September 19, 2024 • 26 mins
Week 2 NFL Recap and Thursday Night Football Preview
Join hosts Nick Ferguson and Alex Hardy as they break down the latest action from Week 2 of the NFL season. Nick, a former ten-year NFL safety, shares his insights from the Broncos' home opener, including his thoughts on Justin Fields' performance against Denver. The duo also dives into the Pittsburgh Steelers' strategic decisions, the Philadelphia Eagles' late-game choices, and the Atlanta Falcons' surprising victory.
The episode wraps up with a preview of the Thursday night AFC East division rivalry between the Patriots and the Jets. Can the Patriots' top-ten rushing offense dominate the Jets' struggling defense? Will Aaron Rodgers bounce back after his injury at MetLife Stadium? Tune in for expert analysis and predictions.
00:00 Justin Fields efficiently dispatches Denver Broncos in Seattle's home opener
08:17 Nick Moore: Falcons defense blew three leads last year, right
16:30 Nick Ferguson: Carolina Panthers bench quarterback Bryce Young two games into the season
24:06 Nick Ferguson predicts New England Patriots to beat Green Bay Packers on Thursday night
NFL, Week 2 Recap, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, Bryce Young, Andy Dalton, Running Game Trends, Thursday Night Football, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Aaron Rodgers, NFL Analysis, NFL Predictions
Ride the Wave Media, Those Guys Podcast, Nick Ferguson, Alex Hardy, NFL Insights, Football Strategy, Player Performances, Game Previews, Fantasy Football Tips
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
We are those guys we hope to beyour guys, bringing you the latest
from the National Football League.
Week two in the books, we've got aThursday night AFC East division rivalry
tonight, which we will get into later.
Nick Ferguson, uh, there he is,former 10 year NFL safety, and uh,
fresh from his Broncos home opener.
(00:29):
Nick, what's going on, my man?
Good to see you.
Good to be seen, man.
Yeah, Broncos home opener.
And it was great to see so manyformer Broncos and just be around
the Broncos fans once again.
That's the great thing about livingin Denver, being a former player.
You get a chance to interact and exchangesome, uh, Salutations with some fans,
(00:52):
but also see some old faces as well.
Well, you talk about when the teamwas a lot better than the current
edition that we're seeing right now.
But, that being said, your guyJustin Fields, uh, efficiently
dispatching your Denver Broncos.
It's, you know, it's thesilver lining, right?
A guy you went to bat for.
(01:12):
Uh, I'm fortunate to do it againstyour team though, on the other end.
You know, uh, I like Justin Fields.
I've always liked Justin.
Yeah, that's my point.
And for me, it was, uh, I mean, itwas good to see him go out there
and move the team down the field.
What was it like?
300 yards.
He threw four.
(01:32):
No, but what it goes back to is howthe Steelers for, uh, most of their
franchise history have won a lot of games.
You run the ball, you havedecent, competent quarterback
play, and you play great defense.
And that's kind of been arecipe for success for them.
What might be happening, and I'm thinkingit's going to happen here, with Russell
(01:54):
being out for an extended period of timewith that calf injury, I believe that
Fields is doing enough for Mike Tomlin tosay, you know what, we're going to stick
with Fields until something goes wrong.
But now if Fields has another game where,We see him not pass for a lot that may
allow Ross to keep his foot in the door.
(02:15):
But as it pertains to how the team isdoing right now, I think they should
just go ahead and stick with fields.
Well, shout out, uh, Blaine Nicholas,our overlord here at ride the wave,
who called Chris Boswell to be the MVPthis season, he continues that trend.
Meanwhile, you're right with fields.
I mean, we learned that the.
Calf injury is going to remain a partof the equation and Mike Tomlin, simple
(02:37):
decision, just go with the healthyquarterback, especially the one that's
not turning the football over whilemaintaining some efficiency with
that running game, 13 completions,20 pass attempts for 117 yards.
Meanwhile, they run theball 36 times for 141 yards.
So that is an equation while the defenseholds up their end of the bargain,
(02:59):
keeping the Broncos out of the end zone.
Nick, I, you know, I'd be remiss not toput a bow on your home opening experience.
I learned from the Pittsburgh Steelersthat they give out petty game balls.
And Russell Wilson getting that gameball in a game where he suited up because
he's a maniac, uh, and an emergencyquarterback, I understand, but we're in
(03:21):
the shoulder pads, not getting in anyaction, your game ball goes to Russell
Wilson against his former Denver Broncos.
Yeah.
Usually that, that happens.
And I knew.
Mike Tomlin being Mike Tomlin,he would definitely do this.
And like Phil said, I mean, they wanted towin for, for Russell, even though Russell
suited up and he wasn't expected to playbeing the emergency third quarterback.
(03:46):
But this is something that happensaround the league when the player
plays against his former team.
His teammates want to make surethat he has a great showing.
Sometimes it doesn't always endup that way statistically, but
if you beat your old team, it issomething to somewhat celebrate.
And really think about, you know, what'shappened with Russell since he left
(04:07):
Seattle and being here in Denver andhearing the people kind of, uh, throw
negative narratives out there about whohe was as a person, also as a player.
So.
You had to figure everything wasleading up to this particular week
when the schedule came out andeveryone saw, wow, the Broncos
(04:29):
are going to play the Steelers.
I mean, there were so many alumni withticket requests because they wanted to
be in town for this particular game.
But the fans felt as though, Alex, Theywere a little deprived because they
really wanted to boo Russell, and theonly opportunity they got a chance to
boo him was when he came out for thecoin toss, and I, I felt as though that
(04:50):
was a strategic ploy by Mike Tomlin tosay, you know what, yes, we're going
to make Russell one of the captainsso he can go out for the coin toss.
No, good on Tomlin.
And it's about playing the game ofchess inside the game of football.
And you give that advantage to MikeTomlin, which is one of numerous
reasons, again, talk about thatdefense, that he has never had a losing
(05:13):
season in his head coaching career.
Uh, let's put a bow on week two andkind of dive in with the last game of
the week before we You know kind ofzoom out look ahead to week three and
understand that we have twice as muchdata In terms of games being played
compared to where we were on this podexactly a week ago so nick the Atlanta
(05:35):
Falcons pull out a victory, or maybe moreappropriately, the Eagles snatch defeat
from the jaws of a victory on Mondaynight when the Eagles are up 21 15.
They have the football and begintheir drive on the Atlanta 39.
And again, they take advantageof the defense stopping the
(05:56):
Falcons from trying to, uh, uh,uh, to, to tie this game, right?
It was a three point game at the time.
They get down to the 10 yard lineand they call for a Saquon Barkley.
Uh, swing pass that he drops, andultimately they kick the field goal to go
up six with a minute 39 left in this game.
(06:19):
Six plays, 70 yards in just a minute.
The Falcons retake the lead,pick off Jalen Hurts on defense,
and there's your ball game.
So, the decision to throw in thatsituation, they got a wide open Saquon
Barkley, he doesn't drop that ball.
We're probably not talking aboutthis, but Nick Sirianni's decision.
(06:39):
to kick when they're up threepoints to make a six point lead.
Your thought process there from thePhiladelphia Eagles head coach is a
six point lead maybe less safe thana three point lead, uh, when we saw
this Monday night football game.
See, Alex, I've kind of toyed withthis for a while and I'll say this.
Um, I don't blame Sirianni for doingwhat he was doing because he couldn't
(07:04):
have predicted that things were goingto unfold the way that they did.
And even though, like, like yousaid, Saquon catches that pass, we're
not even having this conversation.
Right.
Right.
And then also too, this is the reasonthat you brought over Vic Fangio.
This is where you need yourdefense to show up when they need
to, to stop Kirk Cousins frommoving the ball down the field.
(07:25):
Now, hindsight being 20 20, maybeSirianni would do things differently.
But like I said, there's no way he wasgoing to be able to pretty much predict
things would unfold the way that they did.
And how many times do we see it?
And teams may make this type of decision.
Well, you know what, we're just goingto go ahead and take the points.
They could have gone for it.
And what happens if they go forit and they fail now, that is a
(07:49):
topic of conversation, but then youplay and you lean on your defense
because you're playing at home.
This is where home field advantageis supposed to come in, but things
didn't fall, fall that way forSirianni or the Philadelphia Eagles.
But.
Me, personally, uh, I don't have aproblem with him taking the points
(08:10):
in that particular situation.
Now, I, I don't, uh,hmm, where am I going?
Have I changed your mind?
Have I changed
your
mind?
Absolutely, I mean, I'm not, I canunderstand the thought process, but
given that this defense had blownthree late leads last year, right,
they were 10 1, That first losscame to the New York Jets when Zach
(08:33):
Wilson engineered a two minute drive.
They lost to the Falcons, the Cardinalsat the end of last year when Kyler Murray
was able to engineer a two minute drive.
Uh, this is a team that has had atendency to give up these late leads.
And I understand it's your home opener.
You rely on that defense, but atthe same time, that offense clearly
(08:55):
drove down the field, uh, andmaybe in four down territory could
have put that game away for sure.
That's one piece of it.
The other piece of it, Nick, is witha change in the kickoff rule, right?
They kick the field goal and the Falconsstart the ball at their own 30 yard line.
Now you're talking about With where thekicking game is at, they have to get
(09:19):
the ball to maybe the 40, 35 yard line.
So the Falcons there have 60 secondsnot to score a touchdown, but 60
seconds to just get to field goalrange when they're down three.
I think there's a huge difference.
In starting them back at the 10 yard line.
Let's say they go for iton fourth down and miss.
(09:39):
Dolphins now start at the 10instead of the 30 yard line.
You know, it's just hard for me to expect,um, a football team to play with the
aggressiveness and when they're only inneed of a field goal compared to when
(10:01):
they need a touchdown down six, that teamis going all out, taking bigger risks.
Bigger chunk plays to get thefootball down the field as efficiently
as possible in under a minute.
I think it's human nature, Nick.
If they get in the field goal rangeand we saw young way who is one
of the better place kickers in thenational football league, if they get
that ball in the field goal range,I think we're playing for overtime.
(10:24):
Again, Saquon Barkley catches this ball.
We're not talking about this.
I think there's a mentality shiftwhen a play caller knows they need six
as opposed to when they need three.
That's my biggest problem withSirianni's decision to settle
for the field goal when they did.
Well, yeah, I mean,Alex, that, that is true.
(10:45):
You want to put the pressureon the opposing offense to
force them to have to score.
Uh, a game winning touchdowninstead of kicking a game, winning
a game, tying a field goal.
But keep this in consideration.
Okay.
When you get into the red zone,we call low, low red zone.
To me, the advantage goes to the defensebecause you have less room to operate.
(11:06):
I mean, Saquon Barkleyjust dropped the pass.
So
the idea is that the defense alreadyknows this is the final down you have.
So you have to make aplay for the red zone.
So now you stop them.
And the Eagles don't score.
That becomes a bigger issueand topic of conversation.
Why did he go, the Sirianni gofor in that particular situation?
(11:29):
Come up with no points at all,instead of making the points.
But once again, I go back to, this is whyfootball is the greatest team game ever.
Because you want to be ableto put pressure on your
defense to say, you know what?
Go win us the freaking game and allyou have to do, regardless of where
the Falcons received the ball, canyou get a three and out, right?
(11:52):
Even if they get the first downthe first time on that second, uh,
series, can you get a three and out?
The defense did not get a three and out.
So we can look and see, well,blame Sirianni for what he did, but
now by you doing that, you takingthe onus off of your, off of your
defense and I'll put it right back.
And your, uh, ballpark, there was ateam up in New England and their head
(12:18):
coach was a defensive minded coach.
They wanted that smoke, right?
They wanted to be put in thatposition where they had to stand
up and make a defensive play.
Right.
That's why the Patriots were always inthe conversation for almost over 20 years.
But the Philadelphia Eagles withthe defensive coordinator who
was brought in For this purpose.
(12:38):
For that purpose.
Matt Patricia could not get it done.
So how can we just put all theblame on Sirianni in that situation?
That's all I'm saying.
Yep.
I'll put the blame on Kellen Moore too.
Third and three, if you're playing forthe field goal, might as well be running
the football and make sure that yourun as much clock as you can, right?
Because even if you get stopped andyou've got fourth down, uh, the Falcons
(13:02):
are getting the ball back with undera minute as opposed to a minute 40.
And it took him a minute five to,uh, pick apart Quinion Mitchell,
you know, attacking that rookieDB to get down the football field.
Uh, but again, I think compared to wherewe were a week ago, I had questions
about Kirk Cousins playing undercenter, utilizing play action and on
the Falcons opening drive, what dothey do under center and play action?
(13:25):
So he's clearly not all the wayback, but a huge, uh, needle, a
huge strides were made, I thinkfor Kirk Cousins in showing that.
He can actually Perform an NFL offense asopposed to we talked about two looks one.
Look they were passing one.
Look they were running.
So it's Much better I think thanwhere we were at weekend I'll
(13:49):
add this to it as well.
You're absolutely right kurt cousins.
That's his bread and butterplaying on the center That's where
you open up more play action.
But the thing that helped him out was B.
John Robison actually had a fantasticday receiving out in the backfield, but
also running in between the tackles andoutside, which opened play action and
(14:12):
really took a little away from what VicFangio wanted to do against Kirk Cousins.
Let's talk about, after doing some onfield coaching decisions, some off field
coaching decisions, the Carolina Panthers,with where they are, 18 games and three
head coaches, Uh, Bryce Young's career.
He is benched in favor of Andy Blaine.
(14:34):
Um, the decision to bench Bryce Young,Nick, and more importantly, Dave
Canales role, who becomes head coach, Ibelieve, telling the media when he got
the job, it was about the Reclamationprojects and Geno Smith and Baker
Mayfield, who, uh, played and now BryceYoung is going to stay in Carolina
(14:55):
but learn underneath Andy Dalton.
Well, to be totally honest I didn'tlike this play because you want
to give Bryce Young, even if youwanted to do this after week three,
I would have been okay with it.
But it's only week twoand a small assemble size.
And Dave Kanellis justarrived there as a head coach.
(15:17):
And then more importantly, whenyou think about Bryce Young, Yeah,
you know, first round draft picknumber one overall, I believe.
And what, what was he surrounded with?
Right.
You get away, you get rid of DJ Moore,Brian Burns, your excellent edge rusher.
You sent him to the, you tradehim to the New York giants.
So you are emptying the cupboards.
(15:38):
for a rookie quarterback that's coming in.
We know rookie quarterbacks struggle.
And oh, by the way, your top receiver,Adam Thielen, right now at this
stage of his career will probablybe the number three or number four
option on any of the other 31 teams.
So did the Carolina Panthers actuallyset Bryce Young up to be successful?
(15:59):
And the answer to thatquestion is absolutely no.
No, right.
Consistency and infrastructure iseverything that the quarter, a young
quarterback needs, um, establishingtendencies and developing relationships
and to constantly change the deck chairsas much as David Tepper has decided to do.
Um, you know, I'm not going to defend,uh, Frank Reich's job, uh, or Matt
(16:23):
rules for the time that they wereworking with Bryce young, but that
being said, Canales is your guy.
You bring him in as thequarterback whisperer.
And his decision two gamesinto the season, it comes down
to, uh, he's saying a betteropportunity to win football games.
And, you know, I think it's understandablethat there are other players on this
(16:47):
football team outside of Bryce Young.
If Bryce Young is struggling to operatein that offense, if there are other
pieces that need to develop as well,Andy Dalton can at least get you in
and out of plays, execute the offense.
And there were some, there were somepoor decisions that Bryce Young made on
the football field that you're not goingto see from a veteran like Andy Dalton.
(17:09):
Well, see, that's kindof the concept because.
Andy Dalton is in therole of the backup, right?
And usually what happens is welove and we praise the backup.
We hate the backup at the same time, butwe love and praise them when they have to
actually come in for the starter who maybe struggling or the starter that's hurt.
And then we go, yes,he made the right pass.
(17:31):
He made the right read.
They scored a couple of touchdowns.
And until that next week, When thatfollowing defense has a time to
break down that backup quarterbackand they don't perform the way that
they performed in previous weeks.
And keep this in mind, Andy Dalton is aformer first round quarterback himself.
Uh,
second round.
(17:52):
Okay.
I'm sorry.
Okay.
Yeah.
Big second round.
But either way, he was considered to bea top quarterback at one point, but now
finds himself in a familiar backup role.
So this.
would be the first, the best castingof Andy Dalton to come in and be the
heir apparent to one Bryce Young, butstill at the same time, just because
(18:15):
you changed the quarterback, youdon't change the theme of the team.
I mean, your offensiveline is not blocking well.
I mean, the Saints destroy them.
And then offensively,who are your weapons?
Who are you getting the ball to?
Right?
Can you run the ball?
Do you have balance?
So yeah, throw Andy Dalton in there.
And I guess because he's a backup, thingsare going to look a little different.
(18:38):
But really, is it going to change theoverall look of the Carolina Panthers?
You know what that's like, Alex?
That's like having a housethat's really decrepit, right?
And you say, you know what?
Can't
relate.
Can't relate.
Yeah, we're going to changesome of the shingles.
We're just going to fix the curb appeal.
(18:59):
But when you walk inside the house,it's still a freaking disaster.
That is exactly what theCarolina Panthers are doing by
putting Andy Dalton out there.
And that's the thing about youngquarterbacks, Nick, is that the
infrastructure, everything thatneeds to be put in place takes time.
And you'd think over the course ofa full off season, now two weeks
in, they've decided to pull the plugand look, they're not the only team
(19:23):
that is going to end up benchingtheir young quarterback this season.
We have three rookies thatare constantly playing now.
We have other young quarterbacksin year two, even year three, that
there's still some more time anddevelopment that needs to take place.
And a large part of that, Nick, is thatpassing overall in the NFL is down.
(19:44):
Passing yardage, passing touchdowns.
We're looking at a running andkicking football game that, you
know, the sickos like Nick Fergusonare just so thrilled to see, right?
The few and proud.
Uh, but Nick, this isn't just, um, thisisn't just a Bryce Young or a Kayla
(20:04):
Williams or Will Levis or Bo Nix problem.
Overall, two weeks into what seems to bea unique NFL season, um, the emphasis on
running the football, where are you sortof identifying, at least so far, what's
been a different season compared to thefirst couple of weeks and years past?
Well, it's, it's how runningbacks are utilized and deployed.
(20:29):
Uh, you look at, uh, other teams withversatile backs, uh, that can both catch
the ball out of the backfield, but alsorun, uh, the ball between the tackles.
Uh, think about J.
K.
Dobbins, who plays forthe Chargers, right?
When J.
K.
was at Ohio state, he was.
player, which made him, uh, key playerto be drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.
(20:51):
Injuries derailed that, but he'srevitalized himself with the Chargers
because his coach, his head coach knowshow important running backs are because
he had a guy by the name of BlakeCorum in his backfield at Michigan.
So what you do and what,here's what we're not seeing.
We're not seeing teams show a lotof creativity with running backs
(21:12):
that are dynamic because we see.
And head coaches, offensivecoordinators, that is, trying to
run into the teeth of the defense.
And this is what we, when you watchfootball, you always talk about the box.
Well, what does the box mean?
You look at those offensivelinemen, then you look at the
defensive linemen in front of them.
And then you say, well, who's5 to 6 yards behind them?
(21:32):
That's the linebackers.
If you have Uh, a favorable box.
And what I mean by that, youhave one linebacker in the middle
because you use your receiversand tight ends to flex them out.
Now you can run becausefootball is mathematics, right?
You want to run wherethe numbers are greater.
But if you have a crowded box,why are you banging your head
(21:55):
against a wall, a cement block?
No, run outside.
You know why, Alex?
There are less players outside.
This is why when you look at KyleShanahan and what he's been able to do.
Jordan Mason, 146 yards in thefirst week against the Jets.
Why?
Because they run an outside zone.
(22:16):
They're running where there are lesspeople, allowing their tight ends
and their receivers to block, insteadof trying to say, you know what?
I'm gonna be stubborn as a coach.
We're gonna get those four yards, evenif we gotta run through defenders.
Look, that's insanity.
That's freaking insanity.
But this is why we're not seeing, youknow, more teams be more successful,
(22:37):
especially in the pass game, becauseyou can't establish a run and play
action is not readily available to you.
Right, and you're just, again, takingadvantage of what the defense gives you.
So, you mentioned Vic Fangio.
Plenty with that Eagles defense.
If their goal is to keep the ball infront of their secondary, then you
just take what's underneath, which arechunk plays, and running the football.
(22:59):
You know, the Green BayPackers are a perfect example.
No Jordan Love?
Apparently no problem.
They're just gonna run the ball 53times and ask Malik Willis to just, you
know, Keep from turning the footballover and now he's got a revenge game
against his titans I think a game ballis going to him, uh from mike tomlin
if the uh Packers do pull that out thepetty game ball Hey nick before we split
(23:24):
let's talk about some pettiness in theafc east We've got the patriots and
the jets later tonight Uh, Battle ofone and one teams, the lone primetime
game for the New England Patriots.
That's a smart decision by the TVexecutives, but you've got Aaron Rodgers.
The last time that he had the homeopener at MetLife Stadium, he had,
uh, five snaps, four football snaps,and then the snap of his Achilles.
(23:49):
And I am now turning.
It's not an Aaron Rodgers game.
This is a New England Patriots offensethat is top 10 in rushing, facing a bottom
five rushing defense in the New York Jets.
You talked about the emphasis ofrunning, taking what the defense gives
you, and this, to me, just screamsof a run the damn ball matchup.
(24:15):
Jacoby Brissett gonna bring backthat hat he wore when he was a
member of the Indianapolis Colts,because, from my standpoint,
Nick, how do you see this game?
I think it's just keepaway from Aaron Rodgers.
Yeah, it's going to be keepaway for Aaron Rodgers.
And with that being said, it seems likeeverything is leaning heavily towards,
uh, the Patriots based on how they'vebeen able to run the ball and the Jets
(24:38):
have not been able to stop the ball.
And also with CJ Mosley beingquestionable for tonight's game, you
have to figure that that is going tochange what Robert Saleh wants to do
defensively, which would put an enormousamount of pressure on the Patriots.
On his front four to be able to slowdown the New England Patriots, but.
(24:58):
Even with that being said, I'mstill going to lean heavily
towards Aaron Rodgers, right?
There's no way you're going totell me that the Patriots have
a quarterback that can contendwith what Aaron Rodgers can do.
And I know, yeah, the last timewe saw Aaron Rodgers, he got
injured at MetLife Stadium.
Will that be in the back of his head?
Probably.
(25:19):
But, you know, Aaron Rodgers is a gamer.
He wants to come out andhe wants to show people up.
And I think he does that.
Against, uh, the New England Patriots.
Aaron Rodgers getting theNick Ferguson petty game ball.
I think that's something we gotto bring back every week, Nick.
We'll, we'll identify onespecific play from a game.
(25:40):
For the petty game ball.
I love it.
He's Nick Ferguson, 10 years in theNFL, including those years with the jet.
So he's got his allegiance comeThursday, come the game tonight.
I'm Alex Hardy.
We are those guys.
We hope to continue to be yourguys throughout the NFL season.
You can find us ride the wave podcaston apple podcasts, wherever you'd
get your pods and on YouTube as well.
(26:01):
So feel free to checkin with Nick at Nick.
Ferguson underscore 25.
If you have any questions, uh, forhim about your team, his team and
life in general, I mean, I got tolean on Nick constantly, so he's
probably excited to hear from somebodyelse that isn't just little old me.
Until, uh, next time, Nick, whatdo you have to say for the people?
(26:23):
Hey, we're heading into week three.
Uh, don't punt on your team just yet.
I would say punt on them afterweek four, but it's week three.
Don't do it just yet.
Just give it a month.
Just keep that
relationship going for a month.
That's all he asks.
We are those guys we hope to beyour guys, bringing you the latest
from the National Football League.
Week two in the books, we've got aThursday night AFC East division rivalry
tonight, which we will get into later.
Nick Ferguson, uh, there he is,former 10 year NFL safety, and uh,
fresh from his Broncos home opener.
(00:29):
Nick, what's going on, my man?
Good to see you.
Good to be seen, man.
Yeah, Broncos home opener.
And it was great to see so manyformer Broncos and just be around
the Broncos fans once again.
That's the great thing about livingin Denver, being a former player.
You get a chance to interact and exchangesome, uh, Salutations with some fans,
(00:52):
but also see some old faces as well.
Well, you talk about when the teamwas a lot better than the current
edition that we're seeing right now.
But, that being said, your guyJustin Fields, uh, efficiently
dispatching your Denver Broncos.
It's, you know, it's thesilver lining, right?
A guy you went to bat for.
(01:12):
Uh, I'm fortunate to do it againstyour team though, on the other end.
You know, uh, I like Justin Fields.
I've always liked Justin.
Yeah, that's my point.
And for me, it was, uh, I mean, itwas good to see him go out there
and move the team down the field.
What was it like?
300 yards.
He threw four.
(01:32):
No, but what it goes back to is howthe Steelers for, uh, most of their
franchise history have won a lot of games.
You run the ball, you havedecent, competent quarterback
play, and you play great defense.
And that's kind of been arecipe for success for them.
What might be happening, and I'm thinkingit's going to happen here, with Russell
(01:54):
being out for an extended period of timewith that calf injury, I believe that
Fields is doing enough for Mike Tomlin tosay, you know what, we're going to stick
with Fields until something goes wrong.
But now if Fields has another game where,We see him not pass for a lot that may
allow Ross to keep his foot in the door.
(02:15):
But as it pertains to how the team isdoing right now, I think they should
just go ahead and stick with fields.
Well, shout out, uh, Blaine Nicholas,our overlord here at ride the wave,
who called Chris Boswell to be the MVPthis season, he continues that trend.
Meanwhile, you're right with fields.
I mean, we learned that the.
Calf injury is going to remain a partof the equation and Mike Tomlin, simple
(02:37):
decision, just go with the healthyquarterback, especially the one that's
not turning the football over whilemaintaining some efficiency with
that running game, 13 completions,20 pass attempts for 117 yards.
Meanwhile, they run theball 36 times for 141 yards.
So that is an equation while the defenseholds up their end of the bargain,
(02:59):
keeping the Broncos out of the end zone.
Nick, I, you know, I'd be remiss not toput a bow on your home opening experience.
I learned from the Pittsburgh Steelersthat they give out petty game balls.
And Russell Wilson getting that gameball in a game where he suited up because
he's a maniac, uh, and an emergencyquarterback, I understand, but we're in
(03:21):
the shoulder pads, not getting in anyaction, your game ball goes to Russell
Wilson against his former Denver Broncos.
Yeah.
Usually that, that happens.
And I knew.
Mike Tomlin being Mike Tomlin,he would definitely do this.
And like Phil said, I mean, they wanted towin for, for Russell, even though Russell
suited up and he wasn't expected to playbeing the emergency third quarterback.
(03:46):
But this is something that happensaround the league when the player
plays against his former team.
His teammates want to make surethat he has a great showing.
Sometimes it doesn't always endup that way statistically, but
if you beat your old team, it issomething to somewhat celebrate.
And really think about, you know, what'shappened with Russell since he left
(04:07):
Seattle and being here in Denver andhearing the people kind of, uh, throw
negative narratives out there about whohe was as a person, also as a player.
So.
You had to figure everything wasleading up to this particular week
when the schedule came out andeveryone saw, wow, the Broncos
(04:29):
are going to play the Steelers.
I mean, there were so many alumni withticket requests because they wanted to
be in town for this particular game.
But the fans felt as though, Alex, Theywere a little deprived because they
really wanted to boo Russell, and theonly opportunity they got a chance to
boo him was when he came out for thecoin toss, and I, I felt as though that
(04:50):
was a strategic ploy by Mike Tomlin tosay, you know what, yes, we're going
to make Russell one of the captainsso he can go out for the coin toss.
No, good on Tomlin.
And it's about playing the game ofchess inside the game of football.
And you give that advantage to MikeTomlin, which is one of numerous
reasons, again, talk about thatdefense, that he has never had a losing
(05:13):
season in his head coaching career.
Uh, let's put a bow on week two andkind of dive in with the last game of
the week before we You know kind ofzoom out look ahead to week three and
understand that we have twice as muchdata In terms of games being played
compared to where we were on this podexactly a week ago so nick the Atlanta
(05:35):
Falcons pull out a victory, or maybe moreappropriately, the Eagles snatch defeat
from the jaws of a victory on Mondaynight when the Eagles are up 21 15.
They have the football and begintheir drive on the Atlanta 39.
And again, they take advantageof the defense stopping the
(05:56):
Falcons from trying to, uh, uh,uh, to, to tie this game, right?
It was a three point game at the time.
They get down to the 10 yard lineand they call for a Saquon Barkley.
Uh, swing pass that he drops, andultimately they kick the field goal to go
up six with a minute 39 left in this game.
(06:19):
Six plays, 70 yards in just a minute.
The Falcons retake the lead,pick off Jalen Hurts on defense,
and there's your ball game.
So, the decision to throw in thatsituation, they got a wide open Saquon
Barkley, he doesn't drop that ball.
We're probably not talking aboutthis, but Nick Sirianni's decision.
(06:39):
to kick when they're up threepoints to make a six point lead.
Your thought process there from thePhiladelphia Eagles head coach is a
six point lead maybe less safe thana three point lead, uh, when we saw
this Monday night football game.
See, Alex, I've kind of toyed withthis for a while and I'll say this.
Um, I don't blame Sirianni for doingwhat he was doing because he couldn't
(07:04):
have predicted that things were goingto unfold the way that they did.
And even though, like, like yousaid, Saquon catches that pass, we're
not even having this conversation.
Right.
Right.
And then also too, this is the reasonthat you brought over Vic Fangio.
This is where you need yourdefense to show up when they need
to, to stop Kirk Cousins frommoving the ball down the field.
(07:25):
Now, hindsight being 20 20, maybeSirianni would do things differently.
But like I said, there's no way he wasgoing to be able to pretty much predict
things would unfold the way that they did.
And how many times do we see it?
And teams may make this type of decision.
Well, you know what, we're just goingto go ahead and take the points.
They could have gone for it.
And what happens if they go forit and they fail now, that is a
(07:49):
topic of conversation, but then youplay and you lean on your defense
because you're playing at home.
This is where home field advantageis supposed to come in, but things
didn't fall, fall that way forSirianni or the Philadelphia Eagles.
But.
Me, personally, uh, I don't have aproblem with him taking the points
(08:10):
in that particular situation.
Now, I, I don't, uh,hmm, where am I going?
Have I changed your mind?
Have I changed
your
mind?
Absolutely, I mean, I'm not, I canunderstand the thought process, but
given that this defense had blownthree late leads last year, right,
they were 10 1, That first losscame to the New York Jets when Zach
(08:33):
Wilson engineered a two minute drive.
They lost to the Falcons, the Cardinalsat the end of last year when Kyler Murray
was able to engineer a two minute drive.
Uh, this is a team that has had atendency to give up these late leads.
And I understand it's your home opener.
You rely on that defense, but atthe same time, that offense clearly
(08:55):
drove down the field, uh, andmaybe in four down territory could
have put that game away for sure.
That's one piece of it.
The other piece of it, Nick, is witha change in the kickoff rule, right?
They kick the field goal and the Falconsstart the ball at their own 30 yard line.
Now you're talking about With where thekicking game is at, they have to get
(09:19):
the ball to maybe the 40, 35 yard line.
So the Falcons there have 60 secondsnot to score a touchdown, but 60
seconds to just get to field goalrange when they're down three.
I think there's a huge difference.
In starting them back at the 10 yard line.
Let's say they go for iton fourth down and miss.
(09:39):
Dolphins now start at the 10instead of the 30 yard line.
You know, it's just hard for me to expect,um, a football team to play with the
aggressiveness and when they're only inneed of a field goal compared to when
(10:01):
they need a touchdown down six, that teamis going all out, taking bigger risks.
Bigger chunk plays to get thefootball down the field as efficiently
as possible in under a minute.
I think it's human nature, Nick.
If they get in the field goal rangeand we saw young way who is one
of the better place kickers in thenational football league, if they get
that ball in the field goal range,I think we're playing for overtime.
(10:24):
Again, Saquon Barkley catches this ball.
We're not talking about this.
I think there's a mentality shiftwhen a play caller knows they need six
as opposed to when they need three.
That's my biggest problem withSirianni's decision to settle
for the field goal when they did.
Well, yeah, I mean,Alex, that, that is true.
(10:45):
You want to put the pressureon the opposing offense to
force them to have to score.
Uh, a game winning touchdowninstead of kicking a game, winning
a game, tying a field goal.
But keep this in consideration.
Okay.
When you get into the red zone,we call low, low red zone.
To me, the advantage goes to the defensebecause you have less room to operate.
(11:06):
I mean, Saquon Barkleyjust dropped the pass.
So
the idea is that the defense alreadyknows this is the final down you have.
So you have to make aplay for the red zone.
So now you stop them.
And the Eagles don't score.
That becomes a bigger issueand topic of conversation.
Why did he go, the Sirianni gofor in that particular situation?
(11:29):
Come up with no points at all,instead of making the points.
But once again, I go back to, this is whyfootball is the greatest team game ever.
Because you want to be ableto put pressure on your
defense to say, you know what?
Go win us the freaking game and allyou have to do, regardless of where
the Falcons received the ball, canyou get a three and out, right?
(11:52):
Even if they get the first downthe first time on that second, uh,
series, can you get a three and out?
The defense did not get a three and out.
So we can look and see, well,blame Sirianni for what he did, but
now by you doing that, you takingthe onus off of your, off of your
defense and I'll put it right back.
And your, uh, ballpark, there was ateam up in New England and their head
(12:18):
coach was a defensive minded coach.
They wanted that smoke, right?
They wanted to be put in thatposition where they had to stand
up and make a defensive play.
Right.
That's why the Patriots were always inthe conversation for almost over 20 years.
But the Philadelphia Eagles withthe defensive coordinator who
was brought in For this purpose.
(12:38):
For that purpose.
Matt Patricia could not get it done.
So how can we just put all theblame on Sirianni in that situation?
That's all I'm saying.
Yep.
I'll put the blame on Kellen Moore too.
Third and three, if you're playing forthe field goal, might as well be running
the football and make sure that yourun as much clock as you can, right?
Because even if you get stopped andyou've got fourth down, uh, the Falcons
(13:02):
are getting the ball back with undera minute as opposed to a minute 40.
And it took him a minute five to,uh, pick apart Quinion Mitchell,
you know, attacking that rookieDB to get down the football field.
Uh, but again, I think compared to wherewe were a week ago, I had questions
about Kirk Cousins playing undercenter, utilizing play action and on
the Falcons opening drive, what dothey do under center and play action?
(13:25):
So he's clearly not all the wayback, but a huge, uh, needle, a
huge strides were made, I thinkfor Kirk Cousins in showing that.
He can actually Perform an NFL offense asopposed to we talked about two looks one.
Look they were passing one.
Look they were running.
So it's Much better I think thanwhere we were at weekend I'll
(13:49):
add this to it as well.
You're absolutely right kurt cousins.
That's his bread and butterplaying on the center That's where
you open up more play action.
But the thing that helped him out was B.
John Robison actually had a fantasticday receiving out in the backfield, but
also running in between the tackles andoutside, which opened play action and
(14:12):
really took a little away from what VicFangio wanted to do against Kirk Cousins.
Let's talk about, after doing some onfield coaching decisions, some off field
coaching decisions, the Carolina Panthers,with where they are, 18 games and three
head coaches, Uh, Bryce Young's career.
He is benched in favor of Andy Blaine.
(14:34):
Um, the decision to bench Bryce Young,Nick, and more importantly, Dave
Canales role, who becomes head coach, Ibelieve, telling the media when he got
the job, it was about the Reclamationprojects and Geno Smith and Baker
Mayfield, who, uh, played and now BryceYoung is going to stay in Carolina
(14:55):
but learn underneath Andy Dalton.
Well, to be totally honest I didn'tlike this play because you want
to give Bryce Young, even if youwanted to do this after week three,
I would have been okay with it.
But it's only week twoand a small assemble size.
And Dave Kanellis justarrived there as a head coach.
(15:17):
And then more importantly, whenyou think about Bryce Young, Yeah,
you know, first round draft picknumber one overall, I believe.
And what, what was he surrounded with?
Right.
You get away, you get rid of DJ Moore,Brian Burns, your excellent edge rusher.
You sent him to the, you tradehim to the New York giants.
So you are emptying the cupboards.
(15:38):
for a rookie quarterback that's coming in.
We know rookie quarterbacks struggle.
And oh, by the way, your top receiver,Adam Thielen, right now at this
stage of his career will probablybe the number three or number four
option on any of the other 31 teams.
So did the Carolina Panthers actuallyset Bryce Young up to be successful?
(15:59):
And the answer to thatquestion is absolutely no.
No, right.
Consistency and infrastructure iseverything that the quarter, a young
quarterback needs, um, establishingtendencies and developing relationships
and to constantly change the deck chairsas much as David Tepper has decided to do.
Um, you know, I'm not going to defend,uh, Frank Reich's job, uh, or Matt
(16:23):
rules for the time that they wereworking with Bryce young, but that
being said, Canales is your guy.
You bring him in as thequarterback whisperer.
And his decision two gamesinto the season, it comes down
to, uh, he's saying a betteropportunity to win football games.
And, you know, I think it's understandablethat there are other players on this
(16:47):
football team outside of Bryce Young.
If Bryce Young is struggling to operatein that offense, if there are other
pieces that need to develop as well,Andy Dalton can at least get you in
and out of plays, execute the offense.
And there were some, there were somepoor decisions that Bryce Young made on
the football field that you're not goingto see from a veteran like Andy Dalton.
(17:09):
Well, see, that's kindof the concept because.
Andy Dalton is in therole of the backup, right?
And usually what happens is welove and we praise the backup.
We hate the backup at the same time, butwe love and praise them when they have to
actually come in for the starter who maybe struggling or the starter that's hurt.
And then we go, yes,he made the right pass.
(17:31):
He made the right read.
They scored a couple of touchdowns.
And until that next week, When thatfollowing defense has a time to
break down that backup quarterbackand they don't perform the way that
they performed in previous weeks.
And keep this in mind, Andy Dalton is aformer first round quarterback himself.
Uh,
second round.
(17:52):
Okay.
I'm sorry.
Okay.
Yeah.
Big second round.
But either way, he was considered to bea top quarterback at one point, but now
finds himself in a familiar backup role.
So this.
would be the first, the best castingof Andy Dalton to come in and be the
heir apparent to one Bryce Young, butstill at the same time, just because
(18:15):
you changed the quarterback, youdon't change the theme of the team.
I mean, your offensiveline is not blocking well.
I mean, the Saints destroy them.
And then offensively,who are your weapons?
Who are you getting the ball to?
Right?
Can you run the ball?
Do you have balance?
So yeah, throw Andy Dalton in there.
And I guess because he's a backup, thingsare going to look a little different.
(18:38):
But really, is it going to change theoverall look of the Carolina Panthers?
You know what that's like, Alex?
That's like having a housethat's really decrepit, right?
And you say, you know what?
Can't
relate.
Can't relate.
Yeah, we're going to changesome of the shingles.
We're just going to fix the curb appeal.
(18:59):
But when you walk inside the house,it's still a freaking disaster.
That is exactly what theCarolina Panthers are doing by
putting Andy Dalton out there.
And that's the thing about youngquarterbacks, Nick, is that the
infrastructure, everything thatneeds to be put in place takes time.
And you'd think over the course ofa full off season, now two weeks
in, they've decided to pull the plugand look, they're not the only team
(19:23):
that is going to end up benchingtheir young quarterback this season.
We have three rookies thatare constantly playing now.
We have other young quarterbacksin year two, even year three, that
there's still some more time anddevelopment that needs to take place.
And a large part of that, Nick, is thatpassing overall in the NFL is down.
(19:44):
Passing yardage, passing touchdowns.
We're looking at a running andkicking football game that, you
know, the sickos like Nick Fergusonare just so thrilled to see, right?
The few and proud.
Uh, but Nick, this isn't just, um, thisisn't just a Bryce Young or a Kayla
(20:04):
Williams or Will Levis or Bo Nix problem.
Overall, two weeks into what seems to bea unique NFL season, um, the emphasis on
running the football, where are you sortof identifying, at least so far, what's
been a different season compared to thefirst couple of weeks and years past?
Well, it's, it's how runningbacks are utilized and deployed.
(20:29):
Uh, you look at, uh, other teams withversatile backs, uh, that can both catch
the ball out of the backfield, but alsorun, uh, the ball between the tackles.
Uh, think about J.
K.
Dobbins, who plays forthe Chargers, right?
When J.
K.
was at Ohio state, he was.
player, which made him, uh, key playerto be drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.
(20:51):
Injuries derailed that, but he'srevitalized himself with the Chargers
because his coach, his head coach knowshow important running backs are because
he had a guy by the name of BlakeCorum in his backfield at Michigan.
So what you do and what,here's what we're not seeing.
We're not seeing teams show a lotof creativity with running backs
(21:12):
that are dynamic because we see.
And head coaches, offensivecoordinators, that is, trying to
run into the teeth of the defense.
And this is what we, when you watchfootball, you always talk about the box.
Well, what does the box mean?
You look at those offensivelinemen, then you look at the
defensive linemen in front of them.
And then you say, well, who's5 to 6 yards behind them?
(21:32):
That's the linebackers.
If you have Uh, a favorable box.
And what I mean by that, youhave one linebacker in the middle
because you use your receiversand tight ends to flex them out.
Now you can run becausefootball is mathematics, right?
You want to run wherethe numbers are greater.
But if you have a crowded box,why are you banging your head
(21:55):
against a wall, a cement block?
No, run outside.
You know why, Alex?
There are less players outside.
This is why when you look at KyleShanahan and what he's been able to do.
Jordan Mason, 146 yards in thefirst week against the Jets.
Why?
Because they run an outside zone.
(22:16):
They're running where there are lesspeople, allowing their tight ends
and their receivers to block, insteadof trying to say, you know what?
I'm gonna be stubborn as a coach.
We're gonna get those four yards, evenif we gotta run through defenders.
Look, that's insanity.
That's freaking insanity.
But this is why we're not seeing, youknow, more teams be more successful,
(22:37):
especially in the pass game, becauseyou can't establish a run and play
action is not readily available to you.
Right, and you're just, again, takingadvantage of what the defense gives you.
So, you mentioned Vic Fangio.
Plenty with that Eagles defense.
If their goal is to keep the ball infront of their secondary, then you
just take what's underneath, which arechunk plays, and running the football.
(22:59):
You know, the Green BayPackers are a perfect example.
No Jordan Love?
Apparently no problem.
They're just gonna run the ball 53times and ask Malik Willis to just, you
know, Keep from turning the footballover and now he's got a revenge game
against his titans I think a game ballis going to him, uh from mike tomlin
if the uh Packers do pull that out thepetty game ball Hey nick before we split
(23:24):
let's talk about some pettiness in theafc east We've got the patriots and
the jets later tonight Uh, Battle ofone and one teams, the lone primetime
game for the New England Patriots.
That's a smart decision by the TVexecutives, but you've got Aaron Rodgers.
The last time that he had the homeopener at MetLife Stadium, he had,
uh, five snaps, four football snaps,and then the snap of his Achilles.
(23:49):
And I am now turning.
It's not an Aaron Rodgers game.
This is a New England Patriots offensethat is top 10 in rushing, facing a bottom
five rushing defense in the New York Jets.
You talked about the emphasis ofrunning, taking what the defense gives
you, and this, to me, just screamsof a run the damn ball matchup.
(24:15):
Jacoby Brissett gonna bring backthat hat he wore when he was a
member of the Indianapolis Colts,because, from my standpoint,
Nick, how do you see this game?
I think it's just keepaway from Aaron Rodgers.
Yeah, it's going to be keepaway for Aaron Rodgers.
And with that being said, it seems likeeverything is leaning heavily towards,
uh, the Patriots based on how they'vebeen able to run the ball and the Jets
(24:38):
have not been able to stop the ball.
And also with CJ Mosley beingquestionable for tonight's game, you
have to figure that that is going tochange what Robert Saleh wants to do
defensively, which would put an enormousamount of pressure on the Patriots.
On his front four to be able to slowdown the New England Patriots, but.
(24:58):
Even with that being said, I'mstill going to lean heavily
towards Aaron Rodgers, right?
There's no way you're going totell me that the Patriots have
a quarterback that can contendwith what Aaron Rodgers can do.
And I know, yeah, the last timewe saw Aaron Rodgers, he got
injured at MetLife Stadium.
Will that be in the back of his head?
Probably.
(25:19):
But, you know, Aaron Rodgers is a gamer.
He wants to come out andhe wants to show people up.
And I think he does that.
Against, uh, the New England Patriots.
Aaron Rodgers getting theNick Ferguson petty game ball.
I think that's something we gotto bring back every week, Nick.
We'll, we'll identify onespecific play from a game.
(25:40):
For the petty game ball.
I love it.
He's Nick Ferguson, 10 years in theNFL, including those years with the jet.
So he's got his allegiance comeThursday, come the game tonight.
I'm Alex Hardy.
We are those guys.
We hope to continue to be yourguys throughout the NFL season.
You can find us ride the wave podcaston apple podcasts, wherever you'd
get your pods and on YouTube as well.
(26:01):
So feel free to checkin with Nick at Nick.
Ferguson underscore 25.
If you have any questions, uh, forhim about your team, his team and
life in general, I mean, I got tolean on Nick constantly, so he's
probably excited to hear from somebodyelse that isn't just little old me.
Until, uh, next time, Nick, whatdo you have to say for the people?
(26:23):
Hey, we're heading into week three.
Uh, don't punt on your team just yet.
I would say punt on them afterweek four, but it's week three.
Don't do it just yet.
Just give it a month.
Just keep that
relationship going for a month.
That's all he asks.
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