September 13, 2024 • 46 mins
Gregg Rosenthal is joined by ESPN's Bill Barnwell to recap the Bills beating the Dolphins on Thursday Night Football. To start, the guys discuss the unfortunate injury to Tua Tagovailoa (0:41) and the overall state of the Dolphins (9:50). The guys then shift to talk about the Bills' offensive performance (17:10) and surprising defense (22:35). After the break, Gregg and Bill talk about their preseason predictions and tell you which ones they feel good about (27:49), which predictions they regret (33:37), and what is a prediciton they wish would have made (39:35).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we'll always call it Joe
Robbie Stadium. I am Greg Rosenthal here on a Thursday night. Yes,
we're live on YouTube. Welcome, and to everyone else who's
not watching, I'm with Bill Barnwell in a game that
was well decided before the biggest thing to happen in
this game happened. The Bills win easily in Miami thirty
(00:33):
one to ten. Bill, and normally I'd be screaming and
yelling and getting into the football of it all, but
we got to start with a tongue of Ila who
left this game in the third quarter with a concussion
and quickly rolled out of the game. It was a
scary hit on the field. It's tough to even know
(00:56):
where to go with this Bill in terms of analysis,
but it was one one of those moments that takes
your breath away, unfortunately and felt familiar.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah. I think the tough part for me is, you know,
you could see what was happening right like it wasn't
as if this was a random play in a random
moment in a game where nothing could have been anticipated
and nothing could happen Like clearly, this was a game
where the Dolphins were struggling, Tua was struggling. Hed already
thrown three interceptions, including a pick six, and clearly he
(01:26):
wanted to make a play, right like, he wanted to
do something for his team. He wanted to go above
and beyond, and it just is unfortunate and sad to
see that that led to you know, him taking a
necessary hit on a play where you probably could have
slit and got a first down. I'm not criticizing to
it here, like I'm saying basically, you know, like the
circumstances of the game I think led to it to
do something that in a different situation he would have
(01:49):
been smarter about. And that is unfortunate because you know,
the Dolphins and Tua, like his history is well known.
You know, the impact of the injury the Dolphins is significant,
but the impact on the interim two is significant. I mean,
this is a player who you know, there were serious
questions about the future of his career a couple of
years ago. I'm very happy he was able to stay
(02:10):
healthy last year, very happy he got paid this offseason.
But obviously, you know, just a heartbreaking injury for Tua,
for Dolphins fans, for fans of the league. Just one
of those things where everyone just felt awful the moment.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It happened, right, and it reminds you so much of
you know, the injury he had really the second one,
which was I believe on a Thursday night football game
two years ago in the twenty twenty two season. So
just to recap, this is the fourth known concussion that
he's had since twenty twenty two. And he spoke before
the twenty twenty three season and said that earlier that offseason,
(02:48):
especially in the wake of the concussion, when he was
out at the end of the twenty twenty two season,
that he considered retirement, and that stayed in my mind,
and it definitely was something that I thought about when
he got this contract extension. The NFL moves so quickly
that that contract feels like it was a long time ago,
and it was just last month. It was in August,
(03:10):
where you know, he gets ninety three million dollars guaranteed,
maybe one hundred and sixty depending on how you look
at it. And Mike McDaniel signs a contract before this season,
and we're taping this after the game, We're going to
be looking to see what Mike McDaniel says, at this
point in the process, it's hard to imagine there's much
of any specifics, but you do worry about a young
(03:32):
man who obviously had questions bigger than football. Kaylee Hartung
on Amazon, who did a good job throughout the night
updating the audience, pointed out that he was ruled out
six minutes after did say. Family was with him in
the locker room, and you could see Bill Mike McDaniel
and the look on his face. It was a very
(03:53):
human moment when, first of all, when he kissed two
on his way out, but also they had a shot
on him. I don't know if you saw. It was
early in the fourth quarter and the game's going on,
and you could almost just read what was going on
in his head that he was already thinking ahead to
what's next. And there's no point in guessing like how
(04:16):
long this is going to be or anything like that.
But obviously they're going to have to come up with
some solutions in the short term and maybe in the
medium tournament, and we'll see how long term it is
for what they want to do at quarterback. It was
Skyler Thompson tonight who won a backup battle and that
backup battle, which I was following pretty closely with Mike
(04:38):
White in training camp, now looms a little larger just
in my mind because the word from their fans, from
everyone that was tracking that, the reporters were that both
backups were really struggling and had a really poor training camp,
and Thompson kind of won that job by default, and
it was a short sample, but he struggled tonight too,
as did Tua when he was on the field.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, I mean a couple of things come to mind
for me, you know, with the the tuit injury. In
the big picture, right, I mean, this was a situation where,
like you said, the league moves so fast that I
really think after twenty twenty three, after a successful season
where he didn't take a lot of hits. He was
very smart with the football. He gets the ball out
(05:17):
so fast anyway, you know, there is he talked about
him doing jiu jitsu, practicing, you know, going taking hits,
avoiding head injuries. You know, I think there was this
hope that Okay, like he had this scary thing happened
to him in the past, But things are different now, right,
Like he is a smarter player, He's gonna be safer.
No one's gonna get mad at him if he doesn't
take a hit or if he's protecting the foot like
(05:38):
you know, protects himself. Like everyone's on board with that.
We're hoping this is a thing of the past and
that this is a smarter safer to a tongue of
vaaloa moving forward. And I think this injury sort of
poked a hole in that balloon, right, like that is
not the case anymore. Maybe that was naive, Maybe that
was just hope as opposed to logic, but it did
feel like, you know, that feeling of of you know,
(06:00):
sort of to having moved past those injuries. Unfortunately it's
not the case. He's still gonna be dealing with this.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I mean, it's one play. That's football, Like all these guys,
no matter how safe you are, you're one play away.
And you're right. I think it was such a good
point to make because I hadn't really thought about that
that the situation of the game might have led a
little bit to the desperation of that play, just to
just to situate it. It was thirty one to ten bills,
(06:26):
so this injury did not really have a material impact
on the game, in fact that the score was the
exact same as the final score. They were inside the
ten yard line. It's midway through the third quarter in tours,
having a nightmare game. Now, the first two interceptions you
could put on his receivers and the lack of depth.
They have a wide receiver right now. The first one
(06:47):
hits his receiver in the hands. It's maybe a little
bit early, but it hit him in the hands, good anticipation,
pops up in the air of the Bills get it.
The second one Robbie Chosen, who's newly joined to the team.
With the receivers who were involved in these plays weren't
on the team in mid August. Doesn't seem like Chosen
runs the route that Tua expects. He sails it. And
(07:08):
then the third interception was just a play that Tua
was trying to throw the ball out of bounds, but
he was under such pressure his arm didn't get it there,
and it was a really poor decision by him there.
So it was a game where he obviously was not
happy with how I was going because it was so
similar to so many Bills games in the past that
they put it up that they've lost eleven to twelve
(07:31):
they've lost. To me, those don't matter as much as
they've now lost five of six in the McDaniel era,
and that to me is jermaine to this discussion, including
a September game last week when the last season, rather
when the Dolphins were undefeated and the Bills came in
and waxed them. So we will get to the Bills
side of it. It was a really important game for
the Bills and they did a fantastic job. So we
(07:54):
will give their fans and I know Eric, who's our producer,
who's taking care of his four month old baby behind
the glass and is like quietly gleeful that the Bills
had such an easy game, Like, have some class Bills
fans and Eric, let's finish though the Tua discussion, just
from a practical standpoint, al Michaels mentioned that, well, Tua's
(08:17):
got like the mini bye week to try to come back,
and I'm just shaking my head here. It was not
a good game for al Michaels. I'm just not I'm
not sure this is the crew for Amazon. I just
don't think it's I don't think they were up for it.
Like they didn't provide context when Tua was coming off
the field, they asked, really Hardtung to do a lot
(08:38):
of that. You know, he compares it, you know, says
it's ironic that it's Damar Hamlin in the moment and
all this stuff. And I'm thinking it's probably going to
be more of a mini by situation. But I couldn't
help but look ahead, just because you start thinking about
like managing the season and what's going to be next.
They're at Seattle in week three, they're home for Tennessee
in week four, and they're at the Patriots in week five.
(09:00):
Then they have their their bye week after that. So
that's just a little bit of context of who's coming
up next. Do we dare like speculate about whether it
could be anyone but Skyler Thompson here, you know, Ryan
Tannehill Dolphins fans were hoping might be an option when
(09:21):
when this battle was going on. Skylar Thompson hasn't really progressed,
I don't think since his rookie year when he actually
was surprisingly good and played pretty well against the Bills
in the playoffs. You know, there is a former Patriots
quarterback that's out there that they once tried to sign
during the season. I'm just saying, it's not that crazy
their owner wanted them, then, is it that crazy Bill
(09:42):
barn Moore? Or am I getting way too ahead of myself?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Like Ted, I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself.
And I would say, Greg, really, you know the thing
that gets lost in the shuffle here with the Dolphins
is they're already feeling the impact of the two assigning.
And I don't want to talk about what might happen
with two down the line. In terms of the contract,
I don't think that's this is the tire of place
for that. But in terms of the roster they constructed
(10:06):
around what was presumably going to be a healthy two
of this year. Think about the interceptions in this game,
Like you said, the first two picks two players who
were not on the roster in mid August, fourth and
fifth wide receivers behind the big two in Braxton Barrios,
guys who are not making a lot of money because
the Dolphins can't afford has spent a lot of money
on their third, fourth, fifth receivers. The third interception comes
into play where the left side of the line gets
(10:27):
caved in. They have they're on a third string guard.
I believe after injuries and of course we lost Robert
Hunt to the Panthers this offseason in free agency, and
then toront Armstead. They're very good left tackle who has
a significant track record of battling injuries. Himself, came out
for that play to get a shoulder. Harnet suggested he
(10:47):
ended up leaving the game later on as well. That
to me is sort of, you know, even if you
go out and get a Tannehill, even if you go
out and get Mike White, even if Skalar Thompson does
play better than he has in years past, this is
a much more limited version of last year's team and
a team that is rebuilding on the offensive line, a
(11:07):
team that has, you know, questions on defense with the
pass rush, and because we were okay against Jacksonville in
the second half, but inconsistent with the pass rush. The
secondary is a work in progress. They have some you know,
they have veterans there, but some changes there as well.
I just have this sort of question about, you know,
even given even if you know, hopefully Tua is able
(11:31):
to recover and come back relatively quickly, Greg, what we've
seen from this team the first two weeks does not
suggest they are, you know, even close to what they
were a year ago. Let the competitive to the point
where you think they're they're taking a step forward. And
you know with a roster where you have guys like
Tyreek Kill and Jalen Ramsey, who are you know, exiting
(11:51):
the prime of their careers.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Right, And that's a good point because look, before the injury,
Tyreek Hill and Jalen Wattle were both very cool in
this game and it's been an inconsistent pass He's act
very different than the Dolphins how they started last season,
actually two seasons ago to Tyreek Hill finishes with only
three catches for twenty four yards. Wattle goes four for
forty one. Eric let's throw up a question here from
(12:15):
our YouTube viewers. But Cody home asked, why were the
Fins running so much? That's an interesting question. I think
that was the plan coming into it. So I think
they were effective running the ball at halftime. They actually
had one hundred and one yards rushing on twenty carries.
Midway through the third before the two injury, they had
(12:35):
one hundred and forty three yards on like twenty four carries.
So I think the plan tonight and it goes to
what you were saying, Bill was they don't have a
third receiver. Odell Beckham has not been healthy. I mean,
they should have probably seen that coming last week. Actually,
they had two tailbacks on the field, whether it was
a full back or two running backs, because they had
(12:56):
most h chan on the field at the same time
over fifty percent of the time. I mean, they are
right at the center of going heavier personnel and running
and throwing out of it. They've had two tight ends
on the field quite a bit. They had two running
backs on the field, and I think they rightly were
thinking that they could run the ball well against the Bills,
and they did. The situation of the game just dictated
(13:19):
that it got away from them. And when they were
throwing the ball, the Bills didn't blitz. I have to
recheck the stats, but they didn't blitz once in the
first half. So they're just laying back. They're trying to
prevent the big pass. And even without their linebackers and
they lost Terrell Bernard to a pectoral injury in this game,
that is something to watch closely because they could be
down there. Two really good linebackers, Matt Mulano and Trell
(13:40):
Bernard for a while, if that's serious. They were able
to make it work by trying to prevent the big play,
so I don't fault the Dolphins for trying to run.
They also lost Jeff Wilson actually late in this game,
who had an oblique injury, and you mentioned Armstead, it
was officially a shoulder injury. So just kind of a
disaster for the Dolphins, who also, you know, Mike McDaniel
(14:02):
struggles with clock management in this game. There was a
lot going on, to your point, to make them a
little bit more worry than just the tu injury.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, and Greg, you know, during the during the broadcast,
from what I saw from what the announcers were saying,
don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but
they said the Bills were playing a ton of two
high shelves and that typically for teams means you're going
to have an advantage in the box, you should be
running the football, and so I do think from their
perspective they were going to be a run heavy team
(14:33):
in this game because of how the Bills were coming
out and defending. Like you said, the Bills were taking
away the big plays, something Shownick damon defenses do extremely
well historically is take away big plays, and they wanted
them to run the ball, and the Dolphins were going
to run the ball, and the Dolphins were running the
wall pretty successfully. The only problem was they would end
up in a third down situation and throw the ball
(14:53):
and it would lead to a sack or an interception.
And so they fell behind because they gave the Bills
a couple of short fields and then, like you said,
once the game script changed, it was unfortunately a still
a mess. But you know, even into that two minute
tro they were running the ball a ton, a lot
of short passes. They weren't attempting stuff downfield because the
Bills weren't giving them anything downfield, and that felt so
(15:16):
much to me. The comparison I made on Twitter was
it felt like the Jimmy Garoppolo drives with Kyle Shanahan
where they did not trust Jimmy Garoppol in those situations,
they did.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Not want to stress, they didn't want to.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Put it in tight spaces. Kind of felt like Mike
McDaniel was doing the same thing that situation, where for
him it was more important to deny the Bills another
opportunity to score than it was to give the Dolphins
the best possible chance of scoring a touchdown, and you
know it ended up kind of being lost in the shuffle.
But like you said, this was a situation where you know,
even the broadcast was criticizing the clock management for the
(15:52):
Dolphins in that situation. It was not an impressive piece
of work. And you know, it led to a field goal,
which is fine, but just a a very curious series
of decisions from the Dolphins, who seemed very concerned about
throwing the ball deep against Like you said, you know,
a Bills team that had injuries at linebacker, they're rebuilding
its safety. It's like this is a dominant Bill's defense
(16:13):
on paper.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
No, and I have an advantage on you, Bill and
you know many of the rest of our industry. Now
I'm getting the next gense that's live. Apparently I could
have had this last year and I didn't even realize it.
But yeah, split safety two. It was fine against at
thirteen for seventeen, but you know, only one hundred and
three yards in one of his picks, but that's a
lot of throws. So they had the split safeties out
(16:35):
there a lot of the way. And as I mentioned,
it was Dolphins ball seven to seven very late in
the first quarter when he threw that second interception, and
after that point, it just felt like the Bill's offense
was too big and tough, and they started just running
(16:55):
it down their throats. And then when they were in
a tough situation, Josh Allen started doing Josh Allen things.
It's been a bummer talking about this to a thing.
I mean, it's it's a bummer when we lose starting quarterbacks.
This is the second primetime game that we've been talking
about it. So let's feel good and let's listen to
a positive highlight. Eric, give me your boy. Josh Allen
(17:15):
finding James Cook on a great running throw to set
up a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Samuel goes back and forth and gets shut past of
the outside, wide open inside the ten, and James Cook
takes it in a lot of eye, can't down here,
a lot of motion and finds the open man and
the wide open man.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
As it turns out, so that is fourth and three.
That's actually early in the first quarter. And the reason
I wanted to point that out is that they went
for it. It's first quarter, it's scoreless, and I noticed
this last week and I clocked it in two situations
last week where Sean McDermott traditionally was pretty conservative, they
went for it in a first half situation that was
(17:59):
rather similar to that one and they didn't get it,
and then a second half situation where they did get it,
and I'm like, hey, if they're going to lean into
this offense, I love that Sean McDermott is kind of
finding finding religion when it comes to going for and
fourth down because ultimately, as good as their defenses s
grammatically and stuff like, this is an offensive team and
they've been great on offensese first two weeks.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Wasn't he in Carolina when Ron rivera wonder yes transformation
in NFL history from a team coach who actually cost
his team games to very briefly a marginally aggressive coach
and got about eight years of got eight years of
jobs out of it. I mean, you know, you have
Josh Allen, like you have that guy who is going
(18:42):
to be a difference maker, who's going to terrify opposing
teams in short yardage, And in that play, Josh Allen
didn't too much, but it was a you know they
called mesh. They just do some really cool motion to
get some picks some natural picks for the swing route
or sorry, the rail road, I should say, uh, And
it's a perfect catch and throw in. James Cook is
absolutely great player for that situation. So as long as
(19:05):
they have plays they feel good about. I mean, they
should absolutely be a team that's aggressive on fourth down.
And you know, this is not the same caliber of
Bill's team that I believe they've had in years past.
This is a team that is in transition.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
I might disagree with you there, buddy, I like disagree
with you. I picked them to win the Super Bowl.
I'm feeling good about it right now.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Wow, I picked them to win the AFC, so I
felt like that was a pretty aggressive choice. But there's
definitely positives here right Like, you know, the running game
looks good. The von Miller looked kind of spry tonight
for a guy who was pretty much anonymous last year.
The secondary looks okay so far. I thought Arizona gave
them a little more trouble than I would have liked.
But I just feel like this is a team where
(19:49):
the losing Stefan Diggs was their biggest story of this offseason,
and that was not going to be as impactful of
a loss as maybe people banned out to be. I
think some of the players they lost this offseason were
out of their prime years. They're doing with the injuries
a lot. I think the moves that had to be made,
and I do think the Spills team is better than
Dolphins on paper. I do think that the Spills team
(20:10):
is good enough to win the division. But of course,
so much that's going to come down to how healthy
Josh Allen is for seventeen games.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Right, I mean you can say that about any great quarterback.
And look, Josh Allen didn't have to do much to
Night thirteen for nineteen for one thirty nine in the
air with a touchdown because the running game got going
in because they just turned the ball over on offense,
I mean on defense. But you know, the reason I
went with him was well more just that it just
seems so hard to three p and I just felt
(20:37):
the team out of it. I'm going to pick an
AFC team. There's too many good teams, and Josh Allen
is he's doing like an MVP year. I mean, this
is all like ridiculous things to talk about record. They
reminded me of the twenty twenty two Chiefs where it's
like you have the offensive line. I think this is
the best offensive line of the Bills era with Josh Allen.
I think this is the best coordinator and the best
(20:59):
fit just right now for where they're at, that this
can be a really good year and that they have
enough options. So Khalio secure Tonight their leading receiver again
five for fifty four. He only had to run sixteen routes.
So again, this was a strange game, but what I
was talking about in the first half, when they needed to,
they just kind of leaned on the Dolphins defense, which
seemed to start getting tired, and Cook ends up going
(21:21):
eleven for seventy eight and two touchdowns. Let's listen to
one more play. It was actually a near touchdown, but
it was Josh Allen being Josh Allen and setting up
what ended up being a Cook touchdown.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Low snap dancing, looking downfield, firing downfield. Part at the
two yard line. They'll mark it at the one yard line,
so Allen extends to play. Ty Johnson is the third
down back, normally stays in the block. Send him out
in the pattern, find him at the one yard line.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And yeah, if you're watching that play over again, you
can see it's Jalen Ramsey on the play. He's been
on the wrong side of a lot of negative plays
through two weeks now. He missed camp some injury concerns
there right before he signed the contract. He wasn't even practicing.
Whether that was injury or contract related. You know, some
some people have different right, so some people have noticed
(22:21):
though he has struggled these two weeks. But that was
just a great roll out by Josh Allen on what
was a third and twelve when the game was still
up for grabs to Ty Johnson and yeah, they they've
been resourceful on offense. I'm glad you mentioned von Miller
because I don't think we mentioned him on our show
last week that he had five or six pressures in
that game last week. He had a couple of nice moves.
(22:42):
He didn't look like prime prime von Miller, but he
looked like a plus pass rusher at which he was
so far away from being. And man, they could use
another one with Greg Russou and tonight. Not that I
was watching von Miller every single snap, but he looked
fast as hell on that sack, So that that is
good for a team that has some negatives with injuries.
(23:03):
I mentioned Bernard and obviously Milano's gone, and you didn't
have Tron Jhonson. They've had some positives here from their
veterans Dion Dawkins. Also, their left tackle has played very
well through two weeks. So a lot to feel good
about if you're a Bills fan.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, and really, you know, on both sides tonight, it
felt like the game plan was attacking the linebackers. You know,
for the Bills, there was a lot of the you know,
throws out into the flats, some boots for Josh Allen
trying to get stuff on the edge. And then for
the Dolphins more of the tap passes, the reverses, the
Jets sweeps, you know, trying to use their receivers in
(23:39):
those roles or using some you know, eight chan in
the flat quite a bit on some escort escort motion
with those swing passes. But it felt like that was
both teams identified that as a weakness for the other team.
I think it was right for both teams. I think
the Bills, obviously, you know, without Milano and then losing
Bernard Earlie in the game, made sense to attack linebackers
if you could. For the Dolphins, you know, they attacked
(24:01):
David Long and coverage so that they you know, I
know Ramsey was in coverage on that big play, but
it felt like they wanted to, you know, attack the
linebackers where they could and so that you know, it
feels like if there's a weakness for the Bills right now,
if Bernard does miss time with a pectoral injury, you
feel like that would be it. But they looked fine
(24:22):
without Milano the first two weeks, so hopefully Sean mcdermoty
was done a great job coaching linebackers in the past.
Can have them get by without Milano and Bernard for
a stretch.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah, they I mean they're down to it though.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
You know they they lost and we too.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
They lost the linebacker to Seattle on the off season,
and uh, they do have Dorian Williams from Tulane University
stepping in and he's at least not stood out in a.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Bat inevitably on this team at one point or another.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Think think AJ Glyde's retired at this point. They do
have a man bail in spector. Is AJ Glyde retired?
I don't know. Come back, Aj, We would love to
have you start.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Looking back and Greenok, Greig, You're the thing I wanted
to say about the quarterback situation. I just wanted to
bring this up. Okay, the haves and have nots in
the NFL for backup quarterback feel really distinct. Right where
you have the you have the Dolphins, where obviously you
hope too doesn't get hurt. You don't know what's gonna happen.
But Skyler Thompson was a guy who, like you said,
not playing well in camp, kind of won the job
(25:23):
just because Mike White lost it. Look at the Green
Bay injury. I mean they had to trade from Lake Willis,
a guy who's not been good as a pro quarterback
and who looked absolutely abysmal in the two snaps he
had filling in for Jordan Love at the end of
the game in Brazil. You know, it's one of those
things where that is a position we don't think about
(25:44):
very much. But man, you know, even if you have
a Nick Foles caliber backup, you know that is a
big difference between guys who will replaced some level players.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And so it's why I overrate these quarterbacks at least
for what the money they make every year. On my
top one on one free agents, I always put Jameis
Winston way higher. And Jameis Winston gets like a one year,
three point five million dollar contract or whatever it is.
He gets the equivalent of like a rotational defensive tackle,
and yet the team that has just a somewhat capable backup,
(26:14):
which I think he's even above that. Like sure, it's
such an advantage to me. It's always been, especially lately, Uh,
it's been, you know, a problem. All right, let's let's
let's let's look at one more comment, uh from the audience. Here,
come get zappy Miami says, I mean that now there
is I think practice squad.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
So I don't know what the purpose of getting Bailey's at.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
No, there's no point.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
You might as well say to get Jake Culer back
in the Dolphins uniform.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Man, it is a depressing night because the people I'm
trying to look for comments maybe from Mike McDaniel, you know,
as we're taping it, it hasn't happened yet. And the
reality is, like the Amazon postgame crew, they're already talking
about retirement. People are writing about retirement. I think this
is a very personal decision for to a tongue of Iloa,
it's just the night of the injury. That to me
(27:05):
that it's very premature, but the reality is everything's going
to be on the table and we will just have
to see it. It's an awkward night and just from
a brass tax perspective, will remember the Tua injury. But
it's also a very important night for the Bills, who
go to two and zero and could really be in
charge of this division once again. They've kind of owned
(27:27):
the Dolphins the last few years. They beat him decisively
twice last year and that's how they won the division
through tiebreak and and now they will have the early
tie break over the Dolphins too. Okay, I got to
take a quick break, but we're not done yet. Okay,
(27:54):
that's it for the game talk. But we're not done,
Bill Barnwell, we are gonna just talk a little bit
about some predictions because there's nothing I love more than
the navel gazing, Bill, and I thought it would be
fun just kind of as we wrap up the normal
part of the week here on NFL Daily, we will
be dropping our picks against the Spread show on Friday afternoon,
(28:18):
and so that's going to be a separate show. So
for anyone that was looking for Cynthia Freelan and I's picks.
We're picking three games against the spread every week. It's
very quick, and that's going to come up in a
separate show a little later though. I did pick the
Bills tonight, so I got that one right, but that
wasn't part of that. We're going to go back and
actually just quickly go through a few predictions that we
(28:40):
made before the season even started. And you might say,
we've just started week two, We've only played one game
each and one game in Week two, and yet I
want to already see what's changed your mind. So what
we're going to talk about, Bill, is a prediction we
feel really good about after one week, a prediction we've
(29:01):
already started to regret, which is really my inspiration for
this segment, because there are a couple, but there's one
that really stand out that I'm like, why did I
do that? And then just for fun of prediction I
wish I made? So why don't we start about with you?
We'll go a prediction that you feel good about so far?
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Prediction I feel good about. I predicted that the Giants
were going to take a further step backwards and that
they were going to be if not the worst team
in football, one of the worst teams in football. From
what I saw in Week one, things were not pretty.
I mean the offense was hopeless. They couldn't block. They
that's not true. They couldn't block on some plays. They
were probably like a C minus blocking. They were a
(29:42):
D minus for quarterback play. Milick Nighbors is already unfortunately
battling a knee injury. He was limited in practice today.
The defense looked totally made Sam Donald look like the
guy Sam Donald believers I've hoped he was going to
be for about half a decade now. I mean, everything
looked wrong for them at home and not like the
(30:03):
Vikings are a great football team in my eyes. So
I just that's that's one where I feel like I
feel prekid about, you know, being skeptical of the Giants
making a step in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Well, I hope that you regret picking this as the
prediction you feel good about on Sunday afternoon about four
twenty Eastern because there was no game. I had a
harder time picking this weekend than Commanders Giants, but actually
went Giants in the end because I just feel like
I honestly think they're two of the three worst teams
in the NFL right now. So I'm with you that
(30:33):
I agree. If I just had to guess, I think
the Panthers, Commanders and Giants are the worst three teams.
But the Giants are in year three of their program
and they just have better players that I know. Daniel
Jones was a mess, but that Commander's defense, they could
have given up sixty points to the Buckets. There were
so many receivers just flying open. And they don't have
a lot of talent on offense either, So I just
(30:54):
kind of maybe the vibes are enough for the Commanders
to get away in that.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
That is the only thing I can think of.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yes, wait, I mean both teams are bad, don't don't
get me wrong. I said it was the toughest game
for me to pick all weekend. I wrestled back and forth,
but I went with the Giants in the end because
you know, they do have a bunch of good players,
so and they're like year three, can't I think they
can maybe go get a road win and at least
get to one and one, But ultimately I think that
will be a prediction you feel good about. I'm not
arguing with you about that. Okay. The prediction I feel
(31:20):
good about was fading the Falcons will also the Bill's
winning the super Bowl. It's a little early for that.
I had Josh Allen MVP Bills winning the super Bowl
as like a three or four seed. Just felt like
that's how they'll finally do it. Okay, that feels good
too far, But fading the Falcons was one of my
strongest things all off season. A lot of it was
that Kirk Cousins was coming off a torn achilles and
(31:41):
we just did just not assume that that's nothing and
so far we'll see, but that really looks like something,
and that the rest of the team wasn't so great
that like he's coming into a good situation, that they
were more like about a four to five win roster
that had a terrible schedule last year, and that I
know they added talent on defense, but just there were
questions all over the place that even if it was
(32:02):
normal Kirk Cousins, like normal Kirk Cousins is pretty up
and down, and I am very concerned about him after
that Week one performance that he's going to take a
while maybe to get going, and that the injury could
could really be an issue here early in the season
or maybe throughout the season. So I'm feeling good about
that prediction.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
You should. I mean, that was a absolute mess and
they were I know ESPN Satinfo had the numbers on
them throwing one hundred percent out of the time in
the shotgun or a hundred percent of the time.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Out of the ste pistol.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Yeah, no percent throw out of the shotgun, eight run
rate out of the pistol. So very distinct play calling
based on where Kirk Cousins was standing. Zero play action
STAPs in the game. Kirk Cousins is I believe how
did my column his slowest max speed of any game
(32:54):
as a pro? I think Ben Solek had his column
travel the least distance by far he's ever tried a
game in the next gen era. I mean, everything just
tells you Kirk Cousins cannot walk at a high speed,
let alone run.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
And I hope, I hope that's wrong because he's on
Monday Night Football this week, and like I I want
them to win and everything, but I just don't want
it to be like this weird, sad thing with Kirk Cousins.
All right, let's do the prediction that you already regret.
So this is what this is the centerpiece of this
(33:29):
segment here, like what is something that you said that
you actually are already like legitimately moving off And if
there's nothing, you could say nothing, But if you're just
stretching a fine one, tell me that.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
The couple that come to mind for me thinking I
will go with Blake Korum being the lead back with
the Rams and Ky you know, I think at some
point he's going to have a role. I think it's
going to be injury dependent on Kiren Williams. But I
just over this offseason, I look back at like late
round picks who haven't had big rookie seasons, who got
(34:04):
significant snaps in the year two and what happened and
so often they got benched quicker than anybody expected, like
they were one and done in lead roles at running back.
And then you know, Karen Williams gets hurt during the
off season, he's dealing with the foot injury that he's
had on the past. He gets put on punk return duty.
I'm just like, man, Blake Koram might get seventy five
percent of the snaps week one, like he might just
(34:26):
be the lead back to begin the season and then
Blake Korham got zero offensive snaps in Week one.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Man, that was that was a small level prediction because
I have a feeling Bill actually that's gonna work out fine.
In the end, I think you were on the right track.
I don't know if he's gonna be the lead back now,
but like it took a month for Kien Williams to
get the job last time. In fact, I believe there
was some thought that when they had the injuries during
(34:52):
the game on the offensive line, that they just prioritize
pass protection in terms of their backs above all, even
like Ronnie Rivers might not blow up in a big hole,
but they can trust him in pass pro and that
you see with that with running backs, and maybe that
will be an issue for a couple of weeks. But
I think it might have been situational. I have a
much bigger regret than that, a much bigger regret. So
(35:13):
I don't know why I did this, Like I really
leaned in at the very end. I got convinced that
the Cowboys were just gonna be a total disaster, and
I like I kind of bought into the hole. Everything
was feeling negative and maybe it will turn negative in
the end. But it really only took one game of like,
(35:33):
oh yeah, Dak Prescott is freaking awesome, and I know
it wasn't his best game ever, but he's still freaking awesome.
And Michael Parsons is a you know, total beast, and
they really seem like they have some answers defensively that
I think will make up for a few of the
lack of depth issues that they have on the offensive side.
And I think the rookies on the offensive line will
(35:53):
figure things out. And they've already started off pretty well.
So that was when I think I went a little
too hard on was the Cowboys go going?
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I just think the Browns might not be that good.
I mean, I had the Browns as a team likely
to decline before the year. I thought about them, But
the three things I thought about when you asked me
the first question were Giants decline. I felt strongest about
Brown's decline. I think about and Chargers improving, which they
had the most Jim Harbaugh victory I can imagine in
Week one against the Raiders. But I think the Browns
(36:23):
their defense looked good but not great in Week one,
and their offense looked just horrifically bad. And I think
the Cowboys played a role on that. But I do
think the Cowboys may not look quite as good against
different competition in the weeks to come.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Okay, let us know you guys can let us know
that are pass it along in the comments. What mistakes
you've made into terms of your prediction. Chris Green says
biggest regret is paying Daniel Jones. Yeah, well that that
was two years ago. Although I do think the Giants
doubling down this offseason, Joe Shane didn't want to. I mean,
(36:59):
he wanted to trade up for Drake May, but he
didn't want to enough. I think if they had really
just sold the farm for him, I think the Patriots
could have listened, and they had a good offer, but
it didn't happen. And I don't know, if you know,
there's a chance Joshane doesn't make it the year four
and then he has regrets about that.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Can I give you my unifying theory of the New
York Giants and Joshane's quarterback situation?
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Please? Yes.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I believe Brian Davil and Joshane did not want Daniel Jones.
I think when they got there, they were like, well,
give this guy a shot, but we're probably drafting quarterback
next year. And they had the same thing that happened
with the Bills, where they had the unexpected year one
playoff run with your incumbent quarterback you don't love. And
Daniel Jones played well at the end of the year.
(37:44):
His best football was the end of that season. It
was his first healthy year as a pro. And I
my guess is that ownership who had bought it Daniel
Jones for several years wait for him to be good,
were the driving forces in that Daniel Jones on track.
Maybe Joshane didn't want to sign sa Quon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
I'm with you, but like it, what's gonna happen now,
Like they're gonna lose their job, right, because that's that's
they should have listened to them about Saquon. They should
have actually listened to that and just paid saquad instead
of paying who is that guard from the Packers, Oh,
John run instead of playing John Runyon ten and a half, Like,
go an extra million for Saquon. If you can't catch
(38:24):
up your guards to be better than that, then that's
probably on you, you.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Know, Greg, Greg, when you look at the draft and
how nobody's going to draft in you look at free
agency and how good teams safe bad decisions in free agency,
good teams make bad Trades're like, why are these guys
getting paid so much? Well, one of the reasons gms
and coaches get paid so much is that sometimes they
get fired because the owner strongly encouraged them to make
bad decisions, and the owner is not the one who
(38:48):
has to pay for it with their jobs. If you
look at it the last twenty years of the Las
Vegas slash Oakland Raiders, that describes a lot of what's
happened with the Raiders franchise. But we'll see Daniel Jones.
You know, it can't be much worse than it was
week one. The Commanders, like you said, a lot of
guys are running free last week. If anyone's going to
make Daniel Jones look good, it is the Washington Commanders
(39:10):
in week two.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Yeah, it's a it's a trend with these this giants.
There's a sneaky amount of reports of medaling. I mean,
you had the whole Geno Smith Eli Manning thing. You
had really the last year or two of Eli Manning's
career in different right, forms of fashion, which I think
was was definitely owner related. All Right, finally we wrap
with with the with the prediction you wish you made.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
That's a tough one. The prediction I wish I had made.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
You want me to go first?
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yeah, I'm trying to think about I got a couple
of four.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I mean, well, first, you know, we did the over
under draft on this show, and I didn't want to
take Pats over four point five because it just felt
like Homer. I believed that it could be about after
one week. I'm like, well, they're already there. Tough, but
that was one of the tough, tough parts of the schedule,
(40:03):
a tough road game in Cincinnati. So there's one. I
think they can get to five. So I didn't want
to be a Homer. They were on my longer list
when I listed the over unders last week that I liked,
So that was one. No one, literally no one, I
don't believe. On NFL dot Com, they asked like thirty
six writers to make who makes the playoffs, and I
thought that six seven spot in the AFC was pretty
(40:24):
up for grabs. I didn't have the Dolphins or Jets there,
so to me, I thought that the AFC East was
going to be worse than people thought, and we'll see.
But I was like, who makes it? And I ended
up going Colts Chargers six and seven. But literally no one,
and I think it was because of the preseason. Out
of thirty six people picked the Steelers. It's like now
(40:44):
already I'm like, yeah, maybe I should have taken the Steelers,
like the Steelers are just fine the way. And then
finally I had heard some buzz from people in Philadelphia
about Quinnon Mitchell in training camp. I like, man, they
really think they found someone. So a little Quinnon Mitchell,
like defensive rookie of the year having a great season
even after one week, I'm feeling like that, that feels
(41:04):
a little that could have been a spicy pick that
looks good.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
A sprinkle. I think it's fair to say I had
the Patriots over four and a half. I had them
as one of the most likely teams to improve in
my column. This year did not go boldly all the
way to the playoffs, that is, to go quite that far,
but crazy but stranger things. I mean, it would have
been crazy to say the three thirteen and one Texans
were going to win the AFC South last year, especially
(41:29):
after they got blown out in Week one by the Ravens.
And yet that is exactly Greg what happened. Football is
a very strange sport. I think they're going to be
a lot better than people give them credit for. They're
not going to be a playoff team, but I think
a seven win team this year in New England. And
had that before the season prediction I wish I had made.
I wish I'd had the Rams out of the playoffs.
(41:51):
That was the one where for the longest time when
I was doing my playoff article, I had them out
and I kept the teams I was putting in. I
didn't feel good about I didn't feel good about the Falcons.
I didn't feel good about Tampa. I didn't feel good
about the Vikings. I had the Eagles out so I
couldn't pick them, and I felt like, if I had
(42:12):
to pick, you know, a big team out, I was
gonna go with the Eagles. And that doesn't feel great
right now, but we'll see. But the injuries were already
bad before they before the season began, and now kukin
Akua is on the puplet or on ir for four weeks.
Joseph Nopoom's on IR for four weeks. Stevenveil is on
IR for four weeks. They were already banged up on
(42:33):
the offensive line before this. I mean, they are just
absolutely battling injuries so far. So I feel like I
would have had Rams out and maybe been a chicken
and kept Eagles in. But maybe I should have just
stuck with it. And maybe it just because the Rams did.
They were in position to beat the Lions in Detroit
(42:53):
with you know, if they get a stop at the
end of that game. So maybe I'm being a little
too harsh.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Yeah, that was That was one of those games they
played so well. You if you're the Rams, you would
have loved to come away with a win. But it
almost made me feel better about them. Then again, they
feel like a month at least away from being anywhere
close to hole on the offensive line, which is a
pretty big deal. They're kind of built around their offensive line.
As we wrap up, and thank you, Bill Barnwell, one
of the best in the entire business, the best writer
(43:20):
in the game right now. Check them out at ESPN
dot com. As I tell them often, my ESPN Plus
subscription largely for Bill, a little bit for Zach Lo too.
I gotta admit I do love them.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
A lot of people, a lot of people tell me
Zach is very good.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
I always throw that in.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
I like that if I can be, if I can
be like the ten percent of your ESPN plus behind.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
No, No, you're number one, You're number one by far.
Number two is actually the US Open Women's Tennis tournament
Court thirteen, Like you can get that on ESPN Plus.
Not to give them an but it's just like, oh, yeah,
there's the Martakostiak match that I want to watch. I
can't actually find that any anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Individual high level but like modest court tennis speeds is what.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
You're yes for. Yeah, love that. I mean what an
athlete she is, but yeah, he gets it done. Also,
the Bill Barnwell Short Show, of course is great podcast,
and he's on around the Horn and you see him
on NFL Live. He is everywhere and he's been great forever.
Before we say goodbye, though, I will read you just
something that Mike McDaniel said after the game onto a
(44:33):
tongue of by Loa's injury, just said he's just worried
about his guy. Not something you ever want to be
part of. He'll get a proper evaluation and then the
Dolphins will make a decision on how to proceed with
the injury. And look, he said, every concussion is different
and you'll see. But there was good news that Tua
(44:54):
was in good spirits in the locker room after the game.
That alone makes it a different situation, at least than
the last time that he had it. He was talking
to the team, to his teammates in the locker room
and that made everyone feel better. And so we'll just
have to see what the evaluation is. Obviously we're wishing
the best for him. He also says, look, a loss
(45:16):
like this early in the season as a gut check,
and you know, they have to see how they respond.
It's gonna either be a good thing or a bad
thing to lose a game like this, and obviously losing
their quarterback makes it all the more painful. That's it
for our Thursday night recap show. Hopefully the next one
doesn't have any injuries to speak of. We will be
back on Friday. Thanks again, Bill. Like I said, with
(45:40):
a really quick pick show, we're going to try it
separated from the rest of the show. I know not
everyone's into the picks against the spread, so we'll do
that separate on Friday. Then we'll be back for the
Sunday Week two recap. Until then, so happy that football
is back.
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we'll always call it Joe
Robbie Stadium. I am Greg Rosenthal here on a Thursday night. Yes,
we're live on YouTube. Welcome, and to everyone else who's
not watching, I'm with Bill Barnwell in a game that
was well decided before the biggest thing to happen in
this game happened. The Bills win easily in Miami thirty
(00:33):
one to ten. Bill, and normally I'd be screaming and
yelling and getting into the football of it all, but
we got to start with a tongue of Ila who
left this game in the third quarter with a concussion
and quickly rolled out of the game. It was a
scary hit on the field. It's tough to even know
(00:56):
where to go with this Bill in terms of analysis,
but it was one one of those moments that takes
your breath away, unfortunately and felt familiar.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah. I think the tough part for me is, you know,
you could see what was happening right like it wasn't
as if this was a random play in a random
moment in a game where nothing could have been anticipated
and nothing could happen Like clearly, this was a game
where the Dolphins were struggling, Tua was struggling. Hed already
thrown three interceptions, including a pick six, and clearly he
(01:26):
wanted to make a play, right like, he wanted to
do something for his team. He wanted to go above
and beyond, and it just is unfortunate and sad to
see that that led to you know, him taking a
necessary hit on a play where you probably could have
slit and got a first down. I'm not criticizing to
it here, like I'm saying basically, you know, like the
circumstances of the game I think led to it to
do something that in a different situation he would have
(01:49):
been smarter about. And that is unfortunate because you know,
the Dolphins and Tua, like his history is well known.
You know, the impact of the injury the Dolphins is significant,
but the impact on the interim two is significant. I mean,
this is a player who you know, there were serious
questions about the future of his career a couple of
years ago. I'm very happy he was able to stay
(02:10):
healthy last year, very happy he got paid this offseason.
But obviously, you know, just a heartbreaking injury for Tua,
for Dolphins fans, for fans of the league. Just one
of those things where everyone just felt awful the moment.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It happened, right, and it reminds you so much of
you know, the injury he had really the second one,
which was I believe on a Thursday night football game
two years ago in the twenty twenty two season. So
just to recap, this is the fourth known concussion that
he's had since twenty twenty two. And he spoke before
the twenty twenty three season and said that earlier that offseason,
(02:48):
especially in the wake of the concussion, when he was
out at the end of the twenty twenty two season,
that he considered retirement, and that stayed in my mind,
and it definitely was something that I thought about when
he got this contract extension. The NFL moves so quickly
that that contract feels like it was a long time ago,
and it was just last month. It was in August,
(03:10):
where you know, he gets ninety three million dollars guaranteed,
maybe one hundred and sixty depending on how you look
at it. And Mike McDaniel signs a contract before this season,
and we're taping this after the game, We're going to
be looking to see what Mike McDaniel says, at this
point in the process, it's hard to imagine there's much
of any specifics, but you do worry about a young
(03:32):
man who obviously had questions bigger than football. Kaylee Hartung
on Amazon, who did a good job throughout the night
updating the audience, pointed out that he was ruled out
six minutes after did say. Family was with him in
the locker room, and you could see Bill Mike McDaniel
and the look on his face. It was a very
(03:53):
human moment when, first of all, when he kissed two
on his way out, but also they had a shot
on him. I don't know if you saw. It was
early in the fourth quarter and the game's going on,
and you could almost just read what was going on
in his head that he was already thinking ahead to
what's next. And there's no point in guessing like how
(04:16):
long this is going to be or anything like that.
But obviously they're going to have to come up with
some solutions in the short term and maybe in the
medium tournament, and we'll see how long term it is
for what they want to do at quarterback. It was
Skyler Thompson tonight who won a backup battle and that
backup battle, which I was following pretty closely with Mike
(04:38):
White in training camp, now looms a little larger just
in my mind because the word from their fans, from
everyone that was tracking that, the reporters were that both
backups were really struggling and had a really poor training camp,
and Thompson kind of won that job by default, and
it was a short sample, but he struggled tonight too,
as did Tua when he was on the field.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, I mean a couple of things come to mind
for me, you know, with the the tuit injury. In
the big picture, right, I mean, this was a situation where,
like you said, the league moves so fast that I
really think after twenty twenty three, after a successful season
where he didn't take a lot of hits. He was
very smart with the football. He gets the ball out
(05:17):
so fast anyway, you know, there is he talked about
him doing jiu jitsu, practicing, you know, going taking hits,
avoiding head injuries. You know, I think there was this
hope that Okay, like he had this scary thing happened
to him in the past, But things are different now, right,
Like he is a smarter player, He's gonna be safer.
No one's gonna get mad at him if he doesn't
take a hit or if he's protecting the foot like
(05:38):
you know, protects himself. Like everyone's on board with that.
We're hoping this is a thing of the past and
that this is a smarter safer to a tongue of
vaaloa moving forward. And I think this injury sort of
poked a hole in that balloon, right, like that is
not the case anymore. Maybe that was naive, Maybe that
was just hope as opposed to logic, but it did
feel like, you know, that feeling of of you know,
(06:00):
sort of to having moved past those injuries. Unfortunately it's
not the case. He's still gonna be dealing with this.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I mean, it's one play. That's football, Like all these guys,
no matter how safe you are, you're one play away.
And you're right. I think it was such a good
point to make because I hadn't really thought about that
that the situation of the game might have led a
little bit to the desperation of that play, just to
just to situate it. It was thirty one to ten bills,
(06:26):
so this injury did not really have a material impact
on the game, in fact that the score was the
exact same as the final score. They were inside the
ten yard line. It's midway through the third quarter in tours,
having a nightmare game. Now, the first two interceptions you
could put on his receivers and the lack of depth.
They have a wide receiver right now. The first one
(06:47):
hits his receiver in the hands. It's maybe a little
bit early, but it hit him in the hands, good anticipation,
pops up in the air of the Bills get it.
The second one Robbie Chosen, who's newly joined to the team.
With the receivers who were involved in these plays weren't
on the team in mid August. Doesn't seem like Chosen
runs the route that Tua expects. He sails it. And
(07:08):
then the third interception was just a play that Tua
was trying to throw the ball out of bounds, but
he was under such pressure his arm didn't get it there,
and it was a really poor decision by him there.
So it was a game where he obviously was not
happy with how I was going because it was so
similar to so many Bills games in the past that
they put it up that they've lost eleven to twelve
(07:31):
they've lost. To me, those don't matter as much as
they've now lost five of six in the McDaniel era,
and that to me is jermaine to this discussion, including
a September game last week when the last season, rather
when the Dolphins were undefeated and the Bills came in
and waxed them. So we will get to the Bills
side of it. It was a really important game for
the Bills and they did a fantastic job. So we
(07:54):
will give their fans and I know Eric, who's our producer,
who's taking care of his four month old baby behind
the glass and is like quietly gleeful that the Bills
had such an easy game, Like, have some class Bills
fans and Eric, let's finish though the Tua discussion, just
from a practical standpoint, al Michaels mentioned that, well, Tua's
(08:17):
got like the mini bye week to try to come back,
and I'm just shaking my head here. It was not
a good game for al Michaels. I'm just not I'm
not sure this is the crew for Amazon. I just
don't think it's I don't think they were up for it.
Like they didn't provide context when Tua was coming off
the field, they asked, really Hardtung to do a lot
(08:38):
of that. You know, he compares it, you know, says
it's ironic that it's Damar Hamlin in the moment and
all this stuff. And I'm thinking it's probably going to
be more of a mini by situation. But I couldn't
help but look ahead, just because you start thinking about
like managing the season and what's going to be next.
They're at Seattle in week three, they're home for Tennessee
in week four, and they're at the Patriots in week five.
(09:00):
Then they have their their bye week after that. So
that's just a little bit of context of who's coming
up next. Do we dare like speculate about whether it
could be anyone but Skyler Thompson here, you know, Ryan
Tannehill Dolphins fans were hoping might be an option when
(09:21):
when this battle was going on. Skylar Thompson hasn't really progressed,
I don't think since his rookie year when he actually
was surprisingly good and played pretty well against the Bills
in the playoffs. You know, there is a former Patriots
quarterback that's out there that they once tried to sign
during the season. I'm just saying, it's not that crazy
their owner wanted them, then, is it that crazy Bill
(09:42):
barn Moore? Or am I getting way too ahead of myself?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Like Ted, I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself.
And I would say, Greg, really, you know the thing
that gets lost in the shuffle here with the Dolphins
is they're already feeling the impact of the two assigning.
And I don't want to talk about what might happen
with two down the line. In terms of the contract,
I don't think that's this is the tire of place
for that. But in terms of the roster they constructed
(10:06):
around what was presumably going to be a healthy two
of this year. Think about the interceptions in this game,
Like you said, the first two picks two players who
were not on the roster in mid August, fourth and
fifth wide receivers behind the big two in Braxton Barrios,
guys who are not making a lot of money because
the Dolphins can't afford has spent a lot of money
on their third, fourth, fifth receivers. The third interception comes
into play where the left side of the line gets
(10:27):
caved in. They have they're on a third string guard.
I believe after injuries and of course we lost Robert
Hunt to the Panthers this offseason in free agency, and
then toront Armstead. They're very good left tackle who has
a significant track record of battling injuries. Himself, came out
for that play to get a shoulder. Harnet suggested he
(10:47):
ended up leaving the game later on as well. That
to me is sort of, you know, even if you
go out and get a Tannehill, even if you go
out and get Mike White, even if Skalar Thompson does
play better than he has in years past, this is
a much more limited version of last year's team and
a team that is rebuilding on the offensive line, a
(11:07):
team that has, you know, questions on defense with the
pass rush, and because we were okay against Jacksonville in
the second half, but inconsistent with the pass rush. The
secondary is a work in progress. They have some you know,
they have veterans there, but some changes there as well.
I just have this sort of question about, you know,
even given even if you know, hopefully Tua is able
(11:31):
to recover and come back relatively quickly, Greg, what we've
seen from this team the first two weeks does not
suggest they are, you know, even close to what they
were a year ago. Let the competitive to the point
where you think they're they're taking a step forward. And
you know with a roster where you have guys like
Tyreek Kill and Jalen Ramsey, who are you know, exiting
(11:51):
the prime of their careers.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Right, And that's a good point because look, before the injury,
Tyreek Hill and Jalen Wattle were both very cool in
this game and it's been an inconsistent pass He's act
very different than the Dolphins how they started last season,
actually two seasons ago to Tyreek Hill finishes with only
three catches for twenty four yards. Wattle goes four for
forty one. Eric let's throw up a question here from
(12:15):
our YouTube viewers. But Cody home asked, why were the
Fins running so much? That's an interesting question. I think
that was the plan coming into it. So I think
they were effective running the ball at halftime. They actually
had one hundred and one yards rushing on twenty carries.
Midway through the third before the two injury, they had
(12:35):
one hundred and forty three yards on like twenty four carries.
So I think the plan tonight and it goes to
what you were saying, Bill was they don't have a
third receiver. Odell Beckham has not been healthy. I mean,
they should have probably seen that coming last week. Actually,
they had two tailbacks on the field, whether it was
a full back or two running backs, because they had
(12:56):
most h chan on the field at the same time
over fifty percent of the time. I mean, they are
right at the center of going heavier personnel and running
and throwing out of it. They've had two tight ends
on the field quite a bit. They had two running
backs on the field, and I think they rightly were
thinking that they could run the ball well against the Bills,
and they did. The situation of the game just dictated
(13:19):
that it got away from them. And when they were
throwing the ball, the Bills didn't blitz. I have to
recheck the stats, but they didn't blitz once in the
first half. So they're just laying back. They're trying to
prevent the big pass. And even without their linebackers and
they lost Terrell Bernard to a pectoral injury in this game,
that is something to watch closely because they could be
down there. Two really good linebackers, Matt Mulano and Trell
(13:40):
Bernard for a while, if that's serious. They were able
to make it work by trying to prevent the big play,
so I don't fault the Dolphins for trying to run.
They also lost Jeff Wilson actually late in this game,
who had an oblique injury, and you mentioned Armstead, it
was officially a shoulder injury. So just kind of a
disaster for the Dolphins, who also, you know, Mike McDaniel
(14:02):
struggles with clock management in this game. There was a
lot going on, to your point, to make them a
little bit more worry than just the tu injury.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, and Greg, you know, during the during the broadcast,
from what I saw from what the announcers were saying,
don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but
they said the Bills were playing a ton of two
high shelves and that typically for teams means you're going
to have an advantage in the box, you should be
running the football, and so I do think from their
perspective they were going to be a run heavy team
(14:33):
in this game because of how the Bills were coming
out and defending. Like you said, the Bills were taking
away the big plays, something Shownick damon defenses do extremely
well historically is take away big plays, and they wanted
them to run the ball, and the Dolphins were going
to run the ball, and the Dolphins were running the
wall pretty successfully. The only problem was they would end
up in a third down situation and throw the ball
(14:53):
and it would lead to a sack or an interception.
And so they fell behind because they gave the Bills
a couple of short fields and then, like you said,
once the game script changed, it was unfortunately a still
a mess. But you know, even into that two minute
tro they were running the ball a ton, a lot
of short passes. They weren't attempting stuff downfield because the
Bills weren't giving them anything downfield, and that felt so
(15:16):
much to me. The comparison I made on Twitter was
it felt like the Jimmy Garoppolo drives with Kyle Shanahan
where they did not trust Jimmy Garoppol in those situations,
they did.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Not want to stress, they didn't want to.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Put it in tight spaces. Kind of felt like Mike
McDaniel was doing the same thing that situation, where for
him it was more important to deny the Bills another
opportunity to score than it was to give the Dolphins
the best possible chance of scoring a touchdown, and you
know it ended up kind of being lost in the shuffle.
But like you said, this was a situation where you know,
even the broadcast was criticizing the clock management for the
(15:52):
Dolphins in that situation. It was not an impressive piece
of work. And you know, it led to a field goal,
which is fine, but just a a very curious series
of decisions from the Dolphins, who seemed very concerned about
throwing the ball deep against Like you said, you know,
a Bills team that had injuries at linebacker, they're rebuilding
its safety. It's like this is a dominant Bill's defense
(16:13):
on paper.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
No, and I have an advantage on you, Bill and
you know many of the rest of our industry. Now
I'm getting the next gense that's live. Apparently I could
have had this last year and I didn't even realize it.
But yeah, split safety two. It was fine against at
thirteen for seventeen, but you know, only one hundred and
three yards in one of his picks, but that's a
lot of throws. So they had the split safeties out
(16:35):
there a lot of the way. And as I mentioned,
it was Dolphins ball seven to seven very late in
the first quarter when he threw that second interception, and
after that point, it just felt like the Bill's offense
was too big and tough, and they started just running
(16:55):
it down their throats. And then when they were in
a tough situation, Josh Allen started doing Josh Allen things.
It's been a bummer talking about this to a thing.
I mean, it's it's a bummer when we lose starting quarterbacks.
This is the second primetime game that we've been talking
about it. So let's feel good and let's listen to
a positive highlight. Eric, give me your boy. Josh Allen
(17:15):
finding James Cook on a great running throw to set
up a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Samuel goes back and forth and gets shut past of
the outside, wide open inside the ten, and James Cook
takes it in a lot of eye, can't down here,
a lot of motion and finds the open man and
the wide open man.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
As it turns out, so that is fourth and three.
That's actually early in the first quarter. And the reason
I wanted to point that out is that they went
for it. It's first quarter, it's scoreless, and I noticed
this last week and I clocked it in two situations
last week where Sean McDermott traditionally was pretty conservative, they
went for it in a first half situation that was
(17:59):
rather similar to that one and they didn't get it,
and then a second half situation where they did get it,
and I'm like, hey, if they're going to lean into
this offense, I love that Sean McDermott is kind of
finding finding religion when it comes to going for and
fourth down because ultimately, as good as their defenses s
grammatically and stuff like, this is an offensive team and
they've been great on offensese first two weeks.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Wasn't he in Carolina when Ron rivera wonder yes transformation
in NFL history from a team coach who actually cost
his team games to very briefly a marginally aggressive coach
and got about eight years of got eight years of
jobs out of it. I mean, you know, you have
Josh Allen, like you have that guy who is going
(18:42):
to be a difference maker, who's going to terrify opposing
teams in short yardage, And in that play, Josh Allen
didn't too much, but it was a you know they
called mesh. They just do some really cool motion to
get some picks some natural picks for the swing route
or sorry, the rail road, I should say, uh, And
it's a perfect catch and throw in. James Cook is
absolutely great player for that situation. So as long as
(19:05):
they have plays they feel good about. I mean, they
should absolutely be a team that's aggressive on fourth down.
And you know, this is not the same caliber of
Bill's team that I believe they've had in years past.
This is a team that is in transition.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
I might disagree with you there, buddy, I like disagree
with you. I picked them to win the Super Bowl.
I'm feeling good about it right now.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Wow, I picked them to win the AFC, so I
felt like that was a pretty aggressive choice. But there's
definitely positives here right Like, you know, the running game
looks good. The von Miller looked kind of spry tonight
for a guy who was pretty much anonymous last year.
The secondary looks okay so far. I thought Arizona gave
them a little more trouble than I would have liked.
But I just feel like this is a team where
(19:49):
the losing Stefan Diggs was their biggest story of this offseason,
and that was not going to be as impactful of
a loss as maybe people banned out to be. I
think some of the players they lost this offseason were
out of their prime years. They're doing with the injuries
a lot. I think the moves that had to be made,
and I do think the Spills team is better than
Dolphins on paper. I do think that the Spills team
(20:10):
is good enough to win the division. But of course,
so much that's going to come down to how healthy
Josh Allen is for seventeen games.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Right, I mean you can say that about any great quarterback.
And look, Josh Allen didn't have to do much to
Night thirteen for nineteen for one thirty nine in the
air with a touchdown because the running game got going
in because they just turned the ball over on offense,
I mean on defense. But you know, the reason I
went with him was well more just that it just
seems so hard to three p and I just felt
(20:37):
the team out of it. I'm going to pick an
AFC team. There's too many good teams, and Josh Allen
is he's doing like an MVP year. I mean, this
is all like ridiculous things to talk about record. They
reminded me of the twenty twenty two Chiefs where it's
like you have the offensive line. I think this is
the best offensive line of the Bills era with Josh Allen.
I think this is the best coordinator and the best
(20:59):
fit just right now for where they're at, that this
can be a really good year and that they have
enough options. So Khalio secure Tonight their leading receiver again
five for fifty four. He only had to run sixteen routes.
So again, this was a strange game, but what I
was talking about in the first half, when they needed to,
they just kind of leaned on the Dolphins defense, which
seemed to start getting tired, and Cook ends up going
(21:21):
eleven for seventy eight and two touchdowns. Let's listen to
one more play. It was actually a near touchdown, but
it was Josh Allen being Josh Allen and setting up
what ended up being a Cook touchdown.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Low snap dancing, looking downfield, firing downfield. Part at the
two yard line. They'll mark it at the one yard line,
so Allen extends to play. Ty Johnson is the third
down back, normally stays in the block. Send him out
in the pattern, find him at the one yard line.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And yeah, if you're watching that play over again, you
can see it's Jalen Ramsey on the play. He's been
on the wrong side of a lot of negative plays
through two weeks now. He missed camp some injury concerns
there right before he signed the contract. He wasn't even practicing.
Whether that was injury or contract related. You know, some
some people have different right, so some people have noticed
(22:21):
though he has struggled these two weeks. But that was
just a great roll out by Josh Allen on what
was a third and twelve when the game was still
up for grabs to Ty Johnson and yeah, they they've
been resourceful on offense. I'm glad you mentioned von Miller
because I don't think we mentioned him on our show
last week that he had five or six pressures in
that game last week. He had a couple of nice moves.
(22:42):
He didn't look like prime prime von Miller, but he
looked like a plus pass rusher at which he was
so far away from being. And man, they could use
another one with Greg Russou and tonight. Not that I
was watching von Miller every single snap, but he looked
fast as hell on that sack, So that that is
good for a team that has some negatives with injuries.
(23:03):
I mentioned Bernard and obviously Milano's gone, and you didn't
have Tron Jhonson. They've had some positives here from their
veterans Dion Dawkins. Also, their left tackle has played very
well through two weeks. So a lot to feel good
about if you're a Bills fan.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, and really, you know, on both sides tonight, it
felt like the game plan was attacking the linebackers. You know,
for the Bills, there was a lot of the you know,
throws out into the flats, some boots for Josh Allen
trying to get stuff on the edge. And then for
the Dolphins more of the tap passes, the reverses, the
Jets sweeps, you know, trying to use their receivers in
(23:39):
those roles or using some you know, eight chan in
the flat quite a bit on some escort escort motion
with those swing passes. But it felt like that was
both teams identified that as a weakness for the other team.
I think it was right for both teams. I think
the Bills, obviously, you know, without Milano and then losing
Bernard Earlie in the game, made sense to attack linebackers
if you could. For the Dolphins, you know, they attacked
(24:01):
David Long and coverage so that they you know, I
know Ramsey was in coverage on that big play, but
it felt like they wanted to, you know, attack the
linebackers where they could and so that you know, it
feels like if there's a weakness for the Bills right now,
if Bernard does miss time with a pectoral injury, you
feel like that would be it. But they looked fine
(24:22):
without Milano the first two weeks, so hopefully Sean mcdermoty
was done a great job coaching linebackers in the past.
Can have them get by without Milano and Bernard for
a stretch.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah, they I mean they're down to it though.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
You know they they lost and we too.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
They lost the linebacker to Seattle on the off season,
and uh, they do have Dorian Williams from Tulane University
stepping in and he's at least not stood out in a.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Bat inevitably on this team at one point or another.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Think think AJ Glyde's retired at this point. They do
have a man bail in spector. Is AJ Glyde retired?
I don't know. Come back, Aj, We would love to
have you start.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Looking back and Greenok, Greig, You're the thing I wanted
to say about the quarterback situation. I just wanted to
bring this up. Okay, the haves and have nots in
the NFL for backup quarterback feel really distinct. Right where
you have the you have the Dolphins, where obviously you
hope too doesn't get hurt. You don't know what's gonna happen.
But Skyler Thompson was a guy who, like you said,
not playing well in camp, kind of won the job
(25:23):
just because Mike White lost it. Look at the Green
Bay injury. I mean they had to trade from Lake Willis,
a guy who's not been good as a pro quarterback
and who looked absolutely abysmal in the two snaps he
had filling in for Jordan Love at the end of
the game in Brazil. You know, it's one of those
things where that is a position we don't think about
(25:44):
very much. But man, you know, even if you have
a Nick Foles caliber backup, you know that is a
big difference between guys who will replaced some level players.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And so it's why I overrate these quarterbacks at least
for what the money they make every year. On my
top one on one free agents, I always put Jameis
Winston way higher. And Jameis Winston gets like a one year,
three point five million dollar contract or whatever it is.
He gets the equivalent of like a rotational defensive tackle,
and yet the team that has just a somewhat capable backup,
(26:14):
which I think he's even above that. Like sure, it's
such an advantage to me. It's always been, especially lately, Uh,
it's been, you know, a problem. All right, let's let's
let's let's look at one more comment, uh from the audience. Here,
come get zappy Miami says, I mean that now there
is I think practice squad.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
So I don't know what the purpose of getting Bailey's at.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
No, there's no point.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
You might as well say to get Jake Culer back
in the Dolphins uniform.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Man, it is a depressing night because the people I'm
trying to look for comments maybe from Mike McDaniel, you know,
as we're taping it, it hasn't happened yet. And the
reality is, like the Amazon postgame crew, they're already talking
about retirement. People are writing about retirement. I think this
is a very personal decision for to a tongue of Iloa,
it's just the night of the injury. That to me
(27:05):
that it's very premature, but the reality is everything's going
to be on the table and we will just have
to see it. It's an awkward night and just from
a brass tax perspective, will remember the Tua injury. But
it's also a very important night for the Bills, who
go to two and zero and could really be in
charge of this division once again. They've kind of owned
(27:27):
the Dolphins the last few years. They beat him decisively
twice last year and that's how they won the division
through tiebreak and and now they will have the early
tie break over the Dolphins too. Okay, I got to
take a quick break, but we're not done yet. Okay,
(27:54):
that's it for the game talk. But we're not done,
Bill Barnwell, we are gonna just talk a little bit
about some predictions because there's nothing I love more than
the navel gazing, Bill, and I thought it would be
fun just kind of as we wrap up the normal
part of the week here on NFL Daily, we will
be dropping our picks against the Spread show on Friday afternoon,
(28:18):
and so that's going to be a separate show. So
for anyone that was looking for Cynthia Freelan and I's picks.
We're picking three games against the spread every week. It's
very quick, and that's going to come up in a
separate show a little later though. I did pick the
Bills tonight, so I got that one right, but that
wasn't part of that. We're going to go back and
actually just quickly go through a few predictions that we
(28:40):
made before the season even started. And you might say,
we've just started week two, We've only played one game
each and one game in Week two, and yet I
want to already see what's changed your mind. So what
we're going to talk about, Bill, is a prediction we
feel really good about after one week, a prediction we've
(29:01):
already started to regret, which is really my inspiration for
this segment, because there are a couple, but there's one
that really stand out that I'm like, why did I
do that? And then just for fun of prediction I
wish I made? So why don't we start about with you?
We'll go a prediction that you feel good about so far?
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Prediction I feel good about. I predicted that the Giants
were going to take a further step backwards and that
they were going to be if not the worst team
in football, one of the worst teams in football. From
what I saw in Week one, things were not pretty.
I mean the offense was hopeless. They couldn't block. They
that's not true. They couldn't block on some plays. They
were probably like a C minus blocking. They were a
(29:42):
D minus for quarterback play. Milick Nighbors is already unfortunately
battling a knee injury. He was limited in practice today.
The defense looked totally made Sam Donald look like the
guy Sam Donald believers I've hoped he was going to
be for about half a decade now. I mean, everything
looked wrong for them at home and not like the
(30:03):
Vikings are a great football team in my eyes. So
I just that's that's one where I feel like I
feel prekid about, you know, being skeptical of the Giants
making a step in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Well, I hope that you regret picking this as the
prediction you feel good about on Sunday afternoon about four
twenty Eastern because there was no game. I had a
harder time picking this weekend than Commanders Giants, but actually
went Giants in the end because I just feel like
I honestly think they're two of the three worst teams
in the NFL right now. So I'm with you that
(30:33):
I agree. If I just had to guess, I think
the Panthers, Commanders and Giants are the worst three teams.
But the Giants are in year three of their program
and they just have better players that I know. Daniel
Jones was a mess, but that Commander's defense, they could
have given up sixty points to the Buckets. There were
so many receivers just flying open. And they don't have
a lot of talent on offense either, So I just
(30:54):
kind of maybe the vibes are enough for the Commanders
to get away in that.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
That is the only thing I can think of.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yes, wait, I mean both teams are bad, don't don't
get me wrong. I said it was the toughest game
for me to pick all weekend. I wrestled back and forth,
but I went with the Giants in the end because
you know, they do have a bunch of good players,
so and they're like year three, can't I think they
can maybe go get a road win and at least
get to one and one, But ultimately I think that
will be a prediction you feel good about. I'm not
arguing with you about that. Okay. The prediction I feel
(31:20):
good about was fading the Falcons will also the Bill's
winning the super Bowl. It's a little early for that.
I had Josh Allen MVP Bills winning the super Bowl
as like a three or four seed. Just felt like
that's how they'll finally do it. Okay, that feels good
too far, But fading the Falcons was one of my
strongest things all off season. A lot of it was
that Kirk Cousins was coming off a torn achilles and
(31:41):
we just did just not assume that that's nothing and
so far we'll see, but that really looks like something,
and that the rest of the team wasn't so great
that like he's coming into a good situation, that they
were more like about a four to five win roster
that had a terrible schedule last year, and that I
know they added talent on defense, but just there were
questions all over the place that even if it was
(32:02):
normal Kirk Cousins, like normal Kirk Cousins is pretty up
and down, and I am very concerned about him after
that Week one performance that he's going to take a
while maybe to get going, and that the injury could
could really be an issue here early in the season
or maybe throughout the season. So I'm feeling good about
that prediction.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
You should. I mean, that was a absolute mess and
they were I know ESPN Satinfo had the numbers on
them throwing one hundred percent out of the time in
the shotgun or a hundred percent of the time.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Out of the ste pistol.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Yeah, no percent throw out of the shotgun, eight run
rate out of the pistol. So very distinct play calling
based on where Kirk Cousins was standing. Zero play action
STAPs in the game. Kirk Cousins is I believe how
did my column his slowest max speed of any game
(32:54):
as a pro? I think Ben Solek had his column
travel the least distance by far he's ever tried a
game in the next gen era. I mean, everything just
tells you Kirk Cousins cannot walk at a high speed,
let alone run.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
And I hope, I hope that's wrong because he's on
Monday Night Football this week, and like I I want
them to win and everything, but I just don't want
it to be like this weird, sad thing with Kirk Cousins.
All right, let's do the prediction that you already regret.
So this is what this is the centerpiece of this
(33:29):
segment here, like what is something that you said that
you actually are already like legitimately moving off And if
there's nothing, you could say nothing, But if you're just
stretching a fine one, tell me that.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
The couple that come to mind for me thinking I
will go with Blake Korum being the lead back with
the Rams and Ky you know, I think at some
point he's going to have a role. I think it's
going to be injury dependent on Kiren Williams. But I
just over this offseason, I look back at like late
round picks who haven't had big rookie seasons, who got
(34:04):
significant snaps in the year two and what happened and
so often they got benched quicker than anybody expected, like
they were one and done in lead roles at running back.
And then you know, Karen Williams gets hurt during the
off season, he's dealing with the foot injury that he's
had on the past. He gets put on punk return duty.
I'm just like, man, Blake Koram might get seventy five
percent of the snaps week one, like he might just
(34:26):
be the lead back to begin the season and then
Blake Korham got zero offensive snaps in Week one.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Man, that was that was a small level prediction because
I have a feeling Bill actually that's gonna work out fine.
In the end, I think you were on the right track.
I don't know if he's gonna be the lead back now,
but like it took a month for Kien Williams to
get the job last time. In fact, I believe there
was some thought that when they had the injuries during
(34:52):
the game on the offensive line, that they just prioritize
pass protection in terms of their backs above all, even
like Ronnie Rivers might not blow up in a big hole,
but they can trust him in pass pro and that
you see with that with running backs, and maybe that
will be an issue for a couple of weeks. But
I think it might have been situational. I have a
much bigger regret than that, a much bigger regret. So
(35:13):
I don't know why I did this, Like I really
leaned in at the very end. I got convinced that
the Cowboys were just gonna be a total disaster, and
I like I kind of bought into the hole. Everything
was feeling negative and maybe it will turn negative in
the end. But it really only took one game of like,
(35:33):
oh yeah, Dak Prescott is freaking awesome, and I know
it wasn't his best game ever, but he's still freaking awesome.
And Michael Parsons is a you know, total beast, and
they really seem like they have some answers defensively that
I think will make up for a few of the
lack of depth issues that they have on the offensive side.
And I think the rookies on the offensive line will
(35:53):
figure things out. And they've already started off pretty well.
So that was when I think I went a little
too hard on was the Cowboys go going?
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I just think the Browns might not be that good.
I mean, I had the Browns as a team likely
to decline before the year. I thought about them, But
the three things I thought about when you asked me
the first question were Giants decline. I felt strongest about
Brown's decline. I think about and Chargers improving, which they
had the most Jim Harbaugh victory I can imagine in
Week one against the Raiders. But I think the Browns
(36:23):
their defense looked good but not great in Week one,
and their offense looked just horrifically bad. And I think
the Cowboys played a role on that. But I do
think the Cowboys may not look quite as good against
different competition in the weeks to come.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Okay, let us know you guys can let us know
that are pass it along in the comments. What mistakes
you've made into terms of your prediction. Chris Green says
biggest regret is paying Daniel Jones. Yeah, well that that
was two years ago. Although I do think the Giants
doubling down this offseason, Joe Shane didn't want to. I mean,
(36:59):
he wanted to trade up for Drake May, but he
didn't want to enough. I think if they had really
just sold the farm for him, I think the Patriots
could have listened, and they had a good offer, but
it didn't happen. And I don't know, if you know,
there's a chance Joshane doesn't make it the year four
and then he has regrets about that.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Can I give you my unifying theory of the New
York Giants and Joshane's quarterback situation?
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Please? Yes.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I believe Brian Davil and Joshane did not want Daniel Jones.
I think when they got there, they were like, well,
give this guy a shot, but we're probably drafting quarterback
next year. And they had the same thing that happened
with the Bills, where they had the unexpected year one
playoff run with your incumbent quarterback you don't love. And
Daniel Jones played well at the end of the year.
(37:44):
His best football was the end of that season. It
was his first healthy year as a pro. And I
my guess is that ownership who had bought it Daniel
Jones for several years wait for him to be good,
were the driving forces in that Daniel Jones on track.
Maybe Joshane didn't want to sign sa Quon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
I'm with you, but like it, what's gonna happen now,
Like they're gonna lose their job, right, because that's that's
they should have listened to them about Saquon. They should
have actually listened to that and just paid saquad instead
of paying who is that guard from the Packers, Oh,
John run instead of playing John Runyon ten and a half, Like,
go an extra million for Saquon. If you can't catch
(38:24):
up your guards to be better than that, then that's
probably on you, you.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Know, Greg, Greg, when you look at the draft and
how nobody's going to draft in you look at free
agency and how good teams safe bad decisions in free agency,
good teams make bad Trades're like, why are these guys
getting paid so much? Well, one of the reasons gms
and coaches get paid so much is that sometimes they
get fired because the owner strongly encouraged them to make
bad decisions, and the owner is not the one who
(38:48):
has to pay for it with their jobs. If you
look at it the last twenty years of the Las
Vegas slash Oakland Raiders, that describes a lot of what's
happened with the Raiders franchise. But we'll see Daniel Jones.
You know, it can't be much worse than it was
week one. The Commanders, like you said, a lot of
guys are running free last week. If anyone's going to
make Daniel Jones look good, it is the Washington Commanders
(39:10):
in week two.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Yeah, it's a it's a trend with these this giants.
There's a sneaky amount of reports of medaling. I mean,
you had the whole Geno Smith Eli Manning thing. You
had really the last year or two of Eli Manning's
career in different right, forms of fashion, which I think
was was definitely owner related. All Right, finally we wrap
with with the with the prediction you wish you made.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
That's a tough one. The prediction I wish I had made.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
You want me to go first?
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yeah, I'm trying to think about I got a couple
of four.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I mean, well, first, you know, we did the over
under draft on this show, and I didn't want to
take Pats over four point five because it just felt
like Homer. I believed that it could be about after
one week. I'm like, well, they're already there. Tough, but
that was one of the tough, tough parts of the schedule,
(40:03):
a tough road game in Cincinnati. So there's one. I
think they can get to five. So I didn't want
to be a Homer. They were on my longer list
when I listed the over unders last week that I liked,
So that was one. No one, literally no one, I
don't believe. On NFL dot Com, they asked like thirty
six writers to make who makes the playoffs, and I
thought that six seven spot in the AFC was pretty
(40:24):
up for grabs. I didn't have the Dolphins or Jets there,
so to me, I thought that the AFC East was
going to be worse than people thought, and we'll see.
But I was like, who makes it? And I ended
up going Colts Chargers six and seven. But literally no one,
and I think it was because of the preseason. Out
of thirty six people picked the Steelers. It's like now
(40:44):
already I'm like, yeah, maybe I should have taken the Steelers,
like the Steelers are just fine the way. And then
finally I had heard some buzz from people in Philadelphia
about Quinnon Mitchell in training camp. I like, man, they
really think they found someone. So a little Quinnon Mitchell,
like defensive rookie of the year having a great season
even after one week, I'm feeling like that, that feels
(41:04):
a little that could have been a spicy pick that
looks good.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
A sprinkle. I think it's fair to say I had
the Patriots over four and a half. I had them
as one of the most likely teams to improve in
my column. This year did not go boldly all the
way to the playoffs, that is, to go quite that far,
but crazy but stranger things. I mean, it would have
been crazy to say the three thirteen and one Texans
were going to win the AFC South last year, especially
(41:29):
after they got blown out in Week one by the Ravens.
And yet that is exactly Greg what happened. Football is
a very strange sport. I think they're going to be
a lot better than people give them credit for. They're
not going to be a playoff team, but I think
a seven win team this year in New England. And
had that before the season prediction I wish I had made.
I wish I'd had the Rams out of the playoffs.
(41:51):
That was the one where for the longest time when
I was doing my playoff article, I had them out
and I kept the teams I was putting in. I
didn't feel good about I didn't feel good about the Falcons.
I didn't feel good about Tampa. I didn't feel good
about the Vikings. I had the Eagles out so I
couldn't pick them, and I felt like, if I had
(42:12):
to pick, you know, a big team out, I was
gonna go with the Eagles. And that doesn't feel great
right now, but we'll see. But the injuries were already
bad before they before the season began, and now kukin
Akua is on the puplet or on ir for four weeks.
Joseph Nopoom's on IR for four weeks. Stevenveil is on
IR for four weeks. They were already banged up on
(42:33):
the offensive line before this. I mean, they are just
absolutely battling injuries so far. So I feel like I
would have had Rams out and maybe been a chicken
and kept Eagles in. But maybe I should have just
stuck with it. And maybe it just because the Rams did.
They were in position to beat the Lions in Detroit
(42:53):
with you know, if they get a stop at the
end of that game. So maybe I'm being a little
too harsh.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Yeah, that was That was one of those games they
played so well. You if you're the Rams, you would
have loved to come away with a win. But it
almost made me feel better about them. Then again, they
feel like a month at least away from being anywhere
close to hole on the offensive line, which is a
pretty big deal. They're kind of built around their offensive line.
As we wrap up, and thank you, Bill Barnwell, one
of the best in the entire business, the best writer
(43:20):
in the game right now. Check them out at ESPN
dot com. As I tell them often, my ESPN Plus
subscription largely for Bill, a little bit for Zach Lo too.
I gotta admit I do love them.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
A lot of people, a lot of people tell me
Zach is very good.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
I always throw that in.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
I like that if I can be, if I can
be like the ten percent of your ESPN plus behind.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
No, No, you're number one, You're number one by far.
Number two is actually the US Open Women's Tennis tournament
Court thirteen, Like you can get that on ESPN Plus.
Not to give them an but it's just like, oh, yeah,
there's the Martakostiak match that I want to watch. I
can't actually find that any anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Individual high level but like modest court tennis speeds is what.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
You're yes for. Yeah, love that. I mean what an
athlete she is, but yeah, he gets it done. Also,
the Bill Barnwell Short Show, of course is great podcast,
and he's on around the Horn and you see him
on NFL Live. He is everywhere and he's been great forever.
Before we say goodbye, though, I will read you just
something that Mike McDaniel said after the game onto a
(44:33):
tongue of by Loa's injury, just said he's just worried
about his guy. Not something you ever want to be
part of. He'll get a proper evaluation and then the
Dolphins will make a decision on how to proceed with
the injury. And look, he said, every concussion is different
and you'll see. But there was good news that Tua
(44:54):
was in good spirits in the locker room after the game.
That alone makes it a different situation, at least than
the last time that he had it. He was talking
to the team, to his teammates in the locker room
and that made everyone feel better. And so we'll just
have to see what the evaluation is. Obviously we're wishing
the best for him. He also says, look, a loss
(45:16):
like this early in the season as a gut check,
and you know, they have to see how they respond.
It's gonna either be a good thing or a bad
thing to lose a game like this, and obviously losing
their quarterback makes it all the more painful. That's it
for our Thursday night recap show. Hopefully the next one
doesn't have any injuries to speak of. We will be
back on Friday. Thanks again, Bill. Like I said, with
(45:40):
a really quick pick show, we're going to try it
separated from the rest of the show. I know not
everyone's into the picks against the spread, so we'll do
that separate on Friday. Then we'll be back for the
Sunday Week two recap. Until then, so happy that football
is back.
Host
Gregg Rosenthal
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