September 16, 2025 • 46 mins
Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook deliver immediate reaction and analysis to the Week 2 Monday Night Football doubleheader featuring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. the Houston Texans and the Los Angeles Chargers vs. the Las Vegas Raiders. The duo sings praises for Baker Mayfield and critically analyzes the state of the Houston offensive unit, then provides commentary on what may have been the worst performance of Geno Smith's career in a telling loss to a strong Los Angeles Chargers defense that lost Khalil Mack midway through the contest. All that and more on the latest from NFL Daily!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
And then they run four. Herbert has all day in
the pocket, takes a shut out, fiel Q wide open Pod,
quint Justin.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Touchdown, Chargers sixty yard touchdown.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Herbert took you.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
What a throw from Justin Herbert?
Speaker 5 (00:23):
Oh, what a throw and what a call by bat
Money Smith and Daniel Jeremiah, our friend on KFI. Yes,
Justin Herbert with a dime down the field to Quinston
Quinton Johnson, a sixty yard score in the middle of
a game that wasn't the best game we're gonna watch
this year.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I'm Greg Rosenthal.
Speaker 5 (00:43):
Nick shook us with me all the way from Cleveland,
Chargers win twenty to nine. Welcome if you're joining us
live on YouTube, if you're listening in the morning, or
wherever you find us. We're hitting both the Monday night
football games in this show. We are going to start
with the Chargers and the Raiders, and spoiler alert, the
Texans Bucks game had a little more to talk about,
(01:06):
but Nick, I'll just start here. This looked like a
team in the Chargers that we're going to be talking
about a lot throughout the course of this season in
high leverage games, and.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
We're learning more about them now.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
In back to back primetime appearances, and a team in
the Raiders that ultimately I don't think have enough players
to get it done. One of the worst games in
Geno Smith's career, unfortunately in primetime, and it was not
nearly as close as the twenty to nine score would indicate.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
What is your biggest takeaway?
Speaker 6 (01:38):
Yeah, it was actually pretty casual in the second half
by the Chargers. With that lead in especially the fourth quarter,
they opened the door for the Raiders to make a
couple of you know, comeback attempts, and obviously they didn't
follow through on that, but that's how dominant the Chargers
were in this game.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
We're not going to necessarily look at.
Speaker 6 (01:55):
This game in a few weeks and think, oh, this
was when we realized the Chargers were for real. But
to me, the defense alone makes me think, oh, the
Charges might be for real because they own this game.
They absolutely shut down the Raiders and anything that they
brought to the table. They showed the difference in overall talent,
and that's after they lost Khalil Mack to an injury
(02:17):
as well. They were just dynamite in the secondary. Any
ball that was tipped in the air, they almost all
of them they intercepted. They started to playoff with the
Diane Henley interception, a lopsided victory that, like you said,
the score does not reflect how dominant the Chargers were tonight.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
One of our viewers right now, Chris g is asking
it is he turning into the dayon Henley Appreciation Hour?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Where were you for the dayon Henley flu game? On
the injury report with an illness added, there was some
real concern that he wasn't going to play in this game,
and my new favorite player, Marlo wax I thought might
be starting instead. He gets out there and you mentioned
it gets the interception on the first play of the game.
The comedy of a lowie Gilman and him, you know,
(03:01):
Gilman breaking on a ball, which was typical of the
entire night. Like Gino, Smith could just not find open
receivers and when he did, he often missed them. Throwing
forty three times for one hundred and eighty yards and
three interceptions. And Henley, who had one of them, also
had ten tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, and
(03:22):
a pass defense. And I said it going into the year,
he is a future All Pro. It would not surprise
me if he has that type of season this year.
And you know how you have those type of seasons,
you get everyone's attention in a game like this, you know,
watching some of the young players, Eddrin Cooper and you
(03:43):
have Johad Campbell next to Zach bond I. You know,
Fred Werner and the Winters are playing well. I feel
like linebackers are back and Dayon Henley.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Is leading the way.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
This defense was absolutely ferocious and made a Raiders offense
that was bombed away against the Patriots a week ago
with nine to twenty yard plus plays looked totally toothless
and they couldn't get anything done even as the offense
tried to charger it away with some of the decision
making and then the late fumble late in the game.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Yeah, Raiders finished the game with a success rate of
thirty five point four percent. Credit to the Chargers defense.
The Chargers leaned heavily on zone coverage eighty seven point
five percent of their defensive play calls against the past
zone coverage. And you know when you look at that,
sometimes you think, but you don't have the dogs to run, man. No,
They're just so good in zone at taking away throwing
windows for Ginosmith that it doesn't matter. There was a
(04:36):
specific play, actually no, that was on the other side
of the field. But they've been pretty dynamite against two
offenses that look a lot different but also had the potential.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
To air it out.
Speaker 6 (04:47):
I think about the Chargers playing the Chiefs last week
and limiting the Chiefs to twenty one points and also
fighting back against the Chiefs comeback attempt, and that's a
better team.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
I think about this week.
Speaker 6 (04:57):
They never really let the door open for the Raiders
to get into it. Yes, they didn't put a ton
of points on the board. Yes they had to settle
for three when they were on the doorstep of the
end zone in the second half.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
None of it mattered.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
None of it mattered because the defense, I mean, they
couldn't run the ball very well for most of this game.
People are begging Greg Roman to run the football. It
doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
It doesn't matter because of the defensive place.
Speaker 6 (05:15):
So exactly, we've entered the alternative universe in which Quentin Johnson.
You tweeted this, Quentin Johnson, everybody loves him and he's
making plays and people are begging Greg Roman to run
the ball.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
That's exactly what we saw tonight, I.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Guess in Greg Roman's defense, you know, Amari and Hampton
ends up with twenty four yards on eight carries. A
couple of those who were on the goal line, like
you mentioned, Naje Harris eight carries for twenty eight yards.
A lot of this is in, you know, trying to
run the clock out and struggling to late in the game,
and Harbaugh made some curious decisions. It made me wonder
if the rivalry between Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh was
(05:51):
almost you know, making him make emotional decisions like trying
to stick it to Pete Carroll. You know, he didn't
go for a four and goal on the two yard
line when they couldn't punch it in, almost emotional because
he was so mad that they couldn't run it in.
But then he does go for it on his side
of the fifty and calls like an end around to
(06:13):
Trey Harris where they were rushing to play. They refused
to take a time out and they end up fumbling
the exchange snap. And yeah, ultimately it doesn't matter because
this defense just is full of bad men. You know,
Tarheeb still is a guy not many people know he
was all over the place tonight. Tony Jefferson definitely one
of the candidates for our Wednesday Unka the.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Week this week. I mean he he was out of football.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
He was in football, but he was working in a
scouting department a couple of years ago. He's like in
his mid thirties and he skies for the one I
would say understandable interception of Gino Smith where he just
decided to throw it deep on the third and six
and it turned into a pretty good armpunt. This group
and their second year in Jesse enter his system and
(07:01):
the way that they play their match quarters. You know,
we had Cody Alexander on the show in the preseason
and the defense that they have and all the disguised
you know, pass rush looks that they give where you
just don't know where the pass rush is coming from.
It totally scrambled one of the smartest quarterbacks in the
league in Gino Smith, and he didn't know what to do.
And that's despite not having that Gould have a four
(07:24):
man pass rush and that is a concern.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Nick.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
You mentioned Khalil Mack. He left with an elbow injury.
He had, you know, a cast not a cast, but
it was in a sling on the sideline. It did
not look good. They showed some pretty gruesome replays and
it would be surprising if we see Khalil Mack anytime soon.
I'll just leave it there and that that's really disappointing
and I think could be really costly for this team, Nick,
(07:49):
because it is not a deep pass rush group. I
actually said, you know this week on our show, that
to me is their number one concern. And so it's
really got to be on Jesse Minter and the coaches,
the ski team, something up or maybe the front office
to look at the team that they have and try
to find someone as we get closer to the trade.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
Yeah, it's funny because as you watch this game progress
and the Raiders, you know, fail to find the end zone.
I'm listening to the broadcast and they're just emphasizing how
important is that Ashton Genty gets the ball more that
they lean on him because you think, all right, well,
you should be able to run against this front, especially
without Mac out there. He finishes with the eleven carries
for forty three yards. Some of that's dictated by score
difference by the Chargers coming out and scoring a touchdown
(08:29):
just before the end of the half by you know,
moving down and tacking on three more in the third quarter.
But I think it also just kind of pointed to
the fact that no matter what the Raiders tried to do,
they weren't really able to do much of anything. And
while we worry about the depth upfront, which I think
you're right, could be an issue, you know, in weeks
ahead and against better teams with better run blocking, better
(08:50):
you know, run schemes, because I think Genty's a great player,
so I wouldn't say better running backs. At the same time,
I feel so good about their linebacking core and their secondary,
and the beauty of it is the versatility. It's Gino's
last interception that illustrates at the best, in which Derwin
James is playing a middle zone and he's running back
and Gino makes the right decision on that throw.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
That's where you're supposed to throw that football.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
But because Derwin James is an uber athletic safety playing
in that role that's usually occupied by a linebacker, he's
able to match.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
The foot speed.
Speaker 6 (09:19):
I think that's how it was described by Lewis Riddick
of the intended target who was Jacoby Myers, get his
head around, deflect the ball, and then another defensive back
is there to pick that off.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
That is where the strength of their defense is. It
could be a week point up front.
Speaker 6 (09:30):
It's something that will continue to monitor from week to week,
especially against the better teams. But I feel so much
better about the second and third level that they could
potentially cover up for it, especially if you're able to
disguise some blitz and get some pressure that way.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
I think those are all really good points, and I'm
glad you pointed out that play. Let's actually roll that highlight.
Derwin James, who also had a fantastic night, really ending
the game for the chart.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
They rush for pressure, comment takes a shot to the.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
End zone, popped up in the air, intercepted for the
third time a touchback. I think Derwin tipped it.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Derwin definitely tipped it, and Dante Jackson comes down with
it exactly what they needed his twentieth career interception.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Oh good, good play there by Dante Jackson. And yeah,
the Chargers defense, you know, they looked better with Kleio Mack.
But I'm not worried long term. I see a comment
in the chat that says Brady. Tom Brady, the part
owner of the Raiders, who was there at the stadium
(10:43):
with a headset end said he's got to know how
bad Gino is.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Why is he allowing this? And this does hurt?
Speaker 5 (10:48):
And I know people are watching and I'm getting comments
on Twitter, and yeah, everything's happening, and I would just
like to make a statement as the president of the
Geno a Preciation Society and just admit this was one
of the worst games of his career.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I think it was a good defense.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
More than anything, but there were a number of times
in this game where he left a relatively clean pocket
because he looked a little panicked and not sure of
what he was seeing. That that is not a good sign.
And then, more than anything, he just missed four or
five throws. And when I look at what I think
(11:28):
Gino does best is when a throw is there, he
makes it. His on target rate, even from a year
ago when he was, you know, had worse traditional numbers,
was right there at the very top of the league,
especially even when he was pressured, but especially when he
wasn't pressured, and tonight he missed a few throws, including
a potential touchdown late which would have made it a
(11:50):
one score game to brock Bauers, where he just sailed it.
So it was a really rough night for Gina. We
can just admit that that doesn't change how fantastic he
looked in Week one, how underrated and fantastic I think
he's looked over the last couple of years. But it
is a concerning game for both him and Chip Kelly.
(12:11):
And I'll spin it to you Nick this way. I
thought it pointed out just how vital everything brock Bauers
does is this offense, because that was not the brock
Bowers were used to seeing. He was on the injury
report with a knee injury, he had a brace on.
He's still got eight targets, five catches for thirty eight yards,
but I was watching him very often and he was
(12:33):
just not moving the same. And they need brock Bowers.
He is, to quote Dave damashek their Jenga piece, and
if he is not right, I just don't think they're
dynamic enough on offense.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
Yes, I think that explains a lot of their struggles tonight,
and I wanted to contextualize it and kind of, you know,
have your back a little bit against the Geno haters
because this offense looks so different without him at full strength.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yes, he was out there, but I think that one.
Speaker 6 (12:58):
Play where uh Or when James pulls down his arm
and gets away with the pass interference kind of just
illustrated what he's going through right now. He does not
have the athleticism and leaping ability that makes him so
special with that knee.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I mean, he's going through it right now.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
When he landed after jumping up, it's like he tried
to avoid landing on that leg that is not anywhere
close to one hundred percent brock Bowers, And like Damnschek said,
I completely agree that you pulled that one Jenga piece
the whole tower falls. That's what we saw tonight because
we went into the season looking at their pass catching
options and I call it pass catching options because we
are very much leaning on tight end here as a
(13:35):
key part of this group. We knew that Jack Besh
hadn't been the second round pick that they thought he
was going to be, that Dante Thornton had outplayed him
and was going to have a higher spot on the
depth chart. We knew it was Jacobe Meyer and Dante
Thornton and just figure the rest out. Because Brock Bauers
is better than all of those guys. There's going to
be your top target. When you eliminate your top target
from that operation, when you cannout run the football, when
(13:56):
you can't protect effectively against some of these disguise looks
and pressures that are coming from unexpected angles, your all
offense just gets cut at the knees. And that's exactly
what we saw tonight. So that's why I say we're
not gonna necessarily look back at this game and think
this is the moment we thought the Chargers were for real,
because I think context is super important in this matchup alone.
But I give them a little bit of grace for
(14:19):
the struggles that they endured tonight because they were ugly.
It was a pretty ugly game for them, But they're
not at full strength. I'm not excusing it, but I
am saying that to help everybody kind of understand why
it was so ugly and why Gino had one of
the worst games of his career.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yeah, look, they're one and one.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
If you went into the season, you would expect them
to be happy with that. They got a road when
they lost this one in the division. Hearing from a
lot of you watching who are all over the place, Netherlands,
like over twenty percent of the people watching right now
are from Europe, and yeah, some Canadians on the West
Coast watching as well. So we appreciate you on and
(14:56):
we'll be doing this each and every Monday night.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Can we talk about Brady a little bit?
Speaker 6 (15:02):
I mean, do you want to talk about his prem
announcement because that was fun.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
No, I don't care about the flag football, the flag
football sportswashing. You know, there shouldn't be enough money to
have Tom Brady do that. I mean, he has enough money,
but he's doing it. Don't care about that. It's just
so bizarre that he is going to a production meeting
to announce a Chicago Bears game this week. Nick Shook
(15:31):
and his Raiders are playing the Bears in week four,
and that this just continues on. And I get there
are conflicts of interest all over the media, but it's
a little extreme. He's talking with Chip Kelly, according to
the broadcast, two or three times a week about offensive
game planning, and meanwhile he's gathering intel from all these
(15:53):
other teams and obviously I'm aware that Ben Johnson is
aware of this, and they're not giving up state secrets
to Tom Brady. But he is allowed to like make
connections with players, with coaches that he might one day
want to hire for the Raiders, and he is learning
something and the whole thing is just strange. I always
(16:15):
thought he should have had to pick between being announcer
and being an owner and him being up there, you know,
with the with the headset on and the whole suit,
and then when the camera was on him, he started
like slinking down in his chair.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Did you know that.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
It was almost like he was trying to get off
camera or something. I'm doing that for the YouTube bodience too.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I don't know. I'm just blame.
Speaker 6 (16:37):
Well, let's add in the fact that the league kind
of loosen the rules on him this year. Like last
year was you can't be in production meetings at all.
Now you can do it over zoom. Still can't be
in the facility. What you think that, like the flow
of information is just gonna stop because he's not in
the facility, Like he's still in these meetings.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
You're right, it's not state secrets now.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
Right now he's going into the meeting. Now he's going
into the facilities.
Speaker 6 (16:57):
You're right, yeah, yeah, it's just the conflict of interest
is it's not ideal. And also I came to the
conclusion today actually about the flag football thing, but this too.
His sphere of influence is like as large as the NFL.
Like as you're in the you're on the a team
for the Fox broadcast America's Game of the Week. You're
right there with Kevin Burkhardt. You're on a national game
(17:18):
every week. You're also a minority owner of a team.
You're also a legend. When you meet some of those
players in these meetings, you think they're not going to
look at you and be like, oh my god, that's
Tom Brady. You think that's not going to influence how
they interact with you.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I don't like it either.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
I agree with you, and I think this would be
more of a concern if the Raiders were like a
wagon and they're not.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
Well, look, there are one of the teams in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
And they are they are one of thirty two.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
If Tom Brady has any thing to say about it.
And I think they'll be competitive this year. Although it
wasn't great all right, last couple things on this game,
and we'll get the Texans bucks very shortly. I do
think it's notable justin Herbert keeps running so much, get
an awkward slide at the end of the game, which
I didn't like to see where his cleek got caught
in the turf, But early in the game when they
were struggling to get things going offensively, him scrambling really
(18:07):
made a difference, and I think you can see the difference.
He played a good, confident game tonight and getting all
the sport that he's getting from the defense kind of
points out what the Herbert hive has been saying all along,
like he's doing his job. If he can get help
around him, he will look a lot better. And ultimately
he's played two very clean games. I think he looks
(18:28):
very composed, and he had enough great plays tonight, including
that long touchdown to Quinton Johnson. And the other one
that stands out to me is when they went for
it on fourth and two in the first half, Nick
and his first read was taken away on that play
and he calmly just gets to his second read and
(18:49):
it was Keenan Allen over the middle. The Keenan Allen
improvement from a year ago I think is real. He
is really helping this team on third and fourth down.
Maybe now it's fourth and keenan and he just calmly
and quickly gets to that second read. So right now,
I'm really happy as a guy who's always loved watching
Justin Herbert with what they're doing around him. For the
(19:11):
most part, the running game is not great, but the
pass protection has been pretty good.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
Yeah, you should feel vindicated too, because I feel like
Herbert has taken too much negativity from critics over the
last couple of years for the charger struggles, as if
it was his fault just because he plays quarterback. The narrative,
and it's true over the last I would say the
last two years, more specifically two years ago, was that
they didn't protect him well enough, and they've worked on
that since then with the investments they've made in the
offensive line. Well, now he's getting protection, and now the
(19:35):
offense is running through him again, and it's not this
run first offense that we thought we were going to see.
It's we're going to empower him to do whatever he wants.
Those two touchdown passes looked way too easy to be
in an NFL game against a team that's like not
a bottom barrel team. And that's what people should worry
about if they're playing against the Chargers, is oh God,
Herbo might come in here and dice us up, because
(19:57):
he's looking real good right now.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
So they've beaten both the division, you know, games that
they've had in front of them, the Chiefs the Raiders,
and they can try to complete the trifecta. In one
of the biggest games of Week three, they played the Broncos.
Weird schedule, it really made this September be extremely important
for the Chargers. If you can sweep your division in
(20:21):
the first three weeks of the year, they could potentially
have like a two game lead and a tiebreaker over
all three teams in week four, almost unheard of. And
it makes me think about how hard they practiced in
training camp hurt you know, Harbaugh runs a tough training camp,
and the fact that they had an extra week because
they were in the Hall of Fame game, it all
might have helped them out a little bit to get
(20:43):
a head start.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
But they'll have to beat the Broncos next.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
But but I'm also a little worried how that's going
to look when.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
We get to November and December. Okay, let's just say it.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Let's not worry about the charger reason the marathon, it
did really kind of look like they tried the charger
it away. But so they're different this year. They're they're complete,
they can win games different. Okay, let's talk Bucks and Texans.
If you're listening on audio, let's take a quick break.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Let's go to the Bucks and the Texans.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
And yes, it came down to the very end.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
Mayfield such back in motion, hands the ball on shot
White into the end zone.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Is the in? Is he in?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Touchdown? Tampa Bay touchdown? Tampa Bay Buccaneers take the lead
at twenty to nineteen. We're shot White right up the cut.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Oh that's Jeem decker Hoffa alongside Dave Bore for w
f US.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
On a night where the Bucks running game had a
success rate that you know, I would have accepted like
on a math test back in high school. They run
the ball in at the very end after Todd Bowles,
of all people, manages the clock apps beautifully. Baker Mayfield
did it again. They didn't score Nick for seven straight
(22:08):
drives before Baker Mayfield got the ball back with a
couple minutes to go, and when he got the ball back.
I don't know about you, but I thought, oh, he's
gonna go score a touchdown.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
And you know what, he did it, Yeah, he did.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
The instant cries of you score two quickly Texans were
proven to be correct. Baker Mayfield is a magician. He
is a ball of fire disguised by a Buccaneers uniform.
He's somebody that you can rally an entire team around.
You know, back in the day when the Browns dratsed
him first overall, John Dorsey drafted first overall because he
(22:45):
walked into the facility at Oklahoma and made a little
like call to his teammates and they all responded. Because
he's a leader. He's a guy that players will rally around,
and he's a guy that players will trust. In a
moment of a high leverage moment, a moment of adversity,
you're on the you're playing primetime, the stadium's lot. I
don't know if the roof has closed or open, but
I'm sure it was loud regardless, and he goes right
(23:06):
down the field. He converts a fourth down by slipping
what would have been a game ending sack or at
least a sack that would have put them in a
bad spot because they still have their timeouts, and then
he continues to just dot the sideline with passes. They
managed to clock not perfectly, at least from the coaching side,
but because Baker's out there, they manage it well and
then they.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Pounded in there just about perfect.
Speaker 6 (23:25):
What did you have a problem with, Well, I felt
like they kept the time out in their pocket when
I don't know if I necessarily would have had them
do it, but it paid off because then they were
able to run the ball in the goal line because
they had that timeout.
Speaker 5 (23:35):
They kept their timeout s, which to me kept the flexibility.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
You're right there.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
There was a chance that they would have only had
time to run one more play after this, but probably
not with six seconds left. I honestly think it was
one of the best managed two minute drills that I've seen,
in the fact that they kept those timeouts in their
pocket and then we're able to run it. There is
a feather in Todd Bowles's cap and Josh Grizzard the
(24:02):
Lizard King. What I always forget what Jordan's lizard lick
from Lizard Lick man.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
He got it done.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
You mentioned the fourth down play to Baker Mayfield, so yeah,
let's set it up here. I like I mentioned two
minutes and ten seconds left. They have the ball on
the twenty, so not great field position. Had gone seven
straight drives without a single point after two touchdowns to
start the game. They're playing without their two starting tackles.
(24:33):
Tristan Wurf's not yet ready to play. They're all pro
left tackle. They did have Luke Geticky start this game
at right tackle. He actually looked great, I thought on
the first drive, which was a touchdown drive. Then he
comes out. They still score a touchdown on their second drive.
After that, you kind of saw the hard hitting Texans
defense do what they do and really shut down Tampa.
(24:56):
So that's the sequence that sets it all up. First
three plays of the drive, Nick no yards, incomplete pass,
a completion that doesn't go for anything. Baker, like he
was most of the night, is under a lot of pressure.
And then we get to fourth and ten and the Bucks,
rather the Texans send another blitz, maybe one blitz two many.
Speaker 7 (25:19):
Nineteen fourteen Houston Bucks have one more down, fourth down
in chan can Baker Mayfield pull something out? Of the
hat and convert on fourth down and long. Here's the snap.
Here comes Heat picked up nicely. Mayfield in the pressure.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
He's gonna run Mayfield with the forty Mayfield with the
forty five yard line. He's tripped up with the forty seven.
So Baker Mayfield. That's a better Baker does his thing.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
Yes, it is time for delivering results by Uber Eats,
and let's have our Baker conversation, because he absolutely delivered that.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
That was a play where he saw the.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
Pack pocket collapsing around him. And I think in that moment,
like every Texans fan and I live with one, he's
ten years old and he's asleep by now, thought the
Texans were gonna win that game. And then Baker just
does what he does and escapes and flips over in
(26:16):
true Baker style, and then calms down afterwards. And it's
crazy because it's like, if you're a Baker hater, he
gives you like those bad moments for you to say, oh, well,
he got lucky, Like early on he threw a ball
in the triple coverage that should have been picked. He
fumbled the ball twice in this game, including a fumble
where he punched the ball out of his own hand.
(26:38):
It was it was bizarre, like he had bad moments
and yet when when it really mattered, he comes up
with that big play and that's becoming like the defining
thing in what is you know, just a fascinating career.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
Yeah, you know, in the biggest spots, when it seems
like the chips are stacked against him, he pulls off
not quite racles with something close Like Henry Toto had
a great game tonight and he was the guy blitzing
kind of a late arriving blitzer that was there to
sack Baker on that play as we just played. If
you're watching on YouTube, and I don't know how he
slipped that sack. I mean, Toad's almost over pursues a
(27:14):
little bit, but like there's not a lot of space there.
He slips it like it's nothing and takes off and runs.
And as soon as that he takes off, you realize
the middle of the field is open. But in classic
Baker fashion, he doesn't slide. He's like, bring on the contact.
He battles multiple like knee issues suffered in the first half.
I was shocked he was out there after one of them.
The slow mo replay, his knee gets bent in awkwardly.
He grabs at it immediately and you're thinking, oh no,
(27:37):
not another quarterback to go down in week two, gets
right back up, gets back on the field, he runs,
He scrambles on that play, or it might have been
an earlier play where he bangs his knee on the
turf and grabs his knee again, and then CJGJ ced
Deuce is in his face talking trash and instead of
being like, oh my knee, Baker understands the moment, stands up,
(27:57):
gets in his face and immediately starts talking trash back,
because Baker's never gonna be talked down when it comes
to trash talk. Like he is the He defines the
energy of this team, and it's just like they did
in Atlanta last week. They're in a tough spot. Most
teams lose in those situations. He has no fear, goes
right down the field, hits Abuka for the touchdown last week.
(28:17):
This week, he makes all the plays to set them
up for the rushing score. That was the top story
from this game was the way that he finished the game.
It's something that we just have to come to expect
from him in these key moments. Now you can never
count him out. Just there's like four quarterbacks you can't
count in these situations. Pat Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson,
and Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
That's it.
Speaker 6 (28:37):
Like those first three year are like, oh well, those
guys all one MVPs. And then there's Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Actually you just look at last minute I.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Would throw I would throw Herbert in there.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
I know that people would push back against that. I
would throw him in there in my own private conversations,
maybe not publicly. Yet those four though, I would put
my life on the line thinking they're gonna go win
this game because of who he is. And like we
haven't even talked really a lot about how well they
were running the ball and how they did defensively, And
yet it's because Baker dominates the conversation because he's that
(29:11):
special level player he is.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
And I think this almost replaces his Rams game as
the quintessential Baker game because of all the reason yes
that I said, because he actually only averaged four point
five yards per attend They were inefficient tonight, and he's
a streaky player, but he had enough very good moments
including the touchdown to Abuka early, the first couple of drives,
(29:36):
and then the plays that mattered late. But they would
not have won this game, as you mentioned, if it
wasn't for the running game. Let's let's talk a little
bit about Bucky Irving goes seventeen for seventy one on
the ground, also catches six passes for fifty yards Rashad
White who gets the game winner there, great job in
terms of pass pro and then ten rushes for sixty
(29:57):
five yards. They had a sixty three percent success rate,
which is just outstanding. You get extra points that it
came against this Houston Texans defense. Compare that to thirty
three percent for the Texans. They almost double them up there.
And you think about the play calling that the Texans
(30:17):
had near the goal line where they decide to throw
the ball after getting stuffed once near the goal line
with Nick Chubb and he goes backwards, they decide to
throw the ball twice. Meanwhile the Bucks. It was good
running blocking for sure for a lot of the night,
but I also felt like a lot of that success
(30:38):
rate is Bucky Irving turning a negative play or a
one yard run into a five yard run or a
seven yard run or a four yard run and keeping
them on schedule. He really is a special running back.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Bucky Irving.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
Mashad White's great too, but man, Bucky Irving makes something
out of nothing.
Speaker 6 (30:58):
Yeah, Bucky Irving has the explosiveness and the swiftness to
kind of like slice and dice knife through a defense
to turn what looks like when he first receives the
handoff maybe a two yard gain into a nine to
twelve yard gain. And he didn't have a ton of
plus ten yard runs tonight, like his average was I
think around four yards per carry.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
It was four point two.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
But make no mistake, he paced this ground game and
we knew what he was capable of because of what
he did last season. The beauty of tonight is that
he's not the only guy in that backfield. Rashad White
lost his job to Bucky Irving last year because Bucky
was clearly the better option. They're both pretty damn good.
They're both also good as three down backs. It's rare
(31:40):
that a team has two guys that they can lean on.
His three down backs that you could deploy at the
same time and keep a defense, you know, guessing even
more because they're both out there and they combined for
what was it, one hundred and thirty six yards on
the ground. I mean, that's that's great production right there,
success strate sixty three percent. You said you'd take that
on a mathess You're like, okay, all right, Like, I
(32:01):
guess we're taking low grades here, but you know who
grades the running backs to have low grades?
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (32:08):
That they got the only D I think in my
life in freshman like it was I think it was
Honors math, and it was a good lesson for me.
I then dropped down a level the next few years
in math.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
It was a first.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
It was really the first time in my life I
was like, oh, you can't just get away with everything
by like by talking and by like not trying that
particularly hard. At some point you're going to come up
against something that you just can't overcome with that. It
was a good lesson. Shout out to miss du Gray,
who taught me a tough lesson in life. So yeah,
(32:42):
I took I took a D and I'm not gonna
apologize for it. Look that that was delivering results, by
the way, presented by Uber Eats, where you can get
the best deals on game day food all season long.
It's the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL.
It's not too late, you could now. I mean we're
hearing from people overseas. It's morning in Dublin, it's afternoon
(33:07):
in Australia. I'm actually gonna be heading over to Dublin
next week. Don't know if I've officially mentioned that on
the podcast. Going to be part of a live show too,
by the way, where there's some tickets with the Irish
NFL show. Michael McQuaid very excited about that, So go
check out his socials, my social to get tickets to that.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
That's on Friday night.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
I'm just decided, let's throw some plugs in there, shook
before we get to the Texan side of things, and
then go to bed because it's one in the morning.
Speaker 4 (33:35):
One thirty in the morning where you are here in Cleveland.
Speaker 5 (33:39):
Okay, Well, we gave Bulls the props for managing the game.
I think they're much better. They actually hired one of
these game management assistant which more and more coaches and
organizations are starting to do. And maybe he gets some
they get some credit to, but I think this improvement
started a year ago. I think is a real well
run organization. They have a lot of injuries, like they're
(34:02):
missing their two starting tackles. That could have been an excuse.
And Baker Mayfield was under a lot of pressure. Why
Will Anderson had nine pressures in this game. Daniel Hunter
had two sacks. But when you look at the pressure
rate and you look at the blitz rate and everything,
the Texans actually in the bucks in terms of their
pass rushers were about a draw. Like, the pressure rate
(34:25):
was about a draw, and the Texans actually had to
send like a lot of blitzes to get their pressure rate.
And so if you can make that a draw while
you're missing your two tackles and you're going up against
this great Texans pass rush, that's a win.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
That's good coaching.
Speaker 5 (34:41):
I just think they're really well coached despite having a
brand new offensive coordinator. And then on the other side,
I think Todd Bowles has his mojo back. He was
sending the heat tonight and he finally has a secondary
he can trust again. And the group that's kind of
the safety Nickel group, Antoine Windenfield, Tike Smith, and the
rookie Jacob Parrish. He can be very multiple and these
(35:01):
guys can tackle and they're versatile and they're really good.
Speaker 4 (35:05):
And Todd Bowles was in his bag.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
I know they've only won by four points over two weeks,
but they were playing pretty good opponents. I am really
impressed with what the Buccaneers are doing from a coaching
and just organizational perspective so far.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (35:17):
Yeah, I think the four point victory margin over the
two weeks is an example of coaching. Like I think
that they've put themselves in advantageous positions and made up
for the absences, especially a tackle by coaching. Like I
was so impressed by the way Grizzard called his game tonight,
Like I just thought that his flow was great, he
sensed the situation and called the right plays really well
(35:40):
consistently over this night. I mean, obviously, like we said,
Bucky Irving kind of elevates that running game. But they
were well balanced, they were paced well, they moved down
the field when they scored, they did it effectively. It's
just that when you face that defense, especially on the road,
in an environment like that, you are going to run
into some you know, three and outs of ugly scenarios.
But overall, I was very impressed and I actually had
the thought my head damn it, they're gonna do it again.
(36:01):
They're gonna lose an offensive coordinator for the third straight year.
They have the third straight you know, new offensive coordinator
and there, and they're still gonna be successful. Wizard from like, yeah, yeah, Lizard,
the Lizard Lick kid, the Lizard Lick guy is gonna
end up looking at head coaching jobs after this year.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Like, I don't know how they keep getting away with this,
and yet they do because of you.
Speaker 6 (36:23):
Know, I think a large part because they have Baker
Mayfield on the field. But yeah, great job of coaching
on both sides. And I picked up on those blitzes
too from Todd Bowles. It feels like he's back in
his comfort zone, getting aggressive again, still being short in
his halftime interviews.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
That's who Todd Bowles is.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
And I thought it was a stark contrast against the
current state of the Houston Texans and maybe this is
where we transition because I have issues with the way
the Texans coach this game. Tonight.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
I was, you know, really proud of finding the text
from Jordan that said King Gizzard the Lizard Wizard from
Lizard Lick Do.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
You know that?
Speaker 6 (36:52):
But that's actually inspired by what there's there's actually a
music artist named King Gizzard, I.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Know, I know, I and other references big song, rattlesnake,
you know.
Speaker 5 (37:02):
Yeah, No I don't, okay, So yeah, the offensive line
for the Texans, they started well and they played fairly well,
I thought tonight against the four man rush. The problem
wasn't their individual abilities, although it wasn't amazing. I thought Ursery,
who is back at left tackle now, actually played okay.
(37:27):
I thought he played pretty well. But the communication of
picking up the blitzes was so poor yea that the
second Todd Bowles realized that it just was blitz on
every key down And in the end CJ. Stroud under
pressure goes three for eight for twenty five yards and
(37:48):
took four sacks, and he did not have much of
a chance. And by the end of the game, even
when the pressure was picked up decently, he was panicking
a little bit and had that one throw that should
have been intercepted where he just like was just trying
to get rid of the ball and not you know,
drop back before they wound up kicking a field goal
(38:11):
and got very lucky.
Speaker 4 (38:12):
And so this is a group that's ragtag.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
It's a new center, you know, replacing an injury, and
it was otherwise mostly the group that they had in
the preseason. But you know, they're guys that weren't very
effective a year ago in the spots that they had
in a rookie and a replacement, and it's a bummer
for them to look so much like they did a
year ago in this game.
Speaker 6 (38:35):
Yeah, because we were sold a bad bill of goods
in the offseason. Oh, we just need to change the
offensive coordinator. We need to make changes on the offensive line.
Will be in a much better place. We were even
sold that they were improved during training camp, and yet
here we are again watching CJ.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Stroud get baking a shot.
Speaker 4 (38:50):
I'm one of the people that tried to sell it
a little bit.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
No, I was sold that by the people who were
at Texans camp. I was writing those things up in
the summer, like I was ready to buy into it too.
Demiko said he had his starting five solidified. We talked
about it on the show, and yet we're still watching CJ.
Stroud get you know, be forced to be uncomfortable. He's
just he doesn't trust his offensive line still. And the
biggest issue with it is not the fact that they
(39:13):
aren't holding up well, especially when you have these changes.
That's understandable. It's not the fact that they couldn't run
the ball effectively tonight. That's also understandable. It's the way
that they called the game. I'm sorry, but if you're
anticipating a blitz on third down called up by Todd Bowles,
a guy who's notorious for sending pressure and knows that
he can send pressure and find success, can you anticipate
(39:36):
it in your play calling a little bit?
Speaker 1 (39:37):
Can you not lean on the pass? Like you look
at the run pass ratio in this game.
Speaker 6 (39:40):
It seems very even because they did run the ball
a little bit more in the later stages, which kind
of evened it out. But there were stretches in this
game in which they were just passing, passing, passing and
not turning to the run at all and getting nowhere
with it. And there were so many times where CJ.
Stroud would drop back and have nowhere to go with
the football. Now, if you have offensive line issues, you
can call screens. You could, you know, potentially roll out
your quarterback. They didn't roll him out by design until
(40:03):
it was fourth and goal and gave him like one
option to throw to and of course he sails it
over the guy's head. Because like, this offense is just stuck.
They're in a rut. And I think that it could
be fixed with some better play calling in anticipation for
the situation.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
And this is a first year offensive coordinator. He's gonna
learn this.
Speaker 6 (40:20):
But it just frustrates me because you're you're putting your
quarterback who is good in a bad situation to the
point where now he's missing throws when he's not pressured.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
And that's really what concerns me the most. The effects
from last year are bleeding over into this.
Speaker 6 (40:33):
Year and it's undercutting your entire offense and making you
lose games like this tonight, a game that you very
much had a chance to win.
Speaker 5 (40:39):
Yeah, I would give the grade for CJ. Stroud as
a seat tonight. There were good moments. I will stand
on the table and take all the stock people are
giving away in CJ.
Speaker 4 (40:55):
Stroud.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
No, I'm taking it, and I'm.
Speaker 4 (40:58):
Believing wholeheartedly in two things from tonight. CJ.
Speaker 5 (41:01):
Stroud is going to have a great NFL career and
it is a very good quarterback right now.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (41:08):
The other thing was this game was entertaining as hell.
They put on a good show. It felt like a
playoff game. Granted, it felt like, you know, a early
playoff game, like what you know West? Why am I
blanking on? You know that the early Texan slot.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
That that oh west of Us? West of its My
brain is shutting off.
Speaker 5 (41:32):
After the last week, it felt like a West of
His game because they were absolutely hitting.
Speaker 4 (41:38):
It was tight. You didn't know what was going to happen.
Speaker 5 (41:40):
There's a lot of great players on the field, by
the way, like we're watching Derek Stingley Mike Evans matchup
all night, which is going back and forth, and ultimately
I think Stingley got the better of that nine targets
while Stingley was in coverage only three catches thirty six years.
Speaker 4 (41:55):
There was a lot to like.
Speaker 5 (41:56):
There was an incredible couple drives to start the game
before it settled down into the defensive struggles, so you
saw different types of game. Hell, there was a great
Kevin Harlan call on an absolute dime from CJ. Stroud
where Nico Collins tapped his toes. Let's listen to that call.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
At the twenty nine of Tampa Bay under center.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
It'stroud first and ten shotgun snap left tackle, block, arching
spiral passed down the near sideline en zone, over the
shoulder catch once.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Again, Collins touchdown. The Texans have scored on a twenty
nine yard touchdown pass by cj'stroud Nico Collins in the
end zone, both feet down, over the shoulder, grab six
nothing Houston.
Speaker 4 (42:43):
Now.
Speaker 5 (42:43):
I love Kevin Harlan on Westwood One. So the bad
memories late in the game, you know, when he got
a little panicked, which felt like they were gonna get erased.
After Jalen Noel has that long field goal return, and
then Nick Chubb has a moment where I wondered for
(43:04):
a second did the Bucks let Nick Chubb score there
to get the ball back?
Speaker 4 (43:07):
I don't think so.
Speaker 5 (43:08):
I don't think Todd Bowls was asked about that, but
I don't think so. But Nick Chubb gets the touchdown
to cap that off that set up the Baker mayfield
winning drive. There was a lot of drama, a lot
of fun in this game, and I will defend this
game to the Yeah.
Speaker 6 (43:24):
Yeah, even though I just completed about the Texans for
five minutes, I was very thoroughly entertained. Also, it was
nice to see Nick Chubb rip off his longest run
since Week seventeen of.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
The twenty twenty two season.
Speaker 7 (43:36):
That was good.
Speaker 6 (43:36):
Twenty five yards for that touchdown. That was good to
see him. He's a great guy. Glad to see him
back in the end zone. Yeah, we were entertained. This
is going to be in my top five games of
the year so far. I think, oh, yeah, that's bold
number five.
Speaker 5 (43:48):
We're making that list on NFL dot Com every week.
I appreciate that. I appreciate you. I do think we've
gotten to the end here of the show. I did
want to update one injury situation from this game. Elijah Knty,
who I thought looked outstanding for the first five quarters
of this season, has a pectoral injury. Mike Garifolo of
(44:10):
NFL Network says there is fear that it could be
a season ending injury, but they are going to get
an MRI, get further tests to make sure there are
different pectoral tearors in terms of severity, and there's at
least a chance, as we're recording, that it won't be
the worst possible result. But Canty, to me, was a
(44:33):
really important part of them finally figuring out their four
man rush shook because I think even though the Texans
offensive line was.
Speaker 4 (44:43):
Bad, I think it's a little underrated.
Speaker 5 (44:45):
How this group up front with Asan Redick, who had
a lot of pressures tonight, and then Vita Vea and
an underrated player in Yahyaddabi with Kanty, that was a
really good group. And unfortunately it looks like they're going
to miss a key part of that.
Speaker 6 (44:59):
Yeah. Yeah, and I'm worried about their depth in replacing him.
You saw in the replay on that play, as soon
as he suffered the injury, one of his arms just
kind of drops, like suddenly, He's like, oh, I can't
your whole from at least my experience anything in that area.
When it happens and it's relatively severe, your whole arm
kind of goes numb.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
And that's what it looked like.
Speaker 6 (45:18):
So I hope for the best with him, but you know,
hopefully he gets good news, but if not, the Buccaneers
are gonna have to figure out how to replace him.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
Thanks to everyone who joined, Thanks to everyone who is
listening to each and every show.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
We know we do a lot.
Speaker 5 (45:33):
It's right there in the name. We love doing it
for you. So that's it for our Monday night recap show.
There will be three more doubleheaders Shook this year. I
didn't check. I think they might all be these you
know stat where they're staying up like very late. I
will check that schedule and so a little bit of
(45:56):
a change. I believe this is the last year though,
of these double headers. Rodrigodell doesn't like it, so enjoy.
We've only got a few more of these left. But
we will be here every single Monday night with you
live on YouTube and then of course in your podcast feed.
We will also be back in the studio Colleen Wolf
making her return to the Chris Westley The Podcast Studio.
(46:20):
To see you next Tuesday. Crew, Me, Colleen and Jordan.
We will go through all the injury situations. Oh yeah,
JJ McCarthy's out and David Daniels might be out, and
Joe Burrow's out for three months.
Speaker 4 (46:33):
We have a lot to talk about. It never ends
on NFL Daily. We'll see you Tuesday,
And then they run four. Herbert has all day in
the pocket, takes a shut out, fiel Q wide open Pod,
quint Justin.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Touchdown, Chargers sixty yard touchdown.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Herbert took you.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
What a throw from Justin Herbert?
Speaker 5 (00:23):
Oh, what a throw and what a call by bat
Money Smith and Daniel Jeremiah, our friend on KFI. Yes,
Justin Herbert with a dime down the field to Quinston
Quinton Johnson, a sixty yard score in the middle of
a game that wasn't the best game we're gonna watch
this year.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I'm Greg Rosenthal.
Speaker 5 (00:43):
Nick shook us with me all the way from Cleveland,
Chargers win twenty to nine. Welcome if you're joining us
live on YouTube, if you're listening in the morning, or
wherever you find us. We're hitting both the Monday night
football games in this show. We are going to start
with the Chargers and the Raiders, and spoiler alert, the
Texans Bucks game had a little more to talk about,
(01:06):
but Nick, I'll just start here. This looked like a
team in the Chargers that we're going to be talking
about a lot throughout the course of this season in
high leverage games, and.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
We're learning more about them now.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
In back to back primetime appearances, and a team in
the Raiders that ultimately I don't think have enough players
to get it done. One of the worst games in
Geno Smith's career, unfortunately in primetime, and it was not
nearly as close as the twenty to nine score would indicate.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
What is your biggest takeaway?
Speaker 6 (01:38):
Yeah, it was actually pretty casual in the second half
by the Chargers. With that lead in especially the fourth quarter,
they opened the door for the Raiders to make a
couple of you know, comeback attempts, and obviously they didn't
follow through on that, but that's how dominant the Chargers
were in this game.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
We're not going to necessarily look at.
Speaker 6 (01:55):
This game in a few weeks and think, oh, this
was when we realized the Chargers were for real. But
to me, the defense alone makes me think, oh, the
Charges might be for real because they own this game.
They absolutely shut down the Raiders and anything that they
brought to the table. They showed the difference in overall talent,
and that's after they lost Khalil Mack to an injury
(02:17):
as well. They were just dynamite in the secondary. Any
ball that was tipped in the air, they almost all
of them they intercepted. They started to playoff with the
Diane Henley interception, a lopsided victory that, like you said,
the score does not reflect how dominant the Chargers were tonight.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
One of our viewers right now, Chris g is asking
it is he turning into the dayon Henley Appreciation Hour?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Where were you for the dayon Henley flu game? On
the injury report with an illness added, there was some
real concern that he wasn't going to play in this game,
and my new favorite player, Marlo wax I thought might
be starting instead. He gets out there and you mentioned
it gets the interception on the first play of the game.
The comedy of a lowie Gilman and him, you know,
(03:01):
Gilman breaking on a ball, which was typical of the
entire night. Like Gino, Smith could just not find open
receivers and when he did, he often missed them. Throwing
forty three times for one hundred and eighty yards and
three interceptions. And Henley, who had one of them, also
had ten tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, and
(03:22):
a pass defense. And I said it going into the year,
he is a future All Pro. It would not surprise
me if he has that type of season this year.
And you know how you have those type of seasons,
you get everyone's attention in a game like this, you know,
watching some of the young players, Eddrin Cooper and you
(03:43):
have Johad Campbell next to Zach bond I. You know,
Fred Werner and the Winters are playing well. I feel
like linebackers are back and Dayon Henley.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Is leading the way.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
This defense was absolutely ferocious and made a Raiders offense
that was bombed away against the Patriots a week ago
with nine to twenty yard plus plays looked totally toothless
and they couldn't get anything done even as the offense
tried to charger it away with some of the decision
making and then the late fumble late in the game.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Yeah, Raiders finished the game with a success rate of
thirty five point four percent. Credit to the Chargers defense.
The Chargers leaned heavily on zone coverage eighty seven point
five percent of their defensive play calls against the past
zone coverage. And you know when you look at that,
sometimes you think, but you don't have the dogs to run, man. No,
They're just so good in zone at taking away throwing
windows for Ginosmith that it doesn't matter. There was a
(04:36):
specific play, actually no, that was on the other side
of the field. But they've been pretty dynamite against two
offenses that look a lot different but also had the potential.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
To air it out.
Speaker 6 (04:47):
I think about the Chargers playing the Chiefs last week
and limiting the Chiefs to twenty one points and also
fighting back against the Chiefs comeback attempt, and that's a
better team.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
I think about this week.
Speaker 6 (04:57):
They never really let the door open for the Raiders
to get into it. Yes, they didn't put a ton
of points on the board. Yes they had to settle
for three when they were on the doorstep of the
end zone in the second half.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
None of it mattered.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
None of it mattered because the defense, I mean, they
couldn't run the ball very well for most of this game.
People are begging Greg Roman to run the football. It
doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
It doesn't matter because of the defensive place.
Speaker 6 (05:15):
So exactly, we've entered the alternative universe in which Quentin Johnson.
You tweeted this, Quentin Johnson, everybody loves him and he's
making plays and people are begging Greg Roman to run
the ball.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
That's exactly what we saw tonight, I.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Guess in Greg Roman's defense, you know, Amari and Hampton
ends up with twenty four yards on eight carries. A
couple of those who were on the goal line, like
you mentioned, Naje Harris eight carries for twenty eight yards.
A lot of this is in, you know, trying to
run the clock out and struggling to late in the game,
and Harbaugh made some curious decisions. It made me wonder
if the rivalry between Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh was
(05:51):
almost you know, making him make emotional decisions like trying
to stick it to Pete Carroll. You know, he didn't
go for a four and goal on the two yard
line when they couldn't punch it in, almost emotional because
he was so mad that they couldn't run it in.
But then he does go for it on his side
of the fifty and calls like an end around to
(06:13):
Trey Harris where they were rushing to play. They refused
to take a time out and they end up fumbling
the exchange snap. And yeah, ultimately it doesn't matter because
this defense just is full of bad men. You know,
Tarheeb still is a guy not many people know he
was all over the place tonight. Tony Jefferson definitely one
of the candidates for our Wednesday Unka the.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Week this week. I mean he he was out of football.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
He was in football, but he was working in a
scouting department a couple of years ago. He's like in
his mid thirties and he skies for the one I
would say understandable interception of Gino Smith where he just
decided to throw it deep on the third and six
and it turned into a pretty good armpunt. This group
and their second year in Jesse enter his system and
(07:01):
the way that they play their match quarters. You know,
we had Cody Alexander on the show in the preseason
and the defense that they have and all the disguised
you know, pass rush looks that they give where you
just don't know where the pass rush is coming from.
It totally scrambled one of the smartest quarterbacks in the
league in Gino Smith, and he didn't know what to do.
And that's despite not having that Gould have a four
(07:24):
man pass rush and that is a concern.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Nick.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
You mentioned Khalil Mack. He left with an elbow injury.
He had, you know, a cast not a cast, but
it was in a sling on the sideline. It did
not look good. They showed some pretty gruesome replays and
it would be surprising if we see Khalil Mack anytime soon.
I'll just leave it there and that that's really disappointing
and I think could be really costly for this team, Nick,
(07:49):
because it is not a deep pass rush group. I
actually said, you know this week on our show, that
to me is their number one concern. And so it's
really got to be on Jesse Minter and the coaches,
the ski team, something up or maybe the front office
to look at the team that they have and try
to find someone as we get closer to the trade.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
That.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
Yeah, it's funny because as you watch this game progress
and the Raiders, you know, fail to find the end zone.
I'm listening to the broadcast and they're just emphasizing how
important is that Ashton Genty gets the ball more that
they lean on him because you think, all right, well,
you should be able to run against this front, especially
without Mac out there. He finishes with the eleven carries
for forty three yards. Some of that's dictated by score
difference by the Chargers coming out and scoring a touchdown
(08:29):
just before the end of the half by you know,
moving down and tacking on three more in the third quarter.
But I think it also just kind of pointed to
the fact that no matter what the Raiders tried to do,
they weren't really able to do much of anything. And
while we worry about the depth upfront, which I think
you're right, could be an issue, you know, in weeks
ahead and against better teams with better run blocking, better
(08:50):
you know, run schemes, because I think Genty's a great player,
so I wouldn't say better running backs. At the same time,
I feel so good about their linebacking core and their secondary,
and the beauty of it is the versatility. It's Gino's
last interception that illustrates at the best, in which Derwin
James is playing a middle zone and he's running back
and Gino makes the right decision on that throw.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
That's where you're supposed to throw that football.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
But because Derwin James is an uber athletic safety playing
in that role that's usually occupied by a linebacker, he's
able to match.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
The foot speed.
Speaker 6 (09:19):
I think that's how it was described by Lewis Riddick
of the intended target who was Jacoby Myers, get his
head around, deflect the ball, and then another defensive back
is there to pick that off.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
That is where the strength of their defense is. It
could be a week point up front.
Speaker 6 (09:30):
It's something that will continue to monitor from week to week,
especially against the better teams. But I feel so much
better about the second and third level that they could
potentially cover up for it, especially if you're able to
disguise some blitz and get some pressure that way.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
I think those are all really good points, and I'm
glad you pointed out that play. Let's actually roll that highlight.
Derwin James, who also had a fantastic night, really ending
the game for the chart.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
They rush for pressure, comment takes a shot to the.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
End zone, popped up in the air, intercepted for the
third time a touchback. I think Derwin tipped it.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Derwin definitely tipped it, and Dante Jackson comes down with
it exactly what they needed his twentieth career interception.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Oh good, good play there by Dante Jackson. And yeah,
the Chargers defense, you know, they looked better with Kleio Mack.
But I'm not worried long term. I see a comment
in the chat that says Brady. Tom Brady, the part
owner of the Raiders, who was there at the stadium
(10:43):
with a headset end said he's got to know how
bad Gino is.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Why is he allowing this? And this does hurt?
Speaker 5 (10:48):
And I know people are watching and I'm getting comments
on Twitter, and yeah, everything's happening, and I would just
like to make a statement as the president of the
Geno a Preciation Society and just admit this was one
of the worst games of his career.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I think it was a good defense.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
More than anything, but there were a number of times
in this game where he left a relatively clean pocket
because he looked a little panicked and not sure of
what he was seeing. That that is not a good sign.
And then, more than anything, he just missed four or
five throws. And when I look at what I think
(11:28):
Gino does best is when a throw is there, he
makes it. His on target rate, even from a year
ago when he was, you know, had worse traditional numbers,
was right there at the very top of the league,
especially even when he was pressured, but especially when he
wasn't pressured, and tonight he missed a few throws, including
a potential touchdown late which would have made it a
(11:50):
one score game to brock Bauers, where he just sailed it.
So it was a really rough night for Gina. We
can just admit that that doesn't change how fantastic he
looked in Week one, how underrated and fantastic I think
he's looked over the last couple of years. But it
is a concerning game for both him and Chip Kelly.
(12:11):
And I'll spin it to you Nick this way. I
thought it pointed out just how vital everything brock Bauers
does is this offense, because that was not the brock
Bowers were used to seeing. He was on the injury
report with a knee injury, he had a brace on.
He's still got eight targets, five catches for thirty eight yards,
but I was watching him very often and he was
(12:33):
just not moving the same. And they need brock Bowers.
He is, to quote Dave damashek their Jenga piece, and
if he is not right, I just don't think they're
dynamic enough on offense.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
Yes, I think that explains a lot of their struggles tonight,
and I wanted to contextualize it and kind of, you know,
have your back a little bit against the Geno haters
because this offense looks so different without him at full strength.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yes, he was out there, but I think that one.
Speaker 6 (12:58):
Play where uh Or when James pulls down his arm
and gets away with the pass interference kind of just
illustrated what he's going through right now. He does not
have the athleticism and leaping ability that makes him so
special with that knee.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I mean, he's going through it right now.
Speaker 6 (13:13):
When he landed after jumping up, it's like he tried
to avoid landing on that leg that is not anywhere
close to one hundred percent brock Bowers, And like Damnschek said,
I completely agree that you pulled that one Jenga piece
the whole tower falls. That's what we saw tonight because
we went into the season looking at their pass catching
options and I call it pass catching options because we
are very much leaning on tight end here as a
(13:35):
key part of this group. We knew that Jack Besh
hadn't been the second round pick that they thought he
was going to be, that Dante Thornton had outplayed him
and was going to have a higher spot on the
depth chart. We knew it was Jacobe Meyer and Dante
Thornton and just figure the rest out. Because Brock Bauers
is better than all of those guys. There's going to
be your top target. When you eliminate your top target
from that operation, when you cannout run the football, when
(13:56):
you can't protect effectively against some of these disguise looks
and pressures that are coming from unexpected angles, your all
offense just gets cut at the knees. And that's exactly
what we saw tonight. So that's why I say we're
not gonna necessarily look back at this game and think
this is the moment we thought the Chargers were for real,
because I think context is super important in this matchup alone.
But I give them a little bit of grace for
(14:19):
the struggles that they endured tonight because they were ugly.
It was a pretty ugly game for them, But they're
not at full strength. I'm not excusing it, but I
am saying that to help everybody kind of understand why
it was so ugly and why Gino had one of
the worst games of his career.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yeah, look, they're one and one.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
If you went into the season, you would expect them
to be happy with that. They got a road when
they lost this one in the division. Hearing from a
lot of you watching who are all over the place, Netherlands,
like over twenty percent of the people watching right now
are from Europe, and yeah, some Canadians on the West
Coast watching as well. So we appreciate you on and
(14:56):
we'll be doing this each and every Monday night.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Can we talk about Brady a little bit?
Speaker 6 (15:02):
I mean, do you want to talk about his prem
announcement because that was fun.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
No, I don't care about the flag football, the flag
football sportswashing. You know, there shouldn't be enough money to
have Tom Brady do that. I mean, he has enough money,
but he's doing it. Don't care about that. It's just
so bizarre that he is going to a production meeting
to announce a Chicago Bears game this week. Nick Shook
(15:31):
and his Raiders are playing the Bears in week four,
and that this just continues on. And I get there
are conflicts of interest all over the media, but it's
a little extreme. He's talking with Chip Kelly, according to
the broadcast, two or three times a week about offensive
game planning, and meanwhile he's gathering intel from all these
(15:53):
other teams and obviously I'm aware that Ben Johnson is
aware of this, and they're not giving up state secrets
to Tom Brady. But he is allowed to like make
connections with players, with coaches that he might one day
want to hire for the Raiders, and he is learning
something and the whole thing is just strange. I always
(16:15):
thought he should have had to pick between being announcer
and being an owner and him being up there, you know,
with the with the headset on and the whole suit,
and then when the camera was on him, he started
like slinking down in his chair.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Did you know that.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
It was almost like he was trying to get off
camera or something. I'm doing that for the YouTube bodience too.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I don't know. I'm just blame.
Speaker 6 (16:37):
Well, let's add in the fact that the league kind
of loosen the rules on him this year. Like last
year was you can't be in production meetings at all.
Now you can do it over zoom. Still can't be
in the facility. What you think that, like the flow
of information is just gonna stop because he's not in
the facility, Like he's still in these meetings.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
You're right, it's not state secrets now.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
Right now he's going into the meeting. Now he's going
into the facilities.
Speaker 6 (16:57):
You're right, yeah, yeah, it's just the conflict of interest
is it's not ideal. And also I came to the
conclusion today actually about the flag football thing, but this too.
His sphere of influence is like as large as the NFL.
Like as you're in the you're on the a team
for the Fox broadcast America's Game of the Week. You're
right there with Kevin Burkhardt. You're on a national game
(17:18):
every week. You're also a minority owner of a team.
You're also a legend. When you meet some of those
players in these meetings, you think they're not going to
look at you and be like, oh my god, that's
Tom Brady. You think that's not going to influence how
they interact with you.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I don't like it either.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
I agree with you, and I think this would be
more of a concern if the Raiders were like a
wagon and they're not.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
Well, look, there are one of the teams in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
And they are they are one of thirty two.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
If Tom Brady has any thing to say about it.
And I think they'll be competitive this year. Although it
wasn't great all right, last couple things on this game,
and we'll get the Texans bucks very shortly. I do
think it's notable justin Herbert keeps running so much, get
an awkward slide at the end of the game, which
I didn't like to see where his cleek got caught
in the turf, But early in the game when they
were struggling to get things going offensively, him scrambling really
(18:07):
made a difference, and I think you can see the difference.
He played a good, confident game tonight and getting all
the sport that he's getting from the defense kind of
points out what the Herbert hive has been saying all along,
like he's doing his job. If he can get help
around him, he will look a lot better. And ultimately
he's played two very clean games. I think he looks
(18:28):
very composed, and he had enough great plays tonight, including
that long touchdown to Quinton Johnson. And the other one
that stands out to me is when they went for
it on fourth and two in the first half, Nick
and his first read was taken away on that play
and he calmly just gets to his second read and
(18:49):
it was Keenan Allen over the middle. The Keenan Allen
improvement from a year ago I think is real. He
is really helping this team on third and fourth down.
Maybe now it's fourth and keenan and he just calmly
and quickly gets to that second read. So right now,
I'm really happy as a guy who's always loved watching
Justin Herbert with what they're doing around him. For the
(19:11):
most part, the running game is not great, but the
pass protection has been pretty good.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
Yeah, you should feel vindicated too, because I feel like
Herbert has taken too much negativity from critics over the
last couple of years for the charger struggles, as if
it was his fault just because he plays quarterback. The narrative,
and it's true over the last I would say the
last two years, more specifically two years ago, was that
they didn't protect him well enough, and they've worked on
that since then with the investments they've made in the
offensive line. Well, now he's getting protection, and now the
(19:35):
offense is running through him again, and it's not this
run first offense that we thought we were going to see.
It's we're going to empower him to do whatever he wants.
Those two touchdown passes looked way too easy to be
in an NFL game against a team that's like not
a bottom barrel team. And that's what people should worry
about if they're playing against the Chargers, is oh God,
Herbo might come in here and dice us up, because
(19:57):
he's looking real good right now.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
So they've beaten both the division, you know, games that
they've had in front of them, the Chiefs the Raiders,
and they can try to complete the trifecta. In one
of the biggest games of Week three, they played the Broncos.
Weird schedule, it really made this September be extremely important
for the Chargers. If you can sweep your division in
(20:21):
the first three weeks of the year, they could potentially
have like a two game lead and a tiebreaker over
all three teams in week four, almost unheard of. And
it makes me think about how hard they practiced in
training camp hurt you know, Harbaugh runs a tough training camp,
and the fact that they had an extra week because
they were in the Hall of Fame game, it all
might have helped them out a little bit to get
(20:43):
a head start.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
But they'll have to beat the Broncos next.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
But but I'm also a little worried how that's going
to look when.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
We get to November and December. Okay, let's just say it.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Let's not worry about the charger reason the marathon, it
did really kind of look like they tried the charger
it away. But so they're different this year. They're they're complete,
they can win games different. Okay, let's talk Bucks and Texans.
If you're listening on audio, let's take a quick break.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Let's go to the Bucks and the Texans.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
And yes, it came down to the very end.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
Mayfield such back in motion, hands the ball on shot
White into the end zone.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Is the in? Is he in?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Touchdown? Tampa Bay touchdown? Tampa Bay Buccaneers take the lead
at twenty to nineteen. We're shot White right up the cut.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Oh that's Jeem decker Hoffa alongside Dave Bore for w
f US.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
On a night where the Bucks running game had a
success rate that you know, I would have accepted like
on a math test back in high school. They run
the ball in at the very end after Todd Bowles,
of all people, manages the clock apps beautifully. Baker Mayfield
did it again. They didn't score Nick for seven straight
(22:08):
drives before Baker Mayfield got the ball back with a
couple minutes to go, and when he got the ball back.
I don't know about you, but I thought, oh, he's
gonna go score a touchdown.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
And you know what, he did it, Yeah, he did.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
The instant cries of you score two quickly Texans were
proven to be correct. Baker Mayfield is a magician. He
is a ball of fire disguised by a Buccaneers uniform.
He's somebody that you can rally an entire team around.
You know, back in the day when the Browns dratsed
him first overall, John Dorsey drafted first overall because he
(22:45):
walked into the facility at Oklahoma and made a little
like call to his teammates and they all responded. Because
he's a leader. He's a guy that players will rally around,
and he's a guy that players will trust. In a
moment of a high leverage moment, a moment of adversity,
you're on the you're playing primetime, the stadium's lot. I
don't know if the roof has closed or open, but
I'm sure it was loud regardless, and he goes right
(23:06):
down the field. He converts a fourth down by slipping
what would have been a game ending sack or at
least a sack that would have put them in a
bad spot because they still have their timeouts, and then
he continues to just dot the sideline with passes. They
managed to clock not perfectly, at least from the coaching side,
but because Baker's out there, they manage it well and
then they.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Pounded in there just about perfect.
Speaker 6 (23:25):
What did you have a problem with, Well, I felt
like they kept the time out in their pocket when
I don't know if I necessarily would have had them
do it, but it paid off because then they were
able to run the ball in the goal line because
they had that timeout.
Speaker 5 (23:35):
They kept their timeout s, which to me kept the flexibility.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
You're right there.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
There was a chance that they would have only had
time to run one more play after this, but probably
not with six seconds left. I honestly think it was
one of the best managed two minute drills that I've seen,
in the fact that they kept those timeouts in their
pocket and then we're able to run it. There is
a feather in Todd Bowles's cap and Josh Grizzard the
(24:02):
Lizard King. What I always forget what Jordan's lizard lick
from Lizard Lick man.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
He got it done.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
You mentioned the fourth down play to Baker Mayfield, so yeah,
let's set it up here. I like I mentioned two
minutes and ten seconds left. They have the ball on
the twenty, so not great field position. Had gone seven
straight drives without a single point after two touchdowns to
start the game. They're playing without their two starting tackles.
(24:33):
Tristan Wurf's not yet ready to play. They're all pro
left tackle. They did have Luke Geticky start this game
at right tackle. He actually looked great, I thought on
the first drive, which was a touchdown drive. Then he
comes out. They still score a touchdown on their second drive.
After that, you kind of saw the hard hitting Texans
defense do what they do and really shut down Tampa.
(24:56):
So that's the sequence that sets it all up. First
three plays of the drive, Nick no yards, incomplete pass,
a completion that doesn't go for anything. Baker, like he
was most of the night, is under a lot of pressure.
And then we get to fourth and ten and the Bucks,
rather the Texans send another blitz, maybe one blitz two many.
Speaker 7 (25:19):
Nineteen fourteen Houston Bucks have one more down, fourth down
in chan can Baker Mayfield pull something out? Of the
hat and convert on fourth down and long. Here's the snap.
Here comes Heat picked up nicely. Mayfield in the pressure.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
He's gonna run Mayfield with the forty Mayfield with the
forty five yard line. He's tripped up with the forty seven.
So Baker Mayfield. That's a better Baker does his thing.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
Yes, it is time for delivering results by Uber Eats,
and let's have our Baker conversation, because he absolutely delivered that.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
That was a play where he saw the.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
Pack pocket collapsing around him. And I think in that moment,
like every Texans fan and I live with one, he's
ten years old and he's asleep by now, thought the
Texans were gonna win that game. And then Baker just
does what he does and escapes and flips over in
(26:16):
true Baker style, and then calms down afterwards. And it's
crazy because it's like, if you're a Baker hater, he
gives you like those bad moments for you to say, oh, well,
he got lucky, Like early on he threw a ball
in the triple coverage that should have been picked. He
fumbled the ball twice in this game, including a fumble
where he punched the ball out of his own hand.
(26:38):
It was it was bizarre, like he had bad moments
and yet when when it really mattered, he comes up
with that big play and that's becoming like the defining
thing in what is you know, just a fascinating career.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
Yeah, you know, in the biggest spots, when it seems
like the chips are stacked against him, he pulls off
not quite racles with something close Like Henry Toto had
a great game tonight and he was the guy blitzing
kind of a late arriving blitzer that was there to
sack Baker on that play as we just played. If
you're watching on YouTube, and I don't know how he
slipped that sack. I mean, Toad's almost over pursues a
(27:14):
little bit, but like there's not a lot of space there.
He slips it like it's nothing and takes off and runs.
And as soon as that he takes off, you realize
the middle of the field is open. But in classic
Baker fashion, he doesn't slide. He's like, bring on the contact.
He battles multiple like knee issues suffered in the first half.
I was shocked he was out there after one of them.
The slow mo replay, his knee gets bent in awkwardly.
He grabs at it immediately and you're thinking, oh no,
(27:37):
not another quarterback to go down in week two, gets
right back up, gets back on the field, he runs,
He scrambles on that play, or it might have been
an earlier play where he bangs his knee on the
turf and grabs his knee again, and then CJGJ ced
Deuce is in his face talking trash and instead of
being like, oh my knee, Baker understands the moment, stands up,
(27:57):
gets in his face and immediately starts talking trash back,
because Baker's never gonna be talked down when it comes
to trash talk. Like he is the He defines the
energy of this team, and it's just like they did
in Atlanta last week. They're in a tough spot. Most
teams lose in those situations. He has no fear, goes
right down the field, hits Abuka for the touchdown last week.
(28:17):
This week, he makes all the plays to set them
up for the rushing score. That was the top story
from this game was the way that he finished the game.
It's something that we just have to come to expect
from him in these key moments. Now you can never
count him out. Just there's like four quarterbacks you can't
count in these situations. Pat Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson,
and Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
That's it.
Speaker 6 (28:37):
Like those first three year are like, oh well, those
guys all one MVPs. And then there's Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Actually you just look at last minute I.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Would throw I would throw Herbert in there.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
I know that people would push back against that. I
would throw him in there in my own private conversations,
maybe not publicly. Yet those four though, I would put
my life on the line thinking they're gonna go win
this game because of who he is. And like we
haven't even talked really a lot about how well they
were running the ball and how they did defensively, And
yet it's because Baker dominates the conversation because he's that
(29:11):
special level player he is.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
And I think this almost replaces his Rams game as
the quintessential Baker game because of all the reason yes
that I said, because he actually only averaged four point
five yards per attend They were inefficient tonight, and he's
a streaky player, but he had enough very good moments
including the touchdown to Abuka early, the first couple of drives,
(29:36):
and then the plays that mattered late. But they would
not have won this game, as you mentioned, if it
wasn't for the running game. Let's let's talk a little
bit about Bucky Irving goes seventeen for seventy one on
the ground, also catches six passes for fifty yards Rashad
White who gets the game winner there, great job in
terms of pass pro and then ten rushes for sixty
(29:57):
five yards. They had a sixty three percent success rate,
which is just outstanding. You get extra points that it
came against this Houston Texans defense. Compare that to thirty
three percent for the Texans. They almost double them up there.
And you think about the play calling that the Texans
(30:17):
had near the goal line where they decide to throw
the ball after getting stuffed once near the goal line
with Nick Chubb and he goes backwards, they decide to
throw the ball twice. Meanwhile the Bucks. It was good
running blocking for sure for a lot of the night,
but I also felt like a lot of that success
(30:38):
rate is Bucky Irving turning a negative play or a
one yard run into a five yard run or a
seven yard run or a four yard run and keeping
them on schedule. He really is a special running back.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Bucky Irving.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
Mashad White's great too, but man, Bucky Irving makes something
out of nothing.
Speaker 6 (30:58):
Yeah, Bucky Irving has the explosiveness and the swiftness to
kind of like slice and dice knife through a defense
to turn what looks like when he first receives the
handoff maybe a two yard gain into a nine to
twelve yard gain. And he didn't have a ton of
plus ten yard runs tonight, like his average was I
think around four yards per carry.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
It was four point two.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
But make no mistake, he paced this ground game and
we knew what he was capable of because of what
he did last season. The beauty of tonight is that
he's not the only guy in that backfield. Rashad White
lost his job to Bucky Irving last year because Bucky
was clearly the better option. They're both pretty damn good.
They're both also good as three down backs. It's rare
(31:40):
that a team has two guys that they can lean on.
His three down backs that you could deploy at the
same time and keep a defense, you know, guessing even
more because they're both out there and they combined for
what was it, one hundred and thirty six yards on
the ground. I mean, that's that's great production right there,
success strate sixty three percent. You said you'd take that
on a mathess You're like, okay, all right, Like, I
(32:01):
guess we're taking low grades here, but you know who
grades the running backs to have low grades?
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (32:08):
That they got the only D I think in my
life in freshman like it was I think it was
Honors math, and it was a good lesson for me.
I then dropped down a level the next few years
in math.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
It was a first.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
It was really the first time in my life I
was like, oh, you can't just get away with everything
by like by talking and by like not trying that
particularly hard. At some point you're going to come up
against something that you just can't overcome with that. It
was a good lesson. Shout out to miss du Gray,
who taught me a tough lesson in life. So yeah,
(32:42):
I took I took a D and I'm not gonna
apologize for it. Look that that was delivering results, by
the way, presented by Uber Eats, where you can get
the best deals on game day food all season long.
It's the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL.
It's not too late, you could now. I mean we're
hearing from people overseas. It's morning in Dublin, it's afternoon
(33:07):
in Australia. I'm actually gonna be heading over to Dublin
next week. Don't know if I've officially mentioned that on
the podcast. Going to be part of a live show too,
by the way, where there's some tickets with the Irish
NFL show. Michael McQuaid very excited about that, So go
check out his socials, my social to get tickets to that.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
That's on Friday night.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
I'm just decided, let's throw some plugs in there, shook
before we get to the Texan side of things, and
then go to bed because it's one in the morning.
Speaker 4 (33:35):
One thirty in the morning where you are here in Cleveland.
Speaker 5 (33:39):
Okay, Well, we gave Bulls the props for managing the game.
I think they're much better. They actually hired one of
these game management assistant which more and more coaches and
organizations are starting to do. And maybe he gets some
they get some credit to, but I think this improvement
started a year ago. I think is a real well
run organization. They have a lot of injuries, like they're
(34:02):
missing their two starting tackles. That could have been an excuse.
And Baker Mayfield was under a lot of pressure. Why
Will Anderson had nine pressures in this game. Daniel Hunter
had two sacks. But when you look at the pressure
rate and you look at the blitz rate and everything,
the Texans actually in the bucks in terms of their
pass rushers were about a draw. Like, the pressure rate
(34:25):
was about a draw, and the Texans actually had to
send like a lot of blitzes to get their pressure rate.
And so if you can make that a draw while
you're missing your two tackles and you're going up against
this great Texans pass rush, that's a win.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
That's good coaching.
Speaker 5 (34:41):
I just think they're really well coached despite having a
brand new offensive coordinator. And then on the other side,
I think Todd Bowles has his mojo back. He was
sending the heat tonight and he finally has a secondary
he can trust again. And the group that's kind of
the safety Nickel group, Antoine Windenfield, Tike Smith, and the
rookie Jacob Parrish. He can be very multiple and these
(35:01):
guys can tackle and they're versatile and they're really good.
Speaker 4 (35:05):
And Todd Bowles was in his bag.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
I know they've only won by four points over two weeks,
but they were playing pretty good opponents. I am really
impressed with what the Buccaneers are doing from a coaching
and just organizational perspective so far.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (35:17):
Yeah, I think the four point victory margin over the
two weeks is an example of coaching. Like I think
that they've put themselves in advantageous positions and made up
for the absences, especially a tackle by coaching. Like I
was so impressed by the way Grizzard called his game tonight,
Like I just thought that his flow was great, he
sensed the situation and called the right plays really well
(35:40):
consistently over this night. I mean, obviously, like we said,
Bucky Irving kind of elevates that running game. But they
were well balanced, they were paced well, they moved down
the field when they scored, they did it effectively. It's
just that when you face that defense, especially on the road,
in an environment like that, you are going to run
into some you know, three and outs of ugly scenarios.
But overall, I was very impressed and I actually had
the thought my head damn it, they're gonna do it again.
(36:01):
They're gonna lose an offensive coordinator for the third straight year.
They have the third straight you know, new offensive coordinator
and there, and they're still gonna be successful. Wizard from like, yeah, yeah, Lizard,
the Lizard Lick kid, the Lizard Lick guy is gonna
end up looking at head coaching jobs after this year.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Like, I don't know how they keep getting away with this,
and yet they do because of you.
Speaker 6 (36:23):
Know, I think a large part because they have Baker
Mayfield on the field. But yeah, great job of coaching
on both sides. And I picked up on those blitzes
too from Todd Bowles. It feels like he's back in
his comfort zone, getting aggressive again, still being short in
his halftime interviews.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
That's who Todd Bowles is.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
And I thought it was a stark contrast against the
current state of the Houston Texans and maybe this is
where we transition because I have issues with the way
the Texans coach this game. Tonight.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
I was, you know, really proud of finding the text
from Jordan that said King Gizzard the Lizard Wizard from
Lizard Lick Do.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
You know that?
Speaker 6 (36:52):
But that's actually inspired by what there's there's actually a
music artist named King Gizzard, I.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Know, I know, I and other references big song, rattlesnake,
you know.
Speaker 5 (37:02):
Yeah, No I don't, okay, So yeah, the offensive line
for the Texans, they started well and they played fairly well,
I thought tonight against the four man rush. The problem
wasn't their individual abilities, although it wasn't amazing. I thought Ursery,
who is back at left tackle now, actually played okay.
(37:27):
I thought he played pretty well. But the communication of
picking up the blitzes was so poor yea that the
second Todd Bowles realized that it just was blitz on
every key down And in the end CJ. Stroud under
pressure goes three for eight for twenty five yards and
(37:48):
took four sacks, and he did not have much of
a chance. And by the end of the game, even
when the pressure was picked up decently, he was panicking
a little bit and had that one throw that should
have been intercepted where he just like was just trying
to get rid of the ball and not you know,
drop back before they wound up kicking a field goal
(38:11):
and got very lucky.
Speaker 4 (38:12):
And so this is a group that's ragtag.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
It's a new center, you know, replacing an injury, and
it was otherwise mostly the group that they had in
the preseason. But you know, they're guys that weren't very
effective a year ago in the spots that they had
in a rookie and a replacement, and it's a bummer
for them to look so much like they did a
year ago in this game.
Speaker 6 (38:35):
Yeah, because we were sold a bad bill of goods
in the offseason. Oh, we just need to change the
offensive coordinator. We need to make changes on the offensive line.
Will be in a much better place. We were even
sold that they were improved during training camp, and yet
here we are again watching CJ.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Stroud get baking a shot.
Speaker 4 (38:50):
I'm one of the people that tried to sell it
a little bit.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
No, I was sold that by the people who were
at Texans camp. I was writing those things up in
the summer, like I was ready to buy into it too.
Demiko said he had his starting five solidified. We talked
about it on the show, and yet we're still watching CJ.
Stroud get you know, be forced to be uncomfortable. He's
just he doesn't trust his offensive line still. And the
biggest issue with it is not the fact that they
(39:13):
aren't holding up well, especially when you have these changes.
That's understandable. It's not the fact that they couldn't run
the ball effectively tonight. That's also understandable. It's the way
that they called the game. I'm sorry, but if you're
anticipating a blitz on third down called up by Todd Bowles,
a guy who's notorious for sending pressure and knows that
he can send pressure and find success, can you anticipate
(39:36):
it in your play calling a little bit?
Speaker 1 (39:37):
Can you not lean on the pass? Like you look
at the run pass ratio in this game.
Speaker 6 (39:40):
It seems very even because they did run the ball
a little bit more in the later stages, which kind
of evened it out. But there were stretches in this
game in which they were just passing, passing, passing and
not turning to the run at all and getting nowhere
with it. And there were so many times where CJ.
Stroud would drop back and have nowhere to go with
the football. Now, if you have offensive line issues, you
can call screens. You could, you know, potentially roll out
your quarterback. They didn't roll him out by design until
(40:03):
it was fourth and goal and gave him like one
option to throw to and of course he sails it
over the guy's head. Because like, this offense is just stuck.
They're in a rut. And I think that it could
be fixed with some better play calling in anticipation for
the situation.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
And this is a first year offensive coordinator. He's gonna
learn this.
Speaker 6 (40:20):
But it just frustrates me because you're you're putting your
quarterback who is good in a bad situation to the
point where now he's missing throws when he's not pressured.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
And that's really what concerns me the most. The effects
from last year are bleeding over into this.
Speaker 6 (40:33):
Year and it's undercutting your entire offense and making you
lose games like this tonight, a game that you very
much had a chance to win.
Speaker 5 (40:39):
Yeah, I would give the grade for CJ. Stroud as
a seat tonight. There were good moments. I will stand
on the table and take all the stock people are
giving away in CJ.
Speaker 4 (40:55):
Stroud.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
No, I'm taking it, and I'm.
Speaker 4 (40:58):
Believing wholeheartedly in two things from tonight. CJ.
Speaker 5 (41:01):
Stroud is going to have a great NFL career and
it is a very good quarterback right now.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (41:08):
The other thing was this game was entertaining as hell.
They put on a good show. It felt like a
playoff game. Granted, it felt like, you know, a early
playoff game, like what you know West? Why am I
blanking on? You know that the early Texan slot.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
That that oh west of Us? West of its My
brain is shutting off.
Speaker 5 (41:32):
After the last week, it felt like a West of
His game because they were absolutely hitting.
Speaker 4 (41:38):
It was tight. You didn't know what was going to happen.
Speaker 5 (41:40):
There's a lot of great players on the field, by
the way, like we're watching Derek Stingley Mike Evans matchup
all night, which is going back and forth, and ultimately
I think Stingley got the better of that nine targets
while Stingley was in coverage only three catches thirty six years.
Speaker 4 (41:55):
There was a lot to like.
Speaker 5 (41:56):
There was an incredible couple drives to start the game
before it settled down into the defensive struggles, so you
saw different types of game. Hell, there was a great
Kevin Harlan call on an absolute dime from CJ. Stroud
where Nico Collins tapped his toes. Let's listen to that call.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
At the twenty nine of Tampa Bay under center.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
It'stroud first and ten shotgun snap left tackle, block, arching
spiral passed down the near sideline en zone, over the
shoulder catch once.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Again, Collins touchdown. The Texans have scored on a twenty
nine yard touchdown pass by cj'stroud Nico Collins in the
end zone, both feet down, over the shoulder, grab six
nothing Houston.
Speaker 4 (42:43):
Now.
Speaker 5 (42:43):
I love Kevin Harlan on Westwood One. So the bad
memories late in the game, you know, when he got
a little panicked, which felt like they were gonna get erased.
After Jalen Noel has that long field goal return, and
then Nick Chubb has a moment where I wondered for
(43:04):
a second did the Bucks let Nick Chubb score there
to get the ball back?
Speaker 4 (43:07):
I don't think so.
Speaker 5 (43:08):
I don't think Todd Bowls was asked about that, but
I don't think so. But Nick Chubb gets the touchdown
to cap that off that set up the Baker mayfield
winning drive. There was a lot of drama, a lot
of fun in this game, and I will defend this
game to the Yeah.
Speaker 6 (43:24):
Yeah, even though I just completed about the Texans for
five minutes, I was very thoroughly entertained. Also, it was
nice to see Nick Chubb rip off his longest run
since Week seventeen of.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
The twenty twenty two season.
Speaker 7 (43:36):
That was good.
Speaker 6 (43:36):
Twenty five yards for that touchdown. That was good to
see him. He's a great guy. Glad to see him
back in the end zone. Yeah, we were entertained. This
is going to be in my top five games of
the year so far. I think, oh, yeah, that's bold
number five.
Speaker 5 (43:48):
We're making that list on NFL dot Com every week.
I appreciate that. I appreciate you. I do think we've
gotten to the end here of the show. I did
want to update one injury situation from this game. Elijah Knty,
who I thought looked outstanding for the first five quarters
of this season, has a pectoral injury. Mike Garifolo of
(44:10):
NFL Network says there is fear that it could be
a season ending injury, but they are going to get
an MRI, get further tests to make sure there are
different pectoral tearors in terms of severity, and there's at
least a chance, as we're recording, that it won't be
the worst possible result. But Canty, to me, was a
(44:33):
really important part of them finally figuring out their four
man rush shook because I think even though the Texans
offensive line was.
Speaker 4 (44:43):
Bad, I think it's a little underrated.
Speaker 5 (44:45):
How this group up front with Asan Redick, who had
a lot of pressures tonight, and then Vita Vea and
an underrated player in Yahyaddabi with Kanty, that was a
really good group. And unfortunately it looks like they're going
to miss a key part of that.
Speaker 6 (44:59):
Yeah. Yeah, and I'm worried about their depth in replacing him.
You saw in the replay on that play, as soon
as he suffered the injury, one of his arms just
kind of drops, like suddenly, He's like, oh, I can't
your whole from at least my experience anything in that area.
When it happens and it's relatively severe, your whole arm
kind of goes numb.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
And that's what it looked like.
Speaker 6 (45:18):
So I hope for the best with him, but you know,
hopefully he gets good news, but if not, the Buccaneers
are gonna have to figure out how to replace him.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
Thanks to everyone who joined, Thanks to everyone who is
listening to each and every show.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
We know we do a lot.
Speaker 5 (45:33):
It's right there in the name. We love doing it
for you. So that's it for our Monday night recap show.
There will be three more doubleheaders Shook this year. I
didn't check. I think they might all be these you
know stat where they're staying up like very late. I
will check that schedule and so a little bit of
(45:56):
a change. I believe this is the last year though,
of these double headers. Rodrigodell doesn't like it, so enjoy.
We've only got a few more of these left. But
we will be here every single Monday night with you
live on YouTube and then of course in your podcast feed.
We will also be back in the studio Colleen Wolf
making her return to the Chris Westley The Podcast Studio.
(46:20):
To see you next Tuesday. Crew, Me, Colleen and Jordan.
We will go through all the injury situations. Oh yeah,
JJ McCarthy's out and David Daniels might be out, and
Joe Burrow's out for three months.
Speaker 4 (46:33):
We have a lot to talk about. It never ends
on NFL Daily. We'll see you Tuesday,
Host
Gregg Rosenthal
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