Welcome to NFL Daily, where every one of these Monday night doubleheaders gets a little crazy. That's right, I'm here in my garage. Nick Shook is in Ohio and his fingers are tired after writing up these games. Ravens Bucks a lot going on in that game early late, a lot of points, and then the Chargers and the Cardinals have a tastefully quick game but a weird ending and a lot to talk about there.
Welcome Shook. A long day for you.
Yeah, you know, Greg, this is how I know you're a writer at heart, because I didn't even mention that to you. But that's the first thought I had as I was preparing to jump on this show was wow, my hands are tired after running all that up. So thank you for noticing that. I appreciate that.
Yes, you know, Shook's a big guy, but I can tell when he's playing hurt.
Let's not mess around.
Let's start with the main event that was down in Tampa. We'll get to the undercard Chargers in Cardinals a little later.
On second and seventeen, Lamar to throw going deep near side.
He's got Patement open.
The five touchdown was shot Bateman.
And the Ravens strike again.
Forty nine yards from Lamar in Jackson.
That was Jerry Sandusky and Rod Woodson on WB AL. I missed the great celebration by Bateman the first time. I was too busy celebrating that touchdown for my son, who started Bateman in fantasy the char The Ravens get it.
Done, forty one to thirty one. What a wild game.
Lamar Jackson throws five touchdowns, matching his five incompletions. Oh, by the way, he ran for fifty two yards. More on that in a second, But that was just a beautiful throw on a night full of them, full of good decisions, full of open receivers, full of Lamar and his offensive coordinator Todd Monkin just reading those Todd Bowles blitzes before they even got to him. What a performance there by the Ravens offense Nick after they fell down ten nothing.
Early, Yeah, you know all that was missing from that call was the Hayes in the bar, and it was because it was too early. But I'll tell you what, when I saw that touchdown pass, I said, good night Buccaneers, because the Ravens were not about to be stopped on Monday night, Year two, the Todd Monkin offense is in full force in a game like this. Consider their first possession of that game, they had to punt. They got
blitzed twice. They didn't have an answer for it. After that, the Ravens went touchdown, touchdown, field goal, field goal, touchdown, touchdown. They scored thirty four unanswered points. They were an absolute machine and most of that didn't even involve Derrick Henry. It was the Lamar Jackson show. They were making it work. In the passing game, he was taken off running. They
could not be stopped. And folks, if you had any questions about the Ravens, I know we can sound hyperbolic when it comes to this team because they could be so impressive on nights like this, But I'm telling you right now you have a leader for MVP. His name is Lamar Jackson.
Oh yeah, there's no question he's gone to another level. It's crazy because he's won two MVPs. But the way that he won his first MVP was so unique and it was incredible to watch, nothing quite like it in NFL history. And yet even when it was happening, you
knew you can't probably like live like this. Your whole career, and it was why Greg Roman, who was not lost on me, is part of This Night's Adventures too, while coaching up the Chargers and they're kind of stillborn offense in Arizona, and meanwhile, Lamar Jackson is in a much better offense for him. So that was the first MVP.
Then last year playing outstanding on the best team in the league, and it just was a year where, let's be real, there wasn't like perfect MVP candidates and he was the best one because he's probably the best quarterback in the league in a year where there just wasn't
anyone standing out and they were the best team. But right now, I think mentally physically, he's certainly running the ball better, and I think he's making better decisions, and there just aren't as many inaccurate throws from Lamar Jackson. And when he plays a defense that has some holes in it, like this Tampa Bay Buccaneer secondary does when they blitz and they don't get home, I mean, he
just trashes them. It's kind of amazing to think the old book against Lamar Jackson was, oh, well, he can't really handle the blitz, like go cover zero against Lamar Jackson. He went eleven for fifteen for one hundred and sixty six yards and three touchdowns against the Blitz. He is second in the NFL this season in success rate against the Blitz, behind only Patrick Mahomes, who's also pretty good and probably will be heard from in this MVP race.
Yeah, you know, in my notes about Lamar last week, it was, you know, he's really take and his passing game to the next level, like he's become a very accurate passer. That was like the knock, oh, we can't throw the football. Well, he could throw the football and last year, you know, you compare MVP seasons if this is going to be an MVP season for him as well. It was about the Zay Flower Show when it came to the passing game because they lost Mark Andrews and
Zay Flowers really stepped in well tonight. Zay gets one catch for eleven yards and then disappears because he gets a little banged up, and it becomes the Rashad Bateman Show. Four catches for one hundred and twenty one yards. Mark Andrews gets four catches for forty one yards and two touchdowns. Him and Bateman combined for three touchdowns. Overall, it doesn't matter who's running routes or who's open, Lamar is going to get it to him on target. And that's not
even accounting for his running game. And that's why they've taken this entire offense, and Lamar has elevated himself to a whole new level. And what makes them so scary to play against because you can't just blitz him anymore. There is no simple blueprint to stop this offense.
I mean, they are just an absolute wagon. We're going to get to the really heartbreaking ending to this game, which included Chris Godwin's injury, in a minute, but I kind of want to set up what led to that point because you mentioned, yeah, the game fell over after that Bateman touchdown. But after that was Derrick Henry's crazy long run down the field, which I just assumed it was going to be a touchdown because you didn't see
a defender. I think it was Zion mccollin, you know, on the screen the whole time he flies in because he had the angle. But yes, it was an eighty one yard run. Let's actually listen to that one.
Derrick Henry is the deep back of the offset eye recard in front of him, Lamar under center, give us the Henry left side breaks to the line across the fifth Blake right, tellas how's midfield. The train is rolling Peter by twenty fifteen and he's taking off his feet at the ten. Derrick Henry flips the field with.
One run, yes, eighty one yards and Rod Woodson, I don't blame him. I assumed that Derek Henry was gone too. And let's fly up that tweet that you had, Eric Roberts. If you're watching on YouTube, and really check us out on YouTube, subscribe, Like we really appreciate that we been growing the audience there, and we obviously loved the audio audience the most. You guys are our people, but it's
cool either way. And you can see how Derek Henry reached a top speed of twenty one point seventy two miles per hour That was the third fastest of his entire career and the fifth fastest by a ball carrier this season. Yeah, McCollum was even faster. Often called the most athletic guy on that Bucks team, which is saying something. So that's the type of effort it would take to
catch up with him. But that set up Mark Andrews's second touchdown, which by the way, was part of him becoming the all time receiving touchdowns leader in Raven's history.
So much was happening in this game.
That was just like an afterthought they mentioned as a little lower third. That's pretty cool a pad passed Todd Heap as the leader in Raven's history.
And yeah, at that point, it's thirty four to ten.
Right after that, actually shook was Lamar Jackson kind of losing his mind and throwing backwards pass with just an inaccurate pass that turns out to be a fumble that we thought was returned by McCollum but eventually was just ruled a fumble and that he was down, and the Buccaneers get a touchdown and then they score another touchdown.
So when you were going through all your.
Touchdown, touch up, touch a touch up field goal, you had to stop because there was that.
Fumble in the mix.
But then there was another touchdown drive which was led by even more Derrick Henry. This one two punch, it's it's just crazy. It's just like it's I've never seen anything quite like it. Like it's just awesome as a football fan, it's like, you know, you're watching a moment in time, kind of like that first Lamar Jackson MVP season. This can't go forever these two at this level, but right now it's just ridiculous and there is every reason to believe it can continue all season.
Yeah, and what's scary about that is Dereck Henry was having a quiet night At one point a graphic flash in the screen that showed he had five carries for I think like twenty two yards or something like that, and they were still putting up points. He ends with fifteen care for one sixty nine. This can jump up and get you at any point in the game. It can be the closer, the knockout punch, even when you least expected. That's how dangerous this duo is.
Yeah, and that that second touchdown that he scored Derrick Henry, not that he set up, rather that made it forty one to fourteen. I actually think that's an important moment in the game because that was the moment that it was over. It was forty one to eighteen. The only reason the Bucks had even gotten those eight points there after thirty four straight by the Ravens was Lamar set
them up on a short field. There's under nine minutes to go, and I thought at that point Todd Bowles might just pull his starters, because you know, that's what a twenty three point lead with nine minutes to go. It was a very physical night. There were a lot of injuries. Mike Evans had already left this game with a hamstring injury. He actually dropped a potential touchdown pass after he got his one hundredth career touchdown.
To start the scoring. Also a footnote right.
Like his one hundredth career receiving touchdown. It's a little confusing because he had his one hundredth total touchdown a couple of weeks ago on a primetime game, but this was a one hundredth receiving second drive. The Bucks are trying to go up fourteen to nothing after a couple of good defensive series and he drops a pass and he hurts his hamstring. He came into the game with the injury. You could tell he was limping around even on the sideline. Some questions maybe should they have let
him keep playing in that game? But a lot of injuries. Tyke Smith had a concussion, Marlon Humphrey had a knee injury and just people were hitting it's hot there. I just was like, maybe they're gonna pull their guys. They don't pull their guys. Baker Mayfield starts that next drive and we'll get to Mayfield's night by throwing a ball right at one of the Ravens defenders. I think it
was our Darius Washington. It goes right through our Darius Washington's hand and Kate Aten catches it on his shoulder somehow. Is a truly remarkable catch, and they end up scoring a touchdown on that drive. Like I said, it was forty one to eighteen. I thought they'd just pulled their starters. Okay, they score there, maybe you pull it then, no, let's go for an on side kick.
They get the on side kick. It's perfectly executed.
And I bring all that up, Nick, because they scored another touchdown and it all led to this sequence where it's forty one to thirty one.
With a minute to go and it's over.
They have the whole field to go and Chris Godwin dislocates his ankle and it was like a sickening moment, and they didn't show the replay because it looks so bad. But if you rewound your television, which I did enough to just see like it was a dislocated ankle, the team announced after the game, that tells you all you
need to know. I just started going through all the moments that led to that point that Todd Bowles should not have had his starters out there necessarily, but also just all the bad luck that it took for them to even be playing in that moment. And it sucks, man, because Chris Godwin's one of my favorite players. He's a lot of people's favorite players on that Bucks team certainly, and it looked like a season ending injury for a guy who was really having a career season.
Yeah, you know, a guy who caught a fifty five yard pass for a touchdown last week, primarily because he caught it and ran fifty five yards for a touchdown, Like he's a game breaking player, and him and Evans together make for one of the best, you know, one to two punches at receiver in the NFL. Once they lost Evans, that offense, you know, entered a rut because, as we've learned tonight, if you didn't already know, Baker Mayfield relies heavily on Mike Evans, so then he's gonna
rely on Chris Godwin. He's going to attract all the defensive attention. But all this comes back to the point that, in a rare moment, getting the onside kick actually worked out poorly for the team that got the on side kick, because it gave them the hope or the opportunity to keep pushing forward and leaving those guys on the field when with the benefit of hindsight, we know that they shouldn't have been out there. We didn't know he was gonna get hurt. But you don't get that onside kick,
they're not out there and it doesn't matter. But because they got it, they kept pushing forward and trying to win a game that they obviously weren't going to win, and now the worst possible result has come from it.
Right, Let's listen to Todd Bowles answering a lot of pointed questions after the game about Godwin's injury.
He's a player, was trying to win the ball game. I mean we were still down ten with trying to get extra points and kick another onside kick. It just happened. It might going down. We have that many receiver receivers left as it was, so we play what we got.
Bulls kept going around in circles on that, and I understand what he was saying. I think there are shades of gray here. Ryan Clark was on after the game on SVP on ESPN, explaining that this is how football works. You played to the end. You're trying to win. You were down thirty four to ten. You don't want to sound like you're giving up on your players. They want to be out there, they want to win. I do
think you can protect your players. Like I said, I was thinking about it with six and a half minutes left. This drives me crazy each and every week that these teams who do all these things in the preseason and during the regular season to prevent injuries then just have players out there in hopeless situations. Late when he got hurt, there was one minute to go, they were down two scores.
I think they were out of timeouts.
They might add one, and they had ninety yards to go, like, there's no chance, there's no chance to win that game. In that point at John Harbaugh had already put in Josh Johnson. I think it's worth mentioning he had kind of raised the you know, white flag, saying, hey, you just want to end this thing, because you know they got the ball around midfield after another field on sidekick
and they were up ten. The Bucks had their timeouts, they decided to use them, but Josh Johnson came in to just hand the ball off because John Harbaugh wasn't messing around. I disagree with Todd Bowles. I think you get the ball in that situation a minute thirty left, you don't have a chance to win, especially after the first couple of plays, and it takes a lot, and it's bad luck, certainly, and it's football players getting hurt
playing football. But I think he could have called off the Dogs a couple series before.
Yeah, and again we're operating with the benefit of hindsight now. But to do use a cross sport comparison, I think it was the late Ayrton Senna who once said, as soon as you see a gap as a racer and you don't go for it, you're no longer a racer. And that just speaks to the competitor in everybody, and especially in football, which you need to be the ultimate
competitor to not only win but survive. It's just that you got the worst possible outcome from this, and one that could absolutely, you know, derail your season, especially after you lost Mike Evans to a hamstring injury. And it's gonna hurt for them, Like it's gonna hurt for them beyond the fact that they saw what happened on the field and they all realized in that moment, Oh man,
why do we even risk this. It's gonna hurt for them long term and it is unfortunate, but again, it still is football.
Yeah.
I just I'm such a fan of Godwin since he first came into the league when when he was playing with Jamis. He's the type of receiver I like you meant. We were talking before the show you mentioned and Kuon Bolden, we were like, who has the Ravens receiving touchdown record? No, he wasn't there long enough, And Godwin almost reminded me of like a smaller an Kwon Bolden, but so tough in the way that he plays, and injuries affect players differently, and he took so long to really become the player
that he was after. I believe it was a torn acl right that that he was coming back from a couple years ago, and you thought, oh, you're you're never going to see that Chris Godwin again.
That's too bad.
And then here he was coming into this week leading the NFL in receptions, leading the NFL in yak, third in receiving yards.
He he wasn't.
It's it's weird to call him the one and Mike Evans the two because of the roles that they play, but in terms of production, like he was the number one receiver on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, He's also in a contract year, and just all that combine it. I think that's part of the anger that people had about Todd Bowles, and maybe some of that even from me, I tweeted something is a little unfair. I think the overall point about garbage time playing is something that like
teams I think will get better at over time. They really haven't. But I do think that's something that is dumb that so many teams do. But it's also just disappointing. It's also disappointing for this Bucks team, who plays the Falcons next week almost certainly going to be without Mike Evans and Chris god When you would think Evans is going to be a week to week type of injury. They have Trey Palmer, they have Jalen McMillan was back
for this game. They have Sterling Shephard's that's their wide receiver crew, so good luck.
Yeah, that takes a lot of the punch out of this offense, which was liable to blow up at any time for a huge number of points, just as the Saints how that went last week because they learned very quickly that this offense can put up a ton of points. And now you take that out of there. We knew the running game, which has been up and down, has gotten better in recent weeks, but was a big point of emphasis going into the season. That's why they invested
in Bucky Irving. Sehn Tucker had a breakout game last week, like the balance was coming, but the threat was always the passing game started with Baker Mayfield, but it really relied on those two guys. You take those two guys out of the equation, suddenly that ceiling is so much lower, and suddenly the NFC South race gets very interesting because the Buccaneers no longer look like the best team in the division if they can't put up points at that rate without these guys.
It's why gambling's crazy. We're not allowed to gamble, yeah, you know, as NFL employees, And that's saved us a lot of heartache. And I don't know how people do it over the years, but I am thinking about like they're over, Like I picked them to win the division. I like this Bucks team, and I really liked their over under two And when this game started, I think it was a very typical Bucks game for this season, like when they look good, they look good.
You know.
They came out and Baker's eleven for thirteen to starting the game, and they ran the ball well all night, Like if they could have kept the lead, they could have run the ball I think more consistently, but they just got in a game script where they had to stop. But for the most part, they've kind of figured out their running game. The defense is another matter, and they have injuries there and they're playing the Ravens and they
probably always were gonna lose this game. But this is a team that I think could win the division because they're pretty balanced, but mostly because they're a good offense, and I think Liam Cohen has done a really nice job this year overall accentuating Baker's strengths and getting a lot out of out of the weapons that they have,
and they do have weapons. You saw Kate Atten went for one hundred yards tonight, and now like maybe Evans gets back one hundred percent in a couple of weeks and they they'll still be fighting.
It's not like their season is over.
But if if Evans and Godwin are out, you know, if god Win's out for the season, Evan's out for three weeks, it's like that that might be enough that that capsizes your season. Forget forget your over unders, forget your division, forget your team that's more important.
Yeah, it's gonna be a real test that Baker Mayfield as a quarterback too, because we know he had that great season last year. He got paid for it and everything else. Everything's turning up for him, right, But you take away his top two targets, it's gonna get harder for any quarterback. Just ask Matthew Stafford how it's been with the Rams. But this is going to be a real test of how he can make do with it.
Because as soon as Evans left the field and they were in that gold to go situation, he threw that interception in the end zone. I realized for the first time, Baker doesn't know what to do when all else fails. Before it was thrown up to Mike Evans. Well, now he doesn't have that guy out there, bro right to Marlon Humphrey. I'm glad we got to this point because.
Patrick Claibn's MVP candidate, Baker Mayfield was bad in this game. Like he was straight up bad.
And it's funny because he had a monster fantasy night in the end because of those third quarter, those fourth quarter touchdowns. He ends up with three touchdowns and three hundred and seventy yards along with two interceptions. But after that fast start, and it's almost emblematic of Baker's career, he was like kind of collapsing in on himself for
a couple of quarters. He was sacking himself. The two interceptions were just total panic plays where he didn't know what to do on that end zone interception and then the second one, it was such a bad interception that.
Marlon Humphrey got hurt on it.
Yeah, because two Ravens were fighting over the ball because they both were gonna get it, and he could have been intercepted a couple more times, and he just he hit a play early where he improvised and he made
something happen while just running around. I was like, oh, that's almost dangerous when he hits one of those early, because then he just started doing it and he was kind of running in circles and it was the bad Baker and you see these pop up, and he's mostly kept this down in Tampa, but you see it pop up for a couple quarters at a time, and it was kind of a rough watch there for a couple quarters, and it makes me a little worried about what's going to happen without the.
Yes And I'm telling you a lot of that has to do with the fact that Evans isn't on the field, because the first half of last season it was chuck and pray and usually it worked out for them, and it got them on track when nothing else is working that would work for them. The game script in the situation also affected them, the fact that they had to suddenly dig out of this deficit. They couldn't lean on the running game, and he takes away his best receiver.
Where's he going to go now? And that's just what I fear could be the outcome for them In the next couple of weeks.
He was creatiant though he was holding the ball. It was it was driving me a little crazy. Yeah.
Yeah, it's that weakness and it's him getting beat by underneath the zone like Robber cover one. Robber has always been his achilles heel for his entire career. It's those two things that have held him back, right, So they Yeah, I mentioned the two interceptions. Yeah, there could have been two more, and they were both on basically what you're talking about, him not seeing the underneath defender. I know he've gone a long time on this game, but I
find it kind of very interesting. Just a couple more points I want to get to before we leave it. I mentioned Marlon Humphrey. He had that injury, knee injury.
That's important for the Ravens, who you know their defense is a little up and down, but certainly finished off this game well that. I think the defensive line is really good.
Yeah, they had a nice bounce back because early in this game it looked like, oh man, here they go. There. They'd struggle to communicate, they're caught out of alignment on the touchdown pass to Mike Evans. Buccaneers are going up tempo. They're catching them by surprise. But they were able to bounce back. Probably for the first time this entire season, I saw this Ravens defense legitimately pick themselves up off the mat and turn into performance. That makes me think, Oh,
the potential is there. They're lacking some pieces, some guys have gotten hurt zach Orrs, the first year defensive coordinator. But for the first time this season, I was like, Oh, this Ravens defense can't actually get the job done. Because those stops they got in the middle of this game were a big part of why the Ravens could put up so many points. The Buccaneers offense wasn't on the field played in simple I.
Think they're I think their front is good.
I mean they stopped the run, and Mattabique and a Dafe always stepped up.
Kyle Vanoy's doing his thing. There's obviously roku on there.
I think they're a little deeper upfront than than people expected, and they're good upfront on both lines. Like their offensive line is really improved, Like we're talking about Derrick Henry getting these big lanes to run through.
It's cohesive.
When they have the option plays and Lamar chooses to run, it's just like the easiest eight yards and that's been true his whole career. But that does take some cohesion that wasn't there the first couple weeks of the season. And then Ronnie Stanley, I wanted to point out, didn't give up a pressure in this entire game despite all those blitzes. That's amazing. Zero pressures. He has given up
zero sacks all season. Next ten stat says he's the only guy with fifty like pass sets to do that, and he you know, he's like a couple hundred or whatever at this point, so he's playing out of his mind. I believe he's in a contract year too, so some guys are getting paid there. This is the best team in football right now. I don't think there's any question. I know that Chiefs fans would disagree, but I just think right now, neutral field, who you're taking, it doesn't
make a difference. Ravens fans know that like that that crown is meaningless, but right now they're the best team in football.
Yeah, at least visually speaking. The Chiefs offense is slow and methodical, and the Ravens can put up points in bunches. Yeah, absolutely, But it's really just.
Like being able to do it all. Lamar is doing it all. He's got the coach to match. And yeah, that was a fun night, even though it was one sided by the end, it was a lot of fun at least until that late injury. So prayers for Chris Godwin. We'll be thinking to him. We're also thinking of the Cardinals and the Chargers. We haven't even gotten to the other game tonight.
We'll do that.
After the breath.
First down of the forty four of LA good response by the Cardinals. Murray under center, trying to pay off this drive of a touchdown back to throw off play action deep in the pocket, stepping up, moving left, taking off running far side.
Forty five, forty gets past the defender of the thirty farside twenty he will walk in ten five touchdown Tyler Murray a forty four yard touchdown run. And as soon as he got past the defender on the far side of about the thirty.
That was all Steve Road KMV Dave Pass on the call. I was waiting to hear Ron Wolfley's voice coming there with a little excitement. Dave Pass wasn't kidding, it wasn't He wasn't the only one that knew, was all she wrote. Kyler Burry did it again. He lifted up his arm at about the forty yard line. That's three touchdowns this year. He's called in the middle of the play like thirty yards out.
I love this man. I mean, he's having a weird season.
It's not even that good, but kind of like this game, not that good, but good enough for the Cardinals. They win it seventeen to fifteen on a night the Chargers didn't get a touchdown, and yes, the Cardinals did get a game winning field goal from our old friend Chad Ryland. And yet our producer Eric Roberts really making a stamp on this show. He's killing it this season with his baby. His Dodgers are in the World Series. He says, hey, there's no rule you have to put the game winning
field goal as the radio call. It wasn't that exciting, it wasn't that special. It was a chip shot. I'm putting my stamp on this show. I'm making it the Kyler Murray touchdown call. I agree, that's more memorable. What do you think, Nick, It's artistic integrity right there.
I mean, who else would would come through and say, you know what, the best play was the Kyler. This game didn't have a lot of great plays, Greg and look we have the with Tody's right, worst throws of the year. Have about a nominee here for worst pursuit angle of the year. Those of you watching on YouTuber saw it. Chargers linebacker Junior Colson, He's a rookie for Michigan. Terrible pursued angle got roasted on the broadcast. He was
the last line of defense on that touchdown run. Made it too easy for Kyler.
Okay, I was texting with with Mina today about that, about that Junior Colson is unplayable. Mina chimes and she was like, you're way too invested in this Chargers defense, and I am. I had this this right, friendly gentleman's you know, wager that they would finish at least in the top twenty of the DVOA defense of this year with Mina and look, they're going to do that easily. They're in the top five right now. But I've been watching Junior Colson week after week and like, they can't
play them. Day on, Henley's pretty good and Junior Colson is killing me week after Let's actually bring in Eric. Eric, you can put yourself on the camera here, because you know, first of all, you you wanted this highlight in it's big moment for you.
And then you said you hated this game. This game was annoying you. Why? Why? What's with the hate?
I think just maybe because I had the Bucks and the Ravens. I think it was maybe maybe there was. It was the only game going on at that time. You know, it's okay, yeah, I love it, but I think every time, and you know what really bugged me was the ticker in the top corner of the Buccaneers Ravens game. I'd look up and it's like three zero three zero six nine. That's just I think the comparison is what got me today. There was so much a dumb scorers.
And I'm with you, I'm you know, I'm I believe in you, Eric, and I'm going to listen to your guidance. And if you say that call wasn't worth it.
I mean, how can a Dodger fan who's used all these home runs be happy with field goals? I totally get it.
Here's where I will push back. I think this was a good game. I mean it was memorable in that Yes, it was so perfect that it was like the ESPN Plus Undercard game, and it's like the ultimate Justin Herbert game. This was Justin Herbert's career game because he absolutely balled
out in this game. For anyone that didn't watch the first two and a half three quarters closely, if you put this on your game pass or on your NFL Pro and I kind of want to rewatch it almost because I did start going back through every single play yet, and I'm like, my god, Justin Herbert's playing like one of the best games I've seen anyone.
Play all year.
He threw for over three hundred and fifty yards, He had dime after dime after dime. His receivers were dropping so many passes, and so you think that Justin Herbert, Okay, Justin Herbert's playing the best he's certainly played all year. Yeah, three hundred and forty nine yards twenty seven for thirty nine despite all those drops, and yet they don't even
score a freaking touchdown. Yeah, they're on ESPN Plus and they lose on a last second field goal where there's like controversial non calls and controversial penalties.
Like this was Justin Herbert's career in a nutshell.
And oh, by the way, he has like Greg Roman as an ankle weight as his offensive coordinator.
That's it. It's Justin Herbert's career.
Greg Roman, who is known for scheming up a good running game, and their leading rushers tonight finishes with forty yards on fourteen carries. The entire onus was on the shoulders of Justin Herbert, and like you said, he balled out. And then it was Lad McConkey dropping passes, and it was Seemy Filoko dropping passes, and anybody with the ball within the catch radios dropping passes. It was so frustrating. It rote in to what we learned. It was nine numbing.
Like I'm just sitting here shouting at the screen. Somebody make a freaking play. The one guy who made a play early in this game, Jalen Rager, catches a beautiful deep ball from Justin Herbert and immediately fubbles it into the end zone. That's the Chargers offense in a nutshell this season. It drives me insane.
Here's the thing, so I thought, after last week's game, Oh, Justin Herbert is about to go on one.
Not to pat myself on the back, but.
No, well, known to do that. Here you go, here's a pet.
And I really thought he came out of the by looking like Justin Herbert from twenty twenty one, twenty two, you know, most of twenty three, like when he's healthy, and he just wasn't that guy for most of this year because he was playing through injuries and it's a new offense and they're playing very conservative. I was like, Oh, he's planting on the back foot, he's throwing some passes downfield, he's moving better, he's looking like Justin Herbert.
And so I think you saw that tonight.
So I think Chargers fans should be very frustrated with this loss. And yet I do think there is some hope that, yeah, there's not a lot of good receivers around him, maybe they'll trade for Mike Williams or trade for someone else that can help. It's not a great sign that will Disley goes eight for eighty one. He's their leading receiver with eleven eleven targets, and like mcconkey's banged up and he's playing through it, and Josh Palmer's banged up and he's playing through.
It, and they're just not explosive.
But I do think this is the best Herbert's played easily back to back weeks now. And this was a really good game because it wasn't just that they were dropping these easy short passes. He was making some nice opposite hash field throws to the sideline that make you believe, like, Okay,
this offense is coming along. They got to keep improving because if they do improve and the running game can be better than tonight and it was terrible tonight, like shockingly terrible, then they might have something because they have a pretty good defense.
Yeah, and I'll get the Cardinals defense some credit too, because they made a few nice pass breakups and contests on catches that could have been catches and end up being any completions because the drops or breakups whatever. But when you look at them from an offense as a whole standpoint, this is still just reminds me way too much of where they've been for most of this year, which is a low stealing when it comes to scoring. I mean, five field goals accounts for your fifteen points.
They're in a third and short situation late in the game, in field goal range, and they opt for a low percentage jump ball to the end zone. And the receiver never even runs the full route so much that Jim Harbaugh is complaining about pass interference. They picked up the flag because the ball was uncatchab because he wasn't within range. Why are you not treating that like two downs or at least draining some more clock if you're going to kick the go ahead field goal in the final two
minutes of a game. It's an approach issue for the Chargers in my opinion, especially when the running game doesn't work. This offense struggles justin Herbert plays well and they still struggle and they still lose. But my biggest concern with them greg This defense, which is supposed to be tough, which you just talked about, is going to finish, you know, up in the top twenty or maybe top ten in DVA. They crumble down the stretch. They didn't lose in time
of possession. They weren't gassed. Okay, they let a Cardinals offense go right down the field and kick the game winning field goal.
I mean they gave up seven ten points.
Put in the clutch. They weren't there in the clutch. That was James Connor catches the pass for thirty three yards to set up the game winning field goal. That's unacceptable.
Fair.
That was a mistackle by the guy. I just gave some flowers to Dayon Henley. It was a tough It was a tough play. Kyler Murray makes a good play, makes something out of nothing, buying a little extra time.
It was just one.
It was kind of like some plays that Lamar Jackson was making tonight to me, where he just changes the angle and changes the geometry, where that extra second he holds the ball just changes the angles and it's tough. James Connor is freaking awesome. Everyone should apologize if they got on Jordan Rodrige the athletic for putting him on our All Pro team before the season, because man, I just I just love watching this guy play. And Connor was the key tonight and him breaking that tackle what
was a thirty three yard game. He had another eighteen yard catch, so he was their leading receiver despite a lot of in early two catches, and he had one hundred and one yards and they were hard earned yards.
And they didn't have it.
Always are a ton of offense, but they had enough offense. Like the scheme seems a little off compared to what we expected. You know it, but they Kyler Murray and James Connor made enough good individual plays.
Yeah, there are some simple truths to this Cardinals offense. If James James Connor is cooking, they have a shot to win a game. If James Connor is not cooking, third down is gonna be a miserable viewing experience for everybody, because that's usually what it is for them. It's third and long and it's Kyler just being asked to be a hero. Luckily they avoided that after that some early stretches of that tonight because Connor got going, they got to halftime and I think their combined r yards total
was a little bit over one hundred. Him and Murray end up with over two fifty by the end of the game because they really came on strong in the second half, and in a game like this, that was the difference. Again, not aesthetically pleasing in terms of points scored, but for those of you who appreciate throwbacks like James Connor and tough football, you'll enjoy watching this game.
Hey, and a run quarterback like Kyler Murray who can just rip off a forty four yarder and had another key scramble and they pointed out is accurate in the red zone, and they were saying, how confident Kyler is that, Like he gets so locked in the red zone. I love Kyler's confidence. He's just he's so freaking confident and like, if you're his height and you're gonna be one of the best, Like, yeah, let's say ten to twelve in the world at what he does, like, you better be confident.
And he's had like an okay season.
I wouldn't even say it's been up and down because it's been mostly just at a simmering level of like okayness. He had that one great game against the Rams, and otherwise it's just been like okay, Like he's not playing poorly, he's I think he's a little more under control than he used to be. Him and Marvin Harrison, though, can't get on the same page. I don't know if it's Harrison or what. The broadcast crew is really getting on
the Cardinals for not feed him more. And then they were showing him have really poor effort on some of his routes and they're like, yeah, look at this poor effort.
See, you got to feed him more. So he doesn't have.
This poor effort, and I'm thinking like, hey, how about not have the poor effort, Like, okay, how about run your routes.
That's right. But I also think that Harrison comes from a place at Ohio State where he was the guy and he had a quarterback in Kyle McCord who was basically told throw to Marvin, no matter what he could be, double throw to Marvin. He's in the NFL now where he's not getting the same attention. So it's not that feed him throughout the game. It's get him going early, get him into a rhythm. I mean, he finished this to night with six targets. He's got three catches for
twenty one yards. He drops a ball thrown between double coverage on that final drive in which they did go down and kick the game winning field goal. He just wasn't a part of the offense. And this offense is limited enough, especially when the running games is not going, that you got to get him going if you're gonna beat a team that's better than the Chargers defensively. So
I can understand the concern. I would love to see him ball out because I know he's got the talent for it, but I think he got to get him going early.
I agree, but he's a rookie receiver that for whatever reason, like it's not all there yet. It's not Malik Neighbors. I don't think it's Brian Thomas yet. And you can say, like, let's feed him. I mean they have been. They've thrown the ball to him thirty seven times in six games before tonight. Yeah, that's that's over. You know what is that's over six per game. I guess that's not crazy.
But he's only caught seventeen of those throws. Now, some of that is on Kyler, but it just hasn't been an efficient play for them, and sometimes they have just been forcing it to him that I don't get his usage though, Like they're just using him as if he's
Ted Gin and that's not really who he is. It's just like there's a there was a stat of like who's furthest down the field within a couple seconds of the play starting, and Harrison is among the lead leasers, So that means like his average route.
Is just going deep, deep, deep.
Another player in this game was also in the top five of this stat. I would give you ten guesses, and I don't think you would get it.
But I'm going to get you guess which which team is he on? Is he on the Cardinals Chargers?
I mean, I don't wanna I said, I said, another receiver in this game, and you can't guess it is in the top five of this stat And the stat if we haven't lost all of our listeners and viewers, is like how far you are down the field after I think two seconds or three seconds something like that?
Come on, is he Greg Georg No? But decent, don't don't do not tell me it's Jalen Riger.
It's it's Seemiko, Yeah, which Herbert loves to throw to him, whether reason one on one or not.
It's a burner.
And but basically all that says is like, that's you're just running like nine routes.
You're just running, You're just running down.
That still doesn't make a lot of sense.
It doesn't make a lot of sense for Marvin Harrison. And they got to get that going. And you mentioned the call that they didn't make for the Chargers, and you also mentioned the call that that went against the Chargers on that hit to the head of Harrison, which it was a it was a tough call. Tough couple of calls went against the Chargers. It was close. I would need to see it again. But big win for the Chargers. There three and four and their only one
game out in the NFC West. It's just one of those important wins that kind of like keeps them connected. Like this is a team where I think things could go pretty wrong if if they far fall too far out, But in this division, they feel like, okay, like we're in it. We're still a relevant team. And there's a lot of irrelevant teams right now in the NFL. They're mostly in the AFC, but like there's more bad teams
than usual. I didn't want the Cardinals to be one of those teams this year, and I'm kind of glad they're sticking around five hundred. Yeah, the Chargers have kind of played like a five hundred team so far, so they deserve to be at three and three. I'm happy with both these teams records.
Put it down, this felt more like a finish and an addition to the record that matched who the Chargers are than the Cardinals necessarily. Like the Chargers coming into this game, what were they three and two? They felt like they were not the best three and two. Team three and three seems better and we'll see where they go from here. But they're not quite that good yet.
I thought they were gonna build on last week what they did against Denver, and they just didn't.
They didn't tonight.
They should have had a better offensive game. This This Cardinals defense is tricky, though we've talked about it on the show before. It's what Michael Lombardi used to call on the Simmons Podcast, a battleship defense that if if they like put the if they hit the right like components in the right week, like R three and L six or whatever, like it hits. And this was a good defensive game plan where they really managed to stop the run. And they don't have a lot of talent,
but it seemed to work. I did just want to give one quick shout out to Will Disley, not just for all those receptions, but for sending a Buddha Baker underground with one of the stiff arms of my lifetime. I really think so that was one of the best stiff arms I've ever seen. I mean, he basically he like picked up it was almost like he picked up the man's face and then threw it onto the ground. He like dunked him. That's you can't really do better
on a stiff arm than that. I really do do think that's one of the best stiff arms ever.
The only way you can do better is what Derreck Henry did to Josh Norman, which is pret by his face and throw him in the end.
That's pretty much what reminded me of It's not It wasn't that level, and I think there's something similar here where it's a defensive back. It was a little lighter and just flies and has no regard for their body. And that's what Buddha Baker was here. It's almost like they're not trying to stop themselves from getting posterized, and you almost respect that out of them. But yes, that was that was what happened to poor Buddha Baker.
Yeah, this is this is a good week for that. Greg. We also had the Patrick Mahomes trucking of Milk Mustafa on the goal line.
That was good too.
Show a lot of good candidates for for the scepter on Good Morning Football with Kyle Brand. That's it for for this game at least, although I did want to just introduce one of my medium takes before before we leave, and it's just it's just a question I've been writing down in my notebook for the last few weeks, which is is the off Chargers offensive line? And he I'm leaning towards no, Like it's got all these big time names and I heard it was gonna be good and Greg Roman's the coach.
But what I see is not good.
Okay, that's fair.
I don't care how many first round picks and all like Joe Allt and race On Slater and all this.
It's like, it doesn't look good. Doesn't look at me.
It was supposed to be better this year, and they did lose both of them for a stretcher in the season, so the sample size is small. But consider this from next Gen stats. Justin Herbert averaged three point zero eight seconds to throw on Monday Night, the longest time to throw in a game this season. He completed twenty two to thirty one over two and a half seconds for
three hundred and two yards. So he is getting time to throw, which is better than what we could have said about him earlier this season.
Maybe he's making time to throw, but yeah, maybe I got also is good under but I felt like I saw them losing, certainly in the running game. But that's a fair retort and that's why you make the big bucks. Nick Schuck, All right, let's do some news. Eric, you're still there.
Yeah, we got a sneaky amount of news today.
We'll roll through a pretty quick surprising report came out on Monday night.
ESPN's Adam Schefter had it first. Jamison Williams is reportedly going to be suspended for two games for a pe D suspension.
Yeah. This is after he was suspended already for violin league's gambling policy. It's early in his career and folks have said that he has matured, but a second suspension for a different thing suggests that maybe he doesn't make the best decisions. So we'll see about the details if they ever come out about what happened. But kind of a bummer. Luckily it's only two games from the Lions.
Yeah, Jamison Williams confirmed it. He says he has no choice but to take it on the chin. I'm in good spirits. I'm just ready to be back with my brother's as ap. And yeah, I just wanted to make sure I credited the right person here.
Eric Woodyard with ESPN. That was chefter passing it along.
Good reporting there that he got the quotes from Jamison Williams before it was even officially announced. So that is going to happen, And yeah, that's a big loss for them, but it is going to be a short term loss. A little more Tim Patrick in Our Life been a nice story, Tim Patrick.
Yeah, yeah, I like the way he's fitting that offense so far, has made some nice plays.
He's not going to replace Jameson Williams, but you can get Kelly Fraeman to just do a little.
Bit of a Jameson Williams impression for a couple of weeks and they'll be fine.
But disappointing obviously for the team and for Williams, and especially in a season where he'd been doing so many good things. We got the confirmation of the bad news we expected Nick on Sunday. We found out Monday Brandon Ayuk is indeed going to miss the season with a torn ac l. We also learned that Christian McCaffrey will not return this week. They have a Sunday night game against the Cowboys, then they have a bye. Kyle Shanahan
had some optimism about Kaffrey returning after the bye. Unfortunately, Brandon Ayuk will not be returning at all this season. We'll see, if you know, when CMC is back on the field, if there's another receiver maybe brought into the fold by the forty nine Ers. Maybe we'll talk a little forty nine Ers trade candidates on our trade deadline preview spectacular that's coming up on Wednesday show.
Yeah, the idea of sending Mike Williams back to the Chargers made me laugh just because of the pairing, But I mean, why not kick the tires there if they need somebody. Luckily, Ricky Piersol made his debut this weekend, but this is a team that really needs the bye. Wee with all these injuries, including Jordan Mason who played over the weekend, but we know he's dealing with the shoulder issue.
Yeah, and John Jennings was out of that game, and that they Deebo Samuel is in the hospital. I should have mentioned that up top with pneumonia. He had fluid in his lungs, so there actually is no timetable of him getting out of the hospital. That sounds scary, and you know, you hope, you hope the best for him. Sometimes that's a situation that it's not a long term situation and it can be very serious. He would not
be in the hospital if it wasn't. So yeah, just a lot going on in San Francisco and we'll get more news on debo throughout the week. But yeah, devastating for Ayuk. You're happy for him that he got his contract, but this season of that just it's like bad vibes in the offseason for the forty nine ers and partly for Ayuk, and you hate to see that it's kind of continuing here with that injury.
Really unfortunate.
Jaden Daniels does not have an injury that serious at the Washington Commanders are calling him week to week. We didn't really get details on the rib injury, but Dan Quinn says he's hopeful that he'll play against the Bears.
Sounds like a comfort thing, which is usually the case with rib injuries, especially for quarterbacks. I know most of them were flack jackets, you know, rib protectors. Nothing that you really want to rush, though, if you can find a way to make it work with Marcus Mariota for a week, you do that and exercise caution and it's still good news.
This.
You didn't want anything that was going to keep him out for a long time.
Yeah, you you want to see that game against Caleb Williams. Yeah, but Mariota showed enough that you believe we could win a game with with Mariota. And either way, the only thing that really matters is Jaden Daniels's health for this season. So they're not gonna tell us necessarily if it's bruised ribs or one smaller fracture or whether it's four fractures. You know, we're probably not going to get that report.
And there's there's just like no way we're gonna know unless someone has a good source inside the commanders.
So get working, like everyone's all buddy buddies with.
With Cliff and and that staff, Like, let's let's let's see that reporting come out.
Let's find out tell.
Them, take those sunglasses off and look you in the eye and say, look, tell me the truth. What's going on?
Uh?
Yeah, so we'll see. That'll probably be something.
Look, if I had Jayden and Daniels on my team and you're not sure if he's going to start or not, yeah, you probably leave that up in the air until last just just to make the Bears prepare for both scenarios. Looks like we'll be in a similar situation with to a Tongue of Iloa this week finding out if he's officially out of the concussion protocol. He will be returning to practice officially on Wednesday, so he has to practice
to get out of the protocol. So there are still steps to happen, but it does sound like the team is confident he's going to be ready to go. He spoke on Monday, said he had been symptom free for weeks and had no problem with the Dolphins putting him on injured reserve because that's what the expert said was most safe for his health, but also said it you know, it wasn't something that was bothering him as early as
twenty four hours after the concussion. Let's listen to to a Tongue of Iiloa a little defiant in his conversations today.
Well, how much risks did we take when we get up in the morning to go to go drive to work, car crash? Mean I don't know everything I think takes less. So to answer that question, every time we all suit up, we're all taking a risk that we could potentially get hurt, whether it's a concussion, a broken bone. Anything, you get up off of the bed the wrong way, you potentially could risk he's spraining your ankle on There's just risk in any any and everything, and I'm willing to play the odds.
He had me until the getting out of the bed thing. Now you really did?
I want to be serious because that was just like a clumsy analogy.
But what do you think of what he said?
I mean kind of sounds like somebody who's getting on a plane and trying to tell their friend that they're safer on a plane than they are in traffic.
I'm that guy, though, Like he actually he actually did, you know, make a fair point about the car stuff. I think about that, like that is it? Yeah, there is a lot of risk in that, and we're willing to accept it. Like I at least think it's worth like listening to him on it and considering his vantage point on it.
Well, I think if he's the one who's willing to lay it on the line, then you kind of can't get in the way, especially if the doctors say he's clear to play. I know this team certainly needs him. I just watched back that Colts Dolphin's ugly game that took place on Sunday when in which Tyler Huntley and Tim Boyle played, And I know they need to a back, but again it comes down to what he wants. If that's what he wants, then you can't stop him. If he knows the risk, you can't stop him.
I think he is frustrated.
There were some other quotes during that press conference, maybe with the tone of it, that people are treating him so differently than other players, and he said, do I want to be known for this? Like, no, I don't. Those are the cars I've been dealt. I hate that it happened. You know, we don't look at boxers the same way we don't look at hockey players. And it is interesting because like Chris o'lave's out with a concussion still from a couple.
Of weeks ago. Now he was on an outwhere of them that was a brutal hit.
Yeah, And he had a pretty serious concussion a couple of years ago too, and he's had won every season that he's had, Like Derek Carr's had had a smattering of concussions late last season that he like quickly returned from and I think what Tua might be getting at too, it might be frustrated with is like there's so much attention on to a tongue of I looa, and there's a reason for that. When he suffered him, it's looked really serious. In the fencing position, it's been everyone watching
and they have been really serious. So I just think there's nuance to it. But he was it was a different to it.
Today.
He said he did not consider retirement, and he respected everyone's question, but I think he kind of stood his ground and was just very clear in where he was at. And I think actually it was good to hear from him. And when I heard those quotes like that, we just played it. It made me think a little bit differently about the situation.
Yes, what it really speaks to is also the locker room environment, because you don't want to be the one player on your team that's being treated with kid gloves and being treated especially as opposed to all of your teammates, no matter whether you're in high school, in college in the NFL, you don't you want to be considered to be right alongside the rest of your guys ready to go to war. And I know it sounds crazy, but that's that's the football playing mindset. So he doesn't want
to be treated like that. He wants to go out there and play football and everybody stop worrying about his health and he'll handle that.
So I understand, right, And I also would understand and respect if he didn't want to play football anymore. Right, Yeah, like we that we'd all be in that position where we say, look, we totally respect that. Of course, it's this guy's decision for what to do. So on the flip side, maybe I was thinking that it's a little hypocritical not to give him the agency to take all the information. He's a serious, smart guy and make the
decision that a lot of players make. You know, he's he is not the only one, and respect that too, and obviously hope for the best. So other injury news around the league, DK Metcalf is week to week with a knee injury. They have a game against the Bills, which I'm really intrigued by this week, and they'd really miss DK Metcalf. He obviously changes their entire offense. We'll
see if he can get back on the field. But usually week to week means you're out, which is why when they said week to week for Jade Daniels, I thought, oh, he's out, But then then Dan Quinn sounded so hopeful that I'll play that it made me think, well, week to week doesn't necessarily mean anything in particular, but I would expect dk Metcalf to miss this week's game just because they use that phrasing. I wanted to listen to a little Dave Canalis sound. We haven't heard a ton
this season from the Panthers coach. He was asked on Monday if the team would consider trading Bryce Young and whether they felt like they would need to play Bryce Young to see what they have before possibly trading him.
Right now, we're focused on the Broncos and he's played this week, and that's really where our focus is at, you know, And all those other conversations are all hypothetical conversations that you know definitely and Brant, you know that we have to have. But right now, we're focused on playing the Broncos and you know, folks, on getting Andy to take another step in terms of getting us back to good football.
Okay, so I could have played more of his press conference, which had similar quotes. People were asking him pretty directly like is Bryce Young going to be traded? Like could Bryce Young, you know, be on the trade block? And he won't even answer those questions. That just makes me think, yeah, they're going to trade Bryce Young. That's just my instinct because I think it just makes sense. I think the timing makes sense.
Well, I mean, obviously he's got to defer to the front office because they make those moves ultimately, but yeah, you don't want to take the value of your quarterback either in trade talks. That makes sense too, But what makes the most sense is getting him out of there. The fact that they didn't play him in that blowout loss until last three minutes of the game kind of told you everything you needed to know, which is that
we're not worried about his development. We're potentially worried about preserving his trade value.
Right because if you're going to get trade value for him, and it's going to be very low, it's going to be better right now than it then it likely will.
Be the him better on the trade market, because.
First of all, like he'll probably play again and that won't go well, because nothing's going to go well on this Panthers team until proven otherwise. And I've just seen like too many quarterbacks that absolutely like struggled. I mean, he's at a pretty crazy level. But Josh Rosen got a late second that was crazy. They king about it now,
but from Miami. I mean that was that was maybe ownership getting involved, if if I had to guess at the time, because they were just looking for like quarterback solutions.
Because that was the year after they got Jacob Wing right and that didn't work.
Yeah, they were I've seen I've like these quarterbacks that struggle in their first spot.
They always get something.
With Bryce it might only be like a conditional fifth to a fourth or something like that. Baker got it's it still would be better then it'll be later. So I I just got an instinct that they're going to
trade him. I thought it was interesting to and the mcaffee show that Bill Belichick said he was kind of hurt that Drod Mayo said the Patriots defense was soft and then listed how good the Patriots were in terms of their run defense last year, and it's all the same players for the most part, and actually they're a little healthier this year in some spots, although he was leaving out other key players that weren't there Judean, Christian Barmore, Juan Bentley.
But you know that was, you know, kind of self serving.
But I thought it was interesting that he just said none of these guys are soft. These are tough, hard nosed players, and you know he's putting Mayo in a tough spot, and he's almost telling Mayo through Pat McAfee like you're blowing it, dude, don't say this stuff.
I think not having Christian Barmore is a bigger loss than people realize. I mean, especially just the trench play. He's a wrecker in there, like he causes problems, and not having him, they're hurting without him. But I just think it's really refreshing to see Belichick like unfiltered, like not just on distance, Naty Belichick. Like at one point he made a comment about the Jets, saying, like the Jets and the Jets and Woody is Woody and how
they handle the Robert Sola thing. Like it's just it's really really refreshing to see Belichick open up, kind of like it was when Tom Brady went to Tampa back in the day.
Okay, good comp I will make like a point of clarification, I would say I do not think he's unfiltered. I think he's extremely filtered and calculated. Like he has certain things that he yes, he has certain points that he's
happy to hit. One of them is Drowd Mayo, which is why I thought this was interesting enough to bring up of, Like he's not afraid to be critical of the Patriots right now and Drowd Mayo and how drowd Mayo is handling things and don't I don't blame him, frankly, you know drowd Mayo, Like that's a risky thing to call your team soft and the play you know, his players that Belichick know as well, Like they might not
like that, and that's his way of saying that. But he has his angles that he's willing to take, like maybe people that have in the past.
Yes, there it is.
And he's taking shots.
Whereas where I see him do a lot of game analysis and stuff, it's pretty vanilla and it's almost like he's protecting himself versus future employers or versus things being brought up next year when he's on the sideline.
That's just what I mean. The way that he left New England. I mean they parted amicably, supposedly, but like you think you really wanted to lose that job. I don't think so there's a little bit of vindictiveness in this. Hey, you know what, grass ain't always greener. You know, I found more success with those guys last year. You better figure it out, Patriots. If you thought he was a better coach than me, or a better choice than me, better figure it out.
Yeah, And look, he's prompted by McAfee with the question, but it's a little bit of a victory lap. And I wouldn't say I don't blame him, but he's not wrong. Their defensast collapse without him, They aren't as well coached. That was I think a misstep probably by Drod Mayo. And now he's gonna have to deal with another day of conversation about it because someone's going to ask Rod Mayo about what Bill Belichick said. And Delicious in New England.
Finally in the News, they flexed the Colts Vikings game into Sunday Night Football Week nine. I love a good Sunday Night flex. Feel like we haven't really had many the last couple of years. Jags Eagles. Doug Peterson's revenge game is out, so thank you for getting the Jaguars out of primetime.
Good job, And there's nothing better than talking about a flex and then just flexing.
Yeah, there it is.
I mean, that's worth the price of admission for the YouTube subscribers right there seeing Nick's guns. Remember when they didn't have flex, we would just be watching the Jaguars in primetime.
I mean, hopefully Anthony Rigison plays better than did last week, though I'm gonna need that for that.
You know what, I like a little. I like some different teams in primetime. The Colts are like never in primetime. They're never on Sunday Night football. The Vikings are a good watch. I'm into that game. Let's have some Sunday night diversity. Kind of about another flex. Just note, I noticed they took Bengals Eagles out of the four to twenty five National Game this week and put in Commanders Bears. How's that if you had told me that before the
start of the season. And it's not like the Bengals and Eagles have fallen off a cliff, But that's interesting you took the Bengals and Eagles. No, you're not good enough for our spot, your old news Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts.
We're going with the new stuff.
Marcus Mariota and Caleb Williams Now I hope, no, I hope it's.
Jis the year of the Commanders as long as Jane Daniels is involved. Fingers crossed Network executives the Jayden Daniels plays.
All right, we wrap up every Monday night football recap and thank you for tuning in a long one tonight. We're enjoying this one. It's time for our Captain Morgan Players of the Week. Captain's Corner presented by Captain Morgan. Why don't you get us going?
Nick Schuk?
All right, Captain's Corner. We've talked about him a lot indirectly, even though they didn't play today, they played yesterday. Marcus Mariota, you are the main my Captain's Corner this week eighteen for twenty three two and five yards two touchdowns in relief of Jaden Daniels. That offense didn't miss a beat without their rookie sensation quarterback. You handled the job well like the aggressive, experienced veteran that you are. Good job, Marcus, Yes,
I love that choice. He really did look good.
Not I was just I know it was against Carolina, but they were throws down the field.
They were accurate.
I couldn't help but think of our friend Chris Westling, you know who we lost a few years ago to cancer, and his unflagging belief that Marcus Mariota could have some Joe Montana like traits to his game is accuracy, his footwork. He loved a young Marcus Mariota. I wouldn't say unflagging, because I think he did, you know, kind of give up somewhat eventually, But that was the Marcus Mariota of our dreams, of Wes's dreams, and what a performance by him.
I'm gonna go with Saquon Barkley obviously. You know, he pops off three huge explosive runs. You know, he runs the ball only seven times and seventeen times and almost gets a career high. He does it in met Life Stadium like it's it's just perfect, it's awesome. But he gets it because of the audio that the Eagles released on Monday of Nick Sirianni going over to him on the bench and repeatedly asking Saquon if he wanted to break his career rushing record, and I think he only
needed well eleven more yards or something like that. Yeah, yeah, something like that, like, hey, I want to help you get this if you want to get it, and Saquon putting him off. And it was that thing where you bring something up to a friend and you're not sure if they're just putting you off just to say that, so you go back to them again the second time to give him another chance to say yes, and like Sekon was like, no, let the young kids play like the game's over. I want to I want I want
the young kids to eat. And that was really cool by Saquon Barkley. Everything you hear and see and know about Saquon Barkley is that he's not just a great player, but an awesome leader, a teammate, and just just a cool dude. So he is my Captain Morgan Captain of the Week.
I'll tell you what listening to Sirianni double back and saying, by the way, just to be clear, I want you to get this, and then Saquon saying no, let the young kids eat. First off, demonstration of humility and also a demonstration of not being greedy and taking chances and risks in the game you don't need to take. So good on, Saquon, smart man.
Brought it back around. Good job by you, shook. That was the Captain's Corner presented by Captain Morgan. Is delicious and crisp, perfect for game day with friends.
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That's all.
We will be back. As I mentioned on Wednesday, play the music. We're gonna be with Colleen Wolf, Jordan Rodrigue. Let me be a little trade deadline preview excited for this. We'll make up some take trades that we want to see in the meantime. For Eric Roberts, for Nick Chuck. Look when Justin Herbert is doing everything you can and still losing a big game in primetime, you know football is back.