2019 Week 8 Recap

an incident at your vacant desk. Hamona Homina, one of the beers, and I p a that that our listeners, one of our listeners sent to us a couple of years ago, exploded all over your dusk and into the office of a shadowy list Yeah, next to you. It's all over this floor. They're gonna have to get the cleaning people in here, not just anyhow out a league figure.

Dave shot Otherwise is a nice guy, but he is an insufferable New England sports fan who is right in a little too high on the paths and the and the socks and the Bruins, and it drives me crazy. Because all my teams suck. Uh So this feels like cosmically the why that beer was always feels right at that spot in my desk, that pressurized content blew a hole in the top of the beer can and makes me wonder why I spent twenty five years of my life drinking something with that kind of power. What could

have been doing to our bodies? I will when you mentioned you mentioned that there was a chaotic scene happy at Dan's desk, and I whispered into your ear. You now, as I do all the time, I love to deal it with beer can has been on your rate has because I'll often I'll often walk by Dan's desk and the beer can made a explosive sound around six months ago or so, that alert taking time by the right because it was one of these cans where it's you know,

you find it. It's been somewhere refrigerator for far too long, and the top looked like it was ready to pop. And so every time I walked, but I thought, something is not right with that bullet about to be shot into the ceiling instead of shot into shots house. This is the worst moment for shot since Uh that barbed wire tattoo. I wonder if I'll get in trouble because I it is on my desk. It's beer. It's an

alcoholic beverage on the premises on your desk. It's like, I will not return to the scene of the crime tonight because I'd be like, I just need to get as far away as possible. I would put it this. Right before I turned the corner to walk into the newsroom,

I smelled and I was thinking, who's drinking? I p A S. I could not only tell it was a beer, I could tell specifically it was an I p A. My favorite thing was, you know, danst does anyone anywhere in the crowded, packed news room filled with people, very able bodied people, anyone making any effort to clean it up at all? No, was the answer. Not a not a person. Until I went down there, nobody had touched the crime scene. I drama. Drama in the newsroom. Right.

We have a lot to at to today, and we have teams remaining undefeated and looking damn good and doing so and a crushing bit of injury news that will get too early in the show. Uh So let's get to work. We have uh to start somewhere and we decided in the sligh where there was no game that really Gregg jumped out at us as a pure lead

the show. Maybe give the Niners shine. So let's do funny seven of three lead down to funny seven jet sweet motion of Sanders and side hand off to Debo second level touch down Cisco Gibo Samuel's on the inside and say him because that's what Carolina is looking at, and you get it to the finisher, Deebo Samuel. The San Francisco forty Ninos radio network, Greg Papa with a call to have an Coleman scored three of his four touchdowns in the first half, and oh my goodness, Dick Bosa,

you are a star. At three sacks and a leaping interception the Niners. They stay on beatt fifty burger over the Panthers. West Carolina came into the Big Bell Bottom riding a four game winning streak, but they didn't have a chance against the Niners team playing like a juggernaut.

Since the forty Niners Week four by they have treated Baker Mayfield like a pinata, given Jared Goff the worst start of his career, I think, even including the Jeff Fisher era, shut out the Redskins and now probably took the starting job away from Kyle Allen and Carolina with a three interception, seven sack performance that also included missing Curtis Samuel open in the end zone for an early touchdown opportunity. Um, this is just a dominating defense right now.

I know the Patriots are right up there with the forty Niners. Is the two best defenses in football this year. And the offense, you know, we've been saying, oh year, this is not really a quarterback driven offense. It's a running game driven offense. And you can throw Kyle Shanahan's scheming in there with it. He had some brilliant place today, including an inside handoff off off I think a wing T formation for Deebo Samuel, a wide receiver that went

for twenty yards. This was a complete undressing. We've said a few times this year already. The forty Niners have just unleashed a wall to wall butt kicking on teams, the Bengals in Week two, the Browns, the Rams, and then this was another one with the Panthers wearing their ninety fourth throwback uniforms to it all. It all felt right in the San Francisco. People on Twitter or wherever

that are on the they haven't beaten anyone. Train in general should take a look at the traits of Super Bowl champions over the years, and the most common trait that there is is that you beat down bad teams. That's how you separate great teams from good teams. The good teams have close games, and the forty Niners will have a lot of close games, I'm sure down the stretch when they play some of the better teams. But the way that you know you're a great team is

that you win convincingly. And the Panthers came into this game as a top five defense in terms of d v a A, in terms of efficiency, especially good against the past. They were efficient throwing the ball today. The forty Niners were against Carolina. So you don't need to see anymore. I mean, San Francisco and New England through the first half of the year are ahead of the pack. I don't think it's gonna stay that way, but there's nothing you can do to discount what they they have.

A commoll I hope that ridiculous. You haven't played anyone chanting on Twitter just has died down at this point because you did play someone when you played Cleveland and beat them the way that you did, because that team can run the ball and that defense shut them down entirely. Hip the Rams, you allowed ten points in three weeks before this game, and I thought that the Panthers to give up third team points them not a great offense at all, but to devastate them the way you did.

The Panthers me. We're a wild card team and may still be so. I don't these ridiculous ideas that you have to go out and beat a six and one team every week is ridiculous. They are the team. Someone come challenge them. They're leaving everyone devastated when when the game is over, devastated, with every coach having to answer a ton of questions, they keep playing with the lead, to which you know is perfect for the style that

they play. Maybe we'll see something different when another team forces him to play from behind, but it's been it's been a formula. There has been dominant. Manuel Sanders made an instant impact. He had a touchdown four catches. George Kittle for the third time I believe the season had a touchdown wiped out by a penalty on the Niners, so that that's thanks for him, but he is on a weekly basis, he is such a monster for them.

But yeah, this is a game where they piled up two hundred and thirty two yards on the ground there seven and oh, this is the highest scoring game for San Francisco in twenty six years. And also my favorite stat of week eight Leman score a gami as they call it. This was the first final in NFL history, and it's got it's got to be one of the only times in NFL history that a pair of brothers put up five sacks, a couple of turnovers forced between

Nick and Joey Bosa. We'll get to Joey later, but Nick Bosa with his three sacks and the interception, you can talk about West. I just think at this point, I've thought about him as a defensive rookie of the year can at this point and I said I think last week that I think he's right there with the

best pass rushers in football. He started out a little slow because of his injury in terms of snaps played, but we're still very early in the season and I think he has a chance to go on and be talked about as one of the best defensive players in the in the league and be in the mix for that award, especially when one are those players and we'll get to in a bit that is vying for that coveted title. Defense Player of the Year is no longer in the mix in Houston. Um three first half sacks

just for him alone, six for the team. UM that athletic inter oception he had off a deflected past his own deflected pass. Uh in the second half. This has been multiple games. He has just absolutely taken over and demolished the offensive tackle in front of him. It has happened over and over again. You have to put him in the mix for Defensive Player of the Year when there's no clear cut front runner. I think Cameron Jordan is a guy people like for that award. You always

have Aaron Donald Um put him in there. Look at the talent they've had on the defensive line, and they've been frankly subpar before he got there. And now Eric Armstead is playing like a pro bowler, and that that whole defensive line is just flat out incredible. And I think you on a day when the Falcons owner is talking about how disappointed he is in his team and he'll review the coaching staff in a couple of weeks. You have to ask yourself, if we're gonna start seeing teams,

not let these offensive minds out of the building. I know Kyle Shanahan is special, and you know he's up there with McVeigh. Don't let him out of the building. You have to ask yourself when a guy like that it is going to be poached, is your figurehead head coach who's just doing nothing more than instilling culture more important than your brilliant offensive mind. Before we move on, we love our old friend Dick Stockton. We we had some good Stockton audio for you guys at the four

on the return and with a flag down. Nope, sorry, that was just someone's hot dog wrapper on the field. Dickie Stockton, Rich Stockton at the call. Let's move on.

I can see how that can happen. Wentz the gun glints hits it off again and when I got the middle picking up the first town of Moore at the fully thirty ft fully at sad there's funny fu funny fifty tu fun flick Stone his first enter for a rushing judgdown and he out runs everybody, leaving all of the Shirts in this week for his first NFL Touchdow you have been waiting for that time. Time now for Road to Victory presented by the United States Spreen Corps.

Can you say statement win? Yes, Greg, that's a statement win. Miles Sanders the play of the game. That's sixty five yard run to put the Eagles in control. They kept, they kept, they stayed in control a huge over the Bills in Buffalo. The Eagles scored three touchdowns on the ground, piled up two d eighteen rushing yards against that Bill's defense. It's the most the Bills have allowed on the grounds

two pats back in late December. And this to me for the Eagles is the type of wind that can catapult a team out of mediocrity, which is where they've been mired in um this season. And we'll see. We'll see now because the Eagles have teased us before and let us think that they're ready to do it. And we'll find out down the road because the next four weeks UH includes thereby and then three home games Bears, Pats, Seahawks, so we'll see if they're ready to play with the

big boys in their building. But for today, there's nothing you could say, but praise for a team that dealt with a lot of drama during the week. We'll get

into that a little bit later. But to come out of this game and really put it on Buffalo, a game that was tight and low scoring early on the big play of the game, Josh Allen about two minutes to go in the first half, fumbles, the ball gets recovered, Eagles turned that into a touchdown at a two point conversion to take the lead, and that, to me is when things kind of changed. Miles Sanders then has that run in the third quarter and they kind of coast

from there. So after a week of drama, after ugly losses to the Vikings and Eagles, just a huge win for Philadelphia. It's like the Eagles remind you how long this season is and how it flip flops from week to week. Because are there the team. I feel like our impression of them has altered from one end of the spectrum of the next. It raises for me on the Buffalo front, just a general concern that has been voiced on the show before is they aren't an explosive offense.

They are very much anchored on their running quarterback and when he's gonna turn the ball over and flip flop the points the way he did. You nailed it with that when they went up eleven to seven there, Buffalo. How did they get out of those jams? They're also like the Niners, a team that's only going to climb out to these records when they're up early and their defense doesn't allow anyone on the other team to have an explosive afternoon the way that Miles Sanders did today.

And and there's their formula going to work if the defense isn't dominant. This is two straight weeks in a row. They've not been dominant. We've been giving them kind of a pass except for Greg We've been giving them a pass at quarterback while Josh Allen develops, but he's not developing fast enough. If the defense isn't gonna shove they were they were twelfth inefficiency defensively. They're giving up going into this game, giving up a lot of long drives

and then end up making the plays. But there's someone where I do think you can look at the strength of some of the offenses that they've gone against and it's gonna get tougher. They have some easy wins but what's the idea here? Are you're trying to sneak into the sixth seed, You're trying to do a little more. I think if you're the Eagles, they're obviously trying to

do a lot more. And we asked going into this game, what's their identity like If they're giving up big plays in the running game and they're not malling people in terms of their offensive plane, who are they? And that is how they won today. I mean, they did a lot less under center today with Carson Wentz where they basically do shotgun every play. They they you know, handed the ball to Jordan Howard, who has been one of their most effective players. He did really well. They run

for two eighteen yards. They do a good enough job shutting down Frank Gore and Devin Singletary, and I still think they need to have an explosive element to their offense in terms of the passing game. They haven't done that. Didn't really do a ton of that today, But what a huge win. You get the Bears next week and then you're buy you can if you can get into the buy five and four your love and life. I like that too, but I'm not sure that I trust today's game as a launching pad for this to can

the consistent Eagles. I could still see them being nine and seven or even seven and nine, depending on what happened. Yeah, I mean that's what I'm saying too. It's like they've teased us a couple of times this year where you think, oh, now they're ready to take flight, and then it doesn't happen. And in a in a better world, they had have a soft schedule coming up where they can start to stack wins and gain confidence, but they will continue to

face some of the better teams in the league. I thought it was interesting because I do, I do put stock into this stuff sometimes that Orlando Scandrick, who was with the team. Of course, he gets let go and he goes on FS one and trashes the team and says straight up that the Eagles are you know, that teams living off their Super Bowl win and how you know, basically trying to let the world know how toxic the

locker room is. And they the Eagles, you know, to a man, rallied around uh their coach and the and the and the team and and then they deliver this performance. So I think that I think there's some connective tissue there, And I think it's important when you're veteran players play their best and lead the way. That's kind of most

important thing you can do. Their best players today we're Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham and Malcolm Jenkins, all of whom, especially Jenkins, probably haven't played to the level that they have in the past. And even even Cox, I think has been a tick below where where he's been. So those guys just playing better and playing the kind of their standard would be huge, and that bill a bulletin board material. The players only team meetings can have a

galvanizing effect. We've seen it happen before. But it doesn't always have staying power. It might just be a one week, one or two things. Well, hopefully a team doesn't need that to get up every week. But you never know, alright, you never know. I know some people know, some people don't. All Right, here we go, there's another undefeated team. Oh and by the way, I should say, that was the Road to Victory presented by the United States Marine Corps.

Now we talked about one undefeated team. Let's talk to let's talk about another. Brady takes the staff looks over the middle of the falls in the pocket. Now he starts from all to his right, he ends up and touchdown. Patriots, Why are you going to the pocket? Greg? Composure by the quarterback care prepended? When you give the Scott time Portree York touchdown, Bob Socie and Scott Zilla. Is Scott lacks voice deteriorating from screaming all the time? Now? Is

that what's happening that? Or there may be other reasons, but I would I would put that at the top of the list. I won't, I won't. Oh one more thing. By the way, p FT reported that the Eagles are pursuing something fun quote something fun ahead of Tuesday's trade demo that came from Greg's former buss Mike Gloria. Anyway, the Patriots are halfway to perfection. In the regular season.

Tom Brady connected with Julian Edelman for two touchdowns in New England's dominating defense had yet another touchdown of its own and to ten win over the Browns and soggy Foxborough. Greg. The Browns at least put up a fight, but this was another rather easy victory Bill Belichick's career. Yeah, seventeen first quarter points and then the Browns never really made

it a game. There was a moment where it was a one score game and they had a third intent to try to get off the field, and that's the moment they hit James White for a long screen pass, which it just seems like the Patriots have come up with those plays. And at some point I'm watching this Patriots offense and and all the turnovers, and I almost thinking like, are they lucky? Because they are getting lucky

on some level. The three turnovers on three successive plays in the first quarter, that is just an outrageous thing to happen. And you can look at each play and break it down and see a lucky element to each one. On one of Brown's offensive lineman kicks the ball out of Nick Chubb's hand, but he did it because Kyle Bennoy pushed him into it, so it's luck and residue. On one, Chubb fumbled it after a really long game, but Jonathan Jones made a great, you know play in

pursuit uh to go get him. And then the last one, which I think Browns fans are gonna have a hard time, you know, living with, is a shovel pass that Baker Mayfield somehow, you know, gets intercepted on Lawrence Guy, But that sure looked like a play where the Patriots kind of knew what was coming and got in the way

and it hit him in the helmet. And so when these two teams play, it's like it's luck and design kind of matching because one team is so sloppy with thirteen penalties and the Browns and one team kind of has everything in order, even if their offense isn't nearly where it wants to be. Isn't that isn't that part of the And you could point through the years things that weren't so lucky for the Patriots, but isn't for

people that are so sick of the Patriots. Part of the explanation of a nutshell that not only the best team, the best coach with the best quarterback, that they seem to get the breaks sometimes. Right. I don't mean to say that any of this is because they're like, it's because they're kind of putting themselves in position to do that. And and and the Browns in this game especially just had it was us like they were before the bye

in terms of shooting themselves in the foot. Odell Beckham dropped the key pass on third down that ended to

driving just a lot of little things. I think the Browns could have used the bye week now for the exercise of Freddie Kitchens on down, examining who they went up against, and the fact that on every single possible way from the way that the players stood on the sideline, they showed an instance where the Browns were in trouble because they had players in front of that yellow stripe and on the Patriots sideline they're robotically like a military

militia lined up uh, perfectly, and and that that's that's excessive. But there are examples, probably two or three hundred of them in today's game, if you really were able to drill down bit by bit where Belichick has his players prepared for every instance, which looks to us. I think sometimes like Luck and Cleveland could not get out of

their own way. And I don't you know, when when the balls kicked out of Nick Chubb's hands, that's not on Nick Chubb, who looked absolutely dynamic and powerful today and looks like the best Brown's running back they've had in deck Aids. At the same time, they're always about fifty to sixty there, like you see the you see the potential, and that doesn't mean anything in November where

we were rolling into November. Now in the NFL, Cleveland is still figuring out how to work together, and that to me is the sign of suspect naive uh still in development coaching? Did you We talked with Joe Thomas last week and he had hinted that the Browns did look different, not offense. I know it's started terribly, but did they did? Did the bye week lead to any

changes in terms of how they attacked the opponent? We talked to him tonight and I think that Joe Thomas thought he'd see the change that he mentioned, which would be quicker released for Baker Mayfield, but also a lot less mental errors, and I thought they did. There were. I came away from this game not in a total doo mcgloom scenario, thinking this team, with the schedule I have down the stretch, can improve. I don't know what that's gonna mean, um, but they didn't look that. To me.

The staple of this Cleveland team has been hideous mental errors, where you're seeing other teams lesser team's talent wise grow out of that. Cleveland has not. Well. They were They're leaning into the running game, which I think they should do, making some big plays for Chubb, some creative looks. Chubb ran really well. I think they want to do short passing.

We joined, you know, as you said, Joe Thomas and Andrew Hawkins on their show that the Tomahawks show, uh tonight, and they were so disappointed because they're they're doing the short passing in theory to eliminate some mistakes and have things be in rhythm, and they weren't in rhythm. You know, you still had that interception, you still had the O. B J drop at a at a key spot. You

weren't you know, making explosive plays down the field. And you have to give a you know, a ton of credit to to Stephan Gilmour who was guarding Beckham and the rest of the Patriots defense. Any other thoughts on this game? Job? I did hear Mark remains undefeated in his first quarter uh pronunciations? He pronounced this game over? What the blank? Was that? All? Right? This thing's over

late first quarter of attend to nothing game. Well, that could have been applied, honestly, more to this Browns game than than any in a long time, because they just well again it's sixteen penalties and three turnovers. That is twenty instances. That that that completely foiled my optimism. Uh this afternoon there. It was a tough game to watch and a lot like to not watch without you know, just zip through the commercials and move on with your guy.

That's the one thing where the Browns have never let you down. When you make the pronouncement that it's over, it usually is. I think I lost that once. I think I'm about and one. And the crazy thing is they you watched the game, they didn't look like on even teams they Brown's average more yards for play. They were about the same in yardage. The Browns I thought won the line of scrimmage when they were on offense. Uh so you're both saying they just got really outcoached. Yeah,

they got out there. They had two terrible but they also have the far better quarterback. I mean that cannot be understated the Browns. Yes, the Browns do. Tom Brady is playing at a much higher level than Baker Mayfield is. Right now, I thought you were saying the opensite, Tom Brady, I think is playing really well. And this is the point I you know, tried to make that the what's going on around him. They didn't have Shack Mason today. They didn't have it, so they didn't have their left tackle,

their center, or the right guard. They have most of new who comes in place. Twenty five snaps made a couple of catches. The running game has been the worst running game they've had in a long time, and they're

passing game is not explosive. But you know, he whenever they've needed a play like that touchdown when he gets outside the pocket, or it's McDaniels calling up a screen on third and ten when they're backed up and it's a one score game, or they when they have a played a door set where they only try like once the whole game, but they hit it down the field.

I think Brady has been making those plays. He's not where he is before, but PFF, going into this week having about the seventh quarterback and link it sounds about right to me and I and people have been kind of saying down things on him because their offense is definitely way worse than it's been since too. That he's the perfect set up right now. I mean, if he's not Tom Brady the super duper star anymore, but he's like the best. He's an elite game manager a little

higher than that. With this defense, I mean it makes it's a terrifying prospect, the idea of the Pats having an all time defense with late period Tom Brady not making any mistakes and lording over the offense. Are your number one speed and everyone else get out of the way. And in a conference that outside of the maybe the Ravens, who's gonna who's gonna touch? I think the offense will will get better as the season goes, and we'll get into it more on Thursday with our preview show. Mark.

But at Denver next week, Cleveland go win a ballgame or we might have to put your six ft under. So he's like the six ft under game next week. Well, because I don't Again, you know, Greg asked about the pills. What is the goal? Does Cleveland actually view themselves the playoff team? I don't at this point, but I think they can contend they this is a big game. Lose to Denver, and I'm sorry because I've been killing Denver, we all have for various reasons. You go to losing

to an incomplete team under game. Yeah, So Brady is Chad Pennington with like Merlin the Wizard's brain. Right now, it's a nice arm sling it all right, Let's move one. Takes the guns out, was back looking to throw to balls. Canland tributes very contemptive into the young Um touchdown. Murray's team yards called the pitching catch mured The Saints take a sixteen and six league Zach Streep, Saints Radio Network, Drew Brees, this turn this up, bring play the soul

day long in my house. Please. It's like the Native seven in kingcom on Skull Island or something. All right, you can turn Drew Brees passed for three seventy three yards and three touchdowns in his first game in more than five weeks thumb surgery and the Saints six in a row now to nine victory over the Cardinals were overmatched. Mark the Saints and that Arizona three game winning streak. We expected that. The bigger question is how in his

first action in a long time. Well, it's an interesting game to come off of the Tom Brady conversation because Breeze, to me, there's some similar stuff. That's you did a nice job off setting those back to back Breeze is also operating neck up the way you'd expect, And he didn't show to me any remnants of holding the ball differently or anything like that. Off of the thumbs. The thumb surgery, he did have that brace on it, and he still loves to. Whenever he's on the sideline, he's

fiddling with his thumb NonStop. We know, you know, it's like you went through a thumb thing that's good, but they are not. They're a bit different, and it's it's it.

I didn't. I feel like Sean Peyton did not go out of his way to change the offense a whole lot from the Teddy Bridgewater experience in the sense that Latavius Murray at thirty touches and twenty one of those are on the ground, but nine were through the air where the screen game is still and that's this has been a Sean Payton trade, but even more now with Sean with the Drew brees Um. I think limitations in terms of downfield throwing, which West has been hitting, you know,

going back to last season. I think it's just an understood reality at this point. To some degree, He's still a sharp thrower. He can hit guys on wheel routes and do it unlike anyone else, but they're under they understand who their quarterback is. He's still threw the ball forty three times for three seventy three yards. But I would say the box go watch it. Maybe maybe I got stuck on this early, but I just felt like his stats were not what I was seeing on the field.

And it's not a knock on Breeze. They're very versatile. I think they're still one of the best coach teams in the league, and that this game, to me, was just just as much about their defense putting the clamps on an interesting Cardinals offense, but one that again cannot They got down to the Saints thirteen yard line twice and were held to field goals, and then from there the wheels kind of fell off. They could not get

the running game going. Then Chase Edmonds got hurt, and they they had Alfred Morris, who they signed wasn't even active. They just had nothing on the ground, and the Saints also shut down Kyler Murray on the ground, So a triple dimensional offense went down to a zero dimensional offense. So Levin carries a forty yards on the ground, and they we talked about most of that coming in the

last five eight yards from their running back. Yeah, we we talked about it on Thursday and someone that put it out there, um, a media person perhaps that, Um, they're very hard team to to plan for. Now the Cardinals, who's at eight? Greg Olson, Greg Olsen, And it's like, well, let's see what happens when you go to the Superdome, And that's exactly what happened. I mean against they. Arizona was playing some of the worst teams in football and

the Saints are one of the very best teams. And now with Drew Brees there, they you know, when you look at you don't want to get too crazy with the big picture, but like, who can beat the Patriots is usually the way I look at football. But the Saints the way they are currently, uh presently constituted with with Drew back, they have a shot. No one sneaking

out of this NFC. This is a strong conference at the top, absolutely, and and I think the Saints keep building confidence, getting better and playing more complete football as this season goes along. Latavius Murray was a great signing and we weren't all that excited by it, but they haven't missed mark Ingram at all and sometimes you know the old saying, you're you're one injury away from a

better team. Chauncey Gardner Johnson, their fourth round rookie comes in and plays nickel Beck because p J. Williams got hurt. He really caught my eye last week and had a couple of passes defense today. Uh that that guy should probably keep the job. That's three straight weeks he's been awesome. And I'm not saying they got better with Drew Brees out, but they did learn about their team absolutely, and I

think that's to their advantage. We when he got hurt, we we said, well, he's got six games of four the bye. If they can just go three and three, you know, maybe that they'll be fine. And here now they're going to there By on a six game winning streak, and they are. I mean, there's not much of a favorite difference between them and the fort and you know, whoever else heroin. There's a lot of good teams in the NFC, but I mean, I think it's the best

Saints team I've seen. But I mean, through half a season, how completely they have the best Their offensive line is incredible, They have the best tackle combination and the best defense. Drew Brees has ever had. So if they're if their offense is just very very good like it's been, I can't disagree with you more on them, you mean, ever compared to what compared to their best teams when Drew Brees was in his prime, Jimmy Graham was in his prime,

Darren Sprowls was in his prime. There they were rolling over. Their offense was great, but that they had a below after brought that whole run that was all on turnovers and they and they turn over in THEFS tonight. I mean best or not. I think that you're looking at the best coaching. It's the same way that Belichick is coaching in in a in a different world. I feel that way about Sean Payton, and they're more complete team

than they've been in the past. And then the league where it's teams are up and down and and have a hard time sustaining success, especially after making the Super Bowl other than the Patriots, Like this is three straight years they've been one of the best five teams in the league. It's kind of their turn and then they come out of there. By then Drew Brees gets more time to uh get right. I don't think you should have played on something. But you know, that's a different conversation.

They get the Falcons at home cupcake. They go to Tampa about another cupcake. By the way, the Panthers aren't catching up with them. This team is gonna be rolling. This is a fourteen two team. I think, all right, let's let's keep moving. First and goal at the nine. The Shawan castle the ball, here's the snap. Watson looking pocket collapsing, want to try to get away. He talks to the right brow to the ASA talkie. Fells magical touchdown Houston and the Texans take the lead, and Watson

has shake it up at the fifteen face down. I don't know if as he was going down he got a cleat or he got hit in the face as he was going down, but that's what they seemed to be looking at right here. They got kicked enough ice right in the eye. Mark Vandermere and Andre Ware with the call Texans Radio network. But he's all right, he's

all right, Sean Watson would not be denied. The Texans quarterback escaped the sure sack, then found Darren Fells for that touchdown, the deciding score over those frisky Oakland Raiders on that touchdown pass. Yes, Watson took the clee to the eye. It was nearly swollen. I love this guy. This's Deshaun Watson. Hey, he's a player. Hey, dog, he's a player that I was nearly swollen shut on the last possession for Houston when they were trying to run

out the clock. So you would think, oh, maybe hand the ball off three times to Carlos Hide or Duke Johnson try to get a first alf that Bill O'Brien, who I liked the game, he called in general calls for passes and and and Watson throws two touchdown throws for two more first downs, clinches the game. However, J J.

Watt and here's the bummer of it all. J J. Watt was ruled out with a shoulder injury, uh midway through the game, and then rap Sheet came out with the report that the Texans feared it was a torn peck I would end a season, and then J. J. Watt hopped on Twitter and confirmed it. Here's what Watt had to say. This game could be beautiful and it can also be brutal. Absolutely gutted, gutted that I won't be able to finish the season with my guys and give the fans what they deserve. I truly love this

game and can't stand letting you guys down. Thank you for all of the thoughts and well wishes. That is the third time in four seasons what ends the season on I R and obviously a devastating loss for the Texans, who, as we know Greg Rosenthal have gone all in on twenty nineteen. Well, now they don't have their best player on defense, and I thought J. J. Watt played the last two weeks probably as well as he's played since

any of those injuries hit. And he you know, he said it himself and and I trust that judgment going into it. That makes it tough because I think the Texans had been shaping up as one of the main A f C challengers. I also don't think they're necessarily

done without him, because ultimately they're an offensive team. Now they've changed, they they are an offensive team this year, probably a little too much weighted towards offense for Romeo Cornell's like, and I think he's probably thought this defense is underachieved a little bit through the first seven or eight weeks. And now Deshaun Watson's gonna have to put more on his back. He said, they're they're the worst

team obviously without him, And we already knew. The Patriots and the Chiefs I think went healthy, but especially the Patriots. You were talking again, who can beat the Patriots. The Texans West needed all the help they could get, and they needed J. J. Watt to be peak Watt, and now he is absent for the rest of the season. It's crushing. Well, we know the pass rush and the secondary is sort of interconnected in football. The secondary relies on that pass rush to hurry the quarterback, and this

secondary is the weak spot on the team. We've been saying that since August. It's bypassed. The offensive line is the biggest trouble spot and it's not getting any better. They do have a good backup. The rookie Charles and Many who who we've talked about a few times, is a good backup. He's just not you know J. J. Watt, who, like Greg said, was he was in the running for Defensive Player of the Year this year. I mean, just to back the truck up a few yards. Fun team

like them a lot. Don't even talk to me about them. Challenging the Patriots in January. There they are the quintessential Dictionary definition of Patriots fodder. I mean they are enjoyable and I think that they could win a playoff game, no doubt. But the minute they hit New England, it's over. They have I mean they can throw a lot ie offensively, especially yeah, with Will Fuller and the way they're running. And for Watson, I mean, you can't play. I have

a hard time counting him out in any game. You can't play a better half than they did. Offensively, they only had the ball four times along field goal drive and then touchdown, touched down, and then the three first downs with onion. Uh. Play calls and conversions. I mean, it's one thing to have the play call, it's another thing for Watson running to his right, throwing to his left, Darren Fells makes a one handed catch. I mean, these

guys are executed. Are three guys that cannot get hurt on the Texans wats and what Laramie Tunsel who also exited this game the left the DeAndre Hopkins of course as well, but um Laramie Tunsel, who um has played great left tackle since coming over in that trade. He exited with a shoulder injury, and I'm actually doing some web searching right now looking for updates on that. But he left the game. He was questionable but did not return, so you got to keep an eye on that as well.

So and really it was a nice win again the Raiders. I'll give the Raiders this there. I don't think they're a great team. I don't think they're gonna be a playoff team either, but week after week they're showing that they can hang with good teams, whether in their building or on the road. It's undeniable progress for John Gruden and and they nearly pulled this game out as a credit to Deshaun Watson and Deshaun Watson magic that Houston

managed to steal this game. And I imagine because Watson so special, that they aren't doomed uh and aren't gonna be an eight and eight team or something now going forward. I still think they are going to win that division personally, but that's a devastating loss. They're the most electric team in that division, no doubt. I would put the Raiders though, as one of the nice surprises of the season. I

don't care what the record is right now. The scope of potential disaster in Oakland with a the team and its finally season in in in Oakland before they go to Las Vegas, and what was going on with Antonio Brown and just you throw in the asterix of John Gruden maybe melting by now, and it is worked out on a team with very few weapons. On offense, they're really good. It's offense, but the defense they're not going to get stops when there Derek Carr had another good game.

I know you haven't put a lot into this, Greg, but earlier in this season, to me, it did feel like this was an audition year for whether Gruden and and and Car would move forward together. And right now it feels like it's a really good bond because they do move the ball on offense, they do a nice job. I'm the I was the one that suggesting Car might be out of there, and I'm still not sir that

like Gruden couldn't become someone else. But but the Car is basically telling me to go f myself with that. Back your car up. Yeah, if I had one, you would to say he's a good Christian man. By the way, he would never use that type of language, that performative language. You're right, he might say, back your car up, though, back your own car up. It's a it's a year of progress for them, absolutely all right, let's uh, let's move forward. It's gonna be from the left, hash pan

Yarro for the win. The Chargers check his up and it is no good that Chargers win. No good pan Yaro misses, and the Chargers losing streak comes to an end. They make just enough place to get out of Chicago with a victory. Pan Yaro ends up pulling it left our boy Matt money Smith, the voice of the Chargers, with the call in January. It was the double doink

on Sunday. It was simply a whiff to the left of the upright by Eddie Piniero, who's missed from forty one yards out doomed the Bears to a seventeen sixteen loss. That's three consecutive defeats for the Bears and the end of a three game skid for the Chargers. I'd say are pretty much all even now, even Stephen with the football gods. After last week's to backle against the Titans. Greg, you know you can point the finger in a lot of directions to this one. But Matt Naggy to me,

went full herm edwards in this one. Yeah, why are we accepting forty one yard field goals at the buzzer in two thousand nineteen and then defending it after the game like the reporters were basically accosting Matt Negle, Like, how dare they even question the fact that he had forty four seconds on a defense They had just moved the ball on very quickly and the time out and you have a kicker in Pinero hasn't played much in the league. And oh, by the way, missed the thirty

three yards perrow earlier in the game. Let's listen to the exchange, the contentious exchange between Bears head coach and local and national media. I'll just be brutally clear. Zero thought of throwing a football, zero thought of running the football. You understand me. That's exactly what it was. So it's as simple as that. Could you explain to give why not running the ball? What? What? What was? Should I just say that? Yeah? Just what I say? What? Was it? Fumble?

And when they know you're running football, you lose three or four yards? That was Matt Naggy. No, no, no, you ran for a hundred and sixty two yards. In this game, you have professional football players and professional blockers. You hypothetically believe in your team. So the idea of being afraid to run the ball since the worst message, and then double downing double you know, double downing on it in the double down, double downing, doubling down, doubling

in the press conference. It's just such a bad look. He needs to go see a shrink after that. He's he he is. It's almost like, well, we can just point at the kicker being the problem when he wasn't because the play calling and the quarterback it's all married here. The end of the first half sequence to me, was actually a bigger fiasco, uh than the end of the game. They had five plays I believe inside the five at the end of the first half. They end up running

out of time and kicking a field goal. They had nine plays inside the five in the first half and three more inside between the six and the ten. They didn't score a touchdown on any of them, and some of those, Mitchell Trabinsky had plenty of time and Bears fans are all in my mention saying, well, the play calling, the play called, every play that Trabinsky made today, and he played better today. He made some throws, he got

them in position. There were first reads, two guys who were wide open, and so that to me is play calling. Those are the only players you're getting. And yes, Trabinsky, everyone said, well, he put him in position to win. You know what else he did. He lost them the game with ninety two to go. And sometimes you get so focused at the end of the game. Here's a

sequence for you, sixteen to ten. At this point, I want to go on too long, but it's all right, all right, at this point in the game, it's sixteen to ten, it's nine thirty two left to set the scene. Rabinsky had just thrown a backbreaking pick uh just a couple of minutes before that set the Chargers up in field goal range, and the Bears defense stuffed them three and out and the Chargers missed the kick. So let's give the ball back to Mitch. Let's try to go

win the game. You know what Matt Naggie did right there, He got his wide receiver. I believe it was Anthony Miller isolated on Thomas Davis, who's been in the league for sixteen years, streaking down down the field wide open against uh young wide receiver, and you know what Trabinsky does. He overshoots him by about fifteen yards. I mean, there was so much margin for air. What happened the very next play he lost a fumble by running into the

opposing defender. The Chargers punch in that touchdown like those, that's where the game is lost, is when you're just missing gimmes. Other quarterbacks are gonna hit. And just to make it clear so people know exactly the circumstances, um Travisky late names scrambled um for eleven yards to get to the Chargers twenty didn I stop setting them up?

Overall good drive the Chargers, so stopping the clocks clock at forty three seconds and then at first and ten from the Chargers twenty one, with the time out in their pocket, they decided to kneel on the football. So really it came down to running football once and maybe it doesn't go anywhere. That's essentially uh what Naggie is saying that either run into a wall for a loss, maybe worth it, or maybe you break off a twelve yard run for for a chip shot, or you score.

Who knows, it's what you do that when you have no confidence in your quarterback to execute six yard throw when they had a bunch of third there were a couple of third and long situations where they basically had give up plays in the game, and in a lot of the play call inside the ten yard line were like that. So if you have so little confidence in your quarterback, do you play the veteran caddy or do you say I need I still need more time to

evaluate mitts Dubinski. What we what we paid in draft picks to get him, we gotta we get we need eight more games to evaluate it. Well, I guess why would you not? Well, I'm down on Mitch Drabinsky, but I would take the time to evaluate because otherwise you are learning about a quarterback that is not your future at all in your backup. It's tough to give up on Rabinsky until he gives you absolutely no other choice. But I think he's he's getting there. That the tricky

thing if you're if you're naggy. I think they've won some games where they maybe have gotten a little lucky. This game, they were the better team. I mean, their defense shut the Chargers down. They outgained them by a hundred and fifty. They moved the ball. They ran it really well. Your boy, David Montgomery West had had his best game of the year, and it was really just a couple of plays Rivers made and Joey Bosa making really uh well time sacks on third down that kept

the Chargers in it. But that the Bears blew this one. And because I'm a monster, I asked Ricky to call pull the Bears radio call of the final seconds of the game. Let's listen, come on, Operations, gotta be smooth, Captoric Scales. I'm the ball dish for a Bears win. Donald kicked by Eddie kick. He's a little good he missed it. As time expires seventeen sixteen, the win thought it was good. Operation Smooth twisted it away left and the Chargers in their three losing streak. Jeff, it's good

to know there. You know other people in the world are miserable about it. It does seem like we paid the price watching these television feeds week after week, because what's coming through the radio feeds are about fifteen times Juice here, let's move on. Matthew's got it talk sweet Lake Soger, mckissic he clos it back to Stafford. Stafford

Gona keeping field. He's that knydown receiving, said, I thought he made it, kissing who made my brother's Stafford Stafford through a deep field to Coliday, how that the blind swards? What are they talking over? They got your highlight, got four weeks worth of compliments out of us on your team. Deal with it, Dan Miller with the call, Matthew Stafford through three toughs. And by the way, the lines are not the team around the N five seen some people

that's used about that. I can see why people were confused based on the conversation not really being buttoned up at the end, but they definitively are not them anyway. Matthew Stafford threw three touchdowns too, of them to star wide receiver Mac Holliday, and the Lions ended a three game losing to get a win over the Giants at Ford Field. Mark. We commanded the Lions to go win a football game at home on Sunday. They honored our demand. They stay in the picture. They took care of business.

I went and read some of the because the game was a little was strange for multiple reasons. I just wanted to see what some of the Detroit writers took out of the win, and a couple kind of seemed dismayed that Detroit needed to as you just saw that highlight used trickery to beat a team as lowly as the Giants. I didn't have a problem with any of this because if you're Detroit, just find a way to

get this thing done. And they effectively. They They got the game going well on their first defensive touchdown of the year, where Daniel Jones did what he's gonna do once a game, a vicious strip sack where the ball floated around and then Devin Kennard rolled it in for a sixteen yeard touchdown to go up seven nothing. Giants bounced back very well from that. I thought that Daniel Jones did something else he's gonna do, which is row two very pretty passes, a couple of scores. Yeah, he

looked good. He he The one thing about him is that he'll make that critical killer era where you might see another quarterback crumble mentally, and Jones does seem to bounce back from that and have a pretty short memory.

The game just became sort of a flip plot between both teams going back and forth and the difference for me is that this year's Detroit Lions, and we saw a little bit of against Green Bay and some weeks going back there, you know, they were such a plotting whether it was passing or running a plotting attack for so long, even though people always like to site their

comebacks in that one season all that stuff. They have explosive play capability and it is Gala day And even Danny A. Mondola today had a couple of big catches Marvin Hall. So Marvin Hall had a big touchdown. So

you know, Detroit their three three and one. They just have that look of a team that's going to be eight seven and one or seven eight and one and drive their writer's nuts week to week and trive expectations if they're high nuts and when you think they're gone, they're gonna win a game like this and hang around. Matthew Stafford is having arguably his best season. You look at the numbers right now, he's fifth in the NFL and qb R. He's on pace to throw thirty five

touchdowns just eight interceptions. He's on pace for another forty seven hundred yards season. And West we have this conversation before the season, and I remember you being maybe not even on the fence, more under of under the impression you know Stafford is not kind of a special guy. Has his play this season changed the way you feel

at all? I think with Stafford he's one of those guys where you always know he's one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league, especially armed talent, but he's never beat good teams. So it's been like a more talented version of Kirk Cousins, and a lot of that's been coaching and surrounding talent and never having a running game. This year, I've been really impressed with him. I've always loved his pocket movement, and as I said earlier year,

I'd love to see him with a better coach. He can't really argue with with what the coaching has done this year. The offense hasn't really been a problem for the long now. I think Darryl Buble has done a good job there. You know, they don't have much of a running game now without Carrie and Jones. I do wonder Carrie Kenyan Drake was held home by the Miami Dolphins. He's getting moved for Monday night and so he's not

injured so they're they're clearly looking to trade him. I think there will be a lot of trades that feels like a low cost trade that would maybe help the Lions. Well and Ian Rappaport are very own noted in a in a post this morning for NFL dot Com that the Lions are specifically interested in adding a running back. So you know, you put all that together, they have the need more than any team in the NFL right now, right they started Tray Carson, who was on the Packers

practice squad and moves like a fullback. So well, I don't know if they started, and but he got the most yards and carries. The Giants are having a player's only meeting tomorrow, so that means their season is officially open. Let's move on third and goal from the eight man you dropped the thrown looks scrambled to his right. Love pump still look still love pump fire for the ends. Well, i'd find the gay chart touts out shark attack in the corner. The jacket extimy, look at you, Frank Frangie.

Frank Frangie, great name, Jags Radio network gardner meansho the second he threw three touchdown passes, including that game clincher to g J sharka shark attack. Why do you pronounce it? Means you? Means you? Yea? I just like it? That okay? On our Thursday wrap up show, what did you how did you pronounce that one word? One? What was it again? I can't quagmire first? Quagmire? You said quagmire? Quagmire? Quagmire? Is? I say, means you? What do you say? Mensho? Better

start saying Winsho. The Jaguars feasted on the jets poorous offensive line, and they're struggling quarterback at the big chlorine tank. The Jags had eight sacks, pressured Sam donald in to three interceptions, including a backbreaking pick midway through the fourth quarter. Meanshoe played incredibly well. He he, I mean he. I was really impressed. I was that you were asking to see something from and where are you now not see something? But I thought that it was with foals, you know,

approaching health. I imagine I'm not like tracking this too closely, but I would think the timetables lining up where he's probably getting closer. Um, if me Andsho put together a few more bangers, it's gonna be very hard slash I possible to take him out. Well, this was a certified banger because he he did all the right things against the Jets. Um and his ability to extend plays was what really stood out to me. And when he extended plays, Um he was able to throw the ball with great touch.

He didn't make mistakes. Um, he looked just a lot. He just looked a lot better than Sam Donald, who it was clearly regressing now and and he has to take a lot of some of that blame because he's making bad mistakes his interceptions. Again, while he didn't look even close to the guy that was totally lost against the Patriots. In fact, on the Jets opening possession, they went ninety yards and he went seven for seven with eighty eight yards in a touchdown pass. So there was progress.

But he also you you see him trying to do too much, and you see the offensive line causing him to throw the ball when he shouldn't be throwing the ball and in general just not going in the right direction. And again, Adam Gaze, his job here was to make Sam Donald better. So San Donald's not getting better and the team looks out classed on a weekly basis. You

just have to start to ask questions. But on the Jaguar side, a nice win, uh Me and Schu looks great and that team is rejuvenated Without Jalen Ramsey and this Jets offensive line is bad, but it's not the only offensive line that has trouble. But with Klaas, Campbell, Yannick and gock Way and Josh Allen who have been excellent this year, this is a reinvigorated defensive front for the Jaguars. They they've beaten up on, you know, some of the lesser teams over the last couple weeks. But

therefore and four in that division is wide open. And the way mins She's playing, I'm with you. I I think if he continues to play like this, not only do you you know, just want to keep winning, and he think that maybe he gives you the best chance to win. You you really want to see what you have in this guy, because this team is not winning the Super Bowl this year most likely, but I think he would will affect the way you think about the quarterback position in the off season if he can play

like this under person. I mean, Minshew is not just did not just outplay Sam Donald today, he is out playing Baker Mayfield this entire season, Josh Allen and everyone from that quarterback class two years ago outside of Lamar Jackson right now, who is a completely just different type of human being on the football field. Why would you if you're if you're Nick Foles and you go in there and you have one of those games where you throw three interceptions, the place, the house is gonna go

literally nuts on you. I I don't think you shake this up until Minshew does what Kyle Allen did, and you know, makes it inevitable for a change. He's totally different, different than Kyle Allen's right well, and falls is I think three weeks away from even being eligible. These things usually work themselves out one way or another. Either he'll just be too obviously good or not. I think the Jets, on the other hand, are in a tricky spot. You know,

they have the new general manager. We've heard some players are available ahead of the trade deadline, but man, they in the first half of this game was two five yards to one oh three. So this this was a game where you went to a three and four team and all the stats say it was fairly one sided. And and now are you gonna are you gonna give away or trade away Leonard Williams and Robby Anderson. And it's just a tough it's a tough spot to be and not like those two guys are gonna sink them

if let's say that they get traded. But it's a tough spot. It's a very tough spot. I suspect what's gonna happen in here. I don't know how the trade deadline shakes out, but this seems to be trending in the direction of a near total tear down, which is of course not optimal considering ay they thought they were going in the right direction this year and started building a roster they thought, and that has all kind of blown up in their face. And it was choppy with

the GM exchange. So I think the Jets are in a very bad spot. But again, you what you've heard about Donald does. Hopefully the Jets don't ruin Sam Donald. And you get so nervous that if Adam Gaye really is going to be this overmatched on a weekly basis, um, is he a guy that you really should consider one and done with and and next week is gonna be big?

Because I think he's still probably somewhat safe. But if you go and you lose to the Dolphins, it's gonna turn into a massive public outcry situation and we'll see what happens at How Jets management deals with that, well, they have a little bit of you know, motivation the Dolphins to stick it to Gaze I got, you know, I don't know what a total tear down means for someone like Levy on Bell, who doesn't look like he did a whole lot today either, but it's it's right.

It's a tough sit I loved it. By the way, just like the Leonard for net box Score every week that's seventy six with a sixty six yards, it's happened like what happened happened? Then nobody has more like six yard losses than that guy. What happens when you're like really good straight ahead but you don't move side to side right, and he seems to think he could bail himself out of trouble when he starts shuffling around, it

just turns into an outright disaster. Right, let's move on, Cooper Cup in motion on the left side, it's a give and now it's an end around a toss back for a fleet flicker and God throws right side out midfield. It's Cooper Cup. The lock split you down the right sideline. He will pick it to do and hand around the reverse talk back fleet clicker for U six. Where did you go to design place like this? J? B Long wests neighbor and M J D of the Rams radio

network have ad at Cooper Cup. The third third year wide receiver caught seven passes for a career best two twenty yards and that touched And you just heard the biggest play. Win four the Rams over the still windless Bengals at Wembley Stadium in London West. The Rams rolled up four hundred and seventy yards of offense in this one. Are they starting to get back on track? I guess you could say that, but they've played two tomato cans

in the last two Falcons and Bengals. The Bengals played borderline respectable football on one side of the ball in each half. They out rushed the Rams. They're much maligned beleaguered will be gone. Ground attack out rushed the Rams in the first half and their defense actually did okay in the second half, but they also dropped three or four interceptions that golf through right to them. Um the Rams. Dante Fowler has four and a half sacks in the last two weeks. He's him on as a force. Cooper

Cup two yards on seven catches. He had five catches of twenty yards in a single half the first half, which was the most and a half since Calvin Johnson eight years ago. This is a testament to the preseason level of cornerbacks that the Bengals are running out there. There is just so much open space in their secondary, a lot of miss tackles, missed interceptions, drops coverage bus It just looks like in August defense right now, because it really is. Their top three cornerbacks are all injured.

The Rams, though, sometimes the schedules, not just the overall drink. This guy just when you get teams they really needed the Falcons and Bengals the last couple of weeks, and they get to their by now coming home from London. They have Jalen Ramsey. They're not running the ball well still even against the Bengals that you know, they don't top a hundred yards. Girly doesn't have a big day, but I do think they're They're in at five and three there next to after the buyer, the Steelers in Bears.

They're not in a terrible spot. They're finding what they've found ways to stay right in the playoff mix without being at their best. They're just gonna have to be a lot better in the second half. Yeah, and just learned to be a committee backfield, because let's stop pretending that anything else is happening with that cast two players right now. I love that Taylor wrapped their second round rookie at safety is now playing full time snaps and leading the team and tackles. I think that might even

be an upgrade over John Johnson there. He is a good player. The one worried coming out of this game, Brandon Cooks was concussed and this is an ongoing issue for him, going back to that big hit he took in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. I don't know how long he'll be out this time. That was that's his fourth concussion since Super both a few weeks ago, we had this conversation that after the third concussion we were getting into danger territory. Austin Collie is

a name that came up. It's a horrible thought because that guy is a star wide receiver when he's right, but he just seems prone to this and it's, uh, it usually doesn't because he's been out cold, when he's been out going back to his days with the Saints. So it didn't even just start at the super Bowl. That's I mean, that's you would be surprised if you saw him again, right he come back this season? To bring him back if he's had two in a month,

I mean, there's a brain injuries. We don't know what the team knows, so we'll defer to them, but it feels and they're going to enjoy this bit move. It's not a bit, it is like interconnected with everything we

do all week long. Let's move up, boy, fank Lust looks who's gonna flow the back and he's a wide open its Metcaff cuts down Seahawks like a buzzer every time we start, and Cooley and calmly dropped that ball over the top to a wide open DK Metcalf and the Seahawks have pushed the Metals all the way down to the floor, leading twenty three nothing Battle to the Metal. Another way to say that, Steve see Hawks Radio Network. D K Metcalf good rookie the watch receiver hooked up

with Russell Wilson for two short touchdowns. Chris Carson added ninety yards on the ground. I had a touchdown as well, win for the Seahawks over the moribund Atlanta Falcons. Greg The Seahawks jumped zip here before coasting to the finish. I guess with Matt Ryan sideline, this was never gonna be a fair fight. It wasn't and yet to go

off the play by plays analogy. You know if if the floor pedal too was to the medal in the first half, they just stuck that thing in neutral and they were trying to save gas and they were just I don't know, they're listening to a podcast. I don't know what Pete Carroll is doing in the second half because we talked. I talked about it going into this game. Can they win a game convincingly by a couple of scores? Or is Pete Carroll gonna keep playing to what he

thinks his team is good at defense and running. It played almost exactly too that Tyler Lockett was unbelievable. All six of his targets for a hundred yards. Some of these catches and throws were just outrageous. You would think Pete Carrold want to see more of that. But what happened in the second half is they ran the ball, had three three and outs, and they played to their defense,

and their defense isn't that good? And you know, I you know, you know when you know your defense and that good when Matt Shop lights you up for four hundred and sixty yards stope sixties that's right, nine yards per attempt. Yeah, but is this we're talking garbage time? Right? Not really? I mean they got it to within one possession, yes, there was. You never felt like the Seahawks were in trouble, and when they were, they made a nice field goal drive.

But they also fumbled the ball at the one yard line in the second half. So this game could have been closer. I'm not calling it garbage time if they had got it close and they fumbled the ball at the one to stop. One way to throw your opponent off is to say, oh, we have match Shop filing in under center. We're gonna throw the ball fifty two times. See how you respected? Yea. They fell behind so early, and he did make some fine throws, he was moving

the ball. He made a couple really big mistakes he still had, you know, some shot. You think it motivates him to hear the endless stream of jokes at match shops, expense filing into the public Twitter sphere all week long, people going, you know, you would never add this guy, and what if someone added this guy to the fantasy team. Good for them, they probably did well. That it's it's kind of a it's a tough moment for Dan Quinn that when Matt Schob comes in and it's like, match Shob,

wasn't your problem. It again, was your defense giving up three straight touchdown. Well, and Arthur Blank, the Falcons owner, who I think has been very obviously very supportive of the whole dan quinn h earth implosion at this point, said that who he was in quotes extraordinarily disappointed in the Falcons season. That is kind of typically code word for changes by ahead. He's I don't, I don't. It

doesn't sound like Quinn's evening to make it to January one. Well, they're here, Yeah, they're here at the bye weeks, and it could be you know, by the time we reconvene Tuesday, we could be talking about it, which would be too bad. It's not like I think this team is gonna suddenly turn around with with any other coach. But I get it, it happened. I could see him. Yeah, well, we have a off season to talk about it. But he seems like a classic go back via d C do a

good job and get a second crack at a guy. Right. I I'm more if I'm a Sax fan, I'm worried. I'm more worried just about the lack of pass um uh rush. Two sacks against this quarterback and Oline Combo fifty two throws. Like if you look at the PF ratings, it's like it's it's great all across the board, and that's a bad sign. Jenevan Clowney had a nice game, except for a bunch of killer penalties, but he he had some pressures. Four quarterback hits, but he had pressures.

But other than that, they're not getting anything. And Ziggians has been a big time free agent. But it was just about that's a total surprise. Though I was gonna say, I just had a curiosity. I clicked into Clowney's numbers and today was just the second sack of the season. I guess he's just never gonna be a guy that

puts up huge. He's made it. He's been a very valuable addition to We hear that about him every year, which I'm not I'm not de meeting his player anything, but yeah, I guess he's just never going to be a guy that He's not a monster all pro producer. He was supposed to be that guy. He's not going to be a fifteen to eighteen sack guy. He's more like a nine and like eighteen sack guy, which is

why Bill O'Brien didn't want him around anymore. You know, you know who the Texans could use though, trade for him back, give up a first rounder for him the biggest contract ever for Defensylvan Speaking of trade, Rahad Penny's name has come up as someone that teams are calling interesting. He had a couple of big runs today in the first half. They're going anti Kenyan Drake with their Sunday approach. Great, a great headline on the gm app for that, Penny

for your thoughts. I love it. You know, it's like, let's get into the combo. Yeah, we are really dropping the ball, the bag, whatever it is on this whole gm app thing. Let's move on it. Like a parentheses for draft picks, case penny for your penny. Down on the first hour, Mike Keith with the call Titans Radio Network, Darrell Casey. Darrell Casey exploded into the backfield and blew up Peyton Barber on fourth and one, ending the Buccaneers final real scoring threat and helping to lift the Titans

to a twenty seven to three wind. That's two straight wins for Tennessee since Ryan Tannehill replaced Marcus Mariotta in the starting lineup. West This Titans defense, they could play right, they can, but this was this was about a mistake prone Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense. And it's weird because you could, as Bruce Bruce Arians did after the game, excuse the quarterback from all four of his turnovers. You could look at it and say it was the receiver's fault into

two interceptions. It was the offensive lines fault into two fumbles. And it's a little disingenuous that Bruce Arians went there when his quarterback spent the entire game throwing the ball up for grabs, often to his benefit because Mike Evans was making plays. But there were a handful of plays where the closest the closest player to the ball was a Titans defender, and Winston was lucky not to be picked on at least five plays. So I think it

was disingenuous. But this is the version of Bruce Arians were getting after games now, just disingenuous. Like the time said he claimed that he pushed his kicker back whatever to cover for some other mistake. So I don't know what we're getting out of Bruce Arians, but I do know what we're getting out of Jameis Winston, and it's sloppy play, a frantic quarterback who does not handle pressure well and finds himself running around behind the line of

scrimmage on most of his dropbacks. And yet the outgame the Titans, they probably had a better defensive Part of that is because all these turnovers gave the ball to the Titans at the ten yard line, and you can't get a lot of yards, and you only have ten yards before the end zone. That checks out. I do think Arians did call Mike Evans, who had a hundred and ninety eight yards and two touchdowns, the best, the most talented receiver he's ever coached. What in that mix there? Well,

he got the he got the end of career. He had Antonio Brown at one point, didn't he Yeah, yeah, he was with the cults. I mean when you watch Mike Evans playing a game like this, like said, I mean, yeah, I was gonna say, do you think that that is that trying to poor positive? I mean you can look at Mike Evans play and say this guy should never be stopped. Oh, you have to do is throw the ball up for grabs and and no cornerback can stop him because he's a stretch forward and cleats. And that's

how he looked today. He was doing this against Kevin Bayard, against Logan Ryan, against Lashawn Simms, who had no prayer against him. It was a big Mike Evans game. But um credit to the Titans. Ryan Tannehill had a huge ninety yard twelve play drive when the Bucks had taken control of the game and the Titans had moved had not moved the ball in two quarters they you know, on that drive, Derrick Henry had a forty two yard run called back on a holding penalty first and twenty.

It looks like the Titans are never gonna get their offense going, and Tannehill moved the change with a couple of tight window throws. You know you can't come away like tremendously impressed with the Titans, especially when they call a fourth and two fake field goal and let their unathletic punter try to beat Devin White, a linebacker in the open field. It was just Titans are never really asking us to come away overly impressed with. I mean, they're back to four and four, though the dream of

the fourth straight nine and seven is alive. It's tree. There are three minutes of forty five seconds left in the fourth quarter. Titans onions, hanging them for days Zeppelin onions. But Brett Kerran, You're asking him to turn the corner and get that first down. He gets absolutely leveled. He fumbows the ball, He fombows the ball, scooped up by the Bucks running for the go ahead, game winning touchdown.

Bucks win. No, they blew the whistle again. They did it again, and the Bucks are annoyed about it, as they should be, just like Sean Payton was annoyed about it, because you can't get that wrong. That was a scoop and score that should have won that game, and it got taken away because an official did the wrong thing. And I thought this would be cleaned up a little bit, and it seemed like it was because the Saints made such a stink about it. Rightly so in week two.

But here we are again costing another team in a huge spot. It's it's it's unacceptable. Can't happen? Well said, I'd prefer to point the finger at Mike Vrabel, who never met a trick special teams play he didn't love. But this was one of the most telegraphed fake field goals you will ever see. It was obvious that he

wanted no part of a field goal there. They went up to the line of scrimmage, tried to get the defense to jump off sides, acted like they were going forward on fourth and two, and then they run the fake field goal because they don't trust double joint any parky Um. One final thought on this game. The game coverage on Fox well us. Both both of us were quite happy to hear an exuberant, healthy sounding Matt millen Uh doing his thing. He's always been really good at this.

I I totally agree. I think people he's gotten a bad name because of his general manager um experience, but I think he's always been a good announcer, and I love to see a guy who has I mean, he was on his deathbed. We weren't sure if he was ever going to be able to do this again, and now he is enjoying it, and he's good at it. He has someone else's heart. A miracle of modern medicine. Let's let's hear Actually, I just want to play that Jarrell Casey the big stop. Just a shout out to

Matt Millen, who is alive and kicking. Watch this. Watch Jerrell case right in the middle, he's right here. Oh, look at he just lulled him. That's awesome. Troe. Casually you get a star in your helmet too, That's Oh, what a great job on the top side. That is just awesome. I love Chris Marin, especially when it looks like that. I think, I think it's a purer moment. It's a better experience, and you save it more when you think it's gonna be taken away from you for

the rest of your life. And that's what happened with Matt Millett s broken. I'm also impressed that we had two of the four of us uh heavily monitoring Titans Bucks. You can't look away from those Titans. Baby, let's move on. Also four down lineman dropping the throw with black Yall steps up into the pocket. Past time. Now he's telling roll for us right, here's the balls in the thirty yard line. The Hanna go hit him the football and the loose football is picked up by the Broncos. The

clock is running though. We're down to poor. We're down to three. The Broncos can't pick get back the light of scrimmage, said that scene of the game. But call st called switter. The Broncos got back to it, but they could not get back to the light of scrimmage before the game clock expired. Him that's the end of the game. But called switter. Fifteen thirteen. Matt Taylor Cults

Radio Network with the call. Adam Vinatieri made a fifty one yard field goal twenty two seconds to play, and then Ben Banago put the final touches on the game with a punishing sack of blackout Joe Flacco, locking up a fifteen thirteen win for the Colts over the Broncos at Lucas Oil Stadium. Market seems that all the Colts know how to do is play close games. Luckily, they're good at those they are, and I mean this, This game took on a somewhat flavorless approach for a big

chunk of the time. But I think that's kind of fine if you're a Cults fan or if you're the coach of the Cults, because you don't mind being in these games. You don't hind you don't have an arsenal of weapons that are going to produce gigantic plays. You're not going to get some of these box scores that some of these other teams are producing. The Broncos have played well on defense for a while now, and they

did that again. They really shut Jacoby Brissette and the Colts attacked down to the point where I thought Marlon Mack is just not the guy he's been in other weeks. They weren't able to get into any sort of a flow. But the play of the game, which you know, we showed the sack of flak at the end, and the Broncos, as they will do on offense, had the ball twice in the final seven minutes up thirteen and twelve and did nothing with it. And that's fine. We've been all

over Denver's offense for what they are. They traded away Emmanuel Sanders. They're not gonna get any better. And the Colts defense, if they're a rather no namesh operation, they got the job done well. They just played well from wire to wire today. Jacobe Brissette avoided in the end zone on the game winning field goal drive what would have been a crushing hit from von Miller to unleash a really beautiful thirty five yard connection to two. It

really was, because it really was. And I and Brissette is not perfect, and he's not always easy to watch, and whether sometimes even the way he has wind up in the way he throws the ball is just bizarre. And I know West, he's not your favorite quarterback on the play. But the Colts don't care what the around the NFL podcast thinks about their playing style. They don't really need to too. They got that in that drive. I support Jacoby Rissette. Frank, if you're out there, we're

all good. He I know that drive also drove Greg nuts because the Cults seemed content to line up for a game winning field goal and not a gimme by Adam Vinitari. After vinitarian missed p a T and missed a I believe a forty five yarder, but it nailed some other long kicks, I think a fifty five yarder in that dome, So they were you know, they could have maybe pressed the issue a little bit to get

closer or even go for the score. They seem very into the Adam Vinitary experience where they want to a they didn't give up on him earlier in the year, but lift him up whenever he gets into trouble. And he came out of this game making the kicks, so they look good. That That's all great analysis, Mark, But what I love the most about where are we going from here? Why does what? Where are we qualifying the butt? All I care about is angry Joe Flacco at the podium,

please yeah, annoyed with his offen his conservative approach. Listen to Joey flax here. Well, I mean, come on, I I just look at it like we're now a two and six football team and we're like afraid to go for it in a two minute drill, you know, like, who cares if you give the ball back to the guys with a minute forty seconds that they obviously got the field goal anyway, And once again we're a two and six football team, and it just feels like we're kind of afraid to lose a game. It's third and

five at the end of the game. Um, you know, it's who cares if they have a time out there at the end or not. You know, getting in field goal range isn't that tough? Uh? You know, so you're just putting your defense in these bad situations, and um, I just felt like, what do we have to lose? Like, why can't we be aggressive in some of these situations. That's kind of how I feel about a lot of the game today. We never hear Joe Flacco like that. He's been in the league forever, and you know, that's

a shot across the bout. First year offensive COORDINATORI scang Garrello Stang as we call him, and the head coach or the head coach if fees the one you know, saying I want to run, I want to run here. You know, could hear Flacco and I've you know, been in this situation. Sometimes when you're speaking and as you're getting to the end of your point, you realize, oh, this is gonna piss off my superiors, and you just start to you start to trail off a little. But

you still gotta like finish the point. Yeah, you still have to finish the point out. He was right. It's the situation he's talking about. His third and five at the colts forty three yard line. One first down wins the game. The Colts only have one time out and they run the ball up the middle for no game. You have five yards to go win a game. I know it's Flacco, but the time out doesn't matter. That's the thing. That's what he's really getting to is this

old school post. Let's take their time out, they can go get a field goal. They did it easily. I think he speaks for Broncos fans to who you know Flacco. Yes, he's part of the issue, and he's limited at quarterback, but he's seeing a ton of starts and he's right about this. The Broncos want to win games under Vic Fangio ten to seven and good luck. That's football that.

I think he's right, And I also think there were a lot of Broncos writers and Broncos fans who were left wondering after that podium appearance, why don't you play with that fire that you're you know, the words are coming out of your mouth let's see your playing style reflected. All right, let's move on to Sunday night football staff. Rodgers looking pump bigs now still looking under pressure, pulls it right side of the end side? Is it Carton? It is caught in the back line of the ends

sational away to Jamar Williams. Goodness is in the far right corner of the end zone. You gotta go back to the throw and Aaron Rodgers, he's going backwards and he's throws bulls my consttle pass that was by Aaron Rodgers style. Wayne Laravy and Larry mccaren with the call Packers Radio Network. These are the good days on the Packers Radio Network because the home team is a good team,

a great team. Seven and one now after a thirty one win over the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead, Rogers to Jamal Williams, one of the best throws you'll see. Unbelievable and it's more lights out play from the Green Bay quarterback. Who finishes twenty three or thirty three for three five yards and three touchdowns without a pick. Chris Westling the Pack Listen, no Patrick Mahomes, but the Pack

another very impressive win in prime time. Who I think even when you have one of the all time great in a sport, the fan base gets a little concerned, in a little worried when they go through an extended slump like the Packers did last year. And for what Aaron Rodgers has done the last three games probably ranks with any three game stretch of his career. He's been just unbelievable, a one fifty to passer rating the last two games. Uh, he had quite a few drops against

the Lions that were in his fault. He's just been playing transcendent football. It's been fun to watch. And this is without his number one receiver, Davante Adams. They're only gonna get stronger, They're only gonna get better. Uh, that rhythm between Matt Lafleur and Aaron Rodgers and now, as Dan Orlovsky, the former Lions quarterback pointed out, la Flora has found a way to use Aaron Jones the way that Sean McVeigh used to use Todd Gurley as a

dual purpose threat, a receiving threat. And and it makes you automatically think, what was Mike McCarthy missing about Aaron Jones that he didn't use him as a receiver. In to Jones's credit, he's really he's improved tremendously in that area. Well, he's been one of the most dynamic, explosive running backs in the league all season. Now he's not getting the usage that was gonna, you know, carry fantasy teams every week,

although he's had the touchdowns to do it. But this game, he had a hundred and fifty nine yards as a either hundred twenty seven when aligned out wide as a wide out the next Gen Stats that blows any other game in the four years that Next Gen Stats has been keeping track of this out of the water in terms of catching passes a wide receiver. And I love this because Matt Lafleur saw weakness and he went after it,

and the Chiefs never fixed it. Now, I know there's a lot of different things you have to stop when you stop the Packers, but at a certain point, if they keep putting a linebacker out there, then you're just gonna keep throwing it to him. You gotta change it up. And they didn't. And so right down to the last play of the game, it's third and five, very similar situation of the one Joe Flacco was honking about and you know what Matt Lafleur did. You could read his

lips on the sideline. He said, let's go win. Let's go get win. That's what you want from your head coach. You want confidence in the belief in your players to execute.

It helps to have Aaron Rodgers on your side. Does But I mean Matt Lafleur, I think for in terms of looking fifteen years younger than most head coaches, in terms of people thinking that Aaron Rodgers maybe didn't really respect Matt Lafleur at the beginning of this journey, the pregame comments with Mike Tarico interviewing Aaron Rodgers, I thought put all that to bed in the sense that Rogers

wants to win number one. That's happening right now, and I know we're getting ahead of ourselves, but I I cannot think of a more magical way to cap the one d NFL season then Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick who's been around forever against Aaron Rodgers and a first year head coach in Matt Leflour, that's doing everything you could have asked that none of that may happen. Stands have had have been in the playoffs, over and over and over Bill Belichick against Matt Lafleur in the

Super Bowl. But you know, I'm just saying a Rogers Brady matchup, and I'm talking about Rogers not with Mike McCarthy, but Rogers with this new relationship. That's no match up right now because Rogers Brady is in the expert game manager stage of his career, which is a nice place to be. Rogers is at the height of his powers right now. He also has weapons on his offensive line that are protecting him. This what Rogers said it after

the game. He didn't have to do much. He had the throw to Kumaro in the first quarter, which was one of the one of the top ten throws of Aaron Rodgers season, which is an amazing top ten list right now. He had the touchdown. Other than that, it was a lot of throws to Aaron Jones out wide, and you know, he didn't have to do too much.

They're running the ball well. The Chiefs defense was very shorthand and no Frank Clark, no Kendall Fuller, no Chris Jones, so they should score a lot of points on them, and they did well. They scored a lot more points that were called back on penalties. Aaron Jones seemed like he was scoring every time he touched the ball for a while. Alright, So the Chiefs are in a little bit of trouble right now. They're five and three, which

is okay. Three losses at Arrowhead. Good performance by Matt Moore though shot by Matt Moore through two touchdown passes certainly did not kill them and got hot to get them back in the game after they fell behind fourteen. Nothing early, but it wasn't enough. You look ahead, they got the Vikings. Um, that's gonna be a tough game. Then at Tennessee, and we're hearing it's possible that Patrick Mahomes is back for that game. They need to get their star in the lineup, uh and win this division.

They're in the right division. I don't think it's time to worry about the Chiefs. I think Kansas City, though, would have after what happened last January, coming into this year, the goal would have been host New England this time. And you know, no, that's a lot would need to happen for that to even be a possibility. No, the divisions right for them, and really the conference. Their goal is to get my homes back healthy and get a buy and I think that is right in front of

them to to accomplish. I don't think that's out of it too. And who knows Baltimore, New England next week, you know, find a way next week. Alright, we could go wrong for Baltimore. That Vikings team is rolling right, NFC North is crazy right now, there's fans. You already have a loss to the Packers. You're three and four, the Vikings are seven and one. I mean, that feels

over for the Bears right now. And that is an incredible race where the loser between the Vikings and the Packers are gonna have to be on the road and to start the playoffs. News, old, old news. And before we sign off, this was a tough day for you, Mark, not talking about the Browns. Shack Barrett got his tenth sack of the season. I'm sorry, I mean, we're all sorry.

My prediction at least, I'll say this. It feels like it was a month and a half ago that he had eight and then he had nine suddenly, and then he stuck it and he stood at nine for a while. You know, well, you you predented it was not sack. Yeah, you you said he would not get it. It's he's had four games since and he has two sacks in this game. I mean, that's that's okay. I mean there was something to it well, and it was not just Shack Barrett or late. But what is it about Jack

Barrett that you personally We've already been there. I mean, this is redundant for anyone that's listening to more than one episode at this point. Taysom Hill, good day. Then Taysom Hill scored great. All right, we'll be back Tuesday. They both suck. How about that? Um? One more? One sucks just a little more, That's true. One is a little bit more of a disappointment, though, I don't know, it depends who you're asking, Like, who is your dad

more disappointed with the Browns of the Jets? I don't know. This is going nowhere. All right. We will be back on Tuesday with a great episode. It's trade deadline Tuesday, and we're gonna be here recording right as the deadline hits, and so make sure you check in on that. And then of course, you know it goes. We'll preview the first game of week nine and we do the whole thing again. We are a well oiled machine right now,

let's get out of here. Then had the signing off for Quiet Storm, the Mailman, the old boss Rick Hollywood behind the glass, everyone else find the glass. Thanks everybody. Tail Tuesday,