2025 NFL Week 7 Recap: Broncos Comeback, AFC Favorites Separate and CMC Carries The Load

00:00:05
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we can always get saved by the late window.

00:00:09
Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal.

00:00:10
Speaker 1: I'm here in the Chris Westling podcast studio for the week seven recapp and yes, the early morning games. I was talking with you in the news Zoom Jordan, maybe the worst slate that we've seen in terms of excitement, in terms of intrigue.

00:00:26
Speaker 2: And then the late.

00:00:27
Speaker 1: Games arrived and they're so good that not only Patrick Claibahn and Jordan rodrieg are joining me in the studio, but Nick Shook is with us in Cleveland because you had the luck to get Denver and New York. Nick, good job by you.

00:00:41
Speaker 3: Yeah. You know, through about two and a half to three quarters of this game, I thought, well, it looks like I'm just gonna get three lopsided results this day, which is fine, makes riting a little bit easier. But the Broncos said, no, we are the Kings of the fourth quarter and we're gonna make a comeback for the Ages.

00:00:56
Speaker 1: So much happened in that game. In these afterdoone games, I don't want to wait any more time. Let's get to it. We've got an afternoon heavy start to the show. Yes, starting in Denver at.

00:01:06
Speaker 4: Attempt of thirty nine yards for the win snap placement kick on the way.

00:01:12
Speaker 5: It is good.

00:01:16
Speaker 6: Bronco players celebrating.

00:01:21
Speaker 3: Like they just won a home playoff game, and why not?

00:01:26
Speaker 2: Why not? Indeed, Dave Logan of.

00:01:28
Speaker 1: KOA thirty three to thirty two in a game that had more twists and turns in the fourth quarter than some teams have for an entire season, the Denver Broncos scored thirty three points in the final frame. They trailed nineteen to nothing entering the fourth quarter. They scored three touchdowns at one point in a three and a half minute span, and yet they still had to drive the field after giving up another touchdown Nick Shook to get a field goal, and you know, so what, they got that field goal and they escape with a win in one of the games of the year. When was the moment you thought that they could actually pull this thing off.

00:02:09
Speaker 3: It was precisely on third down when Jackson Dart stepped up in the pocket and tried to step over somebody as he was throwing and through one of the worst picks you're gonna see all year, and just hand delivered it to the Broncos linebacker at that point, I thought, oh god, they're gonna do it. In fact, no, you know what, We're gonna back up middle to late third quarter. They're driving, and I'm watching them finally find a little bit of offensive momentum which they lacked all day, and I'm thinking, oh god, they're doing this again. They're doing what they did in Philly. They're just setting up a twenty one point fourth quarter comeback. Except there wasn't twenty one points. It was thirty three points. The most points scored by a team after getting shut out in the first three quarters in NFL history. Leave it to the Denver Broncos. They're not even jekyling high. They're Oh god, my alarm didn't go off. I'm three hours late for work, but I can still get there and make something out of the day. That's what they did.

00:02:54
Speaker 7: Today and then got fired. No. I mean, you saw Jackson Dart's face. For those watching on YouTube, for those who caught the broadcast, welcome to the first day of the rest of your life. As in New York, Ohnson Dart just in absolute horror.

00:03:13
Speaker 8: You felt for him.

00:03:14
Speaker 7: I felt like the game swung in that moment with the interception. I think that's when Greg stood up out of his chair and then raised his desk.

00:03:21
Speaker 8: Up as well. To finish the game.

00:03:23
Speaker 7: It was like this, like like fog started creeping in.

00:03:27
Speaker 8: You could just feel like this was happening.

00:03:29
Speaker 7: And what an excruciating finish for every single one of those players and the two head coaches who.

00:03:34
Speaker 8: Were in absolute hell the entire time through the end of that fourth quarter.

00:03:39
Speaker 1: Right, So, to back it up, when that interception happens, to be fair, you know it's still twenty six to sixteen. The Giants defense doesn't have to give up an immediate touchdown, and then the Broncos you know, defense does a great job getting the ball back so quickly. The Giants defense doesn't have to give up a six play, fifty one one second drive capped by a b Nicks scramble to take the lead. But that's exactly what they did. The part to me, that's as crazy as anything is. It felt like the Giants had luck because they got a deflected touchdown for forty one yards to Theo Johnson to give them an eighteen point leine. And that happened in the fourth quarter.

00:04:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was ten minutes and twenty two seconds ago. In the game.

00:04:22
Speaker 9: It was nineteen to eight, and I understand there was like a sequence of fortuitous circumstances for the Denver Broncos, but that pass could have easily been picked off. And Theo Johnson now has four touchdown passes from Jackson Dart.

00:04:34
Speaker 5: This one was absolutely not supposed to happen.

00:04:37
Speaker 1: The location in Denver, and that play got me thinking back to look, I know he's a lot more skilled than Tebo, but man, Tbo, things.

00:04:44
Speaker 2: Just happened to Jackson Dart.

00:04:46
Speaker 9: Let's listen scattered with a back third and sheventeen and it'll cut up pass caught on the look of Shay Let's crap here by the galloping junckson go be.

00:04:55
Speaker 10: Chased to the play by Bearn didn't get in. He did touchdown own forty one yard ricochet touchdown reception, taking it in field chunchon.

00:05:09
Speaker 8: So nice little hooking ladder there.

00:05:11
Speaker 9: Yeah, you can actually hear the sound of the keys getting out, Like people.

00:05:16
Speaker 5: Left the game.

00:05:17
Speaker 9: They were filing out of the stadium at that point, because like the idea that the sequence that would happen after that would happened was improbable for most people, including me and a lot of Broncos fans will that was a very frustrating game and they decided to peace out, and I understand it.

00:05:31
Speaker 1: I want to go through a little more of the end sequence with you, Shook, but more big picture, like what were some of your takeaways from darts performance and the Broncos defensive performance for the part of the game that seemed reasonably normal for the first you know, fifty three fifty four minutes of this game.

00:05:50
Speaker 3: It's a great way to characterize it because it was very much a normal and one sided game. The Giants were playing excellent football on both sides. They basically had every answer for whatever the Broncos wanted to do. Offensively, Theos looked like they were sleepwalking offensively. They had one possession that got down inside the Giants five and they stonewalled. Then Dane Belton delivers one of the most crushing hits you'll see all week to stop that on fourth down. Just a great example of how I thought the Giants brought the fight to the Broncos to the first three quarters. Offensively, Darts converting you know, third down passes, They're finding ways to keep drives going. Scatabo's scattaboy was you know, navigating traffic, breaking tackles, getting the end zone. It looks like a Giants win. It looks like one of those games where you think, Wow, the Broncos just really came out kind of flat and never recovered until the fourth quarter happened. I thought that New York played a fantastic game overall until this crazy sequence of events started. And what's wild about that is that, you know, claymone just talked about, Patrick just talked about where you said, you know, the Broncos had a bit of a fortuitous you know, circumstances go their way as well, two deflections for touchdowns in a row and the fourth quarter. We should have known that it was going to go full chaos from there, but it still felt like the Giants could recover, and they did until they didn't.

00:06:58
Speaker 5: Right.

00:06:59
Speaker 3: That's why it's going to sting more than anything for them.

00:07:01
Speaker 1: I know, part of my mind is still living in the world where, Wow, Shane Bowen and the Bowen sons is really happening. Like the defense got better for the Giants for most of this game, and you're on social media and the fans are like booing the Broncos a little bit and there's a lot of anti Sean Payton sentiment because I think the Broncos fans are so attached to Bo Nicks that they're getting mad about Sean Payton.

00:07:23
Speaker 2: And then and then it all flips.

00:07:26
Speaker 8: Right on its head.

00:07:27
Speaker 7: Yes, it was crazy too, because you, like, I know, we have mixed opinions on momentum across the board here, but I will say you could feel like the wind get knocked out repeatedly of both sidelines over back.

00:07:44
Speaker 8: And forth, back and forth.

00:07:45
Speaker 1: I think that Patrick's momentum argument would argue, Okay, if all that momentum was happening on one side, then when the Giants got the ball back thirty to twenty six and they're trailing with about a minute and fifty to go, then they wouldn't have been able to drive the length of the field. And that's exactly what Jackson Dart did and so that should not be forgotten. Let's actually listen to his touchdown run, which in this game's you know fashion, was initially called short.

00:08:13
Speaker 5: First to goal.

00:08:13
Speaker 10: The one forty seconds to go Giants twelve by.

00:08:16
Speaker 6: Four scout up with the tail dock, Dart pumps his right leg, takes the snap he's gonna run with it, and he drives ahead.

00:08:23
Speaker 5: He breaks the plane though short he reached out lots of touchdown. No, he lunged and broke the plane. Tell you, barl, I think he lunged.

00:08:35
Speaker 11: And broke the plane before his right thigh hit.

00:08:38
Speaker 8: Helpful to wear.

00:08:39
Speaker 3: You're in the plane.

00:08:40
Speaker 5: It is a.

00:08:40
Speaker 9: Touchdown and probable fourth and nineteen, but you got thirty. They're gonna get the ball with twenty something seconds left, Timber, So they got it.

00:08:53
Speaker 5: They gotta have some good defense.

00:08:56
Speaker 8: That's that is exactly it.

00:08:57
Speaker 6: Now.

00:08:57
Speaker 8: We were talking a little bit before the show.

00:08:59
Speaker 7: There's you know, oh, neither of these coaches called a great game, in my opinion, and when things got tense.

00:09:06
Speaker 8: Brian Dable calls that play on purpose.

00:09:08
Speaker 7: We were talking about, oh, you know, you give them too much time, and it's at altitude and a long long kicks are possible there in that stadium and all these things. That is a play that is intentionally designed to run the quarterback up the middle and score a touchdown. And even if you don't score a touchdown, then you have to kill it your last time out to stop the cluck. So they were going to give them time back really no matter what, either as a touchdown or then you have to burn your last time out. So so they were going to have time the Broncos were.

00:09:36
Speaker 1: I think it's a good play off because I don't think they necessarily would use the time out right away. Wait, I think the point is to try to score a touchdown. You can't you can't play around. You can't live in a world, Shookie, where you're that where you're that like passive, where you're trying not to score a touchdown.

00:09:51
Speaker 9: Zach Allen wasn't passive on that play. He was in the backfield. D does where make a move there? Yes, they could lose the game on that play. It was a weird play call because like in terms of like the way that they blocked it up. Jackson Dark had to break four tackles to get to that point, and I'm like, hindsight, they get the touchdown, fine, we can be results oriented there. I think it was a weird call considering they probably shouldn't have been. Their penalties got them there in the first place.

00:10:15
Speaker 5: Shook.

00:10:16
Speaker 3: It was the perfect call in a moment of chaos because as they line up and then they shift everybody out wide. I'm shouting at the screen, QB power, QB power. He's running this up the middle. There is a tackle split wide. They're trying to spread out the defense. Yes, and just add to the chaos and confusion of it, and it does work. But you're right, it is kind of a strange play called. They're embracing the situation of chaos but also the top of the screen when it at first, he's rulled short. Brian dave All tries to call a time out in that moment of like thirty two seconds left. That touchdown comes with thirty seven seconds left. If this game wasn't chaotic enough, there was still another drive for the Broncos to pull off. Most games end close to there, but in today's NFL, and with the Broncos and the Giants in this game today, no, we still had more excitement to come. And oh, by the way, they only got to there. And I'm fine with the call because of this, because they got a pass interfiers call that bought them a fresh set of downs. They had Sean Payton running down the sideline so upset with the call that he gets it on sportsman like conduct penalty. It puts them first in gold at the one like just.

00:11:12
Speaker 2: Madness and I hated that play, that pedal anyway.

00:11:15
Speaker 7: I know we were shouting about it too in the newsroom. And it's interesting because so I think you could have maybe called that on second down for example, Like I don't mind the play call.

00:11:25
Speaker 8: It clearly did not fool the defense at all.

00:11:28
Speaker 7: You're supposed to sort of part the ocean, part the waters there with the movement pre snap that you build into that play.

00:11:35
Speaker 8: Everybody we're all.

00:11:36
Speaker 7: Yelling at our TVs here understanding what's about to happen next, and the Broncos certainly aren't fooled. I think you can run that on a second note. But that's what I'm saying. It's like this game there was too much happening and too much going on for anything.

00:11:51
Speaker 8: Unweird to happen, if that makes sense.

00:11:53
Speaker 9: Yes, it was just providing an opportunity to have because you're gonna have to have the guard come back around becau Zach Allen is unblocked on that play. To move the guard in that situation with your rookie quarter, it just seems like a weird decision. Dart, you know, made it happen because earlier in the game.

00:12:08
Speaker 8: He can't talk weird.

00:12:09
Speaker 5: Yeah, we talked about.

00:12:11
Speaker 9: A situation where you put him in a tough spot and he didn't make the play. He made the play that time, but oh.

00:12:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's tricky, like dart ends up fifteen for thirty three, but for two hundred and eighty three yards in three Touchdowes. I know some of that was fortunate, but like under fifty percent, they have no drop back kind of passing game. The one thing I think that shouldn't be lost is bo Nicks was having a nightmare game for most of it, but he was obviously sensational in the fourth quarter, making all the best decisions and plays when it mattered most.

00:12:38
Speaker 2: And he gets the ball back needing some dimes.

00:12:41
Speaker 1: First play of that drive a great throw over the middle for twenty nine yards to Marvin Mims, Like you can get on the Giants defense, but that's a great throw. They get a penalty of Brian Burns not getting back on side, and then bow Knicks with a great pass deep down the sideline to make it a closer field goal to Courtland Sutton. So he stepped up in the biggest moments with some darts and man the Giant season would have felt so different if they had a chance next week to go sweep the Eagles and get way back into this NFC East at NFC Wildcard Race, they would be three and four trying to get to four and four. Instead they're at two and five. Broncos feeling good at five and two. I'll give you the final word shooky on this game. Then we'll say goodbye to you, and then we're gonna bring it back later in the show.

00:13:22
Speaker 3: I would wish, I would love it if the Broncos would, you know, play it good football for four quarters. But that's you know, wishful thinking for it with a lot of football teams. And this really stings for the Giants, and I hurt for you because, as Greg just said, everything was trending towards you being having a ton of belief and now you have to come back and answer the same questions, including about your coach, when I really don't think this is necessarily his fault. So tough one for them.

00:13:43
Speaker 1: I know every Giants fan I see on social media it's like Brian Dable has to be fired now, and it's like, I don't know that the offense the most fireable offense that Brian Dable has done this season is starting Russell Wilson in Week one, because every week that this offense looks this good, it actually shows what about process that was. Lots of bad processes around the NFL today, but I actually don't think there were many in Arizona. I thought this was a good, clean football team or game played by two good teams.

00:14:14
Speaker 2: Just the road team had to come out on top. One last stop by this defensive unit.

00:14:21
Speaker 6: We're setting the shotguns Slot to the right side, Harrison to the swat right, Jones to the left, two safeties high Green Bay.

00:14:30
Speaker 5: Brissette waits for the snap, he takes it.

00:14:33
Speaker 6: Back to throw deep drop rainbows over the middle into the end zone and it.

00:14:38
Speaker 10: Is bust it up and it is incomplete put out of bounds.

00:14:42
Speaker 6: Shones came up with a catch, but out of bounds, and there is your dagger. If the Packers will a skate with a twenty seven at twenty three win.

00:14:54
Speaker 1: In Arizona, Wayne Larvie, he's out and tired. By the end of this game, A lot happened, and in the fourth quarter of this one too, the Packers survive a game effort by the Arizona Cardinals twenty seven to twenty three. No Hail Mary for Jacoby Brissett, who, for the second straight week, plays very well but ultimately sees his final pass fall incomplete and that ends in a four point deficit. The Cardinals have not lost the game by more than four points all season. Their scoring differential throughout the course of the season is now negative one, and yet they fall to two and five on a day where the Packers had to show something a little different. So far this season, they have led every game by at least ten points. They haven't trailed at any point by ten points until today. They were down thirteen to three early. They never had a lead in this game until under two minutes to go. And I thought the key moment of the game was one where we, and by we I mean me would have been criticizing Matt Lafleur for changing his mind to go for it on a fourth down. I liked the call to go for it, I hated burning his second time out with just over two and a half minutes to do it. They had the field goal kicker out earlier, he had kicked a sixty yarder. They were going to kick the ball to tight and you know what Matt Lafleur said, I'm going to trust my best players, Jordan Love and Tucker Craft to go make a play.

00:16:22
Speaker 2: And that's what they did. Fourth and two, green Bay. Can they get two yards to keep this thing alive? Two point thirty two to go down three. Love looking to throw has time loft the left side.

00:16:32
Speaker 6: For Craft, He's got it sound fourteen yard line on the far side.

00:16:38
Speaker 2: They beat aagrian Jenlor Deverson first down.

00:16:41
Speaker 1: Green Bay thought this was a game where the best players on the field, this kept stepping up, and that was a case where like, if they don't hit that play, if Lafleur doesn't have the faith in him, they lose that game. And if they go for a field goal, they very well might lose that game the way their defense was playing, and Tucker Craft and especially Jordan Left stepped up.

00:16:59
Speaker 8: Yeah, exactly.

00:17:00
Speaker 7: And what I loved about that sequence is you could almost see the like the torment of the decision going back and forth in Matt laflorrete, like it flashed across his face. This is a person who does not really hide his emotions and has trouble hiding the things he's thinking.

00:17:16
Speaker 8: In the course of a game action.

00:17:17
Speaker 7: If you ever watch him as he goes out officials, you will definitely notice this. This was you could tell he was thinking, oh my god, did I make the right decision. But if you are confident in your players. And I was giving the Packers grief last week because or during our preview show, because I'm like.

00:17:38
Speaker 8: You are so good. You are such a good team. You're so good in every phase. Your kicker is perfect, you hit a sixty one.

00:17:46
Speaker 7: Yard freaking field goal, which I think is a record in that stadium on the road, And you are are so good on offense, and you're so good on defense, and you have a great coaching staff. And so just go out and be loose and be free and trust your play and like, unclench a little bit. And to me, he almost clenched Greg, he almost clenched Patrick. He was almost too tight. And then he just let go and he's like, all right, Jordan Love, Tuckerkraft, go and make a play.

00:18:11
Speaker 8: And they did.

00:18:12
Speaker 1: It was awesome. And Josh Jacobs finishes out that drive. You know, he's battling through a calf injury. And look, we'll see. If their defense is awesome on paper, it's good on the field, they've been good. Like I would say that's the case of their offense and their defense. They've just been good. There have been more potential than greatness. If Michael Parsons didn't have maybe the best game I've seen by any defensive player all season today, they could have given up forty in this game. But he ends up with ten pressures three sacks. In my book, it's four sacks because it was two different half sacks, and I want to abolish the half sack. That is my subway take. There should be no more half sacks, and a half.

00:18:50
Speaker 7: Sack is a half sackree, thank you so much.

00:18:54
Speaker 1: So, five QB hits, a couple tackles for lost, some good run defense plays too, and his biggest sack at the end where he takes a playoff in the final drive for the Cardinals, comes back on gets the sack, and that sets up the desperation play by the Cardinals. They needed all their best players like Craft and love in Parsons to get out of there with the win, because I think the Cardinals were almost playing for their season, and they played very well.

00:19:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, they played the entire time.

00:19:18
Speaker 9: Other than you know, Rashan Gary made a great play that actually got the Packers a key possession on a turnover where Jacoby Brissett is looking to get the balls on of a night and it looked like a fumble initially, No, it looked like a bad pass that was just thrown backwards recovered by the Packers, but Rashaan Garrett got a hit, I got the ball out and just in that play where we've bemoaned, I've bemoaned in previous seasons that the Packers just needed some star power and they got it today because Parsons also had a sack of Jacobrey Brissette that took him a very long time to get up and he was kind of hopping around for a little bit and I think that slowed him down. But to go back to that fourth down play, like they gotta have it, play the thing, looking back at the dots, looking back at the all twenty two, uh Romeo Dobbs got open over the middle. Josh Jacobs won on his option route as well as Tucker craft with you know, a Cardinals fan would say he pushed off. He did push off. It was that veteran crafty puss.

00:20:14
Speaker 1: I mean they would, but they almost never call that at full speed.

00:20:17
Speaker 9: But all three of those guys got open on that play, and I think that's that like to get to that point of Matt Lafleur making that gotta have it decision.

00:20:27
Speaker 5: He not just went with a play to get to get Tucker Craft open. Two other guys got open.

00:20:33
Speaker 1: Trust your play calls too, because I thought he had a great game calling the game. There were so many plays where Jordan Love had easy buttons, especially in the second half. First half less so, but the three points that they got before halftime were so massive. They got the ball back after a stirring Jacoby Brissett drive, and we'll talk Persett in a second. It was the last drive of the first half was stirred and they played great to end it. And the Packers get the ball with seven seconds left on the thirty five, and that's where you know, I think you make a mistake in terms of the kickoff, kicking it out of bounds and it starts at the thirty five. They get it with seven seconds left and Love hits Dobbs over the middle for twenty two yards in time to take the time out, and then that sets up that sixty one yard that those three points were huge, but man after halftime where they scored three touchdowns, there was a lot of Matt Leafleur specials, just really creative stuff and getting his receivers open. I mentioned Brissett. I think Jonathan Gannon, He's got a lot.

00:21:39
Speaker 2: Of tough things.

00:21:40
Speaker 1: Over the next week, they're going into their buy I think there they just should be three and four. They feel like a three and four team. They could even be a four and three team the way they've played the last couple weeks. But they're two and five and they have to decide whether to go back to Kyler Murray or not. Because I think the offense has just looked more cohesive and more of what it should be with Jacoby per Set at quarterback. And I'll say it for you, Jordan, because you always say that it should go through trade McBride.

00:22:06
Speaker 2: Thing like you saw that today.

00:22:08
Speaker 1: I think get helped that they have Elijah Higgins back and they're two more two tight ends, and it just looked more like what they want to do under center, play action, all this stuff.

00:22:16
Speaker 2: It's just what their coaching stuff knows.

00:22:18
Speaker 7: It's why they brought Jacoby were set in to see if this could work. Then it would really work right, and who knew they did not obviously plan for an injury or this type of thing. When I was at camp over the summer and I was fortunate to talk to Jacoby Wessett, and I encountered one of the most confident individuals I met, I've met in years in terms of if he was going to get a shot, he was going to do he was going to absolutely make the most of it, going rep for rep throughout those pretty open training camp sessions where a lot of times the number one and the number two are actually getting a lot of the same reps with the way that they run their practices. And I thought that it showed. I thought it absolutely showed. You see Drew Petsing running the offense that he specifically wants to run through the tight end, especially like you mentioned having some personnel back. But then also dotting in a couple of guys here and there, say Jones made a pretty crucial, crucial catch Marvin Harrison two catches for fifty eight yards with a thirty five yard long as well, and drew a.

00:23:20
Speaker 2: Big pass interference on it.

00:23:21
Speaker 7: Deep threads absolutely, so it's not like these guys were absent, but this. This was Jacoby Brissett and Trey McBride's game together today, and Trey McBride was really upset over a mistake that he made earlier, like five minutes after the play happened.

00:23:35
Speaker 8: Was Greg and I were talking about.

00:23:36
Speaker 7: He was like yelling at himself and hitting himself in the chest on the sideline. And then he goes out and he scores the two touchdowns, ten catches on thirteen targets for seventy four yards, and some of them were absolutely crucial, and I believe that is more touchdowns than he had all last season.

00:23:51
Speaker 2: Just a good, clean football game.

00:23:52
Speaker 1: I really thought it looked like a playoff type of game because I think the Cardinals were desperate feel for him. We'll see about the Kyler decision. I just think Brissett has been excellent in these two weeks.

00:24:02
Speaker 5: But I mean the results are the same. It is, yes, a lot of losses.

00:24:06
Speaker 9: Now fifteen combined points in those five losses, which is bananas.

00:24:11
Speaker 1: It's a it would be an organizational changing move to bench Kyler right now.

00:24:17
Speaker 2: Gannon is at a key point. I'm just I'm curious how it goes.

00:24:20
Speaker 1: And I'm glad you mentioned that play where McBride didn't come up with a touchdown and he was Matt. I gave a lot of credit to edgren Cooper, so to keep the theme on this game in terms of stars making absolutely crucial plays. That played by edgren Cooper. A tackle on the sideline where he basically threw Michael Wilson's face into the ground to set up a fourth down attempt by the Cardinals where they then tried to sneak it and edgern Cooper helped us stuff the sneak. This is a young linebacker stepping up. Those were two game winning plays by him. Let's go to a game where there wasn't a ton of game winning defensive plays, but there were a lot of great high snap for Jones. But he pulls it down, get to the Taylor marching to us right, he's.

00:25:04
Speaker 10: At the fucking touchdown to try fucked again for Jonathan Taylor.

00:25:10
Speaker 12: Three rushing touchdowns for the greatest running back going right now, it's thirty.

00:25:15
Speaker 4: Seven seventeen Colts over bolts.

00:25:19
Speaker 5: And he's going to the house.

00:25:20
Speaker 9: I thought we're an ingle would I thought he was headed down to Huntington Beach.

00:25:23
Speaker 1: The way he was winning that ball sat out to Charles Arbuckle, making his NFL Daily debut. I'm Matt Taylor's on the show every single week because Jonathan Taylor and this Colts offense is getting it done every single week. Thirty eight to twenty four against the Chargers Patrick, anytime the Chargers even got it to third or fourth down, much less, Yeah, get a stop in this game, and there weren't many. It it felt like a miracle. Just an awesome offensive performance by the Colts.

00:25:58
Speaker 5: No, it was incredible the Colts.

00:26:00
Speaker 9: That was the third Jonathan Taylor touchdown, as they noted, and actually the south end zone and so far does early point towards Huntington Beach if you think about it.

00:26:08
Speaker 8: So it was just we love geographic accuracy, we do.

00:26:11
Speaker 5: And it's something we'd hear to on NFL Daily.

00:26:13
Speaker 9: The Colts didn't stop scoring in a game where the Colts defense needed to make plays. Certainly, they did turn the Chargers over a couple of times and got a win, avenging their their loss to the stadium itself.

00:26:27
Speaker 5: They didn't beat the Rams.

00:26:28
Speaker 2: There now on one and so far one and.

00:26:30
Speaker 5: One in so far on the season.

00:26:33
Speaker 9: They got Khalil Mackbeck, which helped them, and it might have helped them more against the lesser team, but the Colts are just so dominant. Jonathan Taylor had three touchdowns ever six yards of carry. There was a Tyler Warren score that made it twenty to three, and the Chargers on what felt like at that point it got to have it drive. They went non plays down to the Colts eight and Nick Cross was covering Quinton Johnston. He was blanketing him, a clean pocket for Justin Herbert and he just kind of inexplicably throws it directly at Nick Cross, who picks it off corrals it with one hand for the turnover. He had another interception where Grover Stewart tipped the pass got an interception. He's thirty one years old as his first career interception. I promised fifty three Colts players were on the field celebrating after he got that one, and they weren't able to hold serve consistently against the Colts team that had over four hundred yards of total offense. Alec Pierce getting back getting down the field my obligatory. Alec Pierce mentioned he had like three catches for seventy four yards late in the third quarter there and just a dominant performance by Dimes and company where they consistently made the plays and the Chargers defense couldn't ultimately keep up.

00:27:41
Speaker 7: Every time I flipped over to this game, I went, I would say, oh, Patrick, because Alec was making a play. You guys, this six and one Indianapolis Colts team, by the way, is such a complete team. They're so balanced. They came in having real questions about their corners. Yes, Justin Herbert put up four to twenty yards through the ball fifty five times. Had some great performance from a couple of guys, including this Gadsden guy who is has arrived on the scene in a.

00:28:14
Speaker 1: In a bolt. I mean his his first game in the NFL. Gadson what what was that week three or four? Obviously the son of an NFL great, Like he puts up seven for sixty and he's he's like putting up brock Bowers, Tyler Warren type of number since it's insane.

00:28:28
Speaker 7: So yeah, they got theirs certainly in the passing game, but you cannot outproduce a team that is so production based that is the Colts, and they're so balanced in doing it. Run and pass ninety four yards for Jonathan Taylor. But then also, you have like six receivers getting at least three catches a piece.

00:28:50
Speaker 8: Is this to me? This is like the deepest receiving core in the NFL right now.

00:28:53
Speaker 1: Well in there, I agree in terms of like top like four guys who you if you're including Warren as the fourth or fifth even when you want.

00:29:03
Speaker 8: Jonathan Taylor had broken catches today.

00:29:05
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor has become a complete player. But I'm glad you use that word complete because he knew he was one of the worst pass blocking running backs in a league, and everyone killed stich in a couple of years ago when they had that play to win the division. Gardner Minshew Minshew to, I believe Tyler Goodson was it, and everyone's like, why is Tyler freaking Goodson in the game with the division online, which is fair. But Jonathan Taylor admitted, like, I just haven't been that guy in pass pro, and he talked about working on it all summer long, and if you look at the snap distribution, he now does not leave the field and that's why he's catching more of those dumb poffs. He he doesn't have like the best hands in the world. They can catch a dumbpop and then when he has the ball in his hands, he's still freaking Jonathan Taylor. This offense is just so tough to stop, and I am a little disappointed. I give the Colts all the credit, but I am a little disappointed that Jesse Minner and this Chargers defense has had no push back against opposing offenses for the last five or six weeks. And they're not that injured, Like they got Klio mac back, they got Pairman back. They haven't been that injured this whole time. So to me, they have been one of the bigger disappointing units in the league.

00:30:15
Speaker 2: The Chargers defense. What did you see out of them today?

00:30:17
Speaker 5: Patrick?

00:30:18
Speaker 9: It was they only got pressure on fourteen of Doms's dropbacks, and even then, because we talked about it all the time on next gen stats, pressure is more of a proximity alert than anything else.

00:30:28
Speaker 5: So they got close to Daniel Jones.

00:30:30
Speaker 9: But even in that situation, he had an eighty nine passer rating the average over five yard per attempt, where it was just constant that the Colts checked it down to be perfectly honest.

00:30:41
Speaker 5: Like forty plus was in question.

00:30:43
Speaker 9: But they got to a point where they were just running clock, and the Chargers essentially were running clock as well, with Herbert throwing for over four fifty, but a lot of those, like there were four and twelves, fourth and twenty twos that the Chargers kept converting and staying on the field, so it was.

00:31:00
Speaker 5: He just didn't make any plays.

00:31:01
Speaker 9: It felt like like over the course of the entire game, Khalil Mack had a sack, but other than that, not a lot was going on.

00:31:08
Speaker 1: And it's a lot of Herbert, like Herbert scrambling a lot. I mean, Herbert's second half of this game was an ultimate like show of just watching a guy trying to do it all by himself, and it was pretty entertaining to watch, to be honest. I mean, there were a lot of like dimes in there, but it's just too much. And it'd be one thing if he was making up for at one point today being down to their sixth tackle because they lost Austin Deckliss at one point, although he did come back in. You know, they're gonna get Joe All back potentially as early as Thursday night, so that would be just team changing for them. But he can't be making up for the defense and the offensive line situation. They just need the defense to be better and the special teams, Like there was a moment in this game where they had scored a couple times in a row and then special teams gives up a big play.

00:31:54
Speaker 2: Ultimately, though, there's just not many.

00:31:57
Speaker 1: Teams that have that many wide open receivers like Michael Pittman, Like guys are just open for Daniel Jones.

00:32:03
Speaker 5: It's fun to watch.

00:32:03
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'd like to, especially as we get like more and more data from this season, maybe at the halfway point or something, I'd like to do a deeper look or deeper dive at this Chargers.

00:32:12
Speaker 8: Defense and like what exactly is going wrong? Because they started out so so well.

00:32:17
Speaker 7: And they look dominant, and they look schematically sound, and it's almost like we you know, we talk. I know, it's all this is a huge mental thing and players have to make plays and coaches have to put players in good position, but it's almost like, you know, Jesse Minner doesn't really want to change what he does, nor does he maybe feel like he can, you know, even some of their guys that they that they kind of brought in and invested in and then developed, you know, he's trying to play with all these light boxes. You can't really do that against Jonathan Taylor right now, especially when the Colts can just kill you in every different direction possible. You know, there are zoning defense and they can be really really good when they're playing fundamentally sound, but then there's just breaks in different places.

00:32:58
Speaker 8: And yeah, injuries are one thing.

00:33:00
Speaker 7: But to your point where a lot of the guys that were injured are back now, they haven't been back for a long time, so maybe they say they way, they haven't.

00:33:06
Speaker 1: Been that injured. On defense, they've been an average number of injured. They're just thin. I think, yeah, I offense, I get it that they're a they're a frustrating team the Chargers right now, but most of the credit just goes to having to play the Colts.

00:33:20
Speaker 8: What I'm saying is, I think it's I think it's because I curse them.

00:33:23
Speaker 2: Honestly, Yeah, that's the raison.

00:33:25
Speaker 8: There's no other reason.

00:33:26
Speaker 9: There's a significant contrast in specifically watching these two teams where it's like Justin Herbert is having to square general relativity and quantum mechanics every single play versus dimes. There was a play where Michael Pittman Jr. Is in the bottom of a three receiver and wide open, like where are the layups?

00:33:46
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:33:46
Speaker 5: And the Chargers offense, it's just all Herbert. Yeah.

00:33:49
Speaker 2: And it's all Herbert.

00:33:51
Speaker 1: And for the Colts, it's all like everybody. And that includes the defense making just enough plays. Shout out to Nick Cross with that innerception on the play you talked about. That was a great catch. That was like a one handed catch. And Friend of the Show, mar hit hit the bell, Jordan. She wants to keep track of how many times I mentioned Ally Connolly. Friend of the Show. Ally Connelly called him in a text perhaps not only the NFL's most improved player, but potentially the most important non superstar in the entire NFL.

00:34:26
Speaker 2: Nick Cross.

00:34:27
Speaker 1: And if you want to know what he means by that, read the thirty five hundred word essay that he wrote about Nick Cross, Who's kind of the spine of the structure of how this defense is built, and you'll understand, you'll get a little smarter. That's on the read optional subsec. Let's take a quick break because we have a lot of games to get to, including the Carson Wentz Revenge, Sock.

00:35:00
Speaker 11: Aj Brown to the fourth side. This is the biggest third down of the season. Quite frankly, Hurts head the gun, Hurts is black, brick comes for Loush.

00:35:16
Speaker 5: He is a little pigot for AJ Brown?

00:35:18
Speaker 11: Who has it?

00:35:19
Speaker 3: Who hasn't?

00:35:20
Speaker 2: He's down at the ten yard line. Hurts day j Blown Fike Mifflicent.

00:35:27
Speaker 1: Great call there by bar Race Clint w I p yes Jalen Hurts to a J. Brown helps to seal a twenty eight to twenty two victory. And how symbolic, how perfect that play was in encapsulating a perfect day just about by Jalen Hurts. He was perfect on deep shots, by the way, five for five on throws over twenty yards for two hundred and fifteen yards. This game reminded me so much of when their offense was rolling at least a passing attack last year. There was a fourth down early in the game, fourth and four, and that's where he hit his first bomb to AJ Brown ends up being a thirty seven yard touchdown, and it reminded me so much of a second quarter, fourth and four go ball that he threw to AJ Brown in Week six. I went to go check last year against the Giants, which I thought was if you we're gonna pick one play that kind of like unlocked them in the middle of the regular season last year.

00:36:30
Speaker 2: It was that one.

00:36:31
Speaker 1: He ends up going deep quite a bit in this game, including to Devonte Smith.

00:36:36
Speaker 11: Hurts under his son of this time with Barkley behind him. Brown and win to the fourth long and second down. Hurts fakes he's pack, He's looking, he is going deep. He looked Devonte Smith. He has a Tuning fifteen.

00:36:52
Speaker 2: Ten fifth touch to fight Tay Smith.

00:36:57
Speaker 1: Feet Rodgers on real Devonte nine catches one hundred and eighty three yards. Aj Brown ends up with one twenty one in two. They will be happy on the flight home. No more drama. It was just an old school Jalen Hurts performance.

00:37:11
Speaker 8: I'm happy they ran play action.

00:37:13
Speaker 7: Yeah, and they didn't just run play action, which they had only run six play action passes entering this game, and all of them were paired with passes and route combinations.

00:37:25
Speaker 8: That did not go over seven yards.

00:37:29
Speaker 7: This this game, Jalen Hurts was four for four on play action from under center for one hundred and twenty one yards and a touchdown, and so averaging thirty point three yards per play action pass and a touchdown. He was also just about perfect against Brian Flores's blitz eleven for fourteen for two hundred and thirty three, two touchdowns.

00:37:53
Speaker 1: Including that last play like that was great. Solving the blitz.

00:37:56
Speaker 8: This looked great.

00:37:58
Speaker 7: He had an incredible, incredible game, played nearly perfectly, and the Eagles did some different things.

00:38:04
Speaker 8: They moved his spot, they developed and.

00:38:07
Speaker 7: Formulated and schemed, and this was actually something where no, they didn't necessarily get the run game going, they didn't have to. They could throw the ball all day long against a secondary that is very good.

00:38:19
Speaker 2: Right.

00:38:19
Speaker 1: I love that Hurts also had two third and long creation plays that when Hurts is playing well, he mixes those plays in. He had a third and fifteen to DeVante Smith for twenty eight yards and then a third and thirteen where he scrambled to aj Brown which set up one of the touchdown.

00:38:35
Speaker 9: Yah, It's set up a touchdown that the Eagles needed. They needed all of them. And in the manipulation, the pocket manipulation from Jalen Hurts, where a few years ago he would have escaped to his right early, he stays in the edge, comes back around, and then he goes to the right and gets AJ Brown where we a couple of weeks ago against a very good receiving cores, Isaiah Rodgers had the best game ever, literally the best game ever against Higgins and Jamar Chase, and then he comes back around and to aj and Devanta gives up one hundred and fifty six yards including that bomb as well as the third down to AJ Brown, where those guys kind of took advantage of their old teammate. And I think, especially on the slogo to AJ Brown, like that prior knowledge, you know, it comes into play.

00:39:21
Speaker 1: Shuts up all the WIP callers who are like, how did we possibly let Isaiah Rodgers go?

00:39:25
Speaker 2: Although I think, you know, it would have been good to keep him. It was.

00:39:28
Speaker 8: Yeah, Dori Jackson got banged.

00:39:29
Speaker 1: Up in the middle of the game, that's true, and Killer Ring like, not like they've been great, but you should be able to survive with one replacement level cornerback, and they did for the most part.

00:39:38
Speaker 2: Today.

00:39:39
Speaker 1: It was a weird Fangio game typical in that like they let them go down the field and they end up forcing quote unquote five field goals in six red zone trips. Carson Wentz and the running game really moved the ball well all day.

00:39:53
Speaker 12: Now.

00:39:53
Speaker 1: Two of those forced field goals were after touchdowns called back one by penalty. A nightmare game for their center, Blake Brendle. Blake Brendle in this game, even in just the first half, had a sequence where he threw the ball twenty yards over Carson Wentz's head. There goes one red zone drive, he gives up a massive hit from Jalen Carter which turns into a pick six and get to be early and as a penalty that calls back a touchdown. They also, I thought made a crazy overrule on a potential TJ Howkinson touchdown with a little under three minutes to go. To me that that was a touchdown and the end of the game would have looked a little bit different. That's not taking anything away, it's just pointing out it was a weird game where Carson Wentz looked good for about eighty percent of the place and the other plays were such disasters that that's what people will remember.

00:40:46
Speaker 7: Yeah, and I and also I would I would put Kevin O'Connell in there too with some of the play calls. At one point at a second and one in the second quarter from the six yard line and they end up kicking a thirty three yard field goal from that field position, I mean.

00:40:59
Speaker 2: Not running it in any of those plays.

00:41:00
Speaker 7: Yeah, and it was It's one of those games where you just you just take Carson Wentz for who he is, take him as he is, and whatever comes with him. You just try to endure and weather the storm. You know, I thought, because of all the messiness that was happening for the Eagles internally and all the chatter externally, and could they actually adjust and could they actually do X, Y and Z coming up against a really tough defense and reputationally tough defense and schematically tough defense, and then a pretty composed despite all the uncertainty at quarterback, relatively composed and well coached offense, especially with some of the weapons that are available to Carson Wentz. But the Vikings teetered on the brink of pure chaos to me multiple times. And again they could go most of the field and then all of a sudden, they would things would just happen. They would just make mistakes, or there would be weird play calling sequences, or the Vikings we makeuld play, or the officials would get involved, either one.

00:41:59
Speaker 8: You know, at every pick one, anything could have happened and did happen in this game.

00:42:03
Speaker 9: There was and I'll give you because on the Jaylgs pick six, like he starts lined up over top of Justin Jefferson, kind of drifts a little bit and then runs back over and Carson Wentz gets plastered, as you noted by Jalen Carter.

00:42:14
Speaker 5: And those interceptions happen. They happen all the time.

00:42:17
Speaker 9: The Makuba interception was the typical Carson Wentz pick where it's like, you can't, you can't throw that ball that really had no chance to be completed, and he's just kind of throwing a yolo ball as if it's a hail Mary situation.

00:42:31
Speaker 5: But they're still in the game at that point.

00:42:33
Speaker 1: Oh it's early second quarter. I mean, he played pretty well from that point forward. At that moment, I thought either JJ McCarthy or Max Brasmer is starting next week, because I just thought it was gonna circle down the drain. And actually Wentz played pretty well the rest of the game. I mean, he ends up with three hundred and thirteen yards like I said, he could have had they could have had a couple of touchdowns there, and he has them in it at the end. But yeah, when you have a unfortunately, he's going to have these sequences. The sequence was a pick six, a play where he fritzed out and threw the ball backwards. Uh, and it ended up being a negative nine fumble that's what it's called at because he threw the ball backwards out of bounds. Then a holding penalty on his offense, and then the other interception. So it's just like those four plays just absolutely killed them. Take everything away though, And the Vikings defense, I don't think it's been special this year. It's just been okay, it's like the twelfth best defense in the league.

00:43:26
Speaker 2: And they didn't.

00:43:27
Speaker 1: They weren't special today and they just that's just they just.

00:43:30
Speaker 2: Need to be.

00:43:30
Speaker 8: But they solved the Toush push they.

00:43:32
Speaker 1: Saw maybe I mean, yes, they had a defensive player lying down in front of the center on his side essentially with two players over him to try to block it. Now, they the Eagles did hit their first Toush push, but it was very close and it was tight. And then the next one there was actually a false start on aj Brown, so we never really found but it was it was interesting. You'll see We'll see if someone copies them, no, because I don't.

00:44:01
Speaker 5: Know it puts ten people.

00:44:05
Speaker 2: Okay, he's a human.

00:44:08
Speaker 8: Beings, He's a human literally they literally called this gup like recently. It's like, who was it worked up? Today?

00:44:17
Speaker 7: You are to lay horizontally across the line of scrimmage.

00:44:22
Speaker 2: It's amazing. This is insane, lawens Is it crazy?

00:44:26
Speaker 1: That's the type of thing led to Yeah, it's the type of thing that led to his Dolphins players, like not being sad when he left good Win by the Eagles, and uh, more than anything, it's it comes down to the players. The Eagles offensive line was totally dominant. None of the Vikings pass rushers won one on one matchups at all. It should be pointed out helping Jalen Hurts, while on the other side, the return of Jalen Carter being Jalen freaking Carter made all the difference in the world. There wasn't a single edge rusher in this game that had a quick pressure. You know how many Jalen Carter had all by himself.

00:45:01
Speaker 2: Six. He was awesome in this game. Eagles win.

00:45:05
Speaker 1: Vikings fall to three and three ahead of tnf Let's stay in the NFC East play clock.

00:45:10
Speaker 4: At one, they get it off, Blitz is coming, Mariota in trouble being ripped away, stays alive, throws it in the fire, picked off.

00:45:19
Speaker 12: Guess who to Ron Bland one man the big pick six.

00:45:26
Speaker 2: That's Kevin Burkhart on Fox.

00:45:28
Speaker 1: And that's also the trademark oh call by Tom Brady or is it more like, oh, it's just a lot.

00:45:35
Speaker 2: It's a lot of poh every week. Should someone tell him to stop bet?

00:45:40
Speaker 7: Or no?

00:45:41
Speaker 8: We like it feels like he should.

00:45:44
Speaker 1: It's authentic, it's energy, Okay. Forty four to twenty two. The Cowboys win a game where sure the Commanders did not have Deebo Samuel or Terry McLaurin, and they lost Jaden Daniels in the third quarter of this game and he did not return and that's the biggest story coming out of this game. But ultimately, the Cowboys offense, we're putting up points no matter who is going to be on the Commanders today.

00:46:12
Speaker 8: And their defense actually helped them today. You guys.

00:46:15
Speaker 7: They played complimentary football in all three phases and especially.

00:46:18
Speaker 8: Notable on defense.

00:46:19
Speaker 7: I want to put a spotlight on the two Dallas takeaways in the third quarter, both of them that led to touchdowns. The first was a sack fumble Jadavian Clowney recovered it. That was the play that Jayden Daniels heard his hamstring on and eventually was ruled out of the game after first going to get checked out in the blue tent and then going to the locker room. Plus Dak Prescott and the Cowboys then scored on the corresponding possession. Marcus Mariota comes in, he throws a pick six, really bad you saw it, desperation throw by Marcus Mariota. Darn Bland comes in and scores off the takeaway, and it marked just a really good day for the Cowboys defense overall. Yes, against a really depleted Commander's receiver room as previously noted, but the Cowboys, when facing the like numbers four, five, and six Washington receivers and a very banged up zach Ertz, just decided like, hey, we are going to play a ton of man to man coverage in this game. We are going to blitz more than we normally do. The neck veins on Matt Eberfluss's neck were standing out every time the sideline cameras cut to him.

00:47:23
Speaker 8: This was the defense had juice.

00:47:25
Speaker 7: This game, they played complimentary football and again I already can hear it now.

00:47:29
Speaker 8: Yes, yes, the Washington Commanders.

00:47:32
Speaker 7: Were extremely depleted, even down a quarterback by the end of it. But this Cowboys defense really needed a game like this. They were good, pretty good against the run as well, and they made plays and that is something that's been sorely lacking. Because Dak Prescott had another incredible game.

00:47:49
Speaker 1: It's happening every week. To me, he's been the best quarterback in the league along with Mahomes. I would say we'll get to him, but in terms of just consistently every week, Dak has been ridiculous. And you know, Ceedee Lamb returns to this game and he puts up, you know, a monster touchdown right off the bat. What was that seventy six yards or something, and yet George Pickens, you know, still ends up having like a very entertaining game.

00:48:17
Speaker 8: Yeah, anything can happen when this guy touches the ball.

00:48:20
Speaker 9: No, we see because the Cowboys were still explosive without CD Lamb, but you could, of course CEEDI and Dak have played a lot of football together.

00:48:29
Speaker 5: He had one hundred yards before the end of the first half. It wasn't just that home run.

00:48:32
Speaker 9: There were a couple of third downs where you just see them continue to execute at the high level. Javonte and the run game got back healthy after the disaster in Charlotte. But as much as the positive cutaways of Eberflus over on the side, we haven't had a lot of positive uberflues cutaways, you know, jayde Daniels still had when he was in Yeah, still had a lot of time he was back there on sixty three percent of his dropbacks was over two and a half seconds, and a lot of that is you know, balls that would have come out if Terry McLaurin, Yeah, Lesmond or Debo who was getting you know, twenty nine percent or twenty plus percent of the air yards on this team while he was healthy. You could see that the absences really impacted the offense as well. But this is a game that even if they were there, the Dallas offense was.

00:49:21
Speaker 7: On fire and one correct because you could see every everything was just a little off the timing, some of the spacing for the receivers that were available. A couple of guys made plays. Jaden Daniels had a really great sort of correction. He started running the ball a little bit and then getting the ball to Jeremy McNichols who had a big catch and run as well to help get them to the goal line. And then Jaden Daniels nearly did the same thing that he did last week, which was mishandling a bad snap, but instead he keeps it himself, and Jerry McNichols adjusts as well in the moment and helps lead block for him keeping it for the touchdown. They make it a game twenty to fifteen. Unfortunately for them, Dak Prescott is on the other side. He goes right back to George Pickens deep against Marshawn Lattimore, who did not look like he was having a good time at any point during this game. And he's so smooth. He looks like he's running in slow motion, but he's not. It does not make sense to me. He just everything. And then all of a sudden, pure chaos hits because he does some WWE move or something in the middle of a play, but it sets up a Javonte Williams run to the goal line, and then Dak Prescott of course hits Jake Ferguson and they scored in about thirty seconds to close that to close out the first half, and it just was This Cowboys offense just has it. They won't have this kind of performance for their defense, I don't think for the rest of the season.

00:50:42
Speaker 8: Although the adjustments I think were liudable.

00:50:45
Speaker 7: Like I said, playing more man coverage is not something that they wanted to do clearly earlier in the season. They won't be able to against non depleted receiver corps that they'll face later in the year. But at the same time, like man, these games, these Dak Prescott games are just awesome.

00:51:04
Speaker 1: Well, they can play more man and I'm sure they will. It's shout out to a Beat reporters. Shout out to the Cowboys for letting Beat reporters watch actual practice a little bit unlike other teams. They did note this week that they saw them practicing man coverage quite a bit more than they usually do, and it's like, yeah, be flexible.

00:51:21
Speaker 2: To go back to the Eagles game quickly.

00:51:22
Speaker 1: One of the reasons they want is Vic Fangio called man on so much more than they normally do, and because that's what scrambled to Carson Wentz's brain, and they need to be flexible. You paid Deron Bland and Trevon Diggs. All that money, let them do what they do best. And yeah, for all the excuses that you can make for this win. They essentially were trailing thirty five to fourteen before Marcus Mariota took a snap.

00:51:42
Speaker 7: I flipped to the Broncos game for example, But I just want to shout out Brandon Aubrey. There's another sixty one yard field goal. So we mentioned Lucas Herisik earlier, and Brandon Aubrey hit a sixty one yard field goal to go up twenty to eight there in the first half.

00:51:59
Speaker 8: I mean, kickers, man.

00:52:00
Speaker 1: It's becoming normal. You know what else is becoming normal? Like the Cowboys just they're part of this season at this point. I guess I'm just I don't know, Like put the NFL hat on me and put me next to Rob Low in the crowd, cause, like I find myself rooting for teams to stay alive and interesting, that's kind of what I want, And it's pretty interesting. The Cowboys are ahead of the Commanders right now in the NFC East. Man, if the Giants had finished off that game had be really spicy there, but three three and one they're just in the mix. They might have the best quarterback in the league. The Commanders are going to have to do something they haven't had to with Dan Quinn, which is going to get out of a little bit of a rut here at three and four. Uh, let's go to a team in London who barely spent any time there, but they're not trying to get out of a rud at all.

00:52:49
Speaker 6: Fourth and one, Stafford under center, staff rolling left, looking downfield. Stafford plants throws deep down the middle of the.

00:52:58
Speaker 5: Field of the end. It's a touchdown Rams.

00:53:02
Speaker 10: It's the rookie tiny Terrence ferguson his first career touchdown on a fourth and one play.

00:53:10
Speaker 3: The explanation point for the Rams in London.

00:53:14
Speaker 1: That is JP shagic from Westwood One. Apologies to JB. Long if you putting a JP instead of a JB just feels wrong. We couldn't we couldn't find the radio calls for JB. Long, who I am reliably told from JB. Long spent less than twelve hours in there. Its announced the college football game in America on Saturday night, and then flew over called the game. The Rams win thirty five to seven. Yet they barely spent more than twenty four hours there. They got their Saturday morning, and you wonder if teams are going to start copying them because Matthew Stafford finished with five touchdowns in a game where everything looked good for the Rams except for maybe the offense in the third quarter. But that's like a small little knit to pick Patrick. Like their defense was awesome, their offense was awesome.

00:54:06
Speaker 2: Where do you want to start.

00:54:07
Speaker 9: We'll start with DeVante Adams breaking an NFL record today having three touchdowns, all less than two yards. One of them was a one hander that he called for Matthew Stafford. As you wondered, like, what would this offense look like without Pukaakua, The answer is pretty good. Where the Jags really like there's a conversation to be had because the deployment of Travis Hunter was mostly at wide receiver in this game against the Rams. But Andrew Winguard once again, like we just saw him get beat on that play action touchdown to the tight end, Like it's week after week where teams are isolating him in coverage and it's just it's the results are not good for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

00:54:45
Speaker 1: Two huge penalties in the first half of this game before giving that playoff. Yeah, Stafford ends up with five touchdowns in one and eighty two yards, not a stat line you normally see, but it was raining heavily through the first half of this game. The rain did let up, but it was sloppy, people slipping all around, so not a ton of chunk plays down the field until you know. Hunter got one in Diami Brown for the Jaguars later, and.

00:55:09
Speaker 7: All five of his touchdowns came against the blitz, which again you would think, because of the familiarity between these two coaching staffs, that you just don't blitz Matthew Stafford, but apparently that is what the Jacksonville Jaguars decided they were going to try to do today, possibly trying to take advantage of yet again missing Rob Hanstein at right tackle and also missing pukin Akua, who's really great in the blocking service. I think it is such a compliment to how many jobs pukin Akua actually does for the Rams that they were in twelve or thirteen personnel, more than they have been by volume since twenty twenty and even before that, since we really just started tracking this.

00:55:50
Speaker 1: Oh, I got a next Genen stats please go for it. In thirteen personnel, so that's three tight ends on the field. It is by far the most any team as ever had three tight ends on the field. It was almost forty percent of the time. Next Gen only tracks back to twenty sixteen, but by far. For comparison, the Rams had six snaps total in that with that personnel over the last four years. And yeah, they were in it almost forty percent of this game.

00:56:17
Speaker 2: And they just got heavy, and they they got good.

00:56:19
Speaker 7: Because Puka Nikov plays both receiver and tight end for them, depending on the type of pass play or the type of run play.

00:56:26
Speaker 8: And I think that is such a compliment to him. And it is again I think a really.

00:56:31
Speaker 7: Timely and really good reminder to Rams head coach Sean McVay that you can use more than one player on your roster, You can target more than one player, you can use more than one personnel in hell, good things might happen when you decide to do so, especially if you can finally be the Kyle Shanahan of the world and beat up on your former offensive later Liam Cohen and beat up on your former employee and less need can beat up on his former protege James Gladstone. This game had so many connections and so much, so many layers and levels to it. But I think to me, when Sean wy Fay goes into the bye week, and I know this is when he goes and actually catches up on what the rest of the league is doing, like a true football sico, he is going to look back at this game and say, this is exactly what I myself said I wanted to do with this team, including with Pooka Is on the field, is be as multiple as possible, have so much more dimension to this offense.

00:57:37
Speaker 8: I think he called a great game.

00:57:38
Speaker 7: I think Chrishula called a hell of a game on defense as well. He kind of hid the issues that those cornerbacks are having and took advantage of still continued miscommunication, inconsistency, lack of identity within the Jaguars passing game that Patrick you have been on.

00:57:53
Speaker 8: You've pointed this out from the jump.

00:57:54
Speaker 9: Well, and the thing is that we talk about fighting history and legacy, that they're doing it. And it wasn't just Brian Thomas Junior the end breakers on inbreakers today, trav was nine of twenty four hundred and forty two yards. Diammi Brown had one where he looked like he was making a weird decision on it. There was another by Parker Washington, and again a lot of the breakers where guys were trying to make breaks and slipping and falling. But both teams were playing on the same field. It just seemed to impact the Jags a little bit more where you almost wonder like, maybe just take the middle of the field out. If everything is to go on that one get that way for the passing game, maybe just stop doing it all together, right.

00:58:30
Speaker 1: There was a third down where, yeah, you mentioned Diami Brown kind of stopped short or is it a little confused? Travis Hunter doesn't even look the way the ball on another third down, although he does finish with eight catches for one hundred and one yards.

00:58:43
Speaker 2: They were trying to target him, especially late.

00:58:44
Speaker 1: It was almost like they were trying to work on him, and he had a thirty four yard touchdown.

00:58:50
Speaker 2: He had a great catch down the field.

00:58:52
Speaker 1: It's another game where I think the box score for Trevor Lawrence lied, like I don't think he played well. There was a fourth down where he made a back decision to run in the goal line and then got stopped but didn't like kind of if you're going to do it, you kind of have to make it happen and go all out and ultimately just you know, gets called you know, short by a couple of yards. He takes a couple of sacks on a play where there's like a pretty clear blitz. The Rams have a tendency to blitz on second down. It's just and he just doesn't see it. He just he kind of doesn't see things and hit the bell. Olie was at the game, and this is good insider information.

00:59:32
Speaker 8: It's always good information.

00:59:33
Speaker 2: That's as good information. I want to make the listeners.

00:59:36
Speaker 7: I want to make sure the listeners arewhare what we're doing here. We're trying to track how many more time who wins Allie or Walker in terms of Greg mentions per show.

00:59:45
Speaker 1: The problem is you putting this up is going to limit both of them moving forward.

00:59:49
Speaker 2: But that's this one's too good.

00:59:53
Speaker 1: This one's too good to pass. Shout out to UH, to my son. There's one who got to see in person one of the all time UH performances in any sport.

01:00:14
Speaker 2: I went to that. It is like it is like.

01:00:18
Speaker 1: Taking some sort of like incredible I don't.

01:00:21
Speaker 2: Know, drug or something.

01:00:23
Speaker 1: To hear your child say like that was so much fun, after anything, after something, and that that was that on Friday night, shot out. Shout out to show Tony for making a lot of people happy.

01:00:34
Speaker 9: Happened to see the greatest baseball Yeah, I just happened to be there.

01:00:38
Speaker 2: Just making a lot of people happy around here. Okay.

01:00:41
Speaker 1: I do want to mention the point, which was he's at the game and he said the sideline and the offensive organizational whatever you want to call it for the Jaguars was a total was in total chaost the whole time.

01:00:57
Speaker 2: Players didn't know whether to go in or not.

01:00:59
Speaker 1: Like they're talk it's total confusion out of the side, Like players don't seem to know the play.

01:01:04
Speaker 2: They're coming in and out of the huddle.

01:01:06
Speaker 1: Liam Cohen's kind of yelling at Trevor Lawrence to get back in the huddle. But Trevor Lawrence is like coming back out of the huddle to like find out what's going on. Whatever is going on, Trevor Lawrence is not really understanding I think, or you know, figuring out what they are trying to accomplish on offense. I think that's clear to say by you wouldn't even need to be there to see that to know that. But I think just by what's going on on the field, it's like it's too much for him and this offense right now.

01:01:33
Speaker 2: But a lot of that is because you know that the Rams were doing great things on.

01:01:36
Speaker 1: Their set of the ball as well. All right, let's move on. That was that was a sad game to send to London. I feel bad, but at least at least they saw a great performance by a team that could be going deep in the playoffs and if they went to the postgame pression the billionaire, Oh that's a good call.

01:01:53
Speaker 2: A great quote too by Devonte Adams.

01:01:54
Speaker 5: He's a killer. That's that's what killers do. They go out and kills.

01:01:58
Speaker 1: I feel like we could use that, uh in the future. I'm not sure how that was him talking about Matthew Stafford, not.

01:02:04
Speaker 9: Just a general killers staff Sometimes, you know, kill in varying locations.

01:02:08
Speaker 1: Then they'll just go and that is what killers do. By definitie, that's how they become killers. Where the panther's gonna be killers, We're gonna find out after the break.

01:02:29
Speaker 4: In an empty set, Hubbard playing an up back position now he motions off the left tip of Dalton handy the staff back to throw, launches deep downfieldly get it.

01:02:40
Speaker 9: Just makes the catch inside the twenty five yard line.

01:02:44
Speaker 2: It's been a career game for Xavior Lea.

01:02:48
Speaker 5: Yet they went for the Haymaker. That's a Xavior league get delivers.

01:02:54
Speaker 1: That's a Gutchy call right there. That was any draft on w r F X and Luke Keigley, maybe Jake Dolone, Maybe Jake Doloone, who knows, probably Jake Dilone. Panthers win thirteen to six in a game that they unfortunately lost Bryce Young to an ankle injury. Andy Dalton finishes the game out. But yes, if we're talking most improved players, how about just within this season. Xavier Lagett was struggling in September. But this is two games here where he stepped up and made huge plays. Nine catches, ninety two yards and the Carolina Panthers are over five hundred.

01:03:37
Speaker 2: Jets haven't won a game.

01:03:39
Speaker 9: Yes, and the Xavier Lagett that was the play to ice the game. They really didn't do anything with Andy Dalton in like that was the most significant play on offense.

01:03:47
Speaker 5: And it's Andy Dalton.

01:03:48
Speaker 9: You know, firing up the fire engine on a hot air balloon and Examperla.

01:03:53
Speaker 5: Gets down there and shields off to three under.

01:03:55
Speaker 9: That's what it was, Greg to go back here, Well that's that's a like you can hear the as that ball like slowly descends and Laget's having a fight for his life to keep it from being picked off. So go back to the second quarter, three nothing Panthers. The Jets run quarterback Powerboat justin Fields. He gets the first down, he gets hit as he slides by Nick Scott. He's on the turf for like a third of a second. Then he pops up. The independent neurologists pulls him off the field to Rod Taylor comes in Fields eventually comes back in the game. But the deepest penetration they got was to the forty four of the Panthers with Fields in after that hit, and he would be substituted out. I didn't quite get to Aaron Glenn's postgame comments because I ran to do a Game Day live after that, but I wonder about that decision and how the evaluation played into that. The Panthers got their score before halftime. Bryce hits t Mac twice on back to back eleven yard passes. Then they set up a screen to Chewba Hubbard that the Jets defense was not there for at all, to the extent that there were three linemen out front blocking for Cuba Hubbard. They couldn't get to anybody before Trooper ran ahead of them. They get twenty six yards and I'll count that screen as a play action play where Bryce was very good on play action. He had one hundred and twelve passer rating and a touchdown. A couple of plays after that, he does hit Laget on another play action play. For that he was trying to spin away from Briggs on the play where Briggs kind of dives low and clips his ankle. They've got the Bills up next. I hope they're able to have Bryce because, as we noted, they don't really do anything with Andy Dalton today, and I was a short play coming in where he's having to play for, you know, in the backup position. I'll grant that against the defense that's been solid relatively late, the Jets have been, but jac Horn's play in the second half keeps them in this lead because he has a one handed interception of Torod Taylor unreal play for some reason, Taylor troes JC Horn once again on like this day of NFL Legacy where Gadston goes off in my game, Right, Andy Horn goes off in my game where he single handedly literally saves this game for the Carolina Panthers, because other than the hot air balloon, that was really it in.

01:06:12
Speaker 5: The second half.

01:06:13
Speaker 7: Yeah, to your first question about what Aaron Glenn was saying, effectively, I mean, essentially it is being treated as a benching and Aaron Glenn is not ready to say, according to the jetsby reporters, who the quarterback is going to be next week, and added that the team needed a spark, which is why Torod Taylor came back in.

01:06:33
Speaker 8: Yeah, I thought I agree with you.

01:06:34
Speaker 7: I thought Bryce Young played pretty well, honestly, and I think he has been playing pretty well. And I think it's interesting. I know locally they don't really like that there's a two back system emerging here, especially after rico'dowell. But watching Chuba Hubbard manipulate the screen game at one point he outran his own blockers on that play you mentioned to the outside where you would have liked to see the blocking layer back in and sort of thread him through the inside. But he is so athletic and so explosive, especially on some of those short catch and runs. And I love that play design and how it was set up, and I think if they're going to try to get explosives any which way, not always able to trust them in the passing game. Although really happy for Xavier Laguette for having a really solid career game, it was just a cool thing to watch all of these guys get activated. You really want to make sure that Bryce Young can continue this. According to Joe Person at The Athletic, my former beat partner, initial testing came back clean. Obviously, follow up testing, MRI stuff like that is going to have to happen over the next day or so with Bryce Young. Because this Carolina Panthers seemed over which is over five hundred for the first time since what twenty twenty one? Yeah, they are. They seem like they're improving every single week. The defense is improving. Six sacks today. They didn't have six sacks the first six games last season.

01:07:54
Speaker 8: This is just awesome. I love watching this team.

01:07:57
Speaker 1: I felt bad about my If they had just played Tyrod week, they probably would have won that game. Take just because those two throws by Tyler tyrad were late and also seemed to be using the same what was it called the balloon propeller thing, had a little bit of that to those throws too. Unfortunately, sas Gardner has a concussion and it's just dark days for the Jets. But yes, the Panthers at four in three and now they're just they're just be in the mix and Reso Dawdle fantasy owners can be happy because he still led the team and carries with seventeen. But yeah, Panthers' offense didn't really get that much one four point three yards per play, and the Jets become only the second team in the last decade to give up thirteen points or less in two straight games and not win either of them. Shout out to the most depressing Bill Belichick team of all time, the twenty twenty three Patriots. Let's go to the Bears, not depressing at all.

01:08:53
Speaker 8: I need a line, hangout.

01:08:56
Speaker 12: To the right, chet Tat, give it a swip the cup, Cup, get up the queshtging of the episode Touchdown Touchdown.

01:09:03
Speaker 1: Bears, Dianre Swift and Jeff Joniac from WMVP.

01:09:12
Speaker 2: What a tandem.

01:09:14
Speaker 1: DeAndre Swift, Jordan he may not always be great, but that man is streaky, and when he's great, he's great.

01:09:23
Speaker 7: The Bears run game looks so much cleaner and so much sharper post bye week than it did heading into the by They had two hundred and twenty two yards behind DeAndre Swift and the seventh round rookie running back out of Rudkers Kyle Manongai. I hope I am saying Matt correctly after hearing it over and over and over again on the broadcast, yet being here for so many hours, it seems to have left my brain. You guys, This game looked over over In the first half, the Saints had just seven first downs, three of them were by penalty.

01:09:55
Speaker 8: Spencer Ratler had already thrown.

01:09:57
Speaker 7: A bad interception, and Dennis Allen, former head coach, had him totally turned around and was just abusing all the skill guys on some of his blitzes that he was sending at the Saints and that the tight ends and some of the receivers and the running backs had to pick up. And it turned into interceptions, and it turned into bad plays by Spencer Ratler, and Chicago was up twenty to zero right before the end of the half, Spencer Ratler hits Chris Olave on two really really huge plays, including a touchdown that made up seventy eight of Saints one hundred and four first half yards.

01:10:29
Speaker 8: You can't stop the Denissance, You cannot stop the dnosaide.

01:10:32
Speaker 2: Well, it's back on.

01:10:33
Speaker 7: You may only it's back on, and you may only hope to contain it. Because three total interceptions by Spencer Raller, including one late in the fourth quarter by Tremaine Edmunds on a tipped pass that gave the Bears their sixteenth takeaway of the season. And I think we have sound for the play that icd the game.

01:10:52
Speaker 10: Rattler brings Jackson in motion to the right, takes the snap, gonna roll to the right. Camara got bumped up and cover stipped up in the earners Tamade Edvans on.

01:11:01
Speaker 2: The tip by Edwards. Bears taken away for a fourth time today.

01:11:06
Speaker 5: Edwards on the tip they wanted to.

01:11:08
Speaker 2: Go to Kamara.

01:11:09
Speaker 10: He got wiped up by Johnson, the is line banker, and that boone was ricocheted right into the hands of Tremade Edmonds is third interception this year.

01:11:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, well we're you know, just going heavy on Dennis Allen. I hate to do this. When I first saw this, I have to admit I had a physical reaction. But here's Ben Johnson in the locker room after the game giving a game ball away that will make the skin crawl of any New Orleans resident.

01:11:41
Speaker 13: Okay, defense forty four yards on the ground, defense for sacks.

01:12:05
Speaker 2: That is ow, get with it, he lairs, I love it.

01:12:08
Speaker 7: He did the little kick dance that was on TikTok a couple of years ago.

01:12:11
Speaker 2: To be real, the Bears have won four straight games.

01:12:14
Speaker 1: They've been kind of wacky, but they're winning in different types of ways. I think they're creating offense. And my number one takeaway from this game, and it's now from the two weeks, is they just look like a different team since to buy defensively and running the ball and man like. I think they solve some things they might have been because Ben Johnson opened up the playbook a little bit. He said the Governor was off to the Monday night football guys in terms of how they use motions and everything. They were trying to really simplify it the first month. It's like it's not simplified anymore. That's helping the running game, and then the defense has just seemed to find something in the last couple of weeks.

01:12:48
Speaker 9: Yeah, fifty seven percent success right for Deandrew Swift, fifty three for Kamon young Guy, and the defense holding Alvin Kamara to thirty six percent success rate. And I was excited for the the Kendre Miller revenge game against Dennis Allen. Chris Alave kind of got his through the pass game, but just one carry for seven yard, got hurt for Kendre Miller got.

01:13:08
Speaker 5: Hurt leaving the game.

01:13:10
Speaker 9: And it's a weird situation for the ground game for the Saints where they were behind and trailing and having to throw a lot here, but it seemed like asking a lot of Spencer Ratler. But again, this is a defense that before the bye was getting run over by every buck and the Commanders come in with the I think the number two run game at the time, they shut them down. And now after this performance, like, yeah, perhaps taking personnel decisions away from Dennis Allen allows him to ingratiate himself.

01:13:41
Speaker 5: To a locker room in a way that we didn't see it.

01:13:44
Speaker 2: He's always been a good coordinator.

01:13:45
Speaker 7: Yeah, and that's why Ben Johnson hired him, But it is interesting on the other side, Like Greg, you brought up their own run game. I mean, especially when they're doing these zone runs, the layers of their blocking is so much cleaner. When I say it means that not only are they getting off the line of scrimmage, but they're setting up second and third layers of their especially outside in middle zone runs. That really helped DeAndre Swift see it very well, and he's clearly thriving off of that. In the start of the year, some of the yards before contact by this offensive line was there. They were blocking some stuff open. It wasn't totally consistent, but they were blocking some stuff open, and he was not getting the yards after contact and that was a huge issue. He has really come alive post by week, and I think part of it that helps is it's visually more appealing, like you can. Actually, I loved what they did this game.

01:14:39
Speaker 8: The broadcast.

01:14:40
Speaker 7: They did a lot of shots because the booth, like myself, were kind of geeking out over the run game and how much it's improved over the entire or over the last couple of weeks, and they were really showing a lot of the angles exactly clarifying what they meant when they were talking about some of what the running back was going to be able to see. The thing about this offense that is still erratic is.

01:15:02
Speaker 8: The passing game.

01:15:03
Speaker 7: And there were a couple of wow plays, and Caleb Williams and Robo Dunze you can tell that when they're really on, they're on, and when they're off, they're just off. DJ Moore had a nice catch and run play where it seemed like he just could not get tackled at one point. But it's gonna be one of those games where I think it's gonna be so important to go back and look at the All twenty two because there were some plays where it seemed like Caleb Williams was holding onto the ball for a really long time, and I want to think that it's because players were covered downfield, But then we are talking about the Saints defense here, and so this is gonna be one of those where if you can't really see the full picture on the broadcast, you're gonna want to go look at the full picture before you make a true opinion. But the passing game overall is just a little out of sync, a little erratic.

01:15:43
Speaker 8: They didn't need it today.

01:15:44
Speaker 7: All they needed was to run the ball well and sometimes that's all you can ask for.

01:15:48
Speaker 1: And get good defense. And the offensive line's been better that The Saints are supposed to be all about their offensive line, but it has not been good this year. And they lost their captain Eric McCoy today to a I believe it was actoral or was it a biceps. It was one of those two where it was a biceps and it does not sound good for him.

01:16:06
Speaker 2: That's gonna hurt.

01:16:07
Speaker 1: Those are those are the two injuries that always set off alarm bells for Yeah, it didn't used to exist back in like the seventies. You know, they didn't have like torn biceps.

01:16:16
Speaker 8: What development came along a lot, you.

01:16:18
Speaker 2: Know what came along.

01:16:20
Speaker 1: Patrick freaking Mahomes came along to this league, and the day he started playing, he changed it. And he's all the way back if he was ever gone, even in the slightest Chiefs do get the.

01:16:29
Speaker 3: Ball to start the third quarter. That entries into that same discussion. They loaded the right side up again a single new.

01:16:36
Speaker 14: Side Tog Rise touchdown Canza City rash Shee Rise his second touchdown.

01:16:44
Speaker 3: The Chiefs go on to sixteen play.

01:16:46
Speaker 6: Ninety four yard drive, three drives, three long touchdown rives.

01:16:52
Speaker 1: Thank you for summing up the first half so beautifully, Mitch hold this on kfn Z, and thank you to me for making sure we took this Chiefs team as our survivor.

01:17:06
Speaker 2: It wouldn't have mattered. We'll get to the Patriots.

01:17:10
Speaker 1: But if you can choose the game that was the most lopsided in the entire NFL this season as your survivor pick, you're doing something right. The Chiefs finished with thirty first downs in this game and the Raiders finished with three.

01:17:25
Speaker 2: I don't really need to say that much more.

01:17:29
Speaker 1: Usually, at some point the stats, like you know, like there you write down these little stats because like, oh, it'll be crazy to mention that through two and a half quarters, these were the stats.

01:17:38
Speaker 2: This is the stats.

01:17:39
Speaker 1: At the end of the game, they brought in Kenny Pickett for the last couple of drives. Kenny Pickett's very first step he loses a fumble and then of course he goes three and out his next drive too, Like it didn't get any better in garbage time. Meanwhile, Gardner Minshew played the entire fourth quarter. He had almost as many drives Gardner Minshew in the fourth quarter, which scored zero points by the way as Patrick Mahomes did. Because Patrick Mahomes put up thirty one points in only five drives and then his day was absolutely done.

01:18:08
Speaker 2: They just look so good right now.

01:18:10
Speaker 8: The Chiefs belt meat ass.

01:18:13
Speaker 9: Yes, it was old school to the point where it's Rashie Rice being fully reintegrated like that. Instantly he catches the shovel pass and then they force feed him a touchdown pass down the sideline where they could pick and choose who got to score.

01:18:28
Speaker 5: Just just a nasty Raiders performance across.

01:18:31
Speaker 1: The board, it was, and the linebackers especially got picked on a Land and Roberts and Devin White.

01:18:39
Speaker 2: It was just ugly.

01:18:40
Speaker 1: But putting Rice in there for juju just he has so much juice. That touchdown throw that we saw what a great route, like his footwork on that one on one versus q Blue Kelly, like it's just a mismatch. They just start checking off everything, like the Mahomes fun factor is there. He had an incompletion of Taekwon Thornton which could have been one of the best throws of the year. He was getting hit and he threw it about fifty eight yards and hit Taekwon Thornton in the shoulder pad. It didn't It wasn't a completion in the end, but it was absolutely ridiculous. He had a no look pass that was too worthy. I believe that that was an amazing no look throw. He also had a bullet that was absolutely beautiful. That one was too worthy. The no look was to Rice. He is just out there having fun, and so is Andy Reid. If you just listen to the dummy call that they had on a fourth down conversion, let's listen.

01:19:36
Speaker 5: Well, they're going for it on their own. Forty tried to draw him off side. Never work, man, Sorry my home, says coach.

01:19:51
Speaker 6: It doesn't.

01:19:57
Speaker 7: Oh my god, doesn't any want to do it better?

01:20:00
Speaker 5: Too?

01:20:00
Speaker 2: Cute or great? What do you think, Patrick, No, they're just trying stuff.

01:20:05
Speaker 5: They're playing the Reers horrible.

01:20:09
Speaker 2: At that point, the game was close. I think it was only seven ye.

01:20:12
Speaker 5: Just the nature of the game, like it starts to zero to zero.

01:20:15
Speaker 1: They should have never driven that bus around Arrowheader.

01:20:20
Speaker 2: What was it I for?

01:20:21
Speaker 5: It was they took of the bus.

01:20:23
Speaker 1: They have not won a game since, but I got to feel like Raiders fans were wondering were we better off of the Antonio Pierce.

01:20:30
Speaker 8: It wasn't even this regime's fault.

01:20:32
Speaker 1: I know, but they're still taking out of him as at least Antonio Pierce kept it close. I mean, Pete Carroll's come in there is the worst team in the NFL, along with the Jets. I know they've won two games. I guess the Titans are right there too, but everything about it is bad.

01:20:46
Speaker 2: Like they're the It's hard to watch Gino, it's hard to watch the Stevens.

01:20:51
Speaker 7: This is what I wonder And I asked you the same question, but Greg, it was hard for you to even think of really an actual answer.

01:20:59
Speaker 8: It's like, what do you do if you're the Raiders? Like what do you do?

01:21:03
Speaker 7: Do you make personnel moves? Do you sell it the deadline? Do you try to stockpile a bunch of draft picks? Do you make coaching changes?

01:21:11
Speaker 5: Like?

01:21:11
Speaker 7: This is so much worse than I think anybody thought that it was going to be.

01:21:17
Speaker 8: You thought that they would at least be respectable.

01:21:19
Speaker 7: There are some really solid people in that building, and what are they going to do?

01:21:26
Speaker 1: Well, here's what Pete Carroll hasn't been able to do for many years, which has provide any advantage as a defensive coach, and he's not doing it this year. And to be fair, they lost Max Crosby during this game. They lost Adam Butler, who's a starting defensive lineman during this game. They did not have Joe Kobe Myers available for this game. They did not have Rock Bowers available for this game. No team has needed a bye week more than this Raiders team, and they will get it and hopefully that can solve something. But man, the Chiefs are four and three and Patrick Mahomes is putting a monster fantasy stats again. And if you asked me what team are you most confident if you had to pick one team would be playing in the Super Bowl for either conference, I mean, I think the average answer would be the Kansas City Chiefs. Chris Jones, by the way, also looked awesome in this game.

01:22:14
Speaker 7: Certainly we're right back to this Chiefs team as we've always known them.

01:22:19
Speaker 1: And then some I think I think better than the last couple of years. That's absolutely right. All right, you guys, I've both had long days. You were live on TV for three hours, so long that you haven't even noticed how there's a button open in your shirt and I can see your chest hair right now. Sorry, this happened, and Jordan you you were on air I believe at like eight in the morning or something live and so we're going to say goodbye to you too. But it was a thin slice of heaven. And uh, we're going to go to our next game. This is going to be a thin slice of heaven for me. Patriots and Titans all keep track of the tally from now on?

01:22:57
Speaker 8: Do you want the tally?

01:22:58
Speaker 2: Yes?

01:22:59
Speaker 7: Before I go okay, we've got allie two Walker one.

01:23:03
Speaker 8: Okay, he still has time to come back.

01:23:04
Speaker 7: Greg self mentioned one bill one chest one.

01:23:10
Speaker 2: I mean that ever been mentioned. I don't know that my chest is ever. You know, we're just gonna the first.

01:23:15
Speaker 8: We're just gonna keep tabs on it, all right.

01:23:17
Speaker 2: He takes the snap chest hot. He dropped back with time. He loads up a hop in there, buddy, and he reads his snaps him. He touched down Padreds.

01:23:29
Speaker 1: What a throw?

01:23:30
Speaker 5: What a throw? More pointly, it's the catch Kayshawn Booty.

01:23:37
Speaker 2: It's a developing and the one heck of a weapon for Drake May.

01:23:40
Speaker 15: It's fingertips extended deep post left and they take the shot.

01:23:45
Speaker 3: Easy kick out of bounds, you're to forty.

01:23:48
Speaker 5: You get it to the fifty on a run, bag it to Hunter.

01:23:51
Speaker 2: Henry and then Josh McDaniels take a shot.

01:23:54
Speaker 1: That was Scott Zolac acting like a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans one them the Super Bowl, and I don't mind it one bit. Patriots win thirty one to thirteen. Was also Bob soci on w b Z. After the game shook, Drake May was asked about his completion percentage. Some of these box scores are getting absolutely crazy. He went twenty one for twenty three today for two hundred and twenty two yards, and he said, look, I'm not trying to be a captain checkdown. I'm not trying to be checked down Charlie as I believe what he said, and he's not. That's actually the second touchdown he's had this year over fifty yar yards. He's the only quarterback in the league to do that. Surprisingly, there have been some shots down the field, but he was really accurate on a day the Patriots win thirty one to thirteen. It didn't start out that easy, but in the end it looked like a lot of Patriots games this year.

01:24:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, and Drake May is dazzling so much that Scott Zolex going horse in the booth because he's just overwhelmed by how well Drake May is playing. He's not checked down, Charlie, but he is the third player under the age of twenty four with two hundred plus passing yards and a one hundred plus passer rating in six consecutive games. That's how well he is playing right now. And that was the story of their game in the second half. This game actually reminded me a lot of an earlier Titans game. I know the Patriots won, but you'll see the connection here, in which they played pretty well with the Rams for three quarters and then the Rams overwhelmed them in the fourth, in part because the Titans made mistakes that opened the door for the Rams to do so. The Patriots did that to them, But it started with that touchdown pass to Kaishan Boody, Drake May's latest deep shot to him for a touchdown. We've seen it happen over the last few weeks. And then it really snowballed in the second half when they score a touchdown in the midway through the third quarter, and then just eleven seconds later, kylevon Chaisson gets the fumble from cam Ward who had the ball fall out of his hand again as we saw him do recently. I believe it was against the Raiders and returns that for a touchdown, and before you know it, in the blink of an eye, we go from seventeen thirteen Patriots to thirty one to thirteen Patriots. And that was all she wrote, because that's where the scoring finished, and that's all that really mattered for another win for the Patriots.

01:25:58
Speaker 1: I have not heard this call, but let's give it a shot. If he got horse off that that first touchdown, let's hear what this one's like.

01:26:05
Speaker 12: Ward under center to receivers to his left, to to the right and pluding a tight end.

01:26:09
Speaker 2: On the wing, single back hands on means.

01:26:12
Speaker 12: Turns, playfakes, rolls in the chase, pitch up the ball, come on the play, chase on passer running into the end zone as pam Ward off, the plays take rolling backward in big trouble.

01:26:26
Speaker 2: The Patriots are selling able to holding pick the football.

01:26:35
Speaker 1: Scott Zoleek, I'm a I'm a self talker too, but you just had an entire conversation with yourself on the air while your play by play guy was talking, you killed you killed the touchdown call because you said it was coming back and then it wasn't coming back, like we all went through it. Shout out to Caleb on Chason. By the way, four quarterback pressures in this game, so I know he got a fortunate there, but he's been good for them this year. How did Kim Ward look shook with the new head coach or at least interim head coach Mike McCoy.

01:27:11
Speaker 3: You know, in the first half, it was pretty encouraging. It was an interesting dynamic or dichotomy between these two teams because Mike Rabel shows up with an intent to run the football and win the physical battle, and so they hand off to Romandra Stevens in four straight times to start the game. They handed off to him a fifth time in the opening drive. There's drive kind of stalls, Drake May takes a sack of Hick a field goal, and then war comes out and he's dealing. He's finding Eye a manner over the middle. He's looking for Jamiri Dk like he's he's tossing the ball around right. But then it all kind of came to a screeching halt in the second half with that type of play, and from there, I mean, once the deficit grows for these Titans, you just know that they're so limited in terms of talent or just experience that you realize it's going to be a very steep mountain to climb, and that's where things kind of fell apart. But in the first half I liked what I saw. I mean, he looks a lot like he has in most games save for a couple in which, like the difference in talent was so significant that you knew they just couldn't do anything. It's again just a case of the Titans, even when they make a coaching change, they're still just kind of playing with one hand tied behind their back. Their turnaround is not going to happen overnight, no matter who the coach is. I would say they looked a little more organized, but they're still messed up the details. So I think it's going to be a change or an improvement that happens next year.

01:28:21
Speaker 2: Yeah.

01:28:21
Speaker 1: Supposedly they were simplifying the offense for cam Ward and look, he did go twenty five for thirty four and was effective for most of the game. But ultimately he's going up against a team where every week, like Drake May's completion percentage over expected is just absolutely outrageous. It was plus twenty four to eight. Like the biggest problem they have is he just takes too many hits. He left the game to get checked for a concussion. That's like the third time this year that that's happened. He rushed for sixty two yards. He's going to need to protect himself better. Jeffrey Simmons, by the way, left with the hamstring injury. Was out the final three quarters of this game, and I think a lot of credit has to go to his teammates picking him up. Ramandre goes for eighty eight yards on the ground to Mario Douglas has a one handed catch on fourth down, which allows them to score another touch on. Austin Hooper's touchdown was a good throw, but it wasn't even better at catch. So oh yeah, people have been killing like their roster construction in terms of their receivers. I tell you what, they have a lot of guys who block, who are pretty versatile and who have good hands, like they're not separating, but they've been pretty reliable for Drake May. It's led them to a five and two record. I'm actually looking forward next week Shook to a tougher matchup against the Browns defense on the other side. You know, it's not as tough, but that's actually the best defense that they that they faced maybe all season.

01:29:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I would be curious to see how the Browns approached this because Stefon Diggs has been very good over the last few weeks, and he made some really great catches today. Him and Drake May are very much in the same page. May through a great backshoulder fade to him on the sideline that only probably Diggs is going to make that catch, or you know, he's in that upper tier of receivers with the late hands, like a more inexperienced receivers not making that play. He also like layered in a couple of differ and balls to different guys as well. And so I'm curious to see how the Browns approach it. Do they take Denzel Ward and travel him. Who do they identify as their top receiver because Booty's obviously blossoming this season. It's gonna be a very interesting matchup. That note on Simmons is important though, because that is when this game truly changed. Once Jeff Simmons came out of the game, the Titans didn't have an answer for whatever the Patriots wanted to do. And that's really where the scales tipped in New England's favor.

01:30:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, the ground game had had its best day for the Patriots. Trell Jennings, of all people, ends up getting more touches than Trayvon Henderson. It's dark out here in the Trayvon Henderson streets. Mike Rabel said they might have found their five minute back man, and it's not Travion Henderson. Let's go and talk about your Browns before we get to Sunday Night football.

01:30:42
Speaker 2: A good Browns day.

01:30:43
Speaker 15: Finally, j Chander the backfield two from the pistol, throws to the outside, blasted, picked off Campbell down the sideline, piece of the ten.

01:30:52
Speaker 14: The five touchstone. Are they gonna call it a score? It's a touchdown. Campbell did step out of bounds. He tight wrote the sideline, Welcome to Cleveland.

01:31:07
Speaker 1: So much focus of this game is gonna be on the losers. The Dolphins are one and six, you know the Browns are two and five. Will Mike McDaniel survive the week.

01:31:16
Speaker 2: Who cares about that?

01:31:17
Speaker 1: We got to hear another Andrew Siciliano call, and yes it came from a big defensive play, but they got it done on offense as well, at least enough Quinnchod Jenkins with three touchdowns on the day, and what the hell shook? Before I give you the floor, let's just get another Siciliano call into the show because there hasn't been enough this year and.

01:31:38
Speaker 15: They're now all the Miami forty six yard line for the far hash out of an I formation, fannin in front of Judkins Gabriel on first half, We'll give to Judkins running up the middle, pick hole forty he's in the thirty five, he's in the thirty. It's a put race twenty fifteen course sideline TOUCHCD Quinn shot Judkins forty.

01:31:58
Speaker 2: Six, he's to the house.

01:32:02
Speaker 1: Are you able to enjoy a blowout Brown's victory?

01:32:07
Speaker 5: Shuck?

01:32:08
Speaker 3: I enjoy it through my friends who are at the game and text me the Browns are back, and I am able to reply, No, they're not. They're just playing a team that's worse than them and capitalizing on it. It was a good This is the game plan. I expected like that touchdown run. I expected that to happen against this Dolphins defense which cannot stop the run. We've seen it over and over again. But we have this weird balance between rushes for negative games, like just be like tackle for loss for a loss of three, Like Judkins average precarious three point four for this game because there's like five or six examples where he just gets tackled in the backfield and then it's Judkins runs for four because he had to break two tackles. Then he rips off a forty six yard touchdown run. But yeah, it all comes back to the defense with this team, and they found an opponent that is so disjointed that they were able to capitalize. And you know they pick off two or three times, the first one being an errant throw, the next two just being poor decisions and bad throws. By two a tongue of Baila. The first one went off of eh Chance hands and was a great play. We saw that highlight as well. But fun little fact for these Browns, Tyson Campbell gets a pick six. Another former general Ray Shawn Jenkins gets an interception in this game as well. The most dominant performance you're gonna see from the Browns this year and maybe into next year. But they needed it. It's always nice for a fan base to get a nice little blowout win that was so lopsided that even their fans started to leave the game early enjoy it.

01:33:23
Speaker 1: Andrew Berry's back, you know, he was taking a lot of slings and arrows from Joe Flacco. But the guy he traded for, Tyson Campbell. Yeah, with the with the pick six and look you win the turnover battle for it to nothing. You mentioned to he leaves this game late, it was over at that point. Quinn Ewers, who was the backup today over Zach Wilson comes in three interceptions. You do wonder if that'll be it for Mike McDaniel in Miami. This is him after the game.

01:33:51
Speaker 16: A game like this, You know, I think we didn't see coming in terms of our prep, but you absolutely, with one hundred percent certainty, you have to evaluate everything.

01:34:03
Speaker 5: You know, I think it goes for.

01:34:06
Speaker 16: You know, no person or no player or no coach is got their hands clean. Uh, And and we have to go back to work and starting with me, do a better job.

01:34:21
Speaker 1: It's a bummer, like it all comes down to the coach, quarterback, their relationship, their performance, and I think today said at all one hundred yards for two I know is bad weather, but one hundred yards three interceptions. It just feels like a regime ending type of performance. And even on a day where their their defense got some stops along the way, just couldn't happen for them. Enjoy the victory. Hey, why not, shooky and enjoy a Sunday night football game. We're gonna talk about right now after the break.

01:34:52
Speaker 5: Maybe not right now.

01:35:02
Speaker 13: Christian McCaffrey has carried the load tonight that he stands behind Matt Jones.

01:35:07
Speaker 2: Now cal yuschik chefs i formation.

01:35:09
Speaker 13: Jones takes and gives Christian touch it up inside back penalties.

01:35:13
Speaker 2: White cushing, pushing, pushing, take out.

01:35:16
Speaker 7: Of man.

01:35:20
Speaker 3: Up front for the Niners tonight.

01:35:22
Speaker 2: Huh touchdown?

01:35:24
Speaker 5: Maybe they put it.

01:35:25
Speaker 2: Away San Francisco.

01:35:28
Speaker 1: Oh they weren't just pushing, they were pulling. But whatever gets the job done. The forty nine Ers beat the Falcons twenty to ten on Sunday Night football to get to five and two, just poking the balloon and letting a little air out of all that Falcon type coming off their win in primetime last week.

01:35:47
Speaker 2: They've been living it in primetime.

01:35:48
Speaker 1: But man, the forty nine ers have been living this life with Christian McCaffrey. It doesn't matter who gets hurt, who's in the lineup, who doesn't. They're giving about thirty touches a game to Christian McCaffrey, and it's working well enough, especially tonight thirty one touches and I love Nick when the highlight fits the theme of the night. He finishes with one hundred and twenty nine yards on the ground on twenty four carries, but Dodd Dobinson also effective on the ground.

01:36:17
Speaker 2: It was a sight for sore eyes.

01:36:18
Speaker 1: The forty nine ers could run the ball again and ultimately they controlled the game, and especially that late fourth quarter drive to put it away.

01:36:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like we were two seasons ago with them where they run the football, maybe four or five seasons ago the way they executed. But really I think it was perfectly fitting that the team that they played, they essentially took their game plan from their most recent primetime victory. Only six days ago, the Falcons were rolling with Beijon to a victory and they said, we're doing the same thing with Christian McCaffrey from basically the start, but really right before halftime, riding all the way into the finishing touchdown in the fourth quarter. Look, when when you're down, you know your top receiver and Ricky piersaw you is still enough, Brandon, You're playing with Mac Jones as a backup quarterback who's been battling his own slew of injuries throughout this season. Who do you turn to your best player and you ride him to victory? And that's what they did.

01:37:09
Speaker 1: It's crazy how complete Christian McCaffrey is as a player and you lack the explosion right now. And that's what maybe is different from this, you know, iteration of the forty nine ers running attack compared to previous years. His long run for the day was fifteen, but he had thirty one touches that includes seven catches for seventy two yards, and so he was the leading receiver by far today. And I started wondering, like if you just took his forget all of his rushing numbers this year, and we know on a personnap basis, they haven't been great. Forget the rushing just looking at his receiving numbers, he's third in the NFL with fifty three receptions.

01:37:50
Speaker 2: He's now sixth in the.

01:37:52
Speaker 1: NFL for five hundred and sixteen receiving yards, so you know, more than all the receivers except for five. And then he's first by a long shot in scrimmage yards with nine hundred and eighty one. We're only seven weeks into the season and he's almost at a thousand scrimmage yards. And okay, he's not making as many people miss, although he does make people miss. But man is he tough. He's running through people's faces tonight, and he's smart if you get him one on one against a linebacker in coverage. So much of their offense is about setting him up to do that. He knows exactly where to go. He knows how to set up defenders. He is not John Robinson right now, but he didn't need to be. And tonight, on a night where Robinson was pretty quiet against a really frisky forty nine Ers defense, he was awesome. Give me your thoughts on watching this forty nine Ers defense and what they did to hold down the Falcons to only ten points.

01:38:49
Speaker 3: Oh, I mean, first off, what an achievement to accomplish this without Fred Warner, who you lost to an injury last week. I mean that that's a massive missing piece that you think would immediately create a man match in favor of the Falcons when you incorporate Bejon out of the backfield. Jon didn't really make all that much of a difference tonight. They found ways to patch that whole, that biggest hole, the biggest void on their defense up and I think a big part of it was getting Kevin Gibbons back and this pass rushing unit up front. You saw Bryce Huff making a difference all the way to the end, you know, getting after Michael Pennix, en forcing an incomplete pass that for a moment was believed to be a fumble. This defense, I mean, Robert Sala has just done such a great job of making the most out of whatever spare parts he has left, and that's how you hold the Falcons to ten points.

01:39:31
Speaker 1: I just love that You're like it was big that they got Kevin Gibbons back, and you're right, like they just need poddies. But okay, let's look at who made the biggest plays of the night. Chase Lucas, a slot cornerback, was not overly familiar with who was filling in for Upton Stout the rookie slot, makes a couple huge plays late. He's actually the highest ranked player according to PFF in this game. Bryce Huff, what a trade that is turning out to be two sacks, two quarterback hits. Another Hurry had a force fumble late that they ended up calling back against Pennex because there was a penalty down the field, but he was just everywhere. And then Tatum Bethune is in there at middle linebacker for Fred Warner and he made a number of big plays in the night, and one of them is a pressure late in the first half, and I thought this was typical of the pressure numbers overall.

01:40:28
Speaker 2: Weren't crazy.

01:40:29
Speaker 1: They definitely ticked up late in the game, but they were well timed on key downs and I think that's been a forty nine or staple when Demico Ryans was the DC. Now when Robert sala is the DC again, it's like they really know when to hit on big downs and they made it absolutely happen tonight. But I'm thinking of that play to end the first half and they make Pennix throw an intentional grounding with ten seconds to go, and eventually that runs the clock out because they have to do a ten second runoff and they don't get three at the end of the half. And it was typical for me for a night where like Pennix wasn't awful, but he wasn't composed throwing to all parts of the field in key spots when under pressure.

01:41:08
Speaker 3: No, no, he missed some throws whether he was pressured or unpressured, and especially when things got desperate late in this game, of course. But I think that's a product again of the forty nine ers defense and really like what key this win for them was how they delivered in big moments. The third down that they complete a pass that sets up the McCaffrey touchdown. That's a third and long that followed a really really nice play by a defensive tackle for the Falcons to cut down McCaffrey in the backfield. Former Ohio State Bucky Zach Harrison made a fantastic play, and yet they still overcome that with the big plays on the key down that's me mccarkyl.

01:41:44
Speaker 1: Look, yet his one interception was not on him tonight. They didn't ask him to do too much one hundred and fifty two yards, but just a couple of key third downs like they were mostly field goal drives, but a couple of key third downs, one to Jennings, one to Burn and then you mentioned the third and long to McCaffrey. And he's been the perfect level of backup because I don't think anyone who really knows ball thinks he's playing at a higher level than Brock Purty plays.

01:42:08
Speaker 2: On average.

01:42:09
Speaker 1: He's playing good enough ball to help them win games, but not good enough to make a real controversy.

01:42:15
Speaker 2: That's perfect.

01:42:16
Speaker 1: They're five and two and they've really managed this part of the schedule and they're not going to get their defensive players back, but they will get pierce All back, they'll get Purty back, hopefully soon. And a disappointing game for the Falcons to fall to three and three. These two teams, they're just they're stuck in the middle of the NFL. But the forty nine ers are right there atop the NFC West, now tied with the Rams, who started this long Sunday of football in London about fourteen hours ago.

01:42:45
Speaker 2: So I know you've been driving all over the state.

01:42:48
Speaker 5: Nick.

01:42:49
Speaker 1: Congratulations to your grandparents renewing their vows this morning, and congratulations to you being such a good grandson that you drove all the way across the state and then back into I'm for kickoff because you're a great NFL Daily correspondent.

01:43:03
Speaker 2: Appreciate you, man.

01:43:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll take that. I'll take yeah, shout that in their great grandparents sixty five years. That's the model consistency right there.

01:43:10
Speaker 1: That's awesome. That's really cool and really cool that they could do that and that you could be there for that sixty five years. If we can only hope, all right, who knows, maybe we'll be celebrating the sixty five anniversary of NFL Daily someday.

01:43:26
Speaker 3: I think there's gonna be a new hosts by then.

01:43:28
Speaker 5: Doing the math. Yeah, that'll be a Walker host.

01:43:31
Speaker 2: We'll be back Monday night. We got a doubleheader.

01:43:33
Speaker 1: Both games are Austin, Houston, Seattle, Tampa, Bay Detroit starts out.

01:43:37
Speaker 2: Nick Schuck and I will be there. It will see you Monday night.