September 23, 2025 • 52 mins
Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook recap a Monday Night Football classic between the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions in Week 3 of the 2025 NFL regular season. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery had their way on the ground, Jared Goff connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Derrick Henry fumbled AGAIN as Lamar Jackson loses another heart breaker. The Ravens are 1-2 and will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4, while the Lions are 2-1 and have the Cleveland Browns next on the schedule. All of Monday's action and more on the latest from NFL Daily!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Everything right now, Golf takes turns, gives the Montgomery two hands.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
On that football.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
There he goes over the right side, twenty five, twenty
cuts the right, fifteen down to the ten, down to
the time, to the.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
End, Zoe touchdown.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Detroit Lions demo to the house thirty one yards and
the Lions have put this game on ice.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Ha.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
What a night for the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
What a statement by this football team.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Oh it was the Lions making a statement on Monday
night football.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
David Montgomery finishes.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
The game off in the best most fitting way possible,
doing it on the ground where they beat up the
supposedly tough Ravens all night long. That is Dan Miller
and Lomas Brown on w x YT, two of my
absolute favorites on the mics on a night that if
(00:54):
you didn't believe it, after that big win against the Bears,
announced that the Lions are back, that they're not going
anywhere thirty eight to twenty four in one of the
most entertaining Monday night football games in a while. I'm
here with Nick Shook live on YouTube. Appreciate y'all and
(01:14):
everyone listening. The next day, Nick I thought it was
gonna be a classic ending, and in a way it was.
The Lions get the ball up seven, they have it
at midfield, fourth down, deciding do we kick it off
and trust our defense? Now, how about we trust our
defense by going for it Jared Goff Layers in a
(01:36):
perfect throw. They trusted their quarterback, their running game all night,
and the offense delivered. They showed they can still win
shootouts against the best of them. What surprised you the
most tonight?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I mean, I knew the Ravens were missing Nandi Madabik
and Kyle van Noy and that it was gonna make
them little weaker up front. But my god, did the
Detroit Lions send a statement to not only the Baltimore
Ravens but the rest of the NFL that we're gonna
do one thing, and one thing only We're gonna do
with the hat says, run the damn ball. That's what
they're gonna do. And that's what they did on Monday night.
(02:09):
I mean, the totals are absurd. Two hundred and twenty
one net rushing yards for excuse me, two hundred and
twenty four net rushing yards for Detroit. David Montgomery goes
twelve for one fifty one and two touchdowns, a long
seventy two yard run. He gets that touchdown run to
is it. They won the battle of toughness, the battle
of grit in the interior, which is a phrase that's
(02:30):
on the hat Dan campbellwears all the time, grit. They
won the battle of grit tonight, and they proved that
they are one of the toughest teams in the NFL,
especially when it comes to running the football.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
So the final score was thirty eight to thirty after
Lamar had that garbage time touchdown that could have decided
a lot of fantasy football matchups out there with Mark
Andrews getting the touchdown late. And I actually think that
final score flatters the Ravens because even though these two
two teams were going punch for punch and Lamar Jackson
(03:03):
had a lot of great throws in this game. After
the Lions fell down by a touchdown right after halftime,
it was one way traffic. And yeah, a lot of
the passing stats looked similar, but you mentioned those rushing stats,
how uneven they were. After Derek Henry's early rushing touchdown.
They couldn't get anything done on the ground. On the
(03:24):
other hand. David Montgomery is popping off big plays, the
longest run in the NFL over seventy yards and then
he hits that touchdown. But it was the five, the six,
the seven, the eight yard runs. They ended up with
a sixty percent success rate compared to thirty one for
the Ravens, almost doubling them up. It's awesome and so
much focus is going to be on that rushing attack.
(03:46):
And yes, the Ravens were missing a couple key defenders.
Eight the lines aren't gonna feel bad for you. They
were missing key defenders all of last season and no
one made excuses for them back then. And again it
was just Madabweke. You look at the maturation of this
young offensive line. We talked about it all offseason. Is
this gonna be the Achilles heal? Going into this game,
my big question was can this interior offensive line. Tate Ratledge,
(04:10):
the rookie making a ton of great blocks in this game,
Christian Mahogany, second year player, just mowing through people, and
the veteran Graham Glasgow in the middle. They really set
a tempo shook And as I'm watching this game, I'm thinking,
oh man, Nick Schuok is loving what the Detroit Lions
are doing. It's what the Detroit Lions always do. I
guess we shouldn't have doubted just because you know Ben
(04:31):
Johnson is in Detroit.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's why I put the hat on, because it makes
my heart so warm that a team can win classically,
they can win by winning in the trenches and making
a statement like they did. But it also speaks to
the identity of the Detroit Lions offensively, because even though
they lose their offensive cord in the offseason, they're still
the same team. They still like to build out of
the run, build out a play action, and run their
(04:54):
offense that way. And because the running game was so effective,
especially on that eighteen play ninety eight yard drive, they
were able to do whatever they want in passing situations.
They were also converting key third downs on that specific drive.
They got into a rhythm that we really haven't We
didn't see them get into at all in Week one.
We saw them get into it against the Bears in
that blowout, but you thought, well, it's against the Bears.
This was a real test. This was a measuring stick,
(05:16):
and they passed it, and they proved to everybody that
they are still the same team. No, by the way,
we could pull out some tricks out of our bag too.
Just because Ben Johnson's gone doesn't mean he didn't leave
the bag behind. And our new offensive coordinator can't dial
some fun stuff up to that. The option on the
goal line on fourth and one, I mean am and
Ross Saint Brown pitching it to Jamir Gibbs. There was
just so much beautiful creativity from this team. And like
(05:38):
you said, the Detroit Lions, I don't know if they
ever went anywhere, but they're certainly back.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah, they had both running backs on the field at
a certain point.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
They have like the I formation.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
It was the eleventh time in David Montgomery and Jamiir
Gibbs's career as teammates that they both scored a touchdown
in the same game. That is the most in NFL history.
You mentioned the trick play in the fourth quarter on
fourth down, one of a few key key fourth downs
that we're gonna talk about. Let's actually listen to John
(06:09):
Morton getting in his bag, the new Lions offensive coordinator
having his own breakout.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Game, golf up under center, turns gids On and Roh
flits it out to Gibbs. PRIs died a house baby
touchdown Detroit Lions. All that is beautiful. Golf hands it
to Ahmed raw Hamed Roth flips it to Gibs and
the Lions have got the lead back.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
And there was another play earlier in that second half,
which was a throwback pass from Aman Ross Saint Brown
to Jared Goff, perfectly executed. They end up getting a
twenty plus you know, yard chunk play down the field,
and we're focusing on the runs and the fourth downs
for now. At some point we're gonna go through this
whole game because there was so much going on. We
(06:53):
have a lot of highlights. I love that we can
play the highlights, play the sound, and this game, to
me almost deserves a Super Bowl treatment because it's two
teams I picked to get to the Super Bowl, and
going into this game, I really add my doubts whether
the Lions long term are gonna have enough on defense
and whether the offense can be that special. After this game,
(07:15):
I'm obviously feeling better, and I have a few more
doubts about the Ravens, which we'll get to.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
But while we're towards.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
The end of the game, I think it is key
to back up to the fourth down situation at midfield.
Every week, there are so many situations where teams go
for fourth downs and we're just getting used to it.
Mike Rabel went for a fourth and one in the
first half inside his own twenty a game that they
were losing at and like, nobody even blink. These things
(07:42):
are happening every week. But if you really think about it,
in a game like this, the Lions, who I believe
were really out playing the Ravens at this point, need
to get two yards to be in total control of
the game. But if they did not pick it up Nick,
they're giving the Ravens a short field with under two
minutes to go. Years ago, coaches wouldn't even think about that.
(08:03):
Dan Campbell did not even hesitate. Let's listen.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Golf up under center, Montgovernor the single back golf banks
to him, wants to throw does down fielt once on
and Row got him made the catch inside the forty.
That's a first down.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
But there's a flag down as well. It's a hold
against Pauli Moore that is huge. I love the call
by Dan Miller two.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
He doesn't let the penalty get in the way of
a great call, and Jared Goff's numbers don't look flashy.
And this is one where you just have to watch
the game to see everything that happens, because Lamar Jackson's
numbers were great, and he did have a lot of
great throws, but I think he had some real problems
in this game, partially caused by his offensive line, partially
caused by himself. He ends up with only six incompletions,
(08:46):
two hundred and eighty eight yards in three touchdowns. But
it was really Jared Goff's performance twenty for twenty eight,
two hundred and two yards and a touchdown, and that
throw your coach trusting you that that's basically a game
me throw for Jared Goff at this stage of his career.
And Monra winning right off the snap and you throwing
like a nice touch ball towards the sideline over his shoulder.
(09:09):
And he was really excellent tonight, making the throws, making
the decisions, looking off the right receivers, picking the right
matchups whenever he needed to.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, Troy Aikman was overcome with joy after watching that throw.
I mean he could barely contain himself because it was,
like he said, the best throw of the night for
Jared Goff, the perfect touch ball on a key spot
you can't afford to miss aman Ro Saint Brown on
that player, Like you said, you're gonna give the Ravens
a short field. But again, the beauty of it is
the fact that it's fourth and one and they're able
(09:38):
to run play action and sneak Am and Rah out
like that and get him in a one on one
situation where he gets a step on the defender and
he's able to come down with that because this is
a guy who notoriously has not had a drop in
like two years. So of course, if you want to
trust the shorts hands in your team, it's am Andro
Saint Brown. But you got to get it there to him.
How do you get it there? You run the play
action after you've dominated them on the ground when it's
(09:58):
a short yarded situation. And just another example of beautiful
play calling flow from the Lions offense and just a
almost perfect way to cap this game, because the only
better way to cap it is with that David Montgomery
touchdown run that we already played. That was the poetic ending,
the fitting ending that we all deserved, right.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
That one two punch was awesome, And it's why I
sometimes think when you're talking about the best games of
the year, of the decade, of all time, the best
Super Bowls. We have a comment from one of our
viewers right now, Richard, who said this was easily top
five Monday night football game of the decade.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Now that's a bold statement.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I'd have to go through it, but I do think
sometimes everyone just thinks of what has the best final play,
and that is important, like the best like final moment
that is in your head. But of all the Super
Bowls I went to, I always go back to that
Saint's Cult super Bowl, which were just two great teams,
(10:54):
tons of great players on both sides, Haymakers throughout, and
then an explosion that is essentially ended at that Tracy
Porter interception with five minutes to go. And this game
reminded me a little bit of that, where it's just
unreal plays on both sides, and yes, you didn't get
that incredible finish, but you got the two play sequence
from the Lions, and it's a game I'll remember. And
(11:16):
if the Lions do end up making it far in
the playoffs this year, I think they showed themselves something
They did fall down in this game, and so I'm
testing my producer Chris Babona here because we got a
ton of possible highlights in this game.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I want to go.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Back to the third quarter because that was the first
time in the game that the Ravens had the lead.
If you remember, they go into halftime tying it up
with a late drive to Rashad Bateman. They get the
touchdown after their defense did a good job getting the
ball back for them. We'll get into what the Lions
defense did in a second. Then the Ravens come out
(11:52):
in the second half, really effective drive. It's the first
touchdown to Mark Andrews and you think, okay, it's rolling.
The Lions have to score or on the ensuing drive,
and that's exactly what they did, and it finished with
one of Jared Goff's best throws of the night, another
one to amanra.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Golf out of the gun.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Montgomery was right, Jared's got it back and looking looking
throwing right side.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
One salmon raw end zone got it touchdown Detroit Lions.
What a delivery that time by Golf where only aman
rival those late hands could pull it in and the
Lions were an extra point away from drawing even once
again here in Paltible.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
What did you think about that route?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
So you see you see Marlon Humphrey just looking up
in like the distance like wondering how did that just happen.
That's because Amon Ra While he's got the surest hands
in the NFL, or one of the best sets of
hands in the NFL, he also is an incredible route runner.
And he ran a fantastic little stutter step double move
almost like a hitch and go that left Humphrey just
a step behind. And he watched him on that play
(12:51):
where he his momentum completely stops and then he has
to restart, and at that point he's already cooked because
Golf's gonna put that ball on Saint Brown. He's gonna
come down with it, and late hands are not. It
didn't matter. He created that space with his route running.
So it was a great design. This game was full
of great designs. And this is also a demonstration of
a rapport between a quarterback and receiver where they can
(13:12):
trust each other to be in the right spot. Put
the ball on me in the right spot, and that's
how you come through in a game like this.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Yeah, we're not gonna just talk only positive about the Lions,
like the whole time.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
But it really is so impressive. You know, I'm on ride.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
It's another one where you look at the box score,
seven for seventy seven and a touchdown, great night on
eight targets. But the last two weeks watching this, dude,
you understand why Jared Goff made those comments to Troy
Aikman that it's the best receiver he's ever played with.
And you think about some of the guys he played
with with the Rams, and I get it, Like he
(13:49):
really is that dude, and like the sharpness of his
route running everything was awesome. Let's change gears a little
bit and talk a little bit about the Lions defense
in this game. You know, you'll see that the Ravens
put up thirty points, but ultimately the Lions defense gets
seven sacks in this game. The pressure rate wasn't that different,
(14:10):
but they did a nice job sacking Lamar Jackson. They
forced punts in key spots, and they made some big
time plays. Let's go back all the way to the
end of that second quarter and think about that goal
line stand. And I know the Ravens ended up scoring
at the end of that half, but it was one
of many moments tonight you realize like, yeah, the Lion's defense,
(14:32):
they might not be that deep up front, but they
absolutely came to play.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Let's go to the fourth down call out of the gun.
Jackson's got it, run into his right, wants.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
To throw now press the ball's loose on the ground.
It is recovered by Jackson, but it does not matter.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
That's Lions football.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
A fourth down stop by this team.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
Jackson tried to roll out, had a run pass option
and Jack Campbell was there to knock that ball.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Who So I think it's absolutely fair to criticize Lamar
Jackson for holding the ball too long, not throwing the
ball away, maybe sometimes assuming he was gonna get away.
But on that play and a couple other shots where
they gave us the all twenty two like vision, there
was no one really open. I don't think there was
anywhere for Lamar Jackson to go on that play, Like
(15:22):
what did you see out of the coverage and just
everything that they were throwing at him. And from Kelvin Shepherd,
the new defensive coordinator.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Well, it's the downside of that play, which the Ravens,
that's like their favorite play to run in two point
situations in fourth and short on the goal line situations.
They've done it before. It has not worked. Sometimes it
has worked. Sometimes Mark Andrews drops the ball on a
divisional playoff game for a two point conversion like that happens,
But they love to run this play. And I think
for the first time Lamar encountered a situation in which
he had nowhere to go and no idea what to do,
(15:51):
because when you roll the short side of the field,
you are limiting the amount of space that you can
work with everything's flowing that way, you're gonna have to
completely change direction. And he's already under rest because of
this Lions defense. And it was a great example I
think of also preparation a team that knows this is
what they like to do in that situation, We're gonna
bottle it up with the right coverage and shut them
down like that. And I think it kind of typified
(16:13):
the whole night, or a lot of the night for
the Lions defense, which, by the way, we gotta put
some respect on this Lions defense's name for what they
did bottling up Lamar Jackson tonight. It just typified the
whole night. They were able to get after him consistently.
They were disciplined in their contain and in their rush
lanes and in their tackling. And yes they forced the
fumble there because Lamar holds onto the ball too long.
(16:34):
But Lamar is not gonna just throw it away in
that situation. He's gonna try to make a play. And
ultimately it was a big play in a game that
didn't end up meaning all that much, I guess, but
at the time it was another one of those statements
that hey, we're not gonna be another one of those
teams that almost picks you off twice and then gives
up a touchdown like they did later. We're gonna be
that team that fights all the way through all four downs.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
See, I'm like a process not just the results guy too,
And I think it just is part of a night
where they just kept battling, and yeah, like the Ravens,
if you think about it, had to hit a lot
of really impressive throws to win. Not saying that Goff didn't,
but in the trenches, we've already talked about it. It
just was such a mismatch. The Lions offensive line beasted
(17:18):
the Ravens defensive line on the ground, the Lions defensive
line beasted the Ravens offensive line when they tried to run.
So it came down to ultimately, like could they get
enough pressure on Lamar Jackson because it turned into a
game where he had to just throw all the time.
And for a while I was ready to come on
(17:39):
here and talk about like, well, Aiden Hutchinson not really
quite looking like himself. The pressure rate is pretty low,
and then by the end of the game you look
up and it's a forty percent pressure rate.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
It's the sacks.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
It's not letting him get out as a runner, I think,
which was really impressive. Al ka He Muhammad, who you know,
was picked up off the scrap. He he was on
the practice squad at pretty large sections of last season
for the Lions, like he couldn't even make their active roster.
He was making a lot of plays. The linebackers were
really good. Angelone actually had a number of quick pressures
(18:11):
on blitzes, and in the end, Hutchinson made a couple
of the biggest plays of the game with a sack
and also knocking the ball out of Derrick Henry's hands.
Man Derrick Henry is having a rough go of it
in the last what is it, nine quarters of this
season after an unreal start to the season. If someone
had said after like the third quarter of that Bills game,
(18:34):
that Derrick Henry would kind of be a problem for
the Ravens at the end of Week three, like I
never would have believed it. But not only is he
fumbling every game, one in each game, and two of
those fumbles were absolutely killers, But they're not getting consistent runs.
He had that touchdown run, but other than that, it
was a pretty rough game. And again, you have to
(18:55):
give a lot of credit to like the team defense
of the Lions, even if it's not a ton of
indivis stars.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, I think the Lions did a good job of
knocking the Ravens out of their rhythm with the way
that they played defensively, and all of that had to
do with stopping Lamar Jackson on passing downs. Now, it
wasn't perfect. He still completed a lot of those passes,
you know, out of structure, improvising that's what he's going
to do. But their coverage, they were versatile on coverage.
Acording to the next Gen, they ran zone fifty five
point three percent of the time. The rest of it
was man, that's pretty balanced. They got sacks in both looks,
(19:23):
whether it was man or zone, and most importantly, they
threw them out of their rhythm to the point that,
like Derrick Henry after they got that goal line stand,
Derrick Henry got three carries in the second half until
that one that he fumbled, and I had a thought
to myself, I'm like, I feel like I haven't seen
Dereck Henry on the field in ages like this is
a close game. He is a runner who can you know,
(19:43):
balance and pace your offense really well, and he hasn't
been out there. Then he gets a carry right after
I have that thought. Any fumbles and it completely changes
the game from there.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Yeah, it's crazy because that that was a moment. And
I'm seeing a comment by the way from our friend
Will Gavin, who is on his way home now. Will
Gavin is a host. If you guys are are UK fans,
you're probably not listening unless it's the audio version.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
But because it's four thirty in the morning.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Right now, I'm gonna be joining Will on Talk Sport
to help call the game in Dublin on Sunday and
the following game in London the week after with the
Brownies and the Vikings and of course the Steelers and
the Vikings this week, and he says, Man, the Ravens
losing in the trenches so badly for someone had them
in the Super Bowl, it's tough to watch. Keep up
(20:30):
the good work, boys, So I like hearing that. But
the defense is actually what I feel more differently about,
you know, coming out of this game, because if you
think about their team build this offseason, and Brad Holmes
is one of the best to do it, they really
invested in run stoppers in the middle of their defense.
(20:52):
They have DJ Reader as their free agent from a
few years ago that's now healthy again. And Tylee Williams,
a guy who I know, you know, you looked at
lot in the draft and there aren't many teams putting
two guys like that who are really run stoppers and
not you know, pass rusher type defensive lineman on the
field almost every snap, and it really paid off tonight.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, and guess who made a little shoe string tackle
on Lamar Jackson when he tried to take off DJ Reader.
Guess who was there to fill the run lane? Dj
Reader and Tyler Williams.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
I felt so good, and I almost felt like, God,
I'm an idiot for not giving them more respectfuling to
this game. But then again, who among us expected al
Kadeen Muhammad to have two and a half sacks, to
be a constant closer when the Lions effectively caged up
Lamar Jackson, which it takes me back to when I
worked for the Browns of twenty nineteen. I remember talking
to those guys when they went in their Week four
(21:41):
game against the Ravens that year in Baltimore, and I
was like, how do you stop Lamar? He's having a
great year, And they just said, you got a Cajun.
You got a Cajun. We got to keep him in
a box. You got to make sure he doesn't escape.
The Lions did that perfectly, and so many teams don't
do that. The Lions personnel did not suggest that they
would do that, And that's why we need to put
respect on their names. Because of guys like al Kadeen Muhamed,
because of a veteran like DJ Reader, and of course
(22:03):
because of Aiden Hutchinson, a guy who Baltimore gets so
concerned about him, they slide their protection to the left
and he just splits two guys and gets right after
Lamar for a crushing sack and a key moment in
the game. Everybody on this defense, Alex Angeloni's spying Jack
Campbell back there at the second level. They all made plays.
They played so cohesively, and that's why I thinks everybody
(22:23):
who watches the NFL is going to see the lines
more seriously because of the performance that they gave on
both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
To Knight, they got away with lining up in base
defense most of the night, and by base defense that
means three linebackers essentially on the field. Almost no teams
do that at this point, but they had that sort
of vision again with the team build bigger linebackers, and
I mean in terms of guys like Derek Barnes, who
was like an old school also had a great game
side right like also had a great game, like an
(22:50):
old school strong side linebacker, kind of the run stopper
who's almost been like legislated out of the league, like
that sort of player, but he can blitz.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
He's versatile enough.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
I think like a faster, more dynamic team could take
advantage of that. Maybe if you have Isaiah likely in
this game you know when the Ravens are lining up
in two tight end sets throughout most of the game,
but they haven't quite gotten the mix with all their receivers. Now,
I do want to note, like Lamar had some dimes
in this game. Oh yeah, I'm just gonna mention a few.
(23:22):
And actually it kind of points out now that I
think about about it, how tough the Lions defense was playing,
because I felt like there were more easy throws for
Jared Goff throughout the course of the night. There was
a throw early in the game on third and long
where Lamar is rolling left, throws it across his body
to Bateman on the sideline for ten yards like an
incredibly low, you know, percentage type of throw.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Hits that.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
Then he goes tes Walker deep down the field. That
was a beautiful throw. He had the crazy sideline throw
to Nu Hopkins where you thought after it got over
the underneath defender, that thing's going out of bounce and
he just like drops it in there. I love the
third and long to Rashad Bateman when they were down
twenty eight to twenty one and they're driving and he
(24:07):
has to hit a whole shot and be patient and
throw anticipation over the middle. Like these were high level throws.
He also had that touchdown to Mark Andrews early in
the second half, So like there were a lot of
amazing plays hell just to get Jerry Sandusky into the show.
Let's listen to a Ravens highlight. Let's listen to the
Mark Andrews touchdown to start the second half.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
You hate to settle for a field goal. Lamar Jackson
from the shotgun.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Throws towards the end zone looking for Andrews.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
He's got a touchdown, Mark Andrews driving glob along the
sideline and the Ravens have their first lead of nights.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
But that was a great throw and a great catch,
bark Mark Andrews.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Ah, that was a great throw. That was Rod Woodson,
who knows a great throw when he sees it, Like,
what did you see there?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Shook, threaded, absolutely threaded, and from the distance, because like, yeah,
I think it was a fourteen yard touchdown pass, but
the distance you know, from where Lamar was to the
corner of the end zone makes it a lot longer.
Couldn't be placed better, I mean, could not be placed
better in the pocket where Andrews can make that grab.
Just inside the pylon, just outside the outstretched reach of
the def nearest defender. You know, I watched that route develop.
(25:18):
I think it was branch and coverage and I and
I know it was Angelonian coverage. And I'm watching him
run with him and I'm like, he's covered pretty well,
and Lamar throws it and I'm like, oh, he's gonna
have to fit this one in boom right, and that
it's like thread in a needle, just just right through
the eye of the needle for a touchdown. That's what
Lamar is capable of doing. It. He had a number
of throws like this, like you said tonight, And I
think that will get lost in the aftermath conversation about
(25:41):
this game, because the wait get.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Lost in our comments right now, people are are killing Lamar.
I think multiple things can be true.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah, So the other thing that's true is that Lamar
needs to figure out how to operate in the pocket
and not give himself so much time sometimes because it
hurt them when sometimes you can just take off for
a gain of five. And I think that they will
correct that going forward because it definitely hurt them tonight.
Both things can be true, You're right, but I have.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
A feeling like he's not someone that when you watch
the film, has open receivers and doesn't let go of
the ball. I think what the Lions showed him tonight
with mostly zone coverage like worked. There weren't that many
open receivers and at least they were mudding up the picture.
After that Andrews fumble, they go three and out where
(26:25):
he takes a sack. On that drive, they have to
go ten plays just to get thirty nine yards. On
that drive that I mentioned where he hits the ball
over the middle to Bateman, there were a lot of
penalties involved here. Then Derrick Henry fumbles the ball. And
then really the killer was when they got the ball
back with six thirty five to go and they go
(26:47):
three and out. They end up with a fourth and nine.
There another drive that starts with a big time sack.
And at first it was like these plays where Lamar
is trying to get out of trouble and he's just
taken down for no gain. And as the game is
wearing on, like he is taking bigger and bigger deficits
in terms of like longer sacks, And I think multiple things.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Can be true.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
This game is on the Ravens defense obviously, and the
running game, like the passing game was by far the
best part of the Ravens. I mean, the freaking Ravens
gave up two to ninety five yard plus drives. That's outrageous.
We haven't even mentioned that. There was an eighteen play
ninety eight yard drive. You mentioned it, but that was
the longest drive of course in the NFL this season
in terms of minutes, ten minutes and forty eight seconds.
(27:34):
But Joe Buck mentioned there hasn't been a drive over
ninety five yards against the Ravens defense in Baltimore for
over twenty years.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
They gave up two of them tonight.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
So on a night like that where Derrick Henry has
a terrible success rate and your defense plays like that
and Dereck Henry fubbles the ball in the fourth quarter,
Lamar Jackson is not number one on your biggest issues.
That said, like the accusations that he can be like
a little amped up in games, I do wonder about
(28:02):
that sometimes because early on, like you're watching him on
the sideline when they went three and out early, like
he was so frustrated early in that game, and you
can see just like the tension. I hate being the
body language doctor. A lot of players play well when
they're angry. I'm not saying that they couldn't, but you
just can almost like feel the anxiety coming off of
(28:26):
that sideline between Lamar and then of course Derrick Henry,
you know, crashing out a.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Little bit later.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Like I do think, like you holding onto the ball
so long like that feels like a little bit of
a little bit of tightness, even though there was a
lot of great plays in between.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
I do think there is.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
It's fair to like point out there's something to that
for the Lamar haters out there, which I am not one,
but you know, there's something to it.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah, I'm not a Lamar hater either, but I hate
to be this guy in this moment. I see a
trend in the Baltimore Ravens over the last few years
that we witnessed tonight, which is that when they meet
a team that is at their level that they cannot
bully offensively, that they cannot shut down defensively and then
just run over them with Derrick Henry or with Lamar
(29:10):
or whatever. They get tight, they play tight, they make mistakes,
They let the pressure of the moment consume them sometimes
and I think what you just described is exactly what
that was. And there were periods in this game where
I felt as if the Ravens were overcoming that and
they were just going to be the better team and
end up winning a game, because, for example, the Ravens
(29:31):
take the lead twenty one to fourteen after the Lions
go three and out, the Lions go three and out
after that goal line stand, and the play calling is
a little questionable, the Ravens cash in to end the
first half. There were just a few periods in this
game where I'm like, the Lions are like one miscue,
one big Derrick Henry run, one big Lamar Jackson play
away from being down multiple scores, and maybe they don't
(29:52):
have enough to come back, and they never got there.
And I think that frustrated the Ravens and the miscues
and the small errors in detail. A guy maybe not
running a route where Lamar wants and he underthrows the ball,
or it looks like he under throws the ball because
the receiver's not where he wants them to be. Lamar
not being able to break the pocket and take off
for runs when he thinks they're there, guy's not getting open.
I think all of that compounded and you saw the
(30:15):
effects of it capped by the Derrick Henry fubble late
in the fourth quarter where they're like, Wow, we're really
gonna lose this big game at home on primetime right now,
I can't believe this. We're the Baltimore Ravens. We're not
supposed to do this. Well, guess what you also play
in the NFL where the Browns beat the Packers on Sunday.
Things like that happen.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Hey, let's starting on them.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Hey, the Browns and the Ravens have the same record
right now. Yeah, Like if you just like, if you
just said who's played better? And I don't think the
Ravens have played better this season necessarily than the Browns.
The Browns outplayed the Bengals in Week one. I know
they got beat forty one to ten.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
I'm just saying the comline.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Defensively, the Browns have played better than the Ravens, but
offensively it's not even in the same pace.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I need to say is that I feel like the
both of these teams should be two and one, and
it's not that big good.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Difference that could be true, that could be true.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
It's such a long season, but the road to the
one seed is going to be harder starting off at
one and two. You know, you're in a division where
Jake Browning and Aaron Rodgers respect to him, but not
playing the best quarterback right now are quarterbacking the teams
that are currently in first place. Like, I'm not that
(31:28):
concerned about the Ravens long term. To me, this is
more about the Lions. But when we talk about the tightness,
to me, it's more just like expectations. It's not like
that they're getting nervous and that they can't perform well
in big game. It's just they've lost so many of
these heartbreakers. They've lost so many big leads, they've been
(31:49):
on the cuss. They've been the best regular season offense
now for three straight years. And it's just the expectations,
and I think those are sometimes difficult to manage as
a team. And it's one of the reasons why I'm
really impressed with how the Lions have responded after Week one,
because they're also in this cycle of they've never been
here before, right shook and where they're you know, they're
(32:12):
now like deep into this run of like trying to
stay at the top. And I think that's the hardest
thing to do in the NFL, is stay at the top,
and the Ravens and the Lions, that's exactly what they're
trying to do.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
There's one difference between those two teams. One of them
plays in the same conference that's occupied by the Kansas
City Chiefs and the other one doesn't. And I think
when you know that you have that team to take down,
you realize, like, yeah, I mean until they're not there,
they're there. I think that adds a little bit more pressure.
And this is a measuring stick game and you know that,
(32:44):
and so I just think it adds a little bit more.
And they have a longer history of not getting the
job done than the Lions do. And also, you know,
this is no shot at John Harbaugh at all. Hell
of a coach. But there's something about Dan Campbell in
the way that he trusts his guys and goes forward
on fourth down and all those things and wears his
heart in his sleeve that just seems to invigorate a
team and creates a culture of that maybe they'll band
(33:07):
together and rally together when the adversity strikes that maybe
the Ravens don't have that same mental toughness in them,
not necessarily on the coach, but just on the key
figures in each franchise. I think that is one of
the factors that played into this game tonight.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
Well, yeah, we'd say that the team takes on the
personality of their head coach. You know, when I was
talking about like that, you know, Dereck Henry being a
little tight on the sideline, and John Harbaugh is like
the number one guy we made a little bit before
the season, like of any coach that I like, I'm
literally afraid of John Harbor. There is so much boiling
beneath the surface. I feel like at all times when
(33:42):
it is not going well, there is like an anxiety
and attention and his decision making in big spots has
not been amazing. And you compare that to Dan Campbell,
and yeah, maybe maybe it does rub off on the
rest of the team. All right, I'm doing a little
schedule watching because we're talking Browns, right, and then we're
talking Chiefs, and those teams have matchups against these teams
(34:02):
coming up. So the Lions get this win, they have
a tricky game. I think it's fair to say The
Browns are tricky at this point considering how good their
defense is. They have the Browns next week in Detroit,
then at Cincinnati, at Kansas City, and then the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers before their bye week. The Ravens, on the
(34:23):
other hand, go right from this blood bath on the
road on a short week to Kansas City in theory
one of their biggest games of the year before heading
home for the Texans and the Rams before their bye week.
Really interesting schedules for both these teams, and we're just
(34:44):
getting started. But you look at those schedules and they
are going to be tested in a lot of these games,
and they are both going to be challenged to not
get to their bye week with like a three to
three type of record.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Yeah. If you want to wash the waves, Yeah, if
you want to wash away the sour taste in your
mouth from this and make all the haters shut up,
you go beat the Chiefs next week, and you do it.
It's a game in pretty dominant fashion, and I think
that their strengths matchup well against the Chiefs. And then
at that point people forget a little bit about what
happened against the Lions tonight, like it can all change.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
But it puts so much on that game though, and
we will get into it.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
But that's the beauty of the NFL. Every week it matters.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
In every week matters more. And it's a funny thing.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
I always think about the early part of the season.
The bigger games to me, having watched you know for
so many years, is the bigger games early in the
season are actually with the good teams that are off
to slow starts, Like it would be great, it'd be fun.
I bet CBS would love it if Ravens Chiefs was
(35:50):
a battle of undefeated, isn't that game bigger?
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Now that they're both one and two?
Speaker 4 (35:54):
One of those two teams with very challenging schedules ahead
of them is going to be one in three.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
And if you.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Thought, like the tension with Travis Kelcey bumping Andy Reid
or the tension of Derrick Henry like falling over on
the sideline was bad after this week, like how about
you lose to your other AFC rivals next week? And
so it really sets up like a fascinating matchup there.
And the Lions, on the other hand, can breathe a
little bit of a sigh relief. Book Man that they
(36:22):
would love nothing more to beat up on the Chiefs.
That in a couple of weeks too, the Bucks are
on the schedule coming up, which is gonna be big,
and I just love it. Before we move on from
this game, and we are gonna do some news very
quickly on this show because there were some big time
injury news. It is time for delivering results presented by
Uber Eats. And no one, and I mean no one
(36:45):
deserves this honor more than the Lions offensive line and
their running backs. And I am talking about David Montgomery.
We've hit a couple of his highlights already. Let's go
to the big seventy two yard rush in the second
half of this game.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
I center, there's the snap Jared Hans to Montgomery.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Montgomery.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
There it goes across twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
He goes middle of the fields to the fifty tank
thing right at the forty five down, to the thirty down,
to the twenty taking.
Speaker 5 (37:15):
Down from behind it the fifteen yard line.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
David Montgomery running for daylight and running big for these
Detroit Lions.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Oh my goodness, oh man, twelve for one, fifty one
and two. I was watching that still with my son
and my wife and Emmaica just goes like.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
I thought he was faster, and Walker is like, no,
that's Gibbs.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
But uh, don't dog on David Montgomery because that bursts
through the whole is fantastic. His ability to make people
miss and his freaking toughness. Shout out to Brad Holmes
and David and Dan Campbell for making him one of
their very first free agent signings, saying there he is
going to set the tempo and the really the mo
o for this team and that that dou ah. They
(38:00):
wouldn't be as good without each other. They were just
a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Yeah. I mean it's thunder and lightning right there, and
we saw them both in action. It was Gibbs early,
it was Gibbs and short yardage. Then it was Montgomery
and short yardage, and then it was Montgomery ripping off the
big game. It was Montgomery closing the game with another
big run down the side then where he did look
fast enough to get the job done. I love We've
already talked about it. I love offensive line play when
it works well, when you run duo and then your
(38:24):
bulldozer of our running back who still got burst gets
through the hole and rips off a big one. They
out raven the Ravens tonight, and it was because of
guys like them.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Yeah, and look, that's just what they do when they
need a play. It's especially like if they're in like
a second and long situation, especially they just run duo.
Explain to the listeners what that means, because that's like real,
no nonsense. They're not trying to fool your power football exactly.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
That's when you when you dedicate two blockers to one
guy with the idea of getting one of them to
the second level, and you just bully the first guy
off the line, create an initial run lane. The second
guy gets the second level, creates you a second And
that's exactly what Montgomery did and followed, except he also
broke a tackle on his way out, which is really
what sprung him for the massive gain and to show
off those wheels that may not be as fast as Gibbs,
(39:10):
but they're still fast enough.
Speaker 3 (39:12):
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
And yes we went a little long on Lions Ravens,
but these are two teams into me in the inner
circle of possible teams we could see in Santa Clara
in February and they delivered an incredible game that was
delivering results. Presented by Uber Eats, where you can get
the best deals on game day food all season long,
(39:36):
the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order Now,
because you know, it's probably early somewhere, and yeah, it's
never too late to I still kind of want to
snack after this game. Okay, We're gonna do some news
and I appreciate everyone, you know commenting that the Ravens
are lost and everything's you know, just calm down.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
It's still se This team.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
More than anyone else, traditionally improves at least in the
regular season.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
Late.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
We are going to rank the news items that came
out today in injuries in order of how I believe
it will impact these teams. And we'll be quick on it,
but some of them are pretty big. Nothing bigger than
Nick Bosa being out for the season with a torn ACL.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Yeah, I mean this is a history. He has a
history of a torny acl. He is their best player
on the defensive front. They underwent a lot of changes
in the offseason on the defensive front with the idea
that hey, we're gonna trim salary, but we have Nick
Bosa there to still rush the passer. Now you lose him, Greg,
I watched the game against the Cardinals on Sunday and
they win that one, and I'm like, I cannot freaking
(40:50):
believe that the San Francisco forty nine Ers are three
and zero because they continue to lose guys. Yeah, they
continue to win games. Bryce Huff had a nice game
against Arizona, but he's not Nick Bosa. They invested in
Mikel Williams. He's young, Like it does concern me, but
I'm also not gonna sound the alarm bells because they've been,
you know, managing all these injuries so far in they're
three to zero, but it is a crushing blow for them,
(41:11):
for sure, just because of your in terms of defensive
potential and what you can do to get after a passer.
It's gonna put that much more stress on their fantastic
linebacking due a Fred Warner and d Winners and on
that secondary and you hope that they can make it through.
So far they are, but it's a big loss.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
It's huge.
Speaker 4 (41:28):
I listened to a forty nine Ers podcast sometimes called
Candlestick Chronicles, and they thought he was the most irreplaceable
guy on the entire roster, at least going into the
season because of the.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
Total lack of depth in their mind.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Now now three weeks in, Bryce Huff has been better
than you could have ever expected. He can give you
some pass rush juice. He's not a number one, but
he's been better. Mikel Williams, their first round pick, is
in that Aric Armstead mold as a good run stopper.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
You can play him inside.
Speaker 4 (41:59):
He really looks like a good pick, top fifteen pick,
and he looks like it not a big time pass rusher.
They're gonna have to manufacture some pass rush. They are
a good team defense. I think Robert Sala has really
helped their defense overall. But it's just a huge fall
and you do wonder if with Bosa out, those two
guys won't get to be as effective as they've been.
(42:22):
I think they are a huge candidate to go pick
up someone because the forty nine ers are about that life.
Now we'll see who's you know, trading defensive ends well,
the Saints want to trade like a Carl Granderson or
a Cam Jordan like there will be players available generally
(42:42):
these types of trades, it's not gonna be blockbuster, but
like a Carl Granderson, for instance, from the Saints for
like a fourth or a fifth round pick, he's gonna
play valuable snaps. Those are the types of moves that
I'm talking about, because if you look at the forty
nine ers schedule.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
It's pretty It's pretty cake.
Speaker 4 (42:58):
The rest to the way, Like this division is great
and not everyone can make it right now, they're all
above five hundred, but the out of division schedules pretty cake.
So I would think that they will make a move
because I think their offense can get better as they
get Brandon ayukback, as obviously they get Rock Purty back,
and just get healthier in general on offense.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
Yeah, I'm trying to think about who might be available
outside of a team like the Saints, because, like I
they're not going to trade Cameron Jordan. It's well, they're
not gonna get the return that makes it worthwhile. I
think even at this point in his career, just because
he's a Saints legend, but like you do have to
swing some.
Speaker 4 (43:32):
Sort of someone from the Titans like arden Key, Like
there are some gross looking teams out there. Would Cavon
Thibodeau be available if they're one in six in MIDDI yeah,
you know this is this is a conversation probably for
another day.
Speaker 3 (43:46):
And I.
Speaker 4 (43:48):
You know, on one hand, you know, you really feel
for Bosa and anyone who has a big time injured
like this. On the other hand, man, the forty nine
ers are almost like a case study in the risks
of putting so much of your salary cap into just
a handful of players. Every guy they give a monster
contract to has like a major injury, doesn't the players
(44:09):
deserve it? So you know, I always believe they deserve it.
But cmc Aric Armstead a couple of years ago that
happened exactly to him, and then like right when he
got a contract, Brandon Ayuk now Nick Bosa, I might
be forgetting Dre Greenlaw got a nice contract for them
and then got hurt. There there's just been a lot
of bad luck. The Cowboys have had some bad luck too.
(44:30):
This is number two on my list for affecting them.
Can they win games? Shook without ceed Lamb and their
guard Tyler Booker, their first round pick. Both of them
will be out multiple weeks with high ankle springs. Ceed
Lamb will not be put on IR. They want to
evaluate it really after a couple games and see if
he has a chance to return after that.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Yeah, you know why they're valuing after a couple of
games because they saw how bad their offense was with
him out of the game in Chicago on Sunday and
how much it hurt. I mean, Dak's playing great football,
but you your guard in Tyler Booker, who's played, you know,
really well for a rookie, and then you lose your
top targeted receiver and suddenly all you're left with is
Jake Ferguson and George Pickens. That's a big loss, and
(45:11):
that's a big loss for a team that is going
to be heavily dependent on their offense because their defense
can't stop a nosebleed. So that's why you give yourself
the shorter runway or the possibility of it by evaluating
in two weeks. Because the hih ankle sprain is not
a quick turn, and unless he's young enough to heal quickly,
it's going to be more wish casting than actual reality,
and that's gonna hurt them, and especially you know where
(45:31):
they are as a team right now. You know they're
one and two and They're coming off of a loss
in which they looked significantly worse than the team they
played in the second half in Chicago, and I just
don't see it getting any better for them because they
can't stop anybody defensively and now their offense is gonna
be weaker. Oh no, by the way, the date with
Mike Parsons and the Packers is next week. Maybe they
get a bit of a reprieve by week five at
the Jets and then the Panthers week six, But I
(45:53):
don't know. Man. The vibes are not good with this
team right now, and this does not help at all.
Speaker 4 (45:57):
No, there are only chance to having a fun season
was gonna be able to outscore teams, and you just
can't do it with Ceedee Lamb and two missing offensive lineman.
Remember they also lost their their starting center for six
to eight weeks, So that's two interior offensive linemen that
are gonna be out.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
It's just not gonna happen.
Speaker 4 (46:14):
They're gonna be one and three, and their only chance,
you know, schedule wise, to kind of get to that
relevance and win those shootouts were to win the games
like Carolina and against the Jets like you have to
win those games, and that's going to be more difficult
without Ceedee Lamb and Tyler Booker, who, like I said,
it's gonna be out a couple weeks all right. Number three,
and these are ranked in order of how it will
impact Stanley's number one in my eyes, of how much
(46:37):
you feel for the player. It's tough to rank this
because Naja Harris is coming up at number four, But
I just love James Connor and he's been really set
back by injuries. Obviously overcame cancer early in his career,
so to hear he is out with a broken ankle,
not a surprise after what we saw on the field,
but beyond you know, feeling for him, like what do
(46:59):
you think this does for their running attack this season
shook which really hasn't been great even with Connor there.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
Yeah, I was gonna talk about how I feel about him,
just because I talked to him about his battle with
cancer years ago and he was just a super nice
guy and he's a got easy to root for. He's
also been the identity of this Cardinal's rushing attack. I mean,
he's been there since twenty twenty one, which I was
reminded of today. I can't believe time is flying by
that fast. And he's let them be in rushing every
year he's been there. His last two seasons, he's broken
(47:25):
a thousand yards sometimes for offenses that are pretty limited.
They've been pretty limited overall in their first three games,
but they dearly missed him when he got hurt in
this game and they were trying to put one away
in San Francisco. All they needed was like a first down,
and they couldn't get one because they couldn't run the ball.
And Mario Dearmercado is not a guy that you run
between the tackles consistently. He's more of a guy that
you're gonna lead as your lean on as a pass
(47:46):
catching back. You got Trey Benson, who's a second year
player who's gonna have to be asked to do a
lot more. You're probably gonna pick up somebody because those
are your two remaining guys, essentially, and I don't feel
good about the balance of this offense, which is already
I'm struggling. Kyler Murray's been all right. His connection with
Marvin Harrison Junior is not consistent. He's more consistent with
(48:07):
other pass catchers on his team. You do have Trey McBride.
He finally caught a touchdown before the last month of
the season this year, which is great, But ultimately, like
I just, I'm very much concerned about the ceiling of
this offense now without James Connor. And it may sound,
you know, like I'm hitting the panic button and freaking
everybody out or whatever, but that's how important James Connor
has been to this offense. There are games last year
if he ran well, they probably won, and if he didn't,
(48:28):
they lost. And now they don't have him at all,
so they got to find a different way to win.
Speaker 4 (48:32):
Yeah, and he didn't look great, but I think it
was more about the blocking scheme that I think they
might miss their run game coordinator, their offensive coordator last year,
Clayton Adams, who's with the Dallas Cowboys. Their run game
looks fantastic. I do think Trey Benson gives them some juice,
but this is a team that's mediocre across the board.
We'll talk about him more on Tuesday show, which is
(48:54):
only what is it like sixteen hours from now, so
you don't have to wait long. We'll be previewing T
and F Jordan Rodriege in the studio. Soon enough, Naje
Harris I mentioned out for the season with a torn achilles.
We thought this was coming. I thought he was running
well this year. And there was a player two on
Sunday which I think showed the difference between him and
a mari and Hampton one where he got hit behind
(49:15):
the line of scrimmage on a third and one. Hampton
is strong, but Na he's even stronger, and he in
like he he got over the line, and so I
think they will miss him, but ultimately they still have
a great back in Hampton and in some depth there,
so I think they'll be okay. And then another thing
we'll probably follow up on Tuesday with the Giants Jackson
(49:36):
Dart situation. Brian Davele said that they're evaluating everything. When
asked if he's sticking with Russell Wilson, ninety six percent
chance they're going to Jackson Dart, but let's just talk
about that when it actually happens, So we'll do that
on Tuesday. The bigger surprise to me shook was they
asked Aaron Glenn if Justin Fields is definitely starting if
(49:58):
he gets out of the concussion protoco and he didn't
give a clear answer for that.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
Like I'm okay with that, he just was he just.
Speaker 3 (50:05):
Not ready for the answer. I know Tyron played pretty well,
but no.
Speaker 2 (50:09):
I think that it's weird because you signed Justin Fields
to that two year contract with the idea that he's
gonna be your guy for the next couple of years
and hopefully it works out. But I think that the
difference in the way this offense operates not dissimilar to
the difference the way the Giants offense operates with Russell
Wilson versus Jackson Dark Grant. We haven't gotten the regular
season sample size on that, but we saw what we
(50:29):
saw in the preseason. I think that could convince Aaron
Glenn maybe we stick with Tyrod and he ekes out
a win for us, or at least gives us a
better chance of winning than going back to Justin right away.
Give Justin a longer runway. And I also think that
they're playing Miami where he senses an opportunity. Oh and
also it's a primetime game. I don't know if you'd
probably trust the veteran in Tyrod more than Justin in
(50:52):
that scenario. And then you play the Cowboys the week
after that, which could oh an opportunity to light it up.
Speaker 4 (50:58):
So what are we talking about. He played two games.
One was terrible, the whole team was terrible. One was
an incredible quarterback performance. I feel like you got to
keep starting Justin Fields because if you get five of those,
he would have won the game by himself. Like against
most teams, it was his defense's fault.
Speaker 3 (51:15):
And so I disagree. Here's another thing.
Speaker 2 (51:19):
He's looking for a win. I think he's gonna lean
on the veteran.
Speaker 4 (51:22):
Here's another theory. It's a long week, they don't have
a practice till Thursday. Those the two quarterbacks are quite different.
Maybe he's just being for the sake of being, you know,
like just he's a defensive coach. He knows he doesn't
want to have to prepare for Justin Fields or Tyrod
and the difference, and he's just being big.
Speaker 3 (51:40):
We'll find out.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
We'll talk about that later in the week. Appreciate everything
you do, Shook. You will be back with us on
Thursday night football. At that time, I actually will be
in Dublin. So you're handling that game with Jordan Rodrieg.
But we got a couple big time shows before that,
play the music.
Speaker 3 (52:00):
We're ready to go. We've got our Tuesday show.
Speaker 4 (52:04):
We're going to decide what takes I'm bringing with me overseas,
so we're gonna just try out some big, hot takes.
After three weeks figure out what the best ones.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
Are.
Speaker 4 (52:13):
Of course, we have our preview show coming up later
in the week, Man, Ravens and Lyons I thank you.
When we were thinking about football in the offseason, this
is the game we were waiting for.
Everything right now, Golf takes turns, gives the Montgomery two hands.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
On that football.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
There he goes over the right side, twenty five, twenty
cuts the right, fifteen down to the ten, down to
the time, to the.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
End, Zoe touchdown.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Detroit Lions demo to the house thirty one yards and
the Lions have put this game on ice.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Ha.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
What a night for the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
What a statement by this football team.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Oh it was the Lions making a statement on Monday
night football.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
David Montgomery finishes.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
The game off in the best most fitting way possible,
doing it on the ground where they beat up the
supposedly tough Ravens all night long. That is Dan Miller
and Lomas Brown on w x YT, two of my
absolute favorites on the mics on a night that if
(00:54):
you didn't believe it, after that big win against the Bears,
announced that the Lions are back, that they're not going
anywhere thirty eight to twenty four in one of the
most entertaining Monday night football games in a while. I'm
here with Nick Shook live on YouTube. Appreciate y'all and
(01:14):
everyone listening. The next day, Nick I thought it was
gonna be a classic ending, and in a way it was.
The Lions get the ball up seven, they have it
at midfield, fourth down, deciding do we kick it off
and trust our defense? Now, how about we trust our
defense by going for it Jared Goff Layers in a
(01:36):
perfect throw. They trusted their quarterback, their running game all night,
and the offense delivered. They showed they can still win
shootouts against the best of them. What surprised you the
most tonight?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I mean, I knew the Ravens were missing Nandi Madabik
and Kyle van Noy and that it was gonna make
them little weaker up front. But my god, did the
Detroit Lions send a statement to not only the Baltimore
Ravens but the rest of the NFL that we're gonna
do one thing, and one thing only We're gonna do
with the hat says, run the damn ball. That's what
they're gonna do. And that's what they did on Monday night.
(02:09):
I mean, the totals are absurd. Two hundred and twenty
one net rushing yards for excuse me, two hundred and
twenty four net rushing yards for Detroit. David Montgomery goes
twelve for one fifty one and two touchdowns, a long
seventy two yard run. He gets that touchdown run to
is it. They won the battle of toughness, the battle
of grit in the interior, which is a phrase that's
(02:30):
on the hat Dan campbellwears all the time, grit. They
won the battle of grit tonight, and they proved that
they are one of the toughest teams in the NFL,
especially when it comes to running the football.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
So the final score was thirty eight to thirty after
Lamar had that garbage time touchdown that could have decided
a lot of fantasy football matchups out there with Mark
Andrews getting the touchdown late. And I actually think that
final score flatters the Ravens because even though these two
two teams were going punch for punch and Lamar Jackson
(03:03):
had a lot of great throws in this game. After
the Lions fell down by a touchdown right after halftime,
it was one way traffic. And yeah, a lot of
the passing stats looked similar, but you mentioned those rushing stats,
how uneven they were. After Derek Henry's early rushing touchdown.
They couldn't get anything done on the ground. On the
(03:24):
other hand. David Montgomery is popping off big plays, the
longest run in the NFL over seventy yards and then
he hits that touchdown. But it was the five, the six,
the seven, the eight yard runs. They ended up with
a sixty percent success rate compared to thirty one for
the Ravens, almost doubling them up. It's awesome and so
much focus is going to be on that rushing attack.
(03:46):
And yes, the Ravens were missing a couple key defenders.
Eight the lines aren't gonna feel bad for you. They
were missing key defenders all of last season and no
one made excuses for them back then. And again it
was just Madabweke. You look at the maturation of this
young offensive line. We talked about it all offseason. Is
this gonna be the Achilles heal? Going into this game,
my big question was can this interior offensive line. Tate Ratledge,
(04:10):
the rookie making a ton of great blocks in this game,
Christian Mahogany, second year player, just mowing through people, and
the veteran Graham Glasgow in the middle. They really set
a tempo shook And as I'm watching this game, I'm thinking,
oh man, Nick Schuok is loving what the Detroit Lions
are doing. It's what the Detroit Lions always do. I
guess we shouldn't have doubted just because you know Ben
(04:31):
Johnson is in Detroit.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's why I put the hat on, because it makes
my heart so warm that a team can win classically,
they can win by winning in the trenches and making
a statement like they did. But it also speaks to
the identity of the Detroit Lions offensively, because even though
they lose their offensive cord in the offseason, they're still
the same team. They still like to build out of
the run, build out a play action, and run their
(04:54):
offense that way. And because the running game was so effective,
especially on that eighteen play ninety eight yard drive, they
were able to do whatever they want in passing situations.
They were also converting key third downs on that specific drive.
They got into a rhythm that we really haven't We
didn't see them get into at all in Week one.
We saw them get into it against the Bears in
that blowout, but you thought, well, it's against the Bears.
This was a real test. This was a measuring stick,
(05:16):
and they passed it, and they proved to everybody that
they are still the same team. No, by the way,
we could pull out some tricks out of our bag too.
Just because Ben Johnson's gone doesn't mean he didn't leave
the bag behind. And our new offensive coordinator can't dial
some fun stuff up to that. The option on the
goal line on fourth and one, I mean am and
Ross Saint Brown pitching it to Jamir Gibbs. There was
just so much beautiful creativity from this team. And like
(05:38):
you said, the Detroit Lions, I don't know if they
ever went anywhere, but they're certainly back.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah, they had both running backs on the field at
a certain point.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
They have like the I formation.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
It was the eleventh time in David Montgomery and Jamiir
Gibbs's career as teammates that they both scored a touchdown
in the same game. That is the most in NFL history.
You mentioned the trick play in the fourth quarter on
fourth down, one of a few key key fourth downs
that we're gonna talk about. Let's actually listen to John
(06:09):
Morton getting in his bag, the new Lions offensive coordinator
having his own breakout.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Game, golf up under center, turns gids On and Roh
flits it out to Gibbs. PRIs died a house baby
touchdown Detroit Lions. All that is beautiful. Golf hands it
to Ahmed raw Hamed Roth flips it to Gibs and
the Lions have got the lead back.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
And there was another play earlier in that second half,
which was a throwback pass from Aman Ross Saint Brown
to Jared Goff, perfectly executed. They end up getting a
twenty plus you know, yard chunk play down the field,
and we're focusing on the runs and the fourth downs
for now. At some point we're gonna go through this
whole game because there was so much going on. We
(06:53):
have a lot of highlights. I love that we can
play the highlights, play the sound, and this game, to
me almost deserves a Super Bowl treatment because it's two
teams I picked to get to the Super Bowl, and
going into this game, I really add my doubts whether
the Lions long term are gonna have enough on defense
and whether the offense can be that special. After this game,
(07:15):
I'm obviously feeling better, and I have a few more
doubts about the Ravens, which we'll get to.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
But while we're towards.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
The end of the game, I think it is key
to back up to the fourth down situation at midfield.
Every week, there are so many situations where teams go
for fourth downs and we're just getting used to it.
Mike Rabel went for a fourth and one in the
first half inside his own twenty a game that they
were losing at and like, nobody even blink. These things
(07:42):
are happening every week. But if you really think about it,
in a game like this, the Lions, who I believe
were really out playing the Ravens at this point, need
to get two yards to be in total control of
the game. But if they did not pick it up Nick,
they're giving the Ravens a short field with under two
minutes to go. Years ago, coaches wouldn't even think about that.
(08:03):
Dan Campbell did not even hesitate. Let's listen.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Golf up under center, Montgovernor the single back golf banks
to him, wants to throw does down fielt once on
and Row got him made the catch inside the forty.
That's a first down.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
But there's a flag down as well. It's a hold
against Pauli Moore that is huge. I love the call
by Dan Miller two.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
He doesn't let the penalty get in the way of
a great call, and Jared Goff's numbers don't look flashy.
And this is one where you just have to watch
the game to see everything that happens, because Lamar Jackson's
numbers were great, and he did have a lot of
great throws, but I think he had some real problems
in this game, partially caused by his offensive line, partially
caused by himself. He ends up with only six incompletions,
(08:46):
two hundred and eighty eight yards in three touchdowns. But
it was really Jared Goff's performance twenty for twenty eight,
two hundred and two yards and a touchdown, and that
throw your coach trusting you that that's basically a game
me throw for Jared Goff at this stage of his career.
And Monra winning right off the snap and you throwing
like a nice touch ball towards the sideline over his shoulder.
(09:09):
And he was really excellent tonight, making the throws, making
the decisions, looking off the right receivers, picking the right
matchups whenever he needed to.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, Troy Aikman was overcome with joy after watching that throw.
I mean he could barely contain himself because it was,
like he said, the best throw of the night for
Jared Goff, the perfect touch ball on a key spot
you can't afford to miss aman Ro Saint Brown on
that player, Like you said, you're gonna give the Ravens
a short field. But again, the beauty of it is
the fact that it's fourth and one and they're able
(09:38):
to run play action and sneak Am and Rah out
like that and get him in a one on one
situation where he gets a step on the defender and
he's able to come down with that because this is
a guy who notoriously has not had a drop in
like two years. So of course, if you want to
trust the shorts hands in your team, it's am Andro
Saint Brown. But you got to get it there to him.
How do you get it there? You run the play
action after you've dominated them on the ground when it's
(09:58):
a short yarded situation. And just another example of beautiful
play calling flow from the Lions offense and just a
almost perfect way to cap this game, because the only
better way to cap it is with that David Montgomery
touchdown run that we already played. That was the poetic ending,
the fitting ending that we all deserved, right.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
That one two punch was awesome, And it's why I
sometimes think when you're talking about the best games of
the year, of the decade, of all time, the best
Super Bowls. We have a comment from one of our
viewers right now, Richard, who said this was easily top
five Monday night football game of the decade.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Now that's a bold statement.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I'd have to go through it, but I do think
sometimes everyone just thinks of what has the best final play,
and that is important, like the best like final moment
that is in your head. But of all the Super
Bowls I went to, I always go back to that
Saint's Cult super Bowl, which were just two great teams,
(10:54):
tons of great players on both sides, Haymakers throughout, and
then an explosion that is essentially ended at that Tracy
Porter interception with five minutes to go. And this game
reminded me a little bit of that, where it's just
unreal plays on both sides, and yes, you didn't get
that incredible finish, but you got the two play sequence
from the Lions, and it's a game I'll remember. And
(11:16):
if the Lions do end up making it far in
the playoffs this year, I think they showed themselves something
They did fall down in this game, and so I'm
testing my producer Chris Babona here because we got a
ton of possible highlights in this game.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I want to go.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Back to the third quarter because that was the first
time in the game that the Ravens had the lead.
If you remember, they go into halftime tying it up
with a late drive to Rashad Bateman. They get the
touchdown after their defense did a good job getting the
ball back for them. We'll get into what the Lions
defense did in a second. Then the Ravens come out
(11:52):
in the second half, really effective drive. It's the first
touchdown to Mark Andrews and you think, okay, it's rolling.
The Lions have to score or on the ensuing drive,
and that's exactly what they did, and it finished with
one of Jared Goff's best throws of the night, another
one to amanra.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Golf out of the gun.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Montgomery was right, Jared's got it back and looking looking
throwing right side.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
One salmon raw end zone got it touchdown Detroit Lions.
What a delivery that time by Golf where only aman
rival those late hands could pull it in and the
Lions were an extra point away from drawing even once
again here in Paltible.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
What did you think about that route?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
So you see you see Marlon Humphrey just looking up
in like the distance like wondering how did that just happen.
That's because Amon Ra While he's got the surest hands
in the NFL, or one of the best sets of
hands in the NFL, he also is an incredible route runner.
And he ran a fantastic little stutter step double move
almost like a hitch and go that left Humphrey just
a step behind. And he watched him on that play
(12:51):
where he his momentum completely stops and then he has
to restart, and at that point he's already cooked because
Golf's gonna put that ball on Saint Brown. He's gonna
come down with it, and late hands are not. It
didn't matter. He created that space with his route running.
So it was a great design. This game was full
of great designs. And this is also a demonstration of
a rapport between a quarterback and receiver where they can
(13:12):
trust each other to be in the right spot. Put
the ball on me in the right spot, and that's
how you come through in a game like this.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Yeah, we're not gonna just talk only positive about the Lions,
like the whole time.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
But it really is so impressive. You know, I'm on ride.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
It's another one where you look at the box score,
seven for seventy seven and a touchdown, great night on
eight targets. But the last two weeks watching this, dude,
you understand why Jared Goff made those comments to Troy
Aikman that it's the best receiver he's ever played with.
And you think about some of the guys he played
with with the Rams, and I get it, Like he
(13:49):
really is that dude, and like the sharpness of his
route running everything was awesome. Let's change gears a little
bit and talk a little bit about the Lions defense
in this game. You know, you'll see that the Ravens
put up thirty points, but ultimately the Lions defense gets
seven sacks in this game. The pressure rate wasn't that different,
(14:10):
but they did a nice job sacking Lamar Jackson. They
forced punts in key spots, and they made some big
time plays. Let's go back all the way to the
end of that second quarter and think about that goal
line stand. And I know the Ravens ended up scoring
at the end of that half, but it was one
of many moments tonight you realize like, yeah, the Lion's defense,
(14:32):
they might not be that deep up front, but they
absolutely came to play.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Let's go to the fourth down call out of the gun.
Jackson's got it, run into his right, wants.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
To throw now press the ball's loose on the ground.
It is recovered by Jackson, but it does not matter.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
That's Lions football.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
A fourth down stop by this team.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
Jackson tried to roll out, had a run pass option
and Jack Campbell was there to knock that ball.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Who So I think it's absolutely fair to criticize Lamar
Jackson for holding the ball too long, not throwing the
ball away, maybe sometimes assuming he was gonna get away.
But on that play and a couple other shots where
they gave us the all twenty two like vision, there
was no one really open. I don't think there was
anywhere for Lamar Jackson to go on that play, Like
(15:22):
what did you see out of the coverage and just
everything that they were throwing at him. And from Kelvin Shepherd,
the new defensive coordinator.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Well, it's the downside of that play, which the Ravens,
that's like their favorite play to run in two point
situations in fourth and short on the goal line situations.
They've done it before. It has not worked. Sometimes it
has worked. Sometimes Mark Andrews drops the ball on a
divisional playoff game for a two point conversion like that happens,
But they love to run this play. And I think
for the first time Lamar encountered a situation in which
he had nowhere to go and no idea what to do,
(15:51):
because when you roll the short side of the field,
you are limiting the amount of space that you can
work with everything's flowing that way, you're gonna have to
completely change direction. And he's already under rest because of
this Lions defense. And it was a great example I
think of also preparation a team that knows this is
what they like to do in that situation, We're gonna
bottle it up with the right coverage and shut them
down like that. And I think it kind of typified
(16:13):
the whole night, or a lot of the night for
the Lions defense, which, by the way, we gotta put
some respect on this Lions defense's name for what they
did bottling up Lamar Jackson tonight. It just typified the
whole night. They were able to get after him consistently.
They were disciplined in their contain and in their rush
lanes and in their tackling. And yes they forced the
fumble there because Lamar holds onto the ball too long.
(16:34):
But Lamar is not gonna just throw it away in
that situation. He's gonna try to make a play. And
ultimately it was a big play in a game that
didn't end up meaning all that much, I guess, but
at the time it was another one of those statements
that hey, we're not gonna be another one of those
teams that almost picks you off twice and then gives
up a touchdown like they did later. We're gonna be
that team that fights all the way through all four downs.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
See, I'm like a process not just the results guy too,
And I think it just is part of a night
where they just kept battling, and yeah, like the Ravens,
if you think about it, had to hit a lot
of really impressive throws to win. Not saying that Goff didn't,
but in the trenches, we've already talked about it. It
just was such a mismatch. The Lions offensive line beasted
(17:18):
the Ravens defensive line on the ground, the Lions defensive
line beasted the Ravens offensive line when they tried to run.
So it came down to ultimately, like could they get
enough pressure on Lamar Jackson because it turned into a
game where he had to just throw all the time.
And for a while I was ready to come on
(17:39):
here and talk about like, well, Aiden Hutchinson not really
quite looking like himself. The pressure rate is pretty low,
and then by the end of the game you look
up and it's a forty percent pressure rate.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
It's the sacks.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
It's not letting him get out as a runner, I think,
which was really impressive. Al ka He Muhammad, who you know,
was picked up off the scrap. He he was on
the practice squad at pretty large sections of last season
for the Lions, like he couldn't even make their active roster.
He was making a lot of plays. The linebackers were
really good. Angelone actually had a number of quick pressures
(18:11):
on blitzes, and in the end, Hutchinson made a couple
of the biggest plays of the game with a sack
and also knocking the ball out of Derrick Henry's hands.
Man Derrick Henry is having a rough go of it
in the last what is it, nine quarters of this
season after an unreal start to the season. If someone
had said after like the third quarter of that Bills game,
(18:34):
that Derrick Henry would kind of be a problem for
the Ravens at the end of Week three, like I
never would have believed it. But not only is he
fumbling every game, one in each game, and two of
those fumbles were absolutely killers, But they're not getting consistent runs.
He had that touchdown run, but other than that, it
was a pretty rough game. And again, you have to
(18:55):
give a lot of credit to like the team defense
of the Lions, even if it's not a ton of
indivis stars.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, I think the Lions did a good job of
knocking the Ravens out of their rhythm with the way
that they played defensively, and all of that had to
do with stopping Lamar Jackson on passing downs. Now, it
wasn't perfect. He still completed a lot of those passes,
you know, out of structure, improvising that's what he's going
to do. But their coverage, they were versatile on coverage.
Acording to the next Gen, they ran zone fifty five
point three percent of the time. The rest of it
was man, that's pretty balanced. They got sacks in both looks,
(19:23):
whether it was man or zone, and most importantly, they
threw them out of their rhythm to the point that,
like Derrick Henry after they got that goal line stand,
Derrick Henry got three carries in the second half until
that one that he fumbled, and I had a thought
to myself, I'm like, I feel like I haven't seen
Dereck Henry on the field in ages like this is
a close game. He is a runner who can you know,
(19:43):
balance and pace your offense really well, and he hasn't
been out there. Then he gets a carry right after
I have that thought. Any fumbles and it completely changes
the game from there.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Yeah, it's crazy because that that was a moment. And
I'm seeing a comment by the way from our friend
Will Gavin, who is on his way home now. Will
Gavin is a host. If you guys are are UK fans,
you're probably not listening unless it's the audio version.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
But because it's four thirty in the morning.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Right now, I'm gonna be joining Will on Talk Sport
to help call the game in Dublin on Sunday and
the following game in London the week after with the
Brownies and the Vikings and of course the Steelers and
the Vikings this week, and he says, Man, the Ravens
losing in the trenches so badly for someone had them
in the Super Bowl, it's tough to watch. Keep up
(20:30):
the good work, boys, So I like hearing that. But
the defense is actually what I feel more differently about,
you know, coming out of this game, because if you
think about their team build this offseason, and Brad Holmes
is one of the best to do it, they really
invested in run stoppers in the middle of their defense.
(20:52):
They have DJ Reader as their free agent from a
few years ago that's now healthy again. And Tylee Williams,
a guy who I know, you know, you looked at
lot in the draft and there aren't many teams putting
two guys like that who are really run stoppers and
not you know, pass rusher type defensive lineman on the
field almost every snap, and it really paid off tonight.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, and guess who made a little shoe string tackle
on Lamar Jackson when he tried to take off DJ Reader.
Guess who was there to fill the run lane? Dj
Reader and Tyler Williams.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
I felt so good, and I almost felt like, God,
I'm an idiot for not giving them more respectfuling to
this game. But then again, who among us expected al
Kadeen Muhammad to have two and a half sacks, to
be a constant closer when the Lions effectively caged up
Lamar Jackson, which it takes me back to when I
worked for the Browns of twenty nineteen. I remember talking
to those guys when they went in their Week four
(21:41):
game against the Ravens that year in Baltimore, and I
was like, how do you stop Lamar? He's having a
great year, And they just said, you got a Cajun.
You got a Cajun. We got to keep him in
a box. You got to make sure he doesn't escape.
The Lions did that perfectly, and so many teams don't
do that. The Lions personnel did not suggest that they
would do that, And that's why we need to put
respect on their names. Because of guys like al Kadeen Muhamed,
because of a veteran like DJ Reader, and of course
(22:03):
because of Aiden Hutchinson, a guy who Baltimore gets so
concerned about him, they slide their protection to the left
and he just splits two guys and gets right after
Lamar for a crushing sack and a key moment in
the game. Everybody on this defense, Alex Angeloni's spying Jack
Campbell back there at the second level. They all made plays.
They played so cohesively, and that's why I thinks everybody
(22:23):
who watches the NFL is going to see the lines
more seriously because of the performance that they gave on
both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
To Knight, they got away with lining up in base
defense most of the night, and by base defense that
means three linebackers essentially on the field. Almost no teams
do that at this point, but they had that sort
of vision again with the team build bigger linebackers, and
I mean in terms of guys like Derek Barnes, who
was like an old school also had a great game
side right like also had a great game, like an
(22:50):
old school strong side linebacker, kind of the run stopper
who's almost been like legislated out of the league, like
that sort of player, but he can blitz.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
He's versatile enough.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
I think like a faster, more dynamic team could take
advantage of that. Maybe if you have Isaiah likely in
this game you know when the Ravens are lining up
in two tight end sets throughout most of the game,
but they haven't quite gotten the mix with all their receivers. Now,
I do want to note, like Lamar had some dimes
in this game. Oh yeah, I'm just gonna mention a few.
(23:22):
And actually it kind of points out now that I
think about about it, how tough the Lions defense was playing,
because I felt like there were more easy throws for
Jared Goff throughout the course of the night. There was
a throw early in the game on third and long
where Lamar is rolling left, throws it across his body
to Bateman on the sideline for ten yards like an
incredibly low, you know, percentage type of throw.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Hits that.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
Then he goes tes Walker deep down the field. That
was a beautiful throw. He had the crazy sideline throw
to Nu Hopkins where you thought after it got over
the underneath defender, that thing's going out of bounce and
he just like drops it in there. I love the
third and long to Rashad Bateman when they were down
twenty eight to twenty one and they're driving and he
(24:07):
has to hit a whole shot and be patient and
throw anticipation over the middle. Like these were high level throws.
He also had that touchdown to Mark Andrews early in
the second half, So like there were a lot of
amazing plays hell just to get Jerry Sandusky into the show.
Let's listen to a Ravens highlight. Let's listen to the
Mark Andrews touchdown to start the second half.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
You hate to settle for a field goal. Lamar Jackson
from the shotgun.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Throws towards the end zone looking for Andrews.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
He's got a touchdown, Mark Andrews driving glob along the
sideline and the Ravens have their first lead of nights.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
But that was a great throw and a great catch,
bark Mark Andrews.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Ah, that was a great throw. That was Rod Woodson,
who knows a great throw when he sees it, Like,
what did you see there?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Shook, threaded, absolutely threaded, and from the distance, because like, yeah,
I think it was a fourteen yard touchdown pass, but
the distance you know, from where Lamar was to the
corner of the end zone makes it a lot longer.
Couldn't be placed better, I mean, could not be placed
better in the pocket where Andrews can make that grab.
Just inside the pylon, just outside the outstretched reach of
the def nearest defender. You know, I watched that route develop.
(25:18):
I think it was branch and coverage and I and
I know it was Angelonian coverage. And I'm watching him
run with him and I'm like, he's covered pretty well,
and Lamar throws it and I'm like, oh, he's gonna
have to fit this one in boom right, and that
it's like thread in a needle, just just right through
the eye of the needle for a touchdown. That's what
Lamar is capable of doing. It. He had a number
of throws like this, like you said tonight, And I
think that will get lost in the aftermath conversation about
(25:41):
this game, because the wait get.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Lost in our comments right now, people are are killing Lamar.
I think multiple things can be true.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah, So the other thing that's true is that Lamar
needs to figure out how to operate in the pocket
and not give himself so much time sometimes because it
hurt them when sometimes you can just take off for
a gain of five. And I think that they will
correct that going forward because it definitely hurt them tonight.
Both things can be true, You're right, but I have.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
A feeling like he's not someone that when you watch
the film, has open receivers and doesn't let go of
the ball. I think what the Lions showed him tonight
with mostly zone coverage like worked. There weren't that many
open receivers and at least they were mudding up the picture.
After that Andrews fumble, they go three and out where
(26:25):
he takes a sack. On that drive, they have to
go ten plays just to get thirty nine yards. On
that drive that I mentioned where he hits the ball
over the middle to Bateman, there were a lot of
penalties involved here. Then Derrick Henry fumbles the ball. And
then really the killer was when they got the ball
back with six thirty five to go and they go
(26:47):
three and out. They end up with a fourth and nine.
There another drive that starts with a big time sack.
And at first it was like these plays where Lamar
is trying to get out of trouble and he's just
taken down for no gain. And as the game is
wearing on, like he is taking bigger and bigger deficits
in terms of like longer sacks, And I think multiple things.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Can be true.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
This game is on the Ravens defense obviously, and the
running game, like the passing game was by far the
best part of the Ravens. I mean, the freaking Ravens
gave up two to ninety five yard plus drives. That's outrageous.
We haven't even mentioned that. There was an eighteen play
ninety eight yard drive. You mentioned it, but that was
the longest drive of course in the NFL this season
in terms of minutes, ten minutes and forty eight seconds.
(27:34):
But Joe Buck mentioned there hasn't been a drive over
ninety five yards against the Ravens defense in Baltimore for
over twenty years.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
They gave up two of them tonight.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
So on a night like that where Derrick Henry has
a terrible success rate and your defense plays like that
and Dereck Henry fubbles the ball in the fourth quarter,
Lamar Jackson is not number one on your biggest issues.
That said, like the accusations that he can be like
a little amped up in games, I do wonder about
(28:02):
that sometimes because early on, like you're watching him on
the sideline when they went three and out early, like
he was so frustrated early in that game, and you
can see just like the tension. I hate being the
body language doctor. A lot of players play well when
they're angry. I'm not saying that they couldn't, but you
just can almost like feel the anxiety coming off of
(28:26):
that sideline between Lamar and then of course Derrick Henry,
you know, crashing out a.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Little bit later.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Like I do think, like you holding onto the ball
so long like that feels like a little bit of
a little bit of tightness, even though there was a
lot of great plays in between.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
I do think there is.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
It's fair to like point out there's something to that
for the Lamar haters out there, which I am not one,
but you know, there's something to it.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah, I'm not a Lamar hater either, but I hate
to be this guy in this moment. I see a
trend in the Baltimore Ravens over the last few years
that we witnessed tonight, which is that when they meet
a team that is at their level that they cannot
bully offensively, that they cannot shut down defensively and then
just run over them with Derrick Henry or with Lamar
(29:10):
or whatever. They get tight, they play tight, they make mistakes,
They let the pressure of the moment consume them sometimes
and I think what you just described is exactly what
that was. And there were periods in this game where
I felt as if the Ravens were overcoming that and
they were just going to be the better team and
end up winning a game, because, for example, the Ravens
(29:31):
take the lead twenty one to fourteen after the Lions
go three and out, the Lions go three and out
after that goal line stand, and the play calling is
a little questionable, the Ravens cash in to end the
first half. There were just a few periods in this
game where I'm like, the Lions are like one miscue,
one big Derrick Henry run, one big Lamar Jackson play
away from being down multiple scores, and maybe they don't
(29:52):
have enough to come back, and they never got there.
And I think that frustrated the Ravens and the miscues
and the small errors in detail. A guy maybe not
running a route where Lamar wants and he underthrows the ball,
or it looks like he under throws the ball because
the receiver's not where he wants them to be. Lamar
not being able to break the pocket and take off
for runs when he thinks they're there, guy's not getting open.
I think all of that compounded and you saw the
(30:15):
effects of it capped by the Derrick Henry fubble late
in the fourth quarter where they're like, Wow, we're really
gonna lose this big game at home on primetime right now,
I can't believe this. We're the Baltimore Ravens. We're not
supposed to do this. Well, guess what you also play
in the NFL where the Browns beat the Packers on Sunday.
Things like that happen.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Hey, let's starting on them.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Hey, the Browns and the Ravens have the same record
right now. Yeah, Like if you just like, if you
just said who's played better? And I don't think the
Ravens have played better this season necessarily than the Browns.
The Browns outplayed the Bengals in Week one. I know
they got beat forty one to ten.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
I'm just saying the comline.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Defensively, the Browns have played better than the Ravens, but
offensively it's not even in the same pace.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I need to say is that I feel like the
both of these teams should be two and one, and
it's not that big good.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Difference that could be true, that could be true.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
It's such a long season, but the road to the
one seed is going to be harder starting off at
one and two. You know, you're in a division where
Jake Browning and Aaron Rodgers respect to him, but not
playing the best quarterback right now are quarterbacking the teams
that are currently in first place. Like, I'm not that
(31:28):
concerned about the Ravens long term. To me, this is
more about the Lions. But when we talk about the tightness,
to me, it's more just like expectations. It's not like
that they're getting nervous and that they can't perform well
in big game. It's just they've lost so many of
these heartbreakers. They've lost so many big leads, they've been
(31:49):
on the cuss. They've been the best regular season offense
now for three straight years. And it's just the expectations,
and I think those are sometimes difficult to manage as
a team. And it's one of the reasons why I'm
really impressed with how the Lions have responded after Week one,
because they're also in this cycle of they've never been
here before, right shook and where they're you know, they're
(32:12):
now like deep into this run of like trying to
stay at the top. And I think that's the hardest
thing to do in the NFL, is stay at the top,
and the Ravens and the Lions, that's exactly what they're
trying to do.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
There's one difference between those two teams. One of them
plays in the same conference that's occupied by the Kansas
City Chiefs and the other one doesn't. And I think
when you know that you have that team to take down,
you realize, like, yeah, I mean until they're not there,
they're there. I think that adds a little bit more pressure.
And this is a measuring stick game and you know that,
(32:44):
and so I just think it adds a little bit more.
And they have a longer history of not getting the
job done than the Lions do. And also, you know,
this is no shot at John Harbaugh at all. Hell
of a coach. But there's something about Dan Campbell in
the way that he trusts his guys and goes forward
on fourth down and all those things and wears his
heart in his sleeve that just seems to invigorate a
team and creates a culture of that maybe they'll band
(33:07):
together and rally together when the adversity strikes that maybe
the Ravens don't have that same mental toughness in them,
not necessarily on the coach, but just on the key
figures in each franchise. I think that is one of
the factors that played into this game tonight.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
Well, yeah, we'd say that the team takes on the
personality of their head coach. You know, when I was
talking about like that, you know, Dereck Henry being a
little tight on the sideline, and John Harbaugh is like
the number one guy we made a little bit before
the season, like of any coach that I like, I'm
literally afraid of John Harbor. There is so much boiling
beneath the surface. I feel like at all times when
(33:42):
it is not going well, there is like an anxiety
and attention and his decision making in big spots has
not been amazing. And you compare that to Dan Campbell,
and yeah, maybe maybe it does rub off on the
rest of the team. All right, I'm doing a little
schedule watching because we're talking Browns, right, and then we're
talking Chiefs, and those teams have matchups against these teams
(34:02):
coming up. So the Lions get this win, they have
a tricky game. I think it's fair to say The
Browns are tricky at this point considering how good their
defense is. They have the Browns next week in Detroit,
then at Cincinnati, at Kansas City, and then the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers before their bye week. The Ravens, on the
(34:23):
other hand, go right from this blood bath on the
road on a short week to Kansas City in theory
one of their biggest games of the year before heading
home for the Texans and the Rams before their bye week.
Really interesting schedules for both these teams, and we're just
(34:44):
getting started. But you look at those schedules and they
are going to be tested in a lot of these games,
and they are both going to be challenged to not
get to their bye week with like a three to
three type of record.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Yeah. If you want to wash the waves, Yeah, if
you want to wash away the sour taste in your
mouth from this and make all the haters shut up,
you go beat the Chiefs next week, and you do it.
It's a game in pretty dominant fashion, and I think
that their strengths matchup well against the Chiefs. And then
at that point people forget a little bit about what
happened against the Lions tonight, like it can all change.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
But it puts so much on that game though, and
we will get into it.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
But that's the beauty of the NFL. Every week it matters.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
In every week matters more. And it's a funny thing.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
I always think about the early part of the season.
The bigger games to me, having watched you know for
so many years, is the bigger games early in the
season are actually with the good teams that are off
to slow starts, Like it would be great, it'd be fun.
I bet CBS would love it if Ravens Chiefs was
(35:50):
a battle of undefeated, isn't that game bigger?
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Now that they're both one and two?
Speaker 4 (35:54):
One of those two teams with very challenging schedules ahead
of them is going to be one in three.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
And if you.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Thought, like the tension with Travis Kelcey bumping Andy Reid
or the tension of Derrick Henry like falling over on
the sideline was bad after this week, like how about
you lose to your other AFC rivals next week? And
so it really sets up like a fascinating matchup there.
And the Lions, on the other hand, can breathe a
little bit of a sigh relief. Book Man that they
(36:22):
would love nothing more to beat up on the Chiefs.
That in a couple of weeks too, the Bucks are
on the schedule coming up, which is gonna be big,
and I just love it. Before we move on from
this game, and we are gonna do some news very
quickly on this show because there were some big time
injury news. It is time for delivering results presented by
Uber Eats. And no one, and I mean no one
(36:45):
deserves this honor more than the Lions offensive line and
their running backs. And I am talking about David Montgomery.
We've hit a couple of his highlights already. Let's go
to the big seventy two yard rush in the second
half of this game.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
I center, there's the snap Jared Hans to Montgomery.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Montgomery.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
There it goes across twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
He goes middle of the fields to the fifty tank
thing right at the forty five down, to the thirty down,
to the twenty taking.
Speaker 5 (37:15):
Down from behind it the fifteen yard line.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
David Montgomery running for daylight and running big for these
Detroit Lions.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Oh my goodness, oh man, twelve for one, fifty one
and two. I was watching that still with my son
and my wife and Emmaica just goes like.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
I thought he was faster, and Walker is like, no,
that's Gibbs.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
But uh, don't dog on David Montgomery because that bursts
through the whole is fantastic. His ability to make people
miss and his freaking toughness. Shout out to Brad Holmes
and David and Dan Campbell for making him one of
their very first free agent signings, saying there he is
going to set the tempo and the really the mo
o for this team and that that dou ah. They
(38:00):
wouldn't be as good without each other. They were just
a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Yeah. I mean it's thunder and lightning right there, and
we saw them both in action. It was Gibbs early,
it was Gibbs and short yardage. Then it was Montgomery
and short yardage, and then it was Montgomery ripping off the
big game. It was Montgomery closing the game with another
big run down the side then where he did look
fast enough to get the job done. I love We've
already talked about it. I love offensive line play when
it works well, when you run duo and then your
(38:24):
bulldozer of our running back who still got burst gets
through the hole and rips off a big one. They
out raven the Ravens tonight, and it was because of
guys like them.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Yeah, and look, that's just what they do when they
need a play. It's especially like if they're in like
a second and long situation, especially they just run duo.
Explain to the listeners what that means, because that's like real,
no nonsense. They're not trying to fool your power football exactly.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
That's when you when you dedicate two blockers to one
guy with the idea of getting one of them to
the second level, and you just bully the first guy
off the line, create an initial run lane. The second
guy gets the second level, creates you a second And
that's exactly what Montgomery did and followed, except he also
broke a tackle on his way out, which is really
what sprung him for the massive gain and to show
off those wheels that may not be as fast as Gibbs,
(39:10):
but they're still fast enough.
Speaker 3 (39:12):
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
And yes we went a little long on Lions Ravens,
but these are two teams into me in the inner
circle of possible teams we could see in Santa Clara
in February and they delivered an incredible game that was
delivering results. Presented by Uber Eats, where you can get
the best deals on game day food all season long,
(39:36):
the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order Now,
because you know, it's probably early somewhere, and yeah, it's
never too late to I still kind of want to
snack after this game. Okay, We're gonna do some news
and I appreciate everyone, you know commenting that the Ravens
are lost and everything's you know, just calm down.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
It's still se This team.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
More than anyone else, traditionally improves at least in the
regular season.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
Late.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
We are going to rank the news items that came
out today in injuries in order of how I believe
it will impact these teams. And we'll be quick on it,
but some of them are pretty big. Nothing bigger than
Nick Bosa being out for the season with a torn ACL.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Yeah, I mean this is a history. He has a
history of a torny acl. He is their best player
on the defensive front. They underwent a lot of changes
in the offseason on the defensive front with the idea
that hey, we're gonna trim salary, but we have Nick
Bosa there to still rush the passer. Now you lose him, Greg,
I watched the game against the Cardinals on Sunday and
they win that one, and I'm like, I cannot freaking
(40:50):
believe that the San Francisco forty nine Ers are three
and zero because they continue to lose guys. Yeah, they
continue to win games. Bryce Huff had a nice game
against Arizona, but he's not Nick Bosa. They invested in
Mikel Williams. He's young, Like it does concern me, but
I'm also not gonna sound the alarm bells because they've been,
you know, managing all these injuries so far in they're
three to zero, but it is a crushing blow for them,
(41:11):
for sure, just because of your in terms of defensive
potential and what you can do to get after a passer.
It's gonna put that much more stress on their fantastic
linebacking due a Fred Warner and d Winners and on
that secondary and you hope that they can make it through.
So far they are, but it's a big loss.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
It's huge.
Speaker 4 (41:28):
I listened to a forty nine Ers podcast sometimes called
Candlestick Chronicles, and they thought he was the most irreplaceable
guy on the entire roster, at least going into the
season because of the.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
Total lack of depth in their mind.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Now now three weeks in, Bryce Huff has been better
than you could have ever expected. He can give you
some pass rush juice. He's not a number one, but
he's been better. Mikel Williams, their first round pick, is
in that Aric Armstead mold as a good run stopper.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
You can play him inside.
Speaker 4 (41:59):
He really looks like a good pick, top fifteen pick,
and he looks like it not a big time pass rusher.
They're gonna have to manufacture some pass rush. They are
a good team defense. I think Robert Sala has really
helped their defense overall. But it's just a huge fall
and you do wonder if with Bosa out, those two
guys won't get to be as effective as they've been.
(42:22):
I think they are a huge candidate to go pick
up someone because the forty nine ers are about that life.
Now we'll see who's you know, trading defensive ends well,
the Saints want to trade like a Carl Granderson or
a Cam Jordan like there will be players available generally
(42:42):
these types of trades, it's not gonna be blockbuster, but
like a Carl Granderson, for instance, from the Saints for
like a fourth or a fifth round pick, he's gonna
play valuable snaps. Those are the types of moves that
I'm talking about, because if you look at the forty
nine ers schedule.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
It's pretty It's pretty cake.
Speaker 4 (42:58):
The rest to the way, Like this division is great
and not everyone can make it right now, they're all
above five hundred, but the out of division schedules pretty cake.
So I would think that they will make a move
because I think their offense can get better as they
get Brandon ayukback, as obviously they get Rock Purty back,
and just get healthier in general on offense.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
Yeah, I'm trying to think about who might be available
outside of a team like the Saints, because, like I
they're not going to trade Cameron Jordan. It's well, they're
not gonna get the return that makes it worthwhile. I
think even at this point in his career, just because
he's a Saints legend, but like you do have to
swing some.
Speaker 4 (43:32):
Sort of someone from the Titans like arden Key, Like
there are some gross looking teams out there. Would Cavon
Thibodeau be available if they're one in six in MIDDI yeah,
you know this is this is a conversation probably for
another day.
Speaker 3 (43:46):
And I.
Speaker 4 (43:48):
You know, on one hand, you know, you really feel
for Bosa and anyone who has a big time injured
like this. On the other hand, man, the forty nine
ers are almost like a case study in the risks
of putting so much of your salary cap into just
a handful of players. Every guy they give a monster
contract to has like a major injury, doesn't the players
(44:09):
deserve it? So you know, I always believe they deserve it.
But cmc Aric Armstead a couple of years ago that
happened exactly to him, and then like right when he
got a contract, Brandon Ayuk now Nick Bosa, I might
be forgetting Dre Greenlaw got a nice contract for them
and then got hurt. There there's just been a lot
of bad luck. The Cowboys have had some bad luck too.
(44:30):
This is number two on my list for affecting them.
Can they win games? Shook without ceed Lamb and their
guard Tyler Booker, their first round pick. Both of them
will be out multiple weeks with high ankle springs. Ceed
Lamb will not be put on IR. They want to
evaluate it really after a couple games and see if
he has a chance to return after that.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Yeah, you know why they're valuing after a couple of
games because they saw how bad their offense was with
him out of the game in Chicago on Sunday and
how much it hurt. I mean, Dak's playing great football,
but you your guard in Tyler Booker, who's played, you know,
really well for a rookie, and then you lose your
top targeted receiver and suddenly all you're left with is
Jake Ferguson and George Pickens. That's a big loss, and
(45:11):
that's a big loss for a team that is going
to be heavily dependent on their offense because their defense
can't stop a nosebleed. So that's why you give yourself
the shorter runway or the possibility of it by evaluating
in two weeks. Because the hih ankle sprain is not
a quick turn, and unless he's young enough to heal quickly,
it's going to be more wish casting than actual reality,
and that's gonna hurt them, and especially you know where
(45:31):
they are as a team right now. You know they're
one and two and They're coming off of a loss
in which they looked significantly worse than the team they
played in the second half in Chicago, and I just
don't see it getting any better for them because they
can't stop anybody defensively and now their offense is gonna
be weaker. Oh no, by the way, the date with
Mike Parsons and the Packers is next week. Maybe they
get a bit of a reprieve by week five at
the Jets and then the Panthers week six, But I
(45:53):
don't know. Man. The vibes are not good with this
team right now, and this does not help at all.
Speaker 4 (45:57):
No, there are only chance to having a fun season
was gonna be able to outscore teams, and you just
can't do it with Ceedee Lamb and two missing offensive lineman.
Remember they also lost their their starting center for six
to eight weeks, So that's two interior offensive linemen that
are gonna be out.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
It's just not gonna happen.
Speaker 4 (46:14):
They're gonna be one and three, and their only chance,
you know, schedule wise, to kind of get to that
relevance and win those shootouts were to win the games
like Carolina and against the Jets like you have to
win those games, and that's going to be more difficult
without Ceedee Lamb and Tyler Booker, who, like I said,
it's gonna be out a couple weeks all right. Number three,
and these are ranked in order of how it will
impact Stanley's number one in my eyes, of how much
(46:37):
you feel for the player. It's tough to rank this
because Naja Harris is coming up at number four, But
I just love James Connor and he's been really set
back by injuries. Obviously overcame cancer early in his career,
so to hear he is out with a broken ankle,
not a surprise after what we saw on the field,
but beyond you know, feeling for him, like what do
(46:59):
you think this does for their running attack this season
shook which really hasn't been great even with Connor there.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
Yeah, I was gonna talk about how I feel about him,
just because I talked to him about his battle with
cancer years ago and he was just a super nice
guy and he's a got easy to root for. He's
also been the identity of this Cardinal's rushing attack. I mean,
he's been there since twenty twenty one, which I was
reminded of today. I can't believe time is flying by
that fast. And he's let them be in rushing every
year he's been there. His last two seasons, he's broken
(47:25):
a thousand yards sometimes for offenses that are pretty limited.
They've been pretty limited overall in their first three games,
but they dearly missed him when he got hurt in
this game and they were trying to put one away
in San Francisco. All they needed was like a first down,
and they couldn't get one because they couldn't run the ball.
And Mario Dearmercado is not a guy that you run
between the tackles consistently. He's more of a guy that
you're gonna lead as your lean on as a pass
(47:46):
catching back. You got Trey Benson, who's a second year
player who's gonna have to be asked to do a
lot more. You're probably gonna pick up somebody because those
are your two remaining guys, essentially, and I don't feel
good about the balance of this offense, which is already
I'm struggling. Kyler Murray's been all right. His connection with
Marvin Harrison Junior is not consistent. He's more consistent with
(48:07):
other pass catchers on his team. You do have Trey McBride.
He finally caught a touchdown before the last month of
the season this year, which is great, But ultimately, like
I just, I'm very much concerned about the ceiling of
this offense now without James Connor. And it may sound,
you know, like I'm hitting the panic button and freaking
everybody out or whatever, but that's how important James Connor
has been to this offense. There are games last year
if he ran well, they probably won, and if he didn't,
(48:28):
they lost. And now they don't have him at all,
so they got to find a different way to win.
Speaker 4 (48:32):
Yeah, and he didn't look great, but I think it
was more about the blocking scheme that I think they
might miss their run game coordinator, their offensive coordator last year,
Clayton Adams, who's with the Dallas Cowboys. Their run game
looks fantastic. I do think Trey Benson gives them some juice,
but this is a team that's mediocre across the board.
We'll talk about him more on Tuesday show, which is
(48:54):
only what is it like sixteen hours from now, so
you don't have to wait long. We'll be previewing T
and F Jordan Rodriege in the studio. Soon enough, Naje
Harris I mentioned out for the season with a torn achilles.
We thought this was coming. I thought he was running
well this year. And there was a player two on
Sunday which I think showed the difference between him and
a mari and Hampton one where he got hit behind
(49:15):
the line of scrimmage on a third and one. Hampton
is strong, but Na he's even stronger, and he in
like he he got over the line, and so I
think they will miss him, but ultimately they still have
a great back in Hampton and in some depth there,
so I think they'll be okay. And then another thing
we'll probably follow up on Tuesday with the Giants Jackson
(49:36):
Dart situation. Brian Davele said that they're evaluating everything. When
asked if he's sticking with Russell Wilson, ninety six percent
chance they're going to Jackson Dart, but let's just talk
about that when it actually happens, So we'll do that
on Tuesday. The bigger surprise to me shook was they
asked Aaron Glenn if Justin Fields is definitely starting if
(49:58):
he gets out of the concussion protoco and he didn't
give a clear answer for that.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
Like I'm okay with that, he just was he just.
Speaker 3 (50:05):
Not ready for the answer. I know Tyron played pretty well,
but no.
Speaker 2 (50:09):
I think that it's weird because you signed Justin Fields
to that two year contract with the idea that he's
gonna be your guy for the next couple of years
and hopefully it works out. But I think that the
difference in the way this offense operates not dissimilar to
the difference the way the Giants offense operates with Russell
Wilson versus Jackson Dark Grant. We haven't gotten the regular
season sample size on that, but we saw what we
(50:29):
saw in the preseason. I think that could convince Aaron
Glenn maybe we stick with Tyrod and he ekes out
a win for us, or at least gives us a
better chance of winning than going back to Justin right away.
Give Justin a longer runway. And I also think that
they're playing Miami where he senses an opportunity. Oh and
also it's a primetime game. I don't know if you'd
probably trust the veteran in Tyrod more than Justin in
(50:52):
that scenario. And then you play the Cowboys the week
after that, which could oh an opportunity to light it up.
Speaker 4 (50:58):
So what are we talking about. He played two games.
One was terrible, the whole team was terrible. One was
an incredible quarterback performance. I feel like you got to
keep starting Justin Fields because if you get five of those,
he would have won the game by himself. Like against
most teams, it was his defense's fault.
Speaker 3 (51:15):
And so I disagree. Here's another thing.
Speaker 2 (51:19):
He's looking for a win. I think he's gonna lean
on the veteran.
Speaker 4 (51:22):
Here's another theory. It's a long week, they don't have
a practice till Thursday. Those the two quarterbacks are quite different.
Maybe he's just being for the sake of being, you know,
like just he's a defensive coach. He knows he doesn't
want to have to prepare for Justin Fields or Tyrod
and the difference, and he's just being big.
Speaker 3 (51:40):
We'll find out.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
We'll talk about that later in the week. Appreciate everything
you do, Shook. You will be back with us on
Thursday night football. At that time, I actually will be
in Dublin. So you're handling that game with Jordan Rodrieg.
But we got a couple big time shows before that,
play the music.
Speaker 3 (52:00):
We're ready to go. We've got our Tuesday show.
Speaker 4 (52:04):
We're going to decide what takes I'm bringing with me overseas,
so we're gonna just try out some big, hot takes.
After three weeks figure out what the best ones.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
Are.
Speaker 4 (52:13):
Of course, we have our preview show coming up later
in the week, Man, Ravens and Lyons I thank you.
When we were thinking about football in the offseason, this
is the game we were waiting for.
Host
Gregg Rosenthal
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