Smith that to his right.
End zone shot cap.
For the Scorn.
First and goal one on one at the top with DK metcalp.
Here is Horker for the touchdown.
This's what's back tap the other.
Way Witherspoon, Devin wetherspoone cuts.
Back one a night for the rookie.
You think they love him in Seattle.
How about six points touchdown Witherspoon.
No flags.
You know, typically with these Island games, we'd like to give you that little buff of highlights and we'll mix in, you know, one from one of the losing team and then.
A couple from the winning team.
But some games you gotta go triple play for the victor, and this was that case for the Seattle Seahawks who went to the Medalands and really put the Giant season.
I don't want to get crazy here, and we'll get to it, but to me kind of on ice in some ways, with a twenty four to three win in front of seventy five let's say about sixty six thousand furious Giants fans and about ten thousand delirious Seattle fans, or at least that's how it sounded as they took over that building in the swamp late in the game. A dominating performance by the defense of the Seahawks. Bobby Wagner one of four Seahawks to have two sacks in
this game. I believe they had eleven total, and it was that pick six that put the game away. But in many ways this was really as one sided as it gets, even if the score wasn't quite as dramatic as one would say for a total boat race.
Dan Hans is here with.
Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler on a Monday night. Gregy, you love your Seahawks, you love your Geno Smith, but this is like, this is a beautiful win for.
Pete Carroll's team.
And you could tell by Carl's reaction on the sideline this is right up his alley.
He's going to sleep well.
Tonight, yeah, because all he's wanted for what eight years now is to bring it back, bring it back to those legion of boom defenses that they celebrated in twenty thirteen. Just a week ago, they had a big celebration in Seattle as all the players coming back except for one player who's still on the team that they were celebrated, and that's Bobby Wagner and him being one of the guys with two sacks to me was fitting because they had eleven sacks. Just it's just bonkers in a good
defense this year. I think they have the pieces to get better. Stomping on incompetent opposition is a sign of a good defense. But Wagner is part of a second level of a defense that got those sacks. You mentioned that the four guys got too. Jordan Brooks was one of them. Devin Witherspoon was one of them. He had the game of the year I think any rookie has had on defense, and then Nuoso had the other two. It was just crazy, and they have playmakers on those
second level. And when you're playing the Giants, everyone looks like they have defensive playmakers because they can't block anyone.
Yeah, I mean, it was the perfect storm of like absolutely celebrating what the Seahawks did, but you are facing a Giants line that already arguably the worst line in the league, had no Andrew Thomas, they lost their starting center John Michael Schmidt's in the middle of the game early on, and it just seemed like a fiery, angry boulder rolling downhill because it became almost an absurd.
Sport event to me to watch because it's, you.
Know, it's like you're not gonna win this game, like you're just simply We're watching Daniel Jones, who is a massive athletic man being punished over and over, and it's like every couple seconds, another takedown, another sack, And I don't really remember a game like that because this was only one sack away from the NFL record of twelve and this is a very kind of rare event, and it like for the Giants, I think, like you know, Dan and I were both friends with a ton of
Giants fans. It's like the hope is receding and disappearing with each drive that crumbles into nothingness.
There's no explosive plays.
And you can criticize Daniel Jones, I don't really because it's like he yes, he's indecisive, Yes he's getting nothing done back there, but go find me a quarterback that can survive behind the offensive line as it currently stands for the Giants.
Yeah, and you have.
It's interesting and it's crazy because no one got more praise, and rightfully so, the way Brian Dable took this Giants team from dumpster fire under Joe Judge to a really co adhesive, strong willed team that played tough every week. Even the games the Giants didn't win last year, many of them. They were competitive in the losses. They get to the playoffs, didn't they got to win in the playoffs.
And you know this team now a year later, they look Dare I say poorly coached or is it the personnel that's that much worse this year?
I don't know. And I think when you saw a.
Great job and it's one of the benefits of these primetime games because you have such great coverage and so many cameras and you know they're capturing everything, so many cutaways to the Giants fans because and just they're stunned, they're angry because this was not supposed to be this season. And I think that's what you're trying to figure out, how this team that with the same coaching staff when everybody was saying they are on the right track and
they're a smart, well coached team that's getting better. Now they look like one of the worst teams in football through four weeks. And I think that's been one of the biggest surprises of the league for me.
They had a shot of a fan with a brown paper bag on and I think this was such a perfect night for what you were talking about. I don't think Brian Dables a bad coach, but there was one team in this game that was missing both starting tackles and were playing like late round afterthoughts at tackles and then lost both their starting guards in this game and won the game twenty four to three. Now, the Seahawks offense was no great shakes in this game either. They
missed some opportunities. They didn't top three hundred yards. They scored I guess seventeen points as an offense, but they looked like they made sense. They had positive plays. They certainly had, you know, a quarterback who wasn't making as many negative plays. But I'm with you, Mark, this wasn't a game that to me, was on Daniel Jones for
the most part. And I'm always happy to blame Daniel Jones for things because when he was at the back of his drop on most of those sacks, the pressure was there.
It was instant like this.
His first fumble came from one of the many plays where he avoided a sack, and that was because there was an absolutely free rusher. But it wasn't like a creative defensive blitz. It was Uchenna Nuosu, their edge rusher who was just completely unblocked and they only rushed four on that play, so it was like a total meltdown and you lose your center at the beginning of the game.
That hurts.
But I think you can give credit to the Seahawks for like, look, they're making it work Shane Waldron and making their offense very functional and the Giants can't. So that's personnel, but that's coaching too.
Yeah, I mean I think there's like you ask us he is it a Brian table thing? I mean I give him credit for last year. I mean coaching his human too, and like the locker room presence and who he was was like embraced for a lot of good reasons and he brought results. But right now they have PFF's thirty first ranked offense and defense going into tonight. I don't know what's going to happen to the offense after that, And I'd argue that the special teams has
been equally a huge problem. That's the three things that make up your organization and your success. Over the course of the campaign, they've been getting They've scored three points in the entire first quarter. In the first quarter all season long, they've been outscored seventy seven to nine in the first half, So that changes everything you do coming out of half. And like they've had some of the
worst quarters we've seen by any team. And it's just like, to me, it's the it's like the the I don't know what to do about this, but these teams should not be treating us on national television.
I don't care what time of year it.
Is, Sunday night football in two weeks, I know that it's even four times in six weeks, and it's it's not it's just like it's for their fans and Jets fans you know this too.
It's just like it's we've got to find a solution to this. That's a separate topic. But it's just like we're we're two quarters into this game, and I'm thinking, this is utterly absurd to put in front of an international audience.
With the two New York teams and it's both of them, and it's doubled up and they're both having bad years so far, and yeah, City.
Such a beautiful voice.
It's a sad.
New York City and I'm wearing my Knickerbockers hat today. The New York Knicks, the NBA, the Yankees are out of the playoffs this year. The Mets didn't make it, had one of the more dissipate pointing years ever for their big budget, and the Jets had Aaron Rodgers and then we know what happened there, and the Giants.
What's happening here? Now?
We got to go in all on the Knicks, and I guess the Rangers and whatever major League soccer clubs happened to be in the Tri state area.
I'm not you got to ed.
The WNBA finals team right now, the Liberty versus Tom Brady's Aces.
So okay, do you stay on top of that if you can for me and just let me know because those flags fly forever as well. That's true, but it is it's so frustrating because, like from a New York sports fan perspective, it's been a pretty dark ride in the wilderness for you know, most of the century for the New York sports teams and for the NFL teams.
This was supposed to be like a great year of growth and maybe even the Jets are a potential Super Bowl team, and the Giants were going to hang in this beastly NFC East And let's face it, like what I said at the top of the show is, yeah, this feels with the schedule the way it is they have. They're in Miami next week, and I think, like you said, they got Buffalo Sunday Night Football the week after that, and you know you're staring down the barrel at one
to five and a good night nurse. So Bill, the Giants and Dables got a huge job ahead of him now to try to keep this locker room from not completely burning down under all the disappointment. And for the Seattle side of things, yeah, I would be willing to stick a fork in the Giants at this stage. It just had that feeling to me that it's just not
going to be their year. And for the Seahawks, you know, they had one really bad loss greg one against a Rams team that now in retrospect, was not nearly as big an upset as it seemed at the time because the Rams turned out to be pretty damn feisty this year. But since then, they beat the Lions in Week two, they took care of business against the Panthers last week, they whipped the Giants this week, and now they go to Cincinnati and look at you, off to a what are you?
Four? And oh four? O? Okay, well I'm right behind.
You, baby. They were an underdog at the time.
I think eventually all the casuals like me kept putting money on them and they became the favorite.
So and with this.
Pass rush against a week offensive line or a quarterback who's compromised like they're getting next week again, Joe Burrow, he could be a tasty lunch for this defense the way they played today.
Yeah, and they get a bye week before that. I think that's huge they get they're getting into the buy three and one. They've had almost as many injuries as any team in football, so the bye week is big for them. They have their offensive line, but the pass rush and the defense in general has come along. And Pete Carroll defenses, even throughout this six or seven years
of mediocrity, usually start out terrible. There's actually d VOI's stats about this where September they're always bottom five, and then they improve and they end up being average. They usually end up being a little better than average down the stretch. And I think there's a very real reason for it this year. It's their two cornerbacks. Riek Willin missed a couple of weeks. He was back in there today,
almost had an interception himself, and then Devin Witherspoon. That's one of the best games I've ever seen out of a cornerback ever forget to run.
It was just fun to watch.
I know, like it wasn't all in coverage, you'd have to go watch all the coverage snaps, but in terms of just making plays on the ball with those sacks, those instinctual plays on one that was gonna be a trick play where Paris Campbell was gonna throw it and he recognized it immediately, and some of the tackles were just crazy. That's not what you think of when you think of a cornerback. But Devin Witherspoon is just a playmaker.
And even in his first game, I said he was the main character of the game, and it was like a lot bad and some good. He's just like he pops off the screen. He was incredible last week. He was even better this week. And he seems the embodiment of whatever Pete Carroll wants in a defender like he's Seattle all the way. I feel like a lot of Weatherspoon jerseys were sold tonight.
I also like that from a broadcasting angle, because you're righty popped off the screen that Troy Aikman had a major win because before the ninety seven yard pick six occurred, he mentioned Weatherspoon like probably six or seven times. At one point he said, he reminds me of another twenty one that I know, Dion Sanders with his profano.
It's like he kept.
Propping him up and then bang the pick six happened, and like the announcers booth was relatively quiet, and you're like, you know that Aikman's up there just being like, yes.
I nailed that Gino Smith quiet game statistically, and he left this game for a series and shout out. Drew Locke came in connected with Noah fen on a catch and run that really put the game in control for Seattle for about a fifty yard game. I like that taunting penalty Gino got. He is speaking of feisty. He's feisty as well. I think he got admonished by Troy by the way for that, which is like, yeah, the quarterback he got to be a little more under control.
But I didn't mind it.
Greg I thought Gino showing a little fire. He didn't like the hit that led to his injury on the sideline, and in general seemed to have.
An issue with some of the Giants defenders.
Well, yeah, I think there was a question whether that was a late hit or a dirty hit. I started just as he was going out of bounds and then really continued and rolled up, and so he was angry about that. And I think the reason he was so mad, and this is just a guest they didn't guess on the broadcast, was Tyler Lockett got hit in a very similar fashion just as he was going out of bounds, right when Gino came back in, and it was that play where he ended up getting the penalty. And yeah,
they didn't they didn't need much out of him. He actually made a couple of really nice plays moving inside the pocket. But I felt like every nice play he made or that they were making was getting called back by penalty. I mean, they were sloppy as hell on offense. And that's the thing where you're watching this game and you're thinking, Man, if the Giants could either make some big plays defensively or had any sort of an offense.
Seattle was leaving the door open, especially in the first half of this game for the Giants to show up because they were just making so many mental errors and the Giants just weren't ready.
I mean, it could have been if Eli, if Daniel Jones doesn't throw the pick six, they're at the five yard line. There you got a touchdown and go for two. It's a three point game going into the fourth quarter. So that was obviously a massive game ending swing the pick six. The only person probably not smiling connected to the Seahawks tonight, is Jamal Adams, who finally returned.
This was actually tough to see.
Just it reminded me when he, you know, he had his great moments with the Jets. Things got ugly, gets traded there, and it's been a pretty rough ride after that first season when he had all those sacks. And he finally gets on the field after missing like a year and a half, about a year and a quarter, and on the first series he gets knead in the helmet by Daniel Jones. Clearly woozy, it was the right
move to pull him out of the game. The Independent specialist on the sideline ruled him out and he has words with him, and it seemed to be how to be separated from the independent neurologists.
Which I feel like is a first.
I don't think I've ever seen like that situation play out before, so that was a bit of a bummer to see. And then my final takeaway on this rather mundane game is I did a double screenwatch.
On this one.
I came back to the Manucass for the first time in quite a while. It was very it was delightful. I just it's such a great product and I'm going to continue to screen it for the of the season. They even had Will Ferrell on and that was nice. And even our NFL media colleague Sean O'Hara stepped in and made a joke about Eli putting his hands between his legs that old center cornerback humor and stuff, waka wakast.
I love Maning cast. I think like others have tried to duplicate versions of it and you can't.
But I would say this, but you mean, like us on our NFL Plus Monday show.
I would point to that as something that I'm hoping we're not trying to duplicate with this we're.
Doing recap today's one with Colts Rams was a delight for the senses.
I think it would be intellectually disingenuous to say that our Monday stream is not somewhat not modeled after it, but you know, visually it would be a striking coincidence.
And it's it's just there's something really to me, almost wholesome about the two brothers just kind of watching this game and seeing how they interact with each other and talk about the game as two kind of famous quarterbacks, one in a legendary star and one even though Greg will try to stop it, who will go into the Hall of Fame one day.
Uh.
Just a great program.
Well, I think both of them.
I saw a clip going around of them just kind of admiring and in a real quarterbacky way. Gino Smith like play action fakes, like Peyton Manning, who is just like the master of the play action fake was just like, oh, Gino, like he has been going to play action fake school, and it is one of the things I like about you.
You know, he's good at all the like.
One hundred and ten yards stay.
If there was night to pipe down, just a tad maybe even three to four percent of this topic.
I mean he goes back to New York and wins a game. Pete Carroll goes to New York and wins literally.
But you there is no going back to the Giants to win the game. It's not a thing.
Did seem testy against the Giants?
Though?
Did I seem to be something there?
Little he was somebody trying to give him a double acl tair on a tackle on the sideline.
He's yeah, that I hope that this isn't something that you hear afterwards that they do tests and m Ryan ends up turning into something more like a sprain that that keeps him out the bye week seems well timed.
What a couple of quick last things.
Just like the Giants attempted to passes over ten yards, they attempted to That's that's insane. For the amount of dropbacks that Daniel Jones had thirty four plus the eleven sacks, so that's plus the scrambles, he dropped back almost fifty times and he didn't have time to throw more than ten yards down the field.
That's a catastrophe.
Tennessee alum Peyton Manning losing his mind that they're not even finding any way to get Jalen High involved, the guy who's an absolute playmaker, just just a nightmare evening.
It's a mess.
It's hard to get high It involved though when I mean, I don't know tonight, especially your quarterback Scott right half of a second half of millimeter to throw the ball like I don't.
If he'd have good coaching there, there there's a way to clean this stuff up during the week. It's gonna be a huge test for Dable and the entire Coach of the Year platform.
Let's be honest, well, let's let's be real. Coach of the year.
I said, how defense matters a lot in terms of the schedule you play. I think if you looked at old Coach of the Year winners, I think schedule matters a lot. We've had some Dick Geron's and Matt Naggi's and it just guys that get to eleven wins off of a weird schedule. One tiny fly in the ointment for the seahawkss I've been noticing this year. The last one for me is just Jackson Smith and Jigba. They tried to get him involved. Six targets, five yards couldn't be the guy in the.
Yeah.
And so many receivers have come into the league, Mark Mark you you smartly mentioned Michael Wilson today. So many receivers coming to the league flying, and they've really struggled to get any production or anything going from me. And I think they really tried tonight and it just it wasn't happening.
That's like the eighth summer long narrative that we basted ourselves in. I did on the Jackson Smith and Jigba thing, and it's not panning out. I don't know if maybe we should be, you know, putting a box in the summer because it's just it's becoming embarrassing.
We will a couple of years, a couple of years, we'll just shut it down for the summer. See in September, everybody, big old wave. All right, that's it for this game. Let's now pivot now and get you caught up to date on all of the news.
I kind of like that as a segment.
I feel like I brought it up and then we never actually do it because it doesn't sound overly pleasant. But I feel like in October check in and what we were most wrong about in terms of what we were talking about ceaselessly and August and into September. Things that surprised us that could be something.
The Steelers offense is up there. They are dead last, and any paper playing I was buying it too. Almost anything that happened in the preseason now that I'm thinking about it, like c J. Stroud was the quarterback people were worried about. Everyone thrilled.
It's so much better with the final week's your summer. Just savor them.
Meaning on the table and in the fantasy spectacular is my one main thing to draft Damien Pierce. I guess it looks a little better after this last week. I'm not totally giving up, but that.
Look, the Steelers can still win twelve games. I'm not completely that.
The door is not closed. The door is not closed. Let's do some news. The door is speaking of the Steelers pivot.
Bro That was good.
Kenny Pickett suffered a knee injury in that dreadful loss uh this week to the Texans. Wow, look at all these things tying together, and it seemed like a bad injury at the time. But here's the good news. Rap Sheet reports that Pickett has a bone bruise in his knee could miss Week five against the Ravens. It's also a muscle according to Rappaport, but he's it's in play that he could be on the field this week, but
they have a buy in week six. So there's a pretty decent chance we're gonna see Mitch Trubisky this weekend, but also a pretty decent chance unless unless Mitch Trubisky balls out, that Kenny Pickett will be back on the field, as opposed to a worst case scenario which seemed in play when he went down on Sunday.
It's like the inverse scenario from a year ago where we were waiting and knowing that Mitch Trubisky would have essentially at some point be benched or injured or remove from the lineup, and you come into this season with these glowing reports of Kenny Pickett that I fell for like a complete rube based off of July action in August action, and he's not looked apart, and so I have to question like if he if there were no injury or no injury, like would he be on a leash?
Because I thought that Tomlin's comments after that game, we're very Mike Tomlin. It was just like, yeah, major changes could be coming, and really no one's safe. And it's like, I think that when you say that, you're not talking about your left defensive tackle. You're talking about the quarterback situation.
Hmmm.
I think all right, I think Mitch Trubisky is an upgrade.
The smallest hill I'll ever die on is that Mitch Trubisky when he came back in for the Steelers last year, played pretty well. It's very similar to my Andy Dalton was sneaky good for the Saints last year, which which is another one that feel like.
It's acts like an an hill, right, yeah.
It is, but it's aging, okay, because like Derek Carr looks a hell of a lot like Andy Dalton are worse right now in that offense. I was just like, I'm just saying, it's not a good situation. I think Trubisky could be an upgrade on what Picket is now now how much of it is just the offense is totally broken. Pickett's taken a huge step back from where Pickett was even as a rookie. I mean, that's it's
not even arguable. He's really struggling. So I think Trubisky has been around, could be an up great and if he plays well enough, I think Tomlin is I guess I don't know what the word is practical enough that he would keep Trubisky.
In blame Canada.
In other news, Hey, the Cults, they're engine toward getting Jonathan Taylor back on the field, Shane Stike, And we're pivoting now to talking to the team of Zeus TL, who were covered with great fanfare along with the Los Angeles Rams on NFL Plus in our atn Game of the Week.
Which is what is the word? It is.
Pristine for the senses.
No, I'm saying like it is.
It is a show that is indebted to the Manning cast but also cast its own shadow.
How about that it's not derivative, right, familiar? Right, it's it's like a two and a half hour shorter. It's not a live game that we're watching.
Anyway, We did Rams Cults check that out on NFL Plus. Shane Stiken, the coach of the Colts, said there's a chance Jonathan Taylor could be on the field at Week five against the Titans.
Of course, he started the league the season.
On the pup list with an ankle injury that may or may not still be a thing. Everything, of course, is connected to a very gnarly contract dispute between Taylor and management. The Colts opened up the twenty one day practice window, which means they have three weeks to kind of get him onto the field, and it does seem like that could happen as soon as this week. Stiken said there could be yeah, when asked about the chances that he plays.
Sunday.
So that's great news for the Colts, and I like Zach Moss, but he's not Jonathan Taylor.
I'm shocked.
I mean, I was not expecting this because I want to hear from Jonathan Taylor first, actually, before I get too excited about it. Jonathan Taylor has not spoken to the media since July, I believe, and so we haven't really known what's going on. But I just was expecting this to stay as ugly as possible and if they get him back, I mean, this this division's wide open.
To that point.
Greg The reporting out there as recently as last week was that Taylor was still digging in his heels, So maybe either that was erroneous reporting or something had changed between then and now. But it's certainly Listen, Taylor has as frustrated as he is Mark, he has a reason to get back on the field as well, because he is playing, trying to get paid at some point, and just disappearing for the whole.
Year is not going to work for him at all. So guess it makes sense.
This tells me like two things. One that the Colts, who didn't seem like too hot on trading him or doing anything with him, and like you got ownership, sort of just digging in their heels as you say, Like there were no major trade offers that ever came, even behind the scenes. So he's not able to go anywhere else. And if he doesn't play, or if he's not physically able to perform by week six, then he loses in accrued year on his rookie contract and he's not a.
Free agent after the season.
So I think he's you know, I don't know, always being guided by his agent and stuff, but I think there'd be a massive motivation to get back on the field, finish out the season if you have nowhere, if you can't go anywhere else, and then go to free agency. I mean, they're not going to franchise him with this situation.
A lot of motivation too, I think because he heard that I took him in my running back draft and they were like that would Mark and Dan really made fun of my guy Greg for taking me and Kamara and Bijon in the running back draft.
I want to prove Greg right, that's just what.
Do they call it when they put the pig on the thing and it spins with the apple on him out?
Is that the spit roast? That was Greg?
Yeah, that was Greg when we did the running back draft. Just a tough not from us, even Greg. A lot of the criticism coming from outside the walls of your fortress, Well.
It was put up to them.
You didn't get that right.
There was a public poll.
I mean, you can blame the two of us, but like the public largely weighed in and they deemed the results not the two of us.
Yeah, I mean, you gotta trust the public.
They should probably make.
Decisions in elections. Forget about it.
We should probably stop honking and check who we all drafted and see where that is. Eric Roberts behind the virtual glass, can you check in on that and get us that info at some point? Also heading back to the field for Week five, Desmond Ritter, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback who has struggled through much of this season and really did not do himself any favors in London and a tough loss to the Jaguars. It's led to a lot of heat around Arthur Smith to make a change
of QB. But Smith is standing by his guy. Here is Smith's comments on the situation.
Just as a follow up.
If you did, is this Desmond still your starter to be clear by court?
Look?
Absolutely, and I wouldn't be sitting there and get on that antificating about what went on in the game if we're making a.
Change wearing right now.
But you know, and we saw it happened on the sidelines with Mac Collins, which is actually even worse when you watched it on replay where he missed Hollands and then he went to dap him up and Hollands gave him a look like are you even kidding me?
Right now? Bro? He's losing that locker.
Room and Smith risks losing the locker room as well. So this is I would think guys that this is this is it for Desmond Ridder in terms of play well this week, or you're gonna take it almost out of Smith's hands because he knows they'll have to make the change to stave off a revolt. That's kind of how these things tend to go.
Yeah, I mean, I think the thing is like if you get a coach or an organization that's like sold or bought into like draft pedigree, Well he doesn't have that.
It's it.
There wasn't much munch.
There's not a lot of stakes in Desmond Ridder outside the fact that you know, we got glowing remarks from the owner and the coach all off season, and we've got and it's fair to give him a test and he's failing, and he's letting the team down a pretty talented roster. And I just think it's like if you had know him behind him, like when we talk about pulling Burrow, and I'm really with you on the concept of why they might do That's like the problem with
him is they've got nothing behind them. But Taylor Heinekey just literally a year ago, came in around mid season and brought a little bit of life. He's imperfect, I get it, but he brought some juice and some energy to the Commanders and he's the same guy and It's like I think Taylor Heineke and this offense is almost a much what must watch sooner than later, and it's they're a weird team because they didn't take a bye
after London. They have to go right back and face the Texans, and it's like, I wonder if there was a buy and they had more time to marinate in this, that maybe they make a change or do we just.
Need one more terrible ridd or start.
And that's because of them they request that usually there is a bye. The only reason they wouldn't have a buye is they say we don't want it then. And now they face a team that I'll save for Wednesday. But this team's kind of entering my house just saying, maybe it's injuring the hoo.
Stick a pin in it, Greg, I like that. Let's go through some other injuries from around the league. Coming out of Sunday tough, tough, really one of the worst Sundays in recent memory for the Patriots, the worst blowout of the Belichick era, and their two best young defensive players go out with injuries. Matthew Judan is out indefinitely with a biceps injury. It's a lower bicep tendon tear. He's gonna miss multiple weeks. He could land on injured reserve, so it's kind of a wait and see when they
get Judon back, if they get him at all. Also, Christian Gonzalez, who's really immediately stepped in and become kind of a stud cornerback for this team, he went down awkwardly on his shoulder and he is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury. With this also, we don't know exactly how long he's going to be out, but indefinitely is never what you want to hear. And this is the defensive player of the month last weekend as a rookie.
So double setback Greggie. And it's kind of coming from all sides for Belichick right now.
This is you know, the biggest, you know, most unique test of Belichick I think since he's been in New England in terms of his job security. Now, there was a minute when they were zero and two in two thousand and one. They were already chattering about it a little bit in Boston because he started five and eleven then zero and two. But this is everything happening all at once. They do have the softest part of their schedule coming up. In theory, it's such a hard schedule,
but they have the Saints and the Raiders. But the Saints of the Raiders are also looking at the Patriots and being like, ooh, we got a soft part of our schedule coming up.
It's the Patriots.
Yeah, it's a defensive built team, which I innately don't trust. That lost Marcus Jones, Jack Jones, Jonathan Jones, everyone with the last name of Jones.
You've now lost Gonzales.
Judon had thirty two sacks and thirty five games as a really good, you know, free agent pickup. But this is their identity and they're losing a piece by piece, and like that offense under duress is an eyesore.
It's possibly their two best players of the team, judah On and Gonzales.
Right now, that's great, not good, not good.
Other injury news rap Sheet reports that Justin Herbert broke a finger on his non throwing hand in that Week four win over the Raiders. He not a pleasant thing, but the idea is that it is not a serious injury.
They have a bye in Week five, which is ideal.
A few of the Week five you're Cleveland Browns mark another team that perfectly time by for them as well, with their quarterback dealing with some health issues. So he gets two weeks before the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and.
We'll see where he is by then. I would imagine that he will play.
And I just want to give a shout out to Justin Herbert because I did talk about earlier in the season, you know, wanting to see him with those big dagger plays to put teams away and take his team to the finish line.
And we kind of glossed over it a little bit.
Just a beautiful deep strike on third and ten to put that game away after the Santa Samuel bizarre step out of bounds after the interception late game. So that was a money throw from a banged up Herbert and you love to see it. And they're back to five hundred and hopefully they'll have him on the field when they play again. Also out Tron Armstead, the Dolphins left tackle. He will not play in Week five against the Giants. This is an injury plagued player, but a great player
when he's on the field. McDaniel said that he believes that Armstead will play again this season, but this seems like a week to week injury.
When you say they're going to play again this season. That always is very concerning, especially for a player that I feel like is an injury or two away from, you know, wondering if this is worth it because he he's crazy. On the injury report, they list Tehran Armstead with like four different injuries. I've never seen it before. It's like knee, ankle, shoulder, It's like a bunch of
different things, and this seem one seems serious. It sounded like a just reading between the lines that it's probably month or month at least, and they're not the same without him.
Yeah, it was such a I mean it was you know, vague in terms of any sort of timeline. He had left knee surgery in the off season. Your right, He's always banged up, and they were so different without him a year ago, and you just wonder how many people they can lose on the offensive line, and like he is sort of a Jenga piece for them. They have Kendall Lamb kind of a quality player, but Toron harm Armstead is sort of irreplaceable.
Other injury news, we saw this coming and you heard from the comments from Sean McDermott that it was not good news around tre Dave's white. But the veteran cornerback did indeed suffer torn achilles in the Bills this week four win over those Dolphins, so his season is over. He's now suffered season ending injuries in two of his last three years. He tore a ACL in twenty twenty one. So you lose an All Pro and that team got worse and they have to find a way to make it work without him.
Do they have the dogs to back them up? GREGI?
I mean they have a first round pick, Kyrie Elm who's been a healthy scratch up points this year in that they could really use to step up. No, I would say cornerback was one of the thinnest positions on their team. They have Toron Johnson who's a good slot corner. Christian Benford is this late round pick from a year ago who's stepped up and has been solid. But that's
one of their thinner spots and players injured. It's it's something, it's something to attack if you're Buffalo or playing Buffalo.
And guess what.
The trade deadline is a little less than one month away, and we talked about it, Mark, you and I were in lockstep on it entering the season. The urgencies through the roof for this Bills team, this core. Uh, if you think you need it, go get it, go use use some draft capital and add some depth to that secondary if if need be so.
They that feels like a potential.
Area Giants could be sellers.
A Dorri Jackson is a guy on their team who I feel like could still have some good football in them.
Might be you're the GM. You have the GM. All right, let's do.
That later this month.
Yeah, and just button up a couple other things. So Chase Claypool, you know the drama there about the wide receiver traded for the number thirty two overall pick just last year at the trade deadline, buyer beware. And now because of comments he's made in general, lack of effort at other times on the field and just being a knucklehead,
has fallen out of favor with the Bears. And then some weird messaging because everything with the Bears is just a little messed up these days or a lot messed up, where Ibra Flu's first kind of let the media know that it was the team's or is the player's decision not to be at the Broncos game, and then it was clarified that it was the team's decision and Ibra Flu said Monday that Claypool will remain away from the team ahead of the Week five matchup, but the Commanders hear something from fluse.
To correct the record. For Chase Claypool. We did tell him not to be here for the weekend, including the game. We told him to be an active and active on Saturday, you know, and this morning we informed him he's not going to be here this week for the game as well, and we just feel that's best for the team at this time. So and again Ryan and I have informed him of that and that's where it is. So we just feel that's best for the team right now.
Ryan is Ryan Poles, the GM who is probably having nightmares about that trade, which I think there, you know, I think you could say the San Francisco trade for Trey Lance is maybe the worst trade of the decade so far, or near the top the Russell Wilson trade.
The returns are not are dreadful. We mentioned Jamal Adams that trade was not great for the Seahawks, but when you just look at what they got, what they gave up even in the moment, it was like, that's a little rich for a guy that has been a little spotty as a player, and now what it's turned into, which is a three ring circus. One of the worst trades of the decade, right near the top of the list for me.
Anyway, Yeah, I throw some of the cults transactions for various failed veteran quarterbacks over the past couple of years that didn't go well. But I mean I'm watching eber flues during that thing, and it's just like sometimes if as you get higher and higher up in management, in this case, it's like you're going up the food chain and it's like, yeah, it's not so bad to be a coordinator where no one's asking me the tough questions
you got to see. I mean, just watching his body leguage having to go up and deliver like a essentially an editorial retraction. I mean, it's just an uncomfortable situation.
Feel good, No, like that.
That was a tough scene.
I mean, Claypole just probably goes without saying, but he gone, He'll be for I'm gonna put the over under on a twenty twenty four to sixth.
Just a hard conditional seventh.
I have a prediction where he goes okay, because there was reports for me and over the weekend that one team like that. I mean, I'm sure there's others, but we're very actively looking for wide receivers, which was the Carolina Panthers.
So maybe they think they can bring that guys.
I'm not saying I'm not saying it's a magical leverpole, just that I think that I could see the team that's desperate for help.
The guy that is a team that needs talent, But do they need like a cancer in their locker room, which I get the vibes Claypool because.
I don't think he.
I don't think Mike Tomlin was a huge fan of Chase Claypool the person either.
So I don't think any team is saying, you know, what we really need is a cancer to destroy our locker room.
So as a surprise the Panthers, it's like that's a little bit of a sensitive situation with the rookie there and stuff.
I wouldn't do it.
But you know, I mean.
Crazy trades like they put the graphic up tonight when you saw the old lock to fant touchdown. By the way, I'm still here in the Chris Westling podcast studio, and Noah Fan was going down the siland I was remembering our friend Chris going wild for a little Noah Fan catching passes from Drew Locke back when they were in Denver.
I went through an article I loved you, lock, but they got Drew Locke Noahfense Shelby Harris in the number five overall pick who turned into Devin Witherspoon, and then they what a trade?
What a trade? How about that?
Yeah, when Devin Witherspoon's playing like he played tonight, that's gonna quiet all the Jayalen Carter stuff as well if they nailed that pick all right. Finally, in the news, did not see this coming. Nobody was tracking this. Jameson Williams was totally off the radar after his gambling suspension, but the league amended it's gambling policy on Friday in a new a news dump uh, and it led to Williams having his suspension changed by nature.
Of the new wording to the policy.
Uh, he's a first time offender caught betting on a non NFL game from inside team facilities, so that suspension now with the rules, it was six now it's two and he's already missed four, so that kind of sucks. But the good news is he's now activated, and he's and he's part of the team, and everyone wants to see what happens with Jameson Williams in this offense because you know, he's probably the most physically gifted wide receiver on that team. It's just now, where is what is
his role? Like what kind of player is he as a professional, because his rookie year was mostly compromised by rehab from a knee injury and finding his way.
I know this is tempting, Mark, but because we do work for the NFL, but I think it's different for league employees. And so your plans to go to the Chargers facility tomorrow and Costa Mesa and start wagering on cricket, you know, a non NFL sport, don't do it.
Don't do it, can't do it. We need you foolish. It would be foolish, Mark.
That's great, Council. I'll follow that. I know we have an off data roll.
I I do feel in a way because like the whole point of this was like to try to raise awareness among players, which, like I didn't know this.
Rule or that rule.
It's like, Okay, why did they need to announce this now? And maybe maybe it's just like they went through the process, they came up with the results and here we go. But it brings these players and Jamison Williams primarily onto a sexy team back into our world where you can spend two games telling us why he's back and why the policy has changed, and all the players see it and hear about it, and they found a way to double down on awareness for an issue that they don't
want hanging around NFL locker rooms. So it's like you don't have to wait till next offseason for like four more, like you know, Dingleberry's to do the same thing and get caught and find you know, they were like these rash of fines. Now it's like, let's get into everyone's head that this is the rule, and like this was a great way to do it in the middle of the season when everyone's talking about these players in this whole entire thing.
Counterpoint, roll out the policy in a clean way in the offseason, and then everybody knows what the situation is and that guy like Jameson Williams is back in week three instead of week five.
Counterpoint, This guy, Mark Sessler gets it and he used Dingleberry in a big spot.
One guy that didn't get it.
I don't know if we've touched on this on this show was Greg Rosenthal, the ATM running backstraft back in June.
Let's let's take a look at that graphic.
See where we're at now now that we're working at Ober. Check it out on YouTube. Mark I recall having the first overall pick, which is an immense advantage for the Cesstag and he had Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Ramandre Stevenson. Dan uh had actually I think Greg had the second pick, as I recall, and he took Bjon Robinson, Alvin Kamara, Jonathan Taylor, and Aaron Jones, and then Dan took Nick Chubb, Austin Eckler, Josh Jacobs, and
Berice Hall. Interesting, it's it's kind of interesting. Boys, that is anybody doing?
I don't think there's a runaway here. Now, there's a lot of unavailable players.
Is this?
Oh no, is this like gonna be used in negotiations against running backs? Because I'm not seeing a lot of major values here.
I think Mark wins because he's the one that has McCaffrey right.
And Bson's been great, Bon's been great.
Yeh, I've been I've been undercut by injuries to Chubb and and Eckler unfortunately. And Jacobs finally did something, and Halls had moments, but he got Aaron Rodgers, so that was that was a tough one. I stand by my draft, but Real Football had a harsh reality call for my group.
I wouldn't put this back out on Twitter, slash x or wherever to gain new opinions on this variant.
All right, good stuff.
We will be out of your hair for a day, but don't worry. We'll be back on Wednesday with another EP, another NFL plus EP Thursday Thursday Week five preview TNF free cap.
A lot of good stuff coming away. Thanks for hanging around. He's the call.