2023 Week 5 Recap

The Around the NFL podcast still doesn't know if the Jeff Saturday era was real.

From the Chris Westley podcast Studio, It's Around the NFL. I am Dan Hansis. I come to you from a room filled with heroes. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. The flagship program Week five Ooga, I shall do love football? Were you better?

Because it's, you know, on these Sundays with these London games, it's it's about twelve hours of football in a row. And I made a huge mistake because I got up, you know, like a professional. I got up at six twenty five a Rosea bro Right started watching that game of six thirty had a massive like jug of coffee came in. I've been hanging out with Greg since you know, eight thirty nine, and I had six more cups of coffee today.

I really don't drick more than one in a day. How much is in the jug? The first one was a large mug. Oh that's like two two and a half. I'd say, honestly, you've had eight and a half. I lost count. Realized at some point it's largely on a boredom.

A little bit.

Will let our listeners decide if it's a performance enhancing drug or not. Well it we'll be evaluating your performance closely.

Yeah, shaking, Yeah, I'm all right.

We're gonna keep an eye on you, Mark and uh, we're gonna keep an eye out in Denver to make sure there's not so many tiers that it leads to flooding in that great state of Colorado. Oh wow, you know, private tiers for Kevin James and company. But we'll get to that later. Big day of football. Let's start where we are heading in forty eight hours. Ooh to London.

Well, second down and eight from the thirty five yard line.

Of the Bills.

The Bills are out of timeouts, they got none left, eight and a half cuffs and running again.

With em Peo parts out of there.

Twenty five twenty fifteen touchdown tims.

He did put a nail in this thing. He didn't score. How good? Is that? Very good? If you are a Jaguars fan.

I like that Travis Heaton team again who rushed for one hundred and thirty six yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and the Jaguars take out the Bills twenty five to twenty at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in the second of three London games this month. We like I said, we'll be at the Hot Toddy next Sunday for Titans Ravens. But for right now, let's talk about an upset Gregie. Let's start here and and the obvious note, we doomed

Hit us three in a row. Give it to us.

What that's for, Greg, I'll do And the one more ye lose we heard from a lot of Jacks fans.

I just want to say thanks to you guys for following me on that lock. If I'm going to lose by first lock of the year, this is the way I like.

The way your brain works, like we were following you.

Yeah, I said it, I said it first, and then then you guys jumped down as if as if greg But you know what, as I said, I was okay with losing this because that would take I'm Murcury Morse popping the champagne bottles.

Because Gregie just took it out.

Oh uh, that's not the way I look at it.

But look, I should have known you go against teams when it comes to the locks, and I wasn't really buying what the Jaguars had done this season to this point. But this performance on both sides of the ball was so complete and so special. But Trevor Lawrence was the one that was ultimately special. We could have if we wanted to run the highlight of the key play of the game that was earlier in that drive, the game winning drive, when it's third and four and Travis Trevor

I mean, what we saw from Calvin Ridley in the opener, I thought, if we're gonna get this every week from him, this offense is totally transformed. And it's been like quiet since then to some degree. Today when they were up eleven nothing and dominating Buffalo, who.

I'm with you, I feel like, I don't. You can't just tag a team with jet lag, but like they seemed like Stefan Diggs called Josh Allen's sleepyhead after he that wasn't joking because now as we know, the the Gags were there for two weeks and the Bills I think got there like forty eight hours before the game.

That makes a huge difference.

I think it's a factor.

And it's like I think all these teams are learning, like how to deal with the London thing, and it was a massive advantage, and like the Bills, I think, on top of it, came out complaining about the field.

I mean outside of the result.

To lose Matt Milano, who is a core centerpiece of your defense and he's out for the year, day Kwon Jones a pff darling, they lost him.

Von Miller didn't finish the game. He's like Leonard Floyd got banged up at Oliver Tron Johnson, Dion Dawkins, like they really like this is one of those games where it's like you lost and you were averaging forty points a game. Everything went wrong.

Like what I liked.

About the Bills the last couple of weeks was the balance where they were running the ball so well and they had fifteen yards from the running backs. That just sort of everything went wrong and even they still had a chance to.

But I give it the Jacks credit for that, Like their run defense has been outstanding. That was the worst Bills rushing game since twenty fourteen, the entire McDermot era. That was where and they came into this game running the ball great.

And I'm glad you highlighted that pass to Ridley which they hit with what was it, about three h nine to go in the fourth quarter. That way, you're fine too, And it was a perfect throw with pressure and Ridley making the big play.

That's why they brought him in here.

And I think the throw is also kind of emblematic of in general Trevor Lawrence and I know like PFF, for instance, had him as the number two QB.

I believe it was. Yeah, to this point, he had been playing well.

It just the team hadn't really been playing well, and that was a throw that in the box score maybe just looks like a twenty five yard pass or whatever. But that's like, that is what Trevor Lawrence is capable of. I think this guy has huge moments in his career ahead of him, and big games in January, and we're

I always try to I think September is relatively irrelevant.

That's a terrible quote.

They do count.

I mean the games count the same, but you want to be rounding into for him right now. The Jaguars feel better than they have all season, Like there are certain things that have been frustrating Lawrence going through his progressions too quickly and taking the checkdown. Today they were throwing deeper down the field throughout, like plus ten throws from the very beginning, so it wasn't just the checkdowns today.

I thought that was better.

Like, Okay, our offensive line might not be great, but let's let Trevor Lawrence do what he does best, which is avoid sacks, which he did today so many times.

And I don't know with these injuries, and I know one of them was on their side.

Of the field, and so it's hard to ask but this is such a good offense, I feel like he should do it.

The Milano injury that you're referred to already, that is that's just rough for them to quote damn check. He's the jenga piece of their defense. And if this is it, if you know the way he was carted off, and I don't know what the reporting out there is right now, but if he had like what NFL Network described with Rich Eisen on the call, that he had the air cast on it as they took him out of the field, that's never a sign.

He has been diagnosed with a fractured legs.

Brutal brutal loss. So that is a huge challenge now for Sean McDermott because I think this defense we were talking about going into this game. This seat was his rounding up as the most well rounded Bills a team in some time, and now it's like, are.

They going to be the best? I don't think they'll be.

They can't be as good if you take your Davis White out of this mix, and now you take Matt Mulatto out.

Of the mix. That's two major pieces of what they're trying to do.

Yeah, I mean, the whole thing is trying to find the team that can survive injuries or stay relatively healthy.

And I know we say that.

I feel like Greg, we've talked about this like every sunny He's like, are there just more injuries than normal this year? And it's like, probably statistically not, but it's like the Bills were ravaged today, totally taken up. I think aj Panessa had a great game in with a lot of these guys out stuff like that.

They ran out of gas. Well yeah, I mean it's just as bad. I don't know.

I just I will say one thing, like, I know we're kind of been hot and cold on Travis Eutn.

I thought you looked.

Eight hundred and eighty four yards from screwage. He's mister London. He had one hundred and fourteen. You got to give urban Meyer his perps. That draft class he had.

Was pretty good.

Well, it's drafts.

I'm just saying their draft class Sid Serve Admire haven't really been too good, but that one worked out.

Yes, anything else to hit on this game.

I think they should just stay in London. Well here's I mean, listen, I'm not taking anything away from the deck. They put so much into growing their brand in London and it was a Bill's crowd. That's a tough one. Yeah, that's probably a little bit of humble pie for JAG's ownership that really has invested in being the team there. But what we've learned and what we've seen and we're going to see it again next week when we're there, is that these games become a celebration for everyone to

Or they were pretty loud for the Jags too. It's one of those like they're just having a good time there right.

There could be a massive amount of UK based Bandwagon fans that jumped on the Bills spandwagon too.

Yeah.

Yes, as Hank said to us, Handsome Hank Henry Hodgson, vice president out there, that the Patriots were like the most popular team there the last twenty years and that's probably going to fade away now and we'll get to Theay real fast later, so we'll see what happens. But that that crowd is red hot there. The hot Toddy.

Uh.

They were singing, they were doing Oasis karaoke. Save that energy for when Zeusser gets there. I heard that driving in and like, I was like, if they don't repeat that simply for you, Sweet Caroline. I understand that's becoming a tradition for the London fans. And that was a goosebumps bumps moment. But what I what I need is a little don't look back, and I don't know.

I feel like sweet Caroline is our most embarrassing export right now.

Let's let's be better America. Aren't you from the Boston area.

Like a lot of Red Suxits, they've always hated the sweet Caroline thing.

Ogg the New England fans, they're in trouble. All right, Let's move on, head back to our shores.

Uh.

And to Pittsburgh where, oh my god, this is one of the craziest games I've ever watched.

Steelers down too trying to get into at least field goal ring.

Here's a shotgun, snap, blitch, he's back, he throws it down the air sideline.

Pickens has it.

Pittsburgh Steelers Tech do pictus to Pickens forty one yards and you.

Have to be here exactly, and so he did. That's manly blueberry pie. Oh oh, put that Eric into the folder of Vest calls of the year. Woo aunt Millie's blueberry Pie. I'd have to go check that again, but I believe it was Aunt Millie. Okay, please do Bill Hillgrove and that was Craig Wolfley. I believe with the call w d v E. The Steelers had no business even having an opportunity to take the lead in the fourth quarter on Sunday at the field formerly known as Hines.

And that's an exact figure. I was tracking it right on the dot.

Yeah, rounded there, and Kenny Pickett delivered that forty one yard rainbow to George Pickens with one seventeen to go, allowed the Steelers to rally to a crazy seventeen to ten win. And the reason I say they had no business, boys, is this was one of the worst performances by a group of skill players around a quarterback that you will ever see. Lamar Jackson time and time again throughout this game.

It was that bad and it came against your hated rival in a very kind of raven Z steelersy type Bizarro affair.

H this was a weird stat that John Harbaugh.

There are four occasions where John Harbaugh has held the Steelers to three points through three quarters. They are zero to four under John Harbaugh in those games. A lot has to happen for that to for that to refer all the way it did today. Uh, And it came just in time for Pittsburgh in terms of like when they finally got that pass to George Picken two. I I thought it was seen what sort of an edging on the world and becoming a true star. And he's had a bit of a tough season in that offense.

So I don't know if your balts run with you like this is a this is a tough one to swallow it. I didn't even mention the block punt that was nearly picked up for a touchdown but went for a safety, right John Harbaugh, And we'll here for John Harbaugh in one second.

John Harbaugh also.

Passed on a forty one yard field goal for Justin Tucker that would have been some not just stat padding, it would have given them just a little more breathing room. And almost stubbornly, it was like he was so confident that the Pittsburgh Steelers would never put anything together that he thought he could get that first down, and they don't get the first down and you lead points on the board.

Harbaugh after the game said, we.

Just got to get better operational things and clean stuff up and make those plays. I think we're that close in so many ways, but that's the difference in a game on the road like this in this kind of a rivalry game. So we'll learn from it. We have to and get better and move forward and be better next week.

In those areas, it's like people talked about this as potentially the best division in football, and I see major questions marks marks with every one of them.

Well, the Ravens, though, should be five. And oh so if you had asked me going into today who had the worst loss of the season. This the game in which they had most opportunities to win and they absolutely blew it time after time, I would have immediately said Ravens Colts Week three.

Yeah, that was the worst loss of the season to me.

They had about fifteen different times in that game where if they just made one player didn't do something stupid, they would have won that game.

And they lost that game and then they lost this one.

And I don't think that's something that's like analytically gonna continue season after season. But I do think you have personalities within a season, and the fact that they have messed that up and that John Harbaugh coaches up one of the worst special teams units I've ever seen. I mean, it has Justin Tucker on it, and Tucker has been fine.

And they do it again well and even in.

That Cults game.

And this is not on Justin Tucker, he's superhuman, but to have him miss that sixty one yard field goal, it fell just feet short, that was the difference in that game.

Right, but even yeah, the punt block was huge and it's and it stinks because Lamar has played you know, sounds like he played well, but he also turned the ball over there two times with a chance to win, and he.

Will he will feel like you should have done you. Sodell Beckham's still a difference maker on any level. Was he just fading It was a difference maker for a few weeks like three years ago here.

Well yeah, but for the most part, he is who he is. He's hurt all the time. He left this game after missing a couple of weeks.

But like that pickings catch by the way before the game winner was special, and that was like an Odell Beckham type of catch. And that is like someone putting the team on his back as a receiver and making two plays that not too many people would and listen.

Pittsburgh's three and two. I don't know, you know, of course Baltimore could be five and oh, but they're not there three and two Pittsburgh. They could be owned five like Pittsburgh has been.

Well, I don't know.

I don't know about own five, but they could easily be one in four, like they are a team that has still made issues on offense. And I got I didn't get into it, but I was catching a little bit of heat from Steelers fans on Twitter because I had I had the surprise they can spell yeah, this is your team, this is your twelve with team well, I had, I had the golf reference the offensive struggles,

Mike Tommon's going to own this rivalry. I think it's six to seven right now, six to seven or seven of eight, all right.

I called it, what was it, the Battle of the Golden Retriever versus the German Shepherd Chiefs Vikings from Minneapolis. I thought it would be close. It was pretty close. Let's head to Minnesota.

Twenty seven to twenty Kansas City five suconds to go in the game. The Vikings had the ball at the Kansas City thirty eight yard low. Chief set four guys DB's back along with Kelsey Cousins trying to be harassed stop.

Bring off his sock how that will be there, a sack of groceries to take home.

It's a grabb and go out, just go finles on line, but keep it and run with it.

A sack by Mike Danna in the game, and the Kansas City Chiefs got their first win in the Twin Cities since nineteen ninety six. And Patrick Mahomes gets a victory here the last team he has not beaten.

Good lord, you know, yeah already that's fast.

Midge Holt, who had a bunch of crazy stuff in that call there Chiefs Radio. Yes, Patrick Mahomes through two touchdown passes. Travis Kelcey a real injury scare, an ankle injury in the first half, but he came back and of course he scored a touchdown and the Chiefs get that stop that they needed at the end to take home at twenty seven to twenty win over the Vikings who fall to one in four. And yes, this was

And it happened again here.

So if you don't have Kelsey playing at peak form, I think that's what the difference between last year and this year is. And you can say the enemy's gone too, but you know Andy's calling the plays here is that they were able to paper over any deficiencies in terms of their skill group because Kelsey was playing at an all world level. When when he's coming down a little bit here, then you're you're putting Mahomes in a more difficult situation. So that said, you take care of business

I think it was unintentional on that call by mitt I felt us that he said he said kirk Cousins trying to be harassed, right, But that kind of was how that play played out. That kirk Cousins went back there and almost started looking for the pressure, not looking to go down, but as if like he's expecting that pressure to get there and to not throw the ball up is just such a frustrating Kirk Cousins way to end that game.

Yeah, I mean they're now one in four and one score games. You know, Lota A.

We know that they're head in that direction, but this was an odd one from a distance because like both teams had only eight drives, and I know the Chiefs have been I think they're kind of they're missing obviously like a chess piece of mismatched type guy that you can pair with Kelsey. He wasn't there in week one. Kelsey, you missed him for part of today. He's banged up,

And like, I think if any thing that.

Stood out to me in this game was when you're the Vikings and you're trying to win these tight games because it seems like every week you're in them, you can't blow your third time out with like nine minutes minutes to go. And I'm not like a time person, a timeout person that doesn't stick in my head too often, but it's like nine that was mismanagement.

Nine minutes to go you call your third time out in a game where you're scrambling on the last possession.

So you know, I would have to do where you take a delay a game penalty to turn a fourth and seven with the game on the line to a fourth and twelve. Like and I'm not saying that they needed their time out there. That would have been a waste of it there too. It's just like the operation was struggling.

Yeah, and you know that's Kevin O'Connell and Kirk Cousins. They wear that, yes, And going back to Kelsey, it was pretty frightening because there was a world where as I was coming into the office. After the end of the second quarter, I was like, did Travis Kelsey just blow his achilles? It was a bad step, yeah, the way it turned. And then he slams the helmet down when he gets to the sideline, and and but he

Maybe it's someone on the trade market at some point there. If there was a team that, I don't think they want me called back, Jerry Judy because these close games. You know, we've talked all season about the regression for the Vikings, you know, who won their last six games last year by one score, including all three in the playoffs the Kansas City Chiefs, and then three out of four this year in one score games. But to be able to win in different types of ways is still

Now, I do think the Vikings defense has shown improvement, like they're this scheme works for them, and it's like they're missing parts though not.

Enough though, four or five? Who oh yeah the west Bros.

Yeah, oh come on, dude, I don't of all the brother say some of the brothers the Cincinnati Zoo.

I didn't even get.

I was busy, you know, prepping for the show. But apparently there's a all out like warn in the and the text thread between uh yes, Westling brothers after a lock. I checked that after work? What Greg, what's going on?

Well?

Very fiery, I mean they just picked up a game on everyone in the standings after our our bozo lock of Buffalo.

Yeah, I'm now dead.

That Phil sends out, Yeah that that Mackie's on a roll his son, and Nick is not pleased even that that Phil's and he says, quote the Rosenthal approach is working, which I don't know what that is winning?

Winning?

Nick says, uh Nick Nick approaches ratings gold and and uh that it's embarrassing.

I don't know. Get them back in the cages.

By the way, I've been beaten by a youth and now sit in last place.

It happens marked a lot of season, a lot of season left for the record.

Marks. I know you asked about this, You're all over this. What Jim Nance has an update on what everybody wanted to know. Does does this romance between Kelsey and Andylor's Taylor Swift extend to Minneapolis in the fall?

Listening Jim Nance, welcome back to US Bank Stadium here in Minneapolis. In case you're wondering, She's seven words I thought would never leave my lips in my career.

What are the Taylor.

Swift is not at the game?

That's the first fee I've never said that before. There's a broken hearted people. I just saw on the stands. She was questionable whole week. But it looks like it's officially inactive.

Like literally people consoling each other there swiftly with Swifties on the back of their jersey.

There was there was a girl there.

It just looked like she was in her twenties that had a Taylor Swift Vikings jersey. Did she did that young woman spend like one hundred dollars, Yeah, to wear a jersey that game on the off chance that Taylor Swift would be sitting like three hundred feet up in a.

Lit Yes, I don't understand that. What's happening here is there's no other scenario. She would have bought that jersey, you know, weeks ago or a month. She is the pie piper NFL is absolutely in love with the whole situation.

The only thing worse than I did silence after a joke, though that names makes Tarny Ramo's fake laugh like that's actually worse.

Silence, Arett be better?

Romo was not listening. There's no chance.

Definitely.

She mentioned Justin Jefferson who got banged up in this game. Well, he had a hamstring tweak. We're not sure about the severity of it, but obviously that would be very bad news.

Kevin O'Connell didn't sound overly optimists. They didn't nobody also said we believe our offense will be in good shape whenever JJ gets back.

So I was like, oh, sound great.

It looked well. I mean it just looked like, oh, that's going to be lingering on his body four months. I like watching the Vikings, but not if Justin Jefferson ain't home. All right, let us head to the desert where the Cardinals drew another tough opponent, but ritt.

The Bengals a tough opponent right now. Well, let's see what happened today.

Second in goal from the three, Burrow in the gun, he catches at the eight.

He fakes to mix him now rolling to the right, back pedaling.

To the thirteen through Jamar Chase on the back line of the oh with his third touchdown catch. Oh yes, he sets a new Bengals record with his fourteenth catch up the game unbelievable.

He's like, DJ Moore, I got you okay, Oh AFC, Jill Burrow might be back.

The quarterback threw for three hundred and seventeen yards and three touchdown passes, all to yes Jamar Chase, matching what DJ Moore did on Thursday Night Football see, and that's how it tied together, and he finished with a season high hundred is here that is a professional lever poll by U Dan. He finished with the season high one

Up and.

Obviously was a far more productive version, mister Shook, How do he look to you?

It's one hundred percent.

He was about as close as it gets to one hundred percent for a guy who was lingering about fifty percent to the first month of the season. It felt like I watched Joe Burrow go into some healing cryogenic chamber from some sci fi movie and stepped out and was like, I'm back and I'm here destroyed the Cardinals.

Maybe he borrowed mister Johnson and Johnson's cryo chamber in Malibu, you never.

Know, or wherever they froze. Ted Williams, yeah that is Arizona.

Yeah, it is an Arizona. That is the right state.

So that's how he played it. Baically proved it. Joe Burrow was fantastic, guys, he was great. This is the most I was watching this pretty close thing.

It's like the most hopeful thing that happened all day today league wide, because it's like, well Sean Payton lost today, all right, well they're coming from depending on your POV. But it's like we were a player that couldn't simply couldn't function, and it's like, I don't know what happened over the last week. I mean, I do his body, you know, keeled? I guess I guess that's from a bird's of you, that's what happened.

But like it happened suddenly quickly, and like Jamar Chase, who was lost in space for the whole first part of this season, what happens to him is insane and it's like we can believe in this team again. In a really weird AFC.

I kind of feel like this was the one of the bigger turning points we've we've seen in the first month.

I believe.

Jamar Chase after the game tweeted seven to eleven. You know always open, because he was always open in this game. Yeah, it was remarkable, Mark, You're absolutely right. I mean, it was a It was a game where you went in and thought, well, if Joe Burrow is still what he's been for the last month, the Cardinals will have a chance because they play with their hair on fire in every game, and they're a little sloppy and sometimes they come away with victories and other times they make it interesting.

Well, they made this one interesting, but they just didn't have enough to keep.

Up with the newly reimagined Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase out to set records and give multiple touchdown passall I like.

Enjoy it. He's fed up. Continue to talk like that. I thought it was very telling.

After the game, Joe Burrow said that this felt like their game of year ago against New Orleans.

I believe was the example a game that. Yeah that that I don't think they did they win that.

They won that game in New Orleans and that was a bit of a turning point where they started the season slow and it was the slugfest back and forth and I also looked at those touchdowns. And I wouldn't watch this game closely, but I saw enough to see those two plays were out of the pocket.

They were not first reaction plays.

They were second reaction plays, you know, creative him moving and that just like those plays were not available the last few weeks.

That makes a pretty good difference.

That was the key to me.

That was the big difference was that he was navigating the pocket, he was rolling out, he was even scrabbling a little bit for some positive gains. I felt like I had gone on a time machine back to last year. Maybe it was New Orleans, maybe it was another game. He was back to his old self. And I'm not gonna say he's one hundred percent yet because we haven't quite seen that, but he's really close to him.

He's so much further long than he was before.

And Dance it better watch out AFC, because if this is the Bengals, even without t Higgins, if Joe Burrow's back like this, they are a force in this conference again, not just the division, but this conference.

And that whole month where they were not good, well y'all took that for granted.

Yeah, because he's Burrow and when he's healthy, they're gonna be good. Here's the quote from him about he's admitting, Joe Burrow that what he wasn't and what he was today about his mobility moving out of the pocket, It's something I haven't been able to do the last couple of weeks. When the quarterback can't do that, can't steal first downs, can't extend plays to find guys, it's tough to move the ball. It felt good today. It does beg the question when he was acknowledging he couldn't do

Yeah, so far.

I mean, their defense is playing well. Their defense is what's kept them in most of the games that they've been closed in. That's what won in the Rams game. Joe Mason looks good. Just overall is the unit. They look solid, and if they get their momentum going here, then you know, everybody better watch it out.

The Cardinals are.

They're hyper frisky, and I think that's like they're enjoyable to watch in my opinion. They had a really big goal line stand on Joe Mixon when they were only down fourteen to ten, and you thought at that point, like are they going to do what they've been doing week after week? And then they then Josh Dobbs, who

I kind of just like them.

We know, yeah, they the buying is definitely there, but I think it's more of a team.

That's the eighth cup of coffee talking.

They didn't but I don't know what when they lost. They lost James Connor and.

The defense is stuck from the defense is stuck that the schedule has been brutal, so that's part of it. But the defense, it's a bottom five defense in every possible category, and they got to be feeling like they got a little unlucky.

And they're one and four and they've been outscored sixty nine to thirty six last time. No, I know, I just want to like I no, no, I'm not saying like hey go everywhere, gouch, go buy tickets to the game, but it's like they've got a picks and like, I think there's effort there. I think what's gone is the thought that they're the bottom of the league.

They are.

They could be a little bit frisky strong, they could be feisty. Yeah, Chris, fine, frisky is not the word. That's fine. But I think the story here is Joe Burrow and the Bengals, and no, I think it's then I think, you know, if we shook, I just want to and they they didn't have Higgins in this game. Correct, correct, you did not play, so you know they weren't even a full strength of their ability to put up points. That's that's a good sign.

Anything else, Nick, No, I mean if the Bengals are like this for a you know, the next month, then they're gonna be in the conversation.

The Cardinals are fun to watch, though they're fun watch.

The one game the Bengals, I mean, after all this, there was their one game back in their.

Day in a division that we've said is maybe not as ironclads as we thought. I believe, more than any other team in the AFC North, right, that's the Ravens are dumb.

That was dumb, So bad all right, idiots, shooky a one and done for you today.

Enjoy the rest of your sign.

This is what we call a cameo long.

Yeah, rest up, because we're gonna need you a big time next week. It's gotta be a lot of shooky, heavy left.

All that grunting that's pumping. I'm preparing for it, yes, sir, All right, let's take a break and when we get back, we dive back into week five. It's disturbing.

All right, Oh, that's my favorite part of the show.

It's time now for the Sunday Drive, presented by the first ever Toyota Grand Highlander.

Do you like going on a Sunday drive?

Bark? I mean I usually I drive to work and then I'm here for fourteens, like the off season. Of course I do. It depends to where. But yeah, of course i'd like to. And I like a quaint mid twentieth century thing to just go for a Sunday drive. Well, I think back then it was like you are You're one of the rare people that own a car. It's a big deal.

Now it's like it was the mid twentieth century, Like, how would I know that you got a big birthday coming up? Buddy?

This It wasn't that I'm not turning eighty. I'm just saying it's a big one. Yeah, I don't try not to focus on that, but you're right, all right, let's get to it. Across the sidewalk we go.

Rams have to get to the Eagles forty four for a first time. Had the Eagles stop him and an all practicality in the game stuff.

To get on the goal.

Then practicality Stufford poling full of football suffer takes the snap, he's back here, comes to rest again.

They hit him hem then go it is Hassan with it again.

Oh Hassan reddick your dirty dog.

Merril Reese with the call.

The big takedown of Matt Stafford put to bed any thoughts the Rams could shock the defending conference champions, and they score that road win twenty three to fourteen.

Over the Rams.

Another frisky team this year, but this is the Philadelphia Eagles. Greg Hurts Jalen Hurts through for three hundred and three yards in a touchdown. He rushed for seventy two and another score and take care of business effort here by Philly.

I love this game by the Eagles. I love this team. They're so good.

I thought it was so fitting watching that replay, seeing Nick Sirianni sprint down the field to go congratulate Hassan Reddick because Reddick's bin in the crosshairs of like, why isn't Assan Reddick getting anything done in all weeks? Sianna seeing he's getting close, He's getting close, it's gonna happen. And then he gets back to back sacks on those plays. You know what else that Siannie was talking about all week, He said, we don't worry Dallas Goddter is going to

I one thing about them, because you know, it was like the narrative, like what's wrong with their passing a game? Whereas the explosive plays and so they use the ground game to destroy people. And like in this game, midway through the third quarter, they had eleven yards on the ground by running backs and you're seeing Dallas Goddard exploited

I don't know, I don't have a lot of questions about the Eagles. Yeah, it seems unfair because they have so much talent and they're just so well coached Dalen Carter had two more sacks. It's the same building where he won the national title in January, and you know they they could have been Twenty three is not an overwhelming offensive score, but they had drives that lasted seventeen plays, fifteen plays, ten plays that led to nine points three

Yeah, their problem is like suddenly Jason Kelsey's exploding on the sideline because it's a fight that they're very productive, but he's upset about I guess the.

Calls coming in. We just did that for his podcast. Well know that was he fifty percent chance. He just did that for them to have something to talk. I don't doubt that at this point. Do you think he cares about the date of the Sunday job.

Like the Jags, I think their best two weeks of the season though, are their last two, so they're getting better as they go. And Jalen hurts that whole discussion, and I was saying it too, that he was struggling relatively inside the bucket. That's over too, because he has played beautifully these last two weeks. He's played as well as any quarterback in the league the last two weeks.

The heavy look.

He looked like Cooper Cup eight for one eighteen. I think he had almost sixty yards on five catches in the first drive alone.

Looked like he was gonna finish with like eighteen catchs.

Right, and I don't think he ran out of gas because he made some plays late. I don't know if Stafford's injury affect him because he had some great throws in this game. But he did miss four or five that I haven't seen him miss this year that were throws that were there. Uh, and so that's something to watch. But Pukakua still is demand seven for seventy one and one.

I think you know two to two is not gonna get as much sign anymore. It was nice while it lasted anything else on this game, Gregy, No, I just like how fired up.

Though Sean McVay is afterwards like he really believes in this team. He's saying like, we're not we're not going down. Like I think it's a frisky team.

They're not. They're not ready. Not many teams are gonna be ready for this Eagles team.

No Eagles get the Jets next week. They're five and oh. And that was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. Learn more at Toyota dot com slash Grand Highlander. All right, let us head to a town that's Atlanta. Like if you're like plugged in pennable hole, McCulla will snap.

They makes it Atlantas three and two snap spot.

Flag down, kick is away.

It is perfect.

Yeah, and you got a flag. Baby, I'll mess with my highlight with flags.

I think Houston Texans were off side. I stupid.

There were two fouls on the play, both by the.

Defense offside to mess with my highlight running into the kicker quiet number twenty five.

This cendently is also declined. The field goal is good. The game is over. I can drive, I said, okay. I like when they say the game is over. It always feels good.

Like the the reflics to vamp there a little bit with that giving us all this info, how about just come on and be like both against Atlanta, both against uh Houston.

Game over. Yeah, that's good, that's good. We don't we don't need it.

No, I'm with you.

Put it in the NFL.

Jesus, put it in the box, an official box score, that data, those data points. Let the celebration begin.

Damn it.

It's a fair argument. West Durham with the call w ZGC, good call. Desmond Ritter passed and ran for touchdowns, a big all few to all the bozo's calling for his benching, and young Waiku kicked a thirty seven yard field goals time expired. Falcons snap a two game losing streak. They beat the upstart Texans twenty one to nineteen. Greg Ritta he needed this game, as did Arthur Smith, the head coach. I was facing mounting criticism for sticking with his QB one.

Yeah, great Desmond Ridder game. It should go without saying. This is the best game of Desmond Rider great career, like legitimately great. I haven't seen it for him. For him, yeah, I mean he went for three twenty nine and a touchdown. I think the receivers made plays for him, but he didn't make any bad decisions. There weren't any groners that he got away with. They were the better team. They had four hundred and forty seven yards of offense. I mean,

Bijon making people.

Got four carries than Lger Right, No, that all the way there, but he didn't get a receiving.

Are we gonna Are we gonna give up that dream yet? Can we please? Can we please stop that?

Arthur?

He did already make a one handed catch on a touchdown where it was here where he faked it behind the back or something.

So that was the vision.

Plus a defense that is much more together and complete than it was a year ago, and they get a win over a team that's maybe a year behind them in terms of their development.

I think it's interesting, is like we when we preview this, and I think when everyone looked at it's like, oh, well, by many metrics, Houston is the worst run defense in the league, and Atlanta wants to go pound the ball against you and probably run the ball. They did for thirty six times for two point seven yards for carry.

You get today that helps, but it's like that's I don't. It feels like not hit like Arthur Smith's vision in a way. Well, I guess against what he he doesn't seem to want to give Kyle Pitts and Drake London like huge amounts of targets, and today.

It just I think teams are just loading up to stop them so much that it's forcing their hand. And today he actually delivered, but it wasn't even great. Like I'm thinking of a lot of these catches and they're great, they're nice catches. He doesn't like put it right on you, like Pitt's had a nice jumping catch London John Whu. Smith is back alive. But that's what they're gonna need to make this thing work.

Take me through the end of this game, because I was more just seeing it in the scroll and it and Houston has the lead laid here. How does it all play? Out down the stretch. Is this you know, was this a dramatic comeback drive or great play?

Yeah?

Well, first of all, Houston didn't have a touchdown until you know what, two minutes left in the game. But it was twelve seven entering the fourth quarter, and Atlanta just kept going on these drives, drive after drive, and they lost two fumbles. They managed to win this game despite having two turnovers. Neither was Ritter, and they go on these long field goal drives and then TJ Stroud my guy, it's not my guy, it's everyone's guy.

Everyone's enjoying watching him play.

Gets the ball, it's down six with seven minutes to go, and just coolly goes down the field, making the right raids. They get the running game going. He gets the touchdown to go up, setting up Ridder with about one forty nine to go. They need a field goal, and they made it look easy, like they had too much, Like they got in field goal position with about forty five seconds to go. Ridder makes a couple nice throws to

And that's a test. That's a test for Dimigo Ryans' defense. You have a one point lead with one forty nine to play, Maybe they get to the point, Maybe they're gonna need some more talent. Maybe the scheme will get there eventually, we'll they'll get that stop to win the game. But no, no, Ryan's a defensive guy.

That's that hurts, right, and they they couldn't really stop them all day other than those two forced fumbles. I think it was Bijon did have one of the fumbles. Maybe that's why in places and John new Smith had another. But Rider had on dropbacks nine point two yards per play nine point two.

They had four and forty seven yards.

It was a no joke effort. And I think Ryan Nielsen and his outrageous mustache. I don't know if you guys have seen this thing. He's one of the twirly ones. No, it's like cattlefish hunter. Yeah, it's just so bushy and wide. It makes Arthur Smith almost look feminine.

I mean, like Gene Siegel time.

I wish I would have asked for a picture. But he's got this defense playing well like Jesse Bates and A. J. Trell is a real deal duo. Like their linebackers are good Klays. Campbell got hurt in this game, but otherwise Campbell and Jarrett like they were real difference. They're not great, but they're just average at very worst.

Shall it from n Today Show?

Is it a Geen Shallotte?

Now, it's not a shadow that I don't know.

You don't know that you don't know.

You don't I know who Geno, I remember who Jeens?

You know?

Shall I know Shallotte?

My mom watched the Today Show on Reviewer on like a three inch screen one of.

The remember like the people the Kitchen TV used to have three inch kitchen TV radio.

Yeah, you like exactly exactly like let's I don't need it.

We had The Today's Show on every single every single weekday in our house hours at a time, and Jean Shallott was a large part of my shelter.

That mustag Geane clean it up? Like I know it's your thing, but his mustache took all pre inches up. It was. It was insane. Uh, all right, good job. Let's see if you go string it together and make the Falcons truly interesting. That's all just need a couple of weeks in. He doesn't need to be great. They do need to. We got to get rid of this time share in the backfield.

But we'll get to that. I mean, I don't know. It's just you don't need to have one.

Guys averaging three and a half yards per carry behind the same offensive line, but you want the other guys averaging five and a half. Maybe give it to the guy, that guy from a year ago into the very productive this year. And can I say why? He just gets hotter and hotter physically.

Officially h The game goes along.

And so if you're gonna interrupt Tyler al Giles, if you're gonna give some of the ball to someone else, we got a problem. You know that that mustache and now I'm seeing it.

Who is that?

That's Ryan Nielsen there? Defense that's getting a little on. Remember when Jordan grew the mustache. That's a little too closet.

It's kind of yeah, it's not it, No, it's not a mustache like that because theirs are like four inches long.

I mean he could break. He could break as.

An European, a little bit a little tyrant part of a part of Europe.

Right.

We don't need it, we don't. We don't need any echo effect. I think it's just that's a bad angle or something doesn't look like that. I'm just saying it was a bad look for Michael Jordan. Yeah it was Jean Shallot it would be better, all right, let's go. I mean, how did Jean shout even eat? They don't ever think about that.

I don't know.

There's there's a lot of things that you'd question how well he did with the setup he had going on.

Hello Larry, all right we do Lucas Oil stadium, yiks hannahell between.

The ashbarks, lou receivers, the port of the like size. You knew what you were doing.

Wating on a shot.

That's do he takes a pelt, hot packs the throat in the pocket.

I have a theory that I can't share on the show.

The intercepted by dying apples the fifty yard line, and that's.

Julia Blackman put.

The game ceiling interception.

Ten seconds to goal.

Colts are gonna win.

An interception by the Colts defense at the fifty yard line in the streak will die Today it's the Tennessee Titans.

Oh, those frisky Indianapolis Colts. Julian Blackman snagged the passer Miyan Tannehill, an interception that sealed the twenty three sixteen win over the rival Titans.

I'm not sure what the streak was. What was it?

How many they had lost seven straight home games? Oh, I think that's what he's.

Those ones hurt the most, five straight losses to the opponent.

Okay, it's at two streaks.

Oh well, goodbye to those streaks. A victory tempered, unfortunately by yet another injury for my guy, Anthony Richardson. More on that later, Mark. He's your guy now, Okay, he's mine. You see NFL Plus on Thursday. Well, atn we did a rookie redraft. You drafted him second overall. Thick my guy. But maybe I'm not celebrating that. Today it's going great. My guy is stacking up the sick days early here, Mark.

They'll heat him up. But like, I don't know, I don't know why I took I don't know. Now you pay him after all this time. But Zach Moss, who you know, had two hundred and eighty yards.

You know that in this game mark that organization is known to surprise you with they do they come up, come out of the blue.

Yeah, I mean it made sense to pay him, don't we think? Right?

But it's just that organization has a way about, you know, zigging and zagging in ways that are unpredicted. It was the way it unfurled, like was why did your why did your whole philosophical approach to Jonathan Taylor?

Suddenly I have a theory, but yeah, not going to share it. I have a but you know what it is, I have another I have a theory that I will share. It's more just well, they just waited for the boss to calm down. You know, they wanted to do this the whole time. Yeah, it's just like Larry, let's just maybe after a month he'll he'll calm down and we can do what we want.

Right, Right, it's one or the other.

Right, it's either the boss demanded it to happen, or the boss wasn't paying attention or didn't care anymore. It's like one of those things. Well, you snuck it by him.

I don't I don't know how twenty six million to gets snuck by someone, but he's of a different pay class than we are. I mean, this was a game where I was like, I kind of like Tennessee's chances potentially, You've got this pretty gnarly run defense, and you've been running the ball like last week. They ran the ball real well, Tennessee. I mean, Jarrick Henry forty three yards on thirteen carries, couldn't get going. You give him one hundred and ninety three yards. Zach Moss played the game

In general, Oh, here's the thing.

Anthony Richardson goes down and the diagnosis from the pell Raiser is that he's got an ac joint sprain in his throwing shoulder.

MRI to Colm x Rayser negative. I thought the season was over when it happened.

We'll see.

But it's like the way he was walking, because we're always just like trying to look like when you say you see the helmet slam. I think it's like body he was telling you something.

He was just like it was just hat there was maybe a broken collar bone was just hanging off his body, his arm.

There.

Here's the thing about Richardson that makes me nervous because obviously the ability to stay on the field, that's a skill set, you know. And and like you, this is now three separate injuries. There was a lower body injury in week one, there was a head injury in week three, I believe, and now we have a shoulder injury.

It wasn't it. He only finished one game. He's played four, he's finished one.

Mark. Did that seem like an especially vicious hit to you? That's the thing I think, Yeah, I think it's like, I mean, it gets me nervous. Is like it's one thing, and to get absolutely your clock clean. But it's and I didn't follow the college enough to know if this was we didn't just Iron have many starts in college,

He's such a different player than Richardson obviously, but with psychin running the show, you kind of trust that, like when Minshew's in there, that they're gonna do things really well. Still and There were a couple things about Minshew today

Eight catches, one hundred and forty yards, totally unstoppable.

This was the one where it's like, I think he can be I'm not so concerned about their wide receiver group in general, because he he looked like the old under here.

There was also a Derek Henry halfback option played the goal line where he just missed Hopkins getting his second foot down that would have been a touchdown on top of it. So yeah, he's not the same nuke anymore, but he's definitely an option.

This is not a Julio Jones situation in Tennessee now, I mean this is a throwback type of game.

He got Julian Blackman, who what three years ago Wes was talking about on this podcast, just love and like looking like maybe a defensive rookie of the Year type of guy and has kind of been in the wilderness making a big play and then them, you know, be able to run the ball, them stuffing Henry that the key sequence was that they had a fourth down in

Titans fans are going to want to make sure we mentioned this that that that final field goal drive was sustained on a pass interference penalty on Christian Fulton, where I thought it was a bad call. He thought it was a bad call. In fact, Christian Fulton said after the game, I thought it was a bad call. It's hard when you got to play against the refs and the wide receivers. But that's the life of a dB. That was on third and twelve in the fourth quarter.

It's tough. You see those calls every week.

Obviously, I was pitching and moaning about what happened to the Jets against the Chiefs last week. I just don't like ticky tack, no defensive holding or PI calls in the final minutes of games, unless it's something where you got to take the laundry out. Look at the Super Bowl, what happened to the Eagles against.

The game that was a carbon copy of the Jets thing to somebody. And it seems to be dotted to cross games on a weekly basis, and you know, we're kind of just stuck with the result.

Curious about the stay in power of these two teams. So we'll see like three and two Colts are three and two. It's just they're a real team.

It's such a it's it's disappointing on Richardson because, like we said, he is a small sample size in college.

Well now it's a concern.

Well now it's like you now, he's only he's gonna enter year two with only a very limited amount of Well, I'll snap.

I don't think they're thinking it, you know, by the way the reporting is, I don't think they're thinking it's season ending, no or anything.

I was saying that's how it looked at the time. The reporting out there rap sheet said that it's an ac joint sprain, which is the same thing that Derek Carr didn't miss any time with and hopefully it's one of those situations. But Derek Carr looked like he was in a lot of pain when that happened on the Saints.

One thing I think you have, though, is a it's early, but a special coach and Stike and I just there's something about this offense, the way it's organized, and they've been through a lot and they continue to you.

Know what else is special?

Mike McDaniel and that offense in Miami correct transition.

Out to the twenty four yard line in Golden Ocean, they give it to Hpe down the sidelight. Nobody's gonna get you.

You don't touch down Miami what great speed. On top of that, safety takes a bad ankle on it. I think he forgot who he was chasing and trying to tackle.

What is happening in Miami?

But what's going on? Old time screams football. I just watched the.

Yeah, the Beckham documentary on Netflix. David Beckham, the footballer from England and he just bought a Miami football team for MLS. Pink nets. We're just we're in a whole other world down there, so it isn't We've went out sepple down there. A lot of great, strange things occurred, and I.

Like the color pink great. Don't don't twist it weird that.

You thought I was Greg I'm a feminist. How dare you call out the pink net. I'm just saying things are a little different.

Down I'm troubled that that's where you think I was thinking about. I was thinking about the Beckham he bought a team a while ago. You know, give give the give the MLS some props.

That was a good doc though. Check it out. Everybody really feel good about the staying power of the posh spice. Beckham marriage like a legitimately healthy relationship. Yeah, it seems to be good.

Take there by me.

All right, let's get to it. Devan a Chains delivered once again, zipping through that hole, pay dirt seventy six yards, Dolphins cruise thirty one sixteen over the wait for it, Moribun New York Giants Mark. Some teams have shown how the Dolphins can be slowed, but this version of Big Blue, they're not one of those teams.

No, they had no chance, And I think part of it is you got to You gotta give your defense a chance by producing on offense and it you know, they had eleven sacks on Monday night.

Less than a week later, they gave it. The Giants gave up seven today.

This is an offensive line that has drafted five linemen in the first three rounds since twenty twenty, more than anyone league wide, and it does not show they are.

A raging, boiling mess. Daniel Jones left with a neck injury at the end, and it was like, you're kind of just wait how long until Daniel Jones is hurt because he's getting killed back there TBD on where will be with this.

Getting an MRI?

I just I mean, I don't know, and then they have Tyrod Taylor in there and he's getting killed, and it's like this is just not sustainable. And it's like you you can blame Brian Dable play calling all this other stuff. It's like you can't function, but in general, like you can't function when you're watching Miami go up and down the field.

I mean, they're amount, they're huge plays. So today they fully amassed after this start of the season and sixty eight yards the most by any team through five weeks of the season, and at meal history, it was the greatest show on turf the two thousand rams that were second in that category. And it's real and it's legit, and I know what happened against Buffalo, but it's like you're not going to take away the speed and the big plays. They have seven touchdowns seven touchdown drives this

Dan.

I know this is not news to you because people were tweeting you left and right. But you asked for this tweet.

You asked for it.

I did.

You wanted a player and not a defender or someone else but a ball carrier to run twenty two miles an hour.

Fight tweet, Let's fly it up.

We have that X.

I mean, doesn't make sense. Let's see Marcel Louis Shasquez. Great name, Tyreek kill clearly toy blah blah blah blah. He proceeds to hit twenty two point zero one miles per hour on that sixty eight yard catch and run. He did it, so it wasn't even the a chain score. It was Tyreek's catch and run twenty two with the ball with the ball, so that was a sixty four yard Yet back to me, when you have the ball behind the line of and then you get through your demand,

I don't care about twenty two. Get me another twenty. Well, they're lucky Moster didn't do it today.

I mean, he'll had another sixty nine yard time down a Chan had that seventy six yards like eight Chan right now, you didn't even play the first week. Four hundred and sixty yards off of thirty eight carries. This is a This isn't like some This isn't some freak wide receiver that had three carries. He's I think like twenty five more people have more carries in him, but he has four hundred and sixty yards.

He's averaging twelve point one yards per carry.

It's crazy, and I do think Mike McDaniel, they keept asking about these stats in the in the post game.

Here's what you had to.

Say, mission accomplished. We had the whole time, the whole offseason. All that was our goal was output after five games.

Yeah, I mean, I think it speaks to what what.

The what the group is capable of.

But you need that expression.

And dead you're You're honored to be in the same breath for any statistical.

Yeah, he's by the way, it's not not a record, okay, it's it's a stat it's not a record, it's a wow. They broke the record for most yards in a after five games, Like, that's not a record.

That's a stack stop.

It's such allude about them.

I've seen this too, Like they actually made a big deal about it.

You hate all early season thing.

No no, no, no, no, no no, because you could you could say, like, it's not a stat talk it's it's not a thing of like he you did this, this is the most after week six, that's a record.

No, it's just a stat after week six. Okay, So I think it's it's it's not like a measuring stick. People explos It is not like.

Literally anyone in the world, including the Rams wherever, you know, conscious of that.

Before this week they almost made a big deal out of the c. J.

Stroud, like you know, he broke the rookie interception list streak and even that like they said and in this in the in the record is broken and it was literally on a.

Throw out of it on record.

Either got a real yes, who the hell do you think you are? Not a record that that that's a good question. Can I mention one quick thing their records to me? I think it's it's a fair thing to point out. Would you rather they don't point it out at all?

Absolutely point out, Just don't use the word does, don't use the word record.

All right, Well, at this point after five weeks, they metrically sit in a certain position compared to teams superior in the game.

That way, you said it that way, you could just say they have the most yards in history, and I will say that's what he said, mister brownie.

You are no fun at all. I can't say it. I'm notchoing Mike McDaniel here. I think you are to some degree.

I will say, like Tua had a little bit of trouble in this game real quick, like h Hand did fumble in this but then they got reel down, they got down to close to the goal line and there was one hundred and two yard pick six by Jason Pennock and the Giants, and they also had another bad pick.

It doesn't that's not The Giants before this game had not did not have one takeaway.

I stink they are You want to talk about metrics through four or five weeks, Greg, you know they got he doesn't.

I know, Well, if you did, I like to talk about it.

Just He's like oh, we're talking about the giant setting records for futility.

I'm all into it. Let's hear them get that haystacks.

You know, get that all right, Like I can't wait till you break the record for sacks like between weeks three and five. That's that's what I mean. It's like, it's not a record. That was mc dato's whole response. It's like, yeah, thanks, you know on my.

Uh uh New York New Yorker's chain. Got more than a couple buddies that are die hard fans. They're still watching these games. No got the old I'm not watching, yeah, because it's like it's got tough fun. That's how quickly and how bad it's gotten.

They might be the worst team in the in the NFL, But there's there's another option there.

I was gotta say they're they're a long time.

I have another team I might bring up. They could potentially there's a reason they got the the the coveted title in reverse of first to be called moribund on ATM because it's been that bad a start. They've been a stunningly terrible start. Even people like you Greg that weren't very high on them, entering the season. You didn't predict them to be now laughably terrible, And I.

Did take I did take them in my over under wins lost draft.

I'm going to see.

Seven and a half feeling good.

I'm going to data wipe this file on NFL dot com one way or another, going to the you know the where did you have them going to the wild card game?

Oh that's not too bad, it's not too great. It's not looking like a great prediction right now.

Good day for the Dolphins.

Suit.

It's like, you get to see the Bills lose early, you get the cruise, you get first place.

Our buddy, yeah, our buddy Connor. We won't talk about the Patriots later, but he wrote an apology column. Well, let's let's save it for that icy hot take on the Pats. All right, let's before we get to that, let's move to Mile High State. You know what happened in Mile High Stadium? An entire organization declared vengeance.

Upon smug little man on the side. It's a mile high.

Forty one seconds remaining second and ten Denver at their own forty one yard line. They still have one time out. The Jets again show blitz Russell Wilson in the shotgun. Are the Jets gonna bring pressure? Guess they will.

Russell Wilson being chased, He'll be sacked.

The ball pops out, loose the buck get it.

Let's stood up. Bryce Hall runs down the right sideline at the.

Ten five touchdown we go as the ruling on the field was a fundle by Russell Wilson off the pressure from Quincy Williams, no doubt about it.

Quincy knocked the ball out. It was stooped up by Bryce Hall. He took at the distance. The Jet defense scores to put this game away.

Whooooo up Bungos, it well deserved.

Eric has out of Baker's host happy.

Oh I think the bongos are going out to Nate Haacke. Yeah, did you see and throw it up on there for the YouTube viewers. Did you see Nate Hackett glowing on

Non competitive.

He made some throws, but he also had a brutal interception that led to eventually that big Quincy Williams sack. But it opened the door for the Broncos to steal this game. After the Jets had it in control with a big third quarter. But he did hit a couple throws in this game and in general wasn't completely lost at Sea, but he's still a major problem.

The thing here is Breeze Hall, who.

You know, the best story around this Jets team is that Breeze Hall is fully back from the knee injury he suffered in Denver one year ago. He had a seventy two yard touchdown. And as I was watching the highlight of the Brissall touchdown, boys, I was thinking to myself, been watching the Jets for you know, thirty plus years, but then I was thinking, I know the history of

This year.

They failed to test in Week one when they had a chance to close out the Bills on the last drive of regulation and gave up the field goal their test here in Denver. But this time they step up and it's Quincy Williams and Bryce Hall to get the job done.

Quincy Williams has been a revelation to me, not to Joe Douglas and the Jets give them credit, you get They gave him a contract this offseason that I thought, hmm, that's surprised. They just that's surprising because I thought he was good and bad last year. It kind of reminds me of like a Kuwan Alexander type where he makes huge game changing plays, but he gives him up too.

And this year he's a pro bowler.

I mean, he's been a beast couple of sacks in this game and they sent pressure late and that's one of the I want to get back to Breesaw. But while we're talking Quincy, like, that's one thing I'll remember from this game is how they sent pressure a couple

Give credit to the Jets.

Yeah, like their strengths are still their strengths. They've been through obviously total darkness and chaos and had their season kind of tossed up thunder, but the defensive line comes in waves and it's like what happened today shows you what they can be. And like Breese hall is, I mean, I guess I could point to like Curtis Martin as a true Jets hero.

I love Curtis Martin, He's one of the best Runner're not the same player generation, but he didn't have that Joy.

Was the player. He reminds me most.

I was thinking about this today in the NFL actually as a former Jet as well. It was not the same when he was on the Jets, Chris Johnson. That's because it's it's that feeling with it's kind of that feeling where that went because he had one hundred what did he have in this game?

And seventy seven he had over.

One hundred yards even if you took out that seventy two or eight nine, and it's just you're right, it felt like when they're getting by the ankles, like ooh, that was almost thirty five.

And that's what Chris John's.

Yeah, there's this like like this thing and it's not it's not because to your team, Den, but like, so you lose Elijah vera Tucker for part of this game, a Kai becktens in and out of the lineup, Joe Tipman gets hurt. You're don't have a go offensive line to begin with, and it's like to.

Do what they did with a with a really shaky quarterback play and it's like they had the drive where like you know, Zack Wilson doesn't even get the ball off before it was with the half and lately, you know, there's these these you gotta get around this and I do think that like Nathaniel Hackett is there's nothing about him that says, hey, wow, this is a super creative approach to attacking opponents in the ball and like it's not.

I really need to love him. And it's like to see all those people coming up to him at the end of this game, everybody. I mean, it's like he had he had EyeBlack on his cheek because players were just hugging him, like face to face and they adore him, and like, you know, whatever happens to this Jets team there there's just these things to like about him this season. And I think they are resilient and they could have completely mailed it in I see a completely different opposite effect.

In general, their efforts very high.

They're using their strengths and I don't know, they hard not to root for, and it's like I kind of you know what, Sean Payton, it's like, I'm not going to judge him, like we all make mistakes and do stuff like that, but he created him a villainous element for himself. I wasn't necessarily rooting for against Sean Payton, but it's like in this game, who's rooting for Sean Payton us out of a Broncos fan. It's like you went and completely shot down someone in their effort, a

Zach Wilson on Nathaniel Hackett right.

Here, told us that Hackett got a game ball.

I'm wondering.

I know you had just touched on it a minute ago, but were there any cool scenes in the locker room afterwards.

If you could describe if you had any interaction with him and then celebratory.

Yeah, and you could see the emotion on his face a little bit, and he's trying not to show it, but we all give him a big hug, told him, we love him, told him.

We're grateful to have him here, and it means a lot to us. Obviously, winnings hard in this league, so that's that's first and foremost.

But but you know, obviously how things went for him this past year.

It's tough.

So you know, it means a lot Denver and four zero and three at home at Kansas City next week home against Packers.

It's not been a good it's not been a good couple of years for Broncos season ticket holder.

It's been a little, a little rough. I know, people that schedule is streaming one in eight right now, and.

Uh, they're gonna be mentioned with teams that are gonna trade players. They traded Randy Gregory and now we're gonna hear that, you know, our guy you round for Kevin Saunders, right, Kevin Saunders back in the mix?

Uh, players that he went and got Kevin Saunders.

Right, And then you know I saw Ian said, well, Frank Clark could be available. It's like, ooh yeah, It's like you think it's like a player that was available in August that no one wanted then.

And hasn't had, you know, hasn't been health right quite Frankly, like, I'm so sick of hearing that Jerry Judy and Courtland Sutton could be had. I was like, I don't know, like I'm not they don't have the same shine to me. That they did a couple of years.

But Jerry Judy on the Chiefs and it'll suddenly be catching like a third and twenty to win the Super Bowl.

Probably probably okay, nice though, Zach Wilson is still a quarterback that you have to hide and that doesn't work in the league. Oh here's a Jets troll by the way on Twitter, the old seven James.

I don't know.

Everybody had a good time at Sean Payton's expense, but the Jets still have a problem at quarterback, and that is something to keep an eye on. But two and three, given everything, I would take it. Let's move on to the one team the Jets will never be able to beat. The New England Patriots once again had their hands full, this time against the Saints.

Empty back field for Mac Jones.

That now brings Stevenson to his left and how to move a few people around.

Takes the snap out of the shotguns Saints Spring four and Car's Tyre Matthew fifteen ten. He will walk into the in zone pick six for the Saints. That's how you do it.

Don't land on your offense, look the defense do it.

That is the first pick six for Mac Jones and this is week.

Five, man. I know you're not gonna believe it, Greg, but that they show that cut to Belichick on the sideline and maybe it's just looks like the passing of youth. And yes, it's weird to see Belichick look confused and helpless on the slide sideline. Because everybody has a party when they play the Patriots these days on Sunday at Jillette Stadium. Who's a Saints turn? Tyron Matthew scored the start of the scoring with a pick six of Mac

I think that is the main takeaway here. You guys have done it again.

Hit it, go ahead.

I do appreciate though, that you recognize my efforts as an associate producer on this last episode.

And I suggested Tom, wait, what was that?

Did you just give yourself a title?

Yeah?

Yeah, associate producer that's that that bonus money that hit During the podcast, you were like, they were like, great job getting Tom Kurrn whanted to do the Patriots.

That's I appreciate that. Guys.

What's another title? I mean that feels strong? Aggressive?

Yeah, I'd say, like, you know, quality control, assistant, a assistant, best boy, best boy.

That's how Josh McDaniel started. Look at him now, JR grip before we get to the junior grip.

That's it.

The Patriots total mess and we can get there. I do find it.

Funny frankly that I think Pete Carmichael, the Saints offensive coordinator, was pressured by Saints fans and media into updating to twenty twenty three this week that he was destroyed locally for just running this old school offense. And they literally asked him in the press like how come you never use any motion and he was just.

Like, actually that's what he was, just like, actually we can. That's in the offense. I just never call it that.

That's on me.

And he listened to him.

In this entire game, if they're going motion crazy, they were lasting the league on motion and like all their touchdowns were set up by motion.

No that's okay, by the way, Like I'm saying, it's not what you want in your your coach, because you want them to be ahead of the game like you are with a flashboint focus. But it's also a good sign that you're open to ideas wherever they may come. He also didn't really want to be the offensive coordinator.

That was the reporting.

I mean, it's always like been kind of whispered, and so yeah, I think he was happy to get suggestions. And look, your defense has to be pretty great to win thirty four to nothing on a day, you probably got like a B minus C plus Derek Carr. It really be mina C plus offense and they just call it Derek. They got a million chances and they had three hundred and four yards, and yet they were so

Mark, do you want to hear mac Jones on Slow Start or Belichick? Mac Jones is still our quarterback?

Well, I want to hear Belichick.

Okay, Bill, Bill.

Won't ruin into the decision to sit down back there in the understand it was again the reporter, so they got this, he's still your quarterback going forward.

Yeah, there's a lot of problems that certainly wasn't on him.

Oh my god. And you know, you know, flashing back to Tom Current on the show, you know, Bill, he's he's besieged right now. It's like coming from all angles. And now he's after years of almost having the upper hand on the media because no matter what they would say to him, he could just point to all the rings and everything.

But now it's just.

Feels like he's he's trying to he's left to answer things that it's clear he doesn't have any answers right now.

And then the Patriots are lost.

Yeah, I mean, you've been outscored sixty nine to three in the last two outings, which is like a shocking I in.

One of those was against the Saints, Yes, Saints.

I guess I'm really like with you, Dan on like the fact I don't particularly take any joy or entertainment from it on some level in the sense that like the look on his face right there, and if you see it on the YouTube, like it looks like a man who's lost, and like, you have a coaching staff that is like smaller than any other coaching staff in the league.

You're the GM. You've created this punchless offense.

It's on you.

It's fully on you.

And like I think that it's an interesting historical point in time as a football fan or to watch a watcher of the sport to see what is, without question, in my mind, the greatest football coach of all time going through this totally dark period and to the point of the flashpoint segment, like we're asking openly asking if he'll be here after the season, and like I'm at I'm at the point with the flashpoint thing that we could literally pick any topic and do it again this

It's that pression.

It's that on point and like, you know, we we dealed up our topic and then now it is a national firestorm in the media.

We should we should test that theory out. I don't know how. We'll have to pick a very arcane topic like we should. We did we?

Uh. My boys love watching Uh. They they became baseball fans this year, and we watched the MLB app a lot. And They'll be like in the next room playing Nintendo, and I'll be watching a game, and so we will hit a home run and then I'll quietly rewind it back forty seconds and then I'll say, guys, come in here. And then I'll say, I say, guys, I got I got a feeling again. And then I go, it's a it's a pull from the old Pee Wee's Playhouse. Rest in Peace. Paul Rubens mechalka high and mecha heiny ho,

They believe.

See, you know, your.

Dad did not have this technology to h I wouldn't say trick, but it is tricking you into thinking he had a superpower.

Keith didn't have that that gene at all to do anything like that. Even if Danny get over here scram like to take the VCR back. I don't even know what that ties into the point we were making. But yeah, because like you.

Are creating these moments with a you have a psychic almost an esp type element, and we do with our.

Whole We actually do in this case we do, yes absolutely, and Greg too to some degree. Yeah, you know, associate producers matter too. Grip, I like everyone's gonna talk about Max sistem to the junior Grip and Mac Jones is playing some really dumb football. The pick six comes on where he's trying, He's trying to make too many plays. He's making it worse. He's falling apart obviously. But the reason that I'm so convinced Belichick is losing it Slash has lost it is not Mac Jones. It's that their

I think I think Matt Patricia has too much respect and love for Bill to be dancing in his home wherever or wherever he is.

Where's he know, he's on a sideline somewhere, right. I think he's like a special assistant to the Eagles.

But it did kind of I was thinking about that as like Pittsburgh fans were coming at me also that sometimes you just point to the scheme or the coordinator and you put all the blame on that, and then you see, like as the Patriots as an example, sometimes it's more than that. It's not just the play caller of the scheme. There are more issues, and we're seeing New England has issues that go very deep.

Right, there's no roots, there's I don't know what they do either. Because they brought into Billy Zappi these last two weeks, Zambi was worse. You know, if like Zabi had done well in this game, people had been like, oh, it was just garbage type, but actually he went for he went three for nine for twenty two yards, and like went backwards and and all this stuff to what very quickly. Congrats to Alvin Kamara is the all time leader in Saint's touchdowns.

That's pretty cool. That's a long history, asked Marcus Colston.

And I'm Jordan is the all time sack leader. They got two like Saints legends playing on that team.

And I got some tweets or at least this one that asked Mark, can the Saints the Orlands Saints get their new back after winning thirty four to nothing.

They get the New Orleans they're tied for.

That was like the New Bowl. Yeah yeah, Orleans for now the England we remain. I'm sorry to London, but let's the England Patriots right.

Now we're trading you.

I don't know why is they careful? Suddenly they got a plane in shure. I'll revise that probably before Tuesday night. All right, let's head to Detroit where the Lions look to keep things rolling off the.

Takeaway gadget play they're gonna go with the fleet clicker.

Goft growth man what open.

Touch down Detroit Lions, Sam Laporta, razzle, dazzle and six on the board. Who then, I know it's getting close to Halloween. I know we like to play tricks. That was some tricker rasio.

Right now, Dan Johnson, he's coming with them, coming with them today.

Oh man, you heard Dan Miller. There was Lomas Brown as well.

Dan Miller.

I brought this up before, but for my Pain ranking series on NFL dot Com, I picked one figure connected to the team to interview as part of the article, and I spoke with Dan Miller and it was about all the sadness and all the badness and all the pain of the franchise and people connected to it, and he couldn't have been a nicer guy. And you hear you hear his voice on that call, and what a party it is to be part of the Lions as a fan, as the play by play man, as the color guy.

You gotta love it.

Jared Goff through three touchdown passes in the first half, ran for another score and in the fourth quarter, Man, he's got fleet feet now too, and the Lions cruise forty two twenty four over the hapless Panthers. Mark Dan Campbell's team is telling us every week they're not just some cute underdog anymore. They are are truly well lion. Oh they are.

There's the joy coming from them and they you know, this is three straight wins of fourteen plus points. It was a dominant crushing of Carolina. Not a good team, but like they went and blew their doors off, and I kind of get the sense they're like kind of just coming into focus.

We're just starting to see what they can become. Even this year you have done.

You're watching this team transform and I think GM Brad Holmes, I don't know what he learned under less sneed in Los Angeles. But like I know, the LA's like we refuse to draft players. We don't really operate in the draft for the most part. Like Sam Laporta three catches, forty seven yards, two touchdowns today. Jack Campbell week after week is doing something special. It's like everyone was laughing at that draft pick you brought in. Josh Reynolds from the Rams.

Goff soul teammate played a huge role today with i'man ross Saint Brown out of the lineup, Jamior Gibbs out of the lineup.

You've had so many injuries, That's what part of it. It's like they're so reciently being as injured almost as any team in the league.

Right you don't have you don't have Gibbs.

Dave Montgomery coming off a great week last week, one hundred and nine yards today, a touchdown dominant. Jared Goff twenty two for twenty eight for two hundred and thirty six yards and three touchdowns. It is like a campaign, a beautiful revenge for Jared Goff. And I'm kind of over whatever I thought of him before because we stayed up the week after week. He fits like a puzzle

They're here, They're they're right there at the top of the NFC.

I mean, the guy that the good teams in the NFC are really good, but but they're one of them coming out of the gates. And again I'm also the one that says like September is not gonna matter that much. In the long run, and they're building up and we'll see if they can keep it going. The schedule has definitely helped them out, but that's that's the best sign of a great team, to survive injuries and to beat bad opponents and to start mixing in new stars like

All right, anything else on the on the Panthers side, it's just you know, more the same there.

Just like I'm waiting to see it with Bryce Young and I keep like the kind of the comment about him is like, well, you see it in little moments. It's like, I guess, I'm just I'm not. I mean, the interception by Hutchinson was just a bad look. He had a terrible read on a second pick and I mean he look at the team around him is a mess on offense and in the offensive line is not good.

It was kismet for Aida Hutchinson to end up where he was where he ended up, you know, as a Michigan guy and all that. It's amazing. Like he he has a lot of interceptions in his career.

I know he is the most in three is or whatever it is, three or four is the most in NFL history through two years from a defensive linement.

That count. That's a stat but it's not a record. God, I don't think that's not a record. I just want to rip this table.

I can imagine with me, Well, like it is a great record, but I really consider the most important record like that the defensive lineman who has the most interceptions through year four of his career.

Wow, what a record that is for right, But even from it a front, nobody knows, nobody knows who has read any of.

That, even from your your to your conceit about this whole thing, even that wouldn't have any meaning.

That was my joke.

That was the point. That was the joke.

Now, I had to explain it.

That was That was it. I'm just taking Greg seriously because I feel like so heavily.

I mean, come on, I feel bad this this Panthers theme is said.

All right, let us head to one more game, and it's the game everybody was waiting for. Sunday Night football.

Niners, Cowboys. You Jonathan Hankins right in the A gap year.

What was he gonna do here on third gun into one?

I can guess like a give it now, it's a play action perty gonna roll left throw for the end zone by George Kettle. He has the hat trick tonight, the career high three touchdown catches for George touchdown.

Sat Francisco, Greg Papa.

Forty nine Ers radio man. We've been hearing a lot from Greg the last few years because the forty nine Ers have been one of the very best operations in the game, and once again in primetime against a Cowboys team that thought they were up to the challenge.

They proved.

When they're humming right now, are they without equal? Eagles have something to say about that, and we'll find out in time. Forty two to ten Niners over Cowboys and Greg. That score accurately sums up what we witness, which was carnage, an absolute stomping.

One contender, maybe one pretender, I don't know.

I am stunned by how thorough it was, and a just gets me thinking about what kind of NFL do you want? We want better Sunday night games. First of all, we want these games that look like, hey, this is the latest game of the year, like Bill's Dolphins last week.

We wanted to be closer. We want it to be a great game.

But I also love an NFL where the great teams are truly great. I like having the Chiefs there a year after year. I like that the forty nine Ers and the Eagles right now are five and zero and the rest of the NFC is just going to have to deal with them or catch up.

And the forty nine.

Ers are a team we know so well, like it feels new because party's there, but so many of these guys were there in twenty nineteen when they were a couple plays away from winning the Super Bowl, and then they're back knocking on the doorstep in twenty and twenty one in the Conference Championship, and now the offense and the defense being this great together where both sides of the ball can dominate a good Cowboys. This thoroughly is

Yeah, because we we can look at the schedulet you can.

I don't, I mean, I don't like this game, but I'm just impressed, and I'm impressed with great I see what you mean.

Because I mean I I you know, growing up as a fan in the eighties and early nineties, they're the parody that we have now was I mean, they were you know, longing for I guess on some level, but it was typically like when the NFC won the Super Bowl, like fifteen sixteen years in a row, these dominant, roving, massive teams that were dynasties. Essentially you go from one dynasty the next. So I look down the schedule and

But it's like they prove some of them.

Who are they and like, are they like as good as they seem in some of these hi moments when you blew out the Giants, which now looks you know, like so hum. This game really doesn't tell me too much about Dallas, to be honest, because I think they can still go win Oh come on, well no, but they can go win eleven or twelve games.

Well, here's what it like.

I don't trust them, but I didn't trust them before this game, and I don't trust them in big spots, and I don't trust them in January.

This to me trust them in this matchup because this very well could be the same matchup in San Francisco at some point in the Sure.

All I'm saying is it it's telling me more about the powerful, almost indestructible nature of a healthy Niners team. Yeah, I'm a little I'm a little bummed about the game because what I will. I know the Niners are a superpower. I know the Eagles are a superpower. But then look at the rest of the NFC, maybe Detroit cross your fingers.

I mean they're looking as good as you get possible.

It's interesting, but it's early, okay, right now, they look great. The Cowboys. To me, this was a clear measuring stick game.

Where are you to me?

You were exposed here, You're You're gonna you'll be okay, You're gonna probably get a playoff spot unless you get hit with injuries. But I'm not now now, I'm not really looking forward to if that game happens again, whether it be wild card round or divisional round, the Cowboys and the Niners playing against each other, there's not a lot of juice to it, because I know what this is about. There is a forty nine Ers team that

I think one thing is because it's like I get it, Dak Prescott, it's a Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks is always going to be the centerpiece of these conversations about canny rise to the moments like I think what happens tonight a little bit is like conversation over what rise to what moment when like.

I mean, it's not because of a week five What do you mean?

Like right now is because over and over Dak Prescott in big moments has not and not against this team. Like really, like all these things boil down to like the team you can't get pasted, Like when the Bulls couldn't get past the Detroit Pistons until finally they could. You know, it's like they can't get past the Niners, and instead of getting better and getting closer, you're getting farther away. It looks worse. Kellen Moore was your scapegoat

Right, We've done this long enough that I always feel that in week five, like you always allow for the room that these teams could be totally different by the time they do play in the playofs because we've just seen it so many different times. But everything you're saying is also true, and the reality is there are two games back of the Eagles, like that, that's a very real thing in a conference where Cowboys fans are almost assuming, well,

He does have a very nice feel.

He obviously has nice accuracy, and we watched the game with Daniel Jeremiah who notes, like, look, he's just driving a Ferrari and he's good at driving it, but it is a Ferrari and that's all true. They might have like five or six Hall of Famers on this team, but he's doing all the subtle things that you want to see that make you believe he can continue to do it all the way until Vegas.

Yeah, he has been pretty much perfect as a starter. Yes, I mean he is the all time safety net bailout for this team that whiffed on Trey Lance and then took party with the last pick, and this is what you're getting.

He's only like, Yeah, wouldn't they be four and one with Trey Lance or Sam Darnold. They wouldn't be as good, right, but they like we win, we winning games, they'd find a way.

We kind of said it right before we went on, like it's almost it almost gets you like maybe again this is like some have not type fan talking, but like, how do you mortgage your entire future to go up to number three and go get a quarterback with on that on an almost unimaginable level to the point where you lose all that draft capital and you would have trade in the pick after two years of him doing nothing and then be in this position where you are

A lot can change and it's like you want to overreact, Except this isn't an aberration for the Niners.

They've been doing this for years and.

In a way, like for the fact that they lucked out on Party, I would say that there were many seasons where quarterback injuries and injury chaos like took the Niners and Shanahan's teams out of it. And so it's like there is like, you know, you keep drafting quarterbacks, you keep developing, and we already trust that chanhan can maximize.

I'm with you.

It's the last thing I'll say too, is like this thing about Party where it's like we're kind of always looking around him as for why they're succeeding. It's like, I don't know what else you can ask quarterback to do. I think it's because he's not like a physical specimen where he's not Anthony Richardson, he's not Cam Newton. It's like he looks a little bit kind of like a high school quarterback playing in the NFL to me, and yet he he is. It's not just Shanahan like he's

He fits what they're trying to do.

But that's it's why football's are really fun sport to cover, because it's everything, it's all interconnected. You could say that on some level, we were talking about this too, that that Deebo and Ayuk are they're not products of the system, but it's hard to evaluate how they would be outside of this system, just because it all works so well together.

Worried about the defensive line.

It's a credit to all of them. Four coordinator switch, it's everything, It's freaking everything.

It's awesome. And just to give you a snapshot of how out of hand that game was, they cut to Jara's suite and he doesn't even look like he's that bummed. It's almost like that whole sweet for about an hour was already hour and a half was like, oh, Okay, we know where we are now. And then you cut down to the sideline with four minutes ago and John Lynch just handed down handshakes.

Man.

Hey, how about how about a week? What do we got coming up week six?

Yeah, we are headed to London.

Yes about we get some nice like rockers in primetime this week. So you've got the Giants on.

Let me use the parlance of where we're going. Let's get some quirkers.

You got giants, Bills can Your hope is that that's a quirker.

We've got Broncos chiefs, Broncos chiefs and Giants.

Okay, you know a corker, you know, like Greg.

We got the London game Ravens Titans on NFL Network.

That one's gonna be good. We'll be there all right, good stuff. Thank you everybody, uh for following along as always. And we got another big week of action coming up, both here in the States and then yes in England, our latest jaunt over the seas until Monday.

Heed the call.