one more trivia question for you
guys like to do this autogram more two numbers hide
that Pro Football Reference page. Okay, his second number was fourteen.
What was his first jersey number?

Speaker 1 (08:44):
I don't know, man, it's probably something stupid if you're
telling me seventy nine or something.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, sixty.

Speaker 7 (08:49):
It was sixty.

Speaker 8 (08:51):
Out there balling, we're in sixty at the quarterback spot.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
I think it's pretty clear to look at Stafford since
Pokinaka has come back and before because one of the
reasons I was surprised Jordan was the one that brought
up to you know pick off Stafford because I thought
Stafford was playing better over the last few weeks. Now
I totally supported it too, but she she wanted to

(09:16):
point out it was the right decision at the time,
but she she totally regrets it now. But also he
unlocks some of Sean mcvay's creativity. Right now, pukin Akua
has three hundred and thirty eighty three yards after being
the guy in motion since he's come back. That's more
than double anyone else in the entire NFL. Their whole

(09:38):
offense is kind of pookin a coua in motion and
setting him up. Jordan pointed out a really clever play
where they ran the same screen touchdown the last two
weeks in a row to Nakua, but they invert where
the splits are and the alignments, and they just changed
these little things. But they call the same play and
then it works and the defense doesn't know it. Jordan, actually,

(09:59):
let's throw to her in the press room over across
the street, Sean, You've seen just.

Speaker 4 (10:04):
About every game possible from Puka Nakua, and just two
and three quarter season, three quarter seasons at this point,
did he reach a new level for you? Tonight.

Speaker 7 (10:13):
He's such an igniter today.

Speaker 6 (10:14):
You know.

Speaker 9 (10:14):
I thought, obviously, you know, Matthew was in total command.
I thought Kyron and Blake both had some really tough,
hard earned runs. I thought the line were strained in
a little bit. But you know, Puoka, for him to
come up the way that he did, ultimately to be
able to cap that drive off that put us up
nine points, love to be able to get the extra
point there. But he was awesome, you know. And then
he's you know, the artist gave me a good stat
and now he's giving me all types of stats. After

(10:36):
he missed Cooper Cup, he said, he how about this
is what the hell are you talking about? First player
in Rams history to go over one hundred and sixty
receiving and have a rushing touchdown.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Who the hell comes up with that number right there?

Speaker 1 (10:46):
All right?

Speaker 3 (10:46):
But that was he was awesome.

Speaker 8 (10:51):
And and he was singularly the reason that I was
taking the Rams in the game. I felt confident that
Puka would be able to get open and have some excess. Uh,
look at his route combinations, crosses, wide receiver screens, run
five of them, three outs, a hitch, a slant, and
in a corner he doesn't for this team. He does

(11:12):
everything and the Bills talent wise. And again, Pukka is
is an elite wide receiver.

Speaker 7 (11:19):
He's better than a whole lot of folks.

Speaker 8 (11:21):
I think the Bills have an issue covering elite wide receivers.
If not for the Nico Collins injury, I think Nico
would have had a huge game. And again, this is
a game the Rams barely won, and the Bills are
a very good team. But in this particular aspect, I think.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
You called it it's a rare Patrick cocking. No, not
a rare Patrick me and you you talking about your
own good pick.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
It was it took a lot.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Look that this is the first time in NFL history
that that two teams had this money touchdowns without any giveaways.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
Uh this according to next Gen stats.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
I think our guy Dante pointed out, teams were two
hundred and forty five and with six touchdowns and zero
giveaways and until the Bills lost this game. So it
an awesome offensive performance. Eric, you saw across the street
before heading out here with your baby and your bride.

Speaker 10 (12:14):
Yes, my sixth month old baby was there to watch
the Rams upset the Bills and it was fun. Though
it was great. It was a great game. I walking
over from there, like we were. I was here before
the game and I walked over. I saw some Rams
fans and I was like, hey, you know, I just
want points.

Speaker 3 (12:32):
I want points. I want to have a good time.

Speaker 10 (12:34):
But in that scenario in my head, the Bills win,
and but you know, Walker rose Thilt got it. You know,
every play, every play they needed. I'm watching seventeen on
the line and he was. He was there, that dude,
the catch on the sideline toe tap like it's a
catch of the year at candidate.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
He was.

Speaker 10 (12:53):
He was nasty all game. And you know, it was fun.
It was a good time. I go to these games.
I try not to be I'm not an analyst on
that South of Glass guys.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
I watch, I have fun. It was good time.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
It's hey, you got you got your Dodgers had on
their world champs. As losses go, it's not a conference loss. Obviously,
it damages their chances to get the one seed, but
they already have their division championship in their pocket.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
They will regroup.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
This division race, however, in the NFC West is just
getting going. The Rams made their statement with the Seahawks
match it and keep the lead to Arizona and off.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
Charbona left side has a first doutle that Sun.

Speaker 5 (13:32):
He's down the thirty the twenty fifteen to ten five
touchdown Seahawks and they are still chasing sex Charmonay forty
nine yards to Payder his second touchdown of the game.
The Seahawks came in saying, we gotta find a way
to run the ball.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
Holy catfish. They do. He Holy catfish.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
When Steve Rabel is getting excite and surprise, it's a
great Sunday for me, and maybe he's a little more
surprised because it was the running game that helped lead
the way I'm telling you Zach Sharbonnet monster game. They
end up going for one hundred and seventy six yards
on the ground, by far, the best effort from one

(14:18):
of the worst running games in the league this season.
The Seahawks get it done in Arizona thirty to eighteen
to stay atop the NFC West race. Yes, they're at
eight and five, the Rams are at seven and six.
More on that later, but the Cardinals really a devastating
three game losing streak for them. The heartbreaker in Minnesota

(14:40):
sandwiched around two losses to the Seahawks, where ultimately, just
watching this game, I just think it's not a fair fight.
The Seahawks players are way better, and after Kyler Murray
started out so strong, so sharp. On the first drive,
one of his best drives of the season, a number
of really clutch, tight throws, including a long touchdown throw,

(15:04):
he makes a mistake where Ernest Jones, who's just been
such a good pickup, baits him into this pick where
he has to flip his hips, and that one interception
really changed the game to me. After that, it's Derek Call,
it's Devin Weatherspoon, and you look on the other side
of the field, it's Jackson Smith th and Jigba playing
making a great individual play. Gino was solid, but it

(15:25):
didn't need to be an amazing GINO game. And I
look at these two teams and I just think your
search bar Patrick has been overachieving. But if you just
stack up, like if you're making a draft, between these
two teams, the Seahawks have way more good players and
they now have a coaching staff that I think knows
how to use them. The line play for both sides

(15:45):
for Seattle on the offensive side and the defensive side
getting a lot better.

Speaker 8 (15:49):
And not just the difference in the qualities of the
roster top to bottom, but the Seahawks went out and
improved the roster. You mentioned the Ernest Jones play where
it's just very difficult. It's hard enough to play quarterback
in the NFL, but just see a linebacker spin and
take a step in the opposite direction, and you know,
on the broadcast dangle it's like, oh, well, Kyler didn't
see him, No, he saw him, he just didn't think
he was there anymore. And he comes back and makes

(16:09):
a play. Kobe Bryant under cuts the ball later on.
That was Kyler's second interception, and so many opportunities as
the game went on, where the Seahawks in the past
on this season have made mistakes, turnovers, fumbles, Gena will
throw a pick, snaps going overheads.

Speaker 7 (16:25):
There was none of that.

Speaker 8 (16:26):
Just sustained drives to keep the Cardinals from being able
to have a comeback, and just a good, solid Seahawks game.
This is the Seahawks team we were promised to shoo.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
The Seahawks team we were promised. You know, I think
it's an interesting comparison between the two teams, because I
think the Cardinals have played above their head and that's
what's made them, you know, fun to watch. But deep down,
I mean that's kind of the nexus of the search bar,
is that, like we have to look up the names
of these guys if they're playing better than they should,
so then you'd face a team with a better roster.
And this is kind of what happens, which is what
you guys just touched on. But it's also this trend

(16:56):
the Seahawks have been on this path they've been following
for the last few weeks, which is Jackson Smith and
Jigma making big plays, Gino doing a good job as
a quarterback who doesn't have to go win the game,
but does a good job of keeping the ships steady,
the defense continuing to play better and better. That's how
they beat them two weeks ago. That's how they part
of why they beat them today. I mean, you get
you bounce back from leading that touch you know, giving
up that touchdown drive and you get two picks and
then the offense goes out and turns that into two

(17:17):
touchdowns and sudden you got yourself an advance. That's a
team that's playing very cohesively. But the missing element this
whole time has been the running game, and that really,
I think is what the difference is and why they're
down by so many points that they're now by seventeen
points in the middle of the third quarter, because the
running game finally shows up for the Seahawks, which shows
us their potential, maybe not quite their peak, but that
range of what their peak could be. If everything like
that is working. That's super encouraging for them, and it

(17:39):
kind of gives us a definitive statement on the difference
between these two teams and where they are over the
last few years, which is the Seahawks have been a
team that's, you know, made the playoffs and been contending
to a degree, and then they change head coaches and
they make some personnel changes, they get better in the offseason,
and this is why they're at eight and five now,
right And then the Cardinals they're in year two with Gannon,
like they're they're still early on in this whole process,

(18:00):
and Kyler makes some fun but they're not quite there
in a personnel standpoint overall, which is why you get
a thirteen thirty to eighteen final. But at this I
still I caution. Cardinals fans don't get so discouraged because
I think that his team still plays hard. You just
see in games like this how far away you are
from joining the real contenders in your division.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
Well, you wanted to be playing really meaning football the
last couple weeks of the season, and you still have
a chance. You have the Patriots and Panthers the next
two weeks. I believe if you can win those two
games and Panthers are not an easy game anymore, you
get to eight and seven right now. Though they have
a ten percent playoff chance. Getting swept by the Seahawks
was devastating to their chances because there are two games

(18:38):
back of the Seahawks, but it's essentially three because of
the tiebreaker with four games to go do the math.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
This was kind of a death blow for them, I believe.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
Because I don't think Seattle's gonna totally fall back to
the pack. Their offensive line has absolutely changed since they
got Abe Lucas back at right tackle. I do think
if I'm watching this game as Ryan grabbed their offensive coordinator,
and I just see Charbonay, who's kind of a no
nonsense runner.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
I want more of him and less of Ken Walker.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Ken Walker is a great player, but I just want
that to either be closer to a fifty to fifty
split or maybe it's ken Walker as the change of
pace because you just need to keep them on schedule.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
And he's so boomerbus.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
Even Kenny McIntosh, he goes to go seven for thirty
eight today, so they were getting it going and ken
Walker would break some big plays in this game too.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
I just mean that they both need to be involved.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
I think Sharbonay's are really steadying force, and it's all good.
When you play better up front, then you're gonna be better.
The one concern I think for the Cardinals more long
term is Charles Davis is on the call and he's
talking about how when they got into long yarded situations
and there were a lot today and that helped the
Seahawks cook up what was going on with the Kyler.

(19:56):
He was like, we don't have any guys that can
win one on one. I'm thinking, I'm thinking, like you
needed some guys who can win in man coverage. You
can win one on one. I'm thinking, I mean, you
did take a receiver in the top five, I think
you can.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
I think the scheme doesn't quite work for him. The
attempts to get him the football are never really like
good opportunities for him to make a play. It's kind
of desperation stuff. And then when they get behind and
schedule on third down, it's a lot of just Kyler
trying to make a hero player, just praying for a miracle.
That's been them the whole year. That's why the running
game has mattered so much.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
I think it's totally fair to be patient with Marvin Harrison.
I think he's going to be a very, very good pro.
But I also think it's fair to say, if I
was doing the draft again, I would take Malik Neighbors
over him. I would take brock Bowers over him.

Speaker 8 (20:40):
And not to be dismissed, it's just praise for those guys, Yeah, right,
especially considering the situation where you just need layups. Everything
can't be a home run ball TOMORV and you can
throw a screen in the leak. Have brock Bowers running
any of the twenty seven different routes and variations that
he does, maybe that does more for the offense, But

(21:00):
I mean, we're still talking about a Cardinals team that
is undermanned in many different capacities.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Yes, but they were so close they really could have
should have won that Minnesota game. I doubt Sean McVay
was watching Greg Olsen talk about the Cardinals when they
kicked that field goal to go up six last week,
but I was thinking about it when the Rams made
the opposite decision in this game, and it's like, the
Cardinals could have won that game, but they're obviously not

(21:29):
stacking up. The Seahawks have won four straight. They get
the Packers on Sunday Night Football next week, and then
they get the Vikings after that, so this division is
not gonna be easy for them to win. They have
a very tough schedule. They play the Rams in Week eighteen.
There's a real solid chance that's going to decide the division,
and that that's the final Sunday Night football game of

(21:50):
the year. I'm just throwing that out there a month
in advance, although you never know, maybe the forty nine
ers will get back in the mix in this division.
Let's go to Santa Clara.

Speaker 9 (22:00):
Play the drive on the Chicago sixteen yard line, third
down and four forty got of a shotgun.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
Looks like froze clock.

Speaker 11 (22:06):
Jawan Jennings diving into the yng ud touchdown.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Sand friend Cusco, Oh, that's our friend, Greg, Papa KNBR
Juan Jennings, he's back. I never really left a couple
touchdowns for him on the day, seven catches, ninety yards,
George Kidtle goes crazy. The forty nine Ers win thirty
eight to thirteen. Patrick in a game that had the

(22:37):
most dominant first half I can't ever remember. I mean,
I'm just maybe it's happened. You could come up with
the stats, but it was three hundred and twenty yards
for the forty nine Ers, four for the Chicago.

Speaker 8 (22:49):
Bear and it was very reminiscent of the Thanksgiving game
against the Detroit Lions, where if not for a late
push at the end of the first half, it would
have been a similar type set of of dominance. And
then they go out and have another game just like
that where the Bears are almost non existent in the
first half. Meanwhile, George Kittle has five catches for one

(23:10):
hundred and thirty eight yards and I'm googling how many
yards Shannon Sharp had in his yardage record for a
tight end game and they didn't really need it. Brock
Perdy was sixteen or eighteen in the first half had
a one hundred and fifty five point eight passer rating,
and the Bears come out second half that the offense.

Speaker 7 (23:26):
Exists at the very least.

Speaker 8 (23:28):
Caleb hits Romo Dunze for two touchdowns, but this was
a game where Isaac Garrindo eventually left the game and
so Patrick Taylor and Dubo Samuel are the remaining ball carriers.

Speaker 7 (23:37):
But despite all that, Brock party left this game as well.

Speaker 8 (23:40):
Hobbleton's Seamon Low and Hide could not look like even
the weird injury predictor doctors who diagnose on video on
Twitter probably couldn't even tell you what was going on
over Brock. But he comes back into the game and
Rock was good. The forty nine ers are good. Thought
that they would the Bears would perhaps get the coaching

(24:01):
firing bump did not work out for Thomas Brown.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
Now, I wonder if the coach firing bump it confused
us here because it happened when they fired the offensive
coordinator a couple of weeks ago, and it just didn't
happen because they did get a bump offensively for about
three weeks, but not here. I mean, the forty nine
ers came into this game shook, having lost the last
two by a combined seventy three points. They didn't have
Trent Williams in the game, they did not have Nick

(24:26):
Bosa in the game, and yet, yeah, Grendo ends up
going for one hundred and twenty eight yards from scrimmage
and had a couple long catches actually in addition to
running the ball really well before he left with an injury.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
And it's just a blood bath.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
And suddenly you think, Okay, they're six and seven and
they have a quarterback and.

Speaker 3 (24:42):
They're not out of this division race either.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
I think that you can't like how many rungs on
a ladder can a coach climb in a season in
order to get the bump both times they find one's
offensive coordinators, he's climbed to interim head coach. I don't
think you can get the bump twice. You can't do it. There,
So not surprised. I am surprised that it was as
lopsided as it was, just because I thought the Bears
would bring more fight on the defensive side against a
Niners team that has completely overmatched in recent weeks. On

(25:06):
the flip side, I really needed this type of game
from brock Purty because he has just not looked largely
like himself over the last few weeks so much it
hurt my heart. When I dropped him in QB Index
this week, I was like, I don't want to put
him down there, but he just hasn't done enough down
he fell out of the top ten. I'll tell you
that I can't even remember off the top of my head.
He's like mid teens, and this is the type of
game that'll make him climb back up. And it's again

(25:27):
because he's able to use the weapons around him. He's
able to use the George Kittles of the world and
Juwan Jennings and Gorendo pops off in his first start,
a start that he talked about during the week is
being he's very prepared for and he's excited to show
what he could do well. He showed it today. And
I also cautioned that this may be some fools gold,
because the forty nine ers team that we saw in
the previous weeks is still the team that I think
they are. Ultimately, they come back and get a really

(25:48):
nice bounce back win, but then they got to play
the Rams, the Dolphins the Lions and the Cardinals. Three
of those or two of those are division games. It's
going to be a tough battle for them. So I'm
not going to make any guarantees that like they're going
to climb back in the race. But for one week,
it was really nice to see those gold Helmets actually
put up a fight and dominate a team as opposed
to getting dominated so soundly like they've been in recent weeks.

Speaker 7 (26:06):
I do have one case for optimism.

Speaker 8 (26:08):
They got talanoa Whu fung A back for the first
time since Week five, able to play this game. Of course,
he had the injury late last season, missed the run
to the Super Bowl, where the defense has had significant problems.

Speaker 7 (26:20):
They've they've had guys missing time.

Speaker 8 (26:22):
Getting him back, perhaps we'll see an improvement on the
defensive side.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
Well, it sets up a really intriguing Thursday night football,
Which is all I'm rooting for at this time of
year is for the game results to keep setting up
the games to have as sending and important value, especially
in those primetime windows. And yeah, it's a do or
die game for the forty nine ers. You have to
win that game if you're the forty nine ers and
it's obviously very important for the Rams trying to win

(26:47):
this division, but it does at least set it up
on Thursday night where if you can then win that
game against the Rams, you have a chance. Kyle Shanahan
after the game was asked about the kind of the
talk about whether he could get traded or you know,
about his commitment, and he just said there's no place
in the world that he'd rather be more than there,

(27:09):
and his family feels just as strong as him, if
not stronger. GM John Lynch also dismissed the topic as comical.
He's not going anywhere, guys, and for what it's worth,
and it's not much, but I do love a little
salty unnamed source quote, even if it's not that believable.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune had a quote from

(27:29):
a source that said, Kyle prefers one of these two
quarterbacks pretty strongly and just left it at that.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
And I think he's talking about Brock Party.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
He's talking about the guy who we probably you know,
deserved to be kicked off KB Island, but both him
and Stafford with strong responses after being kicked off. Yeah,
so he prefers Brock Purty to Caleb Williams, I think
was the subtext of this source.

Speaker 8 (27:52):
Yes, source close to the forty nine ers, not really
close to the forty nine ers today at least al
Shanahan likes Brock party breaking move right.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
They will be giving Brock Purtty that bag and that
money soon enough. No matter what happens down the stretch,
We're just getting going. We started the show with a
little NFC West talk. We're gonna come back from the
break with one of the most exciting narrative games of
the year in many different ways. Yeah, we're talking Sam Donald,
Kirk Cousins in Minnesota.

Speaker 6 (28:31):
Re receivers, Right, Sam Donald out of the shot gun.
Jones picks up a Blitzer cast right Klatt Addison touch down,
Jordan Kaddiston makes it thirty four twenty one and for
Sam Donald, that's a high five.

Speaker 1 (28:51):
Great call there by our friend Paul Allen at KFA
N Yes, Sam Donald throws for five touchdow Downs, only
had six incompletions three hundred and forty seven yards.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Oh, he must have been dinking it, dunking it down the.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Field if you only had five in completions. No, he
had three plays over forty yards, had another long PI.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
This band was dealing.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
He got Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson Monster Fantasy days
and on a day where you watch Kirk Cousins throw
a couple more interceptions, It's just it's hard not to
compare the two because the difference in this game was
number one turnovers. You know, the Falcons turnover three times,

(29:38):
including a fumble on a kick return in that fourth
quarter where the Vikings outscore the Falcons twenty one to nothing. Yes,
this was a tie game going into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons out gained the Vikings overall and were dominant
yardage wise in the first half of this game, so
it was not as one side as the final score indicated.
But the difference was those turnovers, of which Kirk played

(29:59):
a prom part and Sam Donald didn't even sniff like
a near interception today. And then it was Sam Donald's
ability to win versus pressure and win versus the blitz.
This has been a theme all season, but that play
that he made to evade pressure and then I find
Jefferson down the field was fantastic. He ends up going

(30:21):
four for six for one hundred and sixty three yards
and two touchdowns against pressure. The numbers are very similar
against the blitz, and that was the difference. The quarterback
who makes all the plays that you ask for him,
and now he's making even more shook like Donald is is.
I'm I'm here, I'm not. I'm not on the island anymore.

(30:43):
Like I cannot doubt Sam Donald in any way, shape
or for him the way he is.

Speaker 3 (30:48):
And what can I do, because I just gotta watch
the ball. This is the ball. Try to watch the ball.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Ball, and Sam Donald is playing the ball right now.
He's playing it well. He plays well under pressure. That's
been the biggest I think in this season for him
in his growth, is that the pressure he is no
longer seeing ghosts. He is now confident on the opposite,
still delivers, especially in key moments. I mean, there was
that Cardinals game where he ripped a couple passes down
the scene, one of them to Jefferson to set up
that comeback. And then today, by the way, let's just

(31:16):
I'm gonna pitch this right now, they have that big
obnoxious horn that I hate in Minnesota. How about let's
add something else to the repertoire an explosion, a sound
that is like an explosion, a bomb going off, because
that's what happened in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 8 (31:28):
Of the scene.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
It was tied at twenty eight to twenty eight, twenty
one to twenty one, excuse me, and it ends up
forty two to twenty one. They explode, they drop up
Bob on the Falcons.

Speaker 3 (31:38):
I think the horn is their thing. I vote to
keep the horn.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
I like the horn and bomb bomb can be this occasional.
After the third touchdown, I can bumble interception down to
the last three possessions for the Falcons. Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown,
end of game for the Vikings. That is how you
make a statement and prove that you're in the better
spot than Kirk Cousins.

Speaker 4 (31:57):
Currency.

Speaker 8 (31:58):
Yeah, and ultimately it may just be Kirk Cousins that
turns out to be the difference in these.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
Suit Okay, it's Getty a little of tents here, it's
Getty a little inteh the bomb, I'm staring daddy.

Speaker 7 (32:09):
The Vikings were.

Speaker 8 (32:10):
About to use the combustibles to get things going and
do more pillaging and plundering over on the other side
where Sam Donald to continue the Donald discussion on the run,
which is next gen stats tracks throws where you're.

Speaker 7 (32:22):
Running eight miles an hour or above.

Speaker 8 (32:24):
Didn't have a single incompletion through one hundred and twelve
yards and a touchdown a perfect passer rating.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Let's listen to the touchdown to Jefferson that I was
talking about JJ in motion.

Speaker 6 (32:33):
To the rank heard Nate Minnesota sixth or eleven on
third down.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
Sam under a lot of pressure. How'd you get away
from that? Now we cruise d justin? What open touchdown?

Speaker 6 (32:48):
Justin Jefferson for the forty eight yard reception?

Speaker 3 (32:52):
What's Sam Donald?

Speaker 6 (32:54):
Was Budini for the day and the Vikings have taken
up twenty thirteen lead.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
That play was so typical of this game because it
was a third and eight where Falcons get pressure. I
promise you the Falcons did so many things well in
this game. They pressured Sam Donald consistently until the fourth quarter,
but before that the pressure rate was at like fifty percent.
Still finished almost at forty, which is very high. They
got four sacks of Sam. Darnald kirk Cousins outside the

(33:23):
two interceptions did play well.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
He threw forty three forty four.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
A lot of those throws were down the field and
the two interceptions were totally on him and killed what
was otherwise a good performance. But he did make a
lot of positive plays, and Rahee Morris pointed that out
after the fact that he was playing better. But the
secondary of the Falcons, there's no answer. When you have
to cover, you have to double cover Jefferson. You got

(33:49):
guys falling all over the place. Meanwhile, Addison's going eight
for one thirty three and three touchdowns.

Speaker 8 (33:54):
Yeah, and Jordan Addison caught a lot of those balls
with defenders draped on him. Poor Di Alford on that
Justin Jefferson play. If you're for watching the broadcast, you
look up because Sam Donald gets away from pressure, he
throws the ball. Alfred is futility diving at least seventeen
yards away from Justin Jefferson. And the reason that happened
because if you see, if you look at the all
twenty two, Jefferson's opened very early. Yes, his arm is

(34:18):
up the whole way. So all Alford SE's is the
best receiver in the NFL running by himself. So he
just puts his head down. He has no idea where
the ball is. He just hears the crowd and dives
in a random direction, which makes for great television. It's
frustrating for the Falcons defense, which, like you mentioned, so
five sacks of Justin Herbert, five sackses I mean four
sacks of Sam Donald. They've almost equaled their season SAT

(34:40):
production in these last two games. Whatever Raheem Morris figured
out in the by it's been great. The problem is
the quarterback can't sustain drives and make key plays when
they need him to make them.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
Right.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
The running game was fantastic for the Falcons today as well,
one hundred and fifty eight on the ground, Bijon goes
twenty two for ninety two. Aljier had a couple outstanding
runs today, ends up with sixty three on the ground
and Mooney goes deep. It was a little too much
Ray Ray McLeod for my own liking, and he had
the fumble on the return, but he goes eight for
ninety eight. There wasn't that much separating but it kind

(35:13):
of points out like one of these teams is eleven
and two and has a real chance to be the
one seed still in the NFC that they just find
ways to win. I mean, I watched Kevin O'Connell's post
games locker room speech thinking we'll get something from it.
It's like five minutes long, and he hands out fifteen
game balls because there's just so many guys that are
awesome on this team right now, he can't help himself.
You're right, Addison has turned into one hundred and seventy

(35:36):
pounds one of the best contested catch receivers in the league,
and Jefferson has a monster game. Cashman made a bunch
of plays, and yes, Kirk Cousins has eight interceptions and
four fumbles over the last four weeks, which is absolutely brutal.
Raheem Morris was asked again after the game if he's
thinking about changing his quarterback.

Speaker 7 (35:54):
Kirk Cousins off quarterback.

Speaker 12 (35:55):
Who have the ability to go watch this tape just
like we do every single week. You know, Kirk played
better than he did the week before. We got a
chance to go out there and focus on us and
get a chance to go out there and really work
on what we do and what we do well, and
we'll do whatever's best to go win football games, and
Kurt's definitely a part of that.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
We've come just three four weeks away from the Falcons
seemingly having an intermountable lead in the NFC South and
we'll get to the Bucks later. But they've blown it
and there's still four weeks to go. They're not out
of it yet because their schedule, after a tough stretch,
finally does open up. The toughest team they play the
rest of the way is at Washington, So division race

(36:33):
is not over and Kirk is going to be the
one leading the charge. But my god, there's something special
happening in Minnesota this season. It is time now for
the Sunday Drive, presented by the all new hybrid Toyota.
Camry didn't think that the Panthers would have a chance
to be making a game winning drive in Philadelphia, but

(36:53):
they had a chance.

Speaker 13 (36:54):
Trips right lower fever of the far side. Could they
even win the game right here?

Speaker 1 (36:59):
But goes Young.

Speaker 7 (37:00):
He's big Chase.

Speaker 13 (37:01):
He's running with the football, still pumping, running, firing and
down Eagles.

Speaker 4 (37:07):
W slay slay an unbelievable job on the back end.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
That's why he's such a pro slay slay. That's Mike Quick,
not doing an imitation of like a twelve year old
girl after you know, seeing their friend do something cool,
just saying. One of the great cornerbacks of his era
Darius Slay making a big time play. Merril Reese on
w ip Man. The Eagles gotta lost this game. I

(37:38):
can't believe it. I was really tempted to make the
highlight play Xavier lea Get having a chance on a
dime from Bryce Young with about forty five seconds to go.
He was going to catch the ball right near the
goal line. It goes through his hands with the right call.
But that was the difference between the Eagles, you know,

(38:00):
having to score a field goal in about thirty seconds
left and just getting that victory twenty two to sixteen.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
They survive.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
Patrick, you watch this game closely, what stands out the
most team?

Speaker 8 (38:12):
What stands out to me was I assumed that the
windows and Bryce Young has been completing passes and very
tight windows.

Speaker 7 (38:18):
I assumed that they would be closed.

Speaker 8 (38:19):
I didn't know that Bryce's real talent that separates him
in anticipation would help against this Philadelphia Eagles defense.

Speaker 7 (38:27):
Coach by Vic Vandree, I was wrong.

Speaker 8 (38:30):
As much as I believe in Bryce Young, I did
not think that they would be in this game late,
especially considering that the Panthers run defense and just how
bad it has been.

Speaker 7 (38:40):
But Philadelphia couldn't.

Speaker 8 (38:42):
Sustain drives some interesting sex taken by Jalen Hurts where
the pressure is getting to him and he just decides
to turtle up. I guess perhaps being too careful with
the football, but you mentioned it. There was a fourth
down where, just like last week, Bryce has to have
an anticipation hit Adam Thlen on the sideline. If I'm

(39:02):
not mistaken, I believe it was the same play where
Adam Thlen converts a fourth down and they set it
up perfectly xavierly get comes open. I'm gonna have to
check next gen stats to see how often he's running
right to left. Maybe some lack of confidence in that
direction is what causes him to dive for the football
when if he just keeps his stride he walks into

(39:24):
the end zone on a game winner in the closing moments, but.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
In a beautiful throw too that that would have been
the moment, and it wouldn't have been a game winner.
It would have been a forty five seconds left for
the Eagles to get.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
The ball back with one just saying to take the lead.

Speaker 7 (39:37):
Yeah, and anything could happen at that point, but it's.

Speaker 8 (39:41):
I know the Panthers are probably tired of moral victories,
but they added another one today.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
Yeah, and Philadelphia stays alive for their bid to get
that one seed Detroit. With all these tough games down
the stretch, including the Bills coming up next week, someone
there is going to be disappointed the Eagles have same
record as the Vikings. I don't know if you would
say there's concerns about the passing game. Okay, there are concerns.

Speaker 3 (40:08):
If A J.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Brown has concerns, I'm concerned. Let's let's listen to a J.
Brown after the game.

Speaker 12 (40:12):
Offense was incredit What are some things you think they
need that the offense needs to improve on back passing?

Speaker 5 (40:18):
Ja, I know everybody wants to get a rid pontres
apology that you know, the receivers, just like running backs,
want to get in rhythm.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
How hard is it as a receiver to get into
a rhythm when you guys.

Speaker 7 (40:27):
Only throwing the ball twenty times?

Speaker 1 (40:31):
Incredibly so, I don't know what that song was in
the background. That was Elliott shore Park's his video there,
great job, great questions. Both AJ Brown and DeVante Smith
after the game were pretty frustrated. According to the reporters,
they are considering they won. Both had four catches, Brown
for forty three yards, DeVante Smith for thirty seven. The

(40:53):
Eagles had eighty three net passing yards today and not good.
If it was like a one week thing, then I
don't think you'd see that frustration boiling over. But the
passing game has been disjointed, I would say for the
last three to four weeks. I don't think it's fair
to put it on the running game that somehow the
running games fall the passing games disjointed. It's just it's

(41:16):
not quite all the way there. Are you concerned at
all about that shook?

Speaker 2 (41:20):
Yes, because the only reason or the only time I've
found that they've succeeded through the air has been when
they've gone up tempo, and they only do that in
small stretches in games. They did that I think last week,
and that's usually what unlocks it and what ends up
being is a lot of consecutive passes to aj Brown
for eight, ten, fifteen yards and moves the ball down
the field, and it just happens for small periods in
a game. It's not consistent. And I think that you

(41:40):
kind of see both sides of what the Eagles are
right now, which is like you have Saquon, who's a dog,
who's a monster, who finishes games incredibly well, who puts
another great stat line together today to bolster's MVP case.
And then on the other side, you have the team
that still can't throw the ball well. It's so much
that their top two receivers are visibly frustrated after a win,
like music's playing in the locker room and they're upset

(42:03):
because they know that they're not where they could be
right now. And I'm kind of concerned that with a
month left now, that they're maybe not going to figure
it out because it's kind of endemic like it's been.
Most of the season has been like this, save for
a few stretches there. I mean, I know they've won
a ton of games in a row, but they haven't
been perfect through the passing game for a long time.
And it's been covered up by the fact they have
Saquon and they have these small stretches. And when you
get to the playoffs, suddenly, if a team focuses all

(42:24):
of its efforts on stopping Saquon, can you revive that
passing game. It's just a small weakness in a team
that I have a lot I really highly regard right now,
especially because of their defense, the way they played, Like
the fact that the Panthers push them to the limit
doesn't concern me. It's it's how their offense is operating
right now and looking ahead.

Speaker 8 (42:38):
That's what worries me over On, I think, because the
Eagles are going to lead the league in angry wins
like forever.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
That's just that's a chiefe thing this year.

Speaker 8 (42:49):
But fair both both of them, two very good football teams,
decidedly different levels of frustration in the fan basis after wins.
The Panthers have the ball for thirty three minutes in
this game. I mean the Eagles were seven of twelve
on third down. Jalen Hurts only threw the ball twenty
one times, right, so Saquon got twenty carries. They're just
I know, AJ and Davante and everybody wants the ball more.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
Yeah, but twenty one times means he was sacked. How
many times in this game? Four by the Panthers is
not good. That's twenty five dropbacks for eighty three yards.
It's pretty bad.

Speaker 7 (43:18):
Yeah, No, it's it's not ideal.

Speaker 8 (43:19):
But what I'm saying is I think it's not a
panic button type situation. The Panthers have been in close
games with good teams. Here, they were on the road,
bryce played while they they had an opportunity to win
the game, the Eagles still won the left to sue.

Speaker 3 (43:35):
It was it was an ultimate spot for a bit
of a letdown game.

Speaker 1 (43:38):
They've had a lot of big time games in a row,
again against good, important competition. They have a tough Steelers
game next week, and it was a big win to
try to batten down this NFC East title because you
just kind of assume at this point they're gonna win it.
They're up to ninety seven percent to win the NFC East,
so still very important that they got it done. I

(44:00):
do think the key factor here is they haven't had
the trio AJ Brown, Devon de Smith, and Dallas Gatter
on the same field at the same time very often.
And there isn't a bigger cliff in terms of from
your third target to your fourth, and now that you
take Goddard out of there, then there is on this
Eagles team, and so I think it's easier to roll

(44:22):
your coverages to the two wide receivers. Grant Calcotara's their
third leading receiver. They never have found a third wide receiver,
and Goddard surprisingly got put on IR. I did not
know his injury was that serious. So he's out at
least the next four weeks. I think there is hope
that he'll be back potentially for the playoffs, but he
is not going to be helping them until week eighteen
at the very earliest. Still, they get out of there

(44:44):
with the win, and yeah, the Panthers, they hold on
to their spot in tankthon it's crowded. There's seven teams
there no eight teams with either two or three wins,
so it's crowded at the bottom and a fourth win
would have put them in a bad spot. And yeah,
how about Adam Thielen goes over one hundred yards once again?
That was the Sunday Drive presented by the all new
hybrid Toyota Camera. Whatever your vibe, it's a camera vibe.

(45:05):
Learn more at Toyota dot com slash camray. So we
mentioned the Falcons lost a little earlier, the Bucks coming
off their by in this incredibly soft portion of their schedule,
could they take advantage against the Raiders.

Speaker 14 (45:18):
Six yards to hang on to it, get a fresh
lighted announced third down and six shotgun.

Speaker 7 (45:22):
Look, it's out type pass pawn by Man McMillan. How
much funny outside the numbers?

Speaker 14 (45:26):
Ten five three two one touchdown, Tampa Bay touchdown, Tampa
Bay fire of the cabbage. That's the tigger, the final mail,
and the Raiders will go home without a way today.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
That's right, Jeene Deckerhoff my man on WFUS. If it's
a Bucks highlight, it's usually a short Baker Mayfield passed
all beautifully blocked and a lot of yards after the catch.

Speaker 3 (45:51):
It's just a fact.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
Mayfield goes for two ninety five three touchdowns, does have
a couple interceptions, and the Raiders hang around longer than
expect did because the Bucks had such a quick lead
in this game. But the Bucks win twenty eight to thirteen.
They are seven and six, and they have sole possession
of first place in the NFC South Shook any concern

(46:14):
that they didn't put it away earlier, or do you
like what you saw out of the Bucks?

Speaker 2 (46:18):
Well, first off, long live the chief Baker Mayfield hater
Greg Rosenthal, glad you are still a top of your throne.
That was great, nice little dig there, and some of
it's valid because Baker is doing what we've talked about
in recent weeks, which is kind of like running out
of time. His internal clock has gone off, but he
refuses to give up on plays, and it's producing mistakes.
It's producing an interception in the end zone just before half,

(46:39):
really nice played by Klebon Chason to make a pick
earlier in the game on a short pass. He tipped
up mirror and to himself for the interception. But Baker
also fumbles possession away. It's just not very clean. It's
not consistent, and for a while we could blame it
on the fact he didn't have Mike Evans. Well, Mike
Evans is back, and he's he comes in and out
of the picture sometimes. They were just talking about on
the broadcast how he leaned so much on him, but
he wasn't really making much of a difference. He hits

(46:59):
him for a pas that I think they end up
turning the ball over on that on that series. So
it's just it's not as consistent as I would like
to see from them, and yet they still win the game.
They played with their food for like two and a
half quarters in this game today, because they knew they
were playing the Raiders. They went out to a fourteen
nothing lead. The Raiders made it interesting. They made it
fourteen to ten. They scored off of a turnover, and
then for a while they were just kind of trading
mistakes until one team decaid, you know what, let's finish

(47:21):
this thing off. I would like to see the Bucks
be a more dominant team against the low league team
like the Raiders than they were on Sunday. That starts
at quarterback. They also lost Bucky Irving in this game
to injury. Rashad White, you know, finishes the job seventeen
for ninety and a touchdown. It just wasn't the resounding
win I was looking for. It still a win, that's fine.
I might be splitting hairs here, But as we get
into the stretch run of the season here and they're
really trying to finish off this comeback in the NFC South,

(47:42):
I'm gonna need to see more consistency from this offense.
And it starts again with the quarterback, who is a
never say die guy, but might need to learn how
to give up on a player two along the way.

Speaker 8 (47:51):
Yeah, there there was a sequence there in the second
half where Jack Jones gets called for pass interference and
they go right back at Jack Jones very aggressively does
Baker Mayfield. This is in the red zone. Jack Jones
picks it off the ray. The Raiders in this game,
it told Aidan O'Connell gets a very late hit by
Elijah Canzy pushed from behind, leaves the game in an

(48:14):
air cast, and then once it's Desmond Ridder time, essentially
the game is gonna be over no matter what. The
Bucks still had to get yards in points in the
second half to win. There was a Mike Evans thirty
nine yard catch that ultimately took him to I think
sixty nine yards, just barely locking up my.

Speaker 7 (48:32):
Write this down, just barely.

Speaker 1 (48:34):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, your.

Speaker 2 (48:37):
So.

Speaker 8 (48:38):
I thought big Mike was gonna get the ninety five
or so he needs the average did not finish with
that because there's some issues in this past game, Gregan.
I don't know if it's Bucky Irving not necessarily being there.
They've had injuries be huge this season. They can't quite
get all the pieces together, but when they do they
look good. They didn't look good today.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
I mean they had seven point one yards for play.
They get over four hundred yards in the end. The
opening script counts too, and Liam Cohen has been among
the best in the league at that they team to
start their games so fast and their running game being
able to get a big run out of Sean Tucker
and survive when Bucky Irving goes down is big. Yeah,
we're probably getting Desmond Ridder for a month now, which

(49:19):
is crazy that the Raiders have to play four more
games in this season. Like I was thinking, with some
of these games we have coming up. We haven't gotten
to the drugs yet, but it's like you would you
would want, like it'd be fine to just sim their
seasons to the end so they don't need to play. Yeah,
but they have to play these other teams that do matter,
and that would be a competitive balance problem. So Desmond

(49:42):
Ridder is gonna play. I guess the positive if you're
a Ridder head or a Raiders fan. His numbers were
almost identical to Aidan O'Connell. O'Connell eleven for nineteen for
one oh four, Ridder twelve for eighteen for one oh one.
Maybe they're just kind of the same, but we did have.

Speaker 8 (49:56):
Aidan O'Connell's first career scramble yard Oh I'm a four
yard jaunt for first down. The play took about ten seconds,
but he got it. An O'Connell has scrambled, but it.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
Feels like a pyrrhic victory on a day where his
leg exploded. Unfortunately.

Speaker 7 (50:11):
Yeah, well soon see.

Speaker 3 (50:12):
Yeah, get better.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
Shout out to Michael Mayer two, who had personal troubles
earlier this season, was out for personal reasons for a
long time. I know there was concerned about him. Now
he's coming back and he's playing good football. Seven for
sixty eight. There they are at two and eleven, and
like I said, the Bucks in first place in the
NFC South. I don't think they're necessarily playing any better. Shook.

(50:37):
They just got the soft part of their schedule and
have taken care of it to their credit.

Speaker 3 (50:41):
Three and zero.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
They get a tougher game in La next week, and
in the locker room afterwards, they were blaring going back
to Cali immediately, so they couldn't even enjoy this win.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
They were already thinking about next week. That's what That's
what winners do.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
It was it, what version of it was? It was
that the biggest Malls one or the lesser known ll
cool J song that my mom loves to reference all
the time.

Speaker 7 (51:04):
It was Biggie.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
I'm assuming, Okay, I assume so, but I'm old enough
that I don't think of that as necessarily the lesson.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
No, it's the superior version.

Speaker 1 (51:12):
That's definitely superior. A right, you know what else is superior?
The Pittsburgh Steelers. Let's talk about them a little bit
after the break. Yes, Shook watched his favorite team, the Brownies,
face the Steelers for the second time in three weeks.

Speaker 15 (51:28):
Back in a minute, Calvin Austin in motion left to right,
Wilson gets a snap back looking at a.

Speaker 3 (51:42):
Fire over to the middle of the field.

Speaker 7 (51:44):
It is complete.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
It is a touchdown.

Speaker 6 (51:46):
Pittsburgh Steelers Pat fryar Booth makes the reception and boots
them all up into.

Speaker 3 (51:50):
The stands here at Atrashuer Stadium.

Speaker 6 (51:53):
Oh yeah, what a great job getting inside position on
the defensive back then being able to score on that
scorched and smoking ball road by Russ.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
That is Craig Wolfley. We didn't get Ron his brother
on the show earlier, but we got Craig in there.
Rob King on the call as well for WDV. The
Steelers get a twenty seven to fourteen victory over the Browns.
Takes a little while for this Steelers machine to get going.
But did you really think that Mike Tomlin was gonna

(52:25):
let this team lose to the grounds twice in three weeks. No,
it's not gonna happen. And ultimately shook it was. It
was pretty comfortable for US Steelers win.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
Yeah, they you know, they got up to a slow
start early punt, James Winston makes a nice start to
Jerry Judy for a touchdown, and then they just kind
of settled in and became the Steelers again.

Speaker 3 (52:44):
You know, this is a game.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
We're coming off of a four hundred yard performance from
Russell Wilson, so everybody's focusing on the Steelers offense and
how suddenly explosive they can be with Russ and Russ
is having a great stretch of football and he had
another strong game today, but he finished with one hundred
and fifty eight passing yards. This game was one by
their defense. This game was won by Alex high Smith,
by TJ. Watt, by Cam Hayward. You could just name
all the guys down the list. They made play after play.

(53:08):
They capitalized on Jameis Winston risks. They picked him off
every time. The Browns looked like they might have had
a shot to get back into the game, including when
Dustin Hopkins missed two field goals. The Steelers just took
advantage and ran away with it. But Russ is playing again,
some very solid football, some very high quality football, making
passes like that the Pat Freyermouth. It's actually it's become
a treat, like as somebody who watched the slow decline

(53:29):
of Russ and Seattle and Denver, I thought he was done,
and watching him fitness offense and the way that it operates,
and how balanced they are because they can run the
ball effectively well too, even if the numbers don't show it,
they can. It's really fun to watch them. They're a
damn good football team. There's nothing I can say about them.

Speaker 1 (53:43):
That okay, but every game I happen to text with
like a Russ Hayter where it's like every game they
think it's their game to finally start enjoying, like Russ struggling,
and it always starts. It seems like it starts that
way half the time, except for against the Bengals, like
at one point he had thrown he had dropped back
like sixteen times and they had forty six yards, and
they were just punting and punting and punting, and he

(54:05):
was making you know, bad decisions and stuff, and they
always seemed to figure it out to their credit. Like,
what do you think it was that that changed in
this game for the Browns other than maybe it was
just opportunity that the Browns defense could only hold up
for so long and the Steelers just kept getting the
ball back to him.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Yeah, I hate to say because it sounds super cliche,
but halftime adjustments, Like Russ gets to halftime and he's
completed a grand total of eight passes on sixteen attempts
for forty six yards. The Steelers has an offense, I
have one hundred and twenty seven yards. The Browns only
had one hundred and twenty four. And yet the Steelers
had found a way to take a thirteen to seven
because their defense and given them short fields. Third quarter arrives,
Russ completes six of eight for ninety one and two touchdowns,
and suddenly it's a landslide victory for them. He figured

(54:46):
it out. A lot of that is the adjustments, figuring
out what Jim Schwartz is doing, how to capitalize, and
then by the fourth quarter, you have Grant delp With
looking up to this guy just wondering why, God, why
is this happening to us again? The Cleveland Browns, you
know a team that that fights hard. I give them credit.
They fight hard even when they have pretty much nothing
to play for it. No matter what kevinste Fancy says
on Hard Knocks in season with the AFC North because

(55:08):
we're in the playoffs now, no, your season's over.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
Well that was that was when they technically had not
been eliminated, I think was his. Yeah, but when they had,
they had to run the table. At that point I did.
I did finally get around to watching that, and there
were there were more interesting moments in the first ten
minutes of AFC North Hard Knocks than the entire Bears season.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
It's not even close.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
I would say that one episode was worth more than
the entire last two to three Hard Knocks, like the
one since Dan Campbell. Basically yeah, I know, but we've
seen in season hard Knocks before and they haven't been
as good. They had really good access. I'm just saying
it was good.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Hearing this music. I feel like I need to give
a speech that's going to end with like a great
clincher like Mike Tomlin did as he started that episode.

Speaker 1 (55:56):
I have to how many speeches I want to have
an ex player on to talk about? Is it that
necessary to have this many speeches?

Speaker 7 (56:03):
I think producers like speeches.

Speaker 3 (56:04):
I think I know them. No, I know that from
the Hard Knocks perspective, they're fantastic. I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
You're those players, right. How many speeches have you heard
Zach Taylor say? How many is he making every week?
Because we see at least two or three. I mean,
just imagine if when we came to work, there was
like five speeches a week minimum. I mean because the
position coaches, there's like five speeches a day. I think

(56:32):
I think the new efficiency, the moneyball in the NFL
would be like, let's cut down on the speeches a
little bit.

Speaker 7 (56:36):
Our guys. Here's what we're facing today in ever changing
media landscape. Yeah, that would that would probably that would
probably drone.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
On just to touch when you hired me ten years ago.
If I had my first day in LA if I
watched in the newsroom and you gave me one of
those speeches, I'd be like, maybe I shouldn't.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
It might be good to be honest, maybe we could
use a little more on one or two speeches a
year in the NFL daily world, better than none, but
they have like fifteen a week.

Speaker 3 (57:02):
Anyways, hard knocks great, great stuff.

Speaker 1 (57:05):
When I was watching that, you can understand, not that
you couldn't just without seeing it, but you can't understand. Well,
that's why Mike Tomlin's teams only goes so low, you
know what I mean. His attempt to detail and keeping
the team together is such a unique combination.

Speaker 3 (57:21):
It's pretty special.

Speaker 8 (57:22):
Yeah, and a bunch of guys that know what they're
doing can execute to a high level and there's really
never a glaring deficiency. And then on the other side,
the Brown's trying to figure things out. Positive for the Browns,
this is I think the best Nick Chubb has looked
since they returned from his injury. Some of the explosion
was back, of course Nick Chubb otherworldly athlete. It's gonna

(57:42):
take tom to try to get back to that. But
a solid performance. Four yards four plus yards for Gary
against the good defense. The Browns just overmatched here.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
And I will say I think the Jerry Judy trade
is going to pay off for them. Like the stretches
had the last couple of games really, since James has
come in, he's looked like the guy that I think
they thought they were getting, and he's going to be
a key piece of their future, even in a down season.

Speaker 1 (58:03):
Speaking of which, let's let's listen to Andrews Ciciliano's call,
just because he's our buddy, and he's going to be
on NFL Daily on Thursday night recapping that Rams forty
nine Ers game.

Speaker 3 (58:14):
But he was in Pittsburgh on Sunday for the back Winston.
The gun has the ball steps up in the pocket,
he may run now throwing what Judy has it touchdown?
Jerry Judy thirty five yards. Jamis on the run as
he got to the line of scrimmage, let it go.
Shoty caught it at the vibe and waltzed into the

(58:36):
end zone. The Jamis creation plays have been surprising.

Speaker 1 (58:40):
I've been a Jamis fans for a while and he's
not a guy who makes a lot of plays on
the run, and he's done that this year. And the
Lord did listen because he delivered him from pick six's
today just two regular old interceptions but no pick six is. Interestingly,
Kevin Sevanski would not commit to Jameis Winston being the
starter next week after the so we might be seeing

(59:01):
some DTR.

Speaker 3 (59:03):
I don't know if he was just answering it, Meglee.
We'll see.

Speaker 1 (59:05):
We might be seeing some DTR at some point. And
I did want to point out this note from Bill Barnwell.
Canarius Tony played only two snaps in the fourth quarter,
both on special teams. On one of them, he did
a fair catch and then was flagged for taunting after
the fair catch.

Speaker 3 (59:22):
That's a first. They were down multiple scores at the time.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
The other play he was in on the fourth quarter,
he muffed a punt and the Steelers recovered.

Speaker 3 (59:31):
Let's go to uh the last game here before we.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
Get to Sunday night football, at least that involves the
team still in the playoff mix. Yes, the Browns are
officially eliminated. Would the Jets be officially eliminated on Sunday
by the Dolphins?

Speaker 7 (59:46):
The tango yolo o shot back to throw?

Speaker 3 (59:49):
Which protector throws the canzone touchdown?

Speaker 7 (59:52):
Dolphins win? John Smith, what a judge Brown? Donald Smith.

Speaker 3 (01:00:00):
Two off?

Speaker 7 (01:00:02):
Good night, Dolphins gotta win.

Speaker 3 (01:00:06):
I love the Dolphins song.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
I don't know the words, but I love how they
play it right away and all the fans know it
and they sing it and people don't even know about it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:18):
It's a cool, cool little thing they got going down
there in Miami. They're getting some wins.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
That was Jimmy Ceffalo and Joe Rose on WBGG.

Speaker 3 (01:00:25):
Yes, what a comeback.

Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
Not just the Dolphins coming back to win this game
at the very end to force overtime. They were also
trailing twenty three to fifteen heady into the fourth quarter.

Speaker 3 (01:00:40):
But how about this miracle.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Comeback for John new Smith no catches in fantasy in regulation,
and he finishes with three for forty four and a
touchdown on one ot drive. And yes, what a comeback
for me and my picks on the Pick Show. Because
I took Miami minus five and a half. You didn't
think it could happened, But they somehow got into overtime

(01:01:02):
and they covered that score, and so I'm sure there
were a lot of people out there with some money
on Miami.

Speaker 3 (01:01:09):
They got it going. And oh yeah, wait our survivor
the music.

Speaker 8 (01:01:12):
No, Greg has to think about his pick, but I
have to remind Greg that he's on a team, all right.
He Steve Wish and myself are on a legendary run
called Survivor picks and we yes, we together everyone at
Cheeze Morgaret, we survive.

Speaker 7 (01:01:30):
Because tua I guess coach Mike Mack remembered that, hey,
John O. Smith is a huge part of this team.

Speaker 8 (01:01:37):
In overtime, one of the first plays they throw out
the quick screen to John OUs Smith gets several yards
on a first down.

Speaker 7 (01:01:43):
So what do they do? They go right back, Yeah,
same exact play.

Speaker 8 (01:01:47):
John O Smith pops up, starts screaming in everyone's faces,
where it's like, all right, John ou mode has been engaged,
and it leads to the to the game winning touchdown.

Speaker 7 (01:01:57):
But as you mentioned, Greg, it took a lot to
get there. They're down late.

Speaker 8 (01:02:01):
The Jets out gained them four hundred and two yards
to three seventy five. They almost doubled them in rush yardage.
They held the Fens to one of nine on third down,
but still on that second to last drive to a
tongue of Ailoa hooking up with Tyreek Hill, who wasn't
on the field on the fourth down attempt in Green
Bay on Thanksgiving, they go to Tyreek on fourth down,

(01:02:25):
runs in then back out to it hits him, and
then Jalen Waddell runs the exact same route on the
two point conversion.

Speaker 7 (01:02:31):
They tie the ball game up.

Speaker 8 (01:02:33):
The Jets sprint down the field for a go ahead
field goal, but then they don't cover the kickoff return.
They get a forty eight yard return, leading to Jason
Sanders sitting in the game to overtime and Aaron Rodgers
and company never saw.

Speaker 7 (01:02:45):
The ball because of that John hus Smith takeover that
we just heard.

Speaker 1 (01:02:48):
Yeah, there were so many mistakes by the Jets at
the end of this game. And I saw the Aaron
Rodgers quote where he said, there's blame to go around,
you know, we needed to score thirty in this game,
which is his typically pass aggressive way of putting in
a little bit on the defense. Aaron Rodgers in the
offense lost this game despite it being one of their

(01:03:09):
best games of the season, in part because of how
they handled the situation at the end of the game.
They had a first in goal, or rather a first
in ten with one fourteen left at the twenty seven
yard line in a tie game, and they wound up
only burning another thirty seconds not even off the clock

(01:03:31):
before they had to kick a field goal. They lose
five yards on a run disaster time out by Miami.
Rodgers takes a sack disaster time out by Miami, but
at that point, Miami only has one timeout left or
no timeouts left. Rather, that was the last time out,
and they throw an sideline route to Adams to set

(01:03:54):
up a shorter field goal, but they stopped the clock
right there with plenty of time for to go back
down on the off the field, especially after that long
kick return.

Speaker 3 (01:04:04):
And yeah, it's been a story of the Jets season.
If it's not one thing, it's the other.

Speaker 1 (01:04:07):
They actually got a good performance out of their offense
for much of the day. But I thought on that,
you know, a couple of these plays Rogers missed open receivers.
And I like it too, because, like I said, I
want more teams that are alive. The Jets have been eliminated.
They have not made the playoffs for fourteen straight years.
They are one of six AFC teams to be eliminated.

(01:04:28):
Only one NFC team has been eliminated, that's the Giants.
Even the Panthers are technically alive because of the division,
but the Dolphins are at least a little bit in
the mix here at six and seven, there's a faint
heartbeat even if I can't take them seriously because they
have no running game in their defense really isn't that
good either.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
Yeah, I remember that like brief period a few weeks
ago where we're like, oh, the defense is coming around.
Maybe they can actually put it together. Look at them
what they did to the Rams. Well, they've won four
of the last five. Okay, so that's great, Like that's
a start. Now you play Houston, San Francisco, Cleveland and
the Jets again, and the Jets are gonna have absolutely
nothing to play for in January. Grant, it's gonna be cold,
and we know the Dolphins don't like the cold, so

(01:05:06):
we'll see how that game pans out. But yeah, none
of these games have really been convincing. All these wins.
I mean the winner of the Patriots was I guess,
but like, I haven't seen them necessarily show me what
I needed to see. But they're still so much better
than where they were without Tua that I'm gonna take
them seriously for the rest of the run a because
it's fun to watch me because it ends up with
in thrilling finishes like the one on Sunday and see

(01:05:27):
they can have a terrible game and still win and
then send the interim coach on the other sideline into
like just complete apoplectic mode. He just has no idea
what to say.

Speaker 7 (01:05:35):
He's just wow.

Speaker 2 (01:05:35):
Our defense played well. They went one for nine on
third down. We still lost in overtime. I have no answers.
This is a dark season for the Jets, but I
like the intrigue. I like the intrigue with the Dolphins
because I think that they're a better team than their
record suggests. They got some unfortunate injury locked their defense
is not good enough, but they're still fun to watch.
So it's gonna be very intriguing to see what they do.

Speaker 8 (01:05:52):
Yeah, a similiar type performance to in Pieces, without the
catastrophic mistakes that they made in Green Bay. I think
at the fourth down touchdown that that's a high leverage play.
Of course, the entire situation, even getting the ball back,
might not have happened. But Tula goes thirty three or
forty seven, three thirty one. Tyreek gets fourteen targets. He
catches ten of them. Wattle gets twelve, he catches nine
of them. This is this is the team that we

(01:06:13):
thought they could be except we thought they'd be able
to run the ball. We haven't seen the Jets really
stop anybody. Right, they won despite of that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:18):
Right, The Dolphins are the most consistent team that I've
watched over the last seven weeks.

Speaker 3 (01:06:24):
They are the exact same team every week. They can't
run the ball.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
Tua's incredibly efficient is playing at a really high level,
and the defense is below average and gives up long
drive after long drive no matter who the opponent is
like it gets worse against it a really good team
like Green Bay, but it's pretty bad each week. So
as much as Tua's injury sunk this season, I don't
know what the ceiling for this team was anyways, it
was probably a six or a seven seed and not

(01:06:51):
really being in the mix and the AFC. But at
least they get to play wins, yeah, meaningful games for
another couple of weeks. We cannot say the same about
the teams in our next two games. Let's go to Tennessee.

Speaker 3 (01:07:03):
They running with Big b again to the left side.
He gets loose paint into the en zone touchdown. Tank
bigsby a score on an inside handoff and the Jaguars
have taken the lead.

Speaker 1 (01:07:14):
With six to forty six to play in the ball game,
the Jaguars are off the mat.

Speaker 3 (01:07:20):
Mac Jones big time play Now, No, that was Tank
pigs me.

Speaker 1 (01:07:26):
He goes eighteen for fifty five in a touchdown. The
Jaguars gonna win in Tennessee ten to six over the Titans.
Both these teams three and ten, which feels about right.
I thought the defining play offensively of this game was
me watching Mac Jones slide on a third and thirteen
scramble about seven yards short of the first It's like,
that's tightened Jaguars football.

Speaker 3 (01:07:49):
I thought it was maybe Will Levis.

Speaker 1 (01:07:51):
Getting absolutely destroyed on the last play of the first half.
That felt unnecessary. Thankfully he was able to stay in
the game. It looked like he might have been hurt
there off a big hit from Josh Heinz Allen.

Speaker 3 (01:08:03):
Give me some positives for the Jacks here.

Speaker 8 (01:08:05):
Patrick, positives is Josh Allen has a chance to get
three and a half sacks with the remainder of the
season to tie his Jags single season record.

Speaker 1 (01:08:15):
Okay, round seventeen sacks for him? Really, Brian Thomas, I'll
answered my own question. Got a ton of targets on
the stretch.

Speaker 7 (01:08:26):
I needed help there.

Speaker 1 (01:08:26):
Yeah, I'll just saying they like.

Speaker 3 (01:08:29):
Finally started feeding him the ball down the stretch of
this game. He goes eight for eighty six.

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
He is a real deal player, Like I might take
him over Marvin Harrison Junior to go back to that
right now. That's how good Mark Brian Thomas Junior has looked.

Speaker 8 (01:08:39):
The Jacks were able to keep Nick Westbrookakine out of
the end zone on a key fourth down where maybe,
you know, in hindsight, the Titans would have made a
different decision about the play calling on that drive. But
you know, the tank Bigsby called that. You guys heard,
that was it. That was the touchdown. It went just
a touchdown. That was the touchdown in this game where
there wasn't a lot points to speak of, not a

(01:09:01):
lot of plays and it's not you know, great defense
from both teams, just a couple of offenses that were
fairly inept and a couple of teams that are now
three and ten.

Speaker 1 (01:09:11):
Yeah, it was supposed to be an evaluation for Will
Levis down the stretch here and.

Speaker 3 (01:09:18):
It's been better.

Speaker 1 (01:09:19):
But Brian Callahan was asked, you know after the game,
after starting his press conference by saying of all the positives,
you know, trying to keep it positive, talking about his
defense and a few other things. And then the first
question to him was, you just didn't score a touchdown
against the last ranked defense in the NFL, and your

(01:09:40):
first reaction is all the positives that were from this game,
which is just a brutal spot. The Titans are sixth
right now in Tankathon Jacksonville is fifth. Anything you want
to throw in here, Shook.

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
We're on a thousand yard Tony Pollard.

Speaker 7 (01:09:54):
Watch.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
Okay, he's closing in. He's inside one hundred. Greg, You've
talked about it many times, and I've enjoyed watching his well.
I was playing like one of the best better running
backs in the NFL just by being on this team.
Oh and on the jackside, congrats on keeping Nick Westbrook
Kokeine out of the end zone because he's actually been
the guy making touchdown catches.

Speaker 3 (01:10:11):
Fil Okay, so there you go.

Speaker 2 (01:10:12):
This is this is the ANFC South Baby ten to
sixer file right there.

Speaker 3 (01:10:16):
Man and Mac Jones.

Speaker 1 (01:10:18):
It's just it's just so funny how bad his body
languages when he's not happy about the play calls that
are coming in and It's just like you got to
get rid of that man, like he looked so annoyed
at Doug Peterson.

Speaker 3 (01:10:31):
I could just imagine like the mutual.

Speaker 1 (01:10:34):
Annoyance sitting between those two men as they close out
this season. But they get a win on a day
in Duvall where the defense did show up. Let's go
to MetLife Stadium where my friend Adam from the Saints
Block Party podcast was in the crowd. Oh, what do
you see a victory out of his Saints?

Speaker 8 (01:10:55):
Now, this is his first opportunity between thirty and thirty
five to tie the game with eleven seconds of that's load.

Speaker 16 (01:11:03):
I don't think the Saints got it. I think the
Saints got a piece of it. Missed it, Graham Gallo.
It came out like a wounded duck. It looked like
they rushed the mechanics of it. It looked like the
Giants literally rushed the mechanics of it. And I don't
know if it was a hot kick. The Saints did
jump over the line to kind of rush.

Speaker 7 (01:11:23):
It, but he just missed it.

Speaker 1 (01:11:26):
That was duce McAllister, one of my all time favorite
Saints along with Mike cos on ww L.

Speaker 3 (01:11:32):
Yes, Brian Brasid.

Speaker 1 (01:11:34):
What an athletic play from a man that's got to
be pushing three bills, jumping over the snapper and blocking
that field goal at the end. Now, I'm not saying
that Giants are trying to lose, but if you were
trying to lose, kind of messing up the final field

(01:11:55):
goal operation at the end would be the way to
do it.

Speaker 8 (01:11:57):
Michael Gobril is the special teams coordinator for the who
brought this play into the NFL in that win against
the Seattle Seahawks. It's Dexter Lawrence holding the guard down
and Isaiah Simmons jumping over, and we saw Miles Garrett
do it.

Speaker 7 (01:12:11):
We've seen teams try this.

Speaker 8 (01:12:12):
If anybody is aware that this is a possibility, it's
the Giants and Brian Breesy. You know, God bless him
his vertical again, twenty nine inches is a great vertical.
It's not Isaiah Simmons or Miles Garrett. He's able to
get over and through and just get enough of the kick.
But I wasn't thinking about that until you said it.

Speaker 7 (01:12:30):
Greg. The Giants should have known that this is a possibility.
Have your guard bow up a little bit.

Speaker 1 (01:12:35):
Great great call by you. I mean, that's the only
kind of insight you can get on NFL daily. And yes,
Percy is over three hundred and five pounds coming on
strong lately. He's a guy that hunts big plays and
so he gives up a lot of big plays, and
I think he sometimes flashes more than he is a
winning player. But over the last month he's been better.
He had two quarterback hits in this game, two pass breakups.

(01:12:58):
The Saints were crazy getting after Drew Lock in this game.
They had thirteen quarterback hits and thirteen PBUs on Drew Lock.
Drew Lock missed his first nine throws in this game.
It was the first time since Drew lox old teammate
Kendall Hinton, who's not a real NFL quarterback, started a
game with nine straight incompletions. He was six for nineteen

(01:13:21):
for fifty two yards at halftime. The Giants only had
three points in their first ten drives. And yet, and yet,
they were right there on the doorstep from winning this
game with two touchdowns in the last five minutes, because
the Saints offense was barely any better. Unfortunately, Derek Carr

(01:13:41):
left the game with an injury very late, so that
their offensive struggles were with him in the game. In fact,
his replacement, Jay Kaner didn't even throw a pass. He
just came in and handed it off twice and took
a sack in his one series before the Giants got
that last chance. So we'll see if Carr can return.
They were checking him for a head injury, and then

(01:14:03):
our guys at NFL Network, I believe reported a broken
bone in his non throwing hand, so we don't.

Speaker 3 (01:14:09):
Know what his status will be.

Speaker 1 (01:14:10):
But the Saints are five and eight and the Giants disappointed,
I'm sure at the end, but they hold on to
the number two pick. According to Tankthon, the Raiders shook
our right now in the one spot. The Raiders have
lost nine straight. The Giants have lost eight straight.

Speaker 3 (01:14:25):
That's that's tough.

Speaker 1 (01:14:27):
The Bears have lost seven straight. By the way, they
were four to two at one point. That's crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:14:32):
I mean, anytime you go into a game with Drew
Lock as your leading rusher, it's not gonna be good
for the Giants. We know who they are right now,
and there's not much good to say about the Saints
and Derek Carr. I'm like playbo on, I need to
help here. I don't have anything here.

Speaker 3 (01:14:48):
I watched this game quite closely. I never will again.

Speaker 1 (01:14:52):
Chase Young had about a million quarterback pressures in this
game was all over Lock. The way I would describe
Drew Lock's first three quarters of this game was every
decision he made was bad because he was the wrong one.
Like there was one play where he's scrambling and he
is fast. It's kind of like an internet joke going

(01:15:14):
out there that they show the white looking Mike Vick
on Madden meme every time Drew Locke is running and
he ends up with fifty nine yards and he's faster
than I remember, but he's fast as hell. But he
had a first down just stitting right in front of
him on a third in like seven. And then for
some reason he tries to beat two guys around the
edge that he has no chance to do and ends

(01:15:34):
up like just getting one yard in the play when
it was there.

Speaker 3 (01:15:37):
So it's just like every decision was bad.

Speaker 1 (01:15:39):
And then he almost led them to to a comeback
at the end because the Saints they just, I don't know,
they look for ways to win games. The most memorable
part of this game was Darren Rizzy absolutely upbraiding his
punter after what was a punt return touchdown called back
by penalty that the Giants. But he was just screaming

(01:16:02):
at his punter for so long that Alvin Kamara had
to come in and kind of separate it and stop it,
like because I was about to call hr like it
wasn't right. What was going on between Rizzy and this
young punter.

Speaker 7 (01:16:16):
It was too much.

Speaker 8 (01:16:18):
It's almost and this is a rookie and I don't
think Darren Rizzy is spending that much time in any
other place.

Speaker 1 (01:16:24):
Well, he's a special teams guy. Yeah, I mean shy, but.

Speaker 7 (01:16:27):
It's it's like, at what point are we are working?
Are we hustling backwards? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:16:33):
You have a special teams coordinators like that. They're known
for that. They always the craziest.

Speaker 1 (01:16:36):
This was. This was next level by Rizzy and I
I have a feeling he will be, you know, saying
maybe he needs to come.

Speaker 8 (01:16:44):
He did any credit at Alvin in the post, Yeah
for coming up and settling him down.

Speaker 7 (01:16:48):
He he, you know, he he.

Speaker 1 (01:16:50):
It felt like he was taking out other frustrations maybe
that were going on in this game, like watching this
offense in the running game. It was it was tough,
but yes, the Saints get the victory. Let's go to
a it's more important game. On Sunday night in Arrowhead,
we say goodbye to Patrick Claybonn and yes we will
remember this Sunday for so many things, but more than anything, Patrick,

(01:17:12):
for your genius rams pick.

Speaker 7 (01:17:13):
Hey, I did something right, all right.

Speaker 3 (01:17:15):
Let it be known to Sunday night.

Speaker 4 (01:17:17):
A thirty one yard attempt by Matthew Wright to try
to win the game.

Speaker 3 (01:17:21):
Ariza will hold, Winchester will snap.

Speaker 7 (01:17:26):
Cargers are out of timeouts, Winchester snaps it. Placement is
down rights.

Speaker 11 (01:17:31):
Kickers out, and the kickers, God, God, God, can the.

Speaker 3 (01:17:39):
Kansas City Chiefs do it again?

Speaker 11 (01:17:42):
The third kicker this season to have a walk off
field goal, and this one wins the game nineteen to
seventeen and gets the Chiefs nine consecutive AFC West championships.

Speaker 1 (01:18:01):
Nine straight division titles for the Kansas City Chiefs. That is,
Mitch Holtis WDAF For a minute, not even a minute,
a fraction of a second, he thought, oh that the
Chiefs actually got unlucky. For once that thing hit the crossbar,

(01:18:23):
they're gonna lose at the last second on a crazy
fluky special teams play, but no, matthew Wright's kick hits
hard off that upright, It bounces all the way.

Speaker 3 (01:18:35):
To the other side. It goes through nineteen to seventeen.

Speaker 1 (01:18:40):
Shookie, It turns out the Chiefs can keep getting away
with this, actually, and they will and they will continue.

Speaker 2 (01:18:46):
To Yeah, and everybody else is just gonna have to
accept it that if Patrick Mahomes has the ball with
four minutes left and he's down by a point, he's
gonna find a way to convert every third down that
you think is impossible. The pass rush is collapsing around him,
He's gonna find somebody open. He's going to make a
jump pass. He's gonna lea lure four defenders in his
face and find Travis Kelsey for a first down. Y'all

(01:19:06):
just have to accept it. I'm tired of hearing you
complain about it. The refs had nothing to do with it.
This is just Chiefs magic.

Speaker 3 (01:19:14):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:19:15):
This one felt a little different to me. Absolutely heartbreaking
if you root for the Chargers. But a game I
thought was pretty evenly played between the two teams. Obviously,
the Chiefs defense dominating the first half and the Chargers
quickly responding in a back and forth game, but the

(01:19:35):
Chiefs get the ball, as you mentioned, with under five
minutes to go, and Mahomes earned every bit of that
last drive the third and ten where he's scrambling around
and making it happen before getting worthy to start the drive.
The scramble and then the decision coming out of the
two minute warning. The Chiefs have the ball with a

(01:19:57):
third and seven. They could run the ball there and
kick the go ahead field goal, but that clock will
leave about one twenty for Justin Herbert to go possibly respond.
But instead, Andy Reid does give Patrick Mahomes, his guy,
the option to throw, and he made it count.

Speaker 4 (01:20:16):
Mahomes under center, takes the snap. He's back, he's rolling
to his right, he's looking. He pumps, he's gonna pull
the football down. Now throws and it's put by Kelsey
on and me with the first down at the eleven,
a nine yard game and a first down for the Chiefs.

Speaker 3 (01:20:34):
Just what I thought.

Speaker 4 (01:20:35):
Mahomes was gonna run. He saw Kelsey and dumps it
off to him for a first down.

Speaker 1 (01:20:41):
That play looked like it was done, and as we've
seen it so many times before, Mahomes draws up the
extra defender by looking like he's gonna run, manages to
throw across his body. That was Westwood one, Ryan Radkey,
And that's why this one, to me felt like a
lot of Chargers Chiefs game. But it wasn't the Chargers

(01:21:01):
making some huge bone headed error at the end. It
wasn't the Chiefs getting lucky on that drive. It was
just the Chiefs offense having a good drive when they
absolutely needed it. They barely had the ball in the
second half, but they needed to get points on that drive.

Speaker 3 (01:21:16):
They got it.

Speaker 1 (01:21:17):
And they're the best at that end of game situation.
Their EPA per play shook on those third and fourth
downs and lat and close situations as the highest in
the league. Like they're proving they can do it week
after week, and they did it again.

Speaker 2 (01:21:29):
Yeah, and it starts at the quarterback. I mean, this
is I've recently had a harder time keeping him up there,
but this is why QB Index Patrick Mahomes has been
in the top five all year. It's not pretty. The
statistics don't tell you that he's thrown for four hundred
yards a game or whatever, but he does stuff like
that and that's a rare ability there are a lot
of guys that cannot make that happen. But because he
is playing quarterback for the Chiefs, and it might sound

(01:21:49):
like a broken record, totally fine. He is one of
the very few who can get that job done consistently
under pressure. And even he knows it. He completes that
pass to Kelsey we just saw on that clip there
and he's bobbing his head, nod his head. Yeah, I'm
still the man. I still did this, and that's why
they're so difficult to beat. But you're right, it did
feel the Chargers earned their place in this game. Like

(01:22:10):
when they went into the second half. You're listening to
collins Worth the first couple of minutes of the third
quarter talking about how what are your options available? They've
gotten like no first downs in the whole first half,
you have no running game to speak of, so play
action's gone. And then they're just like, screw it, We're
gonna commit to the run and they're just gonna keep
pounding the run and pounding the run stubbornly. So and
it opened up the offense and Justin Herbert was able
to work and we got a hell of a game

(01:22:31):
as a result.

Speaker 1 (01:22:32):
It was a really great game because of the contrast
between the two halves. The Chargers get six drives, which
is a ton. In the first half, they don't score
a single point five straight punts, and then they can't capitalize.
At the end of the half, they don't Only two
of those drives go over thirty yards, you know, one
goes for fifty, So they didn't do anything. And then
this second half, yes, they set it up by putting

(01:22:55):
those extra blockers in and getting some outside runs going,
but they also hit some third and longs. They hit
a fourth down to Palmer. I believe it was where
it was a pass call. It was a gutsy call
a third and long. Stone Smart gets very active. I
was listening to Daniel Jeremiah and Matt mney Smith on

(01:23:16):
the radio and coming out of halftime, they're like, we
need to get Stone Smart more into the game because
he's the most athletic pass catcher they have and they
just need some juice.

Speaker 3 (01:23:27):
This Charger's offense, it just lacks juice.

Speaker 1 (01:23:31):
And without Lad mcconkee on the field, Stone Smart gets
put in there because Will Disley gets hurt. He has
a shoulder injury and he never came back and Smart
has three big catches for fifty four yards, so they
were problem solving. And yeah, they get two straight touchdowns
in such quick order and then get a three and
out from the chief Sandwich between that and the third

(01:23:52):
quarter and suddenly it's on. And after that it was
just three long field goal drives. So I think the
Chargers are so it really is a good defense. Cam
Hart made that play where he hit DeAndre Hopkins right
near the goal line and made them kick a field
goal there. They got thirteen quarterback hits against Patrick Mahomes

(01:24:13):
that the Chiefs gave up I think twelve or thirteen
last week too, so he's getting hit way too inch.
They were getting pressure on him. They just couldn't quite
finish plays enough. But I actually think, man, you shouldn't
be taking any moral victories. I'm now talking to myself.

Speaker 3 (01:24:28):
Out of it. It's ridiculous.

Speaker 1 (01:24:29):
What are we talking about moral victories against the Chiefs
when you can never win a game in this matchup.
I thought they had a chance to cosmically turn it
around shook and they didn't.

Speaker 2 (01:24:37):
Well, they almost did. And they have to feel like
a little brother because of the position they've been in
for the last better part of the last decade, especially
since Patrick Mahomes has been here. And I understand that
that's frustrating, as can all you know it could be.
But at the same time, you are eight and five
and you're still in a very good spot right now.
You are a much better football team. You're a tougher
football team. You tried to win the toughness battle and
you almost did. If anything, I think it was a

(01:24:58):
stalemate in that department and you just happened to not
have the ball last because you couldn't get off the field.
And I think that's all positive developments that you can
take in those last months where you got to play Tampa,
you gotta play Denver, and then you play New England
and the Raiders. So last two games, I'm counting those
as wins. You're looking at ten wins. I didn't have
the discharged team as a ten win team. That's pretty good.
Not a moral victory, because that's gonna put you in
a playoff role or like a spot maybe in contention.

(01:25:20):
We'll see how it all shakes out. You're gonna be
in the mix. And that's way more than I think
any of us expected, which is good.

Speaker 3 (01:25:26):
Yeah, they should make the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (01:25:29):
According to the next Gen Stats, they have an eighty
nine percent chance of making it. And what that assumes is,
look there their favorites against the Bucks. Not an easy game,
but their favorites, and they beat the Broncos already, so
they have a tiebreaker over them and they'll have a chance.

Speaker 3 (01:25:44):
They're right in it.

Speaker 1 (01:25:45):
But this this would have just been I think because
it's the Harbough era, it's new, and it would.

Speaker 3 (01:25:51):
Have maybe just.

Speaker 1 (01:25:54):
There were more on equal footing and even though they
weren't catching up. So tough day for Eric Roberts and
the bill fans out there who were hoping that they
could get a little bit of help. Now that the
Chiefs have a two game lead as the one seed,
they're up to eighty one percent chance feels I could
be even higher for that to me, to get that
one seed and the Chiefs make it happen. And even

(01:26:18):
though there are some things to be concerned about for
the Chiefs in this game, I mentioned the offensive line
giving up all those hits, I do think they're a
better offense with the checko. They had a lot of
long drives in this game. That's what they do better.
Than any team in the NFL.

Speaker 7 (01:26:30):
Shook.

Speaker 1 (01:26:31):
They actually have more plays per drive than any team
since the twenty one Chiefs in the NFL, so they
know how to maintain the ball. They are a significantly
better offense this year, no matter how you slice it,
than last year. And they won the Super Bowl last year,
so like they were a bad offense last year. You're
giving me a funny look, But.

Speaker 2 (01:26:51):
No, I'm just surprised that by some of these the
revelations within this.

Speaker 1 (01:26:55):
Yeah, I gree I.

Speaker 3 (01:26:56):
Mean, they're not perfect, but they're a good team and.

Speaker 2 (01:27:00):
They're just methodical and sometimes that doesn't impress people, and
that's fine.

Speaker 1 (01:27:03):
And they're getting it done, and they're they're getting players
back healthy. Marquise Hollywood Brown is going to be back
at some point. It sounds like in the regular season,
this was a fun recap, so shooky, it's so fun.

Speaker 3 (01:27:13):
We should do it again tomorrow night. Oh you know what,
I think we will.

Speaker 2 (01:27:16):
How about it make it a day.

Speaker 1 (01:27:18):
Right, that's it, play the music, Eric Monday night, Bengals
still alive for the playoffs and the Cowboys.

Speaker 3 (01:27:26):
We'll have some fun.

Speaker 1 (01:27:26):
We're going to rank some Rookie of the Year candidates
then and yeah, when the when the Chiefs are on
their third kicker in a month and they're just making
the rest of the country go freaking crazy, you know
football is back.

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Episode Transcript

Host

Gregg Rosenthal

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