2020 Week 3 Recap

week three Sunday in the NFL. And isn't it strange? Boys? When you take the Ravens and Chiefs out of the mix, they play, of course on Monday Night, big spot for Brian Greasy there who dog? Doesn't it how wide open the league feels through three Sundays when you take those Juggernauts out, Like I mean, there are some truly wretched teams, but even the three and oh teams, you could definitely make cases against those teams for various reasons, and then

everybody else is kind of fighting it out. Uh. This seems like, uh, in what's been a weird year, we could have a wild season. Yeah, It's it's like you know, mom and dad went away for the weekend, and you know, the teenage sons and daughters think that they are full fledged adults, ready to you know, flex their muscles and show their wares. But um, mommy and Daddy will return. That's all I'd tell you. It's all I'd say, who's mommy and who's daddy. I guess we'll find out. We'll

find out tomorrow. I mean it also, it also depends what kind of relationship that is. I mean, in some who's stronger, Yeah, who's to say one is the one? The victor is this person? And you know, right you attempted to but we got we got you out of that corner. I just steered right out of there. Uh. Interesting because last week, at this time, I would have said, there are clearly some dominant teams running away with things, and and the difference between the good teams and the

bad teams is even more start than normal one. We can change a lot well, but the game's all look so similar. I think that that, to me is was striking that every games in the thirties that you know, two guys thrown for over four yards feels totally normal, No lead feels safe. That the lack of penalties and the amount of scoring is all historic, and so that that that is what is striking The NFL cooked up

a whole new uh sport here. There's penalty thing like interesting because it reminds me of last season when baseball they juiced the baseballs, and they're like, oh, yeah, we're just gonna completely change the sport by there being an uptick of home runs by about if they really are serious about lowering the level of penalties calls, that that is juicing the ball, that's juicing the offenses. They've been doing that for forty years. I mean, that's every rule

change is geared towards offense. And actually the penalties now just kind of brings it back to about fifteen twenty years ago. It's not a big deal West jumping. Of course, it's a big triplet era in which he wasn't happy unless he's seventy three penalties were called. This sport had reached a point where it wasn't even football anymore. Is hard to walk because he couldn't get any rhythm into

a game. Too many penalties. Right, West and I are agreeing here, they're just bringing it back to about you know, year two thousand level of penalties. Uh so it's not like breaking records. They're just bringing it back. Penalties had risen and risen and risen and risen and back. No one care. Sometimes tell the coaches to chill competition, and you're like, we want you to concentrate on this this year. You know, call this all the time, and it's like, hey, no, no,

how about we think about the fans for once. Everybody nice and loubed up. So everybody's warmed up to get into the games right now, every little hot and bothered. Alright, a lot a lot of games to get to. So let's dig right in, starting with a really memorable showdown between undefeated teams in Orchard Park. Josh waiting. Now the snap, Josh gonna throw it, looks looks, fires into the end zone. He's got Tyler Croft open touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, Buffalo touchdown.

Fills up for your thoughts, Josh Allen to Tyler Croft for the touchdown, fifteen seconds left on the clock, hitting me, John Murphy and Steve Tasker with the call for w g R. The Bills blew point lead on Sunday and lived to tell the tale. The Bills happily received the gift of a questionable p I call on fourth down, then won the game on a Josh Allen to Tyler Croft took up with fifteen seconds to play. Final score

thirty five thirty two. Wow, Greg. The Rams came this close to a comeback for the Ages, only to let victory slip away. They left too much time on the clock. You know, when you come back from three, you've got a time that final touchdown just to go to overtime and then win the coin flip, which is probably the only way the Rams defense was gonna get a stop in a big moment here, because Josh Allen did it all in this game in terms of the roller coaster

the whole experience. They had nine possessions and they and they scored five touchdown. So I don't want to hear anything about the Bill's offense being in any way of letdown. Now. He helped set up the comeback with a couple of turnovers, one of which came on a very questionable UH call, but was also a terrible throw by Alan, so you know he was at some fall. Aaron Donald took over the game, as Aaron Donald does, But my big takeaway

is that the Bills are an offensive team. You want to get on part of their team for blowing the lead, get on the defense. I look at them more as a team that's gonna make mistakes offensively, as we saw here and there. But they had two third and twenty three situations with the game on the line, and they wound up converting them both. They got one into a fourth and nine. They got that questionable call as you mentioned, Dan and and if they didn't get it, we'd we'd

be talking about how they blew this game. But I still, as a global view take a look at this Bill's team and think this offense is really dangerous and Alan's gonna have some ups and downs, but the conversion that they've had into an offense that can score over thirty regularly is massive, and they are gonna be a tough team to beat when that's the case. Well, one thing that stuck out to me was the uproar over the

the controversial call at the end of the game. And to be honest, I I caught a lot of this game. The only reason the Rands were in the game was because of a bad call in their favor, in which there was a simultaneous possession interception which was clearly caught by the offensive player and then once they hit the ground, was wrestled out of his hands by the defensive player. It was a horrible call and they tried to defend it afterwards. Al Riveron did and it didn't make any

sense when he tried to defend it either. I hate terrible throw though too, and they gave up four touchdowns and four possessions very quickly, so I think it's giving the Rams a little too little credit saying that's the only reason. It was definitely a turning point. But it was a bad decision by Alan and more more to the point, the Rams offense started cooking, uh in the third and fourth quarters. I hated that call. It's funny we just started the show talking about how the referees

are keeping the flags in their pockets. That to me at the end of the game there, and I know Al river N got behind his boy there, but that seemed very ticky tack with the game on the line to call that. But you know what that happens ultimately. I think if you're the Rams, yeah, you're smarting from that call. But also there are two third in forevers that they had the billing and all you gotta do is make a stop. And that was you know, um, that was two opportunities they had and they and they

let it go by the boards. And that is a credit to Alan. I didn't get a chance to see this game yet, so I can't really say too much about it other than his ability to just move this team up and down the field. For three straight weeks. He is passed for three plus yards UH in three straight weeks, and they are averaging I believe four and thirty yards UH total yards per game and thirty one points per game through three weeks, which is obviously franchise

records across the board. There's something special happening with this offense. I just find it so interesting that like Allen continues to be I mean, for basic reasons, extremely polarizing signal caller, but I mean the idea that his production, that what he's producing weekly is not completely legitimate, that this offense isn't built, um really well by Brandon being their GM. I mean, Cole Beasley is making plays every week, John Brown,

uh Stefon Diggs. You know, Zack Moss was not in the lineup today, but You've got a solid backfield there, Tyler Croft. I just think that this Bills team is well run and well organized. And I mean the Rams were down twenty one three and had not punted, they had kicked a field goal, thrown a pick kicked another field goal. Then it was the end of the half, and it's like it wasn't just that the Rams were, you know, to Greg's point, it wasn't a Bill's defensive

um dominance. But I just think this Bill's offense is for real. And I let the doubters, let them doubt what happened, what happened when it was three and then all of a sudden, I mean GoF made some great plays on third and long. Neither defense looked great the

whole game. I thought the difference in the first half was got through a really bad pick um and the Rams missed the field goal, whereas the Bills had unbelievable field position the whole game because of their kicking game, because of their return game, and because of the turnover and dable To your point, Mark, I mean, guys were wide open, and Alan made some tough throws too, but there was also just guys streaking open the field and

that's without John Brown for most of this game. John Brown left within injury and and I remissed not to say that Stefan Diggs, I mean, has been such a transformative pickup. And you look at the stat line and I don't think it ended up, you know, too flashy for Digs. It was four forty nine and a touchdown.

Well his touchdown he beat Jalen Ramsey one on one um and that was one of the best players that Allen made on a third and long under pressure in the red zone and another touch passed the Alan threw on on a key drive late in the game, Digs just made an unbelievable catch on the sideline to keep it going. So when things were falling apart, and at no point did the Bill's defense, um look great. They really haven't this year at all. They have been pretty mediocre.

And um, you know they would have they would have had the goat horns here if they lost, but they didn't. I mean, every this game had everything with Alan though. I mean he also had two penalties on the fourth quarter, one for yelling at the official because they didn't know the rule book in terms of you can't have a horse collar in the in the pocket and then another one, uh for a face mask. I mean, this is your if. If you're gonna bet on a quarterback to have a

face mask penalty, it's Josh Allen. I mean, he is young Cam Newton. Especially in the red zone. They were five for five in the red zone. And that's to me that the thing that's sustainable is that the Bill's team is so tough to stop in the red zone and the Rams will be Okay, they're gonna be fine here, but when you come back from down, take the lead, then lose, that's a tough loss. That's a tough one.

If he if he really has learned how to touch pass, and to me, that's by far the biggest difference this year in last year's he's ahead of Cam Newton's development. Cam Newton wasn't throwing these touch passes in year three. He didn't have the year your second year that that Cam Newton had. But certain certainly right now he is playing great. I like it West and there are things Josh Allen can do on a football field that Cam Newton has never been able to do. Eat Greg on

the ropes, Rosenthal on the ropes. Let's move on Hey, people are allowed to change their minds. Red cap locket to the left side, Jenna four man Roush Russell looks has talk gonna throw the end zone? What good deck he make the catch touchdowns? I couldn't see it for a second, and suddenly he flashes in the end zone and it's DK Metcalf, and he in fact makes up for the play earlier. And it's only fitting, isn't that heats a guy who comes up with the big reception

the touchdown with one seven left to play. You knew that was gonna happen. Metcalf makes one of those bone head plays that happens every couple of years, catching the bomb and then not paying attention and getting the ball knocked out for a touchback. It happened to him, but you just knew he was gonna score, and probably scoring a big fashion down the down the stretch of that game, and that's exactly what happened. Russell Wilson's fifth touchdown pass

to Metcalf. But the Seahawks ahead late and then Ryan Neal, promoted from the practice squad, had the game ceiling end zone pick. Seahawks eight cows thirty one shootout at the clink uh Steve Railey and Dave Wyman with a call for ki are. This game is certainly lived up to the hype. Uh. Two teams with great offenses and great quarterbacks and suspect defenses. And it played out exactly that

way where the no, the defenses could not get big stops. Uh. And every time it seemed like the Cowboys were about to get blown out. No, because Dak Prescott is kind of like playing out of his mind, thrown for four yards every game. Although it should be said, and it was rightly pointed out by Troy Aikman on the Fox call, the interception that ended the game, it shouldn't played out that way. That was not fourth down in desperation, heaved

up into the end zone. That was lived for one more down if if, if it's not there, But you know what, that's the way it went. Uh. So the Cowboys now one and two, and the Seahawks, who are the most entertaining team and up all through three weeks, are three and oh m hm. Well they're entertaining partly

because their defense can't stop anyone. They had given up the most yards in the league going into today, and then they give up five hundred yards in this game, and they lost Jamal Adams during the game, and so they're gonna have to cook up a pass rush. It's just fascinating to see a Seahawks team, you know, so pass heavy and so offense heavy. I mean, it's it's obviously got the best the opportunity to have the best

offense in the Russell Wilson era. Um their offensive lines playing really well too, but it's just it's just disarming. And I do wonder if there's gonna be a correction at some point for a lot of these teams, the Bills, Seahawks, Cowboys, where you know, the defenses do get better as the course of the season goes on. Because the Seahawks probably they need it that way. I don't think they want to play this way every single week. It might be

hard to correct. I saw Chris Carson went down late in the game, look like a pretty bad knee injury. M um, So that option took to saddle him up like they have in previous years might not be there. And you see such a difference in philosophy. That last touchdown to d dk Metcalf. It's third and short in a really game and they're going thirty or forty yards downfield, and I think Russell Wilson might be the most consistently

accurate deep passer I've ever seen. Yep, He's just always right on the money from twenty to forty fifty yards to downfield. It's always right where it needs to be. And then and they're talking about let Rust cook and he's cooking for about six d and fifty people at this stage per game. But um, same with Dak Prescott. He's the second quarterback in league history to throw four hundred and fifty yards and back to back games, and they really are just you know, you've got Zeke Elliott.

You don't have an issue in the backfield. I thought the fact that Dallas Um suffered a safety and two missed extra points changed that game a little bit down the stretch. That they little mistakes like that in a game like this, Um are killer. The Cowboys now backs against the wall one and two. Well you say that, but I think that are they in first place? Much time to get things right because the NFC East has been so bad and we're gonna gets it, uh later

in the show. So while you certainly there's every reason to be very concerned about this defense, which doesn't have Laton vander esh and did get a nice game from Aldon Smith, who was very active. I think he had three sacks in fact, which is pretty incredible considering the arc of his career. But overall the defense stinks. I think that's kind of what we thought was something that

was possible. West Entering certainly turning out that way. That's that's maybe not as big as concerned, or maybe it was. The Seahawks also was a big concern although they had gotten Jamal Adams, that the defense was gonna be a problem. And I guess that's the only thing I would say like the Seahawks, I think Mark, I saw you tweeted they're gonna win the Super Bowl. Maybe they will. Maybe this is a magical season and Russell Wilson is that guy. But they need to figure out some things on the

other side of the ball. Luckily they have a lot of time to do it. What one note that I I will find a way to tweet that about different teams and then retweet when I nail one of it. You know, I'll get one of them correct. And that's you know. I saw a tweet that Greg pointed toward an article by I think Bob Stern from The Athletic where you saying the best defensive lineman for the Cowboys is Tristan Hill, who barely got on the field as a rookie last year. Their best linebacker is Joe Thomas,

who's an undrafted journeyman. Their best their best secondary guy is is Treyvon Diggs, who's a rookie. Like, this defense just has nothing that you think those Tyler, those Tyler Lockett touchdowns, it was like pitch and catch. It was like there was nobody else on the field between Wilson and Lockett. It shouldn't be that easy. Well, there there was a big change, you know. They brought in a coordinator and Mike Nolan has been out of the league

for a few years. Um. They've been in the same scheme under Rod Marinelli in some form um for how long? That was seven, eight, nine years? And I don't know if these players uh quite fit where they're at. I'm impressed though, I mean, Tyron Smith didn't play in this game. It's maybe a future Hall of Famer. Lyle Collins is maybe the best right You're you know, the Cowboys believe he's a top five right tackle. That they're playing without their two tackles and they're putting up points like this.

They're they're a little lucky they got that on side kick gir else they b oh and three um, but it's pretty encouraging they can put up this many points without either of their starting tackle. I would say one thing, if you're all in Smith, it's like that would be essentially like one of us leaving sportswriting for half a decade, returning and in the first blog post that you publish, twins the Politzer Prize. They have blogs still. I'm just saying that that. I don't know what you I don't

know why the equivalent is. It's just that it's like he's vanished for half a decade. He returns, he looks like the best defensive player on the field. I again, there's all these human arguments to take more time off away from work and toil oh, that's where you're going to say, I'll let others paint Alden Smith as a field goods comeback story. That's someone else's profile to write. But I see greater point mark that maybe just walking away for five years and then walking back into a

seven figure paycheck. Uh, that is maybe the way to do things ultimately. Food for thought, any other thoughts on this game doesn't sound like it. Let's keep moving and I'm on the right wing, Pert Kid behind you. It takes the hat off, runs it left Pert cat n I switched it him too the end zone with a timing touchdown for the Patriots. Per Cat for the second time today, leaves his feet bats to annoy the lead as job Rex That's the healthy Rex Perk hit right there.

Sezoac isn't the same anymore. It's like you deflated him. Bob Sochi and Scott Zolac with a ball for w bz rex Burg had had two rushing touchdowns and a receiving TV part of the two fifty yard rushing day for the Pats thirty six win over that rate. Mark. I didn't see a lot of Cam Newton highlights today, so I guess you can see that as a good thing. But the Patriots, and even when Newton doesn't go off

and still square points, yeah, I think the Patriots. Um, you know, and this is the rare game where you get the matchup between two of the only head coaches around that have been traded. Um that that was on my radar early and I enjoyed it. Sal Baby right and Um Belichick. To me, I think they made a nice adjustment in hat time. Cam Newton was kind of struggling in this game. I wouldn't call it like a big problem, but he just the passing game was not

what we saw last week against Seattle. And they went into halftime and I think they came out determined just to run the ball with every single running back they had. J J. Taylor. You know who is he four weeks ago He's running the ball, Sony Michelle burkehead with three touchdowns and they and they were able to succeed that way, and the Raiders to me, fell apart offensively down the stretch. I I this is this was just a case of where you can look at the Raiders team and say

there's a lot to like. Early on in this game, the Raiders wanted the more intrigued. They were developing into one of the more intriguing teams that I've seen in a while. West and I were tweeting about a little bit there's this is a potential wild card type talent um the Las Vegas Raiders, but to meet New England. It's just kind of showed that you're gonna hit a

wall against this team. New England's defense is just too good and they you know, it's interesting that we talked about Bill Bill Belichick talking about Darren Waller during the week and that's usually the death knell for that player.

And Darren Waller, I think, finished with two catches for for nine yards and had really nothing going into the UM when I think it's Las Vegas is best weapon along with Josh Jacobs, who had a all right service, serviceable game but not a difference maker, and it was a classic UM in an empty, totally empty no stadium looks more empty to meet than Fox Borro. It's it has to do with the camera shots, I think too, but it just looks empty and desolate in New England.

UM made the Raiders look empty by the end of this game. Yeah, I called that the Darren Waller the kiss of death was the quote when Belichick went out of his way to to paint him as a generational type talent. You knew he was gonna like quadruple team him from the first half and he'd finished with about nine yards, which is exactly what happened getting that Tony Gonzalez coverage. I'd be worried about the Raiders defense and

this one. Sony Michelle couldn't make anyone missed last week, and now he gets thirteen yards a carry in this game. That's first big place he's made since the Super Bowl. You know, they they they find different ways to win game. And you can hear Kim Newton in the in the postgame presscomer just being like so impressed. I think they're just like, it's a nice change of pace for him. How like every else is doing things too, because you look,

they had Joe too, and he started center. I don't think he's ever played center before at the pro level. He's their franchise tag. I mean, they have one of the best centers in the league who's now in I are that happened since we last talk and Joe tune. He just moves to center. Everything's fine. You know, they run the ball so well. Chase Winovich has turned into a really good player for them. I don't think it's a great sign that he's by far the best player

in their front seven. I mean it's one of their worst defensive front sevens. I would say you know of the Belichick era. But but they still find ways to make car make mistakes and those two fumbles that that car had seemed to be mark kind of the Yeah, I see a little concerning you know, Greg, you pointed out to the skill position, um, depleted skill position talent for New England. They didn't have a wide receiver with more than twenty eight yards at half, and like, they

just don't have that guy they can go to. And that's why you're leaning on suddenly Rex Burkehead who played probably the best game he'll ever play in the NFL today, But how can you count on that week to week? I mean, they he found a way to do it. Um. The Raiders to me, outside of Max Crosby just front have a whole lot going on on defense, and uh, you know is typical New England sort of. They choked the life out of out of Las Vegas. Um, I would be concerned if they have to go up against

the Kansas Cities and the Baltimore though. Give me, well, they're playing Kansas City next week, so that that's a tough spot for them. Um. John Gruden, by the way, uh, you basically got on the plane when he kicked a field goal down thirteen points on the seven yard line on fourth and five late in the game when their defenses was not making any stop to cut it from thirteen to ten. I mean, that was they have like, what what is that index? There's a Twitter account like

the gutless Index. I don't even know what it was. Gutless decision. That's the most gutless decision I've seen by a coach, at least in week three. The only index that matters to me by Chris Wesley. Oh yeah, great job this year. You said that Rex Burkehead or the Atriots choked the life out of Vegas. Well, I mean, I think Corona did that initially, but then you know, you know, I was gonna say, it's been quite a twenty for poor Vegas, but the team that plays there

will live for another week. All Right. We have a bunch of cornered animal games on the schedule, Ricky, Let's get a drop there. Let's check out the first one from Hines Field. Then each Connor gets a block on the flat inside the tenny inside the five touchdown James Conner from twelve yards out, James Conner off the right side. But I defer to my offensive lineman in the booth. He there's a lot happened up. Matt Filer hooked when Whitney merciless and he hooked dump and that's why James

Conner skirted outside. I can tell you Filer took no mercy. I'm the merciless one. Bill Hill go up and touch Elkin with the call for w b E. I like this steel damasheck gem Let's just play this with Steelers games. James Conner put the Steelers ahead for good midway through the fourth quarter. The Steelers defense smothers Deshaun Watson in the final two quarters after the Texans quarterback had had a really nice first half. But it was all over

after that one. The final Steelers are three and oh for the first time in a decade, the Texans oh and three for the second time in three years. And you'll remember, perhaps you won't that in team that's Texans steven started owing three, went eleven and five. But you know what, this feels different. Probably didn't feel too good at own three and two thousand eighteen, but it certainly doesn't feel good right now. And I think the most

disheartening thing about this game was the way it played out. Um, because yes, we're all aware by this point Texans got screwed. The scheduling gods were not fair. Chiefs Ravens Steelers weeks one to three, those are three of the top five teams in football, you can say, um, and they just were outclassed in the first two weeks. But on Sunday this did feel like the classic corner and animal game where the team that's owing two that desperately needs the win.

They might not be better than their opponent, but they need the game so badly they just find a way and you maybe get behind your best player and he gets he gets you the w desperately need. And Deshaun Watson had thrown for over two yards in the first half. He threw two touchdown passes. He was evading tacklers and

making all those Deshaun Watson plays. All the wide receivers were back in the mix, and it just looked like the Texans had a real shot and then it all got wiped away once the Steelers changed up their defense a little bit, got a little more aggressive and uh and from that point on it was there's nothing cooking. They had uh five sacks overall, they had less than a hundred yards total. I believe in the second half,

Houston no points and the Steelers grinded it out. Um. Mike Hilton had an interception earlier early in the fourth quarter which set up a long Pittsburgh touchdown drive that was followed by three and out by the defense and then another grinding drive by the Steelers that ran out the clock and that was it. So it wasn't a dominant effort by the Steelers. We really haven't seen that yet from Pittsburgh. But they're three and oh and and Houston.

When you lose the when you lose the corner and animal game and you go oh and three, you're you're essentially on life support. And that's where they're at before we even sniff October. It typically means dead animal. If you lose cornered animals scenarios, they have no identity. They second week in a row, they have no running game to speak of, and second week in a row they could not stop the footprints on their back in the

second half of the game. And you're gonna think I'm crazy because he went over a hundred yards for back to back games. But I think James Conner is a problem for the Steelers. UM. I think he's the slowest starting running back in the NFL, and I think for the last week he had a fifty yard run at the end that padded his stats. This week, Steer's offensive line was blowing Houston off the ball almost every fourth quarter run, and James Conner had plenty of room to

work with. But I think you saw why they started to get their rookie I think his name is Anthony McFarland involved today UM for a change of pace role because they need a big play element. And and I think that James Conner stats are not reflective of the way he's playing. I mean, that's a good problem to have, though, you know you can survive if she can. If that's your biggest problem. Their defense puts up crooked numbers if you look at kind of the The box score's an

issue here too. Their their secondary is not nearly as good as last year. And you asked me last week after the Broncos played them closer than one might expect what was wrong. I went back and watched them during the week, and Devin Bush is getting dragged around the field by tight ends. He's a problem Joe Hayden looks like he's lost a step um. Stephen Nelson has been burnt a few times, Hilton. They had the intership interception today but also got burnt by Randall Cobb. Um pass

rush is legit. I just worry about the coverage of their secondary right. It's all pass rush. They twelve quarterback hits, five sacks, seven tackles for loss for you know past defense, which is partly the pass rusch. It's like that pass rush in that offense that'll that'll beat you beat some bad teams. They haven't played like a team I think, off the top of my head that's how to win this year. So they haven't really faced a tough competition

quite yet. I'd be concerned with the Texans defense. And you know, they came in as the I think the second or third worst defense against the run. And for James Conners deficiencies that you point out west that might be there, like he's still get putting up these numbers, and uh, you know, the Texans to me, you can't really be you can't counting them to really run the ball effectively and dominate that way and they and stop

the run. And I don't think oh and three, I oh, in three against these three teams, Um, you gotta, you gotta sort of stop yourself at the door and see, let's see who they are, you know, a month from now. But they're owing three for a reason too. I just think that they're a weird team that. Uh, I don't trust them at all. Does someone trust them to like go on this run that they did two years ago

after that rough start? I don't, can't, you can't. I'll give you one stat that tells the story of Sunday and then one stat that and some of its luck. But it's terrible. Uh if you're a Houston fan. Uh, the exact figure is fifty one yards in the second half today and just two for two first downs. That's it in the final two quarters. That's a Deshaun Watson team, UM led by Bill O'Brien, and they don't have a

turnover yet the season zero turns. I'm not gonna win if you don't have an explosive offense and your defense is only so so and maybe less than that, and you get don't get turnovers. Look out. And in one difference between eight, I was gonna say, between now and is AFC South is better. I mean you have the tight entreprene You know, the Cults are a solid team.

A f C is a completely different conference too, so you know it's now waltzing into the a f C title game based on a you know, eleven and five record where you've got plenty of weaknesses. Speaking of a f C. South teams for the lead, snap sack, kick, god, holy five yards for the lead. Wow, it was insane. I love the national Oh coming to the club, Mike Keith,

you've come into tricks on us. Stephen Koskowski has offered up the finest comeback story of this young season, from the utter embarrassment of Week one in Denver to the glory of Sunday six or six on field goals, including that fifty five yard glass never a doubt to cut through the Titans ahead for good in an eventual thirty one to thirty win over the still windless, still cornered, still limping Vikings. Oh you got you. I don't know. We got to invent. We have to invent a new game.

Did you know who plays next week? The Vikings and the Texans? Is it the rare double road kill game. We're just like poking them with sticks. There's always one psycho kid in the neighborhood that would be like interested in the dead cat on the side of the road. That's who's gonna be interesting in that game? Is that you mark? Uh? No, I had friends, Um they got it a this thing which was really uh I didn't approve of, although I participated in first grade where you

take a frog. We live near a pond. You take a frog and throw it up fifteen feet in the air and it would land on the cement and suffer um incredible bodily injuries. And I walked away from that contest after about a week of that thinking, this doesn't feel right in my heart, if that's what you're asking Greg. So what happened to the rest of your future serial killer friends? I don't know, unaccounted for, probably out on the run. Very concerning, all right, So yeah, no real deal, Gaskowsky.

Good for you, man. It just shows you how with kickers it's having that resiliency and that it's like a good closer in baseball Wes. You know you need you gotta be able to put the failure behind you, and the mental side of it is almost as important as what what the power in the leg, so good for him. And as for the Vikings, I think we all have teams that were wrong about that we feel strongly about in late August and Earli member. For me, it's the Vikings.

I thought they were just I thought they were gonna be a solid team. I didn't think they were super Bowl team, but I thought they were a team that was gonna be in the mix and uh taking a playoff spot. But that's hard to make a case for. And it goes back to their defense. Four and forty six yards allowed today. I mean, you wasted. These are the two things you wasted. Dalvin cook career best running day a hundred and eighty six yards in a touchdown.

Justin Jefferson I talked about it last week that one of the problems of the Vikings in the first two weeks was the offense looked like it had a quarterback that only trusted one guy, Adam Feeling. Well, here's Justin Jefferson. The first round pick goes seven for one, seventy five and a touchdown, and you lose because you can't get a stop on defense for the for the life of you, and now you're owing three with two home losses. And

it's just grim so that the Titans are three and oh. Conversely, and they have their three wins by a grand total of six points. So try to figure out where they placed in the packing or that's my job as power rankings guy. Uh so I have to figure that out later tonight. But they are three and oh and the Vikings are in a world of hurt at own three

with a road kill game coming up. I'll take your closer kicker analogy one step further here Dan as a general role, both species tend to be overrated simply due to their usage. But the exception is that a lights out closer, just like justin Tucker, is invaluable, right, just invaluable exactly. I saw some of the quotes, and Guski might be their m v P. By the way, or at least Rabel's decision to keep him, uh is he

was amazing last week. I mean last week too, but he was better from field goal range, but he had he had two tough field goals at the end of uh you know, the halfs and then and then today, or at least the decision to to keep him is amazing. Mike Zimmer, on the other hand, I think is losing his mind. I mean, he's not a guy who handles losing well. Um, he called their last drive that the tech since that I mean they got the ball back

down one time and he called it chaos. And they asked Kirk Cousins about it, and he just said, well, I'm not sure what he's referring to. You'll have to ask Mike. So that that that's not great because they never even competed in that last drive. Zimber also, you know when they were kind of picking on his cornerbacks, he then threw his two safeties under the bus and saying they're biting on play action and giving up these big plays. They got the big names, but they're making

big time mistakes. Talking about Anthony Harrison Harrison Smith. So it's like it's tough times right now. I mean, the Vikings last drive was four plays for negative fourteen yards with an interception. What is cloudy to Kirk Cousins about what was And I will say in the defensive Cousins, when you go back and watch it, I don't know what happened, but there was some type of agregious breakdown on the offensive line in that last possession because every he snapped the ball and he had three guys in

his face. It felt like almost immediately. Um So could sometimes be on the quarterback to for a variety of reasons, but it was in all phases a total breakdowns. It's just there's no juice with this team right now. And and like I said, when you when you get that game from Cook, when you get Jefferson stepping up and you're oh and two and you're at home and you gotta leave. They had a twelve point lead in the third quarter. You gotta win that game, and you did it,

and now you gotta pay the consequences. I enjoyed your tweets about Jefferson because various stute he does change everything with this offense. It's exactly what they needed. It's what they haven't had cousins, trusting receivers, other than feeling to even be open. Um That's exactly what this offense needed. Do you think, though, inside the building in Minnesota, that there are people thinking, we have got to think about

the quarterback position. They just gave him a contract that kind of knoked under the radar, but they just gave him a second contract. I'm just wondering if they're what they're thinking to kill Cousins. Maybe a second contract was unnecessary, that was my vibe, because you could have had him as a lame duck hub and and explored your options. But this game was not. They had more yards in the first half this this game than they did in

four quarters last week. And it seems like, especially if Jefferson is a guy who can put together multiple weeks their offense with Gary Kubiak there, I think they're going to be back on track. But I don't know if

there's a solution on defense. So far it is you can't you can't just take Kevin Stefanski out of the building and think that you're gonna, you know, seamlessly roll into the next season as a playoff that mark, that's a fair question about Cousins in regret, because go back to that division championship week against the Packers when when they broke Cousins, and in what four or five games since then, they have gone like three full quarters without

moving the offense at all. It's been downright dysfunctional, and you just don't see franchise quarterbacks go through games like that, right. He feels like someone that could be broken. That is sort of my concern about him versus other quarterbacks out there. All right, let's move up. Quarterbacks break all the time. This could be the last play of the football game. Single high safety, perfect on the back pedal, being pressured, throws underneath and it's caught the hook and ladder, but

it's dropped. The balls Loosi the twenty. The Panthers fall on it, and Carolina is gonna win this football game, the first win or no flags, the first win of the Matt Rule era, and it comes almost three thousand miles away from home. But what a joyous flight home it will be for these brand new Panthers. Wake up mcmixon, who only now I realized sounds exactly like famed wrestling announcer Jim Ross, like I thought it was him. Carolina

forced three turnovers, Joey slide kick, five field goals. Man, the Kickers have really answered after the closed door meeting at the Kickers Club, The last two weeks have been excellent, and the Panthers beat the Chargers sixteen, giving Matt rule. As we heard from the Jim Ross impostor, his first victory in the NFL mark the Panther's defense was a mess in the first two weeks. But a date with a rookie QB and Justin Herbert was a recipe for getting right, I guess, and I think that'd be the

story of the game. I mean, we you could have looked at the Panthers defense and with evidence and logic said it was a bottom three defense in the NFL, and that may still prove to be true. But Derrick Brown, who had not really shown up a lot in the first two weeks, the first round pick, played well today. Brian Burns had a strip sack. Uh. You know, I just Justin Herbert. I still totally believe in this quarterback. He still does some things that just make you think

they've got something here. But you know, I would imagine that the idea that he needs to come out and do what he did last week and just do it week after week. Um, it's a tall order. I Austin Nickeler played a really good game for a part of this, but they struggled, and you know, they're like, to me, they're just a team that, Um they're limited, They're just limited. I just I don't love their passing game at all. Um.

I give the Panthers a lot of credit. I mean they this was their first win, by the way, he said, of the Matt rule era, their first win in three hundred and twenty nine games days, So games would be notable, games would be notable. Um dates their London game was that the last win. It was November, I believe so. I think it would have been a little bit after that. But um, but Joey Sly your boy Dan um I he took your conversation to heart. He was five for

five on field goals. He's in that. He's in that. You know, you've got your you know your butt ker and those guys up at the top. But creeping into that, well, I call him those guys. He's creeping into that next tier though. And yeah, sly Is, let me he's money on the practice squad now, so you better not slip up. You could almost hear it in the call though from mcmixon. I mean the story to me was the last two plays of the game. Number one, you have one on

one Keenan Allen versus Trey Boston. You throw it up. Oh you like those odds. Trey Boston makes a play. The next play they had it. I mean, that was the play of the year. It was all set up. It was perfect. Ekeler scoring that touchdown. There's no one there on the edge Keenan Allen catches it. He he makes a bad pitch to Alan, but it was it was drawn up perfectly. No one was really on top

of Allen. He sort of rushed the throw, you know, like and you know this is easy for us to say on the sideline, but it was exactly how you draw it up. No one was really right on top of Alan and all he has to do is complete the pitch to Ekeler. And we are talking about that play as one of the plays of the year. It I mean, it was right there. It is gonna be a brutal play to watch for them the next day. It right, It was that. It's also like that's how

you're stuck having to try to win these games. I mean, there's just they're not a dominant team that separates from anyone else on offense. Um. But but you know what, like to be here in week three with Herbert as the starter. Uh, I will see what happens with Tyrod Taylor and Anthony Lynn and the rest of it. But I would stick with just I just I really would Now that and I don't know the severity of the injury. Obviously unfortunate circumstances with a team doctor and the needle

and the collapse alung. But you're coming off a loss now where Herbert didn't light it up. If if Ethany Lynn wanted to show Tyrod Taylor of the respect and maybe avoid a lawsuit, I don't know what he turned to him. The indefinite, the the injury, the way they talk about it, it it does not sound like something that he's gonna quickly recover from. All right, Well, let's move

on more more cornered animal action. Here we go, thirty nine yard at tip hash mark left side, Lions trying to pick up the victory craters Ready you about to snap there it is spots to spot kick away and it is gone And the lion took one it, sir, the lion could gone to the desert and picked up victory number one. That's why you never corner a lion. Who corners a lion batman, you're gonna get those big old paws in the big old mouth and those angry eyes.

Matt Bright Prators game winning field goal temper is true and the Lions beat the Cardinals. Was to snap an eleven game losing streak that dates back to last season. Matthew Stafford put on a clinic on the final drive of the game Milk in the better part of five game minutes before that game winning boot right prator who wears an earring in one ear Greg the Lions. Everyone associated with the Lions, including Kevin Patrick, needed this one. They did. I mean, you don't you don't corner the lion.

You said, you don't qunder a panther, those big cats. You don't corner him? Gonna do it? I shouldn't. I saw a lion at the Santa Barbara Zoo on Saturday. You wouldn't want to quarter that that guy. Definitely, he's gonna come out scratching Greg. Greg. He's in a zoo, so he's been cornered and beating a center. Actually, he was kind of just like she just kind of just chilling there. To be honest, it was. It was actually a little sick. Yeah, he was sitting there, but he

was a beauty. Although all those zoologies come along the way, especially in their exhibits where they tried at least recreate the setting of their natural habitat compared to you go to the old l a zoo in Griffith Park, it basically looked like an insane asylum from the seventeen hundreds. You'd stick and it would just be like, my goodness, my own now at least there's no progress. I appreciate your coming along zoo diet tribe, but I mean zoos are still I would not call that a This was

like a rescue. It was, you know, one of those they always say, well, we rescued him, otherwise he wouldn't. But uh, you know, Matthew Stafford, he can survive in the wild. You you said it, Dan, and I thought he was. I thought he's been a erratic um through two and a half games. Really, this game too hasn't been quite what you would want. Missed a lot of throws in this game, you know, they they picked off

Kyler Murray three times. They dropped the fourth pick. They had great field position that they didn't take advantage of Um. But on that drive it was like so calm, Every decision was right. He saw where the blitz was coming from. He had one of the prettiest throws of the year that would have put the Lions down at the one with just over two minutes left, called back by a holding penalty. I mean, this was an unbelievable throw to Marvin Hall, and you just figured, well, that's the Lions moment.

You know, that was like they were gonna win the game and now they're gonna lose the game because of the Lions and Stafford who has you know, I think as many game winning comebacks in the fourth quarter is just about anyone. Just like showed you how it's done. They killed the clock nicely and they got out of there in a game that I was like, frankly surprised every time they got to stop it felt like a little bit of a miracle. Every time they stopped the

Cardinal's offense. Wow. So that's where we are with the Lions defense right now, because we can expect with Kenny Golladay back that they might have a frisky offense. But the difference between these two teams and I don't think the Cardinals defense is very good either, but but the Lions defense is the worst unit in this matchup. I mean, J B. Collins made a pick Dron Harmon. Jamie Collins really forced to turnover. So he earned his big paycheck today.

Dron Harmon, another former pat had to had to pick Murray. I don't know if he wasn't seeing the guys. That was Brady Quinn's guess because of Murray's hest I don't know, bad decisions. I don't know he made bad decisions. Um. Probably the worst decision he made was late in the game on a third and night. Again, I'm telling you that they had a hard time stopping the Cardinals temple when it looked good. It looked good, but it was

just turnovers. They didn't punt till the fourth quarter. He had a third and nine where he has Isabella wide open, and instead he decides to throw its X the yards down the field. Double coverage goes incomplete, and and that's where Stafford goes and wins the game right after that. You know, some people uh tend to miss that. Kyler Murray is not the tallest quarterback, but because of the size of his helmet, which is truly gargantuan, he appears to be seven ft six, but when you take the

oversized helmet off, he is only four ft seven. That is a fun fact for you guys struggling seven. I mean, man, he his good plays, they were so good I mean there's two touch that his rushing touchdown, the move he put on Okuda was just outrageous, and that the throw he had to Isabella for a touchdown was just ridiculous. I mean, his his good plays are are just so good. They just make you believe everything is possible. But they they're they're not quite there. I don't think they're passing game.

By the way, it's been any better this year than it has a year ago with DeAndre so far, I would say it's worse. They've relied on him scrambling, and Hopkins has had another monster game has over three hundred fifty yards, but no one else um is above a hundred or maybe Isabella just went over it. So they're they're just a little, a little uneven. I actually thought they looked like the Cardinals I expected, except for the turnovers today. But that's a big except. But no one

had more than forty seven yards outside of Hopkins. But so the Hopkins things is working. It's working out. But you're suggesting that maybe he's that's too much attention. No, no, just that they're passing game as a unit has not been better this year. I don't think his Papkins's been better. I think it'll get better, but that's not the reason why they've been winning these games, at least the first two.

I was thinking it was going to be the ewing theory in Houston, but it hasn't been that way so far. He's been phenomenal as a scrambler, like Lamar Jackson, good as a scrambler. But please stop talking about Kyler Murray and m VP candidate in the same sentence. It's September. Onet of all, and second of all, he hasn't He hasn't passed well at all. The three picks, so we'll help you out there, plus Russell Wilson's in the league.

Um Eddie Isabella, by the way, was the pick, the Josh Rosen trade pick, and he has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, the former second round pick by two touchdowns in this game. Uh so that is that's a positive on the non DeAndre Hopkins beat. All right, let's move on. Good job Patra running back is Rojoe Ronald Jones tied into motion, Brady will Thaw

a fade route near side like cowd Ball. Mike Evans touchdown Tampa Bay Bucceteers get two catches on the end zone from Big Mike Evans fifty two career touchdowns, and the Bucketeers lead twenty three to three. James Dacker half w f us with a call. Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes, including a pair to the eternally overlooked and underrated Mike Evans in my opinion anyway, and Shack Barrett celebrated his return to Denver with two sacks, including a safety.

Sorry mark the buck win over the windless, hapless Denver Brons. So you can corner a Bronco because the beast is so large that it it. Putting it in a corner essentially paralyzes it. It can't move. Hm. And if you ever get nervous, Ricky, what do you do? You try and get Yeah, not a cruel teeth to animals here. West West Tampa Bay's defense against UH Jeff driscoll felt like a mismatch. Apparently that was the case. Yeah, And I fully expect everyone to keep talking about the Bucks

offense because of the names involved. But to me, the more fun unit to watch and the better unit is the defense, which for the second week in a row, basically had a feeding frenzy at the expense of the quarterback turnovers. Galore sacks. Um Blitz is from Todd Bowls, which Greg always loves. He's lavante David one interception almost had another UM Devin White turning into a great linebacker there in the middle. This is this is a really good defense. And in the offense you can tell they

came out trying to get Grounk involved. I think he had like six first half targets in this game. M h still moved the ball. This was not a game in any way. Well, I think that was like his you know it is. That's my that's the feed me call, like you guys are gonna I'm gonna act like I enjoy blocking. But still a few passes coming my way. It would be nice. He's got to go on to his Instagram and scrub all mentions to his team. That's how I should have had a t D too, But

Brady overthrew him in the corner of the end zone. UM, one of the few mistakes Brady had. Brady had a pretty good, pretty good day passing the ball. Well, I was gonna ask you us, like, where are we with Tom Brady? Three weeks and where do you I know, Larry, where is he in your QB index? Where is he in your QB overall world? He was fifteen going into this. Um, he will climb a few spots based on what other people did and what he did. Um. I don't see him as a big issue like the way I see

Drew Brees. Physical limitations are an issue. I don't think Brady moves as well in the pocket as he used to, but he's shown that he's making the throws. Throws are not a problem. If I know Wes, I know UM. I feel like you probably like a little Antoine Winfield Jr. They do have some defensive backs that Bowls really knows how to use. Winfield Jr. And then Murphy Bunting when

he's healthy. Carlton Davis is playing well. It's like no one knows these guys, but I think I think they will know them eventually, because I'm with you, it's early, but they look like one of the very best defenses in the league. The funny thing about the Bowls ass, what Greg is that you got on a little prematurely, um,

but now riskiness. It's the aggressiveness blitz for you. You were like a guy that like showed up at the movie theater seven hours before Bad Boys three or something, thinking that you would need to do that and to get in. But it wasn't the case at all, So you had a front center seat. Um, but like, ultimately thank you, I mean the talent and the aggressiveness. He caused a fun game. I know it was to talking about at least, like if you're gonna just be on defense,

make it fun, you know, blitz like freaking crazy. Oh you got Vita Vea eating like cushion berries, launch, you got j Jpp making no offense look like a chump. It's bucks defenses everywhere. Do you think that Rippian, the nephew of Mark Rippyan, will take this starting job away for good? Is it a ripping? Is it rip Rippian? He Ripping came into playing garbage time. Um, you can't really it's that as much it was deep garbage time.

There wasn't much of a pass rush. He got throws out early, but they were like four and five yards at a time. It's really hard to tell. Um. My my sense was they figured drisc wasn't moving the ball and he's getting killed. He's getting hit Like every series let's just get some data on this other guy and help us make a choice next week. But I don't think Ripping is like some high upside guy fam a super Bowl champion, Mark Rippion. I have always said Rippion.

But I also like take that New York Times um survey they do about certain words and how you pronounced them, and realize that of America does not say words that I sit the way. But there is like a right or wrong way to say a last name, So it's not like it's in specialized in getting some of those way off. Philosophical Like Brett Farr pronounces his name incorrectly, But who are you to tell to him that? Thank you? Tyrod Taylor. He doesn't even know how to pronounce his name.

All right, Let's move on. Fakefield under center. The ball chups it out to the left. He's getting led by Wyatt Teller. He's top down. Nick Chop, He's done it again. He is amazing. Jim Donovan, Doug Deacon. You just haven't heard those names a lot on this program. W k r K with the call. Baker Mayfield through two touchdowns. Nick Chubb ran for a couple more. The Browns over

the Washington football team playing without Marquie Beyond. The Browns are over five for the first time since That's crazy, um, Mark watching this game from afar, you see the ticker telling you Washington is up in the fourth quarter. I guess things changed under hurry huh Yeah. And to your point, an incredible um and incredibly depressing stat for the city of Cleveland was produced early in this game. That had been eighty four straight game that the Browns had been

at five hundred or below five hundred. That is years. Okay, that is years. Uh that is that tells you a lot about my mood that in dealing with many of you, UM, over the course of half a decade. I it's not an excuse, it's not a fair excuse. They're better players are playing well right now. Miles Garrett's two straight weeks with a strip sack. UM in a pivotal moment. Nick Chubb, you know, and I'm not trying to like look at Nick Chubb differently than I would other running backs. I

just love the way that he that he operates. He's just fun to watch. He is a punisher. Um. They are lucky to have basically, UM lwered in Kareem Hunt and then resigned him I think at a very very incredibly like um affordable market value and have what I think is the best backfield in the NFL and Mayfield two games in a row. Um, it wasn't the Bengals game. They were not perfect, but Odell and Odell and Mayfield

had a connection again in this game. And to me, Baker Mayfield played another clean game with it with with a with announce of confidence that I think was missing last year. And I think the difference is and it's not to pile on the Freddy Kitchens business, but they just seem to go into the last couple of games Baltimore, I think you just dealt with a super Bowl type team.

But the last two games they just seem to be more organized on offense to have a plan and to execute it um, which is a really unusual thing for the Browns. And when you look at Washington, UM, Dwayne Haskins had three interceptions in this game and they were killer.

You know, he just there isn't I'm not I'm not seeing a lot from Dwayne Haskins that points to me and says if there's any way that Washington has a chance to draft one of these quarterbacks early um next April, that that that, and nothing would stop them from doing it. It's not He's not in a great situation. He's in a talent poor offense UM with a new regime. But there's just not much there that I'm seeing and Cleveland, you know, are learning how to win. I don't know

what to take away from this. I think that there are a team that is beating up on lesser competition and we'll see what they do when they face a real team. They played they played Dallas next week. That will be more of an acid test. In terms of their defense, which Cleveland's defense is concerning there are problems, they're they're banged up, but they're also just not a

very good defense. What's really jumped out to me compared to last year is their offensive line and a guy like Wyatt Teller, who they picked up for peanuts before last season, and the offensive line gurus on Twitter are are writing him up every week talking about how improved he is. And he's one of the better guards in the NFL now, and you throw in one of the better centers, Joel Patonio. That is one of the best interior offensive lines in the NFL. There's no reason this

team should not run every single week on defenses. And if you can run, then there's no reason why Baker Mayfield can't do play action fakes every week too, right, They only seem to lose their way there. They had a hideous third order. If you go back and watch this game, they got away from what they're good at. Just run the ball sixty times a game and see where it gets you. Well, that's not that's not enough to go as far as they want. It makes sense

when you're going against Washington. I'm with you though. On the offensive line, I mean, and I was wondering if I've seen things that check PF. They basically have the best offensive line in football through PF scrading through two weeks in terms of the combined run blocking and pass blocking, especially run blocking, but even pass blocking, they were third. I mean, Baker Mayfield, in your right, they gotta play

better competition. Although Washington's defense is fine, he's in a he is in a great situation, and I'm I'm eager to see, as you say, Mark, as they kind of step up in competition the next few weeks. You assume they're gonna continue to do well on offense based on what we're seeing from Dallas's defense. But yeah, this once we gotta jump up. This is a nice little pocket for them. Cincinnati, Washington. Uh. There, that's gonna be Uh,

that's gonna be a hotly. Listen, Mark, I don't know where you draft next Thursday, but a lot of people are if we want to watch that Cowboys Brown's game. I don't know where your pick is. What you think that one of you are going to be able to wrestle that game away from me. That's not how this works. Even if you pull that off on NFL network or wherever whatever you know platform you attempt to pull that off on, we will have back water talks that removed

that game from you. In a minute. I'm planning. I'm planning CNN is where I planned to swipe the brand's Cowboys. I have another guest spot on CNN on Tuesday night, by the way, so please um tune in at seven pm Eastern. By the way, Chase Young, we you know, all amped up about the Washington UH front four um after week one he left this game in the first half of the groin issue he did that affected them.

They were never the same they. I really think that Chase Young is such a difference maker on that defense when he went out, and I'm glad you brought that up. They were never the same Montest sweat though that guy had one of the better guy I don't feel like he been on my radar much um during his career, had one of the better games I've seen. He looks better this year. I mean, if you if you win the turnover battle five zero against Washington, you better went

by all right. Let's let's move on to bleaker affairs. Sets up throws right side and pick for the cults. The cults are running the other way with it. D J carry carry six two of them all day down Why pick seven? Day the Matt Taylor, Rick Venturi, w F and I with the call. Sam Donald through three interceptions, including a pair of picks sixes, and the Colts coast to a thirty six to seven win. They improved the

two and one on the young season. Philip rivers seventeen seventeen yards his first turnover free games since joining Indie. He's also now and I know this doesn't matter on this podcast, but it matters to me, damn it. He becomes the six player in league history a throw for four career touchdown passes and he's now over sixty thousand yards. The fact that they were even debating on the telecast on CBS whether he was a Hall of Famer for all his failures to win the Big One and get

to the Super Bowl. I just think he's been one of the best pastors of his generation that should get a gold jacket. Um. You know, the Jets actually moved the ball well against and do you enter this week with the top ranked defense in the first half, but the wheels fell off and um, and things just kept getting worse. Donald look bad on the He made some nice plays, as he does every week where he looks good,

and then he makes some bad decisions. And it seems like when he makes a bad decisions a bad decision, he pays for it. And the Colts secondary was all over him when he put balls up for grabs and

made him pay dearly. And as if it couldn't get worse, McKay Beckton, who has been really the only shining star uh for the Jets and what's quickly becoming what looks to be a one in fifteen type season, and they might be lucky there he leaves with a shoulder injury, and he never want to hear a giant tackle having a shoulder issue because those things tend to be issues. So the Jets are the worst team in football. The Colts took care of business as they should. There's not

much to take out of Jets games right now. You know, the Jets are terrible. You know they're gonna fire their coach um, But I mean more from the perspective of the team that's playing them. Like I didn't learn really much from the forty Niners last week. I didn't learn anything from the Cults this week. Although they could bully a team that's um really would be relegated if the league was structured a different way. But nice job by the Cults. Got the W and stayed healthy and they

move forward. Cults are in a weird spot after these two games against the Vikings where the bike I mean Vikings are a better team, but just the way that game played out. They've had a strange season. That Colts dominated Week one against the Jaguars, you know, but they found a way to lose. They've played Bay you know, three of the worst teams in the league. Certainly three of the worst defenses. Um, the way they're playing, it almost feels like their season hasn't started. I'm with you.

I'm still not exactly sure what's up with the Colts. But that's fine that you're two and one, that they're my super Bowl pick, so that when when that happens, Dan, then Philip Rivers will be an obvious skull jacket guy. What you need You think they need to he needs to win a Super Bowl? Well, I don't know, but when he does, because I would do it, it's so that would do it. I don't think so. I think it's a Hall of Famer. There are a lot of people who hold his many many seasons of high turnovers

against him. Sure, sir, I mean, I mean who do the Jet The Jets top three receivers today were Brack's Barrios, Kalen Ballage, and Lawrence Cager. Yeah, there was a there was an epically bitter that last guy. I had to I had to google this first. These are guys being pulled off the practice squad. There was an epically bitter Jeck's Jets text thread that I was on with my uncle Stu Keith, my brother, a couple of my cousins and talking about all right, what are we gonna do

with the Jets? What are we gonna do with Donald? And first of all, Donald can't have too many more of these type of games because whether it's his fault or not, if if things implode and they do go one in fifteen and he fins finishes with twenty five interceptions and four pick six is or something, yeah, they're gonna get the one pick and they're gonna feel like, you know what, let's just reset this thing with Trevor

Lawrence and or whomever it is. UM. But the bigger of the broader picture with the Jets, UM is that they have so monumentally butcher these last three years that coincided with Donald being drafted. They they have so undermined themselves from an organizational standpoint that there is no way to accurately judge if Donald is good, bad, great, or terrible. So it's a on ownership to me said that the whole time there's been you know, to me, it's it's

a hundred percent on ownership. The way that they fired mcagnet, the way you know, the just the sequence of events, how they decided to hire and fire and the decision they made, you know, by hiring gays. This is systemic and it's ugly as it is, as it could be a West. That's why your tweets about Donald lately make me really sad, because you want so well, you want so much to believe that he's not the problem. He is fixable. And I think it's sad because he's impossible

to evaluate. Three years into his career. You don't know what he is because everything Adam Gates was hired to develop and make sure isn't ruined is going ruined. Right, And this may work out for Sam Donald because he could get traded for a second or third round pick in a role to a better organization that has more around him, and he could and Jeff fans don't want this to happen, but he can end up having a

successful career elsewhere. Uh And that will all be fine if it goes Kyler Murray for the Jets with Trevor Lawrence. But you know what it feels like if you're a Jets fan. It feels like you're just gonna hit reset and you're gonna take out the dirty laundry and then welcome in uh new future victims of your organization, right, because the other yeah, like the other half to like right, we all have a Chilly Smith ends up replacing David

Klingler and it's you know, the same routine all over again. Right. The other half of Kyler Murray is Cliff Kingsbury, who had who had a total conviction on what he wanted to have a new coach, and they'll have a new coach and games to go thirteen games ago. That's a lot of tape and and Darnald is in a tough situation, but I I do think there's a way for him

to show um what a talented player he is. Thirteen games is a long time here, and you're right, he his job and that's the only thing left for this season is he needs to convince the powers that be, Joe Douglas specifically that he is the guy that the rebuilt should continue around. So far it's inconclusive at best. Let's move up. Here's a end around. Do I yoke with us? Check out to block and also Garland Girland a big time block touchdown San fran Cisco, Brandy a

US first in the NFL. Get that rookie the rock and it's not even a reception Gregg Popa and Tim Ryan all so it's a fired up about Brandon Aiyuk first round pick. He let the Niners at all receiving categories and scored on the ground and back up Nick Mullins through forty three yards and to touch the Niners control action in all phases. Thirty six nine win at MetLife Stadium over the Giants. Greg this East Coast vacation, uh, embarrassing the Jets then the Giants. It's like, you know,

a lot of family trips. Some bad things happened, sure, but a lot of good memories, good great memories. I mean, I'm so impressed with Kyle Shanahan, your boy, Mike mark Um when you make the case that he's like the best coach in the league. I mean, show these last two weeks. There's this game reminded me of that Bear Bryant, I mean that bum Phillips quote that West likes to bring up every once in a while, and it was

about Bear Bryant. But the quote was he can take his and beat Urine, and then he can take turn around and take Urine and beat his and and I and I, of course I believe that you give him, you give him the Giants raster, he would have smacked this forty nine ers team around just like he did. And some people and I mentioned, going, well, they haven't played a real team. Give me a friend, give me a break with that. He's playing with like twelve or

thirteen backups. He's got Nick Mollins at quarterback looking great, but you know, looking good by the way, making some good plays against pressure. His entire defensive line is totally wiped out. So you gotta give credit to Robert salah Um. They dominated on defense too. They didn't you know, they scored every possession today. They scored every possession they the

Giants did not get a single stop. And if they make the playoffs, the forty niners, that is I think you look back at these two weeks, maybe what comes up against Miami and Philadelphia too, and it's like managing the schedule because a lot of these players will come back. You're not gonna survive forever this way. But I think that's impressive to to to embarrassed, to blow out actual NFL teams on the road with this array of injuries is something something your boy, Mark, I I am a

huge Kyle Shanahan person I always will be. I don't need to go deeper into that, but he finds a way, no matter whose quarterback is, to get production. Nick Mullins three yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. They let him throw the ball thirty six times. I mean these New York teams, but the New York teams are not even really NFL. I get it. But okay, steel they played the Steelers way tough for you know the Bill.

The Jets played the Bills way tougher. It's like the Giants were in the game last week like they're a professional team. The forty Niners scored every possession. I mean, all these quarterbacks that are like in year four or five or like, when will they ever show us who they are? I mean we could. There's eight of those guys incomes, Nick Mullins, Kyle Shanahan, unleashus and for thirty six passes, sit unseen bang. I mean they dominate. They

dominated the Giants. I mean, what a what a what a statement against the Giants secondary that Charlotte and Shanahan looked at the tape all week and was like, oh, yeah, we can attack these guys with our backup quarterback and all our wide receivers heard it doesn't matter and George Kittle out they just I mean, they're better, coach, They're better. Where are we on the Giants? The last Joe Josh Jordan read today I thought was a big right on

the Jordan injury is right on cue. But the Jason always say a week two is it time for Jason Garrett to start getting some heat? Greggy, you want to take a victory because the Giants offense, isn't it Well? The line, the line is no better. They're right back to where they were. The lines been terrible the Giants the forty night. That was what got me. I expec you know, not shocked that Shanahan came up with some

good plays. There were open receivers. I mean, Mullins made a lot of plays against pressure to The Giants had more pass rushing in this game, um than the forty Niners probably did. But yeah, I don't know, They're just they they were the worst rushing team in the league with Sae Kwon Barkley, so yeah, they had seventeen yards rushing on ten carry. Said there was a couple of flukey plays. Early Jones has a bad pitch. He has a terrible interception which wasn't flukey to end the first half,

and that just felt like I felt like curtains. But when your defense doesn't get a single stop all day against Brandon Ayuk who had over a hundred yards, you know, looking good? Um, I mean that's on them. That's pathetic. All right, before we move on to our next game, it's time for the handoff. Unless Wes you want to stick around your call, we need to take it from here. All right, Nick Shook fresh from the gym, it's like he's expected to explode out of that Nike shirt. West,

thank you for joining us. We'll see you later in the week. Chock, looks like the Rock about to endorse alrights later minute. All right, Chock, welcome back to the Flagship Show. It's the start of a beautiful tradition. We had two games on the schedule with you and Sunday Night Football. Ready to dig in, buddy, Yeah, absolutely, even though these games were less than ideal. Alright, well we'll

knock him out here we go. No, we're gonna have a fourth and seven personal The outcome was gonna do and this is going to be a fifty nine yard field goal attempt for j Kelly. Well, we've been here before. We've been here before. Here it is no penalty. Flag flow enough. Oh, don't tell me the Eagles are gonna I think there was movement by the Eagles, oh on a field goal to win it a five yard penalty. I that's inexplicable. How they can't line up for a

field goal. That's what they did. They backed Jake Elliott out of a fifty nine yard attempt. It's oh, Nick, Nick's getting this treatment in each week. It's not just that you disappointed merl Reie. I mean it disappointed the whole city Eagles. Jake Elliott lined up for a fifty nine yard field goal nineteen seconds left in overtime, false start on Matt Pryor force the Eagles to punt it away, punted for the tie. That's how it ended. Three kiss

your sister. Everybody loses shook. The saddest thing is the Eagles needed a mini miracle just to get to this. What a disaster the Eagles have been. Yeah, I told Erica to choose that call because no moment in the

game captured how bad of a game. It was more than that, you know, you're already lining up for an improbable field goal, not impossible, but improbable, and then you immediately commit another error that then puts you out of field goal range, forces your coach to punt so that you can avoid perhaps turning the ball over near midfield and giving the Bengals a chance and then going forward from there. I mean it was Carson Wentz was asleep

at the wheel for the majority of the day. He still looked pretty bad except for that last drive that tied the game. It's almost like he woke up and was like, hey, oh, I gotta go seventy five yards here and under four minutes to tie the game. I could do this, and he did it just fine, and and it kind of illustrated that the Eagles still have some talent ability to do things. They just haven't done

it consistently. And they couldn't do it in overtime, which is, you know, capped off by that false start penalty and just an ugly way. No tie has every but this is an ugly tie. I mean, they punted three times in overtime. It's not like you didn't have a ball before.

Like I think you could criticize Peterson for not going for it on fourth and twelve because there's only nineteen seconds left that the play that play itself is gonna take six or seven seconds, you know, but you understand it because their offense is the worst in the league in terms of yards for play entering this game, and their yards will play against the Bengals defense actually went down and they got the ball at the forty five at at you know, at their own forty five with

whatever it was a couple of minutes left, They only needed twenty yards to go kick a field goal with seconds twelve. There was nineteen left, you know when they snapped it for the for the punt, So you know it would have you know, you do the fourth and twelve, that takes another five or six seconds at least off the clock there there would have only been about twelve for the Bengals. They would have been at the four. Could do you could have done a hook and ladder

type thing that runs out the clock. You can done a hail Mary that's gonna take ten seconds off the clock and maybe you get a penalty or a catch and kick a field goal and win the game. He had no faith that there was any chance they could

do that. And Nick, it sounds like there's there's reason they had no faith in Yeah, if you saw the three place prior they were crawling, I mean they basically said, you know what, Okay, we're gonna try and just get a yard here, a yard the next play and then we'll just like there's the target line overlay on the field. They were inching towards the target line in the final minute and a half that they couldn't get ten yards, get a first down and get closer. It was they were.

They were playing not to lose in a tie game against the Bengals, against the surrender index, that's what it's called. I do find it. I do find it delightful that these two teams tied. Um. I don't know what the anniversary would be. But back when Donovan McNabb this happened with the Eagles against the Bengals, and McNabb had admitted after the game that he had no concept of the overtime rules to begin with. I would ask you this, though, Nick,

how did what did you see from Joe Burrow? Because the pressure that he is under, and I think he was he's been pressured forty two times in the last two weeks eight sacks today, like it. That was the huge question about his ability to you know, progress as a quarterback behind a terrible offensive line. They need to start hiring, like just to look, just find some large men in the Cincinnati area that are nimble and can move. I just I worry about him staying like staying safe

in that situation. Yeah, well so I was concerned last week being at TNF and watching him drop back over and over and over again. He saw the amount of passes that he threw it. You were loving it. Yeah, sure, I mean it's down the rock. You were like one of the sixteen people there. That's pretty good. But uh, I mean that the many times that he dropped back in that game, I understood because they needed to push the ball down the field to try to keep pace

in the Browns offense. That wasn't the case today, and he still had forty four attempts. I know overtime was included, fifty two total drop backs today, the eight sacks, as you mentioned, mark the forty two pressures and the last two weeks split evenly, twenty one today twenty one last week. If you're gonna have a quarterback that you spend the number one pick on and you base your franchise around you have to invest in protecting him better to understand

that's not all done in one off season. But how about limit the amount of times that he's gonna take shots from guys. Today he got destroyed by Malik Jackson after getting a throw off. It drew a roughing penalty. But I mean, I felt that here five miles away from Philadelphia, so I had can't even imagine what he felt like. It's still got it out the rest of the game. This is happening to him on a week

by week basis. Now they're gonna crush the guy before they get to the end of the regular season if they don't at least try to shorten their offense or hand the ball. If you got Joe Mixon back there and you had a lead for a good amount of the second half today and still for some reason, kept trying to throw the ball down the field, You're owing to the Bengals come to your building and you're lucky to tie. You got half a game. You caught up a half a game in the NFC, in the worst division.

NC thrilled that no fans are allowed in I mean that is why scenario where like you're thankful that Corona reared its head in March, that'd be throwing car batteries all right. Next, here's the snap like Eagles fans like the end zode how beautiful pro ballad And the Bears have the lead in Atlanta terrific come back in the port and Anthony Mother hangs onto this one. Nick Bulls took a crunching hit as he got rid of the football. Oh do you have, Johnny I with the call? The Falcons,

what are you doing? Surrender a sixteen point lead in the final six and a half minutes of play, and the Bears get three touchdown passes from Nick Foles who came in from Mitch Trabiskie, who spanks the Bears of three and oh somehow and the Falcons oh and three become the first team in nf FELL history to lose backspack games in which it led by fifteen or more points in the final quarters. Shook. Dan Puinn has had eighteen lives, lives, thirty six lives, like he's like worth

four cats? Where are we at here? Enough is enough? You know? He showed his frustration in the final moments. They had to call a time out when he knew the game was out of hand, that it was no longer in reach after two Shawn Gibson's interception, and he just he took his help and his headset off and all threw it down then stopped himself. But you could just see it the look in his face. He was struggling with the fact that his team can't get a

win even with, you know, a huge lead. And you know, I was texting my buddy who's a Bears fan for the majority of the second half before the actual comeback really started, and I was like, Hey, maybe your team's at two and oh fraud. You know, they don't look very good today. Mitch didn't look very good before he got pulled. Time for them to finally get a loss, and then you come back, and of course they found

their way back into the game. So you wonder, is it Nick Foles heroism, which we've seen plenty of in the past, or is it the Falcon simply not understanding any concept of how to close a football game, because so far through three weeks, they have no idea how to do it. It's a little ball. That game winning touchdown was folds kind of mad. You know, that was Folds in a nutshell him getting hit in the arm.

There was It reminded me of the play got hurt on last year and he's watching the game winning touchdown from his backside and had a couple other nice throws. Might give them a little more juice. They are the first team to ever come back the Bears from a sixteen point fourth quarter deficit twice in a season and win. They've already done it in Week three, like every different quarterbacks,

two different quarterback It's outrageous. But you're right there about the Falcons not closing because you can't put it all on the defense either. The the offense didn't score their last six possessions and had a bunch of three and outs. Not to bring it up again, but just like the Super Bowl and so Matt Ryan is the guy behind center both of those games, there's something wrong with this Falcons team and it's screaming to to be blown up. Let's face it. Let's just be totally honest. How do

how do you your fan base is dying? You know, there's a difference. I don't know what's worse like to be a fan like I am of the Jets. I think it's a team that's hopeless or a fan of the Falcons, where you show that not only can you hang with teams, you could beat up on teams and then completely pe down your own leg during money time. I mean that that just can't happen. It can't happen once in a season, let alone twice in three weeks. I don't know what's worse between the two, but I

think I would rather having been a Browns fan. I think I would rather be in the Falcon situation than having no hope at all, because like Calvin Ridley had a nice day, Todd Durley looked kind of encouraging at times. They did jump out. They've proven that they can at least play with another team or jump out to a lead. They just can't finish a game. So you go to bed that Sunday night upset that they lost, but thinking go off only they could just put four quarters together

or just give up, or you can give up. That's an option. You can enjoy the sport more and not be chained to a miserable experience. Because the Falcons right now, I think they're number one in my pain rankings because as three goes further and Patriots fan laying out the pay pain rankings, right, they are they at least the

Falcons were vaguely interesting. But I would say dan Quinn was brought into revolutionize their defense as a defensive you know, Seahawk x Seahawks defensive wizard, and their defense has been the issue years in a row. I just I mean, the the issue is not Matt Ryan, who's been the best quarterback in that division, it's the defense. I wasn't plugged into the beginning of the same. Did Robisky just get benched because he was playing terribly or how did

that play out? Yeah? Killer pick, didn't he? Yeah? I didn't see any sign of anything on the sideline that they were examining him for any reason. It just look like he looked bad. He was really being risky early to just kind of heaving the ball around the field and was not the ha no momentum with him and h you know, you get the classic coaching line when they make it a mid game quarterback change, all we're

just looking for a spark. We're just looking for a spark. Well, they got their spark today, Sonny and then all and that felt like politics too. Like they You know, there's all these teams that are stuck trying to like hoist up certain quarterbacks to make the front office look good based on bad decisions, past past decisions like the Trabinsky two game thing. Two plus games thing was a political maneuver and now they're stuck. Way to do it, it's the way to do it. They're three and oh. Now

you set them up, you sent them up to. Then that's fine. They're not three and o just because of Trabinsky. But then my point is they they got there. They I don't know why they did that, but if you've got to make a change, like the work, you know, you're happy to do it at three and oh with a comeback Victor. I mean, he's still broken on the sideline.

I mean, it's like kind of funny how fading it was with Rabinsky though, because if if you would have I don't know if the desert does these things, Greg, we know better than me, but if you would have had to set an over under for when Nick Foles got into game action, you probably would have set it around like two and a half and a half games something like that. And right on right on cue there he is all right, let's move on Sunday Night football.

Look the first shot Rogers trying to get deep down field, and it's a first round take. That doesn't matter what round I was taking forty eight on the catch for Alan Lazard, the undrafted player Aaron Rodgers having his way with yet another defense. This time it's the New Orleans Saints.

Alan Lazard finished six for one forty six in a touch Rogers twenty one of thirty eight three three touchdowns, no interceptions, passer rating, another sterling effort from the future Hall of Famer in a thirty seven to thirty win at the Superdome. The Packers moved to three and oh. The Saints fall to one and two, and they have problems. Nick Shook, I'll start with you on this one. A lot of focus has been and you get it. That's

how football works, that's how sports fandom works. A lot of the focus on the Saints has been about Drew Brees. Is he and decline? Is he? This? Is he? That? Meanwhile, the Saints defense continues to be a major issue uh slowing down opposing offenses, and the penalties continue to pile up. Yeah, and the penalties piled up late in this game with two engine Orris Jenkins that put the Packers on the

doorstep of scoring the game of the game ceiling touchdown. Really, Um, I mean, I guess you can't discredit the Saints for or not to severally discredit the Saints for not being able to stop in Aaron rodgers let offense. But this is a trend. This isn't just a one week thing, as you said. And and no matter how well Drew Brees plays, they don't have the talent and especially with Michael Town Michael Thomas out to really go toe to toe with a team that can really play high level

offense if they can't get a stop on defense. So that's definitely concerning for them right now and the reason why they lost this game. I watched this with um with our son Luke, who's a Saints fan as of a better season ago and when yeah, he yeah, he's that's the team he's chosen. And um, he was very upset Um to see Genorris Jenkins get flagged like eighties seven times for past interference. At one point he said him a again, He's innocent. This was his quote, him again,

He's innocent. He's probably so stressed wasn't. He's not innocent. He was clearly guilty of some of those infractions changed the game. You you watch your boy Aaron Rodgers, Dan Uh. I know, you know, some things in this season not going your way a hundred percent, but that all pro pick you have for Aaron Rodgers is looking freaking amazing. And you watch him and you just think he's having

so much fun. And I think about when Jay Sternberger caught a pass in the fourth quarter and he immediately starts having fun with him because Sternberger had a couple of big drops last week and that was his first career catch, and then he keeps going back to him. Uh. Early in the game, He's like wiping down Lazard's uh face after that amazing catch Lazard had, which was an even better throw from Rogers. I mean, just feeling himself moving to his left and like dropping it in the

bucket from fifty five yards away. It's just it's fun to watch. I mean he is. To meet him and Ruffel Wilson, maybe they would be the best to right now. Three weeks that easy flick from Rogers, which you saw uh on that touchdown, that's probably my favorite throw in NFL history. I'm not old enough, uh to take in peak Nameth when he had an amazing fall through and he would zip the ball like nobody else but Aaron Rodgers.

The way he can just on the move, square shoulders and then just flick it and then it's just perfectly precise hits a target. I mean, the man when he is right is just so fun to watch. And Alvin Kamara from the running back position is is like Rogers

in that way, Like when Kamara is what right? And he was in this game when he had just six carries but for fifty eight yards, and then as a receiver stepping up with Michael Thomas out of the mix, thirteen catches, a hundred and thirty nine yards, two touchdowns including that insane fifty two yard catching run where he got some help from I believe his center who was motoring up the field. That was h It was special.

It was kind of a fun game to watch, not just because it was competitive, but to see Rogers at his peak right now, to see Kamara healthy. These are some of the best players in the world at their peak. Yeah, you know, the funny thing is the similarity between both of them while they were very different players. The one thing I keep going back to with them, it's how light they are on their feet. I mean, Rogers just bounces around throughout the pocket, floating left right before flicking

it like you said. And then Camara of course regaining his balance on that long run. And I like Greg's sweet about it, which is the Saints entire offense is basically built around camera breaking tackles, which he obviously showed he's very good at. It's not really a reliable strategy, of course, and that was kind of what they ringed on tonight with him leading them and receiving everything else. But it's still fun to watch. Yeah, I mean Dan's favorite stat average depth of target A dot. I mean

it had its night to night. It was an aid dot night. All they did was talking about aid DOT I feel like the whole time. And it's because Breezes, you know, he they made the point Breeze is always at the bottom of the league in that category, so maybe this isn't that big of deal. But now he's at the bottom of the league by like a long shot. And this this offense, it's been fine the last two weeks. It's taken a little attention away from their defense being

even worse. I think Jeff Duncan pointed out they've they've forced one punt in their last seventeen drives. So it's really the defense that to me deserves the l more than anything today, than than the Saints um. But it's also not quite the Saints offense, even even putting Michael Thomas back there. I don't know, Well, let's talk about the taste of Hill play. That really was the shifting playing the game. Rogers is not attacking downfield. Is average air yards per tempt I believe is sub five in

this game, maybe even closer to four. And they bring Hill out near midfield, he fumbles Zadarius Smith with the force fumble. Hill has not had the same success in this offensive as last year. I wonder how much of that has to do with Drew Brees and how the offense is so one dimensional right now that you bring Taystom Hill out there and there's just no fear in the defense that there's gonna be a big play. It

certainly hasn't happened yet. It's small sample size at this point, but you're right that like the Breeze Taysom Hill combination is less effective. I mean, the way thing is, if I were to wake up tomorrow and if people still read newspapers and I were to look at the Breeze box score, any other person would be happy if their quarterback had that box score. It's just that what we're

seeing with Breeze is a little bit different. I still think that he's reading the field as well as anyone and made a couple of really smart throws um in that situation, but Hill is on the Hill is in there for that play because they have comprehensive trust in him to not turn the ball over, first of all, So for that to happen, I mean, everything went completely sideways from there. I wasn't even on the field the st at thirty points at the end of the day.

Even that was a killer turnover. It really doomed them in some ways. But uh, that to me, to go back to how I set it up with you, shook, this game is on the defense, and a defense that a lot of people saw as one of the best in the league potentially entering the season, and they just got to be a lot better. And I'll add one more point, and it connects to the defense, not all home field advantages are created equal, but that was a

big deal. And Chris collins Worth mentioned it during the telecast that nobody in that stadium at the Superdome made life a lot easier for Aaron Rodgers and company. And you just wonder if Aaron Rodgers is as comfortable and it was casually dissecting this defense, if there's not seventy five thousand screaming, Uh, Louisiana's down there, Uh tonight. But that's that's football. And you know, I wonder, like what kind of effect that's had another environment in the league.

But that environment, especially because of the way that the stadiums built, your indoors sound reverberates, they're they're famous for being very loud. We've seen this across sports in the time we're playing these sports in right now. I mean even the NBA, Like you got the Lakers and the heat and heat in the finals, and you wouldn't expect one of those teams to be making it so and it's because they're playing in the bubbles. You get kind of a similar situation in some of these teams and

there's no fans, you don't have that effect. And Rogers, like you said, toyed with them multiple times tonight with those hard counts that they would never implement uh in one of those environments when they typically be going with a snap count. And that kind of changed the game because they got a free play there uh and and threw up the past ended up in in the passenger fence to set them up on the goal line. But again, you're right, that defense has not stood up and done

its job. Last week it was Malcolm Jenkins getting victimized by Darren Waller or most of the defense getting victimized by Darren Waller. This week, when they had a chance to get a stop get the ball back for their offense down three, they couldn't do anything even close to that, and they did it without Davante Adams. To me, that makes this all the more meaning. I mean, their offense is just in such a different space. Um then they were a year ago at this time when they were

trying to can figure each other out. You know, Collinsworth made the point a lot of times it's really Rogers calling the play. I mean he has like a menu of a million different options that La Fleur is setting up. They're in such amazing sinc right now. I mean to do it without Adams where their three tight ends tight Tanyan, Tanyan, Sternberger and Lewis were like their third, you know, second, third, and fourth leading receivers. I mean, that's that's amazing. And

the Saints. The Saints missed Jadevian Clowney tonight. I keep keep bringing it up. But like Marcus Davenport is a whipping boy for Saints Twitter that you know two firsts that they were missing two first again. He uh, he missed his third grade game. They had zero pass rush. So Rogers does have weapons. It's it's that offensive line that's Aaron Jones, that that's all he needs right now. And Maddie Lafleur the little man, right, We're all exactly right.

We're only like eight nine months away, you know, out from Dan's dad delivering the little Boy with a Beard comment about Matt Lafleur that we all chuckled at and believed in because it made some much sense. He seemed like a small young man attempting to lead a football team into battle. But now I think Matt Lafleur is one of the stories of this game, that he has become a dude. And I was killing their record last year. Just inherited right Aaron Rodgers to night that was a

good job by him. Well that's you know, that's fine. But I mean Matt Lafleur though, is adding value too, and he just he just took down Sean Payton and Greg. I want to find out at some point, I'm gonna go through the accounting what kind of profits are you making off of Saints Twitter. You mentioned it at least three times a week in various platforms. We get you in Saints Twitter, you know, and you know, if people didn't see it on the network, you gotta get the

two first. I like I like that as like a running thing. The Packers went fourteen and four in the Bearded Boys first year. They're now three and oh that's seventeen and four. Did the math, and they have more points through their first three games this season than they've ever had in franchise history. And there's been some great offenses in the history of the Bearded Boy. I think that was more a general commentary my dad made on

the youthful appearance of the Floora. I don't think he was commenting on him as a coach, but I'll have to double check with Keith on that. But let's let's stay focused here because there is a developing news story before we say goodbye. And I've been making a lot of phone calls and shoot a lot of text. Uh, just kind of reach out to my story. Who can figure out where was Al tonight? Al Michael's not in

the booth? You know? Last week it was justin Herbert shows up for a snap one for the Chargers, catching everybody off off guard. Today it's al Michael's replaced by Mike Tarico along with Chris Collinsworth in the booth. Do we have any info on where Al was tonight? Ricky, Yeah, it was decided before the season that he was. NBC said that Michaels would miss a few weeks this season Moheretrico would subben for him, as described as by weeks to limit travel. And apparently al Michael's is this is

a great schedule for me and I'm all in. I have a source that works high up is a major player in the broadcasting game, makes huge money success who feels that this could be a reaction to a potential al Michael's pay cut behind the scenes, and he made the decision. I'm not calling every game if you're not gonna give me the money I need. This is again conjecture that we're still early in the process. Why is an Al doing a full slate of Sunday Night football?

Maybe bye week? You know he's up there years. Uh, it's a pandemic. Uh, there's all sorts of reasons. Why are you making a lot of money? Yeah, you gotta earn that right, talking about Trico's basically your Tassome Hill that they have to find out. Let's make this wouldn't have had a holding penalty in a fumble, you know, like Janico's not Tastom Hill. Tastom Hill's not a real human being. Thank you for saying that, so I didn't have to jump in. And Mike Tarko is Steve Young

and Al Michael's is Joe Montana. That's where we're at. It's Taysom hillstyff. Well, No, here's what I would say though. The whole this whole idea of you know, media people getting a bye week during the football season, all this makes a lot of sense. You know, we didn't what do we get about four days off this entire off season, like you know, suddenly Cessler was week seven off to just completely vanished, and that means all shows for the entire everything. It just makes a lot of sense should

you get involved in that week? Where's al all right? When a song? Good stuff? Um um alright? So Nick Shook you said it all. Thank you so much. We love this new tradition. And also notice uh Shook behind him has the NFL helmet that they give you when you leave the company and then you sign it and you say, oh, Shock, it's been so great, best of luck in your journey. And then ship goes to the Browns for about seven days and then comes back to the NFL. So he got the signed helmet and beginning

to come back to the NFL. So Shook, we're really game in the system in a big spot. You know. It's my third stint, so I figure, you know, five or tenures, maybe we'll be up the number five. I don't know how many. I think you also got the real life Browns experience, which is going thinking that you're gonna be there for twenty to thirty years, and you're there for twenty to thirty hours, and that's that's probably

about as long as it goes. And the big joke on Twitter when I left was oh, you got off just as the ship was sinking, when really it was a completely different set of circumstances. But we'll let the public believe that. Speaking of Yeah, speaking of deep dives, the old Zeuser has another expose in the can. I just have to get a few more quotes and a couple more sources. What happened to Nick Shook in the Cleveland Browns. It's a secret that or a story that has not been told yet, but we hope to get

it down the line. Another helmet I have here, if I and reach for it is from the vaunted, the venerated, the venerated desk of Mark Sessler. Hang on, I can only wonder what this is. It is Mark Sessler's old Brown's helmet, the helmet. Did you steal that because you're so much larger than physically or did he give it to you? He gave this to me after I left. I gave it to him because he's so much larger.

First time, you're the you're the Billy Martin, Billy Martin of NFL media right now, Um, all right, good stuff, thank you, choock, and it's getting grosser. We'll be back on Tuesday with the podcast, and the wheel continues to go around and around and around. This is Dan Hansens signing off for Nick Shook. Get Shook with Nick Shook, the Old Boss, Quiet Storm, and of course The Mailman and Ricky Holley until Tuesday