Mark Willard and Kyle Rudolph break down Week 9 of the NFL season!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
I don't know how it happens every year. I really
really don't.

Speaker 3 (00:07):
We sit here in the middle of Week nine, which
essentially means this is the halfway point of the NFL
regular season.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Kyle.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
I don't want to be that guy that says every
time it's a new month or it's a new year, boy,
where's the time go?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
But where does the time go? This season is.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Already halfway over and really taking shape and looking forward
to chopping it up and getting into all of it
with you tonight. We're broadcasting live from the ti rag
dot com studios. Tyraq dot com will help you get
there an unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free road hazard protection,
and over ten thousand recommended installers. Ti raq dot com

(00:47):
The way tire buying should be. Kyle, I know you've
heard this. I'm sure you felt this. The narrative in
sports media and throughout America, no matter what we're talking about,
is we build people up and then we knock them down. Right,
I'm sure on some level you felt that in your career.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, I hate to say.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
This, but we've reached the knock them down phase when
it comes to the Miami Dolphins. While many of you
may have been sleeping, they were in Germany taking on
the Kansas City Chiefs, which with what was their third real.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Big playoff level test so far this year.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
In those three games, they're zero in three and so
we've built them up. They're wonderful for everybody's fantasy teams.
But I've yet to be convinced that the Miami Dolphins
are actually a contender in the AFC.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
No, you're certainly right, Mark, and I feel like with
this Miami Dolphins team, we continue to talk about when
will they get over the hump, like when they go
meet the bully and the AFC, whether it be the
Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, whoever in the AFC
that they're going against. When when they meet that bully,

(02:06):
when are they going to finally step up and pass
this test. And you know, obviously they turned it around.
You know for us on the East Coast this morning,
we got to watch that first half and it was
not pretty for the Miami Dolphins, but you know, they
turned it around coming out of the second half and
you know, really got within striking distance there at the

(02:27):
end of the game, only to end on uh, you
know a little bit of a miscommunication or you know,
just shotgun snap issue, which obviously you never want to
end a game that way. But you know, this this
Miami team, we talk about the high powered offense and
you know, Mike McDaniel, all the stuff that they can do.

(02:49):
And it's interesting because I'm sure we'll get to it
at some point in the show tonight when we start
talking about the Kansas City Chiefs. So I don't want
to get too much into the Kansas City Chiefs here,
but just the way that that Steve Spagnola defense played
against this high powered offense, especially because I almost felt
like when I was watching the game, it was evident

(03:11):
to me that they wanted Tyreek Hill to have one
of those games. They wanted Tyreek Hill to go crazy.
It was against his former team, and it's like Tyreek
Hill goes crazy when Raheem Mozart's running for one hundred
and Jalen Wattles got one hundred, and it's like their
balance across the board and it was like they were

(03:33):
just trying to find every single way possible to get
Tyreek Hill the ball, which is always a great idea,
but you know, you see Tyreek Hill, like he never
has less than ten yards a catch, and he had
eight for sixty two today, and it was like they
were just trying to force him the football. And I
think that really hampered this Miami offense.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
Yeah, there's no two ways about it. They were out
of sync the whole time. They were shut out in
the first time. So I like your point. When we
think of Kansas City Chiefs football, it takes a long
time before we start thinking about their defense. But if
you really dive deep into what they've done well this year,
maybe we should at some point talk about their defense

(04:15):
and how balanced they are. And the fact that the
Chiefs and what the Philadelphia Eagles did just a short
time ago right now shows that at the halfway point,
there's not a whole lot to dissuade us from the
idea that the Chiefs and Eagles should.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Be back in the last game.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Again, I bet against it because that's just not the
way it works. But right now, at the halfway mark,
they absolutely look like the best team in each conference.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
So that's all there.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
But I look at the Miami Dolphins and there's always
a team or two like this every single year that
you look at and you go, Okay, that's a good
football team. By the way, your ex team, the Vikings
might have been the version of this last year. I
know they won a lot of close games, but they
were that team that when they went up against a

(05:04):
high level opponent, they could not measure up. But boy
were they good when they were going up against somebody weak.
You know, off the top of your head, I'm sure
how many wins the Dolphins have this year over teams
with a winning record.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
You know that number, don't you?

Speaker 1 (05:23):
All of them? They all of their wins are against
teams with the losing record, and I think all of
the crosses are from teams with a winning record. Their
six wins exact crosses.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, they went up against Buffalo October first. They took
on Philadelphia two weeks ago. They took on Kansas City
across the pond today, and they are zero and three.
And this was the first time they even got within
double digits in one of those games, and that was
only because they got things going a little bit there,

(05:54):
got a turnover in the fourth quarter and they were
able to get it to win a one score game.
But they were by three touchdowns at the end of
the first half. So listen, I just wonder when we're
gonna get to that point where it feels good to
have a real conversation about what the Dolphins are doing,

(06:17):
because nothing about them suggests that you want to sort
of put a New York state of mind on them.
They're from Miami. It's not like this crazy intense fan base.
Their coach is the funniest comedict act in the NFL.
They've got tremendous speed receivers, and like I said, everybody

(06:40):
loves sitting down for a Dolphins game, and you hope
you have some of their players on your fantasy team.
So everyone's having a blast. But is it real? I like,
I don't know what. Like, we're having a good time,
but are we watching something it actually matters in the

(07:02):
NFL this year?

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Well, we've talked about this a few times. I know,
definitely coming out after the Buffalo Bills game. You know,
right now, the game tonight with Buffalo and Cincinnati will
determine if Miami holds onto their first place spot in
the AFC East. And it's interesting because I feel like

(07:25):
this Miami team, you know, we know what the answer is.
When they're the five, six or seven seed and they
have to go on the road in January to Baltimore, Buffalo, Jacksonville,
whichever the other division winner they have to go to.

(07:45):
We know how that's gonna end. We've seen how that
ends every time, you know, the last how many times
they've been in the playoffs. But the thing that is
interesting to me, and I'm not like I know how
this works. You know, I've been on teams where it's
primetime games, Monday night football games, teams with winning records,

(08:08):
there's always there's always that, you know, I call them
the bully. There's always that bully that you got to
go face at school. And right now that the Dolphins
are teams with winning records, like when you play a
team with a winning record, it almost becomes this narrative.
And until you go dethrone either the champion your division,

(08:29):
which is the Buffalo Bills or the other bullies in
the AFC. You know the best way to do that,
in my opinion, is going to be they they find
a way. You know, you look at down the stretch
and you know what their schedule holds. Can they sneak
out a win to where they're hosting a playoff game
in Miami and they're not going on the road, and
you know, you look at it. They got Raiders, well,

(08:50):
I mean they they played well today against the Giants,
which you know that's a dumpster fire in itself. But
you know, so you got Raiders at the Jets, you
know that that would be an interesting one, you know,
because the you know, the Jets, those that's a really,
really good defense. That's a team that will test them,
you know, Washington Tennessee Jets again the last three games

(09:13):
of the year, Cowboys, Ravens, Bills. Okay, so look, you
got till about mid December to find out if you're
for real or not or if this is just for
fantasy points. And coincidentally, that's right about as the Fantasty
Championship will be ending. So at that point people won't
even care about their fantasy team because around Christmas time
is usually win the fantasy Championship.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
And so.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
I believe in this Miami team. I like the pieces
that they have. As quirky and funny and comedic as
Mike McDaniel is, I think he's a really good football coach.
I agree with you. I mean, like his offense is
fun to watch and it's not just Tyreek Hill running
go balls and Jalen Wattle taking the top off the defense.

(09:59):
Like his run scheme is incredible. You know, the mix
of his run action and pass is really really good.
And I think that their defense is solid. Vic Fangio
is a guy that's had incredible defenses. They are in
their first year with him, so you would assume that
they'll get, you know, better and better as the year

(10:20):
goes on, more and more comfortable as we pushed through
November in December. But we'll find out certainly that those
last three weeks.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
No doubt.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
And again, I'm not trying to make this sound like
some sort of an attack. I'm a huge fan of
a lot of the same people and things that you
just mentioned. McDaniel is someone coming off of the Kyle
Shanahan coaching tree. I'm a big supporter. I'm a big fan.
I think he's fantastic. I just don't think they're there yet.

(10:52):
The Dolphins are the cliched relationship that you have on
the temporary when you've gotten out of something serious. That's
what they are. Let's go have fun for a little bit.
I don't want to get too bogged down. I don't
really know exactly where this is all going. But my gosh,
is it great on a Saturday night. That is the

(11:13):
vibe when I sit down and I watch a Dolphins game.
But if you want to get serious and you want
this to last, and you want something that's gonna end up.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
In February, I just don't think they're there yet.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
There are too many pieces of the puzzle, namely on
the defensive side of the football.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
But even I think running the ball in winter.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
Like in a gritty sort of a way, ground and
pound kind of a way, that's not them yet. I
think there are more pieces to sort of put into
this puzzle before I can consider them someone that is
going to legitimately scare some of those other teams that
you mentioned come come late January.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
Yeah, And I think I mentioned that after they lost
to the Bills earlier this season, and the best way
to slow down all their speed is a playoff game
in freezing temperatures with snow, yep. That would neutralize their
speed in a hurry. That's you know. I think it's
just paramount for them to find a way to win

(12:18):
the AFC East and make sure they host at least
one playoff game. If you host one in Miami, you know,
who knows what can happen in that first round. And
you know you may not have to go to Buffalo
or Kansas City, Baltimore. Maybe you can go up the
road just a little bit to Jacksonville and stay in Florida.
And you know, crazier things have happened in playoffs. But

(12:39):
I do think if they get into one of these
East Coast Midwest January playoff games, the weather, just that
climate is not what this team needs to be in.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
I'm with you, and we're brought to you by Progressive Insurance.
Progressive makes bud League easy and affordable. Get a multi
policy discount by combining your motorcycle, RV, boat, ATV and more,
all your protection in one place. Bundlin Save at Progressive
dot Com. Coming up next, And I mean we mean this.
Now a star is born. That's Kyle Rudolph. I'm Mark Willard.

(13:17):
We'll talk about that coming up next on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 4 (13:21):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
Seven pm Eastern. But here's the thing.

Speaker 4 (13:27):
We never have enough time to get to everything we
want to get to.

Speaker 5 (13:30):
And that's why we have a brand new podcast called
over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in
our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for.

Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, you blubber list Jam and me.

Speaker 4 (13:44):
Well you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years.

Speaker 5 (13:48):
Well, it's a Cavino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
can continue on our.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
After show called over Promised.

Speaker 4 (14:02):
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make
sure you check out over Promised and also Uncensored by
the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a
little harder. It's gonna be the best after show podcast
of all time.

Speaker 5 (14:12):
There you go, over Promising. Remember you could see it
on YouTube, but definitely join us. Listen Over Promised with
Cabino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 6 (14:24):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
So I'd like someone to explain this to me.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
By the way, Mark Willard Kyle Rudolph for Liventhetirek dot
com studios. If you like using debit over credit, shouldn't
you also get rewarded? Well now you can with Discover
cash Back debit to checking account. The rewards everyone with
cash back on everyday purchases with no fees period check
out eligibility in terms of just ever dot com Slash

(15:01):
cash Back Debit Discover Bank member fdic' So a big conversation.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
I feel like increasingly.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
In the NFL, when a quarterback plays well, we've got
to sort of explain it, if you will.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
Is it his teammates, is it his coach? Is it?

Speaker 3 (15:24):
I don't know what the scheme, different things that you hear.
Rock Perty has been at the center of this for
a while. Someone explained to me four hundred and seventy
yards passing five touchdown throws against no interceptions. Do it
in the final seconds of the game with the clock

(15:48):
literally ticking down inside of ten seconds?

Speaker 2 (15:52):
Is it the scheme. Well, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
It's a rookie head coach who actually is a defensive mind.
Is it the great skill position players he's got around him?
Most NFL fans wouldn't even be able to name any
receivers on the Houston Texans and they're starting running back
was out injured. What on earth is CJ. Stroud if

(16:17):
not an absolute star in the making in this league.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
I was gonna say the explanation there is. CJ. Stroud's
a stud. It is all CJ. Stroud. We we've talked
about him a few times and Houston's kind of been
a team that, you know, they they lose Week one,
then they win a couple of games and you know,
we talk about him a little bit. Then they go
back under five hundred just called their way back now

(16:47):
four and four, so it's like, you know, we really
haven't talked about the team a whole lot, but CJ
has come up a few weeks because he's played so
well and it's always you know, not to this level,
but it's always been he's throwing for over three hundred yards,
he's got a few touchdowns, and he's not turning the
football over. You know, most rookie quarterbacks are just measured

(17:09):
solely on that. You know, they take care of the football.
And you know, you look at what CJ. Stroud has
done to this point. You know, at the halfway mark
of the season, he has the Texans at four and
four and you know, you he single handedly got them
down the field to win that game at the end
today against the Bucks. And you look at the receiving

(17:30):
stat line. You know, he's got three receiver or two
receivers in a tight end all over one hundred yards.
You know, through touchdowns to four different people. It's just
really really good stuff from CJ. Stroud down in Houston.
And there is no disguising this one. There's no excuses

(17:52):
that can be made. You know, CJ. Stroud is a stud.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
Fourteen touchdowns, one interception this year, and you know where
people's minds are going to go. Also, here's my question
about c J. Stroud, because you're right, he's a stud.
I don't think anybody's going to question that the Texans
have really got themselves something here that looks like it's
sustainable and special. But I do wonder about just the surroundings,

(18:22):
the support, the scheme, the fit because My favorite example
is always Kurt Warner Hall of Fame level with the
Rams Hall of Fame level with the Cardinals somewhere in
between there. He went to the Giants and couldn't get
a first down. So there are surroundings that matter for quarterbacks.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Is it too.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
Simple right now to say that the Panthers made the
wrong pick and should have gone.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
With c J. Stroud?

Speaker 1 (18:51):
Well, I think that came up a lot last week
when they played against each other in Carolina, and you know,
Frank Wright was adamant that, hey, we got the guy
we want. This is you know, we made the right choice.
It's not fair to judge him at this point. And
you know, I would agree with that. I do think
it's unfair to judge Bryce Young at this point. And

(19:12):
you know, certainly the argument could be made, well, who
do CJ. Stroud have? You know, like if you if
you name if you were to name one receiver on
the Houston Texans, I think most people people that know
football might get one right. And Robert Woods and Robert

(19:34):
Woods didn't play today, so you he has a bunch
of guys, you know, rookies, and uh, you know, Dalton
Schultz is a really good football players, played at a
high level. Came over from Dallas and free agency this year.
But you know, I think it's more a testament to c. J.

(19:55):
Stroud and his ability and the way that he's able
to sit back there in the pocket deliver the football
to a bunch of different players. He never looks rattled.
You know, watching that game today, it didn't matter what
the moment was, whether they were up or down with
forty seconds left and had to get down and get

(20:16):
a touchdown. It's really impressive from a rookie quarterback. He
certainly doesn't look like a rookie quarterback when you watch
him play.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
I know some of the names that people are, Like,
hold on a second, I know who the Texans receivers are,
right because you play fantasy and so you know who
Nico Collins is, and you know who Tank Dell is,
who is an exciting, fast young player and went for
six and one fourteen in a couple of touchdowns. Noah
Brown one hundred and fifty three yards today you mentioned Schultz,

(20:50):
but but yeah, these are not household names at all.
And that's kind of what I'm getting at. Like this
conversation we're having will live on with Bryce Young, It
will live on with Brock Purdy. It still lives on
to a degree even with names like Mac Jones, whereas
recently as last year, people were like, well, what can.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
We do here?

Speaker 3 (21:13):
You got a defensive coordinator as the offensive coordinator.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
What do you expect from the guy? And we'll get
to Mac Jones in a little bit too. But all
of the.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
Things that people use to explain away good stats for
a quarterback, they don't live here. They don't live here
in Houston. He has none of the things that supposedly
booie your stats. Do you want to know what is
leading rusher ran for today? Twenty six yards? They could

(21:42):
not run the ball one bit. So therefore I thought
the defense was supposed to go, oh, they're one dimensional,
we can stop that.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
No, the opposite happened. He almost threw for five hundred yards.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
No, and he was just picking that defensive part. In
also worth mentioning, you know, Todd Bowles is a really
good defensive coordinator, and you know the Bucks have had
a pretty good defense. It's there's a lot of good
players on that side of the ball that understand that
scheme and know where they need to be and Like
I said, I just I couldn't have been more impressed

(22:17):
with his demeanor in the pocket and the way he
just sat back there so comfortably making decisions delivering the football.
You know, we certainly went through the list of receivers
and tight ends that he got the ball to today,
and just a really, really incredible performance in a big
win for CJ. Stroud and the Texans.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
I have an in the moment observation that I would
like to share because it's going to be a problem
for a bunch of NFL teams. I'll share it with
you in a couple of minutes, But first we're gonna
get Steve de Seger in here for his first trip
around the bases with us tonight and find out what's trending.

Speaker 7 (22:54):
Hey, Steve, Hello, and speaking of around the bass actual
baseball news tonight, they handed out the Gold Glove and
four champion Texas first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, catcher jonah Heim,
right fielder Adolas Garcia are Gold Glove winners. You mentioned
the Houston Texans home win thirty nine thirty seven against
Tampa Bay c J. Stroud with the five touchdown passes,

(23:15):
Texans kicker Kayimi Fairburn left with a quad injry mri
coming for him. On Monday. Already, running back Damian Pierce
was out with a bad ankle, and Houston wide receiver
Robert Woods was out with a foot injury. The Sunday
night NFL game is Buffalo at Cincinnati. DeMar Hamlin is there.
He's not active for the Bills, but the defensive back
did sweet tonight.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
Last night.

Speaker 7 (23:36):
I had dinner with my heroes, ten of the University
of Cincinnati medical staff that helped save my life. A
great opening drive for the Cincinnati Bengals at home. Near
six minute drive to start the game. Nine plays, seventy
six yards. They're up seven to nothing on the Bills.
Quickly Joe Burrow with a seven yard touchdown pass. Joe
Mixon is playing by the way, and Josh Allen, the

(23:58):
Bills quarterback, has no injury designation this weekend. After the
bad shoulder. Philadelphia is eight and one. It holds on
for a home victory against the Dallas Cowboys twenty eight
twenty three. Dallas's CD Lamb did have eleven catches one
hundred and ninety one yards one fumble, but the Cowboys
and Lamb were tackled inside the five on the final

(24:19):
catch of the game, final play. So the Philadelphia Eagles
are one of those rare teams to lose the Super
Bowl one year and start eight and one or better
the very next year. That had only happened once since
the nineteen seventies. That was with Jim Kelly and the Bills.
One of those years in the early nineties, they lost
to Super Bowl, but came back with an eight and

(24:40):
one start the next year. Indianapolis a winner at Carolina
twenty seven to thirteen, Las Vegas thirty to six over
the Giants, who are two and seven, and Giants quarterback
Daniel Jones left with a possible torn acl MRI tomorrow.
He had just returned from missing three games with a
neck injury, and quarterback to Rod Taylor is already on IR.

(25:00):
Tight End Darren Waller X Raiders on IR josh Jacobs
in the win in Vegas two touchdown runs. He had
twenty six carries ninety eight yards. Minnesota got Joshua Dobbs
late TD pass off the bench and it win at
Atlanta thirty one to twenty eight. According to reports after
the game, Dobbs not only wasn't taking snaps from this
new center, as he was just acquired by the Vikings

(25:22):
this week. He doesn't even know the full names of
all of his teammates and he won them the game. Today,
Cleveland beat Arizona twenty seven nothing. The Cardinals had exactly
fifty eight yards of offense. Victories for Green Bay and Washington,
for Baltimore and New Orleans in the game in Frankfurt.
Kansas City held on twenty one to fourteen over Miami.
Next Sunday in Germany, it's Indy against New England. USC

(25:44):
fired defensive coordinator Alex Grinch today. The Trojans have lost
three of their last four, allowing forty six points per game.
In the past month, Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Season Championship,
his first in the NBA. It's just gone Final at Cleveland,
the cab beat Golden State one fifteen one oh four.
The Warriors record was five to one. Steph Curry had

(26:06):
twenty eight points in three point range. He was seven
of eleven, but thirty one points on the winning side
for Donovan Mitchell. Victories for Toronto in overtime for Phoenix
as well. And then there's the San Jose Sharks. Mark Willard.
We spent much of the summer talking about the Bay
Area team that just gave us nugget after nugget of

(26:26):
how awful they were, and that was the Oakland A's.
We're already in that boat with the San Jose Sharks.
They don't play again till Tuesday, but they are winless
so far, zero to ten plus an overtime loss. Sharks
lost last night ten to two. They lost ten to
one on Thursday. In their first ten games, they had
only scored ten goals total, which tied for the modern

(26:50):
record worst start. So now it's eleven straight games without
a win to open a season. The record is fifteen
straight by the nineteen forty three New York Rangers. They're
already twenty two points back of first place Vegas in
the standings, which is undefeated.

Speaker 2 (27:06):
At this point.

Speaker 7 (27:07):
The Sharks are the first team in over fifty years
to lose consecutive games by at least eight goals each.
And this is the killer for me. This is a
team that was an expansion club in the early nineties,
so they've been around over three decades. They've had a
lot of home games in their history. Already, they had
only had two home games ever, losing by at least

(27:29):
eight goals. That's out of over thirteen hundred home games.
Their last two home games, both of them they lost
by at least eight goals.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Wow, back to you, I tell you what that goal.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
I've been to a lot of hockey games in my life, Steve,
that goal's not big enough to fit twenty goals in
two games.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
I don't know what they were doing.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
I didn't watch these games, but my god, that does
not seem no.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
Possible under any circumstance.

Speaker 7 (27:56):
I was here working both of those nights and looking
at the score as the numbers kept going up, and
I came to the conclusion that they must have been
using a German shepherd in goal, because an actual major
league human, I don't know. This shouldn't happen.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
No, no, it shouldn't, and it didn't. And I tell
you what, You're right.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
It has been.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
It's been a very very interesting year here in the
Bay Area with regard to the highs, the lows, and and.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Somewhere in between.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
But it does feel like a little bit of a
down period right now, which which shouldn't right. I mean, like, Okay,
the Warriors lost a game the forty nine ers have
lost three in a row.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
But yeah, licking wounds right now.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
Although, as you also know, you just broke that news
to many of the sports fans here in the Bay
Area who are completely.

Speaker 7 (28:48):
Unaware it's nine or c it's Warriors, the.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
Sharks are even playing exactly.

Speaker 7 (28:53):
It is the definition of news.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
Believe me.

Speaker 7 (28:55):
It comes across our desk. Is it is man bites dog.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
Good Stef Steve. We'll talk to you in an hour.
We're in the Tyrock dot Com studios. Mark Willard, Kyle Rudolph. Look,
I expect fireworks in this Sunday night football game, and
nothing in this first half of the first quarter says
anything otherwise.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Kyle.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
But here's what I want to get at. As we're
just watching the Bills with the ball for the first time,
Joe Burrow on the opening drive six of six for
sixty five yards. That's if you watch the box score,
and that looks impressive. If you watch the game, it
gets even better. He is moving the way he used

(29:35):
to move. That injury is officially done and Joe Burrow
and the Cincinnati Bengals are officially back to who we
thought they were going to be at the beginning of
the year and this crowded AFC that has the Chiefs,
let's welcome the Ravens to the party. We know about
the Bills, the Jags are doing their thing. We've had

(29:58):
our conversation about the Dolphins. But this playoff in the
AFC when we get there, is just going to be
unbelievable because I just don't think there's gonna be any
of those first round freebies or six point favorites that
we think about. It's just going to be absolute heavyweight

(30:19):
versus heavyweight because these teams that were watching like these
are going to be the wildcard teams.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
Maybe these guys will win their division.

Speaker 3 (30:28):
I don't know, but that's gonna leave someone else to
be a wildcard who is every bit as good.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
Joe Burrow and the Bengals are back, man.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
They are. I think that was the biggest takeaway from
the game last week at San Francisco, not how well
the Bengals played or how many points they scored against
a good forty nine Ers team. I think it was
how well Joe moved. I think that's been the biggest
thing that's hampered him in this offense so far to
this point in the season and when you watch him

(30:56):
play last week, that's the guy that we've been so
accustomed to seeing over the last few years with the Bengals.
And you know you mentioned it. This game is going
to have all kinds of fireworks, and through two opening
possessions for each team, it's been exactly that.

Speaker 3 (31:14):
Yeah, Josh Allen just went the other way and that's
going to be a rushing touchdown. I think there's a
flag on the play, which might have been a taunting play.
I think this this might You tell me actually as
we're looking at this, is this a post possession deal
or or how does this work? Because he gave a
defender a little point on his way into the end

(31:35):
zone and they're gonna give Josh Allen an unsportsmanlike conduct call.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
Is this after the touchdown? How does this work?

Speaker 1 (31:44):
I think, yeah, the touchdown still counts and then it's
it's after and yeah, it's.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
Yeah, they're gonna call it.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
Sorry for a seconds, like hold on just now that
he just opened the door for this, I I there's
something I got to get off the chest and it's
it's it's not just this kind of stuff. Because Kyle,
you've been on an NFL field, You tell me when

(32:13):
there isn't taunting. My my perception is that happens.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
On every single.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
Play, right well, I I and trust me, there there's
things that we need to get out of the game.
There are plays that don't have a place in our game.
There are you know, things during and after a play,
but that's just not simply one of them. I mean,

(32:40):
like you're you're walking in the end zone after a
huge drive in a primetime game. It's just it's nonsense.
You know. I think, you know, making a tackle and
standing over a guy, you know, maybe that's different, you know,
because you make the tackle and let the guy get up.
And I think there are certain acts that we can

(33:00):
decide that are taunting or not. But it's like, again,
I understand what they're trying to get out of the game,
but that that's just ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
No, that's ridiculous.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
And then I don't know how much you've been tapped
in to all of these fines that have been getting
thrown around lately, and you'll see the highlights of these
plays and it'll be like, you know, Jalen Warren of
the Steelers is kind of the poster boy for this
at this point because it's happened to him two or
three times already. Because he's a very aggressive blocker. This

(33:32):
guy will will go plug up the hole and and
and deliver a little bit of a hit on his block.
And this guy, who's on a rookie contract, was not
a high level draft pick, is just getting dinged five
figures every time he throws a good block. It's absolutely
wild what's happening in the league offices right now.

Speaker 1 (33:52):
He's getting fined what he makes for that game alone
a game. Yeah, And unfortunately that's been around, you know,
as long as I can remember being I was like
one of the first things that I got in the league.
And I start seeing these fedexes show up on Wednesdays
or Thursdays, and it's like, oh, that's a lot of money.
I don't care how much money you're making, that's a
lot of money. And unfortunately, there's just no like, you know,

(34:15):
I think we've talked about this before, there's no I
think it was when we had the Jerry Tillery hit
onh Man out in out in LA against Josh Herbert
and get him on the sideline, and then Diggs got
fined like fifteen dollars more for smashing beers together after

(34:40):
scoring a touchdown. It's like, like, what's the what's the
the sliding scale here on how we decide? Okay, you
you deliberately tried to take out one of the you know,
premiere players in Herbert in the NFL who you know,
you're a former teammate up there, some history there, everyone

(35:01):
knows it. And then you got a guy who's in Buffalo,
which it's like the most Buffalo thing ever to do,
to like grab two beers and smash them together. So again,
I just I wish there was a little bit more
of a sense of judgment used in some of these things.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
I'm with you. I'm absolutely with you.

Speaker 3 (35:21):
And by the way, while we're bringing up Pittsburgh Steelers,
there's another player on that team we need to bring
up because it was a little rough and tumble of
the Thursday night for him and I don't know exactly
where it's going to go next. Can't wait to talk
to you about it. We'll do that coming up next
with Kyle Rudolph. It's Mark Willard on Fox Sports Radio.
We're in the tyrag dot Com studios. That's Kyle Rudolph

(35:44):
I'm Mark Willard. What a perfect example tonight which leads
us into what happened on Thursday night. Now, I have
no idea what's going on inside the mind of Jamar
Chase right now. I do know that in Joe Burrow's
first eleven pass attempts, Jamar has not been targeted. Bengals

(36:05):
are moving up and down the field, and they are
almost exclusively throwing the football. Joe Mixon has three carries
for six yards at this point, but Burrow is moving,
he's shaken, he's throwing, and they might have just gone
in again. They're down inside the five right now at

(36:25):
this point, and make it now twelve pass attempts and
Jamar Chase has not been targeted. Kyle, Should he be livid?
Should he scrub his Instagram? Should he leave the building?
Should he avoid the press tonight? Tell me what Jamar
would do? I know what George Pickens, if the Steelers

(36:48):
would do, what would Jamar do?

Speaker 2 (36:50):
What would you do? Kyle?

Speaker 1 (36:53):
Well, well, I'm not a receiver, so I don't have
the frustrated receiver book that most of these guys seem
to follow. But even you know, you think about earlier
in the season when the Bengals were struggling. You know,
it was Jamar in the press conferences. You know, I'm

(37:13):
always open. I'm always open, you know, because they kept
asking thembut, are you getting open? Are you getting open? No,
I'm always open, but you know, getting to your point
with George Pickens, and you know, it's like the first
thing I say kids these days, you know, because yeah,
I had social media, but I feel like I was
on the other end of that generation. It's like you
get upset and then you delete all the pictures of

(37:37):
your team and you unfollow the team. Like this came
up last offseason when Diggs unfollowed the Bills and followed
the Cowboys. It's like, that's really what we're We're judging
these guys' intentions off of now you know, their social
media decisions, but like you, they know, you know, he

(38:00):
knew exactly what he was doing. If I delete all
the pictures and you know, I need to send a
subtle shot that says, hey, look, five targets, two catches
minus one yard, Yeah, that's not going to cut it
for me. So you know, what can I do over
the course of this long weekend to make sure that
everyone realizes I'm not happy even though we won, without

(38:20):
causing too much of a problem, because ultimately you always
want to make it seem like winning is what's most important.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
Well, you can say that what can I do without
making too much of a ruckus. I don't think that
this didn't cause too much of a ruckus. There was
a basically a free Pickings type of a message on
his ig story.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
It's not just that he scrubbed Instagram.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
He left without talking to anybody after the game. There's
video when Deontay Johnson, who's been dealing with major injury
this year. When Johnson got lose for the what ended
up being the game winning touchdown in that game on
Thursday night, Pickens was on the other side of the
field and instead of even taking one step toward his

(39:10):
teammate for a high five or some sort of a congratulations,
he immediately turned around, ran to the sideline and kind
of sulked over on the bench. So you're right, we've
seen this a thousand times before, we'll see it a
thousand times more. My question is how did the Steelers
deal with it? Because it was a Thursday, so we

(39:31):
haven't really had a chance to dive too deep in
with Mike Tomlin to find out what the Steelers are
gonna do here.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
I'd have to imagine if there's any leader of men
who will squash this immediately, it would be Mike Tomlin.
I mean, he's just as good as it is, and well,
quite honestly, they've had a lot of practice at disgruntled receivers.

Speaker 2 (39:55):
And no joke, I thought too.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
It's not something new for him him. But you know,
I from Afar, I certainly don't believe there's anyone better
suited to handle a young man who's frustrated, wants the
ball more, wants to be involved more. Certainly, you know,
Mike Tomlin is as good as anyone at leading these
guys and motivating them and just really getting through to them.

Speaker 3 (40:21):
Doesn't always work, though, as you just referenced Antonio Brown
without using his name, and so it doesn't always smooth over.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
You know, Juju plays Chapool Claypool. The list goes on
as of recent year, so.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
We'll see, yep, yep, we definitely will.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
The picking situation has kind of a dot dot dot
next to it, and questions to be asked early this
week when.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
Everybody gets back to the facility.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
The Atlanta Falcons defense has some questions that they may
want to answer as well. We'll talking about that amazing
performance coming up next on FSR.

Speaker 6 (40:57):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sort talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
They must have been running the hey you play. You
know what the hey you play is? Right, that's when
the quarterback looks at the guys in the huddle.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
They doesn't even know their names. He says, hey, you
go over there and I'll throw it to you. That
must be what they were doing with the Minnesota Vikings
this afternoon. Kyle, I'm gonna need you to explain this
to me because I've heard from NFL players for years now.
You may, in fact even remember remember Deshaun Watson press conference.

(41:40):
This is before all of the controversies surrounding him, and
he was asked to basically read to the media what
it sounded like when he went through a play call
in the huddle. And it honestly, within ten seconds, unless
you know, unless you speak football, you were like, I
am no idea, what the hell this guy's saying, and

(42:02):
he was essentially letting everybody know the brains that it
takes to be able to run this show, and so
complex play schemes, and you got these deep play books,
and especially when you're the leader, you've got all these
different people and all their assignments, and you've got to
be in charge of it all.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
And so I'm to.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
Believe that this is very, very intricate, and it's very
difficult to do. And then Josh Dobbs showed up and
he had been there for two seconds and he wasn't
even supposed to play today, and he did, and he's
running up and down the field, scoring game winning touchdowns
in the final minute of action.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
How does something like that even happen?

Speaker 1 (42:48):
So I also had read something that he didn't even
take a single offensive snap in practice this week. You
know it was got there. I think he got there Wednesday,
probably ran a lot of the scout team stuff, which
are the cards that you run for the defense. You're
essentially running Atlanta Falcons plays, which, as we all know,

(43:10):
really aren't passes down the field. We know the Atlanta
Falcons offense and how they operate. Extra offensive lineman, multiple
tight ends, a lot of running backs, so he was
running that offense all week.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
And then.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
My guess is whether it's Chris O'Hara the quarterback coach there,
maybe a QC like a quality control coach. Him and
Joshua probably were together at the facility well after everyone left,
and basically it's like, Okay, josh what are you comfortable with?

(43:46):
Give us fifteen plays that you recognize that we can call.
You know, you have to prepare. Obviously he was dressed,
so they knew there was a possibility he could go
in the game. And you almost have like this emergent
agency package for a guy who's been there for five days.
And one of the things that's interesting about Joshua Dobbs

(44:08):
is among the teams that he's been on and around
for a majority of the last couple of years, you know,
certainly the five teams is evident. He was in Cleveland
with Kevin Stefanski, and then he was in Arizona and
Drew Petsing is the offensive coordinator in Arizona. So the
common theme here is, you know, Drew was with Kevin

(44:31):
and Cleveland. So that's basically how Arizona was, like, hey,
trade for this guy. We know him, he knows the offense.
Get him out here. So they got him out there
when he got traded right before week one and then
came out and started, and then going to Minnesota, Kevin
O'Connell runs that McVeigh rams offense, which it's this whole

(44:53):
tree of Shanahan. You know, we had Kubiak as our
branch of the tree. So I guarantee there were principles
of this offense that he was familiar with. When he
got there on Wednesday and he had this fifteen to
twenty play package. It said, look, I'm comfortable with these.

(45:15):
We'll go out there. They're on his wristband so he
can read them off. They you know, give him the calls.
Most of the time quarterbacks in the game. They'll hear
the first two words of the play call and they
know the rest of the call. They're already, you know,
they've ran it five times that week. They can do
it inside and out. They know the play call forward
and backwards, and they go with it. As Josh mentioned

(45:38):
after the game, hey I didn't even know these guys
full names that I was in the huddle with. So
what he was able to do today and they the
Vikings didn't win in spite of Joshua dobs like the
plays that he made. You know, certainly his passing stats
from a yard standpoint don't jump off at you. One

(45:59):
hundred and fifty eight yards, but he's twenty of thirty,
so incredible completion percentage. He throws two touchdowns, no picks,
his seven or his sixty six rushing yards which he
really rushed for like one ten if he watched his
runs like he scrambled all over the field to pick

(46:20):
up five yards, ten yards, a couple of big explosive runs,
twenty five yards. You know, what Joshua Dobbs was able
to do for the Vikings today was was pretty incredible.
And you know, here are the Vikings, a team that,
again everyone on the outside just writes off with the
injury that they had last week. We talked about it
on our show, just the somberness of that locker room

(46:42):
after their fourth win in a row. You know, then
they go beat an Atlanta team on the road to
win five in a row, and you know they're sitting
in the NFC playoff picture.

Speaker 3 (46:53):
Five and four and it's the second year in a
row where I'm like, how the hell do the Vikings
have the record that they have.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
I don't. I don't understand it one bit.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
By the way, Mark Willard, Kyle Rudolph, and we are
broadcasting live from the tyrack dot com studios. Tyrek dot
com will help you get there on matt selection, fast
free shipping, free roadazard protection in over ten thousand recommended
installers tyreck dot com. The way tire buying should be.
If you're someone who watches the Red Zone channel, you
know that they do this thing right around. It's about

(47:25):
twelve fifteen my time in the West three point fifteen
east where they'll come on and they'll be like, Okay,
here we go. It's the Witching hour where losses become
wins and wins become losses.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
And I was looking at the NFC South.

Speaker 3 (47:38):
Witching Hour and it was intense, my man, absolutely intense.
Like the Tampa Bay Bucks found a way to let CJ.
Stroud go down the field with next to no time
lose a football game. Atlanta Falcons find a way to
lose a football game with Josh Dobbs learning the names

(47:59):
of his teammates in the midst of doing this. And
then the New Orleans Saints won a football game, but
they had a hell of a time shaking off the
Chicago Bears led by Division two. Tyson beajit like, I mean,
what is this division offering anyone right now? I know

(48:20):
that this happened seemingly every year or two where there's
a division where you're just like, come on, what are
we doing? So there's nothing to be said here in
terms of something to be done about it. But I'll
just go ahead and say this out loud right now.
Whichever team comes out of there, they will lose that
home game.

Speaker 2 (48:40):
That they host.

Speaker 3 (48:41):
That's the Dallas Cowboys are the team that is now
ticketed to go to one of those They did it
last year, They're gonna do it again this year. The
Cowboys will go to the home of one of those teams,
and then they will move on in the NFC playoffs.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
Yeah, I mean, whoever is the team that you know,
they'll they'll kind of all be up on each other.
I mean, Tampa is now a game and a half
back at three and five. You know, we just talked
about Atlanta, and I think Joshua Dobbs is an incredible

(49:20):
story and that the Vikings going down there and getting
a win on the road to remain at the seventh
seed in the playoffs is an incredible story, winning their
fifth in a row. You know, team that started oh
and four now five and four. The Atlanta defense just
it's it's disappointing me because I feel like that's we've

(49:40):
talked about the Atlanta Falcons and how they're built, We
talk about their offense and the style that they play with.
It doesn't surprise anyone. You know what they're going to do.
You know how they're going to line up. They run
the football, they got big personnel on the field, but
their defense was supposed to be what allows them to

(50:00):
do that. And you know, they brought in a lot
of big time free agents this offseason, signed a lot
of veteran players, and the defense was what was supposed
to allow them to win this weaker division. And you know,
giving up thirty one points to a guy who got
there five days prior certainly isn't good for the Atlanta

(50:22):
Falcons defense. But you know, you you mentioned it. Whoever
wins the NFC South, somebody's going to have to win it.
As of right now, it's the Saints as the only
team with a winning record in the South, and you
know you'll have depending on how this shakes out, probably
most likely would be a team from the NFC West

(50:43):
or the NFC East going to the NFC South winner.
So we'll see.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
I mean, I know, look, look the way too early game,
We're we're about halfway there. That's that's a one playoff
to one playoff team division. I think the Lions are
going to be your winners. In the NFC North. We
know that the Eagles and the Cowboys have the look
of obviously playoff teams. And I think that the forty
nine Ers and probably the Seattle Seahawks too. These were

(51:15):
all playoff teams last year. When you look at the
West and East teams we're talking about, I think they're
all going also again. But that scenario I just laid out,
Kyle would need one more. Like the AFC is going
to be such a fight, and I think a great
team's gonna get left out. The NFC needs a party crasher.

(51:36):
Here we are at the halfway point. If I tell
you Niners and Seahawks will go, Saints will go, Lions
will go, Eagles and Cowboys will go.

Speaker 2 (51:46):
Who's that other team?

Speaker 1 (51:49):
Well, I think I mean they have to send seven. So, right,
like we talked about, somebody has to win the NFC South,
they also have to have seven teams represent and you
look at so right now the NFC playoff picture, the
Seahawks technically hold the tiebreaker over the Cowboys right now,

(52:10):
so they would be the five. Dallas is the six,
Minnesota is the seven, and after Minnesota there is not
another team with even a five hundred record. The Commanders
are at four and five, Atlanta's at four and five,
the Bucks are three and five, Packers, Rams, and then
you got Giants, Bears, Panthers, Cardinals. It's like, at what

(52:31):
point going up that list, do you see anyone that
strikes fear in an NFC playoff picture. I don't think so. Personally,
I think it's the Viking spot to lose.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
Right, So they're five and four.

Speaker 3 (52:46):
Four weeks ago we sat here and had a weekly
conversation about how they should trade Kirk Cousins because they're
not going anywhere now. Kirk Cousins is gone. Yet somehow
they're on a four game win streak. They've got themselves
to a winning record. In the back of your mind,
you know what we just said, Kirk Cousins isn't coming back.

(53:06):
So do you believe that team is going to the playoffs?

Speaker 1 (53:10):
And well, let me, let me let me this, Yeah,
go ahead, they go ahead. They got so Joshua Dobbs
who and we talked about him when he was in Arizona.
He gave the Cardinals a team that we didn't think
he had a chance to win any game, and he
always gave them a chance to win. Now he'll actually
have a full week of practice as the starting quarterback
of the Minnesota Vikings. They have the Saints at home,

(53:31):
they go to Denver on Sunday Night Football, the Bears
at home, and they go to Vegas as their next
four games. Talking about the minute, are we talking about
the Minnesota Vikings potentially having won eight in a row?
I mean, it's I.

Speaker 3 (53:50):
Don't know about that, but they're not gonna lose all
four in a row. I know that there are wins
in there.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
I mean, I don't see I would assume that probably
the favorite in all of those games, Oh my gosh. Maybe.
I mean, who knows what the Raiders do with the
the head coaching change, and you know that at times
can kind of spark a team. Uh, you know, certainly
I don't know that today is an endi indication of
that or circumstances with the other team. But who knows

(54:21):
what happens with the Raiders. But you know they they
the Bears. They'll be that's at in Minnesota. They'll be
favored at the Broncos. I don't know, maybe that's the
toss ups going out there. I'd assume they'd be favored.
I don't know. It'll it'll be interesting, certainly. I think
everyone including myself, assumed once Kirk went down it'll be like, Okay,

(54:42):
you know Minnesota, the fate will finally be decided for them.
But you know there, I think they have to be.
If we're talking about who will be that seventh team
in the NFC, it's got to be the Vikings.

Speaker 3 (54:55):
Well, that creates a little bit of a dilemma for themselves,
and I bet you know exactly what that dilemma is.
For those of you who don't stay tuned, we'll get
to that coming up next. We're brought to you by
Progressive Insurance. Progressive makes bundling easy and affordable. Get a
multi policy discount by combining your motorcycle, RV, boat, ATV

(55:18):
and more, all your protection in one place, Muddle and
Save at Progressive dot Com with Kyle Rudolph Mark Willard.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
This is Fox Sports Radio All Right with Kyle Rudolph
Mark Willard. It is Week.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
Nine in the NFL, and we are tugging it out
live in the tie Rach dot Com studios. Kyle, I
know you know exactly where I'm going. You got a
four game win streak in Minnesota, You've got Josh Dobbs
coming in there and pulling games out.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
So now, what the hell do you do about Justin Jefferson?

Speaker 1 (55:53):
Ah, I mean, now, what do you do now?

Speaker 3 (55:56):
Like the whole promise of the idea was, hey, it's
not like you're going to the playoffs. So Justin now
gets to sit there and go, look, I'm not going
out there on the field and risking my body for
the contract you didn't give me. But this adds a
new layer. I mean, now now you're a playoff team.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
Personally, I think it gives even more leverage to Justin.
You might think, oh, how does that happen? He needs
to go out there and play. Well. If this Vikings
team does want to be a playoff team, and they certainly,
we just went through their next four, and then they've
got three division games to finish it, two out of

(56:43):
the last three against the Lions. So if this team
does want to a try to make a push and
sneak up on the Lions, they're going to have to
have to have Justin Jefferson. And if they want to
be in contention for that seventh spot at the worst,
Justin Jefferson's a big part of that. And it's interesting

(57:03):
because again Adam Schefter posted not too long ago about
Justin and he's eligible to come off ir now and
he hasn't met with the doctors and it's you know,
they said four to six weeks. So does that two
weeks buy him a little bit more time? Certainly? Again,
like I said this last week, I know Justin. He's

(57:25):
a guy that wants to be out there. He's a
guy that's done everything the right way all through the
offseason training camp. You know, easily could have held out
and he didn't. He was there every single day and
he played up until this hamstring injury. But I just
think it's really hard for a guy like that to
go out there without the contract that he deserves. But also,
like I said, I know him, I know how much.

(57:49):
He loves the game of football and competing and going
out there and being one of the best. And I
don't think that the quarterback really matters all that much.
Like I said, if you're if you're a guy that's
been there for five days, it'll make those play calls
really easy. Fine number eighteen, When you drop back to pass,
fine number eighteen and throw him the ball, it doesn't matter.

(58:09):
You know his name. You'll know his name right away
when you walk in the huddle, so it'll it'll certainly
be interesting. I do think it gives even more leverage
to justin, you know, forcing Quasi in the Minnesota Vikings.
Get something done, you know, get this guy out there,
have him healthy for the back half of the season,
and who knows, you know, ultimately, again, it goes back

(58:31):
to the conversation we had the very first or very
second week of the season when I talked about the
Kirk Cousins trade. And you know, where does this organization
feel like they are. Is it finally time for a
full rebuild or are you okay with wild card appearances

(58:51):
and you know, playoff losses.

Speaker 3 (58:54):
Here's the danger, though, I agree with you that there
is an aspec of this that creates more leverage for Justin. Hey,
you guys want to go actually chase a playoff spot.
You want to get into this thing, you better get
your best player on the field. However, if they don't,
you know where the drum beat goes, there will be

(59:15):
a portion of the fan base that starts to get
upset with Justin Jefferson for not honoring the contract and
getting out there on the field to help his team
for a playoff push. Remember pull these words apart you
reference the Adam Schefter tweet.

Speaker 2 (59:32):
Let me read it to you.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
Viking's Pro Bowl receiver Justin Jefferson is eligible to come
off injured reserve this week from a hamstring injury expected
to signline him four to six, but Jefferson still has
to meet with the doctors. The team has to decide
how it wants to handle Jefferson, and there currently continues
to be uncertainty about his status despite the fact that

(59:58):
he could be activated as early as this week. Listen,
translate all of that. Justin's healthy, Justin's ready to go.
He still has to meet with the doctors. Why hasn't
he The team has to decide quote how it wants
to handle justin. I would imagine a fan goes, isn't

(01:00:19):
it pretty a to B when he's healthy, give him
a uniform? Like this whole thing is building toward frustration
if it doesn't get done very swiftly. And they already
tried this once and did not get it done.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
Yeah, I mean it certainly looks healthy enough to me. Pregame,
you know, you just you could tell, like when a
guy is banged up and or not, and you know,
he looks healthy to me. Obviously I'm not in his body.
I don't know, and I'm certain I was never fast
enough to have hamstring problems, so I don't know what

(01:01:01):
that's like.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
But the.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
Nature of it certainly seems odd because, like you said,
everyone knows the answers to all of those questions, and
it's almost as if, again, I don't think they know
the direction that they want to go in. I think
there's this uncertainty. I could tell you the coaching staff,
the players, they're trying to win every single game possible.

(01:01:29):
They don't care about a higher draft pick or a rebuild.
They're trying to win every game, whether they have a
quarterback that's been there for five days or Kirk Cousins,
who was playing at a level as good as any
quarterback in the NFL for the last couple of years.
It doesn't matter to them. They're going to go out
there every single Sunday and they're going to try to
win the game. But the upstairs group, they need to

(01:01:53):
figure out what they want to do. Are you going
to rebuild this or not? And if you're not going
to completely re built it. Quite honestly, it doesn't even matter.
Pay the man, get your best player out there, and
then figure everything else out.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:02:08):
I like, that's the kind of guy that, to me,
he would fit no matter what you're gonna do.

Speaker 2 (01:02:15):
I don't know what he wants.

Speaker 3 (01:02:17):
Yeah, but that's a great point, you right, Like you
decide what your your goal is and Justin fits it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:25):
I don't know if Justin wants to.

Speaker 3 (01:02:26):
Go rebuild with a rookie quarterback or whatever, and so
maybe he's got some say there, but you know, like,
in what scenario do you not want Justin Jefferson, the
best young receiver in the game on the team.

Speaker 1 (01:02:43):
Yeah, I mean, one of the best receivers across the league,
most consistent over the last three years. Just you know,
he's a guy that you won out there, whether you're
trying to make a playoff run or you know you're
rebuilding a round a young quarterback. That guy needs to
be out there. Like I said that, just they need
to figure it out, and certainly it leads you to

(01:03:06):
believe that as soon as that gets figured out, he'll
meet with the doctors.

Speaker 3 (01:03:10):
Coincidentally, no doubt, No doubt, I tell you who we
want out there. We want Steve de Seger out there
because it's time to find out what is trending.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
Let's get our third member in here. Hey, Steve.

Speaker 6 (01:03:23):
Hello.

Speaker 7 (01:03:24):
The Buffalo Bills are trailing fourteen to seven at Cincinnati
three and a half minutes to go in the second
quarter tonight. Buffalo did have a touchdown on its opening
drive of the evening, but just a couple of first
down since then, and Josh Allen has thrown an interception. Meanwhile,
in Sincy, Joe Burrow fifteen of eighteen passing one hundred
and thirty nine yards one touchdown, Joe Mixon with a

(01:03:44):
short touchdown run. As for the feature game on Fox
TV earlier today at Philadelphia, the Eagles went to eight
and one on the season, beating the Cowboys twenty eight
to twenty three. Ceede Lamb did have eleven receptions one
hundred and ninety one yards one fumble. He had a
reception on the final pass of the day and was

(01:04:05):
tackled inside the five yard line. Cowboys fall short. Joshua
of the Eagles with six more quarterback pressures. He's now
tied with the Cowboys. Micah Parsons for most pressures in
the league this season hasan redick as top five in
that category. He had seven pressures in this win. Indianapolis
a victory at Carolina twenty seven to thirteen. Can we

(01:04:25):
look forward to Thursday night? Are you aware that it's
going to be one in seven Carolina at two and
seven Chicago on Thursday? Get your subscriptions now. Chicago lost
twenty four to seventeen at New Orleans. The first place
Saints are now one game up on Atlanta and the
NFC South Atlanta was losing it a home to those
Vikings you were talking about. Thirty one twenty eight. Joshua

(01:04:47):
Dobbs off the bench with the new team with the
late touchdown pass. Cleveland shut out Arizona twenty seven nothing.
The Cards had all of fifty eight yards of offense.
The Rams did not have Matthew Stafford out with the
thumb inch it looked like it at Green Bay twenty
to three Packers. The final, Washington won at New England
twenty to seventeen. It was a Baltimore dominant win over

(01:05:09):
Seattle thirty seven to three. Seahawks tied for first in
their division with Idol San Francisco. Houston got five touchdown
passes from c. J. Stroud in a win over Tampa
Bay thirty thirty nine thirty seven. The Raiders at home
beat the Giants thirty to six. Giants are two and seven,
and starting quarterback Daniel Jones, who just came back from

(01:05:29):
a neck injury, left with a possible torn acl The
game in Frankfurt this morning went to the Chiefs, holding
on twenty one to fourteen over Miami. Next Sunday in Germany,
it'll be Indy against New England. USC has fired defensive
coordinator Alex Grinch. The Trojans have lost three of their
last four games. Bad defense high point totals for the

(01:05:49):
opponent has been a recurring theme this year and last.
Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Season Championship, his first just
two NHL games tonight, but undefeated Vagus is playing in
one and winning again two nothing at Anaheim there late
in the second period. Baseball's Gold Glove winners for best
Defense were announced tonight. They include in the National League,

(01:06:11):
Arizona first baseman Christian Walker and Arizona catcher Gobby Moreno.
In the NBA, Phoenix was two and four but got
to win at Detroit today one twenty to one oh six.
Kevin Durant forty one points. Devin Booker was out again
with a strain. Cav Cleveland beat Golden State apparently for
the first time since the finals about six years ago,
one fifteen, one oh four. Donovan Mitchell had thirty one points.

Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
Back to you, Steve, you'll love this. This is a
very Steve de Sager type stat. You may already know
it because you're Steve de Sager, but I got to
throw this at you. Kyle, you can weigh in too.
You talk about Alex Grinch being fired as the defensive
coordinator at usc SO. Dylan Johnson is the running back

(01:06:54):
for Washington, and he ran for four touchdowns last night,
two hundred fifty six yards out of the backfield for
Dylan Johnson. Of those two hundred and fifty six yards,
one hundred and ninety nine of them came before content.

Speaker 7 (01:07:15):
My goodness, Wow, that that is how.

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
A defensive coordinator loses his job.

Speaker 7 (01:07:24):
So two hundred yards rushing without being touched is essentially.

Speaker 2 (01:07:28):
Wow, that was laying touch.

Speaker 7 (01:07:30):
And remember USC made the conference title game last year
and Utah scores forty seven, and then it was Tulane
in the Cotton Bowl and they scored forty six and
it has just continued this year.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Unbelievable.

Speaker 3 (01:07:44):
It's just yeah, like, there's no way you look at
something like that and to me, Kyle, I wonder what
you think.

Speaker 2 (01:07:51):
Is it culture?

Speaker 3 (01:07:52):
There's no way that this coach is that bad. Like
the assignments have to be ignored. The scheme is also
just not clicking. There was a red zone play for Washington.
I watched this stuff real, real closely last night. I
was at PAC twelve Network watching all of this and

(01:08:13):
so we got a lot of different looks at it.
There's a red zone play for Michael Pennix Junior at
one point where USC only rushed three, so they had
eight players in the secondary running around and Pennis just
boom right down there in the middle of the end zone.
Is this receiver just standing there by himself? It's like,

(01:08:35):
how do you have eight that you have to be
so undisciplined for that to be the case, And that's
why he lost his job. But I also, I'm like,
this guy's not he's not a dummy. It's not like
he's telling them to just go out there and run
around in circles. But that's what it looks like they're doing.

Speaker 1 (01:08:52):
No and you know, certainly a Lincoln Riley led defense,
you know, it's he's surprised that they're giving up points.
I mean, he dealt with it this whole time in
Oklahoma too, Like giving up points is not that's not
the issue, And as you mentioned, that's certainly probably not
why he lost his job. Not touching a back and

(01:09:18):
allowing him to have two hundred yards rushing without contacts,
Like that's what That's outrageous, I mean, And I can't
imagine what that looks like on tape. Like when you
go there's a saying in football like it's never as
bad as you think it is, and it's never as
good as you thought it was. You know, it's there
the reality when you turn on the tape is usually

(01:09:40):
somewhere in the middle. So you come off a huge win,
you think that you played great. You watch the tape
and you're like, oh, well, there's some things, there's a
lot of stuff we can clean up here. Really we got,
you know, a couple plays here, a couple of plays there,
and we ultimately won the game. The flip side, you
lose the game, you feel like you did nothing right.
You watch it and it's like, oh, well, you know,
a couple plays here, plays there. That's what costs us

(01:10:01):
the game. Two hundred rushing yards without being touched. That's
not a couple of plays here, a couple of plays there. Again,
I can't imagine what those meetings were.

Speaker 7 (01:10:12):
Well, put it this way, guys, there are one hundred
and thirty college football teams.

Speaker 2 (01:10:16):
USC.

Speaker 7 (01:10:17):
This is usc is ranked one twenty in rush defense,
and they're going to be at Oregon. That's the late
game on Fox this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:10:25):
I'll tell you what.

Speaker 3 (01:10:26):
In fact, both of you throw this at me because
we're just having the Justin Jefferson conversation. Right Caleb Williams
goes into the stands and he's sobbing in his mother's arms.
That was telling her after an unbelievable performance, but the
goals for the year as a team are gone. You're
going to be the number one pick in the draft.
He's obviously frustrated. You're making changes to the staff. So

(01:10:50):
is he playing football anymore?

Speaker 7 (01:10:52):
At usc They only have two games left Oregon Ucla,
and then I assume he skips the bowl game right
against Oklahoma.

Speaker 3 (01:11:00):
By the way, like, Kyle, what would you do? I
know what the football of all, of course you go play.
You got but hillions on the line.

Speaker 2 (01:11:09):
Now you got millions on the line.

Speaker 1 (01:11:12):
Matt, you gotta remember this is a guy in Caleb
Williams had said, well, if I don't like who's got
the first pick, I'll stay in school. So you gotta
you know.

Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
Like, I don't buy that for a second.

Speaker 1 (01:11:27):
I don't either, but it's like, look, you know, if
you're if that's what you're gonna say, you know, and
you know, Mark, you and I have had this conversation
on air about some of his representatives and some of
the things that have been said and the way it's
been handled. Yes, you you can't go back on that now,
like certainly not playing the rest of the season or

(01:11:49):
not playing in the bowl game to get ready for
the draft. It's like, you know that you talked about
how much money you're making in NIL and that you
could just stay in college if if you don't like
who has the first overall, So certainly interesting times for
the USC Trojans, no doubt, things aren't much better for
my fighting Irish. So it's not like I can sit
here and Pokemontown.

Speaker 3 (01:12:11):
No that I saw some of that game at against
Clemson as well. And did they rush the field when
they got to five and four at Clemson?

Speaker 2 (01:12:21):
Did I see that yesterday?

Speaker 7 (01:12:23):
They said, Oh, they said on the broadcast they always
do that, and I said, they do, they.

Speaker 3 (01:12:28):
Shouldn't do it this time? Then stop, Yeah, stop doing that.
You just won national championships. You've got like two of
the biggest name quarterbacks to come out of there in
the last seven years of football.

Speaker 2 (01:12:41):
You're you're rushing the field because you made it to
five and four.

Speaker 7 (01:12:44):
They were just saying, take that. Joe and Spartanburg or
whoever called up the coach showed this week.

Speaker 3 (01:12:51):
Oh man, Steve, great stuff, Thanks so much, Kyle. How
about this speaking of a coach losing his job and
everything suddenly changes. We got an NFL team to talk
about because everything is suddenly different.

Speaker 2 (01:13:08):
So that's Kyle Rudolph. I'm Mark Willard.

Speaker 3 (01:13:10):
We're in the Tyrek dot Com studios and we'll discuss
that next on Fox Sports Radio Live TIRAQ dot Com
Studios with Kyle Rudolph a Mark Willard. Week nine is
coming to a head. The Bengals are back. They lead
the Bills twenty one to seven. They are approaching halftime.

(01:13:34):
Bills on the move, try to get a little something
on the board before they head to the locker room.
But the Bengals look like gosh, who do they remind
me of? Oh right, the Bengals, That's who they remind
me of. They look like the team that we expected
but just took a minute to get here this year.
So the AFC continues to be very interesting, packed loaded

(01:13:57):
all of that. We'll talk more about it at the
top of the hour. Kyle, I'm not looking for you
to throw anyone under the bus by any stretch, but
I wonder if you can relate the Las Vegas Raiders
players look like they just got out of school for
the summer. I mean, people are throwing math quizzes in

(01:14:17):
the hallways. They're just right throw I mean backpacks, put
them in the trash. Everything is an absolute party. They
look like they got out of jail. And I don't
know exactly where that's directed. Obviously Josh McDaniels is where
that starts. But the GM gone, They're moving coordinators, they

(01:14:42):
change quarterbacks. Reporters are saying that they've never seen the
locker room look this light. And that was before they
went out there and won a football game.

Speaker 2 (01:14:54):
Today.

Speaker 3 (01:14:55):
You know, this move is going to cost Mark Davis
almost one hundred million dollars. And it's not like they're
gonna go win the Super Bowl now. But this is
one of those things where I'm like, look.

Speaker 2 (01:15:06):
I'm not there.

Speaker 3 (01:15:07):
I don't know about the moves you're making, but simply
because of the reaction, the energy that was created in
the room, I'm like, well, then.

Speaker 2 (01:15:17):
Yeah, that was the right move.

Speaker 1 (01:15:19):
Yeah, you mean the victory cigars in the locker room
after he beat the New York Giants with quarterback. But
it does it says a lot about I guess the
way things were, and I guess how this week went.
You know, I can only think of you have a

(01:15:43):
former player and I watched a couple of Antonio Pierce's
press conferences, the like passion that he had for a
guy that just grew up a Raiders fan, like he
wasn't even a player for the Raiders, obviously played for

(01:16:04):
the Giants and won Super Bowls with the Giants. And
then the Jay Glazier report comes out this morning of
kind of how the whole firing went down, and it
was almost like that team immediately rallied behind ap And
sometimes that's all it takes, because you know, this gets

(01:16:26):
brought up all the time in pro football, the talent
disparity across the thirty two teams is not that great.
And yeah, the Raiders maybe four and five or three
and five going into today, and then you have the
Chiefs in that division that are now seven and two.
It's not because the Chiefs are far more talented. They

(01:16:46):
have a far more talented quarterback. But it's like the
rosters as a whole. It's not like college where the
coaches that are getting fired in college simply have way.
You know, there's no talent on scholarship. There's talent in
these NFL locker rooms. And when you bring a guy
in or have a guy that you make the head

(01:17:07):
coach who gets the most out of every individual on
the roster gets guys playing for him. Deavante Adams said
in his press conference, I'm already ready to run through
a wall for this guy. I think it says a lot.

Speaker 3 (01:17:22):
It's interesting the dichotomy that's out there right now. NFL
head coaches all of a sudden, Bill Belichick feels stale.
Mike Tomlin is still doing his thing, so he is,
so is John Harbaugh. But when you look around the league,
obviously Andy Reid too, but there's a little bit of

(01:17:44):
a Dan Campbell feel to what the Raiders just achieved
and what you were talking about. And then you think
about a Siriani in Philadelphia. I guess McVeigh and Shanahan
that's a little bit different. They're not former players, also
not raw rock guys. They're coming from that same tree
and quote unquote offensive geniuses.

Speaker 2 (01:18:07):
But the anatomy of a head.

Speaker 3 (01:18:09):
Coach and what works, I feel like it's changing a
little bit, almost the same way baseball did, where you
don't have to be fifty five and up anymore in
order to do this. And I wonder if that trend
is going to keep continuing because of guys like Dan
Campbell and we'll see where this goes with Antonio Pierce.

Speaker 1 (01:18:33):
Yeah. Well, and also I think it proves like you
don't have to be the best defensive play caller or
offensive play caller the year before to be a head
coaching candidate. I think both Dan and Antonio Pierce are
great examples. Obviously there's it's one game, it's a very
small sample size, but it's like it's just when when

(01:18:57):
you're at this level, your head coach oftentimes is just
a leader of men. I think that's why Mike Tomlins
had so much success over his time in Pittsburgh, because yeah,
he's a defensive guy, but he's not calling the defense.
He's managing the entire team and he's handling everything that
goes into that on a daily basis, on a weekly basis,

(01:19:18):
on game days. He gets the most out of his
players day in and day out. And you know, I
look at this Raiders team and you know, certainly it
goes against the under fifty four category, but like Rich
Pisaci is the interim head coach and they go to
the playoffs, like you lost to the Cincinnai Bengals on
the last play of the game. It was a red

(01:19:40):
zone stop. The Bengals go on and lose to the
Rams in the Super Bowl that year, and you move
on from him. It's like, that's a guy you could
tell right away. As soon as all that stuff happened
with Henry Ruggs and John Gruden, that team was left
for dead. And yet here's this opportunity where Rich Pisachik
comes in and leads them all the way to the playoffs.

(01:20:02):
It's like they just can't seem to get that head
coach right.

Speaker 3 (01:20:07):
They're on Sunday Night Football next week. They did not
get flexed out. You and I will get to watch
the Raiders take on the Jets together next week.

Speaker 1 (01:20:16):
That'll be a good one.

Speaker 2 (01:20:19):
Maybe, or maybe the first one to ten wins. I
don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:20:24):
Yeah, it's again, we'll see. They scored a lot of
points today, but that Jet defenses is legitimate, and we
talked about that roster yep.

Speaker 3 (01:20:34):
And then after they take on the Jets, then it's
back to back weeks of the Dolphins, then the Chiefs,
and then into the bye So this might be a
whole lot of fun, but short lived. We shall see.
Mark Willard, Kyle Rudolph coming up next. Has the AFC
already proven they are way better than the NFC. We've
got some data.

Speaker 6 (01:20:52):
Next, Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup
in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR
to listen live.

Speaker 2 (01:21:04):
Yeah, it's the halftime hour for Sunday Night Football.

Speaker 3 (01:21:07):
It's our final hour here on Fox Sports Sunday at
least our group right here, Mark Willard, Kyle Rudolph with you,
broadcasting live from the ti rag dot com studios. Ty
rag dot com will help you get there and unmatched selection,
fast free shipping, free rodizer protection in over ten thousand
recommended installers tyrak dot com the way tire buying should be.

(01:21:28):
I don't want this to be a simplistic point. The
AFC has more good teams than the NFC. You don't
need us to tell you that. What I'm interested in, though,
is what happens when those teams meet head to head.
The Eagles, let's put them over here for a second.
They've been the NFC's best for a couple of seasons now,

(01:21:50):
and obviously held up very well in the Super Bowl,
even though they came out on the losing end. I've
already got my eyes on a game coming next week
and it is the the Jacksonville Jaguars and the San
Francisco forty nine Ers getting together, both coming off of
a bye, the forty nine Ers in the midst of.

Speaker 2 (01:22:08):
A three game losing streak.

Speaker 3 (01:22:10):
Yet you'd think they might be getting Trent Williams and
Deebo Samuel back.

Speaker 2 (01:22:14):
We'll see if that helps them out a little bit.

Speaker 3 (01:22:16):
But my eyes are on these last few weeks of
Baltimore Ravens football, Kyle, and not just in a way of, oh,
that's nice.

Speaker 2 (01:22:28):
The Ravens are going to be a factor here too
in the AFC.

Speaker 1 (01:22:31):
Not just that.

Speaker 3 (01:22:33):
I'm looking at a total and complete dismantling of the
Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks in home games in Baltimore,
to the tune of giving up nine points total in
these two games, yet scoring quick math quick math seventy five.

(01:22:57):
They outscored the Lions and Seahawks five to nine in
their last two home games, which makes me, you know,
I know, the Lions beat the Chiefs on Opening night,
that game was a little bit quirky. For sure, We're
gonna get some answers to these questions soon as the
Eagles have the Bills and the Chiefs on their schedule

(01:23:20):
coming up here pretty soon.

Speaker 2 (01:23:21):
But are we in a.

Speaker 3 (01:23:24):
Spot like we used to be in the nineties with
the Niners and the Cowboys where the conference title game
might actually be the real super Bowl because the AFC
is just flat out so much better than what the
NFC has to offer.

Speaker 1 (01:23:41):
Yeah, And to your point, I don't know. I don't
know if we're quite there yet because I feel like Philly,
a healthy San Fran they compete with all of these
AFC powerhouses. I think the AFC is just so much deeper.
I mean, it's you look through the list. You know,
we had talked about Baltimore, Jacksonville, the Bengals and healthy

(01:24:07):
Joe Burrow and what they do. You know, you could
look at a handful of these, The Bills, you know,
the Chiefs always are up there at the top. You
can look at the AFC list and it goes well beyond.
You know, we were searching for seven teams to put
in the NFC playoff picture. We felt like we had
five and one had to win a division, so that

(01:24:28):
was our sixth and then we were looking for the
seventh to whereas in in the AFC, the Bengals are
technically the ninth spot right now in the AFC playoffs, it's.

Speaker 2 (01:24:38):
Like outrageous, exactly, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:24:41):
It's outrageous. So they're you know, there are two teams
out of the playoffs right now, them and the Jets
sit in the first two spots outside of the playoffs
looking in. And wouldn't it be just all that much
better to speaking about the Jets. We have this jam
packed powerhouse AFC. If Aaron Rodgers actually pulls off this
miracle and gets back in December at some point, that

(01:25:02):
would just make for an incredible AFC playoff run.

Speaker 3 (01:25:07):
Well what if they win tomorrow night, and they might,
They host the Los Angeles Chargers, and we have no
idea what to expect from them any day ever. All
the time, and then we've been talking a little bit
about what comes up next for them. They do have
some difficulty. They got a won two punch with the
Bills and Dolphins coming up soon. Obviously they're division games,

(01:25:29):
there's no getting around that. But we mentioned they're at
the Raiders Sunday Night football next week. If they're able
to beat the Chargers. Able to beat the Raiders, they
would find themselves at six and three with games still
ahead at home against the Falcons, the Texans, the Commanders.

Speaker 2 (01:25:48):
They've got a road game against the New England Patriots.

Speaker 3 (01:25:52):
I mean, just the way that they play football, and
they've had a couple of late game breaks already. Even
if Aaron weren't going to get back until the very end,
there is a plausible path that puts the Jets in
this thing.

Speaker 2 (01:26:10):
Why not?

Speaker 3 (01:26:10):
The Bills are facing five and four right down the
barrel right now as we speak.

Speaker 1 (01:26:15):
Yeah, no, you you're spot on with it. It's interesting
the way this all is starting to shape up. I
think that's the most exciting part about getting into November.
You know, so much of September and October is just
finding out who these teams are. You know, they have
a good week, a bad week. The sample size is
too small to judge. And now here we are nine

(01:26:38):
weeks into the season, or past the halfway point for
most of the teams, and we have an incredible sample
size to be able to look at all this in
the AFC and go down this list of teams. And
you know you talked about Baltimore at the top. I
feel like we've been searching and we threw out Jacksonville
as a potential sleeper in the AFC. And I think

(01:27:01):
the Ravens are a team that deserve to be talked
about more. What they've done in the last two weeks,
both at home against really good football teams, NFC playoff
football teams, is pretty incredible. And I think that the
Baltimore Ravens are a team that we should be talking
about more. And it's going to be really interesting as

(01:27:22):
this Baltimore Ravens team and the Sincena Bengals team that
we're watching here tonight, because you know, it's like, did
Cincinnati almost put themselves behind the eight ball a little
too much with their in the division losses early in
the season. Will those come back to haunt them down
the stretch? But as we've talked about, I don't think
this Bengals team has any fear of going on the
road in the playoffs. They've done it plenty of times

(01:27:44):
in the past.

Speaker 2 (01:27:45):
No doubt, no doubt.

Speaker 3 (01:27:46):
And you know, I look at this right now, and look,
it's just one stat You can do whatever you want
with it. But the NFC leader in point differential right
now is still the San Francisco forty nine ers, even
after three consecutive losses. They lead the NFC in point
differential at plus seventy eight. Usually gives you a little
bit of a barometer of not just who's good, but

(01:28:09):
sort of like how good they are.

Speaker 2 (01:28:11):
Go over to the AFC.

Speaker 3 (01:28:13):
Everybody remembers what the Dolphins did to the Broncos. You
had a plus fifty in that one game alone. They're
plus ten in the rest of their games. They're other
eight games. The Baltimore Ravens are plus one fifteen by
far and away the biggest number in the NFL. And

(01:28:36):
we know the division in which they play, and I've
already mentioned that they've taken on two NFC playoff contenders
in the last three weeks. This is a team that's
already played the Bengals, that's already played the Browns. They've
gone into Pittsburgh. Sure they didn't win it, like it's
not because of an easy schedule. They are the most

(01:28:57):
underdiscussed team in the NFL, no question in my mind.

Speaker 1 (01:29:02):
Yeah, and they showed a this kind of gets lost
at times because we go so much week by week.
They showed a graphic during their game today, just their
last four weeks in traveling to London and then coming
home and playing Detroit and then traveling to Arizona and
then coming home, and like, just over the last four weeks,

(01:29:24):
the travel schedule that they've had while just clicking off
when when, and most of them in very convincing fashion.

Speaker 3 (01:29:33):
No doubt, And Browns and Bengals for them in their
next two games, one of them is gonna be on
Thursday night. So we're gonna get to see the Ravens
a couple more times in just the next week and
a half and maybe get to see that AFC North
start to take shape a little bit, because right now,
especially if this one goes the way it's going, you're
not gonna just have everybody over five hundred. You're gonna

(01:29:56):
have everybody at least two games over five hundred in division.
I can't remember ever seeing that before in the second
half of an NFL season.

Speaker 1 (01:30:06):
That's a really good division. I think the Cleveland Browns
have certainly been a topic of discussion with one of
the best, if not the best defenses in football. And
you know, through nine weeks, that's what we know about
the Cleveland Browns. We've talked about their offensive situation and
the quarterback position, and then the Cincinnati Bengals teams as

(01:30:28):
they're starting to take shape and hit their stride, And
what better time to do it, you know, if you're
going to start clicking on all cylinders, the middle of
November is a great time.

Speaker 3 (01:30:38):
I mean, it's almost easier when you're looking at that
conference right now, Kyle to just say, Okay, forget who
we think is in it.

Speaker 2 (01:30:47):
Let's list who we think is not like.

Speaker 3 (01:30:50):
Who can we just eliminate from even any sort of
a conversation about the playoffs right.

Speaker 2 (01:30:58):
Out of the gate?

Speaker 3 (01:30:59):
I mean, let's take New England out of this, and then, gosh,
I guess I want to take the Broncos and Raiders
out of this, even though their records are not that bad.
Same to be said about the Titans. Chargers have a
losing record, but you don't feel good doing that. You
mentioned what you said about the Jets. I mean, what's

(01:31:21):
amazing about this conference. We talk about its top. What's
amazing is that it doesn't have a bottom.

Speaker 1 (01:31:27):
Yeah. No, I think if you look at it, you know,
I'd be comfortable. The Indianapolis Colts sit at four and five,
and you know, certainly they're not gonna get in at
that record. It would have to be like a NFC
South type division, and Jacksonville's in that division. They're running

(01:31:48):
away with that one. So you're not gonna get two
teams from the AFC South end. So you go Colts, Raiders, Chargers,
Like what are the Chargers?

Speaker 3 (01:31:57):
You get?

Speaker 1 (01:31:58):
We were talking about the Chargers tomorrow we see them
against the Jets and then Titans, Broncos, Patriots, So you know,
I would feel comfortable kind of going with that on down,
you know, really just putting the measurement right at the
five hundred mark. But it's interesting you talk about, Okay,
what team's not going to make it, just forget the

(01:32:19):
AFC Conference as a whole, talk about the AFC North.
If this game goes away, it's going right now, and
the Bengals win tonight and they move to five and three,
you will have the two seed, the five seed, the
sixth seed, and the seventh seed. All four AFC North

(01:32:40):
will be in the playoff picture after that game.

Speaker 3 (01:32:44):
Incredible, absolutely incredible, Mark Willard, Kyle Rudolph. If you like
using debit over credit, shouldn't you also get rewarded. Well,
now you can with Discover cash Back Debit. It's a
checking account that rewards everyone with cash back on everyday
purchases with no fees period. Check out eligibility in terms
at Discover dot com slash cash Back Debit Discover Bank

(01:33:08):
member fdi C. Now, the Game of the Afternoon lived
up to the hype. We haven't gotten to it all
that much yet. We will next on Fox Sports Radio.
All right, we are live in the tire Raq dot
com studios. I can remember having a conversation with you

(01:33:28):
a couple of weeks in Kyle, and You're like, sure,
the Eagles are good, but something's not quite right. And
I'm still not one hundred percent sure that that statement
doesn't ring true. But by the same token, I know

(01:33:51):
Jalen Hurts is not one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (01:33:54):
I know the.

Speaker 3 (01:33:55):
Philadelphia Eagles have about as tough of a schedule as
I can. It's only about to get tougher, I'll grant you,
and I do think there will be more losses within
the next five weeks. But that said, my god, they've
got a lot of answers to the questions that everyone
throws out there. And I know that got a little

(01:34:16):
hairy there at the end of the game. Thank goodness.
The Dallas Cowboys. Whenever they've got late game management things
to figure out, they rarely do, and so that took
away what could have should have been a stolen football
game today. But I don't know, man, when you look

(01:34:38):
up and down, and I'll add the AFCN on this one,
when you just use the phrase buttoned up, like who
looks the most buttoned up right now with what they're doing,
I'll take the Philadelphia Eagles.

Speaker 1 (01:34:53):
I agree. And so much has been made of the
brotherly shove and the tush push and all this that
we see in Philly. And you know, we could talk
about it all we want. Should it be legal, illegal,
Is it good for the game, bad for the game?
Blah blah blah, But what it is and what it
does for Philly, you really saw it today. They're playing

(01:35:17):
a different game than everyone else. Like when they get
the ball, it's first in eight or nine. It's not
first and ten. They only have to get eight or
nine yards and then they just know they'll line up
and get one or two that they need with the
quarterback sneak if they have to on fourth down, I've
never seen a team that can line up that confidently

(01:35:40):
and you know, get the yards every single time that
they get and it really it can be the deodorant
to a lot of things that stink for them offensively
when they're not clicking on all cylinders. You know, maybe
the run games not going as well as they would like,
or pass game we're not hitting it as good as
we want. But at the end of the day, you're like, hey,

(01:36:03):
if we get three three, three, all right, we'll go
forward on fourth and one, like we're gonna get it,
like new set of downs, okay. And it just keeps
giving this incredibly talented offense more and more opportunities to
get going. And I think certainly, look over the last
seven weeks. You know, for the first time in seven weeks,

(01:36:25):
AJ Brown didn't have over one hundred and twenty five
yards receiving, which is incredible. I mean, over the last
month and a half, he's played as good a football
as any receiver, Tyreek Hill, any of those guys. What
he's done for that offense has been incredible. And I
do think that the Philadelphia Eagles are one of the
most buttoned up, well rounded you know what, you're gonna

(01:36:46):
get from that defense, the front, the rush is incredible.
They just keep adding guys, you know, hy Roseman, Cozen
gets Kevin Byern. It's like, how does this happen? Like
how do you just keep trading for Pro Bowl caliber players?
They signed Julio Jones, which I know a lot of
people don't believe Julio has a whole lot left in
the tank. But I was with Julio last year in

(01:37:07):
Tampa and had he not had a really bad PCL
injury Week one that he played through all year, I
saw Julio and camp, and if Julio looks like he
did in camp last year right now in Philly, he's
gonna be a guy that it won't be a huge
difference all the time, but in key moments, a guy
that they'll be able to rely on after aj Brown

(01:37:28):
and Devonte Smith.

Speaker 3 (01:37:30):
Meantime, on the other side of the ball, the Miami
I'm sorry, I mean Dallas Cowboys have a lot of
the same characteristics as the team that we talked about
off the top. Now they do have one win over
a team with a winning record, but excuse me, oh,
by the way, it's the New York Jets. And they

(01:37:51):
got him the week after Aaron Rodgers went down, when
the Jets were still completely discombobulated. So they too have
no impressive landmark wins. They've had two opportunities to do so,
road trips to San Francisco and Philadelphia. They were a
hell of a lot closer today than they were a

(01:38:11):
few weeks ago in San Francisco, but they've lost both
of those.

Speaker 2 (01:38:15):
And also, they are literally the team that might throw a.

Speaker 3 (01:38:21):
Wrench in the Arizona Cardinals getting Caleb Williams, because the
only reason the Cardinals are one and eight as opposed
to to nine is because of the Dallas Cowboys and
the egg that they laid in Arizona a number of
weeks ago. So I look at those two teams, the
Dolphins and the Cowboys, very similarly.

Speaker 2 (01:38:42):
These are good teams, these are playoff teams.

Speaker 3 (01:38:46):
However, they are the teams we go see when we're
looking for a good time, not looking for a serious time,
because they just have not been able to get the
big game, and that characteristic has followed the Cowboys for
a lot longer than it has the Dolphins.

Speaker 1 (01:39:06):
It has in one of the benefits that the Cowboys
will have that the Dolphins don't is they're going to
most likely go play that NFC South champion in the
first round playoffs, so they will get one more opportunity
to figure it out to Whereas we've talked about the
Dolphins and if they don't win the division, the potential

(01:39:26):
AFC teams that they have to face. But you know,
it's interesting, like you talked about it, the Cowboys and
that late game management. The Eagles gave them every opportunity
they try to hand them the game, even as late
as the last drive when Swift and AJ Brown run
into each other in the backfield, it's like DeAndre Swift

(01:39:47):
and AJ Brown collide the balls on the ground and
you're like, oh my god, that they're just gonna give
Dallas the ball right there. They really are trying to
give this game away. You give them credit, you know,
the defense that was reel in there with cornerback injuries
late in the game. They got the stops they needed
to get the big win in the division at home.
But it's like, you know, if you're the Cowboys, that's
a game that you have to win. It's you had

(01:40:10):
every opportunity to go back to the Eagles and the
advantage that they have where they convert every single fourth
and one. Dallas had fourth and one or two there
late in the game and weren't able to execute it.
They hit the rookie tight end and he was ruled
short of the end zone. It's like, if that's Philly,

(01:40:30):
they're not even worried about it. They're they're lining up
under center and they're gonna QB sneak in for a
touchdown and then they'll go for two and get the
eight points there, and it's a three point ball game.
So again, I think that just goes back to Philly
and their ability to play a different ballgame because they
really only need eight yards for a first down.

Speaker 2 (01:40:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:40:51):
Absolutely, I mean I hear all that, but Kyle, you
know what else little prediction here, and it's just schedule flow,
But people won't look closely enough at it to think
of that. And the Cowboys will respond to this loss.
Why well, because they play the Giants and the Panthers
the next two weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:41:11):
That's why. So the Cowboys, Right, so the Cowboys will
be they'll.

Speaker 3 (01:41:15):
Be seven and three and then they've got home dates
with Washington and Seattle.

Speaker 2 (01:41:21):
Those are tougher they're losable, but very winnable as well.

Speaker 3 (01:41:25):
And so what I could see really developing is, as
you mentioned, the Cowboys will get that top wildcard spot.
Well maybe maybe in four weeks they will be nine
and three and they'll be this little buzz. Hey, don't
forget about the Cowboys. They're coming nine and three. That's
a squad right there. That's the top wildcard team in

(01:41:46):
the NFC. And then bang, listen to the five game
stretch they've got at the end of the year. They
host Philly, they go to Buffalo, they go to Miami,
they host Detroit, and they finish at Washington.

Speaker 2 (01:42:01):
I'm not one hundred percent sure they're gonna win any
of those, like any of them.

Speaker 3 (01:42:09):
Maybe maybe you know, they get one, they get two,
maybe they play really well and get three. But I'm
not so sure they're gonna end up with that top
wild card spot with the way that that the schedule
is gonna fall for them at the end of the year.

Speaker 1 (01:42:25):
No, but it will be the narrative will be written
at that point. You know, it won't be us debating
on you know, is this Cowboys team responding by beating
the Giants and the Panthers and then you know, they
have Washington at home on Thanksgiving and then Seattle at
home bye week, so they're off, or they go back

(01:42:50):
to back Thursdays and then they play so they have
that that mini eye, so they go back to back
Thursdays and then they play Philly. They welcome Philly to Dallas.
And you mentioned though that stretch four straight. We're gonna
know is this Dallas team going into the playoffs to

(01:43:12):
do some damage or are they just in the playoffs,
as you said, for a good time in an early
exit home.

Speaker 3 (01:43:21):
A question about a few teams out there that are
really kind of caught between a rock and a hard
place at the quarterback position, especially with what is expected
to be an unbelievable quarterback draft coming up next year.

Speaker 2 (01:43:36):
We'll get to that in a couple of minutes, but
let's get Steve de Seger in here. First.

Speaker 3 (01:43:39):
Find out what's trending across the sports world tonight.

Speaker 7 (01:43:44):
Hey Steve, Hello, you mentioned Dallas is going to be
playing the Giants. They are two and seven now after
losing at Las Vegas. The Giants have been outscored by
thirteen points per game, worst in the league this year.
They're not even coming within single digits on average thirty
to six Vegas.

Speaker 2 (01:44:01):
Today.

Speaker 7 (01:44:02):
Las Vegas had eight sacks, three by Max Crosby. Starting
quarterback Daniel Jones of the Giants left with a possible
torn acl MRI coming on Monday. He just returned. He
was out three games with a neck injury. Quarterback to
Rod Taylor is on IR already. The Giants offense with
thirteen drives just fifteen first downs. They were down twenty

(01:44:22):
four to nothing at the half tonight at Cincinnati. It's
a lead for the home team Bengals twenty one to
ten now over Buffalo with about five minutes to go
in the third quarter. For the Buffalo Bills on the ground,
seven carries just twenty yards Josh Allen with a short
TD run. He has one interception thrown as well Joe
Burrow two touchdown passes two hundred and twenty one yards

(01:44:44):
through the air. It's a lead for the home team
and Cincinnati's trying to go to five and three overall.
Buffalo for the moment is five and three. Bengals have
won three in a row. Philadelphia's win over Dallas was
twenty eight to twenty three. Dak Prescott with three touchdown passes,
but on a late two point roun he stepped out
of bounds. Eagles are eight and one. Indianapolis won at

(01:45:05):
Carolina twenty seven to thirteen. Colts led twenty to three
at the half. Victories for Minnesota and Cleveland for Green
Bay and Washington, New Orleans Beach Chicago twenty four to seventeen.
Baltimore whip Seattle thirty seven to three. The Ravens are
seven and two. They won four in a row. Somebody
named Keaton Mitchell of the Ravens on nine carries at
one hundred and thirty eight yards rushing at a touchdown.

(01:45:28):
Next Sunday, Baltimore host Cleveland at Houston c J Stroud
five touchdown passes in a thirty nine to thirty seven
decision over Tampa Bay, which has lost four in a row.
And at the game this morning in Frankfurt, Kansas City
held on to beat Miami twenty one to fourteen. USC
Fire defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR

(01:45:48):
Season Championship, his first just two NHL games tonight, but
undefeated Vegas is on the ice.

Speaker 2 (01:45:54):
They have just.

Speaker 7 (01:45:55):
Lost in Anaheim four to two. Vegas had been eleven
to Zher in regulation with one overtime loss. In the
NBA Toronto in overtime one at San Antonio won twenty
three to one sixteen victor Wimbin Yama. The Spurs did
have twenty points five blocks. Cleveland beat Golden State, which
had been five and one this year, but Cavs won

(01:46:16):
fifteen one oh four to the final Donovan Mitchell thirty
one points. Dallas is five and one after defeating Charlotte
despite a triple double from LaMelo Ball Final one, twenty
four one eighteen. Football update Cincinnati with the ball and
the lead late third quarter, twenty one ten over the Bills.

Speaker 2 (01:46:32):
Back to you.

Speaker 3 (01:46:33):
Yeah, great stuff tonight, see thanks so much. Bengals look
very very under control. Joe Burrow looks under control. This
is very different than the Bengals that we saw early
in the year, for sure. Jamar Chase is getting banged
around though tonight. He's had We talked about his target
share earlier. He is, he's had a fine target share,

(01:46:55):
but has not gotten anything. Going three catches nine yards.
He landed on his back. They're looking at him a
little bit. It's been a frustrating night and it just
you know, it brings to mind what's already gone on
in the division after Thursday Night Football and the whole
George Pickens experience. But not expecting anything to come out
of this one. They're touch over a quarter away from

(01:47:18):
yet another signature win, which is kind of the signature
of this team. They seem to look better the better
their opponent, as opposed to what we keep seeing out
of the Dolphins and the Cowboys.

Speaker 1 (01:47:33):
No, that's exactly it. The Bengals seem to play better
in bigger games. And it goes as Joe Burrow goes.
We've talked about his health. They showed a clip just
of him moving around early in the year and him
moving around tonight, and you can tell that he's completely
confident in that calf and he's moving around. And one

(01:47:55):
of the things that we talked about this Bengals offense
earlier in season was what do they do besides Jamar Chase.
So you know, certainly Joe and Jamar will figure it out.
They are the least of anyone's worries in Cincinnati. The
fact that they're getting production from all these other players
on offense, I think is a great sign for the

(01:48:17):
Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 3 (01:48:19):
Tyrack dot Com Studios, Mark Willard, Kyle Rudolph, let me
ask you about a couple of guys out there, because
I don't want to jump to conclusions by any stretch,
But by the same token, I also believe that you
know when you see it, and you also know what
it is, even though you can't define it with words,

(01:48:40):
You just you know. You know when you see it,
and you also know after a period of time when
you're like, that's not it and mac Jones is not it.
The Patriots have become the most stale looking franchise in
the whole NFL. Watching him try to navigate a late
game sity situation is pretty painful. I understand the lack

(01:49:04):
of weaponry, everything the offense has been through there the
last couple of years.

Speaker 2 (01:49:09):
But there are a couple of teams, and the Patriots are.

Speaker 3 (01:49:12):
One of them that right now would benefit from every
single loss they can find because there are good quarterbacks
coming and the Patriots need one.

Speaker 2 (01:49:23):
Kyle, that's my opinion.

Speaker 1 (01:49:26):
Well, not only that, but it would We've had so
many discussions about how you can build rosters and how
to build rosters successfully, and you're at a decision now
you know Mac is finishing up his third year, do
you give him the fifth year option or you don't.
You know, certainly we would probably both agree on not
giving it to him. But it's like, this gives you

(01:49:49):
the opportunity to draft your guy that you can now
build the rest of the roster around, so we don't
have to sit here and talk about the lack of
weaponry around whoever's playing quarterback for the New England Patriots,
so you know you have to It makes it even
harder to go out there and build the roster if
you're then going to commit to him long term. So

(01:50:10):
I just don't think it's possible. And as I mentioned,
I feel like their draft position is going to dictate
that anyway. So certainly they would benefit from as many
losses as possible to get as high as the draft
as possible. But also you look at the draft order
and kind of the way it plays out right now,

(01:50:30):
you know, Chicago can't draft two quarterbacks, so they have
two of the top four picks, so it's like, if
you just get in that top four, you have a
chance of getting a pretty good quarterback. So it'll certainly
be interesting the way it all plays out.

Speaker 3 (01:50:46):
I mean the way I look at it, and I
wonder how many teams would be on this list for
you if I said, go through the whole NFL and
list off the teams who you know for sure don't
have their on their roster right now, It's actually stunning
how few teams you can come up with.

Speaker 2 (01:51:06):
For me, the Patriots are one of them.

Speaker 3 (01:51:09):
But with so many of these teams, like you'd say, oh, well,
the Titans don't have their quarterback, well do they?

Speaker 2 (01:51:14):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:51:16):
Well, Levice has been pretty interesting the last couple of weeks,
right the Colts lost their rookie right out of the gate,
he did some interesting things. You know, the New York
Giants have signed Daniel Jones. I don't know about Sam Howell.
You just mentioned the Bears. I don't know even the Vikings.
All the discussion we've had there is Kirk Cousins coming back. Like,

(01:51:39):
there's only four teams I think where I can say,
like with total conviction that their quarterback is not currently
on their roster. And it's the Patriots, it's the Cardinals,
it's the Falcons. And as frustrating as this might be

(01:52:00):
for for him to hear, I would also say the
Tampa Bay Bucks, like Baker Mayfield is is fine, they
you know whatever, they can be a possible team, but
but that's not their future.

Speaker 2 (01:52:13):
And and those are the only four teams.

Speaker 3 (01:52:15):
I've got some others where I have my doubts, Jordan love,
but but those are the only four where I'm like,
they definitely do not have their guy.

Speaker 1 (01:52:27):
Yeah, I would agree with that. I think you know,
you mentioned a few other ones. You know, one that's
really interesting to me is Washington. You know you mentioned
Sam How's name. Well, more than likely it's new ownership there.
You would think that new ownership would come new coaches,

(01:52:50):
new quarterback, like they all it's all new, we want
our guy. So that I would add Washington there. I
would agree with a lot of the other ones.

Speaker 3 (01:53:04):
It's Chicago, Chicago, but I like, I don't know yet,
I'm not totally I don't done with Justin Fields, right,
I'm not one hundred percent sure yet.

Speaker 1 (01:53:18):
But are you going to pay him fifty million? And
it's like that's kind of the barometer at this point
to keep a quarterback. If you're saying he's our guy,
that's then the next step, Like that's kind of the
criteria to have a franchise quarterback at this point. It's
that's where I feel like, if if you're one of
these teams and we're talking about you, especially this year,

(01:53:43):
your best chance are spending forty eight of those million
dollars elsewhere that year and drafting a rookie quarterback.

Speaker 2 (01:53:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:53:55):
Well, when you put it that way, absolutely, I just
still I still that's the alternative. Yeah, yeah, No, from
a financial standpoint, I cannot argue with you at all.
Mark Willard, Kyle Rudolph, and coming up next, some final
thoughts and as we head into the fourth quarter of
Bengals and Bills, we'll get you all up to date
on that one as well.

Speaker 2 (01:54:16):
On Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (01:54:19):
Dops back to pass on third down, He stays in
the pocket, fires to the end zone, touchdown.

Speaker 1 (01:54:28):
Brandon Powell looks former Falcon Has Dayton the Atlanta.

Speaker 3 (01:54:33):
Falcons with a six yard touchdown pass from Josh Dobbs
thirty twenty eighth Minnesota with twenty seconds ago.

Speaker 2 (01:54:45):
Let me see here, Kyle, does that? Does that sound
like a familiar voice to you?

Speaker 1 (01:54:49):
That is a very familiar call. It's always good to
hear a Paul Allen touchdown call. I had a few
of those in my day. PA is the best is
just so passed. You gotta love his calls, and I
know he enjoyed that one today.

Speaker 3 (01:55:05):
I don't know what and you may know this, What
does his voice sound like on a Sunday night after
the game, Because that sounds like a grind.

Speaker 1 (01:55:15):
Man he does. He leaves it all out there. But then,
in typical Pa fashion, he's right back on the radio
Monday morning at nine am for his nine to noon
show talking about the Viking some more.

Speaker 3 (01:55:30):
If my math is correct, he has called forty eight
Kyle Rudolph touchdowns in his career and yours. That is
Paul Allen on kfa N one hundred point three FM,
the Vikings Radio Network as they pull one out a
rabbit out of the hot for real against the Falcons today.

(01:55:53):
And that was the Progressive play of the day, brought
to you by Progressive Insurance. Progressive makes buddling easy and
affordable multi policy discount by combining your motorcycle, RV, boat,
ATV and more all your protection in one place, bundling
save At Progressive dot Com. It is Mark Willardon, Kyle
Rudolph in the tire rack dot Com Studios. What do

(01:56:14):
you think about tomorrow night's I'm gonna call it the
Achiever Bowl between the Jets and the Chargers because I
think the Jets are the biggest underachievers, I'm sorry, the
biggest overachievers in the NFL, and the Chargers are the
biggest underachievers in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (01:56:30):
So we get the Achiever Bowl on Monday Night Football tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:56:36):
I think because it's Chargers offense justin Herbert singing the
football round against the Jets defense, which has been their
calling card, a big reason why they're still in it
and still relevant and why they have overachieved to this point.

(01:56:58):
I think one of the I things that's interesting in
Maybe it's just because of the way he played the
last time they played in primetime on Sunday Night Football
against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, but yeah,
I'm curious to see how Zach Wilson comes out, because
you know, we've all been very hard on Zach Wilson
and yet more times than not, he plays good enough

(01:57:22):
football for them to win. So looking forward to watching
that one tomorrow night and seeing how that defense plays
against the Chargers offense, But then also kind of which
Zach Wilson shows up.

Speaker 3 (01:57:37):
I mean, this guy's got a fifty eight percent completion
percentage right now.

Speaker 2 (01:57:42):
That is that's not a winning percentage.

Speaker 3 (01:57:46):
He has as many interceptions as he has touchdowns this year.

Speaker 2 (01:57:51):
That is not a winning formula.

Speaker 3 (01:57:54):
But everything I'm saying right here goes to my point
as to why the Jets are are the biggest overachievers
out there.

Speaker 2 (01:58:02):
Yes, they do it with defense. Breace Hall has taken.

Speaker 3 (01:58:05):
Over backfield as they hoped he would once he was
fully back and healthy and ready to go. And yeah,
Zach has gone from the number two pick in the
draft to a placeholder for whenever Aaron Rodgers can get back,
and can he miraculously get back this year.

Speaker 2 (01:58:23):
But I will give you something for what you're saying there,
which is.

Speaker 3 (01:58:29):
For a guy who puts up those kinds of numbers,
I tend to find watching quarterbacks with those numbers to
be kind.

Speaker 2 (01:58:37):
Of painful and or boring.

Speaker 3 (01:58:39):
But that's not the case with this guy. There's something,
there's a flare in the way he plays. He's able
to move with his legs a lot. It's just there's
something I don't want to say, like where I'm enamored
with him by any stretch, He's not been that good.

Speaker 2 (01:58:58):
You're right, we've all been really hard.

Speaker 3 (01:59:01):
But there's something on TV that shows up and I
and I find interesting, and maybe it's just been how
close their games are. I don't know what it is,
but I'm with you. I'm interested to see what he's
got for us tomorrow night.

Speaker 1 (01:59:14):
Well, I think that skill set is why he got
drafted number two overall to the Jets. They got enamored
with it as well, and it was just kind of
that shiny skill set that they got enamored with. And
maybe not necessarily the quarterback play in general or as
a whole, I should say, but you know, I will
say this and again, I feel like three of those

(01:59:38):
interceptions came in one game against the Cowboys. But it's like,
you you look at just how he's played it a hole,
It's like, for the most part, he's he's played well
enough for that team to win, and he knows with
Breest Hall in the backfield and the defense on the
other side, I don't have to come out here and

(02:00:01):
win the game for us. I just can't lose the game.
And I feel like that's how he played against the
Chiefs and they had a really good shot on that
Sunday football game.

Speaker 2 (02:00:10):
Yeah, no doubt about it.

Speaker 3 (02:00:11):
And then on the other side, justin Herbert, you sort
of feel like the discussion around him is going to
get real interesting if they don't end up making the
playoffs this year, which it doesn't feel like they're going to,
but certainly capable of going on a run.

Speaker 2 (02:00:24):
My man.

Speaker 3 (02:00:25):
Always fun to talk football with you, so appreciate it
again tonight, and I look forward to doing it again
next week when we'll watch that Wilson again.

Speaker 1 (02:00:34):
Yep, look forward to it. Mark, appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (02:00:38):
There it is for Kyle Rudolph. I'm Mark Willard.

Speaker 3 (02:00:41):
Enjoy the rest of your evening playing and spin your
coming up as we continue on Fox Sports Radio.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Fox Sports Radio News

Host

Jonas Knox

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Stuff You Should Know

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Mark Willard and Kyle Rudolph break down Week 9 of the NFL season!