Bussin' With The Boys - NFL Week 7 Reaction - J.J. McCarthy ERUPTS, Brock Purdy & 49ers EMBARRASSED, & Caleb Williams MVP??

Episode Date: October 26, 2026

NFL Week 7 had some WILD games. The Seattle Seahawks completely shut down the previously undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. The San Francisco 49ers also suffered their first loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The Los Angeles Rams were back to looking like what everyone was expecting as they easily handled the Las Vegas Raiders. There is a lot of noise surrounding the Raiders' quarterback situation with Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza and if they should make the move to the rookie. JJ McCarthy also got his first win is his first start with the New York Giants, he was making throws showing that he still has that first round talent. The Green Bay Packers lost a tough divisional game to the Detroit Lions as Jared Goff was dealing the ball all over the field. We’re breaking down who’s TRENDING UP, who’s TRENDING DOWN, and handing out our weekly GOOD BALL and BAD BALL awards!. Tune in to hear what Chase Daniel has to say about this crazy NFL Week 7. ----- 0:00 Intro1:42 Chiefs vs. Seahawks9:31 49ers vs. Falcons16:56 Rams vs. Raiders24:08 Packers vs. Lions30:25 Bengals vs. Ravens34:58 Trending Up/Down42:10 Good/Bad Ball Winners44:57 2-Minute DrillSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Concerned about your gambling or that of someone close to you, visit connectsonterio.ca. What happens when romance gets a little monstrous? On Radio 831, a romance podcast, join us, Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall as we host our own monster romance extravaganza. We're joined by the villain edit author Rosie Dannen and Sentient Object Romance expert Gracie Delgado to explore with these unexpected love stories can reveal about desire, fantasy, and what we actually want.

Listen to Radio 831, a romance podcast, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Meet the disruptors who are setting today's trends and discover those who are building what's next. People like Sebastian Yatra. Life is on the other side of fear. Introducing Global Flow with me, Dramos, a new podcast where I sit down with disruptors across music, entertainment, business, and tech. To break down what they're building, get the blueprint to how they got there, all while trying to figure out what's coming next. Listen to Global Flow on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author Patra Mathers and her husband Michael mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Dear honies, this is goodbye. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead. Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it?

And what did it do to the people they left behind? Listen to death of an artist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is presented by Visa. Paying with Visa, that's a pro move. All right, guys, welcome into week seven of the first read. We really appreciate you guys. Make sure you are liking and you were subscribing a crazy weekend slate of games. The Seahawks completely embarrassed the chiefs. Two unbeatens went down. We're going to get into all of it today on the show. As always, we are powered by Fandul. Obviously, we're going to dive into this past weekend's actions. But if you're watching,

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And boy, we are about to get started. We are getting right into Chiefs Seahawks. A lot of different takes on this game. My take is that the Seattle Seahawks absolutely embarrassed against Kansas City Chiefs. I mean, it was a coaching masterpiece by Mike McDonald. Look, Seattle, it was a scoreless first quarter. Seattle goes up 10-0. Donald throws a pick at the end of the first half.

Oh my gosh, it could have been 17-0-Darnold, I thought, actually played really, really well. JSN also just went absolutely ballistic in the first half. Here's how good J-S-N is. He's responsible for 49% of the Seattle receiving yards this year. I thought Donald made really quick decisions. They showed a graphic on Sunday night football, how when Sam Darnold was making decisions

under 2.6 seconds. It was excellent. He had been holding the football a lot longer this year, taking a lot of sacks, obviously throwing a lot of interceptions. I just thought in general, when you can play like he's playing and just getting the ball to JSN,

it's an absolute masterpiece. Let's start on the Chief's side of things. My biggest takeaway from this entire game is Mahomes looks rattled by the pressure of Mike McDonald's defense. It is unbelievable. He does not look himself. And multiple times,

and Broadcare asked. Chris Collinsworth would show, or they would show Mahomes' face. And he looked so dejected. He looked so incredibly pissed off. I mean, he had no one helping him out. Noah Gray was the leading receiver. Travis Kelsey got in on the action. Then you're running back. The receivers were non-existent. Your two tight ends and you're running back are your first three leading receivers. Obviously, know where she writes this game. Xavier Worthy, multiple drops, had six targets, only three catch. is Cyrus Allen one catch. I mean, he looked good in training camp for the guys. And the most important thing, other than Mahomes looking rattled, is Kenneth Walker, 36 yards rushing

through the fourth quarter. And honestly, just looked, it was, it was unbelievable. And I don't think it was just the offensive line for the Kansas City Chiefs. I think this had everything to do with Seattle's defense. But like Kenneth Walker came into this game, averaging over 130 yards rushing and 130 total yards on the season. And you go in and you just look pedestrian to get your old team. Look, here's my thing. And this is the first time it's obviously happened for the Kansas City Chiefs. When you can make them a one-dimensional team, meaning you put,

and this is what happened today against the Seahawks, is you put him in gun, Mahomes in gun, and you just get back to doing that stuff you've been doing for the first six or seven years where people had started figuring out. The reason they look different this year, is because they were able to get to play action. And they weren't able to get to play action at all because there's no threat of the run.

Here's what's crazy about this defense. You're playing in a bunch of two-eye looks. Just no thought of even taking shots down the field because you have no one you trust that receiver. I think this is going to be the Chief's Achilles heel. Can you figure out a way to push the football down the field when Kenneth Walker, who has been Mr. Superman, gets shut down.

And I think what Seattle was doing, they were doing a nice job of setting edges and then rallying to the football. But once again, just the chiefs were really bad on third down. They had to go for it multiple times on fourth down. They weren't sustaining drives. They had way less plays than the Seahawks. So they were unable to go on.

The Chiefs only had 11 first downs. The Seahawks at 24, but only 50 plays, 213 yards. This is one of the worst performances. from an Andy Reid coach team. And I think obviously, like, they didn't do a good job, some drops, frustration, but it goes to the Seahawks side of things

because the Seattle Seahawks, they came into this game three and three. They were reeling. Sam Darnold, they throw multiple interceptions in the last two games. But I believe McDonald, the head coach, I think he probably had a conversation with Sam and was like, hey, stop messing around,

stop doing this, stop doing that. Sam Darnall ends 20 to 28, 257. a touchdown, a horrible interception. Here's the one thing that I loved about this game plan for the Seattle Seahawks. And this is who you need to be moving forward is you are a running team. 41 carries. Emmanuel Wilson, 24 carries 100 yards. Sam Donald was your second leading rusher at 17.

Obviously, you've had issues with the running back. They obviously lost Kenneth Walker. Charbonnet's not back yet. I love the game plan, though. and it was Sam Darnold making quick play, Sam Darnold scrambling. And the fact that you have JSN, like he is inevitable to me. He is so, so incredibly good. And they kept attacking the rookie Mansour Delane, like over and over and over and spags would end up pressuring, sending the house.

Here's the thing, though. Sam Dernal was not sacked. It's because of the quick decision making, the scrambling in the pocket. This is who he is. People were like, oh, we see him ghost. if he can continue to play like this, he played within himself in the first half. Now, the interception,

I mean, you have a chance to go up 17-0. They get almost like halfway return. They obviously, the kicker misses a field goal for the chiefs. Harrison Butker misses another field goal in the fourth quarter as well. Could have made it 13 to 6. Anyway, you have to throw that football early. It's an upright throw, which means you're sending a shallow cross in front of the safety.

You're trying to hit an upright behind. He had both guys. You're saving two lines from the end zone. He had both guys wide open. Was just a little bit late. I would say that's the one mistake in the game. That's a major mistake in the game. The touchdown throw, I thought, was absolutely incredible to JSN.

Not only the fact that you understood it was cover zero from Spaggs, you had an actual plan. The football was out of your hand. The running back took two blitzers, and you throw this over the top shoulder fate against Mansour Delay. LSU guy. But if you saw the replay, JSN, it's over his left shoulder. He catches with both hands. Mansour Delane has a hand in there. He switches it midstep to his left hand and they end up calling a touchdown. It was just unbelievable. I mean, the Seahawks were really, really good offensively.

They were super efficient on third down, 11 of 16. And the one thing where they got to figure it out is the red zone. They were 0 for three. They still end up winning 20 to 3. And, and, And then we got to talk about Mike McDonald and this defense. It's the best defense in the league. Quite honestly, it's not even close. They do so many things to put you in a bind where it's so incredibly difficult to move the football. You're sitting back there and they're playing in two-eye safety look. And they have six guys in the box.

I'm in Warray's playing like this nickel slot guy. Sometimes he'll pressure you. You don't know where he's at. But they do such a good job of actually getting to the football and actually rallying to the ball where you're thinking, oh, I can just take shots down the field. Oh, I can just, but they play as one and it all has to do with coaching. I mean, this was, this was an impressive win for the C.

Seahawks because with the 49ers losing, obviously you gain a little bit more grounds. But yeah, two unbeatens losing. I think the Seahawks, if they can get this Sam Darnold moving forward, they are going to be a very, very tricky team. Now it's back to the drawing board for the chiefs. Who knows what's going to happen? but yeah, big time win for the CLCHawks.

All right, let's get into the next game of the day, and this was the most surprising game that we have seen today, including Overchiefs and Seahawks and all these other games. The 49ers 20, the Atlanta Falcons, 29. Man, I have some thoughts. The first one is how in the world do the Falcons win this game? Well, I'll tell you, it's injuries and turnover. for the San Francisco 49ers.

They are absolutely decimated by injuries. I believe that no Mike Evans out there really hurt them. Brockport could not get into a rhythm. Here's my thing too. When you're decimated by injuries, you can't turn it over four times. You can't have the turnovers that they had and still expect to win the game.

You're minus four on turnover margin. That's the only thing you have to do is take care of the football in the red zone especially. Look, you only had two interceptions, Brock Purdy, coming into this game, and then you throw to almost three, to be completely honest with you. You have a fumble, first of all, not you, but you fumble in the red zone, okay?

You have an interception in the red zone. You have an interception on third and nine. Almost red zone turn. Like, you're driving, and this Jeff Oldbrick defense is sort of a bin, don't break, you have stuff going your right way. CMC gets hurt. I thought Kailen Black played really well. And I think the interception on third and nine,

the Brock Purdy one, I think there's a little over two minutes left in the game. It's a third and nine one, and they absolutely completely confuse you. And I think that's the thing I'm looking at this, and I'm saying like, oh, man, like they had a double a gap mug. They end up dropping out a detackler or a linebacker.

He throws it right to him. he has a slant route open on the left side. And it's just like you knew they were going to eventually lose one. Like they weren't going undefeated by any stretch of imagination. But when you turn the football over four times, I mean, I'm honestly surprised it wasn't more than nine points. To be completely honest with you. The biggest thing too is like offensively for the 49ers,

when you don't have Mike Evans, Brock Pretty holds onto the football. He was sacked twice today. I think he was only sacked like five or six times coming into this game. So you get a third of your sacks in the season coming this game. Look, the Falcons pass rush, they were getting after them. I thought the offensive line, though, was looking at it. And it wasn't like it was pressure after pressure. It wasn't like it was a lot of disguise.

It wasn't like it was all this, but the offensive line struggled to me today. And look, it's a very good Falcons pass rush team. Kaelin Black looked well. And then you just want to go over to the other side of the 49ers team, and that's the defense. Rahim Morris got completely outcoached, in my opinion, by Kevin Savansky. Kevin Savansky, nothing crazy. I mean, if you look at, if you look at like yards, right, the Falcons only had 295 total yards. They were 33% on third down.

So they did their job. They were actually two and five on third down. So you look at this in, or sorry, two for five in the red zone, but you look at this game plan and they didn't get any takeaways. And that was something Kevin Cefancy, I was watching some of the pregame stuff. That was something Kevin Cavancy said, hey, we have to do a better job.

We can't just give them points. We felt like we had to score 30 to win. Well, guess what? Atlanta scored 29. This isn't a sky's falling moment for the 49ers whatsoever. You don't have to worry about that. I do think that Brock Purdy, showed that he's human.

We had been on this, and we've been doing these quarterback rankings about these top six quarterbacks on the breakdown that's coming out tomorrow on my channel where we rank them. We go through different ones. We're still going to break him down because there are some throws that Brock Party is going to want back.

There are some throws where you know, you're checking it down and you're doing this and you're trying to do a little too much. This is the first time I've seen him do that. Sorry, I'm a little sick if I'm coughing. But they're going, that was the first game, really. I felt like Brock was trying to do a little bit too much. All right, let's go to the Falcon side of things because this is,

this is a really interesting team. This is a really winnable division in the NFC South. I feel like everyone's continuing to lose. I know the Bucks won today. Saints lost as well. Panthers lost. The Falcons, to me, they can be a sneaky good team if they just have a little bit of consistency on their team.

One week, they look unbeatable and they're beaten unbeatens at home, doing the dirty bird. And then the next week, they're just not playing. really well. I mean, here's the thing. They finally learned their lesson and they finally listened to us because on this show last week, we said, hey, just give Bijon Robinson the football. Bejohn Robinson, what do you know, 25 touches, 122 scrimmage yards. Here's what I love the most about this game plan. There wasn't anything tricky about it. It was, hey, we're going to line up. We're going to get the big three, the best big three in football, Pitts, London, and Bejohn.

and I think they are the best big three. We're going to get them the ball, but we're going to stay ahead of the chains. We're going to try to move the football. We had 10 toll of drives, the 49ers only had nine. The Hard Rock Bet Casino app is here, Ontario. It's safe, secure, and crystal clear

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visit connectsonterio.ca. This Halloween, join me, Tim Harford, as cautionary tales journeys into the paranormal. We'll travel from 1800s America, where vampires preyed upon a terrified community. To a bizarre 1930s radio experiment which broadcast telepathic messages. And on to 1970s England,

where intricate crop circles emerged overnight. Throughout October, I'll be examining strange stories of the supernatural and asking, what can we learn from them today? Listen to cautionary tales on the I-Heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Big Lives, we take a single cultural icon. People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Richard Pryor. And we pull apart the story behind the image.

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Hey, it's Drew Franklin from NFL Cover Zero. Enjoy the NFL season while listening to NFL Cover Zero. We have storylines, predictions, and lots of silliness. Here's what you can expect from the podcast in our second season. When you meet people and you say your job's a sports announcer, it's always interesting to see what the first thing they say is. I did have one of the more difficult questions, though.

He sits next to me and he sees, I'm on my computer and he goes, big sports fan. And I was like, yeah, actually. And he goes, we think about my Jaguars this year. I realized, like, no one's ever asked me that question ever about anything. And I was like, Duval. Listen to NFL cover zero on the I Heart Radio app,

Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. You made plays in situational football. I mean, it's not, it's really not that hard to win in the NFL. Now, when you have four turnovers and takeaways, you know, you get four extra drives. And so you expect more points. But I just, I love the plan, especially they had the ball.

As I'm watching the third quarter, They had the ball for 12 minutes. The 49ers defense could not get off of the field whatsoever. Sometimes, and we've talked about this a lot before on this show, the best defense can be your offense. How about the third and 17 hook and ladder? That was massive. How about Michael Pinnock Jr., three total touchdowns? No interceptions.

I've just been really super impressed with his growth. He fits to Fancy's offense better than I thought he would. That under center, the play action, the movement, he's getting a lot more comfortable. And I've always said this about Michael Pinnock's before. And I think he's a much better answer than Tua right now is he just consistently makes the right decision. Sure, there's going to be some balls. He puts in harm's way. But in general, he's staying ahead of the sticks.

He's making the right decisions. He's not putting the ball in harm's way. If he needs to take a sack, he can take a sack. He's not the most athletic guy. But I think that's how he really gets that offense going. And when you have, you know, Drake London, when you have Bison Robinson, when you have Kyle Pitts, there needs to be an offense built around those three. and understanding you're not the key part of that offense.

Those guys are. Bejan Robinson is, and I think they're starting to really learn in week seven, how to win football game. So I've been really impressed with this team specifically. I mean, we talked about it a little bit, but Jeff Oldbrick's defense, have yourself a day.

Finally fix the pass for us last year. They get back to what they're doing. Two sacks, three takeaways, two force fumbles. It's the first time this year they've had multiple in all those sacks. takeaways for so almost this is not just an offensive show we're going to show love to the defense and that is the the team that won the game that is the the way that they won the game all right let's get on to the next game rams raiders how about them rams this is the best they have looked this year offensively but man they tried to give it away late it was 28 to 13 at one point

and the rams are going for two or 28 something they where matthew stafford ends up throwing that late interception, got tipped, I got you. Raiders score 14, fourth quarter points. But if you just look at this first half and you look at purely just the Rams offensively, that was the best half they have played and defensively. I would say that as well. But that was the best first half they have played all year long. 243 total yards to 97 of the Raiders. Raiders didn't even look like they were existing. I thought literally they were going to, and we're going to get into it.

I was like, are we going to see Fernando Mendoza in the second half? And how about the Rams defense too, right? We're going to get back to Stafford. But the Rams defense until the fourth quarter had not allowed a touchdown on like 18 straight drives or 19 straight drives. And then you're able to go that. The Raiders are a tough out. This Clint Kubiak team, they're great. But you're able to go in after sort of an up and down season.

Like you lose this. Good luck making the playoffs. It's a very difficult NFC West division. Obviously the 49ers are leading at the Seahawks still three and three. or the C-Ox are still, you know, alive as well. And I just think that the Rams, here's their success. Here's where they are turning the corner and what they want to be. They get in a lot of 12 personnel.

They get in a lot of 13 personnel. Chase, what is that? Well, the first digit, 1 talks to the running backs on the field, 12.1. So there's 1. The second digit, 2 talks to the tight ends, two tight ends or three tight ends. And what that does is it gets this defense of the Raiders. If you're in 13 personnel, you're probably going to get base defense, which means four down linemen, three linebackers.

Then you're able to throw the football down the field on these linebackers with these tight ends. They've been doing a lot more of it, especially without Devante Adams one. Here's the thing, though. I love this game because I thought the Rams, they ran it well enough to then set up the play action pass. Where you've seen McVeigh getting a little bit of a blender this year is you're trying to run it too much first. Or you're sorry, you're trying to play action pass first without the run. game, but how about Tyrone Williams and Blake Corum?

Over 150 yards between these two. They look dynamic. They stuck with the run. And then Matthew Stappar, too. Here, here, there was been a lot of talk about the MVP. He's not seeing it. He's not doing this. He's not doing that.

Yeah, he made this, you know, interception that got tipped up that, like, let's be real. He played unbelievable this game. He was finally seeing it. There's been a lot of people on the internet saying, hey, Matthew Stavvers, not seeing it. He's not doing this. He absolutely is seeing. He was uber efficient until that obviously that tipped intercept him.

But here's a crazy thing about him. And I played with him for a year. He went to Highland Park. I was in South Lake in Dallas high school. So we've been in each other for a while. But he became the all-time passing TD leader for both the Lions and the Rams. You can't tell me that he's not one of the greatest to ever do it. Like he is a first ballot Hall of Famer.

And he's seeing it a lot better, Sean McBay and him, as long as they're together. And if they can get Devante back, if they can get some of their injured key guys back, I think they're going to be great. Aaron Donald's, a good story. Miles Garrett's got to be coming back soon. Ram scored on four straight touchdowns

and finished out the half. All right, let's get to the most interesting part of the Raiders, though, because this is the one for me, like, and I've said it, and I will continue to say it. Let's just, before we get into the actual game on what happened, Let's just look at their schedule. You got next week, you got the Jets.

Okay, seems like a game that, I don't know, maybe Fernando Mendoza can come in because the Jets are not very good. And then listen to this, listen to this, 49ers, Seahawks, Broncos, the Browns. Chase, you said the Browns, yes, the Browns are five and two. They are bowling. Their schedule does not get any easier. I really don't think that they are making the playoffs. So what are we doing continuing to start Kirk Cousins?

It has to. And I think Kirk's played well in the second half in the fourth quarter. That's great. He struggled all day long until the last 12 minutes of the fourth quarter. But at what point do we go to Fernando Mendoza? I think that's the thing that you have to see here. Look, I don't like that there's zero run game because Ashton Genti, like where are we going? Like 15 yards?

I know he had to touch. But it's mind. boggling to me that you have an offensive coordinator, an offensive play caller, offensive guru, Clint Kubiak that is calling these plays and you cannot get the run game going. Maybe that is the reason they are hesitant to play the rookie in Fernando Mendoza, but the more they continue to lose, the further away they're getting from the AFC West title. And quite honestly, the chances of them making the playoffs this year,

No one ever really thought they were going to make the playoffs. Raiders fans, I love you guys. I think you've done great. You've got two weapons. You got Trey Tucker and Brock Bowers. Those are the two weapons for the Raiders. I think Trey Tucker is playing out of his mind right now. Brock Bowers obviously having a heck of a year.

You've got to get Ashen Gintiqon, but I'm telling you right now, Fernando Mendoza, let him come in. The only thing for him that people are wondering if his game translates to the NFL because he was in shotgun 99% of the time, he was doing all this stuff. I thought he played really well in the preseason. Here's the thing, and it sounds so simple. You cannot get experience playing in this league until you actually play.

Practice reps do not matter. Training camps do not matter. You can stay on the football field all you want after practice, but you're not getting any number one reps. You are currently the scout team quarterback. And you are currently this past week getting ready for the Rams Raiders game. You were Matthew Stafford. You are not running your own play.

Sure, you're probably staying out on the field with offensive coordinator, quarterback coach, all these guys. Maybe you're back up to back up. I just think that and Raiders fans might not like it because I think Kirk has actually played really well. I think Kirk can continue to play in this league. I think he will continue to play in this league. But you got to start and you got to go with the rookie Fernando Mendoza.

All right. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. This football season, whether you're buying tickets, booking travel or shopping for team gear, protect your pocket with Visa. Tapping to pay without checking which card? Not a pro move. Tapping to pay with Visa? That's a pro move. Visa runs more than 500 security checks to help identify fraud before transactions are approved so you can focus your defensive strategy on other things. Like defending your executive decision to order pineapple

and chubby pizza for the whole watch party, that might not be a pro move. But paying with Visa is. Visa, the most trusted way to pay for football fans everywhere. All right, back here on the first read. Let's get into the very next game. I thought this was a great game on the slate today. Packer 17. Oh, that stinks, man. The Lions 20.

How about Jared Goff and Jordan Love? Just going back and forth. Jared golf, 303 yards, two touchdowns. Jordan Love, 274 yards, two touchdowns, and interception. Multiple different turnovers in the game, Jamir Gibbs. rarely cost it up. I think at that point, right, there's 19 seconds left in the first half,

while up 10 to 7, that really hurt them. The Lions really could have run away with this game. It was only the second turnover all year long, which is wild to me for this Detroit Lions team. I mean, the Lions dominated the first half in almost every single category. Here's my thing. The Packers,

we'll start with them first. What are we doing? The amount of penalties, the amount of missed field goals, the amount of unforced errors, the turnovers, third and five, the most important play in the game with two minutes left. And the Packers jumped off sides to give the Lions a first down and the Lions end up getting another first down and kicking like a chip shot game winning field goal with one second left. You've got to understand these NFC North battles with the Vikings still winning and staying undefeated. Every single game goes down to the wire and you've got to be on your peas and Q. It's not just office. It's not just defense.

It's not just special teams. You've got to play complimentary football. If you want a shot to continue to play, look, I've enjoyed the way Jordan Love has played. I think there's been no other quarterback. in the NFL that's been let down more by those past catchers in the last couple of years. Then Jordan Love, how many drops did we see this today? How about the Josh Jacobs? I know he had a touchdown, but how about the Josh Jacobs drop?

That wheel route where they end up running mesh, Jordan Love sort of fades away. He throws a dime hits Josh Jacobs right in the hands. And look, I get it. I get it. I'm not just saying this game. I'm going back to other games as well, but you have a huge turnover before the half, by your defense. So your defense is playing well. And then the decision to go for it on fourth and one with like four minutes left in the game of the lines, your defense comes up again. I thought the defense actually

played pretty well against probably the best offense in the NFL to give you a shot. When you hold that offense at 20 points, you expect to win. And it comes down to, quite honestly, the kicker. And I hate saying this. Kickers are people too. But Trace Mack, two missed vehicles. And look, I know one caught like a fingernail according to the to the announcers and I saw it and yeah sure enough but like get that kick up high you got to get going i mean if you're if you are leflore and you are love and you are the packers and you're this is such a brutal loss in so many different ways because jordan love i thought played another incredible game he's going to be in my top six quarterbacks again josh jacobs came back that was a huge storyline not much going in the run

But I just think in general, the Packers, man, they are struggling right now. And they are a really good team. They started off really bad. They've gone up. They've gone up and down. They've got to have a short memory. That's the biggest thing for them because I do think they're a really good team. I think their defense is playing a lot better than a lot of people think.

But past coaches, can we please stop dropping the football? Lying side of things. Thought Jared Gough, man, if he continues to play like this, you got to put them in an MVP case. Like I love the way he's doing things. I love the fact on how they are calling their plays offensively. Jared Goff, in my opinion, is one of the better play action quarterbacks. He does a really, really good job of turning his back to the defense

and understanding then to turn his eyes around once you get at the top of your drop and understand where safeties are, where second level guys are. And you can only do that if you have a run game. and Jemir Gibbs has an absolute run game because he's balling right now. A couple things that really stood out as Amal Ross St. Brown. He is an absolute beast. He had 135 yards in the first half. He finished with 153.

Just continue going back to that well. That's crazy. How about Tom Brady calling the game? I mean, and saying how maddy was about some of these unnecessary roughness calls. I think Brady's doing a heck of a job. calling the game. But here's calling games just in general.

Here's the one thing that's just, I did not understand it. Four minutes left. We've talked about already. Dan Campbell goes forth to fourth down inside his own 25-yard line. Packers get it, miss the field goal. So he gets sort of bailed out. But what are we doing?

Like, I get there's aggressive. And then I get that there's a little bit of reckless. And look, that's how he's always been. think he's trying to show trust. But that that play where it's it's like a counter G where you're baking one way, going the other, it just took way too long. Packers pulled out in gauge eight. And here's another thing, too, about these refs. Like, I'm with Brady. There was an awful, awful roughing the passer penalty on the Packers by Jared Gough, like, or on Jared Gough. Like, it was, it was unbelievable, like he barely hit him. You know, there was another one that

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IHard Radio app. today. This Halloween, join me, Tim Harford, as cautionary tales journeys into the paranormal. We'll travel from 1800s America, where vampires preyed upon a terrified community, to a bizarre 1930s radio experiment which broadcast telepathic messages, and on to 1970s England, where intricate crop circles emerged overnight. Throughout October, I'll be examining strange stories of the supernatural and asking, what can we learn from them today? Listen to cautionary tales on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On Big Lives, we take a single cultural icon. People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Richard Pryor. And we pull apart the story behind the image. And we do this by digging through the BBC's vast archive. We're talking iconic moments in broadcast history. I'm not just a boxer. I'm educating. I can talk all week on millions of subjects.

And forgotten interviews that change how we see these giants of our culture. Well, if changing the system from the ground up is revolutionary, then I'm revolutionary. We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. I mean, when I go on stage, I like to dress the slutty as possible because it makes me dance better for some reason. I'm Emmanuel Jochi. I'm Kai Wright. And this is Big Lives. Listen to Big Lives on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts.

Hey, everybody. I'm Chuck Bryan at The Stuff You Should Know podcast. And I'm Adam Pranica of the Greatest Generation and Greatest Trek. We decided to start a golf comedy podcast because we're both big golf lovers, and we wanted to spread that joy, and it's called Three Put Bogie. It's coming from the perspective of golfers who are sometimes good enough to hit two great shots in a row, but almost never good enough to hit three. And a three-putt bogey is kind of the purest expression of that. Every golfer knows what that's like.

Obviously, we're going to talk a lot about the game of golf, how absurd it is and how fun it is, and how vexing and frustrating. But more than anything, just how much we love the greatest game in the world. We love it anyway. We're putting these out every Friday morning for your weekend golf routine.

This is a show about sharing our experiences on the golf course and how absurd and funny they can be. And that's what three-put-bogie is. It's three-putt bogey everybody out every Friday. You can listen to it now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. That's where you hit them late, not golf, but one of the guys late. I just think these reps are unbelievable.

But here's the thing. Lions, good team. Their defense, you know, they played well. I think they got bailed out by some drops. Not a great defense, though. Here's something, if you want to continue to go on these runs, you can't put all the pressure on Jared Gough. You've got to have these defense.

step up. But I thought that was the most entertaining game. I thought for sure that was going to go into OT, but it didn't. All right, let's get to the last game of the slate that we are talking about here. Bengals, Ravens, talk about a story of two completely different halves. The Ravens looked unstoppable. Tyler Huntley plays unbelievable. No Lamar Jackson, still an ankle for the Ravens. Bengals' offense didn't get going. Joe Burrell takes over since he scores 35 unanswered points. I mean, it was a great game. Tyler Huntley threw for 298 yards.

In the first half, I like the play calling. Declan Doyle was great. It's just really hard to win a game with a backup quarterback, especially when Derek Henry rushes for 17 yards on 45 yards. Sorry, 17 rushes on 45 yards against the Bengals. The Bengals had been allowing 123 rush yards, for game. Like you can't do it. You're leading 13, nothing at home and you end up losing it. Not a great look for the Ravens. I just think eventually they're going to need to get,

I mean, obviously, Chase, right? They've got to get Lamar Jackson back. They're a good team. I don't think they're a bad team. He needs to come back ASAP. Completely disappeared in the second half, though, that offense. Another bright spot. One bright spot you could say is Ais Flowers is still very, very good at football, over 130 yards receiving. Here's the thing, too, worried me a little bit, and we'll get into the Bengals side of things. But this Baltimore defense, which is supposed to be all-world, coached by Jesse Mentor, the way they played in the second half, you couldn't sniff any pressure on Joe Burrell, and you missed so many different tackles.

There's a couple clips going viral, and I'm not calling anyone out. There's a couple clips going viral right now on the internet of so much of a lack of effort by that defense in the second half. They couldn't tackle. They couldn't do anything. They couldn't sniff pressure. And maybe Lamar is the guy that they get going, that they're like, hey, here's a, I don't know, this Ravens team is really, really, I struggled to understand them. Let's go to the Bengals. All right. First half, you looked awful. Joe Burrell had 59 yards in the first half. You end up finishing the game with almost 300 yards. Total passing. What, like, Chase, what's it? Well, there's 21 fourth quarter points. The first half, no T. Higgins anywhere to be seen. No, um, Joe.

Jamar Chase to be seen. Joe Burrell, like, leading rush. Like, what, like Bengals have no run game. And then the second half happened. And then a treat of receivers with T. Higgins and Jammar Chase. I mean, it's, it is such an unbelievable thing that T. Higgins and Jammar Chase around the same team. T. Higgins, uncoverable in the second half. He had 100, almost 150 yards in the second half.

And then Joe Burrow, that's, this is the one. He's going to be really high on my quarterback breakdown and quarterback rankings because the way he played in the second half is the way I know he can play. He didn't get pressured. He moved in the pocket. They took over, scored touchdowns on the first five possessions of the second half. And the one thing about him is he was pinpoint accurate, getting hit, throwing the football, a lot of out routes to Jamar Chase. There was that route. We call the race route.

We're in the red zone where you race. the corner. Dude, Jamar Chase completely turned around the Ravens' defensive back. He went out, he went in, he went all over the place. That was a beautiful throw. Multiple throws in cover two that the Ravens were playing between the corner and the safety on these corner routes to T. Higgins, who's a big body, you put it up there.

I don't think that when Joe Burrow is rolling, I don't know if there's any other quarterbacks that are as accurate or that are as good as him. They spread it around to all their guys, four touchdowns, second half alone, throwing the football, all to different guys. That's when they're at their best. And out of the play calling, Zach Taylor did a really nice job. He was fired up on the sideline. It just takes a lot because like when you're down 13, nothing on the road and you're thinking like, well, what's going wrong? It's really hard to just flip the script.

And then that's when I felt the momentum switch. There's not a lot of people talking about this momentum, but the momentum switch, Bingo started to pressure more in the second half. they got the Huntley. I just want to know what the heck was a half-time speech at Zach Taylor. So if you watch the show, Fred, you're a big first read guy. Let us know. All right.

We are going to get to who is trending up and who is trending down. It is probably a fan favorite on this entire block, meaning like what we're doing. We're going to start with trending up. And that is we're going to tell players, coaches, teams who are trending up after week seven. and then we're going to get into the trending down in week seven as well. Let's start with the first one Thursday night game.

Caleb Williams. Ice man. They beat the Pats Thursday night, 30 to 24 to move to 5 and 2. Caleb went 22 of 33, 308 yards, two touchdowns, most importantly, zero interceptions. How about this on the season? 1,020 yards, 5 touchdowns, one pick, 71% completion rate. They also, the bears also rush for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Here's the thing about Caleb Williams, why I'm so smitten on them.

You go back, you win, you come back from that hamstring injury, you play really well against the Falcons, then you come home against the paths who had been playing a lot better, and it was the way you were able to throw the football in the tight windows. It was the way you were able to throw accurately with pressure in your face. It was the way that you took over that game. He's playing with extreme confidence. right now. I can absolutely say with no doubt in my mind that Caleb Williams continues to play

like this, he's going to be in the MVP race. Like there's no doubt in my mind about it. It's hard pressed to find, and I know it's old news, but we cover the bears here on this channel because it was Thursday. He throws the football and plays the position of quarterback probably better than anyone in this game outside Brock Purdy and maybe Josh Allen. He is having a hell of of the season. The Bears are an absolute unit offensively. Ben Johnson's doing a heck of a job. All right, let's get to the second

trending up. I never thought I would say this. Producer can't put it in my ear and I was like, man, let's do this. AFC North except the Ravens. You're trending down, but we'll get to that in a second. AFC North. How about the Browns, the Steelers, and the Bengals? Who in their right mind thought that

this would be one of the better divisions in all of football? The Browns are now in first place. Again, I mean, it's unbelievable. Five and two, they beat Tennessee. The Browns have fought. How about this? This is the difference between having an experienced quarterback, having not an experienced quarterback, having a little bit of belief, having about momentum. Grounds have five game winning drives. One in each of their wins. Each of their wins, they have five game winning drives. How about that? And then Steelers went a nasty game. in Paris. I mean, that was probably one of the more boring games, 1610 over the Saints.

But they win. Rogers, 19-0 30, 212 yards, a touchdown, zero interceptions. He took three sacks because he's old. Jalen Warren continues to ball out 18 rushes, 101 yards. And then the Bengals, we just talked about. And they're pass off and says humming after a bad first half versus Ravens. It's going to get really interesting down the stretch. Who do I think is going to come out? I mean, I don't know. That's a great question. The Bengals look really good. Steelers are great. I just don't know if the Browns have it in them to continue doing all this stuff. But it is such a good story with Deshaun Watson. All right. Let's get to topic three. Guys, J.J. McCarthy. Cam Scataboo. How about that? They win 2721 and overtime in Houston.

And J.J. McCarthy goes absolutely ballistic. 20 of 28, 252 yards, took three sacks. No interceptions, more importantly, against a decent Houston defense who's sort of gotten struggled a little bit, so we'll just say they're okay. Zero touchdowns. But the way J.J. McCarthy, and I've said this because I know Matt Nagy's offense, he is a very similar fit to this offense as Jackson Dart uses his legs enough. Some of these throws, too, it's not just like, we're not just stat watching. We're actually breaking down these throws. Some of these throws to the sideline off his back foot, still mechanically not as great as I want them to be. But like,

don't let the Giants and J.J. McCarthy get hot for two and one. That tie is like, you're kissing your sister. Like, what are we doing here? However, another part of the duo, it used to be Jackson Dark Camp Skadaboo. How about J.J. McCarthy, Cam Skadaboo. Now, Skadaboo was benched his last game. That's right. So what does he do?

He comes back. And the Giants in general, Singletary, their run game was excellent. But he comes back, 17 rushes, 124 yards, and a touchdown these two right now. The way Matt Nagy is calling the plays, Isaiah likely, Malik neighbors, they're getting going. Don't let them get hot. Don't let them get a little bit of confidence

in an NFC East that is extremely winnable. Like, I don't trust anyone in the NFC East. The Eagles, oh my gosh, the Cowboys, oh my gosh, the commanders, oh, my God. Like, if you continue to win and continue to just get something, their defense plays just good enough, I mean, this is easily their best one of the year, super impressed with J.J. McCarthy and the Giants. All right, let's get everyone's favorite trending down.

We're going to start with the Ravens. We said it. We don't need to say a lot. The Ravens lose 35 to 13 to the Bengals. They're four and three, one and two at home, 0 and two in the division. You should be winning home games. You should be winning division games. Lamar Jackson, come back right now.

Huntley played great. He was sacked four times. You know, you got to think, would Lamar escape those throws? Maybe, maybe not. Defense two, you give up 35. answered after shutting out the Bengals in the first half. What happened there? I just think they got to get their ducks in the row. They are not going well for them. Moving on. The Texans, oh, man, it's like season probably over, but you lose to the Giants at home after winning the last two.

I just can't get over the lack of run game and I can't get over how bad your defense is. And they've struggled. And I hate saying how bad. It's just they're not clicking right now. C.J. Stroud had played really well going to this game, but he only passed for 153 yards. nine touchdowns, only one interception on the season, though. He's not the problem. The problem is the lack of run game. I mean, Jalen Newell is Houston's leading receiver for 334 yards, but where is this run game going?

It'd be interesting to see what kind of changes. I don't think D'Amico Ryan's is on the hot seat whatsoever, but we've got to figure out what's going on with this defense. He traded for Marvin Harrison Jr., receiver room, sort of stuck. Like defense, disappointed at say at least. only three interceptions and three fumble recoveries on the year. I mean, yes, you have probably the best rusher in all of football and Will Anderson, who has seven and a half sacks.

You're getting pressure, but you're not getting takeaways. That's a huge deal for the Texans. And then finally, it'll be quick. The Raiders. Man, you guys started so well. Kirk Crizzan started so hot. Now we're calling, I'm calling for Fernando Mendoza to get going. Just got to find a way.

Play the Jets. You got to get a win. You got to get a win. I think you go with Fernando Mendoza. All right, let's get to the next game balls. That's right. We got a good ball winner. And, you know, I just decided to break the rules a little bit.

That's why you're seeing Kevin O'Connell right there on the screen because I'm giving the good ball winner to the Minnesota Vikings. They are 6 in 0. They come from behind to beat the Colts 16 to 10 home win. Colts just fired Chris Ballard. So they were maybe playing a little bit, you know, better than I think, but in general, here's the story of the year for the Minnesota Vikings. Four sacks for their defense, seven tackles for loss, 10 quarterbacks hits.

Harrison Smith, I feel like it's been playing forever, had an interception. Your defense is carrying. I mean, the fact that you're 6 and 0 right now, and the fact is, like, I think Kyler Murray is actually playing pretty well. He's played in four games. Listen to these stats. He's averaging like 150 yards a game. 662 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions. He's been sacked nine times.

Only 20 rushes for 93 yards. Zero touchdowns in five games played. I thought Kyler would be there to use his legs a little bit more. There's been a couple games where Kyler's really showed out, showed that he can throw the football down the field a couple halves. I think the biggest thing for him, only two interceptions. I don't know how they're doing it. I don't know how they're other than their defense.

I mean, in today's day and age, you still need a quarterback. You still need a run game, but their defense is playing out of their mind. The Vikings somehow only have 13 red zone trips this season. No clue, but only the Browns and the Dolphins have less. The Vikings. Every single one of you, game ball, game ball, game ball, first read, it goes everywhere. Bad ball winner. We've rarely talked about them, but we got to do it.

The Jets and Aaron Glenn, you lose at home to a winless dolphins team. 28, 25. It was actually a pretty entertaining game. I watched the fourth quarter of it. Jets are now two and five. one and two at home. You get the Raiders who are reeling. You got to get that win.

Today, believe it or not, and a loss was the most points they have scored in a game all season. The previous high was 24 in week three against the Lions. Here's the one thing that made me agree to have the Jets in Aaron Glenn as bad ball winner. In the last two minutes under Aaron Glenn, your point margin,

107 points given up into six. you've scored six. That looks fake to me. It's not fake. We've triple checked it. Point margin, 107 to 6 in the last two minutes under Glenn. Glenn is 5 and 19 as Jets head coach. It's just not going well for him. I believe his job is probably going to get talked about this week in New York media, but we'll keep it to that. All right, favorite part of the show for me, it's a two-minute drill. We keep it quick. We keep it rolling. What we do here is we just go through other different headlines. storylines of the week.

All right, how about this? DeShon Watson has led five game winning drives this season alone. Another tough loss for the Titans. They were up 14-0 in the first quarter. Thought they would end up pulling it off. Didn't Titans have a quarterback issue with Kim Ward? J.J. McCarthy got his first win in his first start with the Giants. Very efficient, 20 of 28, 252 yards, and Cam Scadden who rushed for 124 yards on 17

carries and a touchdown of the Giants. I think they might be for real. How about Bo Nix? 62-yard touchdown run. He's playing a lot better. Broncos just feel like they continue to win. He hit 19 miles per hour on that 62-yard touchdown run at the Cardinals. One of six quarterbacks to have a rushing and passing touchdown of 50-plus yards in the same season.

People say Bo Nix has washed. I just think he needs to step into his throws. All right, Cardinals haven't won a home game. September 14th of last year, they're good on the road. At what point do we see Carson Beck? You got to play him. Play them now. In fact, play them.

Continue to play them. How about Baker, Mayfield, and the Buccaneers? Took it to the Panthers. Panthers are sort of rolling with Bryce Young. They win 43 to 13. Bucky Irving rushed for 106 yards. Baker had that cast or that splint on his right thumb. It looked pretty well.

And then the dolphins get their first win of the season against the Jets. Gino Smith, 23 of 30, 287, three touchdowns. They still lost. Guys, that is week seven. It is a crazy week seven. Thank you so much for liking. Thank you so much for subscribing. We've had a really fun.

at this show and we're going to continue doing it. We'll see you next week. What happens when romance gets a little monstrous? On Radio 831, a romance podcast, join us, Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall as we host our own monster romance extravaganza. We're joined by the villain edit author Rosie Dannen and Sentient Object romance expert Gracie Delgado to explore with these unexpected love stories can reveal about desire, fantasy, and what we actually want. Listen to Radio 831, a romance podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Meet the disruptors who are setting today's trends and discover those who are building

what's next. People like Sebastian Yatra. Life is on the other side of fear. Introducing Global Flow with me, Dramos, a new podcast where I sit down with disruptors across music, entertainment, business, and tech to break down what they're building, get the blueprint to how they got there, all while trying to figure out what's coming next. Listen to Global Flow on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author, Patra Mathers, and her husband Michael, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide.

Dear honies, this is goodbye. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead. Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people? they left behind. Listen to Death of an Artist on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On recent episodes of The Questlove Show, I chatted with Jojo about her music and Wallow 267 about his story, everything in between. Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing, leave get out, or too little, too late, or baby it's you.

Oh, no. And I'm going to be like, okay, cool. Check out my conversation with Jojo, Wolo 267, and more on the Questlove show. Listen to the Questlove show on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Peace.