NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2017 Week 5 Recap

Episode Date: October 9, 2017

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling & Gregg Rosenthal recap all the Week 5 games, including the Steelers' loss to the Jaguars and the Chargers picking up their first win of the season over the Giants. The heroes also recap the Sunday night game with the undefeated Chiefs' win over the Texans.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating 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.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast. Hey, remember when Chris Wesley ate his pants? Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room filled with heroes, teeming even. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethall.

What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. There he is. Wes, back. Back in the chair. Feels so good. How you doing, Bod? I had a cough drop.

I'm trying to chew it up so I can speak correctly. That's good. Do you, we're obviously, we're thrilled to have you. First Sunday show of the season for Wes, the first of many, we hope. you want to tell the audience how you doing how everything's going well it started out as a rough week i started chemo on monday and uh was sick for a couple of days had my lost my voice again due to a couple procedures but got that fixed on friday feeling better about the chemo the last few days and uh i think if i can start gaining weight and get used to the chemo meds then uh then it's

all it's all on the downhill side from now on just scooting scooting downhill i think You described yourself as having a Bill Clinton-esque voice, which I think is, that's not a bad thing. I like Bill Clinton. There's a lot of, you know, women out there that enjoyed that voice as we learned throughout the Clinton administration. All right, Dan. Well, that's true. It's absolutely true. If you have to take something from Bill Clinton, the voice is not bad.

Yeah, that's a fair point. So Wes is with us here. This is our week five recap episode, the flagship show of the Around the NFL podcast, presented. of course, by head and shoulders. Head and shoulders. Shampoo and conditioner. Two is one. Mashed into one product at the same time.

A one-stop shop. Great teamwork. Yeah, teamwork, sports. And a lot of people are like, oh, they're doing an ad read right now? No. It's just pure passion for the product. Hey, Dix, you paying attention? I'm just saying.

All right. So we got a lot of games to get to. This is the first proper buy week of the season. You meant the company Dick's sporting goods, not just generally, you know, correct? And they dick Wilson. They really did deck them. All right. Russell Wilson taking the sack in a big spot.

We're going to talk about that game and so many more. But first, we're going to get to the best game of Week 5, the game that was a rematch of one of the best games of the 2016 playoffs. And this one was just as entertaining. the Green Bay Packers at the Dallas Cowboys, and it came down to Aaron Rogers with the ball in his hands. And usually that works out pretty good for the Green Bay Packers. Second down, snap, Rogers throws Fade, corner of the end zone. Evans has it.

Over the shoulder catch. Touchdown. DeBonte Adams on a pretty touchdown catch in the right corner of the end zone a 10-yard touchdown throw from Aaron Rogers, and it couldn't have been better. Wayne Larravee, WTMJ Packers Radio Network, Rogers Magic on display again. Aaron Rogers marched the Packers 75 yards on nine plays in just over a minute. Cap by the game-winning strike to Devante Adams,

who was in the hospital with a head injury eight days earlier. Even more impressive than your stuff, Wes. What do you think about that? Yeah, that's some redemption for Devante Adams. I actually don't even believe that. That's impressive. You're the guy in the room with some hospital backstory, so I thought it would work you in here with you.

Yeah, that's... Yeah, you put up with a cold at one point. earlier in the season. It was the Little C, and this is how we won Best New Podcasts of 2013. Wes, one day when Aaron Rogers is being inducted into the Hall of Fame, these will be the games we remember. Yeah, go back to last season.

The last time these two teams played when he threaded that needle to Jared Cook on the sideline, it seems like almost every time we see Aaron Rogers play now, something magical happens. He had a game-winning drive against the Bengals a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't sleep last night. I spent the night watching the Packers. I am all in on this team. This is the whole night just on the Packers? Yes, this is a lot of Packers. This is their year. I'm convinced this is the Super Bowl winner. What makes them different this year than the

last few years when they've fallen short? There's a mental toughness that they have already developed from overcoming injuries that not only not only the toughness, but has revealed the depth on both sides of the ball. They lose Ty Montgomery and bring in Aaron Jones, and their running game gets better. And that is not a one game fluke. Aaron Jones is a better runner than Ty Montgomery. They might not be a better player, but their running game works better with Aaron Jones. And the same thing happens on defense. They didn't plan to start King, their second round rookie, or to go to Josh Jones at safety in a superhero Micahide role. These guys are playing because of injuries, and they are

difference-making kind of talents. And they're going to get healthier as they go, too. I mean, on the offensive line, they're still going to get Bulaga back. Bilaga played, but Bakhtiari did not. The Bakhtiari, rather, will be back.

And not only that Aaron Jones is playing, playing well, but the ability to trust him. To give him the ball on that last drive, I think, was a credit to Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers, whoever's calling the plays in that sort of situation.

And Aaron Jones just sprinting outside was such a big play. And I love the wherewithal of Rogers to talk to Adams after the first completion on the goal line and go back to the exact same play again. And that was a very difficult catch. It was a great throw, but that's a very difficult catch that Evans makes to beat the cat. Well, down in the newsroom, Troy Aikman, the color commentator,

getting crushed by various analysts. I mean, myself included everyone for kind of saying, You know, Dallas scored that final touchdown of theirs too quickly. Right, when they threw the ball beforehand. That they scored too quickly, and yet, in a way... You know why Troy Aitman said that? Because he's watched Aaron Rogers' entire career. He was exactly right.

It was anyone surprised to see the Packers just march down the field the way they'd done? No, because we've seen this script play out 500 other times. And I guess we should be surprised that this guy, Aaron Jones, has now emerged as a potential real player in this offense. but that's the way the running back position works. It seems a lot in the NFL. The death chart goes very deep, guys get hurt, and sometimes someone kind of emerges.

And that feels like the final piece of this offense with the offensive line getting healthy. And if you have a real option back there, nothing against Ty Montgomery, but I didn't like a number 88 lining up back there anyway. Give me a nice 33 or whatever this dude is. It was always a little strange, like something the high school team would pull,

except it was working to some degree. I think he'll have a huge role. And I think he played well throughout the first three weeks of the season. He just doesn't need to be the real. running back that has more touches per snap than any running back in the league. It'd be great if he's handling the duties with Aaron Jones. They're so much better that way. That's what I'm saying, that Aaron Jones is too good.

He has too much juice, too much obvious playmaking ability to take out of the mix. I'm not saying Ty Montgomery will be usurped, but Aaron Jones will stay in as a complimentary. Green Bay with three players named Aaron with carries today. Let's diversify the roster names, please. And on the Cowboys side, two and three now. that matches their loss total for all of last season. But I'm not, Greg, I'm not ready to panic about the Cowboys.

This is one of the games of the season, and I thought they played on balance well, and they had the lead late, and Zeke Elliott looked like Zeke Elliott in this game. Are you worried about them at two and three here? A little bit. Interesting. Depends what the goal is. I mean, getting a buy is going to be difficult.

You're already two games back in the division, so that's a whole you've got to climb out of. The offensive line is good, but not as, dominant and you don't have much of an explosive element to the passing game. So I think they're okay, but it's not like you look at the defense and think, okay, this is a defense that's going to get a ton of stops. You need the offense to be special. And today was a step maybe in that direction offensively.

They looked like 2016 today. The defense knew Zeke was coming and over and over and over again on third and one and fourth and one. They could not stop Ezekiel Elliott. They kept the Packers' offense off the field for most of the entire first half. I thought you also saw some positive signs from David Irving, who came off of suspension. They go on biweek and they'll get Sean Lee back. But here's the Cowboys problem.

They're already two games behind the Eagles. And in a few weeks, they have this four-game stretch at Washington, home versus the Chiefs, at Atlanta, home versus the Eagles. That is a brutal month. I think the whole NFC East schedule and the AFC West schedule is something to keep an eye on because you think, okay, they're all going to bounce back. It's like none of those teams have any easy games the rest of the season. Let's move on. Golf out of the shotgun takes the snap.

He's got to go to the end zone. He fires down the seam. Oh, it's incomplete. The ball is incomplete. Look around. There's no flags. The Seahawks are going to hang on and win this. Steve Rabel, K-I-R-O, the Seahawks Radio Network.

The Rams Final Drive came up painfully short. And the Seahawks got out of Los Angeles with an impressive and important 16-10 win to pull them into a first place tie in the NFC West standings with the Rams through five weeks. Greg, if Cooper Cup makes that catch on third down the play just before the one you just heard, we're talking about this game in a totally different way, but it didn't work out for the team of ATL. No, it would have been such an amazing first game as the team of ATL. And maybe more importantly, an amazing kind of stepping stone win for Jared Goff and this Rams team, who after taking a quick 10-0 lead in the second quarter, really let the Seahawks control the game in some way, make it an ugly sort of defensive game.

That's how the Seahawks want to play. But I was ultimately impressed with Goff on that last drive that on a couple of those throws, especially the first one, where he looks off Thomas for so long before coming back to, yeah, Who was? It was a Higbee, I believe, on that play. I mean, that was a next-level mental ability in a big spot and a great throw, too. So, yeah, okay, Goff ended up turning the ball over three times, and there was a lot to be disappointed about in this game. Ultimately, they still outgained the Seahawks 375 to 240.

I didn't come away from this game thinking, like, oh, the Rams are out of the Seahawks League. Like, they've been phony the last couple weeks. They lost the turnover battle five to two, and they lost on a drop. by their most short-handed player in the last moments. So it sounds like the Rams outplayed the Seahawks and they have Todd Gurley's fumble and Greg Zerline's Ms. Field go to blame for this. But I would give the Seahawks defense credit

at least that their defense, which we love, made incredible plays. Earl Thomas made one of the best plays of his entire career. Like when you think of Earl Thomas, I'm going to think of him like sprinting across the goal line to dive and force a fumble from Todd Gurley into the end zone, which turns into a touchback. No one else makes that play other than Earl Thomas,

and that prevented what could have been an initial opening touchdown. Who knows if it would have been 17-0 early, something like that, if he doesn't make that play. And they made great turnovers. Sheldon Richardson made a great play. Geron Reed, a lot of their defense made great play. It's a huge win for Seattle, a team that's been, you know, on offense especially very up and down this season,

to go into their buy, having knocked off the Rams, who feel like kind of the Cinderella team in this division right now. and yet I still see a team that cannot run the ball effectively and cannot protect Russell Wilson adequately. Yeah, they cannot find a solution at running back. Eddie Lacey actually drew the start in this game. He didn't do much. Thomas Rawls ended up getting some carries.

Thomas Rawls led the team with 20 yards rushing. That's the type of situation that they're dealing with and they're still looking for somebody. And, you know, think about it though. I mean, this is, like Mark said, this is such a big win for Seattle because if they lose and they go into their buy at 2 and 3, and the Rams are flying at 4 and 1. It's an entire different conversation.

But instead, what we have here, Wes, is the Seahawks clearly still trying to figure their identity out on offense, but they get into their buying good shape in first place, in fact. So everything considered, pretty good spot for them. This was a big game. I really do think for an early season game, I know everybody wants to find out if the Rams are for real. They probably are.

Like Greg said, they outgained the Seahawks pretty comfortably. They're for real, but you've got to win this game because that's what you're probably not going to get two teams out of the AFC West. Here's the thing that their last four games have come down to the last play of the game. So they've won the first three of them and they lost this one.

So I don't think, I've never bought it. They're not a dominant team. The defense is making some strides. They were playing Seattle. You know, the offense, ultimately you've got to tip the cap a little bit to Seattle on this. I will quickly ask the group. I mean, we've picked them as team of ATL.

We're already starting to get tweets. Thanks a lot. You screwed us. And from Seattle fans, thanks so much. The reason that we pulled this out was because you have done this again. You've cursed a team. Do we buy any of this or is it other nonsense? The Rams will be fine.

It's one game. You know, I see you and Dan, you know, making little comments downstairs. Sure. The team of eight. Observations. A little bit of faith. Have a little bit of faith. This was before they even had that last drive.

Observation. Team of ATL. Great. I brought up maybe the team of ATL. hell drop has to come out of mothballs. Too early. Greg, a little sensitive about it, so I backed off. You got to know the room, read the room. But, you know, just remember, last time we picked the team of ATL, they lost five in a row.

So it's on the radar a little bit. I don't want to make too much out of one drop. You know what effect is. If he makes that play, we're up here singing Hosanna. Well, I think we're getting ahead of it. I think it's clear the Cooper Cup drop that ball because of the team of ATL. That's right. Not only was Greg a little miffed by the discussion.

He immediately instituted a new. new rule. Oh, yeah. What? You got to have two losses. You have to have at least. At least. It's just logical.

The worst part of it, though, for Greg is he's no longer the boss. Let's move on. Shotgun snap. Newton fired. Deep down field, first down grab Kelvin Benjamin. Inside the number of the 38, slowed by Darius Slay at the 41, 17 yards on third down to move the chain. Mick Mix and WBT, Cam Newton's first down connection with Kelvin Benjamin, was the difference

for the Panthers late in the fourth quarter. The Panthers jumped out to a big lead on the Detroit lines held on for a 27-24 win at Ford Field. Wes, Newton shook off a few days of well-earned bad PR and is back to looking like one of the best quarterbacks in the league. How about that? He was phenomenal. We were on Sky Sports earlier and Greg compared it to pitching a perfect game. It was about the quarterback equivalent.

Since late in the second quarter against the Patriots, Camas probably played the best ball of his career. And I know he got off to such a rusty start this year, but he is playing MVP football. And there's some redemption stories here. Mike Shula, who is always under fire in Carolina, going back to calling a lot of the plays that Cam needs to be working with. Ed Dixon, who was run out of Baltimore because he dropped everything thrown his way.

They're going to make a hallmark movie out of Ed Dixon. Ed Dixon today. Can't wait to watch it. Set a record. Let's hear it. What was it, Wes? The highest yards per catch average by a tight end in a single game. Five for 175.

I saw this coming, but I see why you guys would be surprised by that. By the way, and I listened to Greg on Thursday's podcast, the better team did win this game, and they should have won by a more comfortable margin. Wait, what did I say? You said the Panthers were better than the line. They are a better team. That's what I thought.

But I, you know, I know Lions fans don't like us right now, but the Panthers are a better team. And I love just looking at the box score that they only, I don't love the fact that they only could run for 28 yards on 30 attempts. That's unprecedented for a Panthers team to be. They're Pro Bowl centers out too, which is a big deal. To be a pass first in that way. But I love that Ron Rivera let Cam Newton throw on third and nine late in the game

where sometimes Ron Rivera might run the ball in that situation to try to bleed the clock out. Instead, he let Cam Newton throw and he won the game with it. Can I just ask with Chris McCaffrey, I want to dig into this game this week, but seven yards rushing, it's another, I understand in the. passing game he's a big asset and he's being used a lot but where are we with him as a running back right now does it help you to picture early career reggie bush yes i think that's what his role is he's not an inside runner i think he ran inside in the preseason okay but he's not running anyone over and you get him into an nfl weight program maybe in a couple years he'll do that but i think right now

he's a satellite guy i think he won him in space the usage tells the story here that steward had 18 carries McCaffrey, just got three rushes. So I guess they're finding their way how they want to use them, or maybe they think that's where they are right now. But it's just as West said, it's a satellite passing option. Touchdown was spectacular, one-handed. How about the Lions and

Matthew Stafford? I thought Stafford had his worst game of the season last week, and then this week maybe wasn't one of his best either until the very end. Well, I think with what's going on with the Lions' offense and I'll go back to Thursday's podcast again. Mark was talking about the

offensive line that everybody keeps giving them pats on the back for correcting it it's not corrected they he got hit he got sacks six times today and hit over 10 and they've got another problem it's not just the offensive line wide receivers don't win their routes and you got a guy paid maybe not like a number one but Marvin jones is supposed to be their number one receiver and he doesn't beat good cornerbacks so i think that's a combination that you've got an offensive line that's not great and you've got wide receivers that don't win individual matchups. Let's move on. Steelers from their own 34-yard line.

Tags showing blitz again. Drop out of it again. Dropping his roster. The middle of the field of ball is knocked away. He picked off. Barry Church picked off a tip pass at a 30 to the 25. Inside the 20. Inside the five.

He is into the end zone. That is another pick six. Touchdown Jacksonville. This time it is Barry Church for the score. Frank Frangy. or frangy. Ah, I'll let you guys know. WJXL with the call.

Ben Ralthusberger threw a career worst five interceptions, and Barry Church had the second of two Jaguars pick sixes as the Jaguars embarrassed the Steelers with an eyebrow raising 30 to 9 win at Heinzfield. After the worst game of his distinguished career, Big Ben said to reporters, perhaps in jest, we don't really know, but this is just what was floating around Twitter. Quote, maybe I don't have it anymore.

Greg, it's no longer. premature to cast some doubt on the Steelers' offense and their longtime leader. It's not. And I want to hear the whole back and forth kind of in context. I don't put too much into what Ben says in general because it's been blown up out of proportion. So I would put this in that category. Well, I will say watching this, that this was the first time that I've watched a Big Ben game and all this business with the retirement, which maybe if anything made you question, was he out for attention? Or was it something that was in the world of

his mind somewhere that he didn't know much how much longer he wanted to play. Who knows? In his mind's eye? This was the game where I thought, I can picture an NFL without Big Ben in the league next year. I mean, it was, it was an epic seat down. You put it. You're hoping for it. You put that evil out in the world. Listen, I don't think, I don't, I think in general this podcast views itself is slightly more powerful than we are on some level psychologically. But you are looking at a game with Antonio Brown where he's still racking up yardage. Levy on Bell, not a good box. score game, but looks good still, looked good last week.

And they have all these parts, Martavis Bryant. They couldn't get anything done. And this is against the Jaguars team that had Blake Bortel throw the ball 14 times and never for one second made it clear they're going to do anything else than line up Leonard Fournette and Chris Ivory and go right at you over and over. And they were kind of shut down from the second to third quarter window of this game. And then Fournette down the stretch, they closed this game with 18 straight rushes against Pittsburgh. It's what Barone said he wanted it.

All along. No more passing. I would take this team seriously and I would take their defense very seriously. Jalen Ramsey. Yeah, he got torched early by Antonio Brown, but that happens to everyone against Antonio Brown. He also tipped a pass for a pick,

had an interception of his own, A.J. Boyer, it's like they've got a lot of elements on their defense that make me think this team has to be taking extremely seriously in the AFC South and conference-wide. They have to be taking seriously as a weekly opponent. They don't have to be taken seriously as a contender.

They don't have a quarterback, and they have the number 32 run defense by football outsiders metrics entering this game. What I will say, though, is that something about the formula is very legit. Like the beat down in London, this looked like beat down material. Pittsburgh can, A, you think it could not get out of their own way, but it had to do with Jacksonville's defense. It wasn't just simply in a vacuum. And this is the same Jaguar's defense or team that couldn't get out of its own way.

against the Jets last week and couldn't close out a game they should have won. So they're really hard to figure out. And the quarterback play, which remains, you know, suspect at the bottom, near the bottom of the NFL. I think it's beyond suspect. Bortles can't play. That's going to cost them their season. But they're kind of like in the same, for me,

they're in the same place that the Texans maybe were before Watson emerged, where it's like, man, if they could just get one guy behind center, you could trust, you could really start to take this team seriously. They're not quite there yet, but there are pieces there. There's no doubt. They've only won three games last year, so they've matched that. They only won three games in 2014. So this is one of the very worst franchises along with the Browns in terms of winning games in the 2000s.

If they can win six, seven, eight games with a great defense, and they've obviously, I would think, have learned by then that Blake Bordos is absolutely not the answer. Then suddenly you feel like, okay, we're starting to build something if we can just add a quarterback. They have very strong, strong points. The best cornerback duo in the NFL, a front line that absolutely attacks opposing passers, and Leonard Fournett is a legitimate superstar. And Telvin Smith and Miles Jack are about as good. Miles Jack is looking good. About as good as a duo that we're seeing out there.

Yeah. It's amazing, though, that people are just ready to give up on the Steelers. I'm not at all. I'm not either, but I still see a team that's going to, it's going to beat itself down the stretch, and I do not see some January run coming from them. And this will probably be a sound bite we play on Super Bowl Sunday. I think that this, for me, I predict this will be the rock bottom moment for Rathlisberger. And I think he'll get better because the track record's too good.

There's still too many good players. Maybe he is shot. There is a chance he is. That crowd turned on them so hard. You heard it in the sound clip. They turned up. Think of the expectations. I got a text from someone and you know who you are that asked, you know, is the Steelers window shut?

And I'm just thinking, you know, we got to back up. We've got to calm down. This was the second-ranked team overall of the football outsiders going into this week. I like what they have going on defense in general. They had text by loose canon. This is absolutely a team that can turn it around in November or something like that. Was it Anthony Jezelnick, your famous comedian, Friand? No, he would not send such a panicked tweet.

Go ahead. I'm not going to do it. What? RJVP. Oh, wow. Let's move on. You get me to do it. Oh, yeah.

You've lured me in with that one, Greg. This guy rewriting history. All right. Here he comes into the studio. The Great Muscular. Jesus, look at the size of that dude. Nick Shook. Let's move on.

Talk about a little Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans football. Cutler back to throw fires. He's got a receiver. It's a touchdown Miami Jarvis Landry. There you go. There you go. All right. That was, yes, Jimmy Cephalo, WQA.M.

Dolphins Radio Network. J. Cutler answered a growing chorus of boo-birds in Miami with a fourth quarter touchdown connection to Jarvis Landry. And the Miami Dolphins did just enough to secure a 1610 win over the Titans who were missing Marcus Marietta. Yes, let's officially welcome in Nick Shook for a couple games. Nick was tasked with watching what sounds like a tremendous, riveting, comma, showdown in South Florida.

How many Matt Moore Chance? How many we want more chance? Ah, what? Before you start to question the meaning of life, and especially the meaning of life. One more tops in South Florida. I heard it a lot in the first half. Talk about the same amount more, right? The guy's been a backup for like 45 years?

Oh, yeah. The guy who had to play in the playoffs? Yeah, that guy. That guy. I'm at him more. It was warranted. Jake Huller was really, really bad through three quarters. He finished with a final stat line of 12 to 26 for a whopping 92 yards, a touchdown,

and an interception that was a flailing attack. to try to extend a play that was doomed. Too often, Jay Cutler was found in the pocket drifting backward and further back and further back because he didn't trust his own offensive line to block for him, which I can't really blame him for it. That's also his default quarterback fundamental. Yes, exactly. The whole, you know, quote unquote, I'm a freelancer kind of quarterback.

I have never seen a quarterback take like 90% of his snaps off his back foot. Yep. It's like a cartoon or like it's the one that like going backpedaling backwards to get away from the Wiley Coyote or something. He can't be bothered to play the position. And as much as I want to put this all on Jay Cutler, it's not all on him because the dolphins couldn't run the ball at all. And that's their bread and butter. They're a team that builds out from running the football with J. Jha Jai. And this has been a problem for them all year. And it was a problem for them again today. He finished with just over three yards of carry by, I think, one, one hundredth and, you

know, eighth, one hundredth, whatever. I can't do math. And, all right, none of us. Really, if they, And if they can't run the football, they can't do much on offense. And it was really clear from the outset. They were lucky, though, because they ran to a Titans team without Marcus Marietta. That is a totally different team. I mean, not even close to the Titans team that you might expect to contend for the AFC South in any fashion. They couldn't move the ball if they really, you know, put a prayer up for. Yeah, because I guess the dolphins are what they are.

But I come out of this more concerned with the fact that if you miss Marcus Marietta for, we don't know how long at this point, you know, they're playing games with that report. but this team is doomed without Marriota. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it was clear from the outside. You know, no knock on Matt Castle. He gave it, you know, his best. I'll knock him.

Yeah, but we know who he is. Put that pinot up. Yeah, at this point in his career, it seemed a little crazy. They went into the season with him as the backup. Last week I said the Cardinals were the worst two-and-two team in the league. Now you've got to look at the dolphins. I mean, there's only two options to choose from between the dolphins and the bucks. but it's like they have been one of the worst teams in the league, it feels like, but they're two and two.

So they could still be one of those teams that finds a way to change who they are. The Dolphins. No, they can't. They don't have a quarterback. Yeah, that's true. Maybe it would be with Matt. I mean, they beat in Owen. I think Matt Moore would be their chance of winning 9, 10 years.

Well, you're going to see him. At some point, you have to. How bummed are you, Greg, that you don't get to talk about worst two and two teams anymore until next October? Well, you never know. The Buccaneers game could get. canceled this week because of, I don't know, lightning, let's say, and then they could be the worst two-and-two team. And to think about it, the dolphins are a young Huey Koo missed field goal from being one in three. I have an announcement, Dan. Yeah. After a two-and-a-half-year dalliance

with the Titans, I am now on your wavelength. They are the Titans. Oh, no. They deserve no sympathy and no respect. They have just lost one of their, you know, deepest, most committed backers the media circle. What about when Mariotta's back? I don't care. When you sign Matt Castle, who has been washed up clearly for two years, and you sign him and make up your backup to an injury-prone quarterback,

when better quarterbacks are out on the market, you deserve zero sympathy whatsoever. If Matt Castle has to play against even the worst team in the NFL, it's a loss. It's the Cowboys pre-Dak Prescott. Yes, we saw this. There's a major acquisition for the Titans. a press release will be going up shortly.

You can add me to that roster as well. Nick Shook, come on board. I'm coming with wet. Plenty of room on this bandwagon, Greg, Mark. Well, I'd like to see myself potentially at some point retiring in Nashville, so I'm going to hold off on this. I think they can win games and be fun to watch when Marcus Mariota plays.

This game only had 366 yards. I can't imagine there's been many. That's between both teams. Yeah. I can't imagine there's been many games in the last decade plus that have been close to that bad offense. You did the Lord's work today. And I can't imagine there's much else to say about this game. So let's move on. Yeah. Back to throw his McCown. Sling's one down the right side line. Curse has it. You're sling it, baby. Five and inside the pylon for a jet touchdown.

You knew who that was. Bob was shoes and W.E.P.N. Jets Radio Network. Jermaine Curse's touchdown catch gave the Jets some second half cushion. A 1714 win over the still winless Browns in Cleveland and the Jets are now winners of three straight and enter their week six home matchup with the Pats tied atop the AFC East. Go figure. How about that? Anyway, let me just start here, boys. And Shook, I know another Browns fan, another sad Browns fan you are, that I have no illusions that the Jets are, you know, some special like Cinderella club coming together for 10 or 11 wins. It's just not going to happen, but they've now proven for the third straight week

that they can beat bad to mediocre teams, especially bad teams. And the Browns, shook, are the worst of the bad teams. Well, you pretty much sunned it up in one tweet today. The Browns are back on O'N16 watch. Yep. Last week was Rock Bottom. This week was pretty close. They're worse than they were last year.

Yeah, they are. I think defensively they're a tad bit better, but offensively they're so far. behind where they were last year, it's not even close. And it totally hamstrings them the entire game. They can't get anywhere. Well, and they benched the Sean Kaiser at halftime, which I don't know how that makes. How does that make you feel, guys, about? I think it creates a very muddy message to the team because Hugh Jackson came out of

the Bengals loss saying, in quotes, the Kaiser had played lights out. I didn't see that watching that game. But if that's where the coach is at and wanted to say, we're going to give them full support, then you go into it, listen, they were awful in the red zone. It was a circus in the red zone today. But that said, they've been a circus at all aspects of the field the entire season. So I don't know why you pull the plug on Kaiser and what it says to your team. It's two turnovers inside the 10.

They outgain the Jets almost 3 to 1 in the first half and came out of it down 3-0. And I think Hugh Jackson, maybe it was a move made out of frustration. But to me, this was always the risk of making Kaiser the weak-one starter. Because you put him in a tough spot because you take a guy that was clearly raw. You put them on a team with no offense. of skill. And then when he struggles, you bench him, you play head games with a guy, and then you wonder yourself, because you know how this organization acts, are they now internally viewing

this guy's damaged goods? And are we now going to be looked to April, and there the Brown's taking another quarterback. This kid never had a chance if that's what's going to happen here. Here's the thing. I don't think the thought process is even that intricate, because I think this is a move made by Hugh Jackson to try and save his job. To win the game.

And you know what? It was the right call. Kevin Hogan came in and played much better, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he's got a big strong jaw line. I mean, there's a lot about Kevin Hogan. You've got to leave Kaiser on the bench. Absolutely.

You have to leave him there because you're killing him. There are several ways to develop quarterbacks in the NFL. You can hear half a dozen quarterbacks say, yeah, the best way is to wait a year or two behind a veteran. You can hear a half a dozen say, hey, throw it into the fire, we're ready. No one ever says put him behind an offensive line that opens no holes for the running backs with Kenny Brit and a bunch of receivers who drop every ball thrown to him. That's not how you develop a quarterback. Deshaun Kaiser cannot develop in Cleveland right now.

I mean, actual line from the Fox Telecast today, Bryce Treggs is getting featured here in his first game with the Browns. They brought up a dude named Bryce Treggs off the practice squad, and he was being used as their number one receiver in this game. They just, there's no. But then again, they did gain 419 yards to 212 for the Jets. You see that and you think absolute beatdown. One team is significantly better than the other.

Can't they find a way to lose? They own the time of possession in the first half. It just had nothing to show for it because they couldn't convert in the red zone, which you would put on Deshaun Kaiser because he's the one who threw the interception and part of the fumble and the option. But in the same token, what's Hugh Jackson doing with the plate calling here? They're inside the five twice, and one time you roll them out and try to force the throw along the goal line.

Another time you run a speed option? Getting a little too cute. They're ripe to have had an offensive coordinator come in and take some of this off Jackson's plate number one. Secondly, we called last week this rock bottom moment, that feels at this point with what we know about the Browns slightly naive because we know things can get a lot darker and it's heading in that direction. If Hugh Jackson isn't handling all of the play calling, it isn't developing quarterbacks, what good is he? Yeah, that's the question. Is Hugh Jackson's job safe?

And on the other side, Todd Bowles, so I think a lot of people rode off a guy that would be sent out to pasture after a lost season. he's doing a nice job because they have limited talent of Jets, but they're beating these teams. They're on a three-game winning streak. He's about two wins away, two or three wins away from keeping his job, and that would be a big upset. I think he's already kept it. He's been very creative with his defensive play calls.

I think he did a good job in that Jacksonville game. But it is interesting how what a lot of Jets fans, including you Dan, said, was basically that their worst-case scenario from this season is something you think that they're on track to do, but you're kind of loving it. because they are kind of on track to do the thing all Jets fans said they hope they don't do, which is blow the top pick by winning six games, but not really being any.

In fact, there's another scenario coming in play now where Sam Darnel could be in New York, but on the Giants next year, which be the most Jets thing ever. Don't guess time run. Yeah, it's, listen, it's a tough situation to be a Jets fan at all times, but this is, just go with it. Enjoy it. The fact, there's going to be a week six game, and again, I don't think the Jets are going to be a miracle story, but I get to get a little excited for the Patriots coming into the Meadowlands in middle October.

I didn't think that was possible. You're about 25,000 miles away from this corner over here that you claimed in August. Hey, you thought I was on it too. You thought it was, we all thought that that was happening. For everyone listening, Shook is literally on the corner with Sessler. They're sitting as close as two men possibly can't warm. But that's fine.

Not anymore, though, because Nick is going to leave us now. Nick Shook, thank you, as always, for helping us out. The sixth man of the year. Our own J.R. Smith. I appreciate that. Oh, by the way, did you see Miles Garrett? Bobby Jones. How about a great middle?

How about Miles Garrett? If I knew any great middle relievers in history, I would throw it out right now. Because that's it. You come in for a couple of innings, throw gas. Mike Jackson was the setup man for the Indians in the 90s. He was pretty good. John Whetland setting up. Come on.

That J.R. Smith point. Miles Garrett's second sack. He used the J.R. Smith celebration. Oh, good friend. Yeah, the two positives to the Browns, and then we'll move on. Miles Garrett had two sacks and limited snacks. and David Njuku, their first end, tight end, first round tight end had two really nice catches, including the third positive being the game ended.

And the game is over. All right, let's take a break here to talk about our good friends at ZipRecruiter. Are you hiring? Do you know where to post your job to find the best candidates? With ZipRecruiter, you can post your job to 100 plus job sites with just one click. Then their powerful technology efficiently matches the right people to your job better than anyone else. Because unlike other job sites, ZipRecruiter doesn't. depend on candidates finding you, it finds them. In fact, 80% of employers who post a job on

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And right now, my listeners can post jobs on ZipRecruiter for free. That's right, free. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com slash around. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash around. One more time to try for free. Go to ZipRecruiter.com slash around. And now back to football. Dalton fakes to Mix and says it.

and deep A.J. Green catches at the Buffalo 40, sprinting toward the middle of the field at the 15, 10, 5. Touchdown. 77 yards. Andy Dalton, finding A.J. Green, who roasted the rookie cornerback, Trudevius White. That's Dan Hoard and his very excited buddy, W.E.B.N. The Bengals.

Mark that one down. Should we mark it? Let's mark it. sounded like his excited buddy was Dave Lapham. Was it Lapham? I think Dave. Yeah, that's Dan Horny. Yeah, thumbs up from...

Lindsay Fulton behind the glass. The Bengals are alive in the AFC North. Andy Dalton wasn't bothered by steady rain in Cincinnati, throwing for 328 yards on that long touchdown to A.J. Green. In the end, it was a Bengals' 2016 win over the bills. You know, boys, it was a very unusual day for A.J. Green. He finished for 7 for 189 and a touch. in fact at three for 99

and a touch after the first quarter but also he had a direct role in three turnovers. One was a high throw that you could go either way, you could put it on Dalton but it went off his receiver's hands for a pick. Another one was a pass that hit him right in the chest that bounced off the one in the eight for another interception

and then he fumbled deep in the opponent's territory after taking a pretty big hit from I believe a safety but so he was all over the map but it really did show in this game was the difference between a team in Cincinnati where the quarterback has someone to go to

and a team like the Bills who have really done a nice job this year maximizing their talent, but they don't seem to have enough playmakers. And Charles Clay went out of this game early with a knee injury. He'd been a big part of the offense, and LaShawn McCoy has not been able to get going. And I put a lot on that on the fact that they don't have somebody to make things happen on offense. Not a good roster.

And you can look at this team and say, yes, we respect how. well-coached they are. You can look at Bucky Brooks's nice article from last week on the bills playing as good at team defense as anyone in the NFL and appreciate that. And then you look at the other side of the ball and they are wafer thin. They are one of the thinnest offensive

rosters in the NFL. Tyrod Taylor and LaShawn McCoy have done a good job of hiding that. But this is, I don't think there's anything wrong with saying, hey, I'm impressed with what the bills are done, but they're not a playoff team. Yeah, they're featuring Nicoliery, and you don't have Jordan Matthews. It's a, it's, Nick O'Leary. I mean, when Jordan Matthews is kind of a jenga piece

because they just don't have another wide receiver that's capable, that's a problem. Zade Jones has had a night, has had a bad, has had a worse year than Amari Cooper. Zay Jones has had a nightmare season going into this week and six targets, one catch, nine yards. I know at least I saw a drop in that mix. And, I mean, he's had it as nightmarish rookie season, you can imagine.

I don't know if Sammy Watkins was ever going to make a difference in Buffalo. He was always a tease, and he kind of continues to be that player. But they miss him right now. I have a catch today for the Rams. It was reminding me. He's kind of a tantalizing talent and a frustrating talent. But you take him out of the mix, and you, yeah, you plug in Jordan Matthews to be that guy, but Jordan Matthews isn't that guy.

I'm just impressed with, I like teams where it seems after two weeks the book is out on them and it seemed like it was flaming disaster of the Bengals. I'm not saying the AFC North, totally wide open. Number one, let's start right there. But the turnaround under Bill lays. sir. It's working. Something about Andy Dalton's a sound drop that continues to send listeners off the side of the highway. But it's like Andy Dalton from the neck up seems like

he's taking a turn this season for the better. He played really well today. And you're going to see... And hurt too, right? He was banged up and he stayed in the game. Like I said, the two interceptions, you can maybe say one was on him. But he was on target. It was not good conditions to be. throwing the football and it didn't affect him at all and he is again he's always going to have that you know kind of a fatalistic streak in him and and there was a play at the end of the game where they were trying to close out buffalo and he was in the red zone and he threw a pass that should have

been intercepted and if that gets intercepted maybe they don't kick um you know that field goal and then who knows what happens and and maybe he ends up wearing the goat horns but he got a little lucky in that case uh but on balance i thought it was a very good andy dalton game and yeah especially Especially with what's going on with Ben Rothesberger. The AFC North is wide open. They're one game back. Wide open and not a very good division right now. They're one game back and suddenly their defense is playing better than Baltimore.

And A.J. Green. He's perfect today. A.J. Green's got about, what, 500 plus yards now and I think 30-something catches through five weeks. Like, if I always sort of waited for the A.J. Green goes even next level with his great numbers season, and this could be it. Let's move forward. Wentz into a long count. takes the snappy back, looking, stepping up, he is going deep, and it is caught at the 20, the 15, the 10, the 5. Touchdown, Tori Smith, the bomb.

Merrill Reese, WIP, Carson went through three touchdown passes in the first half and four overall, including that 59-yard strike to Tori Smith, as the Eagles had no problem disposing of the Cardinals a 34-7 win at the link. Greg, the Eagles are good. The Cardinals, not so much. No, they're not. And the telecast spent most of the game just in shock of what a one-sided game this was, and I don't think it should be that shocking. I think the Cardinals have been lucky to win a couple of games, and the Eagles know what they are, which is a tough team on both sides of the ball.

Their defensive line shredded Arizona, which was very predictable. And Carson Wentz, maybe a little less predictable, came out very accurate. he's doing a good job changing plays at the line of scrimmage. He hit a couple really big plays today to Smith and Aguilar, and they just coasted. I mean, they are a really fun team to watch right now. I can't believe that Thursday night football, which gets so whacked and it should, because a lot of the early season matchups are junk. But we're getting some good ones early.

You get the Carolina Panthers, the Eagles this Thursday night. The Eagles, who lost by a touchdown of the Chiefs, a few plays away from being undefeated, and I don't think it's a mirage. I think you still need to see Carson Wentz growing. but there is not a lot of weakness on this team. They can run the ball over the last two or three weeks. They impose their will on teams. And I look at the Cardinals and I say,

look at Carson Palmer is just back there waiting to take a season-ending injury. You're right. The no-risket, no-biscuit philosophy is why we like Arians. But it's also getting his quarterback killed. I mean, there's no biscuits. The biscuits are gone. They don't have any, they always just leaving five guys to protect no matter what.

Like, that's his motto. And what that led to today was very conservative third and longs, where Carson Palmer saw the pass rush coming and he just had to dump it off to save his life. That happened three or four times on third and 13, where the Cardinals are throwing three or four yards? And I start thinking, like, where are the Cardinals that we used to love Chris Wesleying? They are one of the sloppiest mistake-prone teams in the NFL, and nothing will make you look like a poorly coached team,

like a shoddy offensive line. Yep. It's true. And they're kind of built now where the defense has to carry them and the defense isn't that good. I mean, it's fine. But Patrick Peterson kind of lost his mind

on the sidelines at one point. I don't know if this will become a story because they blitzed on third and 19 and that's when Wentz just hit a gorgeous tear drop to Aguilar, who then made an incredible play after the guy. I thought it was one of the plays of the year. Seems like Carson Wentz's mid-fall. He's had a few of those.

And a lot of them. That's why he's fun to watch. Like, he'll have a couple heads. scratchers, like his interception was a really bad situation. He missed just like a wide open third down where he threw it in the dirt. He has those plays, but he has the wow plays that get you excited. And now, if you're a Cardinals fan and my good buddy Jay Zumwalt is, they're now pretty clearly looking at the reality that their window for this particular group seemed to shut after that NFC title game loss. And if you ever want to see a window shut, go watch

all-or-nothing season one, because that was that team's closest chance to get back to the Super Bowl, and it just didn't work out. I wonder if they would think about trading Palmer or Fitzgerald before the trading deadline. I know they won a couple games early, which compensates it. To who and to where and for why? I never know. I don't know. I think Larry Fitzgerald is too much of an institution to be traded.

I mean, let's say, you know, they find out Marcus Mariotta's missing four more weeks. Why wouldn't a team like the Titans just bringing a body? I mean, he's basically A body. He's not the problem. Let's move on. You've been described as a body. Just gets it in time. Going underneath for Gordon has the reception.

Five to the corner of the end zone. Touchdown Chargers. Knock on wood. That was money. That was money, right? Yeah, that was our guy. That's our boy. Money.

Finally has a little fun. Money. Yeah, what's the lyric? It's like, money. Doon, do, do. here it's such a jaw What is the line? I'm just going to allow you to continue

I don't even know what that song is. Classic Rock. Are you thinking about the Pink Floyd? Yeah, yeah. Absolutely Pink Floyd. Money! Here it's so bad. Something like that.

I'm not familiar with that one. Greg, you have heard this song, guarantee. No. 32 years old. I'm telling you you. I was going to guess it was an Eddie Money song where he just kind of calls out his own name. I think with your checkered history

in your late teens and early 20s, you were listening to some Pink Floyd at one part of year or another. It just doesn't remember it. Never happened. There's a reason why you don't remember it. You can't get into it on this podcast. Save it for the extracurricular activities podcast.

Mark, you got the lyrics for me? Well, there's multiple variations. It's money. That's what I want. There's money. That's only one part of it. That's a different song. You're actually absolutely right.

Yeah, that is. That's money. It's a totally different song. All right. Get back to me, Mark. This is crashing into the side of the screen again. Yeah, give him some lasers to wake them up from the... All right.

Phil Pryver's 10-yard touchdown pass to Melvin Gordon. And yeah, that was Matt Money-Smith of the Chargers Radio Network, was the difference as the Los Angeles Chargers got out of the Meadowlands with a 2217 win over the Giants in a battle of two winless teams. The real story here was a wave of injuries to Giants' pass catchers, most notably O'Dell Beckham Jr., who broke his ankle late in the game, and it certainly looks like it could be a season-ending injury. injury. It makes the 0 and 5 Giants suddenly a very real contender for the first pick in the

2018 draft. Am I crazy, Mark? Not at all. I mean, we look at the New York Giants and it's like what suddenly is going to bloom with this team that's going to be any different. It's the same stuff to plague them last year. And now, I mean, today, forced to finish the game essentially with not just O'Dell Beckham, but their entire receiving crew stripped off the field. And the strangest thing for me was they actually kind of ran the ball well, which I guess the charges have allowed that to happen multiple weeks. But if you're going to lose O'Dell Beckham, it's terrible for the Giants fans, I guess.

But this is the year to do it. There's no hope for this team. They're dead team walking. Well, they're tough to watch. Well, it's a terrible time for O'Dell Beckham. I mean, you never would want to have a season-ending injury, and he was obviously emotional. But I watched him getting carted off,

and I thought, well, this is why players hold out. Or this is the argument to hold out. Because he, everyone, you know, patted him on the back. He wants to be the highest paid player in the league for showing up on time. And this is the risk that you take. It was an absolute nightmare season. He's under contract next year for $8.7 million. He's the 65th most paid receiver this year.

And maybe they'll all figure that out over time and that that'll be fine. But it's a huge setback for his career. It's a good segue for me to give you the actual lyrics for the best. It's money. Get away. You get a good job with more pay and you're okay. That sounds like a commercial. Well, money, it's a gas.

Then it goes on and on. I remember I was in a public... Great album. It was like a public speaking course. And this kid got called up and he was like a total pothead. In school? Yeah, this is in college.

It was like a public speaking type course. And everyone had to give some type of dissertation. And he got up there and he was like, all right, I want to talk about the meaning of money by Pink Floyd. And everybody was like, ugh. But then on top of it, there was like three minutes before the end of the class. So everyone just wanted to go home and get off campus. And he first, he's like, let's start by listening to the song.

And the song's like seven and a half minutes of a guy saying, so now I was thinking of that guy. Well, it syncs up to the Wizard of Oz. Can I tell a college story? Sure. You know how like when you're, you're like 18 or 19 in your first going to college, there's always that one guy in class who's like 28? Yeah.

And to tell the truth, I was that guy in several different variations of schools. But the 28-year-old guy always has like stories. He wants to tell the whole class. Oh, yeah. Because he's... Gather around the fire. He's world weary and this guy, I was in, like, four classes with him. Oh, brutal.

And on the first day of stool, he told the same story in all four classes. Oh, my God. And it was this. Do you know why Three Dog Night is called Three Dog Night? Oh, brutal. Because that's how they measure how cold it is in Alaska by how many dogs you have to sleep with. And he told that story in four straight classes. Why was he...

I'm baffled he was given such a forum by the teachers. Then again, if you've got an opener like that, you know, that's going to help you with the ladies. You've got to use it everywhere. He was like the comic book store guy in The Simpsons. I'm not sure there was a foreign per body. He just needed to get that out. Hey, ladies, look at us. We've slept in a cold Alaska with multiple dogs in one night.

That's going to magnetize the college females. I don't think this guy did any camping of his own. He just was familiar with the story. I actually had a 28-year-old college kid like randomly roomed with me when I first got to Northeastern and Boston. And we were listening to the Beatles one night. And he's like, and we were listening to the white album and Dear Prudence came on. He's like, yeah, that's the name of my ex-girlfriend. And it was so clearly a lie.

And we always used to make fun of him behind his back. It's like, you definitely never had a girlfriend. And if you did, her name was not Prudence, bro. All right, back to the game. This is what you've done to us, giant season. Beckham had a total loss season. I remember being in the hospital. We were all together with West when he suffered the ankle injury that caused.

him four weeks and maybe he was never even quite right to this point because he hadn't had like a true Odell start to the season. This was his game where it finally looked like maybe he was on his way. And now he has this. So the Chargers get their win. Congratulations to the Chargers the Giants. Who knows are this giant season heads. And what happens with the quarterback, with the GM, with the head coach, all bets are off. I think Beckham could be returning to a different head coach and potentially a different franchise quarterback. I mean, Ian Rappaport said the opposite this morning. And it was not based on today's winter loss that the Giants which are a very sturdy franchise that they aren't going to make any rash decisions.

But you have to ask if there's another two months of this. Right. A lot changed from this morning because when you take Beckham out of the mix and Eli already might be a diminished player and everything else that's wrong with that team, this thing can get real ugly name. It's not hard to imagine that Giants ownership will want a head coach who can do more than draw up a slant route.

And comb his hair back and just put a little shell back there. If I'm a Giants fan, this is going to be a tough season. but I am fine with the idea of getting a top one or two pick and finding the successor to Eli. And one last quick note, if you're the Chargers, not out of the woods either. The Raiders, Broncos, and Patriots next. But first franchise victory for the L.A. Chargers. Congratulations, guys.

All right, let's move on. Manual sets in the gun, takes the snap. Little dump pass to his tight end, Jared Cook. Fumbles a ball. Raiders recover. Whel picks it up. He's in the 30. Nobody in front of him in 20.

10, 5. Touchdown. Eric Weddle. Jerry Sandusky, W-B-A-L. Jimmy Smith's 47-yard fumble return gave his team an early two-score lead, and the Ravens never look back in a 30-to-17 win over the Oakland Raiders, who were playing, of course, without the injured marvelous. Derek Carr. Mark, even without Carr, this was a nice road victory for the Ravens, who are one of the most difficult teams to get a handle on so far this season. Well, it helps when you play a Raiders team. that, I don't know, I can't remember a game under this regime where they look this flat. And yes, it's because Carr is out on some level, although they looked troubled on offense with

Carr in there. Let's not make any mistakes about that. Well, in week three and four. In week three and four, but it's not a new thing. And it's not simply on E.J. Manuel, who is, you know, he was not a disaster. He did nothing to really help them either, other than throw one or two good passes, had a scramble that set up a touchdown late when things were out of hand to some degree. The difference for Baltimore, more in this game. They haven't had this all year, I don't think, is that Joe Flacko was well protected, and they had a deep element to their passing game. Mike Wallace had two

catches of 50 plus yards that set up 10 points and helped put this game away pretty early. And I think that again, Alex Collins ran the ball well. Buck Allen ran the ball well. And so they did enough to make this game never really competitive. It was a 14-0 lead. And there was never a moment where you thought, hmm, the Ravens are going to, or the Raiders are going to climb back into this. I'd be very concerned right now if I'm a Raiders fan. You're two and three, and the team, again, looked incredibly flat. Not only that, but you are in a division with the Chiefs and Broncos, which gives you very little margin for error.

Yep, and in theory, one of your best players that you've had, Amari Cooper in a long, long time, it is another super concerning. It's not just a box score. One catch for eight yards off two targets, not a part of this offense right now. He's been apart in weeks past in terms of getting targets, and it's killing them. I mean, they've thrown the ball to him, I think 30-something. times for a hundred yards this year. He has seven drops and I counted four or five. I went back and looked at his plays. Four or five miscommunications where after the play, Derek Carr looks

at Cooper with basically a, what's up with that, bro? You're like, why did you do that, man? And you expect him to kind of be that number one receiver, and he's clearly not right now. I always wonder, what do you do with information like this? Like what Amari Cooper's putting out? It's like Todd Gurley, the last year and a half before this year. You know he's talented. He's a good player. So what's going on? And when will we see that guy ever again?

The drops thing you would think can go away. I mean, the rate of his drops maybe is in his head. I mean, it's pretty outrageous that he's dropping more catches than he's catching this year. You would think that's impossible to keep up. I think the Raiders will figure it out eventually, especially, you know, when they get the quarterback back. But you guys are right. The divisions going by-by, I think, between. the fact that they're in this funk and the quarterback's out for who knows how much longer.

But they can't lose too many more games. They can't put themselves in too deep a hole. All right. Let's move on to another barn burner in Indy. It's there. Adams kick is on the way. It looks good. Colts win.

Colts win. Colts win. With a minute 38 in overtime, Adam Bennett Terry. Bob Lamie, W.H.L.K. With the call, Marlon Max, 35-yard run. overtime set up Adam Vinatieri's 51-yard field goal as the Colts escaped with a 26-23 win over the winless 49ers in overtime. It was Peyton Manning Day at Lucas Oyle Stadium. Greg, we have no idea how much longer the Colts will be without Andrew Luck. Taking care of business and winnable

games like these is essential. It's huge because it gives luck a chance to keep this team relevant, which I didn't think we expected going into the season. So if they could, I don't know when Lux going to be back. But just if they're two and four or they're three and four, something like that, the fact that Jake Brisket, our guy kept him in the mix. He's a boy. Slides me off a piece of that Jake Brisket. It's going to matter.

And normally I would kill a coach for setting up a 51-yard field goal to win the game in overtime. The last play before that was a run up the middle. Never fails. But Adam Benetary, just another moment in his Hall of Fame career. He had had a great game before that. and Jake Brisket had thrown a killer interception earlier in overtime on the goal line. So I can't blame Pagano too much for that.

Another nice moment for Vinatari. I mean, 44 years old, it's outrageous that he's still doing it. Colts really concerned me, even against when they scratch by against Cleveland, their fourth quarter operation, the house seems to cave in kind of over and over on the Colts. It feels like coaching to me on some level, but... Yeah, they had a two-touchdown lead over a team that had literally not scored a touchdown in, I think, four games worth on Sundays. They had the Thursday night game where they scored a lot.

And other than that, the 49ers had not scored an offensive touchdown this season, other than that Rams game. And then they finally got to go in late, but it wasn't quite. I am intrigued by this Marlon Mack gentleman, nine for 91 in the touch, that big run that I mentioned. This is a team, obviously, we identified this, and I'm sure the cult of internally as well, before the season that Frank Gore is not going to be there forever. and Wes Mack definitely seems to be a guy that can change things up and add a little dimension to their offense.

Well, I think the book coming out of college was he had a lot of big playability, and we have seen that going back to their season opener. He should play more at Frank Gore's expense, even though Greg would not like that. Pagano loves him too. Pagano's been talking him up since early training. Yeah, I don't think they quite trust him on passing downs all the time, but he won them this game. I mean, one of their first half touchdowns was set up by a nice, long kind of vintage catch and run by Frank Gore where he ran through a couple people made the miss. He was their second leading receiver today, Frank Gore. And then right after that,

Mac hits him with a long touchdown run and he had the big run in overtime. I mean, he, other than T.Y. Hilton, who's been great the last week's, he's the only explosive part of their offense. They got to get him on the field. Hilton, 153 yards against the Browns two weeks ago, 177. Those were the 18 combined catches. He is having a fantastic season. Which some wide, it's a kind of a litmus test for wide receivers. Some receivers disappear entirely when their quarterback gets hurt. Hilton's a guy that's talented enough that he's still getting open and he has a quarterback that could get it to him. I love Jake Brisket.

I love watching him play. I don't know if he's going to be a superstar. But he's, I don't know. He makes you think of all the cliches that you hear about quarterbacks in terms of like his gutsy and grit and just, just he's a fun guy to watch. He had a terrible interception in this game. But other than that, he's playing so much better than I think anyone could have expected. Just another terrible move by the Bill Belichick, not holding on to a talent of that. That franchise is crumbling at the seams.

All right. Let's move on to Sunday night football. Oh, Sunday night. Hill is back to accept it. 18-yard line avoids the first guy. Uh-oh. It's around the corner. Down the sideline, he goes, with blocking inside the third.

Tyreek Hill, sooner or later, he'll pull this off, 52-yard kick and an 82-yard return for the big play guy. Tyreek Hill's 82-yard punt return for a score was the dagger for the Kansas City Chiefs who pour it on against the host Houston Texans, a 42-34 win for KC, improving their record to a perfect 5-0. Wow, the Chiefs. continue to look good. And this was a game where there was a ton of injuries, boys, none bigger Mark Seltler than J.J. Watt, who suffered a fracture in the knee area, a season-ending injury. So the Texans fall to two and three. And now they don't have their best player the rest of the way, a crushing loss for the Texans beyond just this game. Absolutely. I mean, it changes everything that the Texans want to do and can do on defense.

And at the same time, I mean, coming off of last week's insane victory over the Titans, these two teams put up, what, 76 points or something? And I don't know. I think the Texans, even in a losing effort, show how explosive they can be. Deshaun Watson accounts for five touchdowns and a two-point conversion. Yeah, a lot of that is after it felt like the game was over. It wasn't really through Deshaun Watson's fault. It was 2613 in the fourth quarter, and then it just started going back and forth.

But I remember on this podcast talking about, can we just get one season of Judevian Clowny and J.J. Watt together and healthy and wrecking shop. And Watt wasn't quite himself, maybe the first week or two, Clowny had a slow start. And you started to see what they could be like together, really the last two weeks and then, you know, the start of this game. And you just feel for J.J. Watt to have that serious of a knee injury. well, we'll find out more about it in the coming days on the heels of a completely different but grueling back injury that he missed the whole season for. This was a team, Dan, you were all excited about, you know, kind of making a run in the AFC and it made a lot of sense.

Like, you were convincing me and to have this happen the very next week is such a downer. Such a bummer. And I don't think the Texans are done as long as Watson now is involved. I still would not be surprised if they won their division, quite frankly. But without Watt, it really takes away the difference. man, difference maker, the Jenga piece to borrow a Sheckism on defense. And, and the Chiefs, again, they drop another 40 burger on a team. And you wonder sometimes with these teams, if they, if they're, if they peak too early, are they going to be the same type of

dominant team once you get to January and you got the Patriots rounding into form, which a lot of people think will eventually happen? But still, the Chiefs to me look like such a well-rounded team. And forget about how the Texans got to 34. They get stopped. I mean, most of this game. So, again, this is another game where the Chiefs look great on offense, defense, and special teams. Andy Reid's got a good team. I just don't look at the Chiefs.

Almost forgot about it. That's what I want after a 12-hour workday. Thank you. But I just don't see the Chiefs as a team that's kind of peeking right now. They're not peeking in a way that's like, oh, they're going to dangerously have the floor fallout. They're just extremely solid in all facets of the game. There's not a point about the Chiefs.

I was thinking the Return game had not done it. Until tonight, they explode on the return game. Yeah, how about Tarek Hill getting his fourth touchdown in, what, 20 games or something like that? And under the same coach, Dave Tob, I believe it's pronounced, who had Devin Hester start his career with 11 touchdowns in like 20-something games. That's not a coincidence. That's one of the great special teams coaching jobs of all time in two different places. But this was a somewhat concerning win for the Chiefs just because of the injuries.

Travis Kelsey got a concussion. Chris Conley had a tough to watch Achilles injury at the very end of the game. How about gross to watch? Yeah, I mean, it was disgusting, and you know, you would assume that's going to be a serious injury. So they've had a lot of injuries, but I think what it showed was this isn't a team that's set up by Kareem Hunt so that Alex Smith can kind of take advantage of defenses. Kreme Hunt had 25 yards on 14 carries in the first half, and Alex Smith was going up and down the field. with over 200 yards.

The difference between them this year and last year. Third and 18 in this game in the second half. That's where you expect, oh, let's make the throw the short of the sticks jokes about Alex Smith. Instead, he throws a bomb down the field, a beautiful throw to Hill who gets a touchdown. That to me kind of was the... Yeah, he's spreading it to 10 different guys.

I mean, there's just so many different options for this Kansas City offense. All right, there you go. That is the Sunday week five recap. One more game. Tomorrow to be played, of course, Mark, between the Vikings and Bears. You're getting better at this Monday night.

Last time I told you I was suddenly adrift on a different aspect of the internet. I'm plugged in tonight. That was great. You know what's funny. By the way, when you know, and Erica's just seeing this now, but when you know you really got Mark a little bit annoyed, is if say you hit him with an O Sunday Night Drop and then the eyes fire and then other people start reacting to that and Mark just starts talking louder Listen, let me tell you something.

That is the most overrated. I mean, I don't even know who likes it, but the fact that it has the place it does in our culture right now, that song, it is the most overrated song in all of America. Overrated. But the bit is gold. The bit of her interrupting you.

It's, you know. I mean, it's just, I don't even sure what part she's even playing in this overproduced folly of a song. Wow. I just like the fact that you call it overrated is if there are people out there. I think that's a great song.

I think a lot of people. I'm just saying it's been, It's stature is we're going to put it on this game that everyone's watching. Someone somewhere thought it was a good production. We should mention, by the way, Christopher Wesleyan left the studio before the end of that Sunday night game. And so what a job he did. Oh, another gutty performance by Wes. We're going to hope to have him as much as he's able to do in the coming weeks and months.

But as everyone knows, it knows the show. It's always a better show when Chris Wesleyan is delivering his take. uh yes let's let's uh hope we see more of west in the coming uh for the rest of the season let's get out of here now gotta get out of here this uh dan hans is signing off for quiet storm the great mailman the old boss and the loose cannon behind the glass until tuesday Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies

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