NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport give you an update on 49ers DE Nick Bosa's injury and discuss how the 49ers can navigate the rest of the season with an already banged up roster. Tom and Ian also give updates on Chargers RB Najee Harris, Buccaneers WR Mike Evans, and Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb and discuss whether or not the Giants should move on from Russell Wilson at QB. Stacey Dales and Adam Rank join the show to recap impressive wins by the Browns over the Packers and the Bears over the Cowboys.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome Inside with the Insider as long as Ian Rappaport
I am Tom Telicero. It is a Monday podcast edition
of the show. If you're not familiar, this show, The
Insiders is on NFL Network SIMPIM Eastern Time Tuesdays, Wednesdays
and Fridays throughout the regular season, but on Mondays because
(00:22):
we've got a pre game show before Monday Night Football,
which we will get into a little bit later on,
you get a two part podcast from us instead. Stacy
Dales and Adam Rank will be along as well. But
let's start out Ian by getting some of the big injuries,
because there were a handful of them in those games yesterday.
Starting out with the news on Nick Bosa, the forty
nine Ers defensive end, who how Shanahans struck a somewhat
(00:45):
optimistic tone after the game yesterday, but also had decaution
of based on how he's feeling, we are concerned and
those concerns now realize.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, and I think you know the main concern was
was looking at Bosa himself, right, I mean you watched
him walk off the field. He knew it was the
same knee as wasn't last year. But a couple of
years ago when he tore the ACL and his reaction
really set all right, and you know, he talked to
people who were involved in this situation and they were
not nearly as optimistic I would say, as as Kyle Shanahan, right.
(01:17):
I mean, you know, he's he often could be very
transparent on injuries. I think for Brock Purdy, he was
really pretty honest, like it's basically turf tow He's gonna
be out a couple of weeks, and last week it
was like he's getting better. He could be a backup.
He wasn't. But you know, I think he's really pretty transparent,
but sometimes they just go the other way, and this one,
(01:38):
based on his reaction, based on people closed him just
knew it wasn't good. Test confirmed a little bit ago
that Nick Bosa is now out for the season with
another torn a cl I think you did a good
job actually on Twitter of explaining why the initial testing
didn't job with the MRI, basically because the knee has
already been reconstructed and so it doesn't feel like other knees,
(02:01):
which I think was a really good, a really good point,
and I think something that probably added some caution or
whatever to Kyle shannon words yesterday. But for the forty
nine ers, I mean, it's Kittle on ir it's pretty
us missed a couple of games. It's Bosho's out for
the season. I mean, there's there's Juwan Jennings has been
banged up, didn't play, Brandon a Yuke hasn't played yet.
(02:25):
They're three and zero, and I think it's real because
they have played well. But it's pretty alarming. I just
I don't know how it's pretty alarming just what they've
had to deal with.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
In the forty nine ers. It seems like every what
three years, go through just hell of injuries. It's happened
several times now since Kyle Shanahan got there. We know
he's one of the top coaches, certainly one of the
top offensive coaches in the NFL. He's as talented at
scheming people open as anybody in the league. And now
with Robert Soli back and running the defense, I mean
that defense has looked like they have before. But there
(03:01):
were times yesterday where, if I'm not mistaken, there were
five rookies playing on the San Francisco defense at the
same time. Taking a Nick Bosa, one of the most
accomplished pass rushers of this era of the NFL off
the field and now relying on Michael Williams a step
on up. You know, you could sit there and say, well,
they've trade for somebody. We've seen the forty Niners make
(03:21):
a lot of bold trades. They get a lot of
cash and aap space tied up in the existing roster.
This may well be.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
It's also like trade for who you know, like you know.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Well, as this season moves on, we're still what six
weeks I believe from the trade deadline here, So some
of those teams are sitting there at ozen three. If
that BECOMESZHO four and on and five, then maybe suretain
guys were not thinking about right now start to become available.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
But very much it's to get my list together.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
You got you got it, I got mine going right here.
You have to focus on some of those young guys
taking on better roles than to your point. You're hoping
as this thing goes on, at some point maybe November
Ayuk is out there and able to be an impact
player again. Party We'll see how this plays out. Even
through the course of this week, Mac Jones was limping
around out there yesterday too. I mean he could barely
even hand the ball off at the end of the game.
(04:09):
You said Ian was an aggravation of a prior PCL
spring for Mac Jones. So now this once again creates
at least some level of question about who's gonna be
out there quarterback for the forty niners this week.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, it really does. The backup quarterback who you probably
don't think I know, but I do know Adrian Martinez,
which obviously I know a lot about him.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Where did you play college Footballian?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
He played at Arizona State. No, that is Kent Miami
of Ohio.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
No, okay, you're way off Kansas State and Nebraska at
the two places, Adrian Mark That was my other guesses
that would be now. But it does seem like between Mac,
once they got the brace adjusted, it seemed like he
could move a little bit better yesterday. We'll see exactly
what his health looks like in the coming weeks here
and I'm at rock party. He was limited all last week.
It was close enough that they at least talked about
having him active, and that would suggest that certainty would
(05:02):
suggest to maybe parties back this week.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Well, I have a different question, what and I think
I have an answer, but I have a different question.
What do you think? And I know we have a
lot to get to this can be fast. What do
you think mac Jones did in these last two games? Like,
he's got another year on his contract with the forty
nine ers, so I don't know that he's going anywhere,
but certainly he could. So what do you think he
(05:25):
did the last couple games for his like value end status.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I guess, well, he got halfway to his incentives, which
four wins would unlock his one hundred thousand dollars per
win that he gets. But but additionally, I mean he
showed why Kyle Shanahan liked him coming out in the
draft some years ago, before they pivoted and went with
the upside of a Trey Lance over mac Jones. Mack
obviously goes to New England, then gets created Jacksonville, and
(05:50):
then becomes a free agent. Kyle brings him in. You're
committed to Brock party. This is not in any way
a question about his Brock party. To Gay, he is
fifty million dollars over fifty million dollars per year. He
is your quarterback for the foreseeable future. But at minimum
you got a really really good number two, which you
know with Brock he's had different injuries. They're usually like
freak type of injuries, which I think this one certainly was.
(06:13):
But you've got somebody who you know now can step
in and play football at a pretty high level. Mentioned
a couple of the other year quickly, James Connor from
the Cardinals. That's a significant type of a knee injury.
All expectations is he's done for the year. He's gonna
undergo surgery. As Ian mentioned last night, ankle, yes, ankle,
What did I say mean time ankle? It was bad.
(06:35):
It was a bad, bad looking injury.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Usually when players are all on the field, both sides
watching him get carted off as bad.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Same thing with Najie Harris torn achilles. You could see that.
I think at this point we all are pseudo experts
on being able to see the pop in the calf.
That was one of the most blatant ones you're going
to see. So for Najie Harris, who season never really
even got started, missing all of camp after the fourth
July FIREUS explosion in the eye injury, gets back out there.
Terris's achilles, he and James Connor Bill said to be
(07:05):
free agents this March, a little bit later in their careers,
not more so for James Connor than for Naji coming
off major injuries. Something to keep in mind as we
get to February and March. Here then he got Ceedee
lamb Ian, who that was an ugly looking injury. You
know where it's now it looks like it's got some
of the elements of a hip drop tackle. It does
(07:26):
that play From just talking to some people who are
smarter than I am about exactly how the NFL looks
at this play, it doesn't sound like this is a
hip drop tackle because there's no grasp you would need
the unwaiting but also the grasp where he just kind
of goes down awkwardly there. He'saw CD tried to get
back out there, he wasn't able to move. It's a
high ankle sprain, which DOT maybe on the shorter side
(07:48):
of this ian. But the optimism that CD had last
night about even playing in a big game this week
against the Packers was probably a little lower.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
For the optimist, Yeah, I think that that's not gonna happen.
My understanding, first of all, the timeline is he's out
two weeks and then week to week after that. So
they do not plan to put him on IR, which
means if you say, like, what's the most likely scenario
my educated guests is he probably misses three games and
then plays the fourth. I think he's got a chance.
(08:17):
First of all, amazing that he went back out there.
And also, you know you talk about Nick Bosa knowing,
knowing how injured he was, like Cedd clearly knew, tried
to run, took himself out. Nope. But then the other
thing is after the game, like sometimes there could be
optimism and then it settles in and then he's in
a walking boot in the facility and you're like, okay,
(08:37):
this is this is pretty real. This is tough for
the Cowboys. He is one of their best players. So
for the fantasy world, he is one of the best
fantasy receivers who was a top ten pick in almost
every league. The Cowboys have had some real challenges and
I am really curious to see what it ends up being.
(08:58):
Like last last yesterday, it was bad Bears were I
know the Bears came into this thinking that they were
going to be more physical than the Cowboys were, and
they for sure were they thought they were going to
be more physical than the Cowboys receivers Ceedee Lamb didn't
finish the game, and I think that was it was
all pretty clear. I'm really curious where the Cowboys go
(09:20):
from here, Knowing one of their best players is going
to be out, knowing they were going to have to
rely on other receivers who are certainly much not as accomplished,
and knowing what happened to matt Eberflus's defense against Ben
Johnson and the Bears.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
That's the staggering part is that the defense has been
as bad. Now in Maddi Eberflus's defense, you losed her
on Bland. You have Trayvon Diggs who's kind of in
and out. He was in the medical ten yesterday. So
you're talking about two of your top corners. You know,
they've had Kenny Clark he got banged up in that
game as well. They have not stopped the run, and
oh yeah, they can't rush the passer without Michael Parsons.
(09:56):
That's the first game in King Williams's career, which grand
isn't that many game, first time in his career he
hasn't been sacked. Think about that. So much. What we
talked about last year was Caleb Williams being sacked at
a historic rate. They didn't touch him in that game,
and so yeah, a lot for Dallas to figure out
as we roll.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
For you, sorry, I know you have so many other
things to get to, but just walk quick. It's been
rough for obviously for the Cowboys. When you trade Micah
all the Cowboys fans and I happened to follow a
few fan accounts on Twitter just because I like to
see what the fans are talking about sometimes and trade Mike,
and it was immediately like, like, it's a rebuilding year,
(10:37):
Like I don't want to say that, but like, do
you think.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
It's the truth, And it's the reason that up until
probably a week before where it got very loud within
the league about Michael Parsons being traded, I was just like,
I understand the theory of why you would do it,
but this is eighty two, eighty three year old Jerry
Jones going into a rebuild and I just don't see it.
Which also there's also that, you know, kind of dissonance
(11:03):
with Jerry's postgame remark spot I still think this is
a playoff team. Look at how Dak Prescott play. Well,
it's not a playoff looking team right now when you
think about where the Bears were in their first two games,
and then they absolutely outclassed the Cowboys in that one.
I mean the Cowboys one win was a product of
Brandon Aubrey having a freakish leg and kicking an extremely
(11:24):
long field goal, or they would have lost that game too,
and they'd been three.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
So they do.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Jerry's going to keep dangling it. We talked about this
the day of Micah Parsons trade. It's gonna be I
got these picks and he's been any time watch out,
I'm not using it.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Didn't we hear it? Yester? Today it was.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Again, Yes, so we keep keep hearing it. But is
that just a way to keep them relevant or they
actually going to do it. We'll find out Mike Evans too.
By the way, quick update on the Bucks wide receiver
MRI pushed to tomorrow, but sounds like optimism for Todd
Bowles and maybe this one's not as severe as some
of the hamstring injuries to Mike Evans has had in
the past. Let's get to a non injury issue and
(12:01):
one that came up based upon what we saw more
specifically what we didn't see last night in New York.
It felt ian frankly, a lot like the past couple
of years have felt, which is a pumped up crowd
and MetLife stadium, whether they're playing at one PM or
playing in prime time and they just have nothing offensively,
(12:21):
there's a lot of different ways to get into this.
We saw them go to Dallas and put up a
bunch of points, and it was Russ throwing moon balls
and the deep shots, and Wandale got going, Leak Neighbors
got going. Last night, Steve Spagnola completely took away Milik Neighbors.
I think he had two catches in the game.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I think they doubled the most. Every play looked.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Like they absolutely decided we're not gonna let that guy
beat us. But I was struck by Russ. This looked
like the Russ we saw at times down the stretch
last season, where once the moon balls aren't there, once
the verticals aren't there, he doesn't really have an answer.
There were a bunch of times he tried to scramble.
There was one second and goal from the fourteen design
(13:00):
quarterback draw where he just doesn't move the way that
he used to. But the most staggering thing Ian was
that red zone sequence where on first down he throws
the ball up the tunnel and gets a intentional grounding,
but on third and fourth down he throws the ball away.
Is this is earlier in the game. Third and fourth
down he throws the ball away. This is the game,
(13:23):
this is you have to score. You don't throw the
ball in play on fourth down. I just I can't
even begin to fathom. This is one of those plays, right,
that's the intention set.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
That's the fourth round.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
No, that's the first that's the first down where they
got backed up.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
But I just I was watching it and going, there's
no way he's gonna throw the ball away on third
and fourth down. You have to Jameis Winston's got his issues,
but Jameis Winston that spot would have thrown the ball
to someone.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
On every down I might have gotten picked, might have
been a touchdown. He's gonna throw it to someone. Russ
doing that, a veteran quarterback and just throwing the football away.
I just it blew my mind. I just I don't
understand it. And it's one more reason that you have
to think that Brian Dable as you said today is
considered a change.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Yeah. I mean I tried very hard and I know
you do too, but that was the fourth down. I
tried very hard and I know you do too, to
really keep things there.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
That the cutaway to her.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, And it's like every Giants fan is like, yeah,
that's that's it. That's correct. One weird thing that happens
any instance. The Vikings have been good recently. I don't
think you probably get this nearly as much as I do.
But whenever the Jets are Giants do something ridiculous, I
get like text from all my buddies. A lot of
people were up last night at eleven o'clock or whenever
(14:36):
it was, got a lot of Russell Wilson texts. Yeah,
we got a lot to say. I don't know how
much time we have. I feel like we should. I don't.
I feel you want to continue this in the next segment.
You want to take a break. We have so much
to say.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Seriously, no, no, keep going, keep going unloaded on me.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
All right, it's time. It gets time. Like I it's
tough to watch. We all know what we're watching, you know,
Russell Wilson making that kind of play, throwing the ball
way and fourth down is a signal that even he
knows it's enough, it's over. Like I don't know how
you bring him back out there. Everyone in the world
(15:17):
wants to see Jackson dark, not because it's something new,
but because there's something there, like it's real. I think
they think he's going to be really good. They tried
to get through the tough part of the schedule. It
doesn't seem like it's going to happen like it's time
and I.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Don't that's part of the issue this week. I mean,
the two sides of the three and zero chargers are
coming in this week. Do you want to run the
risk of rolling Russ out there and they're booing from
the start, or do you want to roll Jackson Dart
out there where you might not have Andrew Thomas being
able to play full time. You don't have to run
Tracy although Cam Scataboo, if you want silver lining the
(15:52):
last night Cam Scataboo looks very real and reminding everybody
why I was as shocked as I was that he
did not go high in the draft. But I mean,
you want to be you want to be deliberate, you
want to be decisive, about how you're bringing along a
young quarterback. But this is also one of those moments
where it just to you to your point it feels
like something has to change and you can't just keep
(16:13):
going out there and doing the same, can't.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I mean, and and I hate to say this because
you don't want to like sort of bow or listen
to the fans, right because these should be like educated,
intelligent football discussions. But that is a real part of it.
When it's a home game and you know, like they're
boon last night, Dart goes in a couple of nice plays,
Russ comes back in, they do like crazy, and I'm
just like, how can how can this go on? Like
(16:39):
it can't? So it's time. I don't know if Brian
Dabo is gonna do, but I think I know what
he's gonna do, and I think you probably do too,
And I think it's time. And let's see what decision
they make, probably tomorrow morning, but seems like it's time.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Or from me insiders after this, Wheeland niels at the
thirty three.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
This is a forty three yard field goal. Try to
hit Green Bay the league.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
It is fucked balls down to the ground.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Hey, Greg goes the balls on it on.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
The forty seven of the ground sends the Lord off
the edge just like I told you he was so
close to.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
It on that extra point.
Speaker 6 (17:27):
He comes around the edge and gets it right there.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Special teeth.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
And now Andre Schmidt for the wind from fifty five
yards out. Two second step, snap is back, kick is up,
and the kick is right down.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Pick it up. It's god. I'm oh tap the Green
Bay black hands.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Great call there from our old friend Andrew Siciliano, the
voice of the Cleveland Browns. What a wild day of
on paper for a lot of the games got a
bad ugly games that all ended in wild finishes. As
welcome or Adam Rank and Stacy Dale's to the conversation. Stacy,
I'll start with you. You were there in Cleveland sitting
(18:15):
back watching you know that game. I had it up
on one side of my TV at home. I was
watching Red. So there was no reason with about four
minutes to go to think that this is going to
be anything other than a devastating Brown's punchless loss.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
And then it flips.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Just tell me from your perspective in the stadium what
you saw there.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Hey, guys.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
It was wild.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
So the conversation in the press box. The murmurs in
the press box were, all right, let's get Dylan Gabriel
going here. When is Joe going to get pulled here?
You know, guys, you know Kevin Stefanski, Well, he's not
going to disrespect a veteran quarterback of Super Bowl winning
quarterback like Joe Flacco, So it will be a very
(18:58):
strategic move when that happen. Weapons But then you go
and you see Grant Delpit get that interception, and you
watch how things transpire and the brilliance of Joe Flacco
in the hurry up to go down it for that kick,
and that operation was incredible. Would a rookie quarterback be
able to do?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
That? Was so fast, so freaking fast.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Go back and watch it. It's all over social. I mean,
it was so cool to see it in person. I
was I'm over there on the packer sideline. You guys
know how it works, right, You think you're getting a
packer and then.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Oh wait, yeah, So anyway, it was a really did
you run over?
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Well? I walked very briskly to the middle of the field,
and I didn't know who I was getting. We asked
for Miles Garrett and Grant Delpit, and I got Delpit
and he celebrated his birthday the day before.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
So it was a cool gift for him.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Rank you sitting back watching that game on the couch
as a Bears fan. We'll get to that remarkable performance momentarily.
Here I imagined you were. You were relishing every second
of that. Oh you need a microphone on their rank.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
You know, on this show, we like to hear when
the first time rank is on a podcast. Well, I'm not.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
I'm I'm sorry about that. Yet. I did not go
in and check the the the equipment, which is good
because I was chiming in while Stacey was talking the
whole time. I should have kind of figured it out
that I didn't didn't have everything working. That's fine, That's
what I'm like. Oh, they're just ignoring me, Like this
is this is what it's like being you know, I'm
(20:33):
used to being the alpha dog on Fantasy Live and
now I'm like, oh, I'm being relegated to the kids table.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
That's fine. Do the other guys view you as the
alpha dog on Fantasy Live?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Or is that just you?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Just me?
Speaker 6 (20:43):
It doesn't matter, it's just me. I I kind of
I kind of view myself in that lens, you know what,
I walk around like the backstay like I'm triple H
walking around pulling the strings. But here's my thing. I
was watching that and a Packers fan was at the
facility where we were watching this game. He's like, stupid,
stupid special teams. It's no big deal. And I said, hey, pal,
(21:05):
you are a special teams play away from being zero
to six in the division last year. So this is
just a coming full circle moment. But it just goes
to show you like this is This is one of
the things why I try not to get try not
to overreact to things that happened in the first couple
of weeks of the season, because like last week, the
narrative was like, are the Packers even going to lose
(21:27):
a game? Are they going to go undefeated? How badly
are they going to win the Super Bowl? Now they
lost to the Browns. It's just one of those things,
like there are professional ballplayers on both teams. Cleveland Rose
the occasion, I don't think that Jared Listen, Jordan Love
is fine. He's a good quarterback. He's gonna go out there,
He's going to face the Dallas Cowboys this week, he's
gonna throw for four hundred yards and then you guys
can all go back on the bandwagon and everything will
(21:49):
be fine.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Well, Stacey, I'm gonna ask you this because you spend
a lot of time around the Packers team too. I mean,
they were if you were talking about them, Is this
the best team in football? And through those first two games?
And defense, once again, I'll say, whatever you know about
the Browns offense, they've got their challenges, but once again,
it was a it was a pretty dominant defensive effort,
especially when you remember that the one touchdown the Browns
scored was the product of just a weird interception that
(22:13):
leads a couple of plays later to a touchdown. What's
the level of concern that you sense about Green Bay
or just from your own eyes watching it, about whether
or not you know this was an operation versus this
is a sign of maybe some of the things that
they got to fix here moving forward.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
Tom, I would chalk this one up to a good
loss for the Packers because of all that hype. I mean,
you get a little humble pie in the NFL. And
the thing about their team is they're young, but they
have really good leadership. I was in both locker rooms
after the game, by the way, and it was so
cool because I talked to Bubba Ventron, the special teams coach,
before the game, about the Browns and like, damn, your
(22:51):
defense is good, and he's like, yeah, it is, and
we got to be better on special teams. So special
teams and defense for them came through. I saw him
after the game. He's pumped in his locker room, and
then I go to the Packers locker room and Micah
Parsons is so interesting because as he gets ready to
face the Cowboys this week, it's going to be fun.
It's going to be a lot of banter going on
(23:12):
about that game. But he was really interesting at his
locker you guys last night, because you know, he took
full accountability.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Tom.
Speaker 5 (23:21):
To answer your question, He's like, I had two offsides
in that game. That's unacceptable for a player of my caliber.
It's an eighteen you know, run season, and we run
through eighteen weeks in this season and there's a lot
of football to play. And what was also really interesting
is how many times did you see Jeff Hafley as
(23:43):
a defensive coordinator. Right He's got a few guys huddled
up at I think it was Xavier McKinney's locker, and
they were all kind of having an interesting conversation about
the defense. And that's unusual, I don't You don't typically
see coordinators go and kind of grab a few guys,
but that something I also saw. They have an outstanding defense,
(24:03):
but they're really good, so are the Browns Defensively. The Browns,
you could argue that they'll tell you we think we're
the best defense in the NFL, and they put on
a display of that yesterday. But I don't since any
concern Tom sorry Rank about where the Packers are going.
This is a really good team, and I had a
couple of coaches around the league text me about the
(24:24):
division this morning. We all still think the Packers are
really damn good and they will bounce back from this.
I expect them to have a really good performance.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
Next week, we'll.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Talk about the Vikings getting to win a blowout fashion
with Carson Wentz to quarterback. We get to the Monday
night game too. Lions face the Ravens tonight. That's in
part two of the podcast, which you also can find.
But let's talk about the Bears here. For a second, Stacey,
You're based in Chicago, but as our resident Bears super fan.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I gotta let Rank go first on this one. We've
been waiting for this.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Rank. This was, this was the moment right here, this
is what it was.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I want to like, Tom, I want to jump in.
I want to jump in really quick because I want
to tell Rank what I told you in the segment before,
which was the Bears. I want to hear what you
think The Bears went into this thinking that they were
more physical than the Cowboys and believing that they would
show that and that would help them get their first win.
Having seen that, do you agree?
Speaker 6 (25:18):
I would agree. I think this is something that goes
back to the joint practices they had with the Miami Dolphins,
and that the Dolphins media was complaining that the Bears
were too mean to them. I think in the first
couple of weeks of the season, we really didn't get
an opportunity.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Now that's what.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
That's all the Dolphins media. Why are the Bears trying
so hard, like because they're playing football. I don't know,
Maybe you guys should try it for a change. Obviously,
what happened in the first two weeks of the season.
Happened in the first two weeks of the season, and
it's not unusual for a new coaching staff to really
try to find their bearings as they're moving forward and
trying to get everything, try to get their system in.
And one of the things that when you look at
(25:55):
this game, obviously Caleb Williams goes out there throws for
nearly three hundred yards four touchdowns, and I think a
lot of people who are not fans of the Chicago
Bears will say, well, look, Mitch Trubisky had a six
touchdown game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Justin Fields had
his moments during his time. Even last season, the Bears
looked really good in London against Jacksonville. What is different
(26:19):
this year? And to me, the biggest difference is going
to be Ben Johnson and what we saw during the
postgame locker room ceremony yesterday. If you want to go
out and dig this up, I don't know if you
guys fix this in posts or you save it or
whatever you do. If you watch Matt Eberflus in Week
one against San Francisco when he got his first first
(26:39):
win of the Sea, first win of his NFL career
not really inspiring. Should have been the reddest of red flags,
sitting there soaking wet in a fluke win over the
forty nine ers, whereas Ben Johnson comes in with all
sorts of juice and swagger and really accountability for what
is going on now. I will caution people, Tyler Williams
(27:01):
is not going to throw four touchdowns every week. There
are gonna be times where he goes up against a
tough defense. It could be the Browns, they can be
even Green Bay where it's gonna be a little bit
of a struggle. But what we're seeing is Ben Johnson
putting the pieces into place to make this team competitive
this season. And I think that we're going to see
the Bears take step forwards, take steps forward as they
(27:21):
continue to march through the twenty eighteen season.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
And speaking of putting the pieces in place, Stacy, the
other thing I'm struct just even watching those highlights for
you know, yes, they got Robo Dodensday has been great
so far this season. You saw DJ Moore getting the
end zone yesterday when the Cowboys just decided let's not
cover one of the better receivers in the NFL. But
you got a Luther Burden highlight in there. You've got
a Colston Loveland highlight in there. Even Kyle Malung, guy
who you talked about with us on The Insiders after
(27:46):
week one, got rolling in the game.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
If you're thinking.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
About the broader, like the global how we're putting this
thing together, these are the guys that Ben drafted or
along with Ryan Pols to fit what he wants to do.
The fact those guys get rolling in week three seems
like a really good side.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Tom, You're so right on. It was huge yesterday. It
was huge. I mean, that's arguably the best. Tom Brady
said it in the broadcast, the best that he's seen
Caleb Williams play. But our guys just showed you the
flee flicker there at sixty five yard, or to Luther Burden,
who was the top receiver yesterday and was over one
hundred yards for the first time career highs for him.
(28:24):
They came out of we two pretty pissed off. The
Bears did, and the person at the forefront of that
was Ben Johnson, pissed off at the practice habits. Go
back and watch the flea flicker and go take a
look at Ben Johnson on the sideline. I mean, this
dude is he is laser focused on next play, next play.
He's not even celebrating this thing. And I texted with
(28:46):
a couple of people at the Bears last night. They
were more happy about those guys playing their asses off,
That's what I was told, than the win. Even you
could see that they took coaching last week. Rank. They
took coaching, and when players buy in in the NFL
and they take coaching, you guys know, any given Sunday, Monday, Thursday,
(29:08):
any team can win. Look what the Browns did the Packers.
So they took the coaching. They put it in, they
manifested it, they put it into fruition, if you will,
in terms of how they performed, and you know, they
got some sacks defensively, they got four turnovers in the game.
The defense came alive and it was a tough night
for Dak Prescott. So you know, next game, though, the
(29:32):
Raiders are up next. Rank got to have another really
good week of practice, and I think that's the Ben
Johnson standard, as we saw yesterday.
Speaker 6 (29:40):
Yeah, it's one of the biggest things. I don't know,
if your time in Chicago goes back to Mark Tressman.
But when you look at the coaches, I know how
every coach would have responded to the loss in Detroit
last week. Where Matt Maggie would have been like, hey,
we're trying to find the wise Matt Ebraflus would have
blamed everybody else but himself. But Ben Johnson went out
(30:03):
there and took accountability and said that we need to
start practicing better, we need to start putting it together.
And the one thing that what you said is I texting.
We probably are texting the same people. It's like, do
you think that Ben Johnson comes in more aggressive this
week or less aggressive? And everybody was like, oh, it's
it's gonna be worse for him, Like now he's really
going to put the foot on the gas. I think
(30:24):
that his toughest practice was last week. There's a real
sense that Ben is going to put the pedal to
the metal once again, try to get them ready for
Las Vegas.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
But I'll just say quick too, that flea flicker, I'll
go back to it. Yeah you can't. This isn't gimmicky football.
This this play required an essential amount of practice time
to execute, and it was run perfectly almost I mean
the toss back right here. Oh we missed the toss back.
(30:59):
It was a little hot for the quarterback, but a
little launched that baby right You had to practice that
is there. It is boom, but it's a little high. Okay,
But the timing was perfect because they got the safety
to look, they got the safety to move and bam
it was a touchdown. That is all time on task
(31:19):
during the week. And so this isn't when Ben Johnson
does this stuff. This isn't gimmicky stuff like this is.
This is stuff he believes is going to manifest itself
on every Sunday and be executed at a high level.
And if the Bears buy in like that, they can
be really damn good.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Great, both of you, guys, Rank, we gotta go. Hey,
we got time limits on this.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
You don't. You guys said the podcast was hard. There's
no hard outs on a podcast.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Apparently there is. I'm getting text about it, Rank station
very much. We got Monday night preview. We'll talk about
the Rams, Eagles, Wild finish, the Bust Jets game whole
lot more. So call me Rank Over Part two for
Rank Stacy See and I'm Tom See
Welcome Inside with the Insider as long as Ian Rappaport
I am Tom Telicero. It is a Monday podcast edition
of the show. If you're not familiar, this show, The
Insiders is on NFL Network SIMPIM Eastern Time Tuesdays, Wednesdays
and Fridays throughout the regular season, but on Mondays because
(00:22):
we've got a pre game show before Monday Night Football,
which we will get into a little bit later on,
you get a two part podcast from us instead. Stacy
Dales and Adam Rank will be along as well. But
let's start out Ian by getting some of the big injuries,
because there were a handful of them in those games yesterday.
Starting out with the news on Nick Bosa, the forty
nine Ers defensive end, who how Shanahans struck a somewhat
(00:45):
optimistic tone after the game yesterday, but also had decaution
of based on how he's feeling, we are concerned and
those concerns now realize.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, and I think you know the main concern was
was looking at Bosa himself, right, I mean you watched
him walk off the field. He knew it was the
same knee as wasn't last year. But a couple of
years ago when he tore the ACL and his reaction
really set all right, and you know, he talked to
people who were involved in this situation and they were
not nearly as optimistic I would say, as as Kyle Shanahan, right.
(01:17):
I mean, you know, he's he often could be very
transparent on injuries. I think for Brock Purdy, he was
really pretty honest, like it's basically turf tow He's gonna
be out a couple of weeks, and last week it
was like he's getting better. He could be a backup.
He wasn't. But you know, I think he's really pretty transparent,
but sometimes they just go the other way, and this one,
(01:38):
based on his reaction, based on people closed him just
knew it wasn't good. Test confirmed a little bit ago
that Nick Bosa is now out for the season with
another torn a cl I think you did a good
job actually on Twitter of explaining why the initial testing
didn't job with the MRI, basically because the knee has
already been reconstructed and so it doesn't feel like other knees,
(02:01):
which I think was a really good, a really good point,
and I think something that probably added some caution or
whatever to Kyle shannon words yesterday. But for the forty
nine ers, I mean, it's Kittle on ir it's pretty
us missed a couple of games. It's Bosho's out for
the season. I mean, there's there's Juwan Jennings has been
banged up, didn't play, Brandon a Yuke hasn't played yet.
(02:25):
They're three and zero, and I think it's real because
they have played well. But it's pretty alarming. I just
I don't know how it's pretty alarming just what they've
had to deal with.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
In the forty nine ers. It seems like every what
three years, go through just hell of injuries. It's happened
several times now since Kyle Shanahan got there. We know
he's one of the top coaches, certainly one of the
top offensive coaches in the NFL. He's as talented at
scheming people open as anybody in the league. And now
with Robert Soli back and running the defense, I mean
that defense has looked like they have before. But there
(03:01):
were times yesterday where, if I'm not mistaken, there were
five rookies playing on the San Francisco defense at the
same time. Taking a Nick Bosa, one of the most
accomplished pass rushers of this era of the NFL off
the field and now relying on Michael Williams a step
on up. You know, you could sit there and say, well,
they've trade for somebody. We've seen the forty Niners make
(03:21):
a lot of bold trades. They get a lot of
cash and aap space tied up in the existing roster.
This may well be.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
It's also like trade for who you know, like you know.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Well, as this season moves on, we're still what six
weeks I believe from the trade deadline here, So some
of those teams are sitting there at ozen three. If
that BECOMESZHO four and on and five, then maybe suretain
guys were not thinking about right now start to become available.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
But very much it's to get my list together.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
You got you got it, I got mine going right here.
You have to focus on some of those young guys
taking on better roles than to your point. You're hoping
as this thing goes on, at some point maybe November
Ayuk is out there and able to be an impact
player again. Party We'll see how this plays out. Even
through the course of this week, Mac Jones was limping
around out there yesterday too. I mean he could barely
even hand the ball off at the end of the game.
(04:09):
You said Ian was an aggravation of a prior PCL
spring for Mac Jones. So now this once again creates
at least some level of question about who's gonna be
out there quarterback for the forty niners this week.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, it really does. The backup quarterback who you probably
don't think I know, but I do know Adrian Martinez,
which obviously I know a lot about him.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Where did you play college Footballian?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
He played at Arizona State. No, that is Kent Miami
of Ohio.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
No, okay, you're way off Kansas State and Nebraska at
the two places, Adrian Mark That was my other guesses
that would be now. But it does seem like between Mac,
once they got the brace adjusted, it seemed like he
could move a little bit better yesterday. We'll see exactly
what his health looks like in the coming weeks here
and I'm at rock party. He was limited all last week.
It was close enough that they at least talked about
having him active, and that would suggest that certainty would
(05:02):
suggest to maybe parties back this week.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Well, I have a different question, what and I think
I have an answer, but I have a different question.
What do you think? And I know we have a
lot to get to this can be fast. What do
you think mac Jones did in these last two games? Like,
he's got another year on his contract with the forty
nine ers, so I don't know that he's going anywhere,
but certainly he could. So what do you think he
(05:25):
did the last couple games for his like value end status.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I guess, well, he got halfway to his incentives, which
four wins would unlock his one hundred thousand dollars per
win that he gets. But but additionally, I mean he
showed why Kyle Shanahan liked him coming out in the
draft some years ago, before they pivoted and went with
the upside of a Trey Lance over mac Jones. Mack
obviously goes to New England, then gets created Jacksonville, and
(05:50):
then becomes a free agent. Kyle brings him in. You're
committed to Brock party. This is not in any way
a question about his Brock party. To Gay, he is
fifty million dollars over fifty million dollars per year. He
is your quarterback for the foreseeable future. But at minimum
you got a really really good number two, which you
know with Brock he's had different injuries. They're usually like
freak type of injuries, which I think this one certainly was.
(06:13):
But you've got somebody who you know now can step
in and play football at a pretty high level. Mentioned
a couple of the other year quickly, James Connor from
the Cardinals. That's a significant type of a knee injury.
All expectations is he's done for the year. He's gonna
undergo surgery. As Ian mentioned last night, ankle, yes, ankle,
What did I say mean time ankle? It was bad.
(06:35):
It was a bad, bad looking injury.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Usually when players are all on the field, both sides
watching him get carted off as bad.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Same thing with Najie Harris torn achilles. You could see that.
I think at this point we all are pseudo experts
on being able to see the pop in the calf.
That was one of the most blatant ones you're going
to see. So for Najie Harris, who season never really
even got started, missing all of camp after the fourth
July FIREUS explosion in the eye injury, gets back out there.
Terris's achilles, he and James Connor Bill said to be
(07:05):
free agents this March, a little bit later in their careers,
not more so for James Connor than for Naji coming
off major injuries. Something to keep in mind as we
get to February and March. Here then he got Ceedee
lamb Ian, who that was an ugly looking injury. You
know where it's now it looks like it's got some
of the elements of a hip drop tackle. It does
(07:26):
that play From just talking to some people who are
smarter than I am about exactly how the NFL looks
at this play, it doesn't sound like this is a
hip drop tackle because there's no grasp you would need
the unwaiting but also the grasp where he just kind
of goes down awkwardly there. He'saw CD tried to get
back out there, he wasn't able to move. It's a
high ankle sprain, which DOT maybe on the shorter side
(07:48):
of this ian. But the optimism that CD had last
night about even playing in a big game this week
against the Packers was probably a little lower.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
For the optimist, Yeah, I think that that's not gonna happen.
My understanding, first of all, the timeline is he's out
two weeks and then week to week after that. So
they do not plan to put him on IR, which
means if you say, like, what's the most likely scenario
my educated guests is he probably misses three games and
then plays the fourth. I think he's got a chance.
(08:17):
First of all, amazing that he went back out there.
And also, you know you talk about Nick Bosa knowing,
knowing how injured he was, like Cedd clearly knew, tried
to run, took himself out. Nope. But then the other
thing is after the game, like sometimes there could be
optimism and then it settles in and then he's in
a walking boot in the facility and you're like, okay,
(08:37):
this is this is pretty real. This is tough for
the Cowboys. He is one of their best players. So
for the fantasy world, he is one of the best
fantasy receivers who was a top ten pick in almost
every league. The Cowboys have had some real challenges and
I am really curious to see what it ends up being.
(08:58):
Like last last yesterday, it was bad Bears were I
know the Bears came into this thinking that they were
going to be more physical than the Cowboys were, and
they for sure were they thought they were going to
be more physical than the Cowboys receivers Ceedee Lamb didn't
finish the game, and I think that was it was
all pretty clear. I'm really curious where the Cowboys go
(09:20):
from here, Knowing one of their best players is going
to be out, knowing they were going to have to
rely on other receivers who are certainly much not as accomplished,
and knowing what happened to matt Eberflus's defense against Ben
Johnson and the Bears.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
That's the staggering part is that the defense has been
as bad. Now in Maddi Eberflus's defense, you losed her
on Bland. You have Trayvon Diggs who's kind of in
and out. He was in the medical ten yesterday. So
you're talking about two of your top corners. You know,
they've had Kenny Clark he got banged up in that
game as well. They have not stopped the run, and
oh yeah, they can't rush the passer without Michael Parsons.
(09:56):
That's the first game in King Williams's career, which grand
isn't that many game, first time in his career he
hasn't been sacked. Think about that. So much. What we
talked about last year was Caleb Williams being sacked at
a historic rate. They didn't touch him in that game,
and so yeah, a lot for Dallas to figure out
as we roll.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
For you, sorry, I know you have so many other
things to get to, but just walk quick. It's been
rough for obviously for the Cowboys. When you trade Micah
all the Cowboys fans and I happened to follow a
few fan accounts on Twitter just because I like to
see what the fans are talking about sometimes and trade Mike,
and it was immediately like, like, it's a rebuilding year,
(10:37):
Like I don't want to say that, but like, do
you think.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
It's the truth, And it's the reason that up until
probably a week before where it got very loud within
the league about Michael Parsons being traded, I was just like,
I understand the theory of why you would do it,
but this is eighty two, eighty three year old Jerry
Jones going into a rebuild and I just don't see it.
Which also there's also that, you know, kind of dissonance
(11:03):
with Jerry's postgame remark spot I still think this is
a playoff team. Look at how Dak Prescott play. Well,
it's not a playoff looking team right now when you
think about where the Bears were in their first two games,
and then they absolutely outclassed the Cowboys in that one.
I mean the Cowboys one win was a product of
Brandon Aubrey having a freakish leg and kicking an extremely
(11:24):
long field goal, or they would have lost that game too,
and they'd been three.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
So they do.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Jerry's going to keep dangling it. We talked about this
the day of Micah Parsons trade. It's gonna be I
got these picks and he's been any time watch out,
I'm not using it.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Didn't we hear it? Yester? Today it was.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Again, Yes, so we keep keep hearing it. But is
that just a way to keep them relevant or they
actually going to do it. We'll find out Mike Evans too.
By the way, quick update on the Bucks wide receiver
MRI pushed to tomorrow, but sounds like optimism for Todd
Bowles and maybe this one's not as severe as some
of the hamstring injuries to Mike Evans has had in
the past. Let's get to a non injury issue and
(12:01):
one that came up based upon what we saw more
specifically what we didn't see last night in New York.
It felt ian frankly, a lot like the past couple
of years have felt, which is a pumped up crowd
and MetLife stadium, whether they're playing at one PM or
playing in prime time and they just have nothing offensively,
(12:21):
there's a lot of different ways to get into this.
We saw them go to Dallas and put up a
bunch of points, and it was Russ throwing moon balls
and the deep shots, and Wandale got going, Leak Neighbors
got going. Last night, Steve Spagnola completely took away Milik Neighbors.
I think he had two catches in the game.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I think they doubled the most. Every play looked.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Like they absolutely decided we're not gonna let that guy
beat us. But I was struck by Russ. This looked
like the Russ we saw at times down the stretch
last season, where once the moon balls aren't there, once
the verticals aren't there, he doesn't really have an answer.
There were a bunch of times he tried to scramble.
There was one second and goal from the fourteen design
(13:00):
quarterback draw where he just doesn't move the way that
he used to. But the most staggering thing Ian was
that red zone sequence where on first down he throws
the ball up the tunnel and gets a intentional grounding,
but on third and fourth down he throws the ball away.
Is this is earlier in the game. Third and fourth
down he throws the ball away. This is the game,
(13:23):
this is you have to score. You don't throw the
ball in play on fourth down. I just I can't
even begin to fathom. This is one of those plays, right,
that's the intention set.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
That's the fourth round.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
No, that's the first that's the first down where they
got backed up.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
But I just I was watching it and going, there's
no way he's gonna throw the ball away on third
and fourth down. You have to Jameis Winston's got his issues,
but Jameis Winston that spot would have thrown the ball
to someone.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
On every down I might have gotten picked, might have
been a touchdown. He's gonna throw it to someone. Russ
doing that, a veteran quarterback and just throwing the football away.
I just it blew my mind. I just I don't
understand it. And it's one more reason that you have
to think that Brian Dable as you said today is
considered a change.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Yeah. I mean I tried very hard and I know
you do too, but that was the fourth down. I
tried very hard and I know you do too, to
really keep things there.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
That the cutaway to her.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, And it's like every Giants fan is like, yeah,
that's that's it. That's correct. One weird thing that happens
any instance. The Vikings have been good recently. I don't
think you probably get this nearly as much as I do.
But whenever the Jets are Giants do something ridiculous, I
get like text from all my buddies. A lot of
people were up last night at eleven o'clock or whenever
(14:36):
it was, got a lot of Russell Wilson texts. Yeah,
we got a lot to say. I don't know how
much time we have. I feel like we should. I don't.
I feel you want to continue this in the next segment.
You want to take a break. We have so much
to say.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Seriously, no, no, keep going, keep going unloaded on me.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
All right, it's time. It gets time. Like I it's
tough to watch. We all know what we're watching, you know,
Russell Wilson making that kind of play, throwing the ball
way and fourth down is a signal that even he
knows it's enough, it's over. Like I don't know how
you bring him back out there. Everyone in the world
(15:17):
wants to see Jackson dark, not because it's something new,
but because there's something there, like it's real. I think
they think he's going to be really good. They tried
to get through the tough part of the schedule. It
doesn't seem like it's going to happen like it's time
and I.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Don't that's part of the issue this week. I mean,
the two sides of the three and zero chargers are
coming in this week. Do you want to run the
risk of rolling Russ out there and they're booing from
the start, or do you want to roll Jackson Dart
out there where you might not have Andrew Thomas being
able to play full time. You don't have to run
Tracy although Cam Scataboo, if you want silver lining the
(15:52):
last night Cam Scataboo looks very real and reminding everybody
why I was as shocked as I was that he
did not go high in the draft. But I mean,
you want to be you want to be deliberate, you
want to be decisive, about how you're bringing along a
young quarterback. But this is also one of those moments
where it just to you to your point it feels
like something has to change and you can't just keep
(16:13):
going out there and doing the same, can't.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I mean, and and I hate to say this because
you don't want to like sort of bow or listen
to the fans, right because these should be like educated,
intelligent football discussions. But that is a real part of it.
When it's a home game and you know, like they're
boon last night, Dart goes in a couple of nice plays,
Russ comes back in, they do like crazy, and I'm
just like, how can how can this go on? Like
(16:39):
it can't? So it's time. I don't know if Brian
Dabo is gonna do, but I think I know what
he's gonna do, and I think you probably do too,
And I think it's time. And let's see what decision
they make, probably tomorrow morning, but seems like it's time.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Or from me insiders after this, Wheeland niels at the
thirty three.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
This is a forty three yard field goal. Try to
hit Green Bay the league.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
It is fucked balls down to the ground.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Hey, Greg goes the balls on it on.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
The forty seven of the ground sends the Lord off
the edge just like I told you he was so
close to.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
It on that extra point.
Speaker 6 (17:27):
He comes around the edge and gets it right there.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Special teeth.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
And now Andre Schmidt for the wind from fifty five
yards out. Two second step, snap is back, kick is up,
and the kick is right down.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Pick it up. It's god. I'm oh tap the Green
Bay black hands.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Great call there from our old friend Andrew Siciliano, the
voice of the Cleveland Browns. What a wild day of
on paper for a lot of the games got a
bad ugly games that all ended in wild finishes. As
welcome or Adam Rank and Stacy Dale's to the conversation. Stacy,
I'll start with you. You were there in Cleveland sitting
(18:15):
back watching you know that game. I had it up
on one side of my TV at home. I was
watching Red. So there was no reason with about four
minutes to go to think that this is going to
be anything other than a devastating Brown's punchless loss.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
And then it flips.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Just tell me from your perspective in the stadium what
you saw there.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Hey, guys.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
It was wild.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
So the conversation in the press box. The murmurs in
the press box were, all right, let's get Dylan Gabriel
going here. When is Joe going to get pulled here?
You know, guys, you know Kevin Stefanski, Well, he's not
going to disrespect a veteran quarterback of Super Bowl winning
quarterback like Joe Flacco, So it will be a very
(18:58):
strategic move when that happen. Weapons But then you go
and you see Grant Delpit get that interception, and you
watch how things transpire and the brilliance of Joe Flacco
in the hurry up to go down it for that kick,
and that operation was incredible. Would a rookie quarterback be
able to do?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
That? Was so fast, so freaking fast.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Go back and watch it. It's all over social. I mean,
it was so cool to see it in person. I
was I'm over there on the packer sideline. You guys
know how it works, right, You think you're getting a
packer and then.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Oh wait, yeah, So anyway, it was a really did
you run over?
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Well? I walked very briskly to the middle of the field,
and I didn't know who I was getting. We asked
for Miles Garrett and Grant Delpit, and I got Delpit
and he celebrated his birthday the day before.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
So it was a cool gift for him.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Rank you sitting back watching that game on the couch
as a Bears fan. We'll get to that remarkable performance momentarily.
Here I imagined you were. You were relishing every second
of that. Oh you need a microphone on their rank.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
You know, on this show, we like to hear when
the first time rank is on a podcast. Well, I'm not.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
I'm I'm sorry about that. Yet. I did not go
in and check the the the equipment, which is good
because I was chiming in while Stacey was talking the
whole time. I should have kind of figured it out
that I didn't didn't have everything working. That's fine, That's
what I'm like. Oh, they're just ignoring me, Like this
is this is what it's like being you know, I'm
(20:33):
used to being the alpha dog on Fantasy Live and
now I'm like, oh, I'm being relegated to the kids table.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
That's fine. Do the other guys view you as the
alpha dog on Fantasy Live?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Or is that just you?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Just me?
Speaker 6 (20:43):
It doesn't matter, it's just me. I I kind of
I kind of view myself in that lens, you know what,
I walk around like the backstay like I'm triple H
walking around pulling the strings. But here's my thing. I
was watching that and a Packers fan was at the
facility where we were watching this game. He's like, stupid,
stupid special teams. It's no big deal. And I said, hey, pal,
(21:05):
you are a special teams play away from being zero
to six in the division last year. So this is
just a coming full circle moment. But it just goes
to show you like this is This is one of
the things why I try not to get try not
to overreact to things that happened in the first couple
of weeks of the season, because like last week, the
narrative was like, are the Packers even going to lose
(21:27):
a game? Are they going to go undefeated? How badly
are they going to win the Super Bowl? Now they
lost to the Browns. It's just one of those things,
like there are professional ballplayers on both teams. Cleveland Rose
the occasion, I don't think that Jared Listen, Jordan Love
is fine. He's a good quarterback. He's gonna go out there,
He's going to face the Dallas Cowboys this week, he's
gonna throw for four hundred yards and then you guys
can all go back on the bandwagon and everything will
(21:49):
be fine.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Well, Stacey, I'm gonna ask you this because you spend
a lot of time around the Packers team too. I mean,
they were if you were talking about them, Is this
the best team in football? And through those first two games?
And defense, once again, I'll say, whatever you know about
the Browns offense, they've got their challenges, but once again,
it was a it was a pretty dominant defensive effort,
especially when you remember that the one touchdown the Browns
scored was the product of just a weird interception that
(22:13):
leads a couple of plays later to a touchdown. What's
the level of concern that you sense about Green Bay
or just from your own eyes watching it, about whether
or not you know this was an operation versus this
is a sign of maybe some of the things that
they got to fix here moving forward.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
Tom, I would chalk this one up to a good
loss for the Packers because of all that hype. I mean,
you get a little humble pie in the NFL. And
the thing about their team is they're young, but they
have really good leadership. I was in both locker rooms
after the game, by the way, and it was so
cool because I talked to Bubba Ventron, the special teams coach,
before the game, about the Browns and like, damn, your
(22:51):
defense is good, and he's like, yeah, it is, and
we got to be better on special teams. So special
teams and defense for them came through. I saw him
after the game. He's pumped in his locker room, and
then I go to the Packers locker room and Micah
Parsons is so interesting because as he gets ready to
face the Cowboys this week, it's going to be fun.
It's going to be a lot of banter going on
(23:12):
about that game. But he was really interesting at his
locker you guys last night, because you know, he took
full accountability.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Tom.
Speaker 5 (23:21):
To answer your question, He's like, I had two offsides
in that game. That's unacceptable for a player of my caliber.
It's an eighteen you know, run season, and we run
through eighteen weeks in this season and there's a lot
of football to play. And what was also really interesting
is how many times did you see Jeff Hafley as
(23:43):
a defensive coordinator. Right He's got a few guys huddled
up at I think it was Xavier McKinney's locker, and
they were all kind of having an interesting conversation about
the defense. And that's unusual, I don't You don't typically
see coordinators go and kind of grab a few guys,
but that something I also saw. They have an outstanding defense,
(24:03):
but they're really good, so are the Browns Defensively. The Browns,
you could argue that they'll tell you we think we're
the best defense in the NFL, and they put on
a display of that yesterday. But I don't since any
concern Tom sorry Rank about where the Packers are going.
This is a really good team, and I had a
couple of coaches around the league text me about the
(24:24):
division this morning. We all still think the Packers are
really damn good and they will bounce back from this.
I expect them to have a really good performance.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
Next week, we'll.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Talk about the Vikings getting to win a blowout fashion
with Carson Wentz to quarterback. We get to the Monday
night game too. Lions face the Ravens tonight. That's in
part two of the podcast, which you also can find.
But let's talk about the Bears here. For a second, Stacey,
You're based in Chicago, but as our resident Bears super fan.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I gotta let Rank go first on this one. We've
been waiting for this.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Rank. This was, this was the moment right here, this
is what it was.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I want to like, Tom, I want to jump in.
I want to jump in really quick because I want
to tell Rank what I told you in the segment before,
which was the Bears. I want to hear what you
think The Bears went into this thinking that they were
more physical than the Cowboys and believing that they would
show that and that would help them get their first win.
Having seen that, do you agree?
Speaker 6 (25:18):
I would agree. I think this is something that goes
back to the joint practices they had with the Miami Dolphins,
and that the Dolphins media was complaining that the Bears
were too mean to them. I think in the first
couple of weeks of the season, we really didn't get
an opportunity.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Now that's what.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
That's all the Dolphins media. Why are the Bears trying
so hard, like because they're playing football. I don't know,
Maybe you guys should try it for a change. Obviously,
what happened in the first two weeks of the season.
Happened in the first two weeks of the season, and
it's not unusual for a new coaching staff to really
try to find their bearings as they're moving forward and
trying to get everything, try to get their system in.
And one of the things that when you look at
(25:55):
this game, obviously Caleb Williams goes out there throws for
nearly three hundred yards four touchdowns, and I think a
lot of people who are not fans of the Chicago
Bears will say, well, look, Mitch Trubisky had a six
touchdown game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Justin Fields had
his moments during his time. Even last season, the Bears
looked really good in London against Jacksonville. What is different
(26:19):
this year? And to me, the biggest difference is going
to be Ben Johnson and what we saw during the
postgame locker room ceremony yesterday. If you want to go
out and dig this up, I don't know if you
guys fix this in posts or you save it or
whatever you do. If you watch Matt Eberflus in Week
one against San Francisco when he got his first first
(26:39):
win of the Sea, first win of his NFL career
not really inspiring. Should have been the reddest of red flags,
sitting there soaking wet in a fluke win over the
forty nine ers, whereas Ben Johnson comes in with all
sorts of juice and swagger and really accountability for what
is going on now. I will caution people, Tyler Williams
(27:01):
is not going to throw four touchdowns every week. There
are gonna be times where he goes up against a
tough defense. It could be the Browns, they can be
even Green Bay where it's gonna be a little bit
of a struggle. But what we're seeing is Ben Johnson
putting the pieces into place to make this team competitive
this season. And I think that we're going to see
the Bears take step forwards, take steps forward as they
(27:21):
continue to march through the twenty eighteen season.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
And speaking of putting the pieces in place, Stacy, the
other thing I'm struct just even watching those highlights for
you know, yes, they got Robo Dodensday has been great
so far this season. You saw DJ Moore getting the
end zone yesterday when the Cowboys just decided let's not
cover one of the better receivers in the NFL. But
you got a Luther Burden highlight in there. You've got
a Colston Loveland highlight in there. Even Kyle Malung, guy
who you talked about with us on The Insiders after
(27:46):
week one, got rolling in the game.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
If you're thinking.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
About the broader, like the global how we're putting this
thing together, these are the guys that Ben drafted or
along with Ryan Pols to fit what he wants to do.
The fact those guys get rolling in week three seems
like a really good side.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Tom, You're so right on. It was huge yesterday. It
was huge. I mean, that's arguably the best. Tom Brady
said it in the broadcast, the best that he's seen
Caleb Williams play. But our guys just showed you the
flee flicker there at sixty five yard, or to Luther Burden,
who was the top receiver yesterday and was over one
hundred yards for the first time career highs for him.
(28:24):
They came out of we two pretty pissed off. The
Bears did, and the person at the forefront of that
was Ben Johnson, pissed off at the practice habits. Go
back and watch the flea flicker and go take a
look at Ben Johnson on the sideline. I mean, this
dude is he is laser focused on next play, next play.
He's not even celebrating this thing. And I texted with
(28:46):
a couple of people at the Bears last night. They
were more happy about those guys playing their asses off,
That's what I was told, than the win. Even you
could see that they took coaching last week. Rank. They
took coaching, and when players buy in in the NFL
and they take coaching, you guys know, any given Sunday, Monday, Thursday,
(29:08):
any team can win. Look what the Browns did the Packers.
So they took the coaching. They put it in, they
manifested it, they put it into fruition, if you will,
in terms of how they performed, and you know, they
got some sacks defensively, they got four turnovers in the game.
The defense came alive and it was a tough night
for Dak Prescott. So you know, next game, though, the
(29:32):
Raiders are up next. Rank got to have another really
good week of practice, and I think that's the Ben
Johnson standard, as we saw yesterday.
Speaker 6 (29:40):
Yeah, it's one of the biggest things. I don't know,
if your time in Chicago goes back to Mark Tressman.
But when you look at the coaches, I know how
every coach would have responded to the loss in Detroit
last week. Where Matt Maggie would have been like, hey,
we're trying to find the wise Matt Ebraflus would have
blamed everybody else but himself. But Ben Johnson went out
(30:03):
there and took accountability and said that we need to
start practicing better, we need to start putting it together.
And the one thing that what you said is I texting.
We probably are texting the same people. It's like, do
you think that Ben Johnson comes in more aggressive this
week or less aggressive? And everybody was like, oh, it's
it's gonna be worse for him, Like now he's really
going to put the foot on the gas. I think
(30:24):
that his toughest practice was last week. There's a real
sense that Ben is going to put the pedal to
the metal once again, try to get them ready for
Las Vegas.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
But I'll just say quick too, that flea flicker, I'll
go back to it. Yeah you can't. This isn't gimmicky football.
This this play required an essential amount of practice time
to execute, and it was run perfectly almost I mean
the toss back right here. Oh we missed the toss back.
(30:59):
It was a little hot for the quarterback, but a
little launched that baby right You had to practice that
is there. It is boom, but it's a little high. Okay,
But the timing was perfect because they got the safety
to look, they got the safety to move and bam
it was a touchdown. That is all time on task
(31:19):
during the week. And so this isn't when Ben Johnson
does this stuff. This isn't gimmicky stuff like this is.
This is stuff he believes is going to manifest itself
on every Sunday and be executed at a high level.
And if the Bears buy in like that, they can
be really damn good.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Great, both of you, guys, Rank, we gotta go. Hey,
we got time limits on this.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
You don't. You guys said the podcast was hard. There's
no hard outs on a podcast.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Apparently there is. I'm getting text about it, Rank station
very much. We got Monday night preview. We'll talk about
the Rams, Eagles, Wild finish, the Bust Jets game whole
lot more. So call me Rank Over Part two for
Rank Stacy See and I'm Tom See
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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