2025 NFL Week 10 Recap: Patriots Prove It, Tightening AFC North, and Season-Saving Wins

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where the AFC is looking a whole lot like it looked twenty years ago. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Westling podcast studio, and Jordan Rodrigue smiling. Patrick Claybond's wearing a beautiful tie.

00:00:20
Speaker 2: Oh thanks.

00:00:22
Speaker 1: And I'm not just talking about the Patriots and I'm here too. I'm just looking at the top and in the AFC, and you see Indianapolis, and you see Denver, and you see the Patriots, and you go over to the NFC, you know as well, it's like it's dominated by you know, the NFC West. I don't know. It just feels a lot like twenty years ago to me over there in the aves.

00:00:41
Speaker 3: It's a tradition all over the place as the blue bloods of the NFL.

00:00:46
Speaker 2: Remain at the top.

00:00:47
Speaker 4: What a fun day we had in the newsroom today, guys.

00:00:50
Speaker 1: It was a lot. It was a lot of happening. You know, teams caught up when they were behind, because that's what happens in football games, and we're going to talk about all of it. I struggled picking the start of this week's slate because there were a lot of really interesting games I didn't know, like what was the game of the day, and you guys convinced me that it was Patriots. Buck, So I don't look like a Homer by going along with what you said. Let's go to to Tampa.

00:01:18
Speaker 5: May under the center, second down M nine plus from the thirty one high formation, toss left. Henderson has it trading books outside the fifty to the forty, to the thirty.

00:01:31
Speaker 6: To the twenty to the ten to the house.

00:01:36
Speaker 1: Patriots, there's your book game.

00:01:39
Speaker 7: Ain't too Benny, start to buses the Toba shortwave.

00:01:44
Speaker 1: But it's a slape today we are getting it.

00:01:47
Speaker 2: It's safe clover. He said this before off.

00:01:50
Speaker 1: The two man No Scott Zolac making me regret my decisions. Start with the Patriots, right the bat. Patriots go down to Tampa and they say, stop talking about strength to schedule Greg. The two best teams you know we faced in the last five or six weeks. They got the w and they got it on the road twenty eight to twenty three. Patriots hold on in Tampa. And yes it was Travion Henderson on a day where no Ramandre Stevenson and Terrell Jennings. Who's getting all the carries early in the game, gets hurt, so they just gotta go with Travon Henderson. And you know what, that's a pretty good idea. When I think about like the big picture of this Patriots season and this win in particular, I think what you got to like from a team building perspective is this was a team that was old and slow at various points, and now they're young and explosive. You get the two huge plays from Travon Henderson, you get the young guys on the offensive line who didn't have a perfect day, but considering it was against Todd Bowles and everything only took one sack on the day. You have an explosive young quarterback. Obviously Kyle Williams has the explosive play. And then the guys you brought in in the offseason, so many of them had crucial roles in this win, especially Milton Williams, Kalevon Chase On and I think it was a complete victory because it's not all just about Drake may. This was a day Patrick where he had some throw of the Year candidates, multiple maybe, and he had some groaners, a killer interception that allowed the Bucks back into this game and made some big mistakes, but their defense picked up Drake May in the running game at the end, picked up Drake May when they needed.

00:03:30
Speaker 3: And something that lends to what you've talked about for two years now, where it wasn't Drake May being the only thing that mattered today. They needed those explosive plays in the run game because this Bucks team, which gets a lot of pressure, they got to Drake May, and under pressure, he was four or thirteen fo one hundred and sixty seven yards. He did have that one touchdown to Kyle Williams, who made a great adjustment on the ball where May was hit as he threw and he wound up finishing that play and getting it into the paint. But we saw this be a complete Patriots team, have a complete formance against a good team coming off the buy on the road, and yeah, it's all the college football weird criticism of like strength.

00:04:06
Speaker 2: The schedule, like like.

00:04:10
Speaker 1: Maybe that's on me.

00:04:11
Speaker 2: We don't need a committee at this point.

00:04:12
Speaker 1: No, I get it, but I do think schedule explains a lot in the NFL, and they have like three more cupcakes after this too, But they have been consistent, weirdly in how they win these games. You look at like success rate in this game, Like their running game was terrible for most of the day, but that's why explosive plays matter more. Travion ends up with one hundred and forty seven yards, most of them on those two long touchdowns, and the rest of the day they couldn't get anything done on the ground. But that's kind of how they've played all year, is just hitting a handful of explosives. Usually it's in the passing game, and they got a couple of those today with Matt Collins and Kyle Williams.

00:04:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, and important that a couple of those came in the run game, specifically against one of the better run defenses in the NFL. And I feel like this was such a cool game for Drake May if you are Drake May, because yes, to your point. While I would say the majority of this game looked really sharp, really crisp. He looked like the same quarterback we've been seeing who's among the highest in the league in completion percentage right now and making tight window throws and pushing the ball down the field. There were a couple plays that he wants back, but in those moments, the rest of the team prior to as opposed to last year, and certainly what the stinkers some of these rosters have been in the past couple of years. The rest of the roster stepped up and complimented around him, and you really see that. And you mentioned the passing game, Greg, I think their run game obviously still work in progress, but in the passing game, specifically the layers that Josh McDaniel's and the rest of that offensive staff have built into the passing game, there is an over for every under, there is an under for every over. They're peeling defenders off of each other and creating leverage matchups, creating one on ones to advantage, and everybody's running really crisply. Even the big older tight ends are coming back to the ball with really explosive movements. And you've got to feel really good about this if you're seeing this.

00:06:01
Speaker 1: So let's throw it to that throw the year candidate that I brought up earlier, the fifty four yarder to maccollins. Third down fourteen gets a breath.

00:06:10
Speaker 5: A different car May is flanked by Henry White Henderson left, who takes the snap.

00:06:16
Speaker 1: Poor man rush Drake is back. He launches along about farming down the right side. He's got an open man.

00:06:20
Speaker 8: Hollins makes the sects crop the fifteen tack.

00:06:23
Speaker 9: Bull in silent head, a perfect crow by trick.

00:06:27
Speaker 6: May after the red gloves of mac Collins first in gold and kill at the.

00:06:31
Speaker 10: Age and he gets croached, absolutely croped to.

00:06:35
Speaker 11: Get on the release dismay, but he hangs in there and throws a freaking time.

00:06:40
Speaker 1: Looked about Collins on the co roped down the right bouldry as I'm McCallum uncovered there, does not expect Mac Hollins too, essentially acts as a tight end for this team and made the key block on the Travion one of the Travion Henderson touchdowns, the first fifty five yard run, which was in the third quarter. Hollins's playing more because no case on booty in this game. Christian Gonzales also a good game. Gives up only three catches to a Mecca Abuka on nine targets. Abuuka still got his It was great to see him fully healthy. He went six for one fifteen overall. But yeah, a balanced game. I thought Baker like he played pretty well in this game. If you're a Bucks fan, you get Luke geticky back. I think It's a very frustrating loss for them because their pass rush was better. Their run game, even though they miss Bucky Irving, like Sean Tucker, was really good in short yarded situations. They had a much higher success rate. I thought they like protected Baker better, but they lost around the margins in general. I want to get your thoughts, guys on the Mike Rabel decision late in the first half. I think it kind of was the key to the game in the end that late in the first half they're driving, there's about a minute forty to go and first and goal inside the five, they were around the three yard line. They have Drake May take a dive after the Bucks use all their timeouts to basically burn clock and waste the first down play with Drake May when they're basically on the goal line, like extremely interesting strategy I have never seen before. And then the Patriots can't score on the next two plays and it's typical of what they did all day. They could not run on short yardage. And then here's what great players do. They just bail out their coaches. Because Drake May and Stefan Diggs had an incredible fourth down touchdown, they get the touchdown there, they get the touchdown on the other side of halftime, and suddenly they get that fourteen point BELICHICKI and Sandwich, what do you think about this strategy? Patchrick, Oh, Greg.

00:08:45
Speaker 3: It could be process oriented and criticized the decision to waste it down and then wind up targeting and twine Winfield Junior on the back shoulder with Stefan Diggs where he's having to find the ball off and make get two feet down. Or you could be results oriented and say six it's New England. Clearly it was the right decision. I lean towards process.

00:09:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, but most coaches in this league are results are oriented, so you're probably gonna have a recency bias on that one, a little bit of a confirmation bias.

00:09:12
Speaker 1: I don't know if many coaches have the stones to try that was wild.

00:09:16
Speaker 4: I don't mind trying to manipulate the clock. I do think that trying to run the ball in short yardage against one of the best short yardage run defenses in the NFL is probably where things start to go a little bit sideways. And you could tell how much situational coaching that this group is getting week over week. With Mike Rabel, you kind of knew it was a given. And he's got John Striker on that staff as well, and so obviously they're gonna hammer this every single week to the point where maybe some people are overthinking things, like Trevion Henderson who's looking to the sideline to see if he should still keep running and scoring a touchdown on that second while he's running, because because you're just like, ah, crap, what was it we talked about this week earlier in the meetings, and then looking over to the sideline like that's how you can tell they're thinking a lot about these types of things. So I just I'm tickled by all of it. It worked out for and probably wouldn't have worked out, you know, five out of other ten times they tried it.

00:10:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, that steff On Dig's catch was awesome and he goes five for forty six. He has been so valuable for this team, even beyond the statistics, it is really outrageous. My thing on that play was I wouldn't do it, but if you had just run, just run the ball, it would have happened naturally. Anyways, they tried about ten different runs up the middle in short yarded situations and I think they failed about nine times anyways, including the next two plays. So just run the ball. If you happen to have scored, just take it. But I get it. They did not want to give the ball back to Baker with light twelve seconds to go. No, it would have been like a minute and thirty seconds left if they had scored on the first down play, you know, or a minute.

00:10:45
Speaker 4: Forty normally, Baker Mayfield, can you know, make crazy things happen with a minute and thirty seconds left to play? Unfortunately, I think.

00:10:53
Speaker 3: It's a good problem to have if you score a touchdown with a minute and thirty seconds.

00:10:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is worth pointing out to Yeah, to what you said there.

00:11:01
Speaker 4: In football Patriots, we.

00:11:03
Speaker 1: Would have been talking about this game back and forth much differently if Baker Mayfield had led one of his patented fourth quarter you know, Baker ball drives here. I was expecting it. I was expecting it to do it.

00:11:16
Speaker 4: I saw you give the look, I mean the Baker cape sound rolling may.

00:11:28
Speaker 1: May You know they had a chance to go up eight. Instead, he forces the ball into the end zone with about five minutes left. Tike Smith, who's been awesome this year, makes an incredible interception, and I kind of just felt like Baker Mayfield would drive the ball down the field. But their defense has really gotten better, and it was it was pass rushed by Milton, Milton Williams and Caleb on Chase and in a good secondary right now with their three cornerbacks. So credit to the Patriots defense for holding them off. They the Patriots took a bigger lead than expected in the AFC East because yes, the upset of the day happened down in Miami.

00:12:03
Speaker 2: Ahan the piscoal bag fish it to them. Let there he goes dry go He's.

00:12:09
Speaker 12: Caught twenty ten five touch down Miami a chen have a day.

00:12:17
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, Tons, I don't think you ever. He never got the full speed on that way.

00:12:24
Speaker 1: He didn't need to devon Ah Chan, He's taking it easy on his way into the end zone. The Dolphins ended up taking it easy in the fourth quarter of this game, thirty to thirteen over the Buffalo Bills, who fall to six and three. Yes they are a game and a half behind the Patriots. Dolphins improve to three and seven eight Chan with one hundred and seventy four yards on the ground and a couple touchdowns. And oh, by the way, just adds another fifty one through the air with six catches, becoming one of the fans see pickups of the year. Patrick, how was this so one sided?

00:13:06
Speaker 3: Well, this was one sided because it's a familiar thing that we've talked about with the Buffalo Bills on defense, where yes, it was a great performance against Kansas City, where you could say, the type of skill player that Kansas City has that's not Rashi Rice, you don't get the level of production that you get like in games we've seen where John Robinson is running all the Buffalo Bills, like the game Phukunakua had against the Buffalo Bills and Sean McDermott's defense in SOFI Stadium last year, and Jalen Waddle and Devon Han present a particular problem in terms of explosiveness and ability after the catch and after contact that we've seen the Bills struggle to deal with, and especially in stacked boxes today where Buffalo was loading up against the Miami run game eight or Moore defenders in the box seven carries for seventy four yards force wow, ten point six yards per carry against stacked boxes and over on the other side, how rough it has to be for Bills fans who coming up to the trade deadline have dreams of all these receivers, even within the division, thinking, oh, it could be a fire sale in Miami we get Jalen Waddle.

00:14:11
Speaker 2: No, they have to deal with covering them instead.

00:14:13
Speaker 3: While Josh Allen has the longest time to throw in this season and you have to go back a couple of years in his career in a single game where you just wonder if the Bill's whether it's a Joe Brady issue, whether it's a talent issue. In terms of separating, they did not get the game they needed from their receivers. Even even when they did get something going late, it.

00:14:33
Speaker 1: Was too little tailent. Tom Pallisero of NFL Media reported this morning that the Bills were the most aggressive team in trying to go get Jalen Waddle, which is a fascinating fork in the road moment. But either Miami didn't want to trade them in the division or they just needed a first round pick plus, which you know I would have I would have held out for that too, for a guy that good.

00:14:54
Speaker 4: I harken back to the summer and the early fall when Brandon Bean was like downright angry about reporters continuing to ask about receivers and bringing in receiver help and will you potentially trade for a receiver and then reportedly making this much of a push for a receiver who could be a true one in your offense. Is it is admitting, you know, to the fact that it's a glaring need and a very obvious one.

00:15:20
Speaker 1: Jordan just sticking the knife into Bean. Maybe it's not a.

00:15:23
Speaker 3: Nice I mean, he was on that radio call like it, and I'm sure he was proud of his performance on that radio call, which.

00:15:29
Speaker 1: Is it's kind of solid.

00:15:31
Speaker 3: The folks will, well, we'll bring up but then, you know, you look over on the you know, the celebratory aspects that they were able to have with Maxwell Harriston, where Jalen Model gave him all kinds of problem and maybe relying on the rookie coming back from that LCL sprain in just his third game in one on one situations with Jalen Model kind of highlights why they needed Harston in the first place.

00:15:51
Speaker 1: Let's give some important context in terms of the Bill's injuries. They got through that Chiefs game, and sometimes I feel like the whole Chief's off season is all I mean, the Bill's off season. It's all about like figuring out ways to stop the Chiefs, and they are good at that. But they get through that game playing well, and they were not healthy. Tarron Johnson, they're great slot corner out for this game. Christian Benford out for this game. Michael Hoyt we've mentioned, is out for the seven season. Aj Epenesa, their passers are out for this game. They lose Land and Jackson, their rookie defensive lineman during the game. Josh Palmer was also out on offense. So especially on the defensive side, they're not fighting fair and yet on the offensive side they're healthy enough. And there was like a fourth and one play early in this game, Jordan, that to me was very typical where it's like they're rolling Josh Allen out and they're just making it harder than it needs to be and he's out back there forever to your point about the time to throw, and he's throwing the ball like super deep on a fourth and one and you're thinking, ye got James Cook. Like they were shut out in the first half of this game for the first time in more than two years.

00:16:52
Speaker 4: Yeah, more often than not, when I clicked over to this game, it seemed like they were pressing too hard on offense, almost squeezing the puppy too. You know, you got to back off a little bit.

00:17:02
Speaker 1: Don't don't squeeze any puppies here.

00:17:03
Speaker 4: No, that's that's what I'm saying.

00:17:05
Speaker 1: Don't we love our puppies.

00:17:06
Speaker 4: Don't do it. That's it's uncomfortable, right, And this is a team The Bills were fourteen and two against the Dolphins, and you kept seeing these cut to shots of Josh Allen on the sideline just looking like he couldn't believe what was happening to them. And certainly, you know, the Dolphins just parted ways with Jalen Phillips, for example, and yet their defense suddenly is looking better than it had. The Dolphins offense has been without Tyreek Hill for a while and obviously had that front office shakeup, and then questions and calls coming in about not just their head coach and what his future is going to be, but questions about many of the players on the roster, questions about the quarterback. And this group looks better, you know, it's it is almost functionality out of chaos, which is a little worrying long term for like stress levels and the heart example, but heart held for example. But I feel like this is such a shock and a wake up call to the Bills, as depleted as they are on the defensive side, there has to be some tough conversations that happened now.

00:18:05
Speaker 3: Well, there's also the oblong nature of the spheroid that went the opposite way for Buffalo and has gone the opposite way for the Dolphins for most of the season, where James Cook's knee as a fraction of an inch from being down, ball gets poked out on a promise and Ronnie actually averaged north of five yards to carry. Josh Allen had what felt like a sixteen yard run on a quarterback sneak where it was just all sneak the whole way and probably should have gone down after fifteen.

00:18:33
Speaker 2: But he has the ball getting knocked out.

00:18:35
Speaker 3: He throws an interception in the red zone, is picked off by melafan Wu who had solid coverage. It's just Josh trying to make a play squeezing a ball in there, and so those turnovers key, but just execution for Miami.

00:18:49
Speaker 2: Best they've had since the team against the Falcons.

00:18:52
Speaker 1: And I know Tua ended up with two interceptions, so he wasn't a clean game in the end, but that was a dime that touched down to Waddle and he had some very nice throws in this game, so give him some love. Would they put a thirty points on the Bills get their third win of the season. All right, That's that's our AFC East update for the day. Let's head out to the NFC West where it felt like this Rams forty nine ers game had a chance to be kind of the appetizer for the Rams Seahawks game next week. But really to make that game as good as it can be, the Rams had to go and they had to even the score and take care of business in Santa Clara.

00:19:32
Speaker 13: What do you think in play action passer, if you really want to delve at a kill shot?

00:19:36
Speaker 14: Sure, Matthews understander performed a single back. Davis Allen motions from the right side.

00:19:41
Speaker 1: It is play action Stafford ready to deal.

00:19:43
Speaker 15: He throws no look less side along Parkinson. He can walk right in touchdown. Caldy Parkinson and Matthew Stafford stick to the dagger in San Francisco.

00:19:56
Speaker 1: Oh like Jordan Rodrigu to Brandon Bean a great call there by MJD setting his partner up with a great question before and he nailed it. JB. Long on KSPN forty two to twenty six the Rams win, And how fitting Jordan that a tight end kicks off our Rams discussion because you were geeking out about the tight end usage today.

00:20:21
Speaker 4: I know, aren't you sick of me?

00:20:22
Speaker 16: By now?

00:20:23
Speaker 4: Greg sitting next to you and that just freaking out over thirteen personnel sitting next to you in the queue.

00:20:27
Speaker 1: You did have a long rant about thirteen personnel while this game was starting. I'm like, the Texans are in the middle of the craziest come back I've ever seen. Like right now, I don't need to hear about the first corner of this four h five game or whatever's going.

00:20:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, you're like, my game's still going, My game's still going, My game's was great. Okay, the caveat here and yes, forty nine Ers fans, and I'm so sorry, and I hear you your team is so injured, your defense is so injured. Perhaps for a minute there there's a worry that you're gonna lose Tatum Bethoon again, another inside linebacker, came back into the game. Yes, that is the big caveat here. But the thing that is a truth here is that the Rams look like a super Bowl team. But the thing about this Rams offense that is different from its previous iteration of its super Bowl winning team, besides being homegrown and not picks for players and all of that, is how much deeper there's chematic options can go. This is no longer an eleven personnel all the time dominant. We do not DEVI eight team. This isn't even a twelve personnel team. So two receivers, two tight ends offense. This is actually it's skipped right past and Sean mcfaz taped his foot around the gas pedal, and it is a thirteen personnel, three tight ends on the field, one receiver team. And you saw this today at a forty four percent rate, forty four point eight percent of that there plays thirteen personnel for six point seven three yards per play and a sixty three percent success rate. Plus four of the six total touchdowns that they put up on the forty nine ers today, this was their most productive personnel grouping of the game, beyond eleven personnel, beyond twelve personnel. And yes, again it came against a really really banged up forty nine ers team, but this is a schematically diverse and multiple Rams offense that is really hard to defend because they can hit you with probably the deepest tight ends roster in the league.

00:22:22
Speaker 1: And obviously that's hoping, that's hoping helping to open up the pass game, and all three tight ends too were active. Ferguson has a thirty two yard catch in Higbee and parkin center both active with three or four catches over thirty yards each. But it's also helping the running game. Where to me, just when I saw this game, and then you look at the success rates comparing the two teams, and you look at Christian McCaffrey getting stuffed for thirty yards on twelve carries, like the Rams are the much better running team, and you know that that has to kill Kyle Shanahan deep inside that the Rams are like the running team between these two.

00:22:56
Speaker 3: And We've got to a point where I was seeing Brian Robinson Junior with early carries. It's twenty one to nothing, and I'm thinking, oh, this is a white flag from Kyle Broan. Robinson Junior averaged twice as many yards per carry as Christian McCaffrey, and you kind of start to wonder if they're going to deploy their backs differently as the season came on, where CMC is clearly like far and away one of the better players in terms of being involved in the past game, not having success on the ground.

00:23:26
Speaker 2: And hasn't been for a while.

00:23:27
Speaker 4: You pointed out something important, greg about their usage of these heavier personnels that I think makes it really tough for teams more so than even having to figure out how this comes out to defend against the passing attack. Kien Williams had almost sixty percent of his carries today out of thirteen personnel, fifty percent success rate, five point one yards per carry to both touchdowns that he scored. When you're looking at the modern version of some of these heavy personnel teams, including even the Pittsburgh Steelers and certainly the Seahawks, what they do at a twelve personnel they're building their that heavier personnel specifically with the idea of passing the ball. The Rams started that way as well. You look at how some of the stats have shifted and some of the carry share has shifted into heavier personnel, and then the heaviest of personnel, right, and you're looking at them building their run game around this as well, including having it be such a force and a factor in the pass game to the point where you know, Davante Adams leaves the game with a back injury after scoring, you know, his eighth touchdown and eight red zone catches, and they just shift immediately over to thirteen and it's like they don't even lose a step, and it sort of like makes you remember, oh, yeah, DeVante Adams and Matthew staff Stafford are having an incredible season. So if Puku Nakua is down, Davante Adams is up. And I want to take a look at that touchdown and listen to it, because it was just what's becoming a vintage moment between the two.

00:24:52
Speaker 17: Second down and go from the two, Helmut high snap looking left, throws that way, it's caught for a touchdown.

00:25:00
Speaker 14: Hey Adams, touchdown, la knocks.

00:25:04
Speaker 17: Over a videographer with a twenty seven to fourteen lead. Shaken up, but good to go. Devonte Adams continues his streak. He leads the NFL with nine receiving touchdowns.

00:25:18
Speaker 4: Now that I'm looking at that, I'm wondering if that's where his back injury happened, because he hit that camera pretty hard.

00:25:23
Speaker 1: So they updated after the game that they're calling it an oblique now and they said they thought he could have possibly returned to the game. So we'll see about his status for next week. But very typical Rams to change the injury after the game. But great, great release. You have him lined up on Malik Mustafa and it was just a vintage Adam's release off the line of scrimmage and he just wins quickly. And yeah, a storyline early in the season was how they couldn't get it going in the red zone. Really to Devanta, they were forcing it and now he is absolutely dominating. Before we leave this game, I do want to just introduce the idea publicly of the map Jones, Brock, Purty Scale and me because Man Mac Jones only had six and completions in this game. He goes over three hundred yard, he throws three touchdowns like he did his work. And the more I watch Man Jones, the more I watch him in this offense, he's really adding something to the table. And I and I said to you Patrick, and you thought it was obvious. So if it felt good about it. That No, no, that Greg miscoding past. No no, no, no, I'm not miscoding. I said the average Mac Jones game at this point at a higher level than the average Jimmy Garoppolo game for the forty nine ers. Yes, that's all I'm saying. And so Mac Jones, you know, you know that game when you're when you're at like the carnival of you're hitting you know, you're trying to hit it, and the guy's like climbing up the hill a little bit like if you're on the scale of like an average quarterback in a Kyle Shannan system, maybe like replacement level, it's Nick Mullins. And then you're going up the level and there's Jimmy Garoppolo. Mac Jones has now passed Jimmy Garoppolo, and he's getting reasonably close to block Brock Purty like he's behind him, but you know he's he's getting closer.

00:27:02
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:27:02
Speaker 3: My only issue with the with that part is it starts by invoking Brock party, and we don't need Brock to say that, you know, Mac has surpassed Jimmy Garoppolo on the on the Kyle Shanahan quarterback scale.

00:27:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a fine discussion. I just think we don't need to invoke rock.

00:27:22
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm just saying it's getting closer, that's all. Reportedly he could be back next week, and Kyle Shannon even said after the game that he thinks brock Purty could have been the backup today and was very close to being ready to go, and they wanted him one hundred percent until he before he returns in I have a feeling now six and four that will be next week for the forty nine ers. All right, let's move on to Berlin where we were hoping for a good one and we got one. We sent the international fans home happy. We also got to hear a little bit more of Will Gavin this season.

00:27:57
Speaker 7: Cool goes to Tayler bounce the outside down to the tall touchdowns. Jonathan Taylor his third of the day as he goes two up to two hundred and thirty yards, three touchdowns and a walk off for the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin, who moved to eight and two on the season after his sensational day.

00:28:19
Speaker 12: The entire fifty three, every coach, everybody on the field.

00:28:24
Speaker 7: Is gathered around Jonathan Taylor, who.

00:28:26
Speaker 1: Has carried this team to victory on German soil.

00:28:30
Speaker 18: What a day.

00:28:31
Speaker 1: One a day for Jonathan Taylor, wanted day for Berlin and what a resolve for the Colts. Oh that's Ali Connelly helping out Will Gavin on talkSPORT. I was driving in to work when I heard that call, and I thought, well, I'm gonna hear that call again later today. That was awesome. Thirty one to twenty five. Yes, Jonathan Taylor carried the ball thirty two times today for two hundred and forty four yards. If you had told me that his eighty three yard run in the fourth quarter to take the lead was not going to be like the call of the game and we will hear it, I just wouldn't have believed it. This was a performance, I think, Patrick, that could send shockwaves into the MVP conversation formula that you've been working on.

00:29:13
Speaker 3: It already has okay, it already has to give a preview, and you know Greg's asking for it. Greg is a part of the scoring, and in part we have access to the mind of a Greg Rosenthal. Jonathan Taylor, despite having negative points to start to come into Week ten because he doesn't play quarterback, has now surpassed his own quarterback in senior dimes in the conversation because Daniel Jones, despite getting five points for leading the league and passing yardage coming into the week, does not get the points for a quality primetime performance. Greg scoring the negative dimes game with the turnover, that's tough, and.

00:29:51
Speaker 2: So Jonathan Taylor supersedes his quarterback.

00:29:54
Speaker 3: And I think we have a precedence set here where if you're going to score in the conversation against your teammate, one guy has to have a clearly better game than the other. Yeah, and that's clearly Jonathan Taylor.

00:30:05
Speaker 1: So no points for well, I think the fact that it happened in an Island game and everyone could see that, Yes, Daniel Jones is important and made plays. That's why I feel bad about saying negative because you know, he had that third and fourteen to set up the game tying field goal right before the end of regulation, the run that was important, a number of scrambles to get to fifty three yards on the ground. They did fall behind in this game. But you also can't ignore the sequence where he had an interception and three fumbles in about a five you know, possession sequence that's not ideal.

00:30:38
Speaker 4: Starting to worry about the fumbling a little bit, just saying we know this has been a problem before. I have no doubt that with this group around him of really talented people and coaches like that, can get cleaned up. But yeah, I'm noticing, not judging yet, I am noticing.

00:30:52
Speaker 1: And there were a ton of free rushers on him. He only lost one of those fumbles. But to me, if you fumble it, that's just as bad. It's it's luck whether you get it back or not. Their offensive line really struggled to identify rushers for the second straight week, so that's something for their team to clean up during the bye. That's not necessarily on Daniel Jones, because Manny was under pressure quickly a lot of plays, and.

00:31:12
Speaker 3: That's why perhaps the biggest gift of this week of NFL football was on the final drive in regulation for the Indianapolis Colts, jeff Olbrooksons blitzes on first and second down to force the third and twenty one, and then they have a four man rush where Daniel Jones is able to run and pick up a nineteen of those yards, and then on fourth down they bring back the blitz Jones has MPJ on the hot read wide open to the top of the screen. Instead, he decides to use the force to Tyler Warren, who has a defender all over him, but somehow gets fits the ball in there for the first down, which hey, where results oriented great decision?

00:31:51
Speaker 1: Well, I agree with you, but Tyler Warren is such a beast, and I believe it was Jesse beats there in covered and he just at at this point trusting Tyler Warren to moss anyone on the biggest play of their season, because if you don't complete that, the game's over. Falcons win. It's not a bad decision. Tyler Waron makes the catch and you know, and he also turns an upfield and makes the play. Mandy has a good feel of like where the defenders are gonna be after he makes these catches.

00:32:17
Speaker 4: There was a quiet battle going on between Daniel Jones and Jesse Bates for the entire game. Obviously, Jesse Bates was super aggressive on the ball whenning coverage, but also they were sending him in some of these creepers, so looking like you're gonna blitz but then not actually blitzing, And they were sending him on some of these pressure looks where on one of the turnovers that Jalen Walker forced a fumble. Excuse me, James Pierce Junior forced the fumble this week. It was the reverse last week and Jalen Walker scooped it up. Jesse Bates was Daniel Jones was looking at Jesse Bates coming off his hit to his right the entire time. He wasn't even clocking what was going on to his left and it was basically a free rush right at him ended up being a turnover. They were going back and forth all game. I thought it was really really cool to watch. The score to me on the Colts side does not necessarily show how much fun this Atlanta Falcons defense is sometimes to watch, and yes, some of the calls when they'll they'll make the right call for two of the downs and then be like, ah, where'd it go on the third down? But this defense has come so much further than I expected them to in one year under jeff Ford Bridge.

00:33:22
Speaker 1: I think this game was and they're playing one of the best offense in the league is kind of typical of what this Falcons defense is, which is they're a big play defense, kind of going a big playoffense, but they give up a lot of big plays. They don't have enough of a consistent pass rush, but the secondary's good and they lose Alford Robert Alford early in this game. D Alford, I'm losing. I'm confusing my Alfred's that I've played for the Falcons. Five hundred yards for the Colts in this game, and yet I blame this game on the Falcons offense. Really, the defense has more than done its job all season long. But in a game where you know, the Colts pick up a new kicker, they miss, they miss a kick short, and miss an extra point early. They have zero third down conversions through the first three quarters of this game. Like I mentioned, they had the four fumbles, they had two failed fourth down potential conversions deep into Falcons territory where I think they were almost afraid to let the kicker kick. And they also made sense at the time they had the intercept. All of that happened on the other side of the ball, and yet the Colts kept having the ball down four points with the chance to win the game. This Falcons offense should have put this game away earlier, and they were just horrific on third downs on dropbacks on third downs, Michael Pennix completed one of five passes for four yards. He took three sacks and fumbled the ball away. They had negative thirty one yards on those eight dropbacks. And in a game where like there's no DeForest Buckner. It's not like the Colts had a great pass rush in this game. They're just their passing game I think is killing them.

00:34:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, the offense is driving me nuts. Don't think I did not notice Mike McDaniel running h Chan out of the pistol for huge production today. By the way, just in case, backup plan, you know, backup plan in case some shuffling happens.

00:35:11
Speaker 1: There was a weird under center play by Michael Pennox in this game, and I was.

00:35:14
Speaker 4: Like ooh, and then it was like the only one just in case Atlanta's in the market, you know, this offseason, you know, just in case some things move around. But yeah, I remain absolutely infuriated at times by this offense, and a lot of the passing game is just predicated on what can Drake London.

00:35:31
Speaker 1: Do six for one four and a touchdown six for one four in a touchdown.

00:35:35
Speaker 4: He had a hat trick last week, but they lack so much dimension in other areas of their past game. And yes, Bijeon went for eighty four yards on seventeen attempts to four point nine per attempt, but it was so start stop, start stop, and then he's completely a non factor in the game within the red zone.

00:35:52
Speaker 1: Well, in overtime, I do think play, you know, players, not plays, and it's one drive in overtime, and it's a very short drive. It ends up being five plays. And you know it's Darnell Mooney who had a killer drop in regulation. Eight targets to Mooney for one catch, and it's Algier a lot at the end of this game, and they didn't get Drake Lindon a target like at the end of the game. Where in overtime, who did Dania Jones throw to Tyler Warren? Like it was all Tyler Warren? And you trust your best players.

00:36:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, And there are so many situations where you look back. We've talked about the falcons inability to use the middle of the field in the passing game, and then they had a great opportunity. David Sills got one target today and it was a nasty miss by Pinnix where you you know, at this point in the season.

00:36:35
Speaker 2: It can't just be Zach Robinson's. It takes a.

00:36:37
Speaker 4: Village, yea to have a passing game an offense.

00:36:40
Speaker 3: And you got to put the blame on nine on some of these. I understand they don't use the middle field a lot. David Sills and his connection maybe be non existent, but you could.

00:36:51
Speaker 1: You can meet strangers, not not nine that suits up for the Vikings, the alter ego. This is Michael actual quarterback who plays for the Atlanta Falcons.

00:37:00
Speaker 2: Where's number nine? Two to my knowledge only is one person.

00:37:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're absolutely right. He was inaccurate for a lot of the day. He finishes twelve for twenty eight, and he was getting a lot of negative texts from Nick Westling to me, just like I've never thought Michael Pennix had it. He doesn't have it. There's not enough, you know, oomph, And I'm you know.

00:37:20
Speaker 2: But that's the thing he does.

00:37:21
Speaker 3: Like the things that Michael Pennock junior and out are very difficult to do, Like it's difficult.

00:37:26
Speaker 1: Not seeing it as enough develop buttons.

00:37:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, if he if they can action passing to the middle of the field, run dagger for Christ's sake.

00:37:34
Speaker 1: And some of it's on the coaches too, because his team can they cannot get plays off in time, like how many plays There were literally two drives that were ended because Michael Pennix was not ready for the snap because they had to snap it too quick and he's like walking up and they're running out of time. And so I don't know if the plays call is getting in late, but just the operation is is just rough. They're three and six, A lot of questions for the Falcons going into thereby the Colts are at eight and two. Who man, they are feeling better going into their bye. And before we say goodbye to this game, let's actually go to break by listening to Will Gavin again because yeah, we got to hear that touchdown call. Remember the fout. The Falcons were winning this game in the fourth quarter, seventeen to thirteen. They give up a field goal drive, then they get stopped for a three and hour, and then Jonathan Taylor takes over under center.

00:38:24
Speaker 6: Now Daniel Jones has Pittman going in motion, has Jonathan Taylor in the backfield, gives it to Taylor up the middle, gets the ardish needed for the first down, maybe a yard.

00:38:33
Speaker 1: More that's the outside. Is that brought down?

00:38:35
Speaker 9: How's the time?

00:38:36
Speaker 1: Twenty four to forty, twenty five to fifty. Taylor can go all the way here, He's the two druckers. He's gonna all the way. Ten tied touch down counts.

00:38:45
Speaker 2: Jonathan Taylor unbelievable.

00:38:50
Speaker 10: I'm with that.

00:38:51
Speaker 6: He breaks Hendering James, Indianapolis coach rushing touchdown record. This man is special, indeed, and he's carrying this team to open out be a nice in two records.

00:39:03
Speaker 1: Ravens of the line first in goal at the two.

00:39:07
Speaker 19: Lamar steps back into the shotgun, spreads three receivers to the right.

00:39:12
Speaker 1: Lamar takes a snap roll to.

00:39:14
Speaker 15: The right, grows from the back of the end zone, touchdown Mark Andrews.

00:39:20
Speaker 20: And the Ravens extend their lead with ten forty.

00:39:23
Speaker 1: Left up play in Minnesota. They extended, they did, and they hold on twenty seven to nineteen. The Ravens win their third straight game to get to four and five, same record that the Vikings have. In the loss Patrick, they were just knocking on the door all day, settle in for field goals all day. The Ravens finally break through get a touchdown early in the third quarter from Justice Hill, and I gotta say, you know from the outside, and you can tell me as the one who wore some purple today it felt like the Ravens defense is keeping them in this game and waiting for the offense to hold up.

00:40:03
Speaker 3: Shout out to Vanessa and Wardrobe picking this outfit for me. I had no say or other. She literally had to help me button the collar because I didn't know that it actually.

00:40:12
Speaker 1: But you know what's sad is I have no idea for oh yeah, yeah, that's cool. It's sad. I would have no idea that it's purple. But I know it because Jordan said it earlier, so I'm just copying.

00:40:23
Speaker 3: I still this is in the range of the spectrum where I just whatever somebody says it is same. It's dangerous because my life will be like that's my gunda or whatever, and I'm out.

00:40:36
Speaker 1: You feel the pain of the color blind community.

00:40:38
Speaker 3: I appreciate, yeah, stand in solidarity, but generally been feeling pain regarding this Baltimore Ravens defense where they've gotten seven turnovers in the last three games. They get enough from Tyler Loop. I know there are those who may be seated at this table with me who were oppositional to kicking field goal, but they give you three points and you are allowed, based on the rules, to keep these three points for the duration of the game. And yeah, it's a back and forth game toward.

00:41:06
Speaker 1: Sometimes when you're like way ahead, though, the other team can come back and that's how they can go.

00:41:10
Speaker 3: They can but when you get you know, Marlon Humphrey picking off JJ McCarthy as he did on what was essentially a punt where Justin Jefferson fell down. Justin Jefferson, I believe, finished with thirteen targets and four catches in this game where Zach Orr executed the plan pretty much almost a perfection, where there was an opportunity for a two point conversion after a late touchdown from Jalen Naylor, where you know, Nate Wiggins was arguing for a pass interference call which is okay not to do during the play though, which allowed Jalen Naylor with a late touchdown that gave the Vikings a little bit of hope.

00:41:49
Speaker 2: They went for two.

00:41:50
Speaker 3: But you just saw the way that the bracket coverage was designed on Justin Jefferson to limit him. In je Adobe Huzie had a break up there, but you know, the Ravens continue to ex on play action that touchdown pass to Mark Andrews. I will fight those at NGS who say that that is not a play action play despite having Lamar spread out to the right and where the entire Vikings defense is looking at him and not Mark Andrews on the back line. But a solid performance where yeah, they could have been successful in the red zone a little bit more, but all you need to do is good enough to win. I guess a solid team on the road is a team that's playing a lot better than they were a few weeks.

00:42:28
Speaker 1: They're stacking different types of performances. The offense hasn't been like as consistent as explosive as maybe you would expect, but this is a very difficult matchup and eventually they broke through. Let's actually listen to that McCarthy interception that you referred to. He had a couple of them today.

00:42:45
Speaker 14: Vikings three of seven on third down. This is third and short, two tight ends. They're balanced off, said I right, McCarthy on third and one is going to pass from under center. He's going to go deep Jennifer soon now Ti Marlin Humphrey picked it up, picked it off, but the five yard line. The veteran Marlin Humphrey heads up the field lazily to the fifteen. Now he sprints twenty twenty five and JJ McCarthy has thrown two interceptions.

00:43:10
Speaker 4: Oh wow, Paul, both interceptions when targeting Justin Jefferson.

00:43:15
Speaker 1: Also Pete Bursich on the call there along with Paul Allen on kfan going what are you doing?

00:43:22
Speaker 3: In the middle of that call, I mean, right out of his hands, Pete was asking what are we doing?

00:43:26
Speaker 1: And that's why I know Jefferson felt and I saw some critical tweets in Vikings Blue Sky about Jefferson today that you know, he had a couple of plays that he normally would have made. You don't normally hear that, but an up and down game from JJ McCarthy where great first drive again in a couple really good throws, but also some plays where he looked very young, including the end of game situation they had the ball back down eight with a chance to go, you know, possibly try to tie and win the game, and that two minute situation seemed to overwhelm McCarthy.

00:44:02
Speaker 4: Well, it seemed to overwhelm you too, Greg.

00:44:04
Speaker 1: It was a tough one to watch if you just like good ball. I mean, he's just he's just like throwing the ball in the middle of the field and sliding.

00:44:12
Speaker 4: Down thinking forever to make decisions too.

00:44:14
Speaker 1: He just wasn't ready for that moment.

00:44:16
Speaker 3: And it also gives credence to the defenders of the three man rush where on the fourth down, the Ravens decide to rush three, much to mushagrin as I'm on TV watching this take place, but they come through and JJ throws to Aaron Jones late, where Jones is having to try to make a diving grab and it was too little, too late.

00:44:35
Speaker 1: Well, I think the thing that bothers you about that clip is that's a play where JJ McCarthy has absolutely perfect protection. So it's more the decision that feels like it was made before the play instead of basing on what you're seeing in terms of coverage down the field and there was no need to rush that throw.

00:44:53
Speaker 3: But also, as a play caller, right as much as I love Kevin O'Connell, you have a third and one in that situation, and you have Justin Jefferson and running that route.

00:45:01
Speaker 4: Like, yeah, he's kind of what you want, just jad to look for. Yeah, he took it. He talked about a postgame where they were showing a zero look, so he knew that Justin Jefferson was automatically going to have distance against the defender. So I think all of this can be true at once. If you are on a third and one with a quarterback who's kind of been up and down a little bit to that point in the game, who was spiraling a little bit after the after the first interception, yeah, you definitely are going to maybe like run the ball. But if you're facing all of that down low into the box, and if you're facing a zero like look like that like Kevin O'Connell was talking about, and you know, the best, one of the best receivers on the planet is going to have a step. You just really need to make the throw. You have to execute the throw, no matter what the call is. On the converse, a lot of talk going into this game about Lamar Jackson versus the Blitz, highest passer rating in the NFL against the Blitz still was blitzed on sixty percent of his dropbacks for a for a touchdown and was eight for eighteen, so little hit or miss. Nine pressures hitter miss doesn't say, I don't think it means anything here or there, because they send blitzeres in different ways. But still that that high amount. That was Brian Flores committing to a game, and you.

00:46:13
Speaker 3: Could see Monkin trying to get the ball hard up like they were throwing a lot of horizontal passes, one of which Jonathan Gernard seemingly went directly through both of his elbows on a pass to say Flowers that they were trying to mitigate that pressure from from the Vikings pass rush a little bit, and we saw that and kind of play out. Yeah, it's stats that you mentioned, but you know, in the difference in the quarterbacking when you didn't get the pressure, eight made the plays and.

00:46:45
Speaker 1: Nine, which nine, There are a lot of nice that's.

00:46:48
Speaker 3: An interesting question. So was that actually nine playing today or was that JJ McCarthy.

00:46:54
Speaker 1: Okay, So for a little bit of context, JJ McCarthy says, his alter ego is nine. That's the core back who has taken all the anger from missing his rookie year and then missing a lot of time this year and bottled it up and used it for good supposedly. But if nine was out there today, that didn't seem like a good nine. And there are a lot of other nines, so that's confusing too.

00:47:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, in terms of JJ McCarthy's nine performance today, maybe that's the Nine's the devil on the shoulder, that's like, throw.

00:47:27
Speaker 1: It deep to JJ here, Well, here are the other nines. Okay, So Pennix struggle, Yeah, Stafford, maybe the MVP right now had a good day for your candidacy, Jordan, Bryce Young a little bit of a struggle right now in Burrow. Not healthy. So the nines they're not nine.

00:47:45
Speaker 2: In Yeah, and we played in Berlin today nine.

00:47:49
Speaker 1: I really am so happy by the way that we gave Berlin like a banger that that was a fun game. I know we're so far off topic right now. Shout out to Patrick Ricard. By the way, while all these teams are heavy, we got the old school Patrick grekhard on the field making a big difference for the Baltimore Ravens. All four and five records, by the way, are not created equal. The Ravens four and five they feel like they got a chance here in this AFC North. The Vikings, on the other hand, with a very difficult schedule ahead, are two losses back of the seventh seed in the NFC, in the back of a few very good teams in the division, including the Detroit Lions. Making some news on Sunday.

00:48:30
Speaker 3: I formation behind Jered, he turns handed to Gibbs, running right, runs through a tackle, gets down of the.

00:48:36
Speaker 9: Ten, gets to five, still fighting down two down of the one to the end zone, touchdown Detroit Lions.

00:48:44
Speaker 2: He did not quit, had a couple of.

00:48:48
Speaker 9: His buddies in there pushing as well, and they pushed him right into the end zone for another score.

00:48:54
Speaker 1: That was an incredible run by Jamir Gibbon. I know it's not like as long as like these Travon Henry once or as long as the Jamir Gibbs one. We'll hear in a second, but that's like one of the runs of the year. I'm giving a next Greg stats Oh here that ngs for when he had from where he got the ball and where the defenders were, he had a point six percent, you know, point six percent chance to get a touchdown. Actually, no one in the NFL other than Jamir Gibbs is scoring that touchdown. It's impossible. And I submit as great as Bajon Robinson is the more I watch Jamir Gibbs. I just think he is the best pure runner of the football, at least to my taste, in the NFL right now. Man, it's tough. I'm not saying complete player at this that, but just as a runner, this guy is freaking ridiculous. One of the best pure runners I've ever seen.

00:49:49
Speaker 2: Yes, and we could celebrate him without immigrating.

00:49:52
Speaker 1: No, we have to compare and then rank.

00:49:54
Speaker 2: Oh we don't.

00:49:54
Speaker 1: We have to pick one. No, we don't. I just did.

00:49:58
Speaker 2: No, we refuse, Jordan, I refused to engage Jamiir Gibbs.

00:50:03
Speaker 3: Special football player on a good team with a with a good play caller.

00:50:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's let's talk about what the big story coming out of the game was, which was, Yeah, Dan Campbell decided to take over play calling. Let's hear from Dan.

00:50:18
Speaker 21: This is all encompassing. You know, man, we all worked together, coaches did a hell of a job. But I just wanted to change it up a little bit. You know, Let's just see if, if you know, maybe a different play caller can can you know, maybe get a little rhythm. That's all.

00:50:35
Speaker 2: And it honestly is.

00:50:36
Speaker 21: Nothing more than that. You know, I know you're probably gonna want to ask questions about well, what about this or I heard this, It's not that, it's this is this was a change with many change.

00:50:46
Speaker 2: It was good for today.

00:50:47
Speaker 1: It was great forty four to twenty two. They scored every single possession until they finished out the game kneeling. That's that's crazy.

00:50:55
Speaker 4: I just loved how that the pitches of his voice change where he's like, no, no, nothing is wrong. Don't you dare put on the internet that something is wrong.

00:51:08
Speaker 3: We just made a little change, which is what a thousand people said in July fourteenth, seventeen eighty nine, formed the best deal.

00:51:15
Speaker 1: Just made a little change. We just wanted to say a little switch it up a little bit.

00:51:19
Speaker 4: John, know what you're gonna ask, Don't ask it.

00:51:21
Speaker 2: Don't ask it.

00:51:21
Speaker 1: John Morton taking artillery shells here. It reminds you of Dan Campbell's rookie season as a head coach. Why am I forgetting who his play caller was that he replaced in the middle Lynn of that season, Anthony Lynn, and I don't think John Morton's going anywhere. But you saw Dan Campbell with those glasses looking at his play sheet, losing his vision and the offense was awesome. Now was going against the Washington Commanders, So Dan Campbell was setting himself up for success and it absolutely worked. What I saw a lot of was we're gonna run Jamison Williams basically on the same route over and over again, and the Washington Commanders are not going to stop it one single time, and so we're gonna dress it up with different formations and we're just gonna keep making it happen. Six for one to nineteen for Jamison Williams. Amon ros Saint Brown had a couple catches in a regrettable touchdown celebration, and yeah, a whole lot of Jamir Gibbs who gets one hundred and forty two yards on the ground with just some crazy individual efforts. It is fun to watch great quarterbacks and great offenses against his commander's defense. Like, I know, the commander's defense stinks, but on the flip side, you get to watch them just make like great football players look their greatest.

00:52:36
Speaker 4: Yeah. I like when teams and I obviously I don't like it for the other team. I'm sorry for the commanders on that one, but I like when teams show their work. I like when teams try things and build things in game because they have the ability to do it, whether it's a team that's going through a transition or a team that's just flat out doesn't have the guys like the Commanders right now, I like watching troubleshooting, game building, like I love watching those things in reason we want, you know, we want competitive games here. This is the NFL, after all, this is Roger Goodell's National Football League. We want competitive games. But I do love watching sort of you draw the different designs and then build off of them in the game like they did.

00:53:17
Speaker 1: Right Like there was nothing I felt bad for, Like Mike Sanders still at one point, who I think played pretty well in their secondary, was the best player in their secondary. But he's out there competing and everyone else is just getting filaid. Trey Amos left with an injury. The Commander's offense really had no chance because, like I said, the line scored every single time they had the ball. Thirty first downs and five hundred and forty six yards in a game where they only had eight real possessions before they're kneeled down. It is just outrageous efficiency from the line. So they'll get tested more coming up there at six and three Commanders fall to three and seven, and yeah, I mentioned the long touchdown. Why don't we hear? Actually, you know what I'm gonna do. I'm not gonna say I'm handing over play calling permanently, and maybe it won't be permanent for Campbell either, but I'm gonna handover play calling to Eric Roberts. I don't know if your mic is on right now, and you can tell me if you think this forty three yard rushing touchdown call is worth listening to, and if the play is worth you know, listening to, I'll give you the play call here. Greg, I've told you in the past, if I put it on the sheet, it's worth our time. I don't know.

00:54:20
Speaker 7: Let's go washing on defense now, got forty eight times.

00:54:28
Speaker 8: And home's god to five touch down Detroy lyon forty four yards, sir.

00:54:35
Speaker 1: The mayor kids putting together a day, and the Lions have opened the lead. It is now forty one to sixteen for a great call there by Dan Miller, Colomas Brown and Eric Eric Roberts.

00:54:49
Speaker 4: Greg, you're so red right now.

00:54:51
Speaker 1: I mean, I loved I love it. When that's my love language is when people talk trash to me, right back. That's what I need, that's what I want, that's what fuels me. And and then I talk trash back to him because I know sometimes some of the press conference quotes you say, if you put it on the page, it's worth it, and sometimes they're not worth it. So that's when I have to do my Dan Campbell and be like, well, we might make a change. I don't know if we want to make a change. You might say this, but we're gonna We're learning.

00:55:17
Speaker 2: A little bit about Greg the love language. Yeah, it explains the uh explains to the.

00:55:22
Speaker 1: Belichick ex blames my marriage too. Let's go to Carolina.

00:55:29
Speaker 2: Third and so one four on third down, here comes some pressures. Shut out of the shot, soun Frozer deep down the far sideline looking for a LoVa. Oh, that's head of love.

00:55:39
Speaker 9: I will just tiptoe down the sideline into the inZone for a touchdown.

00:55:46
Speaker 20: Third and seven becomes touchdown Prissa.

00:55:49
Speaker 2: Love sixty two yards.

00:55:53
Speaker 1: We have done ten recaps this season. We have not heard a lot from my costs on WWL, and we have not talked about a game where the New Orleans Saints went belt to acts on another team. Seventeenth to seven against the Panthers in a game that should not have been that close. They double them up in yardage. Jordan, how did this happen?

00:56:16
Speaker 4: Well, I'm really excited to talk about what actually was a pretty ugly game and where it swung in the Saints favor. So you saw at that play it was ten seven Saints there. It stayed for quite some time. So, guys, if you will indulge me on this, we're going to play a game and it's interactive, Okay, So perk up, Greg. When I queue you, guys, you'll ask did they get points?

00:56:39
Speaker 1: Okay?

00:56:39
Speaker 4: Okay, okay, So let's practice. This is the queue.

00:56:43
Speaker 1: Did they get points?

00:56:44
Speaker 13: Great?

00:56:45
Speaker 4: Okay. So it's midway through the third quarter. The Saints are still up ten to seven and Bryce Young miss Xavier Leaguette in the end zone after climbing the pocket to throw. The Panthers get their field goal blocked. During the block, it becomes a live ball and the Panthers fall on it and get the ball back.

00:57:00
Speaker 2: Did they get points?

00:57:01
Speaker 18: No?

00:57:02
Speaker 4: Bryce Young and Jimmy Horn Junior fumble in exchange and Pete Warner recovers for the Saints at the New Orleans seventeen yard line.

00:57:09
Speaker 1: Did they get points?

00:57:11
Speaker 12: No.

00:57:12
Speaker 4: Panthers outside linebacker Nick s Gorton gets a big sack on Tyler Shuck on fourth and four early in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers back the ball at their forty.

00:57:21
Speaker 2: Did they get points?

00:57:23
Speaker 1: We got to do it together.

00:57:24
Speaker 4: Bryce Young was intercepted on the next drive. It was a bad read and a bad throat. The Saints got the ball back in Panthers territory.

00:57:33
Speaker 1: Did they get points?

00:57:34
Speaker 16: Yes.

00:57:35
Speaker 4: Shook hit Juwan Johnson for a thirty yard touchdown against J. C.

00:57:41
Speaker 1: Horn.

00:57:41
Speaker 4: They went up seventeen to seven after the extra point and that is where it stayed. The Saints get their second win in Tyler Shuck's second start after a long, long middle bear.

00:57:54
Speaker 1: I guess maybe I overstated it explosively at the beginning in terms of domination, but defensively a day where the Saints not only forced a couple turnovers you know late in the game, as you talked about, but they hold Rico Daddle to two point nine yards per carry. Bryce Young ends up with only one hundred and twenty four yards and an interception. And yeah, it was a type of game that made you think the Panther season has been great so far, and they can have great Sundays moving forward. They're five and five. The type of game it's hard to imagine a team that's going to wind up making the NFC playoffs losing. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, but this is one you kind of can't lose.

00:58:34
Speaker 16: Yeah.

00:58:34
Speaker 4: And meanwhile it's like this and they the things that they were doing well. You mentioned it, running the ball really effectively with your cot they were not doing well during this game. Bryce Young did not have a great game, made some bad throws, a couple bad reads, there was miscommunications at times between himself and Ted McMillan. Tyler Schuck, on the other hand, played really well. He was nineteen of twenty seven for two hundred eighty two yards and two touchdowns, a big yardage from the explosive plays. Like I mentioned before, he was poised. He did not fear the explosive throw. He saw the field well. A couple of big time throws, and my favorite of the bunch was this third and five to Chris o'lava that Olave drew a DEPI on as he went up and got it one handed. Let's take a look at it.

00:59:17
Speaker 1: Oof.

00:59:18
Speaker 4: I mean, look at this. I told Greg to get out of his seat. Look at this.

00:59:21
Speaker 1: Olave is turning it on after a pretty slow start to the season. I feel like he has played really well. He did it with Rattler, but yes, every definitely happened with Chuck.

00:59:31
Speaker 4: And every angle of this just shows that not only is he excellent, excellent ball skills here, but also that Shook really trusts him, that they're starting to build a little bit of chemistry together. You could definitely see that today. And by the way, this stadium, Bank of America Stadium was where his season ended last season, and he told reporters post game that he didn't really try to think about it and didn't want to think about it leading up to the game, but he got really, really anxious once he stepped onto the field, and just getting out there and running around and playing football made him settle back in and feel a lot better because that was a scary, scary scene for him last year and.

01:00:07
Speaker 3: Good for him in a great performance where he gets that one hander on Shaw Smith Wade and he needed it needed to be one hand because Wade was fighting for his life and grabbing the other hand, and then on the touchdown pass where jac Horn has played great all season long, it just it looked like jac Horn not looking like an all pro level defender on that one play, which was a rough rep for JC and Tyler Shuck did his job.

01:00:32
Speaker 2: He got the bald crysal Love in a place where he could make a play.

01:00:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, And they were hand fighting a lot, and I know Panthers fans like wanted to call there. I kind of appreciated that they let them play. That's a really great corner against a really great receiver. So it was it was really interesting. The player of the game still to me, was Derek Brown. I mean, this man is doing everything he possibly can and then some. He made a big stop on third down at midfield when the game was still like sort of locked at that ten to seven score and the Saints went for it, and Derek Brown like swammed the defender and shot into the backfield. And if Alvin Kamara was not Alvin Kamara and like made half his body go limp to avoid the tackle and then shoot underneath the blocking to convert, this play doesn't happen. And so it's like I would love for Derek Brown week over week over week to have more help. Jac Horn has played well for the most part. The linebackers are are hit or miss depending on the game. It's just this is an all time looking player and in his prime right now, and you really just need you need more from the offense. You need more from everybody.

01:01:34
Speaker 1: And they're gonna have their their down weeks. They're not a complete football team. But for the Saints to put up almost four hundred yards and for Shuck to go seven of ten for two hundred and one yards and two touchdowns on third downs, yeah pretty good. I thought he looked good last week. He looked pretty da Patter kind of scoffed at me. I was like, I know, I know, it was ugly, but I thought he kind of grated. He kind of did his job last week against the Rams. I was like, it was a good first performance. He's not all that matters for the Saints. They're going to have a high pick won't be quite as high after today. They're at two and eight, But his rest of the season is the most important thing about this team, and he's off to a good start.

01:02:11
Speaker 4: If the Saints can remove some of the truly infuriating calls and decisions that they have on offense. I do think that this becomes a more complete team. The Taysom Hill stuff. Just take it out, please take it out, especially donate it short yardage stuff. Take it out, throw it away. He could still be on the team and have a great time, and you can use him on some of the little sort of like running back hybrid full back packages, but like, do stop lining them up in short yardage where everybody and their mother knows what's going to happen, and then you can't even get a yard.

01:02:39
Speaker 1: Okay, a couple more things with this game. Number one, the survivor pick is over. You all wanted to take the Carolina Panthers, not a top twenty five team. I think in Dboa coming into week you all wanted to take them as a survivor pick. I said, I didn't like it. I don't support it, but I had to go along with you guys.

01:03:03
Speaker 2: What game did you want?

01:03:04
Speaker 1: I wanted the Seattle Seahawks against the Arizona Cardinals, and you guys did not want that.

01:03:11
Speaker 4: So you know, your memory is an interesting place.

01:03:15
Speaker 1: It's just a fact. It's literally on the podcast that everyone can.

01:03:18
Speaker 4: Listen to, you're saying your selective memory.

01:03:21
Speaker 1: Eric well, I might have. I might have been reminded before.

01:03:25
Speaker 4: Greg. You forget so many things frequently, but when you're right, you're trying.

01:03:29
Speaker 22: To remind him about it, because now he just show that Greg does not listen to like the bad music, like the surviving music played into the game. And then I hit him up in the middle of us and he had the biggest like, yeah, oh that's right, but yeah no. He ended last the preview show with a I win either way, because if we win, we win, and then if we lose, you guys lose.

01:03:51
Speaker 4: Yeah. Selective memory is yeah, well that that.

01:03:54
Speaker 1: Comes in my ear from my excellent producersfurcating himself and removing himself from from terrible what we seek to terrible leadership.

01:04:02
Speaker 2: Uh here, it's not just.

01:04:05
Speaker 4: Shrabile removing himself from the personnel department when he likes him.

01:04:11
Speaker 1: That's true, But no, I ultimately hold myself responsible because I could have. I could have just should have just stopped it. It's just true. It's no respect. I should have stopped it from happening. What else is that Carolina Panthers. At least they came through on our picks with Cynthia Friedland. That's six straight winning weeks. By the way, on that before we go to the next game, I did want to mention here that Paul Taglibou passed away overnight and he was eighty four years old, and he was a commissioner of the NFL for a long time, and uh, I thought this was a spot to do it, because he did one of the best things that I've seen any commissioner in any sport do. And that's what stands out to me is ple Tagley when he helped save the New Orleans Saints. Younger listeners might not remember, like it was flat out reported by ESPN that the New Orleans Saints were moving to San Antonio, and Tom Benson had made a lot of moves leading up to that report after Hurricane Katrina. He was going to take the New Orleans Saints away from that city after Hurricane Katrina, and Paul Taglibu, according to all the reporting at the time and afterwards, stepped in there and said, that is not happening. That is not happy on our watch. So in some part, the New Orleans Saints are are still the New Orleans Saints because of Paul Taglibu. So rest in peace to Paul Taglibu eighty four years old. Let's go to Chicago.

01:05:36
Speaker 9: Motion to the right on second at eight from the seventeen Klea Williams under center drags another Titan smipeon the motion. Here's the snap of the playfake Williams rolling to his left running.

01:05:44
Speaker 8: Now fifteen two hands old Jip Chozen touchdown in the blue peg.

01:05:51
Speaker 9: Caleb Williams seventeen yards. Took care of business himself. He absolutely did throughout the fourth quarter of that game. Six different scrambles, three for explosive plays. Caleb Williams gets it done with his legs, with his improvisational skills, and let's just say it, with his daring do this Chicago Bears team. You can put them behind in the fourth quarter, they will find a way to win. Twenty four to twenty two touchdowns in the final four minutes of this game. Another heartbreak loss for the New York Giants.

01:06:31
Speaker 1: More on that in a second. But I think you got to give some love to Caleb when we criticize him for maybe relying too much on just making it up as he goes along and not staying in structure. I think you have to recognize the moments in a game like this one where some of the plays he was making out of structure were just incredible that maybe no other quarterback could make and it wouldn't have been necessary maybe in these final moments if his receivers had caught some of those great plays that he made. A couple of Zakias drops and other ones in this game did not help Caleb Williams out, and he was not perfect, but he was a playmaker when they absolutely needed it.

01:07:16
Speaker 2: Today.

01:07:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, I believe the six drops total for the game is the highest in any one NFL game so far this season. And I love it because it is Also we've talked a lot about, oh, Caleb Williams and his development and Caleb Williams and learning the system and figuring out how to you know, be with Ben Johnson and all that. It's the reverse. Also, it's Ben Johnson understanding, like, what are the prime moments, in the exact right moments to let this guy loose and to really do the things that make him so special as a quarterback and as just someone who sees the game in this very like seven dimensional way. It's just very very cool. And I loved that there were snow flurries in this game, and we got all these slow motion shots of him doing these insane like plane bending things, and the snow is swirling and the Bears fans can't even believe they're good fortune. They're all bundled up and hugging each other at the game like this was. This was a poetic, poetic game. Not if you're the Giants, no not, but out of the ways or the Bears fans, this was poetry.

01:08:16
Speaker 1: And this was, you know, a game where both teams had so many missed opportunities. There were two turnovers on downs by each team in the first half where they're going for fourth downs deep in the you know other teams end. One time it was at midfield for the Giants, but they're driving and they're struggling on those fourth downs. There were some crazy, you know decisions by the quarterbacks at times where they're almost going for too much. But ultimately the Giants are ahead seventeen to seven in this game before Jackson Dart runs for the sixth time in the final time he did on the day, and his legs were such a huge part of this game. He gets sixty six yards on the ground. He's a great runner and he scores two touchdowns on the ground, but he takes a shot and he fumbles the ball while he takes a shot, and the Bears recover that play and the game really turned there. He did not leave the game right away after that play, which is where he suffered his concussion. He re entered the game for a couple more snaps and he clearly wasn't right in hindsight, and then he left the game. Russell Wilson finished it out and in the final three drives with Russell Wilson at the helm, the Giants had a total of seven yards. So essentially, the Giants offense and the Bears defense against Russell Wilson gave Caleb Williams those opportunities and he needed them because they failed to score on the first one of those post Russell Wilson drives, and they needed their defense to get him the ball back and he did. But really a depressing loss for the Giants to go to and it just feels so familiar, and even in a game where you really feel like you found your quarterback, there's the yeah butt, not just the loss, but the yeah but this guy needs to protect himself more.

01:10:11
Speaker 4: Yeah. The feeling it's familiar because the Giants have blown four ten plus point leads this hotly cow. So yeah, of course the sense the ominous dread even when things are going right. This is a team. You know, there's a specific type of anxiety called catastrophizing, and this is a team that is the actual embodiment of it, because at what cost something good happens for them, they gain some positive progress, and you just have this feeling like something is lurking and looming around the corner. That is just I feel for Giants fans, I feel for the players, I feel for the I feel for everybody because it just all it just feels like this is a pattern that they cannot get out of.

01:10:51
Speaker 3: Well, the pattern that they were in in this game was pulling tackles and guards with Jackson Dart and going straight quarterback power and having a whole lot of success. So even on the play where Dart does fumble and him reaching and trying to get the fumble, I think was key in the way that his head actually hit the ground, which the fumble happens kind of before the ultimate injury there. And it just to see Russell Wilson come in the game and so to Russ's benefit. The game's not at net Life, so they can't boo him the moment that he steps onto the field, which is something that they're doing. But everything is completely different. And I understand that Russell Wilson is a veteran quarterback that can't run like he used to, but you could still have Russ run. And Russ did scramble in this game. And to defend Russ, because Dart wasn't officially ruled out, he did have a forty one yard completion before Dart was officially ruled out. And they have a goal to go situation inside the five, and they wound up getting a young Way coup field goal. You gotta wonder, like, why why is it that the offense looks so entirely different? And when the rookie quarterback is in first the veteran quarterback, can you not make it look somewhat simire?

01:11:59
Speaker 1: Well, can you run the because you might get fired tomorrow or Tuesday and you're gonna go out, Sorry, you're gonna go out. Not going for it. There was a penalty on the young waykup field goal that then pushed the ball and they were already inside the five, but push the ball to the one yard line, and Brian Dable up seven points at that point, says, we're gonna take the three points. We're not gonna take it off the board instead of going for the touchdown to try to win this, just try to get a yard, try to be a team and if not, trust your defense to stop them from getting a ninety nine yard drive. And if not that then you're you're in a tie ball game. Anyways, and he keeps the three points on and that that is Mike Tomlin when he talks about living in your fears, that is living in your fears. And it's disappointing because Jackson Dart played awesome in this game. I am really getting convinced about Jackson Dart. Like as great as Caleb Williams played in this game, Jackson Dart was as good in this game like the ground but also a lot of money throws for fifty five minutes of this game. It was really such a different story. And I think they found their guy. I mean, I know it's like a small sample size, but Manny has been better than I expected. So that kind of like Drake may last year for the Patriots, I'm not putting him at Like, I'm not saying they're the same players, but I think they got to feel pretty good even if this is a totally lost season with a coach that gets fired like the Patriots a year.

01:13:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, well that the organization very clearly believes that they've they've found their guy. And you can feel it the way that the team previously has galvanized behind him, and they found their running back and they galvanized behind him, and everybody is galvanizing behind these these two players, and then all of a sudden, you know it is a double edged sword because of his play style at which he is the most successful. This is the second trip to the Blue Tent, and obviously one went you know, the way of Jackson Dart would have preferred, and the other one he clearly is in the concussion protocol. So it is something to think about when you're playing like this and you have so much hope and everything feels like maybe the dawn is coming around the corner of the hopes. What kills you something?

01:14:06
Speaker 1: I know, they had so many cool creative plays who it was way more under center runs. It was actually way less in Shotgun. They had Andrew Thomas playing tight end on the right side on one play that was so cool and then in the end you have to wonder like they set a all time Giants road losing streak record, which Brian Table was asked about during the week by a very gutsy reporter Pat Leonard, who was just like, what do you think about that?

01:14:34
Speaker 4: It just okay, has no fear. Pat is the Jackson dark power run Yes of Beat report.

01:14:42
Speaker 18: He is that.

01:14:43
Speaker 1: He is the ced deuce of Beat reporters. Chauncey Gardner. Johnson is the one that forced that fumble. He has three sacks in two games as a member of the Chicago Bears, and it's been absolutely crucial in their winning those to save da and it's c that is amazing. Let's take one break and let's say goodbye to you guys. This was a lot of fun.

01:15:06
Speaker 2: You know.

01:15:09
Speaker 1: Why he came at me. He pushed, we pulled. It's all part of the beautiful CORNICOPI have sports.

01:15:21
Speaker 2: Have a good rest of the show. Everybody.

01:15:29
Speaker 11: Third down and twelve Bushett, Let's get hit again. Ball bounces Are you kidding me? And go to j Logan another touchdown?

01:15:40
Speaker 8: Three Hawks, Holy catfish, I think strikes twice. Go to see Hawks kay Fens Corsett rims back to throw, gets.

01:15:52
Speaker 1: Hit, arm's not going forward, ball.

01:15:55
Speaker 8: Bounces right to DeMarcus Lawrence his second touchdown of the game.

01:16:03
Speaker 1: You can watch football for the next one hundred years. I don't think you're going to see the same player, Tyrese Knight, in this case, force a fumble and have a defensive lineman return it for a touchdown for more than twenty yards twice in the same first half in an NFL game. Ever, again, I mean that is absolutely outrageous. Tyree Knight did it in the first quarter. DeMarcus Lawrence goes thirty four yards. He does it in the second quarter. DeMarcus Lawrence goes twenty two yards wild Steve Rabel kit kiro that was Dave Wyman two. Yeah, DeMarcus Lawrence had a data remember it, so did the defense. Forty four to twenty to. Nick Schuk has joined us, and you get to describe how this Seahawks team is coming up with new and insane ways to embarrass who whover they're playing that week.

01:17:01
Speaker 16: Well, first off, you're an absolute pro for team me up for this because you're right, you won't see that happen twice in a game. You know why because DeMarcus Loris became the first player at NFL history with multiple defensive fubble return touchdowns of twenty plus yard Okay, thank you, thank you okay, And he joined a group of three other players, one happening in nineteen twenty for just returning multiple fumbles for touchdowns and may they.

01:17:22
Speaker 1: Both came from Tyres Night Like he made the bigger He was the better player on those I mean they were both great, but yeah, he made.

01:17:28
Speaker 16: The plays shockingly identical or nearly identical to the point where it happens the first time and you're like, oh, wow, that's great, and then it happens again and I'm like rewinding, like did did am I watching the same player that happened before?

01:17:40
Speaker 23: I know?

01:17:40
Speaker 13: The score is different. The Seahawks are a monster defensively.

01:17:44
Speaker 16: We've talked about this for weeks, but it felt like this may have been the first game where I watched the Seahawks take the field with nothing but aggression on their mind, like we are going to take the fight to the opponent.

01:17:53
Speaker 13: We are going to get after them relentlessly. We're gonna blitz.

01:17:56
Speaker 16: We don't care what the repercussions could be if we don't get home, because we know we're gonna get home, and they got home plenty. They wrecked the Cardinals offense. The Seahawks offense continues to be very productive. Before you knew it, blink and I they're up twenty eight nothing. At one point in this game, they're up thirty five to nothing. The Cardinals were buried before they could even get out of bed, and we basically cruised from there forty four to twenty two.

01:18:17
Speaker 13: Year final.

01:18:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean in a game where Sam Darnold ends up losing three turnovers in like a five possessions you know span and it doesn't matter at all. Like that's how you know your team is great, because, yeah, that thirty five nothing, it's not like it took that long to get there. It's like early second quarter, that midway that happens. Yeah, it's insane. They had ten quarterback hits in the game. They also had ten passes defense, so they're filling up the stat sheet and they just have so many different players doing it. Nick em and Worry looking great And at one point the yardage was two ten to thirty two. And this is just an answer Shook. I was unaware that there were some haters, according to Eric Roberts telling me to our power rankings putting the Seahawks number one. Apparently the Seahawks are way lower everywhere else. And I'd like to just present this game as exhibit a why the haters can eat it and why I never hear from the haters anyways.

01:19:16
Speaker 16: Yeah, feather in the cap. Look who was right for at least one week, these two guys.

01:19:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's the NFL. They play the Rams next week. What do you what do you think about the fact that you know, Kyler Murray goes on injured reserve and would this game been any different? Like it's a statue of a quarterback back there not the guy who's going to be able to get away from this sort of pass rush, Jacoby Brissett.

01:19:37
Speaker 16: I mean, there are more statutsu quarterbacks in the NFL, looking at you, Joe Flacco than Jacoby Brissette. But yes, he is not a very mobile guy and when he does try to run, he usually gets hawked down. So that's a fair point to make. But I think that against this Seahawks defense, this might sound hyperbolic. That's fine.

01:19:51
Speaker 1: You can call me.

01:19:52
Speaker 13: You know, I'm drinking the Seahawks kool aid. I don't care.

01:19:54
Speaker 16: They are so good at getting pressure from so many different angles that I don't care who's playing quarterback back there, because they're gonna get home, especially, you know, against a team that's struggling to pick up blitzes like they did. The first Tyrese Knight Force fumble was five man rush. The second one was a six man rush. They both looked identical because that's how good they are at scheme me up different ways to get after the quarterback. So I don't really think it's quarterback dependent. And I will give the Cardinals a little bit of credit because.

01:20:19
Speaker 13: They did battle in this game. They did find a way to get some things going.

01:20:22
Speaker 16: Jacoby Brissette was feeding Marvin Harrison Junior twelve times three connections, Harrison looking very visibly frustrated, but they did have a really.

01:20:29
Speaker 13: Nice back shoulder fade, so they stayed in the fight.

01:20:32
Speaker 16: But ultimately, when you fall behind by that much and then you allow the Seahawks to call the vast majority of their plays, I believe it was let's see, I have the number here.

01:20:41
Speaker 13: They called a run.

01:20:42
Speaker 16: Play seventy eight percent of the time, like you know what, the script is gonna be there. It's the third highest rate in the next.

01:20:49
Speaker 13: Gen game in a game in the next gen aras Wow fixteen.

01:20:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's amazing, and you know what, they were pretty efficient doing it. So before we moved from this game, just what did you see out of this running game with ken Walker in Sharbonay.

01:21:01
Speaker 16: Some quality blocking but really tackle breaking, whether it was sharbon Ay or Walker, especially Sharbonay just running through guys. It seemed like they I don't know if this is something that's new or that they had an approach they were focused on this going into this game, but it felt like they were running with an intent to be more violent, if that makes sense, even to the point where George Lani's getting involved and he had seven carries for thirty one yards, but all of his runs were really hard and there was a it was a run by Sharbonay, a long one where he kind of like it's basically like you get the block here, you get the block here, you hit the hole, You're You're through it, You're through it. Like they're repeatedly hitting the hole with burst, which is something that they've lacked before.

01:21:35
Speaker 13: It Wasn't you know.

01:21:36
Speaker 16: It's not like watching Jonathan Taylor run, for example, but it was really encouraging considering the fact that they've struggled to run the ball consistently.

01:21:42
Speaker 1: Seven and two atop the division, atop the conference. Early NFC game of the year, although we kind of have one every week coming up. We also have one on Monday night join us on YouTube live me and shook Eagles Packers. That's going to be really fun. But next week we weirdly buried at a four h five window, not four twenty five. It's not The national game is Seahawks Rams, so really looking forward to that. I am sure Sam Darnold is gonna have to throw the ball more than twelve times. What a bizarre stat line, by the way, two incompletions sixteen yards per attempt. But the three turnovers too. So weird game. Great game, Seahawks showing they are an absolute wagon. Let's go to what I felt was one of the dumbest, most fun ridiculous games of the entire twenty twenty five season.

01:22:32
Speaker 18: Hold on, buckle up thirty seven seconds to go twenty nine to twenty four, Texans trailing third and goal at the fourteen. Mills shotgun Marks to his left. Two receivers watchside right. Here's the snap, Davis looking, Davis stepping to his left, Davis.

01:22:48
Speaker 2: On the run.

01:22:48
Speaker 1: Ten Davis five Davis to the corner. Davis touchdown, go stand.

01:22:55
Speaker 9: The Texans take.

01:22:56
Speaker 12: The lead on the Mill scramble. Amazing. Dmails gets it done. Damails.

01:23:08
Speaker 1: He stuck his knock out and he got the win, and he got the over two hundred and twelve passing yards that I put on game debut. Thank you, Davis Mills. Mark Vandermir on k I l T. Davis Mills was the quarterback of an NFL team Shook that outscored their opponent on Sunday twenty six to nothing in the fourth quarter. True or false? True false.

01:23:41
Speaker 13: I mean it happened.

01:23:42
Speaker 1: I watched it happen.

01:23:43
Speaker 13: Okay, I thought there was a follow up there. I'm more shocked.

01:23:46
Speaker 16: I've never heard your voice go to that range before. I'm still stunned that you could get there.

01:23:50
Speaker 1: I mean, come on, you give me a chance to make a Mark Vandermir impression. I'm gonna take it. What happened because I joined late and this this was a lot of fun.

01:24:00
Speaker 16: Okay, So late third quarter, Jack's going on eleven play, fifty eight yard drive, Eatn finishes off for the touchdown run. It looks like they've buried the Texans. This game is over. The Texans defense can't stop them enough to make it a game. And then the Texans find a way to move the football. Davis Mills starts throwing it with zero fear for what might happen, and they get down the field thirteen plays, sixty five yards, four minutes and seventeen seconds. It's twenty nine to eighteen. Okay, what maybe they're only down eleven. They have a shot, because that's when the Texans defense remembered who they were. Three and out, get the ball back to Davis Mills. Another touchdown, dime of a pass thrown to Dalton Schultz over two defenders. Three and out again, give Davis Mills the ball again. It's third and ten. They're deep inside their own territory. Who does he look for? He breaks the pockety rolls right. He finds Dalton Schultz on a perfect pass that keeps that drive going, and in the biggest moment, you heard it right there, Davis Mills takes off, shows off the athleticism and gets into the end zone. And by the end of this game, when the game finally ended with a Shelton Rankins fumble return for a touchdown, Liam Cohen was so angry.

01:25:04
Speaker 13: He threw his play sheet. He threw his headset. He tried to walk.

01:25:08
Speaker 16: Toward where he'd thrown it, as if he couldn't get off the field faster if he wanted to. There goes the headset. If you're watching on YouTube, he ends up throwing the play sheet. Boom gone. Now he goes to the belt, drop the ball. I'll throw up the headset. I might as well start taking clothes off at this point.

01:25:21
Speaker 13: That's how upset I am with the way this game went. And it was all because the Texans their willingness to battle.

01:25:27
Speaker 16: Baby.

01:25:28
Speaker 1: You saw the assistant that was behind them that immediately starts picking it up, and then you see Liam see the assistant picking it up, and then so he goes and picks up part of the other because he's feeling bad that he's making his assistant pick it up, and he was not happy. Let's listen to Liam Cohen after the game.

01:25:48
Speaker 23: The whole message was to squeeze the life out of these guys in the second half and go take it.

01:25:55
Speaker 1: Go take it.

01:25:56
Speaker 23: And it's been a frustration for a while now, obviously, the combination of lack of getting to the quarterback and when we do finishing it. But it definitely needs to continue to get evaluated and see who can help us do those things too.

01:26:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, so, yeah, they haven't been getting much of a pass rush. It's interesting he called that out specifically. In the end, the Texans almost doubled up the Jags and yards four twelve to two thirteen. And anytime you outscore an opponent twenty six to nothing in the fourth quarter, like that's a candidate for one of the craziest games of the year. When you do it in this fashion with Davis Mills, you know, running for a touchdown after you have first and goal at the two yard line and then you end up at second in goal on the fourteen yard line because you're just textinging it up with all these penalties to move you back, and then Davis Mills runs it in of all things. And then when that's followed up by just one of the most delightful ways to finish the game of the season, that's that's where you get into special territory. Let's listen.

01:27:03
Speaker 2: Three man rush.

01:27:04
Speaker 18: It appears on first and twenty for the Jags from their thirty five Lawrence and the gun bunch four nation left seven seconds to go. Here's the snap to Trevor Lawrence backing up, stepping up, Lawrence tripped.

01:27:16
Speaker 1: Up, the balls out.

01:27:17
Speaker 18: The Texans have it across the twenty fifteen ten five touchdown.

01:27:22
Speaker 1: Houston rackins game over.

01:27:25
Speaker 4: The Texans win it.

01:27:30
Speaker 1: Houston comes all the way back to defeat the Jaguars.

01:27:35
Speaker 12: The Texans have changed their season around with a traumatic comeback for the Agents.

01:27:42
Speaker 1: I love it and I believe it. They needed this one to get to four and five. I mean, now chef's kiss for that to be the final play. But also, what was Trevor Lawrence doing there again?

01:27:53
Speaker 16: What was happening on that trying to break the pocket and find somebody down to Here's the thing. Two plays prior, maybe it was a play prior, he actually through a really good ball to the sideline that would have put them in cam Little's range.

01:28:03
Speaker 13: Gets called back for illegal hands in the face.

01:28:05
Speaker 16: The sixth lineman got his hands in the face, and that was because they couldn't stop the Texans pass rush in the fourth quarter, daneil Hunter three and a half sacks tied a career high. He was a big part of it, so was Will Anderson. So at that point, Lawrence has nothing left to do but try to find somebody downfield with the clock essentially expired.

01:28:20
Speaker 1: Oh you too, You're too kind to him, And there you go.

01:28:23
Speaker 13: You get the turnover that ends the game.

01:28:25
Speaker 16: Although Sheldon Megan's almost got the leon Lett treatment, like there was a little bit of Don beebe chasing him down there.

01:28:29
Speaker 1: Good thing he got across the goal line, barely got across. But you're too kind to him. You watched the whole game. But Trevor Lawrence, that's a play. They're trying to get to the sideline to get into Cam Little's range. They have seven seconds left, and obviously at that point after the penalty, it's a long shot. They're at their own thirty five. But you get like fifteen yards there, you give Cam Little a chance. You get ten yards there, you give Cam Little chance. It looked like we were going to have a Cam Little tempt and you got to get rid of that ball quickly. And he sees that the sideline routes are covered you just got to give your guy a chance. You just gotta throw it. You just got to throw the ball. And if you don't throw it to them, you just got to throw it away to at least set up for one more final play. The thing you can't do is just kind of freeze and hold the ball. And that's kind of a Trevor Lawrence type of play, it's all.

01:29:16
Speaker 16: And as that play was unfolding, I'm watching the clock and I'm thinking, even if they completed, their screwed like they're cooked.

01:29:21
Speaker 13: And that's what happened.

01:29:23
Speaker 1: The Texans are four and five, the Jags are five and four, and yet they feel so different. The Jags, after they're hot three to zero start, have really come back to the pack. Even the running game wasn't consistent today, although it rarely is against the Texans. And the Texans have the Titans next week, and they have maybe the best defense in the league, and they're in a conference where maybe the seventh seed could sneak in there, and they get to five and five, So that really does feel like, at least for now, a season saving win for the Texans. Let's move on to a game where neither team is saving their season, at least not in this season. But it doesn't mean that we can't have a little bit of fun.

01:30:01
Speaker 14: So Isaiah Williams back deep to receive the punt took Bejorquez, and once again he'll kick it away from inside his own twenty yard line, again returnable. Running right with a flag down, Williams at the twenty six yard line. He gets loose down the sideline of the fifty cuts him back left of the forting he's at the thirty. They'll go all the way ten five.

01:30:19
Speaker 20: Touchdown for the Jets with their second consecutive kick return touchdown Kna Wong Woo for ninety nine yard. So now Isaiah Williams does the trick for seventy six.

01:30:32
Speaker 1: Pretty rare you see two straight return touchdowns, and I bet it's even rarer if the team that pulls that off loses the game. At that point, I didn't care what the score was. I was like, they're going to win this game one way or another. It was close to the Jets win twenty seven to twenty. That was Bob was shoozing on wax Q for clarity. That was Isaiah Williams on a punt return touchdown and Yeah, Kenny wang Wu had a ninety nine yard kickoff return touchdown earlier in the first quarters. So on a day shook where Justin Fields had fifty four passing yards, the Jets would win pretty comfortably because it was a Browns field goal late that even made it a one score game.

01:31:13
Speaker 13: Yeah, just another research note while I have it up in front of me.

01:31:16
Speaker 16: They beat the Browns today despite having only forty two net passing yards. It's the fewest passing yards by the Jets and a win since Week five of nineteen seventy three. Wow, and that's back when they barely threw the ball. The forward pass is barely even invented. I'm kidding, of course. Yeah, this game was really weird because those return touchdowns obviously revital to your final score, but it was also right after the Browns had led a nine play ninety five yard touchdown drive that was one of the most impressive drives I've seen from them all season, especially when it came to how Dylan Gabriel led that drive instantly within two returns. The Jets have full command of the momentum of this game. They're at home and the Browns are back to square one. Having to try to climb back into this game, which they ultimately did not do. It gave the Jets a team that had every reason in the world to lay down and just sleep walk through this game after they traded away two of their best players of the deadline and signaled that if it's not a teardown, we're looking toward the future and not this season. Instead, they came out and battled. They fought through. At firstly, they couldn't throw the football, they couldn't get anything going offensively, so the return game gets involved, then the defenses all over the Browns quarterbacks and everything else, and then presall finishes it off a complete win, not statistically but visually, a complete all three phases of the game win for the Jets.

01:32:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting. The guy that they didn't trade away Bresee Hall, and they didn't have a high success rate by any means, neither running game did. But he ends up with eighty three yards on the ground because he did have a big run, and then he has a forty two yard touchdown catch that you know, comprised almost all of Justin Field's passing yards for the day. The second leading receiver for the Jets was Isaiah Williams with four yards crazy.

01:32:53
Speaker 16: Tied, tied with Mason Taylor one catch four yards, one yard ahead of John Metchi one catch, three yard.

01:33:00
Speaker 13: That's what the whole offense was.

01:33:01
Speaker 1: Okay, this is the type of loss that I if Kevin Stefanski is going to be on the hot seat, if the GM is going to be on the hot seat, Like, this is the type of loss that would do it. Losing to the Jets, even if it helps out your, you know, situation in terms of the draft as a as a Browns fan. What disappointed you here?

01:33:19
Speaker 21: Oh?

01:33:20
Speaker 2: God?

01:33:20
Speaker 13: Well, I mean where does start start? Yeah? It was really the fashion of which this game ended. You know, you know that the Browns defense is going to keep them in.

01:33:30
Speaker 16: The game and then they're going to eventually run out of gas in the fourth quarter, which is what happened on that Breeze Hall screen. But it was the way that the defense and the game ended. Because the Browns need one stop, they have all three timeouts, they get it down outside the two minute warning, they're about to get the stop, and then there's a holding call on third and like sixteen on Devin Bush, and then that gets the Jets a new fresh set of downs, and then they take it to the two minute warning and the Browns they still have like a timeout or two left, and then they get another stop and it's fourth and four and the Browns jump off sides and give them another fresh set of downs and never get the ball back. They would have had the ball back with like thirty or forty seconds at the most, but the fact that they committed two penalties and two crucial downs and never even.

01:34:08
Speaker 13: Saw the football again.

01:34:10
Speaker 16: This game to me, and I've been one of those people that have just said, hey, the Browns are not playing for this year.

01:34:15
Speaker 13: It's very clear.

01:34:17
Speaker 16: This was the first time I've seen them lose a game this year in which I thought I could see somebody getting fired tomorrow. Now it's probably your special teams coordinator other than Trone, because of the returns that they've given up in the miscues that they've had on that side of the ball. But I could definitely see somebody losing their job because of how bad they looked at the end of this game.

01:34:35
Speaker 1: Disappointing and exciting for the Jets. I do think there is a best case scenario where they win a few games down the stretch and at least feel like they're headed in the right direction and it's okay.

01:34:46
Speaker 4: You know.

01:34:46
Speaker 1: The loss knocks them down to number five in terms of their pick. In terms of Tankathon, the Browns are at four. It We're going to have a lot of Titans and Raiders games, you know, up in Jets and Brown's households to see who ends up getting that number one overall pick. We will see. But the Jets win two straight and the Browns lose coming out of the by. Let's take one last break and then we will get to Sunday night football fun one Chargers and the steam It could be fun, even if it's low scoring.

01:35:20
Speaker 19: Hopefully Herbert hands to Kimani Kimani into the unisold touchdown Chargers Chimani byel rewarded for all those hard runs earlier today.

01:35:38
Speaker 1: With the score.

01:35:42
Speaker 10: And the Chargers are up twenty one to three, he's getting it done in pass protection, He's getting it done on the goal line. It's Keimani vy Dell Troy Zone, Patrick Claiban's favorite player in the NFL, in for a touchdown to give the Chargers in insurmountable lead in a laugher on Sunday night, the Chargers win. Nick shook twenty five to ten in the game that Justin Herbert didn't even have to be superman.

01:36:12
Speaker 1: He was just a normal man. And that's because his defense kept setting him up. And eventually the damn broke in that running game and the Chargers offense took care of the rest of it. Yeah.

01:36:24
Speaker 16: What a testament to cohesive defense by the Chargers tonight, because if you dive into the numbers, it's not like they were getting after Aaron Rodgers on every play. They played phenomenal coverage. They largely bottled up the runs save for a few highlight runs, you know, the Jalen Warren hurdle being one of them. They just played a complete game on that side of the football and because of that, they were able to take a low scoring, some might say boring or unexciting affair and turned into a lopsided victory, and one that I don't think I saw coming, not given the fact that you know, they had some offensive line losses. I thought they were going to struggle like Daniel Jones and the Colts did against the Steelers a week earlier.

01:37:02
Speaker 13: No, I don't all they got the job done.

01:37:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's not like they protected Herbert that well hit. He got pressured a lot. You know, their starting tackles in this game were what Pipkins and Austin Decliss. Deckliss was struggling, but they weren't in third and long too often they stuck with the run even when it wasn't working. And you say it's a boring game. I say it could never be boring for any Aaron Rodgers haters to be watching him have. But perhaps his worst game that he's ever had in primetime. He looks so old in this game. Going into that garbage time drive, they'd only scored three points Nick shook, and those three points came on a three and out that was set up by a short field. He had a pressure to sack ratio of all of them for much of the game. It was like if there was pressure, there was a sack. He was dirting the ball, he's avoiding pressure. It just was disgusting. And when you think about the two big turning points in the first half of this game, the biggest one to me was his interception just before the two minute warning, when the Steelers are still leading the game, or they're right there, rather and it's five to three, and that sets up the Chargers touchdown right before halftime and then the first Chargers score of the game. Let's listen to it.

01:38:26
Speaker 19: Three on the play clock. Rogers has time climbing in the pocket. Here comes Khalil Mack in the end zone. He drops home safety. Oh, raise your hands and put them together. The Chargers got two points, and what a way to cement a legacy that only he and Kevin Green have. That is his thirty fifth sack as a Charger, Ian Green the only two players to do it with three different franchises.

01:38:57
Speaker 1: Ooh, that's a good stat Great job by the way on both those calls by Matt money Smith. Our friend Daniel Jeremiah just quiet again on k f I. It is a reminder Khalil Mack was awesome for an extended period of time for three different teams. You don't see that too often. Kevin Green's in the Hall of Fame. Khalil Mack will join him one day. What did you think about Rogers just being so stymied throughout this game?

01:39:25
Speaker 16: I've found I hate that this is the case. I mean, I mean, if you're an Aaron Rodgers hater, you'll love this. But it seems like every week Aaron Rodgers is pissed off as teammates the entire game, and he was very upset with them for most of this game. And I think it's a combination of guys aren't getting open, Guys aren't running the routes, specifically how I want them to run them. I'm not getting protected long enough to be able to do what I want to do. And I also think it's him grappling with the idea of father time. Not to say that he looks exceptionally old, but when he tries to get mobile unless there's ample space, because he'll still roll out and flick it, you know, and get it downfield.

01:39:58
Speaker 13: But when he's under duress, it looks bad.

01:40:00
Speaker 2: Now.

01:40:00
Speaker 16: It did not look bad earlier in his career, and you know it should look bad for a forty one year old. It felt like it discombobulated him all night. He never felt comfortable, and oftentimes guys just weren't open. Whatever those Steelers are trying to do offensively scheme wise just wasn't working against this Chargers defense until they scored a touchdown late in the game. And I think that that is a repeat case of what we've seen far too often with this team. You can go back to that game against the Packers in prime time, similar situation where Rogers again is just frustrated with the outcome and the fact that he can't do what he wants to do.

01:40:29
Speaker 13: So a tough spot for them. They're very up and down right now.

01:40:32
Speaker 1: Offensively, Yeah, he held the ball longer tonight a little bit, and he went down the field a few more times, and he missed a couple shots deep that could have changed the game. And so when he's trying to make a play, he wasn't able to make them. And they're just a limited offense now. The Calvin Austin drop that turned into an interception, that's all obviously on Calvin Austin. The game's basically over at that point. Ultimately, they had nine drives shook before you know, those last couple that I'm talking about in terms of the interception and the garbage time touchdown. They had four first downs on those nine drives. I mean, it's just it's not at NFL offense and Jalen Warren is easily their offense's best player, but DK Metcff has not gotten it on track at all as a consistent weapon. And you have to give the Chargers defense credit. Man Jesse Minter and this Chargers defense, they've been on a journey this season. It's like it has absolutely been a roller coaster, but you know, getting some of their best players back, especially Khalil Mack and then having an extra pass rusher and a dafe oh wait, absolutely helping Derwin James is back to playing well. And like I mentioned, it wasn't even a great Herbert game, but three straight weeks, Nick, the Chargers have essentially dominated like the line, not the line of scrimmage, but dominated play where they doubled up their opponents the last two weeks and almost double up them in yardage and definitely double them up in first downs and again until the garbage time. It was the same tonight. So they've just like been significantly the better team in three straight games against the you know, the Vikings, Titans, and Steelers. They are different. They're not the same old Chargers, considering they are a Jim Harbrot team. I don't know if they're gonna win the Super Bowl, but missed me with the same old Chargers. They're just a tougher team. And the fact that They've come out of a little mini slum to get the seven and three is really impressive.

01:42:28
Speaker 16: Yeah, I'm glad that you brought up the Harball point, because that's what I was going to say, is that this team has taken on the identity of its coach. We saw it, you know, last year, but it's really carrying over week to week. And the cool thing about this team that makes makes me frustrated as somebody who's picking games every week and consistently getting them wrong no matter who's playing, whether it's the Chargers or any other team in the NFL. But what frustrates me is the fact that they do this in different fashions, which should be encouraging two Chargers fans, because you think about the Vikings game. They were dominant in that game, offensively dominant, Herbert was on fire. Everything went well for them on both sides of the ball. The Titans game a little close for out for it. They'd get the win and everything, but it wasn't the prettiest win. They lose Joe Alton that game, so you saw the effect on Herbert.

01:43:07
Speaker 1: Touchdowns. Yeah.

01:43:08
Speaker 16: Fair, But then this game completely different from those last two games where they leaned on the run stubbornly, and they played a great game defensively. And I think that while it makes them difficult to predict how they might play from week to weekend opponent by opponent, they can win in different ways. That should be really encouraged.

01:43:24
Speaker 1: You got a quarterback, you got a coach, and you got a team that's figuring out how to play together. It's going to give him a chance each and every week. Whereas Pittsburgh they have a coach, but they're not great situationally, and they made some adjustments defensively. We'll see how that works. They are only one game up on the Baltimore Ravens, after that lead was a whole lot bigger four weeks ago. So they fall to five and four. They still got two games left to face the Ravens. Also want to just give a shout out of congratulations to Keenan Allen, the all time leader in receptions in Chargers history, passing Antonio Gates. We mentioned it, remember shook back in week one as this could be a possible milestone that he could reach this season, and after one week we said, wow, maybe he will be able to do it. Hell, he did it by week ten, so cool to do it in primetime. An all time great Charger in a big part of this team. They lost Aronde, Gatzt and Junior to an injury at one point in this game. He did not return, so we'll track that during the week. But obviously a great night for the Los Angeles Chargers, great night for us, Shook. We will be back check us out Monday night. We appreciate everyone that's been joining us live on YouTube and it is a really fun game Eagles and Packers, so we'll see everyone. Then hit the music, Babona, Let's go. What are we waiting for? We're home. It's been fun. This was a frisky Week ten. We learned a lot about myself about the MVP conversation about what my love language is. But yes, Shookie and I will be back on YouTube live and check us out for the Monday night recap.

01:45:10
Speaker 4: See that