October 22, 2025 • 19 mins
Kevin Harlan of Westwood One and CBS joins Dave Softy Mahler to talk about the big comeback by the Denver Broncos, the Detroit Lions’ win on Monday night, if the Chiefs are back, the Colts’ big success this year so far, Russell Wilson’s comment, and Miami.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
They are NFL champions.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
The Seattlesyhawks have one Super Bowl forty eight.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
As part of our non stop coverage of the NFL,
this is Softy's weekly visit with Kevin Harlan.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
It's a pulldozer.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
He's a piece.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Brought to you by Twin Peaks in Tuckwilla open every
Sunday morning just in time for kickoff.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
It was like a pinball hanging off counties.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
A twenty three.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yard catch it run catch every game, every bite and
every sip only at Twin Peaks tuck Willa.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hit the touchdown, hit the touchdown.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
It's quad by curse.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Now with Kevin. Here's Softy from right to left. After
twenty two salgons, a hand have to get took.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
The middle the twenty five to thirty put race to
the party, and then Ember took a part side forty.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Cut race the kind field of.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Parsi thirty twenty ten seven time touchdown.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
The Lions have scored on a touchdown run by Tim Gifts,
streaking for seventy eight yards.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Hurt was the girls.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
Here we go on a'm busy Wednesday night right here
on ninety three to three kJ A RFM. Big thanks
to our friends at Twin Peaks, Tuck will Eats, Drake
Ccenic Views, always here to sponsor, meeting the gigantic financial
demands of our next guests.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, they're big.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
The voice of football in America from the NFL in
Westwood One, the NFL and CBS. You heard them calling
the Buccaneers Lions on Monday Night Football Giants Broncos for CBS.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Here he is our friend, Kevin Harlan. How are you, man? Good?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I'm enjoying the views here at Twin Peaks today. I'm
actually in the in the restaurant enjoying it. And I
wish you were here, but you're not, and I am.
So we'll proceed.
Speaker 5 (01:45):
Well, I'll tell you what lots to talk about from
the week that was in the National Football League.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
But I don't know, man.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Do you ever think in your life that you'd call
a football game where one team we'd be down what
it was nineteen to nothing after three and yep, the
Broncos rolled off thirty three.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Points in the fourth quarter. How do you explain that?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
I can't. I don't know what happened.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
And then it was twenty six to eight, so it
was still even with the teams exchanging touchdowns and moving
up a little bit in terms of the score, there
still was a lot of breathing space and not much
time and a complete, you know collapse by the Giant
by the Giant defense. The offense had moved in and
(02:35):
actually taken a lead, and then we know how it
ended with the game winning kick. And we've seen a
lot of that. But here was the thing though. The
Broncos had lost two games on last second field goals
in Indianapolis and in LA against the Chargers, so they
were due a little bit of redemption and they got
(02:56):
it with their own last second walk off field goal
to beat the Giants in a game that they trailed literally,
you know, the entire afternoons.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, it was a wild game. I've never seen a
fourth quarter. I've never seen any quarter quarter, not a half,
a quarter where a team scored thirty three points in
the quarter. And this is my forty first year doing
the NFL. I've never seen it before.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Yeah, yeah, it was bananas, man.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
It was also impressive watching that Lions Buccaneers game on
Monday night. You know, we had the Seahawks and Texans
and we can talk about that in a second. But
you know, we're just sitting here passing the time, Kevin,
honestly on Monday until the Mariner game started against the
Blue Jays in Game seven, and we're at a sports bar.
You know, Jimmy's across the street from the from Lumenfield
(03:45):
watching these Jimmy's watching the Lions and Buccaneers play. And
I gotta be honest with you, man, I'm pretty impressed
by what's happening in Detroit. I thought with their schedule
that came out when it did come out, that they'd
be in trouble, and they're not. They're five and two
and they might look like the team to beat right
now in the NFC.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I cannot disagree with you. And the other part that
was so great about Detroit is they were without their
four starters in the secondary, three of them injured, one suspended,
So they were going with second and third team guys,
calling guys off the practice squad for that game against
Baker Mayfield, who has arguably had the best six game
(04:28):
start of any quarterback this season in the league, and
the Lions were just superior. They played great defense, their
offense answered all the different opportunities they had, and going
in I thought, you know, this really could be like
an NFC championship game. Two quarterbacks were neck and neck
(04:48):
for MVP for the first six seven weeks of the season. Yeah,
and yet it was clear, as you alluded to, that
the Lions were the better team. Now, listen, Tampa Bay
was without Evans for a good part of the game.
He re injured himself and now he's out with the
broken collarbone. They had Godwin on the sideline. He was
(05:09):
injured again, did not play. Abuca was about eighty ninety percent,
was not one hundred percent. He clearly was laboring, they're
without their starting running back. I mean that can go
on and on. Every team's got injuries, every team's got excuses.
The good ones always find a way to get past it.
And on that particular night, Detroit was the stronger team.
(05:30):
They had the resilience, and they went on to win.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Kevin Harlan's with us and Kevin.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
The other kind of big story I guess over the
weekend was what happened with Kansas City and the Raiders.
Kansas City looks like they might be back. You know,
Pete Carroll made it's he's not used to getting pounded
like this by anybody, and he's getting pounded you know.
Gino Smith didn't even throw for seventy yards, for God's
sakes over the weekend against Kansas City. So I think
(05:56):
the Raiders are in a world of hurt right now.
But it looks and feet was like, maybe the Chiefs
are back. I don't know, you're kind of close to
them out there and in Kansas City? Are you?
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Are you buying that?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
So last year they won double digit one score games.
They were winning latent games, they were winning at the buzzer,
they were winning, you know, with a comeback. The majority
of their wins last year were one score wins, and
I never felt like all season they were really up
(06:28):
against the wall with a knife on their neck and
trying to you know, dig themselves out. But we know
they began this season losing games, and there was some
real searching about, wait a minute, what's going on here?
And so the sense of urgency came into play much
earlier this season by virtue of their poor starting record
(06:51):
the first month, and I think that has led to
the sense of urgency, like I mentioned, but also just
like realizing that in this league you need to be
on your game every week, and you cannot look past
an opponent, and you've got to play your best football
and and and so I think that mentally has taken
(07:13):
over him. But even more specifically, they've gotten their top
two receivers back here over the last three weeks, Xavier
Worthy and now Rashie Rice and and their offense is whole.
They were without their left tackle last week, but but
he's a rookie.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
He was injured. He'll be back, he'll play, he'll start.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
But they got a great performance from Jalen Moore, who
they paid a lot of money to get. So I
just think that that they realize that they've got a
great opportunity to continue this incredible, dynastic run with what
they've got right now. They've got the fastest group of
receivers in the league, and they've just been able to
(07:58):
in so many ways, can continually evolve, uh draft well,
have these kids participate early in their careers, assist the
existing veterans, and they always find a way. But now
that they were kind of up against the wall and
kind of like really threatened mentally, they were shaken a
(08:19):
little bit. And I think they've responded very well and
and and they've got to be a team you gotta fear.
Baltimore is basically finished, Yeah, at one and one in
five or whatever they are. We know Cincinnati is without Burrow,
the Chargers are kind of week to week. Denver is
is winning but in weird ways. Uh yet they're five
(08:40):
and two and they're they're with the best defense in
pro football. There's an opportunity here for this team. And
Philadelphia doesn't appear to be what they were, but they
are defending champions, so they're always dangerous. And then you
got to look at the at at at what you
know they're they're dealing with.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I just I think.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Right now that what we've seen is is a pretty
good indication of where these teams are headed the rest
of the year. We're a core a third of the
way into the year, and I just think that people
now are starting to really realize what they've got, what
they've got to do to win. And this is kind
of part and parcel with where we are with the
(09:21):
with the collective bargaining agreement, with the lack of time
at the facility, uh, the shortened preseason September. You get
your you get calloused, you get in shape and you
figure out what your roster is and what you can
go to. And that's kind of where we are now.
All these things have been answered and we're ready to
take off. So what these teams are now is kind
(09:43):
of I think what they're going to be the rest
of the year.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
Well, it's funny that, you know, you kind of name
off all the teams that you think might be in
contention for the for the title, and Kevin Harlan's with
us it was always a contention for my title of
the greatest play by play voice in the NFL, hat
in the NBA by and in college basketball on scare
But you look at the Lions, okay, fine, the Chiefs,
okay fine, the Rams all right, and then sticking out
(10:08):
like a sore frickin' thumb, like what are they even doing?
There is the Indianapolis Colts, Kevin, who have the best
point differential in the NFL by a mile plus ninety two.
Lions are next up at plus sixty four. So I mean,
are we just waiting for the Colts to fall off
the face of the earth?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Is this legit?
Speaker 1 (10:31):
They don't know.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I My confidence in them is low, which is really
counter to how they've started this season. The quarterback is
playing out of his mind. They got a running attack,
which is always to me the number one thing I
look at an offense. You can pass and pass and pass.
If you can't run the ball, you're in trouble. And
all success of an offense begins with the run game.
(10:55):
If you've got a running game, and the Colts do,
everything seems to fall in place. And the teams that
don't have a running game are teams that are five
hundred or below and are trying to figure it out.
So they've got Jonathan Taylor, the quarterback is playing at
a high level. They've had a pretty good roster for
a couple of years and people have liked it. No
one could have predicted this, especially with Daniel Jones, who
(11:17):
is in a quarterback battle in camp with Richardson like
that was a that was a neck and neck battle
during camp as to who is going to be the
starting quarterback and Daniel Jones much like these other quarterbacks
that have resurrected their careers around the league. I mean,
it's it's stunning what they've done, but my confidence level
(11:39):
in them, and I know I just said, well, what
they are now is what they're going to be. That
might be the one exception. I probably need to see more.
I think the league needs to see more. I don't
think their division is necessarily rugged, so so they're not
really looking at the division as much as they are,
you know, the the landscape of the AFC. And it
(12:00):
does go counter what I just said. But they're the
one team that I just don't know about. I just
I'm nuts. I don't know how long this can last.
But what they've done is is beyond you know, question
they have. They have answered it against good teams. They've
done it on the road. The quarterback is playing at
a high level and like Darnold is playing up in
(12:22):
Seattle with you know, a resurrected career and Mayfield down
in Tampa the same way. It's it's it's provided one
of the great subplots of this league this season. What
these supposed quarterbacks that were drafted high could not do
with their original team are now doing on their on
their second, third, or fourth team.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Well, Kevin Harlan's with us courtesy of Twin Peaks and Kevin,
I know that you're no longer on social media, and
God bless you.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
By the way for getting out.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, God bless you. Don't do it, my God, do it.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Just you are my hero in more ways than one.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Teach me, please teach me how to get out of
the cesspool known as Twitter. But Russell Wilson, very unlike him,
went after Sean Payton the other day on social media.
And the background is that the Broncos, as you know,
played the Giants. You did that game on TV on Sunday,
and apparently Peyton after the game said the Giants have
(13:18):
found a little spark with the quarterback, meaning Jackson Dart,
and then Peyton came out and said, I was talking
to John Marra and I said, we were hoping that
that change, meaning from Wilson to Dart, would have happened
long after our game against the Giants, which was a
shot at Russell Wilson obviously. So Russell Wilson comes out
on social media says class list but not surprised. Didn't
(13:41):
realize you're still bounty hunting fifteen years later through the media,
which is a shot at bounty gate obviously. So all
of us in Seattle were like, that's not like Russell
at all to do something like that, and a lot
of us were like, hey, good for you man, speak
up and defend yourself. And I wonder if Russell's kind
of feeling a little bit right now. I mean, you
(14:02):
saw the reaction you got from Giant fans the other night.
Dable couldn't wait to get him off the field and
get Jackson Dart out of the tent. And I just
wonder if Russell kind of maybe sees the end of
the line here coming.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
You know, I have always found that a great player
at the end of his career is probably more nervous
and more sensitive than he is at the beginning or
in the middle when he is thriving. And I've noticed
this a little bit lebron and I think they become
(14:36):
they want to protect their brand. Derek Jeters said one
time he said, I was never more nervous than I
was late in my career because I wanted to protect
my legacy and what I had done and I didn't
want to embarrass myself, and I was more nervous. And
I'm wondering if a little bit of that with russ
in what is thirteen fourteen, fifteenth year and now demoted
(14:59):
in New York and probably with not a lot of
prospects on the horizon. If he's feeling like I'm in
I'm clearly you know, almost at the very end of
this story. I want to protect what I did and
where my Hall of Fame credentials the first ten years
of my career with the Seahawks, and I've had a
rough go here the last handful of years in Denver,
(15:19):
Pittsburgh and now with the Giants, and I don't need coaches,
my past coaches taking shots at me. So I think
they are sensitive. I think they want to protect their brand.
I think they get more nervous, more sensitive when they
get closer to retirement at the end of this great
story and career that they've all written, including Russell Wilson.
(15:41):
So I think there's probably a little bit of that there.
I thought it was probably unnecessary for Sean Payton to
say that. There's no reason to drag that up. There's
not any reason at all to say anything like that,
but he did. It was out. I gotta be honest.
I don't fault Russell for god him back at him.
(16:01):
We've all got skeletons, we've all got issues in our past,
and Russell hit one that was pretty sensitive to Shaun.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So it was. It was a great touche. It was
a great redemptive hit.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
I hope it goes away and and and these guys
can just continue doing what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
I'm a Russell Wilson fan.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I hate to see it end like this, but it
clearly is is not turning out the way that I
know he had thought it would end.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Well, good news for you. There's no need to do
where will Kevin be for TV on Sunday?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Because we start good?
Speaker 5 (16:36):
Well, we just we all know. I mean, if I
didn't know, I would have asked you. But I already know.
And here's how I know, because you're doing Commander's Chiefs
for Monday Night on kJ R. And then I saw
a tweet. Again, you're not on social media. I saw
a tweet from at Don Shula Corleone on Twitter who
wrote prayers to an absolute legend, longtime NFL play by
play announcer, Kevin Harlan. I hate nothing wrong with him.
(16:59):
He's just calling the Dolphins on CBS this weekend.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Sorry, Now that's funny.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Come on, well yeah, funny to some man. You know,
I don't know with the Dolphins. With the Dolphins, when
when they.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Were good over the last handful of years, you know,
they were really they were kind of they were putting
together something special. I don't know what's going on. This
has been a disaster and I think I think worse
is ahead of them. They had to come out and
say this week that Tua was going to start, and
he's their foundational piece in the first year of a
(17:37):
gigantic guaranteed contract which is fifty million a year or
whatever it is. And I mean they're off to a
start that is incredibly debilitating. No return from it going
to happen. The division is better, they're they're done and
we're not even at the halfway point of the season.
But our crew for CBS had had a run that
(18:02):
that like they won like like like eight nine games
in a row with us, and they were all phenomenal, Like,
they were all incredible wins, right and to a you know,
like they beat Denver seventy to ten. They went up
in Baltimore a couple of years ago and to a
threw for like five hundred yards, Like it was just
like unbelievable performances. And for whatever reason, on the they
(18:25):
beat Buffalo at home and Tua with a you know,
last minute drive like like all these great things that
we were there. We we they put us on these
hot teams and we've had a lot of denn We've
had Denver three times this year, our crew has, and
they're clearly one of the hot teams in the league.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
But this was what Miami was a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And and that fan base, from what I'm told, and
their PR people told us this, you know, they were
they were, they really were anyway and enjoying our broadcast.
We were bringing them good luck. But now I don't
know if anybody can save them, but we're gonna get
them this week.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
Well, listen, man, you're a professional, and that's why we
love you. That's why we count on you every day
to bring our every Wednesday, to bring up the credibility
of this radio program. And you've done that yet again.
You're the man. Great stuff. Enjoy the weekend and we'll
talk next week. Man, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Bud, Hey, thank you so much. Dave always enjoyed our chance.
We'll talk to you next week.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
You bet.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Kevin Harlan with us, We're gonna break Husky Hanks again.
Special Wednesday Edition six PM Tonight with Greg and Mario.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
What happened to Michigan? How do you turn it around?
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Versus Illinois at six on ninety three three KJRFM
They are NFL champions.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
The Seattlesyhawks have one Super Bowl forty eight.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
As part of our non stop coverage of the NFL,
this is Softy's weekly visit with Kevin Harlan.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
It's a pulldozer.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
He's a piece.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Brought to you by Twin Peaks in Tuckwilla open every
Sunday morning just in time for kickoff.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
It was like a pinball hanging off counties.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
A twenty three.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yard catch it run catch every game, every bite and
every sip only at Twin Peaks tuck Willa.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hit the touchdown, hit the touchdown.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
It's quad by curse.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Now with Kevin. Here's Softy from right to left. After
twenty two salgons, a hand have to get took.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
The middle the twenty five to thirty put race to
the party, and then Ember took a part side forty.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Cut race the kind field of.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Parsi thirty twenty ten seven time touchdown.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
The Lions have scored on a touchdown run by Tim Gifts,
streaking for seventy eight yards.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Hurt was the girls.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
Here we go on a'm busy Wednesday night right here
on ninety three to three kJ A RFM. Big thanks
to our friends at Twin Peaks, Tuck will Eats, Drake
Ccenic Views, always here to sponsor, meeting the gigantic financial
demands of our next guests.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, they're big.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
The voice of football in America from the NFL in
Westwood One, the NFL and CBS. You heard them calling
the Buccaneers Lions on Monday Night Football Giants Broncos for CBS.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Here he is our friend, Kevin Harlan. How are you, man? Good?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I'm enjoying the views here at Twin Peaks today. I'm
actually in the in the restaurant enjoying it. And I
wish you were here, but you're not, and I am.
So we'll proceed.
Speaker 5 (01:45):
Well, I'll tell you what lots to talk about from
the week that was in the National Football League.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
But I don't know, man.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Do you ever think in your life that you'd call
a football game where one team we'd be down what
it was nineteen to nothing after three and yep, the
Broncos rolled off thirty three.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Points in the fourth quarter. How do you explain that?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
I can't. I don't know what happened.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
And then it was twenty six to eight, so it
was still even with the teams exchanging touchdowns and moving
up a little bit in terms of the score, there
still was a lot of breathing space and not much
time and a complete, you know collapse by the Giant
by the Giant defense. The offense had moved in and
(02:35):
actually taken a lead, and then we know how it
ended with the game winning kick. And we've seen a
lot of that. But here was the thing though. The
Broncos had lost two games on last second field goals
in Indianapolis and in LA against the Chargers, so they
were due a little bit of redemption and they got
(02:56):
it with their own last second walk off field goal
to beat the Giants in a game that they trailed literally,
you know, the entire afternoons.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, it was a wild game. I've never seen a
fourth quarter. I've never seen any quarter quarter, not a half,
a quarter where a team scored thirty three points in
the quarter. And this is my forty first year doing
the NFL. I've never seen it before.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Yeah, yeah, it was bananas, man.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
It was also impressive watching that Lions Buccaneers game on
Monday night. You know, we had the Seahawks and Texans
and we can talk about that in a second. But
you know, we're just sitting here passing the time, Kevin,
honestly on Monday until the Mariner game started against the
Blue Jays in Game seven, and we're at a sports bar.
You know, Jimmy's across the street from the from Lumenfield
(03:45):
watching these Jimmy's watching the Lions and Buccaneers play. And
I gotta be honest with you, man, I'm pretty impressed
by what's happening in Detroit. I thought with their schedule
that came out when it did come out, that they'd
be in trouble, and they're not. They're five and two
and they might look like the team to beat right
now in the NFC.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I cannot disagree with you. And the other part that
was so great about Detroit is they were without their
four starters in the secondary, three of them injured, one suspended,
So they were going with second and third team guys,
calling guys off the practice squad for that game against
Baker Mayfield, who has arguably had the best six game
(04:28):
start of any quarterback this season in the league, and
the Lions were just superior. They played great defense, their
offense answered all the different opportunities they had, and going
in I thought, you know, this really could be like
an NFC championship game. Two quarterbacks were neck and neck
(04:48):
for MVP for the first six seven weeks of the season. Yeah,
and yet it was clear, as you alluded to, that
the Lions were the better team. Now, listen, Tampa Bay
was without Evans for a good part of the game.
He re injured himself and now he's out with the
broken collarbone. They had Godwin on the sideline. He was
(05:09):
injured again, did not play. Abuca was about eighty ninety percent,
was not one hundred percent. He clearly was laboring, they're
without their starting running back. I mean that can go
on and on. Every team's got injuries, every team's got excuses.
The good ones always find a way to get past it.
And on that particular night, Detroit was the stronger team.
(05:30):
They had the resilience, and they went on to win.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Kevin Harlan's with us and Kevin.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
The other kind of big story I guess over the
weekend was what happened with Kansas City and the Raiders.
Kansas City looks like they might be back. You know,
Pete Carroll made it's he's not used to getting pounded
like this by anybody, and he's getting pounded you know.
Gino Smith didn't even throw for seventy yards, for God's
sakes over the weekend against Kansas City. So I think
(05:56):
the Raiders are in a world of hurt right now.
But it looks and feet was like, maybe the Chiefs
are back. I don't know, you're kind of close to
them out there and in Kansas City? Are you?
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Are you buying that?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
So last year they won double digit one score games.
They were winning latent games, they were winning at the buzzer,
they were winning, you know, with a comeback. The majority
of their wins last year were one score wins, and
I never felt like all season they were really up
(06:28):
against the wall with a knife on their neck and
trying to you know, dig themselves out. But we know
they began this season losing games, and there was some
real searching about, wait a minute, what's going on here?
And so the sense of urgency came into play much
earlier this season by virtue of their poor starting record
(06:51):
the first month, and I think that has led to
the sense of urgency, like I mentioned, but also just
like realizing that in this league you need to be
on your game every week, and you cannot look past
an opponent, and you've got to play your best football
and and and so I think that mentally has taken
(07:13):
over him. But even more specifically, they've gotten their top
two receivers back here over the last three weeks, Xavier
Worthy and now Rashie Rice and and their offense is whole.
They were without their left tackle last week, but but
he's a rookie.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
He was injured. He'll be back, he'll play, he'll start.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
But they got a great performance from Jalen Moore, who
they paid a lot of money to get. So I
just think that that they realize that they've got a
great opportunity to continue this incredible, dynastic run with what
they've got right now. They've got the fastest group of
receivers in the league, and they've just been able to
(07:58):
in so many ways, can continually evolve, uh draft well,
have these kids participate early in their careers, assist the
existing veterans, and they always find a way. But now
that they were kind of up against the wall and
kind of like really threatened mentally, they were shaken a
(08:19):
little bit. And I think they've responded very well and
and and they've got to be a team you gotta fear.
Baltimore is basically finished, Yeah, at one and one in
five or whatever they are. We know Cincinnati is without Burrow,
the Chargers are kind of week to week. Denver is
is winning but in weird ways. Uh yet they're five
(08:40):
and two and they're they're with the best defense in
pro football. There's an opportunity here for this team. And
Philadelphia doesn't appear to be what they were, but they
are defending champions, so they're always dangerous. And then you
got to look at the at at at what you
know they're they're dealing with.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I just I think.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Right now that what we've seen is is a pretty
good indication of where these teams are headed the rest
of the year. We're a core a third of the
way into the year, and I just think that people
now are starting to really realize what they've got, what
they've got to do to win. And this is kind
of part and parcel with where we are with the
(09:21):
with the collective bargaining agreement, with the lack of time
at the facility, uh, the shortened preseason September. You get
your you get calloused, you get in shape and you
figure out what your roster is and what you can
go to. And that's kind of where we are now.
All these things have been answered and we're ready to
take off. So what these teams are now is kind
(09:43):
of I think what they're going to be the rest
of the year.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
Well, it's funny that, you know, you kind of name
off all the teams that you think might be in
contention for the for the title, and Kevin Harlan's with
us it was always a contention for my title of
the greatest play by play voice in the NFL, hat
in the NBA by and in college basketball on scare
But you look at the Lions, okay, fine, the Chiefs,
okay fine, the Rams all right, and then sticking out
(10:08):
like a sore frickin' thumb, like what are they even doing?
There is the Indianapolis Colts, Kevin, who have the best
point differential in the NFL by a mile plus ninety two.
Lions are next up at plus sixty four. So I mean,
are we just waiting for the Colts to fall off
the face of the earth?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Is this legit?
Speaker 1 (10:31):
They don't know.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I My confidence in them is low, which is really
counter to how they've started this season. The quarterback is
playing out of his mind. They got a running attack,
which is always to me the number one thing I
look at an offense. You can pass and pass and pass.
If you can't run the ball, you're in trouble. And
all success of an offense begins with the run game.
(10:55):
If you've got a running game, and the Colts do,
everything seems to fall in place. And the teams that
don't have a running game are teams that are five
hundred or below and are trying to figure it out.
So they've got Jonathan Taylor, the quarterback is playing at
a high level. They've had a pretty good roster for
a couple of years and people have liked it. No
one could have predicted this, especially with Daniel Jones, who
(11:17):
is in a quarterback battle in camp with Richardson like
that was a that was a neck and neck battle
during camp as to who is going to be the
starting quarterback and Daniel Jones much like these other quarterbacks
that have resurrected their careers around the league. I mean,
it's it's stunning what they've done, but my confidence level
(11:39):
in them, and I know I just said, well, what
they are now is what they're going to be. That
might be the one exception. I probably need to see more.
I think the league needs to see more. I don't
think their division is necessarily rugged, so so they're not
really looking at the division as much as they are,
you know, the the landscape of the AFC. And it
(12:00):
does go counter what I just said. But they're the
one team that I just don't know about. I just
I'm nuts. I don't know how long this can last.
But what they've done is is beyond you know, question
they have. They have answered it against good teams. They've
done it on the road. The quarterback is playing at
a high level and like Darnold is playing up in
(12:22):
Seattle with you know, a resurrected career and Mayfield down
in Tampa the same way. It's it's it's provided one
of the great subplots of this league this season. What
these supposed quarterbacks that were drafted high could not do
with their original team are now doing on their on
their second, third, or fourth team.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Well, Kevin Harlan's with us courtesy of Twin Peaks and Kevin,
I know that you're no longer on social media, and
God bless you.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
By the way for getting out.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, God bless you. Don't do it, my God, do it.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Just you are my hero in more ways than one.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Teach me, please teach me how to get out of
the cesspool known as Twitter. But Russell Wilson, very unlike him,
went after Sean Payton the other day on social media.
And the background is that the Broncos, as you know,
played the Giants. You did that game on TV on Sunday,
and apparently Peyton after the game said the Giants have
(13:18):
found a little spark with the quarterback, meaning Jackson Dart,
and then Peyton came out and said, I was talking
to John Marra and I said, we were hoping that
that change, meaning from Wilson to Dart, would have happened
long after our game against the Giants, which was a
shot at Russell Wilson obviously. So Russell Wilson comes out
on social media says class list but not surprised. Didn't
(13:41):
realize you're still bounty hunting fifteen years later through the media,
which is a shot at bounty gate obviously. So all
of us in Seattle were like, that's not like Russell
at all to do something like that, and a lot
of us were like, hey, good for you man, speak
up and defend yourself. And I wonder if Russell's kind
of feeling a little bit right now. I mean, you
(14:02):
saw the reaction you got from Giant fans the other night.
Dable couldn't wait to get him off the field and
get Jackson Dart out of the tent. And I just
wonder if Russell kind of maybe sees the end of
the line here coming.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
You know, I have always found that a great player
at the end of his career is probably more nervous
and more sensitive than he is at the beginning or
in the middle when he is thriving. And I've noticed
this a little bit lebron and I think they become
(14:36):
they want to protect their brand. Derek Jeters said one
time he said, I was never more nervous than I
was late in my career because I wanted to protect
my legacy and what I had done and I didn't
want to embarrass myself, and I was more nervous. And
I'm wondering if a little bit of that with russ
in what is thirteen fourteen, fifteenth year and now demoted
(14:59):
in New York and probably with not a lot of
prospects on the horizon. If he's feeling like I'm in
I'm clearly you know, almost at the very end of
this story. I want to protect what I did and
where my Hall of Fame credentials the first ten years
of my career with the Seahawks, and I've had a
rough go here the last handful of years in Denver,
(15:19):
Pittsburgh and now with the Giants, and I don't need coaches,
my past coaches taking shots at me. So I think
they are sensitive. I think they want to protect their brand.
I think they get more nervous, more sensitive when they
get closer to retirement at the end of this great
story and career that they've all written, including Russell Wilson.
(15:41):
So I think there's probably a little bit of that there.
I thought it was probably unnecessary for Sean Payton to
say that. There's no reason to drag that up. There's
not any reason at all to say anything like that,
but he did. It was out. I gotta be honest.
I don't fault Russell for god him back at him.
(16:01):
We've all got skeletons, we've all got issues in our past,
and Russell hit one that was pretty sensitive to Shaun.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So it was. It was a great touche. It was
a great redemptive hit.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
I hope it goes away and and and these guys
can just continue doing what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
I'm a Russell Wilson fan.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I hate to see it end like this, but it
clearly is is not turning out the way that I
know he had thought it would end.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Well, good news for you. There's no need to do
where will Kevin be for TV on Sunday?
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Because we start good?
Speaker 5 (16:36):
Well, we just we all know. I mean, if I
didn't know, I would have asked you. But I already know.
And here's how I know, because you're doing Commander's Chiefs
for Monday Night on kJ R. And then I saw
a tweet. Again, you're not on social media. I saw
a tweet from at Don Shula Corleone on Twitter who
wrote prayers to an absolute legend, longtime NFL play by
play announcer, Kevin Harlan. I hate nothing wrong with him.
(16:59):
He's just calling the Dolphins on CBS this weekend.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Sorry, Now that's funny.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Come on, well yeah, funny to some man. You know,
I don't know with the Dolphins. With the Dolphins, when
when they.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Were good over the last handful of years, you know,
they were really they were kind of they were putting
together something special. I don't know what's going on. This
has been a disaster and I think I think worse
is ahead of them. They had to come out and
say this week that Tua was going to start, and
he's their foundational piece in the first year of a
(17:37):
gigantic guaranteed contract which is fifty million a year or
whatever it is. And I mean they're off to a
start that is incredibly debilitating. No return from it going
to happen. The division is better, they're they're done and
we're not even at the halfway point of the season.
But our crew for CBS had had a run that
(18:02):
that like they won like like like eight nine games
in a row with us, and they were all phenomenal, Like,
they were all incredible wins, right and to a you know,
like they beat Denver seventy to ten. They went up
in Baltimore a couple of years ago and to a
threw for like five hundred yards, Like it was just
like unbelievable performances. And for whatever reason, on the they
(18:25):
beat Buffalo at home and Tua with a you know,
last minute drive like like all these great things that
we were there. We we they put us on these
hot teams and we've had a lot of denn We've
had Denver three times this year, our crew has, and
they're clearly one of the hot teams in the league.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
But this was what Miami was a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And and that fan base, from what I'm told, and
their PR people told us this, you know, they were
they were, they really were anyway and enjoying our broadcast.
We were bringing them good luck. But now I don't
know if anybody can save them, but we're gonna get
them this week.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
Well, listen, man, you're a professional, and that's why we
love you. That's why we count on you every day
to bring our every Wednesday, to bring up the credibility
of this radio program. And you've done that yet again.
You're the man. Great stuff. Enjoy the weekend and we'll
talk next week. Man, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Bud, Hey, thank you so much. Dave always enjoyed our chance.
We'll talk to you next week.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
You bet.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Kevin Harlan with us, We're gonna break Husky Hanks again.
Special Wednesday Edition six PM Tonight with Greg and Mario.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
What happened to Michigan? How do you turn it around?
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Versus Illinois at six on ninety three three KJRFM
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