Our back at the NFL Report. I am Steve White, is my guy, James Palmer. Week one is almost completely in the bank, and stick with me because we are going to continue this financial money theme.
Throughout the show.
JP.
I just saw you slide into your seat, Chris collins Worth style. Man, where are you coming from?
Bro? Yeah? I was in twenty a United just you know, standard economy four hour and twenty minute flight from Foxborough. Had a chance to hang out with TV twelve yesterday for Eagles and Patriots since nineteen ninety nine. This was our first Sunday to open a season, Steve without Tom Brady. Well, he was still there in Foxborough. I'm not gonna lie. The new additions to Jewleet are incredible, the new scoreboard, the lighthouse, It's it's unreal. Robert Craft at it again.
Well, there you go.
At least you were in an exit road, JP, and I think a lot of people with the New York Giants wish they were in an exit row after what happened because a Dallas Cowboys Sunday night, Hey, I was at the Chargers to offense game. I mean that was the best game of the weekend. Seven league changes and how about this, James I had the honor serious honor at halftime for their jersey retirement ceremony to bring in
Charlie Joyner number eighteen and Kellen Winslow number eighty. Is they became the fifth and six Chargers to have their numbers retired. Our guy Ledanian Tomlinson was there.
That was hot.
But JP, you know week one I got talked about a lot of money. We have a money trail we have to follow here, So why don't you just take those crumbs lead us into our first discussion, sir.
Yeah's let's follow the bread crumbs. Let's follow the money, because let's go with a guy who just got paid in Joe Burrow, the highest paid player in the NFL after that new contract right before the start of the season. And what does he do well? They lay an egg stave offensively, But I think the storyline honestly, and we'll talk about the Bengals at lengthwoff Cam wolf On a little bit later, who was also at that game in Cleveland. Let's start out with the defense that gave Joe Burrow
that miserable, miserable day. I Steve, for one, with all the coaching changes that happened. Spent some time in Cleveland during training camp, and you know, I'm a Philly guy. I thought Jim Schwartz was maybe my favorite offseason acquisition by any team with him running this defense, because I'm curious, if there's a better matchup then maybe James Cameron casting Arnold Schartzeneger as the terminator than Miles Garrett playing for
Jim Schwartz. I mean, it's just a perfect matches. At sixteen sacks each of the last two seasons, I think he could get twenty in this scheme that he's operating. And now that we saw Zadarius Smith on the other side, they went and got interior type of players right at the start of free agency where they could be better as an interior defensive line. He's able to allow them to go out there. Steven play faster, play at a higher speed. It's simpler. He's got corners that can play this.
He's got a safety. I think this part's really underrated in Rodney McLeod that knows this system so well to help out that group on the back end, and they were able to give Joe Burrow just pretty much his worst day of his career, pulled with about five minutes to go. Because of what this defense was able to do.
What stood out to you most about this game because to me, it was this defense that maybe I don't know, Jim Schwartz, and this defense the one that shakes up this whole division, which could be one of the toughest in football.
Well, first off, talking about Jim Schwartz, there were players when Miles Garrett was actually in a two point stance over center, like he was giving the.
Bengals all over look yep. And so this is a new.
Element to what it has been a one sided rivalry in here because Cleveland, I think this was the fifth time out of the last six games they'd beaten Joey b So that you got that part of it, and then you've got the Browns offense, right, we're gonna be We wondered. We talked about it last week JP about how this offense is gonna look, especially this dominant run game with Nick Chubb, with DeShawn Watson playing mainly out of shotgun. Well, we saw it yesterday where Nick Chubb come,
you know, rushing more than one hundred yards. DeShawn Watson went for I think more than fifty yards rushing. So that's gonna be, to me the formula for what this offense does all season.
Because Deshaun Watson wasn't great throwing the ball.
We know we had weather in that game, but it still seemed like they've got some timing things that they've got to work through with the style that he plays. But that run game is gonna be to me JP important. And there's also a new element to this in Cleveland. Jack Conklin the starting offensive tackle for the Brons. He's out for the season with a knee injury. That's something that could impact it. But they drafted a rookie out of Ohio State, out of your alma mater, to come
in there and do his thing. I know you got the scouting report.
I do, Steve. I had the scouting report. It was I did the pro day, and it was like when Jerry Seinfeld said, I ree refuse to run, I refuse to race. He did not want to work out at the pro day. He just said, I'm not working out. He was there, didn't work out. But I will say this, the back end of training camp with Dwan Jones, who is a massive, massive human being, has actually grown a little bit as this camp has gone on, and it's extremely important because he is now their starting right tackle.
Kevin Stefanski announced it on Monday. Jack Conklin with the ACL is done for the season and his first test as a starter in the NFL is going to be going against probably a very angry TJ. Watt and Steelers defense after what had three zacks in that game against the forty nine Ers, and he's now going to have to try to handle TJ. Watt and protect Joe Burrow.
I mean to protect a Shan Watson, and I think that part to me, Steve stands out is in that's another added element we might see Deshaan Watson using his legs. I talked to him after their final preseason game and he told me, you know, I am a guy that scrambles and looks to throw off the scramble. He might be looking to run off the scramble a little bit more, or if he uses his legs continuously as a part
of the way this offense moves. Kevin Stefanski kind of believes in my understanding that it's a week by week basis on how they'll use to Shawn. In terms of the run game, there was one designed run they put in late. I'm told it was specifically four to Sean to have the right look and make the call himself, Steve, and he did, and that's what he scored a touchdown on. So they're gonna find ways to have him use his legs.
Yeah, I mean they have to.
Again, the way this offense works, the way that run game works, with Nick Chubbs setting things up, that's perfect, perfect segue there jp to help us transition down this money trail, because again we're following the money and we know Nick Bisa he got paid last week five years, one hundred seventy million dollars.
Well, he doesn't practice allid training camp.
They go up to Pittsburgh and the forty nine Ers lay an absolute thrashing on the Steelers, the preseason Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, mind you.
They go up there win thirty to seven.
I was part of that, yeah, hey.
In a large part of this, though, is because offensively with the San Francisco forty nine Ers, they were able to jump to that twenty point lead, and our guy, the quarterback, Brock Purty comes out.
Everyone's wondering about Brock party.
They didn't miss a beat, they come out offensively, he throws the ball, he gets it out on time and JP, he's got Christian McCaffrey, who says, you don't need a bell Kyle running back, not Kyle Shanahan. McCaffrey touts it more than twenty two times. He's got the explosive touchdown. We're gonna talk about a part of that run. It's one of my favorite plays of the weekend. But here you're seeing the offensive line. Look at the eyes, look at the read. Oh there's a block. Look at the
physicality that McCaffrey runs with. And then right here, look at the block and look at the blocking.
Here's his read. This is what the Niners do.
JP.
They get the twenty point lead, and then it's off to the races. Then you're asking Kenny Pickett to throw the ball a billion times more, I mean, only four thirty six times. Then he wants to throw it. I mean that's too much. That's not the formula that Mike Tomlan want to play with. You get Kenny Pickett throwing the ball forty six times, you're gonna be off to the races.
Like Christian McCaffrey is here on this long team run.
I love you talked about the physicality because you know what this team does when they're on the road in the hotel Saturday night, they don't watch a single offensive play, which if I had Deebo, Samuel, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, all those weapons, I'd be watching some highlights. No, they watch only highlights of the defense because they want their entire mindset to be about physicality, and the offense goes out and tries to match the physicality of the way
this defense plays. But sticking with the offense, I think there was a little bit of a chip on Kyle Shanahan's shoulder, obviously on Brock purty shoulder and in pretty much everybody else that you heard talk in that locker room after this game. I think Steve it was watch us. We made the right decision in our quarterback room. Oh, there was a couple things said by Patrick Peterson in the about our quarterback. Did you hear Brock Perdy in
the postgame press conference? He said, oh, that first touchdown to Branda who was in coverage there? And somebody that you think he didn't know who was in coverage there? They said, Patrick peerre like Oh yeah, that was a good play. That one felt good. That one's good. I like the kind of mindset. I know, we overreact about Week one and everybody's season is either over or they're
going to the super Bowl. But I think you can read into the forty nine Ers mindset in we were rolling before we got to that NFC Championship game and oth lost both of our quarterbacks. I think you could tell by the way Kyle Shanahan called this game, the way he was aggressive, the way he went after certain people to prove a point about them, to prove a
point about Brock Perdy. I like the mindset. There was some jabbering going on in that forty nine Ers locker room afterwards, especially Joey Bosa and I mean Nick Mosa and a couple other guys just kind of saying, you know, we're ready to put you know, the pedal to the metal Steve right off the jump. And I think that's one of the biggest things about this Niners team. And you look at where they start the season, they could be four and oh very easily through these first four games.
Yeah.
Look, and what's interesting is, like you said, overreaction Monday, Week one, no teams as bad as as they seem, no teams as good as they seem, except I do think the Niners are one of the teams we could read the tea leaves on and say this is where they're headed. And here's a prime example why Nick Bosa didn't have a sax. Jevon Hargrave had a great game. But Drake Jackson, the second year defensive end, who should benefit with having Eric Armstead and Hardgrave and Boast on
that line? Oh he benefited. He had three sacks. You got a fourth guy on that line who could recavoc. Now that's gonna be a significant problem.
James. We have more money to talk about. To talk about this money trail.
Okay, and the New York Giants, they got their lunch money taken, They got their breakfast money taken.
Uh huh.
They got bankrupted. They got bankrupted.
They didn't score a point by the Dallas Cowboys coming in and putting a forty to nothing the Cocoa goff a forty to love beat down on them at MetLife Stadium.
Yeah, that was something I'm not gonna lie. I walk I walked in from into my hotel in Boston. You know, sitting in that tremendous traffic out of Foxborough. There's a lot of ways to get out of that stadium. No, there's not. And so I got in there and I was like, this game is pretty much over. I got I better hit the sheets. I got an early flight tomorrow.
We knew that this was gonna be a dominant defense, and I know we talked about the forty nine ers going out there, Stephen, on both sides of the ball. I think they wanted to prove a point. I think there was a definite point pro proven by this Dallas defense. And I listen on game day morning, I was on it. I'm listening to the whole show. Mayor Jerald McCoy and Michael Irvin can't stop arguing about the Cowboys. We're already
talking about him at nauseum. I think the hype train is now into the stratosphere after this forty to nothing beat down. The biggest beat down by a Cowboys team ever, Steve in terms it was thirty eight to nothing against the Baltimore Colts in nineteen seventy eight. This is their largest shutout victory ever. And I think Micah Parsons and company wanted to go out and prove a point. And now it's gonna be really fun week two against the Jet.
Yeah, look, we're a j ifeop. We're gonna have James Slater on just a little bit to talk about this defense. But the fact that you know, you talk about all the action that they have up front with Micah Parsons and Dexter Lords and some of those guys. Hey man, I'm gonna storry DeMarcus Lawrence. The fact that they added the Gilly lock, and we're gonna talk about Stefan Gilmour to go with Travon Diggs to hold those receivers up
a little that says something. But for them to go up and they play a Giants team, right, they were like, oh the Giants were barking?
What about all these people talking about the Giants and Giants? And they went up there with bad intentions and played like this. Like you said, we talked about.
The forty nine ers kind of letting the world know and we know the Cowboys were gonna have really good defense and they should have a very good team.
Dak did not have.
To do too much last night. The Saw offense did not have to do too much. That's how they want to play. Now, there's gonna be games of this offense. It's gonna have to do a lot and we're seeing this quick I love this quick pitch to Tony Pollard. The old two handed volleyball shovel pitch that we used to run in.
High school are really good design.
There's gonna be some games with this offense. Is gonna have to step up for the defense. It has been the leading defense and takeaways over the past two seasons, and now with Mike McCarthy calling the offense, they're gonna be able to pick their spots when they can flash. But this was the ideal game for the Cowboys and
for the Giants. I think some of those expectations. I don't know if they need to be tempered, because again I don't want to really overreact, but this is gonna be a tough week for the Giants in regrouping because they know last year they got away with a couple of victories with certain things they did with the enthusiasm and the way they played, etc. But they do have a way to go throughout if they want to be a player in the NFC, And this was a heck
of a wake up call for them. So again, we're gonna have change later on and just a little bit to talk more about the Cowboys and what's going on coming up in the next block.
JP. We got a lot of pettish coming out of Ohio. We went to Ohio. Say you know what pettish is?
Oh, give me the what man?
Yeah, this is real, now, this is really real. We'll be back soon on the NFL report.
Who there's been a lot of trash shalk in this battle. Jamar Chase made an l's reference. You held them to thirty three passing yard for Jamar Chase, none for t Higgins on eight targets.
What does that mean in that battle? I mean a lot. Man.
We're trying to be the best in the world. We're trying to be the best secondary. We're trying to get all our the whole secondary to the Pro Bowl. So we're just trying to go out and dominate every game. But it's about us, man, taking a game at the time.
You dominate.
When you look at this rivalry as of late, you guys have dominated six of your last seven. What is it about the Battle of Ohio and particularly playing here in Cleveland.
I guess y'all are they mean a lot of these division games, man, they mean a lot. So anytime you come out to get a win, that's big.
All right.
That was our Cameron Wolf with Brown's cornerback Denzel Ward. We're now joined by Killer Cam. He's back in his home in Florida after being in Ohio for the Browns fifth victory in the past six games. Over Joe Burrow camp, you talked about what that Browns defense did to Joe Burrow. We saw how ineffective they was. The Bengals offense was.
After Burrow not being in all most of training camp because of that calf injury.
Should folks be worried about what's happening with Cincinnati's offense.
No, Stee, they should not be worried. But there's one key cavey I don't want to tell later that I do want to see the Bengals improve upon. But the reason why they shouldn't be worried is the Bengals have been the year before, second straight year Joe Burrow's missed essentially all training camp, and they've struggled out the gate. Last year they were owing to the start. They ended
up finishing twelve and four. And I was talking to players on the field in pregame and they said they didn't legitimately didn't know that Burrow was going to play until about midweek of game week, and so there's a lot of uncertainty. A couple guys said they were worrying a bit, right, what they're gonna what's going on?
What's going on?
They thought he would play, they didn't fully know, and so you have the uncertainty, and that affects game planning all week. Coaches are telling me, it's not gonna be the same as last year. It's not gonna be the same. We're gonna be ready. We're gonna be ready. Well, they were not ready, and so they're gonna get it together. They're gonna get their rush ready. Joe Burrow is gonna get healthier. He's not gonna have a career low in passing yards like he did before, and so that's gonna
get past them. And then there's also the element that the Browns seem to had their number. We talked about their record. They match up extremely well, their corners and their receivers, and so ultimately they don't play the Browns every week, So the Bengals will be fine, but I do have one caveat.
I'm curious Cam though that you know. I know the weather played a part in it. Joe Burrow had to throw a glove on at one point, throws for eighty two yards only six first downs. But to me, in the AFC, from Week one on, I think everybody has to be looking for an advantage because if you're one of these teams contending to come out of the AFC and go play in Vegas, every single week's gonna matter
whether in the postseason. This could matter whether I know we overreact in Week one, but could matter whether you're playing the NFC title game at Arrowhead or at home, or how your playoff situation is going to go. I think early in this season, if you look at this division, what do you have Kenny Pickett is you know, thirteen career starts. You have Deshaun Watson still getting his feet wet in Cleveland. You have a new offensive coordinator with
the Ravens. What was the Cincinnati Bengals advantage continuity? Everybody was back, everybody was back from the from the offensive staff. I thought that would give them advantage early. This could be a missed opportunity in a sense.
Yeah, I'm completely perplexed by what Cam said about the wide receivers not knowing of Joe Burrow was going to play or not.
I mean, yeah, so what so what I mean.
What you've been practicing with the other with the other quarterbacks all training camp. So if Burrow was playing or not, what difference should that make? So the fact that they were even talking about that just doesn't sound right to me when we know how high functioning this offense can be. Now, Joe Burrow makes one heck of a difference, but I think would happen. Also, let's not discount we talked about
it earlier. Jim Schwartz came out there and showed them some looks where you know, they were kind of like miss yell At, like, hey, uh duh, couldn't figure it.
Out right, right, Steve, to your point, the Bengals have really struggled with the Browns and the Browns corners made clear they feel like it's because they have the receiver's numbers. Martin Eberson, Denzel Ward, Greg knew some they match up extremely well, and there's not a lot of teams that have the three corners that can match up with their three receivers and their thought processes. The Bengals passing attack is their offense. If you stop those receivers, you stop
the Bengals. And when I was in the locker room after the game, I talked to Obo Aroqua as one of the Browns defensive linemen, and he's had a great quote about Jim schwartz scheme. He essentially said, the Seafofts were off. We want to get off that rock. We want to shoot first and ask questions later. So we turned off the camera and I'm walking and talking with him.
We're talking about how he's playing to celebrate to night, and I said, I've got one more question for you, man, Why when you guys send all these pressure books, you're having a Miles Garrett line up at inside linebacker and get there as well. Why didn't you guys seem worried about the running attack. He smiled at me. He said, we're not worried because we shoot first and asked questions later.
And so I was thinking about that on the plane back here, and I'm like, the Bengals have really struggled to run the ball last three years, their bottom five running team. The coaches told me about you saw the weather that it was going to be a Nick Chubb game. They were like, Oh, it's going to be a Nick Chubb game. Why didn't the Bengals adjust? Why didn't the Bengals go to Joe Mixon Moore? Why can't they adjust
on the fly? To me, that comes a worry later in the season if you're one dimensional, not many teams have the corners, but the Jets have the corners to be able to play these guys. Went on one the Dolphins that they get healthy late in the year with Jayalen Ramsey, Xaviing Howard and Kater Kohu have the corners late in the year. And then the Browns do what are you do in those matchups when they play man like they do and say we're gonna be our guys are better than yours. Let's see how you adjust.
That?
To me is the one caveat that I'm a little worried about what the Bengals going forward.
Listen, the Bengals didn't have a problem during the week. Apparently he didn't know if his quarterback was playing or not, but Jamar Chase was confident whether it was gonna be Joe Burrow or somebody else out there. He was dropping some Elves references during the week. Let's let's hear it. Let's hear Jamar Chase and.
Like, mis frustrating because I called Elves and we just lost as some ls. So I'm pissed on my party. I'm not I'm pissed on that end. Like I said, Man, we got missed opportunities, we didn't capitalize on it, and we lost. So that's how we lost.
Yeah, and now we're also showing a tweet.
We're getting ready to show a tweet right now because Jamar was was was parking a little bit for the game too, and so Cleveland had a nice retort. Remember jamarshit, Cleveland is Cleveland, said, Hey, Cleveland is Cleveland. And there's Deshaun Watson celebrating playing the guitar the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with that three to twenty four score
right there. Look, keV, you gotta kind of love the pettiness of what's going on right here because the Browns, you know, like you saw the part they've had the number for the Bengals.
I mean, it's one of the few teams that they can say this against.
But they do have to play the Bengals later in the year, so you know there's that part.
But let's also get to you saw Cleveland.
Deshaun Watson did not necessarily play well in the passing game, but in the running game, the combo him and Nick Chubb with something special.
Yeah.
Absolutely. I love Pitios too. By the way, I love that trash talk all the time.
But Deshaun Watson, you should see what this dude texts all the time.
See pettiness is my friend. I also like that Jamar Chase doubles down on that after an L Like, what is the rare You're wrong? Like, you guys got got shut down and you still double down. That's the rare transition where you just gotta swallow that. And Greg Newsom said that after the game, he was like, a you know, he's just got to swallow this L but that that next game is gonna be a fun duo here, uh, you know, kind of revenge a game for the Bengals, but they have not had a lot of luck.
There at all.
Well, I think what the Browns best tweet would have been like an Elves reference but with an l V Yes, since they had a tweet.
Saying Elves and then did the little, you know, the f around and mess around thing with the graft.
They had a tweet where.
They said essentially that and they did the line connecting and you know, you guys, you guys have seen the group.
I love that.
Hey, next time, cam you when you tell us how you're going to be celebrating, the players are gonna be celebrating. You are not going to hide that part. You are going to disclose it because you put that out there publicly. But we got to keep it moving here at the NFL Report because the most exciting game yesterday the Chargers and the Dolphins, seven league changes.
We're gonna have Bridget Condon up with that.
Next We're also gonna be joined by Jame Slater learn more about them cowboys.
And possibly what about Ryan Tannehill's.
Future with the Titans. Bro two was a baller. Bro I've I've been saying this since last year. You know, I've been an advocate, you know, for him, and like he definitely showed it today, you know, even doing halftime, you know, he was able to come in, you know, get guys going a little bit and even on the sideline with me, He's like, hey, Cheetah. Let's get it, baby, big time moment, big time players, made big time plays.
The resilience, the focus that these guys needed to have today.
I mean it's the first game.
Like you, you don't necessarily know what to expect from from their team, and I felt like they did their best. They give us their best shot. They ran almost everything that we've seen watching film.
So yeah, it feels.
Really really good to be able to come out with a win.
All Right, you heard Tyreek Hill into Atoko Byloa from the victorious Miami Dolphins. We're now joined by our Bridget Condon and Bridget and I were at that Dolphins Chargers game.
So Bridget, for this segment, I'm gonna call you Cheetah. So come on, che come me, Lyon, let's get it. We'll call you Lyon. Please explain.
Uh Yeah, Tyreek Hill said maybe I'm not a cheetah, I'm a lion, saying that he doesn't think anybody can guard him. And while a lot of people like to use this as bulletin board material, he might be right. Tyreek Hill ran all over the Chargers defense yesterday, especially against J. C. Jackson.
You could just tell he's his speed, Steve.
You saw it too.
Watching him in person is so different than what you see on TV because the way that he moves right and even if we'll get we'll get into all of this, but even if the Chargers had a great game plan, the way that he can just stop on a dime and redirect defenses is what makes him so special. And you know, he's one of the best receivers in the league, if not the best. So I think this wasn't a fluke for him. We're going to continue to see high numbers like he put up yesterday.
Call you a cheetah, call me a lion, call me whatever you want to call me, Steve, I would take any nickname if I was Tyreek Hill. Just keep adding
to the list. It's kind of funny, Bridget, because I remember having a long conversation with Vic Fangio about Tyreek Hill and Vic is now in the same building as Tyreek Hill, and he said, the hardest part and he went against him twice a year when he was the head coach of the Denver Broncos preparing for him, is there is zero ways to simulate him during the week,
how he moves, how he operates. There is no comp to Tyreek Hill in his mind to simulate and practice, and he's one of the best defensive coordinators we've seen. Steve in recent memory, he said, there's no comp to him in the history of the NFL. So good luck coming up with a game plan for a player that really doesn't have a comp ever in this league.
Well, well, here's something if you listen to what Tuas said right there. He said, they did everything we had seen on film before and what they did on film last year. In Week fourteen when Tua played, they got hands on Miami's receivers, They did not allow them to get free jump off the line of scrimmage, and they sank their linebackers deep to disrupt the crossing routes.
That the Dolphins like to do. They tried that yesterday and Miami had a plan.
First off, I think the receivers played with a lot of force, and there in bridget we saw this. She ran a lot of the crossing routes, all of the crossing routes. Then all of a sudden, Tyreek Hill runs a slug o quick slant and go deep. Because jac Jackson was used to seeing him go on the on the crossing route, thought he was gonna do that again. He went deep blue by him when he's even he's leaving. We saw the thirty thirty five yard touchdown score there
in the third quarter. So bridget you talked about Tyreek Hill being unguarded. We had two hundred and fifteen.
Yards and eleven catches yesterday.
Toua was as accurate as they come on so many throws, even in great coverage. But is this sustainable Miami functioning at this high of octan.
I think it is because of the way that, like I mentioned, he can just stop on a dime, and his speed is what's going to carry this team. But I want to just say, you know, Brandon Staley where he I see, you know, maybe didn't do as well as a head coach as you would have liked him to do yesterday. Is he even said it, We don't.
We didn't play the right leverages.
And so for teams, when you're going up against a guy like Tyreek, you have to be able to make those in game adjustments right. And if you know you have your safeties high and it's not working, figure out a way to drop them back, or figure out a way to interrupt him or double team him things that you know, they were trying everything. Maybe they didn't have the right personnel.
J C.
Jackson is coming back from that injury, so he doesn't have maybe the confidence that he had.
Two seasons ago.
But with Tua being so accurate and Tyreek Hill being able to you know, get open in various different levels of the field, I do think they can sustain this. A lot of people are wondering about the chart defense, right. They spent so much money the past two years on this defense, and again it's their Achilles heel. Justin Herbert and the offense looked great this defense. Are they going to be able to figure it out? I walked in that locker room yesterday and it was pretty much cleared out.
Players are pissed, right.
I do think we need to pump the brakes though, because this is week one overreaction. They got to figure it out, and I do think Brandon Staley will get them on the right track.
Quick note, JP No Toron Armstead of starting left tackle for the Dolphins to a clean sheet didn't get sacked.
Good job by Miami's offensive line.
They look great up front, Steven Bridget. We know this is a copycat League. So this won't be a copycat game film. This is something to watch that to avoid on how you would cover Tyreek Hill, do the exact opposite. This is good, This is learning film. This is teach tape right here, Bridget appreciate it. We're gonna slide on to a game that wasn't nearly as entertaining if you watched any of it really unless you're a Cowboys fan, and see if that is the Cowboys forty to nothing
drubbing of the New York Football Giants. Here's a little post game sound for you.
I mean, it's one game. We're excited, we feel good. We feel good about what we played tonight. I think we're still evolving, you know, we we we we know where we want to go. I feel like we are fully capable and having to understanding how to get there. But it's a long journey. So we took we took the first step the right way.
It got beat all the way around, from coaching to playing. I accept that we got a lot to learn from, a lot to work on, and that's what we'll do. No excuses give credit to Dallas. They just did everything better than we did tonight.
All right, That was Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys, Mike McCarthy, Steve and I No, no, I got this Steve.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I was Mike McCarthy and Brian day Ball. Yeah no, that's no, that's okay, that's okay. I couldn't see your beautiful face while while we were in that town right there. Let's and we got to bring in the Cowboys expert, the insider of the Dallas Cowboys over here at NFL Network, nobody knows no more about this team than Jane Slater, And we have to bring Jane in to talk about really has the city exploded yet? Jane? Because Dallas, okay, is it still standing?
You know, it's always the game people get up for when they're playing the Giants, And we've talked about this leading up to this one. Dak I think was eleven and one heading into this, But this is the sort of drubbing that they were looking forward to.
You know.
The mantra from Mike McCarthy this year is carpe Omnia sees everything and Dan Quinn, big boxing guy.
This was a total knockout.
Like you, James, I was coming home from New Orleans put this on in the half and rewatch the first half this morning. What's crazy to me is that they went out and they traded Kelvin Joseph, which I thought they should have done about two years ago to Miami for a first round pick in Noah I, which is what Stephen called him this morning, So I will I can't say his last name yet, but Noah has the block.
Hunt returns it for fifty something yards in the first touchdown of the game, exactly how the Cowboys have scripted it. And then you look at Stefan Gilmore and his role in this defense this season. Everyone was Mike was knocking Micah Parsons when he was talking about how good this defense can be and making bold proclamations that this is a throwback championship level defense. I think you've put.
Some pretty good body of work there. I mean, we go down here. Look, seven sacks is all you need to know.
They had eight passes defended, three by Stepan Gilmore alone, and eleven quarterback kits.
They were absolutely relentless.
And you know, I texted Sean O'Hara before the show and Battlin Burke both cover the Giants very, very effectively, and I said to both of them are the Giants really that bad? And Sean said, they're not that bad, but Dallas looked that good. I mean Micah Parsons being able to have him as the chess piece and move him all all over the field. I think he can just literally go to Jerry Jones this offseason and say write the check.
Ooh.
I like Jay picking up on our foule of the money theme right here that we've had, because yes, he is going to have to write that check.
For Michael Parsons.
And look, Jane, as we know to the Cowboys have led the NFL takeaways the past two years, or the fact that this defense is so good is really no surprise if you could quickly the depth that they have because you see someone like safety Marquise Bell who comes and has a type of game that he has. He's a rotational safety and undrafted player that they got to
the Florida A and M last year. The way that they are able to develop some of these guys to add to what they have talent wise on defense, I think is something that's gone unnoticed a little bit.
Well, it's the position flex right.
I love that you brought that up about Marquise Bell and then look at some of these other guys that they've moved around the field. I mean Micah Parsons when he just put his hand up and said I can rush to the passer. No disrespect to Mike Nolan, but Mike Nolan was the defensive coordinator that first year. I would submit that Mike Nolan and a lot of defensive coordinators wouldn't have let a rookie like Micah Parson's step up to the plate and try.
So that's not me trashing Mike Nolan.
I think there's a lot of people that wouldn't have the creativity that Dan Quinn has had, and a lot of people said, well, why isn't he a head coach. Yet I think that that's going to be there for him after you look at what they've been able to do this defense from that first year with Mike McCarthy to what they've built in these last couple of years. But I think Dan is really enjoying himself. When you talk to these players, even offensive players, it was Dan.
It was Dak Prescott last year and told me the way they communicate with Aiden Dirty, the defensive line coach, the way they communicate with Dan Quinn there's not really a separation in these rooms. It's very lockstep, and you know you hear it from It was Jordan Lewis who got injured, the cornerback, and he talked about how he was really dealing with his mental health and he wasn't returning text messages.
Well, guess who showed up at his door, dan Quinn.
These guys all truly feel like he loves them and that he supports them, and he puts them in positions succeed and you see that swagger and that dedication. I mean, I've had guys tell me the reason why they play so hard, not isn't necessarily for themselves, is because they don't want to let dan Quinn and Aiden dirty down.
And I think that's huge.
I think it's massive. I think it's massive, and you know the cowboys inside and out, Jane. But what I also want to talk about is the game you were at between Titans and Saints. And I want to get right to the point because this is what you wanted to talk about. Is it time to move on from Ryan Tannehill from what you saw in just week one from the Tennessee Titans.
Put y'all you.
Got's go back to twenty twelve when he came into the league. It was his statistically his worst start. Now I was asking questions this morning, is Tannehill's still the guy? The answer is yes, but they are as confused as probably Tannehill is. After this game, he had what three interceptions?
Was it three interceptions? I can't keep up with last night?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the three interceptions he probably could have had more. Derek Carr I think had four finished the game with three hundred and five yards. Now, they didn't get a touchdown either team until late in the third quarter. Rashid Shaheed, which a lot of guys people aren't familiar with him, but right before the fourth quarter they will to score. Both defenses played really, really well, But I thought Tannehill just he looked a little lost out there.
And this might be the fact that they've got a lot of issues at their offensive line guys heading into this one. The best offensive lineman they had on that league was one of their rookies, and so maybe he's just knocking some of the rust off from last year when he was injured. I think we probably need a bigger sample size, But for me, the riding's on the Wall.
When you trade up in the second round to go and get a new quarterback, it's essentially telling you that Ryan Tannehill, who's in the last year of his contract, will likely not be back next season.
Yeah, Jee, and that's part of we can't make any judgment after Week one. I'm glad you pointed out about the offensive line.
They've got four new guys in there, four guys who've moved around a little bit some type of combination of that, and he didn't play much in the preseason, so again, this is just just something we have to see.
Plus, they're playing a good Saints defense.
I mean, the Saints defense has been top five in almost every major statistical category of about the past five or six seasons.
But Tannehill did not look good.
Well, that was a veteran quarterback who took the l in Week one, and coming up after the break, we're gonna talk about the three rookie quarterbacks who all went out.
On a losing note here on the NFL Report.
Our back to the NFL Report now, James Palmer and I are joined by Jeff Chadea from NFL dot Com. Jeff just wrote his first read column and Jeff, you know, we know half the team teams in the NFL are gonna lose.
Here in Week one, all three rookie.
Quarterbacks took the l Let's start with Bryce Young, whose Panthers lost to the Carolina Panthers. From what you saw out of that performance, what's your takeaway?
Well, look, it's always tough to be a rookie quarterback making your season opening debut. But he had some tough things going for him. Adam Thielen was banged up, DJ Sharp was banged up. You know you're going into a place playing against Atlanta Felca's defense. He has got some pretty good players on the back end. You saw Jesse Bates have a huge game against them with ten tackles and two interceptions in the forest fumbles. So I don't
really put too much on it. I was in Carolina this offseason talking to them about his growth and his development. He's got great people around there with Frank Reich and Josh McCown, Andy Dalton.
He's gonna be fine. But yeah, it's numbers wise.
I wasn't surprised by what he did because he was down some serious weapons.
He definitely was, and that impacted them, right. Jeff of pushing the football down the field. That was a big problem with them, and Frank Reich talked about a Monday morning, we got to find a way to get some explosive plays. To me, what stands out most is what Jesse Bates Steve said after the game about the both of his picks. They were essentially the same play. They were almost the exact same spot on the field on the hash mark about fourteen yards and afterwards Bryce Young saying I didn't
assume he was gonna be there. I think he's learning about some of these veteran players and the work that they put in during the week about knowing where they should be and reading you a little bit. To me, those two picks might do wonders for him and his growth like that because of the way Bryce Young learns.
Yeah, and you think about it, Bryce Young did not play that poorly. The Panthers did not play that poorly. This was just a game where they were negative three in the turnover department, two picks and Miles Sanders had a fumble. Because you look at them statistically otherwise and everything else, they should have beat the Atlanta Falcons, And actually watching that game, you have to honestly, ask yourself the question, Bryce Young or Desmond Ritter, whose hands do
you think you feel safer in? All right, Jeff, let's go on to the Houston Texans. They got Mollywap by the Baltimore Ravens.
CJ.
Stroud took an l He was asked to throw the ball forty four times. That is never ideal for a rookie.
What's never ideal if you're not going to block very well? Right, I mean those numbers don't bother me as much as the five sacks of the.
You know.
I mean, if that's gonna be your game plan, you better get your offensive line right. So again, I watched that game against the Ravens, and it was it was hard to watch at times because you didn't have a lot of time to throw another guy who's trying to figure out how to attack NFL defenses. Mike McDonald was a great job mixing up coverages with the Ravens. So yeah, it was not a great combination. A lot of pass attempts, not much blocking.
We thought he had good tackles. Titus Howard's on the I. They lose George Fan. They've moved guys around in front of them all over the place. They're struggling protecting them. What jumped out at me was he was praised so much Steve during the offseason about how good he was in the operation within the huddle with getting everybody lined up. That was something that did not impress Tamiko Ryans at all in his first NFL start. And that's one aspect that maybe it's the lights are a little big, it's
the first game. Because he thrived during the preseason with that, struggled with it in his first start. Got to clean that up.
Yeah, I mean that's again that's the learning curve.
But the other thing is compared to the other quarterback, it really wasn't a total disaster.
Lamar Jackson in a new system.
You can see the Ravens too, It's gonna take them a while to absolutely get going there. But Stroud, you know, again, he's got some he's got some lesser.
Things to work with. None of this was a surprise.
We expected the Ravens to go out to get the early lead, forced him to throw the ball a lot, and that put him kind of in that one dimensional system that you don't want any quarterback, let alone a rookie in Anthony Richardson Jeff Anthony Richardson, as JP pointed out to me earlier off camera, who had the least experience coming in. He looked pretty damn good in his debut. Not perfect, but he showed more than a few splashes.
He was the biggest surprise of the three because he was the guy you thought was going to play the worst, given the amount of experience he had, the way he looked early in the preseason, and they had a good game plan for him. They weren't throwing the ball down the field a whole lot, but it was safe passes, it was short passes, let some guys run for the catch. Michael Pittman may had had a huge play for him on a short pass taken into the house. So I
thought he was in a really good place. And I know Trevor Lawrence talked to a match with the game about being mindful of his body and not taking the big hits. But if I'm Shane Stiking, I feel like for Game one, with the amount of experiences quarterback had James, he really came out and did a pretty decent job.
Yeah, it's not a knock to either one of the other two because I also thought early in the game c J. Stroud did not put the ball in bad position. He actually maybe could have thrown a couple away, but didn't turn the football over early, which was a positive. But in terms of comfortable, he looked the most comfortable out of anybody. And I'd like to give Shane steike
In a little credit. I think this is Shane Stiken once again working with a young quarterback and deserves some credit and getting Anthony Richardson ready with just a handful of starts. I think it's a couple more than I got fingers at the college level. And he goes out there and plays in a very comfortable manner in the pocket Steve, and you're lacking your best player on offense and Jonathan Taylor, so I have to give him some credit. And how he went out there and played.
Yeah, you don't want to have Anthony Richardson being your leading rusher too many times like we saw yesterday, especially when he took that big hit guys one quarterback who's not a rookie, but he was making one of his first few stars Jordan Love.
I mean the transference of Bears ownership.
In Green Bay from Aaron Rodgers now to Jordan Love, Jeff, I mean, we heard for the first two years of his career, all three of us, that maybe this guy he wasn't gonna get it. He sure as hell looked like he knew what he was doing out there against the Bears in the Week one.
And there's a reason why Brian Gudikins, the Packers, GM, and Matt Lafleur were super excited about his performance after this game because, again James mentioned it with Anthony Richardson, the comfort level was just there. He felt like a player who wasn't out there trying to prove that he could succeed Aaron Rodgers would do Aaron Rodgers type stuff.
He was playing his game.
He was spreading the football around and you didn't really see I think that was the big thing I wanted to see was how much would Matt Leffleur really be able to do with a quarterback who wanted to embrace his philosophies and his play calling. And that was the great thing about this. You saw the marriage there, he saw the development, you saw the maturity. And I agree James that Jordan Love was one of the best quarterbacks of the weekend.
He really I think at the highest passer rating of the entire weekend. And oh yeah, Christian Watson didn't play in this game either, and I think they didn't ask him to do too much, but what they asked him to do, he was very, very good at it. And I think the interesting part about it is it was another miserable day in Chicago, probably on a Monday, thinking are we at this again with the third straight guy at quarterback for the Green Bay Packers that is going
to apparently own our team and own our city. Appreciate it, Jeff, We're going to close out the show. Steve and I will talk about the games that we were at and maybe a couple of things we heard in the hallways. Stay with us.
Were back at the NFL report GP.
I was just checking my email and it looks like Ian and Pella Cerio just dropped the little nugget that Cam Hayward of the Steelers is going to miss multiple games in multiple weeks with a groin injury. That is a huge blow for that Steelers defensive line, especially after some of the things that happened yesterday. But JP, you know one thing that's cool about us being at games, We get conversation guys on the parking lot, halways, things
like that. And after the Eagles Patriots game, where you were yesterday, you had some really cool conversation.
You know, that's the best. That's what I miss most when the offseason happens, right, Steve is not being around these guys after games and getting the intel and the insight about what happened and why it happened. And it was an interesting game for the Philadelphia Eagles. You know, they come so close, a couple of plays away from winning a Super Bowl and then they come out in
this game. Obviously the weather impacted their play calling early on, but offensively, all eyes were on offensive coordinator Brian Johnson call him plays for the very first time in the NFL. I had a chance to walk out of the stadium with Brian, who I've known, I think since he was the quarterback back at Utah when I was covering the Mountain West Conference. No big deal, and you know it was it was it right. I had to drop, I
had to drop the youths. And it was interesting to talk to Brian because he wasn't overwhelmed by any means about what happened. People might have thought that the offense was a little out of sorts in a sense. We know how good of a play caller Shane Stikeen was a year ago. We know that Dallas Goddard really did not get a catch. He had one target, DeAndre Swift barely touched the football, and there were some questions there.
But he did say, like, the reason that we struggled a little bit offensively, it wasn't because of my play calling, working with Jalen or working with you know, this offense. It's that this Patriots defense is really good. He's like, this is going to be a top five group in the league this year, and they gave them a ton of trouble. Talked to Devonte Smith in the locker room. He told me, I don't know who they were focusing on. I couldn't really tell. They were disguising everything so much.
I thought were they taking away Dallas Goddard. He goes, I don't know. I don't know what they were doing. So if that's not a compliment to Bill Belichick when players on the field don't really know who his defense is trying to take away. That defensive front played really
well against the good Eagles offensive line. I think the Eagles were a little surprised about where they played offensively, and that's why the coolest part of its steam was to watch Jason Kelcey still full uniform, Jalen Hurts, and Brian Johnson in a corner of the locker room just talking about what they thought they did well and didn't do well. That's how much it matters to these guys that kind of run this ship for them. Jason Kelsey is still in full uniform for twenty minutes talking to
his offense coordinator and his quarterback. Is a pretty cool site in the locker room trying to figure out how they improve because they had a short week with a game on Thursday.
And you better believe other teams are gonna do it. I mean, that's what teams do. Hey, this work to stifle what the Eagles like to do. We are going to try to implement some of that with our personnel. What was really cool after Tyreek Hill caught eleventh passed for two hundred and fifteen yards into a tongue biloo through for four hundred and sixty six yards, including the game winner in the final moments to Tyreek Hill against the Chargers was Tyreek Hill and Mike McDaniel, the head
coach of the Dolphins. They said, the thing that is different about this offense this year, especially Tyreek Hill and Tua, is that Dan Marino in the offseason went up to Tyreek Hill they were at some place and he said, look, you guys, you know you're you're really good.
You're you're working off this and that.
But after practice, your receivers and quarterbacks need to meet and watch film of opposing defenses. You can really understand what some of these route concepts do against certain coverages. And even though that sounds simple, doesn't every team do that, not the way that the Dolphins players have done it, to the point where Mike McDaniel said, Tyreek Hill would have probably had half the amount of yards he had yesterday. What's that I'd guess about one hundred and sixty close
to it yesterday. Had he not, I don't know, and maybe not quite that many. If he didn't, it's bad math, by the way, if he didn't do.
Some of the things that they discussed in these meetings, such.
As separation, like when to actually separate, when to actually hit a gear, when to break because that way, instead of catching the ball and falling, are catching getting tackled right away, you can catch and you're a yard behind that defender with a guy who's got the speed of Tyreek Hill and to make a play. And that's why they were able to hit some big and that's why we talked about.
Earlier, James.
If they're able to continue this, they are going to be a dangerous team.
James.
I know you've got something else you want to talk about.
It wasn't necessarily something that happened in the hallway. In fact, this is something that happened on the field.
It was my favorite play of the entire weekend, and an involved a guy that didn't even touch the football and the Jaguars win over the Indianapolis Colts. When you saw a touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley runs he's outside the hash mark. You see Travis Etm there running back, running out wide. He doesn't get the ball in the flat. What does he do, Steve? He flies past Calvin Ridley at like warp speed. I guess this entire deal we're
obsessed with with guys that can absolutely fly. He goes past Ridley, lays a block, Ridley into the end zone. My favorite thing when skilled players go out there and get physical when they're out there, block and that wraps up the NFL Report. Remember Steve. On Thursday, we're gonna have Thomas Brown giving us great insight on the number one overall pick Bryce Young, that's the offense coordinator of the Carolina Panthers, as well as Brian Baldegger will join us with his breakdowns.
This was the appreciate you guys, m
M hm