NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2016 Week 1 Review

Episode Date: September 12, 2016

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler – recap all the games from the first Sunday of the regular season including the Giants beating Dak Prescott and the Cowboys and Alex Smith leading the Chiefs comeback victory over the Chargers. Then the heroes break down the Sunday Night Football game where Jimmy Garoppolo led the Patriots into Arizona and defeated Carson Palmer and the Cardinals.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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By a room. Filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. What is happening? What a day. Week one. Week one.

More like week fun. That's the new slogan. The NFL will roll out for week ones going forward. You put away your slogans. I bring up slogan earrings coming back. Effective next week, because I just thought about it at this very second, so it's too late for the beginning of season slogan. But for the kickoff weekend, week will. more like week fun.

Somehow they're going to grab that slogan and you will receive in the end no credit and no financial compensation for coming up with it, I predict. But it's not an exaggeration. I mean, everyone's always, oh, this is the best week ever, this is the best week one ever. There were seven or eight games that ended in the last drive

at the last second big comebacks. I mean, the NFL came through. You couldn't have asked for a better first week. From a personal standpoint, I think it's going to have been a lot better, but we'll get to that. But a lot of games came right down to the wire west, and you like that, don't you?

Yeah, I had a couple of them. I was watching it came down to the wire. Just don't expect an upset today because they didn't happen. Exactly. And we are taping this during the beginning of the Sunday night football game, and we are actually doing this on Periscope right now for the first time ever. We're giving it a shot. We heard from the corporate overlords on the third floor,

people that don't listen to our show. There will be no YouTube show. on Sundays. So instead, we are taking this into our own hands, giving it to the people on Periscope. And, you know, listen, man, you can't hold us down. No, I think, look, we're about the podcast. We're the number one podcast on NFL media by far for a reason because we love the podcast.

So I think this is cool we got going on with Periscope. It might look a little better next week. We might have someone from the NFL helping us and actually kind of walking around room and taping us. But this is cool. And we don't mind being a completely rogue operation if it calls for it. There's a 50% chance they'll take this away from us as well. I would imagine.

We'll just play it by ear. But a lot of football to talk about. Greg, you're a giddy. Let's get to it. So let's do it. Irishman, let's talk about some football. Let's do it. And just as an Easter egg, I'm going to pop up somewhere in there on this periscope.

So watch out. Is that what an Easter egg is? Professional football in America is a special game, a unique game. Played nowhere else on Earth. It is a rare game. The man who play it, make it so. Oh, yeah, there we go. Let's start talking about, for the first time in the history of this show, gentlemen,

the first game on Sunday that we're recapping is an Oakland Raiders game, and they deserve it because a team that down one point tying a game late on a touchdown pass or was it a run, I can't recall. But they got within one point, and what does Jack Del Rio do? He hangs some serious onion. You notice these onions are sitting on top of the ground. I mean, serious onion, going for two. Derek Carr rewards his coach's belief

and converts to Michael Crabtree, of all people, making the big catch into the Superdome where he was not able to make the catch in the Super Bowl once upon a time. And the result, 35, 34. The Raiders beat the Saints in New Orleans, a late 61-yard attempt by Will Lutz, who's a person, it went wide right or left. So, Greg, your thoughts about an amazing game.

Will Lutz? He is a person. Well, I think West should really start this one. He watched it better, but it just goes to show you can't buy too much hype about the Saints defense in the offseason. They were actually doing pretty well outside of one drive where Amari Cooper trashed the New Orleans secondary

until Delvin Bro went down with what turned out to be, I believe, a fractured fibula. That was a problem for the Saints. But this was actually two defenses that really had trouble with the pass. For three and a half quarters, it looked like Drew Breeze could do whatever he wanted. And actually, all the way through the game. Drew Breeze, Willie Sneed, Brandon Cooks, that was a story of the game, really, until Jack Del Rio basically just said, I'm not going to overtime because I don't trust my defense to stop Drew Brees.

Now, when they were lining up to go for that too, and this is, I believe I saw it was the fourth or fifth time in NFL history that a team went for two to win the game in the closing seconds of the game the first time since 08 I believe it was John Gruden did it once you thought they shouldn't do it you you know Wesleyan thought that you know you shouldn't go I thought they left I thought they left way too much time on the clock for Drew Brees to have a field goal drive right and they came down and almost it only came like a yard short of winning the game you know who else thought should who else thought they should have went for one not two the math nerds who i've always been

on the other side and the fence on yeah you know i've never been on in lockstep uh ESPN stats and research released a stat but that statistically the odds for winning were more in the favor to kick the pate and then try to win in overtime than going for two and then holding off uh drew breeze at the end and guess what jack del rio who's feeling himself with those big old onions uh replies it's good thing ESPN doesn't coach the Raiders. And because it was my favorite call in a long time in terms of a coach call, let's hear the call from the Raiders broadcast. If you don't make this, you lose.

Yeah. Very simply. Car and the gun. We're going to the same formation. We're going to motion Al-Alawale to the left of Carr and the gun. A two-pointed to go up by a point. Car out of the shotgun. Looks left.

throws a loud for Michael Croft. He caught him. He caught him. He caught. Got it! The Raiders have the lead. 35, 34. Sweet revenge for Michael Crabtree.

Inside the Superdome in New Orleans where they gave him three shots to win the Super Bowl for the 49ers, and he couldn't do it. Great call right there. What a great call. Who was on that call? Do we know, Brandon? Oh, that's Papa. Greg Papa, I believe.

Is that Bob Papa's brother? I believe so. Yeah, I believe that is Greg Papa. And what a call to call. up that crab tree moment, not in the same end zone that Mark you and I and Dan saw him come up short in the Superdome. Absolutely. What a fun ending. Well, and how encouraging for, I think, for both teams on offense to find out, you know, after a lot of hype for the Raiders, how much offensive firepower you really have. I wonder if it's the acid test.com this week for either team

against these defenses, though it seems. I thought the Raiders secondary, which we crowed about all August and offseason, was going to show up today. they did the reverse. Well, it's a reminder the preseason sometimes doesn't matter because the Saints' offense in the preseason, there were a lot of worries about. Sean Smith signed a four-year, $40 million contract away from the Chiefs to land with the Raiders, and he was benched by the third quarter. He was the victim on Brandon Cook's.

Bension week one. Victim on Brandon Cook's 98-yard franchise record touchdown for the longest touchdown in Saints history. And he was also, I think he was beaten by Willie Sneed on a couple of plays, too. Willie Sneed looked great in this game. And Michael Thomas for all of the hype. I mean, he looked good, reeled in all six of his targets. But Willie Sneed seems like he's their number two, not Michael Thomas.

He is a really interesting player, not a big physical guy, but he makes big physical catches. And to me, if you're a Saints fan or someone that supports them, this is about as crushing as it gets to me. Because I know, okay, the offense look good, there's good things to feel. They had, according to the box score in terms of the QB hits and the sacks, almost no pressure on Derek Carr. And it feels like more of the same. Well, it's every Saints game ever. Right, but you were hoping maybe this would somehow be different. Instead, you lose your best cornerback here for a long time.

Neither team got pressure. Drew Bree's 14th career 400-yard performance. Let's move on to another great game. And you guys, if you listened to our podcast on Thursday, I did make the announcement that if the Jaguars did not show up in this game against the Packers, I was stepping away from the profession here through the offseason. After all the hype around the Jags. And you know what?

They didn't win this game. against the Packers, but they put up a fight, and that's enough to keep me employed during the winter. But with the Jaguars in position for a game winning touchdown, time running out, Quentin Rollins, Emeka Hyde, and Demarius Randall all made big plays closing it out. So the defense of the Packers stood strong, stood tall, a 27 to 23 win in Jacksonville, Greg. What were your takeaways here? Well, you watch week one and you're expecting, okay, what offseason narrative is going to be blown up? what's my big takeaway.

And sometimes, and I think this was partly true on Thursday night, sometimes it's just two teams that look pretty good and they look pretty even playing a well-played game that really you had no idea who's going to win and comes down to the last possession. To me, the Packers secondary was something I wanted to highlight because I think they were a key to the game. Quentin Rollins, who got picked on,

ended up making a big-time play to break up a play to Alan Robinson. Ha-ha, Clinton Dix made some big plays. and I think both secondaries looked very good in this game. A lot of the problems that the Packers had an offense last year had happened in this game. They weren't making plays early in the down. They counted on Aaron Rogers to just make crazy plays. And you know what? He made him.

He beat the Jaguars. He made all the big plays when he needed to. And the Packers' defense to me was just a little bit better today. It seemed to me from what I saw that Jordy Nelson and Aaron Rogers, there's still work to go in terms of their chemistry that he was not. Maybe it resembled last year's offense to some degree because you're not getting a 100% Nelson out there on the field. Nine targets for Nelson for 32 yards.

So that's not a very efficient. He caught six of them for five yards per catch, but there was no vertical element whatsoever in the Packers game. Devante Adams had one chance for a long catch, and he dropped it. And the Nelson touchdown, which helped fantasy leagueers, came kind of on a broken play. Both of Rogers' touchdowns were just unbelievable individual

efforts, which reminded me a little bit of last September. Yeah, last September, Rogers carried this team with unbelievable, unrepeatable performances that can't go on all season. And if Jordy Nelson doesn't get back to 100%, I think that's a problem. He had all day to throw, and they still have no vertical element. I was going to say, give Jordan Nelson a month. I want to see where he is. Let him get his feet back under him.

And their offensive line played really well. The Packers' offensive line and Eddie Lacey both played really well. I mean, Dan, you have a sandwich riding on the fact that Green Bay's offense won't just be vertical and intriguing, but record-setting potentially. Well, I look at the positive, and they have to average 32 points a game to hit 530 for the season, which is going to be tough. They didn't even really get it together today. They got 27.

So I just need like a 40-point game next week, and we're right on pace. I like that outlook. If you're a Jaguars fan, I think that the most disappointing part was you didn't really see any difference in a pass rush. Dante Fowler did not have a good game. They really didn't get after Rogers at all. was amazed. I think that all the investment they put in the secondary, Jalen Ramsey, Prince and Mukumara, their safeties had a good game. That all looked good and that all looked promising that they would be better. A little disappointed in Blake Bortles, your boy? No, he was

solid. Kind of Bortlese though, right? You know, he made a couple mistakes, but actually he was the biggest mistakes were really like time management, not being able to get the plays in and delay of games and they use the timeouts very poorly. Well, and No, Chris Ivory takes away a big part of what this team wanted to do and how they wanted to reorganize their ground game. I mean, their preseason work on the ground looked great when Ivory and Yeldon were together. Did we get any info on that? He was in the hospital for a medical issue.

Some sort of illness is what our guy, NFL Network insider Ian Rapport reported, but they didn't really expound on that. And the Jaguars were not able to run the ball. And the Packers, I think, really did everything possible to prevent big plays. And that's Ha Ha ha, Clinton Dix. And they did a great job. the ball 15 times to Alan Robinson for only 72 yards. So they had a tough time going deep.

Let's move on to a thriller late game. And Wes, it's time to welcome them back because Victor Cruz playing in his first game in 700 days had the go-ahead touchdown score in Big D, the difference in a 2019 win by the Giants over the Cowboys, a game that went down to literally the last second. Dak Prescott trying to lead Dallas into. field goal range with one minute to play, a pass to Terrence Williams. Cardinal mistake by Williams, who instead of going out of bounds and giving Dan Bailey a shot of a long field goal

or perhaps a Hail Mary from Prescott, instead the clock runs out and the Giants escape with the win. Mark Sessler, your thoughts. Well, it was really a tale, people are going to focus on that last drive for Dak Prescott, but it was really a tale of two halves in my book because the first half, what we saw from Prescott and the Cowboys, was absolute proof that 2014 can be brought back to life in Dallas. They controlled the clock for 20 plus minutes. Their first four drives were, I believe it was 15 plays, 15 plays, 11 plays, and 7, all for scores. And so Prescott out of the gate looked very comfortable running the offense. I think he made a number of nice throws. They let him throw the ball 45 times.

And then in the second half, it was the Giants who, you know, they got in those red zone three times and scored three touchdowns. And Eli Manning, whether you like him or not, Eli Manning made a couple of big throws. And towards the end, what revealed to me was with Dallas and their run defense just allowed an uninspiring Giants run game to pound them up the middle over and over. And New York really, they hung in this game. And I think with Dallas, there's not a lot of panic here. I think Prescott has a lot to offer. but this one got away from them. Well, we thought that Ezekiel Elliott and Des Bryant would give the Cowboys two big play threats,

home run hitters, and that didn't really happen today. Des Bryant had the one catch overturned that would have been a touchdown. But it sounds like Dez was kind of an afterthought. It's not football season until a Dez Bryant big play gets overturned. But that was the right call, right? I think it was the right call. You know, I think I'm with Wes. Who knows what it catches anymore.

Wes was angry about this one. I just, it doesn't touch the ground and it's not a catch. I don't understand. It changed the game entirely. And I think honestly it took, it took Des Bryant out of this game a little bit because he seemed, and a lot of beatwriters noted this too, that he was just, his demeanor was a little bit tilted in the second half. And with Elliott, I have no questions about Elliot in general.

But I think that the Giants deserve credit for this defensive line showed up against a very good offensive line, held Elliott to 2.5 yards per carry. Well, what about Jason Pierre-Paw? couple tweets and you know i haven't watched the game fully yet but just saying that he was all over the place and that's making me feel pretty good about a forgotten sandwich uh prop we have long ago mario williams versus jp and mario williams was concussed bad week well you're off to a good start thing like like the offensive line for the expense of mario williams was just your way to brag about

jp no i wanted i wanted i wanted to hear here about the cowboys offensive line because we think of them as the best group in the league but it sounds like they didn't really win their matchups today well they They didn't record a sack on Dak Prescott, and that's to do with his mobility, but also just the fact that you are playing the number one line in pro football. But when it came to the ground game, I think that Dallas, if they want it, if their plan is to run for 160, 170 yards a game, they can't do what happened today. I want to hear, because the Oakland one was excellent, I'm hoping for a meltdown by the local Dallas guys on the Terrence Williams played.

Do we have that, Irish? Here it is. 12 seconds left, third down back to throw. throws it out right. Haug, get out of bounds! To the 40-yard line, it's in the field of play. Who was that? Terrence Williams.

He didn't get out of bounds, and the clock is going to expire right now. And the game is over. If Terrence Williams had turned right instead of left, they would have had at least one more play. Let me say this. That was shocking to me. Let me say this about these Giants Cowboys games,

because I know they're not very popular around these parts. They're always entertaining. I enjoy them. They're always very competitive games with dramatic endings a lot of times. This one was no different. Terrence Williams' Miss Q was like the Chris Weber timeout in college basketball. You're probably going to lose the game anyway. I mean, the Cowboys have very little chance to win in that situation.

But that image you'll remember is of Des Bryant just pointing, go out of bounds, go out of bounds, and him ignoring it. And before we move on, Wes, I think time to welcome. Victor Cruz, welcome back. First touchdown is 721 days. He's an actual football player again. He's back on your radar. It was the go-ahead touchdown, and he also had another drive

a very big catch that helped them score another touchdown as well. I'm happy for him. I don't know about that salsa dance, but it's good to have him back on the field. I know it's only week one, but that's losing a home game to a division foe is the worst possible loss you can have. It just stings a little extra in week one. Let's move on. Matt Prater, a man who I remember the Super Bowl a few years back with the 49ers,

wearing a studded earring in his earlobe, which I was like, a kicker, you can't do that, bro. And then today, Matt Prater, he was all set up to be the goat because he missed an extra point that looked like it was going to cost the Detroit Lions a game. But he comes back, the Lions moved down the field against the Indianapolis Colts. Prater hits the 43-yarder, and that was it.

The final score, the Detroit Lions 39 Indianapolis Colts, 35. the score got to from 37 to 35 on an absurd multilateral desperation attempt by the Colts special teams that ended in a safety. But this was a game, Greg Rosenthal, that the Lions almost let get away, but you got to give them credit. They got gumption. You have to give them credit. It was the exact type of game whoever had the ball last was going to win. These defenses had nothing. It looked like the Lions were going up against a practice squad.

type of team. And we've talked about the Colts injuries. They lost their, remember, they entered this game without their top two cornerbacks. They lost two of their top three cornerbacks in this game. So with that situation, you think Matthew Stafford should rack up 450 total yards. I was really impressed by the way Andrew Luck went up and down the field, like it was 2014. Once it was 21 to 3, I believe. It was late in the second quarter. They put up 32 points from that point forward. They did whatever they wanted. So everyone on offense has to feel good about this game,

but I'm going to get on Chuck Pagano and the Colts offense for taking a bizarre timeout with 115 left. It's easy to point fingers now, but it ended up giving them the Lions time to win the game. You know how Mark is the quiet storm on Sundays? You sure is. Storm below the surface. That's how I am with premature honking on Twitter during games.

Yes. And I was getting messages in the first quarter, or the first half. Shouldn't we just admit that Andrew Luck's not very good? I saw one of those, too. You know, I come back to it. Andrew Luck looks like a 49ers quarterback. That was one of the tweets too,

and I'm just like, all right, mute. I might have muted at least a thousand times today. So, wait, you're muting, not blocking. Well, it depends on the, it depends on the infraction. Listen, Wes is in love now. That's true. He's got a power more. It's a kinder, softler.

In the old days, he's blocking you. See, if you're at Periscope, you can see the clock. Or there's only like 20 American citizens that haven't been blocked by Wes at this point, so he's only got so much audience left to work with. If you're going to do premature honking and all you people crying about the Titans as team of ATL because they didn't show up, it's week one! It's week one! In the old days, Wes would block you. He'd look up your IP address. He'd send men to your doors to break your knees. Now, he's sitting the mute. Next thing you know, he'll be like, oh, that's a good

point. I differ in my opinion. Come on over to my house. But football is great for that reason. Well, yeah, I'm not likely to say premature honking is a good idea. Does it feel like the cults, like Andrew Luck could lead the lead in touchdown passes, but the cults go six and ten because as we've talked about, Ryan Grigson has put together a team that is mass is bizarre. The way he's put together is bizarre. It's a terrible roster. He's getting fired in January.

The coach is getting fired. And you know what? I will do some premature honking. This team, he is going to be the new, Andrew Luck is going to be the new Dan Marino until they get better support system around him. honk about the coach and GM. I think Andrew Luck is beyond reproach, but I'm not going to get excited about this team until they got some better talent. Well, I always trust in offense. And if not for that ridiculously fast, I think 50 second, 50 yard, whatever it was that the Lions field goal drive to win this

game, this would have been the story of the day, one of the stories in the NFL would have been Luck's comeback and the way that they just went up and down the field. I was really impressed. Granted their defense bad, but in this AFC South, their offense, I think, should be enough to keep them around. I'm going to tell you something. What? They're gone. No, he said.

I like Cooter. Oh. Marvin Jones also. What's not the like about Coot? Yeah, I want to, the Lions, Marvin Jones. Jim Bob Cooter. And the uptempo offense, and I know they were playing the Colts. But Riddick and Abdullah both had fantastic games.

They used them in very smart ways. Cuder with the brains. I love Cooter. Like, here's the thing. And I said this not to, you know, toot the old horn. do that. But on Thursday show, I said, isn't it possible that the blinds could be an entertaining team, especially if Abdullah gets heated up and this Marvin Jones Golden Tate thing is interesting and Stafford has a good Stafford season? They look like a fun team to watch. I've got a lot of positive

tweets about Amir Abdullah today. People really liked what they saw. Yeah, he was terrific, made a lot of people miss. Theoretic at the end of the game had a drive where, I mean, he was calling up the ghosts of Barry Sanders. I know Barry's still alive. Wow. I was going to say, Is that breaking news? I'm just saying. How did ghosts work in your world? I don't know. Well, the plane ghost.

You know, he's making people miss. It was an outrageous drive. When you watch it on Game Pass, you'll know what I'm talking about. All right. All right, let's move on. So Barry Sanders alive. He's alive. All right, another breaking news.

This just in from Los Angeles, Barry Sanders, not dead. So reassuring to know that. Yeah. Moving on. James Winston. Oh, Greg. Speaking of honking. James Winston, Greg's boy, got off to a slow start on Sunday against the Falcons, but then went nuts.

After he started 2 of 5 of the pick, he went off, 21 of 28 with four touchdowns, including some beautiful deep-ball hookups with Austin Safarian Jenkins and Mike Evans. And that was all the bucks would need. They ended up with a 31 to 24 win in Atlanta, not in the new facility, by the way. That new facility opens next year. Yes, correct. This is at the Georgia Dome. So so many spine-tingling moments through the years in the Georgia Dome,

it's sad to see the final opening game at the Georgia Dome be a defeat. But Greg, you don't care about that. You're excited about James Winston because you got like 17,000 sandwich wagers tied to him. My sandwiches are looking good. I need them to make the playoffs. They are in sole possession of first place in the NFC. Well, you need them to play the Falcons defense every week. Yeah, that would help.

Everything you would want to see in a Bucks game, week one, happen. Evans going deep, like he did a couple years ago, a little more consistent. Doug Martin and Charles Sims both made really big plays. Winston bounced back. The thing I like most about him is that he's always aggressive. Like, he can have a terrible first quarter, but he's going to always keep gunning. Question for you, because there was a lot of chatter about can we take our no-huddle fast-paced approach into enemy territory, and they talk about maybe not doing as much of that, but they were so effective of the preseason doing that.

Was that how they operated today? At points they did, at points they didn't, it definitely worked in the second quarter. I mean, they were a streaky team. This game was up and down and the Falcons fought back. As well as James Winston played, I think Matt Ryan might have played even better in this game. This loss was not on him. He led them back on a tough comeback and really played well, but the Falcons had no running game to speak of.

Tevin Coleman was in the mix a lot and was a big factor, made some great plays in the passing game. But the Falcons just couldn't push the buck. around up front and the bucks had a little more of a pass rush than they have in years past. Is Kwan Alexander making the league? I think Kwan, Kwan has to. Regis in heaven. Can we isolate that?

Kwan Alexander has to pass our friend on the desk, Kwan Lom, in the Kwan power ranking. Whoa. You know, Kwan's got a bit of a temper on him. I'd be careful. He's the number one. Kwan, 17 tackles. King Kwam? A sack, two tackles for loss.

He was everywhere, and Levanti David had three tackles for loss. He looks like Levanti David again. And the two of them, I'm not saying they're the best linebacker group in the league, but they've got to be among the fastest and the most exciting to watch. Just a note, downstairs. I mean, Greg, you know, absolutely glowing during this event, this whole game. But they're a little bubbling up conversation about the Bucks being the team of ATN and ATL. And listen, Wes and I shot that down right away.

The team of ATN. Based on two items. One, their field, which is too sunny. discuss that. It's hard to watch. That can negate an opportunity. I just say it's a factor. I can get over that. The second one is the Buck's uniform. And it's important to note that Greg is colorblind. So it's not an issue for Greg, but for the rest of us, it would be a large issue. Their uniforms are literally vomit-inducing. One day I had a hangover, and their uniforms made me sick. You know, I remember this old Chris Wesley and I used to know and love that said, oh, I have an open mind. I

always, I want to watch the football and see what inspires me. I'm not going to just go in. I'm going to give these teams a chance. Sorry, the uniforms are a deal breaker. Give them a chance. They're a new wess. That's ridiculous. That is weird, Wes.

Come on, man. It's hideous. I can't watch the Jets either. These Bucks are exciting. Wait, what's wrong with the Jets uniform? They're hideous. They make every player look 10 times slower than they are in real life. I'm not even going to justify that.

I thought you were a football man. By the way, my boy, Shilin Patel over in Tampa, big bucks fan, texted me on Friday. Good to know some folks at NFL.com aren't sleeping on James and the Bucks. Your boy, Rosenthal, is on point. So we love it. Who is the person that texted you?

My boy, Shalyn. Shillen knows what he's talking about. So you are nationally known as someone who's connected to this team. You've got to be feeling good. I am. You're like Joe Bucks fan's favorite writer. It's like me, James Winston.

That's who people think of when they think of the Bucks. No doubt. Speaking of potential team of ATNR, Team of ATL. The heavy favorite going into week one was the Tennessee Titans, which made their play on Sunday a little bit troublesome. They failed to move the ball. It appears at least, based on the score,

a 25 to 16 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings, a very good team, obviously. But Chris Wessling, you are the king of, of the committee to nominate and elect the Titans as a team of ATL. Anything in this game will start from the Tennessee side that had you a little nervous. Well, they weren't just the favorite entering week one. They were the prohibitive favorite entering the third quarter of this game. They were in complete control and then absolutely melted down after Marcus Marriota

threw a pick six on a careless play in which he just didn't see Eric Kendricks. and then they fumble on a read option snap between Mario and DeMarco Murray, then Murray fumbles again. It was those three second half turnovers that doom the Titans. They actually outgained the Vikings in this game. You want to write a book how not to be the team of ATO. I think losing at home to Sean Hill has to be the first chapter. I think they lost to the Vikings defense though

because it sounds like, you know, Connor was at the game and did a great write-up and he was glowing. I was I-A-Ming with him during the game. glowing over this team saying how fun they were to watch, how the way that they used players and moved them around pre-snap were almost, it was like it was artistry. That's why I was confused because I heard the same things,

and then with three minutes in the fourth quarter, they had 10 points. I think they got off to a fast start, and the wheels came off. The second half turnovers was what it was. But if you are, if you're trying to get away from being the titoons, you can't lay an egg like this in week one, because especially with Mike Malarkey involved, and I know we move past that as a problem, This was a very Mike Malarkey type way to start a season.

Well, you know how they're built. They are not a team that's going to come from behind. Once they lose the lead, I don't know if there's any coming back. And as much as I like Mariotta, there was no deep ball again today. Well, and also, this is a team that I think we wouldn't have been surprised had they come out, maybe against Minnesota, but in general, 180 yards rushing, kind of just keep dominating the way 2.9 yards per attempt with 64 total yards. Well, that's the thing.

Their style invites games to be close. So it can feel like they're the dominant team in the first half, but you're only up 10 points. And if you're that type of team, you can't have turnovers. And you really need to have a better defense if you're going to be a contender. Defense wasn't too bad. They had Adrian Peterson, had one of the worst games of his careers today.

Did Sean Hill do enough to keep the job in week two? I thought he did. If you would have asked me at halftime, I would have thought Sam Bradford was going to come into that game. and then he came out in the second half, led a few drives. And really, the Titans were stacking the box, so they made it easy on Sean Hill. And Stefan Diggs had a really good game

and made them pay for stacking the box. Derek Henry do anything? Derek Henry turned basically a one-yard dump-off pass into a 29-yard gain, but he didn't do much as a runner, and I didn't think they used him enough as a runner. How about Taj Sharp, am I still alive in my sandwich bet that he might potentially lead all rookie receivers?

He is locked and loaded as the number one receiver. No doubt he is the go-to target for Marioo. He just said he was loaded. He was drunk at the game, and that's got to make you nervous. Still had seven catches and ebriated. Pretty good game. Vikings got to be fired up to win. Oh, they got to be feeling good now.

Went a game like this on the road with Hill. Without Adrian Peters. I tend to think Sam Bradford's definitely starting week, too, but maybe I'm crazy. Well, politically, how do you keep Sam Bradford on the bench after you just shipped the first and all the hype about Stefan Diggs kind of taking making a leap this off season and he comes through with 103 yards he had a good game I agree I think they'll have to go with Bradford and maybe a lot of Sean Hill's success today was just that the Titans were

stacking the box and it made it easy for any quarterback to go out there and move the ball oh I love this by the way they have a game next week against the Packers the Vikings do you saying yeah the Vikings do in their building win that football game and everyone's going to be saying Teddy who they're still going to do it They're a balanced team

I think that's what it's about That's the way the football cognizente operates They cast humans aside I will still have Mr. Bridgewater It would be an agro response For the fan base for that to be it That's all I'm saying

Let's move on Oh another season of Cleveland Browns football Is underway And the man that they essentially said we don't want that guy we're going to trade him somewhere else and get all the draft picks Carson Wentz starts against the brownies in week one and he plays very well 22 of 37 27 28 yards two touchdowns through the air that would be enough because the browns could not move the ball themselves a 29 to 10 win for the Eagles in Philly a nice start to the season for the Eagles mark

did you like the way Carson Wentz played football today I did I number one I don't even want to judge quarterbacks entirely on their first season of play. So a first game, I don't know what to expect in certain atmospheres, depending what team you're on. Carson Wentz, for me, and there's a reason I liked him in the potential of Cleveland taking him is because he very much fits an AFC North type quarterback, but he also fits Philadelphia Eagles football. This guy is aggressive. He throws the ball downfield. One thing I like about him is he got rocked a couple times today and did not, he just kept his footing and finish with the pass. Now I still think Carson Wentz, he's raw. There's still work to be done.

He sails passes high. There were mistakes to be made. But at the same time, you know, he kept generating points. It was one pass after next where it was a great catch combination with a good throw. But Wentz keeps moving the ball where on the opposite side of the field, you're seeing what someone without Carson Wentz did and without the parts around the quarterback. Philadelphia is a much better place for a rookie quarterback to beat it in Cleveland. Is the Brown's defense so inept that we should take this performance with a grain of salt? The Brown's defense, one thing I thought that they tackled better than they did in the preseason.

They were probably the worst tackling team I've seen in years in the preseason. They shored that up. I think that there's major issues because they can't stop the run and their secondary is an absolute mess. So, yes, I don't think it's a game that we can say, here's what we can really tell about Carson Wentz. He's going to go out and face much tougher opponents over the next. next month.

They gave up 400 yards to a team that we said that had among the worst receiver groups. Now, they got Jordan Matthews back. Well, they made Jordan Matthews look like a young Michael Irvin. And then Carson Wentz in his first start. How did RG3 look against the good Eagles? I also think it's hard to – RG3 – it seems like Cleveland has a deep ball or bust offense. That's all they have.

You connect a couple deep passes. You cannot run the ball. You know, RG3 was their leading rusher going into the fourth quarter, and then they got some yardage in garbage time when they were it was past situations where they were running with with Isaiah Crowell. I think it's a very incomplete offense that is weeks and months and maybe even seasons away from really having the parts in place to compete. That's not going to work multiple seasons. Well, I'm saying they're going to need a whole other draft and a whole another free agency period to impose their will on teams. This is where it could feel like

a bit of a con. If you say there's no, you don't even have to show strides in the year one because we have all these draft picks in that year and that year. You've got to make some progress. Where is Duke Johnson in this game plan? Three rushes and three catches? I thought he was supposed to be a weapon in the college. I think the big mistake in Cleveland was you had a good offensive line when you had nothing else on the team for a long time.

And then when you finally start building, getting some other parts in place and some wide receivers, I mean, RG3 got rocked in the second half of this game. He's hurt. Three sacks. He's hurt. He heard dislocated elbow or left shoulder. Grand shoulder. Grain shoulder, but he looked like he got hit in the head to a couple times.

I don't know how long RG3 lasts at all, or how many, how any quarterback lasts. It's one thing I don't understand, mate. I got two targets, but no catchers, no yardage. I was one of the best tight ends, mate, all season on Gary Barnish. And now you'd not even target me in the office? Not mega, mate. Well, he threw two passes to Gary Barners that Gary Barnett should have caught. And one in the first drive and slowed things down.

Secondly, Gary Barnage, when Josh McCown was not on the field last season, was a very different player, and his line over the course of a year would have been very different. And so sometimes some of these guys match up well with a certain quarterback. We're not seeing that with RG3 and Gary Barnage. Will you provide us with one word to describe Cam Irving, Brown Center? Flighty. And I'll say because he flew a snap right over RG3's head for a safety. And that is the moment when people in the office,

office were saying, oh, Cleveland's still a game. I'll tell you, you know, I said at certain point, usually it's in the first or second quarter with the Brown's game. Game over, and I'm 81 for 81 calling these games, and I did it again. The Brown should not play in week one. Mark in a sneaky, solid mood all day. Kind of seemed like you thought that's coming. Honestly, I think that unlike other years, and I honestly, the Eagles deserve to be

talked about much more than the Browns. The Browns do not deserve much billing this entire season. I know they're not going to win these games. And so there's no emotion attached to it. Dan, the Periscope crew just wanted to let you know. They appreciated the Barnage impression. Oh, thanks, mate. That was a little Australian.

But, wow, Jordan Matthews having that breakout year. He looked great, and I think that had a lot to do with him lining up against a 33-year-old Tremon Williams in the slot. Also lining up quite a bit outside in this game, which is different than the Chip Kelly era. Let's move on, gentlemen, and talk about those Houston Texans who have a new quarterback and a new running back. And for one week, at least, things look to be all good in Houston. The Texans got a lot out of their boy, Lamar Miller,

who had a career high 28 carries for 106 yards to go along with four catches. He led the way in a 23 to 14 win over the Chicago Bears. Mark Sessler, tell me about the new look Texans offense, Brock Osweiler and Lamar Miller leading the way. And a rookie. Yeah, I think that those are the two big takeaways. Lamar Miller is going to get fed 28 carries today. They're not going to shy away or play games with him.

He looked very good at times, had a costly fumble. And, you know, the Texans kind of, this was a weird game where the Bears looked like the better team for early parts of this. But Will Fuller. What an exciting rookie. Yes, because, you know, he dropped what would have been an electrifying long touchdown catch, but he made up for it. Five catches, 107 yards, a touchdown.

And he's just someone, in the minute he catches the ball, Everyone on defense is scared that they're close to having to try to tackle this guy. He's an unusual athlete, and he adds a completely different dimension across from DeAndre Hopkins and makes Brock Oswald look better than Brock Osweiler is. I think that speed, I think Kevin Patcher wrote the write-up and mentioned that he's the perfect compliment to Geondrey Hopkins. And I think that's why the Texans didn't take Laquan Treadwell or someone like that. They wanted his speed out there. Well, people criticize that pick a little bit, and you said unusual athlete, and I think that's right.

really stands out on the field, which doesn't happen a lot with NFL players. And to think that he's an unusual athlete opposite DeAndre Hopkins, who's one of, in the best ways, the most unusual athletes in the NFL, watch out. How did J.J. Watt look? Well, I think J.J. Watt did all he could to get out here for week one, but this was not the defensive player of the year, J.J. Watt, not a lot of pressure. And, I mean, honestly...

You play a lot of snaps. Was he on the field a lot? He played a bunch, but it was not... It was just a matter of him not being the guy that you're normal used to seeing. The other story across the field, Alshun Jeffrey, had a great game. And really, this Bears team, which I ripped on Thursday's podcast, they hung in here.

They hung in here for much longer than I thought they would. And I don't think that they're going to be, especially frisky team, but they are this John Foxy-type team that's going to hang around in certain games. They entered the fourth quarter with the lead, it looks like. They did, and their offensive line is a mess. But they, you know, they, I'm not in love with their ground games.

But the All-Shone Jeffrey thing, if they can keep him going, they can make plays. Clowny breakout season. Three QB hits, tackle, two tackles for loss and a sack in Weekland. All right. Let's move on. All hail, A.J. Green, the underappreciated superstar. A.J. Green single-handedly saved the Bengals today, who were outplayed in so many ways by the New York Jets in the Meadowlands.

But Green kept on making plays with mostly Derell Revis in coverage, it should be noted. 12 for 180 and a touchdown for AJ Green and a big reception late in the fourth quarter that set up a field goal by Mike Nugent that was the difference in the game 2322 Bengals over the Jets and it was a game that like I said the Jets should have won this game they had seven sacks of Andy Dalton and I give Andy Dalton a lot of credit too when a quarterback had sacks seven times including five times in the first half some guys have not have their eyes downfield or look a little half. happy in the pocket. He didn't look like any of that. He played a very good game after a slow start and led them to the go-ahead and game-winning field goal. And on that Jets defensive line, which could be scary, by the way, because Sheldon Richardson suspended this week. And Steve McClendon, who is the replacement for snacks, two and a half sacks, Leonard Williams, making the leap candidate here on the NFL.com around the NFL page, two sacks all over the field. It looked like Gino Ackins, and Gino Ackins was playing in the game. He looked more like Gino Ackins.

but 10 cuby hits and seven sacks absolutely no reason the jets let this get away and nine tackles for loss too that's i really feel like andy dalton has turned the corner in his career i think he has too i mean he the jets absolutely were assaulting him very early he threw a bad pick when he was under duress but he just hung in the game and i listen this is a good team the bengals are very good team so as a jets fan you you you chalk it up to you know you just got beat on a late kick but at the same time in this stretch of games six games where they need to win three of them to be have a pulse going into the second half to give one away at home like this yeah and i was sitting next to you all day and i could tell that you really really wanted and needed this win because

here's what's coming up for the new york jets the bills the chief on a short week in buffalo right so forget the bills that's not the hardest thing in the world but chiefs sea hawks steelers and cardinals are your four games after that's why where do you get a win in there you needed to win that game today because the bills they might not be a great team but they swept the jets last year and on a short week on the road when the bills lost in week one that's a very tough game you know who i need to check in with uh because living out in l.A i don't have a lot of people to vent to about the jets not a lot of jet fans in the office sure so i like to you know talk to my dad keith who you guys have all met oh yeah great and um great hair dad likes to

leave me a voicemail because he knows i'm busy on sunday so i figured why don't we will hear from Keith Hansis, a long-time Jet fan, his favorite player, Joe Namath, growing up. In fact, my dad once went to the old Hofstra training camp with a buddy one summer in, I think, 1971 or so, and saw Joe Willie sneaking in drunk with a teammate right before curfew. And so my dad goes way back with the Jets, a lot of suffering. Here's what he had to say about the game. Here's my review of the Jets angles, number one, failure in a red zone. zone. They were able to score in the red zone, and the number of times they were down there,

they would have this game wouldn't even been close. Number two, full cost them four points. Number three, big drop by Marshall at midfield at the end, followed by Fitzpatrickson's interception. So the offense failed when they had basically 56 seconds to get within field goal range, which they should have been able to do. Before, offensive play calling in the red zone, the imagination down there was terrible today. And then the last thing, and I think the biggest thing, was the defense, which played great in terms of getting a lot of sacks and some stuff's on a run.

But the big thing is Cincinnati did the screen. That was successful, where Green got 180 yards, which, for the most part, was done on just screens. So that's the review of the game. We had lost for the Jets at the opening day. I feel for your dad. I mean, hanging out with your dad one time before the Super Bowl that he went to, and we went, this was in New Orleans, and we went out for drinks,

and I tried to explain how hard it is to be a Browns fan, but hearing your dad talk about the Jets and how hard it's been for him going back way back when. I mean, this, he's actually, his behavior is very good here because I'm sure he was quite irritated. I think Dan's got to be a little worried that Keith's analysis just in overwhelming Dan's Jets analysis. Absolutely.

He filled in everything better than I could. So my dad's been through it all. With Dorel Revis in coverage, A.J. Green, 10 of 10. for 152 yards in a TD and a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating for him. Wow. Yeah, are we allowed to be concerned about Revis? Oh, absolutely because, I mean, the 54-yard touchdown, which is how Cincinnati got on the board,

that was a miscommunication in the secondary. He thought he had safety help and the safety kind of froze. So that wasn't all on Revis, but in the old days, Revis would have taken care of it anyway. He wouldn't need a safety. And the reception at the end that allowed Nugent to have a 45-yard kick instead of a 53-yard kick is just because what we saw last year, and I hope there was the wrist injury last year, but it looks like it's a situation where, and Green got the reception

to put them in better range, it looks like Revis just isn't at that level anymore, and he's going to not, there's no more Revis Island against a level quarterback, a wide receiver at that level. It's just those days are over. Well, this season is set up to be the AJ Green season because of the lack of options and just the point of his career and the point of Andy Dalton's career, he has a great chance to lead the league and receiving and just be in the mix. It's criminal that he's never mentioned in the conversations with Antonio Browns and Holyo Joe.

Absolutely should be. And you know I was thinking watching the end of the game, you now sort of expect Andy Dalton and the Bengals to win these games late or to make the drive late because he did it so many times in the first half of last year. So different than the Cincinnati Bengals that I've known for 30 years or 40 years. And one last note on the Bengals defense, which played very well. Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, who were the best tandem in the league, I thought, last year held to five catches in about 60 yards and Marshall as my dad reference had a terrible

drop in that last possession that stuff happens that's a good defense no matter who's coaching under Marvin Lewis their secondary always plays well yep that's a good team I think this could be the year was that they win a playoff game this could come to come on they were like 11 and 0 last year and everyone thought they were like one of the best teams in the NFL let's okay let's talk again in January all right let's move on oh disaster for the san diego chargers who uh jumped out to a 21-3 on the road in Kansas City, a shocking situation where for a long stretch in this game, this looked like a game that was in San Diego's hands

for the upset of the week, then disaster strikes. First off, fourth year wide-out, Keenan Allen, who when he's on the field is almost impossible to cover, as we've seen when he's healthy. He goes down with a non-contact knee injury, and it's one of those bad ones where the cart comes out and the players crying as he's getting carted out, of this podcast, we don't know how bad it is, but I certainly would not be surprised if that's

the last time we see Keenan Allen. And then to compound matters for the Chargers, they blow the game. Alex Smith leads the Chiefs all the way back with a late touchdown. And then in overtime, Smith goes in on a design run play, a 3327 win for the Chiefs over the Chargers. And like I said, Mark, a crushing loss for the Chargers who not only lose a golden opportunity to set the tone for the season in a beautiful way, they might have lost one of their most important players. Yeah, I mean, you talk about what teams do all offseason is you add players and try to come up with your philosophy on offense. And the whole plan here was to have Keenan Allen paired with Travis Benjamin. You have Keenan Allen, who's your do-everything guy, and Travis Benjamin,

who's your deep threat that takes, you know, defensive guys and takes middle side of the field. DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. Exactly. And now, and I can tell you this from experience, Travis Benjamin is a talent and athlete, but he is not a number one receipts. receiver. Seven catches for 32 yards. It's not a good situation. And the kind of things that happened today completely overshadows what was a really nice game by Melvin Gordon and what looked like at the gate, a massive uprising for the Chargers. Instead, it's a crushing loss. Got to be one of the biggest comeback losses they've ever had. Nobody is smarting right now worse than the Chargers. You were going to wake up tomorrow feeling like a bomb went off. Well, the theme to me in a lot of these

games was teams, the way they were last year, that's how they were a lot of times today. The Bengals come back to win a game. The Seahawks find a way to win close. The Broncos had that late game magic. The Chargers think they're in a good shape and what happens? Injuries and just a calamity loss that you can't believe to just feel like, oh, it's all starting over again has to be so disappointing if you're a Chargers fan. Jamal Charles didn't play in this game either, as we know.

And Spencer Ware is proving himself over and over again. a guy that could be a starter for almost any team in the league. He had 11 carries for 70 yards on a touchdown. That's an average of almost six and a half yards of carry. And then receiving. He was targeted eight times seven catches for 129 yards. I mean, this guy is a really talented guy. And when Jamal Charles comes back, I know this guy,

Jamal Charles is an all-time type player, there's no way that he's not going to be splitting carries. Yeah, I agree with you. He's going to be splitting carries. He's going to be eased back in. And real quick on Keenan Allen, there are never in the NFL more than 10 or 12 guys at a time who are legitimate number one receivers,

which means draw and beat double coverage, come up big and third down, come up big in the red zone, and make plays down the field. Keenan Allen is one of those guys. And if you look at Philip Rivers without him, he's 19 and 19 with Keenan Allen in the lineup, three and eight with Keenan Allen on the sideline.

His passer rating is 18 points better with Keenan Allen in the lineup. No Steve Johnson either, so they have a lack of depth there. They do. And last year, 90 yards more per game with Allen in the lineup. I mean, this is – he was a centerpiece for them. Should we be concerned at all about the Chiefs getting down the way they did in this game? That's not the Chiefs from last year. It's week – you know, the Chiefs especially, you can say this. It's week one.

They have been blown out by some bad teams in week one over the last three or four years, including the Titans a couple years ago. You're right. And I just saw a Chiefs fan, you know, tweet it basically, oh, it's week one disaster all over again. It's tough to tell. I mean, I tend to think what these – the – week once, sometimes in the second half, these players aren't used to playing so much. Like, maybe it's a sign that the Chargers defense has a little something.

I'm not giving up on them, and they just ended up wilting against a powerful team on the road that had a lot of snaps. How's our Periscope doing? Our Periscope has been going up and down. We were up to 1,200 viewers at one point. That was cool. You know, we got people making anti-Semitic jokes against me. It's not fun.

That's unacceptable, but I noticed that Irish came in here at one point for his. so-called Easter egg and the numbers dipped significantly. So let's not try that act again. She'd tweet it out again. By 50 people would dip when I did that. I just want to say anybody that's affiliated with the KKK or any other hate group,

you're not welcome to our Paris Cup. Not at all. Or if you just have negative feelings about people based on their race or creed, I want you out. Take a hike. Or Creed the band. If you like Creed, you're out. Beat it. If you like it. My sacrifice. When you are

with me that always freaks me wait now the periscrope crowd gets to look at Greg's body language I'm free I'm a helpless be

I don't think that's a lyric but you know the creed lyrics pretty well listen I was of that generation you were in your own world saying oh you know I was in New Orleans it was a very cool

hip hop culture I don't know what's going on in the mainstream I was like a 20 year old kid that was a round creed at all times whether I wanted it or not. Take it easy, bro, you know.

Well, you know, you just threw that at me. I'd come back a little bit. But I don't, you know, I would never make fun of your creed. I see what you did. Oh, wow. I see what you did there. I like that. Nailed it.

All right, let's move on. Let's put the train back on the old tracks, fellows. And let's talk about a team that should not be too proud of themselves. The Seattle Seahawks, who, to me, you take care of business. one in your building against the flawed Miami Dolphins team. Take the gift from the schedule makers, go win the football game. But here they were. With one minute to play, they had not scored a touchdown.

And then what happens? Russell Wilson banged up with a lower leg injury. He responds to a Ryan Tannahill 86-yard go-ahead touchdown drive with one of his own 14, play 75 yards. The culminated with this. That's how he queued up baby. And it's second in goal from the one with 45 seconds left. The Dolphins leading by four.

Seattle, second and goal from the one. Wilson, lobs it up to the end zone. Cut. Doug Baldwin, touchdown. Touchdown, Seattle to go back in front with 31 second trimet. The final score was 12 to 10, the Seahawks. Hold off the Dolphins. What came to this game, Greg?

I think Wes is in the best position to tell you. He watched it. But for me, I still watched the end of this game. And I had thoughts. All right. Well, you know what? then just hold those thoughts inside because I want to hear him from West first. Well, you said the Seahawks shouldn't be proud of themselves, but Russell Wilson should

because down four with four minutes to go after Ryan Tannahill took the lead and playing on one leg essentially, Russell Wilson had his own touchdown drive, made some big plays, and he really, his mobility is a big part of his game. He didn't have that today for two full quarters, two and a half quarters, I think. And to lead this team down with his offensive line, really getting manhand, by the, especially on the interior offensive line, being manhandled by the Dolphins. It was a strong showing for a guy who we don't, whether you like the label or not, he's just a winner. Yeah, I mean, Seattle's another team that in week one, they've had some issues early in the season too.

And I think that to get out of here with a win, with a hurt quarterback, and the way that they did it, when they got down and they scored, they gave Miami zero chance to get back in this game with the way that they squeezed the clock out. It was, it's, you know, this could have been really, really ugly if you fall to Miami. They're not worried. I mean, I'm sure the coaching staff is going to have things they want to correct, especially on offense, but I don't think they're worried about how many points they were favored by or anything. They're thinking about the fact they got the ball with four minutes left needing a touchdown to win and you get it.

That's a nice deposit in the old Mojo Bank and the Seahawks. How many times have we seen this story with the way they win these games? It's just like, it reminds me. said it before in this podcast. It reminds me so much of the early era of Patriots and after a while, but you can't say it's luck. That's just what they do. Yeah.

How was a see-woke looking Kristen Michael in his first game of the season with Thomas Roles? They had almost an even distribution of carries between Kristen Michael and Thomas Ralls. It seemed Michael got most of the work early. Rawls got a lot of the work in a third quarter. They finally turned back to Kristen Michael on the game-winning drive. He dominated that drive as far as playing time goes. And he outplayed Rawls, which is to be expected after Rawls missed the preseason. This is a one-two punch.

We've heard Pete Carroll say that. And I expect it to be the hot hand situation for basically the bulk of the year until one of these guys proves to be superior. But I thought Chris and Michael looked good and he had his longest run in a day taken away by a penalty. He had 4.4 yards per carry. It probably would have been over five if not for that. I mean, Rawls was at 2.7 yards per carry. I get the hot hand thing and it's very clear that they're loyal to Rawls that last season had a big impression. They trust him.

But with some running backs, and most teams are running back by committee to some degree. But in terms of Michael, do you think he's someone that if you pull him for 12 carries a game versus letting him keep going, that you're not going to get the same guy? That's a good question. Their styles are so different that Rawls, he's that, what do they describe him as, a bowling ball full of butcher knives? I mean, he's the more physical. It sounds like a Wesism.

And he looked amazing last season. He's going to lower his shoulder and power through tackles. Kristen Michael looks like he shot out of a cannon. He just full speed burst up the middle, and that's how he ran today, too. And every once in a while, one of the reasons they trust Rawls probably over Michael is he'll give you maybe a boneheaded play. In the touchdown-winning drive, he blocked an oncoming rusher. He seems so proud of his block against the rusher or unhappy with the guy that he starts

staring the guy down. Meanwhile, Russell throws a screen pass. He blocks him to the ground. He stands over. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson throws a screen. screen pass, it hits Michael on the shoulder pads. I imagine they'll catch that in their team film stuff. Well, he was

there was laughing going on between him and the sideline after that. They were like, what are you doing your clown? Should Dolphins fans feel good about this? I mean, it is kind of impressive to go there and do something. How about Kenny Stills fans? Should they feel good about it? Kenny Stills had one of the worst drops. It was like a Kobe

Fleener level drop. Wide open would have been a 70-something yard touchdown probably. No one on the screen and he just dropped. And a game that ended 12-10. When you are an underdog on the road, when those things happen and you lose the game, it kills you. Well, you can feel good about your defense if you're the Dolphins. They showed up today, but the wide receiver core with, what, five minutes left in the game, their wide receivers had 10 yards on five catches. Well, Devante Parker is not there. He's not supposed to be there

for a while. Jay Ajai didn't even make the trip because I got to wonder if he'll be on the team and he's a healthy scratch and who knows. Aaron Foster looked good. He did. He did. He did. It was less than three yards of carry, according to the stats. Well, I'm telling you how he played. He played well. There was no room to run. But he had that old cutting ability to have with the Texans was on display today. I mean, if their front line can be that dominant, you know, we talked a lot.

Oh, Russell Wilson, maybe an MVP, this Dolphin secondary, one of the worst in the league. And yet they basically did the job. They certainly did enough to win. I mean, it also sounds like Seattle's secondary, forget about the idea of them taking a step back. It seems like they shut this offense down today. Outside of that. Kenny Stills drop, and the go-ahead touchdown that Ryan Tannahill had, that drive, they didn't play as well then.

But for most of the game, you know, they were dominant. Let's move on, gentlemen. All right. The Buffalo Bills headed to Baltimore to start their season. Rex Ryan, it's been a House of Hors for Rex. He kind of rose to prominence as a coordinator and defensive assistant with the Ravens, but has never beaten them in his time with the Jets and Bills. And that didn't change.

A 13-7 loss for the Bills. The Ravens really gave Tyrod Taylor a lot of trouble holding the quarterback to just 111 yards passing on 15 of 22. And, you know, I'll speak a little broadly on this one because I didn't really catch any of it. But I will say that that type of performance from Tyrod Taylor, those were kind of peppered into last season, too. and that's why I was so surprised when they did hand out the money, and I don't know how much was guaranteed, but this type of performance, you're not moving your team. So I'm going to put a little heat on Tyrod here in his first game after that big contract.

That offense did absolutely nothing against the team. This is not the 2,000 Ravens. It's fair to do that because the Ravens said after the game, we wanted to make Tyrod Taylor a quarterback, meaning take his legs away. And what happened was the Ravens turned out their best game on D.S. defense in five years as far as total yards 160 total yards 160 yards they're the worst offense in the league for week one buffalo yes well and Sammy walkins who at some point needs to be a week to week big money receiver for this team 43 yards and it's it doesn't you know

it wasn't like the ravens exploded either but you got mike wallace making big plays in this game that what's the last time mike wallace had a 66 yard touchdown or something in that realm I mean, he's back to life, three for 91 on six targets. It's just one game, but the Ravens are trying to rebuild that winning sort of culture, and it might not be the prettiest team in the world, but suddenly Dennis Pitt is back on the field. Oh, I remember him. What a cool story.

Great to see him. He made a few plays and saying, oh, Brashad Perriman's back on the field. Our first round picks finally back. Okay, Mike Wallace, this pick up might help. Joe Flacco is back from his torn ACL. Terrell Suggs makes some plays, and it's something to feel good about you. win an ugly game and you move on, that's the type of thing the Ravens are used to do it.

If Dennis Pitt had played for the New York Giants, we would have written three stories per week about him for the last three years. Well, we did write a lot about Dennis Pitt's stories, but point taken. He got a fraction of the stories of Victor Cruz, dude. I want to watch... What did you still throw in shade of Victor Cruz? No, I'm throwing shade at the people who write about Victor Cruz. What a great story about Victor Cruz.

Gets back on the field, wins the game in Dallas on week one. Sure, there will be 17 long forms this week about Victor Cruz. That's not nice. Think pieces, long forms, all. All over the place. Another guy who... West, New York Slander Master. In fairness, another guy gets a lot of ink from us.

Digital Ink, Steve Smith, Senior. Nine targets in this game, 19 yards. That probably means he was the least efficient receiver. I'm looking forward to watch and see how that happened, you know, high gain of six. So it's going to take them some time maybe to get him back into the flow. Steve Smith's a Hall of Famer. He deserves the ink.

Absolutely. Has that ever happened? Five catches for an average of 3.8 yards of carrot? Well, I'm sure. I'm sure. Travis Benjamin. is attempting to capture those numbers out west. All right, that's what's going on.

And let's now move on to Sunday night football. It ain't easy being in a room filled with Patriots fans. Got Greg. Up and down the hill. Greg from Martha's Vineyard. So at least he's from that region. Make sense. break west who quit on his hometown team to become a bandwagon jump up and down the hill someone's a little salty i don't hear any lightning crashes or cars crashing in this one mark you know who's you know kind of giving up on the browns as a fan i have that's not i love what an organization the patriots are anyway uh the pats things go their way all the time and it happened again on sunday night chandler canisero misses a very makeable uh 47 yarder was it uh late

with seconds to go in the game the difference in a 23-21 win for the New England Patriots who without Tom Brady and Rob Gruncowski manage to beat the Cardinals who could not, could not

get down the field close enough for the kicker to make an even easier kick. I mean, you've got to make that kick, Chandler. I'm very disappointed in you. So the Patriots are 1-0. Jimmy Gropolo plays okay. He'll be painted as a god on Monday. But that's just the way It is in this country of bandwagon jumpers.

Here we go. Great. Take it away. I've never seen Dan so salty. So taking it personally. It's not personally. I'm just a real fan, that's all. Jimmy Garapolo, first of all, you said people are going to make them out to be great.

What more do you want? He goes into Arizona, one of the most talented teams in the league. He gets them to score, I think, almost on every second half drive, including a drive when they needed points to go. ahead. And he doesn't have Nate Solder, his left tackle. He doesn't have gronk. And he does everything you need to do. Even Christopher Wesleyan, who's been doubting Garapolo this whole time, was impressed by what he saw. If you can get a backup quarterback to play like that in the NFL, you're going to win a lot

of games. I, listen, this was just a fun game. I know Dan is painting us all as Patriots fans, but it was a great game. It was. I was rooting for the Cardinals, but that was a fun second half. I think both teams show, well, listen, I mean, the Arizona Cardinals, had they known the circumstance of this game months ago and who would be in and who would be out to think they would lose this game at home? Got to win that game. Got to win that game. You got to win that game. You got to make the kick and get out of there with the win. They didn't play very well in this game in the Patriots and to the credit of that coaching staff and Garapola who played well. You know, they deserve the win. But at the same time, the Cardinals, the mojo was lacking for much of this game.

But in the second half, they were making plays. David Johnson was making plays. Carson Palmer made some great throws. Larry Fitzgerald put on a show in the fourth quarter. But you got to win this game. The defense, they kept the Patriots out of the engine, but what they couldn't do is stop them on third down in the second half. The Patriots wasted a lot of time, and they kicked field goals. And they were very productive on offense. Even though they weren't lighting up the scoreboard, they were moving the ball. I know this doesn't happen every time Larry Fitzgerald's on national TV, but it seems like every time he's on national TV,

he just puts together like the highlight film that you can use in his Hall of Fame. Well, and it reminds me of the Packers game, two games ago for the Cardinals and the playoffs where Larry Fitzgerald just decided to take over the contest. And there was nothing he couldn't do. He can't kick the field goal, though. That's the one thing he couldn't do. Well, they had the holding call.

You know, there was a lot of strategy in terms of the timeouts. Belichick used the timeouts very strangely if they had gotten the ball back. I think he would have been criticized. Ariens used his timeouts strangely. But then Carson Palmer on 3rd and 24 throws a dart to Geron Brown. I mean, they made enough plays that you would want to see to win. I don't know if you're a Cardinals fan, if you're overly concerned. But it's a home loss, and they're in a tough division against Seattle, and every game counts.

I think you have to be a little bit concerned, especially the one position you've been talking about for a couple of months with them cornerback Brandon Williams is a problem out there he might be a good player someday but he's a liability right now well this is a game where I think it helps the Patriots that they've been planning for this game for a while and I know they're missing players but Garapolo was put in a situation to succeed some of the plays to Hogan in the first half and then Bennett they were plays that were well designed but you have to give him credit for getting out of trouble a lot of times when the pocket was collapsing around. I thought Garoppolo was very poised.

He made a number of big throws, and the game would have been quite different at the end. There was a third down play where he escaped the pocket. It was running towards the first down marker deep in Cardinals' territory. He didn't get it. They had to kick the field goal, but had he snuck forward a few more yards and gotten the first down, Cardinals probably wouldn't have even gotten the opportunity to kick that field.

So many good plays in this game. Dan, you have to at least enjoy it on some level. for the football of it. Yes, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if A, the Cardinals won, B, if my team won today, then I could just be more like sitting back and enjoying it. But I need the Patriots to bomb during this Brady absence, so them being handed a victory on Sunday night in week one

by the football gods who apparently are not even keeping track of who gets all the brakes on a kick that you should just put straight down the middle and we all go home as winners 24-23. Oh, what can I say? I mean, some teams have all the luck. The Patriots, congratulations. Well, where the luck comes in a little bit, now if you're the Patriots, this was the game everyone talked about all offseason.

How do you possibly win in Arizona without Tom Brady in week one? Now you're home for the next three weeks against the dolphins, the Texans, and the Bills. It is very possible. Everyone said, you've got to get out of this Garapolo situation at least two and two. Four and O is a possibility. Yeah, sure. If you're lucky, Patriots fan. You guys are excited for it.

I'm not a fan at all. It's easy, man. Two and two is very much possible, too. You certainly wouldn't expect it at this point. Well, that would be disappointing, Grant, to lose two games against the Dolphins, Texans, and Bills. Of course, it would be disappointing when all three of those games are at home. But now there's tape on Garapolo.

People are going to make adjustments. Things are going to change. This seemed to be a game where they really played their A game. But I don't think they were lucky in any way, Because if you look at the two drives, the two teams back and forth, they're even in total yards, they're even in yards per play. Everything about this game were two teams that looked even, which is surprising when you're missing Tom Brady.

One had a kicker that made a 53-yarder. One had one that missed a makeable 40-something yarder in 2016. I mean, I think the Patriots deserve all the credit in the world, then that's the danger now of everybody in the AFC. Because now you look at that schedule, like Mark, you're saying, there's no way they're going to do any worse than two-and-two. So now they're okay. You lose that first game, and then you start, there's some panicking going on.

And then you think, oh, is one in three possible? Could it be worse? Pats are going to be okay now. Well, and the Patriots. That's a huge win for the Patriots. It is. And the Patriots, even had they lost this, and I know you're not going to like this comment, Dan. They're not a team that does panic.

And they just do things a little bit differently than our teams. And as the Jets fan, I would say, you know, one option for you if it gets real bleak is to do what I do, which is turn off your internal world entirely and have zero expectations. I can't do it. team you grew up rooting for. No, I can't, yeah, I can't. You're in a total rebuild mode, so I get that. So you're able to be a little more detached. Wes quit on the Bengals, now carrying the-

I'd never quit on the hill. Before the, before starting, Wes is singing up and down the- Carrying that water up and down the hill. You've got to get some video of Wes dealing this because the arm motions are just fantastic. The corporate overlords decided we didn't need video of our show. Oh, that's right. Yeah, so that's it. Good win, Greg.

You're happy? You're a very happy man today. I was happy before that. Yes, this is kind of old school. I'll tell you something about Greg, by the way. This is an old school Patriots thing. It's like you like to see a situation where things are against them. You were open about the fact that you were excited to see what would happen with Gropolo for four weeks.

I said that in April that I thought there's something about it that I'm curious. I want to see how they respond as a whole team. Greg, at one point while we were, there was like midway through the fourth quarter started snapping at me and Mark. He was honking. He was honking. He was like, oh, I was holding back. about the Browns and Jets and this is what I get in return. It's like, that's not what I said at all.

By the way, I'm over here rooting for the Patriots mildly. I was pointing out a truth, which is that when the Jets and the Browns are on, we're sensitive enough, we're not, we're not cat calling out and making fun of bad plays and this. That's because you guys are busy doing your own stuff. No, but like I'm allowed to watch a game and be excited. But you were honking, which was showing you as a real fan, which was good. I was into this game. I like this.

Like, oh, it's so hard to be a Patriots fan. Well, hold on. I mean, let's talk about one thing. This was the best week one we've seen since any of us have worked here. Six games decided by two points or less. It would have been seven if it was a silly safety on laterals in Indianapolis. It would have been seven games. So it really was seven games.

So probably I think it goes without saying the most competitive week one of all time. And that doesn't even count the 27 to three comeback or whatever it was 24 to three by the Chiefs, which they won an overtime. which is another great game. Absolutely. So, you know, listen, bad week for me personally, but a great week for watching the NFL. And that's it.

That's it for the week one recap, which ends on a very sour note. Wow. That's it. Dan, it's only going to get worse from here. I know. Well, that's the thing. You start to have these realizations.

Spoiler. Nightmare is happening once again. Spoiler. Patriots are going to the Super Bowl. I think we're looking at a Patriots. What a bold prediction. by Chris Wessling. The Patriots going to the Super Bowl?

Well, you actually can't happen. They won tonight that made their season. They were already going to the Super Bowl. It's over. They are absolutely 13 and 3, 14 and 2. Same thing they do every year. It's done. Stamp it.

Tuesday, next time you hear us, we will make our official nominations for the team. The team of ATL. So, you know, after week one, We have a little more to go off. I believe the Titans, who are the favorite. I would still put the Titans as the favorite right now. I don't know.

Maybe not. See what comes up on GamePass. We'll watch Game Pass. You go down into your laboratory and do some findings. I will go down to my lab and I'll see what I find. But I will not be nominating the Titans. I can tell you that. And thanks to everyone.

This group needs some options. Yeah. I agree. I'm going to nominate. I support the Titans as an idea, but I'm going to nominate a different team too. Great. Thanks to everyone that watches on Periscope. We did find out next week.

We're going to blow it out a little more. It would be a little more high quality. I don't know. We probably should have done it for this game recap too. But all that stuff we'll figure out in our attempt to reach you the loyal listener slash viewer. If we're not going to get help in this building, we're going to do it ourselves. That's how we've been doing it from the start. All right.

That's it for Sunday night's edition of the Around the NFL podcast. That's fine. That's fine, Irish, I'll throw you that poem. Irish, a sneaky Patriots fan. Yeah. Irish's dad actually told me that he's a Patriots and Giants fan, which I found at odds.

It's impossible. How could one be a fan of both of those teams? Covering all your bases. That baby boomer stuff, you know what I mean? I don't get it. All right. Can I have the real outro now? I won't.

I won't go off on that. Yeah, I get garbage. That's it. From a man who follows his team and never gives up. This is Dan Ansis, signing off for The Quiet Storm, the Mailman, the boss, and the Irishman behind the glass till Tuesday. I mean, when you're sitting in the room with four Patriots fans, it gets a little after a while. I mean, I have nothing to enjoy a football.

I had that water up and down the hill. I had nothing to enjoy. joy in the sport of football at all. You know, I just like a good, that good, that was a good game is what it was. Chop that wood, carry that water. Whatever, followers. But Dan, you know what? Let's start taping right now because this is great stuff.

This is raw anger. The bandwagon is full. This is fantastic. 15 years and running. All right, here we go. Let's start it. All right. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies. To evaluate team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sundays. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael left florio and together we host the nfl fantasy football podcast ready to dominate your fantasy league this

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